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Urban Development
The controversial Chelten Plaza development plan in Germantown — which would erect a Save-A-Lot and Dollar Tree where a Fresh Grocer once stood — may get an additional $1 million in state funding.
The Rendell administration already awarded $3 million in Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP) funds for the project, which is set to be located at Chelten and Pulaski avenues, in 2010. This money will likely be dispersed beginning this summer. Now, City Paper has found that Gov. Tom Corbett's office is considering a request from the project's developer, Pat Burns (of Pulaski Partners), for another $1 million in RACP funds.
Corbett spokesman Eric Shirk says that the extra $1 million was already approved by the Rendell administration in late 2010 — but a contract was never executed — so Corbett's office is currently reviewing it. He adds that the administration is considering all RACP projects on a "case-by-case basis," and can't say when a final decision will be made.
The news that the proposed Chelten Plaza project may get even more public dollars shocked some community members. "I am appalled," says Yvonne Haskins, an attorney for the West Central Germantown Neighbors and other local groups. "In all my years in Philadelphia, I have never experienced such disregard for what the community wants."
Critics of the project say that the developer blindsided the community, and that another dollar store is unnecessary in a neighborhood that has more than 70 low-end stores.
Carly Spross, a spokeswoman for Fresh Grocer (which Burns owns), says the additional $1 million would likely go toward better design, landscaping and other improvements that have been advocated for by Germantown Community Connection, another local group that has butt heads with the West Central Germantown Neighbors over how to best deal with the proposal.
Look for more on the Chelten Plaza project in City Paper this week.
Last night's 8th Council District debate could have been fiery — given candidate Robin Tasco's allegation that she was threatened by opponent Cindy Bass' campaign, candidate Verna Tyner's unabashed criticism of Bass for not saying whether or not she'd vote for Councilwoman Marian Tasco for president, and plenty of other juicy issues that've been brewing.
Overall, though, there was very little mud-slinging.
The debate between the seven candidates for the 8th District — which stretches from Nicetown up to Chestnut Hill — centered around DROP, the Martin Luther King Jr. High School scandal, economic development, and current 8th District Councilwoman Donna Reed Miller. All seven candidates — Robin Tasco, Bass, Tyner, Greg Paulmier, Howard Treatman, Andrew Lofton and William Durham — attended the debate.
But there were some subtle jabs at each other. For instance, Treatman said he wouldn't hire anyone with a "history of political corruption." (Bass' campaign has been critized for employing Steven Vaughn, a former Miller aide who pleaded guilty in a pay-to-play scandal.)
Tyner, meanwhile, strongly voiced her opposition to voting for a Council president who's enrolled in DROP (aka Marian Tasco). All the candidates were in agreement over this, except for Bass. Bass has maintained that it's too soon to make her decision about a Council president.
Tyner seemed to use this to her advantage, standing up to make her point and even calling on the crowd to voice their opinion about DROP.
Also, when Bass called for an investigation of the Martin Luther King Jr. High School scandal to "see what the facts are," rather than jumping to conclusions, Durham seized the topic. He said there are many facts already known: The community wanted one thing, he says, and public officials decided "it does not deserve that."
In fact, most of the subtle disses seemed to be directed toward Bass, who has earned the endorsement of Mayor Michael Nutter, District Attorney Seth Williams and other public officials, and is seen as a front-runner.
There were a few other surprises throughout the night: Tyner, a staff member for City Council for 16 years, said she supported term limits. Some people closely watching the race saw this as an affront to the late at-large Councilman David Cohen, who served for decades, and for whom Tyner worked.
Treatman, Lofton and Tasco also favored term limits, while Bass, Paulmier and Durham didn't.
Another interesting turn: Moderator Chris Satullo, WHYY's executive director of news and civic dialogue, asked candidates how they would foster transparency in their office — something that Miller has been criticized as lacking.
Most agreed that an office in the district was needed, as well as regular meetings or newsletters for the community.
Check back later today for videos of the event, which capture candidates responding to Satullo's tough call to prove that they won't be beholden to the political machine or big donors, among other things.
Oh, and did we mention that last night's debate at Germantown's First Presbyterian Church was packed to the gills? Yet another reason y'all should get interested in the election, if you're not already: Everyone else is doing it! Peer pressure!
UPDATE: Two things worth noting that weren't noted before: The debate was organized by NewsWorks. Also, moderator Satullo's questions came from a series of forums that NewsWorks held with local voters throughout the past several weeks.
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Ride the Ducks will return to the Delaware River, according to a city press release.
This follow last year's tragic accident involving Ride the Ducks, in which a barge struck one of the tour boats, resulting in the death of two Hungarian visitors. Operations on the Delaware have ceased since then.
"Every measure has been considered and will be followed to provide for the safety of Philadelphians and our visitors," said managing director Richard Negrin in the release.
The Managing Director's office says Ride the Ducks will return with "improved safety procedures" and "enhanced operating, communications and trianing standards." They include barring Ride the Ducks boats from entering the water when a barge is within a half nautical mile. "Quackers" — aka those famous noisemakers — also won't be given out until the end of the tour.
