COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA COMMITTEE ON RULES Room 400, City Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Tuesday, September 29, 2026 10:08 a.m. PRESENT: COUNCILWOMAN CINDY BASS, CHAIR COUNCILWOMAN JAMIE GAUTHIER COUNCILWOMAN KATHERINE GILMORE RICHARDSON COUNCILMAN CURTIS JONES, JR. COUNCILMAN BRIAN J. O'NEILL ALSO PRESENT: COUNCILMAN JEFFREY YOUNG, JR. BILLS: 260342, 260343, 260344, 260345, 260429, 260462 - - -
Good morning. This is the public hearing on the Committee on Rules. Members and guests, please take their seats. And this hearing is now called to order. The Clerk will now take the roll.
Thank you. A quorum of the committee is present. The Clerk will please read the titles of the bills.
Bill No. 18 260342, an ordinance to amend the Philadelphia Zoning Maps by changing the zoning designations of certain areas of land located within an area bounded by East Washington Lane, Crittenden Street, East Tulpehocken Street, East Haines Street, and Ardleigh Street. Bill No. 260343, an ordinance to amend the Philadelphia Zoning Maps by changing the zoning designations of certain areas of land located within an area bounded by East Washington Lane, Stenton Avenue, East Haines Street, and Ardleigh Street. Bill No. 260344, an ordinance to amend the Philadelphia Zoning Maps by changing the zoning designations of certain areas of land located within an area bounded by North 18th Street, Colonial Street, North 17th Street and Chelten Avenue. Bill No. 260345, an ordinance to amend the Philadelphia Zoning Maps by changing the zoning designations of certain areas of land located within an area bounded by West Seymour Street, Knox Street, West Logan Street and Keyser Street. Bill No. 260429, an ordinance to amend the Philadelphia Zoning Maps by changing the zoning designations of certain areas of land located within an area bounded by Frankford Creek, Aramingo Avenue, Butler Street, and Frankford Avenue. Bill No. 260462, an ordinance to amend the Philadelphia Zoning Maps by changing the zoning designations of certain areas of land located within an area bounded by Thompson Street, 17th Street, Girard Avenue, Ridge Avenue, 19th Street, Cabot Street, and 18th Street, and amending Section 14-500 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled “Overlay Zoning Districts” by amending Section 14-529, entitled “/VDO, Fifth District Overlay District,” all under certain terms and conditions. There are no other bills under consideration today.
Thank you, Madam Clerk. Do any members have any opening remarks on any of the bills stated by the Clerk today? (No response.)
And seeing none, we will proceed to the first witness, I think who's the only witness today.
Paula Brumbelow Burns, Director of Legislation for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission. (Witnesses approached witness table.)
Please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
My name is Paula Brumbelow Burns. I am the Director of Legislation for the Philadelphia Planning Commission. And good morning, Chairperson and members of the Rules Committee.
So I am here to testify on Bill No. 18 260342, introduced into City Council on April 16, 2026 by Councilmember Bass. Bill No. 21 260342 proposes to change the base zoning of the Parkway Northwest High School site from RSA-2, Residential Single-Family Attached to SP-CIV, Special Purpose - Civic, Educational and Medical. The site is part of Albany's Superblock, an area with a mix of residential and other institutional uses in the Upper Northwest Planning District. The Philadelphia City Planning Commission considered Bill 10 No. 260342 at its meeting of May 21, 2026, and recommended that the bill not be approved, noting concern that the change could prolong vacancy since the school district plans for the site remain uncertain. I'll be happy to answer any questions at this time.
