January 20: Last call for Southport plans | L+I wants sidewalk fining powers | Development plans for Spring Garden lot

Linda Loyd reports the Port Authority board is requesting final proposals for the redevelopment of Southport on the eastern end of the Navy Yard. Among the competing proposals are “a traditional marine terminal with ship berths to handle container and other cargoes to combinations of an energy port, warehouse, and automobile processing space. About 150,000 Hyundai and Kia vehicles arrive here annually on ships from South Korea, headed to dealer showrooms.” Jim Kenney has signaled strong interest in Southport’s development.

Malcolm Burnley says new L&I Commissioner Dave Perri (formerly head of Streets) wants to make it easier for the city to fine property owners for decrepit sidewalks. In Philadelphia, everyone pays to maintain the public streets, but sidewalk repair is the responsibility of property owners, as Jim Saksa explained. The city used to have a work-around where property owners were given a deadline to repair sidewalks, after which the city would just make the repairs and send the tab to the bill collectors. This was phased out in the 1970’s.

The Callowhill Neighborhood Association heard a plan for a new multi-family building that would replace a large parking lot on the 1300 block of Spring Garden Street. The proposal is for 36 units with 36 parking spaces, Alaina Mabaso reports. The only zoning refusal is for surface parking.

Former Redevelopment Authority director and one-time Mayoral candidate Terry Gillen was appointed to the Econsult Solutions senior advisory board, Haywood Brewster reports.

New Jersey passed a law legalizing snow shoveling entrepreneurship, reports Matt Coughlin. In Pennsylvania this remains illegal, but police have an informal policy of looking the other way when kids do it. 

Via The Stranger, some early evidence from Seattle that building a ton of new apartment buildings is succeeding in reigning in rent growth, to the dismay of landlords. “The issue of slowing rents is most acute in Seattle neighborhoods that are experiencing an unprecedented amount of development, according to Dupre + Scott Apartment Advisors. The Seattle apartment tracking firm said that rents rose 5.6 percent region-wide from March through September, and were up 8.3 percent from a year prior. But in the core of Seattle, rents went up just 3.9 percent year-over-year in September.”

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