Okay. Are you an attorney?
Please proceed.
Excuse me.
So, good afternoon to everyone.
I am currently seeking to get an approval to get a rental license to rent out my
house as a two-unit and it's a Zixon structure.
Let me see here. How do I share this?
Oh, share the screen. Let me click there.
So I'm gonna start with the pictures first.
of the property.
All right, here is the blueprint currently of the property.
Right here is just the first unit.
here oh sorry all right here we go basement right here do you enlarge that diagram please
all right all right so here i paid a contractor to turn the basement into
one bedroom apartment and here is the dining room kitchen living bathroom and close off the
area right here to the upstairs unit and right here is a bedroom and windows and then right
here is where the uh water heaters and stuff like that and then move along here
can you maximize your screen maximize it okay sorry
no go over to okay is it better now yes a little bit okay all right so going to the first unit
upstairs so this is the unit upstairs um it's a full house upstairs whereas the dining room is
on the second floor and kitchen over here in the living room and then you go upstairs you'll find
the bedrooms and the bathroom and the three bedrooms one back here the other one right there
and the front one is the master bedroom which is larger and stuff like that and then back here
is the driveway back of the house so you have the other units I mean the other house is back there
and there's a parking spot in the back and for the other unit to park all right and now let's
move along to the pictures of the inside of the properties I mean property sorry
and this is the kitchen for the upstairs. I'm going to do them one by one here.
I can, let me pull up the pictures first and then I can detail each one.
All right, so here is, I don't, you guys can see this, I don't need to enlarge it.
This is the front room, the master bedroom, it has like two closets, one is like a walk-in
and the other one right here is the open one, that's the front room upstairs.
And then here is the living room.
Here is the entrance when you walk into the house, steps, another closet here, and this
is another angle, the front door, windows, upstairs to the master bedroom, this is the
other closet I was saying, this is the walk-in closet here, still inside of the closet, spacious,
very big and then the bathroom remodeled pink I mean purple color I don't know why I have two
pictures of this one here and then this is the I'm sorry living room over here now the one back
there and upstairs we're going upstairs to the bedrooms the other bedrooms so this is the first
bedroom when you go upstairs up the steps and then this is the other bedroom on the side of it
now moving along to the other um in the kitchen this is the kitchen all right
bags and off now we're going to the basement where is the uh the one bedroom
i paid the contractor to turn into apartment
All right.
when was this remodeling work done this was done towards the contract 2017
the basement upstairs was just remodeled
I'm here.
I'm looking for the contract.
Approximately, you don't know approximately when the work was done?
It was done in 2017, October.
I'm just trying to see the exact date.
2017 okay okay all right it's back all right so going back to the basement
this is the current condition correct yes was it ever rented uh to family members yeah
so i think i have all the pictures pulled up for the basement
excuse me excuse me make it i can't make out on the diagram where's the
ingress and egress to the basement oh so the interior i mean the diet you have to come in
through the first floor no it's it has a separate entrance through the back where you park and
what go in so right here that's a doorway leads out to the back yeah this this is the door right
And the back is what, a driveway?
Yeah, it has a parking spot.
Do you have any photographs of that?
Yeah, I do.
Let's go to those exterior photographs.
Okay, no problem.
Here it is.
Not that one.
Where in the front?
Where in the front?
All right, so here it is. This is the back and the door to the back entrance and the
parking spot. It can fit two cars there, but it depends on how you park.
And there are other windows that I see in the basement beside these?
And there are other windows that I see in the basement.
Yeah, I was pulling up the pictures, so here we go with the basement.
And I can exit off of this here.
You already saw that.
And this is a shower.
All right, there go the windows.
The two windows in the back.
this is the the bedroom right here and right here is where the furnace and water heater is at and
then click it off windows are those windows the one windows you're showing in the right photograph
yeah the windows right oh there are there any other windows no that's not the same windows
that's the front window this is the back window that's what i'm asking so you have a front and
Yeah, yeah, yes. And this is just extra closet space right here. And this is the window you're looking at right here in the back. And shower, and kitchen, and dining and walk space, the little exit over here, living room, and
you're based you're asking us to legalize this duplex correct yes
more space and that's pretty much i believe i don't know if i'm leaving on any
i understand his opposition letter from the rco but before i get to that
questions from the board uh yes the the bedroom the window in the bedroom
how far up from the floor is it about
that window in the bedroom how far up from the floor let me see let me go back to the blueprint
that tells you
how far from what bedroom i'm sorry the bedroom in the basement uh-huh how far i didn't hear
the question again you have a window in the bedroom in the basement yes two
how far how far off the alpha grade level are those windows
from from the grade looking i don't know if you can see it right there right like three feet
no a little more than that maybe that looks like two three four five four six four three six
three three and a half the code is 42 inches
let me ask you this question were permits taken out when you did the work
well come to find out the contractor didn't pull any permit
he didn't um do that he just did the work that's that's the one of the issues tom who was done
without its single family his own single family was done without permits yeah i paid him to finish
what was there and he didn't pull permits he was supposed to from what i'm understanding now
thank you any other questions from the board
uh anyone else would like to testify in this case if so please raise your hand
no hands planning commission
this is uh ron bednar good afternoon please identify yourself
your name for the stenographer please first name ronald r-o-n-a-l-d last name bednar b-e-d-n-a-r
do you swear and affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
i do please proceed
this property is indicated for single family residential use in a comprehensive plan
we believe the applicant has not demonstrated necessary hardship regarding use requirements
of the code it's not consistent with the adopted district plan accordingly the planning commission
recommends the request for variance not be granted thank you and isn't anyone else so we ask you again
thank you and isn't anyone else I'll ask you again anyone else want to test wish to testify
in this case if so please raise your hand no hands and I understand it was a letter
of opposition from Councilwoman Parker's office is that correct Sharon yes there was I emailed
a copy to you if you are able to open that yeah I don't know the rest of the board get
a copy of that letter because there were some issues that I believe were raised at the RCO
meeting about behavior of prior tenants.
