COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA COMMITTEE ON LICENSES AND INSPECTIONS Room 400, City Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Monday, June 3, 2024 1:40 p.m. PRESENT: COUNCILMAN MICHAEL DRISCOLL, CHAIR COUNCILMAN MARK SQUILLA, VICE-CHAIR COUNCILWOMAN JAMIE GAUTHIER COUNCILWOMAN KATHERINE GILMORE RICHARDSON COUNCILMAN CURTIS JONES, JR.
240371, 240414, 240468, 240471, 240474, 240476, 240498, 240500 - - -
I now note that the hour has come. I'd like to welcome a new member of my staff. Maura McDonald took over for Jacob Golden last week. And in her first week she's been doing a marvelous job. So today's her first hearing. So, Maura, welcome and good luck. (Applause.)
Would you please call the roll to take attendance. Members that are in attendance will please indicate that you are present when your name is called.
Present. Well, thank you. A quorum of the Committee is present and this hearing is now called to order. This is the public hearing of the Committee on Licenses and Inspections regarding Bill No. 19 240474, Bill No. 240414, Bill No. 20 240468, Bill No. 240476, Bill No. 21 240498, Bill No. 240471, Bill No. 22 240371 and Bill No. 240500. 23 At this time, I will 24 announce that Bill No. 240471 is 25 being held at the request of the sponsor and will not be heard today. Ms. McDonald, will you please read the titles of these bills.
Bill No. 7 240474, amending Chapter 9-600 of 8 The Philadelphia Code, entitled 9 "Service and Other Businesses," by 10 adding a new section regulating the 11 hours of operation of certain 12 establishments and providing for 13 penalties within an area bounded by 14 East Allegheny Avenue, Kensington 15 Avenue, Torresdale Avenue and 16 Frankford Avenue, all under certain 17 terms and conditions. 18 Bill No. 240414, amending Chapter 9-600 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Service and Other Businesses," by adding a new section regulating the hours of operation of certain establishments and providing for penalties within an area bounded by Ogontz Avenue between Haines Street and Cheltenham Avenue, all under certain terms and conditions. Bill No. 240468, amending Chapter 9-600 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Service and Other Businesses," by adding a new section regulating the hours of operation of certain establishments providing for penalties within an area bounded by Ogontz Avenue between Haines Street and 66th Avenue, all under certain terms and conditions. Bill No. 240476, amending Chapter 9-600 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Service and Other Businesses," by adding a new section regulating the hours of operation of certain establishments and providing for penalties within the vicinity of an area bounded by North Broad Street and North Park Avenue between West Chew Avenue and West Tabor Avenue and in the vicinity of Wagner Avenue between North Broad Street and Old York Road, all under certain terms and conditions. Bill No. 240498, an ordinance amending Chapter 9-600 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Service and Other Businesses," by adding various locations to the section regulating the hours of operations of certain establishments providing for penalties within those various locations, all under certain terms and conditions. Bill No. 240371, amending Title 4 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled the Philadelphia Building Construction and Occupancy Code, by amending Subcode "PM" (The Philadelphia Property Maintenance Code), to add restrictions and remedies regarding encroaching trees, under certain terms and conditions. Bill No. 240500, an ordinance amending Title of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Regulation of Businesses, Trades and Professions," by adding a new chapter creating requirements related to the operation and maintenance of electric vehicle charging stations installed at certain commercial and residential parcels, all under certain terms and conditions.
Ms. McDonald, will you please call the first panel we have to testify this morning on Bill No. 240474.
Deputy Commissioner Francis Healy of the Philadelphia Police Department has submitted a written testimony on this bill.
I know you know the routine, but state your name for the record.
So I was actually one of the people who reached out to Councilman Driscoll's office to ask for the curfew bill to be extended into our area for some of the same reasons. We have a lot of businesses that are staying open during the night that are barbershops that are not cutting hair but are taking part into the drug trade. We have other stores, take- out restaurants that are selling paraphernalia, drug paraphernalia, are selling papers, pipes and some of them have some needles in there, to sell them lose cigarettes and keeping the individuals that we are having issues with on the business corridors. We have convenience stores that are staying open that are accepting stolen property that they're stealing from us. They steal from us at night, steal off our porches, from our yards, break into our cars and they go to some of the convenience stores that are open overnight and sell them the product. I've personally had my stuff stolen off my porch and then went and found it at one of the convenience stores. We're hoping -- our hope is that it will help cut down on that during the night. Some of them play loud music, some of the stores that disturb the neighbors, and we're hoping that it just kind of gives a peaceful night and maybe less stealing. You know, if they have nowhere to take it during the night and they don't have anywhere to store it, they might just leave it alone. And we're home during the day sometimes and there's more people out and it's more activity. It draws some of the individuals that are suffering with drug abuse to residential streets with the corners on the property where they're sleeping outside of it because that's where they're getting a pint of rice, but they're also picking up their loosie cigarettes and their crack pipes and their needles. So we're hoping that that'll help displace and stop the behavior from coming closer into the residents instead of along the Avenue. So we figured if the Avenue has that curfew, that's going to push them into the neighborhood further and we might have more issues with the businesses that we already have doing this stuff and it might grow it, so we're hoping that if everywhere has the same type of curfew it won't affect the residents as much. I hope that makes sense. That's what one of our thought processes are behind it. So we really wanted this, so we're supporting it. And I am representing the whole civic association.
