they're all two and three family dwellings 2100 block as well okay yep 2100 yep all right thank
you planning commission property is indicated for single family use in the city's comprehensive plan
there are no unique physical characteristics peculiar to the property to support a claim
of hardship accordingly we object to the granting of the variance could i just ask
Miss DiBerto you put your name in unit yes sorry Ariel DiLiberto Philadelphia City Planning
Commission thank you um put my paper away uh mi-2020-000371 2146 uber north uber street my
vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes thank
you good luck calendar number mi 2020-000 288 5820 Wakefield Street
I don't know if there's an attorney with this, but it's an application for a permit for the erection of a rear addition not to exceed 38 feet to an existing structure for use as a single-family household living.
I believe it's Leo Mulvihill.
Oh, okay.
Thanks, Sharon.
You're welcome.
Good evening, everyone.
Hi, Leo. Can you put your name and address on the record, please?
Certainly. It's Leo Mulvihill, M-U-L, V as in Victor, I-H-I-L-L.
Address for this one, 2424 East York Street, Suite 111, Philadelphia 19125.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
And do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
okay i'm trying to connect because i'm low on my battery do you have all the required exhibits with
you yes everything was submitted on time except the community letter which i believe was sent
late friday independently i do have it attached to my exhibit packet now though
with respect to this project okay please proceed it's a letter in support
My client was also on the line earlier for the 3.30 hearings.
He has two young kids and unfortunately had to hop off because of the delay.
So good evening, members of the board.
I'm here to represent Edward Pleasant, who's the owner-occupant at 5820 Wakefield Street.
What Edward's trying to do is renovate this house that he purchased some time ago.
He's doing it piecemeal.
And because he has a growing family, including two young daughters, one of whom is a few years old and the other who's only recently born,
what he wants to do is put a small extension on the rear of his home.
This lot is so small it already falls under the seven-foot rear yard exception under the zoning code.
So what he's done is proposed that we have an addition that's done on the back.
So he has a seven-foot rear yard at the ground level, but on the second floor level, he has a bump out.
So that brings the open space to the sky of the rear yard to only five feet.
That's the only reason we're here today.
For purposes of the record, I have the refusal, appeal, and project information form at page
one of my packet, currently on the screen.
Area zoning maps at page seven.
This is an RSA5 zoning district.
The client's deed is at eight.
Tax information is at page 12.
We were having some issues with the tax clearance program for the city, but I do have what was
an outstanding balance that was showing.
For the purpose of the record, it was variating between $300 owed and $88 owed.
So there's a receipt that I included showing my client paid the $300-some just to ensure.
So there's a receipt that I included showing my client paid the $300-some just to ensure
that we could get that all taken care of.
I have a notification letter and proof of mailing at page 14.
I have four pages of signed petition of support from the neighbors.
And at page 17, you'll note the RCO letter.
I have asterisks because I didn't have it at the time of packet submission.
I have added that to the end of the zoning packet after the drawings.
Photos of the property and the surrounding environment is at page 21.
Plans are at page 39. So members of the board, what I'll do is pull up first the area zoning map to the left of your screen. It's all yellow. It's all RSA 5. Overhead, you can see the shot that I pulled from Philadelphia Atlas. It's a residential block. It's mostly full. There are a couple of houses that have been knocked down, including a vacant lot directly to my client's right of this property.
