COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA COMMITTEE ON RULES Room 400, City Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Friday, October 18, 2024 10:28 a.m. PRESENT: COUNCILWOMAN CINDY BASS, CHAIR COUNCILMAN MARK SQUILLA, VICE-CHAIR COUNCILWOMAN JAMIE GAUTHIER COUNCILWOMAN KATHERINE GILMORE RICHARDSON ALSO PRESENT:
Good morning. This hearing is called to order. Members and guests will please take their seats. A quorum of the Committee is present and this hearing is now called to order. May the Clerk please call the roll.
Great. This is the public hearing of the Committee on Rules regarding Bill 13 Nos. 240499, 240612, 240656 and 240661. Will the Clerk please read the title of these bills.
Bill No. 18 240499, an ordinance to amend the Philadelphia Zoning Maps by changing the zoning designations of certain areas of land located within an area bounded by Locust Street, 8th Street, South Street and Broad Street. Bill No. 240612, an ordinance continuing the Fishtown Kensington Area Business Improvement District, in the area that generally includes both sides of Frankford Avenue from the west side of Delaware Avenue to the southwest side of Lehigh Avenue, both sides of North Front Street from the north side of Poplar street to the south side of Diamond Street, both sides of East Girard Avenue from Frankford Avenue continuing to the west side of East Berks Street, the north side of West Girard Avenue from Frankford Avenue to North 2nd Street, and the south side of West Girard Avenue from Frankford Avenue to Howard Street and certain blocks of streets that intersect portions of these streets; approving an extension of the boundaries of the District to include North Front Street from Montgomery Street to Diamond Street, East Girard Avenue from East Fletcher Street to East Berks Street, and the north side of West Girard Avenue from Front Street to North 2nd Street; continuing to Fishtown Kensington Area Business Improvement District, Inc., a Pennsylvania nonprofit corporation, as the neighborhood improvement district management Association of the District; approving a plan for and report concerning the District; authorizing the Director of Commerce, on behalf of the City, to execute an agreement with the Fishtown Kensington Area Business Improvement District, Inc. relating to the District; and re-authorizing the Fishtown Kensington Area Business Improvement District, Inc. to assess property owners within the District a special property assessment fee to be used in accordance with the approved plan; all in accordance with the provisions of the Community and Economic Improvement Act, under certain terms and conditions. And Bill No. 240656, an ordinance amending Section 14-303 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Common Procedures and Requirements," to clarify provisions related to public hearings of the Zoning Board of Adjustment and make technical changes, under all terms and conditions. And finally, Bill No. 15 240661, an ordinance amending Section 14-524 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "/FDO Fourth District Overlay District," to include certain areas of land within the Morris Park neighborhood, under certain terms and conditions.
Will the Clerk please call witnesses for the first panel we have to testify this morning on Bill No. 240499. And I also want to recognize the presence of Councilman Mark Squilla.
First panel, Paula Brumbelow Burns, Director of Legislation for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission. (Witness approached Witness table.)
Please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
Good morning, members of the Rules Committee. I am Paula Brumbelow Burns, Director of Legislation for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission. I am here to testify on Bill No. 240499 introduced into City Council on May 24, 2024 by Councilmember Squilla. Bill No. 240499 amends the Philadelphia Zoning Maps by changing the zoning designations of land located within an area bounded by Locust Street, 8th Street, South Street and Broad Street in the Washington Square West neighborhood of the Central Planning District. This bill will change the zoning of a number of properties in the Washington Square West neighborhood in the Central Planning District. The changes proposed by the legislation work to protect commercial corridors and better manage the transition between the neighborhood scale to the south and east and the commercial scale to the north and west. It also encourages appropriate development on vacant and underdeveloped lots, correct zoning to reduce non-conformities and protects the area's character of single family- attached homes. This action is consistent with the Philadelphia 2035 Citywide Vision, which recommends maintaining the scale of the Washington Square West neighborhood, ensuring that new development reinforces the urban scale and encouraging commercial zoning on the strongest retail blocks. The Philadelphia City Planning Commission considered Bill 18 No. 240499 at its public meeting on June 6, 2024 and recommended the bill for approval. I'll be happy to answer any questions at this time.
Thank you very much for your testimony. Are there any questions from the panel? (No response.)
Seeing none, is there anyone else here to testify on Bill No. 240499? Paula, hold on. Don't go anywhere yet. Anyone else to testify? No? (No response.)
Seeing that there's no one else to testify on Bill No. 240499, Mr. Clerk, please call the next bill, Bill No. 15 240656.
Bill No. 17 240656, Paula Brumbelow Burns, Director of Legislation, Philadelphia City Planning Commission.
I am Paula Brumbelow Burns, Director of Legislation for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission. I'm here to testify on Bill No. 240656, introduced into City Council on September 5, 2024 by Councilmember Gilmore Richardson for Council President Johnson. Bill No. 240656 amends the Philadelphia Zoning Code by changing Section 14-303 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Common Procedures and Requirements," to clarify provisions related to public hearings of the Zoning Board of Adjustment. This bill makes technical updates to Bill No. 17 240446, which was passed in June 2024. The original bill revised the number of Zoning Board of Adjustment members required to vote on any item at a public meeting. It followed the passage of a change to the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter, which was approved in 2022, which increased the number of Zoning Board seats from to 7. The Code provision being repealed by this bill set the number of members necessary for a quorum to a static amount regardless of how many members have been appointed to vacancies of the Board. This action amends the quorum requirements to default to a simple majority of members seated. The Philadelphia City Planning Commission considered Bill No. 13 240656 at its public meeting on September 19, 2024 and recommended the bill for approval.
Thank you for your testimony. Are there any questions from the panel? Councilwoman Kathy Gilmore Richardson.
