Now we're live. Thank you. Good morning everyone. My name is Frank DiCicco. I'm the chair of the
zoning board of adjustment. I'm sorry chair. This is when we need a few minutes. Once we go live
we need three minutes. Yep yep. They're slowly coming in.
Thank you.
seems like we're ready chair
thank you good morning everyone my name is frank d chico i'm the chair of the zoning board of
adjustment i'll be participating in today's hearing along with our board secretary mr confessor plaza
and board members Mr. Thomas Holloman and Mr. James Snell.
Board Administrator Tanya Sunken and Board Attorney Sharon Saleta are also in attendance.
For those of you who haven't yet participated in one of our virtual hearings,
I'll go through some of the basics of what you can expect.
First, we will be administering oaths to individual participants prior to their testimony.
Second, for the benefit of anyone participating by phone,
we ask that attorneys and witnesses identify themselves prior to speaking or testify.
Third, we'd like to advise everyone that this proceeding is being recorded
and that by participating you acknowledge your agreement to be recorded.
Fourth, anyone participating by phone.
If you wish to testify, you must first raise your hand by hitting star nine
and then star six to unmute yourself.
I'll repeat for anyone participating by phone if you wish to testify you must raise your hand
by hitting star nine and then star six to unmute yourself finally to enter an appearance statement
call google 267 -270 -5548 and leave your email address and the address of the property at issue
I'll repeat that as well. To enter an appearance statement, call Google 267 -270 -5548 and leave
your email address and the address of the property at issue. Before Professor Plaza calls our first
case, we'd like to ask if anyone is going to be requesting a continuance or withdrawal of an
appeal listed for this morning's session if so please raise your hand
Hank Clinton chair or Henry Clinton you can unmute yourself and speak to a
continues, but wait to be sworn in. Good morning, Mr. Clinton. Please identify yourself with a
record. Good morning, Mr. Chairman. Henry Clinton, 1313 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia PA, 19146.
And you swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
I do. Thank you. Please proceed. This concerns calendar number MI 2020 -000 -376 -6463 Malvern Avenue.
Okay, give us a second to find the case.
I don't have that. Sharon or Tanya, you have that case? I don't see it.
No, I don't. Mr. Clinton, this is scheduled for today?
Yes. 930, correct? You know what? I have two, I have two notices in front of me. One is 930 and
one is 3 .30 so I thought I would be very conservative and call at 9 .30 but it may be on your 3 .30
but it may be on your 330 list. Yeah, it might be. Okay, so I apologize, but I just wanted to make
list. Yeah it might be. Okay so I apologize.
sure. Hold on. It is on the 330 list. Okay, so I will call back at 330. Yeah, it's on the 330.
Okay, thank you. Thank you. Any requests for continuances or withdrawals, please raise your hand.
here we have jennifer basilow jennifer you can unmute yourself and wait to be sworn in
hi jennifer basilow 4500 worst street suite d202 philadelphia pennsylvania 19124
would you please spell your full name for the stenographer sure jennifer and then
visit low b as in boy a as in apple z as in zebra y d as in david l as in larry o as in oscar
We're going to affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Please proceed.
All right.
I'm requesting continuance for 2116 West Tioga Street, calendar number MI2020 -00262.
Number seven on our list.
Calendar number MI -2020 -000262, 2116 West Tioga is being continued.
thank you thank you any other requests
uh chair i believe i have a request
it's a lot of pages today i have a request for number 13 from the attorney of record 33
that's 3625 north 22nd yes okay uh mi -2020 -000247 3625 north 22nd street is continued
I believe that's all I have. If they come up, I'll put them on record as they come up.
Thank you. Before we begin with our regular calendar, we'll go through a list of cases
that were on the delay list mi -2020 -000849 -5655 carpenter street my note my vote is no to
reconsideration no to reconsideration no to reconsideration no to reconsideration
calendar number 37967 1501 north 33rd street we're reopening the the case is being reopened
uh pending uh feedback from the rco this case is being continued uh pending feedback from the rco
It'll be heard next Wednesday, October 14th at 9 .30 a .m.
Calendar number 39.
Mr. Mattione will be here on this one.
Let me skip that.
Case was remanded back.
Calendar number 34920, 1550 Lardner Street.
My vote is no.
adopting findings approved and stamped today my vote is no with proviso my vote is no with proviso
my vote is no with proviso you and uh sharon and or tanya 1706 north second calendar number 36463
um that was the one we were trying to find out why it was continued correct
was it this the one where it went i'm sorry what's the address again for you 1706 north
second street i think this was alan notkinson's case
where we weren't sure if we were holding it just a tax cert oh yeah that's what the one we're gonna
where we weren't sure if we were holding it just for the tax cert oh yeah that's what
have to research and get back to you okay and then 1701 south 24th calendar number 39865 mr
manioni i believe will be testifying uh on to uh as to his attempts to have conversation with
either the councilman's office or the rco
did i leave anything out not to my knowledge sharon what you think
i guess you'll chime in as necessary i do have another request for continuous um it's number
11 on your list the request came in though from the um community so if you wanted to ask if
the applicant was present is the applicant present for 335 east price street mi -2020 -000258
there's a request from the rco to have this case continued
if you're requesting a continuance for price street raise your hand at this time please
so i guess that's no one's chiming in for that we'll be continuing um yes i do have a call and
use uh call in person let me see it's the uh call in person there's no name attached
you can unmute yourself and speak to a continuance
hello can you hear me okay yes please identify yourself ma 'am name and address
yes this is adrian fernandez for swamp little neighborhood process association rco
with a um i'm calling to confirm that you received and acknowledge our request for continuance
for 2116 West
Tioga Street and it's possibly
I'm sorry
2217 West
Tioga Street and it
possibly is mixed combined
with 2215
West Tioga Street and we did send in
our letter requesting continuance
We already
continued that
I don't think it was announced in here
so that one is continued
I didn't have that one
i'm sorry 2116 west tayoga no cheer 227 can you just could you hold one minute please let us
i missed i looked at the 2116 so 22 number eight yeah 2217 west tayoga if we can request to see
who the uh attorney or applicant is there an applicant is the applicant and or the attorney
for 2217 west tayoga street on jennifer are you here for this case no i just wanted to clarify
that 2116 west tayoga and 2117 west tayoga are two separate applications with two separate
applicants and i only represent 2116. that's all we have on uh we only have 2116 i believe
when the calendar is 2217 that's a different case that's a different case
just separate but we requested a continuance for 2217 west tioga because there was no meeting
just hold just hold one second please we know that we're asking if the applicant and or attorney
is present and do they concur with the request for continuance i don't have hands up here chair
for that one all right so okay guys so you said no two addresses for that no we can only go with
what we have on our list adrian okay okay i don't want to confuse things okay
on the calendar there was one but the rco given it is one one case we only can go by what
we can only go by what's on the calendar and i apologize to the stenographer talk for talking
over uh mi dash 2020 dash 000374 2217 west tayoga is continued
any other requests no other hands are up at this time we can proceed okay um i believe we're ready
to go mr positive all right calendar number mi 2020 -000514 1307 germantown as an attorney is
1307 Germantown as an attorney is Ms. Dawn St. Creedence.
Dawn, you've been promoted to a panelist.
You can unmute yourself, wait to be sworn in, and share your screen as necessary.
Good morning, Ms. Tincredi.
you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do. Good morning. And I would ask that the architects be able to share their screen,
and that would be Rustin Oler. Awesome. Do you agree to waive the reading of its refusal and
stipulate to its accuracy? I can agree to the waiving of the reading. However, there are some
minor inaccuracies on the refusal. For example, it indicates that there's nine OPA account numbers.
There's actually six. Okay. And have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents,
proof of ownership, proof of tax compliance, copy of the refusal or referral photos and plans
five days in advance of this hearing? We have. And as for the tax compliance,
We did submit an agreement of sale.
I represent the equitable owner in this matter.
Awesome. Have you met with the RCO and have a letter?
We did meet with two RCOs, yes, and there are two letters in the packet.
You may proceed.
Thank you.
So good morning.
Dawn Tancredi, 2005 Market Street, Philadelphia, 19103.
I'm here today on behalf of the equitable owner and applicant.
wood capital investments eight which is a streamlined entity with me here today
are keith casey and jesse lawrence on behalf of the applicant also here is ruston oler the
architect that will discuss the plans and the current owner of the property ron ramstad is
also here so whoever you need to come forward will have to raise their hand okay okay thank you
I would ask that the packet that we turned in be incorporated into the record.
So, as you see, we are here today seeking approval for a mixed -use project.
The proposal is to provide a 190 -dwelling unit building with one commercial space.
And the project also includes 106 parking spaces and 80 bicycle spaces.
To provide some context for this site, the site is zoned ICMX and it's approximately
77 ,000 square feet.
It's located north of Girard Avenue between Germantown and North American Street.
As I mentioned, we did meet with the community and we have letters of support from both South
Kensington Community Partners and Old Kensington Neighborhood Association.
We did complete the CDR process as well.
I would point out that throughout the process, recommendations from both city planning and
the community were made.
We took this into consideration and incorporated changes into the plans.
For example, the density has been reduced and pathways have been added.
The plans before you today have been re -reviewed by the L &I examiner, and there are no new refusals.
With that, I would ask Rustin to describe the plans. Thank you.
Hi, everybody.
Please identify yourself, Rustin. Spell your name.
Yep, Rustin Oler, R -U -S -T -I -N, last name Oler, O -H -L -E -R, address 1225 North 7th Street, Philadelphia, PA.
1 -9 -1 -2 -2.
And do you swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth? I do.
Mike, please proceed.
All right. Can everybody see my screen?
Yes. Okay.
So here's the site, 1307
Germantown. As Donna
mentioned, it's just under two acres. We go
from American Street on the east
to Germantown on the west, and
we are mid -block, not touching
Master Street or Thompson Street.
The site is currently, it's a tenant that's actually moved out or moving out.
It was like a poultry processing plant.
I'll just, this is our full CDR presentation, so I'll get through it pretty quickly.
Here's our lot consolidation plan.
This will basically describe the overall site to you.
This will basically describe the overall site to you.
The blue is 26 two -family dwellings, all with one -to -one parking, access off a reared
shared drive aisle.
The green are two nine -family dwellings for a total of 18 units there with nine parking
stalls in front of them, including one of which is ADA.
and then the uh peaches color building to the top of the page running on american street
is a mixed -use structure with 120 dwelling units above in the top five floors and the first floor
is a commercial space just under 10 000 square feet as well as residential amenities
with underground parking under it and then between the mixed -use building and the two
family dwellings we have a open public park and community space. What we've done is design the
project so that the larger scale mixed -use building is facing American Street where we have
a new eight -story building under construction across the street and then the
row home style buildings which are four stories in height are facing Germantown
which leads to the more residential part of the of the neighborhood and rooms
across that street let's flip through some of this stuff for zoning floor
oh something happened to your your audio reston are you on earphones or
something nothing wireless yeah something's breaking up and causing feedback uh can you
hear me now is that okay um you will have to be real close like that because we can barely hear
you that's fine i'll stay close and talk loud okay thank you no problem so uh pardon my large
face um so in the basement of the mixed -use building we have 45 parking stalls um five
electric spaces, three ADA spaces. At the first floor we have our bike storage and loading zone
access off American Street and the second through sixth floor are identical residential floors
containing 120 dwelling units. Some elevations and cross sections through the site. As you can see,
we placed the larger mixed -use building on American Street. You'll see where I get to
some of the height context here in a minute material boards for design review so you can see
the heights of the adjacent buildings here that we have in the surrounding context
and here across the american street we have a taller eight new eight story building
um currently under construction american street goes from like 50 feet wide to 150 feet wide in
front of our building. And then just renderings of the overall context. So this is a rendering
of Germantown Ave where the drive aisle entrance is, a rendering inside the site with the pedestrian
walkway and parking in front of the nine family dwellings, and then a rendering of American
Street, which is our six -story mixed -use building. And then I'll take any questions that you guys have.
any questions from the board no no no thank greedy um yes reston can you describe whether
any additional loading zones have been added to the plans from the original submission
yes um a loading zone has been added to american street which is which is here under the building
thank you and can you describe the area where there's a side yard refusal
Yes, so our side yard refusal is right here to the north. It's immediately adjacent to a vacant industrial site.
We are maintaining the distance to provide windows on this side.
We would have the option to push the building to touch the property line and eliminate that refusal, but we wanted to maintain a buffer between us and the neighbor.
is there any height refusal for the buildings that face germantown avenue
no there is not we are well under the height limit on germantown avenue
and can you describe the ceiling height in the commercial space on north american uh yeah so we
have uh the commercial space was designed to have a 15 foot florida floor height which will give us
12 clear feet under the lowest steel beam and we did that so that it would be attractive to
um and we did that so that it would be attractive to uh you know a commercial tenant
you know a commercial tenant
okay thank you
i have no further questions questions from the board at this time no no
anyone wish to testify in this case if so please raise your hand
mr chairman i would call ron ramstad the owner of the property briefly okay
he can unmute himself and wait to be sworn in
good morning
can anyone hear me
yes yes chair we hear you fine
I just lost the visual
but okay sir would you
please identify yourself spell your full
name Ronald Ramstad
R -A -M -S -T -A -D
and do you swear
and affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
I do thank you
Ms. Tancredi please
Thank you. Ron, can you please put your address on the record?
113 Steel Dust Lane, Evergreen, Colorado.
And do you own the property at 1307 Germantown Avenue?
Correct.
Okay. And how long have you owned that property?
Different properties between 10 and 30 years.
And is the property vacant at this time?
The tenant left in April.
yes have you tried to sell this property over the years um just in the last two years okay
and can you describe those attempts and what kind of response you got I was just for residential no
one was interested in industrial at all and can you describe approximately how many conversations
you had with people to try to sell the property for residential use? Five to seven.
Can you describe this area, how it's changed over the years since you've been the owner of
this property? I was very desolate in 1996 when I showed up and it's turned into a vastly
a different area as far as residential. I'm the last of the person in the industrial.
Thank you. I have no further questions. Anyone else wish to testify in this case? If so,
please raise your hand. We have a caller ending in the last three digits of 973.
you can unmute yourself by pressing star six and wait to be sworn in.
Hello? Hello. Please identify yourself, first and last name for the record, and give us your address.
Hi, my name is Vera Kudli. I'm a resident of South Kensington. Address is 1502 North Phillip Street.
ma 'am could you please spell your first and last name first name vira v -i -r -a last name
kudli k -u -d -l -i -y okay please proceed um i would like to ask everyone from the streamline
to disclose any environmental issues this site has and what has been done in terms of the
communication with South Kensington community to address those issues just
so you know ma 'am you don't ask questions you can testify okay okay okay
so sorry this is my first DBA meeting so please correct me if I'm doing
something wrong and I apologize in advance so I've attended South Kensington
community partners meeting where the issue with the site was raised and it was noted the site
can contain lead and the site is contaminated and needs to clean up. Mr. Chairman, I would just note
that this is not a zoning issue and besides that we've had several discussions with the community
about environmental. We've made our environmental engineer available to address all the environmental
issues with the community, we've entered into a CBA agreement with the community and satisfied
the concerns of the community at large through the community group on the environmental issues.
The environmental issue has been addressed. Correct. Yes. And thank
The environmental issue has been addressed.
Correct.
Yes, and thank you for that.
I just wanted to let the DBA know that prior to that, agreement was achieved, and agreement was achieved after numerous attempts during several months.
Streamline was refusing to meet those demands on two days prior to the meeting.
I would object to that testimony as unrelated to zoning.
Yeah, ma 'am, I think you're way off course.
There's been an environmental testing was done.
There's been a report.
I understand, if I understand correctly, Ms. Tancredi said that report was made known to the RCO or residents of that community.
So I don't want to go over stuff that's already been addressed.
Okay, then can I just use this platform to thank more than 100 people that signed the petition to have streamlined,
to listen to the community's demands based on the practices that Streamline does in the community
and their quality issues. Thank you for listening.
Thank you. Anyone else wish to testify?
Chair, we have a Marco. Marco, you can unmute yourself and wait to be sworn in.
Okay, I'm unmuted.
Marco, please spell your first and last name and provide us with your address.
Marco Garini. First name is spelled M -A -R -C -O. Last name Garini, G -O -R -I -N -I. Address 509 West
Thompson Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19122. I'm here on behalf of -
You swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Thank you. Please proceed.
Thank you, Chair. I'm here on behalf of South Kensington Community Partners. I wanted to relay our letter of support with the agreement that was just previously described.
We met with the applicant a number of times and gathered community feedback on this project. I'm going to just run through quickly some of the main issues that came out of that process.
in the interest of time sir if it's provided i believe in writing we have a document
that lays that out that it's on yeah yes we have a document and that document will be made part of
the record okay um so i just want to then say that um you know we did get a lot of concern
from the feedback about the history of um concerns about the quality of construction from the
applicant as well as particularly about the environmental concerns and we did reach an
agreement with um the applicant whereby the um the applicant will help us out with um oversight
of the environmental cleanup um which we think will help with the health and safety of the
neighbors but i just want to acknowledge that there is serious concern among those neighbors
um and i think that that concern um should be part of the record um but uh you know we did
ultimately feel that the agreement will protect the near neighbors and their health and safety
in the development of this project. Thank you. Thank you for your testimony. Anyone else?
We have a Vira or Vera. You can unmute yourself and wait to be sworn in.
vera vira last name begin with a k hi this is me again i raised both hands via screen and over
the phone so i don't know if i ma 'am okay chair you can continue okay that was the same person
anyone else that's all chair thank you uh planning committee uh i'm sorry i asked the
board already planning commission chairman and members of the board i want to ask a clarifying
question of the applicant before we give our recommendation 1355 and 1357 are still owned by
the philadelphia redevelopment authority and as of this week there is still let me rephrase that
i'm writing it down uh there is no agreement of sale between that agency and the applicant but
they have included this on their application because they showed on their plan the first
address starting at 1359 germantown is not being theirs so that should be clarified before we i
give a recommendation sure so as i mentioned there are some typos in the notice of refusal and um
The addresses are shown on the survey and all of the addresses that are part of this
application, none of the addresses are owned by the city.
Can you show us the survey that shows that 1355 and 1357 Germantown are not on the survey?
Can you show us the survey that shows that 1355 and 13
Because that page, not having a packet in front of me, it makes it a little harder.
I see Rustin looks like he wants to jump in.
I can get to that in a minute.
Yeah, hang on.
Thank you, Rustin.
No problem.
I can just flip him back through everything.
the site plan did have the first house as 13 or thirst house that's not yours is 1359 hang on
so paula can you see that
can everybody see that i cannot pull okay so here here's the parcel that's not in blue which
is owned by the redevelopment authority that is not included okay they don't list it as street
numbers so that's uh no they get they do it by the opa count numbers
now everybody on zoom knows i read sideways here
okay we're going to give our recommendation then all right thank you
this property is indicated for industrial and commercial mixed use on the comprehensive plan
the civic design review committee reviewed this project they were concerned about the open space
provided for the units at the north end of the site they felt that the height and density on
american street were appropriate and they were concerned for the potential for pedestrians and
trucks to conflict near the loading zone that is proposed off the American Street.
We would recommend to have a proviso stating that 1355 and 57 Germantown are not included on this
application, even though it is in the refusal, to clarify that. And we have no objection. And
by the way, my name is Paula Frumbalo -Burns, and I'm testifying for the Planning Commission.
We're going to affirm that what you said was the truth, correct?
All right, thank you.
uh dawn is there any uh objection to that proviso no objection okay all right mi -2020 -000514
my vote 1307 germantown avenue my vote is yes with the proviso 1355 -57 germantown avenue not
be included in this decision. Yes, we're proviso. Yes, we're proviso. Yes, we're proviso.
Calendar number MI 2020 -000260. Excuse me, excuse me, confessor. Can I ask that we go back first
to 1701 South 24th Street, Calendar 39865.
Mr. Mattione was going to appear just to report
on his efforts to obtain a letter
from the council person's office.
It's Councilman Kenyatta Johnson.
It might be, if Franz Pierre from his office is here,
he might want to testify to.
All right, let's go with that.
Mr. Mattione.
Can you please raise your hand?
good morning good morning Mr. Mattione please identify yourself for the record
certainly Michael Mattione that's m -a -t -t -i -o -n -i
Federal Reserve Bank Building, 100 North Independence Mall, Suite 5A Northwest, Philadelphia, 19106.
We're in a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
Thank you. Please proceed.
I spoke to and exchanged text messages with Franz Pierre at the request of Council Member Johnson.
And I believe he sent a letter, but I never got a copy of the letter.
So I don't know if, in fact, he did send a letter to the Zoning Board.
I don't know if it was a council member or Mr. Pierre.
