Neighbors who oppose the construction of an apartment building in West Philadelphia and had asked residents for fecal samples to try to find a link between development and colorectal cancer won their appeal Monday of the zoning board's approval of the project.
A Philadelphia Common Pleas Court judge ruled that the city's zoning board had failed to provide evidence to support its conclusion that the property owner faced a hardship in developing his property at 48th Street and Chester Avenue that would justify zoning exceptions that the city granted in June.
Judge Anne Marie B. Coyle said the Zoning Board of Adjustment lacked enough information to make a decision either way, and she ordered the board to reexamine the proposal for the 76-unit apartment building and issue clear justification for its conclusions.
