The West End Neighborhood Task Force is shifting into high gear this month by holding a "public workshop" with West End "stakeholders" (community folks and business owners) at the Pennsauken Library on March 29. The gathering is a follow up to a needs survey that was distributed earlier to West Enders for their ideas.
The leader of the West End initiative, Regan Design Group (the company that prepared Merchantville's Master Plan a few years ago after holding four widely-attended public meetings on Merchantville's needs), would like a West End Neighborhood Task Force presence on the Merchantville blog in addition to promised publicity in the Pennsauken communications vehicles.
STRATEGIC REVITALIZATION PLAN FOR
WEST MAPLE NEIGHBORHOOD
CAMDEN, MERCHANTVILLE & PENNSAUKEN
MINUTES
Task Force Meeting #4
March 10, 2011, 10am
Merchantville Borough Hall
Attendees:
Charles MacAdams, Property Owner; Wayne Bauer, Merchantville Police Chief
Marvin Gaskill, Resident; Richard DePetro, Purchaser of 606 W. Maple
Agnes Madden, Council person; Gina DePetro, Purchaser of 606 W. Maple
Bill Watson, Merchantville Zoning Officer; John Adams, Pennsauken Zoning Officer
Joe Garbarino, Masonry Pres. Group; Maz Radwan, RE Broker for 606 W. Maple
Mike Wisnosky, RDG; Mara Wuebker, RDG
Monica Sohler, Merchantville Observer; Mr. Patel, Michael’s Liquors
Eric Dobson, Open Communities/Pennsauken resident; Jeanne Collins, Merchantville resident
1. Organizational Framework and Structure
a. Task Force Members –Two additional members will be serving on the Task Force: Agnes Madden and Patricia Huerta. Goal is to create a private-public partnership between residents, businesses, and municipal staff of the 3 communities in order to ensure long-term change in the neighborhood.
b. Stakeholders – RDG sent recent e-mail status update to all stakeholders. A public notice appeared in Retrospect. Survey also served purpose of stakeholder outreach. Looking for contact for Sprint since substantial landowner in study area.
2. Neighborhood Survey
a. Neighborhood Survey-
i. Volunteers delivered the survey as an insert in the Merchantville Observer. Borough Clerk’s office mailed to Merchantville landlords. Pennsauken’s Zoning and Economic Development Departments hand-delivered the surveys to Pennsauken’s residents and will soon be mailing to landlords. RDG mailed to Camden’s residents and property owners.
ii. We may do a second round of distribution on a Saturday, if needed. Approximately 20 surveys have been received thus far. Jeanne Collins is going to walk around neighborhood and collect more surveys.
b. Public Visioning Workshop-
i. Workshop is scheduled for March 29, 2011 at 6:30pm at the Pennsauken Library. Public notice of workshop appeared in Retrospect. RDG will do press release and recently put on Merchantville facebook page. Marvin will put on Merchantville blog. Municipalities will post on websites and Pennsauken will put on local tv channel. Task Force members and attendees will post in storefronts. We may want to utilize the schools to get public notice out for future workshops. The goal of the workshop is to get public involved and to begin to develop a vision for the neighborhood.
3. Neighborhood Planning
a. Existing Neighborhood Activities –Rich DePetro, the contract purchaser of 606 West Maple Ave, provided a proposed rendering of 606 West Maple Avenue that shows exterior façade improvements, landscaping, window replacements, lighting, refurbished stucco. He will be the general contractor. He is involved in the due-diligence period and hopes to close in the next 30 days if everything goes well. Currently investigating oil tank. He has met with Mayor and other Borough representatives. 20 apartments are not occupied. There is an infestation problem. He does not see a need for displacement of residents as he would work on the vacant apartments first and then shift people around as the units become available. He intends to have an on-site manager. He has reached out to the adjacent property owner regarding parking, but has not heard back yet. Parking is needed in order to broaden the appeal of the property and to diversify the mix of tenants.
