Bustleton supports site cleanup
but is cool to building plan

By Lauren Fritsky
Times Staff Writer

Bustleton residents support the cleaning up of a dilapidated property at 1915 Welsh Road.
The two-story house contains boarded-up windows and a backyard full of trash and blight, neighbors say. The site sits near the busy corner of Welsh Road and Bustleton Avenue amid a Gearo’s pizzeria, Red Tiger Taekwon-Do and the St. Laurent Apartments.
But a proposal to raze the house and put professional offices in its place upset residents at the Feb. 28 meeting of the Greater Bustleton Civic League. They say the plan would make the area seem overdeveloped and usher more traffic to an already congested intersection.
"How much more can you stick in there?" asked resident Walt Lucenko, who lives behind the site on Voits Lane.
Bustleton Commons, LLC plans to develop condominium offices on the R-4 residential property, which Lucenko believes has been abandoned for several years. Realtor George W. Weiss Jr. — a former GBCL president — and developer Gregory Ott are currently listed as the property owners.
The plan involves a one-story building with seven individual offices averaging about 1,200-square-feet each. The space would provide 33 parking spots, including four handicapped spots.
Attorney Steve Pollock had presented the plan at a fall GBCL meeting, when residents complained about how the site’s driveway lined up with a commercial entranceway across the street. The configuration, they said, would have made it hard for motorists to turn into either parking lot at the same time.
Since then, the architect has moved the driveway farther down the parking lot. The company has yet to submit a project proposal to the city’s Zoning Board of Adjustment. The civic group did not take a vote on the plan.
Bustleton Commons, LLC, has, however, solicited the support of the operators of Gearo’s, Red Tiger and St. Laurent, according to Pollock. Gearo’s plans to allow overflow parking from the new offices into its lot, he said.
But residents like Lucenko said that while they’d appreciate the removal of the eyesore property, adding offices poses more problems. The traffic at that location is already severe during evening rush hour, he said. Plus, he supports keeping some of the property’s green space.
"We’re going to be so overwhelmed and you’re saying it’s an improvement," Lucenko said.
Responding to comments about retaining the residential feel of the space, City Councilman Brian O’Neill (R-10th dist.) said the zoning wouldn’t allow for more than two homes on the property.
And Pollock looked unfavorably upon converting the current house into offices, because he thinks potential tenants, who would be required to maintain the property, like having their own separate workplace.
When one resident asked what would happen if every office wasn’t used, Ron DeMaio, the builder, said he believed that all of the offices would become occupied within a year.
Elizabeth McCollum-Nazario, legislative aide to City Councilman Daniel Savage (D-7th dist.), said her office has submitted a request to the Community Life Improvement Program to clean up the site.
Pollock and his clients plan to revise the plan to address some of the community’s concerns.
In other news from the Feb. 28 meeting:
o Residents heard from Vince Fletcher, who seeks to add laser technology to two of his four bays at Easy Touch Car Wash at 9400 Bustleton Ave.
Fletcher said the new system serves as a mini-car wash by providing an electronic arm that cleans the car. He would need to add about 10 feet to the back of the building’s roof to accommodate the new technology.
But one resident said that Fletcher should focus on other issues at his property, like graffiti scrawled on the building and malfunctioning equipment.
"You’re one-hundred percent right as far as (equipment) not working," said Fletcher, who formerly operated a funeral home. "The car wash is sixteen years old. It needs modernizing."
The civic will vote on the plan at a future meeting. ••
The Greater Bustleton Civic League next meets on Wednesday, March 28, at 7:30 p.m., at the American Heritage Federal Credit Union, 2060 Red Lion Road.
Reporter Lauren Fritsky can be reached at 215-354-3038 or lfritsky@phillynews.com