Tag Archives: harrisburg

October News Digest

October 31, 2017 | by Lawrance Binda and Lizzy Hardison

Eastern Deal Rejected

Harrisburg City Council last month voted 4-2 to reject a proposed lease agreement with Eastern University, a Christian college that wished to renovate and rent space in the city government center.

Council’s objection to the agreement, in which Eastern offered to spend $600,000 renovating city hall’s dilapidated basement, centered on the university’s religious affiliation and its requirement that its employees sign a doctrinal faith statement.

In remarks before the vote, Councilman Ben Allatt said he was deeply conflicted about the prospect of ceding public space to a private, religiously affiliated institution.

“The university would not hire someone like me,” said Allatt, who is gay. “I recognize they can do what they want, but they want to come into our city hall, which is a building of the people.”

Council previously pressed Eastern representatives on their commitment to the city’s nondiscrimination ordinance, which outlaws employment discrimination based on sexual orientation. Eastern embraced the non-discrimination policy in a letter to council.

In the same letter, however, Eastern affirmed its right to hire faculty who “fully embrace” the school’s religious mission. Members of council feared that exercising that right would translate into discrimination against LGBT applicants.

Mayor Eric Papenfuse lobbied in favor of Eastern during the meeting, saying that the deal would save the city “real, significant money” by paying for necessary renovations. After the vote, he blasted council’s decision and accused them of squandering a one-of-a-kind opportunity.

“We’re going to have to take taxpayer dollars and devote it to fixing a building instead of fixing a pothole or fixing a park,” Papenfuse said. “To me, it was a no-brainer to move forward in a partnership with Eastern.”

Green to Take Council Seat

Ausha Green will be Harrisburg’s next councilwoman, as City Council plans to appoint her to an open seat.

Council President Wanda Williams announced last month that council will name Green to the seven-member body, forgoing a competitive process that has marked recent council vacancies.

Williams said that council reached a consensus to appoint Green, who had served on the Harrisburg school board.

The seat became vacant after the resignation of former Councilwoman Destini Hodges, who left Harrisburg to take a job out of state.

Come January, Green would have assumed a council seat anyway, as she won the Democratic nomination for council in May, along with incumbents Wanda Williams, Shamaine Daniels and Ben Allatt. There is no Republican opposition for the four, four-year seats.

A two-year council seat also will be on the ballot this month following the resignation in August of former Councilman Jeffrey Baltimore. Councilman Dave Madsen, appointed a month ago by council, is running unopposed for that seat.

Bike Share Launched

A local nonprofit and community sponsors officially launched Harrisburg Bike Share last month, putting 55 communal bicycles on Harrisburg’s streets.

The program is modeled after bike share systems that have sprouted up in recent years in cities like Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Paying members use a smart phone app or text messages to unlock a bicycle from a docking station and then ride and return it to any docking station in the city.

A $25 annual membership gives riders free access to bikes for periods shorter than two hours and then charges $2 for each hour after that. “Pay as You Go” members will be charged $2 for each hour they use a bike.

The program is spearheaded by Communities in Schools Pennsylvania (CIS), a dropout prevention organization, and sponsored by organizations including Highmark insurance and the Dauphin County commissioners. CIS outsources bike share management to Zagster, which operates more than 100 city bike shares across the country.

The bike share includes 11 docking stations in the city’s Uptown, Midtown and downtown neighborhoods and on City Island.

Riley hopes to add more docking locations in the future, but said that user trends will dictate how the program grows. Bike share sponsors will watch ridership data to see who is using the bicycles and for what purposes.

“We need to know if this will be a leisure [service] or if we have people who want to use these bikes to get to employment areas,” Riley said. “We need to see success to know where to expand.”

In conjunction with the launch, Mayor Eric Papenfuse said that the city will establish two bike boulevards in the spring on low-speed, low-traffic streets. A boulevard on Aberdeen Street will connect the Capitol Complex and the Harrisburg Transportation Center, and another on North Street will extend from the Capitol to Riverfront Park.

The city will paint both roads with “sharrows,” road signs indicating a shared lane for cyclists and motorists. The signals do not designate the roads as bike-only lanes.

City Buys Sinkhole-Ravaged Homes

More than 3½ years after a sinkhole erupted on the 1400-block of S. 14th Street, Harrisburg has started to relieve homeowners of their worthless properties, though some residents say that they still have nowhere to move.

Harrisburg last month bought the first of 52 homes on the block, Mayor Eric Papenfuse said, adding that the city is on track to purchase all 52 affected properties by Dec. 31.

“It’s been a very complicated and drawn-out process,” he said.

Papenfuse reported that the purchasing program is the first of its kind in the nation, since sinkhole events are not usually covered by natural disaster relief dollars.

A few years ago, the situation along S. 14th Street seemed dire. However, the city was able to secure about $4.7 million in federal and state disaster relief funding to purchase all the homes at their pre-sinkhole market value.

Despite the announcement, some residents said that they weren’t prepared to move by year-end.

“I’m not ready to move,” said resident Ronald Cook. “We’ve got nowhere to go.”

