Many neighbors are organizing to fight a proposed luxury development near 51st and Spruce.
Developer Callahan Ward is planning to build a three-story, 30-unit mixed-use building at 303 S. 51st Street on the site of a former auto repair shop, which is surrounded by the backyards of residential homes. A zoning permit for the building, which also includes three commercial tenant spaces and 21 bicycle parking spaces, was issued on April 26, according to the Licenses and Inspections website. The 16,655 square-foot-lot was purchased in 2018, according to Realtor.com. The lot is zoned CMX2, which allows construction of 33 units by right, and no public hearings were required for the developer to proceed with their plans.
Neighborhood residents will meet on Monday, July 29, from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m., at Holy Apostles and The Mediator Church at 51st and Spruce to discuss the planned development. The meeting is organized by a newly formed group, “Neighbors for Healthy Community Development” (NHCD), which opposes the development based on an array of concerns, including environmental contamination, overcrowding, fire hazards, privacy, and quality of life.
Last year, Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell received a bill from the Planning Commission to remap the parcel to single-family housing, but she never introduced it, according to Plan Philly.
NHCD members have been circulating a petition asking representatives of Callahan Ward to attend a community meeting to discuss residents’ concerns.
This “Call For Action” flier, containing a community meeting announcement, was distributed among neighbors near 51st and Spruce Streets:
July 26th, 2019 at 2:19 pm
something something PARKING something PARKING something
“healthy community development” = free public storage for privately owned carbon belchers
July 27th, 2019 at 6:20 am
So cynical MW… the principle and primary concern for everyone has been egress. That’s why this parcel was slated to be rezoned for single family homes in the first place. There are serious safety and privacy concerns around the density of this proposal on this particular parcel of land, with only one narrow entry. One only needs to visit the location to see how ridiculous and out of date / out of time that 50-year old zoning designation is. If this were a project being built on the street it wouldn’t raise the the same concerns, with or without parking. But it’s not, it’s back behind and between homes with no street facing access at all. And it’s zoned for mixed use / commercial! It just doesn’t make any sense at all. Most people are dumbfounded once they see the actual plot. “By right” doesn’t make it right.
July 27th, 2019 at 8:40 am
It’s hard to tell from crayon scribble over an aerial photo. It will take an accurate, dimensioned architectural plan to clarify egress widths and other features. Also what is going on with what appears to be a vacant lot (brown area to upper left)?
July 27th, 2019 at 5:35 pm
“Local slum dwellers upset their slum will become a desirable place to live”.
July 28th, 2019 at 5:49 am
goldenmonkey you just had to be a racist didnt you?
July 28th, 2019 at 11:43 am
re: What appears to be a vacant lot in the upper left, is NOT. It is the parking lot belonging to Masonic Lodge next door, which serves as our local polling/voting spot. It is fenced off from the development site and not available to them for egress. We welcome anyone to come and look at the site and the egress. It may be difficult to conceive of it without seeing it. Unfortunately, we do not have access architectural renderings yet.
July 29th, 2019 at 10:37 am
I fully support the neighbors and their desire to stop this madness. I live near Baltimore Ave and it sucks–developers are stuffing multi-family units into every square foot of open space. F#$k developers, f#$k the real estate agents getting rich off this pillaging of our established neighborhood.
Single/at most double/family homes please. They’re profiting off our quality of life.
July 29th, 2019 at 4:24 pm
Single family housing directly drives gentrification. With higher density, more people can live in a given area, and rents are kept lower than they would be otherwise. There is a great deal of opposition to apartment buildings on this site, and I have a hard time understanding why. Do people want nothing but 3000 square foot townhomes that cost $600k?
July 29th, 2019 at 4:33 pm
@WP52…where exactly is my racist comment?
July 30th, 2019 at 1:55 pm
They may have gotten it approved by right in zoning. However, it is difficult to believe that they will meet all of the building codes. For one, fire department access is required. A fire lane is required to extend to within 150 feet of all of portions of the building on the ground floor. This is clearly laid out in chapter 5 of the international fire code. Philadelphia has adopted the 2009 version of the fire code and is available for free online at https://codes.iccsafe.org/search.
This would require a “Tee-shaped” access. This would take up much of the property.
The only way for them to achieve their building would be to obtain a building code variance from the board of building standards. Or to rely on inept plans examiners to approve such a project. Hopefully this does not happen.
The issue with Philadelphia is that the departments that need to talk to one another, don’t talk to one another. The zoning board needs to be able to talk to the board of building standard.
The building will pose a public safety issue. Especially to the residents immediately surrounding the property. They need to speak up.
Not to mention it would place undue stress on the surrounding neighborhood. Not only parking, but also the daily dumpster noise, the trash and elevated levels of sewerage. This is a small residential neighborhood and is inappropriate, and would put undue stress on the neighborhood.
