rectory there is an entry vestibule with a stair and a lift so that's how people that would they
would enter into the building there they're going so the people so the people so and so but the but
the rectory building and the annex building aren't interconnected sorry there's one other entry if
you're asking about how you get into the annex building from the parking lot there's a staircase
if you look at the there's two there's three parking spaces then there's the staircase that
comes down to down to grade that's correct there's a stair that's awesome that's how they access the
air the the annex from the parking lot and they have to go down the driveway and across to that
corner to get into the church and and and rectory building they just go to that inside corner correct
right right i got you okay assuming there's no handicap accessible units in the annex because
the only way to get in is via stair no so so there so you have your handicap spaces there
okay you do you there is there is a handicap accessible unit on the first floor of the
annex um a level above this above that and and there is a um and there is a lift so
So there is a, in that vestibule, there is a lift that takes you up within the rectory
and church.
There is a lift that takes you to the first floor, and then there is a path where you
go across that deck to the building.
And is the deck covered?
The deck is not covered.
So you have to go inside to go outside to come back inside the apartment building?
That's only if you're parking there.
Now, there is a handicapped lift accessible from Pollard, not lift, ramp from Pollard
Street.
okay and is the the building is considered an addition or is the annex considered a separate
building it's considered a separate building so that is one of the refusals that we would
have a second principal building on the site okay um the architect is on um online if we figured it
out just so again it's there is there a floor plan or so i oh yeah i guess that's the big
question i feel like i really am interested in the first floor plan we do have plans um
i'm hoping that uh but i'm also thinking just like practically i live in a building same questions i
asked earlier if i'm getting an amazon delivery if i have to call an uber if i have a friend that's
coming over like there's a lot of ways into this building and a lot of fissures and connectivity
to the other two principal buildings on the site and i feel like at the ground floor level i'm not
really understanding the difference between bikes and people and infrastructure and like that's
usually what happens on the ground floor plan and right now i get the parking part i get how the
cars are going but i'm not really clear how this building is operating as a as a multi-family
building in this empty space so understood so uh michael if you could walk through
uh mail delivery or you know trash collection things like that of the building right if if
you recall earlier there was a garage shown on pilot street there is a there is an entry on
adjacent to that um which is on the bottom of that drawing on pollard that that you walk up you walk
straight there and then there's a staircase and or you go up the ramp. That gets you into that
central sort of communal deck area that connects all three buildings. So it's like an outdoor
plaza. An outdoor plaza, correct. And that is a very convenient, easy way to enter all three
buildings. And, you know, as I said, there are two additional entrants. One is that residents
will have to take. One is on the front door of the rectory, which is on Front Street, and then
the front main entry door to the church you mentioned whether we should have put the deck
area under cover we don't have that luxury it's historic building so we would be then putting a
a lean-to roof on on the outside of the historic building um so that that i don't think would be
acceptable um sean's previously mentioned that we we had a larger building approved initially for the
annex by historic and that was a four-story building um it didn't go all the way the street
was similar, but it was wider, and we were concerned about light air and sight lines,
and it was a comment that was made by historic, so we decided to reduce the massing of the
building. The comment about foundations is the floor, first floor of the church had a very heavy
design, you know, floor that was existing, and there was an expectation, a reasonable expectation
you would have been able to build off it, but the soils turned out to be incredibly poor,
and this church itself is settled somewhere around about a foot itself it's a big monolithic structure
somewhere around about a foot itself. It's a big monolithic structure. And interestingly enough,
it hasn't cracked when it did it, but we've had to remove the first floor and go in and everything
that we're doing inside there is all new construction with new foundations inside a
building. So it is a challenge. And as you mentioned, the windows meet historic preservation
guidelines and so does the roof detail approvals the so as a tenant if they have to go through
the other two buildings or come up the stairs what's going to happen at night when the
when the church is closed no the the our buildings typically operate we we own and operate develop
and then own and operate buildings um continue to own them um we use the latch system so the
tenant will have access to you know any you know any of those entry doors and so
it really depends where tenants arriving from I mean the logical entry door here
would be on Pollock but if somebody's walking down Allen Street it's it's an
easy pathway through the church I mean it's a covered pathway that would take
the same time as if they were walking on the outside and it's secured so like
