5000 Warrington, Part 6
This is part six in a series of posts about a zoning dispute near my house. I know how to have a good time! (I am on maternity leave with baby #2, writing this while she naps in my arms. It really is a good time!) Previous post is here.
In May 2025, I submitted a Right-to-Know Law request to the City seeking: “A copy of all Answers to Interrogatories served by the City, Warrington Partners, and Plaintiff Johanningsmeier in Phila Common Pleas Case no. 231000053. A copy of all documents produced by Plaintiff in response to any Request for Production of Documents in Phila Common Pleas Case no. 231000053. A copy of all deposition transcripts in Phila Common Pleas Case no. 231000053.” In other words, I wanted the written discovery from the zoning dispute. And the City eventually gave it to me! Excerpts below, with the full 400+ page PDF produced at the end of this post.
Plaintiff answered the City’s interrogatories, and the interrogatories served by Intervenor Warrington Development Partners Limited Partnership. Some interesting answers:
A lot of people complaint that a new apartment building will raise everyone’s rent (even if it’s 100% affordable housing) but perhaps the Plaintiff has a better grip on reality/the concept of supply and demand.
Everyone else complained about not enough parking! And now this lady is complaining that the parking lot will cause aesthetic harm!
IS THIS WHOLE THING BECAUSE HER FEELINGS GOT HURT OVER A NEIGHBORHOOD ZONING COMMITTEE THAT HAS NO ACTUAL AUTHORITY???
Onto the good stuff — actual documents produced in discovery. First up is the notes summarizing Cedar Park Neighbors’ zoom meeting with Councilmember Gauthier in January 2021 where they discussed the public notification process for 5000 Warrington and a possible community benefits agreement. The original developer, Omni, applied for some affordable housing tax credits. CPN and other RCOs agreed they wanted a lot of public participation and they would all work on a CBA.
Someone from CPN came up with a range of ideas for a CBA…
Possibly the most interesting tidbit? Apparently Councilmember Gauthier originally requested that this development jump through all of the hoops and do a ton of community engagement to get a zoning variance rather than just re-zone this area. Remember - the whole legal issue in this appeal is that CM Gauthier eventually illegally spot-zoned this lot because the variance was overturned on appeal. So that’s five years down the drain!
Drama! Intrigue! Neighborhood civic group infighting!!
There was a February 2021 community meeting on zoom where, in the chat, everyone complained about parking and such. Begins on page 114 of the full PDF produced at the end of this post.
1) Surprise, NOT. Of course she’s chiming in! 2) do you realize that Philadelphia is a large city? 3) have you literally ever walked more than 3 blocks from your house and looked around? there are 4-10 story apartment buildings all over cedar park.
Here is the full PDF of documents the City produced in response to my request:
As of September 2025, this zoning case is still pending in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas:
The first post I did about this zoning case is from March 2022. It looks like the initial discussions began in late 2020. In five years, the lot at the heart of this dispute remains unchanged - a sketchy abandoned industrial site. What are we even doing?? It’s like our neighbors and elected representatives don’t want to be in a real city.