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December 14, 2011
To The President and Members of
The Council of the City of Philadelphia:
For the following reasons, I am returning to your Honorable Body without my signature Bill No. 110662, which was passed by Council at its session on December 1, 2011.
Bill No. 110662 modifies an existing zoning overlay that regulates use controls on the Chelten Avenue and Germantown Avenue commercial corridors in Germantown. The modification will allow the operation of variety stores, as long as such stores are larger than 7500 square feet. The immediate practical effect of this bill is to permit a proposed large Dollar Tree store within a larger development currently under construction at Chelten and Pulaski Avenues. The bill, however, would also liberalize the overlay's zoning rules to permit such large variety stores in the remaining parts of the overlay area.
The larger development currently underway is positive for Germantown. Part of the development - a new supermarket - opened last week and replaces a poorer quality market owned by the same operator several blocks away. The remainder of the development includes the renovation of the former Fresh Grocer supermarket on the site and will include a variety of tenants, among them the proposed Dollar Tree, which will occupy approximately twenty percent of the entire proposed development area.
Although I am supportive of the fact that this development overall will create jobs, I have some concerns about this specific bill. This legislation follows an initial zoning permit application process in which the applicant was not originally forthcoming about the intended use of the property as a variety store and would allow a use that is the subject of much disagreement in the community. Moreover, the bill would allow the creation of other large variety stores in the overlay area that may be out of character with the other commercial activity along those corridors. For these reasons the Planning Commission recommended against approval of this bill.
I am also mindful, however, that as part of negotiations about the final zoning code proposal that the Zoning Code Commission recently presented to and heard in Council, Council requested that
this same change to the Lower and Central Germantown overlay be included in the final Commission recommendation, and the Commission acceded to that request. Therefore, whether or not this bill becomes law, the substance of the proposal set forth in Bill 110662 will nonetheless become law when the new Code takes effect next year.
Because of my policy concerns regarding this bill and the fact that the Planning Commission recommended against its approval, I am returning the bill without my signature.
It is my understanding that the Philadelphia City Planning Commission staff has reservations about the entire overlay at issue and I therefore believe that the rule established in this bill should be reconsidered in connection with a reevaluation of the entire overlay. I invite the Council that will take office next year to work with members of my Administration to create a better set of rules for the Lower and Central Germantown commercial corridors.
Respectfully,
Michael A. Nutter,
Mayor
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