There we go.

Okay, ladies and gentlemen, we call to order the meeting of the zoning hearing board for the city of Allentown for April 13th, 2026.

We have three matters on our agenda.

In just a moment, our secretary will call our agenda, the list, and she will ask if the applicant is present and whether represented by council.

She'll ask if there are any objectors.

Uh she'll ask if there are any interested persons not necessarily objectors.

And we asked that they raise their hands so we can get account, although it doesn't look like I'm talking to any of them tonight so far.

Tabby Case number one, appeal of 827 North Fifth Street, LLC at 827 North Fifth Street.

Is the appellant present?

Okay, there's no response.

Pardon me, sir.

940 West.

Okay.

So is the appellant present for 827 North Fifth Street?

No.

The appellant is not present.

Okay.

There are no objectors here.

Are there any objectors here for case number one, 827 North Fifth Street?

No.

No.

Are you guys here for 827 North Fifth Street?

What address?

No.

Okay.

I just wanted to make sure.

Case number two, appeal of MPC Allentown LLC at 943, 951 Choose Street.

Is the appellant present?

No response to that.

The appellant is not present.

But they said nine something, but they said pine.

That's why it isn't.

So I don't know if are you sure you're here for this meeting?

Yes.

You want to show the board or you can show me what case.

Yes, that's that's the case that I just called.

Is are you you live in the area?

Yes.

Oh, okay.

You're not the applicant.

Okay.

So they're not here.

The appellant is not present.

They're just uh interested party.

Interested parties.

So folks.

They're interested parties for case number one or two.

Two.

Okay.

Yep.

943, 951, 2 street.

Okay.

So but the appellant on the appellant is not present.

Do we have their objectors or interested parties?

Are you guys just interested or are you objecting the case?

Uh nothing there's not this in case just here to listen.

Right.

Interesting.

Interesting parties.

Case number three, appeal of Robert Spearco at 520 North 2020th Street.

Is the appellant present?

I'm here.

The appellant is present.

Are there any objectors to case number three?

No.

Are there any interested parties not necessarily objectors to case number three?

No.

I guess so.

That decisions made for us.

Not that I'm aware of.

We sure notices went out.

I think somebody said notices went out for the this meeting in these cases.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah, they were posting or in the mailing.

That's why he that's that's what he's got.

Yeah.

Okay.

All right.

Uh Mr.

Speerco.

Yes.

Would you stand up and come up to the mic here and speak into it?

And the uh stenographer is going to uh swear he went.

Make sure it's on.

So test, test, test.

Yeah.

This is number three, Suzanne.

Yeah, I was just looking for his page.

Oh, there it is.

It's uh last name is S-E-E-A-R-K-O.

Correct.

Okay, correct.

Could you come reach right now, please?

Do you swear to tell the truth?

The whole truth, and nothing about the truth.

So I'll have to go.

I do.

Great.

Thank you.

Okay, Mr.

Spearco.

You are here.

How did this come to our attention, by the way?

I'm curious.

This particular matter.

Do we know?

Oh, I'm sorry, you're talking to me.

Do we do we know how we actually it was a code case that I initiated?

Okay.

Yeah, but just it's just there's a uh uh accessory uh structure that is uh number one, it's actually in the in the city's right-of-way, uh, and it doesn't meet the required setbacks.

Okay.

Another one drove around.

I'm like, all right, well, I did it on this guy.

I'm gonna have to get Mr.

Spearco involved also why we're here.

Very good.

So as I understand it, there are an insufficient rear setback and an insufficient side setback.

I think they're two separate.

So I have a potting shed on the side of the house.

Um I did keep it, I mean, it extends about two inches farther than the porch does.

Um I thought that the setback when I checked the code, I thought it was like four feet from the property line.

Yeah, it's five feet, and you have 3.25 feet is what it says in the notice.

That's I think there's it's actually four, a little over four feet, I believe is what it is.

And the rear setback is zero existing.

So the rear setback.

Um I built the fence in the back and pushed the yard out.

I had come down, this was I don't know, 20 years ago, and asked if there were any sort of um easements or anything or clearances that I needed to maintain the fence to the alley.

Um I was told that it wasn't.

So the overhang of the gazebo comes to about the fence so that the drip edge of the water isn't you know, dripping on your head while you're in there.

Um so it's the roof that projects out into that setback.

