The houses on this block are so small, they're mostly all two bedrooms.
The ones that have a third bedroom are an extremely small one.
This lot is also at the south end of the block, and the proposed structure being much tolerable significantly reduced the air and light to much smaller houses to the north of it.
The committee noted that the entire third story is devoted to a single-bedroom master bath.
That's suitable for upper-income housing, but it's inappropriate for this working-class neighborhood.
It's even more obvious with the estimated price of $325,000 to $350,000.
So this is a deliberate and blatant attempt to gentrify the neighborhood, which is offensive.
The community objects to the third store, the roof deck, and the powerhouse.
Applicants will report to the roof deck and powerhouse, but not the third store.
The community deserves to put the bar back-to-back at the rear of the property.
Parking will be very difficult, especially in the evening.
Often there's no parking available nearby.
So the suggestion was made that complying with the 9-foot rear yard requirement
and providing an off-street parking space would make a lot of sense
and make the property much desirable to a buyer.
The applicant wouldn't have done others.
Need to note that that spot is currently concreted.
It was long used as a parking spot by the neighbor there at 1303
until the recent construction of new sidewalks and curbs there.
In effort to compromise, the community demand to eliminate the third storage just is made to provide the off-street parking by way of a garage and allow the second floor to the rear property line, knowing make up some of the lost square footage.
Again, the items reject the other hand to the claims that air and light blockers must be thus increased.
This does not make sense.
It's losing some 38 by 10 feet of third floor does not exceed 7 by 28 feet of rear extension.
The numbers just don't make any sense.
The community is willing to forego the required commercial and reduced rear yard size if the applicant will delete the third floor roof deck process and ensure the building style facade is simple and narrowing properties.
The last design that we've seen was not compatible at all.
It had a bay window out front and on the Thompson Street side, for some reason, not a single window and they cheaped out and put in a large section of vinyl.
Vinyl is not a normal material on the front of houses in our community, and it's cheap.
It's not respectful at all, this architectural plan.
So we want to see a facade that's compatible.
Just a couple notes here.
The property is never posted, and there's a mural on the south side of 1303, which is the north side of the Spaken lot, which will be lost when anything is built here.
It's going to happen sometime, but it will be a loss to the community.
Thank you.
thank you for calling it yeah mr chair can i uh respond what uh why don't i make sure there's
nobody else in the audience and i'll give you the list anyone else can we get the the last
gentleman who spoke was he was he a neighbor was he representing the rco i was not clear
um if he's still there he my understanding is that he's uh
I don't know if he's still there.
My understanding is that he's a representative of one of the RCOs.
All right, thank you.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
Yes, sir.
Ms. Joanne McCauley.
I have allowed her to speak, sir.
Please state your name and spell for the court reporter.
Nicola, if you're there, please unmute yourself.
Oh, I'm sorry.
Hi, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
J-O-A-N-N-E-M-C-C-A-U-L-E-Y.
Right.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Could you, if you would in your testimony, offer something different than what you've already heard, possibly?
I'm just an observer.
That's all.
Do you live in the area?
Yes, I live in Germantown.
I live at 4812 Knox Street, and I'm observing these proceedings to see how Zoom proceedings go, because I have one coming up myself at the end of the month, and I just wanted to see how they go.
All right.
Thank you very much, man.
Thanks for calling in.
You're welcome.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
No one else.
Planning Commission. Mr. Chair, Mr. Chair, I'm sorry to interrupt you. There's two more people. Ms. Songey Correll with their hand raised. I've allowed them to speak.
Okay. Could you please state your name and spell for the court reporter?
Songey Correll, S-A-R-N-G-Y, Correll, C-O-R-R-E-L-L.
Right. Do you swear a friend to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
um in your testimony could you offer something different than what we've heard
well i'm a resident of germantown i live between um off of west culture street and but but ma'am
why are you calling in because i would like to know with y'all building with y'all um i was
i'm a resident um in this neighborhood since um you're in germantown right right and i was given
the form saying that this is a meeting about y'all supposed to build non-story houses no no no ma'am
ma'am ma'am that case is coming up man this is a different case thank you for calling in but
that that's a different case you have is there anyone else who has testimony relative 1301
farson street all right i have mr james ed tay with his hand raised i have a lot of him to speak
hi could you state hi could you state your name and spell for the court reporter
my name is james ed tay uh j-a-m-e-s-e-t-t-e and i'm actually um i'm waiting for that case
So we're waiting for the call. I know. I know. But we're we're on a case. You have to wait.
We're we're working on a case. Your case will be called shortly. OK, thank you.
Planning Commission. Oh, Mr. Chair, before the Planning Commission gives a recommendation,
can I just respond to some of the input? So, first of all, in terms of dimensional variances,
it sounds like the community has no objection because they wanted us to increase the variances
by having full lot coverage of this property
and including to have parking on the actual lot itself,
which honestly makes no sense given the circumstances.
And I also think they support the fact
that we're doing a fully residential structure here.
You know, no one stated that they want us
to put a commercial with one unit.
They just want one unit in a single family.
Their issue has to do non-zoning related matters.
such as gentrification about the price of the property and whether it's two stories or three
stories. You know, but we're not seeking a variance in that respect. And as you can see
from the photos, I'm looking at the photos now, there is a mix of, you know, two to three stories
across the street on West Thompson Street. You know, and there's a history of single family use,
you know, so I think it's appropriate. And whether it's two stories or three stories,
We would need those variances for lot coverage and for rear yard depth because the lot's not that big.
It's only 751 square feet.
So for all those reasons, we respectfully request the variance.
Thank you.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, sir.
Good afternoon.
David Effecto, F-E-C-T-E-A-U with the City Planning Commission.
You swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Yes, sir, I do.