Last year, some ex-employees of Ride of the Ducks' Baltimore operations told City Paper the company's safety standards are "abysmal." Ride the Ducks refuted this.
See above for an image of where Ride the Ducks will operate, as provided by the city.
Anuj Gupta, the executive director of Mt. Airy USA, tells Naked City that the community development corporation has won a $250,000 grant from the city to fix up two abandoned properties on Germantown Avenue.
The properties are located on the 6500 and 6600 blocks of Germantown Avenue, in Mt. Airy. This part of the street is an interesting position: It's between Chestnut Hill, an extremely rich community, and Germantown, which has wrestled with blight and poverty for years. In fact, this area is only a couple of blocks from what is widely accepted as the border of Germantown.
"If we can anchor this stretch," says Gupta, "it will help trigger the next wave of investment into Germantown Avenue."
Gupta says the two properties, located specifically at 6614 and 6513 Germantown Avenue, will become mixed-use developments. He hopes that one will end up selling food, thus "bringing quality-of-life amenities to all parts of the community."
The grant comes from the city's Office of Housing and Community Development.
The Zoning Board of Adjustment has granted its approval for a proposed "penal" project at Grays Avenue and 52nd Street, in Southwest Philly.
Last month, City Paper reported on the battle over the project. Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell and some neighbors support it. The developers call it a "day reporting center," where ex- and non-violent offenders will receive services (and sometimes beds) in lieu of being sent to jail. The supporters of the project argue that it will save the city money and reduce recidivism rates. Some other neighbors who are opposed to the development, however, call it a "prison" and say it's too close to a residential area. According to the city's zoning code, it is a "penal" project — however, it should be noted that the code has not been rewritten since the 1960s, and according to judicial sources, day reporting centers did not exist then.
No matter its name, the Zoning Board has granted a needed use variance for the project.
The developers, Ronald and David Watts, still need to win a contract from the city.
"We're very happy to receive the use variance. … Another hurdle has been crossed," says David. "We realize we have not gotten to the finish line yet."
Marsha Wall, president of the Southwest Community Advisory Group, says that neighbors will continue to fight the project, and will soon be filing an appeal against the Zoning Board's decision.
Read about another proposed "penal" project in the area, which many of the same neighbors oppose, in this week's A Million Stories.
This might be a really good idea.
Today at Girard College, Mayor Nutter and Paul Brophy, of consulting firm Brophy & Reilly, announced a new redevelopment plan that will target neighborhoods "in the middle" and at risk of blight, in contrast to existing initiatives that only target those already blighted.
Baltimore started doing this a decade ago, naming it the Healthy Neighborhoods Initiative, and despite some setbacks because of the recession it's been widely regarded as successful. Take B-more neighborhood Belair-Edison, which had been facing large numbers of foreclosures in the late '90s due to predatory real estate practices. After less than two years with HNI, the average house price in the neighborhood shot up 6 percent, and 50 percent fewer houses in the neighborhood were up for sale.
So, sounds like a pretty good idea, right?
According to Brophy's report "Protecting Philadelphia's Backbone: A Strategy for Vital Neighborhoods," though, Fishtown, Fairmount and East Mount Airy are the three "in the middle" neighborhoods that will initially be targeted. Perhaps I'm overly optimistic, but it seems to me that Fishtown, Fairmount (especially Fairmount) and East Mount Airy are "slightly above the middle," and places like Brewerytown and Port Richmond might be better targets.
But again, maybe I'm being too optimistic about those neighborhoods. (Or pessimistic I lived in Port Richmond a couple years ago.) Thoughts, Clogs and Clogettes?
Kyle, I live in PR East of Aramingo, so my daily experience is what drives my opinion of the neighborhood. Roughshod may be a little strong but there enough people on my block who don't give a shit about themselves or their house for me to call it that. Again, my point was the area west of Aramingo needs the help, not the river side. I don't know what is "emerging" about Port Richmond, its been relatively stable for years. If people think this section is where all the hipsters are going to go when they get priced out of Northern Liberties and Fishtown...I would tend to disagree.
I've lived in Port Richmond east of Aramingo for the past 6 years, and we're anything but "roughshod". As with any emerging neighborhood, things change quickly and faster than memory serves from the last time you were here perhaps. There's new construction and a lot of rehabbing going on now, minus the commercial development which has kept PR below the radar, unlike Fishtown. Not sure what is holding up redevelopment of Richmond Street as there are many vacant storefronts and a changing demographic.
If they're talking about the section of Port Richmond on the non-river side of aramingo, I agree...the river side is a little roughshod but there are a lot of very nice blocks.
Any idea of what this initiative will actually involve? And yes, Port Richmond does seem to be a better target then Fairmount at least. Mayfair seems like another good candidate.
I live in Fairmount, and while I'd love to see sidewalks repaired, it doesn't FEEL like we need to be protected from blight. Please don't tell anyone I might want to sell my house to!
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