About two months ago I blogged about Act 193. Now is the time to take action to repeal it.
Act 193 threatens the rights of Philadelphia community groups to protect our neighborhoods from harmful development.
Community associations—and city-wide groups like SCRUB and the Preservation Alliance—rely on zoning to prevent bad development that undermines our quality of life. We fight zoning variances that would allow new developments that is out of character with our communities. And, if we lose at the Zoning Board of Adjustment, we appeal their decisions to the courts and win there.
Acting in the dead of night, with no hearings or public notice, the State Legislature amended an unrelated bill seeking to override our city’s ordinance allowing taxpayers the right to appeal Zoning Board decisions. The new law, Act 193, threatens to limit the rights of community associations and civic groups to appeal decisions of not only the Zoning Board but all other agencies that regulate land use, including the Historical Commission.
A recent court decision based on Act 193 prevented a local community association from appealing a Zoning Board decision about development in its neighborhood. Some developers even want to deny our right to appear before the Zoning Board and other agencies.
Community groups from around the city are already concerned about the impact of this Act 193 on their ability to shape development in the city. Lou Coffey, past president of Center City Residents Association said, “This is a major attack in the campaign to emasculate neighborhood associations and the citizens of Philadelphia.” Michael McClary, Zoning Chair of the Wynnefield Heights Civic Association, one of three community groups recently denied standing to appeal a decision of the Zoning Board, said that “Act 193 is a potential disaster for every community group in the city,”
The strength of our city is in our neighborhoods and zoning is the critical tool civic groups use to protect them. With no influence over the zoning process, we will lose control of our neighborhoods and be subject to the whims and greed of unscrupulous developers.
What has kept our neighborhoods strong is the work of the community organizations and civic associations in the city, the hundreds of dedicated volunteers who keep them going, and the thousands of members who belong to them.
Now is the time for all of us to work together to save our communities by preserving our influence over zoning and land use.
Join the fight to Repeal Act 193.
Community groups and civic associations like SCRUB and the Preservation Alliance have come together to create a network or alliance aimed at repealing Act 193. We have recently launched a new website www.neighborhooddefense.org that will be one center of our organizing activity.
Click here to add your name to the list of people and organizations that are demanding repeal of Act 193 before the November election. We will soon be engaging in other activities such as lobbying legislators and holding rallies in every part of the city. Visit this web site frequently to find out what you can do to pressure our legislators to Repeal Act 193 now.