GOOD HOPE MERCHANTS BLAST CITY REGULATIONS

Business owners in the Good Hope area of Cape Girardeau are trying to reclaim an era in which their's was a vibrant business district known as Haarig.

They maintain, however, that endless and unfathomable city building regulations are standing in their way.

"This whole area of Cape Girardeau has been abandoned by the powers that be," said Realtor Tom Meyer, whose office is at 230 N. Sprigg St.

Meyer and other business owners in the area say city-imposed roadblocks are helping speed the deterioration of the area.

The Haarig District is one of the city's oldest and at one time was major a center for commerce. Now, however, only a few businesses remain.

Of the six business owners interviewed, none has been in the neighborhood fewer than 20 years and most have been around much longer. All said the major reason they don't get out now is because they have too much money and history invested in the area.

But the exodus of businesses doesn't have to happen and wouldn't, they contend, with cooperation from the city.

Bob Meyer of Meyer Supply Company at 620 Good Hope said a big problem is that those who wish to build in the area or restore older properties are discouraged from doing so, not overtly but by a morass of requirements.

Meyer recently built an addition to his property which led to a number of headaches. Getting the necessary permits and approvals to build the structure, a simple construction of two walls and a roof, took from January until September, he said.

Meyer says excessive regulation not only delayed the project but added thousands of dollars to the cost.

The most inane requirement, according to Dennis Meyer, Bob Meyer's son, was that one wall be a fortified fire wall since it was built on the property line. If the wall were right next to another building or next to a property where another building might someday be built, that requirement would be understandable, Dennis Meyer said. However, that was not the case.

"The wall is next to the street," Dennis Meyer said. "Nothing will ever be built there."

Rick Murray, the city's inspection services director, said people walking or driving down the street next to the building need to be protected in case of fire as well.

Jim Williams, owner of Model Hair World at 236 S. Sprigg, said the area is becoming littered with "code properties" -- buildings which are somewhat rundown but are becoming even worse because the hassles and expense involved with regulations are a disincentive to people who wish to restore them.

Is it fair that buildings constructed 70 or 80 years ago when different standards were used be held to the same standards as buildings put up last week? Murray says yes.

"I'm not sure, in good faith, if the city can be discriminating against others by allowing less stringent standards there than elsewhere in the community," Murray said. "That would not be fair to the rest of the community."

How close to modern codes a structure will be held to depends on the extent of the work. If over 50-percent of the building is being rehabilitated, all of today's standards are applied.

But the Good Hope businessmen claim the city should be more concerned with doing what it can to reverse the decay of one of its neighborhoods than being bogged down in bureaucratic minutiae.

"The point is, it's getting worse and worse," Tom Meyer said.

There is a dilemma for prospective builders, Murray agreed, but said strong guidelines are mandated by city ordinance. For safety reasons it is vital that those guidelines be stringently enforced, he said.

"The element of safety should be no less at Meyer Supply Company than at Wal-Mart," Murray said. "Meyer Supply is still a retail outlet like any other and has the same customer (safety) concerns."

Robert Meyer said he has no problem with regulations to ensure safety, but said the codes often place unrealistic demands or are applied without common sense.

"The dangerous thing about common sense is your common sense and my common sense might not match," said Murray.

If a property owner or contractor has a complaint with an inspector's ruling or how a code is being applied, there is an appeals process. The Board of Appeals, which consists of private engineers, architects and others with construction experience, meets monthly to consider complaints.

Murray also pointed out that city inspectors are required to enforce state and federal standards as well. Those items -- such as the Americans with Disabilities Act -- are things the city has no control over, though it often bears the blame.

In an attempt to foster a better relationship with the city, the Good Hope area merchants hope to open a dialogue with new Cape Girardeau City Manager Michael Miller.

"He seems like a fair-minded individual," one commented.