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COMMITTEE ON RULES, May 13, 2026

Philadelphia City Council Committee HearingsMay 13, 2026

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The Clerk

Bill No. 17 260212, an ordinance to amend the Philadelphia Zoning Maps by changing the zoning designations of certain areas of land located within an area bounded by McKinley Street, Leonard Street, Devereaux Avenue and Bustleton Avenue, introduced by Councilmember Lozada. Bill No. 260238, an ordinance to amend the Philadelphia Zoning Maps by changing the zoning designations of certain areas of land located within an area bounded by Ludlow Street, South 41st Street, West Girard Avenue and North 48th Street, introduced by Councilmember Gauthier. Bill No. 260296, an ordinance to approve amendments to the University of Pennsylvania Master Plan in the area bounded by Walnut Street, 36th Street, Spruce Street, and 39th Street, related to the Class of 1920 Commons building at 3800 Locust Walk, and the Stuart Weitzman Theatre addition to the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts (ACPA) at 3680 Walnut Street, introduced by Councilmember Gauthier. Bill No. 260297, an ordinance to amend the Philadelphia Zoning Maps by changing the zoning designations of certain areas of land located within an area bounded by Spruce Street, 34th Street, Civic Center Boulevard and University Avenue, introduced by Councilmember Gauthier. Bill No. 260298, an ordinance to amend the Philadelphia Zoning Maps by changing the zoning designations of certain areas of land located within an area bounded by Ridge Avenue, Spring Lane, Hagy's Mill Road, Port Royal Avenue, River Road and Montgomery County Line, introduced by Councilmember Jones. Bill No. 260301, an ordinance to amend the Philadelphia Zoning Maps by changing the zoning designations of certain areas of land located within an area bounded by Milnor Street, Cottman Avenue, Cottman Avenue (Extended), the Delaware River, Unruh Avenue (Extended), Unruh Avenue, Wissinoming Street, and New State Road, introduced by Councilmember Driscoll. Bill No. 260302, an ordinance to amend the Philadelphia Zoning Maps by changing the zoning designations of certain areas of land located within an area bounded by Lippincott Street, 20th Street, Toronto Street, and 22nd Street, introduced by Councilmember Bass. Bill No. 260379, an ordinance amending Section 14-500 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled “Overlay Zoning Districts” by amending Section 14-520, entitled “/NDO, Ninth District Overlay District,” by making technical changes, all under certain terms and conditions, introduced by Councilmember Phillips. There are no other bills under consideration today.

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Councilwoman Ahmad

Thank you so much, Councilmember Squilla, for giving me an opportunity to just address the Rules Committee. Today I join the Committee on Rules as a co-sponsor for Bill No. 260298, being introduced by Councilmember Jones. This bill, which calls on the Rules Committee, to change the zoning designations of the land located around Lankenau Environmental Science Magnet High School is vital to the future of the school. The school district has recommended Lankenau be merged with Saul High School, which is an agricultural program completely separate and distinct from the environmental curriculum that is taught at Lankenau. In my multiple letters to the district, I have stated that the incorporation of W.B. Saul does not enable specific opportunities that are only possible with Lankenau's unique campus that is geographically connected to the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education, creating an extended practical classroom and landlap. I will not bore you with my details that I have said ad nauseum every chance I have gotten, but two things are very important to note: The metrics that was used by the school district to designate this foreclosure was on enrollment and the condition of the building, so it has a fair status for condition of the building and enrollment was lower. However, when you compare it to Saul, which is a much older building with much more need, and when you compare their enrollment numbers, it's within a percentage point. So the rationale they have put forward makes complete and zero sense to do this merger. So the reason why I'm supporting this bill is to make sure there's no opportunity to use this land for purposes other than education and civic purposes. And I thank all of you on the committee. I am in full support of Bill No. 260298, and I thank Councilmember Jones for introducing it and I look forward to working with the Rules Committee to explore potential options for the Lankenau site, and to make sure environmental justice is served. Thank you, Chair.

