KAREN ALLEN wrote:
The only truly "public" meeting was the Zoning Committee
meeting that was first slated to be held in the too-small
Spruce Hill office. Spruce Hill was forced to move the
meeting to 42nd and Baltimore by accusations that they
were deliberately using a location with limited space.
Once it was moved, the meeting was publicized by Campus
Inn opponents who created the "Hotel in Our Hood?" fliers
and taped them to utility poles. The large crowd that
turned out registered overwhelming oppositon to Campus
Inn.
But during his testimony, Halligan also claimed that the
community was evenly split about the project. The
community was overwhelmingly opposed, but the Spruce Hill
Zoning committee was split... I guess that counts as as
"even".
doesn't mr. halligan read the uc review? his local paper not
only publicized the time and location for the 13 feb 08
meeting that his organization (shca) called, but it also
reported on the community's response to the project at that
meeting:
http://tinyurl.com/3ycrsk
> Spruce Hill Zoning Committee hears plans for 11 stories
>
> By Nicole Contosta UC Review Staff
>
> With the Spruce Hill Zoning Committee acting like a jury
> and concerned neighbors as the prosecution, Campus Inn,
> the proposed 11-story extended stay hotel at 400 S. 40th
> St. was seemingly "put on trial" last Wednesday, February
> 13th when opposing factions convened for a community
> meeting. If the meeting had in actuality been a real
> trial, and if the opinions of the immediate neighborhood
> residents, as well as other local people attending and
> speaking out against the hotel had impact, the opposition
> to the Campus Inn proposal might have have triumphed.
>
> Opposition from area residents focused primarily on the
> height and scale of the hotel in a residential
> neighborhood, how its addition would create more traffic
> in an already congested area, and the preservation of the
> mansion in juxtaposition to the proposed new high-rise
> hotel building.
the dp also reported on the community's response to the
hotel project at that meeting:
http://tinyurl.com/2yrpv5
> AREA 'UNANIMOUSLY' OPPOSES HOTEL
>
> At three-hour zoning meeting, neighbors largely hostile
> to proposed hotel at 40th and Pine streets
>
> By: Katie Karas
>
> Area residents are still up in arms about a proposed
> hotel at 40th and Pine streets - and they don't seem to
> be backing down.
>
> At a zoning committee meeting of the Spruce Hill
> Community Association, developers presented their
> proposal for an 11-story extended-stay hotel that would
> be located at 40th and Pine streets. But local residents
> and grassroots organizations responded with overwhelming
> disapproval and hostility.
>
> During the three-hour meeting, the only area resident who
> voiced support for the hotel was greeted with jeers from
> the crowd of about 50 people.
>
> The hotel, which is slated to be called Campus-Inn, has
> been touted by developers as a response to the need for a
> long-term hotel to house families visiting patients at
> the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. The
> proposed site is owned by the University and would be
> leased to developers if plans are approved by Penn's
> Board of Trustees and Philadelphia zoning officials.
>
> Opposition to the project, led by the Woodland Terrace
> Association and individual residents, attacked the
> coalition of developers and the University on issues from
> the hotel's planned height to traffic.
>
> Marianna Thomas, a preservation architect for the
> Woodland Terrace Historic District, said an 11-story
> building is inappropriate in what she deems a low-rise
> "suburban" neighborhood. Though she commends the
> project's plan to renovate the dilapidated mansion
> currently on the hotel site, Thomas said a building of 11
> stories is a "violation of the neighborhood."
>
> David Gradwell, a local resident who fears that the
> hotel's construction could produce an onslaught of
> similar high-rise projects, was greeted by cheers when he
> said, "What's going to happen when Penn casts its envious
> eyes upon Clark Park?"
>
> Many residents also expressed worries that the difficult
> parking situation in the area will only get worse,
> despite plans for a valet parking system that will,
> according to developer Tom Lussenhop, keep cars from
> crowding the street.
>
> "The solution of valet parking is not a solution," said
> Magali Larson, a former Sociology professor at Penn and
> member of Woodland Terrace Association.
>
> College senior Evan Fenaroli, whose backyard is adjacent
> to the proposed site, said although he will not be living
> there if construction begins, he thinks the project is
> irresponsible.
>
> "I don't see an issue with the design itself," Fenaroli
> said. "It's the setting that bothers me. It's somebody's
> back yard."
>
> Asset manager for Penn Real Estate Esaul Sanchez said
> Penn had received nearly 20 proposals for the site, which
> most concur is in need of renovation, but "nothing else
> really had traction."
>
> Despite the current conditions of the site, local
> resident Chris O'Donnell urged the Spruce Hill Zoning
> Committee to oppose the project.
>
> "The nearby home owners all - and I don't mean most or
> many of us - all unanimously oppose this project,"
> O'Donnell said.
..................
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