Well, thank you for your testimony. And I'll state as the author of this legislation as well as the next three that are coming forward -- or the next two, excuse me, I certainly understand the Planning Commission's desire to keep things as they are for numerous reasons. But I will state that the first thing is that they were improperly zoned in the first place. They were never supposed to be designated as residential. They were built as schools. So I don't even understand how that happened and why it was allowed to go on for such a long period of time. Nonetheless, we are certainly open to having dialogue. The purpose of this rezoning is strictly to give the community some input and say about what happens in their community. If we are closing these schools, which we hope that there may be some last-minute Hail Mary that will save them, but if we are closing these schools, then the community has to have an opportunity to have a say in what goes on those sites. And so, that is the sole purpose of this legislation that we have before us today, this and the other pieces of legislation that you'll be testifying against in the next few minutes. So thank you.
I go back a little further than a lot of people here. There was no 16 school zoning. Every school was zoned residential. There was no 18 recreation and park zoning. It was all zoned residential. This is, you know, we've caught up to and we have zoning for that now. But if you don't do remapping and nobody brings it up to you, things stay the same. So the fact that you're changing it to recognize that I think is a good thing.
Thank you, Councilmember. And I will say just in terms of the way the city works, at the time when the zoning designation became available that schools could be designated as schools, it was really I believe the responsibility of the Planning Commission to come forward at that time and to notate every school that was not properly designated and to get it done at that time. I'm not exactly sure when that was. I'm sure it wasn't on your watch, but I'm just saying that when it came forward that this would be a new zoning designation, the next appropriate step should have been to then go back and say, who does not have that zoning designation and let's make that a priority to fix it, to get it right.
So it's something -- approximately 2018, 2019, the designation was made when we were going into communities with remappings or a property was getting remapped and we saw a school on it. Our strategy was to get to them. As we got to them -- we did not make a large plan for all of the schools. We ran into COVID with different priorities. So we are trying to catch up.
But you understand the idea that when we get to things -- when we get to them, we never get to them.
I know. Listen, that is not to say that, you know, folks aren't working hard on this. But it's clear that we could have a list of every school in the city of Philadelphia and have a list of all of the zoning designations and then parcel it out to the District Councilmembers to get it done so that we're effective and efficient in the way that we operate. So again, no blame game going on.
You know what my team's going to be working on right now.
I think that we're all so excited for that. And we'd be happy to help in any way that we can.
And I do want to note there is a particular challenge with schools, and we definitely ran into this with the 3rd Council District and the 4th Council District. The schools purchased property. They may have never consolidated the properties. They may have been deeded some land that doesn't necessarily -- especially in Council District 4 with Lankenau, it was a property that had no 11 bounding streets that were legally on the city plan. So we've been having to work with Records as doing a parcel realignment, and we have to ask and request that the parcel realignment be done first. Then we have to go back and review historic deeds. So sometimes schools are a particular challenge in mapping, which is why these have taken -- these are why we had to ask you to give us a little more time to make sure we get the maps correct.
Thank you, Madam Chair. And thank you for reinforcing some of these overlays. My concern, I probably most likely share with my colleague in the 3rd when we start talking about Robeson and it started down the bottom, now real estate-wise, it's at the top. When you look at Lankenau, that was bucolic from the beginning. But now, it wouldn't be a bad place to put townhomes in. Differences in property values should not determine our urgency to protect those sites. If you look at Barry, you know, nobody's talking about Barry, but they're talking about Overbrook Elementary, which has come up in property values all around it. So as we look at prioritizing these things, we should do it with a sense of urgency that, A, looks at where the students want to go and, B, where the developers should not go. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I'll add in and I also did this type of zoning in the 3rd District last Council session. And for me, it was sort of twofold. It was absolutely corrective. These are schools and should be zoned as such. But for me there was another motive and that was focusing the conversation. I was very dismayed when the facilities plan was finally unveiled to us the day before it went to the press, that I did not understand the reason for the closure recommendations. And not only did I not understand them, particularly as it related to high-performing schools like Robeson, like Lankenau, I found it gross that this school facilities conversation was mixed with a real estate conversation where the plan targeted several schools that our children were still sitting in for the development of other facilities. So to me, not only was it corrective zoning, but it was also to focus the conversation. Because if we are talking about facilities, we need to talk about facilities and student success. We don't need to be mixing that conversation with speculative real estate development. And so for me, I took away that as a part of the conversation because it was inappropriate from the beginning. Thank you.
