Of said properties also? COMMISSIONER EGAN: Right. We would be righting violations, etc.
Okay. And then you would keep all of that in a database but other agencies and departments would have access to it and would be able to call that information up. COMMISSIONER EGAN: That's the idea.
Okay. , the Enhanced Enforcement section. In a couple areas of the district that I represent, there are some, as you can imagine, enforcement issues. And one of them revolves around conversions of what generally have been single-family properties into 1341 2/22/99 - WHOLE COMM. - Bill No. 990023 multifamily, whether in West Philadelphia I get some of that in particular places and also in the Manayunk and Wissahickon area, where people are, you know, maybe the bulk of the family is gone, the owner has moved out and is now renting what had been a single-family home to five or six oftentimes college students. I don't have anything against college students. They have to live somewhere. But in that particular situation, you now have six people in the house. So first and foremost, usually they're in violation of the no-more-than-three-unrelated-adults rule in the first place. Often, all of them have cars. And, I mean, they begin to change the fabric and nature of the community. Again, I understand college students have to live somewhere. But the owner has not even taken the time to go get the necessary permits or, you know, God forbid, actually go through the zoning process to make their place legal. If someone wants to go through that process, fine. That's why we have that. But I need some additional attention 1342 2/22/99 - WHOLE COMM. - Bill No. 990023 directed toward the multifamily conversions, which are essentially illegal. COMMISSIONER EGAN: Okay.
And I'm out of time. I'm not going to even try to get another question in. (Laughter.)
Thank you. Does your comment require a response of the briefest kind?
Only if the Commissioner has a response. COMMISSIONER EGAN: I mean, other than we will be happy to work with the Councilman on those types of situations -- have been and will continue to do that.
Thank you, Mr. Nutter. The last person on my list is Councilwoman Tasco.
Commissioner, you 1343 2/22/99 - WHOLE COMM. - Bill No. 990023 know, the Department of L&I is a department I really and truly support because I think you do -- your department really has a real great impact on the quality of life for people here in the City of Philadelphia. So my questions aren't meant to be adversarial but only because I want you to ask for more money for more staff 'cause part of the problems that I believe we're experiencing in getting some of the enforcement and clean-and-seals and some of those things that my office really cares a lot about is maybe because we just don't have enough people to do it. It's a big city and a lot of housing and a lot of problems. You do health, you do housing, you do everything. So my questions are for the record because we deal with this every day. And the calls we receive and the frustration level that we have, it's not that you don't do it; it's just that there's a time delay in getting some of the first visits on a violation notice out and then follow up. Is there a process for doing the 1344 2/22/99 - WHOLE COMM. - Bill No. 990023 initial first visit on a complaint? And what is the process for a follow-up visit, absent a call from my office? COMMISSIONER EGAN: Well, you know, hopefully, when a complaint comes in to our office, you know, we can get someone out there within like days of the complaint, depending on 9 the nature of the complaint. 10 Now, any report of a dangerous 11 building, you know, where the residents are in 12 fear of it collapsing, we do go out immediately. 13 But, you know, on your normal complaint, we would 14 hopefully get out there within two days. And if a 15 violation would be written, then, you know, a reinspection would be done in like 30 days.
Councilwoman, the inspector would make a decision at that point in time on the violation, whether he or she would want a reinspection immediately, 10 days, or 30 days being the long time frame. COMMISSIONER EGAN: In other words, depending on the type of violation. 1345 2/22/99 - WHOLE COMM. - Bill No. 990023
So are you saying that you can or you do revisit within 30 days if there's a reinspection to be done?
Well, we try to. Again, depending on how many of the immediate-type concerns are required of our inspectors' time would depend on if we get in, but we do reinspect every property -- every property where we've written a violation.
Now, once you issue a violation and it goes to court, what is the -- who is responsible for the enforcement? A number of people get violated. Our house on 79th Avenue took the guy to court. He was fined, and he still isn't paying the fine. Is that the court's responsibility? COMMISSIONER EGAN: At that stage of the game, it is. You know, once we take the owner to court, you know, the judge then becomes the enforcer, which is why in our Enhanced Enforcement section of my formal testimony, you know, we talk about trying to improve the type of enforcement action that even the courts, the judges will take against property owners. 1346 2/22/99 - WHOLE COMM. - Bill No. 990023 And if we need to take them back to court, we'll do that.
So if you fine a property owner -- for instance, our house on 79th Avenue -- and he doesn't pay the fine, but there's still trash in the house and it's being a problem to the neighbors, I mean, what happens? COMMISSIONER EGAN: What, Bob? We -- this is what can happen, Councilwoman, honestly. It can go into like this -- this like big barrel that kind of keeps turning, with all the violations in it. But if the community keeps us aware of that problem, we can either send it back to court and try to get the judge to get a little tougher on that property owner; or in the case of very serious conditions that have like become just unbearable for the neighbors, you know, we can abate those conditions.
