Having Trouble Parking Your Car?

Permit Parking Proposal

As you know, Manayunk Neighborhood Council has its Monthly community meeting the first Wednesday of each month at 7:30 P.M. The upcoming two meetings for Jan. 3rd and Feb. 7th will be held at North Light Community Center (175 Green Lane) and will be devoted to a process which will lead up to a vote at the second meeting on Permit Parking.

Those residents, who want to register to vote, must provide proof of address residency with either a Driver's License or current Utility Bill. There will be one vote allowed for each residential unit that receives its own separate utility bill. All vehicles legally registered at that address can receive a Parking Permit for the cost of $35 for the first year with $20 for renewals after that. Details about guests and exceptions will be addressed at these meetings.

For any vehicles without a permit, the proposal is for two hour parking limits between the hours of 4 P.M. to 12 A.M. Monday thru Wednesday.; and 4 P.M. to 2 A.M. Thursday through Saturday. Sundays will not be regulated.

The designated area is from above Cresson St. between Green Lane and Cotton St. up to Silverwood St. This proposal for Permit Parking in the above-designated area is for a nine- month trial period from the time street signs are installed.

The agenda of the first meeting will be devoted to a brief but informative presentation from the Philadelphia Parking Authority's Director of On-Street Parking, Richard Dickson, who will then answer questions from those in attendance. Richard will be present at both meetings to facilitate with questions as they develop.

The agenda of the second meeting on Feb. 7th, will be to continue the process with more questions and answers for Rich Dickson while voter registration and ballot distribution is accomplished. Again, voter registration will require a resident to provide proof of address with either a Driver's License or a current utility bill.

After the questioning is completed, votes will be cast and then counted so that a bulk result will be known by the close of this Feb. 7th. Meeting. The results of the vote will go directly to Councilman Nutter. If a majority of residents want Permit Parking, Councilman Nutter will present this proposal for Manayunk Permit Parking to City Council. One of the agenda items for the following Manayunk Neighborhood Council monthly meeting, scheduled for March 7, will be follow-up details about the distribution of the votes and the status of the results with Councilman Nutter in City Council.

If the results of the vote are affirmative for going ahead with Permit Parking, and Permit Parking is to begin in the designated area, a time-line for this implementation would be for signs to be installed and enforcement to begin in April 2001. With this time-line, the nine-month trial period would carry through for the remainder of the year 2001. Manayunk Neighborhood Council would have follow-up items on the agendas of their monthly meetings.

Specifically, the 4th. Meeting after initiation, scheduled for July 3, would receive midterm feedback from the community with a possibility for adjustments to be made for the remaining five -months of the trial period. As the trial period draws to a conclusion, the Manayunk Neighborhood Council monthly meetings that are scheduled for the 8th. and 9th. month after the start of the trial period (Nov. 7 and Dec. 5) will be devoted to a similar agenda as these two meetings now planned for Jan. and Feb. with Questions and Answers followed by a vote at the Dec. 5 meeting to decide whether to continue (as is), or make certain modifications and continue, or discontinue the program together and remove the street signs.

We, at Manayunk Neighborhood Council, look forward to your attendance at these meetings where you can have your questions answered, weigh the relative advantages and disadvantages for your individual situation between meetings and cast a vote at the Feb. 7 Meeting. See you there.

Winter is Here!

Please be a good neighbor and be sure to keep your sidewalk clean of snow and ice!

Venice Island Update

It's time to remind everyone that the Venice Island issue is still very much alive. Residential development on Venice Island is not a "done deal". Not even close. Our next court date is scheduled for February 7 for Dranoff/Namico and March 12 for Realan/Connelley Container. Don't mark you calendars yet as these dates are likely to change. We were scheduled to file our brief for Dranoff/Namico by January 2 but the Zoning Board is already three weeks late filing their decision and we only now are getting the final transcript from the zoning hearings. It is important to remember that the issues here go beyond Manayunk, beyond Philadelphia and beyond Pennsylvania. The approval of residential development in a floodway flys in the face of every flood regulation from the city to the federal government. This was clearly articulated in a letter from James Witt, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, to our mayor John Street. In case we needed a reminder, Middletown Township, in Bucks County, is about to remove another 40 homes from flood prone areas.

We provided expert testimony that these development will have a significant impact on our already jammed streets. An impact which the city and the Zoning Board have ignored. We have direct evidence of how a single event on Venice Island (Arroyo Grill, May 5, 2000) could gridlock the entire area for hours.

We provided expert testimony that these developments are inherently unsafe. Residents and/or rescuers will eventually be killed The heavy rains and flooding from last Saturday (12/16) were a poignant reminder of how people will act. One focus of the evening news coverage was a person who had circumvented several police barriers and tried to cross a section of obviously flooded Kelly Drive. Their car stalled and had to be abandoned. This highlights both human nature and the critical difference between a floodway and a floodplain. A floodway carries deep fast moving water. It takes less than two feet of moving water to sweep away a car. That same moving water can easily sweep a person off their feet should they abandon their car.

