We hate editorials that don’t take sides. When we find them in other newspapers we stick them on the wall and shoot spitballs at them. We berate the authors and question their lineage. Never in our 31 years have the words “on the other hand” appeared on this page. Until now.
We are conflicted — from both a policy perspective and a crass business concern — about a new effort by the village to impose “retail overlay zoning” regs on the 100 south blocks of both Oak Park Avenue and Marion Street.
Regular readers might know that the world headquarters of Wednesday Journal are at 141 S. Oak Park Ave., have been since 1981. Some of the people who own this enterprise also own the building in which we are housed. That gives us a direct stake in this new discussion, particularly since we are currently attempting to rent a storefront.
The argument for the overlay is that scarce retail space must be protected so storefronts aren’t filled with dentists and senior centers — and even newspapers. Retail begets retail. Dentists beget tax prep franchises. And we look across the street at the prime, long-vacant Thyme & Honey space, newly back on the market, and shudder to think of a medical practice or branch bank claiming the spot.
On the other hand (there, we’ve done it), this is a tough economy to expect landlords to sit on empty space that a dentist might happily rent.