Thank you so much, Madam Chair. And thank you, Paula, for this recommendation from Planning regarding Bill No. 240656 that I introduced on behalf of Council President Johnson. And just wanted to thank you all for understanding the necessity to update the Code in this way. It is more in line with Robert's Rules of Order but also for us, Mason's Manual of Legislative Review. And so, we appreciate your support on this legislation and ask for the support of all of our colleagues. Thank you so much, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Majority Leader. Any other questions, comments from the panel? (No response.)
Is there anyone else here to testify on Bill No. 240656? (No response.)
And seeing none, will the Clerk please call forward Bill No. 240661?
240661, Paula Brumbelow Burns, Director of Legislation, Philadelphia City Planning Commission.
I am Paula Brumbelow Burns, Director of Legislation for the City Planning Commission. I'm here to testify on Bill No. 240661, introduced into City Council on September 5, 2024 by Councilmember Jones, Jr. Bill No. 240661 amends the Philadelphia Zoning Code by amending the /FDO Fourth District Overlay District to include areas of land within the Morris Park neighborhood in the West Planning District. This bill proposes to add a new Morris Park subarea to the commercial review area of the /FDO Fourth District Overlay District to include an area bounded by Malvern Avenue, 63rd Street, Lansdowne Avenue and 68th Street. Within this new review area, a wide range of retail uses, consumer goods, food, beverages and groceries, Sundries Pharmaceuticals and convenience sales and drug paraphernalia sales will require a special exception to be granted by the Zoning Board of Adjustment for commercially-zoned properties where they would otherwise be allowed by-right. While it is understood that the intent of the bill is to discourage nuisance uses, this action could also discourage the operation of essential neighborhood retail services by adding additional administrative hurdles and legal costs to opening a business. This may pose a significant burden on potential small business owners. The Philadelphia City Planning Commission considered Bill 4 No. 240661 at its public meeting on September 19, 2024 and recommended the bill not for approval.
Thank you very much for your testimony. Questions from the panel? Chair recognizes Majority Leader Kathy Gilmore Richardson.
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. And thank you again, Paula, for the work of the Planning Commission. But I just want to uplift my colleague Councilmember Curtis Jones in the 4th Council District relative to this 4th District Overlay for the Morris Park neighborhood with the boundaries included from Malvern, 63rd Street, Lansdowne and 68th. If you know anything about this community where I've been privileged to live all of my life in the great 4th Council District, you know that we have been inundated with a number of nuisance businesses and drug paraphernalia stores in this community. And in addition to that, we have been inundated with residual development because of some additional larger development or larger scale development projects that have recently come to the community with the completion of the school, which is not too far from the bounds of this Morris Park area, as well as some additional residential developments that are quite different than what we are used to seeing in this area. But relative to the commercially-zoned portions of the community and the type of businesses that we do want to see in the 4th Council District, I am of the belief that we must have this 4th District Overlay to ensure we can maintain the quality and the character of our community. And so, for that reason I am in support of Bill No. 240661 and I'm thankful to my colleague Councilmember Jones for his work with the community to ensure we can preserve the quality of our life. So thank you very, very much colleagues. And I ask humbly for your support for 240661 on behalf of Councilmember Jones.
Thank you, Madam Majority Leader. Any other additional questions, comments, suggestions? (No response.)
Okay. I just want to very briefly echo the sentiments of my colleague Councilwoman Gilmore Richardson in support of Councilman Jones' legislation. As a District Councilmember, it is extremely difficult to get any level of enforcement once a nuisance business comes in. And so, I would strongly encourage the Planning Commission if you don't particularly like the legislation that we're offering to deal with these matters, to give us something from your end if you think this is going to cause additional administrative and legal cost to open a business. If you think that that's actually the case, then we would implore you to provide us a remedy.
Because otherwise we'll make our own remedies which the Planning Commission doesn't seem to really particularly want to support. So again, we want to put the ball back in your court since we know that you all have a lot to do and say with these nuisance businesses when they originally open. We're asking for your support and your help so that we can be on the same page. But I too want to echo that I will be supporting this piece of legislation today. So thank you.
Thank you for your testimony and thank you for being here today. Mr. Clerk, can you please call forward the next panel to testify on Bill No. 240612.
First up is Philip Green, Senior Manager, Business Advocacy from the Department of Commerce. (Witness approached Witness table.)
Hello. Good morning. Philip Green, Department of Commerce. I'm here to testify regarding Bill No. 240612 for re-authorizing the Fishtown Kensington Area Business Improvement District for a second five-year term. BIDs are an important component of fostering vibrant and well-managed neighborhood commercial corridors that provide essential goods and services to area residents and contribute dining and entertainment destinations for Philadelphians and visitors alike. It's also helped create clean and safe environments where entrepreneurs want to invest their time, talent and treasure and where employees prefer to spend their work days. The Department of Commerce supports Business Improvement Districts because they're a way for business and property owners to join together and fund staff, services and high priority projects for their areas. Passing Bill No. 240612 will continue the BID's ability to levy fees on commercial properties within the District. These fees fund full-time staff whose job it is to assist mom-and-pop businesses and attract new ones. These fees fund crucial services like sidewalk cleaning and graffiti removal along Front Street, Frankford Avenue and Girard Avenue. The fees also fund special projects like the colorful plaza installed at Front and Cecil B. Moore. When commercial property owners self-fund staff, services and special projects, it allows the Department of Commerce to apply its limited resources toward areas experiencing greater legacies of historic disinvestment. Through its Targeted Corridor Management Program, its Taking Care of Business Clean Corridors program and its Corridor Enhancement grants, the Department of Commerce mostly funds Community Development Corporations to perform BID-like services. Simply put, because BIDs like the Fishtown Kensington Area BID largely sustain themselves, the Department of Commerce is able to sustain programs in areas with steeper hills to climb. On behalf of the Department of Commerce, I encourage your support for Bill No. 14 240612 to continue the authorization of the Fishtown Kensington Area BID through December 31, 2029. This will allow the BID to self-fund the cleaning, security and beautification services that residents, businesses and visitors have come to expect. I'm happy to take any questions at this time.
