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Civic groups: New zoning rule will cost us thousands of dollars
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Civic groups: New zoning rule will cost us thousands of dollars
A change to the city's zoning code that goes into effect March 25 will not only put a greater burden on developers, but it could also cost civic groups thousands of dollars per year, some South Philly zoning activists are arguing. The legislation, part of Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell's reforms to the just-reformed zoning code, has already yielded complaints from developers, since it could effectively undo efforts to streamline the community-feedback process by requiring Registered Community Organizations (RCOs) to hold joint meetings when projects are proposed within overlapping neighborhood jurisdictions. Now, as the legislation is about to come into effect, some RCOs are realizing just how burdensome the new rules could be for them.
"Council has severely underestimated the cost and hardship that Bill 120889 places on the Registered Community Organizations (RCO) that it had hoped to empower," begins a letter that's now circulating among civic groups. The crux of their complaint: The law requires notification to go out to every property within nine blockfaces of a project before a community zoning meeting takes place. David Goldfarb, zoning chair of the East Passyunk Crossing Civic Association, figures that at three zoning appeals per month, that adds up to $518 per year in printing costs. But if RCOs have to mail the information, the price could be $3,700 per year. That's based on the assumption that there are approximately 180 buildings in nine blockfaces, and all of the owners and residents would have to be notified for each project.
"The motivation of the bill was an honorable and good one, but there was not an understanding of the cost or the obstacles that we'd have in flyering, including the city code that prevents us giving flyers to anyone who has a 'No Flyers' sticker. We could be fined for that," he says. Plus, as a neighborhood group working on beautification, contributing flyers to other sidewalk litter seems rather hypocritical. It is, of course, against the law to put a flyer inside a mailbox. "The only way that I can tell to actually meet the requirements of the bill is to mail. I'm positive that's not the intention." He thinks requiring groups to post notice on telephone poles instead would be a more pragmatic fix.
Goldfarb says this puts the burden on zoning groups to fund City Council's regulations, although there is no clear consequence for not following the rules. Mayor Nutter already vetoed the bill, but 14 City Council members voted to override that veto.
In the mayor's veto communication to Council, Nutter wrote: "Bill No. 120889 threatens to disrupt this balance [between streamlining development and gathering community input] by creating significant ambiguities and legal issues, opening the door to litigation challenging the validity of various zoning approvals. … These extensive and detailed notice requirements inevitably will lead to litigation regarding non-compliance, as even good faith compliance will prove difficult for many applicants and RCOs. For example, the bill is unclear as to whom applicants and RCOs must provide notice in the case of multi-occupant buildings (e.g. offices, condominiums, apartment buildings). Such ambiguity places significant burden on applicants and RCOs to identify each occupant, makes zoning approvals ripe for litigation on the basis of incomplete notice."
Whether the law can be changed at this late date, with Council preoccupied with budgets and tax rates — well, that remains to be seen. The district Councilman for much of South Philly, Mark Squilla, already voted against overriding the veto, along with Maria Quinones Sanchez and Bill Green.
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