So, the reason why I'm applying, with all due respect, is because I bought this property
and the apartments already exist.
So, the reason why I'm applying, with all due respect, is because I bought this property
So the reason why I'm applying, with all due respect,
is because whenever I bought the property,
the apartments already existed.
How long ago did she purchase the property?
The 8th of January of 2025.
It's been a year.
And no one lives there.
Is there anyone in there now?
¿Y hay alguien que está viviendo ahí ahora?
So, she buys this property, she realizes that she bought it as a duplex,
then she realized that there was no variances, and so she brought it to the zoning board, ¿verdad?
Así que usted compró esta propiedad, realizó que era un duplex,
o pensando que era un duplex, y después realizó que no había variancias,
Yes, exactly, because the idea is to live with my son, but I want to have the plans
that the city has correspond to the real plans of the house, to be legally possible.
So that's exactly true, the plans is for me and my son to live there, but I want all
the plans to be accurate um and legal according to the city all right questions from the board
so in the second floor i'll um my son will live with his wife and then in the um first floor i'll
live okay questions on the board yes i know you said the plans are wrong on the first floor what
What is wrong about the plans on the first floor?
Y usted había mencionado que en el primer piso los planos estaban incorrectos.
¿Qué está incorrecto de los planos?
La posición de las habitaciones.
Es igual dos habitaciones, una cocina y un baño completo con dos medio baños.
Pero las ubicaciones como están no es como es realmente.
So, it's still correct in the sense that there's two bedrooms and one full bathroom, two half bathrooms, but the positioning of each room is in a different place.
Do you have pictures of the interior?
Tiene imágenes del interior.
My second question is, I'm just looking at, like, so all the sale records define this as a single family house with three bedrooms and one bathroom.
and now this house has four bedrooms and multiple bathrooms. So what was in here at sale that
led you to believe that this was subdivided as a duplex?
So my second question is that I'm looking at the sale registries and they define this property
as unifamiliar with three rooms and a bathroom. And now the house has four rooms and multiple
baños. Así que, ¿qué en la venta la hizo pensar que esto era un duplex subdividido?
Porque hay una cocina arriba, una cocina abajo, y todo está dividido.
Because there's a kitchen upstairs and a kitchen downstairs, and everything's divided.
Including the utilities, so you have separate gas and electric meters for both floors.
Incluyendo las utilidades, ¿significa que tiene medidores eléctricos y de gas separados para ambos pisos?
No. Tiene la capacidad, pero no están divididos. Tiene un solo viento.
It has the capability to do so, but they're not divided currently.
all the questions
so these these are the only pictures you have
estas son las únicas imágenes que tienes del interior
um i i guess i have a few questions um one i are these these plans which you say are not correct for
the first floor are they correct for the second floor y la primera pregunta de los planos que
and you said that they are correct for the second floor, right?
Yes, the second floor is correct.
El primer piso de error fue que el ingeniero estaba haciendo una propuesta de que se cambiara, pero yo no voy a cambiar nada.
The first floor was that the engineer was doing a...
Permítame, so yes, the second floor is correct, and the plans, and what happened with the first floor,
it was the engineer that was suggesting changes, but we're not going to do any changes.
okay so i guess i'm having a little problem with um this looks awfully tight for two bedrooms can
we go back to the plan there así que el único problema que estoy teniendo que esto se ve este
un poco apretado para dos habitaciones me pueden enseñar los planos de nuevo
Okay, so you've got, and I'm not sure what this, okay, I guess there's a scale here, but I mean there's hardly any living space worth mentioning.
And then you've got my pet peeve where your bathroom is, you know, you have to go through the living room and the kitchen to get to the bathroom, which is, you know, at 3 o'clock in the morning.
This is not a trip that most people want to.
Así que algo que debería de mencionar es que de lo que puedo ver es que el baño está entre medio de la sala y la cocina y eso es una de las cosas que a mí no me gustan porque a las 3 de la mañana si necesitan ir para el baño es un viaje o está en una distancia que no es preferible para las personas.
Yes, but my only intent is to legalize this structure that I have bought.
But I want the plans to coincide with what is actually in the property.