Papenfuse and Jackie Parker, director of the city’s Department of Community Economic Development, said that the city has been in continual contact with S. 14th Street residents ever since the sinkhole opened in 2014.

Parker also said that the Dec. 31 closing deadline was negotiable, since each property sale is highly individualized. The grants funding the home purchases technically expire on Dec. 31, but Parker said that homeowners do have the opportunity to extend.

“Nobody has to move by any particular time,” Parker said. “Every property owner has a unique situation and unique closing opportunity and paperwork. No two are the same.”

Off-Leash Dogs at Issue

Citations for off-leash dogs are on the rise in Harrisburg, but some residents want the city to do more to enforce leash laws in the city.

As of last month, animal control officers working for the Harrisburg Police Bureau had cited 22 dog owners in 2017 for letting their animals run off-leash. That figure is up from 14 in 2016, 15 in 2015 and zero in 2014, according to data from the Harrisburg Police Bureau.

But many dog owners say that off-leash dogs remain a problem in certain neighborhoods of the city, particularly Italian Lake and the former William Penn High School. Dogs must be restrained on a leash in all public places, including parks, according to ordinance.

The issue surfaced at a City Council meeting last month. One resident said her service dog was attacked by unrestrained dogs at the State Hospital grounds in Susquehanna Township, where she started going to avoid off-leash dogs in Harrisburg.

“I don’t think this problem is being taken seriously,” she said, adding that an attack like the one her service dog suffered could ruin its training.

City Councilman Cornelius Johnson said that one possible solution is increased cooperation between animal enforcement officers and the city park rangers, who are responsible for patrolling Harrisburg’s 26 parks.

Mayor Eric Papenfuse said that the city hopes to budget for another park ranger in 2018, bringing the total rank to three.

Park rangers cannot write tickets, but they make ticket referrals to the police or report stray dogs, Papenfuse said. Animal enforcement officers are also responsible for collecting stray animals and have picked up 78 this year.

Above all, Johnson said, communication is key. He asks residents to report off-leash dog violations when they see them.

“The best thing a resident can do when they come across an issue is call it in,” Johnson said on Thursday. “When we get calls, there’s accountability.”

New Business Administrator

Mayor Eric Papenfuse announced last month that Harrisburg has hired a new business administrator, concluding a two-year search to fill the grant-funded position.

Marc Woolley, an attorney who has worked as general counsel at the Hershey Trust and the Pennsylvania Housing Authority, will direct the city’s Department of Administration and help the mayor manage the city’s budget and finances.

One of Woolley’s major responsibilities will be helping the city determine its next steps in the Act 47 process, a state program for financially distressed municipalities.

His $115,000 salary is funded for three years by an Act 47 grant from the state.

Papenfuse said that he had been performing most of the duties of business administrator himself. He hopes that filling the position will allow him to focus more on strategic planning and community outreach.

More Apartments Downtown

More residences are slated for downtown Harrisburg, as Harristown Enterprises is eyeing another worn-out office building for redevelopment.

Harristown has under contract a vacant, 11,000-square-foot office building at N. 2nd and Cranberry streets currently owned by Camp Hill-based CJ2 Group, which has it on the market for $399,000. Harristown wants to convert the space to 12 one- and two-bedroom apartments, with additional first-floor retail.

Most of the building has long been empty, though a restaurant, Arepa City, occupied the ground-floor retail space until fairly recently.

“Upscale apartments in the downtown are in high demand,” said Brad Jones, president and CEO of Harristown. “We want to bring more exciting unique and desirable apartments to the market to grow the number of downtown residents and to support retail and restaurant activity along this corridor.”

Harristown now must shepherd its plan through Harrisburg’s land development process. To undertake the project, Harristown will need a variance from the city’s Zoning Hearing Board, as the building is not zoned for this use.

Several years ago, Harristown dipped its toe into office-to-residential projects by converting a part of Strawberry Square into apartments. Since then, it’s undertaken several other conversions along S. 3rd Street, adding a total of 60 new apartments downtown.

Harristown also recently began to raze a building on the first block of S. 2nd Street. It expects to build a new office building in that space, pending an anchor tenant.

Home Sales, Prices Up

Harrisburg-area home sales continued their recent upward trend, with both purchases and prices on the rise.

In September, sales increased 3.3 percent and the median price rose 3.2 percent from the year-ago period, according to the Greater Harrisburg Association of Realtors.

In Dauphin County, 268 units sold versus 256 in September 2016, while the median price increased to $159,950 compared to $155,000. In Cumberland County, sales fell to 289 units from 314 a year ago, though the median price went up to $195,000 versus $179,250 in September 2016, GHAR said.

Perry County had 40 home sales, a decrease of 10 units. However, the median price rose to $166,450 versus $146,950 a year ago.

GHAR covers all of Dauphin, Cumberland and Perry counties and parts of York, Lebanon and Juniata counties.

So Noted

Brittney Parker has been elected to the board of directors of the Commonwealth Foundation, a Harrisburg-based think tank. Parker is a manager of donor relations for the State Policy Network and, prior to that, served on the staff of the Commonwealth Foundation and the LIBRE Initiative.

