Sendik's looks like it's a go for the corner of 51st and Rawson, and that's a good thing. (As soon as my records request is answered, there'll be a site plan here.)
However ...
From FranklinNow's coverage of last week's plan commission meeting:
The [Sendik's] site plan was approved with several conditions. Deliveries will not be allowed between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m.; truck refrigeration units must be shut off during late night and early morning. Outdoor seating will be prohibited at the location. In addition, beefed-up screening - to be approved at a later date by the commission or planning staff - will be added to the north end of the lot to help muffle noise and deflect headlights and other problems for residents in the nearby subdivision.
It should be noted that the actual owner/operators of the planned Fountains of Franklin Sendik's were not present when it was decided during the course of the meeting that, for instance, deliveries will not be allowed between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. One imagines a bit of pique when developer Greg Devorkin reports that particular stipulation back to "the boys" (as he referred to the Balestreris).
More odd - - and incredibly indicative of the scourge of sprawl development - - is the fact that the subdivision adjacent to the Sendik's lot had to be "mitigated," "shielded" and "screened." The first site plans, evidently, faced bare, unadorned walls and the loading dock toward the neighborhood. It was only after developer Greg Devorkin met with residents of the subdivision that changes were made to deal with (or even acknowledge) the neighborhood's proximity.
But that's the point: Suburban sprawl development practices - - - 481-page unified development ordinance notwithstanding - - - make it a dead-lock certainty that retail establishments will be designed to appeal to the ROAD and literally turn its back to the PEOPLE in a neighborhood for which it could represent a wonderful resource. Since the initial site plan disregarded the needs of the adjacent subdivision, the residents of the nearby neighborhood had no choice but to do the best they could to "wall off" the loading dock and parking lot that faces them. Who wants that stuff staring at them?
Though the Sendik's store will be great to have nearby, it's very, very unfortunate that there seemed at no time to be thought of a store that served the neighborhood as well as the traffic on Rawson. Imagine how wonderful it would have been to see the North and West sides of the site plan open itself to the nearby residents as a place to bike and walk to for coffee, a few groceries, and even outdoor dining within a few minutes walk of their houses. What an outstanding, community-building amenity for any neighborhood!
Forget all that, though: Given the current plan, residents of the nearby Serenity Estates subdivision will have to get into their car and drive to Sendik's like everyone else.
Adding insult to injury to an attractive store facade whose most striking feature is a nifty retractable awning: "Outdoor seating will be prohibited at the location"! I've gone over my nine pages of notes and the recording of the meeting, and I can't for the life of me determine when and how that stipulation entered the process. No relaxing outside with a muffin and a coffee? No monthly farmers market? No possibility of a wonderful, vibrant public area?
I guess there'll be a part 3 to this topic ....
Comments