The Spruce Hill Zoning Committee will be meeting Thursday, Oct. 13 to take up three RCO cases, and community members are invited to participate in the meeting. Additionally, revised drawings for a proposed apartment building at 4043 Baltimore Avenue will be reviewed (this project is currently in the “talking stage” and no zoning has been applied for).
The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. and the cases heard will be:
• 4407 Pine Street – currently zoned for two units, application seeks four units
• 4301-4303 Baltimore Avenue – application for lot adjustment to create one lot out of two, and for a sit down restaurant in first floor and front of the 2nd floor in 4303. 4301 Baltimore Avenue is currently occupied by Clarkville bar and restaurant.
• 4323-31 Spruce Street – application for a take out restaurant (bakery).
• 4043 Baltimore Avenue – general review of revised drawings based on comments from an earlier meeting on Aug. 11. 2016. The site is currently a parking lot which was constructed following a fire that destroyed an apartment building that originally occupied the site. No zoning has been applied for.
All interested residents and neighbors are invited to attend and ask questions and offer comments. The order listed above will be the order in which the cases are heard.
The meeting will take place at the Spruce Hill center (257 S. 45th St).
October 13th, 2016 at 8:46 pm
The meeting was interesting. I’d like to say a few words re: 4323 Spruce. It was brought up that there’d been opposition when the porch was enclosed and would bringing the historic porch back be an option. Personally I don’t see how, I doubt the original columns were kept. And that would impact the space for the proposed bakery, space that would be needed. To me, the idea of trying to gut and replace the porch is pretty much a non-issue. When the porch was enclosed there was a furor over the windows. The owner worked with the neighbors and had different ones installed that would be more pleasing. It looks nice! The area in front of that is planted so it’s softened. I guess I just don’t see the issue with what was the porch, especially after this much time has elapsed.
I understand neighbor concerns about the proposed bakery impacting the neighborhood and especially the block, both for tenants and homeowners. A couple homeowners on the block were definitely in opposition, period. The architect rendering did show the front as basically all paved in. That would be a mistake, beyond a mistake imho. That would change the face of the building and the face of that side of Spruce Street. Delivery of supplies and the issue of traffic tie-up was also discussed which is important. Accommodations can be made for that.
Concerns about entrance and egress, since this property isn’t at the sidewalk are valid. How much would this or any kind of retail business at this location impact neighbors and especially tenants?
But I also think it would be a mistake to overlook the good that has been done at 4323 and other properties that this owner has. They’ve done and continue to do some very nice work rehabbing and updating buildings, incorporating planted areas to soften building and adding to the overall sense of “curb appeal” and making the buildings more welcoming.
So, while not a fan of the idea of outdoor seating and paving the front of 4323 as that would take so much away from the property itself, the block as a whole and the privacy/safety concerns for tenants, I don’t feel that the owner should be dealt with as harshly as I felt he was. Is a bakery or other retail/food business the best choice for this location? I don’t think so, but I’m not convinced that a bakery would cause a huge upturn in traffic or parking either.