Whenever I saw the property, I saw an opportunity for me and my son to live in the same house
and us to pay one mortgage.
I have a question.
I agree with you.
Go ahead.
oh oh no i'm sorry my question was um so she says she purchased the property as
existed as a duplex correct
but it looks like the property the the units have not been fully separated yet
is the intent for you to continue on to separate the uh if you are allowed
and granted to separate the units to further the construction to separate the units este pero
parece que en la propiedad las unidades no están separadas completamente su intención es separarla
después este si le permiten le dan esta propuesta usted va a separar las unidades y construir o este
hacer las unidades separadas en el futuro las unidades están separadas lo que no están separados
son los biles este y cuando compre la propiedad este desde el principio lo que me di cuenta antes
de comenzar a pintar me di cuenta de que no había una división legal en la ciudad este cuando me
asesore me dijeron que tenía que obtener un permiso y eso es lo que estoy haciendo so the units are
separate it's just the bills are not going to be separate um whenever i was going to start painting
the house that's when i noticed that they weren't um uh divided legally according to the city and
that's why i came to ask for a permit okay so steven steven listen this is what this is what
listen to me this is where we're going to go we we see the plans but we need to know what
looks like with photos the only thing she has pictures of is the steps going up to the property
what what i would like to do is there's going to be a resumptive hearing and she's
What I would like to do is, this is going to be a resumptive hearing, and she's going to have to come back, and she's going to have photos of everything, how you get into the second floor, every room and things like that, and that way we can make a conscious decision on what to do with it.
So I'm going to continue this, well, tell her that first of what we're doing.
Así que nosotros vemos los planes y esto es lo que nosotros vamos a hacer. Parece que solamente tiene algunas fotos de las propiedades como subiendo las escaleras y cosas así, pero nosotros vamos a programar una audiencia resuntiva.
And the date of that is going to be 4.28.26 at 9.30 a.m.
Y la fecha de esa audiencia va a ser 4.28 de 2026 a las 9 y media de la mañana.
¿Está bien?
Thank you.
And interpreter, thank you very much.
We do appreciate all the work you do for us.
Thank you.
No problem.
Thank you for using the service.
Interpreter, disconnect.
number eight mi 2025 004 490 2028 locust street adam labor is the attorney
good morning mr chairman members of the board mr labor could you please state your name and
spell for the stenographer adam laver la v as in victor er blank rome one logan square
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
Yes, Mr. Chairman, I do.
Mr. Laver, could you identify your client, a relationship to the property?
Certainly. Blank Rome represents the residents of 2028 Locust Street, Alison Friedman and Sam Miller, a married couple, beneficiaries of the David Friedman 2012 GST Trust.
Okay. And before I give it to our Vice Chair, there is a letter of non-opposition from the Centers of the Residence Association. And also, we have six letters of support from near neighbors, including adjacent neighbors. Our Vice Chair has a few questions, sir.
Good morning, Madam Vice Chair.
Good morning. Have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, Ms. Graham, we have.
Okay, thank you. And do you waive the reading of the refusals and stipulate to their accuracy?
yes we do okay thank you you can share your screen and proceed with your case thank you
as i mentioned i have the privilege of representing allison friedman and sam
Miller who are the occupants of 2028 Locust Street which you can see in front of you it is the brick
structure with the round window above the the main entrance Allison is a fourth generation
Philadelphian she was born in Center City nearby to the subject property 2028 Locust Street which
runs south to latimer street as seen in the purple in the middle of the screen is located in an rm1
residential multi-family zoning district this is just west of rittenhouse square you can see
in the aerials on the screen the square is the trees to the right the dorchester the large high
eyes with the swimming pool on the top uh sits on the square and then uh i'm trying to get my cursor
over here here we go uh circled in yellow is the back of allison and sam's uh single family home
which uh backs up to latimer street here is another photo uh circled in yellow is the front
that i showed you at the start of their property again running from locust to latimer
and here you can see one last aerial that i wanted to bring to your attention latimer street dead
ends not far behind their property in this photograph circled in yellow is their property
on the left allison's mother lives close by sam and allison are fixtures in the neighborhood
Allison is sitting behind me in the hearing room today.
