there is currently a 15 foot wide parking curb cut and parking space off of Naudane
that will be extended by approximately 10 feet to have all three spaces right there the adjacent
neighbor also has rear access parking and one of the issues here is that these parking spaces are
not considered to be off of a rear a rear alley or a shared driveway although in effect they are
through a shared driveway because there will be a parking easement that will go across it
essentially creating by law and by deed a shared driveway aspect.
So with regard to the need for a variance, obviously, as this board is well aware, we
have the burden to show three items.
The first is an unnecessary hardship on the property.
The second is that there's no adverse impact to the public health, safety, or welfare.
And the third and final piece is that this is the least minimum variance that we can be requesting.
So here, as I said, the hardship was in working with the neighborhood and making sure that they did not want, you know, by right development, maintaining the nonconformities with front loaded parking.
And so in working with the community, we were able to remove all the front-loaded parking. We'll be restoring the pedestrian experience, restoring the bike lane that's broken up on South 21st Street.
And we're actually also by doing that and by bringing the parking back here, we're building a shallower building than we would normally erect.
All of that, what we did was we required in order to meet those slightly additional heights.
So instead of 41 and a half feet having the to the highest parapet on a by right build, we are building to 41 and a half feet at the street frontage.
So the exact height that will be seen or experienced by the public is the same.
and we'll be getting rid of those curb cuts adding back street parking i should also add
that on rodman where we're parking off of there is no street parking it is a very narrow street
and i can show you some pictures of that as we go forward with the other properties
and there's a lot of parking so it's essentially used as a rear alley street
for parking for many of the naudane homes and so we are asking for what we believe to be a
de minimis height request this request is not because we're trying to have you know cathedral
ceilings inside we actually are limiting to nine foot interior heights it's just by again the
shallower build and in order to meet the the requests of the neighborhood for these houses
And in order to meet the requests of the neighborhood for these houses and the first floor height, one of the requests for all these houses was that there is alignment up and down the block of window heights and stoop heights.
and the
So in order to achieve that, that accounts for 18 inches approximately of the actual added height that we're seeking.
so we believe that we're asking for a de minimis height request here and in order to further
mitigate it like i said we're taking away the parapet uh request and making something contextual
here that uh was fully supported and not opposed by the uh by the community um and again for this
one we just have the one variance that we believe is the least minimum variance to to follow through
on all of the requests of the community um with that we're going to vote on these one at a time
um you you could hear and vote on 516 and 518 together but we need to vote
nardine street separately because of the proviso good good go to 518 then okay um would you like
me to have my client adopt my testimony solely as to 516 or would you like me to move on i think
you could do 518 then we'll let him do both right he's same client right yeah i i'm okay with that
i just want to make sure i'm doing what the board yeah yeah that's fine yep okay so let me i'm going
to stop sharing then and switch over to 518 all right so hopefully now you're seeing 518
um again i'll go very quickly so now we're simply looking at the corner lot property
this is the one that is 100 built out um again a prior non-conformity you can see it here it goes
all the way back and kind of creates this big wall along that uh that street corner which the
community was very happy to to eliminate um here again you can see it going all the way back this
is the naudane curb cut and rear access here this is 2106 naudane which has that so essentially what
we'd be doing is extending this the development of this house would only come back to about this
row of windows right here this third row of windows and we would have rear parking essentially
to the from this first row of windows to where it is currently again this is also rsa 5 just like
516 south 21st street um i should add mr shaheed that i do accept waive and stipulate to the
accuracy of the refusal for 5 518 south 21st street okay thank you and again so here's here's
an example from the the zoning plan you can see you know we're we're pulling back and making this
a conforming house by pulling this back significantly from the development and over
development that it already was. This will be the parking space for this lot. So again, just by way
of the nature of L&I's review, which again is not in error, they are limited to the property
