A pair of cases are scheduled to go before the Palmerton Zoning Hearing Board at 7 p.m. Monday.

The first includes a zoning appeal from Joseph Bennett.Bennett will seek a variance to a section of the borough's zoning ordinance relating to the buffer area requirements.The appeal relates that Bennett's land development plan for 555 Delaware Ave., which was conditionally approved by borough council on Sept. 11.As approved, the plan calls for the installation of a buffer yard along the alley, which is a requirement of a section of the borough's zoning ordinance.According to a memo dated Oct. 8 from borough zoning officer Duane Dellecker, Bennett does not want to construct the buffer, and has requested zoning board approval for a waiver from this requirement.Dellecker said he did not issue a letter of denial with regard to the issue because he had no objections to the plan as approved with the buffer design.The board will also review a request by Tom Ring to change the use of his property at 301 Lehigh Ave., from a former tavern and apartment into two apartments.The property, the former Susie's Penn Lunch located at 301 Lehigh Ave., is in a Residential/Light Commercial (R-3) zoning district.Ring proposes to convert the use of the first floor of the structure to a second apartment, which was previously occupied by the tavern.As a result, Ring is in search of a special exception for the proposed second apartment addition, and a variance from the minimum lot size and off-street parking requirements.Last week, the borough's planning commission recommended approval for the special exception to the zoning board.In his rejection letter, dated Sept. 24, Dellecker said that the use as a tavern was nonconforming to current zoning regulations. However, a section of the borough's zoning ordinance lists a nonconforming use as being abandoned if the use has been abandoned for 365 consecutive days. As such, the use of this property reverts to the character of the zoning district.A section of the borough's zoning ordinance, Dellecker says in his letter, lists the conversion of an existing building into one or more dwelling units, or to use the property for apartments as permitted only by special exception in the R-3 zoning district.Another section of the borough's zoning ordinance requires a minimum average of 4,000 square feet of lot area for each apartment in an R-3 zoning district. The application, as submitted, indicates the existing lot size to be 969 square feet.Yet another section of the borough's zoning ordinance lists specific criteria for an apartment use, said Dellecker, who added that none of these issues appear to apply to this proposed use.Another section of the borough's zoning ordinance addresses off-street parking, and he said the regulations require two off-street parking spaces for the second floor apartment would fall under the grandfather clause in a section of the borough zoning ordinance.The new apartment, however, would require two off-street parking spaces. Dellecker said the application, as submitted, does not show any off-street parking.In essence, he said a special exception would be required for the proposed use of adding a second apartment, while variances would be required from the minimum lot size and off-street parking.