Mayfair Civic Association Meeting
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
7:00pm
Mayfair Community Center
2990 St. Vincent St. Philadelphia, PA 19149
Board
Members Present
Joseph
DeFelice, Mike Williams, Pete McDermott, Kevin Leonard , Suzann St. Marie,
Donny Smith, Lisa Greco, Anna Stacey, Mia Hylan, John Jenkins, James Ortlieb,
Milt Martelack, Melinda Mulvenna, Bill Becker,
Board
Members Absent
Megan
Whalen, Mike Ennis, Dana Lambie, Mike Serverson,
Proceedings
Pledge
of Allegiance
Meeting
called to order at 7:09 pm by President Joe DeFelice.
Membership and By-Laws Update
Review
of by-laws changes from previous meetings requires that voting members be paid
members of the civic association. If interested in membership, attendees were
asked to see Sergeant at Arms, Donny Smith or Assistant Sergeant at Arms, John
Jenkins to obtain an application and pay for membership. Applications can also
be obtained at the Mayfair Civic Association website at mayfaircivicassociation.com.
Milt
Martelack Jr. has been appointed the Proviso Enforcement Officer and will be in
charge of monitoring and reporting on the provisos set in place by the Mayfair
Civic Association Zoning Committee. If a business or zoning applicant is found
to be in violation of the provisos set for them during their zoning hearing in
front of the MCA, they will be asked to comply and if they do not comply, a
complaint will be filed with the Philadelphia Zoning Board to have their zoning
revoked.
Treasurer's Report
Treasurer
Kevin Leonard reports that the current balance is $3997.72
Previous
Balance as of 11/19/12: $4229.48.
Deposits: $72.74
Withdrawals: $304.50
The
MCA is now an officially registered 501c4. Tax exempt status was received from
the IRS and the MCA will be filing a tax return this year.
The
money raised for the Methadone Clinic Defense fund via a raffle at the
Christmas Craft Show and Tree Lighting ($202) was given to Treasurer Kevin
Leonard to give to the Mattioni Law Firm.
Honoring Lisa Marie Deeley
Lisa
Marie Deeley is a staff member of Councilman Bobby Henon. Lisa is not only a
Northeast Philadelphia resident but is a regular attendee of many of the
Northeast events, is extremely supportive of the local civic associations and
extremely responsive to complaints and helping with community issues. At the
March 18, 2013 meeting, Lisa Marie Deeley will be honored with a Legislative
Honoree Award courtesy of the Mayfair Civic Association.
Zoning
There
are no current zoning issues/applications to discuss at this time.
Steve
Mangan owner of Healthy Concepts Gym will be open by February in the old
Giggles and Gifts second store location.
In
the May 2007 Primary Election, the voters of Philadelphia overwhelmingly
approved the creation of a Zoning Code Commission (ZCC) to reform and modernize
Philadelphia’s outdated, antiquated, and complex zoning code.
This
New Code went into effect on August 22nd, 2012. The New Code includes
language that Neighborhood Groups(*) must obtain certification as a Registered
Community Organization (RCOs). The Tacony/ Mayfair Special District
Controls Legislation (commonly referred to as an Overlay) has been removed, and
new base districts have been established including CMX-2.5 which was
established specifically for Commercial Corridors such as Frankford & Cottman
Avenues.
Most
of these Avenue Properties will be rezoned as CMX-2, CMX-2.5, and CA-1
CMX,
meaning Neighborhood Commercial Mixed Use. CA, meaning Auto-Oriented
Commercial
Most
of the Corner Store/Businesses will be CMX-1
Descriptions:
CMX-1,
Neighborhood Commercial Mixed-Use District
The
CMX-1, Neighborhood Commercial Mixed-Use district is primarily intended to
accommodate low-impact, small-scale, neighborhood-serving retail and
service uses in storefront buildings, as well as the types of residential uses
allowed in surrounding zoning districts.
CMX-2,
Neighborhood Commercial Mixed-Use District-2
The
CMX-2, Neighborhood Commercial Mixed-Use district is primarily intended to
accommodate neighborhood-serving retail and service uses. The range of
allowed uses is broader than the CMX-1 district.
CMX-2.5,
Neighborhood Commercial Mixed-Use District-2.5
The
CMX-2.5, Neighborhood Commercial Mixed-Use district is primarily intended to
accommodate active, pedestrian-friendly retail and service uses in
commercial nodes and along commercial corridors. The range of allowed uses is
slightly narrower than the CMX-2 district and the development standards
are intended to promote a pedestrian-oriented environment.
