Tag Archives: Standard Parking

Parking Advisory committee meeting incredibly short, sparsely attended

May 28, 2019 | by Mary Imgrund

Tuesday’s meeting of the Park Harrisburg Advisory Committee

Despite constant complaints about parking in Harrisburg, only three members of the public showed up Tuesday night for a rare Park Harrisburg Advisory Committee meeting, which was was short, quiet and methodical.

Nancy Keim, deputy executive director of the Harrisburg Parking Authority, enumerated what she considered to be the parking system’s 2018 successes: increased use of the ParkMobile parking app, which now accounts for about one-third of all transactions; event parking rates for visitors attending festivals; and 12 electric car charging stations installed in partnership with the commonwealth.

Also in 2018, Park Harrisburg received less revenue overall, but that shortfall was offset by lower expenses, she said. So, it was able to deposit about $1 million into its capital reserve fund, the first money put into reserve since 2014.

Capital improvement projects from last year focused on fixing the Locust and Chestnut street garages, with both projects finishing under budget, she said.

Objectives for this year include a retrofit of the Walnut Street garage’s elevators and continued concrete work at the Chestnut Street garage, she said.

This year, the committee anticipates that the system will lose some $760,000 due to increased costs, which may negatively affect 2019’s payment to the city.

Few residents were in attendance for the brief meeting, despite frustrations often articulated about parking in Harrisburg and the fact that the committee had not met publicly in well more than a year. However, those in attendance offered thoughtful commentary.

Michael Hertrich, a Midtown transplant from Pittsburgh, said that existing parking policies harmed residents and stifled small businesses.

“I owned and operated a business in the south side of Pittsburgh for 30 years, and I’m looking to open a business in the City of Harrisburg,” he began. “But I need someone to explain to me why I would consider opening a business in a city that doesn’t promote small business. Right now, it is totally stifled by your parking system.”

He suggested that Harrisburg could learn from the experiences in his former area of Pittsburgh. For instance, Park Harrisburg could allow a window of free parking in permit-only areas or allow residents to buy yearly guest permits to accommodate deliveries, home repairs, neighbor visits, or other happenings of a healthy urban center, he said.

Another resident, AJ Knee, said that he’s generally thankful for Park Harrisburg, but believes that signage should be made clearer and the committee should implement a way to transfer residential permits in the case of rental vehicles.

Following the public comment period, the meeting ended abruptly after about 20 minutes, without the committee addressing the comments and concerns of residents.

The next public Advisory Committee meeting is slated for later this year, likely in November or December.

In the Year 2050, 2050: Predictions, progress and unintended consequences.

April 30, 2018 | by Lawrance Binda

Illustration by Rich Hauck.

From her perch at Zeroday Brewing Co., a friend recently texted me with a question about Harrisburg’s parking system.

A fellow barstool-sitter wanted to know how long Harrisburg’s lease ran with Standard Parking. So, naturally, she texted me.

“Is it 75 years?” she wrote.

“No,” I responded back. “Forty years. Thirty-six more to go.”

Afterwards, I began to think about the passage of time, how I may or may not be walking the Earth by the time the agreement expires (conclusion: probably not). Then I pondered Harrisburg itself, how it might be different by then.

Predicting the future may be a fool’s game, but this fool is game, if only because I’m fascinated by the changes in this city, current and planned. In addition, I believe that Harrisburg has entered a new phase in its story, the fourth in my estimation (the prior ones being pre-industrial, industrial and post-industrial).

I’m not certain exactly what we’ll call this new era, but I expect it will be driven by Harrisburg’s strong advantages (old, dense housing stock, walkability, beautiful setting, superb location), along with and facilitated by, a heavy dose of technology.

Parking will fade as an issue (in a way).

There’s a huge problem with a 40-year deal, and that problem is, whether or not you even realize it, you’re making a bet on the future. You’re gambling that the conditions on the ground at the time of the agreement will remain substantially unchanged throughout it. But will they?

My guess is that, with the parking deal, they will change. In fact, just four years in, we’re already seeing possible problems that were not evident in 2014.

The agreement rested on the reasonable assumption that demand for parking would remain the same or even increase over time. But that’s probably wrong.

No, I haven’t turned into a Harrisburg hater, one of the legions of trolls who seem to delight in (and exaggerate) every problem the city has. In fact, over the long turn, I’m bullish on both business in and visitors to the downtown.

However, I’m not bullish on the use of private automobiles.

I live downtown, so walk almost everywhere anyway. But, when I meet up with a friend who lives Uptown or outside the city—even as near as Midtown—they take Uber downtown, whereas, until recently, they all were driving and paying for parking. If, five or 10 years down the road, driverless cars become common, this trend will only accelerate.

