Public Meeting re: PA Student Rental Law Bill 150649

CCRA will hold a meeting for public comment on City Council Bill 150649 which applies to the area between 17th and 21st, Walnut to Spruce and excludes the following uses from residentially zoned properties:

(.1) Rooming houses;

(.2) Boarding houses;

(.3) Fraternity and sorority houses;

(.4) Housing, not owner-occupied, for students (as defined

 by § 14-203(325)

"Student" is defined in the Code as "any person under the age of twenty-three (23) years enrolled full-time in a college or university undergraduate degree program "

Council President Clarke introduced the bill to address concerns of neighbors regarding conversions of two garages to multi-unit residential structures on the 2000 block of Rittenhouse Square Street - the garages at 2023 and 2028 Rittenhouse Square Street. The current zoning code allows as many as 7 units at 2023 and 13 units at 2028, with 3 bedrooms for each unit, for a total occupancy of 60.  (Neighbors suggest that the developer is including unlawful additional bed rooms.)  These added dwellings easily double the population of the block, which is otherwise dominated by single family homes.