Well, if the case is in court and the owner has been fined, whose responsibility is it to see that, one, that the person cleans up the house? Or, two, that the fine is paid? Where is the enforcement of the 1347 2/22/99 - WHOLE COMM. - Bill No. 990023 court's adjudication? COMMISSIONER EGAN: Well, after a fine's been issued and then the violation hasn't been complied, like it would have to start all over again. We would reinspect, violations would be issued again, it would go back to court again. And, hopefully, you know, what you're creating is at that point, you know, is recognition by the judge involved that this is more serious than they maybe took it the first time around, and that they need to be a little more aware that rubbish -- like, for example, you're talking trash in somebody's back yard. That doesn't sound very onerous to a judge.
Mm-hmm. COMMISSIONER EGAN: But if the judge understands -- like if they would just think about it or look at pictures of it, it really does create very deplorable conditions for the neighbors in that are.
Commissioner, I wonder if I could ask you to wrap up. We're running tremendously late. COMMISSIONER EGAN: Oh, sure. So 1348 2/22/99 - WHOLE COMM. - Bill No. 990023 really, it is getting back to the judge, Councilwoman.
Okay, thank you. That's the last Councilperson who seeks to be heard on that issue. Thank you very much.
Please stay, Commissioner, Councilman Nutter has two of the briefest questions.
Possibly the briefest ones I've ever asked. Deputy Commissioner McLaughlin, can you clearly state for the record, with regard to business-compliance inspections, does the Department inspect only during the week, 9 to 5, Monday through Friday? Or are there personnel who are out and available in the evening hours and the weekends?
Most of the inspectors 1349 2/22/99 - WHOLE COMM. - Bill No. 990023 work during regular work week.
We have a Saturday function that work 2 to 10, two inspectors. Sometimes we increase that to two teams of two. But we work around the clock responding to specific complaints, such as our regulated uses that require us to be out 4 o'clock, 5 o'clock in the morning.
Okay. The reason I ask the question is, from time to time, especially with vending matters, some people think that they can outscheme us in terms of when we have people out and about. And they figure the Department kind of goes to sleep on the weekends, and I just want to make sure that it's clear for the record that there are people who are out and available to handle those situations. Because we've had some folks try to avoid being in compliance, thinking that there are no L&I people available. Lastly, how does the Department deal with -- you get complaints from all over the place, you certainly get them from me. A property has maybe various violations -- roof problem, 1350 2/22/99 - WHOLE COMM. - Bill No. 990023 porch problem, windows out, or whatever. But ultimately, it may also be found that there's drug activity in the house. Whose call is that? Is that an initial L&I call, is that a police call? Is it a joint process? COMMISSIONER MCLAUGHLIN: That's a police call, first off.
So the moment there's -- I mean, the place may have other problems, but the moment there is an allegation about drug activity and the first place is to deal with the police, the second place is maybe L&I to deal with the rest of the violations once the drug issue has been dealt with?
Yes, that's correct. We have a very good working relationship with most of the narcotics units in each of the police divisions, so we do respond with them. They usually cue us to those kind of problems, and we work together.
All right. Off the record, I'd like to talk to you about a location out on 52nd Street. It's got some L&I violations, 1351 2/22/99 - WHOLE COMM. - Bill No. 990023 but there's alleged drug activity there as well. Thank you.
Does that mean you're through? Thank you very much. There are no 6 more lights on so -- (Councilwoman Krajewski enters chambers.)
Can I ask something? I came down just for one question.
Thank you. Good afternoon. My question is, I buy a house that has a fence around it. That fence has been up for 17 years -- Joe Brown put that fence on till I buy 18 it. Three years later, an L&I inspector comes 19 around and says, That's illegal, you never got 20 permits for that. Am I the one that's responsible for that? Do I have to go get the permit, go to court, when that fence or wall or whatever it may be was up before I bought that house? COMMISSIONER EGAN: Yeah. 1352 2/22/99 - WHOLE COMM. - Bill No. 990023 Unfortunately, in that case, Councilwoman, the property owner is always responsible for code violations against the property that they own.
You're saying that -- I heard from a friend of mine who lives in Councilwoman Blackwell's district, he's been living in this property for 43 years, and his wife lived in the property before him. They have a driveway, and apparently, now they're being told that the driveway is illegal, and now he has to go through this whole process. I think that is absolutely absurd.
It just doesn't seem like L&I has their priorities together.
I'm sure it's like 50 years or more that that driveway's been there on the side of their property, and L&I is now telling them that it's illegal. COMMISSIONER EGAN: Well, it would be illegal because it's illegal according to the zoning code that exists in Philadelphia. 1353 2/22/99 - WHOLE COMM. - Bill No. 990023
Well, I think maybe we have to change some of the codes in L&I because it's outrageous. I would like to work together with someone from your staff regarding these changes. COMMISSIONER EGAN: We would be totally supportive and cooperative in an effort to revamp the zoning code and to remove some of those portions that do drive, you know, the property owners crazy.
