Council introduces bill to replace Title 14 of the Philadelphia Code ahead of ZCC’s final report

Last week, City Council introduced a bill, No. 110766, which would repeal the entire “Zoning and Planning” chapter of the Philadelphia Code, and replace it with a new one.

The text of the proposed new code has not been released, and the bill alludes only to changes to the Zoning Maps of the City, and to “certain terms and conditions.”

ZCC Executive Director Eva Gladstein said the bill would allow Council to sidestep the timeline that the zoning reform project has been working under for the past four years.

The Charter timeline says that Council may reject, accept, or table–but not amend–the final report it gets from the ZCC. This bill would give Council a way to make whatever changes it wants prior to passing a new code.

“While we believe this action is indicative of Council’s interest in getting a new Zoning Code passed by the end of the year,” Gladstein said, “it would allow Council to amend the draft Zoning Code before passage, which is not permitted within the Home Rule Charter-mandated process.”

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