Tracey Gordon, a member of the Southwest Concerned Citizens
group, testified at a Council committee hearing on Tuesday that automobile chop
shops and salvage yards have been opening in near-residential areas of
Southwest Philadelphia and causing problems for neighbors: discarded tires and
car parts, noise, and fumes. 2nd-District Councilman Kenyatta Johnson wants to
stem the spread of these businesses, and his constituents and Council
colleagues seem to be on board.
But there is less consensus about how to do it.
Johnson’s proposed solution has two parts. First, remap all
of the I-2 medium industrial zoning districts in an area bounded by Lindbergh
Boulevard, 84th Street, Cobbs Creek, Springfield Avenue and 54th Street to
ICMX, an industrial/commercial mixed-use category. Second, change what’s
allowed in ICMX by prohibiting all of the uses in the Vehicle and Vehicular
Equipment Sales and Services category, except for gas stations. This change
would require commercial and personal vehicle repair, maintenance, sales and
rental uses; equipment and supplies sales uses; and vehicle paint shops to get
zoning variances before opening in ICMX categories.
In short, replace all the I-2 zoning in the area in question
with a more restrictive version of the ICMX category.
One objection to that solution was raised by both the
Planning Commission, at its meeting last month, and Councilman Bill Green, at
Tuesday’s hearing: the bills would change a citywide zoning policy—the ICMX
zoning category—to solve a localized problem. Some members of the Planning
Commission recommended solving the problem by creating an overlay in the area
of concern, even though one goal of the zoning reform was to reduce the number
of overlays in the code.
Councilman Green’s suggestion is to change the I-2 zoning
districts in the area of concern to another zoning district that already
prohibits the offending uses. A commercial mixed-use or industrial/residential
mixed-use category would do the trick, Green said.
Others are concerned that prohibiting those uses in the ICMX
category would prevent legitimate, neighborhood-friendly business—things like
Pep Boys, Autozone, and so on—from opening up in areas that want them, without
going to the zoning board.
Councilman Johnson elected to hold his two bills on Tuesday
and work to figure out the best solution.
Meanwhile, Councilman Jim Kenney pointed to a larger
problem: the longer the gap between the new zoning code’s adoption and the
completion of the neighborhood remappings being undertaken by the Planning
Commission, the more opportunity there is for noxious uses to be built in
incorrectly-zoned areas by right.
Source: PlanPhilly.com
No comments:
Post a Comment