It's Official - Redevelopment Authority is Insane

[Jayfar]

Or in more clinical terms, the RDA is batsh!t crazy.

Was spruce-up of Point Breeze lot a trespass?

Posted: Fri, Sep. 14, 2012, 3:01 AM
Was spruce-up of Point Breeze lot a trespass?

BY NATALIE POMPILIO
Philadelphia Daily News
For the Daily News

Biz owner in lot of trouble for cleanup

THE CITY-OWNED lot, neighbors say, was in deplorable shape, thick with weeds and trash. So when a business owner cleaned it up last month, spending more than $20,000 and removing, by his count, more than 40 tons of debris, Point Breeze residents went out of their way to pass 20th and Annin streets to see the changes.

"This was a lot of garbage," Elaine McGrath said as she took in the carefully tended plantings and wooden benches. "Now it's gorgeous. I'm excited."

But not everyone is happy with the alterations - namely, the lot's owner, the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority.

Paul D. Chrystie, director of communications at the Office of Housing and Community Development, said it's a simple matter of trespassing. In an email, he said: "Like any property owner, [the authority] does not permit unauthorized access to or alteration of its property. This is both on principle (no property owner knowingly allows trespassing) and to limit taxpayer liability."

Ori Feibush, the real-estate developer who cleaned the lot and whose coffee shop backs onto the now-controversial plot, said the authority is making a big deal about this because it doesn't like him or the properties he's developed in the neighborhood.

"They don't like nice things," he said. "For a private developer to create a garden, it's a question of who gets credit. To do it without their blessing, you're basically insulting them."

In letters and emails, the authority has threatened to take legal action against Feibush. Chrystie said the agency "is actively reviewing its options at this time."

"They said we need to return it to the condition we found it in immediately," Feibush said.

[snip]

Be sure to read the rest of the article linked above. It gets even weirder.

[ShoshTrvls]

At some point, I fear Ori is goign to get fed up and head to Baltimore, Detroit, or some other city that would really appreciate him.

[Eastcoast]

At some point, I fear Ori is goign to get fed up and head to Baltimore, Detroit, or some other city that would really appreciate him.

Naw, this kind of exposure is gold.

However if the legal bills do start to pile up who knows.

Makes for good theater in the meantime!

[raider.adam]

At some point, I fear Ori is goign to get fed up and head to Baltimore, Detroit, or some other city that would really appreciate him.

Wouldn't be the first business person.

[BarryG]

It's ridiculous for the city to be very upset about cleaning up the trash, but I can understand why the city doesn't want people running around planting gardens on empty lots without permission.

[mixiboi]

And wooden benches. There is a fine line between cleaning up a vacant lot and taking over one...

This cross that line. Not that I fully agree with the city, but I understand where they are coming from.

If your going to spend 20,000, I'm sure the city would have given the lot to him. Lol. In the end this was just above by him to get PR and hey maybe even that lot behind his coffee shop.

It's how the game works....

[Jayfar]

And wooden benches. There is a fine line between cleaning up a vacant lot and taking over one...

This cross that line. Not that I fully agree with the city, but I understand where they are coming from.

If your going to spend 20,000, I'm sure the city would have given the lot to him. Lol. In the end this was just above by him to get PR and hey maybe even that lot behind his coffee shop.

It's how the game works....

Well, then again considering that the city insisted on citing him repeatedly for trash in the lot he doesn't own or lease and for snow on the sidewalk...

And it's not like he didn't try going through channels:
"Feibush, owner of OCF Realty, counters that he has submitted seven written requests for either owning or leasing the parcel, has called the authority 24 times and has visited its office four times."

[raider.adam]

And wooden benches. There is a fine line between cleaning up a vacant lot and taking over one...

This cross that line. Not that I fully agree with the city, but I understand where they are coming from.

If your going to spend 20,000, I'm sure the city would have given the lot to him. Lol. In the end this was just above by him to get PR and hey maybe even that lot behind his coffee shop.

It's how the game works....

The city must crackdown on vigilante lot beautification.

[raider.adam]

Out of curiosity though, if the lot is owned by RDA, why is OHCD commenting?