Capitol Express Grille opened last month at the corner of N. 2nd and North streets in Harrisburg, offering a variety of sandwich and entrée options, with a focus on Middle Eastern dishes. The storefront last housed Aleco’s, which moved up the block to N. 3rd and Briggs streets.

Eight Oaks Craft Distillers began pouring samples last month in the Broad Street Market’s brick building. The stand sells products such as vodka, rum, gin, applejack and whiskey from the Lehigh County-based spirits company.

Changing Hands

Boas St., 209: V. Padilla to W. Lee, $116,500

Cameron Terr., 1513: Clover Court Investments LLC to M. Lewis, $43,000

Cumberland St., 1725: T. McGarrity to PA Double Dels LLC, $34,500

Emerald St., 218: H. Buda & N. Brown to K. Page, $90,000

Fillmore St., 620: L. Kent to C. Austin, $57,000

Green St., 1008: J. Peirson to J. Iole, $120,000

Green St., 1913: WCI Partners LP to B. & K. Cavanaugh, $129,900

Green St., 2026: A. Brett to Fratelli Property Investments LLC, $119,000

Green St., 2102: J. & N. Fodor to C. Watson, $39,900

Green St., 2104: B. & S. Woodard to 2104 Green Street HBG LLC, $44,000

Hamilton St., 226: J. Shoop to J. Rosado, $159,900

Herr St., 1507: Mussani & Co. LP to P. Akhter, $66,000

Lewis St., 237: M. Horgan & Innovative Devices Inc. to N. Reist, $135,000

Market St., 1918: JPM Property Holdings LLC to Round Rock Investments LLC, $70,000

N. 2^nd St., 909: R. & D. Miller to C. Simmons, $55,000

N. 2^nd St., 1009: Bricker Boys Partnership to J. Kok, $148,000

N. 2^nd St., 1509: Vortex Properties LLC to R. Joseph, $109,000

N. 2^nd St., 1616: D. McCord to M. Smith & D. Root, $190,000

N. 6^th St., 2352: E. Waters to E. Wright, $50,000

N. 15^th St., 1429: K. & R. Thames to J. Ewell & G. Jones, $41,900

N. 16^th St., 907: A. Graves to A. Pollard, $110,000

N. Front St., 1525, Unit 505: L. Bublin to G. & C. Francis, $177,000

N. Front St., 1525, Unit 608: R. Murray Jr. to W. Nugent, $182,500

N. Front St., 1525, Unit 609: N. Borreli to C. Yastishock, $161,500

N. Front St., 2301: J. & V. Zarkin to 2301 North Front Street LLC, $362,500

Penn St., 1524: A. Olives to J. Recordon, $122,500

Regina St., 1434 & 1438: M. Naranjo to J. Gutierrez, $30,000

Revere St., 1615: A. Navarro to S. Wolfe, $74,900

Showers St., 584: W. Jenkins to J. Chacko, $67,500

S. 13^th St., 914: D. & N. Martin to Archie Group LLC, $635,000

S. 16^th St., 434: T. Hong to N. Newman, $36,500

S. 17^th St., 1033: Mortgage Equity Conversion Asset Trust 2011-1 to D&F Realty Holdings LP, $40,900

S. 27^th St., 806: PA Deals LLC to M. Cole, $85,000

S. Cameron St., 830: Cameron Street Associates & Select Capital Corp. to Statewide Enterprises LLC, $100,000

S. River St., 309, 311, 318 & 326: Historical Society of Dauphin County to Allilin LLC, $130,000

State St., 231, Unit 402: LUX 1 LP to LUX Rentals LLC, $124,900

State St., 231, Unit 604: LUX 1 LP to LUX Rentals LLC, $154,900

Susquehanna St., 1712: J. Pittman to W. Sweet, $127,000

Swatara St., 2140: G. & J. Trump to Equity Trust Company, $43,000

Swatara St., 2324: SWM Properties LLC to W. & L. Smith, $125,000

Swatara St., 2413: PI Capital LLC to T. Cooper & R. Stern, $138,900

Tuscarora St., 117: W. Morgan & M. Ford to K. Yesilonis, $157,000

Vineyard Rd., 218: S. & J. Clark to J. Pittman & T. Dierolf, $195,000

Wayne St., 1720: M. Kurtz to Round Rock Investments LLC, $34,000

Harrisburg property sales for September 2017, greater than $30,000. Source: Dauphin County. Data is assumed to be accurate.

2-Way 2nd: Council action brings major road change nearer.

October 25, 2017 | by Lizzy Hardison

Under a city plan, N. 2nd Street, currently three lanes one-way, would be converted to two lanes of two-way traffic in Midtown and Uptown Harrisburg.

Harrisburg is moving closer to making major changes to N. 2nd Street, thanks to a green light from City Council last night.

Council authorized funding for a traffic study and engineering plans to convert N. 2nd Street from one-way to two-way traffic flow. The new pattern would take effect between Division and Forster streets and reduce the current three lanes of traffic to two.

Mayor Eric Papenfuse began advocating for the lane conversion in 2013, during his first mayoral campaign. He believes that rerouting commuter traffic to N. 7th Street and restoring two-way flow to 2nd Street will benefit homeowners and pedestrians near the river.