Thank you, Madam -- thank you, Councilmember. Chair recognizes Councilmember O'Neill.
Corrective zoning is really a good thing. But protective zoning is much better.
Yes. Mic drop. Thank you, Councilman O'Neill. And I think that you can guess from the panel here, the sentiment of members of Council, that we have some very challenging times ahead, obviously with the conversation around schools, but the issue around housing and mixing that with the closure of schools, it just didn't make sense. It doesn't make sense. I know that that's not really your lane, but what we're trying to do is make sure that we have the protective zoning in place. These communities where these schools exist in my district, I'll speak for my district, folks want them to remain as educational institutions. Dropping basically a whole neighborhood, because some of these parcels are extremely large pieces of real estate, but dropping basically an entire neighborhood into the fabric of an existing community without any input from the community itself is obviously a no-go. So that's something that we all stand very firm on, that I stand very firm on I'll say. And we look forward to having further conversation. We realize that it hasn't been flushed all the way out by the Planning Commission. But once it is, we're certainly willing to come back to the table and have those conversations, and I want to make that clear.
Yes. Any additional conversation from the panel? (No response.)
Okay. No. All right. Thank you. Is there anyone else here to testify on Bill No. 260342 whose name has not been called? (No response.)
No, okay. Hearing none, I want to thank the witness for her testimony. And can we have the Clerk please call the next panel to testify on 260343.
Paula Brumbelow Burns, Director of Legislation for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission.
I am Paula Brumbelow Burns, Director of Legislation for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission. I'm here to testify on Bill No. 260343, introduced into City Council on April 16, 2026 by Councilmember Bass. Bill No. 260343 proposes to change the zoning of the former Ada Lewis Middle School site from RSD-3, Residential Single-Family Detached, to SP-CIV, Special Purpose - Civic, Educational and Medical. The site is part of the Awbury Superblock, an area with a mix of residential and other institutional uses in the Upper Northwest Planning District. The Philadelphia City Planning Commission considered Bill No. 12 260343 at its meeting of May 21, 2026 and recommended that the bill 14 not be approved, noting concern that the change could prolong vacancy since the school district's plans for the site remain uncertain. I'll be happy to answer any questions at this time.
Thank you for your testimony. Any questions from the committee? (No response.)
And seeing none, is there anyone here to testify on Bill No. 260343? Anyone else to testify on that bill? (No response.)
Seeing none, thank you very much for your testimony. Madam Clerk, can we have you call the next or the same witness.
Paula Brumbelow Burns, Director of Legislation for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission.
To testify on Bill No. 260344. Please state your name for the record and then proceed.
I am Paula Brumbelow Burns, Director of Legislation for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission. I am here to testify on Bill No. 260344, introduced into City Council on April 16, 2026 by Councilmember Bass. Bill No. 260344 proposes to change the base zoning of General Louis Wagner Middle School site from RSD, Residential Single- Family Detached, to SP-CIV, Special Purpose - Civic, Educational and Medical. The site is located on Chelten Avenue in the West Oak Lane section of the Upper Northwest Planning District. The Philadelphia City Planning Commission considered Bill 17 No. 260344 at its meeting of May 21, 2026, and recommended that the bill not be approved, noting concern that the change could prolong vacancy since the school district's plans for the site remain uncertain. I'll be happy to answer any questions at this time.
Thank you for your testimony. Any comments or questions from the committee? (No response.)
The only thing I'll say is that the school district doesn't have plans for that and it's been vacant for about years now, so 11 unacceptable. But again, not you. 12 Thank you so much for your 13 testimony. 14 Is there anyone else 15 here to testify on Bill No. 260344? 16 Anyone else? 17 (No response.) 18
And 19 seeing none, thank you so much for 20 your testimony. Will the Clerk please call the first panel to testify on Bill No. 260345.
