The Upper Holmesburg Civic Association has approved a local apartment building owner’s request for zoning exemptions for his property.
Boris Ovrutsky does not plan to alter his 11-unit, two-story building at 8433 Torresdale Ave. But in order to comply with the city’s newly adopted zoning code, the property must be granted several zoning variances, according to UHCA zoning chairman Paul DeFinis, who detailed the case during the civic group’s monthly meeting on Dec. 20.
As it stands, the apartment building occupies two separate parcels. The building has a private parking lot with 11 spaces for tenants.
Ovrutsky’s attorney, Stephen G. Pollock, advised the UHCA that the owner wants to legally consolidate the two parcels into one address. Further, the owner seeks relief from code provisions that require the property to have a 6-foot-wide “buffer” zone around its perimeter and a rear yard of at least 1,144 square feet.
In a letter to the city’s Zoning Board of Adjustment, the civic association endorsed the variances, noting that if the property owner were forced to install the required buffer zone and yard, the building’s parking spots would be lost. Tenants would have to park on public streets, which would be to the detriment of neighbors.
The property owner has agreed to plant a row of 6-foot-tall evergreen trees along the north side of the parking lot.
The Upper Holmesburg Civic Association will hold its next general meeting on Thursday, Jan. 17, at 7 p.m., at St. Dominic’s Marian Hall, 8532 Frankford Ave. ••
