Zoning hearing board rejects proposed rooming house

Wehnwood property would target corporate stays, traveling nurses

The city Zoning Hearing Board on Wednesday denied permission for a couple to operate a rooming house in Wehnwood that would have catered to nurses and other professionals who need short-term leases to fulfill work obligations.

Two of the four members present voted in favor of Anthony and Judy Gale's request to establish the rooming house in a split-level on East 25th Avenue at Ivyside Drive in a multiple household residential zone, but two others voted against it, and a tie results in denial, based on the zoning ordinance, said board solicitor Bill Stokan.

The Gales' concept was identical to one proposed by developer Randy Green that led City Council last year to pass an ordinance allowing for "corporate housing" in the central business zone, on lots at least 6,000 square feet -- but the Gales' proposal failed on both of those counts.

Board members Horace McAnuff and Cory Gehret voted in favor of the request anyway, while Matt Gindlesperger and Mariska Eash voted against it, after a discussion in executive session, as permitted for the quasi-judicial board.

The favorable votes reflected a belief that granting the request wouldn't have been deleterious to the neighborhood, Gehret said afterward.

The Gales bought the property because Judy, a longtime nurse, recognized the need, especially for travel nurses who are in town temporarily, Anthony told the board.

"We wanted something where nurses could feel safe, that was more upscale, but not a hotel" -- and not necessarily a full house that an individual would occupy alone, he said.

The house has three bedrooms and -- following a remodeling -- three baths, he said.

Each of three tenants would have a bedroom, while the kitchen, laundry and living room would be shared, according to Anthony.

Leases would be for at least six weeks, he said.

With some additional work, there would have been three off-street parking spaces that would not have required inconvenient stacking, Anthony said.

The lot was just short of 6,000 square feet.

The Gales had no intention of renting to students, unlike a party against whom they bid to obtain the house, Anthony said.

There is no zoning obstacle for the Gales to rent the property to an individual or family, according to Stokan.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.