plans in a little bit for the side yard our proposed plan shows a 14 foot 8 inch side yard
where 15 feet is required so that's approximately four inches of relief and then the rear yard is
compliant as proposed the rear yard relief was included to preserve flexibility if the board
requires the house to move farther back.
So I'll get into, sorry just trying to move
this, there we go.
Okay so my name is Harold Johnson, my wife is Shana Flynn and we're the
owners of 7110 Mount Airy Terrace. We're seeking a dimensional variance relief to build a single
family home for our family on this vacant residential lot at the end of the Mount Airy
Terrace cul-de-sac. We're proposing a two-story single-family home on an existing residential lot
in Zoning District RSD1. It's a modestly sized four-bedroom home with approximately 2,000
square feet of net interior living space. The home has no basement and no garage.
The property is unusual because it is wedge-shaped and located at the end of a cul-de-sac. It
also contains significant mature trees and the rear of the property approaches steep
and environmentally sensitive terrain associated with the Wissahickon landscape. The property
is within the WSIC and watershed overlay and also has a steep slope protection overlay.
Our design approach has been to fit the house to the existing site conditions rather than
substantially alter the site to accommodate the house. That approach has led us to preserve
mature trees, avoid a basement, omit a garage, and limit excavation and grading. We also intend
tend to use energy efficient construction and lower impact materials.
This is intended to be our long term family home and our goal is to build it in a way
that minimizes disturbance to the property and its surroundings.
In terms of required documentation, our deed is at Exhibit F, Certificate of Tax Compliance
is at Exhibit G, Property Posting Documentation in Exhibit I, and Near Neighbor Notices and
Proof of Mailing at Exhibit J.
We presented this project to the Westmount Area Neighbors Zoning Committee.
After hearing the presentation and the concerns raised by near neighbors, the committee voted
unanimously 7 to 0 to support the requested dimensional variance relief.
The committee cited the unusual size and configuration of the lot, its location at the rear of the
cul-de-sac, preservation of the wooded character and heritage trees, and the
benefit of avoiding extensive rear yard regrading that could affect the WSIC and
watershed. So in terms of what relief is actually required by the proposed plan,
there's there's a lot going on in this plan so I tried to highlight the key
aspects for the required front setback it's 35 feet and that's highlighted here in orange
the closest point of the house is highlighted in green and that's approximately 26 feet
six inches from the property line and this small front tower represents an area of roughly 100
square feet that the main body of the house is roughly 30 feet from the street and that 30 foot
line is highlighted there in yellow so we're asking for eight and a half feet of relief at
the tower and five feet of relief for the main body of the house with regards to the side yard
the the proposal here is approximately 14 feet eight inches of side yard where 15 feet is required
You can see over here on the left, the small green area there, that's approximately four
inches of side yard relief.
And the proposed house here is compliant with the rear yard requirement as shown.
Although the refusal states that the plan does not show the required off-street parking
space, it is shown in fact right here, this is sheet Z1.02.
Thank you.
And it's highlighted here in green.
We contacted L&I to clarify this and included those communications in Exhibit A, and our
understanding is that the actual zoning issue is not the absence of parking, but the proposed
location of the parking within the required yard setback.
so to address the question of why is this the minimum necessary relief it's really the the
physical conditions they're driving this request it's the combination of the wedge-shaped lot
geometry the significant mature trees and these steep slopes toward the rear
and i'm just going to zoom out for a second
to show some of these alternative drawings. So we had our architect conduct a study of
alternative orientations to reduce the front yard encroachment while still preserving those
significant existing trees and found there's no direction in which the house can simply be moved
without affecting another condition. Moving it farther back improves the front setback but brings
construction closer to significant trees, the root systems, and the steeper rear portion
of the property.
Moving or rotating it laterally is constrained by the angled property lines and side setbacks.
And here you can see the steep slope area in red and yellow, as well as the canopies
of the major trees that we are trying to preserve.
This property drains to Kitchens Land Creek, which is a couple hundred feet downslope,
which then flows into the Wissahawken Creek.
And this is a picture of the 26-inch diameter tulip poplar in one corner of the property.
