the other exit is right here up these stairs yeah that's the property actually extends further than
the plan is
showing?
Because that's
currently showing a door that would
look like it would be a front
door. It's showing that the door is in the facade.
Ah, yeah. So there's no
there's no, like this door
is not an exit. It's just
like a small, a very small
closet. There's no
unless maybe this floor plan
Yeah, so the plan is missing the
closet. Yeah, this is this
door right here. That's really a closet.
That's not some type of exit or another part of entry.
That's just a closet.
And just for clarity, the part of your plan that says room, that is eight foot by three
feet, three feet, four inches, that is a closet, correct?
That is a closet.
I'm not sure why it says room.
That is a closet.
I just want to point out that that is not a code if it was to be used as a room.
And then are you planning to do any additional work in this space or is.
um are you planning to do any additional work in this space or is your plan to rent it as is
to rent it as is unless um there is requirement to do work like let's say it is required that
i make a wall so it's not a studio but as of right now i didn't have any plans to do any work
and then for you what is your how many people are you intending to rent this space so i um
currently live on
unit 4 in this
unit so it would be owner occupied
and then I would rent the rest.
So how many people
are you? So it would be
three people
not including myself.
Three people
in the basement unit specifically?
Oh no, apologies.
I thought you meant throughout the
building. In the basement
it would just be one person.
I would, my plan would only be to have one person there.
Could you just tell me, how do you get to the basement apartment?
That was my question.
Where's the entry to the basement apartment?
Sure, absolutely.
The, let's see, do I have a picture of the, I do not have a picture of that.
But when you walk in this front door, there's a hallway.
um when you walk in the store and through the hallway there's the there's an entry to the first
floor unit there's also don't you have a floor plan of the first floor um i do so it says
i don't know if you can see this is okay okay thank you for that so as you can see you walk
in here there's a door um and then you get through the basement that way
and then up these stairs are the other units but yeah the basement is through the entry
and the entry to the basement is right here actually one more question do you have laundry
in any of the units or in the building um no there is laundry hookups um so i can
place laundry like each unit can have its own um it they can't accommodate it
But as of right now, the only unit that has laundry is the one that I'm currently in.
And then do all units or all tenants, would they have access to the rear yard?
No, the only tenants that would have access to the yard would be the basement tenant through that exit, that egress, and then the first floor tenant.
Do that better.
So, yes.
Can we go back to that basement plan?
Absolutely.
So then the stairs that you're showing, that egress point is on the other side.
It's where those also.
So once this person gets into this basement, that's the only means of egress, right?
out of that that unit is that how i believe so right so i guess the normal entry would just be
through these stairs but let's say there's like an emergency they are for you know then there's
also this point as well but the normal entry would be through the stairs so that's that's the
only uh egress out other than the entry and that's the only natural air and light um no there are
more window so there is a um where can i show this image there's these there's a window here
there's also one in the bathroom um it's hard to kind of see but there's also some window and you
get you know some light through there as well is that a window that opens or there's like a that's
I can it's better to show in the other image just kind of like that um you know through this
this little box here can be opened up so that fresh air can come in um so that's there the
bathroom and then obviously there's that long that egress it has a it's a much larger window
um they can get air and light there as well okay thank you questions from our attorney Hillary
emerson not at this time this question is from the audience
questions from the virtual audience
there are no hands raised mr chair thank you planning commission
thank you chairman and good morning david vector with the city planning commission
chairman and board members the comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning at this location from
CMX 2.5, commercial mixed use, to CMX 3.
This property has a documented history as at times 3 and at times...
This property has a documented history as at times three and at times four dwelling units for the ground floor office.
The configuration of this building does not make it unusual for use as a ground floor office or other consumer commercial space allowed by Wright and CMX 2.5.
However, the proposed zoning of CMX 3 would make commercial use optional.
The proposed four dwelling units are in keeping with what would be allowed in CMX 3.
the city planning commission recommends that the board grant a proposed use variants for not
including ground floor commercial space thank you um we're going to hold this till next wednesday
we're going to vote on this next wednesday at 9 30 a.m after i have a discussion with the board
okay um would i oh sorry sure no you go ahead um what i need to join next wednesday with a
news you won't have to all you have to do is listen in you'll hear them okay thank you very
much. Thank you. I'm going to go to
next one is number 14.
MI 2024
005 637 301 South Camac
Street. Chandler Hayes Vazen is the owner
applicant. There is
unanimous opposition from Washington
Square West and a letter of opposition from
Council Member Squilla.
They've been promoted to panels, Mr. Chair.
Good morning. How's everybody doing?
Good morning. Could you please state your name and spell for this
stenographer uh chandler c-h-a-n-d-l-e-r vizan v as in victor e z as in zebra i n as in nancy
right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do okay um this application is for use as a visitor accommodation in an existing structure
with other existing uses in the structure as previously approved the proposed use visitor
accommodation is prohibited in the cmx1 zoning district our vice chair has a few questions
good morning have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits as needed to proceed with
this case five days after this hearing i have you please proceed and you may share your screen great
um can you guys i use teams for work what can you guys remind me where you go
to do that? Green button at the bottom of the screen.