It just seems they don't go, the inspectors, for some reason or another -- I see walls, retaining walls that look like they're about to fall down, I see garage doors that could fall down, and I don't see any inspectors. People like that never seem to get a violation. Anyone who's trying to improve their home, justly so -- I'm not talking about someone who's going to go out five feet or whatever, but 1354 2/22/99 - WHOLE COMM. - Bill No. 990023 they're the ones that seem to be penalized. COMMISSIONER EGAN: Well, just like the incident you cited, though, Councilwoman, that probably was the result of a complaint. And if somebody complains about the retaining wall that's falling down or the garage door that's falling apart, we'll go out and write a violation against them too, but it would have to be by complaint.
But the same people who get the violation, nothing seems to happen. They get violation after violation, postponement after postponement, and nothing happens. COMMISSIONER EGAN: It can be a frustrating process because people know how to work that court system, they know how to, you know, build in delays into the system.
We have buildings that are falling down, and they get postponement after postponement. But some little guy who lives on a little street, he gets a notice that he must come in here. He's frightened to death, calling our office, "I can't make it, what do I do?" 1355 2/22/99 - WHOLE COMM. - Bill No. 990023 I know it's not your fault; it's the court system in that case with the postponements. But I would like to work with your office and -- COMMISSIONER EGAN: Of course, we'd be happy to do that. Would love to, as a matter of fact.
Well, you can count on it because I will be on that now. Thank you, Commissioner. COMMISSIONER EGAN: Great.
Commissioner, let's go back over the scenario quickly of the Councilwoman's story there. At the time that house was sold to the new owner, wasn't there a survey done, wasn't there some -- I believe, to get title insurance or to complete a real estate transaction, at that point of the sale, the encroachment of that fence should have been detected. (Deputy Commissioner David Perri comes forward.)
My name is Dave Perri, 1356 2/22/99 - WHOLE COMM. - Bill No. 990023 Deputy Commissioner for Construction Services. With the certification statement, as we've discussed earlier, that's merely a statement that there's no violations on record. There are no surveys done when real estate is transacted. Increasingly, title companies, insurance companies, and mortgage companies are asking to see permits on existing structure in single-family sales. And in those particular cases, it's the homeowner's obligation to show that there were permits secured for not only fences but maybe there's addictions, decks, and other structures on the property.
So, Commissioner, one of the things in our process should be educational, that when a person's buying a property, they should be reasonably confident that everything is on their property and legal before the transaction. Or isn't that realistic to expect that? I know there are some suburban jurisdictions that require a survey every time the property's sold.
Well, I think there's a lot 1357 2/22/99 - WHOLE COMM. - Bill No. 990023 of burden on homeowners selling real estate in the city. And anything beyond the bear minimum that you require could have a negative impact on the real estate market. In addition to having a negative effect, there's private home inspection agencies that are available if a homeowner wants to have their property checked for code compliance, but that's outside of the L&I system.
But that, again, should be something that's a recommendation because this person bought this property, believing that everything was appropriate, that the fence was where it should be, that the storage shed was where it should be, and that the driveway was where it should be. Now, five years later, after the person's lived there, they find out -- and they're probably surprised, they have no recourse at that time, that something that they bought in good faith is now a code violation. So maybe that's where we need to go with this.
Does City Planning have anything to do with this in writing 1358 2/22/99 - WHOLE COMM. - Bill No. 990023 the codes? COMMISSIONER EGAN: They are the housers of the zoning code.
Well, they're the ones we should be talking to too. COMMISSIONER EGAN: We enforce the zoning code, but they are what you would call, I guess, "the writers" or "the housers."
Well, then, I think I better get in touch with them as well because it's chaos out there, Commissioner, believe me. Thank you.
Any other questions or comments from members of the committees? (No further questions.)
Seeing none, I thank you. Thank you for your patience, thank you for all of the good work that you do. And I'm sorry you were kept waiting. COMMISSIONER EGAN: No problem, Council President.
Thanks. 1359 2/22/99 - WHOLE COMM. - Bill No. 990023 COMMISSIONER EGAN: And do you want to you go through the boards really quickly or not? It's up to you.
Yes, mm-hmm. Is it the Board of L&I Review? COMMISSIONER EGAN: The Board of L&I Review, the Building Board of Standards, and the Zoning Board.
That would be fine. (Richard Felgus come forward.)
