Zoning Code Gets OK
Harrisburg has a new zoning code, as City Council last month approved a complete overhaul to how the city guides residential and commercial development.
Council members gave their unanimous consent to the code, the first complete update in 64 years. The new code substantially streamlines the city’s zoning map, reducing the number of base zoning districts from 27 to nine and overlay districts from six to four.
At the last minute, council made a number of changes to the code to respond to concerns voiced by several developers during a series of hearings in June. Therefore, with a special exception, a wider variety of uses now will be permitted in certain zones, including the Institutional, Commercial and Downtown Center zones.
Notably, council narrowly defeated an amendment that would have allowed the owner of the former U.S. postal facility at 815 Market St. to continue a full range of industrial uses by right. Under the new code, his property falls into the Downtown Center zone, where most industrial uses are banned.
Under a grandfather clause, businesses will be able to continue their properties’ current uses, regardless of the new zoning.
The effort to revamp the zoning code began years ago. In 2010, the council introduced a new code, but it died in committee. With several changes, the Papenfuse administration re-introduced that code earlier this year, stating that a new code was needed to move the city forward economically.
Land Bank Established
City Council last month passed legislation creating the Harrisburg Land Bank, an effort to strengthen the city’s fight against blight.
The land bank aims to take vacant, abandoned and tax delinquent properties and return them to productive use, according to the city.
A seven-member board of directors will direct the land bank, giving it the right to acquire properties before they go to judicial tax sale. The board will make such decisions as which properties to acquire, how the properties will be managed, how funds will be acquired to make purchases, and how property will be disposed of.
It also allows the city to purchase and assemble clusters of property to make them more appealing for redevelopment.
“This is a major tool in our efforts to tackle the problem of abandoned and blighted properties in our city,” said Mayor Eric Papenfuse. “We can now proceed to refine our strategy to improve the housing stock in our city.”
HUD Funds Allotted
Harrisburg last month voted to disperse about $3 million in federal funds for housing, community and public service groups.
As it usually does, City Council made a number of changes to the administration’s recommendations on how to allot the annual funds from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
In the end, Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds went to:
- Administration and Indirect Costs: $376,279
- Debt Service: $335,358
- Housing Rehabilitation Program: $300,000
- Emergency Demolition: $295,000
- Homeowner Demolition Program: $150,000
- Harrisburg Fair Housing Council: $131,000
- Camp Curtin YMCA: $125,000
- Heinz-Menaker Senior Center: $101,209
- Park Playground Equipment: $100,000
- Fire Station Roof Repairs: $98,050
- Habitat for Humanity of the Greater Harrisburg Area: $90,000
- Code Enforcement: $69,500
- Public Safety: $50,000
- Christian Recovery Aftercare Ministry: $35,000
- Tri-County Community Action: $25,000
Home Investment Partnerships Program funds went to:
- Targeted Area Rehab/New Construction: $330,326
- Homeowner Improvement Program: $200,000
- Operating Expenses: $66,065
- Grant Administration: $44,043
Emergency Solutions Grant Program Funds went to
- Christian Churches United/H.E.L.P.: $39,765
- Shalom House: $39,765
- YWCA Greater Harrisburg: $39,765
- Grant Administration: $9,678
The Papenfuse administration had sought $150,000 for a rental rehabilitation program. Council, though, decided to redirect that money to several groups that had been denied funding in the administration’s initial proposal.
Sinkhole Probe Launched
Harrisburg City Council last month approved hiring an engineering firm to conduct an emergency sinkhole investigation.
Camp Hill-based Gannett Fleming will perform the work, focused around the 1400-block of S. 14th St., where several sinkholes have formed in recent months. The probe, which will employ seismic surface waves and verification drilling to develop a site map, should be completed by year-end.
The cost of the investigation will be shared with Capital Region Water. It is estimated to cost $166,000.
Trash Fees Adjusted
Harrisburg’s small business owners received some relief last month, after City Council temporarily lowered fees for trash collection.
For years, small businesses have complained that they were subject to high commercial collection rates, even though they generated little trash.
Under the new provision, small businesses will be charged the same rate as residential customers: $156 a year or $13 a month. To qualify for the lower rate, they must produce no more trash each week than can fit into two trashcans with lids.
The lower rate applies only until the end of the year. In November, the Department of Public Works will assess the impact of the reduction and report to council if it should be made permanent.
Jackson Hotel Gets Go-Ahead
The historic Jackson Hotel may be saved after all, as the Harrisburg City Council last month approved a plan that should lead to its renovation.
