A proposed additional parking area behind the Nesquehoning Apartments meets the criteria of Nesquehoning ordinances, officials said.

A Nesquehoning zoning hearing on Tuesday dealt with the parking issue in an application from Eli Goldwasser of Brooklyn, New York, the owner of the senior apartments at 90 E. Catawissa St. Goldwasser is proposing five additional one-bedroom units and off-street parking for the building, as well as moving the highly used community room/Panther Valley Senior Center down into the rear of the building in the basement.Following nearly an hour of testimony, the board, in a 3-0 vote, found that the three additional parking spaces proposed "meets the criteria laid out in the zoning ordinance for the five additional units proposed by the applicant," but he must "comply with all other zoning ordinances related to parking setbacks, buffer zones and any other provisions including requirements of borough subdivision and land development ordinances."This hearing was continued from Jan. 6, when Goldwasser applied for a parking variance for the project.Attorney Carole Walbert, representing Goldwasser, who was not in attendance on Tuesday, told the board before testimony that they were withdrawing their application seeking a variance and instead asking for an interpretation of the ordinance because "we believe we no longer need a variance here and the use that we are proposing is permissible use," under Section 27-705 of the borough's off-street parking and zoning ordinance.In that ordinance, Walbert pointed out that units for housing for people over age 61 require only one parking space per two units. The apartments currently have 32 units and 15 parking spaces, per Goldwasser's testimony in January.Chris Portner, the architect for the project, testified that line repainting would provide the 16th spot.Under the question of the additional spaces needed to meet the requirement, Portner testified that a plot of land located behind the old theater next to the apartments will be used to create three additional parking spaces and a turnaround with the access on Mill Street.Walbert said an easement has been obtained from the theater owner, JGTFL LLC., in which Goldwasser is involved, for the property's use as a parking area.Gene Kennedy, borough zoning officer, brought up some concerns about the proposed parking area, including buffer zones, but Portner said it would be able to be done in that space.He also addressed a previous question from the January hearing on using land between the apartment and theater for additional parking.He said because of the steep slope, retaining wall and Catawissa Street, it would have to be two-way parking but the width wouldn't permit it. Plus it would also eliminate three handicap spaces already in the bottom portion of that area.Zoning board member Nicholas Totani asked if there was proposed access from the new lot up to the current lot near the entrance or if tenants using that lot would have to walk from their car, down Mill Street to the intersection of Almond Street and walk up the hill and through the current parking lot to the door.Portner said Goldwasser did not propose stairs or any other access from the new lot into the current lot, which is surrounded by a retaining wall."Isn't that asking a lot from a person, especially a senior, to walk that far?" Totani asked."We need to find spaces somewhere," Portner responded. "It's a hilly town."The public had the opportunity to again provide testimony and ask questions.John Kane of Mill Street asked if the drainage issue onto the property in question would be addressed because the water runoff from the theater pools on the land.Walbert said that her client would need to address it.Robert Hydro questioned where 15 spaces were in the current lot because based on an aerial photo he had from 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, there were only 14 spaces and the lot was packed.Martin McFadden, who lives across the street on Almond Street, asked if Walbert was able to find out how many tenants have vehicles.Walbert said, based on the manager's best knowledge, that there were 13."Where are all the cars coming from then?" he asked.Walbert said that Goldwasser would require all tenants with vehicles to register their vehicles, and only cars with permit stickers would be allowed to park in the lots.During the initial hearing, a number of borough residents spoke out about the project, specifically the parking because they said parking was already an issue before the proposed five additional units are even constructed.