Developing a land use strategy for East Falls

NewsWorks reached out to a few key community/civic leaders in Roxborough, Manayunk and East Falls and asked them to tell us what their new year’s resolution is for their neighborhood.  Here’s a response from Tom Sauerman, president of the East Falls Community Council. 

The East Falls Community Council’s major initiative for 2011 is to develop a mutually beneficial land use plan that recognizes the needs of the community and its three major educational institutions (Penn Charter School, Philadelphia University, and Drexel University), to accommodate both, and to be accepted by the City’s Planning Commission. 

This will be accomplished as the institutions and residents meet together, listen carefully to the needs of the other, identify the benefits that each offers the community, and form work groups.

This initiative is the result of six listening meetings that the council held last year to assess the needs and concerns of East Falls’ residents, institutions, and businesses.

We want these educational institutions to be strong—and at the same time we want to retain the residential character of East Falls.

These goals can best be met by dialogue and collaborative planning. A staff member of the Philadelphia City Planning Commission will participate in the process with the intent of guiding the process so that the Planning Commission will accept the plan.