Zoning board tables TAP Inc. request for parking setback variance at proposed 30-unit Saint Jean condominiums

The Troy Zoning Board of Appeals on an evening meeting tabled a request from TAP Inc. and project partners for a zoning variance that would allow parking to sit one foot from the property line on Franklin Street for a proposed 30-unit affordable condominium development.

The applicant, Nathaniel Goodin, P.E., the civil and structural engineer representing TAP Inc., described the application as part of the ZBA review for a new-construction, three-story condominium project that would deliver 30 units on a formerly vacant lot. “We are solely focused on the 30 units of new construction and seeking variance for that lot,” Goodin said during his presentation, adding that the design allocates 13 parking spaces at the rear of the lot and reserves two accessible spaces and electric-vehicle chargers.

Board members and residents pressed the applicant on alley width, emergency access, snow removal and how the planned parking would interact with existing on-street and alley parking. “Franklin Alley is narrow,” said David Testo, a nearby resident, who described repeated damage to garage corners and warned that full-time occupancy would increase demand and conflicts in a lane that currently serves waste pickup and…