Councilwoman Verna, I'm Richard Felgus. I'm here to testify for the L&I Review Board. The L&I Review Board Budget essentially is the same as last year, with the exceptions of a small additional amount of money that we were asking for salary increases. Total Board Budget would be $202,000. There are three full-time staff members of the Board and six Board members. The L&I Review Board is really an appeal board that hears appeals from any actions 1360 2/22/99 - WHOLE COMM. - Bill No. 990023 that L&I takes. We administer their budget and their operations, but they're a highly independent board. This year, the board will be proposing to hear 1,120 cases. We would expect that they would be doing approximately the same next year. Right now, the Board is rendering decisions within 60 days, except in the case of firearms; that take a little bit longer since there's been a deluge on firearms. I'd be glad to answer any questions.
Thanks. Are there any questions from members of the committee? (No questions.)
Okay. The next board is our Board of Building Standards. With me today is Barton Kligerman, who is the Chairman of the Board. And we are requesting a total of $113,000 for the Board for our year 2000 Budget. This is an increase of $2800 for salary increases for the two full-time staff members. The Board also is 1361 2/22/99 - WHOLE COMM. - Bill No. 990023 composed of four members. In the current year, we would expect that the Board will be hearing approximately 180 cases and conducting 50 meetings. We would presume that that would be approximately the same for next year. Currently, the Board is rendering decisions within 30 days.
I don't know. Are there any questions for the Board of Building Standards? (No questions.)
Thank you. Our final board that we have attached to the Department is the Zoning Board of Adjustment. This, of course, is the most active of all the boards, it has the largest budget. Their budget this year is slightly over half a million dollars. This is an increase, again, of $10,000 over the current-year obligations to pay for salary increases for the staff. Currently, we 1362 2/22/99 - WHOLE COMM. - Bill No. 990023 have six full-time members or staff people, along with five Board members of this board. During 1999, we would expect the Board to be conducting 250 meetings. As I said, they are the most active of the City boards. They have a vital job that they perform.
Last year, we heard 1617 cases. And this year, we're projecting, remarkably enough, about the same number -- 1618 cases, one more than last year. We'll have to wait and see how that plays out. Right now, through December, they've heard 715 cases already, and they have rendered 961 decisions. That's because some of the cases carried over from the prior year.
The Board currently is rendering decisions within 30 days of when an appeal is presented to it. We had started an accelerated hearing process a few years ago. That's worked out extremely well. For those 1363 2/22/99 - WHOLE COMM. - Bill No. 990023 people who are involved in development and want to get moving quickly, we can offer them the hearing almost immediately after the posting time. There's a legal limit, you have to have a notice up, where we can give them a hearing almost as soon as that limit has been met. And that program has been very well-received. We had 286 cases where people had requested accelerated hearings before the Zoning Board. Right now, the Zoning Board is getting to be so effective in terms of hearing cases quickly, that the numbers of the accelerated hearings are actually dropping because we're able to provide good service.
How long does it take before one applies for a zoning hearing?
Bob D'Agostino, Appeal Boards Administrator. Right now, it's running about a month, 1364 2/22/99 - WHOLE COMM. - Bill No. 990023 depending on the time of the year. Sometimes in the winter, it may be three weeks; during the peak spring and summer, it may be six weeks for an ordinary hearing.
So why would anybody want to pay for an accelerated hearing?
Well, if you're a developer and you've had financial commitments and time is money and so forth, some of these people do want to do it.
How much sooner do they have a hearing if they pay for the accelerated hearing?.
What were the number of hearings you said the Zoning Board hears?
What were the number of hearings? 1365 2/22/99 - WHOLE COMM. - Bill No. 990023
I just heard the 600, and I thought they heard that in a day.
I think they do an outstanding job in the normal course of events. Sometimes there are cases that seem to provide special problems. But on the expedited hearings, one of the problems is that a community isn't given enough time to consider the matter, the expedited hearing works against the interest of the community. And some developers may seek an expedited hearing because they just want to shut up the people or act before it gets to be known. So I would like to ask, what happens if a community says, We're against an expedited hearing, we just learned about it, we need more time. You know, because community groups don't 1366 2/22/99 - WHOLE COMM. - Bill No. 990023 always meet, you know, or can't get together quickly. Sometimes they meet every two months, that sort of thing. Is there any way in which a community can protect itself from a developer who may be using the request for an expedited hearing merely to move before anybody in the community can really get organized?
What ordinarily happens, Councilman, is that someone from the Councilperson's district will come to the hearing and request that the Board continue the case so that they can have a community meeting with the applicant.
The Board will normally grant that, and the applicant normally agrees. In fact, we encourage applicants in our instruction sheet that they should contact community groups or the City Councilperson in their district. Some do, some don't.
