Our Plans Requirements Cheat Code We here at Philadelphia Zoning told you a while back about how important plans are to most zoning, building, and sign permitting projects. (You can find that post right here.) But that advice was general; we know a lot of you are probably wondering specifically what kind of plans you need for which project. We've decided to make a cheat sheet for...
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One of Philadelphia Zoning's very first clients hired an accountant to do the zoning for his tattoo shop. As you can imagine, that didn’t turn out too well for our client — or for the accountant (which is why the tattoo artist became a Philly Zoning client). Zoning is a highly misconstrued world here in Philly. There can be many complications, misunderstandings and miscommunications; so much...
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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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Here at Philadelphia Zoning, we get a lot of requests from developers and homeowners for permits allowing construction. Every developer — and most homeowners — know that they need some kind of paperwork from the City of Philadelphia to begin construction, but not everybody is sure what kind. At some point we usually get the question, “What exactly do I need to give the City?” The...
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