But what about the cars?

That was the response of the Somerton Civic Association to a final redevelopment proposal for the former Philadelphia State Hospital at Byberry submitted by city officials to the state late last month.

At its monthly general meeting on Oct. 10, the SCA repeated its call for the completion of the Woodhaven Road expressway and resolved to demand a new neighborhood traffic study before accepting any redevelopment plans.

Meanwhile, state Rep. George T. Kenney (R-170th dist.) told the Somerton residents that their best bet to prevent undesirable redevelopment of the 153-acre tract at Roosevelt Boulevard and Southampton Road may be to leave dozens of existing dilapidated buildings in place there.

The meeting was the civic group's first since the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation submitted its final proposal to the state's Department of General Services before a Sept. 30 deadline. According to PIDC officials, the new plans are essentially the same as those presented to the SCA last winter, with a few changes reflecting concerns expressed by the neighbors during the previous dialogue. For example, said Craig Schelter, executive vice president of PIDC, water-retention basins have been redistributed, buffer areas along residential properties have been enhanced and a two-acre lot has been dedicated for a new city firehouse.

The Northeast Times interviewed Schelter prior to the SCA meeting for an article appearing in Oct. 11 editions.

TOO MANY PARKING SPOTS

But at the meeting, residents criticized an increase of proposed parking spots in the new plans - from about 4,600 to nearly 6,200 - as well as the routing of traffic from the proposed business/recreation complex directly onto Southampton Road.

"In March, one thing we were told was that, on the north side of Southampton Road, there would be 4,600 parking spots," said Mary Jane Hazell, SCA president. "These plans say 6,195 spots.

"You look at this plan, and you don't see anything but parking spots. The whole thing (north of Southampton Road) would be office complex. The whole thing."

Neighbors expressed concerns about preserving green space and limiting the amount of traffic coming into the neighborhood, which they say is already more than acceptable.

But several residents noted that the community has yet to see a traffic study of the area, a study they requested of developers during the winter meetings.

Ironically, according to SCA zoning chairman Dominic Ragucci, state officials have gone on record citing ongoing traffic studies for holding up construction of the proposed extension of Woodhaven Road -- a project that has been in the works for more than 40 years.

"It's amazing that PIDC and the state are putting this (new proposal) in our face with no traffic studies, yet (the state) is holding up Woodhaven Road because of traffic studies," Ragucci said.

Hazell pointed out that the state knocked down several homes in 1965 because they were in the path of the planned highway.

She proposed handling the new Byberry proposal one of two ways.

"We can say, 'Come back to us with something better,' or 'We're not going to accept any of this,'" Hazell said.

One civic member proposed that the group continue its hard-line stance against the current proposal but also prepare a "contingency plan" outlining what the community would be willing to accept.

A PUSH FOR WOODHAVEN

Marlene Josephs, treasurer of the civic group, urged the residents not to accept any redevelopment proposal until the completion of Woodhaven Road (from its current terminus at Evans Street to Philmont Avenue) and until a traffic study is performed in the Byberry area.

The motion passed overwhelmingly.

Kenney then addressed the civic group on the demolition issue. Last December, the association voted to demand that the state raze all of the former mental hospital buildings on the site. There are more than 30. "The community wants demolition, and we want demolition," Kenney said. "We've started demolition." On Oct. 9, a demolition team contracted by the state began work on four buildings, all on a 22-acre piece of the site south of Southampton Road. The work will include asbestos removal from all four and demolition of three.

One structure, a former laundry building, will remain on the 22 acres. Kenney said that it could have future use as a community recreation center.

Besides, the legislator theorizes, as long as some old buildings remain, developers won't be able to create new ones that may be undesirable to the neighbors.

"The buildings on the property are the aces in your hand," he said. "(With the laundry building), you still can't go in there and develop those twenty-two acres."

THE ISSUE IS BRICKS

Kenney added that the biggest concern he's found among immediate neighbors of the site is the upkeep of the property. He prefers a gradual approach to demolition.

"We may start taking them down brick by brick," Kenney said. "It may take thirty years."

Kenney, who is being challenged by former school board member Jacques Lurie in the Nov. 7 election, conceded that, although the land is still owned by the state and is in his legislative district, he does not hold a veto power over its redevelopment.

"I can't stand here and guarantee I can stop anything they want to put in there," he said.

In other Somerton business: