Publication Date: May 30, 2003
Tag: 10160163
Section: LOCAL
Page: B-1
Jeff Hawkes

He erected a sturdy, in-ground pole topped by a 72-inch, tempered-glass backboard.

He put in a smooth, acrylic-coated macadam half-court.

He had the court painted blue and rusty red with bold white lines conforming to high school and college dimensions for free throws and 3-point shots.

He installed a 12-foot, chain-link fence to keep balls out of neighbors' yards and adorned the fence with NBA team flags.

He built a long, simple bench for spectators.

Oh yeah -- he invited neighborhood kids to play. That was his plan all along.

Porter, 47, who lives alone at 105 Ruby St., had a vision. It came in March after his beloved McCaskey Red Tornadoes fell to Lancaster Catholic in the league championship game.

"I have to help the kids have a good place to practice," Porter thought.

He figured if he built a nice court, young players would come. Some might go on to star for McCaskey.

It was a "Field of Dreams" thing.

"Where there is no vision, there is no future," said Porter, who on April 1 opened the court to the neighborhood.

Supervised play

"I come almost every day," said Anthony "Dudie" Hunter, 14, who aspires to play for McCaskey. "It's an opportunity to work on my shot."

Under threatening skies, Hunter dribbled and threw up shots in a pickup game with five other kids. Among them was Leander Toney Jr., 15, of Bay Street, who, at 6 feet 2 inches, towered over the rest.

"It's a nice court," Toney said. "People who come here come ready to play."

Eight other young people, ages 12 to 20, waited their turn. They milled about or watched from a bench at the edge of the alley behind Porter's row home. A few sipped from cans of A-Treat lemon soda Porter had on ice in a cooler.

Freddy Sanchez, 16, is a regular.

"I have friends here," he said. "I have fun."

Porter opens the court at 4:30 p.m., after he gets off work at John L. Porter's Used Furniture. He closes it at 9 p.m.

From inside his home, Porter can monitor what's going on. A microphone picks up the chatter, and three cameras, one with night vision, watch from on high. Porter keeps a videotape rolling.

Parents like the supervision. They feel their kids are safer playing at Porter's court than at a park.

"It keeps my sons off the street," said Missy Williams, 34, mother of Damar, 14, and Leequan, 13. "They do their homework and chores, and then they come here to try to better themselves."

From time to time, Porter sponsors contests. Kids compete in free throws, 3-pointers and one-on-one games.

"I won a WNBA basketball and $5," said Jennez Middlebrooks, 16, of Coral Street, who made 10 of 15 free throws.

Porter posts pictures of the winners on a fence.

Zoning obstacle

"I'd really like to see this stay," said Jose Diaz, 43, a neighbor whose sons, Donald, 15, and Antonio, 18, play. "There's no drugs, no violence."

Porter pointed out that acts of juvenile delinquency are more likely to occur between 2 and 8 p.m. He believes his court counters crime.

"You need to get the kids busy after school," he said. "It's a no-brainer."

A lot of people think Porter, who invested $3,500 in the court, deserves an award. What he got was a zoning citation.

He opened a certified letter from the zoning officer last Friday notifying him that his fence exceeds the six-foot limit and that prior approval is required for all courts.

Porter should have checked with City Hall before building the court. Now if he wants to keep the kids playing, he's going to have to persuade the zoning hearing board.

On Wednesday, he paid a $200 fee to schedule a July 7 hearing.

"Without the fence, the court's gone," Porter said. "I'm sure we'll work it out."

In the meantime, the games go on.

A mustachioed man who plays in a YMCA over-40 league, Porter blew a whistle and cleared the court for a one-on-one contest.

It was Hunter versus Edwin Delgado, 15. The boys played hard. Porter cheered.

"They're unbelievable, so great to watch," Porter said. "I love this game."

Photo By Dave Porter

Publication Date: June 15, 2003
Tag: 10163847
Section: U.S./WORLD
Page: A-1
Gil Smart

"The kid is one of the best I've seen," said David Porter, who lives at 105 Ruby St. in Lancaster and runs a basketball half court in the alley behind his house where Dudie, also known as Anthony Hunter, 14, plays a lot of ball. "He's like a little Allen Iverson."

