Three bills would let the city acquire riverfront land for parks, by purchase or condemnation

Three bills introduced at City Council's Oct. 22 session would let the city acquire riverfront land for parks and trails in three parts of the city: the Delaware River in Tacony-Holmesburg, the Schuylkill River and Wissahickon Creek near Ridge Avenue, and the Schuylkill's west bank in Southwest Philadelphia.

Each bill gives the Commissioner of Public Property authority to get the land by purchase, gift, dedication, condemnation or other means. That last word matters to property owners. Condemnation is the government's power to take private land for public use, with payment. The bills don't say which method the city plans to use for any parcel. Two of them match ordinances Mayor Cherelle L. Parker sent to Council the same day.

The bills got little attention when they were introduced. Here is what each one covers.

The three parkland bills

Delaware River, Tacony-Holmesburg. Bill 260893, from 6th District Councilmember Mike Driscoll, covers parcels generally between Princeton Avenue, Pennypack Path, the Delaware River and State Road, for "public parks for public recreational use" (bill text). The mayor's message proposing the same ordinance is Communication 260877.

Schuylkill River and Wissahickon Creek. Bill 260891, from 4th District Councilmember Curtis Jones Jr., covers land bounded on the north by Ridge Avenue continuing to Main Street, on the west by Pencoyd Bridge, on the east by the Wissahickon Creek and on the south by the Schuylkill (bill text). The mayor's matching message is Communication 260874.

Schuylkill west bank, Southwest Philadelphia. Bill 260890, from 3rd District Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, covers parcels on the river's west bank in an area bounded by South 58th Street extended to the bulkhead line, South 61st Street and West Passyunk Avenue. It is for a trail "for public park, recreation, and transportation purposes" (bill text). We did not find a matching mayoral message in the Oct. 22 records.

The parcel maps are attached to each bill as Exhibit A.

A lease in the Northeast

The mayor also sent an ordinance for a city lease at 9300 Ashton Road, which Driscoll introduced as Bill 260894 (bill text). Its terms:

• About 27,906 square feet in Unit 3, from HBF Properties LP, for Department of Public Property equipment, vehicles and offices.
• A 15-year term, with the city able to end it after four years without penalty.
• Rent of $12 a square foot in years 1-5, $13 in years 6-10 and $14 in years 11-15. First-year base rent is about $334,872.
• The landlord pays to fit out the space.

Our records list Bill 260894 as not assigned to a committee. The mayor also asked Council to approve an amended city sublease at 1600-26 John F. Kennedy Boulevard with the Philadelphia Municipal Authority (Communication 260875).

What our records add

• Committee: The three parkland bills went to the Committee on Public Property and Public Works. No hearing for them appears on our meetings calendar.
• A similar bill shows how long these can wait. Bill 250807, from 1st District Councilmember Mark Squilla, would let the city acquire land between Vine Street, Fairmount Avenue, 8th Street and 12th Street for parks, also by purchase or condemnation. It cleared committee and got a first reading Dec. 11, 2025. It is still on the second-reading calendar for Thursday's session, 322 days later. Our agenda story.
• The same committee moves land deals regularly. On Oct. 21 it approved a $1-a-year lease of former landfill land near the airport for a union training center (Bill 260763). Our story.

What's next

The parkland bills need a committee hearing before they can move. A hearing is where councilmembers can ask the administration which parcels it wants and how it plans to get them, and where the public can testify. After committee approval, each bill needs a first reading and a final vote, then the mayor's signature.