Neighborhood Conservation Overlay (NCO)
On June 21, 2018, City Council amended Title 14 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled “Zoning and Planning,” by creating a new Wissahickon NCO District. The NCO is the result of three years of extensive work by WICA, which included photographing every house in the neighborhood, petitioning the Philadelphia City Planning Commission to initiate the process, and then working with the Commission to draft design guidelines.
Purpose
The Wissahickon NCO intends to protect the existing walkable and aesthetic character of our neighborhood. Walkability serves the health, safety, and general welfare of the citizens by providing human-scaled design, interesting and pedestrian friendly facades, and “eyes on the street,” all in close proximity to useful commercial destinations, parks, and transit. The NCO applies to new building construction, the expansion of an existing building, and major alteration of an existing building. The mission is to maintain the public streetscape and building form and visual qualities/characteristics of our District.
