Rittenhouse Square: PA Judge Supports Historic Preservation

[December 8, 2004] In a decision handed down today, Court of Common Pleas Judge Matthew Carrafiello ruled in favor of an appeal by the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia, the Coalition of Rittenhouse Neighbors, Michael Singer, and others. The judge's ruling overturns a decision by the Philadelphia Historical Commission and the Department of Licenses and Inspections Board of Review that would have allowed the demolition of three historically certified buildings on the 1900 block of Sansom Street.

The three historic buildings back onto a large, vacant lot which faces the northwest corner of Rittenhouse Square which is the focal point of the city's Rittenhouse Historic District. The property owner, the Philadelphia Parking Authority (PPA), wanted to develop the site as a mixed-use project that would include a multi-story parking garage, a multiplex movie theater, a restaurant, and other retail uses.

PPA claimed the three historic properties had to go in order to develop the project, and had successfully argued to the Historical Commission that demolition was necessary to the "public interest", that being one of the provisions in the city's preservation ordinance under which demolition of historic structures can be allowed. PPA claimed that the purported economic benefits of the project were in the public's interest.

But Judge Carrafiello agreed with the arguments of the Preservation Alliance and other appellants, and stated in his preliminary findings that PPA "failed to meet its burden of proving the demolition to be necessary in the public interest", and that "if economic advantages were the sole standard for 'necessary in the public interest', then virtually any historic building in Philadelphia could be demolished when a more economically advantageous use could be foreseen".

The judge goes on to state that "the fact that we have a system of ordinances protecting historic buildings recognizes that historic properties need protection because they cannot compete with more profitable uses. But the City has chosen to protect them [through the preservation ordinance] because, as a matter of public policy, the buildings have an intrinsic worth. As part of our history, they are irreplaceable; solely because of their historical status, they are necessary".

Alliance Executive Director John Gallery called the court decision "a landmark for historic preservation". It is not known whether the city or PPA will appeal the court decision, but Gallery will request that Mayor Street and the Historical Commission accept this decision and not appeal it further, and ask the Parking Authority to look at other uses for the site.