Neighbors around the 4700-block of Griscom Street between Arrott and Foulkrod say they're worried about drug sales. Image/Google Maps

A long discussion on the issue of drug sales on the 4700- block of Griscom Street involved what can be done to bring it back to a livable environment.

As discussed at Thursday’s Frankford Civic Association meeting, there are several vacant properties which have become home to squatters which are part of the problem.  Vacant buildings are attractive for stashing drugs. Neighbors say drug sales are rampant all day long with numerous out of state cars making stops long enough to complete their transactions.

Residents are encouraged to go to the May 22 PSA1 meeting to meet with the police directly about this issue.

Read the rest of the meeting recap from the Frankford Gazette here.

Family, friends and neighbors gathered outside the former T&T bar last winter after 20-year-old Chris Spence was fatally shot following a scuffle inside the establishment. Photo/Shannon McDonald

The Frankford community is once again confronted by the issue of the property at 4691 Hawthorne St., which was formerly the T&T bar.

The T&T was the scene of the murder of Chris Spence last winter, and a new owner has taken over the property with the intention of opening a grocery store.  A zoning petition has been filed, and therefore, support (or lack thereof) from the Frankford Civic Association will be considered before the use can be approved.

Because of community concerns, a meeting is being planned within the next few weeks at the Second Baptist Church at 1801 Meadow St.  The civic will follow the will of the community, as is determined at that meeting.

Read more about Thursday’s Frankford Civic Association from the Frankford Gazette.

Family and friends gathered last February outside the T&T bar to remember Christopher Spence, who was fatally shout outside the now-closed establishment. Photo/Shannon McDonald

Mention of the T&T bar once again raised eyebrows at the Frankford Civic meeting on Thursday night.

Neighbors have been watching with concern as work has been going on at the now-closed bar at Margaret and Hawthorne streets. It has been not quite a year since young Christopher Spence lost his life there in a senseless shooting.

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Before the Frankford Civic Association meeting got started Thursday, zoning officer Pete Specos had an announcement.

Alice Henry will withdraw from the board for personal reasons, with Specos taking the helm. Henry joined the board as vice president in January. continue reading »

The small grocery store at Frankford Avenue and Unity Street in Frankford has plans to sell beer and incorporate seating. But before the store makes those changes, the owners are getting community reaction.

The Frankford Gazette reports the store owners were at Thursday’s Frankford Civic Association meeting to float the idea of improving the small strip of stores adding seating and selling take-out beer.  No formal steps have been taken with the Zoning Board.

If you had a bad experience in the past with the city’s once notorious Licenses and Inspections department, it’s time to give it another shot.

So went the address Thursday night from a representative of the city agency charged with enforcing its zoning code and related statutes.

“Let’s be real: things were bad,” said Maura Kennedy, the L&I director of strategic initiatives, of the agency before current Commissioner Fran Burns came on. “But we’ve worked very hard to get things in order in the past three years, and we want you to give us another try.”

Kennedy, who was speaking at the Frankford Civic Association meeting, outlined how her agency has changed and, along the way, took questions on a longstanding neighborhood beef with L&I over recovery homes.

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The Frankford Civic Association has approved Mastery Charter Smedley's expansion plans for the back of the property.

A vote by the Frankford Civic Association last week will allow expansion plans for the Mastery Charter School Smedley  to move ahead.

Smedley’s principal and COO made a presentation to the group for a new gymnasium and four additional classrooms on the property on the 1700-block of Bridge Street. continue reading »

Frankford Civic Association board members present, joined by Tim Wisniewski.

An apparent un-sanctioned flea market that has waxed and waned various weekends for at least a couple years on Torresdale Avenue in Frankford has grown to a size and a consistency that concerns the civic association there.

Concentrated on the east side of the 4200-block of Torresdale Avenue between Adams Avenue and Church Street, civic group complaints date back to at least 2009, as the Frankford Gazette reported then, noting, as board members did Thursday night, that the venders were unlicensed, leaving litter behind, causing traffic, and otherwise mistreating a partially residential strip of the busy two-lane road.

So the board discussed finding a new home for the market.

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The monthly meeting of the Frankford Civic Association has been delayed a week. The group will instead meet next Thursday, June 9, at 7 p.m. in the second-floor conference room of Aria Health-Frankford.

The Frankford Civic Association voted Thursday night to write a letter of opposition to the city’s Zoning Board, asking it to deny a zoning variance for the development of a new facility for the Bridge, a school for boys suffering from drug, alcohol and behavioral issues.

“We’ve been just overwhelmed with drug-related facilities, so we need to say ‘no’ because we’re the closest civic,” said association president Brian Wisniewski, referencing tumult over whether the local Frankford, Northwood or Juniata neighborhood group had the authority to vote on the facility. “At first, the Bridge wanted to go to Juniata but they got together with Northwood to try to bum rush Frankford… We have something to say too.”

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