Phila 2035 and Rezoning Among Topics Discussed at Philadelphia City Planning Commission Meeting
On Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017, the Philadelphia City Planning Commission convened for their monthly meeting on the 18th floor of the City of Philadelphia’s One Parkway building. About 40 community audience members attended, and 20 employees of the Philadelphia City Planning Commission.
Major matters discussed include a draft of the Philadelphia 2035 North District Draft Plan, rezoning areas of North Philadelphia, and extending the Cresheim Trail.
In the Philadelphia 2035 Plan, the North District is bounded by Kensington Avenue and Tacony Creek to the east, Roosevelt Boulevard to the north, the Schuylkill River to the west, and Lehigh Avenue to the south. This area contains large swaths of vacant land and is connected to the rest of the city by several bus routes and rail stations, as well as stops on both the Broad Street and Market Frankford Lines.
Revitalizing North Philadelphia train station is a major part of the plan. This station is a point where the Broad Street Line subway, SEPTA Regional Rail, and Amtrak trains all come together.
There are many vacant buildings and a lot of vacant land surrounding the station, and many users cite safety as a concern in the area. “There’s very little public space, it’s poorly maintained, rail infrastructure is very apparent when you step off the train,” said Ashley Richards, a Philadelphia City Planning Commission staff planner on the project.
The City intends to occupy the existing unoccupied structures in the area to provide neighborhood services and increase pedestrian traffic in the area. “We’re looking at these buildings for potential reuse for job creation or innovation,” Richards said.
The meeting also looked at rezoning areas of North Philadelphia that do not fall within the North District Draft Plan. Parts of South Kensington, Olde Richmond, and Ludlow will all have their zoning changed and the neighborhoods will be geared toward single-family residential zoning. David Fecteau, a staff planner in the Planning Commission’s Community Planning Division, said, “It’s essentially, mostly, rezoning to what’s there.”
Because it is often decades or more between rezoning areas, land uses shift over time from what was planned for in the area. According to an email from Fecteau, “When someone goes to the Zoning Board for a variance, they might be granted [a] variance. Even so, the zoning for the property remains the same. So, it could be that a good number of properties in a neighborhood were developed after receiving variances, but it’s been quite some time since we’ve been able to rezone that neighborhood.”
Rezoning can also be used to protect neighborhoods from what may be development the community doesn’t want. For example, the Ludlow neighborhood closely borders the real estate hot spot that is the Fishtown section of the city. Many developers have their eyes on properties and want to build apartments rather than homes. “I expect that some new variance requests will be generated by land owners who were planning on building multiple-unit apartments or condos, and who now are only allowed by zoning to build single-family homes,” said Fecteau via email.
Another matter addressed by the meeting was authorizing the Department of Public Property and Department of Parks and Recreation to acquire a trestle from PECO. The City would like to extend the Cresheim Trail. “The trail would connect the existing trail network in Wissahickon Valley Park and the Cresheim Trail that exists, with the expanding trail network in Montgomery County, and, ultimately, this trail will be usable all the way from Mt. Airy to Ft. Washington,” said Ian Hegarty, a staff planner in the Community Planning division.
Audience members in attendance were in strong support of expanding the trail. “To have your kids have access to trails and nature and things different than concrete and the smell of sewers… it’s good to bring some nature to the city,” said Shawn Anderson, 50, a carpenter in the Northeast and first-time Philadelphia City Planning Commission meeting attendee. “It’s something I would like to see more of.”
The next Philadelphia City Planning Commission meeting will be Tuesday, Nov. 21, in room 18–29 of the One Parkway building at 1515 Arch St., Philadelphia, Pa. Comments on the Philadelphia 2035 Draft Plan for the North District may be submitted at phila2035.org until Nov. 14, and the plan will be voted on by the commission for implementation on Nov. 21, 2017.