Yeah, that was the issue they were having with the prior people that was living there.
I just wanted, there was something else in that letter, if you bear with me a minute.
I believe that the RCO letter was, that the RCO vote was in opposition, but in the letter, they took no position.
Yeah, that's what confuses me. That's what I'm asking.
And I'm not sure if the councilwoman was basing her decision.
So what I'm going to recommend, I know we delayed this once before.
Excuse me, Chairman, we did, the RCO letter was forwarded by the Councilwoman's office,
so they are aware of it.
I'd like to hold this off until the board meets next Wednesday, November 4th at 9.30 a.m.
The record is closed, the board will render a decision next Wednesday, November 4th at 9.30 a.m.
okay thank you next one up it's mi 2020-001-095-3355 jasper street
no hands on this one
3355 jasper street no hands mi 2020-001095 3355 jasper street is continued
okay next one up mi 2020-001099 522 west burke street
Mr. Jin.
Good afternoon.
Good afternoon, Mr. Jin. I think you were sworn in earlier today. Am I correct?
Yes, I was.
Thank you. You're still under oath. Please identify yourself with the record and
up your volume a little bit, please.
Sure. It could be my headphone is not close enough to...
You're good. You're good now.
Great, thank you.
Zen Jin, Z-H-E-N-J-I-N, 1617 John F. Candy Boulevard, Suite 1838, Philadelphia PA 19103, here on behalf of the applicant.
This is, I'm sorry, do you want me to?
Do you agree to waive the reading of its refusal and stipulate to attackers?
Have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents, proof of ownership,
proof of tax compliance, copy of the refusal or referral, photos and plans five days prior
to this hearing?
I have.
Also, have you met with the RCO and have a letter?
Yes, I do.
Thank you.
Please proceed.
Thank you.
I'm going to share with the board the information relating to this case.
we have submitted as part of our package a refusal the community letter from south kensington
community partners photos plans tax clearance deed the copy of the application project information
sheet and hearing notice the refusal for this matter is based on the zoning of this property
being in a CMX2 district, we are requesting that the property be used exclusively for residential,
which is essentially a conversion of the commercial unit to a residential unit. By right,
you're allowed two residential units as well as a commercial unit. We're seeking a total of three
residential units instead of having the commercial unit on the first floor.
The CMX2 refusal indicates, of course,
that the first floor would have to be used
as a commercial unit for the first 30 foot,
as well as the three total units
would change the calculation for the lot size
to require 1440.
We're at 1249.50.
The property is located on the side of Burke Street, which has individual lots. And as of
The property is located on the side of...
right now, 520, which is the next door property, is a multifamily residential.
526 is also a multifamily residential without commercial. The in-buildings for the block does
have commercial and across the street, there are commercial buildings. However, as you
can see from the photograph here, these two buildings that are sandwiching us in between
are both fully residential. And again, across the street, while there is a large parking
lot with a, I believe, a cousin's store, these here, the smaller lots and the existing buildings
are also residential in nature.
So as far as the use as a residential property, we do not believe it's really out of character
with what is on the block.
We're proposing a three-story structure.
I will zoom in so that the board can better see the height in this case.
So, we're proposing a three story structure consistent with what's existing on the block
as far as height is concerned.
This lot does have a slanted rear, so the yard size is different, although the rear
yard does meet the requirement and so does the open space percentage.
So there are no real dimensional variances being requested in this case.
the layout of the property is pretty straightforward there will be a family room
in the basement dining room kitchen and bedroom on the first floor there's a storage space for
the back area where also you have the washer dryer and some of the utilities the second floor
is a two-bedroom unit and the third floor is a two-bedroom unit they're essentially identical
and design. The second floor unit does have a small balcony in the back for trash storage,
and the third floor has a small roof deck for outdoor trash storage pending trash day itself.
When we met with the RCO, it was done via Zoom. The RCO voted in opposition
because they argued that there is no hardship for what we're requesting.
the commercial space in their opinion would be viable even though it is in fact on a side of