By Matt Blanchard
For PlanPhilly
Facing the final moments of their last-ever meeting, the citizens’ committee guiding Philadelphia’s waterfront master plan refused to go gently into the good bureaucratic night.
“The advisory group – we’re done. But we want something to come out of this,” said member John Scorsone in pleading tones. “I think I speak for every civic association member in here. We want this to morph into something else … Can we take a vote?”
The Central Delaware Advisory Group has nursed and debated the evolving waterfront master plan for close to a year, with 45 members ranging from state bureaucrats to street-level activists. They were scheduled to disband on Thursday.
But with a public unveiling of the PennPraxis plan coming on November 14 – you can read a draft outline of the plan by clicking here – the fight for the future of 1,100 acres along the Philadelphia riverfront has really just begun.
So vote they did – unanimously in favor of finding some way to continue.
“We’ve established a connection between citizens and civic associations,” said Society Hill’s Steve Weixler. “Now we have each other, and we’re going to advocate for implementation of the plan.”
See powerpoint of visioning from July 23 Advisory Group meeting.
Developers object
But if anyone was anxious about the plan colliding with political realities, they had only to wait 30 seconds after Weixler spoke. Craig Schelter, a former city planning commissioner now representing developers on the waterfront, stood to address the crowd.
“The development community is frankly shocked to hear this is your last meeting,” Schelter said, outlining several sweeping changes called for in the plan. “For this group not to hear from developers is a huge mistake.”
Current city planning director Janice Woodcock shot back, saying she’d seen what the development community had planned for the riverfront (more than 20 new high rise towers): “I’ve seen the proposals, and frankly, if all of them were built, it would not be the kind of waterfront we all want.” You can see the proposals by clicking here.
But have developers been excluded?
At numerous citizen forums leading up to the Praxis plan, developers and land owners have been notable mostly for their absence. In August, however, Councilman Frank DiCicco brokered a special meeting between Praxis leader Harris Steinberg and about 40 members of the development community. Response to the plan that day was muted.
On Thursday it appeared the development community was seeking a stronger hand. In a two-page letter (page 1, page 2) distributed to board members, noted real estate attorney Michael Sklaroff argued that the vision was “fundamentally flawed,” due to a lack of specificity and a “failure to consider economic realities at stake.” The letter, undersigned by 24 developers and attorneys, asks for a meeting with Praxis and the Planning Commission “as soon as possible.”
A Battle on the Grid?
One major point of contention is the street grid. The Praxis plan calls for breaking up many large parcels in Northern Liberties, Fishtown and South Philadelphia with a new grid of city streets.
To Steinberg, this dense street grid means bringing Philadelphia back to the river, and avoiding mega-projects more suitable for the suburbs. On sites like Wal-Mart and Ikea, the Praxis plan envisions a human-scaled “Rittenhouse on the river” neighborhood. It’s an idea that grew directly out of the earliest public planning sessions, where citizens clamored for a more urban, Philadelphia-style feeling along the water.
To some developers, however, running new city streets across their property is tantamount to a public taking. What’s worse, Schelter said, is the location of these new streets seems to change with every iteration of the plan. Speaking after the meeting, Schelter argued that developers followed the market, and the market was calling for large-lot gated communities similar to Waterfront Square. He said the project was unfairly maligned for blocking public access to the river.
“There are a lot of people coming in from the suburbs who don’t want the rest of the world walking through their project,” Schelter said.
A fight to eliminate the grid would be a battle indeed. Beside the planned “Delaware Boulevard” running along the river, the grid is the most prominent aspect of the plan, rendered on plan maps with little yellow blocks. Opposition to gated communities, meanwhile, is close to an article of holy faith on the Advisory Group, at Penn Praxis, and among architects and citizens who helped build the Praxis plan.
“I’m just dumbfounded,” said advisory group member Ira Upin of Northern Liberties. “These guys think it’s all just child’s play until the developers show up … These were public meetings. Why didn’t I see any developers at the meetings?”
A river trail by next summer?
Center City District head Paul Levy offered his latest initiative for a biking and jogging trail along the Delaware with a bouquet of caveats.
"To my friends in the press, this is not yet a done deal," Levy began.
While an earlier plan to run along Columbus Boulevard was nixed by traffic concerns, on Thursday Levy announced plans for a two-mile trail to run along the river's edge from the Wal-Mart complex, behind the Foxwoods casino site, and north to the base of the Ben Franklin Bridge.
The "temporary" trail would get pedestrians right up to the river's edge in South Philadelphia for the first time in decades – a marked improvement over his doomed first design. But the trail won't happen without the assent of three property owners – Wal-Mart, Foxwoods, and the Sheet Metal Workers' Union – who control much of its route.
Levy showed enticing maps, and photos of shipping containers that could become bicycle rental stands, but he could offer no guarantees. "We have three property owners who didn't say 'Over my dead body,'" he said. "We have no agreements with any of them."
Funding for the effort has been provided by the William Penn Foundation, which also funds this website.
Central Delaware Riverfront Advisory Group
Monthly Meeting
20 September 2007
Agenda:
• Welcome and Introductions (5 min)
• Review of draft findings and recommendations (35 min)
• Center City District Interim Trail Presentation (15 min)
• Feedback/Discussion (15 minutes)
• Civic Engagement Update (5 min)
• Civic Group Meeting Update (5 min)
• Developer Meeting Update (5 min)
• Next Steps (5 min)
NB: Public Presentation of Central Delaware Civic Vision is scheduled for November 14th, 6:00pm at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. Please mark your calendars and inform your colleagues and constituents. Details to follow.
