Zoning for most of us is not an exciting topic. However, Philadelphia is in the midst of rewriting the zoning code and this presents new opportunities for correcting past wrongs. Why is it that we have to put up with a recovery house on every block in Frankford? Because there are few legal ways to prevent it. The zoning code, as it is now, allows it. The Frankford Civic has been monitoring this issue and has submitted a letter below to the Zoning Code Commission. Click here to read the letter.
We are hoping that the Northwood Civic will support this effort with a similar letter.
Last Wednesday was the first anniversary of the town hall meeting called by councilperson Maria Quinones-Sanchez. It was held at St. Joachims on February 3, of 2009 and caused quite a stir at the time. You may remember that the subject was the recovery house problem in Frankford. The problem being that there is an overabundance of recovery houses in our neighborhood. We have been told that this is a difficult problem to solve. It may be but how do we know. We haven’t had any official communication from the Councilperson. We haven’t had any news.
This is not to say that nothing has happened down at City Hall. What we were promised, is a return to our community of the people involved in that meeting to report on what was going to be done. We need to know what has been done and what will be done in the future to address this problem. A year is long enough.
The 15th District PSA (Patrol Sector Area) #1 meeting will be held at Aria Health, Frankford on Tuesday, February 9th at 7:00 p.m.. 4900 Frankford Avenue in the 2nd floor conference room. The public is invited.
The first order of business was election of officers for the coming year. Chairman will be Jim McCarthy. Vice chair is Tony Stephens. Secretary is Liz McCollom-Nazario and Treasurer is Paul Mundy.
Tim Wisniewski, Executive Director of the FSSD discussed the mailing made to the businesses in the area concerning future initiatives of the FSSD. Wisniewski reported that by far the most significant request was the reintroduction of the Safety Ambassadors on the Avenue. A discussion followed on how that might be funded. See the video for part of that discussion. Possible use of Welfare to Work participants was raised. Although the cost of their employment would be free to the FSSD, there would still be training and uniform costs. It was agreed that at least one paid supervisory person would have to be employed no matter what the source of the funding for the remainder of the staff would be.
The board discussed the ongoing issue of trash and what is often “short dumping”. People from outside the area are dumping household trash into the receptacles on the Avenue. Even though they are emptied daily, they are often overflowing. Strategies for prevention and prosecution of illegal dumpers were a hot topic.
There are positions open for three new board members. Applicants are encouraged to obtain an application via the FSSD web site.
Wisniewski noted that he is about to send final notices to the business owners who are delinquent on their tax payments to the FSSD. Failure to pay will result in a lien being placed on the owner’s property.
Public board meetings will be held quarterly for the remainder of the year. The exact dates and times will be published in the Northeast Times and the Frankford Gazette.
Jorge Santana, Chief of Staff for State Rep. Tony Payton mentioned that their office is building a database of Frankford Businesses. Theresa Hanas of the Frankford CDC said they also collect data from businesses in Frankford. The FSSD is collects data. A discussion took place on how the CDC, FSSD and Rep. Payton’s office might work together to share data. That is a significant turn of events if you have been in Frankford for any length of time.