CA-1
and CA-2, Auto-Oriented Commercial Districts
The
primary purpose of the CA-1 and CA-2, Auto-Oriented Commercial districts is to
accommodate a very broad range of uses, often in the physical form of
shopping centers and other destination-oriented uses in which a large
percentage of customers will arrive by automobile.
(*)
Mayfair Civic Association is a Registered Community Organization (RCO), August
15th, 2012.
Methadone Clinics Update
A
decision from the oral arguments hearing from the court of common pleas held
on 11/05/12 is still pending regarding the ongoing case with The Healing Way.
A
hearing was held today (01/23/13) for the Northeast Treatment Centers (NET)
attempts to open up in Holmesburg on State Road next to Sweet Lucy's. Due the
amount and length of testimony by NET, a continuance of the hearing will be
held on March 6, 2013. The Holmesburg Civic Association is opposed to this
treatment center and the MCA wrote a letter in support of the HCA'a opposition
of the methadone clinic for the zoning hearing.
Currently,
via donations, $3000 has been raised for the neighbors defense fund to help
offset ongoing legal costs incurred by the case. Any other donations for the
defense fund can be sent to Mattioni Law Firm located at 399 Market St. Suite
200 Philadelphia, PA 19106. More information is available on the MCA website mayfaircivicassociation.com.
Shamrock Shuttle
The
Shamrock Shuttle is scheduled for Saturday, March 2, 2013 and the Northeast Erin Express for Saturday,
March 9, 2013. The
MCA plan on meeting with the new 15th police district Captain McCloskey and the
participating bar owners as they did last year to discuss a plan of action and
areas of improvement to combat public urination, sanitation issues and quality
of life issues throughout the neighborhood. Mayfair Town Watch will also be
patrolling the neighborhood and Frankford Avenue that day during the event and
an increased police presence will be requested from the 15th Police
District.
Mayfair Arts
Initiative
Bill Becker, owner of
Headquarters (7213 Frankford Ave) is the newly appointed chairman of the
Mayfair Arts Initiative. Starting in February, Headquarters will also be
offering art lessons for children and adults in their store. You can email Bill
Becker at
tattoodad237@gmail.com
for class information and pricing.
Third Thursday--The
Mayfair Arts Initiative will host an informal gathering of Northeast
Philadelphia artists at Headquarters or another public location (TBA) every
Third Thursday of each month. Local artists, artisans and anyone with an
interest in the local art scene are welcome to attend. Visit "Mayfair Arts
Initiative" page on Facebook for more information and meeting locations.
Avenue Art Project--The
MCA would like to see an increase in public art installed on Frankford Avenue.
A sculptures to be placed at Frankford and Cottman is in the early discussion
phase.
Mayfair Farmers'
Market 2013 Update
In 2013, the Mayfair Farmers Market will be held on a
bi-weekly basis on Ryan Ave at Frankford and Cottman Ave. starting on April 21,
2013 and ending on Sunday, October 20, 2013. A flier with all of the tentative
dates was made available to meeting attendees. A finalized version of the
vendor application will be made available on the Mayfair Civic Association
website (
http://www.mayfaircivicassociation.com), the Mayfair CDC website (
http://www.mayfaircdc.org/cms) and the Mayfair Business Association
website (
http://mayfairbiz.blogspot.com) as soon as it is completed.
The Mayfair Farmers Market
is currently sponsored by the Mayfair CDC and Republic Bank. Currently, another
sponsor is being solicited for the 2013 season. Please contact Joe DeFelice (
josephjdefelice@yahoo.com) or Suzann St. Marie (
sstmarie1@aol.com)
if you or your business is interested in sponsoring.
Mayfair CDC Update
The
CDC continues to explore a Business Improvement District (BID) for
Holmesburg/Mayfair to spur business development.
The
CDC has applied for a Business Privilege Tax application to partner with
Allegheny Iron. Instead of paying taxes to the city of Philadelphia, Allegheny
Iron would partner with the community group and directly contribute $85,000 a
year to the Mayfair CDC to be used for improvement and maintenance projects in
Mayfair. Approval of the application from the city of Philadelphia is pending.
The
CDC is also exploring a Greening Grant of $30,000 from the city for cleaning
graffiti off the poles and cleaning up the business corridor.
The
CDC continues to monitor the house at Sheffield and Frankford that was going to
be taken over under a conservatorship program. However, the owners of the house
have been doing improvements including new windows, new flooring and
extermination of the pests in the house. The plan is for the house to be put on
the market to be sold.
