Apartment developer seeks 60' height, 25' over Hawley's limit
Developers of a new apartment building in Hawley Borough are seeking approval to build it 60 feet high, 25 feet higher than what is normally allowed in the zoning ordinance.
The zoning variance is slated to come before the Zoning Hearing Board Tuesday, May 30, at 6:30 p.m., at Borough Hall. The meeting is open to the public.
Barker Street Partners, LLC, requested the height variance to have the desired number of apartment units to be cost effective and still comply with the setback requirements for the lot. The proposed apartment building would be erected behind Hawley Village Apartments off Barker Street, on a vacant parcel between the tracks and Church Street.
The area is part of the R-2 (Moderate Density Residential) zoning district. The ordinance requires a conditional use application for a multi-family dwelling. The R-2 district allows a maximum lot coverage of 50% and a maximum height of 35 feet.
Only the C-1 (General Commercial) allows anything higher, a maximum of 45 feet.
Jared and John Cooperman and Herb Tannenbaum approached the borough Planning Commission in January to ask questions about the process of gaining borough approval for the project.
The owner of the property, RJJR, LLC, is under a contract to sell it to Barker Street Partners, LLC.
Councilor Ann Monaghan briefed council in January about the proposal.
She said that the number of apartments would depend on how much of a setback they need to meet. "They are thinking 36; they ideally would like to go to 48 and right now with 36 they would have 54 parking spaces they would need," Monaghan said.
The developers are planning "moderate" rent levels, Monaghan said, and it is not designed as "senior housing."
Deputy Fire Chief Eugene E. Krause said that he believes Barker Street Apartments is 55 feet high, and Hawley Village Apartments is 40 feet.
Monaghan said she believes the current regulations were not in place at the time Barker Street Apartments, a six-story structure with 73 apartments, was opened in 1980, or the three-story Hawley Village building opened in the mid-1990s.
These two properties are designated for senior citizens and those with disabilities.
The Hawley Silk Mill is 70 feet high at its greatest extent (the north end). The silk mill was built in 1880.
The Wayne County tax parcel map shows a 3.20-acre undeveloped parcel southeast of and behind Hawley Village. It is bounded on the north by the railroad bed and on the south and east by numerous private properties on Church Street and a couple lots on John and Bishop Streets. There is a right-of-way off the end of Barker Street and a narrower right-of-way off Church Street.
More in Hawley
Among items covered at the Hawley Council meeting May 10 were:
Repairs and renovations of the bandstand in Bingham Park were to begin that week. Work is expected to be substantially complete by the end of June. A re-dedication ceremony with various bands is being planned for July 29, coordinated by descendants of Christopher Ellingsen, the civil engineer from Hawley who oversaw the bandstand construction in 1932, and designed the original park layout.
The annual carnival in Bingham Park, tentatively set for late August, was pending Hawley Police receiving back the proper contract from the carnival company. Mayor John Nichols said he still planned to host concerts in the bandstand Aug. 26 regardless of whether there is a carnival that evening.
Hawley Council meets on the second Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Borough Hall.
This article originally appeared on Tri-County Independent: Apartment developer seeks 60' height, 25' over Hawley's limit