we can see here what i was talking about members of the board at page 12
uh it showed that there was a small balance to with 268 58 what we have here to the left at page
13 is the proof of payment my client made as soon as that was made as he was made aware of the
issue a notification letter is at page 14 on the screen proof of mailing is at page 16
what I'm showing now are pages 17 and 18 adjacent neighbors signing a document supporting
my client's proposal two more pages at 19 and 20
21 and 22 on the screen you can see to the left page 20 my client's property with the particular
notices posted in the window as well as permits for other construction he's been doing inside
page 23 is a shot looking towards price street and some additional photos of the surrounding
blocks as i continue to peruse through those so it's a two-story house just like everything else
is next to it what i think is important note members of the board now looking to
page 32 here so to the left members of the board that's my client's rear yard as it currently
exists to the right. That's the property directly. There's a vacant house and then the other house
that's next to that. You can see the approximate size of the rear yard of that house is about five
feet, if not less. That's what we're looking for in this case as well. These are photographs looking
down the block from Price Street, noting specifically that house on the corner, which is seen on the
left in orange stucco. I took another photograph of that. It's on the right of the page. You can
see that's about a five foot rear yard there as well. Page 35, which is to the left of the screen
right now, members of the board, is a panoramic view of the entire block. It's difficult to see
because of this CMU wall, which surrounds a parking lot to a church next door. But taking a
look at all the houses down the block, you can see many of them do have shed additions and have
rear yards that are about five feet already. To the right of the photo is that orange stucco home
that I showed in the previous photographs, which also has about a five-foot rear yard.
Page 36 is the interior of the house looking to the front. 37 is the back room of the house right
now. Like I said, it's under construction. He lives there with a couple kids who generally
spend their time upstairs, so it's a little messy. Page 38 is the kitchen. What I have here now up
on the screen, members of the board of the actual plans. At this point, I'll go one page up so we
see what we're talking about you can see in the dark gray is the existing two-story structure
my client's lot is about 39 feet deep we're proposing to add this small addition to the
rear of the property six and six foot two and a half inches which leaves a five foot rear yard
on the second story of the structure zoom in here so you have a better idea as to what's going on
so looking to the absolute right of this next page for purposes of the record this is page 40
the first floor edition seen here at the bottom of the screen which i'm circling with my mouse
cursor seven foot rear yard it's only i'll go to the next page there we go it's only the second
story edition that's creating our open air issue. So as we see, we have this bump out here, which
is pretty common on second story editions. So because the distance from the rear of this bump
out to the CMU wall is only five feet, that's the only reason we have our refusal.
Oh no.
So what I have here now, members of the board, which is the last page of the packet, it is
unnumbered because I had to drop this in after I'd already submitted the packet, but it's for all
intents and purposes, page 46. And Ms. Inez Love of Faith Community CDC had forwarded this to the
zoning board already. We held a meeting with them last week. Initially, no one in the neighborhood
showed up for the meeting. Ms. Love would not conduct the meeting without anyone present. So
Ms. Love would not conduct the meeting without anyone present.
So my client actually walked around the block, grabbed two neighbors to come out who were still hanging out in the block, heard our presentation, and they voted in support.
my client actually walked around the block.
So as a result, we had this letter of support from Faith Community CDC as well.
As I said before, unfortunately, my client wasn't able to stay on the line this late due to taking care of his two kids.
but I verified that everything I said is true and he wants to keep fixing on working on this
house for a while and provide nice home with a little bit more space for his kids and that's
the only reason we're here today the hardship in this case is that the lot's small the house is
small we did our best to comply with reasonable open air requirements and rear yard requirements
but this is not outside of the character of the block it will not harm any adjacent neighbors
and the neighbors and RCO are fully in support of this project I'm happy to
answer any questions that you and they have at this time any questions from the
board no anyone else wish to testify in this case if so please raise your hand
no hands thank you planning Commission good evening this is Ariel DiLiberto
from the philadelphia city planning commission this property is indicated for a single family
use in the city's comprehensive plan the property is undersized which restricts the owner's ability
to expand in strict conformance with the zoning code accordingly we have no objection to the
granting of the variance thank you mi-2020-0002885820 wakefield street my vote is yes
my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes thank you my vote is yes thank you all all right
thank you members of the board have a great evening you do likewise is that complete our
list that's it we are done all right any other any other unfinished business
um not really no that's good doesn't have to i'm not asking for it i just want
Thank you Cherise for everything
Thank you Cherise
Have a good one everyone
Take care
Have a good weekend