Sean Whalen is the attorney.
Non-opposites from East Kensington Neighborhood Association.
Council Member Squill is leaving the decision to the board as his office was contacted by numerous neighbors in opposition
who couldn't attend the RCO meeting.
Mr. Whalen, could you identify yourself, please,
and spell your name for the court reporter?
Certainly. Good afternoon.
Sean Whalen, W-H-A-L-E-N, from Vintage Law,
here on behalf of the owner, the Soft Bulletin, LLC.
Right. Mr. Whalen, do you waive the reading of the refusal?
Yes, I do.
Okay. And all of your photos, paperwork, tax information, et cetera, has been sent in on time?
Yes, it has.
Okay. Could you identify your client and the relationship to the property?
Certainly. The owner is the Soft Bulletin LLC, and that is who I'm here representing.
Okay. Proceed.
Thank you very much.
Share your screen.
all right you should now be seeing a google aerial map we do sir that we're talking about
it's actually here if i do this uh 2132 east cumberland yes it's right the board should be
familiar with this area a lot of development has taken place this is frankfurt avenue right here
trenton avenue right there right off of the horatio school right at that uh york roundabout
just to give a little context. So this is, we are just about two houses down from the
Frankfurt Avenue commercial corridor. Again, this is just showing Frankfurt Avenue here.
The building in question is this property, and you can see it's significantly built out. This
is an existing three-story that's been in its current condition for decades and decades.
we are not notably today asking for any new addition construction no addition to height
nothing of the sort we are simply asking for to legalize a pre-existing third unit that's
been in the building since before my client purchased the property so again here's frankfurt
avenue here's trenton avenue right where collins street hits east cumberland that's the property
that we're talking about. Highlighted here, it is, as you can see, just off of the CMX2 corridor
up and down Frankfurt Avenue. There is a significant amount of multifamily mixed all
in with single-family residential, as the board is aware, right here off of the commercial corridor.
So we have one refusal. Like I said, we have an existing three-story building that has at all
times been divided into three units and used as three units. However, the zoning permit for it
right now states two units, and so we are seeking to legalize the existing third unit. Again,
this does not require, there are no plans today because this does not require any new construction
or interior subdivision whatsoever, the unit in question has been in its current form since
well before my client purchased the property. Again, we have non-opposition from the RCO, ECNA.
It was actually a very well-attended meeting. 29 people attended the meeting. There were 17 votes
and, uh, 11 votes in support, six votes opposed. Um, they did not give a position as to why
an 11 to six vote is not support, but non-opposition. Um, and they specifically
state that they did not include a letter of explanation or rationale. So, uh, like I said,
it is officially in non-opposition. However, we did receive 11 supporting votes and only six
opposing votes. So the property that we're talking about is this building right here.
You can see it right in through the frontage here is a first floor two-bedroom unit. The second
floor and third floor are one four-bedroom unit also accessed by this front door. There's also
There's also separately an underground first floor breezeway that accesses the rear portion where that houses the subject unit that we're talking about now.
So separately an underground first floor breezeway
Here you can see multifamily. This is a three unit right across the street.
This is if you're standing on the stoop of 2132, you're looking up.
here's East Collins, here's East Cumberland, and Frankfurt Avenue is right up there. You can see
the commercial uses right there. Again, the multifamily up and down the block.
Again, just to give you an overview of what it looks like looking east. And this is, again,
just directly out. You have the multifamily on this side and the very large new buildings
on that side of the block.
So, and this just shows the posting that was in place.
We're just seeking to have it, I guess, re-legalized as a studio.
So with that, I'm happy to answer any questions the board may have, or I'll call my client.
Why don't you call your client, Mr. Whalen?
Certainly.
Dan Hewitt should be on.
Mr. Chair, I'm here.
I know.
Thank you.
john thank you for your help stand by john just in case
is your client on yes i'm this is dan hewitt hi could dan could you state your name and spell
for the court reporter please dan hewitt h-e-w-i-t-t right do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes i do proceed thank you uh mr hewitt
You are here on behalf of the owner of the property, correct?
Correct.
And you heard all of the testimony that I've already presented and saw the documentation that I presented already in this case?
Correct.
And do you believe all of it to be true and correct to the best of your knowledge, information, and belief?
Yes, I do.
And would you adopt it as your own testimony?
Yes, I would.
With that, Chairman.
Sean, Mr. Whelan, real quick.
Is the third floor already an apartment?
So the second and third floor combined make up one four-bedroom unit.
Right.
And then this entrance on the side takes you to a floor unit?
So there's a two-bedroom unit on the first floor here, a four-bedroom unit upstairs that covers the second and third floors.
And then when you walk through this breezeway, you get to – I'm sorry to –
click oh you know what here it is yeah you come down to a walkway here it's an open air walkway
that comes out of the breezeway so what you have is this is the existing building and you can see
it's contiguous with what's all built on there at some point long in the future i couldn't get
building permits for it uh but you know 50 years ago or something a first a one-story addition was
built on the rear of these two homes and what you do is you walk through the breezeway right here
the breezeway takes you underneath uh the first floor or the second floor and then you have this
open-air walkway and right here at the rear of this uh one-story existing addition is that
entrance that i'm showing uh right here i should have taken a picture from the breezeway no that's
fine that's fine questions from the board no mr chairman no mr chairman okay so questions or
comments from the virtual audience i see no handshare planning commission thank you mr chairman
and board members, David Fecto, City Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change
to the residential single-family zoning at this location.
In 2016, the city changed the zoning maps in East Kensington
to conform with the recommendations in the comprehensive plan.
At that time, the zoning remained unchanged.
It has been zoned single-family since 1972.
The applicant has presented evidence
that the requested third dwelling unit existed prior
to zoning to the zoning application through no fault of the applicant requiring removal of the
third unit would present a hardship the city planning commission recommends that the board
grant the proposed use variance thank you david mi2022-004-079-2132 east cumberland street i vote
yes. Carol Tanari, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Thank you, Mr. Whelm.
Can I just confirm that Mr. Shaheed voted yes?
He did. Oh, yeah. I'm sorry, it cut out on my end for a second.
Okay, he voted yes. My vote was yes.
All right. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Sorry for the duplication. I hope everyone
has a good day. Thank you. You too.
All right, number three, MI-2022-004-117, 2134-38 Ridge Avenue.
Letter of support from Brewery Town Shardsway Community Civic Association.
Meredith Furlegger is the attorney.
Ms. Furlegger, excuse me, Ms. Furlegger is coming back in as a panelist.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell it for the court reporter?
Hi, could you state your name, please?
I'm Meredith Ferliger, F-E-R-L-E-G-E-R, 1500 Market Street, Suite 3500E.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client and relationship to the property?
My client is 2134 Ridge Avenue, LLC, represented by Emmanuel Laguticus or otherwise known as Mike.
Our vice chair has a few questions.
I do agree with the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy.
And I will also point out that there was an amended refusal that was apparently issued about two weeks ago.
So if the board is inclined to grant this, it will need to be with a proviso referring to that amended refusal.
Okay. Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, a copy of the refusal or referral, photos and or plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing, and have you met with the RCO and do you have a letter?
Yes, all of the above.
You may proceed and begin by sharing with what you've just done.
Thank you.
on your screen sure thing uh good afternoon uh mr chairman members of the board again meredith
ferlinger with dilworth paxton i do have our architects with design blends here today
if the board has any questions the property before the board today is 2134 ridge avenue
which sits at the convergence of ridge avenue west oxford street and north 22nd street in the
city's brewery town Sharswood neighborhood. The exhibit packet includes 16 exhibits that I will
walk through which includes at tab 11 both a letter of support from the official RCO
as well as a petition of support from the few near neighbors we were able to speak with.
The aerial that I will put up at exhibit 10 shows the location of this property
which you can see is a large but oddly shaped piece of vacant land that's just under 11,000
square feet. This parcel has not, from what I can see, had an active use in many, many decades.
