NoDo Invades; Rebels Skirmish

A downtown taxing zone flushes the Warehouse District from its quaint quarters

Comments (0) By Steven Long Thursday, Oct 5 2000

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Eury, in meetings with the warehouse-area critics of the annexation, has diffused some of the fears of those who said they don't want anything more than to be left alone. Many still wonder if they won't ultimately be just another source of revenue for central downtown glamour projects -- most notably, the Cotswold package of street improvements and accompanying fountains.

The district's director concedes that a tax is a tax, but insists that the main downtown area will be subsidizing improvements for the new area.

Deron Neblett

Filmmaker Gary Chason: "Good Lord, they'll run us off yet."

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While the management district has publicized general directives that largely parallel what its function has been for central downtown, nobody has definite answers about specific work and projects yet.

Artist and activist Kirk Farris, who led the effort to create a small park on county land under the McKee Street bridge, wonders if big developers aren't behind the annexation. He echoes concerns over the lack of detailed plans by Eury. "We said, "What are you going to do with this money?' We caught him, and he didn't have a plan."

Ample assurances have come from Eury that the district intends to get feedback from residents and property owners so the eventual work will reflect their priorities. There's an emerging consensus that the downtown trolley routes should be extended to the warehouse area. Fudge notes with irony that there's a large bus barn in the neighborhood's own backyard.

"We've got a million buses parked in our neighborhood, and we can't even ride one of them," she says. Other concerns focus on parking. Downtown proper is exempt from the requirement that businesses furnish adequate off-street parking, and that's what many in the Warehouse District also want.

Eury is confident that the ombudsman role of the management district will help the warehouse area get its needs answered at City Hall. "We can't promise it, but we will work for the possible extension of the trolley service, and possible exemption of the city's parking ordinance," the director says.

The district's message is basically that, regardless, growth and change are coming to the warehouse neighborhood, and the district can help in assuring its quality and preserving its unique character.

Independent filmmaker Gary Chason, a 16-year resident, wonders if preservation is possible anymore. "Good Lord, they'll run us off yet," he says. "There are thousands moving in within walking distance of me."

Howe, another veteran of the area, thinks the so-called downtown renaissance will lose steam. "I've been at this longer than anybody else, and it takes a certain breed of cat to live downtown. I hear that as many people move out of the Rice Hotel as move into it."

Fudge only wishes that she had the inside political influence wielded by her Last Concert predecessor. "The whole deal is we want to be an artsy neighborhood where people can paint their building the way they want to, and where you can make as much noise as you want to," she explains.

In case the management district can't somehow protect the neighborhood's independent spirit, Fudge recently hedged her bets. She bought an old warehouse on North Main, outside the domain of the management district and its tax. The new site, she says, would make an excellent cafe location -- and the neighbors don't mind some loud music at night.