But I did speak to him a couple times, and we exchanged a bunch of text messages.
but beyond that i don't i've never seen a letter from council member johnson so i don't know if
But beyond that, I've never seen a letter from Council Member Johnson, so I don't know if he...
in fact sent one over excuse me this is sharon actually we do now have a letter from the
councilman um i can read it into the record the above caption case is scheduled to appear before
the zba on wednesday october 7th i am writing to express my support for a continuous based
upon the continuance um he says continuous i assume he means continuance based upon the
concerns raised by the community as well as point breeze community development coalition the court
in coordinating rco for the appeal so he is requesting a continuance we had a hearing last
week mr chairman and um i thought that the testimony was concluded and the letter from the
rco did state that there was support from the nearby neighbors for the application and yep
i recall the case yes all right um i'm going to make a decision we vote this case calendar number
three nine eight six five we do have someone else who wishes to speak on it sorry about that thank
you please identify yourself albert you can unmute yourself and wait to be sworn in
Good morning, Mr. Chairman and council members. My name is Albert Littlepage, 1801 South 17th
Street. I'm the president of the Point Breeze Community Development Coalition.
You swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do, sir.
Thank you, sir. Please proceed.
Okay, so in communicating with, and I understand Mr. Maniani's concerns, but the community
has just expressed total outrage about this project. As you know, because we're experiencing
operating and outreaching the community via Zoom and other alternative measures,
some people have fallen through the cracks. And so what we're asking is for a continuance so that
we can get a little bit more clarity on this project, as well as the provisos that we are
requesting to ensure that the contractor or the developer is going to adhere to the community's
concerns. And so we really just want to have a continuance so that we can get a full participation
of some additional community people to make sure that everyone's satisfied with this new project
that's being developed in the community. Thank you. Mr. Littlepage, last week that you testified
in this case? No, Mr. Chairman, I tried to come on, but for some reason, every time I tried to
do it by phone, it wouldn't allow me to speak. But I was on the call, and then I believe France
asked for the continuance for us. The continuance was for one week, I believe.
Correct me if I'm wrong, Mr. Manion. Yeah, I think what happened was within that matter of that week,
there was a whole lot of concern from the community. I believe that the councilman's
office had received numerous amount of phone calls and even yesterday they were just dissatisfied.
We actually had some problems even with the initial signatures where it looked like they
went to the table already some people were just okay sustained but did not did not the
did not the your community group send a letter of support? Well I think that they were saying
based on the provisos but I think one of the the issues chairman is that when we looked at it we
looked at it from what the provisos would be and I'm not sure whether those concerns have been met
and I think that the councilman along with the the community looked at maybe they needed to see
if there was more participation from the community so I believe Councilman Johnson's office received
the blood of uh of the phone objection in that in that he's testifying as to what the councilman's
office received that's here well we did receive it you do have a letter from the councilman's
office objecting to it i i did not receive a letter from the councilman's office i said that
all right well the chair but it was just read in the i'm sorry i'm sorry it's the little page
here we do have france pierre who may be able to clear this matter up
if you allow him to speak yes you can unmute yourself and wait to be sworn in
good morning can everyone hear me yes please identify yourself yes franz pierre council
member johnson's office that's f -r -a -n -t -z last name pierre p -i -e -r -r -e we're going to
tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes i do yes i do please proceed
yes so giving the feedback from the community um the council member's office decided to request
a continuance um as well as uh you know just so conversations could continue with the developer
you know, just so conversations could continue with the developer and the attorney, as well as
the community, because concerns were not met. I did speak to, I believe, Mr. Marioni. I believe
Marioni. My apologies. I want to make sure I get the pronunciation of names correct.
So I spoke to Mr. Marioni, and I did go ahead and inform him that the council member will
be seeking a continuance in the matter um he informed me that he would get back with his
applicant um and then get back to me in regards to that so he was informed i do regret that i did not
send him the letter of the continuance as well but nonetheless i did send it in uh to the board
and as well as sharing on thursday which was october the first um but as you can see this
the community is split in regards to this so this is why the council member's office is asking
that the conversations continue
so that way a middle ground could be met.
All right.
I just don't understand
how a community group sends a letter in
and then they're saying
that they want to further have further conversation.
Mr. Chairman, I think I can clarify that a bit
because their original letter
was actually a letter in opposition.
The letter speaks for itself
and it says specifically that the board opposed it but the nearby neighbors supported it and
that's what the letter said that is correct but the nearby neighbors were split all right
one at one at a time please uh let me let me ask when do
mr little page maybe you can answer this better when is your next community meeting
you have to unmute yourself
uh i apologize uh our next one is monday i believe um but can i mr chairman may i just
make one mention i think one of the thing in all fairness to everyone after we held the meeting
the developers went out into the community and and and began to get signatures with somebody
that was notarizing uh and i went out there and met with them and asked them what they were doing
So we, in all consideration, allowed them to include that information.
So that's where the confusion actually came in with the support, because it was opposed
in the initial voting process, and I believe that Mr. Matione knows that.
So I would just think that we would be willing to try to hold a meeting with them as soon
as possible with the community if they agree to that.
so mr matto i was ready to vote i'm hearing both from the councilman's office obviously and
there's a rco meeting next monday according to miss little mr little page if not sooner
uh we can hold this until next wednesday uh but sharon correct me if i'm wrong we can say the
record uh the record is closed no the record is open if we're going to hear anything back
um a report back on what happens at the we have to have a result resumed hearing yes resumed
hearing for um for feedback on the results of the community meeting so tanya my next question is to
tanya uh is next wednesday available if not we can whatever you like chair next wednesday
wednesday at 9 30 works for us okay all right mr mattie honi everyone uh hearing will be resumed
on wednesday uh october the 14th at 9 30 a .m at which time we will consider any feedback from the
rco and councilman johnson's office thank you and if i could just mention mr mattie only no posting
is required thank you a little page you heard that it won't be posted yes sir okay okay thank
you all thank you thank you thank you we're on the next one uh chairman
yep we're ready to go for it okay calendar number mi 2020 -000260 1410 south 9th street
and the attorney is verna anastasio
Mr. Anastasia you've been promoted to a panelist you can share your screen
and please wait to be sworn in. Mr. Anastasia you swear a friend to tell the truth the whole
Mr. Anastasia, do you swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, for nothing but the truth?
truth and nothing but the truth?
And do you agree to waive the reading of its refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
And have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents, proof of ownership,
proof of tax compliance, copy of the refusal or referral, photos and plans,
five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, I have.
Also, have you met with the RCO and have a letter?
Yes, I do.
Thank you.
You may identify yourself for the record.
Thank you.
Good morning, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
Vern Anastasio, 1315 Walnut Street, Suite 1006, Philadelphia, 19107.
I'm representing the owners of 1410 South 9th Street, the Wongs.
Frank, could you unmute yourself?
Thank you.
And swear him in.
Mr. Anastasia, you swear for I'm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
I do, sir.
Thank you. Please proceed.
Thank you. 1410 South 9th Street, it was an application for a four -family dwelling
in an existing structure. It's actually already set up as a four -family dwelling.
I'm going to show you four electric meters, four gas meters,
and for electric panels that said upon meeting with the community and with their consultation
we have decided to ask for three family dwelling and let me go over the layout
essentially it'll be one unit per floor
here's the first floor with being a two -bedroom apartment over here's the second floor being a
two -bedroom apartment and the top floor will be a junior one -bedroom apartment the community
we met with the community we have a proof of mailing here we mailed over 125
Pieces of mail. Here's the property in question. Let me pull back. Proof of posting. Interior
photos. And might I add, we also have an existing rental license, excuse me, that's in effect
until 2021 for four units right here as you can see so i'm not quite sure how that all of this
happened but nevertheless we are asking only for the three one unit per floor uh it seems to be
um something that uh the community is going to support i'm going to stop sharing that and i'm
to share this letter of support from passion square civic association as you can see dated
yesterday 6 of october non -opposition this letter was sent to councilman squilla's office very late
in the day yesterday although jennifer hasn't provided us with a letter it's my understanding
that they have no objection either and with that um i'd like my client tracy wong to please raise
her hand and be recognized tracy wong when you get on please identify yourself spell your first
and last name and address um is this the caller number ending in 301 you can unmute yourself if
you're the person can you hear me yes hello hi this is tracy wong t -r -a -c -y w -o -n -g property 1410
south stein street philadelphia pa19147 do you swear and affirm to tell the truth the
truth and nothing but the truth yes please proceed thank you mr chairman ms wong did you hear my
presentation to the board this morning i did and was it true and accurate to the best of your
knowledge yes and would you adopt my presentation as your own sworn testimony if need be
and would you adopt my presentation as your own sworn testimony if need be
yes thank you very much with that Mr. Chairman members of the board I'm going to close my case
thank you any questions from the board no no anyone who wish to testify in this case please
raise your hand no hands at this time your Planning Commission chairman and
members of the board this property is indicated for residential use on the
comprehensive plan the applicant was granted a city issued rental license for
four units accordingly we have no objection to the proposed three unit
building thank you mi -2020 -0002601410 south mine street my vote is yes with the proviso maximum
three units yes with proviso yes with proviso yes with proviso good luck thank you mr chairman that
concludes my business for this morning may i please be excused you may thank you you're welcome
Calendar number MI 2020 -001269, 1501 North 33rd Street.
The attorney is Rachel.
this is sharon this is the case that you have um
you've already decided they will come back on 10 14 at 9 30 to report the results of the rca
Yeah, you did say that earlier, right?
That didn't get really good.
My phone.
Oh, I thought I missed it.
Thanks, Sharon.
Calendar number MI2020 -000865, 1500 Kingsdale Street.
Attorney is Jennifer Bezitlo.
if you're here for this case please raise your hand
jennifer was on earlier for another continuance in another case
jennifer are you out there i'm here hello
Oh, sorry.
Just taking me a moment to use my computer.
Jennifer, you swear to affirm the truth, the whole truth,
nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
And do you agree to wait for the reading of its refusal
and stipulate to its accuracy?
Also, have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents,
proof of ownership, proof of tax compliance,
copy of the refusal or referral, photos and plans,
five days in advance of this hearing?
I did.
Great.
also have you met with the RCO and have a letter? I do. Thank you. Great. Thank you. Please identify
yourself with a record. Sure. Jennifer Bezidlow, B as in boy, A as in apple, Z as in zebra,
Y, D as in David, L as in Larry, O as in Oscar, 4500 Worth Street, Suite D202, Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania 19124. I'm here today representing the owners of 1500
Kinsdale Street who are NYPA Investments. I also have Ronnie Fetterman here
today with me who's a representative of NYPA Investments and the property
manager. I've submitted a packet with the refusal and project information form,
deed, proof that the taxes have been paid, a letter of unanimous support from the
10th Ward Democratic Committee, the copy of the community notification letter, an aerial view of
the property, a zoning map of the area, the OPA records for the property showing that they are
taxing it as a two -unit building, photographs and plans which I would like to incorporate into the
record. All right so let me just share my screen first. All right so 1500 Kinsdale is a a little
less than a thousand square foot rsa 5 zone parcel on the southwest corner of kinsdale and 15th
street which is between 66 and 67th avenues in west oak lane my client purchased this property
from sheriff sale in january of 2020 of this year um it was advertised as a two -unit building and
the tax records indicated that it was also a two -unit building however when they applied for
however when they applied for their rental licenses Ellen and I informed them that it
their rental licenses, L &I informed them that it was only a
was only a one unit building so this is why we're here trying to get everything permitted
when they purchased this property it was in its current configuration which is two units
there's a larger unit on the upper floors Jennifer excuse the interruption are you able to show us
some of your exhibits sorry let me see
This is the refusal, here's the deed, property tax balance, here's the letter from the RCO
of unanimous support. On this note, I just wanted to also note that there is no zoning record
archive. There's no record in the zoning archive of this being a two -unit building. I did talk to
the block captain for this block, who confirmed that it's been used as a two -unit building for
quite some time. And in the letter of support, the RCO also acknowledged that there is a documented
history of this building being a two -unit building. Let me just, I think you probably
want to see the floor plan. So this is the floor plan. There is a studio apartment on
the lower level, and then there is a three -bedroom, two -bath unit on the upper levels. Hold on,
let me just get to the pictures. So this is the lower unit, and these are the
photos of the upper unit. Okay, sorry. Let's see. I was gonna say this
use as a two -family dwelling is not out of character with the neighborhood. Let
me just get to the zoning map. So this is the property right here. And as you can
see, there is RM1 zoning directly across the street, and also on 67th Ave. And
this large RSA3 property, zone property right here, is actually a self -storage
unit. So it's not, in fact, residential at all. Let me just get to that photo.
So in the photo, you can see these are the duplexes that are across the street from this
property, and this is the self -storage unit that's directly across the street, which also
allows for more parking because there is no residential use directly across the street and
many of the other houses in the area do have parking behind their houses. So like I said,
we met virtually and let me just get to the aerial photo too one second so you can see
where this is situated in terms of other multi -families.
so this is our our property right here these properties are two unit buildings
these are also this is also an apartment complex right here um there is also apartments over here
and this is a large self -storage unit and then it's directly adjacent also to broad street with
mixed -use and commercial uses. We met with the 10th Democratic
Committee. They issued a letter of unanimous support. Let me get to that
page so you can see it. They did have a couple provisos which we are happy to
comply with. No parking in the rear of this property because there is an
extension on the back that prohibits that. The management company owners will
be responsible for the upkeep of the outside of the building including shrubbery and bushes uh
they agreed to install safety lighting on the property and also agreed to screen their tent
any potential new tenants um i do believe hillary is on the call as well the councilwoman's office
i don't think has any objections either any other witnesses um if ronnie fetterman um is on the call
if she could raise her hand and just speak and adopt my testimony.
Just speak and adopt my testimony.
Hello?
Hi, Ronnie.
Please identify yourself, spell your name, first name, last name, and give us your address.
Ronna, R -O -N -A, Fetterman, Ethelick Frank, E -G -E -R -M -A -N, 1822 Spring Garden Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19130.
zero the property manager for this property we're in the firm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth yes i do thank you please proceed rana have you heard my testimony here
today yes i have do you believe it to be truthful and accurate yes i do do you adapt it as your own
yes i do thank you thank you questions from the board no no anyone wish to testify in this case
if so please raise your hand here we have hillary from the council person's office you're going to
meet yourself and wait to be sworn in thank you good morning good morning mr chair good morning
mr chair members of the board hillary emerson um e -m -e -r -s -o -n on behalf of councilwoman
sheryl parker we're in a firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do thank
you yes uh just briefly uh mr chair um this is a corner property um with an above grade uh basement
that has a separate entrance um as a council for the applicant noted um it has it's been recognized
It seems to have been recognized that the city is a duplex, according to the OPA description
and the fact that they noted at the RCO meeting that duplex trash fees were being paid.
The neighbors were not opposed and indicated at the meeting that this had been a duplex
for at least 20 years.
So they had no objection to it continuing to be so.
I emailed with Jennifer about provisos. I know a couple of the ones that the RCO mentioned I
don't believe are enforceable by the board, but we would like to see, sorry, my co -worker is waking
up. We would like to see a proviso with no parking in the rear due to the extension on this property,
also that trash he stored um in the rear of the property um the lighting uh the safety lighting
being installed and a certificate of occupancy um being obtained in nine months because i don't
know when when this was converted way back i don't know that it was necessarily done to code
so we just want to make sure that it is the code
thank you anyone else this is sharon can i just say that um hillary's um description of the
allowed provisos was good except the installing safety lighting front back inside a property
it is it's so vague that our the that ellen i would have no means of enforcing it
it might be better as a um an agreement between the applicant and the rco um i'll just add that
after speaking with my client they have they are planning on doing improvements to the exterior of
the property and have no issue with installing the lighting um i can work with hillary to just
confirm that in email i think we already actually did confirm it in email and happy to continue to
work with them on that and that is that is fine for us thank you thank you anyone else
would like to testify in this case please raise your hand
no hands at this time thank you planning commission
good morning this is paula brumbalo burns this property is indicated for residential use on the
comprehensive plan we feel that this represents an overuse of the property accordingly we recommend
and that the requested variants not be granted.
Calendar number MI -2020 -000865 -1500 Kinsdale Street.
My vote is yes with the proviso.
No parking in rear of property.
Yes with proviso.
Yes with proviso.
Yes with proviso.
Good luck.
Thank you.
Calendar number MI 2020 -000273 -1701, South 24th Street.
I thought that was in that case continued.
I'm not sure.
I'm sorry, which did you call?
1701 South 24th.
Yes, you've already considered that.
I sent a text message.
Sorry about that.
Go to number 6.
Thank you.
Okay, down to number MI2020 -000047203 Diamond Street.
Thank you to an attorney as Meredith.
Meredith, good morning.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do, yes.
And do you agree to waive the reading of its refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
I do, yes.
Also, have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents, proof of ownership,
proof of tax compliance copy of the refusal referral photos and plans five days in advance
of this hearing i sure did thank you also have you met with the rco and have a letter
yes to all thank you you may proceed okay uh adam adam ben and logan at this time if you
want to just hit the raise hand button so that uh we can get you involved
while we're waiting. My name is Meredith Ferliger of Dilworth Paxson,
F -E -R -L -E -G -E -R, 1500 Market Street, Suite 3500E. My client here today is LTD 203 LLC,
represented here today by Adam Perlman, Adam Feinstone, and Ben Reese. We also have with us
here today are architect Logan Dry from KCA Architects. Let me get the packet up.
All right. Before the board today is a proposal that will eliminate a long vacant blighted lot
at the corner of Diamond Street and North Phillips Street in the city's NARS Square
section of North Philadelphia. The properties involved are 203 -209
Diamond Street. So you can see here, this is the corner of Diamond, North 2nd
Street. The board should have an exhibit packet with 16 exhibits that I will
refer to throughout. I'll start first with the details of the proposed
construction. I would ask the board to indulge me today as I do need to be
quite detailed so the board clearly understands what is proposed in light of
the letter we received from the RCO which I will address a little bit later
in the presentation today. The board can refer to the zoning plans at tab 4 which
I do have up on the screen, floor plans at tab 5, and a rendering which I will
start with at tab 6.
The proposal calls for the erection of a four -story structure on the lot
to be used as a multi -family dwelling with eight units.
The new structure meets all of the dimensional requirements of the code
including providing 20 % open area. As you can see in the zoning plans,
which are tab four, although a nine -foot rear yard would be required here along North
Phillip Street, this structure will be set back by 12 feet from the next adjacent lot on North
Phillips Street. As you can see in the floor plans, these eight units are quite large at 1 ,000
or 1 ,100 square feet each, and they include one bedroom, one and a half bath, or two bedroom,
two and a half bath units on the first floor through the fourth floor. Each unit has ample
living space, in -unit laundry, and in -unit trash closets. The cellar level, which you can see up on
the screen, has bike storage, mechanicals, and another designated trash storage area for tenants,
which the commercial trash provider will collect during the week. So at no point is trash on this
property stored on the exterior. It is stored 100 % within the interior of this building.
Now, with respect to the application, we received two refusals.
Now, with respect to the application, we received two refusals.
Because the property is zoned CMX2, a ground floor commercial use would be required where none is provided.
We do submit to a considerable hardship here for a variety of reasons.
First, if we start with the history of this property, which I will bring up at tab 13 and 14,
any remaining structures on these lots were demolished way back in the 60s and they've
remained entirely vacant for the 60 years since. In the last 60 years these lots have not supported
a commercial use. Now let me give you some context which will help explain why commercial use was not
and remains not viable for these lots. As you can see in the zoning map, if we go back for a moment,
this property sits among a variety of zoning classifications which include RSA 5 north along
Phillips Street, CMX 2 north and south on 2nd Street, and east along Diamond Street
is ICMX, I'm sorry, CMX 2 to the east and ICMX to the west, fronting on North American Street,
which is this larger street right here. Now, if you refer to photographs at tab 16, which I will
walk you through, you can get a better understanding of the context of this particular neighborhood.
