Comment of the Day
An occasional feature, NAP debuts "Comment of the Day."
Here is a comment that a reader left:
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I gotta be honest. For me, the problem's not crime, it's not the food, it's not the cars.
It's location, location, location!
Go look at the lot where they want to build this thing. It's too small for what they want to put there. I can see why neighbors are railing against it, and if more people would go take a look, they'd get it, too.
I'm all for nostalgia, but let's put it in the right spot. Look up Central avenue, toward 30th. That is where a drive in should go. NOT rammed onto a tiny corner for convenience's sake.
I am pleased to hear that the planning group at the City has the foresight to see the problem with the proposed site. Development shouldn't go in because it CAN...it should go in because it WORKS for and ENRICHES the area in the present AS WELL AS the future. Let's look down the road.
(And yes...I'm fine with the fact that there will be CARS on that road in the future.)
posted by Neighbors Against Porky's @ 6:23 PM
8 Comments:
Hear, hear!
Hot-rodders looking for a place to meet up should look at the plans for the building and the parking lot - there is less parking than at the St. Paul Porky's, and only a few seats inside. This building is clearly designed to function best as a drive-thru.
I drove by the site this afternoon because I had to see for myself what the big deal was. Now that I've seen it, I see what people mean about it being really small. And looking up Central, I think that sort of a business would look weird with the surrounding area. That actually is bordering on the section of Central that is "main-streetish." That BK is just down from there, but at that point the buildings are more backed away from the street.
I'm sorry to say it, because I'd love to see a great drive in go in NE, but I don't think it works. You have my support!
For those who haven't made the effort to actually check out the site of the proposed Porky's, here's some perspective.
The site is approximately 14,000 square feet. A regulation football field is 30 yards across and 100 yards long or 27,000 square feet. So the site is about half the size of the football field or awfully small for a restaurant with a drive-through.
The size of the site would seemingly be a problem for the restaurant, not the neighborhood. They have to sell more onion rings per square foot of land, while occupying the tiniest bit of the neighborhood.
Fortunately, everyone, (even opponents like NAP) is working from the assumption that this will be a successful business.
This parcel, as anonymous points out, borders the "mainstreet" section. It is NOT in the mainstreet section. There's a big parking lot across the street to the north and a car wash across the street to the west.
By city zoning, this site is actually two blocks from the mainstreet section of Central Ave.
The size of the site being inappropriate for the business is not just a problem for the business...it is a problem for the neighborhood as well. Poorly planned businesses do not help our neighborhood.
The lot has been vacant for many years. I'm willing to wait for the right plan. This is NOT it!
Please explain how this is a poorly-planned business.
All the negative impacts you infer/fear arise ONLY if the business is successful. If the business fails, the 8 parking spots will be unused, there will be no cars mowing down aged pedestrians, and no trash since there's no food sold.
Let's be clear: the Porky's site is outside the Pedestrian Overlay District (POD), not outside the Mainstreet zone - that extends to 18th Street. Also, the car wash is on the next block to the south.
Just because the site is not in the POD doesn't mean it should be auto-intensive. People walk outside POD's all the time. Directly across Central is an original main-street style, pedestrian friendly building. Kitty-corner to the Northwest and Southwest (at least on the corner)are the same thing. The rest of the block is pedestrian-oriented development. The police station and the high-rise are the only anomolies adjacent to this property.
We deserve better than a property that looks back to the auto-intensive devlopment of the 50's for it's inspiration. Let's look forward and plan for the future in every redevelopment project.
NICE NEIGHBORS...YOU SOUND LIKE THE ANTI CHILD ANTI CATHOLIC CROWD OVER ON THE ISLAND, PHILLIS KAHN HELPING YOU OUT?
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