House
07-20-2009, 11:00 AM
Warlocks face permit woes in Fishtown
Hayden Mitman
Star Staff
The Warlocks, a long running Philadelphia-based motorcycle club, will soon need to appear before the city zoning board to renew a necessary permit, if they hope to continue to operate their clubhouse at 1864 Frankford Ave in Fishtown.
According to Brad Krause, an examiner for the city's Zoning Board of Adjustments, the Warlocks first filed the permit application in November 2008. A variance is needed in order to legally operate the clubhouse - which is currently zoned for commercial use - as a private social club.
Krause said that, due to the current zoning designation for that property, a private club is not a permitted use of that building.
He said that, according to provisions in the North Delaware Avenue Special District Controls, a zoning overlay that determines how properties may be used in much of Fishtown and Northern Liberties, the club is prohibited from hosting events or offering "food, entertainment or music."
"That is a use prohibited by the North Delaware Avenue District Controls," said Krause. "It's an overlay that covers most of the Northern Liberties and Fishtown areas. It prohibits a lot of things, and that (a private club) is one of the things that is prohibited."
This control overlay concerns all properties within the boundaries of Vine Street to Lehigh Avenue and from 2nd Street to Delaware Avenue. The overlay was created in 2002 in effort to crackdown on problematic nightclubs along Delaware Avenue.
But, the Frankford Avenue building has long been a clubhouse for the Warlocks, a group founded in Philadelphia in 1967 as a "one-percenter" club - a slang term meaning the group consists of outlaw bikers.
Members of the club often wear the club's trademark insignia of a green harpy and wear the colors red and white.
In the past, the Warlocks have been implicated in narcotics trafficking, particularly methamphetamine.
In February the Philadelphia Daily News reported on the arrest of the alleged recording secretary for the Warlocks, Daniel "Dirty Dick" McElheney.
McElheney was arrested on Feb. 3 after police allegedly found two Xanax tablets, 17 doses of oxycodone, six rifles and 10 handguns in his home in Oxford Circle.
When contacted late last week at his Southwest Philadelphia home, Eric Martinson, a member of the motorcycle club and the listed owner of the Frankford Avenue property, said he was surprised the city is requesting this paperwork now, since the Warlocks have maintained the location as a club for so long.
Martinson is not the president or leader of the club; in fact, according to the Warlocks' Web site, the club has no structured leadership and every member acts of his own accord and is responsible for their own actions.
Martinson declined to be quoted for this article - Warlock members are not supposed to talk to members of the press, and the group's Web site includes a lengthy explanation of their distaste for the media. A Star reporter was sternly denied comment from a member of the group during an afternoon visit to the Frankford Avenue clubhouse last week.
However, Martinson did mention that the building is used for weekly Warlocks meetings.
He did not comment when asked to discuss what types of events are held at the building, but said that times have changed for the motorcycle club and describied the organization as well liked by the surrounding community.
He also suggested the club's community presence may, in fact, lower the crime rate in the three-block radius around the clubhouse.
Just how accepted the club is locally may be tested shortly, as the Warlocks may have to visit the neighborhood to gather local support for the clubhouse.
Krause, of the zoning board, said a meeting with the public might not be necessary in order for the Warlocks to gain the needed variance. Still, getting local support would help, he said, especially if they have been continually operating the clubhouse without necessary permits.
"They've been running without permits, I suppose," said Krause. "(Going before the community) would be a good idea for them if they are trying to get those permits."
Last week, on Tuesday, July 7, the Warlocks Motorcycle Club was scheduled to appear before the Fishtown Neighbors Association's zoning committee. However, they did not attend the meeting.
At the time, Micah Hanson, head of the FNA zoning committee, said he wasn't sure why the club needed the paperwork or if they would eventually return to appear before the group.
But, during the meeting, none of the residents in attendance said they opposed the motorcycle club.
Instead, the few residents in attendance, who did not wish to be quoted, seemed ambivalent to the club's request.
