Stephen Gharabegian, one of the more notorious absentee landlords in town, will go before the Amherst Zoning Board of Appeals on September 25 to request a Special Permit to "Change a 3 family house to 4 family house."
Of course these days "family" simply means four unrelated tenants, and on Phillips Street -- where Mr. Gharabegian (aka College Street and Knight Properties LLCs) owns four-out-of-nine dwellings -- that means UMass undergrad students.
Interestingly one main criteria for the ZBA in allowing such requests is, does it fit into the general character of the neighborhood?
And in this case, where 95% of the (supposedly) 64 tenants along the entire street are "college aged youth"-- many of them drawn by Phillips Street's rowdy reputation -- it's hard to imagine an increase of four residents can make a huge difference.
Kind of an "Escape from L.A." scenario where all the refugees are safely secluded in a giant makeshift holding area.
Still, on general principles the ZBA should deny the permit. Especially since the proposed expansion trips newer building codes that require a sprinkler system. And thus far Mr. Gharabegian makes no mention of installing such a lifesaver.
After the recent major fire at Southpoint Apartments or the fatal one at Rolling Green Apartments, where lack of sprinklers are grandfathered, who would argue that a such a safety system is too much of a burden?
6 comments:
I wonder is Stephan will be renting the house out to Alpha Sigma Phi again this year (as the house is in fact NOT zoned for such nonsense). I bet he gets away with it again.
I don't see the issue with creating another housing unit that is within the character of the neighborhood.
If it is in demand and it is not allowed under the concept of "general principal" aka bigotry towards students, are those that oppose this housing unit going to offer an alternative housing unit plan...specifically, make sure that the housing unit they are eliminating from the pages of history is replaced.
I think I like it better when people that judge others based on their group association are honest and use slurs.
Yeah, just let him do whatever he wants.
Like rent out 45 Phillips Street to Sip Ep and 11 Phillips Street out to ADPI.
Then again, what's 4 more douchebags on douchebag street.
Stephan Gharadouchebag has outdone himself this time.
I especially appreciate the fact that his tenants are required to keep the exterior of the building "spotless", with inspections and corrections "Every Monday".
Right.
When exactly does THIS protocol begin? We all look forward to that.
Fill in the blanks. Stephan Gharabegian: Kingpin of the East Coast ____ _____.
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