The Spruce Hill Zoning Committee will be meeting this Thursday (June 5) at 6:30 p.m. and both Spruce Hill and Walnut Hill residents are invited to discuss a couple of properties within the two neighborhoods. The meeting will be held at the SHCA center at 257 S. 45th Street.
Here’s the meeting’s agenda, according to an announcement by Spruce Hill Zoning chair Barry Grossbach:
1. Expansion of the number of children enrolled in The Little Green School House, a small home based day care and after school program, from the current six allowed to the number 12 requested. West Philly Local wrote about The Little Green School House last summer when it was preparing to open.
“This operation at 219 S. Melville was given a trial run for a year by agreement of neighbors and the zoning committee when it came before us last Spring. Neighbors wanted to determine the impact of the school on traffic, congestion, and quality of life issues on the block. The applicants have met with immediate neighbors recently, and this is now before the zoning committee with all parties invited to attend and share their views,” the announcement reads.
2. The second item on tomorrow’s meeting’s agenda is the construction of a single family house on the lot at 223 S. 46th Street (between Walnut and Locust). Neighbors in the area have been alerted and all are welcome to attend and share their thoughts, according to Grossbach.
Lot at 223 S. 46th Street. (Source: Google Maps).
June 4th, 2014 at 10:26 pm
If I lived on a small, one-way residential block like Melville I would be pretty annoyed to have a home business and all the related traffic and parking problems expanding on my block. I hope the neighbors opinions decide the matter.
June 5th, 2014 at 11:50 am
Hey Mr. Rogers,
This is Rowan from the Little Green School House (www.littlegreenschoolhousepa.com). Most of our students actually live a few blocks from the school and walk or bike over. The parents who drive usually stay for just a few minutes, and there’s always plenty of parking at our drop-off and pick-up times. Our neighbors haven’t reported any difference in traffic or parking since we opened, and we currently have 5 students.
Also worth considering is that most of the high-quality preschools in West Philly have at year-long waiting list, and more families with young children are moving to the neighborhood every year. Having programs like ours available to families makes a big difference in our community!
Our neighbors, of course, will be a large part of the decision-making process, which is why we’ve already met with them to discuss their experiences and feelings on the matter.
Hope to see you at the community board meeting this evening!
-Rowan