Rocket Baby Bakery Launch In Limbo – Over Downspout

Geoff Trenholme hopes to strike a compromise with city officials this morning to avoid temporarily aborting the launch of his new East Tosa business, Rocket Baby Bakery.

Trenholme seeks to open the bakery at 6822 W. North Ave. within a couple of weeks. A grand opening is targeted for April 21, he said, the second birthday of the bakery’s namesake, his son Raiden, aka Rocket Baby.

Putting a potential damper on those plans is the city plumbing inspector’s Feb. 24 citation for noncompliance with how storm water runs from a roof downspout above ground to a storm water sewer in an adjacent city parking lot. Trenholme said he was told the roof’s downspout must discharge underground either to the same storm water sewer in the lot or via a private lateral to the storm water sewer on North 69th Street.

Trenholme said the requirement could cost him up to $25,000 – or double the contingency he set aside for cost overruns to renovate the 1957 former office building. He will take his case to the Public Works Board at 8:30 a.m. today, asking that the city waive the requirement, at least temporarily, so that he can open his business.

If Trenholme fails to strike some sort of compromise with city today, his occupancy permit to open and begin selling rustic breads, baguettes, European style pastries and beverages is at risk. Trenholme said his options would then be to comply with the plumbing inspector’s order by March 25, or initiate a more formal appeals process.

Solution could coincide with redevelopment plan

The existing storm water drainage is no different than before he bought the building, Trenholme said. “We haven’t changed the footprint of this building in any way.”

And if the drainage path now must be underground, he said, he has asked and will ask again today that such a route be installed when the city redevelops the adjacent city parking lot, which is slated in the city‘s in July 2011.

Trenholme said he and his contractors already have discussed the issue in meetings with city staff, including the city administrator, the city economic and community development director and the city engineer, along with the plumbing inspector. His only recourse, he said he was told, was to appeal to the Public Works Board.

“I was hoping against hope that at some point someone would stand up and say, ‘Let’s put the kibosh on this. Let’s stop this nonsense. Let’s move forward,’ ” Trenholme said. “It hasn’t happened.”

City backs bakery with grant, loan

Trenholme is baffled by how a smooth process in working with the city to open his dream business now is stymied. With the city’s help, Trenholme said, he secured a $74,250 Community Development Block Grant for new equipment to operate his business, a grant tied to new job creation. The bakery is expected to create five full-time positions within the first year. He also had city support to gain approval for a low-interest $100,000 loan through the city’s Revolving Loan Fund.

The city “has been a huge help,” Trenholme said. The plumbing inspector’s citation, he said, “doesn’t seem consistent with the whole idea of let’s open our arms and welcome you in and smooth your path” as a new business owner willing to invest in the city.

To date, Trenholme has invested more than $865,000 to buy and renovate the former office building. He first doled out about $205,000 to buy the property and put on a new roof. Equipment costs total nearly $240,000, and interior renovation design and construction run about $420,000.

And it is not by chance that the property is in an area targeted as first in line for city redevelopment dollars under the $5.4 million, 15-year comprehensive plan for the East Tosa area. The city’s vision and plans for East Tosa, Trenholme said, sealed the deal for him to invest in his neighborhood.

The East Tosa plan identifies the two-block area that includes Trenholme’s building as the first area within the 16-block business district for redevelopment. The plan projects a $592,150 public investment could spur private investment of $3.1 million in the 69th Street center. The city has yet to invest those dollars while Trenholme said he “had to put everything on the line that we have,” with his investment totaling just shy of one-third of the projected private investment for the 69th Street center.

Alderman worries snag may curb future investment

Trenholme will meet with the Public Works Board today with support from his alderman, Bobby Pantuso. Trenholme contacted Pantuso for help when he found the plumbing inspector’s application of the city code “arbitrary” and his approach threatening.

Pantuso’s concern, he said, is the message the city is giving Trenholme and potential other East Tosa investors.

“That is what scares me,“ Pantuso said. “I don’t want to chase off the next person who wants to spend that kind of money in investment in North Avenue,” Pantuso said.

In enforcing city codes, Pantuso said, “it needs to be safe and it needs to be legal, but it needs to be practical, too. I need to see a successful North Avenue.”

Pantuso said ensuring Trenholme is able to launch his business and succeed is part of his job as alderman for the district, to cultivate the private investment required to help transform East Tosa into a destination business district for area residents.

“This is not just about, ‘We’re going to Rocket Baby,’ ” Pantuso said. “It’s about, ‘We’re going to North Avenue.’ ”

Mixed messages

Trenholme said he is grateful for the support he has received from the city to date, but the snag with the plumbing inspector and the message he has received in trying to work out the issue is much different.

The Rocket Baby Bakery came onto the inspector’s radar because of the renovations, Trenholme said. Although there has been no new construction, Trenholme said, he was directed to make existing conditions compliant with new city codes.

“I think the message is very clear. If you come in and do nothing, we will leave you alone,“ Trenholme said. “But if you try to make real improvements and bring money to the neighborhood, you’re going to pay a penalty for that. That’s the message I am hearing.”

“This isn’t just about our building. This is about anyone who wants to come in and do improvement,” Trenholme said. “How other people are treated in my neighborhood has a lot of impact on my business.”