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.

An artist’s rendering of the proposed 76-unit apartment building at 48th and Chester.

A proposal for a 76-unit apartment building at 48th and Chester will go back to the city zoning board following a court decision in favor of neighborhood groups who oppose the project.

Court of Common Pleas Judge Anne Marie B. Coyle ruled earlier this week that the city’s Zoning Board of Adjustment “had failed to clearly identify any factual evidence” that not granting variances for the building would result in “unnecessary hardship” for the developer. The board can grant variances based on “unnecessary hardship” for a number of reasons, including financial viability.

The project is being proposed on the land owned by an adjacent nursing home – Renaissance Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center. Renaissance owner Meir Gelley is seeking to combine several land parcels adjacent to the nursing home for the proposed development – 4701-15 Kingsessing Ave., 4720 Chester Ave., 4724 Chester Ave., 1115 S. 48th St., and 1119 S. 48th St. Continue Reading

Rosemarie Certo at the 2012 Baltimore Avenue Dollar Stroll/ Photo by West Philly Local

Dock Street Brewery at 50th and Baltimore is changing hands after 15 years.

Owner Rosemarie Certo announced in a mass email yesterday that she is selling the equipment in the brewpub but not the Dock Street name.

“On June 1st, there will be a talented duo taking over Dock Street’s space in the Firehouse – they are young, ambitious, hardworking, and kind,” she wrote. “They are seasoned brewers and will make fantastic beers and other fare. We can’t wait for you to meet them and to welcome them to the community.”

Dock Street opened in the former firehouse at 701 S. 50th St. (which had been converted to a farmer’s market) in August 2007 after a long process that included opposition from local church leaders and multiple zoning rejections. But several longtime residents, the neighborhood group Cedar Park Neighbors and the University City District pushed the city’s Zoning Board of Adjustment to reverse its decision. Continue Reading

SEPTA has announced that masks will no longer be required on vehicles, stations and concourses after a federal judge struck down the federal travel mask mandate.

SEPTA’s announcement came as an indoor mask mandate went into effect across the city, sowing confusion about where masks are required and where they are not.

Some transportation agencies around the country, notably New York City’s MTA, have kept a mask mandate in place. Others like Amtrak have made masks optional. Continue Reading

A new public health center aimed at the local community and offering primary and preventative health care for adults and children, pre- and postnatal care, behavioral health and social services and addiction treatment has opened at 54th and Cedar.

The PHMC Health Center on Cedar is staffed by clinicians from Penn Medicine’s Department of Family Medicine and Community Health and is part of the non-profit Public Health Management Corporation’s (PHMC) Public Health Campus, the former site of Mercy Philadelphia Hospital.

The federally-funded clinic at 54th and Cedar is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. They accept walk-ins and in-person and telehealth appointments and accept most insurance plans. A sliding fee scale is available and everyone will be treated regardless of their ability to pay. Continue Reading