ZBA Hearing - June 15, 2022

We updated plans this afternoon.

I know there's a draftsman error,

so we just want to make sure we have the correct plans.

Yes, I did receive those.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

So as you can see,

what we try to do with 39-20-22

do is emulate the look and feel of this part of the city. I personally don't live too far away. I

live in the Fairmont section of Philadelphia, so I get off the Girard Avenue exit all the time off

of the Scoople, and so I'm familiar with this area. This is a porch neighborhood. This is a CMX1

property, and they have mansard roofs, so we really did embrace the architectural feel, and

After talking to the community and their insistence on preserving or encouraging the commercial corridor on Girard Avenue, that's when we agreed to re-include or include the commercial component, as well as the porches, as well.

Hold on a second. Let me just go full screen.

So, in our presentation materials, we have our notices of refusal, our letter of support

from the Centennial Parkside Community Development Corporation.

For your information, this was a heavily attended meeting.

I would estimate it had at least 20 people, I think closer to 30 people who were participating

in that meeting, and after discussions and modifications to our project, we did gain

their support. We have the Zoning Board of Adjustment revised proviso plan forms, one for

each project. As we indicated, we gave Ms. Emerson that updated information this afternoon. The

Philadelphia 2035 plan, it conforms with what that plan states in this part of Philadelphia

that plan states in this part of Philadelphia to encourage in-fail development, but also to

to encourage infail development.

encourage commercial use. I've been in front of this board on a number of occasions in this part

of the state of Philadelphia, including Girard Avenue. And time and time again, the Planning

Commission has indicated that they want to encourage that commercial component, the commercial

use, not only on Girard Avenue, but 40th Street. And this project accomplishes that, not only by

including the commercial component on the ground floor, but also by that to have that type of

density of six units each to help support that commercial border on a lot size that's almost

3,000 square feet. We have used registration permits showing that this property has had a

multifamily history, both of them, maps of the area, photographs of the property, our plans and

drawings, RCO meeting notices, along with proof of mailing of those notices to the affected

properties, our deeds to the property, showing that H&M developments LLC is the owner of the

property, our applications for appeal that we filed with the ZBA, and our certificates of tax

clearance showing that we're in good standing with respect to real estate taxes as to this property.

And then we also have Ghazi I-7, the owner's representative, who at the conclusion of my

presentation will adopt my testimony, and then we'd be more than happy to take any questions

for the board. So first things first, you know, 3920 actually has mixed zoning of CMX1 and RSA5.

So, you know, it's really hard to comply with the zoning code just for that split zoning reason.

So what we're looking to do is, you know, include, you know, a six unit multifamily use on the upper

floors of two three and four um as part of the ground floor as well as a commercial and then

39 22 um i it's unclear whether it has mixed zoning it says cmx one adjacent to rsa five

but again we're close to uh rm1 so if this was an rm1 property this the amount of square footage

of the lot is substantial almost 3 000 square feet we it would be allowed as as of right either

way we are putting commercial component in a cmx1 property to encourage that commercial use and to

further encourage that commercial use with increasing density in a neighborhood that is

in need of residents to help support that commercial corridor plus we're on the trolley

line as well with the public transportation so that type of density can be handled through public

transportation. And then a letter of support. It's short and sweet. The Centennial Parkside RCO

supports the applicant's variance for the above reference case. Pretty straightforward. I mean,

we did have a passionate meeting with approximately 20 to 30 residents. And after

having negotiations with our changes to the project, including adding the commercial component,

adding a porch, making sure that, you know, we have, you know, confirming that we have that

mansard roof. They were very supportive of this project. And then there's our revised plans.

