Feature: Policy and Design in Philadelphia

By Eleanor Sharpe  

As executive director of the Planning Commission from 2018-2023 and now serving as Interim Director of the Department of Planning and Development which houses the Division of Development Services, the Division of Housing, the Art, Historical and Planning Commissions and the Zoning Board, there are significant intersections of policy and design. 

Our department’s policies have many positive impacts on design in Philadelphia. The agencies under our umbrella shape the built environment through a series of policies, regulations, and legislation. I’ll share my experience as Executive Director of the Planning commission and how that position helps to make positive changes for the city through the work of the agency and sister agencies. 

PLANNING AT THE SPEED OF TRUST 

One of the Planning Commission’s major policy documents is the Comprehensive Plan—Phila2035—completed in 2018, that contains recommendations for the city to economically thrive, improve connections and renew and sustain its resources. On a positive note, with the help of our implementation partners, we’ve advanced 68% of the Phila2035 plan recommendations. We are currently building our capacity in anticipation of updating the Phila2035 plan: to create a plan that is more equitable, transparent, and addresses climate and environmental challenges.  

The comprehensive plan update will embrace our Commitment to Change at all levels in the process. This means moving at the speed of trust to rebuild relationships with the many communities that have been subject to questionable planning decisions; including communities of color displaced by urban renewal and those divided by highways such as Chinatown by the Vine Street Expressway and Nicetown by the Roosevelt Boulevard.  

The city has been divided into 18 geographic districts for the comprehensive plan. One positive change that I’ve enacted is to assign a planner to each district. This allows for a point person on staff for each district who can be a source of contact for the variety of stakeholders living and working in that district.  

VALUE OF THE PUBLIC REALM  

The other major policy tool of the Commission is the Zoning Code. Through this legislation we determine what gets built and where, with influence on size and massing. One way we do this is through Civic Design Review (CDR) a requirement of the zoning code for certain size projects.  

As policy this has been a successful area that has led to positive changes in our city. The committee reviews large development projects and recommends improvements to the projects to positively impact the public realm. Recommendations are advisory, and the development team may choose whether to implement them. Despite this, the committee has made an impactful contribution that has resulted in better projects and a more enhanced public realm for our city.  

Advice from a CDR insider: applicants should focus their discussion on the design! Our committee people are well-versed in design and want to hear as much as possible from the architect or designer. My other piece of advice is to work with the staff. The design staff is available to demystify the city’s various processes. They are invested in getting projects through the Civic Design Review process and can help teams understand the zoning, overlays, and regulations that apply to a project.  

Philadelphia has experienced a building boom, or at least a permitting boom. The ten-year tax abatement on new construction helped spur massive development interest in the city. Between 2019 and 2023, Philadelphia green-lit over 35,000 multifamily units. In the same period, our four suburban adjacent counties together permitted 6,500 new units. This boom has created a huge opportunity for our department to clarify communication to developers and community members, and to advocate for good design that will improve neighborhoods and build on their strengths. 

KEEPING OUR HISTORY INTACT 

Another area of positive change is working alongside the Historical Commission to preserve and protect the city’s varied culture and heritage. We live in a World Heritage City. We must not take for granted our rich historical resources, and we must remember that Philadelphia’s contributions to history go far beyond the bell. Our Philadelphia Historical Commission guides the preservation and development of historical properties. They are keepers of the Philadelphia Register of Historical Places. Since Mayor Kenney took office, the Historical Commission has added more historic districts to the Register than all other mayoral administrations combined. 

In 2017, Mayor Kenney convened the Preservation Task Force to help understand the dynamics of the relationship between historic preservation and new construction in Philadelphia. At that time, just 10,722 of Philadelphia’s buildings were listed in the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places. Now that number is 13,513, a 26% leap. There is still much work to be done.  

These new additions to the Register include a new focus on previously hidden histories. For example, the Christian Street Historic District/Black Doctor’s Row, added to the register last summer, was home to Black doctors, teachers, elected officials, business owners and more—including architect Julian Abele. His home and the homes of many other notable Black Philadelphians are now protected, a nomination which our Historical Commission added to the Register in a unanimous vote.  

This enthusiasm for preservation that is important to communities will be carried further with Treasure Philly! The process we as the city use to recognize history leaves many stories unheard. This means some of our most valuable cultural resources go unprotected. Treasure Philly! is a first-of-its-kind effort to preserve cultural resources in Philadelphia. Treasure Philly! will explore new ways to identify and record these resources. Treasure Philly! is a test to find new ways to improve the Philadelphia Historical Commission’s ways of documenting, designating, and protecting our city’s history. As of this writing, the effort is in its pilot phase. We are currently surveying the neighborhoods surrounding the intersection of Broad, Germantown and Erie. 

TEACHING PHILADELPHIANS WHO LOVE WHERE THEY LIVE 

Philadelphians are the ones who make our work truly matter. We rely on the wisdom of their lived experience and their priorities as we work to make the planning process more egalitarian and open. That’s why we have the Citizens Planning Institute (CPI). 

The Citizens Planning Institute is the educational and outreach arm of the planning commission. It is our responsibility to make sure that more people know how to navigate the halls of municipal government and can access the resources available to them. After all, the people who know how to use a tool are the ones who can benefit from them. CPI offers two opportunities a year to train residents in land use and zoning so they can help shape and preserve their neighborhoods. The people who make up the cohort of citizen planners are an asset to our work as professional planners and have a positive impact on their neighborhoods. 

Since its inception, the Citizens Planning Institute has created a network of over 700 citizen planners through 134 classes. This alumni network represents over 125 Philadelphia neighborhoods and each of our city’s 18 planning districts. It has become a national model for planning academies, and it grows and improves with each passing year. Our next call for applications will be in Spring 2024. 

As executive director of the Philadelphia City Planning Commission, there is a fair amount of opportunity to create a positive impact on our built environment and on our residents.  We are ever cognizant of engaging authentically with residents, sharing information, developing, and implementing policies in ways that are beneficial to neighborhoods and communities.  There is a bright future for Philadelphia, and I look forward to planning our bright future, together. 

Eleanor Sharpe is the Interim Director of the Department of Planning and Development for the City of Philadelphia. As Interim Director, Sharpe oversees several key divisions, including Housing and Community Development, Development Services, and Planning and Zoning, which encompasses the Philadelphia City Planning Commission, the Philadelphia Historical Commission, the Philadelphia Art Commission, and the Zoning Board of Adjustment. 

In 2020, she initiated the “Planning and Equity: A Commitment to Change” initiative, aimed at addressing and rectifying the historical injustices caused by the planning profession, especially within communities of color. This pledge has garnered support from planning directors in 36 cities and counties across the United States. 

Eleanor Sharpe holds a Bachelor of Architecture from Howard University and a Master’s in City Planning from the University of Pennsylvania. She has also contributed to academia as an adjunct professor in city planning and architecture at Temple University, Drexel University, and the University of Pennsylvania over the past two decades. 

Photo: Eleanor Sharpe, Interim Director of the Department of Planning and Development for Philadelphia. Courtesy of the City of Philadelphia Department of Planning and Development