Civic Design Review gives feedback on Mt. Sinai project proposal

The plans for Mt. Sinai Hospital have changed quite a bit in the past year. Initially, the plan was for a mix of apartments and townhomes that would include the maintaining the original structure.

Now plans include the complete demolition of Mt. Sinai to make way for 95 townhomes. On Tuesday, the plans went through the Civic Design Review, which decided that the project must return in a month with design changes.

More from PlanPhilly:

The committee had a host of concerns about the design of the project, which are discussed below. But there is also a question of process. The developers had the subject property, a whole city block surrounded by 4th, 5th, Reed, and Dickinson, rezoned in City Council. They don’t have to go to the zoning board. But they did have to go through a master-plan review process with the Planning Commission, which already occurred earlier this year. The Commission approved the master plan, but with a proviso stating that the developers would revise the plan if the Civic Design Review Committee had significant comments about its impacts on the public realm.

Community members and members of the committee felt that Civic Design Review should have happened earlier in the process.

The Committee’s comments were significant, and they ranged from general to specific.

According to PlanPhilly, feedback from the committee included comments about the plans seeming too much like a gated community, the sidewalks being too narrow and that this development should be more biker and pedestrian-friendly.

You can take a look at some of the initial design renderings from March here.