YOUNGSTOWN ZONING Appeals board OKs variances

The planning commission recommended a different use for the old Stambaugh School.
By ROGER G. SMITH
CITY HALL REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The city's zoning appeals board gave clearance Tuesday to several variances for the new Harding Elementary School.
The board reduced the required front setback from 100 feet to 80 feet on Cordova Avenue and the minimum required side setback from 50 feet to 10 feet.
Even with the reduced front setback, the new North Side school will still be much further back than the old building. The school is only about 15 feet from the street now, said architect John DeFrance.
The side yard was reduced so an air-conditioning unit can be built. The machinery will be inside an extension of the building, so noise shouldn't be a problem for neighbors, DeFrance said.
The board also approved variances for a day-care center on Market Street and a pawn shop in the Lincoln Knolls Plaza:
UThe board reduced the required front setback from 50 feet to zero feet on Market Street and reduced the minimum required side setback from 20 feet to zero feet for the day care, to be run by Janice Nix. The building, the former New Beginnings church, is right on Market Street (near Princeton Street on the South Side), but children will use a side entrance.
UThe board approved a use variance allowing the pawn shop in the plaza. Plaza owners appealed denial of a permit, based on the idea that the pawn shop would be similar to other retail uses in the plaza. Board members agreed. The city's zoning laws don't allow such a shop in that area.
Planning board: The city planning board -- which has the same members as the zoning appeals board -- also took a couple of actions Tuesday.
The board recommended to city council a change in use for the old Stambaugh School and recommended against changing zoning on Oak Street Extension:
UThe board approved letting Youngstown West Community Center use the old school. Programs would include a day care, a literacy program, job training, computer learning and after-school activities. Board member Ray Jaminet, an architect who has evaluated the building, warned organizers that repairing the school could run $500,000.
UThe board recommended against rezoning space on Oak Street Extension from residential to general business. Mark Wansack of West Middlesex, Pa., wants to use the space to store logs for a business. Eventually, he wants to open a sawmill there, too. Residents objected to the idea of the trucks that would frequent the narrow East Side road, which also has a couple of churches and a school. Board members agreed.
rgsmith@vindy.com