[ the naked city ]
✚ a million stories <<< continued from page 7
The law could be changed to add vacant lots. “The regular guy can’t hold out for as long as this is going to take. You have to have someone with resources and staying power to let the process play
itself out,” said Taylor. To that end, Taylor and other representatives introduced an amended version of the bill in June that would expand Act 135 to cover vacant lots (instead of only buildings), cut the grace period in half and increase the minimum “award” — in hopes of getting more groups to file claims. Most important, the amendment would make delinquent property owners responsible for legal fees incurred by petitioners if a judge finds their property was indeed blighted. Currently, if an owner decides to sell or repair a building before a judge’s ruling, petitioners can be left with nothing to show for their work but attorney fees and court costs — which
Palmer says can run $7,500 or more. “Right now, with the work and risk, we almost have to ask for a favor to get people involved,” said Taylor. “I want people competing for these things.”
Inexperience is also an impediment. Palmer says that “50 community groups” across the city have contacted Scioli Turco for instruction
on using Act 135 or to have the organization petition for a property on their behalf. Joe DeFelice of the Mayfair CDC says he approached Scioli Turco for help in dealing with a rowhouse that had been boarded up for nearly eight years on a tidy, working-class block of Sheffield Avenue in Northeast Philly. “We approached the owner about it, and he basically told us to go pound sand,” said DeFelice. Scioli Turco walked the CDC through Act 135 and, within two months, DeFelice says, his “phone was ringing off the hook.” It was the owners, and they wanted to negotiate. The process went smoothly enough that the CDC is now pursuing another blighted property on its own. “The [Sheffield Avenue] property is fixed up and currently for sale,” said DeFelice. “It’s like night and day.” —Ryan Briggs 12 | P H I L A D E L P H I A C I T Y PA P E R |
D E C E M B E R 5 - D E C E M B E R 1 1 , 2 0 1 3 | C I T Y PA P E R . N E T