Thank you very much. Any questions from the members of the panel? (No response.)
Thank you very much for your testimony. Mr. Clerk, can you please call forth the next witnesses to testify.
Next is Mark Collazzo, Executive Director of the Fishtown Kensington Area BID. (Witness approached Witness table.)
Certainly. Mark Collazzo, Executive Director of the Fishtown Kensington Area Business Improvement District. Good morning, Madam Chair, members of Council, guests today and friends and neighbors. A community is a group of people who agree to grow together. As we conclude 2024 and excitedly plan for the future, no better quote defines the spirit, purpose and mission of the Fishtown Kensington Area Business Improvement District. We've all come together to preserve, grow and enhance our commercial corridor and this union has made our beloved hamlet the envy of the region. Our collaborative spirit and determined action has led to unprecedented growth in both residential and commercial density as well as the increase of dynamic dining, hospitality, retail, professional and entertainment enterprises throughout our entire district. It isn't just the daily services that we provide such as our award-winning cleaning crew in blue from Ready, Willing and Able, daytime cleaning initiative with our Fishtown Community Corp. and our cherished safety patrols from our Fishtown ambassadors that make the Fishtown District stand above all others. It is the privilege of working with our stakeholders, many of whom are here today, to protect and vitalize their time, talent and treasure that they infused into our neighborhood. 8 million in grant and CDC tax credit funding to plan and develop several capital development projects such as our Pedestrian Plaza at Front and Cecil B. Moore Avenue from a local share account award of $88,500, our upcoming renovations improvements to Front Street and Girard Avenue, a Keystone Community Grant award of 72,500 and gateway activations for Frankford and Lehigh Avenues from a pending local share account grant of $100,000, respectively. These public space amplifications along with our Congressional Community Project Funding award of $750,000 for our Frankford Avenue Connector Project to connect our neighborhood to the Delaware River Trail will provide design and accessibility to and from our special Fishtown and Kensington communities. The Fishtown District believes in the importance of accessibility and connectivity to and from our community. Accordingly, we have begun initial planning of the second installment of our vision plan with ISA Architects as well as commencing a first of its kind transformational connector project with our friends and neighbors in the Northern Liberties Business Improvement District. Thousands travel to our thriving thoroughfare each day to eat, shop, work and play. And our work together continues to ensure the long-term success, liveliness, energy and spirit of our one-of-a-kind locale for decades to come. The Fishtown District takes pride in providing effective, enhanced cleanliness and safety measures to ensure that our commercial corridor follows the motto, A clean place is a safe place. We are proud recipients of the City of Philadelphia's Taking Care of Business Clean Corridors Program since our inception, and our TCB litter index evaluation reports repeatedly provide excellent scores of litter to no litter. In fact, Ready, Willing and Able have collected and removed over 34,737 bags of trash since our inception. In addition, the Fishtown District has installed and serviced 34 new fish-head trash cans throughout our corridor. Finally, our safety measures such as our Fishtown Ambassador Safety Team and surveillance camera placement at 12 separate intersection locations increased feelings of physical and emotional safety for all who live, visit and work in the Fishtown District. It has not always been an easy road. The BID began its work with little assessment revenue in January of 2020. Then the world shut down due to the global pandemic. We knew that the most important thing we could do was devote all of our energies to ensuring the survival of our corridor enterprises through this perilous period.
The executive staff worked tirelessly to bring federal, Commonwealth and municipal resources to our stakeholders to protect their investment in our community. The Department of Commerce stated that percent of all 10 emergency funding provided by the city of Philadelphia actually went to the businesses within the Fishtown Kensington communities. Together we survived this crisis, united, determined and focused on the future. Since January of 2020, our Business Improvement District has seen unparalleled broadening with continued mixed-use development, which is expected to bring over 10,000 units over the next two years, as well as the opening of well over 50 new businesses. With our assistance, over 35 business property owners have successfully improved their storefronts. All these comprehensive measures have led the Philadelphia Inquirer to call the Fishtown District the hottest neighborhood in the city. As you listen and reflect through this testimony, I hope that you share our pride and all that we have accomplished to date and share our sentiments that the future of the Fishtown Kensington Area Business Improvement District is as bright as ever. Pearl S. Buck said, Growth itself contains the germ of happiness. And our caring compassionate work together has brought about a magnet of optimism that draws many to us. Thank you all for your time, and I provided letters of support to not totally glut up your time today, but we do appreciate your time and I'm available for any questions.
Madam Chair, that was actually short for me as Councilman Squilla will attest.
Thank you, Mark. Thank you for your testimony and your team. Obviously there's been a lot of challenges as you mentioned in your testimony. And as we go through those challenges and you work not only with the businesses, because being a BID is overseeing the business corridor, but it also incorporates the community, right. So you have to weigh both options when you're doing that and the challenges that we feel. And I want to thank you and your team for always being there for when we reach out when we get challenges and requests from us, to be able to then forward them to you and vice versa when you reach out to us, we work with you. But there has been some things with your ambassador program that I thought was very, very helpful, at least being able to keep data on your issues that you are reaching for the businesses and what you're seeing as the real problems in that area, what you need to address. And a lot of times we don't get that -- like people say, oh, we know what the problems are. But the way you track your issues and your concerns, how you address those issues and concerns and knowing that you're not going to make everybody happy all the time is part of it, but I appreciate the efforts that you put in and even sort of the out-of-the-box thinking for looking at new ways to create opportunities for business and increasing foot traffic and other things is important. And we still have a lot of work to do, right. There are still some challenges. We still get some concerns from some of the local businesses on how we can improve that. But looking forward to working with you to continue down that path of making those improvements and making it better for all the small businesses there in the Kensington Fishtown BID. So thank you.
Thank you, Councilmember Squilla. And I want to thank also Councilmember Lozada and Councilmember Young, our other District Councilpeople. None of this happens in a vacuum. We're not always perfect. And what we try to do is always try to learn and just try to be better, but we're very lucky to have very engaged Councilmembers who really want to work with us to try to solve problems. So thank you and thank you all today.
