Friday, July 12, 2013

No Townhomes On Top Of Stockton School

The rumor mill has been spinning that condos and apartments will be springing up on top of an Uptown public school.

A reader wrote to say:  "Today Alderman Cappleman tweeted 'Have to laugh about rumors that I want to build apartments on top of Stockton School. Just when I think I've heard it all.'  But rather than laughing about it a quick trip over to the school makes it clear why residents are talking!

The trees on Beacon lining the lot have notices from the city stating that alderman James Cappleman has requested a rezoning of the school for two-flat and townhomes. (See picture)  The address on the sign is wrong for its location, but that address would be inside the adjacent cemetery so perhaps the printer did mean 4420 Beacon, the actual location of the posting and that of Stockton school? Look forward to hearing the news!"

Later, our reader said Ald. Cappleman had responded to his tweet with "Stockton zoning change to match what is already there. No proposed addition to school. Notice didn't come out of my office."

We checked with Abby Sullivan of the 46th Ward aldermanic office and this is her reply:
"Here's what we sent to Zoning committee on this: 'At the request of CPS, Alderman Cappleman will propose that Stockton School be rezoned from RS-3 to RT-4 to create conformity for the existing building. This is not related to any new construction or project, it will allow the current building to conform to the appropriate zoning designation.'

A little more detailed explanation (if you want it) is that there is not a zoning category for schools or educational institutions, so an "R" zoning doesn't mean that it's going to be condos. It's just RS-3 (residential low density) right now, which would allow for a building that has a square footage of only 90% of the lot size (FAR of .9).

The school sits on multiple parcels of land, and the parcel at 4420 Beacon is probably 40-50% covered by a mostly 3 story building, which is larger than the zoning allows. RS-3 also only allows 30' building height, and the school is taller than that. The school was built in 1925, which means it predates the zoning, so I don't know why it was ever zoned that way. RT-4 allows 1.2 FAR and 38' height.

People can also call me with any questions or comments."
So breathe easy:  No one will be living in The Residences At Stockton/Courtenay.

No comments:

Post a Comment