Bill No. 050464, an ordinance to amend the Philadelphia Zoning Maps by changing the zoning designations of certain areas of land located within an area bounded by State 67 Rules - 6/8/05 Road, former Rhawn Street, the Delaware River, and Bleigh Avenue.
Once again, Madam President, good morning. Good morning, members of the Rules Committee. For the City Planning Commission, my name is Tom Chapman. Councilmember Kelly introduced this bill on behalf of Councilwoman Krajewski on May of this year. Bill 13 No. 050464 is an amendment to the 14 Philadelphia Zoning Maps. It proposes to 15 change the zoning designation of the area 16 bounded by State Road, the former Rhawn 17 Street, the Delaware River, and Bleigh 18 Avenue from the existing partly L-3 19 limited industrial and partly L-R leased restricted industrial to a new designation of waterfront redevelopment district. This site is the former location of a business known as Northern Shipping and is about 71 acres in size. Rezoning will allow for the redevelopment 68 Rules - 6/8/05 of this property with a mixed use residential and service commercial community. This property is one of four sites currently proposed for residential development along the north Delaware River waterfront. And Independence Point, as it is to be known, will include about 1,700 new dwelling units in the form of mid-rise buildings, duplex style buildings, townhomes, and even a hotel. The development will also include a wellness center, a marina, and recreational office and service retail uses. An amphitheater and pedestrian promenade are to be located along the site's water frontage. A total of approximately 3,100 parking spaces are to be provided. Open space including a generous setback from the river meeting the requirements of the waterfront redevelopment district will account for about 40 percent of the area of the property. The Rules Committee is also 69 Rules - 6/8/05 considering two additional rezoning requests for mixed use development along the north Delaware waterfront today, and Councilwoman Krajewski has long been an advocate for residential redevelopment in this area of the City. The Planning Commission believes this is consistent with the Mayor's vision of Philadelphia as the New River City and will only serve to create more interest in development of additional residential and mixed use communities in these areas of the City. The Planning Commission at its meeting of May 31, 2005, recommended that Bill No. 17 050464 be approved. Thank you.
Thank you. Mr. Chapman, it sounds like a very ambitious project. Do we know when it will be started, when it will be completed? How many housing units did you indicate?
I think maybe I'll defer that question to representatives of the developer who have approached the table.
Please. Please identify yourself for the record.
Good morning, Madam President, members of the committee. My name is Sharon Suleta. I'm here with Scott Blow from Transactionable Property Solutions. Transactionable is the developer of the site and he's here to answer questions. We also have for the committee master plan narratives that are required under the new waterfront development district and site plans that we can hand out.
I had 71 Rules - 6/8/05 asked a question. I don't think it was answered. Are the 1,700 units going to be condominiums?
Yes. Good morning, Madam President, members of the Committee. My name is Scott Blow. I'm managing director of TPS, the developer of the property. 1,764 units is approximately and, yes, they will be condominium.
Mr. Blow, how many parking spaces are you going to have?
Would that be -- would there be buildings? In other words, there would be construction of parking buildings or is it just ground level?
There are two types that have parking structures underneath the building. 72 Rules - 6/8/05
There are two types that have actual structures underneath the buildings.
Underneath each building, they're going to have parking?
Underneath the buildings. There aren't separate parking structures, no. Of those, about 2,200 of them will be structured spaces and 860 of them will be open air spaces. As to starting construction, I believe you asked the question. We believe that next summer we anticipate beginning construction.
And when do you anticipate that the project would be completed?
That would be depending upon the market. We believe that a five-year -- five to six years is probably an aggressive buildout. 73 Rules - 6/8/05
Yes. For this project, it's approximately three quarters of a billion dollars.
The source of financing, development costs are being funded by TPS and our investors. For construction financing, we have numerous financial companies that are interested in providing funds for the construction. We haven't secured one yet because we don't need it at this point, but many are interested.
