Rules committee reports seven zoning rezones and overlay changes out of committee

The Philadelphia City Council Rules Committee advanced a package of zoning map amendments and related code changes, voting to report the items with favorable recommendations and to suspend the rules to permit first reading for most bills at the next council session.

The clerk read a slate of bills before the committee, including 260,212 (remap near Bustleton Avenue and Roosevelt Boulevard), 260,238 (rezoning several Philadelphia School District properties to SPCIV), 260,296 (amendments to the University of Pennsylvania master plan for theater and pavilion additions), 260,297 (rezoning a Department of Veterans Affairs parcel in University City), 260,301 (Tacony waterfront parcels and marina-related remapping), 260,302 (Allegheny West remapping, including conversion to affordable housing and parks/open space) and 260,379 (technical revisions to an overlay district in Cedarbrook).

Paula Brumbelow Burns, director of legislation for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission, summarized each bill for the committee and noted where the commission recommended approval and where it requested additional review. For bill 260,212 she said the commission recommended approval because the remap aligns a property's zoning (from RSA-5 to CMX-2) with its current commercial frontage and use. For bills affecting school properties (260,238 and 260,298) and other parcels where future uses are unclear, the planning commission requested additional clarity from the school district and in some cases voted to extend its review period by 45 days.

During the public meeting portion, committee member Gilmore Richardson offered amendments to bills 260,238, 260,298 and 260,379; the committee adopted those amendments by voice vote. Richardson then moved that the committee report bills 260,212; 260,238 as amended; 260,296; 260,297; 260,301; 260,302; and 260,379 as amended from committee with a favorable recommendation and that the rules be suspended to allow first reading. He also moved that bill 260,298 as amended be reported out with a favorable recommendation without suspension of the rules. The committee voted in favor and the chair announced the motion carried.

The committee's actions send the rezoning requests and plan amendments to the full council for first reading and further consideration. Several items will remain subject to additional Planning Commission review or outreach to affected institutions before final council action.