after discussion with the community so really if you look at this now um we have all technical
refusals and another point is we agreed to reduce our unit count by 11 to make it more in line with
the surrounding properties from a density perspective so really we have only technical
refusals we're proposing multi-family this is partially or or at least 50 cmx2 which would
be allowed we're proposing commercial on richmond street a commercial corridor which again forget
about the zoning classification would make sense because it fits within the fabric of the community
but regardless this is a cmx2 property so we should be allowed to put commercial but because
of the rsa5 component we're getting refused and then the final refusal will be the height
where six feet allowed is allowed and 10 feet proposed but that's really just our building
facade at a certain point. And that's a technical refusal, unfortunately, under the code.
So our letter of support, 45 people showed up to this meeting, according to this vote.
Over two-thirds of those people voted in support. So we have overwhelming support from that
community. And again, it was a lively meeting, but I think, you know, especially after the first
meeting um we we you know we swayed the community because the project makes sense and we took to
heart a lot of their non-zoning related issues with the property and most importantly we reduced the
heights you know so such that we're within the code requirements and then because of that
overwhelming community support councilman uh mark squilla uh also issued a letter of non-opposition
and that's in front of you as well. And then again, 2970 Richmond Street, which is our
neighboring property, is in support of this project. And as well as 2969.7, the property
behind us as well, that touches us. So it's really important to get the nearby neighbors to be in
support of our project. And then just the hearing notice posters, again, proof that we posted this
property well in advance of the hearing and then our presentation packet um again a little different
than what i usually show but i figured you know again i took the architectural plans and presentation
packet we showed the community so i try to be consistent with that um you can see this is an
existing uh building structure which goes from richmond street all the ways to salmon street
and you'll see from the photographs what I mean but the front part on the Richmond Street side
there's a commercial component on the ground floor and then there's two stories above for residential
current condition is there's a one-story garage here what we're planning to do is literally take
off their whole roof on the Salmon Street side create like a walkway and create an interior
create like a walkway, create an interior facade on the Salmon Street side to create a walkway and
then to build up from one story on Salmon to three stories. And the commercial component would stay
the same. There'd be a one-story commercial component going from Richmond Street and then
there would be residential above Richmond Street as well as within this new portion of the Salmon
Street facade. And then this is what I'm saying about like the mix zoning here. So this is Richmond
Street. This is Salmon Street. This is Indiana. This is Ann Street. This is our property. This
is a 4,000 square foot lot. Very, very large lot. Unfortunately, it's only 20 feet wide. So
And then it's 200 feet deep.
So it gives us some limitations of exactly what we can do with this 4,000 square foot lot.
But what you can see here is that from the Richmond Street side, this is CMX2 zoning.
And from this, essentially the Salmon Street side, it's RSA 570.
So this split zoning is making it very difficult to do anything within the code as of right.
But you can also see that this is a commercial corridor.
