South Philadelphia HOMES is revamping their neighborhood zoning meetings promising a completely transparent process and a committee tasked with keeping the meetings focused only on zoning issues. Concerns about property taxes and providing jobs for local contractors will be handled in a separate process rather than being repeatedly discussed with each applicant.
These changes are being made after last month’s meeting spiraled out of control into a multi-hour discussion of only one project, complete with allegations of vote tampering.
All Community Members Vote. Meetings will continue to be held on the fourth Monday of every month (however February’s meeting is cancelled while new procedures are put in place). Every resident of Point Breeze will be eligible to vote on all proposed applications. Point Breeze is between 25th and Broad Streets, South of Washington Avenue to the North side of Moore Street.
Applicants must provide community members with documentation of their projects (a floor plan, elevation drawings, a copy of the refusal from the Department of Licenses and Inspection, and drawings of any proposed new signs) when they present their application.
Transparency. Before a community meeting, a description of every application will be posted both online and at the Neighborhood Action Committee (1444 Point Breeze Ave.) which is open daily from 9am to 5pm. Copies of that months agenda will be delivered to every property within a four block radius of any application.
The rules governing who is eligible to vote will be posted online and at the NAC. Results of each vote will be announced orally at the end of each community meeting and then posted online and at the NAC. Any letters of support or opposition sent to the Zoning Board will be posted online and at the NAC.
Record Anything You Want. The misguided rule preventing audio and video recordings is abolished. Post the whole meeting on YouTube is you want. The entire process will be in public view.
New Zoning Committee. Prior to going before the community, applicants will meet with a zoning committee which was formed last week to represent a cross section of the community. So far, the committee includes NAC Director Zelda Simpkins. contractor Torme Deveauxbray, Pastor Lee Wright of Mt. Zion Pentecostal Church, Helen Carter, Antoninette Johnson of Point Breeze Pioneers, contractor Marcellus Blair (who has been running the Point Breeze zoning meetings), and myself (I am a former zoning attorney and author of phillyzoning.com).
Members of the zoning committee will meet applicants before the applicant goes before the community to discuss any initial concerns and determine whether the applicant is willing to compromise on the proposed project.
Meetings Will Stay On Topic. Any community member with questions or comments about a proposed application as it relates to zoning will of course be welcome to contribute. But no other discussions will take place. Anyone who cannot stay on topic will be asked to leave.
Voting Accuracy. Safeguards are also being put in place to ensure that every member of the community can vote and all votes are counted.
Concerns About Increased Property Taxes. Like many residents, South Philadelphia HOMES is concerned that new development may lead to tax increases for long-time Point Breeze residents. Together with the community, we will lobby City Council to protect long-term residents from property tax increases and ensure that any new development in Point Breeze benefits all residents and not just those who can afford to stay.
Jobs for Local Contractors. Another frequent concern is that local developers may not hire local contractors. To that end, South Philadelphia HOMES will compile and maintain a list of local contractors so that applicants can gain support from the community by hiring locally. The zoning committee will later follow up with applicants to determine whether the local contractors are recommended for future projects. The zoning committee can then recommend those contractors to new applicants.
It may take a little while before the new process is completely implemented, but South Philadelphia HOMES has stated that its goal is to provide transparent and efficient local zoning meetings. If you have any suggestions as to how to improve the process, please leave a comment below or email info@pointbreezephilly.org and I will be happy to bring it up at the next meeting.
South Philadelphia HOMES, Inc. (SPHINC) has come up with a solution to the voter fraud problem. Attendees at last Monday’s zoning meeting signed in at the door and then voted. Some of those votes, however, were apparently collected by Tiffany Green 
