OCCA

Project Proposed for the Old Pincus Bros. Site

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 09:00:00 PDT

Robert Ambrosi Presented Development Project Proposal onJuly 20th at the OCCA Developments Committee Meeting

By Janet Kalter

Mr. Robert Ambrosi, CEO of ARC Properties, Inc., presented his development project proposal for 401-437 Race Street. The site is the old Pincus Bros. Maxwell site and the project proposal encompasses the entire block - 5th to 4th Street and Race to Florist Street. It is to be called Franklin Place.

The development package includes: a 140-room hotel, a 32,000 sq. ft. restaurant / entertainment space, and an interior parking facility, all built on the existing structure. A future low-rise residential condo / rental component will include retail on the ground floor. Mr. Ambrosi is on a fast-track schedule with this proposal and hopes to break ground before the end of this year.

The hotel would be developed in partnership with Choice Hotels International (Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality, Rodeway Inn, Sleep Inn, Econo Lodge) Cambria Suites division. The emphasis would be on a "family hotel". The hotel would have a restaurant, a bar, swimming pool, conference room, and fitness facility on the fourth floor (the second and third floors are for parking) with six floors of hotel rooms above that.

The huge restaurant / bar /bowling alley entertainment space, (think the size of Dave & Busters), has not yet been defined in detail. Currently, Orange County Choppers is the planned occupant.
For more information on Orange County Choppers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_County_Choppers
http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/tv/hog_brawl_DGIaJp3YxntDfDynaIrtbL

Mr. Ambrosi describes it as a family-oriented version of the Orange County Choppers Roadhouse now being built in Newburgh, NY by Advent Entertainment. Mark Advent, who developed the New York New York Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, has licensed the OCC brand. For information on Advent Entertainment, Orange County Choppers (of reality TV fame) and others likely to be involved in the project, go to:
http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20100510005461&newsLang=en

Mr. Ambrosi, with the support of Councilman DiCicco's office, proposes is to get an ordinance through City Council. An ordinance would allow him relief from the terms of both the zoning code and Old City's zoning overlay without negotiating the ZBA variance process.

It is up to our community to help define that ordinance. An OCCA Developments Committee sub-committee, dedicated to working with Mr. Ambrosi over the past 18 months, has created a sixteen-point list of ordinance conditions which are intended to address and allay community concerns. To see the list go to: http://oldcity.heroku.com/news/view/138

He has agreed, in principle, to all but one: the elimination of an electronic billboard on the east-facing wall of the hotel. This billboard is an area of concern for many of us. In Mr. Ambrosi's initial renderings, it is a six-story, vertical Integrated Digital Sign (IDS), better known as a LED billboard. It is the equivalent of a huge television screen that will be glowing and flashing images. Mr. Ambrosi assures us that it will be smaller than the renderings indicate, recessed into the building, and angled to face westbound bridge traffic. Since the IDS would be facing northeast, it may be visible to area residents.

We know from the press that Mr. Ambrosi's push to get the project under way by December 31st is in order to obtain the $10,000,000 recently allocated from the state. According to Gary Tuma, a spokesman for Governor Rendell, the debt-authorization bill included this allocation for "construction and other related costs". He explained, "The capital budget will fund economic-development projects that will attract businesses to or keep business in Pennsylvania, or allow them to expand. It is all with the goal of creating jobs and boosting Pennsylvania's economy."

Mr. Ambrosi is pleased to report that he has the support of Governor Rendell, Mayor Nutter, and Councilman DiCicco. They are all, understandably, looking for ways to create jobs and attract business.

Buildings are very permanent things. We live with them for decades. They contribute to shaping the developmental direction of communities. Hopefully, the present condition of our economy is less permanent. We need to keep an appropriate perspective: in what ways will this project affect our community's future?

That question will be hard to answer until we have more information.
But as concerned members of our community, we need to pay attention. Stay informed. Go to the links provided above and become familiar with the hints we have so far.

If possible, come to OCCA's Developments Committee meetings at 8 AM every other Tuesday at Christ Church's Neighborhood House.
The next meeting is scheduled for August 3, 2010.

We will email the most current renderings we have for the Franklin Place project upon request.
You can e.mail your comments or concerns to us at: occadevelopmentscommittee@gmail.com

Thoughts Outside the Chocolate Box

Sun, 25 Jul 2010 11:02:00 PDT

Thoughts Outside the Chocolate Box: A Conversation with Barry Shane, Former Owner of Shane Candies

by KJ Nelson

I met with Mr. Shane outside Franklin Fountain on a muggy Friday afternoon whilst savoring the establishment's raspberry sorbet. OCCA's editor, Janet, made the introductions-she inexplicably prefers Franklin's lemon sorbet. Go figure. With Janet's help, I intended to interview Mr. Shane and mine the wealth of his long years as a businessman in Old City and as a third-generation candy-maker. I had questions at the ready: How far has the district come? Where is it going? What businesses should it attract? What should the OCCA do to help businesses in the district? What advice would you give to other businesses?

