Director Of Philadelphia's New Office Of Planning And Development Pledges Progress
By Pat Loeb
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- With Philadelphia in the midst of a building boom, Mayor Jim Kenney has jump-started the new Office of Planning and Development approved by voters in November and appointed a Director who was an early opponent, then an advocate, of creating the office.
"We're feeling our way and trying to get it set up and figure out what it means," says Anne Fadullon, immediate past president of the Building Industry Association, whose 30-year development career combines public and private sector experience. "We're really in the infancy stage of rebirth and growing so it's a great idea to have this office in place."
The office is the brainchild of City Council President Darrell Clarke, who sought to streamline the web of city offices developers must navigate by putting them all under one cabinet-level official. Fadullon will oversee ten city departments, including zoning, housing, even the Art Commission.
The ballot measure called for creating the office in 2017 but Kenney signed an executive order putting Fadullon in charge on January 4, the day of his inauguration.
"This kind of thought process and function existed," says Fadullon, noting former Mayor Nutter's Commerce Director Alan Greenberger carried the title Deputy Mayor for Economic Development. "I think what I bring to the role is I've got a little more understanding of the developer side of things and then from my prior experience working with the city I understand the Housing Agency stuff a little more."
Ironically, Fadullon was not a fan of the idea, initially.
"At the first public hearing, every single person who testified including myself testified against," she says. "It was such a big sea change it seemed like there was a threat that while this was going through that implementation process, things could come to a grinding halt which is exactly what we didn't need to happen right now in this growth economy. Who knows how long it's going to last? We want to take advantage while it's here, we don't want to lose a couple of years while we're trying to get our house in order."
She credits a collaborative effort by Clarke and the development community with her turnaround on the office and what she calls "across-the-board buy-in."
"I'm not saying there aren't going to be growing pains and some adjustments but we need to keep this ball rolling," she says.