“We want to give that neighborhood more of a residential feel and make it safer for pedestrians,” Papenfuse told reporters after last night’s council meeting.

According to reporting from TheBurg’s Paul Barker in 2013, the current iteration of 2nd street – three lanes of northbound traffic flanked by two lanes of street parking – came into being during a 1956 transformation of Harrisburg’s major roadways. That year, Harrisburg also converted Front Street into a one-way, three-lane mini-highway, and widened Forster Street to six lanes.

Those road conversions were Harrisburg’s response to a new problem facing American cities in the mid-century: commuter traffic. After World War II, middle- and upper-class whites relocated in droves from cities to suburbs. Their jobs, however, did not necessarily follow, and cities had to accommodate the flood of drivers coming in for the work day.

Many American cities, including Harrisburg, prioritized the new commuter class at the expense of residents and pedestrians. Today, many 2nd Street residents complain about traffic speed and noise.

“People fly down this road,” said Sotirios Ntzanis, owner of Midtown Tavern, located at the corner of Herr and 2^nd streets.

He’s optimistic that the lane conversion will slow down traffic and even benefit small businesses.

“Slower traffic could help with exposure, since a lot of businesses along here get missed,” Ntzanis said.

Other residents worry that the conversion will bring more harm than good. Dave Johnson, who lives on the 1700-block of N. 2nd Street, thinks that his street will get more congested as long as Front Street remains one-way.

“It’s going to get backed up,” Johnson said. “We’ve already got three lanes of constant flow.”

Nicolas Conigliano has lived on the 1000-block of N. 2nd Street for six months. He said that traffic there moves quickly and creates noise, but he’s unsure that a two-way flow would help either problem.

“What I’ve noticed on other streets in the city is people go as fast as they want to go,” Conigliano said.

The resolution approved by council last night also said that the final 2nd Street lane configuration might include bike lanes or a two-way, left-turn lane. Project engineers will also consider the possibility of building a bridge above the railroad tracks at Division Street and Industrial Road.

The city has retained the Maryland-based design firm, Wallace Montgomery & Associates, to perform a traffic study, provide preliminary engineering and final designs. Funding for the project comes from a PennDOT grant.

Papenfuse estimated that six to eight months of planning are necessary before any infrastructure changes could be authorized. During that time, he expects to solicit input from residents and business owners in a series of community meetings.

As part of the changes to 2nd Street, the city also wants to make substantial improvements to several other streets to divert outbound traffic to N. 7th Street and to Division Street.

Eye in the Sky: Harrisburg police brief council on helicopter patrols.

October 24, 2017 | by Lizzy Hardison

Tonight, Harrisburg City Council heard from city police about recent helicopter patrols.

A helicopter hovering over the city last week helped law enforcement officers capture weapons, seize drugs and deter shootings, Harrisburg police officials said tonight.

Police also said that residents should expect additional flyovers in the future.

A helicopter patrolling Harrisburg late Wednesday and Thursday last week drew questions and complaints from many residents. In a tweet, Capt. Gabriel Olivera called it a “proactive policing” technique but offered no other details.

Tonight, police appeared at a City Council meeting to defend so-called “Operation Helicopter” as a means of supporting street crimes officers on the ground.

Police Chief Thomas Carter said that the bureau deployed the helicopter after a spate of shootings in the city, many involving juveniles or shots fired into homes. He said that helicopters can help deter crime and assist ground officers tracking down suspects.

Carter told council that the outcome of the helicopter patrol was “very good.” No shots were fired on streets or into residences on either night of the patrol, and the police were able to seize cash, heroin and firearms from criminals, he said.

He conceded that residents complained about the noise and light the helicopter generated, but said that the outcomes of the operation make it worth repeating.

“Citizens deserve to be policed in the best way possible,” Carter said. “We will see more flyovers.”

Only Harrisburg police, the state police and the mayor knew about last week’s operation in advance, since, according to Carter, announcing patrols makes them less effective.

“We didn’t want to show our hand,” he said.

Mayor Eric Papenfuse explained that the patrols were part of an ongoing partnership with the Pennsylvania State Police, which started a three-month collaboration with Harrisburg’s street crimes unit in September. Papenfuse said that residents can expect to see one or two more patrols before the partnership ends next month.

Olivera said that the helicopter bore no extra cost to Harrisburg or the state police. The fuel costs and wages for last week’s patrols were already included in the state police budget, he said. He did not say how often helicopter patrols will take place in the future.

Olivera also insisted that the aircraft was not actively surveilling activity on the ground. Instead, its pilots responded to calls from ground officers and offered them backup as they investigated incidents.

“It was constantly moving in response to calls,” Olivera said.

Residents were surprised and even frightened to see the helicopter roaming the night skies last week.

At tonight’s council meeting, Uptown resident Kim Jones called the patrols “a nightmare.” She said that the spotlights illuminated the inside of her house until midnight, keeping her infant daughter awake.

Even so, she said she’ll tolerate the patrols if they help to keep the city safe – and if the helicopter moves across different neighborhoods.

