PlanPhilly reporters want to hear from you! Ask us a question or send us a story idea you think we should cover. The company still needs approval from the Board of Education and the state for the extension, which will lengthen the amount of time tenant companies are exempt from paying most state and local taxes. The group initially called for commitments around environmental health, employment and community assets — as well as provisions to fight the displacement of long-term residents.
The massive, 1,acre former refinery site stretches along the Schuylkill River in South and Southwest Philadelphia. It once housed the largest oil refinery on the East Coast, which closed after a fire and series of explosions in Its plans for the site, branded The Bellwether District , include a complex of over a dozen warehouses near the Packer Park and Girard Estates neighborhoods and a life sciences campus near the Grays Ferry, Point Breeze and West Passyunk neighborhoods.
Activists and nearby residents with the environmental group Philly Thrive have expressed concerns that the project could accelerate gentrification nearby and that diesel trucks servicing the warehouses will cause unhealthy air pollution.
The Keystone Opportunity Zone extension, which still needs to be approved by the Board of Education, would stretch through An attorney for Philly Thrive has previously contended the commitment is not binding, but the final version does have language saying signatories can go to court if they believe HRP is not holding to its terms.
The document requires them to seek mediation or arbitration before suing. The money may fund nonprofit, nonpolitical community initiatives — for example, gun violence prevention or housing security efforts. Johnson said he is confident the CBC is enforceable, and supports it because of the number of groups that have signed on.
