Frankford Community Blog | Local News, Events, Community Resources
Northwood Civic Association St. James Lutheran Church 4600 Pratt Street *****
Agenda: Councilwoman Maria Quinones-Sanchez is scheduled to attend the meeting
Speakers: William Dunbar and Representative John Taylor will introduce themselves.
Elections: Nominations for all board positions will take place at the meeting.
Updates: Frank will give an update on the Frankford Y
Bring a neighbor!
Stop Work Order - 1131 Filmore St.
New multiple electric meter box
The 1100 block of Filmore was a nice quiet little spot until a new owner took over the property at 1131 and began rapidly turning the single family home into a multi family structure. Residents began calling everyone that could be of help. 311 took the complaints and L&I responded with a violation notice but work continued. Yesterday it came to the Northwood Civic Association’s attention and was on the agenda at last night’s meeting. Jason Dawkins, of the Councilwoman’s office was present. Today after waiting a reasonable amount of time, with the contractors still at work and fearing that new tenants were close to moving in, the residents of the block began calling 911.
Today at noon, inspector Bevenour issue a stop work order which said “has exceeded electric permit, must obtain building permit for work being performed”. The contractors stopped work and closed up for the day.
I asked them about the new electric meter box for 3 meters which has not been used as yet. They said that was put in for future use. This entire block is zoned for single family housing.
The story that he residents heard was that the new owner (John R. Fisher) plans to turn the house into a rooming house for six individuals. The current zoning would seem to make that impossible but the neighbors are keeping an eye on the situation. They would prefer that he finish the rehab and then resell it to a family.
The residents are mobilized and ready to picket when necessary. There are no boarding houses in Northwood.
The Northwood Civic Association meeting ran overtime with a full plate of issues on Tuesday, June 19th. Joe Krause opened the meeting. It was noted that membership has doubled in the Civic Association in the last few months. The minutes from last month were read and a verbal treasurers report was given.
1142 Kenwyn Street
The Northwood Civic board took emergency action after last months meeting when residents reported that the property was open to vandals and attracting problems. They cleaned it up and sealed it with new locks. The realtor who is handling the property has been advised of the deed restriction so that it does not become a rental.
Although this property is not in Northwood, it is too close to ignore. A population of 36 men in drug recovery only one block from Frankford High School is intolerable. Jason Dawkins, of Councilwoman Quinones-Sanchez staff, discussed the issues and strategy that the councilwoman’s office will be taking to oppose the use of this property for a drug rehab. Northwood Civic will work with Frankford.
The property had been listed for Sheriff Sale but it is off the list. The owner says they have a possible renter. More news on that issue next month.
949 Foulkrod Street
The Board has surveyed the Northwood deed restricted area and found some owners in violation of the restriction. However, the most significant violation is an owner who is renting a single family home to multiple families. The board recommends that the Civic file suit against the owner for compliance with the deed restriction. There will be a Northwood Civic meeting on July 3rd at 7PM at St. James for the specific purpose of having a membership vote on the issue. All voting members are urged to attend.
Tom McAvoy, President of the Town Watch, reported the they are still organizing and are looking for new members. At present they will be the eyes and ears for reports of problems. No patrols will be undertaken at this stage. The email for the Town Watch is nwtownwatch@hotmail.com.
Frank Bennett reported that the board attended the PSA1 meeting in May. He noted that the answer to why there are no patrols in Northwood is that the police are too busy answering calls to do much patrolling. He noted that in some parts of the city, neighbors have organized to hire private security companies to provide that service. If enough households got together, it could be cost effective.
Frank Bennett went on the record with a thank you to Joe Menkevich for all the work he has done in the last few weeks on the deed restriction in Northwood. His research has been extensive and invaluable.
The next meeting of the Northwood Civic will be on July 3rd at 7Pm at St. James Lutheran Church, Castor Ave. and Pratt Street.
