Congratulations! If you are wondering what your next steps should be when getting prepared for a Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA) hearing, then congratulations! You are almost finished with the zoning permit process. But before you start popping champagne, you have to get ZBA (Zoning Board of Adjustment) approval first. A disclaimer: Just because you follow all of the criteria leading up to and including the...
Read More
Engines of Growth Cities are the impetus for economic growth. This statement is the thesis of a massive study published in 2010 by the United Nations. Since this revelation has become common knowledge, scholars and researchers have directed their efforts towards answering a more pointed question- what are the circumstances under which city’s become efficient engines of economic growth? Innovation is one answer. Innovations in technology...
Read More
When we started out at Philly Zoning, we got a version the same question every week: Where's my permit? Once someone gets started on a permitting project, they want to know how far along the permit is, and how they can check its progress. We give our clients weekly updates to answer that question, but we also think it might be helpful to provide an overview...
Read More
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...
Read More
We here at Philadelphia Zoning like to think we have answers for you. We tell you we can saw through forests of red tape, and we mean it. But sometimes, we get a question that has about a hundred different answers. "How much does a permit cost?" is one of those questions. There are a few reasons why such a simple question has so many different answers. First,...
Read More
Zoning in Philadelphia is a strange enterprise. The ideas behind it are simple, and the people working the desks downtown are generally helpful. But in practice, it can be quite confusing. This little overview probably won’t make the strange details of zoning any less confusing, but it may give you a clearer picture of the overall structure of zoning complaints, requests, and applications in Philadelphia. How...
Read More
The City of Philadelphia recently combined its review boards into the new Department of Planning and Development. The Department now houses the Art Commission, Historical Commission, City Planning Commission, and — of particular note to us at Philadelphia Zoning — the Zoning Board of Adjustment. This seems like a smart reorganization on paper, and there are other departments and personnel involved beyond those boards our company usually...
Read More