ZBA Hearing - May 26, 2021

The property is indicated in blue.

Red is all CMX3 properties.

Everything around here is on RSA 5.

You'll see, members of the board,

that there are a number of multifamily dwellings on the block already as I go through the photographs

of whether those are legally permitted or not. In every instance, I cannot say, but there is

precedent at the north end of the block, closer to Erie, as I stated earlier on the record, for

multifamily. There's also a larger rooming house on the corner there. This is my client's commercial

activity license at page 14. Tax clearance certificate application was not working, but

What I did was print out a tax balance showing there are no taxes owed on the property.

This is my zoning notification letter.

We did have this meeting in person last year.

This is the reverse of the letter that went out.

And a copy of our proof of mailing at page 19 showing that 163 pieces of mail went out.

They were sent in November 10.

unnumbered but just for purpose of the record is a green and blue fax screen that was received by

the zoning board this is the letter from the rco the community group the meeting itself was a little

bit heated just because of the fact that a couple of residents who did attend and there weren't very

many because this was in the middle of covet because this wasn't in person meeting initially

and then we had a later meeting as well to discuss everything but in any case that the

neighbors were a little bit concerned about multi-family in the existing area and the height

of it all as i've stated on the record and as we'll see there's existing multi-family in the

area the proposal for this two-family dwelling will allow us to build something that's more

affordable for neighboring residents each of the units themselves in the proposed four-story

structure. Our three-bedroom, four-bath, and about 1,750 square feet, the massings are about the

same size as the adjacent properties, which tend to be larger Victorian homes. This is the zoning

sign that was posted on the property. You can see the adjacent structure. My recollection, members of

the board, is this had two mailboxes on it. Along Lenox Street, you do have the smaller two-family

homes, not as grand as the ones on 15th. This is looking northbound on 15th Street. I'm just going

scroll through my photos so we see everything these are all newer construction homes this is

our vacant parcel this is looking down the block again we have a couple of vacant parcels larger

three-story homes large three-story homes down the block this is the adjacent home that has two

mailboxes and then properties across the street as well what i'm showing now is the elevation and

the site plan members of the board. At the top of the photograph, pardon me, at the top of the

screen, you see the photographs of the property. The lot itself is going to have a decent-sized

front yard and rear yard. That's kind of why we match the property adjacent with their porch.

Although we don't propose a porch, it is going to have a nice yard area for use by the unit in front

and a nice yard area for use by the unit in the back. That's setback nine foot nine from the

street. The rear yard is then seven feet, a little bit smaller. That's going to be

produced by each of the units, one at the front and one at the rear. You'll see the

pilot house. This is why we received our refusal for height. It is set back

significantly from the street and from the rear of the parcel. So I believe it's

about 16 feet or so set back. It's not a little bit further from the street, so it

ought not be visible from street level. You have a 42-inch parapet all around and

roof deck for both the front and the rear units is set back as required by the zoning code from

both street frontiers on lennox also on 15th the principal structure does not exceed 38 feet we

have our parapet wall and then the pilot house because it is a little bit larger due to code

does count towards our height which puts us at over that height limit but i would suggest numbers

of the board this is a de minimis request just to comply with egress requirements each the entrances

as i said our own lennox street the design itself is essentially a butterfly and as we

the design itself is essentially a butterfly and as we get into the units themselves we'll see what

get into the units themselves we'll see what we're talking about there

we're talking about there this is a different view of what we have going on so rear of the property

side of the property front of the property and then the floor plans itself so starting in the

basement we have no bedrooms down there it is a large family room area about 11 by 17 give or take

There is a half bath down in the basement as well.

That's where we'll be keeping the mechanicals.

Ground story, you come into the house along Lenox Street, and I'm just going to go through the front unit because the back unit is essentially the same.

You come in, you have a closet, living, kitchen and dining area.