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Ms. Brumbelow Burns

Good afternoon, Councilman Squilla and 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. 260212, introduced into City Council on March 12, 2026 by Councilmember Lozada. Bill No. 260212 amends the Philadelphia Zoning Maps by changing the zoning designations of certain areas of land located within an area bounded by McKinley Street, Leonard Street, Devereaux Avenue and Bustleton Avenue in the North Delaware Planning District. This legislation proposes to remap the base zoning of a single property at 2000 McKinley Street near the corner of Bustleton Avenue and Roosevelt Boulevard, from its current designation of RSA-5, Residential Single-Family Attached, to CMX, Commercial Mixed Use, to match its current use and future plans. The property's primary frontage is currently on McKinley Street, but its large side yard is oriented to the commercial corridor of Bustleton Avenue. The remapping would allow the expansion of the current commercial kitchen business as well as the establishment of a new walk-up retail business along Bustleton. The North Delaware District Plan recommends that the city concentrate commercial zoning along active commercial corridors. The Philadelphia City Planning Commission considered Bill No. 17 260212 at its public meeting on March 19, 2026 and recommended the bill for approval. I'll be happy to answer any questions at this time.

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Ms. Brumbelow Burns

I am Paula Brumbelow Burns, Director of Legislation for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission. I am here to testify on Bill No. 260238, introduced into City Council on March 19, 2026 by Councilmember Gauthier. Bill No. 260238 amends the Philadelphia Zoning Maps by changing the zoning designations of certain areas of land located within an area bounded by Ludlow Street, South 41st Street, West Road Avenue and North 48th Street in several neighborhoods of the Western University Southwest Planning Districts. This bill would change the zoning to SP-CIV, Special Purpose - Civic, Educational and Medical at four Philadelphia School District properties. The four properties are known as Paul Robeson High School at 4125 Ludlow Street, Martha Washington Academics Plus School at 766 North 44th Street, Blankenburg Elementary School at 4612 West Girard Avenue and Parkway West High School at 4725 Fairmount Street. The SP-CIV District is one of our newer zoning districts that was not in existence when the Western University Southwest District Plans were completed. Our comprehensive plan recommendations are not consistent with current school use or for schools in transition out of school district ownership. It is Philadelphia City Planning Commission's policy to support designating properties as SP-CIV that will have ongoing civic, medical or educational uses. As the future of these particular properties is unclear, the Planning Commission requested that the bill be held for an additional 45 days. During this time period, we will obtain further clarity from the school district regarding the plans for each property, thereby allowing us to make a more informed decision pursuant to Section 2-307 of the City Charter. The Philadelphia City Planning Commission, at its meeting of April 16, voted to extend its review period for this bill for an additional 45 days. We would respectfully request that this bill 7 be held in committee to allow us to obtain further clarity from the school district regarding the plans for each property. I'll be happy to answer any questions at this time.

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Ms. Brumbelow Burns

Good afternoon. I am Paula Brumbelow Burns, Director of Legislation for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission. I'm here to testify on Bill No. 260296, introduced into City Council on April 9, 2026 by Councilmember Gauthier. Bill No. 260296 is to approve amendments to the University of Pennsylvania Master Plan in the area bounded by Walnut Street, 36th Street, Spruce Street, and 39th Street in the University City neighborhood of the University Southwest Planning District. This bill will amend the master plan for the University of Pennsylvania to allow for 150-seat theater addition to the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts at 3680 Walnut Street. The bill also allows for a three-story entry pavilion addition to the 1920 Commons Building at 3800 Locust Walk. In both cases, the proposed addition expands the existing use of its respective building with no direct impacts to the street frontage. The two projects share the same applicant and have similar construction timelines, but are otherwise unrelated. With this amendment, the Master Plan District remains in compliance with the development regulations specified in the code. This action is consistent with the Philadelphia 2035 Citywide Vision, which calls upon the city to encourage institutional development and expansion through policy and careful consideration of land resources. The Philadelphia City Planning Commission considered Bill 6 No. 260296 at its public meeting on April 16, 2026 and recommended the bill for approval. I will be happy to answer any questions at this time.

