PHILADELPHIA CITY PLANNING COMMISSION FISCAL YEAR 2015 BUDGET TESTIMONY APRIL 2, 2014 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

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1 PHILADELPHIA CITY PLANNING COMMISSION FISCAL YEAR 2015 BUDGET TESTIMONY APRIL 2, 2014 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY DEPARTMENT MISSION AND FUNCTION The primary goal of the City Planning Commission is to make Philadelphia a place of choice. Under the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter, the City Planning Commission is directed to: Prepare, adopt, and modify a Comprehensive Plan to guide the City s physical development; Prepare an annual Capital Program and Budget to guide the City s investment in infrastructure and public facilities; Prepare proposed zoning ordinances, maps, and amendments to achieve goals for appropriate development; Prepare regulations concerning the subdivision of land, and; Make recommendations on the acquisition or sale of City real estate. In addition, the Commission s ongoing responsibilities also encompass economic development, community development, and environmental planning concerns. In recent years, we have increasingly focused on issues of sustainability, neighborhood conservation and preservation, and improvements to the public realm of our City through urban design. The staffing and operation of the Art Commission is also included in the City Planning Commission s budget. PROPOSED BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS/FUNDING REQUEST The Commission s proposed operating budget of $3,164,107 is comprised of three parts: General Fund request for $2,272,534; Community Development Fund request for $280,000, and; Grants Revenue Fund appropriations request for $611,573. This is a net decrease of $8,182 from our FY2014 estimated obligations. This is the result of a $10,000 reduction in the requested appropriation for the Grants Revenue Fund, and an increase of $1,818 in our Community Development Fund request. 1 P age

2 2 Page CITY PLANNING COMMISSION BUDGET SUMMARY AND OTHER BUDGET DRIVERS Financial Summary by Class General Fund Class 100 Employee Compensation Class 200 Purchase of Services Class 300 Materials and Supplies Class 400 Equipment Class 500 Contributions Class 700 Debt Service Class 800 Payment to Other Funds Class 900 Advances/Misc. Payments Fiscal 2013 Fiscal 2014 Fiscal 2014 Fiscal 2015 Difference Actual Obligations Original Appropriations Estimated Obligations Proposed Appropriations FY14 FY15 $ 2,137, $ 2,152, $ 2,152, $ 2,152, $ $ 75, $ 79, $ 79, $ 79, $ $ 23, $ 40, $ 30, $ 30, $ $ 16, $ $ 10, $ 10, $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ TOTAL $ 2,251, $ 2,272, $ 2,272, $ 2,272, $ Staff Demographics Summary* Total Minority White Female FullTime Staff 32 25% 75% 44% Executive Staff 10 30% 70% 50% Average Salary Executive Staff $83,335 $70,990 $88,274 $74,190 Median Salary Executive Staff $85,274 $70,990 $86,074 $74,882 Employment Levels* Budgeted Approved Filled FullTime Positions PartTime Positions N/A N/A N/A Executive Positions Contracts Summary* FY09 FY10 FY11 FY12 FY13 FY14* Total amount of contracts $112,747 $521,021 $260,993 $228,566 $317,490 $172,840 Total amount to M/W/DBE $72,000 $120,980 $84,808 $119,000 $66,835 $20,640 Participation Rate 64% 23% 32% 52% 21% 12% *As of December 2013

