Zoning is the exercise of the City's "Police Power" to protect the public health, safety and welfare by placing bulk, height and use controls upon buildings and land. These controls are based upon the need to prevent overcrowding of land, congestion on the streets and sidewalks, undue concentration of population and the mixing of incompatible land uses. More importantly, zoning provides a basis for guiding and ordering the pattern of future development.
Zoning delineates where and how residences, businesses and industry can be located within a community. These land use delineations are embodied in the "Zoning Code." Every zoning code has two essential elements: the zoning code text, which contains written regulations, and the zoning maps. The zoning maps set the boundaries for the various zoning districts.
Most of West Philadelphia's land area is zoned for some type of residential use. West Philadelphia's large areas of parkland are zoned "Recreation." The campuses of the University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University and St. Joseph's University are zoned "Institutional Development District." Commercial areas of University City and sections of City Line are zoned "C-3 Commercial" or "C-4 Commercial;" these classifications are generally intended for office-related uses, although they also permit residential development. Most of the neighborhood commercial areas are zoned "C-2 Commercial," which allows storefront commercial use on the ground floor of the building with apartments or commercial uses on the upper floors. The Parkside Industrial Park is zoned "G-2" Industrial" for general industrial use.
Zoning remapping is a public process, initiated by the community, that reviews and updates the zoning for an entire neighborhood. The community receives technical assistance from the Planning Commission staff in revising the zoning, and then a new zoning map reflecting these changes is adopted by the Planning Commission, and forwarded to the appropriate District Councilperson for introduction as a Bill. Following the posting of public notices in the affected neighborhood, City Council conducts a public hearing so that citizen comments can be considered. If the Bill is passed by City Council and signed into law by the Mayor, the new zoning will take effect.
By updating zoning to reflect changes and trends in the neighborhoods, zoning remapping can assist the civic and planning efforts of communities in many ways. For example, neighborhood groups that want to reinforce the single family residential character of their communities may want to choose zoning classifications that limit the use of housing to single family occupancy. This helps prevent the proliferation of commercial uses, and makes it more difficult for property owners to change single family homes into apartment buildings or offices.
When a community is concerned about the development of undeveloped land, zoning remapping can help control the usage and density of future development. Remapping can have the effect of stimulating business development, limiting the geographic extent of business expansion, or changing the pattern of commercial development by changing the requirements for building height, building size, parking, landscaping and open space.
Areas of West Phildelphia that have been rezoned since 1965
Communities cannot arbitrarily select zoning classifications for remapping if specific property characteristics are not in conformance with the requirements of the proposed zoning. However, the zoning remapping process can result in some added protection for community groups that are concerned about future growth and development in their area.
The accompanying map shows the areas of West Philadelphia that have been remapped since 1965. Many of the recommendations contained in this plan can be implemented through zoning remapping.
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