page 2 The Public Record • February 19, 2009 www.phillyrecord.com
Hotel Fracas May Spur New Zoning Channels (Cont. From Page 1) The project in question, the Campus Inn, would erect a 10story extended-stay hotel operated by the Hilton chain on a site at 40th & Pine Streets owned by the University of Pennsylvania. The site is occupied by a dilapidated, abandoned nursing home that is generally agreed to be an eyesore. There the agreement stops. The dispute has bedeviled several community groups, the Historical Commission and the City Planning Commission as well as the ZBA since June 2007. During this dizzying roundabout, the HC flip-flopped more than a fish on a pier; it was for the project until it was against the project, until it was for it and against it and for it. History played a trick on Penn. The university had bought the property in Spruce Hill, chiefly in self-defense, after its original owner was shut down by the State in the wake of a scandal in 2002. Little did it know, years before the property had been listed as “historic”. Half-buried behind lumpy additions lay an Italianate mansion that hearkened back to 150 years ago. For this reason, HC approval for demolition was needed. The developer, Campus Inn Associates, asked the HC to delist the property, arguing the building’s historic value had already been destroyed. CIA’s first plan was to demolish the structure and erect a wide lowrise hotel in its place. Its business target was the increasing flow of visitors drawn to Penn’s huge hospital complex nearby, many of whom need affordable temporary housing. Delisting was denied. The HC has never delisted a building unless it has already been torn down. That meant the developer had to spend an unexpected $3 million to restore the old mansion to external period specifications – and keep an open streetscape from which you can see it all. Since this stopped the developer from building out, the HC “agreed in concept” CIA could build up instead. So a highrise was born … and the trouble began. Fortieth Street is where Penn campus ends. Along its eastern side, highrise residences have long dominated the landscape. But to the west lies a large community zoned for 4-story hous-
ing, and within its boundary the Campus Inn would be located. Fierce opposition sprang up, splitting civic associations and neighbors, even Penn faculty. Magali Larson of the Woodland Terrace Association, a former Penn and Temple professor, sums up their concerns: “The massive scale of this building is on a lot that is too small. Our residential neighborhood would be ruined by noise, light and parking congestion. The design is out of character. And Penn’s consultative process has been manipulative and undemocratic.” In a neighborhood where Penn’s expansion has often roused protests in the past, Larson’s concerns ring true for many, 600 of whom have signed petitions against this project. CIA is not without strong community backing, though. Tom Lussenhop, one of its partners, a Spruce Hill resident who was once managing director at Penn’s division of facilities services & real estate, has the backing of area hospitals and businesses, as well as the owners of most nearby properties. With 300 signatories of his own and support in local polls, Lussenhop believes many neighbors see a case for growth on this business corridor. “This location right next to the Green Line trolley portal is ideal for denser, transit-based development,” he argues. Lussenhop states the project has received a $2 million Pennsylvania Builds loan and a $9.5 million Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp. new-markets tax credit. The Campus Inn has promised to employ unionized permanent employees, winning an endorsement from UNITE HERE. “That project would also employ about 270 construction workers,” estimates Pat Gillespie of the Building Trades Council. “We’ve got a lot of guys out of work right now.” The Campus Inn project needed a pass from three separate City regulatory agencies – not an uncommon experience for developers here. In the past there was little coordination between the three as they barged off in different policy directions. Under the last administration, critics depicted the ZBA as rubbery, the HC as severe and the CPC as impotent. It may be fairer to say the
scope and process of the first two bodies were often opaque, their precedents unreliable and their decisions unpredictable. Nutter has made clear he wants Philadelphia to become friendlier to development. "If we continue to reform and break down barriers, if we take advantage of new investments, and if we leverage our incredible assets … Philadelphia will be one of the great global cities of the 21st century," he told the Chamber of Commerce last week. In August 2008, Nutter named as chair of the CPC Alan Greenberger. An owner of MGA Partners, Greenberger is also an architecture professor at Penn and Drexel. His mandate from the Mayor was reform – including a comprehensive overhaul of the City's zoning code. Greenberger also became, ex officio, chair of the Zoning Code Commission, which voters had called into being in the same May 2007 primary election that Nutter won in a fiveway race. In January 2008 Nutter had replaced the entire ZBA, which is now headed by Susan
