Under the proposal, Center City's allowable density - the total building area permitted on a given amount of land - would remain the same. But those who wish to build large structures would have to satisfy a large number of requirements to enhance a project's public usefulness, and those who want to build the largest structures on Market Street, Kennedy Boulevard and North Broad Street would have to provide one or more extraordinary amenities to earn the right to do so. The proposed changes would affect Center City land in the two classifications allowing dense commercial development and would have no effect on residential areas.
For example, although the city's current zoning code grants developers bonuses for providing open space, it allows such facilities as loading docks, which are necessary for a building but not of direct benefit to the public, to count toward the bonus. The proposed code would require developers to place their loading docks indoors and to provide 30 percent of their building sites as public space. The code also sets forth guidelines for the configuration of plazas, enclosed public spaces, public rooms and gardens.
Among the proposed requirements is one that would, for the first time, require all developments to set aside at least 1 percent of their construction budgets for either permanent public art or an endowment that would underwrite performances on the site. Until now, only public buildings and those developed on sites assembled by the Redevelopment Authority have been subject to the 1 percent requirement.
