The Spruce Hill Community Association (SHCA) is appealing to the City Council to delay the implementation of the controversial property tax assessment overhaul, the Actual Value Initiative (AVI), which could help bail out the city beleaguered school district by increasing taxes on long under-valued properties. Residents in neighborhoods where property values have far outpaced the city’s valuation could see their property tax bills double, triple or even quadruple.

City Council is expected to consider AVI legislation at Thursday’s regularly scheduled meeting. The City Council has until July 1st to submit a new budget and tax rate. But the property assessments needed to implement the AVI have not been completed. That’s one of the reasons the SHCA is pressing for a delay.

In a letter sent to members today, SHCA President Ed Halligan urged the City Council to take more time to let residents prepare for what could be substantial changes to their tax bills. The extra time would also allow city assessors to do a thorough inventory and assessment of the city’s housing stock.

Several versions of the AVI have been floating around City Hall and it is unclear what the final version might look like. What does look certain is that a basic formula will hold: If your home has been assessed too low, your taxes will likely increase.

While homeowners would be hardest hit, many renters will probably not be immune from dramatic tax increases as property owners will likely look to pass on the added costs.

There are lots of resources available on the AVI and we will collect them when and if it’s passed. Meanwhile, here is a good primer on the AVI that Plan Philly put together a few weeks ago.

Below is a copy of the SHCA letter to Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell.
SHCA letter to Jannie Blackwell

A standing-room-only crowd evenly divided for and against a proposed liquor store at 43rd and Chestnut will have to wait a few more days for a decision. The Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA), which held a special hearing on the controversial proposal today, will make a decision in a private session likely within a week.

About 75 people attended the special hearing, including a large contingent of residents who attend the Masjid al-Jamia mosque at 43rd and Walnut and live near the proposed location. The liquor store would replace the Risque, an adult video store, and an adjacent check cashing place on the eastern end of a strip mall along Chestnut Street.

“We do not need another liquor store in our community,” said Larry Falcon, the pastor of Covenant Community Church and owner of the Toviah Thrift Shop near 42nd and Chestnut. “I’ve buried 18 kids in 11 years who were killed in drug or alcohol related homicides.”

Most of those opposed to the store were Muslim residents who said that the community organizations like the Spruce Hill Community Association, which approved the store in April, don’t represent their interests.

“You have to understand that the people who live near there see the world differently,” said a Muslim college student who asked not to be identified as the debate from the hearing spilled into the hallway.

Opponents of the store submitted a petition with some 600 signatures.

Proponents of the liquor store say it will serve an area that has no other liquor store following the closure of the one near 40th and Market. The proposal is for a store that would include increased square footage and a premium selection of products. A Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board official who testified at the hearing said that the proposed store would offer a “premium shopping experience.”

The location includes off-street parking and a loading area in the back of the store, both of which would ease traffic concerns, said property owner Ted Pagano. He said the University City District has also agreed to patrol the location to alleviate concerns about public safety.

Barry Grossbach, who represents the Spruce Hill Community Association (SHCA) on zoning issues, said the SHCA has included stipulations in its approval that would require measures to prevent increased traffic problems and crime near the store.

Grossbach also added that no particular groups should have control over any parts of the neighborhood.

“It’s a live and let live neighborhood,” he said. “We don’t want to start a neighborhood war over this.”

A decision on the store is expected to be issued within a week. Risque is currently on a month-to-month lease and the check cashing establishment’s lease expires in August.

Supporters and opponents of the proposed liquor store at the corner of 43rd and Chestnut streets are expected to attend a new Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA) hearing tomorrow, June 6, at 1515 Arch Street (18th floor). The hearing is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.

The Spruce Hill Community Association has tentatively supported the proposal with the stipulation that the 5,000-square-foot space be converted to an “upscale” store. Several residents have signed an online petition in support of the store.

Many Muslim residents who live near the location oppose the proposal. The plaza also includes a halal restaurant and butcher shop. The Masjid al-Jamia mosque is a block away on 43rd and Walnut.

The ZBA rejected the zoning application in April.

This is not the first time the ZBA has rejected a plan for a liquor store in the area. In 2007 the ZBA rejected an application for a liquor store near 43rd and Walnut – across the street from Masjid al-Jamia – after vocal opposition from Muslim residents.

The Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA) recently acted on two disputed West Philly development proposals. The ZBA approved a developer’s proposal to turn the long-empty Apple Lofts Storage building at 780 S. 52nd St. into a 112-unit apartment complex. But it denied the proposal to convert the adult video store near 43rd and Chestnut into a state Wine and Spirits Shoppe.

