Problems force
Holme Circle meeting

By William Kenny
Times Staff Writer

The Holme Circle neighborhood doesn’t have an official civic association, but that may not be the case for long.
On July 25, residents of the area gathered at St. Jerome’s School for the second time in recent weeks to address a couple of big local issues.
Neighbors are battling a cell telephone service over a series of digital antennas on the roof of a local apartment building. They’re also trying to stop groups of teenagers from causing disturbances and committing vandalism around the neighborhood at night.
Ironically, as folks filed out of the school hall after the meeting, dozens of young people were loitering in the parking lot. Some played ball, while others just sat around chatting with friends. It was close to 9:30 p.m., and there were no organized activities at the parish that night.
Local Republican committeewoman Ann DiMaio and Democrat committeeman Sean McAleer organized the gathering, which also included officers from the 8th Police District, representatives for City Councilman Brian O’Neill and officials from the cell company, T-Mobile.
O’Neill, a seven-term Republican, and McAleer, a former aide to at-large Councilman Jim Kenney, will vie in November for O’Neill’s 10th district seat. But politics were not on the meeting agenda.
"When you have to call a community meeting to address these issues, to me that means it’s come to a head," said Steve Carr, community relations officer for the 8th District.
Some among about 75 residents in attendance rattled off complaints including vandalism, graffiti, underage drinking, disorderly crowds, curfew violations and burglary.
With the warm weather and no school, kids are out late all the time, neighbors complained, even on weeknights when curfew for teens 13 and up is 10:30 p.m. and under 13 is 9 p.m. One nun from St. Jerome noted that somebody broke into the parish’s child day-care facility recently.
Some neighbors say they’ve tried calling 911 to report the late-night crowds, but often the police don’t come until after the problem has moved, or they don’t show up at all.
"What do we do about getting rid of these kids?" one woman asked.
Carr explained that police in the district are in high demand due to the volume of 911 calls and the size of the district. The 8th is the largest district area-wise in the city at 14.2 square miles.
Furthermore, disorderly crowds are lower on the list of police priorities than many other common crimes. High priority calls get first response.
"Unfortunately, when that priority call comes in, your call is going to get moved down the list," Carr said. "As officers clear the assignments they’re already on, the dispatcher is going to the next priority job on the list."
The district can try and attack the problem a different way, however, according to Carr.
The district has a special tactical squad that it dispatches to address problems in particular areas. Carr said that the district may be able to send the squad to Holme Circle to enforce the curfew and nab any troublemakers. But the squad would then have to move elsewhere.
"We also can’t interrupt the other things that those guys are working on right now," Carr cautioned.
Police are hoping that the city’s new curfew centers will coax parents to look after their kids more closely. The Northeast-based center is in Frankford. Kids that police arrest for curfew violations end up at the center to wait for their parents to pick them up.
"Now let’s see how many parents step forward (to watch their kids) after they have to take a ride down to the 15th district at one in the morning," Carr said.
On July 24, officers cited 10 youths for lingering around Welsh Road and Holme Avenue past curfew.
The cell phone antenna issue could carry on well past the summer. Residents voted about 2-to-1 to demand that T-Mobile remove a dozen antennas from the roof of Holme Circle Apartments, at 2800 Axe Factory Road.
The antennas went up in January along with an accessory utility cabinet after the city’s Department of Licenses and Inspection approved them for the site without forcing the case to a public zoning hearing.
The units rise about 12 feet above the 25-foot apartment building. Many neighbors consider them unsightly.
After viewing them, McAleer filed an appeal against the city permit granted to T-Mobile. Residents met at St. Jerome’s in April and voted unanimously to back the appeal.
O’Neill, McAleer and DiMaio testified against the antennas at a June 12 appeal hearing before the zoning board. O’Neill argued that the city should have forced T-Mobile to seek a variance from the site’s residential zoning because the antennas do not conform to its R-5 designation.
If that had occurred, the community would have been notified of the cell company’s intentions before the antennas were installed in January and would have given neighbors an opportunity to fight the project sooner.
On June 12, the zoning board asked T-Mobile to redesign the configuration and to meet with neighbors to seek a compromise.
At last week’s meeting, T-Mobile showed residents four alternatives. One was to erect a 45-foot-tall pole "disguised" as a tree in front of the apartment building. A similar pole — minus the fake tree branches — could serve as a flagpole.
One rooftop option was for a "cell chimney," in which the antennas would be enclosed inside a 15-foot high and three-foot wide box disguised as a chimney. A second rooftop option would be to enclose the antennas in four 12-foot cylinders, one on each corner of the roof.
When asked why T-Mobile chose the apartment site, a company engineer said that the antennas fill a "coverage gap" or dead spot in the network. Moving the site even minimally would prevent signals from reaching other antennas, thereby disrupting service.
The majority of residents voted to continue with the zoning board appeal, anyway, knowing that the board may not decide in their favor and that even if they win, T-Mobile will likely file its own appeal.
DiMaio and McAleer discussed holding another meeting in September to update neighbors on both issues and to organize a new civic association and Town Watch for the area. ••
Reporter William Kenny can be reached at 215-354-3031 or bkenny@phillynews.com