Harrisburg City Council at Tuesday’s legislative session
A Harrisburg development project will come to a halt for now after City Council voted it down on Tuesday.
At a legislative session, council voted against a land development plan to demolish existing office buildings on the 2700-block of N. Front St. and construct a 21-unit apartment building. Council voted 5-2 in opposition, with council members Shamaine Daniels and Westburn Majors voting in favor of the project.
Several council members explained that they decided to vote against the project because the developer was not interested in participating in the city’s affordable housing program.
“Our residents would be cost burdened by this property,” council President Danielle Bowers said.
At a previous council work session, representatives of the project, proposed by New Jersey-based EI Realty, said that, due to limitations on how large they could make the building, renting units at affordable rates, as defined by federal standards, would not be financially viable.
“We can’t have affordable units in every project that comes down the pike. It’s not realistic in the financial viability,” said attorney Ambrose Heinz of Stevens & Lee, representing the developer.
After voting against the proposal, council briefly recessed to discuss the vote with the city’s legal personnel. Daniels, who voted in favor of the proposal, expressed concern over the legal ramifications of voting the project down.
The city’s affordable housing program is voluntary and provides incentives to developers to incorporate lower-income units in their proposals. However, according to City Solicitor Neil Grover, this project is in a zoning district that would not qualify for the affordable housing incentives.
“If people follow the rules, you have to approve the plans,” Daniels told TheBurg. “If you want to make someone build affordable housing, you have to actually make them.”
Attorneys representing the project at Tuesday’s meeting declined to comment on the applicant’s next steps.
In other development news, council approved a land development plan for a project at 202 State St. The project’s developer, Harrisburg-based WCI Partners, will convert what is currently an office building into four apartment units.
Council also voted to appoint Jason Graves to the Susquehanna Regional Transportation Authority and to appoint JoAnn Gray to the Zoning Hearing Board.
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