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Heated debate over who gets a say in what gets built
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Heated debate over who gets a say in what gets built
Some developers and civic groups breathed a sigh of relief when the city's new zoning code was approved complete with guidelines over what makes for a Registered Community Organization (RCO) qualified to give feedback on zoning exceptions within given neighborhoods of Philadelphia. And now that Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell is looking into changing up rules on community feedback -- not three months after the zoning code was put into place -- some of those citizen participants are pretty agitated.
This morning, a City Council rules committee hearing on the topic got heated, revealing tensions between Council, the administration's city planners who crafted the RCO plan with community and Council feedback, and neighborhood association members who felt they were facing potential disenfranchisement.
Some community members complained that the new regulations -- which require RCOs to have basic structures like regular meetings, a list of board members, bylaws, a mission statement and clear neighborhood boundaries -- had already engendered confusion and conflict. New groups seemed to have sprung up in the same neighborhoods as longstanding civic associations, while other organizations with perhaps less formal structures felt they had been cut out.
But not everyone was satisfied with Blackwell's proposal, which would among other things get district City Council members more involved in the conversation, subbing in to represent the community where there is no RCO and, in case of conflict, dictating which organization should be allowed to hold meetings for a given zoning variance.
"We were as excited as someone might be about something like zoning" when the zoning code was enacted, said Jeff Hornstein, president of the Queen Village Neighborhood Association. But since then, the association has seen as many as five different groups appear to share its boundaries via "confusing and overlapping jurisdictions."
"We believe there is perhaps too much inclusion," he said.
But those who were not given RCO status felt differently. Jihad Ali of Southwest Philadelphia called the RCO clause a "trojan horse" in the zoning code, "to take away the black people's vote. You're giving your power to non-elected people." Ruth Bazemore of Haddington agreed: "It's a violation of our rights," she said. Her community group was not included as an RCO.
Still, West Philadelphia/Cedar Park resident Amara Rockar recounted how ad hoc zoning groups can derail the community input process. "If there are concerns about the lack of RCOs in under-represented communities, we should be focused on ... helping communities build capacity."
Further, some saw the proposed changes as a way for council members to insert themselves into the process. Matt Ruben of Northern Liberties Neighborhood Association urged Council not to approve Blackwell's proposal.
Blackwell was not too pleased. "We're elected to protect our citizens. We're gonna be involved as long as we're elected.... W're going to represent the people who sent us here in spite of people like you who think elected officials have no sense." She also criticized the administration and city planning commission for excluding Council in some communications, telling the commission's Eva Gladstein, "We wouldn't have these problems if you had just worked with us."
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