0:10
is 5:34 p.m. I would like to call our
0:23
Year Mr Parker can you please call the
0:34
present Miss green present Mr Jones here
0:40
Ms rolls present Mr Rodriguez present
0:43
Miss Bowers present thank
0:46
you um our meeting this evening may be a
0:50
little brief um we if you're following
0:53
Along on our agenda the first item of
0:56
committee business listed is related to
0:59
the budget and finance committee um we
1:02
were looking forward to updates um by
1:06
interim director Gloria Martin Roberts
1:09
related to the arpa funding uh and the
1:13
proposed projects for affordable
1:16
housing um home repair senior
1:19
programming and Community connections
1:22
Hub unfortunately uh interm director
1:26
Martin Roberts is not available this
1:29
evening evening um so we will move
1:31
forward with our second order of
1:33
committee business and that lies with
1:37
the community and economic development
1:39
committee so I will defer to our
1:42
community and economic development
1:43
committee chair councilwoman
1:46
Daniels thank you uh Mr Parker do you
1:49
mind reading resolution 82y 2024 into
1:52
the record please certainly resolution
1:57
2024 a resolution appr approving the
2:00
preliminary SL final land development
2:04
315 North Front Street submitted by
2:08
Vernon Jones of Front Street Lofts
2:12
LLC to convert the existing office
2:14
building into an 8un apartment building
2:18
featuring six one-bedroom units and two
2:21
two-bedroom units with two units
2:24
designated as affordable units along
2:27
with Associated improvements
2:32
thank you um and if the representative
2:34
for the city could uh identify himself
2:37
and give us a brief summary of the
2:42
application uh yes good evening uh
2:44
councilwoman Daniels and the rest of the
2:46
council members uh Jeffrey Knight
2:47
planing director um with the city of
2:50
Harrisburg uh so the uh application
2:53
before Council uh T oh and uh Happy New
2:55
Year to everybody too as well uh so the
2:57
application before uh council tonight is
3:00
is um as Mr Parker read a land
3:03
development plan for uh the internal
3:06
conversion of uh the former office
3:08
building at 3:15 North Front Street uh
3:10
into um eight apartment into an8 unit
3:13
apartment building uh six of the units
3:15
will be within the primary structure uh
3:18
on site and then two of the units will
3:20
be in the um uh it will be in the
3:24
carriage house at the uh rear of the
3:26
property uh as Mr Parker noted um two of
3:29
the units will be designated as
3:31
affordable um it should be noted that uh
3:34
this um is not part of while Mr um Jones
3:39
is committing to the affordable units
3:41
it's not part of um uh a density bonus
3:45
um benefit that he's getting as part of
3:47
this so this is kind of almost entirely
3:49
uh at the um applicant's um proposal uh
3:53
in addition uh the applicant is going to
3:55
be providing uh believe 10 total parking
3:59
spaces there are two in the courtyard uh
4:02
that separates the uh primary building
4:04
and the Carriage House on site uh and
4:06
then two on the first floor of the
4:08
carriage house and then the applicant
4:10
will also be securing six uh parking
4:12
spaces within the River Street Parking
4:14
Garage uh as part of this project um so
4:18
uh overall it's very similar to I think
4:20
a lot of the other uh conversion
4:22
projects the council has seen over the
4:23
years where we're taking these um former
4:26
office uh buildings that themselves were
4:29
previously res residences and were
4:30
converted um they're going back to uh
4:33
residential use um and uh in you know I
4:37
think contrast to some of the other
4:38
developments that we've had downtown the
4:40
applicant has been very proactive about
4:41
finding uh enough uh off street parking
4:44
uh for the potential tenants um and in
4:47
doing so is seeking to um you know
4:49
address some of the concerns that were
4:51
brought up by uh neighborhood residents
4:53
at the Planning Commission meeting um so
4:56
with that all being said the Planning
4:58
Commission uh recommend amended that
5:00
city council approve the proposal with
5:04
the following conditions uh the
5:06
