You do have one side of the street parking on Jasper Street,
and you have to go to Somerset to actually get parking on both sides of the street.
this is a picture of the of the building um this is it looking out of the garage
and again this might this is my client's property and this is the appellate the appellant property
as you can see they're both very narrow sized lots um one thing to point out my client does
plan on subdividing these lots if the zoning variance is granted which will
positively impact and lessen the impact of the dimension percentage that this structure has on
his lot. My client, these are pictures of the orange posters. My client is a, you know, at the,
when we met with the Somerset neighbors for better living, you know, he was kind of considered a
pillar um it was one of the more pleasant rco meetings i've ever been a part of um in fact
it was brenda mosley who's on the board and also a member of the new kensington development
corporation um she couldn't she praised my client for the what he's done to that community
um as you see we did have 19 to zero uh full support of the project and they did point out
that he has uplifted and um inspired others to take care of his house of their property on that
block uh some of the board members actually lived on that block or live on that block the the
background of why why why this garage was built um during covid my client um he had it was a big
it was a small vacant lot he had his uh he had generators and bite he had a generator and multiple
bikes stolen um bolts cut from the lock they were attacked they were just sitting on the lock attached
to his property um that's what precipitated the need to to build um to build a garage unbeknownst
to him he needed uh he did you know one big mistake made along the way he needed permits
and it was flagged by l and i we worked at all the issues with l and i um in working with the
community they you know they supported his filing of the variance appeal my client actually started
the kensington community bike shop in 2023 it's a repair shop that also provides free education
a bike education with a focus on the youth the education portion is free
he actually stores some of the overflow bikes in his garage
He actually stores some of the overflow bikes in his garage during this busy season, which is typically in the – we're entering it soon, the spring and the summer.
To go into the hardship of the lots, as you can see, this is 1909, where he lives, and the lot size is only 444 square feet, very atypical – I'm sorry, not typical of a city single-family property, and the lot in question is only 486 square feet.
So we do plan, if we do get the zoning, we will subdivide this.
We'll have nearly a thousand square foot lot.
And these are the notices, our hearing to the RCO, our hearing to the ZBA, and I won't bore you with the rest of the, these are the proof of mailing for both hearings.
With that, if Ben Estepani is in the audience, I would ask that he be brought on.
he'll be coming back in as a
panelist
hi Bruce
hey Ben
Ben you designed
the plans for this project is that right
can he state his name and spell it for the
court sonographer please
sure it's Ben
B-E-N last name
Estepani
E-S-T-E-P-A-N-I
you swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes please receive counsel
ben if you could just briefly um touch on the touch on the plans um in particular this and
in any pre-approvals you have for the um the parking with the streets approved the streets
department sure um yeah i was brought on um to document the existing garage um we documented
of the setbacks um but the way that it's situated um you know with a by right curb cut approved by
the streets department you meet all attorney radiuses to get in and out um from seltzer
street um we have zoning approval for that um so um yeah kind of reiterate what chris said you know
some setbacks in the back that and setbacks at the rear and that's non-conforming setbacks in
side yard that are non-conforming but um again the the actual turning of the vehicles in and
out of the garage um has been approved um by zoning by sorry by um by streets department
for their zoning review thank you
and if edward nelling is in the um audience if he can be brought on as a panelist
They're coming back in presently.
Hello?
Yes, good evening, sir.
Can you please state your name and spell it for the court sonographer?
first edward nelling e-d-w-a-r-d last name n as in nancy e-l-l-i-n-g swear to tell the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do please proceed council good evening ed um
did you hear my uh the testimony and review the presentation yes great do you adopt the
presentation and testimony as if it were your own yes i do and i just want to ask you one follow-up
question as you know one of our variances is um regarding the proposed rear yard depth
where you have an alley do you if you could explain to the board how the alleys what
any concerns about the alleys and if they're actually utilized
yeah so um behind my house there is an alley in case need be um if anybody needs to get back there
but all the alleys on our block um there's seven lots on my street and there's five houses standing
um all the houses have taken up their whole lot with either a fence or a cinder block wall
um i have my alleys back open to um there's a backyard on jasper street that they open to
but um yeah the alleys are are not utilized here for trash or anything but um if need be
in case of egress you know there is room behind my house um but the alley does not
room behind my house um but the alley does not travel the whole way the whole length of seltzer
street um on my side or really anywhere in the neighborhood going down helen or any of the side
streets seltzer sterner or silver is it your testimony that the side streets of highlighted
seltzer silver and sterner are they significantly um narrower and less dense than somerset and
Jasper. Yes, they are. Okay. And you, did you, and did you build the garage?