[Jayfar]

From Ori's naked Philly blog (includes before and after photos):

One Example of Why Philadelphia Needs to Get Out of the Land Ownership Business | NakedPhilly

[PatrickR]

This story stinks. I read it in the Consumerist this afternoon. (it gave Consumerist commentors a platform to say stupid stuff about Philly. Which takes away some of the fun that I have when I realize that Consumerist contributors are Philly based) I can understand the city being upset about some of the upgrades, like the chairs, because it invites trespassing. But, they could have handled this a million times better. A citizen cleaned up an eye sore and the best that can be done is to offer to sue him? How is that good PR? How is that a good way to work with the people you are serving? I don't know what's what with his claims that he has tried to buy it several times, and their claim that he never has. And, it makes sense that they wouldn't just sit down and allow someone to take over the plot of land. But, they could have found a way to mitigate their liability, while thanking him for cleaning up the lot and bettering the neighborhood.

[Preesi]

Boooooooooooooooooooooooooo
booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

[O.H. Lee]

This story stinks. I read it in the Consumerist this afternoon. (it gave Consumerist commentors a platform to say stupid stuff about Philly. Which takes away some of the fun that I have when I realize that Consumerist contributors are Philly based) I can understand the city being upset about some of the upgrades, like the chairs, because it invites trespassing. But, they could have handled this a million times better. A citizen cleaned up an eye sore and the best that can be done is to offer to sue him? How is that good PR? How is that a good way to work with the people you are serving? I don't know what's what with his claims that he has tried to buy it several times, and their claim that he never has. And, it makes sense that they wouldn't just sit down and allow someone to take over the plot of land. But, they could have found a way to mitigate their liability, while thanking him for cleaning up the lot and bettering the neighborhood.

So is 'sitting on chairs tresspassing' worse than 'dumping debris tresspassing' ?

The PR is good for Ori. Bad for the city.

[Gladys]

And wooden benches. There is a fine line between cleaning up a vacant lot and taking over one...

This cross that line. Not that I fully agree with the city, but I understand where they are coming from.

If your going to spend 20,000, I'm sure the city would have given the lot to him. Lol. In the end this was just above by him to get PR and hey maybe even that lot behind his coffee shop.

It's how the game works....

I think it's about keeping their voters happy. the loudest voters want him out of PB. So maybe it's just about not selling to him.

[ofeibush]

My earliest official request for this parcel was in 2006. I have submitted 6 subsequent official requests and dozens of additional informal inquiries since that first effort.

In support of my efforts directly engaging the RDA (PRA) for 1138-42 S. 20th, I have corresponded with individuals on many levels of City Government begging them to look into my submission to ensure nothing would be lost in the mess that is the RDA (PRA).

This address was part of my original submission for several lots which included lots directly across the street adjacent to other lots I already owned. I settled on those parcels last week but only after crushing an eminent domain effort by the RDA for my adjacent parcels. What happened with the garden at 20th and Annin was retribution for embarrassing a certain politician regarding a land grab for affordable housing.

I hope that the light shined on this corner by the Daily News story will put to rest the City’s efforts to punish me for cleaning a drug and garbage infested lot after promising me the lot for a garden on multiple occasions.

The reason I could no longer wait for the city to act in this case is for the coffee shop I opened on the corner 3 weeks ago. No one could maintain a business adjacent to what that parcel used to look like…..certainly not me.

The fact that it takes someone years to buy a lot from the city is ridiculous in its own right. That frustration is compounded by the fact that while the city figures out to whom they want to sell a property to (since mid 70s in this case) they don’t even bother with the most basic requirements of being a decent steward of the property.

The before photos from google maps used on many blog posts about this lot do not do justice to showing what this property looked like just last month. Please see my blog post below for more current photos.

http://nakedphilly.com/point-breeze/...ship-business/

[Cya]

This story is unbelievable.

Do I have this right?:

A businessman opens a coffee shop in Point Breeze next to a vacant lot.
He applies to the city, RDA, local politicans, and everybody else imaginable to either purchase the land, lease it, or somehow legally take temporary possession.
He gets the runaround for years!! Nobody will help facilitate the process.

Meanwhile, the lot grows overfilled with dumping of construction debris, bags of garbage, tires... you name it.
It's disgusting.
The businessman says, "Screw it!" The city won't clean it. The city won't maintain it. And they won't let him buy it. So, he decides to do it himself, and pays $20,000 to clear the land, add landscaping and install a nice wooden fence.
It looks great! Now that intersection looks like something.

