A Brief History of Nowac
NOWAC was founded in 1989 to serve the residents of the area from the north of Washington Ave to the south of South Street and from Broad Street to the Schuylkill River.
1989: Founding
Fr. Steven Perzan, a priest at St. Charles, and Madeline Shikomba, a resident in the area, founded NOWAC to secure support for the creation of subsidized housing. NOWAC united with other groups in the area to prevent the gentrification of the 30th Ward and the displacement of long-time residents—many having resided here for 20 to 40 years and more—both renters and homeowners.
NOWAC sought the building of low and moderate-income housing to prevent the displacement of long-term residents and gentrification of the neighborhood. Thirty-seven buildings on the 1900, 2000, 2100 blocks of Christian Streets were renovated and the rents were subsidized (Section-8). A majority of the units were efficiencies to accommodate the large single senior citizen population that resided in the area. The project would enable the return of former residents who had been driven out due to high rents and lack of affordable housing.
A Community Base Agreement (CBA) was reached with the developers, Costandino Development Association and the Regis Group, which included the following:
- The establishment of a police sub-station at the corner of 20th and Christian.
- Tree planting along the three blocks.
- The creation of a Tenant Selection Committee and Tenant Advisory Council.
By 2002 the subsidies had come to an end and the properties sold. The efficiencies were no longer housing senior citizens but students. Parking is now a problem and there has been a heavy impact on public transportation in the area.
2012 – Present: RCO
NOWAC is a Registered Community Organization (RCO) with the City of Philadelphia. The purpose of RCOs is to consider project proposals from developers who seek variances to build in the area. There is a tremendous need for affordable housing for the low and moderate-income population. NOWAC wants an area of mixed income, not one of just high-end income properties. NOWAC SEEKS DEVELOPMENT WITHOUT DISPLACEMENT. NOWAC’s objective is to see that zoning proposals meet certain criteria that do not overburden the area with too many rental/commercial properties or acerbate the parking situation.
2016: RCO WORKSHOPS
With a small grant from Bread and Roses, NOWAC provided workshops for the city’s Registered Community Organizations (RCOs). NOWAC wanted to provide RCOs with the skills they need to become effective advocates and representatives for their community on zoning matters by offering workshops to effectively deal with the many zoning issues facing us.
NOWAC partnered with Attorney Steve Masters, a community empowerment lawyer with deep experience representing applicants and community groups in zoning matters and Michael Hauptman, an architect and a partner in the firm of Brawer and Hauptman who is the zoning chair of his local civic association. Four (4) workshops were held at the Unitarian Church at 21st & Chestnut Street. A total of forty-one (41) people attended the workshops. Each workshop dealt with different aspects of zoning and participants were given a series of related handouts.
2013 – 2018: LOOP
When Actual Value Initiative (AVI) was initiated in 2013 real estate tax assessments in the NOWAC area went through the roof. The average person saw an increase of 500% to 1000% increase ($30,000 real estate tax assessment increased to $350,000 or higher). People’s real estate taxes jumped from $800 to $2,500 or higher. City Council sought to mitigate the effect of this increase and to provide temporary relief to homeowners by introducing the Longtime Owner Occupants Program (LOOP) AKA /Gentrification Protection Program. This would provide some tax relief to our most vulnerable homeowners—senior citizens and low income/working class homeowners.
Working with Councilman Kenyatta Johnson and other members of city Council, NOWAC and Philadelphia Neighbors for Tax Action (PNTA), an affiliate of NOWAC, were able to secure passage of LOOP. Under the LOOP program, the property assessment tax would be locked in for ten years. To qualify a homeowner had to meet certain conditions.
2017 – 2018: LOOP EXTENSION
NOWAC worked with Councilman Johnson and other City Council members to pass two additional pieces of legislation that extended the life of LOOP and restored the income requirements to their original level (LOOP Bills 140638, 140717, 160012; 170901). Current LOOP occupant tax assessments remain locked until the current owner dies, or the property is sold or transferred.
2015: WASHINGTON AVE
Neighbors residing near 2401 Washington Avenue approached NOWAC regarding a developer’s proposal to build a five-story 113-unit multifamily mixed-use building with ground floor commercial, 57 off-street parking spaces in a two-story single-family residential neighborhood. The massive size of this proposal would impact the light and air of the neighbor’s properties and seriously acerbate parking in the area. The immediate neighbors, low-income longtime minority owners, were opposed to the developer’s proposal. NOWAC and the neighbors attempted to negotiate with the developer. They sought a redesign of the building to lessen its impact on the neighbors, the inclusion of affordable housing, minority employment hiring, and minority business opportunities in the commercial section of the development. The developer showed no interest. NOWAC appealed the ZBA decision, and the appeal was successful.
2013: PGW
The fight against the selling and privatization of PGW began earnestly in October 2013. NOWAC forged a partnership with the Food and Water Watch, a national advocacy organization working to champion healthy food and clean water for all, and worked with the PGW union. NOWAC and its partners prevented the sale of PGW. We were successful because of the support of President Darrel Clark and members of City Council.
For additional information, link to the articles listed below.
http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/heardinthehall/Residents-ask-City-Council-to-vote-against-sale-of-PGW.html
2000 – 2004: NEXTEL CELL TOWER
In the summer of 2000 NOWAC and the neighbors in the 2300 block of Christian Street raised objections to Nextel’s cell-phone antennas. They were mainly worried about the health impact of radio frequency emissions being emitted by the tower, which was built in 1968.
The tower violated the zoning code: it exceeded the height limit by 20 feet. In 2000 NEXTEL sought a permit to add more antennas. L&I officials refused to issue the permit on the grounds that the structure was illegal. In support of the NOWAC and the neighbors, Council President Verna in 1990 sued Nextel in court. On May 16, 2003, Common Pleas Court ruled against NEXTEL. This decision was upheld by the appeals court on August 17, 2004 and the PA Supreme Court refused to review Nextel’s petition. NOWAC and the neighbors had prevailed. The tower was removed. For additional information link to the articles listed below.
1990: LOW INCOME HOUSING
In 1990 developers, Reshetar Construction and Equitable Properties purchased St. Anthony’s School at 23rd & Carpenter Street to build low-income rental housing for the elderly and disabled persons. Opposition sought to stop the development. NOWAC came out in support of it. A Community Based Agreement (CBA) was reached between the developers and NOWAC.