–Contact Your Elected Officials–
Please contact Ald. Marlene Davis, other Aldermen, Mayor Slay, and President of the Board of Aldermen Reed to inform them of your views on this issue.
–Media Coverage–
KMOV Channel 4 covered this issue with three stories, and you can view them here, here, here, and here.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch covered the issue, and you can view it here.
NextSTL recently wrote an article about this street closure and how the process for street closures needs to change, and you can view the piece here.
UrbanReviewSTL has written a few pieces on this issue, and you can view them here, here, and here.
–Community Response–
Since June 6, we have collected 284 signatures from residents, businesses, and property owners nearby. This includes 81 signatures from 82 units in Printers Lofts, which is the building that will be negatively affected the most by this closure.
Click/press here to view the signatures.
We have also collected 8 letters from various organizations that are against this closure including Paraquad and home owners associations.
Click/press here to view the letters.
Mills Properties, owners of the nearby City View Apartments, and Sovereign Partners, owners of the adjacent Dragon Trade building and nearby Butler Bros. building, have both expressed their opposition to this closure.
Counting DNA, this brings the total to 11 organizations locally and nationally against this closure.
Citizens also started an online petition yesterday evening to show even more support for saving 17th Street. You can sign it yourself at the link below.
–Our Stance–
We were alerted the week of May 23, 2016 to Board Bill 64 sponsored by Ald. Marlene Davis, which proposes to vacate 17th Street between Washington Avenue and St. Charles Street to pedestrians, cyclists, and vehicles.
The site plan we received (below) displays 7 parking spaces and a small dog amenity for tenants of the adjacent Monogram Building in place of 17th Street.
After consulting nearby residents and small businesses, our Planning & Zoning Committee recommended the DNA Board oppose this action due to the following concerns:
- Will create a “super-block” from 16th to 18th between Washington and St. Charles
- Will negatively impact traffic flow of pedestrians and vehicles from residential buildings and small businesses in the surrounding area
- Will restrict access to Washington Avenue from Printers Lofts, Blu City Spaces, one of the City View buildings, and the future residential buildings of Dragon Trading and Butler Brothers
- A greater negative impact will be felt by people with mobility issues
- A greater negative impact will be felt by the Printer’s Lofts’ commercial space at the corner of 17th Street and St. Charles Street making it extremely difficult to attract businesses to this location as it will become blocked off, see picture below looking south on 17th Street from Washington Avenue
- Will make it more difficult for people to access the restaurant and retail corridor of Washington Avenue causing a negative impact on current and potential businesses
- Will reduce the amount of people on the street in the area, which will lessen the neighborhood’s ability to prevent crime nearby
- This will negatively affect the safety of everyone in the area
- The City of St. Louis P.I.E.R. Plan to address crime calls for opening pathways and streets for pedestrians and vehicles to prevent criminal activity
- Will give away our citizens’ street/land for free to a private landowner
- This land was valued at approximately $360,000 by local real estate brokers based on recent sale prices near this location
The DNA Board reviewed these items and has voted to oppose this action and encourage the City of St. Louis Board of Aldermen to consider the concerns of the people living and working near this street and leave it as an open, public right of way. Ald. Davis was notified of our opposition, and we testified against the bill during the Streets, Traffic, and Refuse Committee hearing on June 1, 2016.