So starting first, of course, this is the corner here of Diamond and North 2nd Street where all
these trees are is where this proposal is going to be built, hopefully. As you travel east on Diamond
Street, the only commercial uses of note are automotive repair shops not traditionally
associated with a cmx2 zoning classification now if you move farther away east on the property
and you move closer to the intersection of diamond and second street you'll see that the commercial
makeup of the neighborhood does not really change aside from a very small grocer right here at the
corner now if you look across the street from our property you'll see either vacancies or
residential uses again if you move west from our property all towards american street
you'll see that the vac that there are vacancies or you'll you'll start to see some of the more
heavily industrial uses that do face american street now north phillip street directly north
of this property are either, again, the warehouse -type industrial uses, fronting on American,
or two -story single -family dwellings. This picture is replicated if you then travel
south on Phillips Street. Again, you start to see apartment complexes, single -family dwellings,
or just vacant lots. There are virtually no commercial uses within two blocks of this
property aside from auto repair garages which are not traditional cmx2 type commercial uses
the large commercial you the large lots across north phillip street that are zoned i cmx which
you can see here have no evidence of impending development further evidence of the lack of
commercial viability in this area can be found in the city zone maps if you refer now to tab
which I will bring up, this is a map that reflects the city's commercial
corridors that shows that this portion of Diamond Street here marked by the
blue dot is not considered a traditional commercial corridor. Now if we drill down
even further, you'll see a map that reflects any business license that was
issued within a four or five block radius of this property. The only active license was for an auto
repair shop on North American Street. Now of course that does not mean that there are no businesses
that are simply operating without the required licenses, but this map in conjunction with the
photographs I walked you through do show that there is no pedestrian -oriented commercial use
viability here. Simply put, there is insufficient pedestrian traffic to support a CMX2 type use in
this location. Alternatively, a multi -family use, which is permitted in CMX2, harmonizes
harmonizes with the predominantly residential character of this neighborhood now this hardship
with the predominantly residential character of this neighborhood.
is further supported in light of my understanding that the city planning commission did contemplate
rezoning this area several years ago but that the lack recognizing of course the lack of commercial
uh viability here but for whatever reason they were unable to push that agenda forward
now moving on for a moment from the hardship concerning the commercial use we did also receive
a refusal for the proposed number of units cmx2 would permit five units on this lot where we are
proposing eight so ultimately it's two units per floor as i mentioned the units are large and are
priced affordably for the neighborhood no dimensional variances are necessary to support
the additional three units, and they are proposed to ensure maximum affordability and a variety of
unit types. We do submit these are all the least minimum variances, again, as no dimensional
variances are necessary. Providing a commercial use here is not viable given the lot history,
the predominantly residential nature of this area, as well as the heavier industrial type uses that
do already exist. The additional three units will ensure that these units are
within neighborhood context and will support additional density necessary to
support hopeful future commercial development on the large adjacent ICMX
lots. If these lots before the board today were zoned RM1, the eight proposed
units would be permitted by right based on the lot size. We submit that this will
not increase local congestion given the residential character of this of this neighborhood and the
location in close proximity to public transit. Given the number of existing vacancies in the area
there is still available on -street parking. Furthermore, providing a commercial use in this
location would likely serve to increase congestion given the lack of pedestrian traffic. The developer
did consider whether providing parking in this location would make sense. However, it learned
that it would be unable to secure a curb cut on very narrow Phillips Street, which you can see
quite how narrow that is in this photo, nor would one be supported by the streets department on
Diamond Street. In fact, providing parking here would generate additional refusals.
the proposal will not impair light and air or negatively impact surrounding properties
the proposed structure complies with the requirements of the zoning code
now looking again at the adjacent structures
in the photo i have up on the screen
the adjacent structure on on diamond street is a one -story auto repair garage
that faces 2nd Street and will certainly not be impacted by this new structure.
Now regarding North Phillips Street, a new home was just built several lots away
that will serve to completely block the proposed structure on this property
from any of the two -story homes on North Phillips Street.
It is also important to note that the lot immediately to the north on Phillips Street,
one of these vacant areas around here, likely where this tree is, is owned by the land bank.
So when you consider the 12 -foot yard that this application is providing, in addition to the
vacant land bank lot, our structure will sit back at least 24 feet from the next adjacent structure,
which is this new home you can see in the photograph. The proposal will not place undue
burden on public facilities or utilities, nor will it cause any environmental damage, pollution,
or erosion. The proposal will eliminate a 60 -year blight and vacancy and further serve to revitalize
this area. We submit that the variance complies in full with the provisions of Section 1430380
of the Code, as is further detailed in my Memorandum of Law, submitted at Tab 11.
Now, with respect to the community, we met with NARS Square Community Alliance twice.
We had a preliminary meeting with their leadership and then a full community meeting last month.
Their letter is attached at tab 15, so I will bring that up for a moment to walk you through
Now, given that the letter is opposed to the development, I do need to briefly walk you
through it.
The community expressed its desire for a commercial use and only four residential units, which is less than the code allows for this particular lot.
As I've also argued in detail today, not only is a commercial use not viable, but it would directly conflict with the community's position that it has concerns for parking, which was actually somewhat discussed at the community meeting.
As I've also argued in detail today, not only is a commercial use not viable,
With no pedestrian traffic here, any commercial use in this location would have to be served by additional cars.
Now, we did discuss pricing of the units with the community, which it seemed at the meeting to accept were affordable pricing for the area.
However, it's now asking for less units, which would inherently be significantly larger given the size of this lot, and more expensive.
These are not small units that are proposed by any means.
The letter also makes mention of the demographics of the neighborhood, which is irrelevant to our request.
Also not relevant to the request is the community's request that they prefer single -family dwellings.
The lots are zoned CMX2 and specifically allow multifamily residential use.
Interestingly enough, if single -family homes were proposed, the developer would still need a variance for the lack of ground floor commercial use.
So it would seem the community is not necessarily opposed to no commercial, it's simply just
opposed to this development.
Finally, the community makes note of trash concerns, which I have described to the board
today in the exact same fashion that we described at the community meeting.
Not only is trash stored within a designated area within each unit, but it's then stored
internally within the building until it can be collected by a commercial provider.
I will also note that the vote count is somewhat confusing, as 23 people apparently attended,
but it only reflects that seven people voted in opposition.
The meeting was held via Zoom, so we were not there in person.
Now, we of course certainly respect the community's position, but I believe the case we have made
before the board today does establish that this is a case of true hardship in the way
that the property remained zoned.
The developer is proposing a modest development that will harmonize to the greatest extent possible with the character of this changing neighborhood.
The final point I will make before concluding is that in light of the confusing outcome of the RCO meeting,
my client went door -to -door on North 2nd Street and North Phillips Street, which are directly north of this property, to gauge the neighbor positions.
We did suspect that many of the most immediate neighbors did not attend the RCO meeting.
we were correct Adam would be happy to go into detail if the board desires
about his discussions with some of the near neighbors however I have
supplemented the packet that I originally submitted I sent an email
yesterday with some additional information but I have supplemented the
packet with signatures of eight near neighbors in support and as you can see
these are the immediate neighbors that live on Phillip and North 2nd Street
there were apparently some others who verbally expressed support but were unwilling to sign a
petition. So these eight signatures, in conjunction with the fact that only seven people voted in
opposition, I do believe reflects that there is a difference of opinion in the community
that was just not necessarily reflected at the official RCO meeting.
now at this time i i would like adam just to adopt my testimony before before the board
board asks any questions uh adam perlman are you unmuted yeah i'm here adam have you heard all of
the testimony that i always sorry yeah go ahead please identify yourself name and address
uh adam perlman i'm the uh one of the owners of 203 -209 diamond street address is 910 north
17th street uh 19130 we're gonna affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes sir thank you thank you adam have you heard all the testimony and information that i've offered
before the board today yes and would you agree that that testimony was true and accurate and
you adopt that testimony as if it were your own yes thank you thank you questions from the board
no no anyone wish to testify in this case if so please raise your hand my vote was no
It wasn't a vote, he meant to say he has no questions.
Here we have Sloan Foulkes from the council person's office.
Thank you, Mr. Foulkes.
Good morning, Chairman DiCicco, ZBA Board. Sloan Folks, Office of Councilwoman Maria Quinonez Sanchez, Room 508 City Hall.
Good morning Chairman DiCicco's EBA board.
Sloan Foulkes.
I'm trying to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Yes, I do, sir.
Please proceed.
Yes, the Council, our office received a letter of non -support from the, from the, our coordinating RCO.
Therefore, the Councilwoman is not offering her support for this various requests.
Folks, would you happen to know if the councilwoman and or yourself had seen the signatures on the petition that was circulated by the applicant?
No, sir.
We were at the original, I was at the original RCO meeting that evening on Zoom, but I had not seen the petition, sir.
Do you know, would you happen to know why there were 23 people in attendance, but they only have seven voting in opposition?
uh generally the historically north square uh invites the entire community to the zba meetings
they only request votes from near neighbors so what they do is they take the ads they only take
the addresses of the people who would have been affected uh from the mailing uh to be included
in the vote. Okay, thank you for clearing that up. So therein lies for me a little bit of a dilemma
that according to the petition, there were eight people who are near neighbors who signed in favor
and then there were seven opposed. So it seems to be it's pretty much even. All right. Anyone else
have any questions? This is Adam Perlman. I would also just like to add that all the local residents
that we spoke to two days ago when we went door to door they were within two blocks of the property
nobody had any issues whatsoever we got eight signatures but spoke to over 20 people
a lot of people didn't want to sign they didn't want their name or address associated with
supporting this even though they're fine with the project i think it's a tight community and
And some people didn't want their name being recorded, supported in this.
Anyone else?
We have a banner.
You can unmute yourself and wait to be sworn in.
You have to unmute yourself.
please state your name
is this oh no this is uh ben reese
sorry are you testifying in this case uh yes i'm i'm one of the owners along with adam perlman
oh okay uh do you have anything new and different to add uh no apologies this kind of it clicked
me through okay no problem okay okay uh oh god anyone else anyone out there who wishes to testify
please raise your hand no chair you can proceed okay planning commission
this is paula brumbalo burns with the planning commission this property is indicated for
commercial use on the comprehensive plan we believe that the applicant has shown why the
required commercial use would not be successful at this location accordingly
we have no objection to the applicant not providing commercial on the first
floor thank you MI -2020 -000047 203 -209 Diamond Street my vote is yes my vote is
yes my vote is yes good luck thank you one more thing there is another case that i was supposed
to have today that i realized was not continued earlier uh before i go i just want to make sure
that tanya i sent you two emails on this one it's and i have everything we need okay thank you
you're welcome did we already announce they would be continued tanya i know i have everything when
we get to it i'll i'll announce it okay thank you thank you if i'm not mistaken it's the next case
2458 yes okay continue hold on confessor seven uh case page seven and eight are continued no page
nine seven and eight are continued to have been continued now we'll go to page nine
i believe this is the one meredith is talking about yes mi 2020 that's 000866
2450 ingersoll street request for continuance
2450 Ingersoll Street.
Request for continuance?
Thank you.
So we'll go to page 10,
confessor.
And this is Sharon again, and can I say
that I have no record of having received
any exhibits on the
case listed as number 10?
Okay, you want to call her up
is Baditsa Khadijo, calendar number
MI2020
000461.
is there anyone okay let's continue okay uh if the applicant or attorney is here for that they
can come forward for edgemont anyone here regarding 2610 edgemont street
no one no thank you we'll go to number uh page 12
okay calendar i'm sorry professor i keep interrupting you um i want to say on number
12 we received a request from the applicant's um attorney to withdraw the appeal
so i guess we could just if we could just read it into the record and announce
it is withdrawn i'm sorry i was muted i had mi -2020 -000250 -3415 hamilton street is withdrawn
we now go to page 14. uh how about uh page 11 uh pete price street that was continued i believe
okay let's continue i apologize page 14 calendar number mi 2020 -000256 4827 north 7th street
and this is sharon again again i have no record of having received
continue okay is there anyone or attorney or applicant out there regarding 4827 north 7th street
no thank you so mi -2020 -000256 -4827 north 7th street is continued
number 15
okay calendar number mi 2020 -000259
Rubicam Street
William Boni
William Boni
are you the
an attorney or applicant for this case
I'm the owner of the property at 5206
Rubicam Street
this application
is a permit for a
use for an unnecessary surface parking with three parking spaces size and location as per plan
sir uh do you swear or firm to tell the truth the whole truth for nothing but the truth
uh yes i do okay have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents proof of
ownership proof of tax compliance copy of the refusal or referral photos and plans five days
an event of this year yes have you also met with the rco and have a letter yeah i submitted the
letter too thank you please identify yourself for the record uh my name is uh william boney
i live uh address is 5206 rubicon street bill apa 19144 and your last name is spelled b -o -n -e -y
that is correct thank you you're welcome okay please proceed sir um this particular property
i live by the street from the property uh before it was a lot it was a home and a home corner fire
and we had the um the apartment put the fire out once the fire was put out the property become
to a wilderness and i took care of the property for 20 years kept it clean kept up the park
and now the kids that play there uh had a garden area as well though uh this went on for many many
years and then the drug uh dealers started coming there and they want to put the folding chairs up
there and start doing drugs out which took a lot so me and the neighbors got together and we put
our car there to stop that and it did stop that they went away all together with that though you
know so i continue on parking the cars there for support of the neighborhood as well though
So I continue on parking the cars there for support of the neighborhood as well, though.
The neighbors that supported me with the car parking, they died.
I'm the only one left in this situation that continue on parking there and continue on with the garden and keep it clean up the park.
For 20 years, I did this.
You know what I mean?
And I'm saying I did all I could do, you know, taking the trash, the dead dogs, the cats, the rats, when the snow and everything like that.
I did all I could do to maintain that property all in many years, though, you know, and I'm just asking the board, you know, to grant me the zoning to continue on to have a safe area for our neighborhood as well.
I've been supported by the RCOs here.
I have a letter of support there.
I've been supported by another RCOs on Jackson and Wayne Avenue who support me.
The neighbors support me.
I mean, the whole neighborhood knows what I've been doing for 20 years.
And they and my point all the way, though, you know, so I give my heart to what I'm doing.
I like to continue on with what I'm doing as well.
and just make the neighborhood safe and as possible can.
We have a lot of crime in the neighborhood so far as shooting, dope,
and stuff like that in the neighborhood.
And I am one advocate that's trying to support the neighborhood
to say this won't go on.
So we need the children to play and have a safe haven for everyone
in the area as well.
Mr. Boney, you don't own this property, correct?
I own the property, yes, I do.
You do own it.
I own it, and I went to the share of sale, and I bidded on it, and I paid for it.
I had the taxes I paid on there.
I had the share of sale application here that I paid, and we got all the documentation.
I had in front of me as well, though, and I submitted to the board.
All right.
I'm looking at our notes here, and it says the OPA, the Office of Property Assessment
says it's owned by antonio bevins no it's owned by me okay yeah the d's with the share sale
we have a tax cert we have a tax certification yeah that's that's on the page too
jaron or tanya who have that in the file yeah i submitted a tax form um the d's i own everything
like that i have i submit all that to the off to the board it's difficult to check on this
he submitted several emails each with several um i can bring it up i believe that he did submit
the tax cert but it'll take me a couple minutes to confirm okay we'll wait um all right thank you
thank you sir uh in the in the meantime any questions from the board no no no is there
anyone else who would like to testify in this case if so please raise your hand
chair i have charles richardson from the council person's office thank you good morning mr
richardson good morning mr chair charles richardson from the office of councilwoman cindy
bass 312 city hall do you swear and affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
i do thank you please proceed i actually have a question for mr bonnie because we received no
communications with regard to this property at all from either he or the RCO. So I just need to
find out what RCO was it that was the coordinating RCO for this property? RCO was the 49ers. Her
name is Roslyn. Yeah, and what's happening, I notify Roslyn about the council and everything
like that so on the paperwork she has here that um the uh so far as the um cindy bass is the is
a coordinator of the community like that and what she did when i first uh approached her i told her
what would have to be done and she said i'll take everything for you know to me and i notify
everybody for you like that so when she notified me for the meeting i thought maybe some you know
maybe you guys might have been there but nothing nothing happened like that but you know so she
has you down at the at the bottom as saying that you know you know what's going on so i'm just going
by what she told me and she handled the meeting all together was this a zoom meeting or what this
was this an in person meeting we met at 49 71 um it's a playground there uh the playground there
we met there and uh she she just took full control though you know me and i i contact uh nathan from
the zoning board, and I told Nathan that, you know, I sent Roslyn information about the zoning,
and she said she will take care of everything. So it's all new for me, you know what I mean,
what's going on. I just try to follow directions that would give it to me, and she just, you know,
she sponsored everything herself, though, you know, and just took charge. Okay. Mr. Chair,
If you guys do have a letter of support from the Wakefield 49ers for this variance, then we will support.
uh, for this, for this, uh, variance, then we will, uh, support. But, uh, as I said,
we didn't receive no information about it at all. So, you know, so we're kind of left in the dark
at this moment. All right. Thank you. Um, again, I'll shower an end or Tanya. Do we have a letter
from the RCO? Again, it's going to take quite a while to go through everything to identify it. I
did, I did confirm that the tax. Hold on, sir. Mr. Bonnie, hold on. Okay. Uh, yeah, I see the tax
sir yeah so you see i have on the screen that he is the current owner it's updated online
and there is no tax balance it's actually they owe him they owe you a dollar and five cents go
get it i'm going to take the 105 all right um all right thank you anyone else would like to
testify in this case if so please raise your hand no other hands chair thank you planning commission
if you're looking for the letter it's i4 get on a letter here i4 and i have another letter
from the rco as well is sondra jackson who supported me as well the rco only having it
okay we're going to wait for the planning commission's right okay okay i saw the letter
in his packet um chairman and members of board this property is indicated for residential use
on the comprehensive plan it appears that this driveway was put on a vacant lot without the
benefit of permits. Accordingly, we recommend that the requested variants not be granted.
MI -2020 -000259 -5206 Rubicam Street. My vote is yes. My vote is yes. My vote is yes.
My vote is yes. And can I say, if he hasn't already received one,
will send a letter of the rco letter of support to mr richardson thank you okay mr bonnie everything
is approved and again i apologize i think i may have interrupted the vote
nope we got it okay thank you okay calendar number mi 2020 -000864
Vine Street
Is anyone here for
Vine Street? Joseph Consol
I believe is the attorney
But he has to
raise his hand
council you're out there i'm here my hand was up here i am okay at the last minute
you swear a friend to tell the truth the whole truth for nothing but the truth
i do and do you agree to wait the reading of its refusal and stipulate to its accuracy
i do also have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents proof of ownership
proof of tax compliance copy of the refusal referral photos and plans five days in advance
of this hearing i have great also have you met with the rco and have a letter i did
uh proceed thank you uh good and morning board uh last but not least joe consul here um
from consul madison llp that is one west third street suite 204 media pennsylvania
1 -9 -0 -6 -3. I'm here on MI 2020 864. The property is 6147 Vine Street. It's 1 ,287 square feet in the
middle of the block between 61st and 62nd Street on the north side of Vine. The property owner is
Divine Brothers LLC. Their representative, Nathan Tolchinsky, is here with me on this Zoom
hearing. Background on the property, a man called Daniel Edwards owned the property prior to the
current owner. He had applied for this permit in October of 2019. He passed away at the beginning
of the pandemic, and while he did have an RCO meeting, he didn't make it in front of you guys.
Divine Brothers LLC took the property over subject to the existing debts and
by the time the dust settled they had to reapply for the variance and here we
are. The request is for use of the building
The request is for use of the building as a three unit.
The layout, there's a view of the block.
The layout, I'll pull up right now.
Here's the layout.
We have a first floor unit, which is a one bedroom, a second floor, one bedroom, and a third floor, which is a studio.
there are four other vacant properties on the block and three other three or four unit buildings
on the block there is ample common area trash storage in the front of the first floor here
accessible by all units there are no living quarters in the basement we can't counselor
counselor we can't see your screen it's not coming up no all right let me try
that the share again thank you Tom I was uh yesterday I kept asking and today I
just follow cocky I guess let's see so start share someone have to allow me to
share see you see this works that do it yes yes so here is the photo of the
block and I'll come down to the plans now and just quickly reiterate we've got
a first floor with a one -bedroom a second floor with a one -bedroom and a
third floor with a studio the basement does not contain living quarters and
there is a common area trash storage accessible by all units at the at the entryway to the building
we met with the RCO on September 16th affordability and cleanliness were their two main
takeaways the property owner can speak to his mission in a second but he invests only in this
part of the city with the goal of creating safe clean and beautifully affordable units the rents
will be $850 for the one bedrooms and $700 for the studio. The applicant has had a lot of success
with this model. We had a well -attended virtual meeting that ultimately yielded resounding support
from the community members and ultimately the RCO itself. That letter is attached here.
Well, it was emailed over. I have it in my packet. I'll pull it up. It was emailed over,
I believe yesterday morning directly to you guys from the RCO. Now, if I could call
the representative of the owner, if you could raise your hand, Nate, let me know when you're up.
You can unmute yourself and wait to be sworn in.
Yep, I'm here.
Chair?
Can we swear?
Yeah, before you do that, Mr. Consul, could you enlarge that, please?
Yes, sir.
Thank you.
Gentleman who was your witness, please identify yourself, spell your name and address.
Spell your name, give us your address.
Nathan Tulchinski, T -U -L -C -H -I -N -S -K -Y, 1401 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA.
You swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
Absolutely.
Good morning, Nate.
First of all, do you adopt the testimony that I gave regarding this property as truthful and accurate?
And do you adopt it as your own testimony?
Okay, great.
Could you very briefly just speak about this property, its history, and your plans for
Just very briefly for the board.
This property specifically took over within the last eight months, and like Joe said,
we took over the debt.
The prior owner had passed away, and he also had the same plans that we do, converting
it into a three -unit building.
I'm here to continue that experience for the last five years doing the same thing throughout
19139, 19143, other parts of West Philadelphia, and that's the goal of the project.
Okay, thank you, Nate.
I have no further testimony.
Thank you.
Any questions from the board?
