The Maplewood Chamber of commerce held its first meeting of the year on Tuesday, and City Manager Marty Corcoran spoke about some city highlights and concerns.
- Two large public works projects are on the horizon: an MSD project set for 2015 will involve many Maplewood streets, and Manchester Road between Bredell Avenue and Hanley Road will be improved, also in 2015.
- The Maplewood Police Department is going through the process for international accreditation with the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies.
- The city is beginning the process to build a new fire house on the lot to the west of city hall. The current fire house was built in 1965 and is too small for modern fire fighting equipment, and is also too small for accommodations for both male and female firefighters.
- Maplewood has a ‘walkability score’ of 95, one of the highest in the country, which bodes well for the city’s future.
- The city’s booming business district has brought parking problems. A possible solution is to charge for parking, which Corcoran said you’re “damned if you do and damned if you don’t” charge. Don’t look for it anytime soon.
- Maplewood has the highest percentage of young residents (18-30 years old) in St. Louis County. He said when he started his job 30 years ago the average age in Maplewood was 57.
- Maplewood is lacking senior housing.
- Upscale housing could be coming to the now-empty lot next to Sunnen and the Metrolink station.
- A sewer lateral fee increase will be on the April ballot. A ‘yes’ vote would mean the currently $28 fee could increase to whatever is needed, with a ceiling of $50. Aside from the fee, the city covers 100 percent of the cost of lateral replacement, no matter how deep or long.
- Support the new QuikTrip and oppose the South County Connector.
Updated infrastructure, young residents moving in, walkability score of 95, upscale housing……..all great news. I would even categorize a shortage of parking as a good problem to have, considering the alternative of less/no demand/desire for visitors to come to Maplewood. Keep the focus on continuing to create demand, which starts with the viability of our retail business owners. i.e. use any parking revenue beyond operational/maintenance of lots on promoting Maplewood’s retail businesses through marketing programs. Beebe’s suggestion is a great idea. More ground level retail with parking above is very logical.
I would also like to see some parking lines painted on some of the neighborhood streets. People come to Stone Spiral and Hummert Park and park their cars in a space where two cars can easily fit. The space in front of my house can easily hold two minivans. I know people don’t realize they are really taking up more space than necessary or hindering parking, that is why some parking lines other solution would be good to give people some guidance.
Agreed. By optimizing parallel parking, it would increase the spots. As for increasing the overall parking, I wouldn’t call it a problem. If you increase the surface lots, our walkability score will suffer.
About parking: there’s no reason Maplewood can’t go with a blended setup like University City. Maybe the city could work with developers on old Hardee’s/TKO DJ building that is for sale. It could become a parking garage/retail combo like the one in the Delmar Loop across from the Tivoli Theater. That way storefront retail could be added while gaining parking.
That is a really great idea. It would also be a way to build something in that area that would more match the streetscape of the older parts of Maplewood.
Great idea, just keep it pedestrian friendly.
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