Planning St. Louis Style: Mrs. Heitert Likes KFC
Yes folks, it seems Alderman Fred Heitert (R-12th Ward) has a vision for the not-so-old 7-11 put out of business by the new mega QuikTrip: a Kentucky Fried Chicken. At a recent neighborhood meeting Ald. Heitert told the residents, many of whom opposed the QT on the basis it would leave a vacant 7-11, that his wife enjoys KFC and it takes him 20 minutes to drive to the nearest KFC and bring her back some extra crispy.
The picture here is the tanks being removed from the now shuttered 7-11 store with the sprawling QT in the background. The 7-11 was hardly urban but it was relatively small. The QT, however, overwhelms the area. And despite more than ample room, not a single street tree was planted between the sidewalk and curb. Yes, at last night’s Preservation Board some of the discussion over an 8-car parking lot for a condo project centered around the importance of… you guessed it… street trees! So, the tiny 4-condo developer is required to have street trees at the appropriate intervals but QT is not.
Welcome to St. Louis Planning 101: First, welcome any new development because that will help disguise the fact you actually have no clue about creating a vision for the area. Second, ignore valid concerns about market saturation especially when it involves an auto-centric project. Third, have a backup plan if people were right about killing off an existing building — fast food is a good substitute for a failed gas station and a gas station is a good substitute for a failed fast food chain. No matter what you do, don’t place any demands on the developer or they may leave. Street trees? Who needs those….
I was so thrilled to learn yesterday that Heitert is being challenged for the aldermanic seat he has held for nearly 28 years. I’m not endorsing Matt Browning just yet, I need to see if anyone else files for the position before making a decision. But I’ve already concluded that Mr. Heitert has had plenty of time at City Hall. Someone get this man a gold watch and a bucket of KFC, then show him to the door.
Please tell me you are kidding about a KFC. I will personally drive Heitert’s wife to the KFC on Grand and Gravois every time she gets a hankerin’ for some greasy chicken if he promises not to pursue a freaking fast food joint at this site. I knew it was only a matter of time before that 7-11 went down, but man, we can do much better than a KFC. This part of Gravois has tremendous potential. A KFC would steal the soul.
A KFC?
Meaning, a fast food restaurant right next door to the singularly awesome Apollonia restaurant…
To walk around in that immediate neighborhood has been a treat because you can smell the Mediterranean food wafting through the air…which will soon be overpowered by the scintillating scent of boiling grease.
And all becuase an alderman doesn’t want to have to drive 20 minutes to get his wife some fried chicken?
Just brilliant…. “let them eat cake.”
To me the really sad thing about this QT project is that we lost one or two bungalows on Loughborough for it.
C’mon fella SouthSiders, good ol’ KFC must be good fer us! Da ol’ Colonel needs our help anywaz. PETA haz been givin’ the ol’ man trouble over its slaughterhouse stuff, claimin’ torture. I reckon dem dar PETA people are a little confused… wez all know dat the ol’ Colonel iz not from sand country.
Yepem, wez all need a little mo’ grease in our diet and thank da lord we got a smart leader to get us mo’! Hopefully those ol’ tanks will be used as deep friers!
Soundz like Alderwife iz our kissin’ cousin, just like der rest of us. Itz so wunderful to live in ol’ Lou.
There is no question Heitert, like so much of the power structure in St. Louis has to go. There was an article in last Wednesdays New York Times about a new piazza (public square) for Rockville Maryland.
City officials elsewhere in America seem to be “getting itâ€. There is an understanding that cities need to be designed for people again and not for cars.
The Rockville Maryland project is “modeled after Italian piazzas†They razed a bankrupt 25 year old retail mall and an adjacent strip mall to build the project. It is mixed used with residences and shops overlooking a town square with a fountain as part of their new downtown. A Mr. Chambers was quoted in the article saying that in the past “we created a place that everyone had to drive to, and once they got there, they had to stay indoors. Now we’re using the experience of the last thousand years.â€
It is a novel concept for the leadership in St. Louis to utilize the knowledge gained over thousands of years of city building. After all they know so much more than both the citizens of today and all of human history. Just look at the broad and brilliant vision Mr. Heitert exhibits in his desire to bring another KFC to our community. What a great project for Mr. Heiterts legacy. He shouldn’t try so hard.
The lack of leadership that has presented the region with 50 years of decline is still hard at, screwing things up. This and other blogs monitoring what is going on can hardly keep up with the idiotic actions that pass for decision making in this town.
Yeah, I’m sure the Alderman single handidly convinced KFC to build there. Be serious. Are you sure KFC didn’t contact the developer first?
His wife wants chicken?
Maybe he should pass and ordinance allowing chickens in the backyard.
Then she can cook her own.
Better than a KFC.
