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City Preservation Board Puts Kibosh on Tower Grove South Apartments | St. Louis Metro News | St. Louis

Published

2 years ago

July 25, 2023

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click to enlarge City Preservation Board A rendering of the proposed building included in the Preservation Board’s meeting agenda.

The city’s Preservation Board put the kibosh on a proposed apartment building development along Morgan Ford Avenue in the Tower Grove South neighborhood yesterday, denying the developer’s request to demolish three buildings deemed historic.

The developer behind the property is AHM Group, the group behind the MOFO building at Morgan Ford Road and Connecticut Street, a block away, as well as another apartment and retail project a few blocks south. AHM partner Robert Maltby told the Preservation Board yesterday that the MOFO had been a success and that currently there was a waitlist for tenants.

“The precedent for us has always been to get more people back into the city of St. Louis,” Maltby told the board.

He called two of the three buildings AHM hoped to demolish “sparsely used.” The middle building is currently the home of Homegrown Hair. AHM Group currently owns the three properties, which sit in the Oak Hill National Register District.

The building at the corner of Morgan Ford Road and Juniata Street currently has a wall of gray plywood lining the property along Juniata. The back of the building is a mix of plywood and vinyl siding. The structure has a damaged roof and a boarded up side door. The city’s Cultural Resources Office says it and the other two buildings “contribute” to the historic district.

According to Jan Cameron, a preservation administrator with the Cultural Resources Office, many letters in support of the project were submitted to the board. There was only one in opposition to it, from someone who didn’t live in the historic district. Ward 6 Alderwoman Daniela Velazquez offered her approval so long as the developers meet certain conditions. AHM’s Kyle Howerton tells the RFT the project had support from 13 businesses along Morgan Ford as well as from the Tower Grove South Neighborhood Association.

click to enlarge RYAN KRULL Buildings currently at Morgan Ford and Juniata.

However, one Tower Grove South resident spoke at the meeting, describing herself as an “urban pioneer,” saying that she’s lived in the neighborhood for 20 years and felt that the proposed building’s rendering looks like something that belongs in O’Fallon or Creve Coeur. Another resident of nearby Shaw also spoke against the development, worried it would raise rents in the area.

The Cultural Resources Office advised the Preservation Board to deny the developer’s request to demolish the three buildings. The office cited concerns about the height of the proposed project, which would be one story higher than the MOFO building, as well as the aesthetics of its exterior not blending in with the current streetscape. Cameron called the difference between three and four stories a “breaking point.”

Maltby said that the building had to be four stories because the rents would be market rate and they were not seeking tax incentives from the city.

click to enlarge RYAN KRULL The rear of the building currently at Morgan Ford and Juniata.

Three of the Preservation Board’s eight members were absent from the meeting. The vote to deny AHM’s request to demolish the buildings passed 3-1, with board chair Richard Callow abstaining.

“This is essentially the end of the line for the development,” Catherine Hamacher, the board’s lone vote for the demolition, tells the RFT. Though she added that, “An applicant can always apply again with a different proposal.”

At yesterday’s meeting, Maltby said that building something similar to AHM’s previous projects made sense because, “The path of least resistance was obviously to do what we know works and has been successful.”

“You can probably consider us the resistance,” Callow replied.

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Fenton Man Charged in Sword Attack on Roommate

Published

12 months ago

May 22, 2024

Natural Bridge

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A warrant is out for a Fenton man’s arrest after he allegedly attacked his roommate with a sword.

Police say that on Sunday, Angelus Scott spoke openly about “slicing his roommate’s head” before he grabbed a sword, raised it up and then swung it down at the roommate.

The roommate grabbed Scott’s hand in time to prevent injury. When police arrived at the scene, they found the weapon used in the assault.

The sword in question was a katana, which is a Japanese sword recognizable for its curved blade.

This isn’t the first time a samurai-style sword has been used to violent effect in St. Louis. In 2018, a man hearing voices slaughtered his ex-boyfriend with a samurai sword. His mother said he suffered from schizoaffective disorder.

As for Scott, 35, the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office was charged yesterday with two felonies, assault first degree and armed criminal action. The warrant for his arrest says he is to be held on $200,000 bond.

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Caught on Video, Sheriff Says He’s Ready to ‘Turn It All Over’ to Deputy

Published

12 months ago

May 22, 2024

Natural Bridge

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Video of St. Louis Sheriff Vernon Betts taken by a former deputy suggests that the sheriff has a successor in mind to hand the reins of the department over to, even as Betts is in an increasingly heated campaign for reelection.

