New addition to Fox Chase
Cancer Center is up for debate

By Tom Waring
Times Staff Writer

Opponents of a new research and care pavilion and parking garage at Fox Chase Cancer Center are gearing up for a long fight.
The cancer center, at 333 Cottman Ave., has proposed a $70 million project that would feature a 120,000-square-foot building and a multi-level garage that will accommodate 1,000 cars on its grounds.
Last December, the Zoning Board of Adjustment approved the plan but opponents filed an appeal to Common Pleas Court. Judge Gary Glazer will hear the matter in August.
A group called Save Burholme Park — formed to fight Fox Chase’s larger expansion plans into the city-owned park — believes the cancer center did not prove a hardship and failed to fully explain its intent. The group also argues that the pavilion and garage are too high and close to the property line and the historic Ryerss Library and Museum.
To fend off the appeal, City Councilman Brian O’Neill (R-10th dist.) introduced a bill that would change the zoning of the hospital grounds from residential to an institutional development district.
The Council Rules Committee held a hearing last week and unanimously approved the measure. The full 17-member Council was expected to vote on the issue on June 7, and even opponents expect it to pass.
Council members, especially the 10 who represent districts, rarely oppose a colleague in zoning-related matters.
"They’re not going to go against Brian O’Neill," acknowledged Wanda Exline, president of the Dungan Civic Association. "They only need nine votes to get it through."
Having all but conceded passage of the measure and a signature by Mayor John Street, opponents indicate that they’ll file a lawsuit against the institutional development district.
"The IDD is spot zoning," said Tim Kearney, a two-time Democratic challenger to state Rep. John Perzel.
O’Neill respects the opposition’s right to appeal but he dismissed them as a "small group of dissenters."
"Many of them don’t live anywhere near Fox Chase or Burholme," he said.
The councilman counters that the cancer center needs the buildings to cut down on wait time for patients and ease parking problems in the neighborhood. In fact, it was O’Neill’s idea to include the parking garage in the project.
The plan was well received in May at meetings of the Fox Chase Homeowners Association and the Burholme Community Town Watch and Civic Association.
"The community voted overwhelmingly at both Fox Chase and Burholme," O’Neill said.
A representative of the building trades union testified in favor of the project, which is ready to proceed with final approval. O’Neill noted that this time of year is ideal to begin building. Four-hundred jobs will be created.
The two local civic associations sent letters of support.
"It’s the right thing to do," said Al Taubenberger, president of the Burholme group and the Republican mayoral nominee.
Opponents, though, say the two groups don’t speak for the larger community. They note that several dozen immediate neighbors have signed petitions against the plan.
Fred Maurer said the IDD ordinance is flawed because it was not accompanied by a development plan, did not include recommendations by the City Planning Commission and Department of Streets on issues of traffic and parking and did not adhere to a mandatory 45-day waiting period.
"There are a lot of defects," he said.
Members of Save Burholme Park generally agree that the Fox Chase administration is amiable and that the cancer center does good work. And, they insist they’re willing to support expansion on hospital grounds, but only if Fox Chase provides a detailed blueprint of its proposal and conforms to the requirements of the residential zoning.
The group will not stand for what it calls a "political end run" around the existing appeal.
"If Councilman O’Neill thinks IDD zoning will nullify the present zoning appeals, I think he has stumbled," Maurer said.
Kearney, a former aide to now-deceased Councilman at-large David Cohen, was more direct.
"By avoiding Judge Glazer with passage of Bill #070386, the FCCC Corp. invites a spot zoning lawsuit, which will just set them even further behind in a court battle, because we will have to start all the way back at the beginning again," he said. ••
Reporter Tom Waring can be reached at 215-354-3034 or twaring@phillynews.com