boundary lines for any lot. So as you can see, the parking will continue and be a fully sized
parking space, but 518 does have an issued refusal for the size of the parking space
because it's only measured as to the property boundaries, which means that it's too short
by three feet. So again, 516 with the parking garage, here's 518 with kind of this big flat
front and there's uh you know what 518 will be turned into again with a shared stoop
and here's what here's what the pedestrian experience and public experience will now be
with this open bike lane no longer being interfered with
so again here just some pictures showing 518. you can see this is Naudaine where the parking
will be that's the immediately adjacent neighbor the next neighbor down also has the same
parking condition so let's just show you there
so essentially all of all of Rodman Street here is used as a narrow rear alley even though it is
not technically that on the city streets plan that is what it is in in reality here
um so getting to the refusals uh we have the same height refusal we're actually we're matching and
so getting to the refusals we have the same
for all the same reasons that i just stated for 516 uh we're only going up to 41 and a half feet
which would be the same height as a by right parapet again 18 inches of that is required to
per the requirements or the not requirements the requests of the neighborhood to meet meet the
first floor heights and stoop heights and things like that um so again we believe we're asking for
a de minimis request only nine foot interior heights um you know ceiling heights we're not
trying to make something extravagant and over ask here we believe it's the least minimum variance
here's the issue i was just talking about you can see a parking minimum depth is required of 18 feet
based on the review it's only 15 feet and therefore is issued a refusal
however and i'll show this again the extra three feet are actually onto the rear yard of 516 south
21st street um and as uh and here again you have off street parking for uh a one family is not
allowed unless it's by a shared driveway or rear alley again we are creating by deed and by easement
a shared driveway condition. However, we are not doing that at present.
One thing I would point out to the board is, and some of you might be thinking, so all of the
parking refusals here would be by right and not be refusals if we turned this into a PUD,
a planned unit development. However, we did not do that because we believed Naudane Street and
South 21st Street required separate treatment. And also, because this is an RSA 5 underlying
district, trying to put in a PUD would generate refusals of its own. So it wouldn't lessen the
number of refusals. It would simply change the refusals that would be discussed today.
so again you have 516 here removal of the curb cut so we're getting rid of we're eliminating
the prior non-conformity giving back parking to the street and allowing this bike path
or the bike lane to be uninterrupted 518 right here at the corner is being significantly pulled
back uh eliminating the prior non-conformity of the 100 lot coverage both of them will have
one car off street accessory parking and we've already walked through the refusals for
why that's the case so again the center city residents association
voted they were actually extremely complimentary at the meeting had no issues and voted not to
oppose the project at their April 27th meeting. With that, I'm happy to answer any questions the
board may have, or I'll call my first witness. Well, I think for Hillary, I'm thinking 516 and
518. I mean, I think we could, why don't we put that to a vote and then just take Northane Street
separately? Yes, no, exactly, Mr. Chair. I think he can call his client to adopt his testimony for
those two cases. Yeah, why don't you bring your client for 516 and 518? Okay, can you please call
Rebecca Frisch? Ms. Frisch, please unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Hi, good afternoon. Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
yes rebecca frisch r-e-b-e-c-c-a f-r-i-s-c-h you swear for him to tell the truth the whole
truth and nothing but the truth yes okay proceed counsel thank you very much chair uh miss frisch
you are here on behalf of 21 dennis llc the owner of these two properties yes thank you and have
you heard all of the testimony that I've already presented today in this matter? Yes. And do you
believe it to be true and correct to the best of your knowledge and information? Yes. And would you
adopt that testimony as your own? Yes. Thank you. Uh, is there anything? Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman. 516 and 518 South 21st.
Any questions from the board? No, Mr. Chairman.
Chair, we have someone with the phone number ending in 0089.
Whomever's phone number ends in 0089, please unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
Hi, my name is William Becker.
Hi, could you spell it for the court reporter, please?
Oh, I'm sorry.
William W-I-L-L-I-A-M Becker, B as in boy, E-C-K-E-R.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, sir?