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Ms. Brumbelow Burns

I am Paula Brumbelow Burns, Director of Legislation for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission. I'm here to testify on Bill No. 260297, introduced into City Council on April 9, 2026 by Councilmember Gauthier. Bill No. 260297 amends the Philadelphia Zoning Code by changing the zoning designation of certain areas of land located within an area bounded by Spruce Street, 34th Street, Civic Center Boulevard and University Avenue in the University City neighborhood of the University Southwest Planning District. This bill proposes rezoning a property owned by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to align with its current use and the zoning of neighboring properties. Under the legislation, the base zoning would be changed from its current designation of RM-4, Residential Multi-Family, to CMX-4, Commercial Mixed-Use. While federally-owned properties are not required to comply with local zoning regulations, the Veterans Affairs Medical Center has requested a zoning change to align with and support construction on neighboring properties. While no changes in land use are anticipated with this rezoning, commissioners expressed interest in pursuing more direct community engagement and would like to engage more with the property owner to assess their plans for the property. Pursuant to Section 2 2-307 of the City Charter, the Commission at its meeting of April 16, 2026 voted to extend its review period for this bill for an additional 45 days. I'll be happy to answer any questions at this time.

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Ms. Brumbelow Burns

I'm Paula Brumbelow Burns, Director of Legislation for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission. I'm here to testify on Bill No. 260298, introduced into City Council on April 9, 2026 by Councilmember Jones. Bill No. 260298 amends the Philadelphia Zoning Maps by changing the zoning designations of certain areas of land located within an area bounded by Ridge Avenue, Spring Lane, Hagy's Mill Road, Port Royal Avenue, River Road, and the Montgomery County line in the Shawman Valley neighborhood of the Lower Northwest Planning District. This bill will rezone Lankenau High School from RSD-3, Residential Single-Family, to SP-CIV, Civic, Educational and Medical. The SP-CIV District is one of our newer zoning districts, not in existence when the district plan was completed. Our recommendations are not consistent with current school use or for schools in transition out of a school district ownership. It is the Philadelphia City Planning Commission's policy to support designating properties as SP-CIV that will have ongoing civic, medical or educational uses. As the future of these particular properties is unclear, the Planning Commission requested that the bill 6 be held for an additional 45 days. During this time period, we will obtain further clarity from the school district regarding the plans for each property, thereby allowing us to make a more informed decision pursuant to Section 2-307 of the City Charter. The Philadelphia City Planning Commission at its meeting of April 16, 2026 voted to extend its review period for this bill for an additional 45 days. We would respectfully request that this bill 20 be held in committee to allow us to obtain further clarity from the school district regarding the plans for each property. I'll be happy to answer any questions at this time.

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Mr. Soffa

Good afternoon. I'm Kris Soffa. I'm a committee person for the 21st Ward, 33rd Division. The Lankenau School falls within my division, and I'm here to testify for the Bill 23 260298, introduced by Councilmember Jones, April 9, 2026. First, I want to thank the members of City Council, especially Councilmember Jones, for introducing this legislation. And we know that this is about the Lankenau School. I think I can speak on behalf of the formal Coalition to Save Lankenau School, which includes all the civic groups near the school. It includes letters from I think about 50 community members. There's a petition of almost 6000 signatures as well as all the partners that support the school that measure about 60. So I guess what we were asking, our summary request is that this proposal be amended to exclude the dense development that it permits, right, and we would like the environmental review triggers, watershed protection standards, and we can't have the inappropriate uses for this site at the Lankenau site. So does everybody have a copy of our comments? I think we need -- okay. Thank you. So I'm not going to read through the whole thing. We don't have to bore you with that. But there's a couple things --

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Ms. Soffa

Thank you. And I just wanted to edit the summary request at the top. We go with B, which is to amend it and then -- or hold it until later. So it's basically that the SP-CIV is the wrong tool for this site, as it turns out, because it's in Federal Historic District and there's sensitive watershed protection that we need with the Schuylkill River. We've been testing the water of the first (inaudible) streams there, and there's also a landfill that no one really knew about. And my colleague David O'Neill is going to speak a little bit about that. So the better alternatives for us -- I won't read through this whole thing -- is that we would like caps for impervious surfaces that are below 80% and maybe there could be environmental site assessment before any ground disturbance, and we would like to protect the existing tree canopy and vegetated buffers. And we would also like to have the steep slope topography and laws followed and limits use -- we would like limits for the existing low-density wooded campus character in the Federal Historic District. So there is legal precedence for Philadelphia's use, conservation easements and green area ratios and other sensitive locations, so this site warrants the same tools. But basically we say thank you to everyone in the Council who showed up at the school board, at the rallies and was here when the kids came down and testified for their school. Thank you very much.