Paula Brumbelow Burns, Director of Legislation for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission.
Thank you. Please state your name for the record and proceed.
I'm Paula Brumbelow Burns, Director of Legislation for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission. I am here to testify on Bill No. 260345, introduced into City Council on April 16, 2026 by Councilmember Bass. Bill No. 260345 proposes to change the base zoning of the Fitler Academics Plus School site from RSA-3, Residential Single- Family Attached, to SP-CIV, Special Purpose - Civic, Educational and Medical. The site is located in the West Germantown neighborhood of the Upper Northwest Planning District and is owned by the City of Philadelphia. The Philadelphia City Planning Commission considered Bill No. 260345 at its meeting of May 21, 2026 and recommended that the bill not be approved, noting concern that the change could prolong vacancy since the school district's plans for the site remain uncertain. I'll be happy to answer any questions at this time.
Thank you for your testimony. And seeing there are no questions from the panel, is there anyone else here to testify on Bill No. 260345? (No response.)
And seeing none, thank you for your testimony. Madam Clerk, please call the first panel to testify on Bill 22 No. 260429.
Paula Brumbelow Burns, Director of Legislation for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission.
Good morning. Please state your name for the record and proceed.
I am Paula Brumbelow Burns, Director of Legislation for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission. I am here to testify on Bill No. 260429, introduced into City Council on April 30, 2026 by Councilmember Driscoll. Bill No. 260429 proposes changes to the zoning map for an edge section of a Conrail right-of- way near 2173 Butler Street, to enable a trucking terminal supporting construction, demolition, salvage and reclamation activities. The Philadelphia City Planning Commission considered Bill 23 No. 260429 at its meeting of May 21, 2026 and recommended that the bill not be approved, expressing concern about additional point- source pollution and proximity to nearby residential areas. I'll be happy to answer any questions at this time.
Thank you for your testimony. Any questions from the committee? (No response.)
Okay. And seeing none, is there anyone else here to testify on Bill 15 No. 260429? (No response.)
And seeing none as well, thank you very much for your testimony. Will the Clerk please call the next panel to testify on Bill No. 260462.
Paula Brumbelow Burns, Director of Legislation for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission.
Good morning. Please state your name for the record and please proceed.
I am Paula Brumbelow Burns, Director of Legislation for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission. I'm here to testify on Bill No. 260462, introduced into City Council on May 7, 2026 by Councilmember Young. Bill No. 260462 proposes to remap parcels around Saint Joseph's Preparatory School from a current mix of residential and commercial zoning to SP-CIV, Special Purpose - Civic, Educational and Medical. The bill 20 also proposes to create a subarea within the /VDO, Fifth District Overlay District to enable a parking garage with a rooftop athletic field and related campus improvements. The Philadelphia City Planning Commission considered Bill 4 No. 260462 at its meeting of May 21, 2026 and recommended the bill 6 for approval. I'll be happy to answer any questions at this time.
Thank you very much for your testimony. (Witnesses approached witness table.)