And one other point. It is very difficult sometimes when you have a district that spans three different Councilmembers, right. So sometimes that makes it very challenging and we're able to work through that also. So a lot of times it's, oh, that's not my district, you know. We have to talk to Councilmember Young or Councilmember Lozada, so you guys have done a pretty good job of trying to bridge that also. So thank you.
Thank you. Thank you for your testimony. Mr. Clerk, can we please call forward the next witness to testify on this matter.
Good morning. My married name is Aratin so if you see my last name Bosard, I apologize for the confusion.
Aratin is my married name. I'm using it for this because I'm representing the owners of a property at 111 East Girard Avenue who are in their 80s and cannot be here, but they've asked me to represent them.
Thank you. My goal here today is to say things worthy of your attention and I appreciate it.
Please start out with your name. I know you said it several times, but just for the record your name and then begin your testimony.
I represent opposition to the bill. The first question that I seek clarity on that is related to my opposition on behalf of not just those I represent but those who have handed me letters of opposition in hopes that I would be able to attend this meeting today. The first question is when does the 45-day opposition period begin and end? So after reading the BID plan that we received on September 12th, it is unclear to many of us what the limits of the beginning and the deadline end for the 45-day submission for letters of opposition are. And that point is essential to this process working the way it's supposed to work and represent everybody involved in the area. I read it many times and I come up with two separate dates for when the deadline is, so we definitely need clarification on that. The other question I wanted to ask is that in light of the fact that 17 percent of Philadelphia are not English-speaking as a first language and in consideration of our BID area being so large and expansive, including two Council Districts and possibly greater than percent property ownership of non-English-speaking property owners as a first language, was a notice given prior to the BID plan presentation allowing property owners to choose which language they would like to receive this BID plan presentation? I've had personal experience with individuals that are non-English-speaking as a first language and I was not able to translate using Google Translate and make a point to stress the importance of them being able to read this through and make a decision on their own best interest clearly to them at all, and they deserve that. I believe it's their right to have that. And a notice would have to go out before the plan allowing them to choose within a reasonable amount of time what language they need this plan delivered to them. And it was really difficult and painful for me to see how many people there were that have no idea based on language barriers. I felt like I was apologizing all the time for not speaking their language, you know. That's all I could say.
My number personally interacting directly was three, but they said more, the son did. One of the sons called me and said, I have other people that I think is affected by this.
I will ask you to give me their information so we could reach out to them.
All right, but that's not all of them. I would assume if percent is the average 4 for our whole city, is not going to be the total of them in an area of 1100 properties.
Just 8 the ones you know of. I'm not 9 asking you to go find everybody. 10 Just the ones you know of just send 11 them so we can make sure we reach 12 out to them. 13
Okay. 14 Absolutely. Thirdly, the issue 15 that I need clarification on, that 16 I believe I'm not the only one that 17 needs clarification on, is the total list of addresses on the BID plan. One situation that is posing a misunderstanding on our end and my end is that there's a property on there that is zoned commercial CMX 2.5. But because the owner occupies it, they've already been exempt from the assessment for the last five years, but their address is on the list. So we need clarification whether or not their opposition letter would be counted because --
Hold on. I think it's 1812 Frankford Avenue. So it is owned commercial but it is exempt from the assessment. So does being exempt from the assessment mean that you don't get to oppose the assessment? Do you give up your right to --
Well, if you're not being assessed, it doesn't affect you.
True. But then that address being on the list becomes part of the total list of addresses that opposition has to meet the one-third requirement. It's disproportionately affecting the businesses and the property owners who don't want the BID. So it's stacking the cards against us by giving people that don't have a vote a place in the list where we're comparing ourselves against the totality of a third.
I will look up 1812 Frankford and I'm going to ask you to email me. You could write this down. Mark, Mark.squilla --
Yes, because we want to be able to get you the answers that you -- we're not going to be able to answer all these questions. So we'll be able to get you the answers that you need through email and you'll have them all.
All right. And so, another clarification with regard to that list that we are under a one-third obligation to represent a minimum of a third in order for opposition to be effective in its goal. The other one is though some of the addresses on there are residentially zoned owner-occupied, which we know are exempt from the BID, but again their addresses are on the list so they're creating an aggregate number that's bigger, thereby making our job of getting one-third together more complex and difficult for us to manage because the total number is larger than the amount of people that have a say in this BID. So that list is just -- it needs so much vetting and combing through by residents in order to determine where our lines are drawn for our deadlines and for our accountability of how many letters we need. And I think that that is not an acceptable plan to finalize.
We could get you those answers. Just the 45 days starts after the hearing today, so this is the start of the process.
Okay. All right. And then you have a language question that if people get to choose what language they receive the mailer in?
All right. I do not know that answer. I'll have to get back to you on that. And as far as 1812 Frankford Avenue about being commercial but not being assessed, you want to know if they're included in the total number of people when you have to have the 33 percent --
Right. If you're not being assessed but you are commercial, are you still counted in the aggregate total properties and does your vote still count?
I would say no, but I'll get you a clear answer on that.
That was two questions though. Which one are you saying no to?
That you are not counted in the total number and you wouldn't have a vote.
Okay. So you would have to come off the list then, because that list has got more than a few of those type of addresses?
We'll be able to -- I'm going to ask you to email me that list of questions and I'll get you an answer for all of them just to be accurate so you're getting the right information. Hold on one second. I guess we could bring Philip. Philip, can you come up real quick? (Witness approached Witness table.)
