The current requirement, as you can see in the notice of refusal that was issued, again, is that you need two at least at 10 feet, but with a 25-foot requirement.
So we had 11 feet into the hill, 7.5 towards 841, and then, again, that total was only 18.5, which is not enough.
We have since revised the drawings following some interaction communications with council for the owner of 841.
And we've shifted the building into the towards the Pep Boys parking lot and the hill that goes up to their parking lot.
So now what we have is we have a six foot side yard to the hill.
And now we have a similar side yard to what the neighbor has to the common property lines.
So we have 15 feet from the building to the property line, 13 feet from the small ground floor, first floor bay, just like they have 14.7 and 10.2 over on this side.
So we've shifted the building.
We've increased our total side yards by half of a foot.
So we do have revised plans.
We did, oops, we did, we did revise the plans to make it clear.
The original application was for a max height of 35 or 38 feet, even though the drawings showed a building that is shorter, which is like the building at 841.
841 was approved for a building that was 25 feet, eight inches high to the midpoint of the gabled roof, but was approved to a max height of 35 feet, which was the maximum height limitation for R2 at the time.
But we've made it clear that we are and that the request or at the with the input of the neighbor at 841 that we're not building a building that's 38 feet tall.
We're building going to be building a building that's the same height as his and looks exactly like his.
And if I were to show you the zoning drawings from from that time, you would see that it essentially looks exactly the same.
And you can see here, it's actually the same architect.
Cornerstone did the drawings that were submitted to L&I, but you can see right here the drawings that were permitted and submitted back in 03 for 841 are actually done by the same architect, just like ours are.
You can see here, right here, right now, same firm.
So we have the, so that's the side yard, the answer to the side yard.
So we do have a refusal, but to build the same house, we don't quite meet the dimensional requirements for side yards for the RSD-3.
But to the side that really has an impact on anybody, we've exceeded the minimum, the 10-foot minimum, and we've mimicked and mirrored the side yard for the property next to us.
In terms of the steep slopes, it's really interesting because if you look at, we were able to pull some historical aerials, and you can see, and if I scroll forward a little bit, hold on one second, shows the development of the Pep Boys here.
And I can I'll show you photos in a second. But the grade of of Airedale's about her Leslie Cunningham and Cornerstone is about three to five percent or five to seven feet, five to seven percent.
I'm sorry. And. What we have right now and looking back at the plan is you have if you look at the plan right here, there are steep slopes that go what's defined as a steep slope.
So again, that's with a greater than 25%.
The dark gray is greater than 25 and the light gray is 15 to 25.
That backs up or goes up to the Pet Boys parking lot.
So it's our thought that when Pet Boys was developed, they leveled Pet Boys so that the
rear, the front was at the higher grade of Ridge Avenue.
But then as it sloped down, as Airedale went down to level the parking lot, they created a height and then a hill that came down from that parking lot.
And then what happened on top of that is one, and my client would testify this, and this is from 2004, right before the actual construction of the house at 841.
And here you see the Pep Boys, the rear of the Pep Boys parking lot.
And it looks, you know, relatively flat to the rear.
And then 841 is built.
And then you see this along here.
And this is in the area where we want to also construct the house right mirroring 841.
And my client can testify that when he built 841, because it has a cellar, they took the dirt from there and put it on this lot.
So our thought is that the steep slope that we have a violation or refusal for building in is actually not natural, but is man-made.
And it was either made by the developer, either or, or combination.
And it was either made by the developer, either or, or combination, either or a combination of development of Pep Boys and then taking the dirt out from 841 and piling it on 839.
um but uh for so for those reasons we feel that uh the criteria for the granting of the variance
of this case um are satisfied in that we're not gonna we're not negatively impacting 841 the
neighboring property because that uh we've now increased the side yard to that side
we're not going to be impacting pet boys because they're actually above us
at above a hill that leads up to their rear parking lot.
And I can show you right here, here is 841 or 839.
And then you can see here the grade that goes up.
This is Airedale.
