Radnor Zoning Board Rules in Favor of Louella Condo Project

After a lengthy and at times contentious debate, the Jewish Federation of Philadelphia received a special exception to build a home for the indigent and handicapped on the property that houses Barrack Hebrew Academy, at Thursday night’s meeting of the Zoning Hearing Board.

The board determined, in spite of the dissent of member Noah Cutler, that the home for the handicapped–by virtue of the home’s stated purpose of teaching the disabled to live as independently as possible–qualified as an accessory to the educational use of the 270-276 South Bryn Mawr Road property.

This decision came following a long exchange between Jewish Federation counsel David Falcone—whose father Charles, the chairperson of the board, recused himself from the case—and board member Cutler.

Cutler’s position was that the home would represent a second primary use—in all likelihood, housing—unrelated to the lot’s educational use designation, and thus could not be approved by the zoning board. He characterized it as a “legislative” matter that would have to go before the board of commissioners to be resolved.

After a five minute recess, Falcone argued that the home would not represent a second primary use, but would in fact be an adjunct to the lot’s present primary use: education. The board accepted this new framework and granted the exception.

In the second case of the evening, the board ruled that the development plans for a property at 40 Luella Court, owned by C.F. Holloway III & Company, are simply an extension, not an expansion, of the lot’s present non-conforming use.

Holloway has proposed to remake the building, presently an apartment complex with 25-units, into a 12-unit condominium with an underground 24-space parking lot to accommodate the residents and a surface level three-space lot to accommodate guests.

The counsel representing Louella Court, several residents of which were in attendance, argued that plans for the lot–on account of the expansion of its parking area and said area’s ordinance-violating proximity, albeit underground, to other properties–represented an expansion of non-conforming use. The counsel also raised concerns regarding pervious vs. impervious surface designations on the proposal and storm water runoff issues, but these were dismissed as outside of the purview of the zoning board.

The board ultimately accepted the logic of the Holloway counsel: that the aspect of the lot ruled non-conforming was the housing unit, not the parking, and that since only the parking is expanding, the proposed use would be an extension, not an expansion.

In other board business, the hearing for a property at 134 Wayne Avenue was postponed until October’s meeting and the board approved the proposed connection between the two buildings that are Harmonia Spa. The connection, said by the owner to be essential to the survival of the business, was approved contingent on the two lots being made one and the single lot’s use being categorized as “Spa.”