Council gave the OK to a land use plan that will subdivide the property at 1006 N. 6th St. from the Jackson House restaurant next door. Decades ago, the two parcels were combined into a single lot.
With council approval, Harrisburg residents Kerry and Lessa Helm can complete the purchase of the four-story, 6,000-square-foot Victorian townhouse from Dave Kegris, the owner of Jackson House.
Kegris has owned both properties since inheriting them from German Jackson, an African-American entrepreneur whose hotel once served prominent black celebrities and other visitors to Harrisburg who were not allowed to stay in whites-only establishments.
Kegris long has run the eatery, but couldn’t afford the extensive renovations to the hotel next door, which has deteriorated badly over the years.
The Helms learned about the house by reading a story in the May 2013 issue of TheBurg. They now plan to stabilize the rundown building and begin a long-term renovation with the goal of making it their home.
Mansion Named for Eugenia Smith
The Reservoir Park mansion has been renamed in honor of Eugenia Smith, a Harrisburg city councilwoman who died suddenly in April.
The mansion now will be called The Honorable Eugenia Smith Family Life Center.
The administration originally proposed renaming the smaller Brownstone Building for Smith. However, City Council changed the resolution after Councilwoman Susan Brown-Wilson insisted that the mansion would be a more fitting tribute to Smith.
City Requests Noise Exemption
Harrisburg plans to ask the state Liquor Control Board for an exemption to its noise regulations for establishments selling alcohol downtown.
City Council last month approved a resolution authorizing the city to apply for an exemption, so that it could enforce its own noise control ordinance. Currently, downtown Harrisburg restaurants, bars and nightclubs are under both sets of regulations.
The city has asked for—and been granted—exemptions to the state’s noise ordinance several times before.
Changing Hands
Adrian St., 2449: R. & H. Dougherty to A. McKune, $51,000
Bigelow Dr., 40: Fannie Mae to G. Neff & M. Murphy, $32,000
Boas St., 209: M. Roda to V. Padilla, $112,900
Brookwood St., 2624: J. Thompson et al to K. Patel, $220,000
Capital St., 1214: E. Hoynes to J. Forbes, $99,500
Chestnut St., 2113: G. Yarnall to J. Dos Santos, $190,000
Edgewood Rd., 2312: Fannie Mae to J. Whiteman, $85,000
Hale St., 427: J. Fox to D. & C. Taylor, $55,582
Manada St., 1905: U.S. Bank NA Trustee to PA Deals LLC, $30,000
Market St., 1317, 1321: W. & N. Schubauer to S. Betz, $440,000
N. 2nd St., 902: J. Salvemini & D. Vitale to L. & S. Freeman, $147,000
N. 2nd St., 1303: PA Deals LLC to D. Reinhart, $95,000
N. 2nd St., 2644: M. Ventresca to D. Castle, $250,000
N. 4th St., 2250: R. & T. Ruiz to Equity Trust Co. Custodian Linda Dean IRA, $39,000
N. 4th St., 3108: P. Purdy to E. & C. Thomas, $122,000
N. 7th St., 2712: PA Deals LLC to Merrick Solo 401K Trust, $57,000
N. 15th St., 1309: R. Floyd et al to M. Gabrielle, $47,000
N. 17th St., 88; 1150 Mulberry St.; 2332 N. 6th St.; 2519 N. 6th St.; 2308 Jefferson St.; 448 Hamilton St.; & 612, 613, 614, 616, 617, 619 Oxford St.: Redevelopment Authority of Harrisburg to SMKP Properties, $327,273
N. 7th St., 3205 & 3133: K. & J. Rust to Bass Pallets Realty LLC, $240,112
N. 17th St., 1007: Wells Fargo Bank NA to J. Mosley, $60,000
N. Front St., 1525, Unit 610: M. & C. Heppenstall to M. Hadginske, $80,000
N. Front St., 2901: M. Knackstedt to R. Edwards, $395,000
N. Front St., 2909 & 2917: M. Knackstedt to M. & S. Wilson, $361,000
Penn St., 1105: Fannie Mae to G. Knight, $40,000
Penn St., 2334: E. Stawitz to A. Yates, $83,000
Pennwood Rd., 3214: 360 Home Services LLC et al to CNC Realty LLC, $100,000
S. 17th St., 1701: J. & H. Garcia to Niel Real Estate Investments LLC, $225,000
S. 27th St., 634: A. & S. Velez to S. Moore, $55,000
Susquehanna St., 1709: G. & D. West to A. Fortune, $108,000
Susquehanna St., 1910: R. McLean to WCI Partners LP, $87,500
