Streets Pre-Approval
A restauranteur, homeowner, developer, contractor and traffic engineer all walk into a bar…and all complain about the same thing. What is it?
While we as humans are great at finding things that aren’t going our way, in this case (for the sake of this post) they are all complaining about how they need to get Pre-Approval from the Streets Department for their projects. In Philadelphia, you’ll need to gain the approval of the Streets Department before many projects can even go to L&I, and it isn’t always easy. In this post, we’re going to cover when you need it, how to get it, and what to expect.
What does Philadelphia’s Department of Streets do?
First, let’s go over the basics of the Philadelphia Department of Streets, because they have a huge job. The Department of Streets “designs, builds, and repairs the City’s streets and roadways” in addition to “picking up trash and recycling”, and “operating the lights and traffic control devices”. Though this may seem simple, it’s not. Part of the design/build/repair function is to review and approve anything (and I mean anything) that goes into the public Right-of-Way (ROW). The Department of Streets has numerous handbooks that inform and advise the maintenance, regulations, and design of the public ROW in Philadelphia. Here they are:
Streetery Guide - in process of being updated
The Streets Dept. is tasked with keeping these documents up to date along with creating and enforcing regulations to keep people moving on the streets of Philadelphia safely and efficiently. This is a huge job, and to be honest: they do it pretty darn well. Where they fall short sometimes is in “keeping the documents up to date”, which is why getting Streets Pre-Approval can feel like you’re chasing shadows.
We’re here to help.
How do I apply?
Typically, you’ll begin in eClipse where you will apply for a Streets Department Review (unless you’re looking to get approval for a Restaurant Streetery). This will look familiar to you if you’ve applied for a Zoning or Building Permit on eClipse, as it requires many of the same fields. Most of this is straightforward: selecting what the Streets Review is for, inputting the people-of-interest, describing the work, and specifying the property.
As always with permits, the real meat of the application comes when you are asked to upload documents. Often (unless you have extensive experience), the way to find out if you uploaded the right documents is when they give you feedback to your application. This is where experience comes in; if you’ve done a bunch of these, enough feedback has been gained to be able to predict what - and how - the Streets Department will want for your review.
At Kosten Expo, we’ve learned a few things about getting a Pre-Approval through:
Expect to exercise patience: the Streets Department wants plans drawn how they want them. Even if all the information is there, you may need to revise plans multiple times to have it laid out in the way they prefer. This means using a design professional that knows how they want it or find one who is willing to stretch themselves and learn (we have recommendations for both).
You may need a PennDOT M950s form to show that the required sight distances are met. This form requires taking field measurements. If you’re road isn’t a PennDOT road, you’ll need another form (mentioned on the M950s).
You will need to understand parts of the handbooks that apply from above.
You will need to coordinate with the design professional, the Streets Department, and keep up-to-date on the handbooks.
Once you get your Streets Pre-Approval, you can then bring it to L&I and start working on what you wanted to do in the first place. Congratulations! You’ve cleared a big hurdle in getting your project off the ground.
If all that seems like too much to juggle on top of managing the rest of your life, give us a call. We’re happy to get you moving in the right direction.
