Good morning. My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this morning's ZBA Board
of Adjustment hearing. With me is our board member, Cheryl L. Gaston. Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our board member, Tanetta Graham. Present, Mr. Chairman. Our board member, Michael Johns.
Present, Mr. Chairman. Our board member, Taya Nguyen. Present, Mr. Chairman. And our board
member ryan mcadams president mr chairman well so here is our board attorney hillary emerson
and our zoning board director in haggarty recording in this hearing will be posted on
the zba website by participating you consent to be recorded this is an in -person meeting with
remote capabilities whether remote or in person if you call to speak you must state and spell
your name then wait to be sworn in once you're sworn in please state your name each time before
beginning your testimony any person may enter their appearance there are three ways to enter
your appearance you can identify the case property address with your zoom webinar registration you
can see a staff member or you can call the zba appearance line by the close of business tomorrow
call 267 -270 -5548 leave a message that includes your email address and the address of the property
of the appeal case. The following guidance is for our remote attendees. First, when directed
by the chair, you must raise your virtual hand in order to be recognized. Second, if you're called
to testify, you will be prompted to join as a panelist. Please accept the request and turn on
your camera. Third, the webinar Q &A is for questions about the hearing. Do not comment on
cases on the Q &A. Fourth, if you're participating by phone, please press star nine to raise your hand
and star six to unmute for our in -person attendees please refrain from talking eating or drinking
during the hearings verbal and physical aggression will not be tolerated restrooms are across from
the elevators water fountain is just outside the room to the right when speaking on the record you
must speak directly into the microphone in order to be heard by all attendees and the court reporter
in event of emergency please follow the directions given over the public address system or by the
staff the main exit is through the double doors in the rear the nearest stairwell is to the left
outside the doors in case of evacuation the rally point is at love park directly across
art street please remain there so we can account for you let's look at our schedule for today
Number six, MI 2024 -007 -432 -1525 Chestnut Street.
There was a request from the Councilman's Office for a continuance.
It's Brett Feldman or Andrea Solomon in the audience.
good morning chair this is jason and i will be your temporary calls for the session
mr feldman
mr chair i do not seem to see uh mr feldman or miss salomon in the virtual audience so you may
proceed they're not in the audience no sir okay thank you so mi 2024 007 432 1525 test retreat
this case is continued will be marked must be heard to 218 26 at 9 30 a .m
number 10 mi 2025 000 993 this case has been continued till 2 18 26 at 9 30 a .m
number 13
MI2025
001 -202
4810 Aspen
Street. There's a request from
Counsel Gauthier's office for
a continuance and
the owner is, the listed owner is
Paulette, Ahmad,
Philly, Permit Expenditures
and Equity Ventures Advisory
Group, LLC. Is there
anyone in the audience from that group?
here i have uh verne anastasio with the hand raised i have allowed them to speak
okay good morning mr chair members of the board good morning
verne could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer sure it's verne anastasio
a -n -a -s -t -a -s -i -o you swear or firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
Yes, sir.
Is 4810 your case?
It is.
it is i represent the owner now okay all right so uh the council person has a continuance
I represent the owner now.
All right.
So the council person has a condition.
requesting for this um and we have as you know no uh i don't believe we have any uh
exhibits no sir i'm totally okay with the continuous thank you we're going to continue
this mark must be heard to 2 18 26 at 9 30 a .m thank you okay
Number 15, MI -2025 -001 -237 -2864 -Frankfurt Avenue.
Yashan Kalabar and Anna Shmolik are the owner applicants.
yeah you have then uh coast car has been allowed to speak
uh i'm here i could you please state your name as fellow for the sonographer
Yevon Kozakar, Y -E -V -H -E -N, last name K -O -Z -H -U -K -H -A -R.
I'm the owner of 9864, Frank.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
Sir, we do not have your documents, and there's not been an RCO meeting.
This is the first time this has ever happened to me.
I've been notified.
I tried to upload as many documents as I can.
um last night i just want to get rid of the problem or for you guys to tell me what to do
um well i i think what we what we need to do is we need your documents at least five days before
the hearing and you need an rco meeting okay this case is going to be continued to 2 18 26
at 9 30 a .m and if you have any questions of all of what to do please call the office and
we'll work with you okay okay thank you so much thank you very much and number 16 mi 2025 001
245 1440 hellerman street this case has been continued to 218 26 at 9 30 a .m
do we have any other requests for continuances
yes chair vernon de cezo has his hand up again i will allow him to speak
good morning again mr chair yeah vernon is this 6610 hasbrook avenue that's one of them yes okay
so i have that one here it's just getting ready there's no exhibits for that that's correct that'll
be MI2025 -001 -198 -6610 Hasbrook Avenue. Case will be continued to 2 -18 -26 at 9 .30 a .m.
Thank you. What's the other case?
Of 1344 East Luzerne.
Okay. All right. So that MI2025 -001 -212 -1344 East Luzerne. That case is continued to 2 -18 -26
at 9 .30 a .m. Thanks for calling in. We appreciate it.
Thank you.
All right, and then we have number eight, MI 2025, 000153, 1333 South 9th Street.
That case has been withdrawn.
Any other cases for continuance?
I do not see any further hands, Mr. Chair.
We're going to go to one of our add -on cases.
So MI 2025 -004 -154 -1541 South Dover Street.
I vote appeal granted on the basis of vested rights only.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes.
Do I need to say that also?
So appeal granted on vested rights only.
On appeal granted on vested rights only.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is that the appeal is granted on the basis of vested rights only.
Tanetta Graham, my vote that the appeal be granted on the basis of vested rights only.
Iowyn, my vote is that the appeal be granted on the basis of vested rights only.
Iowyn, my vote is that the appeal be granted on the basis of vested rights only.
Thank you. We're going to go to our list, and we're going to start with number four.
MI 2024, 005 -585 -4022 North Free Street.
This case has a Spanish interpreter. Interpreter, please.
Mr. Stephen Albain has been promoted to panelist.
Good morning.
My name is Stephen Albain and I'll be the Spanish interpreter.
Just for the record, Stephen, could you spell your name further?
My name is Stephen, S -T -E -V -E -N, last name Aubain, A -U -B -A -I -N, interpret ID Y -M -288.
Do you solemnly swear or affirm that you will interpret accurately, completely, and impartially from English to Spanish and from Spanish to English to the best of your ability?
Yes, I do.
Okay. So, Stephen, this is – the applicant in this case is Lydia Paulino, and this is a resumptive hearing.
And do you want me to call them on the line, correct?
Please, yeah.
Así que si Lidia Paulino, si puede levantar la mano para entrar a esta audiencia.
Esta es una audiencia de resoluciones.
They have promoted to panelists.
Thank you.
Sí, buenos días. Aquí estoy.
Okay, could you ask...
Good morning, here I am.
Good morning.
Could you ask her, please, to state her name spelled for the stenographer?
Así que si puede letrar su nombre para el reportero.
Lidia Paulino, L -I -D -I -A -P -A -U -L -I -N -O.
Lidia Paulino, L -I -D -I -A -P -A -U -L -I -N -O.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Juro y afirma decir toda la verdad y la verdad, toda la verdad y nada más que la verdad.
Claro que sí.
So this is a resumptive hearing, and what we need now is a discussion from the applicant
of the updated plans that we have received.
A plan show full, well, tell her that first, please.
de los planes que hemos recibido correcto correcto and and and just before she starts
the plan show a full bath and kitchenette in the basement as well as a separate entrance
and the plan shows a den in the first floor unit that would be that appears to be completely
enclosed so when she discusses her updated plans please include both those issues
Así que antes de que comience, los planos enseñan que hay un baño entero, una cocina en el sótano y también una entrada separada. Los planos también enseñan que hay un den en el primer piso y la unidad se ve completamente encerrada. Así que esas son cosas que tuviera que explicar en los planos actualizados.
and the other thing is could she please show photos
of those two locations i just spoke of
and can i begin yeah please
so this is the interpreter speaking um i i don't know if she's trying to share her screen because
she's explaining um an image but i'm not seeing an image no no she has to you tell her she has to
to have her screen shown.
Should be coming up now.
image, and here is where the machine is going, and here it is.
Y aquí está donde la máquina de lavar y aquí está el baño que él me estaba hablando.
So here, permítame, here's the basement and here is the washing machine and the bathroom.
Aquí es el primer piso, esta es la entrada principal. Uno entra por aquí y coge para el primer piso aquí.
so here is the first floor and here's the front entrance
so here's the entrance here's the entrance and we move the kitchen here and here's the dining room
But this isn't a wall.
I don't know why they put it like this in the plans.
This is open.
Yeah, eso coge para atrás.
Y después está el baño aquí, está el segundo cuarto, y aquí está la yarda.
So then here's the secondary room, and then next to it is the yard.
Y después cogemos para arriba.
so here is the living room interpreter could you do me a favor could you ask her if she
could make the screen a little bit bigger it's hard to see everything on the screen
and um there's the interpreter speaking can someone explain to her how to make it bigger
bill is there any way you can help with that
again i think if she pushes pushes that button right there i think that makes it
There you go, you're good.
Yeah, it's better.
Thank you.
Así es mejor.
So como estaba explicando, esta pared de verdad no existe.
Esto es un paseo.
So this wall right here, this wall right here doesn't exist.
This is an open walkway.
In the second floor, there's the living room, the bathroom.
Here are the stairs to go up.
The bathroom and then the kitchen in the back.
And I'll show you pictures now.
That's the front entrance.
That's a zoning letter.
This is from when you come in through the front entrance to the first apartment downstairs.
This is going up the stairs.
That's the yard.
that's the yard as well
Eso es uno de los cuartos arriba.
That's one of the bedrooms upstairs.
Ese pasillo de entrada es del principal.
That's the front entrance, the walkway in the front entrance.
That one was the kitchen in the second floor.
And this is the front room in the second floor.
And those are the only pictures that I have.
Does she have pictures of the basement?
I didn't see the basement
is the entrance there what's the purpose of the full kitchen in the basement equal
¿Cuál es el propósito de la cocina entera en el sótano?
No hay cocina en el baño, hay laundry.
So there's not a kitchen in the basement, it's a laundry.
Laundry con el baño y como para meter en cosas.
So laundry with the bathroom and a storage.
The plan shows a full kitchen.
En los planos enseña una cocina entera.
No, porque esos son los planos viejos.
So those were the old plans. Let me show you the new plans.
So this is the basement. That's where the washer and dryer and the bathroom is.
it shows a full kitchen
so i don't know why he added that um but uh right now it just has to wash her in the dryer
and I could take pictures of that if need be.
Well, we should have had pictures today.
Así que debió de haber tenido las fotos hoy.
¿Me pueden dar otra cita?
Would it be possible to have another appointment?
Not my call.
Así que esa era mi decisión.
You know, what we can do is we're going to have one more resumptive hearing.
We have to have photos of the basement to make sure because initially you were asking for three units and now you're down to two.
So we've got to ensure that there is no household living in that basement.
OK, así que lo que podemos hacer es programar otra reunión de resoluciones, este porque inicialmente usted había solicitado para tres unidades y ahora de dos unidades, así que necesitamos imágenes del sótano para asegurarnos que no es vivible en eso, esa parte.
So we will have a resumptive hearing on this, November 18th, 25, at 9 .30 a .m.
Así que vamos a tener una reunión de resolución en Noviembre 18, 2025, a las 9 .30 de la mañana.
Interpreter, thank you very much.
And sorry, I didn't notice that and I didn't want to waste anyone's time.
All right. Well, we will see you in November. Thank you.
All right. Well, we will see you in November. Thank you.
Así que lo veremos en noviembre.
Okay, gracias.
Thank you, interpreter. As usual, we really appreciate your help.
No problem. Is there any other matter that requires interpretation?
We do have another matter, but I think we have another interpreter.
But if you could just stand by for a moment. Thank you.
We're going to go to number five, right, Hillary?
Number five, MI 2024 -006 -024 -4918 Ellis Street.
Joseph Consul is the attorney.
Mr. Consul, we'll be coming back in as a panel shortly.
Good morning.
Good morning.
Mr. Consul, just for the record, could you state your name as Bellford's stenographer?
Yeah, it's attorney Joseph Consul.
That's C -O -N -S -O -L -E.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Would you identify your client, a relationship to the property?
Yeah, my client is Yublinka Mercado, the owner of the property.
Or board member Tanetta Graham has a few questions.
Good morning.
Have you submitted your documents five days in advance of this hearing?
And do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Okay, thank you.
You can share your screen.
I believe I already am.
Is it up?
Yeah, Mr. Chair, we do have another interpreter for this case, Lionel.
Steven, what's the name of our interpreter?
Lionel is the other interpreter that we have.
So, Mr. Albain, thank you.
I think we're all set.
No problem.
Thank you for using the service, interpreter disconnecting.
okay will the other spanish interpreter please raise the virtual hand wait to be sworn in
they should be coming back in right now sir
good morning everybody um yes can you hear me now can you see me now we can could you please
state your name and spell for the stenographer yes my name is leonel spelled as an l -e -o -n -e -l
last name is gillen g -u -i -l -l -e -n you soundly swear affirm that you will interpret accurately
completely and impartially from english to spanish and from spanish to english to the
best of your ability i swear could you please call you belka and the lease and the lease yes
sorry and the lease moving está en audiencia uh belka angelis
esta en audiencia belka angelis this is the interpreter would you like me to state the
address for 918 l street please 4918 l street thank you uh belka angelis de la dirección
I believe my client raised their hand.
Can you raise your hand, please?
Can my client raise your hand, please?
Jason, are we here?
yeah but they could decline the uh the decline to uh become panelists
sorry it was a bit uh hard in order to turn on the mic
Could you ask her to state her name and spell for the stenographer?
Muy bien, ¿me puede decir su nombre y deletrearlo, por favor, para el estonógrafo?
Yubelka Andeliz, Y -U -B -E -L -K -A, apellido Andeliz, A -N -T -E -L -I -Z.
Yes, it's Yubelka, spelled Y -U -B -E -L -K -A, and Deliz spelled A -N as in Nancy, D as in Denver, E -L -I -Z.
Could you please ask her, do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
¿Cura decir la verdad, toda la verdad y nada más que la verdad?
Okay, counsel, could you proceed?
good morning board my name is joseph console i'm here today
Good morning, board. My name is Joseph Consul. I'm here today representing the property owner of 4918 Ella Street. We're seeking a variance for the proposed use of this existing structure as a two -family household living space.
Muy bien, muy buenos días
todos los miembros de la Junta
mi nombre es, yo soy el abogado
Joseph Consol y represento
a la propietaria
del terreno
a la dueña del terreno y estamos
buscando una varianza
para la
propuesta
una propuesta de varianza
en el uso de
la propiedad 4918
calle L Street
where is it to have a structure for
use of two families?
of support from 14 near neighbors.
los planes arquitectónicos
un documento
donde muestra
que están todos los impuestos
pagados
también una
petición certificada
de aproximadamente
14 vecinos
próximos
the councilwoman in non -opposition oh great uh we all i did not receive it we did we also received
a letter of non -opposition from the city councilwoman okay muy bien y también tenemos una
carta de no oposición de la consejera de la ciudad the property is zoned rsa 5 we are seeking
to convert the lower level into a separate private one -bedroom apartment, which will
encompass an alteration area of 590 square feet. The basement unit will have several above -grade
windows, two above -grade egresses, a dedicated parking space accessible from the rear,
and a separate meter as the photos will show this basement space while it's basement in the front
it's above grade and ground level in the rear not an underground basement muy bien entonces
esto usted va a notar de que esta propiedad actualmente es un rsa rsa 5 y nosotros buscamos
convertir los niveles inferiores
en una propiedad
separada, privada
un apartamento
de una habitación
buscamos hacer esa alteración de una área
total de 595 pies
vamos a agregar
algunas ventanas
vamos a tener también que están
sobre los niveles
y también
unas salidas y un parqueo
exclusivo
que se ingresaría a través
de la parte trasera
y un metro
adicional también así como
se pueden
también vamos a mostrar también fotografías
del sótano
que por enfrente se ve como sótano
pero por atrás es en la
parte de arriba
del nivel del suelo
Thank you. We have engaged extensively with the community regarding this application. A public meeting was held on December 19th of 2024 with the new 42nd Democratic Ward RCO. We received a strong letter of support approving the project.
uh furthermore we have collected 14 petitions of support from the the neighbors um including
the adjacent neighbors and many others who reside on ellis street itself or immediately adjacent
streets um and actually i'll stop there muy bien y también
Actually, I'll stop there.
También tenemos una carta de apoyo de 14 vecinos que viven aledaños a la propiedad en L Street.
Thank you.
The apartment is specifically being renovated to create a caretaker space for the owner's mother,
ensuring that the property can best meet the needs of its occupants.
Eubelka has owned the property since October 28, 2005, demonstrating a longstanding commitment to this neighborhood.
We acknowledge that there are open violations from last July, which arose from work initiated by a contractor hired by the owner.
However, once the owner was notified that the contractor was proceeding without obtaining the necessary approvals,
As you'll see in the photos, all construction was immediately halted. I was hired and we've been moving forward since that date to legalize this property by getting architecturals, submitting them and coming through the zoning process.
And, well, the apartment has the idea of making renovations to be able to create an area to take care of the mother of the owner, to be able to fulfill the needs that she has.
Uvelka has been owner of this property since October 28th of 2005, demonstrating a high commitment to this vecindario.
Si estamos de acuerdo de que tenemos violaciones abiertas desde el desde el desde el julio pasado, ya que huelca contra contrató a un contratista y una vez que se le notificó que el contratista estaba trabajando sin los permisos necesarios, toda construcción se detuvo, como lo lo van a poder ver en las fotografías.
y en ese caso se me contrató
y desde entonces hemos estado avanzando
para poder legalizar
los planes arquitectónicos
y para poder proceder
en este procedimiento
Is there any way you can show
the drawings while you're talking?
Oh yes, yeah absolutely, I was just about to comment
that it's a little difficult for me to
go back and forth with the translator
and flip through like I normally do
so I was gonna see if you wanted
me to pause and show anything
okay i'm gonna hit a few more points and please bear with me okay the existing structure particularly
the ground level basement with its independent access and sufficient light and air presents
unique physical circumstances that make it suitable for a separate dwelling unit without external
The proposed alteration, one more sentence, is a thoughtful adaptation representing the minimum variance necessary to afford relief and permit a reasonable use as a caretaker space for the owner's mother.
Muy bien, la estructura actual existente que es un sótano pero está a nivel de piso provee suficiente luz y es un espacio y una entrada aparte y puede es es útil es adecuado para proveer un espacio de vivienda para ser adaptado para cumplir las necesidades de la madre para para que se pueda
actuar como cuidador de la madre there are uh precedent for um duplex adaptations on this block
three have been approved since the 1960s uh it appears that 4924 ella is the only one that is
still active as such furthermore as the aerial photos in our packet will demonstrate the rear
of the properties on this block about a non -residential lot used for what appears to be
vehicle storage, which indicates a mixed -use context directly adjacent to these properties.
Since 1960, there have been three approbations.
Now, as you can see in the aerial photos,
the rear part of this property can be observed
that there is a area that is being used as a storage of vehicles,
which denota that it is being used as a mixed use property.
I will now
go through my exhibits
from the top
now I'm going to show you my exhibitions
refusal
this is the rechazo
Joe, we have all your
exhibits when he just moved to where we
the meat of the presentation
I would like to call my client
Yubelka
she's already on the call, yes
but you're going to show the drawings
first right
I'm going through the
photos now this is the front
of the property
this is the aerial photo
showing the rear that I
mentioned in my
speech
this is the rear of the property
both of those doors
as indicated on the drawings
lead to
the unit.
Y esa es la parte trasera
de la propiedad, como mencioné,
estas puertas
llevan a la unidad.
Better shot.
Esa es una mejor fotografía.
Now the interior photos.
Esas son las fotografías del interior.
It's all the basement, right, Joe?
Yes, sir.
So there's one unit in the basement, and there's another unit on the first and second floor?
There's a unit in the sotan, and there's another on the primary and second floor, correct?
Here is just a couple of photos from the second and third floor.
That's the extent of our photos.
Do you want me to go through the petitions?
You don't have to do this. Why don't you show the drawings?
So that's the basement there, Joe, to the right?
Is it the sótano, the right?
Has space for laundry, kitchen, one bathroom, one bedroom, and a living room.
Yes, it has space for an area of lavanderia, a kitchen, a bathroom, and a room.
And Joe, what does the rest of the block look like?
Okay, how does the rest of the block look like?
As I mentioned, it's primarily single family homes. We found approvals for three other duplexes, though only 4924 appears to be still active as a duplex.
the other ones have various violations
and I believe
one is cited for not
having an updated use permit for a duplex
Sí, básicamente
sí, todos son de uso
singular, familiar
encontré tres aprobaciones
para duplex
solamente el 49 -24 creo que
sigue siendo una duplex activa
hay otra que inclusive tiene una violación
citada por no tener
un permiso actualizado
Questions from the board.
And two, being a caregiver of an elderly person, not having direct access to that unit is problematic also.
Sí, y dos, yo siendo un cuidador de una persona mayor, no tener acceso directo a ese lugar es problemático también.
Y la única forma para que este individuo mayor pueda pasar por aquí es a través de ese parqueo activo.
very problematic for me
could have my client address those
when she has an opportunity to speak
When she has an opportunity to speak.
my cliente puede hablar sobre eso
Mi cliente puede hablar sobre eso cuando tenga la oportunidad de hablar.
cuando tenga la oportunidad de hablar
Other questions from the board.
Más preguntas de la Junta?
Yes, I have a question about this basement and the grade change.
Sí, tengo una pregunta acerca de este sótano y el cambio.
so it's lab on grade at the front but then what's the depth of the basement below ground level at
the front muy bien ok esta nivel de suelo en la parte de de frente pero después cuál es el nivel
del sótano la profundidad que tiene actualmente i'm not certain how high the ceilings are no
basement. No sé qué tan altos son los techos en el sótano. I was more interested in the depth
below grade at the front. Se estaba interesado en la profundidad de enfrente.
Showing it to you from the front. If you look at the front, the houses are all elevated,
it appears, which I believe explains some of what you're asking, but I don't know any figures.
and then do you have a photo of the
egress well
go through
I'm not sure
i'm not sure any of these angles show i saw i thought i saw one there
that's looking straight from the back through the egress wall in the front
okay i was just i guess i'm trying to understand there's a porch there and so
it looks like the porch
like the unit lines up
not with the structure
of the porch so I just wanted to make sure
that if a person were to use the egress
well that they're not coming up
under the floor of the porch
there doesn't seem to be
a precedent of egress
wells in the front of any of the other houses on the block as well so
you can clarify what's going on in the rear for me um are there is there a parking space in the
rear or is the yard enclosed the driveway so it's a dry what that door is is that enclosed by a fence
and then the driveway is beyond the fence?
It's enclosed by a fence
and that area is the driveway.
Sí, esa parte, sí, tiene un cerco
y ese es el parqueo también, sí.
So a person would have to walk down the driveway
and then open the fence to go into the entrance.
Is that correct?
Entonces una persona tendría que caminar por el parqueo
y luego
abrir el portón y después caminar
por el parqueo y para poder entrar, ¿correcto?
I'm going to present that to my client.
Eso se lo voy a presentar con mi cliente.
And then I just
had one last question about the bathroom
in the basement.
I've noticed that the
shower is not a standard
shower pan size
and I was
wondering was there a
plan or a thought to try to make that
be a roll -in
in the future.