Is there anyone else here to testify on Bill No. 260462? And I know that the bill's sponsor is also in attendance and is en route, I believe, to this hearing. Please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
Chairman and members of the committee, good morning to you. Thank you for taking the time. My name is John Marinacci, M-a-r-i-n-a-c-c-i, and I'm the President of St. Joseph's Preparatory School in Philadelphia. We would also like to acknowledge and thank Councilperson Young for his sponsorship and support of Bill 12 No. 260462 and for his ongoing support of St. Joseph's Prep. The bill before you today, if approved, would allow us to execute the next stage of the transformative renewal of our North Philadelphia campus. It would revamp the entire St. Joseph's Prep campus, located between 17th Street and 19th Street, from Girard Avenue to South Street to the -- excuse me, to the Civic, Institutional and Medical, Special Purpose District or SP-CIV. The bill also amends the 5th District overlay to amend certain development standards that will apply only to the newly created St. Joseph's Preparatory School subarea. These standards will allow for the construction of a partially sunken parking garage and rooftop athletic field. Before diving into the details of the project, I'd like to share more about our institution, its relationship with the City of Philadelphia. The Prep has a 175-year history of educating young men from across the Delaware Valley to become men, formed with others, and we are deeply committed to our North Philadelphia neighborhood. Following a devastating fire in 1966, the Prep was offered land to move to the Main Line but chose to remain in the city because of the opportunities it presents to our students. Today 935 students from 180 zip codes attend the Prep where they receive an excellent education both in and out of the classroom. St. Joseph's Prep is renewing our commitment to Philadelphia and is planning a major renovation of our campus that will greatly impact our students and the surrounding neighborhood. Our vision is to create a campus courtyard that presents academic, social and spiritual opportunities, a native plantings garden that will serve as an educational resource, a multi- purpose athletic field and a parking facility that enhances safety and security for the entire community. Developing a multi- purpose athletic field will address a major challenge that has existed at the Prep for generations. For the first time in the history of the school, a student will be able to walk across 18th Street and experience the convenience of an on-campus field to practice, play or watch a home game. A new parking facility located under the field will address a major parking challenge by significantly increasing the number of spaces available to students and faculty and removing cars from local streets. Continuing our long tradition of active neighborhood involvement, we have drafted these plans with the community in mind. Today our indoor facilities are utilized by multiple community organizations and we regularly host grocery giveaways and gatherings that benefit our neighborhoods, along with youth sports organizations. This project will enhance those opportunities and while addressing safety with parking issues. With the help of Councilmember Young, we have hosted community meetings with members of our community to receive and incorporate feedback on the project. We're very appreciative of their ongoing support for the Prep in this project. The $100 million project itself will be privately funded. In April of this year, St. Joseph's Prep announced an historic gift that will be used to advance the Prep's mission and help transform our campus. Of the $73 million gift received, 29 million will be used to fully fund 20 low-income student scholarships per grade.
For the next 15 years, 37 million will be used for the campus project, which will benefit the neighborhood by removing the blighting influence of numerous empty lots and dilapidated structures, allow for the expansion of the Prep's ongoing tradition of partnering with the local community and provide access to modern, clean and secure recreational facilities. We respectfully request the committee's support for Bill 13 No. 260462, which would allow the Prep to bring this vision to reality. We appreciate your consideration and are happy to answer any questions the committee may have. Thank you.
Thank you for your testimony. Mr. McClure, can you hold for one second. I do want to recognize the author of the bill. Chair recognizes Councilmember Young.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to say for the record, for the members of the committee, that my office has been working with St. Joe's Prep throughout the duration of this process. We have met with community members and that conversation is still ongoing. But we believe that there is enough support in the community to move this project forward today and ask that you vote favorably to push this bill out of committee today. The Prep has been an institution in North Philly that has given back to the community. And we want people to know that this project does not displace anyone. For the most part, the Prep owns all the properties that are -- or in conversations to own, every property that is in the footprint of this new plan. So there are no residents being forced out or pushed out. And I can tell you that every transaction that the Prep has engaged in with property owners have been arm's length transactions where folks were fairly compensated for their properties.
First, I'd like to thank Councilmember Young. He's probably been more involved with the Prep than any of the other 5th District members since I've been here, and that only goes back terms so I want to recognize that. But I was a junior when the fire happened. So my last year and a half was spent in cafeterias becoming classrooms and everything. And so, the fact that we stayed, the fact that we're now reaching our full potential, it's a miracle. And I also congratulate you on good counsel here. I understand he had a pretty good high school education. So it's good choices all around and just want to say a first-class institution and it's just even getting better. I don't know how you get better in first class, but somehow you're managing. So congratulations. And thank you, Councilman.
