RAP-->Costs? Benefits?

[thelakelander]

A mobility fee would be a great start.

[Kay]

Stephen, you are preaching to the choir when you say that R/A needs to put streetcars back in; the very element that made it grow in the first place. 

Automobiles were rich men's toys when most of Riverside was built.  Accommodating automobiles here is really difficult and high intensity commercial uses in what were originally very low intensity, local (walking distance) commercial uses puts an even greater burden on the surrounding residential areas.  High intensity commercial uses just aren't compatible with all of the old commercial areas in R/A.  It takes conversion areas like the Publix Plaza and 1661 to deal with those uses.

It's a really tough problem.  We all like the amenities that our neighborhood provides, but don't like the auto centric problems that result from their popularity.  People blocking my driveway are going to make me hostile and I am far from being sensitive about cars parked in front of my house.  Loud horseplay, radio music and door slamming at 3AM aren't real happy making either.  But I sure can't blame them for wanting to enjoy the same places I do.  Can't shout, "Southsiders go home!"  I admire their taste.

Transit, even if we have to start with St. Augustine tourist type trams, is absolutely the best answer and simply must come if we are not to choke on parked cars.  Fixed rail streetcars put back where they were in the first place is the best solution by far.  I hate having to break out the car to go the the Shoppes of Avondale or Fairfax.

But how do we force the solutions to start?  I don't have any answers either.  Start a Riverside/Avondale Transit Authority on our own maybe?  JTA sure isn't helping with any solutions.

Well you also have a basic problem in as much as the RAP traffic and parking committee is chaired by a person who has personal distaste for transit.

The person has professional credentials, and so RAP at least tried to make good decisions--but the individual is demonstrably mistaken regarding the underlying problems.

Perhaps rethinking the committee would be a good start.

I'm chairing RAP's transportation committee.  And I don't have a personal distaste for transit.  It doesn't help when people post on this board bashing RAP but don't know what is really going on.  I'm pretty sick of it.  For example, no one to my knowledge at a staff or board level has said one word on this forum about Mellow Mushroom, yet RAP is being denigrated for what exactly?   

[L.P. Hovercraft]

It's a really tough problem.  We all like the amenities that our neighborhood provides, but don't like the auto centric problems that result from their popularity.  People blocking my driveway are going to make me hostile and I am far from being sensitive about cars parked in front of my house.  Loud horseplay, radio music and door slamming at 3AM aren't real happy making either.  But I sure can't blame them for wanting to enjoy the same places I do.  Can't shout, "Southsiders go home!"  I admire their taste.

Transit, even if we have to start with St. Augustine tourist type trams, is absolutely the best answer and simply must come if we are not to choke on parked cars.  Fixed rail streetcars put back where they were in the first place is the best solution by far.  I hate having to break out the car to go the the Shoppes of Avondale or Fairfax.

But how do we force the solutions to start?  I don't have any answers either.  Start a Riverside/Avondale Transit Authority on our own maybe?  JTA sure isn't helping with any solutions.

+1

Lakelander beat me to it--isn't this what the now-moribund mobility fee was supposed to accomplish?  Place a fee (or tax, though I know that's a dirty word in some quarters) on new businesses opening up in the neighborhood that could be used towards transportation solutions, i.e. a new business opening in the neighborhood (like Mellow Mushroom for example) seeking to profit from that old Riverside/Avondale razzle dazzle has to pay their fair share into a pot that could be used to build or maintain a streetcar line, bike lanes, etc.  Sounds like a good and fair plan to me and one that could also alleviate some of the growing pains of a thriving community from both a business and residential stand point.

[Kaiser Soze]

I'm chairing RAP's transportation committee.  And I don't have a personal distaste for transit.  It doesn't help when people post on this board bashing RAP but don't know what is really going on.  I'm pretty sick of it.  For example, no one to my knowledge at a staff or board level has said one word on this forum about Mellow Mushroom, yet RAP is being denigrated for what exactly?

