City of Philadelphia - File #: 140231

• File #: 140231
• Version: 1
• Type: Bill
• Status: ENACTED
• File created: 3/27/2014
• In control: Committee on Public Property and Public Works
• Final action: 6/19/2014
• Title: Establishing a new Chapter 16-800 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Philadelphia Affordable Housing Opportunity Zones," authorizing the designation of Affordable Housing Opportunity Zones; establishing definitions; authorizing disposition of publicly-owned zone properties for nominal consideration pursuant to the 1500 New Affordable Housing Units Initiative, all under certain terms and conditions.
• Sponsors: Council President Clarke, Councilmember Jones, Councilmember Johnson, Councilmember Greenlee, Councilmember Tasco, Councilmember O'Brien, Councilmember Quiñones Sánchez, Councilmember Kenney, Councilmember Blackwell, Councilmember O'Neill, Councilmember Reynolds Brown, Councilmember Henon, Councilmember Oh, Councilmember Bass, Councilmember Squilla
• Indexes: AFFORDABLE HOUSING
• Code sections: 16-800 - Philadelphia Affordable Housing Opportunity Zones

Date	Ver.	Action By	Action	Result	Tally
8/5/2014	1	MAYOR	SIGNED
6/19/2014	1	CITY COUNCIL	PASSED	Pass	16:0
6/5/2014	1	CITY COUNCIL	ORDERED PLACED ON THIS DAY`S FIRST READING CALENDAR
6/5/2014	1	CITY COUNCIL	SUSPEND THE RULES OF THE COUNCIL	Pass
6/5/2014	1	CITY COUNCIL	ORDERED PLACED ON NEXT WEEK`S SECOND READING CALENDAR
6/4/2014	0	Committee on Public Property and Public Works	HEARING NOTICES SENT
6/4/2014	0	Committee on Public Property and Public Works	HEARING HELD
6/4/2014	0	Committee on Public Property and Public Works	AMENDED
6/4/2014	1	Committee on Public Property and Public Works	REPORTED FAVORABLY, RULE SUSPENSION REQUESTED
3/27/2014	0	CITY COUNCIL	Introduced and Referred	Pass

Title
Establishing a new Chapter 16-800 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Philadelphia Affordable Housing Opportunity Zones," authorizing the designation of Affordable Housing Opportunity Zones; establishing definitions; authorizing disposition of publicly-owned zone properties for nominal consideration pursuant to the 1500 New Affordable Housing Units Initiative, all under certain terms and conditions.

Body
WHEREAS, An uneven economic recovery following the Great Recession has brought income inequality into sharp relief across the country, including in Philadelphia. Coupled with the housing crash, which spurred the recession, many regions of the country are grappling with a critical shortage of affordable housing; and

WHEREAS, Philadelphia is uniquely positioned to tackle its affordable housing crisis because we have what many other major cities do not: thousands of publicly owned, buildable parcels of land plus access to untapped federal resources to spur development; and

WHEREAS, The Philadelphia City Council ("City Council") proposes the 1,500 New Affordable Housing Units Initiative, a legislative and policy response to growing demand for affordable housing in Philadelphia. The initiative envisions the construction of 1,000 affordable rental units and 500 ownership units affordable for moderate-income households over a two-year period; and

WHEREAS, To create 1,000 affordable rental units, City Council proposes the use of Housing Trust Funds in conjunction with unspent federal and state housing assistance funding to accelerate the production of affordable housing units on vacant land in the public inventory through new construction or substantial rehabilitation of existing housing units in strategically designated neighborhoods throughout the City; and

WHEREAS, The proposed plan combines existing affordable housing programs of the City, the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency (PHFA) and Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA) to leverage ...