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Council proposed zoning restrictions for single-family preservation districts.

Official:Amending Title 14 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled “Zoning and Planning,” by providing that no variance shall be granted to permit the multi-family use of a property located in certain defined Single Family Preservation Districts, under certain terms and conditions.

Sponsor: Councilmember Johnson

Introduced: May 9, 2019

: Committee on Rules

gentrification housing zoning

No one voted on this bill

This bill was introduced in the 2016–2019 Council term and when that term ran out. The public record shows no committee vote and no floor vote at any stage, so no member of Council ever went on record for or against it.

That is not unusual here. Of the 8,465 bills introduced between 2000 and 2025, 1,624 lapsed without a single recorded vote. Ninety percent of bills that became law carry a roll call. Three percent of lapsed bills do. How this works.

Plain-Language Summary

This bill restricts the Zoning Board of Adjustment from granting variances for multi-family use in specific neighborhoods designated as Single Family Preservation Districts.

What This Bill Does

AI-written. Every figure is checked against the bill text.

Prohibits the Zoning Board of Adjustment from granting variances for multi-family use in certain defined Single Family Preservation Districts.
Defines specific neighborhoods as Single Family Preservation Districts, restricting the types of developments allowed in these areas.
Amends Title 14 of The Philadelphia Code, "Zoning and Planning", to reflect this new restriction on variances.
Requires the Zoning Board of Adjustment to follow strict criteria when considering variances, and prohibits them from granting variances that allow the conversion of single-family properties into multi-family properties in these designated districts.