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Council committee hears request to rezone 640 Ulrich Street from industrial to medium‑density residential
Summary
City planning staff and the property owner told the council a 2014 zoning map error left a single‑lot house in an industrial district; the Community & Economic Development Committee moved the bill to the next legislative session for a formal vote.
The Community and Economic Development Committee of the Harrisburg City Council opened a public hearing on Bill 3 of 2025, which would amend the city zoning map to change the parcel at 640 Ulrich Street from the industrial (IND) zone to the residential medium‑density (RM) zone.
Jeffrey Knight, the city’s planning director, told the committee the parcel was encompassed by industrial zoning during the mapping work that led to the current code and map adopted in 2014 and that the current proposal is a “curative amendment” to correct that placement. Knight said the parcel sits adjacent to blocks already zoned RM and that the change “would not represent spot zoning” because the surrounding blocks along Ulrich and Penwood are residential medium density.
The applicant and property owner, Paulette Walker, described practical consequences she said resulted from the industrial designation. Walker said lenders would not offer conventional mortgages on a house in an industrial zone and that commercial financing would require large down payments and short‑term rates, diminishing the market for a modest single‑family dwelling. She described the house as roughly 1,100 square feet with two bedrooms and one bath on about a tenth of an acre and said the industrial label reduced the property’s value and salability.
Deputy Solicitor Tiersa Cameron entered seven exhibits into the hearing record, including the zoning amendment application, the Harrisburg Planning Bureau case report, the Dauphin County Planning Commission report and the Planning Commission resolution recommending approval. Knight said the planning bureau and Planning Commission recommend council approve the rezoning because the property “appears to have been incorrectly zoned as industrial” during the 2014 adoption and because the requested use is consistent with the character of adjacent residential blocks.
No members of the public offered comment during the hearing. After brief questions from council members, the committee adjourned the public hearing and moved Bill 3 of 2025 to the next legislative session agenda for a formal vote.
The council record indicates the matter will return for a formal legislative vote; no final legislative action was taken during the hearing.
