I didn't want to think that the newly-appointed members of the Philadelphia
City Planning Commission were nothing but tools to help implement
short-sighted projects embraced by our panic-driven new and supposedly
promising mayor.
But, it seems, that this commission has acted in haste and defiance of logic
and the best interests of not one but two vital communities.
* University City, of course, by endorsing the ill-conceived plan -- as
Mary Goldman put it in today's University City Review -- to replace an
eyesore with a behemoth.
* And, now, according to the reports below from the Inquirer and DN,
respectively, to allow Foxwoods to build a slot joint at another monument to
the failure of city planning, the Gallery in Center City.
Yes, it's true that Philadelphia needs to encourage enterprises that will
provide employment and commerce. But destroying the fabric of the
neighborhoods,
along with the hopes and expectations of the people who are really the
essence of this or any city, can't possibly be a wise way to do it.
Well, as was said of John Lindsay who ended his chance to be President of
the United States by taking on the no-win job as Mayor of New York and --
predictably -- displeasing almost everyone, anyone who wants to be mayor of a
big
city isn't fit for that office, let alone anything higher.
Always at your service & ready for a dialog,
Al Krigman -- 36-year local resident, beloved housing provider, and
recipient of the 2008 Ignatz Nobil prize for ratiocination
PS: If there's any consolation to be taken from this sorry turn of events,
it's the statement by Andrew Altman, deputy mayor for planning and economic
development and also chair of the Planning Commission. Depending on which
paper
you care to believe:
* Inky: "It starts a planning process. It doesn't end a planning
process."
* DN: "At the end of the day, it's not a vote for this site. It's a
vote for a process to evaluate the site."
We might want to be sure that the Zoning Board knows this is the value of
the PCPC decision on the Campus Inn, and that the community has never been
involved in any planning process for the site other than to offer reasons why
the
plan is so bad, and have them ignored by the developers.
____________________________________
>From today's Inquirer
____________________________________
Phila. planners OK zoning for Foxwoods
By Jennifer Lin
Inquirer Staff Writer
In the first stage of a lengthy approval process, the Philadelphia City
Planning Commission supported a zoning change yesterday so Foxwoods Casino
could
build a slots parlor at the Gallery shopping mall. At the meeting in the
Academy of Natural Sciences auditorium, several residents expressed anger that
a
decision had been made before anyone knew what the project would look like or
what impact it could have on the surrounding area.
"Slow down!" implored John Chin, executive director of the Philadelphia
Chinatown Development Corp., a nonprofit neighborhood group. "There's no
reason
to rush this. Foxwoods has presented no information, no studies."
A month ago, Foxwoods Casino said it wanted to move its proposed
slot-machine casino from a riverfront location in South Philadelphia to Center
City. The
company made the switch after repeated delays and challenges from the city.
About 100 residents from Chinatown, Society Hill and Washington Square
expressed dismay yesterday that the commission was giving its stamp of
approval to
the zoning change, the first step in a long approval process for a casino.
"It's a cart-before-the-horse kind of thing," said Roseanne Loesch, a
Society Hill resident.
Andrew Altman, deputy mayor for planning and economic development, said
before a 4-1 vote that the commission's approval of a zoning change was not a
green light for a Gallery casino. It would only set into motion a process
leading to a thorough review of a development plan, he said.
"It starts a planning process," said Altman, who also serves as chairman of
the Planning Commission. "It doesn't end a planning process."
With yesterday's vote, the commission was endorsing two bills introduced
last week by City Councilman Frank DiCicco.
The first would permit gaming in a vast Center City area from Sixth to Broad
Streets and Chestnut to Arch Streets.
The second would change the zoning at the Gallery to a "commercial
entertainment district" (CED), extending from 10th to 11th Streets, and from
Market to
Filbert Streets.
The only commissioner who voted against the bills was Natalia Olson de
Savyckyj, an urban planner and a member of Mayor Nutter's Zoning Code
Commission.
She voiced concern about making a change in zoning before a plan of
development was approved.
With the Planning Commission's endorsement, City Council will take up the
matter at a public hearing on Nov. 1, with a possible vote on Nov. 13.
At that point, Foxwoods Casino would have to come up with a detailed plan of
development. That could take "several months," said Alan Greenberger, the
incoming vice chairman of the Planning Commission.
____________________________________
>From today's Daily News
____________________________________
Planning Commission OKs step toward moving casino to Gallery
By CHRIS BRENNAN
Philadelphia Daily News_ [EMAIL PROTECTED]
(mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]) 215-854-5973
Legislation in City Council to rezone the Gallery in Center City to allow a
casino there gained the support yesterday of a conflicted City Planning
Commission.
The commission voted 4-1 to recommend that Council approve "commercial
entertainment district" zoning, a step forward needed for the Foxwoods casino
to
relocate to the Gallery from its proposed site in South Philly.
Andrew Altman, the city's deputy mayor for commerce and planning, explained
to the commission and casino opponents that the zoning legislation was an
initial step toward getting Foxwoods to present its plans.
"At the end of the day, it's not a vote for this site," said Altman, who
serves as chairman of the commission but does not vote. "It's a vote for a
process to evaluate the site."
Residents in nearby Chinatown are angry that the city is moving on the
Foxwoods zoning before the developers present their plans. The city, which has
been trying to force Foxwoods to move from South Philly, calls the zoning
legislation an incentive for Foxwoods to develop those plans.
Commission member Natalia Olson de Savyckyj, the lone vote against
recommending the zoning change, said she wanted information from Foxwoods
first.
Commission member Nilda Ruiz qualified her vote of support, saying she
wanted plans from Foxwoods before the zoning issue moves forward again.
Commission members Alan Greenberger, Pat Eiding and Anuj Gupta, sitting in
for city's managing director, Camille Barnett, also voted for the zoning.
The vote angered casino opponents, who are still waiting for project details
six weeks after Foxwoods announced the potential relocation to the Gallery.
Ellen Somekawa, executive director of Asian Americans United, said the
zoning is "greasing the wheels" for Foxwoods.
"So far, this process really looks like business being done in the same old
ways, the backroom-deal ways," she said. "It's really a shockingly rushed and
shoddy process."
John Chin of the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corp. said the city's
speed on the zoning issue only added to his concerns.
"At this point, I can say people in Chinatown have no reason to have faith
in the process," Chin said. "Slow down. There's really no reason to rush
this."
Council will hold a rare Saturday public hearing on the zoning legislation
on Nov. 1 and could vote on it by Nov. 13.
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