Her husband, Sam, is participating virtually.
And Joe Morrison, architect of record, is here should any questions come up.
uh here is a view of the property at the rear off of latimer street on the right
Here is a view of the property.
the subject property was sold to the current owners in 2022 as including a deeded parking space
that is in the listings that parking as you can see is off of latimer street at the rear of the
subject property this is what brings us before the board today to document and to confirm an
existing accessory parking condition that was not apparently part of the official l and i approvals
of record uh associated with this property i'd like to bring up a couple bird's eye uh aerials
if you will and you can see uh in red the front where the trees are that would be locust street
and then uh the back latimer street i just showed you some close-ups of that of uh from latimer
street and what you'll see is that 2028 locust street includes a small courtyard area containing
a carport that is actually behind the neighboring property's home so allison and sam's property runs
straight through and then just to the left a little bit west that's the property line
here's another uh closer up uh aerial of what i just described
moving to the notice of refusal if i may
the accessory parking space itself is approximately 12 feet 3 inches deep instead of 18 inches deep
however it would actually be 16 18 feet not 18 inches in a standard parking space requires 18
feet deep a compact parking space requires 16 feet depth for compact car parking which is
what is depicted and proposed what we are seeking then is effectively a variance of three feet nine
inches for the existing condition there is no parking mr chairman and members
of the board along Latimer Street along that dead-end Street there's no public
parking I would be scared to go out and take a look in this snow what it looks
like although Allison just told me that Sam shoveled the entire street for the
for the neighbors so kudos to the young man who did that there is an existing
curb cut at the location you could stop by my house we'll add that to the list
there is an existing curb cut at the location which you saw in one of the photographs I
shared and I'll share a few more with you shortly also it's very important to note for the record
that the streets department has approved the proposed parking noting the dead-end condition
actually in in their official approval and here you can see a photograph from
this would be 21st Street running east towards the Dorchester that high-rise
and then the square just to give you context clearly showing no outlet
clearly showing what I said that there's no parking on this small street although
you will see momentarily that there's lots of off-street parking that
neighbors have close by i'd like to run through some photographs of that street for you so here
i'm just giving you a sense of streetscape and you can see with that beige uh garage that's a
neighbor of allison and sam's there um here on the right the yellow vehicle is uh parked in allison
and sam space showing that compact parking uh can fit uh adequately within the existing condition
you also see the curb cut that i mentioned before there's another view i know we have a little bit
of a lag here there's another view uh so their house is the beige on the right and then you'll
remember that they have that carport which is part of their property just to the left or the west
uh here is a another photograph along the street seeing uh the condition actually of
people who are parking their cars behind their homes i would respectfully submit that what's
existing and what's proposed is uh is better because it's it's within the property line
but it's important just to show you some context here
just some other street photos
and here you can see again that yellow car is within their space on the left
going back to the notice of refusal in addition to the um a document
going back to the notice of refusal in addition to the um documentation and confirmation of this
parking space the overall proposal before the board includes the removal of a one-story addition
with a second floor deck at their property and in the footprint of that removal of demolished work
adding a one uh a first floor deck and creating a backyard with open space so this is a reduction
if you will in intensity of a non-conforming condition uh also included and i'll show you
the plans momentarily is the removal of a bay window at the second floor and reuse of existing
windows too in a new framed wall replacement of the existing condition and powder room at the
first floor i'm getting beyond the strict uh nature of the refusal but we wanted to share
uh the totality with you there is a refusal for what i just said because we're going from
non-conforming removing it and replacing but we're replacing with less so a deck is prohibited in the
required front yard uh interestingly as is as is often the case as the board knows even though a
layperson might look at locust street as the front uh both uh are being seen as fronts so
latimer is treated that way and and we understand that this is an existing non-conforming condition
that would be improved with the new proposal uh increasing some open area here you can see uh that
That beige structure with the brick and the second floor deck.
This is the area that would be demolished and replaced with less structure.
Those are a couple photos there, and here you can see the proposed site plan, and maybe
I'll zoom out for a moment and move in a little bit here.
please bear with me for a second