South Street West Civic Association Newsletter

Neighbors

Annual Meeting ,February 18^th  7 PM, Trinity Church French Room

We need to have an annual meeting to elect officers for South Street West Civic Association. Please feel free to bring any neighbors with you – we welcome all adult residents, businesses and institutions in the area. Our boundaries are from 19^th Street west to the Schuylkill and from Pine to Fitzwater east of Grays Ferry and Pine to Christian west of Grays Ferry.

During the past year, we have addressed some of the major zoning issues with CHOP’s new building at the site of the old JFK Vocational School. At our suggestion, CHOP agreed to set up a neighborhood advisory group, which includes our organization as well as near neighbor representatives and other nearby neighborhood groups. Peg Kendrick and John Fischer have been attending these meetings. We remain concerned that traffic plans for the site are not adequate to support a 4 phase build out on the site. Peg & John have done a great job helping communicate the day to day concerns as well.

We have also held and attended meetings regarding zoning at 23^rd and South, and 22^nd and Lombard. Per our bylaws, we remain committed to advocating for those most affected by a development – generally within 2 blocks. We have used a larger radius for CHOP as the impact on traffic alone will be much greater, but made sure that the nearest neighbors have had a seat at the table to communicate concerns.

We have set up a meeting for Wednesday, February 18^th at Trinity Church, located at 22^nd and Spruce. There is a large group using the main chapel. We are in the French Room. Please use the gate a bit west of the main door on Spruce Street to enter. The meeting is scheduled from 7-8 PM.  We are meeting here as The Philadelphia School no longer provides free meeting rooms and has a Shakespeare festival next week. This room is affordable – we’d appreciate a contribution of $1 -2 per person if you are able to contribute towards the room rental fee of $50. We can discuss alternative meeting spaces at the meeting if anyone has good ideas.

We welcome volunteers as board members or as those willing to take on specific tasks. We also would like any feedback about things we should address or change.  You can volunteer via e-mail if you can not attend.

Please plan to attend. We don’t expect to take more than one hour.

Security Note

There has been an increase in thefts from homes and autos. Home thefts are often from the rear, and the items being stolen are TVs, phones, laptops & electronics like gaming and computer equipment, bicycles, tools, kitchen appliances, guns, tire rims, etc. The police have “Operation Identification”. You can get stickers from the police and label items to deter theft and aid in item recovery. It also proves the property was stolen. Information is at www.phillypolice.com.  Our district address is the 17^th Police Precinct. The address is 1201 S. 20^th Street, 19146.

We hope to see you Wednesday

Barb, Peg, Keisha & Mayva