Once again, there’s “vision” and there’s reality. Could there be a difference (and a diversity in) in opinion of just what this neighborhood wants and/or should be? Could it be that Ald. Heitert’s vision, while not PC, actually represents the vision of the majority of his constituents? Could it be that it’s hard to argue for traditional “urban” architecture when what’s being replaced has already set a precedent for autocentric design? Could it be that there are no urban design standards in place, so imposing them now (at the last minute) could be both difficult and/or construed as a “takings”? Bottom line, fighting this battle on a parcel-by-parcel basis isn’t going to win the war. Private property owners do have rights, including the right to develop and redevelop their properties using our existing rules and regulations. If we have a different and/or a better vision for St. Louis, we need to take a much larger view, create a consensus, rewrite our planning and zoning codes to reflect this new paradigm, and provide an understandable and level playing field for all property owners. Will this take a change in leadership? Probably. But until that happens, we’re going to have to work within (and live with) the existing flawed constraints . . .
Unless they’re taking the scenic route on side streets, the Heiterts already live within 10 minutes of a KFC, not 20 minutes. Of course, the Shrewsbury or South County KFC could be 20 minutes from the 12th ward, instead of the much closer Grand and Gravois location. So then, I wonder if the alderman and his wife living in the one pocket of the City left with virtually no resident minority population are just too “afraid” to drive “down there,” and instead drive out to the County for their fast-food fix. Cynically, I’d rather have “scared” folks move out of the City than turn South City into South County.
^Brian, what do you mean by no resident minorities in the 12th? What minority are you talking about, skin color, race, ethnicity? There are lots of Eastern European muslims (Bosnia, Crotia, Roma) in this neck of the woods. Albanians are growing in numbers as well. Check out Appollonia and the Arbor restaurants on Gravois, both Albanian owned/operated.
Things change. As the older people who traditionally settled here move on, people from all over the region and world are buying homes and changing the face of Holly Hills, Boulevard Heights and the other neighborhoods in the 12th. The mean age of residents here seems to be lowering as well.
^Well, for that matter, there are many European ethnic “minorities” in South County too. But obviously, most of St. Louis remains caught up in prejudices colored by race, not ethnicity.
But I have to commend the Heiterts for bringing more low-wage jobs to the 12th ward. A KFC could continue to diversify this mostly single-family neighborhood’s workforce, even if its residents remain of the European variety. While latter-generational European-ethnic teens of the neighborhood know the right people to work at Southwest City mom’n’pops, I can just see immigrants and people of color getting to work our City’s newest grease traps. Perhaps I’m stereotyping, but I have not yet seen a fast-food chain in Southwest City actually have a similar demographic behind the counter as there is stuffing their faces. In fact, I have always seen a very stark contrast.
UGH!
I live around the corner from the 7-11, that block has several empty storefronts. And last year they cleaned up the front of several of the buildings. Couldn’t we build off of the success of Apollonia Restaurant (by the way great Gyros and burgers) and get a little Grove type block? Why do we have to “chain link” (my new term for the linking of national chains) our urban area?
I would rather see an empty lot than some fast food place. We need a Hartford Coffee in that area.
Obviously there are a significant amount of residents that want to see some change in this intersection. If you have read the South Side Journal Article concerning the partisan race in the 12th Ward, you may have noticed my concerns with that intersection myself. Also, I wanted to mention that I may have been misquoted a little. The article said I thought the intersection was ripe for redevelopement. I do not mean to level it and begin from scratch. I was more interested with rehabilitation of the area and obviously what to do with the old 7-11. If a restaurant is what the residents want, I would suggest something a little more on the upper end of the scale than KFC. As the only Democratic Candidate in the 12th Ward Race, I would be very interested in your thoughts as to what would be best for that particular piece of property, but also any ideas on how we can, for a better term at this time, “Spruce” the place up. Gravois should get the help and planning that other areas in the city receive. I personally haven’t seen any change on Gravois since the time I was a child, nor did I ever hear of any plan of the area. Please contact me if you have any comments you would like me to know concerning this issue, or any other issue concerning the ward. I would also like to know what the residents of the ward would like to do with Windsor School. It’s depressing to see it in its’ present condition, especially because that’s where I started kindergarten.
Jim Pree / Democratice Nominee for 12th Ward Alderman
attorneypree@aol.com
p.s. I should have my website finished by the end of the week and will be having a meet and greet in the next few weeks.
Last evening at a neighborhood meeting Mr. Heitert spoke about this property, yet did not mention KFC. He did say the owner of the property was looking for a tenant, but has not found one yet. The owner, who I can not remember, mentioned a used car lot but Mr. Heitert told them that was unacceptable. He is looking out for the neighborhood as to what will go in there. Right now, it looks like crap and something of value needs to go there. I believe he did say though, that they are not looking to sell the property, but lease it, which could limit our options. This are definitely needs some help.
One week before the primary election in Saint Louis and Mr. Heitert’s Republican opponent did not bother to show up for the local Neighborhood Association meeting. Nor did his Democratic opponent. There will be no meeting between now and the general election in April. Why do these gentlemen not show up? Shrewsbury and Reed both made appearence and spoke to anyone there willing to lend an ear. Even the senator from Jefferson City sent a representative to speak on his behalf.
Also, Don’t be so negative. you have so much to saw, and can be so influential to some, but you should focus more on the future, not the past.