Brian O'Neill explains the impact of the zoning code. Photo by Ian Romano.

This is the second in a two-part look at zoning in the Northeast. Read part one here.

Councilman Brian O’Neill and the Zoning Code Commission’s executive director argued over zoning regulations at the April meeting of the Greater Bustleton Civic League. The draft is the first citywide revision of the zoning laws in 50 years.

ZCC Executive Director Eva Gladstein said parts of the code may apply to the Northeast more than other areas.

One of those issues is family-based childcare in the home. The restrictions in place for such an establishment are not changing for family-based childcare. The one distinction is the amount of children allowed in the home.

“For childcare in someone’s home, in the 6th and 10th council districts, the number of non-related children allowed in the home is only four. In the rest of the city the number is up to six,” Gladstein said.

Zoning classifications for parks and recreations will be changed under the draft.

“One thing we’re doing is enabling private participles to be zoned for parks,” Gladstein said. “Now it says only land owned by the city can be a park.”

The new code is requiring new developers to notify registered civic associations and to have a neighborhood meeting before completing their zoning variance.

“I think that will be positively affecting the Northeast since it has so many active civic associations,” Gladstein said.

The number of days allotted for posting a zoning hearing is being increased to 21 days. Another posting is being required if the hearing is continued to another day.

The Zoning Code Commission is changing the organization of the code. continue reading »

Members of the Greater Bustleton Civic League prepare to discuss zoning matters at the association's March meeting.

Zoning was the primary focus of last night’s meeting of the Greater Bustleton Civic League, with the first order of business being a presentation from Eva Gladstein, executive director of the Zoning Code Commission, and Michael Thompson, Northeast representative for the City Planning Commission.

GBCL residents, who came together last night for the first time at Baldi Middle School, paid close attention, as neighborhood zoning issues often cause tension at the monthly meetings.

The three-module plan is expected to be presented to City Council by the fall. The revisions have been broken into three chunks:

• administrative procedures
• districts and uses
• development standards

Gladstein said in addition to the monthly community meetings across the city, in the future, the commission will seek to help those who feel their districts require remapping. To make the zoning process more approachable to those who refer to it most — residents and business owners — the new codes will be written more simply and in a less convoluted way. continue reading »

Eva Gladstein, director of the Zoning Code Committee, reviews the themes of the propsed code revisions.

Roughly 10 people gathered in Lincoln High School’s cafeteria last night to participate in a city-sponsored meeting for the Zoning Code Reform Project.

Among the attendees were community leaders from Mayfair, Holmesburg and Upper Holmesburg and councilmen Brian O’Neill and Frank Rizzo. Members of the Zoning Code Committee attributed the low turnout — they expected up to 80 people — to the inclement weather and game one of the World Series. continue reading »