December 19, 2023
Provided Image/Gensler
Local stakeholders said the city is denying requests to share public records concerning the proposed new 76ers arena, creating a lack of transparency.
With City Council legislation on the proposed 76ers arena in Chinatown expected in January, activists have said Philly's government is refusing to share crucial information about the project.
Advocates for the neighborhood said that the city's law department has denied over 100 Right-to-Know requests — filings that open information up to the public — concerning the arena. One local activist and journalist, Faye Anderson, said she submitted requests to over a dozen agencies and officials that were largely denied.
In Pennsylvania, interested parties can submit a Right-to-Know request to state or local government bodies for any information, save for a few exceptions. The government must either fulfill the request, request an extension or deny it within five days, although the government cannot deny a request based on how it thinks the information will be used.
Anderson said she filed requests this summer with multiple government agencies, including PennDOT, SEPTA, the mayor’s office and the Department of Planning and Development. The city responded saying the requests were too broad and repetitive, but a final determination from the state’s Office of Open Records in November said that some requests were specific enough to be accepted. The agency ordered the city to turn relevant records over to Anderson within 30 days, but the city appealed the decision to the Philadelphia County Court of Public Pleas.
"It’s an opaque project that has very little facts," Anderson said.
Similarly, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund submitted nine Right-to-Know requests regarding the arena in October on behalf of the Save Chinatown Coalition. The fund requested information on impact studies from the city, communications from officials and a traffic study from arena developer 76 DevCo. The fund also asked for more information about why the Greyhound bus terminal moved locations from Filbert Street to Market Street, as the former station would be at the new arena's location.
City and state agencies denied all those requests in a single letter. The fund then filed appeals with the Office of Open Records.
The coalition said it previously submitted 90 requests, all of which were denied in one letter.
"As this development has unfolded, the public has really not been included in all of the conversations being had about the proposed development," said Annie Lo, a Skadden Fellow at the AALDEF. "The community really just doesn't have the information they need to evaluate the arena's impact on the surrounding area, especially Chinatown and the residents from all over Philadelphia that use it as a hub."
The AALDEF expects a response from the records office by mid-January, although Lo said the wait could be extended.
From the few records Anderson received from the city, which she shared with PhillyVoice, she found that city officials and other involved parties have been meeting weekly since at least October 2022.
“These conversations were made behind closed doors. What were they saying behind closed doors?" Anderson said. "What were they saying when they thought those conversations, those records, would never see the light of day?"
On Monday, the city held its first public meeting with the Civic Design Review committee at the request of Councilmember Mark Squilla. Many attendees spoke against the stadium; in response, committee members voted to invite the development team back to present changes based on feedback presented at the meeting.
The planning commission noted during the meeting that 10th and 11th streets would shut down before and after arena events should the project be approved. Approximately 150 events would be held at the venue annually, according to developers.
In the meantime, Lo said she hopes more information will become available with the Right-to-Know processes.
"It's really felt like the community has not been privy to the full extent of the conversations that have been happening between elected officials and the developers," Lo said. "That's precisely why the Right-to-Know process was so vital for the public, to gain this type of information."