I don't, I mean it's never been noted as an obstruction by anyone or so the roof of the gazebo, you're saying correct.

And where's where's the pergola?

That's interior more.

That's the that is the gazebo is a gazebo and a pergola.

Yeah.

So the gazebo itself, you're saying the roof extends.

The roof extends out to where that fence line is.

Okay.

So and there are a few structures that are in the alley that are past that encroachment as well.

In fact, you have a garage back there, right?

Yes.

Yeah.

And so the gazebo sits next to the garage.

And the garage is is right on the property line?

The one side of the garage?

One side of the garage is on is adjoining.

It's an adjoined garage.

So there's no setback there.

There's no setback there.

Either rear or side for the garage.

Yeah, yes, there's a there's a setback on the to the rear of the garage.

So the yard extends a little bit past the garage, and then the gazebo roof extends out over the over the fenced in area.

And the garage, you say there is a setback on the on the garage?

Yes.

How much?

I believe it's three feet from the edge of the alley.

But the gazebo roof extends about two feet.

Yeah, I don't I I probably have a picture on my phone.

I think on the permit application I tried to mention it.

Yeah, this is this is a bit unorthodox.

I'm sorry, my computer skills aren't that great.

So this is this is the little potting shed on the side of the of the house.

Is that attached to the house?

Or you just know.

It's up against it.

I asked if that was attached to the house or if it was just a bunny.

It's up against it, it abuts it.

I did flash the top, but it's it was a it was a pre-manufactured unit that you bought.

No, no, I built that.

Oh, you built it.

Yes.

And uh, apologize for this this is the situation here in the rear.

This is his garage, and this is the accessory structure that that's set back.

Gentlemen, keep your way from that.

That's the garage is set back at least the three feet.

Yeah, the garage is five.

It's structured here.

Sorry.

Yeah.

Okay, it's this structure here.

Exactly.

So is it the structure or is it the roof?

Well, it's well, it's it's it's it's it's both, essentially.

I mean, it's and I like I said, this is uh it it it's this area here is the city's right-of-way.

It should be up level with the uh with the garage with the garage.

So that that's what caught my eye, and that's what started this this whole thing.

So that's kind of like it in a nutshell.

So the fence is not in compliance either, then.

Uh that is the fence.

Well, why is the fence not in compliance?

A lot of this has to do with the engineering.

Are they going to grant him an encroachment permit?

But in the meantime, it doesn't meet the required three-foot rear yard setback.

Yeah.

And the potter shed on the side, that doesn't meet it either.

It's butted right up against the house.

I mean, it's for his sketch.

It doesn't meet the setbacks like the uh denial or the you know, the uh the uh advertisements said so that's pretty much what we're looking at here.

So the fence, I mean, again, that's the vast majority of fences in that neighborhood are yeah, it's like I said, it's I swung around the corner and this really jumped out at me and it's I mean when I put the fence in, I did come down to see if I needed a permit or anything, and I was told that I did not, and I asked what sort of permit maybe for the fence, but you would need a permit for the correct, but I I mean I didn't know that as a homeowner.

As long as you're not gonna permit maybe for the fence, but you would need a permit for the correct, but I I mean I didn't know that as a homeowner.

I do all the I do all my own work.

I don't I didn't hire any contractors or anything to come in.

So I'm not really aware of specifically it to me, it was a free-standing gazebo.

It was, you know, it sort of got a little bit bigger than what it originally was.

Um my wife had one that I don't know, she purchased somewhere and it collapsed one winter.

I don't know, back in maybe that winter.

So what did you put the gazebo up?

I wanna say it's been up there for maybe about 12 years.

Yeah, it's just a couple of things.

I think any complaints from your neighbors?

No, everybody loves it.

Everyone comes over and I have a fountain there that I built, and it's quite a nice little respite from in the west end.

It's uh routinely complimented as one of the nicer yards in the neighborhood.

Okay.

Questions?

Um yeah, probably two.

Um did you get any uh you said the neighbors are okay with it?

Did you get any permission from the the neighbors to um so I did the current neighbors that are there just moved in recently?

Okay.

Um I didn't have a chance to speak with them about it.

Um, but I mean I certainly can get a statement from them.

I don't think they're gonna be able to do that.

Because if you can get a statement from them, I guess uh I I can reduce it from three feet or to three feet.

If I believe that's you're talking about the potting shed?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

There is a uh exception in the in the code.