b. SWOT Analysis of Neighborhood- RDG wants to engage Task Force to start thinking about recommendations for Neighborhood. There was a discussion of the strengths and challenges in the neighborhood, opportunities for improvements, and things that can hinder the neighborhood’s ability to succeed. Need to develop big picture goals and a shared vision. Vision should build on strengths and minimize weaknesses.
i. Strengths – (1) location, (2) availability of public transportation, (3) ‘great neighborhood,’ (4) existing infrastructure & utilities in place, (4) residences are in good shape, (5) Wellwood Park, (6) there are a mix of uses in neighborhood (commercial and residential) as well as (7) diversity in residential types, (8) resident network in place in part of the neighborhood.
ii. Weaknesses – (1) large transient population, (2) out-of-town landlords who don’t care about neighborhood, (3) lack of trees, particularly along Maple Avenue, (4) large number of Section 8 tenants, (5) concentration of persons in lower income strata, (6) litter and trash particularly from people moving in and out, (7) property maintenance (broken windows at rental buildings), (8) communication b/w municipalities and residents, (9) need for traffic calming, (10) visual clutter from Route 130, (11) need more parking for businesses and residents, (12) front yards paved over for parking, (13) unsuitable renovations (i.e., renovations that are inconsistent with original architecture of building), (14) entrance into neighborhood from Route 130, (15) more recreation activities for young children and teenagers.
iii. Opportunities – (1) create more parking, (2) traffic calming, (3) landscaping, (4) planters, (5) home improvement assistance, (6) lighting in alleyways, (7) bring back map to façade of Liquor Store- good for wayfinding and also has historic nostaligic component to it, (8) improving entrance into neighborhood from 130, (9) softening affect of Sprint Bunker.
iv. Threats – (1) lack of funding to provide desired services and improvements, (2) costs of ownership is high especially for commercial properties (high taxes, high sewer & water rates (CCMUA & local) compared to other communities while rent is lower), (3) perception of neighborhood, (4) additional regulations on landlords that may not achieve desired outcome, yet may be financially onerous – already State inspections in place, may be able to solve problem with other tools already in place without adding additional level of bureaucracy, (5) community culture of what is and what is not acceptable – ex. trash/litter, (6) lack of coordination between three communities to improve neighborhood, (7) loss of ratables if remove some buildings.
4. Next Meeting and Upcoming Deadlines
a. Next Meeting- March 29th (public workshop) & April 14th (task force mtg). The April 14th Task Force will not be held at Borough Hall next month. Instead, the Task Force will be doing a site visit to the Neighborhood if the weather is nice.
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16 comments:
Best wishes for the success of the Task Force!
Last Monday Council announced that the boiler at Wellwood Commons, a 56-unit apartment building which is in receivership, had failed again forcing the Borough to relocate about 10 families until the ambient temperature returned to 60 degrees or the boiler got fixed.
You might remember that the same problem occurred a few years ago, costing the Borough tens of thousands of dollars in motel bills, but that boiler was replaced. However, someone started up the replacement without filling it with water and it cracked.
Well, this time around the Borough can get reimbursement from the receivership funds. And too, with a new buyer coming aboard, all prior costs and fines, amounting to almost a hundred thousand dollars, will be taken out of the sale proceeds for the Borough.
Merchantville residents can thank the buyer, Mr. Richard DePetro, not only for reimbursing us and saving the building, but for his determination to rehabilitate the property to its prime years.
Mr. DePetro showed his architectural concept drawing of 606 West Maple at the last West End Neighborhood Task Force meeting. All present thought it would be the key to enhancing the West End neighborhood.
Sounds to me like ktbfw is saying that the Boorough's overall handling of the Wellwood situation has turned out to be another big win for Merchantville.
So we are actually getting rid of that unethical slum lord? This is great news! Thanks for your contribution ktbfw.
...overall handling of the Wellwood situation has turned out to be another big win
Wish I could say that. A better interpretation of the events over the past four years is a high pile of mistakes and blunders.
