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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1988-01-11 CPC PacketZoning 6'a ) 19 (g) 06 Zone ater IF M INN E SO January 7, 1988 THE STILLWATER PLANNING COMMISSION WILL MEET ON MONDAY, JANUARY 11, 1988 AT 7 00 P M IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS OF CITY HALL, 216 NORTH FOURTH STREET AGENDA Approval of Minutes - December 14, 1987 PUBLIC HEARINGS 1 Case No SUP/88-1 - Special Use Permit for a wholesale/retail business located on the Northwest corner of County Road 5 and Wildpines Lane in the CA, General Commercial District Mike Weiss, Applicant i • 2 Case No SUP/V/88-2 - Special Use Permit for a Teen Center 1n an existing warehouse storage building and Variance request for parking at 1902 South Greeley Street in the Industrial Park -Industrial, IP-I District St Croix Valley Teen Center, Applicant • OTHER 1 Chairman's report on Council actions 2 Other business CITY HALL 216 NORTH FOURTH STILLWATER MINNESOTA 55082 PHONE 612 439 6121 • STILLWATER PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES Date December 14, 1987 Time 7 00 p m Members Present Gerald Fontaine, Dean Miller Judy Curtis Don Valsvik Chairman Mark Ehlenz Jean Jacobson Steve Russell, Comm Dev Director Members Absent Nancy Putz Jay Kimble Rob Hamlin Chairman Fontaine called the meeting to order - APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion by Jean Jacobson, seconded by Don Valsvik to approve the minutes of November 9, 1987 as submitted All in favor PUBLIC HEARINGS �ase No. SUP/87-51 - Special Use Permit for a strip commercial center including gas sales on property located at 1937 South Greeley Street This case has been continued to the January 11, 1988 meeting Case No V/87-57 - Variance request for permission to construct a duplex on a lot with less than 10,000 square feet at 628 West Olive Street in the Duplex District Washington Federal Savings Bank, Applicant Michael Steele, Loan Servicing Counselor for Washington Federal presented the application The request is for two variances density and front footage The existing structure would be removed and replaced with a new duplex Several area residents were in attendance and stated that other interested neighbors did not receive notice of the public hearing Mrs David Mariana, immediate neighbor to the East, stated that she feels the lot is too small for a duplex and expressed her opposition in general to having a duplex next door During discussion, the Commission expressed concern that approval may set a precedent for future variance requests for undersize •lots, and that no hardship has been shown by the applicant It was suggested that the applicant consider purchasing an additional 13 feet from the owner of the property directly to the west of the lot 1 Planning Commission Minutes December 14, 1987 Mark Ehlenz made a motion to deny the request for a variance, Dean Miller seconded Motion carried 5-0, Don Valsvik abstained Case No V/87-56 - Request for a one -foot six-inch variance to the front yard setback requirement for an existing structure located at 2020 Washington Avenue in the Industrial Park Commercial District IP-C 1501 Partnership, Applicant Greg Anderson, representative for the general contractor, and Charlie Anderson, 1501 Partnership presented the request The variance is being requested because of a mistake by the Contractor when locating the building on the lot Dean Miller made a motion to approve the request for a variance Mark Ehlenz seconded Approved 6-0 tw] Downtown Plan - The Commission discussed the Downtown Plan Conditions and Analysis Report and also discussed the Public Meeeting held on December 2 Middle River Watershed Management Plan - Steve Russell presented a summary of the Middle St Croix River Watershed, in particular its goals, objectives and policies The City will have to-- - develop a local management plan in the next six to nine months which is consistent with those goals and objectives Council Actions - Don Valsvik attended the City Council meeting for Chairman Fontaine, and reported that the Council approved all the items the Commission had recommended for approval NEW BUSINESS The terms of Don Valsvik, Gerald Fontaine and Dean Miller will be expiring in January Dean Miller will be retiring from the Commission Don Valsvik made a motion that a recommendation be made to the City Council to adopt a Resolution commending Dean Miller for his excellent service to the City Judy Curtis seconded All in favor Chairman Fontaine asked for recommendations for a replacement for Dean Miller on the Commission Four individuals were recommended, the names will be given to Mayor Abrahamson and he will contact the individuals Jean Jacobson made a motion to adjourn the meeting, Judy Curtis seconded All in favor Meeting adjourned at 8 20 p m • Submitted by Shelly Schaubach Recording Secretary f • PLANNING APPLICATION REVIEW CASE NO SUP/88-1 Planning Commission Meeting January 