There was a good turnout for the meeting tonight with several new members signing up.

4271 Penn Street

First up was a presentation by Dawn Tancredi, Esquire representing Miosotis Jones.  Ms Jones is applying for zoning to change the use of 4271 Penn Street (Penn and Ruan Streets) from single family to four unit occupancy.  That would be made up of three one bedroom apartments and one studio apartment.  She is requesting a letter of support from the Civic.  The presentation was well done and the zoning officer will do some further investigation, the board will vote and a decision will be made within 7 days.  There was some community support for the change present at the meeting.

The operator of a family day care home in the 5100 block of Torresdale Avenue is looking for a letter of support for her change to a group home.  That means the capacity would go from six to twelve children.  Discussion of the issues followed and the zoning officer will make a followup visit.

The last piece of business at tonight’s meeting was a vote on whether to write a letter of support to the zoning board for the application by the Bridge to move on to the property on Adams Avenue.  The Board and eligible members voted 2 to 1 against the motion.  Letters of support have already been written by the Northwood Civic and Juniata Civic Associations.

Follow this link to NEastPhilly.com coverage of the meeting.

The next Frankford Civic meeting is scheduled for June 2nd.

I missed the Frankford Civic meeting last week but I knew both NEastPhilly and John Loftus of the Northeast Times would have it covered.  You can read both accounts linked above.  Sounds like it was a good meeting with an energetic exchange of opinions.  The issue is whether the Civic will support the application by the Bridge for a variance so they can move onto that property on Adams Avenue.

Northwood and Juniata Civics have both voted to support it.  Councilwoman Sanchez is undecided and Representative Payton is for it.  (thanks to Jason Dawkins for the correction.) The vote by the Frankford Civic will be at the meeting on May 5th.

The issue is the large number of rehab/recovery related businesses and services in Frankford.  My opinion is that there does not seem to be a plan for dealing with it.  If there was some confidence that this situation was under control, I doubt that the Bridge application would be in debate.  It is a fine program and everyone wants it to find a good home.

The Frankford  Civic Association meeting, which had been delayed by inclement weather, was held last Thursday night at Aria Health.  There was a fairly good crowd, with some new faces, considering the 25 degree temperature outside.

First off was Nick Esposito, project manager for Portfolio Associates who will be making a presentation on the proposed improvements to Womrath Park in regard

Nick Esposito

to storm water management.  We posted information about the upcoming meeting last week.  You can read that post here.

Toby Biddle

Next, Toby Biddle spoke seeking support for a zoning variance for the legalization of the conversion of 1837 Harrison Street to a duplex.  He is a real estate investor who bought the property at sheriff sale and then found out it had been illegally converted from a single family home.  The civic raised several questions about his intended use of the property to determine whether Mr. Biddle was looking toward making it a rooming house.  Biddle says he intends to manage the property as a duplex and nothing more.

The most significant discussion of the night centered around the long rumored move by the Bridge into Frankford.  Barry Howell, President of the Northwood Civic Association spoke about discussion they have had with the management of the Bridge.  Also attending was Kate Clarke, president of the Juniata Park Civic Association.

1100 block of Adams Avenue at Unity

The Bridge is being forced to move from their present Fox Chase location by the owners of the property who have other needs for it.  The owners of the vacant land in the 1100 block of Adams Avenue (near Unity and Adams) are looking to develop the land which is zoned industrial.  The Bridge is seeking support from the community to move into a new building to be built on that site.

The discussion raised these issues:

• The Bridge offers a good quality program
• It is not a methadone treatment program
• The community would like to see a better use for the property
• Once the Bridge moves in they may change the services that are offered
• What is they become another drug treatment facility
• The community can get provisos as part of the approval process
• Once they are in the community will have no control over what they do
• Nobody will want to develop new businesses near the facility
• NET on Bridge Street is looking for a new location so it could be worse
• Doesn’t Frankford have enough of these services, why not some other location

There will be a presentation with full details of the Bridge proposal at the Northwood Civic Association meeting on Tuesday, February 15th.  The next meeting of the Frankford Civic will be on March 3rd.

From the Frankford Civic:

Our meeting scheduled for Thursday February 3rd has been postponed until Thursday, February 10th…same time in Aria health system”s lunch room.

General awesomeness going on in our message board:

• my father is hunting for Frankford’s oldest house, give your guesses, or confirm it.  I wonder if Joe Menk knows it.
• Brian Wisniewski was elected Frankford Civic president
• We’re talking about the never created Pulaski Expressway
• Frankford Arsenal Business-plex has it’s own website
• Select Auto Glass is the latest Frankford business reviewed on Yelp
• 4727 Northwood Street is on sale for $179K