We are lucky an innovative buyer came along. Otherwise, we would be executing the redevelopment ordinance for ripping the building down and eating the cost of our years of mishandling.
We are just plain lucky. Everybody thinks that.
However, the West End initiative has a lot of potential ... and good leadership in the hands of Regan Design Group. RDG completed Merchantville's Master Plan. Remember the town-wide meetings for ideas? In that plan they proposed the West End planning task force AND FOUND FUNDING FOR IT.
That is a big win for Merchantville.
Note ktbfw continues to be wrong. He states that "we would be executing the redevelopment ordinance for ripping the building down." That is not correct. A redevelopment ordinance has nothing to do with tearing a building down. It was never the intent of borough council, had it used its power to declare the area a redevelopment zone, to cause the demolition of the building. The design of its actions was always was to improve the Wellwood Manor buliding.
The design...was always was to improve the Wellwood Manor buliding.
What you and a few others say sounds good. But for the record 604 and 606 were to become REDEVELOPMENT and its 4 neighbors to the west were to become REHABILITATION.
I don't know about you but my thinking is that we are very, very, very fortunate that this buyer walked through the door.
If you want to pick a fight, Cruiser, here's a better issue.
A couple of West End residents complained that the basketball courts in Wellwood Park were removed ... some say because of the Camden kids coming in, seizing the courts, and making trouble in general.
In a West End Task Force meeting a couple of months ago I proposed that the three municipalities consider building a recreation site for teens, including a couple of basketball courts and those skateboard arenas, on the bike path at the R/R bridge over Rte. 130. That is Pennsauken territory legally but I thought Merchantville police might help watch the area from our town line a hundred feet away.
The response was NO! No basketball courts.
What's your opinion?
Basketball courts in the West End -- are you kidding? We didn’t even want them at the Community Center. In fact, we allowed a Cherry Hill resident to remove the hoops, maybe we even gave him a medal for doing it. It’s a policing problem.
We didn’t even want them at the Community Center.
What are you doing for your teenagers?
A person who was involved in the sports programs run in the Community Center mentioned to me that the problem was the absence of parent involvement which led to outsiders pushing their way in.
What was your involvement in our children's sports opportunities OTHER THAN REMOVING THE EQUIPMENT.
Time to take Action! I want to encourage all who recieved the qestionaires to fill them out and TURN THEM IN. The State determined the area. All of the residents and businesses are affected by the The West End.We need to build community bridges to Pennsauken and the small area of Camden that is included. We should not be confined by the preconceived lines as to who is invested in the West End. For Merchantville residents and busineses this is incredible opening to make a difference in Merchantville. We need people to show up at the March 29 meeting and voice their opinions. Hope to see you there!
...need to build community bridges to Pennsauken and the small area of Camden that is included.
CCLspirit raises an interesting point which is opposite to what I have been hearing (and sometimes saying), it being that there should be NO CONNECTION of the bike path or anything else between Merchantville and its western neighbors.
Surveys about the neighborhood have been circulating among the three municipalities in the West End and block captains will be bringing those responses to the community meeting on March 29 (6:30 PM) in the Pennsauken Libary.
I never beat my horses even after I discovered that they routinely jumped my fence, crossed the creek and grazed in my neighbor's winter wheat field between midnight and dawn.
I would greet them in the morning with a bucket of mash before work and they would rub their heads against mine with feigned innocence and look down sheepishly if any of them happened to burp aromatically or pass wind. I ignored their trespass ... gave no thought to punishment. Of course when down in the pasture improving the fence, if they should come with me to investigate and always to stand in the way, I would tell them I was well aware of their midnight mischief. But I never beat them.
That not withstanding, I will beat to death my invitation to Merchantvillans to attend the West Maple Neighborhood Workshop next week.
I joined the task force for two reasons. (I added a third recently.) At top priority, I don't like the entrance to Merchantville from Route 130. It is ugly. It is hazardous. It is a bad welcome to an attractive town.