Mr. Shane was not too interested in my personal agenda. Perhaps after so many years in business, my questions seemed head-in-the-clouds. In fact before I could ask the first one, he was off and running with a story about Coco, the Shane Company's CRCO (chief rodent control officer). After an early, forced retirement from the company, Coco was neutered. (By the way, Coco is a cat.) Coco's predecessor had a longer career until a disgruntled employee ratted on her. Seems the health department did not approve of cat's acting as CRCO's in chocolate factories. Instead of arresting the cat, the inspector fingered the head of the company. As penance for his crime, Mr. Shane had to do time in the classroom, studying for his food handler's license. During his 10 hours of incarceration, he learned the proper procedures for handling meat.

Somewhere near the end of this story, but before it segued into a diatribe against Carl-the evil health department inspector-Heidi, another former Shane Company employee happened by. She and Barry hugged and greeted each other like long lost relatives. She updated us on her kids and her employment status. He gave her praise and advice. It seems that Barry was famous for his kindness to Shane employees, as borne out by Heidi and others who worked long years for the company.

After Heidi finally left, I had my chance to interject my first question: Mr. Shane, how has the neighborhood changed since you took over the business from your father?

"That's an interesting question," Barry allowed, and began another story. He's a born storyteller and an entertaining one at that. Eventually he got around to answering me: Before 1990, his block at 110 Market was liked a "bombed-out Beirut." That's how the Inquirer quoted him back then. Then came HEMS, Historic East Market Street. Barry was the only businessmen on the committee when it first met in 1989. Other business types eventually came aboard, including Mr. Stockton Strawbridge, to whom we owe credit for the arrival of the statue of Chief Tamanend at the end of Market Street. (According to Mr. Shane, the statue does not draw enough tourists. I suggested we change May Day to St. Tammany Day, as it was formally celebrated in 1771. He concurred: "We need something historic at the end of Market Street to attract more tourists.")

"There used to be all kinds of people employed in Old City in wholesale and supply companies. Manufacturing, too. You should have seen it. The Continental Diner was jam-packed for lunch." The workers bought chocolate from Shane Candy to take home. The bosses bought chocolate as gifts for clients, customers and employees. The store had lines out the door. The new neighborhood of condos, apartments and restaurants has not been as beneficent to Shane Candy as in former days. Rather than campaign for a return of the Tastykake bakery and other former businesses, Barry brightened at my suggestion that we relocate a few center-city office buildings into Old City. "The tourists don't buy as much candy as the business people."

The company's other heyday predates Barry even further, when ferry passengers loitered about and bought treats from his grandfather and father. Before that, the Shane Company came into the world as a fruiterer and operated under a different name as a candy shop. (Stop by the store front and look at the old ventilation vents for the cellar. They're below the front windows where new curved glass will be installed. Fascinating to a history buff like myself.)

"I hope Franklin Fountain makes a fortune," Barry says, including Shane Candy under that umbrella. He is surprised at how well the Berley boys have done in attracting business. "I could never dress up in those outfits like they do. You should have seen Ryan on the corner of Second and Market when they first opened. He was wearing the strangest getup." He hopes that like Shane Candy's halcyon days, the brothers have lines out the door to both operations, though Barry admits that he is not so good with the queuing thing himself. "I'm too impatient to stand in line."

Mr. Shane has tried to relax and slow down since selling the candy factory to the Berley boys, but in my view, he is failing miserably. When pressed for his opinion at the close of our time together, Mr. Shane opined that "Old City is as good as it can be for now." What with the economy and the lack of historic attractions at the east terminus of Market.

If you have something historic that we could put there, please contact the OCCA at your earliest convenience.

Ordinance Conditions for 401 Race Street

Sun, 25 Jul 2010 09:56:00 PDT

401 Race - Franklin Place - Suggested Ordinance Inclusions

1. No zoning permits shall be issued with respect to any property rezoned or any plan of development approved by this Ordinance unless:

(a) The applicant shall have first submitted to the Philadelphia City Planning Commission (PCPC), Philadelphia Historical Commission, and Philadelphia Art Commission, and each shall have approved, within its individual purview, a Plan of Development, which shall be finally approved by the PCPC only if it, in its discretion, has determined that the Plan of Development provides for development appropriate in scale, density, character and use for the surrounding community.

(b) The PCPC certifies that the requested permits are in conformity with the approved Plan of Development.