Most sunny days, you can find Dudie and lots of other kids shooting hoops at Porter's court. That could end soon, though, if the city orders Porter to tear the court down.

While Porter created, with his own money, a half court that is by far the nicest in the West End, and possibly the entire city, he didn't get zoning approval before he installed the permanent glass backboard, the fences draped with pro basketball banners, the sophisticated video and sound system that allows him to monitor the court when he's inside the house and the fences that set it off from the rear of neighbors' homes.

"The city says I'm promoting basketball," said Porter, 47, a lifelong city resident and diehard baskeball fan. More specifically, the city has charged him with two violations of its zoning ordinances: constructing a basketball game court without zoning approval, and installing illegal fences.

He may have to tear the fences down; he may have to rip the court out.

The zoning hearing board will consider the case on Monday, July 7. Porter has a petition with hundreds of names backing him and likely will arrive at the hearing at Southern Market Center with dozens of supporters.

The kids who play at the court say it would be a shame if the city punished Porter. He's doing the city's job, providing kids with a place to play. Porter ought to get a a medal, they say, not a cease-and-desist order.

"He did all this just for us," said a 16-year-old boy who asked that he only be identified as Turtle.

"This court keeps me out of trouble." It was after Lancaster Catholic High School dropped McCaskey, Porter's alma mater, in the Lancaster-Lebanon boys' basketball championship in February that Porter had this idea.

For decades, there had been somewhat of a makeshift court behind his Ruby Street home, not 25 yards from First Street. But Porter, who helps run the family business, John L. Porter Furniture on Columbia Avenue, figured he might sink a couple bucks into the court and make it a really nice place to play. Then the kids in the neighborhood, would have a decent place to shoot hoops; the only other nearby courts were in Rodney Park. Those hoops were in disrepair, and, due to problems at the park, were taken down last week.

Giving neighborhood kids a place to practice, Porter figured, ultimately might improve McCaskey's boys basketball team.

So he dug out the checkbook, investing about $3,500 (he got a deal on the paving from a sympathetic local contractor). He hooked up the surveillance cameras, one of them with night vision, to his detailed, high-end home entertainment system. (Porter is a bachelor, and it shows, with not one but two big-screen plasma TVs crowding his living room and dining room.)

The court opens every day when he gets home from work, sometime after 5 p.m.; a rope and "no trespassing" sign keep it off-limits until then, and Porter says the kids have respected his rules. He keeps it open until 9 p.m., one hour before curfew. He keeps a cooler stocked with free sodas for the kids.

He stages free-throw contests, one-on-one and three-on-three contests, and has started calling the results into the newspapers. With a digital camera, he takes pictures of the winners, then distributes glossy 8-by-10 photos of the "champions." A former local basketball coach gave him a box full of old basketball trophies; he hands them out to the winners, too.

It was all going swimmingly until city zoning officer John Dombach stopped by one day in May. Dombach said he'd gotten a complaint, so he went to check it out.

Porter thinks he knows who complained and has since mended fences with that neighbor. But what Dombach saw when he stopped by undeniably violated city zoning ordinances.

Because the one thing Porter forgot to get, while planning and building his dream court, was permisson from the city.

By itself, that violated Section 051 of the city's zoning ordinance, which requires zoning approval to construct a court. According to the cease-and-desist order sent by Dombach, Porter either needs to get zoning approval after the fact, or remove the court.

Then there are the fences. Porter has a 10-foot-high chainlink fence - the maximum height permitted by the city ordinance is 6 feet - and has a second, smaller, wooden fence installed a mere inch or so in front of the chainlink fence; that violates a city ordinance which requires at least 5 feet of separation between fences.

Porter must either remove the fences or modify them to meet zoning guidelines.

Porter appealed to the zoning hearing board. If the board upholds the order, and Porter doesn't comply, a district justice could order Porter to pay a fine of up to $500, plus additional fines for every day the violation continues. City zoning hearing board chairwoman Margaret Concannon said she didn't know about Porter's court and doesn't want to know about it before the July 7 hearing - she doesn't want to become predjudiced by news stories such as this one. Rather, she and other board members will consider the evidence, and render a decision based on the facts.