Okay. Thank you. Before you leave, are there any more testifiers on this bill? (No response.)
Committee members, do you have any questions for Shannon Farrell? (No response.)
I do have another community member with me if you want to hear another from somebody else, but that's --
We're good then. Members of this Committee thank you. We know how busy you are and all the extra stuff you do in your community is much appreciated. And thanks for testifying today.
Thank you. I've seen yous all around lately in the area and I appreciate yous coming out and seeing what's going on, so thank you very much.
Hearing no further questions from members for this panel and no other testifiers, we will call witnesses on Bill No. 240414. Ms. McDonald, will you please call the first panel we have to testify this morning on Bill No. 4 240414.
Deputy Commissioner Francis Healy submitted written testimony for this bill as well as Jay Kivitz, a business owner within the corridor. There are no inperson panels.
So being no other panelists, we will call witnesses on Bill No. 240468. Ms. McDonald, will you please call the first panel we have to testify this morning on Bill No. 17 240468.
Deputy Commissioner Francis Healy submitted testimony for this panel. There are no inperson panels.
Yes, in support. Thank you for clarifying that. Yes, they were very much in support of the bill. With that on the record and no other testifiers, we will call witnesses on Bill No. 240476.
Deputy Commissioner Francis Healy submitted testimony in support of the bill. There are no inperson panels.
So for the record in support of the bill and having no other panelists to testify, we will call witnesses on Bill No. 240498.
Deputy Commissioner Francis Healy submitted testimony in support of the bill. There are no other panels.
So for the record, Deputy Commissioner is in support of the bill and having no other panelists to testify, we will call witnesses on Bill No. 240371.
Good afternoon. Could you state your name for the record.
Good afternoon, Chairman Driscoll and other members of the Licenses & Inspections Committee. I'm Thomas Conway, Executive Director for the Community Life Improvement Program, and today I'll present testimony on behalf of the Administration in support of Bill No. 240371, which amends the title for The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Philadelphia Building Construction and Occupancy Code," by amending the Philadelphia Property Maintenance Code to add restrictions and remedies regarding encroaching trees, under certain terms and conditions. Under the Clean and Green initiative, the Community Life Improvement Program consists of several programs dedicated to improving the appearance of neighborhoods throughout the City of Philadelphia through eradication of blight. CLIP also believes in providing an individual with second, third and sometimes fourth chances at employment with CLIP as we coordinate efforts with the Philadelphia Works, Inc. and manage two same-day-pay locations. We're also one of the most effective and efficient agencies along with one of the most diverse, with over 74 percent of our staff being minority, non-White. The City of Philadelphia's Vacant Lot and Exterior Property Maintenance Programs are two of the agencies responsible for educating constituents regarding the Property Maintenance Code, enforcement of said Code and when warranted, nuisance abatement of the property or vacant lot. The property owner receives a compliance grace period for them to rectify the violation before any punitive action is taken. Bill No. 15 240371 will allow the City to serve notice of violation to a tree owner with 60 days to cure the violation of an encroaching tree. If the tree owner does not abate the dangerous tree encroachment after being served the notice of violation, City contractors shall be authorized to prune or remove the encroaching tree. The owner of the tree shall be liable for the cost of such work. If the property owner does not pay the bill for CLIP services or penalty, a lien will be placed upon the property. CLIP's inspection process includes specific complaints usually received through 311. The inspection of encroaching trees could fall under CLIP's duties. But in order to properly implement this legislation, additional resources would be needed to ensure we achieve the goal of the legislation. Access to dangerous trees that need to be eradicated could also pose a problem since some are in backyards with no 20 alleyways. Thus, accessibility may hinder us in helping to eradicate some encroaching trees. I understand that there are proposed amendments. We support this bill 1 as is proposed to be amended. Thank you for your consideration and I will be happy to respond to any questions at this time.