Yes. Those that may have reason not to, you know, from their own point 1367 2/22/99 - WHOLE COMM. - Bill No. 990023 of view, often don't. Generally, the policy of the Board is to grant continuances only if the applicant asks for the continuance. And there general policy is to deny any requests by community groups for continuances. Every once in a while, the Board does grant the continuance, urging that the two parties get together, which is a very sound policy. But I think particularly in the cases of expedited appeals, I think the Board ought to give consideration even more strongly when a community group says, Hey, this is so quick, don't rush us, let us have the opportunity to consider, you know, learn all the facts. The community may agree or the community may ultimately not agree; it just leaves a bad taste in the mouth if there's too much of a rush.
Normally, applicants agree because they know it's in their best interest to meet with the community.
Thank you. I just wanted everybody to be fully aware that it's not always just financial problems, but sometimes it is that get a developer wanting to move ahead fast. 1368 2/22/99 - WHOLE COMM. - Bill No. 990023 But I think, on the whole, the Board does a great job. They probably, next to Traffic Court, maybe even ahead of the Traffic Court, have more citizens of Philadelphia get to know the City government because so many people actually appear before the Zoning Board.
I think that most people that are familiar with this process know to go to the community group when they come before the Zoning Board because it's in their best interest to do it.
I agree with you that it's in their best interests. Thank you.
The Office of Housing and Community Development. (John Kromer comes forward.)
Hello, stranger. You haven't been around to see us, to the best of my knowledge to find out what we want 1369 2/22/99 - WHOLE COMM. - Bill No. 990023 in our budget. When are we going to have OHCD hearings? What is your schedule?
I believe we've outlined a proposed schedule and submitted it to your office.
The first daft was submitted a month and a half or two months ago, but we can check on that. I believe you and I are also scheduled to meet to talk over the schedule and on other issues. But my understanding is that based on the informal discussion between our staffs, that the expectation is that the timing will be somewhat similar to previous years -- that is a late-May hearing at the earliest.
Well, I'm not the chairperson on that committee, but I think that you ought to start making your visits to the District Councilpeople.
My first meeting tomorrow 1370 2/22/99 - WHOLE COMM. - Bill No. 990023 morning is with Councilwoman Blackwell.
By the way, for the record, I'm John Kromer, Director of the Office of Housing and Community Development. As you know, a separate hearing of City Council's Finance Committee is scheduled to consider the Community Development Block Grant budget. However, for the purposes of this hearing, I want to summarize the testimony that has been submitted, and indicate that the proposed Operating Budget for OHCD is $143.4 million in the coming fiscal year. Of that amount, 79.5 million will be in the Grants Revenue Fund, then 59.8 million in the Community Development Fund, and 4.1 million in the General Fund. The Class 100 request of 4.2 million reflects an increase of $123,930 to cover wage increases budgeted, consistent with the City's collective bargaining agreements and full funding of requested positions. The Class 200 request is substantially lower than the current Fiscal Year amount in Class 200 based on a decrease in Section 108 borrowing 1371 2/22/99 - WHOLE COMM. - Bill No. 990023 for the Home Ownership Zone, which is already funded and a decrease in other Section 108 borrowing activity. This decrease is simply related to the fact that the City's reached its capacity to borrow through the Section 108 Program, and there's no more capacity to use. I'd be glad to respond to any questions or comments that Councilmembers may have at this time.
The first question is with respect to the Emergency Shelter Grants referred to in your statement in the amount of $2.4 million. Is that the kind of money, for example, that was involved in the Coulter Street, the current Coulter Street proposal?
No. We are not a funder of the Coulter Street residents, which is, I understand it, proposed to be funded through OESS. We have no funding for shelter housing.
No, OESS is City-funded. 1372 2/22/99 - WHOLE COMM. - Bill No. 990023
Is that true in deliverance, or does the deliverance come through OHCD??
No, there's no CDGB funding in the deliverance venture either, none.
So if money is lost in that program, it's -- by "City money," do we mean City tax money?
I don't know. All I can say is that it was never part of the community development fund.
It was never a part of the community fund. Well, what is the funding for the Emergency Shelter Grants? When does your money come into play? You say you're requesting in the amount of 2.4 million, the authority's requested to provide funding for Emergency Shelter Grants. 1373 2/22/99 - WHOLE COMM. - Bill No. 990023
That reflects the amount that we expect to receive through the State program, the Emergency Shelter Grant Program. But it is a not for emergency for City-sponsored shelters; it is for transitional programs that we support that are operated groups, nonprofit groups such as Project Home and People's Emergency Center.
And how about -- what does the Section 108 loans cover? I know we've heard them at various proposals offered. I think Disneyland may be getting some of it? Maybe Jump Street?
I think that many of the TIFs got the 108, did they not, Mr. Kromer?
Yes, there have been some ventures that have been funded with both TIF and 108. The 108 funding that PIDC and the Commerce 1374 2/22/99 - WHOLE COMM. - Bill No. 990023 Department administer primarily for downtown development but also for some neighborhood economic development ventures such as Jump Street is money that is loaned to the private developers and then paid back in full by the private developers, so there is no grant funding involved. It's simply a loan which is paid back by the developers.
