Philadelphia moves ahead with first major zoning overhaul in decades

Philadelphia City Council will have a chance to hold hearings on the first major re-write of the zoning code in a half century.

The zoning code commission passed the changes on Wednesday with both a majority and a minority report. Although Councilman Bill Green supports modernizing the code, he has concerns about when and how the changes would be implemented.

“The only difference between the majority and minority report are that the minority report suggests that the code will become effective in any land district upon the remapping of that land district where the majority report would have the code becoming effective automatically,” said Green.

Councilman Brian O’Neill is upset about many changes including that people will be able to start home-based businesses without getting a variance.

“You are going to be able to have a business in your house, with employees deliveries and customers in every house in the city and I can’t even get them to take that out,” O’Neill said.

Council will hold hearings on the changes, and send it back to the commission for modifications then it will come back to council for a final up or down vote.