Public Testimony: Philadelphia Homeowners Need Legislative Protections from Adjacent Construction Damages

Happy Friday, Neighbors,

Yesterday – June 2nd, 2022 – I provided public testimony on Bill #220008 to City Council’s Committee on Licenses & Inspection alongside many personally impacted residents and local advocates.

Some of the highlights of the changes made by this bill include:

• Requiring a pre-construction survey of properties adjacent to new construction (dependent on specific situations and construction activities).

• Requiring builders to provide more information to neighbors about their proposed construction work.

• For more details, read the bill, here.

• For a plain-English explanation, read this "explainer” document, created by Community Legal Services, here.

The recorded hearing is available on the PHL Council Youtube page. The following links and timestamps will take you directly to different testimonies given yesterday, including my own. I will include a copy of my written testimony at the bottom of this blog post as well.

Your Millennial Neighbor,

Michele Gaffney (She/Her/Hers)

Full Meeting Sections:

• The full video of the meeting is available here on Youtube

• Testimony on bill #220384 begins here at 00:08:43

• Testimony on bill #220008 begins here at 00:12:27

• Public meeting and vote to send the bill back to council for a final vote next week. 01:53:52

Timestamps & Direct Links for Individual Testimonies:

• Sarah Adamo (Legislative Affairs Manager for the Dept. of Licenses & Inspections) - 00:12:27

• State Rep Joe Hohenstein - 00:16:29

• Migdalia Mendez (Impacted Resident at 415 West Houston, 19122) - 00:21:41

• Michael G. Moran (Impacted Homeowner) 00:38:37

• Michele Gaffney (Community Advocate & ASCA Member) - 00:42:26

• Jerome Whack (Impacted Property Owner at 1947 Christian St) - 00:47:40
  - see his court case here

• Drew Miller on behalf of Community Legal Services (CLS) - 01:03:15

• Ida L. Castro (Impacted Resident & ASCA Member) - 01:10:03

• Clarice Brooks (Impacted Resident in the 5th district, 1400 block of North 7th) - 01:19:15
  - Clarice's experience, covered by WHYY

• Michele Gaffney (Follow up comment in support of additional funding for CLS) - 01:24:17

• Mary Collins from US Construction on behalf of the BIA - 01:26:00
  - Building Industry Association of Philadelphia

• Councilmember Mark Squilla (Response to Mary Collins) - 01:30:18

• Michele Gaffney (Rebuttal to Mary Collins' complaints about restrictions in the bill) - 01:32:40

• Robert & Tina Gilmore (Impacted Resident on the 1400 block of Parish st) - 01:34:58

• Debbie King (Impacted Resident in Northern Liberties) - 01:41:07
  - Corresponding article

Written Testimony Provided by Michele Gaffney

Testimony of Michele Gaffney, Philadelphia 19125 Resident, Constituent of Councilmember Mark Squilla, and Local Community Advocate and Consultant for Adjacent Construction Safety and Residents’ Rights, to City Council’s Committee on Licenses & Inspection on Bill #220008

June 2nd, 2022

Thank you, members of the Committee, my name is Michele Gaffney. I am a Philadelphia homeowner and I’m here to testify on Bill #220008. I am a Community Advocate and Consultant for Adjacent Construction Safety and Residents’ Rights. I help victims to document, report, and seek resolutions for construction damages caused by adjacent development projects. I’m a member of the Adjacent Construction Safety Coalition, composed of members from various neighborhood organizations and advocacy groups – currently including the Riverwards L&I Coalition, Norris Square’s Neighborhood Project, Community Action Network, and Community Alliance, the Philly Liberation Center, and more, in addition to individual community advocates like myself. We expect to continue to grow to include neighborhoods across all of the city’s districts, due to the widespread impact of construction damage on adjacent neighbors in Philadelphia.

As you will hear throughout many of the testimonies today, residents across the city have been harmed at an alarming rate by unsafe adjacent construction work. When a resident’s home is damaged by a developer the city considers it a “civil issue,” meaning that the resident must win a legal suit in order to receive any kind of compensation for the impact of the damage. Most homeowners’ insurance plans do not cover damages of this kind, and developers are not currently required to cover adjacent properties under their insurance. This often leaves residents holding the bill for thousands of dollars-worth of repairs that occurred through no fault of their own. It is also a traumatizing experience that leaves lasting impacts on their financial and mental health.

In my work I’ve met with numerous residents of all backgrounds who have experienced similar patterns of disregard by negligent developers and contractors. By the time I end up working with a resident, they are already in crisis and they have typically already tried to contact the developer-next-door with no response. In these kinds of cases, a careless developer will only respond once a lawyer has become involved. Bill # 220008 would make it mandatory for a developer to establish reliable communication with the resident before beginning their work, as more diligent developers already do. The bill would also ensure that the resident is provided with notice and information necessary for both parties to resolve minor issues before they have the chance to become major disputes.

The learning curve for a resident who finds themselves embroiled in a construction dispute is steep, and oftentimes the resident doesn’t know what to worry about until serious damage has already been done. In many cases the victims lack a full understanding of their rights to begin with. Residents suddenly find themselves in an uphill battle that many do not have the means to fight – something that bad actors count on. Underserved residents without access to resources often get discouraged and give up. Predatory developers then take this opportunity swoop in with a low cash offer on the resident’s now-damaged and devalued property. This cycle has been on repeat across the city and is actively displacing residents, harming established communities and neighborhoods. This is an issue that must be addressed on multiple fronts. Residents already experiencing harm need help, but there are also countless future damages that can be prevented

The City recently announced significant property tax increases, and the homeowners paying those taxes deserve concrete support in preserving the generational wealth they hold in their homes. 'It's a civil issue' is not a sufficient response from a government that relies on our tax contributions.

The city must proactively reduce conditions that lead to adjacent construction damage, and this bill is an important step towards that goal. Please support bill #220008 & continue to build institutional support for long time homeowners.

Thank you for your time and I am happy to answer any questions.

Sincerely,

Michele Gaffney (She/Her/Hers)