Did you have more multi-family housing in one of Philadelphia’s most charming neighborhoods on your wish list this year? We sure did. And that’s why we were so happy to see a positive update a few days ago on a long delayed redevelopment of a former gas station in the leafy streetcar suburb of Chestnut Hill.
Last time we checked in on 10 Bethlehem Pike back in 2022, local neighbors opposed to the 33 unit mixed-use building were taking their complaints to the courts. At first they found success with the Court of Common Pleas agreeing the ZBA had erred in upholding the zoning permits issued by L&I. However that decision was overturned on appeal this summer, with the courts deciding the project did not require an additional side setback along Summit Street. Now with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court having declined to take up the appeal, this project can finally proceed. That’s wonderful news, but it still doesn’t feel great that a by-right project that completely complies with the City’s zoning code can still be delayed for years because some well heeled neighbors decided to appeal. Will the way approval for perfectly legal project was dragged out for nearly half a decade dissuade other builders from considering similar projects in Chestnut Hill? We certainly hope not.
While the courts have been busy adjudicating the fate of the former gas station, a new apartment building has emerged nearby on the site of a former bank branch, on the other side of the former Chestnut Hill Baptist Church building. When completed, the four story mixed-use building will have 30 units above commercial space and parking. It looks like a Citizens bank branch will occupy one of the two retail spaces along Germantown Ave., which certainly makes sense considering the prior use and presence of several other bank branches nearby.
This mixed-use project is by-right, but as we saw just around the corner, projects conforming with the zoning code can still face a contested approval process if they run up against organized neighbors and a sympathetic judge. Fortunately, this project didn’t meet the same fate as its near neighbor, and looks like it’ll be ready sometime next year. As for our wish list in 2025, we’ll have to include some more density in this terrific part of town, starting with (hopefully) the start of the project at 10 Bethlehem Pike, after a loooong delay.