Anyone else wish to testify?
anyone else who would like to testify in this case please raise your hand
no hands at this time thank you planning commission
no hands at this time thank you planning commission
follow brumbelow burns with the planning commission this property is indicated for
residential use on the comprehensive plan accordingly we have no objection to the
granting of the variance thank you mi -2020 -000864 my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes
good luck thank you board you okay believe we on charles street is that correct yes yes
if i could i'll mention that i've received a continuous request from the own uh the attorney
steve pollack okay uh is there anyone else is there anyone who uh objects to a continuance on
this case 7246 charles street no hand no hands so mi -2020 -000237 7246 charles street is continued
and that completes the morning list do we have any unfinished business
not on my end chair
i'm sorry confessor see you guys this afternoon right see you too everyone
all righty take care take care bye
frank d chico i'm the chair of the zoning board of adjustment
i'll be participating
frank you muted yourself sorry about that no worry good afternoon everyone my name is frank
dichico and i'm the chair of the zoning board of adjustment i'll be participating in today's
hearing along with our board secretary confessor plaza and board members mr thomas hollowman and
Mr. James Snell. Board Administrator Tanya Sumpkin and Board Attorney Sharon Saleta are also in
attendance. For those of you who haven't yet participated in one of our virtual hearings,
I will go through some of the basics of what you can expect. First, we will be administering oaths
to individual participants prior to their testimony. Second, for the benefit of anyone
participating by phone, we ask that attorneys and witnesses identify themselves prior to speaking
or testifying. Third, we like to advise everyone that this proceeding is being recorded and that
by participating you acknowledge your agreement to be recorded. Fourth, anyone participating by
phone, if you wish to testify, you must raise your hand by hitting star nine and then star six to
unmute yourself i will repeat for anyone participating by phone if you wish to testify
you must raise your hand by hitting star nine and then star six to unmute yourself finally
to enter an appearance statement call google 267 -270 -5548 and leave your email address
and the address of the property at issue i will repeat to enter an appearance statement
call google 267 -270 -5548 and leave your email address and the address of the property at issue
with that said and before mr plaza
one is requesting if anyone is requesting a continuance or withdrawal of the appeal listed
of appeals listed for the two o 'clock session today is is everyone hearing me yes all right
because i see i was telling me i'm mooted but i'm not okay all right anyone out there who was
requesting a continuance or withdrawal please raise your hand
chair we have sloan folks
thank you mr folks please identify yourself and you're still under oath from earlier this morning
good afternoon chairman de chico and zba board just uh confirming that we sent a letter
requesting a continuance of appeals number uh three nine three one three um four seven three
three leopold street unfortunately i don't have the page number no problem mr folks we did receive
that request the attorney on that case is um ryan bolin and i believe he may want to speak um in
in response yes miss thank you very much mr letter we um we did speak to mr boland uh we're
response yes miss thank you very much mr letter we um we
trying to schedule a meeting with the with the coordinating rco within the next couple of weeks
so we're hoping that maybe uh within the next month we can be rescheduled uh they will have
done their due diligence and they can be heard by the zba is mr boland on okay chair we have ryan
ryan you can unmute yes ryan boland 1801 market street philadelphia pennsylvania
i represent the owner yeah i just need to swear you in you're swearing for him to tell the truth
the whole truth nothing but the truth yes i do thank you please proceed i i represent the owner
and we do not oppose the request of the councilwoman to continue this matter so that we can
have even more community engagement. We already completed our RCO meeting prior to the pandemic
which was back in February but we're happy to continue the process. Thank you. Anyone else
out there who wishes to speak on this case that's being continued? Any objections?
mi -2020 -000693 -4733 liper street is continued
chair we also received a communication from councilwoman gauthier's office
saying that she was expecting a continuance for it's number nine on your list
5327 locust street space two the appellant and thank you the appellant or and or the attorney
for the appellant uh if you're on and you agree with the continuance please let us know
okay hands okay mi -2020 -0002575327 locust street is continued
here on number three on your list it has no date is i'm sorry no address is 2319 north 2nd street
request for the continuance by the applicant and it's continuing a little bit i'm sorry
is it okay now no i'm getting feedback i don't know if it's you or me
I'm breaking up real bad to you.
Go out and come back.
how about now
that's good thank you good thank you you were saying 2319 north second is a request for
continuance yes that has been continued until january 13th at 3 30 okay so mi that's 2020
does 000255 2319 north second street is continued and then we have a request on number 13 we
received um an email from joe consol's office requesting um to withdraw this appeal
pardon me mi -2020 -0008292036 east madison street is withdrawn
any other requests for continuances or withdrawals i'm sure i have here number 11 on your list
request from the attorney of record olav sakalov to continue as the attorney moving party
okay mi -2020 -000828 3319 north 17th street
there's a request for attorney moving party is there anyone who wants to speak on this case
i have charles richardson charles richardson you're gonna meet yourself
uh good afternoon mr richardson you're still under oath please identify yourself on the record
please identify yourself for the record good afternoon mr chair uh charles from the office
good afternoon mr chair uh charles richardson from the office of county
of councilwoman bass um i was actually uh calling on behalf of 59 59 51 kimball which is another one
but uh 3319 north 17th street uh we have no objection to it being continued
attorney moving party uh okay the other one was kimball avenue kimball avenue 59 51 okay this is
number 10 on your list. Number 10 on our list. And I have it marked as not having received any
exhibits. That case will be continued. Well, they have not reached out to the RCO. I know
Sandra Brodus is trying to get on and she said that no one has reached out to her and no one
has reached out to our office. So would you like it continued or we would like to see it dismissed
if they're not going to respond well in deference to everybody because of some of the challenges
we're having and reaching out we've been giving everybody a little extra time so I think again in
the interest of fairness we'll continue this case okay MI -2020 -0001465951 Kemble K -E -M -B -L -E
avenue is continued no more hands chair um but i do i don't know if it was mentioned number 16
on your list but we call that one i don't think we did our attorney steve masters has requested
a continuance to amend the application he's continued until january 13th at 9 30 okay mi -2020
i'll repeat that number again mi -2020 -000830 1344 north 5th street is continued what is that date
january 13th at 9 30 a .m january till january 13th at 9 30 a .m thank you all right and chair have
you already read number 18 into the record there was a continuance request from Alan
Nockamson. No we did not but I'll do it now. MI -2020 -000841 -1041 South 53rd Street. It's
continued. That's all on my end. Okay let me get my paperwork straight here again.
I think I got it right.
So number five, I think we read the 3248 North Carlisle.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
Scratch that.
All right.
Bob, with that, we can begin the first case, Mr. Viplaza.
Okay. MI 2020 -001212 -9165, Rajav.
uh chair we have michael malloy michael are you the attorney for this
yes hi good evening good afternoon this is Michael Malloy of Obermeyer Redmond Maxwell
Hipple for the applicant Michael are you swearing a firm to tell the truth the whole truth for
nothing but the truth I do and do you agree to waive the reading of its refusal and stipulate
to its accuracy? I do. Have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents,
proof of ownership, proof of tax compliance, copy of the refusal or referral, photos and plans
five days in advance of this hearing? We have. Also, have you met with the RCO and have a letter?
It is in the exhibit packet, yes. Thank you. You may proceed. Thank you very much. So we're here
today on a relatively easy zoning variance application for 9165 Ridge Avenue. And 9165,
if I could share my screen here, let me see. 9165 Ridge Avenue is an existing
9165 Ridge Avenue is an existing police and fire credit union building located right on the border of Philadelphia and Montgomery County at Northwestern, on Ridge Avenue, between Northwestern Avenue and what's called Pep Boys Avenue.
And I think that's what I'm saying.
it's an existing police and fire credit union and the signage that you see in front of you
this existing 20 -foot police and fire credit union sign is already installed and we're here
today to talk about the three by ten illuminated portion of that sign the illuminated portion of
sign conflicts with the ordinance or the the code i'm sorry in a couple different ways first it's
within 200 feet it's about 100 feet away from northwestern avenue and it's about 150 or it's
about 125 or within 150 feet of the residential areas across the street from the police and fire
credit union. So there are concerns about illumination. So we met with the RCO and the
RCO agreed to support the application with some conditions and that would be that the
illuminated portion of the sign or whatever message the bank intended to send would only
change once every 30 minutes. And that was in deference to concerns that Ridge is a busier
Street and we don't want to cause any sort of distraction for customers or potential drivers
going along Ridge Avenue. Further, that it would dim at dusk. So as the day gets longer,
the illumination will die down. And then finally, it will turn off between 10 p .m. and 6 a .m.
So the community was in support of this. And as you can see, it's a relatively commercial area.
that's the pep boys that you see at pep boys avenue um and then as we if i can scroll down
here scroll down that's uh looking um toward the east uh up pep boys avenue um the residential uh
is beyond that thick uh border of of trees so you have a significant buffering from the residential
across the street and the proposed sign.
And it's worth noting that the sign location
makes the sign perpendicular
and not facing the residential area.
So there will be no glare.
And then that's the view from the sign
facing Northwestern Avenue.
And that's about a hundred feet.
So the community was in support of the variances.
And that is the information.
I have Jeff Carson, who is a representative of CitySign, and I'm sorry my dog has decided
to howl a little bit of the background, is a representative of CitySign, who's here on
behalf of the applicant, the Police and Fire Credit Union, and he can verify what I've
said today is true.
Would you please raise your hand so we can acknowledge you?
Okay, as an officer, Court will take your word that your client would adopt your testimony.
I apologize about that. I'm sorry. I thought Mr. Carson would be joining us.
No problem. No problem. Questions from the board?
No. No. No.
I just want to make sure I have this straight, Mr. Malloy.
He said illuminate the signage.
The message will change once every 30 minutes.
That is correct.
and uh illumination uh from was that the illumination will be restricted uh dim at dusk
yeah i'm not sure how we can do that i'll get that in but the other one was 10 10 p .m to 6 a .m
that's correct sir is that completely off or is that just yeah yes yes they they felt it
they wanted it off in the in the later part of the evening yes okay sharon do we have any issues with
the dusk.
I don't know if Sharon's on.
i don't know if sharon's on yeah no i am on um i'd like it to be a little more specific could we just
Yeah, no, I am on.
I'd like it to be a little
pick a time well you know it's my understanding that the the sign adjusts to the actual light
during the day so uh so as the as the day gets um and and jeff jeff is has confirmed that he is
on he may be on the phone um i don't know if we want to take a look or we can't if there's any
way to take a look at who's on the phone joined us but but uh the the sign actually reacts
electronically to the the lighting so it will automatically start to dim and adjust um and that
depends you know i on the on the various times of the year because that can that can vary but the
sign is programmed, I believe, to do that. So it sort of adjusts anyway.
Can you repeat to me the exact language that you were requesting?
The community group wrote,
will begin dimming at dusk so i believe you could you could write it in in a sense that the um uh
you could say the uh the illumination um will lower in accordance with the
sunlight or the seasonal light
it's sunlight you may have a cloudy day um i don't know i think it's just too ambiguous for
us to do that one that's just they just don't want it they don't want it to be and so maybe
maybe we're not i know what they want i'm just trying we're trying to figure out the correct
language oh sure signs still be dimmed during evening hours will that work sure that's that's
for me yes thank you sharon thank you all right uh anyone else wish to testify on this matter
in this case please raise your hand
no hands up thank you planning commission
uh good afternoon chairman uh members of the board ian litwin with planning commission staff
that's i -a -n l -i -t -w -i -n and ian do you swear to firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing
but the truth yes i do thank you please proceed uh the proposed sign with the negotiated provisos
will not have a negative impact and will support the redevelopment of the commercial carter
accordingly we have no opposition to granting the variance thank you mi -2020 -001212
9165 ridge avenue my vote is yes with the following provisos illumination uh to be
turned off between 10 p .m and 6 a .m messaging will change once every 30 minutes
and illumination will be lowered in uh during evening hours
did i leave anything out yes we provide them yes yes we provide though yes we provide though
okay next one up thank you mi 2020 dash 000 876 965 frankfurt avenue
I have Adam Laver. Adam, you've been promoted to a panelist.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman and members of the board.
Mr. Laver, you swear on the firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the
truth?
Yes, Mr. Plaza, I do.
You agree to waive the reading of his refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Okay also have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents, proof of ownership,
proof of tax compliance, copy of the refusal or referral, photos and plans five days in advance
of this hearing? Yes I have and a copy of that electronic submission should be up on the screen
for all to see right now. Thank you. Have you met with the RCO and have a letter? We have and we have
two letters of support from the coordinating RCO and also from a thank
you you may proceed thank you very much I okay I was sworn in Adam labor of
blank room one Logan Square on behalf of Patrick Buckley and Vince's pizzeria
tenants at the subject property 965 Frankford Avenue
tenants at the subject property 965 frankfurt avenue the subject property and i have a photo
up for you to see is an existing new construction uh multi -family apartment building with ground
floor vacant retail commercial you can see that here along frankfurt and richmond the vacant
retail commercial the property is located in the cmx 2 .5 zoning district right across the street
from the fillmore theater which i know is well known to members of the zoning board and i'm just
going through a couple photos so that you can see that in context the proposal before you is to fit
out a 2500 square foot ground floor space for a pizzeria with seating for approximately 75 people
it's nice in the midst of this pandemic to represent a business like vincent's pizzeria
which is a family -owned business with roots in philadelphia that go back to 1946
they really have a stellar stellar reputation and uh have been serving philadelphians
since that time and more recently throughout the pandemic. Patrick Buckley
is here with us and Patrick is very excited to bring this family
institution to Fishtown. In this instance variance relief is required for two
reasons. Parking for the commercial use is required under the code and is not
possible to due to the constraints of the existing site in addition the
minimus relief is required as the existing commercial space falls just
short of the required 30 feet in depth this property as you can see in the
photographs is existing and I would submit members of the board that the 25
feet and change I'm quite close to the 30 foot requirement and more importantly
than that that the active use of this space along Frankfort Avenue absolutely
meets the spirit of the zoning code and the actual intent beyond behind that
requirement for 30 feet depth of commercial space regarding the parking
it's important to note the presence of public parking associated with the
Fillmore within feet of our property right across the street and Fishtown
Neighbors Association in their letter of support specifically note the presence
of parking. Parking is a huge issue in Fishtown and it speaks volumes, I would
submit, that the coordinating RCO is stating that in this instance this is
appropriate grounds for variance relief and that there are opportunities for
parking for those who need it, particularly at times when the Fillmore
is not in use. The project has been reviewed by Council President Clark's
office. The proposal, as I stated at the outset, is supported by the Fishtown Neighbors Association
as well as the Fishtown Kensington Area Business Improvement District. The proposed operations
would be full service seven days per week, approximately 4 p .m. to 10 p .m., possibly until
11 p .m. on the weekends. As part of this existing new construction building there is commercial
trash storage on the interior and as a long -standing business in Philadelphia Patrick knows the
importance of regular commercial trash pickup for a business such as this. It's nice in a time when
jobs are so in demand that Vince's pizzeria will provide 15 to 20 jobs on site in the community.
We would respectfully submit that the authorization of variance relief does not alter the
character of the neighborhood or the district in a negative way, will not be detrimental to
the public welfare, and will serve an important function. The proposal fits into the surrounding
neighborhood as evidenced by the neighborhood support and speaks to being within the scope and
spirit of the zoning code the variance is requested or the minimum necessary to afford relief
as i stated mr buckley is here and at the appropriate time mr chairman
is prepared to raise his virtual hand and uh hopefully adopt and affirm the testimony that
is prepared to raise his virtual hand and hopefully adopt an affirm
i've offered thank you if you'd like to bring them on now that'd be fine thank you mr buckley
would you please raise your virtual uh hand so that you can i see you now and uh in a moment
uh you should be able to be sworn in william patrick buckley
hi there hi good afternoon mr buckley do you swear and affirm to tell the truth the whole
truth nothing but the truth i do thank you please proceed thank you mr buckley uh have you had the
opportunity to hear the full presentation that i've offered this afternoon i did and would you
adopted a permit as your own i do thank you um questions from the board no no no anyone who
would like to testify in this case please raise your hand at this time sure i have john geating
john you can unmute yourself and wait to be sworn in please identify yourselves by your
first and last name and your address for the uh stenographer sure yeah so sorry i have my baby son
here who may no problem this is like a family affair anymore the zoning here
i'm john i'm a neighbor here in fishtown and uh i'm speaking here in my personal capacity i am
a board member of both fishtown neighbors association in the fishtown bid uh here but
i'm today i'm speaking in my in just my personal capacity all right i just want to swear you in
Do you swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yeah, I do.
Thank you.
So I think, you know, this case is a no -brainer.
It, you know, it's a brand -new building that it's in,
and the building itself was not required to have parking.
It's in CMX 2 .5, and, you know, but now the restaurant is triggering the use.
And, you know, I don't know, this stuff doesn't come up so often that, like, you get a chance to talk to city council about it.
And I know that they're kind of the relevant decision makers here.
But I would just like to register that I think it's ridiculous that something like this would still be triggering the zoning variance in 2020.
You know, all over the rest of the corridor, restaurants are just able to open.
Parking is not required.
That was a big part of the 2012 zoning code overhaul that I know you, Chairman Chico, had a lot of involvement in.
And the whole point was, you know, to make it easier to kind of reuse buildings, you know, just like this.
And I don't know. I wish that city council would get rid of this overlay that triggered the variance in the first place.
because it's just a really big waste of time for you know boards like ours they're all volunteer
uh to have to be able to hear uh no -brainer cases like this and have like you know i went
to two different meetings about this it's just ridiculous they should they should get rid of the
overlay um thank you i i can agree to you with you to a certain point i think it's something
obviously you need to discuss with the district council person and when we did that when i did the
the legislation for the commission it was designed hopefully to streamline things as we figured out
we're going to have some bumps in the road uh it things will change as time goes on but thank you
for your testimony anyone else wish to testify in this case no more chair thank you planning commission
uh good afternoon chairman members of the board ian litwin planning commission staff
this use supports the continued redevelopment of the commercial corridor and a lack of parking
will not have a negative impact on the neighborhood accordingly uh we do not oppose granting the
variance thank you very much mi -2020 -000876 965 frankfort avenue my vote is yes my vote is yes
my vote is yes my vote is yes good luck thank you mr chairman members of the board
stay safe have a good afternoon when's your grand opening as soon as possible
you sound like a politician okay have a good day
MI 2020 -000255.
I don't have an address for this one.
Did we skip over Torsdale Avenue?
So this one was continued probably.
I don't got no address.
Okay, I apologize.
MI2020 -000831 -6910, Charlesdale Avenue.
no hands up on this one okay all right so mi -2020 -000831
yeah it's popped up i don't know okay robert paladino are you the applicant
Hi, can you hear me?
Oh, hi. Sorry about that. I was a little unclear with the hand raising. My apologies. I am the applicant, yes.
And the owner is also here.
Excuse me. This is Sharon Saleta. I believe Mr. Palladino is the architect.
The applicant is always considered to be the owner.
Oh, I'm sorry. My apologies.
Thank you. Thank you.
The owner's there?
Yes, I'm promoting both to panelists.
Can you still hear me?
I logged out there for a second.
Yes, the applicant is...
And the applicant is prepared to present, correct?
Yes, yes.
Nyambi is the owner, Ms. Fuller, and she said she can't be her.
Can you hear her voice?
I can hear her now.
I'm here now.
Okay, Ms. Fuller.
Yes, hi.
Do you work in a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do, yes.
Okay, this application is for an assembly and entertainment of 250 people at first floor in the same building with an existing single -family household living.
At the second floor, no signs on this application.
Ma 'am, have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents, proof of ownership, proof of tax compliance,
copy of the refusal or referral photos and plans five days prior to this hearing yes sir have you
met with the rco and have a letter yes thank you you may proceed please identify yourself for the
record hello everyone my name is niambi fuller i'm here 6910 torsdale um my plan for the space
is to create, I'm sorry? Did we swear her in? Yes. Yes, she was sworn in. Yes. Just spell your full name, please.
Sure. It's N as in Nathan, I, A, M as in Mary, B as in Barney, I. Last name is Fuller, F as in Frank, U -L -L -E -R.
Thank you. No problem.
please proceed okay so my plan for this space is to make it a um an event space for up to 50 people
um just to host uh baby showers bridal showers birthday dinners um and so forth um i did meet
with the um rca on september the first and they there's a non -opposition 100 non -opposition for
on me to proceed with this space.
Okay. What is the RCO? Go ahead, I'm sorry. The RCO, which RCO was it? It's Tocconi Civic Association.
Do we have a letter? Yes. We have a letter, right? Yes.
uh do you have any floor plans any diagrams um yes i have an exhibit i can try to share
my screen if that would be helpful if i can somebody walk me okay i see the little check
one second let me see share screen
Do you have your exhibit package open?
I'm just trying to...
Can you guys see that now?
Are you able to give Rob Polidian from Landmark access to put up the plans?
Yes, he has authority.
Rob could you help me out because I don't know what I'm doing here now we
have it now okay great thank you okay thank you Rob so that here that there
explains pretty much the space with you know tables and chairs for tables and
chairs around the table and it looks like the next one is just a clean
slate with nothing. Rob could you go down to some of the photos now so what you know what it currently
some of the photos now so what you know what it currently looks like that's the
apartment upstairs and this is the space here with the gray and white floor and
white walls and the black area there is the bathroom can everyone see that yeah
Okay. Again that's the upstairs apartment, front room, living room, kitchen, washer and dryer area
in the back. What you're showing us exists now? Yes sir. Yes.
You already made the improvements, right?
In the photograph B, to the left?
Is that a swing?
Yeah, so it's a stationary swing.
It's just, yeah, it doesn't move.
It's just, it's stuck.
All right, I was just, okay.
that's pretty much any questions from the board no no no anyone else who would like
to testify in this case please raise your hand now
no hands chair thank you planning commission good afternoon chairman members of the board
ian litwin planning commission staff this property is indicated for commercial mixed
use on the comprehensive plan uh assembly and entertainment use of this nature is not uh is a
perfectly appropriate use on this section of the commercial corridor accordingly we have no
objection to request the requested variance thank you mi -2020 -000831 6910 toursdale avenue my vote
is yes. My vote is yes. My vote is yes. My vote is yes. Good luck. Next one up. MI 2020 -000 -261 -736 -Churchland.
i have jennifer jennifer bazillo
hello hey jennifer you saw the old from this morning you saw an affirm i'm sorry do you agree
to waive the reading of its refusal and stipulate to its accuracy i do thank you have you emailed
an exhibit packet with the required documents proof of ownership proof of tax compliance copy
of the refusal or referral photos and plans five days prior to this hearing yes great and uh have
you met with the rco and have a letter i do thank you you may proceed great let me just share my
screen quickly. Let me get the right screen to share. Okay, so, um, so, um, Jennifer Bezidlow,
45, excuse me, 4500 Worth Street Suite, D202, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19124. I'm here on
behalf of the owners of 736 church lane uh levi alone and then uh i'm also joined with trina
clark who is the property manager for this property through tcs management she should also
be on the call um i've submitted a packet with the refusal project information form deed tax
compliance letter of support from the penn area neighborhood association a copy of the community
notification letter, aerial views of the property, zoning
archive of New Roy properties, photos, and plans which I would like
to incorporate into the record. Let me just get a photo up of this
property, one second.
All right, so 736 Church Lane is a larger parcel at over
2 000 square feet um with an existing um it should be a semi -detached structure but uh
It should be a semi -detached structure but its other half of the twin had been demolished.
its other half of the twin had been demolished
The existing structure also has over 2 ,000 square feet of space on the inside. This property is
located at the intersection of Church and Crowson which is about a half a block off of Chew Avenue
in the East Oak Wayne neighborhood. My clients purchased this property in May of 2019 and it
was in very rough condition but already divided into the two units and they have
made improvements to restore the building to make it habitable again and
prevent it from being demolished as it's the other half of its twin was. I'm
going to take you to the floor plans. The building is currently divided into two
units. The first floor is a one -bedroom one -bath unit and then the second and
third floors are a bi -level unit which can either be used as a three or four bedroom unit depending
on how you use this front room you might use this as a playroom living room that sort of thing
my client buys these buildings that are maybe in a little rough shape renovates them to a nice
standard but rents them out to the community at affordable rates for the people that live there
I know it's not really a zoning matter, but these units are affordable for
people. The first floor units rented at 825 and the second floor will be 1150
which puts them at affordable for people making under $40 ,000 a year, families
making under 40. Let me just go to the photos again. Let me just make them a
little bit bigger hold on one second okay so that's the front this is either side of the
property this side we do not own which is why there's bushes there this is up and down church
Schleen. This is the intersection of Crowson Street. And as I'll get to in a moment, these
are also multifamily buildings with or mixed use commercial. I'll come back to this photo.
And then the interior, and these are some other, come back to these ones as well. These are the
interior photos. As you can see, they're nicely renovated modern apartments, not luxury apartments,
but modern and well kept units. Let me just go, I'm sorry the dimensions. Okay so as I mentioned
this use as a two -family dwelling was pre -existing but also not out of character with the community.
So we take a look at the zoning map and this is the property right here
and this is church lane and there is large multi -family dwellings on this block as well as
other multi -family zoning nearby and most of what's labeled as residential single family
residential here this is a plain field for LaSalle and this is a large commercial development that I
show you in the aerial photos. So you can see this is our property, this is all
commercial, this is a playing field for LaSalle. In fact if you go to the zoning
archive for the six and seven hundred block of Church Lane, I don't need to
show you necessarily all of these, but in the six and hundred block of Church
Lane there's actually only two properties which are currently zoned for single
family use and all the other properties that face or on the 600 or 700 block of
Church Lane which is between Musgraves and Chew Avenue are either multi -family
some some up to 44 units personal care homes rooming houses commercial uses or
commercial mixed use. So while this property is zoned for single family use, the actual character
of the neighborhood is for multi -family and commercial mixed use property. I just want to
address parking for one second because it is a refusal because this is an RSA 3 zone property.
And go back to this other photo.
So this is our property right here and as you can see these are pretty much all the same houses.
They are over a hundred years old, and when they were constructed, off -street parking
was never considered.
um we could not add off -street parking to this property without demolishing the building
We could not add off -street parking to this property.
and when we talked to the neighbors one of the things they liked best about our proposal was
that we were maintaining the building and upgrading it and making sure we're preserving the structure
so off -street parking really isn't an option i'd also like to point out that while we are only
proposing two units in this building 740 which is the same which is the same exact size and structure
is actually a permitted tripartist. And then 732, which is right here, is a five -person rooming
house, neither of which have off -street parking. So we did meet with the Penn Area Neighborhood
Association, and they have issued a letter of support.
um they were they did ask for a couple of provisos which we are happy which may or may not be
enforceable but we are happy to agree to um they do not want us to ever apply for a rooming house
permit and we are fine with that because that is not um what my what the owner uh does um and they
also did not want us to market to students for the college i'm not sure if that's enforceable
but i did just want to reassure any community members and the board that my client intends
for this to be community housing not student housing and i don't think there are enforceable
i'll yield to sharon on that one okay i'd just like to verbally say on the record that we have
no problem with them no chair not enforceable thank you all right do um any questions we have
client jennifer do you have a client oh yes trina trina clark are you on the phone raise your hand
if you are hello hi Trina Clark please identify yourself spell your first and last name and
address yes my name is Trina t -r -e -n -a my last name is Clark c -l -a -r -k -e the address is uh 107
south second street suite 300 philadelphia pa 19106 we're in the firm to tell the truth the
whole truth and nothing but the truth yes thank you please proceed trina um you're the property
manager for this for this property correct yes all right and you and what is the name of the
property management company you work for it is tcs management thank you and you heard my
testimony here today yes you believe it to be truthful and accurate yes do you
adopt it as your own yes thank you any questions from the board no anyone else
who would like to testify in this case please raise your hand
we have Charles Richardson from the council person office thank you mr.
Richardson, good afternoon and you're still under oath. Good afternoon, Mr. Chair. Councilwoman Charles Richardson from the Office of Councilwoman Cindy Bass, room 312 City Hall. Councilwoman has no objections.
Thank you. Planning Commission.
Good afternoon, Chairman, members of the Board. Ian Litwin, Planning Commission staff.
Although this property is indicated for single family use on the comprehensive plan, this proposal is not out of character with its surroundings.
Accordingly, we have no opposition to granting the variance.
Thank you. MI -2020 -000261. 736 Church Lane. My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
Thank you.
Good luck.
okay uh here we are we are okay mi 2020 -0011602532 west thompson street
I have a Nick Rupert. Nick, are you the attorney for this case?
Or the owner?
I am the owner for the case.
Okay. This, I don't have any, do you swear a friend to tell the truth, the whole truth,
Do you swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
and nothing but the truth?
Professor, let's get Nick to identify himself, your full name.
My name is Nicholas Gruberg.
I live at the subject property 2532 West Thompson Street, Philadelphia, PA 19121.
Tell your last name, please.
It's G -R -U -B -E -R -G.
Thank you.
Confessor, okay.
That's all I have, Chair.
okay should i continue confession to ask if he has uh i apologize i'm all lost here yep
sir have you uh emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents proof of ownership
proof of tax compliance copy of the refusal or referral photos and plans five days prior to this
hearing yes i have also have you met with the rco and have a letter i do you may proceed okay
um all right so thank you all for having me um i really appreciate this opportunity uh so i've
lived in um i've lived in this area pretty much all my life i grew up in francisville and i moved
into this house uh three years ago um i'm gonna try to figure out how to share my screen now
um i guess that's that should be okay let's see is that working
is it working okay um so yeah so basically this has been a great neighborhood to live in
um i'm very you know i love it uh a few maybe a week after moving into this house
uh my neighbors across the street put a letter into my mailbox um basically welcoming to the
neighborhood uh asking me if i've settled in nicely and most importantly that they had taken
one of my the package off of my stoop which is right here and put it onto kevin's porch which is
much safer from the porch bandits so this you know i mean there's no better way to be welcome to a
neighborhood than people that are so warm generous and also pragmatic um so i mean i've loved living
in this place um for the last three years uh there's uh basically it's it's something about
the neighborhood the character of the neighborhood is something that i want to maintain um now
recently i've had a child and i'm starting a family um so my son turned three months on i guess this
past monday and so what we want to do essentially for this project is turn this into a three unit
multi -family with a third story on top and that we can sort of arrange in a way that's going to
make the most sense for us with a master bedroom and a nursery right off the master bedroom
and then you know use income from downstairs for diapers and a college fund so that's this is my
basic this is my basic plan for for the property one of the the issues people always have is
you're going to have you know more people more density the first thing you know we're going to
be living there as well so in terms of who we're going to rent to we'll be very intentional about
who we decide you know allow onto the block um there's no there's no question about that um we
uh we're also you know conscious of sort of the in terms of density the the the parking situation um
and since i've lived there three years ago the parking situation has been basically a non -issue
i can usually park right in front of my house um and maximum you know i'll have to walk a block
mr gruber not to interrupt i apologize do you happen to have any floor plans
yes let me put them up right now that would be helpful thank you
um sorry i'm new to the uh how to switch things from let's see sorry one second this is this is
my first rodeo um here this is tanya i do have the refusal available should you request it
Okay, I have that as well. Do I have to, I guess I'll stop sharing and start sharing again. Is that how that works? Yeah. Okay, so here's some, I have the zoning or the floor plans.
let's just i'll just put up the actual floor plans um and so just to go through this
um so this is the first floor right here can you see everybody see that so this is the first floor
and currently it's essentially laid out that way and the idea was to keep that um we're potentially
the first floor in the basement will be one unit um and in these plans we have a bedroom in the
basement but we can easily move that up to the first floor in the front half of
half of this room, depending on what makes the most sense. That was my idea was to put it on
this room depending on you know what the what makes the most sense
the first floor, but the architects thought otherwise who are also here and can talk to
this later. So that would be one apartment. And then this hallway would be a common hallway going
up to the second floor. And again, most of this is laid out the way it currently is. And so there's
a bedroom in the back, a bathroom, a second bedroom. And then this, which is currently the
master bedroom would turn into the living and kitchen space sort of an open
concept there and then this is we have the third floor down here and I'm
actually gonna I want to change things a little bit from these these are just
sort of the preliminary drawings to have a direct doorway you know from the
master bedroom to the nursery but that's pretty much it and then a roof deck on
top and actually if you notice at the bottom this is thompson street and the pilot house would be
at the very rear of the property and so not obstructing views any more than it would have
otherwise um so that's so that's that's all i have for the uh the floor plans um i've got let's see
um so let's see the let me say right density parking um right and so if you go i just wanted
to go back to the one second this so the reason there's not a lot of uh parking problems is i'm
basically the only residential on this side of the block um and if you go if you go look at the
street view so behind here there's a big parking lot that's Schinders auto auto auto body place
up to Girard so this is now Thompson all the way up to Girard we're basically looking at you know
mixed industrial uses a lot of parking lots a lot of garages there's actually one apartment building
here but in terms of density it's not that's not a serious problem right now and so I think that
again in in the in my conception to keep the neighborhood with the same character and you know
be very intentional about the tenants we have you know have living with us um i think that this
won't disrupt that uh that neighborhood feel um so i'd like to address some of the things from the
RCO meeting so I can put that up on the screen let's see one second sorry I'm
just new to this and I want to share my screen with RCO okay so right here's the
first page so the RCO meeting it was it was a close call but the community
supported me by one vote and I actually didn't know that but that doesn't that
doesn't actually matter that doesn't mean that I get the support they have they
registered it did not reach agreement on the application and that was because
the zoning committee opposed opposed the project I wasn't sure why that was so in
reading the letter I noted that let me get this highlighted okay so this is the
important part that I really do want to oppose. What they stated was the petitioner presented a
list of residents supporting this project. However, it is worth mentioning that these signers are not
residents of the block. Nearby neighbors are quite concerned and strongly oppose the introduction
of multifamily. Now that's just not true. So I did get 15 people to sign this petition, and
almost every single one of them was from the block. So I'm now going to put up a map of all
the people who actually did sign just so there's no confusion here so highlighted in green again
this is the map for the you know of the of the near neighbors and so highlighted in green are
the people who signed my petition which i could also put that up i don't know if you guys need
that i've also submitted that into evidence so again across the street these are all these are
all residential houses so one two three four these six uh residents is all signed um this next to me
is a this is the garage and you know the people that own that signed uh this is uh this is an
apartment being rented out and the owner of that signed this is that car lot and that's shinder
and he signed this is my auto mechanic who uh actually he just had a stroke recently and i
hope everybody's praying for him uh that's junior's car shop and uh this is actually where he lived
and so they signed and the car the auto body shop shinder also owns this place so
But I'm just sort of surrounded, and these two highlighted here.
I'm just sort of surrounded, and these two highlighted here are under construction, this one's under construction, and this is a church.
So to say that I didn't have support of the near neighbors and to use that as the basis of their opposition is disingenuous.
And because I do have the support of the near neighbors and because I won the vote at the meeting, I would ask that the board grant the variance.
And if there's any other questions, I can answer them.
I also talked to Daryl Clark's office, and they typically don't, you know, come out in favor of zoning such as mine, zoning guards such as mine, but they did say that they would not, they would pose no opposition to it.
So for whatever that's worth, other than that, I just ask, thank the board for having me here and ask that they would see my recommendation and hopefully vote in my favor.
Gruber, you pointed to two properties on the left of yours.
You said they're under construction.
Sorry, this one is under construction.
The one that's on -
What is it being built as?
It's going to be a single family, I believe, but -
How about the one right next to you?
This one is a church.
It's a storefront church.
I can show you -
Is that, it's not a residential?
No, that is not a residential.
But I can show you the church itself.
I'm fine.
I just wanted to know.
You said new construction.
I was curious.
Tanya, you said you have the refusal?
Yes, I do, too.
Would you like to move your back up?
Yeah, please.
2532 West Thompson Street, application for the erection of an addition above an existing attached structure with roof deck and a roof access structure.
to include stairs and landings only, size and location as shown on plan slash application
for use as multifamily dwelling unit, three units.
And it was denied because the proposed use multifamily household living is prohibited
in the RSA 5 zoning district.
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
no yes how does he handle trash trash yes um let me put the let me put my uh floor plans back up
okay so in terms of trash there's actually only one unit that does not have an outdoor space
for trash so the first floor here uh that's first floor and basement this it has access to this
backyard and that's actually currently where i keep my trash right here on the second floor
the only allowance for trash would be actually where the washer dryer is right now and i'm
perfectly willing to convert that into a trash closet uh with ventilation and that would vent
to the back so this would be where the current washer and dryer is planned to be that would be
the trash closet for the second floor for the third floor there's a this is the deck off of
main living space and that would be where they would have to keep the trash and there would be
certainly no trash on the street except on trash there thank you thank you is anyone else who would
like to testify in this case please raise your hand here we have bart bart you can unmute yourself
and wait to be sworn in sir please identify yourself spell your first and last name uh bart
b -a -r -t b -a -j -d -a and your address uh 3026 west gerard avenue we're in firm to tell the truth the
whole truth nothing but the truth i do please proceed i just wanted to add that uh for what
it's worth uh i am the one of the architects on the project and also a member of the community
in brewery town and i attended that uh community meeting and the stance there was generally
favorable so i'm not quite sure i just wanted to confirm what nick was saying i'm not quite sure
where the letter where that opposition came from thank you uh anyone else who wishes to testify in
this case no chair no hands no hands uh and we do have a letter tanya i think mr gruvers put it up
on his exhibit it was the one that was 21 to 20 i think yeah do you want me to put it back up yes
five where the zoning committee right okay all right just wanted to make sure i had that right
and three non -opposition uh planning commission thank you
uh good afternoon chairman members of the board ian litwin planning commission staff
this property was remapped from residential multifamily to residential single family in 2016
this was against the recommendations of the comprehensive plan therefore we have no objection
to granting this variance yeah so this parcel was remapped um from rm1 to rsa5 in 2016
uh the comprehensive plan uh recommended it remain multifamily uh so therefore we don't
have objection to this right did not guess that one uh mi -2020 -001160 2532 west thompson street
my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is no good luck thank you okay
M -I -2020 -000 -825 -537 -East -Gerrard -Avenue.
Mr. Monroe.
Good afternoon, Jerry.
Good afternoon, Mr. Monroe.
You swear on the firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, for nothing but the truth?
I do, Mr. Plaza.
Can you agree to waive the reading of its refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents, proof of ownership,
proof of tax compliance, copy of the refusal or referral,
photo of your phone five days prior to this hearing?
Yes, I did.
Thank you.
Have you met with the RCO and have a letter?
Yes, we did.
And it's a letter of support.
All right.
Good afternoon, Chairman DiCicco, members of the board, Maddie Monroe here on behalf of Homestead Tattoo and my client, Christian Benton, who at the appropriate time, I will ask Mr. Benton to raise his virtual hand and join us.
This should be a pretty straightforward and simple application.
This is a tattoo or refusal is for a body art shop, a tattoo shop.
Just to introduce the board to the documents that we submitted.
We submitted our entire presentation package, which includes a cover page, table of contents.
The lease, Mr. Benton signed a five -year lease with a five -year option to renew for a total
of 10 years.
At Exhibit 2, we have the refusal.
As I noted, there's a tattoo shop.
This is a pretty straightforward hardship case, just based strictly on the code.
um the tattoo tattoos have gained wide acceptance and i'll go into that a little bit more
uh just shortly but the refusals are based directly on the use it's prohibited in the
existing cmx2 zoning district and within 500 feet of a residential district and uh within 500 feet
of a protected use in this case is a rec center um we've got our application for appeal in exhibit
three uh we did attend an rco meeting with the uh fishtown neighborhood association uh
our notices appropriately went out and we have a certificate of service
property was properly posted you can see here uh the property itself is a um it's right on
east gerrard and a heavily trafficked commercial corridor uh right there you have it's coming
right off of uh 95 uh to the east and uh you know you've got the uh the trolley running down the
line and then a few blocks away you have uh the gerard uh l station um we did have a letter of
support from the fishtown neighborhood association uh they supported the use um and here uh i can
show you some context photos um right here we have the zoning districts cmx2 uh here you can see uh
just some photos of the of the property right here the one in the middle shows
mr. Benton's proposed shop it's just a ground floor commercial space no plans to
change the exterior they plan to keep the the traditional brick out front they
do plan on adding by right sign there's not a sign on this application but it's
not going to say the word tattoo it's just going to say homestead and it's
going to be in Mr. Benton and his artist's traditional style. As noted before, the basis
As noted before, the basis for our hardship argument is that the zoning code treats tattoo shops differently than other types of businesses that would have a greater impact because it's a regulated use in the same way that you have adult -oriented merchandise or porn store, drug paraphernalia, a head shop or a vape shop, I guess these days, a gun shop, payday lenders, et cetera.
for our hardship argument is that the
The reality is, if you look at how tattoos are treated these days, you have acceptance
from something like 80 % of the American population has at least one tattoo, doctors, lawyers,
et cetera, and these folks typically charge professional services rates that are in line
with professional practice.
They are, Homestead Tattoo is planning to be by appointment only, meaning there's not
going to be walk -ins if you want to get a an appointment with Mr. Benton or Chelsea Rea who's
another one of the artists who's going to be working there with them and they're also going
to have a third artist. These folks book out months in advance. It's tough to get an appointment
so it's not like the kind of place where you would just go having a couple of cocktails next door
at Lloyd and decide that you want to get a tattoo and knock on the door. You have to do this like I
said several months in advance um certainly not going to change the character of the neighborhood
um mr benton has been tattooing and lived in the area he doesn't live there anymore but he's
been around the area around the scene for for years uh the next door neighbors at lloyd and
right over here on the corner at uh at craft work which are both local establishments they're not
like uh you know typically attracting a big crowd like some of the other places on frankfurt have
These are just like small, local, walkable places.
They're thrilled that somebody is going to be there to have some more eyes on the street.
And Mr. Benton has been in the business for 25 years.
This is the first time that he's going to be opening up his own shop.
So he's looking forward to it.
And I think that, you know, I'd be remiss if I didn't show you some of his traditional work.
