and so we've at this point because we can't continue to have conversions into multi-family
units and not at least have some kind of benefit for the community because this is leading to more
displacement in our community and they state you might say well this doesn't have anything to do
with zoning it has a lot to do with zoning because of the fact at this point that if if they're not
showing any true hardship then at that point then why should the variance be granted so uh in this
right he after having a conversation with uh mr knockerson or at the time i think his assistant
his other staffer, they stated that they didn't want to do a binding agreement. They were not
interested. They want to do $1,600 for the unit and then they said they might do low-cost housing
but then I said we said to him well you know low-cost housing is a different type of language
than $1,600 and so we just I just want to put that on the record and we're going to be firm going
I just want to put that on the record, and we're going to be firm going forward that variant conversions cannot be just based on expansion or profit, or it needs to come with a benefit back to the community, and we're asking for the HUD recommendation of 1250 for a two-bedroom, and we feel as though with that support.
for it
now in turn we didn't know anything about no petition because rco is supposed to be fully
informed we did not know anything about that we don't know what was said on the petition and number
two the people at like i said at the meeting went forth with the vote so to be cut back on time and
people having to come back and you know and all that because you're not going to re-mail again
you know and that with the hopes of having still having this conversation but the cdc did vote in
favor of this am i correct we're saying the vote went through with the understanding that our
conversation was going to take place after the even though the vote was taken our parents thank
you very much for calling is there anyone else in the audience thank you i could just quickly
respond to that to see if there's anyone else is anyone else in the audience all right chair i do
not see i do not see any further hands at this time okay so as as you mentioned we have unanimous
support from the rco including two near neighbors i do believe we've met our burden given the two
unit structure and i have i did have communications over email with miss green over the past week
about affordable housing and i was honest with her i said listen we're going to do our best to
keep it at 1600 my client's not interested in signing some sort of deed restriction but we're
also not interested in doing anything super crazy high-end and and unaffordable so that's kind of
where we love things with her okay um planning commission amy boyd with the planning commission
amy boyd do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
i do please proceed the comprehensive plan recommends no change in zoning at this location
from the current rsi 5 residential single family this property has a documented history of being
split into two spaces the conversion of the previous commercial space into residential
brings the property more into the spirit of the residential nature of the zoning district the
The Planning Commission recommends that the board grant their requested variance for two family.
MI 2026, 000, 481, 1400 South 23rd Street, I vote yes.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Tinetto Graham, my vote is yes.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes.
Tywin, my vote is yes.
Alex, are you doing 10?
I'm doing all.
Which is, what's the Hicken?
All right. Could you ask your associate? Sure.
So, MI 2026-000-553-4931 Wissahickon Avenue. Alex Nockamson is the attorney. I mean,
Alan Nockamson is the attorney. Could you please state your name? No, you don't have to. You've
already been sworn. Just state your name for the record. Alan Nockamson. Could you identify your
client or relationship to this property? Yes, my client is Jomo LLC and in the virtual audience
is one of its members, Anthony Gray. And I see there's a letter of non-opposition
from Solo Germantown? We have several letters. Unlimited, non-opposition. Yeah, we have,
i believe several letters one from the 13th democratic board one from solo okay and one
from swamp poodle either in non-opposition or in support i don't know which one so but they're all
positive yeah no swamp poodle they sent um a letter right before um hearings this afternoon
they indicated they were in support with um two provisos um one being no drug consumption
administration or distribution and trash and recycling stored indoors except on collection
days and then they noted that they agree with adding landscaping increasing sidewalk trees as
well as other permissible provisos requested by affected rcos but our vice chair has a few
questions good afternoon have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of
this hearing yes we have and do you waive the reading of the refusals and stipulate to the
accuracy. I do. All right. Thank you. You can show your screen and proceed with your case.
Hi. So I'm here to present 4931 Wissahickon Avenue. As you can see, it's a corner property.
A little interesting tidbit. There's an Isaiah Zagar mural right here, which is a pretty famous
artists and in the philadelphia region uh so this property has been a multi
in the philadelphia region uh so this property has been a multi-unit structure for some time
um but we'll go over that uh we'll review the the 12 exhibits and again at the conclusion
my presentation i would ask that anthony gray virtually raise his hand and be sworn in sure
so this is an rsa5 property i would say it's an rsa5 property in name only given its history
It's a lot size of almost 2,300 square feet.