Mayfair Memorial
Playground (at Lincoln High School) Update
Easter Egg Hunt
Co-chairwoman Melinda
Mulvenna reports that they are working with the School District to get fencing
installed. Currently MMP has $22,000 in the bank and the fencing needs to be
approved by the School District. Funds continue to be raised to get install
additional equipment
The 2013 Easter Egg Hunt is scheduled for Saturday March 16, 2013 from 11am to
1:00pm. As always, community volunteers are needed to help with the planning
and preparation for this event as well as volunteers for the day of the event. Bakers
are also needed for the Bake Sale Table. There is a meeting planned for
Tuesday, 02/05/13 at 7:30pm at the Mayfair Community Center.
Please
contact one of the committee members via the playground Facebook page at
"Rebuild Mayfair Memorial Playground (at Lincoln High School)" or at mayfairmemorialplayground@yahoo.com if you are interested in volunteering. All proceeds for
this event will continue to go towards new fencing and equipment at the
playground.
Mayfair Town Watch
Update
The
group is still looking for volunteers to become regular patrol members. More
information can be found on Facebook under "Mayfair Town Watch" or at
mayfairtownwatch@gmail.com. Applications and information were also present at the
meeting.
Mayfair
Town Watch President Anna Stacey reiterated the need for new members to patrol
the streets with current member. Currently patrols are limited due to lack of
patrolling members. The next 2 hour certification meeting will be held on
February 4, 2013 at the Mayfair Community Center.
Mayfair Clean-up
Committee Update
A
volunteer team of neighbors led by Jim Ortlieb and Anna Stacey continue to hold
clean-ups assisted by CLIP. Most recently they did the Frankford Ave Business
Corridor, the Mayfair Playground at Mayfair Elementary and Mayfair Memorial
Playground at Lincoln High School. The committee also removed the planter boxes
from out front of Family Dollar on Frankford Ave which were being used as trash
cans and ashtrays.
Clean-ups
have been halted during the winter but they will be starting back up in April.
The
committee is always looking for suggestions for areas in the neighborhood that
could use a cleanup. Make any suggestions about areas that need a clean-up via
the their Facebook page at "Mayfair Clean-up".
Mayfair Dog Park Update
A
fundraiser was held at the Grey Lodge Pub on 11/10/12 with raffles and a 3-hour
afternoon happy hour with cash bar. The committee was looking to raise money to
file for 501c3 status and has approximately $500, which should be enough to get
the process started. The committee is looking to formalize itself by holding
officer elections at an upcoming meeting and establishing a bank account with
their current funds. The long-term goal is to raise money for fencing and
long-term maintenance which is estimated to be approximately $10,000.
Mayfair May Fair and Mayfair Fallen Heroes Run (honoring
Officer Chuck Cassidy)
This
is the sixth year for both the MFMF and the Mayfair Fallen Heroes Run to be
held on Saturday, May 18, 2013. This year's Fallen Heroes Run will honor
Officer Chuck Cassidy.
Sergeant
at Arms, Donny Smith spoke about the possibility of expanding it this year by
closing off Frankford Ave from Bleigh to Wellington and condensing all
participants into that area. It was also suggested that it might be beneficial
to hold the Mayfair Farmers Market on the same day. A planning meeting will be
scheduled within the next couple of weeks to formalize plans.
Public Presentations
Coalition Against Hunger --Noelle
Dames presented information about her organization which works on connecting
people with food resources in their communities. They are reaching out to
partners in the Mayfair area including churches, community groups, politicians,
etc. Ms. Dames explained that the Northeast does not have the concentration of
food resources available like in the rest of the city but there are some. The
group attempts to reach out to those most at risk; seniors and families with
children. They are looking for community volunteers to help with their Volunteer Day that culminates in a physical
door-to-door outreach (block-by-block campaign). Sign-up sheets were made
available in the back of the meeting if anyone was interested in helping out. There
is also a Senior Hunger Task Force and information was available at the back
sign-in area. Ms. Dames can be contacted at ndames@hungercoalition.org
HIAS Pennsylvania, Refugee Food Security and
Nutrition Coordinator--Chloe Tomlinson
presented information about her organization which provides legal and social
services to refugees located in the Philadelphia area. There are several families
from Iraq and Sudan trying to rebuild their lives within Mayfair and they would
like to connect with and contribute to the community through community
gardening as they are typically coming from an agricultural background. Ms.
Tomlinson asked for suggestions to identify areas of greening and can be
contacted at ctomlinson@hiaspa.org.
