There's nothing like pizza, beer and neighborhood revitalization to mobilize a community.
Following a local letter-writing campaign, the Dock Street Brewing Co. pizzeria is set to inhabit the former firehouse at 50th Street and Baltimore Avenue.
The building, located across the street from Cedar Park, housed the Firehouse Farmers Market until last year.
Dock Street owner Rosemarie Certo said she almost had to forego the Baltimore Avenue commercial-corridor location before the Philadelphia Zoning Board of Adjustment offered Dock Street a 10-year permit last Thursday.
The ZBA originally granted the company a five-year probationary permit, which was not long enough to adequately finance the restaurant.
"It just makes the business now possible, and it's full speed ahead," Certo said. "I was dumbfounded. . No one thought it was gonna happen, and, literally at the very last minute," the board changed its decision.
She said Dock Street will likely open late next spring.
The brewery also faced resistance from the nearby Hickman Temple, which objected because Dock Street would serve alcohol.
But the Cedar Park Neighbors community organization led a letter-writing campaign, prompting more than 150 letters to the ZBA's chairman. Some community members also voiced vehement support for the restaurant on PhillyBlog.com.
"It wouldn't have happened without their tenacity. In my mind, it's a total neighborhood project," Certo said.
But Gail Fisher, University City District's manager for the area, said the overwhelming community support likely changed the ZBA's decision.
CPN President Carol Walker said the community embraced the campaign because it needed an "anchor business" amid the blight surrounding the commercial corridor
She added that Dock Street is "ready to be part of the neighborhood, not just making money and then leave."
Walker said "the block is coming up," with nearby developments including renovations to Cedar Park and plans for a Vietnamese restaurant and yoga studio.
Fisher noted she has rarely seen the board issue any temporary land-use permits, and that it may represent the ZBA's attempt to compromise with the Hickman Temple.
The ZBA will review the permit after 10 years.
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