Harrisburg City Planning Comission - 04/03/24

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motion to approve I'll

second moov and second for approval of

the minutes as they are all those in

favor state by saying I I opposed

exstension motion

Carri under old business there is

none under new

business we have

a where 215 rally Street Zone R in it's

filed by Toler

hackenberry down to earth barers shop

this is to establish a personal services

dued onsite and to request relief from

the associated off street parking

requirements uh yes so the um applicant

is proposing to establish a personal

services use uh which is how a barber

shop is classified in the zoning code

and to request relief from the associate

all street parking requirements property

of 2115 Riley Street is a 002 acre lot

featuring a three-story 2271 ft

structure which was constructed circa

1900 property is bounded by Riley Street

to the North Penn Street to the east a

small Grocer's alley to the South and

the property of 213 Riley Street to the

West this detach semi- detached

structure features elements of the

italianate and Commercial architectural

style uh character defining features

include the storefront facade on the

first floor the brick facade of the

upper floors on the front elevation and

the side elevation the more modern

editions on the rear of the building

featuring a variety of facade materials

and Designs metal fire escape in the

rear and the decorative brick work along

the front and side cornices there are

two entrances on the front elevation the

first floor entryway is a full view

metal door recessed deeply within an

entrance Al Cove and a second panel door

to the right provides access to the

residential units on the upper floors

both are accessed by concrete steps with

a metal railing there are three

additional entryways on the side

elevation of into the building additions

at the rear of the property which

feature a variety of materials and

Designs demonstration also features

Windows in a variety of sizes and

configurations the front elevation

features floor to

ceiling window floor to ceiling plate

glass door front windows which wrap

around to the side elevation the second

floor features one over one windows and

the third floor features two over two

windows with all being set within wooden

Sills and headers the side elevation

features three one over one windows in

the historic structure with double hung

and pl glass windows in the more modern

editions structure appears to be topped

with flat rubber roofs although there

have been modern additions and

alterations to the rear of the property

and the front is differentiated um

through the storefront configuration

which existed as far back as September

2007 structure retains much of its

original Integrity as the end unit of a

row of four buildings featuring the same

design style and elements the building

does contribute to the historic and

Architectural character of the

neighborhood the planning Bureau staff

recommends the request be approved with

the following conditions if the

applicant intends on installing signage

beyond the window decals referenced in

their application or intends on any

other exterior alteration they will

submit a certificate of appropriateness

application and receive harb approval

planning Bureau staff recommends the

request be approved for the following

reasons the property history provides

justification for the proposed use as it

has accommodated personal services uses

in the past which had the same off

street parking requirements and those

businesses did not have adverse impacts

on the surrounding Community The

Proposal will reactivate the first floor

of the property which is specifically

designed for commercial uses with a

business focusing focused on serving a

local clientele the proposed relief

request will enable the expansion of an

existing business within the city and

the applicant has submitted a detailed

business plan demonstrating that it will

maintain and enhance the ex the mixed

juuse nature of the neighborhood okay

thank you st um could you state your

name and address and relationship to the

project yes uh my name is Tyler

hackenberry um my residential address

1206 north2 Street two block from the

property um

and I'm the owner of

down okay you heard the uh staff report

uh with the one condition are you

acceptable of that

condition okay do want to add anything

to the

report

okay

um I know Jeff you

um sorted with the parking you said you

know because the previous businesses

that didn't seem to be a

problem

um and and I know you said that most of

your clients would be probably from the

neighborhood

um I'm just thinking as the business

grows which I'm assuming your business

will be thriving and

um I think in your business plan you had

you expect like 10 client

today to like 40 a

week I don't think you're going to have

40 neighborhood people

coming every week so I'm thinking you're

going to have some clients that not

living in the neighborhood for sure and

so where maybe they would park so