This is really highly sought after.
Mr. Benton's honed his craft and is a well -renowned nationally known artist for tradition in the
traditional style and with that I know that sometimes the board will have some questions
and that will inform how we can conduct our presentation but for the most part those are
the high points and I don't want to waste the board's time if we don't have much to go with
So for that, I would ask, Mr. Benton, if you're there and you can hear me, if you could raise your virtual hand or just indicate on your Zoom application that you want to raise your hand.
And you just –
Please identify yourself, spell your full name.
My name is Christian Benton.
Last name is B -E -N -T -O -N.
And your address?
I live at 6546 Irving Avenue in Pensauken.
You're in the firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed.
All right, Mr. Benton, were you able to hear my presentation to the board?
And did you hear the factual statements that I made?
Were they accurate?
Do you adopt them as your testimony?
And with that, Chairman DeChico, that concludes our presentation unless the board has questions.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
Anyone would like to testify in this case?
If so, please raise your hand.
No hands.
No hands at this time, Chair.
thank you planning commission good afternoon chairman members of the board
ian litwin planning commission staff uh the proposed use supports the commercial
carter and will not have a negative impact on the neighborhood accordingly
uh we support granting the variance thank you mi -2020 -000825 537 east gerrard avenue my vote
is yes. My vote is yes. My vote is yes. My vote is yes. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, next one up,
it's MI 2020 000806 33 North 22nd Street. This is Sharon, just to let you know that we received an email
This is Sharon. Just to let you know that we received an email from Andrew Goodman from
Now, first,
Councilwoman Gauthier's office saying that she was expecting this to be continued. We
also received no exhibits. Thank you. Is there anyone here who to represent representing
this application?
I have Tony Fort.
Yes, this is
Attorney for this?
I'm the attorney for the one that was just mentioned,
33 North 22nd Street. That would
not be Councilwoman Gauthier's
district, so maybe that's a
different matter. That would be
Clark, wouldn't it? Yes.
and councilman clark sent a letter yesterday uh withdrawing any opposition to the project
i'm sorry did i get this wrong i thought that it was 53 27 locusts that had been called
no that was the next
uh okay so we're going ahead with the 33 north 22nd yes on on that one we received a letter of
non -opposition from councilman clark and ryan bolland is the attorney i believe
no no oh i'm sorry ryan bolland is representing yes i'm sorry mr fort so this is yes
professor do your thing right uh sir you agree to waive the reading of his refusal and stipulate
to attack mercy uh yes sorry you have just one minute confessor yes i have to promote him to a
panelists. Okay. Okay, Mr. Fort, you can share your screen and I'm going to mute your mic
for the questioning from Professor Plaza. Okay. Are you affirmed to tell the truth,
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? I do. Have you emailed an exhibit packet with
the required documents, proof of ownership, proof of tax compliance, copy of the refusal
overflow photos and plans five days prior to this year yes i have okay and have you met with the rco
and have a letter yes we have thank you please identify yourself for the record my name is tony
fort f -o -r -t -e with the law firm of saul ewing at 1500 market street in philadelphia pa
here representing the owner and applicant of the property
I'll share my screen and what I'd like to do is just we submitted a very large binder of materials
so I'd like to just go through those to make sure we're entering everything into the record
and as I do go through that it'll help me give you a little background on the
context and the zoning. Can everyone see my screen?
yes yes okay great so uh the first six tabs are overview of the site we we uploaded our deed uh
tax clearance certificate project information form photographs of the posting uh aerial photograph
and photographs of the property um the next section of tabs uh are the zoning background so
our zoning application is at tab 7, then our appeal to the ZBA at tab 8. We had to request
to revise our plans because initially we would have generated a couple refusals, but then we
worked with planning to revise the plans to avoid any refusals. So that's what you'll see at tab 9
is our request to revise the plans. Tab 10, the ZBA approved our request, and at tab 11 we have
our revised notice of referral with no refusals. Then we get to tab 12, which is our notices to
the RCOs. We actually have two RCOs for this project, two of the most active in Center City
area. We have first LSNA, Logan Square Neighbors Association, and we had a meeting with them
that was in August and they are the end of July actually they sent us a letter of non -opposition
dated August 31. We then later had a second RCO meeting with Center City Residents Association
because they wanted their members to have a meeting of their own and that we have a letter
of non -opposition from them as well. We also had an additional special meeting with the Murano
Condominium Association, which is located right next door to this property. And obviously they
were the nearest neighbors with the most interest in the project. And I believe their attorney will
be here today to express their non -opposition. We also went through the CDR process. And so you'll
see at tab 13 our CDR referral. And we had two meetings, one in August and one in
And we had two meetings, one in August and one in September.
They asked us to come back.
We revised our plans as a result of the CDR process.
And you'll see at tab 14, their final CDR letter, where the Civic Design Review Committee
is very complimentary of the way we embraced the process and the way we responded to their
comments with our revised plans.
the next couple tabs are 15 are original plans and elevations that were part of our application
and then at 16 are the revised plans and elevations that responded to the community
requests and the civic design review requests along with that we have uploaded a proviso plans
form because we would like the zoning board as part of this process to approve those revised
plan pages uh and that's all there um but sharon for your reference uh those revised plans are
dated october 1 uh and their plan pages z -111 z -112 and z -113 um three pages correct yes
and can i just ask if this is approved with the proviso plans could you send me those
the plans and the form as separate documents so that i can stamp them
Yes, we can do that. It was all uploaded last week as separate PDFs, but we can certainly send it to you separately.
Okay, thank you very much.
Then we get into the fact for the special exception criteria, we uploaded both a traffic impact study that is required by Stantec and along with the qualifications of our traffic engineer, Adam Catherine, who is available today to give a summary.
and then a planning considerations and zoning criteria memo from our urban planning expert
Christine Carlisle at tab 18 and then the last two tabs are just our PowerPoint presentation
that our architect has to present to you today in our list of hearing witnesses
so I'm going to stop sharing that and I don't know if I can
okay maybe i'll just show you just this this here is the property so it's 33 north 22nd street
which is located along 20 seconds we don't have the photo of that oh you're not able to fill in
your files oh i i on my screen it's showing up let me see if i can close this you have to go
back and share it. Okay, I thought I did. One second. Stop share and then I'm going to try
sharing it again and now if I open it, can you see it now? So no, you have to have it open
already. Okay. Oh, I see. Stop sharing it, open it. Okay. And then share again, then the red box
should outline it. Okay.
Well, it's not that important that I show that at this point, because it was just the map,
and you're going to see the map in a second when our architect goes through it.
Basically, what we have now, it's a surface parking lot that's located behind the Trader
Joe's grocery store that's at 22nd and Market Streets. So this is behind that. It's a surface
parking lot that fronts on 22nd Street to the west at the lower grade. JFK Boulevard at the
higher grade along the north. And then along the south, across from Trader Joe's, is what used to
be Commerce Street. It was a vacated public street that is now a private driveway.
um as you as you would understand a surface parking lot in this location in center city
is not something that would be permitted today uh it's a grandfathered non -conforming use and
this project will actually bring the property into compliance with the zoning code for the
first time in many years um you'll hear more about the project in a in a minute but in a nutshell
it's going to be replacing the surface parking lot with a 29 -story residential
multifamily building, 341 dwelling units, 103 parking spaces for the residents,
accessory parking spaces, and then 115 non -accessory parking spaces that will
replace and expand the Trader Joe's customer parking. It also will have the, you know,
typical bicycle parking loading residential amenities and the garage
structure is screened on all sides. I just want to point out that there the
I just want to point out that the project complies with the zoning code in terms of
project
use and dimensional guidelines in all respects. It is by right and no refusals. We're here today
because there is a referral, because part of the parking garage is above the average grade,
parts below and part is above, and part of the parking garage is being used for the Trader Joe's
uh to replace the trader joe's parking so it's non -accessory but that's an existing
non -accessory parking use the parking garage is screened on all sides and so from a public
perspective there'd be no visual impact i mentioned that we've already met with the rcos
and the civic design review process and through all of that process we have now completed a
community benefits agreement with Logan Square Neighbors Neighborhood Association, Center City
Residence Association, and the Murano Condominium Association. With that being said, I'd like to
turn it over to the project architect, Clara Weinberg, who can, if she can raise her screen
and introduce herself, and then you can allow her to share her screen, she'll walk you through
briefly the project. Good afternoon, Ms. Weinberg. Please identify yourself for the record. Spell
your first and last name and give us your address, please. Sure. Clara Weinberg, SCB Architects,
625 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois. My name is Clara, C -L -A -R -A, Weinberg, W -I -N -E -B -E -R -G.
do you swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do thank you please proceed thank you and tony you're sharing the screen
i don't think so i stopped i think nope well i mean over clara
if you can share your screen
It says I'm not sharing mine any longer.
Are you requesting him to share his screen?
Or are you sharing yours?
I'm hoping Tony's set up to share.
Oh no, I thought you were going to.
I can find it, I think, if you need me to.
Aris do you have it I think you're on as well right I I think I have it here one second great
I apologize one second.
jeez all right i was i thought you had it to share clara but mr from our conversation yesterday it
was going to be all on your side mr forte maybe what we can do is um are there any
issues that are
that need
to be on the record
aside from your normal presentation
that you can speak
I mean you're getting support from all
the RCOs I
haven't seen anything did you get anything
from the council president's office
we did
we have non -opposition from the council president's
office so again I don't
want to you know short change
everybody but Sharon? I believe that there is a community member named Nigel Webb who was
planning to present. Yeah that's why I figure we can get to that and maybe we're having a technical
problem. Yeah in the meantime we can look for. Why don't we do this? Let me let me jump ahead.
Is there anyone who would like to testify in this case? Please raise your hand.
Is there anyone who would like to testify in this case?
Please raise your hand.
And Mr. Forte and Ms. Weinberg, just hold off until we get this testimony on.
I have Ryan Bolin.
Ryan, you can unmute.
Good afternoon.
Good afternoon.
I think you're on the road from this morning.
Just identify yourself.
Yes, Ryan Boland, and I represent the immediate nearby neighbor, the Murano Condominium Association,
which is located at 2101 Market Street. It has approximately 300 units.
As the developers council said, we did enter into a community benefits agreement this morning,
and the Murano Condominium Association supports this application for a special exception.
The developers agreed to make a lot of changes to the property, a lot of things that really
improve safety, and we're quite pleased with what has been done here.
So we would like to request that the Zoning Board grant the request for special exception.
And we're also going to request that a proviso be entered, but I will let the Developers
Council explain that.
Okay, thank you. Anyone, any board member have any questions for Mr. Bolling?
Is there anyone else who would like to testify in this case? If so, please raise your hand.
Here we have Nigel Webb.
Great to be sworn in.
Good afternoon, Mr. Webb. Please identify yourself, spell your first and last name.
this is nigel webb n -i -g -e -l w -e -b -b you swear and affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
and nothing but the truth i do and your address 1101 green valley road brinmar pa
19010 and i'm here as an owner of one of the morano units 3202 in the morano
Please proceed
I have a new
Reason for opposition
Today which has to do with due process
As Mr. Rowland
Just testified a short while ago
Condominium Association
At the Murano
Has apparently
Entered into an agreement
With the applicant
Which includes
To quote him
a lot of changes to the property. That may be good, but it's important for the board to understand
that the condominium association, through its administrator, notified us at 1 .17 p .m. today
that such an agreement had been reached, but unfortunately did not provide us with any
details. Now, I'm sure it's not of interest to the board as to the internal machinations of the
Murano Condo Association, but it is legally relevant, as I've been advised as follows.
In particular, the construction of the proposed garage, which is partly enclosed,
depends for zoning purposes on access to an adjacent easement which is physically on the
Murano property without commercial commerce street that correct correct it's actually
the easement I'm referring to is between the Murano prop excuse me is between and actually
Tanya if you have it available if you'd be so kind for the chairs to display exhibit one
that I submitted I can present it on the screen oh no I don't have that available
would you give me the freedom to present it but we're still allowing the
presentation of the applicant apologies we do have the presentation okay so we
can come back to you mr. Webb okay that's fine but just in terms of finish
the due process thought those changes are apparently material and may impact
my objection. So not having seen it and not being given the opportunity to see it, it's difficult
to know how to proceed rationally. Understood. And if Mr. Boland is still on, I'm not sure if
he's still on, I would have asked Mr. Boland to contact you so he can explain what the contents
of the benefits agreement. Right. The legal point I just want to close on is that according to the
condo agreement the condo association requires owner approval of a
The Condor Association requires owner approval of a change to that relevant easement, and that approval has not occurred.
So I would suggest to the board that it might want to add a proviso that any commitment, any approval is contingent upon an approval on that easement.
Understood. Thank you.
Mr. Forte or Ms. Weinberg?
Yes, I believe Clara is now prepared. Can everybody see my screen? Yes. Great, thank you and apologies for the delay.
So as Tony explained why we are here, we are here for the partially above -grade garage special exception for non -accessory above -grade parking.
We're going to be reviewing our existing conditions and proposed project overview,
a specific exception, non -accessory above grade parking itself, the design, the specific
conditions of use, and the specific detrimental impacts to the neighborhood or lack thereof.
Just to give you a little bit more oversight on where the project is, the project fronts JFK
and is also fronting North 22nd Street the streets are at two different
elevations creating an interesting dynamic where they're you know there
there's no way of bridging that gap it is a substantial height difference
between the two streets and our focus has been on creating an active use along
both street elevations but let me share with you a little bit more about the
streets you're looking east along the elevated portion of JFK looking back
towards 2121 market and the morano and then looking south on the right hand side along
what is the existing surface lot with the existing curb cut along 22nd street i mean the left hand
side uh correct the right hand side is 22nd street here's the curve okay your traffic okay
you're going the direction of traffic thank you yes correct and then jfk um on the left
Just to give you an overview of the project it is a multi -family residential project with 341 units,
103 accessory parking spaces, 115 non -accessory for a total of 218 stalls, and two loading berths.
The project has an agreement with the adjacent 2121 Market Trader Joe's where there are designated
stalls within this parking structure. The rest of the parking is dedicated for the
multifamily units herein. So just to give you a little bit more orientation on
the project, 22nd Street, as I mentioned before, is a big focus on creating active
use with our lobby and leasing. The Commerce Street elevation or street
frontage or Commerce Street is a vacated street, a private street with a current
easement along it. Our residents and users of the parking structure from a
vehicular standpoint will not go any further than the parking entrance of the garage.
A major focus has been put on creating a more pedestrian friendly access from 22nd street by
widening the sidewalk along 2121 and creating an improved pavement system here, improved lighting.
There have been several significant conversations and back and forth with Civic Design Review where
we made several improvements on their behest and also with input from the RCOs and the streets
department so all in towards the effort of making a this condition improved for all users the use
of commerce will remain the same for the 2121 market trader joe's where loading continues as
it currently happens today accessing from 21st street and backing into its existing birth and
exiting off of 22nd. The pedestrian experience from 22nd, as I mentioned before, is along an
improved sidewalk and striped area and a designated cross to the parking lot. And for the convenience
of the Murano and at the behest of the Murano residents, a sidewalk has been, a side, a walking
path has been maintained along the Commerce Street and south side of the Commerce Street
side. The elevated lobby on JFK also has active use all along the JFK frontage, currently
planned for residential fitness or other amenities. You see here the garage is fully encaptured
And you see here the garage is fully encaptured by active use on the street frontages, both on JFK and 22nd Street.
by active use on the
And you'll see in a few minutes, even along the Commerce Street side, it is intended to have full architectural treatment.
The residential units start at level 7 and have a residential roof garden on that level as well.
Just to give you an overall orientation of the project in relationship to the streets,
you see the ground floor and amenity levels fronting 22nd Street, again shielding the
parking garage from the prominent street, and even the remaining parking above it is
treated with an architectural treatment, which I'll share with you in a minute.
And then looking the other way, you see JFK side. Again, we are putting active uses on each side
where it's possible to shield the parking garage. The architecture is trying to appeal to the scale
of Center City and also the scale of the adjacent Logan Square with having the podium scale speak
to the smaller scale buildings and also the materiality of the adjacent museum institutions.
Just a little bit more of the podium where there's a big emphasis on street level.
And once again, this is parking garage that is treated architecturally.
And even within the parking garage, there's a terrace that activates the street level
within the building as well to provide more visual connection.
Another view from JFK.
The view from 22nd Street, where again the emphasis on street activity, pedestrian activity,
architectural treatment of the entire podium, and you're seeing glimmers of Commerce Street,
again treated as another frontage and not a back of house.
This is the Commerce Street side, where we are also creating architectural distinction
along here and made several improvements with the input of the adjacent neighbors masonry
articulation down on the ground floor down lighting along here and limiting the amount
of openings adjacent to the morano project overall materiality of the project and then
just some elevations and i'm going to quickly jump to just a little bit more articulation of
how we've got the party set up. This is the parking levels, amenity, again active use,
emphasis on street level and the resident experience arriving into their home and
very much being pedestrian friendly along this empty gap along JFK. And then similarly on 22nd
Street where the garage is very much part of the architectural treatment and it's hid behind
the tower itself. And then I'm going to turn it over here. Thank you, Clara. If we could,
I would now like to just briefly have our traffic engineer summarize the traffic study because
the code requires for this special exception that we address two conditions. The use -specific
condition is a traffic study, and then there are neighborhood, general neighborhood impact
contract conditions. So if we could have Adam Catherine raise his hand and be sworn in.
I'm already on. Please identify yourself with a record name and address.
Adam Catherine, last name is spelled C -A -T -H -E -R -I -N -E. I'm with Stantec Consulting Services,
10 ,000 Midlantic Drive, Suite 300 West, Mount Laurel, New Jersey, 08054.
Are you trying to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Thank you.
Adam is our traffic engineer, and Adam, if you could just very briefly summarize
how the traffic study was conducted and the findings of the study.
Okay, thank you.
Yes, we conducted a traffic impact study for the proposed development project.
Basically, the goal of is to analyze the potential impacts of the development on the surrounding roadway network, including the intersections of 21st and Market, 22nd and Market, 22nd and Commerce, and 22nd and Arch Street.
The traffic impact study also includes information regarding site distance, which I think was a concern that we can address as well.
Not included in the traffic impact study, but also under a purview was assessing on -site circulation
and pedestrian and bicycle accommodations.
The traffic impact study was submitted to PennDOT, City of Philadelphia Streets Department,
The traffic impact study was submitted to PennDOT, City of Philadelphia.
and the RCOs, all of which provided comments, which we have addressed.
Some of the changes in the most recent version, which you guys have now, which is included
in the package, that will also address some of the RCO comments would include accounting
for AM peak hour trips generated by Trader Joe's and using a higher background growth
rate and also adding in some nearby development traffic into the analysis.
So you have that most up -to -date version, that's what's in the file.
Regarding the traffic analysis, we prepared a synchro traffic analysis model to conduct
the capacity analysis comparing the no -build condition without the project to the proposed
build condition.
As a result of that analysis, we determined that there's no detrimental impact to the
study area roadway network.
There's an increase in delay at all of the study intersections in the AM and PM peak
hours of less than five seconds per vehicle, which is well below the typical required mitigation
level of 10 seconds per vehicle.
In addition, we assessed site distance from Commerce Street for exiting vehicles, and
And we found that we have 195 feet of site distance when 145 feet is required.
It's also important to keep in mind that the Commerce Street is being reconfigured to provide
a wider sidewalk along the building and also an entry lane.
So that exiting lane is now being shifted further away from the Trader Joe's building,
which is resulting in improved site distance there.
that basically summarizes the traffic analysis and I'd be happy to answer any questions that
you may have thanks Adam and if we could just go on we can get all the questions at the end
but we just have one more person to to testify which is Christine Carlisle I don't know if she
is on yet but Christine is our urban planning expert to address neighborhood impacts
hello this is christine
show your camera christine yeah i'm trying to find the camera
oh no she doesn't she's just audio does she need to share
oh no i've got the screen that's fine okay so do i need to have my camera on i don't know i don't
think I have controls over it. That's okay. It's fine. It's on audio. Okay, I'm just on audio.
That's fine. It's fine. Well, good afternoon. I'm Christine Carlisle. I'm an urban planner
and principal at Salomon -Cortwell -Benz in Chicago. Does Christine need to be sworn in?
chairman de chico i don't think we can all right we can't hear you uh you swear and affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth for nothing but the truth yes i do you may proceed okay i'm going to
provide a brief overview of the urban planning issues um this side here you can see uh the
building is in blue there for 33 north 22nd street um the design is sensitively uh designed
and it's a modestly scaled at 29 stories which is um the far is well below the allowable zoning
and it's in keeping with the character of the center city and sort of steps down in this area
next slide please um it also sensitively addresses light and air doesn't have any
adverse effects on the neighboring properties um and there's a significant tower separation
um and you can see between the the project and the morano um at 108 feet next slide please
this is showing you a view shed study so the the top row has the view from the 33rd street 33rd
level um it's an unimpacted uh view shed um and then at the mid levels you've got a slightly
impacted view shed and this is showing it at 22 um the level 22 in the in the building
and then in the morano building actually um and then the next slide please
This is showing you a shadow study here. The building is in the bright blue and the shadows
are in the spring and fall equinox. They span from 10 a .m. through 3 p .m. on the hour and there
is very little shadowing of the neighboring properties.
shadowing of the neighboring properties and you can see it doesn't it doesn't
hit any of the properties as the shadow moves around the building during that
time. The next slide, okay this is the the street that's been talked about a lot
already, Commerce Street, a vacated street, and the the building and the site
design has accommodated vehicular access for trucks, loading, trash removal, but also allowing
for safe bike and pedestrian access.
