A proposal to convert a former Frackville shirt and robe factory into 47 apartment units got a couple green lights it needs Tuesday night when the Schuylkill County Zoning Hearing Board approved two key exceptions for it.
Zoners OK’d exceptions to convert a former industrial building into a multi-family apartment building as well as to allow it to get around a parking requirement. The board voted unanimously to approve the exceptions following a 90-minute hearing at Schuylkill County Courthouse.
Tuesday’s hearing was attended by several Frackville residents who weren’t necessarily opposed to plans to fix up the decaying factory building, which was last in use about 30 years ago. Those who offered testimony on Tuesday described the building as “an eyesore.”
However, all who attended did express concerns with parking available in the neighborhood of the former factory.
Brian O’Neill Jr., a principal at LXR Holdings, argued to the Zoning Hearing Board that Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code ordinances allow for projects like his firm’s to go forward despite the physical restraints with regard to parking.
“It’s clear the crafter of the ordinance envisioned that there would be projects like this in former industrial areas where additional parking is either not possible or minimally possible,” O’Neill said.
The developers say they plan to put 13 parking spaces on the ground level of the building they purchased in December for $290,000. But code requires two spaces per apartment unit, meaning the company must account for 94 spaces in total, or 81 more than they can construct inside the building’s footprint.
LXR Holdings, of Havertown, is the developer behind the project to convert the former HD Bob Company factory at 46 Broad Mountain Ave. in Frackville into an apartment building. The company previously had a parking study approved by Frackville Borough Council members in May.
The parking study – it was revealed at Tuesday’s hearing – relied on analysis conducted on a Tuesday in February, which said there are enough available spaces within a 300-foot radius of the building.
One neighbor to the project – who did support the idea of fixing up a dilapidated building in her area – said the on-street parking needed for the apartments means she will no longer be able to park near her home in the future. She told the zoning board, “You are not just deciding if their study says there’s available parking, you’re deciding if the surrounding existing population will be pushed out of the comfort of parking near the homes that we already lived in and pay taxes for.”
Vince Roman, who owns a barroom across the street from the proposed apartment complex, says approving the exceptions to the parking restraints could spell the end of his and a neighboring business.
“There is nowhere to put 88 vehicles,” he told the zoning board. “We’ll have no parking and it’ll end our businesses.”
Roman also questioned the historical data the developers presented, which said there were enough spaces for when the building last operated as a textiles factory. He said in those times, there was typically only one vehicle per family and the people who worked at the factory were either dropped off or walked to get there.
Roman also questioned the validity of the parking study the developers used to get their special exception to parking code. He said conducting an analysis on a Tuesday didn’t take into account his and the neighboring business being closed that night.
Though board members were concerned about the developers not yet having Will Serve and other documents related to utlities servicing their property, Shane Hobbs, solicitor for Schuylkill County Zoning Hearing Board, said the unanimous approval was influenced by Frackville Borough Council signing off on the parking study and the several meetings it had with the developers prior to that night in May.
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