The presentation of revised plan for a 12-unit apartment building at 4820 Chester Ave. during a meeting last night at Kingsessing Recreation Center (photo by West Philly Local).

The owners of an empty lot at 4820 Chester Ave. presented a scaled-down proposal for a 12-unit apartment building during a zoning meeting last night. But in the end it didn’t really matter.

Last night’s meeting, hosted by Southwest Philadelphia District Services at the Kingsessing Recreation Center, was the latest iteration of an ongoing debate about the property at the corner of 49th and Chester. The lot is zoned for a semi-detached, two-family structure. The original proposal of a four-story, 18-unit building received considerable community pushback, so the developer hired a new architect and proposed a revised plan that included 12 units. 

The revised plan still seeks variances for building height (two feet over the requirement), decreased setbacks from the near neighbors and the 49th Street sidewalk, less open space on the lot and parking (the proposal provides no parking, while zoning requires a spot for each unit). Most of the approximately 40 people in attendance at the standing-room-only meeting, opposed the proposal.

Opposition focused on affordability of units, the benefits to the community, parking and the size of the building footprint – zoning calls for 50 percent of the 4,000-square-foot lot to be open while the plan proposed 80 percent coverage.

The 12-unit proposal includes 10 two-bedroom and two bi-level, three-bedroom units aimed at “young professionals.” Rents on the 850-square-foot two-bedroom units would fall in the $1,200 to $1,400 range.

Despite the pushback on parking, some attendees supported the 12-unit plan, saying the unusually large corner lot, which sits on a trolley line and is across the street from a regional rail stop, was the perfect place for more dense housing, like an apartment building.

All of the debate was moot in the end as the head of the meeting refused to recognize the 12-unit proposal and called for a vote on the original 18-unit plan, which was opposed unanimously. It’s unclear what the developer, 4820 Chester Associates LLC, will do now. They could take their chances at the Zoning Board of Adjustment despite Tuesday’s vote or they could file a new proposal that includes the 12-unit plan.