The Lebanon Zoning Hearing Board held a marathon meeting Wednesday to hear the appeal of a real-estate developer who has been ordered by the city to convert four of his rooming houses into single-dwelling units.

No decision on Mike Pidgorodetskiy’s appeal was made at the end of the three-hour hearing, which was continued.

Meanwhile, the lodgings of 42 of Pidgorodetskiy’s tenants hang in the balance.

At issue are row homes at 109 and 111 N. 12th St., 1017 Mifflin St. and 440 Lehman St. Each is a rooming house in which tenants have a private room, though most share bathroom facilities, and each house has one common-use kitchen. The rent per room is about $125 per week.

Pidgorodetskiy has been issued a cease-and-desist order

from operating the properties as rooming houses because they are all in a residential high-density zone where rooming houses are not permitted without a zoning variance, testified Lebanon zoning hearing officer Karen Zaporozec.

However, Pidgorodetskiy’s attorney, George Christianson, presented city records documenting that all but one of the properties have a long history of being either rooming houses or personal care homes. And, he said, they were used in that manner when Pidgorodetskiy purchased them about four years ago.

The house at 440 Lehman St. was a single dwelling Pidgorodetskiy bought in 2008 and converted into a nine-bedroom rooming house.

Zaporozec said she first noticed the properties were out of compliance when she

reviewed the buyer notification certificates that were issued by the city Public Safety Department when they were sold.

In the case of the Lehman Street property, the certificates, known as BNC, listed the use of the building as a single-unit dwelling, she said.

The BNC for the property on Mifflin Street and in the 100 block of North 12th Street, however, listed their uses as rooming houses.

But on questioning from Lebanon solicitor Donna Brightbill, Zaporozec clarified that BNCs are not zoning permits, and her zoning permit records show the latest use for 1017 Mifflin St. is single-unit dwelling, while the latest use for the North 12th Street properties is for a personal care home.

Although it is a fine distinction, Zaporozec explained, there are differences between personal care and rooming homes.

“Basically, the difference is your tenant base,” she said. “You have removed the supervision, the 24/7 supervision. And it is just now independent living people who don’t require any care – for a rooming house.”

Also testifying at the request of the city was Betsy Bowman, deputy director of the Lebanon County Redevelopment Authority, which has an office near the North 12th Street properties.

Bowman said the properties were well run when they were personal care homes, but without proper oversight, concerns arose with about two dozen people living in the homes.

Bowman also testified that it violated a city regulation that personal care homes must not be closer than 400 feet.

Through testimony from Zaporozec, Christianson established that Pidgorodetskiy has been paying the city’s rental unit licensing fee for all four properties for the past three or four years, without the city raising any questions about it. That stopped this year.

Had he known that the use of the North 12th Street properties violated the city’s zoning ordinance, Pidgorodetskiy testified, he would not have spent the $150,000 to buy them.

Between the purchase price and renovations, he said, he has spent more than $400,000 on all four properties.

Pidgorodetskiy also testified that each tenant signs a 15-page lease, and if there is any disruption or illegal activity he is evicted.

“All of our units are run almost like recovery house,” he said. “We have very strict rules. … We try to provide safe apartments.”

Pidgorodetskiy, who lives with his family in South Lebanon Township, began his Lebanon real-estate business in 2004. Since then, he testified, he has renovated nearly 80 homes, half of which were condemned or vacant when he purchased them.

Pidgorodetskiy’s business has expanded to include real-estate management, and he now owns and manages about two dozen properties in the city, he said.

About two dozen people attended Wednesday’s meeting, most in Pidgorodetskiy’s camp, including several tenants.

A handful of associates and employees spoke on Pidgorodetskiy’s behalf, including Sismai Matos, who handles tenant relations.

Becoming emotional, Matos reminded the Zoning Hearing Board that peoples’ lives would be affected by its decision, including hers.

“I beg you, if these permits don’t get through I won’t have a job anymore, and these people won’t have housing,” she said. “So I want to put it in your head and in your mind to not only think about permits and regulations, but also think about the people and where they are going to live at.”

Because of scheduling conflicts, the five-member zoning board will not be able to resume the hearing at its regularly scheduled August meeting. A date for a special hearing will be announced.

Zoning Hearing Board solicitor Keith Kilgore said he would take additional testimony at that hearing, and a ruling would immediately follow.

johnlatimer@ldnews.com; 717-272-5611, ext. 149