My post from Friday about the new position of Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic development generated a good amount of discussion in the comments but also resulted in some really good email responses.
After the jump, I'll share one from reader Evan who took issue with my use of Chicago as a comparison city and the exchange that followed as I responded to him.
Click "Continue Reading" to read the whole thing. Feel free to keep the discussion going in the comments.
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Mr. Pohlig:
I was surprised---perhaps "shocked" would be more accurate---to come upon Mr. Pohlig's seeming salute to Chicago city planning. "Can 'a deputy mayor divided against himself' stand and thrive?"The Next Mayor, February 1, 2008.
Mr. Pohlig supplied a comparison between supposedly good results achieved by Chicago's city planning process---Mr. Pohlig was writing about physical planning, land use planning---versus a supposed lack of "good" planning in Philadelphia.
Missed the mark, Mr. Pohlig, by a country mile.
"The mantra was that any development was good development - a sign of both desperation and lack of sophistication. We got away with it because, by charter, city planning in Philadelphia is only advisory to the mayor and council, with no jurisdictional power."
"Contrast this to Chicago where "'the current 18 [Plan] commission members are appointed by the mayor and must approve, disapprove or defer any proposal by a public body or agency 'to acquire, dispose, or change any real property within the territorial limits of the city' on the basis of whether or not the referral complies with the city's long range planning goals and objectives.'"
Whoa there Nellie, rein in that runaway carriage!
For those whose daily reading horizon ranges as far as the Chicago Tribune, available at no charge on the Internet, the reality of Chicago's physical planning process--rather than Mr. Pohlig's theoretical construct--was available this week for all to see with abundant photographic illustrations.
Rather than characterizing the Trib's series, permit me to quote Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass' Thursday piece. "Banks Clan Is Ruling Party When It Comes to Zoning". Chicago Tribune, January 31, 2008.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-kass_31jan31,0,7728783.column
"Written by Tribune reporters Dan Mihalopoulos, Robert Becker and Darnell Little, the series -- with more installments to come -- focused on what critics call Chicago's corrupt pay-to-play zoning system, and how neighborhoods suffer as real estate developers intersect with aldermanic ambition." (Emphasis added.)
One is reminded that the former Soviet Union had a formal constitution that guaranteed freedom of speech and religion, the right to form political parties and many other elements that we consider essential to a working democracy.
The formal Soviet constitution wasn't worth the paper it was written on. One can say the same about the practical effect of the formal Chicago physical planning provisions Mr. Pohlig cited.
All the best,
Evan
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I'd like to point out again that the italicized part above is not my work. Those words, as I stated in the original post, are from the author of the op-edSo I asked Evan in a reply for his take on the situation here in Philadelphia. His reply, which I found succinct, to the point and including a very concrete action item was this:
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Mr. Pohlig:
Since you asked, there's a very simple way to achieve now what you seem to desire, while action to change the City Charter proceeds.
What's needed is a pledge by each Mayoral appointee to the zoning appeals board, prior to appointment, that he or she will not vote for zoning changes unless they are supported by a formal, written public analysis from the city's planning department.
There is an obvious benefit to requiring such a pledge--and a more subtle secondary effect.
The obvious benefit is that the city's formal planning process--led by the planning department---- will play the primary role in governing land use in the city. The secondary effect, valuable in itself, will be to raise the visibility of the planning department, an activity that's withered away in the Rendell/Street administrations.
Is this helpful?
All the best,
Evan
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To his question at the end I say, yes. That was, in fact, extremely helpful. I wish more of my reader emails actually provided actionable items like this. Now... whether this actionable item is workable... I'll leave that to you the readers to discuss in the comments (or email me with suggestions).
Comments (3)
There's another Evan? Who knew?
Posted by Evan No. 2 | February 4, 2008 3:08 PM
The problem with Evan's well intentioned suggestion is that the Planning Commission is perhaps the worst department in the City. It has flown under the radar since it has less influence than other departments, but for those who have actually tried to work with PCPC staff they are emplematic of everything stereotypically wrong with city employees. They are underqualified, over-reaching, petty, vindictive and generally lazy.
His idea is a great one, but only if you can revamp the commission staff. (keep in mind, the planning commission itself, both under Street and as now crafted includes some very qualified and effective folks. My negative comments apply to the staff, not the appointees.)
Posted by Anonymous | February 4, 2008 3:47 PM
Two thoughts: My experience with Planning Commission staff over the past 18-24 months, has not been close to as negative, as that of the prior poster. Also,Evan, at least until the Zoning Code is overhauled,the requirement of a Planning Commission analysis for every variance request is entirely unrealistic. There must be 50-100 variance requests heard each week before the ZBA. Such a requirement would drag construction in the City to a halt. Perhaps such a requirement makes sense for projects over 200,000 square feet, or some other objective criteria to establish "big" projects.
Posted by anonymous | February 4, 2008 3:54 PM