The Walnutport Zoning Board gathered together to grant three variances to three separate ordinances for a future investment Tuesday night.

The currently unused interconnected silk mill buildings located at 324-326 Washington St. have gained interest from an investment company CRAJ LLC.CRAJ has made the first inquiry for purchase of the buildings since being placed on the real estate market in 2003. According to CRAJ's real estate representative Jennifer DeJesus, the buildings and property have a history of off and on real estate market presence for over 12 years.The buildings have dropped severely in price over that course of time, even though the property was heavily marketed to the industrial and commercial sector. The price for the 14,840-square-foot property has dropped continuously over the years.CRAJ representative Joseph Piperato presented three witnesses for the board to make the case for ordinance variances. The first variance needed is to rezone the building.According to Walnutport zoning ordinance, the building is in an I1 zone surrounded by R2, or light residential zoning areas. What CRAJ has proposed is to buy the three connected buildings; two of those buildings are assigned the 324 address while one is located at 326.The plan is to demolish the 324 Washington St. buildings to create a 10-space parking lot for the remaining 326 building, which will then be turned into an apartment complex. The complex will contain eight apartments, approximately three one bedrooms, four two bedrooms and one three bedroom apartment ranging from $700 to $1,500, depending on final cost of renovation and construction.This is where a second variance is needed to change the number of required spaces for off-street parking. Two spaces per unit are required, which would leave the complex six spots shy. There is no off-street parking currently on the property. The third issue in the plan is the extending of the proposed parking spaces up to the edge of the property without screening.Piperato read off the approved list of industrial zoning business for Walnutport to Sage Design's Joe Ladrigan, the architect for the CRAJ project. The building as-is could not be used for a majority of the approved uses including warehouse or manufacturing plant due to the lack of off-street parking for employees and the condition of the buildings.While Ladrigan agreed the buildings could be fixed up and used for light industrial, he called the idea "Technically infeasible, because it would be a big cost to any company to redo the floor plan, and it would be difficult to fix up," he said.Washington Street resident Marylin Writez asked why the number of apartments could not be decreased to meet the borough ordinance. "It's a matter of practical versus feasible. The cost would not be worth it. You can't put more money into a building than can be returned over a two-year period," DeJesus said.DeJesus again highlight that the property had been on the market for 12 years with no inquiries until now.Zoning officer Sean Corey's concern was the redistricting of the building. "What if a future industrial client comes in, there will have to be more redistricting," he said.Borough engineer Jason Newhard also had concern that the apartment complex would change the objective of the borough's comprehensive plan to bring diverse business and employment to the area.Piperato asked Newhart, "If it would be better for a vacant, plighted property remained that way forever instead of the proposed use?" Newhart said he could not answer the question.The zoning board deliberated for an hour before returning and granting CRAJ the variances that had been requested.Zoning board lawyer Ed Hearly will draft up a letter in the next 45 days to keep the process moving.Any resident who would wish to file an appeal to go against the ruling may do so in the 30 days following the letter being sent to court.