Category zoning

Philadelphia finally gets a 21st century zoning code

Center City, Philadelphia

Woo hoo!

There are many things to celebrate about the new zoning code, like Philadelphia finally updating their development process to make things simpler, but I think the biggest accomplishment is that our local politicians are finally starting to see the potential in our great city. Hence, spending some bucks to make life easier for those who want to invest in Philadelphia.

Without going into full detail (which you can do here), here are a few things the new zoning code will accomplish:

  • Reduced number of zoning classifications
  • Robust civic design review process
  • Role of Philadelphians in the zoning approval process

In other words, the new code will take us out of our stale, archaic process we’ve relied on since the 1960s and give us a more fair, sensible way of decision making.

Here are some other links to help you out:

Is City Ave Philly’s next boom spot?

It may very well be … but it will take a few years.

You may remember one of my posts from last year titled “The Vision for City Ave.” As you can see, that post highlighted some of the yet-to-be-seen potential for this heavily traveled area. The good news is that Lower Merion has come through on some zoning changes which will now allow this area to flourish with new and practical development for the foreseeable future.

These changes went into effect on April 30th.

This article states that City Ave should be compared to the DC area’s Tyson’s Corner, VA; which is a good thing. The Philadelphia area, in general, needs to start better leveraging its existing assets (extensive public transportation, population density, Center City core, etc.) to further its reputation as a global city that is forward thinking.

What you will most likely see in the years to come will be larger projects with mixed-use aspects that are driven by TOD (Transit-Oriented Development).

And since this area is only about 10 minutes from my front door, I’m looking forward to seeing what the future has in store for City Ave.

Philly’s new zoning code promotes sustainability

 
Although the new code will not officially be put into effect until August 2012, zoning reform advocates are stoked to see what it can do to simplify the process.

Since Philadelphia’s current zoning code dates back to 1962, which was when suburban development was very popular, there were about 1,000 spot changes made to it during the last 50 years. Although the city thought they were doing something good by making changes when they were needed, it just complicated things even more.

When the zoning reform process began back in 2007, the Zoning Code Commission decided to focus on 7 different goals:

  1. Simplify base districts
  2. Simplify overlay districts
  3. Simplify approvals
  4. Improve readability and reorganization
  5. Protect neighborhoods
  6. Promote sustainability
  7. Promote quality and design

Although the first 4 goals, seem to be more complete than the last 3 goals (as of now), “Promoting Sustainability” seems to be one that has been focused on. In the new code, walkable development, solar/wind systems, and storm water management all play a critical role in getting city approval. Bonus space may even be given to developers who’s project achieves LEED certification.

Needless to say, the new zoning code will be a huge improvement over what we have now.