11, 1988 Project Location Corner of Highway #5 and Wildpines Lane Comprehensive Plan District Single Family Residential Zoning District CA Applicant's Name Michael Weiss Type of Application Special Use Permit Project Description Wholesale/retail business outlet in Commercial District DISCUSSION The application is for a wholesale/retail business The site is located in the General Commercial District The site plan shows adequate parking and meets the setback requirements A landscape plan is provided showing street trees along Wildpines Lane, evergreens to the rear (West) of the site and shrubs to screen the parking area Two signs are proposed on a free standing sign along Highway #5 and one over the building entrance The trash area is indicated as are light fixture locations A concern that was • expressed at a previous meeting was regarding hours of operation The concern was not so much for this use, but possible future uses of the site If this is a concern to the Commission, a condition of approval specifying hours of operation can be included in the approval RECOMMENDATION Approval with conditions 1 The lighting fixture type and height shall be approved by the Community Development Director 2 The trash area shall be screened by an enclosure made of similar materials as the building 3 The landscaping shall be completed before building occupancy 4 Any utility or road easements for Highway #5 or Wildpines Lane shall be provided ATTACHMENT Project Plans U • continued looking more serious and more formal than a residential building Towne Properties marketing depart ment decides upon this game plan and transfers the thoughts to the architects and landscapers Even at the early stages the signshop becomes involved as well for all elements will become entwined Our marketing department has to work together with the sign designer to convey the message that the signs should in fact present Bortz said Then its up to the creative sign peo ple to see what they can come up with that we can afford That responsibility falls upon the shoulders of Mike Meyer The first day he joined the family business the fine arts graduate was told to do whatever it took to keep the Towne Properties ac count at the Ray Meyer Sign Co As sales manager and account executive Meyer deals with other management com panies besides Towne The basic discus sions are the same but Towne has a unique way of taking each little subcon tractor and integrating things into the overall design With the other guys it s more like Design me a nice sign Indian Creek The first meeting is with a Towne marketing director typically preceded by a phone call The number of signs in question and the location of buildings are discussed along with basic design elements Color schemes and special touches may follow in a subsequent meeting Cost becomes a factor later and then the number of contacts branches out Discussions then move down stairs to construction managers in the building group Sales managers and con struction managers are likel% to be pre sent at on site meetings The trust fac for arises again in that Meyer sometimes can deal with the individual resident managers alone Such was the case when Meyer re designed a sign system for In dean Creek a substantial townhouse development which has existed for some 15 years While Bortz is pleased to have found a dependable sign company the Meyers have been exposed to the whole new world of marketing largely due to their association with Towne We never used the words marketing on premise upscale or sign systems until a couple years ago Mike Meyer said Mainly thev have torced us et in rnasaad pursue t111J1l� at we prob ablv wouldn t have like going to Atlan ta father Ray added It also reinforced the idea that a sandblasted sign is not supposed to look perfect It calmed our fears somewhat You can go to all the conventions and portfolio reviews you want but until you re actually standing in front of somebodv else sign I don t think %ou get the full impact of what somebody else is doing Mike said of his Atlanta trip Now Mike finds that he can return the favor Towne was recently without a marketing person for a couple months when the Meyers contact left Towne %et the two companies didn t have to suffer any delays on projects in the works The new marketing person Kathv Car michael was hired from a local grocer} store chain and will now target her of forts toward signage Mike Mever said and he s ready to help For Towne and the Meyers such teaching exemplifies their symbiotic relationship Similar communication will be vital when the Meyers begin doing sign work for Townes Dallas holdings a project continued 96 Signs of the Times I • PLANNING APPLICATION REVIEW CASE NO SUP/V/88-2 Planning Commission Meeting January 11, 1988 Project Location 1902 South Greeley Street (behind Knights of Columbus) Comprehensive Plan District Industrial Park Zoning District IP-I Applicant's Name St Croix Valley Teen Center Type of Application Special Use