Thank 6 you, Mr. Conway. 7 Before we get to questions, 8 I was remiss, I should have 9 introduced Councilman Phillips who 10 I commend for authoring this bill. 11 Let me turn it over to Councilman 12 Philips now. 13
Good 14 afternoon, everyone. Thank you, 15 Chairman Driscoll. 16 I am beyond excited about 17 this encroaching tree bill that was 18 firmly supported and advocated for 19 with Councilmember Brian O'Neill. 20 When I first got to City Council, I 21 met a woman who you all will be 22 hearing from very shortly, who told 23 me immediately, one, I don't know 24 who you are and if you're going to 25 come into our community, I need to know who you are. And immediately I went to a community meeting to really learn who she is and also learn more about what the community needs. And then she showed me this tree, this tree that was literally about to fall and also raccoons and other creatures were living in this tree causing a nuisance in Northeast Philadelphia in the Summerdale area. And immediately that tugged my heart a little bit. And I was just like, man, this has been going on for many years and y'all have raccoons and other species all in the neighborhood as a result of this tree and branches and so forth were falling. So I said, okay, what can the City do, and then learned that there wasn't much that the City could do. And I said, okay, well how can we change policy and create initiatives that's going to make this happen. And so, I am thrilled to hear from her today for the rest of the City to hear her testimony around this issue, because at the end of the day it wasn't just her, Phyllis, who's going to be speaking with you. It was multiple Phyllises out in the city of Philadelphia who've had this issue, all the way to Councilman Brian O'Neill who was like, hey, Phillips, are you going to bring that tree bill back up. Unfortunately, under the last Administration we weren't able to get it done because it was so much of a tug of war. But under the Clean and Green Administration, we're able to do some things that's really going to help the city of Philadelphia and its residents feel much better about staying in the city of Philadelphia. And also, I want to note that Councilwoman Katherine Gilmore Richardson also visited that same block too, so we've all been hearing about this tree in Northeast Philly that is also reflective of other trees throughout the City. So beyond excited. Thank you, Chairman, for allowing me to say a few words.
Thank you, Councilmember. I would like to at this time recognize Councilmember Jamie Gauthier.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. First, I wanted to commend the bill sponsor. I love this bill. And in general you've been so smart about approaching some of these quality-of-life concerns through policy. We get so many calls about trees on private property that are posing some kind of risk or damage to the people and to the neighborhood. So the Third District Council Office loves this. Thank you very much. And I wanted to also thank you, Tom, for everything that you do. I was just out at a celebration on the 5800 block of Hazel where neighbors came together to turn a vacant lot into a beautiful community garden that's bringing everybody together. And they made sure to tell me that not only was it supported by Penn's Deeply Rooted initiative, which aims to do cleaning and greening on and around blocks experiencing gun violence, but that it was supported by you and by CLIP. And they just could not say enough about your commitment and how much you helped those neighbors. So thank you so much for your work not just on the 5800 block of Hazel but all over our city. It's so invaluable, not only for cleaning and greening but for public safety.
Thank you, Councilmember. I would like to note that Vice-Chair Councilmember Mark Squilla has arrived. And I do want to recognize Majority Leader Katherine Gilmore Richardson.
Thank you. Thank you so much, Chairman Driscoll. And I too wanted to commend my colleague Councilmember Anthony Phillips for introducing another piece of legislation that he can add to the long list of pieces of legislation that he's introduced and passed that relates to all quality-of-life issues here in the city of Philadelphia, and whether that be the speed-calming, traffic- calming measures, with the speed bumps around all of our school locations down to all the quality- of-life driveway work that's happening and now to this encroaching tree bill, I just wanted to congratulate him on that body of work. And also say thank you to Tom Conway. Tom Conway, I appreciate you so much from the very beginning of my career here in in City government. We go back a long time now. And I remember you helping us with a block specifically in West Philadelphia where the neighbors still talk about you. And that was I think about years ago now, and they 19 are still talking about you on that 20 particular block. And so, I want to say thank you for your service. For all the work that you do to help us deal with a number of vacant lots and helping with cleaning and greening all across the city of Philadelphia, and you've been doing it for a very long time. I know it's hard work, but we appreciate you and the work of your team so thank you so much as well.
And then I'd like to recognize Councilmember Curtis Jones.
So I want to congratulate my colleague for this piece of legislation that means so much. And it means so much to people in the Fourth District because we have a lot of alleys and we have a lot of those weed trees that we ask you to tackle every day. And all I can say is that this matters more to people from those blocks, that whatever legislation that we think is important in here, those trees matter in those alleyways and you've cleaned enough of them. And we appreciate you and your team for what you do. It is not the sexy part of this job dealing with raccoons, possums, weed trees and sometimes fleas. It's not a fun part of this job. I remember when I first got elected. On the 6200 block of Jefferson, it was an impassable alley and we went through there. And one of my staff who will remain nameless did not know what an alley was. So as a part of our field trip time, we took her through an alley, lifechanging experience. But at the time we got out there and we were spraying each other, and we realized what citizens have to deal with every day. So thank you for this legislation and we appreciate it. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Tom. So to clarify, this bill would not be on the trees on the right-of-way, right, it would be just private property trees?
Yes. The Parks & Recreation handles the street trees which will be in the right-of-way.
So this bill would pertain to private property trees in your yard or on your specific property?
