Just a clarification.
When you say you support adding parking spaces,
you recognize that with these curb cuts,
there will be two parking spaces that will be removed from the street
for every curb cut that's that's um that would be awarded by the zoning board is that correct
i was not aware of the exact math involved but it seems like these still a net parking plus
please help me out if i'm wrong you're correct
it would be taking an additional car but the question well rachel i appreciate that you're
not actually being the one asked the questions at this point. So I would appreciate if just
Mr. Quinonez would testify. So just to reiterate though, there are parking spaces being
eliminated on the street for all the parking spaces that are being created off street.
i think mr mr time please thank you thank you mr masters i think that your question i could be
wrong was answered when i asked the question of mr kramer about the 52 parking spaces on 22nd
street there actually would be a net gain of he according to his testimony somewhere between 10
and 15 well his testimony was one one spot but you're picking up three well mr holliman explained
that that two spots will be removed for every curb cut not one um because because the way the curb
cuts work um you have to have enough space on each side of them if it's even if it's two you're
removing two but you're adding you're putting three off street which is a net gain of one
if you're removing two off street and providing three if you're removing two on street and
providing three on off street that's a net gain of one correct every two that you take off the
street correct yes but those people there's only there's only three people well there's only there's
a limited people who can park off street who who belong there as opposed to the on street parking
is available in a more equitable way to everyone in the neighborhood so yes yes and no i think it
it could play works both ways all right and we also heard that from mr hall i have no further
questions but rachel i don't think you need to testify at this point because i have no further
questions i'm sorry i'm sorry please cheer this is tanya i will thank you very kindly
i'm just going to add in um as the applicant representing the owner so i'm permitted to speak
Mr. Masters, that additionally, Mr. Holloman shared with us that there's about 50% of people
use public transportation. So while I appreciate your argument or your speculation around parking,
there was testimony also given that public transportation is heavily utilized. So in
addition to the net gain that's going to be provided also those people will still be able
to utilize public transportation which is not affected by this application that was the
additional point i'd like to make thank you thank you and anyone else um rachel do you have any
other witnesses no chairman okay any other questions from the board at this time we're
that now go to the public uh yes mr yes mr chairman now i do feel ganged up one with joe uh present
i do understand the changes of uh drawings but accessory parking on 22nd street
it's not a good urban design, nor is it safe.
But for the benefit of architecture and city planning, for the 1700 block of North 22nd
Street. I would like to suggest, should I do it now, Mr. Chairman, provisos?
Should I do it now, Mr. Chairman, provisos, or should I?
You can do that because that may later rest some of the concerns of the public who may want to speak now.
Okay. I'd like to request four provisos. The first one, the new concrete sidewalk is removed on all three properties, and a new concrete sidewalk is poured with a five-and-a-half-inch curve.
second four trees approved by the city planning commission are planted near the sidewalk curve
between each property line on all properties third five bike racks installed at the already
built on-site parking spaces on all three properties and number four complete landscaping
recommended by the Philadelphia Planning Commission on the on-site parking spaces for all three
properties. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Tom. Excuse me, this is sharing. I was going to ask
are any of those provisos not enforceable? Chair, I would ask that if at the end of this that you
hold the vote for discussion in executive session okay very good thank you okay all right now we'll
ask is there anyone who would like to testify in this case if so please raise your hand mr chair
i have five witnesses that i've identified and submitted to to the board in advance and we have
an exhibit binder we'd like to go through you have their names i do well why don't we call them up
based on your list and if you could just clarify and have the witnesses state their address
because like previous mentioned i'm pretty sure that none of them actually okay we'll do that
and we'll ask mr masters if you can advise your witnesses to give us something new and different
rather than repeat over and over maybe well i also for sure mr chairman but i also want to do
an opening as well um so my first witness is going to be kayla frank jenkins who's my client
she's the owner of 1741 north crossby a member of rco saint elizabeth and a committee person in the
32nd ward we will next call priscilla bennett who's the leader of rco saint elizabeth uh then
let's call them up one at a time rather than just call number one let's get um yeah so kayla um
franks jenkins can you raise your hand to be recognized
you can unmute yourself okay good morning good morning ms jenkins please spell your full name
a-a-l-a last name is hyphenated it's f-r-a-n-k-s dash j-e-n-k-i-n-s and your address
1741 North Croskey Street do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the
truth yes and I will also like to state that Ms. Mary cannot be here right now she has class
you have to testify on your behalf ma'am okay Mr. Masters sure um let me just um just to give
you a little brief opening Mr. Chair and members of the board um the applicant here cannot legally
established hardship and and this is why as the record indicates they applied as of right for
building these four multi-family dwellings without any front-loading parking spaces and they were
awarded both a zoning permit and a building permit to build those and they have in fact
constructed those buildings this is now they are now not able to come to you and say that they have
any kind of legally recognized hardship. I'm going to object.
