WHEREAS, Registered Community Organizations (RCO) will be created on August 22, 2012, when the new zoning code goes into effect; and
WHEREAS, In order to become a Local Registered Community Organization, organizations must meet the strict requirements established by the Philadelphia City Planning Commission, many of which require information that is of no immediate benefit; and
WHEREAS, Community Organizations created after December 22, 2012, whose boundaries are not at least five blocks, will not be given the opportunity to become a Registered Community Organization; and
WHEREAS, If a community organization does not become a Registered Community Organization, they will not be provided with the same notice as Registered Community Organizations, and will be adversely affected; and
WHEREAS, Registered Community Organizations will be responsible for arranging neighborhood meetings between zoning applicants and the community for all zoning appeals prior to the zoning board hearing; and
WHEREAS, It is suspected that Registered Community Organizations, will have more influence over zoning matters than members of the community who are not part of a Registered Community Organization, but reside in the community that will be impacted by Zoning or Civic Design Review Committee matters; and
WHEREAS, Currently, community organizations are all notified of zoning appeals at the same time; and
WHEREAS, District Council members are also at risk of being left out of receiving zoning appeal notifications; and
WHEREAS, The integrity of the zoning process and the history of community involvement is at jeopardy of being compromised; now therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That we hereby authorize the City Council Committee on Rules to hold hearings to investigate the creation of Registered Community Organizations and the impact they will have on the community.
End