In an article on Plan Philly, Kellie Patrick Gates writes that Councilman Frank DiCicco’s proposed zoning overlay for the Central Delaware has a little bit in it for everyone, and that’s precisely what seems to be making everyone unhappy.

The battle over the Central Delaware’s future is shaping up to be a classic tale of developers and property owners butting heads planners and citizens.  It’s short term potential gain vs. a long term view.  Some of the major sticking points.

Developers don’t like the required 50 to 100-foot waterfront right-of-way.  You and I know it as “the way we would ever get to see the river up close.”

Advocates for the Central Delaware planning process aren’t too thrilled with some of the allowed land uses such as parking garages.

This legislation is where all of those Penn Praxis community input meetings finally get put into action - and where the ideals of that process run smack into the reality that much, if not all, of this land is already owned by someone who may not agree with what “the community” wants them to do with it.  DiCicco’s point man on land use issues, Brian Abernathy explained to Plan Philly the challenges of drafting such legislation:

“It does not meet all of the vision’s needs or goals, but it goes a long way forward, and balances a number of different interests,” including those of developers, property owners and business interests, he said.

Even my favorite big box stores get some play in this story as Craig Schelter, the de facto voice of the development community for purposes of Central Delaware stories, points out that Ikea, Target, Best Buy, WalMart and Home Depot are “non-conforming” land uses according to the overlay.  According to Schelter, these uses aren’t the darlings of the design community but they are sources of jobs and economic activity.

At the risk of going too far into the weeds on the point of these stores, it’s worth pointing out that once the economy begins to heat up again, the price of oil and gasoline will undoubtedly go through the roof, making these auto dependent land uses go the way of the dinosaur.  Smart retailers will realize this and try to figure out a way to engage a more pedestrian, bicycle and public transit using audience.  With a fleshed out plan in place, they’ll at least have firm rules to guide their designs.

Cavan at Greater, Greater Washington makes the point in the larger context that times of economic bust are exactly when cities need to be fully engaged in planning.  While the cranes and jackhammers are silent, the developers are hording capital and the land lies fallow, the planners need to be working hard so that once the money starts flowing again it will be directed into sustainable, long term uses.

Schelter and the developers are concerned about what a robust zoning overlay that conforms with the ideals of the Central Delaware Advisory Group will mean for development.  If we agree that Central Delaware is a desirable place for people to live, work and play, then it seems clear that some developers will be interested no matter what the overlay looks like.  So we may as well get it right.  For once, because of the work done by Penn Praxis to gauge a wide range of community input, we know what right is.

So what do you think?  Councilman DiCicco’s legislation will undergo a lot of review by all parties before being heard by City Council’s Rules Committee in April.  What vision for the Central Delaware will win out?  And what do citizen’s have to do to make sure their voices are on equal footing with the developers when it comes to codifying the plan for the Central Delaware?