Developers, community groups hash out public’s role in project review; opportunity to comment on draft procedures next month

Special Workshop

Neighborhood leaders and members of the development community met last night to find areas of agreement about how and when the public should be involved in development review. The final in a series of three workshops was designed to focus attention on the toughest issues – who speaks for the neighborhood, which projects are reviewed, how to differentiate zoning review from design review, and the role of city council. Results from the workshops will be summarized in the form of common ground principles and action steps. The ZCC will consider whether any of the recommendations should be incorporated into the new zoning code.

The topics covered in this last workshop were based on discussions at the first two sessions. On January 19 developers met to identify the positives and negatives of the city’s current project review process and to consider new options. Community leaders did the same on January 23. Eight areas of common ground emerged for a combined group to hash out in more detail. Workshop organizers distinguished between topics where they saw significant agreement and those that required considerably more attention.

Ideas about how to improve notification practices, adjust timeline, and make the process more transparent were areas where developers and neighborhoods could agree. The most tension stemmed from discussions about whether the public should provide input on by-right projects, who is recognized as the legitimate voice of a neighborhood, what features of a project should be up for public debate, and the tradition of councilmanic privilege (the ability of council members to control any development-related legislation impacting his or her district). For example, developers tended to link more input to more time and more costs and to suggest that only projects in need of a zoning adjustment be subjected to public review. While some neighborhood leaders agreed to a point, most wanted an opportunity to weigh in on projects of a certain size or level of impact. Others cited instances where even a by-right project was improved because the public inserted itself into the process.

Ultimately, participants were asked to look beyond personal interests and the interests of the stakeholder group they represent to identify points of agreement about public involvement and develop some principles rooted in common ground:

• Community education/capacity building related to zoning issues is needed
• Code must protect developer rights and neighborhood interests at the same time
• Meeting with the community early and addressing concerns is good policy
• Development with significant impacts should trigger community involvement
• Triggers for public review must be clearly defined in the new zoning code
• By-right projects can benefit from neighborhood input
• Zoning review and design review should be separated
• Neighborhood plans and design guidelines should be honored
• Design review board should include objective professionals
• Local/neighborhood representative should have a place on citywide design review board
• Criteria/standards for establishing legitimate community groups is needed
• City council members should demonstrate contact with the community when supporting/opposing a development project in his or her district

All ideas on the form, structure, and content of a public participation process for project review in the new code will be summarized in a report. Recommendations to the ZCC will consist of common ground principles and specific steps for achieving each principle. The ZCC is set to release the general provisions and administrative procedures of chapters 1 and 2 of the draft code next month. The Commission has agreed to consider workshop recommendations as it finalizes procedures in these chapters and to explain which will and will not be incorporated into the code and why. Once the draft chapters are released, there will be opportunity for the public to provide comment at a series of public meetings tentatively scheduled for the end of February and the beginning of March.

To review the results of all three workshops and the final recommendations that will be submitted to the ZCC for consideration, visit http://www.gse.upenn.edu/pcel/programs/ppce/current.

“Common Ground for Building Our City: Developers, the Public and the Zoning Code” is a joint effort of the Penn Project for Civic Engagement and the Philadelphia Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. The project is made possible by a grant from the William Penn Foundation.