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St. Laurentius Church in Fishtown can be replaced with an eight-story residential building, judge rules

A Philadelphia judge has ordered the city to reinstate a zoning permit that allows a developer to replace the Fishtown landmark St. Laurentius Church with a multifamily building.

The city violated the law last year when it rescinded zoning permission to allow the construction at the site of an eight-story multifamily residential building spanning more than 45,000 square feet with 49 residential units, Common Pleas Court Judge Joshua Roberts ruled Thursday. The judge’s order reverses the decision by the city’s Zoning Board of Adjustment.

The board exceeded its authority when it disregarded a provision in Philadelphia’s zoning code that allowed the issuing of the permit in favor of a similar but less strict zoning rule that applies to all other counties through the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code that did not allow it, Roberts said.

The decision marked the latest stage in the years-long fight by neighbors to preserve the 19th-century deconsecrated church and by developers to redevelop the landmark, which is on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places.

In 2021, the city gave permission for the brownstone Roman Catholic church to be demolished, saying the building at Berks and Memphis Streets was structurally unstable and in danger of collapsing. Demolition of St. Laurentius started last August with the removal of its skyline-defining twin spires and is ongoing. The framing of the roof has been exposed.

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https://www.inquirer.com/real-estate...-20230112.html