Secondly, I wanted to try to save Wellwood Manor for rehab.
This task force has important people on it from three towns. They are the shakers. IF YOU HAVE AN OPINION ABOUT THE WEST END OF MAPLE AVENUE, from Wellwood Park to Rte. 130, HERE IS YOUR ONE AND ONLY CHANCE TO INFLUENCE THOSE WHO CAN MAKE THE CHANGE.
I cannot tell you what refreshments you will be treated to, if any, but certainly it will not be a pail of hot mash.
Hope to see you there.
The West End Task Force is all about examining the community and recommending changes where deemed appropriate.
As for myself, I recognize that change is difficult to embrace. Everyone says he favors change but few really want it.
Today I threw my ironing board on the trash. That is a big change for me which only came about by the overwhelming predominance of chemicals which preshrink and straighten fabrics before they are fashioned into garments. I don't know what people do who are allergic to such chemicals but I love not having to iron clothes.
I remember a farmer back in 1970 who sold his eight-furrow plow. I was stunned, asking him in a stammer how he could continue farming without the single-most basic farming implement.
He updated me in farming practice which involves sowing herbicides into the ground with the seed to eliminate the work of plowing weeds under each spring. Far more advanced than that, today's farmers sow ribbons of plastic into the ground which have individual seeds glued on with minute amounts of fertilizer and herbicides imbedded in the ribbons. The whole operation is a once-across-the-field trip in the tractor with a dozen or so lengths of ribbon, inches apart, reeling off a drum and scratched into the ground a fraction of an inch. A GPS (global positioning system) control guides the tractor for a uniformly planted field.
By comparison, the West End Task Force is not using scientific engineering. It depends on neighbors like you going to a meeting to tell what is good and what could best be changed.
It's the old, do-it-yourself school and you gotta be there to see that things go right.
Tuesday, March 29th (5th tuesday) starting 6:30 in the Pennsauken Libary.
Here is a summary of the West Maple Neighborhood Workshop held Tuesday evening. At the bottom I included the names of those who attended.
The SWOT Analysis determined neighborhood Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. From that a "big picture" was created.
BIG PICTURE GOALS
1. Improve quality of life for residents;
2. Retain and attract desirable businesses in the commercial areas;
3. Revitalize streetscape;
4. Create sense of community in neighborhood.
VISION
There was not enough time to conduct the second part of the visioning session -- defining what people would like the neighborhood to look and feel like in the future.
NEXT STEPS
The surveys will be tabulated and the results will be provided to task force members. Monthly task force meetings will continue on second Thursdays where task force members and interested citizens develop recommendations for the target area.
The next Task Force meeting will be a site visit to the neighborhood, weather permitting. Everyone interested should meet at the park at 10 AM on Thursday April 14.
There will be a second public workshop for public input on the recommendations developed by the Task Force. The Plan will thereafter be drafted and presented to the municipalities.
ATTENDEES:
Charles MacAdams, Property Owner
Mayor Frank North
Marvin Gaskill, Resident
Denise Brouse, Merchantville Clerk
Agnes Madden, Merchantville Council
Bill Walker, resident
Bill Watson, Merch. Zoning Officer
John Adams, Penns. Zoning Officer
Joe Garbarino, Masonry Pres. Group
Maryann Yonan, resident
Eric Dobson, resident
Jeanne Collins, resident
Terry Carr, Pennsauken Econ. Dev.
Sam Loperfido, resident
Larry Cardwell, Penns. Econ Dev.
Dr. Ed Williams, Camden Plan. Dir.
Mike Wisnosky, Regan Design Group
Patricia Huerta, resident
Mara Wuebker, Regan Design Group
Alexis Castro, resident
Vicky Cubberley, resident
Bernie Kofoet, Penns. Public Works
Judyann McCarthy, resident
Steven Volkert, Merch. Council
Sue Brittain, resident
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