About a dozen protesters gathered Sunday outside St. Thomas Syro Malabar Catholic Church Sunday to oppose a zoning variance. Photo by Maureen Greene.

Bustleton resident Maureen Greene sent us the following update from Wednesday’s Zoning Board of Adjustment hearing, at which Tacony Academy Charter School was was set to request a zoning variance to send kindergarten and first-grade students to St. Thomas Syro Malabar Catholic Church at 608 Welsh Rd.

“The hearing for the variance to allow a charter school to rent parts of St. Thomas Church was continued on Wednesday without a date for a new hearing.

The attorney for the Church confirmed that the charter school withdrew from their plans and the Church had to evaluate what they were going to do. continue reading »

About a dozen protesters gathered Sunday outside St. Thomas Syro Malabar Catholic Church Sunday to oppose a zoning variance. Photo by Maureen Greene.

St. Thomas Syro Malabar Catholic Church at 608 Welsh Rd. has requested a zoning variance to allow them to rent their building to Tacony Academy Charter School for no less than two years.  There would be 150 kindergarten and first grade students housed there.  Since the School District does not bus kindergarteners, this would cause extreme traffic delays on a dangerous and congested stretch of Welsh Road.

Congregants packed a Greater Bustleton Civic League meeting to force the vote in their favor.  The Pastor admitted that they were looking for money for the mortgage and had only the hope of a flashing yellow light to potentially slow down traffic as any attempt to address the extreme safety concerns of the neighbors, some of whom have had relatives and friends injured or killed along that stretch of road.  The need for left hand turns into the narrow and nearly hidden driveway will create a major hazard. continue reading »

Roger Price of the Bustleton Bengals

The Bustleton Bengals Club is one of many sports organizations for boys and girls in the Northeast. The club continues to live out its mission that began in 1956. Past President and parent Vince Tarducci has been volunteering his time with the Bengals since 1997.

“It’s always been about the children from ages 4 to 18,“ Tarducci said. “We try to get them ready for high school years. We try to get them ready to be better citizens within the city of Philadelphia and whatever they do.”

The Bengals interact with several athletic organizations in the Northeast, but  one thing that sets this organization apart is something it’s lacking: a gymnasium.

“When [other clubs] play us, we have to use neighboring schools Anne Frank and Baldi,” Tarducci said. “We’re fortunate to have them, but we don’t have any control over the use of those places.” continue reading »

Brian O'Neill explains the impact of the zoning code. Photo by Ian Romano.

This is the second in a two-part look at zoning in the Northeast. Read part one here.

Councilman Brian O’Neill and the Zoning Code Commission’s executive director argued over zoning regulations at the April meeting of the Greater Bustleton Civic League. The draft is the first citywide revision of the zoning laws in 50 years.

ZCC Executive Director Eva Gladstein said parts of the code may apply to the Northeast more than other areas.

One of those issues is family-based childcare in the home. The restrictions in place for such an establishment are not changing for family-based childcare. The one distinction is the amount of children allowed in the home.

“For childcare in someone’s home, in the 6th and 10th council districts, the number of non-related children allowed in the home is only four. In the rest of the city the number is up to six,” Gladstein said.

Zoning classifications for parks and recreations will be changed under the draft.

“One thing we’re doing is enabling private participles to be zoned for parks,” Gladstein said. “Now it says only land owned by the city can be a park.”

The new code is requiring new developers to notify registered civic associations and to have a neighborhood meeting before completing their zoning variance.

“I think that will be positively affecting the Northeast since it has so many active civic associations,” Gladstein said.

The number of days allotted for posting a zoning hearing is being increased to 21 days. Another posting is being required if the hearing is continued to another day.

The Zoning Code Commission is changing the organization of the code. continue reading »

This is part of ongoing coverage in “District 172: The Politics of Change after State Rep. John Perzel,” a collaborative effort with Philadelphia Neighborhoods funded by J-Lab.

After John Perzel, the former speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, was charged with misusing public funds, he lost the seat he had held for more than 30 years in the 172nd District to Democrat Kevin Boyle.

Despite the scandal surrounding Perzel, people are divided about whether a powerful politician was better than a new representative in the Northeast district.

John McClogan, a Walton Park Civic  Association member, said he thinks a tainted Perzel is better than a newly elected representative.

“It’s a shame,” he said. “It’s the people who are suffering.”

McClogan said he thinks there is a big difference between Perzel and Boyle.

“Perzel was the speaker of the house. Boyle is just the representative. He doesn’t have the clout that Perzel had,” McClogan said. continue reading »

Greater Bustleton Civic League: Tonight’s meeting has been rescheduled for Thursday, Feb. 10 at 7:30 p.m. at Temple Beth Ami. The meeting was originally scheduled after a Jan. 26 postponement due to snow.

8th District meetings: Tonight’s 8th District PDAC and Captain’s Town Hall meetings have been canceled.

Tacony zoning meeting: Tonight’s zoning meeting of the Tacony Civic Association is still on for 7 p.m. at the Sons of Italy, 4741 Friendship St.

The Holme Circle Civic Association meeting has been canceled due to snow. The next meeting is scheduled for Feb. 23.

UPDATED: The Greater Bustleton Civic League meeting has been rescheduled for Feb. 2.

Plans for the Wawa at Grant Avenue and Krewstown road include knocking down most of the existing shopping center and adding parking.

Demolition for the BP gas station at Grant Avenue and Krewstown Road is set to begin in the next two to three weeks. A full service  Wawa will replace it.

E. June Spring, a senior real estate manager for Wawa followed up at last night’s Greater Bustleton Civic League meeting on the presentation the convenience store made at the group’s last general meeting. With approval from the GBCL, Wawa will now go before the Zoning Board of Adjustment for a variance and a certificate.

GBCL members put up little fight for the variance required to change the name on the existing sign from BP to Wawa and the certificate to allow for the sale of food.

It was traffic that most concerned the approximately 60 people in attendance. continue reading »

Voting was once again the main topic at Wednesday’s Greater Bustleton Civic League meeting.

Members were to vote on a new vice president, but the issue over voting and bylaws extended to the subsequent zoning matters, and left a sour taste in many members’ mouths.

An issue at many civic associations in the region, voting regulations have proven to be a particularly sharp thorn in the GBCL’s side. continue reading »

Members of the Greater Bustleton Civic League prepare to discuss zoning matters at the association's March meeting.

Zoning was the primary focus of last night’s meeting of the Greater Bustleton Civic League, with the first order of business being a presentation from Eva Gladstein, executive director of the Zoning Code Commission, and Michael Thompson, Northeast representative for the City Planning Commission.

GBCL residents, who came together last night for the first time at Baldi Middle School, paid close attention, as neighborhood zoning issues often cause tension at the monthly meetings.

The three-module plan is expected to be presented to City Council by the fall. The revisions have been broken into three chunks:

• administrative procedures
• districts and uses
• development standards

Gladstein said in addition to the monthly community meetings across the city, in the future, the commission will seek to help those who feel their districts require remapping. To make the zoning process more approachable to those who refer to it most — residents and business owners — the new codes will be written more simply and in a less convoluted way. continue reading »