I would like to start out by saying that I am not a lawyer. But I have read the Community Economic Improvement Act and there are certain areas where it doesn't specify these finer questions. However, I would say that since they are on the list of properties, their objection would count because they are included even though they're exempt right now because they may be an owner- occupied house or there may be a nonprofit operating on that property. That property may be exempt from assessment now. In the future let's say that that property went into a for-profit use. Let's say that a church later became something for-profit, right. Throughout the term of their reauthorization period, they could become accessible depending on --
If they change their use. But I think the question is if you're on that list now and you are not being assessed and even though you're on that list, can you still vote in opposition to it and does that number count as the total when you're trying to get to your one-third opposition?
In my opinion, in my non-lawyer opinion, yes, because in the future their property could be assessed. And so, in my view they would have a right to object to that.
But if you're not being assessed, you do not have a vote on the BID assessment even though your address is part of the total because you're not going to -- if everybody who's not assessed goes and says, we don't want it, then the people who do want it who are part of the BID, it would sort of change the actual number to get to one-third.
By state law everybody who's in the geographic area has to be notified.
-- it's still within the boundaries of the Business Improvement District because that house could be sold and then knocked down and turned into a mixed-use development, right.
So over the course of the authorization period, the use of that property could change from being not assessed to being assessed.
I know. But I think the question was initially that even though you're being notified, even residential people are being notified, if you look at the addresses, right, they're in there. But they're not being assessed. So when we calculate the one-third opposition --
-- right, the people who aren't assessed when they actually get the list of all the assessment, that's what they go by when they say one-third of those people who are assessed have to oppose it in order for the BID to fail.
Yeah, I would say it's one-third of the total number of properties within the list that are within the bill.
See, I don't think he's right. I don't believe that is correct. We'll get you the correct answer on that.
Can I get it in like a 5th grade reading level in multiple languages?
Yes, we'll just say -- we'll clarify that for you. When you email us, we'll give you that answer.
Because I don't even know who has the authority right now. Like, I thought it was him. You brought him up.
Well, I brought him up. But I mean, we do these all the time. And the clerk actually gets the opposition.
The clerk tallies those opposition within the 45 days and then they let us know how many oppositions there are to that case. But if you allow all these people who are unassessed to vote and they're not paying it, it's really not the people who are paying the assessment that has the bigger voice.
Well, we're giving up all of our responsibility to ourselves to people that have no 23 skin in the game basically by allowing them to vote is what's happening. And then on top of that, the language of the plan is constantly reminding people that are owner-occupied that you're not subject to the assessment which makes them feel apathetic to it at all even though they have a huge relationship to our opposition by being a part of that aggregate need of a third. So they feel as though they're exempted. Therefore, they've given up their vote and they don't participate. But realistically, the act of community that's required in order to get that kind of cohesive opposition, it begs them to participate.
Well, we want people to participate in the process, right. That's why we notify everybody. And even people who are -- by state law, you have to notify everybody, but not everybody is assessed.
Right. And so, I see where that can cause a confusion. Hold on. Kate, you --
Good. Come on up. (Witness approached Witness table.)
Kay Anderson, Director of Operations for the Fishtown Kensington BID. I am reading from the PA state law. This is Chapter 54, Business Improvement Districts in Part 5 from Title 53. Part 5 is titled Public Improvements Utilities and Services. Again, moving down to Chapter 54 talking about Business Improvement Districts, Powers of the Governing Body: To establish within the municipal corporation an area designated as a Business Improvement District, which district or districts may be designated by all or part of the community which is zoned commercial, which is used for general commercial purposes. No. 2, to appropriate and expand those amounts -- let me just skip down, sorry. Notice of the hearing shall be advertised at least 10 days prior to in newspaper circulating the municipal corporation. The ordinance shall specify improvements. The ordinance shall not become effective if before the expiration of days after its enactment. 18 Property owners of the proposed 19 district whose property valuation 20 as assessed for taxable purposes amounts to more than 50 percent of the total property valuation of the district's sign and file in the Court of the Prothonotary, of the Court of Common Pleas written protest against the ordinance. To appropriate and expand in accordance with the specific provisions of the enabling ordinance, such amounts must be required to acquire by purchase or lease, real or personal property, to effectuate the purposes of the improvement district, including sidewalks, retaining walls, et cetera, et cetera. So by my reading of this it does specifically say assessed.
People who are assessed are the ones who get to vote.
We will clarify that and give that to you in plain language. And sorry for creating more confusion, but we will definitely give you those answers and I think you'll understand that very clearly once you get that. But the 45 days of opposition and people submitting their oppositions all starts after the hearing today.
Thank you. The opportunity to influence the plan's scope and area and included properties, where is that in the process for the property owners that are affected by the BID? I know one property owner on Girard Avenue who was successfully able to since the last five-year BID operational period get his property off of this BID list and a lot of properties at the far end of Girard Avenue. And I'm wondering what that process was, why it was effective and how can other people and property owners within the BID utilize that opportunity for their own area because they know their area better and whether or not it really falls into the community standard of what kind of business support is being provided and whether or not it's actually being provided down in the far reaches of such an expansive BID area. The size and scope of the BID, it's not ringing well with many of us.
Every five years when the BID is renewed is when the boundaries are redrawn. You could always work with the BID itself and speak to them. If you're on the outskirts of the BID, you could maybe expand it to make it bigger or shrink it, but it has to be continuous so you can't take the middle out and break it into two separates. So if you want to add additional, you only could do that during the renewal process or if you want to make it shorter, you only could do that during the renewal process.
So we're on the second five years. When did our renewal process start for this one? Was it the July introduction?
Today -- when the notices went out 30 days ago is when it started.
Is it over? Are we still allowed to influence the boundaries of the BID?
When this was introduced, that's when it started. These boundaries are the boundaries that we're having the hearing on today. So five years from now you can work with -- change the boundaries and work with the BID to change the boundaries or work with our office or whoever district you're in to change those boundaries.
1100 property owners is a lot of people that are unaware of how long of a time they have to wait to have an influence over the boundaries of this BID.
Oh, they have to do a better job of notifying them if they don't know they're in the BID.
