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Owner requests rezoning of 640 Ulrich Street to residential medium density; council staff call it a corrective map change
Summary
The Community and Economic Development Committee considered Bill 3 of 2025, an application to rezone 640 Ulrich Street from industrial to residential medium density to align zoning with the property’s historic residential use.
The Community and Economic Development Committee considered a zoning-map amendment application (Bill 3 of 2025) to change the zoning designation of 640 Ulrich Street from industrial (IND) to residential medium density (RM).
Jeffrey Knight, the city’s planning director, described the request as a corrective action tied to an earlier mapping decision. He said the property and adjacent lots have historically been residential and that the industrial zoning likely resulted from a mapping oversight when the current zoning code and map were developed. The property owner, through a realtor, has asked for rezoning to allow a single-family dwelling as a by-right use; Knight said a single-family dwelling is not permitted by right in the industrial district but is permitted in the RM district. The Planning Commission recommended approval, citing neighborhood character and the mistaken industrial designation.
Councilmembers discussed whether adjacent properties might also be mis-zoned and expressed interest in ensuring a consistent approach, but Knight and the solicitor cautioned that a broader rezoning for multiple parcels would typically be driven by other property owners’ applications and could raise spot-zoning concerns if the city acted proactively on the council’s own initiative. City staff explained the public-notice requirements under the zoning code, including perimeter posting, certified mailings to surrounding owners and consecutive newspaper advertisements before a public hearing.
Council indicated it would work with planning staff and the Law Bureau to establish an advertisement and hearing schedule; the transcript records that the application was before planning and Dauphin County and that the council would coordinate postings and a public hearing per statute.
Why it matters: Rezoning would change permitted uses for 640 Ulrich Street and could affect saleability and future land use at the parcel. Planning staff characterized the change as correcting an apparent administrative error so that zoning matches existing neighborhood character.
What’s next: Staff will coordinate the required public postings and a hearing; if the application is amended substantively after the hearing, additional notice and a new hearing would be required before council can vote.
