so really expanding this garage use is kind of a benefit um because you already have the curb cut
you're not taking away parking and you're preventing this situation where you see in this
photograph where there's not enough garage spaces and people park on the sidewalk so there's also
really no one going back here other than the people accessing their own garages um so that's
that there is also two dimensional variances that are requested uh the first is for the nine foot
rear yard uh requirement we are at 8.83 so that variance is really de minimis it's equals about
two to three inches so we're really there uh the biggest variance is um for open space required is
25 we're proposing 10. um let me just get to the aerial view so i can show you some context here
This is really not, this block is not consistent with occupied lots and uses.
It's kind of this mishmash block.
So if you look, 3619, which is directly adjacent here, has no rear yard.
And the only open area is actually their parking lot for, this is a four-unit apartment building.
You can see that 2021 has 100% lot coverage and no open space at all. And then you could say that
probably, you know, the property to the rear, 3620 Emerald, has a really large rear yard,
so you actually still have a lot of space between the two parcels. They were notified they didn't
come to the meeting to object. One of the most effective properties is probably the property
to the south, 3615. And this is actually owned by another member of the owner's family and
they have no objection to this expansion.
Thank you. Does the board have any questions?
Yes, Vice Chair. Is there any water repair work done in the garage?
No, it's going to be for personal vehicles.
Thank you.
Does anybody else have any questions in the virtual audience?
I see no hands, Madam Chair.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Ian Hegarty with the Philadelphia City Planning Commission.
In 2017, the zoning map was amended from RM1 to RSA5 in this area.
now is done in accord with recommendations from the comprehensive plan with the support of the
community. This is a proposed legalization of an enlargement with several use in dimensional
non-conformities. The front garage door was a pre-existing condition, so we find evidence of
a physical hardship for the front-loaded parking refusal. With regard to the open space and rear
yard dimensional variances, we actually hold that the hardship was self-created through the
construction of an illegal structure. And finally, with regard to the roof deck, we believe the
dimensional requirements of the zoning code don't actually impose any kind of financial burden on
the applicant. It's simply just not something that's allowed. So accordingly, the City Planning
Commission recommends that the board grant a variance only for the parking access from the
front street and deny all other variances. If I could just talk about how we wound up in this
situation with the structure as it is in a legalization. I think it's important. So my
clients are not professional developers. Like I mentioned, this is for their own personal home.
Like I mentioned, this is for their own personal home. They bought the property in 2014 and started to develop it in 2018. They hired a general contractor, a licensed contractor to GC. The project gave him a substantial amount of money, over $70,000.
They bought the property in 2014.
dollars. We got to this point, L&I came out, and apparently the contractor had not pulled any
permits or filed for anything. And so they had believed he was taking care of all of this. They
had paid him to take care of all of this. They have been ghosted by that contractor and the
architect they have been using. There's a separate legal matter going on about that. And so now we
have just kind of an average person born and raised in this neighborhood who's trying to
improve this property who's stuck right now. And quite frankly, if he's made to take down the
addition, this building's just going to sit. There's not an ability to fix the wrong that
this contractor has done to him other than to try to get these zoning variances and finish this
project so that we can have a livable single-family home on the block. If I might say that entire
street is a mess with people parking on the sidewalk throwing trash in the street but can
I ask Planning Commission again what was that that you said what you do approve parking
There's a refus- thank you Madam Chair Ian Hegarty with the City Planning Commission.
There is a one refusal for parking access from the front street expansion of a non-conforming
parking use.
we support that variance simply because the curb cut and garage entrance are pre-existing conditions
associated with the former form of the building on this site. And no to? All the other refusals,
including the dimensional refusals and the location of the
roof deck. Thank you so much. Calendar number 1773 3617 Helen Street. My vote is
yes to the parking from front street from the front of the street and no to all other refusals.
