Registered Community Organizations

Registered Community Organizations (RCOs) are community groups, such as civic associations, community development corporations and neighborhood nonprofits, that register with the City Planning Commission to receive formal notice of development proposals in a defined geographic area. The system was created by the 2012 Zoning Code and replaced a looser practice of informal neighborhood notice.^[1]

1 Registration

A group becomes an RCO by registering with the Planning Commission and renewing each year. Registration includes basic information on the group and the boundaries of the area it covers; boundaries may overlap, so more than one RCO can be entitled to notice for the same property.^[1] The Commission posts a map and a list so applicants and neighbors can find the RCOs for any address. Registration does not make a group a government body; RCOs are private associations.

2 Applicant duties

For any project requiring a Zoning Board of Adjustment hearing, or going through Civic Design Review, the Code requires the applicant to send detailed written notice to every affected RCO, generally within a short window after filing, and to hold or offer a community meeting. The Commission publishes notification templates. The applicant also notifies nearby property owners and posts notice on the site.^[2] After the meeting, the RCO can submit a position (support, non-opposition or opposition, sometimes with conditions) that the ZBA receives.

3 What RCOs can and cannot do

• Can: receive notice, host a public meeting, submit a position and testify at the ZBA.
• Cannot: approve or veto a project. The ZBA decides on legal criteria, and an RCO's opposition is evidence the Board weighs, not a binding decision.

An RCO that wants to challenge a ZBA decision in court needs legal standing, as any party does; see Court of Common Pleas and Municipal Court.

4 Criticism and reform

Supporters say RCOs give residents an early voice. Critics, including some housing advocates, argue that RCOs can be unrepresentative of renters and newer residents, that overlapping boundaries confuse applicants, and that opposition can slow housing. Council has amended the RCO provisions several times; changes take the form of ordinances amending Title 14 of the Philadelphia Code. See also Councilmanic Prerogative on the separate informal power of district Council members.

5 How residents can use the system

Find the RCO for your address on the Commission's website, ask to be added to its notification list, and attend its meetings. Tenants and other residents can also testify directly at ZBA hearings without being members of an RCO. To start a new group, see How to Organize a Block or Neighborhood Group and Civic and Neighborhood Associations.

See also: Department of Planning and Development, Community Development Corporations.

References

1. Philadelphia Code, section 14-303; "The New Code: Big Changes for Zoning in Philadelphia (Part 2)," JD Supra.
2. Philadelphia City Planning Commission, RCO Applicant Notification Templates and RCO training materials, phila.gov.
3. Philadelphia Code, Title 14 (Zoning and Planning), American Legal Publishing Philadelphia archive.