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Frankford NAC Zoning Board Meeting for April

From Douglas Bryant, President of the Frankford NAC

The Frankford NAC Zoning Board meeting was held Thursday April 13, 2013 at Second Baptist Church of Frankford at 7:00 pm. There were two properties seeking zoning variances. The first property at 1728 Orthodox St was for the building of a vehicle and tool storage garage. The owner of the property explained that he needed a facility to store his work trucks, various tools and related work equipment. After much discussion the community members present rejected his proposal.

The second property discussed is located at 4731 Griscom St. The owner of the property was seeking a zoning variance to open a Crown Chicken fast food restaurant. Due to the amount of increasing negative activity in the area he was questioned extensively on issues regarding security, hiring intentions and hours of operation, particularly concerning the hours of operation. The community was unanimous in rejecting the proposal.

On Wednesday April 24, 2013 Wissinoming Civic Association and the Frankford NAC Zoning Board met at Wissinoming Presbyterian Church to hold a joint board meeting. The purpose of this community meeting was to discuss a new site development at Tulip St. and Harbison Ave. The developer Carl Freedman of FC Development Group is proposing a Retail Shopping Center on that site. The site is 12.5 acres which extends from Harbison Ave. to Sanger St. on Tulip St. The existing factories will be demolished.

The Shopping Center will be anchored by a 67,000 square foot Supermarket with Retail Stores, a Fitness Center, Restaurant and a large Gas station with a convenience store. Carl Freedman explained that Green Technology will be incorporated in the construction. This development will create 250 – 300 construction jobs and 400-500 ongoing jobs. Security was discussed and there will be cameras that tie into the Police Department. The property will have trees and 700 parking spaces. There will be community give backs to the community. The developer was concerned about being so close to the railroad tracks and will install a 6 ft. fence. The community was concerned about truck traffic on Tulip St. to the shopping center. The plan is to have trucks enter from Harbison St.

Although no formal vote was taken at this time, the proposal was well received by the community. There will be follow up meetings to discuss this project. For more information on the FC Development Group and their projects you can go to www.fcdevelopmentgroup.com .