Easton residents may see new rental units on the South Side.
Developer Nic Zawarski & Sons is proposing two two-story apartment buildings on East Berwick Street, each with 12 residential units.
The buildings would be constructed on two adjacent parcels, 364 and 367 E. Berwick St., and will require separate approvals because the lots are individually owned and slightly different in configuration.
Each building totals 8,020 square feet, and developer Nicholas Zawarski said the units would be rentals. Rents would be at least $1,395 for one-bedrooms and $1,895 – $2,000 for two-bedrooms.
The lot at 364 E. Berwick St. was previously used as a commercial facility, specifically a meat processing plant, which generated regular truck traffic and deliveries.
The neighboring lot at 367 E. Berwick St. is currently an undeveloped and vacant lot, but it was used for unauthorized parking for tractor trailers and employees of the nearby facility.
The Easton Planning Commission voted on Wednesday evening to recommend that the Zoning Hearing Board approve the projects, which require special exceptions under the city’s zoning ordinance. Both lots are zoned for low-density residential use, but apartment buildings are permitted by special exception.
According to Andrew Bohl, project manager from Hanover Engineering, each of the buildings would include 18 parking spaces, stormwater management systems and new sidewalks.
“The storm water will be directed to an on-site, proposed inlet that’s located within our parking area, and that’s going to be connected to the storm sewer that’s at the intersection of East Berwick Street and Diamond Street,” he said.
The proposal for 367 E. Berwick St. calls for a similar two-story structure. Bohl told commissioners that a small portion of the property will remain undeveloped as a conservation area.
Zawarski presented renderings of the buildings and said they will each contain eight two-bedroom units and four one-bedroom units.
Bohl said the project will improve the streetscape by adding sidewalks and landscaping, and the site plan will bring the new structures closer in scale to the surrounding neighborhood.
Commissioners pressed developers on driveway location and pedestrian access. Some members said the narrow rear alley and Terry Street make alley access problematic, and suggested the driveway should instead be on East Berwick Street.
Commissioner William Heilman raised the practical driving and safety concerns he observed on Terry Street, describing the alley’s limitations for two-way vehicle movement.
“I drove my truck [on Terry Street], and if somebody was coming the other way, you can’t get two people on the street. I mean, seems a bit ridiculous, and then that’s how you get in and out of the property,” he said.
Bohl explained that the plans shown to the commission originally inherited the alley-access layout from prior submissions.
“But we all agree with what you’re saying, that it should be on East Berwick Street for pedestrian and for vehicular access,” he said.
The Zoning Hearing Board will hear the plans at 6 p.m. on Nov. 17 in Easton City Hall.
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