Permit for Teen Center Variance - Parking Project Description Request to convert 4,200 sq feet of an existing warehouse/storage building into recreation/assembly hall Discussion The application is to convert approximately 4,200 sq feet of existing 20,000 sq ft building into a Teen Center Tne 20,000 sq ft building currently contains offices, meeting hall and 10,000 sq ft of warehouse/storage An attached site plan, building floor plan and Teen Center master plan describes the proposal The site plan shows the building and parking area There are 37 improved parking spaces provided on the site and an overflow area, marked in blue, that could accommodate approximately an additional 12 spaces Based on the current building use, 4,300 sq ft office, meeting hall, with 225 capacity and 10,000 sq ft of storage area, 101 parking spaces are required With the overflow parking, 49 spaces are provided The Applicant has indicated that 17 spaces to the South of the property are available for building use at times Meeting hall activities are usually scheduled at night when other uses in the area are not operating to provide for parking demand The proposed 4,200 sq ft recreation/assembly hall has a capacity of 302 occupants requiring 101 Parking spaces The Applicant has obtained a letter agreement with UFE, the proposed property owner to the North, to use a portion of their parking lot containing 103 spaces for Teen Center use The Teen Center is proposed to operate regularly two nights per week (Friday and Saturday nights) between 6 30 and 12 00 for Senior and Junior High and 5-10 special events per year Other uses of the space proposed include Stillwater Youth Development one night per week and other Jaycee's activities The future programs for the meeting area may include daytime use for non-profit organizations The UFE parking is available only for Teen Center use Other use parking would have to be accommodated on site to the North of the building The Applicant has submitted a parking schedule (attached to the site plan) It • indicates the terms for use of the recreation/assembly hall for Teen Center and other activities The use is dependent on getting agreement from the surrounding property owners • Analysis The zoning regulations require a Special Use Permit for recreation uses in the IP-I District The request is to convert a warehouse/storage building to a more intensive use The storage building requires one parking spaces per 2,000 sq ft or two spaces The recreation/assembly use requires one space per three occupants or 101 spaces The existing 20,000 sq ft building does not have adequate parking for the existing use without using surround lots (37 spaces are provided on site, while 91 are needed) This number could be reduced to 75 because of the nature of the uses The proposed use relies on UFE parking The UFE parking area contains 103 spaces, adequate for Teen use The UFE letter agreement indicates that they can rescind the agreement at any time The parking requirements of the Zoning Ordinance require that, when required parking is located off site, it shall be in the same ownership or control either by deed or long term lease and which shall be recorded with Washington County so that the condition runs with the property The letter from UFE does not appear to meet the off -site parking provisions requiring a parking variance If UFE should decide to rescind the agreement, the use would not have parking and could not operate This would place the City and property owner in a difficult position Other areas for consideration include, parking lot security, lighting and signage, handicapped access, trash enclosure, Teen Center entrance improvements and drop off area • Additional lighting should be installed to adequately light the UFE parking lot and access road off of South Greeley A temporary sign will be placed on Greeley to direct drivers to the parking area and keep them out of the South parking area It is suggest_e�d a drop off area be provided next to the entrance to the Teen Center on the 0 Qth side of the building to provide safe access A construction plan for where and how the stairway access to the Teen Center from the parking lot should be provided to see how it aligns with the parking area Handicapped access is required to the building A trash area should be located or enclosed to screen it from the public view If the area marked in blue on the site plan is to be used for parking, it should be paved and lighting installed The plans have been submitted to the Fire, Police and Building Departments for comments at the Planning Commission meeting RECOMMENDATION Approval with following conditions 1 The Applicant shall obtain a long term recordable binding agreement for use of off -site parking or make other arrangements acceptable to the City 2 Handicapped access shall be provided as required by the State Building Code 3 Additional lighting shall be provided for UFE parking lot • 4 Trash enclosures shall be screened 