Mr. Bonny?
I just want to show the picture with Mr. Adams' house on it, but I'll just really turn it over to Mr. Adams.
I'm putting my cursor.
Let me know when you see the aerial, Mr. Chair.
You see it.
Okay, I'm putting my hand right here.
He's at the end unit right here on this lighter shade of roof.
Mr. Adams, Mr. Adams, the floor is yours.
Okay, again, my name is Raymond Adams, and I live at 3709 Fall Circle in the Hilltop area.
And I am definitely opposed to the building of this home, this establishment down there on 4401 Ridge Avenue.
My house is basically right there.
It's right there.
And one of the reasons why I purchased this home was the location.
and how the neighborhood was actually formulated.
We have a very nicely diversified community where there are several homeowners
who really enjoy being able to take small walks and things of that sort.
But one of the things I really enjoy the most is in the morning times
when I actually go up to my deck or either looking out on my third floor or second floor
and just look over the greenery, looking at the river
and looking at almost like a Rockwell painting, when I look at that, it gives me such a soothing
feeling. I'm able to sit out there and have my cup of coffee. I watch the dew as the sun comes up
and overshadows the place. And it's really a lovely community. It really is. My neighbors to
my right, they actually live on a street called Riverview. If this building was actually built,
they would no longer have a view of the river. And that's one of the main reasons why I, along
with my neighbors, had built this. I went along and worked along with other people in our community
to put a petition together to try to get people to sign on. And the response was incredible.
There are so many people in our area that really oppose this large building. We do not oppose
growth and moving forward. We just oppose the large building that they're deciding to build
down at the foot of our homes. Prior to the pandemic, and even during the pandemic as well,
the driving down there is very, very hard. You have to negotiate yourself to come out into the
roadway. And it's surprising to me, after hearing on some of the previous calls, that they had
a traffic survey and it came out to be a good survey i just found that impossible prior to
them coming on there was another group that came through that sat down with us and tried to work
through it and then one of the things they asked me asked us was some of the problems we had and
and traffic was one of them but like i said i live out here and the i live up in a beautiful area a
beautiful neighborhood with greenery
and things of that sort. Just
Saturday, my wife and I was looking
outside the window and we watched
a poor deer
come. I mean, deer just walked
up to our homes on the other side of the gate
and one was a buck
and it was so nice and I
told my wife, where would they
live if they built this place
in? Will we see this ever
again?
I don't think we will.
this building is just too large we're not opposed to the building we're just opposed to having
this large building we would like to have something maybe a little smaller something
thank you mr adams thank you have any cross uh sean or should i can i go to the last witness
uh no i have no further i have no questions for mr adams thank you mr adams thank you my last
witnesses is Roseanne DeStewitt, but before she testifies, and I'm just going to encapsulate this
in the interest of time, we've submitted documents from showing that, of course, there used to be a
public housing development on this 20, I think it's 28 acre site called Schuylkill Falls that
It had high-rises and low-rises, and that in the late 90s, it was by federal financing,
by a grant from federal financing, demolished, and a new...
by a grant from federal financing demolished and a new vision was agreed to by all the stakeholders
including this sort of phase one this phase two where Mr. Adams lives and then the phase three
which is where the subject property is and a smaller building was proposed. I'm not even
going to go through these but I'm just gonna flash to in the late 90s when all this redevelopment
planning occurred there was a lot of community engagement mr bonnie the job has been accepted
into the record it was it was discussed extensively at the prior hearing if you could call your witness
please thank you charlie all right well i'll i'll assume that the board will have reviewed these
documents. We will review. Pull your witness, please. Ms. DeStuart, can you... Yes, and she's
available to speak. Okay. Ms. DeStuart, I think you have some testimony prepared, so the floor
is yours. Ms. Mann, please spell your full name. I'll swear you in. R-O-X-A-N-N-E-D-E
capital s t o u e t you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
you can you can proceed okay thank you and good afternoon i have attended every zba hearing
for the 4401 Avenue proposal by ATAPCO.
During the last ZBA hearing, I heard the word harm used.
My personal experiences have been harmful
throughout the revitalization process of my community,
along with the population of residents
that were supposed to benefit from the development,
the redevelopment of the Schuylkill Falls community.
There was plenty of harm caused by the experiences of living through this process of revitalization.
I was moved around the revitalization process.
When the high-rise buildings were demolished, they pounded on my door early in the morning, ordering me to evacuate.
Ma'am, with all due respect, we've been through this. We understand what previously existed on
this site. I apologize for any inconvenience that it posed to you and your family, but could you
speak to the issues as to why you're opposed to this project? I think I should be allowed to
finish because as i said i've sat through each one of these zoning hearings so what i am saying
is very important to me and i think it needs to be heard and i need to be listened to okay we're
willing to hear it i'm sorry this is the zoning board administrator tanya please be advised the
chair requested testimony regarding zoning of this project only thank you very kindly okay
Okay. So I feel like I'm being looked over. I feel like there was no communication, no notification given to the Falls Ridge community neighbors about the 4401 sale of the property to build 185 apartments.
PHA has not involved the community and at this point, neither has a TAPCO.
Today I am remembering and I'm reminded about all the memories those promises made to my community
of the Schuylkill Falls by the Philadelphia Housing Authority and the City of Philadelphia.