But she did say that the board, on occasion, grants zoning approval after the fact. It's just as likely to uphold the original citation.

"There are absolutely a lot of people who just don't know" that zoning rules exist and get angry when they find they've run afoul of them, she said. "A lot of people think (the regulations) are a pain in the neck, but they are there for a reason," chief among them public health and safety.

Porter doesn't see how his court is harming the public's health or safety. If anything, he said, he's helping it.

Others agree. After Intelligencer Journal columnist Jeff Hawkes wrote about Porter's court last last month, he started getting donations from people in the mail. Others donated cases of soda for Porter to pass out to the kids.

He's sunk the money back into the de facto park, buying even more sodas. "Now everybody in the neighborhood is my friend," said Porter. Even one woman who lived nearby and complained, intially, that balls were bouncing off the side of her house, and that empty soda cans were left on the street outside her door.

Porter wrote her a letter, installed a fence on the side of her building, and asked the kids to be more careful with the cans. The woman has since donated three cases of soda and added her name to the 150 or so others on the petition asking officials to keep the court.

Last Tuesday, as the mercury crept into the 80s, nearly two dozen kids hung around the court, playing ball or just sitting on a bench, shooting the breeze, waiting for a turn - Porter makes sure everyone gets a turn.

The kids said they have nowhere else to go to play ball. Most live in the neighborhood, and their parents like the idea of them being close and under supervision.

"It keeps me entertained," said Jerry Maldonado, 13, who moved to the West End in November and has made a lot of friends at the court. "It's a well-designed court ... it's the only nice one around."

With the removal of the courts in Rodney Park, it's the only one around, period. If it goes, suggest the kids, they might have to find something else to do. And it might not be as innocuous as basketball.

"It's a great thing for the neighborhood," said Porter. "Everybody loves it.

Publication Date: July 5, 2003
Tag: 10164468
Section: SPORTS
Page: B-1Keith Schweigert

Photo By Tom Amico Lancaster New Era

It was never his intention to take on city hall.

But that's precisely what happened to the avid McCaskey fan when he turned his back yard into a place where hoop dreams come true.

Back in February, after his beloved Red Tornado fell to Lancaster Catholic in the Lancaster-Lebanon League championship game, Porter decided to spruce up the court behind his home on 105 Ruby St.

If more prospective players had a place to hone their skills, he reasoned, then it might pay off with a state title for the Tornado somewhere down the road.

"In the last five years, I've been to every McCaskey game -- home and away," says the 1974 McCaskey alum. "They've had such an incredible run. It's been the best thing ever to happen in Lancaster. I wanted to bring some of that excitement here."

So Porter sank $3,500 of his own money into a renovation project. He replaced his worn-down backboard with a permanent glass board. He resurfaced the macadam and painted it with a regulation-length 3-point arc and a free throw shooting area.

He fenced the whole thing in to prevent stray balls from escaping into neighbors' yards and designed a state-of-the-art surveillance system so he could monitor the court from inside his home.

Then he threw open the gates and invited the kids in his neighborhood to come and play. The court is open from the time Porter arrives home from his job at the family's furniture store -- about 4:30 p.m. -- until 9 p.m.

The closing time is strictly enforced, Porter says, so the neighbors won't be upset by late-night games.

Porter estimates that between five and 10 kids show up at this court nightly. That includes two teens -- Anthony Hunter and Edwin Delgado -- who hope to play for the Red Tornado next year.

"I thought I was doing something good for the community," Porter says.

Unfortunately, Porter never thought to get a permit from the city's zoning board when he started his project.

And sure enough, a few weeks after the court opened, the city came calling. Porter received a ceast-and-desist order from the zoning board. He had a week to take down the court or face a $500 fine.

Porter decided to fight the ruling and filed an appeal with the zoning board. He will meet with the board Monday at 4 p.m. at the Southern Market Center.

"I never thought to ask the zoning board," Porter says. "I didn't think I had to. There's been a backboard up in our back yard since 1965 -- and it's been macadamed since the '70's.

"All I did was resurface it, paint the lines and put up the fence."

