April 24, 2010
Re: Calendar No 11294 -- 142 Rector St.
OPPOSED
Dear Chairman Jaffe,
Manayunk Neighborhood Council has substantial and detailed objections to this proposed variance.
The application is defective and inaccurate.
The property was improperly posted.
The parking lot was built, knowingly, without permits and has been operated, knowingly, dangerously, and illegally for two years.
The parking lot is unnecessary. There is no hardship.
The parking lot is a hardship on adjacent neighbors who have been subjected to, abuse, and loss of privacy.
The Church has, despite promises to the contrary, refused community input.
Description of Property before non-conforming conversion in April 2008.
Prior to the construction work undertaken in 2008, 142 Rector Street provided accessory parking for that property and the adjacent Rectory. There were a number of garages at the rear of the property and a stone retaining wall separating that property from the large area to the rear of the144 Rector Street (the Rectory).
Behind 144 Rector Street, extending through to Roxborough Avenue to the west and Tower Street to the north was a rear yard enclosed by high stone walls to the north and south and, to the west, a stone wall with openings unfilled with cast iron railings and a double gate, opening onto Roxborough Avenue. There were several 60’ high mature trees, smaller trees, grass and ornamental bushes and playground equipment forming a green space. There was no parking provision on this lot.
Work undertaken without Permit or Zoning Variances in March /April 2008.
At 142 Rector Street, the stone retaining wall to the rear was removed and a steep slope was formed connecting the rear of 142 with the higher elevation of 144 Rector Street. An enclosed structure at the rear of 140 Rector Street was demolished and the remaining areas graded and black-topped
At 144 Rector Street, the yard to the rear was completely stripped - all trees, shrubs grass etc. were removed .The perimeter stone walls were reduced in height, the metal gates and railings were removed and the whole yard was re-graded and black-topped. A curb-cut was formed on Roxborough Avenue.
The application is defective and inaccurate.
The parking provision has already been created in April 2008. The lot has been used continuously since that date. The application should be for the legalization of the existing non-conforming lot.
The lot is not used solely as an accessory use for the Rectory. The majority of cars that park in the lot, during school hours, are for cars of the teaching staff at the Academy In Manayunk special needs school (119 Rector) which replaced the Catholic School located on Rector Street adjacent to the Church. For the remainder of the time, outside school hours, the lot remains empty and unused.
The parking lot fails to meet numerous existing building codes, creating hazardous conditions for potential users and for the adjacent neighbors. These will be described in details below. None of these deficiencies are considered in the variance request.
The property was improperly posted.
Notices were posted less than 14 days before the hearing or were not visible. Notices, when finally posted, were posted on a movable (orange) bollard and were difficult to identify.
The parking lot was built, knowingly, without permits and has been operated, knowingly, dangerously, and illegally for two years.
An application for a permit to undertake the construction work was rejected by L&I in 2008 because the construction company was not licensed in Philadelphia. Despite this, (and acknowledged by the Church at a meeting in May, 2009), the construction proceeded without Permits or Zoning variances. There are many obvious design deficiencies of elements which do not conform to the UBC and Code requirements that are apparent from the sidewalk. Some of the Code violations visible include the complete absence of guard rails and crash barriers related to perimeter conditions where the drop to adjacent grade adjacent grade is more than 8 feet, no handicapped accessible parking spaces provided, no pedestrian pathways, steep slopes in excess of 1:12, no accessible handrails and guard rails.
The lot has been allowed to remain in operation for almost 2 years with these violations despite our complaints directly to L & I and through Councilman Jones’ office.
The parking lot is unnecessary. There is no hardship.
Up until 2007 when the School under the control of the Archdiocese ceased operation, St. Johns School had operated continuously for many years with no dedicated parking for School staff; during weekdays, there is an abundance of on-street parking available in the surrounding streets. In addition, Churchview Street which is less than 100 yards from the School entrance has no buildings fronting on to the street and there is on-street parking on both sides of the street.
For Church attendance at weekends, local streets are filled with congregants’ cars (parked legally and illegally) but only for short periods during the Church services. In the past, this intermittent, intense use has not caused major problems.
The parking lot is a hardship on adjacent neighbors who have been subjected to, abuse, and loss of privacy.
The wall adjacent to the parking lot provides unobstructed views into the neighbors yards and rear windows. Kids hang out on the wall, agitating neighbors' dogs. Unidentified persons, have shouted at the neighbors from the wall in presumed frustration that the Church is being held to account on the dangerous and illegal lot.
The Church has, despite promises to the contrary, refused community input.
Over the period of 2 years, we have made every attempt to make our concerns known to the Church. We have had one meeting with the Church, an L&I representative and representative from Councilman Jones’ office and, after expressing our concerns, we were told that we would be involved in a review of the design prior to any Zoning application being made. This meeting took place in May, 2009. This was almost a year ago and the Zoning application has now been made without further communication with us.
Basis of Opposition to the Variance Application
We remain of the opinion that the Variance application for the provision for additional parking on the combined lots is unnecessary: there is in this instance no hardship that would require the granting of a Variance. There is ample on-street parking for the teaching staff of the School and this has always proved workable and adequate for the many years when the School was operating under the control of the Archdiocese
The non-accessory parking for the Church services at weekends has never been necessary in previous years and the parking provided is not compliant with ADA requirements to provide handicapped accessible parking for Church services because of the topographical limitation of the steeply sloping site. The extreme slope between the parking lot entrance and the parking area, and the steep slope on Roxborough Avenue and Rector Street, make it impossible to make a safe, handicap-accessible connection from the parking area to the Church.
Handicapped parking and drop-off areas should be provided adjacent to the Church.
We oppose any legalization of the non-compliant parking lot and request the rear yard to 144 Rector Street be restored to its original condition compatible with the residential location, the curb cut on Roxborough Avenue be removed, and any parking required for the Rectory should be provided at the side and rear of 142 Rector Street as was the situation before the construction work was undertaken.
For all of the above reasons, Manayunk Neighborhood Council requests that this request for a variance be denied.
Thank You,
Kevin Smith
President
Cc: Councilman Curtis Jones Jr.