Sí, y también estaba notando de que tienen
un baño, ok, el baño
del sótano. Estaba notando que la ducha
no es como una ducha
como estándar. Quería saber
si había algún plan como para
hacerlo como que
de rodo o
Se lo voy a presentar con mi cliente.
Any other questions
the board i must want my last question is this is already constructed correct so we're legalizing
that's part of it the photos i showed you are as it was in july of last year and as it is today
okay you want to bring your client on adopt your testimony before we go to
web si vamos a pedir el cliente que que que hable y y belga are you on the call
Are you on the call?
belga puede hablar si yes
Uvelka, ¿puede hablar?
Yubelka, did you hear my testimony right now regarding your property and do you adopt it as your own?
Uvelka, ¿escuchó mi testimonio en ese momento a su propiedad?
Can we address the questions that the board had?
¿Puede responder las preguntas que tenía?
We'll start with the question of caregiver access.
Eubelka, could you explain how you envisioned the caregiver access being handled at this property?
Muy bien, vamos a empezar con la parte del acceso de la persona que va a cuidar y de cuidador.
Díganos cómo es la idea que usted quiere tener ahí, cómo lo ve.
yes this is for a family for a family unit um it's a family unit and my sister is the one
that's going to live downstairs to take care
of my mom.
Dos salidas tiene
para salir. Dos puertas.
It has two doors in order
to exit.
Is it easy to
get from the unit
to the main
property?
¿Y es fácil salir de la unidad
a la propiedad principal?
yes you just have to go out you turn and then you walk a little bit and then it's it's you're
inside there has two places you can go to uh okay uh regarding the egress well in the front
does the porch in the front prevent exit through that egress well or are you able to leave through
the front of the new unit? Muy bien, en cuanto a la salida en la parte de enfrente, el porch de
enfrente evita la salida o puede salir de la unidad a través del porch por enfrente?
no por el frente no tiene como entrada para para ir adentro solamente hay una ventana
no and the in the front part is just a window you can't go in through the front
the driveway
in the rear
do the
I'm actually unsure what the board's question
was regarding the
driveway can we go back to the
egress well because that didn't actually really answer
the question okay here we go there
does not look like a
legal egress window and that does not match the plan that shows egress well
with flatter
could be
yeah perhaps these I mean these architecturals
are not completed yet they're submitted and like we're seeking approval
today forward so if those constructions are what's going to happen then i would
assume that would be what what would be created
i understand that but a lot of the dimensions on this are like not accurate or things that
don't work so i guess if i'm trying to read it as is as though this is going to be built
and I would have a lot more questions
the egress will
I don't know, that's like a whole
there's a process there, that it didn't sound
like your client was aware
or had addressed it
so I was concerned
basically because that's
necessary for that bedroom to exist
Sí, es que estoy viendo
las dimensiones en esto y me parece
que no son precisas
y así como, si lo leo así como es
para que se vaya a construir
no sé, creo que tendría más preguntas
aquí el punto de salida
me parece que eso tiene que tener un cierto
proceso y no pareciera
...de que estén conscientes de esa parte.
de que estén conscientes de esa
Muy bien.
Preguntas de nuestro abogado.
No, no tengo preguntas.
¿Comentarios de la audiencia virtual?
No, en un momento.
No hay manos levantadas.
Thank you, Chairman, and good morning. David Fecto, F -E -C -T -E -A -U with the City Planning Commission.
Do you swear or affirm that tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir, I do.
Please proceed.
Thank you, sir. Chairman and board members, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the RSA5 residential single -family zoning at this location.
Muy bien. Yo soy de la Comisión de Planificación y miembros de la Junta.
La Comisión de Planificación recomienda que no se hagan cambios a la Zona Residencial de Uso Familiar Única, RSA5.
The city rezoned this neighborhood in 1982.
La ciudad rezonificó este vecindario en 1982.
There is no unique physical condition or circumstance of this property that would prevent it from being used in strict conformity with the zoning code.
Y no hay una condición física única para que prevenga la construcción de acuerdo a las modalidades estrictas establecidas.
We are aware of three other code -compliant two -unit buildings on this block face.
Estamos conscientes de los otros tres unidades de uso doble que cumplen con las codificaciones en esta zona.
But the remainder of the homes are single family.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the board deny the proposed use variants for two dwelling units.
La Planificación de la Ciudad, la Comisión de la Planificación de la Ciudad recomienda que la Junta rechace el uso de la modificación para uso de, para cambiarlo a uso doble.
MI 2024 -006 -024 -4918
Ellis Street, I vote no.
Muy bien. MI 2024 -006 -024
en la dirección 4918
en la calle L, mi voto es no.
Michael Johns, my vote is no.
Michael Johns, mi voto es no.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is no.
Cheryl Gaston, mi voto es no.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is no.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is no
Taya Wynn, my vote is no
Taya Wynn, my vote is no
Thank you
Thank you, counsel, and thank you, interpreter
We appreciate your help
Muchas gracias a todos
Anything else I can do for you, Your Honor?
No, we're fine
Thank you very much, sir
Number seven, MI2025 -0000212128, Montrose Street.
Jeffrey and Dina Goodwin are the current owners.
Jeffrey and Dina Goodwin will be promoted to panelists.
Mr. Chair, while they're being promoted, going back to number six, we did receive a letter of withdrawal.
So if you want to read that into the record, we can have that matter withdrawn.
Oh, okay.
Number six.
So, yeah, so that's right.
We continued this before, am I correct?
So MI 2024 -007 -432 -1525 Chester Street, that case has been withdrawn.
Thank you, Hillary.
Jeffrey Goodwin
yes hello good morning panel good morning good morning could you please state your name and
spell for the stenographer yes my name is Jeff Goodwin g -e -o -f -f Goodwin g -o -o -d -w -i -n
all right so this application with the erection of an addition with roof deck and roof deck
So this application with the erection of an addition with roof deck and roof deck access structure above an existing attached structure,
access structure
no change to existing single -family household living, where the abutting lots on both sides or attached contain only two stories of enclosed area.
The stories above the second floor of that attached structure should be set back an additional eight feet from the minimum required distance between the front facades and the front lot line,
whereas the proposed addition has zero front setback
at the third floor.
Tenegric Graham has a few questions.
Good morning.
Have you submitted your documents five days in advance
of this hearing?
Yes, good morning.
Yes, we have submitted our documents.
I also just wanted to mention that my wife, Dina, is here.
She's actually going to be leading the presentation.
Okay, all right.
Why don't you put her on and I'll swear her in.
Okay, great.
Thank you.
Hi, I'm Dena Goodwin, D -E -N -A -G -O -O -D -W -I -N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Do you have any other questions?
I think you read the refusal, but do you stipulate to the refusal of accuracy?
Thank you.
You can proceed.
Shall I share my screen?
Please.
Okay. Well, first, thank you very much for hearing our case today. So my husband, Jeff,
and I are the homeowners of 2128 Montrose Street, and we really appreciate your time and
consideration. We are here seeking a variance for a partial third -story addition to our home.
So, we already do have a partial third floor on our home that covers about two -thirds of the area of the ground and second floors, and we are looking to complete our third floor by extending it to the front of the house along Montrose Street.
Exhibit A here is our submitted permit request by our architect, Woodcock Design, and submitted the request for the zoning permit.
Exhibit B is the permit refusal, in that we will no longer have the eight -foot setback
on the third floor.
Exhibit C is the application for appeal.
As I mentioned, there's already a partial third floor on our property, and this is looking
to that we're going to add an additional room which would require us to no longer have that
eight foot setback requirement. There'll be no changes to the surrounding neighbors or to traffic.
Exhibit D is our project information form that Woodcock Design submitted.
Exhibit E is a copy of our house deed which we purchased.
So, oh, sorry. So, so Dina, so we have we have everything you're shown. We already have what I would recommend you do is to go to the the plans, go to the photos, and then probably also talk about when you were at the RCO.
OK, great. Thank you for that guidance. So let me do these initial drawings. Is this something we should go over exhibit H or should I keep going?
Well, you could talk what was initially there and then show what you're going to do.
Okay, great. So these are the exhibit H is the initial drawings that Woodcock Design submitted for the zoning permit. And so as you can see here in the section drawing, the two thirds of the third floor is existing. And then we are adding an additional bedroom that will take the third floor to along Montrose Street.
We're also going to be adding a new roof deck to replace the existing one that we have now.
And you can also see from these drawings how little of the rear facade of our house is changing since we, again, already have that partial third floor.
Exhibit I goes through the changes since the initial submission.
And so that includes that we have met with the RCO, the South Neighborhood Association.
We made small changes to align with their recommendations.
So we had previously had a solid front 42 -inch high parapet wall.
We now have a 42 -inch high steel guardrail.
We previously had the pilot roof was shown as flat, and we now have dropped the front
of the roof.
So there was a 2 and 1 4th percent slope, as recommended by the RCO.
We previously showed a straight front facade.
We now have a mansard roof sloped at the RCO, recommended 11 degrees, and where we were previously planning on using basic black roof tiles, we are now using a RCO -approved composite slate roof tile.
And you can see those changes that I just...
And you can see those changes that I just went through here in the updated zoning drawings.
In this Exhibit J, it shows that we posted the notice, the zoning notice that's been
up at our house since July 5th and still is currently.
Exhibit K shows the existing site photos.
So you can see here the current location of our roof deck, where we're now proposing to become the new bedroom.
And you can see the aerial portion of our third floor, as well as some neighboring properties on Montrose Street,
and also on Carpenter behind us, where there are already many three -story houses.
Exhibit L shows the proof of the RCO meeting, so that will be in the next couple of slides
So this is the letter as well as a flyer that was sent to neighbors in the area informing
them of the project in a scheduled RCO meeting.
These show the mail outs.
And this shows the letter of support that we received from the RCO and we did receive
unanimous support from our neighborhood RCO. In exhibit M, this first slide shows the proposed
floor plans for the project. You can see the new bedroom on the third floor and the proposed roof
deck and pilot house. There are no changes to the other floors in our home.
These are some before and after renderings of when the project will be completed so you can
see the existing on the top row and what the proposed house will look like after we've added
the additional room. We plan to use the composite slate roof tile as the RCO recommended
And it's also worth noting that because the pilot house
is being set back and sloped,
you can not see it from the street level.
And you can see also here that our addition will be lower
than the third floor home that is two doors down from us
on the same side of our street.
And again, you can see that the back elevation
is largely unchanged since the third floor
is already partially existing. My husband, Jeff, and I are the two witnesses today as the owners
of the home. And again, thank you very much for your time and consideration. We really have enjoyed
being in our home and hope to continue to be able to stay here and grow. So thank you so much.
questions from the board yes this block has majority two -story homes and i was just wondering
how many of the other properties have already done a similar third floor
addition that is viewable from the street um on our on our block of montrose street yes
yeah i haven't counted um there are a number of third story homes on our block and in uh in our
submission is to the RCO like there is a neighbor who is you know to the we looking straight out
like to the right across the street um who had a very similar addition put on um a couple of years
ago um and there are a number of um three -story homes already on the street did you give a
guesstimate like is it more than five is it Jeff do you have a yeah I think on our side of the street
there are currently at least four three -story homes there may be a fifth one on the opposite
side it's a quite a narrow street there's more I would say there's about seven on the opposite
side taking up maybe a third of the block as a whole okay other questions community support
was there RCO support and neighbor support yep yes okay yes we received unanimous support from
the RCO. Yep, thank you. Did you talk? I'm sorry. I was just going to ask the total height of the
building with the rooftop deck. I didn't see that in there. Let me see if that is.
See that here?
There's no, it's not a refusal height.
It's not a refusal to hike.
There's no refusal for hike.
There's no.
Any other questions?
Yeah, I had one more question.
Specifically, did you talk directly to the owners of 2130 and 2126, saying as those are the two homes that will be, like, most impacted?
specifically 2130 because now they're in between two three -story buildings when you were talking
about neighbor support uh yeah so we we haven't spoken to them directly but like all of our near
neighbors they have been notified you know they received the mailing about the project had the
opportunity to come to the rco meeting um they also see us almost every day and you know and
you know we do have the posting so they haven't expressed any concerns to us um about the third
story okay any other questions questions from our attorney not at this time mr chair questions or
comments from the virtual audience i see no hands planning commission thank you chairman and board
members good morning david fecto with the city planning commission the comprehensive plan
recommends no change to the RSA -5 residential single -family zoning at this location. The city
rezoned this neighborhood in 1977 in a council -supported map change. There is no unique
physical condition or circumstance of this property that would prevent it from being used in strict
conformity with the zoning code. While most of the homes on this block face have only two stories,
three -story buildings with the third story built to the front property line are not unusual on this
block face we are also currently working with several civics in the area to create a neighborhood
conservation overlay which would mandate mansard roofs for anyone who proposes to build a third
story in a situation like the one presented in this appeal the city planning commission recommends
that the board grant their proposed dimensional variance mi 2025 0000212128 montrose street
I vote yes with proviso.
Revised plans, one page,
stamped by ZBA, August 6, 2025.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes with proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with proviso.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes with proviso.
Brian McAdams, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ellen, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thank you. You have your votes.
Thank you very much. We appreciate it.
Thank you. Many thanks.
Number one, MI 2022, 001 -943 -3113, North 16th Street.
Devin Upta is the attorney.
Allegheny West Civic Association has voted 12 in support, 7 in opposition.
good morning mr chairman good morning morning sir could you please state your name is spelled
for the stenographer yeah devin hooked i uqd ah do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the
whole truth and nothing but the truth i do would you identify your client in relationship to the
property yes so the property is owned by llc 3313 north 16th street llc my client is uh rafi
bullock he is in attendance he should be in attendance our board member tennessee graham
has a few questions for you sir good morning um have you submitted your documents five days in
advance of this hearing yes and do you waive the reading number refusals and stipulate to their
accuracy. Yes. Okay. Thank you. You may share your screen and proceed. Okay.
Are you able to see my screen? It's coming up now. It should be up any minute.
It's up, Devin. All right. Try to move this over a little bit so it's centered.
All right. So this project is 3113 North 16th Street. So this is the deed to the property.
Basically, this was originally submitted to be a 12 -unit development. It's a vacant lot.
We had multiple meetings with the RCO. And ultimately, the agreement was to go from 12
to eight units. So we have a proviso and we have letter of support from the
community based on a proviso that we do not build 12 units, we build eight units.
um based on uh provides that we do not build 12 units we build um eight units at the property instead
um here are some overview pictures of sorry this is not center some overview pictures of the
property again this is north philly um allegheny west rco um 16th street between clairefield and
in Allegheny, again, high -level pictures of the property as well.
There's a good amount of development in the area, which you'll see.
Here is the notice of refusal.
Again, this notice of refusal is for application for a new construction of an attached building
with a roof deck and new access structure for use of multifamily household for 12 units.
So, again, originally we went to the RCO for 12 units.
And after a few meetings, we reduced it to eight units, and we were able to get their support.
So currently the property, when it was acquired as a vacant lot, and it's currently still a vacant lot.
The idea would be to develop the entire property and build on the vacant lot.
Here are some pictures of some surrounding areas.
When gaining the support, we presented to the RTO that some of the surrounding areas also had multifamily units.
Here's one of the units.
These are also multifamily.
This is the block that the property is on.
This is commercial mixed -use property that's within a block of this property.
This is an apartment building that's also within a block of the property as well.
Similar here.
Another apartment building within a block of the properties is at the corner of the block.
This is about a block away as well.
These are the new updated plans.
So, again, originally we had, oh, sorry, just zoomed out too much.
Let me zoom out so you can.
Okay. So here are the plans for the eight unit building that we were able to get their support for. So there's no basement living. Basement is just storage mechanical. There will be eight units. Each unit will be two bedrooms, two baths. So it'll be two units per floor.
Can you center the plan so that we can see the front?
Well, it was just cut off.
We could only see about three quarters.
So you want me to zoom out or zoom in?
I guess out.
Make it a little larger.
So zoom in.
Is that better?
Or out?
I was asking for out so that I could see the whole plan at once.
but could you start at the bottom of you're starting at the rear of the building could we
that better a little bit lower
is that better yes okay um so this right here is the where my arrow is is the basement
um so there's no basement living mechanical stuff in storage this would be the first floor
um so as you can see there are two bedrooms two baths this is also on the first floor
let's try to scroll up a little bit it's two bedrooms two baths um so basically each floor
would have again this is the second floor each floor will have two bedrooms and then two baths
similar here, two bedrooms
and two baths.
Do you want me to zoom out?
I know you had mentioned to zoom out.
Do you want me to zoom out now?
Yes, please.
I still haven't actually seen the front of the building.
For whatever reason, on the screen, it's cutting
off the front. Now I can.
Is that better? That's better.
I also have a 3D image of what it will look like later on in the presentation if that's
helpful.
It will be.
Devin, is this a four floors?
Yeah, so it's four floors and then it's just a roof, poly house.
roof poly house so you show this so yeah it goes to the next floors so we can just see it sure
so you show this so yeah go to the next
and then there's a roof deck yeah so i highlight the roof deck um so this would be over here is
the third floor just scroll down so you can see the floors this is the third floor over here
again similar to the first and second floor two bedrooms two baths um and it also
two bedrooms two baths and that's the third floor fourth floor again also two bedrooms
two baths two bedrooms and two baths it's on the fourth floor and then there's a roof deck
the pilot house here and this if it I'm gonna zoom out so you can get like a
3d image of what it would look like that's helpful so this is a 3d image of
ideally what it would look like using about a little bit more so the whole
image is visible yeah it's like being worried when I zoom in and out sorry
sorry about that yeah is that better much better all right
so in the plans it's like a small front yard there's also these they're not connected so this
would be a side yard a rare yard as well um and there's a backyard we also mentioned um in a in
the letter of support that we would do um like a dumpster in the rear so that you know they can
store trash which is also mentioned in the letter of support that we agreed to do does that does
the front face of the of your building uh align with the front face uh facade of the adjacent
buildings or the front of the porches of the adjacent buildings so they align with the porches
but not the building okay so i guess this one it would align with because it's an enclosed
porsche but not the one directly next to it well across room because they're not connected
um but another sorry go ahead
all right questions other questions from the board yes who has access to the roof deck
so i believe all of them would have access to the roof deck i believe rafi you may correct
me if i'm wrong but i believe everybody will get access it appears that way from your plan
because the common stairways go to the roof yeah can let me ask if your building was set back to
align with the uh face of the uh brick facade of the adjacent buildings or the main facade of the
adjacent buildings will you still have the uh required rear yard
they don't have it now oh they'd also they're also they don't have it now okay so that's what's
required. They're at 7 foot 10 now.
Isn't that the 48?
That looks much
bigger on the plan.
Yeah, that's a huge yard on the plan.
Am I right with that,
Devin? Oh, sorry.
Let me go back to it.
The proposed
structure does not comply with the rear
yard depth required of an RSA 3
zoning district. 20 foot's required.
7 foot 10 is proposed.
Yeah, I believe that was in the original plans, Mr. Chair. I believe that the revised plans have different dimensions for the building and the yard.
It's 43. There's no reason they can't recess.
Right. That was my point. There's no reason they couldn't move the building back.
So it's not so aggressive on the street facade, front facade.
So your question is if we could move it back and then still take away from some of the 43 back here and just move the entire building back some?
Is that what you're saying?
Yeah, you've got your adjacent facades that have these sort of gracious porches for the most part and nice front yards.
And you've moved it up to the face of the porch for no real reason other than it's there.
right um and there's no reason why it can't be pushed back to align with the face of the facade
of the main facades of the building so it's not so you know it's four stories the rest of them
are three so you're already bigger and you know kind of more mass so if you've shifted it back
at least it would be less aggressive and you're saying shifted back three feet
And you're saying shift it back three feet.
Shift it back to the line with the brick.
Shift it back to the line with the brick facades
or the main facades of the adjacent buildings.
Right.
Yeah, we could do that.
Other questions?
Yeah, so I have a few.
So one, it does look like this is still attached
on one side to the building adjacent.
And I think my first question
or my first comment is really about
how this building does not look like it belongs in this neighborhood almost at all um i could see
that there was an attempt to be done to try to match materials but like it's bigger it doesn't
have the same porch typology and will now be attached to a twin and like not match the twin
in a space where you left eight feet for a side yard um and it could have been fully detached so
like that already is a little weird i think too the main entrance feels very undersized and
understated for a building of this size it kind of reads like a side door um and it's a it's a
tight entryway so i think my my question is like where are things like packages the mail
bike storage like i'm assuming like so the basement on the basement yeah so the basement
has a storage area so there's no living in a basement so the basement can be used as a storage
area um sure but that's one big room and you've got eight units like typically when a building
does this there's separated storage units that are like attached to each unit which get laid
out a specific way i just feel like this whole building is laid out as though it was trying to
maximize units and not really be about livability i think also having a fourth story walk up really
a fifth story if you consider the
roof deck with no elevator
also in a neighborhood
where you were putting in eight
units offered an opportunity
to have some fully
accessible units and
doesn't it just feels like this is
a lot of density to put on a
site that would have had
not as many units
not a lot of value add other than
building mass and
that's sort of my main comment okay i guess so to address your first point with the storage
i mean there is enough room that it can be like single storage or stuff like that if we want if
need to be also a few apartment buildings do do like mail rooms if you want to drop off packages
packages and like basement units that um i've represented so that's possible the storage unit
would be big enough to do that um and i guess regarding the i mean i guess the the amount
apartments and stuff like that in the presentation i kind of showed that within a few blocks or
within a block radius there also are other units that um have this amount amount of apartment
buildings it was less the number of units it's more the way this is laid out this is not laid
out as like a truly well -functioning apartment building. So I guess it was less that I had an
issue with the number of units and more that the way the units are set up. I think for you to have
reduced units and still have such a deep backyard and have not necessarily considered things like
an elevator or a more formalized entrance where you had the space to do so, it's just, it's an
interesting decision. That's all. I would agree definitely for sure on the entrance. There's a
not missed opportunity there to create something that really could enhance the facade and maybe
even the streetscape.
So, all right.
Questions from our attorney?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions from the audience?
Come on up.
We do have people in the audience here.
And Devin, while I'm doing that, could you bring your client on and have your testimony
adopted?
One second.
Rafi, are you in the audience?
I know you're in the audience.
Rafi, can you raise your hand so they can bring you up?
We have two hands raised, Tracy L.
And a hand by the phone number ending in 7812.
Would that person be who you're looking for?
What's your client's name?
Rafi Volk.
He's on his phone.
He's asking, how does he unmute?
I think.
Would he be the person
whose phone number ending
is ending in 7012?
Wait one second.
I'm sorry.
Hey, Rafi.
so if you're on your phone you need to it's like star six um give me give me one second
so if you're on your phone you need to it's like
give me one second let me try to help you out one second
uh he's trying to figure out how to unmute from his cell phone okay so i so so we'll get to him
sir could you please turn on the microphone and state your name
okay my name is victor floyd b -i -c -t -a f -l -o -y -d right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth nothing but the truth yes mr floyd are you a neighbor yes please proceed with
your testimony i live 31 11 north 16th street you got to get closer to pull the mic to you it'll
come right to you yep i live 31 11 north 16th street okay and one question that i had asked
at one of the RCO meetings was on the south side of the building
that they want to construct, I asked them how many windows
is on the side of that property, and they could not tell me
because my concern was I have nine windows on the side of my house,
which is the brick house that is next to that,
but that's an old picture of my house.
That's not even what my house looked like.
