§16-404. The Vacant Property Review Committee.
(1) A Vacant Property Review Committee is hereby created to be
composed of the executive heads or their designees of the
following:
[29] (a) The
Department of Public Property;
(b) The Department of
Revenue;
(c) The City Planning Commission;
(d) The
Redevelopment Authority;
(e) The Philadelphia Industrial Development
Corporation;
(f) The Department of Licenses and
Inspections;
(g) President of City Council or his
designee;
(h) The Philadelphia Housing Development
Corporation;
[30] (i) Chairman,
City Council Committee on Public Property and Public
Works;
(j) Director of Housing and Community
Development.
(k) The Philadelphia Commercial Development
Corporation.
[31] (l) The
Department of
Commerce.
[32] (m) Philadelphia
Association of Community Development
Corporations.
[33] (2) The
Vacant Property Review Committee shall serve as an advisory committee to
determine whether or not to recommend or certify to the Commissioner of Public
Property whether title to certain properties shall be accepted by the
Commissioner of Public Property.
(3) The Vacant Property Review
Committee before certifying or recommending acceptance of title to property, to
the Commissioner of Public Property shall:
(a) Examine all properties
submitted to the City for acquisition under the provisions of this Section and
shall only approve those properties for acquisition which meet one or more of
the standards and terms set forth in this section as follows:
(.1) The
property or grounds offered are vacant, blighted, abandoned, delinquent in the
payment of taxes due, unfit for human habitation, a public nuisance, or a danger
to the community under the provisions of this Section or any Section of The
Philadelphia Code of General Ordinances.
(.2) The property constitutes
all or part of a parcel of ground which is designated for a public purpose by
the City or any of its constituent agencies.
(.3) The property is
delinquent in the payment of taxes and/or municipal liens charged against
it.
[34] (4) The Vacant Property
Review Committee shall determine what City surplus properties are suitable to
effectuate the purposes of this Chapter and shall give its recommendation to the
Commissioner of Public Property that these properties be made available for
disposition in accordance with the provisions of this
Chapter.
[35] (5) The Vacant
Property Review Committee, in conjunction with the City Planning Commission,
upon making a determination that any property is blighted, and not readily
acquirable by donation for reasons as hereinbefore provided in the legislative
findings, may certify said blighted property to the Redevelopment Authority for
acquisition pursuant to the provisions of Act No. 94 of June 23, 1978, amending
the act of May 24, 1945 (P.L. 991, No. 385) known as the "Urban Redevelopment
Law," except
that:
[36] (a) No property
shall be certified to the Redevelopment Authority unless it is
vacant.
[37] (b) No property
shall be certified to the Redevelopment Authority unless the owner of the
property or an agent designated by him for receipt of service of notices within
the City of Philadelphia has been served with notice of the determination that
the property is blighted, together with an appropriate order to eliminate the
conditions causing the blight and notification that failure to do so may render
the property subject to condemnation. The notice shall be served upon the owner
or his agent in accordance with the provisions pertaining to service of notice
of determination of a public nuisance. The owner or agent shall have the right
of appeal from the determination in the same manner as an appeal from the
determination of a public
nuisance.
[38] (c) No
blighted property shall be certified to the Redevelopment Authority until the
time period for appeal has expired and no appeal has been taken, or, if taken,
the appeal has been disposed of, and the owner or his agent has failed to comply
with the order.
[39] (d) No
single vacant lot or parcel of ground shall be certified to the Redevelopment
Authority on which more than ten (10) dwelling units can be constructed under
existing zoning
regulations.
[40] (6) The
Vacant Property Review Committee shall, in cooperation with the City Planning
Commission, determine the conditions of title to be incorporated into the deed
for each property to be disposed of pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter.
Failure of compliance with said conditions will cause title to the property to
revert to the ownership of the City of Philadelphia, or the Redevelopment
Authority of the City of Philadelphia, automatically, without any conveyance
thereof being required, upon notice that such failure exists and no attempt is
made to remedy such failure. Such conditions shall include, but not necessarily
be limited to, the
following:
[41] (a) The
property shall be developed and used in accordance with the Comprehensive Land
Use Plan of the City of Philadelphia.
(b) The property shall be
rehabilitated and/or improved and said rehabilitation and/or improvement is to
be completed within one year of acquisition of title, unless practical cause is
shown why the time for completion should be extended, provided that no extension
of time shall be for more than six (6) months, except with further approval of
the Vacant Property Review Committee.