New Convenience Store

[sheclown]

Is there any evidence that automatic car washes are more of a drain to the environment than individuals washing their vehicles in their driveways?

I'm curious here...I don't have a clue.  I try never to wash my car.  I think it weakens its power 

[Lucasjj]

I am not sure if it will be the case with this place, but a lot of car washes recycle their water before releasing it into the sewer system. If that would be the case here, then it would seem that it would actually be better than an individual wash since the water is used more than once.

[sheclown]

that's a good question to ask him, then.

[fatcat]

I try never to wash my car.  I think it weakens its power 

I totally agree.
Unfortunately, There is nothing I can do to prevent individual from washing their cars.
If I am asked to cut down showers, I am certainly not going to wash my car

[thelakelander]

I am not sure if it will be the case with this place, but a lot of car washes recycle their water before releasing it into the sewer system. If that would be the case here, then it would seem that it would actually be better than an individual wash since the water is used more than once.

Yes, the application that's been posted twice in this thread, claims that the car wash will recycle their water.

[cindi]

she clown, SERIOUSLY? you believe it's a "you don't like them" issue?  I don't like asparagus, these people (and yes, i use the term loosely when i refer to them) that are violent, have no respect for others, other peoples safety or property as evidenced by their behavior and this behavior is not occasional or random, it is constant and not just reserved for the snotty white elitist neighbors the poor guy that lives behind us that does a lot of day labor and has lived here for over 15 years was robbed at gun point in the alley right next to our house (we have very bright lights on that corner) and according to the guy this happens all the time but since it is only a couple of bucks they are not getting reported.  so seriously, the gee, you just don't like them, how mean theory - what-ever. would your seriously rent to someone that comes into one of your houses, continues to rob the other residents blind and even though you have a toilet they continue to pee on the walls in the kitchen?
then there is the

One issue I heard from the police was the dark alleys.  More businesses mean more lighting.  More lighting means less dark areas for crime.  Rather than fight against a new business or a house that may or may not be used by people you may or may not like, wouldn’t fighting for more lighting, particularly in the alleys, be more beneficial?

i guess you missed the part where i said in this quadrant, we don't lack the "businesses", oh and they are lit, as are every house on my block and the alley.  unlike cockroaches these perps have evolved and are not afraid at all of bright lights as they are committing their crimes in well lit areas and on video (and trust me they know they are on video).  so, do you think that opening more of these delightful (total sarcasim intented) places is the solution, seriously?
we have even contacted the owners - they don't care, want to guess why, because they are not the ones that live here and are not the ones having their neighbors (black snotty elitist as well as white snotty elitist) terrorized on a routine basis and are not constantly having their houses peed on.  
and really, making it sound as elementary as liking or disliking the "people" that shop there or like what they may or may not do, what they do is ILLEGAL, is not a realistic evaluation of the situation and totally minimizes their behavior.  
fyi, my dislike for this fine establishment (really need a sarcasm font) has been relayed to SPAR and the powers that be, etc, however, since it really only effects hampsterdam no one really gives a crap. i was told they did "talk" to them. again, what - ever.

[thelakelander]

sounds like a JSO issue.  What type of reaction is JSO having to dealing with crime in the general area?

[AlexS]

sounds like a JSO issue.  What type of reaction is JSO having to dealing with crime in the general area?

These are part of my minutes from the 9/22/09 Shadco meeting regarding crime on 8th St. They should well express the JSO sentiment and type of problems in the area.