Right. And I made spent a whole lot of money doing renovations for my property. And I have a front porch and I have a back deck. Now, when they use the term storage space, I'm not sure what that means, because my main concern was basically, when I sit out back on my deck, and they're talking about putting, I don't know, the disposal of their trash, or I say, well, how can I comfortably
sit out back smelling garbage blowing from that back, if that's what that storage means.
Also, in the front of my house, which is that red brick house, I have a porch.
And not only is that building overshadowing my property, it's definitely compromising
my quality of life.
And my concern is the trash, the parking, and possibly the tenants that they might have
that could possibly be evasive to the quality of my life again.
So also, I spoke with my homeowner's insurance policy.
And because of that type of structure,
it brings liability risk to my property.
And I find that very unfair to me.
And that way, I totally oppose that project,
the way they're trying to present it
and the way they're trying to construct it.
So I'm going to be harmed financially because, number one, I'm going to have an increase in my homeowner's insurance policy.
I already spoke with my insurance company about the matter, and the property is really a liability to me.
Not only that, it'll have massive foot traffic, which could possibly create a third -party lawsuit against me and some of my neighbors.
and we've been living I've been living there 38 years and I find that to be invasive okay to my
quality of life all right all right hold on wait Devin do you have any questions uh just a few just
statements of clarity um this you have questions or you're going to make statements um I don't
have any questions no okay I'll start thank you for your testimony thank you hold on let him
comment and then i'll bring you up okay okay all right devon you want devon why don't you do this
there's other people want to testify so why don't you wait till the testimony's over then you can
make your statement come on up okay sir yeah you can you can go back and he'll come up okay okay
good morning sir
good morning
could you get closer to the mic
and you can pull the mic right next to you
that's it
could you please state your name
and spell it for the stenographer
can you hear me now
we can
my name is Ronald Grimes
I live down the street from the proposed
could you spell your name for the stenographer
Ronald, R -O -N -A -L -D.
Right.
Grimes, G -R -I -M -E -S.
You swear or affirm that tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
And you are a neighbor, am I correct?
Yes, sir.
Let's start your testimony.
Well, first of all...
Stay close to the mic.
First of all, I live where I can see down the street.
That property is between Clearfield, or the proposed property is between Clearfield and Lippincott.
Some of the juxtaposition of the photographs that we saw don't, I don't believe they adequately describe the other units in there.
The other units in there, there are several apartment buildings already in the property, already in that location area, on both sides of the street, on both the east side and the west side of the street.
There are several apartments.
And you have Bancroft Courts right beside that.
The neighborhood is already very property dense.
And what we're proposing, a roof deck, there are no properties in that area that have a roof deck on it.
The conformity of the property that's been proposed to what's already there is, I think, totally out of line.
So I would definitely be opposed to it.
Parking is already an issue in that area right now.
The commercial property that he showed on the photograph is at 17th and Allegheny.
That's a block and a half away from here.
So, when we're talking about density, already two, three apartment complexes in that area already.
Most of those folks own one or even two cars.
And I know that from my own personal experience, trying to park is a nightmare.
We want to add more units to an area where there are already multiple apartment units.
They are complexes, in fact, not just not just properties that maybe have two or three units.
And we're talking about apartment complexes, Bancroft Courts.
I forget the name of the other two that are here, but they've been there for years.
And as as we've already I've already said, the area is already densely populated.
OK, thank you very much. Devin, do you have any direct questions to this witness?
No. All right. Are there anyone else in the audience?
We have someone else coming up, too.
Good morning.
Good morning.
Could you get close to the mic for us?
Hold the mic right to you.
I'm here.
All right.
Could you please state your name and spell for this stenographer?
Deborah Taylor, D -E -B -O -R -A -H -T -A -Y -L -O -R.
All right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
And you're a neighbor.
Am I correct?
Yes, I am.
Please proceed.
So I'm having the same issue that they're having, which is with the park, the parking specifically with their parking.
A lot of trash is thrown.
There's a lot of dumping in that area.
And now you want to come in and just change a whole area by putting a four story building in with a rooftop deck.
Isn't that wonderful?
No one ever notified us.
We're literally right behind the street, right?
Block away.
Never been notified.
just happened to be working with his sister on a project and that's how i found out okay so there's
no honesty or integrity when they come into our community that we've been there for years okay
just walk in buy a lot and say i'm just going to construct what i want okay yeah that's it for me
thank you very much for coming in we appreciate you know we appreciate all three of you sitting
here waiting. I definitely
1 ,000 % oppose this
and will be talking to everyone
around there so everyone understands
what's going on.
Not just this, oh, we're going to stick some up here
and then you find out haphazardly.
Okay. Thank you very much.
Is there anyone else in the audience
or the virtual audience?
Yes, Chair. We have
four hands raised, five hand raised
in the virtual audience. The first
person to speak will be Tracy
L. Tracy
L, please promote the
promotion to panelists.
Tracy?
Hello, good morning. Good morning, Tracy.
Could you please state your name and spell for the
sonographer hi my name is tracy eel t -r -a -c -y last name e -o -e -l you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes tracy are you a neighbor yes i have a property
at 31 19 or 16th street like on the same block is this uh tracy are you in favor of this project
or against i am against this project is there any we've had three people testify with numerous
issues they raised is there anything else that you can tell us that yes and said yes i like to
say that initially when the hearing began for this case he said that he's had support from the roc
and i like to state that i attended that meeting and the support that they received from the roc
was done in a very underhanded way.
They paid people to come in and vote for them.
They paid people to come in and vote for them.
They were given $100 each person who came to that meeting and voted in favor of this project.
People that don't live in the neighborhood.
They lived as far as, I mean, I live in a neighborhood.
They discussed it openly, the $100 that they received.
Each person that voted, yeah.
I spoke to Regina about it
she said to the people that they had to give their addresses
on the voting paper before
and I'm saying that did they give their addresses
did you follow up to see where they lived in connection to
where this program was being proposed
where the project was being proposed and I can say that for them to have
12 days, they didn't because we don't have 12 homeowners
on the block. You understand? We have
apartment buildings. At one end of the block, we may have
about two apartments on the buildings
on the block and a rooming house, and they do not
live in any of those buildings. A lot of them that were there
and voted. So I'd just like to say the ROC vote
that came in their favor at the beginning of this meeting was not valid.
Thank you very much for your testimony.
We have four other people waiting to tell us,
but thank you for taking the time to call in.
All right, thank you so much.
Next hand, please.
Yes, next to be promoted will be Charles Richardson.
Charles Richardson, please accept the promotion to panelists.
good morning mr good morning mr richardson
charles yeah please state your name miss bell certainly charles richardson r -i -c -h -a -r -d -s -o -n
office of councilwoman cindy bass room 508 city hall you waived the rating of the i'm sorry do
you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth sir i i do please
proceed uh wondering if devon will uh and his client re uh rethink this because of the fact
that at this point if the project is too dense uh it is not in keeping with the neighborhood
and or anything close to the neighborhood um i think that that they would likely need to
you need need to redesign the building and come back and speak to the community again
i'm wondering if devon would would consider that rather than go through with this vote because if
that's the case then the councilwoman will not be approving this all right so what what what i'm
going to do is uh mr retcherson i have maybe three other people on the line what what i think i need
to do is get them all in here one record to testify and then um devon can figure out where
he is okay thank you thank you very much next hand please yes we have a phone number ending
in three five five two they have been allowed to speak please unmute yourself
good morning
hello good morning could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
yes adrian fernandez swap little rco right adrian just for the record spell your name
my last name is spelled f -e -r -n -e -n -d -e -z
all right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes i do uh adrian um could you give us your position on this case we've we've heard a great
deal of testimony we let's are you in favor or against this project um yes we are against this
project, this project has dragged on for years because the owner, Rafi, I forgot his last name,
and also starting out with attorney Jeffrey Young, who's now a DC 5 council person,
they made numerous attempts to deceive the neighbors and to hide what they were trying
to build. We turned in detailed information. For example, this property was never posted,
never posted. The next -door neighbor took pictures of that, and I did submit all those
pictures except for the lack of posting for today's hearing. So if there are pictures or
postings, they are misstatements and lies, and I think that needs to be considered as part of the
dishonesty with this project. So we also had asked for this to be dismissed, and we are asking that
We also have asked for this to be dismissed, and we are asking that this be denied.
this be denied.
And with respect to what Charles Richardson of DCA is saying, we're asking that if the project is redesigned, we're asking for a new refusal and also complete drawings.
The current attorney and his partner, Jeffrey Young, have never, never given us drawings that were legible, including fonts that were as small as one point.
There's no way.
I have very good vision.
I'm not going to try to read that, and I don't think anybody else should have to.
We have never had, if you have illegible drawings, you have no drawings.
Also, the changes he's making, the changes to dimensions and also units.
We've never seen any of the documentation at all.
Revisions, never seen any of it.
A number of units, even at eight units,
you're talking about at least being allowed
to have 32 occupants next door to single -family homes
at a single -family address and a single -family district,
and we're opposed to that.
So what they're asking to do is overuse of the variance,
And as I submitted earlier, there was falsified voting that was explained in detail by the neighbor, Tracy, and other neighbors complained about this payment problem with the voters that come to Allegheny West Foundation meetings.
I believe the planning commission accused us of abusing Regina Smith. No, Regina Smith is abusing the community over and over again with falsified votes, allowing payment for votes.
I'm proposing violence when we don't agree.
Adrian, let's go back.
So you're definitely opposed to this project.
Yes, but I want all my testimony to be considered
because this is abuse with Allegheny West Foundation
is doing in a case where you have multiple affected RCOs
who all must be recognized.
We are all equal and must be recognized.
All right.
Thank you very much.
Thank you very much.
Next hand, please.
Yes, we have a hand.
For the phone number ending in 7B12, you have been allowed to speak.
Please unmute yourself.
Good morning.
Guy, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Harold, H -A -R -O -L -D, Hawkins, H -A -W -K -I -N -S.
Do you swear or firm to tell the truth?
I'm opposed.
The whole truth is nothing but the truth.
All right.
Are you a neighbor?
I'm opposed to this. Yes, I'm a neighbor. Two properties away from the proposed project.
Okay, and you're absolutely opposed to this?
Absolutely opposed. Mainly for congestion reasons. Parking down is extremely difficult.
and a few other things
and I might want to add
because I'm on the same side
of the building
and there's a private sewer
in the back of that property
that runs through
and covers all the properties
on that side
that with this building
that might have something to do
with them not wanting
or pushing the building back
because a private sewer
this and which will cause undue stress to some of my neighbors financial stress all right mr
hawkins thank you so much for staying on the phone and we appreciate your testimony okay next hand
please there are no more hands thank you um devon yes uh do you want to comment yeah so i guess um
So what you mentioned is, what was mentioned was that, in summary, based on a letter of support and the voting that was sent in from Allegheny West, there were 36 people in attendance.
16 supported it, I mean, 12 supported it, and seven opposed it.
One was an RCO board member, which was one of the RCO members who speak.
Kind of what you witnessed is there seems to be some infighting between the RCOs.
The head RCO who I had to deal with directly is Regina Smith, who was able to count the votes and check the names of the voters who were affected neighbors and verified their addresses.
a separate RCO did not want the property to go forward but did not the affected neighbors were
not actually there to actually vote to oppose it so I think some of what's unfolding is a little
outside of my client's peer view with infighting between RCOs okay so just just want to clarify
okay um so just just want to clarify that um additionally uh one thing that was mentioned
about it.
Additionally,
from the beginning was uh storage uh so the storage that are in our drawings are actually
in the basement so that wouldn't affect any neighbor um and then secondly the dumpster
was something that the rco told us they wanted us to do so the affected neighbors who were there
who would actually take part in actual voting because their address made them
effective, that RCO said that they wanted the dumpster. That's
how we got to that. So basically, we said, well, how would we help
solve the trash issue that the block in general has? And the RCO said, we want the dumpster
in the back of the house. We said, do you want it in the front or do you want it in the back?
And they said, we don't want it in the front because we don't want it just exposed to neighbor
in general. And they said, we want it in the back. That's how we came to it. So some of this stuff
it's because we were told that this is what they were actually the people actually wanted who would
be affected okay thank you very much planning commission
thank you chair and good morning david fecto with the city planning commission
chairman of board members the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the rsa3 residential
single family zoning at this location the appellant has not shown that complying with
dimensional standards of rsa3 would be an economic detriment to the property's reuse
the appellant could divide the property into two code compliant lots and build two single family
buildings a multi -family dwelling with two units would match that density the absence of off -street
parking is characteristic of this block face the city planning commission recommends that the board
grant the proposed variance for not providing off -street parking deny the proposed dimensional
variances for occupied area and rear depth, and grant the proposed use variance for multifamily
dwellings, but with a maximum of two dwelling units. MI 2022 001 -943 -3113 North 16th Street, I vote no.
Michael Johns, my vote is no. Cheryl Gaston, my vote is no. Teneda Graham, my vote is no.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is no.
Aylin, my vote is no.
Thank you, counsel.
The votes are no.
All right.
Number two, MI 2024 -00502, 1936 North Front Street.
Ryan Bolin is the attorney.
good morning good morning mr boland could you please state your name and spell for the
stenographer yes ryan boland r -y -a -n -b -o -l -a -n -d do you swear or firm to tell the truth the whole
truth and nothing but the truth i do could you identify your client their relationship to the
property yes my client is the applicant and the legal owner of property north front street
properties llc uh board member uh tenetta graham has a few questions for you hi good morning um
have you submitted your documents five days in advance of this hearing yes i have and and so
this is a special reception referral so does he need to he don't need to stipulate right
Still does.
All right.
So do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Thank you.
You may share your screen and proceed.
Count, are you representing both the owner and the tenant?
It's one and the same.
Terrific.
So. So I represent Star Bowl. They're the restaurant that's been operating there for about two years.
So this is at 1936 North Front Street. We are here today with the support of the RCO, Norris Square Community Action Network.
We had two meetings. After the first meeting, we did some more due diligence in order to locate a parking lot nearby so that any parking wouldn't affect existing parking.
So we're here today. We're seeking a special exception.
This is an existing family restaurant and bar, and we're seeking a special assembly use.
We're not seeking to expand the footprint of the restaurant.
it's really just so they can do things such as baby showers weddings stuff like
that without running afoul of the law this is in a CMX 2 .5 zoning district
it's a it's a pretty big lot and I'll um this is showing you
It's a it's a pretty big lot. And I'll. This is showing you here.
So it's right up against the L here. This is. It's right up against the L.
And my clients aren't new to the business. It's a part of the vintage syndicate.
They have six different restaurants with about eight locations, vintage time, the Goat Rittenhouse garage.
So these are very experienced folks. And we have entered into a contract.
just to the northwest about a block and a half with a community group, a nonprofit named Ziente,
in order to rent a parking lot, which was one of the requests. We had originally proposed
that the RCO, that we just simply use Platinum Valet, who is a well -known, reputable valet company
in the city. But the concern was where are the cars going to go? So we were able to enter into
a contract for this nearby lot and then we went back to the RCO in June and we were able to get
their support. So I'm just going to briefly walk you through some of the photos just because I
think the the location here is important to understand the use. So right here is the building
in blue. It's right up against the L. You can see there's a courtyard right here on the northeast
corner. This is just this is just the general layout. We have just a as you can see it's mostly
seating I'll show you the interior photos just quickly this is the courtyard this
is the rear of the property Hope Street looking north looking south again the
rear of the property this is the front of the properties you can see it's right
here in the shadows of the L, you know, the Market Frankfurt Street line.
So, and then finally, we had submitted a copy of our contract with Ziente, which is here.
and so so what's what's important here is um what my client has done is they've spent about
twenty thousand dollars and the real concerns here with the um with just the use in general
my client wants to be a good name they they spent a lot of time here um on insulating the building
for sound. So they spent about $17 ,000 on a roll -up door. There's a garage door in the back,
but that was a special door that would be used in something like a sound studio
so that noise wouldn't be going to the rear. They also upgraded all the windows for another $10 ,000.
And so there's been really no expense spared here with making sure that noise isn't leaving
the property. And then the second issue was traffic. What are you going to do here if you're
having a wedding? And as I said before, the client's initial response was, we'll use the
valet vendor we use. And we've worked to rent this lot, which is just, again, it's about a block
northeast, or I'm sorry, northwest, so that we can have off -street parking. We can also use valet.
But with that, I believe that we meet all of the legal requirements here for a special exception, because this use will not impact the neighborhood beyond what would normally be expected by this use.
Here, we're right in the shadows of the L.
We happen to be on the same block as a station here.
So public transit will be very, very easy.
Yeah, my client has found pretty much anyone is either in the neighborhood walking or they're taking the L anyway.
There isn't an issue here with overcrowding of the land.
We already have a CO here for about 265 people.
And the other issues just don't apply here.
There's no issue with impairing the flow of light and air to adjacent properties.
There's no issue with burdening the water sewer park, et cetera.
And this is not going to harm any of the adjacent properties.
And again, we come here with the RCO support.
I just want to call my client.
If he can raise his hand, please, Craig McBain.
Craig McBain, please accept the promotion to panelists.
Good morning.
Good morning, sir.
Could you please, Craig, could you turn your video on?
How do I do?
Oh, here we go.
Yeah, I got it.
All right.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Could you please state your name is spelled for the sonographer?
Yes. My name is Craig McBain, C -R -A -I -G -M -A -C -B -A -I -N.
My name is Craig McBain.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Craig, just very briefly, what's your connection to the property?
So we own the property and we have a restaurant there, Starbolt, and I'm a third owner of Starbolt.
Terrific.
And did you hear my testimony today?
And was it true, correct, and accurate?
Yes, it was.
And you adopted as your own?
I do, yes.
And that's all I have.
I know you're probably behind schedule, so I'm trying to move as quickly as I can, Mr.
All right.
Questions from the board.
Question.
You said that you had put in all this soundproofing, but you're up against the L.
So why are we doing the soundproofing and how does music, who is complaining about the noise?
Thank you.
Thank you for the question.
So initially in the build out, it was important to me.
It was the back end of it.
It wasn't the front under Front Street.
I was on Hope Street.
And this is before we even opened.
it was really important to be good neighbors and i did not want any any complaints or anything
you know and if i could it's easier to do it before when you're planning and you're building
it out then doing it after so it was investment that that we um that we thought it was not only
appropriate but was the right thing to do and i actually personally i actually live right there
two blocks away so i'm part of the community there and i know all the neighbors so that's
another reason why it was a good idea okay and so then you said i i thought you said you have a
co for like 265 people what are you what are you doing there now is it a restaurant
yeah it's a restaurant yeah we have you know we'll do some eagles games and we'll do some you
know um just some parties or whatever you know during the the weekends but we'd like to do
occasional weddings and bar mitzvahs or you know graduation parties so that's what the uh special
exception is for so you can have events if you will correct okay and you okay all right thank
you other questions questions or comments from our attorney not at this time mr chair comments
from the virtual audience? Yes, Chair, we have one hand up. Nilda Pimento will be promoted
to panelists. Sure. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning.
Hi, could you please, Nilda, could you please state your name and spell it for the stenographer?
Good morning, all.
N -I -L -D -A.
The last name is Pimentel.
P -I -M -E -N -T -E -L.
Nilda, could you turn your video on?
Is that possible?
Hold on.
Let me see.
Okay, great.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Are you a neighbor?
I'm a neighbor, but I also chair the NASCAN RCO, the coordinating RCO on the zoning committee.
Please start your testimony.
Yes. As it was mentioned by the attorney, this application was actually originally considered back in March of 2024.
And at that time, the application was not endorsed, and we did send a letter to the zoning board on, I believe it was in April of 2004, stating that although at the moment we were not able to approve the application or support the application,
application uh nevertheless we were open willing to reconsider the application provided that the
applicant uh produce a parking plan and secure a parking plan as a matter of fact we in good faith
continued conversations with the applicant and connected them to a local not -for -profit that
has a parking space that could accommodate more than 50 cars finally after negotiations they were
cars. Finally, after negotiations, they were able to enter into an agreement. Once they
able to enter into an agreement
submitted to us proof that the agreement was executed, we scheduled another Sony meeting
that was held this past June. Before doing that, we went back to the neighbors on the block
because there is at least four senior citizens that have been living in the block for
over 35 years, so we wanted to consult with them, and none of them
stated any opposition to supporting their application. We also asked them whether
they've had any complaints, issues regarding the noise or double parking in that very narrow street,
and they stated that at that time
that they didn't have any problems
and we scheduled a Sunday meeting
and it was approved
and all the documents were submitted to you
I think at the beginning of July.
All right, Nilda, thank you very much
for your detailed testimony
and we appreciate you getting on the phone.
Is there anyone else in the audience?
I see no hands.
planning commission thank you chairman and board members good morning david fecto with the city
planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the cmx 2 .5 commercial
mixed use zoning at this location the city rezoned this neighborhood in 2021 and a community
supported map change the appellant has shown that the proposed use will not cause detrimental
impacts to the neighborhood beyond what might be expected the city planning commission
recommends the board grant a proposed special exception for assembly and entertainment.
Thank you. MI 2024, 00502, 1936 North Front Street, I vote yes.
Bill Johns, my vote is yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Tinetto Graham, my vote is yes.
Brian McAdams, my vote is yes.
Iowa, my vote is yes.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you.
Number three, MI 2024, 002 -617 -3230 Belgrade Street.
David Orfanides is the attorney.
This is a resumptive hearing.
Good morning, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
Good morning.
Good morning, counsel. Could you please state your name and spell it for our court reporter? I'm sorry.
Certainly, certainly. David Orfanides, last name is spelled O -R -P -H -A -N -I -D -E -S.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, told the truth, nothing but the truth?
Mr. Orfanides, this is a resumptive hearing, but could you identify your client in relationship to the property?
Certainly. My client is Best Choice Ventures, V -E -N -T -U -R -E -S, LLC, the owner of the subject property, 3230 Belgrade Street.
Right. And my understanding is, as a resumptive hearing, what we're going to do with this is you will give us an update on the last hearing.
We'll have questions from the board and the council. We'll have public testimony limited to the information you provide today and planning commission.
But we are going to hold the vote on this. Am I correct, Hillary?
So, actually, Mr. Chair, we did receive the amended refusal, so Mr. Orphanides can go through that as part of his presentation, and we are able to vote today based on that. Thank you.
Thank you. So, start your presentation, please.
Certainly. Let me, if I may share my screen.
and last this okay um again uh the property in question is uh 3230 belgrade street um the
property was once part of the nativity blessed virgin mary roman catholic church property which
included a church, a rectory, a convent, um, and a school. The school was, uh, demolished some time
ago. Um, and you can see here is the property. So you have the church, the rectory, here's the
convent. This is, uh, well, the convent and then where the school was, uh, was just a gravel parking
area parking lot my client the property was subdivided my client purchased the convent
property which had a garage a one -story garage with access off of the street here along up along this
with access off of the street here along this way, and then had a smokestack on it.
And then also acquired this property where the school used to be, that was the parking area.
Our property here is 3230.
My client has gone ahead and secured by right approval for a number of single -family dwellings
that front on this back street, East Madison Street, that have a common driveway.
And I'll show you on a plan that kind of come along the back of the properties along this property line of the property that we're here for today, 3230 Belgrade Street.
Well, this application is to utilize or repurpose the convent that you see here again.
And that's shown and you can see the front of the picture right here.
And then convert that convent into a 12 -unit multifamily dwelling with some minor alterations to this structure, enclosing some open areas at the ground floor and some egress ways.
The other part of the project, again, going back to the aerial images, was to take down the one -story garage and build a four -story two -family dwelling.
