Planning & Development

The mission of the Community Planning and Development Division is to encourage the orderly development of the City through sound and effective planning practices and to preserve, protect and enhance the character of its neighborhoods and historic districts.

The Community Planning and Development Division (CP&D) is responsible for planning, historic preservation and urban redevelopment in the City of Reading. Working closely with other city departments, as well as Reading Housing Authority, Reading Parking Authority, Reading Area Water Authority, the County of Berks, the Berks County Conservancy, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and neighboring municipalities, the Community Planning and Development Division staff is involved in all aspects of planning and development in Reading. The Division utilizes the City’s Geographic Information System to prepare a variety of maps, plans, studies and reports covering all facets of the development and redevelopment of the City and is a repository for those documents. The CP&D staff is charged with preparing and amending Reading’s Comprehensive Plan and land use ordinances in addition to such activities as grant writing and project management.

The City’s planners provide technical and administrative assistance to the Planning Commission and the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Reading. Planners administer the Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance(SALDO) and assist developers through subdivision and land development process and are responsible for preparing and updating miscellaneous neighborhood and redevelopment plans, studies, reports and maps. The City’s planners also disseminate census, demographic and flood plain information, as well as city-wide and neighborhood maps.

The Historic Preservation Officer administers the Historic District Ordinance and assists citizens through the Historical Architectural Review Board (HARB) process. The Preservation Officer is responsible for enforcing the Historic District Ordinance, providing technical and administrative assistance to the HARB, issuing Certificates of Appropriateness, and administers the City’s Façade Improvement Program. A variety of City departments rely on the Preservation Officer for technical assistance when undertaking projects involving Reading’s historical structures, that could include review by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission