Last Thursday, the Philadelphia City Council made a far-reaching change to the city’s new zoning code when it voted to override Mayor Nutter’s veto to….
The change was proposed by City Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell, who felt the new zoning code makes it too difficult for community groups to have a say in new developments. Blackwell proposed major revisions to the code last year that would remedy the situation. Mayor Nutter opposed the proposal by vetoing it on Thursday, saying that the new zoning code should be in place at least one year before it is changed.
Nutter’s veto was supported by Councilman Bill Green, who said that giving community groups more say in development will prevent developers from getting projects done and will make it more burdensome for developers to meet the necessary requirements.
The Council reportedly overrode Nutter’s veto by a vote of 13-3, putting Blackwell’s changes into the new code.
The changes require that community organization and zoning applicants provide notice to each resident within one block of a project, as well as to adjacent blocks. It also allows for multiple mandatory meetings with registered community groups, instead of just one, and relaxes the requirements necessary for a group to be considered a registered community group. The civic design-review committee is also to be expanded to include a designee by a Council member and a seta for an additional registered community group member.
In our next post, we’ll take a closer look at the major sticking points in the changes to the zoning code.
Source: CBS Local, “City Council Overrides Nutter’s Veto Of Zoning Code Changes,” Mike Dunn, January 25, 2013