Thank you, sir. Mr. Chairman, members of the board, the comprehensive plan recommends this property for residential single-family use. The proposal conforms to the recommended zoning designation.
Thank you, sir.
Mr. Chairman, members of the board,
the comprehensive plan recommends this property
for residents.
We note that the RCO would have to request a neighborhood zoning map change if they wish to require new homes to be only two stories in height.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the board grant the use variants, allowing relief from the commercial first floor provision in the zoning code.
Thank you. MI 2022-001-931-1301 Forreston Street. I vote yes. Proviso, no deck or pilothouse.
Harold Tenere, my vote is yes with provisos. Thomas Hallamann, my vote is yes with provisos.
James Snell, yes with provisos. Ishmael Shaheed, yes with provisos.
Thank you, counsel. MI 2021-002-893-312 West Coulter Street. Letter of Opposition from the Coordinating RCO Faith Community Development Corporation. Letter of Opposition from Solo Germantown Civic.
Michael Phillips is the attorney.
Gus O'Neill is also working.
Yes, I'm sorry, sir. Mr. Michael Phillips, he's been brought into panels.
Thank you.
Good afternoon, Chairman Bergman, members of the board, Michael Phillips, Claire Harrison, on behalf of Freddie C. LLC, the owner of 312-314 West Coulter.
Could you spell your name just for the record, please?
Michael, M-I-C-H-A-E-L, Phillips, P-H-I-L-L-I-P-S.
All right. Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Our vice chair has a few questions.
Mr. Phillips, do you agree to wait the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
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 to all.
Okay, great.
You may proceed and share your screen.
Thank you.
thank you I'm just about to share my screen
okay can everyone see my screen yes all right so again here on behalf of 312 to 14 west
Coulter Street. We are proposing it's a relocation of lot lines to change five OPA
parcels. The addresses that we have are just 312 and 314 West Coulter, but the parcels
include 5365 Alfred, 6769 through 73 Alfred Street into seven to create seven lots and erect
single-family homes with parking on each of the lots and have a shared driveway in the rear
for the parking. The only refusal we've received is for the size of the lot. Here, we are zoned
RSA 5, which normally has a 960 square foot requirement. However, since we're in the 8th
district overlay, the lot size that is required is still 1,440 square feet. And each of the
proposed lot that we have is 1,102 square feet. And that is the only refusal. I will take you
through the plans and show some zoning maps and photographs of surrounding properties to see that
the 1,102 square foot lot size is completely consistent with the surrounding area. Moreover,
I have with me Doug Bomar on behalf of the property owner, Freddie C. LLC, who will testify as to the financial hardship and the unfeasibility of either five homes or six homes.
And within our exhibit packet at tab four, we have proforma detailing how either the five or six home scenario is just unfeasible and how seven really is the least number of homes that could be constructed in this lot to make it a viable project.
I also have with me Logan Dry from KCA Design Associates, who's the project architect, and Tyler Bradley with Fox & Roach Realtors, who can testify as to the outsell figures.
Since we're really just talking about lot size, I won't belabor this too much, but I'll take you first through the plan.
These are proviso plans because we have made some changes to reflect community concerns.
And you'll see that there are seven homes that are all fronting on Alford Street.
And you'll see that there are seven homes that are all fronting on.
And sorry, my computer's been a bit slow today.
Each fronting on Alford with a shared driveway at the back off of West Coulter to provide a one car interior garage for each of these homes.
We still have enough rear yards so that that shared driveway is actually behind what is required for a rear yard, and we meet all of the dimensional requirements under the code.
Here are the home sizes.
you'll note that we all right zoomed in a lot more than I wanted but let me just
bring this out a bit so you can just see the the size of the home and then I'll
just go to the rendering and see there each three single-family homes all you
less than 38 feet again we want to keep this contextual with the surrounding neighborhood
one moment i'll be able to show you the uh
home sizes but again all under 38 feet
okay this page seems to be the most finicky so i'll leave this page and go to another one
here are the rendering
All right. So here are the renderings that show the seven homes. This is Alfred Street
and this is Coulter. We're right there at the corner property. It's currently just a
vacant, empty lot that's been that way for many years. The homes would all front on Alfred
Street. Down as you get lower, there's some PHA housing, and I'll take you around to show you some
of the other homes. This is the Coulter Street frontage. Now, we made some significant design
changes at the request of the community, preferred some more red brick. They wanted another entrance
to this first unit here, which we were able to do. Here are the prior renderings, which were a bit
different. We didn't have as many windows. We weren't showing all the red brick. We made
some changes, some design and aesthetic changes. The community also raised concerns about
traffic. You'll see at tab three, we provided a traffic study that both shows that this is
minimal impact and would not cause any jeopardy or danger to pedestrians. This was another prior
rendering. You see we added a lot of windows on the side here and really spruced this up, added
street trees along Colter Street side. This will show you some existing photographs of the property.
Currently just a vacant lot, we have homes there, and again, here's another context.
Now all of these homes up here, these are all zoned RSA 3, we're looking for context,
these are all RSA 5, again, this is PHA housing, which is denser than what we are proposing.
We have our zoning photos.
Also, at tab 5, we have a comparison of the lot near us, and you'll see that while there
are some 1744, 1240, there's 800 square foot lot. As we get down into our RSA 5 area, most
of the lots are under 1,000 square feet. And again, we're at 1,100. These are all homes within
the vicinity. We're looking at average lot size $1.011 here, bounded by Morris, Priscilla,
West Penn, and Coulter. Again, everything with the exception of $355, West Penn, which is
the same size as ours, everything is smaller, same as you get to Morris, bounded by Penn,
and Coulter. This is the zoning map to give you some context of the areas I'm talking about.
So our property is here and you'll see all of these,