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Why arguments over Temple boathouse proposal won't matter
Last night, a couple hundred people crowded into Lloyd Hall on Boathouse Row to hear the Parks and Recreation Commission grill Temple University over its plan to build its own boathouse on city parkland, on Kelly Drive south of Strawberry Mansion Bridge. Almost everyone agreed that it was a great idea; the disagreement was over how it should be implemented, since a recently enacted law requires Temple to offer a substitute parcel of parkland to replace what it wants to build on. Temple wants to sidestep that requirement by putting down money to improve the site, build a retaining wall and help restore the condemned East Park Canoe House nearby.
Why arguments over Temple boathouse proposal won't matter
Last night, a couple hundred people crowded into Lloyd Hall on Boathouse Row to hear the Parks and Recreation Commission grill Temple University over its plan to build its own boathouse on city parkland, on Kelly Drive south of Strawberry Mansion Bridge. Almost everyone agreed that it was a great idea; the disagreement was over how it should be implemented, since a recently enacted law requires Temple to offer a substitute parcel of parkland to replace what it wants to build on. Temple wants to sidestep that requirement by putting down money to improve the site, build a retaining wall and help restore the condemned East Park Canoe House nearby.
Here's why all the back and forth was probably irrelevant: Councilman Curtis Jones, in whose district the parcel lies, sent an envoy, chief of staff Al Spivey, to the meeting. And Spivey was crystal clear: "We will use the weight of our office to make sure this comes to fruition," he said. "Whatever you [park commissioners] need to do to make this happen, I compel you to think about it."
Ultimately, it's up to City Council, whose tradition of councilmanic prerogative means that the district councilman — aka Jones — will most likely get his way. The law requires only that Council give "substantial weight" to the Commission recommendation; it would take a lot of weight to overturn Jones' opinion on the matter.
So, with that in mind, the rest of the meeting included a video of Temple rowers and coaches bemoaning the state of the crappy tents they currently use, which collapse in the snow and are subject to all manner of destruction. There were a lot of emotional pleas, including from rower Ali Watkins, who reminded the commissioners “small men follow the letter of the law, but great men follow the spirit.”
Temple attested that it planned to invest $14 million on the site, including $10 million in construction costs, $2.1 million in site improvements and $1.5 million to help renovate the East Park Canoe House. Given the lack of retaining wall and the flood-prone nature of the area, they're figuring the land itself has no value whatsoever.
Some parks advocates said Temple should do a more thorough assessment of the adaptive possibilities of the existing (crumbling) canoe house, and others complained that it had ignored the process set out by the ordinance that took years to get passed in the first place.
"You're in the wrong place," Gerry Kaufman of the Tookany/Tacony-Frankford Watershed Partnership told students. "You should be arguing with Temple to provide the substitute land this ordinance requires."
"The idea that Temple University, in the first case before this commission, is requesting a waiver ... is wrong," he added. "The precedent it will set will encourage developers to request similar waivers."
Better to have a boathouse renovated and used by rowers than a crumbling slum because of a law that hamstrings Temple from using it unless it provides some land. The money put up to make it happen will more than enough take care of the problem and provide attractive facilities for all to use. Temple could help the city obtain some land that could be added to the park system should an opportunity come forth.— Aces high
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