by approximately 13 neighbors, along with six letters, form letters of support. And I see it's
not Mr. Dockmson, it's Mr. Goldberg. Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
You are Alex Goldberg, A-L-E-X-G-O-L-D-B-E-R-G. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth and nothing but the truth? I do. Could you identify your client, their
relationship to the property? Sure. My client is Felipe Sevilla. He's in the virtual audience and
he is the property owner of 3643 Richmond Street. Our vice chair has a few questions, sir.
Good morning, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reason of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
I do. Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed
and required to proceed with this case
five days in advance of this hearing.
I have.
Thank you.
Please proceed and share your screen.
So, going full screen mode here.
This is an interesting case
because 3643 Richmond Street
has an active rental license for two units.
Under my client's ownership,
which began in 2023,
There was a rental license active from the early 2000s up until my client's ownership for two units.
When my client purchased the property, both of those units were occupied.
And he's now planning to move into one of the units with his growing family and wanted to do sort of a full scale renovation of the property.
And when he pulled the building permits, was told that the zoning was was out of date and he needed to go get a zoning permit for two units.
So that's unfortunately where we are.
I can't really explain why that's happened,
but you'll see in my presentation materials first,
the notice of repusal for the proposed two-family household living.
We met with the coordinating RCO, PROPAC.
It was a solid meeting.
They were in full support of us.
The vote was unanimous.
And here's a petition.
Again, Felipe is planning to live here with his family.
He spoke to the neighbors on all sides.
Positive feedback, curious, just like we were,
why we were in this situation,
but nonetheless, many of which were willing
to sign letters of support.
Here's that rental license I referenced,
which was issued in August of 2023.
Felipe purchased the property just a couple months earlier than that.
Again, prior to his ownership, there was an active rental license from, I believe, 04 to late 2022.
Here's a 3,600 block of Richmond Street.
So not only is this an existing duplex that we're seeking to legalize, also not out of character on this portion of Richmond Street.
here's the redfin listing so showing just how this property was advertised to him i know it's
small on the screen but you can see it was advertised as a fully occupied duplex
it's a corner property so we're fortunate to have two means of entry while also taking
advantage of that rear yard for trash storage that both tenants will have access to here's a
a zoning map of the property at the corner of East Pacific and Richmond Street, Google Maps
perspective as well. Here's the interior photograph. So you can see very much lived in units
of both units. There's also photos of multiple electric meters in the basement and multiple
hot water heaters, none of which were installed by my client. Here's the rear yard. Photos of the
front of the property from Richmond Street. Here's one entry. Here's the side entry at the
rear. Zoning notice posters on both sides of the corner, to the right on Richmond Street and to
the left, and then East Pacific Street is the intersecting street. Here's the architectural
plans and drawings. Pretty basic. Basement is unfinished. I imagine will just be used for
storage for Felipe and his family. The unit above
is a two-bedroom, one-bath. And again, that basement back there
And again, that basement back there that both units, in theory, will have access to to store trash cans, so they don't have to be stored in the units or on the curb.
that both units in theory will have
Here's the RCO meeting notice.
We met with ProPAC on April 1st, 6 p.m.
This is the notice of that meeting.
Bulk mailing certificates.
Our application for appeal.
So, here's the deed showing Felipe Sevilla owns the property in his individual name, and the tax clearance showing that we're up to date on our real estate taxes.
So, with that, I'd like to call Felipe to adopt my testimony.
Felipe Sevilla has been muted and allowed to speak.
Good morning, sir. Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Good morning, Chair. My name is Felipe Sevilla, F-E-L-I-P-E-S-E-V-I-L-L-A.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Good morning, Felipe. Did you hear my testimony today?
Yeah, Alex. Thank you very much for that.
And was it true and correct?
Yes, sir.
And you adopted it as if it were your own?
Thank you.
Thank you. Questions from the board?
No, Chair.
no chair questions or comments from our attorney hillary emberson not at this time mr chair
questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see the hands chair planning commission thank you chairman and good morning david effecta with
the city planning commission chairman and board members the comprehensive plan recommends no
change to the residential single family zoning at this location this property has a history as a
two unit building the city planning commission recommends the board grant a proposed use
variance for a second dwelling unit thank you mi 2023-006-941-3643 richmond street i vote yes
james snell i vote yes
thank you thank you council number 14 mi 2023 006 942 47 54 master street joseph consul is the
attorney there's a letter of support received from the new 42nd democratic ward with an with
with one enforceable proviso.