One day, someone from the city or one of our local politicans drives by and sees this miraculous transformation.
This city employee or politician is angry that this happened. So angry that they have this businesman threatened with fines and demanding that he return it to the original squalor condition.

Am I understanding this correctly?

Could someone post the before and after pics on this thread?
Pictures are worth a thousand words.

[the mule]

This address was part of my original submission for several lots which included lots directly across the street adjacent to other lots I already owned. I settled on those parcels last week but only after crushing an eminent domain effort by the RDA for my adjacent parcels. What happened with the garden at 20th and Annin was retribution for embarrassing a certain politician regarding a land grab for affordable housing.

Whoa why wasn't the eminent domain land grab news? I know a few developers have been trying to buy the city owned lots there for years and the excuse for not selling was that they were held aside for affordable housing development (though with no funding lined up). Is the east side of the block finally in private hands?

Also, is the politician in question the one that lives a block away?

[ofeibush]

Yes, I purchased 1145, 1147, and 1151 S. 20th from the PRA last week. I already owned 1149 and 1153 S. 20th. Take a look at the April / May Vacant Property Review Committee minutes. The RDA is taking 40 lots in Point Breeze through condemnation for affordable housing. They apparently don't have enough land.

The eminent domain land grab was too sensitive to have published before I settled on the three PRA lots.

I met with Michael Coons (spelling?) and he agreed to remove all privately owned lots from the eminent domain effort before he retired. He honored his word. KJs office blamed Verna and promised it would be killed. They also honored there word...for exactly 29 days. The same lots were resubmitted to the VPRC the next month.

If you read the minutes you will see that City Council was insane enough to vote on the same lots back to back. The first vote gave me the city lots. The second vote took away the lots I already owned. They then claimed they were condemning my lots because I had not put forward any plans to develop the lots. They did not realize that not only did I put forward plans, they were staring at the damn plans and had voted on my plans 5 (maybe 4) minutes before.

Eminent domain is a tremendous power given to government that should only be used in the most critical situations. It should not be used as a weapon or to move forward a political platform. I have never heard of another municipality using eminent domain for scattered site development to help shift the demographics of a community.

[Cya]

And wooden benches. There is a fine line between cleaning up a vacant lot and taking over one...

This cross that line. Not that I fully agree with the city, but I understand where they are coming from.

If your going to spend 20,000, I'm sure the city would have given the lot to him. Lol. In the end this was just above by him to get PR and hey maybe even that lot behind his coffee shop.

It's how the game works....

What game? The one where a viable businessman invests in an area and tries to improve it?
And since someone influential doesn't agree with the plans for an overgrown vacant lot - it's allowed to sit in that unsafe, unhealthy condition---for years?

I'm 100% supportive of his decision to finally clean it up himself.

Why did all his written applications go ignored?
He called numerous times and showed up in person. Clearly he was a serious buyer, right?

It seems to me that the RDA and local politicans are intentionally allowing blight in some neighborhoods.

If I knew where Point Breeze was, I'd stop in for a coffee.

[Cya]

Yes, I purchased 1145, 1147, and 1151 S. 20th from the PRA last week. I already owned 1149 and 1153 S. 20th. Take a look at the April / May Vacant Property Review Committee minutes. The RDA is taking 40 lots in Point Breeze through condemnation for affordable housing. They apparently don't have enough land.

The eminent domain land grab was too sensitive to have published before I settled on the three PRA lots.

I met with Michael Coons (spelling?) and he agreed to remove all privately owned lots from the eminent domain effort before he retired. He honored his word. KJs office blamed Verna and promised it would be killed. They also honored there word...for exactly 29 days. The same lots were resubmitted to the VPRC the next month.

If you read the minutes you will see that City Council was insane enough to vote on the same lots back to back. The first vote gave me the city lots. The second vote took away the lots I already owned. They then claimed they were condemning my lots because I had not put forward any plans to develop the lots. They did not realize that not only did I put forward plans, they were staring at the damn plans and had voted on my plans 5 (maybe 4) minutes before.

Eminent domain is a tremendous power given to government that should only be used in the most critical situations. It should not be used as a weapon or to move forward a political platform. I have never heard of another municipality using eminent domain for scattered site development to help shift the demographics of a community.

What were your submitted plans for the lots?