Dara Rimes
Dara Rimes
If you're still in the virtual audience
Please raise your hand
I've allowed them to speak, sir.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court sonographer?
Dara, D-A-R-A.
Oh, I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
We took care of your cases.
It's my fault.
Thank you very much.
Thank you very much.
All right.
And then number 17, MI.
We took care of that.
I have one case.
Number six, MI 2021-003-880-625.
610 to 40 High Street, this is a request for withdrawal.
The case has been withdrawn.
We're going to go to our add-on list.
Number one, MI 2022-003-647-2321 North Broad Street.
I vote yes with provisive.
As per supplemental findings of fact and conclusions of law adopted by the ZBA on July 12, 2023, revised plans, two pages, stamped by ZBA on July 12, 2023, maximum 36-unit use registration required prior to occupancy for vacant commercial space.
Bill, this is Hillary. Can you also certify, please?
Oh, I've certified that I've looked at all records with this and went through the transcript.
James Snell, I certify that I did look at the records and very knowledgeable about this case.
My vote is yes with Proviso.
I certify that I have read the case and listen to all the information that was on record and my vote is yes.
Thank you. Number two, MI 2022-006-892-2202-204 West Lehigh Avenue. I vote yes for temporary
variance, which expires 8-1-25, and I also have a proviso as per supplemental findings of fact
and conclusion of the law dated by ZBA on July 12th, 2023.
James Snell, my vote is yes with proviso.
Jim, you got to certify.
Oh, sorry about that.
I apologize.
Yes, I certify that I saw the video
and familiarize myself with the record in this case.
I certify that I read the transcript for this case on December 7, 2021.
My vote is yes.
Number three, MI 2022-006-988-1124-28 Dickinson Street.
The resumption hearing in this matter has been rescheduled to Wednesday, July 19th at 9.30 a.m.
The resumption hearing will be for the purpose of the Planning Commission providing their recommendation based on revised plans, as well as the Board taking its vote on this case.
The record remains closed except for the recommendation of the City Planning Commission, receipt of the revised plans, and receipt of letters of non-opposition from neighbors that were discussed at the June 13th hearing.
at the June 13th hearing. Number four, MI 2022 001 058 322 Delancey Street. At the request of the
Number four.
parties, the vote on this matter has been rescheduled to Wednesday, July 19th at 9 30 a.m.
Number five, MI 2023-000-239-8025 Caster Street. The vote in this matter will occur at the start
of the 2 p.m. list. We're going to go to our regular list. We're going to start with number seven.
MI 2022-004-560-714 East Shelton Avenue, Carla Pagan and Rodney Bollett.
This is a pro se.
Carla Pagan will be rejoining as a panelist.
Thank you.
Good morning. Thank you for having me. Good morning. Could you state your name,
please, and spell for the court stenographer? Yes, Carla Pagan, P-A-G-A-N, owner of 714 East
Shelton Avenue. Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but
the truth? Yes, I swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Thank you. So
this application is for multifamily household living, five dwelling units in an existing
structure. The proposed use multifamily living is not permitted in the RSA 3 zoning district.
Our vice chair has just a few questions for you, okay? Okay. Good morning, ma'am. Have you emailed
in all the required documents that are needed to proceed with this case? Yes. In advance of this
hearing? Yes. Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen. And I will also note that the 12th
board Democratic committee has sent a letter of support for you.
Share your screen. Thank you.
So attached to the exhibits I previously emailed and I'll just kind of go in order that the zoning board required my notice, my original application for the change in use.
Back from June 2022, my original refusal letter from L&I, also dated in June 2022, the original plan was to convert, was to request the house be converted to six single room residences and two family households.
homes. Um, between this filing and talking to some of the community members and city
council offices, it seemed that no one supported, um, single room residences at all. So I did
amend the, the plan to request five, um, residential dwelling units in the home.
Here's the updated L&I refusal letter.
Here you'll find the original project information form, and I only say original because again,
it was for six single-room residences and two family units. I submitted a second
project information form that shows
oh boy I'm going too fast
that was amended to five
residential units
you'll see here
attached as a copy of the deed of ownership
recording tax certification
Also enclosed is my tax clearance for the Zoning Board hearing today.
I'm going to rotate this page.
I also had the architect revise the building plans to switch the home to five residential
units instead of rooms.
So here's the actual site plan, the exterior, and then I'll zoom in more for this.
So you'll see it's a three-story Germantown row home, and you'll get a better sense when we see exterior photos of the building.
But the first unit you'll enter through a side pathway, bathroom, kitchen, living room, bedroom.
bathroom, kitchen, living room, bedroom. The second first floor unit is an efficiency.
You'll enter through the back of the home, bathroom, kitchen, and efficiency space.
