he's having technical issues
Mr. Laver
you're an officer of the court
we will gladly take your testimony
Thank you. I regret that Mr. Nadav has technical difficulties. I know that he's been present.
Okay. Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Chair.
no chair questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
no hands chair planning commission
thank you chair this is keith davis city planning commission staff this lot is zoned single family
attached rsa 5. the applicant's request for 36 units is significantly more than
seven units that would be allowed by right. The comprehensive plan proposed residential
multifamily one for the site, which would have allowed 16 units, which is still less
than half the 36 units proposed by the applicant. The 2021 rezoning to RSA 5 was led by the
local community civic. The dimensional parking refusals are all linked to the excessive use
proposed. And finally, I want to note that the landscape refusal is because the applicant
is opting to remove 75 inches worth of diameter of trees from the site without replacing the trees
or using our pay-in-lieu procedure. The Planning Commission recommends that the requested variances
not be granted. Mr. Labor, would you want to respond? Yes, please. We respect Planning
Commission statements. However, this is a long vacant lot, which has been a source of concern
to the community. Necessary to meet the scope and scale of the surrounding area and the community's
interests, the trees must be removed to allow development to move forward. And it's for that
reason, Mr. Chairman and members of the board, that we've worked very closely to find as much
appropriate plantings as possible along the public right of way in the American hornbeam trees that
are proposed. Regarding the nature of the density proposed, this board has on record determined that
the site qualifies for increased density. What's particularly of note though is that with this
revised plan, the community has officially embraced this proposal, whereas the proposal,
which has been approved and is of record, garnered mixed feelings in the community.
So we really believe that this meets the scope and spirit of the code fully.
I do see that Mr. Nadav is present, and he may be able to speak if you wish to adopt
and affirm.
I leave it to you, Mr. Chairman.
Why don't you bring him on?
Mr. Nadav, can you voice that you're present, please?
Excuse me, Mr. Chair, someone named Jordan Lebowitz says they have Mr. Nadav with them, and their microphone is working.
Okay, thank you.
They haven't been allowed to speak.
Hi, good morning.
Good morning, sir.
Could you please state your name and spell for the course stenographer?
Good morning, Chairman.
My name is Alan Nadav, A-L-L-A-N-N-A-D-A-V.
I'm sorry, I could not-
That's okay, it's okay.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you.
Mr. Nadav, would you kindly confirm that you've been present during the entirety of this virtual zoning board of adjustment hearing?
Yes, I have.
And would you adopt and affirm the testimony that I've offered as your own?
Thank you, sir. No further questions.
Number 14, MI 2023-006-084-2214-22 North 4th Street, I vote yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
You have your votes, counsel.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the board.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Number 17, MI 2023-006-172, 3512 Mount Vernon Street.
William O'Brien is the attorney.
There's a recommendation of support from the Mantua Civic Association.
Vote was 10 in support to a non-opposition.
William O'Brien, can you raise your virtual hand, please?
He has been promoted, Chair.
Mr. O'Brien, you've already been sworn once today.
Could you just state your name for the record?
Good morning, Chairman.
Yeah, just state your name for the record.
You've already been sworn.
William O'Brien.
I represent Martin Lautz, who is the owner of 3520.
Mount Vernon Street. And Mr. Holloman has a few questions for you, sir.
And Mr. Holloman has a few questions for you, sir.
Good morning.
Good morning, counsel.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his accuracy?
Did you email all the exhibits and documents as required five days in advance to this hearing?
Yes, I did.
Thank you.
Please proceed and share your screen.
thank you um mr chair members of the board uh this is a uh the refusal that was issued on the
application to introduce two apartments on the first floor of this building um there is one
refusal it's a use refusal uh it's in a mixed district uh to the south is haverford avenue
and that street is CMX2
and part of this building straddles that line.
Mount Vernon Street is predominantly RSA5.
We did meet with the Manitua Civic Association
back on March 6th
and as you said, there were 12 persons present,
10 voted to support
and two voted non-apposition.
um show you just a few pictures to give you some context so this is the 3500 block of mount vernon
uh in the foreground on both sides you see the two-story structures these are single family
dwellings they range from 850 to 950 square feet this is the subject property 3512 it has about
3,600 square feet. And as you can see, it's a non-conforming structure. The zoning archives
indicate that it has been used for the manufacture of wrought iron and wood products, as well as
auto repair. Right now, there are two apartments on the second floor. The proposal is to eliminate
the overhead garage door and introduce two apartments on the first floor. This is a
capture of the zoning archives referencing those two uses. This is a property two doors away.
