CC 05-31-1966 - Laserfiche WebLink

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. At present, there is a mixture of general commercial, retail, service commercial, entertainment, vacant land, residential, and the remains of a farming operation. There is little, if any, continuity between existing commercial development; nearly all business establishments exist as independent units with no relationships between various uses which would tend to tie the area into a meaningful whole. The area has no individuality or identity and thus has no "advertising appeal" as a unit. Each business must rely almost exclusively upon its own individual customer appeal. The detrimental results of this type of commercial growth can be seen in such locations as: 1. County Road E and White Bear Avenue in White Bear lake; 2. Portions of Maplewood and Roseville; 3. 7th Street in St. Paul 4. lake Avenue in Minneapolis; and 5. ~ortions of Excelsior Boulevard extending into the western suburban area. Too often, the end results can be: 1. High business turn-over; 2. Change in occupancy to more marginal operations; 3. Increased vacancies; and 4. Maintenance and structural deterioration. Some specific defects in existing development are: . 1. Parking areas that lack proper channelization, landscaping, and sta II arrangements. 2. The growing number of access points off County Road E and the growing congestion and traffic hazards. 3. An almost complete lack of pedestrian circulation facilities. 4. Eye-sore such as trash exposed to public view, less than good building and yard maintenance, a lack of or poor landscaping, a mixture of vehicle circulation and porking paving, a mixture of sign types and locations, and so on. 5. A lack of curb and gutter and proper drainage faci Iities. 6. Poor subdivision planning with no public street access for some uses; and 7. An unrelated mixture of architectural features. Based upon past experience with such developments, there is every indication that strong economic conditions may be in jeopardy within a few years. There is little in the present trends ta indicate that a strong commercial district will emerge and the total physical environment will be in accordance with the commercial policy and goals stated in the Comprehensive Village Plan.