Tim Hortons restaurants wants to build its first St. Louis-area cafe and bake shop in Maplewood at the corner of Big Bend Boulevard and Hazel Avenue, and the Hazel residents aren’t happy with parts of the proposal—mainly, 24-hour operation.
The restaurant would be near the intersection of Big Bend and Manchester—what president of Show Me Hospitality (the franchisee), Eric Sigurdson calls a ‘power corner’. He said 24-hour operation is ‘non-negotiable’.
About eight Hazel Avenue residents spoke at the meeting; mostly against 24-hour operation.
“If I open my shades I can see right into the property,” said Liza Ruether, who lives across the street from the proposed restaurant. She said any drive-through after two in the morning is not quiet.
John Niehaus, whose house borders the proposed Tim Hortons to the east, said an increased green space, which Tim Hortons has agreed to, does nothing to block the light or the noise. “More distance, more trees and a better wall should be required. My family’s very real concerns have not been met,” he said.
Councilman Shawn Faulkingham said a Maplewood power corner isn’t like a Chesterfield power corner. “Our power corners are unique because we’re an inner-ring suburb of St. Louis city. It presents challenges – residents are stacked on top of most of our commercial property.”
Faulkingham said property owners’ needs should be considered, and suggested a 6-month trial period, but councilmen David Cerven and Barry Greenberg said changing the business’s hours after six months in operation would be tricky. City Manager Marty Corcoran said it’s never been done.
“They’re not interested in coming here if they can’t have 24 hours,” Corcoran said. “We’ve made that very clear. You as a council have to accept that and either vote yea or nay. If you tell them six months from now they can’t have 24 hours, they’re not interested in being here.”
The final vote is set for the next council meeting. A blockade on Hazel that would prevent traffic from entering the street east of Tim Hortons could be added to the ordinance.
See also: Maplewood officials talk Tim Hortons hours, traffic, Tim Hortons passes planning and zoning, with objections
Also at the meeting, Corcoran gave the council the costs for moving the retaining wall on Lohmeyer Avenue west of Maplewood Richmond Heights, to widen the road and make it two-way, which has become necessary since Martini Drive became one-way with QuikTrip being built. The cost would be $65,000 using the existing stones or $50,000 with new material.
Please, anyone with some concern on this, email the mayor and your council members. We the residents, have made all the hard concessions. We offered to block off our own street for this but they will not give in on putting a 24/7 operation outside the home of a 4th generation Maplewood resident. There is no reason his children should have to listen to bar flies ordering at 2am.
It’s a “power corner” but I would rather have Starbucks or Panera who don’t have 24hr locations near here.
If we don’t call our councilmen and the Mayor and let them know how we feel about the Tim Hortons proposal, then we will have no right to complain.
Their phone numbers and email addresses are on the city web site. Click on “Government” then “Elected Officials”. The really do want your opinion.
http://www.cityofmaplewood.com/
Thanks for the directions on where to find their email. Just sent one in to the Ward 2 councilmen.
Thank you for putting up the information about emailing the council members. We just last night sent all of them an essay. Hopefully our concerns are listened to. Thank you.
As a new Maplewood resident, I’ve been delighted by the various little shops within walking distance from my house. I’ve enjoyed Foundation Grounds and Stone Spiral especially and would be devastated if their business was so damaged by Tim Hortons that they couldn’t survive. I heard the comments from Strange Donuts that they are not worried about Tim Hortons, but I am not as sure. I agree with the above comments that some “other” kind of business should be pursued for this property. I don’t even like the idea of Starbucks going there. I’m not sure what should go there, but reading the comments in this thread, I bet the citizens of Maplewood could give some great ideas. I really don’t have anything against Tim Hortons, as I’m sure they are a fine eatery, but we don’t need it here in Maplewood.
Let them stay in Canada. Someone else will come along that will be a more suitable tennant.
OK, we all posted or feelings about the Tim Hortons.
Now, we need to call our councilmen and tell them.
Do it.
‘Good night, dear.’ says the resident who is 25 feet from the drive thru. He then goes to bed listening to the sound of, ‘I don’t know what I want to order yet’ and screeches from the drunks who had to get a donut at 2 in the morning. 24 hour drive thru or we are out? Shouldn’t Maplewood be the one making the rules? We are the one with the power corner. I guarantee there is a line of businesses that would jump at the chance at that property location. Let’s open it up to businesses that are more Maplewood resident friendly.
