2-Way 2nd Street Designs Unveiled

Do you prefer a bike lane or a center lane?

That was the big decision last month for Harrisburg residents, who attended the final community meeting for the planned conversion of N. 2nd Street to two-way traffic.

At the meeting, the city unveiled its two final design concepts for the street.

The first design features a left-hand-turn lane, along with partial median strips, along the two-mile stretch of N. 2nd from Forster to Division streets. The second includes a dedicated, “parking protected” bike lane, meaning it would be protected from traffic.

“That’s the main difference,” said Mayor Eric Papenfuse. “Do you want a center lane with medians, or do you want a bike lane? We can’t accommodate both.”

A 40-minute presentation kicked off the meeting. Afterwards, attendees broke off into groups to study the concepts in detail, block by block, and offer input.

Both designs include roundabouts at certain busy intersections, such as at N. 2nd and Verbeke streets and N. 2nd and Reily streets.

Notably, most traffic signals would be removed under both concepts and, like with the current construction along the 3rd Street corridor, intersections would be improved to make them compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements. Signals would remain at the busy intersections at Forster, Maclay and Division streets.

Papenfuse expects construction to begin next year, wrapping up at the end of 2021. The cost of the $5.6 million project is being split between the city, the state Department of Transportation and Impact Harrisburg, a nonprofit set up in the wake of the city’s financial crisis.

Both concepts reduce the total amount of parking along 2nd Street, mostly because of the ADA-mandated intersection improvements.

Currently, there are 620 street parking spaces on N. 2nd from Forster to Division streets. Concept 1, which includes the turning lanes, would reduce parking to 550 spaces, while concept 2, which includes the bike lane, would reduce street parking to 537 spaces.

“It is genuine to say that I see the benefits of both,” Papenfuse said. “We could go with either and be very pleased as a city. They’re both transformative and safer and better for the neighborhood.”

AutoZone Passes Hurdle

The Harrisburg Planning Commission last month approved the land development plan for an Uptown auto parts store, despite a continuing disagreement over the design of the project.

By a 3-1 vote, the commission gave its OK to an AutoZone store on long-vacant land at the corner of Maclay and N. 7th streets, but the approval requires the company to tweak its design to address several city concerns.

Commission members agreed with the city’s planning bureau that AutoZone needed to make modifications to its plan—namely, reorienting the 6,816-square-foot building to bring it closer to Maclay Street and eliminating access from busy N. 7th Street.

“I don’t want to have people coming into the city greeted by a parking lot and a set-back building, just like you see in the surrounding suburbs,” said commissioner Zac Monnier.

City officials have long complained that the proposed AutoZone design was too generic and better suited for a suburban strip mall, not a city block. They have especially disliked that AutoZone’s original proposal set the store back from Maclay Street, with parking in the front.

David Tshudy of Pepper Hamilton, the law firm representing AutoZone, repeatedly pushed back on the requested changes to the company’s design, saying that city planners have no role in design decisions based on Harrisburg’s current land use ordinances.

“There’s nothing in the ordinance that requires the building to be situated any differently than what is shown on the plan,” Tshudy said. “The building is best where it is shown on the plan.”

The two sides also had a heated disagreement about AutoZone’s desire for a driveway to the site from N. 7th Street.

In April, the two sides held a meeting to iron out their differences. Tshudy said that he left that meeting believing they had agreed to retain the access point, but only for right turns in and out. City officials disagreed.

“At no time did we indicate that this was a design that the planning bureau would support or thought was a good design for this particular site,” said Geoffrey Knight, director of the city’s planning department.

Now that it’s passed the Planning Commission, the land development plan must be approved by City Council.

City Changes CDBG Process

Harrisburg plans to shake up the yearly process of doling out federal housing dollars under its “Annual Action Plan” unveiled last month.

Franchon Dickinson, director of the city’s Department of Building and Housing, told City Council that the administration wants to tighten requirements for Harrisburg-based social service agencies seeking funding under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program.