And this is another 27-inch diameter tulip poplar on the other side of where the house
would be.
Both of these are heritage trees.
And here's a photo of the steep slope at the back, and here you can see an approximately
eight-foot drop at the edge of the rear setback.
So the proposed location is intended to balance these competing conditions.
The greatest front yard encroachment is limited to that roughly 100 square foot front tower,
while the main body of the house is set further back at approximately 30 feet.
The house has no basement or garage.
The requested relief is therefore not being used to maximize development, rather the proposed
siting is designed to preserve the trees and limit excavation and rear yard grading.
For those reasons, we believe the proposed plan represents the minimum dimensional variance
necessary for reasonable development of this property.
And so at the community meeting, several near neighbors expressed concern primarily about
the front setback and whether it would be consistent with the rest of Mount Airy Terrace.
You know, we took that concern seriously and followed up with a setback analysis, which
is located in exhibit L.
I'm just going to zoom in on the results.
So that analysis found that the existing front setbacks along Mount Airy Terrace vary considerably
from 20 feet to 36 feet.
This was primarily done using the measurement tool in Atlas.
us. This analysis demonstrates that Mount Airy Terrace does not have a uniform 35-foot
building line. So at a 26-foot to 30-foot setback, the proposed plan is very consistent with
our neighbors. We also looked at the gross square footage of our neighbors' houses, which
ranges considerably from under 2,000 square feet to over 4,000 square feet. So at 2,700
or gross square feet, the proposal is again fairly average for this neighborhood.
And as far as the side yard, the immediately adjacent properties have side setbacks of
approximately 11 feet and 13 feet and those are in the engineered survey in the plans
and that's compared with the 14 foot 8 inch side yard that we're proposing.
So in our view, the requested relief produces a better overall site planning result than
and strict dimensional compliance
that would require greater disturbance on the property.
So in closing, members of the board,
this is one single family home
on an unusually shaped residential lot
at the end of a cul-de-sac
with significant mature trees
and steep environmentally sensitive terrain at the rear.
The West Bountry Neighbor Zoning Committee considered both the project and the concerns raised by near neighbors and voted unanimously to support the application.
The West Mount Area Neighbors Zoning Committee
considered both the project
and the concerns raised by near neighbors.
We respectfully believe that the proposed plan represents the minimum dimensional variance necessary for reasonable development of this property without undue impact on the neighborhood or the environment.
For those reasons, we respectfully ask the board to approve the requested dimensional relief.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
good presentation very good that's good I have a question about your proposed
new driveway and one have you already sought street department review and
approval for the new curb cut yes we have the streets approval letter
included in the package and we also have that stamp in the bottom right corner
there I think when you showed it before it wasn't zoomed out all the way sure
yeah and uh i think my second question is about your storm water understanding sleep sleep the
the steep slope and i see that you have your ens sediment plan for construction but just looking at
where the building is situated um could you share a little bit more about how you're going to avoid
touching that steep slope when you pour the foundation
sure it looks close that's why yeah so we we have we did part of the earth moving plan they have
that limit of disturbance marked out there along with erosion and sediment controls uh that the
that we would be doing so um i think it's you know the i think it's just the shading i couldn't
really read the notes because and i get why you shaded it it's helpful i think just to confirm
So, like, when you guys pour the foundation, you're not going to have to dig at all any that disturbs that slope?
Correct. Correct. Yeah, we are not near that red part. There's a good bit of buffer.
All the questions?
Questions from our attorney?
More of a comment.
um we're going to reach out to you this week because we're not sure if it's going to be
amended or corrected refusal that you're going to have to request so uh meaning we meaning council
will be reaching out to you meaning the applicants with regard to what the next steps will be
on this but we haven't held do we want to put a date do you want to put a date on it
why don't i finish okay sure you know sorry no no no we'll come back questions or comments from the
virtual audience. I see a hand up by Ralph Pincus. Oh, here you go.
