Cheaper by the Dozen? How many people live there anyway?

117-119 North 5th Street

119 North 5th Street might be an exercise in determining how many people can fit into a house. The answer in this case appears to be a dozen. It also might be an exercise in determining how such alleged overcrowding could occur - apparently without the borough's knowledge.

Gerald Hawn, as he has done on several previous occasions, once again brought the issue forth, this time at Tuesday's work session. Hawn owns 501 Walnut Street, right next to the parcel in question. In earlier meetings, he had asked Borough Council about the status of 119 North 5th, since so many young women entered and left during the day and vehicles were being illegally parked in his lot. Council seemed dumbfounded at the revelation and offered no definitive answers. Hawn finally took matters into his own hands and asked the owner of one of the parked vehicles what was going on in the house. The man replied that it was a "rehab house" that had space for 12 women, although only 11 were staying there at the time. The man said his girlfriend was one of women. 

Hawn presented this information at a recent council meeting. According to Hawn, Borough Manager Rebecca Denlinger subsequently contacted him just before the February 26 meeting to tell him a zoning enforcement action is pending.

At this past Tuesday's work session, Hawn asked for an update and was told by Zoning Enforcement officer Jeff Helm he will be meeting with the property manager/lessee of the building on Friday morning, March 8, to discuss elements of the zoning enforcement notice. According to Helm, the person will be given an opportunity to address issues discovered during an inspection done on Monday of last week. Helm said if an agreement is not reached this Friday, the lessee will have 30 days to "fix" the issues. If this is not done by the deadline, the lessee will have the right to appeal the issue to the Zoning Hearing Board. Hawn asked what the zoning issue is, and Helm replied, "The zoning issue is the number of people."

The parcel includes two structures, one of which, at 117 North 5th, is currently unoccupied. The other structure, at 119 North 5th, has three bedrooms and 2-1/2 baths as well as the other accommodations listed below. (The Lancaster County Tax Assessment Office lists the parcel simply as "117 N FIFTH ST".)

According to public records, the property was acquired by ACEMAC LLC on February 28, 2018 at a cost of $210,000. Interestingly, the company was created only 12 days before, on February 16, 2018. Additional information is shown below.