The Applicant recently purchased the property, generally located at 3500 North Wilton Avenue. The site is presently improved with an old four-story (with basement) apartment building, which currently contains seventeen (17) legally established dwelling units.
The Applicant – who is a Preservationist that specializes in the renovation and management of old residential buildings, is seeking to undertake a gut-rehabilitation of the existing building, in order to upgrade all of the existing units and to resolve any past violations cited against the property. The basement of the existing building is presently under-utilized and vacant. As such, part of the Applicant’s proposal, calls for the buildout of two (2) new dwelling units in the basement – for a total of nineteen (19) dwelling units, within the existing building.
The existing building is non-conforming under the current Zoning Ordinance (RM-5) – both in terms of its density (number of dwelling units) and its footprint (setbacks). As such, in order to permit the rehabilitation, the Applicant is required to effectuate a Zoning Map Amendment – changing the zoning classification of the subject property from RM-5 to RM-6. *[Because the Applicant is unable to cure all of the existing non-conforming conditions through the Zoning Amendment, the Applicant will also be seeking certain Variations – from the Zoning Board of Appeals, which are required to cure the existing non-conforming setback conditions.] The Applicant is NOT seeking to physically expand the footprint or envelope of the building, in any manner.
