A building permit is like a permission slip from the local government that gives you or your contractor the green light to start a construction or remodeling project on your property. It's a way of ensuring that the work follows the rules and regulations in your area. Securing the right permits for your home renovation can be a breeze when you know what to do. Skipping...
Read More
We previously wrote about changes to Philadelphia's zoning laws which now mandate holding either a Visitor Accommodation (VA) permit or a Limited Lodging License for short-term rental (STR) properties, which you can read about here. While the VA permit is less restrictive than the limited lodging license, obtaining approval for a VA permit can be challenging due to specific zoning district requirements. However, a recent...
Read More
Happy New Year! Along with our collective resolutions have come the imposition of new regulations from the City of Philadelphia. On January 1st, 2023, Philadelphia rolled out a new set of regulations for Airbnb and short-term rental properties. While these should not come as a surprise to anyone since the City has been delaying the start of these for some time now, Airbnb has now...
Read More
Pennsylvania Judge Stacy Wallace ruled on October 31, 2022 (Permanent-Injunction-Granted.pdf (ij.org) that state real estate licensing requirements were unconstitutional when applied to Petitioner, Sally Ladd, who manages short-term rentals in the Poconos. Sally Ladd was forced to shut down her short-term rental business in 2017 after the state department began investigating her for practicing real estate without a license. Ladd has been renting out her...
Read More
Like most cities, “Streeteries” or accommodations made to restaurants to support outdoor dining, has had a major surge in Philadelphia since the start of the covid pandemic. Not only does outdoor dining provide customers with a more covid-comfortable dining environment, now that the pandemic is waning it can still provide restaurants with a much-needed boost in revenue. For a while, these Streeteries operated in a sort...
Read MoreBy January 1, 2023, Airbnb and all other short term rental sites will require all Philadelphia hosts to comply with new legislation or their listings will be removed from the platforms. This “crack-down” was set to start in July of 2022, but has since been postponed. An average rental license will no longer be enough to support a listing on a short-term hosting platform. Short-term...
Read More
Last week, I received phone calls from two clients, both of them in a panic. You see, in the last 7 years I had both assisted them with obtaining a lease and also assisted them with receiving zoning approvals for their spaces in Viking Mill in Kensington, a near 70,000 square foot building located at 2019-2053 E. Boston Street. I do not think it is...
Read More
Newbie on the Block June concludes my first month at Philadelphia Zoning as an expeditor. Let me tell you, it was no joke. Don’t get me wrong, there were lots of jokes exchanged between me and my fantastic expediting trainer. However, to execute the role of a seasoned expeditor requires a true mastery of both the Art and the Science of City Zoning Code. One might think...
Read More
Time is Money When you are planning to renovate a home or start a new business, many times, the most important thing to consider is timing. So if your project involves obtaining permits or licenses from the City, it is important that you know what the different timetables are. But before we discuss specific timetables of different permits, the first thing to know is that you will...
Read More
What is Expediting? An expeditor is a person who is licensed with the City to file permits and licenses on behalf of another individual. An expeditor can also create tax accounts with the city, file deeds, and register a change of address with the Office of Property Assessment. Expeditors cannot, however, request special favors. We cannot circumvent the process or evade any rules or procedures. It is our...
Read More