How to fit a gas station into LaVilla

[Jax_Developer]

Straight foolishness! I had already personally looked up every Daily's locations in town to identify year developed, parcel size, number of fueling positions, fuel truck access, number of off-street parking spaces, number of ingress/egress points and c-store square footage prior to the meeting. I'm pretty sure the Council reps, DIA staff and DDRB members working on behalf of the community and downtown had not done that level of homework.

The meeting also started off with the applicant asking the DDRB and DIA staff in attendance if they could think of one restaurant in LaVilla. No one could (we have a freaking Whole Foods going up within walking distance), so this was used as an argument to build a position of how this would be a major destination and draw for downtown, encouraging additional development to flock to the area. As a person in the crowd, all you can do is shake your head around the lack to knowledge and understanding of people controlling the future of a community they know very little about.

An hour later, when the public was allowed to speak, I offered to take everyone on a real tour of LaVilla and named at least three restaurants (one, Jenkins BBQ, has been in various areas of the community since the 1960s) that we could stop by for lunch.

I generally don't attend these day time meetings in person, as I have a living to make. However, this one was important enough for me to be there in person as the chair of the LaVilla Heritage Trail and Gateway Committee and knowing the trust that people who are normally overlooked and ignored, have in me to look out for their best interest.

My observation is that these meetings are structurally flawed from a good design and community engagement perspective. The way these meetings are set up, if DDRB members aren't skilled enough in those technical areas to immediately question some of the BS, the BS is accepted and generally used as "truths" to build momentum to justify deviations to allow for substandard design.

I will say that I was pleasantly surprised and pleased when most DDRB members stuck to their guns about the need to vet through the technical issues and getting the true LaVilla community involved directly on these site planning decisions (as opposed to getting a mural which is taken as a slap in the face to people). However, I do feel that if there was not 100% opposition during public comment to approving a substandard product, we'd quickly end up with a suburban shell station at this location.

I wanted to go but got held up in a meeting. I completely share your frustration with the "workshops" around town and it really has felt in the past, when I have gone, like a hurdle that just needs to be jumped. I feel like this project is wrong on so many levels. I'd actually be okay with a compact gas station at this site, but on 1.5 acres or so DT just seems like land speculation for the ownership group. I maintain that no national gas company could get away with this approval. Only Daily's and Gate if they wanted (but I like Gate more now!).

[thelakelander]

I still hold hope that we can work with Daily's and the DDRB to end up with a good project that works for the community,  downtown and the business.