Chestnut Hill's East Mermaid Lane Neighborhood Conservation Overlay is to take effect immediately following a vote by the Planning Commission.
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Chestnut Hill's East Mermaid Lane Neighborhood Conservation Overlay (NCO) is set to take effect immediately following a 5-1 vote by the Philadelphia City Planning Commission (PCPC) not to recommend City Council's passage of the measure. The PCPC's decision removes a 45-day hold, allowing for a final council vote before the summer break.
Introduced by City Council member Cindy Bass on April 25, the NCO will impose design and material requirements for new construction and renovations in the southern portion of Chestnut Hill. The area encompasses 123 homes. Despite the PCPC staff's recommendation not to approve the overlay due to its failure to identify a consistent architectural character throughout the includedarea, PCPC board member Patrick Eiding acknowledged that City Council is likely to approve the restrictions.
Bass, who chairs the rules committee, supports the bill and does not want to delay the final vote. The NCO initially was developed in response to the Goldenberg Group's 2021 proposal to construct 285 housing units on a 4.4-acre property at 100-102 Mermaid Lane, formerly housing the Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting and Blossom Philadelphia.