{"id":39383,"date":"2025-11-20T06:52:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T06:52:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/39383\/"},"modified":"2025-11-20T06:52:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T06:52:07","slug":"bethlehem-zoners-reject-variance-for-eighth-avenue-apartment-proposal-bethelehm-area","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/39383\/","title":{"rendered":"Bethlehem zoners reject variance for Eighth Avenue apartment proposal | Bethelehm Area"},"content":{"rendered":"

BETHLEHEM, Pa. \u2013 As their meeting reached the four-hour mark Wednesday, members of the Bethlehem Zoning Hearing Board voted unanimously to deny a variance for a proposed four-unit, two-story apartment building at 241 Eighth Ave.<\/p>\n

The decision came before a packed audience of neighbors who largely opposed the project and cheered when the vote was announced.<\/p>\n

“I just want to say thank you to everyone who came out. We do appreciate you guys,” board Chairman Peter Schneck said.<\/p>\n

The applicant, ABDA Properties on 8th LLC, sought a 10-foot lot width variance from the required 90 feet because the existing lot is 80 feet wide. The proposal called for replacing a single-family home on the 10,480-square-foot lot, which is in an RT High-Density Residential district where multifamily dwellings are permitted.<\/p>\n

The zoning hearing board functions similarly to a court, taking testimony from applicants and interested parties before deciding whether to grant requested variances. Variances may be granted when a property has unique conditions that make strict compliance with zoning rules impractical. Relief can be approved only if the hardship is not self-created, the request is the minimum needed for reasonable use, and the change will not harm the neighborhood or public welfare.<\/p>\n

Property owner Martin Zawarski testified that the home has a foundation crack that would cost roughly $40,000 to repair, calling the expense prohibitive.<\/p>\n

“The whole house was built to substandard conditions,” he said.<\/p>\n

The applicant also argued the hardship was not self-created because the lot width was established before Zawarski purchased the property.<\/p>\n

Each proposed two-bedroom, 1,200-square-foot unit would rent for $2,000. Board members questioned Zawarski about affordability during what city officials have called an ongoing housing crisis. Board member Paige Van Wirt also asked whether he considered other development options.<\/p>\n

“Why can you not develop this into a one- or two-unit building?” she asked.<\/p>\n

Schneck asked whether Zawarski could sell a new building and recoup any losses on the property. Zawarski acknowledged that “in theory” he could.<\/p>\n

The plan presented on Wednesday was a revised version of an earlier proposal for a six-unit, three-story building. Zawarski said he incorporated feedback from a sketch plan review before the city\u2019s planning commission, where several residents strongly opposed the initial design.<\/p>\n

“I thought it would be best to get my approvals to meet some of the needs of the neighbors. I believe I’ve done that,” he said.<\/p>\n

In addition to reducing the size of the building and the number of tenants, the updated plan cut parking from 11 spaces to six to preserve a 100-year-old neighborhood willow tree. Parking would be located at the rear of the property, accessible from the alley, along with on-street spaces.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n


\n \"Bethlehem
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Neighbors say a proposed three-story residential building on Eighth Avenue in Bethlehem would impact an alleyway where local children regularly play.<\/p>\n

“There\u2019s already a parking issue,” resident Brian Foley said.<\/p>\n

He added the project would create “a lot of hardship, especially for people with disabilities,” who would park behind the building but enter from the front.<\/p>\n

Neighbors also voiced concerns about traffic and the impact on Carter Street, a narrow alley they said is regularly used by children for playing, biking, riding scooters and learning to roller skate.<\/p>\n

The applicant said he plans to install a “no left turn” sign to prevent traffic from using the vacated Walton Street.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BETHLEHEM, Pa. \u2013 As their meeting reached the four-hour mark Wednesday, members of the Bethlehem Zoning Hearing Board…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":39384,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154,3926,23922,23919,23921,28,23920,1087,4836],"class_list":["post-39383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news","tag-bethlehem-zoning-hearing-board","tag-brian-foley","tag-martin-zawarski","tag-paige-van-wirt","tag-pennsylvania","tag-peter-schneck","tag-zoning","tag-zoning-hearing-board"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39383","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39383"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39383\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39384"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}