The city doesn't see it that way. The zoning board ruled that Porter's court violates Section 051 of the city's zoning ordinance, which says there must be zoning approval to build a court.

The 10-foot-high fence that surrounds the court is also an issue. According to city zoning laws, the maximum height allowed for a chainlink fence is six feet.

Porter also has a six-foot wooden fence at the base of the chainlink boundary, which violates a city ordinance requiring at least five feet of space between two fences.

The second violation seems especially nit-picky. While there are two fences around Porter's court, they are almost seamlessly attached.

"(The wooden fence) soundproofs the chainlink fence," Porter explains, throwing a ball against it to demonstrate. "I didn't want the sound to disturb anyone."

Porter will get a chance to plead his case at Monday's meeting. He'll present the zoning board with a petition signed by hundreds of supporters, and he expects to a crowd to pack the meeting room.

"I'm hoping they'll see this is a good thing and rule in our favor," he says.

Porter is not alone. In the last few weeks, newspaper articles about his plight have mobilized a small army of supporters.

"It's been amazing," he says. "People stop by here all the time to watch the kids play and to lend their support. Everybody wants to know what they can do to help. People are writing letters to the editor. They buy sodas for the kids. They drop off donations.

"We even had a couple of bike cops stop by the other day to shoot around and talk to the kids. They said it's nice to see kids with something to do."

Porter has received support from as far away as Miami, Fla., where a former city resident who followed stories of his plight on the internet donated three dozen T-shirts emblazed with "Tornado Alley" logos.

Porter awards the shirts to winners of the weekly 3-point shooting and slam dunk contests he runs at the court.

Brewers Outlet recently donated five cases of soda, which Porter put in the well-stocked cooler he provides for refreshments. Any other donations he receives are put back into the court.

Former McCaskey stars Dustin Salisbery and Akeem Washington visited the court last week after learning about it. They gave neighborhood kids a basketball clinic and staged a slam dunk contest for their entertainment.

"The kids couldn't believe it," Porter says. "It was like watching the NBA in your back alley."

While the city zoning board is just doing its job, here's hoping that some sort of compromise can be reached to keep Porter's court open.

As he points out, if you don't give kids something to do, they'll find something on their own.

And what they find is not always positive.

"I'm not mad at anybody," says Porter. "The board's just doing what it's supposed to do. But If they make me take this court down, it will really stink.

"Kids around here have no place to play basketball. None of the parks around here have courts any more. What to they expect the kids to do in the summer? Throw pennies? Play tiddlywinks?

Publication Date: July 6, 2003
Tag: 10165368
Section: LANCASTER
Page: B-1
Gil Smart

In fact, the Ruby Street resident who spent thousands of dollars to build a state-of-the-art basketball court behind his home, and ran afoul of city zoning ordinances in doing so, is likely to have a crowd of supporters in his corner. Possibly, hundreds of them.

"I don't know if there'll be room for everybody" in Southern Market Center, said Porter, who hopes a large turnout will convince city officials that the court, which he calls "Tornado Alley," should be allowed to stay.

There's no guarantee, though, that Porter's hoop dream will come true.

In early June, city zoning officer John Dombach, acting on a complaint, visited Porter's home and discovered the paved and painted half-court, featuring a high fence draped with NBA team banners. It was impressive.

It was also illegal, for while Porter sunk some $5,000 of his own money into the court, he never received permission from the city to build it. Dombach cited Porter with two violations of the city zoning ordinance, one for failing to obtain the city's permission before building it, the other for installing two fences too close to one another.

The city could force Porter to remove the fences and the court and could fine him for every day he fails to do so.

But Porter and his supporters hope the zoning board opts for a lighter touch. In fact, some of Porter's supporters, and there are many of them, agree with his contention that the court has given neighborhood kids something to do and, thus, kept them out of trouble.

"I'm not faulting the city for responding to complaints," wrote one supporter in a letter to the editor published in last weeks' Sunday News. "But instead of gratitude that David Porter is offering a supervised alternative, (the city has) threatened to force him to tear down his court. That seems counterproductive to me."