Then we have these stairs that are tucked back to the rear of the unit to maximize interior square footage on the lot itself.

and each of the floors are basically the same layout blue unit is unit one that tan unit back

here is unit two you have one bedroom on each floor decent sized closet and a bathroom there's

a closet on the first floor the second story we have a washer dryer and on third story the proposal

potentially for a wet bar or something along those lines as well trash storage can happen in each of

yards for each of the units the rear yard is 98 square feet the front yard which is set back as

136.5 square feet off to the right i have to move my window out of the way here members of the board

what we have then is our roof decks as i noted before those are set back from all street frontages

to allow for some additional outdoor space for each of the units that's essentially what we're

looking at members of the board the hardship here is essentially that the lot itself is rather large

construction of a single family home would result in that home as being relatively expensive

for purchase having these two units on this lot will allow for a more affordable price point

for anybody who wishes to move into these lots the lots themselves pardon me the parcels themselves

and the units themselves are relatively decently sized while there were concerns that were raised

by neighbors with respect to the construction with respect to the multi-family as you can see

by the house immediately next door and by the properties I referenced closer up Erie Avenue,

just half a block north. There is a precedent for multifamily development in this area.

Members of the board, at this time, I'm happy to answer any questions. My client is unfortunately

not available at this time in front of me, as he is out of the country, but I'll do my best to

answer whatever questions you may have. Thank you. And we do have the RCO letter?

uh the rco letter was submitted i believe it was ultimately in opposition based on the fact that

they did not wish to have two families in the rsa 5 district

and i believe that was uh sent from mr charles karn of the uh local community group

um any questions from the board no no no

anyone else who would like to testify in this case please raise your hand

there are no hands at this time chair we have nothing from the district council person's office

mr muffo i i don't recall receiving a letter from uh councilman bass's office

Thank you, Chair DiCicco, Ian Hegarty for the City Planning Commission.

The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing single-family zoning at this

location.

This is a vacant, rectilinear lot that presents no grounds for physical hardship, so the City

Planning Commission would recommend that the Board deny the variance.

Chair, we have recently seen that Mr. Richardson from Bass's office has

raised his hand okay thank you mr richardson you can unmute yourself and speak now good

identify yourself you're still under oath from earlier today good morning mr chair councilwoman

is opposed to granting this variance uh mr richardson i'm sorry if you could please start

off with identifying yourself for the record sorry sorry miss sunken charles richardson from the

office of councilwoman cindy bass room 312 city hall

so on their oath please proceed okay and as i was saying the councilwoman is opposed to granting

this variance uh the rco did conduct a meeting uh the folks were against it and the rco came

against it and the councilwoman uh feels that it could be better served as a single family home in

the in the area thank you and thank you and we did get the planning commission

yes sure you already did you yeah got it thank you

Yes, Chair. You already did.

Thank you. Yep. Got it. Thank you.

MI2020-002131-3625

North 15th Street. My vote is no.

My vote is no. My vote is no.

My vote is no.

Thank you, Mr. Board. Have a good afternoon.

Mr. Chair, do you want me to call 11 anyway?

Well, I'm going to ask out. Let me ask if there's anybody here for it. MI 2020-002-179-704-North-23rd Street. Is there anyone here for 704-North-23rd Street?

Here, I have two people with their hands up. There's a John Griffin and then there's Mr. Anastasio.

Let's get Mr. Anastasio.

He's been promoted to panelists, Chair.

Nastasia, are you testifying on behalf of 704 North 23rd?

I'm sorry, Mr. Chair. I just wanted to bring to the attention that 1532 North 25th, which was

case number three on your list for today, that was called, but I presented 2331 North Broad.

Yes, I have that.

Okay, I just want to make sure that we were still in the queue.

Yes, we still have three and four left, so I'll let the chair know.

Thank you.

And Ms. Benton, could you promote John Griffin, who's the attorney, I believe?

Okay.

I believe Mr. Griffin is here for the next case, Kester Avenue, if you're mistaken.

Everybody keep raising a hand. I don't know what's going on.

Yes. Can everyone hear me? John Griffin?

Mr. Griffin, what case are you here for?

Judge, I raised my hand. I'm on 69-15 Caster.

I've been on since this morning.

Yeah, we're getting to that, sir.

Okay, I thought you said you had one left, and when I didn't hear it, that's why I raised my hand.

Yeah, you're accurate, but we'll explain in a minute why I said I had one left.