So, my prediction—more people downtown, but fewer cars. This will be great for downtown businesses, but potentially disastrous for the parking deal.

Harrisburg’s population will increase substantially

Do I hear 5,000, 10,000, 20,000 more people?

In recent years, Harrisburg’s population has stabilized, which may be the first step in reversing decades of decline. This isn’t wishful thinking, but the result of simply seeing what’s happening around me.

Ten years ago, the city’s streets seemed empty, the sidewalks even more so, and downtown and Midtown were thick with once-grand buildings that had fallen to ruin. Change has come in a short timeframe. Many blighted buildings have been put back into productive use, and street life is returning.

The future seems even more promising. Over the just the past few months, Harrisburg University announced a mixed-used high rise, the new federal courthouse received funding and the first new house was sold at MulDer Square, to name just a few projects. There are now ambitious proposals for Paxton Creek, the train station area, Market Square and 2nd Street, which could revitalize entire swaths of the city.

Despite this progress, much of Harrisburg remains in poor shape, with empty lots, underused buildings and not enough people.

The upside here is that there’s great opportunity for infill and expansion. Harrisburg easily can accommodate tens of thousands more people, as long as the demand exists for that housing.

To accomplish this, though, the city will need to reach some type of psychic comfort with development and growth. Outsiders and investment should be welcomed, not treated with disdain.

The city/suburb, east shore/west shore split will ease.

Years ago, when I lived in Washington, D.C., the Potomac River divided that city and its suburbs much like the Susquehanna River does here today. Suburbanites claimed they were afraid to come into D.C. less they be mugged or worse, and early Internet bulletin boards were full of the same racist nonsense and fearmongering that you often see today in the PennLive comment section.

In Washington, much of that has faded. Today, there is far more fluid movement between city and suburb, with the entire area more comfortable in identifying itself as a unified region. Finally, the “National Capital Area” has, indeed, become exactly that.

But what about Pennsylvania’s capital region? As Harrisburg continues to redevelop, I believe that greater unity will be found here, too. The city once again will be regarded as the center of an integrated urban area, not as the hole in the doughnut.

Harrisburg has a destiny to fulfill. Someday, it will take its place as a gem of a small city perfectly situated on a grand river. It will just take some time, patience, capital and the good will, mutual support and understanding of well-intentioned people.

Lawrance Binda is editor-in-chief of TheBurg.

Harrisburg Freezes Over: Free downtown parking to begin next week.

March 27, 2018 | by Lizzy Hardison

Harrisburg Mayor Eric Papenfuse this morning announced the imminent arrival of free “happy hour” parking in much of downtown.

Spring is in the air, and free parking is on the horizon for much of Harrisburg’s downtown.

Parking within the boundaries of the Harrisburg Downtown Improvement District (HDID) will be free after 5 p.m. starting next Monday, April 2, Mayor Eric Papenfuse announced this morning. The free rate will be in effect for a one-year trial period.

Papenfuse stressed this morning that the deal would only apply to metered spots between State and Mulberry streets. Rates will still be enforced at city garages and metered parking spots outside of that zone.

A map of downtown Harrisburg’s coming free parking zone after 5 p.m.

Papenfuse hopes that the targeted elimination of evening parking enforcement will bring more patrons to downtown businesses. Harrisburg City Council approved the deal this month after restaurant owners complained that the current $2 per hour evening parking rate hurt their business revenues.

The policy change comes after Harrisburg entered a “Memorandum of Understanding” with the Dauphin County Commissioners and HDID to offset meter costs from 5 to 7 p.m. for meters within the business zone. Harrisburg and Dauphin County will contribute $110,000 each and HDID will kick in $50,000, bringing the total cost of the subsidy to $270,000.

That money will be paid to SP+ and Standard Parking, the entities that took control of Harrisburg’s municipal parking system as part of a debt restructuring plan in 2014. The $270,000 sum represents the total revenue SP+ has collected from meters and enforcement fines between 5 and 7 p.m. in the HDID zone.

Papenfuse said that Monday, April 2, also marks the start of the second business quarter, which will allow SP+, HDID and the local government entities to track the effectiveness of free parking on business revenues. Members of City Council have said that they will only renew the deal next year if it carries a clear economic development incentive.

No Charge: Could free parking be coming to downtown Harrisburg?

February 20, 2018 | by Lawrance Binda

A parking meter on 2nd Street in downtown Harrisburg.

Harrisburg restaurateur Steve Weinstock has seen his dinner business drop since downtown parking rates doubled four years ago.

Weinstock, the owner of Stock’s on 2^nd and Carley’s Ristorante, said that downtown restaurants like his have experienced dinner-hour declines after the city relinquished control of the parking system as part of its financial recovery plan in early 2014. Afterwards, the cost to park on downtown streets skyrocketed from $1.50 to $3 per hour, leading fewer people to park and patronize the long line of restaurants along and near N. 2nd Street.

