Architecture Here and There

Illustrations: Above, Clarke Flowers sits on a largely residential stretch of Hope Street, in Providence; below, a closer view of the 1890s shop; neighbors confront Schartner Farms at meeting; plan of proposed Brewed Awakenings; rendering of Brewed Awakenings; a view looking north on Hope toward Clarke's, right of pole with green sign (click to enlarge)

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The flower shop and greenhouse at 398 Hope St., Providence, owe a bouquet to democracy, which has stood in their defense. That doesn't necessarily mean, however, that the old shop erected in the 1890s, and operating as Clarke Flowers since about 1982, will continue to house a florist.

Still, owner Schartner Farms (est. 1902), of Exeter, had applied to the Providence Zoning Board for a variance to let them demolish the shop and replace it with a drive-thru "coffee house." Zoning notified neighbors with abutting homes, as the law demands. They mobilized. A Web site, preservehopestreet.org, was set up to help locals invested in the character of their neighborhood rise to its defense.

It links to a map of where about 1,800 children a day walk to and fro. It links also to an article by Jef Nickerson, of the indispensable Web site Greater City: Providence. He analyzes the intricate development politics of Schartner Farms, Clarke Flowers, Hope Street and city planners. Images of a proposed Brewed Awakenings include a site plan that shows a dozen cars snaking up to the drive-thru window.

"Yay!" snickers Nickerson, "The drive-thru can stack 12 cars!"

The renderings of the proposed coffee shop reveal the sort of faux-village style whose evident off-the-Home-Depot-shelf character is the second-worst enemy of the neo-traditional revival in architecture. Its worst enemy, of course, is modern architecture itself. And yet the evolution of second and third generations of suburban crudscape from old, excruciatingly bland modernist big-box retail to somewhat less excruciatingly bland faux-village big-box retail proves that developers do react to public taste. They also remain untutored in traditional architecture and too cheap to care, even when new technologies provide affordable alternatives to junk. But that's another column.

The planning department recommended that zoning reject the initial proposal for the coffee shop: "The proposed business is of a scale and intensity uncharacteristic of the vision for Mount Hope expressed by residents in the neighborhood plan. Introduction of a drive-through business would be contrary to the intention of Objective BE-2 of the Comprehensive Plan that encourages new development to complement traditional character, and Objective BE-7 that encourages preservation of existing urban character. The demolition of an existing building for a larger, more intense use would be in opposition to this objective."

That's pretty blunt. The developer has withdrawn the application, at least for now.

But the abutters and others who want to prevent Hope Street from morphing into another North Main Street should not let down their guard. Neighbors along Hope are wary of the old bait-and-switch, by which developers initially propose something even worse than they really want, sparking local outrage so that they can ride to the rescue by withdrawing the most offensive feature of the project; the community heaves a sigh of relief and stands down, only to discover that the resulting "compromise" still pokes the public squarely in the eye.

In this case, the worry is that the drive-thru feature of the project may be withdrawn when the applicant returns, but not the garish lighting, steroidal "signage" and appalling architecture set in a sea of parking, and will be quite as injurious to the character of the neighborhood even without the 12-stack drive-thru. So don't stand down -- stand fast on Hope!

And what about the property owner's property rights? Well, like the right to shout "Fire!" in a crowded theater, property rights sit within a context of law. Zoning law tends to evolve in ways that tilt procedures for or against proponents of change (developers) or opponents of change (neighbors). Here the process worked well, but that too could change. Hope Streeters recognize that even if the florist is history, its successor -- perhaps a nice coffee shop in the old building, with outdoor seating but no drive-thru -- need not scrape the fingernail of change across the blackboard of Hope.

This relatively minor flap remains a large issue in the 'hood, as it should. Democracy at the highest level is all about giving voice to issues that affect life as it is lived at home. Representative government in America may trickle down from Washington, but it also trickles up from Hope Street. All politics is local, the old adage says: The buck stops at the zoning board. But the buck never really does stop, does it? No, it does not. So it is up to Hope Street to keep its eyes open and its ears to the ground.

David Brussat is a member of The Journal's editorial board (dbrussat@projo.com). His blog at projo.com is called Architecture Here and There.

 Tags  Architecture Clarke Flowers Greater City: Providence Jef Nickerson Preservation Property Rights Providence RI Schartner Farms Zoning

Comments

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wess said:

Seeing as how Brewed Awakenings has already failed once in the city (in the location that is now Luxe), and that this location is even closer to numerous competitors (including two coffee shops), I can't see why we should greenlight this totally unnecessary destruction of a perfectly fine and attractive building instead of its intelligent reuse, on what is likely a very long bet, especially in such lean times when the customer base necessary to support it may not exist.

I was a customer of both Clarke's and Shartner, and I've been to their farm in South County. I would not suggest anything similar near that area (even though it's close to URI, the train station, and lots of exurban yuppies), and I don't appreciate that they would show so little regard for the things we city folks value in our own communities.

Link | October 3, 2010 7:04 PM
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