Crew from SEPTA takes questions

The good news is that SEPTA will rehabilitate the Margaret-Orthodox El station.  The bad news is that SEPTA will rehabilitate the Margaret-Orthodox El station.  No pain, no gain.  At the meeting tonight SEPTA laid out where they are in the planning process which could start early in 2011 and take two and a half years and will cost 25 million dollars.  There will be dirt, street closures, equipment, temporary platforms and delays.  On a positive note the result will be a newly transformed station that will be fully ADA compliant.  An elevator will rise from the sidewalk on the NW corner of Margaret St. and Frankford Avenue.  The platforms will be completely rebuilt with a tactile warning edge like the other stations have now.  Other bells and whistles are new lighting, cameras, alarms, glass block wind screens and other good stuff.

This is the start of the process where SEPTA is planning.  Now is the time to voice your concerns.  If you have any at all, email us at septa@frankfordgazette.com and I’ll see that they get to the right people.  Future meeting notices will be publicized here.

The Frankford Civic meeting held tonight, was very well attended with about 30 people in the room.

There will be a SEPTA meeting at the Frankford Group Ministry building (4620 Griscom Street) on December 8th, to inform the community about the 7.5 million dollar rehabilitation of the Margaret-Orthodox El stop.  It was the first el stop rebuilt back in the 80′s and now they need to do it over again.  This time maybe it will be the right way.  See the community calendar for the details.

Rep. Payton has partnered with the Energy Coordinating Agency to offer a Weatherization Workshop in Frankford.   Weatherizing your home can reduce your heating bill dramatically, and provides a safer, warmer home for your family.  The Energy Coordinating Agency will show you how you can weatherize your home for little to no money.  They will also discuss assistance programs from the government that help pay for the cost of weatherizing your home.  See the community calendar for the details.  Please Call State Representative Tony Payton Jr’s Office at 215-744-7901 or email Simone Woods at swoods@pahouse.net if you plan to attend.

Zoning hearing at the ZBA for the conversion of 1522 and 1524 Church Street to multi family housing.  The community opposes the conversion and all concerned residents should attend the hearing to make sure the ZBA understands our position.

A contractor who owns the lot at 4205-07 Adams Avenue is seeking support for a zoning change to build a garage to store his equipment.  He came along with his architect to display his proposal.  He was advised to solicit support from the immediate neighbors adjacent to his property and to begin the application process.

It was anticipated that Anthony Bannister would appear to explain his group’s plan to purchase the now closed New Frankford Community Y property.   They have been in discussion with Senator Payton’s office as well as Councilperson Quinones Sanchez office.  No one from the group attended the meeting.  Reps from Sanchez and Payton’s office both said in the course of their meetings they had raised questions about the business plan and funding for the project. In addition,there is the issue of the sale of a non profit entity to a “for profit” corporation.   Barry Howell, president of the Northwood Civic was present and said that the Northwood Civic’s position at this point is to emphatically oppose the deal.

Good news to report. Somehow the long unmoving vehicle on Ruan Street that was discussed at last month’s meeting has been eliminated.  We’re not sure who deserves the credit for doing the right thing.

Next Frankford Civic meeting is January 7th.  Be sure all the details I forgot to report on NEastPhilly.com.

Get details about what’s happening to update the station

We invite you to attend the meeting to get:

• an overview and progress update about the project;
• details about improvements;
• possible impacts to businesses, residents, and riders;
• an opportunity to have your questions answered firsthand.

Tuesday, December 8

Frankford Group Ministries

4620 Griscom Street

Philadelphia, PA 19124

5:30 pm       Registration & Refreshments

6:00            Meeting Begins

7:30            Meeting Ends

We look forward to seeing you.

For more information contact Patricia Miller, Constituent Relations Coordinator, at 215-580-3609.

Interesting article yesterday on philly.com titled “SEPTA is our key to a green future” by Councilman Bill Greenlee and Beverly Coleman, Executive Director of NeighborhoodsNow.  You can tell somebody is planning for a green windfall from the stimulus.  But if the powers that be are going to throw some money at a problem, let some of it land in Frankford.  It’s about time.

THE OBAMA administration plan for America’s future calls for the U.S. to create jobs, jump-start growth and transform our economy to compete in the 21st century.

This includes becoming the world leader in green technology and adopting progressive environmental policies. As the nation’s sixth-largest city, with the fifth-largest regional public transit system, our impact is huge, our responsibility profound. Given the stimulus money that will flow to the city and the state, we face hard choices about priorities.

Philadelphia is uniquely positioned to respond to this call to increase access to jobs and reduce our carbon footprint by supporting development that takes full advantage of our public transportation system – transit-oriented development (or TOD).

So we’re talking about Transit Oriented Development.  Frankford has some weak areas but our strong points are access to transportation and a wide selection of housing.

Transit-oriented development isn’t new, but now is the time to capitalize on the asset we have in SEPTA by learning from past successes. Philadelphia has stellar examples of commercial TODs in the new Comcast Center and the Cira Center at 30th Street. Demand for walkable urbanism is expected to represent a third of the U.S. housing market by 2030. Chicago, Washington and Oakland, Calif., have aggressively capitalized on their infrastructure with great success.

Now all we need is somebody with some money to start capitalizing on those positives rather than focussing on the negatives.