So when we went to the community group ProPAC, we were presenting four units, reusing two off -street parking spaces, and the community wanted us to provide one -to -one parking.
And luckily, and I'll show you the original plans, here are the original zoning plans.
and here you can see the single family dwellings on east madison street to the side
and here you can see the existing convent the garage that was being converted into the two
family dwelling with the two car parking and luckily um with since my client owned all of
these and they're presently under construction the single family dwellings that had to share drive
And because of, we were fortunate enough, because of the distance between the rectory and the common property line, we were able to put in and squeeze 12 off -street parking spaces that you'll see here.
And these are the plans that have been reviewed and approved by the Planning Commission, meeting the landscape requirements with certain waivers being granted.
And you can see here that we've put in 12 parking spaces, including one ADA space.
That was the one condition that ProPAC wanted to see in order to gain their support.
We do have a letter of support from them as well as a letter of support from Councilmember Driscoll's office that you either have received or I've forwarded along through the portal.
And it's included in my exhibits today, which I'll submit the full package after our hearing.
So with that, you know, we were able to secure their support or at least comply with the criteria, the provisos that they wanted to see met in order to have their support.
But in putting the parking along this side, it triggered a number of refusals.
And I can show you those.
And those are right here.
Well, here's the original notice of refusal.
The original notice of refusal was using this RSA, this very large RSA 5 property with this existing older structure.
The church itself is designated historic, but the rectory is not.
But it is it's a beautiful building. Again, you can see it in the pictures here.
And it's my client. And we mentioned at the last hearing has experience in taking these beautiful convent buildings and restoring them.
and adaptively reusing them as multifamily dwellings.
He has one on, I showed pictures the last time at the last hearing of,
oops, that's not the one.
Hold on a second.
Of a project he had done on Susquehanna Avenue.
And I have to find those.
But in any event, the idea here was to take this old building and to restore it, but with the original notice of refusal – oh, here, I'm sorry.
Here's the Susquehanna that I had showed you last time, that we had also taken to the board for variances, an older, nicer, older building, and he'd done an amazing job restoring the interior.
here. But the original notice of refusal had the refusal for utilizing this very large RSA 5
property for multifamily household living, the 12 units in the convent, the two units in the
four -story building where the garage was, the garage to get parking in at the ground floor to
Um, the garage, uh, to, to get parking in at the ground floor to reuse that, to have the parking
there where it was, um, off of that street, we came in a little bit higher at 42 feet, but we did
drop the parapet so that the overall, uh, envelope of the building, the skin of the building was
still at about the height of a by right building, which with a 38 foot roof and a 42 inch parapet
comes out to 41 feet, six inches. There was, with the original refusal, I had made comments to the
original examiner, or the examiner, that there should have been a refusal issued for having
multiple principal structures on the lot. That wasn't picked up prior to our prior hearing,
and we knew that we were going to, for some months now, we knew we were going to be
amending the application because we knew that the surface parking spaces, those 12 spaces,
were going to create some additional refusals. So in the new amended refusal, she did pick up
that refusal here. You can see here the multifamily, the height refusal, the multiple
principal structures. We have the two. So she picked that up that she'd missed on the original
refusal on this. And then we have two new refusals. One is parking in a side yard or any yard, front
or rear yard, is not permitted. Rear yard is permitted in certain exceptions, in certain
situations, but front yard and side yard, it's not permitted. So we do have that refusal. And then
the drive aisle that we have coming behind the East Madison Street properties is by right for
the number of units that are there, but the zoning code states that once you have more than 10 units
And whether it's the 14 that we have on our property, or even if you consider the 12 for the convent, which are really the only units that are going to be using the surface parking, and or if you take it in conjunction with the single family dwellings that the current drive currently serves, presently serves, you have more than 10 units.
And the zoning code says that once you have more than 10 units, your drive aisle width goes from, or your parking aisle goes from 12 feet to 18 feet.
And we're just simply reusing, we're simply reusing the existing drive aisle.
We didn't want to make that wider.
Then we'd be creating refusals for the by right East Madison Street properties.
So here you can see the 12 -foot wide shared driveway.
It's a one -way driveway.
that comes here from Miller Street, you can see, and then extends down to Belgrade Street.
And we're able to pull into each of the 12 parking spaces, including the 1ADA space.
There will be an easement.
I submitted a draft of an easement agreement to L &I.
So even though they're all owned by the same entity, my client right now, ultimately, obviously,
the Madison Street properties will be sold off.
My client will retain the convent property as a rental property for now, and there will be an easement agreement between them.
As mentioned, these plans are stamped by the Planning Commission.
There was an extensive review regarding landscaping required for the parking between our use and the abutting uses, both the church to the one side and the single families to the other.
Again, there were certain – there are a lot of – there's some restrictions to the property.
Zoning code calls for screening between parking and the abutting residential uses.
We obviously can't do that here because that would completely block off the shared drive.
So there were some waivers that are granted and there will be a payment made in lieu by my client for the waivers that were requested and that were granted by the Planning Commission for the landscaping.
So essentially, you know, we presented the project at the last hearing.
The reason for the amendment to the application is solely to accommodate the one request that the community have had in order to provide their support.
We feel that those variances are the additional variances don't impact the neighbors and actually only impact our own properties in terms of the use of the single family dwellings and our own parking spaces.
This has been reviewed by the streets department in terms of the required turning radiuses into the parking spaces.
They were already approved for the single -family dwellings fronting on East Madison, but also for the parking spaces on our property on the 3230.
So the width, we don't believe, is an issue, particularly here, given that it's one way and the way that it's going to be used.
And again, these additional refusals are solely due to the requests of the community group.
And then obviously locating it in the side yard, that's only impacting our single family dwellings.
And then obviously locating it in the side yard, that's only impacting our single -family dwellings on the other side.
And it's not as if there's a yard right there.
It's their own driveway and then parking, getting into the parking at the backs of those properties.
So for those reasons, we feel both the reasons that were stated and the basis that were stated at the last hearing for the granting of the variances cited in the original notice of refusal,
as well as what I've stated today regarding the additional notices of refusal,
we respectfully request that the board grant the variances for those
so that we may proceed with this really impressive project.
Questions from the board?
And I do have my client and the architect here to adopt me.
I'll get there in a minute.
Why don't you bring your client on now?
i'm sorry what did you say bring your client one okay um bob hutton lock please
robert will be promoted to panelists i guess uh my one question is has anything changed about
that rear enclosure since we last looked at this you mean the area behind the convent
no the the only thing that's changed with this project since we were last year
is showing the parking spaces and the landscaping okay so yeah that that area let me go to the
renderings hold on and then did we maintain the same number of proposed parking spaces as before
because if i remember correctly last time there was a little bit of concern around circulation
path and then there was obviously uh there was no landscaping plan were you able to maintain the
same number of spaces once adding in the landscaping yeah i mean we we had we maintained
all 14 spaces that was the priority because of the community there were some variants or waivers
that were granted for nine trees um on the property i mean it's mainly once you put in
those parking spaces there just wasn't the room it's pretty tight on the property not only because
of the parking spaces on one side but as a condition for the grant or for the sale of the
property um we had to let me go back to the revised zoning plans this area on this side
budding the church is a is an easement all of it is an easement it's currently used as a driveway
in a loading area for the church so this this all is maintained and it's a paved area so we couldn't
utilize that area for the landscaping oops so we were really we were very basically limited to
this interior area in here which we packed pretty tightly maintaining the necessary or the required
separation distances between trees and bushes landscaping here and then we added some of the
trees that we because not only so there was apparently on the first review some landscaping
requirements were missed um obviously the park the landscaping that's required for the parking
spaces on this side of budding the east madison single families is new but when we reviewed with
the planning commission they determined that they by code they felt that there should have been a
screening requirement between our property and the church over here and um so there was there's
quite because when you have 135 feet of length on this side and i think it came to about 109 feet
on this side there were a lot of trees and shrubs that were required um and again we got everything
in that we could squeeze everything in maintaining the distances and we were short nine trees and
that's what the waiver was and we'll be making a payment in lieu for that that's reflected now on
the plans and there's an agreement with the there's a document with the uh with the planning
commission as well okay but there's still that rear access and stairwell at the back for the
some of the residential units yes all this area back here back to the rear and i can show you
that on the floor plans as well so filling in the ground floor above this existing upper floor
is still the same that's not changing and then making the enclosures over here
from the tower over into the the main portion of the upper floors is also going to be maintained
and that's not going to change at all it's really just landscaping in the parking spaces that
changed from the last plan that was presented to you and today okay david is your client on
i believe he was being uh promoted to panelists i'm on can you hear me yes we can could please
I'm on. Can you hear me?
Yes, we can. Please state your name and spell for the stenographer.
state your name and spell for the stenographer
Robert Huttenlock, H -U -T -T -E -N -L -O -C -K.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, told you nothing but the truth?
David?
Bob, did you hear my statements that I made to the board today?
And they true and correct to the best of your knowledge?
And would you adopt them as your own?
And once again, as stated at the last proceeding, you are the sole member of Best Choice Ventures, LLC?
Correct.
Okay. Thank you. I have no further questions from my client. And I do have the architect as well.
Questions from our attorney?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Actually, I'm sorry. The amended refusal is dated August 5th, 2025.
Correct.
questions or comments from the virtual audience relative to today's testimony
i see no hands planning commission thank you chairman and board members good morning david
fecto with the city planning commission chairman and board members the comprehensive plan recommends
no change to the rsa 5 residential single family zoning at this location the zoning in this part
of the neighborhood dates to 1970 this building sits on the campus of the former nativity bvm
church campus the plan proposes reusing buildings for residential use approximating the density
of surrounding row house blocks the comprehensive plan recommends supporting conversion of vacant
religious properties into new uses the city planning commission recommends of the board
grant or proposed use parking and dimensional variances. MI 2024 002 617 3230 Belgrade Street
I vote yes per amended refusal dated 8 -5 -25. Michael Johns my vote is yes with proviso.
Cheryl Gaston my vote is yes with proviso.
And Wynn my vote is yes with proviso.
thank you david okay thank you that includes my business may be excused
yes thank you six is done seven is done eight is done
number nine mi2025 000 989 6227 cal hill street vito canuso is the attorney
Vito, V -I -T -O, Canuso, C -A -N -U -S -O.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth?
Nothing but the truth, Mr. Canuso.
I do, Mr. Chairman.
Would you identify your client and relationship to this property?
Yuval, Y -U -V -A -L, A -T -T -O -U -N, trustee of Callow Hill Trust, owner of 6227 Callow Hill.
You're breaking up, Vito.
I'm sorry.
That was Yuval.
Y -U -V -A -L.
Is that better, Mr. Chairman?
Yes, it is, sir.
ATON, A -T -T -O -U -N,
trustee of
Callow Hill Trust,
owner of
62 .7 Callow Hill Street,
which is on the corner of
Callow Hill Street.
You're fading again, Vita. I think you've got to face
forward. I'm sorry.
No, you don't have to be sorry.
board member, Tanetta Graham, has a few
questions for you, sir.
Hi, good afternoon. Have you submitted your documents five days in advance of this hearing?
And do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Okay, thank you. You may share your screen and proceed.
Counsel, just to, this is the, you're not looking to increase, you're going down, right?
You're going from three to two units, is that right?
Correct.
OK, please proceed. Yes. Here's the application information. We're proceeding with the refusal application of appeal.
We don't see it. You're not up yet with your screen.
Thank you.
is that is that uh acceptable now no we can't see your screen counsel
why don't we do this we have i think one or so
more. Why don't you figure out if you can get that, and we'll come right back to you, okay?
Very good. We'll be back in, I hope, 15 minutes.
Number 11, MI -2025 -001 -082 -4501
North Howard Street. Michael McElhaney is the attorney.
good afternoon mr chairman members of the board
could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
michael mcelhenney m -i -c -h -a -e -l m -c -i -l -h -i -n -n -e -y
you swear or affirm that tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do could you identify your client and relationship to the property
My client is a tenant, Calabra Snack and Vape Inc.
And the member is Amar Mohamed.
Tenetta Graham, one of our board members, has a few questions for you.
Good afternoon.
Have you submitted your documents five days in advance of this hearing?
And do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Thank you.
You may share your screen and proceed.
excellent on my pre -marked exhibit packet we see your package excellent the just i'll go i know
we're late here so i'll go through quickly uh exhibit we're not late we're we're fine we're
not late okay excellent at exhibit eight is our a copy of our zba appeal at exhibit nine
and let me i can't zoom in with
exhibit 9 are our zoning notice posters that were posted at the property on july 13th and we posted
both street frontages for fronting front street and also the wing of hawkins side of the property
our rco notice is at exhibit 10 we met with the rco on may 20th 2025 it was about a two -hour zoom
it was very well attended and we had some near neighbors that had some questions comments and
concerns we actually had a second follow -up meeting in person at the property on june 2nd
to address the concerns of the immediate near neighbors which led to the the letter of non -opposition
from the the rco along with some provisos and did the board receive a copy of that letter from the
directly yes non -opposition and also the council person excellent and i included at exhibit 12 a
copy of the retail sales use that includes drug paraphernalia sales. That was one of our requests
and the proviso in the RCO letter is to eliminate our request for drug paraphernalia sales. So I
included that just for the items that falls under that category. The owner's property,
the deed is at exhibit 13. My client's lease for the property is at exhibit 14.
I had the owner of the property sign an authorization form to pursue the zoning
variance separate from the lease, which is at Exhibit 15. And the subject property is tax
complied. Exhibit 16 shows the zero tax balance as of July 29th, 2025. Going back up to Exhibit,
Exhibit 1 in my packet was the RCO letter, which I received after I submitted it.
Exhibit 2 is our refusal. So the application is for retail sale, food, beverages, and
groceries and drug paraphernalia sales in an existing structure. It's an approximately 1 ,000
foot tenant space. The property is owned I2, industrial, medium industrial, and the retail,
the drug paraphernalia sales requires a special exception approval, which results in the referral.
And then the request for food, beverages, and groceries results in a refusal. And we were
originally seeking those two uses in the existing structure. As part of the RCO letter,
we did agree to remove drug paraphernalia sales as part of the application. So we're really just
proceeding on retail sale, food, beverages, and groceries. The RCO wanted to make sure that we
had clear hours of operations in accordance with the city code and that there was a sign on the
And that there was a sign on the front of the property to show when it's open and closed, which we are going to do.
front of the property to show when it's open and closed, which we are going to do.
And that we clean up the property at the beginning of the day and at the end.
We've actually hired a neighbor to the east who cleans up property to clean up our property as well.
I'll go to the aerial view of the map.
This property is this, I'll call it an L -shaped parcel.
I2 with RSA 5 to the north.
Some RSA -5 properties to the east, CMX -2 properties directly across to the east of us, RSA -3 to the south, which is a big cemetery.
We have other I -2 properties to the south, and then to the west, we have RM -1, RSA -5, and CMX -2.
So it's a ton of uses at the intersection of North Front Street and Wingahawken.
Going to photo three is just an aerial view looking to the north.
As you can see, it's like a zigzag Z -shaped building with many tenant spaces.
and again residential to the north commercial to the east and residential to the east and
then industrial to the south and then the additional photos are just looking at all
the angles north south east and west showing that aerial view of the context of the neighborhood
and the block and i'm going to go to
page six is again just showing a close -up of all the tenant space the tenant space that we're
speaking of is really just this little corner, the bottom right hand corner of the building,
which is about 24 feet wide. So photographs of the exterior are at Exhibit 4. As you can see,
it's Calabra Snack and Vape Shop. It is a blue building. To the north of us is a retail use,
personal services for a hair salon. And then farther to the north is a auto use,
detailing, alarms, painting, tinting rather. Farther to the north is the auto use continues.
And then the rest of the block going to the north on the west side are single family twin houses and
row houses. And then looking on the east side, we have a bunch of twin residential properties.
And then coming back closer to the subject property, we have more residential properties.
and then directly across the street from us is the commercial use,
which is an auto shop that does transmissions and auto sales and stuff like that.
Looking to the south, across Wingahawken, we have some residential properties
and then behind those properties is the large cemetery.
And directly to the south of us, opposite Wingahawken is another auto use.
And this is a view of the property showing the Wingahawken side of the property.
And then behind us is other tenant uses in this big industrial building, which there's retail uses for U .S. Mattress Factory maintains the large percentage of the building.
And then behind the subject property, again, are just other auto uses as you go back towards Rising Sun Ave to the west.
And I'll take you into the exhibit five are the interior photos of the tenant space.
it has a main one window and a main entranceway on the front of the property inside there is a
foyer area and all the products are displayed in the window and there's a point of sale at
the service counter for customers to select what they'd like and purchase and these are just views
of the service counter showing the products we have candies we have medical type items we have
smoke shop type items, vape products. And then the rest of the photos are the interior of the
actual store space where the clerk runs the business. We have snacks and chips. We have
some clothing, some vape products, hookahs. This is the clerk working at the service counter
servicing customers. And again, we have the Snickers and other food products, some vape
products and then a whole bunch of snacks chips ahoy chips crackers we have ice cream
the downy downy product we have a ton of drinks soda milk orange juice cokes diapers so a real
convenience store and now the next photo is the back half of the retail space where the client
uses the space for storage of products as supplies run out they bring it out and restock the shelves
and at exhibit six is a overview of the tenant space it's approximately 1 ,000 square feet
the front of the building is about 24 feet wide we have that foyer space and then the actual
retail space is around 450 square feet or so and then the back half of the building is the storage
space that also has access to the outside of wingahokken street for trash removal and the
back storage is mainly for the trash storage and supplies. And the front is for the actual
the front is for the actual retail operation. So a very small, approximately 11 ,000 square foot
retail operation. So a very small, approximately 11.
retail use. This use, I included at Exhibit 7, just an old zoning record at this property
where it's been used for different retail spaces over the years. It's had all kinds of uses,
this multifaceted building. Most recently, this tenant space was actually an office building for
an all -state insurance office until this client took over the space and then realized they need
a zoning permit to operate retail sales of food, beverages, and groceries. So with that,
after meeting with the community and addressing their concerns, we've agreed to all the provisors
that the community was seeking, which is really no drug paraphernalia sale. So that's out of our
request and make sure we have those hours of operation clearly posted along with opening
and closing signs, and again, make sure the trash outside is cleaned up, which we've hired an
individual to address those concerns. So with that, members of the board and Mr. Chairman,
I believe that this is in keeping with the community and the characteristics of the
uses on this block, and it's not going to have any negative impact on the community,
especially when we're complying with the code hours. There's no increased traffic, noise,
congestion, and no impact on the environment. So we would request that the board grant the
a variance request for retail sales of food, beverages, and groceries.
And if I may call Amar Muhammad to raise his hand.
Yeah, why don't you bring him on?
Mr. Muhammad, can you please raise your hand?
Amar Muhammad, please accept the promotion to panelists.
Yes sir
Did you hear that
Hold on
Amar could you please state your name
And spell for this stenographer
Good afternoon
Board my name is Amar
Muhammad
A -M -M -A -R
M -O -H -A -M -M -E -T
Do you swear or affirm
To tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
Please proceed, counsel.
Mr. Mohamed, did you hear the statements that I presented to the board today?
Were they true and correct and accurate to the best of your knowledge, information, and belief?
And would you adopt my statements as if they were your own?
No further questions, Mr. Chairman.
Questions from the board.
Questions from our attorney, Hillary Emerson.
um mr mcelhenny did does this property already have a tobacco permit because it's not you're
saying you're not going to sell drug paraphernalia but you're still selling hookah and tobacco
products that's a good question um mr muhammad you know if there's a current tobacco license
at the property i believe we'll have a an application submitted um i believe it is in
the waiting list, we do have a Pennsylvania tobacco license guarantee. Okay. So just to
be clear, because I just look at this area, if you don't, yeah, this is capped. So you cannot
sell tobacco products at this property without a city tobacco permit. A state license is not
sufficient. So I just wanted to be clear on that because I know sometimes it's confusing what's
drug paraphernalia, what's tobacco. But if there is no tobacco permit, tobacco products cannot be
sold at this property and that's a city license correct you said this that's a city it's city
permit specifically the state is a license um but the city permit has caps and this is a capped
area so that's why you're on a waiting list no okay i want to clarify the issue relative to the
unit oh i did i did want to know because there are multiple um there's even multiple businesses
at this address is there a specific unit designated for this look for for this business
i wasn't clear from the lease that's like everything refers to mainly unfortunately
4500 north front street because they all this side of the building fronts on north front street so
informally um i think if not that's okay i just wanted to make sure that wasn't something we
missed yeah no there's nothing specific i was looking to see if they've designated the i've
seen like if you can look at the auto use they have 4504 yeah or they've tried to make their
own designations 4502 north front that that's not the official opa address right you wouldn't want
that's that's not the official opa address right you wouldn't want to put that in that's right i
to put that in that's correct i mean that could be
mean that could be a man like that could be a federal mailing address but it's not the city
it's not the city yes okay not a problem not a problem thank you questions or comments from the
virtual audience i see no hands lady commission thank you churn one second for one second um
um this is a question for hillary i believe um are vape project prop products considered
tobacco products i believe so i'm looking at the department of health uh website right now um that
that is my understanding but i would that's something that um i would verify with the
department of health it's not just vapes they also have loose tobacco for hookahs for sale right
can I comment
this is Ammar
I just wanted to add
that the vapes and the hookahs
both include nicotine and non -nicotine
options and
they're all packed
they're all in package
there is nothing that is sold in loose
well even so
you can't sell tobacco
without having a city permit
gotcha
thank you
all right um planning commission
thank you chairman and good afternoon david fechter with the city planning commission
chairman and board members the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the i2
medium industrial zoning at this location the city rezoned this neighborhood in 1982
at that time this property's zoning was left unchanged from the original 1933 zoning the
The appellant proposes the retail sales of food and beverages.
The proposed use matches a prior approved use in one of the tenant spaces.
The City Planning Commission recommends the board grant the proposed use variance for the sale of food and beverages.
Hilary, are you looking at the proviso there?
It just says retail sales of food, beverages, and groceries only.
Do you want to put in there no tobacco until...
Well, that is understood.
I don't think that's within our purview, but that is the use that the RCO asked for, and I understand the applicant is agreeing to.
And that's the zoning code definition.
Right.
So what do we want to say relative to the tobacco?
I don't think we need to say anything, Mr. Chair.
They need to have a permit to sell tobacco products.
If they're not, the health department will address that.
Thank you.
MI -2025 -001 -082 -4501 -North Howard Street, I vote yes, with Proviso, Operation of Hours 7 -8 -11 -P.
Michael Johns, my vote is...
And approved use and retail sales of food, beverages, and groceries only.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes with Proviso's.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with Proviso's.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes with Proviso's.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes with provisos.
I win.
My vote is yes with provisos.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you.
Let's go back to number nine, MI 2025, 000989, 6227 Callahill Street.
Vito Canuso is determined.
Vito, V -I -T -O, Canuso, C -A -N -U -S -O.
Mr. Canuso, you've been already sworn.
Why don't you start your presentation with your computer?
Do you now see my shared document?
We do not.
There's nothing here, sir.
Do you see a green button at the bottom of the screen that says share?
It looks like it's coming up now.
Thank you.
Now you have it.
Well, you've got to now tap on the different.
Is that working now?
