By Tom Waring
Times Staff Writer
The Friends of Summerdale Civic Association is trying to preserve the neighborhood property by property.
The group met last week to discuss a number of residential and commercial properties that need monitoring.
There is some apparent good news.
Summerdale Pharmacy, at Summerdale Avenue and Sanger Street, wants to expand to the property next door. The area behind the cash register that is used to fill prescriptions is tiny.
The site has been a drugstore for 40 years, and residents like the operation.
“They’ve been a good neighbor. They take good care of the store,” said civic association president Charlie O’Connor, adding that he would insist on a zoning proviso that no alcoholic beverages can ever be sold from the property.
There’s more business activity along Summerdale Avenue.
At Bridge Street, there are plans to open a Latin-American restaurant on one corner and a Chinese restaurant on another corner. The existing buildings are vacant and have been the targets of graffiti.
“It’s better than having them empty,” O’Connor said.
Speaking of empty, the long-vacant Rascal’s Roost restaurant continues to sit at Loretto Avenue and Marcella Street.
Some renovations were made but never completed. Preliminary plans for a sports bar never developed.
“I’m sick of looking at it,” said Phyllis Swing, block captain on the 900 block of Marcella St.
The civic group is unsure about two bigger proposals along the 4800 block of Summerdale Ave. One company wants to open an auto body repair, detailing and car rental facility. Another business wants to build 13 one-story garages on the 4800 block of Summerdale Ave. to store contractor supplies.
Neither company has met with the civic association, a prerequisite before their proposals would be considered by the city Zoning Board of Adjustment.
At the Northeast Tower Center — the site that once housed Sears before its demolition in 1994 — a Wal-Mart will be built. General Cinema Theatres announced plans to build a movie theater there in 1999, but the project never materialized.
The civic association also helped its neighbor, the Northwood Civic Association, mobilize opposition to a plan by Baptist Children’s Services to open a facility for 64 teenagers at the former Northwood Nursing Home.
The Summerdale group wrote a letter of opposition to the zoning board. In the end, Baptist Children’s Services backed down in the face of community opposition.
While the business climate seems generally favorable in Summerdale, the housing market is another story.
Neighbors are complaining that mortgage companies are approving home loans for people incapable of paying a mortgage every month. Then, when mortgage companies foreclose on the houses, they often neglect the property, neighbors contend.
There were seven neighborhood homes scheduled for sheriff’s sales this month. Nine are scheduled next month.
The vacant properties decay in the time leading up to sheriff’s sales, neighbors complain. They want to bring the Community Life Improvement Program — a pilot program in the 6th Councilmanic District — to their area.
Probably the biggest eyesore in the neighborhood is a house on 1100 block of Rosalie St. It has been vacant for more than eight years, though it was recently purchased at sheriff’s sale.
The city Department of Licenses and Inspections has declared the property imminently dangerous because of poor flooring, crumbling walls and water damage to the roof.
The owner is trying to rehabilitate the property, but it remains a candidate for a tear down. It would mark the first home in the Summerdale/Oxford Circle area that had to be demolished.
“We’re still hoping that the city can restore the property under the Neighborhood Transformation Initiative,” said Joe Zaleski, an aide to City Councilman Rick Mariano (D-7th dist.).
Zaleski encouraged residents to call the city with reports of unsightly properties.
Sweep is a Department of Streets program that issues warnings and citations to owners of problem locations. The program addresses trash, recycling, dumping, potholes, street repairs, lighting, and traffic signal and sign issues.
Call the department at 215-686-5560.
In other news from the Jan. 16 meeting:
• Phyllis Hilly, a member of the Oxford Circle/Summerdale Town Watch, said the group is growing.
Armed holdups remain a problem in the neighborhood, she said. As for teenagers loitering, Hilly said it’s been a quiet winter.
“It’s too cold for them to hang on corners,” she said.
• O’Connor, the civic association president, presented a card and gifts to Betty MacNeal on her final day as a crossing guard at Frontenac Street and Cheltenham Avenue. MacNeal retired on Jan. 10 after 31 years.
• The next meeting of the Friends of Summerdale Civic Association will be on Thursday, Feb. 20, at 7:30 p.m., at the Houseman Playground, Summerdale and Godfrey avenues. ••
Reporter Tom Waring can be reached at 215-354-3034 or twaring@phillynews.com