The voices of near neighbors have been heard in West Philadelphia, where an application for a take-out variance for a Subway at 4533 Baltimore Ave. has been rejected by the ZBA. The applicants have 30 days from the date of the Jan. 11 decision to appeal.

The potential sandwich shop instigated local neighbors who feared a nasty traffic and parking situation and believed the applicants failed to consider local interests. It also sparked a controversy at the ZBA hearing in December.

No Subway?

“[The applicants] really didn’t consider the neighbors,” said Wilhemina Herbert, president of Garden Court Neighborhood Association, whose borders run to 45th and Cedar, a few blocks south of Baltimore, of the applicants.

Herbert said there were a number of businesses interested in occupying the location along the commercial strip of stores, and wondered why Subway was ultimately chosen. She thinks perhaps the owner was trying to make as much money as possible from the location. (Can you imagine?)

Past GCNA president Mary Allegra, said parking was the number one issue that upset neighbors. The location in question is the last available retail space on the northwest corner of the 4500 block of Baltimore Ave. Between the front of that location and the sidewalk towards 46th St., an alley runs from Baltimore to Larchwood Ave. It serves as access for residents who have garages in the back of their homes. Those residents feared customers would enter the alley from Baltimore, do their Subway business, and use the alleyway as a throughway to Larchwood, a few blocks north, because of the dangerous backing-up necessary to get back to the main road. That it was a national chain also irked neighbors, who have spent years building a community dotted with numerous independent shops, like the Mariposa Co-op, slated to relocate next month, and Milk and Honey.

The rejection comes despite a letter of approval written by the Spruce Hill Community Association.

It just goes to show the power of near neighbors when they come together for a united cause. Whether fighting a Subway is a particularly just cause, we leave it to you to decide.

–Lou Mancinelli