So, you know, we handed this to Ms. Emerson. We have, you know, each, we have one for each

uh property uh but you know they go as follows inclusion of a one vanilla box commercial space

on the ground level inclusion of a porch to match adjacent properties reduction in the building depth

to account for new porch and an increased lock coverage but not to exceed the required 75 percent

and then here are our revised plans for each same thing

and then the 2035 plan again we just got this straight from the 2035 plan for this part of

philadelphia preserve neighborhood character with context sensitive and fell development so having

that commercial component further enhanced uh you know the goal of this part of philadelphia

is to encourage a commercial corridor along west gerard as well as increased density uh to support

that commercial quarter on West Gerard as well as Fortier Street. And then permits for the property

again in 1986. It looks like this was a multifamily structure when it was occupied

property. Now it's a vacant lot. 3920 and 3922. And then just maps of the area. As you can see,

we are cmx1 but we are adjacent to rm1 but it was very important as you get closer to 40th street

there is a commercial corridor there and they wanted to have that commercial corridor essentially

start from 39th street along gerrard to then snake around to 40th street

along Gerrard to then snake around to 40th Street so you know with you know with their insistence

on having a commercial quarter we granted that and you know we are excited about this project

so again 3920 and 22 between 39th and 40th you know there's a small street on Union but these

are substantial lots they're almost 3,000 square feet each and then here are the vacant lots you

we try to maintain them well. West Girard to the right of their property, West Girard to the left

of their property. We request the street obviously from the Fairmont Park. Memorial Hall is not far

by and it's not uncommon to have multi-family. Again we're adjacent to RM1 as well but just to

show you know how close you know just generally multi-families here is 3910 West Girard.

and then our plans and drawings so uh again we are not seeking any dimensional variances

for this property again these are rather or each of them are almost 3 000 square foot lots

and then again we contextually from an architecture standpoint we try to match the

look and feel of these properties. Again, we added porches to the front of these properties.

We have commercial components on the ground floor, and we have mansard roof to kind of

emulate the look and feel of this part of town with brick facade. And then just to quickly go

through the floor plans, the ground floor is the upper section of the screen. You walk through a

commercial corridor. This is the same as whether it's 3920 or 22. You have a front retail section

here. The retail actually goes to the ground level as well. But to go to the commercial

component, it has its own entryway. And we actually have a dedicated trash room as well

for each of these properties, which was very important to the community as well to have a

responsible trash storage and removal plan. Then we have a unit on the ground floor and the lower

level, which is unit one, which is a two-bedroom, two-bath. You go up to the second floor and you

to the left, you have a two-bedroom, one-bath. If you go to the right, it's a two-bedroom,

two bath. You go to the third floor, you go to the left, it's a two bedroom, one bath. You go

to the right, it is a two bedroom, one bath. And then finally, you have the, well, no, you have

this as well, unit three, unit four is, you have one, two bedroom, two bath. And then to the right,

do you have a two bedroom two mat and then we met with the community on april 26 2022 at 6 p.m

there are 112 addresses notified of the community meeting these are listed the addresses

addresses. These are the proof of mailing to those addresses. The RFCO meeting notice

for the second property, 3922-113 addresses were notified. And proof of those notices

is being mailed out, and then our deeds to their property, showing that H&M Development

LLC is the own record property.

That's a deed, I believe, for both of them.

And with that being said, I'm now going to share my screen.

We do have a certificate of tax clearance, which is also in the presentation materials.

But I know this has been a rather long session, so I mean, I can always show it if you want.

But we also give that beforehand to the board.

Mr. Nockamson, this is this is Hillary again.

So I just wanted to be clear. The commercial space is both part of the ground floor and part of the first floor.

uh ground floor and the commercial space is the front of the of the ground floor

um as well as a portion of the of the basement level okay so

um as well as a portion of the basement level okay so well ground floor being first first

floor being the first floor and basement okay i just want to make sure i have the wording right

and i think um there was a page of plans that you showed a side section um that showed a little bit

more where the exactly where the commercial space was i think we'll need to stamp that page as well

as the page that that you had submitted so that it's clear exactly where the the commercial space

is yeah let me just see hold on a second sure updated drawings maybe to try to include it all

on one rather than have it but hold on let me just see let me see where we are

so hillary that'll be revised plans two pages for each one well let's let's see what alan has and

Maybe we fix it and there's just one that can be shown on one.

So that's what we're just checking.

Yeah, let me take a look.

Yeah.

Well, I see the site plan has it, the ground floor, it has the first floor envelope.