“It’s sad to see,” he told members of Harrisburg City Council, who held their semi-monthly work session tonight. “The streets are empty.”

There may be some hope for Weinstock and other downtown business owners, as council tonight learned about a complex plan to make downtown parking free after 5 p.m.

Council is expected to vote as early as next week on a memorandum of understanding in which the city, Dauphin County and the Harrisburg Downtown Improvement District (HDID) would join forces to offset lost revenue that the system now generates between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Under the agreement, the three entities would pitch in to pay Park Harrisburg $270,000 a year to make up for lost street parking revenue. Harrisburg and the county each would pony up $110,000, while the HDID would kick in $50,000.

Mayor Eric Papenfuse told council that the city’s share would come from the “hold-back fund,” an amount of money that Park Harrisburg already owes the city and is “holding back” until the parking operator finalizes a budget. That account has about $550,000 in it, he said.

The county and HDID already have OK’d the agreement.

Papenfuse said that he also expected to get approvals from system manager SP+, which is Park Harrisburg’s parent company, and the Pennsylvania Economic Development Financing Authority (PEDFA), which controls the city’s parking assets under a long-term lease. These entities, he said, don’t care how they get paid as long as they receive the same $270,000 that the system generated during the two-hour time slot last year.

Originally, the city, county and HDID had hoped to make their agreement a three-year deal. However, Harrisburg council pushed back, limiting it to just one year so that they could judge its effectiveness.

“I want to see if revenue picks up from 5 to 7,” said council President Wanda Williams. “I want to make sure it’s working.”

Since 2014, the city has tried several tactics to mitigate the high cost of street parking. First, the Papenfuse administration convinced the system’s operators to lower the “happy hour” rate from $3 to $2 an hour between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. It later turned many of downtown’s loading zones into 15-minute free parking areas for quick trips.

However, neither of these moves seems to have done the trick, and downtown bar and restaurant owners continue to complain about a loss of business, which they largely blame on high parking rates. The problem seems especially acute after work, as fewer state and downtown workers stick around for happy hour and dinner, business owners have said.

If implemented, the no-fee plan would come with some conditions. First, it would apply only to street, not garage, parking. Secondly, it would take effect only within the HDID boundaries, which run downtown from State to Chestnut streets.

While council seemed generally in favor of the proposal, Councilman Westburn Majors said he was concerned that Park Harrisburg would redeploy its personnel to increase enforcement outside of the free parking zone.

“I’m concerned that other areas then would have higher enforcement,” he said. “I want to see new business downtown, but I also want to see business in Midtown, Allison Hill, all over the city of Harrisburg.”

Papenfuse pushed back, saying that he didn’t think enforcement could get any stricter.

“I don’t know how much worse it could be,” he said.

Council also criticized Park Harrisburg for both its lack of communication with the city and for showing little understanding or care about the effect of high parking rates on businesses, which, they believe, has also meant fewer customers and, ultimately, less revenue for the parking operator.

“I’m flabbergasted that, after four years, there’s no indication that Standard Parking (SP+) wants to be a partner with the business community,” said Councilman Ben Allatt. “I wonder—where is it going to go from here?”

This story has been updated.

Parking Problems: City residents continue to gripe about rates, service as Park Harrisburg board meets

December 13, 2016 | by Danielle Roth

Harrisburg resident Les Ford shared his concerns with the board of Park Harrisburg on Dec. 13.

Park Harrisburg has operated and enforced Harrisburg’s street and garage parking for two years now. Yet residents at last night’s public parking meeting said the independent organization has not adapted to their needs.

A millennial said it took him several weeks to figure out how to use the Pango app, which allows motorists to buy parking time from their mobile devices. Several senior citizens echoed his sentiments, adding that the meters take too long to “warm up” during cold temperatures.

Harrisburg resident Les Ford recounted the story of an 83-year-old couple standing at a meter trying to figure out what happened to the screen.

“The problem is that that was two years ago,” he said. “Nothing has changed.”

Residents said the meters do not clearly denote hourly prices, discounts and holidays.

“I know that Dec. 25 is a holiday, but what about Dec. 26?” a resident asked.

With a decision to increase parking rates looming, Harrisburg residents and visitors may have more to lament.

John Gass, the director of parking system manager Trimont, said that Park Harrisburg will announce a rate increase in late December. He did not say what type—for street parking, garages or enforcement—or give any specifics to the increase.

In order to make bond payments, Gass said he sees the only two options as increasing revenue and decreasing expenses. He said revenues and operating expenses are on budget for 2016.

Standard Parking Regional Manager Jon Kemp announced yesterday that the company has decreased expenses by $60,000 this year by implementing two projects.

