Councilman Clarke Pushes Rezoning in Brewerytown
The City Planning Commission when they meet this Tuesday will review a proposal by Darrell Clarke to rezone 2 areas within his district. One area is directly adjacent to the Westrum development and includes the community center of the African American Business and Residents' Association. Below is Al Alston's (of AABRA) research on the matter:
Folks,
I want to alert you to two dangerous bills introduced by Darrell Clarke. They are the latest blows by the pro-developer contingent in the ongoing gentrification wars in Philadelphia and we simply cannot let them pass if we want to stay in our communities. 1. There will be a Planning Commission meeting on Tuesday at which these bills will be discussed. I know it's short notice (we just learned about these bills early this morning!), but it's worth attending. The meeting will be at 1:00 PM, Tuesday, 1/16/2007, in the 18th Floor Conference Room (Room No. 18029) at 1515 Arch Street. Make sure you bring your drivers license or PA Identification; you'll need it when you sign in at the security desk.
I will ask that consideration of the bills be delayed until Clarke has met with the community and the wishes of the community are made public. Failing that, I will ask that the Commission vote against the bills because (a) they unconstitutionally permit spot zoning in poor neighborhoods around the city; (b) usurp the power of the Zoning Board without a Charter change; and (c) deprive our communities of due process and equal protection. (Naturally, I still need to research both the bills and arguments against them, so the above could change, but that's what I'm thinking currently.)
2. Bill 060902 (http://www.hallwatch.org/councilnotices/bills/1164992955220) would create a new zoning designation called, "Industrial Transformation District." This new district would affect "parcels of land located in underutilized areas of the city, including former industrial sites and residential neighborhoods experiencing high rates of vacancy." Clearly, that is a description of virtually all of our neighborhoods.
To establish an Industrial Transformation District, a master plan for development would be created by some (unstated) entity and approved by the Planning Commission. Naturally, we won't have any significant say in the creation of that plan - we never do for any plans that go before the Planning Commission. Then, all proposed development that is consistent with that plan can bypass the Zoning Board (ZBA) and go directly to the Planning Commission and L&I for a building permit.
Two other provisions demonstrate how bankrupt the proposed changes to the Zoning Code really are in that they benefit only wealthy developers and the well connected. (a) If a developer proposes something consistent with, but not actually in the master plan, and the Planning Commission approves it, it can also bypass the ZBA. (b) Even if a developer proposes something totally inconsistent with the master plan and the Commission approves or rejects it, it can still bypass the ZBA by going directly before City Council.
Unfortunately, buildings inside an Industrial Transformation District will be free of a number of significant limitations that affect a community's beauty, accessibility, safety for children playing on streets, etc. (Revised limitatons are supposed to be included in the master plan, but recall that permits not consistent with the plan can still be approved.) The limitations that no longer apply include: height of buildings, density of buildings on a given lot, setbacks from front of property lines or sides of adjacent properties.
There is nothing in this bill that allows neighbors any say whatsoever over the development that goes on in their neighborhoods. This usurpation of a community's zoning powers is trotally unacceptable.
Essentially, this legislation sets up new rules that will make it nearly impossible for small developers and community members to do their own development (we won't be allowed to create the master plan and expecting the Planning Commission to support grass roots development is like asking a tiger to change its stripes). This legislation will also make it nearly impossible to fight harmful development proposed for our communities (we can speak before a Commission meeting, but there is no requirement of community notification for those meetings and often those Commissioners are more pro-gentrification than Zoning Board members). And yet, this legislation makes it easy for wealthy developers and the well-connected to violate the new rules (per the two exceptions indicated above)!
This is as dangerous as legislation gets.
3. Bill 060901 (http://www.hallwatch.org/councilnotices/bills/1164992955039) would change the zoning classifications of parcels of land in Brewerytown. I cannot find any online info on exactly which lots are included, but one has to believe that they include land Westrum and others want to build exclusive new condos on. Westrum doesn't want to face this community at the Zoning Board, even though they know they will win - given the corruption on that Board. They remember what we did in an attempt to make Pennrose accountable and they want to avoid that kind of bloodletting at all costs. Is Clarke just doing their dirty work? (I should know more by Tuesday morning and I'll present that to the attendees at the meeting or to the email group list just before the meeting.)
4. Finally, of course, this is an election year and Clarke doesn't want to look like he's helping developers at the expense of his constituency. So, if we apply pressure, Clarke will likely back down. If he doesn't, then others on City Council might refuse to back the legislation, given election year politics in their own races.
Speak now, or forever hold you peace....
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I live in Clarke's ditrict
I live in Clarke's ditrict and am not happy at all about what he is doing (and not doing). It is a very gerrymandered district, I live over in Fishtown, right at Frankford and Delaware Avenue just a few hundred feet from the proposed casino. I am also an affordable housing and anti-gentrification activist interested in protecting and improving this city for the people who alreadylive here and want to stay here and not be displaced. I would like to figure out ways to build more bridges across Clarke's district, it is so spread out and crosses so many divides. Keep up the good work and keep me posted and I will do my best to be supportive, jethro@actionmill.com
Update (from AABRA) About a
Update (from AABRA)
About a dozen people took time off from work today to attend the Planning Commission meeting. Some helped to proofread AABRA's prepared statement (it was down to the wire, folks), others spoke, and the Commission listened.
For approximately 1.5 hours, we debated Westrum representative and their attorney over the Bills 060902 (which would create a new "Industrial Transformation District" that removes even the pretense of community control over zoning that we now possess) and 060901 (which would create the city's first IDT in Brewerytown, for the benefit of Westrum Development). The Commission was uncomfortable with the fact that Clarke didn't send anyone to the meeting to speak for him and the group Westrum kept referencing as "Clarke's designated community organization" (Brewerytown CDC) also didn't send any representatives. They also found issues with the lack of specificity in the proposed legislation as well as the fact that neither "community" nor "community input" were defined in the bills.
They voted to (a) table their action on the bills; (b) request that Clarke do the same; and (c) request that Clarke send a representative to explain his support for the bill and define "what's going on in the community" with respect to Brewerytown CDC's issues and AABRA's assertions about most community members being locked out of the dialog.
So, it was not a victory, but the fact that they deliberated and let both Westrum and us speak for long periods of time was extraordinary. This felt like democracy in action, but we know it's just a baby step.
We need to do more prep before the next Commission meeting or the City Council hearing (scheduled for approximately February 7th - we'll let you know). We also need to reach out to community organizations throughout the city, inform them about how dangerous this legislation is for them, and work with them to oppose this legislation should/when it surfaces next.
to those in other areas of
to those in other areas of the 5th district, where where you when this was going down? and to al and the aabra, why did you only keep those in participation that you thought was worthy of participation. i live at 27th and jefferson, in the middle of brewerytown. i have gone to as many meetings as i could attend about this. clark made this very public, but unless you where personally notified there was no way that anyone knew about these meetings. al alston and the aabra was great about getting the meetings together, but he turned it into a battle about old residents(blacks) against westrums inhabitants(presumably white), making statements about setting up the shonghai city place in the middle of new development to protest the wealthy inhabitants of the square. we are all apart of this community and alienating one group of people because of their economics wrong. if al put as much time and effort into crime in the area rather then making it hard for every developer in the area, this place would have a community and it would be a great place to live. in the few years that i have been here crime has gone down and that is something when city rate keeps rising. i appreciated what al has done for this effort but i REALLY wish that he could put his effort into things such as drugs and murder in our neighborhood.