September 14, 2006 Issue                                       

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©2006 The Chestnut Hill Local

No permit? No problem for Upsal Street builder
An Upsal Street developer has a history of building without permits.
by KRISTIN PAZULSKI

This twin home on Upsal Street could use another half, but neighbors want to see that new construction conforms to the current house and is done with a permit. (Photo by Pete Mazzaccaro)

Local developer Ilya Chebotar admitted at a West Mt. Airy Neighbors zoning committee meeting Sept. 6 that he had done further work on a twin home at 29 W. Upsal St. in Mt. Airy after the Zoning Board of Adjustments had ordered him to stop construction on Aug. 23 because he lacked a building permit.

At first, Chebotar told the committee that he had stopped work, but after several residents claimed that they had seen workers at the site after Aug. 23, he admitted that work was done to “cover up” the project.

Residents were skeptical of Chebotar’s explanation since he had already completed two homes along Sharpnack Street without proper permits.

The dwelling Chebotar plans to build at the 29 W. Upsal St. property will replace half of a twin home that was torn down after a fire. The application submitted to the Department of Licenses and Inspections was rejected because the side, front and rear yards of the house were too small and the proposed porch was not permitted under the zoning code.

The application also stated that the house he was building would replicate the house it would be attached to, yet the designs Chebotar passed around to WMAN and nearby residents appeared completely different from the photo of the existing building. He explained the difference by claiming that the designs were “just sketches.”

Designs circulated to neighbors showed a fourth floor, even though the height of the new building appeared to be lower than the existing one. The application submitted to L&I indicated that it was a three-story home. The proposed addition has several large windows and a large porch with what appears to be Roman-style columns. The existing half has neither.

Neighbors agreed that an addition should be built on the existing twin, which they said looks awkward with a straight slice on its one side, but they want to see something that matches the current home.

“It’s not going to look like its neighbor,” said Stephanie Butler, a resident of Pelham Street. “It’s going to look strange.”

Douglas Johnson, a neighbor at W. Upsal St., withdrew his letter of support for the project at the meeting. Johnson said he was unaware Chebotar was building without a permit when he wrote it.

Chebotar said he approached about 10 residents and asked for support letters, receiving six. Four were given to the WMAN committee, including Johnson’s.

There was additional concern about building on the property’s present foundation. Chebotar said he had a private engineer inspect it, but committee members and neighbors were unmoved by Chebotar’s statement and said he should bring the engineer, architect and lawyer with him the next time he presented his plans.

WMAN’s zoning committee voted that Chebotar request a continuance for the ZBA hearing planned for Oct. 4, and one committee member suggested that he resubmit the application to L&I since there were discrepancies between what it said he was building and what he was actually building.

Neighbors were more receptive to the 17-unit development proposed for 7048 Germantown Ave. Developer John Capoferri presented his plan for a 17-unit housing development that would include the restoration of a historically registered house and barn on the property.

Neighbors — at first skeptical — supported the development, though Capoferri will have to return to the WMAN zoning committee once he files his L&I applications.

Capoferri and his architect have already spoken with neighbors at two public meetings before the WMAN zoning committee was established. Laura Siena, executive director of WMAN, said at both of these meetings that the community was receptive to the project.

A variance will be needed for the development. Although the size of the proposed development is permitted under the residential zoning that covers a portion of the property, the rest is zoned for a shopping mall.

Neighbors asked if the design would match the historic home and barn, but Capoferri said he was told by the city’s Historical Commission, which has reviewed and unanimously approved the project, to build the 14 homes with contemporary exterior design so as not to compete with the historic home and barn. The home and barn will house three of the units.

In response to neighbors, Capoferri promised to preserve the large trees on the property and said bushes will be planted on the side of the property that borders the rear yards of the W. Mt. Pleasant Avenue homes for privacy.

The development will have a private, one-way road for residents, but it will be ungated and open to anyone who would like to view the house and barn.

Interim House Inc., a local drug treatment center that houses 25 women, will return to a WMAN zoning meeting after neighbors complained about the noise of trash removal and a lack of landscaping.

The center has been at 333 W. Upsal St. for about 30 years. Last year, when the center requested variances for two buildings on its property to be used for an art therapy studio and an exercise room, L & I discovered that the center lacked the zoning variances to offer art therapy or an exercise room and noted that its five-car parking lot and six-foot fence was nonconforming as well.

Interim House was seeking WMAN’s support at the meeting, but Butler and other neighbors failed to see why a parking lot was necessary, since there was plenty of on-street parking and preferred that Interim landscape the recently paved area instead.

Interim House representatives were questioned by neighbors as to why it continued to use the parking lot when it was discovered that it was not permitted. They also complained about an on-going problem with noise during the center’s early morning trash removal.

“I’ve been calling them for two years,” Butler said about the noise. She said she was promised by the center about a year ago that it would hire another trash removal company, but the noise has continued.

At the meeting, Kathy Wellbank, Interim’s program director, said the day before the WMAN committee meeting, Interim had fired its waste collector, Allied Waste, and signed a contract with Waste Management that requires the firm to pick up trash after 8 a.m.

Neighbors appeared to be unsatisfied and even opposed the addition of an art therapy studio and exercise room that Wellbank said was integral to the center’s recovery program.

WMAN voted that Interim House seek a continuance of its Sept. 20 ZBA hearing and meet with neighbors again.

Contact staff writer Kristin Pazulski at 215-248-8819 or Kristin@chestnuthilllocal.com.