Adding Off Street Parking Spot - Need Advice

[Miles Moser]

My wife and I have a corner rental property in Fishtown. We are looking into a curb knockout and conversion of half of the back yard into an off street parking spot.  We have found that The City of Philadelphia has a very complicated system in place from initial research and so I’m looking for advice on this process, and possibly a reference to a contractor or service that specializes in this type of project.  We were originally trying to handle this ourselves but are open to paying someone to help in the process and execute the actual work.  Any advice is greatly appreciated!

[Mike B.]

@Miles Moser - all the info to do this is on the phila.gov website.  In brief, yes it will be a lot of work.  YES you want to hire a GC/experienced contractor who has done this before to ride shotgun and help you with this because it's no easy feat. You likely are required to submit formal design plans (with measurements, etc) showing your intent/location etc of the parking spot, to the local RCO and City of Phila Zoning board. 

First and foremost to consider:  Your corner lot.. the side where you want to install the curb cutout.. is there parking on that side of the street?  If so, your local RCO (and likely city of philly) will reject your request. Second, do you have enough in your rear yard to allow for outdoor parking that does NOT obstruct the sidewalk or come within certain distance to the curbline? There's strict guidelines on the space you need in/around the vehicle, distance to sidewalks and curbs so you need to ensure your property truly has enough space in consideration of these requirements.  Most row homes are 15-17' wide, at most.  So adding in a security gate or party-wall (between you and the neighbors) takes away a foot easily.  

I used to own a duplex in south philly with a GRANDFATHERED DOUBLE GARAGE with curbcuts.  We had to tear down and rebuild the garage.. that was a year long process!  Involved architechts for drawing the structure, measuring the whole property line, showing curb cutouts, etc.  Luckily my curb cutouts were on the side of the street where NO PARKING is posted so easy to keep the cutouts.  It was not an easy process, so YES.. get some help from a professional on this! It'll be worth the money in the end, IF this can go through and be approved.