MOUNT VERNON – The redevelopment of the old school building at 301 N. Mulberry St. got back on track with the removal of a condemnation order by one city board and approval of variances by another.
The Board of Property Maintenance Appeals lifted the condemnation order on the old school on Feb. 11. This enabled the developer, Joel Mazza, to seek variances from the Board of Zoning Appeals to redevelop the property for residential use.
The latest site plan shows 102 residential units and 186 surface parking spaces on the 4.2-acre site. The old school would house 48 apartments, a six-unit townhouse building would be behind it along West Hamtramck Street, and two garden-unit apartment buildings with 24 units each would be built.
City Council learned in October that Mazza planned to keep the 1939 school building that fronts Mulberry. They expressed their displeasure at a Dec. 26 City Council meeting, where they learned that engineering firms hired by Mazza and the City said the school was structurally sound.
Mazza brought the project back to the Board of Zoning Appeals for a new conditional use permit and variances on Wednesday. Permits approved in August 2019 had expired, Chairman Michael Percy said.
The applicant wants to preserve as much as the main school building as feasible and still create a mix of multifamily residential housing types and styles, said Rebecca Mott of the Plank Law Firm. The development of a high-quality diverse housing stock (would) support the housing needs of city residents and attract new residents to live in Mount Vernon.
First the board approved the conditional use permit; only then could variances be considered.
Mazza wanted a maximum height of 50 feet for the old school building. Mount Vernon Law Director confirmed that since it is an existing building, a variance was not necessary. A 45-foot height variance for the two garden-unit apartment buildings was approved, as was the townhouse building variance to 35 feet.
Variances allow the garden-unit apartment buildings a maximum of 25,500 square feet and the townhouse building 8,250 square feet.
Since Mazza doesn’t plan to add to the 51,000 square feet of the old school building, no variance was necessary.
“We’re actually not going to build onto the structure besides some patios on the back and then some rooftop patios on the second floor,” Mazza said.
Parking requirements call for two parking spaces per residential unit, but the board approved a variance to 1.88 spaces per unit.