Also, since I've mentioned her so many times, Phyllis who's our next panelist, I would love for her since she's been waiting for like a decade or so for this to be done, once this is established be the first among the first to benefit from this experience. Is that something we could figure out?
All right. Okay. Hearing no further questions for the panelists, we thank you for your testimony. Thank you. And will the Clerk please call up the next witness.
Phyllis, I grew up in the 35th Ward and my dad still lives at the actual circle under Councilman Anthony Phillips's leadership, so we're excited about this bill. And please state your name for the record and provide some testimony.
Okay. So they still have me as Phyllis Swing. It's actually Phyllis Coppinger, but that's okay. So I am here in support of Bill 240371. And I want to thank Councilman Phillips from day 1 for listening to us, right. So there's pictures over there. The pictures I have do it no justice, right. If you come up Marcella Street, that's the first thing you see from Loretto, right. It's taller than the houses. I did bring some other pictures that don't look as good as that. I don't know if I have enough for everyone on the Committee. But before I make my statement, this is where Ricky the raccoon liveswho Councilman Phillips has met. So -- he has met him. All right. So what is written for me is that I am here, I support and urge City Council to enact Bill 240371 concerning encroaching trees that damage private property and authorize the City to remove such trees. This bill is essential for improving the quality of life and ensuring the safety of our residents. Trees are vital to our environment, but they must be properly maintained to prevent harm to others' property. For instance, this particular tree, 900 block of Marcella Street, causes significant safety concerns. The property has been vacant for about 10 years. The tree is leaning dangerously. If it falls, it will damage cars and nearby properties, also potentially hurting someone. One neighbor has had to repair her roof at least five times due to damage caused by this tree. She no longer feels safe on her porch and does not allow her grandson to play there due to the unsafe tree that the owner has failed to maintain. As I said, the tree is taller than the house and it'll cause substantial damage. The neglected property has become a significant burden for the community, and I would probably say four out of however many Councilmembers, the seven of you that are sitting there, have seen the tree. Enacting Bill 240371 will help keep our city clean, green and free from blight. Thank you for considering this important measure to protect our residents and their properties.
Thank you, Phyllis, for your testimony. Do we have any questions from any members -- oh, you have another?
Well, the girl who lives -- the address we're talking about is 930 Marcella, the woman who lives directly next door, she couldn't be here because of the short notice. She did write a letter. Would you like me to read that letter?
Okay. My name is -- I can't pronounce her first name -- Amerilas Quinones. I reside at 932 Marcella Street. I've lived at this house for 29 years and always kept a very pristine porch and home. I've dealt with this large overgrown pine tree for the entirety of my years living here and until recently when the tree has caused damage to -- now she has damage to her cement porch. Not only is it unsightly but a danger to those who pass by. We now have a family of raccoons living in it, wreaking their own havoc, allowing them to dig a trail from the vacant property next door to her porch. She's had her porch fixed multiple times with monies coming out of her pocket. She no 11 longer allows her grandson to play on the porch for fear he'd be bitten. I am imploring the City to come out and inspect and remove this tree alleviating, hopefully, the raccoon issue in doing so.
Thank you. Okay. Any questions from the panel? Seeing none -- oh, yes. Councilmember Gilmore Richardson.
Thank you again, Mr. Chairman. I just wanted to thank Phyllis again. We were actually visiting Houseman Rec Center and Phyllis said, you have to come see this tree right now. So we jumped in the car and rode around to the block and had an opportunity to see just the sheer size of the tree. And for my colleagues, I wanted to note for the record that the pictures just -- I mean, you can't see how massive this tree is on the block. It is huge. It's the first thing you see when you turn into the corner, and I know that this piece of legislation will help and then the forthcoming work from our CLIP department will help to deal with this tree and many others like it across the City. So thank you, Phyllis, for your robust strong advocacy in ensuring that we understand in its totality how this one tree has impacted the entire block and your local community. Thank you for coming today.
Thank you. And I just want to thank again Councilman Phillips and all Councilmembers who have really tried to advocate for this. And we hope and pray that this gets passed through before -- we don't want somebody getting hurt. Aside from what it looks like, if that falls, we have four or five houses that are going to be impacted. So thank you.
Thank you, Phyllis. With no other panelists to testify, we will call witnesses on Bill No. 240500. Ms. McDonald, will you please call the first panel we have to testify this morning or this afternoon on 240500.