“If we want to effectuate change, we’re going to need to change the way we do business,” she said.

In recent years, council has doled out relatively small amounts of CDBG money to a dozen or so specific service agencies. HUD, however, recently has questioned the way Harrisburg has distributed some of those funds, said Mayor Eric Papenfuse. Therefore, the city needs to make certain it strictly follows HUD guidelines, he said.

Specifically, agencies must show that a service is new or must demonstrate a “quantifiable increase in the level of service in the last 12 months,” said Dickinson. In addition, she said that HUD prefers to fund “senior enrichment programs or special needs populations.”

Moreover, the administration wants to change the funding structure for CDBG, which, this year, will total nearly $1.94 million, down from last year’s $2 million.

Under the current proposal, just $100,000 will be set aside for social service programming, down from about $240,000 last year. However, for facilities projects, agencies will be able to apply for money from a second bucket, one reserved for “public improvement/public facilities,” which totals $407,261, Dickinson said.

Papenfuse said that HUD didn’t like that, in the past, Harrisburg permitted facility improvements with money meant for “public service activities,” funds that were supposed be reserved for programming and other service activities.

The application process also is changing.

This year, the city will not determine recipients before submitting its action plan to HUD in mid-August. Specific recipients will be determined later through a request for proposals (RFP) process, which will be issued in late August, and applications will be scored to make sure they meet HUD guidelines, Papenfuse said.

“It’s a change in procedure, but it’s a good one,” he said. “It makes sure that every dollar we spend will be spent wisely.”

Other proposed CDBG allotments include:

• $593,423 for debt service, as the city continues to pay down a federal loan it guaranteed under former Mayor Steve Reed for the disastrous Capitol View Commerce Center project
• $387,670 for grant administration
• $250,000 for homeowner rehabilitation
• $200,000 for emergency demolition

In addition to the CDBG ordinance, council introduced ordinances for the HUD Emergency Solutions Grant Program for $166,243, which mostly goes to the Capital Area Coalition on Homelessness to fund emergency shelter and rehousing, and another for HUD’s HOME Investment Partnerships Program for $432,187, which funds affordable housing solutions.

Council is expected to take a final vote on the ordinances on Aug. 13.

City Buys Back MarketPlace Lots

A stalled building project may have a new lease on life, as the Harrisburg Redevelopment Authority has bought back dozens of undeveloped lots in the city’s MarketPlace Townhomes neighborhood.

In late June, the authority purchased 58 lots from S&A Homes, re-acquiring the Midtown properties it had given to the State College-based developer almost 14 years before.

“The Redevelopment Authority had to take back the properties because S&A was not going to develop them,” said Mayor Eric Papenfuse. “The Redevelopment Authority is now looking for a [development] partner for those lots.”

In the 1970s, the authority began acquiring parcels just south of N. 6th and Reily streets, which eventually included the Zommit Cleaners site, an industrial property that required soil decontamination.

By 1998, 38 single-family homes had been built in the MarketPlace neighborhood, named for its proximity to the Broad Street Market. In late 2005, the authority sold most of its remaining inventory—71 lots—to S&A for $1 apiece in an area bounded by N. 6th, James, Reily and Sayford streets.

Over the next three years, S&A built 13 houses, but stopped when the financial crisis hit in 2008. No homes have been constructed since, leaving numerous grassy, overgrown lots.

Papenfuse said that he regards the re-acquisition as a first step in getting the project back on track. The authority is eager to receive proposals from qualified developers, he said.

“By taking them back, HRA can find a new development partner,” he said.

School Audit Called “Clear Indictment”

The state’s recently released financial audit of the Harrisburg school district is a “clear indictment” of the practices of the former school administration, according to the district’s receiver.

Receiver Janet Samuels released a statement last month declining comment on specific audit findings, but that acknowledged the report’s findings.

“In my capacity as the court appointed Receiver, I acknowledge receipt of the audit which is a clear indictment of the accounting and Human Resources practices of the former school district administration,” she said.

