The former GP surgery at 289 Hull Road – now home to York Foot Clinic – could be turned into an HMO for four adults.
Applicant Keira Moore, a podiatrist who owns the building and runs the York Foot Clinic from it along with two other full-time colleagues, told The Press she was applying to the council for a change of use to an HMO because of problems with parking in the area.
She said clients, often elderly and disabled, struggled to park near the clinic and her efforts to acquire more parking spaces had failed.
Should the council approve her plan, she said she hoped to still offer chiropody services to clients in the future but could not confirm the exact details.
“At the moment, we are considering all our options,” she said.
Local independent councillor Mark Warters, representing Osbaldwick and Derwent ward, is requesting the application, now in front of city planners, be “called in”.
This would mean elected councillors rather than planning officers having the final say on whether the request for a change of use of this commercial building to a HMO gets the green light.
In a letter to planners, Cllr Warters outlines the grounds for his call-in request.
He says an HMO would mean “the loss of a potential residential family home to the student-let HMO market” and notes the “close proximity to other student-let HMOs”.
He says the property is in a short cul-de-sac meaning “the increased comings and goings associated with a student-let HMO will be amplified for the council-tax-paying residents”.
Other concerns regard parking and the location of a bin store and cycle stands to the front of the property which, he states, would be “detrimental to the streetscene” are also noted in the letter.
The council has guidelines on the number of HMOs permitted in York.
Neil Bellerby, the city council’s strategic planning policy officer, has submitted a report to planners on the number of existing HMOs in the area surrounding the clinic.
His calculations show that there are at least three HMOs out of 19 properties in the street – just over 15 per cent. Council guidelines state “ten per cent [of HMOs] at street level have been established as the point at which a community can tip from balanced to unbalanced”.
However, Dewar Planning on behalf of Ms Moore, urge the planners to back the scheme.
In a statement to the planning committee, they state the property would become a four-person (HMO), consisting of four bedrooms, a shared kitchen and living spaces and two toilet shower rooms.
Because the premises was a commercial unit and not a family home, it argues a change of use would not result in the loss of a family dwellinghouse.
Ms Moore also told The Press she understood HMO quotas did not apply because the building was a commercial property.
The planning statement continues: “Additionally, it is considered that the proposed development use as a four- person HMO would result in fewer comings and goings and general activity than the commercial foot clinic.”
It concludes: “It is considered that the nature of occupation as a four person HMO would not have a negative effect on adjacent neighbours, however, a comprehensive management plan has been provided which would assist in such issues such as information and advice to residents, garden maintenance, refuse and recycling collections and property maintenance issues.”
For more, check out ref 23/02374/FUL at planningaccess.york.gov.uk.
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