By Elizabeth Stieber
Times Staff Writer
Tom Conway is urging residents to take the challenge in keeping their neighborhoods clean and safe, whether by cleaning up graffiti, reporting violations, or keeping streets litter-free.
Conway is the director of the Community Life Improvement Program (CLIP). The city launched the program one year ago to ensure that residents rid properties of litter, high weeds and other debris.
He distributed “Take the Challenge” information packets to members of the 2nd Police District Advisory Council at their monthly meeting on April 8.
For now, CLIP operates in only two of the city’s councilmanic districts. Both are in the Northeast — Joan Krajewski’s 6th district and Brian O’Neill’s 10th.
Conway is looking to expand the program to other parts of the city. Offenders have 10 days to rectify any nuisance. If the problem is not resolved, CLIP crews return.
On the 11th or 12th day, the city will remedy the problem itself and bill the property owner.
Though the compliance rate was low when CLIP first began enforcement, it has risen to nearly 90 percent over the past year.
“People realized we weren’t fooling around and I think that’s one of the major reasons the compliance rate went up through the roof,” Conway said.
Over the years, the city has launched a number of neighborhood cleanup programs. Mayor John Street’s Neighborhood Transformation Initiative, however, is a more aggressive campaign that introduced a number of successful programs like CLIP.
Programs like CLIP have also learned from their mistakes, especially when ticketing violators. Often a rental-property tenant is the violator, not the landlord, Conway noted.
“Now we leave a note at the door, letting them know they have ten days to clean up their problem or the city will come back out and re-inspect the property,” Conway said. “If it’s not cleaned up, we will send city crews out to clean it.
One of the programs he suggested to PDAC members was the Community Partnership Program, which lends rakes, brooms, shovels and bags to community groups to clean up their neighborhood.
“Roughly twelve-hundred community organizations have acquired supplies through the city,” Conway said. “It’s been a very successful partnership between the city and community organizations.”
Mary Tracy, executive director of Society Created to Reduce Urban Blight (SCRUB), also discussed quality-of-life issues at the meeting. She praised advisory council members’ commitment to keeping the city clean.
“Here we have the people who care so much about the neighborhood,” Tracy said. “You’re really the lifeblood of this city because you’re the ones who are sweeping when the trashmen leave broken bottles, you’re talking to your neighbors about cleanups, you’re trying to get the Dumpsters to be picked up at the right time. These things make such huge differences in our lives.”
For the past 12 years, SCRUB has fought to improve the quality of life in Philadelphia, particularly the city’s visual environment.
That includes enforcing the city law on billboards; for example, signs are not permitted within 300 feet of a residential property, 500 feet of an existing sign and 660 feet of a park, playground, school, storage area, church or cemetery.
The problem, Tracy said, is the billboard business has been regulated but many refuse to abide by the regulations.
“They, in my opinion, equate pro business with pro everything,” she said of companies who fail to comply with billboard regulations.
Tracy noted that in a recent study in Tacony, 45 of 76 billboards had no permit.
SCRUB representatives keep “real strong tabs” on zoning board rulings on billboards, Tracy said, and educate communities about upcoming sign variances and encourage them to talk to elected officials for support.
“The more educated we become about zoning, the better chance we have of preserving and improving our neighborhoods,” Tracy said. “A lot of times people get frustrated and say they’re just going to leave, and that’s not the answer. We need every one of you and more to join this army of people who are going to take back our city and make it a world-class city that everyone will want to live in.” ••
To obtain a Take the Challenge packet, call 215-685-9556 and leave your name and mailing address on the number’s voicemail.
To report a billboard violation, call 215-686-2463 and to notify SCRUB of your report, call 215-731-1796.