Lot Cleanup Grant Eyed in Mt. Airy

The Mt. Airy Business Improvement District Board voted on Tuesday to apply for a grant with the Philadelphia Horticultural Society that would give money to the BID to help clean up vacant lots.

The grant would apply to all vacant properties within two blocks on both sides of Germantown Avenue.

“I like the idea of the grant,” said Cliff Jones a member of the BID board.  “But I’m afraid it would create an on-going expense.”

The grant would give the BID $22.50 per empty lot. The BID would then use that money for landscaping and cleanup efforts.

However, the Horticultural Society has slated the grant to only last three months.

The fear would be that the money would dry up, and the BID would be stuck with the cost of any new equipment or manpower acquired to clean the lots.

Despite their reservations, the board voted to apply for the grant because they still reserve the right to turn away the money at a late time.