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right with you one minute
number five mi 2024 006 715 8200 to 08 caster avenue this case has been continued to
5, 7, 25
at 3.30 p.m.
Are there any requests
for continuances?
Good afternoon, Chair.
This is Yvette Benton. I'll be your co-host
for this afternoon. We have
Henry Clinton with his hand up.
He's been unmuted and allowed to speak.
Hi, Mr. Clinton.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman.
I just missed the date you say. Sure. So it's five, seven. All right. Thank you very much.
All right. Thank you. Number two, MI 2024, 003, 271, 1201, 203 Adams Avenue. No exhibits
forth listing. David Chandler and Helen Bach are the attorneys. Would they please come on?
David Chandler has been unmuted and allowed to speak to you. Yes. Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman.
uh david uh for the uh for mr chandler could you please spell your name for the court sonographer
yes david chandler c-h-a-n-d-l-e-r you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth uh yes i do could you please give us a status on this case this is
the fourth listing well yes uh we haven't had a community meeting yet but we'll uh get to that
Okay, I'm sorry. We've had the community meeting, but we do not have the results yet. So
we'll get them and hopefully in time for the next meeting. Okay, so this case is going to
be continued. It has to be heard the next time. Yes. So it's continued to 8-6-25 at 2 p.m.
Yes, Mr. Chairman. Thank you. Thank you.
We're going to go to our ad-ons.
MI 2024-005-262-1311 to 13 North 27th Street.
This is a brief resumptive hearing.
Mr. Nockamson.
Nockamson, could you please state your name for the stenographer?
Yes, Alan Nockamson, A-L-A-N.
last name knockamson n-o-c-h-u-m-s-o-n do you swear affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
and nothing but the truth i do so um um this is a resumptive hearing i understand you will brief
us on what's changed and what has been done different am i correct yes um i will say this
that i i have been unable to enter my appearance um or get access to uh the wi-fi here the wi-fi
us down so i i can't like share my materials um but i can tell you what we did file uh was uh
revised plans uh which removed uh one of the units um so if they're if the board feels so inclined
we would do maximum four units uh the bedroom count went down to ten to six we removed a floor
of of the of the property we went from three stories because it is an existing two-story
structure with two doors just as a matter of background um we made a presentation to this
board to seek uh originally five units here with off with an off-street parking spot there are two
doors here i don't have the presentation in front of me so i can't really tell you you know exactly
what's what but like there's two doors there's a there's a garage on the on the first floor that
you can walk into it has had a history even though this is an rsa5 property it has a history of
multi units. Um, my client wanted to do, and it was, I think a garage on like a commercial garage
on the first floor. My client wanted to do, um, an adaptive reuse to make this into a five unit
building where he would add a third story, uh, which would get gain additional space. Um, and so
he had originally four refusals. The first was height while, um, again, we're at 38 feet. We're
in the overlay. We're in the Brewery Town Shortswood Celestial Community Overlay. So even
though we're at the 38 feet, which is typical for RSA 5, because we're in the overlay and the
surrounding properties, we had to be at 36 feet. We had a roof deck, which again was against the
overlay. We were multifamily, which again is against RSA 5 zoning. And we had to repurpose
the garage as for one parking space which again led to a refusal and this is a non-conforming
building so it's full lock coverage on the first story and i and i believe to a degree on the second
story um but we were increased increasing this yes uh i think so at least the first story on the
what we were doing is going three stories up with the same depth or lack thereof in the rear in
terms of rear yards. So when we met with the community, we provided, after meeting with the
community, we have revised plans. First, we're eliminating the third story. So we eliminated
the refusal regarding the height. We eliminated the roof deck access structure. So that eliminated
the second refusal. We got rid of the garage, which now it's going to be space for one of the
apartment unit so we got rid of the third refusal for the fourth refusal regarding the five units
we lessened the variance from five units requesting to four units and just as again if memory serves
me right when the planning commission gave their recommendation they did propose you know that
multi-unit should be there but three units what i will say as to that is that the 2035 plans
proposes that this should be an rm1 structure and based on the the lot size of 3132 square feet
that means we would be allowed seven units as of right we're saying we would like four units
and then in terms of the rear yard depth we're lessening the impact on the second story where
we're not going flush to the rear like the non-conforming structure on the first floor
So we're lessening the impact. Now, the rear yard setback is five feet, seven inches.
Okay. Questions from the board?
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Just quickly, I didn't see on the proviso form that the rear yard was being reduced.
being reduced. So if that's also changed, can you just submit an updated
So if that's also changed, can you just submit an updated?
Yes, we will.
provisor form? Yes, I just want to note that since that was one of the refusals.
Yes. Thank you. Questions or comments from the
virtual audience? Chair, we have Sharon Hildebrand
with her hand up. She's been allowed to speak. Okay.
Mike, could you please state your name?
Sharon Hildebrand, S-H-A-R-O-N-H-I-L-D-E-B-R-A-N-D.
You swear or firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
So the comments on this, your testimony, should be directed at what Mr. Nocklebson just said.
The comments will be relative to what we presented today.
So please proceed.
Thank you.
I just want to make a point that it is or has not been a multi-unit structure in the past.
