Tuesday at the Maplewood City Council meeting 19 residents were appointed to commissions and boards. All the council votes were unanimous. Also, in a city staffing adjustment, the position of city clerk became part of the city manager’s job, so City Manager Amber Withycombe was appointed city clerk.
Withycombe explained following the meeting by email: “The City Clerk appointment can be held by any city employee approved by the Council. The Council has appointed me as City Clerk concurrent with my City Manager position. As you may recall, Marty Corcoran served as City Clerk during many of his years as City Manager. Karen Scheidt was appointed City Clerk (after serving for many years as Deputy City Clerk) in June 2022, and Andrea Majoros was appointed City Clerk in April 2023, after Karen’s retirement…Tanya Bohlken will be serving as Deputy City Clerk and fulfilling most day-to-day clerk duties, including keeping Council minutes.”
See page 30 of the agenda meeting notes for details of this and other staffing adjustments.
Also in the meeting, a resident on Richmond Place came seeking a permit to operate a short term vacation rental, and two neighbors spoke, saying they were concerned about the house being used for parties. They were also concerned about parking issues, and if the owner would be present at the house. Public Works Director Anthony Traxler said there are currently 6-8 short term rentals in Maplewood, which are governed by a city ordinance that was passed in 2015, when the first Airbnb opened in Maplewood. The owner was given a permit, and following the meeting the owner and the neighbors were talking it over.
Mayor Barry Greenberg didn’t announce any progress or changes regarding developer Chad Hartle’s plans for a senior housing project in Maplewood. Hartle didn’t show up at the recent Historic Preservation Commission meeting where his project was on the agenda, which would have required a demolition permit for the Immaculate Conception school building. The commission didn’t act on the demolition permit request.
After the council meeting Greenberg said that Hartle “is considering other options.” He said he didn’t know if Hartle will again be on the Historic Preservation Commission’s next meeting agenda (June 13) to request a demolition permit for the Immaculate conception building. The council adjourned to a closed session following the public meeting to discuss a real estate matter, Greenberg said at the end of the meeting.
I spent a little bit of time looking up Chad Hartle’s information from various sources such as Dun & Bradstreet, MapQuest, Open Corporate, and so forth.
“RCH Development” lists Robert C. Hartle, President. I don’t know if this is the same person as Chad Hartle, but it could be. (Middle initial.) The listed address for RCH is in Jackson, MO.
Double Diamond Construction, which has a Crystal City, MO address, was founded by Chad Hartle in about 1992.
Both these companies are run by people who do not live in the St Louis area, for what that’s worth in terms of architectural upbringing.
Some projects listed on Double Diamond’s website include a historic rehab of DeSoto High School into rehab and senior housing; Schultz Senior Apartments, a historic rehab of the old Cape Central High School into senior apartments, and a new construction, Lindenwood Apartments, which is located in Cape Girardeau.
The historic rehab projects are standard finishes (linoleum floors, for example), painted walls (which is a good idea), and a variety of seating areas for different-sized groups to gather. Other than that, they’re quite boring in my opinion.
I didn’t look at any interior photos of the Lindenwood Apartments, as I was very put off by the blank, multi-story, prefab panel siding. It is a multi-story rectangular box, surrounded by asphalt which unfortunately brings to mind Pruitt-Igoe’s appearance.
Since the developer is proposing demolition and not reuse of the existing buildings, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a structure similar to Lindenwood put in its place.
If so, that’s unacceptable!
Thank you.