Is Riverside/Avondale Ready For Mellow Mushroom?

[Tonyinchicago]

These tortured arguments attempting to nuance an argument as to what the intention was 100 years ago leave us with no answer to the problem at hand today.  MM 250 seats, a beer garden across the street with 150 seats, doubling the size of a sushi place, and there will be more when something happens with the old Monty's space.  Additionally, there are also rumblings of  Indian and Mexican restaurants yet to come.

[outofhere]

Lakelander said:

I can't wait to bring my two sons over and enjoy a pizza when Mellow opens.  Hopefully, 7-11 can find a space too, so we can enjoy a slurpee afterwards while we loiter in the public park Mellow wants to construct.  Looking forward to seeing more people on the sidewalks and streets.

No need to wait. 3 locations are open and ready to serve you. Be sure and take you  sons during the "family friendly" 10 pm to 2 am happy hour.

Attended the Thursday mtg and couldn't believe how MM stretched the truth. At one time Valentine said he was used to working w/ neighborhoods because the beach location is in a neighborhood. HAH! A neighborhood of commercial establishments maybe but not homes.

As for the attendance at the mtg. The neighbors were respectful. There were a few outbursts and I remember some applause on both sides but no booing. It seemed like a typical neighborhood mtg. But I guess by MJ standards neighbors are to be seen but not heard.

No neighborhood should be asked to absorb drunks peeing, passing out or throwing up in their yards or driving down their streets. Nor should they be expected to have the fabric of their neighborhoods torn apart. 

There is absolutely nothing wrong w/ neighbors opposing commercial intrusion. But on this thread you'd think there was. 

[Lunican]

Isn't the proposed Mellow Mushroom in a commercial district?

[thelakelander]

These tortured arguments attempting to nuance an argument as to what the intention was 100 years ago leave us with no answer to the problem at hand today.  MM 250 seats, a beer garden across the street with 150 seats, doubling the size of a sushi place, and there will be more when something happens with the old Monty's space.  Additionally, there are also rumblings of  Indian and Mexican restaurants yet to come.

Your answer to the problem today is simple:

1. Parking management to better utilize the existing capacity.

2. Promotion and implementation of alternative forms of mobility.

No need to make this more complicated than it has to be.

[Tonyinchicago]

Nicely put.  Meanwhile, those of us who actually own properties and businesses on the Avondale strip are left to deal with the angry customers who have no place to park

These tortured arguments attempting to nuance an argument as to what the intention was 100 years ago leave us with no answer to the problem at hand today.  MM 250 seats, a beer garden across the street with 150 seats, doubling the size of a sushi place, and there will be more when something happens with the old Monty's space.  Additionally, there are also rumblings of  Indian and Mexican restaurants yet to come.

Your answer to the problem today is simple:

1. Parking management to better utilize the existing capacity.

2. Promotion and implementation of alternative forms of mobility.

No need to make this more complicated than it has to be.

[thelakelander]

Nicely put.  Meanwhile, those of us who actually own properties and businesses on the Avondale strip are left to deal with the angry customers who have no place to park

These tortured arguments attempting to nuance an argument as to what the intention was 100 years ago leave us with no answer to the problem at hand today.  MM 250 seats, a beer garden across the street with 150 seats, doubling the size of a sushi place, and there will be more when something happens with the old Monty's space.  Additionally, there are also rumblings of  Indian and Mexican restaurants yet to come.

Your answer to the problem today is simple:

1. Parking management to better utilize the existing capacity.

2. Promotion and implementation of alternative forms of mobility.

No need to make this more complicated than it has to be.

This isn't a me or you situation.  The neighborhood isn't gated.  In my case, I'm a customer.  To be honest, I haven't gotten angry yet.  I've never had to park more than a block from my desired destination and half the time I do choose to park further away because I enjoy the walk.  The only inconvenience I've had in the strip is waiting in line for breakfast at the Fox.  However, a local business being successful does not anger me.

[Ocklawaha]

No neighborhood should be asked to absorb drunks peeing, passing out or throwing up in their yards or driving down their streets. Nor should they be expected to have the fabric of their neighborhoods torn apart. 

There is absolutely nothing wrong w/ neighbors opposing commercial intrusion. But on this thread you'd think there was.

Last time I checked, DUI was against the law in Jacksonville. The addition of a restaurant, where beer containers cannot legally be taken from the store should have zero effect. If someone wants to get trashed, there is an ABC store just down the street, and ample bars and clubs.

