ZCC delays vote on new zoning code; some question whether code is ready for City Council

ZCC Regular Session

In response to requests from the Crosstown Coalition and Councilman Bill Green, the ZCC has delayed the vote to send the draft zoning code to City Council for at least two weeks. While some ZCC members and public stakeholders think it’s time to debate controversial issues in front of City Council, others want an opportunity to work directly with the Commission to resolve concerns and improve the draft code beforehand. “City Council is not the better forum for this dialogue,” Michael Sklaroff said, speaking on behalf of the Development Workshop. Although ZCC Chair Alan Greenberger argued that there has been ample time for input and that it’s time to move ahead, the public wants assurance that all feedback was considered first.

Speaking for the Crosstown Coalition and the Old City Civic Association, Joe Schiavo said that he has received very little response to particular comments and has a responsibility to his constituents to explain what resulted from particular points. “We are left hanging,” Schiavo said. “We understand we are not going to win every point, but we need resolution on every one.” Others agreed. Representatives from Concerned Citizens of Point Breeze and the East Passyunk Crossing Civic Association spoke out on proposed standards they believe will have adverse impacts on their neighborhoods and asked the ZCC if it fully considered all the issues. “Most people in the neighborhoods don’t even know about zoning reform,” a representative from Point Breeze said. “Everybody doesn’t have access to the internet and ZoningMatters.org. We think there needs to be another round of community meetings.”

Apart from public stakeholder issues, City Council voiced concerns about the draft code as well. At a special briefing on February 3, councilmembers reminded the ZCC that they were entering the budget process and asked when they thought City Council would have time to convene hearings and focus on the zoning code. They also wanted to know how the ZCC would respond to their feedback, since the Charter Amendment requires City Council to approve, reject, or table the zoning code in whole. Council may not adopt parts or impose conditions of approval, once the ZCC submits its Final Report. As ZCC member and Councilman Brian O’Neill said, “We are not used to that.”

Other comments at today’s meeting focused on unresolved issues and changes to the draft code that were made since the last ZCC meeting. Input on minimum lot size and building height in traditional rowhome neighborhoods, the timing and number of meetings required for Civic Design Review, and whether certain design standards belong in the zoning code continues to be evaluated by the Work Plan Committee. Although a number of comments addressed signage controls, new zoning regulations for signs will not be part of the draft code sent to City Council. A subcommittee was formed to work on new signage controls and has been meeting regularly, but the ZCC and its consultants thought it best to take on signs as a separate project because if the topic’s complexity.

The debate about whether the code is ready to be sent to City Council and when a vote should take place continued until the end of the meeting without resolution. Representatives from the Development Workshop, the Philadelphia Bar Association, and a group of ad hoc attorneys reviewing the code requested the ZCC wait another three months before it sends the code to City Council and allow for more direct input and discussion. Other stakeholders urged the ZCC to move the process forward and allow the remaining issues to be raised with City Council. “Councilmembers need this interaction,” Penelope Giles of the Francisville Neighborhood Development Corporation said. “They need to understand what will happen in their districts.”

The ZCC will decide whether to vote on the draft code at its next meeting. The date of that meeting has not been confirmed.

Click here to view PowerPoint of recent changes.