Thank you, Councilman Young. Thank you, Councilman O'Neill.
Thank you, Councilmember O'Neill. Chair recognizes Majority Leader Gilmore Richardson.
Thank you. Thank you very much, Madam Chair. And thank you so much to our 5th District Councilmember, Councilmember Young, and for all of your work on this project. I wanted to have the opportunity to review the prepared testimony, so I apologize. I was trying to hear what you were stating, but I didn't have it in the book. It stated here that it's a $100 million project, privately funded, and you all will fund 20 low-income student scholarships per grade for the next 15 years. Will all of these low-income student scholarships be from young people who live in the city of Philadelphia?
That's not a stipulation of the scholarship. They tend -- so the funder already sponsors students 7 a year. So this 20 is in addition 8 to. And all of them come from 9 inside of the -- I don't want to 10 misspeak. The vast majority of it 11 comes from inside of the school. 12 We are currently 41% from inside 13 Philadelphia County in terms of our 14 population right now as it stands. 15
Okay. I just wanted to add, particularly for the young people who live in and around that 19121 zip code, I had an opportunity to visit St. Joe's Prep recently and thought it was a really wonderful campus. I was there to utilize some of the existing athletic facilities actually with my son, who's a part of a wrestling program. And we were there for a wrestling match over the weekend so I was able to see the facilities. Lastly, I wanted to ask about the numerous empty lots and the dilapidated structures that you referenced. Is that mostly on the side streets, like closer to Cabot and 18th? And just talk to us about what you all are going to do there.
Yes. So currently from Stiles Street to combat between 18th and 19th, there are structures that have been empty for some time. We own a good number of those structures. There are empty lots or structured parking lots that we own. Okay. And by structured, I mean paved and lined and things along those lines. Those would be incorporated into the footprint of this project. So the project would go to -- the construction itself would go to the south side of Cabot Street. So it would cross Stiles and go all the way up to Cabot, yes, that's correct. And then on the north side of Cabot, we will have owned by the time we start a majority of the lots there, and it's something we've been talking with the Councilperson about and people in the neighborhood about, what our neighborhood needs and an ability to do something, whether it be a playground or a green space or something along those lines, either there or on another property that we owned on the east side of campus, what makes sense to partner and provide something for the neighborhood as well.
Great, great. Well, I want to thank Councilmember Young for working with the community on this project and also for responding to my question relative to ensuring that no one would be displaced as a result of this project. So thank you very, very much.
Thanking you and your good judgment with counsel. And I see Mr. Azouri(ph), who's filled me in as if I'm at the project. And while he's not a Prep grad, he's Jesuit-trained. So a little Scranton area, I believe, somewhere up that way. But he's excellent. Thank you. MR. McCLURE: Madam Chair, may I add something?
Matthew, you want to go ahead and do your testimony so we can have it on the record and then we'll go back to questions. MR. McCLURE: Sure. I apologize. Madam Chair, members of the committee, Councilperson Young, thank you so much. Matt McClure from Ballard Spahr here on behalf of St. Joseph's Preparatory School. One quick point of order just to bring up. There is an amendment we have just to remind you of the legislation. The maps were not introduced when the bill was introduced. So there's an amendment which is the maps to the bill, because the bill does both of remapping to SP-CIV as well as the technical amendments to the 5th District Council Overlay. But if there's any other technical questions, I'm available.
Thank you so much for your testimony. Chair recognizes Councilmember Jones.