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Mr. O'Neill

My name is David O'Neill. I live at 170 Spring Lane in Roxborough, and I echo Kris' thanks to our Councilman. I just want to add a little bit of background to this. The core issue of the environmental contamination at the site in 1960, if any of you were around then, the city opened up the Northwest Incinerator in Roxborough not far from Spring Lane, and it was an immediate problem with smoke, odors, fly ash problems. It's horribly mismanaged with even the basic pollution prevention techniques were not even being followed. So in 1983, this is years after people were 10 suffering through this thing, the 11 neighborhood associations got 12 together to do something and the 13 city in 1986, they agreed to a 14 consent decree and closed the 15 facility. 16 And during that period, 17 before it was closed, a lot of the 18 ash from the incinerator was 19 brought up to the site, partially 20 on the site of where the Lankenau 21 School is, and it was just dumped 22 there over and over and over again. 23 That was, I don't know, if it was legal or illegal, but there was also a lot of illegal dumping going on in the middle of the night. And it's a weird issue, because it's on the county line, so some of the pollution or the dumping -- and one of the dumping entry points was in the city, but it's a very steep slope. So the plume extended and expanded into White Marsh, and the area in White Marsh now has been quarantined. But the area in Philadelphia is -- the remediation to date has been unknown. There are some gas or some pipes allowing something to vent out of that site, but we've lived there for 40 years. I haven't really seen any remediation occurring, but that needs to be looked into. Thank you very much.

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Councilman Jones

First of all, thank you, Chairman and members of the committee for this seemingly kind of conflicting issue. So you have an environmental school on a short dumping site in a bucolic section 8 of my district. And so, what we are thinking is that we should slow this down, maybe move it out of committee without a rules suspension so that we can achieve the appropriate amendments, look at safeguards on what this use should be and not disturb, or at least get some soil testing done, to see where we are on toxins up there. Everything I've learned about environment, I didn't, Member Richardson, get it from Wynnefield. I actually got it from these people here in Roxborough. And so many ironings up there. We had the burning of the trash and then they dump it on the site and now that's closed. We are kind of -- we need to move slow so that we don't disturb or have unintended consequences by way of environment. So they came in yesterday, they told me what they were going to say and I agree with them that we should be cautious in our approach to this. So in an effort to save the school to prohibit them from making condos should not also mean that we should have a hospital status with rehab and stuff. That's not what we're doing. So we want to work with you to look at what the amendments are to see what makes sense. And so, thank you for always being my conscious in environmental.

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Ms. Swanson

Rebecca Swanson. I am counsel for the Renfrew Center, and its Director Sam and Vanessa Menaged. This is testimony on Bill 260298 as introduced by Councilman Jones. My client asked me to come here to testify on their behalf. The Renfrew Center is within the boundaries of the SP-CIV designation of the proposed bill. While we understand that is not the intent of the bill to rezone the Renfrew parcel, this is reflected in the map that is attached to the text of the bill. The center just wanted to clarify and restate for the record that they do not want their parcel rezoned at this time. They have been in contact with both the Councilman's office and with the Planning Commission. We thank them for their cooperation and for the information they've provided. They just wanted to state for the record that they fall within the boundaries, but they will not be rezoned according to the map that is attached to the text. That's it. Thank you.

