Most see Philadelphia's current zoning code as unfair and inconsistent. The ZCC's proposals aim to reverse that.
Philadelphia is asset-rich, both historically and environmentally. The draft zoning code was crafted to keep it that way.
The new zoning code contains a number of provisions aimed at encouraging energy-efficient development and supporting Philadelphia's Greenworks goals.
How does the ZCC's draft new zoning code serve its stated purposes? Part one of a series: protecting each property's access to adequate light, air, street frontage and other public amenities.
WEEKLY UPDATE: An alphabet soup of committees, commissions, and stakeholder groups swirls around zoning reform in Philadelphia. If you’re new to the zoning reform process, these acronyms can be headache-inducing. But it’s important to know what they represent.
A thirty-year-old case from the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania breaks down what it takes to get a special exception zoning approval. Answer: not much.
Seeking zoning variances, developers regularly court the support of neighborhood civic associations. But when the code is reformed and more projects are by right, securing community support could become less important. Neighborhood groups look ahead to the new code.
The new zoning code mandates that developers talk with affected community groups when seeking special exceptions to the zoning code. But do they have to listen?
In response to a request from Councilman Bill Green, the Zoning Code Commission is working on a way to let the public compare use regulations on specific properties as the zoning code is updated. If you're in a hurry to check out a certain property, however, there's already a way to do it.
The ZCC's Stakeholder X-Changes came to an end this week. Committee as a whole meets next week.
The ZCC's "Stakeholder X-Change" series of meetings began on Wednesday, with a lengthy discussion about the role of community organizations will play under the new zoning regime.
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.
PlanPhilly: Planning Philadelphia's Future