Porter says others have shown their appreciation by donating cases of soda for him to hand out to the kids who play ball at his court; a Florida woman who read about Porter donated three dozen "Tornado Alley" T-shirts for him to hand out to the kids.

And since his picture appeared in the newspaper, he's become a celebrity. "I went to the Brewer's Outlet the other day," Porter said. "The guy recognized me and gave me five cases of soda."

Former McCaskey High School standouts Dustin Salisbery and Akeem Washington also showed up and shared some "hoop secrets" with neighborhood kids and staged a dunk contest, Porter said.

Neighbors, meanwhile, have adorned their windows with flyers that urge people to turn out for the 4 p.m. zoning hearing Monday.

Porter said he's ready for the tip-off.

"People say, you can't fight city hall," he said.

"I say, let's get ready to rumble."

Publication Date: July 8, 2003
Tag: 10164731
Section: LOCAL NEWS
Page: B-1
Keith Schweigert

As a group of kids swept water from a passing shower off the half basketball court behind his home on 105 Ruby St., David Porter was ordering pizzas and soda for a victory celebration.

Neighbor Edwin Laboy shouted to a passing bystander, "Tell the whole neighborhood -- we won!"

Porter and his supporters were in a jubilant mood following Monday's meeting with the Lancaster Zoning Board. After a one-hour hearing, the board voted unanimously to give Porter's court a special zoning exemption, allowing it to remain open.

Porter was cited in April for building a court without city approval. He was given a week to take down the court, or face a $500 fine.

But on Monday, a parade of city officials, concerned neighbors and enthusiastic youths -- about 40 to 50 in all -- gathered to ask the zoning board to ignore its own laws and make an exception in Porter's case.

Lancaster Mayor Charlie Smithgall led the way.

"I think what Mr. Porter is doing is great for the kids," said Smithgall, who owns a pharmacy on Columbia Avenue near Porter's neighborhood. "He's given them a structured environment in which to play."

City parks superintendent Jeff Zimmerman and public works director Charlotte Katzenmoyer also spoke in favor of the court.

"With the tightening budget, the burden on our department to provide facilities is ever-increasing," said Katzenmoyer. "Facilities such as this one, which are supported and maintained, are very important to the city."

Zimmerman said his department cannot do everything, and saluted Porter for taking the initiative.

"I feel that this is part and parcel of what we're trying to do for the community," he said. "...I think (Porter's court) is a wonderful model that could be replicated throughout the city."

Many of Porter's neighbors also spoke in support.

"When I moved to this neighborhood, the kids had nowhere to go," said Laboy, who lives on 113 Ruby St. "What Dave has done is built a safe haven. As a neighbor, I can see the kids have somewhere safe to go. Dave has done something wonderful, and we need to support it."

Robin Hayes-Toney, who lives nearby, said trash around the court is not a problem, because the kids do a great job of picking up after themselves.

"The alley is cleaner than the streets," she said. "Nobody wants to get in trouble and lose their privileges."

No one in attendance spoke out against Porter's court at the hearing.

In Monday's ruling, the board said Porter could keep his court open if he supplied adult supervision, defined the hours of operation from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., made sure trash was picked up, installed no lighting other than the security lighting already in place and had no outside sound system besides the intercom he currently uses.

"It's great," said Porter after the meeting. "I'm relieved that the whole thing is over, and that the kids can play ball. That's what all this was about. So much fuss over nothing more than child's play."

Porter ran afoul of the zoning board in April, when he decided to renovate the court that has stood behind his home since 1965.

Porter replaced the worn backboard with a permanent, tempered glass model. He resurfaced the playing area, painting in free-throw and 3-point lines. He installed a state-of-the-art video surveillance system to monitor the court from his home and surrounded the structure with a 12-foot chain-link fence.

A second, 4-foot wooden border was added to the base of the original fence to deaden the sound of basketballs hitting the chain link.

Porter sank about $3,500 of his own money into the project, but failed to get zoning approval first. The fencing violated a city ordinance that allows a maximum fence height of 6 feet. The city also requires 5 feet between two fences.

The board issued a cease-and-desist order a few weeks after the court opened.

Porter appealed the order, setting up Monday's hearing.

Smithgall was pleased that the board reversed its decision.

