Editor's note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the name of the development firm seeking rezoning in the University Heights neighborhood.
Developer Ralph Duda III says that, no, he is not trying rub salt in the wounds of those in the University Heights neighborhood who tried and failed to save a stately old house he bought and then demolished.
Duda needs a zoning change from the city to develop a piece of University Heights and local residents are determined to stop him.
On Monday, I asked him why he decided to host the next meeting with his opponents on the very ground where the house at 1755 S. National Ave. once stood.
Wouldn't that be like the Chiefs celebrating their 2020 Super Bowl victory over the 49ers with a parade in downtown San Francisco?
The site has been a vacant lot since Oct. 4.
He says he can't win when picking a spot
The meeting (as of Monday afternoon) is slated for 4 to 6:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 24.
Duda says city code requires he pick a site that is either at the site of the proposed rezoning or adjacent to it.
That's not the exact wording. It has to be at the site or in the immediate vicinity.
From Duda's perspective, he says he can't win when it comes to picking a location.
He held a similar meeting in August at a site that he says was three miles away at Messiah Lutheran Church on Seminole Street.
According to Google maps, it's 0.9 miles away.
“I received a ton of complaints about that location,” he says.
This time around there will be security
He says he was criticized by University Heights residents for picking a site too far from the neighborhood. They also complained that the acoustics were horrible, making it difficult to hear, and that it was too crowded.
If you've been following this battle, that Aug. 18 meeting ended abruptly after a University Heights resident called Duda's wife an vulgarity and then told Duda's father to (expletive)-off.
Duda tells me there will be security this time around.
What kind of security? Are you hiring off-duty Springfield police officers?
“No comment.”
Concerns about traffic noise, parking, accessibility
Jan Peterson, president of the neighborhood association, is trying to change the location. There are concerns about traffic noise, parking and accessibility.
When I spoke to Duda Monday, he seemed set on having it at the now-vacant lot at the northwest corner of National and Sunshine.
What if it rains?
(The forecast is 68 degrees with a 52 percent chance of precipitation.)
Not to worry, Duda says. There will be an industrial-size tent, with three sides and a top.
What if a lot of people show up?
There will be space under the tent for more than 100.
There will be chairs. A podium. A microphone and public address system.
Plans call for 1st floor commercial and lofts
Duda has said he’d like to have fun restaurants on the first level of the buildings — perhaps a destination breakfast restaurant like The Pancake Pantry in Nashville, a bakery and a “top-notch” Italian restaurant.
The second and third levels would be executive lofts.
Duda said the exterior and interior character would reflect the 1920s Craftsman style common in University Heights.
His plans will be discussed at a public hearing before the Planning and Zoning Commission at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 17 in the City Council Chambers in Historic City Hall, 830 Boonville Ave.
The commission will make a recommendation to the City Council, as will city staff.
The Council makes the final determination.
Duda says he and his company BK&M LLC — Be Kind and Merciful — have purchased five homes (one has been demolished) and that he has two more under contract that he expects to close this month.
Seems like he's all in, with no assurances
He also has purchased an empy lot along Sunshine.
The addresses, he says, are:
- 1111, 1119, 1133 Sunshine Street
- 1739, 1745 and 1755 (demolished) National Avenue
- 1138 University Street.
“That's my project,” he says.
It's a big one and, it seems, Duda is all in, despite the fact a zoning change is not assured.
This is Pokin Around column No. 65.
