Title
Authorizing the Committee on the Environment to conduct hearings to examine flooding risks, impacts, and mitigation options in Eastwick and other vulnerable Southwest Philadelphia communities
Body
WHEREAS, Eastwick is a historically Black community that has been disproportionately impacted by environmental hardships; and
WHEREAS, In the early to mid-twentieth century, Eastwick was known as "The Meadows," a sparsely populated, quiet, semi-rural community built among the marshlands. Unlike most of Philadelphia during the 1940s and 1950s, the area was racially integrated; and
WHEREAS, By the 1950s, city representatives believed the area was underutilized, specifically pointing out the low density, auto junkyards, burning garbage dumps, and open drainage canals that populated Eastwick and designated the area as "blighted"; and
WHEREAS, In 1953, the City of Philadelphia's Planning Department released a preliminary Redevelopment Area Plan for Eastwick, and in 1957 the Redevelopment Authority finalized the Eastwick Urban Renewal Plan. It designated the largest urban renewal area in the United States at that time and called for a $78 million redevelopment, complete with homes, schools, parks, and commercial and industrial areas; and
WHEREAS, Despite community opposition to this plan, it was approved by City Council. The Redevelopment Authority utilized eminent domain to seize over 2,500 acres of land and relocate over 8,000 residents. The project was halted in the mid-1970s after an environmental assessment found there were significant adverse conditions such as air pollution and major flood risks; and
WHEREAS, The development of Eastwick radically reduced the extent of flood-mitigating tidal marshland in the area, and covered the existing area with non-pervious surfaces that do not allow for water absorption, increasing the amount of run off into the surrounding creeks and other waterways; and
WHEREAS, Eastwick is in a particularly vulnerable position due...
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