Is there anyone here for 704 North 23rd Street?

there are no hands at this time chair okay no exhibits it's the second listing mi 2020

that's zero zero two one seven nine seven oh four north 23rd my vote is to dismiss

my vote is to dismiss dismiss dismiss dismiss

Ms. Smith. Calendar number 1121-6915 Castor Avenue. The attorney is Mr. Griffin.

And there's a letter of support from the RCO community on the rise.

Mr. Griffin. Mr. Griffin has been promoted to pay him this year. Mr. Griffin, can you put your name and address on the record and spell your last name, please?

please? Yes, that's John J. Griffin, P.O. Box 571 Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania,

19444. Thank you. Thank you. Can you spell your last name, please? Yes, G-R-I-F-F-I-N.

Thank you. Do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?

I do. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?

I do. And have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, refusal or referral, photos and or plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing? And have you met with the RCO? And do you have a letter?

Yes. And yes. Thank you.

Thank you. You may proceed.

uh uh Mr. Chico members of the board uh I had forwarded uh back uh at least five days ago

uh a cover letter uh together with exhibits uh as I'm talking to you I'm trying to

simultaneously do a few things in terms of uh screen sharing uh and I will certainly get to

that. But essentially, I represent Mr. Astrid Maraca and Gertie Tifa. Mr. Tifa, I believe,

is on this Zoom call as well. We are seeking a variance for a newly constructed two-story

mixed-use building at 6915 Caster Avenue. This is a vacant lot which sits next to

an existing business an hvac store called uh line electric uh the owners of mr griffin

called uh line electric uh the owners mr griffin pardon the interruption do you have any exhibits

you can share with us uh the exhibits are there and i was just attempting to screen share as we

speak um so if i can uh uh look to get this accomplished so mr griffin if you open up the

document that you wish to share and allow that to be open on your desktop if you're using a computer

then you're going to look on your zoom application at the bottom of the screen

you'll see a green button that says share when you hit that then hit the document you wish to share

i am uh uh if i'm talking to tanya thank you you're welcome i'm doing that um i've hit share

content okay i've gone to my dropbox folder okay and and it keeps telling me to sign into my dropbox

when i'm already signed in so do you actually have the document opened up already i do so did

you hit that uh because it should be open on your desktop and then it will allow you to go right in

to share it i i okay you know what i uh it says copy link um um excuse me sir as tanya's saying

um if you have it visible on your screen you should be able to just click on the image of

it when you hit click share screen just click on the image of your document and it should

uh i i have clicked on it

um but i don't i don't see it coming up on my zoom feed

can everyone still hear me yep yes i'll hear you we just don't see anything

uh perhaps what i can do here is um

share a copy link, export file, or invite to file.

So it shouldn't give you any type of direction or commands because your documents should be

already visible. Are the actual pictures and the documents, refusals and so forth already

up on the screen where you can visibly read it? Yes. Okay. So when you hit the share,

the green share button, and then you'll see other documents pop up, you're going to look for the one

that you want to share, which is those documents that's open already. It shouldn't take you into

your Dropbox. You're talking about on my Zoom screen? No, on your actual computer. Because

when first you're going to do the Zoom, hit the share screen, and then it should pop up telling

you different things it's open on your computer which one you want to click on to share

uh screen photos icloud drive perhaps i should go sorry sir are you using an ipad or are you using

could could i could i could i interrupt for a moment um i'm just wondering tanya and pauline

uh if you guys can work with uh mr griffin we maybe we can go to the other cases in the interest

of time and come back okay sounds good chair sounds wonderful all right so let's go to the

other cases carol and then we'll come back to mr griffin uh 13 is continued 13 is continued

14 we already voted wasn't there um so now we have three and four three and four on the calendar

Calendar number 0461, 1532 North 25th Street.

The attorney is Vern Anastasio.

We are now getting information from Mr. Griffin's screen.

I think I may have figured it out.

But it's still not showing your documents, though.

It just say you're sharing a screen, but no documents.

Okay, now, there we go.

I think we might be good.

I don't want to lose a chair.

So, Vern, you'll have to wait a few more.

Vern, hold up.

So be it, so be it.

One of those mornings.

Okay, Mr. Griffin, please proceed.

Very well.