5 A plan showing how the North Teen Center entrance to the building shall be submitted for approval by the Community Development Director 'N 6 A signage plan that directs Teen traffic to the North parking area shall be submitted for approval by the Community Development Director 7 The recreation/assembly hall shall only be used for Teen Center activities when the 103 UFE parking area are available No other use shall take place in the space unless agreement on the use can be reached by the City and adjacent property owners and organizations ATTACHMENTS Site Plan Floor Plan Teen Center Master Plan n U K L } T 20 Planning December 1987 • I Can Get It for You Retail The one thing constant about retail says consultant Jack Gould is change Our spot check of recent trends seems to bear him out t s Christmas in Julv announces the promo piece put out by Pittsburghs Showcase Outlet Center —suggesting that holiday sales have become a year round preoccupation By December the anxiety in shops that havent yet made their sales quota is palpable as it is in the halls of to cal and state governments counting on the sales tax revenues those Christmas sales • generate All of this suggests the extent to which retailing has become a dominant force in 40 the US economy —a situation that promises to continue Last month the Chicago based Real Estate Research Corpo ration announced that retail prospects are at the top of developers agendas for 1988— ahead of industrial and office development apartments and single family housing land development and hotels Obviously the stock market crash leaves all such projec tions in doubt but Richard Kateley the Real Estate Research vice president who pre pared the emerging trends report says he doubts that it will have a major impact on retail investment In general RERC sees fewer new re gional malls —but lots of remodeling of old ones —and much more segmentation that is specialty retailing At the lower end of the economic scale that means more appli ance superstores and off price outlets in high rent districts yet more designer bou tiques electronic gadget shops and gour met food And who will be doing the buying? The baby boomers of course RERCs report notes that in the early 1990s half of the na tions working population will be at the top of its earning power For many of these in dividuals shopping will be seen as a form of entertainment and for the others RERC suggests that home shopping (catalogs video) will provide an increasingly availa ble alternative By Ruth Eckdish Knack Bac', to lhL cit, Everyone including RERC seems to be bullish on the city as an understored rela tively untapped market And in the city — as in the suburbs —it s the commercial stnp that s getting the most attention According to the International Council of Shopping Centers 70 percent of the shopping centers built in the last three years —in both suburbs and cities —were stnp centers For all sorts of reasons the national chain retailers and the developers who provide space for them headed first for the suburbs The result a glut There s no place left to go in the suburbs they've been milked dry the real estate manager for the Volume Shoe Corporation operator of Payless shoe stores said recently Paviess has turned to the city along with Toys R Us Hallmark Cards and K Mart The chains are ready to come in says Steven Tercor codeveloper of a new strip center on Chicago north side But they're used to certain things in the suburbs — parking good signage security You have to give them those things if you re going to get them You also have to give them a promising neighborhood according to Real Estate Re search Corporations Cheryl Baxter who has done feasibility studies for cities seek ing to revamp old shopping streets Rarely does retail pave the way for a neighborhood upgrade she says Rather it follows change First come the housing rehabbers and gentrifiers the shops come after At the top of the economic scale carnage trade shopping streets have benefited from the proliferation of designer boutiques Witness Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills Worth Avenue in Palm Beach Las Olas Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale and Madison Avenue in New York Shopping has so taken over Chicago Oak Street that a landmark Art Deco movie theater the Esquire is 21 C lillottttt is t It%t t lIII —1111% It lilt it t f l7tt it tt ittullln, t I « (ht uulo mull I mooan s rt. fit it 1 rtuuttit t tit t hull t t t! 3oU() (1(1()l tt v its lot its Ilea / it 11111 llw Lilt fit hart un mort me,umullt It/ t it u I thr)natmt % it It rt tau t lit tnr))lnm Shut put undo tiubltwllife toll But t lilt of hndt(tnuul 11 t till/ mulls t thn nut % lit u llilt n,o,ubtnlit III ut%iti I III 11% to`tt I tttr nett ores being turned into a three level mall As the chains move in —and often to cally owned stores move out —traffic con gestion and parking pressures almost inevitably increase As a result planners in many communities