“They need a better plan,” Jones said about the helicopter’s flight path. “Don’t have it camped out in one spot. Spread it out.”

On the Nextdoor social media site, which creates neighborhood-specific chat rooms, one Uptown resident said the aircraft made her feel “uneasy,” and others complained about the noise and light.

Papenfuse said that the city has heard from many citizens who want greater police presence in their neighborhoods. He claimed that he got 20 such complaints last week alone, but received no negative correspondence about the helicopter patrols.

“I recognize that this might seem bold or dramatic, but I hope people understand it’s to make the streets safer,” Papenfuse said.

Ideas Offered, Debated as Market Square Plan Moves Forward

October 24, 2017 | by Lizzy Hardison

The CAT bus station at Market Square.

A local civic group wants to make over congested Market Square, which could lead to substantial changes to one of Harrisburg’s most historic and visible intersections.

Harrisburg Young Professionals is conducting a master plan study for the intersection of Market and 2^nd streets. The organization, which has been eyeing a redevelopment project at that location for more than a year, recently tapped Boston-based design firm Sasaki to lead the planning effort.

Sasaki, HYP and Harrisburg-based K&W Engineers last week held a series of stakeholder meetings at the Harrisburg Hilton, which is located on Market Square. Meron Yemane, former president of HYP, estimated that more than 100 people participated in the eight meetings, which were each 45 minutes long.

At the meetings, stakeholders discussed urban spaces in the United States and abroad that Harrisburg could emulate and debated the merits of adding different amenities – such as green spaces or retail outlets—to Market Square.

Yemane said that urban planners from Sasaki will use the input from those meetings to begin drafting a master plan, which HYP hopes will be finished in spring 2018.

From there, HYP will continue to facilitate discussions with stakeholders, Yemane said, and potentially help identify funding for a large-scale project.

Market Square was part of the original, circa-1785 plan for Harrisburg and was the site of the city’s first market area, dismantled in 1889. It currently is dominated by several large structures, including the Hilton, the Penn National Insurance Building and Dauphin County Administration Building. One corner also serves as a hub for CAT buses.

Yemane said that the area’s proximity to the highway, riverfront and retail and dining establishments make it a potential cornerstone of Harrisburg.

“It has the potential to be a postcard image for the city,” said Yemane.

Beyond that, he was hesitant to offer a vision for what the new Market Square could look like. He said the master plan might recommend beautification measures, such as adding more trees and lighting. The plan will also help stakeholders determine whether Market Square is best suited to retail, residential or leisure amenities, or a combination of the three.

According to Sasaki, relocating the bus station is one option. Last year, PennDOT released concepts for the area around the Harrisburg Transportation Center that included a new home for the bus station.

Yemane said that much of the planning effort thus far has been funded privately and that the business community “really stepped up” when HYP decided to bring in Sasaki.

HYP also hired the economic planning company, Landwise, to evaluate the financial feasibility of different projects that could be outlined in the master plan. Yemane said that the firm has helped HYP evaluate federal grant options, though they expect that any major changes to Market Square will require private dollars.

“We recognize the limited resources of the city, but we want to be good stewards of Harrisburg and work with them to identify what’s possible,” Yemane said.

Don’t Dump Here: Harrisburg concludes city codes meetings.

October 20, 2017 | by Lizzy Hardison

A Harrisburg resident asks a question during last night’s meeting about city codes and codes enforcement.

Who do you call when a neighbor is dumping trash illegally? And how do you find out if the apartment next door is an unlicensed flop house?

City officials answered these questions and others in a meeting at Hamilton Health Center last night, where residents were invited to ask about the city’s code enforcement process. A similar event was held one night earlier at Camp Curtin YMCA.

Councilman Cornelius Johnson said the purpose of the meetings was to correct public misconceptions about the codes process and gather ideas for amending Harrisburg’s code handbook. Here’s what emerged as common questions throughout the evening:

Illegal dumping
Dumping trash on city streets and vacant lots is a criminal act that requires response from the Harrisburg Police Bureau. But since Harrisburg’s non-emergency police line routes to the Dauphin County dispatch, some residents said they’ve been referred to the codes office instead.

If you see illegal dumping in your neighborhood, Johnson recommends calling Harrisburg’s 311 number during normal business hours. Ask the switchboard officer to direct you to Harrisburg police and log your complaint there.

Blighted properties
Harrisburg has more blighted properties than it can manage. City codes officials can board up properties that are unfit for human habitation, but residents report that squatters break into the sealed homes and establish residence there.

City Codes Administrator David Patton said that his department is fighting blight with a limited budget. The city maintains a list of condemned properties slated for demolition, which currently has more than 250 properties on it, Johnson said. He estimated that the city’s $120,000 demolition budget only allows it to tackle between 17 and 25 properties a year.

Mayor Eric Papenfuse said that the city hopes to significantly increase the demolition budget for the 2018 fiscal year. Raising it to $250,000 from its current $120,000 would allow the city to demolish closer to 30 or 40 properties, he said.

Patton asked residents to remain vigilant in reporting blighted properties. The codes office triages its demolition list and acts first on the properties that pose the greatest public safety risk. If squatters have broken into blighted properties, file a complaint with the codes office so they can seal it again.