It doesn't mention the lower level, the basement level.

will that be necessary if we just say ground floor and first floor and basement level

is the entire basement commercial no a portion is residential okay because what i was going to

suggest for um a proviso is that it just say vacant commercial space um on the first floor

and basement as per stamped plans so that it's clear exactly where the space is so i don't mind

stamping an extra page of plans there was one page that you showed that was that was clearer

that's fine to stamp two yeah um

why don't we just do two pages yeah there was there was a second page in your your packet that

i saw that that showed it better than the the other page so i'll just i'll yeah i can just

Yeah, and maybe what we can do is we can always fix it too.

I just want to make sure it's everything's accurate.

So we'll figure out what the second page is going to look.

We'll obviously make sure it's accurate.

And Mr. Chair, I just sent you language for the provisos, the revised language.

So you have that for both cases if you grant.

uh yes um so if mr at a seven can virtually raise his hand to adopt my testimony

hi could you state your name and spell please for the court reporter

hi my name is gazi joe at a seven g-a-z-i joe at a c-v-m right do you swear or affirm to tell

the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes i do mr chamber proceed yes mr out of seven

you heard everything i stated today i heard that yes and is it true and correct yes and do you

adopt it as your own testimony yes all right thank you questions from the board no mr chairman

no mr chairman no mr chairman questions or comments from the virtual audience

i see no hands chair planning commission sorry chair that's okay fine

we have one hand up if you want to hear okay sure all right could you state your name and

spell for the court reporter hi my name is james harrow h-a-r-r-e uh i'm the project designer for

this that's working along with alan and joe i just wanted to chime in on the wait one minute let me

swear you in yeah sorry you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the

truth i do spell your last name for the court reporter please sure hara h-a-r-r-e all right

okay mr knockamson do you want him to testify oh of course i mean he's the architect so i'm sure

he's going to clarify and say um mr knockamson please give the right drawings no um we do include

on the site plan of the revised zoning sheet, not the schematic package that Alan presented,

but the actual zoning sheet that we submitted for the ZBA stamp. It does show on the site plan

the extents of the first four vanilla box commercial space. I'm not sure if that would

help clear up the issue you were having with the location of the commercial space or not,

but just wanted to point that out too for the record.

yeah i'm mr hare though i think they're the concern they just want to clarify because there

is some there is the commercial space does extend to the uh basing level

there is the commercial space does extend to the uh basement level right that is correct uh i do

know that i just wasn't sure if that would have been required via the proviso because the uh

zoning restrictions for the commercial space are limited to the first floor of the building

and does not include the basement i believe uh based on the wording of the zoning code okay

so if if we if we just said vacant commercial space on ground floor based on this the site plan

that should be sufficient i just don't want to get it uh messed up at the you know the building

permit stage yeah i mean uh i believe so but again uh i mean if uh the zba's attorney uh

feels differently and prefer to you know market separately to make it more clear i'm not objected

against that i i think because the commercial technically extends the the basement area is

split between the residential and the commercial i think we just need to clarify what uses are

on what on what floors so i thank you planning planning commission

hi mr chair members of the board uh my testimony for both uh 30 not this makes an awesome

representing the plan question by testimony for both 3922 West Gerrard and 3920 West Gerrard are

the same. These properties are designated for single-family residential use in the comprehensive

plan but remapped to CMX1 in 2017. Whereas the zoning is intended to help reinforce the character

of the remaining twin homes in the block while introducing the optional ground floor retail,

option of ground floor retail, multi-family housing is appropriate on this wide avenue by

Fairmount Park. PCPC staff appreciates the design and inclusion of retail in the modified plans to

support these goals, but even the next most dense commercial designation, CMX2, would only permit

five units on this site. Consequently, staff of the planning commission supports the granting of

this variance with the further provisal that would be limited to five units on each site.

Mr. Nakamura, do you want to respond to that? Yeah, so that was why I showed the zoning map.

we are adjacent to RM1.

If we were on the next block,

this project would be allowed as a right

with no commercial component.

And we comfortably fit the six units

on this almost 3,000 square foot lot.

Plus the additional units

are going to help increase

the viability of the commercial corridor

there even further.

Plus non-zoning related

provides more affordability

to residents having six units versus five.

I know that's not zoning related,

But, you know, that's the thought process behind that.

MI 2020, MI 2022, 001-690-3920, West Sherrod Avenue.

Revised plans, one page, five units.

MI.