The owner of a Newcastle apartment building is asking the town to approve a “retroactive variance” for several existing apartments that violate municipal zoning rules.
The town lists Juloania Inc., as the owner of Newcastle Center, a building off Academy Hill with 13 apartments and two commercial units. Paul Sidelinger is the president and sole shareholder of Juloania Inc.
The apartment building violates density rules in Newcastle’s land use ordinance because Sidelinger does not have enough land for the number of units, Newcastle Code Enforcement Officer Stan Waltz said.
Town zoning also does not allow a building with more than six units in that part of town, Waltz said. Newcastle Center has 15 units in its main building and 1-3 in another building, he said.
“There’s a host of things that he doesn’t meet,” Waltz said.
According to the application, Sidelinger thought he had all the necessary permits when the apartments were added, but he cannot locate the permits and is no longer certain they were issued.
He said he assumed he had secured the permits because he worked closely with the town code enforcement officer and wrote checks to the town for permit fees. He also assumed the bank or banks that financed the project would have “required proper protocol with the town,” according to the application.
According to town documents, the Newcastle Board of Appeals can only grant the variance if town zoning would cause “undue hardship” to the owner in four ways: the lot cannot yield a reasonable return without a variance; the need for a variance is due to the unique circumstances of the lot, not general conditions in the neighborhood; the variance would not alter the essential character of the neighborhood; and the hardship is not the result of action taken by the owner or a prior owner on or after Nov. 7, 1972.
The apartments were completed by 2003, according to the application.
Sidelinger, in his application, argues that he fulfills the first and third requirements, although he does not appear to address the other two.
“It would be an undue hardship if the owner cannot continue its current use [a]s its current use is needed to yield a reasonable return to operate the buildings, maintain debt service and pay the town taxes,” according to the application.
The lot is “in character with the neighborhood,” according to the application.
The Newcastle Appeals Board will meet Wed., Jan. 2 at 5:30 p.m. to hear the request for a variance.
Newcastle Center and its owner were recently in the news after an investigation by the Office of the State Fire Marshal revealed several fire safety violations at the building.
Sidelinger told The Lincoln County News he would fix any legitimate safety issues.
