It will be a major issue for Peron Development’s 68-unit North Third Street apartment complex if a new parking garage isn’t constructed, developers said at Wednesday night’s Easton Planning Commission meeting.
Though the Planning Commission ultimately approved the apartment building at 56 N. Third St. that will be known as The Seville, one commissioner compared it to “putting the cart before the horse.”
Commissioner Bill Carr asked how the project would be affected if plans for a 400-space parking garage on North Fourth Street behind the Easton Public Market fall through.
“It would be a major issue. … We designed this project under the assumption the garage would be built,” said John Callahan, director of business development for Peron. “If there’s a lag here or there, that’s fine. We can survive that, but not having the garage built would be a real issue.”
In September, City Council approved a $270,300 contract with the engineering firm Pennoni to design the parking garage, which city officials have said likely will have more than 400 parking spaces and a pedestrian plaza.
Earlier this year officials solicited bids from private developers, but they believe it could be cheaper to oversee the project themselves. One of the bids was from Peron Development, which proposed a 457-space garage with more than 5,000-square-feet of retail.
The city owns the North Fourth Street lot and has planned for a garage there for several years. Mayor Sal Panto Jr. says it’s needed, especially before the city replaces its aging Pine Street garage.
“We aren’t building a garage for the private sector,” he said Thursday, adding that downtown merchants and the Greater Easton Development Partnership have long been saying more parking is needed.
The city recoups about $1.9 million in parking revenue per year and Panto expects revenue generated by the new garage will go toward paying it down. In addition, the city has about $2 million in grants to go toward the cost, plus the $1.1 million Peron paid earlier this year to purchase the 56. N. Third St. parcel from the city.
According to the proposals with Pennoni, the final design is anticipated to be finished by next spring followed by a bid phase that could take another month or two.
“It just seems like it’s putting the cart before the horse. I have a problem with the way this is unfolding, with the pressure on the city to build the garage and a plan that hasn’t even been presented yet,” Carr said Wednesday night.
Under the city’s ordinance, the developer is only required to provide 32 spaces within 600 feet of the complex, Callahan said. So far, they have five off-street spaces.
Peron’s first option would be to lease spaces in a nearby parking lot owned by Verizon. The developer also has been in contact with another undisclosed private property owner about leasing spaces.
If for some reason those options fall through, Peron would consider the Pine Street garage, though Callahan said “that plan would be less ideal since it’s so far away.”
If all goes as planned, Peron plans to break ground on the development in March with the building to be occupied in June or July 2021, about the same time the North Fourth Street garage would come online.
“We would have 32 spots within 600 feet of the building. We can’t have any occupancy in the building unless we have an agreement for those spaces,” Callahan said.
The proposed apartment building, which would include 2,600-square-feet of ground floor retail, already received preliminary plan approval from the Planning Commission in October along with variances from the city’s Zoning Hearing Board to allow apartment units on the first floor and for an increased building footprint.
Peron also received a recommendation from the Easton Historic District Commission.
Despite concerns about parking, Planning Commission Chairman Charles Elliott said the only issue before the commission Wednesday night was whether the final plan agrees with the preliminary approvals given in October.
It was approved Wednesday night by Elliott, Carr, Ronald Shipman and Jamie Kulick.
Members Robert Sun, William Heilman and Bonnie Winfield were absent.
The complex will include 43 one-bedroom units and 25 two-bedroom units.
City staff in their review of the plans said it would be a vast improvement over the 56-spot parking lot that occupies the space.
At one time, it had been the location of the Boyd Theater, formerly known as the Seville. Developers on Wednesday night said they plan to incorporate some Spanish-style architecture into the plan as a tribute to the old theater.
“Every year parking seems to get a little worse,” said North Third Street resident Brian McNally who expressed concern about the number of spots the project would require.
McNally said residents in the area rely on parking spaces in the lot that Peron’s apartment complex would replace.
McNally asked if any resident would be able to lease parking spaces in the new Fourth Street garage, but Director of Planning and Codes Stephen Nowroski said that would ultimately be up to City Council.
Morning Call reporter Christina Tatu can be reached at 610-820-6583 or ctatu@mcall.com.
