Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Yes, Chair, I have Michael Harrigan with a handout.
I could you please state your name and spell for the court reporter.
My name is Michael Horrigan, H-O-R-R-I-G-A-N.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Are you a neighbor, sir?
Yes, I live at 132 Tasker.
Okay, proceed.
You know, when the lawyer spoke earlier about the effects of light and sun being negligible, that's simply not true.
I mean, all the houses which are east of this proposed structure on Tasker Street, we get full sun all year round, including the winter.
That structure, the big lollipop part of Fernand Street, right now is only 15 feet high.
What he's proposing is two 41-foot high individual homes.
and it shows in the shadow during the winter that's going to block the sunlight from entering
our homes during the winter and parts of the summer so he's comparing a by right building
to these two structures he's proposing but what's there right now is only 15 feet high
and it allows plenty of sun all year round now if these two homes go up 41 feet high
that's that blocks our sun into our yards and our homes so that's one of my points of contention
is that you know my house is going to be worth less and be far less enjoyable because of these
two large houses getting built really in the back of our backyards these aren't being built along
the curbside where all of our other houses are this is being stuck in the back in the middle of
our yards. If you take a look at the aerial shot, you'll see a lot of big oversized yards
to the east of the proposed structure. Mr. Harrigan, did you attend the community meetings?
Yes, I did. And on that note, the last community meeting was May 1st, which was a Monday. And the
The letters didn't arrive to any of my neighbors homes until the Saturday before that Monday.
So really, if people open their mail, possibly on Saturday, maybe they could have made the meeting on Monday, but there was virtually no notice for people to show up.
But yes, I did attend all the meetings, but there would have been support at the meeting, Mr. Harrigan.
Yes, not support for the buildings, but support for making these structures smaller or lower.
or lower yeah but what i'm saying is the rco you know has no opposition to this
Yeah, but what I'm saying is the RCO...
uh i'm not i didn't see the the rco's letter i'm not sure if they said there was some
there was definitely some opposition because i was at the meeting okay all right all right
well thank you for do you have any other comments about it yeah i mean in regards to the tasker
street um building i would just encourage you to take a look at the proposed structure that's being
built in his plans i mean you can see how completely out of out of context it is it's
towering over the two the two floor homes built right next to it i mean it's huge and it's enormous
and putting 14 bedrooms is going to put a lot of cars on the street we'll lose one parking spot
due to the construction and i i just think they could have done better you know we're all single
of family homes for the most part on this street, and they're kind of jamming a lot of apartments in.
Mr. Hargan, thank you for taking the time to call in. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
Yes, Chair, Patrick Fitzmaurice.
Okay. Sir, could you state your name and spell it for the court reporter, please?
Sure. My name is Patrick Fitzmaurice. It's P-A-T-R-I-C-K-F-I-T-Z-M-A-U-R-I-C-E.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Are you a neighbor?
I'm not. I am the president of the Penn Sports Civic Association.
Okay, fine. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Proceed.
um here i we submitted our letter um as the letter notes um i actually abstained from that
vote and any consideration thereof i just wanted to clarify something that was just said and that
was um whether our letter reflected some of the concerns voiced by the neighbors um you know i i
did have a chance to look at the letter even though i didn't contribute to it and i did see
that the neighbor who just spoke um his concerns were reflected in our letter so i just wanted to
assure him and the board that you know the neighbors concerns were reflected in our
communication that's all i wanted to chime in but right but the letter of non-opposition
is from penn's port civic association that's correct chair i just want to clarify that
neighbors concerns were voiced by us thank you very much for taking the time to call us and
tell us i appreciate that and if um excuse me if i may chair was he sworn in i i believe so
Yeah, I did.
Yep, yep.
Okay, thank you.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
I see no hands, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman and Board Members.
David Fecta with the City Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential multifamily and residential single family zoning at the location of these lots.
The variances for proposed building height, lot width, and lot area required for seven dwelling units on lot A are minor and in keeping with the spirit of the code.
Proposed rear deck variance above the second floor will not injure the use of adjacent properties.
However, the variances for required front setback for lots B and C are significant and are the result of creating two new flag lots.
the city planning commission recommends the board deny the variance from the setback provisions for
for the code for lots b and c but grant all other dimensional variances thank you um
i understand we have to hold this until we have an amended refusal
but the record is otherwise closed am i right correct hillary yes that is correct mr share
okay uh thank you council for and uh we will be in touch can you hear me mr chairman
who i did david yeah can you hear me uh we don't see you either you know something happened with
my computer i'm not exactly sure what okay all right okay so the record's closed and we're
wanting to wait till we receive the amended refusal to vote
Mr. Orphanetes?
Can you hear me?
Yes. Are you okay with what I just said?
I just wanted to have just two very quick responses, if I might.
One of the things I wanted to say, I've circled, if you can see it still on the screen.
I'm still sharing the screen. I'm not sure I hit a wire or something on my...
now we don't we we have looks like your desktop like the top of your desk hold on one second
um give me one minute i'm sorry give me one second
let me see if i can share again hold on one second
Let me see if I can share again. Hold on one second. Can you see that now? Yes. Yes. Okay. So just real quickly, in response to the neighbors, I've circled on the shadow studies, which I'll submit following today's proceeding, I'll submit to the zoning board attorney.
But what I've circled is his property. And as you can see in the shadow studies, that even with the buy right building versus what we're doing, there's no shadowing on his property.
And you can see here other than there's a little bit right here on the shadow study in the summertime, but it's no different than what a buy right building would be. It's no greater.
The issue that he has is that he's grown a cut. He bought his property when there was the existing building there. Doesn't want to see anything that's built, whether it's by right or otherwise. And unfortunately, that's just not the way it works.
