Lynndi Lockenour
The recent rezoning of Second Street in historic Frenchtowne has business owners worried that redevelopment will follow. Rory Riddler, president of the city council and member in charge of the district, says this is not the case. “Rezoning doesn’t mean redevelopment,” he said. “It means that the area went from being commercial-industrial zoned, to commercial-residential zoned property.”
Under the new zoning ordinance, all current businesses will be grandfathered in, with most properties on the north end of Second Street falling under the category of legal non-conforming properties. This means that the business currently in operation could close for up one year and any new business that takes its place would follow the same zoning distinctions as the business that left.
Riddler says the city takes a long view at what the change means for the area. “Rezoning in the city of St. Charles is a way of controlling the area throughout time so that eventually the districts all match one another,” he said.
Repeating it several times throughout the interview, Riddler says that the zoning change has nothing to do with the redevelopment. Developing an ECO Park on the riverside of Kathy Trail Park and the possibility of a river overlook are ideas being discussed as what Riddler calls redevelopment. “There is also money set aside to create a round about at the intersection of Third, Fourth and Tecumseh Streets,” he said. “It will bring a focal point to the area.”
Riddler wants to see the area grow and improve itself. He was one of many supporters of the Foundry Art Centre, established a year ago, and also helped to get them the money they needed. “I hope this brings more artsy businesses into the area,” Riddler said.
Riddler also had a hand in creating the Façade Improvement Grant which matches up to $12,500 in improvements a business owner makes to redo the front of their property.
As a result of wanting to make improvements, redevelopers have become interested in the area, specifically Griffey Company Home Builders. Though they have not submitted a development plan, Riddler says the company currently has a lawyer who is studying the area. “I’m not sure how long it will take them to get a plan ready,” he said. “They could walk away from the entire thing tomorrow if they wanted because nothing is set in stone.”
Riddler says he hopes the company continues to show interest in the area. “There is so much potential for the properties on Second Street and it means so much for the residential area nearby that doing nothing is not an option,” he said.
Riddler says he has given the company guidelines about staying away from old buildings and keeping their plans manageable. He says some business owners are upset about the possibility of rezoning, yet they would be eventually be willing to sell their properties. “Some of them are really irate upfront,” he said, “but if you talk to them, you find out they already have a price in mind to propose to the redevelopers.”
Business owner, Jim Wetter, says he can understand both sides of the debate. Wetter owns Moore Oil Company, which has been in business since 1932. For this reason, Wetter says he sympathizes with Second Street business owners who are worried about losing their businesses. “I’m in favor of cleaning up the area,” Wetter said, “but it’ll never be a South Main Street because too many of the building were built in the last 40 years and currently house businesses.”
Wetter organized a meeting May third to discuss the problem after hearing rumors from concerned business owners in the area. Tammy Lawing, president of the Historic Frenchtowne Association, was invited to the meeting to explain what the zoning ordinance change means for business owners.
At the meeting Lawing said she talked to business owners about the difference between redevelopment and zoning. “The zoning change doesn’t automatically mean a developer is coming into the area,” she said. “For redevelopment to occur, a plan would have to be submitted and we haven’t seen anything on paper yet.”
Wetter has made improvements to his business in the last year, which he said should constitute redevelopment. “If the work I’ve done on my place is considered redevelopment, then I think business owners should be willing to spruce up their area,” Wetter said, “especially since they can receive grants from the city to do so.”
Lawing said it is only natural for the city to want business owners to keep their places looking nice. “The city is making a financial investment in the area, so it follows that they would want business owners to make private investments to clean-up their properties,” she said.
Lawing said the reason many business owners are confused about the zoning change is because they chose not to be involved in the process. “I, as a member of the Historic Frenchtowne Association, would be more than happy to inform them of what’s going on if they want to know.”
Lawing said she hopes her discussion with the business owners was helpful, but fears that might not be the case. “Most of them had preconceived notions about what’s going on,” she said, “so I doubt they listened to anything I had to say.”
St. Charles has what Lawing calls an “Economic Enhancement Strategy Plan” which calls for all business owners on Second Street to eventually be under the same zoning laws. “Every business that currently exists will be grandfathered into existence within the new plan,” she said. “This means all current businesses will remain as long as they continue to do the types of work currently in progress.”
Dorothy Boshears, treasurer of the Historic Frenchtowne Association, spoke at the city council meeting in favor of the zoning change. “Frenchtowne has its own character and we want to bring positive attention to the area,” she said. The ordinance will not change any of the current business, so I’m not sure why the business owners are so upset.”
Ken Mathews, owner of Mathew’s Technological Services Inc., said he has plenty of reasons to be upset with the actions that have been taken. Though he said he feels there is definitely some dynamic to change the scenery, he said the process is wrong. “I would agree that there are some business owners on the street who need to redo their store fronts,” he said, “But taking our property away is not the way to do it.”
Mathews said he’s afraid to see a redeveloper move into the area. “I’m scared that it will turn in to a ‘make your deal or taste the blade’ situation,” he said.
Like several business owners, Mathews said he’s spent time improving his building since he first bought it. He said he was invited to move his business to the Second Street area by Dorothy Boshears and her husband. However, after the invitation, Mathews said he feels as though it was for nothing. “Why invite me out here if this organization [Historic Frenchtowne Association] was a rubber stamp on the document of plans which already exists to eliminate us?”
Mathews said no matter what happens, he and his wife intend to carry on with their business. “This is how we make our living,” he said. “But I guess we’ll all get to see what happens soon.
He said members of the association told him he should have attended the meetings if he wanted to be informed as to what was happening. “I own a business here and I think I should be notified more than the legal 10 days before something is suppose to happen.”
Mathews said there is inertia in the area to be dirty and rotten. “We’ve gone from being the funky north end people to prime real-estate that’s worth money,” he said.
Mathews is afraid of what may be around the corner. “I can’t be sure if they are going to sell us out to developers or actually work with us,” he said.
Another concerned business owner is Jerry Kelly. Having lived in St. Charles for 40 years, he owns four buildings on the street, with his main air-conditioning business located at 800 North Second Street.
Kelly said though the changes seem minor now, but he thinks there is something larger to come. “They say everything currently here will be grandfathered in, but expansion is another issue,” he explains. “If I want to make changes to my property, it’s possible someone will be able to stop me.”
Kelly said he thinks there is a rush to get the laws changed based on a similar situation the Supreme Court is currently set to hear involving rezoning and redevelopment in Virginia. “If the supreme court rules that all this is illegal, then we’ll all have ourselves in a pickle,” he said.
Kelly said he thinks there is more going on than the city is telling the business owners. “When someone is knocking on my door wanting to buy my property, then something is going on that they aren’t telling us,” he said.
Like Mathews, Kelly said members of the Historic Frenchtowne Association told him he should have attended more meetings and been involved. “My contribution comes in the form of a $40,000 a week payroll to my 38 employees,” he said. “It takes a lot of time to make that happen and there are only so many hours in the day.”
Doug Medley, owner of Frenchtowne Transmission, says he too is worried about the possibilities, which could emerge from the rezoning. “I’m afraid it’s going to affect my business,” he said. “I’m the sole source of income for my family and I have two young children at home to support.”
Medley fears his current consumer base will drop if he’s forced to move to another location. “People are only going to drive so far,” he said, “especially if they have a broken down car.”