Thank you. Mr. Chapman, is this part of the comprehensive waterfront development plan? If so, would you describe that, please?
Well, Madam President, I would say that this proposal 74 Rules - 6/8/05 certainly is consistent with the objectives of the North Delaware Riverfront Plan, yes, it is. The North Delaware Riverfront Plan recommends development in the area north of the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge to be an area for new residential development, new mixed use communities.
I would like to ask the same question I did the previous developer. Would the public have access to the waterfront?
Absolutely. I'm not sure if you can see it on there, but we've designed into this a generous 50-foot wide waterfront promenade which is consistent with the riverway plans that extend a connecting trail across the waterfront, which will be complete public access.
That is a requirement of the ordinance that will be considered after this bill.
Are 75 Rules - 6/8/05 there any other questions from members of the committee on this bill? The Chair recognizes Councilman Clarke.
Thank you. Good afternoon -- morning, still morning. Quick question. You may not be able to answer this, but we're actually sitting here, we're somewhat amazed at the number of condominiums that are being proposed. And we're excited about it, but there's this question about who's going to buy these units and where will these people come from. We get a sense that the current population in the city of Philadelphia will not rush to purchase these units and abandon their current residence. Do you have a sense that you will be attracting people from outside the city and, if so, geographically where would you anticipate people moving from? I know this particular development site is a little closer to New York than some of the prior proposals. 76 Rules - 6/8/05
Yes. We actually anticipate that we will have many purchasers from the city of Philadelphia as well as from New Jersey and surrounding communities.
I think that what we're trying to focus on here is providing what we're calling a market rate affordable price range, which right now we're anticipating will be in the 300 to $500,000 range. I think that many of the developments you're seeing are priced considerably higher than that. So for that reason, we think it will be very attractive. In addition to just being a centrally located area with accessibility, you're one block off of the SEPTA station, right off of 95, we're providing a different product type. One of our main goals was to provide low to mid-rise product and not to compete with the many high-rise projects that are 77 Rules - 6/8/05 being developed. So I think for those reasons that this will be particularly attractive.
Across the river in Palmyra, over the last several years, there's been numerous phases of development, essentially townhouses. Do you think that this will -- that will enable you to build on the synergy associated with what's happened over on that side of the river?
Absolutely. And directly across from our site in Cinnaminson, there's another project being developed that's about 900 units. The more market activity I find to be the better for us.
Thank you very much. Are there any other questions or comments from members of the committee? 78 Rules - 6/8/05
Madam President, we are requesting a suspension of the rules.
We will certainly consider it. Thank you. Mr. Ericson, would you be kind enough to please read the title of Bill 9 No. 050465.
Bill No. 050465, an ordinance amending Title of the 12 Philadelphia Code entitled "Zoning and 13 Planning" by amending Chapter 14-200 14 entitled "Residential District" by adopting a new Section 14-216 entitled "Waterfront Redevelopment District" under certain terms and conditions.