3 PHILADELPHIA CITY PLANNING COMMISSION PERFORMANCE, CHALLENGES AND INITIATIVES DEPARTMENT PERFORMANCE (OPERATIONS) One way the City Planning Commission measures performance is by tracking citizen engagement in the city planning process. The numbers of participants in Philadelphia2035 and in the Citizens Planning Institute (CPI) in FY13 continued to increase, and counts for Q1 and Q2 of FY14 are on target to exceed FY14 goals. In FY13, more than 24,000 people received information from, or provided input into, Philadelphia2035 across all civicoutreach platforms (public meeting attendance, unique visits to phila2035.org website and Philadelphia Planeto blog, Facebook and Twitter followers). Additionally, 345 people participated in activities sponsored by the CPI in FY13. This is slightly lower than the previous year since less training about the zoning code was needed since it was no longer a new ordinance. DEPARTMENT CHALLENGES The major challenge for FY2015 and beyond will be to fully integrate the Commission s Chartermandated responsibilities, the comprehensive planning process, and special projects with the additional administrative duties established by the Zoning Code. New administrative processes include the maintenance of an RCO registry to provide required public notice of zoning actions necessitated by development projects and notification of zoning permit applicants with information about the effected RCO(s) and nearby property ownership. The new code also created a public civic design review process for evaluating and making recommendations on largescale development proposals, the number of which is increasing as the realestate market improves in the City. Challenges for the Philadelphia2035 planning process are to continue the Commission s aggressive schedule of strategic district plans. Commission staff will also initiate a comprehensive zoning remapping program and continue to work with City operating departments to advance infrastructure and capital facility recommendations adopted by the Commission through the district plans. In addition, over the next year, Commission staff will play an important role in the disposition or reuse of surplus school buildings and the review of a proposed second casino development in Philadelphia. To date, the Citizens Planning Institute has been an entirely grantfunded program. Securing adequate resources to continue this educational/training initiative and to expand CPI offerings to reach more Philadelphia residents will be a major challenge going forward. STAFFING LEVELS In FY2015, the City Planning Commission is anticipating a staffing level of 37 positions 32 General Fund positions, 4 Community Development Fund positions, and 1 Grants Revenue Fund position. This is the same level of staffing as our FY2014 adopted budget. The Commission's executive staff consists of 10 members. Of the ten, 5 are male and 5 are female; 7 are Caucasian, 2 are AfricanAmerican, and one is Asian. Considering the entire staff, we are almost equally divided between males and females, 75% are Caucasian, 18% are AfricanAmerican, and 3% are Asian American and 3% are Hispanic. One employee is available to speak Chinese, and one employee is available to speak Spanish. PAST INITIATIVES The new zoning code was passed unanimously by City Council and signed into law by the Mayor in December 2011, and went into effect in August It was the first comprehensive revision of the City s Zoning Code in 50 years, modernizing the City s land use regulations, streamlining and promoting predictability in development approval procedures, created the public civic design review process, and codified the role of citizens in the development approval process. In collaboration with the Department of Licenses and Inspections, the Commerce Department, and the Zoning Board of Adjustment, PCPC staff prepared a oneyear 3 P age

4 report (August 2013) evaluating the effectiveness of the new zoning code, and recommended and prepared a series of technical and substantive amendments to the Code that were enacted in December The Commission continued to revise and update its departmental regulations to parallel legislative changes to the Zoning Code, including the administration of a Registered Community Organizations (RCOs) registry and a public Civic Design Review (CDR) process for evaluating and making recommendations on largescale development proposals, the number of which is increasing as the realestate market improves in the City. During FY13, the CDR Committee held public meetings to review twelve projects. Through the first three quarters of FY14, 23 cases have been reviewed. Philadelphia2035 is the City s first citywide comprehensive plan in 50 years, intended to align municipal, private, institutional, and civic resources toward common physical development goals. The Commission continues to institutionalize the City s comprehensive planning process, so that it is updated and renewed on a continuing cycle. The first phase of Philadelphia2035, the Citywide Vision, was adopted in June The Commission is now engaged in a series of 18 district plans, addressing land use, zoning, urban design, healthy community, public facility, and other physical infrastructure issues. Each district plan involves extensive civic outreach and public participation. To date, the Commission has adopted six of 18 district plans Lower South, West Park, Lower Northeast, Central, University/Southwest, and Central Northeast. The plan for Lower North is in draft form and will be considered for adoption by the Commission at its April meeting. We have begun work on the district plan for Lower Northwest and anticipate starting plans for the South and River Wards districts later this year. The Citizens Planning Institute (CPI) was created as the City Planning Commission s education, training, and civic engagement arm. The largely grantfunded CPI enables Philadelphians to take a proactive and informed role in shaping the future of their neighborhoods through a more complete understanding of planning, zoning, and the development process. Each spring and fall, the CPI offers three core and three elective courses about neighborhood planning and related topics.. Over seven semesters, we have graduated 210 Citizen Planners who are active members of community organizations throughout the City. Our eighth semester of classes begins April 9 th In addition, the CPI offered several public workshops during summer 2013 about evaluating the zoning code after its first year of implementation and conducted question and answer clinics this winter about changes to registration procedures for Registered Community Organizations. CURRENT INITIATIVES Philadelphia2035 District Plan Zoning Remapping Program. An important output of the district plans are revisions to the City s zoning maps to align them with the land use recommendations of each plan and to the new zoning code. The PCPC is increasing its efforts to closely follow the adoption of Philadelphia2035 district plans with the preparation of legislative bills for District Councilmembers to change current zoning where it is outmoded or incorrect, as well as to propose other remapping bills to advance the plan. The PCPC is pleased to have a new staff person this year Eleanor Sharpe who has been assigned to work closely with Councilmembers offices on remapping bills to correct outdated zoning and to propose zoning changes to advance recommendations in the district plans. Progress will be measured by number of bills prepared, introduced, and number of properties identified for zoning changes. NEW INITIATIVES Creation of a New Registered Community Organization (RCO) Registry and Notification Process. Amendments to the Zoning Code now require the PCPC to implement new administrative processes concerning these communitybased organizations. These requirements include the creation and maintenance of a new RCO registry. Over 200 new RCO applications were accepted during February 2014, and many RCOS have since been registered. This new registry will provide a database for providing required public notice of zoning actions triggered by development projects, and the notification of zoning permit applicants with information 4 P age