Thank you so very much, Madam Chair. Matt, you are well- acquainted with institutional development and its impact on surrounding neighborhoods. I referenced St. Joe's and thank you for being a part of that discussion. What I would ask is what is and maybe a map of a four square-block area of the residential properties? What is the percentage of residents that own those properties versus the institution? MR. McCLURE: This is a fairly unique situation. The main parking lots that are between Ridge Avenue, Stiles Street and 18th Street are actually zoned CMX-3, which is probably pretty inappropriate for the community. The Prep itself is zoned primarily CMX-3, including the Jesuit Church, which makes no sense whatsoever. The properties north of Stiles Street to the south side of Chabot are zoned a combination of RM-1, which is right on 19th Street and then the rest are RSA-5. The vast majority of them, other than two structures right now, are owned by the St. Joseph's Preparatory School. One is under contract and the other is about to be under contract. So, yes, we are rezoning to SP-CIV. Yes, there's residential to the north side of Chabot. Vast majority of that is already owned by the Prep. But at the end of the day, compared to SP-CIV, we believe that this is a more appropriate remapping for the community. If anyone knows, and I'm sure Councilman O'Neill knows obviously, that CMX-3 has very few protections for the community. SP-CIV was really --
I have none in my district. MR. McCLURE: None in your district. But SP-CIV is a great district because it recognizes that we have all throughout Philadelphia educational institutions that need to grow. Yes, the dimensional requirements are different than residential, but they're not CMX-3. They're not SP-INST. They are designed for neighborhood-based institutions like the Prep. So with that, I applaud Councilman Young for the remapping for St. Joe's Prep because it's in keeping with what the neighborhood is in the planning. So we think that is good.
Member Young, what I'm trying to get to, if this is a map of the Prep four blocks each way, how many residents still own those properties, and for you to make sure they are well aware of any tax abatements? So, yeah, we want their property values to go up, but not their tax obligations.
If I may, Councilmember, thank you for that. So this area again, as Mr. McClure mentioned, is a mix between RM-1 and RSA-5. So there are a number of homeowners in this area. There are some special developments that happened in this area where the homes are unique, where there are all homeowners there, and then the RM-1 buildings where there is a mix of apartment owners as well. So there's a good mix in this area. There's some new construction development that's happening in this area, so this area has experienced a tad bit of gentrification. But it's a mix of homeowners, long-term homeowners, some new homeowners and some renters in this area. And also, most of the renters that are in this area have come from Temple University area that has been pushed down toward that way. So I would call it a nice mix of a community where the Prep is. So this project would not have too much of a negative impact on the homeowners who live in this area just because of the footprint of where this is and how the Prep already operates. The traffic studies have been done to show where vehicular traffic will travel in and around this particular area. So it will not have too much of an impact on the actual homeowners who reside typically to the -- it would be to the east of where the Prep is, to the northeast where the Prep is.
So I would only say you're getting your money's worth, Mr. McClure. As a matter of fact, if you could increase, you should increase it.
And just on the north side of Cabot, there are no residents there. There's actually nobody residing there. So even the boundary to the north of where we would be doing construction --
Could you provide the Chair a map of where the Prep intersects with residential? MR. McCLURE: I think the closest area where St. Joe's Prep intersects with residential is where the back of the Jesuit is. So the Jesuit, which is the giant Jesuit Baroque facility -- I know well because my boys are graduates of St. Joe's Prep and we go there for mass a lot. So on the north side of the church is Cabot Street. Across the street from Cabot Street, there are residences. But again, right now that structure is zoned CMX-3. It's going to be remapped to SP-CIV under this legislation. It is historically protected. Nothing is changing there. So it's more just to make sure that the uses that are allowed by SP-CIV are consistent. I mean, there are things in CMX-3 that are inappropriate for this site use-wise, and there are things in SP-CIV that you want for this site because it is an institutional use. And one of the things that was very important is that there was a text amendment last year that Council approved that allowed for modification of SP-CIV to have for religious activity. Believe it or not, SP-CIV originally did not allow for religious assembly and now it does. It makes it a perfect fit for the Prep here.
Thank you. I do have a question. So St. Joe's Prep is definitely known for its sports programs, particularly football, right. It's akin to some college football. Can you talk to us publicly about what will happen on this new facility? Are you going to have varsity games here? What varsity programs will be using this? Is there opportunity for community to use this space and things like that?
