and you got and there's a shed there too that shed's coming out it has to
and i don't and i don't recall seeing the the uh the the uh poll on the plan
that you showed but maybe it is the poll is not shown right the poll is right i mean
Unfortunately, you're coming in this way. So I agree with you. It doesn't show the K-turn, but it would come in like that and you'd have to you'd have to back out to get out.
But but you've got to go like this. You understand what I'm saying?
No, you're right. You'd have to go up and then back.
You've got to go this way. You've got to back in. You've got to do that. That means this is probably tight. You've got a light pole somewhere around here. This is insanity, right, to try to force that on your neighbors so that people can only park probably this far back, just judging from your turning radius.
And they can't be parked on the street. They've got to be parked on the curb like they are. So I just think it's a bad situation for the rest of them.
Just in terms of the neighbors, Mr. Johns, I hear what you're saying.
I mean, that's why I urged the client and they did to get signatures at this end of the block because those were the folks that were going to be impacted.
Now, granted, there are signatures from Dudley Street, which is not on this block, but there's five or six of neighbors at the West End.
But I hear what you're saying.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Questions or comments from our attorney?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chairman.
Good morning.
David Vecto 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 addition of a curb cut will remove 12 linear feet of parking from this block base
and the ability to park in front of that curb cut while the appellant states that they will
have a smaller car the city cannot require this so there is a risk that a larger car
would block access to the sidewalk there is no unique physical condition or circumstance
of this property that will prevent it from being used in strict conformity with the zoning code
the city planning commission recommends the board deny the proposed variance for accessory off-street
parking and a parking space in the rear yard thank you um mi 2025 000 463 2015 south 5th street i
vote no michael johns my vote is no gaster my vote is no
Michael Jones, my vote is no.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is no.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is no.
Aya Wynn, my vote is no.
Henry, please stay on.
So MI 2025-000465-2035-37 Abigail Street.
Mr. Clinton, could you just state your name for the record?
Mr. Clinton. Yes, Mr. Chairman. Oh, yeah. Could you just state your name for the record?
Sure. Henry Clinton, C-L-I-N-T-O-N. And Mr. Clinton, could you identify your client,
a relationship to this property? Sure. My client is Amid, E-H-M-E-D,
Fuzan, F-O-Z-A-N, and he's on the call, as I understand it. And I would say there's a
recommendation of non-opposition from the East Kensington Neighborhood Association.
Please start your presentation.
Good morning again, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
This is 2035 to 37 Abigail Street on behalf of Hazan Ahmadi, E-H-M-E-D-I.
table of contents A1 through A10, as well as some zoning records, which I asked to be admitted
into evidence. This is a relocation of lot lines from five lots to four, and then the construction
of four single-family homes with parking in the rear, which basically mirrors a similar project
at the end of the block, and I'll show you photographs of that. The refusal is just one
refusal for a minimum lot depth because the rear yard is a driveway easement. Again, it's relocation
of lot lines from five existing deeded lots to four. We're basically talking about a frontage
of 72 feet, and we could have made five homes roughly in the width of 14 and a half feet.
It didn't make sense. So it was increased to 18 feet frontages with just four lots.
the reference to the RCO letter
from East Kensington Neighborhood Association,
non-opposition, and here are the photographs.
So this is a current lot.
I could not establish how long it's been vacant,
but neighbors tell me in excess of at least a decade.
So our project is going to be at this corner of Abigail
at the far end.
I'll show you photographs at the very end.
It's a very similar project.
albeit with five single-family homes and a dry vial at the rear just another view of the vacant
lot the idea is the homes will front as the other homes do on the block on abigail and then you'll
have a curb cut on amber to enter the rear of the properties again just perspective photographs
Yes, here's a similar project at the east end.
This is looking down, Abigail.
Our project is at the very end on the left,
but again, I'm just showing you this
so you can get the idea of other elevations
of brick on the block.
A closer view as we approach our lot on the left-hand side.
And here it is again.
is evidence of the posting of this notices for the ZBA hearing as well as the community meeting
right now neighbors are just parking on the lot obviously we're going to be doing away
with that if we if the project gets approved here are the plans so again Amber Street is here
frontage on Abigail. The idea would be
go down Amber Street, take a left, and this would be a driveway
easement, shared driveway, and it would be parking the rear of each of the
homes. You have no issues with the height. It's simply
a rear yard issue because of the shared driveway.
This is a side view of the property. Again,
the garage will be on the first floor. There is a half cellar or basement
in every one of the units.
The floor plans are very similar except for the end unit.
And I will show you all the floor plans
for each of the four homes.
Well, three are the same
and then one on the corner is different.
The other unique thing about this,
the access to the rooftop deck
will be through a fourth floor or third floor balcony
that you could walk up the outside
to get to the rooftop deck.
to get to the rooftop deck, and I'll show you a rear view of that.
And I'll show you a rear view of that.
Thank you.
So this is the elevation on Abigail Street for the four homes.
There's a slight little entryway to provide some protection from the elements as you enter the property.
And here's the corner unit.
Amber Street would be on the far right of where my cursor is.
Another view of the project.
