Residents and activists protest proposed CHOP garage in Grays Ferry

The empty grass lot might not look like much to motorists speeding by on Grays Ferry Avenue. For the 60 or so people who gathered there Saturday afternoon, the 3.2-acre property is full of possibilities.

A 70-foot-tall, 1,000-car parking garage is not one of them.

Grays Ferry residents and others, including a pediatrician and various community groups, gathered to protest Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s garage plan under the umbrella of the No CHOP Garage Coalition.

“Grays Ferry is always the last to be asked things, and I hope they finally listen to us,” said Meeka Outlaw. “If not, we’re gonna be out here even more.”

Protesters suggested a community garden on the lot, a dog park, an inexpensive grocery store, or a restaurant with outdoor seating. Some thought it could simply stay as is, a rare patch of green in Grays Ferry, a neighborhood inundated with heavy industry for centuries. That green space has an intangible value, they said, beyond the $24.05 million CHOP paid for it.

“Right now, I can see the sunset from my daughter’s bedroom, ” resident Magge Foster said. “I won’t be able to see it if they build the garage.”

Protesters cited a flawed traffic study they claim underplays the number of motorists Grays Ferry Avenue sees, the heating effect such a large building will put out, and antiquated zoning that traditionally kept Grays Ferry saddled with industrial sites.

Others said the parking garage proposal is a philosophical conundrum for CHOP and its mission to “do no harm.”

“Children’s Hospital is creating this, and Grays Ferry has one of the highest rates of asthma in the city,” said Vivian Chang, of Asian Americans United.

Michelle Rose, a pediatrician, said she treats many children in the city who struggle to breathe.

“We need more places where kids can play, not less,” Rose said.

In an e-mailed statement to The Inquirer, a CHOP spokesperson said that “parking is one of the inevitable and difficult side effects of growth” and that the garage would address employee parking and “provide flexibility for future CHOP expansion.”

“We recognize there have been multiple concerns related to this garage, and we are taking them seriously,” the hospital said in the statement.

CHOP said it has modified the project design to include “a ground-floor community health space, more greenery and public art, and improved pedestrian features like benches, bike racks, ADA access, and crosswalks.”

The CHOP garage site has CMX-3 zoning and allows garages to be built “by right,” which means the hospital will not have to go through a long approval process.

Shawmar Pitts, co-managing director of environmental advocacy group Philly Thrive, likened the fight against the garage to the battle over the proposed 76ers arena in Market East. He vowed to fight the garage with that same fervor.

“When the people stand up, they are forced to listen,” Pitts said through a bullhorn. “We gotta keep fighting.”

Across the street from the grassy lot, at Donald Finnegan Community Playground, about a dozen kids and young adults played basketball and swung on the swings.