On Wednesday, the City of Delaware Board of Zoning Appeals will consider an application related to the construction of The Wesleyan Inn at 235 West William Street.
As noted in the variance application, the plan is to renovate and expand a former OWU dormitory into a three story, 43 room inn with 14,407 square feet of interior space. Having had a Conditional Use Permit and Preliminary Development Plan previously approved by City Council, the Final Development Plan is set to be before Council later this month.
The particular variance requested is to allow a less than one foot parking setback along the western property line adjacent to a residential zoning district and the same on the eastern property line, that being adjacent to a non-residential zoning district. The requirements include a ten feet setback when adjacent to residential zoning districts, and five feet for non-residential.
Staff is recommending approval for three basic reasons; first, the western adjacent property is owned by the same entity and features a house which will be demolished as part of the proposed project and will be creating additional buffering elements; 2) the property to the east is actually the campus of OWU; and 3) with these ownership situations, the impact on adjacent properties would be minimal.
The BZA meeting will take place at 6:30 PM in City Council Chambers.
