In the News
City's Zoning Code Trapped in a time warp
Editorial
Philadelphia Inquirer, October 6, 2005
Instead of overhauling its antiquated zoning code, Philadelphia clings to a set of construction laws that require constant amendment and set the table for deal-making among politicos and developers.
Philadelphia is undergoing profound changes due to an estimated $4 billion worth of construction, but it is still operating with a zoning map drawn in the 1950s and approved in 1962. The city's zoning code is so ancient, obsolete and re-configured that it requires a bevy of lawyers, zoning officers and City Council members to interpret and amend it.
It's difficult for homeowners to make property changes or for developers to build a new complex without first getting a host of zoning variances. No one was building condos in Philadelphia in the '50s.
Zoning changes often require unofficial as well as official action. In Philadelphia, that usually means getting some politician or appointed city official to give the plan a nod, maybe hiring a politically connected lawyer to petition for the variance.
This city needs a zoning code that doesn't bend whichever way the politics are blowing.
"Good planning and zoning creates predictability that developers and residents need," says Jeremy Nowak, president of the Reinvestment Fund, a financial institution devoted to community development in low-income areas. "Nobody gets predictability in Philadelphia. Everybody wants their deal on their time."
Philadelphia may be steeped in history, but it needs a modern zoning code that can deal smartly and specifically with both South Philadelphia, where old rowhouse neighborhoods need more off-street parking, and the Far Northeast, where twins and single homes have all the garages they need.
South Philly Councilman Frank DiCicco recently proposed changing the zoning code's requirement that builders include a garage with any row of more than four connected houses. He is responding to complaints that cutting curbs for garage driveways reduces the space available for on-street parking.
Yes, but reducing the number of cars parked on a street could make it safer for motorists and pedestrians. An updated zoning code would address both realities.
A report from the City Planning Commission sums up the problem with Philadelphia's outdated zoning law: "The code was enacted to create a set of zoning controls to deal with post-World War II development when major portions of the city were still farmland. (It) was intended to respond to new development of large tracts... it does not work well when one is attempting to do 'in-fill' development along existing streets."
The Planning Commission has been trying to satisfy Philadelphia's need to re-zone industrial-port land for residential development. It's considering development plans that often do not conform to the zoning code, which means developers frequently need one of those variances that may only come if you have scratched the right back.
City Council members, of course, know all this. But rather than respond to the Planning Commission's plea for a modern zoning code, they prefer to hold on tight to a system that makes them the overlords of new construction within their fiefdoms.
Turning old-fashioned Philadelphia into a more efficient and modern city that is attractive to new homeowners and other investors is what Council members are elected to do. So they should stop with the nips and tucks whenever someone wants a zoning favor and move toward a complete overhaul of the code.