Filing a codes complaint
Johnson said that the city clearly needs an electronic system for submitting codes complaints. Right now, residents can download the paperwork to file a complaint online, but must submit the form in hard copy to city hall. Johnson said that creating an electronic submission system is a long-term goal. He also hopes the city can implement a way for citizens to track the status of the complaints they’ve filed.

Finding property owners and rental licenses
If you want to know who owns a property, you can search its address on www.dauphinpropertyinfo.com. Sometimes, however, the owner listed on the deed is a company that no longer exists or an investor who has changed his contact information. If the property is a rental unit, you can try to search the owner’s rental license through the city’s Mercantile Office.

There is more information about codes enforcement on the city’s website.

Burg Blog: You Might Also Like Harrisburg

October 19, 2017 | by Lawrance Binda

The former Harrisburg State Hospital grounds, which is being proposed as the site of Amazon’s second headquarters.

Today marks the application deadline for what is certainly one of the strangest episodes in American business history—the race among cities, towns and states for the second headquarters of online retail giant Amazon.com.

For a pop culture analogy, one need look no farther than that wacky classic movie, “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.”

In the 1963 film, a bunch of colorful characters scheme, compete, cooperate and go crazy with greed after a notorious thief, about to die, tells them that he has buried a fortune in a public park.

In the real-life case of Amazon.com, CEO Jeff Bezos put in motion the madcap treasure chase, but among America’s mayors, city managers and county commissioners with the lure of 50,000 high-paying jobs.

And madcap it has proven to be.

New Jersey has proposed $7 billion in tax breaks; Frisco, Texas, has volunteered to turn itself into a company town; and tiny Stoneville, Ga., has proposed renaming a part of itself “Amazon.”

These are the governmental equivalents of renting a sputtering biplane to beat everyone else to a sack of money buried beneath a giant “W.”

So, where does that leave south-central Pennsylvania?

Back in early September, when Amazon unleashed the madness, the company listed several criteria that it wanted for its second headquarters, including an urban center with a population of at least 1 million people, a “business-friendly” environment and the ability to attract and retain technical talent. It’s also believed that Amazon would smile upon access to transit, strong cultural and nightlife amenities and a generally progressive environment—i.e., things favored by a young, educated, IT-savvy workforce.

Given these criteria, the Harrisburg area would seem unlikely to make the cut. However, to me, the fascinating thing is this—our area is actually a great fit for so-called HQ2, if only Amazon were willing to think outside its branded cardboard box.

First, let’s tackle the population requirement, which seems, right off, to knock our area out of competition. Sure, Harrisburg proper is tiny, but, as has been pointed out by local boosters, south-central PA combined does approach 1 million people. However, why does this matter at all?

I think the requirement exists because Amazon doesn’t want to be in the middle of nowhere. That’s understandable. But location is actually one of our area’s strongest draws for people who move here. It’s perfectly situated near several major metros, but also isn’t trapped inside any of them (if you’ve ever been stuck in traffic on the Washington Beltway, you know what I mean by being “trapped” in a city). It’s often faster to drive from Harrisburg to Rockville, Md., than to drive to that suburban boomtown from parts of neighboring Prince George’s County.

There’s also room to grow. Our area has large amounts of available, buildable, affordable land, as well as a city with an enormous quantity of underused, undervalued, ramshackle and even empty housing, much of it historic and potentially beautiful if restored. Harrisburg was built to accommodate about 100,000 people, but today has only half that many.

Certainly, with HQ2, there would be growing pains and a need to improve roads, but that’s true of any metro area that lands the coveted prize. It’s hard for me to imagine how several cities that seem to be leading contenders, such as Boston and Washington, D.C., can absorb 50,000 more workers—and their cars. Meanwhile, Harrisburg also has the benefit of easy access to an underutilized airport and a rail infrastructure that once accommodated hundreds of trains a day.

In addition, Harrisburg has what many major East Coast cities lack—easy, fast ways out. Within a short drive, you can be hiking or camping or at the beach or mountains. Or you’re in the famous Pennsylvania Dutch countryside or at a brewery or winery. Or you’re in Lancaster or York or Carlisle exploring shops, galleries and restaurants in those historic, quaint towns.

But that last point brings me to why, despite a valiant effort, our area won’t be taken seriously as a contender.

No, it’s not a lack of population or insufficient tax incentives or even our dysfunctional state government. Harrisburg’s application won’t be considered because our area is far, far off of Amazon’s radar. There’s little chance that the site selection committee, 3,000 miles away in Seattle, knows much, if anything, about this mystery region along the lower Susquehanna River.

I speak from some experience.

For years, I lived in D.C., which isn’t far away, but I never considered south-central Pennsylvania as a place to go. Then I moved up here and found all this amazing stuff: towns, sites, nature, trails, restaurants. Why didn’t I know about these before?

It shouldn’t be this way. Cities like Harrisburg, Lancaster, York, Carlisle, Lebanon; towns like Gettysburg, Elizabethtown, Hershey, Hanover, Newport, New Oxford; surrounding villages and countryside—all share a history, a geography, a climate, a cuisine and a character. Like family members, each is unique but also pieces of a sensible, natural whole.