First, changing electricity providers from PPL Electric Utilities decreased the rate for electricity, he said. In addition, updating to energy-efficient LED lights in the four most outdated garages – River Street, Walnut Street, 5^th Street and Chestnut Street – saved Park Harrisburg $33,000 from July to September, Kemp said.

Park Harrisburg typically has two public meetings per year. Chris Sherman, senior vice president of SP+ Municipal Services, which manages Park Harrisburg, said he did not know when the next meeting would be held.

Author: Danielle Roth

Car Models: The beautiful, the sleek strut their stuff for Supercars on State Street.

June 30, 2016 | by Phyllis Zimmerman

Not every exotic car show is a memorial tribute to a friend’s mother, but that’s exactly what motivated Evan Ross to start Supercars on State Street.

Ross, a 2011 Central Dauphin High School graduate now living in Florida, began the annual event in 2010 to benefit the American Cancer Society in honor of Patti Burkhardt, who lost her life to breast cancer at 42. She was the mother of Evan Ross’ close friend, Sarah Burkhardt.

“It’s a labor of love,” Ross said of the car show.

This year’s event, scheduled for July 30, features makes of cars—Maserati, DeLorean and Lotus, for example—not often seen on the streets of Harrisburg. The show quickly has become one of the largest exotic car shows in the northeast. Last year, 350 registrants hailed from 11 states, numbers that organizers expect to top.

“You typically don’t see a lot of Lamborghinis and Ferraris around Harrisburg,” said Ed Ross of Susquehanna Township, who organizes Supercars with son, Evan. “Other car shows in the area are for cars that are antiques, classics or muscle cars.”

Evan Ross never knew Patti Burkhardt because she died months before he and Sarah Burkhardt met as sixth-graders at Linglestown Junior High. What he did know, however, was that his young friend bore a painful grief from her mother’s early death that would never totally ebb.

Today, Sarah Burkhardt, a first-grade teacher in the East Pennsboro School District, carries memories of her mother that are warm and wistful.

“As soon as you walked into a room, my mom could make you smile,” she said. “She was the glue that held the family together. She was always good at bringing out the best in people.”

Passion for Cars

As teens, Sarah and Evan began taking part in fundraisers like car washes and the “Making Strides Against Breast Cancer” walk held each year on City Island to benefit the Patti’s Light Foundation, named in honor of Sarah’s mother.

Then Evan came up with the idea to hold a car show fundraiser that would benefit the American Cancer Society in Patti Burkhardt’s honor. Supercars on State Street was born.

“I just always had a passion for cars,” Evan explained. “It sparked my interest. I thought (the car show) would be fun and a surprise for Sarah with a check in her mother’s memory. I thought it could be something that she was involved with and not have to do a lot of work.”

Sarah said she didn’t know anything about what was happening until Evan told her to come to State Street one Saturday morning in the summer of 2010. That’s where she spotted 60 exotic cars lined up near the state Capitol complex for what was the first Supercars on State Street.

“She was shocked,” Evan recalled

“I was really surprised. I had no clue,” Sarah recounted. “Evan just told me to that I had to be at State Street. He didn’t say anything about a car show. He was just one of those people who was always there for me. It was just such an honor that he would do this.”

For the first year, Supercars on State Street raised $2,100 for the American Cancer Society. Last year, the show raised around $10,000, pulling in a total of more than $30,000 in its first five years. Ed Ross said he hopes this year’s show earns $20,000.

Ed Ross, who lives in Lower Paxton Township, said that he does most of the “local duties,” while Evan takes care of the show’s website from Florida.

“My son and I have always been interested in cars,” he noted. “We’ve been to a lot of car shows, so we had some idea of what it involved to organize one. However, a lot of cars shows are held at fairgrounds. They don’t have to deal with a lot of logistics that we do.”

Many Friends

The show runs on State Street from Front Street to 3rd Street, and on Front Street from Forster Street to the Walnut Street Bridge. For the first time this year, cars also will be shown on N. 3^rd Street from South Street to North Street, which includes 120 parking spaces situated near the steps leading to the Capitol.

One of Ed’s many duties is wrestling with several local agencies to clear parking for the event, which includes pre-show parking on City Island. This year, the job has been made a little easier, said Ed, because Standard Parking has become an event sponsor. Until now, the Rosses were forced to buy out parking meters in the area of the show.

Ed also makes the show’s trophies, which are comprised of a wood base topped with various used car parts. This year’s award categories will highlight five Ferrari classes, with the remainder being People’s Choice awards.

Over the years, the Rosses have made many friends through the show, including Adam Frank of Monroe Township. Frank said he helps out and has participated in the show for the past three years after first learning about it on social media.

