The Barbary. Source: http://www.thejawn.com/view/3638/the-barbary
For some time now, a proposal by developer David Grasso for a music venue in the Fishtown neighborhood of Philadelphia has been the subject of quite a bit of legal wrangling. Plan Philly reports that City councilman Frank DiCicco originally sponsored legislation to allow the site to be zoned to allow the venue, and was successful. Later, when it became apparent that the project’s financing was going to fail, Councilman DiCicco introduced a bill removing the zoning variance. Why would the councilman seek to kill the zoning he fought for? Plan Philly:
“DiCicco still likes Grasso’s project, but he was concerned the financing wasn’t coming through. He did not want to leave the zoning in place when he left office if there was doubt that Grasso was moving forward, DiCicco said, because another developer might build something with that zoning that would be harmful to the community.”
The practice of changing the zoning of a particular site to suit one specific project is called spot zoning, and its whats going on here. Note that our esteemed councilman approved of the initial project enough to fight for its zoning variance. Then, when he thought the project may fall through, he tried to revoke that variance, because he was afraid another developer may “build something… that would be harmful to the community”. Or to put it another way, the councilman wanted to freeze the site while Grasso worked the kinks out, to prevent some other developer from snatching up the real-estate.
If the issue here was that someone may build something, DiCicco should not have fought for the variance. If, however, the issue is that DiCicco wants to support not some project, but this specific project, then this is exactly what he should do.
Either a venue in this spot is acceptable, or it isn’t, and the zoning of the neighborhood should reflect that. But using the zoning to promote one individual’s project and freeze out any potential competition is harmful to the neighborhood. Fishtown is looking more and more like an up and coming neighborhood, with a lot of interesting bars, restaurants, and venues opening and becoming popular. Thus, I think the zoning change is a good idea. But, it should be done in general and on the merits. Not like this.
520 Chestnut 
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