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You are viewing 221 articles by the author Jared Brey
Tax collection and foreclosure bill amended, headed for vote
A bill overhauling the way the city collects delinquent property taxes was amended on the floor of City Council Thursday, and could come up for a vote as early as next…
Lower Schuylkill Master Plan adopted by Planning Commission
A plan for the future industrial and recreational development of the Lower Schuylkill was adopted on Tuesday by the Philadelphia City Planning Commission. The goal of the Lower Schuylkill Master Plan…
Planning Commission approves rezoning for Soko Lofts, six other sites
The Philadelphia City Planning Commission recommended approval of a bill on Tuesday that would rezone a thin strip of land on American Street between Master and Thompson from industrial to commercial…
PennDesign students develop a model for managing closed school buildings
This June, 23 Philadelphia public schools will be closed for good, adding around 65 acres to the city’s already heavy burden of vacant land. For the city, dealing with these soon-to-be-empty…
State Senator drafting anti-SLAPP legislation after civic group's demise
State Senator Larry Farnese says he'll introduce legislation in Harrisburg making it easier for groups subject to intimidating SLAPP lawsuits to have the cases dismissed or recover legal costs after the…
Zoning board to rule on variances for Canal Street North after marathon hearing
First impression of Julia Chapman, the new chair of the city’s Zoning Board of Adjustment: she is a patient woman. Chapman, a former aide to Mayor Michael Nutter in the early…
Old City Civic Association, 1973-2013
Old City Civic Association, one of the longest-running formal neighborhood groups in Philadelphia, succumbed to the elements earlier this week. At a meeting on Monday, May 6th, the organization’s board…
Design review committee recommends Edgewater II and, with questions, Soko Lofts
The Civic Design Review Committee, an offshoot of the Planning Commission which meets monthly to consider the impacts of large development projects on the public realm, unanimously recommended approval Tuesday afternoon…
City to seek ads on public property in the 'near future'
Last week, City Council amended the zoning code to allow for the creation of a municipal advertising program, in which advertisements promoting commercial products or political or religious ideas could appear…
The cost of doing civics: Old City Civic Association disbands its zoning operation
The Philadelphia World Trade Center, a five-and-a-half acre complex of international commerce at Columbus Blvd. and Callowhill St., has had more impact on the development of the Central Delaware than any…
Blackwell calls for hearings on Philadelphia2035
Last week, City Council adopted a resolution introduced by 3rd-District Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell calling for hearings on the City Planning Commission’s Philadelphia2035 project, the city’s neighborhood-by-neighborhood comprehensive plan. The first phase…
Mixed messages: Philadelphia’s struggle to create lasting billboard regulations
The history of outdoor advertising regulation in Philadelphia is a saga of false starts. Two major overhauls of municipal billboard regulations, in 1991 and 2005, established clear new rules for how…
Planning Commission recommends removing curb cut limits in non-residential areas
The zoning code enacted last August sets a limit on the size and number of curb cuts that let cars into and out of surface parking lots in all zoning districts:…
New institutional developments planned for West Philly
“I don’t want this Commission, or the City in general, to be stopping what we actually believe is a good result because the process just can’t catch up,” Deputy Mayor Alan…
Planning Commission approves Old City 'bridge approach' zoning overlay
The Philadelphia City Planning Commission voted Thursday to approve Councilman Mark Squilla’s bill that would add a small subset to the Old City zoning overlay, allowing for larger and denser projects…
Zoning board will schedule special hearing on Canal Street entertainment complex
The Zoning Board of Adjustment began to hear arguments Wednesday about zoning relief for Penn Treaty Village—the bowling-alley/concert-venue/restaurant/distillery/Toby Keith bar proposed for Canal Street in Fishtown—before dismissing the opposing parties until…
Many in Old City support 205 Race development, by any means
It may shock PlanPhilly readers, but we’d be remiss if we didn’t come right out and say it: for many people, the zoning process is secondary, at best, to the developments…
Old City rezoning bill drafted to avoid ZBA opposition from adjacent billboard owner
Facing opposition from Old City Civic Association and Keystone Outdoor Advertising, which owns a towering, tri-face billboard across the street from the site of the proposed 205 Race Street project, the…
Fishtown Neighbors vote for Wynn casino proposal by a 3-to-1 margin
More than 200 Fishtown residents heard a pitch Monday night for a Steve Wynn casino on a 60-acre parcel on the Delaware River. Most of them liked what they heard: 173…
Old City objects to use of councilmanic privilege for 205 Race St. project
When you want to construct a building that’s bigger and denser than the property’s zoning allows, the old-fashioned way to do that is to apply for variances, meet with the local…