5 about the effected RCO(s) and nearby property ownership. It is estimated that 1,500 such notifications will be issued annually. This Zoning Code requirement is being performed by PCPC staff without additional resources. Progress will be tracked by the number of notifications issued. OTHER BUDGETARY IMPACTS FEDERAL AND STATE (WHERE APPLICABLE) Explain in narrative and/or bulleted form the impacts of increased or decreased federal and/or state funds Not applicable. OTHER 5 P age

6 6 Page APPENDIX CITY PLANNING COMMISSION CONTRACTING EXPERIENCE FY14 Contracts Vendor Service Provided Amount of Contract RFP Issue Date Contract Start Date Stromberg, Garrigan and Associates Professional Services $160,000 10/7/13 3/3/14 Nimblelight, LLC Professional Services $12,840 1/17/14 3/10/14 M/W/DBE Participation on Large Contracts Ranges in RFP % of M/W/DBE Participation Achieved $ Value of M/W/DBE Participation Total % and $ Value Participation All DSBEs Living Wage Compliant? MBE: 7% $10,840 Y WBE: 6% $9,800 13% Y DSBE: $20,640 Y MBE: 0% 0 Y WBE: 0% 0 0% Y DSBE: 0% 0 $0 Y DEPARTMENT EMPLOYEE DATA Staff Demographics FullTime Staff Executive Staff Male Female Male Female Total Total 5 5 % of Total 56% 44% % of Total 50% 50% AfricanAmerican AfricanAmerican AfricanAmerican AfricanAmerican Total 1 5 Total 0 2 % of Total 3% 16% % of Total 0% 20% White White White White Total 16 8 Total 5 2 % of Total 50% 25% % of Total 50% 20% Hispanic Hispanic Hispanic Hispanic Total 1 0 Total 0 0 % of Total 3% 0% % of Total 0% 0% Asian Asian Asian Asian Total 0 1 Total 0 1 % of Total 0% 3% % of Total 0% 10% Other Other Other Other Total 0 0 Total 0 0 % of Total 0% 0% % of Total 0% 0% Bilingual Bilingual Bilingual Bilingual Total 1 1 Total 0 1 % of Total 3% 3% % of Total 0% 10%

7 PHILADELPHIA CITY PLANNING COMMISSION (Other Relevant Data and Charts) The City Planning Commission remains committed to supporting the Administration's goals for minority, woman, and disabledowner business (M/W/DSBE) participation in City contracting. The Commission's participation was 26% in FY2013. In the first two quarters of fiscal year 2014 there have been no contracts conformed. Projected contracts for the balance of FY2014 are for $173,000 with a 13% participation rate. In conjunction with the Office of Equal Opportunity, the goal for FY2015 has been set at 20%. The PCPC is striving to achieve or exceed this participation level on an ongoing basis. Full funding of our FY2015 budget request is necessary to ensure the Commission s contribution to the City s overall longterm economic development. To remain competitive, Philadelphia must maintain a focused priority on envisioning and planning for the future, identifying the strategic actions, and aligning resources to achieve our vision. 7 P age