Across the desk of a clerk at the Department of Licenses and Inspections one fine day comes an application to convert an old warehouse into a new business. The property is on a side street near Eighth and Callowhill. The applicant is listed as Adult Fantasy Enterprises of Teaneck, N.J.
It wants to turn the warehouse into a 60,000-square-foot adult entertainment complex - with 200 X-rated-movie viewing booths; one floor devoted entirely to couch dancing (60 couches, no waiting!); and nude dancers galore.The clerk rejects the application. Nothing personal. L&I cannot approve such establishments; only the Zoning Board of Adjustment can. The five-member board, appointed by the mayor, holds the power to grant variances from the zoning code.
The zoning board duly schedules a public hearing on the matter, which draws a big crowd: The Chinatown Merchants Association is there, the Center City District, the Chamber of Commerce, the nearby Northern Liberties Civic Association. Even Cardinal Bevilacqua sends a representative. All are opposed to the project.ONE IN FAVOR
Only the community group closest to the project favors it. The North of Vine Civic Club (NoVine) sends a letter saying the adult mega-center would "bring jobs . . . and help to revitalize our neighborhood."
It turns out that NoVine is a beneficiary of the largesse of the project's developer, who has made generous donations to its youth baseball league. "To me, he seems like a real nice guy," the NoVine president explains.The zoning board approves the variance. (Did I forget to tell you? The deal was wired.) Outraged opponents vow to appeal to the courts.
So much for the hypothetical. Let's get back to reality.Under current city law, all the groups listed would have the right to appeal the zoning board's ruling to the courts.
But maybe not for long.City Council's Rules Committee is scheduled to meet today to consider a bill that would severely restrict the right of citizens to appeal.
Under Bill No. 629, almost all the parties above would likely be denied the right to appeal the ruling.The cardinal would be out because he lives miles away, on City Avenue. He loses standing under 629 because he is not an "aggrieved person" - one whose property abuts or is very near the proposed project.
YOU'RE OUTTA HERE
The Chinatown merchants' group, the chamber, and the Center City District would be out because they are "composed primarily of members who represent commercial or business enterprises." Under 629, they are forbidden to appeal.
The Northern Liberties group would be out, too. Again, it is too far from the project to qualify as aggrieved.Only NoVine would have clear standing to appeal under 629. And NoVine won't because it's playing footsie with the developer.
Who is behind 629? The billboard industry, which is furious because it keeps losing zoning cases in the courts to civic activist Mary Tracy and her anti-billboard group, SCRUB.It wants her out of the picture, and it has enlisted its friends on Council - Frank DiCicco and Joan Krajewski - to do the deed.
Instead of amending the billboard law, DiCicco and Krajewski dreamed up Bill 629, a broad-brush denial of citizens' rights to free speech and due process.It's like burning down the block because you don't like your neighbor's mailbox.
DiCicco and Krajewski say they seek to empower neighborhood groups. To do what? Make deals that can't be challenged by legitimate interests in the courts?This is DiCicco and Krajewski's second try at getting 629 out of committee. They "improved" it by adding the restrictions I listed above.
Some improvement.I hope other Council members will defeat 629 in committee - before the hypothetical becomes all too real.