“Today, I was passing out show flyers in the State Street area,” he said. “I like being at the show and seeing people from all over the country with their support. I heard that this is one of the biggest car shows on the whole East Coast. We love to do charity.”

Supercars on State Street takes place in downtown Harrisburg on July 30, noon to 5 p.m. Vehicle check-in runs 8 to 11 a.m. For more information, visit www.supercarsonstatestreet.com.

April News Digest

April 29, 2016 | by Lawrance Binda

Road Plan Revealed

Harrisburg last month unveiled a plan to make major improvements to 6^th, 7^th and Division streets.

City Engineer Wayne Martin, along with consultant Craig Bachik, presented the results of a study to improve traffic flow and safety along those three major city arteries, a plan that includes adding traffic circles, building pedestrian bump-outs and increasing green space.

Martin said the plan was designed with pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists in mind, in that order.

The study was funded by a $27,000 grant from the Harrisburg Area Transportation Study, with an $8,000 matching grant from the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA). It came about because PennDOT requested a study before the city proceeds with a plan to return N. 2^nd Street to two-way traffic from Forster to Division streets, said Martin.

The proposed improvements include constructing a series of roundabouts at busy intersections, including at N. 7^th and Division, N. 7^th and Reily and on N. 6^th Street in back of the Broad Street Market. Division Street would be redesigned as a boulevard, with a strip of green space in the middle of the road.

The proposal was created with input from “major impactors” along those roads, such as PHEAA, D&H Distributing and Vartan Group, said Bachik of New Cumberland-based Navarro & Wright Consulting Engineers. Neighborhood groups were not consulted, but the public will be able to have a say once the plan is presented to City Council this month, he said.

The improvements would cost about $30 million, said Martin, though the work likely would be done in pieces as transportation funding was secured.

Besides easing traffic, the improvements would help beautify the corridors, while boosting pedestrian safety, especially on N. 7^th Street near PHEAA, said Martin.

City Nominates 2 for CRW

City Council last month considered two city residents nominated by the Papenfuse administration to the board of Capital Region Water.

Garvey Presley Jr. and Charla J. Plaines appeared before council April 19 to discuss their qualifications to serve on the five-member board.

A confirmation vote was scheduled for April 27, after press time. If confirmed, Presley would fill one open seat while Plaines would fill a seat currently held by Bill Cluck.

Cluck, an environmental attorney whose five-year term expired in January 2015, urged council to think twice before replacing him, pointing to Capital Region Water’s financial turnaround and investment-grade bond rating under his tenure.

His plea seemed to find favor with some council members, such as Westburn Majors, who served with Cluck on the board before taking office this past January. “I think it would be a complete disservice if we don’t keep him,” Majors said.

Yet Mayor Eric Papenfuse, who is empowered to nominate board members with the advice and consent of council, said it was time to add fresh faces to the board to achieve greater diversity in membership and help with community outreach.

Plaines, a reentry coordinator at the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, said she felt her skills were suited to making sure diverse voices in the community were more fully engaged in the authority’s decisions.

Presley, an equipment operator at the Derry Township wastewater treatment plant, said he had been interested in environmental work for most of his life and that his employment history made him a “natural fit” for the board.

Recovery Plan Brought to Vote

City Council scheduled a major vote on an updated Harrisburg recovery plan last month, setting the stage for the most comprehensive agreement to date on the mix of tax policies, personnel goals and government reforms needed to stabilize the city’s finances.

The state has asked the city to adopt the 115-page update in time for negotiations with its police and municipal employees unions, whose current labor contracts expire at the end of the calendar year.

An affirmative council vote would mark the first time the body has endorsed a comprehensive recovery plan, as opposed to the piecemeal votes for related legislation while the city was under state receivership in 2013.

The updated plan would count on increased revenue from a local services tax hike affecting residents and commuters and would have the city weigh a home rule charter initiative that could make recent earned income tax hikes permanent.

It would also direct a greater portion of any money recovered in lawsuits over incinerator-related borrowings to paying down the city’s current debt load.

The vote was scheduled for April 27, after press time. But Fred Reddig, the city’s coordinator under Act 47, said he was “optimistic that the plan is going to move forward” and that his team would be able to take it to court for approval.

Demolitions Begin

Harrisburg began razing condemned houses last month, vowing to accelerate the pace of demolitions.

The city is on pace to remove about 30 blighted structures this year, far more than in recent years due to a beefed-up sanitation staff. In past years, demolitions were often delayed as workers were pulled off jobs to assist in trash pickup.

Most demolitions are slated for properties in the Allison Hill and Uptown neighborhoods. In all, Harrisburg has several hundred condemned properties.

March Home Sales

The spring real estate market was off to a solid start in March, as sales ticked up compared to last year.