are now expending less effort in luring retail and more in figuring out ways to control its negative impacts Los Angeles planners have stirred up considerable controversy by recommend ing that mini malls —defined locally as shopping centers of less than 65 000 square feet —be considered conditional uses in the zoning code An interim ordinance to that effect was passed by the city council this summer and senior city planner David Lessley says his department is now work ing on permanent regulations According to a Grubb & Ellis survey some 400 mini malls have been built in the Los Angeles area since 1980 Under the conditional use procedure the city reviews the architectural drawings and landscape and site plans for each new cen ter In addition the law as now written limits parking to the rear of the mall or an underground garage —Builders -have -pro tested that rear parking is inconvenient and increases the risk of crime Apparently the mini mall ordinance has become a political issue as well with pres • sure for it coming from slow growth advo cates led by city councilman Zev Yaroslaysky a likely opponent to Mavor Tom Bradley in 1989 Lessley says some kinks still need to be worked out including a definition of mini mall that will prevent owners from simply calling their centers something else Elsewhere planners have focused on slowing down the replacement of local bus finesses by franchise outlets San Francisco sets limits on the number of chain stores al lowed in neighborhood commercial dis tracts and Seattle has a cap on fast food restaurants in certain areas Models of sorts are the zoning by the numbers approach taken by New York in limiting certain nonretail uses in the Fifth Avenue special district and the adult business restrictions in force in many communities (although defending them in court is another matter) Protecting industrial areas is a preoccu patron of planners in a number of cities where retailing has made strong inroads Chicago forinstance is talking about add ing a protected manufacturing district to the zoning map It would apply primarily to Clybourn Avenue the location of many va cant or underused factories and ware houses The issue came to a head over a recent proposal for a 250 000 square foot spe cialty shopping mall that the developers say 22 Planning December 1987 would provide 1 000 new lobf It would re •quire a rezoning from industrial to corn mercial which deputy planning commis sioner David Mosena says the city was re luctant to grant although the factory owners were eager to sell —at double the price per square foot that they would get for industrial uses Last month the developers and the city worked out a compromise In return for the rezoning thev would build a new factory building a mile away and then line up in dustr►al tenants to fill it • • Redoing 01L Old In contrast to the heated up interest in city centers the investment glamour of the big outlying regional malls is fading Rather than building from scratch owners are con centrating on remodeling and expansion For every mall constructed in the U S to day says the International Council of Shop ping Centers five or six are being renovated We probably wont be doing regional malls for some time if ever again says Cathy Lickteig public affairs director for the Rouse Company which although known for its festival marketplaces actually started out as a conventional shopping center developer The trick now says Lickteig is to maintain and remerchandise Renovation often means intensification as one consultant puts it —enclosing an open mall or adding a second level Most of the rehab targets are suburban —the Rouse Companys renovation of a Woodbridge New Jersey mall for instance or the re cently completed renewal of the 40 year old shopping center in the new town of Park Forest Illinois There local officials issued $5 2 million in tax increment financing bonds to help underwrite the renovation and filed suit against Marshall Fields to prevent the department store from break ing its lease Now 10 years after it declared bankruptcy the center owned by the firm of former U S Housing and Urban De velopment official Robert Embry seems to be on its way back Silver Spi ui, Sometimes critics complain local eager ness to attract retail development results in ill conceived projects that threaten to de stroy the places they were supposed to save That s the argument of a coalition of civic groups called Citizens To Preserve Old Silver Spring which has been fighting a developers plan to tear down part of the downtown in this Washington suburb in Montgomery County Maryland The scheme involves an eight acre mixed use l►1wt tutf(tlIsupint St muuptnnflucltit 1%Mist alist I t Ill nit ill Ill 311% 1 )plrn lilt) tland has slut d urto ulr till a Its tanlpa1,11 u�uurst fill NILI I ott fit In Ivan lot 1polts I SI Its alt Ili hand lop 1 1h11 t (Plot/ loll, imppto mull totm taut Ili %it%utill S to trttt rut I Ind Uflta btuldin IS c 11I"pill, hntI fllt tit 