Subject:
meeting request on historic street restorations,
particularly 230 S. Quince street
From:
Lynn Landes [mailto:lynnlandes@gmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, March 26, 2024 10:27 AM
To: Councilmember Mark Squilla
Cc: Jeffery.Young@phila.gov; carlton.williams@phila.gov; Stephen.Lorenz@phila.gov;
jon.farnham@phila.gov; (and others)
Dear Mark: Our historically-certified streets are in desperate need of long-promised restoration. Specifically, we would like to schedule a meeting with you, Councilmember Young, Streets Commissioner Carlton Williams, Chief Engineer Steve Lorenz, Historical Commission Executive Director Jon Farnham, Wash West Civic Pres Tami Sortman, Quince Street neighbors, and other interested parties to discuss the much-needed historic restoration of the 200 block of Quince Street. More importantly, it is also long-overdue for City Council’s Streets Committee to hold a hearing on this subject and consider changing Streets Department rules and/or policies on how our historic streets are restored.
As you know, over the past several years our group, The Philadelphia Society of Small Streets (PSSS), has presented major objections to the manner in which the Streets Department restores our historic streets, specifically, the use of concrete foundations. It appears that the collapse on Quince Street has, once again, proved our point. Large slabs of concrete hid a serious sinkhole developing under the street. We address our objections to concrete foundations on our website - SmallStreetsPhilly.org:
Historic Street Foundations: We have serious objections to the manner in which these historic streets are restored. Historic streets were originally designed to be easy to repair, in that street crews could picked up the pavers, do the repairs, and place the pavers back down again. However, in modern times the city began requiring several inches of concrete under our historic streets, which has caused a myriad of serious problems: 1) Concrete foundations require the use of jackhammers when underground plumbing and other utilities need to be replaced, which can result in damage to nearby homes and buildings, both historic and modern. 2) Concrete foundations obscure natural subsidence, which has resulted in catastrophic collapses. 3) Concrete foundations prevent permeability, increasing storm water run-off, and encourage mosquito infestations, plus cause structural damage to the street components, such as gutter stones, due to the lack of "give" in the street or flexibility and other issues. Instead, City code should require "modified aggregate and screening" for street foundations and filler, as they do in Europe and other places (see Preferred Construction Design) , not “concrete foundations and mortar”, which presents a myriad of serious problems for homeowners and their contractors. (see: The Case Against Concrete Foundations)
I want to thank you for your much-appreciated support in the past and look forward to attending a meeting on this subject at your earliest convenience.
Lynn & Cliff Landes, Founders
The Philadelphia Society of Small
Streets (PSSS)
SmallStreetsPhilly.org
217 S. Jessup Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107
714-204-2690
From: Mark Squilla [mailto:Mark.Squilla@Phila.gov]
Sent: Tuesday, March 26, 2024 1:42 PM
To: Lynn Landes
Cc: Jeffery Young; Carlton Williams; Stephen Lorenz; Jon Farnham; 'Tami Sortman'; 'Gary Goldberg'; 'Alex Rice'; 'Mary Panciera '; 'Philip Rakita'; 'Procopio Russell'; 'Barbara Arvanitis'; 'Patrick Kocks'; 'Tim Larson'; 'Kevin McGillicuddy'; Anne Kelly; 'Deborah Sweeney'
Subject: RE: meeting request on historic street restorations, particularly 230 S. Quince street
Lynn
Streets said that it should be restored per our normal restoration of a cobblestone street. Concrete under the street, then the cobble stones are placed in a sand/mortar mix.
Sincerely,
Mark