Morning, Mr. Consul.
You've already been sworn
just for the record.
State your name.
Joseph Consul.
And could you identify your client
and relationship to the property?
My client is Mr. Franklin Romero,
the owner of the property.
And our vice chair
has just a few questions, sir.
Morning, counsel.
Do you agree with the way
to read another refusal
or stipulate towards accuracy?
Have you emailed
than all the required documents and exhibits that is needed and required to proceed with this case
five days in advance of this hearing. Yeah. Yes. Thank you. Please proceed.
All right. 4754 North Masher Street. The owner is Franklin Romero. He's owned this property
since 2001. We'd go back in the zoning archive. The last use permit on file was approved for a
three-unit building. This was in 1994. At no point from that point till today was the use ever
reduced, but also as a corollary, the property has been rented out since that time without any
rental licenses. So we've got an old approval, but we have no rental licenses that would have
kept that use active after some time had gone by. So one of the refusals that we're here for
is approval for the property as a three-unit structure. But what generated that was my client
hired a contracting group to build an addition to his property. Just as a side, there's the four
units, three units and a common meter. They hired a contractor to build an addition to the property
that originally was going to be for living space. After construction was completed,
it was brought to his attention by L&I that the contractor did not pull any of the correct
permits so my client went in and applied had an architect draft all the photos and plans
and we've included those all in the packet uh showing the addition and everything that
we would need to legalize it now at the point of submission this was
Now, at the point of submission, this was sought to be a parking space.
However, this space is no longer requested to be a parking space.
After discussion with the community, the community did not agree to lose a parking space under this addition, and my client agreed that it would not become a parking space.
Instead, be storage for tenant trash and that sort of a thing.
The community also was very adamant that this space would not be an additional living space. And again, this property has been three units and will only remain three units. So this space will not act as an additional living space, amongst other things.
It doesn't have the bathroom. It's missing a lot of things that would be required for it to be a living space.
But other than that, going back up to the top, the other refusals are parking, which we're going to dismiss that multifamily, which we hope the previous approved use will allow us to get that variance approved.
And then we've got occupied side yard and rear yard.
The way this property sits, as you can see in the photos, the side yard and the rear yard here is actually abutting these other properties here, moving that way.
The community didn't have a problem with that existing where it is.
the next door neighbor did not oppose the way that property sat and we're hopeful that the
the board sees fit to legalize this use obviously my client will once the alterations permits are
issued get it inspected and everything as that is currently in process along with this zoning permit
so again not seeking parking seeking legalization of the long-standing three units and my client
would be severely
it was
a severe hardship for him to have to tear down
this that he had paid
contractors to build
although it appears that they did not do it
correctly and
with that I'll ask
Mr. Romero to
raise his hand it should be Franklin Romero
Franklin Romero has been
unmuted and allowed to speak
Morning sir could you please
state your name and spell for the stenographer
Mr. Romero
Mr. Romero
please unmute yourself.
Can you hear me?
Could you please state your name
and spell for the stenographer?
My name is Franklin Romero.
Spell your name, please.
F-R-A-N-K-H-L-I-N
Romero R-O-M-E-R-O
You swear or affirm
to tell the truth,
the whole truth,
nothing but the truth.
Please proceed, counsel.
Good morning, Mr. Romero.
Did you hear my presentation just now about your property on Masher Street?
Do you agree with what I said and do you adopt it as your own?
Nothing further.
Questions from the board?
No, Jim.
Barron?
no questions chair thank you questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson
just briefly mr chair um so one um i would suggest a proviso based on the rco's concerns
stating a maximum of three dwelling units, indicating that that's to remain.
The refusal was a little bit confusing on the parking issue.
It wasn't listed in the description, but there is a refusal for parking.
Mr. Consul has stated that the applicant is no longer pursuing parking.
So for clarity, I would request a proviso that says no accessory off-street parking space.
Thank you.
Thank you.
So, questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see.
Don't hear, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman, and good morning, David Fecta with the City Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman.
And good morning.
David Fecta with the City Planning Commission, Chairman and Board Member.