Had this same person tried to negotiate the same depth of water entering or leaving Venice Island they would likely have been swept into the river or been the subject of a dangerous rescue. One of our rescue experts left us with a compelling video with footage of real death and near death flooding incidents showing the reckless decisions people will make in a flood, endangering both themselves and rescuers. It's a sad state of affairs that has a small civic group defending state and national policies but that's the way it is.

We are prepared to press our case to the state courts if we have to. Beyond that, the developers still need a host of permits from city, state and federal agencies. No, it ain't over. No, it ain't a done deal.

Who Let the Dogs Out?

Manayunk Garden Club & Friends of Pretzel Park

The sidewalk along the northern section of Pretzel Park has been completed. The pavement was moved to widen the dog run, balance the entrances at Silverwood and Cresson Street, and free the oak tree at the top of the Cresson Street entrance from asphalt. Removal of the old sidewalk left a mound in the dog run that needs to be leveled. Sam LePera of the Department of Recreation will try to have that done as part of the current reconsruction project.

The dog run area was measured for the wrought iron fencing. Thepeninsula at the top of Cotton and Cresson Streets will be fenced to separate it from the dog run because the stone wall is too low in that area. Dogs could easily jump over to wall to a big drop to the pavement below. The peninsula section will be used as a garden and sitting area.

The fence for the dog run will begin at the base of the Silverwood and Cotton Street entrance. It will run along the sidewalk on the Cotton Street side for about 150 feet. The fence will then angle towards Cotton Street. About 12 feet from the stone wall the fence will turn to end with a perpendicular intersection with the wall.

A double gate with two openings of five feet each will provide entrance to the dog run. The gate, just above the Oak tree at the Cotton and Cresson entrance, will be recessed five feet from the pavement. A second gate could be added at a later time at the sidewalk alignment. This double entry would to allow easier access and prevent dogs from exiting the dog run unattended.

After the grading of the dog run and the installation of the fence, a surface will need to be prepared. The material for the surface will be the topic for our next meeting, January 18 at North Light Community Center. There are many options to chose from as a surface for the area. The dog run in Schuylkill Park, 23rd and Locust, has mulch over dirt. The dog area at Mario Lanza Park, 2nd and Catherine, has a gravel base covered with mulch. The dog run in Washington Square park in New York City has a gravel base. We need the help of the dog owners in the areas to select the right base for our dog run.

After discussing the plans for the dog run, conversation will turn to the tot lot. We received a $6,900 grant for a new fence around the tot lot from the Horticultural Society. Local resident, Susan Mamrol, collected park surveys from the neighboring church schools, St. John's and St. Josephat's. These will be reviewed at the meeting along with plans for the space drafted by Sam LePera.

This is the time to get involved in your park. If you use the park or would like to use the park, you should come to North Light Community Center on January 18 at 7:30 PM. Pretzel Park is your public space and its future is in your hands.

City Avenue Regional Transit (CART)

The City Avenue Special Services District is working towards the implementation of a new shuttle bus service known as CART for City Avenue Regional Transit. Plans call for CART to start operating by March 2001 with four buses that will seat approximately 20 passengers each. Service will operate seven days a week, with extended hours on Friday and Saturday nights.

Service is being planned to occur as often as every fifteen minutes. The CART route will include stops at major destinations along and near City Avenue from the Overbrook train station down to Presidential Boulevard. CART will also include stops on Main Street in Manayunk before it returns to Lower Merion over the Green Lane-Belmont Avenue Bridge. The expected headway is twenty minutes (wait between buses).

CART is being largely funded by a grant from the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission under a program to reduce congestion and improve air quality on roads in the region. The fare for CART will likely be between $.50 and $1.00. The City Avenue Special Services District is currently trying to identify an operator for CART.

The City Avenue Special Services District is a municipal authority created by Lower Merion Township and the City of Philadelphia to promote and improve the City Avenue area. It is the first authority in North America to include parts of two different cities or towns. The City Avenue Special Services District also operated an eight-person community service representative (CSR) program , where the CSR's patrol the City Avenue are on bicycle six days a week. The District is also working on a streetscape improvement plan to identify physical improvements to the landscaping, lighting, and signs along the City Avenue corridor. For more information on the City Avenue Special Services District, visit the web site at www.cityave.org.

