You'll see that in a minute.
And then we're proposing the development.
This is phase three, the remainder of the property.
The original drawings, the buildings are exactly as they were originally proposed.
As mentioned, and I'm going to zoom in here, there was another, the fifth of the buildings
to fill in that gap over here on North 5th Street, another eight-unit building.
And then there was a taller building, seven-story building to be erected here at the corner.
And, um, when we went to the community group, we presented this building, all of it was
residential.
The property is owned RM1.
So other than the number of dwelling units, we were three, um, we had three more than
was allowed on this total lot on the total lot area.
Um, it was all, it was all residential and what the community wanted to see because the
property is located along Burke street here.
They wanted to see, um, that, uh, commercial along the ground floor.
So originally, our ground floor was a residential lobby, an amenity space, bicycle storage.
And then what they wanted us to change to was to provide commercial along the frontage of Burke Street here and a little bit along Cadwell Otter Street.
We shifted the residential lobby.
We did away with the amenity space.
We relocated the bicycle parking down to the cellar, as you can see here to the left.
And that was the only physical change, I guess, to what has been proposed.
But because this involves property zoned RM1, adding the commercial use generates another refusal,
or will generate another refusal, which required an amendment of the zoning application.
In terms of the drawings, though, going back to the original drawings, here you have the original drawings,
and then here you have and i'll zoom those in a little bit you can see here um in the revisions
and this was also based upon some input from the community um we kind of reconfigured the parking
lot area we added a scroll down here into the lower corner we added a dog run pet an area run
here and um and just reconfigured figured added more greening this will require planning commission
review of the landscaping. But we believe we've complied with all the requirements in that
respect and that there should be no additional refusals that are generated by accommodating
the community's request regarding the parking lot. So we have in the original refusal,
let me find it right here. We only had two refusals, one again, where we had three more
We only had two refusals. One, again, where we had three more dwelling units that were permitted. 88 are permitted, and we have a total of 91. And that both buildings are taller than what is permitted in the RM1 zoning district.
We'll be right back.
And again, the building that we are proposing on North 5th Street is the same building that was granted variances previously for phase one of the project.
We believe the same conditions that existed for the granting of the variances in that case exist here as well.
And again, it's only a height refusal, and it's not a substantial one.
It's a 42 feet or 44 feet.
And then the corner building is much taller than RM1 permits.
But given the width of Burke Street, there are other tall structures up and down Burke Street.
The community didn't have, and the fact that we're going to be adding needed density, population for this commercial quarter, the community didn't have much of an issue or have an issue with the height of that.
Again, provided that we provided them with the commercial space at the ground floor.
And the amendment application has been submitted to L&I.
Planning Commission and L&I are reviewing it.
We expect a return with the amended notice for refusal shortly.
And once that's received, we would hope that the zoning board would vote this matter.
In terms of, I know you had asked about the community.
I have remained in touch with the community regarding this project as far as where we are with it.
They are awaiting the approval.
They actually thought it had already been approved, but they do want to see the amended notice of refusal.
I was talking to him on another project that I presented to him last month, and they're waiting on the amended refusal just to make sure that the commercial use is included.
But they had originally, based upon our representations, at least back in September 2023, for this particular case, had issued a letter of non-opposition.
But again, just to make sure that everything is as they had requested, we're going to provide them with a copy of the amended notice of refusal.
And if they decide to provide an updated letter, they will.
And if they elect not to or they decline to provide it, I'll notify the zoning board regarding that.
And then I quickly I can have my client adopt my statements.
Sean Frankel.
Could you go could you go back one more minute here and talk about the neighbors?
Because they refused to write a letter because they could not come to terms with your client.
Is that right?
Well, no, they wrote a letter back in 2020.
No, no, no. I'm talking about now.
Oh, no. I mean, I hadn't I hadn't asked them to provide another letter per se, but we did mention about getting them.
The RTO had decided not to take a position because the applicant would not agree to their provisos.
Right. And that was something that they did put in that letter in a condition following the meeting summary form.
And that's why we want to show them the conditions regarding that we have provided the commercial space.
They did separate and apart from this, and we've entered into agreement with them to have two affordable houses, affordable units.
But again, once we show that we've done what we said we're going to do, which is providing them the amended notice of refusal, I believe that we'll get some type of revised letter out of them.
Why don't you bring your client on?
Sure. Sean Frankel.
Hello there.
could you please state your name
and spell for the stenographer
we can't hear you
you went silent
I apologize
I have a
okay alright go ahead
just state your name
and spell for the stenographer
S-E-A-N-F-R-A-N-K-E-L
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Sean, did you hear the statements that I made to the zoning board this afternoon?
And are they true and correct to the best of your knowledge?
