A plan to convert a former Catholic school building into eight apartments got crucial approvals from the Schuylkill County Zoning Hearing Board on Tuesday night.
Developer Bill Metzinger says he has an agreement of sale to purchase the former Holy Family School on Line St. and Broad Mountain Ave. in Frackville. He wants to covert the eight-room school building into eight, one-bedroom apartments.
In order to do that, Metzinger needed a special exception use to convert the building from a school to apartments. He also needed an exception from the rule that each apartment has two off-street parking spaces. Currently, the property has none.
The Zoning Board granted both requests. A vote on the use change was unanimous but board member Anthony Prudenti cast the lone dissenting vote on the parking request.
Prior to the vote, Metzinger told board members he would find four parking spaces on the property and the vote was taken with the caveat that that he holds up that end of the bargain.
While laying out his plan for the building, Metzinger said he has no plans to demolish or add anything to the school property. His only major modification would be to reopen an entrace from Line St., which had been previously been sealed off to use as a storage area for the school.
Neighbors Express Parking Concerns, OK with Revitalizing Former School Building
Several neighbors of the former Holy Family School building attended Tuesday’s hearing to express their concerns about limited on-street parking in the neighborhood. In the last few months, they’ve heard plans to convert two buildings into apartments and each, including Metzinger’s proposed plan for the school building, does not meet the off-street parking requirement for new apartment developments.
Over the summer, developers LXR Holdings brought forth plans to convert the deteriorating HD Bob Co. shirt and robe factory at Lehigh and Broad Mountain avenues into more than 40 apartments. That factory and the Holy Family school are a strong stone’s throw from each other.
Nichole Nedinsky, who lives on Line St., testified that “parking is tight” already in the neighborhood and worried about her ability to park close to her home if Metzinger’s plan was approved without adequate off-street spaces for tenants there.
She said that when it was an operating school building, up to five spots on Line St. were used. Nedinsky also wondered what it would be like when two nearby businesses had events that drew crowds, as they do regularly.
“If there’s anything at one of these establishments, parking is at a premium,” she said.
Metzinger said he visited the property about 20 times in the last six months and that each time, there were no vehicles parked in front of the school building on Line St.
Despite her concerns, Nedinsky said she didn’t want to see the school become another abandoned building in the neighborhood.
During questioning by Zoning Board members, Metzinger faced some criticism from Prudenti, who expressed his concerns over the parking issue. He worried about the promise Metzinger said he made with the St. Joseph the Worker board members regarding his promise not to tear down any building on its property if he were to buy it.
“Maybe you told the church something you couldn’t fulfill,” Prudenti said. “You want us to approve this with no parking?”
Prudenti also shared his concern that Metzinger did not check with any neighbors in the area to get their reading on the parking situation there.
Board member Mary Jo Moss said that since the property is so big, “There’s got to be some creativity to get some parking.”
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