“I ain’t here for all this rigmarole,” Betts says in the video while seated behind his desk at the Carnahan Courthouse. “The Lord sent me here to turn this department around and I’m doing the best I can and I think I’ve done a good job. I’ve got about eight months and I’m going to qualify for my fourth pension.”

He goes on, “Right now I can walk up out of here and live happily ever after and forget about all this…and live like a king.”

The sheriff then says his wife has been in Atlanta looking at houses and that the other deputy in the room, Donald Hawkins, is someone Betts has been training “to turn it all over to him.”

Asked about the video, Betts tells the RFT, “My future plans are to win reelection on August 6th by a wide margin and to continue my mission as the top elected law enforcement official to make St. Louis safer and stronger. Serving the people of St. Louis with integrity, honor and professional law enforcement qualifications is a sacred responsibility, and I intend to complete that mission.”

The video of Betts was taken by Barbara Chavers, who retired from the sheriff’s office in 2016 after 24 years of service. Chavers now works security at Schnucks at Grand and Gravois. Betts’ brother Howard works security there, too.

Chavers tells the RFT that she was summoned to Betts’ office last week after Betts’ brother made the sheriff aware that she was supporting Montgomery. It was no secret: Chavers had filmed a Facebook live video in which she said she was supporting Betts’ opponent Alfred Montgomery in the election this fall. “Make the judges safe,” she says in the video, standing in front of a large Montgomery sign on Gravois Avenue. “They need a sheriff who is going to make their courtrooms safe.”

In his office, even as Chavers made clear she was filming him, Betts told Chavers he was “flabbergasted” and “stunned” she was supporting Montgomery.

“I don’t know what I did that would make you go against the preacher man,” he says, referring to himself. He then refers to Montgomery as “ungodly.”

Betts goes on to say that not long ago, he was walking in his neighborhood on St. Louis Avenue near 20th Street when suddenly Montgomery pulled up in his car and, according to Betts, shouted, “You motherfucker, you this, you that. You’re taking my signs down.”

Montgomery tells the RFT that he’s never interacted with Betts outside of candidate forums and neighborhood meetings.

“I don’t think anyone with good sense would do something like that to a sitting sheriff,” Montgomery says.

Montgomery has had campaign signs missing and on at least two occasions has obtained video of people tearing them down. (Chavers notes that the sign that she filmed her original Facebook video in front of is itself now missing.)

One man who lives near Columbus Square says that he recently put out two Montgomery signs, which later went missing. “If they keep taking them, I’ll keep putting them up,” he said.

Betts says he has nothing to do with the missing signs. In the video Chavers filmed in Betts’ office, Betts says that his campaign isn’t in a spot where it needs to resort to tearing down opponents’ signs.

“If you sit here long enough, a man is getting ready to come across the street from City Hall bringing me $500, today,” Betts says. “I’m getting that kind of support. I don’t need to tear down signs.”

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St. Louis to Develop First Citywide Transportation Plan in Decades

Published

12 months ago

May 21, 2024

Natural Bridge

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The City of St. Louis is working to develop its first citywide mobility plan in decades, Mayor Tishaura Jones’ office announced Tuesday. This plan seeks to make it easier for everyone — drivers, pedestrians, bikers and public transit users — to safely commute within the city.

The plan will bring together other city projects like the Brickline Greenway, Future64, the MetroLink Green Line, and more, “while establishing new priorities for a safer, more efficient and better-maintained transportation network across the City,” according to the release.

The key elements in the plan will be public engagement, the development of a safety action plan, future infrastructure priorities and transportation network mapping, according to Jones’ office.

The overarching goals are to create a vision for citywide mobility, plan a mixture of short and long-term mobility projects and to develop improved communication tools with the public to receive transportation updates. In recent years, both people who use public transit and cyclists have been outspoken about the difficulties — and dangers — of navigating St. Louis streets, citing both cuts to public transit and traffic violence.

To garner public input and participation for the plan, Jones’ office said there will be community meetings, focus groups and a survey for residents to share their concerns. The city will also be establishing a Community Advisory Committee. Those interested in learning more should check out at tmp-stl.com/

“Everyone deserves to feel safe when getting around St. Louis, whether they’re driving, biking, walking or taking public transit,” Jones said in a news release. “Creating a comprehensive transportation and mobility plan allows us to make intentional and strategic investments so that moving around St. Louis for jobs, education, and entertainment becomes easier, safer and more enjoyable.”

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