Wake up

The proverbial barbarians are at the gates, and, if they arrived by train, they may have to find another way to get home. Regional rail, a critical piece of the quality-of-life puzzle in the Northwest, is still on the chopping block, prompting SEPTA to issue its first round of pink slips to employees this week. Unless Harrisburg can find some money fast, the draconian service cuts promised by SEPTA for the new year will become a reality.

Philadelphia has never faced a worse threat to its public transit infrastructure since the creation of the transit authority in 1964. Even if this year's bail-out comes through, there is still the issue of dedicated funding in order to ensure that this drama is not played out year after year, with ever-more dire consequences. The city needs to speak in one voice, loud enough for Harrisburg to hear: save transit. Once gone, cut routes and disgruntled riders are very hard to get back. Now's the time to act.

What went wrong?

Why mince words? It is probable that no mediation effort by the CHCA physical division has ever failed as spectacularly as that which attempted to hammer out an agreement between the Woodmere Art Museum and near neighbors over a proposed new addition. The fact that so many neighbors turned out in opposition at least week's zoning board hearing; that additional meetings were called for by the ZBA, this time presided over by counsel for the two sides rather than the CHCA; that a new neighbors association has been formed when the CHCA believed all along that it was representing the community (including the neighbors) in negotiations with the museum -- all of this points to a fundamental breakdown.

None of which explains why this breakdown occurred, or where we should lay the blame. It's worth questioning whether neighbors' objections justify casting aside the many hours of work put in by the CHCA. Concerns about parking and the museum's hosting large parties ring a bit hollow, given that these things have been a problem at various times in the past and have more to do with responsible facilities use and scheduling than with whether or not there is an addition. Questions about size and visual impact appear to be more valid, especially given that the physical elements of the project were off the table during the CHCA-brokered negotiations.

Whether or not the CHCA agreement is comprehensive enough appears to be less important than a perception among some neighbors that they were tangential to the process. After the ZBA meeting, neighbor Bob Shusterman summarized his impression of the agreement as, "this is it -- take it or leave it." The CHCA could have done more to mitigate this impression by giving neighbors time to review the draft agreement (a version was faxed to their lawyer's office July 20 with the request that it be reviewed by that same evening) and making the final version available before Oct. 14.

Perhaps the difficulty boils down to a comment made by CHCA board member and Woodmere neighbor Brien Tilley at last week's executive committee meeting, to the effect that the physical division committees are populated with architects and are "not inclined to look at neighbor's concerns." He may be right -- or, that may merely appear to be true in this case. Either way, the results are the same: a process that has left some feeling alienated, rather than part of a mediation process, and a community association ultimately out of the loop.

James Sturdivant