Several of our area’s officials, including Harrisburg Mayor Eric Papenfuse, have told TheBurg that, if nothing else, the Amazon application will serve as a great exercise in regional cooperation. Here’s hoping that’s true, that the application process is the beginning of viewing ourselves as an identifiable, even marketable, six-county community, not as isolated pockets of people who just happen to live near each other. We already share a sensibility and spirit; we just now need to build upon it for the greater good, carving out a regional identity in the process.

So, no, we won’t lose the mad scramble for the Amazon fortune primarily because we lack a subway or because Buckhead is cooler, but because of—well, what exactly is south-central Pennsylvania anyway and why should I be there? That’s the problem we need to fix. And it’s fixable. In our case, the sum of the whole is far greater than the individual parts.

Harrisburg Begins Buying Sinkhole-Affected Houses; Some Residents Unprepared to Leave.

October 17, 2017 | by Lizzy Hardison

Harrisburg Mayor Eric Papenfuse today announced the first purchase of sinkhole-affected houses along S. 14th Street.

More than 3½ years after a sinkhole erupted on a residential block of S. 14^th Street, Harrisburg has started to relieve homeowners of their worthless properties, though some residents say that they still have nowhere to move.

By the end of the day on Tuesday, Harrisburg will own seven of the 52 homes on the block, Mayor Eric Papenfuse announced at a press conference held today on the sinkhole-ravaged street. Ten homes are scheduled for closings this week, and the city is on track to purchase all 52 affected properties by Dec. 31.

“It’s been a very complicated and drawn-out process,” Papenfuse said.

He reported that the purchasing program is the first of its kind in the nation, since sinkhole events are not usually covered by natural disaster relief dollars.

“Today, we are celebrating that this final phase is beginning,” he said.

Despite today’s announcement, some residents said that they aren’t prepared to move by year-end. Ronald Cook came out of his S. 14th Street house when he saw camera crews setting up for Tuesday’s press conference. That was when he learned about the city’s Dec. 31 deadline for closings, he said.

“I’m not ready to move,” Cook said. “We’ve got nowhere to go.”

He claims that the sale of his house has been delayed because it needs a water quality test, which he said was scheduled for last week but postponed.

Ronald Cook stands outside his house on S. 14th Street.

Papenfuse said on Tuesday that the city was connecting displaced homeowners with realtors, but Cook said he hasn’t gotten that assistance. He has lived in his home on S. 14^th Street for 18 years in a rent-to-own arrangement. He said he’d rather buy a new home than rent, but fears that poor credit will limit his options.

“I don’t know what I can do,” he said.

Willie Nix lives in a rental property on S. 14^th Street. As a tenant, he is entitled to relocation assistance from federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding. He said he’s still waiting on a housing reassignment.

Papenfuse and Jackie Parker, director of the city’s Department of Community Economic Development, said that the city has been in continual contact with S. 14^th street residents ever since the sinkhole opened in 2014.

Parker also said that the Dec. 31 closing deadline was negotiable, since each property sale is highly individual. The grants funding the home purchases technically expire on Dec. 31, but Parker said that homeowners do have the opportunity to extend.

“Nobody has to move by any particular time,” Parker said. “Every property owner has a unique situation and unique closing opportunity and paperwork. No two are the same.”

Almost $1 million of the funding will be used to relocate tenants, since 26 of the properties were rental units.

Parker said that each home purchase and relocation is governed by strict guidelines, and the city brought on consulting firms to handle property closings and tenant relocation. Under CDBG guidelines, relocation specialists can help tenants identify safe, fair-value housing and obtain reimbursement for moving costs, security deposits and rental application fees.

The 52 homes will eventually be demolished. Since the city cannot build on the site, it will allow the entire block to become a community green space, Papenfuse said.

Correction: this story was edited to clarify Ronald Cook’s home ownership status. Cook is not documented owner of 1408 S. 14th street, but entered a rent-to-own agreement with the property owner when he moved into the house 18 years ago.

$100,000 Idea: Startups make their best pitches at “Rise of the Rest.”

October 10, 2017 | by Lizzy Hardison

Linsey Covert pitches her startup, TEAMology, today before the “Rise of the Rest” judges, including AOL founder Steve Case (seated right), at H*MAC.

It’s not every day that a billionaire comes to town and cuts a check for $100,000.

But that happened today when Steve Case, a venture capitalist and founder of AOL, came to central Pennsylvania with his “Rise of the Rest” tour, which stopped in York and Lancaster before ending in Harrisburg.

“Rise of the Rest” is a series of nationwide events promoting innovation outside of coastal areas. At each stop on the tour, Case visits local businesses, meets entrepreneurs and policy leaders and hosts a pitch competition for nascent startups.

The winner of the pitch competition receives a $100,000 investment from Case.

Today, that money went to Device Events, a York startup whose cloud-based software extracts and aggregates FDA data on adverse medical events and recalls. Founder and CEO Madris Tomes delivered the company’s pitch and accepted the prize money at the competition.

The central Pennsylvania pitch competition took place at H*MAC and was open to startups from the greater Harrisburg, Lancaster and York metro area.