Good morning once again, Madam President and members of the Rules Committee. For the City Planning Commission, my name is Thomas Chapman. Councilmembers Krajewski and O'Neill cosponsored this bill, which was 79 Rules - 6/8/05 introduced on May of this year. This bill amends the Philadelphia Zoning Code by adding a new district to the code entitled "Waterfront Redevelopment District." This district is intended to permit the redevelopment --
I would 13 like to take credit for it, but I can't. 14
This district is 15 intended to permit the redevelopment of 16 large formerly industrial parcels into 17 new mixed use communities. All types of 18 housing as well as retail commercial uses 19 to support these new communities would be permitted in this district. Under the provisions of this district, redevelopment is permitted in accordance with a plan of development approved by both the City Council and the Planning Commission. The following uses are 80 Rules - 6/8/05 permitted in this district: Single family dwellings, two-family dwellings, multiple family dwellings, hotels, places of worship, hospitals, nursing homes, age restricted housing, child care facilities, schools, museums, community facilities, home occupations, and retail commercial uses for the sales of goods and provision of services to the ultimate consumer. The minimum lot area for a waterfront redevelopment district is 1 acre of land and boundaries between the site and any adjacent property must provide a reasonable line of division between the district and adjacent properties. Master plan must provide for reasonable spatial relationships between adjacent buildings and buildings within the district. The gross floor area of all buildings in the district may not exceed 250 percent of the total area of the district. And the open area for the district may not be less than 40 percent of the site. At least 50 percent of the 81 Rules - 6/8/05 required open area must be used to provide private open areas and remaining open area must be used to provide public open areas. All lots must provide a minimum of 50 feet setback from any river to allow for unrestricted public access to the river's edge, including land use or open space for pedestrian, bicycle, or vehicular traffic. Any requests to rezone a property to the waterfront redevelopment district must be accompanied by an illustrious site plan of the proposed district as well as a master plan narrative detailing the proposal. Any subsequent submission for redevelopment that is not in accord with the approved master plan must be submitted to both City Council and the Planning Commission for consideration. The department of streets as well as the water department also must review any developmental plans prior to the issuance of any zoning or building permits. The Planning Commission at its meeting of 82 Rules - 6/8/05 May 31, 2005, recommended that Bill No. 3 050465 be approved. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Chapman. Am I correct in understanding that this bill, which authorizes the creation of a waterfront development district or districts, require the adoption by City Council and the Planning Commission of a master plan or plans that are prepared in conformity with this bill?
How long has the Planning Commission been working on this bill and a master plan?
Well, I guess we began to discuss this type of district maybe six months ago, but it wasn't until the past several weeks that we really got into what I would call even a rough draft. We didn't expect we would need to have this district ready prior to the summer of this year, but then a number of 83 Rules - 6/8/05 development proposals seemed to accelerate and it seemed necessary for us to accelerate our work.
I was just looking for the councilman. Thank you.
Madam President, as a result of the discussions that we had late yesterday afternoon, I prepared an amendment. I neglected to mention that as part of my presentation and my testimony. I would like to offer an amendment to this bill. And this amendment would add a new Section 2 and that Section 2 would read: The Chief Clerk of City Council shall keep and make available to the public for inspection during regular business hours the illustrious site plan referred to in Section 14-216(2)(a) of this ordinance.
Is a copy of the plan attached to the bill and wouldn't you have to do that or submit it to the Chief Clerk? 84 Rules - 6/8/05
A copy of the plan is not specifically attached to the bill, but it would be submitted to the Chief Clerk, yes.
Definitely. Is the approval of Bill Nos. 050464 and 050466 contingent on the approval of this bill and a master plan or plans?
Can you estimate how many plans for waterfront redevelopment districts that Council will be requested to approve? If so, where are they?
At this point we only have the two requests that are before you today. There are no other requests in the pipeline that I'm aware of.
Thank you. 85 Rules - 6/8/05 Any questions from members of the committee? Anyone else to testify on this bill? (No response.)
Madam President, if I may, we'd obviously need a suspension of the rules on this bill.
We'll consider that. Thank you. I would ask Mr. Ericson to please read the title of Bill No. 050466.
Bill No. 050466, an ordinance to amend the Philadelphia Zoning Maps by changing the zoning designations of certain areas of land located within an area bounded by New State Road, Milnor Street, Princeton Avenue, the Delaware River, and Unruh Avenue.