Hello. Mr. Pincus, you must be on overtime now. This is your second one today here. I mean,
I know, I know. And I have to come to work. You've already been sworn in. Just state your
name for the record. My name is Ralph Pincus, R-A-L-P-H-P-I-N-K-U-S. Please start your
presentation, sir. I chair the Westmount Area Neighbors Zoning Committee, and I'm a neighbor
that does not live far from this property. The applicant has summarized our letter of support,
which is dated july the 7th we had an extensive meeting we had a seven of the neighbors uh present
and our committee seven people from our committee we were impressed by the presentation of the
applicant that the house was going to be constructed of it's going to be straw bale
construction, which we were told is an environmentally desirable material. And that it appears that
every effort that is being made to protect the site and the Wissahickon watershed, an area that
as someone who lives in this area for 46 years, appreciates and has at times taken actions when
developers or owners have tried to disrupt or disturb the watershed. So we're impressed with
the efforts that the applicant is making or will make to preserve and prevent any disruption to
the watershed. We also didn't find that because of the location of the lot at the end of a cul-de-sac
that the changing or not having as much of a front yard setback as required would not be
so disruptive and out of place or out of keeping with the other houses other properties on
with the other houses, other properties on the terrace, on that cul-de-sac.
There was discussion at our meeting about the architectural style of the property,
which does not match the 1960s or thereabouts style of most of the homes.
But again, it is not the position, I believe, of the zoning board or our committee
to pass upon proposed construction.
We thought this style of the proposed home is pretty much in keeping with what is a typical West Mount Airy home
with gables and two stories.
And the house that's proposed is not excessive in size, 2,700 square feet.
It's well within keeping with most of the properties in and around that that part of the community.
So we supported it, and I would ask the board to grant the requested variance.
Thank you very much. Is there anyone else in the audience? Oh, come on up. Why don't you sit down first?
and then um please state and spell your name for the stenographer okay i am gwendolyn bright g-w-e-n-d-o-l-y-n
last name b as in boy r-i-g-h-t do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing
but the truth i do are you a neighbor i am a neighbor please proceed pardon me please proceed
with your presentation i am a direct neighbor i live one house over from the lot in question
oh i am a directly neighbor i live one house over from the lot in question
yep i live at 7121 i have lived there for over 50 years i am a lifelong resident of mount airy
i do take issue with um some of the things that have been said here today and i just want to
I want to make clear the main concern here and as at the community meeting that was referenced.
I and the neighbors were concerned with the variance being given as to the offset from the street and contrary to what has been represented.
I don't know who took the measurements and all of that in terms of the presentation by the lot owner.
But if you drive through the neighborhood, the visual is of conformity.
kind of a unique carve out neighborhood in west mount airy it came to being in the 1960s
my parents built our home in roughly 1969 1970 and i and i have lived there throughout
there is uniformity and consistency in the neighborhood in terms of the offset
if you drive through the visual is that all the the lines are in conformity and
and that contributes to the aesthetic of the neighborhood.
So what is proposed in terms of the offset
will not be insignificant.
It will be quite significant
considering the wedge shape of the property
and the two properties on the side,
it will sit out significantly
and offset the beauty of the neighborhood,
which I take folks are really interested in preserving.
The neighborhood border is off of Whissahicken Avenue,
about two blocks on wissahickon parallel streets are about are of allen's lane mount airy avenue
and um mount pleasant avenue with roughly four or five cul-de-sacs we are in mount airy terrace
is the closet stack towards the end directly accessing the woods i'm across the street but
the neighbors on the side of this property have direct access to the woods it's sometimes an issue
of people trying or the public trying to access Fairmount Park in the woods through people's
properties so people primarily there are stone front split level homes but there have been a
number of new constructions in the area which are different varieties and colors shapes and sizes
But throughout this little car, this carve out area, there is consistency in terms of the offset. And either out of respect of those who have built new construction, or perhaps folks who have come before this board and have enforced the 35 foot offset, there is consistency.
So I ask that you take that into account. It's not just a neighborhood where, and I'm trying to put the heart and soul into this because I feel very strongly about this, having lived there so long. People have respected the aesthetic and the character of the neighborhood.
People have respected the aesthetic and the character of the neighborhood.