In March, the state Department of Education hired Johnstown-based Wessel & Co. to perform the audit following a series of costly errors by the district, including continuing to pay health benefits to former employees.

The report, released in early July, looked at a year-three period, July 2015 to June 2018, and discovered more than $3.8 million in unsupported and questionable costs, more than 100 ex-employees who continued to receive healthcare benefits and huge deficits in cafeteria operations that had to be covered by the general fund. Other shortcomings included personnel records rife with errors, a lack of financial oversight and controls and a profoundly unqualified business manager.

“I am not going to comment on any of the specifics of the audit findings other than the fact that the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit plans to fully analyze all of the issues raised in the audit and establish best practices for the school district. These audit findings further justify the necessity of my June 27, 2019 action partnering with the MCIU to operate the district and my personnel actions taken on that date,” Samuels concluded.

At the urging of the state Department of Education, a Dauphin County judge appointed Samuels as the district’s receiver on June. 17. She then dismissed most of the district’s leadership and contracted with MCIU to help lead the district for the next three years.

Churches Put on Market

If you’ve ever been in the market for an old, stately church in the Harrisburg area, your time has arrived.

The Susquehanna United Methodist Conference has listed six of its churches for sale, part of a plan to cut costs and consolidate congregations. The churches cover numerous neighborhoods around Harrisburg and range in price from $169,000 to $325,000.

“I’ve shown all of these churches a number of times already,” said realtor Bill Gladstone of the Bill Gladstone Group, part of Wormleysburg-based NAI CIR, which is listing the properties. “The demand for these churches has been very high.”

Late last year, the conference, facing dwindling membership in the immediate Harrisburg area, decided to dispose of 10 of its buildings, several dating back a century or more.

Since then, one of the churches, historic Grace United Methodist Church on State Street, voted to maintain its congregation, said Shawn Gilgore, the conference’s director of communications. Another church, Rockville UMC, has become affiliated with Linglestown UMC, with both buildings in use, he said.

Six of the remaining churches currently are for sale:

• Camp Curtin Memorial Mitchell UMC, 2221 N. 6^th St.: $195,000
• First United Methodist, 269 Boas St.: $169,000
• Riverside Methodist Church, 3200 N. 3^rd St.: $325,000
• St. Mark’s UMC, 3985 N. 2^nd St (Susquehanna Township): $325,000
• Trinity Penbrook Church, 5 N. 25^th St.: $255,000
• Grace Penbrook Church, 25 S. 28^th St.: $265,000

Another church, Derry Street UMC on Allison Hill in Harrisburg, soon will be listed for sale, Gladstone said.

The final church in the group, Twenty Ninth Street UMC in Harrisburg, is the new home of The Journey Church, a combined congregation of Twenty Ninth Street UMC and the former Riverside Methodist Church.

Exchange Student Families Needed

ASSE International Student Exchange Programs (ASSE) is looking for local families to host boys and girls between the ages of 15 to 18 from a variety of countries, including Norway, Denmark, Spain, Italy and Japan.

Students are eager to practice their English and experience American culture, as well as share their own culture and language.

ASSE students are academically selected into the program, and host families can choose their student from a wide variety of backgrounds, countries and personal interests. ASSE students have full health, accident and liability insurance, as well as pocket money for personal expenses.

To become a host family or to find out how to become involved with ASSE in your community, call the ASSE Eastern Regional Office at 1-800-677-2773 or visit www.host.asse.com.

So Noted

Camp Curtin Community Preschool has relocated to Trinity Church in Midtown and changed its name to Trinity Preschool: Part of the Camp Curtin Learning Community. The preschool had to relocate following the closing of Camp Curtin Mitchell Memorial UMC, according to the school.

FireHouse Restaurant closed abruptly last month, and the property was later put on the market for $1.2 million, including the real estate, business and liquor license. The FireHouse, located in the historic Hope Fire Station building in downtown Harrisburg, was most recently co-owned by Dave Guy, who bought it from founder Donny Brown almost six years ago.

Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra last month named Gloria Giambalvo as its new director of sales and marketing. She most recently served as HSO’s director of annual and corporate giving.

Harrisburg University last month promoted Duane Maun to chief operating officer. Maun will continue to hold his previous title, chief financial officer, as well, according to the university.

Harrisburg University last month broke ground on its new, 17-story mixed-use building at S. 3rd and Chestnut streets in downtown Harrisburg. The $135 million building will house academic space, a 197-room hotel and a restaurant. Construction is expected to take two years.

Home Slice Pizza will open at the Crossroads at Walden in September, according to developer Charter Homes & Neighborhoods. Home Slice, which replaces K. Marie & Co., is a venture by Matt Flinchbaugh, the owner of the longstanding Flinchy’s restaurant in Lower Allen Township.

Jump Street announced last month that it would cease operations after 40 years of operating as an arts-based nonprofit. Over the years, Jump Street organized many popular programs and fundraisers, including Derby Day and Artsfest. It originally formed in 1978 as the People’s Place before changing its name to Metro Arts and then Jump Street.

Orrstown Bank has named Thomas Brugger as its executive vice president and chief financial officer, according to the Swatara Township-based company. In this role, he will be responsible for Orrstown’s financial plans, policies and financial compliance. He last served as CFO of Sun National Bank.

Pavone Marketing Group last month announced that it had acquired two companies: Philadelphia-based Netplus and Mechanicsburg-based Phalanx Digital. Harrisburg-based Pavone said the acquisitions would help it expand its digital marketing capabilities.

Changing Hands

Adrian St., 2237: D. Rickard to M. Wise & C. Bowling, $68,500

Bellevue Rd., 1933: Federal National Mortgage Association to R. Grullon, $32,000

Berryhill St., 2038: O. Brown to Najia Bouslama Property LLC, $32,500

Briggs St., 219: D. Skerpon to P. Earl Jr. & S. Banks, $185,000

Buckthorn St., 319: W. Martin to KGD Holdings LLC, $30,000

Chestnut St., 2025: L. Profitt to L. Profitt, $63,000

Croyden Rd., 2981: Leonard J Dobson Family Limited Partnership to S. Washington, $99,900

Dauphin St., 646: H. Dobson to D. & S. White, $42,000

Derry St., 1200: R. Andrews to D. Mota & L. Rodriguez, $32,000

Derry St., 2129 & 2118 Shellis St.: D. Murphy to B. Smith, $34,000

Derry St., 2457: Lakeview Loan Servicing LLC to PA Deals LLC, $41,800

Derry St., 2532 & 2534: D. & L. Lentz to K. & R. Gupta, $135,000

Emerald St., 229: Federal National Mortgage Association to M. Temba, $71,500

Fulton St., 1710: W. Fletcher to R. Peacock, $130,000

Green St., 909: TKP Schoolhouse Associates LLC to Schoolhouse 1 Holdings LLC, $3,000,000

Green St., 1006: D. Theoifanis to C. Wehrman, $119,000

Green St., 1019: K. & J. Lowe to S. & S. Schalles, $209,900

Green St., 1532: M. Frater to C. Bashore, $120,000

Green St., 1834: WCI Partners LP to C. DeColongon & A. Batista, $120,000

Green St., 1924: G. O Loughlin to J. & C. Claybaugh, $225,000

Green St., 2034: D. & L. Riley to P. & P. Gellerman, $202,400

Harris St., 232: J. & M. Slaboda to K. & J. Gazsi, $171,500

Hamilton St., 214: M. & L. Zieger to S. McMinn & J. Emery, $173,500

Herr St., 317: R. & B. Gillette to S. Robinson & A. Berg, $159,500

Herr St., 1737: Lehman Investments LLC to CBS Property Holdings Company,
$121,000

Hoffman St., 3229: B. Foor to D & F Realty Holdings LP, $59,000

Holly St., 1823: D. & S. Fenton & Harrisburg Property MGMT Group to S. Cain, $43,000

