Kenney administration is working to shorten wait times for project approval by zoning board

Delays at the Zoning Board of Adjustment that are hampering small businesses in the city, and adding to the costs of big developers, will be addressed, policymakers said at city budget hearings late Wednesday afternoon.

Councilmember Mark Squilla questioned Kenney administration officials about how to address wait times of as much as six months to get a hearing, even when applicants are paying as much as a $1,000 to expedite their cases. Those who aren’t able to pay can face wait times of eight or nine months.

“The great news is that this means there’s still a lot of development going on in our city,” said Anne Fadullon, director of the Department of Planning and Development. “But we want to foster that development, get those economic dollars, and those jobs, and all that benefit. We know we’ve got to make improvements.”

A recent Inquirer analysis showed that scheduling times for a hearing at the zoning board have doubled since the pandemic, and that, last year, applicants faced an average wait of six months before they got a hearing.

For big real estate companies, the wait can be an annoyance but doesn’t necessarily hamper plans that already unfold over years. But for those trying to open a cafe or legalize an Airbnb rental business, the sluggish process can be devastating.

Philadelphia’s zoning board is unusually active, and far more projects are subjected to the process than is the norm in other large cities. That’s partly because of a profusion of zoning overlays, which have created different rules in different corners of the city. That drives both small-business owners and big developers appearingbefore the board.

“It’s great that we have a lot of work, but [the ZBA’s extended wait times] could end up deterring work in the future,” said Squilla.

Squilla proposed adding another day of hearings every month and devoting the new meetings to cases in which applicants have the support of neighborhood groups, their City Council member and the Planning Commission. He noted that a single controversial case can stretch on for hours and that less complicated zoning cases should be put on an accelerated schedule.

Such practices are common in other cities, where different processes are adopted for minor or major breaks with the underlying zoning. Variance requests that call for mere tweaks — which is the case for many small-business owners — are often placed on an accelerated track.

Kenney administration officials did not embrace that exact fix but said they would talk with Squilla more off-line. Deputy director of planning Martha Cross said that they are focusing their efforts on ensuring that applicants are better prepared for their hearings.

Many smaller-business owners or property owners who come before the board often represent themselves and frequently ask that their cases be continued into future hearings (often months down the road) because it turns out that they don’t have the appropriate paperwork.

“They’ve taken a spot on that agenda that can’t be filled at the last minute,” Cross said. “In the short term, we are improving communications to make sure that … our pro se applicants and homeowners who don’t need to be represented by attorneys are prepared. We hope that will improve timelines a bit.”

Some veteran zoning lawyers have argued that wait times could be eased if the zoning board went back to holding meetings in person to allow for easier negotiations between the parties. But the city officials have expressed no appetite for abandoning COVID-era virtual hearings, arguing that they allow for more democratic participation.