At this point, I need to share a quote from the President of the Residence Council at Schuylkill
Falls, Mrs. Trelly Jonkin. She is no longer with us, but in her past she said, decisions are made
about us without us. It sure feels this way again. It seems the 4401 project was headed in the same
direction, and today my community is better informed because we are now listening. We have
plenty to say about the 4401 Ridge Avenue proposal. The harm to the community we will suffer by
developing this Ridge Avenue corridor. There is a list, the density, the whole purpose of the
revitalization was to lower the density on the former Schuylkill Falls site. This is what was
promised and this is what we currently have because of that revitalization and the part that
because of that revitalization and the part that ATAPCO is trying to develop is phase three
and that was promised to also be low density. Our traffic, I can tell you from my own experience,
peak hour traffic is already congested in this area on Ridge Avenue daily. Adding drivers and
parking for 185 plus cars will add to the stress travel by commuters. The proposal will create an
increase of problems for drivers on Merrick Road. It is already difficult to navigate to Ridge
Avenue from Merrick Road, especially during morning peak hours. Vehicles are always entering
and exiting the community from every intersection surrounding East Falls.
This community is aware of those issues.
We have traffic gridlocked daily when other arteries in and around the city have problems.
Next, I want to say the characteristics of our community.
By adding this very large 185-unit apartment to this area will not help the section of
the city in any way.
It will cause more harm to our daily lives for many years to come.
The images of our community will change.
Looking at the size, the density, and the atmosphere of the Tapco building will not enhance the community's attractiveness.
This design building just does not fit here.
It is not accepted by neighbors in this neighborhood.
The personal harm caused for me that is the reminder of the broken promises made by the Philadelphia Housing Authority and the developers for redeveloping the Schuylkill Falls community to the residents that lived here during the Hope Six project.
I still have those thoughts and many of the memories which are hard to forget.
The ATACCO building is a big step backwards for our neighbor.
This large structure, ATACCO 185-unit apartment building, reminds me of the high-rises, which sat on the top portions of the site years ago.
Those high-rise buildings were imploded because of many problems.
They were eyesores to the city of Philadelphia from Route 76 East and West.
In addition, those buildings were unattractive to the East Falls community.
That's why they were imploded.
All these reasons led the Philadelphia Housing Authority, the city government, the East Falls community, along with the Schuylkill Falls residents, to decide and agree to remove those buildings with funds from the federal government.
All the promises were low density and they would be built in low density.
Falls Ridge and Hilltop are the experience of those works.
An unsafe and unhealthy public housing development from the 1950s was transformed.
Now we are a community.
We have some units that are subsidized and some are homeownerships.
We are not perfect, but we are a successful community, thanks to all of the work, the hard work that was done.
We all know each other.
We have small streets, we have front lawns, we have barbecues, we have graduation parties, and many other events.
The Tabco building should be in another area.
It has nothing to do with us.
it will fundamentally change the character of our neighborhood.
Mr. Stewart, have you circulated a petition in Falls Ridge and Hilltop?
I'm showing on the screen a location map of all of those signatures.
The tally that we counted up that has been submitted to the board
shows 131 signatures, and the blue dots on the right-hand side show all the households in your
area, the Falls Ridge area, that have signed the petition. Unfortunately, Mr. Chairman,
the hilltop development is condominium development, so our good friends at Google Maps are not able
to put a red, a blue pushpin in the 20 homes in Hilltop that have signed.
But there should be 20 blue.
We'll stipulate.
We'll stipulate.
And this has been submitted.
So, you know, I don't have to go through.
Well, I guess I should just read the, it says, I live in Falls Ridge or Hilltop.
It says, I live in Falls Ridge or Hilltop.
We'll stipulate, Mr. Bonney, I'm not.
Mr. Bonney, I'm not trying to be rude.
We'll stipulate that this petition was circulated into the, whatever the meaning of it is.
We're at 4-12-41.
I'm finished.
Mr. Whalen, do you have any cross-examination?
I have no questions for Mr. Stewart.
Thank you, Mr. Stewart.
Are there any other witnesses?
Not from me.
I would note that
I'm asking the general public actually
if there's any other witnesses
I'll get back to you
I just wanted to mention that I did receive
the chair we'll get back to you
Chair we have Michelle
Michelle you can unmute yourself
hi can everyone hear me yes please spell your full name ma'am and i swear your name
yes michelle feldman m-i-c-h-e-l-l-e f-e-l-d-m-a-n we're affirmed to tell the truth
the whole truth nothing but the truth i do please proceed um i have a statement today
on behalf of the Board President of the East Falls Development Corporation, and I currently serve as
the Executive Director of the East Falls Development Corporation. And so unfortunately,
our Board Chair had to leave the Zoom call early, so this was the statement that she had prepared.
I speak today as Board President of the East Falls Development Corporation. The EFDC's Economic
Development Committee and Board strongly support the proposed plans by ATAPCO for the site of 4401
Ridge Avenue. I've personally been a resident of East Falls for 15 years and on the EFDC board for
nine. This particular PHA block of Ridge has been vacant for years. This greatly hinders our
neighborhood's ability to build a safe, walkable commercial corridor that connects to the northern
end of East Falls, a key goal of our district's Philadelphia 2035 plan. We believe ATAPCO has
been attentive in responding to the majority of the neighborhood's aesthetic concerns over time
and to those that address stormwater management and safe transit.
In addition, ETAPCO's plans include much-needed mixed-use space along the East Falls Business Corridor.
The larger, more flexible commercial space is needed to retain existing growing businesses
and to attract new businesses to serve our community.
The development we are discussing today could not be better time for positive impact.
This project is slated to occur within the same time frame as other positive CMX3 parcel developments along that block.
EFDC stands ready to make sure this new potential development leads to a stronger corridor that supports our community, serves as a destination, brings additional public investments to our infrastructure, and provides new opportunities to connect residents to streetscape design improvements on the Ridge Avenue Corridor and the Schuylkill River.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Can I ask a question or two?
Just to confirm, Ms. Feldman, your EFDC is not an RCO, although it is a CDC, is that correct?
That is correct.
Okay. And was there anything in your statement that spoke to specifically 185 units?
No, nothing specifically that spoke to the number of units.