Charles Richardson from the Office of Councilwoman Cindy Bass, room 312, City Hall.
Richardson, R-I-C-H-A-R-D-S-O-N.
Right.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed.
Councilwoman Bass feels that the number of houses proposed is too dense for this particular site.
I think that it was actually just mentioned by Mr. Phillips, expert, or the partner in the project, that the construction costs would be similar, whether it be five or seven units for that footprint.
that the cost construction costs would be similar whether it be five or seven units
for that footprint uh just doesn't make sense that that they not make that a consideration
the councilwoman feels that they need to reconsider and build five or six houses on
this site as opposed to the seven as such council members asking that the board deny the variance
thank you uh anyone from the coordinating rco faith community development corporation
Okay, Mr. Chair, I have a next person is Mr. James Attei.
I understand.
I state your name, sir.
My name is James Attei.
I think I swore you on the last hearing, right?
Yes, sir.
Proceed.
I'm actually the sitting city committee person for this division.
And I had a second, Mr. Richardson's request to deny this request for two reasons.
First, the near neighbors on Alfred Street, those tenants of PHA were never placed on notice about this.
I actually had to give them notice today myself about this final meeting or this vote.
So they were never placed on notice.
their notices were sent to 301 West Queen Lane, which no longer stands anymore. So the near
neighbors, I have several on the line just in listening mode, but they were never placed on
notice. There is absolutely not one property on that 5300 block of Alfred Street that is a three
story property, not one. You're saying that the front face of the property is going to be on
Alfred Street. So if that's the case, it's going to clearly change the face of Alfred Street.
It will definitely affect the air and light of the residents currently there.
um uh there is no outlet for seven homes with an exterior driveway i don't see the outlet
for seven homes um with a driveway as well there's barely even an alley back there
so three stories front facing uh to alfred street no other property first of all the people on
Alfred Street never got an opportunity the only homes on Alfred Street are all owned by the
Philadelphia Housing Authority and all of them are two-story properties so to do three stories
it would just change the face of that block what was that I said thank you you you're starting to
repeat that so you already talked about it three homes on Alfred Street so I'm saying move on and
not to repeat because we got other people want to testify hello uh there you go all right um also
when it comes to what mr bradley mentioned about 228 the other property that he worked on
228 west hayne street 228 street is actually over a mile away from this proposed site so i don't
I would really use that as a decent and honest comparable.
When it comes to the square footage, it looks like the square footage proposed is 2,500 square feet.
Is that exterior square feet?
And based on the documents that I was reviewing in this Zoom meeting, it looks like the interior square footage is going to be about 1,000 square foot.
But I go back to the fact that I second Mr. Richardson and requesting that the board deny.
Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you very much for calling in.
Is there anyone here? Yes.
Hi, Chair. I'm sorry. This is Tanya.
Mr. Richardson has Inez on the phone from Faith, RCO, if you would like her to speak.
Yeah, I absolutely, I think it's, I think it's important at least to get the RCOs on.
Thank you.
Mr. Hand, could you unmute Charles Richardson again?
I just did.
Thank you.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell it for the call?
State your name.
I can't hear you.
State your name, Inez.
Say it again.
State your name.
Oh, Inez Love, Faith Community Development Corporation, chair for the RCO.
Charles, could you spell her name, please?
Inez, I-N-E-S, love, L-O-V-E.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
You swear to tell the truth, the whole truth,
Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
tell them about the truth.
I do. Proceed.
Proceed.
He said, go ahead.
As I was stated in my report,
the community was totally against this project
for two reasons, well, more than two,
but the ones that stand out for me
is the fact that the, excuse me,
that there is a driveway to the property
that comes out on...
What street is that that it comes out for?
Coulter.
It doesn't come out on Coulter.
It comes out on the other street.
And it was dangerous because people aren't able to see when they come out of that driveway.
So that needed to be changed.
The community was also concerned about the amount of houses.
They said they were going to build seven.
The community asked them to build five.
We met with them twice.
Nothing changed.
the community was totally against it and and and we agree as rco with the community
thank you very much for calling in we we appreciate your testimony
is there anybody from solo germantown civic the affected rco i'm gonna have miss allison
west with her hand raised sir i will allow her to speak at this time thank you
yes hello thank you could you please state your name and spell for the court reporter
allison a double l i s o n weiss w e i s s solo germantown civic association you swear a firm
to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes proceed miss weiss yes uh we
also sent a letter of opposition based on the feedback from the community which has been
consistently requesting that this project not move forward as seven units. The community has
serious concerns over the traffic and the blind spot created by the driveway, and they further
didn't feel there was any physical hardship presented why five
homes could not be built with some green space around them. That is one of the characteristic
qualities of Germantown and why people enjoy living in Germantown is the green space.
And a number of children go to the Boys and Girls Club, which is just down the street.
And so traffic concerns are very high priority so that these children can safely pass to and from the recreation center.
All right. Thank you for calling in, Ms. Weiss.
Is there anyone in the virtual audience that has testimony that's different than what we've already heard?
Okay, sir, there's a Mr. Robert Mandeville with his hand raised.
I can allow him to speak at this time.
Mr. Mandeville, please unmute yourself and wait to be sworn in, sir.
