Thank you.
Claudia there should be coming back in as a panel. Thank you.
Here's the shed for the on the site plan to give you a better understanding. And here is the elevation.
showing the shed itself and then the open
area there just so they could have some furnishing out there
to sit underneath and not bake
just talking literally a couple hundred square feet difference
do we see claudia i'm here mr chair okay good good i could you please turn on your video
um yes if i can figure out how yes okay sure all right hi good morning could you please state your
name and spell for the stenographer my name is claudia schuti k-l-a-u-d-i-a-s-h-u-t-i do you
swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i swear counsel thank
you claudia did you hear my presentation to the board today yes true and accurate to the best of
your knowledge yes adopted as your own testimony yes thank you questions from the board
what's the oh go ahead no go ahead go ahead what's the difference between the allowed um square footage
What's the difference between the allowed square footage and the proposed square footage?
I'll bring that back up for you.
I did go by that pretty fast, so I'll bring it back up for you.
130 versus 379.
130 versus 379 so it's like twice the size of what's allowed right like three times it's almost
three times yeah because of the overhang because the image that overhang is what they're counting
unfortunately but it's open i mean it's not i don't know if you look at i don't know what you
mean by the overhang because i think of the overhang are you talking about everything that's
that's outside the outside space and not covered by the i'll show you in the plan again hold on okay
also either hillary or council can we confirm are we only talking about what you are referring to
as the shed that has an indoor enclosed in a non-enclosed space are we also talking about
the shed as well as the existing patio and the overhang over the existing patio that's attached
to the house no we're talking the total proposed cover area of this structure is 379 square feet
I understand I can read that Vern I'm asking because the way the refusal is written I would
assume that the description of it was about the attached overhang for the patio that is adjacent
to the house that you also showed and I just wanted to be clear oh okay considering both of
these or is it just one of them it'll direct my line of question right so it appears and and verne
please let me know if i don't have this correct but it appears so that there's there's a a covered
patio that's being added to the existing structure and then um and then in addition which is also an
over overhang um to a detached accessory structure and they're looking at the detached accessory
structure plus that overhang that is giving the total square footage it does not include the rear
roof covered patio attached to the home is that correct the the rear roof covered patio
attached to the existing structure is a by right thing uh the only the only issue uh with regard
to the refusal for zoning is that independent shed with its own overhang and that whole covered area
that i showed you in on the plan that is that is the subject of the refusal and it's why we're
here it's that's the 379. the the patio area is a by right situation and that i understood i was
just i'm reading the description as written and it was confusing so thanks yeah my client did that
pro se i wouldn't have put that in there because it's two separate things but nevertheless that
that's the answer to that question you know yes and so so i'm reading the the letter that the
adjacent neighbor wrote and i can understand the concern uh they talk about they worry about
rainwater and erosion and when i look at the design and shape of this roof the water is going to shed
onto his property. There's no doubt. There's no doubt. Part of that roof is pitching towards
his, to their neighbor's property. So that is going to happen.
Well, there is a space between both properties as well.
It's not much. If I'm looking at the pictures and it looks like it's maybe about a foot
or so, Twitter is going to run off the edge of the roof into their property. It just is.
and if that thing catches on fire there's no fire separation distance between you know their
property and this this shed his home is 60 feet from this shed well but his shed is right next to
it it's not far yeah you understand what i'm saying it could also not far so also it's an
unfinished structure so there's there's no reason why there can't be sort of uh uh stormwater sort
of uh direction uh with you know which would be pretty i think pretty common mr johns right if
that were done yeah well depending on the size of the roof yeah um but doesn't necessarily have
well that's that's also part of the rco's recommendation and we would and that's what
we would you know that was what uh the presentation was at the rco meeting that yeah but i think the
larger issue is that this was done without permits and review right all of the things that we're
talking about are possible and go through a pretty strong review from both the water
strong review from both the water department and the planning department to ensure that all of
department and the planning department to ensure that all of
these things happen i think the amount of construction and the type of construction
that was done negates and this is why these issues are coming up at this point um you know to do this
correctly the whole thing would mostly need to come down and start over so i just that's our
plan i mean after we get the zoning we're going to have to go through the uh you know the the
retroactive building permit phase my client thought he could just do it you know which
is unfortunate but that's that's the fact i guess a clarifying question i have is it looks like the
current accessory structure shed that this was built over it and that there's like according
to the the plans it looks like there's an attempt or a desire to make it bigger
correct okay so is the existing shed gonna get torn down because the renderings don't
match right why don't we why don't i have my client come back on so she can talk about the
detail mishuti we're her husband yeah my husband's here with me he will kind of explain he'll need
he'll need to be sworn in all right okay hi sir could you please state your name and spell for
the stenographer hi my name is gentian rustemi g-e-n-t-i-a-n-r-u-s-t-e-m-i do you swear or
firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
I swear. Please proceed.
Thank you. Sir, can you
explain the structure
that's the shed itself,
the plastic shed, is that being,
is it proposed that it's, that
actual shed itself
would be expanded, or
will it remain as is?
So the shed
is going to stay like it is.
But I hate your shadow.
So I'm sorry, we're just not
really understanding so you're talking about the existing shed are you talking about are we going
to to take that existing shed out and make sure one the chair yes the board member asked if this
shed is being taken out oh yeah we are going to take this out the old shed it is the old shed
okay and you're going to be putting in something a little larger is that right
it's not it is almost it's already from from the wood that is on the middle
And on the right side, yep.
