The East End United Methodist Church and attached Sunday school building is shown in this screenshot taken from Google Maps. A Lititz-based company is planning to turn the Sunday school portion of the property into an apartment complex. Photo courtesy Google Maps

A former East End Sunday school building can be transformed into apartments after the city Zoning Hearing Board granted a special exception to the company planning to undertake the project.

The special exception will allow HPW Properties LLC, a Lititz firm, to turn the former East End United Methodist Church’s school building into a complex featuring eight to 11 one-bedroom apartments.

The church and two-story addition are located in a residential neighborhood on the 400 block of East Hudson Avenue.

The exception request was made under the “preservation-oriented special-exception standards for existing public-school buildings (in the city’s new zoning ordinance) … which allow residential reuse when strict compliance with current zoning would otherwise prevent viable continued use of a significant community landmark,” according to an HPW memo that accompanied its zoning application.

There would be no additions to the school or significant changes to the exterior’s “distinctive architectural details,” according to the company.

The church will remain to be used as a church, as there appears to be interest among outside parties in that, according to Scott Wiglesworth, who presented the case for the special exception to the board.

The current plan is to create four apartments on each of the two 4,300-square-foot above-ground floors, and to evaluate the basement for a possible three additional apartments, Wiglesworth said.

The existing 114-by-120-foot parking lot provides more than enough parking, according to Wiglesworth.

The proposed use would produce less traffic than a school and is compatible with the quiet neighborhood in which it is located, according to Wiglesworth.

The city doesn’t oppose the plan, especially given that Altoona needs more housing, said City Manager Christopher McGuire.

Three neighbors who came to the hearing expressed dismay about the project.

One said the building proposed for the apartments was a Sunday School for the church that had been declining long before it closed, and thus wasn’t very busy.

Another complained that the neighborhood already gets traffic from a nearby marijuana dispensary on East Pleasant Valley Boulevard, and she would prefer not to have any additional vehicles passing by.

Another asserted that construction vehicles during the renovation phase would inconvenience neighbors, many of them elderly.

A neighbor also said she would prefer not to have a multi-family housing unit nearby, while another pointed out that there were mold issues with the church.

The company is prepared to deal with the mold, Wiglesworth said.

“Change is hard, no matter what you do,” he said.

For any new use of the building, construction would be required, Wiglesworth said, adding that the existing parking lot would be used for the construction vehicles during renovations, thus keeping them mostly off the streets.

The company is sympathetic to the neighbors’ concerns and will try to work with them, he said.

In its zoning ordinance, the city recognizes the use as appropriate, given that the company is asking for a special exception, not a variance, said board solicitor Bill Stokan.

“(The) residential conversion provides a sustainable path forward that generates sufficient revenue to fund the preservation of both the school and church structures without public subsidy,” the company memo states.

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