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Calling for a moratorium on the acquisition and/or condemnation of any and all occupied properties within the City of Philadelphia by the Redevelopment Authority of Philadelphia ("RDA") pending the outcome of a joint investigation by the Committees on Law and Government and Legislative Oversight, hereby duly authorized, into the apparent failures of the administration to adequately notify property owners and occupants that their properties are about to be condemned, or to advise them of any manner in which they can seek redress from the administration regarding mistakes that have been made for properties improperly or unfairly designated for acquisition; further authorizing the Committees to determine whether the purpose of said condemnations is to gentrify vast sections of the City, and whether an Office of Homestead Security should be established to help protect citizens of the City against irrational and heartless seizures of their homes.
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WHEREAS, It is apparent from hearings recently held on the Mayor's Neighborhood Transformation Initiative ("NTI") that thousands of properties in this City are being condemned with little regard for the rights of owners and occupants; and
WHEREAS, The following structural inadequacies have been identified through these hearings which illustrate the careless and neglectful manner in which these acquisitions are being conducted:
a) many property owners are given little or no notice that their properties have been designated for acquisition;
b) in some cases notice is given by newspaper advertising in small print, buried in obscure places unlikely ever to be seen, and with virtually no time in advance of Council's hearing on the condemnations to enable property owners to prepare a case in opposition or to make necessary arrangements to testify at all;
c) community meetings to advise neighborhoods of intended acquisition activity are poorly advertised and completely unknown to large numbers of people affected;
d) those persons who discover that their properties are being taken are provided no systematic way of getting detailed information about the nature of, or reasons for, the condemnation;
e) no system is provided for providing feedback to the RDA to discuss the accuracy of the agency's information giving rise to the takings, the living circumstances of the people affected by the taking, and/or alternatives to the takings; and
f) the actual information collected by the RDA to justify the taking, including such vital information as whether the property is occupied, or in some cases, actively being rehabilitated, is often grossly in error; and
WHEREAS, Compounding the insensitivity of the RDA's administration of its condemnation programs, substantial evidence exists suggesting that the purpose for much of the condemnation is to gentrify vast sections of the City; and
WHEREAS, The Council finds that the failures outlined above are causing, and will continue to cause, untold hardship and suffering among hard working, honest, tax-paying citizens of our City, and should not be tolerated; now therefore
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That it hereby calls for a moratorium on the acquisition and/or condemnation of all properties within the City of Philadelphia by the Redevelopment Authority of Philadelphia ("RDA") pending the outcome of a joint investigation by the Committees on Law and Government and Legislative Oversight into the apparent failures of the administration to adequately notify property owners and occupants that their properties are about to be condemned, or to advise them of any manner in which they can seek redress from the administration regarding mistakes that have been made for properties improperly or unfairly designated for acquisition; further authorizing the Committees to determine whether the purpose of said condemnations is to gentrify vast sections of the City, and whether an Office of Homestead Security should be established to help protect citizens of the City against irrational and heartless seizures of their homes.
FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Council authorizes the Chairpersons of the Committees on Law and Government and of Legislative Oversight to issue subpoenas and such other process as may be necessary or appropriate in furtherance of such investigation to the full extent authorized under Section 2-401 of the Home Rule Charter.
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