Delay of Game

Factions supporting and opposing the development of Venice Island fight for control of a community organization.

You might call it a civil war, this escalating dispute that’s pitting neighbor against neighbor in Manayunk, except that there’s really nothing civil about it. Attorneys are now involved, and one of them says ruefully, "I’m afraid it’s going to get nastier before it gets better."

In recent weeks, longstanding opposition to plans to develop a sliver of land in the Schuylkill River known as Venice Island have evolved into a contest for control of a civic group, the Manayunk Neighborhood Council. At a monthly meeting on April 4, current board members of the MNC delayed the annual nomination process which is supposed to precede the election of officers in May, according to the group’s bylaws. The move stalled plans by several residents to take over the MNC board and reconsider the organization’s opposition to development of Venice Island.

MNC officers put a hold on the election process in order to review what they consider questionable new membership applications — about 300 in all — collected and delivered in bulk by members of the alternate slate. If approved, all 300 could vote in the board election, and presumably would vote for the newcomers.

But the MNC incumbents aren’t buying it.

"We put together a letter — we’re calling it a verification letter — requesting that those people verify their membership," says current president Jane Glenn. "Only seven out of the 88 people verified membership, and one woman called who had never joined, had no idea about it."

"[Members of the alternate slate] have never spoken up at our meetings, until January, which of course is when Tom Connelly started making offers," says Glenn.

Tom Connelly owns the Connelly Container site where Realen Properties wants to build an apartment complex — and the city’s Zoning Board of Adjustments recently approved two plans for a total of 313 residential units on Venice Island, despite strong opposition from the MNC. Connelly had promised Manayunk residents ongoing financial support for various area renovations — upwards of $200,000 for Pretzel Park and $2 million for cleaning Manayunk Canal — if the MNC would withdraw its appeal against the Zoning Board’s decision.

Current MNC officers have long opposed residential development on Venice Island because it sits in a floodway, an area most impacted during a flood, and they promptly appealed the Zoning Board’s decision. The would-be new MNC officers oppose that appeal.

"It’s not a matter of supporting Connelly," states John Teague, director of the Central Manayunk Council, and member of the alternate slate for the MNC board. "I wasn’t in favor of all this development in Manayunk, but at this stage in the game we should work to benefit from development."

"There’s been an undercurrent [of support for Venice Island development] for years," says Debra Valenti-Epstein, an attorney hired by Connelly to negotiate with the MNC and who’s now representing the alternate slate. Teague’s philosophy, Valenti-Epstein says, is to win concessions from the developer rather than opposing the plan, "because it’s going to happen anyway."

In recent weeks Manayunk residents who oppose the MNC’s appeal against the Zoning Board garnered 700 signatures on locally circulating petitions that support Connelly and Realen Properties’ intent to develop on Venice Island.

"I got 700 petitions signed in two weeks and [the MNC] wouldn’t even look at them because they were from my church and my school," says Susan Mamrol, a member of the alternate slate. "I don’t think [the MNC] knows what the people want, [development] is business, it happens, you can’t stop it."

Coincidentally, City Paper first heard about the petitions in March. According to a source who did not want to be identified, many people who had signed the petitions complained later that they’d been misled about the nature and scope of the development plans.

In response to the delay put on the election process, several members of the slate that aims to take over the MNC board recently sought legal assistance, claiming that by delaying elections the MNC is in violation of its bylaws, which mandate that nominations be in April and elections in May.

"We believe they want more time with the membership list so they can play with the numbers," states Teague. "They’re making an attempt to postpone the election."

Valenti-Epstein goes further, calling the delay "an obvious attempt to fix the election."

Glenn says she and the other current MNC office holders just want more time to determine the validity of the new applications.

"Right now we’re not sure what we will do," says Glenn.