Thank you so very much to our esteemed Chair, Vice-Chair and all my colleagues here to hear about this critical bill that we are introducing. I think that we have talked about this, we've presented it before. We've had a hearing on this, that Philadelphia should take an innovative lead in addressing climate change, and this is really about a healthy Philadelphia and creating a sustainable planet. If we want to decrease emissions and meet our carbon neutrality goals, then we have to reduce the number of gas-guzzling cars on the road. We cannot transition to EVs without having proper operational infrastructure in place. Very importantly, this bill addresses range anxiety and ensures that drivers can get from Point A to Point B safely. If a driver goes somewhere to power their means of transportation and it's not operational, they can get stuck there or have to drive around until they actually find one that works, further depleting their power in their car. One of the underlying ideas for this bill was also to be a job creator. The maintenance of EV chargers can provide union electrician jobs as well as general maintenance jobs. This could be a start of small maintenance businesses that could potentially form around the bill. I want to make sure our Committee here understand that we have been in constant contact with the Administration, with L&I, with Law and other experts in the field, including IBEW. However, we just a few hours ago after 12:00, we got feedback from L&I with a few issues and we are happy to address the issues listed in their testimony before the end of this Council session. Thank you very much for giving me this time. I also want to quickly point out two things, that this bill is going to do -- once it's introduced, our constituents will have ability to call 311 to report these. So this burden is not just on L&I having to go inspect and police these things. And the second thing is the NEVI bill that created resources from the federal government to encourage use of EV vehicles has a provision in there that requires the state to report on the operational status of EV charging stations, so that data is what would be very helpful if L&I could have access to that so they would have sources of knowing and targeting with good data where they need to pinpoint their attention. So there's lots of ways to mitigate pressure on L&I. And I know that's one of the concerns. I just wanted to highlight that amongst the other things that we'll discuss as we go along. Thank you very much for your attention and giving me this opportunity.
Thank you, Councilmember Ahmad. I'd like to recognize Councilmember Jamie Gauthier.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just wanted to commend Councilmember Ahmad for this bill 17 and for her focus on this issue. This is a very important issue in terms of our city's ability to combat climate change. And you've been laser-focused. I think it's somewhat disappointing to hear that you didn't get feedback until noon today. I would want to see the Administration also place as passionate a focus on electric vehicles and their viability in the City, both privately-used vehicles as well as the City vehicles as outlined in our Clean Fleet plan. So I'm sure I have full confidence that you will address some of the concerns that were noted, but just wanted to commend you. Thank you.
Thank you, Councilmember. Maura, would you call the next panelist.
Good afternoon, Chairperson Driscoll and members of the Licenses & Inspections Committee. My name is Sarah Adamo and I'm the Legislative Affairs Manager of the Department of Licenses & Inspections. Today I'm here to provide testimony on Bill 1 No. 240500 introduced by Councilmember Ahmad, which if enacted will amend Title 9 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Regulation of Businesses, Trades and Professions," by adding a new chapter creating requirements related to the operation and maintenance of electric vehicle charging stations installed at certain commercial and residential parcels, all under certain terms and conditions. This bill as amended proposes to add definitions to Title 9 for electric vehicles, their chargers and other associated terms. It also adds provisions regarding the operation and maintenance of these chargers on certain properties, specifically commercial- and residential-use parcels with 10 or more parking spaces. Lastly, the bill authorizes L&I to issue violations for chargers that are non-operational for more than 30 days. While the Administration is supportive of clean and green initiatives, we believe that further amendments and discussions are needed to enforce this ordinance effectively. The Administration is happy to continue working with Council to address some of these issues and concerns by proactively working together this summer on this and future legislation to ensure we achieve this legislation's intended goal. To highlight a few of the Administration's concerns: First, we believe that the provisions of this bill should be limited to those EV chargers that are required by the Philadelphia Zoning Code as opposed to the current language that applies to commercial- or residential-use parcels with 10 or more spaces. Next, 9-30 -- I'm sorry, 9-6302(2) states that installation, maintenance and upgrades to electric vehicle chargers and charging stations requiring electrical work shall be conducted by a certified electrical vehicle infrastructure training program electrician. This creates a conflict with the existing licensure requirements for electrical contractors, per 9-1006 and could not be enforced as written. Additionally, the bill 17 states that a violation will be present if a charger is non-operational for more than 30 days. This would likely require multiple site visits from an L&I inspector to confirm the presence of a single violation. There are concerns that L&I does not have the capacity to provide this level of enforcement and there are opportunities to amend the legislation to make enforcement feasible. Further, the scope of this enforcement does fall outside of L&I's core mission of enforcing the City's codes for safe and lawful construction and use of buildings. Lastly, these code provisions would be more appropriately located in Subcode PM, the Philadelphia Property Maintenance Code, of Title 4 of The Philadelphia Code, the Philadelphia Building Construction Occupancy Code. The effective date of this ordinance October 1, 2024 provides a tight timeline for such a technical piece of legislation. It's an extremely short time period to understand the department's needs and conditions for enforcement. This also leaves a short window to properly do our outreach to affected stakeholders on this new requirement. While we understand pushing the effective date back on this legislation may impact other pieces of legislation, we want to ensure that we have proper resources to effectively and efficiently implement these new requirements. We respectfully request that this legislation be held in this Committee to allow us to work through these concerns to ensure that this legislation and any future legislation related to EVs works concordantly with one another and the way the legislation was intended. Thank you for the opportunity to provide the testimony for the Department of the Licenses and Inspections.
