ZCC Reacts to Code Assessment

April 8, 2009

ZCC Regular Session

Now that the consultants have painstakingly identified issues and inefficiencies in Philadelphia’s existing zoning code, the ZCC must establish the values that will guide the next phase of work. Reaction to the assessment raised some key questions about what the new code should try to achieve and what zoning can and cannot do.

Over the next six months, the ZCC will decide how to address primary concerns and answer important questions that will help the consultants as they update the zoning code, remap districts, and revamp administrative procedures. Initial discussions raised the following questions:

• Will the new code and map be consistent with on-going comprehensive planning efforts?
• Can the ZCC clarify which issues need to be solved with zoning and which are fundamentally an enforcement problem?
• Should the new code reduce the number of cases before the ZBA when the public views the hearings as a critical opportunity to voice concerns about neighborhood development projects?
• To what extent should the new code incentivize sustainable design when market forces and building codes will likely make it the norm?
• How is new legislation crafted to deal with a myriad of uses that may not fit existing and future definitions?
• When should site-specific solutions be considered for citywide application?
• Should the new code address the over-saturation of a particular use in any given area?
• Should a use variance be transferred with the sale of property?

As the ZCC debates these and other questions over the coming months, members agreed that they should remain focused on the primary goal – to produce a code that is clear and predictable for all stakeholders.