From the looks of things last night, it seemed like the strip club in the Stockham building was going to be a reality. The owner of the building brought in a professional urban planner who produced ten or twelve studies showing that adult entertainment does not have a negative effect on the area. I thought the coup de grâce was when he stated that there was nothing in the current Morrisville ordinance that prevented an adult bookstore from being put in a certain square footage of the Stockham building, right now!
Then the owner presented a second plan: give us a larger square footage signage variance and we'll drop the strip club variance request. The side of the Stockham Building would have a large "wallscape" nylon mesh advertising panel. The wallscape would showcase the building's tenants at first, and then generic advertising later, minus alcohol, tobacco, and condoms.
I'm appreciative of the willingness for compromise that the owner is showing. It's not a completely black and white issue here. I'm mindful of the difficulties in renting out the Stockham Building. Part is location, part is the borough's (lack of?) maintenance of the parking lot area and downtown maintenance in general, but part is the condition of the building. Any homeowner checks for the building's condition and their ability (or inability) to upgrade the purchase before buying. When the elevator in a four story building doesn't work, let's get it fixed.
This is not an issue where the owner is completely at fault for an inability to rent/sell the floor space. This is not an issue where the borough is completely at fault for making it difficult to rent/sell the floor space. There's room to work together...WITHOUT THE STRIP CLUB...
Owner offers to scrap plans for strip club
The owner of the Stockham building at Pennsylvania Avenue and Bridge Street offered an alternative zoning request that would eliminate a controversial proposal to bring a burlesque-style gentleman’s club to Morrisville.
Todd Colarusso, a principal with Stockham Interests LLC, said Monday night he would scrap plans for the strip club if the zoning hearing board allowed him to put a 1,000-square-foot vinyl billboard on the side of the building facing Route 1.
More than 70 residents crowded Monday’s zoning hearing, most of whom seemed to be against the proposed gentleman’s club. As of late Monday, the zoning hearing board did not make a decision.
The original proposal called for an “upscale” French-style restaurant on the first floor and the gentleman’s club on the second floor, as well as the fitness center on the third and fourth floors.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
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3 comments:
How did the vote turn out? I was watching on TV, but was switching back & forth to the Phillies game, then started dozing, and the next thing I knew, another guy was in for a variance on something else - which he was granted. Either that, or he singled to right to drive in a run, I'm not sure.
I had the impression the board was going to approve "Alternative 2" (NO adult entertainment, 1,000 ft2 wallscape advertizing on South side of bldg., a bigger (24 ft2) static street level sign than allowed by ordinance) - but with conditions, such as no alcohol, tobacco, condom, or abortion/family planning ads, etc.
It was refreshing to see mostly constructive comments from the community without the usual name calling/tearing other people down, conspiracy theories, irrationality, etc. Now I'm wondering/hoping that the same type of discourse can be achieved on the Gateway Project.
With all due respect to the facts that you cannot plan for every lame idea that gets proposed and that many of the people on the various planning commissions etc are volunteers, I still have a strong feeling that a better plan (including zoning and ordinances) would head off issues like this.
Didn't we learn from the fireworks store?
Isn't the proposed Gateway center being built on what was once a strip club that Morrisville was gladly rid of?
Didn't anybody think, years and years ago, that one strip club on Pennsylvania Ave. where elementary school kids walk past it every day, should generate ordinances and regulations to prevent another one in town?
Hasn't anyone been concerned with the increasing number of billboards popping up along Rt 1 in Morrisville, blocking out the skyline?
Prior planning would have prevented us having to make these controversial decisions under duress.
Prior planning requires a vision of the future. Looking back with our 20/20 hindsight, it is glaringly obvious that this particular attribute has been long missing in Morrisville politics.
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