Additionally the following conditions will apply with respect to any property rezoned or any plan of development approved by this Ordinance:

2. Prohibition on application for gaming license(s);
3. Prohibition on application for additional liquor licenses or the extension of any liquor license application described under the final, approved plan of development;
4. Absolute commitment to enter into a comprehensive Conditional Licensing Agreement (CLA) applicable to all service areas licensed under the single PLCB liquor license servicing all applicable areas as defined in PLCB Application #________________ dated ____________________;
5. Prohibition on application for additional food uses or the extension of any food uses described under the final, approved plan of development;
6. Immediate sunset of the principle food/entertainment use of approximately 33,000 square feet granted under this Ordinance at the discontinuation, closing, or abandonment of the Use by the original operator. All subsequent proposed food/entertainment uses will be considered new uses and subject to all existing zoning regulations; (section added subsequent to our meeting of July 15th with the 401 Race Street development team)
7. Specific regulations of the height of the residential component proposed for the 4th Street edge of the project so as not to exceed the height of the historic property to the east;
8. Prohibition on any non-accessory billboard, electronic or other, within the parcel or on top of any structure included within the parcel; (7/15 - no agreement, in principle, as yet)
9. Prohibition on any roof-top signage or roof-top supported signage within the parcel; (7/15 - no agreement, in principle, as yet)
10. All necessary improvements to the surface parking lot component at the east edge of the parcel bringing that use into complete compliance with all applicable standards of the current Zoning Code, and consistent with the aesthetic standards of the balance of the project area;
11. Absolute commitment to completely replace all sidewalk surfaces bordering the entire project area;
12. Absolute commitment to the landscaping and ongoing, long-term maintenance, including all necessary replacement of tree/plant materials included in the landscaping plan;
13. Absolute commitment to executing the Old City District (OCD) streetscape plan including replacement of all street lighting fixtures with the OCD-approved brown-round fixtures;
14. Prohibition on future application for any variance from any term(s) of Zoning Code Section 14-1610, or term(s) of such Section as incorporated into the future, updated version of the Philadelphia Zoning Code;
15. Absolute commitment that patrons' motor vehicles will not be permitted to park on the sidewalk of the premises at any time under any circumstances;
16. Sunset Provision
This Ordinance shall lapse on ________, 2011, unless, on or before such date, either:

(a) A building permit has been issued pursuant to a Plan of
Development approved by the PCPC, Historical Commission, and Art Commission; provided, further, that, should such building permit or any zoning permit issued pursuant to an approved Plan of Development expire due to a failure to construct, this Ordinance shall lapse at such time;
or
(b) The PCPC has granted a one-time extension of up to a one (1) year period, upon a determination by the Commission that the applicant is making substantial progress toward completion of the final, approved Plan of Development.

CCCVS: The Center City Crime Victim Service

Sat, 24 Jul 2010 20:24:00 PDT

On July 1, the Center City Crime Victims Service opened their offices at 42 South 15th Street, Suite 1003. The mission of CCCVS is to help the victims of violent crime and their families, and to prevent and cope with violent attacks in the communities of the 6th and 9th Districts.
The victims of crime who don't have adequate income or insurance may be able to obtain payment of medical bills, payments for lost wages. Some robbery victims who are surviving on only Social Security or disability payments may be eligible for reimbursement of lost cash.
Aside from the economic benefits provided through the Pennsylvania State Victims Compensation Assistance Program, the Center City Crime Victims Service also provides victims with an advocate to assist them through the court system, give advice, obtain protective orders to ensure their safety, file petitions for reimbursement to be ordered by the judge, and accompany the victim to court proceedings
If necessary, the CCCVS will provide short-term crisis support, management and counseling. If long-term counseling is needed, appropriate referrals for treatment will be arranged.
The CCCVS also provides information on crime prevention and safety particular to our neighborhood. The CCCVS has victim advocates available to victims and residents every day at COURT ROOM #405 in the CRIMINAL JUSTICE BUILDING. They can also be contacted daily at 42 SOUTH 15TH STREET, SUITE 1003, or by TELEPHONE at (215)-665-9680. The Court, The DA's Office, the Probation Office and the Police can also provide you, or a victim you are helping, the above information. Immediate response is available.
"Neighborhood crime hurts everyone," says Sherry Hunter, Interim Director of the CCCVS, whose staff and services are funded in part by grants and your private donations.
REMEMBER THAT YOU MUST REPORT THE CRIME TO THE PROPER AUTHORIES WITHIN 72 HOURS OF ITS COMMISSION (there may be some rare exceptions). If you do so, you will have two years from the date of the incident to file for compensation. If you dial (215)-665 9860 an advocate will walk you through the process. The advocate will have the appropriate forms for you and protect you and your rights in and out of Court.
It is a great community service provided by dedicated people.