Yeah. I think we have a lot of old residents and old property owners. And I also think we're probably going to run into a situation where some of the names on the owners of the property has changed since the BID documents went out. They might accidentally get discarded as being able to oppose the BID because their name doesn't match OPA. But, in fact, they are the owners of the property. We have people dying constantly within this BID area. I mean, the turnover rate I've never seen anything like it. And --
But also, they're being assessed. They don't know they're being assessed?
You know, it takes a lot of support to keep octogenarians well-informed in their community and especially legislatively. I mean, Trump is sucking all the oxygen out of the room for their seven seconds of attention on a daily basis.
I'm just saying media in general. It's an election year. This isn't a good time to be trying to add more information to the life of an 80-year-old.
Okay. All right. Thank you. Thank you for your questions. And we'll get the answers to you in writing. If you want to email us the specific questions, I wrote some down, but email us and we'll get them to you in writing.
Thank you for your testimony. And can we have the Clerk call forward anyone else who's here to testify?
Okay. Is there anyone here for public comment that would like to speak? (No response.)
Okay. Can we have the first two folks who would like to testify come forward? We are going to ask that you limit your testimony to two minutes. (Witnesses approached Witness table.)
Good morning. Please state your name again for the record and begin.
How are you. My name is Gregory Root and I am a proud business owner of at least five businesses in the Fishtown Kensington BID. And I'm here to obviously be in full support of the BID's reauthorization. The BID's efforts and actions have massively improved not only the corridor of the BID but has also improved and will also improve the community as a whole. It is a cleaner and safer neighborhood now and continues to be than it was in 2010 when I began to work in the neighborhood. These improvements include cleaning and beautifying our neighborhood through Ready, Willing and Able, not only our corridor but the streets beyond. Safety of the corridor through the Fishtown Ambassador Team, this includes protection of our -- I own restaurants. It's protection of our restaurant staff at the end of the night and the overall safety of the community. Protection of the neighborhoods and business best interests via the neighbors and business owners community and also continued development and assistance for such. If one of my restaurants needs assistance for paperwork to improve streets, parking, et cetera, Mark K. and his team are quick resources for our assistance to improve wanting to do business in the neighborhood. Fishtown is what it is today because of the wonderful community, business owners, residents, staff and visitors but also because of the BID's valiant efforts. It is a neighborhood where business owners like myself will want to continue to invest their time and money. The future of Fishtown is very bright. And again, I proudly support the BID's reauthorization. Thank you very much for your time.
Thank you for your testimony. And can we have you state your name for the record and please proceed.
Yes. Hi. My name is David Chiles, C-h-i-l-e-s. I saw you all yesterday when you were recognizing domestic violence agencies. You know now that I only own one blazer. It's embarrassing for me but I'm going to push through. I'm the Executive Director of Lutheran Settlement House. We are a nonprofit on Frankford Avenue founded in 1902 serving survivors of domestic violence, families experiencing homelessness, older adults and people who are food insecure. As a nonprofit, we do not pay to be a member of the Fishtown Kensington Business Improvement District. But even so, their work has had particularly positive impact on Lutheran Settlement House and the people that we serve. The BID's commitment to cleaning has been incredible. LSH has certainly experienced the challenge of fighting trash on our own property so I know the heavy lift that it is to do this in a full corridor. I'm grateful for these efforts which keep a safe, inviting and dignified environment for our clients as they come for services. And I'm grateful that Mark and the BID staff, who I know have personally picked up trash to help us and who are quick to contact 311 and graffiti removal when there have been issues on our property. I also want to highlight the Fishtown ambassadors. We had concerns about the Fishtown ambassadors when they started. We worked with many unhoused people and people in crisis and we were concerned about how they would be treated and we worried that Fishtown would be less welcoming to the people that we serve. I'm grateful that these concerns have proven unfounded. The BID has actually gone to admirable lengths to bring resources supporting unhoused people into the community, even when there have been individuals who have caused problems for the business community. The BID is first looked for solutions, rooted in compassion and finding resources to help people as an organization that performs de-escalation on a regular basis. We've seen the ambassadors in action and we appreciate their skill and sensitivity. As the neighborhood has changed, we have worked -- we have wondered if our presence on the corridor and in the heart of the business community and the presence of our clients, we wondered if they would continue to be embraced. We've been grateful that the BID has been responsive, eager to help, open to talking through issues. The BID has helped create relationships between LSH and the business community, increasing our donations and volunteers while also helping businesses understand what we do. As a result, we have received many referrals from local businesses, for our domestic violence counseling, for our food pantry and for our center for older adults. LSH has been grateful for the ways the BID has helped us serve our community and help the business community to support LSH. I think thriving communities need strong business businesses and strong social services and we're grateful that the BID has gone out of their way to include us as a valuable part of the community. Our hope is to continue to collaborate with the BID in the years to come. Thank you.
Thank you. I also want to thank you for the dunk tank at the event that Luther Settlement had. The water was cold though.
Any photos? Love to see that. Thank you for your testimony. Any other questions from the -- okay. All right. Thank you for being here, for your testimony. Is there anyone else here for public comment? Please step forward. Two more. (Witnesses approached Witness table.)