applicant will need to submit a formal
5:07
land development plan set containing the
5:09
formal cover sheet illustrating
5:10
requisite site aspects uh as opposed to
5:13
um a construction plan with only
5:14
internal space uh and addressing
5:16
comments from State departments um and
5:18
the applicant I believe is working on
5:20
getting that and I'm sure that will be
5:22
um finalized uh after city council
5:25
action uh and will include any comments
5:27
or any requirements that uh the council
5:29
members add to the project uh the
5:32
applicant will also receive a
5:33
certificate of qualification pursuant to
5:34
chapter 12101 of title 12 uh the
5:37
affordable housing certification uh
5:39
prior to recording the land development
5:40
plan with the Dolphin County Recorder
5:42
deeds and that will certify those two
5:43
units as affordable um if any other
5:46
exterior alterations are proposed other
5:48
than those included in the current
5:49
application and a previous previously
5:52
submitted building permit the applicant
5:53
will submit a certificate of
5:55
appropriateness application and receive
5:56
approval from harb uh and thus far um
5:59
they have gotten approval for a building
6:01
permit to begin some preliminary
6:02
demolition on the interior of the
6:04
structure and there's been uh some
6:06
discussion um with the contractors about
6:09
uh what types of uh work they're
6:10
proposing but uh so far uh through those
6:12
conversations uh they've just been
6:14
proposing to replace some of the glass
6:16
panes that are broken and otherwise do
6:18
some in otherwise do some in kind uh
6:20
Replacements of minor exterior elements
6:23
around the uh periphery of the building
6:25
uh and then finally the applicant will
6:26
coordinate the with the Department of
6:28
Public Works to ensure that the account
6:29
B is updated to reflect the proposed
6:31
change in use uh the Planning Commission
6:33
recommended that city council approve
6:35
the request for the following reasons
6:37
the applicant has received the requisite
6:38
zoning relief for approvals to proceed
6:40
with the project as proposed and that
6:42
was earlier last year in April of 2024
6:45
uh the proposed project will adaptively
6:47
reuse a vacant office building bringing
6:49
an historically architecturally and
6:51
culturally significant property back
6:52
into productive use and in fact will
6:55
reestablish a residential use on site um
6:57
as opposed to other multif family
6:59
conversions in recent years the
7:00
applicant has been proactive in securing
7:02
enough off street parking to accommodate
7:03
all residents of the development
7:05
obviating concerns expressed by nearby
7:07
residents regarding the limited number
7:08
of on Street spaces uh and finally the
7:10
proposed reuse will add new residents to
7:12
the neighborhood to activate the street
7:13
on nights and weekends and grow customer
7:15
based to support local
7:20
businesses thank you and this
7:22
application if we don't act it will be
7:24
doomed to approve January 30th right uh
7:27
off the top of my head I'm not sure uh
7:29
the um uh Miss Cameron's telling me it's
7:31
the 31st 31st okay thank you um okay if
7:36
I apologies to the applicant to canc you
7:38
so if you don't mind introducing
7:39
yourself and giving us a brief
7:42
description of the project when we
7:44
intend to start when do you think it
7:46
will be concluded has the property been
7:49
vacant and if so for how long and um the
7:53
two affordable units are they the single
7:56
the one bedroom or two bedrooms or mix
7:58
of both so if you could just briefly
8:00
share us share with us your the vision
8:02
for your project uh good evening
8:04
everybody my name is Vernon Jones I'm
8:06
the owner at uh Front Street LS LLC
8:09
excuse me could you yeah get close to
8:12
the mic or as close as you can to the
8:14
micone I think is this okay okay thank
8:18
you good evening guys my name is Vernon
8:21
Jones uh owner at Front Street Lofts LLC
8:26
um I think it was you got a few
8:28
questions there but um
8:30
uh I think to answer the them in in in
8:33
order uh we have the two units that are
8:35
going to be um affordable those are two
