A gas station used to be there

Lonnie November 25th, 2009

“A gas station used to be there.” This is true of the corner of James and Midler. A gas station used to be on approximately every corner in Eastwood, based on some comments I heard at TNT Monday night. And that might have been true. But saying “a gas station used to be there” as justification for a new one being put in at the same location is like saying “An oil city used to be there” as justification for putting in even bigger, taller, brighter oil tanks at the northern entrance to Syracuse. Just because we used to do it doesn’t mean that it necessarily is or is not a good idea. Let’s debate this one on its own merits, not the merits of a period of cheap, plentiful oil, now fast waning. Continue Reading »

The city isn’t just a business

Lonnie October 29th, 2009

Sent to the Walkable Eastwood email group and reposted here with the permission of the author:

For the last few days I’ve been staring at this sign on the Steak and Sundae, trying to understand what’s really being said.  Mr. Kimatian is a Republican and a former broadcast executive at Chanel 3 TV.  At the primary mayoral debate, in part sponsored by Walkable Eastwood, Mr. Kimatian made it clear he would run the City as a business.  I think that is an important point and I definitively agree.  Over the 30 plus years I’ve called Syracuse my home the City of Syracuse has been operated as a disconnected series of fiefdoms with one part of the City not caring about the others.  The political system has always promoted one part of the City at the expense of the others. Continue Reading »

Ideas from other cities for next mayor

Lonnie October 20th, 2009

I posted the following over two years ago, but the ideas are good ones that the next mayor would do well to look at. They’re concerning how to deal with property owners who allow their business-district buildings to rot and bring down the values of all our properties.
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James Street is our main business district. It has a number of really super businesses on it. What happens there affects all of us, as residents, as business owners, as property owners. Those who allow their vacant buildings or lots on James St. to remain in their present ugly condition are affecting your property values. It’s time the Common Council acted more decisively to get owners to fix up these properties or sell them to someone who will develop them within the James Street Overlay District Zoning Standards.

While searching the web for what other cities are doing about vacant buildings , I came across a website simply titled “AMCBO Member Call Summary.” (AMCBO is the Association of Major City/County Building Officials.) It appears to be a summary of a meeting that took place in 2005. It’s worth a thorough read. Below I’ve pasted the ideas I found most appealing: Continue Reading »

They didn’t pave paradise

Lonnie July 1st, 2009

Anyone crazy enough to read all these posts knows I grew up in Manlius, so walkability was normal for me. My dear ol’ dad was a member of the Village Board for quite some time and I recall fights back in the ’60’s when he and others were trying to prevent the village from tearing down its historic buildings. For the most part, they were successful. And if you walk around Manlius today, you’ll see that there’s still a “there” there. You’ll know, from the quaintly mid-century Sno-Top to the Swan Pond to the ancient Masonic Temple and the early 19th-century homes near the gazebo, that you are in no other place than Manlius, NY.

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A last-century response to a current problem

Lonnie June 10th, 2009

Sean Kirst recently wrote an article, The Dinosaur: More success by design, citing one of his previous articles, The Dinosaur, by design, that reinforces that idea that we have a prime example in our town of a business that works, despite all the ways people think it should not work. And that’s the Dinosaur, now the #1 barbecue in the country. And it’s working by design.

Sean said in 2005:

Sitting in the car Thursday, watching as men and women flowed in and out of the Dinosaur, it struck me that people go there because it offers something unique – and because it embraces, rather than fears, authentic city ambiance. The funny thing is, if the Dinosaur went by the Walgreens rules (referring to Walgreens “need” for suburban, big-box style development – ed.) , a true Syracuse phenomenon would probably dry up and close its doors.

