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How to Protect Your Philadelphia Commercial Activity License

Keeping your business running smoothly in Philadelphia isn’t just about great service or products—it’s also about staying on top of the City’s tax and licensing requirements. One of the most important steps is making sure your Commercial Activity License (CAL) stays active. A Commercial Activity License is required in order to apply for the various business licenses that are necessary

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Philly Zoning Team January 16, 2025 No Comments

Mayor Parker’s Housing Plan: Opportunities For Homebuyers and Developers in Philadelphia

Philadelphia is on the brink of a housing transformation under Mayor Cherelle Parker’s ambitious plan to build or preserve 30,000 housing units over the next four years. This initiative aims to address the City’s housing affordability crisis while creating diverse neighborhoods and promoting homeownership. Here’s a breakdown of what this plan means for developers, homebuyers, and the community.   The

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Philly Zoning Team November 21, 2024 No Comments

Parking & Zoning in Philadelphia

Parking and Zoning In The City of Philadelphia Driving around the City of Philadelphia, it is quite often that I see, amongst a block full of single-family row homes,in a densely populated walkable neighborhood, a lone parking space. Seemingly out of place, this advantage possessed only by the luckiest of residents, used to baffle me.  How did they get it? 

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Philly Zoning Team November 15, 2024 No Comments

Licensing Fee Changes

Upcoming Licensing Fee Changes in Philadelphia for 2025 As of 2025, the City of Philadelphia is adjusting its licensing fees, affecting many types of licenses, including rental licenses. For landlords, the rental license fee will increase from $63 per unit to $69 per unit. This hike means property owners will face higher costs for compliance with City regulations. In addition

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Philly Zoning Team October 10, 2024 No Comments

Commercial Activity License

A Step-By-Step Guide to Getting a Commercial Activity License A Commercial Activity License  is a license that does exactly what it says: It allows you to own and run a business in this city. This goes for any type of business; including renting out units for residential housing. Many people find out they need a Commercial Activity License upon attempting

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Scott Matison June 25, 2024 No Comments

Permit Expediting

Permit Expediting in Philadelphia The foundation of Philadelphia Zoning’s offerings is permit expediting. Philadelphia Zoning works with a team of licensed expediters whom apply for and obtain your permits and licenses, and also liaison between all of the parties involved. When you work Philadelphia Zoning, you will be working with a team that is efficient and provides simple and clear communication. You

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Scott Matison June 24, 2024 No Comments

Use Registration Permit

A Step-By-Step Guide to Obtaining a Use Registration Permit Every business operation (including property rentals), parcel of land, or structure must have its use registered with the City of Philadelphia.  In order to register the use of a building, space, unit, structure, parcel, etc., this means applying for and obtaining a Use Registration Permit. Often this is also referred to

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Scott Matison June 23, 2024 No Comments

When are Building Permits Needed For Philly?

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

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Philly Zoning Team February 9, 2024 No Comments

Navigating Philadelphia’s New Short-Term Rental Regulations: Insights from Successful Variance Approvals

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

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Philly Zoning Team November 29, 2023 No Comments

2023 Update on Philadelphia Short-Term Rental Licenses and Fee Increases

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

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Philly Zoning Team February 3, 2023 No Comments
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