Isn't this an adaptive reuse of a GAS STATION? Like a gas station is a charming historically correct neighborhood feature? REALLY? Have you ever wondered what historical building/s bit the dust when that snappy gas station was built? Would you have supported that? I think I speak for the whole MJ team (and 2 of us are planners) when I say, this is a golden opportunity for the neighborhood to come together with the MM (or anybody else) and assist them in developing a historically correct business. But to do so you would need fixed rail transit.

The point of all of this historical argument is that commercial blocks were designed into the original community, designed to be accessed primarily by streetcar. If you go back to that model, your parking problems go away.

Dan's position that "Avondale is the antithesis of a streetcar community," is somewhere beyond silly, considering his position and bias, it's irresponsible. The streetcar jogged from St.Johns to Herschel to better pierce THE HEART OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD, and thus become it's spine, where all of the residents would be equidistant from the tracks. Stockton was one of the owners of the streetcar company and Ingle was it's president, they would have lasted about 2 minutes in a boardroom when they explained how they built this community to 'reject' the streetcar.

Streetcar for Riverside is part of the COJ'S Mobility Plan, but certain elements in this city heavily invested in gasoline, asphalt and concrete are apparently willing to mislead the public to keep their tin lizzies paramount in your lives.

[thelakelander]

Mellow could easily turn the entire front of that gas station into stacked parking to accommodate a restaurant larger than 250 seats and still fall within the parking requirements of the overlay.  However, the end product would suck.  The idea of having a piece of the property turned into a centralized public square for the commercial strip should not be overlooked.  Instead of immediately picking up the artillery to tar and feather these guys, why not work together to create a final product that works for everyone while also being financially feasible for the owner?

[Tonyinchicago]

Mellow could easily turn the entire front of that gas station into stacked parking to accommodate a restaurant larger than 250 seats and still fall within the parking requirements of the overlay.  However, the end product would suck.  The idea of having a piece of the property turned into a centralized public square for the commercial strip should not be overlooked.  Instead of immediately picking up the artillery to tar and feature these guys, why not work together to create a final product that works for everyone while also being financially feasible for the owner?

Gosh, I do not want to sound unkind or disagreeable, but your statement is laughable.

[thelakelander]

^Some of the opposing stereotypical fear based comments on people's businesses are pretty laughable as well.  However, at some point, it's best to resolve the perceived problems and move on.

[Ocklawaha]

Mellow could easily turn the entire front of that gas station into stacked parking to accommodate a restaurant larger than 250 seats and still fall within the parking requirements of the overlay.  However, the end product would suck.  The idea of having a piece of the property turned into a centralized public square for the commercial strip should not be overlooked.  Instead of immediately picking up the artillery to tar and feature these guys, why not work together to create a final product that works for everyone while also being financially feasible for the owner?

Gosh, I do not want to sound unkind or disagreeable, but your statement is laughable.

Don't worry Tony, you sounded more like 'dumb as a box of rocks' then you did unkind. Check out the photos in the article that started this thread, its ridiculous to suggest a Jacksonville business couldn't do the same things.

[Ocklawaha]

KAY, if your still watching, I give you Avondale... circa 2015...

http://www.youtube.com/v/T2wGe6GXIT8?version=3&hl=en_US

[Tonyinchicago]

I have noticed a pattern on this site where a few users bully and name-call others who oppose them into submission .  These few users seem to have an opinion about everything and everyone, making tens of thousands of posts on this one site alone (2 users).   It is laughable that MM gives a flying mushroom about the parking nightmare they will be adding to.  They want their 250 seats.  Period.  Unless you guys are property owners in this strip, you cannot understand our perspective. 

[thelakelander]

^There was a recent article in the Jax Biz Journal that interviewed several property owners and businesses in the strip who were in favor.  In addition, there have been several nearby residents that have posted in this thread who are in favor of infill.  Why don't their opinions matter?  Why can't something be worked out to allow a positive project to move forward?

[Tonyinchicago]

^There was a recent article in the Jax Biz Journal that interviewed several property owners and businesses in the strip who were in favor.  In addition, there have been several nearby residents that have posted in these thread who are in favor of infill.  Why don't their opinions matter?

They are in the minority.  Most of those interviewed in that article lease their spaces from those of us who actually own the real estate.  And most of the businesses are opposed to the MM project and the other pending additions yet to come.