It has an address of 3509 Haverford Avenue, Building B, but it is faces on Mount Vernon.
It's two houses away, two structures away, and that has been approved for five units.
And across the street from that is 622 North 35th Street, which faces North 35th, of course, but the side is all along Mount Vernon, and that has been approved for four units.
I'm going to show you the floor plans.
The existing is here on the second floor.
Let me enlarge this a bit.
so here's the set here's the second floor which is now existing you come to the staircase
and there's one unit in the front and one unit in the rear the rear unit has a roof deck
uh the proposal is to introduce uh two apartments on the first floor one in the front one in the
rear uh three of the apartments enter through the entrance the existing entrance uh the first
First floor rear apartment will enter through this passage along the west side of the building.
There'll be a shared trash area and then another secured gate here for the first floor rear entrance for that for that occupant.
The zoning notice, the zoning posters, the application for appeal, tax cert and deed are all attached and part of the exhibit.
uh martin louts is uh is in the audience if he could raise his hand
mr louts mr louts has been allowed to speak good morning sir could you state your name
please and spell for the court stenographer yes my name is martin louts m-a-r-t-i-n l-a-u-t-z
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Aye, sir.
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you.
Martin, you were in the audience during the presentation of this case?
Did you hear my testimony?
Yes, I did.
And is it truthful?
And do you adopt it as your own?
Yes, I do.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson not at this time mr chair
questions or comments from the virtual audience there are no hands here planning commission
thank you chair uh this is keith davis with the city planning commission staff uh this block
Thank you, Chair. This is Keith Davis with the City Planning Commission staff. This block was re-zoned in a residential single-family attached, RSA 5, in 2017. Except for a few vacant lots, it is predominantly single-family. But at 2,200 square feet, this mid-block lot is significantly larger than a typical rural home lot in this neighborhood. The Planning Commission recommends granting the variance.
Thank you. MI 2023-006-172-3512 Mount Vernon Street. I vote yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, the board.
Is there anyone in the morning list in the virtual audience whose case has not been called?
I see no hands, chair.
Okay. Thank you, everyone. See everyone at two.
All right.
Thank you.
One is in.
Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this afternoon's EBA hearings.
With me is our Vice Chair, Ismail Shahid.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our Board Member, Thomas Holloman.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
And our Board Member, James Snell.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Also present is Hillary Emerson, our Attorney, and our Executive Director, Tanya Sunken.
Here's our virtual format.
Be advised, the proceedings are being recorded.
The video will be available by contacting TanyaSunkett at philo.gov.
For the benefit of our stenographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying.
If you're participating by phone, you wish to testify, press star 9, raise your hand, and star 6 to unmute.
To enter an appearance statement, call 267-270-5548.
Leave your email and address of the property in question.
And finally, the question-answer box on the screen is not for comments or testimony.
All comments should be directed to our Executive Director, Tanya Sunken.
Let's look at our schedule for this afternoon.
Number four, MI 2023-003-757-2347 North Phillip Street.
That case is continued.
Number ten.
MI-2023-002-778-2848-North 26th Street.
That case is continued.
Mr. Chair, this is Hillary.
Can we see if Darnell Williams is present?
Because we received the continuance request from the RCO.
Darnell Williams, are you present?
That's MI-2023-002-778-2848-North 26th Street.
I see no handshake.
So that case, number MI-2023-002-778-2848-North 26th Street.
That case is continued.
Mark must be tried.
Number 15.
MI-2022-007291-430 West Burke Street. Is David Orphanides present?
David Orphanides has been allowed to speak.
Mr. Orphanides, could you please state your name and spell for the court's sonogram?
Certainly. David Orphanides, O-R-P-H-A-N-I-D-E-S.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do, sir.
Could you give me the status of this case, 430 West Berks?
Certainly. We had met four times with the coordinating RCO, the South Kansas City Community Partners, two times with their zoning committee, two times with their full community.
There was a vote taken. There was a letter and a meeting summary form issued to the Zoning Board prior to the initial hearing, evidentiary hearing in this matter.
There was some inconsistencies in those letters. As I saw it, one was a letter of non-opposition, one was a letter of support, no position, one was a letter of non-opposition or support based upon a vote taken by the people in the community and the audience based upon three provisos.
We've been trying to work on the CBA with South Kensington based upon those provisos that were in the letter.
I thought since we copied those provisos from the letter verbatim into the CBA that we would be good, but there were some concerns that were expressed by South Kensington.
there were some concerns that were expressed by um south kensington community partners i think
back on february 1st we received some additional comments um on march 1st and we're just getting