Meeting with NewCourtland Has Tails Wagging

You don’t have to be a dog owner to appreciate this month’s East Falls Forward agenda — but it helps! NewCourtland leads the pack with news of an off-leash play area in their site plans. 

As NewCourtland’s plans move forward, dog park specs come into focus. We’ve got two questions we’re hoping to get answered at Thursday night’s East Falls Forward meeting:

1. Is a dog park being built for community use, or is NewCourtland simply allowing neighbors to use the dog park they’ll be building for their tenants?
2. EFCC’s dog park funds have dropped from $3,000+ to a little over $300 dollars at the last general meeting — we assume this was somehow related to recent progress with NewCourtland..?  Did the Dog Park Committee have new plans drawn or did we offer a down payment or something..?

The dog owners we’ve spoken with around East Falls and on our Pack Walks are very excited to know what’s been done and what the next steps are — and how we can help, of course.

To date, 150+ neighbors have offered their input on their needs, habits & preferences — and would like to be involved in the planning. Fortunately, Rob Theil from New Courtland will be coming to this month’s East Falls Forward meeting January 19th to discuss what-all’s been done so far, and how much input we can expect to have, what else is going on at NewCourtland, etc.

And we’ll get a chance to thank NewCourtland, of course! As much as we want a public dog park here, we also want to be good neighbors too. It’s important to remember that NewCourtland’s not just bringing affordable senior housing, but their plan includes space for doctor’s offices, pharmacies, physical therapy centers… How handy would that be, to have a medical complex here again?

BTW, if the dog park looks like it’s kind of remote from East Falls… well… it is. When we first heard about space for a dog park on the property, we assumed the entrance would come in through that parking lot off Scotts Lane.

But no! That land’s actually a part of the Falls Center complex. At no point does New Courtland’s property border Scotts Lane — the proposed dog park, then, would be off Henry Avenue, at Roberts Avenue (near the Baker’s Center complex at Fox Street).

Speaking of that neck of the woods… U-Haul on West Hunting Park Avenue is also on the agenda: they’re requesting a variance to add self-storage to the fourth & sixth floors of their space at the former Tastykake Building.

Of course, the first hour of EFF’s meeting is a neighborhood social with snacks & adult beverages. Everyone shares, feel free to bring your own if you’d like. Don’t be shy — or be shy, if you want. It’s all good!

For even more planning fun, come out to tonight’s East Falls Zoning meeting (7PM Downs Hall, PhillyU campus) for previews of some of the developments mentioned here.

NO TIME FOR MEETINGS? Share your opinions, concerns, ideas, etc. in our Dog Park Survey or respond on other issues in the Comments below. We’ll do our best to help every Fallser voice get heard. Thanks and hope to see you Thursday night.