Preservation Board Agenda Raises Legal Question

Seldom does the presence of an item on an agenda raise a question of legality but that is exactly the case with 3524 Victor. In March the owner appealed a staff denial to allow him to keep windows he installed, without a building permit, as these windows did not conform with the historic standards for the area. That is pretty much the process: staff denial followed by Preservation Board denial. Next step in the case of historic districts is to appeal to the planning commission.

But the item appeared once again in April. Apparently the Alderman, Stephen Conway, asked the board to reconsider. Gee, I guess those silly little ordinances don’t apply in the 8th Ward. In April some on the Preservation Board didn’t even want to discuss or vote on the issue as it seemed beyond them in where it should be in the process. I agreed. But, they voted once again to uphold the staff denial. The property owner, however, was not present at the meeting in April. For those keeping score, we’ve got one original staff denial and two board denials.

Is the third time a charm?

The enabling ordinances for the Cultural Resources Office and the Preservation Board are pretty clear when it comes to appeals. In some cases they go to the planning commission and in other cases directly to court. The staff and counsel, by placing this item on an agenda once again, are making a mockery of the system and setting a precedent where alderman can simply keep asking to have an item placed on the agenda month after month until they get the answer they are seeking.

Even more troubling is the Washington University Medical Center plan to raze now 32 houses they own in the Forest Park Southeast Neighborhood. For more information on this aspect please check out The Ecology of Absence as they’ve done a great job following these buildings.

– Steve

Urban Review Takes a Day Off…sorta

I took the day off today and attended my first game in the new Busch Stadium. I’ve already done an extensive review of the ballpark and how it relates to the city (prior post) so here I just want to share a few thoughts now that I’ve had a chance to attend a game.

I like it.

I think they’ve done a great job overall. The place has a nice open feel to it and the view to downtown from the stands is spectacular. From other parts of the stadium you get wonderful city views. I think people in the stadium will have a greater connection to the city beyond the stadium walls. It will be interesting to see the relationship between the stadium and ballpark village as it is being constructed and once complete.

Since this is bike to work week I thought it best I leave my car & scooter at home. I picked my Cannondale hybrid bike (I have 5 bikes) as it is a good commuter bike. Not wanting to arrive completely worn out I biked a mile over to a bus stop along the #40 Broadway route. I got off at Soulard Market and biked another mile to the stadium. Following the game, I biked the full 4.6 miles home.

Celebrity sightings included promoter Don King and a boxer I did not recognize. I managed to find a couple of food places that had a surprisingly good garden burger which was reasonable at $4. The beverage prices were quite high so after I finished my first $4.50 bottle of water I filled it up at the drinking fountains.

I took quite a few pictures, many of our streets and buildings around the stadium. See all of them on Flickr.

Oh yeah, we won the game!

– Steve

Forest Park/BJC Lease Advisory Committee

The 1pm special committee meeting on the Forest Park/BJC deal started a bit late and in a different conference room than was posted (230 vs. 234). It appears that banker and former head of Downtown Now! Thomas Reeves has been asked by the mayor to join the committee.

Gary Best, Director of Parks for the City, outlined how we got to this point. One of the things I found interesting was in discussing the two appraisals — one obtained by BJC and one obtained by the Comptroller’s office. He acknowledged it was no surprise that BJC’s appraisal was less. So how did they arrive at the final price? They “split the difference” between the two.

WTF?

Sorry, but when the city has an appraisal we don’t split the difference. The city’s appraisal is also from late 2004 and is now considered by many, including myself, to be potentially low.

Ald. Bosley Sr. brought up some interesting points. First, he said he was certain that BJC already had some idea what they intended to do with the land. He wanted to know what that plan is.

Bosley Sr. also said the Treasurer’s office is concerned about the parking meters along the East edge of the current park space. This parking area was once part of the old Kingshighway (a 130ft right of way per Gary Bess). Bosley was suspicious that BJC would return to the city in the future to ask for much that 130ft right of way, leaving just enough for Euclid Ave. He is right, they will certainly come back and ask for that land because they are not going to construct new buildings and leave that as-is.

The committee went into a closed session to discuss hiring an appraiser. I have to wonder how much the Comptroller’s Office spent on the first appraisal and how much we’ll spend on a new appraisal.

Lots of figures are being thrown around. One of which was mentioned again by Park Director Gary Bess: $4.5 million per year to maintain Forest Park. That is a current figure. But what will the figure be over the next 90 years? What guarantee’s do we have that Forest Park Forever will be able to sustain a 90-year match of BJC’s lease payment. Will this maintenance be minimal cutting grass type maintenance or will it be sufficient to cover all the capital improvements at their current level.

