Philadelphia, as viewed from the USGS LANDSAT satellite in 2002
When building anything in Philadelphia requires a variance, whether it’s a major commercial development or plain old residential real estate, then something’s wrong with the zoning code.
Developers and planners alike came to that realization a few years back, and managed to get both City Council and the voters to agree that it was time to overhaul the master guide to development in Philadelphia. This week, four years after the voters approved a commission to rewrite the zoning code, Mayor Michael Nutter signed off on its handiwork.
The new Philadelphia zoning ordinance, which goes into effect six months from now, recognizes a number of changes that have profoundly altered the way we use real estate in Philadelphia. Since the code was last revised in 1962, the city’s industrial base has all but vanished, with education, medical research, and tourism taking its place as the engines of the local economy. Decades of depopulation that began in the 1950s and ended only in this decade have left many sections of the city underdeveloped, while a residential boom has transformed its heart and adjacent areas to its north and south. Development in parts of the city has put stress on its watersheds and other natural environments. Some uses that used to play poorly with residents have become more benign while others now require closer scrutiny.
And there are new concerns for the code to handle, such as encouraging sustainable building practices and development that takes advantage of mass transit’s efficiencies.
All of these matters have been incorporated into the new code, but its most important new feature is this: It makes getting projects approved faster and easier. Separate sections explain clearly what is allowed, and what isn’t, in the city’s zoning districts, special overlay districts, and general rules covering specific use categories. The number of general zoning districts has been slashed by 40 percent, from 52 to 30, and new special-purpose districts have been created to handle sports and entertainment, the city’s parks and natural resources, and development issues around the airport.
The new Philadelphia zoning ordinance will allow the city and those who build in it to better handle the social, physical, economic and environmental changes that have taken place over the last half century. It will also position the city for smarter growth in the years to come.
–Sandy Smith
For more information about the new ordinance, and to read the commission’s final report – the basis of the new zoning code – visit the Zoning Code Commission’s website, zoningmatters.org.
Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons
Tags: city planning, development, New Home Construction, new zoning code in philadelphia, noah ostroff, philadelphia new zoning code, philadelphia real estate, philadelphia zoning code, zoning
