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. _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:mpls@;mnforum.org Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
