The Walnut Hill Community Association will hold a public zoning meeting on Tuesday, March 7, to discuss a few development projects proposed in the area.

Developers have requested zoning variance for construction of a four-story, nine-unit apartment building at 4622-24 Sansom St. The building will include a roof deck with a pilot house and a covered porch (see rendering image). The building’s height is requested at 38 feet.  Continue Reading

(Google Street View image).

A proposal introduced Wednesday night at the Spruce Hill zoning committee to turn what committee chair called “the single greatest nuisance property in the history of Spruce Hill” from a fraternity house into a three-unit drew skepticism from neighbors, who want the 3,100-square-foot property to go back to being a single family home.

Until recently the property at 422 S. 42nd St. (a block north of Baltimore Avenue) housed the University of the Sciences fraternity Upsilon Sigma Phi, a bane to residents on the block for decades.

New Jersey-based Vasupujya Properties bought the property for $395,000 on Sept. 1 and, according to the zoning request, hopes to renovate its maze of small rooms into three apartments. The building is legally zoned as a fraternity house and can legally accommodate up to 12 residents. The reconfiguration of the four-story building would include a bi-level, two-bedroom apartment in the basement and first floor, a one-bedroom on the second floor and a bi-level three-bedroom on the third floor.  Continue Reading

Here’s another chance for residents to weigh in on what restaurant they would like to see at 4303 Baltimore Avenue. A proposal to convert the first floor of the row home adjacent to Clarkville into a small restaurant was first considered at the Spruce Hill Zoning Committee meeting on Oct. 14.

The next meeting will take place on Wednesday, Dec. 7, at 7 p.m. at the Spruce Hill Center (257 S. 45th St), and this proposal will be on the agenda again among other zoning proposals. The proposal for 4303 Baltimore includes an 1,100-square-foot restaurant on the first floor and renovated, high-end apartments on the second and third floors.

Read more about the proposal here.

UPDATE (4/29/2016): The Zoning Board of Adjustment heard the case on Wednesday, but decided to hold the vote for two weeks at the request of Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell, according to SHCA’s Zoning Chair Barry Grossbach. We’ll post an update next month.

After months of discussions and re-considerations in Spruce Hill, the proposal to build a four-story mixed-use building on the site of the former Transition to Independent Living Center building at the southeast corner of 46th and Spruce St. (4534-36 Spruce St.), has received support from the Spruce Hill Community Association’s (SHCA) zoning committee ahead of its consideration by the Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA) this Wednesday.

The project developers presented an updated proposal for the 21-unit building with ground-floor retail and a rooftop deck during an SHCA zoning meeting earlier this month.

SHCA’s Zoning Chair Barry Grossbach wrote in an email addressed to SHCA members today that the Spruce Hill zoning committee has voted “without dissent” to support the project – with some stipulations.

“We reached agreement with the developers/owners of the project on a Memorandum of Understanding that will be made part of the record and will spell out future meetings with Spruce Hill and near neighbors on final design elements, building operations (roof deck), and construction and post construction schedules (covering such items as hours, trash pickups, retail delivery, etc). In short, we are supporting moving the project forward with the understanding that the community will be a party to future discussions on items of importance to area residents,” the email reads.  Continue Reading

The developers who want to build a 21-unit apartment building at 46th and Spruce make another presentation at the Spruce Hill zoning committee last night.

The owners of the property that includes a burned-out building at the corner of 46th and Spruce were back in front of the Spruce Hill Community Association (SHCA) zoning committee last night with their plans for a new 21-unit apartment building that had many nearby residents concerned about parking and aesthetics.

The proposed brick and metal panel building at 4534-36 Spruce St. would include 21 mostly two-bedroom apartments, ground-floor retail and a rooftop deck. The developers need several variances from the Zoning Board of Adjustment, including one to build 21 units and another for the building’s height – 44 feet.

A point of contention between some nearby neighbors and the property’s owner is over whether the site, which is actually several smaller parcels, is where an apartment building should be allowed regardless of size. It is zoned for single-family duplexes and minimal retail. But the property owners are arguing that the current building, which was most recently a transitional housing facility and at one point a small grocery store, and the construction of apartment buildings on adjacent properties have long ago made that designation practically obsolete.  Continue Reading

USciences unveiled plans to build a large dormitory on the site of the former Alexander Wilson School at a public meeting last month.

UPDATE (April 14, 2016): After reading this post, SHCA zoning chair Barry Grossbach wrote to clarify the new boundaries. He wrote:

“Read your description of our proposed boundary expansion and it might be a bit misleading. It suggests that we are expanding into neighborhoods south of Woodland Avenue. To the contrary, we specifically said that we did NOT want to encroach on West Shore, and that our concern was to have some say on development on the south side of Woodland Avenue. There are specific criteria that City Planning has to use in drawing RCO boundaries, so they followed the procedure that imposes the most minimal intrusion into any residential area ( a block or two adjacent to USciences campus).  Almost all of what would be designated as West Shore is NOT included in this proposed expansion.”

The Spruce Hill Community Association (SHCA) passed a resolution on Tuesday night that extends its jurisdiction as a “registered community organization” (RCO) to the neighborhoods south of Woodland Avenue. That means it now will likely weigh in on important zoning issues along Woodland, including the University of the Sciences’ plans to build a large dormitory complex on the site of the former Alexander Wilson school at 46th and Woodland.

RCOs are in place around Philadelphia to facilitate public debate over proposed development and while their recommendations are not binding, they are considered during Zoning Board of Adjustment hearings.

SHCA zoning chair Barry Grossbach told the organization’s board last night that the city’s Planning Commission supports the boundary extension. The commission will have to approve the resolution.

SHCA’s boundaries as an RCO, which had previously stopped at the northern side of Woodland Avenue, will extend south to the train tracks south of the USciences’ campus. USciences plans to construct several buildings over the next decade or so and it has been unclear which RCOs would consider the proposals.

– Mike Lyons