james snell yes with proviso thomas holloman yes with provisos
thank you calendar number uh miss saletta are we prepared to go back to yes you can go back
i did receive everything thank you okay great calendar number 1780 327 south smedley street
it's russell wigley or wiggly we're mispronouncing names today so i apologize and emma actually
the chair we do have the correct other information now um it's mr kelly and ms golfer
so mr kelly is the one person who was called is that for number seven
it's for smithly street okay who are russell and emma they were the sellers they were the prior
owners okay but now that we have the exhibits they show that the current owners are that mr
kelly is the current owner okay i'm sorry this is tanya sunkett the administrator
mr kelly um are you declining to be promoted to panelists for your presentation
no i'm sorry i didn't mean to to do that oh sorry
mr kelly can you hear me um one moment madam chair he has to come back in as a panelist
thank you miss saki yes i can hear you okay great can you put your name and address on the record
and spell your last name? Brendan Kelly, K-E-L-L-E-Y. My address is 2115 Pine Street in
Philadelphia, PA 19103. Do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Yes. Okay, you may proceed, assuming you're not an attorney. I'm not. I believe that my architect
is on the call here, Peter Elsbeck, and he is going to walk us through this. Okay, can you
share your screen with us? I'm sorry. Yes. Mr. Kelly, did you say you were not going to do the
presentation? I didn't hear you. Peter Elsbeck, my architect, is going to do the presentation.
Well, actually, what he could do to assist is he can provide the screen share and you can talk
through as the owner your presentation, okay? He's not allowed. Only an attorney can speak in your
he's not allowed. Only an attorney can speak in your behalf. Okay. Okay. Peter, can you put your
behalf. Okay.
name and address on the record? Spell your last name and I'll swear you in. Yes, ma'am. It's
Peter Elsbeck, E-L-S-B-E-C-K. My address is 877 North Beachwood Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19130.
Do you swear for him to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth? I do.
Thank you. Mr. Kelly, you may proceed. Thank you. So at the rear of this house,
Peter will put up some diagrams of it, but at the rear of the house there is an addition
that was built I believe in the 1950s on the second floor and it's a bump out that is just
exclusively on the second floor. So this section of the house doesn't touch the ground level
and at the time when it was built there was a tree that was in the yard and from everything
we can tell the original bump out was built with a clipped corner in order to avoid the tree that
used to be in that space. My wife and I bought this house this past February and the tree
from what we can tell was removed around three to five years ago and so the tree is no longer
in the yard but the clipped corner still exists on that on that addition and so the the hardship
we're experiencing is really twofold one is that the interior space is really awkward and not
functional and and then the second issue we have is that we're we're in the process of trying to
restore the house in a in a historic way people who know the block know that it's it's a really
charming historic street and we're trying to put the character back and this this bump out is not
in alignment with with that type of of historic look that that we want so we want to square off
the the back it it adds to almost exactly 10 square feet that we're asking for to just make the
the uh the north side of the bump out uh squared off the same way it is on the south side of the
bump out now that the tree is is gone um we have a letter of i believe if the terminology is right
of non-opposition from ccra that's right yeah and um the uh the neighbor to our north um had
expressed some concern and so my architect had created a light study and the study
showing here shows that the impact of adding this additional bump out is only noticeable
at certain times of the year and in a limited number of hours of the day. Certainly the impact
as far as light is concerned the amount of light that was gained by the tree being removed
I love trees but but obviously when the when the tree was removed that created a huge amount of
additional light and this bump out will have a an incredibly small impact on light so
I guess my architect's not allowed to speak to it but there are there are moments I'm sorry
sir this is tanya sunk at the um administrator because you have done the presentation any
technical information that goes along with the plans the architect can speak to now he just
cannot do the actual presentation so you can allow him to talk okay okay sorry for the mess up
no sir thank you thank you sorry we we missed that uh that um requirement so all that part
now you can speak thank you um you know i think brendan really covered just about everything that
that we would um want to speak to um if there are any questions or anything about technicalities
beyond what he covered i'm happy to answer any of those questions does the board have any questions
no vice chair is there anyone virtual audience with questions please raise your hand
madam chair we have joy mcintyre please unmute yourself and please wait for madam
Hello? Yes, can you hear me? Yes, I can. Can you put your name and address on the record?
Yes, Joy McIntyre, MC, capital I-N-T-Y-R-E, 325 South Smedley. I'm the neighbor to the north that
325 South Smedley. I'm the neighbor to the north that Brendan just referred to.
Okay. Do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Okay. You may proceed.
