Readers: No Raise For License Collector

Since the 1876 “Great Divorce” the City of St. Louis has been both a city and a county — AKA an independent city. St. Louis has many “county” elected offices. St. Louis County, on the other hand, has just three: County Executive, Prosecuting Attorney, County Assessor.

The person(s) you see to pay your property tax, get your business licensed, or obtain a marriage license aren’t elected. Many tasks that in the city are handled by seaports citywide elected officials fall under the Department of Revenue in the County:

The Saint Louis County Department of Revenue administers a tax levying system and various fees that generate the funds necessary for Saint Louis County Government and other political subdivisions to provide services to Saint Louis County residents.

• Board of Equalization
• Collection
• Licensing
• Recorder of Deeds

So no, we shouldn’t raise the salary of the elected License Collector  — we should eliminate most of the city’s “county” offices.

In the Sunday Poll less than a third favored increasing the salary:

Q: Rep Hubbard introduced & withdrew a bill that would’ve raised the salary of the License Collector from $64,130 to $120,000. What should happen?

1. Combine License Collector & Collector of Revenue with the latter’s current salary 17 [41.46%]
2. Raise salary of the License Collector, but not to $120,000 11 [26.83%]
3. Keep the salary/office as is 9 [21.95%]
4. TIE 2 [4.88%]
   1. Reintroduce the bill, raise the salary to $120,000
   2. Unsure/no opinion

Reentering St. Louis County as a municipality would also eliminate these elected offices.

— Steve Patterson

Zoning Should Not Be Used To Force Washington Ave To Become A Retail Street

There are some who envision one mile of our Washington Ave (from 4th to 18th) as being a retail street like the Delmar Loop or Chicago’s Magnificent Mile along Michigan Ave. One person even wants to use a proposed form-based code overlay to mandate a retail use on the ground floor. Yes, the idea of using a form-based code to regulate uses is illogical. The whole point of moving from use-based zoning to form-based zoning is to get the form correct.

Recognizing uses change more often than the physical form of buildings.

It was a December announcement that prompted this push for a retail street:

LockerDome, which currently has 45 employees, moved to a 6,800-square-foot storefront on Washington Avenue in 2012 but has outgrown that space, said its chief executive and co-founder Gabe Lozano.

After a 120-day build-out set to begin in the second half of 2016, LockerDome’s employees will move to occupy an 18,000-square-foot building a block away at 1314 Washington. (Post-Dispatch)

LockerDome is a St. Louis-based tech company.

Both have the form right, both have windows we can see into day & night. Some think a gym is an acceptable use on a retail street — but a high-tech firm is not. I personally don’t care what’s going on behind the facade. I can see into the windows when I pass by.

But one person would prevent LockreDome from occupying the ground floor of this building — he doesn’t want offices on ground floors. Yet, firms want to be located on Washington Ave. because it is the most vibrant part of Downtown/Downtown West. With the upper floors converted into residential there are too few options for large offices. For that matter, there are too few spaces for a larger retailer like a CVS/Walgreen’s.

What makes a credit union/bank lobby ok, but not a creative office?

It’s the non-creative offices that are the buzz kill…

Regulating uses is arbitrary — which is why I want the city of St. Louis to abandon old-fashioned Euclidean use-based zoning and adopt form-based zoning. Form-based zoning, however, can be used to regulate the form – largely windows & doors at the ground level where pedestrian activity it to be encouraged.

Many ground floor offices downtown keep their blinds closed 24/7 — that’s something a form-based code could/should address. We need uncovered windows where we can see activity going on inside. But could Washington Ave become a retail street like the Delmar Loop or Magnificent Mile?

No — both of those were built for retail purposes.

This mile of Washington Ave has had many uses over the decades — the middle part included sweatshops where immigrants manufactured clothing, shoes, hats, etc. Items sold in stores all over the country, possibly in the Sears catalog. It wasn’t a retail street then.

Today Washington Ave is largely a restaurant street, with the occasional niche retail merchant. Besides bars/restaurants the other common “retail” use is hair salons.

Another problem are the many gaps in continuity.

Get the form right — including being able to look into ground floor spaces. Don’t fret about the users.

— Steve Patterson

Kiener Parking Garages Need A Major Facelift

Work has started on the “$19 million revamp of Kiener Plaza”, which will help guide visitors to the upcoming city-facing entrance to the museum under the Arch. With the 1980s Arch parking garage razed visitors will be directed to existing parking garages in the central business district (CBD) — largely the two Kiener garages — across Chestnut Street from Kiener Plaza.

After investing a billion in changes to improve the Arch experience and connectivity to downtown, the first & last thing many will see are the Kiener garages. Today I want to discuss the problems and how we might solve them.

The Problems

• They’re privately owned
• Owner has little financial incentive to make them more attractive
• They’re in too good of condition to buy & replace

There is some good news…

The Solutions

With the ugly concrete panels being attacked to the structure one solution is to remove them and reskin it. Easier said than done, but worthy of discussion. Before I go any further let me say I don’t know how this would be paid for. The city has offered facade grants to building owners before, but otherwise using public money on a private building has issues. Perhaps tax abatement if the owner does it? I think this can be figured out — let’s discuss the design.

The old anchors into the structure might not support a new skin after the concrete skin is cut off. Despite being open in the center the exterior walls should continue to allow for airflow — natural ventilation eliminates the need for costly mechanical systems.