Got it. Okay.
Open up your documents ahead of time.
Yep. You're coming up now.
Perfect. Okay.
So first thing I wanted to share
was my
denied zoning application.
All right, that is my refusal, proposed use in the zoning board, or from L&I.
Project information form, I have the letter that sends all my neighbors notifying them
of the rco twice that went out to about 100 neighbors around me
certificate of tax clearance we have that great
and then you mentioned the uh from the rco the um meeting summary form just showing that that
happened on November 26th. And then the board voted on December 10th. And then my deed.
Okay. So why don't you tell us how long you've been doing it and show some photos again on the
property? Great. So I did kind of just prepare a statement. Would you mind if I just did that
first? Yeah. How long is it? It's probably about three minutes. Sure. Go ahead. Okay. I think it
just kind of, it would be the easiest thing.
So I bought this house in January of 2021.
At the time I was not ready to live in it right away.
I lived in graduate hospital during the pandemic.
It was an Airbnb from February of 2021
to September of 2023 with months long breaks
With about with months long breaks for extensive exterior renovations and to fix a long list of violations from L&I, historical violations that I inherited from the previous owner.
for extensive exterior renovations
and to fix a long list of...
During that time, had over 150 different parties that stayed in it for short visits for from two days to a couple of weeks.
Did not have one violation from the city or complaint from a neighbor or the business next door.
There's a restaurant next door, directly next door that I share an alley with.
Had a camera out front, took care of the home like it was my own because I knew this neighborhood was tight knit.
didn't want to cause any problems. I've never accepted anyone without at least a few good
reviews. It just wasn't worth the money at that time, even if it was a weekend that was a high
net worth weekend, so to speak. As you see from the reviews that I uploaded, which I'll show you
in a second, the property was managed by me and it was a guest's favorite, one of the highest
rated in the city in all categories. During this time, aside from property taxes, these folks
contributed to the local economy by visiting local businesses. They would often ask me where
to go to eat, what to do, things to do. And you can see from my submissions in 2022 that I uploaded
to the board, contributed an additional $8,000 in taxes to the city, aside from my property taxes
and hotel taxes. When the city started enforcing the short-term rental rules in 2023, I transitioned
their property to a long-term rental, but found it very difficult to rent to the steep. If any of
you have been in a Trinity in Philadelphia, you know that it does vary from Trinity to Trinity,
but in this one, they're almost ladder-like staircases. I personally don't mind them.
I'm young and it's easy for me to go up and down them. I find them charming, but very difficult
to rent. I showed it over 20 times and to find someone interested, it was difficult. I ended up
taking a net loss during that timeframe. I know everyone on this call knows that owning a historical
home built in 1850 is expensive. I've not put the earnings from the Airbnb into my pocket.
I've invested them in the exterior of the property, start bolts and repointing, $20,000, reforbing the shutters, $17,000, $8,000 for a new front door with a transom window.
The front door was from the 60s and needed to be replaced.
Also needs new windows, which is another $30,000.
After the tenants moved out, I decided the best course of action was to try to get the zoning variance.
I followed all the instructions to a T, including sending the notice out to the RCO meeting on 1126 via mail to over 100 neighbors twice.
Not one showed or wrote in dissenting.
Even the committee was surprised by this, the RCO meeting I attended.
I spent 20 minutes or so with the committee trying to understand their concerns.
I gathered what was most important.
And what I got from that meeting was that what my immediate neighbors thought was the most important thing.
They mentioned they had never supported a variance at one of these meetings before, on the front end, before we even got into our discussion.
But to the left of this property is a restaurant.
Across the street is a large apartment building.
To my right, the connected townhome is a neighbor named Julie Seda.
She could not make the meeting today due to work, but she has owned the home for over 10 years,
including the time that mine was at Airbnb.
And in our discussion, I had zero concerns about it.
Additionally, I checked the Facebook group for the street this morning,
and no one has mentioned my property since the letters were mailed and the signs were posted for this meeting.
Lastly, I attempted to go a step further and talk to the neighbors on this second and third houses down on both sides of the street twice.
and they did not come to the door i feel like i've done my due diligence on both sides reactively
and proactively do my do my due diligence um the committee listened and seemed open to my
discussion and i felt like i overcame their concerns but it seems like their mind was made
up before i even started making my case um and you know i'm not i know i've gone along here but i
just the last thing i want to say was that uh if granted approval i would go above and beyond to
make sure i'm a good neighbor and i would put that first any guests that were unruly or or not
following the rules would would be ejected right away and that would be the my my number one concern
um can i show you one more thing sure um i wanted to show you um
the signage as well you know i don't know if anyone's here i guess you guys will ask in a
second but i just want to make sure you knew that i did put this up followed all the rules around
that um it is a very tight-knit street so you know if anyone did write in i i can't see that
So if anyone did write in or show any sign, anything, I want to make sure you knew that I did that.
And then I also want to make sure that you saw the did you want to see inside pictures or no?
Real quick. OK.