To get to the second floor units, you'll enter through the front of the home, come up the
stairwell. You hit the top of the stairwell. You can either turn right to a one-bedroom,
bedroom bathroom kitchen living or you can turn left and go into an efficiency here
if you want to get to the third floor one bedroom you would continue up this last set of stairs
to the last one bedroom apartment bathroom bedroom and then kitchen living area
um you'll also find a back stairwell from the third floor down to the second this is a
another exterior uh egress point in the event of emergency that will lead to the backyard
so those are updated floor plans for five residential units let me flip this back around
um this is a copy of a letter where I had originally asked the zoning board if I could
amend my appeal from rooms to a five-minute building and that was approved by the zoning board
also an enclosed or revised proposal plans same thing original proposed use for the six
single room residences in two units changed to multi-family five dwelling units
um and this is an email where i was asking the rco to schedule um a neighborhood meeting for me
So moving on, let's see.
So exterior photos of the of the home. So this is direct shot from the front of the building
across the street. You can see it's a typical. We don't see that. We don't we don't see that.
Let me stop and then reshare.
Okay, sure.
How's that?
We see it.
Okay, good.
Okay, so you'll see the house is located in Germantown.
It's typical Germantown architecture of the day, a three-story twin.
This is front and center view of the property from across the street.
You'll see that I'm attached to another, to actually a city-owned abandoned home.
this is a sidewalk view from the front of the house
and just more exterior views so you'll see that the house it's over 2000 suite it does
have a lot of depth to it to house these units another side view
the side walkway that I showed in the building plans this is a picture of that walkway when
you're in the front of the home, there's a path that leads down the side. These stairs take you
into a first floor unit. Another set of stairs here take you down to the basement, and then the
path continues on to the backyard. So the home also has a large backyard facing the back of the
house here, and then a front porch, or excuse me, a back porch. And then to the right of the home is
existing a vacant line. And for interior photos, the house has been vacant for more than a decade.
I actually purchased off the sheriff's sale of another investor that was trying to renovate the
home. So it's been vacant for a long time. This is a shot of the entry right now. And again,
the pictures that you'll see of the interior show it as a single family residence um more
interior photos of the first floor in the middle and then some towards the rear
on the second floor the front of the second floor has a nice large bay window
a lot of rain we don't we don't see that we don't see that oh you don't we're still looking at the
rear yard. Oh, okay. Let me stop, share, and then start up again. Okay. How's that? There you go.
That's it. That's it. Perfect. Okay. So here's interior photos. The first floor, here's one
from the front of the home towards the back of the house and in the middle. You'll see it has
towards the back of the house and in the middle, you'll see it has extensive damage.
expensive damage.
We've actually already invested more than $10,000 to get the roof repaired, so no more damage
occurs inside the home. On the second floor, you'll see the home has beautiful bay windows that
we'll keep intact, large rooms. We'll keep most of the rooms on the first floor intact,
only adding some walls.
The second floor, we do have to widen the hallway,
so some original walls will come down
so the hallway is widened to code.
Here are more interior photos of the second floor
towards the back of the home.
And then on the third floor,
photos from the front, middle, and rear.
And you'll see most of the damages from water
in the house sitting vacant for so long.
So I'm going to stop sharing and bring up one last. And the only other exhibit I have for the presentation, the RCO provided this support letter after my original exhibits were sent.
So I just wanted to show the board the support letter from the RCO. They just stated this on July 7th.
So, Ms. Pagan, tell me what's the rest of the block look like?
Yeah, so Shelton Avenue, I wish I had more pictures. Shelton Avenue is a pretty busy street, actually. It's a mix of commercial and residential.
Are the multifamily units on the block?
On my side of the street, all of the houses look similar to mine, but they're very large, and all of them except for one have been converted to boarding houses or multifamily residences.
They're so large, and it's a working-class neighborhood, and houses over 2,000 square feet are a hard sell.
across the street
it's more commercial
there's a Chinese restaurant
there's a non-profit
organization and also the
Social Security Administration
thank you
questions from the board
no chair
questions or comments from the virtual audience
I have a hand up from Charles Richardson
I will allow them to speak at this time.
Good morning, Mr. Richardson.
You've already been sworn.
Just state your name for the record, please.
Good morning again, Mr. Chair.
Charles Richardson, Office of Councilwoman Cindy Bass, R-I-C-H-A-R-D-S-O-N.
Councilwoman has no opposition to granting the variance.
Thank you very much for taking the time to call in.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
I don't see any further answer.
Planning Commission?
Thank you, Chair Bergman.
and good morning, David Defecto, F-E-C-T-E-A-U, with the City Planning Commission.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir, I do.
Proceed, please.
Thank you, sir. Members of the board and chairman, the comprehensive plan recommends a zoning map
amendment from residential single-family to residential multifamily at this location.
The proposed uses would be allowed with a special exception in the recommended zoning district.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the Board grant the variances.
Thank you.
MI 2022-004-560-714 East Chelten Avenue.
I vote yes.
Mr. Chair, this is hilarious.
Oh, I see.
I'm sorry.
I vote yes per amended refusal dated 5-9-23.
Please note for the record that the refusal omitted a use refusal on required parking spaces.
Five are required for the dwelling unit, and none are proposed.
This grant will grant multifamily living as well as providing the required parking spaces,
as well as not providing the required parking spaces.
Thank you, Mr. James.
Thank you.