I have several concerns about this and how it affects my property. I understand that the CCRA
did not oppose but i just want to say that i reached out to them and i was told just to send
in a letter that they were not going to have another meeting but evidently they they must have
done so so i did send a letter to the board i did send a letter to um the rco and also the zoning
zoning board of adjustment so i'm hoping that my my letters may have been received um because um i
think it, I wish I'd been able to contribute to the CCRA's decision. I understand the solar light
study indicates that the effect on my property is minimal, but it is not minimal to me to have
light cut off from my kitchen window. So I do want to say that. More to the point, though, with the
addition being bumped out to the property line I feel that I I'm going to be closed in a lot more
my to the to the east the property to the east and I had sent in pictures but the property to
the east was built out to the property line and over and over the whole alley and so there's just
a wall at the alley, this will bump out and close me in on the south side.
And on the north side, sometime along back in time, one wall of the house was built over
about a foot over onto my house.
So all of these little encroachments add up.
windows have been expanded over time and all of these encroachments add up to not all of them I
believe were legal and they may have come at a time when the zoning board was not as vigilant
but they do add up. If you don't mind I'd like to interrupt you. You mentioned CCRA.
right what is CCRA because we know it to be an RCO in the Rittenhouse Square area
who is your RCO? Center City Residence Association Center City Residence Association
and then the other thing is that who that's who that's who I care it is that that is the RCO for
that area it's it is the property is between spruce and pine um i think it only runs for one
block but it is in center city wow okay thank you um the the other thing is um i'm not really
to me i'm not thinking this is a hardship um to not be able to kind of put a sofa there or something
um the i i will say you know that the house has been gutted so the argument that this is an
historic reservation renovation doesn't um convince me um but it's been gutted down to
the bricks and i think it's worth noting that mr kelly is a professional developer so um i just
I just feel like this is maybe bigger than it looks in regards to my property and how it all adds up to affect me.
Thank you for your testimony. Does anyone else have questions?
I would like to respond, if I may.
It is true I'm a professional developer. What I do primarily is rental homes.
This is a home that I purchased along with my wife here.
It's in our personal names.
We intend to live in it.
And so we are developing it for our own personal use.
I also have history, experience with doing historic renovations.
And so it's true, we've gutted this house out, except for the minor amount of historic items that were still available.
We've left things such as fireplace, that type of thing.
But I have a history of using architectural salvage to put the history back.
And so that is absolutely our intention here is to come with historic components to make a historic house.
As far as the encroachments, the clipped corner at the moment has a window that looks down directly into her yard.
As far as the encroachments, you know, the clipped corner at the moment has a window that looks.
When we extend this, the window will only face directly towards the back of the property, so it will face only east.
And there won't be any windows to the north that would be looking down into her yard.
So in that respect, it provides additional privacy for her because we're no longer able to see unless we crane our neck to look down into her yard.
So there's additional privacy there. And I think that since we're talking about the light, so I hope I addressed those issues.
I would ask if Peter could walk us through a little bit about the times of the year and the hours of the day that the sunlight would actually affect her house.
Because it's, in my opinion, so minor. I mean, I guess anything that gets built has some effect on somebody around them.
and here we're talking about something that's just so minuscule and and compared to a massive
tree that has been there for decades the amount of sunlight in the yard at the moment is just
dramatically higher than it must have been three or four years ago. Thank you.
does the board have any questions um yeah i think peter was going to address a little bit about
peter can you uh talk a little bit about the times of year and the hours of the day yes i'm i'm happy
to if if that's helpful okay sure sure so the board need this testimony i'm okay with it i'm
okay okay i'm going to go to planning commission okay thank you thank you madam chair ian hegarty
with the philadelphia city planning commission comprehensive plan recommends no change to the
rsa 5 zoning at this location this proposed dimensional variance is minimal at about 10
square feet and does not conflict with the purpose and spirit of the zoning code
city planning commission recommends that the board grant the variance
calendar number 1780 327 south smedley street my vote is yes
professor plaza my vote is yes james snell my vote is yes thomas holliman my vote is yes
thank you thank you sure calendar number 0328 thank you all sure and good luck 4609
Hedge Street. The attorney is Leo Mulvihill.
I'm not showing Mr. Mulvihill yet, Madam Chair.
okay then we'll move on to number 12.
calendar number 1765 6520 rising sun avenue
miss wilson is coming back in as a panelist
Ms. Wilson, can you hear me?
Ms. Wilson, if you're...
Yes, I'm sorry.