Thank you, Madam President. Once again -- actually, it's good afternoon now. For the City 86 Rules - 6/8/05 Planning Commission, my name is Tom Chapman here to testify on Bill No. 4 050466. Councilmember Kelly introduced this bill on behalf of Councilwoman Krajewski on May 19 of this year. This bill is an amendment to the Philadelphia Zoning Map. It proposes to change the zoning designation of the area bounded by New State Road, Milnor Street, Princeton Avenue, the Delaware River, and Unruh Avenue from existing R-5 residential to the new proposed waterfront redevelopment district. This site is the former location of the Tacony Army warehouse and is about 13 acres in size. It's located immediately south of St. Vincent's Home. This rezoning will allow for the redevelopment of this property with a mixed use residential and service community. The property is one of four sites currently proposed for residential development along the north Delaware River waterfront and three of those proposals were considered by this 87 Rules - 6/8/05 committee this morning. Tacony Point, as it is to be known, will include approximately 533 new dwelling units comprised of mid-rise dwellings and townhomes. A total of 860 parking spaces are to be provided. Open area including a generous setback from the river will account for about 40 percent of the area of the lot and two parks are also included in plans of which you can see to your left. The Rules Committee is also considering two other rezoning requests for mixed use development along the north Delaware waterfront today and Councilwoman Krajewski has long been an advocate for this to take place in this area of the City. The Commission believes this proposal is consistent with the Mayor's vision of Philadelphia as the New River City and will only serve to create new interest in the development of residential and mixed use communities in this area of the City. The Planning 88 Rules - 6/8/05 Commission at its meeting of May 31, 2005, recommended that Bill No. 050466 be approved. Thank you.
Thank you. Mr. Chapman, will the housing units be owner-occupied or will they be for rental?
Madam President, if I may, I'd like to defer that question to representatives of the developer.
Sure. Good morning again, Madam President and members of the Committee. My name is Scott Blow. I'm the managing member for Transactionable Property Solutions, the developer of the project.
My question was, will the housing units be owner-occupied or will they be for rental?
Madam President, there are 117 townhouses, 37 duplex structures.
My name is Sharon Suleta. There are 117 townhouses, 37 duplex structures, and there are two mid-rise buildings, one ten stories with 299 units, the other five stories with 43 units.
Assuming Council approves this bill, when will construction commence?
We believe the construction will begin in about ten 90 Rules - 6/8/05 months.
And when do you expect the completion date to be?
Are there any questions from members of the committee? COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: Madam President, I have a question for Mr. Chapman on the previous bill, Bill 18 465. Thank you. The development --
Excuse me, Councilman. Before you ask the question, is there anyone else to testify on the last bill that we just heard? (No response.)
No. 91 Rules - 6/8/05 Councilman DiCicco. COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: The development or the bills we heard earlier today, specifically the three in my district, 300, 418, and 419, will probably more than likely not be read on second and final passage until the fall. How does the waterfront district impact those developments or does it?
It does not, Councilman. COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: So I would have to make a request as the district councilperson to create a waterfront district? I thought the waterfront district was a requirement for all development along any of our waterways?
No, Councilman. This district would have to be enacted just as any other rezoning request is enacted on a case by case basis. So if you wanted to use this district on any of those sites, I think we should probably be able to amend those bills because I 92 Rules - 6/8/05 don't think that the zoning designation is mentioned. COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: One or two of those proposals it's pretty much physically impossible to provide public access because of the way they're situated. But I was under the impression when I cosponsored this -- and I apologize for not following up on it -- that waterfront district meant any development along the river would require a certain setback to provide for public access.
No, no, that's not the case, not unless we would take this district and map it from one end of the river to the other and -- COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: Is there a reason why we decided not to do that? Sharon's ready to jump in.
It's not an overlay. It's an actual district. It's not an overlay district. It's an actual zoning district. It's compatible with 93 Rules - 6/8/05 the kind of development that we're proposing but might not be for some of the other waterfront development. COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: But some of those developments that may not be compatible, we can always amend those to be excluded. My hope was we would have legislation that would as a template provide for public access along all of our waterways, whether it be the Delaware River or the Schuylkill River, and as each project develops, to see if we can incorporate that legislation for the 50-foot setback from the bulkhead or whatever into the project. And where we can't, we would obviously have to make adjustments because I understand some of them are not physically capable of providing public access from one development to the adjacent development, et cetera. So, I mean, I'm in favor of this. I don't want to hurt it, but I really thought when we say master plan, 94 Rules - 6/8/05 for me it was a master plan that would address riverfront, waterfront development throughout the city of Philadelphia.