I think creative types could come up with some interesting ideas on how to reskin these. I want to share one such parking garage I saw in Cincinnati in November.

This screen on an old garage was the work of artist Julian Stanczak, it is titled “Additional”. I like that the Cincinnati garage only had this colorful side facing 6th St.

In St. Louis each of the two Kiener garages could have something unique for each, for each side, or both. I think everyone would agree the South facades facing Kiener Plaza are the most visually important.  All facades should look good day & night — same for the pedestrian entrances for each.

In the past people have mentioned giant video screens but those are costly, cut off airflow, and contribute to light pollution. Steel mesh, colored aluminum, LED lights, etc. are just some of the materials that come to mind. I’d like to see solar panels on the South facade and a new roof canopy to generate power for new LED lighting.

Thanks to reader “Mark-AL” for technical advice.

— Steve Patterson

Sunday Poll: Should The License Collector Get A Raise?

Missouri House Bill 2469, to increase the annual salary of the License Collector, was in the news earlier this month:

State Rep. Penny Hubbard has filed legislation that would nearly double St. Louis License Collector Mavis Thompson’s salary, taking it from $64,130 to $120,000. (Post-Dispatch)

Hubbard introduced the bill on February 2nd, but withdrew it just six days later on February 8th.

Some other citywide salaries I could find online:

• Collector of Revenue $161,679
• Circuit Attorney $152,672
• Mayor $131,820
• Comptroller $113,190
• Recorder of Deeds $97,000

At the time this created lots of online discussion, likely causing Hubbard to withdraw the bill.  The topic is the subject of today’s poll:

Answers are presented in random order — or you can supply your own answer if you don’t like those provided. The poll closes at 8pm.

— Steve Patterson

A Look at AARP Public Policy Institute’s Livability Index

At the beginning of the month I attended Livability Matters: Transportation Choice and Connections — sponsored by Citizens for Modern Transit and others.  The day before I was able to interview the event’s primary speaker: Jana Lynott, Senior Strategic Policy Advisor from American Association of Retired Person (AARP)’s Public Policy Institute in Washington D. C.. We talked for an hour in the lobby of her hotel.

First, some background:

AARP’s Public Policy Institute:

The Public Policy Institute informs and stimulates public debate on the issues we face as we age. The Institute promotes development of sound, creative policies to address our common need for economic security, health care, and quality of life.

Jana Lynott, AICP, MA, Senior Strategic Policy Advisor:

Jana Lynott manages AARP’s transportation research agenda and is responsible for the development of policy related to transportation and other Livable Communities issues adopted by the AARP Policy Council and Board and presented in the AARP Policy Book. Her research focuses on human services transportation coordination, accessible street design, the travel patterns of older adults, transit service needs, and older driver safety. She was responsible for the development of AARP’s Livability Index, released in April 2015. This first of its kind on-line tool is designed to help communities better serve an aging population. The Index blends mapping technology, preference survey results, quantitative measures, and public policies to measure how well a location—down to the neighborhood level—is meeting residents’ current and future needs. It uses a scoring system of 60 indicators spread across seven categories of livability: housing, neighborhood, transportation, environment, health, engagement and opportunity.

Prior to her employment with AARP, she was director of transportation planning for the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission, where she designed and managed a groundbreaking study on the link between land use and the mobility of older adults. She also initiated and managed a travel instruction program to teach seniors how to use transit services.

As a land use and transportation planner, she brings practical expertise to the research field. She serves on her county Transportation Commission and on the Transportation Research Board’s Committee for Safe Mobility of Older Persons. She holds a Master of Urban and Environmental Planning from the University of Virginia and a Bachelor of Arts in global studies from the University of Iowa.

What is the Livability Index?

The AARP Public Policy Institute developed the Livability Index as a web-based tool to measure community livability. Users can search the Index by address, ZIP Code, or community to find an overall livability score, as well as a score for each of seven major livability categories: housing, neighborhood, transportation, environment, health, engagement, and opportunity. Users also can customize the Index to place higher or lower emphasis on the livability features of most importance to them. The Livability Index website provides resources to help consumers and policymakers use livability scores to effect change in their communities. It is the first tool of its kind to measure livability broadly at the neighborhood level for the entire country, and it is intended to inform and encourage people to take action to make their communities more livable.

During our hour conversation we looked at the Livability Index on her tablet, the categories are:

• Housing
• Neighborhood
• Transportation
• Environment
• Health
• Engagement
• Opportunity

The index is location based:

Part of understanding the livability of your location, or prospective location, is understanding how that location compares with other livable communities across the nation. Use our Location Comparison tool to examine the difference between up to three (3) different locations, comparing Livability Categories and the metrics and policies that go into defining them.

This video explains:

I compared three locations I know well: In the first column is the address where I grew up in Oklahoma City, next is my loft in downtown St. Louis, and last is the condo where we stay in Chicago.

Clicking on the question marks throughout will give you a pop-up with an explanation, for example:

TRANSPORTATION: Safe and convenient options 
How easily and safely we’re able to get from one place to another has a major effect on our quality of life. Livable communities provide their residents with transportation options that connect people to social activities, economic opportunities, and medical care, and offer convenient, healthy, accessible, and low-cost alternatives to driving. 

From there you can click for more detail:

So check it out here — the link has also been added to the right sidebar.

— Steve Patterson