Thank you.
Good morning. My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this morning's meeting
of the Zoning Board of Adjustment. With me is our Vice Chair, Ismael Shahid.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our Board Member, Cheryl L. Gaston.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our Board Member, Tanetta Graham.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
board member Michael Johns. President, Mr. Chairman. Our board member
Taya Nguyen. Taya
will be on very shortly. Also here is our
attorney, Matthew Webster, our
zoning board executive director, Ian Haggerty, and our zoning
board administrator, Lakeisha Dandy. Recording of this hearing will be
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Let's look at our schedule.
Number two.
MI 20, MI.
What's that one?
Okay. Number two, 2105 South Simpson Street, that case is continued.
Number three, MI 2024-001-273, 2000 South 21st Street, that case is continued.
And number six, MI 2024-004-304-2001 Kinsey Street, that case is continued.
Are there any other requests for continuances?
Good morning, Chair. This is Yvette Benton. I'll be your co-host for this morning.
We have Vern Anastasio with his hand up. He has been unmuted and allowed to speak.
Good morning, Mr. Chair.
Good morning, Vern. Please state your name. It's spelled for the stenographer.
Yes, sir. It's Vern Anastasio, A-N-A-S-T-A-S-I-O, on behalf of my client, Mr. Jerry Lee.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Counselor, could you, which case?
549-51 North 10th. I'd like to withdraw the appeal.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
um okay yeah we had we are verne we do have that withdrawal thank you i'm getting ready
to call that thank you thank you appreciate it okay any other requests for continuance
here we have someone with their hand up by the name of lisa they have been unmuted and allowed
to speak hi could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer hi my name is lisa last
name t-h-e-t-s in tango h-s in harry e-s in network do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes i do what case are you involved with um it's a 2000
south 21st street um it's just been in the continuance for like a while so i just want to
make sure that it is continued because um it was first assigned to west past young neighborhood
associations but then the leadership never like responded to me since like july that case is
continue and the date for that case will be 12 3 25 at 9 30 a.m 9 30 a.m perfect thank you so much
i appreciate it thank you any other requests for continuance here i've seen all the hands of this
time so number seven mi 2024 004 865 39 11 to 19th north 5th street judas santiago is the listed
applicant. We have no
exhibits. This is the second listing.
Chair, I see no hands at this time.
So MI 2024
836-865
3911 to 19
North Fish Street. Second listing.
No one appeared the first time. I
vote to dismiss. Michael Johns.
My vote is to dismiss. Cheryl
Gaston. My vote is to dismiss.
Tanetta Graham. My vote is to dismiss.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is to dismiss.
Thank you.
Number 14, MI 2024-007-515-1929-35 East Clearfield Street.
No exhibits.
This is the first listing.
The owner is Alvaro Alvarez Rosario.
Hey, I see no heads at this time.
Okay, so this is the first listing. So MI 2024-007-515-1929 to 35 East Clearfield Street.
This case is continued to 12-325 at 9.30 a.m. Mark must be heard.
And number one, MI 2022-002-928-549 to 51 North 10th Street. This case has been withdrawn.
We're going to go to our add-on list. Number one, MI 2024-007-299-609 Annan Street. The board will vote on this matter once it receives amended refusal from the applicant listed both of the required uses discussed at the hearing.
Number two, MI 2024-007-354-1432 South 49th Street.
The vote in this matter has been rescheduled to May 21st at 9.30 a.m.
And number three, MI 2024-003-268-3501 G Street.
The vote in this matter has been rescheduled to Wednesday, May 21st at 9.30 a.m.
We're going to go to our main list.
Number 8, MI 2024-007-498, 1808 Wiley Street.
Adam Laver is the attorney.
Good morning, Mr. Chairman and members of the board.
Adam Laver of Blank Room, 1 Logan Square.
Just for the record, could you spell your name?
I mean, everybody, but just could you please spell your name?
Quite all right.
Laver, L-A, V as in Victor, E-R.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Yes, Mr. Chairman.
Could you identify your client, the relationship to the property?
Blank Rome represents 1808 Wiley LLC, which does business as eclipse development.
uh principals ryan kalili and colin conway are sitting in the actual hearing room behind me
today our vice chair has a few questions sir good morning council do you agree to wave the
reason of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy good morning mr vice chairman yes i do have you
emailed in all the required documents and exhibits as needed to proceed for this case five days in
advance of this hearing yes sir we have thank you council please proceed and you may share your
Thank you.
Thank you and counsel for a point of information there's a recommendation support from United
Thank you.
Council, for a point of information,
there's a recommendation of support
from United France.