another resource I have I talked to the

manager of mid time

Cinema she gave me

permission um she gave me permission to

use that as overflow parking um I'm

going to try to keep it street parking

as much as I can but I do have

permission to use that as overflow as

well okay the lot midt okay and I do

appreciate um one of my always concerns

is is contacting community and I see you

have a list here so that that was great

and I'm assuming they all agree with

having that your barber shop with and

everything y y stopped at several the

local businesses along with um local

residents very good as the only

questions I have so far Commissioners um

commiss McKenzie any

questions I guess the only question I

would have is how many chairs or

stations do you propose to have um so I

am going to have two to start and then

I'll scale up to maximum of four in the

shop okay

yeah no other questions Joe uh

commissional to Jeffrey what the how

much of a downward deviation were they

asking for on the parking um so I

think relative to the previous use that

was on site which was an artisans craft

studio um it would be two additional

parking spaces beyond that and as I

noted in the case report um there were

uh personal services uses previously uh

on site um operating during the um uh

the current zoning code um and so

that uh whatever non-conformity aspect

not having parking would have been

continued from previous um but when they

switched to an artisan a crafts and

Artisan Studio which is permitted by r

um it kind of broke the chain of

non-conforming uses but the as far as

the um off street parking requirements

um I believe it would just be two

additional beyond what The Artisans and

craft studio was how's he ever going to

get this past the zoning hearing board

what's how's he ever going to get this

past the zoning well I think the history

of the site will um you know support the

request I hope so uh from the pictures

in here it looks like you're already

furnished have you opened for business

yet or not

no okay sometimes people start business

and they come here after the fact just

yeah well uh it's it's I haven't

furnished it completely it's about 60%

furnish I have no further questions okay

uh commissioner Reed I have no questions

commission

Mark I don't have any questions I

actually just want to State for the

record that I am in favor of this

project and it's suggest use I mean as

far back as I can remember this property

has been a personal services hair

styling place I think even when it was

technically an artisan Studio there were

hair things going on in there I live not

ter in the vicinity of this this area

all that to say to me you know this is a

rather low density use that's being

applied for it's perfectly applicable

for something like Riley Street which

quite frankly we are trying to see a

more activated commercial uh development

along that Corridor um so I think the

parking is a negligible concern and I

hope the zoning hearing board would

agree with that may I add one more thing

about the parking um services will only

last about 30 to 45 minutes so that will

be the the time frame when people will

be parking on the street so it won't be

like a

long-term parking situation anyway

okay is that it

and is that it okay uh commissioner

Jordan um no questions I just pretty

much Echo that same sentiment of

reactivating the storefront and

providing an opportunity for a business

in the area that can walk to so I'm in

favor of it okay

Joe no further question questions

okay is there anyone from the public for

against this

project okay

right Commissioners um could I get a

motion motion to approve with condition

is there a second second it's been moved

and second for approval of this project

all those in favor state by saying I I

oppos extensions motion Carri

good morning thank

you okay the second item on the agenda

is a special exception application for

315 North fren Street um which is Zone

Riverfront as followed by vering

drones with GW LLC is to convert the

existing office building into an 8un

apartment building featuring two

designated affordable units and to

request relief from the associated off

street parking

requirements uh yes so the applicant is

proposing to convert the existing office

building at 3:15 North Front Street to

an 8un apartment building featuring six

one bedroom units and two two bedroom

units uh with two units designated as

affordable units uh and to request

relief from the associate all street

parking requirements property at 315

North Front Street is A2 acre lot

featuring a three and 1 half story 8944

ft structure which was which was

constructed in 1850 property is bounded

by the property at 317 North Front

Street to the North River Street to the

east Barbera Street to the South and

North Front Street to the West the semi-

detached structure features elements of

the federal architectural style

character defining features include the

brick fac faade the stone water table on

the front facade the ornate metal porch

above the first floor of the front

elevation the shutters flanking windows

