Questions from our time.
And again, we stepped back.
david david david let me let me for questions from our attorney not at this time mr chair
questions or comments from the audience questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see no hands planning commission thank you chairman and good afternoon david fecto with
the city planning commission chairman and board members the comprehensive plan recommends no
change to the rsa 5 residential single family zoning at this location the city rezoned this
neighborhood in 2017, and a community requested map change. The proposed building height is within
10% of the allowed height in RSA 5. Under the Planning Commission's policy, this counts as a
minor variance in keeping with the spirit and purpose of the zoning code. The City Planning
Commission recommends that the Board grant the proposed dimensional variance for building height.
MI 2025-000-383-3627 Wallace Street, I vote yes, proviso. Revised plans, one page, stamped by ZBA, May 28th, 2025.
MI 2025-00038
Eight.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes with proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with proviso.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes with proviso.
Fionn, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ishmael Shahid, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you.
You may be excused.
You can.
Thank you.
So number 12, MI 2025, 00039083 Herman Street.
Sherman Toppin is the attorney.
Is that your case?
Do they have a case?
Hillary, we don't have anything after this, do we?
For me?
Good afternoon, members of the board.
Okay. Hi. Okay.
Sherman.
Yes. Okay.
Yeah, I see. Okay. Sherman, hold on. I'm going to take number four first.
Okay. Thank you.
MI 2024-005-326-3421
North 22nd Street, Darlene Treat
Treat is the attorney
Thank you.
Good afternoon, Commissioners. Darlene Threatt on behalf of the applicant, Kevin Garcia.
Darlene, could you please spell your name for the court stenographer?
Darlene, D-A-R-L-E-N-E, Threatt, T as in Thomas, H-R-E-A-T-T.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client again, please, and his relationship to this property?
My client today is Kevin Garcia. He is the owner of the property, and he is on the line.
All right. Our vice chair has a few questions.
Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
I'd like to amend the refusal at this time.
Originally, we filed for a four-family dwelling.
After a meeting with the community, we're amending it to a three-family dwelling.
Fair enough. Fair enough.
uh have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits as needed to proceed with this case
five days in advance of this hearing yes and yesterday i uploaded the community letter of
support understood thank you please proceed and share your screen
We did that.
Thank you.
I'm still here. I'm having a little problem with my cursor.
Just give me one second, please.
Here we go. Can you see my screen?
Good afternoon, Commissioners. I represent Mr. Kevin Garcia in the application he filed with the Zoning Board of Adjustment.
Commissioners, we filed for a zoning use permit for a four-family dwelling.
I submitted a package of information today.
Contained within that package is the refusal, the appeal, the property information form, deed, tax information, plans.
the appeal, the property information form, deed, tax information, plans, pictures,
a community letter of support, proof of mailing, and a petition with the residents on the block's
signature. Commissioners, again, originally we filed for a four-family dwelling. We met with
the community. They really wasn't in support of a four-family dwelling, so at this time we are
amending to a three-family dwelling. This is a RSA 5, and we are staying in the use intended for
RSA 5s, which are residential. Commissioners, I'm going to scale down now to the plans for
our property. And I am having a little curse of trouble today.
Oh, shit.
Here we go.
commissioner that's the appeal that we follow that's the property information form
this is the adid
new tax information
and here are the plans
I'm just going to reduce it a little bit
so you can see the entire plan
this is the site plan
of how our property lays out
on the block
this is the first floor of our plan we just plan to use it for utilities only the basement will
remain empty this is the first floor apartment when you walk into the apartment there's a nice
size living room there's a nice size dining room you walk a little further back you have a nice
kitchen area. You have a bathroom area and you have two bedrooms in the rear. That's the entire
first floor apartment. On the second floor apartment, the makeup is just about the same.
You have a nice living room in the front. You have a dining room area. You have a kitchen area.
You have a full bedroom area and you have two bedrooms in the rear of the property. The third
floor is a one-bedroom apartment you have a nice one bedroom in the front you have a bathroom off
the bedroom you have a kitchen area here and you have a living area here i'm going to scroll down
a little bit and just show you how the property looks in general commissioner this is the front
of our property and here is the posting here uh this uh block in general is in need of some
development the property next door to us had a fire about a month and a half ago and we did
sustain some damage to our property this is the entire block has as it looks here is a great open
space in need of development there are seven houses on this block two of them are multi-family
I did not find zoning use permits for them.
One is a single family, and I believe the other two on the block are currently vacant.
That's just another look at the property.
This is looking to the right of the property.
Diagonally across the street is a multifamily.
This is also RSA 5, and it has about five or six apartments in it.
On the next corner is actually RSA 5 also, but it's used as a business center for the community.