Yes, it does revolve. When Section 108 funding is used for affordable housing development, such as the Home Ownership Zone Development and a lot of the tax credit rental development that we have done in nearly every Council district, the money is paid back through future years' Community Development Block Grant funding.
Mr. Kromer, how much did we have last year at this time in Section 108 loans? Do you know off the top of your head? I don't think it's in your testimony. 1375 2/22/99 - WHOLE COMM. - Bill No. 990023
I'm sorry, I don't have that that in the information here but can send you a summary of that. It was a substantial amount, when you combine the PIDC and CDBG, the housing-related 108.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Clark.
Mr. Kromer, let me express my appreciation for some of the creative housing that has been assisted through your office in North Philadelphia. Tell me, if you will, about the Come Home to Philadelphia Program, a middle-class program to attract home buyers to Philly. Specifically, are there any dollar restrictions? And how many homes do you expect this to result in being sold to Philadelphians?
The Come Home to Philadelphia Program, which was announced a few weeks ago, involves the use of $200,000 in Economic Stimulus Funds, funding that is apart from this budget, to support home ownership in Philadelphia. 1376 2/22/99 - WHOLE COMM. - Bill No. 990023 The funding will provide $1,000 settlement assistance grants to 200 home buyers. And unlike the Housing Counseling and Settlement Assistance Program that has been funded for seven years now as part of the Community Development Block Grant, this initiative does not have the Housing Counseling requirement and does not have a first-time home ownership requirement. We've had many inquiries from consumers from the real estate industry and from neighborhood organizations about the possibility of loosening up some of the restrictions that have governed our ongoing Pre-purchase Counseling and Settlement Assistance Program, including the requirement to complete a course of counseling and the requirement for a home inspection. And some in the real estate industry have said that those restrictions too onerous. I've disagreed with that and have insisted, particularly on the home inspections because we have so much older housing stock. But this Come Home to Philadelphia initiative was a way of trying to respond to that interest to try on a limited basis an unrestricted 1377 2/22/99 - WHOLE COMM. - Bill No. 990023 program which does have a limit on income, but is a very generous limit, and does not contain either counseling or a home inspection requirement. And I expect that we'll soon be able to assess the results of that program in terms of possibly strengthening the single-family sales housing market in Philadelphia. So to me, it's an interesting opportunity to test this approach.
Is 63,000 the minimum or the maximum income for a family of wage earners?
I believe it's the maximum. And, again, I can give you the breakdown of the income levels.
That strikes me as odd. Since the housing could cost as much as 1378 2/22/99 - WHOLE COMM. - Bill No. 990023 $240,000, to have a $63,000 maximum earning seems a little arbitrary to me.
I'll give you the figures on both family income and on house price.
Thank you. Are there any other questions for Mr. Kromer? (No further questions.)
City Planning Commission is next. (Barbara Kaplan comes forward.)
Good afternoon, Councilwoman Verna. We are the survivors. I am Barbara Kaplan. ), who is our Administrative Services Director. I will try to do a very brief summary of our budget. 1379 2/22/99 - WHOLE COMM. - Bill No. 990023 We're pleased to be here to discuss our budget request with you. 1 million. 5, is from the General Fund, although we also are requesting about $240,000 for the Community Development Block Grant Program that funds a number of our staff. And we have approved -- we have received approval for several federal grants. Most of this money is for transportation planning. Our budget this year reflects an increase over last year's budget of just over $23,000, all of which will accommodate -- is necessary to accommodate the negotiated wage increases. We've had a busy year in terms of housing redevelopment activities. We worked very closely with the Office of Housing and the Redevelopment Authority to do blight certifications and redevelopment planning that has led to the redevelopment of quite a number of housing units, mostly in North and West Philadelphia, but also in other parts of City as well. 1380 2/22/99 - WHOLE COMM. - Bill No. 990023 In addition, we've also been spending considerable time working with the Philadelphia Housing Authority who has received the Hope 5 grant funding that has made it possible to convert 6 -- to demolish high-rise public housing and convert that to low-rise units, some of which will go back on those sites, and some of which will be replaced elsewhere in the community. In particular, we've been spending quite a bit of time on the planning of the redevelopment of the Martin Luther King Development and the Schuykill Falls Development, which are very large projects, and we will continue that work into the next year. We also have work in the Spring Garden neighborhood in North Philadelphia and Jefferson Square, which will be a middle-income homeowner project in South Philadelphia. And we've also been doing quite a bit work in the 52nd Street area. We look forward to that work increasing over the next year. We are working on preparations for the year 2000 census. There have been some changes in the law that enable us, we think, to have the 1381 2/22/99 - WHOLE COMM. - Bill No. 990023 Census Bureau prepare a much more accurate address list for the census than has ever been possible. They were able use the Post Office list for the first time. That would seem like it would be something obvious. But under previous law, they were not able to do that. Now that they're able to do that, we think they start off with a much better census for doing the census. And in addition, they're able to share that address list with us, and we were able to compare that with addresses from City files. We were able to do that last fall. We did, in fact, find some 50,000 addresses that we wanted them to check for possible addition to the file. We'll have another opportunity to do that next year, as the census gets a little bit closer. So we are -- our preparations for the census are well underway. We're also working with the Mayor's Office, who is planning an outreach program because, as I'm sure everyone knows, we have a lot of people in this city who, for various reasons, are difficult to count. And we want to make sure that we count everyone. 1382 2/22/99 - WHOLE COMM. - Bill No. 990023 There were some questions that came up in the Capital Budget hearing about the geographic information system and the City's continued progress in that effort, and we have been involving more of the departments in the City in that effort. We kind of initiated that project in the early 1990s. It has now gathered considerable momentum. The Mayor's Office of Information Services is now kind of picking it up and extending that, with our assistance, to other departments -- particularly the Water Department, the Records Department, Streets Department, and Licenses and Inspections, among others.
