1750 Ohio Street (Racine, Wisconsin): Difference between revisions
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The area surrounding 1750 Ohio Street was annexed by the city of Racine in 1959.<ref name=opposes-rezoning>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43871956/the_journal_times/ "Plan Board Opposes K mart Rezoning"], [[Racine Journal Times]], March 28, 1974, pages 1A and [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43872994/the_journal_times/ 3A].</ref> The [[S.S. Kresge Company]], owners of the Kmart chain, stated in 1971 that they were considering opening a store in Racine.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43870929/the_journal_times/ "K Mart Considers Racine"], [[Racine Journal Times]], June 23, 1971, page 6C.</ref> In March 1974, [[Schostak Brothers and Co.]] of [[Southfield, Michigan]] proposed building 140,000 square feet of retail space at the site.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43871745/the_journal_times/ "Propose Shopping Center"], [[Racine Journal Times]], March 20, 1974, front page.</ref> Schostak's proposal included a supermarket and an 84,000-square-foot space for a discount department store. The [[Racine Journal Times]] speculated that Kmart was planning to fill that space, which the S.S. Kresge Company did not deny.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43871571/the_journal_times/ "K mart Believed to Be Store for Proposed City Development"], [[Racine Journal Times]], March 22, 1974, front page.</ref>
Schostak's initial plan for the site was to be built on a 15-acre plot, which included roughly 13 acres already zoned for light manufacturing (M-1) and 1.7 acres zoned for multiple-family residential housing (R-4). The City Plan Commission rejected Schostak's proposal to rezone those 1.7 acres so that it could be part of their shopping center, saying that the area was zoned residential by the county before it was annexed by the city, and "had been set up as a buffer between residents to the north and the light manufacturing area to the south." It was also concerned that the center's proposed entrance at the south end of [[Perry Avenue (Racine, Wisconsin)|Perry Avenue]] would lead shoppers to use that residential street to get to the [[Westgate Mall Shopping Center (Racine, Wisconsin)|Westgate Mall Shopping Center]], creating traffic problems there.<ref name=opposes-rezoning/> Schostak revised its plans to avoid using the 1.7 acres, which are now the site of [[Chateau I and II Apartments (Racine, Wisconsin)|Chateau I and II Apartments]]. Local residents opposed to the development proposed in June 1974 that the city's zoning ordinances should be changed, so that shopping centers could no longer be built in areas zoned for light manufacturing.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43873295/the_journal_times/ "Obstacles to confront request for K mart"], [[Racine Journal Times]], June 6, 1974, front page.</ref>
Regardless of zoning issues, the proposed development was unpopular among local residents. The [[Racine Unified School District]] wrote to the city plan commission in opposition, saying it was concerned that a shopping center at the location would create problems for the nearby [[Giese Elementary School (Racine, Wisconsin)|Giese Elementary School]] and [[Starbuck Middle School (Racine, Wisconsin)|Starbuck Junior High School]]
Schostak returned to the city plan commission in September with a modified version of the proposal. The new plan downsized the building from 140,000 to 114,000 square feet, removing the smaller retail spaces that would have been attached to the Kmart and the supermarket. While the revised plan did not eliminate the concerns of local residents, one previously skeptical member of the planning commission was convinced, and the new proposal was approved in a 4–3 vote.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43874611/the_journal_times/ "K mart construction ok'd"], [[Racine Journal Times]], September 25, 1974, pages 1A and [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43874650/the_journal_times/ 3A].</ref> The Racine City Council protested the decision during their October 1 meeting, voting 11–7 in favor of asking the city plan commission to reconsider,<ref>Herman, Robert J. [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43875092/the_journal_times/ "Aldermen talk about zoning, parks, police, sewers"], [[Racine Journal Times]], October 2, 1974, page 5A.</ref> which the commission later rejected.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43875674/the_journal_times/ "K-mart site approval stands"], [[Racine Journal Times]], October 10, 1974, page 4A.</ref>
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