"I'm glad that the zoning board found in favor of the basketball court with the conditions as stated," he said. "It makes sense and I support it."

Zimmerman was also pleased.

"It's an excellent decision," he said. "It empowers people to make some positive changes in their neighborhoods. What Mr. Porter has done is exactly what community governments have tried to do and found themselves failing."

Laboy agreed. He said his neighborhood changed for the better as soon as the court opened.

"What Dave has done is made this community different -- and in a positive way," he said. "The change happened almost overnight. Now we don't have to worry about where our kids are at night -- they're here. This is a great place for the whole neighborhood, and what makes it great is that everybody had a part in it.

"What happened here today was not about Dave. It wasn't about the fence. It was about the kids."

Publication Date: July 8, 2003
Tag: 10164625
Section: NEWS
Page: A-1
Larry Alexander

Photo by Suzette Wenger Lancaster Intelligencer Journal

Lancaster Zoning Hearing Board Monday unanimously granted a special exception to Porter, who had been cited for zoning violations after sprucing up his Ruby Street basketball court without first getting city approval.

The basketball court had been on the property since 1965, when Porter's father built it for him. It has been paved since the 1970s. Over the years, it has been a gathering place for young people.

In April, Porter spent about $3,500 to renovate the court. He replaced the old backboard with a permanent glass one, resurfaced the macadam and painted it with a regulation-length 3-point arc and a free-throw shooting area.

He then ringed the area with a 12-foot chain-link fence to prevent balls from bouncing into the neighbors' yards, and an attached 4-foot wooden fence to deaden the sound of balls hitting the chain link.

The fencing, however, was in violation of a city ordinance that allows a maximum fence height of 6 feet. Also, the city requires 5 feet between two fences. As a result, Porter was issued a cease-and-desist order and given a week to take down the court or face a $500 fine.

Porter appealed the violation.

In granting the approval Monday, the board required that Porter define the hours of operation as 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.; provide adult supervision for youths on the court; install no external lighting other than the security lighting already in place and no outside sound system except for the intercom Porter currently uses; and keep the area free of trash and litter.

Porter, accompanied at the hearing by about 25 neighbors and youths, many carrying basketballs, was excited about the decision.

"I feel great," he said after the decision. "Unbelievable. All this over child's play. I've been waiting two months for this. It's a relief. Let's play ball."

The meeting had the unique distinction of having top city officials line up to support a man who was in violation of city codes.

That support was led by Mayor Charlie Smithgall, who urged the board to grant the special exception, calling it "good for the city and good for the children."

After the decision, Smithgall said, "I'm glad the zoning board found in favor of the basketball court with the conditions as stated. It makes sense, and I think that's the way he's been running it.

Smithgall also said the court solved problems he'd been having with youths hanging out in the parking lot of his Columbia Avenue pharmacy.

"He's taken them away and given them a structured environment in which to play," Smithgall said.

Charlotte Katzenmoyer, the city's public works director, said private play areas like Porter's play an important role in the community and should be encouraged. The city, she said, doesn't have the money to provide the facilities to meet the needs of the city's youth without hiking taxes.

Jeff Zimmerman, the city's parks superintendent, said when he heard what Porter was doing for the youths, he realized "this is part and parcel with what we are trying to do as a community, and that is to build neighborhoods."

He said government can't do it all.

"It's great to see the community step forward and do this for its young people," he said. "They are our future. This is where we are going, and if we are unable or unwilling to do it, I think we'll set a course where we won't be very pleased with the outcome."

He called the basketball court "an exceptional opportunity for the city" and a "wonderful model that can be replicated" throughout the community.

Porter also got overwhelming support from his friends and neighbors, including petitions with "a couple of hundred" signatures.

Michael Rowen, a member of the Lancaster school board, talked about the need for kids to have mentors.

"What we have here in David Porter is a classic example of someone mentoring these kids," he said.

Robin Hayes-Toney said the basketball court has had "a positive impact" on her neighborhood and feels secure when her children are playing there.

"I know where they are, and I know they're safe," she said.

Publication Date: July 10, 2003
Tag: 10164921
Section: LOCAL
Page: B-1
Jeff Hawkes

Then everyone scrambled from the pickup to Porter's back yard.

