Eva Gladstein, executive director of the Zoning Code Commission, said that change is necessary.
"You need to have a zoning code that sets up the basics and then gets out of the way," she said.
In 2007, voters overwhelmingly approved a ballot measure calling on the city to rewrite the code. This led to the creation of the Zoning Code Commission, which has worked since to write a code that is less baffling and less political.
Council has been debating the new code and could vote on it this fall. But it could also delay the decision, possibly for years, laying waste to the thousands of hours of work from the public and the commission.
Getting special permission for development would then remain a major stumbling block to bringing new business to the city.
Each year, 35 percent of about 7,000 proposed developments require a variance. Alan Greenberger, executive director of the City Planning Commission, said that this percentage is "off the charts." He said the city's zoning board sees about the same number of cases as New York City's.
The board has traditionally given great deference to community groups and district Council members. This situation is easily abused: Several past Council members, including Rick Mariano and Leland Beloff, have been thrown in jail for requesting kickbacks in return for supporting zoning measures.
The code has stymied developments that could have benefited the city. For example: Parts of Germantown, Fishtown and Kensington are still zoned "industrial," though the industry there is long gone. Greenberger said that this makes it hard to develop abandoned factories.
