Westrum named to Zoning Code Commission
In the May election Philadelphians voted on a referendum to overhaul the Phila zoning code (more on why this is a good thing). A reformed zoning code could potentiallyhelp developers and average people avoid the Kafkaesque red tape of the current zoning system but also give communities a healthier role in developing their neighborhood.
Updating the current zoning code will take place over the next year by the Zoning Code Commission. Most members of the Zoning Code Commission were named this week. John Westrum, CEO Westrum Developmentand builder of Brewerytown, was among those included.Out of the fifteen named so far, only one, Ann Hoskins-Brown fromthe South of South Neighborhood Association, can be considered as from a neighborhood or community group.
This raises the question as to how well this process can speak for neighborhood interests if they are represented in such limited scope. Meanwhile one of the most notorious developers in the City is on the commission. I am hoping that more neighborhoods areincluded with the remainder of the members on the commission. This is an extremely important process for development in the coming decades and the interests of neighborhoods, especially thosebeing gentrified,must be heard.
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Comments
The entire Philadelphia
The entire Philadelphia community should be extremely concerned about who is sitting on the Zoning board.
Will zoning commissioners with special interests serve their own agendas without considering what is best for the majority of city residents who have lived in this city for years and generations. What is the use of rehauling the zoning code if the decision makers are not representative of the community at large. The zoning board should be diverse and representative of the entire city.
While I agree that the zoning system is currently out dated and needs revamping I see no real benefit if we have a new system in place that favors or caters to a few while shutting out others.
I see the new zoning process
I see the new zoning process as a tremendous threat (I would have seen it as an opportunity if the composition of the board was different) to good planning and sustainable development of our city.
New zoning should result from a robust community-based planning effort that would involve residents in every block of this city. We have the resources to do smart planning that will truly benefit the city. Zoning needs to be informed by planning that begins at the grassroots not reward developers intent on gentrifying neighborhoods and using eminent domain and other tactics to displace working class people and people of color.