Sean reminds us that many of our pre-conceived notions of what makes a business work just fall apart in the face of this reality: a restaurant putting out top-notch food that caters to a serious diversity of people can be a destination. It doesn’t need to demolish a building to be successful. It doesn’t need acres of blacktop in front of it. It doesn’t need to alter the streetscape. It fits right in with the city and people come from all over to be there. And they aren’t afraid, and they don’t complain about having to walk a few blocks from their parking spot to get there. (They gotta do something to burn off the calories they’re about to eat!) This is what a real city is about.

But, sadly, Mayor Driscoll is singing the old last-century tune that has ruined much of Syracuse (and the fabric of countless cities across the country): demolish, demolish, demolish. Pave paradise, put up another drug store, and…  you won’t know what city you’re in any more. And you certainly won’t have economic development, because your money will be siphoned off to the coffers of a big corporation in another state.

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again:

How difficult is that?

Keep up the good work Sean! We need you!

W.E. Co-hosts mayoral candidate forum

Lonnie June 9th, 2009

MEET THE CANDIDATES FOR MAYOR OF SYRACUSE

Join the discussion with mayoral candidates focusing on
“HOW DO WE BUILD A SUSTAINABLE, LIVABLE SYRACUSE THROUGH CITIZEN ENGAGEMENT AND PLANNING?”

Wednesday, June 17
6:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.: refreshments
6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.: program

SUNY Oswego Metro Center
Corner of N. Salina and W. Washington Streets  MAP

EVERYONE IS WELCOME

CANDIDATES FOR MAYOR – all agreed to attend:
Alfonso Davis, Carmen Harlow, Otis Jennings, Steven Kimatian, Stephanie Miner, Joe Nicoletti

Candidates will be asked to respond briefly to the following three questions, followed by an open forum.

QUESTIONS:
1) A key contributor to making a city sustainable and livable is good urban design and planning.  As mayor, what principles and policies will you use to ensure that the city of Syracuse will safeguard and strengthen the elements of good urban design it already has, add more wherever possible and make Syracuse the national model for sustainability?

2) Numerous documents containing plans for sustainable development of all or parts of our city, created by citizen groups or consultants, already exist at City Hall. James Street Overlay District Guidelines and a proposal for a Director of Sustainability are examples.  What will you do to recover, implement, and, most of all, enforce, what is still valuable in these documents?

3) Considering any future planning for a sustainable and livable city that might occur during your administration, how will you ensure that Syracuse residents will have ample opportunity to contribute, and that their opportunity to react and give input continues as those plans are carried out and enforced?

Sponsored by
WALKABLE EASTWOOD, GREENING USA,
URBAN DESIGN CENTER,  F.O.C.U.S. GREATER SYRACUSE

Walgreens will work with communities

Lonnie May 20th, 2009

Maybe it’s the developer who doesn’t want to work with the community. Look at these beautiful ways to have a Walgreens in your neighborhood!  Don’t think for a minute that they did this because these neighborhoods are somehow more special than Eastwood. These neighborhoods are special only because they have design guidelines that prevent them from looking un-special. Let’s get that horse before the cart!

New Orleans Walgreens

San Juan Walgreens

Key West Walgreens

Common Council meeting re: billboards

Lonnie May 19th, 2009

At last night’s planning commission meeting, reference was made to the electronic billboard that sits in Dewitt but “graces” the eastern entrance to Eastwood. It was used in an argument as a precedent for allowing the LED sign at Walgreens. Oh boy. Got that slippery-slope slidey feeling?

Continue Reading »

We’re supposed to knuckle under

Lonnie May 1st, 2009

Any of this sound familiar?

From debates heard in the United Kingdom’s House of Commons:

3 Feb 2009 : Column 194WH
…over Fowgay hall—admittedly, it was an unlovely property—on the site of which now stand 14 flats. It is a 0.17 acre plot, every inch of which has been built on, with the car park having to go underground. It is so out of kilter with the area that it beggars belief that it was approved on appeal. Builders wear down local communities by persistently reapplying. They make an application knowing that it will not be accepted. They then re-submit and re-submit, causing tremendous stress and worry in local communities, and in the end they slip in just under the bar. And that is the end of a happy residential area and, often, of its character.

