January 19, 2018
Post Bros. co-founder Mike Pestronk during presentation of the proposed addition to the Garden Court Plaza at 47th and Pine at last night’s Garden Court zoning committee meeting.
A crowd of about 70 people gathered to hear about a proposed 243-unit addition to the Garden Court Plaza complex on the 4700 block of Pine Street voted overwhelmingly against the plan.
Proposed building rendering (view from Pine Street).
Post Bros., the current owners of Garden Court Plaza, want to erect an adjacent building that would bring the total number of residential units of the complex at the corner of 47th and Pine to 389. The plan requires the city to issue variances for both building height and density. Current zoning for the site allows for a building with a maximum height of 38 feet. The proposal would double the density maximum for the site, currently set at 170 units. Continue Reading
January 18, 2018
Pine Street between 46th and 47th has been closed to through traffic for days due to a water leak and a sinkhole. Residents reported the leak at the beginning of last week, and then a Water Department truck responding to the call fell in the sinkhole on Friday, Jan. 12.
The Philadelphia Water Department (PWD) reports a significant increase in customer service calls in January 2018, which is causing a growing backlog. A lot of the calls are reports of water main breaks in the city. For comparison, in January 2017, there was a total of 117 water main breaks for the month. In the first 15 days of January 2018, some 176 water main breaks were reported. As of January 17, the Department still had 170 leak investigations outstanding.
“We are doing our best to get those assigned and inspected,” reads a PWD statement. “We have crews working at an almost 24/7 pace right now, and we are attempting to address each issue brought to our attention as quickly as we can.” Continue Reading
January 16, 2018
Demolition of “Wash ‘n Lube” car wash has begun on the 4100 block of Chestnut Street to make room for a pre-fab 6-story 130-unit apartment building (see rendering below). The new construction is “by right”, which means it didn’t have to go through zoning or community approval. Nevertheless, the plan for the proposed building at 4125 Chestnut Street was presented at September’s Spruce Hill Community Association zoning meeting as a heads up for the community. Read more about it here. Continue Reading
January 3, 2018
The City of Philadelphia has issued a snow emergency effective at 12:01 a.m. on Thursday. That means that vehicles should be moved from certain streets in the city, including the entire length of Chestnut and Walnut Streets and Woodland Avenue in West Philly.
The region is under a winter storm warning with three to six inches of snow expected.
Vehicles remaining on the emergency routes will be ticketed and towed. More info on snow emergency routes can be found here. If your car is moved, call 215-686-SNOW to find it. Do not call 911. Continue Reading
January 3, 2018
Lawyer and West Philadelphia resident Jeff Curry announced this week that he is running for state representative in Pennsylvania’s 188th district as a Democrat in the May 15 primary. The announcement was made on Jan. 1 at the University City Arts League, where he addressed the crowd of over one hundred and fifty supporters, according to a press release.
The seat has been held by State Rep. James Roebuck since 1985.
Curry has been a resident of this district for the last decade. He and his wife Angela first moved to the district in 2007 to start and raise a family in the community. A father of three young children, Curry is running for office because he feels “Harrisburg does not reflect his family’s values of hard work, respect others, and equality and fairness for all.” Continue Reading
December 29, 2017
Fire crews battled a two-alarm fire on the 4900 block of Chestnut Street on Friday morning. The fire broke out shortly after 11 a.m. on the second floor of a two-story row house at 4937 Chestnut St. The fire was brought under control at around 12:30 p.m.
Two firefighters suffered minor injuries, according to reports.
A SEPTA bus has been positioned at 50th and Chestnut to provide relief to anyone displaced by the fire and for the fire crews working in frigid conditions.
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