So, Mr. Canuso, you're going to have to exit out of sharing and then restart with selecting the documents that you have open or share your entire screen.
and with selecting the documents that you have open or share your entire screen because right
now all we're seeing is the window that can shows the files that you have in that folder
we're not seeing the pdf document
so you may need to click the top of the screen where it says stop sharing and then
restart the share. Is that working now? It is not. Not quite yet, no.
can you see that we do not
so um council what we're going to do is um we're going to break for lunch and we're going to bring
you back at two o 'clock thank you and by two o 'clock make a couple phone calls and whatever
and then we'll get you one, okay?
Thank you.
Is there anyone else in the audience
whose case has not been called from the 930 list?
I see no hands.
Mr. Canuso, we'll see you at 2 o 'clock.
Everyone else, see everyone at 2 o 'clock.
All right.
Yeah, we're going to
Yeah, right
Alright, so
We're finishing the 930 class
Session
We have one more case
So MI2025
6227 Callahill Street
Vito Canuso
Is the attorney
good afternoon chair this is jasmine and i will be your co -host for this afternoon session
thank you veto canuso has been promoted to panelists okay veto v -i -t -o canuso c -a -n -u -s -o
can you hear me mr chairman mr mr canuso we hear you loud and clear um you've already been sworn
why don't you start your presentation
you're coming up
are you coming up are you getting the shared
document we're here now yep
okay this is the deed
for the property which is owned as I previously
say by Yuval Attun trustee of
Cahill trust
here's the notice of uh uh notice of zoning appeal uh which was filed in this matter
and which resulted in this hearing for today okay we have all your documents so i i think
what would be important if you went to the plans and the photos thank you all right this is the
overall plan
as you see the corner, the northeast
corner to the right
is the
picture below. Okay.
This is the RCO
support.
We had a meeting with HMC
shared RCO, which
was the lead, and
there was various discussions and communication and I was pleased to see that they supported the
decision but I want to get to the plans which
we see the posting
we see the posting
here is the plan
yeah you might want to if you could could you
enlarge that for us
right to enlarge it. As you can see, it's a two -story building with a basement. The plan is
for the first floor to be a separate unit with the entrance on the front of the property. It's
caddy quarter to the front
property and the second property
to be from
a side door on
Felton Street up
to the second floor.
If possible, could you make that a little bit larger?
Because it's very hard to see.
Very hard.
Here you go.
Oh, here you go. Look at you. You got it now.
so in my understanding
this was at one point a triplex
correct and now you're making it a duplex
and he wants to reduce it
to a duplex
that was part of the discussion at the
meeting
the reason
and the basis upon it
as you said
you got to look straight ahead Vito
you're getting away from the speaker
when he bought it
It was set up for a triplex. He has to renovate the entire property. And this is the plans for the two units. As you can see, the one would come from the front of the to the first floor. Second is from the side on Felton Street would go up to the second floor.
and to the rear of the property, which would have access by both the first and the second floor,
would be where the utilities and then to the rear yard for storage of trash or whatever.
The other thing that my client indicated to the RCO was that he intends to repair the sidewalk,
restore the exterior and have surveillance cameras
for the property which would benefit the neighborhood.
The other thing is, here's the other picture, here's the other plan,
But it's basically the same plan. I don't think there's anything new or different there.
Showing you the first and second floor being utilized two separate units. Now,
at one of the earlier meetings, there was concern about storage. Both units would have access to
the basement, which is empty, and if necessary, they can have secure areas set out, one each
for a secure location of a storage area in the basement.
here is the show explaining to me that what this second there's there's two sets of drawings or
what tell me what that two sets of joy I think they just duplicate each other okay all right
we're back to photos as you can see this this is the location uh from the uh uh
callahill street facing down felton street and you'll see the door to the right is the
first floor apartment entrance the door which you see further down uh would be would be uh
the second floor second floor you can see the second floor entrance and as I
said he's going to restore the entire front and put surveillance cameras on
the property this is one of the pictures of the side door with the notice the
side door with the notice that the building is not being utilized or occupied at the current time
the building is not
um we have
here's there's a showing uh down tallahill street uh showing the front entrance and the front of
the building and here's here are the different pictures that's the side door right why don't
you bring your client on? Sure. Mr. Attune? Do we see his client saying? Mr. Attune,
please try to get into the
program
please. Yes, he has
been promoted to penalist.
Thank you. Mr.
Toon, spell your name.
Can you hear
It takes a while for him to get in.
chair they declined to be
penalists
let me try again
try one more time
Can you hear me?
Yes. Could you please state your name and spell it for the stenographer?
Yeah, it's Uvalatun. It's Y -U -V -A -L -A -T -T -O -U -N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
If possible, sir, could you put your video on?
I don't know how to do it.
Okay. All right.
It's okay. Vito?
sir uh did you hear my testimony to the board this uh this afternoon regarding your property
at callahill street yes and did you uh do you agree what i said and uh do you believe that it's
accurate and uh truthful yes and would you adopt it if you were asked those same questions or
questions of about what I stated here today. Yes. Thank you. Questions from the board.
Could you verbally explain what was the layout of the original building?
And what the changes will be? Well, it was set up for a triplex. I'm not sure I
know what the setup was, but it was never properly legalized. And that's why we're now
talking about reducing it to a duplex. When it was a triplex, was there an entire unit in the
basement? Mr. Attun, do you have an answer to that question? Yes. So the basement remains a
basement it's not finished yeah what she wanted to know is what when you bought the property it
was set up as a triplex yes for you to explain how it was set up for a triplex okay sure three
units were utilized okay so we bought it in the end of december 2024 in about eight eight months
and change and it's set up as a triplex which is ever on the right side access to a one -bedroom
apartment on the left side from the garden you have another access to a studio apartment and
then from the middle of the building if you go up you have a big apartment which is two bedrooms
rooms with two full uh you know showers so every so in the in the parents room you have
a restroom and a shower and and for the entire of the house you have another restroom and a shower
now what we're trying to do you know she just wants to know what the
set up before that's good thank you sure sure yeah this is how we bought it to the triplex
Got it. So work that you're going to be doing now is combining the studio and the one bedroom apartment to create a new first floor single apartment and then the second floor will remain still a whole.
first floor single apartment and then the second floor will remain still a whole apartment on the
second floor exactly ma 'am yes okay other questions questions or comments from our attorney
hillary emerson not at this time mr chair comments from the uh virtual audience or the current only
it's here i see no he is from the virtual audience chair planning commission
thank you chairman and good afternoon david effecto with the city planning commission
chairman and board members the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the rsa5 residential
single family zoning at this location the city rezoned this neighborhood in 1971 at that time
this property was zoned r10 today's rm1 residential multifamily according to the zoning archive this
building has been approved for two dwelling units dating to 1977 the city planning commission
recommends that the board grant the proposed use variants for two dwelling units thank you
mi -2025 -000 -989 -6227 cal hill street i vote yes proviso maximum two units michael johns my vote is
yes with proviso. Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with proviso. Tenetta Graham, my vote is yes with
proviso. Maya McAdams, my vote is yes with proviso. Iowa, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thank you, everyone. We're going to open up the 2 p .m.
hearings. Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this meeting
of the zoning board. With me is our board member, Cheryl L. Gaston. Present, Mr. Chairman. Our board
member Tanetta Graham. Present, Mr. Chairman.
Board member Michael Johns.
Michael's here. There he is.
Board member
Taya Nguyen.
She's here, too. She was
muted. And our board member Ryan McAdams.
Present, Mr. Chairman. Also here is our board attorney,
Hillary Emerson, and the zoning board director, Ian Haggerty.
Recording of this hearing will be posted on the ZBA website
by participating you consent to be recorded this is an in -person meeting with remote capabilities
whether remote or in person if you're called to speak you must state and spell your name and then
wait to be sworn in once you've been sworn in please state your name each time before beginning
your testimony any person may enter an appearance you can identify the case property address in your
zoom webinar registration you can see a staff member or you can call the zba appearance line
by the close of business tomorrow call 267 -270 -5548 leave a message that includes your
email address and the address of the property of the appealed case the following guidance is for
remote attendees first when directed you must raise your virtual hand in order to be recognized
second if you call to testify you'll be prompted to join as a panelist please accept the request
and turn on your camera third the webinar q a is for questions about the hearing do not comment
on cases in the q a fourth if you're participating by phone press star 90 raise your hand and star
six to unmute for our in -person attendees please refrain from talking eating drinking during the
hearings verbal and physical aggression will not be tolerated restrooms are across from the
elevators water fountain is just outside the room to the right when speaking on the record you must
speak directly into the microphone in order to be heard by all attendees and the court reporter
in the event of emergency please follow the direction given over the public dress system
by the staff and the main exit is through the double doors at the rear the nearest stairwell
is to the left outside the doors in case of an evacuation the rally point is the left park
directly across archery please remain there so we can account for you so let's look at
What's our schedule for this afternoon?
Number two, MI 2024 -003 -271, 1201 -03 Adams Avenue.
um the attorney in this is david chandler and helen bach i understand they want to
request a continuance
would they please come on david chandler has been allowed to speak
unmute yes hi mr chandler how are you sir could you please state your name and spell for this
stenographer. Great. Yeah. My name is David Chandler, C -H -A -N -D -L -E -R. Do you swear or
affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth? Yes. Yes, I do.
Yes, yes, I did.
Can you give me an update on 1201 -203 Adams Avenue?
Can you give me an update on 1201 to 03 Adams Avenue?
Well, the reason we're asking for the continuance is that the last community meeting held was last August, a year ago.
And at that time, the community group rejected the proposal.
Now, my clients have upgraded their plans, and we believe we can go back to the community group and get an approval this time.
so that is what uh that's the reason for our continuance request so so counsel this um i'm
going to give you a date but it has to be heard that day yes this is the fifth listing so this
will be continued until 1 14 26 at 2 p .m thank you okay thank you sir sure
number three mi2024 -006 -123 -1329 princeton avenue this case is being continued until 114 26 at 2 p .m
and number
number nine mi2025001837 this case has been continued until 114 26 and also there this
is a withdrawal the appearance of the attorney joseph consul are there any other requests for
continuance i see no he's at this time chair thank you so i'm going to go to our add -on list
Number one, MI -2025 -001 -579 -1989 North 63rd Street.
I vote yes with proviso.
Temporary special exception for religious assembly, use expiring 8728.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes with proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with proviso.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Iowyn, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Number two, MI 2025 -001 -745 -3810, The Oak Road.
I vote yes with Proviso.
Revised plans, one page, stamp by ZBA, August 5th, 2025.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes with proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with proviso.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes with proviso.
Iowa, my vote is yes with proviso.
Number three, MI 2025 -001089, 1729 North Lambert Street.
I vote yes with proviso.
No household living in the basement.
Oh, Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Ryan McAdams, I'm sorry, Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes, with proviso.
I own my vote is yes, with proviso.
Sorry, Ryan.
That's my fault.
Number four, MI 2025, 001 -463 -1727, North Lambert Street.
I vote yes
with Proviso.
No household living in the basement.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes
with Proviso.
Tannetta Graham, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Iowan, my vote is yes with Proviso.
For the record, I recuse
from those two votes.
We're going to go to our regular list now.
We're going to start with number six.
MI -2025 -001 -761 -334 -76 East Price Street.
Rachel Pritzker is the attorney.
Rachel Pritzker will be joining us as a panelist.
Thank you.
Good afternoon.
Counsel, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Sure. Rachel, R -A -C -H -A -E -L, Pritzker, P -R -I -T -Z -K -E -R.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client and relationship to this property?
Yes. So my client is the tenant of this property. Mitchell Causey is on here on behalf of
rashaun ford and we also have the owner here of the property as well if need be and
And we also have the owner here of the property as well, if need be, and the owner.
Our board member, Tenetta Graham, has a few questions for you.
Good afternoon. Have you submitted your documents five days in advance of this hearing?
And do you waive the reading letter of refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
All right. Thank you. You may share your screen and proceed.
Thank you.
okay so again this is 334 -76 east price street
and our architect today is rustin oler from harman deutsch architects as well
this is the refusal the property is zoned icmx and i think there's a note related to the refusal
It included an item for parking, as I guess the initial refusal did, required for parking, as the ICMX zoning district requires accessory parking, one for every 800 square feet.
However, there's no building, as you'll see on the lot, so there's no floor area.
And so this was removed.
So just if you see it on the earlier submission, that one was removed.
The site is ICMX and this is a proposal for use of a junk and salvage yards and the existing site.
It's zone ICMX and junk and salvage yards are not permitted in ICMX.
It's worth noting that there was a violation on the property that was not due to the tenant, but that has been worked through as well.
And this is just for the zoning use.
So the property is 35 ,274 square feet, and it has been an impound lot previously and has had car and auto related uses since at least the early 60s or late 60s.
It was a vacant parking lot at that time and then was granted a variance for an impound lot.
it also had a zoning permit issued in march of 2022 for wholesale distribution and storage
equipment number two storage yards and buildings and so getting a permit for the zoning use for
junk and salvage hours is in character with what's already been on the lot previously and what was
most recently issued a few years ago the only variance we're looking for is use which is not
permitted ICMX again this is almost a 40 ,000 square foot lot so not really and you'll see
it's a bit oddly shaped so just adding this similar use to what's already there this is
the tax records this is the lease agreement as mentioned would I represent the tenant of the space
this is a zoning map of the property as you can see it's a large very large industrial
site at the corner here, kind of oddly shaped and across from other ICMX zoning as well
and some commercial and residential mixed -use zoning.
Another aerial view.
As you can see, the property already functions with auto -oriented use on the site
and is in sort of an odd location given the railroad tracks, the street behind it.
It's got a little bit of vacancy behind it, but around mostly adjacent from industrial and industrial mixed -use properties.
Zoning posters on the property.
It's a little hard to see the property since it's so large from the street.
It's all fenced in.
It's all self -contained.
Just to show the zoning posters.
Additional exterior photos of the property.
This is the prior zoning permit that I mentioned in March of 22 for wholesale distribution and storage.
and equipment and material storage yards this is just wearing the code that we don't comply
and icmx again junk and salvage yards require a variance we met with the community um
back in june i'm sorry july 1st in person meeting
with the coordinating rco which was the 59th democratic ward
so the letters that we sent out
We were given a letter from the community group supporting the project.
we were given a letter from the community group
They made note of adequate lighting to defer illegal activity and just to continue maintaining this site in the nice order that it is, removing debris and addressing any illegal dumping.
this is just the presentation we gave for the RCO again it's sort of a it's a very large site so
kind of harder to see closer up but this does a little bit nicer job showing it
and that's really it we have our architect on as well if we have any questions but we're not
proposing any new structures on the lot so I don't know if there's any questions for him I'm
happy to bring my client on and then can bring. Please bring your client on. Okay. Is there a
Mitchell Causey in the audience? Mitchell, if you are in the virtual audience, please raise your
virtual hand.
Counsel, you're an officer of the court. We'll take her testimony.
Questions from the court.
Okay. So for right now, you're just storing these cars on the premises?
You're not?
Yes, I'm not.
Can we swear him in? Mitchell is the day -to -day operator, so he could better answer those questions for you, Ms. Gaston.
Mitchell, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Yes, Mitchell Causey, M -I -T -C -H -E -L -L -C -A -U -S -E -Y.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Please proceed, counsel.
Mitchell, have you heard my testimony today?
Do you believe it to be true and accurate, and do you adopt it as your own?
Yes, ma 'am.
Can you just share your affiliation with the property,
And then if you could answer the question related to just the storage of the cars on the property.
Yes. I just deal with the day to day operations because the owners is not doing too well.
But we basically just store cars for insurance companies that's involved in accidents.
That's basically it.
Got you. OK, I understand. Thank you.
You're welcome, man.
Any other questions for the board?
Questions from our attorney, Hilary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from this audience or the virtual audience?
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chairman, and good afternoon.
David Fecto with the City Planning Commission.
Chairman and board members, the comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning at this location
from ICMX Industrial and Commercial Mixed Use.
to irmx industrial residential mixed use the city rezoned this neighborhood in 1980 and a
council supported map change proposed junk and salvage yards and buildings are not allowed in
either zoning district there is no unique physical condition or circumstance of this property that
prevent it from being used in strict conformity with the zoning code despite the presence of a
stealth storage warehouse this is still a primarily residential block face the city planning commission
recommends that the board deny the proposed use variance for junk salvage yards in buildings thank
you and oh oh okay that's his area mr richardson
charles richardson has been promoted to panelists okay
good afternoon mr chair mr richardson you've already been sworn um state your name and start
your presentation please all righty charles richardson r -i -c -h -a -r -d -s -o -n office of
Councilwoman Cindy Bassroom, 508 City Hall.
Councilwoman has no opposition.
I was getting ready to say, you're passing me by.
This is the one time today that I'm going to,
the second time today I'm going to get to speak,
but the councilwoman has no opposition to granting the variance.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
MI -2025 -001 -761 -334 -76 East Price Street.
MI 2025 001 761.
I vote yes with proviso.
Per refusal dated 5 -30 -25.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes with proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with proviso.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes with proviso.
Iowa, my vote is yes with proviso.
So, thank you.
Okay, let's see here.
Are you right with you?
Number 10, MI 2025 -001 -853, 1224 North 20 A Street.
Al Nockmson is the attorney.
There's a letter of support from Ruritown Chargerswood Community Civic Association
and non -opposition from Council Member Young.
Good afternoon, Mr. Nockamson.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Alan Nockamson.
Oh, A -L -A -N, last name Nockamson, N -O -C -H -U -M -S -O -N.
Yeah, well, we have your name on speed.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client in relationship to the property?
My client is KMPM Holdings, LLC, the owner of the property.
I apologize.
I did not enter my appearance.
So, I mean, I entered my appearance.
I didn't like enter it right now.
So just give me one second.
That's a first.
So let me just do that for two seconds.
Let's see.
So sorry about that.
Let's see.
It's got to get into the calendar.
Let's go in here.
One last thing.
12, 24.
Sorry about that.
if I could just be promoted to a panelist
perfect yes you have been promoted to panelists
thank you and I'll just
share my screen just make sure I have the right
one up okay
I'm going to share my screen
All right. So I'm here to present 1224 North 28th Street. Again, to my left is Mike Randolph,
the owner of KMPM Holdings, LLC. And we're here to legalize a triplex that has been a triplex for
as far as I can see on Atlas. Our presentation includes 13 exhibits. As the chairman stated,
We have a letter of support from the community, and 198 addresses were notified of that community meeting that took place a few months ago.
So this is an RSA 5 property.
We're not changing the structure at all.
We're just trying to legalize the use of this structure that has been a triplex for some time.
Mr. Randolph is intending to do a complete gut job at the property.
So he understands as part of that process is that he's going to have to sprinkler the building.
So that's something else for the board to consider, that he's going to bring it up to current code.
Even though it's been used as a triplex, there is no fire suppression system in the building.
As stated in the letter of support, it was a well -attended meeting, overwhelming support of 12 in support, 2 in support and 1 abstain.
uh they you know the community stated that they acknowledged that this has been a multi -family
property for some time it's a corner property at the corner 28th and style street and then you
can see from the history here uh there's some indication that this was applied for for as a
applied for as a triplex. There's no history at all that I can find of any single family use here.
triplex there's no history at all that i can find of any single
Again, Mr. Randolph is purchasing this property based on the fact that it was advertised to him
as a triplex. He's here now to legalize that use. And that property has not been maintained well,
and you'll see from the photographs. So he's just trying to bring it up to date and up to code.
not out of character to have multifamily nearby we have 2800 master street 1239 north 28th street
1241 north 28th street as well as 1225 north 28th street so i try to provide a couple properties
nearby three of which is on that block in particular all triplexes and as you can see
here we're at the corner 28th and style street there's a mix of different zoning classifications
including rm1 and cmx2 and a half we are near commercial corridor on west gerard avenue as well
so this density will help uh you know the commercial corridor uh sustain itself and then
this is just a google maps perspective of the property from where the property's at
and then photographs of the property uh against corner property uh has two doors one facing here
on 28th Street. The other one facing, well, actually you can't see it here, but there's a
lower level door that's existing here. It's not the greatest photo, but it actually has steps
leading down. I know the board's always concerned about lower level living. There's direct access
for this bi -level unit on the first floor and lower level. You can also see here, there was
a former garage here. My client plans to repurpose it in the form of having trash in there, storage,
so we would agree to a proviso trash stored inside as well as additional maybe tenant storage as
well and then these is this is proof of our notice posting so you can see from both 28th street and
styles that we posted our orange notice posters for today's hearing and then this is north 28th
street to the right of the property to the left of the property west style street to the right of
the property to the left of the property our photographs so again my client is you know hoping
to purchase this property we have a we have an agreement of sale that shows us that we have a
closing date up through the end of august but this you know the deal is continuing obviously
for zoning approval but here's just some interior photographs showing the multi -unit nature of the
property and again my client intends to completely gut the property install a fire suppression system
and comply with the updated building code requirements
and then just our plans here um as you can see here uh let's move this thing over uh so you go
through the front door uh you make a left for unit number one uh it's an open floor plan here
you go to a lower level there is a bedroom down there in a flex space but what i'll say is is
there's a separate entrance with a door uh to go to a lower level um instead of going to the
bi -level unit which is a two bedroom one bath you go to the second floor which is its own unit which
is a one bedroom one bath you come in there's a kitchen there's a dining room there's a bedroom
there's a ton of light in there because we're a corner property you know for all of the all of
the units and then instead of the second floor with unit number two you go up a third flight
and that's unit number three which is also one bedroom one bath you can see an open floor plan
you can see bedroom you can see a bathroom and obviously storage for the tenants
hold on for a second you said that you had a direct walk out from the basement that plan
doesn't show that where's right here right here that says egress well i know it's incorrect that's
what it states it's we're not doing any changes that that's it you're right that's incorrect on
the actual floor plan the floor plans are for illustrative purposes only this is a use application
only but that's an existing and i maybe if we go on google street view maybe if i hit it a
different angle you'll see that but um is there coming out of the basement right here there's
right here there's two steps so no so there's actually a stairwell because you said you made
it sound as if there was a direct stairway access into the basement well i'll yeah i'll defer to
mr randolph who's been to the property can you answer mr board member john's question mr randolph
could you state your name first and spell for the stenographer turn on your is your missing one
right hello yeah mike randolph m -i -k -e -r -a -n -d -o -l -p -h do you swear affirm to tell the truth
told truth nothing but the truth yes please proceed yes is are there direct steps leading
down to the basement or leading up to the basement depending on your perspective from
the exterior yeah correct where it says walkout egress there's actually i think five or six steps
Yeah, correct. Where it says walkout egress, there's actually, I think, five or six steps leading down to a door that enters you into the basement from the side of the property.
leading down
Okay. So you go into, you go down steps and then to a door.
Correct.
So I do apologize for, this is not an accurate appraisal of what's actually happening there.
If you see it from Google Street View, which you can check yourself, you'll see those steps.
