“Spot Zoning” For St. Aloysius?

Faced with a stumbling block at the Preservation Review Board last week word on the street is that Alderman Joe Vollmer is considering introducing a bill to the Board of Alderman to exclude the single parcel in question from the Preservation Review District. If so, this would sound like “spot zoning” to me.

From Law.com:

n. a provision in a general plan which benefits a single parcel of land by creating a zone for use just for that parcel and different from the surrounding properties in the area. Example: in a residential neighborhood zoned for single-family dwellings with a minimum of 10,000 square feet, the corner service station property is zoned commercial. Spot zoning is not favored, since it smacks of favoritism and usually annoys neighbors. [emphasis added] An existing commercial business can be accommodated by a “zoning variance” (allowing a non-conforming use for the time being) or a “grandfathered” right to continue a use existing when the zoning plan was adopted and which will terminate if the building is torn down.

Spot Zoning typically applies to say residential verses commercial — the use zone for a particular parcel. At this point I’m not certain how Missouri law applies to Historic & Preservation Review Districts but these do form a type of zoning. Any attorney out there know more about spot zoning?

What we do not want are Aldermen excluding individual parcels or entire neighborhoods from the review process. If so these neighborhoods risk losing the buildings that give them the character that people seek. The Preservation Review ordinance has excellent criteria and should not be skirted simply because they don’t like the outcome.

– Steve

The Lights of Sprawl on I-44

Thursday morning I was driving West on I-44 heading to Oklahoma for the holiday weekend. I left my house just past 5am so it was still dark as I left the region. I was amazed at all the lights from people heading East from places such as Pacific, Washington, St. Clair, Eureka, Union, and Sullivan.

I was over an hour away from downtown before the traffic volume decreased to a “normal” level. Where were all these people going I wondered to myself. Why did they live so far away from their workplace? Could they not afford anything closer or was this by choice.

I often hear people cite that they don’t want to live on top of each other as a reason for living out in the “country.” But then I see the subdivisions where they live. The lots are wide and the houses far apart but to get that big front yard the houses are set far back. The back deck overlooks the main road or the neighbors deck. I have more privacy in my small backyard.

Another reason often given is the kids. But to pay for this dream home in the “country” the parents have to work which can mean long commutes. The people I saw will likely spend close to two hours driving each and every day. That is equal to 21 days a year gone! How is that good for the kiddies?

MetroLink planners have been looking at stretching lines out near the I-270 loop although the low densities in those places make it questionable. Yet along I-44 construction work continues to widen the highway further and further West. Too many people and vehicles for the existing roads yet nowhere near enough people to consider a commuter rail line.

I suppose until gas prices go up we’ll continue to see the car lights along I-44.

– Steve

No Public Meetings In The Next Month?

As my parents are getting ready for us to drive first to my niece’s house, and then to one of my brothers’ house, for Christmas I thought I’d get a little stuff done. First on my list is to look into the upcoming Planning Commission meeting.

I’ve attended Planning Commission meetings before but I typically don’t track them as closely as I do the Preservation Board. That is about to change. The first step is finding out the meeting date, time and location.

I went to the city’s Public Meetings & Notices page and got what you see at right.

“There are no public meetings listed at this time.”

I used the “in the past 12 months” tab to determine the Planning Commission meets on the first Wednesday of each month at 5:30pm (1015 Locust, 12th Floor Board Room). This makes the next meeting of the Planning Commission on January 4th, 2006.

Other meetings likely occurring in the next 30 days, but not listed, are the St. Louis Development Corporation, Tax Increment Financing and Land Reutilization Authority. For those of us that don’t subscribe to the paper that publishes printed notices, the city’s website is our only means of public notice. Most likely this is a first of the year software issue, not a lack of actual meetings.

What does it say about our city’s website that the very site designed to tell us about meetings 31 days in advance has failed to actually do so. Is anyone actually checking their work or responsible for making improvements? This was the same problem last year.

