...the only people who can actually do something about this are the very people who seem to care the least

I wish a Philadelphia Administrator would tell us how to stop the outbreak of improper construction in our neighborhood. The city and its officials do not perform regular inspections and do nothing to prevent people from doing whatever they want in this city. The residents and the neighborhoods suffer because nothing is in place to keep this type of behavior from continuing.

I have forwarded to QVNA, and yes, they can force the builder to "take it down" if that is what is required.

It seems as though the unofficial official position is that whatever gets done to the forgotten blocks of Queen Village to fill in the empty lots is better than nothing at all. It does appears that variances granted with special stipulations hold less water than a tin can with no bottom. If you look at what has been done over the past several years in the area of the forgotten blocks of Queen Village, it has essentially been a "do-as-you-please" approach to new buildings. Yes, approaches are made to the QVNA Zoning Committee by builders/owners -- as required when a variance is needed -- but citizens should be aware by now that approval by the committee is only the permission the owner needs to go to the City Zoning Board for an official approval. Then, as noted in other replies, since there is no enforcement or no desire to enforce the rules in this area, the owner does as they please. It is a Philadelphia tradition to ignore zoning restrictions because you know you can get away with whatever you want. The residents that have been buying and staying in the forgotten blocks -- which have helped to bring about their new viability -- are now taking it on the chin only because they have made it profitable for investors to come into the area and build with indifference to the residents. Some may say this is an inevitable outcome of revitalization, others will say it is a damn shame. I am one of those!!

Eloquent, Dave! I actually suspect this particular departure from plan was a matter of miscommunication. The building plan was in motion, probably part of a whole series of projects, long before the modification was made to the design, and because so many people are involved, the revised design never made it into the construction plan. There's also a simple language barrier: the reasoning behind much of the neighbors' concerns is quite specific, and it's difficult to communicate that reasoning precisely. Without fully understanding *why* we asked for a building front that was even with adjacent building fronts, it was probably that much easier to proceed with the wrong plan.

If I'm right, this case is the exception. Witness the new restaurant on Washington. At what point did the owner--who we talked with in person on several occasions--decide to ignore the requirement (the City's, not ours) that the kitchen vent run inside her building? When she saw the pricetag for doing it according to code? When she realized nobody would stop her? At least the restaurant operators are honoring most of the other promises.

Keep fighting folks the paper trails will help in the future.

Still not built to code. But at least seeclickfix helped us get the sagging balconies removed from the rental down the street!

BVNA fought a 10 year battle to get an illegal deck taken down; City Law Department carried on the legal fight. Judge finally ORDERED it down; it is still standing and owner risks a contempt of Court action. It takes forever but the city CAN be forced to take action