Everyblock.com--Laura
McColgan presented information about her organization Everyblock.com which
is a neighborhood news website owned by NBC. Upon signing up, members can customize
their page by zip code, neighborhood, and view posted civic meetings, community
events, crime statistics, local restaurants, and real estate listings on a
weekly basis. Suspicious activity and city issues can also be reported on the
page as well.
Turning Points for
Children--Lou Grow presented information about his organization Turning
Points for Children (TP4C). TP4C's mission is to support families in raising
safe, healthy educated and strong children by partnering with caregivers to
develop and strengthen protective qualities and by offering them the tools,
skills and resources they need to ensure their children's optimal development.
Services include: social work, mental health, parenting classes, and food and
wellness networks. Many of these services are free and no health insurance is
needed. TP4C will be holding a community forum on Wednesday, February 13, 2013
from 6pm to 8pm at the Tacony Baptist Church located at 4751 Disston St.
Philadelphia, PA 19136. For more information email info@TP4C.org or
visit TurningPointsForChildren.org.
Legislative Meeting--Rep.
Kevin Boyle will hold a legislative meeting to discuss Methadone treatment
facilities and their effect on communities. The meeting will be Wednesday, January 30 at
10 A.M. at the Mayfair Community Center (2990 St. Vincent St.,
Philadelphia, PA 19149). For additional information contact Rep. Boyle's office
at 7518 Frankford Ave. Philadelphia, PA 19136, Phone: (215) 331-2600
Hours: 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Philly 311—Not present.
SHS-Honeywell--Megan
Connelly—Not present.
Open Discussion
Engine 38 has been reopened
in Tacony. However a neighbor, who is a Philadelphia firefighter, alleged they may
be subject to brownouts where it will be closed 3 nights out of the week. This
has not been confirmed.
Lt.
Cook (PSA 3) from the 15 police district introduced herself along with 2 of her
team, Officer Bill Smith and Officer Mike Smith. Lt. Cook and the Officers Smith are looking for community feedback
regarding their concerns and hot spots in the neighborhood as well as quality
of life issues. Officer Smith's email was provided to Mayfair Town Watch
President Anna Stacey. Attendees were offered the opportunity to speak with the
officers after the meeting to discuss specific issues within the neighborhood.
The officers were recently involved in the prostitution bust in Tacony and are aware
of increasing issues of homelessness in Pennypack Park down by the Solly Ave.
Bridge.
There were questions
regarding the methadone clinic (Healing Way) and the lease agreement with
landlord Dennis Kulp and The Healing Way. The Healing Way is approximately 2
years into their 5 year lease with Dennis Kulp.
There were concerns
regarding increased vagrancy, drug sales, and the services that were explained
and offered by some of the public presenters at the current meeting such as
food resources for low income families and free mental health services. The
person raising the concerns was worried that increasing the availability of
these services in the area would lead to larger issues and a further decline in
quality of life issues. MCA president Joe DeFelice explained that MCA meetings
are an open forum for community information.
Lynne Plata is looking for
volunteers to help at Mayfair Elementary to establish a Safe Corridor Program.
There are reportedly issues with traffic around the school during pick up and
drop off, safety crossing the major streets, and understaffing of crossing
guards. Ms. Plata is asking for 1 hour a month. It was suggested that Ms. Plata
start a Facebook page for the group to increase awareness of the issues and
recruit volunteers. Ms. Plata's contact information is
215-450-0386
or
lynnecroth@yahoo.com.
Jack
Costello Boxing Club (located at Longshore Avenue & Tulip Street) is
holding a Social Fundraiser on Saturday, February 23rd, 2013 to raise funds so
they can continue to
offer their programs to neighborhood children & young adults. The fundraiser will be held at District Council 21 Banquet
Facility (2980 Southampton Road) from 8:00 p.m. till 12:00 Midnight. The cost
is $35 includes Open Bar & Buffet.
St. Matthew's School and
Parish invites all alumni to join their Facebook page at "Saint Matthew Parish
Social Events Committee” (https://www.facebook.com/pages/St-Matthew-Parish-School-Social-Events-Committee/186293594794269?ref=ts&fref=ts)
to remain updated on fundraising and social events that directly benefit the
school and the parish.
The
next MCA meeting will be scheduled for March 18, 2013 at 7pm at the Mayfair
Community Center. This meeting will be the yearly Candidates Night.
Meeting
adjourned at 8:25pm.
Meeting
minutes submitted by Communications Secretary Mia Hylan on 01/25/13.