at various locations around the building

the metal fire escape on the side

elevation The prominent Corners

featuring brick bands and wooden dentals

and end brackets the fourth FL Dormers

and prominent chimneys the brick wall

enclosing the rear Courtyard paved with

bricks and the detached two-story garage

uh two story carriage house with a maned

roof the main entrance features a large

panel door recessed within an arched

panel entryway and topped with a divided

light Sunburst transom and arched bricks

suround featuring a keystone is accessed

by Stone steps with metal railings there

are five other entrances in the

principal building including two on the

upper floors accessible by the fire

escape and three towards the rear of the

building all our wooden panel doors with

those on the upper floors featuring

transoms with paneled infills and those

in the rear featuring simple transoms

The Carriage House features three

entryways all of which are wooden panel

doors topped with wooden transoms one of

the doors featur fees two half view

panes and two are topped with divided

light transoms two wooden paneled rollup

garage doors with Windows which are

topped with a substantial wooden cornice

front onto Barber Street penetration

around the principal building features

wooden divided light windows in a

regular pattern some of the windows

feature metal grates While others

feature paneled or louvered shutters

there are three dormers on the fourth

floor with each featuring divided light

windows with grates set within arched

openings flanked by pills the dmer

cheeks are clad in asphalt shingles The

Carriage House features 10 Windows most

of which are the same wooden divided

light windows in the principal building

all are set within arched brick

surrounds front gable roof of the

structure appears to be topped with

asphalt shingles which is reflected on

the manster roof of the Carriage House

in the rear most of the other additions

are topped with flat rubber roofs and

the one-story Edition in the rear of the

principal building features a standing

seam metal roof the building retains a

significant amount of its architectural

and historic integrity and features

elements unique to the district and

streetcape as the end unit on a row of

historic buildings along the city's

Premier Waterfront Corridor all of which

retain a significant degree of the their

original Integrity the building makes a

significant and unique contribution to

the historic and Architectural character

of the streetcape and

neighborhood the planning Bureau staff

recommends the request be approved to

the following conditions if granted

zoning approval to move forward with the

project as proposed the applicant will

file Land Development plan for the

development of eight units as required

by the municipality's planning code and

receive approval from the city council

the applicant will also receive a

certificate of qualification pursuant to

chapter 12101 of title 12 affordable

housing certification prior to recording

the lot the land development plan with

the Dolphin County recorder of deeds uh

the applicant must provide documentation

confirming that the monthly parking

passes in the River Street Garage have

been approved by Standard Parking if any

exterior alterations are proposed the

applicant will submit a certificate of

appropriateness application and receive

approval from harb and finally the

applicant will coordinate with the

Department of Public Works to ensure

that the account billing is updated to

reflect the proposed change in use plan

buau staff recommends the request be

approved for the following reasons the

proposed project will adaptively reuse a

vacant office building bringing in

historically and architecturally

significant property into productive use

and in fact will reestablish a

residential use on site as opposed to

other multif family conversions in

recent years the applicant has been

proactive in securing enough off street

parking to accommodate all residents of

the development obviating concerns

expressed by nearby residents regarding

the limited number of on on Street

spaces and finally the proposed reuse

will add new residents to the

neighborhood to activate the street on

night nights and weekends and grow a

customer base to support local

businesses okay thank you Jeff could you

state your names and relationship to the

project yep good evening good evening my

name is Ash mccom I'm an attorney with

MCN Wallace and nerk and sitting to my

right is Vernon Jones with gwc the

applicant uh you can introduce yourself

yes Vernon Jones um uh CEO at GW LC and

your address is address is 224 Harris

Street uh Harrisburg PA um also have

residents in New York and

California 100 Pine Street

Harrisburg okay uh you both heard the

staff report and with the conditions are

you acceptable of those conditions we

are okay did you want to add anything to

the recort um

just just a little additional background

um so our office is located two doors

down from this building I drive been

driving by this vacant building for two