8:38
one-bedroom units um that we have we
8:40
plan on starting work as soon as we get
8:43
approvals um we you know soon as we get
8:45
approvals we'll be able to get our
8:47
permits and and get started um on rough
8:50
plumbing and rough electric uh um was I
8:55
think there was one more question right
9:00
that yes how has the property been
9:03
vacant and if so for how long so it's
9:04
been vacant for three years at this
9:06
point I think uh it might be approaching
9:08
four because last year was at three so I
9:11
think it might be approaching four four
9:15
years thank you um so I'll open it up
9:18
now uh to my council members and I'm
9:21
going to start to the
9:24
far left which is councilman Jones thank
9:28
you uh councilwoman Daniels how you
9:31
doing today sir good doing well man um I
9:33
read through this man um first I just
9:35
want to say um I commend you on doing
9:39
this uh project here um of course we
9:41
need as much business as we can flowing
9:43
through uh the city of Harrisburg and I
9:45
think this is a step in the right
9:47
direction um um it's also bringing some
9:51
jobs with you correct that's right um
9:54
yeah I just think that this is a great
9:56
project man and um look forward to
9:57
seeing you uh succeed at the
9:59
that's all I have appreciate
10:02
that thank you um councilman Rodriguez
10:06
thank you madam chair uh thank you for
10:08
joining us this evening and I have no
10:10
further question well I have no
10:16
thank Ross thank you councilwoman
10:19
Daniels um good evening to you both
10:21
thank you for being here um the
10:22
resolution was pretty straightforward
10:24
and um the answers that you gave so I
10:27
don't have any further questions I look
10:29
forward to seeing um what you produce
10:32
out of this and how it adds to the
10:34
community definely thank you thank you
10:39
Bowers thank you um I just had one
10:41
clarifying question related to the
10:44
affordable unit I wanted to ensure that
10:48
affordability uh related to the city of
10:51
Harrisburg versus uh dolin County's
10:54
median family income for sure yeah I
10:56
mean we own N9 buildings in the area and
11:00
we we specifically look out section A
11:03
tenants we this is what we do um so the
11:08
to answer your question it will be
11:10
affordable to the city to the people who
11:13
live in the city of Harrisburg um uh
11:16
versus Dolphin County okay well thank
11:19
you thank you for that um so with eight
11:22
units at least two would be deemed
11:24
affordable in our affordable housing
11:26
program so I was just just wanted to
11:28
clarify that that so thank you very much
11:30
for the consideration no
11:33
problem thank you um vice president
11:35
green thank you very much uh thank you
11:38
for being here tonight thank you for
11:39
bringing this project before us uh I
11:41
don't have any questions but I look
11:42
forward to seeing it come to to tuition
11:45
tuition thank you uh councilwoman Davis
11:49
thank you councilwoman Daniels I don't
11:52
have any questions thank you for
11:54
providing uh the construction there's um
11:59
parking and affordable housing that
12:02
comes with it so I think that pretty
12:05
satis much satisfies the city um so
12:08
thank you I look forward to seeing the
12:10
end product as well thank
12:13
you thank you um does anyone have any
12:20
no thank you I can't
12:24
see okay thank you very much um I would
12:27
recommend that we add resolution 82 -224
12:31
to the next legislative session and
12:33
recommend that um we approve the project
12:35
and and that's it for the um the
12:38
business of this committee today thank
12:40
you thank you um we will now move
12:43
forward with our meeting agenda next we
12:46
have public comment um if you're
12:48
interested in offering public comment
12:50
please state your name and your address
12:52
for the meeting record if you don't feel
12:54
comfortable sharing your address please
12:56
share the vicinity in which you live
12:58
within in the city uh you will have four
13:01
minutes to share your comments Mr Parker
13:04
will serve as our timekeeper I will
13:07
begin to my right is there anyone that
