SARPA’s Position on 344 Summit

John Rupp’s proposal to convert 344 Summit into a “residential apartment hotel” is an issue of great importance to Summit Avenue and to SARPA. To this end, Mr. Rupp has provided us information on his proposal, board members attended a community meeting about it, we discussed the idea at our Annual Meeting, and we have received commentary and feedback from many nearby residents.

Knowing that the issue is very complex, SARPA sponsored a special meeting on August 25, with 344 Summit the only agenda item. We conducted a “SWOT” analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats), and soon realized that the Weaknesses (and then the Threats) significantly and clearly outweighed the Strengths and Opportunities. The board voted unanimously to recommend against the Conditional Use Permit.

Our primary deliberation was that the granting of a Conditional Use Permit for 344 Summit to operate as a “residential apartment hotel” is clearly not allowed in the RT2 zoning for the property. The zoning does allow for the “reuse of structures over 9,000 square feet,” but only for a use otherwise allowed within the zoning code (for example as a school, home occupation, or even a bed and breakfast (up to 4 rooms). However, a “hotel” requires T2 zoning, or a rooming/boarding house RM1. Since spot zoning is disallowed by state law, a “residential apartment hotel” is simply not allowed at the site as zoned.

We also feel strongly that commercial development simply should not be allowed on Summit Avenue (as disallowed in the original Summit Avenue Plan, which the city apparently de-certified without or knowledge in 2009). Both the zoning and the original Summit Avenue Plan (1986) call expressly for Summit Avenue to be residential in nature. SARPA’s very charter is to “protect the historic, residential, and urban park character of Summit Avenue.” We feel strongly that this rationale is still sound and appropriate.

Were the city to allow this use, there would not be a principled way to say “No” to other commercial development, such as a high-end boutique shopping center or a luxury steakhouse. Summit Avenue stands as the nation’s longest, intact, Victorian residential street, and it is too valuable a part of our history to lose.