Melani,How is it that you always seem to have such an intimate, inner knowledge of what the University of Pennsylvania knows, feels and thinks? Why is it that whenever there is a controversy between the neighborhood and Penn, that you always seem to have the utmost sympathy and deference for Penn, while simultaneously seeming to show the utmost contempt for the legitimate concerns of your neighbors? You are stating now that Penn should not possibly be expected to find a different use for 400 S. 40th Street other than what it has already decided on. Yet you insinuated that the neighbors should be expected to make changes in their lifestyle to accomodate the hotel: that Chris O'Donnell should sacrifice part of his children's play yard for the parking that would be lost on the street because of the hotel. How can you be so sympathetic to Penn and not be sympathetic to Chris O'Donnell? Why do you never use the same strident language against Penn that you use against your neighbors? How is it that you characterize the concerns of your neighbors as "fearmongering" and "misinformation", while you try to make us beleive that every unsubstantiated claim coming from Penn is Holy Writ, Truth and Gospel? Why are you always trying to tell us to compromise? Are you also telling Penn and Tom Lussenhop to compromise? Why as here, "For those of you who say find another project, can you suggest one? A serious use, not a coffee shop, and are you willing to lease the spot, finance the project, find harmony with the neighbors, and have this be your new business?" do you always put US on the defensive? Have you also put Penn on the defensive, and asked for proof that there is nothing else they can do with the site? Have you asked Penn Real Estate why they bought the site to begin with if they did not have a use that made "financial sense"? Since you seem to know so much about Penn, and since you can call Tom Lussenhop up and ask him anything, call them all up and ask them this: "Why don't you guys wise up and stop trying to ram crap down people's throats? Why don't you go to the community (the REAL community, not a bunch of handpicked water-carriers) and build a genuine working plan with them BEFORE you hatch up some grandiose scheme that you know they will fight you tooth and nail over?"
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]: Wed, 20 Feb 2008 18:54:53 -0500Subject: Precedent: comparisons to the Fairfax [was: Re: [UC] Classes of Voters]To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] a message dated 2/20/08 2:55:33 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: ....And perhaps they would not in turn use the hotel as precedent to build something similar on that vacant lot at 43rd and Baltimore or elsewhere in the neighborhood.....This "precedent" suggestion is one of the pieces of fearmongering being used now by people who either don't understand the workings of the Phila. Historical Commission and the Zoning Board, or who do understand, but may hope that their readers won't. "Precedent" comes from all over Philadelphia, not just University City. Members of the PHC and the ZBA will see precedent for the Campus Inn in Society Hill, in Fairmount, in Washington Square, and in many other heavily populated areas of the city. Our laws and regulations are the same for the ENTIRE City of Philadelphia, and the agencies have a wider, more sophisticated viewpoint than we do when we look only at our own neighborhood. Precedent is everywhere, already, whether this project goes forward or not.However, in addition to already existing citywide precedent, there is definitely precedent close by, set in the 1920s. Opponents disregard this, but I think that it deserves a closer look with a more open mind.The Campus Inn developers compare their project's scale to the Fairfax Apartments, built at 43rd & Locust in 1926. It's five blocks from the proposed building - less than 3 blocks west, and 2 blocks north. The houses and other buildings close to the Fairfax were all at the time, and to this day remain, much shorter. The Fairfax extends its full 10-story + ground floor height, right up against the lot line of the rear yards of the 3-story townhouses on St. Mark's Square, c. 1879. It's also very close to the sidewalk, just across 43rd St. from 3-story townhouses c.1882 & 1886 on that block's west side. The only open space on the Fairfax's lot is in the center, plus the middle of the front area on Locust St. It's a U-shaped building, hugging 3 of its lot lines completely and much of the fourth. In other words, the main beneficiaries of its green space are the residents of the Fairfax looking into the center of its lot, not the neighbors. View it here:http://biketype10.tripod.com/fairfaxapts/index.htmlIn the top left picture, you can just barely see the little houses on St. Mark's coming up to the Fairfax's 3rd story height on the right side of the photo!With 243 apartments (this # taken from its web site) and also commercial space which once contained a restaurant, the Fairfax has the potential to bring 243 cars or more to the block, all the time! It has no valets to park residents' cars in garages elsewhere, and not a single off-street spot for a taxi or shuttle to pull in to pick up or discharge passengers. (The Campus Inn proposes having both.) SEPTA is nearby on Walnut and Chestnut St. (though the buses here aren't nearly as well-connected as the trolleys just around the corner from the proposed Campus Inn). But, traffic seems to flow pretty well around the Fairfax, and it hasn't hurt home values on St. Mark's Square, which remains one of the most popular blocks in the area. One could probably argue that the shabby, 1-story, beer distributor and the take out pizza place on 43rd St. are likely to have more impact on the popularity of 43rd St. for homeowners than does the Fairfax, with its well-kept grounds. And I don't think that anyone can dispute that traffic in the next block west on Locust, where folks double park South Philly-style for long periods of time to pick up sandwiches at Koch's, is way more congested. Because of a perhaps 700 s.f. sandwich shop!The (Campus Inn) lot at 400 S. 40th St. is 190 x 116, or 22,040 s.f. The Fairfax's lot is 190 x 175, or 33,326 s.f. So the proposed Campus Inn would have less than half as many units (a proposed 115, to the Fairfax's 243) on a lot 2/3rds the size of the Fairfax's lot.So, there's a precedent for us. A more dense development with fewer parking solutions, up closer to the edges of its lot on more sides, with us since the 1920s. It's already here, and it hasn't caused the problems folks are projecting for the Campus Inn. As I've mentioned before, my main interest in this project is in seeing the mansion restored, so I'm being pragmatic. No one is going to spend millions on the mansion, and then run something as low key as a coffee shop there, which was once seriously proposed on the UC listserv. Many of the opponents of the hotel are landlords, who understand that any new use needs to make financial sense. The University of Pennsylvania is in the education business; they have their Trustees to answer to. Their real estate department would not be permitted to take millions of dollars out of Penn's endowment for a non-educational purpose. They are looking to find a developer to take charge of this site. If not the inn, then who? For those of you who say find another project, can you suggest one? A serious use, not a coffee shop, and are you willing to lease the spot, finance the project, find harmony with the neighbors, and have this be your new business?Folks, how about some interest in compromising, instead of just taking potshots at each other? If we don't show any good faith, any willingness to try to work something out, then the ZBA and the PHC won't be able to take you us seriously as they would if we made helpful suggestions.- Melani LamondMelani Lamond, Associate BrokerUrban & Bye, Realtor3529 Lancaster Ave.Philadelphia, PA 19104cell phone 215-356-7266office phone 215-222-4800, ext. 113office fax 215-222-1101**************Ideas to please picky eaters. Watch video on AOL Living.(http://living.aol.com/video/how-to-please-your-picky-eater/rachel-campos-duffy/2050827?NCID=aolcmp00300000002598)
