Thank you for submitting this request. Your reference number is CSS13972

Submitted information:

Address: 1800 S 16TH ST
Council District: 2
Problem type: Other Request
Date: 1/22/2011 12:05:52 AM
Comments: Vacant lot has turned into muddy parking lot

Would you rather not let the area park for free? Fencing it up is easy. Finding parking in 10 degree weather is a lot harder. I park there for free and I rather it be muddy then not have free parking.

No, I would rather see it fenced and landscaped like the city requires of every other vacant lot instead of seeing it turned into an illegal, chaotic parking pad. Parking is no easier in Center City but you don't see people pulling up onto Rittenhouse Square to avoid walking a few extra blocks. There's free parking all over the neighborhood, and yes, you may have to walk a few blocks from your car to your house.

There had been a sign on this lot prohibiting parking which I'm sure some vigilante decided to remove so they could park for free, yet the tow truck company will still be happy to show up with a call from a concerned neighbor.

I personally would like to avoid confrontation with the neighbors and pressure the deadbeat owner to either maintain his property or sell it to someone who will develop it and further improve the neighborhood.

I like it as a parking lot better than the townhomes that are proposed, ideally it would be a park, but parking lot is better than another block of new housing when there are still plenty of vacant homes around the area waiting to be absorbed.

See James that's a perfectly reasonable comment unlike that from Steve who decided to comment on all of my posts and threaten me.

The issue remains that it is private property which requires you to break the law in order to park there (driving over the sidwalk, trespassing). It's also just a back-filled dirt lot likely containing environmental hazards from the demolished building and certainly wasn't compacted enough to be able to support dozens of cars.

If you want parking, there's a responsible path to take by organizing your community and lobbying your councilperson (Anna Verna) to take the property from the delinquent owner to convert it to parking. You're unlikely to meet success with that route because this parcel is part of the Point Breeze Redevelopment Area Plan which intended to renovate the Drexel School and convert it to senior housing. In the wake of its demolition the City surely would not intend for it to be replaced with parking.

I agree, there are plenty of vacant homes to be rehabbed in the area. The development of new townhomes would only improve property values and draw more people to develop the surrounding vacant properties.

I hear PostGreen is doing a project with the SPTR folks to build net Enery zero homes. I'm sure a fence is on the way. This place is poppin.

You're right, I also discovered that this afternoon. I knew LPMG was trying to develop it back when the school building was still standing and then when that wasn't feasible to do townhomes but I never thought it would get off the ground when they were expecting over 400k a pop. That would be top of the market and then some, more like the prices north of Washington. Seeing Postgreen partner with them makes me believe it'll actually happen, and let's hope sooner rather than later. Public records haven't been updated to reflect new ownership but they're always months behind. I'd still love to see the owners maintain their property until construction rather than be a blighting influence in a neighborhood that needs no more of that.