1tlop 1 IS 11 ItIIt )Imnn tf 1n"amulrolls "lilt tilt. M1.1111 tf IS fun f Id Iti1n IS I Spnmrbl 101 J uI DIt o S I1n1 fnn PI t it I tut I Ifi17a11Ists of I tt to 111t loss of SttuIll 1111101It h1111Inr's liltlndfir ont. oil llotttlnrt)It Cntlt,Sirad d pot Nott%oflnup +t11 lit' superblock which would include a three and a half level retail center —all on the site of Silver Spring s 49 year old Art Deco shopping center and theater Developer Lloyd Moore is supported by the elected county executive Sidney Kramer who has proposed raising the ce►l ing on the number of jobs allowed in the county s annual growth policy He contends that the additional traffic could be handled through a traffic management district But that contention is disputed by such vocal opponents as Patricia Singer a local resident who helped organize a larger group the Silver Spnng Takoma Traffic Coalition to point out the problems the new development would create We say Silver Spnng needs more retail but not a re g►onal mall says Singer Meanwhile Moore contends that the offices are needed to support the retail Last month in a four to three vote the county council paved the way for the Moore project by revising its policy to allow 11 250 more jobs and 500 more housing units Meanwhile the county s planning staff is studv►ng the likely impact of the additional jobs Planning board chairman Norman Christeller had recommended earlier that fewer add►t►onal)obs be allowed Whether the buildings deserve to be saved is another issue Richard Striner president of the Art Deco Society of Wash ►ngton DC says the structures are mile stones in motor age commercial architecture But the president of the local American Institute of Architects chapter asked What s worth preserving here? My eyes don t see it It% hc.rL tl1L action is In St Louis Indianapolis Cleveland —in city after city we re seeing the results of our new service economy which has given us a solid consumer base of downtown office workers It s the one good thing the Japa nese have done for us by taking away our industry says Jack Gould —with more than a touch of irony His firm HSG/Gould a subsidiary of economic consultants Ham mer Siler George does market research and *�AL y, � - Q7.1 / CPOSS SAVE � OLD 1 i1 *^o��PR11VG c FSEFiVE 01.0 The new sir rp cutters lit crh lit i;hbol hoods are tal rns oil a dntincth stftrfirba n cast Below Little Pla_a now tlrldcr t.on.tf fiction In Chicago 4 F mom_ _ _ The new downtown disti ryas h ed It drsnngurshed /urea,e S nrcludurg the Pio%rdence ^� trcade hreare � ltur 1525 T/rere a other eranrples in Cleieland �3 � _ Dnr ton and litluatrkee �— ,� �" where the Plaid twos U tude hrrurs port of the s� Gjanamd kuruc tilurppnri, v -UffilsN5itiN 23 feasibility studies for retailers and de velopers lust about everywhere in the country except the West Coast On his list of bright spots Minneapolis where a million square feet of retail are planned as part of a new mixed use com plea on Nicollet Mall Lexington Kentuck,, where upscale specialty stores fill an en closed mall and Jacksonville Florida where he took part in a recent series of charettes organized by the downtown de velopment authority (see Visiting Fire men rMav) 'The one thing constant about retail Gould adds is change —suggesting that we should be careful about predictions But one prediction is irresistible That every downtown will have one festival market place (Jacksonvilles opened this summer) and one enclosed shopping center Cleveland s version of the enclosed mall the two level glass vaulted Galleria at Eneview is just a month old Its site is a plaza designed in the 1960s to complement an adjacent office building Over the years the plaza became less and less popular the galleria with some 70 shops and restaur ants with a European flavor is likely to be a crowd pleaser although whether malls like this will attract nighttime crowds is al ways a question Other cities are pinning their hopes on re tail as a component of mixed use com plexes The Columbus (Ohio) City Center scheduled to open in 1989 will include four department stores An even larger project underway in Indianapolis benefited from some $ 150 million in public funding for underground parking utilities and street improvements And Lincoln Nebraska had such success with its Centrum project that its now going to a second phase Cumc its The goal almost everywhere is to come up with a tourist attraction like Chicagos Wa ter Tower Place mall which packs two department stores and about 100 specialty shops and restaurants into an eight level atrium New York has something similar —but far less successful —in Herald Center It has suffered from its rather unfashionable loca tion on Herald Square and from its associ ation with Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos who are part owners This summer the half empty center was in foreclosure Meanwhile another vertical mall has been announced for nearby Greeley Square this one a project of shopping