Many of Philadelphia’s residential blocks present a conflict between facts on the ground and underlying zoning. One easy example is Washington Avenue, which is zoned for industrial use but keeps seeing mixed-use projects move forward on the corridor. Or we can consider the countless blocks that are zoned for single family homes but include triplexes, quadplexes, or larger apartment buildings. In either situation, developers looking to build a project that doesn’t conform with the code need to get permission from the ZBA before they can move forward.

In terms of allowing apartments on single-family blocks, the ZBA has generally been fairly permissive, especially in situations where developers have support of the local community group. But the members of the ZBA have shown a propensity to edit projects that come before them, granting variances but requiring material changes to height, density, building envelope, and so on. At 3513 N 23rd St. in North Philly’s Tioga neighborhood, it appears we are seeing this exact situation play out in real time.

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The tree lined N 23rd St North of Tioga St in 1927
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Aerial photograph of 3515 N 23rd St

Historically, this property was half of a twin and included three apartments. A fire struck the building a number of years ago and it was never repaired, sitting vacant and blighted for years before being demoed in 2017. The property is huge, covering almost 5,000 sqft, and developers have proposed a 12-unit building which feels like a perfectly appropriate amount of density, despite the single-family zoning. Fun fact, the RSA-3 zoning district not only prohibits multi-family, but it also requires 1:1 parking, so the developers need relief for parking as well.

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3513 & 3515 N 23rd St in 2015
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3515 N 23rd St in 2024

Given the large number of vacant lots present in Nicetown and Tioga, we’re pleased that the Allegheny West Civic Association supported this project. After decades of limited residential investment in this pocket of North Philadelphia, opposition to new buildings seems rather limited compared to other neighborhoods. Still even with the support of the coordinating RCO for a 12 unit version of this project, the development team apparently anticipated the ZBA would object to the inclusion of basement living and offered to accept a proviso eliminating those units and reducing the unit count to 9.

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A rendering of the proposed building and the existing 3515 N 23rd St

The ZBA also called out the lack of windows for several of the living rooms in the building, sending the developers and their architect back to the proverbial drawing board to see if alternative layouts are feasible. These changes will likely result in additional public meetings with multiple RCOs and as a result, the ZBA will hold off voting on this proposal until April at the earliest.

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Rendering of the shared outdoor space in the rear of the building
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Rendering of the new building (with the attached neighbor removed) highlighting the front porch

All of this potentially jeopardizes a project in a neighborhood desperate for development. We certainly hope that the developers are able to come up with a solution to improve light and air in the units, because nobody would benefit from this land staying unused indefinitely. Of course, the real solution would be for City Council to proactively remap this parcel and many others to allow density by right. In a city that needs more housing, especially in pockets that have experienced disinvestment for decades, additional bureaucratic roadblocks are only holding us back. So yeah, remapping Washington Avenue would be great, but let’s not forget about other parts of Philadelphia that could also greatly benefit from an easier path to additional housing.