Is Riverside/Avondale Ready For Mellow Mushroom?

[Jumpinjack]

^I think you have hit on something which is characteristic of most comments in this thread with a few notable exceptions - arguments reduced to terminology delivered with sledgehammer effectiveness and scorn. Not very persuasive.

[Dashing Dan]

I wish there was a website that covered Jacksonville without descending so quickly into personal attacks. 

At least there are one or two facebook pages that cover bicycle and pedestrian issues.

[Bewler]

Lakelander, Outofhere's opinion counts for more because it is the view of an overwhelming majority of us nearby residents.

NOTE TO OUTOFHERE: This Saturday night, park your car in front of Councilman Jim Love's home at the corner of Edgewood and Oak. Around 2 a.m. go get it and be sure to make a lot of noise doing so. You might even leave a beer bottle or can as a calling card.

You guys are seriously nuts.

[ben says]

Lakelander, Outofhere's opinion counts for more because it is the view of an overwhelming majority of us nearby residents.

NOTE TO OUTOFHERE: This Saturday night, park your car in front of Councilman Jim Love's home at the corner of Edgewood and Oak. Around 2 a.m. go get it and be sure to make a lot of noise doing so. You might even leave a beer bottle or can as a calling card.

This is a joke...............right?

[Dashing Dan]

I hear there will be retail space at the proposed 220 Riverside project, why not just have MM move there. If Avondale doesn't want it, then I am sure there are others that would welcome it!

The city has guidelines in place that would support a good-sized restaurant in Avondale.  If MM wants to go beyond what those guidelines would support, then MM should seek an alternate location.

[ben says]

This thread is fun This thread is starting to scare me....I cannot believe the dissent from a f'ing restaurant trying to open up. INSANNNNNNE.

[thelakelander]

Dashing Dan, what is the max seating size that MM can go into that space without going beyond the guidelines, in your opinion?  Also, what formula are you using to determine maximum seating size for the two buildings involved?

[Kaiser Soze]

People who live on Pine (directly behind the Shoppes) will tell you that problems exploded after Mojos arrived. But once again that must seem like silly talk to people who live in suburban communities with HOAs.

Funny, I live on Hedrick and have not heard any of my neighbors from Pine state that there was an "explosion" of problems.

[Dashing Dan]

Dashing Dan, what is the max seating size that MM can go into that space without going beyond the guidelines, in your opinion.  Also, what formula are you using to determine maximum seating size for the two buildings involved?

At this point my opinion is irrelevant.  Those type questions should be addressed by the applicant and then presented to the city for review, with input from affected stakeholders.

[ben says]

People who live on Pine (directly behind the Shoppes) will tell you that problems exploded after Mojos arrived. But once again that must seem like silly talk to people who live in suburban communities with HOAs.

Funny, I live on Hedrick and have not heard any of my neighbors from Pine state that there was an "explosion" of problems.

Same experience here.

[thelakelander]

Dashing Dan, what is the max seating size that MM can go into that space without going beyond the guidelines, in your opinion.  Also, what formula are you using to determine maximum seating size for the two buildings involved?

At this point my opinion is irrelevant.  Those type questions should be addressed by the applicant and then presented to the city for review, with input from affected stakeholders.

What is the factual maximum number then?  I also assume if they meet these requirements then the opposition goes away?

[PeeJayEss]

Let's take some arguments from both sides that are untrue and/or silly and just remove them from this debate altogether so that we are not distracted:
1.) The people that are for Mellow coming into Avondale are local-resident-hating, poor, uncultured, lawn-peeing beer-smashers that want to see Avondale torn asunder by the combined powers of automobile traffic and chain dining.
2.) The people that are against Mellow coming into Avondale are uptight, old-money-having, progress-hating lost Ortegans that hate pizza, alcohol, and fixed transit.

Visitors from outside the neighborhood: Do you have difficulty finding parking? Do you ever park in front of residences? How often?

For the people that live in the immediate vicinity, do you have a lot of people parking in front of your home? How often? Are they disruptive? How close do you live to the strip? Do you have trouble parking your own car?

For those who are claiming trash in their yard in the morning, where do you live? How do you determine the source of the trash? If you do know the source of the trash, is Mellow Mushroom a reasonable comparison? I will occasionally have a bottle/can/cup or some other random trash in my yard (once a week let's say). I live in Riverside 2 blocks from Park/King. No one parks anywhere near my house, except during Luminaria. I don't believe I can blame this random trash on any bar. I think its just a random, inconsiderate walker or driver. What is the possibility that yours is due to the presence of the bar?

In my opinion, I do not believe I would have trash problems if a Mellow Mushroom were build on the corner nearest my home. I also don't think Mellow upsets the character of the neighborhood. If I had to pick a "chain" capable of moving in and adapting to the neighborhood, Mellow would be at the top of my list. There is a pic of the Mellow in Asheville, NC below. Its beautiful. Parking I can see as more of a legitimate concern. There certainly is the potential for more users of the Shoppes. The question is, is car congestion a good enough reason to restrict a business that appears to have good intentions and a good plan from investing in the neighborhood? As lake and Ock keep saying, isn't finding a better way to work these people into the neighborhood a more elegant solution than simply restricting the number of cars?

And as I said before, I don't think there IS a parking problem at this time, as I still drive to the Shoppes, never have a problem parking (have never parked off St Johns or the first block of Ingleside), and could easily get there without my car.

I don't believe more off-street parking is any kind of solution for my neighborhood, which I also don't think is commercially developed to its full potential. Some tracks with high-capacity, energy efficient "cars" on them might be the solution to all the problems here, however.

[fsujax]

I am always picking up trash out of the front yard, sidewalk and street and I dont even live in Avondale.

[ben says]

Visitors from outside the neighborhood: Do you have difficulty finding parking? Do you ever park in front of residences? How often?


For the people that live in the immediate vicinity, do you have a lot of people parking in front of your home? How often? Are they disruptive? How close do you live to the strip? Do you have trouble parking your own car?

When I lived in San Marco, never had a problem coming to Avondale. Never had a problem coming to Avondale even when I was in high school at Bolles and only have an hour to get there, park, get back. Now, I live in the immediate vicinity. No problems with trash, disruption, or parking.

[JeffreyS]

I have no difficulty finding parking I visit the are perhaps once a week during the day once a month at night. I sometimes park on the street in front of resident's houses maybe once a quarter. Not on the grass or blocking their driveway. BTW I do not urinate on anyone's property either.