And here's the drive aisle at the rear.
this is a photograph or rendering from the rear again each floor or three of the four floors
really have open space access the drive aisle in the rear off the first floor will be a small
balcony and then off the third floor is a balcony as well as access to get to the steps
to get up to the rooftop deck we still have the five foot setback you know on the front as well
is on the side on the corner unit, but we've basically eliminated the pilot houses on the
roof to give more open space, and so it's not the block of use of anyone else.
This would be the corner unit. Again, this is slightly different than the floor plans for the
other three units, but basement will be basically storage, hide the mechanicals. First floor plan,
Floor plan, foyer, mudroom, garage in the rear, bike storage, trash storage.
Second floor plan, living room, kitchen area, countertop space, and dining area.
And this switchback stairs or angle stairs are going to have an open area so you can see through the first floor to give it a more airy feeling.
The second floor has access to a rear deck,
and there is a bay that protrudes on the corner unit on Amber Street.
Then I'll move on to the third floor.
The third floor has two bedrooms and two baths with a laundry area.
Then you go up the steps to the fourth floor,
where there would be a primary bedroom,
a large bath with double vanity,
as well as a fourth floor deck, and then you'd be able to access those steps to get to the roof.
This is the typical floor plan for the other three units, very similar to what you see on
the corner unit, basement mechanical, storage, first floor, and these do have switchback steps,
unlike the corner. First floor would have a foyer entrance from the front with a mudroom.
The rear wrenches is a garage, bike storage, as well as trash storage.
Then you go to the second floor, and this is a repeat of the floor plan that I showed you previously.
Open area to the first floor, kitchen, dining area, a large countertop area, and living in the rear, access to the deck on the second floor.
And then you move up to the third floor, again, a repeat of what I showed you earlier.
But these units are a little bit bigger because there's two bedrooms on the second floor with two baths, just slightly bigger, but not very much.
And then up to the fourth floor, again, one bedroom, and then access to the rear deck and to the rooftop deck.
Some more renderings.
This is a side rendering on Amber Street.
just wanted to take note of the fact that it's going to be continuous brick that wraps the
corner just like the front. And then the rear will have a hardy siding or metal siding on the rear
garage doors, solid, then with the rear door to get into the lower level.
Again, another cutaway is basically a repeat of what I showed you at the outset.
on the turning radius and the parking area in the rear where you have streets approval
then this is a lot consolidation plan to shrink this a little bit
so basically it was five lots this was a large lot here as i said in the beginning
the frontage is 72 feet and we divided that by four to get four lots with 18 feet front as well
as rear these are legal descriptions of the properties as well as legal description of
the driveway easement in the rear would be a shared driveway. Application for appeal.
Application for appeal, project information form, proof from the Philadelphia Tax Center.
Taxes are up to date and paid.
Zoning map, bottom right corner, Amber Street, Abigail Street.
Deed indicating ownership.
There's a lot of deeds because it was a deed of confirmation and also a subdivision.
So I'm going to breeze through the deeds.
I just want to show you the other project that I mentioned at the outset that's at the other end of the block.
So this is 2001-2013, Abigail, five single-family homes with shared driveway pursuant to a zoning permit previously issued.
Again, some more aerial views.
Here we are now at the other end of the block.
Our project is at the top of this rendering or photograph.
So 201 Abigail, I highlighted in yellow the drive aisle that comes behind the five houses that front on Abigail.
And this is the zoning permit.
There were five zoning permits.
I only pulled one of the five zoning permits to indicate single-family home.
They have pilot houses and a rear deck as well as a rooftop deck accessed by a shared driveway easement.
So it's basically duplicative of what was approved in 2020.
and I understand simply because something was approved in the past
doesn't mean that's going to happen today,
but I wanted the board to have all the facts in front of them.
So with that, that's the end of my presentation.
I ask my client, Shaq, can you unmute yourself
and adopt my testimony, please?
If you want, please raise your virtual hand.
What's his name, Henry?
What's his name?
Shaq, E-H-M-E-D-I, Fozan, F-O-Z-A-N.
Fozan, as you're in a virtual audience, please raise your virtual hand.
I see no hand.
Mr. Clinton, you're an officer of the court and we appreciate it and we will admit it. Quick question. So your only refusal is the rear yard, right? Correct. Okay. Questions from the board.
okay i have two um one i'm always concerned when i see these garages like this in the property about
uh car fumes and things like that which could migrate into the living space what are we doing
about that. That's a great question, Ms. Gaston. Is Michael Armstrong, the architect, on the call?
Ms. Gaston, I don't have an answer for you. I can get you an answer, but
typically it's busted out
but I don't want to make
a representation that I'm not sure of
but that's what this architect
has done in the past
and then my second
question is
I see where we're doing
these stairs that are going from
what is that the fourth
this would be the top of the third floor uh third floor to this roof correct back here
so i guess i'm just again safety issue okay so you've got these stairs how are we
uh what are we doing to uh make sure that people uh
uh, are these stairs enclosed in some way? I mean, I see a railing, but how, how are we making sure
that somebody, uh, yeah, can get up there? Yeah. When it's, you know, when the weather's bad or,
uh, it's raining and it's slippery. I mean, how, how, I guess I'm just a little concerned about
the safety of you know exterior stairs like that uh to the deck right i mean the stairs