The Warlocks will appear again before the Zoning Board of Adjustment on Sept. 22.
http://www.philly.com/community/pa/philadelphia/star/Warlocks_face_permit_woes_in_Fishtown.html
Hayden Mitman
Star Staff
The Warlocks, a long running Philadelphia-based motorcycle club, will soon need to appear before the city zoning board to renew a necessary permit, if they hope to continue to operate their clubhouse at 1864 Frankford Ave in Fishtown.
According to Brad Krause, an examiner for the city's Zoning Board of Adjustments, the Warlocks first filed the permit application in November 2008. A variance is needed in order to legally operate the clubhouse - which is currently zoned for commercial use - as a private social club.
Krause said that, due to the current zoning designation for that property, a private club is not a permitted use of that building.
He said that, according to provisions in the North Delaware Avenue Special District Controls, a zoning overlay that determines how properties may be used in much of Fishtown and Northern Liberties, the club is prohibited from hosting events or offering "food, entertainment or music."
"That is a use prohibited by the North Delaware Avenue District Controls," said Krause. "It's an overlay that covers most of the Northern Liberties and Fishtown areas. It prohibits a lot of things, and that (a private club) is one of the things that is prohibited."
This control overlay concerns all properties within the boundaries of Vine Street to Lehigh Avenue and from 2nd Street to Delaware Avenue. The overlay was created in 2002 in effort to crackdown on problematic nightclubs along Delaware Avenue.
But, the Frankford Avenue building has long been a clubhouse for the Warlocks, a group founded in Philadelphia in 1967 as a "one-percenter" club - a slang term meaning the group consists of outlaw bikers.
Members of the club often wear the club's trademark insignia of a green harpy and wear the colors red and white.
In the past, the Warlocks have been implicated in narcotics trafficking, particularly methamphetamine.
In February the Philadelphia Daily News reported on the arrest of the alleged recording secretary for the Warlocks, Daniel "Dirty Dick" McElheney.
McElheney was arrested on Feb. 3 after police allegedly found two Xanax tablets, 17 doses of oxycodone, six rifles and 10 handguns in his home in Oxford Circle.
When contacted late last week at his Southwest Philadelphia home, Eric Martinson, a member of the motorcycle club and the listed owner of the Frankford Avenue property, said he was surprised the city is requesting this paperwork now, since the Warlocks have maintained the location as a club for so long.
Martinson is not the president or leader of the club; in fact, according to the Warlocks' Web site, the club has no structured leadership and every member acts of his own accord and is responsible for their own actions.
Martinson declined to be quoted for this article - Warlock members are not supposed to talk to members of the press, and the group's Web site includes a lengthy explanation of their distaste for the media. A Star reporter was sternly denied comment from a member of the group during an afternoon visit to the Frankford Avenue clubhouse last week.
However, Martinson did mention that the building is used for weekly Warlocks meetings.
He did not comment when asked to discuss what types of events are held at the building, but said that times have changed for the motorcycle club and describied the organization as well liked by the surrounding community.
He also suggested the club's community presence may, in fact, lower the crime rate in the three-block radius around the clubhouse.
Just how accepted the club is locally may be tested shortly, as the Warlocks may have to visit the neighborhood to gather local support for the clubhouse.
Krause, of the zoning board, said a meeting with the public might not be necessary in order for the Warlocks to gain the needed variance. Still, getting local support would help, he said, especially if they have been continually operating the clubhouse without necessary permits.
"They've been running without permits, I suppose," said Krause. "(Going before the community) would be a good idea for them if they are trying to get those permits."
Last week, on Tuesday, July 7, the Warlocks Motorcycle Club was scheduled to appear before the Fishtown Neighbors Association's zoning committee. However, they did not attend the meeting.
At the time, Micah Hanson, head of the FNA zoning committee, said he wasn't sure why the club needed the paperwork or if they would eventually return to appear before the group.
But, during the meeting, none of the residents in attendance said they opposed the motorcycle club.
Instead, the few residents in attendance, who did not wish to be quoted, seemed ambivalent to the club's request.
The Warlocks will appear again before the Zoning Board of Adjustment on Sept. 22.
http://www.philly.com/community/pa/philadelphia/star/Warlocks_face_permit_woes_in_Fishtown.html