Cutting Through the Zoning Code
The Goals of Zoning Reform, Part IV: Making procedures fair and consistent
The Goals of Zoning Reform, Part III: Protecting Philadelphia's natural and historic resources
In the next few weeks, both City Council and the Zoning Code Commission will reconvene. Council will begin holding public hearings on the commission’s proposals, and the ZCC will continue to…
The Goals of Zoning Reform, Part II: Promoting sustainable development
Last week, we posted the first in a series of stories holding the draft zoning code up against its stated purposes. Today, that series continues by looking at Purpose 2(a): Promoting…
The Goals of Zoning Reform, Part I: Protecting access to light & air
In the next few weeks, both City Council and the Zoning Code Commission will reconvene. Council will begin holding public hearings on the commission’s proposals, and the ZCC will continue to…
UPDATED New feature: Navigating one too many acronyms - a zoning lexicon
As is characteristic of government projects, an alphabet soup of committees, commissions, and stakeholder groups swirls around zoning reform in Philadelphia. If you’re new to the zoning reform process, as I…
Divvying up the burden in special exception zoning
In a previous post, I alluded to uncertain requirements for those who want to object to development proposals in special exception cases. It was later called to my attention that…
Neighborhood associations prepare for zoning reform
For years, Philadelphia’s neighborhood civic associations have had de facto negotiating power with developers who want to build in their communities. That power results from a number of factors. For one…
Developing by right and by exception: What's the neighborhood's role?
At the end of last year, my esteemed predecessor Nick ran a handful of uses through the Zoning Administrative Manual for a building that was (and still is) up for sale…
Monitor use changes in the new zoning code for a property near you
As the complex new zoning code is finalized by the ZCC before going to City Council this fall, PlanPhilly will analyze key components of the reform in this digestible new series.…
Zoning Code Commission X-Changes wind down
Philadelphia's Zoning Code Commission has completed its final two Stakeholder X-Change outreach meetings about development standards and parking. As with previous X-Changes, the meetings offered space for robust discussion of the…
Exchange at the X-Change: ZCC stakeholder discussions kick off
After 44 public meetings and 36 neighborhood meetings, Philadelphia's Zoning Code Commission launched another round of outreach: a seven-meeting series of "Stakeholder X-Changes" that began on Wednesday. Over three dozen people—many…
ZCC does not vote code rewrite onto council
At its Wednesday meeting, the Zoning Code Commission postponed a scheduled vote on whether to send its preliminary report to City Council. Instead, it passed a resolution to adopt a "Draft…
ZCC headed for a Wednesday vote; stakeholders headed for ongoing advocacy
The Zoning Code Commission will vote on March 2 whether to send its draft of Philadelphia's revised zoning code to City Council. Over the past month, interviews with stakeholders and discussions…
Mmmm, sausage-making: Extra ZCC hearings air out ongoing zoning concerns
On the heels of the contentious February 9 meeting of the Zoning Code Commission, the ZCC announced two public meetings to review stakeholder comments - on February 18 and 28. The…
Cutting through the Zoning Code: The Final(ish) Countdown
Redlines are red, bluelines are blue, a final(ish) cut through the code and a change memo too! My poet friends are so proud of me. The revision of Philadelphia's zoning code…
ZCC meeting: Time runs down, temperature heats up
As the time for debating Philadelphia's revised zoning code before the Zoning Code Commission winds down, tensions about deadlines, feedback to the commission, and who's been on the zoning ball boiled…
Cutting through the Zoning Code: ZAM! Lessons Learned
Last week Cutting through the Zoning Code took a Northern Liberties property and thought through a number of new uses—both new businesses for the existing building, and ways to redevelop the…
City Council briefed by ZCC
Preparing both itself and Philadelphia City Council for the next stage of zoning code reform, Philadelphia's Zoning Code Commission reported on its work at a special City Council briefing Thursday afternoon.…
Cutting through the Code: Residential and mixed-use in the Zoning Administrative Manual, Part 4
This week, Cutting through the Zoning Code is cutting through the Zoning Administrative Manual (ZAM). We're taking a Northern Liberties property and running six new uses through ZAM (and the…
Cutting through the Zoning Code: Fishy Nick's Seafood Palace, or, The Zoning Administrative Manual, Part 3
This week, Cutting through the Zoning Code is cutting through the Zoning Administrative Manual (ZAM). We're taking a Northern Liberties property and running six new uses through ZAM (and the…
As the complex new zoning code is finalized by the ZCC before going to City Council this fall, PlanPhilly will analyze key components of the reform in this digestible new series. Nick Gilewicz's stories will tell readers what the code says and how it says it, what the draft identifies as different and new, and in very general terms, what those new things could mean.
