truth nothing but the truth yes i swear please proceed counsel mr hannam did you hear the
statements that i presented to the board today yes i did were my statements true and correct
to the best of your knowledge information and belief yes they were would you adopt my statements
as your own yes no further questions questions from the board yes i have a question what is
the width of the side yard access the breezeway that's a great question i don't have that exact
measurement but it might be referenced in the deed which is exhibit 11 um
yeah it's not shown on the way it looks like it says a three foot wide alley is there any plan
for lights in that alleyway
well currently question
william can you address whether you intend to install lights along the side of the property
um yeah the floor plan that you saw is basically um supposed to be a pretty accurate draft and we
didn't think about that but it is a great idea and now that i'm thinking about it um it's something
we'd probably like to add also is there a controlled access point at the street line
or at the sidewalk at the edge of your property
um can you elaborate what you mean by controlled access point
Yeah. Right now, there's a gate. There is a gate.
And is your plan to keep that existing gate?
Okay. Other questions for the board?
Just confirm your width for your interest.
just confirm your widths for your entry doors
and the width for your hallway and stairway to the second floor.
Yep, they will all be code widths,
three feet wide hallway and three feet wide door.
I know it's shown a little less on the plan.
The plan is a draft just for visual reference at this moment.
where are the tenants uh to put their trash so all units will have access to the rear yard of
the property to have it in stored trash containers to be brought out on trash day the first floor
unit does have access to the basement if they wanted to have containers down there as well
but most of the neighbors on the block seem to keep their trash in the receptacles at the rear
and bring them out on trash day the goal is to keep them off the front porch
which right now we have an occupant so all tenants will have access to the rear right
correct because the side alley will provide access to both tenants thank you other questions
from the board one more question the basement has no egress to the backyard correct correct
questions or comments there's just a window
not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the audience
questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see no hands at this time chair mining commission
good morning mr chair dan powers at the city planning commission
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the rsa5 residential single family zoning at this
location the property has a use permit on file from 1979 nothing about this property has changed
since then there's no unique physical condition or circumstance of this property that would prevent
it from being used in strict conformity with the zoning code this is a primarily single family
block face the city planning commission recommends that the board denied the proposed use variants
for two dwelling units thank you mi2024-005-495-1502 south 52nd street i vote yes
Michael Johns, my vote is yes
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes
Tynetta Graham, my vote is yes
Tywin, my vote is yes
Thank you, counsel
Thank you, counsel
Number 8
MI2024-005-514-2323
East Susquehanna Avenue
Henry Clinton is the attorney
There's a letter of support from the Fishtown Neighbors Association
The vote was 32 to 6, and a letter of non-opposition from Council Member Squill.
Henry Clinton will be rejoining us as a panelist.
Morning, Mr. Chairman.
Good morning, Council.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Henry Clinton, H-E-N-R-Y, Clinton, C-L-I-N-T-O-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client, the relationship to this property?
Sure. I have two clients, Thomas Zopp, C-Z-O-P, and Cara Ferencina, F-R-E-S-I-N-A.
Thank you. Our vice chair has a few questions.
Good morning, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that's needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
I have, except the tax information came in a day or two ago.
Thank you, counsel. You've already sent that in, correct?
Mr. Clinton?
Pardon me, I didn't hear you.
I said you have sent it in already, right?
Yes. Yes, sir.
Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.
Thank you, Mr. Sheen.
Is that visible, Mr. Chairman?
It is. It is, sir.
All right. Just by way of background, I had this project before the board in 2022.
It was seemingly approved for everything we asked for, but there was one small item that was not approved.
It was a rear step to a deck. I'll show you the photographs.
So we're coming back again with a new owner. I was representing a prior owner.
He sold the property to my current clients, and so we're asking for relief, basically for a six-inch high exterior step, which I'll explain as we move through this presentation.
Table of contents, A1 through A10.
Refusal.
This is a single-family zoning district, and you'll see the erection of a rear deck and existing single-family dwelling, as shown on the plan.
as shown on the plan. The fence is not part of this application because it was part of the prior
The fence is not part of this application because it was part of the prior.
application. We have a simple refusal for stairs from the ground level to the deck
are expressly prohibited in an attached structure, and it's only a single step.
