ARLINGTON -- The City Council on Tuesday unanimously declined to hear an appeal by apartment owners who need a zoning change before they can rebuild units destroyed by fire last year near General Motors.
The owners, George and Danita Terzian, applied to change zoning on about 1.87 acres at 2015 E. Abram St. near Circle Drive from industrial manufacturing to planned development for multifamily residential. They need the zoning classification to rebuild a 20-unit building at Tanglewood Apartments that burned in 2011.Because the Planning and Zoning Commission voted 4-2 on Dec. 5 to recommend denial of the rezoning request, the owners appealed to the City Council on Tuesday. The council decided not to have a public hearing on the Terzians' proposal, which city administrators said does not meet current standards."We have apartment standards now for a reason, and that reason is to upgrade the quality of construction," Councilman Robert Shepard said.The Tanglewood Apartments were built in 1964 with two buildings -- one with 58 units, one with 20 units, according to a staff report. At that time, the property was zoned industrial, and apartments were an allowable use. But in the early 1980s, Arlington changed its zoning ordinance to exclude multifamily properties in that zoning category.Because the complex now does not conform to the zoning, the Terzians cannot rebuild until the zoning is changed.But their proposal does not meet many of the city's development standards, according to a staff report given to City Council.For example, the city requires 149 combined parking spaces for both apartment buildings, but the development proposal calls for only 87 parking spaces. Half of the required spaces would have to be covered, but the proposal includes cover on only 9 percent of the total spaces.The Terzians proposed new one-bedroom units at 394 square feet, the size of the surviving one-bedroom units. But the city now requires one-bedroom apartment units to be at least 750 square feet."I was disappointed that the applicant was reluctant to even attempt to comply with the standards," Shepard said. "Had he made some attempt, I would have at least considered."The report also says the property has "an extensive history of chronic code compliance violations."Inspectors have issued 12 tickets there this year for violations that include raw sewage, inadequate maintenance, no air conditioning, no smoke detectors and insect infestation, according to a staff report.Susan Schrock, 817-709-7578Twitter: @susanschrockHave more to add? News tip? Tell us
