Central Roxborough Civic Association Meeting Minutes

June 5, 2014

President, Don Simon, announced there will be no General Meetings held in the months of July and August. The next CRCA meeting will be held on the 1st Thursday in September.

The new CRCA Banner was unfurled for all to see.

Police Presentation

Officer Charlie Kline, Community Relations Officer of the 5th District, introduced Sergeant Rozinsky. The Sergeant spoke about the need to prevent thefts from automobiles by 1) not leaving items in your car, 2) take purses, wallets with you, 3) lock your vehicle and close windows.

There will be an Anti Crime Conference at St Joseph’s University on July 26th at 9 a.m.

CRCA Fundraiser

The CRCA Fundraiser will be held at the Adobe Café on Thursday, June 26th from 4 – 10 p.m. all you have to do is come and EAT!

Bike Race

The Bike Race Expo yielded 10 new members for CRCA. The race itself was considered a success from the standpoint that it was a family friendly atmosphere.

365 Green Lane Presentation

Meeting attendees stated they received no notice from the developers that this meeting was being held. The Attorney Mr. Jin, representing owner Todd Joseph, applied to L&I for “THE COMPLETE DEMOLITION OF ALL EXISTING STRUCTURES ON THE LOT, AND THE CREATION OF EIGHT (8) LOTS FROM ONE (1) LOT.” The developer has provided CRCA with 2 sets of conceptual plans, one for 6 lots and one for 8 lots. (Documents are on the Zoning page of the CRCA web site.) The lot is 10,000 sq. feet. There were no renderings or elevation plans to show meeting attendees.

The site is currently zoned RSD-3: residential single-family detached home with minimum lot area of 5000 sq ft.. The ZBA hearing is scheduled for July 2nd at 2 p.m. The current house is not condemned. Neighbors provided statements and appeals to preserve the home. Current maintenance on the property is not adequate according to neighbors who live in the surrounding properties. The owner stated there was never consideration to rehab the home. Todd Joseph owns other properties in Philadelphia that he leases. A similar project is in Port Richmond, 9 townhomes. He also has student rentals in the Temple area. He paid $200K for this property. The L&I refusal is for lot width and area.

Streets Department and License and Inspection Presentation

Streets Department and License and Inspection representatives were on hand to answer questions regarding illegal use and parking on front yards in Roxborough. Call 311 or 911 to report “illegally” parked cars. Streets department issues curb cuts based on application. They only look at the legality of the request, not the aesthetics.

A neighbor reports that bike race barricades have been left near her property. Any bike race concerns can be reported to Don Simon who will then pass them along to the appropriate agency.

Mr. Horton spoke of new rules regarding trash disposal, specifically mattresses. He also reports that U-Hauls are now permitted when taking items to the Transfer Centers for waste disposal. Household Hazardous Waste collection will be held on Saturday, June 14th at Domino Lane.