4534-36 Spruce St.
UPDATE (3:05 p.m.): We have just heard from Mission First that they withdrew their application for zoning variance at 4534 Spruce St. They have also notified Spruce Hill Community Association about their decision, according to the organization’s spokesperson Becky Lang Staffieri. Stay tuned for more information.
Mission First Housing Group’s affordable housing proposal at 4534-36 Spruce St is scheduled to go before the Zoning Board of Adjustment this Tuesday (July 7). The hearing was originally scheduled for April 28, but was postponed. The proposal is for a four-story 24-unit building aimed at low-income single residents. Public input is encouraged. Click here to read our original story about this project, which will replace a deteriorating Transition To Independent Living Center building damaged by fire in 2011.
Also on Tuesday, there will be another attempt to consider the proposal for a live action puzzle game venue at 4751 Woodland Avenue. The hearing for this project was also rescheduled from an earlier date. The new venue is proposed for the warehouse currently at this location, which requires a special permit from the city.
Hearings are scheduled to start at 9:30 a.m. The Zoning Board of Adjustment is located at 1515 Arch Street, 18th Floor.
July 6th, 2015 at 1:33 pm
What on earth is a live action puzzle venue?
Also, this would be a good opportunity for people who are concerned about affordable housing in the neighborhood (and are opposed to the development at 43rd and Baltimore) to be involved.
July 6th, 2015 at 2:13 pm
Groan, I hope this satisfies that West Philly Gentrification Meetup guy who keeps screaming that zoning variances are illegal, while simultaneously demanding that a site zoned for housing also includes a free school and a free space for a performance venue.
July 6th, 2015 at 2:18 pm
I’m with @1, I want to hear more about this live action puzzle venue, and maybe… A little bit about what happened during the first “attempt” at consideration (?!).
July 6th, 2015 at 2:23 pm
Tip: If you google ‘live action puzzle venue’, you’ll see what they are and that they already exist all over the country, including locally. Then you won’t have to sit mystified in a comments section on a local blog.
July 6th, 2015 at 2:58 pm
You’re a real buzzkill, Frank
July 6th, 2015 at 3:23 pm
@Frank I could envision it meaning lots of different things, unless its some kind of chain. I don’t find google’s listings all that definitive. Seems more like an emerging genre, which is why I’d be curious to hear what the local entrepreneur in question has in mind, if for no other reason than it sounds interesting. I do see that many of the google results to live action puzzle venue seem to favor the phrase “escape-the-room”, but if you drill down, people working on those seem to refer to themselves as Real Life Room Escapes. Maybe at this point, they’re the same thing? Dunno. Seems kind of new and all. No reason to assume whatever is going on at 47th and Woodland is necessarily exactly the same unless they say so. I mean, I’d be curious if someone said they were opening a cat café on Baltimore Ave, but I wouldn’t necessarily assume they’ll have the exact same plan as one in SF or Tokyo either.