Thomas MacMillan Photo
Over two dozen Cedar Hill neighbors showed up with media in tow at the the Board of Zoning Appeals, girded for battle with a property owner looking to legitimize its illegal rooming house. But there was no fight to be had.
The property owner, Diamond Properties Management, withdrew its zoning request before Tuesday’s meeting of the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA). Diamond had sought a special parking permission to legalize a 13-unit rooming house at 1296 State St (pictured).
The City Plan Department had written a report recommending the BZA deny the request.
Cedar Hill neighbors had been organizing to stop the rooming house, which had been operating illegally for several years before discovered by the city. Neighbor Rebecca Turcio and local business owner Marie Gallo took the helm of the opposition. Turcio created a Google Doc of talking points and blanketed Facebook with appeals for her neighbors to turn out at the hearing and sign an online petition to “Save Cedar Hill.” The petition had 59 signatures by Tuesday evening, including those of several aldermen and a State Representative.
Turcio has called Diamond Properties a “slumlord,” citing Independent articles about owners Janet Dawson and Michael Steinbach. See links at bottom of this story.
Turcio and Gallo’s efforts netted television coverage in advance of Tuesday’s hearing. Another TV crew showed up at the Hall of Records Tuesday night, along with a reporter from the Register and a score of riled neighbors.
They all soon departed, when BZA chair Pat King announced that Diamond Properties had withdrawn its application. No explanation was given. The company’s owners were not present.
Chapel Street Apartments Approved
813 Chapel St.
Also Tuesday night, the BZA approved an application for parking relief for two Chapel Street apartment buildings. The applicant had argued in April that the buildings had been built before off-street parking was a consideration, and thus should be excused from a parking requirement. BZA members made their approval Tuesday with no discussion.
Previous coverage of Diamond Property’s owners:
• Rooming House Riles Cedar Hill
• Failed Inspection? Slumlords Find New Inspector
• Slumlords “Sell” Properties, Still Collect Rent
• Slumlords Unload 9 Properties
• Ceiling Fell. Baby Died. Slumlords Paid Nothing
• Slumlords Stiff Banks — & Rake In Sec. 8 Bucks
• One family moves in, another forced out
• Showpiece House Rises Next To Problem House
That's great. But the parking minimum needs to be abolished completely. How come our proposed new zoning along Route 34 has a parking requirement?
Parking minimums cost jobs and make housing more expensive. Hundreds of other cities have gotten rid of them.