Regionally, sales totaled 647 units in March, 10 more than in the year-ago period, according to the Greater Harrisburg Association of Realtors (GHAR). The median price was down slightly to $155,000, but average days on the market plummeted to 86 from 106 last year.

Sales rose to 233 units from 202 on a year-over-year basis in Dauphin County. They fell slightly in Cumberland and Perry counties.

The median sales price in Dauphin County fell a bit compared to last March, to $136,000 from $139,000, though rose by about $5,000 per unit in both Cumberland and Perry counties, to $179,950 and $139,950, respectively, said GHAR.

So Noted

Harrisburg last month was awarded a $155,522 federal grant to help reduce crime in the Camp Curtin neighborhood. The Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation Grant will allow the city and several community partners to launch an initiative to lessen crime as part of a larger revitalization effort in the area, according to Tri County Community Action.

Harrisburg Area YMCA has purchased the historic Millers Mutual Group building at Forster and Front streets for $750,000. The Y made the purchase mostly to acquire land for more parking for the East Shore Y next door, but also plans to move its headquarters into the building, according to a joint press release. Millers Mutual stated that it will lease back the building from the Y until it can relocate to larger offices.

Park Harrisburg began booting vehicles last month to better enforce parking penalties on motorists with three or more outstanding warrants. The parking operator long planned to start a booting program, but was delayed until it could develop technology that would allow it to access city parking records, said the company.

Journal Multimedia, a homegrown, Harrisburg-based company that publishes the Central Penn Business Journal, was purchased last month by industry behemoth GateHouse Media, the owner of hundreds of daily, weekly and specialty newspapers. In addition to its flagship publication, Journal Multimedia publishes Central Penn Parent, Lehigh Valley Business and several other titles. It also has related custom publishing and events businesses.

Changing Hands

Briggs St., 225: S. & C. Aichele to B. Brock, $179,500

Brookwood St., 2619: R. Santangelo to B. Sweger, $57,500

Derry St., 1323 & 1325: U. Patel to T. & K. Yameogo, $85,000

Duke St., 2435: J. Smith to F. Zeray, $45,000

Fulton St., 1738: Secretary of Housing & Urban Development & Information Systems Network Corp. to PA Deals LLC, $65,250

Green St., 1925: W. Gonzalez to B. & A. Christensen, $216,500

Green St., 2416: F. Seidlich to J. & P. Manjon, $150,000

Green St., 3113: C. & B. Stone to B. Baker, $159,900

Green St., 3121: J. Meadowa to 8219 Ventures, $70,000

Logan St., 1619: L. Blanton & R. Parr to C. Grim, $89,000

Manada St., 1924: B. Vazquez to P. & T. O’Connell, $36,000

Market St., 1912: Secretary of Housing & Urban Development to Rogue Enterprises, $36,500

N. 2^nd St., 2215: V. & J. Books to T. & J. Whye, $229,500

N. 2^nd St., 2615: Secretary of Housing & Urban Development to TBF Properties LLC, $75,000

N. 2^nd St., 2842: Arthur A. Kusic Real Estate Investments to T. Cook, $60,000

N. 3^rd St., 3005: D. Bartolet to G. Dutson, $40,000

N. 4^th St., 3015: D. Travitz to F. Gresson, $86,000

N. 5^th St., 1738: CNC Realty Group to M. Meads, $85,000

N. 6^th St., 3138: M. Naranjo to J. Crossett & M. Hochstetler, $50,000

N. 15^th St., 1328: L. Mitchell to A. Rodriguez, $38,000

N. Front St., 805: Millers Capital Insurance Co. to Harrisburg Area YMCA, $750,000

N. Front St., 1013: M. Santalucia to B. Rota, $148,000

N. Front St., 1525, Unit 206: J. Feather to C. Wilson & K. Thompson, $85,000

N. Front St., 1525, Unit 604: Riverview Manor Association LP & Brickbox Enterprises Ltd. To D. Baker, $230,000

Paxton St., 1000: Sutliff Enterprises & K. Damitha to PinnacleHealth System, $3,600,000

Rose St., 933: F. Clark to GKX LLC, $235,000

Showers St., 581: R. Ross to M. Terry, $97,000

Showers St., 624: K. Hood to K. Kearn, $86,000

S. 13^th St., 243: E. & A. Martinez to N. Srayi, $32,000

S. 18^th St., 1117: Vanderbilt Mortgage & Finance Inc. to J. Frias, $30,535

S. 29^th St., 630: P. Over to J. Guzman, $46,600

State St., 124: C. Smith to TKP Investments LLC, $175,000

State St., 1520: Federal National Mortgage Association to A. Moore, $31,000

Susquehanna St., 2136: Secretary of Housing & Urban Development to L. Marrazzo, $31,125

Swatara St., 2142: G. & J. Trump to R. Chowdhury & A. Nasrin, $49,500

Verbeke St., 232: K. Bentzel to Afterkey Property Solutions LLC, $60,000

Wyeth St., 1406: PA Deals LLC to J. & Y. Oskam, $113,900

Harrisburg property sales for March 2016, greater than $30,000. Source: Dauphin County. Data is assumed to be accurate.

