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Amending Title 14 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Zoning and Planning," by amending Chapter 14-1800 entitled "Zoning Board of Adjustment," by amending Section 14-1807 entitled "Appeals to the Courts," by amending language regarding appeals, under certain terms and conditions.
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THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA HEREBY ORDAINS:
SECTION 1. Legislative findings. The Council hereby finds:
1. Philadelphia, unlike many other cities in the Commonwealth, is a city of neighborhoods, and a city of neighborhood organizations that work hard to preserve and improve the quality of life in our City and to protect our communities from intrusions that destroy the character of our neighborhoods.
2. Active citizen taxpayers and community organizations are vital to maintaining strong neighborhoods.
3. An unfettered right to challenge zoning decisions is integral to the ability of local organizations and taxpayers to support the quality of life in our neighborhoods.
4. Certain decisions of the Zoning Board of Adjustment are of purely local neighborhood concern, and should be subject to challenge in court only by persons immediately affected by the zoning decision.
5. Certain other decisions of the Zoning Board of Adjustment are not purely local and should be subject to challenge by any taxpayer.
6. Taxpayers who live in the immediate vicinity of a property should have an absolute right to challenge zoning decisions affecting that property, without having to show that they are aggrieved or that they suffer a direct, adverse impact.
7. Any taxpayers, without regard to specific residence, should have an absolute right to challenge zoning decisions that are not merely of purely local neighborhood concern, without having to show that they are aggrieved or that they suffer a direct, adverse impact.
8. Examples of matters that could be of more than merely purely local neighborhood concern include: matters relating to properties of significan...
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