All right. Please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
My name is Robert Serrano. Last name is S-e-r-r-a-n-o. Good morning, Chairman and members of the Committee. My name is Robert Serrano. I'm speaking on Bill 15 240612 as an affected property owner of the Fishtown BID. I'm a public school teacher and I've lived in the neighborhood for 40 years. I would like to voice my opposition to the BID plan as presented with the hope that it can be dissolved or improved. I want to first point out that the BID has not been the best neighbor. I live on Frankford Avenue and the BID has often closed the street in front of my house for events. Sometimes we get no notice. One time I had scheduled a delivery of a new stove for my family. The BID changed the date of a street closure and I was unable to accept delivery. These kind of inconveniences have piled up over years. As long as I've lived here, I've cleaned my own sidewalk. The BID hires a team to pick up trash, but they are not responsive and we frequently have overflowing trash cans. We have a sanitation department and we are a union city. This work should be theirs. Likewise, the BID hires a security team but some of the neighbors find this intimidating. Once again, we have a police department and this should be done by them. We talk about affordable housing, but the BID fees make housing less affordable. The residential properties do not benefit from any of the BID services either. Our businesses do not all benefit either. Our dentists and barbers do not benefit from extra Friday night foot traffic. None of these business should be paying for this. I respectfully ask that further changes be made to the BID plan, if not dissolved. I would like to propose two modest changes to this plan. First, of the 16 properties listed in the plan are 17 owned by the government. Even 18 though they won't be paying, this 19 inflates a denominator used to 20 calculate the share of objectors. 21 These properties will 22 neither pay nor object and should not be counted at all. I would like to introduce that list to Council, (inaudible) admit it, ask Council to remove them from the plan. And I have that right here. Okay. I'd also like to propose that the Chief Clerk keep the objection letters confidential under certain conditions to prevent a chilling effect on public involvement. I have amendment text if Council would admit it. And this is the proposed amendment text. In the event that the final plan does not receive a sufficient number of written objections to disapprove the plan, any objection letters received will be kept confidential by the Chief Clerk until January 1, 2030 or until the dissolution of the BID, if any, whichever comes earlier. In the event that the final plan is not approved, any written objections will become public record. Explanation: To avoid any chilling effect arising from the passage of the plan despite objections, identity of the objections will be kept confidential for the duration of the BID term. Should the BID not be approved as a result of the objections, the objections necessarily become part of the public record. And again, I would love to submit this and this, these two items. One last thing, I just want to say -- it says here in the package you sent us that there's going to be a final plan, so that was not clear. It didn't state whether or not. Then it says, a copy of a final plan and notice of the public hearing on the plan will be mailed to all property owners within the proposed district. I, myself, own a property but it's owner-occupied. I feel like I should have a vote because you're making decisions on my property. Like, if I decide I want to turn it into a rental tomorrow, I have to pay that money. If I want to open up a business, I have to pay that money. So I should have a seat at the table and should be able to have a vote on it. As I understood it, that's what I thought I read here in this paper that you sent out to us.
It includes -- if you look at your passage, it says affected properties within the district will have 45 days from the date of the last hearing on the final plan to file objections to and disapprove the final plan for the proposed continuation of the district. Such objections must be in writing. Now, you've made this really hard on the people. It's easy for them because if you don't vote, it's a yes vote for them. I've never seen anything like that. It's very undemocratic. They should have -- the onus should be on them to get people to say, hey, we want this BID, it's such a great thing. Why don't you work it that way where they have to come out and bring the people rather than have something?
It's the way the BIDs were started. It's state law. We would have to change the state law if we were going to change the way it is, the voting process takes place.
Yeah. If it's something you guys can do here, Councilmembers --
It's undemocratic, I mean, the way it's set up. And at least we should have a vote. We should have a say in our property and what we can do with it because it does affect us.
Please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony, sir.
Scott Paston and we own a property at 127 West Girard. We're on the list. It's own commercial. However, we've owned it since 1989, I think. Our taxes are completely paid up even though you guys keep raising it unreasonable. The commercial part of it has never been occupied. We store our own personal possessions there. I have bars on the window. I have a security system. And during Black Lives Matter, I installed wooden panels and I never took them off. I just painted them. And whenever there's graffiti which is quite frequent, I take care of it. I called the City once and they painted it the wrong color so I had to do it again. We're really close to the El, which has a population that some of your people spoke about, I say homeless, but I guess it's unhoused nowadays. And they come under drug influences and they drop stuff. They leave trash. I'm constantly picking up trash because we have had a couple of citations for trash. It's not our trash. I pick it up anyway because I'm not going to -- I see people do it and I'm not going to say a word to them because they could retaliate. I don't want to get involved in that. Also, I shovel the snow. I have to dig myself out at my own house to get over and do that, and I do it within a certain, I think it's six hours after it's officially ending of the snow. I do all that every single time. I have seen Willing, Able -- Willing, Ready and Able guys every so often. I see a truck but I have never seen them do anything. We're close to Frankford Avenue where all the bars and restaurants are, so there's always a lot of trash all over the place, not necessarily there but towards where we own property and we have to clean it up. Anyway, basically I'm objecting to this additional tax because this paper comes out right after you re-assess the properties and you raised everybody, so now the percentage -- the percentage might be the same but the dollar number out of the pocket is higher. Nice trick for statistics. But in the meantime since our commercial property is unoccupied, we would like to be exempted from the list. I'll continue to take care of the trash and the graffiti and the paint and the snow and all that. I don't really have a problem with that, but I'm pointing out that I do it because if you depend on the City or somebody else to do it, they won't necessarily do it. Usually they don't and we don't want a citation because that's just more money out of our pocket. So we object.
Well, thank you for your testimony. I do want to state for the record that Philadelphia City Council has not enacted a tax increase in recent memory. I want to say probably back to AVI I think was the last time --
Yeah, you're talking about re-assessment which is not Philadelphia City Council. It is through the Administration. It's not Philadelphia -
All right. I'm sorry. But as a legislative body, I just wanted to make it clear it wasn't us.
No, I know that. I'm just telling you that goes into our reasons for objecting.
I understand. The assessments are higher and an increased cost as well to property owners, so I understand that's the point that you're making.
They doubled it for no apparent reason. They say the property has --
Yes, and they argue anyway. The definition of the word improvement for the City of Philadelphia is it improved in the market, but we're not in the market. If we were selling, okay, I agree with that. We're just paying our taxes.
Understood. Thank you for your testimony. I don't want to cut anybody short but we are going to lose our quorum shortly, so I want to make sure that anyone else who is here to testify has an opportunity to do so. (Hand raised.)
Okay. Please come forward. (Witnesses approached Witness table.)
Please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony. We are going to ask you to be brief so that we can conduct the business of the Committee.