January News Digest

January 29, 2016 | by Lawrance Binda

Williams Named Council President

Wanda Williams will serve another term as president of the Harrisburg City Council, council members decided last month.

Williams was the only council member nominated for the position and received unanimous support.

Councilwoman Shamaine Daniels was elected council vice president by a 4-3 vote, narrowly besting Councilman Jeffrey Baltimore.

The vote was taken during the council’s reorganization, held with each new term. The reorganization followed the swearing in of three new council members: Cornelius Johnson, Westburn Majors and Destini Hodges. Baltimore, who has served for almost two years, took the oath for his first full term.

Council also announced the following committee chairmanships for the 2016-17 session:

Administration: Wanda Williams
Budget and Finance: Ben Allatt
Building and Housing: Shamaine Daniels
Community and Economic Development: Jeffrey Baltimore
Parks, Recreation & Enrichment: Destini Hodges
Public Safety: Cornelius Johnson
Public Works: Westburn Majors

Council Re-Opens Budget

The Harrisburg City Council last month began reconsideration of the 2016 spending plan passed in December.

The $60.7 million budget added 36 new positions, about half in a newly created Neighborhood Services Division, funded through city trash bills.

The administration also has proposed tripling the local services tax (LST) to $3 per week per worker. The Commonwealth Court must first approve the hike, which then must be sanctioned by council.

Council re-opened the budget to accommodate input from three new council members, who were sworn in last month. A vote on a revised budget is expected this month.

Free Downtown Parking

The Papenfuse administration last month announced a novel plan to allow free, short-term parking in select loading zones in downtown Harrisburg.

Under the plan, people are able to park for 15 minutes for free in eight zones located on N. 2^nd Street between Walnut and Pine streets. This will help customers who want to stop briefly to make a quick purchase or pick up food from restaurants, said Mayor Eric Papenfuse.

For the past two years, shop owners have complained that the cost of parking—$3 per hour—prevents customers from frequenting their stores.

The 15-minute time limit would be strictly enforced, said Papenfuse. After 15 minutes, parkers would face tickets with standard fines for parking in a loading zone.

Parking Breaks to Continue

An experimental plan that lowered some parking rates in downtown Harrisburg will continue this year.

Mayor Eric Papenfuse said that there are no plans to stop the program that lowered rates by $1 per hour on weekdays from 5 to 7 p.m. and provided four free hours of weekend parking through the Pango mobile app.

Papenfuse said that the changes were deemed successful because they didn’t lower meter revenue for parking operator, SP Plus.

Meanwhile, rates for garage parking for motorists without monthly passes increased last month to $9 for two hours, up from $8.

School Board Set

The Harrisburg school board is back to full strength as members last month selected community activist Alan Kennedy-Shaffer to join the body.

Members voted unanimously to appoint Kennedy-Shaffer, who also is a member of the Dauphin County Democratic State Committee. The seat was vacant after the sudden resignation in November of former board President Jennifer Smallwood.

Kennedy-Shaffer is a co-founder of the community group Harrisburg Hope and, last year, was forced to drop out of the primary race for City Council following a successful challenge to his nominating petitions.

Police Bureau Changes

A long-time Harrisburg police officer was promoted to captain last month, as five new officers also were sworn in.

Twenty-year force veteran Gabriel Olivera was named captain of the criminal investigation division, most recently serving as a sergeant in that division after rising through the ranks.

Mayor Eric Papenfuse also swore in the following new officers:

Christopher Palamara
Wesley Feduke III
Corre Sommers
Adrienne Monroy
Daren Sharp

Bar Denied License

Harrisburg denied a Midtown bar both business and health licenses last month, though the bar has remained open pending an appeal.

The Third Street Café appealed the denial to the city’s Tax and Appeal Board. Dauphin County Judge Andrew Dowling also issued an order so the city could not fine the bar for operating without a license until the board issues a decision.

The city last year ordered business licenses revoked for three bars it considered troubled. The Royal Pub closed immediately, and the Taproom shut on Dec. 31. The Third Street Café chose to fight the revocation of its 2015 license and now is opposing the denial of a 2016 license.

New Pumper Approved

The Harrisburg City Council last month voted to buy a new, $480,000 pumper for the city’s Fire Bureau.

The vote was unanimous, but made contingent upon receiving a matching grant from the Harrisburg Volunteer Firemen’s Relief Association.