Francisville Civic Association the applicant also gave us a petition of non-opposition
with 38 signatures five from the immediate block correct thank you for noting that Mr. Chairman
as I stated members of the board in the hearing room today are Ryan Khalili and Colin Conway
who are local philadelphians who have previously appeared before this board
this team has consistently been recognized for high quality transformative projects
throughout our city also with us in the hearing room is architect paul lorenz of the common
practice on the screen before you is a conceptual rendering of the proposed development that we seek
to bring to you today. And here is a aerial image of the subject property, which is in the lower
half of the screen. It is a garage, actually, it looks from this photograph, you see a black roof,
it's a one-story garage and I'll show you some more images shortly. The subject property is
located in Francisville, which is a neighborhood that I know is known to this board. We are one
property off of Cameron Street across from the Francisville Playground and Recreation Center.
It's truly an ideal location in a vibrant community and even in this aerial photograph
that you can see, which is dated because it wasn't taken yesterday. The neighborhood is
changing so fast. It's a wonderful mix of longstanding, beautiful housing and new, vibrant
additions as well. So you get a sense of that vibrancy of the neighborhood, of the diversity
of the neighborhood going back to the conceptual rendering that i had shared with you the development
team has proposed a new four-story residential building to include 12 homes five off street
automobile parking spaces which you can see in the rendering to the right or to the east
directionally and class 1a bicycle spaces as well
the subject property is owned rm1 which as the board knows permits multifamily residential
the refusal itself is a little bit confusing as noted by the recommendation of board council
we'll get to that shortly and the last permitted use was for a garage and auto repair shop
here are those photos that i had promised you so moving from left to right uh on the left of the
screen where it says project location you can see uh on the uh right of the photograph the
location of the garage. You can see it better in the middle of the screen. It's the one-story brick
structure with the pull-down garage door. And I'd also like to note that to the left of that
one-story brick structure, the open area is the subject property. So what appears to be a breezeway
is the developable property right up to that stucco party wall. And then on the far right
right of the screen, you can see the subject property on the left and a streetscape on the
right. Why do I share that with you to give you a sense of the feel of the true diversity in all
respects of the block and of the neighborhood? And it speaks quite frankly to the proposal and
the refusals that we will get to in a moment. Here is a closer image of the unfortunate
state of the property which was purchased not so long ago by my clients
and then moving to the refusals if i may so refusal number one as i mentioned at the outset
mr chairman and members of the board 12 residences are proposed multi-family residential is permitted
in the district based on the size of this lot 11 homes would be permitted we are proposing
12 density is determined based on lot size this is one of the most de minimis uh cases that that
Cases that that I can recall bringing before the board, we are approximately 33 square feet short of being able to permit 12 units, and I would respectfully suggest members of the board that we have a known need for housing in the city of Philadelphia, and that to be able to provide.
i can recall bringing before the board we are approximately
not only adequate but generously sized residences uh that meet the needs of philadelphians when
we're 33 square feet short is an appropriate uh variance to to grant the least minimum necessary
to fulfill the uh the objectives of of the of the city and the known needs the second and third
refusals concern the proposed height. The code limit for height in the zoning district is 38 feet.
The proposed development for the four-story structure is 45 feet to the roof, which is
clearly a seven-foot variance. The height requests would allow for us to also meet
a known parking demand uh in the neighborhood and to maintain the parking that is there
although upgraded of course and to provide off-street parking for multiple cars we are not
taking away a public space and providing a private space we are maintaining existing condition and
providing multiple spaces which i believe is part of why the coordinating rco which knows the
neighborhood best has offered its support. Also on the issue of height, as you may have picked out,
although it's hard to see in some of the photographs, the proposed height is not
uncommon in the neighborhood. You'll see that there is a mix. There's quite a mix from two
stories to three stories to four stories, et cetera. But in fact, right across the street
from the subject property is a four-story home immediately around and actually touching the
property at the rear off of Cameron you have four stories and once again in terms of the scale
it meets the diversity of the neighborhood here's an example of what you would see if you're standing
at our property looking across the street I think respectfully that the proposed design that Paul
has put together is much more elegant but in terms of massing this this gives you an example
and and yes there's a a variety of heights along the block
as you can see actually in the elevations that we show right here
we are proposing a four-story brick structure with juliet balconies overlooking wiley street
preservation of that existing curb cut that I mentioned to accommodate the off-street parking.
Moving to the floor plans, if I may, and starting with the ground floor,
the ground floor accommodates for, you'll see, four standard parking spaces, and then to the right,
there's a little niche there for a fifth space that's fully handicapped accessible.
also class 1a bicycle parking spaces are provided and i'll get to the multi-family as we go through
the plan shortly you see multi-family residential use shown but i'd like to point out on this plan
the garden areas in the back additionally there is
we meet and or exceed code requirements when it comes to egress for all proposed units.
Here's another view of the ground floor space showing a little bit more detail for the
residential units one, two, and three. We see on this level, which is the ground floor level,
the living and dining spaces in the upper left hand corner in the yellowish beige is unit one
showing main living and dining. You'll see in a moment for these three units that they're
bi-level units and the lower level unit has the sleeping areas. Towards the rear of the property