All right.
Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
My name is Robert Mandeville, R-O-B-E-R-T-M-A-N-D-E-V-I-L-L-E.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Could you please proceed?
Two comments.
They made a comment about looking for something appropriate to build here.
And what we're looking at is two lots on Coulter Street, 312 and 314,
which were recently turned around to be five lots on alfred street if we look next door
very recently a twin home was built you've seen it in some of the renderings
and it was built a few years ago and both of those units sold and they front on coulter street
that would be something appropriate to build here and secondly since he's making a case for hardship
why must the community bear the burden for his poor investment that's all
thank you is there anyone who has something different they want to offer
uh one more hand raised from a number that ends in one eight one two two
if you wish i can allow them to speak at the time sure please please
hi good afternoon my name is cheryl smith and i represent the 12th ward rco
okay do you swear we'll spell your name first for the court reporter just
Okay. Do you swear? Spell your name first for the court reporter.
Cheryl, C-H-E-R-Y-L Smith, S-M-I-T-H.
Right. Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
I absolutely do.
Could you state your position on the project?
I basically, I really don't have anything else to add, but the neighbors were definitely against it.
There were three meetings actually held, and one they canceled at the last minute when we were actually on the meeting.
We've been trying to get some changes made, and they really have not been considerate of the neighbors or the neighborhood or the community.
It's really, none of us see a hardship.
And there's a parking issue, because even though they would have one parking space, most homes have more than one car, and it's only one side parking on Coulter Street.
The other side are garages, and they're not supposed to park in front of garages, but the neighbors do have problems with people parking all the time.
That's what I have.
Thank you very much.
Thank you very much for calling in.
Mr. Phillips, before I give it to planning, would you want to take a few minutes, maybe two minutes, and just respond to some of this?
Yes, thank you.
First, in terms of my client's willingness to work with the community, I mean, this is quite frankly the only project I've been involved with,
a seven-home project where a traffic study was commissioned to assuage the community's concerns about traffic and pedestrian safety.
You'll note that Robert Horner was retained and provided an expert traffic study report
that is included within our packets that note safe pedestrian passage, appropriate site
distances, and that the impact is minimal.
With respect to the height, I believe it was mentioned by the first gentleman that this
would impact light and air.
Again, we are within all dimensional requirements.
The maximum height in the RSA 5 zoning district is 38 feet.
This project was reduced to 32 feet 3 inches.
So this is not an impactful towering project.
It's a 32-foot, three-story home.
With respect to the parking, we're providing one parking space for each of these homes in a garage.
No parking is required under the code, but we knew that parking is sensitive in this area, and we provided it with a single curb cut off of Coulter Street.
And lastly, I just want to say that this really is just an economics issue.
We have a lot that's been vacant and blighted for many years.
My client purchased it with the intention of redeveloping and building single-family homes.
Five homes and six homes are not feasible due to the size of the lot, the surrounding
lots, and that there is nothing contextual for 3,600 square feet homes.
The lots do Oregon better on Alfred to meet all of our dimensional requirements.
And the alternative, as my client testified, is that the project is not viable for anything
less than seven units.
I understand there is opposition in general to development. However, development and adding
homes and taxpayers and more members of a community is a positive, should not be looked
at as a negative. And we believe that we've established the hardship based upon the existing
circumstances of the loss of the economic conditions and would ask that the board
grants the requested variances. Thank you. Planning?
Mr. Chair? Yes. I'm very sorry to interrupt you, but there was one more individual named
Mr. Gregory Palmier. I believe he was trying to... Okay, put him on. That'll be our last one.
Okay. Mr. Palmier, you've been allowed to speak. Please unmute. Hi. Could you state your name,
please and spell for the court reporter yes my name is greg g-r-e-g palmier that's p as in paul
a is an animal u is an umbrella l is in love m is in mary i is an ingersault e is an excellent
r is in radical right do you do you swear affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing
but the truth i affirm good could you please uh offer us something that we haven't heard
possibly the parking study the parking study that was paid for by the developer okay in my experience
i've been developing real estate in this community for 42 years i've been living in this community
for 63 years and my experience is is that the companies that do parking studies
And my experience is, is that the companies that do parking studies for developers support the developers because they get paid by the developers.
Please.
So I would just ask the board to keep that in mind when they look at this property in terms of the parking, the traffic study, because the K-Bus also runs down Coulter Street.
and that creates an issue because it adds more traffic problems to Coulter Street even though
the K-Bus today has been rerouted temporarily until the 400 block of Coulter Street Bridge
is repaired which is supposed to happen very soon and it's been out of commission for about 10 years
but it's supposed to be repaired very shortly so I would just simply say that I hope the board
would look at that and also understand that as a 42-year person that has been developing real
estate in this area and a 63-year resident of this area and a past board member of the
Wisconsin Boys Club, which is half a block away from this development and uses that sidewalk
every single day with children starting at the age of five up to the age of 18 and 19,
that this development puts them at risk if it's any more than what was appropriately it was
designated for, which was five. So I would just simply ask the board. Thank you.
thank you for your call planning commission thank you sir david fecto city planning commission
mr chairman members of the board the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing