would mean a complete redesign including stairways etc is is the owner on client
Sha-Ling Wang is the owner.
Sha-Ling Wang is allowed to speak.
Could you please state your name and spell for the court's sonographer?
Sha-Ling Wang, can you unmute yourself, please?
can can we get her him she's just muted she must be having difficulty all right so
so you're an officer of the court we gladly accept your testimony questions from the board
no chair no chair 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
jonathan goins philadelphia city planning commission staff the comprehensive plan
recommended a change from commercial mixed use three to commercial mixed use two at this location
the property was remapped in 2014 to the current residential multi-family zoning the proposed unit
count is well above the allowed density for r1 zoning but it is consistent with the existing
building that's to be reused the city planning commission recommends the board grant the variance
Thank you. MI 2023-003-485-1034-36 Spring Street. I vote yes with provisos. Commercial trash pickup, maximum 18 dwelling units.
James Snell, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you. Thank you. All right. Number 17, MI 2023-006-698-803 South 4th Street. Sean Whalen is the attorney. There's a letter of support from the Queen Village Neighbors Association and a letter of non-opposition from Council Member Squill.
Sean Whalen is coming in as a panelist.
good morning mr whalen how are you could you please spell your name
and spell for the court sonographer certainly sean whalen w-h-a-l-e-n you swear or affirm to
tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes i do could you identify a client
in relationship to this property? Certainly. I represent Philly Prop. That's P-H-I-L-L-Y
capital P-R-O-P, one word, LP, the owner of the property.
And our vice chair has a few questions for you. Of course.
Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to weigh the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its
accuracy? Yes, I do. Yes, I do. Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that
is needed and required to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, I did. Yes, I did. Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen. Thank you.
Can you see the... We can. An aerial map right now? Yes, we do, sir. Wonderful.
Wonderful. So thankfully, I have a nice easy case for you to round out your afternoon. I guess begin your afternoon. This is 803 South 4th Street, right off the corner of Catherine and South 4th Street. It is a very long standing existing duplex. So you can see here, here's an aerial view you can see.
We are requesting no additional height or new construction whatsoever.
We are simply trying to legalize the existing use that has been in use, as far as we can tell, for probably at least 100 years.
Going back, both in testimony with, and actually some better historians than even I had in my team, with QVNA,
With QVNA, they testified that they have pictures of this being residential back 100 years ago.
they testified that they have pictures of this being
The historical maps show a fully residential use as of 1942 and 1962.
And so, accordingly, QVNA appreciated this use, understood that it's a longstanding residential use, and fully supported the use, as you see in the letter.
the we have one refusal this is because sorry to jump around on you we are located in a cmx2
zoning district right here and zoom in on that a little bit for you and so you know for with a cmx2
zoning district as a board is well aware we're required to have a first floor commercial use
for the first 30 feet of building depth.
We are proposing no such use and just to legalize the first floor,
which has been and is a one-bedroom unit.
So the first floor of the building, here is the building itself.
You can see this is the first floor window.
The first floor is accessed by that white door.
I can walk you through.
So we walk into the first floor. This is an existing one-bedroom unit. There is a small
unfinished basement underneath. There is no basement living space. There is no request for
any basement living space. You can see that there is a full kitchen and a full bathroom.
None of this has been new or updated by the current owner. This is just the existing condition
as you see it there. So again, here's the building. The right side is the white door
that I just showed you that has access only to the first floor. The blue door on the left-hand
side takes you up to the second and third floors. That is one single unit that is a
two-bedroom unit. You can see this is a very small, all of these lots are very small. They're
approximately 500 square foot lots and most notably as we you know try not to rush happy to
ask and answer any questions you may have but as I show the residential nature of the whole block
this yoga studio on the first floor here is actually the only commercial use that is evident
on the entire block of South 4th Street. This block, this property right here at the corner
fronts onto Catherine, that has a commercial first floor and historically always had.
Those are the only two commercial uses on the block. And QVNA noted that, you know,
there's a longstanding residential use. This is looking directly across the property. So you can
see all residential use up and down the block and even down Catherine. So again, QVNA fully supported
it. And we believe that there's a valid hardship here. First and foremost, we have a fully existing
building in its condition, in basically its original condition with a full kitchen and a bath.
It's been a longstanding duplex.
The space is actually only 11 and a half feet wide.
So even if this were to be turned into a commercial space, it's not really a viable, usable commercial space.
And we do have the property manager on the site on this call to adopt this testimony as well and answer any questions the board may have.
Sean, why don't you bring him one?
Certainly.
Additionally, just to round out the hardship, the Washington, and as actually raised by
QVNA, the Washington Avenue commercial district is only two blocks to the south of here.
So everyone goes down there.
That's where all the commercial uses are.
We believe there's certainly no detriment to the health, safety, or welfare as QVNA
found and supported because this has been a residential use and a longstanding residential
We certainly meet the least minimum variance because we're keeping it exactly as built.
We're not asking for any increase in number of units, so no increase to intensity of use or to the building size.
And lastly, the only thing I would point out for hardship purposes is looking at the block.
There are 20 properties on the block.
Even just looking at the zoning archive, which there are 16 residential properties, only those two properties that have, including that corner property that fronts onto Catherine, only two properties with first floor commercial use and the...
only two properties with first floor commercial use and the um the last two properties on the block
have no zoning archive record with them associated however qvna did agree and admit that they are
fully residential buildings and they have all indicia of being used for residential uses
So with that, I would ask Ed Brown to raise his hand.
Ed Brown is appearing on behalf of Philly Prop LP, the owner and applicant in this matter.
Edward Brown is allowed to speak.
Good morning, Mr. Good afternoon, Mr. Brown.
Could you state your name, please, and spell it for the court's stenographer?
My name is Edward Brown, B-R-O-W-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, Mr. Whalen.
Thank you.
Mr. Brown, you're here on behalf of Philly Prop LP today, correct?
That's correct.
And have you heard all of the testimony and seen all the evidence that I've already presented today?
I have.
And do you believe that that testimony and evidence is true and correct to the best of your knowledge, information, and belief?
It is.
And would you adopt that testimony as your own?
I do. Thank you very much. Chairman, if you have any questions.
Questions from the board? No, Chair.
Ish? No, Chair.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Just briefly, Mr. Chair, the refusal indicated that there was a change of use to residential on the first floor.
um i i think what the refusal should have said was um for uses to family household living
um and it was would probably still it would be refused for not having commercial on the
ground floor still um but i just to if the board decides to adopt we should include a
proviso that specifies that the use that's being approved is to family household living
thank you questions or comments from the virtual audience
there are no hands here planning commission
thank you chair jonathan goins philadelphia city planning commission
um the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the commercial mixed use zoning at this location
the appellant requests permission for ground floor residential use where commercial use
should be required. Commercial use is uncommon apart from corner properties on this stretch
of 4th Street. Given the size of the property and its location on the block, the City Planning
Commission recommends the board grant the variance for residential use on the ground floor.
Okay. Sean, you agreed with Hillary? Yes, I do. Thank you, Chair. All right. All right. So
So, MI 2023-006-698-803 South 4th Street, I vote yes with Proviso.
This is two-family household living.
Is that okay, Hillary?
Yes, you can say the approved use is two-family household living.
Proved use is two-family household living.
James Snell, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed, my brother, is yes, but provides over.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you very much.
Is there anyone in the virtual audience whose case has not been called from the 930 a.m. list?
There are no hands, Chair.
See everybody at 2 o'clock.
Thank you.
See you later.
All right.
Thank you.
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
You can proceed as you wish.
Okay, thank you.
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 Holliman.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
And our Board Member, James Snell.
Present, Chair.
Thank you.
Also here is our Attorney, Hillary Emerson, and our Executive Director, Tanya Sunken.
Be advised, the proceedings are being recorded.
Video will be available by contacting TanyaSunkett at philo.gov.
For benefit of our court stenographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying.
If you are participating by phone and you wish to testify, press star 9, raise your hand, and star 6 to unmute.
To enter an appearance statement, call 267-270-5548.
4548. Leave your email and the address of the property in question.
And finally, the question-answer box on the screen is not for comment or testimony.
And finally, the question-answer box on the screen is not for comment or testimony.
All comments should be directed to our executive director, Tanya Sumter.
Let's look at our schedule for this afternoon.
Number two, MI 2023-004-267-900 East Chelten Avenue.
That case has been continued.
Number six, MI 2023-004-267-900 East Chelten Avenue.
006-174-2036 Spruce Street, that case is continued, attorney moving party.
Number seven, MI-2023-006-215-610 South Front Street, that case is continued.
Number 10, MI2024, 000593, 29 East Mount Airy Avenue, number TA27907, that case is continued.
And number 13, MI 2024-000659-7000 Caster Avenue, that case is continued, Attorney Moving Party.
Are there any comments about the cases that have been continued or additional cases to be continued?
yes chair joseph vaccaro will be allowed to speak
good afternoon can you hear me i i can counsel could you please state your name and spell for
the court stenographer good afternoon may it please the board my name is joseph vaccaro v-a-c-c-a-r-o
right you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing that but the truth
yes i do i understand you have a case mi 2023 0061736812 ogons avenue yes that's it that would
be an attorney moving party you're you're breaking up mr counsel i'm sorry can you hear me now i can
Okay. That is an attorney moving party request for a continuance.
All right. Thank you. So MI 2023-006-173-6812 Ogons Avenue. Cases continue attorney moving party.
Thank you. Any other requests for a continuance?
There are no hands.
okay case number one mi2022-005-303-4140 popular avenue this is the fifth listing
case must be heard is devin ukda available
no hands here no hands no okay thank you so mi2022 005 303 4140 poplar avenue i vote to dismiss
This is the fifth listing.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is to dismiss.
James Snell, my vote is to dismiss.
Ishmael Shahid, my vote is to dismiss.
So we're going to our add-ons.
Number one, voting this will be myself, Thomas Holloman, and Ishmael.
So it's MI 2023-002-942-1546-48 South 20th Street.
This is a request for reconsideration.
I vote no to reconsideration and rehearing.
Thomas Holloman, I vote no to reconsideration and rehearing.
Ishmael Shahi, I vote no to reconsideration and rehearing.
Number two is MI 2023.
0-0-6-9-4-3-3-1-0-5
North 2nd Street, 16th Street.