Each of the nine startups had four minutes to deliver a pitch to Case and the judges. The six judges, who included Rosa Stroh, retired vice president and treasurer of the Hershey Co., and Timothy Reese, former Pennsylvania treasurer, had an equal amount of time to ask the entrepreneurs questions.

Before the pitch competition, Case participated in a moderated discussion at H*MAC with Penn State President Eric Barron. Gov. Tom Wolf appeared to give opening remarks, calling on central Pennsylvania to mend its regional divisions.

“I say I’m from York County, but really, we’re all from central Pennsylvania,” Wolf said. “Together, we’re probably better than we even think we are.”

During the discussion, Case said that the regionalism he’s noticed in central Pennsylvania could hurt the area as a whole.

“Lancaster, Harrisburg and York will rise faster if it’s about central Pennsylvania, but that requires you to be more collaborative and less parochial,” he said.

Case praised the region for its strong work ethic and “humility.” He also said that central Pennsylvania has ample capital and wealth, as well as a population with expertise in many diverse sectors.

Case and Barron also touched on topics including diversity in tech and how to create opportunities for low-income or indebted students. Barron said that many low-income or first-generation college students have to be risk adverse, but the United States will have a “national problem” if they are precluded from entrepreneurship.

“There’s a whole population of creative, hardworking people who can’t take a step to get an idea out there, and we have to think about enabling those individuals,” Barron said.

He and Case discussed policies that would make the tech world more accessible for students, such as a loan deferment program for entrepreneurs or university scholarships for students to complete tech internships.

A 2017 Brookings Institute report found that entrepreneurship is driving economic growth in the Harrisburg metro area. Between 2010 and 2015, jobs at young firms (those aged five years or less) grew by 16.8 percent, the report said.

During the same time period, however, annual wages fell for African Americans and Asians in the region.

That trend mirrors national data suggesting that the tech boom isn’t benefitting all Americans equally. Case and Barron discussed the fact that less than 10 percent of tech funding goes to women, and less than 1 percent to African Americans.

Pending Trump visit outside Harrisburg limits, mayor says city never reimbursed for April rally.

October 9, 2017 | by Lizzy Hardison

Trump held a rally at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex in April to mark his 100th day in the office, but he’ll speak outside of the city when he returns to the region this Wednesday.

President Donald Trump still hasn’t settled his tab with the city of Harrisburg, but he reportedly won’t add to it when he visits the region on Wednesday.

Mayor Eric Papenfuse confirmed this afternoon that the city has not received tens of thousands of dollars in security bills from Trump’s April rally at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex.

Trump visited in April to mark his 100th day in office, delivering a lengthy, boastful speech about his administration and a vicious attack on the press. The speech was touted as a campaign event for the 2020 election cycle, and the city billed the Trump campaign for the extra security.

The White House confirmed late last Friday that the president would make another visit to the Harrisburg region this Wednesday to promote his tax plan. Details about the appearance were scant, however, and his administration has not yet announced a time or place.

Papenfuse said on Monday that the event would not be held in Harrisburg city limits, but he declined to comment on the specific venue.

He did, however, confirm that the city is also also waiting on payments from Hillary Clinton’s campaign, which made stops at Broad Street Market and Zembo Shrine in 2016.

Papenfuse doesn’t expect to see money from either campaign anytime soon.

“I don’t think we realistically anticipate getting paid,” Papenfuse said.

Water Work: CRW starts main replacement project.

October 4, 2017 | by Lawrance Binda

Capital Region Water announced today that it has kicked off a $830,000 water main improvement project.

The project will install 2,915 feet of 6-inch diameter water main to improve water quality, service reliability and flow for fire protection in Harrisburg, Penbrook and Susquehanna Township, according to CRW.

Potential impacts of this construction include street closures, parking restrictions, construction noise, temporary water service interruption and temporary roadway patching, CRW said. Project locations are:

Swatara Street between 21st Street and 22nd Street, Harrisburg
Hoffer Lane between 28th Street and Market Street, Penbrook
Hoffer Street between 28th Street and Market Street, Penbrook
Motter Street between Hoffer Street and Boas Street, Penbrook
Shell Street between Schoolhouse Lane and Rustic Drive, Susquehanna Township
Locust Alley between Cloverfield Road and N. 39th Street, Susquehanna Township
Rauch Street between Sterling Alley and Plainview Street, Susquehanna Township

Construction already has began at the first location at Hoffer Street between Market and 28th Street, said Andrew Bliss, CRW community outreach manager. He said all pipes will be installed by year-end, with final street restoration in the spring.

Construction hours will be Monday to Friday, 7 a,m, to 5 p.m. This project will not require access to customers’ homes, and additional details will be provided to properties adjacent to the project locations in advance through door-to-door outreach, said CRW.

“This project is just one example of Capital Region Water’s proactive efforts to provide the highest quality water and reliable service while operating our system efficiently,” said CRW board Chairman Marc Kurowski. “We appreciate our customers’ patience while these improvements are made.”

Customers with questions can contact CRW by phone at 888-510-0606 or by email at [email protected].

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