years as I turn on to the alley to park

and uh so I'm personally looking forward

to seeing some some life there again or

or at least have my fingers crossed for

it um there will be eight units uh two

of them are two-bedroom uh the remainder

are one-bedroom units two of the units

are um uh affordable housing uh one of

them is ADA Compliant with the ramp

coming up from the hand from the Ada

parking space uh in the courtyard uh and

then as Jeff said the remaining parking

spaces uh are across over in River

Street Garage so we feel we meet all the

requirements uh for the parking

reduction um and as you know there's not

a whole lot of criteria for multif

family in the area but we do think it's

a great reuse uh for this for this

property and as Jeff said we'll bring a

little bit of life back uh to the

okay um I don't have a like a specific

question but looking at your pictures I

was wondering um is this the courthouse

Courtyard in this it is okay that's

where you're going to have two parking

spaces correct it's currently being used

or historically had been used by the

office uh used for parking as well okay

I just want to make sure um

Commissioners that's the questions all I

have at this time uh Mr mic any

questions or

concerns no I think I will Echo the

solicitor's comment there that we'll be

nice to get the building back into live

mode we have been U I'll for Full

Exposure I'm the next door neighbor uh

to this property we have been

consistently dealing with homeless

people coming up the staircase on our

roof at crossing over from that building

uh uh building houses inside the rear

stairwells to the the basement we've had

a real difficult time for the past

several years and uh having it back to

life would be will be fabulous um I

think uh I do appreciate that you are

acknowledging the parking issue that

we've all been dealing with here and

over time and I think that so thank you

for that nothing else thank you

commission uh Jeffrey there there's no

density issue here I mean the square

footage for8 units

uh no there are no idenity regulations

for the riverfront zoning District all

right

uh two them are designated affordable

did you know if there going to be one or

two bedrooms for those or don't you know

that yet there'll be the one bedrooms

two of the one bedrooms all right yeah I

yeah I too drive by this probably almost

every day and until I saw these pictures

I didn't realize how dilapidated the

property looks I mean the shutters

falling off and the paint's being

chipped uh and if Vern's your neighbor

and he has no problems I don't either so

I'm in favor we hope that he comes to

the zon in hearing

board nothing further okay commissioner

re no Sean had my question so I'm

good commissioner

mer uh Jeffrey along um the affordable

housing being what what are the

different criteria of relief that's

afforded by going after the affordable

housing certification

uh so for the riverfront District it's

mainly limited to the parking um it does

not have the same sorts of density

bonuses that um that apply to the

residential low density residential

medium density and uh commercial

neighborhood zoning districts okay okay

thanks for clarifying that um yeah I

mean I certainly echo my commissioner's

comments and you know this building used

to be Law Offices if I remember right

you know before it was then vacant for a

while and so now we're kind of going

back to more of a residential use which

would originally would have been

um I find what's interesting is that

while this is technically zoned

riverfront we are very much in the

downtown Center District as well for

this property in which case if it were

able to be sort of dual zoned a downtown

Center doesn't even require parking

relief uh at all and you know given your

location I

mean again it almost goes away and the

fact that you are at least going forward

and working out some parking agreements

with the River Street garages is almost

it's very appreciated it's going above

and beyond so appreciate that um that's

all I have to say Okay uh commissioner

Jordan uh yes just a couple questions um

looking at the plans it looks like

you're removing the existing elevator is

that

correct yes was there just curious was

there a particular reason well it's it's

a very old elevator um very small okay

and I think it would would be more of a

liability than it would be a an asset to

the

building and um secondly did you have in

mind any particular like rental rate

range as far as the affordable units are

concerned so it would be based on uh the

Ami um and I based on the buildings that

we have in the area our two bedrooms uh

we're renting for 1450 for the two

bedroom um for one bedrooms we have a

Section 8 tenant for 9

um but it would be consistent with

whatever regul that's that's what we

have

now that's all thank

you

AEL I only had one kind of random

question everything looks great but

because it was something uh Joe asked

this is the parking in here was that

what one area of the park one okay do

you need to do there need to be any curb

Cuts or anything for to make that no