To pay for the pumper, the city had previously allotted $160,000, and another $90,000 was made available last year through a budget reallocation.

So Noted

The Harrisburg Carriage Company vacated the carriage house on City Island last month following the receipt of eviction notices by the city. The city and the company could not reach agreement over long-standing issues such as the payback of five years of delinquent rent, making fixes to the dilapidated stable and properly accommodating several horses.

Harristown Enterprises last month began a three-month project that will replace the escalator in Strawberry Square. The $350,000 project had been in the planning phase for the past two years, with the Dauphin County Industrial Development Authority providing a $100,000 loan to help finance it, said Brad Jones, Harristown president and CEO.

Zeroday Brewing has expanded its hours as it enters its second year of operation. The Harrisburg-based brewery is now open Tuesday through Sunday and until midnight on Friday and Saturday.

Changing Hands

Alison Ct., 3: M. Malinov to D. Patrick, $69,000

Barkley Lane, 2511: V. & D. Rodriguez to K. Clement, $59,000

Boas St., 418: Newlands Asset Holding Trust to PA Deals LLC, $74,250

Chestnut St., 2405: T. & A. Sawyer to W. Majors, $140,000

Croyden Rd., 2778: Secretary of Veterans Affairs to PA Deals LLC, $38,000

Forster St., 1612: N. Combs to S. Mason, $82,900

Fulton St., 1405: A. Pagano to PA Deals LLC, $83,000

Green St., 1400: P. Misivich to S. Weiland, $118,900

Green St., 2245: Y. al-Refae to J. Smith, $56,000

Green St., 2952: S. Gassner & J. Morris to N. Williams, $185,000

Hamilton St., 271 & 275: W. Grace & J. Hadfield to K. Ayres & A. Gupta, $189,585

Herr St., 217: S. Grovers to K. & V. Land, $50,000

Industrial Rd., 3400: Exeter 3400 Industrial LP to Big Box Property LLC & Exeter Property Group, $17,600,000

Kensington St., 2153: Bank of New York Mellon Trust Co. NA to H. Marca, $31,000

N. 2^nd St., 400: GSO Real Estate Inc. & Realty Management Associates LLC to Murphy & Laus Real Estate LLC, $240,000

N. 2^nd St., 2127: J. Livingston to A. Graffius, $84,500

N. 3^rd St., 1700, L57: Bank of America NA to J. Cody, $75,000

N. 6^th St., 1408: Secretary of Housing & Urban Development to PA Deals LLC, $82,250

Norwood St., 947: C. & M. Morgan to PA Deals LLC, $32,000

Penn St., 1204: M. Mekilo & U.S. Bank N.A. to C. Wagner, $109,000

Penn St., 1317: L. Stickley to M. Wilkins, $62,500

Penn St., 1523: E. Jones & J. Lindgren to T. Smith & K. Leighton, $147,000

Reservoir St., 73: G. Neff to H. Rentas, $38,900

Rumson Dr., 353: A. Skillman to W. Assefa, $62,000

Rumson Dr., 2574: PA Deals LLC to R. Reeves, $80,000

S. Front St., 631: K. & A. Gulotta to A. Poindexter, $150,000

Harrisburg property sales for December 2015, greater than $30,000. Source: Dauphin County. Data is assumed to be accurate.

TheBurg Podcast, Oct. 23, 2015

October 23, 2015 | by Admin

Welcome to TheBurg Podcast, a weekly roundup of news in and around Harrisburg.

Oct. 23, 2015: This week, Larry and Paul talk about complaints and revelations at the recent meetings on Harrisburg’s parking system. Then they discuss Mayor Papenfuse’s beef with the local tourism bureau, which reached boiling point this week. Also, a quick update on the Reed defense team battling the city over the release of records, and a test-ride in the new Front Street bike lane.

Special thanks to Paul Cooley, who wrote our theme music. Check out his podcast, the PRC Show, on SoundCloud or in the iTunes store.

TheBurg Podcast can be downloaded by clicking on the date above or by visiting the iTunes store. You can also access the podcast via its host page.

TheBurg Podcast, Oct. 16, 2015

October 16, 2015 | by Admin

Welcome to TheBurg Podcast, a weekly roundup of news in and around Harrisburg.

Oct. 16, 2015: This week, Larry and Paul talk about the latest developments in the latest Harrisburg saga – the financial struggles of the Susquehanna Art Museum. Also, a renewed effort by a state-affiliated agency to expand its offices downtown, this time without tearing down two historic structures, and a public meeting on Harrisburg parking next week.

Special thanks to Paul Cooley, who wrote our theme music. Check out his podcast, the PRC Show, on SoundCloud or in the iTunes store.

TheBurg Podcast can be downloaded by clicking on the date above or by visiting the iTunes store. You can also access the podcast via its host page.

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