Planning St. Louis Style: Mrs. Heitert Likes KFC

Yes folks, it seems Alderman Fred Heitert (R-12th Ward) has a vision for the not-so-old 7-11 put out of business by the new mega QuikTrip: a Kentucky Fried Chicken. At a recent neighborhood meeting Ald. Heitert told the residents, many of whom opposed the QT on the basis it would leave a vacant 7-11, that his wife enjoys KFC and it takes him 20 minutes to drive to the nearest KFC and bring her back some extra crispy.

The picture here is the tanks being removed from the now shuttered 7-11 store with the sprawling QT in the background. The 7-11 was hardly urban but it was relatively small. The QT, however, overwhelms the area. And despite more than ample room, not a single street tree was planted between the sidewalk and curb. Yes, at last night’s Preservation Board some of the discussion over an 8-car parking lot for a condo project centered around the importance of… you guessed it… street trees! So, the tiny 4-condo developer is required to have street trees at the appropriate intervals but QT is not.

Welcome to St. Louis Planning 101: First, welcome any new development because that will help disguise the fact you actually have no clue about creating a vision for the area. Second, ignore valid concerns about market saturation especially when it involves an auto-centric project. Third, have a backup plan if people were right about killing off an existing building — fast food is a good substitute for a failed gas station and a gas station is a good substitute for a failed fast food chain. No matter what you do, don’t place any demands on the developer or they may leave. Street trees? Who needs those….

I was so thrilled to learn yesterday that Heitert is being challenged for the aldermanic seat he has held for nearly 28 years. I’m not endorsing Matt Browning just yet, I need to see if anyone else files for the position before making a decision. But I’ve already concluded that Mr. Heitert has had plenty of time at City Hall. Someone get this man a gold watch and a bucket of KFC, then show him to the door.

Candidates File for St. Louis’ Municipal Elections

Filing opened yesterday for municipal elections in the City of St. Louis. Here is a rundown.
President of Board of Aldermen – Contested!

• Incumbent Jim Shrewsbury (D) has filed for re-election.
• Ald. Lewis Reed (D-6th) has filed to challenge Mr. Shrewsbury in the Democratic primary.
• I’m guessing this will be a close race, dividing many.
• It would be interesting to have an independent run to face the winner of these two in the general election in April.
• Someone in this position really should be a current or former alderman, although this is not a requirement for the office. The position is adminstrative and needs to be able to know the ropes.

Circuit Clerk

• I think this seat is up for re-election, anyone know for sure?

School Board

• Two seats on the city’s school board are up for election. Will anyone want to run?

2nd Ward

• Incumbent Dionne Flowers (D) has filed for re-election.
• No challenger has filed.

4th Ward

• Incumbent O.L. Shelton (D).. has not filed. Ald. Shelton won this seat after the previous alderman was recalled, the ward remains divided.
• No challenger has filed either.
• A challenger is expected so this may be a contested race.

6th Ward – Contested!

• Ald. Reed (D) is not seeking re-election but is instead running for President of the Board of Alderman, as noted above.
• Three challengers for the Democratic nomination have filed in the following order: Kacie Starr Tripplett, Patrick Cacchione, and Christian Saller.
• Rumor has it more are expected to run for this open seat.

8th Ward

• Incumbent Stephen Conway (D) has filed for re-election.
• No challenger has filed.

10th Ward

• Incumbent Joseph Vollmer (D) has filed for re-election.
• Vollmer is the champion of ugly new vinyl-clad housing for his ward but who is buying?
• No challenger has filed.

12th Ward – Contested!

• Incumbent Fred Heitert (R — yes a Republican) has filed for re-election.
• Heitert has been in the board of aldermen longer than anyone else currently in office having been first elected in 1979.
• Former police officer Matt Browning has filed as a Republican to challenge Heitert in the March primary. This will be a very interesting race as Heitert basically hasn’t had to run for office in years (does he have any funds?) and he will be facing a former officer that lost both his legs in 2004 as a result of an accident while on duty. I had a nice phone conversation with Browning last night, a nice guy who will be elaborating on his platform.
• Will a Democrat, Green or Libertarian step up and file to run? The filing remains open until 5pm January 5, 2007.

14th Ward

• Incumbent Stephen Gregali (D) has filed for re-election.
• No challenger has filed.
• Please, someone file!

16th Ward

• Incumbent Donna Baringer (D) has filed for re-election.
• No challenger has filed.

18th Ward – Contested!

• Incumbent Terry Kennedy (D) has filed for re-election.
• Bill Haus Haas, former member of the St. Louis School board and previous candidate for Mayor, has filed to challenge Kennedy in the Democratic primary.
• Can we please get a third candidate in this race!

20th Ward – Contested!

• Incumbent Craig Schmid (D) has filed for re-election.
• Galen Gondolfi of Fort Gondo Compound for the Arts has filed to challenge Schmid in the Democratic primary.
• This will be interesting!

22nd Ward

• Incumbent Jeffrey Boyd (D) has filed for re-election.
• No challenger has filed.

