Philadelphia, PA - The City of Philadelphia has reached an agreement regarding the homeless encampment which took over the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in June.
The agreement will result in Camp residents voluntarily vacating the encampment site by the end of this week.
The City has also agreed to transfer 50 properties to a land trust established by the encampment residents. The transfer of the properties will occur in phases spelled out in the agreement:
- Within five days of the resolution of the Camp and establishment of the Land Trust, the City will agree to provide site control and access, temporarily, to up to 10 properties to the Land Trust.
- Within six months of the Camp's resolution, the City will enter into agreements to transfer up to an additional 40 city-owned properties identified by the Land Trust.
- Of those 40, 25 will be transferred to the City within 45 days by PHA, using properties from closed Rental Assistance Demonstrations (RAD) transactions.
- The remaining 15 properties will be city-owned properties identified by the Land Trust and which the City agrees are suitable for transfer to the Land Trust.
Organizers have been tied to the Black Lives Matter movement and demanded equal access to fair, safe, and affordable housing.