We need properly planned communities. The Government should consider strengthening legislation to facilitate a much more holistic approach to our planning system. As my hon. Friend the Member for St. Ives said, local communities need a much greater say in decisions affecting the character of their area.

I have three suggestions that I hope the Government will consider. On the ability of developers to continue re-submitting applications, should we not have a “three strikes and you’re out” system to prevent the constant worry?

Mr. Hoyle: Two!

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What happened at April 27 PC meeting

Lonnie April 29th, 2009

This is what happened at the April 27, 2009 Planning Commission meeting:

1. The Planning Commission just barely had a quorum. However, they said that they would act on right then on the submission of the modified ground sign (even though they had not had sufficient time to review it since it was just handed in today) if the applicant wanted, (which they did). Then, however, the PC decided that because it had been just handed in, they had not had time to review it and suggested that they close the hearing on the “old” application and resubmit an amended application. As a result, another public hearing will be noticed to the public and held on May 18, 2009 at 6:00 PM.

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Walgreens sign survey results

Lonnie April 25th, 2009

Since March 30, 2009, I have been running a survey to gather public opinion on the Walgreens sign. Granted, “the public” is whoever views this site. But given that this site been mentioned on page 2 of the Sunday Post-Standard twice (now three times – 04/26/09), I think the public has had a good chance to weigh in.

So here are the results at a glance. The bold font is created by the survey software to indicate the choice getting the greatest number of votes.

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Letter from Councilor Stephanie Miner

Lonnie April 5th, 2009

Last week I contacted every mayoral candidate via whatever means the public at large might do so: their published email addresses or, when that was not available, their contact forms in their mayoral candidate websites. I asked them to comment on any of the posts on this website and/or join the Walkable Eastwood email group to talk to Eastwood residents directly. Only Stephanie Miner responded, and she did so quickly, joining the group, introducing herself, and sending the following letter to the 100+ residents in that group. It is the letter she sent to members of the planning commission (bolding mine):

I am writing to respectfully request that the Planning Commission does not grant a waiver for the proposed Walgreens sign on James Street in Eastwood.

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Just say no to Walgreens

Lonnie April 1st, 2009

Syracuse, we are not alone in our fight to maintain a sense of place in our neighborhoods. While Eastwood compromised its unique neighborhood feel to end up with another national chain in its business district, it is still fighting to keep that store from overwhelming the gateway to our community.

We are not Walgreens. We are Eastwood. Our overlay district guidelines were put in place to protect the one thing we can sell to potential investors in our neighborhood: a unique place called Eastwood. The look and feel of our neighborhood is our identity, it’s our “brand.” Fill James Street with national chains and we lose that identity.

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Who wins monumental competition?

Lonnie March 23rd, 2009

When people drive into Eastwood from downtown Syracuse, the first thing to greet them at the gateway to our “village” has been this, the Veterans’ Monument. It is in an area that is 50% residential. We finish our Memorial Day parade there, where we gather for speeches and silent contemplation.

Veterans monument with flags

The proposed “monument sign” makes our gateway all about Walgreens instead:

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A 10-minute primer

Lonnie March 23rd, 2009

If 100 people in Eastwood were to read this through – it takes less time than watching just the ads in “Dancing With the Stars” – and if each were to educate just one other person about the effect on Eastwood of the proposed Walgreens sign, then we’d have a great turn-out at the April 6 Planning Commission meeting. That’s when a decision will be made about what they want: a 10-foot LED stand-alone ground sign. It violates the overlay district guidelines in four ways: sign square footage, total number of signs, prohibition against ground signs, and prohibition against animated signs.