they can't access the other parts of the church building I'm assuming as a tenant
well we don't limit a tenant in the building to one part of the building or not so a tenant
it you know you you only limit so somebody in living in the annex can access the front
door to the church yes and walk down the corridor in the church okay
and i'm going to ask again is there a floor plan
can we call saying that there is our architect i think there is one done but was not submitted
as part of this package they're trying to get the architect the architect has it
the architect of the line yes uh bart bada b-a-j-d-e-d-a architecture yes he's been promoted
it okay sir please state your name and spell for the stenographer
good afternoon uh my name is bart b-a-r-t last name b-a-j-d-a and i apologize i have a little
i've been coming off a cold so my voice is a little harsh hold on do you swear or affirm to
tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do are you going to present yes all right
go ahead uh bart are you the project architect yes thank you very much do you have floor plans
that you could present for us i do i'm assuming you guys are interested in the annex floor plans
so this is what we're looking at here uh this is the basement level and i think this will clear up
some of the confusion so far but there is here are the seven parking spaces with a central stair
what's not quite shown here because this is only depicting the annex building is the entrance into
the church portion which occurs right around here at the basement level which is made clear here
So there's an entry lobby here with a lift that can take you back up to the first floor, which connects to that deck area.
Well, yeah, which connects to this deck area here, at which point there is another entrance into the annex building right here on the south side of the building.
And that's shown here.
So yeah, as mentioned, there are six units, all the two ground floor units here are accessible
type B units as required.
This one majority of them are roughly 700 square feet except with the exception of this
one here being a little bit smaller at 500 feet just due to the corridor access required.
And then moving on upward, you have similar units, roughly 700 square feet at the front, one in the back, or one in the front, one in the back, and then again at the third floor, one in the back, one in the front, all one-bedroom units, quite large, with the two upper units also having roof deck access, which both are about 400 square feet of roof deck.
This is just a rough 3D view of what we're proposing, and I'm not sure if there's any
other questions or if that answers the trash area that we discussed is located here, right
off of Pollard Street.
This is all outdoor area, as mentioned, so it provides a little bit of a communal space
for tenants of the building.
And then this is that mail delivery area that has been described so far.
that mail delivery area that that has been described so far.
So for the annex building tenants are going to have to get their mail on Pollard Street
and they'll sort of be like one from for the effectiveness of this development there's like one
no the United States Postal Service mail will go into the building itself that's for packages
only packages only okay so where is the mail like where is the mail in the annex
but you want to do that it's
so there is a lounge and to the north of that drawing north of that in that um near that
staircase area there's the mail area yeah but that's for packages right no that's the the mail
boxes will be in the area close to where he has his cursor right yeah packages packages that will
be um you know in that that room outside what we find when we operate a building like this the
package people just open the best meal and toss we have a really hard time getting them to bring
them to the mail area and as the mail area is a little further inside that's not a problem with
the united states personal service mail service but it's a problem with packages so we put the
package room close to that side gate so that we can direct and all the packages to come just in
that side gate and into that what's called the mail room to be clear the mail room is in the
existing buildings that are already on the property not the new building that has six units
correct okay that is what i was so are there so now now i'm confused so so there's so there's
one mail room for the entire complex yes where the mail not not the not the not the package room
but they're for for regular mail that's delivered there's one mail room for the for the complex
correct okay and the seven parking spaces are the only seven parking spaces for the whole development
correct okay so who gets those seven parking spaces are they assigned are they first come
first serve no they're assigned as part of uh releasing so they're gonna be like a person's
to like purchase a parking permit to be able to park in the back all right so if i'm calling an
uber or if somebody's picking me up all that's going to happen on the regular street on pollard
or on all right okay any other questions questions from our attorney um just a quick comment if you
could submit those floor plans by close of business tomorrow to include with the exhibits
that would be great thank you so much questions or comments from the virtual audience
there are no aims planning commission amy boy with the planning commission the comprehensive plan
recommends no change in zoning at this location from the current rsa 5 residential single family
this property already has a multi-family conversion of a former church building
This zoning permit was issued by Wright under ZP-2025-002901 due to historic structures permissions.
