Revised Philadelphia zoning code awaits Nutter’s OK

A top-to-bottom overhaul of Philadelphia’s zoning code now need only the mayor’s signature to become law.

The new zoning code has been years in the making.

Eva Gladstein, executive director of the city’s 31-member Zoning Code Commission, said the new code will take effect in August and will mean a great deal to residents even if they don’t deal with it every day.

“Zoning tells you everything from what can be built next door to you to how tall your house can be to whether or not the toy store or the supermarket can be on your commercial corridor and where there can be factories and every other use in the city of Philadelphia,” Gladstein aid.

Once the code is implemented, Gladstein said, two things will be obvious.

“One is that fewer projects will require variances from the zoning code, more of them will be as of right,” she said. “There will also be a recognized system for public input into the new zoning code so community organizations will get notice of large projects and projects that do need variances.”

The commission is still working on new billboard regulations.