Terrace Hall Developers Make Proposal

The developers for Terrace Hall once again presented plans to the Wissahickon Neighbors Civic Association on Monday.

Terrace Hall is located in the 3800 block of Terrace Street, but it also has frontage on Sharp Street.

I’ll present the highlights in bulleted form because that usually works the best.

What the developers want to do:

• The developers want to knock down the building that’s currently there.  They want to subdivide it, and build 15 houses.
• Nine of the house will front on Terrace Street while the remaining six will be on Sharp Street.
• The houses will be sold as single-family homes for the developer’s rough estimate of $429,900.
• The homes will be around 2800 square feet.  They will each have three bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms.
• The developers also want to set the homes back 18 feet to accommodate a garage as well as a parking spot on the driveway, essentially creating two-car parking.

This seems pretty straight forward, but I’m guessing it’s not.

• The technical stuff: The building is zoned for industrial and commercial mixed use.  It’s surrounded by homes that are zoned RSA-5.
• RSA-5 zoning is typically attached or semi-attached homes that come right up to the sidewalk with no setback.  They also have a height restriction of 38.5 feet.
• The Terrace Hall developers want to construct buildings that would be four stories tall and include a roof deck.
• RSA-5 also promotes rear access parking, while the developers want to have the garages on the street.

What do the residents think?

• They’re unhappy would be the best way to describe it.
• The curb cuts for the driveways would eliminate parking.
• There are concerns that the homes would be rented to students.
• Residents also feel the designs don’t match the existing aesthetic of the neighborhood.

What would residents like?

• They expressed interest in building homes that better matched the neighborhood that also had parking in the rear of the homes that could be accessed via some kind of easement or alleyway. 

Where does the plan stand?

• The developers made their presentation, but there has been no zoning hearing scheduled. 
• The civic association did not vote on Monday for or against the project, but I think it’s fair to say that there’s a strong dislike of the project at this point and time.
• The developers could always come back with a redesign that the community might be more support more.