Final Report Tacony-Frankford Creek River Conservation Plan February 18, 2004 Final Report Tacony-Frankford Creek River Conservation Plan FGM Frankford Group Ministries Project was funded by a Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation Fund Program grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and (215) 345-7020 Natural Resources, Bureau of Recreation and Conservation. (215) 345-4328 Fax www.heritageconservancy.org Philadelphia Water Department Tacony/Frankford Creek River Conservation Plan Acknowledgements ......................................................................i List of Abbreviations ..................................................................iii Table of List of Maps ................................................................................iv List of Tables, Figures and Appendices .....................................v Contents I. Introduction .................................................................................1 Goals ............................................................................................2 II. Public Meetings ...........................................................................5 III. Resource Inventory .....................................................................7 Issues, Concerns, Constraints .....................................................7 Study Area Overview ..................................................................8 Topography, Geology, Soils .....................................................10 Demographics............................................................................13 Land Use/Zoning.......................................................................25 Parks and Recreational Resources............................................31 Biological Resources .................................................................33 Water Quality.............................................................................40 Water Supply..............................................................................46 Historical and Archaeological Resources .................................47 Additional Issues and Constraints ............................................53 IV. Residents Survey........................................................................59 V. Key Person Interviews ..............................................................61 VI. Public Outreach.........................................................................69 VII. Workshops and Events..............................................................75 VIII. Stream Visual Assessments .......................................................79 IX. Management Options ................................................................99 Bibliography.............................................................................103 Appendices ..............................................................................105 Philadelphia Water Department Tacony/Frankford Creek River Conservation Plan Philadelphia Water Department Tacony/Frankford Creek River Conservation Plan Acknowledgements Tacony-Frankford RCP-Team Glen Abrams, Philadelphia Water Department Janet Bernstein, Frankford Group Ministry Stephanie Craighead, Fairmount Park Commission Joanne Dahme, Watershed Programs Manager, Philadelphia Water Department Melanie Garrow, Philadelphia Water Department Sean Greene, Natural Resource Planner, Heritage Conservancy Tamara Lanier Davis, Frankford Group Ministry Tiffany Ledesma Groll, Philadelphia Water Department Brian Marengo, Philadelphia Water Department Marissa Pappas, Pennsylvania Environmental Council Ann Smith, Director, Watershed Programs, Pennsylvania Environmental Council Jeanne Waldowski, Philadelphia Water Department Sharon Yates, Vice President of Planning, Heritage Conservancy Tacony-Frankford Steering Committee Glen Abrams, Philadelphia Water Department Dr. Henry Bart, Geology and Environmental Science Department Chair, LaSalle University Shari Cooper, City Planner, City Planning Commission Steve Culbertson, Executive Director, Frankford Community Development Corporation Barbara Duffy, Cheltenham Township Mark Focht, Program Director, Fairmount Park Commission-NLREEP Don Gephart, Recreation and Park Advisor, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Bryan Havir, Assistant Township Manager, Cheltenham Township The Rev. Robin Hynicka, Executive Director, Frank Group Ministry Gerald Kaufman, Executive Director, Awbury Arboretum David Lange, National Park Service Rivers and Trails Jackie Olson, Volunteer Coordinator, Fairmount Park Commission- NLREEP Larry Shaeffer, Riverkeeper Volunteer Jeanne Waldowski, Philadelphia Water Department Charles Younger, Friends of Tacony Creek Park Stan Zakrzewski, 35th Police