The Apple Lofts project, which required a rezoning from industrial to residential, garnered wide support from many residents and businesses nearby. Dozens of letters in support of the project, proposed by Iron Stone Strategic Capital Partners, came into the ZBA. Those in favor included the Cedar Park Neighbors Association and community radio station WPEB. That support outweighed the opposition, which was orchestrated by the Community Achievement Association (CAA). The CAA, as the City Paper recently reported, is essentially one person – West Philly resident Shawn Kelly.

Kelly submitted a thick file of petitions and community meeting minutes to the ZBA. Concerns included an increase in surrounding residents’ property taxes and the environmental hazards, including the disruption of toxic soil at the site.

Meanwhile, the ZBA denied the proposal to convert Risque Video (pictured), the largest storefront in a strip mall at 43rd and Chestnut, into an “upscale” liquor store. Many West Philly residents supported the proposal because of the closing of a Wine and Spirits Shoppe at 4049 Market Street earlier this year. That closure has put considerable customer pressure on the remaining local shop near 49th and Baltimore.

The Spruce Hill Community Association last month tentatively supported the proposal with the stipulation that the 5,000-square-foot space be converted to an “upscale” store.

But many Muslim residents who live near the location oppose the proposal. The plaza also includes a halal restaurant and butcher shop. The Masjid al-Jamia mosque is a block away on 43rd and Walnut.

This is not the first time the ZBA has rejected a plan for a liquor store in the area. In 2007 the ZBA rejected an application for a liquor store near 43rd and Walnut – across the street from Masjid al-Jamia – after vocal opposition from Muslim residents.

But this one might not be over. The ZBA is currently reconsidering the denial after an appeal.

 
Mayor Michael Nutter revived plans yesterday to renovate West Philadelphia’s landmark Provident Mutual Life Insurance Co. building at 46th & Market into a new, “state of the art” police headquarters. The sprawling 86-year old building, which sits on 15 acres, has been partially vacant since 1983 when the company abandoned it and was featured on the endangered properties list.

“This is a smart consolidation which will allow us to sell existing assets, create new opportunities for development at those sites, and revitalize part of West Philadelphia much in need of investment,” Nutter said during his annual budget speech during a City Council meeting yesterday.

Under the plan, the building would also host the City morgue and Health offices.

The move would leave the current headquarters, the aging “roundhouse” near 7th and Race streets, empty. Its sale could help offset the renovation of the Provident building.

The plan, which would have cost about $70 million, was originally proposed in 2008 but was shelved due to the recession, Philly.com reports. The cost of the current renovation project will be determined during the design process in the next year. The building renovation may take up to two years.

The city is also building a juvenile detention center on five acres at the site.

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The Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA) is awaiting an opinion from Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell’s office before it decides whether to allow a city developer to convert the old Apple Storage building on 52nd Street near Hadfield Street to more than 100 loft apartments.

The proposed development has become a potential hotspot of gentrification along 52nd Street, although the feedback that the ZBA has received so far has been overwhelmingly positive.

The property investment firm Iron Stone, which has developed high-end apartments elsewhere in the city, proposes to convert the commercial building into 112 loft-style apartments. The plan also includes 2,000 square feet of commercial space on the ground floor and 92 parking spaces in the rear of the building. The building is currently designated as industrial and Iron Stone is seeking a residential zoning classification.

The community organization Cedar Park Neighbors has posted an online petition aimed at convincing Blackwell to support the project.

The project’s ZBA file contains more than 30 letters in support of the project from nearby homeowners and businesses.

Homeowner Cheshire Augusta, who lives two blocks from the project on 51st Street, wrote the ZBA:

“My family and I would be delighted to see growth at the west end of the 50th Street to 52nd Street section of the Baltimore Avenue corridor. So exciting!”

Renee McBride-Williams, an executive producer at the West Philadelphia community radio station WPEB 88.1, wrote that replacing the “dreary, unsafe, abandoned building” would “improve the quality of life in our community.”

Other letters of support came from community leaders, block captains and business owners.

The most vocal opponent of the project has been Shawn Kelly of the Community Achievement Association, who has argued that the building should retain its industrial designation and that businesses that could provide needed jobs in the neighborhood should be sought to fill it. He also voiced concern about the availability of affordable or Section 8 housing if the project goes through.

As a private investor that is not requesting government funds, Iron Stone is under no obligation to provide subsidized housing.

But positive feedback about the projects have far outweighed detractors.

Seth Budick, a block captain on the 1000 block of S. 50th Street, argued in a letter to the ZBA that the project “would inject new life onto that street, creating a livelier and safer environment for the entire neighborhood by putting people back on the street and eyes in the windows.”