Tuesda
cshopping center proposal sparks protest
By DAVID STOLL
A year after Briarwood, a ba.t-
-, e is brewing in the city over
Mans to build yet another shop-
ng center - this one at the
corner of Packard and Platt in
4e south east part of town.
The proposed Packard-Platt
*laza would contain a Chatham
permarket, an Osco drug store,
nd six smaller stores, for a
combined floor area of approxi-
mately 60,000 square feet on six
acres of land.
Ralph Johnston, spokesman for
Residents Against Packard-Platt
Plaza (RAP III), says the new
shopping center would consti-
tute a "nuisance" because of the
noise, trash and litter, increas-
ed traffic and safety problems,
and declining property values
which he contends it would gen-
erate. Single-family residences
surround the general area and
directly abut the property to be
developed on its northern edge.
The City's Planning Commis-
sion and Planning Department
staff have both announced their
opposition to the new shopping
center, recommending that the
property rezoned from commer-
cial (C-1) to "R4A" - a classi-
fication which would permit only
the construction of multi-fam-
ily dwelling units.
Local representatives of the
developer, the Roger Meyer Com-
pany of Chicago, point out that
the property has been zoned
C1 since 1946 - well before the
houses to the west and north
were built.
The City Assessor's office has
estimated the property would
lose approximately half its mar-
ket value if it is rezoned resi-
dential.
The developer's representatives
also say that the Meyer C o m-
pany has made "extensive and
legally binding" financial corn-
mittments, based not only upon
the long-standing zone classifica-
tion, but also upon the planning
staff's "Guide for Change."
According to the developer,
this statement of planning staff
goals "indicates that the pre-
sently zoned commercial land
will be devoted to commercial
usage."
In reply John Hyslop, assist-
ant director of the planning
staff, says that the "Guide for
Change" was meant only to be
a proposal for "broad general
land uses", not a "hard-and-
fast guide" to the planing staff's
recommendations for particular
parcels of land.
Representatives of the M e ye r
Company also claim the plan-
ning staff has not shown "suf-
ficient" reason for its recom-
mendation to change the proper-
ty's zoning. Market studies un-
dertaken by the developer and
its two major tenants indicate
there is a "need" for a new
shopping center.
According to Hyslop, however,
the planning staff is concerned
not with profit potential, b u t
with the 'concentration' of com-
mercial activity in the area and
problems caused by "excessive
traffic." "The existing commer-
cial activity in the area fulfills
the need as we view it," he says.
RAP III spokesman Johnston
says "30 stores and retail serv-
ices" are now located "within
three blocks of the Packard-Platt
intersection."
There are "just too many
shopping centers in the south-
east part of the city," says city
council member C. William Col-
burn (R-3rd Ward), in whose
ward the proposed shopping cen-
ter would be located.
Arborland, Meijer's, and Topps
are all in the general area.
The controversy is currently
before city council in the form
of an ordinance to rezone the
property from commercial to
residential.
Because the owner of the pro-
perty has objected to the pro-
posed rezoning, nine votes are
required for the measure to pass.
See SHOPPING, Page 7
E4te 1idii n aI 4J
COMFORTABLE
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King of the mountain
These local youngsters told our photographer that they don't care too much for modern art, but
they sure had a good time playing on top of "The Cube" in front of the Administration Bldg. yes-
terday.
FEDERAL SYPHILIS STUDY:
Blacks used as guinea pigs
WASHINGTON W) - During
a 40-year federal experiment a
group of poor black syphilis vic-
tims were deliberately denied
medical treatment in order to
test the effects of the potential-
ly fatal disease. As a result sev-
eral of the human guinea pigs
have died, and it is now too late
to treat the others.
The experiment, initiated by
the Public Health Service (P-
HS) in 1932 involved around
600 residents of Tuskeegee, Ala-
bama. Promises of free hot
lunches, free medical treatment,
for diseases other than syphilis
and free burial were used to
persuade the men - largely
poor' farmers -- to participate.