District Carmen Zappile, US Army Corps of Engineers Philadelphia Water Department Tacony/Frankford Creek River Conservation Plan i Philadelphia Water Department Tacony/Frankford Creek River Conservation Plan ii List of Abbreviations ATV All Terrain Vehicle ACOE Army Corps of Engineers BMP Best Management Practice CCR Consumer Confidence Report CDC Community Development Corporation CERCLIS Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Information System CFS Cubic Feet per Second CSO Combined Sewer Overflow DVRPC Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission EV Exceptional Value FGM Frankford Group Ministry FPC Fairmount Park Commission GIS Geographic Information System HQ High Quality HSG Hydrologic Soil Group ISTEA Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act LAC Logan Assistance Corporation NLREEP Natural Lands Restoration and Environmental Education Program NPL National Priority List NPS Non-Point Source NWI National Wetlands Inventory OARC Ogontz Avenue Revitalization Corporation PA DCNR Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources PA DEP Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection PECPennsylvania Environmental Council PNDI Pennsylvania Natural Diversity Index PCPC Philadelphia City Planning Commission PWD Philadelphia Water Department Office of Watersheds RCP River Conservation Plan TEA 21 Transportation Equity Act TMDL Total Maximum Daily Load USDA United States Department of Agriculture USEPA United States Environmental Protection Agency USGS United States Geological Survey Philadelphia Water Department Tacony/Frankford Creek River Conservation Plan iii List of Maps 1. Base Map 2. Surface Geology 3. Historical Resources 4. Zoning 5. Parks and Recreation 6. Water quality 7. Population Change 1990-2000 8. Watershed Opportunities and Constraints 9. Visual Assessment: Cheltenham to Adams Avenue 10. Visual Assessment: Adams to Rising Sun Avenue 11. Visual Assessment: Rising Sun Avenue to Tabor Road 12. Visual Assessment: Tabor Road to Roosevelt Boulevard 13. Visual Assessment: Roosevelt Boulevard to Whitaker Avenue 14. Visual Assessment: Whitaker to Wyoming Avenue 15. Visual Assessment: Wyoming to Castor Avenue 16. Visual Assessment: Castor to Torresdale Avenue 17. Visual Assessment: Aramingo Avenue to Delaware River 18. Visual Assessment: Historic Mouth Frankford Creek Philadelphia Water Department Tacony/Frankford Creek River Conservation Plan iv List of Tables Table 1. Soils in the Tacony-Frankford Watershed Table 2. HSG infiltration rates Table 3. Change in home sales prices from 1995-98 Table 4. Major employers in the study area (>300 employees) Table 5. Land use statistics for the study area Table 6. PNDI species in the Tacony-Frankford Watershed Table 7. Forested riparian buffers Table 8. CERCLIS hazardous waste sites Table 9. Survey response: Frequency of visits to Tacony-Frankford Creek Table 10. Key person interviews List of Figures Figure 1. River Conservation Plan study area Figure 2. Fall line in the City of Philadelphia Figure 3. Population change 1990-2000 Figure 4. Owner occupied housing values in study area Figure 5. Planning Analysis Sections Figure 6. Racial make-up of study area Figure 7. Commute by transportation type Figure 8. Vacant property in study area Figure 9. Proposed Logan Area Redevelopment Area land-use Figure 10. Proposed Frankford Creek Redevelopment Plan Area land-use Figure 11. City of Philadelphia water supply Figure 12. Survey response: “What is a watershed” Appendices A. NLREEP maps B. Playground program matrix C. Public Survey D. Table of community outreach efforts Philadelphia Water Department Tacony/Frankford Creek River Conservation Plan v Philadelphia Water Department Tacony/Frankford Creek River Conservation Plan I. Tacony-Frankford River Conservation Plan Introduction Welcome to our world – a world that includes a Tacony Creek that is beautiful and full of life. A world that boasts a Tacony Creek Park and a host of community green spaces that make the heart leap at the beauty The Tookany/ of nature. A world that offers the residents of the watershed opportunities to bike, run and play at its recreation centers and parks. A Tacony-Frankford world that recognizes that a community that values and protects its Partnership is in the natural spaces is a community that will economically and culturally midst of developing a thrive. Watershed Managment Plan The River Conservation Plan Team believes this can happen. After spending three years examining the Tacony-Frankford Watershed with for the entire the scrutiny that a caring doctor would afford an ailing patient, the watershed. The RCP Philadelphia Water Department (PWD), with its partners the Fairmount will be a major Park Commission (FPC), the Frankford Group Ministry (FGM), and