Subfreezing temperatures kept a lot of regular attendees away from the monthly meeting of the Upper Holmesburg Civic Association last Thursday, while leaders of the community group remained fearful that city officials may give them a cold shoulder on redevelopment plans for a former public housing complex.
Turnout was light for the meeting at St. Dominic Parish’s Marian Hall, as was definitive information about three pending land-use issues under consideration by the civic group.
President Stan Cywinski reported that no new information was available about a proposal to build a new Philadelphia Federal Credit Union branch office on the John D. Morrissey Inc. property at Frankford Avenue and Academy Road. The UHCA previously tabled a vote on the plan so that developers would have time to conduct a traffic study of the area.
Neighbors in Upper Holmesburg and in East Torresdale have said at previous meetings that they think the intersection is too congested for a new business there. All patrons would have to enter and exit the credit union via a single driveway off of Frankford Avenue. The East Torresdale Civic Association voted unanimously against the plan last month.
Cywinski said that the developers may bring new information to the next UHCA meeting on March 19.
Similarly, leaders of the civic group had gotten little new information in an ongoing dialogue with Britton Industries, a construction materials recycling and landscape supply business at Torresdale Avenue and Tolbut Street.
Neighbors have complained that the company removed trees and fence screens that had shielded nearby homes from airborne debris from the site, which features towering piles of loose soil and mulch along Torresdale Avenue. Under a zoning agreement with previous occupants of the site, neighbors were guaranteed those shielding measures, according to the civic association. However, the city’s zoning file for the property may not contain records of the earlier agreement, Cywinski said. The parties continue to research the zoning history for the site, according to the civic president.
Meanwhile, the UHCA remains keenly interested and fearful of plans for the redevelopment of the former Liddonfield Homes housing project at Torresdale Avenue and Megargee Street. In January, the Northeast Times reported that plans had broken down for converting the site into housing and athletic fields for Holy Family University, as well as an assisted living complex for low-income seniors. A developer had failed to meet contractual deadlines for funding and starting construction.
Now, neighbors fear that the Philadelphia Housing Authority and city officials may advocate for the construction of new public housing there. Neighbors are vehemently opposed to a new “project” because the old Liddonfield project had for decades attracted drug and criminal activity into the community.
Cywinski said that the UHCA board has requested to meet with PHA and with City Councilman Bobby Henon to share their expectations for future development. Henon’s aide, Chris Creelman, attended last Thursday’s civic meeting and stated that he would share the community’s strong opposition to public housing with the councilman.
Meanwhile, Cywinski said that the UHCA may seek outside legal help on the issue.
“I think it’s best right now to have somebody represent our best interests on this issue,” Cywinski said. “That will cost a lot of money. A lot of this is pure speculation, but you know how these things play out. If you don’t stay on top of it, it will come back to poke you in the eye.” ••
