What is a sign? What is an animated sign? What is an “indoors” sign? And what is an “outdoors” sign? When I look at the kinds of signs the planning commission will be deciding on this coming Monday, I have to wonder if they’re going to have to figure out what the meaning of “is” is.
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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. Four years ago, when we first learned that Walgreens had plans to locate in our neighborhood, we did an awful lot of research on how it would affect our neighborhood. Lest we forget, and because we have more vulnerable corners on James Street, I’ll reprint here what I wrote back then: Continue reading Editorial about Walgreens – August 28, 2005 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.
The proposed “monument sign” makes our gateway all about Walgreens instead: 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:
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. ” Although we were assured in 2005 that there would be no scrolling LED sign at the Walgreens that now graces the gateway to our “village,” this type of sign is likely to rear its ugly head again. If you care about what kind of “look and feel” our traditional village streetscape has, you may want to attend the public hearing (details below). From this, December 6, 2005…
…to this, March 29, 2007: I’m handing this posting over to Mike Stanton of the Preservation Association of Central New York. He sent me the following. Note the dates of construction. This was all going on while we were being told that Walgreens would not entertain building anything other than the standard suburban model we were fighting. We’re thrilled to see Walgreens has learned how to build for an urban environment. Mike writes: In 2004 Walgreens made a proposal to build their standard store at a busy Seattle intersection: a large, single-story, stand-alone building with surface parking. The neighborhood was appalled. What opened for business last month, to city-wide acclaim, was a far cry from Walgreens original proposal. The five-story Broadway Crossings, the first of its kind in the country, is a joint project between Walgreens and Capital Hill Housing. There is a 12,000-square-foot Walgreens store on the first floor, two levels of underground parking below and 44 subsidized housing units in the four stories above. Nine of the units are designated for households transitioning from homelessness; 22 go to families making up to 30 percent of the county’s median income; 11 to those making up to 40 percent; and 11 to those making up to 60 percent. It is also a green building incorporating more than 50 sustainable features including windows and carpets that meet strict environmental standards. I watched a pretty shocking “20/20″ segment this evening. It showed the results of an error made by a teenage “pharmacy assistant” in a Walgreens in Florida. A mother of three was given ten times the amount of medication she should have had which resulted in a stroke and and end to her chemotherapy. . . . → Read More: Who will fill your prescription at Walgreens? |
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