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I own a former gas station, former oil-change place, and former tire shop on
West Broadway Ave.; all west of Penn av. Each of these sites has ample
amenities to facilitate the type of business each was in for over fifty
years. Other then a deteriorating streetscape, and loss of general business
vitality, not much around them has changed in fifty years, either. Not much
has changed, except one thing. Mpls. Zoning no longer allows these buildings
to be utilized for what they were built.
Imagine how many brake shops, carburetor shops, muffler shops, tune-up shops
and general auto repair shops exist on Lake St. in south Mpls? West Broadway,
the main commercial corridor of the Northwest Quadrant of our city, has one
muffler shop(Midas), one used tire shop, and one (very small) general auto
repair shop. General income levels being moderate in the area, there are a
lot of older vehicles not under warranty, to be maintained, around here.
We have no franchised oil change, tune up, tire, or brake shops. And we have
no muffler competition for Midas (to keep them honest). Isn't it reasonable
to expect the "Avenue with the most potential", West Broadway, to appear
attractive to these types of retail business's in the future? Where will the
new entrants locate? We need more C-2 Zoning.
There does exist two modern, and vacant, auto related sites at Hawthorne
Crossings. Hawthorne Crossing is a newer, suburban style shopping center at
West Broadway/Dupont. I wish to see those spaces full with "type A" auto
service. I also wish to see the next ten new auto service business's have a
chance to locate on our avenue, when they wish to do so. Where will they be
located; while my automotive buildings are sidelined, and my neighborhood
goes under served?
To further inform you; the used tire shop and Midas Muffler sit on a block
scheduled for redevelopment as higher density assisted-living w/retail
amenities. It is highly unlikely (not planed) that Midas or Rusty's will
survive that redevelopment in their current locations. If they both happen to
move up the avenue to the two Hawthorne Crossings sites (my money bets
against) then whoopee, they will still be around. But where will the next
five or six new shops locate themselves?
I get calls, calls, calls, from detail shops, rim shops, auto repair and
other small business people who would like to operate in my excellent spaces.
People in the neighborhood and beyond, who would like to start small
business's, and serve my neighborhood. They want to stake a claim, spruce up,
reduce crime, and add vitality and choices to West Broadway. They want to
startup in buildings that were built for people like them. Buildings that sit
empty.
These buildings, or just the sites, may one day have a higher use as
mixed-use developments spring up with tone-y shops, restaurants, and low rise
apartments. But NOW we must let them do what they were built to do and do
best.
Mpls. does not allow an "Interim-Use" with, perhaps, a sunset provision (3-7
years). No, Valvoline space can no longer change oil behind it's roll-up
doors, while customers wait on tiled floor. It must remain empty until
something much more profound occurs. Why- or rather, why not?
RT, did you ask us to think out of the box to solve some urban ills? I now
ask you to do so. West Broadway does not fit in a box. Must our
infrastructure waste away while we wait for DT to put us in a box?
In the bad old days of the last regime, I believed Jackie C. perceived West
Broadway as a garden. The Garden Of Urban Renewal- may have been her
perception of our Avenue. Kill the weeds, clear whole square blocks. Not with
eminent domain, nobody need get paid to move. Allow an unsafe street and
Moratoriums against new business; a downward spiral like a whirlwind will
ensue. Five years, ten years, whatever it takes; shoppers exit, business
exits, buildings tax-forfeit to the City for $1/a whack. Tear them down and
build Hawthorne Crossings II, and then III. And with TIF $$$ of course.
(George Sherman did HC I. on a TIF and a Prayer of thanx to Jackie and Joe)
We are all a little poorer now. Our City cannot waste other people's
property/$$$ as much as it used to do. We cannot and should not allow
infrastructure to rot for lack of interim uses, and an "Interim-use Zoning"
provision in our Zoning Code. Let us establish "Interim-Use Zoning". Also let
us have adequate siting for auto servicing on Huge West Broadway; C-2
Automotive-only would be a helpful designation.
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