Well, thank you, Sarah. I know as Chair of L&I in the last session, we had communicated our concerns around the charging stations to make sure that they were properly permitted by third-party contractors and by the City itself needs to get permits. And so, I commend Councilmember Ahmad for authoring this bill and I understand there's some things we can do to perhaps make it better. But it is very important that we maintain safety when it comes to these charging stations as they grow into the future. Do we have any questions from any members? Majority Leader Katherine Gilmore Richardson.
Sure. Thank you so much, Chairman Driscoll. And thank you, Sarah, for your testimony and the work of your department. And, Councilmember Ahmad, I just wanted to thank you for your work on this issue. I think it's important that we not only look at our own EV charging infrastructure, but that we are doing all that we can as a city to meet the goals that we have set as a city. And you can't manage what you don't measure. And we are not doing a good job just from a City perspective on our EV infrastructure and sort of the lack of availability, the lack of permitting that needs to be done. This is an issue that we started talking about I remember as early as 2012 after the Committee on Environment was first established. And while I am encouraged by the transition of our fleet and some other matters related to our own car infrastructure, I do remain disappointed around our inability to move ahead on our EV charging infrastructure as a whole, as a city. So I commend you for this legislation. I look forward to supporting you. And my only request is that the Administration continue to work with Councilmember Ahmad moving forward so that we can work together to ensure we are fully implementing the goals of this legislation. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Member Ahmad, you are the scientist. I am not. I'm going to say it again. You're the scientist. I am not. But I have a couple of questions: Is there a standard by way of infrastructure that is uniform throughout the City and maybe in the tri-state area, if you would, to make sure that this charging station pairs well with this charging station so that there is uniformity within that electronics?
There is not. I own an electric vehicle myself, so I can tell you from my personal experience having gone across the City, and across the state actually, that there is not. We have a lot of EV charging companies that have not been regulated in a way that makes use of EV chargers across the board uniform, and that leads to people not investing in transforming the use from gas to EV. The federal government has been really pushing for us to adopt EV vehicles and they have a plan, which actually articulates this infrastructure maintenance as well. It is up to us at the municipal level to actually make sure we are following that. The way they have their regulations is those who get the resources from federal government must comply, right. And now, it's up to us to actually see how we are complying. And one of the things with this bill would be that the communities that we are asking to transform from gas to EV would be knowing they have actual means to have their EV charging stations be reliable, so that would mean as I mentioned before using 311, making sure they're reporting to us what is off, and thereby focusing and narrowing on what L&I needs to do. The second thing is, as I noted, the state is required to give a report on what is the status of things to the federal government, and that is those who took money to install the EV chargers. So there's also another layer of data that we could have L&I get access to, to make sure it makes their life easier given the lack of L&I inspectors.
So if I understood you correctly, that we're working towards uniformity to make sure that this charging station pairs with Driscoll's charging station, so that's number one. Installation, who will be responsible for making sure if you get me to install it, it's not going to be wired through extension cords --
So they have to get a permit from L&I to actually do the installation. It has to be done by a licensed electrician and that's why we had IBEW involved in putting this bill 22 together, to understand exactly what needs to be done by a licensed electrician and what can be done by someone who can just do maintenance with some training. That's why I mentioned the job creation aspect of it. We could envision if this were to be uniformly across the city of Philadelphia, we can envision IBEW who are already doing training and they got a grant from the City to get new apprentices trained to install, we could add the component of maintenance to it, which would mean in some depending on the type of maintenance, they could be done by just not necessarily a licensed electrician, but if it is requiring that level of work, then you have licensed electricians. So we have job creation both for our IBEW union workers and those who are getting trained as apprentices to potentially have a third party who would contract with the charging station owners so they could comply, right, and this could be a roving crew who would have an app to see where they need to go and they would be getting feedback from 311. They could be getting feedback from the data that the state supplies to have a really robust way of equalizing that everybody in Philadelphia would have access. And then I think we would be a shining example to the rest of the country.
Just final question, Mr. Chair. How many of these charging stations is the optimal number the City should be going for?
So there is another bill, and maybe Sarah can address that as well, with the Department of Planning around the requirement for what the charging station -- they're going to have a requirement for how many charging stations need to be in certain areas. That should be a companion bill coming out hopefully in the fall to address what is the density of charging stations in order for us to really transform and transition to electric vehicles in the city of Philadelphia.
That is important because if I travel up to one of these guy's Districts, say, that has a large land mass and I don't want to run out of electric, will those stations where we have them be public, private and mapped?
