Neighborhoods, Development, and Zoning
Issue discussion
We must do more to strengthen our wonderfully diverse and strong neighborhoods by encouraging the right kind of development. We have to revise our zoning code to stimulate development while enabling neighborhoods to protect themselves against inappropriate projects. We have to repeal Act 193 so that neighborhoods can appeal decisions of the Zoning Board.
- A City of Neighborhoods. It is a cliché to call Philadelphia a city of neighborhoods. But it is true. Our varied neighborhoods, each with its own distinctive sense of community, makes us very attractive to people considering a move to our city. We need to do everything we can to strengthen our neighborhoods.
- Encourage the Right Kind of Development. One way to strengthen neighborhoods is to encourage the right kind of development within them. While Philadelphia neighborhoods are often thought to be opposed to new development, most of them understand that investment in new businesses and homes strengthens them. But, as former head of the community association West Mt. Airy Neighbors, I know that community groups often play an important role in blocking awful development proposals and improving almost all projects, making them more valuable to both the community and the developer.
- Repeal Act 193. To enable neighborhoods to protect themselves, the first thing we need to do is to repeal Act 193, which took away the right of neighborhoods to appeal to the courts decisions of the Zoning Board, Historical Commission and other agencies that regulate land use decisions.
- End the Menace of Stop and Gos. We also have to make sure that city and state agencies treat every neighborhood fairly. Right now, that is not the case. For example, too many neighborhoods suffer from the stop and gos and corner stores that serve alcoholic beverages to minors and sell drug paraphernalia. In too many neighborhoods, neither the Philadelphia Department of Licenses and Inspections nor the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board has been effective in policing stop and gos. I have worked on this issue as a private citizen. I will continue to advocate on behalf of every neighborhood to deal with this problem once I am a member of Council.
- Revise the Zoning Code. We also need to revise the zoning code and zoning procedures in this city. But we have to do this carefully. The current system does not serve anyone well. Our zoning code is so outdated that almost nothing gets built without a variance. That takes a great deal of time. And it leads to decisions that are too much the product of political influence and thus are often unfair. Some communities in the city can use the need for variances to protect themselves from unwanted development. Others cannot. While we need to revise the zoning code we must do it in a way that attains four goals:
First, we must simplify the zoning code so that more development can occur without the need for variances from the code.
Second, communities must be brought into the development of a new zoning code. The new zoning code has to take into account not only good urban planning principles, but the individual characteristics of each neighborhood. We have to be farsighted in designing the zoning code. Right now, for example, developers are proposing residential building in Center City and Fairmount that are far too high and big. A revised zoning code has to control such development. And it has to keep in mind not just the development proposals being made today but those that might be made in the future.
Finally, the new zoning code has to give community groups an important role in reviewing and approving major new projects in their neighborhoods. While this might slow development to some extent, it will develop projects better and will also protect developers whose new investments might be undermined by subsequent projects. Communities have found that when they adopt a regular and rational process for community review, everyone benefits.
