A bustling education and event center at 510 8th Street is a case of a Good Idea, Bad Location.
At first glance, the project sounds appealing:
Education for children replacing a long-vacant parking garage on 8th Street between Lombard and South (510 South 8th Street).
Some neighbors are understandably eager to see the derelict structure addressed.
However, taking a closer look at the proposal reveals a serious mismatch between the scale of the project and the realities of this location, demonstrating very real repercussions to adjacent neighbors and shops nearby.
Your 510 Front Door Neighbors believe the proposed school and event center shoehorned into this small site is unfortunately not a viable land use in this residential district on a already very narrow, very busy thoroughfare.
There are reasonable alternatives to seek:
Build Housing!
A small apartment building (perhaps even with affordable housing) or 4-5 family row homes could be built today by right (RM-1 zone).
This type of housing would align with existing balance of the surrounding neighborhood context and is an idea that provides more realistic and safer pedestrian, transportation, and emergency access imperatives, with far less noise, safety, and quality-of-life impacts.
Alternative Sites: There are nearby sites perfect for the school and event center that are already zoned and designed for safer, higher-intensity, all-day activities and use. Washington Square West has many real opportunities with viability.
CONTRAST OF LAND USE INTENSITY
- Twenty residents generate routine traffic, refuse, and noise consistent with residential zoning.
- Two hundred people+ generate synchronized drop-offs and dismissals, delivery trucks, service vehicles, refuse at institutional volume, major increase in utility needs (sewers, electric, gas) and peak-hour surges — at minimum twice per day, plus evenings.
PETITION IN OPPOSITION
IF YOU AGREE with the 510 Front Door Community that THIS IS A GOOD IDEA, BAD LOCATION — Please join with Councilmember Squilla, the local RCO’s and more than a hundred of your neighbors and local businesses in opposition, saying this is a good idea but really bad location for this intensification of use at this site.
What’s Being Proposed at 510 8th?
The education & event center (plus residences) includes:
- 6-levels of bustling daily activity, day & night (with overnight guests & residents)
- 200+ daily commuters: 180+ students (Pre k – 8th) & faculty & staff & residents
- Heavy burden on 8th, Lombard, South Street and 3-4 street radius-impact on existing traffic patterns
- Unfit ratio of parking spaces (4-5 cars) for staff and day to evening events
- No required rear or side egress for emergencies (fire, floods, intruder)
- No required side alley for refuse, catering, maintenance large vehicles
- No required onsite loading dock (all deliveries from the main street)
- A commercial-scale kitchen with walls butting to next door residences without proper detached space.
- A large auditorium for exhibitions and events, day and night
- A rooftop play and activity space without noise considerations to wall sharing neighbors
- Housing for visiting students and dignitaries (blank blueprints in dormitory)
- On-site permanent residence for staff and family
- Administrative Office spaces, most windowless – obstructed views/egress
1. Unsafe for Students, Staff, Fire & EMS.
Safety and Emergency Concerns
- Commercial Buildings on residential blocks are required to provide multiple exits, off street loading, and separation from neighboring homes.
- Schools especially are required to be free standing buildings for the safety of children and coordination during emergencies.
- No buffer between the school and adjacent homes in case of fire type emergencies
- One primary entry/exit at the front of the site for hundreds of occupants, let alone small children is extremely dangerous.
- Two stairwells feeding into a single vestibule, no alt exits possible on the sides or the rear of the building
- No windows on the side or rear at the first or upper floors for viewpoint/egress
2. Direct Impact on Near Neighbors
This proposal places:
- A commercial kitchen wall directly against a neighboring home without ability for firehoses to reach back/side of building
- Event space auditorium into evening hours taking up limited parking spaces and causing traffic impacts.
- Rooftop playground noise and activity above residential bedrooms
- Noise, deliveries, and foot traffic in front of and in close proximity to existing neighbors’ homes daily from morning into evenings.
3. Transportation Cluster of Chaos
An already busy, narrow Street that can’t absorb much more
- 8th Street is narrow, constrained—especially during snow, maintenance events—and already heavily burdened by daily traffic flowing toward South Philadelphia, particularly between 2:30 pm and 6:30 pm.
The corridor also serves:
- Key Bus routes and stops along Lombard St.
- A key service route for nearby fire station and hospitals. Ambulances and emergency responders will be delayed to backed up traffic issues from at least a 5 block radius during peak delivery, drop off, pick up, and event hours.
- Small Businesses along South Street retail strip that depends on curb access for customers, deliveries, and service vehicles
- Disruptions and loss of custom caused by traffic and limited parking spaces for quick stop customers are the kinds of patterns which empty out main streets into derelict store fronts when building and zoning considerations are not properly assessed.
- Already congested intersection of 8th and South Streets is not well suited to absorb a new, high-intensity use placed directly in its center.
- Large scale school pick ups and drops, school buses, refuse trucks, delivery vehicles, evening and weekend event traffic.
- This is a fundamentally different transportation scenario than what would result from five townhomes or a small apartment building, which are permitted here by right.
- Which would be welcomed as a site for additional housing.
4. Extensive Zoning Variance and Exception Requests
8-11 Variances and Exceptions? There is a reason we have regulations for land in our city.
What This Site Is Zoned For
Existing zoning, this location is intended for:
- Residential building(s) not to exceed 38 feet in height, with no more than 75% lot occupancy.
- In real terms: Approximately 5 rowhomes, or a small apartment building.
- All together, representing housing and residential-based daily activity of 25–40 neighbors (vs 200).
- That level above shows the activity and capacity this block was zoned for and designed to support.
- What’s being proposed is hundreds of people, children and adults, daily, arriving and departing continuously in a highly unsafe building which would need substantial zoning relief to build.
- Rationality is needed: Despite good will assurances, there is no way to compromise on the deep and dire safety failures, or the domino impact of traffic issues to the neighbors and businesses.
An Honest Look: Developer’s Self Imposed Hardships to ZBA
- Regular rectangular lot does not restrict abiding to code as self contained building without shared walls (previous developers planned to construct all walls).
- A commercial building that occupies 100% of the lot is illegal (70% max allowed for rationalized reasons and zoning policy).
- Assurances from the Developer that no parent or visitor will ever create traffic havoc, or that less than 20 cars would ever be doing school runs for the 180+ children is unenforceable.
The Bottom Line
Education is important. Replacing blight is important. But land use matters. Rules and regulations matter. Neighbors and Small Businesses matter.
Opposition to this proposal is not because it’s a bad idea. However, it is an idea that requires substantial zoning relief (because of the intensity and types of uses not otherwise allowed at this site) and a dereliction of duty for safety precautions.
APPROVAL WOULD BE IRRESPONSIBLE.
This proposal ignores the limits of the site, the safety of its occupants, and the wants to brush aside the reality of the surrounding built-environment, the impacted community and real-world neighborhood context.
We want to avoid disruption to near neighbors, businesses, emergency services, and ensure we build schools in safe conditions for the children and staff.
This is a case of: Good idea. Bad location.
Thank you.
info@goodideabadlocation.org