I’m afraid we are creating a situation for many generations to come where the park’s basic maintenance is not longer covered much less keep up all the new structures, bridges and water features. This may be an issue as little as 20-30 years from now.

– Steve

Notes From a MetroLink Luncheon

Yesterday I attended a luncheon hosted by CMT & WTS and sponsored by consultants HNTB. Speakers were Metro CEO Larry Salci and East-West Gateway Project Manager Donna Day.

Salci painted a rosy picture of the Cross County MetroLink extension, promising they will meet the budget and time table set in March 2005. That budget, $676 million, is $85 million per mile. Salci also indicated their budget for FY2007, which begins on July 1, 2006, is balanced. However, for FY2008 they are projecting at $28 million deficit due to various reasons such as deferred payments on Cross County, new rules on funding of employee pensions, and operations of the new lines. Salci indicated they plan to ask voters for another 1/4 cent sales tax just to break even.

Salci indicated the public will be “pleasantly surprise” by the completion date. The expected completion is around October but he said they are doing well on their schedule and that we’ll be seeing testing soon. Expect more news next month.

Donna Day elaborated on the Northside/Southside Study that her team is conducting. For the most part her talk was not much more than what we’d get from the study website. For a few months now we’ve been hearing talk of the team evaluating alternate routes to those that were considered the locally preferred routes back in 2000. Well, she showed these alternates for the first time. But, following the meeting, I was asked not to share what they were. Nothing would be gained by telling you now so I’ll just give you a hint.

One alternate to the Northside route was shown. It was, for the most part, a variation of the published route. On the Southside a couple of variations on the published route were shown in addition to a few completely different choices. The original 2000 routes as well as these alternates will be shown during a series of public meetings to be held next month:

Northside

Tuesday, June 13, 2006
5:00 p.m.-7:30 p.m.
Herbert Hoover Boys and Girls Club
2901 N. Grand
St. Louis, MO 63101
Presentations at 5:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

Downtown

Wednesday, June 14, 2006
3:30 p.m. -6:00 p.m.
Downtown St. Louis Partnership
906 Olive Street
St. Louis, MO 63101
Presentations at 4:00 p.m. and 5:15 p.m.

Southside

Thursday, June 15, 2006
5:00 p.m. -7:30 p.m.
Monsanto Center
Missouri Botanical Garden
4500 Shaw Blvd. (at Vandeventer)
St. Louis, MO 63110
Presentations at 5:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

If we look at our current MetroLink system, as well as the soon to open Cross County extension, we can see that it has only a few at-grade street crossings. The new line, in fact, goes to great lengths to avoid any intersections. So it is no wonder East-West Gateway is taking a safe approach to suggesting the new proposed routes run in-street. That is, they are suggesting “reserved” lanes rather than mixed traffic. Physically this would look like a median down the middle of the street with poles for the overhead wires.

The implications are that crossing the street by foot, bike or car would only be possible at major intersections. The pros, they argue, is as a regional system the travel times are simply too high in a “mixed-traffic” system. At issue is how new systems are funded, they must show the new line will provide a time savings for commuters. So, the modern streetcar system I’ve advocated here before can provide excellent localized service but cannot compete with car travel from the suburbs. So, all we need to do is get Congress to change how they fund new transit systems…

– Steve

Forest Park Lease Review Committee To Meet Wednesday & Friday

Did anyone else catch this in the Board of Aldermen calendar?

05/17/2006
Title: Forest Park Lease Review Committee
Meeting Type: Committee Meeting
Sponsor: Board Alderman
Time: 1:00pm – 2:00pm
Location :Room 234
Message: To be announced.

Room 234 is not a readily accessible conference room. Known as the Congressional room, it is accessed through the Citizen’s Service Bureau offices numbered 234 and located in the NW corner of the 2nd floor of City Hall. The same committee also looks to be scheduled for Friday at 11am, same location.

This is presumably the four aldermen selected by Mayor Slay to review the terms of the deal to lease 12 acres of Forest Park to BJC for the next 90 years. From MayorSlay.com:

As the general plan now heads to the Board of Aldermen for its consideration, I have asked four senior aldermen – Lyda Krewson; Freeman Bosley, Sr.; Fred Wessels; and Steve Conway – to look over the financial details and report back to me. If they believe the City should get more money, we will ask for more.

So if you are interested in the BJC/Forest Park issue I suggest you make a showing at these meetings.

– Steve