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Authorizing the Committee on Licenses and Inspections to hold hearings on vacant, abandoned and blighted properties in Philadelphia and to take testimony on improving the process of vacant and abandoned property disposition, property code enforcement, and demolition of dangerous properties in Philadelphia.
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WHEREAS, Estimates for vacant and abandoned properties in the City of Philadelphia range from 25,000 abandoned properties to 55,000 abandoned properties; and
WHEREAS, At the current rate of 1,300 demolitions per year it will take twenty years to demolish the city's vacant property stock; and
WHEREAS, Recent focus on the rise in building collapses has focused public attention on the need for increased and efficient resources to deal with this matter; and
WHEREAS, In many neighborhoods declining property maintenance has lead to a decline in property values and a sense that government is disinterested; and
WHEREAS, Abandoned properties can often lead to other related problems such as crime and short dumping; and
WHEREAS, Many groups ranging from neighborhood organizations, to the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, Community Development Corporations and individual taxpayers have plans for the use and development of vacant property; and
WHEREAS, A host of other municipalities and states have dealt with the issue of property maintenance, slumlords, and abandoned properties in many different ways; now therefore
RESOLVED, BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF PHILADELPHIA, That the Committee on Licenses and Inspections conduct hearings on the problem of vacant, abandoned and blighted properties in Philadelphia; and
RESOLVED FURTHER, That the committee take testimony from interested citizens and groups, related to the use for vacant land and buildings; and
FURTHER RESOLVED, That the committee take testimony from the agencies responsible for property code enforcement, demolition and the disposition of vacant land.
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