While reportedly close to a redistricting agreement, Council leaders gave up at 8 p.m. and said they would resume work Thursday.
"We have nothing. We'll see you in the morning," said Councilwoman Marian B. Tasco.
While redistricting promises to dominate the early part of the fall session, Council also has to juggle the revamping of the zoning code, which could have far-reaching effects on every city neighborhood.
The Nutter administration supports replacing the current code, which is so outdated that 40 percent of the projects in the city require a zoning variance, a process that gives Council members great say over development in their districts.
A zoning code commission worked for four years to draw up a preliminary report delivered to Council in the spring. The goal was a modern and uniform code that would encourage development and limit the need for variances.
"The reason to do this is to create predictability," said Deputy Mayor Alan Greenberger, who chairs the zoning code commission. "Lack of predictability is a disincentive to business investment."
But several Council members - led by Bill Green and Brian J. O'Neill - have raised concerns about the new code's "unintended consequences" on neighborhoods. They argue that neighborhoods need more say in zoning to preserve their characters.
Green sent his colleagues a list of 10 recommendations Wednesday to allay concerns about "noxious uses," such as methadone clinics, seeping into neighborhoods.
A hearing on zoning revision is scheduled for Wednesday.
Behind the scenes this fall also looms the politics of electing the next Council president; Verna is among the six members serving their final terms.
"It's like the elephant in the room," said Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown.
