Doylestown Hotel Project Granted Partial Relief By Zoning Board

DOYLESTOWN BOROUGH, PA — The Doylestown Borough Zoning Hearing Board on Tuesday voted unanimously to grant partial relief for a proposed four-story hotel at the site of the former borough hall at 57 West Court Street.

In an 18-page decision reached after hours of debate and discussion, the board granted businessman Larry Thompson zoning relief for building height/number of stories and existing nonconforming setbacks and buffers but denied his requested relief for parking.

The zoning board made its approval conditioned upon not having a terrace or deck on the rooftop of the proposed building and that the developer provide trellises or other screening for rear-facing balconies.

Thompson had applied for the relief to build a four-story, 32-room hotel with a full-service restaurant and event venue at the site of the former borough hall. He had requested variances for building height, parking, and existing nonconforming setbacks and buffers.

On building height, the zoning board approved the requested variance due to the property's unique physical characteristics including a steep slope from the front to the back of the lot and the property's irregular lot size.

The board, however, denied the applicant's request for a parking variance.

Thompson proposed providing 61 onsite parking spaces where 72 are required. In his application, he proposed leasing 27 offsite parking spaces for hotel use at the nearby Franklin building which he owns.

The zoning board said while the lease would make spaces available to guests, customers and employees of the hotel daily after 5 p.m., it was not clear from the hearing record how many spaces would be available at the Franklin property at or before 5 p.m. each day. The zoning board said it was also unclear if or how hotel guest and employee vehicles would be removed in the morning to make way for the daytime tenants.

The zoning board also said while it is "commendable that the applicant would work with the borough to create more parking along the newly-closed off Harvey Avenue curve and to reconfigure the West Court Street curve to provide customer drop-offs and valet/shuttle service (in front of the hotel), "this is not relevant" with calculating the number of parking spaces required on the property.

"Similarly," the board noted in its denial, "the availability of ride share services, nearby public parking lots and garages and regional rail is not relevant. The availability of public parking lots, ride share services, and garages are already baked into the number of off-street parking required under the zoning ordinance. The availability of other parking options does not mitigate these parking requirements," the board said.

So what happens next?

Thompson can now choose to appeal the decision. He also has the option of revising his plan to meet the required number of on-site parking spaces. That may mean reducing the building's square footage.

Neighboring residents who were granted party status at the beginning of the hearing also have the choice to appeal the decision.

During the hearing in February, residents living in and around the site voiced opposition to the size and scope of the building fearing the impact it would have on their residential neighborhoods in terms of traffic, privacy and parking. They said the project being proposed was too big for the site and asked the zoning board not to grant the relief being sought.