So right now you have charging stations who put them on public land. Those are the ones we want to check on for their maintenance. And also, for residential units where there are more than 10, say, for an apartment building complex, if they have more than 10 chargers in their parking facility or where their residences are being built, those would be also subject to be maintained in a proper way. So I think we'll get the large number of people who would use this to be covered by this law and as we go down the road -- I mean, we didn't even talk about the public charging stations on public land that we, ourselves, did not apparently pull correct permits to even install. This is the City of Philadelphia did not. I'm not even going there. This is about our third party people who are installing on land that belongs to us as well as those residential apartment complexes. So there's a lot more work to be done. This is the very beginning because maintenance has never been explicitly discussed in anything we have thus far, even though the federal government has it in their NEVI bill.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Are there any questions from the members? (No response.)
I believe now we will transition into our public comment session. Ms. McDonald, will you please call the first person making public comment we have to testify this morning on the bill before this Committee today?
No 25 one, okay. I'd like to thank all our witnesses for joining us today and this will conclude the hearing, and we'll now go into our public meeting. There being no further questions from members of the Committee and no other witnesses to testify on Bill No. 240474, Bill 9 No. 240414, Bill No. 240468, Bill 10 No. 240476, Bill No. 240498, Bill 11 No. 240471, Bill No. 240371 and 12 Bill No. 240500, I will ask if 13 there's anyone else present in the 14 hearing whose name we failed to 15 call and that wishes to offer 16 testimony on the bills being 17 considered today? 18 (No response.) 19
20 Hearing none, I want to thank the 21 panels and witnesses for their 22 participation today. We value your 23 opinions. This concludes the 24 public hearing of the Committee. 25 We will now go into a public meeting to consider the action to be taken on the bills before this Committee today. We will now convene the public meeting of the Committee on Licenses and Inspection. Please note that Bill No. 240471 is being held at the request of the sponsor and will not be voted on today. Ms. McDonald, will you please call the roll to take attendance. Members that are in attendance, will you please indicate that you're present when your name is called.
Present. The Chair recognizes Councilmember Squilla for a motion on the amendment to Bill No. 16 240474.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I offer an amendment to Bill No. 240474. A copy of the amendment has been circulated to all members of the Committee. I move that the amendment to Bill No. 24 240474 be approved. (Duly seconded.)
The Chair notes for the record that Councilmember Gilmore Richardson seconds the motion. It has been moved and properly seconded that the amendment to Bill No. 240474 be approved. All those in favor of the motion will signify by saying. (Aye.)
The ayes have it, the motion carries and the amendment to Bill No. 17 240474 has been approved. The Chair recognizes Councilmember for a motion on the amendment to Bill No. 240474.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that Bill No. 240474 as amended be reported from this Committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that rules of Council be suspended to submit the first reading of this bill at the next session of Council. (Duly seconded.)
The Chair notes for the record that Councilmember Gilmore Richardson seconds the motion. It has been moved and properly seconded that Bill No. 240414 as amended be reported from this Committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of Council be suspended to permit first reading of this bill at the next session of Council. All those in favor of the motion will signify by saying aye. (Aye.)
Those -- hold on a second. You said -- to clarify, Vice-Chair Squilla notes that we are amending 240474 and voting on -- 2
So 9 with that clarification, can I have 10 a vote on aye? 11 (Aye.) 12
The 16 Chair recognizes Councilmember 17 Squilla for a motion on the 18 amendment to Bill No. 240414. 19
Thank 20 you, Mr. Chairman. 21 I offer an amendment to 22 Bill No. 240414. A copy of the 23 amendment has been circulated to 24 all members of the Committee. I move that the amendment to Bill No. 1 240414 be approved. (Duly seconded.)
The 4 Chair notes for the record that 5 Councilmember Gilmore Richardson 6 seconds the motion. It has been 7 moved and properly seconded that 8 the amendment to Bill No. 240414 be 9 approved. 10 All those in favor of the 11 motion will signify by saying aye. 12 (Aye.) 13
The 17 ayes have it, the motion carries 18 and the amendment to Bill No. 19 240414 has been approved. 20 The Chair recognizes 21 Councilmember Squilla for a motion 22 on the amendment to Bill No. 240414 23 as amended. 24
Thank 25 you, Mr. Chairman. I move that Bill No. 240414 as amended be reported from this Committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of Council be suspended to permit the first reading at the next session of Council. (Duly seconded.)
Chair notes for the record that Councilmember Gilmore Richardson seconds the motion. It has been moved and properly seconded that Bill No. 240414 as amended be reported from this Committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of Council be suspended to permit first reading of this bill at the next session of Council. All those in favor of the motion will signify by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it. The motion carries. The Chair recognizes Councilmember Squilla for a motion on the amendment to Bill No. 5 240468.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I offer an amendment to Bill No. 240468. A copy of the amendment has been circulated to all members of the Committee. I move that the amendment to Bill No. 13 240468 be approved. (Duly seconded.)