I strike that. Why did you build the garage?
To have more, you know, storage for stuff. And like I said, you know, in the beginning of all
this, I, I had some tools, stolen generator bikes, and it wasn't just someone coming into the lot
and taking it they were you know going in there and cutting locks and um i needed more security
and you are aware that if the board grants the variance you still have to go through all the
building permit requirements and to subdivide um and you and you plan on subdividing both lots
is that correct yeah yes and i'm prepared to do all that with the permits and the subdivision
Okay. I have nothing further.
Thank you, Counsel. Questions from the board?
Yeah, a question. First, I guess, just presentation-wide, it's very difficult to read to see the drawings with this grid.
Oh, you know, I thought that was only on my screen. That just started happening yesterday, and I did not know that translated. I apologize.
guys this makes it difficult to read so i'm kind of looking at these pictures and if i look at this
one two third it's the third picture down is this the front side of that street it is the one i'm
highlighting right here that's the street that this the drop that the uh that this garage uh
fronts on yes yeah so i mean the street is narrow and i'm concerned that you know you really don't
have room to get people are already parking on the pavement across the street you can see all the way
down the street, they're parking on the pavement. So I don't know how you're going to get in and
out of that garage if people are parked on the street. Well, they do. And Ben can jump back on
if necessary, but they do. I mean, the streets department did pre-approve it. I understand that
the streets department pre-approved it. But when I look at the pictures of the block, the people
are parking on top of the pavement, right? Which means that it's a very narrow street. So people
are parked if they even tried to park on the street you'd never be able to get into your um
your um your driveway well and that is i mean here's so here's actually what is up directly
across the street um so uh you know understandably it is going to be a tight uh the turning rate it
will be tight um you're not going to be parking um you know an escalate an escalate in there but
um there is there is a severe parking parking hardship um in that surrounding block on coupled
with the fact that there are um i don't see where there's a parking hardship there's like nothing
near there's nothing near you got parking everywhere i don't know i mean all the side
there's no parking on all the sides and it is a one-way street i don't agree i don't agree and i
see that everybody is parking on the pavement every picture you have people on the pavement
There's not one person that's parked in a parking spot on the street.
Well, we're trying to do it legally.
But you won't be able to get in.
You know, people, you can't get in the parking space.
Well, and the garage does serve a safety purpose and it has revitalized, you know, the neighborhood really.
And when we did get, you know, 19 and 0, they support, you know.
I understand. I'm just, I'm looking at the reality of what you're saying.
No, functionally, I do recognize that some, you know, some days it might be harder than others.
All right. I have no other question.
Anyone else? Any other board members have any questions?
Questions from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Anybody on the virtual audience have any questions?
No further answer, Mr. Chair.
Planning Commission?
This is Ron Bednar.
City planning.
the property is indicated for residential use on the city plan or adopted district plan recommends
no change to existing zoning at this location the applicant's hardship is not supported with
evidence of unique physical circumstances of the property therefore we recommend request
variance not be granted we're going to hold this and take this to executive session
for more conversation.
Council
Council, we'll vote on this next week at 3.30 list.
will vote on this
next week at 3.33.
The 2 o'clock list.
2 o'clock list.
Thank you.
All right.
You have a good one.
Is there anyone else out there in the virtual audience who case has not been heard for the
3.30 list?
You're not too many further hands, Mr. Chair.
All right.
I just want to thank all of the staff for today and your patience.
It's a long day, but hopefully you all enjoy your nights and your evenings and get home safely.
Have a good night.
Thank you.
Have a good night.
All right.
Thank you.
Thanks.