And I think it's important to note that the design team has listened and responded to
the concerns voiced by the community RCO and the Civic Design Review to create a better
solution to the elevated, to the, and alleviate the congestion that is taking place in the
public streets and it really supports a more walkable community throughout the
district. The next slide please, next slide. This is now a view of that
Commerce Street as a visualization it shows the clarity of the truck route,
the loading, protected pedestrian access, and safe bike route. Also in terms of
The project is consistent with the comp plan and the Central Philadelphia 2035 district plan.
Sorry, my internet is breaking out on me, so.
Okay, well, I'm just going to follow in with the next one, so that's fine.
And then, you know, in summary, this, you know, this project is really sensitively designed.
It avoids detrimental impacts on the neighborhood.
It's appropriately scaled.
It's it's well below the allowable zoning in terms of massing and height. It's complementary to the existing neighborhood context
district scale.
And it's really a great contributor to the central city sort of quality of life,
you know, especially if you compare it to the current use of the surface parking lot for 75 cars. Next slide, please.
And then this development project is really a significant asset and will enhance the
central city's attributes that are for consideration in terms of increasing
residential population in the area. It's going to have extensive active
programming, as Claire had talked about, in the street frontages of JFK
and Boulevard and 22nd Street. It really supports the walkability, the bike
ability, and access to transit, which are all goals and comprehensive plan, and
And it promotes and provides an improved commerce street with the orchestrated sort of pedestrian
vehicular and loading access.
And it also has numerous sustainable design features that will conserve natural resources.
That concludes the kind of urban planning issues.
Thank you, Christine.
Any questions for Ms. Carloff from the board?
All right. Okay, Mr. Forte, what do you have coming up next?
So that's all of our testimony. And all of, as I said, all the documentation has been uploaded.
I would just add that in addition to the proviso I mentioned earlier for the revised client pages,
and I will get that to Sharon as a separate email.
um we have some concerns about that so please sharon yes i did receive those as separate
documents thank you i do have a question though um would you perhaps be willing to
eliminate the first three bullet points in the proviso plans form they deal with materials which
really aren't within the board's authority to um that's fine acquire what we did would be in any
case considered unenforceable by LNI. Yeah, that's fine. I think what we just wanted to be
very clear to the extent that the plans changed in response to the Civic Design Review
requests, many of which had to do with material finishes and things of that nature. We wanted to
be clear that we spelled out all the changes that were being made and we weren't, you know,
we can certainly understand I appreciate that it would just be difficult for it would be difficult
for L and I to interpret those provisions so if it's okay with you I will just cross them out
that's absolutely fine we just didn't be hiding the ball at all thank you and and we have one
more proviso which we have agreed to with the Murano condominium association and I can just
I can just read it if you want to write it down, Sharon.
read it if if you want to write it down
The proviso would be all vehicular traffic to and from the loading area
and the parking structure shall be accessed from the private driveway
on former Commerce Street exclusively via 22nd Street.
You are unfortunately breaking up.
all the traffic to and from the loading area yes are to be accessed great wait i'll just read it
again all vehicular traffic to and from the loading area and parking structure
shall be accessed from the private driveway on former commerce street
exclusively via 22nd street so that's what our plan shows is that all of we want all of the
vehicular traffic to the new building uh to be two -way from 22nd street and then once you get
to the crosswalk there where the the pedestrians are crossing to go to the trader joe's it would
then only traffic would not go uh east toward 21st street any any further um that's identified
in the plan correct yeah that's already shown in the plan already showing all right but they would
like i don't write that fast to make it clear all right all right uh do you have anyone else
uh we do mr fort we do not okay thank you we're available for questions thank you
questions from the board no no thank you we heard from mr webb is there anyone else who wishes that
would like to testify in this case please raise your hand
no hands thank you planning commission
good afternoon chairman members of the board ian litwin planning commission staff
This project completed Civic Design Review on September 14th after two rounds of presentations and significant design changes in response to RCO concerns and the feedback of the Civic Design Review Committee.
In addition, the above -ground parking structure will be subject to Planning Commission Design Review at the time of building permit.
Accordingly, we support granting the special exception.
Thank you.
mi -2020 -000806 33 north 22nd street my vote is yes with the following proviso
revised plans approved today to be stamped i think at a later date and sharon could i impose on you
to read uh the other provisos because we don't have them in front of me i'm not sure if you can
hear me unfortunately everyone has been going in and out for the last few minutes
we can hear you okay so revised plans three pages approved today and would it
again I missed parts of what mr. Fort was saying would it work to say access to
and from parking structure and loading area as per stamped plans with that I
think the the Murano wanted it to just be clear that it was from the right hearing you all right
let me try it and fill in where I may have some voyage because I don't write that fast
all vehicular traffic to and from the loading area
to be accessed um here's where I left you it's it's can you hear me yes all vehicular traffic
to and from the loading area and parking structure and parking structure
shall be accessed from the private driveway they'll be accessed from the
private driveway on former commerce street on former
former street exclusively via 22nd street exclusively via 22nd street yes thank you
sorry about that no it's technology sorry all right yes we provide them
yes we provide them yes we provide them
okay uh to the uh court reporter we still have three more cases or four cases i should say
uh you need a break now um yeah i do okay let's let's take a 10 minute break
Yeah, I do.
Okay, let's take a 10 -minute break, and we'll be back here at 4 .15, thereabouts, all right?
Thank you.
Okay, page 14.
Okay, ready?
MI 2020 -000 -644 -2033 -East -Wishershree.
That's Meditsa Khadijo.
I don't know if she hasn't been here.
I don't know if she's here.
anyone for 2033 east wish heart street no hands up no hands up to mi -2020 -000 -644 -2033 east
Wish Heart Street is continued. Okay. MI 2020 -000373 -15018, Teresa Drive.
This is Sharon. Can I say that I have no exhibits for this one?
and no hands up
okay MI -2020 -000373
Teresa Drive is continued
okay calendar number
MI -2020 -000827
Bottomwood Street
Mr. Monroe you out there yeah Matthew Monroe has been promoted to panelists
Mr. Monroe I believe you are still under oath right was he here this morning
yes sir that's right okay uh you agree to waive the reading of its refusal and stipulate to
it's accuracy i do mr plaza you have you uh emailed an exhibit packet with the required
documents proof of ownership proof of tax compliance copy of the refusal or referral
photos and plans five days prior to this hearing yes i have thank you and have you met with the
rco and have a letter yes we have and uh we met with two rcos the um uh uh colin hill neighborhood
association and the chinatown philadelphia chinatown corporation uh and we have support uh
from callow hill and non -opposition from chinatown thank you please identify yourself for the record
you may proceed good afternoon chairman chico members of the board maddie monroe happy to be
here on behalf of my uh my clients houndstooth tattoo llc um uh and i know one of their principals
Andrew Johnson Lawley is on the on the meeting and I will call on him at the appropriate time.
We sent in some of the documents and including the lease, the refusal, the application for appeal.
We provide proper notices with a certificate of service according to the PCP regs and guidelines.
we posted the notice on the property and as noted we do have support letters
both in the Callow Hill Neighborhood Association and then we have a non
opposition letter as well from the Chinatown Philadelphia Chinatown
Development Corporation that this strangely is another tattoo shop
Andrew Johnson Lolly in my client you may remember that was my other
application today um but similarly uh andrew johnson lally and his uh and his business partner
evan lovett are long time tattooers both are fine arts trained uh andrew johnson lally uh trained at
the span of school of arts in my home state of georgia and um has been tattooing up in uh in
philadelphia i believe close to 20 years and mr johnson lally uh you may want to correct me if i
if i missed that date but in any event we do have the max certificate of compliance of course and
um one of the things that the gallow hill neighborhood association really liked was
their professionalism the fact that they were going to be uh tattooing by appointment only
uh and uh similarly this is not going to be uh conducive to people walking in off the street
I can show you the floor plans. This would be on the second floor of a building that's been adaptively reused. It's been old.
of a building that's been uh adaptively reused it's an old uh industrial building uh that they've
converted to office it's in an irmx zoning district so it's an appropriate use um this was actually
one of those rare cases where uh we're almost close enough to have a buy right use for a tattoo
shop but not quite because under the new uh industrial residential mixed use district
It puts a tattoo shop squarely within a residential use, however, a residential zoning district.
But the reality is the impact that they would have on the neighborhood would probably have less of an impact than an insurance sales agency, for example, and probably less of a negative impact on society than an insurance agency.
But if we look here, it's a very large space on the second floor of 1022 Buttonwood.
They're going to have stations for six tattooers.
It is very rare that they would have all six tattooers working at the same time.
Typically, you would have people there from about noon until 8 or 9 o 'clock at night,
depending on when their appointments are.
And at most, you'll have maybe three of these booths filled, but they would have a total of six.
This is a floor plan of how they intend to lay it out with hand -washing stations, which are required by the health department.
They would have sharps dispensers, and those would be taken away by a commercial company that deals with sharps,
and same thing like with a medical office.
Here are some photographs of the existing block.
You can see that it's an existing industrial -looking block.
there have been some nice touches from local artists who have been putting some stuff up on murals.
There are a few homes there. As we learned, they're primarily from recent immigrants from
China. And I think the one ask from the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation was
that my clients just be good neighbors and let them know that they're welcome and they most
certainly are to come in as long as they get an appointment and they're willing to pay the rates.
I went over this before. I know this has been kind of a long day, so I'll just try to
keep it short. There is a clear hardship argument here, and that is tattoo shops are unnecessarily
treated as regulated businesses despite the evolution of the business, the wide -ranging
acceptance of tattoos and tattooers. They're lumped in with adult -oriented shops,
head shops, vape shops, gun shops, payday lenders, and, you know, these are just highly
trained artists who are well paid, highly sought after, and difficult to book with.
They frequently book up months in advance because they have support of the neighborhood.
and uh in fact the owners of uh of uh one of the local breweries uh attended the rco meeting
specifically in support because uh they they know uh andrew johnson lally in his work and
they wanted to support it um uh so here and then uh and another notable point is evan lovett
who is also a tattooer is a very well renowned uh mural artist in philadelphia
known for doing the famous Fishtown sign, the squirrel with the stuff, the token, pigeons,
the raccoon, or trash panda, if you will, with the Philadelphia pretzel.
Evan also runs a non -profit mural organization called VRT that does a lot of education and
outreach, and you can see a lot of their work at the Franklin Institute, which you can see here.
These are not fly -by -night people.
Similarly, they have a 10 -year lease.
They've been in business for a long time, and the reason why they're opening up this shop,
this is Andrew Johnson and Lolly's first venture into owning his own business.
He's partnering with Evan Lovett, who is currently a partner at one of my former clients,
the Philadelphia Tattoo Collective.
Their lease is running up.
They have a five -year lease, and the owner of the building is planning on turning it
into apartments over on Front Street.
So they need a new home, and they found an appropriate new home at 1022 Buttonwood,
and they're excited to get going with this.
With that, Mr. Johnson Lawley, can you raise your virtual hand?
And if you're on and you can hear me, just indicate because
And if you're on and you can hear me, just indicate because you just need to be sworn in.
Hello.
Please spell your first and last name and give us your address.
My first name is Andrew, A -N -D -R -E -W.
Last name is Johnson -Lally, J -O -H -N -S -O -N -L -A -L -L -Y.
and my address is 1004 church road orland pennsylvania do you swear and affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do thank you please proceed mr monroe
and uh mr johnson lally uh did you hear the factual statements that i made on the record
yes uh were they accurate yes what about how long you've been practicing uh i think i said
20 years is that about right it is it is it'll it'll be 21 in january but 20 years is good okay
i just wanted to clear that up uh do you adopt my state my factual statements as your testimony
i do with that uh that concludes our presentation chairman de chico and if uh the board has any
questions we're happy to entertain thank you any questions from the board no no
anyone else uh who would like to testify in this case if so please raise your hand
no hand thank you planning commission uh good afternoon chairman members of the board
ian litwin planning commission staff this property is indicated for industrial residential mixed use
on the comprehensive plan the proposed use body art services will not have an adverse impact on
the block which is largely largely commercial and industrial with some residential apartments on the
second floor and above or accordingly we have no objection to granting the variance thank you
frank you i think you're muted
that better yes okay uh mi -2020 -0008271022 buttonwood street my vote is yes
My vote is yes. My vote is yes. My vote is yes. Thank you. Thank you for your time. Thank you.
I believe Green Street, right? Yes. Green Lane. MI 2020 -001188109 Green Lane.
Mr. Reisman you can share your screen
unmute yourself
can you hear me
yes we can
you swear in a firm to tell the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes I do
and you agree to waive the reading of its refusal
and stipulate to its accuracy
yes okay and have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents proof
of ownership proof of tax compliance copy of the refusal or referral photos
and plans five days prior to this year yes also have you met with the RCO and
have a letter yes thank you you may proceed okay thank you
good afternoon chairman to Chico members of the board my name is Daniel
Reisman, R -E -I -S -M -A -N. My address is Eckert Siemens, that's 2 Liberty Place, 22nd
floor, Philadelphia PA 19102. As mentioned I submitted exhibits to the
board. They include photos, Google Maps, zoning map, and a key plan of the
property, tax clearance certificate, a deed, and also a letter in support is
Exhibit A4 from the manual. Mr. Reisman, sorry for the interruption. Are you able to share any of those documents or exhibits? Yes. Can you see that?
can you see that mr chairman yeah i'm sorry you said yes no nothing no no no all right let me try
again okay what about now uh yes okay very good thank you thank you all right
Yes. Okay. Very good. Thank you. Thank you. All right. So the property, I'm showing first the
zoning map. The property is the outline right here where my cursor is showing. So it's basically
a backwards L shape. One side of it is on Green Lane. And then the second side and entrance is
this is Crescent Street. This is Main Street just for perspective. The property, I'll show you some
photos in a minute, but I think the zoning outline is useful. It's currently used as a, it was
approved about 10 years ago by the board for assembly and entertainment. It's basically an
event venue that holds among other things weddings and it's won numerous awards including the best
wedding venue in the city. Really the proposal is pretty simple and I'm going to get to the floor
plan but again I'll focus on this for a second. The total floor area of the venue is about 7 ,000
this floor 7640 square feet it's just to take a small portion right here on the
Green Lane side 1320 square feet and basically that would become a cafe and
technically under the code it would be a sit -down restaurant so looking at some
of the photos. Here's the property. That's Green Lane. This is Main Street. This is a
closer view. So right here is where the cafe will be. And then this is the
outside i'm sorry the indoor portion of the cafe there's also going to be an outdoor seating area
which is right over here and i'll show you some photos of that now this is a photo of the event
venue as it currently exists so i just wanted to give you an idea of what that looks like
that will remain so the event venue will remain obviously it's been closed down because of covid
But when hopefully things reopen in the near future, the event venue will again resume
its operations.
Here's another photo of the event venue.
Here is the site, the key plan, let me just reduce that for you.
Okay, so again, this is Crescent, this is Green Lane over here, enlarge it a
little more okay and the event venue will remain in this area and what we're
talking about is this will become the small cafe sit -down restaurant this is
the indoor portion and this is the open area that will be the outdoor seating
And now these are the photos of where the cafe will actually go. This is the
inside area, there's from the other side, and then here you'll see the door
leading to the outdoor area, and this is the nice little outdoor portion of the
cafe. Now the reason we're here, the use is permitted as of right, but the code
technically requires 10 spaces, parking spaces, one parking space for every four
seats and there will be a total of 40 seats. Now under the general parking
provisions of the code, this would typically be allowed as of right because
is it's any change of uses within an existing building, any parking is grandfathered in.
However, the manual overlay, the L &I, the four -to -one parking requirement is in the overlay,
and L &I technically reads that as meaning that supersedes the general provision of the code
that otherwise grandfather's is parking as basically a you know parking in an
existing building with a change of use. What this photo shows is we have a very
What this photo shows is we have a very large parking lot literally across Green
large parking lot
Lane that has I believe 157 spaces so here you'll see the this is the looking
now down from Crescent there's the where the cafe will be and right across the
street is the parking lot. This is looking right into the very large parking
lot. Here's another photo of the parking lot. Now this is from the inside of the
parking lot and right across the street right here you'll see property and
that's the cafe. So literally there's parking right across the street. So we
think this is a you know very appropriate use. It's a permitted use. We think the
parking is not an issue both because it's already an existing event venue where the parking is
permitted as of right number one and number two we have a large parking right across the street
as i mentioned there's a letter of support from the manioc neighborhood council um and they
supported that there was i believe it was nine votes in support one in non -opposition and zero
opposed so effectively it was unanimous and that's the end of the presentation my client
um Jaime Kaplan who's a principal of the owner and Yvonne Roa are here along with our architect
if there are any questions on the plans and if I may I would like to have Mr Kaplan adopt my
testimony my statements please do so and Mr Kaplan when you get on please uh identify yourself spell
your first and last name and give us your address. Good afternoon. My name is Jaime Kaplan.
Just spell it like J -A -I -M -E. Last name Kaplan, K -A -P -L -A -N. The address is 109 Green Lane,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19127. You swear and affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? I do. Thank you. Please proceed.
Hello, Mr. Kaplan.
Hi, Mr. Reisman.
You heard my testimony, my statements today, is that correct?
And are they true and correct to the best of your knowledge?
Okay, and do you adopt those statements as your own testimony?
Thank you.
Thank you.
Any questions from the board?
anyone else who would like to testify in this case please raise your hand
no hands thank you planning commission good afternoon chairman members of the board uh this
use sorry ian litwin planning commission staff this use supports the commercial corridor and
not have a negative impact on parking accordingly we support granting the variance thank you mi -2020 -00
1188 109 green lane my vote is yes my vote is yes
my vote is yes my vote is yes okay thank you just one minute sharon and i have been going back and
forth um yes it's i just um emailed you the language it's it's case number one on the two
o 'clock list the attorney mike malloy has signed back on you're simply revoting it to clarify the
proviso language which i thought might be a bit confusing to ellen this is the one uh to the other
board members that had to do with the signage on ridge avenue okay we're trying to get the right
verbiage for uh dusk and dawn and all the other stuff so we're gonna call i'm gonna call it back
up it's mi -2020 -001212 9165 ridge avenue my vote is yes with the following provisos
sign message will change no more than once every 30 minutes sign must contain photosensitive
technology that will respond to sunlight levels and signed to remain off from 10 p .m to 6 a .m
yes with proviso yes with proviso thank you and thank you sharon thank you all right that
concludes the two o 'clock list is there any unfinished business on the two o 'clock list
not for me okay are we ready um i'll mention this is to the other board members are we
ready to go with the 3 30 list yes yes okay yeah let me
yes yes okay yeah let me go grab my uh yeah i'm ready
we're ready confessor yeah okay all right good afternoon everyone my name is frank de chico i'm
the chair of the zoning board of adjustment i'll be participating in today's hearing along with our
board secretary mr confessor plaza and board members mr thomas hollowman and mr james snell
Board Administrator Tanya Sunkit and Board Attorney Sharon Saleta are also in attendance.
For those of you who haven't yet participated in one of our virtual hearings,
I will go through some of the basics of what you can expect.
First, we will be administering oaths to individual participants prior to their testimony.
Second, for the benefit of anyone participating by phone,
we ask that attorneys and witnesses identify themselves prior to speaking or testifying.
Third, we'd like to advise everyone that this proceeding is being recorded
and that by participating you acknowledge your agreement to be recorded. Fourth, for anyone
participating by phone, if you wish to testify, you must raise your hand by hitting star nine
and then star six to unmute yourself. I'll repeat, for anyone participating by
phone, if you wish to testify, you must raise your hand by hitting star nine and
then star six to unmute yourself. Finally, to enter an appearance statement
call Google 267 -270 -5548 and leave your email address and the address of the
property at issue. I will repeat, to enter an appearance statement, call Google 267 -270 -5548
and leave your email address and the address of the property at issue. With that being said,
and before we begin calling our first case, I'd like to ask if anyone is requesting a continuance
or withdrawal of an appeal listed for this afternoon's hearing? If so, please raise your
hand at this time. Sherry may not have seen it, but I did send an email letting you know that
there were continued... Okay, thank you. I have that list. I just went off. Okay, thank you.
henry clinton
mr clinton uh i think you're you were were you on this morning or not i forget
um anyway identify yourself with a record henry clinton uh 1313 south 33rd street phillip pa
19146. And do you swear to affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do. I believe you're requesting a continuance for 6463 Malvern? You are correct. Okay. All
right. So noted that MI -2020 -000376 -6463 Malvern Street is continued. Thank you very much. Thank
you. I have also a request for on page number two. Hold on, let me get my stuff together here.
What did I just do?
Okay, MI -2020 -000867
2448 Master Street is continued, and number six MI -2020 -000979, 706
Washington Avenue is continued, and I believe that we have not received any
exhibits for MI 2020 -000978, 1600 North 52nd Street. If that is accurate, that case will be
continued also. If anyone believes that a case is being continued in error, please raise your hand,
or if you wish to request a continuance or withdrawal, please raise your hand also.
no hands no hands are up okay uh so confessor we will begin with uh i believe number three on our
no hands no hands are up okay
list um master street number two
master street is being it was continued continue okay i apologize number three
Okay, MI 2020 -000983, 2345 North Reece Street.
I believe Seng Jin is the attorney.
Good afternoon.
Good afternoon, Zen.
you agree to waive the reading of its refusal and stipulate to its accuracy? I do. Do you swear
in the firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? I do. Okay. Have you
emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents, proof of ownership, proof of tax
compliance, copy of the refusal, referral, photos, and plans five days prior to this hearing? I have.
Okay. Have you met with the RCO and have a letter? Yes. Great. Please identify yourself with
record, you may proceed. Yes, Zen Jin, Z -A -G -N, J -I -N, 1617 John F. Kennedy Boulevard, Suite 1838,
Philadelphia PA 19103, here on behalf of the applicant, WD Development LLC.
My client is also here with us. I will ask him to verify my testimony at the end of the presentation.
If the board is ready, I will go ahead and share the screen of the information we submitted
to the board.
Please proceed.
So five days prior, we submitted a packet of exhibits including a refusal, the community
letter from APM, certificate of tax compliance deed, application for appeal, project information
sheet, photos, and plans.
I want to first address the community letter before moving into more details.
The refusal itself is based on a subdivision of the lots and the specific refusals are
addressed on the plans itself. The community issued a letter in opposition. However,
I want to point out to the board that we asked specifically for the community's basis for the
particular opposition and the primary concern seems to be real estate taxes and increase in
rental and home sale prices. There's mention about impact on a park that is about a block away but
that is they're worried about dust during the construction. They're saying that the single
family dwelling project does not offer safe space for area children. I'm not sure how we can address
that but we're certainly happy to and their general consensus is that they don't want new
construction on these lots. So I'm going to go right to the site plan at this point and explain
to the board what the subdivision is about. So this particular block is interesting in that it
has various sized lots but some of the lots are purely residential and most of the block is
residential, my client happened to have a rather large lot that is 32 feet wide and also 73 foot
deep. Even with the proposed subdivision, which is simply cutting the lot into the 16 foot wide
lots, which is actually more consistent to what is normally on the block, including across the
street and further down the block, it still produces a large lot of over a thousand square
foot. It is a little bit less than the 1440 that would be otherwise required to have a lot. However,
we believe that to keep this lot as a full size parcel and try to develop only that parcel would
make the house far too large for the neighborhood. As you can see, if you look at the photos of the
area this this is a residential block with some mixed commercial buildings on
certain parts and there are some vacant lots as well but most of these buildings
are in fact in even smaller lots as far as the width and depth are concerned so
we actually have even after subdividing some of the largest lots in the
neighborhood there are some unique aspects of our lot that needs to be
pointed out when it comes to the refusal. One of the key refusals is the front -loaded garage that
is being proposed based on our concept. The reason my client is proposing garages is because on this
particular side of the block where our lots are located, one is that it
where the lot, our lots are located. One is that there's no parking allowed on this side. The
parking's only on the opposite side of the street. As you can see, people are illegally
parking on the sidewalk, but they're not actually supposed to be parking there. And the other
structures on the block further down the street actually also have garages for that reason.
By adding these garages, we're not actually taking away parking from the street. What we're actually
doing is taking away cars from the street and adding parking to the area rather than taking it
away. As far as these are single -family houses, I think the two additional parking garages, one for
each single -family house, would only be to the benefit of the community and not a detriment,
particularly considering that the owners otherwise would not be parking on this side of the street
be fighting for additional on -street parking across the street. In addition, as you can see
from the rendering, my client took in consideration of height when they designed the building,
trying to keep the height level more consistent to the existing three -story structures. Although
across the street are mostly two -story structures and the block has inconsistent overall
height in some of the structures, we're trying to keep the height down to a 34 foot level
to try to keep things much more consistent to the neighborhood. These again the lot coverage
with the maximum allowed coverage variance we're talking almost a very de minimis amount of 1 .6
or 7 percent difference from what is by right of 25 percent.
So these again are single family structures. The floor plans are here. I know I'm going to go ahead
and zoom in a little bit to make it a little bit easier to see the overall layout. So there's a
half basement because again of the parking pad, which will have essentially a rec room with a
powder room. You have your family garage and a powder room on the first floor along with some
storage and then moving up we have the living room kitchen and then finally the bedrooms on the
top floor so these are again single -family houses designed for a single -family zoning district
once again with regard to the specific opposition from the community none of the opposition comes
from the idea of a single family house.
The idea that the main thing they oppose to
is the idea that these houses will raise
the real estate taxes in the area
and also that they would be potentially raising
the overall value of the homes in the area
and therefore costing existing owners
a little more in the real estate tax.
And we have directed the community members
to talk to the council council office about protecting the real estate value as far as taxes
however ultimately that still was the main reason we ended up with opposition
on the vote from the neighbors and we did present in detail about the same project ideas again the
open area is a very small difference from what is required 282 .6 versus 295.
So once again these are what we believe to be well -designed and positive single -family development
to the area and these again even subdivided will be on some of the larger lots on the block.
I am certainly happy to try to answer any questions from the board or if you
want me to redirect to a particular part of the documentation I will certainly
jump to that for you that you have a witness I do my client should be here
mr. mark Gersh
you can unmute yourself can you hear me i'm sorry yes yes sir please identify yourself with a record
spell your first and last name and give us your address sure my name is mark gersh m -a -r -k g -i -r -s -h
My address is 1006 Yorkshire Drive, Yardley, PA, 19067.
And do you swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Thank you.
Mr. Jinn?
Thank you.
Mr. Gersh, you heard my presentation to the zoning board.
Can you verify that my facts as presented are true and correct and adopt my testimony as your own?
Can you verify that my facts as presented are true and correct?
I do. I do agree with your testimony.
The only the only thing I would say is the garage, the houses with the garages would be right next door to what we're building, not down the road.
Oh, thank you.
Anyone else? Any questions from the board?
no no no anyone else who would wish i would like to testify in this matter please raise your hand
here we have sloan folks from the council person's office
the folks good afternoon i believe you're still under oath please identify yourself for the record
good afternoon chairman de chico zba board sloan folks office of councilwoman maria
quinones sanchez room 508 city hall the applicants having met with the coordinating rco and having
received a letter of opposition the councilman also opposes this variance request thank you
thank you um anyone else
no hands thank you planning commission this is uh ron bednar city planning
where's the firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing about the truth
i do thank you ron please proceed uh the property is indicated for single family
residential use on the city plan given the site constraints we have no
objections to the granting of the variance provided no front -loaded parking
thank you uh mi -2020 -000983 2345 2345 north reese street my vote is yes my vote is yes
my vote is yes my vote is yes good luck thank you have a good evening
Okay. Mr. Chairman
Rising Sun, right? Number four?
Yes. Okay.
MI 2020
000980
Rising Sun Avenue.
I don't see an attorney's
Here we have Justin
Crick. Justin, you've been promoted
to panelists. You may share your
great in a mutual way to be sworn in yes i am here thank you
yes justin crick oh your name please you swear in a firm to tell the truth the whole truth for
nothing but the truth i do do you agree to waive the reading of its refusal and stipulate to its
accuracy yes have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents proof of ownership
proof of tax compliance, copy of the refusal, referral, photos, and plans five days prior to
this hearing? Yes, the tax clearance certificate was forwarded earlier today, but all the other
requirements were forwarded several days. Yes. Do you have a letter? The letter was forwarded by
the RCO on July 15th to the board. Thank you. Please identify yourself for the record. You may
proceed. Yes. Thank you, members of the board. My name is Justin Crick. Last name is K -R -I -K.
my address is 1500 john f kennedy boulevard suite 630 philadelphia pennsylvania 19102
i am here today on an application for 4760 rising sun avenue the property is a cmx1 use and we it is
currently operating as on the first floor a bar and lounge and the applicant is
seeking to establish a separate business with the upstairs portion of the
property to use as a banquet hall or as an entertainment venue as I will show
you here the the only application or refusal that we received primarily was
the the refusal for use and then a an accessory parking issue in which we
don't have any proposed parking on the site but we have explained and as I will do a diagram for
you shortly or show you shortly there is adequate parking that we are using located around the
corner which holds up to 20 cars and has additional flow of up to 10 cars located along the nearby
Howard Street. The property the owner of the property Mr. Castillo who is present with us
today has owned this property since approximately 1999
and has been operating it in similar capacities with
prior approval from the board however at this time
he does need approval to continue the use for live entertainment and the music
in the upstairs portion of the building we have
We have, I have the deed here indicating this is just a deed of confirmation, but further within the deed, there is language as to how he acquired it.
I have the deed here indicating this is just a deed of confirmation.
What I'm showing you now are maps of the surrounding area so you can orient yourself with Rising Sun and West Loudoun Street.
The property actually consists of three buildings that have been combined several years ago.
You can see from an aerial view that that is a continuous use across those three properties.
um and i'm going to give you some some just a perspective of the property here this is along
rising sun avenue and this is along uh loudon street uh the property has been um essentially
what we're trying to do when we met with the neighborhood was address their concerns of the
use of live entertainment um this is the these are pictures of the existing first floor which
is not in question with the board and more importantly you can see the venue and the size
of the space on the second floor that is fitted out for this purpose and has been in the past
used specifically for this purpose with approval uh during the meetings with the neighborhood
association they have voted in support of this uh as the letter with the with the board should
state uh they did have some concerns that we addressed mostly that this banquet hall is to
to have private parties and booking events and not necessarily open to the public.
The parking options, as I indicated, we've gotten the neighborhood approval by having
adequate parking separately from this parcel itself, but located around the corner holding
those 20 cars. We've also indicated to them that we have private trash removal. There is security
on the site sufficient for the neighborhood, and we do intend to have security guards on the
premises during events with a maximum occupancy of 147 people. There are several exits to the
property. However, we've agreed that the outdoor terrace is the space that will allow smoking and
we will do what we have to do to direct the patrons to limit smoking to those areas.
Hours of operation that they have requested are listed in their letter and we are willing to
work with them on that and comply. And the only the only thing that they had asked for that we
would ask a little bit differently is the neighborhood in their support asked that this
variance have a two -year limitation on it in order to for the applicant to prove in that time period
its willingness to work with the neighborhood. I would only ask that that be potentially extended
to three to four years considering that even with the granting of this variance should the board do
so uh we have several months lead time ahead of us before we're able to open and operate
giving given current covid restrictions we don't anticipate being able to actually do anything with
it in the in the foreseeable future um it will be using a shared kitchen and and obviously have
all of the necessary approvals and licenses to do so and essentially that is the conclusion of
the presentation and i have mr castillo available to verify the testimony that i have given and then
we are prepared to answer any questions from the board bring on mr cassillo
frank we can't hear you buddy hear me now yes
you're muted again
hear me now
Mr. Castillo is available to be sworn in
thank you
Mr. Castillo
Mr. Castillo
speak. Are you there? Yes. Yeah, please, sir, identify yourself. Give us your full name and
address. Sure. My name is Ismael Castillo. Can you spell your name, please, first and last name?
I -S -M -A -E -L, last name C -A -S -T -S in Thomas, I -double -L -O.
and you should affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes i do thank you please proceed mr castillo have you heard my statements to the board
during this presentation thank you and do you accept my testimony as your own and accept the
the statements i've said as true yes and just curiously is there anything you wish to add to
the statements that I've given to the board no thank you very much members of
thank you very much members of the board we are prepared to answer questions
the board we are prepared to answer questions regarding the application
regarding the application thank you any questions from the board no no one else
who would like to testify on this in this case please raise your hand here we
have slung folks from the council person's office mr. folks you're under
Chairman DiCicco and ZBA Board, Sloan Fuchs, Office of Councilwoman Maria Quinonez Sanchez,
room 508 City Hall. The applicant has met with the coordinating RCO and has
garnered a letter of support. Therefore, the Councilwoman is supporting this request for
variance. Thank you. Thank you very much. Anyone else who would like to testify in this case?
no hands chair thank you planning commission
ron are you there
sorry property is indicated for neighborhood commercial mixed juice
just give us your name again ron okay ron bednar city planning
this property is indicated for neighborhood commercial mixed use on the city plan
given the site's history we have no objection to the granting appearance
thank you ron mi -2020 -000980 4760 rising sun avenue my vote is yes
my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes
I believe that
thank you
I believe that
the 330 list
thank you very much
or is there another case out there
I saw something in your notes to me
Sharon about
number seven
I don't have that
let me see
no we're done
I think that's what happened
was you hit number seven
it should have been number four
no no worries no problem all right any unfinished business yes we forget it don't forget to call
carol everybody she already texted me twice so chair we have people with their name up i mean
their hand up okay at least it was um isaac slepner did you have concerns
Mr. Slepner
Shimon Shane
Yes, can you
Can you hear me?
Shimon Shane
Yes, can you hear me?
Yes, please, what's the purpose of your call?
Yes, I'm with Isaac Slepner
Actually, I don't know why he's not able
To respond
but we're supposed to be heard
1925 North 4th Street
we're supposed to be heard today
that was
I believe was that earlier today
I think I saw that earlier today
and it was
if memory serves me correct
we were told
3 .30 maybe you can
try to unmute Isaac Slepner again
maybe he can
I don't know if he's able to
I don't know if for some reason he wasn't able to answer
Yes chair
This should be for 3 .30
I apologize
I don't have that sheet
I apologize
There's an error actually on the listing
Okay so give us the
Calendar number
um i don't i don't i can look it up um i don't know isaac isaac i'm asking staff for that sir
okay thank you
it's mi2020
000044
000044
1925 north 4th street
this was the one that was listed for yesterday
I remember I remember now
yep okay isaac here but i'm just confused he's not responding
maybe we can do this uh at least to get started mr schlepner if you can hear us
oh there you go there you go are we here in this case yeah yes we apologize to you when you're
slept no you swear the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes i do do you agree to
wait the reading of his refusal and stipulate to its accuracy yes i do also have you emailed
an exhibit packet with the required documents proof of ownership proof of tax compliance
copy photos and plans five days prior to this hearing uh yes we have great have you met with
the rco and have a letter uh yes we did and yes we do please identify yourself you may proceed
one second let me promote you to panelists thank you
mr slepner is this the original hearing or the continuation of a hearing
sharon he went out for a second okay
all right good afternoon um mr chair members of the board isaac slepner with matione limited
100 north independence mall west suite 5a northwest philadelphia pa 191
mr slepner uh miss sharon saletta has a question for you i'm sorry go ahead
Mr. Sefner, is this the original hearing or is it the continuation of a hearing?
No, this, well, I think it was administratively continued from yesterday's list because of some confusion with the printing of the orange poster, but this is effectively the original hearing.
Thank you.
Please proceed.
um isaac sleptner with mattioni limited 100 north independence mall west suite 5a northwest
philadelphia pa 19125 i am counsel to shane brother inc which is the owner of 1925 north
fourth street and with me on this zoom call is my client simon shane um my clients simon shane
and David Bedar, who are the principals of Shane Brother Inc. I don't want to, I will try to
streamline all this. If I can share my screen, I will be glad to share all of our documents with
you. So there we go. If you'll allow me, I will walk everyone through our documents. Sorry, I'm
scrolling up um 1925 north fourth exhibit one is our notice of refusal which we have waived but the
only um just briefly the only refusal is for use the proposed uh construction is a new construction
duplex to family on this site our second document is our date stamped appeal application date
It's damped February 13th of 2020.
Submit 3 is our floor plan and site plan, and I'll rotate that so everyone can see it.
This is, as I mentioned, planned as a duplex.
At the top here, you can see the elevation.
It would be three -story plus a roof deck and cellar.
Over here is our site plan as it relates to the surrounding parcels.
1925 north 4th borders on one side a vacant lot and on the other side is a an abandoned
existing brick structure um there's no demo plan for this the site the site itself is a
empty lot these are the floor plans um and simon can address that a little bit more in depth but
basically your one apartment is basement and ground level. Ground level containing the bedroom
and access to the rear yard. Basement containing kind of an open living space with one bathroom.
The second and third floors are either a one bedroom or two bedroom. Simon will be able to
address that with access to the roof deck. Three bedrooms, three bathrooms. I'm sorry?
Three -bedroom, three -bathroom. Second and third floor is one unit.
Okay, thank you. I just wanted to make sure we were clear on all that.
Exhibit 4 are our site photos. 4A are photos of the site itself, and I can show the board exactly where 1925.
So if you see this stuccoed brick wall, that's 1927 North Forth.
So 1925 North Forth is basically to the end of that first fence before the gap in the wood fences.
That's another shot of 1925 with neighboring 1927.
And 1923 is the next open grassy lot there with the tree upon it.
Exhibit 4B are some photos of the immediate neighborhood.
Exhibit 4B are some photos of the immediate neighborhood.
This is a little bit further north, back up 4th Street,
and you can see there's a bunch of new construction.
That is a triplex.
The next one is a triplex.
And the other two brand new ones there are also triplexes.
So there's a lot of multifamily going on on this block.
This is a shot of immediately next to 25,
That's 23 and 21, and 19 is the house, 1919 North 4th is the house that you see in this shot.
This is across the street, 1930, and there's a whole block of multifamily, I believe they're duplexes or triplexes, multifamily, a whole half block of these red brick ones.
this is 1930 north fourth um this is a little this is actually the same shot looking northward
on fourth street again and exhibit 4c are our photos of our orange poster taken um
21 days or more ago there's a photo one as you can see posted on one of the fence posts there
here is well you'll see it in a second i'll rotate it back there is it's all the way over
there at the right edge of the photo but you can see our orange poster there and on the fence post
and there again on the fence post is and there again on the fence post is our orange poster
exhibit five should be exhibit five is our project information form which we filled out
during our initial appeal application in early February, February 6th of 2020.
Exhibit 6 is an affidavit of service of our mass mailing notice to the neighbors
as provided to us by planning, and this is a certificate of service
which was signed on September 10th, attesting that our mailing was done on August 20th.
Exhibit A is our notice letter to the neighbors dated August 20th.
Exhibit B was our notice of refusal, our letter and refusal.
Exhibit B is the long list of addresses that we noticed by mail, about 100 or so, maybe
even a little more than 100.
It goes on for some pages.
Exhibit 7 is the letter from North Square Community Alliance to the Board dated August
28th of 2020 uh which is the summary of our meeting and the rco took a position of support
with a vote of six in favor zero opposed and one not opposed non -opposition uh and exhibit
eight is the deed in favor of shane brother inc which was recorded on april 24th 2018 in the
recorder of deeds office uh there's the deed tax certs and exhibit nine is the tax clearance for
Shane Brother Inc., which was run on September 30th.
And I would just like to call my client, Simon Shane.
I'm here.
Do you hear me?
Mr. Shane, please identify yourself.
Spell your first and last name.
Simon Shane, S -H -I -M -O -N, S -H -A -I -N.
And your address?
307 Avon Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19116.
Thank you.
You're swearing to the firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Thank you.
Mr. Slepner?
Simon, did you hear the testimony that I offered to the board today?
And is it all true and correct, to the best of your knowledge?
And would you adopt that testimony as though you had given it today yourself?
And I have nothing further from my client.
thank you any questions from the board no no no anyone else who would like to testify
in this case if so please raise your hand
sloan you can unmute yourself thank you sloan folks thank you identify yourself you're still
on the road. Thank you. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Thank you. Sloan Fulks, Office of Councilwoman Maria
Cayona Sanchez, Room 508 City Hall. The applicant, having met with coordinating RCO and garnering
a letter of support, the Councilwoman offers non -opposition to this variance request. Thank
you. Thank you very much. Planning Commission. I'm sorry, before that, anyone else? No one else.
Thank you. Planning Commission.
ron bednar city planning property is indicated for residential use on the city plan given the
recent development pattern within the surrounding neighborhood we have no objection to the ground
interference mi -2020 -000044 1925 north 4th street my vote is yes my vote is yes
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
Good luck.
Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you.
And I have nothing further, and apologies for any scheduling confusion today, but thank you for hearing us.
No worries.
All right.
Thank you for hearing us.
Have a good day.
You too.
Any unfinished business?
Sharon, Tanya?
No, Chair.
We should be done now.
That's it.
The board's okay?
We're good.
As Tanya would say, it's a wrap
Stay safe
Alright everyone, have a good one
Okay, stay safe
Great job guys
Thank you
Have a good night, bye Sharice