And would you adopt them as your own?
And is there anything you'd like to add to what I stated regarding, particularly in regard to the interactions and communications we've had with the community?
Questions from the board?
okay um questions or comments for our attorney
um only to note mr chair as you said we'll hold for the amended refusal um and give the um the
rco a chance to submit a letter as well um and and if there's something that the applicant wishes to
respond to in that letter um they can do that as well hillary do we have an idea what date do you
um they can do that as well hillary do we have an idea what date do you want to what do you want
want to what do you want to try to get this
to try to get this done by um mr orphanese you have a sense of how soon the um amended refusal
might be issued i know i had to go back through planning first i mean i think we'll have the
amended notice of refusal within the next couple weeks so you know i would ask i would suggest that
we'd be ready to come back for a vote um you know by early september i mean i was hoping that we
would just close the record and then once we've provided that information the board would just
vote the case okay so what if we why don't we give the rco then so say it takes a couple of weeks
when we give the rco a couple of weeks to send a letter and then you to respond so maybe could we
say like september 17th yeah that sounds great yeah okay in fact they have a meeting that night
yep is there anyone in the virtual audience no chair i see no hands at this time
it's planning one of changes don't think you initially take a position on this um did we
oh yeah we did take a position uh so um so let's put it this uh mr chairman we'll stand on our
prior testimony with a note that the promised affordable units cannot be enforced by any city
agency right okay so this will be continued to september 17th at 2 p.m hillary september 17th
at 2 p.m thank you both thanks
okay number four mi 2024 006 823 53 29 north 13th street natasha watson is the tenant applicant
it's just a pro se
are you
I see no one in the audience
actually she's here
Hillary this is a request assistance
am I correct
and you have it yes
okay that that is correct
all right could you state your name and spell it
for the stenographer yes
Natasha Watson
N-A-T-A-S-H-A
W-A-T-S-O-N
Do you swear or affirm the tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Board member Graham has a few questions for you.
Good afternoon.
Have you submitted your documents five days in advance of this hearing?
And do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Oh, no.
I'm sorry.
Sorry.
It's pro se.
We'll read into the record.
Thank you.
Thank you.
They're going to read into the record.
Proceed.
i'm sorry i didn't go can we read the refusal into the record uh i can do that mr chair if
you'd like what's it read the refusal into the record would you like me to do that oh yeah sure
absolutely okay sure this application is for use as a personal care home within an existing
structure the proposed use personal care home requires special exception approval in the rsa
three zoning district please proceed hi yes i'm sorry i don't know what to say
so what's going to happen here is uh
all your documents have come in right i i think the easiest thing to do is he's going to go to
your plans for your building okay and then the photos but i think what you should do is to say
what is it you're doing and what do you want to do okay this is uh we're housing young teenage
girls um just for personal care it's a residential group home right how many how many girls uh we're
proposing four girls four girls yes okay and have you done this before uh yes and no i work with
children every day um but a group home where they reside overnight no okay with children daily yes
okay great um and you have photos of the inside how many bedrooms why don't you describe what
the property looks like um it is a two-story home it has four bedrooms um and it also has a basement
I apologize. Um, and we already actually are licensed. Um, it was just that we had to come
for the zoning piece of it. Um, but I already do have a current license for the home. You're
but I already do have a current license for the home.
You're licensed to run a home, but this particular property needs to be zoned.
licensed to run a home, but this particular.
Yes, that's it.
All right.
And where do your clients come from?
The city?
They come from different counties.
It depends on which county has children that they want to send in.
Some of the counties may be Montour County, Delaware County, Montgomery County.
It's different counties.
Okay. And tell me about when you went to the hearing with the RCO.
At the hearing...
It's probably not the meeting, I should say.
There were some people who did oppose, who did not want the home there. And then there were some people who were okay with the home being there.
um from that meeting we did um conclude that it was okay for us to house the group home there
the meet they said that at the meeting yes that was the the final decision that was sent in
um other questions from the board yeah i have a question so you are you licensed to have more
than four at the property or you're just going to max it at four yourself so that was the thing
you're allowed to have three okay um but in order to go more than that you do have to have um you
have to come to the zoning board so that's the reason for the fourth child okay and um is there
any um backyard to this property uh yes there is i did not take a picture of that i do apologize
small one big one just something they can have outdoor space it's a big um it's it's a nice
size backyard um it is enclosed on the side it's a twin home um so on the side there is a means of
egress as well thank you with the gate have you spoken to the woman next the people next door
um i have initially in the beginning yes okay are they in favor of what you want to do uh they
definitely said that they were not in favor of it thank you other questions how many bathrooms
um one okay and this would be for where okay so the young ladies this is what age group is this