The Spruce Hill Zoning Committee will be meeting this Thursday (June 5) at 6:30 p.m. and both Spruce Hill and Walnut Hill residents are invited to discuss a couple of properties within the two neighborhoods. The meeting will be held at the SHCA center at 257 S. 45th Street.

Here’s the meeting’s agenda, according to an announcement by Spruce Hill Zoning chair Barry Grossbach:

1. Expansion of the number of children enrolled in The Little Green School House, a small home based day care and after school program, from the current six allowed to the number 12 requested. West Philly Local wrote about The Little Green School House last summer when it was preparing to open.

“This operation at 219 S. Melville was given a trial run for a year by agreement of neighbors and the zoning committee when it came before us last Spring. Neighbors wanted to determine the impact of the school on traffic, congestion, and quality of life issues on the block. The applicants have met with immediate neighbors recently, and this is now before the zoning committee with all parties invited to attend and share their views,” the announcement reads.

2. The second item on tomorrow’s meeting’s agenda is the construction of a single family house on the lot at 223 S. 46th Street (between Walnut and Locust). Neighbors in the area have been alerted and all are welcome to attend and share their thoughts, according to Grossbach.

Lot at 223 S. 46th Street. (Source: Google Maps).

Update: Police have confirmed that the man shot was 22-year-old Baron Alexander, son of convicted late-term abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, whose notorious clinic was a few blocks from the break-in. Alexander changed his name from Gosnell in 2012, The Daily News reported. Alexander lived a couple of houses down from the row home where the break-in occurred, according to police.

A college student shot and critically injured an alleged burglar early this morning at a home on the 3700 block of Brandywine in Mantua, according to reports.

Philly.com is reporting that the shooting happened at just before 7 a.m. in a residence shared by several college students a few blocks from the Drexel campus. The 22-year-old man was shot three times and is in stable condition.

Click to enlarge

The Partnership Community Development Corporation‘s Neighborhood Advisory Committee office is inviting community members to a series of free workshops, titled Community Conversations. There will be two workshops this month. The first workshop is on Wednesday, June 4, and is about the importance of estate planning and avoiding tangled titles.

You’ve probably heard about cases where families are being displaced out of their homes because a deceased family member did not have a will and the person in the home did not transfer ownership. Without the right documentation for the house residents, they are unable to access city resources for home improvements, housing counseling for foreclosure proceedings and tax delinquencies. Tomorrow’s meeting is being held to inform, help and prevent Philadelphia residents from facing these challenges.

Paulette Adams, Director of Community Development for Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell’s Office and a representative from the City of Philadelphia’s Register of Wills will be in attendance to present information.

The workshop will take place from 6 – 7 p.m. at the Community College of Philadelphia West Branch (4725 Chestnut St).

A retirement planning workshop is scheduled for June 25 (see flier).

If you have any questions please feel free to call the NAC Office at 215-662-1612 ext. 12.

Update: City Paper is reporting that no one was injured in the collapse. The University of the Sciences owned the vacant building. Shafer Properties LLC is developing the parcel next door to build two six-bedroom residences, according to City Paper, and the Hoops building reportedly collapsed while work was being done on those properties. USP has reportedly been trying to sell the building and land, which will now likely be tied up in legal proceedings.

West Philly Local readers alerted us that a section of Hoops Deli and Market located at the corner of S. 42nd St and Chester Ave. was reportedly accidentally demolished during the construction being carried out next door. The incident happened on Sunday morning, according to readers. The city’s department of License and Inspection was on site Sunday afternoon after which the rest of the building started being torn down. This is what the building looked like on Monday evening.

Photo by Mike Lyons / West Philly Local.

We’re trying to get more information on what exactly went wrong. In December 2012 two business storefronts near 49th and Baltimore were heavily damaged during a poor demolition job of Elena’s Soul Lounge. One of the affected businesses, Cedar Park Cafe, reopened last summer and the other one, Gary’s Nails, is still working on its reopening.

Dr. Ketchup performing in Cedar Park. (Photo courtesy Cedar Park Jazz)

Starting this Friday, June 6, live jazz will again waft through Cedar Park. The Cedar Park Jazz series, an annual summertime staple, brings some great jazz and blues musicians to the park every Friday. The free shows begin at 6 p.m.

The local band Dr. Ketchup will open the series this Friday. Here’s the full schedule (please note that there’s no concert on July 4):

Every Friday 6 to 8 p.m.:

June 6 – Dr. Ketchup
June 13 – Mixed People
June 20 – Shirley Lites Band
June 27 – Gretchen Elise and Crew
July 11 – Rich Tucker and the Universal Experience
July 18 – Gregory McDonald & Friends
July 25 – Glenn Bryan and Friends
August 1 – Broke and Blue Band

Community contributions to the Cedar Park Jazz are always welcome. Please follow this link to make a donation:

The sponsor list of Cedar Park Jazz includes: Cedar Park Neighbors, Philadelphia Parks and Rec, Fairmount Park Conservancy, Baltimore Avenue Business Association, Gold Standard Cafe, and other local businesses and organizations.

Proposed zoning changes fall within the area pictured above.

Proposed zoning changes for the area stretching from 45th to 50th streets and between Chestnut and Spruce streets will be the subject of a public meeting tonight at the Lea School Auditorium (47th and Locust). Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell introduced the proposed changes on May 8th and the City Council’s Rules Committee hearing (the last opportunity for public input) is scheduled for Tuesday, June 3, according to Garden Court Community Association’s Zoning Chair Mariya Khandros.

The Garden Court, Walnut Hill and Spruce Hill neighborhoods are included in the area, so residents in these neighborhoods are encouraged to attend today’s meeting to provide their input (yes, we know it’s Friday night but the zoning changes affect almost every block in that area, so the organizers want to make sure that as many residents as possible give their input).

The changes include switching some parcels from multi-family to single-family zoning, or changing a commercially zoned location to residential. The parcel that includes the old West Philadelphia High School would also reportedly be zoned  for commercial use, presumedly to clear the way for  development of the high school building.

Blackwell introduced several zoning changes earlier this month, including proposed rezoning of the old University City High School parcel at 38th and Powelton.

The meeting will be held from 6 – 8 p.m.. Tuesday’s public hearing will be held in Room 4000 in the City Hall.