Alderwoman Florida To Discuss Proposed McDonald’s

I recently commented on the land swap that would mean the construction of a new McDonald’s fast-food franchise on the site of the former Sears store on Grand at Winnebego. An upcoming conditional use hearing is reportedly to be held on the 16th but I have not been able to confirm the date, time and place.

However, I have received word that Ald. Florida will be fielding questions from the folks in Dutchtown:

As per the request of the DSCC Board of Directors, Alderwoman Jennifer Florida will meet with the DSCC Board of Directors and Commercial District Committee to discuss the McDonald’s on Monday, February 13, 2006 @ 4:30 PM @ Dutchtown South Community Corporation.

Sunshine Laws require this meeting be open to the public so be sure to attend if you have an interest in this project. The Dutchtown office is located at 4204 Virginia (@ Meramec), 63111 (map)

In short I feel the McDonald’s should not be allowed to build on the site. The fast food structure surrounded by parking and a drive-thru lane is an incompatible use in an urban environment. This section of Grand is becoming increasingly urban and has the potential to extend the feel of the area to the north. Allowing this former Sears site to become a low-use sprawl project is a careless use of resources that will make it increasingly difficult to finish the residential development directly behind the site.

But we are not alone in dealing with dreaded drive-thrus.

McSpotlight.org is a world-wide resource for fighting McDonald’s restaurants. Another great resource is No McDrive-Through!, a Toronto group that successfully prevented a McDonald’s drive-thru from being constructed in their pedestrian neighborhood.

– Steve

Sunshine Law & St. Aloysius

Today I made a formal written request to the City Counselor’s office for two documents related to St. Aloysius:

I had requested communications via fax or email because otherwise they send out letters in the snail mail. I received a reply back via fax indicating they’d get back to me by the 13th of the month.

I had requested any fees be waived as this was in the public interest. They denied my request to waive any costs. Yes, I’ll be getting an estimate of costs to produre two documents. By law they are allowed to charge up to 10¢ per page along with time to research the request. I’ll be curious to see how much time it takes them to research a current file.

I fully expect St. Aloysius to be on the agenda for the February 27, 2006 meeting of the Preservation Board, however, the items are not yet posted.

– Steve

Fate of St. Aloysius Receives National Attention

The future of the buildings at the former St. Aloysius Gonzaga is receiving national attention from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The issue was featured yesterday in the Trust’s Preservation Online website.

It is sad that we continue to raze quality urban buildings in favor of uninspired new construction. But the wrecking ball hasn’t struck yet so don’t be so sure it is going to happen.

Click here to read the Preservation Online story.

– Steve

Hearing on St. Aloysius Wednesday Morning

The Housing, Urban Design and Zoning committee of the St. Louis Board of Alderman is having a public meeting/hearing on Wednesday at 10am. St. Aloysius is among many items on the agenda. The bill before the committee is a bill for the redevelopment, not about tearing down the buildings (the bill already assumes that much).

Here is the info on the meeting:

01/25/2006

Meeting Type: Committee Meeting
Sponsor: Housing, Urban Development and Zoning
Time: 10:00am – 11:00am
Location:Kennedy Room (Room 208)
Message: B.B. #312 – Young, An ordinance to change the zoning of City Block
387.05.

B.B. #326 – Villa, An ordinance establishing a Planned Unit Development
District as the “Mississippi Bluffs Planned Unit Development District”.

B.B. #328 – Roddy, An ordinance establishing a Planned Development District
In City Block 3884 to be known as the “Park East Lofts”.

B.B. #354 – Hanrahan, An ordinance to change the zoning in City Block 4982.

B.B. #358 – Krewson, An ordinance establishing a Planned Unit for City Block
3894 to be known as “Lindell Condominiums”.

B.B. #361 – Vollmer, An ordinance establishing a Planned Unit for City Block
4054.11 to be known as “Magnolia Square Subdivision”.

B.B. #369 – Roddy, An ordinance approving a Redevelopment Plan for the
Cortex West Redevelopment Area.

SaveStAloysius.org Website Launched

The number of people advocating the adaptive reuse of the former St. Aloysius church, rectory and convent has been growing exponentially over the last month. To coordinate their efforts a new website domain has been registered — www.SaveStAloysius.org.

The new site has been set up with links to several sites including this one. Bookmark the site and look for more to come soon.

– Steve