Also this issue:

Biker Wars
The holidays were a festive time for mobsters of all stripes.
-Brendan McGarvey

Walker in Suburbia
Inky Editor Lundy sees a bright future in the hinterlands.
-Deborah Bolling

Soundbites
-Deborah Bolling

The Bell Curve
City Paper's weekly gauge of Philly's Quality of Life

January 16-22, 2003

political notebook

Supreme Courting

by Mary F. Patel

A controversial plan to build a proposed movie theater/restaurant/parking complex on Parking Authority property located at 19th and Walnut streets has gotten so contentious that the issue could wind up before the State Supreme Court.

The project was conceived by Moreland Investments back in December 1999. The Philadelphia Parking Authority owns the 39,000-square-foot space that it acquired from Moreland.

Shortly after the project became public, some local residents and businesses --including the Coalition of Concerned Rittenhouse Square Neighbors, Frankel Management Group, Michael Singer, Bernard Neary, boutique owner Sophy Curson and the Holy Trinity Church, among others -- objected to the proposed 625-car parking garage with six levels of parking above ground and three levels below. The Zoning Board of Adjustments knocked that down to 545 cars; however, opponents appealed that figure to Common Pleas Court in August 2001, and Judge Flora Barth Wolf further reduced the number of parking spots to 500.

Both sides appealed to a three-judge Commonwealth Court panel, because the Parking Authority is a quasi-governmental agency. Last year, the appeals court upheld Wolf's decision.

It seems everyone was unhappy with Wolf's decision and each side asked the entire Commonwealth Court to review the matter because residents feel that 500 cars is too many and the Authority wants 545 cars, as decided by the ZBA.

William Frankel, the owner of 1845 Walnut St. and the Wellington Building, said that he would fight all the way to the Supreme Court.

(Disclosure: Milton Rock, the CEO of MLR Holdings, is the owner of City Paper and a tenant at 1845 Walnut St.)

"I am not opposed to the movie theater or the restaurant," said Frankel. "I am opposed to the parking. I have an underground lot that is never full on evenings or weekends and I would give a reduced rate for those that wanted to park there. Ninety percent of the people that would go there would walk. We don't need any more parking; the neighborhood is congested enough," he said.

Michael Singer, who owns and operates the Chatham Apartments at 135 S. 20th St., said that the whole design needs to be reconfigured.

"The parking lot would be too close to 14 apartments where the bedrooms face the lot," said Singer. "Those apartments would be unrentable. Who wants exhaust fumes in their bedrooms?" he said.

Bernard Neary is the owner of the Roxy movie theater at 2023 Sansom St. He is also an attorney representing others on the block: Spencer Zahn, Grady Stewart and Alvin Holme. He said that the premise of a restaurant and movie theater is a cover-up for a big parking lot that would cause massive congestion on Sansom Street.

"No reasonable developer would get involved with this project," said Neary. "What we need is more housing in the area -- there is such a demand."

The Coalition of Concerned Rittenhouse Square Neighbors has mixed views on the matter. Pro-bono attorneys representing the group are Ramy Djerassi, Scott Donohue and William Binderman.

Djerassi, who intends to run for Common Pleas Court this year, said that he would prefer that all sides sit down and come to some sort of resolution.

Binderman, who is also representing himself as a resident at 1901 Walnut St., said he would like a compromise, but had strong words for the Authority.

"This is a monstrous misuse of one of the last glorious open properties in Center City," he said. "The whole design is wrong, and any parking should be underground."

He added that he is also prepared to take the matter to the Supreme Court.

Binderman and Neary said that the remaining properties on the site now vacant and owned by the Authority -- the funeral home, the Warwick apartments and a restaurant -- are all historical and require permission from the Historical Commission to be demolished.

Attorney Michael Sklaroff, who represents the Authority, said that he hoped the matter will come to a prompt conclusion and that it is a wonderful project for Rittenhouse Square.

Obra S. Kernodle III, counsel to the board of the Authority, said that the project will move forward regardless of the Commonwealth Court's decision.