The Chair notes for the record that Councilmember Gilmore Richardson seconds the motion. It has been moved and properly seconded that the amendment to Bill No. 240468 be approved. All those in favor of the motion will signify by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it and the amendment to Bill No. 240468 has been approved. The Chair recognizes Councilmember Squilla for a motion on the amendment to Bill No. 9 240468.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that Bill No. 240468 as amended be reported from this Committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of Council be suspended as to permit the first reading of this bill at the next session of Council. (Duly seconded.)
The Chair notes for the record that Councilmember Gilmore Richardson seconds the motion. It has been moved and properly seconded that Bill No. 240468 as amended be reported from this Committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of Council be suspended to permit first reading of this bill at the next session of Council. All those in favor of the motion will signify by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it. The motion carries. The Chair recognizes Councilmember Squilla for a motion on Bill No. 240476 as amended -- no --
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Bill No. 240476 can be reported from this Committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of Council be suspended as to permit the first reading of this bill at the next session of Council. (Duly seconded.)
Chair notes for the record that Councilmember Gilmore Richardson seconds that motion. It has been moved and properly seconded that Bill No. 240476 be reported from this Committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of Council be suspended to permit first reading of this bill at the next session of Council. All those in favor of the motion will signify by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it. The motion carries. The Chair recognizes Councilmember Squilla for a motion on the amendment to Bill No. 24 240498.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I offer an amendment to Bill No. 240498. A copy of the amendment has been circulated to all members of the Committee. I move that the amendment to Bill No. 7 240498 be approved. (Duly seconded.)
The Chair notes for the record Councilmember Gilmore Richardson seconds the motion. It has been moved and properly seconded that the amendment to Bill No. 240498 be approved. All those in favor of the motion will signify by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it. The motion carries and the amendment to Bill No. 25 240498 has been approved. The Chair recognizes Councilmember Squilla for a motion on the amendment to Bill No. 4 240498.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that Bill No. 240498 as amended be reported from this Committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of Council be suspended to submit the first reading of this bill at the next session to Council. (Duly seconded.)
The Chair notes for the record that Councilmember Gilmore Richardson seconds that motion. It has been moved and properly seconded that Bill No. 240498 as amended be reported from this Committee with a favorable recommendation and further be moved that the rules of Council be suspended to permit first reading of this bill at the next session of Council. All those in favor of the motion will signify by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it. The motion carries. The Chair recognizes Councilmember Squilla for a motion on the amendment to Bill No. 14 240371.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I offer an amendment to Bill No. 240371. A copy of the amendment has been circulated to all members of the Committee. I move that the amendment to Bill No. 22 240371 be approved. (Duly seconded.)
Chair notes for the record that Councilmember Gilmore Richardson seconds the motion. It has been moved and properly seconded that the amendment to Bill No. 240371 be approved. All those in favor of the motion will signify by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it. The motion carries and the amendment to Bill No. 15 240371 has been approved. The Chair recognizes Councilmember Squilla for a motion on the amendment to Bill No. 19 240371.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that Bill No. 240371 as amended be reported from this Committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of Council be suspended as to permit reading of this bill at the next session of Council. (Duly seconded.)
Chair notes for the record that Councilmember Gilmore Richardson seconds the motion. It has been moved and properly seconded that Bill No. 240371 be reported from this Committee with a favor favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of Council be suspended to permit first reading of this bill at the next session of Council. All those in favor of the motion will signify by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it. The motion carries. The Chair recognizes Councilmember Squilla for a motion on the amendment to Bill No. 4 240500.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I offer an amendment to Bill No. 240500. A copy of the amendment has been circulated to all members of the Committee. I move that the amendment to Bill No. 12 240500 be approved. (Duly seconded.)
Chair notes for the record that Councilmember Gilmore Richardson seconds the motion. It has been moved and properly seconded that the amendment to Bill No. 240500 be approved. All those in favor of the motion will signify by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it, the motion carries and the amendment to Bill No. 5 240500 has been approved. The Chair recognizes Councilmember Squilla for a motion on the amendment to Bill No. 9 240500.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that Bill No. 240500 as amended be reported from this Committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of Council be suspended to permit the first reading of this bill at the next session of Council. (Duly seconded.)
The Chair notes for the record that Councilmember Gilmore Richardson seconds that motion. It has been moved and properly seconded that Bill No. 240500 as amended be reported from this Committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of Council be suspended to permit first reading of this bill at the next session of Council. All those in favor of the motion will signify by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it. The motion carries. This concludes the business before the Committee on Licenses and Inspections today. Thank you all for your attendance.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. (Committee on Licenses and Inspections concluded at 2:41 p.m.) C E R T I F I C A T I O N I, hereby certify that the proceedings and evidence noted are contained fully and accurately in the stenographic notes taken by me in the foregoing matter, and that this is a correct transcript of the same. __________________________________ TANEHA CARROLL