You can get a permission from the uh budding homeowner.

You only need the one.

You can do that.

Correct me if I'm wrong on that.

I think well that that's actually for for this.

This is actually within the building uh envelope, so that's only for accessory structures at the rear of the property.

If it doesn't meet the three-foot side yard, all right.

That's where the letter comes in.

If it's within the building envelope, it's it isn't apply for the in this case.

That is okay.

Not for the it wouldn't apply in this case, yeah.

So don't get the letter from the neighbors?

No.

There is an exception, but not for that particular uh situation.

Uh in you know, the gazebo um at the rear of the property, it meets the side yard, it just doesn't meet the rear yard.

Yeah, okay.

And I noticed that the one garage door is is was blocked off.

The garage door is temporary, so the garage door broke.

Yeah.

Um, and I have put some doors up, and my plan is to replace those with trifold doors.

I want to make something so you you still have two bays available to park cars in there?

One one bay.

It's it's a it's a one-car garage.

Oh, it's a one-car garage, yes.

Right.

So that's that's all I have questions.

I think the door is like I said, I'm planning to replace that with like some trifold doors that are more period appropriate than a gross.

Scott, in your opinion, the gazebo is encroaching about three feet into the city's right-of-way.

Well, it's it's it's up to the city's right away.

It's it is inside the right-of-way.

It would have to be an additional three feet from the property line back.

That that's that's what the issue is from the setback is from the is from the property line.

Um I'm guessing that the right of way and the property line are coincidental.

Uh the it uh, yes, it is.

Yeah, but it's a 20-foot right-of-way in the back there.

You know, generally that three-foot strip, that apron into the garage, that's that's the three foot.

We have seven foot each way for cartway across the alley, there's another three foot.

So essentially it would be six feet back from where it's at now because he's three feet into the right-of-way.

Just the just the gazebo, not the garage.

Just the gazebo.

The garage is is we're not really speaking about the garage here.

That's not an issue for us.

Oh, because it means yes, it it's been there since it that it was you know, the the place was built back in the twenties, you know.

Yeah.

I said I hope I don't have to move the garage.

Not the garage, no.

But maybe the gazebo.

Well, is there any way to seek any sort of a variance to that?

Or that's what you're doing.

That's what you're doing.

Well, then that's what I'd like to talk about.

How much distance is there from the pergola to the house?

To the house.

Oh, I don't know.

Um, it's so the gazebo extends a little bit past the back of the garage, and then the pergola extends to the the roof structure extends about halfway, and then the front half of it is pergolar.

And how far is the performance from the house?

Same distance as the garage.

I would get if I had to roughly guess.

Um it's quite a distance here, maybe about 25, 30 feet.

Yeah.

Okay.

Anything else?

I don't really have anything else other than you know, a plea for seems to me.

Like I said, it's no one's ever complained about it.

It's been there for a very long time.

And you know, I have to plead ignorance as far as the permit goes.

Again, I sort of do everything on my own.

It's very happy.

If we have any questions, we'll ask them.

And thank you.

Appreciate it.

I appreciate your time.

All right, tough one.

We've got two uh I don't know.

It's it's an unpleasant one.

I don't know that it's a tough one.

I think it's pretty straightforward one.

I think the uh you know, while the setback, the amounts are de minimis, um there's still an absence of any kind of legal hardship um that prevents the applicant from using the property in a way that's consistent with the ordinance.

Uh and while they may be de minimis um encroachments into the setback, uh particularly the potting shed is is is de minimis, um, but again, there's really no legal basis that was presented to grant relief on that.

And then um more concerning is the the gazebo not only exceeds the or doesn't meet the setback, it encroaches evidently into the city's right-of-way, which you know, while maybe it's been that way for for 12 years, it's certainly um all we can do is rule what's brought to us, not it's not our job to go out and find things.

Um so this is in front of us.

It appears not to meet the code, and again, I don't I don't see any no legal hardship was presented by the applicant that indicates that the the property can't be brought into compliance or couldn't be put to a lawful use without such relief.

So for all those reasons, I I don't think that we um have a legal basis to to grant the relief.

There is the opportunity to request the variance, but we're bound by um not just the zoning ordinance, we're also by the Pennsylvania municipalities planning code and most importantly um decades and decades of case law, and uh in this particular case, I just don't think we have a legal basis to to grant relief.