My client purchased the property from the chiropractor who's currently on the first floor.
So we're just trying to clean up some things here.
There's a chiropractor on the first floor, history of that.
There was a dentist on the second floor.
There's a history of that.
And then there was a therapist on the third floor.
I don't know if there was a history for that.
The dentist left on the second floor, and the therapist now wants to go on the second floor, and we want to convert the third floor into a single-family residence.
And so that's our refusal for uses as business and professional, medical, dental, health practitioner, sole practitioner, and single-family household living.
And we have two refusals.
First is about the business and professionals not allowed.
And then the second refusal is about the medical, dental, and health practitioner.
So we did meet with the community.
It was a very positive meeting, and I think we helped it along by agreeing to do trash storage inside.
I would disagree with the proviso.
No drugs administered.
While no one administers drugs, I think the therapist is a psychologist, not a psychiatrist.
There has been drugs administered on this property.
I would assume of some sort with the dentist on it previously.
So I would just say we want to keep this open.
There's a history of having someone who has had access to drugs, to administer drugs legally,
but right now there's not.
We just don't want to have to come through this process.
It's expensive.
It's time-consuming, and we would hope the board would consider that strongly.
Again, unanimous support based on the 13th award RCO letter.
and again this kind of summarizes what i just stated uh the really their their concern was
about trash maintenance and storage uh we also another and they were the coordinating rco you
know obviously all rcos should be considered equally solo you know was also a participant
uh participant during the meeting they were also in non-opposition um they had uh a request uh for
ventilated trash closet we don't think that's necessary for the third floor because we're going
to have a common storage area for trash we'll see and we would request that would be the case
rather than that they also had a request for no rooftop decks you know if we were providing we're
not having them um if we did we would have to obviously seek you know another zoning permit
and that's up to the board whether or not they want to you know put that proviso on there we
would ask for that not to happen. They also stated to have no exterior mailboxes. You'll
see from the pictures, there's already exterior mailboxes there. I think there's a long documented
history of that. Again, that's not an enforceable proviso anyway. And then the swamp poodle
letter um i guess kind of they have two provisos about trash storage um so uh and they asked for
commercial trash i guess commercial trash pickup we would respectfully say please do not put that
requirement on us it's only one residential unit above there's two light uses of of a business
there neither of which is going to have much trash you know for it so i think that would be overkill
to require commercial trash storage and then they say no parking in front of addresses i don't know
what that means this is public parking we're not going to be accommodating any parking from anyone
so i would leave it up to the board to i'm sure the representative from swan poodle will explain
that we have a petition well documented of people in support property history which shows again a
significant multi-use history for this property uh you can see from what's it we're in the corner
of what's the hicken and clapier street photographs of the property you get to see from here this
looks nothing like an rsa5 property and you can also see from the signage the chiropractic
office the former dental office there and you can see here here in the mailboxes um but you
know they have double doors here um long documented non-rsa5 history
long documented non-RSA-5 history. Proof of posting for today's hearing.
Wissahickon Avenue to the right of the property, to the left of the property. West Clapier
Street to the right of the property, to the left of the property. Tour of photos. So again,
this has been an active chiropractic office for as long as anyone can remember. The chiropractors
very well liked in the community there was a lot of positive discussion about him and making sure
they kept this use legal for him and his use is in the first floor in the lower level
which you can see from the pictures here
and then you can see this is the former dentist office on the second floor
and then i believe this is the therapist although i've been told there's a psychologist but it could
be a like a physical therapist but i was told it was a you know so we can flesh it out too
uh our plans very straightforward um like you know these are just you know simple cutouts
the spaces are existing really the only difference that i wanted to show the board was the
residential component that's being added on here so you can see there's two bedrooms there's a
living room there's a kitchen there's a bathroom the washer dryer is right here you can see that
the bedrooms have you know ample windows again no basement living this is our rco meeting notice
WE MET WITH THE COMMUNITY ON APRIL 28TH, WE SENT THE NOTICE OUT TO 65 PEOPLE.
THERE WERE AT LEAST 10 TO 15 PEOPLE IN THE AUDIENCE, I THINK THE VOTE SHOWS THAT.
PROOF OF MAILING, APPLICATIONS FOR ZONING VARIANTS,
OR DEED TO PROPERTY SHOWING THAT JOE MOE, LLC, IS THE OWNER,
AND THEIR CERTIFICATE OF TAX CLARANCE. WITH THAT BEING SAID,
I WOULD ASK THAT MR. GRAY VIRTUALLY RAISE HIS HAND AND BE SWORINED.
Mr. Gray, I'll be coming back in as a panel shortly, thank you.
okay can you hear me now and sir could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
sure it's daryl anthony gray d-a-r-r-y-l anthony a-n-t-h-o-n-y last name gray g-r-a-y
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes i do would you please turn your video on please
okay i'm trying to find that let me see if i can if you can yeah i can it was on and uh hang on a
second yeah boy it's my video here we go i think i got it okay yeah you you you have it sir all right
yeah mr gray you heard everything i had to state today about your zoning matter
that is correct is it true and correct yes it is and do you adopt as your own testimony yes
i do specifically you're in agreement to a proviso where you would store the trash inside
the building structure yes i am all right board i did omit uh when i was going quickly through
the drawings i just wanted to make sure that the board sees this um this is where the trash will
be stored so just give me a second uh the trash room is right here if you remember these are the
double doors that lead into the common vestibule area there's a secondary access here too but
there's a significant room here that all residents well the one resident and the two businesses would
have as access for trash storage thank you questions for the board i just need clarity
so the second floor because it seems like you showed us the former dentist office yeah and
then the therapist office are there two separate businesses on the second floor no there would just
be one the dentist left the dentist that's an older an old photo but there is no dentist there
right mr gray i just want to make sure i'm accurate mr gray is has the dentist left the
premises yes the dentist is vacated in the therapist on that floor so okay yeah so it's
just the updated photo of the interior conditions that's right got it and then do you know how many
um patients each of the businesses on the first and the second floor typically see um in a day
in a day uh i cannot speak to that um trying to get a sense of volume of people right because i
uh i cannot speak to
think uh specifically as you guys asked to not have commercial tracks pick up it did look like
the business on the first floor has like at least four could have up to four to five people
on premises at a time because you had three seats in the waiting room there was a
receptionist desk there's a office desk in the back and i'm assuming there's an exam room
um and so just trying to get a sense of like how many people are going to be on premises kind of
typically to justify because while i understand you saying these are minimal use businesses now
these are pretty general categories that are getting approved and that this would stay with
the property so like commercial trash pickup could mean something different if a different
business came behind it that happened to generate more trash yeah and that's fair and let me just
of the hours of operation for the chiropractor. He's at the tail end of his career. He's an older
gentleman, but according to my notes, Monday from 3.30 p.m. to 7 p.m., Tuesday 8 a.m. to 12.30 p.m.,
Wednesday 3.30 p.m. to 7 p.m., Thursday 9 a.m. to 12.30 p.m., Friday noon to 6, and then just walk-ins
are welcome, but appointments are encouraged. So it stands for HIT, right? But like once it's
approved another person could come in behind him and they could be running a very different medical
practice that has more trash and more more patients we always defer to the board if it
makes sense to have commercial trash pickup to protect the community then you know that's
something that we obviously we would abide by as a provider so other questions yes yes my question
um what was this with the room that seemed to have a bedroom or something i think i would um
mr gray yes therapist is is that a psychologist or physical therapist she's a mental health
provider on that on the second level mental health okay and by counseling okay and there
was like a like a almost like a table like a table of some sort do you know what that's for
i'm sorry the table on the third floor yeah i'll show you the table um when i looked at my when i
looked at the drawings or the pictures too i was like is the therapist like mental or physical right
so um let me just take a look right here okay those pictures are antiquated that is no longer
exist when i bought the property the chiropractor indicated to me who was the owner of the property
previous to me buying he's my tenant now there used to be a massage therapist on that floor
that floor was just rated as storage and there's nobody up there and i didn't uh inherit anything
i apologize we took this from the zillow listing um but that must be an older photograph but there
was but wasn't there another picture where it looked like it was like a bed or something yeah
yeah so that was a massage therapist but that's no longer there what do you know what floor that
is yes that is the third floor it is totally vacant and again when i bought the property
it was vacant at that time and used just for storage from the chiropractor the owner who was
the owner at the time and and this is the floor where you're going to put in a single family
that's correct two bedrooms yes so is there already a kitchen and things like that there