And so we'd like that to be taken into consideration.
We've mitigated as much as we can.
As you can see to the right, we could have the pilot houses out at the outside edges of the building closer to his rear yard.
But what we've done is we've moved the pilot houses towards the middle so that they don't shadow his property or any of the other neighboring properties to the east of us or to the west of us, for that matter.
We've also pulled the deck railing in the revised zoning drawings.
The deck railing is pulled back or the deck is pulled back three feet from either side that wasn't on the original proposal.
We've also put in a clear railing so that it doesn't cast less shadow than it would otherwise.
So we've done a lot. Again, even though we have 41 feet, we've dropped the parapet.
So the outside wall of the building is actually the same height, if not a couple inches shorter than what a by right building would have on the outside between a 38 foot roof and a 42 inch parapet.
In terms of what the Planning Commission stated, again, there's just no way, like, you've got 10 foot 9 inches at the front. You can't even build a building up there. You can't, I mean, it would be a hallway. It would be a 41 foot long hallway leading to the building.
You cannot have habitable space in that where the driveway is and where we're proposing it to be.
So there is a hardship to for the setback and the lot with the only it is an existing it's I won't call it a flag lot.
It's a lollipop lot. But yes, we are creating two.
But by itself, as a single lot at over 4000 square feet, it's just too large for one single family, which we've actually shown in the by right shadow studies.
reporting in progress anyway with that um i rest okay thank you very much the case is closed and
we're waiting on an amended refusal okay thank you all right thank you number six mi 2022
007 534 6046 cedarhurst street alexander perry is the attorney letter of non-opposition from
the Third Ward Executive Committee. Mr. Perry is coming in as a panelist. Thank you.
Good afternoon, Mr. Perry. Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
Yes, sir. It's Alexander Perry, P-E-R-R-Y.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client, the relationship to this property?
Yes. It's Five Shop Real Estate LLC, and it's represented by its member here, LaTosha.
Okay. Our vice chair has just a few questions for you, sir.
Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal
and stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, sir.
Have you emailed in all the required documents
and exhibits that are needed to proceed with this case
five days in advance of this hearing?
We have.
Thank you.
Please proceed.
Thank you.
Mr. Chairman, can you see that?
We can, sir.
Excellent.
I will try to be as brief as possible, respecting the board's time.
This is a request for multifamily use, three units at 6046 Cedarhurst Street.
My client purchased this property in December of last year, and it was marketed as a previously used multi-use family.
And I'll get to some pictures showing there are actually three electrical meters at the property.
We've submitted our documents, and I'll go through it quickly.
is the notice of refusal. There's a single refusal, refusal, sorry, single refusal for
the multifamily use, our application for appeal, and project information form. This is the deed.
and project information form.
This is the deed, it's a December of last year.
And our current tax, sorry,
clearances for the property.
Our request is to make each floor of the property
a single dwelling unit, two bedrooms in each on the first floor, second floor, and third floor.
This property is unique. It does not have a basement. It has a first floor at the ground
level with the entryway on the second floor. Each will be similar with two bedrooms and a bathroom
with separate entry to each unit.
Here's a picture of the property as shown.
The entryway is actually on the second floor.
And the first floor is at ground level,
which traditionally would be a basement,
but it's a first floor level that's at ground level
and accessible from the ground level.
When my client purchased this property,
It was a very dilapidated shell property.
This is a picture of the first floor.
This is a picture of the second floor, the rear of the second floor, and I believe the third floor.
And there were three meters outside representing the prior multifamily use that was not zoned when my client did not own the property.
Here's a notice of posting at the property up front and close up.
And these are similar houses along the block.
All of the houses along the block do have this.
It's about 10 to 12 feet off the ground access on what is the first floor, but it's actually the second floor.
Here is notice to the neighbors and notice of mailing.
We're requesting the three use of the property, I'll go back to the picture, to, in order the renovations to be cost effective and be able to provide more reduced rents in the neighborhood as the neighborhood would command.
I'll go to the proposed layout.
Now, I believe Latasha is here and I believe she can accept my testimony as her own if we can have her brought in.
Mr. Perry, so he bought a vacant property?
What's that? This was the-
He bought a vacant property? Your client bought a vacant property?
It was a shell property, yes, as the-
Okay, so let me ask you this. The remainder of the block, are there multiple family units?
I'm not sure, sir.
Latasha are you still there? So when they bought it it wasn't broken down as a triplex then?
It was but it was in shell condition I'll bring up those photos again. Yeah I saw that but let
me ask you this did you do the history of the property was there a history of it being a triplex?
It was being used as I believe a duplex with the first floor that ground level basically a basement
but it does prior to the purchase and for a long time have those three meters from the electric
company. The three meters could have been two units and then the common? That's possible but
that's possible. All right thank you but please bring your client on. Okay Latasha are you there
can you raise your hand? Hi can you hear me? Hi yes could you state your name please and spell
for the court reporter? Sure. My name is Latasha Harrison. It's spelled L-A-T-A-S-H-A, and Harrison
is spelled H-A-R-R-I-S-O-N. All right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth? Yes. Proceed, counsel. Ms. Harrison, have you heard my testimony so far?
Yes. Is it true and correct to the best of your knowledge? It is. And you adopted as if it were
your own? Yes. Do you have anything to briefly add regarding the property and your intended use?
So it's what you said, it's intended to be used as three apartments. The person that I actually
purchased the home from though, she did say that it was used as three apartments prior. So before
she started to demo, she was actually going to just remodel the entire thing, but she had the
same plans. Thank you. Questions from the board?
Questions from the board?
No, Chair.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no hands, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman.
David Fecto with the City Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential single-family zoning at this location.
This property has a documented history of use as two dwelling units.