- Reported by Joseph O'Donnell, President OCCA

Part 2: What Do the Organizations of Old City Do for Us: OCAA, OCCA, OCBC. OCD, and OCFF

Sat, 24 Jul 2010 14:05:00 PDT

Part 2: What Do the Old City Organizations Do?
Funding and Committees

By Janet Kalter

To review the information in Part 1 of this series of four articles, these are the missions of the Old City organizations:

OCAA - Old City Arts Association - develop and maintain arts, culture, and commerce

OCCA - Old City Civic Association - enhance the quality of life and preserve historic character

OCBC - Old City Business Collective - improve business climate; maintain our unique character

OCD - Old City District - establish and maintain a clean, safe, well-managed environment

OCCF - Old City Community Fund - promote the restoration and maintenance of the facades, sidewalks and roadway on Market Street in Old City.

All are non-profit organizations, and only Old City District (OCD) has paid staff.

Funding
The source of revenue for OCAA, OCCA, and OCBC funding is membership fees. Some local businesses have been generous enough to give donations toward specific events. Food and beverages for events have been contributed by many local restaurants. Occasionally, a committee will make an effort to raise funds for a specific project, such as the OCCA Tree Fund.

Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation has made contributions for events, particularly those events that occur through a weekend, such as the OCBC Sidewalk Sale and Stroll.

In some cases, organizations have succeeded in acquiring grants for specific projects. OCAA, at one time, had a grant for the Old City Experience brochure.

OCD, the District, is funded by a 5% surcharge on the taxes assessed by the City of Philadelphia and the School District of Philadelphia on the assessed valuation of all taxable commercial properties within the District. Service contracts generate additional revenues.

Committees

While the boards of these organizations oversee the missions of their respective groups, the activities are generally carried out on a committee level. The committees report to their respective boards on proposals they wish to make to the Board after discussions at their meetings.

OCAA, the arts association, usually forms groups on an as-needed basis. Much of the activity is generated by an individual gallery based on their specific area of interest, e.g., the recent national ceramics conference, NCECA, which The Clay Studio organized in our region. Certainly, all of the galleries and most of Old City's businesses benefitted from the attendees' presence in our neighborhood; and all of Philadelphia, for that matter. So, the Wood Turning Studio or Snyderman Gallery or any other gallery may host events that are of interest to people beyond our specific area and bring visitors to all of the galleries and businesses in Old City and surrounding neighborhoods.

OCAA does not have regularly scheduled meetings.

OCCA, the civic association, has specific committees committed to managing tasks to accomplish the mission. The committees are: Developments Committee, Liquor Committee, Membership and Events, and the Beautification and Tree Planting Project.
For the most part, the titles of the committees describe the activities. Two of the committees have regularly scheduled meetings: Developments Committee meets twice each month on Tuesday mornings at 8:00 AM at the Christ Church Neighborhood House (all are welcome to attend); the Liquor Committee meets on the first Monday of each month. Meeting places and times vary according to the agenda.

The Beautification and Tree Planting Project may seem slightly vague in its title, but you may be aware, or may have even participated in some of the projects:

• Clean-Up Day on April 10

• Tree Planting event on April 24th when TreeVitalize trees from Pennsylvania Horticulture Society were planted. Last November, 12 trees were planted.

• OCCA paid for the planting of two more trees.

• June 22, 2010 OCCA sponsored the Household Hazardous Waste Pickup, and in November there will be another Pickup

• November, 24 more TreeVitalize trees are scheduled to be planted.

Since funding of OCCA is through membership and small fund-raising activities, the task of the Membership and Event Committee is clear.

OCBC, the business collective, has three committees:

Marketing/Public Relations/Fundraising

Operations/Memberships/Nominations/Strategic Planning

Events

OCBC didn't offer further definition of these committees, but the purposes of the committees seem clear by title.

OCD, the District, reports that these are their committees and the functions of each:

Marketing
The Marketing Committee is responsible for promoting the District: who we are and what we do. The committee presently has a P/R Initiative Task Force sub-committee responsible for working with other local Old City organizations to help promote businesses in the area.

Clean & Safe
This committee discusses cleanliness and safety issues in the District and how the District should be involved in resolving these issues. Also represents District at the Old City Task Force meetings.

Board Development
This committee nurtures new board members for the District. They are also responsible for meeting the strategic planning goals numbers to keep the organization healthy, vibrant, and well-funded

Economic Development
This committee deals with proactively moving Old City forward through economic development of vacant properties, encourages new businesses to open in the District, and deals with matters of zoning where relevant

Executive Committee
This committee deals with board related internal matters.

Summary

Funding
With the exception of OCD and OCCF, the organizations of Old City rely primarily on membership fees; there are occasional fund-raising events, and grants to fund specific activities.

OCD is funded by a 5% surcharge on real estate tax of commercial properties within the district. Service contracts generate additional revenues.

Committees

OCAA forms committees as needed.
OCCA, OCBC, and OCD have standing committees, though some committees and sub-committees are formed on an as-needed basis. The goals of these committees are briefly described above.