It was a commercial building.
There was no one living there, staying there.
There was an office on the second floor, and the first floor was a roofing company.
And then I believe city council, or I'm sorry, pardon me, city planning recommended no more than two units, not three units.
Thank you very much for taking the time to call us. We appreciate that. Is there anyone else in the audience?
Here we have Sharon Walker. They have been unmuted and allowed to speak.
I could you please state your name is bell for the stenographer is Sharon Whitaker. W. H. I. T. T. A. K. E. R. Whitaker. Sharon is S. H. E. I. R. Hyphen capital R. O. N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
I do. And like the last witness, your testimony should be directed at what Mr.
Nockmson just testified. Yes, I'm the owner of the building. I'm sorry,
I wasn't able to appear today in person. However, in reference to what Mr.
Nockmson had said, the real yard, we will not, the real yard will still back up 100%
to the community garden.
What will change now is we're staying
in the existing confines at a building
where it will allow for some side yard now
and a community garden can still access
the garden through a breezeway.
And also the building, it was always commercial.
It was a firehouse in the 18 and 1900s.
And now, and then it was a roofing company to complete building. So it wasn't used as a multifamily. However, it was always commercial and industrial. And it just was, it's a very large building.
again. Mr. Nockms, do you have anything for your client? Yeah, again, I don't have the benefit of
the drawings. My understanding, and maybe I'm wrong, was that the second floor was going to be
set back to a degree facing the community garden. I don't have the drawings in front of me, so I can
speak to what my understanding of those drawings. Is there anyone else in the audience?
okay um planning commission do you want to change your position on this
okay could you do me a favor just state your name and then we'll get you to officially say no
amy board with the planning commission right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole
truth nothing but the tooth i do you want to stay with your same position yes planning is staying
with a recommendation all right thank you very much um mr knockamson we're not going to vote on
this today as you're aware um we're gonna hold a date we'll get back with the particular date
later hillary next week next week okay so it'll be uh five seven all right thank you at 2 p.m
thank you hillary can we can you circulate the drawings that we can't see now to us
Mr. O'Brien
all right MI 2024 007 538 1318 McKean Street
I understand that it's Mr. Masters online
Mr. Masters
as a panelist now chair okay thank you we have an internet issue here in the room
could you please state your name as bill
Would you please state your name as Bellford?
W-I-L-L-I-A-M, O-B-R-I-E-N.
I'm sorry, this is the reporter.
I cannot hear.
We're going to do it again.
Go ahead, Mr. O'Brien.
William O'Brien, W-I-L-L-I-A-M, O-B-R-I-E-N, Manionk Law Office, on behalf of Derek and
Maria Baker, owners of 1318 McKean Street.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Mr. Masters?
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair, members of the board.
Steve Masters, S-T-E-V-E-M-A-S-T-E-R-S with the law firm of JustLaws.
Thank you.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
So this is a resumptive hearing?
Yes, it is.
And I understand you're going to give us an update as to what's happened and where you stand?
Yes, I have additional documents to present.
most importantly, the documents on page four, five, and six, which are the proviso form and
the corresponding proviso plan. We discovered there was an error in the elevation plan.
The original plan is submitted and reviewed by L&I, showed the second floor to be 11 feet,
seven inches. That was a typographical error. The correct height of that existing second floor
is nine feet, six inches. So with that correction, and then the architect who's online with us,
he can be available for questions. Chris Karakoff went and adjusted the height of the fourth floor
structure so that the overall structure is now code compliant, 38 feet. Okay. So the only
remaining variance requested is for the set foot back of eight feet. Right. Mr. Karakoff did a sun
study to show that the, as depicted, the third floor without the eight foot setback has no
adverse effect on any neighbor. And I uploaded samples of 11 similar circumstances where a
shallow building, where the third floor foot plate is relatively small, was allowed to put a third
floor addition uh without the eight but set back when it was uh sided by structures in your side
either side there were two floors sorry sorry
we just lost here too um okay um here we go i was in touch with uh uh
Mr. Masters, who represent the neighbors at 1320 McCain Street, they expressed interest in knowing the construction schedule, both, you know, what times of day and length of construction.
I provided that information, not more than nine to five weekdays, and occasional Saturday if there's a weather problem that interrupts schedule, but generally be Monday to Friday, not more than nine to five.
They're fine with that. Duration will be four to five months once it's started. There was no objection to that. They've expressed interest in the bakers helping them with the installation of a skylight. Even though the height is not a refusal, they are still concerned that the new structure may reduce the amount of sunlight they get.
and I believe the parties have come to an agreement
where the Bakers are going to assist them
with the installation of their skylight.
Hilary, should we have his testimony adopted?
Yes, we can do that.
Why don't you have your client adopt your testimony?
Get him to state his name and spell it first.
Your name and address for the record.
My name is Derek Baker, D-E-R-E-K, B-A-K-E-R.
Me and my wife Maria live at 1318 McKean in South Philly.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed.
Mr. Baker, you're sitting next to me.
You've heard my testimony.
Is it true and correct?
And you adopt it as your own?
Yes, sir.
Okay, thank you.
Mr. Masters?