Years ago, to stop slum lords and curtail parking problems in neighborhoods of limited spaces, Harrisburg adopted an ordinance that banned the conversion of single-family homes into multi-family dwellings.
The purpose was to build and maintain strong neighborhoods where residents have a stake. Harrisburg Planning commission members grappled with an unitended consequence of the law at their meeting last month.
Before them was lvaylo Yolov, who bought single-family homes at 413 and 417 Hale Ave. with the intention of turning each into a rooming house to accommodate one of the city’s many U.S. State Department- sponsored foreign student exhange programs.
Yolov came prepared with a presentation that included two students from Argentina and Brazil. HE promised to provide periodic documentation to show he participated in the federal program, and he promised to cooperate with the city.
Unfortunately, the commission was bound by Zoning Code’s “7-309(b), no single family dwelling unit shall be converted into two (2) or more units.”
“This is the hardest case I’ve had to write because it’s a good program,” he said.
The commission agreed with the recommendation. They explained to Yolov, who is European and unfamiliar with city zoning, that, while they trusted he would properly maintain his properties, the ordinance’s purpose was to build stable neighborhoods.
“We love the program,” commission Chairman Joseph Alsberry told him. “But we have to abide by the law.”
Two weeks later, Yolov went before the Zoning Hearing Board with his lawyer and was again turned down on the same basis. In other action, the commission approved:
- A request by Delta Housing Inc., a social services firm, to convert its building at 2041 N. 2nd St. from two apartment units to a multifamily building containing six apartment units.
- A request by Neil Katx, owner of 106 State St., to convert a first-floor office space to a residential dwelling unit. The building already contains two apartments.
- A request by Char Magaro to convert her former restaurant, the now-closed Char’s BElla Mundo at 540 Race St., to a retail space for a professional office.
- A request for relief of 16 inches of the 10-foot side yard setback requirement for 1409 S. Cameron St., filed by Martha Camacho for the purpose of building a 1,068-square-foot building for an automotive sales business.