There's no objection to an opening. I'm sorry. I don't believe, Mr. Minister, I don't believe
they're claiming a hardship. They have to claim a hardship. They're asking for variances.
Well, let's go. This goes back to something that this board and I guess previous boards have always
been accused of. There aren't too many cases in this city of Philadelphia
that anyone can really establish a hardship. Do you agree on that?
Well, Mr. Chair. Let me ask you this way, and I don't want to get into a debate with you,
I'll end with this. An applicant comes before this board and they want to create a daycare
center in their home. The board may grant it based on community input and the district
council person's recommendation. Is there any hardship? Is there a hardship for that
person who wants to apply to create a daycare center within their home?
well you're asking me a hypothetical that has nothing to do with this case no no it's a reality
because i'm going to be in front of you soon on a daycare center um myself so um mister i understand
that yeah and i it's a legitimate question is there a hardship there can be depending on how the
is there a hardship there can be depending on how the configuration of the property is if
if the property was built out to be a daycare center sorry i need one at a time thank you
i'm sorry it's a single family home that someone wants to establish a daycare facility within
is there a hardship the answer is no you don't have to answer but it is
and i'm only saying that because i want to put that on the record i'm a little bit excited right
now and i apologize that this board gets accused of approving variances because and we're approving
variances where the applicant does not demonstrate a hardship there aren't too many there are a
handful of cases in the city of philadelphia that this board handles here's that would probably
qualify for a hardship so let's let's move well tomorrow tomorrow i'm going to be in front of you
mr chair with a hardship um yeah i'm sure it is a heart you'll figure a way of saying it's no no
it's it's a waterized place in a little shed and it can't be used for a house so it's definitely
a hardship well maybe i said there a handful let's go forward okay please continue mr masters you
cannot mute yourself and i'm sorry anyone who isn't speaking for the accuracy of the record
could you please mute yourself thank you yes um so so members of the board we we view this
as a bait and switch as as Mr. Holloman has called out previously in this hearing the applicant
applied for an as-of-right permit for these for these apartment buildings and now they're coming
in front of you and saying like well now we decided it would be a good idea to have some
parking and as you're going to hear from the testimony of of our witnesses um and and as as
we agree with Mr. Holloman that the the reason the zoning code says do not put front-loaded
driveways and curb cuts onto a street like north 22nd is because of the traffic dangers and the
and the negative impact that it has on the inaccuracy of what you're saying the code does
not say that the reason for that is based on traffic i didn't say the code but you're this
is argument and i and you can't object to my argument i'm talking about a proof of of
offer proof of my witnesses so i didn't i didn't interrupt you rachel and i would really appreciate
that you would show me the same courtesy let's let mr masters complete his uh opening statement
please thank you we have a letter of opposition uh in exhibit one from council president clark
um he writes that um he opposes the granting of the variances um he's in receipt of the letter
from the saint elizabeth's rco that we'll look at shortly um there's overwhelming community
opposition to the creation of these four curb cuts the proposed driveways will disrupt the
pedestrian right of way jeopardize the safety of neighborhood residents making their way to the
nearby rec center health center there's a senior center and septa bus stops these additional
driveways will also create unnecessary traffic congestion along 22nd street and there is no
hardship in exhibit two we have the rco letter from saint elizabeth and that states opposition
to the zoning applications. 22nd Street is the home to residents, the MLK Rec Center,
SEPTUS 33 bus. In the 250-yard radius, there's countless residents. Bentley Hall,
which is a very large senior housing facility from PHA, all of that is in the radius of those
institutions. The impact of these front-facing driveways will negatively affect traffic and
pedestrian walkways interrupt the sidewalk making it less safe for pedestrians including many seniors
to walk to Cecil B. Moore Avenue and to catch those buses and pedestrians going to the rec
center and the wellness center. Finally we have a letter from the 47th ward expressing opposition
to this application for variances, and it uses much of the same rationale that you saw in the
St. Elizabeth RCO. So, Ms. Franks Jenkins, I wanted to ask you if you took around a petition
around this. And is this the petition that I'm starting to show that you took around?
Yes. And are we going to be seeing 99 signatures on this of your neighbors who are opposed to this?
Okay. So walk us through this petition and tell us where you went and what kind of reception
you got when you talked to the folks about this project. So I went, I was basing it off of the
250 yard radius. So I started on the 1700 block of 22nd Street.
I also went to Bentley Hall. I also went to the Martin Luther King's
I also went to Bentley Hall. I also went to the Martin Luther King's Recreation Center.
