Philadelphia Metropolitan Area Real Estate Law Blog

A number of recent changes in Philadelphia have been positive from the perspective of land use planning and development. As we’ve written, a new zoning code promises to make development easier for businesses. To take another example, a new public space outside the city’s train station, named The Porch, has been quite an improvement over what was in its place before.

Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon announced last month that the financially strapped energy company plans to pick itself back up by drilling more wells on Marcellus Shale real estate. According to McClendon, the center of the activity would be the southwestern corner of Pennsylvania, as well as regions in Ohio and West Virginia where wells can extract liquid gases like ethane and propane, which are worth higher prices nowadays.

In our previous post, we mentioned that Chesapeake Energy Company will soon be pursuing a new policy of increased natural gas drilling on Marcellus Shale real estate. The Marcellus shale, as our readers may know, is the largest of several shale formations that have become sites for oil and gas production in recent years following upon advanced techniques in hydraulic-fracturing.

Last week, we noted that the state House voted 101-90 to approve a compromise plan on a measure that would impose an “impact fee” on companies engaged in natural gas drilling. The measure has not yet been signed by Governor Corbett.

Following on the closing of the Magarity Ford dealership, Bowman Properties has proposed new zoning plans to make way for a high-end supermarket in the Chestnut Hill neighborhood. Bowman reportedly introduced legislation before the City Council in last October which would extend the commercial designation of the lot beyond what it formerly was, allow exemptions to the code for mixed-use buildings, and change the direction of a traffic lane bordering the lot.

In our last post, we noted that a land-use study published last month has prompted proposals for zoning amendments to the historic Pennhurst property.

The Pennhurst Memorial and Preservation Alliance recently presented a land use study at an East Vincent Township meeting looking at the possibility of developing the historic site while continuing to maintain its buildings. According to the study, re-developing the site’s historic buildings into rental housing would be “financially viable.”

When a business needs to expand or add a facility, time is often of the essence. However, construction and land use are tightly regulated by the state of Pennsylvania and local governments. Local governments often have very specific zoning requirements that need to be met before a real estate development or construction project can get underway. It is true that zoning and land use regulations can get in the way of a project, but these obstacles are not always insurmountable.

Zoning, or how a property is zoned, can have a tremendous impact on the market value of a piece of Pennsylvania real estate. Broadly, zoning is the way governments regulate the way land can be used. Common zoning classifications of land include commercial, residential and industrial.

Horses within the Philadelphia city limits may seem odd and five horses may seem even odder, but a family on Pontiac Avenue in Southwest Philadelphia has been keeping horses in their backyard for the past 10 years. At first the couple had one horse, but now they have three ponies and two horses all living in an urban backyard. While they initially sought the approval of their neighbors before they bought the animals, their neighbors are growing increasingly frustrated with the smell. After years of complaining to officials, the couple has received two violations for failing to get variances from the zoning ordinance that prohibits a backyard stable.