Parking Variance Deemed Necessary For Firehouse Expansion

By Andrew Gorosko

In a complex decision involving a series of findings, the Borough Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) has ruled that the Newtown Hook and Ladder Volunteer Fire Company does not need a zoning variance concerning “side-setback” construction requirements for its controversial proposed firehouse expansion.

But if the fire company wants to expand its firehouse, it would need to return to the agency for a zoning variance concerning vehicle parking regulations, Borough ZBA members have determined.

And if the fire company receives ZBA approval for its firehouse project, it would still need construction approval from the Borough Zoning Commission.

Following lengthy discussion on May 15 with Borough Attorney Donald Mitchell, Borough ZBA members interpreted the Borough’s zoning regulations in determining the regulatory requirements for the fire company to expand its firehouse in a residential zone at 45 Main Street, behind Edmond Town Hall.

To improve its facilities, the fire company wants to demolish one existing garage bay on the eastern side of its firehouse and replace it with a brick, three-bay garage covering 2,750 square feet.

Borough zoning regulations would normally require a minimum setback distance of 25 feet between the proposed new construction and the residential property line to the north at 49 Main Street. The fire company instead proposes that the new construction be only 5½ feet from that property line, which is the same distance that the existing firehouse lies from that property line. The fire company thus sought a zoning variance to build closer to that property line than would otherwise be allowed.

Firehouses are a permitted land use in a residential zone, but the fire company encountered stiff opposition to its side-setback zoning variance request.

The Edmond Town Hall Board of Managers and some Main Street residents have voiced various objections to the firehouse expansion proposal.

The town hall managers say it is unclear how a firehouse expansion would affect a planned Edmond Town Hall improvement project, which includes the installation of an external elevator shaft at town hall in the vicinity of the firehouse. The town hall and firehouse share common parking lots and driveways at 45 Main Street.

Main Street residents have expressed concerns that if the firehouse were to expand, commercial properties along Main Street might also seek expansion projects. Other issues raised by Main Street residents include the visibility of an expanded firehouse from Main Street, which is in a historic district; decreased property values; and traffic safety concerns.

Mr Mitchell explained to Borough ZBA members May 15 the various zoning issues posed by the fire company’s firehouse expansion proposal.

Lawyers for the fire company and for the town hall managers have differed over which sections of the borough zoning regulations apply to the fire company’s construction request, and over whether the fire company needs a zoning variance at all for its project.

In deciding whether to grant the fire company its requested side-setback zoning variance, Borough ZBA members determined that “firefighting” is a “governmental” property use, which consequently conforms to the zoning regulations.

Borough ZBA members then pondered whether laterally extending the firehouse in relation to the property line to the north at 49 Main Street would consequently would increase 45 Main Street’s “degree of nonconformity” to the borough zoning regulations. They ultimately decided it would not.

Borough ZBA members then determined that because the degree of nonconformity with the zoning regulations would not increase due to a firehouse expansion, a zoning variance concerning the side-setback issue is not required by the fire company. Consequently, Borough ZBA members then unanimously denied the fire company’s zoning variance application, stating that the requested variance is unnecessary. The agency provided a detailed rationale explaining its action.

The firehouse variance decision, in effect, establishes a Borough ZBA policy concerning lateral extensions of buildings, Mr Mitchell said.

The attorney told Borough ZBA members that if the firehouse expansion proposal were to become a court case, it likely would be difficult for the fire company to show that it has legal control over the land where it wants to build the firehouse expansion.

The town hall managers have argued that they have legal control over the land at 45 Main Street where the fire company wants to expand the firehouse. The managers have said the fire company should have obtained prior approval from them for any firehouse expansion.

The Borough ZBA’s action on May 15 means the fire company, in effect, would need a zoning variance concerning vehicle parking for its firehouse expansion project, Mr Mitchell said.

The number of parking spaces required for a building is based the type of building and the floor area of the building.

If creating new parking spaces for the firehouse is not physically practical, as is likely at the site, then the fire company would need to obtain a zoning variance, which allows a firehouse expansion with fewer than the number of parking spaces required by the Borough zoning regulations, according to Mr Mitchell.