November 6, 2008 Issue                                       

©2007 The Chestnut Hill Local

From our readers

Shopping locally the way to go

It became quite clear to me while reading Jen Katz’s report last week on the state of businesses along the Avenue that now — more than ever — we need to support our local businesses. 

We all seek the best values when we make purchasing decisions. We decide to shop elsewhere if we see that small, local stores can’t match the prices or the product diversity found on Amazon.com or at Wal-Mart.  On the flip side, many of us also strongly support our communities and are willing to make donations of time, energy, and funding to help them thrive.  I know I have conveniently ignored this contradiction for too long. 

I am going to make a better effort to support the Philadelphia region with my wallet this Christmas season and throughout the coming year. Every time I need to buy something I will think first — can I buy this at a locally-owned shop? I am also trying to plan ahead and purchase gifts at events like the Fall for the Arts festival. I hope others were similarly inspired by the Local’s story, and reminded that supporting our community also means shopping locally, eating locally, and enjoying the company of our neighbors.

Hannah Mazzaccaro
Glenside

Sugarloaf neighbors object to “other” uses

This is a cautionary tale for my neighbors. Just because you read the Local, including business of the Chestnut Hill Community Association, do not assume that you know what is going on in your own backyard.

Imagine my surprise upon reading the zoning notice recently posted on West Bell’s Mill Road regarding Chestnut Hill College’s expansion plans at Sugarloaf and found that the proposed banquet facility was to include “live entertainment, music and dancing.” My call to the president’s office confirmed that this facility would be used for outside groups, conferences and weddings. Another call confirmed my suspicion that this plan had been approved by the CHCA board. Calls to my neighbors confirmed that none of us knew.

If you lived on Bell’s Mill Road during the Temple University era at Sugarloaf, you would never forget the booming music and shouting partygoers who kept us awake late into the night. These were private catered events, mostly weddings at The Lodge, where dancing and drinking on the patio and open windows allowed the noise to spread throughout the neighborhood. The events frequently broke up after midnight with additional drunken shouting in parking lots and cars careening on dark driveways. Even in earlier evening hours, the unremitting noise made it impossible for us to enjoy our own outdoor patios. When it became unbearable, in the middle of the night, our only recourse was to call the police! We do not want to relive that nightmare.

As neighbors we object to non-educational use of the proposed addition. To be more specific, we object to additional noise and traffic associated with the college’s plans. We believe that the expanded facilities should be limited to Chestnut Hill College student and faculty uses and that outside events be prohibited. We also believe that all events should be closed down by 10 p.m.

It is our hope that the college will work with us to ensure that we can continue to live in peace and harmony in this beautiful Wissahickon Valley setting.

Chuck Broadbent
Chestnut Hill

PennDOT’s casualties

I would like to respond to the “Opinion” essays written in the Chestnut Hill Local on Oct. 23.

Officers of EMAN and WMAN wrote supportive statements that spoke well of their experiences with PennDOT representatives and I will not challenge their experiences.

However, I must bring attention to the “For Sale” sign that I noticed on the Cresheim Cottage Café building. The complete destruction of the sidewalk leading to the restaurant door and the loss of the former attractiveness of the building’s exterior are casualties that PennDOT will leave behind.

Arlene P. Bennett, M.D.
E. Mt. Airy

Hard to imagine Hill with no OB

It’s hard to imagine, but this Nov. 7 a 100-year-old service will be closing its doors.  This is the day that the maternity, labor and delivery, ATU and NICU units will close at Chestnut Hill Hospital. I don’t believe that our community can thrive without having these services.  The current plan is to send delivering mothers to Einstein or Abington, almost 30 minutes away or longer depending on traffic. Evidently, the executives of Community Health Services have devised a method to ensure that no expectant mothers experience less than 30 minutes of labor.    

Because it is evidently not possible for the maternity services unit of the hospital to operate on a “break even” basis, I encourage members of the Chestnut Hill community to come up with a plan to develop a non-profit maternity services department located near or in the hospital.  This non-profit maternity unit could obtain needed funds from the community to operate through bequests, social activities or from the $25 million paid to the community by CHS when they purchased our hospital.

I would also like to thank the more than 70 nurses, doctors, midwives and ATU technicians who will be greatly missed not only by pregnant women but by the entire community.  It is sad that all these professionals will be leaving Chestnut Hill and their skills will no longer benefit the patients at Chestnut Hill Hospital. We are grateful for their many years of dedicated service and for all the wonderful babies (including my own!) who were given a great start by these superb practitioners.

Sandwith Drinker
Wyndmoor

A Tale of Two Avenues

Halloween is here and it seems to be the best of times on Crefield Avenue. It is the worst of times for me on Norwood Avenue, as this is the second anniversary of the death of a friend and neighbor who was killed by a school bus on Norwood Avenue near his home. This friend worked to reduce the speed of vehicles traveling on Norwood Avenue before his death, and I have no doubt that his spirit is sorely disappointed at our lack of progress in making Norwood Avenue a safer street for his wife, children and neighbors to live on, in the two years since his unfortunate and senseless death.

Norwood Avenue lies one block east of Germantown Avenue and runs from Chestnut Hill Avenue to Sunset Avenue. Like a narrow country road, it runs down, rather steeply in parts, from Chestnut Hill Avenue, where Our Mother of Consolation School is located, to Sunset Avenue, where Norwood Fontbonne Academy is located. With no sidewalks (apart from a small stretch) or curbs to contain the traffic, pedestrians walk along the road at their own peril. While school speed limit signs (time specific) were posted after the death of my neighbor by Councilman Rizzo’s office, they do little to slow traffic in the middle of the block. There are no 25 mph speed limit signs posted along the length of the avenue, nor is there a three-way major stop sign where Caryl Lane meets Norwood Avenue. A suggestion made by some neighbors and myself to make Norwood Avenue safer by making it a one way street, met a roadblock last year at this time, and several “Caution Children” signs were installed instead.

In stark contrast, Crefeld Avenue, which lies one block west of Germantown Avenue and also runs from Chestnut Hill Avenue to Sunset Avenue, is a fairly flat and wide road with curbs on each side of the street and sidewalks running almost the full length of one side. Home to the Crefeld School, Crefeld Avenue also has school speed limit signs but, unlike Norwood Avenue, it has six 25 mph speed limit signs, as well as two three-way major stop signs that bring traffic to a complete stop, preventing motorists from building up excessive speed on this residential block. Why the disparity between the two avenues?

On June 3, some of my neighbors and I tried again to make a difference on Norwood Avenue by asking Councilman Rizzo to assist us in installing a speed bump with proper signage so that drivers would be forced to slow down and obey the 25 mph speed limit. There are three such speed bumps on Blue Grass Road in Northeast Philadelphia between Welsh Road and Grant Avenue. We offered to raise the money for this project if the money could not be found in the city budget. While we had several phone conversations with Frank Galioto from Councilman Rizzo’s office about all of the above, five months have passed, it is now Halloween, and Norwood Avenue is without a speed bump, without a three-way major stop sign, and without any 25 mph speed limit signs. Why should one avenue have the best of things for safety and another the worst?

Larry Morgan
Chestnut Hill