Without fanfare, but with plenty of yelling, jumping and maneuvering for rebounds, boys and girls of all shapes, sizes and colors started launching basketballs at the hoop. It was just as they have done since April 1, the day Porter opened his immaculately paved, painted, accessorized and decorated half-court and invited the neighborhood to come play.

But there was one big difference Monday evening. The court was no longer in legal limbo. A three-member zoning hearing board had listened to Porter's request to cut him some slack so that he could continue to offer kids a supervised place to work on their shots.

Facing two dozen supporters, including Mayor Charlie Smithgall, and hearing no dissent, the board bestowed its blessing upon Porter and his court, which he has taken to calling Tornado Alley for his beloved McCaskey High School Red Tornado.

"This is the most exciting day of my life," Porter exclaimed later.

Rule interpretation

In the end, it didn't matter that Porter had enclosed three sides of the court with a 12-foot, chain-link, wood-reinforced fence, twice the legal height, to keep balls out of neighboring yards, or that he had failed to get the city's permission before opening his court to the community.

In citing Porter with the violations, zoning officer John Dombach was just doing his job, and in granting Porter exceptions to the zoning ordinance, the zoning hearing board did its.

Except for the fact that the hearing cost Porter $200 -- on top of the $3,500 he spent on the court and video-monitoring equipment -- the regulatory rigmarole performed an unexpected public service.

It put a spotlight on the fact that one person can make a difference.

Not that Porter put it that way.

A trim, mustachioed bachelor who was sporting a worn cap, shorts and a Tornado Alley T-shirt, Porter, 47, of 105 Ruby St., who works at John L. Porter & Sons Furniture Co., didn't show up for the hearing ready to give the board a fancy speech.

He just handed over a petition signed by a couple hundred supporters, pulled out a photograph of the court and answered the board members' questions with a minimum of words.

Asked by board solicitor George Cook if he had anything else to say, Porter said, "Let's play ball."

Thirteen others, however, had a lot to tell the board. Eddie Laboy, of 113 Ruby St., said Porter has created "a safe haven" for his sons. Stephanie Sands, of 115 Ruby St., said she has seen only positive behavior on the court. Robin Hayes-Toney, who lives in the 600 block of Bay Street, said, "I think it's the best thing that could happen on that street."

Spinoff benefits

When I asked Hayes-Toney to elaborate, she explained that Porter's investment in the neighborhood and the way he monitors the children's behavior -- no littering, no foul language -- helps homeowners feel better about where they live, creating a "ripple effect" that will be good for everyone's property values.

But it wasn't just neighbors who came out in support of Porter. The mayor, the city's public works director, the city's parks supervisor and a school board member all sang his praises.

With recreation choices limited because of tight city finances, wouldn't it be great, parks supervisor Jeff Zimmerman said, if Tornado Alleys were replicated across the city?

School board member Michael Rowen pointed out it's not just Porter's facility that's useful. His positive presence serves to mentor young people.

The hearing lasted close to an hour, and not a single negative word was uttered. It was one of those times that make you think almost anything is possible.

Back at the court, as a free-for-all shootout was going on in his banner-bedecked court, Porter called Pizza Hut on his cell phone and ordered four cheese pizzas and soft drinks.

"You take VISA or Mastercard?" he asked. "Great."

Porter didn't mind picking up the tab. He's a guy who just keeps giving.

York Dispatch

Publication Date: July 13, 2003
Tag: 10165260
Section: PERSPECTIVE
Page: P-2

At a time when quality of life is a major issue in Lancaster's revitalization, and city residents say the biggest turnoffs to city living are nuisances like noise and litter, Mr. Porter is doing something about it.

He deserves Lancaster's support, and finally he got it.

Mr. Porter, a basketball fan, fixed up a court in his back yard off Ruby Street, with about $3,500 of his own money, and opened it to neighborhood kids. He says he was looking for a way to keep them occupied and, perhaps, to train the next generation of McCaskey High School Red Tornado stars.

But he failed to get permission from city officials and was cited for zoning violations.