center giant Mel vin Simon and Associates of Indianapolis developer of the thriving mall in downtown St Louis Also making a comeback of sorts is the 24 Planning December 1987 0 is The nILhe market Retail consultants like to talk about finding niches —unserved markets Here are some that look most promising • Bread and circuses The West Edmon ton Alberta megamall—which combines a shopping mall with a full scale amuse ment park —continues to flourish This year its owners the Triple Five Corpora tion break ground on an even bigger ver sion in Bloomington Minnesota lust outside Minneapolis twice as big and even more circus like Studies show that people stay three times as long in a mall with amusements says West Edmontons vice freestanding downtown department store whose fortunes seemed to hit bottom a cou pie of years ago when Hudsons closed Its store in downtown Detroit Now in Chicago Marshall Field and Company has announced a S 110 million renovation of Its Loop store designed by Daniel H Burn ham at the turn of the century The five year project will carve an 11 story glassed in atrium out of the center of the store and add up to a million square feet of new space in cluding a lower level food court And in Philadelphia department store president of leasing Last year the mall em fans are breathing easier after initial wor ploved 17 000 people and took in a whop vies about the fate of the John Wanamaker ping $560 million store —also a Burnham design —which has Triple Five is now looking for a site for been sold to a California real estate devel number three And rumor has it that the oper The new owner is the same one who Walt Disney Company is scouting locations recently sa-, ed the Lit Brothers store (now for its own version of a shopping both offices and retail) so Wanamakers entertainment combination seems safe Copycats should remember though that In a clear sign of the importance placed some earlier variations on this theme failed on retailing in general and department miserably including the Omni in Atlanta stores in particular the Minnesota state and Old Chicago just outside Chicago legislature went into special session in More likely bets are retail malls that in June to pass a tough anti takeover law clude a limited number of diversions such aimed at protecting the Minneapohs based as food courts and movie theaters Dayton Hudson stores which employ • Festive retail George Sternlieb has some 34 000 people in Minnesota Former pointed out that to the baby boomers state planning director and now finance weaned on shopping centers downtowns commissioner Tom Triplett helped work look good The boomers are the natural out the legislation clientele for the growing number of spe More typically help comes in the form of cialty retail centers many of them in one zoning bonuses and tax breaks —as it did in of a kind locations like the Bourse in Chicago where a development group in the Philadelphia and the old breweries in Mil North Loop was given a $32 million subsidy waukee for a mixed use project with a retail mall For the last decade since the opening of across the street from Marshall Fields— Faneuil Hall Marketplace in Boston festive and then reneged on its promise to save a retailing has been identified most often historic building Edward Lawrence ex with the Rouse Company and although the ecutive director of a nonprofit civic group firm has been moving into other areas re called Friends of Downtown cautions that cently it s still opening new marketplaces developers should not be given carte Miami s Bayside last April and in June Jack blanche Lawrences group has also been sonville Landing the firms first project in trying to get the city planning commission a smaller city On the drawing board is a to consider retail facilities as amenities revamping of Underground Atlanta deserving of density bonuses (now given as • Unserved markets Bloomingdale s a inatter of course for plazas and arcades) seems to have had the right idea in opening its two Bloomies Express shops at JFK In ternational Airport in New York Other retailers are expected to follow suit • Mixed Use Historian Howard Gillette notes in an article in the Journal of the American Planning Association that the earli est shopping centers were integral parts of planned communities The trend toward urban mixed use projects might once again head us in that direction Everyone is doing it —including Rouse which is now working on mixed use prof ects in Baltimore (the Gallery at Harbor place) and Seattle (Westlake Center) The Seattle project has long and controversial history that saw the city losing a suit f„ j_ r,, it, ill r it tit 1 it )))rrr( `11I J Nrr ! Ir ul 111 rrr lit ( III Ii liti),r,l l,)r r )II q lrll !, I I M I I — )to r I it ur )Ilia ) r ur /nl !I a r)rl )r rr nu I r ))III ' fr)! ! tr) ) r n !r 7)rr)r! % )rrr ! r7 rl ill )tnnr ) r r rill m I r) ) , Inn, )m r It Inn ! (1 )rir Ir l I I ) I ) It ! M 71 Irs 'Jusr Ww_ WA144NO AfWUND IS, MINIAMPFi