But here’s what you want to read first, an email reprinted here with permission from our neighbor and retired professor of architecture, Sig Snyder:

Continue Reading »

The sign they’ll be voting on April 6

Lonnie March 20th, 2009

There’s some confusion about the sign that the Planning Commission will be voting on come April 6. Here is my understanding of it (corrections, as always, are welcome in the comment section), as reported by a concerned citizen who visited the zoning office:

The overall dimensions of the proposed ground sign, including the two piers, is about 10 ft. high, by about 13 ft. wide, by 2.5 ft. deep.  The piers are 2.5 ft. square, and 10 ft. high.  The space between the piers is about 9 ft. wide, where there will be, I believe, a “Walgreens” sign, and the changeable electronic sign of about 8 ft. width.

Just how big is this, really? According to Common Councilor Kathleen Joy, “The entire sign would be about 100 sq ft. …The architect told me that it needs to be big enough to be seen over cars and the Veterans monument. ”

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How to design a walkable neighborhood

Lonnie March 16th, 2009

While looking around for examples that might instruct us on how development in Eastwood should be designed, I came across an excellent about.com article, Stop Sprawl: How to Design a Walkable Neighborhood. It’s a quick read but better than that, it has great photos illustrating the points made.

To better understand the options we have if the city’s comprehensive plan is taken into account when designing one of the corners of James and Midler, take a look at the following:

Continue Reading »

Kathleen Joy opens a blog

Lonnie April 26th, 2007

It takes courage to ask the hard questions when a mall developer promising the moon doesn’t seem to be able to agree to actually deliver it. It takes courage to change your name from one political campaign to the next. And it takes courage to be the first Common Councilor (as far as I know!) to start a blog. But Kathleen Joy, who we have known as Kathleen Callahan, has done all three. And you can expect more courage from her, I’m sure.

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Why do we want to keep that decrepit building?

Lonnie January 15th, 2007

That decrepit building, known as the “Steak & Sundae building,” hugs the northeast corner of James and Midler. And we want to keep it because it follows the guidelines a lot better than an empty lot. In Eastwood you need a plan before you can just tear a building down.

Below you can see an aerial view of the corner of James and Midler. The “Steak & Sundae” building is indicated by an asterisk: *. That building is inviting for people to walk into, as long as it’s maintained and occupied, of course. Most important, it holds the corner and its parking lot is mostly in the rear. “Urbanism starts with the location of the parking lot.”

Look at the southwest corner. This is where the Sports Center was (#3). It’s been a large, empty eyesore since it was demolished with no plan for redevelopment. The Dunkin Donuts is a suburban-style building in a sea of asphalt. It’s appropriate for spots just off the Interstates, not an urban neighborhood. The Byrne Dairy (#4) gives us asphalt instead of an interesting building at the corner. So with large expanses of asphalt on three corners, why would we want to complete this vile picture?

overviewjamesmidler.jpg

Key Bank, #1, doesn’t follow this guideline: “All buildings facing James Street shall be placed so that their facades are parallel to the street line of James Street.” It’s possible to have new buildings that follow the dictums of smart urban development.

Read this and be glad

Lonnie January 15th, 2007

Eastwood building stays
Post-Standard, January 9, 2007*The building at James Street and North Midler Avenue that houses the Steak & Sundae Restaurant cannot be torn down unless a suitable plan for the site is developed first, the Syracuse Planning Commission ruled Monday.In a 4-0 vote, the commission denied an application by Michael Muraco to demolish the building, put down gravel in its place and fence the lot. Muraco said in his application that there is no interest in the building from buyers or prospective tenants. The sole current tenant, the restaurant, is planning to move out.

Six Eastwood residents spoke against the demolition in a hearing before the vote. They said the building isn’t marketable because Muraco has let it run down. The residents said the building should either be rehabilitated or replaced, but that a fenced gravel lot was unacceptable. No residents spoke in favor of the plan.

This makes us at Walkable Eastwood very happy. The building, although in sorry condition, is better than yet another wasteland at that intersection. The building also technically complies with the Overlay District Guidelines in that it holds the corner and has entrances and transparency to the street.

Thank you, Planning Commissioners, for sticking to standards.

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