We have seen changes taking place on the corner of Montello and Florida Avenues as Thornton Development turns the old parking lot by Eli’s Carryout into a condo building. There is more to come to that corner and there are two cases before the Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA) requesting relief from zoning variances for the properties at 1106 and 1112 Montello Ave NE. Both of these properties are zoned C-2-A for mixed use commercial space and will be built to the maximum height allowed (50 feet).

Thornton Development submitted BZA Case 19061 for the lot at 1106 Montello Ave NE to request variances as they convert the two-story building into a four-story, seven-unit apartment house with renovated and reconfigured ground floor commercial space. This lot covers three addresses: 1140 Florida Ave NE, 1106 and 1108 Montello Ave NE. There are three variances and one special exception requested that the community can review and weigh in on as part of the BZA process.

1. Floor Area Ration (FAR) requirements: The FAR maximum and current condition is 2.5. The proposed construction would be a 3.41 FAR, meaning a 0.91% variance
2. Lot Occupancy requirements: The lot occupancy is currently 81% and the maximum allowed is 60%. Thornton is seeking to maintain the currently used 81%, for a 21% variance.
3. Off-Street Parking requirements: A seven-unit building requires four parking space. Thornton Development is requesting that they do not provide any parking for the building. The variance is the four parking spaces.
4. Special exception from the green area ration requirements: Reference was made to this special exception in the case summary but it was not described in the submitted documents available on-line.

Documents for this phase of the project can be found on the Interactive Zoning Information System (IZIS) website.

BZA Case 19062 relates to the building being constructed at 1112 Montello Ave NE, the former parking lot. Thornton Development is seeking variance from the size of the parking space requirements to allow the construction of a ninth dwelling unit to be included in the four-story, eight-unit apartment building. To include a ninth unit, there would need to be one additional parking space. Changing the size of the parking spaces would allow for five spaces total in the space available, 3 full-size (9’x19’) and 2 compact (8’x19’), instead of four. Documents related to this case can be found at the IZIS website.

The applications for both BZA Case 19601 and 19602 were filed on June 2, 2015 and the hearings will be held on Tuesday, September 15, 2015 at 9:30 am. The hearings will be in the Jerrily R. Kress Memorial Hearing Room, One Judiciary Square, 441 4^th Street NW, Suite 20 South. The hearings are open to the public. Prior to the hearing there should be a Single Member District (SMD) ANC 5D06 meeting with Commissioner Yvonne Buggs to discuss both projects. This will precede presentation at an ANC 5D meeting where there will be a vote on whether the ANC will support the projects based on the community’s input at the SMD meeting.

Anyone that cannot attend meetings but wants to weigh in on the two variances can submit letters to the BZA for review. These can be submitted on-line. Directions for submission are on the BZA site.