I am here today to speak in support of Bill #040156 and to ask this committee to approve this bill to establish a program of conservation districts in Philadelphia.

The Preservation Alliance has had a long-standing interest in the concept of Conservation Districts. The Alliance's predecessor, the Preservation Coalition, undertook a study of conservation districts and proposed an approach for Philadelphia ten years ago. In response to the bill previously introduced by Councilman DiCicco, the Alliance updated the earlier work on this concept. I think it is important for City Council to understand that conservation districts are used in many cities in the United States as a component of both planning and historic preservation. The Alliance surveyed 17 cities which had some form of conservation district program. We talked with representatives of many of these cities, including, representatives of Lancaster PA and Pottstown PA, both of which have conservation districts in place. Our findings indicated that most conservation districts focused the same issues represented in this bill: that is, the establishment of basic design guidelines covering new construction and alterations. We found that the administration of conservation districts was often located in city planning agencies and sometimes in historical commissions.

We used this research to organize a series of discussions involving the staff of the City Planning Commission and the Historical Commission. We wanted to get their views on the concept in general, on the appropriate agency for administration, and on the substantive components of thebill. In addition, through the Community Design Collaborative, we convened a meeting with a representative sampling of community organizations to get their views on this matter. The results of this work were summarized in a report to Councilman DiCicco in August 2003 that suggested some modifications to the original bill. Subsequently, we worked with his office to make further refinements that led to the bill that is before you.

I mention this background because I think it is important for you to understand that this is not a proposal that grows out of a narrow interest related to one section of the city, nor is it a bill that has been quickly put together. Careful consideration has been given to the city wide relevance of the concept, to the content of the bill, and to the appropriate way to implement a conservation district program. The Alliance feels that conservation districts present a tool that will be helpful to neighborhood preservation throughout the city. We feel that it is consistent with the Neighborhood Transformation Initiative's identification of some neighborhoods of the city as '"transitional neighborhoods"-that is, neighborhoods that have a sound housing fabric essentially intact. These neighborhoods can be preserved and enhanced through maintenance and investment in that existing housing fabric rather than being in need of large scale new construction. This is the reason why, for example, the NTI program included an expanded home improvement loan program to assist in the preservation of these types of neighborhoods.

Many of these areas have distinctive physical character and the preservation of that overall character is important to the economic viability of the neighborhood. However, many of these areas are not suitable for designation as historic districts. Conservation districts in our view present an opportunity to develop an approach to preservation that is complimentary to historic districts, one that is applicable to neighborhoods that don't meet the standards for historic designation or to ones where a process of more general design review is sufficient to retain community character and guide development.

Certain concerns were raised by the City Planning Commission in its recent consideration of this bill that I would like to address. First, as I mentioned conservation districts of the type proposed by this bill exist in many places, including cities in Pennsylvania. There is no indication that there is anything illegal about them. In Lancaster, their conservation district legislation has withstood court challenges. Second, the implementation of design controls is not likely to discourage developers. It is certainly intended to discourage inappropriate development. There is an important distinction. Let us remember that all of Society Hill was developed under design guidelines much more stringent that anything that is being proposed here. If there is market demand for development, development will proceed. Usually that market demand is a result of the existing character and strengths of the neighborhood. It is reasonable and proper to ask developers to take those factors into consideration in their proposals. Third, the design controls would be developed with the assistance of the City Planning Commission and therefore have professional advice; they would not simply be left to the neighborhood residents or civic organization. This process assures that the design guidelines would be reasonable and proper. Lastly, it is not likely that this legislation will overburden the City Planning Commission staff. Evidence from other cities indicates that there is a limited response from neighborhoods that want to become conservation districts. In addition, some cities have managed this process by deliberating limiting the number of districts they consider each year. There are many ways to balance the creation of districts and their review functions that would make the addition of this function manageable for the Planning Commission.

The Preservation Alliance's urges you to support this bill. We believe it will provide the City with a useful process for preserving the character of neighborhoods that is applicable to many areas of the city and that will be relatively simple to implement. Thank you.