There is a process in the city whereas a rejected building permit can be appealed and a variance can be issued by the Board of Building Standards. This is often used by developers to reduce the number of plumbing fixtures, the size of egress, or other hardships imposed by the building code. Sometimes it is abused by developers with deep pockets. This is a process independent of the zoning applications and/or appeals. It shouldn’t be. In other (smaller, normally) jurisdictions, sometimes it is not. When the board of building standards is triggered, it should potentially open up the process to public opinion. Primarily the BBS is concerned with safety. And the public should too. If the building poses a public risk, perhaps only the local residents would know about it. In this case, I feel this is true. The site poses a fire risk to the surrounding properties. Thus the BBS review should consider the public’s input. Particularly when fire department access is a concern.
The building code requires fire department access.
In addition, the building must contain egress which discharges to a public right of way, or to a yard or court which is connected to a public right of way. With this being said, it must contain some type of “yard” or open space in order to connect the egress stairs to the public right of way. They would need to do some creative designing on the ground floor to make this happen. The plan has yet to be seen.
July 31st, 2019 at 9:55 am
Wah Wah Wah….you guys complain too much. Sounds like a bunch of babies in the comments.
If all development stopped there would be no good places to live or eat (like SWIRL CAFE). Everyone, and yes I mean everyone, loves new condos but refuse admit they would prefer a new condo to the old beat up homes they are currently living in. just accept they look amazing.
stop complaining people.
July 31st, 2019 at 12:37 pm
I live by the proposed site and have lived in this neighborhood for 15 years. It is NOT a slum and is already a very desirable place to live with lots of preexisting community and culture. It is a place where people care about each other and is full of block parties, commerce, cultural events, green space, arts, music, sports, theater. But all this doesn’t show up on many people’s radar because that culture and community is centered around black people and how could that possible beautiful, worthwhile, or worth saving?
The inability to notice the vibrancy of this neighborhood is where racism (and classism) come in. The assumption that a neighborhood is a slum—already a coded word–or undesirable until it has lots of middle class and white people (or condos and trendy café’s) in it is the result of racial/class-related blinders. I’m not saying this is intentional or even conscious on the part of folks who posted or others who believe it. I am saying that society teaches/pushes all of us to value the esthetic preferences, lives, desires, and perspectives of white and middle/upper class people over others and that bias has real life impact on the real human beings who live here.
I don’t want my community to become yet another place which is no longer affordable, where black people are pushed out, where our young people are targeted because the new comers are “scared” by them just existing, and where all the services are tailored to white middle class needs and sensibilities regardless of who uses them. This is why a 33 unit building is a bigger force for gentrification than even a 600K single family home. “Luxury apartment” buildings like these cater to wealthy singles and serve as anchors to “rebrand” the neighborhood and make it over in the image of those who can afford them. For more on this check out this article: https://qz.com/684561/the-luxury-apartment-boom-goes-way-beyond-new-york-and-dc/
I don’t know much about NHCD but I support anyone who wants to stand up and say that bigger, wealthier, and whiter is not always better and that people should have a say in what happens in their own communities.
July 31st, 2019 at 1:08 pm
>>> Sounds like a bunch of babies in the comments
If I was the admirably-successful Lai family’s PR rep, I’d be getting paid to remind you that the family may one day find itself in a community meeting seeking neighborhood support for another development project, and that leveling insults at residents in online forums is not known to be a good way to ensure a successful outcome at such a meeting.
(Nor, I would be paid to politely add, is it historically seen as a good way to draw customers to existing businesses.)
July 31st, 2019 at 4:35 pm
Ok Bill H- I am sure you a PR wiz.
My family is strong as ever, we don’t need you or your complainers.
Let’s put it this way. I drive a Hummer. You probably drive a Prius.
July 31st, 2019 at 7:24 pm
More houses, more people would want to live in West Philly, It’s a win.
August 1st, 2019 at 3:45 pm
>>> Ok Bill H- I am sure you a PR wiz
I’ve spent 30 years working in media, so I know a few things, one of which is that when a group does business with the public it’s not a good idea for the group’s members to insult the public.
But don’t take my word for it. Show this thread to any PR professional, tell them you’ve made a habit of calling your neighbors whining babies, and see what they say. Some PR pros even drive Hummers, if that makes you more confident in their judgement.
August 2nd, 2019 at 10:20 am
Is Nick Lai for real or a joke?
August 2nd, 2019 at 11:06 am
Hermes, if I were to guess, I’d say it’s a competitor trying to smear the Lai family and their businesses.
August 4th, 2019 at 8:41 am
DCH: Thank you for your eloquence in explaining this situation.