24th Ward

• Incumbent William Waterhouse (D) has filed for re-election.
• No challenger has filed.
• Ald. Waterhouse won the special election in 2005 to replace Ald. Bauer, who was recalled by the voters.

26th Ward

• Incumbent Frank Williamson (D) has filed for re-election.
• No challenger has filed.

28th Ward

• Incumbent Lyda Krewson (D) has filed for re-election.
• No challenger has filed.
• Krewson has to be pleased that CWE resident Bill Haus lives in the 18th ward and not the 28th.

Things to Remember if you are considering running.

• Running for elective office is a rewarding endeavor, even if you do not win.
• By running you are giving the voters something very important by all too often missing, choice. The odds are not in your favor but that is OK, the most critical issue is to not let the incumbents get too cozy and to bring up ward and city-wide issues for public debate.
• Filing is open and will remain open through January 5, 2007.
• The filing fee for aldermanic candidates running via a party (Democrat, Republican, Green, Libertarian) is $328 (1% of annual compensation).
• Those considering a run as an independent will need to collect signatures and petition to be on the ballot. You are required to collect 10% of the registered voters as of the last Mayoral general election. The last day to file your petition is February 12, 2007.
• The primary election for any contested party races is March 6, 2007 while the general election is a month later on April 3, 2007. Thus, running as an independent or a party other than the incumbent will give you an additional month to campaign (unless you face a primary opponent as well).
• The position of alderman is considered a part-time job. Indeed, a number of aldermen hold down full time employment elsewhere while others suggest it really is a full-time job.
• Incumbents in ward-level machine politics like to talk about “constituent service.” This is what has kept voters loyal for decades — the “Ald. XYZ was able to take care of my problem, so I’d feel bad about voting for someone else” BS that keeps us years behind. Never mind the bigger issues, you got your damn stop sign or new dumpster! Machine politics hates “issues” with a passion. They have zero vision other than empty statements such as “improve the neighborhood” or “support the residents.” What does that mean? Running an issue-focused campaign is not a guarantee of winning (in fact it will probably work against you in many wards) but it will bring up important issues that need to be aired in public.

With (4) out of (14) seats contested as of day one we are off to a good start — 28% of the seats are challenged. At least two more will see some challenge so that will put us near the 50% mark. I’d like to see at least (8) out of the (14) challenged, spreading the machine out thin. With a number of players weighing in on the race between Shrewsbury & Reed there may not be much help left for incumbent aldermen.

As I have previously indicated, I do not intend to endorse any candidate until after filing has closed and I’ve seen their campaign finance reports to know who is behind their money stream. That said, I am excited by the challengers in the 12th and 20th.
Some information from this post came from PubDef and the Arch City Chronicle.

Some related prior posts from Urban Review STL:

• How to Run for Local Office
• Get Involved — Run for Elective Office.

Ald. Florida’s Blog On Life Support

Announced with zero fanfare in October, Ald. Jennifer Florida’s blog is nearing blogosphere death — it has not seen a new post since October 27th.  Ouch.  In fact, all the posts except the one on the 27th were lifted from a newsletter she did earlier in the summer.  Thus, the blog has only one original post.
Anyone capable of typing something in a Word document or an email can update a blog, it really is that simple once setup.   The fact nothing new has been added in a months time tells me one of several things:

• Jennifer Florida doesn’t understand the power of internet communications, OR
• Jennifer Florida doesn’t see the need to communicate what is going on to readers, OR
• Jennifer Florida can’t type, OR
• Jennifer Florida feels the whole recall thing is behind her and isn’t being pressured into communicating on a “stupid blog,” OR
• Jennifer Florida has been busy helping Lewis Reed run for President of the Board of Aldermen.

Maybe you can think of some other reasons why Florida’s blog is in a near death state?

Review of Today’s Preservation Board Agenda

The St. Louis Preservation Board meets this afternoon at 4pm. A number of items are on the agenda, I’ve listed them all below.

4270 Castleman in the Shaw Historic Distirct:
• Condo developer has zero parking due to small lot with no alley.
• Wants to buy LRA property next door which faces Tower Grove Rd (and the Botanical Gardens) for parking.
• Seeking parking for eight cars — two per condo.
• This is a good example where parking should be “unbundled” from the actual units. If someone wants to live alone or doesn’t have a car why should they have to pay for two spaces? Build the parking lot with six spaces, not eight. Give each owner the option of buying a space and after each of the four has done so see if anyone else wants to buy the remaining two.

2027 Lynch Street in the Benton Park Historic District:

• Proposal for new construction.
• Design looks good.
• Nice to see in-fill construction happening within neighborhoods, really not necessary to wipe away the old to provide new housing.

1310 & 1312 Mackay Place in the Lafayette Square Local Historic District:

• This is to construct two townhouses on a vacant site.
• The cultural resources staff correctly points out the site has a distinct slope from one side to the next but the two units maintain a level appearance (windows, overall height) whereas original housing would have stepped down the hillside. By stepping down the hillside it helps give the appearance of two townhouses rather than one big mass.
• Lafayette Square has had recent issues with utilities and front doors so we will see how that is addressed at the meeting.