I went to every owner. I went to every renter that I could find. I picked up more people along
the way. Some people work. A lot of the older people I had to get in when I could, when I
could catch them coming into Bentley Hall because a lot of the issue at that time was COVID. So I
more or less went on Mondays and Fridays and whenever I could to get all of the signatures
that I could get. I also worked with Ms. Denise, who I believe is the residential president of
Bentley Hall. So she also helped me get the petitions. I also went outside of that radius
of 250 yards because we in the community feel as though just because the 250 yards is a thing for
the RCO, we're represented by everybody that comes through that area. So I also got people
from the 1800 blocks of 22nd street. And some of those people are from New York. And the
overwhelming concern was not parking, but the safety. And we also have exhibits where
the safety issue is now more of a concern more than ever, especially from our older people.
All right. Now, you also took some photographs of this project and the surrounding areas. Is
that correct? Yes. Okay. So in this exhibit, we are looking at the intersection, I believe,
of Cecil B. Moore and 22nd Street, North 22nd Street. Yes. So on the right side of the street,
that's the Martin Luther King Recreation Center. And on the left, you can't really see it, but
that's the church. And there's also a white building. And I also have a petition signed
from the people that live in that building also. Okay. All right. What do we see? And it's also
the stop where the 33 is i apologize all right what are we seeing in this next photo so where
that lady is standing that's where the 33 bus stop is there's a community garden across the street
and then you can't really see it because of the car there's also another community garden
and where are the where are the projects that uh the the properties that are at issue today
are they right yes and then the community guard and they sell fruits and vegetables i'm not gonna
to lie, I cannot remember their schedule, but they definitely sell fruits and vegetables.
Okay. What are we looking at in this photo? So to your left is Martin Luther King Recreation
Center, and to your right is the Stephen Klein Wellness Center. So they do dental services,
wellness center, and I think they have a gym, and I think there's doctors in there also.
How far are these two institutions from the properties that we're at the hearing about today?
So Martin Luther King is in the 250-yard radius, but the Kline Center is not. The 250-yard radius stops at the Martin Luther King Center, but somewhere in the middle of the street, it stops.
Okay. And what are we looking at in this photo?
So the one building that you see that's white, that's the only owner-occupied building.
On North 22nd Street?
Yes, it's at the corner 22nd. The seats will be more.
And then you can see where the 33 is.
And the other thing that I forgot to mention is on the one picture where the big community garden was, that's also where the three bus runs right there.
So on the opposite side of the street where the lady is standing, that's where the three bus also runs.
And then right there on that side of the street, I'm sorry, where that car was, that's where the opposite, where it goes towards Fairmount.
Okay, so there's a lot of buses that are right at that intersection.
Right. It's three major buses. Okay. I mean, I'm sorry, two major buses, the three and the 33.
And that's the 33 in this photo? Yes. And that runs every 15 minutes unless things change because
of COVID. All right. Now in these photos, this is going to be the trajectory of the construction
of the apartment buildings? Yes. So that was before a ground was broken. That shows where
the original curve was I should say sidewalk and curve January 2021 original sidewalk no construction
yes okay and this is June 2021 yes
and here we see um what what is this concrete pad that we're looking at here in this photo
so everybody in the community wasn't aware of the previous design but we took it as though it was a
driveway we weren't 100 sure until the above picture came into play that it still looks like
The above picture came into play that it still looks like a driveway to us.
driveway to us
So you're saying that while they were constructing these buildings, they were also altering the sidewalk?
Yeah, so it's other pictures where you can see where the sidewalk was dug up.
There is one sidewalk that's still completely not done.
This picture was just to show you where, was it 1720 sidewalk used to look like?
okay and there's more pictures where that has been dug up and it's been like that for weeks
and that is the picture of what it looks like now and it actually looks worse because i think i took
pictures yesterday where you can actually see where the water puddles is and that's where they
were redoing the sidewalk so in some spots it's sloped it's almost like the sidewalk when they
poured it they met it where the original i want to say cobble brick from olden days are so if
it's like let's say it's like a two foot uh marble brick if at one spot it's like a half an inch high
that's where they met it but if at the other end is two inches high that's where they also met that
part at and i have close-up pictures where you can see where the sidewalk basically met wherever
the curb was all right and it's with the residency and this is one of the new constructed um apartment
yes okay yes and this is where the parking is going to be in here where this car is yes
so they're already parking there um that's the way it looks i do i will admit that i saw
speculation and okay i was i wasn't even i wasn't even i literally said that they are
transporting materials i apologize i wasn't trying to speculate i was going to say that
i do see them bringing in materials as you can see there are times when there are cars there