Jaffe. The stage was set for a new broom. Philadelphia’s zoning has not been revised for 45 years. As a result, two-thirds of all large developments go through the ZBA variance process. Greenberger says that must change. “Zoning is a coarse tool that can never account for everything,” he asserts. “Piecemeal zoning overlays and variances have tended to come through the political process. That’s not how it’s handled in other cities.” The Nutter administration aims to wind down the ZBA’s role as a bazaar for design negotiations between developers, community groups and politicians. It would become a less active body, focused chiefly on economic-hardship adjustments. In its place, Greenberger has proposed a Design Review Committee under the CPC. Nutter’s reforms will try to shift zoning away from away from land-use governance toward a “form-based” model, which sets broad standards of appearance while allowing the DRC to
work out the details. Greenberger’s goal is to “craft zoning regulations that give developers more consistency and predictability.” Of Philadelphia’s cumbersome traditional regulatory route, he says, “These kinds of things are disincentives to money that has a choice of going elsewhere.” Zoning prescriptions should not be seen as commandments graven for eternity, Greenberger argues. “Cities evolve over time,” he says, “and zoning should be flexible enough to accommodate that.” Greenberger moved swiftly to consolidate the power of the CPC. Campus Inn cleared its last hurdle before that body in September 2008, before he even took office. In November 2008, the HC presented him with an early challenge when, under pressure from project foes, it revoked its approval in concept of the Campus Inn – a rare move in city planning – based on its clash in scale with neighboring buildings. At its December meeting, Greenberger appeared, bluntly to
tell the HC it lacked that authority. Its role, he asserted, was “to evaluate the proposal relative to the historic resources of the site. In this case, the only historic resource that exists at this museum is the mansion that is proposed to be repaired and brought back to a useful life.” The HC swiftly caved in. After months of observation, Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell announced Tuesday she “cannot support this zoning application at this time.” She is troubled by the way historic designation has complicated this development. Appealing “for compromise on all sides,” she requested “all sides recommit to a solution we all can embrace.” After this hearing, the ZBA may confirm, deny or continue the debate. Now matter how this case is decided, the outcome may push the City to consolidate developmental regulations under Mayoral leadership, and stake out core principles for the zoning reform that is to come. Other politicians will surely seek to have their say.
(Cont. From Page 1) five years. Mayor Michael Nutter, City Controller Alan Butkovitz and the Pension Board have revealed a plan to reduce the City’s pension obligations, which would producd the savings. The pension-plan proposal includes lowering the assumed return on pension investments from 8.75% to 8.25%, increasing the period over which the unfunded liability is paid off from 20 to 40 years, and spreading out the fund’s earnings and losses from five to 10 years.
The pension proposal would decrease the financial burden on the City and increase its ability to fund existing liabilities in the long-term. But two components of the plan will require legislative action from the Pennsylvania Legislature. “If we are able to work with our partners in Harrisburg to pass the necessary legislation, the positive financial impact on our five-year plan would be significant,” said Nutter. Alan Butkovitz presented
this idea to the Mayor in an effort to help bridge the $1 billion budget gap confronting the City. He said, “The Mayor is to be commended for his courage in confronting this problem now and working with us to move quickly and put this plan on the fast track. This pension plan will not only save the City $170 million over the next five years, it will also avoid a looming pension-fund crisis that was likely
to occur in three years’ time if action was not taken now.” Both contend lowering the earnings assumption from 8.75% to 8.25% is fiscally responsible, making the assumed return more reasonable and aligning the assumptions with other jurisdictions. The Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority has recommended the Pension Board take this action.
Butkovitz Pension Plan Dollar Winner
Judge Has A Problem (Cont. From Page 1) quest, the judge brazenly overturned two of Pawlowski’s pictures. FOP President John J. McNesby is asking Municipal Court President Marsha Neifield to remove Judge Craig Washington from the hearing from holding hearings in the 35th. McNesby added, “It’s bad enough Police officers are being murdered by violent repeat offenders released by the
SISTER Nancy Fitzgerald, principal at St. Martin De Porres Catholic School, and 6th-grade teacher Sandra Streeter demonstrate donated computer to State Sen. Shirley Kitchen.
Kitchen Gets Computers FOP chief John McNesby ….judge’s sense in doubt judiciary, we now have to face a direct threat from the bench.”
(Cont. From Page 1) puters and the Internet. Regardless of the reasons for this gap, there is a moral imperative to ensure everyone has equal access to information technology.” TeamChildren, he said, takes older, slower computers
and refurbishes them, bringing them up to date. Computers come from many sources, including Sanofi-Aventis, Genex Services, Syntehs, IKEA, and IBM as well as individuals, and local schools and colleges.