r&V511ej. JrJAW-Le L L. YcU EN:6F WHAT — iw erew.eso 4 LOF4,40ara FfV. \Nt- O GHer T1S.Arfcrs 1 KNOW I VS GEEN 11 WWCF evr wmam t AN MY FUL FIND pIWW lop n— brought by property owners who objected to condemnation for the purpose of build ing retail Rouse has also broken ground for what Cathy Lickteig says is probably its biggest project to date —a multiple office building and retail complex in downtown Phoenix • Bargains The factory outlet craze has turned at least two former manufacturing towns —Reading Pennsylvania and Freeport Maine —into shopping meccas Reading draws some six million visitors a year and Freeport has added over 70 out lets to the L L Bean catalog store that started it all On a smaller scale other places are doing just as well The Blue Ridge Outlet Center in Martinsburg West Virginia has 23 shops in two restored factories and the Factory Outlet Centre in Kenosha Wisconsin pulls in 10 000 shoppers a day An old piano fac tory in St Charles Illinois converted with the help of $8 million in tax tree industrial revenue bonds now rates as a top money maker But nothing matches the size and success of the Potomac Mills outlet mall in Prince William County Virginia billed by its owners as the world s largest discount shop ping center Over 10 million people have crowded in since it opened last year —some of them to see the Elvis Presley museum but most to shop at the almost 200 outlets County officials credit the mall with cre ating some 3 500 jobs raising over $10 4 million in taxes • Auto malls Auto dealers have learned what shoe stores learned a long time ago says planner Bruce Heckman that more is good Having two or three retailers side by side creates a synergy that often translates into sales —and an unbelievable tax re source for the local community Fittingly enough for an automobile related trend this one started in Southern California where there are numerous examples —built or in process Clearly the idea is traveling Trader Bud a Columbus Ohio auto dealer announced plans earlier this fall for a mall with up to eight dealer i ships for a site just outside the city e The newest auto mall wrinkle is the car care mall filling the gap left by the closing t of full service gas stations Service malls are f being built in Kansas City and St Louis o The challenge for planners in all this says Heckman is to draw up appropriate t performance controls and to identify ap b propnate sites Typically local planners un a derestimate the amount of land needed _ %%orris of -,% ndom A former public planner and consultant Heckman is now director of planning for 25 the Taubman Company in Bloomfield Hills Michigan builder and operator ofshopping� centers all over the country Although generally sanguine about retail strength Heckman cautions that the heated up mar ket cant be expected to continue forever Were reaching a point at which the market will begin to readjust itself he says In the process there will be some failures the re sult in his view of not accurateb, documenting the market beforehand That s � here planners come in For thev re the ones who do the checking out using such figures as those provided b� the Census of Retail Trade which breaks down sales data for various types of retail active ties in various locations (In the future some of this information free the last time around will be available from the Census Bureau onlv for a fee But with the facts lined up —and if the community can show a strong market and a potential funding assistance program — then says Heckman chances are good that just the right retail project can be secured We too prefer to work in places where the city has done its homework says the Rouse Company s Cathy Lickteig What cities like Milwaukee Baltimore and Jacksonville — all festival market sites —have in common • is that they got a group of local leaders to gether thev mapped out what thev wanted to do and then got their permits and financ ing in place But asked how much shopping is enough —is too much —even the optimistic Heckman agrees that we are in fact reach ing some limits I think planners need to sharpen their focus on what is really needed in their community And they have to weigh the desire to provide goods and services for local residents with the fiscal benefits of importing customers For some the limit might have been reached when Chicagos planning commis sioner opposed landmark status for an ar chitecturally significant church on the ground that it would have a limiting effect on the development boom on North Mich gan Avenue For others the signal is an mpty mall like Market House Square in Raleigh North Carolina which according o the iVew York Times has attracted more ast food outlets than boutiques Only half f its 53 retail spaces are leased But then even a grouch remembers all hosejobs and all that glitter —it is Decem er after all —and prospects begin to look lot brighter Ruth Knack is senior editor of Planning Sandra Martin contributed to this story is