Surely Tim Horton’s will not need middle-of-the-night sales to make a profit. Maplewood is both residential and commercial. Businesses and residents respect each other. Don’t let one new business come to town and dictate how things are done. It is up to the elected officials and residents to determine what is best for the community. A good business is welcome, but 24-hour drive thru is not.
My husband and I are fairly new to the neighborhood (we rented for a year and now own a house in Maplewood going on two years) and love this community. Growing up in a small town, I truly value community and the support of knowing your neighbors. In my opinion, Tim Horton’s is not the community type base business that will help Maplewood grow. As a city, we are fortunate enough to have three coffee shops that offer a different view on the commodity which all are fantastic and unique in their own way. In addition, we have a bakery and doughnut shop which both are incredibly successful and delicious. Why infiltrate this market with a corporate shop that has goods and services that already exist in Maplewood? Would it not be more beneficial to continue to attract and catch different businesses that allow Maplewood to continue to diversify?
Maplewood is known and LOVED for the “mom and pop” businesses. When large corporate companies come in with unyielding demands, it should give everyone pause. Tim Horton’s is correct. Big Bend/Hazel “is” a power corner. Which means residents can wait for the next better option OR TH can yield to a non 24 hour policy. Take it or leave it TH… it’s non negotiable.
I like the comment from someone who mentioned Tim Hortons and the old QT location. That is a brilliant idea, but not crazy about the open 24 hours idea.
24 hours or no, Tim Hortons is a redundant business. Tiffany’s is open 24/7, strange donuts has that, and there are already three coffee/baked stuff shops in the hood who all have more invested in maplewood and who all serve quality stuff at totally reasonable prices. Say no to Flim Shortons.
Thanks for the supportive comments. As one of the affected residents, I can honestly say that we have tried to colaborate in a fair, give and take fashon with the people representng Tim Horton’s.
They have made small concessions by movng their dumpster and improving landscaping. They have also held fast to putting an entrance/exit onto our residential street. When this detail reached an impasse, it was we who offered to block off our own street to make it a workable situation.
Now they say they will not give in on 24/7 operation. Where is the fair dealing on this point? Their competiton, Starbucks and Panera, do not operate 24/7 restaurants anywhere nearby.
I was interested at first, but now I would rather have a Starbucks.
Matt, you ask where is the fair dealing? I say their request is fair. And it is fair for you, me (as a concerned citizen), and the council to say “no” to Tim Hortons coming to Maplewood. It’s really simple, council, just as Corcoran said. Tell them, No thanks.
I agree. We just need fellow Maplewood folks to communcate to their council members and/or show up at the council meeting.
What would be wrong with leaving the parcel of land South of CVS as green space?
I believe the owner already has a nice income from the CVS property.
Must Maplewood always need to be a city of asphalt, butting up against concrete and ending at bricks?
I do think that if that is really a “power corner”, another business would move in the space if we say no to Tim Horton’s. It saddens me that our city officials would cave to that ultimatum for a business that has no investment in our citizens. Are we that money hungry that we would sacrifice our citizen’s needs for a donut shop. I wonder if the city officials would like it to be next door to them. I think we would get a different solution if that was the case. I feel sad about this decision.
I would encourage everyone to call or email their council person so they know how you feel.
It’s a disgrace that certain council members favor an out of community chain restaurant over a 4th generation citizen. Is the talent pool that shallow in Maplewood?
If Tim Horton’s doesn’t want their hours limited to something reasonable, then let’s find a use for that site that will comply with the citizen’s requests.
The longer I live in Maplewood, the longer I read the 40 South News, and the more interactions I have with City Hall, the more I realize that the person who calls the shots in our city is neither elected nor has term limits.
Businesses that are near residencies and make statements like “_____ is non negotiable” are not businesses I want in Maplewood. I was previously closer to the middle on this issue and was okay with them setting up shop with curtailed hours of operation. Now I just don’t want them at all.
Yeah, go away Tim Hortons! And take your 24-hour donuts with you!