Viaduct-park foes balk at tax issue

A GREEN PARK above the old Reading Viaduct train trestle north of Chinatown might be beautiful if it happens, but some neighbors fear it would be built "on the backs" of working-class people.

The leaders of the proposed park have also called for creating a Callowhill Reading Viaduct Neighborhood Improvement District (NID) to finance street cleaning, lighting, enhanced security and tree planting.

If approved, residents would see an additional 7 percent property-tax assessment on top of other recent property-tax hikes.

"Look at the economy right now," a woman said at a community meeting this week. "People are hurting. People are laid off. Do we want to give money to someone we don't even know?"

The woman was among 30 people who met at the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corp., 9th and Vine streets, on Tuesday.

There were angry shouts of "Kill the bill!" and "Why let your neighbors have power over you?"

Unauthorized fliers on the NID's letterhead have been posted in the area exclaiming: "Taxation Without Representation!"

A public hearing on the NID is scheduled in City Council on Sept. 20.

Sarah McEneaney, a leader of the viaduct project, said in an email yesterday that although there is much support for the NID: "We recognize there is some opposition and we are trying to work with all parties involved to clear up misunderstandings. . . .

"The NID will be managed by a board made up of community members, it is 'taxation with direct representation.' The assessment will not pay for a Reading Viaduct Park."

Even the neighborhood has a different name depending on which group is referring to it: It is Callowhill to most NID supporters and Chinatown North to most opponents. No matter what it's called, it shares boundaries, essentially from 8th to Broad, and from Vine to Spring Garden.

Most people at the Tuesday meeting were Chinese or Korean, joined by handful of white residents and one black resident.

"I'm an artist who doesn't have a trust fund," said James Morton, 68, a photographer who lives at 12th and Callowhill. "I'm living on social security. For myself and other people in the community, 7 percent would be intolerable. "

Maria Bekas, owner of a diner on 9th Street, said Tuesday that she has lived in the area for 40 years. "I won't be able to live in my house in five years because of the taxes," Bekas said. "I'm going to lose the property."

The proposed Reading Viaduct Park has been compared to the High Line Park in New York, which opened in 2009. A critic of the viaduct plan pointed out that yesterday's New York Post had a story about the third-generation owner of an auto-body shop under the High Line who is being forced out because the area is now trendy and the landlord wants to bring in an art gallery or high rise.

Here, the proposed NID ordinance was introduced by Councilman Frank DiCicco. His aide, Sean K. McMonagle, said yesterday that he couldn't comment on the dispute until he talked with the councilman.