2028 S. 9th Street in the Soulard Local Historic District:

• Hammerstone’s Bar constructed a fence and covered bar area without a permit.
• Cultural Resources says the structure does not meet the standards (maybe this is why they did not get a permit?)
• Structure should have been based on a “model example” from the neighborhood. This means, the owner should have found a a historic example of a covered bar. Yeah, right.
• I think the structure could have been a bit more attractive in the composition of materials — it looks a bit generic. Still, I think the preservation standards wish to keep us in the year 1900.
• It is probably time to review some of these standards to see if they should be updated to deal with newer materials and changing development patterns.

4485 Vista Avenue in a “Preservation Review District.”

• A Preservation Review District is not a historic district but an area where demolitions of “contributing structures” must be approved by the Preservation Board.
• This very historic and rare home is in The Grove neighborhood (aka Forest Park SE).
• Structure is small, in poor condition and has ugly siding. Still, it is quite rare in the city.
• Staff is recommending that a decision be deferred for six months.
• Most likely this area will see a wholesale clearance program, a very retro urban renewal program that totally sanitizes the area of anything worthwhile.
• I can understand neighbors that are tired of seeing a vacant and boarded house. The fears around safety are also valid as such a building can invite a criminal element. Still, we simply cannot afford to raze every vacant structure in the city — we’d have too little left.
• The city, in my estimation, does a poor job of marketing these properties. Why aren’t they on the real estate multi-list system? Where is our homestead program to aggressively market these types of properties and literally give them to someone qualified to fix them up? Instead the city holds these properties for years to the point where the neighbors demand demolition. This is not a good system.

Extending the boundaries of the Central West End Historic District

• Boundary would extend north to include a number of blocks of Olive in wards 18 & 28.
• A lot is happening in this area and being in a historic district would afford some of these properties access to historic tax credits and protection from being demolished (especially those in Kennedy’s 18th Ward where he refuses to place the ward in a Preservation Review District).
• One of my favorite buildings in the entire city is in the new boundaries so it would be nice to see it rehabbed (see p. 46 of agenda, building on right).

Edwardsville Church Votes for Sprawl

Edwardsville’s First Presbyterian Church voted a week ago yesterday to begin construction of a new larger facility on a large tract of land on the edge of town, next door to a mega church. For decades the church has been located in a very cute neighborhood just blocks from Edwardsville’s Main Street and literally around the corner from the Post Office. From their website:

First Presbyterian Church was founded March 17, 1819. It has the distinction of being the first church organized in the city of Edwardsville, and one of the oldest Presbyterian churches in Illinois…. Construction on our third and current home of worship took place in 1924. A large Christian education annex was added in 1960. Several improvements including the elevator, and a covered courtyard called “The Inner Room” were completed in association with the 175th Anniversary celebration in 1994.

Apparently some years ago the church purchased a 30 acre tract of farmland on the outskirts of town  as an investment. Indeed, the land has increased in value as expected but now a faction of the church wants to relocate to the sprawling edge- to be more “visible” in the community. With a vote of roughly 90 to 68 they’ve decided to begin the process of building a new church and apparently make plans for a gym. Visibility in the community no longer means being in the midst of a neighborhood in the center of town where a pedestrian might be alble to hear your service as they pass by but on a busy road where motorists can read your flashing sign from hundreds of yards away. Some look at sprawl and auto-centric development as a reaction to poor inner-city schools and white flight, but neither are the case in Edwardsville where they have a single school system and are nearly 90% white (87.7% per 2000 census data). So what explains all their sprawl? Auto-centric development has become completely ingrained in our society from homeowners, business owners, developers, bankers, architects & engineers to elected officials. Sprawl is the norm. What does it say about our society when a church votes to leave a charming neighborhood adjacent to an equally charming small town main street? Normal Rockwell would paint a picture of the current setting but wouldn’t go near where they plan to locate. Sadly, all the moves to the edge are ruining what was a picturesque landscape. I’m certainly not going to tell people what sort of faith to have but I will question the motives of a church for leaving the place where they’ve been for decades simply for a big parking lot, a gym and visibility on the scale of a fast-food restaurant. Churches have an important role as part of the community, not helping destroy the community by bolting to the suburban fringe. I talked with a couple of the members just days before the vote, they were hoping to stay put. Some members of other nearby Edwardsville churches were also lending support as they collectively want to strenghten the core of Edwardsville rather than see it left behind as sprawl engulfs the nearby farmland. I hope those that wish to stay in the center of Edwardsville do so, including their money. The suburban group may not be able to raise the $3.8 million they need to build their gym with attached santuary (in phase II). Update @ 8:10am — By the way, I forgot to mention that FBC’s architects are St. Louis Design Alliance which has offices on the Delmar Loop near the MetroLink stop.