and you'll see that from the pictures too so here is our property right now which is a commercial
which has commercial component on the first floor and then above our is a three-story structure on
the richmond street side and again all we're looking to do is revitalize the commercial
component on richmond street and to then revitalize the residential component throughout the property
on from richmond to salmon street but what you can see is that apartment building next to you
there the large that's right that's a that's a four-story apartment building uh right next to us
that's why we thought we can we weren't even going to go that high in the front on on richmond or
salmon where our height on 45 feet was going to be in the middle and we thought that the scope
the height would match well but the community did not appreciate that and we took that to heart but
we really try to mix it with what's pre that's currently there and you can see the apartment
buildings right here as well from this angle um but you can see the salmon street sides right
this is our property it's a one-story uh garage there's also to the left of up to the right of us
it's a one-story garage and then to the left of us i think it's some type of not industrial but
it's definitely not a residential use and it's a similar type of look and feel and you know there
are residences on this property in this block oops so what you can see here from this illustration
really focus on the salmon street side because that those are the neighbors that were most
concerned about this project right even though we have three sets of garages there are non-residential
in nature the the residents on the salmon street side was concerned about the height of the
building because there are two story structures on there and they didn't want to like feel like
they were being dominated by our structure uh so what we did was we reduced the height not only 38
feet you know as maximum throughout we actually reduced it on the salmon street side to 29 feet
to kind of feel within the scope of what was going on in the salmon street um and what you can see
here is this is the portion where we have this refusal for the fence um so originally we were
just going to reuse the existing brick facade and this based on the technical uh interpretation of
the code they treated this as a fence so originally when we're six feet required while 15 feet is what
we're proposing was because we're repurposing this brick facade we're taking that brick facade down
slightly a bit that is going to be 10 feet in this particular portion and that that's where
our refusal is the other thing that we did is not only reduce the unit count by one we also reduced
the count of how many units have accessibility through salmon street because that was a concern
of the neighborhood as well they they wanted to push as much obviously the use to richmond street
as possible but because of the narrowness of the building the uniqueness of the building we wanted
to repurpose the building, we do need some entry points on Salmon Street as well. But we've reduced
the amount of units that enter through Salmon Street by one, and we reduced the overall project
by one total unit as well, which fits more into the character of the neighborhood.
And then this is a good way to show the difference of the height of the project. So this is the
original elevation, but if you look at it now, it went down, right? So if you look at it, we reduced
the height to go to the 38 feet but as you can see we're only having this small
uh to go to the 38 feet but as you can see we were only having this small portion go to 45 feet
but we then shrunk it down and that helped us also reduce the unit count as well and then you can see
this is richmond street side where we have the commercial component which makes sense um you can
see that this is just a simple floor plan first floor second floor third floor and then the
mezzanine because there's bi-level units from the second and third floor the third floor the second
and third floors um but you can see we have its own trash room we have a bike room you know we're
trying to be responsible in the neighborhood uh by making sure we have proper trash storage and
maintenance for this property and obviously because the amount of units will have commercial
pickup in addition to from the residential units but also the commercially and then this is our
RCO meeting notice, we met at a well-attended meeting on November 9th at 7 p.m. 151 addresses
were notified in this meeting. These are the lists of the addresses, proof of mailing to those
addresses, proof of emailing to the RCOs as well as the other relevant parties of this community
meeting, our application for appeal that we filed to the ZVA, along with the original notice of
refusal and project information form, our deed to the property, showing that Rose Garden and
Filla LLC is the owner of the property, and our certificate of tax clearance. Technically,
it shows the balance, but that's because the city now on its website is showing a balance for 2023
for everyone. That's the only year a balance is owed, but technically that money's not due until
the first quarter of the year so with that being said i'm going to unshare my screen i'm going to
ask uh either mr uh boris or mr shaw to virtually raise their hand so they'll be sworn in and adopt
my testimony as their own
miss boris yes hi how do you do hi hi could you state your name is spelled please for the court
reporter yes certainly it's carrie c-a-r-y borish b-o-r-s-h and thank you for hearing us today and
thank you for your time and service sure do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth i do proceed counsel uh yes mr boris you heard everything i had to state about
your uh zoning matter that is correct and is it true and correct yes it is and do you adopt it as
your own testimony? I do. Thank you. Questions from the board? No, Mr. Chairman. Questions or
comments from the virtual audience? Mr. Chair, I have a Taylor Stover with the hand raised.
Okay. Sure. Hi, my name is Taylor Stover. Hi, could you spell your name please too for the
court reporter? Yeah, absolutely. T-A-Y-L-O-R-S-T-O, V as in Victor, E-R. Right. Do you swear or
for him to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth? I do. Are you a neighbor?
