The site for this project is part of Fairmont park in downtown Philadelphia. What site development criteria is appropriate to follow? The Park is zoned recreational, but schools, as a matter of law, are allowed in any zone. The City has ordinance for Institutional buildings which this would fall under normally. The site is being leased to the District, so there is no official zoning change taking place. If we are required to follow the zoning for recreational areas, we will not achieve this credit. However, if we were to submit under the Institutional site development guidelines for a 9 acre site, we would easily achieve this credit. Please advise.
Since the City allows schools within any zone, effectively the zoning of the land is changed to the permitted use, which in this case is institutional. Given the nature of the site and building type (a school), it would be acceptable to apply the zoning criteria for institutional buildings, rather than recreational areas, for this project. If the City\'s ordinance for institutional buildings has a requirement for open space, the amount of open space provided would need to exceed the open space requirement for the site by 25%. If the City\'s ordinance for institutional buildings does not state specifically that there are open space requirements, then the project would need to designate an open space area adjacent to the building that is equal to the building footprint. Furthermore, the property owner (in this case the City) would need to provide a letter stating that the open space will be conserved for the life of the building. Open space must be mostly vegetated and pervious, according to the LEED definition.