Councilman, can I say we share your concern with that, with any development proposal that is of a sufficient size should be providing some kind of 50-foot access to the waterfront. And, you know, perhaps it's something that we could deal with in a separate bill much like you told me about in the state of New Jersey. COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: I'll support this bill, obviously, I'm a cosponsor, and vote it out. Again, not to prevent development, but to address some of the -- the development issues I have, one of the big issues is those projects is public access. So I'm dealing with it anyway. And if we make it part of a master plan, developers know coming in what the requirements are. Again, we're not going to be whetted to 95 Rules - 6/8/05 that that you can't develop if you don't provide space. Where we can, obviously we would want that incorporated. And where we can't, we would make certain adjustments because I think it enhances the project. I think it adds an amenity to the project if we have these setbacks similar to what Mr. Vallone from Hoboken, New Jersey, spoke about. It's unfortunate he didn't bring the Maxwell House Coffee project. There's some state dollars in Jersey available and I think maybe even some federal dollars that developers can use if they're giving up a portion of their land to offset some of the costs by providing great public space, you know, going forward. So I would ask that over the summer if you can work with my staff in developing something that is more broad in that regard, I'd appreciate it.
It would be my pleasure. COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: Thank you. 96 Rules - 6/8/05 Thank you, Madam Chair.
You're welcome. Any questions or comments from members of the committee? Do we have anyone else that would like to testify or be recognized?
Thank you very much. This will conclude our public hearing. We will now go into our public meeting. The Chair recognizes Councilman Clarke for a motion on Bill No. 050300.
Thank you, Madam President. I move that Bill 050300 be reported out of the committee with a favorable recommendation and request for rules suspension as to allow for reading at the next session of Council. (Duly seconded.)
It 97 Rules - 6/8/05 has been moved and seconded Bill No. 3 050300 be reported out of committee with a favorable recommendation, also a recommendation that the rules of Council be suspended so as to permit first reading at our next Council session. All in favor will say aye. (Chorus of "ayes.")
The ayes have it and the motion carries. The Chair again recognizes Councilman Clarke regarding Bill No. 17 050418.
I move that Bill 050418 be reported out of committee with a favorable recommendation and request for Rules suspension. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and seconded Bill No. 25 050418 be reported out of committee with 98 Rules - 6/8/05 a favorable recommendation, further a recommendation rules of Council be suspended so as to permit first reading at our next Council session. All in favor will indicate by saying aye. (Chorus of "ayes.")
The ayes have it. The motion carries. The Chair recognizes Councilman Kelly regarding Bill No. 050419.
Madam Chair, I move that Bill No. 050419 be reported out of this committee with a favorable recommendation and also a recommendation that the rules of Council be suspended in order that this bill may have first reading at our next session of Council. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and seconded Bill No. 25 050419 be reported out of committee with 99 Rules - 6/8/05 a favorable recommendation, further that a recommendation of the rules of Council be suspended so as to permit first reading at our next session of Council. All in favor will please say aye. (Chorus of "ayes.")
The ayes have it and the motion carries. The Chair recognizes Councilman Clarke regarding Bill No. 050459.
Madam President, I move for the adoption of the amendment to Bill 050459. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and seconded that the amendment as submitted earlier in testimony be adopted. All in favor will please indicate by saying aye. (Chorus of "ayes.")
Those 100 Rules - 6/8/05 opposed? (No response.)
The ayes have it and the amendment is adopted. Again the Chair recognizes Councilman Clarke.
Madam Chair, I move that 050459 as amended be reported out of committee with a favorable recommendation and request for rules suspension. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and seconded that Bill No. 17 050459 be reported out of Committee with a favorable recommendation as amended, further that the rules of Council be suspended so as to permit first reading at our next Council session. All in favor will indicate by saying aye. (Chorus of "ayes.")
