Is Riverside/Avondale Ready For Mellow Mushroom?

[Know Growth]

Yeah this is hilarious. 

like that word Hilarious
Glad to see it so commonly employed

[JeffreyS]

Certainly the residents of Riverside should have known it was an urban core neighborhood when they moved there. If they want suburban style parking we have all the Oakleafs, Julington Creeks and Nocatees a sprawlville parker could dream of.  I lived in Riverside a few times, own a buisness in Murry Hill and basically am around often, I haven't ever had to park more than 2 or 3 blocks away while visiting the shoppes is the parking there really worth talking about.  Quiet gated communities abound in Jax metro Riverside is not and hasn't been one of them. 

[thelakelander]

Are you okay? 

Hopefully, this isn't what Valentino is having to put up with when he's looking at dropping $1-$2 million on site that has been an eyesore for years.

Since when  does asking price and all of the assumptions driving such merit justice,reality ?

It has recently dawned on me that the chair I sat in for  haircuts for many years ( diverse community retail need!) has been replaced by the Towne Bar.

Casablanca sold out for a ton of $.
which = overhead for subsequent business plan,buyers,tenants.

only a certain 'business plan' ,assumptions could meet  escalting overhead, which apparently calls for 'franchise' and vastly expanded seating.

Seating = Parking.      ( Bicycle racks a ruse....reminds me of " Conservation/  wetland belt undeveloped lands during Beltway proceedings)

Ortega Boatyard/ Landing just down the street  is ready example of were this may go.
COJ Planning Department Parking element was an acknowledged joke.
The whle thing exploded, origional purchase price paid by speculators,which forced more reasonable ( in fact local, such as Bronson Lamb III ) buyers to stand back, was finally absorbed through bank foreclosure during the past months. Something on the order of 15 Million negative.

The better question would be, why crucify perspective business owners who also live in the neighborhood for things that are beyond the extents of their projects and zoning applications?  If there is a problem with the zoning overlay, then why not address it?

It has recently dawned on me that the chair I sat in for  haircuts for many years ( diverse community retail need!) has been replaced by the Towne Bar.

Retailers change over time as people retire, die, or move on to other things.  Btw, new chairs have opened up at the new barbershop at the intersection of St Johns and Talbot.

[Know Growth]

Certainly the residents of Riverside should have known it was an urban core neighborhood when they moved there. If they want suburban style parking we have all the Oakleafs, Julington Creeks and Nocatees a sprawlville parker could dream of.  I lived in Riverside a few times, own a buisness in Murry Hill and basically am around often, I haven't ever had to park more than 2 or 3 blocks away while visiting the shoppes is the parking there really worth talking about.  Quiet gated communities abound in Jax metro Riverside is not and hasn't been one of them.

.....and "Avondale" ?

[Know Growth]

Are you okay? 

Hopefully, this isn't what Valentino is having to put up with when he's looking at dropping $1-$2 million on site that has

The better question would be, why crucify perspective business owners who also live in the neighborhood for things that are beyond the extents of their projects and zoning applications?  If there is a problem with the zoning overlay, then why not address it?

what does living in the neighborhood have anything to do with it??
Reinhold lives in the Beltway neighborhood..... A point that empowered the Beltway Boosters.

How low energy most of this is.


Retailers change over time as people retire, die, or move on to other things.  Btw, new chairs have opened up at the new barbershop at the intersection of St Johns and Talbot.

[JeffreyS]

Certainly the residents of Riverside should have known it was an urban core neighborhood when they moved there. If they want suburban style parking we have all the Oakleafs, Julington Creeks and Nocatees a sprawlville parker could dream of.  I lived in Riverside a few times, own a buisness in Murry Hill and basically am around often, I haven't ever had to park more than 2 or 3 blocks away while visiting the shoppes is the parking there really worth talking about.  Quiet gated communities abound in Jax metro Riverside is not and hasn't been one of them.

.....and "Avondale" ?

Is a pocket of Riverside that is a bit more vibrant than riverside as a whole.

[thelakelander]

Know Growth, I'm puzzled by your comment.  My simple question is what is the big deal about a new business opening up in an existing retail space that has been commercial use since 1922, especially if the use is allowed by the overlay most in the community support? 

It be one thing if we were talking about commercial intrusion into an existing single family residential area but this isn't the case.  I also don't know what the Outer Beltway has to do with this either?

[mtraininjax]

Hopefully, this isn't what Valentino is having to put up with when he's looking at dropping $1-$2 million on site that has been an eyesore for years.

The meeting at the Gracer's church was quite entertaining from what several RAP board members told me. Most of the grumpy-guses were folks opposed to change. It breeds fear and that was on display at the meeting.

The difference between the way John approached his situation and that of Steve's is that John approached RAP and Love and parties before announcing, Steve went head on like a bull in a china shop. Right or wrong, they have their advantages and weaknesses.

[stephendare]

North Miami, your posting has become both pedantic and boring, mitigated only by the contradictions inherent in your cagey positions.

On the one hand you spend five years passionately trying to blacken the personal names of every developer who wants to develop natural wilderness in between Jacksonville and orange park.

There is only one alternative to this kind of sprawl, and that is densification of the municipal lands that have already been developed and returning to walk able, dense communities.

However whenever that begins happening, you then spend all of your time trying to undermine personally and collectively any sentiment which works toward that goal.

So please.  For the sake of consistency, if not in amend your habit of lashing out at the other side, could you tell us which of your two completely oppositional campaigns you would like to be for.

That way you can spend your time undermining and insinuating corruption more effectively.

At the very least it will create less cognitive dissonance.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

...pedantic and boring...

I highly doubt you were, but if you were referencing 'Family Guy', it's "shallow and pedantic".   

[stephendare]

...pedantic and boring...

I highly doubt you were, but if you were referencing 'Family Guy', it's "shallow and pedantic".   

Lol I wasn't.  I rarely use 'pedantic' in a sentence, it's one of my favorite words, right up there with 'lugubrious' ---that one only gets to use every now and then.

[Kickbackssteve]

Mtrain, I respectfully disagree with your characterization of how we approached our development.  We worked with the city, RAP and Jim Love for months before our project ever became public.  We also participated in a meeting very similar to the one at grace church way back at the beginning.  We approached RAP so early in the process, in fact, that we only had  the floor plans for the ground level finished.  I'm sure that even though not everyone agreed with our plans, Jim, Carmen, Kay and Laura will agree that "a bull in a china shop" couldn't be further from the truth.   

[Gonzo]

...one of my favorite words, right up there with 'lugubrious' ---that one only gets to use every now and then.

Now that, my friend, is a word! Not the cheeriest word in the English language considering the meaning, but a great word, none-the-less.

[Tonyinchicago]

My attorney has sent me a copy of an application for an "exception" that the City Planning Commission is considering.  Some group wants to put a bar/resturant where the clock shop used to be.  Based on the diagram in the application it appears to seat 106 people, mostly on the outside patio. 
 
We don't believe that the application supports approval because it does not meet the requirements for "exception" based on parking and saftey concerns.

If you consider the parking problem we already have, plus the proposed Mellow Musroom and the West End Cantina which will eventually re-open as some type of restaurant, it will get much worse.

[thelakelander]

Is the clock shop a contributing building?  If so, what do they need an exception for (I assume serving alcohol or something?)?

If it is not a contributing building, what can the building ever be used for that would not require parking since it is pretty much boxed in?