Here are some details on projects and properties that have been discussed at recent zoning meetings in Cedar Park and Spruce Hill.

• Ahimsa House (5007 Cedar Ave.)

                                Ahimsa House

The Cedar Park Neighbors zoning committee will support a variance request from the owner of the Ahimsa House at 5007 Cedar Ave. that would allow the privately owned residence that is used for various community activities to continue to operate. The decision made at its April 16 meeting follows a lengthy zoning committee hearing concerning the property last month.

The variance would rezone the property as a three-unit, multi-family dwelling. The zoning committee’s support includes stipulations that the property owner continues to live at the residence and that the zoning would be rescinded if the building was sold or operated as a non-owner occupied building. Other stipulations include that the variance be renewed after three years and that the owner follows fire and food safety codes. 

The Zoning Board of Adjustment is scheduled to hear the variance request on May 15 at 1515 Arch Street, 18th Floor. A time has not been scheduled. Go here for more info.

Mill Creek Tavern (4200 Chester Ave.)

                    Mill Creek Tavern

The new owners of 4200 Chester Avenue (presently the Mill Creek Tavern) have proposed including affordable units in a housing project slated for the property. The developers presented two versions of the building to the Spruce Hill zoning committee’s April 15 meeting as “informational” only, meaning they have not officially applied for zoning yet. The proposal was to gauge community support for the project. One proposal is for a 42-unit, 5-story building that would include five “moderate income” units. Potential renters would have to make roughly less than $36,000 per year per bedroom. So a couple renting a two-bedroom would have to make under roughly $72,000 annually total. The rent for a two-bedroom under that scenario would be $1,180 per month including utilities.

The other option is a four-story building with 39 units and no affordable housing. Several nearby homeowners in meetings with the developers supported the option that included affordable housing. Members of the zoning committee earlier encouraged the developers to look into options that included affordable units. “This has become a real issue in our community,” said zoning committee chair Barry Grossbach. “This is coming at a particular time when the community is trying to figure out what they can do about affordable housing.”

The Mill Creek Tavern will be torn down and replaced by residential housing.

Orens Brothers Real Estate properties on Chestnut and Ludlow

The West Philly-based developers Orens Brothers are pulling the plug on an ambitious 165-unit residential complex on the 4400 blocks of Chestnut and Ludlow following a last-minute decision by Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell’s office to give city-owned properties promised for the project to another developer, an example of the tight control City Council members hold over city property in their districts.

Orens Brothers officials presented the project, which would have included connected six-story buildings, to the Spruce Hill zoning committee last March. The project won’t work without the promised lots, the developers told the committee during its April 15 meeting. Instead, they plan to build two separate buildings, beginning with a five-story, 32-unit building on the north side of the 4400 block of Ludlow (a block north of Chestnut). That will be built “by right” and will require no zoning variances. Additional projects will likely follow on Chestnut Street and nearby on 44th Street.