Those 101 Rules - 6/8/05 opposed? (No response.)
The ayes have it and the motion carries. Again the Chair recognizes Councilman Clarke.
Madam Chair, I move for the adoption to amendments to Bill 050462.
It has been moved and seconded that the amendments as proposed be adopted. All in favor will say aye. (Chorus of "ayes.")
The ayes have it and the motion carries. The Chair recognizes Councilman Clarke. 102 Rules - 6/8/05
Madam Chair, I move that 050462 as amended be reported out of committee with a favorable recommendation and request for rules suspension. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and seconded that Bill No. 10 050462 be reported out of committee with a favorable recommendation as amended, further that the rules of Council be suspended so as to permit first reading at our next session of Council. All in favor will please say aye. (Chorus of "ayes.")
The ayes have it and the motion carries. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Miller regarding Bill No. 24 050463.
Thank 103 Rules - 6/8/05 you, Madam Chair. I move that Bill 3 050463 be reported out of this committee with a favorable recommendation and further request that the rules of Council be suspended so as to permit first reading at our next session. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and seconded that Bill 11 050463 be reported out of committee with a favorable recommendation, further that a recommendation of the Rules of Council be suspended so as to permit first reading at our next session of Council. All in favor will please say aye. (Chorus of "ayes.")
The ayes have it and the motion carries. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Brown regarding Bill No. 25 050464. 104 Rules - 6/8/05
Madam President, I moved that Bill No. 4 050464 be reported out of committee with a favorable recommendation and a further recommendation that the rules of Council be suspended. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and seconded that Bill No. 11 050464 be reported out of committee with a favorable recommendation, also a recommendation that the rules of Council be suspended so as to permit first reading at our next session of Council. All in favor will indicate by saying aye. (Chorus of "ayes.")
The ayes have it and the motion carries. The Chair recognizes Councilman Clarke regarding Bill No. 050465.
Madam 105 Rules - 6/8/05 President, I move for the adoption of the amendments to Bill 050465. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and seconded that the amendments as proposed earlier to Bill 8 No. 050465 be adopted. All in favor please say aye. (Chorus of "ayes.")
The ayes have it and motion carries. Again the Chair recognizes Councilman Clarke.
I move that Bill 050465 as amended be reported out of the committee with a favorable recommendation and request for a suspension of the rules that allow reading at next session of Council. (Duly seconded.)
It 106 Rules - 6/8/05 has been moved and seconded that Bill No. 3 050465 be reported out of committee with a favorable recommendation as amended, further that the rules of Council be suspended so as to permit first reading at our next Council session. All in favor will indicate by saying aye. (Chorus of "ayes.")
The ayes have it and the motion carries. The Chair recognizes Councilman Clarke regarding Bill No. 050466.
I move Bill 18 050466 be reported out of committee with a favorable recommendation and request for suspension of the rules to allow reading at next session of Council. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and seconded that Bill 25 050466 be reported out of committee with 107 Rules - 6/8/05 a favorable recommendation, also a recommendation that the rules of Council be suspended so as to permit first reading at our next session of Council. All in favor will say aye. (Chorus of "ayes.")
The ayes have it. The motion carries. And this concludes our public meeting of the Committee on Rules. Thank you all very much. (Whereupon the hearing adjourned at 12:25 p.m.) - - - 108 CERTIFICATE I HEREBY CERTIFY that the proceedings, evidence, and objections are contained fully and accurately in the stenographic notes taken by me upon the hearing taken on June 8, 2005, and that this is a true and correct transcript of same. _____________________________ Kimberly A. Overwise Certified Realtime Reporter Notary Public (The foregoing certification of this transcript does not apply to any reproduction of the same by any means unless under the direct control and/or supervision of the certifying reporter.)