You can see the grade's not particularly steep,
but it does go up to Ridge Avenue.
And then you can see the hill to the right here
that goes up to Pep Boys and that Pep Boys building
that's beyond.
And then the view here from the Pep Boys parking lot, which is almost at the second floor level of the existing building at 841.
So, again, it's our position that the steep slopes were created manmade, but that, you know, we're not going to be negatively impacting either of the abutting properties.
Obviously, this property is zoned for single family use, which is what is being proposed.
And we have one off-street parking garage that's going to be accessed from a front driveway.
So we're not going to be creating congestion in the streets.
Cars will pull in and out.
So for those reasons, we feel the criteria for the granting of the variance are met in this situation.
We did post the property with the notices that you have here for today's hearing.
And you can see the photographs right here.
Oops, go back.
And then the notice for our community group meeting, you can see here are the addresses to which we emailed, and then a copy of the notice that went out.
And again, the meeting, the representative from the owner of 841, the counsel for the owner of 841 was at that community meeting.
I believe somebody from that attorney's office is on the line today regarding the position of 841.
We have at the recommendation or suggestion of URCA, if you'll see in their letter, they wanted a good neighbor agreement or arrangement between my client and the owners of 841, and we have negotiated that and we'll be executing that.
And so with that, I would, at this point, I would just ask my client and Leslie Cunningham, my client, Philip Forthwick, and Leslie Cunningham from Cornerstone to be promoted to panelists so they can adopt my statements.
what's your client's name uh philip worthwick philip
they have been promoted to penniless mr chair they will be rejoining shortly thank you understood
Hello, Porthwick.
Please unmute and wait to be sworn in.
Hello?
Hi, sir.
Could you please state your name as spelled for the court's sonographer?
I'm sorry about that.
I'm horrible.
I don't do Zoom calls very often.
That's okay.
You're doing fine.
Just state your name and spell it for the court stenographer.
My name is Philip Borthwick.
Last name is B as in boy, O-R-T-H-W-I-C-K.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Counsel, please proceed.
Philip, are you the owner of 839 Airedale?
I am, yes.
And you were the owner of what's now 841 and 839.
One lot, correct?
And did you hear the other statements that I made to the board today?
I did.
And are they true and correct to the best of your knowledge?
They are.
And would you adopt my statements as your own?
Thank you.
And then Leslie Cunningham is the, for the architect.
Leslie Cunningham, please.
We'll be coming back in as a panel shortly.
Thank you.
good afternoon hi leslie could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer
yes leslie cunningham l-e-s-l-i-e and cunningham c-u-n-n-i-n-g-h-a-m do you swear or affirm to
tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do please proceed counsel hi leslie um
So you and or your firm prepared the drawings that we were reviewing today, including the zoning drawings that I have up on the screen right now, correct?
Correct.
And you also, your firm also prepared the tree preservation plan and the ENS control plan that were submitted to L&I with our zoning permit application?
Correct.
And did you hear the statements that I made to the zoning board today?
And are they true and correct to the best of your knowledge?
And would you adopt them as your own?
Thank you.
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
I just have a quick question. It's the it's from the elevations. It doesn't show like a difference in height, you know, sort of from one side of the house to the other. So I'm trying to understand what's what's the difference in height, you know, from sort of at the back of the house.