RCO meeting notice, we met with the community on June 19th.
like I said, overwhelming support. Brewery Town Shardswoods Community Civic Association is a
well -known, respected, and knowledgeable RCO. They have a two -step process. They require documents a
few weeks before the community meeting. They vet those documents. They review those documents. And
then they make their own recommendations after hearing community input. So this is a very
experienced RCO. The fact that the community and the RCOs in support of that speaks a lot about
this project and again you know mr randolph is also a member of the brewery town shardswood
community so he's a well -known quantity who has developed in that area as well
here is proof of mailing of that community notice we mailed it again to 198 addresses
proof of mailing to those addresses or you know application to the zba for the zoning variance
request and then our agreement of sale most importantly i just want to point out to show
the settlement date and it's like a little bit has a settlement date that we extended to june
i mean august 27th of 2025 so if the board does grant this variance we will have the ability to
close on this property uh certificate of tax clearance actually i told mr randolph to make
sure that he's tax compliant that the property owner's tax compliant he personally paid those
taxes to make sure that we can have tax compliance today so we can move forward to a settlement
with that being said i would ask um mr randolph given that he's already been sworn in three
questions you heard everything i had to state today about your zoning matter yes it's a true
and correct yes and do you adopt this your own testimony yes thank you questions from the board
questions or comments from our attorney not at this time mr chair questions or comments from
the virtual audience i see no hands at this time chair any commission thank you chairman and good
afternoon david fecto with the city planning commission chairman and board members the
comprehensive plan recommends no change to the RSA 5 residential single -family zoning at this
location the city issued a rental license in 2005 for one dwelling unit and an alteration permit
for a single -family dwelling in 2017 it appears that after some point in 2017 an owner appears
to have converted this to a three to three dwelling units without the benefit of permits
this is a primarily single primarily single family block face a complete rehabilitation
as stated in the appellant's testimony would allow the appellant to reduce the number of
dwelling units to be closer in compliance with the existing zoning the city planning commission
recommends that the board deny the proposed use variance for three dwelling units
the only thing i would state mr chair that this property has not been kept up for some time we
we're purchasing it as a three unit it's a corner property and i believe it's a responsible use of
that property especially since we have that secondary form of egress in the lower level
and the deal is contingent on receiving such zoning approval so we hope that the board agrees
and allows us to activate that corner in the brewery town shardswood section of philadelphia
MI 2025 -001 -853 -1224 North 28th Street, I vote yes with Proviso. Trash stored, stored inside.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Brian McAdams, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Ayoed, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Thank you.
Thank you, Councilman.
Number one, MI -2022 -007 -291 -430 West Burke Street.
David Orfanides is the attorney.
David Orfanides will be rejoining us as a penalist.
morning mr good afternoon mr chairman just for the record you've already been sworn today please
state your name certainly my name is david orphanetes last name is spelled o -r -p -h -a -n
Certainly. My name is David Orphanides. Last name is spelled O -R -P -H -A -N -I -D -E -S.
And this is a resumptive hearing?
Correct.
And my understanding the way we're going to do this today is you will present revised plans that are being reviewed for an amended refusal.
You will also update on conversations with the neighbors.
There will be questions from the board and council, public testimony limited to today's presentation, and any change with the Planning Commission.
So that's where we are today.
Correct.
And we're not going to vote on this today because the board has to view the video.
Correct.
So, okay, may I proceed?
Please.
I'm representing Gladwell Properties, LLC, which is the owner of the property.
The property is shown up here, outlined with a...
David, you don't have anything up.
There's nothing up.
Oh, sorry about that.
I jumped right to it without doing that.
Hold on a second. I thought I'd already hit share.
How was that?
Okay. So the property is the clouded area that you see here.
My client originally owned this.
Well, originally this clouded area in this area here to the left was one parcel.
He subdivided into two parcels, developed this parcel right here with a number of eight units.
That was phase one of this project.
So this is the third phase of the project.
And the first phase was four eight -unit buildings that were stretching down here along North 5th Street.
One portion of this project is to put in a fifth building right here, where the property extends to North 5th Street, another eight -unit building.
And I can show you those plans if we need to.
The second phase was to construct a buy -write.
These were done by variants.
And again, you'll see in a minute, the building that's proposed here is the same as the buildings that were granted variances by prior zoning boards.
Phase two was a number of six, eight -unit buy -write buildings over here along Cadwell Otter Street.
You'll see that in a minute.
And then we're proposing the development.
This is phase three, the remainder of the property.
The original drawings, the buildings are exactly as they were originally proposed.
As mentioned, and I'm going to zoom in here, there was another, the fifth of the buildings
to fill in that gap over here on North 5th Street, another eight -unit building.
And then there was a taller building, seven -story building to be erected here at the corner.
And, um, when we went to the community group, we presented this building, all of it was
residential.
The property is owned RM1.
So other than the number of dwelling units, we were three, um, we had three more than
was allowed on this total lot on the total lot area.
Um, it was all, it was all residential and what the community wanted to see because the
property is located along Burke street here.
They wanted to see, um, that, uh, commercial along the ground floor.
So originally, our ground floor was a residential lobby, an amenity space, bicycle storage.
And then what they wanted us to change to was to provide commercial along the frontage of Burke Street here and a little bit along Cadwell Otter Street.
We shifted the residential lobby.
We did away with the amenity space.
We relocated the bicycle parking down to the cellar, as you can see here to the left.
And that was the only physical change, I guess, to what has been proposed.
But because this involves property zoned RM1, adding the commercial use generates another refusal,
or will generate another refusal, which required an amendment of the zoning application.
In terms of the drawings, though, going back to the original drawings, here you have the original drawings,
and then here you have and i'll zoom those in a little bit you can see here um in the revisions
and this was also based upon some input from the community um we kind of reconfigured the parking
lot area we added a scroll down here into the lower corner we added a dog run pet an area run
here and um and just reconfigured figured added more greening this will require planning commission
review of the landscaping. But we believe we've complied with all the requirements in that
respect and that there should be no additional refusals that are generated by accommodating
the community's request regarding the parking lot. So we have in the original refusal,
let me find it right here. We only had two refusals, one again, where we had three more
We only had two refusals. One, again, where we had three more dwelling units that were permitted. 88 are permitted, and we have a total of 91. And that both buildings are taller than what is permitted in the RM1 zoning district.
We'll be right back.
And again, the building that we are proposing on North 5th Street is the same building that was granted variances previously for phase one of the project.
We believe the same conditions that existed for the granting of the variances in that case exist here as well.
And again, it's only a height refusal, and it's not a substantial one.
It's a 42 feet or 44 feet.
And then the corner building is much taller than RM1 permits.
But given the width of Burke Street, there are other tall structures up and down Burke Street.
The community didn't have, and the fact that we're going to be adding needed density, population for this commercial quarter, the community didn't have much of an issue or have an issue with the height of that.
Again, provided that we provided them with the commercial space at the ground floor.
And the amendment application has been submitted to L &I.
Planning Commission and L &I are reviewing it.
We expect a return with the amended notice for refusal shortly.
And once that's received, we would hope that the zoning board would vote this matter.
In terms of, I know you had asked about the community.
I have remained in touch with the community regarding this project as far as where we are with it.
They are awaiting the approval.
They actually thought it had already been approved, but they do want to see the amended notice of refusal.
I was talking to him on another project that I presented to him last month, and they're waiting on the amended refusal just to make sure that the commercial use is included.
But they had originally, based upon our representations, at least back in September 2023, for this particular case, had issued a letter of non -opposition.
But again, just to make sure that everything is as they had requested, we're going to provide them with a copy of the amended notice of refusal.
And if they decide to provide an updated letter, they will.
And if they elect not to or they decline to provide it, I'll notify the zoning board regarding that.
And then I quickly I can have my client adopt my statements.
Sean Frankel.
Could you go could you go back one more minute here and talk about the neighbors?
Because they refused to write a letter because they could not come to terms with your client.
Is that right?
Well, no, they wrote a letter back in 2020.
No, no, no. I'm talking about now.
Oh, no. I mean, I hadn't I hadn't asked them to provide another letter per se, but we did mention about getting them.
The RTO had decided not to take a position because the applicant would not agree to their provisos.
Right. And that was something that they did put in that letter in a condition following the meeting summary form.
And that's why we want to show them the conditions regarding that we have provided the commercial space.
They did separate and apart from this, and we've entered into agreement with them to have two affordable houses, affordable units.
But again, once we show that we've done what we said we're going to do, which is providing them the amended notice of refusal, I believe that we'll get some type of revised letter out of them.
Why don't you bring your client on?
Sure. Sean Frankel.
Hello there.
could you please state your name
and spell for the stenographer
we can't hear you
you went silent
I apologize
I have a
okay alright go ahead
just state your name
and spell for the stenographer
S -E -A -N -F -R -A -N -K -E -L
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Sean, did you hear the statements that I made to the zoning board this afternoon?
And are they true and correct to the best of your knowledge?
And would you adopt them as your own?
And is there anything you'd like to add to what I stated regarding, particularly in regard to the interactions and communications we've had with the community?
Questions from the board?
okay um questions or comments for our attorney
um only to note mr chair as you said we'll hold for the amended refusal um and give the um the
rco a chance to submit a letter as well um and and if there's something that the applicant wishes to
respond to in that letter um they can do that as well hillary do we have an idea what date do you
um they can do that as well hillary do we have an idea what date do you want to what do you want
want to what do you want to try to get this
to try to get this done by um mr orphanese you have a sense of how soon the um amended refusal
might be issued i know i had to go back through planning first i mean i think we'll have the
amended notice of refusal within the next couple weeks so you know i would ask i would suggest that
we'd be ready to come back for a vote um you know by early september i mean i was hoping that we
would just close the record and then once we've provided that information the board would just
vote the case okay so what if we why don't we give the rco then so say it takes a couple of weeks
when we give the rco a couple of weeks to send a letter and then you to respond so maybe could we
say like september 17th yeah that sounds great yeah okay in fact they have a meeting that night
yep is there anyone in the virtual audience no chair i see no hands at this time
it's planning one of changes don't think you initially take a position on this um did we
oh yeah we did take a position uh so um so let's put it this uh mr chairman we'll stand on our
prior testimony with a note that the promised affordable units cannot be enforced by any city
agency right okay so this will be continued to september 17th at 2 p .m hillary september 17th
at 2 p .m thank you both thanks
okay number four mi 2024 006 823 53 29 north 13th street natasha watson is the tenant applicant
it's just a pro se
are you
I see no one in the audience
actually she's here
Hillary this is a request assistance
am I correct
and you have it yes
okay that that is correct
all right could you state your name and spell it
for the stenographer yes
Natasha Watson
N -A -T -A -S -H -A
W -A -T -S -O -N
Do you swear or affirm the tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Board member Graham has a few questions for you.
Good afternoon.
Have you submitted your documents five days in advance of this hearing?
And do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Oh, no.
I'm sorry.
Sorry.
It's pro se.
We'll read into the record.
Thank you.
Thank you.
They're going to read into the record.
Proceed.
i'm sorry i didn't go can we read the refusal into the record uh i can do that mr chair if
you'd like what's it read the refusal into the record would you like me to do that oh yeah sure
absolutely okay sure this application is for use as a personal care home within an existing
structure the proposed use personal care home requires special exception approval in the rsa
three zoning district please proceed hi yes i'm sorry i don't know what to say
so what's going to happen here is uh
all your documents have come in right i i think the easiest thing to do is he's going to go to
your plans for your building okay and then the photos but i think what you should do is to say
what is it you're doing and what do you want to do okay this is uh we're housing young teenage
girls um just for personal care it's a residential group home right how many how many girls uh we're
proposing four girls four girls yes okay and have you done this before uh yes and no i work with
children every day um but a group home where they reside overnight no okay with children daily yes
okay great um and you have photos of the inside how many bedrooms why don't you describe what
the property looks like um it is a two -story home it has four bedrooms um and it also has a basement
I apologize. Um, and we already actually are licensed. Um, it was just that we had to come
for the zoning piece of it. Um, but I already do have a current license for the home. You're
but I already do have a current license for the home.
You're licensed to run a home, but this particular property needs to be zoned.
licensed to run a home, but this particular.
Yes, that's it.
All right.
And where do your clients come from?
The city?
They come from different counties.
It depends on which county has children that they want to send in.
Some of the counties may be Montour County, Delaware County, Montgomery County.
It's different counties.
Okay. And tell me about when you went to the hearing with the RCO.
At the hearing...
It's probably not the meeting, I should say.
There were some people who did oppose, who did not want the home there. And then there were some people who were okay with the home being there.
um from that meeting we did um conclude that it was okay for us to house the group home there
the meet they said that at the meeting yes that was the the final decision that was sent in
um other questions from the board yeah i have a question so you are you licensed to have more
than four at the property or you're just going to max it at four yourself so that was the thing
you're allowed to have three okay um but in order to go more than that you do have to have um you
have to come to the zoning board so that's the reason for the fourth child okay and um is there
any um backyard to this property uh yes there is i did not take a picture of that i do apologize
small one big one just something they can have outdoor space it's a big um it's it's a nice
size backyard um it is enclosed on the side it's a twin home um so on the side there is a means of
egress as well thank you with the gate have you spoken to the woman next the people next door
um i have initially in the beginning yes okay are they in favor of what you want to do uh they
definitely said that they were not in favor of it thank you other questions how many bathrooms
um one okay and this would be for where okay so the young ladies this is what age group is this
um teenagers so from anywhere from the age of 12 to 17 18 until they mix out the program basically
All right. And the program would be for them to stay there because?
This is a group home. So we're offering care somewhere for them to stay, somewhere for them to be nurtured, somewhere for them to grow.
These may be children who have lost parents. These may be children who have been displaced or sexually abused.
It's many different situations with the children when they come.
And how many people do you have as support staff there?
They will be monitored 24 -7, and we're opposed to have two staff members there.
There is only one staff member that has to be there by state law.
However, for safety purposes, I wanted to have two staff members there at all times.
And how many people per, I thought there are four bedrooms?
Yes, it is.
Four children.
Okay, so it's one per bedroom?
The staff person is going to be where?
The staff people.
I'm sorry?
You're going to have shifts?
Yes, yes, they'll have shifts.
So the staff will come on and leave and like this.
All right, thank you.
You're welcome.
Will the children be on meds?
Are there medications involved?
Do you have social services support? How is that going to work?
So all of the children will have their own bed, their own closet, their own dressers.
As far as social services involved, once the children come from the different counties, the county members are always there to stay involved with the children.
There are times when if they're coming so far, sometimes parents are allowed to connect with them.
And then sometimes they are not, depending on each child's situation.
As far as medication, there may be children who may take medication, but then there may be some who don't. It's really a situation I can't tell you what it will be beforehand until the actual children come.
Well, I think my question is, how are you planning to deal with those children who some have been traumatized and may be on medication? How are you addressing? How are you planning to address that?
Oh, we have a program. So the goal of my program is to basically to nurture them. And we also our career, I'm sorry, academically based program. So the goal and I'm able to choose the children.
academically based program so the goal and i'm able to choose the children that we accept
so the goal is to get children who are looking towards help to get their high school diploma
to move on to get college degrees to move on to become even entrepreneurs so we have a lot of
different community -based options where we're offering tutoring we're offering um assistance
with helping them locate jobs or we are again we're having 24 -hour care we have a behavioral
specialist that will be there as well there's all different type of support that a lot of times once
you get the children they come with themselves but then there's other things that we are going
to offer as well that mean that all the children are going to be homeschooled no the children when
they come, they can, they'll be merged into Philadelphia County schools unless they may
have something going on and they need homeschooling. But if, for instance, if I get a child from
Montour County, that's, I don't, I'm six hours away maybe, so they may come down and they'll
have to intricate into our school district in Philadelphia. Do you know what school is
the neighborhood school for this address?
I don't at the moment.
I also don't know because some children may come in and need middle school, then they
may need high school.
So it depends, again, on the ages of the children.
And often when the children do come down, you have to go to the Board of Education,
the School District of Philadelphia, I'm sorry.
And the school district is the ones who assign the children to whatever school that they
will attend.
What was the concern of your immediate neighbor? Do you know? Did they express the concern for
being opposed to what you're trying to do? I believe the main thing was that she says,
she mentioned something about there being other group homes somewhere in the neighborhood,
and she just didn't want another one there. Across the street. There's three across the street.
The across the street is a hospital. There's more than a hospital. There's also a senior building.
there's a group home facility
there's a youth
youth behavioral health center
and there's an emergency shelter
I think that those are
on the block somewhere
no they're literally across the street
in the Logan Plaza
other questions for the board
what's the plan for meals
and like how much access
to the first floor
are the kids going to get
for downtown are the girls going to get for
downtime? Okay, so that's
two questions. So the first question for meals, do you mean
will they, I'm sorry, I'm not sure of your exact questioning for the meals.
How are you handling meals on site? Like are they going to be doing cooking? Are they
going to be having meal service provided and are your staff going to be doing
the cooking? Sorry. Yes, the staff will be doing cooking for
the children. Sometimes they may come from homes where
no one prepared a meal for them so the staff will be preparing meals daily for the children
now another option that we did think of is that our kitchen will be closed off however we're going
to make different things available for the children to learn how to you know begin cooking
and different things like this we're going to give them their own air fryer their own you know small
things for them to begin to to learn how to cook or you know whatever but it'll also be something
for them to do if they want something outside of what may be prepared from the staff for their day
um their stay apart and i'm sorry i forgot the second question that you asked i asked so i guess
you partially answered it what parts of the first floor are they going to have access to it sounds
like there's going to be restrictions on the kitchen yes um how do you plan to do that since
we didn't see any floor plans just locking the door no no it won't be any doors locking um
where you know that's just basically the thing they're not going to they're not going to be
allowed to go into the kitchen like that's the rule that we're going to have you know no children
are allowed in the kitchen however right before the kitchen is the dining room the dining room
is a very large size i'm going to have um i guess like a microwave cart type of thing
available over there, again, where they'll be able to use the
air fryer, use the toaster oven, small things like that if they want something
outside of the regular meals that are prepared.
It'll also have snacks. Like sometimes, you know, some children
just need an extra snack or two. So they'll have different things that they'll have
available for them outside of the normal.
And then I guess my last question is, what's the age range
question is what's the age range of girls i'm taking them as young as 12 um and i was going
of girls I'm taking
to say 18 but sometimes some children may not um go right out of the program um for various reasons
but 18 is kind of like the cutoff and do you have play over that or is that by the state
so it's by the state however there are times when they can get a board extension they get a board
extension if maybe they didn't complete school if they didn't reach some of their goals that
they were supposed to meet that we have in place for them at the program you know we have a business
plan it's not like you know I don't have those things together we have a business plan where
they're going to have goals that they have to meet and we're going to try to get those goals met
for them by the age of 18, but as you know that there are some children, sometimes
they're 18, they may not even have a 9th grade education.
So there are times that they may have to ask for a board extension.
And you haven't done this before?
Not residential overnight, no. Okay. All right.
Other questions on the board?
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson? Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
questions or comments from the audience or the virtual audience. So I'm going to start in this
audience here. Why don't you take a seat back in the first row, right? Why don't you come up?
Thank you.
If you could get close to the mic and pull them right next to you, okay?
Okay. Hello? Okay. My name... Go ahead. My name is Dorothea.
Burnett. That's D -O -R -O -T -H -E -A, Burnett, B -U -R -N -E -T -T. Do you swear or affirm that tell
the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth? Yes. And are you a neighbor? Yes, I am.
Please proceed with your testimony. I am not opposed to anyone helping young people,
but I'm looking more so at the concern of where the facility is being held at.
we have a residential area and the house itself is residential if you're having four young women
there we don't really know what their situations are but you only have one bathroom and these young
ladies need different programmings because and activities if we're really concerned about their
overall. Welfare, you know, where are the programs? That house is set up more so for residential
family type. You know, different programs need to be extended to these young women and they
should be on the facility. As far as their activities is concerned, you know, for the
welfare of their emotions and their structural transportation situation. I'm looking at the
comfort of the young ladies and the emotional status of the young ladies within the facility.
They need outside activities and freedom and comfort. And this is not supplied in that
residential close houses adjacent right up on each other. The yard itself is very small.
I live on the block. We have yards and they're very small. That backyard has a lot of trees
and fencing. I mean, the growth is enormous in the backyard. So the young ladies would be limited
just for that confines of that house. If we're looking for the best interests of the girls and
we want to help them and develop them, as she said, she doesn't know what type of girls she's
going to get. We don't know what type of trauma or medications or how you're going to supply that.
I mean, she may take them outside.
I don't know what that's going to be like.
But for the overall concern of the residents, as well as the health and comfort and, you
know, the emotional status of the young ladies, I think a better facility that has more of
an extenuating expanse for these young ladies so they can get proper programming and they
can get all the things that they need to make them wholesome.
And that's just, you know, the way we feel.
I feel that way.
And I think a lot of the neighbors do.
It's not in the best.
Thank you very much for your testimony.
Who else wants to testify over there?
Come on up, sir.
Good afternoon, sir.
Good. If you would get closer to the mic, could you state your name and spell for the stenographer?
If you would get closer to the mic, could you state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Yes. Keith Eil. K -E -I -T -H. Eil is spelled E -L.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Affirm.
Are you a neighbor?
Adjacent to 29, yes.
All right. Please start your presentation.
um we were able to get to the meeting uh the rco meeting and it was the last minute thing that we
that we learned about it but we did go and when we got there um
the vote went i think it was something like eight eight or nine to two
uh people that have voted to uh went against the um the rco or whatever whoever's the plan right
and questions were asked and the questions were were not answered at that particular time
now we didn't know the procedures for the rco or the board the board like this one here and
and we learned from our experience for the meetings we've been coming to.
Well, this is our, I believe it's the fourth or fifth time here for this very situation.
And when we got here, I mean, when we got here, we learned more about it.
And one of the things that we learned is you had to go through your city council person.
So we got with the city council and they gave us instructions on, you know, what we should do.
And one of the things that we did immediately, we got, we live in like a, it's an awkward type of a block.
You know, we got the hospital on one end and your house is on Wagner Avenue.
So we dealt with the people in the very location where we are.
and you should have in your records that um we have a petition with over 60 people on the block
we have the we have it the very block that we live on yep uh that said that they did not desire to
have such a facility on the block one of the things that was mentioned a little earlier about
what we already have on the block.
We have a shelter.
We have a, I don't know which, a veteran house at the corner.
And our neighbor, she takes care of children,
people who are disabled.
So the block as it is right now,
we do pretty good.
you know but we don't need more uh situations like that so my neighbor miss d he has heard us
speak and initially when we when we first had the first meeting here we went to the library
and the library allowed us to use their facility to uh zoom to this meeting
we got pretty good attendance in that meeting
because what we're talking about is senior citizen i'm a junior and i'm retired so the people who
have to work they have to um get around and many of the people that we that you have on that
petition here they came and come out the house so that's the kind of neighborhood that we have
okay so we asked him to be considered from that standpoint uh to not allow the the variance
that's okay and that's for one more thing if i can say sure the um the council person mr phillips
the first meeting that we spoke about the very first one that you had there
He put it
He put it on record
As saying that he was opposed
To the group house
And that's very important
I mean try to follow all of your procedures
The rules and regulations
That you have in place
So that you know
Nothing gets personal
This is business
And our lives
Is our business
So it's not like
like change we're talking about we're talking about our lives that we how we live in our
neighborhood okay it's a very small space and just and what's spoken about was the um the backyard
from what i understand it's supposed to be a picture from your regulations it's supposed
from your regulations it's supposed to be a picture of the yard of the front and the back
to be a picture of the yard of the front and the back
in that record that it was presented and if it wasn't presented i can imagine why
because i live next door to the property you know we keep our property up the property
is not next door is not kept now i'm speaking about not what i heard you know this is what i do
and we clean our block
I was sweeping
the neighbor's porch
and she scolded me for sweeping her porch
so I haven't been back
over there since
and she was right
I was invading her
personal property
but the property
had been swept
because the wind blows the trash
was on her porch over to mine.
if you can visualize
this, the situation that we
are in,
we want to be considered.
That's all. We understand what you said, and we
appreciate you spending time here, and we
appreciate your testimony. Is there anyone
else in the group there want to testify?
Thank you, sir.
