CLIP helps to build
beautiful communities

By William Kenny
Times Staff Writer

It takes a lot of effort to build and maintain a clean and attractive community. Last week, members of the Upper Holmesburg Civic Association learned about a series of projects in progress to make their neighborhood a better place to live.
During the UHCA’s monthly meeting, representatives from the Community Life Improvement Program, Next Great City Philadelphia and the Delaware River City Corp. spoke to residents about local beautification and conservation efforts. Rick Sicinski, chief code enforcer and building inspector for CLIP, explained that his agency will be aggressively targeting quality of life problems in the Northeast in the coming months. Residents are encouraged to report specific problems in their neighborhoods by calling 215-683-CLIP.
CLIP, a branch of the city’s Department of Licenses and Inspections based at 8747 Frankford Ave., is tackling a myriad of neighborhood issues at the moment on both private and public property.
Common complaints this time of year include private yards with overgrown grass and weeds, excessive trash and smelly pet waste.
Typically, a CLIP inspector will go to a reported home and write it up for possible city code violations. The owner is given time to resolve the violations — that is, by mowing the lawn or cleaning up the trash. If nothing is done about the problems, a CLIP crew will do the job and bill the property owner for the work.
Sicinski has seen property owners become a lot more responsive to CLIP since the early days of the program five years ago.
"In our first year, our compliance rate was thirty-seven percent," he said. "Now, it’s about ninety percent."
This year, CLIP has begun to aggressively target illegal signs posted by businesses on local lampposts, utility poles, trees and street medians. Recently, Sicinski said, CLIP investigators were able to link numerous illegal signs to a city-based towing service. The agency ended up billing the business $1,500 for removing the signs.
CLIP also has the authority to deal with issues inside a home when public health or safety are concerned.
"We have to get a court order to enter a house, unless there’s an emergency," Sicinski said.
A home with an excessive number of pets can be considered a health problem, while so-called "packrat" houses can be considered fire hazards.
CLIP can also take care of an abandoned car on private property, although homeowners are allowed to keep one unregistered car in the driveway as long as it’s not in disrepair.
"And it must be in an approved parking area, not on the lawn," Sicinski said.
Christine Knapp, outreach coordinator for Next Great City Philadelphia, outlined sweeping environmentally related measures that her organization is proposing for the city.
Next Great City is a project of the non-profit PennFUTURE. It endorses modernization of the zoning code, tree planting, sewer repairs and upgrades, public riverfront development, vacant lot clean-ups, park upgrades and investment, public transit improvements, expanded recycling and reducing emissions from city vehicles to improve air quality.
Also, Next Great City is calling for the use of energy-efficient design techniques in the construction of all new city buildings.
Meanwhile, the Delaware River City Corp. is moving forward with its North Delaware Riverfront Greenway Plan. Sarah Thorp, executive director of DRCC, explained that elements of the Greenway Plan include new bicycle and hiking trails, a new riverfront road, new and improved park areas and new residential development along the river.
Also, the DRCC wants to improve public access to the river by improving the streets that run from the river into nearby neighborhoods.
In other Upper Holmesburg Civic Association business, area resident Lou Carboni announced that the neighborhood’s Town Watch has begun patrolling again. About 10 people have signed up for patrols. The group is still too small to patrol every week, however, Carboni said. So for the time being, they will patrol on alternating weeks.
The Town Watch is still looking for more volunteers, particularly younger, more mobile, adults. The next Upper Holmesburg Civic Association meeting will be on Thursday, June 21, at 7 p.m., at St. Dominic’s Marian Hall, 8512 Frankford Ave. ••
Reporter William Kenny can be reached at 215-354-3031 or bkenny@phillynews.com