it's already open currently they parked

three vehicles in there or currently

when it was an office they were parking

three vehicles in there we're going to

make one of thees ADA so we only

have you a little more room okay great

thank

you is there anyone from the public for

against this

project if not Commissioners can I get a

motion I'll motion to approve with

conditions Z second second this been

moved and second for approval of this

project all those in favor state by

saying I I oppos exensions motion

carried good luck everyone thank you

very much thank

you

okay

every Jeff do you want me to go through

this one since you request Contin this

sure absolutely because I would imagine

the um applicant may feel differently

okay so all right item number three this

is a special exception application for

1728 North 2 Street which is Zone RM IS

F the gania foundation

incorporate uh to expand the existing

Supportive Housing family this use from

8 to 12 to use for the 8 to 12

individuals and to request releas from

the situated off street parking

pardon uh yeah so the applicant is

proposing to expand the existing

Supportive Housing family use from 8 to

12 individuals and to request relief

from the associate off street parking

requirements uh the property is 17 28

North 2 street is a13 acre lot featuring

a three-story

6369 ft structure which was constructed

circa 1900 property is bounded by kelker

Street to the north North 2 Street to

the east the property at 1726 North 2

Street to the South and the property at

1721 North Front Street to the West this

attached structure features elements of

a vernacular architectural style

character defining features include the

stucco facade the Stacked block massing

the large wraparound porch on the front

and side elevations with a portion on

the side having been enclosed The

prominent pediments over Windows the

Steep Gable roofs with ice stops The

prominent chimney and the attached

garage which has been converted to uh

office space the main entrance features

a wide wooden door with a full view

divided light pane topped with a divided

light transom featuring frosted glass it

is accessed by a large concrete porch

with two sets of concrete stairs

accessible from Second Street and kelker

Street there appear to be three other

entrances on the kelker street elevation

a half view divided light wooden panel

door ACC by a small concrete porch and

steps with metal railings an access

point recessed into the building which

is not visible from the public RightWay

and a half VI divided light metal panel

door providing access to the converted

garage at the rear of the property

fenestration includes windows and a

variety of sizes shapes and

configurations many of the windows are

double hung with divided light top

sashes over single pane sashes some of

the windows such as the bay window on

the side elevation feature fully divided

light windows and there are other

differentiation such as Arch windows or

stained glass windows as well the gable

roof of the structure and the Dormer Bay

roof window roofs appear to be topped

with asphalt shingles but the front

porch features a metal roof and the

converted garage features a flat rubber

roof the building is an Eclectic patch P

Patchwork of styles and designs and is

somewhat difficult to identify the time

frame of alterations and thus determine

whether they have achieved historic

value in their own right although the

design and style differ from most of the

surrounding architecture the building

does reflect the the diverse nature of

the properties on its block and thus

contribute somewhat to the character of

the streetscape and

neighborhood uh the planning Bureau

staff recommends the request be

continued for the following

reasons plany Bureau believes that this

submitted application is incomplete as

as it does not address the issues of

more off street parking relief being

required than as requested and of

whether the property is operating as a

Supportive Housing family use and thus

can be expanded without regard to the

number of individuals on site and the

current request is Complicated by the

app uh

applicants history of submitting similar

proposals for this property and having

such requests denied withdrawn or

approved with conditions that are no

longer being met without documentation

addressing these issues the bureau does

not believe the zon hearing board can

make a determination on expansion of the

existing use okay thank you chff could

you state your name relationship to the

project and your address yes Sean Delany

from Stevens and Lee at 17 North Second

Street right across the street uh I'm

the land use attorney for the applicant

but ends the information okay you heard

the uh staff report about the

continuation and and why um do you

accept that or oh absolutely I mean I

think that it'd be good good idea if we

could get together with planning staff

and with Mr Grover and talk through the

application and the history I am new to

the property um actually there's one

document that Jeff appended to the uh to