I did a post on December 5, 2004 about this site. From what I can tell, nothing has changed in over a year. Most of the public notices listed don’t give you enough information to know what they are talking about. Many don’t have agendas. The ones that do have agendas, like the Planning Commission, often reference obscure information like city blocks and proposed project names so unless you are part of the inner circle you won’t know what it is about.

We need people to be involved in this city, at all levels. If we are going to get to that point we will need our elected and appointed officials to make information available to the public. Together we can work wonders for this city.

– Steve

Roberts Brothers To Transform Former North St. Louis School

I often spend considerable time writing about projects gone bad. The last week was consumed with the possible destruction of a historic church. It is the holidays and I needed relief from the negative. I needed something positive to write about.

The Roberts Brothers delivered, big time.

They will soon embark on a major task — turning this long vacant public school building into apartments. Why not condos you ask? To utilize federal historic tax credits the project must be investment property, not owner occupied. I can imagine these going condo after the minimum requirement has been met.

The Enright school is located on Enright just West of Union (google map). For years people have told newcomers to St. Louis not to live North of Delmar. Until recently this ‘advice’ was also included in a guide to students at Saint Louis University Medical School (click here). This was and is about race and class.

But if we wish to grow our city we must get over this old way of thinking. North St. Louis neighborhoods must become increasingly racially and economically diverse. This project by the Roberts Brothers will do wonders to that end.


… Continue Reading

Old North St. Louis Is Evolving Into A Youthful Neighbor to Downtown

Old North St. Louis, just a short walk North of downtown St. Louis, is emerging as a happening neighborhood for the younger set.

My first visit to Old North St. Louis was with a co-worker driving me to Crown Candy Kitchen in the Fall of 1990. It was dark and I had only been in St. Louis for a couple of months. I had heard the rumors of North St. Louis being a place to avoid. Still, I was curious about this wonderful place for some great ice cream. At night the neighborhood looked eerie. Not long after that visit to the Crown Candy I would meet a woman that lived in the neighborhood. In January 1991 I attended their annual pot-luck dinner. By March 1991 I moved from the CWE to a small 3-room shotgun for the unheard of price of $75/month. I had just turned 24.

I lived in the neighborhood from March 1991 through August 1994, when I bought a two-family in Dutchtown. I had considered staying in ONSTL but the buildings available for rehab were in poor repair. I looked at many buildings and drew many concepts for renovation. Ultimately, rehab costs were far beyond my modest means. Plus, at 24 I just wasn’t ready to take on a major rehab project. In retrospect, I could have purchased something that was “livable” at the time although getting loans in the area was a challenge.

Things have changed. Back then we were trying to get people to recognize the name Old North St. Louis as many maps still called the area Murphy-Blair, after a nearby housing project. The neighborhood has a great new website whereas I was the first to computerize the neighborhood newsletter (on my Mac Classic). Homes have been sold and bought through the regular real estate MLS system. More buildings have been renovated and many new homes are under construction. A new wave of 20-somethings are moving in and bringing new life to the neighborhood.

A couple of weeks ago I attended a party at the recently rehabbed home of one such 20-something couple. They lived in an apartment next door until they were able to move into the house earlier this year. By coincidence, I lived in the same apartment a decade earlier. This apartment was my second in the neighborhood, a block North of the first one. It was still a 3-room shotgun but it was larger than the first and had a bigger bathroom. The daughter of a neighbor a few doors down the street, just a young girl when I lived there, now lives in the same apartment.

Back to the party.

The crowd was young.

Not everyone, but most. How awesome! I talked with a number of my former neighbors but mostly ended up talking to new people that now live in ONSTL.

The old homes are getting rehabbed, new homes are being built and other improvements are in the works. The neighborhood is a short walk or bike ride from downtown. I enjoyed living there from 1991-94 and I must say the idea of living there once again is appealing.

– Steve