JSO Sgt. Short: He described the crimes in Springfield as mostly quality of life issues: hanging out and drinking, robberies (mostly internal between the bad guys), taking drugs, prostitution (dressed as men, don't live here).
He described his experience when he took over some 1 /1/2 years ago. Louise told him about all the problems here and he thought it would be easy and should be taken care of in no time. He is somewhat disappointed in himself that the problems still exist. But he is trying hard and we should keep calling things in to guarantee we will get resources dedicated here. He seemed very sincerely wanting to solve our problems. He is familiar with all the statutes at his disposal but needs to meet minimum thresholds of evidence for things to stick.
Businesses on 8th St need to cooperate with trespassing enforcement. Holly (management of Flagship appartments) cooperates on trespassing. BP on 8th & Liberty does not.
He questions if we really need a bus stop at every intersection. It just provides more opportunity for people to hang out.
The people loitering, hanging out on the sidewalk on milk cartons and electric boxes are very comfortable and not afraid. They hang out there cause it's convenient (close to convenience store and access to familiar drug dealers). They are having a good time and most grew up and live here.
Owner of convenience store of Hubbard/8th: Drug problems have much decreased, only about 10-12 active dealers which are very careful. They have been arrested prior already and would face serious penalty if caught again. Most of them have relatives in the area and can hide their drug dealings in private residences. This makes it difficult to arrest them.

[cindi]

sounds like a JSO issue.  What type of reaction is JSO having to dealing with crime in the general area?

we call nightly, sometimes they come and disrupt the traffic and other times not.  the problem with jso showing up is the fact that while jso presence deters the "thug" traffic, we see an upswing in the hooker traffic.  as evidently there is no honor among lowlifes, the thugs tend to harrass/rob the hookers and their johns and when jso shows up it lets them move around more freely since there are a whole lot more of them than there are jso and they have no fear of jso.
honestly, we have some of the nastiest gas stations/convenience stores in jax.  we let them be nasty by not holding them to any standard, and every time someone wants to mention standards then it is "harrassing" blah blah, the car spa at regency is nice and always packed, it employees a lot of people (hey i think we all agree jobs are good), the gate stations almost everywhere are well lit and you don't see people hanging out and peeing at the pumps, even the ones open 24/7.  why shouldn't we expect that level of "business".  imho it's not what (type of business) it's the what we let it become (run down nasty shell station that smells like pee or a nice 24/7 convenience store).

[Johnny]

Wow, it's sad that Lake has to babysit the threads...

I will throw in my hat as someone that was doing some research and considered opening an automatic car wash. The zoning required is CCG-2. I believe most of Main St through the historic district is CCGS (or CCG1). I am not 100% sure on this as I wasn't really looking at this area per se and I am not a zoning guru.

I gave up on the bickering after page 5 or 6 so these questions/concerns may have been addressed.

Will the waste water be recycled (this is a big deal in the automatic car wash industry)?

Will there be restrictions to the hours? The normal requirement is that an automatic car wash must be a certain number of feet from a residence. It also may require a wall due to the noise.

I wouldn't expect this person to have people loitering if he's putting in an automatic car wash. Trust me on this, they aren't cheap and if people are standing around, no one is pulling in to get their car washed. I would believe his business plan will have a great deal of detail on safety (lighting, openness to Main St., etc...). He would probably look to have it stand out with excellent lighting, paint, landscaping, signage, etc...

I do not live over near that location, so I'm not going to begin to say that it is right or wrong for the area based on the information I have read. I do stress though that if it's due to crime, loitering, etc.. just due to the cost of equipment, I have faith that is not something he would appreciate.

[thelakelander]

Okay kids, time for daddy to clean this thread and get it back on topic.

Okay, the crap has been deleted and the thread is now reopened.  All off topic posts will be deleted.

[sheclown]

Does anyone know why it was declined last year?  That would be a good place to begin.

[cindi]

i think i read because it was "just a car wash" which is why they added the convenience store part of it.

[Debbie Thompson]

I only scanned this thread so forgive me if this has been mentioned. Silas stated at the SPAR meeting that he has already sold the property and the new owner has "ideas" for what he wants to do with it. But he wants to open a car wash/convenience store in the meantime because he already has the equipment there. Now, at the moment, the property isn't in use. If the car wash is allowed to open, bringing the property back into use, will that affect any objections to the type of business the owner wants to open there when he gets around to it?  Also, this car wash isn't on Main Street. It's off Main Street, on West 4th, on one of only a couple of remaining brick streets. And it sits right next door to a home, and on the same block as some of the oldest homes in Springfield. Just wondering. Would you want an operating car wash next door to your house? And the knowledge that the car wash is only temporary, and you don't know what will be there next?  Just food for thought...

[sheclown]

Well...it will be across the street from a rooming house.