The Police Department has been using it also for some time. As a result of some of the questions that were asked in the Capital Budget hearing, I would certainly offer, when the budget process is finished, a briefing for Councilmembers, not only for the work that the Planning Commission is doing, but for what the other departments are doing as well. And the other --
Excuse me, I didn't hear the subject of the last two sentences. 1383 2/22/99 - WHOLE COMM. - Bill No. 990023
And the other thing is, we would be most happy to work with Council's technical staff, as I'm sure would the Mayor's Office of Information Services, to begin to extend a capacity of the geographic information system to City Council's technical staff, because I'm sure Councilmembers would find it very useful. Right now, even though various departments are involved in this system, the Planning Commission is really the only agency that acts as a service bureau, however, to provide maps and mapping services to other City departments, to members of City Council, and to various nonprofits that have projects that require this type of assistance. So I think this is something that has been in the works, it has gathered momentum. It's now at the point where it's an integral part of 1384 2/22/99 - WHOLE COMM. - Bill No. 990023 the operations of a number of City departments. And we would be pleased to, first of all, include City Council in that system, but also to give you a briefing as to what is really going on. Of course, we continue the normal things we do in terms of neighborhood and development planning, environmental review, zoning and capital program preparation. I'd be pleased to answer any questions any member of Council might have.
Miss Kaplan, I have two questions. I don't know if I heard you correctly with respect to Jefferson Square. Did you say it was a North Philadelphia home ownership program?
No, this is in South Philadelphia in the vicinity of what was formerly Mt. Sinai Hospital.
Fifth and Reed. 1385 2/22/99 - WHOLE COMM. - Bill No. 990023
Or before that, Einstein Hospital's Southern Division.
Well, there are plans for the hospital buildings. I think one is going to be a long-term rehabilitation center. The other is going to be senior-citizen housing. But the hospital, for many years, had been acquiring vacant properties and vacant lots in the area. They are going to give them to a nonprofit corporation. In addition, we probably will acquire other properties and be able to redevelop the whole area around there, which is, you know, has gotten quite shaky in that one spot. There are still homeowners in there, but there are a lot of vacant lots and a lot of vacant buildings.
Okay, thank you for that clarification. Briefly, I want to express my concern about the census and say that we really must do a 1386 2/22/99 - WHOLE COMM. - Bill No. 990023 much better job of counting Philadelphians this decade than we did in the past. And specifically, two classes are historically under-counted -- African-Americans and Hispanic-Americans. Please do be as creative as you can in helping us count not just the addresses, but the actual people who exist but float in an undocumented, unregulated way. They're not on the employment rolls, they're not on church rolls, they're not on voter registration rolls. It is all but impossible to prove that they exist except they do. And so we simply must find a way of documenting their existence. And to the degree that we don't, we deprive ourselves of dollars that go with those numbers for the City as well as for the School District. So it's going to be important for us to get a much better count than we have had in the past.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Cohen.
Well, I agree with 1387 2/22/99 - WHOLE COMM. - Bill No. 990023 both Councilwoman Clark and the Commission Director Barbara Kaplan on the census work. I think you're probably in the best position and your experience will be extremely valuable in attempting to make sure we get an honest count -- not an honest count, but a realistic count of what exists. I don't think anybody intentionally tries to not count people but there are people in society so -- living under such difficult circumstance, that they are frequently hard to find. Some people have reason for maybe wanting to be hard to find. But I think the Planning Commission is in the best position to get the work done, and I'm delighted. I didn't know you were involved in it, but I feel much better now that I know that you're involved.
