{"id":6794,"date":"2019-06-05T15:16:00","date_gmt":"2019-06-05T15:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/centercitydevelopment.com\/?p=6794"},"modified":"2022-07-25T15:21:32","modified_gmt":"2022-07-25T15:21:32","slug":"bay-window-ban-moves-swiftly-toward-city-council-approval","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/centercitydevelopment.com\/?p=6794","title":{"rendered":"Bay window ban moves swiftly toward City Council approval"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Jake Blumgart of PlanPhilly<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Councilman Kenyatta Johnson wants to ban bay windows in Point Breeze and Grays Ferry at a time when both neighborhoods are experiencing rushes of reinvestment and subsequent demographic shifts. (Cassie Owens\/Billy Penn)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Councilmember Kenyatta Johnson\u2019s ban on bay windows and balconies in the Point Breeze and Grays Ferry neighborhoods could hit Mayor Jim Kenney\u2019s desk to be signed into law as soon as next week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bill advanced out of committee Wednesday, less than two weeks after he introduced the legislation. The bill could pass the full Council as early as next Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Johnson wants to ban these architectural flourishes in Point Breeze and Grays Ferry at a time when both neighborhoods are experiencing rushes of reinvestment and subsequent demographic shifts, with both neighborhoods becoming whiter and wealthier as new residents move into souped-up homes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bill singles out balconies and bay windows\u2013which are also seen on some older homes in the district\u2013because of their aesthetics, Johnson said Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI call them pop-out windows, that\u2019s where we have these monstrosity developments with windows with aluminum siding that are green or orange or blue, and they don\u2019t fit on these blocks that are all red-brick rowhouses,\u201d Johnson said when asked what inspired the bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhy doesn\u2019t the developer, as a matter of courtesy to residents who live on the block, build something that comes as close as possible to what\u2019s already on that block?\u201d Johnson added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Kenney administration spoke against the bill. A Streets Department supervisor, Patrick Iffrig, testified that the legislation would be extremely difficult to enforce. As written, the law would have to be enforced by the Streets Department\u2019s Right of Way unit, which the administration said is already overburdened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe do not believe that the Department of Streets is adequately equipped or is the appropriate agency to enforce this restriction,\u201d said Iffrig, an engineering supervisor with Streets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The legislation would require a developer who wants to build a bay window or balcony to request permission to encroach on the right of way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iffrig was the only person who testified, despite the flurry of social media outrage and satire surrounding Johnson\u2019s legislation. The bill was merely one of 43 pieces of legislation considered at the Streets Committee\u2019s hearing on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Johnson said the hearing was the first time he\u2019d heard administration concerns about the bill and urged his colleagues to pass the legislation out of committee. They all did so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The councilman said the legislation zeroes in on Grays Ferry and Point Breeze because those are the communities where he\u2019s faced the most constituent complaints about new homes being built that don\u2019t conform with the surrounding blocks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Johnson lives in Point Breeze, where a rush of new investment has transformed rowhome blocks as developers snatch up vacant lots and older homes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New three- and four-story townhomes blinged out with roof decks tower above their more modest red-brick neighbors. Many of them sport the boxy bay windows targeted by the pending legislation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ban on bay windows and balconies isn\u2019t the only instance where Johnson has sought to use legislation to shape new development in these two neighborhoods. A zoning overlay bill <\/a>that Johnson introduced last year would restrict houses from being built higher than adjacent two-story homes. That bill will not advance this session, Johnson said Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Developers building in Johnson\u2019s district said that the bill won\u2019t stop them from pursuing housing projects in the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019d prefer to be able to incorporate bay windows and balconies into residential designs,\u201d said Steve Kosloski, vice-president with Streamline, a development company that has built large luxury homes with bay windows in Point Breeze and Graduate Hospital. \u201cBut I don\u2019t have that strong of an opinion on it either way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Noah Ostroff of Philly Living, who is now developing a new housing complex on Washington Avenue<\/a>, said he could see both sides of the issue. He said that he sees the legislation as an overblown reaction to an architectural trend that will probably die off on its own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But he also said that, if enacted, the bill will simply push developers to be more innovative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think the ban on bay windows will disrupt the architectural creativity of the neighborhood,\u201d Ostroff said. \u201cHaving said that, we as developers will have to come up with other creative ways to add dimension and character to the houses and buildings that we are building.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Frequent Johnson opponent Ori Feibush, one of the most prominent developers in Point Breeze, straightforwardly denounced the bill. But he said that he is already phasing out these kinds of boxy bay windows anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBay windows are just an aesthetic feature and only in the rarest instances are they mission critical,\u201d said Feibush, who challenged Johnson in the 2015 City Council race. \u201cThis bill has no substance and no value. It just adds an additional layer of red tape and absurdity to the neighborhood.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bill will be put up for a first reading tomorrow before the full City Council and could receive a second reading and final passage as early as next week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Jake Blumgart of PlanPhilly Councilmember Kenyatta Johnson\u2019s ban on bay windows and balconies in the Point Breeze and Grays Ferry neighborhoods could hit Mayor Jim Kenney\u2019s desk to be…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBay window ban moves swiftly toward City Council approval - Center City Development<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/centercitydevelopment.com\/?p=6794\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bay window ban moves swiftly toward City Council approval - Center City Development\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Jake Blumgart of PlanPhilly Councilmember Kenyatta Johnson\u2019s ban on bay windows and balconies in the Point Breeze and Grays Ferry neighborhoods could hit Mayor Jim Kenney\u2019s desk to be...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/centercitydevelopment.com\/?p=6794\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Center City Development\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-06-05T15:16:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-07-25T15:21:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/centercitydevelopment.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/DSC_0548-768x514-1.jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kristi Yodis\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kristi Yodis\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/centercitydevelopment.com\/?p=6794\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/centercitydevelopment.com\/?p=6794\",\"name\":\"Bay window ban moves swiftly toward City Council approval - 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