The Take Back Your Neighborhood civic association will meet on Monday, March 21, at 7 p.m. at Max Myers Playground, 1601 Hellerman St.
At the group’s last meeting, members voted 35–5 against a proposed zoning change to the building at 6600 Bustleton Ave. (at Magee Avenue).
The property is the former home of the David G. Neuman Senior Center and a couple of schools.
Owner Jeff Fuchs wants to open a residential home for 25 to 35 women who have already gone through drug and alcohol rehabilitation. The average length of stay would be 90 days. There are 18 off-street parking spaces.
No medical treatment or drug dispensing would take place. Visiting hours would be limited to Sundays from 1 to 4:30 p.m.
There would be 24-hour staffing, and the women would have a 10:30 p.m. curfew.
“They’re not going to be roaming the streets,” Fuchs said.
Fuchs, joined by attorney Vern Anastasio, added that there would be a “one-strike-and-you’re-out” drug policy.
Members were skeptical, saying such a proposal would be better in an industrial setting and hoping that the building could be put to better use. One woman feared the site would attract drug addicts.
In other news from the meeting:
• Members listened to a presentation by a staff member and residents of The Bridge, a nonprofit behavioral health treatment program for adolescents seeking to overcome substance abuse, mental health issues and truancy. The Bridge is at 1100 Adams Ave. after many years on Pine Road.
• The crowd heard from the Rev. Leonard Dow, pastor of Oxford Circle Mennonite Church and board chairman at the Oxford Circle Christian Community Development Association.
The OCCCDA is located at 900 E. Howell Street, in the former Police and Fire Medical Association building. Activities include English classes and an after-school program. An annual community festival in the fall draws about 1,000 people.
• Also addressing neighbors was the Rev. Nicolas O’Rourke, assistant pastor of Living Water United Church of Christ, 6250 Loretto Ave. His mission includes increased education funding, prison reform and an end to police brutality.
• City Councilwoman Helen Gym derided the School Reform Commission as unelected and unaccountable, adding that it has engaged in an overreach of powers. She said the 2001 state takeover of Philadelphia public schools was “ridiculous,” adding that the district continues to have a lack of resources.
“Fifteen years later, we’re still bankrupt,” she said.
• Members unanimously approved a proposed Latin American restaurant at 6625 Castor Ave.
They also backed, by a 28–0 vote, a variance for a flooring company, at 7043–45 Castor Ave., to gain a permit to be able to cut granite. ••