Ma 'am?
good afternoon good afternoon hi could you get close to the mic for us pull the mic right
towards you it'll come right to you yes right could you state your name and spell for the
stenographer michelle right eel right m -i -c -h -e -l -e last name e -l right do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth no you should thank you very much um and
obviously you're a neighbor i am the twin a butter right next door right at 53 31 right
so their house is the mirror image of our house right and um i've listened to what has been said
and I'm going to try to be brief
because I have a bunch of pictures
and everything.
Plus, we have a long statement you made.
And all the board members here
have the copy of what you sent.
So I just wanted to say that
the property front, back, and all of that,
we took pictures of that.
We sent them in
and we did the side -by -side
and we looked at your instructions
where you asked for these photos to be given
and we took a picture of the whole block.
We wanted you to know that nobody on the block
knew we were taking those pictures.
Everything was in order.
The pavement swept.
The weeds pulled.
All of those things.
And we didn't take a...
side against
53 -29.
that had a personal effect on how you have to know how to handle emergencies and emergency plan
was the picture all the way from 1999, where between 2 a .m. and 5 a .m., there was a house fire
at 5329. And to this day, no one from 5329 came to our house right next door
to tell us that the house was on fire.
I had four children.
One of them, he was 17, he saw something going on
and he heard the footsteps.
Because, see, when you're that close, you don't have privacy.
All you have is a firewall.
The firewall did its job with the fire.
However, we had extensive smoke damage.
Which, in this day and age, people tell you that's worse than the flame.
right so you have to have emergency plans and when somebody asks you right on off the cuff like that
you should be able to say something about first aid fire prevention and now people are learning
about AED and when people have airwaves block compressions all of those things none of that
came out, she just said, I'll go over myself.
So I thought that in the business world,
she wasn't ready. She wasn't ready.
And other things have occurred since then,
even, and I do want to mention, where we had
a sign posted
supposedly from the zoning board with a
date. Right. And nobody at the zoning board knew about it. And no one at the council office knew
it. So we say that that's not business at all. Okay. And how can you take care of human beings
without a business sense? And again, as we've been here, this is our fourth time. Right. And time
Time is very important.
We don't want to get into all the things that you lose when you misuse time.
But I appreciate your patience.
Thank you very much for your time, and we appreciate it.
Is there anyone else in that group there who wants to testify?
How many people online do we have?
Do we know how many hands we have up there?
good afternoon sir
good afternoon hi could you please state your name and spell for the stenography sure
my name is abraham eel a -b -r -a -h -a -m last name is eel e -l do you swear or affirm to tell the
truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do affirm um your neighbor my parents are the neighbors
and i'm here on represent so so we we've had a lot of testimony what the question would be is
are you in favor or against the project against is there anything at all that you haven't heard yet
yes go ahead um i'm a civil engineer i deal with zoning issues yeah and i just want to point out
that um that this is a very dense neighborhood and it's got a very strong combination of high
density residential institutional health care social services mass transit single family and
duplex residential all within a two -block area and changing the zoning or allowing a facility at 53
29 blurs the usages of land in the neighborhood and it alters the clearly designated zonings that
have been set up by the planning commission by the city planning office things like that
we just hope that the applicant can find a facility because it sounds like she wants to
do something that's good we hope she can find the right facility for it but we think that
accepting the appeal to the zoning board's decision would not be helpful right thank you
very much for taking the time we appreciate your test money how many uh questions or comments from
the virtual audience how many hands do we have mr chair this is jason hand i will be your co -host
for the rest of the session there are no hands raised at this time for the matter all right thank
you planning commission thank you chairman good afternoon david effecto with the city planning
commission chairman and board members the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the
rsa3 residential single family zoning at this location the city rezoned this neighborhood in
1988 in a council supported map change the appellant has shown that the proposed personal care home
The appellant has shown that the proposed personal care home will have no detrimental
will have no detriment.
impacts to the neighborhood beyond what might reasonably reasonably be expected.
We have not heard testimony that four unrelated girls in the proposed group home would have any
more of a physical impact than four sisters living in the same family. The City Planning
Commission recommends that the board grant a proposed special exception for a personal care
home so we we had a lot of testimony on this case uh from you and several people here what we want
to do is we're going to vote on this next wednesday at 2 p .m and we're going to take this to executive
session so that i can have all the board members talk about what we've heard
yeah sure sure come on come on
okay just get closer to the mic for us actually thank you i'm sorry i just want to be very brief
um however when i came today i didn't think that i had to bring my business plan i didn't think
that i had to bring um or go over my emergency plans and all of these things i heard a lot of
comments from them where they're concerned i just want to have it on record i have been dealing with
children since 2008. I have been operating a child care center since 2008. We had two locations.
We closed our second location in COVID year, which is 2021. However, I have been operating
and handling 110 children. So for me to deal with four children, it's not that much of a difference.
I am a CPR instructor and first aid.
I am very skilled on emergency planning.
There is nothing that I take lightly with the matter.
I just wanted that to be on file.
I think that they said that, you know, I don't have plans in place.
I didn't think that all of those things were what I had to bring to the table.
I thought this issue was just about the zoning of the home.
I didn't know it was about, you know, specifically the business portion of it.
Well, thank you very much.
We heard everything you said.
So we did hear.
We're going to close the testimony right now.
We did hear from both sides.
We'll take time next week in our executive session, and all the board members will be involved, and then we'll vote on this at 2 o 'clock Wednesday.
Well, I think our testimony's over.
We heard from everybody, and what I don't want to do is just keep going back when somebody has it.
thank you for this one second i just wanted to make it make the point that um mr wilkinson
was at the meeting that we that we that we attended yeah and he's the one we didn't ask
him to do this he's the one that said that that mr phillips office city council was against okay
what were you saying that's fine we i don't we didn't receive a letter am i correct hillary we
didn't receive any letters or anything like that but i understand your test no no no in the in the
zoom in the zoom you you mr mr bergman you said that you will make it a matter of a record that
He said what he said. Come on, Mr. Wilkerson.
I said...
Yes, you did. Yes, sir.
I said...
You said that you were making...
We had Zoomed from the library
and Mr. Wilkerson
was sitting in the back.
Oh, I don't...
I don't remember that, but...
I understand. So, in other words, you're telling me
that Mr. Wilkerson told you that Mr. Phillips
is against him?
He told this board
that the city council
was against this
what's going on
thank you very much and thank you
and I thank everybody for their input
so next
Wednesday at 2 p .m. we'll vote
you don't have to come back you can listen on the phone
because I know you guys have spent a lot of time
here just
that's fine good thank you
thank you everybody
you can listen on the phone
alright and you'll
hear the vote 2 o 'clock
yep yep two o 'clock yep right all right thank you everybody
all right mi 2024 007 313 5826 north howard street gabriel fellis is the attorney
There should become a vacant letter, but we understand there was an email from the RCO
about this.
I'm muted myself there, sorry.
There's also a petition with 11 signatures from neighbors.
do we see council's hand
please state your name and spell for the stenographer
it's gabriel fellis g -a -b -r -i -e -l
last name is fellis f as in frank e -l -l -u -s
as in sam you swear or affirm to tell the truth told truth nothing but the truth
I do. Could you identify your client, a relationship to the property?
My client is Mr. Finchley Etienne. He's the owner at 5826 North Howard Street.
And our board member Graham has a question for you.
Good afternoon. Have you submitted your documents five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes. And do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes. Okay. Thank you. You may share your screen and proceed.
do you all see the table of contents we do great thank you mr chair uh we're here today seeking a
variance uh for use of the property as a two -family dwelling in a rsa 5 zoning district
after purchasing the property in june 2024 my client was frankly unaware of the zoning process
he was required to go through uh to convert the home into multi -family dwelling um he reached out
to a contractor who told him he could just do the work without any city approval or permits
and started the construction process just a few weeks after obtaining the title.
He only realized the issue once he received a violation in September. He immediately
directed the contractor to stop the work and then reached out to our office to try to resolve those
violations. But since then, he's been extremely proactive and engaging with local community to
get their support, address their concerns, which we'll get to a little bit later in the presentation.
but here's our refusal issued in november again the property is owned rsa 5
so the refusal was for use as a two -family dwelling
so this here is the deed showing mr etienne's ownership of the property of the purchasing it
in june of 2024.
so this is the front of the property which will remain unchanged and in character with
rest of the properties on the block again all the intended work was going to be interior renovations
and change in interior layouts so here we have some interior filters of the property
in the condition that it's been in since mr etienne received the violation of the notice
at that point the first floor renovations were complete
and his contractor was about 90 finished with the second story unit reservations
are the tenants already in the building no they're not they they stopped work uh just
after they got the violations so it's essentially in halfway completion right now okay uh so these
are site plans the proposal is for a two -story structure with two residential units each with
two bedrooms um the basement is going to be exclusively used as a mechanical room and storage
when you when you go back gabriel go back and if you would enlarge it so they can actually see
the plans absolutely kind of small look at absolutely let me know if these are better take
up take it up find it you can see it better on your end yep great
this is the uh i forgot to include an aerial shot showing the the garage from the rear
i don't think we saw the sec could we see the second floor absolutely
It will be right here.
Load up.
Can you guys see it?
Okay, great.
just let me know when to stop okay
I'll move on to our zoning maps unless you guys want to see any more details.
else we have any actual proposed drawings are they all tomorrow plan yeah these are all the
plans that we have right now unfortunately okay okay and so this is our zoning map um again it's
rsa5 and a very densely populated rsa5 zoning uh block um however there is heavy precedent of other
RSA 5 properties in the immediate area that are being used as multifamily dwellings and have been
issued rental licenses. We include a few here demonstrating the appraisal is not entirely out
of character with the neighborhood. This is our application for appeal and our project information
information form as you mentioned Mr. chair we have our petitions of support and this
is the notification letter that we sent out to neighbors of the April 14th meeting at
the search playground along with certificates of mailing uh maybe I saw the the back street
that you showed how about howard street how many multiple families on howard street on howard i
don't i don't believe there are any multi -families being used at least that went through the zoning
process on howard street okay um but the uh april 14th uh in -person rco meeting i was extremely
well attended there were probably over 50 members of the local community there in attendance along
along with representatives from the Sheriff's Department and other local organizations.
As you mentioned, we had a little bit of an issue after that meeting.
Isaac Jackson, I believe he was serving as sort of the interim RCO chair at the time.
He informed us that all attendees were in favor, but unfortunately, after multiple attempts
at follow -up, we never heard back from him.
um we documented those requests those repeated requests here um and now we're we just became
aware in the past week that atlas now says that there's no rcos found out the address
um so hopefully we're just asking the board to kind of consider the email confirmation
and a strong turnout as evidence of that community support
um so we have here our statement of real estate tax compliance and our zba posters of notification
that were hung at the property um so with that i'd like to bring mr etienne on to adopt my testimony
uh answer any questions go back one minute so you're saying the rco told you we're not sending
a letter they didn't say we're not sending a letter they said the day after that all attendees
were in favor and they'll send me a summary or the letter soon but uh we followed up almost every
three weeks from april 14th until last week and we just never heard back from uh the rca chair
um again I'm not really sure who to reach out to this point because atlas now says that there's
no RCOs associated with the property okay that's what we have we see here
bring your client on please yes when did you say when did your client buy this property
June of 24, so last year.
And it wasn't a duplex then?
He decided to make it a duplex?
Correct, yeah.
He moved to the city in 2019.
He grew up abroad.
I just don't think he was aware of the zoning process in general.
And a contractor told him he didn't have to do anything.
And he could just do the work immediately.
And they started weeks after purchasing the property.
All right.
Questions for them.
Bring your client on first.
He has just joined.
Hi, Finchley. How are you?
Hi, sir. Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
My name is Finchley Etienne. Finchley, F -E -E -N -C -H -L -A -Y -E -T -N -E -T -I -E -N -N -E.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
Please proceed, counsel.
Mr. Etienne, have you heard my testimony today?
Yes, Mr. Gabriel.
Is it true and correct to the best of your knowledge?
Yes, Mr. Gabriel.
And would you adopt it as if it were your own?
yes okay and any questions questions from the board what what did what uh did your next
any questions questions on the board what what did what uh did your next door neighbors
are they in the support or no yes my two next one neighbor it's 58 um 24 and 58 28 they are in support
and i got i got their signature over here with me and these are the plans that you've submitted this
is this look like okay so there's i'm just trying to understand your plan for the second floor unit
uh where's the living room for the second floor unit um the second floor used to be um a three
bedroom unit um i removed one bedroom and to do the living room and keep um two bedrooms
centimeter.
So that
kitchen is a living
room and kitchen? Yes.
That doesn't quite work.
All right. Can you
go back and show the picture of the house?
The front of the house?
Okay. Is that the
address? Is that the house?
I think it's across the street.
is that the front of your house no okay this is the wrong house i thought so um 58 26 correct
yes 58 26 the odd side of the street yes i'm so sorry about that the one with the door
um gabriel can you show the one with the appeal on the door is the house
yes this one you can't see the whole house though yes picture but that's a different
type of house the houses are are two -story and the porches and the the roof lines are totally
different from the ones across the street yes i'm so sorry about that i can definitely provide
different pictures all right any other questions from the board
questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson
not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
i do not see any hands mr chair
um questions or comments from the planning commission thank you chairman and good
afternoon david effecto with the city planning commission chairman of board members the
comprehensive plan recommends no change to the rsa5 residential single family zoning at this
location the city rezoned this neighborhood in 1974 and a council supported map change in 2005
the city issued a rental license for one dwelling unit for this property this is a primarily single
family block face there is no unique physical condition or circumstance of this property
we're prevented from being used in strict conformity with the zoning code the city
planning commission recommends that the board deny the proposed use variants for two dwelling units
thank you um mi 2024 007 313 5826 north albert street i vote no michael johnson my vote is no
cheryl gaston my vote is no tannetta graham my vote is no i am mcadams my vote is no
i am wayne my vote is no thank you council thank you
MI -2025 -001 -797 -1034 -Shackamackson Street.
Eric Bodesen is the attorney.
I'll be coming back in as a panelist shortly, Mr. Chair.
Thank you.
it looks like there was an error you should be coming back in shortly
good afternoon mr chair i apologize i was logged out of the zoom okay um could you please state
your name and spell for the yes of course eric bodson uh b -o -d -z -i -n a blank row right do you
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth
and nothing but the truth? Yes, I do.
Yes, I do.
Could you identify your client, a relationship to this property?
Absolutely.
My client is Shackamaxon Street Partners, LLC, and its principal, Scott Sperry, who is the owner of the subject property.
Our board member, Tenetna Graham, has a few questions for you.
Good afternoon.
Have you submitted your documents five days in advance of this hearing?
Good afternoon.
Yes, I have.
And do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, I do.
Okay, thank you. You may share your screen and proceed.
Thank you so much.
Mr. Chair, does my screen appear on yours?
Yes, it is.
Wonderful. Well, thank you so much, Mr. Chair, members of the board,
Eric Bodson, on behalf of Shackamax and Street Partners, LLC,
and Principal Scott Sperry. Scott Sperry is the owner of the subject property at 1034
Shackamaxon Street. Scott and his family also live on Shackamaxon Street, just a block away
from the subject property, which they acquired about two years ago. Since that time, Scott,
who was already a very active member of the Fishtown community, has walked door to door,
reviewing with his neighbors the specifics of this proposal to replace three aging single -family
homes, and the result I am pleased to share has been extensive support from the Fishtown Neighbors
Association, including a unanimous vote of support from near neighbors, a project support letter
signed by 40 neighbors within a single block of the project, and additional support letters from
neighbors unable to join today. And I understand that the F &A president, Bob Everett, and other
neighbors are also in the virtual audience today here with us to speak briefly as to the
collaborative design of this project. And to Scott, who, as a devoted Fishtown neighbor,
best described in one of the support letters in your package is, quote,
that guy who picks up the litter on the sidewalk after the trash trucks come by because it's the
right thing to do. So the proposal that Scott plans to redevelop is here at the corner of
Shackamaxon and Wildey Streets in the Fishtown neighborhood of the city. The subject property
is zoned RSA -5 single family. It's within a block of Frankfurt Avenue to the east,
Girard Avenue to the north, and right beside I -95 to the south. This is a 3 ,000, approximately
3 ,000 square foot lot. It's uniquely larger than the neighboring lots. And as you can see,
it's wedged between the much taller I -95 overpass to the south, the Old World Warehouse condos
to the north, and the Frankfurt lofts to the east. Here's another area where you can get a
better view of those warehouse lofts to the north and see the scale of the surrounding properties
here. Here's another street level from the north. Again, you have I -95 here on the left,
the Old World lofts on the right, and the Fishtown lofts in the rear. Additional site
photographs are enclosed in your packet. Here are some of them. The subject application
is for four single -family homes, all with all three minimal refusals shown here
in direct and specific response to the request of neighbors that Scott met with to provide
parking for each of the four homes, specifically with built -in car stacking to provide for
additional spaces and all through a shared drive aisle in the rear that is accessible from a single
curb cut off Shack and Axon Street. So the first item here is a technical multifamily refusal
for the planned unit development that allows the driveway to be shared and maintained
amongst the four owners of what are ostensibly four single -family homes, but technically
because of the PUD. This qualifies as a multifamily refusal. And the other two
dimensional items are for approximately seven -foot allowances for one, driveways.
seven -foot allowances for, one, driveways, the shared drive aisles in the rear yard
that I mentioned, and second, garages connecting the driveways to the homes beneath each of those
three -story homes, which the other homes on the block are also three -story homes.
The approximate five -foot height differential that I mentioned includes the need, as noted in the proviso plans here, for two feet of ground floor space to allow for Philadelphia Water Department -required sanitary sewer connections in the shared drive aisle,
with a corresponding one foot decrease in the garage depth for the larger stair footprint
that's shown here. We want to thank the board's council and Fishtown Neighborhood Association
for your review of those proviso plans in relation to this application. Otherwise, Mr. Chair,
The plans for each of the four new approximately 3 ,000 -square -foot, three -bedroom homes
remains unchanged.
Here's the garage with the access to optional car stacking as well as trash storage
directly connecting to the first -floor living room, shown here,
all with open layout for the living and dining areas.
Upstairs on the second and third floors, you have spacious bedrooms, each with access to open space area, including the roof deck picture here, which is set back from the streets and outfitted with solar canopies.
Here are renderings from Wildey Street without the street trees, so you can see all the attention to detail on the facade and here with two new street trees.
And here is rendering where you can see the Shackamaxon Street side of the property.
I should note here that the latest collaborative design discussion with the Fishtown Neighbors Association
has been a discussion to add lighting to the Shackamaxon Street area between this subject
property and the I -95 underpass. Throughout this process, as I mentioned, there was a lot
of collaboration between Scott Sperry, the owner, who's an active member of FNA, as well
with the neighbors, as well as with the architect, Carrie Jackson Yance, who is here with us today.
Here is the support letter from the coordinating RCO, Fishtown Neighbors Association,
summarizing how the applicant fully engaged neighbors at and before a May 6th meeting
with regards to every detail of the project, including the refusal items, which, as I mentioned
earlier and is highlighted here, all relate to the neighbor requested parking spaces for each unit.
Here is the vote. You can see there's unanimous support from the nearby neighbors,
from Councilman Squilla. We have a letter of corresponding non -opposition and we have a few
pages here of 34 signatures of near neighbors. You'll see these are all Shackamaks and street
addresses within a block of the subject property. For those neighbors who couldn't attend today but
wanted to send a letter, we have additional support letters from near neighbors referring
to the design of this project as, quote, considerate and generous, collaborative in the way that
they, quote, preserve, activate, and brighten the blend of traditional, industrial, and
modern buildings in this area near I -95, and again, with reference to Scott's personal
commitment to FNA and the neighborhood, again, from trash day to community events, large
and small. Mr. Chair, in conclusion, we submit that grant of the proposed variance relief
advances the spirit of the code, will not alter the character of the neighborhood,
or be detrimental to public welfare. Rather, as you've seen from the aerials and support for
this project, this thoughtfully designed proposal fits the type and scale of buildings
in the neighborhood. The proposal is consistent with recent prior approvals and represents
the minimum variance to afford relief and least modification possible of the regulation.
The minimum variance to afford relief and least modification possible of the regulation
at issue, specifically all three items in the refusal, as I mentioned, the PUD and the
minor height and rear yard accommodations are specifically to serve a neighbor request
for parking in the rear with a shared driveway accessed by a single curb cut on Shackamaxon
Street.
And lastly, all of these features, particularly the parking, ensure that the proposal will not substantially increase congestion, adversely impact trash, unduly burdened public facilities, or otherwise endanger public health, safety, welfare, or the environment.
Members of the board, thank you for your time this afternoon.
Scott Sperry is here to adopt and affirm my testimony.
If it promoted to panel, they'll be coming back in shortly.
i think i see scott on the screen
hello hi sir could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
sure it's scott sperry s -c -o -t -t s -p -e -r -r -y do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the
whole truth nothing but the truth yes please proceed counsel thank you mr chair and good
afternoon mr sperry how are you this afternoon good thank you eric uh mr sperry have you heard
the entirety of my testimony from the virtual audience this afternoon?
Yes. And is it true
and accurate to the best of your knowledge? Yes.
And will you now adopt my testimony as your own?
I will. Thank you, Mr. Sperry.
Questions from the board?
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Comments from the virtual audience?
yes sure i have a hand up um robert fna chair yep okay go ahead and
promote them this will be back in shortly all right thank you
i am here hi mr everett could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
certainly first name is robert last name everett e -v -e -r -e -t -t and i do swear or affirm you know
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do please proceed
sir well you have our letter so if there's any questions about anything i'm here if there's
other people from the community as uh was noted earlier all right thank you very much thank you
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
No further answer, Mr. Chair.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chairman, and good afternoon.
David Vecto with the City Planning Commission.
Chairman and board members, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the RSA 5 residential single -family zoning at this location.
This is a 3 ,158 -square -foot lot.
lot if this lot were able to be divided assuming all dimensional requirements could be met the
appellant would be allowed to create three house Lots the appellant proposes four the city planning
commission recommends of the board grant the proposed use variance for multi -family dwellings
but with a maximum of three dwelling units grant the additional height due to the location of a
sanitary soar and deny the proposed dimensional variance for not providing a rear yard
Okay. On MI 2025, 001 -797 -1034 Shackamackson Street, I vote yes. Proviso, per refusal, dated 4 -4 -25. Revised plans, two pages, stamped by ZBA on August 6, 2025.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes, with Proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes, with provisos.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes, with provisos.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes, with provisos.
Iowen, my vote is yes, with provisos.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you all for your time.
All right, number eight, MI 2025 -001 -822 -1925.
mi2025 001 822 1924 to 36 washington avenue justin crick is the attorney
we do not have an rco letter at this point it should be coming back in as a panel of short
mr chair okay good morning members of the board hi mr mr crick could you please state your name
and spell for the stenographer yes justin j -u -s -t -i -n crick k -r -i -k right do you swear or affirm
to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do but you identify your client
a relationship to the property yes my client is 1936 washington avenue llc it is the current owner
of the property having acquired title back in may of this year prior to that at the time of the
application. It was a tenant that had access and control over the property, but has since taken
title. And I have the representative, Ori Fibush, available to testify, as well as Amher Scott,
who is a proposed tenant, if the use is granted. Board member, Graham has a few questions for you.
