Trending
The city Zoning Hearing Board recently granted a special exception to a Logantown resident that will allow him to build a garage on a separately deeded lot next to the lot on which he lives.
The board granted the exception after suggesting that Christopher Spangler might be better off eliminating the need for the board's approval by simply merging the two lots, which are on the 100 block of Beech Avenue.
"It would be the easiest thing to do," said board member Horace McAnuff.
Spangler chose to ask for the special exception in the belief that it would be less expensive, given the need to survey the property for a merger, said Rebecca Brown, the city's codes director.
With the special exception, Spangler can build the garage on the adjacent lot, but he wouldn't legally be able to sell that lot separately from his house lot, without coming back to the zoning board for a variance -- or tearing down the garage, which is an "accessory structure," said board solicitor Bill Stokan.
He could legally sell both lots together, however, McAnuff observed.
"You should probably look into getting it merged (anyway)," Stokan said.
"Did we overwhelm you?" the solicitor asked Spangler, after the explanations and advice.
"A little bit," Spangler said.
Spangler plans to build a two-car garage.
He has cleared trees on the adjacent lot, but will need to hire an excavator to remove the stumps, he said.
Open storage denied
The zoning board denied permission for a city landlord to continue using three consecutive lots on the 900 block of Seventh Avenue for off-site parking and open storage in a mixed residential-commercial zone.
Lou Grillo has been parking two campers, a boat and a trailer there, and also has set up a tent for storage of lawn mowers and other equipment on the lots, which are next to a home he owns -- but in which he doesn't reside.
"I need a place to put stuff," Grillo told the board. "I want to utilize the lots for the benefit of what I do."
He's willing to screen the items, he said.
There was an "accumulation" of materials that Grillo cleaned up after being contacted by the Codes and Inspections Department, but there are still rocks in one area that Grillo had hoped to use for additional parking, according to city officials.
Open storage is legal only in the light and general industrial zones of the city, according to Sabrina Appel-McMillen, the city's GIS and land use coordinator.
Grillo argued his case by pointing out other properties in the neighborhood where he said owners were parking in violation of zoning rules.
"Two wrongs don't make a right," said Stokan, who said Grillo could report those other violations to the city.
Durbin gets variances
The zoning board granted side setback variances to Durbin & Associates so the company can build three parallel self-storage buildings between North Branch Avenue and the alley behind it, in a light industrial zone.
The variances will allow for all three buildings to be within 5 feet of the property lines on either end, instead of the required 10-foot setback.
Three existing buildings that will abut the structures are all closer than 10 feet to the property lines between them and the proposed new buildings, according to the Durbins' consulting engineer John Sepp of PennTerra Engineering.
The only utility that will serve the units will be electric.
The units will be on the same square block that now houses the headquarters of Blair County Community Action and the family shelter operated by Family Services Inc.
The Durbin family bought the whole block before the development began, said company partner Brian Durbin.
Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.