October 23-29, 2003

city beat

Piazza dei Problemi

DIRTY WATER: The owners of this South Philly fountain never applied for proper city permits. Photo By: Michael T. Regan

Troubles are mountin' for a South Philly fountain.

by Amy L. Webb

It was supposed to be a gathering place for local merchants to sit and have a smoke, to talk about business. Children should have splashed in the cool water there on sticky summer afternoons. Romantic seniors were promised a space to stop and gaze at each other in the twinkling lights.

But so far, the new fountain and piazza, which are wedged between S. 11th, Tasker and Passyunk streets in South Philly, remain an austere brick slate with no immediate signs of repair. The property's owners – who are based in State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo's district office but say that Fumo himself is not involved – never applied for city plumbing, electrical or sidewalk permits when construction began. The group also used unlicensed workers.

Now, the piazza floods Tasker and S. 11th streets every time it rains and residents say that cars – including emergency vehicles – have a tough time getting through. As a result, two city departments have given Passyunk Avenue Revitalization Inc., which owns the property, until Oct. 28 to get proper permits and prove that a redesign of the whole piazza will be feasible.

"Permits are absolutely necessary," says Andrea Swan, spokesperson for the city Department of Licenses and Inspections. "I don't know why they did the work without first going through the right channels."

Revitalization Inc. is a for-profit company under the Citizens Alliance for Better Neighborhoods umbrella organization. City L&I documents list Revitalization Inc.'s address as Fumo's district office.

Citizens Alliance was founded by City Councilman Frank DiCicco and Fumo in 1991 as a neighborhood cleanup group. In its nascent years, Citizens Alliance had been funded with Fumo-secured grants from the state Community Revitalization Program. By 1998, Citizens Alliance had secured more than $1 million from unnamed contributors -- and $5.6 million in similar contributions the following year, according to tax records.

Fumo aides say the senator is not associated with Revitalization Inc. L&I documents and property records point back to Fumo's district office.

"The two are not affiliated," says Christian DiCicco, who is an attorney and spokesman for Revitalization Inc. and an aide in Fumo's office. Christian DiCicco is also Councilman DiCicco's son. "I've been asked by [Revitalization Inc.] to help," DiCicco says. "To make things easier, I have them rent a space here for the purposes of mail, which I receive here."

Before it was a controversial piazza, the triangle-shaped plot was an abandoned hamburger joint. Revitalization Inc. bought the site in Nov. 2000 for $80,000, according to city property records. In April 2003, the group hired an Upper Darby firm called USA Environmental Management, Inc. to demolish the building and clean up the area. City zoning documents show that, at that time, all necessary permits were issued for demolition.

Months later, construction on the piazza was halted before contractors finished. Right now, a chainlink fence, woven with a strand of yellow caution tape, surrounds the property's perimeter. The edges of the concrete-and-brick base stand less than a foot off the street, and all of the curbs have been eliminated.

In the center is a dark-colored sunken pool with a black-and-green tiered fountain. An old tire and bits of newspaper and food wrappers cover the fountain's heavy base. Brownstones line the streets around the piazza housing a women's clothing boutique, an Italian restaurant, and a handful of offices.

"They filled in part of the street for the piazza, covered over the caps that monitor ground water contamination, covered over drainage pipes, eliminated curb cuts, took away the fire hydrant," says a local restaurant owner who would not give his name. "It's an absolute mess."

For the Department of Streets, flooding and drainage is the most pressing issue. How they laid the sidewalk is a problem, says department spokesperson Cynthia Hite. The breaking point came during Hurricane Isabel in September when the streets completely overflowed, says Hite.

They never had permits to extend the sidewalk into the street, Hite says. So the contractor is in the process of developing a new plan that describes how they're going to remove [that section of the piazza] and how they're going to replace it. When they bring that plan to our office, at that time they will formally apply for a permit.

But that's not the only permit Revitalization Inc. will need. Electrical permits are required for lighting around the fountain, L&I's Swan says. Because the fountain is using city water rather than recycled water through a pump, a plumbing permit is mandatory.

"They are using public water, so permits are required," Swan says. "This [fountain] is owned by a corporation, so that corporation is responsible for the property."

Now Revitalization Inc. will be required to pay double the original cost of each permit which is $40 per plumbing project and $25 for up to $1,000 worth of work per electric project.

When asked why his group never applied for permits and why it didn't hire licensed plumbers and electricians, DiCicco says they entrusted everything to a general contractor – but DiCicco wouldn't divulge his name. "Obviously he neglected his duties. I'm asking licensed contractors and architects and engineers to go through the bureaucracy of inspections [on behalf of Revitalization Inc.]. We need to remedy the insufficiencies now," DiCicco says.

DiCicco dispels the local gossip that the fountain was being erected as a tribute to Fumo's parents. No. There is no plaque saying that, DiCicco says.

Fumo's spokesman Gary Tuma says that the senator knew about problems at the piazza but claims no relationship with Revitalization Inc. "Dedicated to the senator's parents? He has no idea what you're talking about," Tuma says. "We know about the permits. We did ask about the permit and were told that [the contractor] had the correct permits. But there's no connection between our office and Revitalization Inc."