PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia City Council passed a resolution Thursday that clears the way for new residential development in Point Breeze, despite objections from some community members.
"I vehemently oppose the building of these 20 properties," said resident Vivian Burbage. She urged council not to approve a resolution that would transfer 20 lots from the Land Bank to Civetta Property Group for the construction of a combination of workforce and market-rate housing.
The lots are scattered in an area that has been the scene of much contentious debate over gentrification, which spilled into the public testimony.
"We need peers of our own kind down here, and it should be reserved for low-wage to low-income home ownership," Burbage continued.
The resolution's sponsor, Councilmember Kenyatta Johnson, defended the development, noting that only four of the units are market-rate and the other 16 are reserved for people making 80% or less of the area median income.
"It's a mixed-income package, so it's a balanced approach," he said.
Another of Johnson's resolutions received broad public support during testimony. That resolution supports a U.S. House bill to create a Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans.
Both resolutions passed unanimously.