Even if we did it as an encroachment of the city right-away, which is beyond our power.

Exactly.

Um which of course is not a zoning issue either.

We don't have jurisdiction there.

Right.

Yeah, yeah.

The most we could do if there was a legal hardship was to be able to was to grant uh a zero setback, but that still wouldn't permit encroachment into the right-of-way, it would just bring you up to it.

So I'm confused though about the right-of-way.

Is it the right-of-way the 10 feet of the from the halfway point of the alley?

That that's where the right-of-way, that's where your property line is and where the right-of-way line is they're one and the same.

It doesn't go beyond that.

Well, you said Scott, you said it's a 20-foot wide right-of-way.

Right, overall, 10 foot from the center line.

Right.

Which which is coincidental with a point three feet from the face of the garage.

Um roughly.

Well, no, that or is it to the face of the garage is the right-of-way line and the property line.

Typically, that's the way these old places.

I don't think the face of the garage is the property line.

The property line is 10 feet from the center of the alleyway.

Yeah, which is that three foot in front of the garage.

The roof of the gazebo does not extend the 10 foot of the alley.

Typically 20 feet.

Like I said, this this con this is interesting because this is a concrete, uh, so there's there should be 14 feet worth of concrete here, and then an additional three feet.

So I may have misspoke.

This looks greater than three feet here.

But the way your sketch was on here uh uh for the uh gazebo itself, I thought you had it right up to that uh that right-of-way line.

Well, let me just actually 12 short, let me just short circuit this.

It's not our job is to interpret the ordinance and and you've brought to us a request for a variance, but the burden is entirely on you to assemble the facts and present them to us.

Anything that the zoning office does is uh a courtesy or trying to assist.

So, like if you believe that you're in compliance or you know, the the actual location of the property line is yours to prove, not it's not for ours to research.

Right.

Um, so just your verbal testimony, like without uh without having like a surveyor plan showing where the property line is, we could be here all night trying to figure out where exactly it is until you get a licensed professional land surveyor to seal a drawing saying this is where it is, then you know, and sometimes there is no dispute, but it sounds like we're not really sure where the property line is.

We could be here all night trying to figure out where exactly it is until you get a licensed professional land surveyor to seal a drawing saying this is where it is, then you know, and sometimes there is no dispute, but it sounds like we're not really sure where the property line is, and so it's yet another reason why we couldn't grant relief tonight because the burden is on the applicant to to show not only that there's a legal hardship, but also that the relief requested is the minimum release relief necessary.

So if you only encroach by a foot versus three feet or not at all, those are all the details that we would need to have before us to make a an informed decision.

No, I don't have anything more.

I think Scott kind of hit it on the nail.

It's it's a shame it's been this way for that many years and no one said anything, but it is what it is, and you know there's not much we can do to change that.

All right, do I have a motion?

I'll make a motion, yeah.

I'll make a motion that the application be denied.

I'll second the motion for the reasons stated correct.

Uh all in favor, aye.

Aye.

Which means your variance was denied.

Understood.

So see that anyone has joined us since the list was called.

So I was over here talking to Mike.

So actually, he apologized there was any discrepancy.

I guess I don't know if he forgot, but 943 951 2 street withdrew.

Oh, they did last week.

But it was a lot, it's been a lot going on.

It's been really really busy.

Um 827 North Fifth Street.

He just sent me the email because I'm like, I know that I sent it to the correct address.

Yeah.

Um, and he said it doesn't even matter because he sent down an email.

So we didn't what we did on our behalf.

So that's on them to show up, and they didn't show up.

So it's just with that type of meeting.

All right, so 943 9512 Street did communicate with the zoning office and and withdrew.

Okay.

And so 827 North Fifth is was notified, is not present.

So I'll make a motion that the application be denied for lack of lack of testimony or lack of evidence at all.

Evidence provided by the propellant.

Okay, I have a motion and a second.

All in favor?

Aye.

Aye.

Okay, so when's when's our next meeting?

Uh the 27th.

So we're off next Monday and we're back on the 27th.

427.

All right.

June before.

And I think you guys said we're all good for that meeting.

Say it.

All say it again.

I think that you guys said that you were all good for that meeting.

Meaning attendance live.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Okay.

Okay, there being no other business for the board, the meetings adjourned.

Okay.

Okay.

Your matter was you were here on Shu Street.