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Ms. Brumbelow Burns

I'm Paula Brumbelow Burns, Director of Legislation for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission. I'm here to testify on Bill No. 260301, introduced into City Council on April 9, 2026 by Councilmember Driscoll. Bill No. 260301 amends the Philadelphia Zoning Maps by changing the zoning designations of certain areas of land located within an area bounded by Milnor Street, Cottman Avenue, Cottman Avenue (Extended), the Delaware River, Unruh Avenue (Extended), Unruh Avenue, Wissinoming Street, and New State Road in the Tacony neighborhood of the North Delaware Planning District. This legislation proposes changing the zoning of three newly-created parcels from subdivisions along the Tacony waterfront in the North Delaware Planning District. First, a small triangle of land deeded to the city by Baldor Specialty Foods is being added to the Tacony Boat Launch site, maintained by the Department of Parks and Recreation, and is being remapped from I-1, Light Industrial, to SP-PO-A, Special Purpose Parks and Open Space Active, to the north of Princeton Avenue. The premise at 7101 Milnor were subdivided into three parcels, one of which is remaining I-2, Medium Industrial. The parcel closest to Princeton Avenue is the current site of the Quaker City Yacht Club and is proposed to be remapped to ICM-X, Industrial Commercial Mixed-Use, to accommodate a planned marina and entertainment complex development. The remainder of the waterfront in the associated alignment of the Tacony-Holmesburg Trail is being remapped to SP-PO-A as well and will be maintained by the Parks and Recreation. This action is consistent with a number of provisions of Philadelphia 2035 regarding the routing of the Delaware Riverfront Greenway as part of the circuit trail system as well as recommendations to conserve waterfront parcels for natural lands management purposes. The Philadelphia City Planning Commission considered Bill 6 No. 260301 at its public meeting on April 16, 2026 and recommended the bill for approval. I'll be happy to answer any questions at this time.

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Ms. Brumbelow Burns

I am Paula Brumbelow Burns, Director of Legislation for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission. I am here to testify on Bill No. 260302, introduced into City Council on April 9, 2026 by Councilmember Bass. Bill No. 260302 amends the Philadelphia Zoning Maps by changing the zoning designations of certain areas of land located within an area bounded by Lippincott Street, 20th Street, Toronto Street and 22nd Street in the Allegheny West neighborhood of the North Planning District. This bill proposes to remap several properties in the Allegheny West neighborhood of the North Planning District. The property at 3031 to 49 North 21st Street is applying for LIHTC funding. The proposal is to convert the existing building into 56 affordable housing units. Its zoning is being changed from I-1, Light Industrial, to CMX-3, Commercial Mixed-Use. The legislation also proposes remapping other properties in the immediate area to align with current uses. The remainder of the block is being remapped to a combination of RTA-2, Residential Two-Family Attached, and RMX-3, Residential Multi-Family, on a nearby block. The remainder of the Panati Playground is being remapped from its current I-1 designation to the more appropriate SP-PO-A, Special Purpose - Parks and Open Space (Active). The Philadelphia City Planning Commission considered Bill 2 No. 260302 at its public meeting on April 16, 2026 and recommended the bill for approval. I'll be happy to answer any questions at this time.

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Ms. Brumbelow Burns

I am Paula Brumbelow Burns, the Director of Legislation for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission. I'm here to testify on Bill No. 260397, introduced into City Council on April 23, 2026 by Councilmember Phillips. Bill No. 10 260379 amends the Philadelphia Zoning Code by amending Section 12 14-500, entitled "Overlay Zoning District," by amending Section 14 14-520 NDO Ninth District Overlay District in the Cedar Brook neighborhood of the Upper North Planning District. This bill adds additional supplemental controls to the Wadsworth Avenue Commercial Review Area with childcare centers, food, beverages and groceries, and prepared food shops will now need a special exception in the seven- block area. The bill will also require a special exception for medical marijuana dispensaries. The Philadelphia City Planning Commission will consider Bill No. 260379 at its public meeting on May 21, 2026. I'll be happy to answer any questions at this time.

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Councilwoman Gilmore Richardson

Thank you, Mr. Vice-Chair. I move that Bill Nos. 260212, 260238 as amended, 260296, 260297, 260301, 260302 and 260379 as amended be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of Council be suspended as to permit first reading of this bill at the next session of Council. I also move that Bill 12 No. 260298 as amended be reported out of committee with a favorable recommendation without the suspension of the rules to permit first reading at the next session of Council. (Duly seconded.)

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Councilman Squilla

It has been moved and properly seconded that Bill Nos. 260212, 260238 as amended, 260296, 260297, 260301, 260302 and 260379 as amended be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation and further move the rules of Council be suspended to permit the first reading of this bill at the next session of Council. I also move that Bill 8 No. 260298 as amended, be reported out with a favorable recommendation without the suspension of the rules to permit the first reading of the next Council session. All those in favor will signify by saying aye. (Aye.)

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