I think what's encouraging to us is that there's more that we can do to help the Census Bureau this time in advance of the 1388 2/22/99 - WHOLE COMM. - Bill No. 990023 actual census being taken because we have much more opportunity to help them improve their address list. And even though it's quite true what Councilwoman Clark said, that, you know, okay, finding the house is one thing; finding the people is another. But since this is a mail survey, if you don't even get the questionnaire into the house or you have no record of the address, then there's no way the Census Bureau can follow up if somebody doesn't return it, 'cause they will follow up with an actual house visit if it does not come back by mail. But last time, we had all kind of reports of people not getting forms, and they would call our office and we would -- we could not do anything about it except to tell the Census Bureau. But it was apparently very difficult to get through to the Census Bureau the last time to get forms to people if they were missed the first time. So we want to make sure that that doesn't happen this time. At this time also, we're allowed to give out forms, which we weren't allowed to do the 1389 2/22/99 - WHOLE COMM. - Bill No. 990023 last time. So that should also help.
Excuse me, Barbara, is somebody going to go door to door with the forms and try to explain to people the importance of this?
Well, I think that would be the kind of outreach activity, you know, that we would try to plan for -- particularly in neighborhoods where there are a lot of recent arrivals, a lot of immigrants, a lot of people who don't speak English. The Census Bureau this time is going to print the forms in more languages, which they, last time, had plans, but it did not work out terribly well. We also -- and I -- you know, I -- I think we're going to -- the Mayor is committed to, before he leaves office, he won't be here for the next census, but to try to raise some money to supplement City resources so that we can, you know, really undertake an effective outreach program. But the first step right now that we're working on is to make sure that, you know, a form gets into every household. That's the first step. 1390 2/22/99 - WHOLE COMM. - Bill No. 990023
Well, I don't know that there are people that will just accept this form and answer it.
But I will just tell you, I will share this with you, in a particular area in my district, there are large numbers of Asians who absolutely refuse to register. In fact, I have gotten Asian priest to talk to them, to tell them how important it was that they register and they vote. And I also talked about the census. They just feel that they don't want anybody to know their business.
Now, I don't know how we reach, you know, many people who may feel exactly the same way. But there has to be some way of communicating the importance of this census.
Well, we certainly are going to try. And the Census Bureau has local people who speak various languages, various Southeast Asian languages -- Cambodian, 1391 2/22/99 - WHOLE COMM. - Bill No. 990023 Vietnamese, etc. But, certainly, I think we already know where a lot of these hard-to-count populations are located in the city, and we're really going to tart efforts, work with the Census Bureau to try to make sure we can get this information out and do as much education as we possibly can. I mean, part of this is to kind of convince people that it's in their own self-interest to participate, you know, that the amount of money that comes to the City for various programs that they participate in, if we don't know that they're there, we're not going to get the money to cover them in this program. We're talking about outreach at health centers, for example, where a lot of people do receive services. We might help people actually, you know, at a health center to fill out a form. For example, churches will be involved. I mean, we'll try every avenue to try to reach people. But it is important to make sure that the address gets in the database because if we don't have the address, then there's no way for anybody to follow up. So that's what we're 1392 2/22/99 - WHOLE COMM. - Bill No. 990023 focussing on now. And then we know we're going to have to do that kind of, you know, hand-holding and outreach later on because, clearly, there are a lot of people in the city that are difficult to count, and a lot of people who don't want to be counted.
For instance, how would you know whether a house is occupied or vacant? How would you know if it's an apartment building, if there's more than one family in that dwelling? I mean, how are you going to be able to do this? You're talking about sending out, you know, making certain that everybody receives a form by mail. Who will be doing this work?
The Census Bureau will be doing it. And based on what we know about the city from our experience and from City records, we're trying to direct them in the right places to put their effort, you know, where it is most 1393 2/22/99 - WHOLE COMM. - Bill No. 990023 needed and will do the most good. I think the benefit of the Census Bureau starting out with the Post Office mailing list helps a great deal 'cause you might have -- I mean, you might have three apartments that are, you know, illegally there and a row house that should have one unit on City records, but they're all getting mail. So that is a better way to find people than some of the ways that they have tried in past, where they've bought commercial mailing lists. I mean, they have they may have lost a lot of people that way. It was interesting that the address list that we got this time had more addresses on it even before we looked at it than where we wound up at the end of the last census. So we feel like we have a better base, and the more people that are in the system, the more addresses that are in the system, the better chance we have of having, you know, the Census Bureau follow up when they don't get something back. The Census Bureau does talk to neighbors. If they can't get the household, they will actually talk to neighbors, they'll try to 1394 2/22/99 - WHOLE COMM. - Bill No. 990023 get information any way they can. That's the last resort. They really want to get household to report their own information. And I think we have a tremendous challenge to do this. You know, the City has been losing population, so we want to make sure we get every last person we can because it's important for political redistricting also as well as the funding issue.