Certainly, yes. Thank you, Councilman. We will not have varsity football games there because it would be too much of a stress on the neighborhood, to be quite honest. We have several thousand people come to our home varsity football games, at the moment anyway. So if Prep football continues to have the success it does, that would be too much of a stress on the neighborhood. The other uses of the field for the Prep would be practicing varsity football, undersquad contests for football, JV and freshman, lacrosse at all levels because that is a very manageable number, soccer at all levels, varsity, JV and freshman, because those are manageable numbers that match the size of the facility that we have. Rugby, again similar, ultimate Frisbee and any other outdoor practice-type activities that go along with it. As far as the community is concerned, we already have partnerships with organizations that use our inside facility that are field sports. We would continue those. So SWAG is a North Philadelphia soccer program for youth. They use our indoor facilities. We would have them use our outdoor facilities as well. We work right now with Blackhawk Football, partner with them at Cecil B. Moore. There's opportunity for them to come. And then we host events like a flag football league for our -- our RCO has an organization that has a flag football league that we currently do on a roof play space. They would be able to move out to the turf opportunities along those lines for us. A Halloween trunk or treat, that would happen there in the courtyard. So those opportunities would continue and be enhanced.
Okay. All right. And seeing there are none, is there anyone else here to testify on Bill No. 260462? (No response.)
Okay. And seeing none, thank you very much for your testimony today.
Being that there are no further witnesses, we will now proceed with taking public comment. Is there anyone here in chambers that wishes to testify before the committee today? (No response.)
Okay. Seeing none, this concludes the public hearing. We'll now go into a public meeting to consider the action to be taken on the bills before the committee today. Madam Clerk, can we have a quorum check?
Okay. Thank you. And for the record, a quorum of the Committee is present. Chair now recognizes Councilmember Gilmore Richardson for a motion on the amendment to Bill No. 260462.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that the amendment to Bill No. 260462 be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation. (Duly seconded.)
Thank you. It's been moved and properly seconded that the amendment to Bill No. --
Hold on. Wait, wait. Hold on one second. I got it.
Okay. We're going to run that again. Thank you. So we're going to run that back.
The Chair now recognizes Majority Leader Kathy Gilmore Richardson for a motion on the amendment to Bill 4 No. 260462.
I offer an amendment to Bill No. 260462. A copy of the amendment has been circulated to all members of the committee. And I move that the amendment to Bill 11 No. 260462 be adopted. (Duly seconded.)
Thank you. It's been moved and properly seconded that the amendment to Bill No. 260462 be adopted. All those in favor of this motion will signify by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it. The motion carries. And the amendment to Bill No. 4 260462 has been adopted. The Chair now recognizes Majority Leader Kathy Gilmore Richardson for motion on Bill Nos. 260342, 260343, 260344, 260345, 260249, 260462 as amended.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that Bill Nos. 260342, 260343, 260344 --
Hold on. All right. Starting from the top, the Chair now recognizes Council Majority Leader Gilmore Richardson for a motion on Bill 20 Nos. 260342, 260343, 260344, 260345, 260429, 260462 as amended.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that Bill Nos. 260342, 260343, 260344, 260345, 260429 and 260462 as amended be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of Council be suspended as to permit first reading of this bill at the next session of Council. (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded that Bill Nos. 260342, 260343, 260344, 260345, 260429 and 260462 as amended be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of Council be suspended to permit first reading on this bill -- on these bills at the next session of Council. All those in favor of this motion will signify by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it and the motion carries. And if there are no 9 additional remarks from the Committee or our guests, this concludes the business of the Committee on Rules for today. Thank you all very much for your attendance.
Thank you, Madam Chair. - - - (Committee on Rules 11:00 a.m.) - - - C E R T I F I C A T I O N I, hereby certify that the proceedings and evidence noted are contained fully and accurately in the stenographic notes taken by me in the foregoing matter, and that this is a correct transcript of the same. __________________________________ TANEHA CARROLL