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July 14, 2011
By Anthony Campisi
For PlanPhilly
For PlanPhilly
A zoning hearing to place three flatwall billboards on a vacant property along Columbus Boulevard was put off so the developer could continue negotiations with SCRUB, the blight advocacy group, and concerned neighborhood groups.
The developer, Riverview Development Corp., is seeking the variance for 1100 S. Columbus Blvd. Though it won the support of the Pennsport Civic Association, an array of neighborhood activists showed up at a hearing before the Zoning Board of Adjustment to voice their concerns.
Among them was Amy Rivera, a lawyer representing the Queen Village Neighbors Association, who said that residents of that neighborhood would be able to see the billboard and that it caused “massive visual clutter.”
And Steven Weixler of the Central Delaware Advocacy Group told the ZBA that billboards “are a prohibited use” in the Central Delaware Overlay, a special zoning district for the waterfront that includes the site of the proposed billboard.
He added that the group hadn't been invited to a presentation by the developer given to the Pennsport neighborhood group, as did SCRUB staff attorney Nicolas Clark.
For his part, Ronald Patterson, the lawyer representing Riverview, objected that all the opponents of the billboard were out of order.
ZBA chairwoman Lynette Brown-Sow appeared to sympathize with Patterson's position — at least regarding SCRUB. She said that the organization couldn't be a party of interest unless it was representing a resident of the neighborhood.
Clark said the group was acting as an organizational party of interest.
The building on which the billboard would be affixed as been vacant for about 20 years, according to Rivera.
The substantive portion of the hearing, which will include testimony by both sides, will occur at a later hearing, the date of which has yet to be determined.
Billboards along the waterfront have generated considerable controversy recently, with City Council intervening to legalize a sign for a South Philadelphia strip club.
Contact the reporter at acampisi@planphilly.com
Comments
Response to Inga Saffron's article:
Odd that Inga Saffron, whose own livelihood depends on the success of advertising, wants to weigh in on the issue of a billboard for a strip club, and an advertising wrap proposed for a building near Pennsport’s waterfront. 7-22. It’s ok that every day circulars and weeklies her employer prints clutter our streets, but the thought of a billboard blocking our view of the scrapyards in Camden truly is cause for alarm.
At a recent meeting in Pennsport to discuss eight violent robberies, all at gunpoint, four of them involving people shot, and two of them resulting in deaths, all in one month, the overriding consensus of those attending was the best way to fight this predatory violence in Pennsport is to put all our time, efforts, and resources into blocking advertising in our neighborhood.
Thankfully, we now have the ultimate nudge mommy on all things aesthetic on our side in this fight, the rarely pleased, Inga Saffron. Well Inga, bring down your broom and help us clean the litter on every street produced by you and your colleagues. Bring down your mop too, as we can’t seem to find any one with the correct aesthetic vision to instruct us on how best to remove some of the more persistent blood stains on our streets.
For most people in Pennsport the strip-club Billboard and the advertising wrap on Bart Blatstein’s building are non issues compared with other issues our community faces. Forget the Billboard, Inga; why not wage a fight to get rid of the strip clubs themselves? You think we want them? Too bad Inga wasn’t around back when Vince Fumo’s absolute power was corrupting absolutely, when a sufficient contribution to Fumo’s or his cronies Pacs guaranteed whatever cheap and sloppy designs a developer wanted sailed through.
Saffron’s article was an undeserved affront to Jim Moylan, who is as honest a broker in these difficult scenarios as one is going to find. What Inga Saffron does not say about Jim Moylan and Pennsport is that they have been advocating fiercely for direct community representation on the Board of the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation. They are calling for three seats to be exact.
Inga, civics are stretched and developers know it.
If you want to help us then lend your voice, with all the shrillness we know you can muster, to the call for direct community representation on DRWC’s Board of Directors. Civics do not, and will not have the wherewithal to challenge very infraction of the Waterfront Master plan. Resources for those challenges must come through the DRWC. Direct community representation on the DRWC board will insure infractions are met head on with full means necessary for legal challenges.
Jim Moylan may be Pennsport’s new president, but he is not new to the fights and the issues Pennsport continually faces. Jim Moylan, and his Board of Directors are smart enough to pick battles they can win, and the battles they must win, like stopping the Foxwoods Casino from coming to Pennsport’s waterfront. Inga, the self appointed nudge mommy, wrote one or two articles on that subject with close to 600 Latte breaks in between. Jim Moylan and his board fought that fight everyday everyway they could for four long years, and it is still not over. Moylan and his board have the faith and the confidence of Pennsport’s residents to fight the battles they can win, and to obtain as many concessions as they can for the betterment of the community in those fights they can’t win.