Why I oppose the demolition of the Phillips 66 (Del Taco) Building at Council Plaza

Sign the I oppose demolition of the Phillips 66 (Del Taco) Building at Council Plaza petition
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[edit 6/27] City of St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay weighs in on the issue: The Del Taco

The Internet and local media have been abuzz about an almost missed "blight" designation quietly passed recently by the St. Louis Redevelopment Corporation. This likely would not have been noticed, but for St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Tim Logan filling a slow moment by covering city government. What is a "blight" designation? It allows a city development plan to circumvent demolition review and basically rubber stamp a developer's plan.

Seventeenth Ward Alderman Joe Roddy has already declared the building "toast". Why? Does it have little historic value? Is it too suburban and a more dense development would improve the city? No, of course not. He believes it's gone solely as the result of "Aldermanic courtesy": the act of an alderperson supporting proposals that any other alderperson proposes for his or her own ward. "If the Alderwoman of the 19th district is in favor of its demolition, I would say its toast," explained Roddy in a KMOX news story.