CART Route Bus Stops

1. 63rd Street and City Avenue (Overbrook Train Station)

2. Drexel Road and City Avenue (Executive House Apartments)

3. City Avenue and Cardinal Avenue

4. 56th Street and Overbrook Avenue

5. 54th Street and City Avenue

6. Stout Road and City Avenue (Radisson Twelve Caesars Hotel)

7. Monument and City Avenue (Adam's Mark Hotel)

8. Presidential Boulevard and City Avenue (Lincoln Green Apartments)

9. Presidential Boulevard and City Avenue (Presidential City Apartments)

10. Main Street and Ridge Avenue

11. Main Street and Shurs Lane

12. Main Street and Cotton Street

13. Belmont Avenue and City Avenue (GSB Building)

14. St. Asaph's Road and King's Grant Road (Plaza 1)

15. St. Asaph's Road and Monument Road (Plaza 3)

16. Presidential Boulevard and City Avenue (555 City Avenue)

17. Monument Road and City Avenue (401 City Avenue)

18. 47th Street and City Avenue (Bala Shopping Center)

19. Montgomery Avenue and Bala Avenue

20. Bala Avenue and City Avenue

21. Lapsley Road and City Avenue

Manayunk Development Corporation will assist with some funding for this project. They have asked that the bus route turn around at Flat Rock Road and proceed back to City Avenue rather than via Belmont Avenue.

DEP awards $20,000 to Friends of Manayunk Canal

FMC to initiate a Community Watershed Restoration and Protection Plan

Manayunk is an excellent example of the complexity of issues for urban watersheds. Urbanized landscapes, stormwater run-off, non-point source of pollution, dense housing, degradation of riverbank, lack of monitoring and enforcing erosion controls, imprudent land uses, traffic congestion and parking lots, lack of pervious surfaces and an ill-informed public all contribute to the complicated challenge of reducing the degradation of our watershed.

Manayunk has the potential to be the first Philadelphia community to mitigate negative impacts on an urbanized watershed through best management practices and responsible land use, landscaping, and building design. Manayunk's Watershed Restoration and Protection Plan would be the first of its kind in the City of Philadelphia.

The DEP grant monies awarded to FMC will provide the Manayunk community the opportunity to work with an expert' consultant to develop a comprehensive and sensible landuse/watershed plan, created and adopted by all stakeholders, including Manayunk's business community, City Planning Commission and the Philadelphia Water Dept.

New Year... New Members

Over the course of the year, many articles have been written in our monthly newsletter, and in our local newspapers, about the numerous community issues that neighborhoods are trying to come to terms with: traffic, parking, the impact of development, crime, late night noise, and other nuisances.

Though these issues are of concern to most of us, it is not easy for everyone to find the time to attend regular meetings or to organize efforts to respond to all these matters. Fortunately, through our Civic Associations, groups of committed area leaders and community members have taken on the project of gaining control over some of the regional problems.

However, they still need just a little bit of help from everyone else!

Many of our neighborhood issues require legal counsel and expert witnesses in order for the local voice to be heard. This is expensive but affordable if we all pitch in. The 1990 census listed approximately 17,600 households in the 19127-19128 areas. A small annual donation of between $5.00 and $10.00 from each household would give community groups over $100,000.00 each year to fund powerful representation for the Manayunk/Roxborough residents.

Very simply: For the cost of going to a movie, we can afford professional representation for our community. A tiny effort on everyone's part will add up to a great collective difference.

Manayunk Neighborhood Council amended it's bylaws recently to change the membership year to match the calendar year. Since the change was in process over the last several months, we did not actively solicit membership. However, with the new year beginning in a few days, now is the time to join for the year 2001. Please fill out the membership form and send in your donation. We cannot achieve our mission without your help.

MISSION

Manayunk Neighborhood Council's purposes as defined in the bylaws are:

To develop and maintain an informed and productive membership.

To notify, inform, and involve residents in decisions that affect their neighborhood.

To promote unity and sustainability within the neighborhood.

WHO CAN JOIN?

Membership if open to anyone who resides in the 21st Ward of Philadelphia and is at least 18 years of age. Our boundaries are loosely defined because residents have close ties throughout the neighborhood and rigid borders often become too restrictive. Our boundaries cross into areas of other civics and we encourage residents to support as many groups as they feel appropriate.

Manayunk Neighborhood Council works closely with neighboring civics on common issues. It is important to be involved on your block as well as around the corner and up or down the hill.

BENEFITS TO MEMBERS

Individual Members in good standing for at least thirty days have the right to vote in general meetings and elections. Individual Members are entitled to one vote. No proxy voting is permitted. Business and Organization Members are not permitted to vote.

All members will receive the following:

Monthly Newsletters

Notice of Special Events

Manayunk Garden Club Membership and 10% discount at Smith & Hawken

Access to membership in the Police & Fire Federal Credit Union

Membership discount to BJ's Wholesale Club

Occasional Member Premiums

Meetings are the first Wednesday of every month at 7:30 P.M.

Make check payable to MNC and mail to Manayunk Neighborhood Council, PO Box 4667, Philadelphia, PA 19127