How about Kickbacks?  To say that RAP is not inserting itself on various matters regarding the parking issue is false.  And to say that people on this board do not know what's going on is also false.

[Dog Walker]

Stephen,  the individual you are talking about, not Kay, uses a bicycle as his major means of transportation and puts it on the front of JTA buses when he goes downtown.  He is the Chair of the Mayor's Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Committee and a member of Bike Jacksonville.

I think you may have misinterpreted comments about JTA and the Skyway to indicate distaste for transit in general.

Kaiser,

RAP is not "anti-business", quite the contrary.  What they are is "pro-neighborhood" and very concerned with the impact that mass parking in residential neighborhoods has on every residents quality of life.  They are working hard with the business people to help business grow and succeed without destroying the peace of people living near them.

They could very easily sued the City and had the Kickbacks exemption overturned.  They have some very high-powered and capable attorneys on their board and getting zoning exemptions overturned in court is not difficult.  Instead they chose to work with the owners of Kickbacks to come to a compromise that worked and protects the neighbors as much as possible from adverse impact.

[Kaiser Soze]

getting zoning exemptions overturned in court is not difficult. 

Really?

[Kay]

Stephen, you don't speak for me and what you've written about my thoughts on transit are total bullshit.

[Ocklawaha]

Welcome aboard RAP, let's build a streetcar line! Ready, willing and able to help, let's make this a reality AGAIN!

[Dog Walker]

getting zoning exemptions overturned in court is not difficult. 

Really?

Yes, really.  Ask any land use attorney.  It is especially true when the exemption was granted by an appointed board and not voted on by the elected representatives as was the case with Kickbacks.

[Kaiser Soze]

getting zoning exemptions overturned in court is not difficult. 

Really?

Yes, really.  Ask any land use attorney.  It is especially true when the exemption was granted by an appointed board and not voted on by the elected representatives as was the case with Kickbacks.

Whoever told you that is full of crap.  And I have a pretty solid understanding of land use law.

[Debbie Thompson]

Love the streetcar route.  Would so totally benefit all the historic neighborhoods, even San Marco, as the Skyway would hook up with it.  And the trip would be so cool, people would love riding it.  Springfield, Brooklyn, Riverside AND Avondale would benefit from the route. 

[Kaiser Soze]

RAP is not "anti-business", quite the contrary.  What they are is "pro-neighborhood" and very concerned with the impact that mass parking in residential neighborhoods has on every residents quality of life.  They are working hard with the business people to help business grow and succeed without destroying the peace of people living near them.

Everyone that moves into Avondale understands that it is a mixed use area (or they should).  It is not a purely residential neighborhood.  If you want a pure residential neighborhood, move to Ortega or Ortega Forest.

As for RAP, if we wanted to be part of a damn HOA, we would have moved somewhere out in the burbs.  Unfortunately, folks like yourself and Kay think RAP speaks for all of us.  Its does not.  It speaks for a minority of RA's residents.  Stop using your historic preservation platform as a bully pulpit to regulate all things under the sun. Its not the purpose for which RAP was created.  Regrettably, too many council members think RAP speaks with the voice of our neighborhood. 

[Dog Walker]

Maybe you should move out of the historic district then, say Ortega Forest.  Mixed use is wonderful and why most of us have moved here.  Doesn't mean that ALL uses are appropriate.

[Kaiser Soze]

Maybe you should move out of the historic district then, say Ortega Forest.  Mixed use is wonderful and why most of us have moved here.  Doesn't mean that ALL uses are appropriate.

So, its RAP's job to determine what is appropriate???

Again, if I wanted to live in a purely residential neighborhood, I would have bought in Ortega Forest.  Instead, I wanted to live in a mixed use neighborhood.  It does not bother me that Kickback's or Mellow Mushroom want to expand or start something new.  I was aware that that may happen when I purchased my home.

[mtraininjax]

Kay think RAP speaks for all of us.

Wow, talk about a lightening rod.