Okay, so it'll be about that.
That will be the new space of the shed.
Understood.
Thank you.
Say that again, Rerm.
Yeah, okay.
The size of the shed will be, in fact, larger than the old existing.
It won't go bigger than the 379 that we have.
No, it's going to be 379 total.
379 is all of this here.
actual shed itself will end about here okay where my cursor is and that is reflected on the plan
okay any other questions questions from our attorney hillary emerson
not at this time mr chair can i i'd like to call mr john o'hara jack o'hara if i may
burn burn yep the council person's office is sitting here now i am here so what i'll do is
i'll go to alice then we'll yeah yeah i'm okay alice just state your name alice alice judevich
on behalf of councilman brian o'neill the councilman has no objection to the granting
of the variances at this location thank you very much questions or comments from the virtual audience
yes i have a handle from david rodriguez i will allow them to speak sure mortem
please accept the promotion to panelists sure thank you
all right sure they've been allowed to speak sure sir hello uh thank you
please could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer sure my name is
david rodriguez r-o-d-r-i-g-u-e-z right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth yes rodriguez do you have could you put on your video okay just bear with
me here i'll have to promote you sir i'm sorry please accept the promotion okay
and uh i can't see my camera for me join as a panelist or stay as an attendee you have to
join as a panelist okay okay they'll be coming back in sir all right thank you okay all right
can you see me we can now sir yep okay thank you so much all right um um are you a neighbor
yes i am i am uh actually i am the neighbor to to uh to the to the left if i'm looking at the uh
at my backyard, which is where he has his construction.
at my backyard which is where he has his construction so i wouldn't do his life or
So I would be to his left, or should I say to the west of the property.
Why don't you proceed with your testimony?
Thank you.
So I am even closer to the property than the one who is making the protest about the shed constructions.
constructions uh mr genti and claudia actually came over to us and it uh you know they'd ask us
if we were okay for them to expand uh the shed along with the additional constructions and we
have no objection whatsoever i heard earlier today that fences make good neighbors well
we don't even have a fence in between our properties and that to us makes it even greater
neighbors since uh they they are they have a child which that child actually does come over to our
backyard since we have uh grandchildren and great-grandchildren and and he enjoys our our
backyard uh area that we have for the children and so all i want to say with this is that for us
this construction if anything would most likely bring up the uh value of the properties for all
of us uh even higher and uh i i do understand that the neighbor who's making the uh complaint
may have uh some water coming over but uh understanding that mr genti himself is uh is
a builder is a constructor i'm quite sure that he'll be able to adjust that properly so from
our point of view uh my wife and i uh you know we we do understand that uh there is no problem with
this shed. I don't see any reason why the shed would be a
problem for the neighbor in lieu that his house is even a lot
further from from ours. That's all I have to say for now.
All right. Thank you so much. We appreciate it. Is there
anyone else in the virtual audience?
I have a hand up from Jennifer Moran. Sure. I'll promote
I'll be coming back in as a pen.
Hello, this is Jennifer Moran.
Jennifer, could you turn your video on?
Is that possible?
How do I?
One second.
I'm sorry.
All right.
Do me a favor.
State your name and spell for the stenographer.
My name is Jennifer Moran.
It's J-E-N-N-I-F-E-R.
And my last name is spelled M-O-R-A-N.
All right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
uh yes i do okay and jennifer we do have a copy of your letter okay so please proceed
all right well good morning um i'm the adjacent property owner i understand that um people are
saying that my house is further but unfortunately my biggest issue is is the water runoff and also
that the shed is all like on the pro it's 10 inches from my fence i'm i'm concerned about
water runoff I'm concerned about safety I'm concerned about if something catches on fire my
my fence will go on fire I have others you know I think it's and I would like if the variance is
approved I would like for that shed to be moved away to have more additional setbacks so it's not
right on my um property line okay um my client do you have any confirm do you have any questions
just that my client has already committed to to doing all the mitigation as far as water runoff
is concerned uh and uh you know again we're it's basically we're talking about the size not the
location so you know uh if it were 200 square foot smaller we wouldn't even be here the fact
of the matter is because it's uh slightly larger with that overhang uh and i think we can mitigate
any any uh concern with the with the plan that we've presented to the rco with respect to you
know the water runoff all right all right thank you is there anyone else in the audience no further
answer mr chair any commission i have a comment uh is this this uh owner is a builder
sometimes someone mentioned that they were a builder and so if they're a builder it's it's
very concerning that they would go through this to to build this and not have permits and not go
they would go through this to build this and not have permits and not go through the process
with it.
if they are a builder clearly they do decent work because it looks good right the framing looks yeah
i don't think he's a professional construction i don't think he's a professional builder but uh
you know the fact of the matter is he did believe and you know we could put that on
under oath on the record that uh he was doing he was in compliance when he was building this out
another builder okay there you go he's just a handyman yep handyman all right okay okay um
planning commission thank you chairman and good morning david fecto with the city planning
commission chairman and board members the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the
rsd3 residential single family zoning at this location the city rezoned this neighborhood in 1991
and a council-supported map change.
The appellant proposes to legalize a structure in the rear yard
built without the benefit of permits
that is nearly three times as large as the code allows.
They have not shown that they will suffer an economic detriment
if forced to comply with the dimensional requirements in the zoning code.
The City Planning Commission recommends
the board deny the proposed dimensional variance.