Of the 600 men tested about
200 had syphilis but were left
as an untreated control group.
Even when penicillin was in-
troduced 15 years later it was
not used to save the men's lives.
Now it is too late. There have
been seven confirmed deaths
caused by the disease among
the experimental. Another 154
deaths of undetermined origin
have occurred amongthe origi-
nal 200.
Sen. William Proxmire (D-
Wisc.) - a member of the Sen-
ate appropriations subcommit-
tee which oversees the PHS
budget -- yesterday called the
study "a moral and ethical
nightmare." He called on Con-
gress to grant compensation to
the families of those involved
in the experiment.
PHS officials responsible for
initiating the Tuskeegee Study
hate long since retired and cur-
rent PHS officials said initially
they did not know their iden-
tity.
But later a PHS official said
the study was initiated in 1032
by Dr. J. R. Heller, assistant
surgeon general in the service's
venereal disease section, who
subsequently became division
chief.
Of the decision not to give
penicillin to the untreated sypi-
litics once it became widely
available, the official, Dr. J. D.
Millar, said: "I doubt that it
was a one man decision. These
things seldom are. Whomever
was director of the VD section
at that time, in 1946 or 1947,
would be the most logical can-
didate if you had to pin it
down."
Dr. Millar, current chief of
the venereal disease branch of
the Center for Disease Control,
(CDC) said he did not know
who headed the VD section in
those years.
Earlier, Dr. Millar said. "I
think a definite moral prob-
lem existed when the study was
undertaken, a more serious
problem was overlooked in the
post-war years when penicillin
became available but was not
given to these men, and a moral
problem still exists."
new labor laws.
Fighting flared outside Pen-
tonville prison, as protesters hi-
jacked two buses and a truck in
a bid to barricade the jail gates.
Britain already appeared to
be stumbling toward paralysis:
-Around 50,000 stevedores
walked out, shutting down all
the country's ports and idling
hundreds of ships.
-Some French dockworkers
resolved to boycott British car-
goes.
-Newspapeis failed to pub-
lishi for the third straight day
because electricians refused to
work the presses.
-Production workers laid
down tools at the plant that
prints the London Gazette, the
official bulletin of the govern-
ment.
-More than 3,000 ground
workers at Heathrow Airport
voted for a 24-hour token stop-
page beginning this morning in
support of the jailed steve-
dores. This could halt all
flights.
-Thousands of coal miners,
truck drivers, autoworkers and
ship and aircraft factory em-
ployes stayed away from their
jobs or voted to walk out across
the country.
-Thousands of b r e w e rs
struck in London, threatening
the capital with a beer short-
age.
A fight broke out at the pri-
son after the marchers came
up against four-deep lines of
policemen. After the attempt to
crash the gate, hundreds of po-
lice reinforcements moved in
and cleared away the marchers.
City sign
law wins
in appeal
The city won a mnajor battle
in the fight over its sign ordi-
nance, yesterday when the
state Court of Appeals upheld
all but one section of the con-
troversial' law.
The decision overturns a rul-
ing by Cii'cuit Judge Paul Ma-
hinake last year which held the
1966 ordinance unconstitutional.
The ordinance, which seeks
to regulate the sizes and loca-
tion of advertising in the city
has been challenged by Central
Advertising Co. and several
other smaller concerns.
In March 1971. Mahinske
found against the ordinance,
and City Council drafted an-
other covering only billboards
which was aleo voided by Ma-
hinske. The city is also appeal-
inag the secoind ruling.
The Appeals Cort inling,
yesterday found only tine sec-
tion of the signs ordinance deal-
ing villa a coompensation for-
nmula for nensovinag oneonsforns-
iiag signss to be unscceptable.
A spokesman for City Attor-
ne y Jenold Lax said yesterday
that if the decision is appealed
to the state Supreme Court the
city will seek reiiastatement of
the compens.alion seetion.