Yes, I am a neighbor. I live... Okay, what's she? I am at 3024 Richmond Street. Okay. I moved here
in April of 2021 and the immense change that I've seen with you know the retail spaces and the new
neighbors coming it's insane like when I first moved here there were no street lights coming
home at night it was kind of like sketchy and whatnot now I have friends that live on Mercer
and when I'm walking home I can't wait to get to Richmond just because of the lights
I think that the new neighbors that are coming in and the people that are coming to these spaces
there it's just a good atmosphere like I feel comfortable walking around and you know I study
crime and I pay a lot of attention to what's going on in the city and living here with all the new
neighbors and the new spaces and the retail corridors and like what's going on it makes me
feel much more secure I'm 28 and I just think this addition to this neighborhood would be
fantastic and I think it would make like me as a woman and I know other neighbors that are my age
feel a lot more comfortable. Okay. All right. So thank you very much for calling in and giving
your opinion. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
No further answer, Mr. Chair. Hi, Planning Commission.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and good afternoon. David Fecto, F-E-C-T-E-A-U with the City Planning
Commission. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir, I do.
Yes, sir, I do.
Proceed.
Thank you, sir.
Mr. Chairman and members of the board, the comprehensive plan recommends a change in the zoning of this location from commercial mixed use to residential multifamily.
The applicant could apply to split the current split zone lot into two code-compliant lots, one residential single family and one commercial mixed use, and then pursue development by right on both lots.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the Board deny the proposed use in dimensional variances.
MI 2022-004-399-2964 Richmond Street.
I vote yes with proviso per amended refusal dated 12-8-22.
Harold Tenere, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with proviso.
James Snell, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thank you.
Thank you.
So number two, MI 2021, 002-585-250 Bybury Road.
Sean Ward is the attorney.
We do have a letter of opposition
from the Somerton Civic Association.
Mr. Ward will be coming back in as panel, sir.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman,
members of the board,
Sean Ward, 331 East Street Road, Trevos, Pennsylvania, 19053.
Attorney for applicant.
Present with me on the call today is Ferkat Kusinov and Andrew Mogulinski, representing
Strategic Vantage LLC.
Sean, just for the record, could you spell your name for the court reporter?
Oh, certainly.
First name is Sean, S-H-A-W-N.
last name is ward w-a-r-d right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
and nothing but the truth most certainly do our vice chair has a few questions uh mr chairman if
i if i can uh interject uh uh temporarily um we we have a letter from the rco um with
some deed restrictions um i wouldn't characterize it as a letter of opposition
but I will address that
as the time comes
I was probably
at the bottom there I think they talk about
who's opposed right
the bottom of the letter
there's a whole section about who opposed
that's where I got it from
you can have your time
to explain it that's fine
okay Mr. Ward
do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal
and stipulate to its accuracy
yes I do
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, a copy of the
refusal or referral, photos under plans of the property, five days before this hearing,
and have you met with the RCO, and do you have a letter?
Yes, to all the above.
Okay, great.
You may proceed and begin with sharing the screen that is already up.
my version of my cover sheet. However, I failed to attach it. But it is RM2. And so we seek use
variances today. We have A2 as our application of appeal. A3 is our project information form.
A4 is our proof of ownership. A5 is proof of tax clearance. As stated by Alan in his prior
presentation. That tax clearance does include taxes due for 2023, which as the board as well
aware are not due till March 31st. So we are tax compliant through 2022. A6 is our survey plan. A7
is our site plan. A8 are floor plans. A8 are renderings, and I would point out these are
suggestive or, you know, examples of some of the amenities that we would
proceed with. A9 are the photographs. We have subject property, aerial view, street views.
The subject properties do include the posting of the property. A10 is the RCO letter of what I
will call support from Somerton Civic. However, it does include a suggested deed restriction,
which I will address during my presentation. I don't know if Alice Udovich from the Councilman's
Office is on the call. However, if there is a letter from the Councilman, I would just ask for
record purposes that that be marked as A11. As far as the relevant zoning history, we were here last
year, 2021, where we obtained a temporary permit for a moving and storage company.
And then prior to that, 1947, up until close to 2021, it was manufacturing and millwork for
Premier Products Company, who was basically a patio enclosure type manufacturing and retail
company. Unfortunately, they either went out of business or just relocated outside the city
in recent years, my client having purchased the property, I believe, in 2019.