STANTON : City Seeks Solutions to Zoning Concerns

Responding to concerns raised by a group of condominium owners, Stanton officials are grappling with the problem of apartments and condominiums that don’t conform to zoning.

The issue arose when an attorney for homeowners in the Edgewood condominium complex told the City Council that the current zoning could have a “chilling effect on the sale of property.”

Like many of the city’s older multifamily housing developments, the Edgewood complex did conform to zoning standards when it was built. But in 1978, the city reduced the density standard of all R-3 zones from 25 units per acre to 18 units per acre. The change put the 132-unit Edgewood over the limit.

The condominiums are protected for the time being by a “grandfather” provision that exempts existing housing. It expires in 2013.

Nearly 10% of the city’s multifamily housing units are nonconforming, according to a report by Michael Bouview, the city’s planning manager.

The problem is the reluctance of lending institutions to make loans to potential buyers of nonconforming apartment complexes and condominiums, which would have to be structurally modified or removed from the property when zoning protection expires.

Bouview’s report is scheduled to be presented to the City Council at its meeting Tuesday.