Philadelphia has long been famous for its “pay to play” governance. It’s 624 page zoning code is a nearly endless source of employment for Center City’s many lawyer-fixers. But now the city has outdone itself in demonstrating the sheer perversity of its zoning codes.

Swing for the fence on the (Zoning Code) By Tom Ferrick Jr. 4/19/6 Imagine the surprise of residents of Philadelphia's Spring Garden section last month when they discovered a 47-story condo project had been approved for the corner of 22d and Spring Garden Streets without a zoning hearing. The reason: The humongous tower - just shy of the height of City Hall - was permitted under the R-15 zoning for the area. The developer got his permit over the counter at the Department of Licenses and Inspections. Imagine the surprise of residents of Northeast Philadelphia a few years back when they discovered they could not get permits to erect fences around their property. The problem: The standard-issue fences on sale at Lowe's and Home Depot are four feet tall, but the city's zoning code allowed only a maximum height of three-and-a-half feet for a fence. Residents who went to the counter at L&I for their fence were turned down. They had to shell out $200 for an appeal to the Zoning Board of Adjustment to get a variance. Philadelphia's current zoning code was devised during the Eisenhower administration and enacted in 1962. (But) The zoning code is changed almost constantly, through piecemeal amendments introduced in City Council. In fact, there were 150 such amendments last year. But so many amendments have been added that the code has morphed into a 624-page behemoth that is considered unreadable and unfathomable. One example: Philadelphia has 55 different zoning designations (as in: R-1, R-2, C-1, C-2, etc., etc.). Most cities have 10 or 12.