The appellant has not demonstrated that the proposed six units are the least minimum or that there are unique physical conditions or circumstances of the property that would prevent it from being used in conformance with the zoning code for multiple principal buildings or rear yard depth.
The Planning Commission recommends that the board deny the requested variances for multi-family, multiple principal uses, sorry, for multi-family for the additional units, multiple principal buildings, and rear yard depth.
Do you want to respond?
Certainly. Just very briefly. First and foremost, because of that existing garage at the rectory building, the rear yard depth is already an existing condition.
we are not exacerbating that or changing that um this we we have i think i've already walked
through why this is the least minimum variance we're not even back to the eight units that was
approved by right under the zoning code or with the historic commission approval and we've been
pulling back this building both from the street and in height and massing as much as possible
to reduce it to only that which is required to overcome the hardship which is evident from the
building itself. Thank you. So MI 2025, 005352, 1032 North Front Street, TA456223. I vote yes.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes. Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Tannetta Graham, my vote is yes.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes.
I win, my vote is yes.
Thank you very much.
You have another one here, right?
i have one more yes okay why don't we do that right thank you
let me just make sure my you know what sean um a couple of my team members up here we just want
a little break give us five minutes oh sure okay okay all right i wouldn't mind one either so blame
Give us five minutes.
Oh, sure.
How's that?
I wouldn't mind one either, so blame it on me.
it on me.
You can take six.
Thank you.
MI-20, thank you.
MI-2025-005-421-112 East Allen Street.
Sean Whalen is the attorney.
Sean, could you just state your name?
and because you've already been sworn. Sean Whalen, W-H-A-L-E-N. Right. And could you
identify your client, the relationship to the property? Certainly. Perez Therapy is the
commercial tenant. And I understand that we have a letter of support from Fishtown Neighbors
and a letter of non-opposition from Council Member Young. Our vice chair has just a few
questions for you sir certainly good afternoon have you submitted your documents and exhibits
five days in advance of this hearing yes and do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate
to its accuracy yes i do all right thank you can show your screen and proceed with your case and
mr chair i just want to note that we received the interior photos and um the lease addendum
that we requested so we have all the documents yes okay great okay so um as i promised this one
will be much shorter and is much uh in the true sense of the word straightforward um
this property here you can see right along north delaware going back to east allen and right off
of frankfurt um not surprisingly an extremely busy corridor you have the fillmore this is a very large
apartment building right next door this is this very small building that we're talking about
right here all commercial uses and rivers casino across the street so now here's a zoomed in aerial
of just the building we're talking about it has a tiny little five foot wide but technically open
public street called sarah street that goes here little more than an alley that is right next to
this very large apartment building next to us and what you have is this small building is about 930
square feet total the building itself is divided about 70 30 between residential uses existing
residential uses and this existing commercial use so where you see right here this kind of hard
black line across that's actually the roof line going up towards the top here is west allen so
the west allen is a residential street on this on this one block and then there's a hard stop right
here full almost full party wall there's no access between the residential or the commercial
and there's no access from the commercial back to east allen so what we're talking about is this
portion right here of the property. Interestingly, you can see in the heart of what we're dealing
with, this is an RSA 5 property. Very strangely, again, there's an existing, I believe, three
family, multi-family residential on the East Allen side. We are not talking about
that portion at all this only involves the very small commercial space that fronts onto north
delaware so we actually have one referral for a special exception and one refusal in short
we need to put commercial in this area the small portion of the property even though it's
existing and we also need a referral to have commercial non-residential use on the second
floor so again here i'm standing right now right at the curb at north delaware avenue this is the
existing building right here you can see sarah street is right on the left like i said basically
an alley there is an existing sign the sign is not part of this application or the variance
question that has been approved since at least 2007 commercial use at this in this portion of
the property blockbuster it is it may also have been a blockbuster who knows um that was a blast
from the past uh so what you have is this access point right here uh this is the main door you
walk in and then there's a waiting room and one office on the first floor and then one office
on the second floor and i have photos and floor plans oh miss gaston's not here
so what we have here
So, what we have here is, so this is the existing floor plan. This hard red line, that's what I was talking about, about a 30% of the way into the building.