his report that was actually helpful for

me because I couldn't find it um I think

that we can do good things here but we

need to get together and talk and I'll

get on the same page so I would I'm

absolutely fine

withs and my witness was coming from

Norristown I told him to stay

home um with that I'll just go around

just see if any comments from the

Commissioners uh commissioner

mckenic yeah the key question I'm it I

want to understand when you come back is

um where are they going to be because as

I'm looking at this I'm only coming up

with 10 spaces in your plan that appear

to be

discret um bedrooms you know or and is

is this a ward type thing or uh is it

individual bedrooms the city's

regulations require 50 square feet per

resident per sort of residential space

that's actually less stringent than the

state which requires 60 square feet um

if you went by the 60 feet metric there

you be be able to have more people than

we want in so it's not one person per

bedroom that's what I was trying to

understand is it's multi beds in

a okay and that's how it's used now only

the second floor is used for residential

purposes the third floor is vacant so

there are multiple people in each

bedroom two

people okay thank you commission I have

nothing commission just have a question

um are these short-term residents I mean

do they stay for like a specific period

of time or they going through a program

uh they are going through a program it

all depends on the resident how they're

doing the program um you know it could

be six months it could be 18

months Max actually don't know what the

Max is okay um but it's it's definitely

not for a couple of weeks um actually

had an interesting phone call uh

probably two or three weeks ago it's the

one that I dread neighbor called so you

know our contact information is on the

application and we sent the notices to

the

neighbors John delini how can I help you

and they said they were immediate next

door neighbor to the South so I cringed

a little bit and um they were delightful

they said that the residents are great

and they like having them there because

they're always there they're on the

porch they actually kind of monitor the

neighborhood um so usually I don't get

calls from Neighbors that are

good okay commissioner am

meric yeah I would um Echo uh Vern's

comments and questions that you know

about the property and part of me then I

I guess I would want to understand what

is the ultimate capacity that that could

be allotted in this building then if the

third floor is vacant um would there be

plans to continue expansions actually I

have to say that our request was not for

12 that was an old request we we

requested to have as many as would be

permitted under the ordinance so I'd be

interested to know what that number

would be I think it would be 21 to 22

but we we don't want that many people

there wow but it's not 12 okay and then

my other question uh just to to clarify

whether it's now or when when you come

back the the designation of Supportive

Housing family does that mean that

children could be part of like what

constitutes family then it's a group of

people living together in a domicile

okay so it's a small F family okay okay

no

consinity got it okay thank

you our commissioner Jordan no questions

thanks

Joe no

questions there's no one here well in

the public the young lady any you for

against frck but

okay commission since it's a

continuations could I get a motion for

motion to continue is there a

second I'll second move to second to

continue this project to the guess next

meeting all those in favor state by

saying I I I opposed exensions motion

Carri thank you I would just with the

appli can definitely get with Jeff and

some of the recommendations from the

commissioners

apply those so you know maybe in favor

for you to get the project here thank

you I have to say I uh I was an intern

when I was in law school at Bosworth

tenta and wicker sham at 37 North Street

and I drive by that building every day

and I'm glad someone's doing something

with it because it looks really

bad and of course the other history that

I don't know if everybody realizes that

was renovated by the wife of the

president of the Pennsylvania Railroad

that was his

Harrisburg and she installed the she

couldn't practice as an architect she

was a woman back in the day so she

focused on the the that there's a turret

and a glass tower inside and and that's

that very small elevator which I've

written and it's

scary thanks thanks for that

historical and and the other piece of it

is it was a def it is a designated uh

proven site of the Underground

Railroad there was a tunnel between the

front building and the Back Barn

underneath the side of the parking lot

very

cool you can actually walk into a

portion of it underneath in both sides

but it's closed up years

ago very cool very good uh other

business anything Jeff uh not right now

nope commission anything for the good of

the

[Music]

water okay is there a motion for

adjournment second is there a second

seconded stand thank you thanks guys