The School District of Philadelphia students and staff will again be required to wear masks during the school and work day starting Monday, May 23 and until further notice.

The decision to return to mask wearing at District schools was made due to a growing number of COVID-19 cases in the city and after consultation with the Philadelphia Department of Public Health (PDPH). Masks will also be required while riding transportation coordinated by the District.

The School District will continue to work with PDPH to closely monitor COVID case counts.

As of May 16, Philadelphia averaged 364 new COVID-19 cases per day. 142 people were hospitalized with the infection as of May 18.

Just a reminder that today is primary election day. We wanted to pass along a few things to keep in mind as you head to the polls, which are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. You are allowed to vote as long as you are in line by 8 p.m.

Pennsylvania conducts closed primaries, so you can only vote for candidates from the party for which you are registered. If you are registered Independent, sorry no primary candidates for you, but you can still vote on the four city ballot measures.

Candidates for governor and lieutenant governor, U.S. Senate, state house and senate are on the ballot.

Here are the basics: Continue Reading

The city has released an interactive map that allows home owners to see the assessed value of their property following the citywide reassessment announced last week.

The first citywide property assessment in three years has come under mounting criticism as property values across the city increased an average of 31 percent. Tax rate increases vary by neighborhood with some seeing their tax burden as much as double.

The map allows property owners to type in their address to see the assessed value for 2022 and the new value, which would go into effect in 2023. Your property tax bill would be 1.3998 percent of your home’s assessed value, based on the city current tax rate.

The city’s “homestead exemption” will reduce your taxable value by $45,000. More info on that is available here. Mayor Jim Kenney has proposed increasing the homestead exemption to $65,000 to help offset tax increases.

You can dispute the new assessment here.

A community meeting on the 13-story, 170-unit apartment building proposed on the 4700 block of Spruce took place yesterday over Zoom. Organized by the Garden Community Association Zoning Committee, the meeting was advisory and included the developers’ (Spruce Street Development) lawyer and building architect. Residents could make non-binding suggestions about the project, which will likely begin construction in the fall.

Here are some key points from the meeting:

• The demolition of the existing one-story commercial structures on the block to make room for the new building is not expected to begin until at least late summer, contingent on the approval by the City’s Civic Design Review Committee. Some neighbors voiced concerns over possible air and soil pollution as a result of the demo work at the adjacent communit garden project. Continue Reading

Penn students will be moving out of their dorms this week, as the Spring semester comes to an end at the university. As usual, to accommodate this process, Spruce Street will be closed between 34th and 40th Street to all vehicular traffic on the following dates and times:

Tuesday, May 10 and Wednesday, May 11
from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

SEPTA buses will be on diversion on these two days and traffic delays should be expected in the area. Just a reminder that the street will also be closed to bicyclists unless they walk on sidewalks with their bikes.

Penn Police will be on site to assist with traffic flow.

Artist renderings of the 4746-48 Spruce St. project.

Residents are invited to join the Garden Court Community Association (GCCA) this Wednesday (May 11) for a discussion on a 13-story apartment building planned for the 4700 block of Spruce St.

The meeting, organized by the GCCA Zoning and Development Committee, is an opportunity to provide feedback as part of the city’s Civic Design Review process, where developers take non-binding suggestions from community groups and residents about things like building materials, building height, parking and landscaping.

The current plan includes the following: a 13-story building (six stories on the east end) with commercial space on the first and second floors (proposed uses include restaurant and grocery store), 170 residential units, 28 vehicular parking spaces (accessed via Spruce Street), 76 bicycle parking spaces, and an off-street loading dock (accessed via 48th Street). Continue Reading