so so we're going to be this area of this and i can have leslie come on but we're going to level
generally leveled a lot okay then so and you'll see let me zoom in there'll be a retaining wall
built into the hill retaining wall yeah okay so you can see here proposed retaining wall there'll
be zero height on the upward hillside and on the downward hillside okay all right that was my
question yep and we have no living by the way we have no living in the basement i didn't go
to the floor i didn't go to the floor plan for right here it's unfinished so no kind of basement
right it's a cellar but it's unfinished there's a bilkoa out the back but it's just storage and
it's a single family home so you know the questions from the board is there a grading
plan that shows the retaining wall um well i have it on the zoning plans and you again i can show
here and then i can have leslie if you can guide me through but here real quick you could just zoom
zoom in a little bit I think that's the issue right oh no I'm really zoomed in so you can see
right here okay here well these are the original plants hold on but the revised ones are the same
there you go there you go so here you go here's the retaining wall right here so it's going to
run back and around everything else will then be so this so Leslie um real quickly so everything
within the orange is going to be leveled out generally leveled out correct correct okay yeah
the architecture of the home really requires just one like basically a flat area around it
and leslie you had mentioned to me at one point that actually by doing what we're doing at 839
by leveling it out that it should actually be better and for because one of the issues with
steep slopes everybody knows is runoff but with what we're doing here it's actually going to be
better for 841 because it's going to be level rather than a slope leading down into their
property correct correct so right now the the runoff from like the curb line of pet boys up
above it and that slopes down and basically into the side of the home um the existing
of 841 correct correct sorry yes and then our plans will they do the ens plans which are not
on the screen they call for um like uh area drains to be placed there to be placed between
the home and the retaining wall so you're you're reducing the runoff into 841 now are they are the
area drains going to tie into the stonewater line for the house are they going to go straight
to the street they'll tie into the stormwater line from for the house for the house yeah and
then so you're for the grading plan you're taking so is the is grade going to be the slab for the
basement or are you still excavating below your grade line to pour the foundations for the
basement it'll be excavated below the ground below the ground line for the basement so the retaining
wall is actually going to be at the basement or like the ground level where the basement is
it'll be like at the ground at the first floor it won't be down at the cellar level
so you're gonna so you're excavating and then you're backfilling
uh hold on one second let me show if we look at the question lastly if we look at the yeah right
hold on a second let me show if we look at the question
i'm just getting pulling up the elevation so that's okay or even if i go to a reply because
essentially at this point the basement's going to be built essentially like a slab on grade
and then there's existing dirt that's going to not be excavated at the rear of the house right
and then the retaining wall would be holding sort of all of it to the what is that to the east
to the south or the south south got it bridge is kind of generally west heading out to you know
out towards 477 yeah i just didn't see the north arrow that's all that's okay it's all right yeah
sorry so sorry yeah like the the retaining wall the the cellar will not be exposed
between the retaining wall and the house like they're they're still going to be
is that being back my question was is that being backfilled or is that the dirt that's already on
the site just the dirt that's already on the site okay yeah yeah i mean like the retaining wall is
going to be you know something like i mean i'm just drawing i'm not just creating but you know
if you put something there then the hill is going to go yeah you know i got that part i was asking
you know, really mostly answered it, but thanks, Mr. Anthony.
Okay. Other questions?
Questions or comments from our attorney?
Just briefly, Mr. Chair, just reviewing the revised plans versus the original plans.
I don't think there's any issue with the changes that are being proposed.
However, because the property, the structure is being shifted,
That's probably going to impact the how much steep slope is being impacted and the earth moving plan.
And so I want to talk with L&I about that change, because, you know, if this board would approve it, L&I might also ask us to stamp rise plans for those other things as well.
Or they may just they may want to do a re-review. So I just I just want to talk with them before the board makes any decisions about this case.
Okay, thank you.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Mr. Chair, I have a hand up from Ronald Patterson.
Promote him, and he'll be back in shortly.
Mr. Patterson?
Good afternoon.
Hi, Mr. Patterson. Could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Sure. My name is Ronald, R-O-N-A-L-D, Patterson, P-A-T-T-E-R-S-O-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Please start your testimony.
So I represent a neighbor at 841, James Molinari, M-O-L-I-N-A-R-I, and I'm subbing in for Carl Primavera.
It was the attorney that Mr. Orfinides referenced that was active in this project and negotiations.
So I'm just here to state that we support this project wholeheartedly, and we appreciate the gesture and effort that Mr. Orfinides and his client has made to give us the feel-good memorandum of understanding to satisfy us as a neighbor.
Thank you very much for taking time and calls.
We appreciate it.
Anyone else in the virtual audience?
Planning Commission, do you want to take a position today?
Hi, Amy, we're with the Planning Commission.