ZCC explains how decisions about the new code were made

Special Public Session

The ZCC’s Work Plan and Civic Engagement Committees hosted the second of two special public meetings today to review input on the draft zoning code and provide the rationale behind ZCC decisions. Community and development industry stakeholders were able to ask why some of their recommendations were accepted for the draft code and others were not. Many took the opportunity to restate comments and request additional changes. Although several issues remain unresolved, a vote to send the draft code to City Council is scheduled for this Wednesday, March 2.

Work Plan Committee Chair Peter Kelsen led the meeting along with Director Eva Gladstein and focused on comments related to development standards, parking requirements, general provisions, the Art and Historical Commissions, and non-conformities. Mr. Kelsen identified several recommendations that have been reconsidered and accepted since the last meeting, such as expanding the timeframe for public meetings with Registered Community Organizations to 45 days and deleting requirements for landscape buffers between multi-family and single-family residential uses in districts with attached buildings.

The debate continued on development standards, however. Mr. Kelsen explained that the ZCC attempted to strike a balance between having design controls in the code to help preserve neighborhood character and providing more certainty for investors. “Several recommendations were made to pull the design standards out of the code,” Kelsen said, “but we left in what we consider the bare minimum.” Architect Jerry Roller disagreed with having any such controls in the code, suggesting they trip up the review process and scare off potential investors. “The zoning code is never the repository for design standards,” Roller said. “The same objectives can be accomplished by other means.” Community representatives argued that form and design controls are increasingly made part of zoning codes and that removing the few standards that remain would be a mistake. Peter Kelsen stressed that Philadelphia’s current zoning code includes some design controls and that the ZCC established a two-step permitting process in the new code to address timing and investment issues. ZCC staff agreed to arrange a special meeting to bring community groups and developers together to refine some of the standards.

Building height in two-story neighborhoods, minimum lot area, and nonconformities also generated a great deal of discussion. Reductions in lot size in certain districts were made to accommodate the city’s existing non-conforming lots, but concerns were raised about preserving dimensions that have become outdated and allowing nonconformities to expand 25 percent without going to the ZBA. And the issue of building height continues to be a point of contention in many two-story areas of the city. Representatives from the Point Breeze neighborhood accused the ZCC of disregarding the concerns of long-term residents in mostly low-income areas. Peter Kelsen explained that three stories homes are already permitted by-right in the current code and that the ZCC would be at risk for “takings” challenges if it took that right away. While these and other key issues continue to generate comments, the ZCC is moving ahead with a vote to send the draft code to City Council on Wednesday March 2.