(1) Legislative
Findings.
[402] The Council finds
that:
(a) Major public and private investments have been made and
continue to be made in and around the South Street/HeadHouse Square Special
Services District section of the City to enhance visual aesthetics, preserve and
protect the economic development potential, prevent declining property values,
encourage investment and tourism, promote residential uses in and adjacent to
this area of the City, and protect and promote the economic vitality of this
area of Philadelphia;
(b) Public expenditures have included
appropriations for restoration of the historic HeadHouse Square and other
historic buildings and features in the area, the replacement of infrastructure,
improvement of vehicular access, street and sidewalk
improvements;
(c) Substantial private investment within and immediately
adjacent to South Street/HeadHouse Square Special Services District includes the
restoration, adaptive reuse, and reconstruction of numerous historic structures
as well as new construction, thereby creating many employment opportunities and
new housing units within the area;
(d) A joint public and private
investment effort has created the South Street/HeadHouse Square Special Services
District to provide additional private funds for the maintenance and enhancement
of this area;
(e) South Street/HeadHouse Square Special Services
District is important to the economic vitality and diverse character of Center
City Philadelphia in that it serves as a major tourist destination within a
short distance of "America's Most Historic Square Mile" with millions of
regional, national and international sightseers and visitors per year coming to
this area;
(f) South Street/HeadHouse Square Special Services District
is a neighborhood consisting of a fragile and unique balance of residences and
retail development surrounded by predominantly single-family residential areas
within walking distance or a short commute of the business core;
(g) In
addition to special use and zoning controls providing for limitation of the size
and location of certain specific entertainment and commercial uses as set forth
in the South Street/HeadHouse Square Special Services District, additional
controls, provisions and standards are necessary to accommodate certain existing
and future larger scale uses within the District that are vital to providing
services to residences within and near the District, such as book stores,
clothing stores, department stores and food markets, and otherwise permitted as
of right under the applicable zoning classification;
(h) Since the
enactment of the South Street/HeadHouse Square Special Services District
Controls it has become apparent that certain technical amendments may be
desirable;
(i) Therefore, special land use and zoning controls
providing for limitation on the size and location of certain specific
entertainment and commercial uses, as recommend in the 1988 "Plan for Center
City," are required to protect the historic, residential, cultural properties
which are within and which surround this district and are critical to the
economic vitality of this section of the City.
(2) Purpose of the
District. This special district is established in order to preserve and
encourage the revitalization of the portion of the City known as the South
Street/HeadHouse Square Special Services District. It is recognized that this
section of the City is unique and has developed into a vital, mixed use district
containing many various retail, service and entertainment uses at street level
with various residential uses interspersed at street level and on the upper
floors of buildings. This pattern contributes to the distinctive atmosphere of
South Street/HeadHouse Square Special Services District. Council recognizes the
need to establish special land use and zoning controls to protect the investment
in, and foster the preservation and development of this section of the City in
accordance with its special character.
(3) District Boundaries. For the
purposes of this Section, the South Street/HeadHouse Square Special Services
District regulations shall apply to all the properties within the area depicted
on Map "A" and Map "B".
(4) Prohibited Uses. Within the South
Street/HeadHouse Square Special Services District and notwithstanding any other
Chapter of this Title, the following uses shall be
prohibited:
(a) Athletic and drill hall, dance hall, and other
entertainment of guests and patrons as a main use;
(b) Automobile
repair shops; automobile service station for the retail sale of automobile
fuels, lubricants and accessories; retail sale and installation of automobile
parts, tires or audio equipment; automobile and truck sale lots; automobile and
truck rental lots;
(c) Car wash;
(d) Fortune teller
establishment;
[403] (e) Installation
of auto, boat, motorcycle or truck parts;
(f) Laboratories (analytical,
chemical and research) and assay offices;
(g) Non-accessory or outdoor
advertising signs;
(h) Outdoor sales or storage, including outdoor use
of coin operated machines which dispense food or drink;
(i) Private
clubs with a license from the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board for the "after
hours" sale of alcoholic beverages;
(j) Restaurants, take-out
restaurants, cafes, coffee shops and other similar establishments for the sale
and consumption of food and/or beverages, with drive-in or take-out service
(sale of food and/or beverages to be consumed outside the confines of the
premises);
(k) Retail sales of products or food through a window or
aperture which opens directly onto the sidewalk, a public arcade, or public
entranceway into a building;
(l) Tattoo and body piercing
establishments;
(m) Trolley and bus terminals and car and bus
barns;
(n) Accessory curb cuts for vehicular ingress and egress along
South Street; and
(o) Any accessory speaker or audio device that causes
music or voices to reach the sidewalk area, public arcade, or public entranceway
to a building, which is adjunct to any permitted retail use, used to advertise
merchandise sold, and/or used to call public attention to the use of the
premises.
(5) Prohibition of Building Set-Back. Any building upon any
lot abutting South Street shall not provide any front, side or rear yard which
sets back from the street line of South Street.
(6) Signs. Signs
accessory to the use on the premises shall be permitted in this district only
under the following conditions;
(a) All signs must be attached flat
against the wall of the building;
(b) Lots facing one street line shall
be permitted a total sign area of three (3) square feet -- for each lineal foot
of street line;
(c) Lots facing more than one street line shall be
permitted a total sign area as follows:
(.1) For the shorter street
line frontage there shall be permitted a sign area of three (3) square feet for
each lineal foot of street line;
(.2) For the longer street line
frontage there shall be permitted a sign area of two (2) square feet for each
lineal foot of street line; provided, that in no case shall the total sign area
on the longer street line frontage be less than the equivalent sign area
permitted upon the shorter street line frontage;
(.3) Where a lot has
two or more short and/or two or more long street line frontages, the provisions
of (.1) and (.2) shall apply to each of said street
frontages;
(.4) The total of the sign areas permitted in subparagraphs
(.1) and (.2) may be cumulated; provided, such use is restricted to one street
frontage.
(7) Larger Scale Uses on South
Street.
[404] (a) Lots with frontage
on South Street that occupy less than 50% of the total area of a block and/or
have less than 50% of the street frontage of a block shall comply with all of
the coverage and set back requirements of the underlying zoning
classification;
(b) In order to accommodate larger scale uses, lots
with frontage on South Street occupying more than 50% of the total area of the
block and having more than 50% of the street frontage shall, notwithstanding any
other provisions of this title, be entitled to occupy 100% of the lot and may
have one vehicular access point on South Street for ingress only, to necessary
parking, provided:
(.1) That all required loading, trash, handling and
parking facilities are accommodated within a structure; and
(.2) The
lot has a second frontage on one of the following streets: Rodman street,
Lombard street, Gaskill street, Kater street or Bainbridge
street;
(c) The provision of an accessory eat-in area in a permitted
large scale use for the consumption of food and beverage otherwise available for
purchase for consumption off premises shall not be considered to be a restaurant
of any type, provided that the food and beverage shall be for sale only during
the hours that the main use is open for business.
(8) Parking which is
accessory to a main use and on the same lot or an abutting lot may exceed 25% of
the area of the main use provided such parking is located within a parking
garage
structure.
[405] (9) Conflicting
Regulations. Notwithstanding Subsection (6) of this Section, the specific
provisions contained in Subsection (7) and (8) of this Section shall control in
the event that they conflict with other more restrictive provisions of this
Title.
[406]