Hunter St., 1537: P. & F. Kehler to D. Porter, $44,800

Jefferson St., 2922 & 2940: Richard Lutz Trust to 2940 Jefferson Street Associates LLC, $290,000

Kensington St., 2131: N. Clory to Y. Salifu, $67,000

Muench St., 238: WCI Partners LP to A. Fortune, $143,625

Muench St., 307: KDR Investments LLP to K. Boatman, $45,000

Muench St., 626: Sheaffer & Sheaffer Properties LLC to Buonarroti Trust, $35,000

N. 2nd St., 3217: N. & L. Swett to J. O Berry, $110,000

N. 3rd St., 910: Mussani and Company LP to Balfour Street Investments LLC, $150,000

N. 3rd St., 925: 921 Home LLC to WCI Partners LP, $1,025,000

N. 3rd St., 2311: T. & C. Rine to 1 Step at a Time Support Services, $124,900

N. 3rd St., 3113: J. & L. Kincaid to L. Ravenel, $135,000

N. 5th St., 1715: Kirsch & Burns LLC to M. Fuentes & R. Irizarry, $102,000

N. 5th St., 2424: A. Obrien to J. & P. Williams, $30,000

N. 5th St., 3141: Federal National Mortgage Association to R. & R. Villarreal, $83,000

N. 7th St., 2300: McNelis Gutter Cleaning Inc. to D & F Realty Holdings LP, $135,000

N. 17th St., 1206: J. & D. Wallace to Three Bridges Holdings LLC, $30,000

N. 18th St., 910: Members 1^st Federal Credit Union to Fowler Investments LLC, $60,000

N. Front St., 1525, Unit 214: A. Jain to M. Cheatum, $96,500

N. Front St., 1525, Unit 307: K. Russell to P. Gitnik & G. Svrcek, $115,000

N. Front St., 1601: North Front Associates LLC to BBHQ LLC, $420,000

N. Front St., 2405: Pennsylvania Association of Community Bankers to A. Hartzler, $198,860

Paxton St., 1718: T. & L. Stuckley to Y. Bouchanyata, $33,100

Paxton St., 1728: S. Brown to F. Yanez, $45,000

Penn St., 1920: C. Clabaugh to T., M. & T. Sneidman, $174,900

Rolleston St., 1246: Bigfoot Properties LLC to M. Foreman, $36,900

S. 14th St., 1432: J. Tonsel to City of Harrisburg, $52,000

S. 18th St., 1213: L. Stewart to L. Whittaker, $113,000

S. 23rd St., 627: L. Vansickle & E. Klitch to E. Klitch, $30,000

S 24th St., 516: R. Carazas & H. Gonzalez to Y. Griffin, $80,000

S 27th St., 669: R. & T. Borne & E. Hower to D. Williams, $149,900

S. 27th St., 728: H. Alcantara to J. Martinez, $77,000

S. 27th St., 734: Seneca Leandro View LLC to B. McCann, $85,000

S. Front St., 625: Redheads Helping Property LLC to J. Chumley, $132,000

S. Front St., 707: A. Patton to C. & J. Pierre, $210,100

Swatara St., 2237: E & T Enterprises LLC to K. & A. Sawyers, $67,500

Sycamore St., 1831: C. Spickler to J. Spickler, $90,000

Verbeke St., 221: K. & J. Gazsi to A. Smoot & C. Hogue, $132,000

Walnut St., 1504: MKTK Properties to MA Ambashakti LLC, $30,000

Wayne St., 1413 & 1415 & 1410 Sycamore St.: H. Papandrea to R. & A. Ortiz, $65,000

Wayne St., 1516: V. White to H. Hargrove, $119,900

Woodbine St., 240: Summit & Vickroy Inc. to T. Evans, $38,500

Harrisburg property sales for June 2019, greater than $30,000. Source: Dauphin County. Data is assumed to be accurate.