We met with Fishtown Neighbors Association, overwhelming support this time, as well as
in 2022. They were curious as to why we came before them again, but again, it just was a
quirk in the system where this step did not get approved. This is their explanation letter,
and you can see the community had supported prior building the fence in 2022, and then the new owner
and the community believed the stairs behind the fence had been approved as part of that plan,
But unfortunately, that was not the case.
This is the letter of support from 2022.
Again, it was overwhelming back then as it is now.
The signatures that I've attached are signatures from the prior plan.
I don't mean to suggest that we went around and got more signatures.
We already had approval.
So I thought it would be helpful to have these signatures in my presentation today.
So this is a corner property, and what we got approved previously was this deck and this fence.
What the issue is before the board is this single step outside the deck.
You need this step to step up and enter the fence and walk onto the deck.
But Ellen I points this out as still an issue, and this is the sole reason we're coming before the board is to approve this single step.
So I hope I don't lose your attention on this presentation because of this simple matter.
This is the corner property.
Here's the side yard.
The step is where my cursor is.
I have closer photographs.
This is a ground level view of the property.
There's an outside storage shed, which has been approved or really just receptacle to put trash in.
The step is beyond where that container is.
You can see it right here in this photograph.
Again, just giving you an aerial photograph perspective.
It's a side yard of a corner property.
And here's a closer view of the step leading into the fenced deck area.
The plans, this was existing.
This is the demo plan.
This is the building plan.
And this is the undercarriage plan that supports the deck.
I think it's better that you could look at the site plan.
Again, a corner property, the deck fence previously approved.
And here's the single step, which is outside on the sidewalk.
Now, we did need to get streets approval for both the outside receptacle as well as the step.
And we've received that.
So that's really the presentation in a nutshell.
We're coming back again to complete what we thought was completed in 2022.
As I said several times, we had the deck approved.
This board approved it in 2022.
We had the fence approved.
But for whatever reason, this dangling participle here, this step, did not get an approval.
So we're not impacting any lighter air of any adjacent property, obviously.
This is in harmony with the neighborhood.
It's a residential use.
We have the full support of the community, and it's basically in harmony with the code.
So with that, I would conclude this presentation and ask my client to unmute himself.
Thomas, can you raise your hand, please?
Do we see his client?
Jason C. Z. has been allowed to speak.
It's Jason. I said Thomas.
Good morning. Good morning, sir.
could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Morning. My name is Jason Cazop.
It's spelled J-A-S-O-N-C-Z-O-P.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Jason, were you on the call when I presented your project before the board a few minutes ago?
Yes, I was.
And if you had the opportunity to testify, would you adopt my testimony as your own?
And that's true and correct.
Yes, I would.
Thank you, Jason.
Thank you.
Questions from the board.
That door swings out as shown on your plan.
Yes, Mr. Johns.
That's an issue.
I think the code requires that there be a landing if your door is swinging that way, so it makes sense that it swings in.
I think the code requires that there be a landing if your door is swinging that way.
So it makes sense.
Yeah, I think someone asked that question in the neighborhood, so I think you're good to pick up on that.
And since this storage shed is here, it's kind of the swing of the door comes out onto the same plane as that.
And the issue was, could a wheelchair still get by?
and yeah that's that's not my point though my point is that when you open it the billing code
requires that if you swing a door there should be a landing right um so there should be a landing
you swing the door in
so then you would like to have the door swing in yeah yeah okay just for you know some
someone doesn't come out and trip.
Or make the step longer.
Then you've got a streets,
imagine a streets issue.
You'd have to go back for streets approval
unless you're within the line of, say,
the existing steps next door, which is fine.
Right.
Well, I guess I'll have the client make the decision.
Could we have a provisor that we have one or the other?
Yeah, I don't have a preference.
But that's my only issue.
What's the proviso, Henry?
I think Mr. Johns would like to see either the door swing in or the step be extended no further than the steps on the adjacent property.
Well, it would be a landing at the level of the concrete slab and then a step.
But then it probably makes them more sense and easier and cheaper to swing the door in.
You know what I mean?
Yes. All right.
Hillary.
I'm just looking, I mean, because the scope is only for the stairs and not for the fence.
And the door is part of the fence. Is that correct?
Correct, which was already approved, but I understand John's is concerned.
So then we have no jurisdiction then, I guess.
No, we're only looking at the step.
If there's a proviso related to the step, excuse me, I can look into that.
But if they're, yeah, with relation to the dorks as part of an already approved fence, I don't think we could do something there.