Yes, I do.
Are you a neighbor here?
I am the attaching house at 514.
Proceed.
um i i have no problems with the new homes and the height as a result the two homes that are
next to me now are very old and decrepit and do not look nice at all and are an eyesore and need
to be improved so from my perspective as a neighbor i'm looking forward to the new buildings
Thank you.
Mr. Becker, thank you for calling in.
Not a problem.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience who has a comment about the two 516 and 518?
Chair, we have Michael and Gail Gizmondi.
Mr. or Ms. Gizmondi, can you unmute yourself and wait for the chair, please?
Hi, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
We can't hear you.
Can you hear us?
I hear you.
Could you state your name?
Well, before I do it, can I ask a question about the parking?
I don't know if that's part of this.
No, I'm going to swear you in first.
All right.
State your name and spell for the court reporter.
Michael, M-I-C-H-A-E-L, Gizmondi, G-I-S-M-O-N-D-I.
Go ahead.
Gail Gizmondi, G-A-I-L-G-I-S-M-O-N-D-I.
Right.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, Mr. Sorry.
Clarify something about the parking.
Am I correct?
Each one of those three parking spaces are going to be 18 feet deep.
Chair, I'm happy to jump in, or I can-
Mr. Ward, if you have that, you can answer, sir.
Yes, Mr. Gizmondi, each of the three parking spaces will be full regulation size within the city code and 18 feet deep.
And is there any kind of a wall or fence separating the parking spaces from the three houses?
I believe that there will be a low fence between the houses and the three parking spaces, but I don't know that that decision has been made yet.
I can call back my client if that would be helpful.
and uh one other thing uh are you aware that the new construction on 21st street just south
of lombard has garage parking coming in off of 21st street uh i i am not associated with that
project mr gizmondi and i i do not have any all right thank you info thank you thank you for
calling in sir excuse me mr chair this is hillary um mr whalen i just wanted to clarify for the
record, one of the refusals for 518 was that the length of the parking stall was only 15 instead
of the 18 feet, correct? So yes, that is correct. As I maybe went by too quickly, and I appreciate
you pointing this out again, the way that LNI reviews, and I'll just share my screen real quick
so this is obvious to everybody. The way that LNI is constrained to review a property
application is by the actual property boundaries for that property. So the property boundaries,
I don't know if everyone can see right now, maybe I'll use this hand, for 518 actually go here
where i'm showing you um the parking space right here for 518 actually extends beyond
that uh that boundary line three feet so there's 15 feet width of 518 that's where the 15 feet is
coming from in the refusal the additional three feet to make it a buy right parking space
actually extends over this 516 property line
and is this piece right up here.
Thank you for clarifying that.
I thank you for clarifying that thank you yeah and that will all be set forth in a uh in a parking
Thank you.
easement that will be recorded against all the deeds for each of the three spaces is there anyone
else in the virtual audience has a comment I see no hands at this planning commission planning
commission thank you chair David Fecto city planning commission and I appreciate Mr. Willan's
explanation because I was confused reading those refusals as well. So the comprehensive plan
recommends no change to the residential single-family zoning at both 516 and 518 South
21st Street. Accessing a parking space from Rodman Street will not impair the use of adjacent
properties, and the removal of an existing curb cut on South 21st Street is a public benefit.
Although we don't see a hardship requiring the height of the buildings to exceed 38 feet,
we do see that the proposed height including mansard roof is in keeping with the character
of the block and so the city planning commission recommends the board grant the dimensional
variances for both 516 and 518 south 21st street thank you mi 2022 002 388 516 south 21st street
and MI-2022-002-387-518-S 21st Street, I vote yes to both.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes to both.
James Snell, my vote is yes to both.
Well, you got your three votes, Mr. Whalen.
I'll take it.
Okay. So could we go now to number four? 2104, no ordained.
Sure. I have to admit, Chair, I forget. Did you already announce this case?
I did.