13:09
would like to offer public
13:12
comment okay seeing and hearing no one
13:14
anyone in the middle
13:17
section seeing and hearing no one anyone
13:30
well there was someone else that sit up
13:32
on the left side of the room so um you
14:22
hello my name is Ken Miller I've been in
14:26
here plenty of times I'm from Harrisburg
14:28
I will say don't have a specific place
14:30
I'll just say Harrisburg period because
14:32
that's I'm all around um I want to start
14:35
off by saying Lamont Jones
14:37
congratulations last time I was here I
14:39
spoke on you being presented with
14:42
lawsuits and you I don't feel like you
14:44
deserve that and I feel like if
14:46
everybody would like to open up their
14:47
doors they might as well open them you
14:50
feel me okay um but I'm here to tell you
14:54
that um this here is bigger than you
14:57
right so I you to shake this table okay
15:01
shake it the community um that you state
15:05
that you're here for okay um you've been
15:09
facilities surrounded by snakes so I'm
15:12
sure you know how to move and this
15:13
Podium ain't no different
15:16
okay um president Bowers Rodriguez green
15:22
Daniels um you guys are going to end up
15:24
telling on each other um there's a lot
15:26
of things that go on behind the scenes
15:28
when these C are off okay
15:33
um I consider this there's so much
15:36
corruption and you guys took vows and
15:42
in to open up these doors and
15:45
speak you know I mean not just be meant
15:48
for a seat you can pass the torch to
15:54
um but I will continue to speak on the
15:56
corruption in my city including Wanda
15:59
Williams the police department and
16:02
police commissioner Carter the
16:05
intimidation tactics are
16:07
trash it's not gonna ever make me shut
16:10
up I've been shot for saving kids I've
16:12
been stabbed for saving
16:14
them I teach them and I don't even have
16:17
any but they don't have to be mine for
16:18
me to support them I speak for the
16:20
homeless I speak for people that have no
16:22
voice I speak for the victims and all I
16:29
what I'm going to say is for one thing
16:32
for a lot of people that wanted to run
16:33
me out this city this is my city and I'm
16:35
going to leave when I want to it didn't
16:38
stop me from starting a business it
16:39
didn't stop me from writing a book it
16:41
didn't stop me from achieving any goal
16:44
that I ever wanted to to sit here and
16:46
see these people and come back in
16:48
here is that's not what I wanted to do
16:51
but I definitely wanted to congratulate
16:56
Williams to feel as though her seat is
16:58
solid Tri to be a mayor she wouldn't
17:01
even be throwing shots she' be sitting
17:03
pretty but that mean but her closet door
17:06
is open the stuff doesn't go unnoticed
17:09
and I'm going keep continuing talking
17:11
I'mma continue to write and I'mma
17:13
continue to show up thank
17:25
you good evening members of City Council
17:29
and Harrisburg residents my name is
17:32
Cynthia Lee Watkins and I am here in
17:38
$250,000 that should rightly be due to
17:41
the Hines Senior Center I'm a senior I'm
17:46
a longtime lifelong taxpaying
17:49
home-owning resident of the city of
17:52
Harrisburg now I've been watching what's
17:55
been going on between the council and
17:58
the mayor and I don't always agree with
18:01
the mayor I don't always agree with the
18:04
councel but right now I feel like
18:08
council is using the senior citizens as
18:13
hostages in their fight with the mayor
18:16
and I must say as a senior citizen
18:19
living in the city and paying taxes I
18:22
don't like it and my neighbors don't
18:25
like it and Council needs to remember
18:28
that the majority of people who vote in
18:31
this city are senior citizens thank
18:35
you if you could stay behind oh that's
18:40
yes if you could stay behind for this
18:42
meeting to be over we can have
18:44
conversation I would like to that thank
18:47
you thank you is there anyone else that
18:50
would like to offer a public
18:53
comment okay seeing and hearing no one
18:59
5:53 p.m. I will entertain a motion to
19:02
adjourn motion to adjourn is there a
19:05
second second thank you we stand a journ
