Kenny’s site leads to another mess

Remember the last debate over the use of the Kenny’s Auto site? Of course you do. It consumed downtown Columbia two years ago, and it’s not over yet. The discussion went back and forth as to whether there should be a tiered garage behind Claussen’s Inn or on the Kenny’s property.

The idea that was most discussed what a multi-level parking garage with stores on the ground floor at the Kenny’s site. Concerns over the integrity of the neighborhood essentially scuttled the plan. We didn’t have a problem with that, but the neighborhood’s integrity has been shot to hell with Starbucks replacing Joyful Alternative, a bank replacing Hiller Hardware and Adriana’s going the way of the dodo.

Anyway, with the Kenny’s site reduced to a Walgreens and some other stores, the developer involved is going to court.

Stan Harpe and Ron Swinson of H.R. Development Inc. had planned to build a six-story retail and condo project on Blossom Street that would have included two stories of public parking.

The project, called Five Points South, cratered when City Council at the last minute lowered the amount it had offered to pay for the parking by $500,000.

As a result, H.R. Development scrapped the plans developed with the city and built a one-story, three-storefront project called the Shoppes at Five Points.

The Shoppes will be home to a Walgreens drugstore. No formal announcements have been made about the two other stores.

Harpe and Swinson are seeking to recoup their expenses for engineering the Five Points South building and making changes in the project in reaction to neighborhood and city concerns.

Chalk this up to another fuck-up by city government.