At a hearing last week attended by his neighbors and kids who play in "Tornado Alley," the zoning board agreed to an exception allowing the court to stay open, with some fairly reasonable restrictions on lights and noise.

Mr. Porter made a mistake, but, we think, an honest one, in not checking with City Hall before playing ball.

There are times when rules are made to be broken. This is one of them.

The southwest neighborhood between Manor Street and Columbia Avenue is teetering on the edge of major trouble. Violence is on the rise; gun-shots are more frequent; drug dealing is a growing problem.

People who live there, in what has been a quiet and family-friendly part of town, are frustrated. And scared.

What Mr. Porter has done with Tornado Alley is give kids something constructive to do that won't lead them into trouble-and won't cost the city a dime.

City leaders, including Mayor Charlie Smithgall, acknowledged that by testifying on Mr. Porter's behalf at the zoning hearing.

Instead of expecting the government to do something for his neighborhood, Mr. Porter did it himself. That kind of citizen initiative deserves credit

Hoop dreams can come true.

A Positive Step for the Northwest Neighborhood

SUNDAY NEWS (LANCASTER, PA.)

Publication Date: September 7, 2003

Section: PERSPECTIVE
Page: P-3

Build New basketball Court at Crystal Park

Turn Rodney Park into

Recently I had the great good fortune to get the OK from the City Zoning folks to allow the neighborhood children to continue using the basketball half-court that is installed behind my house on Ruby Street. We call it "Tornado Alley". So far it has been a smashing success, far beyond my original expectations. This small half-court is so popular with so many children that they literally have to wait in line to get a chance to play.

This success points up one thing very clearly. There is a crying need for a full-scale, fenced-in basketball court in this Northwest area of the City. Others and myself have looked over many possibilities to solve the problem of so many youngsters, boys and girls in their early to late teens having nowhere to really play a good game of basketball. The best of all possible locations is Crystal Park. It’s my suggestion, to the Mayor and the Crystal Park area residents, that a new court be constructed at Crystal Park for the teens and that Rodney Park, just a few blocks away, be set-up for the younger children and toddlers. Crystal Park is landscaped in such a way that the construction of a quality court would be an easy job; it’s flat unlike the sloped areas of Rodney Park.

I have heard that some neighbors see the reasoning behind this idea and yet others are afraid that it might be an attractant for drug users and troublemakers. From my Tornado Alley experience, nothing could be farther from the truth. Some have complained of drug use at Crystal Park, glass strewn everywhere, muggings, threats from kids hanging-out in the area and even talk of "gang" activity. This last ‘problem’ relates to a small group of very young children (eight, nine and ten-year-olds) who have given themselves a no-doubt TV inspired name, "The Young Assassins". From what I have been able to learn, the groups’ most dangerous act has been to spray paint their gang name in a couple of places. My information comes from boys and girls that know them and who play at Tornado Alley. They are little kids with a scary name.

If Crystal Park had a well constructed, fenced and locked basketball court operated under the supervision of caring adults and/or City workers, there would be no more drug use there, no more delinquency, no more fighting. All the bad things that the neighbors fear would be replaced with a positive, neighborhood-value enhancing physical activity center that the kids would love and respect. Leave Crystal Park as it is, leave Rodney Park as it is and we will all see a downward spiral of juvenile delinquency in our neighborhood with the attendant property damage, petty thefts, muggings, drug use, illicit sexual activity, loud obscene language, little ‘tough guys’ trying to make a name for themselves by harassing the older folks. It will not get better. It will certainly get worse.

Interject a well-planned project that takes the small children’s equipment to Rodney Park and adds some sandboxes along with some creative, up-to-date playthings while transforming Crystal Park into a real basketball playground with at least one full-court and perhaps a couple of practice backboards requiring far less space and the neighborhood will begin to be livable again.

Exactly what some neighbors don’t want is precisely what will do them and the entire area the most good. My daily experience at Tornado Alley has been a personal blessing for me and it’s beyond a big hit with the children. I have watched, many times, as older teens (being respectful of each other) have shown the youngsters how to behave and give up on confrontation as the preferred method of interacting. There is true mentoring happening in my backyard as a regulated sports activity is bringing out the best in the participants.