Just to the southwest of the property is one of the recently completed phases of the Sharswood
Blumberg Redevelopment Project, which this board has heard about in several cases over the last
few years. The area surrounding this property is otherwise comprised of mixed commercial and
at quite a few points around the border that will accommodate some additional landscaping
as well as the nine street trees that will be added.
So if I turn to the floor plans now at exhibit seven, we're starting first with a roof level
view. You'll notice that there is a very small roof deck marked by the hash lines,
but most of this roof is left unoccupied. Turning to the lower level or basement floor plan,
you'll see that this basement is going to be used for utilities, storage, and just over 1,600 square
feet is allocated to that first floor commercial space. On the first floor, you'll note there's a
roughly 2,400 square foot commercial space. So in total, the available commercial space will be
roughly 4,200 square feet and is really oriented towards that, you know, crucial intersection right
at Ridge and West Oxford. The 11 parking spaces that you see are under the building line, so
they're not exterior parking spaces. And they're accessed through two different curb cuts, one off
of North 22nd Street and the other on Ridge Avenue. These driveway entrances and exits were designed
based on streets department guidelines, which require the driveway entrances be as far from
intersections as possible. An interior trash room is also shown on the first floor, which will have
twice a week commercial pickup. These units are comprised of a mix of one and two bedroom,
ranging from 615 square feet to just over 1,000 square feet. As noted in the agreement with the
community, two of the affordable units will be two-bedroom units, and three of them will be
one-bedroom units. Now, as I mentioned regarding the refusals, Ellen and I did issue a revised
refusal about two weeks ago. I only inadvertently discovered that in preparing for this hearing,
So, if the board is inclined to grant the request, the proviso should be that it is subject to the revised refusal issued November 16, 2022.
There are three total refusals.
This was the original one, and now you'll see that third refusal that was added.
So, the refusals are for density, height, and parking.
I'll start first with the parking, which was the recently added refusal.
The refusal is for providing parking that's not accessed by a shared driveway, alley, or rear street.
The hardship in this refusal stems primarily from the extraordinarily unique lot shape here, which does not lend itself easily to interpretation under the zoning code.
As you can see on the ground level floor plans, this parking is accessed from two different points, which was designed to ensure the safest and most efficient ingress and egress to the parking areas.
The Lower North District plan that I included at tab 14 does include reference to parking areas that have visible entries from major streets.
And so in this case, this parking would be very consistent with this plan, since the parking is designed to be visible from Ridge Avenue as well as North 22nd Street.
Furthermore, the parking design is consistent with the intent of the code, given that North 22nd Street is, logically speaking, the rear to Ridge Avenue, even if the triangular odd shape of the property prevents that specific finding under the code.
The board is aware that CMX 2 does not require parking, but the developer felt it was crucial to provide it for nearly half the residents of this building to further reduce the on-street parking shortages in the area.
Now, regarding density and height, I can address the hardship on each of those together.
The application requests an additional five units and an additional seven feet in height.
This request primarily stems from some unfortunate timing.
Prior to closing on the purchase of this property, the owner engaged the Design Blends design team to craft a project for this critically located property that would be consistent with the planning goals for this location.
The project was designed to take advantage of the then-available mixed-income housing bonus that would have granted an additional 7 feet in height and an additional 25% units.
and an additional 25% units. Now, shortly before the purchase closed, the 5th District overlay
was amended, and that amendment eliminated the availability of all bonuses in that overlay.
That amendment became a pending ordinance as of October of 2021, and the property closed
less than two months later. Now, even without entitlement to the bonus, the owner has always
still intended to provide the required number of affordable units to ensure that the goals of the
former bonus are met. And in fact, in response to interaction with the community, the owner has now
agreed to provide five affordable units, which is 18% instead of what would have been required with
bonus which is 10 percent the project overall has been designed in conjunction with the goals of the
lower north district plan which encourages higher density mixed-use buildings along ridge avenue
these variances are the least minimum to provide relief given that they are consistent with the
formerly by right density and height that were available through the now eliminated bonus