Two years ago people participating in State Farm’s Neighborhood Assist campaign helped two West Philly non-profits, Neighborhood Bike Works and West Philly Tool Library, win $25,000 grants each for community improvement projects. This year, the youth-led philanthropic program has returned and anyone with a Facebook account can nominate and vote for their favorite local cause. The program’s goal is to improve neighborhoods in three important ways: education, community development and safety.

Here’s how it works:

• Identify and submit a cause using the Facebook app from March 3 through March 23, 2014.
• The first 4,000 Neighborhood Assist submissions will be reviewed by the State Farm Youth Advisory Board (YAB).
• Two hundred finalists will be chosen.
• The finalists will be announced on Facebook.
• Public voting to select the winners takes place April 28-May 16.
• Winners will be announced on May 27 on Facebook.

Forty causes with the highest numbers of votes will be selected to receive the grants. In 2013, over 3.4 million votes were cast and the difference between the 40th and 41st cause was only 62 votes! For more information about the program, click here.

UPDATE (1:00 p.m.) The snow emergency was lifted at 11 a.m. this morning and it is now safe to park on all snow emergency routes.

(9:00 a.m.): A snow emergency was declared in the city at 10 p.m. on Sunday. If you parked your car on any of the snow emergency routes and haven’t moved it yet, please do so as soon as possible. Here are snow emergency routes in West Philadelphia:

• Chestnut Street from Cobbs Creek Parkway to 20th Street
• Walnut Street from Broad Street to Cobbs Creek Parkway
• Woodland Avenue from Cobbs Creek Parkway to University Avenue
• 34th Street from University Avenue to Grays Ferry Avenue
• 38th Street from Walnut to University Avenue
• 63rd Street from City Avenue to Walnut Street
• University Avenue from 38th Street to 34th Street
• Island Avenue from Woodland Avenue to Enterprise Avenue
• Cobbs Creek Parkway from Walnut Street to Woodland Avenue
• Schuylkill Avenue from Market Street to Walnut Street

Monday’s trash and recycling collections are suspended until next Monday. Also, there will be no rear driveway collections this week so please leave all trash and recycling at the curb. For more information, visit the Streets Department website.

All Philadelphia public schools, after-school and early childhood programs will be closed for students on Monday, March 3, due to another round of severe weather expected in the area, the Philadelphia School District announced this evening. Parochial schools will also be closed, according to an earlier announcement by Philadelphia Archdiocese.

A winter storm warning remains in effect until 1 p.m. on Monday, March 3, with some sleet and freezing rain expected at the start and snow accumulation between three and seven inches, according to Accuweather.com. Stay tuned to other weather-related announcements.

The first zoning approval meeting for the proposed apartment complex at 4224 Baltimore Avenue, which was scheduled for Monday, March 3, has been cancelled due to severe weather forecast, Spruce Hill Zoning Chair Barry Grossbach announced via e-mail. A winter storm watch is in effect for Philadelphia from Sunday evening through Monday afternoon, according to Accuweather.com.

“We do not want to hold a meeting that people might have difficulty traveling to and incurring unnecessary risks in the process. This project is sufficiently important to our neighborhood that it should be scheduled free of nature’s complications,” Grossbach writes.

The meeting should be rescheduled within the next couple of weeks. We’ll post details as soon as we have them.

Representatives from The City School explain their plans to SHCA (Photo by Annamarya Scaccia / West Philly Local)

Last night, representatives from The City School unveiled plans to redesign the entry way of its Spruce Hill campus at 4115 Baltimore Avenue, building what they called “a more identifiable, uniformed” entrance that would better introduce the Christian academy in the neighborhood.

The Spruce Hill Community Association Zoning Committee considered The City School’s plans during a routine meeting Wednesday night. According to school representatives, the Spruce Hill campus redesign will include construction of a new facade that will build out the elementary school’s entrance right to the sidewalk. Currently, the frontage of the Baltimore Avenue site has multiple entrances for varying purposes, often confusing guests coming to the academy. Creating a singular front entrance, they claim, would rectify this issue.

As outlined at the meeting, the project would introduce a cedar wood terrace with iron wood brackets displaying the academy’s name, new black wrought iron gates, an art mosaic, and updated planting in the frontage.

The representatives did admit the redesign runs into property line issues, so once they hear the SHCA Zoning Committee’s feedback, they plan to seek a zoning variance within the next month in order to move the project forward. Jake Becker, head of The City School, said during the meeting that they hope to start construction in July and have it complete before the 2014 – 2015 school year starts in September.

Formerly known as the Spruce Hill Christian School, The City School’s Spruce Hill campus is one of three schools run by academy, which includes a middle school at 4501 Walnut Street and the former City Center Academy high school at 315 South 17th Street. In 2006, Spruce Hill Christian School merged with City Center Academy, but the unified school continued to operate under two names until last year.