Perfect. My name is Bianca DiPietro. I've been a member of the BID since the beginning. I've lived in Fishtown for about years. I've owned a 8 store on Frankford for 11, and 10 9 years ago we tried to do this 10 without the BID and it was just a 11 bunch of business owners getting 12 together trying to make positive 13 changes in the area, and it was 14 hard. We could not do this. 15 A lot of the retail owners are women, they're mothers. They work multiple jobs. Like, we do not have time additionally and funds to do this without the BID, so we are very thankful to have them. And as you've heard, there's a lot of concerns over safety and trash. And, yes, ideally this is something the City should be doing, but the area is growing exponentially. Whether you support it or not it's happening. And the City just does not have the resources to give us when it comes to trash removal and safety. I'm very thankful I don't have to spend the first two hours every day cleaning up trash out in front of my store, and I'm very happy that I have the security team available to assist during altercations. When in the past when you call the police, they don't show up. So it's been invaluable to us as business owners to have them as a resource, and we're better off with the BID than we are without. It's not going to be ideal for everybody, not everyone's going to like it. But I think the overall benefits that it provides to people is invaluable like I said. So I hope you support the reauthorization. Thank you.
Thank you for your testimony. And can we have you state your name for the record and proceed.
Yes. My name is Janae Green. I am a local business owner. Also, a resident of Fishtown and I'm a committee person within that district as well. And I'm definitely for our re-authorization. Being a business owner in the area for over 11 years now, we've been really hard struck on our corner of Front and Girard and being able to have this special security to help us and to have the City actually help with the BID of making sure that our corner is clear and helping us clean, and the police district is not overwhelmed with having so many other things to deal with, it just makes it easier having the BID. The BID not only does that, but if we want to have any special events within the community, we're able to contact Mark and Kay and they get things done for us, also with the help of you, Councilman Squilla. We're right at the corner of Front and Girard, so we technically have two different Councilmen and it's very difficult. And having the BID be the liaison to go to say, okay, we would like to get this done, who do we reach out to, it would be impossible without them. I am also now the Chairperson of the BID and I feel that -- I'm not trying to bring anything into it, but being a minority and a woman and a mother, having the BID to be something that I can count on really helps to alleviate any issues that I have within my business. So I really appreciate the BID. I appreciate everything that we have done together. Like Bianca, we started the Fishtown Co. before we had a BID just trying to help each other out before even having the City back us. So now that we actually have this BID I really, truly hope that you consider reauthorizing it for us.
Well, thank you for being here and thank you for your testimony. And is there anyone else here to testify or to offer public comment? (No response.)
Okay. Seeing none, we'll now go into our public meeting. This concludes the public hearing. We will now go into a public meeting shortly to consider the action to be taken on the bills before the Committee today. The Chair now recognizes Councilmember Squilla for a motion on an amendment to Bill No. 240499.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I offer an amendment to Bill No. 240499. A copy of the amendment has been circulated to all members of the Committee. I move that the amendment to Bill No. 7 240499 be approved. (Duly seconded.)
The Chair notes for the record that Councilmember Katherine Gilmore Richardson seconds the motion. And it's been moved and properly seconded that Bill No. 240499 be reported from this Committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of Council be suspended to permit first reading of this bill at the next session of Council. All those in favor of the motion will signify by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it and the motion carries. And the Chair now recognizes Councilmember Squilla for a motion on Bill No. 240612.
Okay. The Chair now recognizes Councilmember Squilla for a motion on Bill No. 240499 as amended.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that Bill No. 240499 as amended be reported from this Committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of Council be suspended and submit the first reading of this bill at the next session of Council. (Duly seconded.)
The Chair notes for the record that Councilmember Katherine Gilmore Richardson seconds the motion. It's been moved and properly seconded that Bill No. 7 240499 be reported from this Committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of Council be suspended to permit first reading of this bill at the next session of Council. All those in favor of the motion will signify by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it and the motion carries. The Chair recognizes Councilmember Squilla for a motion on Bill No. 240612.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that Bill No. 240612 be reported from this Committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of Council be suspended as to the first reading of this bill at the next session of Council. (Duly seconded.)
The Chair notes for the record that Councilmember Katherine Gilmore Richardson seconds the motion. And it has been moved and probably seconded that Bill No. 240612 be reported from this Committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of Council be suspended to permit the first reading of this bill at the next session of Council. All those in favor of the motion will signify by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it and the motion carries. The Chair recognizes Councilmember Squilla for a motion on Bill No. 240656.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that Bill No. 240656 be reported from this Committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of Council be suspended as to permit the first reading of this bill at the next session of Council. (Duly seconded.)
The Chair notes for the record that Councilmember Katherine Gilmore Richardson seconds the motion. And it's been moved and properly seconded that Bill No. 240656 be reported from this Committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of Council be suspended to permit the first reading of this bill at the next session of Council. All those in favor of the motion will signify by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it and the motion carries. The Chair recognizes Councilmember Squilla for a motion on Bill No. 240661.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that Bill No. 240661 be reported from this Committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of Council be suspended as to permit the first reading of this bill at the next session of Council. (Duly seconded.)
The Chair notes for the record that Councilwoman Katherine Gilmore Richardson seconds the motion. It's been moved and properly seconded that Bill No. 10 240661 be reported from this Committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of Council be suspended to permit the first reading of this bill at the next session of Council. All those in favor of this motion will signify by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it and the motion carries. And if there's no 2 additional remarks -- okay. The ayes have it. The motion carries. If there's no additional remarks, this concludes the business of the Committee on Rules today. We thank you very much for your attendance. Thank you.
Thank you. (Committee on Rules concluded at 11:40 a.m.) C E R T I F I C A T I O N I, hereby certify that the proceedings and evidence noted are contained fully and accurately in the stenographic notes taken by me in the foregoing matter, and that this is a correct transcript of the same. __________________________________ TANEHA CARROLL