Very, very interesting question, that deserves at least a stab at an answer.
Scale couldn't have much of an issue when the Campus Inn went before
the Historical Commission. HC's reasoning is opaque to me, but in
general it seems not to be a body that deals with scale. The HC is
about the trees, not the forest: i.e., are your replacement windows of
the same style as their 1898 original? Since the Campus Inn isn't in a
City-recognized Historic District, the HC has no warrant to weigh the
scale of an 11-story building on a block with 4-story buildings. So it
didn't. It had to respect Campus Inn's vow to restore period details
(who else wants to pay for them?); this created pressure on HC to cut
the developer the economic slack needed to restore those precious
mullions or whatever.
Scale might be a more pertinent concern for the Philadelphia City
Planning Commission. I've no experience with its case rulings. However,
old hands vaguely opine that its rulings tend to be processual and
facilitative, rather than authoritarian and prohibitive: i.e., it likes
developers to come up with Response B to Concern A, rather than just
decreeing, Thou shalt not. And PCPC approaches neighborhoods from a
citywide perspective. Since 40th St. already has several tall buildings
on or near it, without much complaint, one more tall building might not
look like a deal-breaker to these blokes.
Scale should peak in importance in the councils of the Spruce Hill
Community Association. SHCA's warrant doesn't reach east of 40th St., so
the opinions of neighbors there (who seem to be leaning pro-hotel) can't
count for the Campus Inn. Not west of 40th St. was Mary Goldman's cry,
and one that resonates in many University Citizens' hearts. The Woodland
Terr. group, which is influential and well organized, has every right to
appeal to fellow SHCA members for support on their concerns about scale.
Scale should matter supremely to the Zoning Board of Adjustment -- but
with a narrow warrant. Its relevant boundaries are zoning patches rather
than neighborhoods. When it comes to variances, ZBA considers a
tightly-drawn radius that takes in Woodland Terr. to the south and the
nearest highrise to the north, to confer on only these residents a
special right to speak as neighbors. The rest of us are spectators, in
theory. ZBA is, however, a political body and can be influenced by
political actions.
-- Tony West
it's fascinating how, as far back as march, the dp was framing the
question of the hotel in terms of parking.
and here we are now, with pcpc scheduling its hearings about the hotel
in terms of parking.
what happened to the main issue: the hotel's massive scale and height
and footprint?
..
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