“Being committed to the neighborhood is important to us,” Becker said at the meeting. “While we changed our name, we’re committed to being a good neighbor.”

During Wednesday night’s meeting, the SHCA Zoning Committee also heard from the owner of 517 South 41st Street regarding her application to convert her three two-bedroom apartments into six one-bedroom units, which she said she would market to graduate students and young professionals. In order to go forward, the owner, who bought the property in October, would have to seek a zoning change for the property, which is currently zoned as three-family dwelling. (The owner was already granted an interior alteration permit in January for renovations on the existing apartments.)

The plans received a lot of pushback from the Committee and other community members present, with one committee member suggesting creating smaller units “will not improve the urban condition on that block.” Committee Chair Barry Grossbach said plainly the owner’s desire to convert the house goes “against the grain” of what the SHCA “is encouraging,” which is the development of more single-family units. Grossbach and other members pressed to the owner that her building has existing features—like a large backyard and close proximity to transit—that would attract young families and couples as renters.

Grossbach said the Committee will get in touch with the owner about their opinion within the next few days. In the meantime, a zoning hearing is scheduled for the property on March 19.

–Annamarya Scaccia

The plot that Drexel plans to buy includes University City High School and Drew Elementary School.

Drexel University is set to substantially expand its footprint north of Market Street with the tentative purchase of the 14-acre property where the shuttered University City High School and Drew Elementary School currently stand. Drexel plans to build residential housing, retail space and, most importantly, a K-8 school complex.

Drexel’s plan was outlined in broad terms during a meeting Wednesday night at West Philadelphia High School to announce that the university was the winning bidder on the property, one of seven properties the School District of Philadelphia has for sale. The School Reform Commission is expected to approve the sale during its March 20 meeting.

Drexel’s plan for the site includes an expanded Powel Elementary School, which currently serves students in K-4, and a Science Leadership Academy (SLA) middle school. If approved, the site would be the first middle school for SLA,  the acclaimed magnet school that has a campus in Center City that works closely with the Franklin Institute and a nascent high school program in the Beeber Middle School building in the Overbrook neighborhood.

Officials stressed that the plans are very tentative and are subject to several community meetings and the city zoning process. The terms of the purchase, including a possible price, has not been announced.

About 100 people attended the meeting, including members of the Powelton Village Civic Association and the Mantua Civic Association. The responses to the announcement ranged from relief to indignation.

“The community coming into this was very nervous,” said George Poulin of the Powelton Village Civic Association. “But we are excited about the possibilities of the site.”

The Powelton Village neighborhood would benefit the most from the project, particularly from an expanded Powel School.

Mantua residents, whose children lost their high school when University City High closed, questioned whether the project would help them.

“We don’t know where our community is heading,” said Terry Wrice, a University City High graduate and son of famed city activist Herman Wrice. “Our kids are all over the place.”

High school students from Mantua have been assigned to West Philadelphia High School, where many have experienced confrontations with students from other neighborhoods.

Lucy Kerman, Drexel’s vice provost for University and Community Partnerships, said the university has no plans to include a high school on the site.

“Our commitment has been to support the existing school and that means Powel,” she said during the meeting. “Our vision is in the K-8 space.”

The site will also include residential housing. “It will not be dormitories,” said Bob Francis, Drexel’s vice president of University Facilities.

Francis said the retail would be “small and locally organized.”

“We see ourselves as participating in the recovery of West Philadelphia,” Francis said. “This is about improving the tax base and bringing in jobs.”

Drexel’s push further north into West Philadelphia neighborhoods has increased under president John Fry. Fry, of course, was one of the key architects of the University of Pennsylvania’s initiatives west of 40th Street, including the construction of the Penn Alexander School, while he was executive vice president of Penn from 1995 to 2002.

Residents will have many opportunities to weigh in on the project at different stages. The next chance is the March 20 meeting of the SRC. Click here for information on registering to speak at that meeting. The deadline to register is 4:30 p.m. on March 19.

–Mike Lyons

West Philadelphia Financial Services Institution is hosting a roundtable discussion series titled “Philly, Your Voices, Our City” geared toward “Millennials” (20-34 year-olds). The event will take place Saturday, March 8, at Landmark Americana (on the St. Joe’s campus at 2481 N. 54th St), starting at 11:30 a.m. Younger residents are welcome to join the discussion on the city’s growth, what Philly can improve on, neighborhoods, housing options, and other topics. This is a great opportunity to voice your opinion on some of the most important aspects of city living. Also, enjoy free lunch!

To register, call 215-452-0100 or email: juliana@wpfsi.com