design professional Tag

An additional information request is sent by Licenses and Inspections whenever one of their plans examiners wants to know more about your project.  Getting this letter is not an indication of failure, it is actually considered a standard response as requirements for permits can be as unpredictable as the weather. However, in the off chance you do not receive a request for additional information, you deserve...

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soil-and-water

Previously in this blog, we’ve mentioned the City of Philadelphia’s requests for additional information.  Since we see a lot of these, we are going to create a catalogue of the requests as a reference guide.  We hope that this will help our clients, design partners, and contractors better understand what information is most commonly missing from an application.  (If you haven’t seen it before, it’s...

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add-info-zoning-permit

Previously in this blog, we’ve mentioned the City of Philadelphia’s requests for additional information.  Since we see a lot of these, we are going to create a catalogue of the requests as a reference guide.  We hope that this will help our clients, design partners, and contractors better understand what information is most commonly missing from an application.  (If you haven’t seen it before, it’s...

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Structural-Design

Previously in this blog, we’ve mentioned the City of Philadelphia’s requests for additional information.  Since we see a lot of these, we are going to create a catalogue of the requests as a reference guide.  We hope that this will help our clients, design partners, and contractors better understand what information is most commonly missing from an application.  (If you haven’t seen it before, it’s...

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Right-of-Way-Streets

Previously in this blog, we've mentioned the City of Philadelphia's requests for additional information.  Since we see a lot of these, we are going to create a catalogue of the requests as a reference guide.  We hope that this will help our clients, design partners, and contractors better understand what information is most commonly missing from an application.  (If you haven't seen it before, it's...

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I cannot tell you how many of our clients run into issues with their General Contractor (or whatever party is in charge of applying-for and obtaining things on behalf of their client). Oftentimes, tracking down a physical building permit is more difficult than Nicholas cage's voyage in all of the National Treasure movies combined.   I am not saying that general contractors are bad people. I am...

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Reference Guide

Happy holidays from Philadelphia Zoning!   We've had quite a year here, thanks to our clients, legal partners, and design partners.  To thank everyone, we're offering this present:  A handy reference guide for our most common permitting projects.  Enjoy!     General Zoning and Permitting Information   The source:  The Philadelphia Zoning Code The Philadelphia Code can be found here.  Title 14 (what those of us not in the legal profession would simply...

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We here at Philadelphia Zoning like to poke some fun at our City's bureaucracy.  Licenses and Inspections can be a mystery to homeowners and developers: documents go in; only sometimes do they come out.  When they do come out, it's often because they are rejected for arcane reasons.  It can be pretty frustrating and eat your time (and it's why Philadelphia Zoning exists: to save...

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One of the most sensible and also counter-intuitive parts of the zoning process in Philly is the community review.   Any time you want to use your property for something that the zoning code doesn't allow, you must seek a variance from the City of Philadelphia (as we've discussed).  When you seek a variance, a community organization in Philadelphia gets to review the proposal before the City...

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    Say you want to open a coffee shop.  You’ve found a place, in a quiet block, and the building is perfect: homey, but a little more spacious than you might expect.  It’s on a corner, too.  But it’s zoned RSA-5 (as you might already know if you’re reading this: Residential Single-Family, Attached; Category 5 of 5).  So you aren’t allowed, under Philadelphia law, to open...

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