Adjacent to our property, the entire block is vacant.
I believe a new structure, a multi-unit apartment is coming there soon.
And this is just looking down the 22nd Street on the same side.
as you can see there's a lot of vacant space on the end of this unit on the end of this block also
and there are just some other photographs here's the community letter we did we meet with the
community there's the proof of mailing there's a petition of support which has individuals on the
block i did upload the community letter yesterday from the allegheny west civic association
supporting a project with a couple of provisos and then I
a couple of provisos and then i have some additional pictures i'm just going to scan
through very quickly for you so you can get a look of the area this is the front of the
block with again it has seven houses on it two of them are multi-family i did not find zoning
use permits for them i see one as a rental and a rental unit this is diagonally across the street
just showing you how the block looks, how the area looks, and the need for development.
This is directly across the street from our property.
These are two single-family houses directly across the street.
In the middle of them is a big lot, which could use some development there also.
That's a long look at the opposite side of the street to show you how it looks.
Currently, parking in the neighborhood is not an issue since the whole next block is pretty much empty.
This is a side view of the houses. I want you to see how long the properties are and how big they are. It's well suited for three apartments, one on each floor.
It's just some other looking at the block in the houses on the block and the uses and development.
Why don't you bring your client on?
Mr. Garcia, are you on the line today?
Mr. Garcia?
Garcia, please raise your virtual hand.
Please, is that promotion to panelists?
Kevin, are you on the line?
They're promoting him now.
mr garcia hi can you hear me i can't could you please state your name and spell for the
stenographer yeah i'm kevin garcia k-e-v-i-n garcia g-a-r-c-i-a right do you swear or firm
to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Mr. Garcia, are you the owner of this property?
Mr. Garcia, have you heard my testimony
as presented to the board today?
I did.
Mr. Garcia, if you were to adopt, excuse me,
if you were to testify today,
would you adopt my testimony as true and correct?
I will.
That's all I have in my client, Commissioner.
All right, the question is from the board.
I have a question.
What are the provisals from the RCO?
The provisals from the RCO were two units and one unit apartment.
I'm just going to scan back down to the letter.
Was there anything about the trash in there, trash storage?
I believe trash storage is in the basement until trash day, and we will participate in the Philadelphia.
Let me just highlight that a little bit.
trash program
what was with the commercial
yeah I just wanted to make sure he was okay with the provisals
from the art show here we go I just highlighted them here we go so we got
three story three units no basement use
we'll utilize city trash
program trash will be stored in the basement two two bedrooms
and one one-bedroom, and we did discuss some pricing for the apartments, but we agreed to
all of those provisos. How do all of the units have access to the basement?
All of the units, you would actually have to come out to access the basement. There is no access
throughout the house from the third floor to the second floor to the basement. Only the first floor
apartment actually has access to the basement, you would have to go around and go through the
back to access the basement. There's a side yard? There is no side. There is no side yard. There is
no breezeway between these properties. So, okay. So then how are the third floor and the second
floor units going to access the basement to store their trash? Well, they would actually have to
walk around to the rear to get to the basement to store the trash. Generally
trash will be stored in the apartment to trash stay. There are a lot of houses
that store their trash in the front here and we didn't think it was
We didn't think it was aesthetically appropriate to put cans on the porch to store the trash in the front.
aesthetically appropriate to put cans on the porch to store it.
I understand that. You keep saying they're going to walk around the back.
How exactly are they going to walk around the back if this is an attached property?
Well, I don't have a picture of it, but you can walk around the back and enter the rear of the property through a breezeway.
Can I chip in? Nobody's going to do that. That's unrealistic.
I would agree with you. The community didn't really want us to store the trash cans on the porch.
So those was the only options that we had, sir.
Yeah, I think I think you've got these are decent sized units, bigger than most we've seen.
You've got enough space within the units to have a closet dedicated with exhaust for it for trash.
You know what I mean? So I think that's considered.
I think that's a good idea, and we're not objecting to that type of proposal.
I think it's unrealistic to think that tenants are going to walk a half a block around the corner through essentially an alley to put their trash in the back.
They're just not going to do it.
I would agree with you.
So then my second question, because where are all of the meters going to be located?
Mr. Garcia, are you on the line?
Yeah, I'm still here.
And can you explain to Ms. Wynn where the meters are located?
Yeah, so the water meters, of course, is going to be in the front of the building, and all the power units, they're going to be in the basement.
So all the picot meters, this is going to be all electric?
Yeah. Okay. And so how are the second and the third floor units going to be able to access their electric meter in case of an issue? And where the furnace is going to be located?
Like the main breaker will be like in every single floor. Right.
Okay. Because you didn't show a mechanical closet on the plan. So I just wanted to understand how you were districting that.