Our deed to the property, showing my client owns the property.
And then finally, the certificate of tax clearance, showing that we do not owe any real estate taxes on account to this property.
I'm going to unshare my screen.
I would be more than happy to go back and forth.
I always just find it's helpful for people to see each other.
And I would just ask that my client's representative, Mr. Patel, virtually raise his hand and be sworn in.
sirju patel has been allowed mr patel could you please state your name and spell for the
stenographer yes it is uh serju patel first name serju s-a-r-j-u last name patel p-a-t-e-l
you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do please proceed counsel yes thank you um mr patel you heard everything i had to say today
about your zoning matter yes and is it true and correct yes and do you adopt it as your own
testimony yes thank you questions from the board yes could you do me a favor could you show that
rendering and tell me point out where the trees because i only saw two trees the landscaping
will go are you saying that's yeah that's what you're adding on to it no miss miss um board
remember graham um what i was indicating we showed we haven't changed our plans our rendering from
the meeting the original meeting itself this was the original rendering we showed the community
i try to stay consistent in whatever we showed the community we showed the zba and vice versa
so our intention is to increase the amount of of landscaping in the front and you know again we
we assure them whatever the amount of trees that we i'm trying to get through this um the amount
of trees. There are no trees here right now showing. There's only limited landscaping in
the front, but our intention is to add trees in there. So I don't know if it's an, I don't think
it's an enforceable proviso, but I can ask Mr. Patel on the record so that at least you have
it on the record that, you know, he's in specific agreement to coordinate with the Fairmont Park
Commission to provide a reasonable amount of trees for, you know, for the front of the property.
So, Mr. Patel, you heard what I stated about the tree, the trees in the front.
Would you be willing to provide a more than reasonable amount of trees, plantings in front of your property?
Mr. Patel?
Yes, Alan, we'll make that effort in agreement with the RCO.
and the fair amount
and the fair amount, the organization that you mentioned.
Are there questions from the board?
Can we see the parking?
Oh, yeah, sure.
Let me reshare my screen in that respect.
So here's the parking.
Just minimize it.
so there's nine parking spots across with including one rendering please oh the rendering oh yes
so you're going to provide some landscaping you said where would you be doing that
in in the front so when we as we indicated to the community
If we provided landscape in the back, we would be limiting the amount of off-street parking in the back as well.
So, again, I think they understood the tradeoff here.
This is a secondary street, you know, such that, you know, there is not as much activity on this street.
So we wanted to spruce up the Master Street side as much as possible.
If we would put any landscaping in the rear, we would be losing off-street parking in the back.
Okay. And access to this street, is this a one-way street or?
It's a one-way street.
And then the access is from where to?
So the street is
Mudder Street
goes between the properties between
Cumberland and York. Those are the two
major streets.
We're between Cumberland and York
and we front Masher
and our rear, which we go
street to street, is Mudder Street.
Okay. And then
these would be your
curb cuts here?
Yeah, so they're
actually four curb cuts here there's one that's 24 i'm going to go from i believe left to right
24 standard size parking spaces you aren't required to provide any accessible parking spaces
we have one accessible parking space and every all the size of the parking spaces are all by right
okay and you are providing an accessible space that's correct
okay other questions from the board yeah just just a comment no question really uh
uh you're you're putting in four curb cuts which kind of you know it's kind of why don't you just
do a ribbon curve one and then a recommendation that you definitely install concrete curbs
concrete uh car stops okay yes i don't see that on your plan okay and i appreciate that i don't
know if mr dry logan dry the architect is on as well but i will let him know to make you know those
if he can make those changes to have a ribbon curb cut which you mean it's just straight across right
instead of four different curves no i hear what you're saying um i think we wanted to um you know
just again have a little bit of a breakup but i see your point too so i don't know if mr dry is
But I will I will let him know to see if you can make that change and amend the building permit accordingly.
And then the other item was the car stops, right?
Are concrete stops because there's if somebody pulls in according to this plan, there's nothing to stop somebody from running right into the building.
No, I definitely agree with that, too. Thank you.
That's it.
Any other questions from the board?
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I don't see any hands at this time, Chair.
My Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chairman, and good afternoon.
David Vecta with the City Planning Commission.
Chairman and Board members, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the RM1 residential
multifamily zoning at this location.
landscaping tree planting and screening requirements were placed in the zoning code to
mitigate the impact of additional pavement on the surrounding blocks and neighborhood
the city planning commission recommends that the board deny the proposed landscaping screening and
tree planting variances and the proposed variance for parking in the required front side or rear
yard thank you am i sure yeah oh can i can i comment on the uh you certainly can't comment
Can I can I comment on the comment? So a couple of things. Again, a lot of times when you see these multifamily structures of this sort, there is definitely resistance to approving them from a variant standpoint.
This is one where it was granted by Wright to allow for 28 units, like essentially we're at a three to 10 ratio from, you know, from parking to amount of units, which I think is very responsible in terms of the landscaping requirements.
Again, Motor Street is really a secondary street that many people don't have frontage on.
And I acknowledge that we don't have landscaping in the back, but our intention is to do as much landscaping as reasonably possible in the front on Master Street, which is the prominent street for this property.
Thank you, Alan.
MI 2024-002-051-2400 to 06 Master Street, I vote yes.
James Snell, I vote yes.
Michael Johns, I vote yes.
Senator Graham, I vote yes.
Ian Wynn, I vote yes.
Cheryl Gaston, I vote yes.
Thank you.
Mr. Nackamson, could you please stay on?
So MI 2024-002-072, 927 North 43rd Street.
Mr. Nockamson is the attorney.
There's a recommendation of support from the West Belmont Civic Association, both with six to two and two opposed.
Six in support, including two in affected properties and two opposed.
Mr. Nockamson.
uh yes alan knockamson mr knockamson could you identify your clients in the relationship
to the property yes my client um is aviad sonino and he's in a virtual audience
and our vice chair has a few questions
mr chair mr shaheed had to um step away for the rest of the afternoon
Do you stick late to waiving the reading of and the accuracy of the refusal?
Yes, I do. And have all your documents been there at least five days in advance?
Yes, they have. Share your screen and start your presentation. Thank you.
Okay, my computer's a little bit slow here, so I don't know if everyone sees me.
Hi, so this is 927 North 43rd Street.
Our property is between Otter and Pensgrove on North 43rd Street.
So first we'll review the notice of refusal, then the letter of support from the West Belmont Civic Association.
So when we made the presentation to them, we showed them that, you know, he really shouldn't even be here today, but for the fact that the zoning changed on my client.
He purchased the property in December of 2022. In January of 2023, not even a month after he purchased the property, a bill was introduced, which is Exhibit 3, which changed the zoning from RM1,
which, you know, if it remained, if this property remained RM1, this property would be allowed for
the three units, and this would be a buy-write project. But, you know, you know, unbeknownst to
my clients, I guess there was internal discussions with city council to change that, which was
formally introduced in January of 2023, and ultimately adopted into law, I believe, in the
spring of 2023 as well. So you'll see the next exhibit is the MLS listing showing that at the
time the property was advertised, and this was true, this was a multifamily structure allowed
to be for a multifamily structure. It's not uncommon for this board, you know, since even
the passage of this ordinance changing the zoning in this particular area to grant variances.
And there are two instances I wanted to show you of where this board under similar circumstances
it's granted multifamily use. It's also not out of character to have triplexes for properties of
this sort. And I have multiple instances, which was, you know, by right projects, but like we're
still triplexes on this block and nearby. Then we'll review the maps of the area and then the
photographs of the property, then our plans and drawings, our RCO meeting notice along with proof
for familiarity at that notice, the application for appeal that we filed to the CBA, the DTIP
to the CBA. The DTIP property showing that my client Aviad owns the property along with the
property showing that.
certificate of tax clearance showing that he's in good standing with the city with regards to
real estate taxes. So the notice refusal, we're not asking for any variances in a dimensional sense.
