Zoning Hearing Board Meeting 10/14/26 | City of Reading, PA

The City of Reading Zoning Hearing Board meeting on October 14, 2026, considered land-use appeals and special-exception and variance requests; no procurement activity, contract awards, or spending decisions were identified. The Board denied the requested relief for 612 Willow Street after the applicant failed to appear for a second time. It heard, but deferred decisions until the following month, on Fairview Charitable Trust’s proposal to expand its nonprofit counseling use at 1307 Good Street, including relief related to use, expansion limits, and parking; a childcare-center application for 13–19 South 4th Street; Trinity Lutheran Church’s requests to establish and improve a parking lot; and a proposal to adaptively reuse 331 Callow Court as three apartments with parking on an adjacent lot.

Discussion focused on neighborhood impacts, parking access and capacity, screening, building and fire-safety considerations, and the proposed projects’ fit with their surroundings. For the Callow Court proposal, a neighbor raised concerns about obstructed access and parking; city staff said the application would still need land-development review and that parking restrictions could be taken up with the city engineer. The Board also approved, by motion, the relief previously requested by the Reading Housing Authority for 107 River Road, subject to the conditions in the written decision, and agreed to arrange a workshop.