Title
To amend Title 14 of The Philadelphia Code by adding Section 14-532, entitled the "/AHP, Affordable Housing Preservation Overlay District" and making other related changes; to amend the Philadelphia Zoning Maps by changing the zoning designations of certain areas of land located within an area bounded by 39th Street, Ludlow Street, 40th Street, and Market Street; and to establish a temporary demolition moratorium with respect to properties within the aforementioned area; all under certain terms and conditions.
Body
Whereas, Urban Renewal, the federal program used to remediate "blighted areas", began in Philadelphia in January 9, 1948, when eight "blighted" areas in Philadelphia, including two in West Philadelphia, were certified for remediation by the Philadelphia Planning Commission; and
Whereas, in 1959, the West Philadelphia Corporation, a non-profit community development organization, was formed by a coalition of higher education and medical institutions to spearhead the development of the University City Science Center in the area of West Philadelphia that would become known as Redevelopment Area Unit 3; and
Whereas, in 1963, the Philadelphia Planning Commission certified the area known as Redevelopment Area Unit 3 for remediation, consisting roughly of the land bounded by 34th to 40th streets, and north of Chestnut to Lancaster and Powelton avenues ("Unit 3"). According to census data, as of 1960, 4,603 people lived in Unit 3, and it consisted largely of the neighborhood known as the Black Bottom. A 1963 memorandum from the West Philadelphia Corporation noted that Unit 3 contained 3,432 people making up 987 families, 444 of which were white and 543 of which were non-white; and
Whereas, in 1965 the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority ("PRA") determined that its property acquisitions in Unit 3 would displace an estimated 107 white families and 463 non-white families. Over 75% of the non-white families were tenants. Over 70% of the black famili...
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