This better f*cking pass!!! And to all of the NIMBYs that will crawl out of the woodwork to oppose this, I say shut the hell up and move to the 'burbs if you don't want a CITY to develop and change!!!
Harrisburg riverfront skyline may get a lift
Council considers raising height limit on Front Street
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News
Condo buildings could loom up to 110-feet high along a portion of Harrisburg's Front Street, and hotels and restaurants would be welcome there, as well.
Such projects would be permitted on Front Street, between Verbeke and Maclay streets, under zoning changes being considered by City Council.
The city's current height limit for the zone is 45 feet.
City officials said the changes are long overdue and necessary to spur development of such parcels as the vacant lot at Verbeke and Front streets.
"The existing ordinance dates back to before vertical construction became so important to urban development," city spokesman Randy King said.
But preservation groups, such as the Historic Harrisburg Association, urged the city to move slowly and consider the impact on Harrisburg's skyline and riverfront.
HHA Executive Director David Zwifka said the taller buildings could create a "monolith" and that new restaurants and hotels would promote further commercialization of the once-residential street.
Front Street is known for its old mansions and grand homes, though some have been demolished and replaced over the years, and many others have been converted into offices or apartments. There are no restaurants or hotels.
"We do have some concerns," Zwifka said. "One hundred feet right off the riverbank is awfully high. It goes up quite a bit."
Council's Community and Economic Development Committee is expected to hold public hearings on the changes, but no dates have been set.
King said the changes, long requested by developers, have the potential to spur large-scale residential developments -- most notably, condos -- in new and existing buildings on that part of Front Street.
"The proposed ordinance allows for better use of the limited developable space left in the heavily built-up midtown area, and it expands the types of development we would like to see occurring," King said.
In fact, Mayor Stephen R. Reed has suggested the vacant tract at Verbeke and Front as a prime location for the city's first high-rise condo development, but a developer has yet to step forward with plans.
King said the taller limits would make it easier for developers to justify their high-cost investments in such projects. Under current zoning, developers must win special exceptions and variances in order to exceed the 45-foot height limit.
"Vertical construction is often the only course of action for new development projects," said King. "With the high cost of such projects, the more floors they are able to add helps to make them more financially feasible."
King added that the changes have the potential to benefit at least one project already on the drawing table, but he declined to give specifics.
"There is a potential development project on the horizon that is dependent upon the change in the ordinance, but we are not yet permitted to reveal details about it," he said.
Zwifka pointed out that city development has long been guided by an unstated rule not to detract from or obscure the dominance of the Capitol dome on the city skyline.
"That was the tradition," he said. "They did not want the Capitol to disappear behind office towers."
Zwifka added that erecting such large buildings on Front Street would create a "wall" that could cut off other city residents from the Susquehanna River.
Zwifka said that the association still is researching the ordinance and formulating its official position.
Other changes in the proposed ordinance would allow for larger construction footprints and also would permit hotels, restaurant and multifamily residences in existing buildings on that stretch of Front Street.