ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A developer had little trouble earning Allentown Zoning Hearing Board’s support Monday after scaling back its proposal.
Home Investment LLC approached the board looking to convert offices at 824 Walnut St. into 10 housing units.
Architect Stewart Gouck and Home Investment principal Jamil Mahdawi spent about 20 minutes detailing the plan for the property, which calls for nine one-bedroom apartments in the existing building where there is room for 14 parking spaces.
The plan presented Monday included a partial addition on the third floor to make space for a 10th apartment. That unit would require the developers to provide a 15th parking spot. It also would have dropped the building’s average unit size below the city’s 500-foot minimum.Allentown Zoning Hearing Board
But the plan presented Monday also included a partial addition on the third floor to make space for a 10th apartment.
That unit would require the developers to provide a 15th parking spot. It also would have dropped the building’s average unit size below the city’s 500-foot minimum.
Zoning Hearing Board member Alan Salinger raised concerns about the project’s size and the need for a unit that could require more relief.
Allentown zoning ordinances order the board to approve only the minimum relief that would require the least change to current regulations.
Mahdawi soon offered to reduce his proposal from 10 units to nine, eliminating the need for more parking and unit-size relief.
The board — Robert Knauer, Alan Salinger and Scott Unger — quickly accepted his offer and unanimously approved a variance about landscaping on the small property that runs along South Lumber Street.