We're just saying, listen, this lot, which is 1,266 square feet, we're just asking for three
family dwelling here, which would be allowed as a right if this property was RM1. It was RM1 when
my client purchased it in December of 2022. The next month, a bill was introduced into, you know,
in council, which, you know, downgraded the allowable density to this property, the single
family. My client purchased it in reliance of building it, you know, as a triplex. So again,
we met with the community. And as you can see, it was six in support to oppose the two affected
properties, both voted in support of this project. And then here's the bill, which shows that it was
introduced in January of 2023, and ultimately signed into law in April of 2023. And then this
is what the existing zoning was prior to the enactment of that law. This was RM1. And it shows
Here, the proposed zoning is changing it to RSA 5.
But you'll also see from the MLS listing to go on the internet, it said that this was an RM1 property, multifamily residential.
And then this board, under similar circumstances since the enactment of this law, has supported variances of similar ilk at 4313 Westminster Avenue, which is around the corner from us.
as well as 4329 Westminster Avenue.
It's also not out of character for this board to grant,
excuse me, for the city to have triplexes in close proximity.
So if you look at 913 North 43rd Street, this is a triplex.
I also want to include, because I guess this was in July of 2023,
so I don't even know if it's been built yet,
But a couple of things which are similar to what we are proposing. We have a porch. This is for this other project. And we're set back on the third floor, right? This is a two-story block where there's a setback on the third floor, which we're honoring as well. But this is a porch block, which, again, we're mimicking the architecture. And so did 913 North 43rd Street.
Same thing with 917 North 43rd Street. That permit is for December of 2022. But you can see also, again, not our project, but 917 North 43rd Street has a front porch and the setback on the third floor, similar to our project.
And then 940 North 43rd Street, the zoning permit is issued as of January 2023. This one did not have a front porch, but also is a triplex.
And then the next one is 1004 North 43rd Street, also a triplex. But again, you can see how they mimicked the setback on the third story and also a porch, which is similar to ours.
Again, we're not disputing the fact that we're RSA 5 now, but we were not when my client purchased the property.
And he had no idea that there was going to be introduced into council a change in the zoning classification of this property.
He had no notice of it.
He's also, the properties are also close by to RM1 as well.
So, again, given the fact that there's multiple triplexes that exist or have approval to be built on this block and nearby, we think that it's appropriate to grant the variances for that reason as well.
And then photographs of the property, we're a vacant lot.
We're in between, again, two-story structures, and we also have porches here, which we are going to respect.
this is proof of posting of the hearing notice for today's hearing and then you can see that
this has been a vacant lot since 2009 so it's over 15 almost 15 years so we're hoping to develop that
lot um by putting this triplex here this is north 43rd street to the right of the property again
a porch neighborhood uh north 43rd street uh to left of the property and then our plans and
drawings. Again, as you can see here, we're looking to put a porch here, a nice bay window,
which is more of a traditional looking bay window. And then you can see the cornice line
and the brick facade. We try to emulate as much as possible from an architectural standpoint,
what's in the neighborhood. And then these are our floor plans. Unit A, the first floor,
unit A is the first floor and lower level. That's a two bedroom, two and a half bath.
That's a two-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath.
Second to go up a flight of steps is unit B, which is our second unit, which is a two-bedroom, one-bath.
Second, you go up a flight of steps.
And unit three is on, or unit C is a third unit.
It's on the third floor, and that is also a two-bedroom, one-bath.
We met with the community on June 5th at 6 p.m.
We emailed the notice a few weeks before then to the coordinating RCO and relevant parties,
showing proof of mailing of that notice to 178 addresses.
These are the addresses we mailed it to along with proof of mailing of those addresses.
Our application for appeal that we filed on Aviad's behalf along with the notice of refusal,
the project information form, the deed to the property, which again shows that he purchased
the property on December 30th of 2022, and less than a month later, a bill was introduced
to counsel that changed what he knew as an R-1 property to ultimately be an RSA-5 property.
And then finally, in the Certificate of Tax Clearance, I'm going to stop sharing my screen.
I would ask that Aviad virtually raise his hand.
sir aviad yes aviad solino has been allowed to speak
sir could you please state your name and spell for the court sonographer
yes aviad solino first name spelled a-v-i-a-d last name is s-o-n-i-n-o
swear affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth