Zoning Bills: First Steps Toward Reform?
Three deceivingly minor zoning bills may constitute a big first step towards regulatory reform in Philadelphia. These bills – proposed by the Building Industry Association of Philadelphia ("BIA") - will be considered at a public hearing at 10 a.m. Tuesday, May 24 in City Council Chambers.
These bills address difficulties encountered by those building/improving homes in Philadelphia. According to BIA, the bills would eliminate the outdated inner court requirements adopted to offer light and ventilation to tenements, exclude architectural features such as bay windows from setback requirements, and increase the maximum residential fence height to four ft. to permit Philadelphia homeowners to use standard retail fences. “If We Fix It, They Will Come” is BIA's agenda for “streamlining the development process and modernizing the zoning code” and can be downloaded here.
These bills address difficulties encountered by those building/improving homes in Philadelphia. According to BIA, the bills would eliminate the outdated inner court requirements adopted to offer light and ventilation to tenements, exclude architectural features such as bay windows from setback requirements, and increase the maximum residential fence height to four ft. to permit Philadelphia homeowners to use standard retail fences. “If We Fix It, They Will Come” is BIA's agenda for “streamlining the development process and modernizing the zoning code” and can be downloaded here.
1 comment:
eliminate the outdated inner court requirements adopted to offer light and ventilation to tenements
this line scares me a bit. "outdated" in what sense -- that buildings pressed tight together no longer need to maximize the light and air flow at the ends? I know there's a new apartment development near Rittenhouse that has interior bedrooms, and the only way that they legally qualify as "bedrooms" is by having an interior light shaft so that they can have windows rather than four closed walls. it would be scary if that weren't required -- for both psychological and health reasons...
? or am I misunderstanding?
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