Many people who live in the southeastern section of Lancaster known as ChurchTowne are familiar with these conditions. They see them in several parts of the neighborhood.

They're sick and tired of it.

Some of those people took a step toward making things better last week at a community meeting at Bethel AME Church on East Strawberry Street. They decided facade renovations, trash control and street and sidewalk repair were the most important improvements needed in the ChurchTowne area.

"We have a choice," the Rev. Edward Bailey of Bethel AME said. "We can leave the neighborhood the way it is, or we can start to bring positive things into our community."

About 25 people attended the meeting for the Elm Street-ChurchTowne Project, which is an effort to improve the area between South Duke and South Queen streets from Church Avenue to Chesapeake Street.

As part of the meeting, ChurchTowne residents walked through parts of the neighborhood and were asked which of nine previously identified possible improvements they would like to see accomplished immediately.

Bailey said the next step is getting more people in the neighborhood involved.

He appointed four people to create a "neighborhood association" to help generate awareness of the project in the community.

One of the four recruiters is Terrance Charles, 17, who works at Bethel AME's day camp.

"Rev. Bailey has a vision," Charles said, "and I want to see his vision come to light.

"This part of town looks nasty," he said. "People don't care about it ... It looks nice everywhere else (in Lancaster). I want it to look nice here, too."

The ChurchTowne project is made possible through Elm Street, a state-funded program that targets urban residential areas for facade and streetscape improvements and promotes home ownership and business development in those areas.

The project consists of a 10-point revitalization plan that includes introducing traffic-calming measures, adding streetlights, increasing parking, turning vacant lots into miniparks and community gardens and creating more business and recreational opportunities.

The plan was revealed, in blueprint-form, to residents at a community meeting in July and was designed by architect Bruce Evans of Cox & Evans Architects of Lancaster and John Hershey of landscape architects Derck & Edson Associates of Lititz.

Denise Conklin, a member of the Bethel AME board, said she is enthusiastic about the project because residents seem excited about it.

"I saw so many houses that people have taken and renovated with respect to the property's historical value," she said.

"It shows that people in the neighborhood value where they live and they value their homes."

City Councilman Nelson M. Polite Sr., a lifelong resident of North Street, said each of the 10 possible improvements are important, though he didn't agree with all of the objectives that were selected as top priorities.

He said it is critical that one of the objectives be completed quickly, regardless of which improvement it might be.

"We need to adopt a priority as soon as possible and have it completed to show an example of what we can improve with this project," Polite said. "One thing we could do immediately, if the funds are available, is have new lighting put in. That is something we could do right away to show people that we can get something accomplished here."

The Elm Street program is awaiting approval from the state on how much of its $250,000 yearly budget can be used on ChurchTowne renovations, said Edward Klaus, project manager of Inner City Group, a local nonprofit economic development corporation.

Although the project appears to be under way, Bailey reminded residents that nothing has been accomplished yet.

"Do not let effort be confused with completion," Bailey said.

For information about the next ChurchTowne renovation community meeting, contact the Rev. Bob Hannum at 299-3798 or rwhannum@rwhannum.cnc.net.

E-mail Tyson McCloud at tmccloud@lnpnews.com.