Good afternoon. Have you submitted your documents five days in advance of this hearing?
yes and do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy
i do okay thank you you may share your screen and proceed
okay all right members of the board thank you uh we're here today seeking a use variance for
the property it's located at 1924 -1936 washington avenue um and we currently
have the Point Breeze Community Development Coalition as the registered RCO.
The refusal and application show that this is broken down. What we're looking to do is use
this first floor area, which is approximately a total of 6 ,220 square feet, for food beverage
grocery store to include fresh meat shop, which is a halal butcher. And then a portion of that
is used for the eating and drinking establishment that will have prepared food shop for sit down
and take out food. I will explain a little bit more of how that breakdown looks, but we don't
necessarily have an exact floor plan because the concepts will be revised as the development is
done if the zoning is granted. But these areas will be matched because that is what requires and
triggered some of the refusals we got. So we don't anticipate changing the necessary square feet
of what the sections will be used for, but you'll see from the conceptual designs that this is more
of an open floor plan for this establishment and just trying to explain where the uses shift.
So because this is an I2 property, which is basically a medium industrial, we are looking to
And we need a variance because the commercial uses that are intended, there are three here that you'll see that all receive that refusal, one for the retail food and beverage sale and grocery, another for the sit -down restaurant portion, and another for the takeout.
And I'll go into the reason why we believe the refusals and the variance should be granted for the uses.
And then because of the square footage of the use and the type of use, there are parking requirements regarding the sale of groceries and then the eating and drinking establishments.
As you will see, we did not propose any parking.
I will explain and show the nature of the building and surrounding area and why we believe that this is also a hardship on the applicant.
If you would, I'd like to note that this board has previously granted, as recently as last November, for second floor of this building to be used for personal services as a fitness center, and that did get approved with support from the neighboring community as well as this board.
And we already have existing uses in this building on the first floor of an artisan bakery, as well as office and office space.
So the office space located on the first floor is what is going to be leaving in the event that this is granted and the proposed tenant would be entering with this grocery and food market.
So the property is a fairly large property located at the corner of Washington Avenue and 20th Street.
I'll note that in the rear of the property is Alter Street.
And this is important because when we talk about trash, this is a related street because currently there are two dumpsters that service this property in the back here.
And I will go into some of the neighboring concerns and what the landlord, I'm sorry, the current owner has discussed with the neighboring community about what trash.
uh, has, uh, discussed with the neighboring community about what trash might look like.
Um, but existing conditions of trash, uh, there is an existing contract with commercial pickup,
uh, with a company, with a company called Philly wide. Uh, they, they're, it's regular, uh, and,
and it is seamless with what is existing there and including the bakery, which does have food,
as part of its services.
So as you've seen the refusal, I just pointed that out.
You can see that this is an I -2.
A lot of the I -2 that is surrounding this property
have already been converted to either commercial mixed use
or even residential use.
But there are still some, I guess, industrial uses scattered throughout.
But commercial use has been widely introduced into this area
over the last several years. And notably, we have a lot of residences directly behind this
property. And I think that's relevant because the type of establishment that is looking to be put in
here lends itself to be walkable. That is because it's a sit -down spot to grab a quick bite or
coffee and pastry in a section of it, which is more the prepared foods aside from the sit -down
restaurant, the seating area would be somewhat intertwined. But as you'll see, there is some
parking along the Washington Avenue side that is, you know, cut out for parking. And as I'll
discuss further, there are some concepts on how to improve the parking area that the landlord's
willing to take an effort to obtain, but there is no guarantee that that would be achievable,
but the effort would be made. This is a current, basically the current layout of that first floor.
This was a real estate agency in office and business use that was approved. And the intention
is to make it look basically as a very large open -air space
for prepared foods, seating, and in the back here,
a little barista area, et cetera.
So these are other conceptual plans for the space.
It's fairly large as a grocer and as a halal butcher.
And what I can tell you about the proposed tenant
His name is Amir Scott, and he is opening what would be known as Prime Halal.
His father is and he is a longtime Philly resident.
His father has a similar but much smaller style establishment at 20th and Lombard for the last 50 years.
So they are very well versed in how to maintain and manage food service industries and groceries of this nature.
And just for some background, there is postings and notices of the community hearing.
we notified the rco and provided proof of mailing there are no taxes due on the property and that
is in part due to the fact that um this was the prior lease between uh the the former owner and
the app the original applicant which had rights to the building to the entirety of the building
through the lease agreement. However, for your noting, the former owner landlord did transfer
the property to my client, which is a similar principle to the former tenant. That deed was
recorded in May of 2025. And we then have the tax clearance certificate for the new owner and the
property. So I did not originally receive a copy of the RCO's response and letter to the board,
but I have since received it. And that is why it's just not included in this package. But
I am pleased to say that there was approval in community support, a vote of approximately eight
votes, seven yeses and one no. It seems as though the neighborhood had a few concerns, again, one
being trash and with respect to trash um we understand that that there is just just for
point of view you make sure hillary gets a copy of that you have it okay thank you yes yeah thank
you um and respectfully i think the issue with that is that my my client uh handled the rco
meeting directly and so their communication just was not sent to me i i'm i know it was sent to the
board and to my client. But ultimately, that letter is very thorough in explaining what each
resident was concerned with or not concerned with. And I will first address the trash in that
in that the existing trash, again, there are two dumpsters that are in the rear of the property.
the existing trash, again, there are two dumpsters that are in the rear.
It's commercial trash pickup. And the intention is to make sure that the commercial trash pickup continues.
It is daily. Well, it's in the evening hours.
And there is a concern about the trash being picked up on that rear street, on Alter Street.
So the owner has agreed to work with the trash pickup company to have the trash actually loaded onto the truck off of Washington Street and also to provide potentially to this tenant, to the grocery tenant, either totes or other containers to store the food and to bring it out for pickup.
But that is a daily pickup. So there should not be any accumulation of trash beyond the day, which would be stored either inside until that time or placed in a dumpster in the rear, which would then be transported to the street for the pickup.
So the intent is to not necessarily have that trash pickup truck going down Alter Street, although it already does.
So the owner is very willing to accommodate and work with the neighborhood to make that happen and instruct its trash pickup contractor to make as many accommodations as possible for trash.
Um, the other issue that most people, well, I shouldn't say most, but the few that had opposition, uh, was parking and the applicant has agreed to make application for, but cannot promise the granting of it, um, application for a 30, 60 minute loading zone out front, as well as, um, uh, uh, applying for, I'm sorry, 30, 60 minute parking out front, as well as a small area of that as a loading zone.
So with that, we can't guarantee that it will be granted by the city, but the application and the spirit of it is there.
But with respect to parking, as I put it, this type of establishment, as it's conceptually put, is somewhat walkable for that area.
And the intent being that someone coming home that lives nearby can pick up some food and just go back to their home.
but we we cannot overcome the fact that parking is is of concern anywhere and everywhere in the
city especially along commercial corridors so we recognize that there are some provisos that
were asked for by the community and while we think that some of them are achievable through efforts
we can't promise that a loading zone would be granted and we can't you know we can we can attempt
And to, well, we can promise to keep the trash inside.
So with that said, I'd like to bring my client on to adopt my testimony or if the board has any additional questions.
Happy to answer them.
Mr. Feinbush is your client?
Mr. Feinbush.
Okay, Mr. Chair, Mr. Feinbush has been promoted and he'll be back in shortly.
Sure, thank you.
hey good afternoon hi good afternoon mr feinbush could you just state your name and spell for the
stenographer of course ori feinbush o -r -i -f -e -i -b -u -s -h do you swear or affirm to tell the
truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do please proceed counsel thank you
Mr. Feibusch, have you had an opportunity to hear my testimony to the board today?
I have.
And was it true and correct to the best of your knowledge?
And would you adopt my testimony as if it was your own?
I would.
Thank you.
If the board has questions for Mr. Feibusch.
Questions from the board.
Did you say that there would be daily trash pickup?
That is correct.
Please go ahead.
Yeah, we currently have several totes that we have a trash room internally here and that we carry them out.
Forgive me, I'm actually sitting in the space where we're talking about at this moment here.
But we bring that trash out on Washington Avenue and the prime halal is taking our space as it's built here.
And so they would get the same benefit of the trash room and they would just carry those totes out in the same manner that we have here.
does the fact that this is a food business increase the volume or have concern for increased
volume for them to use the building's existing trash room yeah so we uh i have a real estate
office here so certainly different types of trash and probably less we have trash collection for our
office twice a week and they're expecting to have theirs uh six days a week so i i'm certainly
And they're expecting to have theirs six days a week. So I certainly expect more trash to be created.
extremely expensive.
And they are responding to that by having near daily trash collection.
Other questions for the board?
Mine is for deliveries in terms of the groceries and the meats and stuff like that. Is that in the rear of the building?
No. So the tenant actually does not have access to Ultra Street that is occupied by a bakery.
So that would all come effectively drop shipped off of Washington Avenue and be brought into the front doors.
Other questions?
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson.
um just briefly um mr crick i did look at over the provisos in the letter and i think the
only thing that would be enforceable by the board would be uh saying commercial trash pickup because
it looks like they ask for private trash pickup so i think commercial trash pickup and if the
board wanted they could say daily commercial trash pickup um but i do think those other
PROVISORS ARE NOT SOMETHING THE BOARD COULD IMPLEMENT IF IT DECIDES TO GRANT.
THANK YOU. QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS FROM THE
VIRTUAL AUDIENCE? I DO NOT SEE ANY HANDS, MR. CHAIR.
THANK YOU, CHAIRMAN. GOOD AFTERNOON.
DAVID FECTO WITH THE CITY PLANNING COMMISSION. CHAIRMAN AND BOARD MEMBERS, THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN
recommends a change in zoning at this location from i2 general industrial to irmx industrial and
residential mixed use the city rezoned this neighborhood in 1985 and a council supported
map change the proposed uses would be either allowed or allowed with a special exception
in the proposed zoning district these uses are in keeping with the uses that a reasonable
a reasonable person would expect to find in a commercial corridor the proposal for not providing
parking is necessitated by the current building covering 100 of the lot providing parking would
be impractical the city planning commission recommends the board grant all proposed use
and parking variances thank you mi 2025 001 822 1924 to 36 washington avenue i vote yes would
proviso commercial trash pickup daily my vote is yes with proviso cheryl gaston my vote is yes
with proviso tennetta graham my vote is yes with proviso ryan mcadams my vote is yes with proviso
iowen my vote is yes with proviso thank you council thank you members of the board
uh is there anyone in the audience who uh 2 p .m case has not been called
i do not see any hands mr chair we're going to take a five minute break
mr altieri you'll be first most of it's going to be reading off
some continuations but you'll be first
michael everybody
good afternoon everyone my name is bill bergen i will be chairing this meeting of the zoning board
of adjustment. With me is our board member
Cheryl L. Gaston. Present Mr. Chairman.
Our board member Tenetta Graham. Present Mr. Chairman.
Board member Michael Johns. Present Mr. Chairman.
Board member Taya Nguyen. Present Mr. Chairman.
Board member Ryan McAdams. Present Mr. Chairman.
Also here is our board attorney Hillary Emerson
and our zoning board director Ane Haggerty.
Recording of this hearing will be posted on the ZBA website
by participating you consent to be recorded.
This is an in -person meeting with remote capabilities.
Whether remote or in person, or if you're called to speak,
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Once you've been sworn in, please state your name each time before beginning your testimony.
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There are three ways to enter your appearance.
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Two, you can see a staff member.
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Let's look at our schedule for this afternoon.
Let's look at our schedule.
Number one, MI 2021 -003 -878 -6019 -35 North 5th Street.
That case is continued to 2 -18 -26 at 3 .30 p .m.
Number two, MI 2022, 001 -797 -2600 Montgomery Avenue.
Ian, do you want this the same day too?
Okay, thank you.
That case is continued to 2 -18 -26 at 3 .30 p .m.
Number three, MI 2022, 004 -033 -2235 Cecil B. Moore Avenue.
That case is continued to 2 -18 -26 at 3 -30.
Number four, MI 2023 -000084 -2007 South 10th Street.
That case is continued to 2 -18 -26 at 3 -30 p .m.
Number five, MI 2023 -002 -106 -7401 Edmond Street.
That case is continued to 2 -18 -26 at 3 .30 p .m.
Number six, MI 2023 -002 -607, 3336 North 17th Street.
That case is continued to 2 -18 -26 at 3 .30 p .m.
And number 8, MI 2024 -003 -936 -8132 Lister Street.
That case is continued to 2 -18 -26 at 3 .30 p .m.
And number 9, MI 2024 -006 -896 -2400 Montgomery Avenue.
That case is continued to October 1st at 9 .30 a .m.
At number 10, MI 2025 -001 -086 -90 Red Lion Road, that case is continued to 2 -18 -26 at 3 .30 p .m.
Mr. Chair, 90 Red Lion Road was a continuance request attorney moving party.
I'm sorry. MI 2025 -001 -086 -90 Red Line Road. That is a continued attorney moving party.
Okay, here we go.
Number seven, MI 2024 -003 -930 -11101 Academy Road.
Leonard Alteri is the attorney.
Mr. Alteri, could you please state your name and spell for this phonographer?
Yes, thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Leonard Altieri, L -E -O -N -A -R -D, Altieri, A -L -T -I -E -R -I, with the law firm of Claire Harrison Harvey
Brandsburg. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do. Could you identify your client in relationship to the property?
My client is Archbishop Ryan High Schooler of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia,
and the property is 111 -01 Academy Road, sir.
All right. Okay. Board member Graham has a few questions for you.
Good afternoon. Have you submitted your documents five days in advance of the hearing?
I have.
And do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
All right. Thank you. You may share your screen and proceed.
And we also have a recommendation of support from Millbrook Civic Association. Nine votes in support.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman and members of the board.
Again, this is the property at 11101 Academy Road, which is the Archbishop Ryan High School.
An aerial view, again, just to familiarize the board with Archbishop Ryan, located right
off of Academy Road, the property itself is located in the RSA4 residential single family
attached zoning district and is subjected to five overlay districts, which are not necessarily
applicable to an extent.
What we are seeking this afternoon is a variance for the installation of one double -sided, freestanding, illuminated sign.
This is the subject property from Academy Road.
Here's another angle from Academy Road.
Again, the zoning map showing that it is in the RSA4 zoning district.
And this is what the proposed sign is going to look like.
The sign itself will be illuminated.
It will rotate every 15 seconds with new imagery.
It will not be illuminated during the hours of 11 p .m. to 6 a .m.
during the hours of 11 p .m. to 6 a .m., so we'll be off during that time. With regards to brightness,
So we'll be off during that time.
it's one of the new photo -centric cells, so the brighter it is, the darker it gets. The darker it
is, the brighter it will get. The sign will advertise just news related to Archbishop Ryan
High School, whether it's showcasing and publicizing the achievements of students,
letting residents and students know news and events. That is the primary purpose of what the
sign is. With regards to the placement of the sign, as you see on the screen right now,
it is essentially where this black cursor, this black Sharpie marker is
in front of the high school. In another angle, you can see right here where my cursor is kind
of like a divot. That is actually where we are going to be running the conduit and the base of
sign will be located here's another angle right here and then lastly looking directly on from
academy road we did receive a refusal for this because of both the electronic bill electronic
sign is not permitted in the zoning district and then also one for height and one for square
footage of the maximum sign area we are allowed seven feet we're proposing our sign to be 15 feet
And then with regards to square face, the square footage of the sign face, we're permitted 15 square feet, and we're seeking 66 .21 square feet.
As the chairman did say, we did meet with the Millbrook Civic Association back on August 6th.
They were very accommodating, despite the fact that they normally don't meet in the summer, so we're appreciative of that.
There were 10 members that were present.
Nine of them voted in favor.
One vote was an abstention because it was a member of the councilman's staff.
With that being said, Mr. Chairman, I do have Mr. Ed Hughes from the school, who is going
to be my witness to adopt my testimony.
Mr. Hughes, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Yes, Mr. Chairman.
My name is Ed Hughes, E -D -H -U -G -H -E -S.
Do you swear or affirm that tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you very much.
Mr. Hughes, were you present while I made this testimony?
I was.
And is everything accurate to the best of your knowledge, information, and belief?
And if I called you to testify, would you have adopted that testimony as your own?
I will.
I have no further questions, Mr. Chairman.
Questions from the board.
Hillary, there is a note here about our commission approvals required prior to permit issue.
Is that right?
Questions or comments from our attorney?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
i do not see any hands mr chair commission madison matera planning commission staff
m -a -d -i -s -o -n -m -a -t -e -r -a 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 to the existing rsa4
residential single -family zoning at this location this application is for the installation of an
accessory freestanding sign for the archbishop ryan high school planning commission recommends
the board grant the requested variances for maximum sign height area but deny the requested
variance for animated illumination thank you um mi 2024 003 930 11101 academy road i vote yes
michael johns my vote is yes cheryl gaston my vote is yes tenetta graham my vote is yes
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes.
I win, my vote is yes.
Thank you, counsel. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair and members of the board.
Number 11, MI 2025, 001 -247 -514 East Sedgwick Street.
Henry Clinton is the attorney.
I'm coming back in as a panelist, Mr. Chair.
Morning, Mr. Chairman.
Good afternoon.
Good evening, I guess you should say.
Counselor, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Sure. My name is Henry Clinton, H -E -N -R -Y, Clinton, C -L -I -N -T -O -N.
Right. Do you swear or affirm that tell the truth, whole truth, nothing but the truth?
But do you identify your client, a relationship to the property?
Sure. I have two clients, Matthew Nolan, M -A -T -T -H -E -W, Nolan, N -O -L -A -N, and Stephen Nolan, S -T -E -V -E -N, N -O -L -A -N.
and Stephen Nolan, S -T -E -V -E -N -N -O -L -A -N.
You come into the second floor.
From the steps, you enter the dining room and living area.
This is an officer study.
There's no window in this room, and it's not used as a bedroom.
It can't be used as a bedroom.
And then the one bedroom is in the rear of the property.
The remaining documents are what you would typically see in a presentation, such as this,
or tax clearance, or indication from the tax center that no taxes are due.
zoning map, again, indicating RSD3. And as I said, at the outset, it is a rather large,
large lot. The deed indicating that my client just bought this property, and it was a private sale.
It didn't go through a realtor. It wasn't pointed out that the garage apartment wasn't legal per
se when my clients found out. They took steps to make it legal. That's why there was some
consternation at the community meeting as to why do we
need to do this because they're all over the neighborhood, but
we won't go there. This is a lease agreement
my clients have. We blotted out the names of the tenants for privacy purposes,
two parking spaces, and one bedroom, as I
said, and one bathroom.
this lead -based pain and expect inspection list for the property i just did not include the
signatures but my clients can testify as to that this is a notice letter we sent out to
all the neighbors within 250 feet 41 neighbors or so but only three or four showed up at the meeting
that's the presentation
I'm going to ask
Matthew who is on the call
I believe to unmute himself
and adopt my testimony
and then obviously
entertain any questions from the board
Matthew can you unmute
yourself or Stephen
Counselor should be coming
back in as a panel shortly
hi can you hear me i'm matthew could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
matthew nolan m -a -t -t -h -t -w -n -o -l -a -n you swear or affirm to tell the truth told truth
nothing but the truth yes please proceed counsel uh mr nolan did you hear my testimony
i did yeah you just texted me to say that it did go through a realtor so i stand corrected
mr chairman members yeah i looked at the mls couldn't find it so it did go through a realtor
but other than that mr nolan did you hear my testimony concerning the project all of it yes
and if you had the opportunity to testify would you adopt my testimony as your own
and as true and correct yes thank you mr nolan questions from the board
um i'm always concerned about uh fumes and what have you from the cars in the living space or
the migrating into the living space do we have an issue with that is there some sort of
um fans circulation filtering air filters in this space i believe mr nolan correct me if i'm wrong
i believe that you know this is a garage that's been in existence for well over 100 years and
there's no no venting that that i know of unless you do in the garage there is no current venting
in the garage um there will be uh when we actually the cars are not parked in the garage
either ah okay so they're not currently when it does there will be proper uh drywall for the fumes
and venting put in down the road when that happens but we do not intend on using the garage for the
garage for cars at the moment okay thank you any other questions questions from our attorney
Hillary Emerson. Just briefly, Mr. Chair. Mr. Clinton, on the plans, it showed four proposed parking spaces, but those were not included in the scope of the project on the refusal, and it appears that L &I actually did not review these plans because this was submitted as a change of use application.
i wasn't sure if you were aware of that but just wanted to know that the only thing before the
board is the change of use for the accessory dwelling unit miss emerson i did not know that um
i guess maybe in terms of the of the expansive open space here i i don't know that the the
the parking would be an issue but if you need me to do something i certainly would right no
parking would be an issue but if you need me to do something i certainly would right no i think you
i think you have to unfortunately submit a new permit application for that i'm not sure why it
You have to.
was there wasn't communication at the the review stage about what was seemed to be asked for and
how the application was submitted um but i did confirm with lni that only the use the accessory
dwelling unit use was reviewed. So yeah, so those additional parking spaces would need a separate
permit application. So would I be able to request an amended refusal based on what's already been
submitted? Unfortunately, we can't amend a use application to add parking because that requires
plans and use change of use applications don't involve plans. It don't include a plans review.
So it would need its own separate application, unfortunately.
That's L &I's rule, not ours.
Right.
Which means we'd have to go through the process again.
Well, if they were buy -right, the spaces were buy -right, then you wouldn't have a problem.
All right.
I think they will be buy -right.
but but yeah they're just not there's unfortunately not included in this application
got it all right i appreciate that yeah we'll we'll address that i think it would be by right
okay all right thanks questions and comments from the virtual audience
mr chair planning commission
madison matera planning commission staff the comprehensive plan recommends no change to
existing rsa3 residential single family zoning at this location this property is over 60 000
square feet and there is an existing two -story garage on the property that the appellant would
like to use as an accessory dwelling unit the planning commission recommends the board grant
the requested variance for an accessory dwelling unit thank you excuse me mr chair yes sorry to
interrupt, but there is a hand up. It's from Daniel Denk. I will allow them to speak. Okay.
Hello. Hi, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Sure. My name is Daniel Denk, D -A -N -I -E -L -L -E -D -E -N -K. I live at 508 East Sedgwick Street,
directly adjacent from the subject property. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth, nothing but the truth? I do. Please proceed. Yeah. So as an adjacent property,
owner, I would just want to ask a question about what the precedent set by changing to an accessory
unit would be in terms of future development. We in our neighborhood have seen a lot of larger
properties like this become piecemealed and redeveloped with a higher density. And this
neighborhood, the reason why many of us have chose to live here is because we like the peace and
quiet and so wanted to understand if um a change to an accessory dwelling unit would open up
opportunities for greater development on this property okay our attorney is ready to speak
um thank you for your question unfortunately that's not something that the board can address
if somebody wants to make a change to their property and it is not permitted in the zoning
code they have to come before the zoning board where the community will get a chance to hear
ABOUT THE PROPOSAL AND WEIGH IN ON THAT. SO WE CAN'T ANSWER THAT QUESTION, BUT IF WHAT'S
BEING PROPOSED REQUIRES ZBA APPROVAL, IT WILL COME BEFORE THE ZBA AND EACH CASE IS CONSIDERED
ON A CASE -BY -CASE BASIS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CRITERIA IN THE ZONING CODE.
OKAY, SO THAT DOES NOT QUITE ANSWER MY QUESTION, BUT I APPRECIATE YOUR RESPONSE.
with me today is also another neighbor um dillis hart hi could you please state your name and spell
for the stenographer that's dillis d -i -l -y -s -h -a -r -t uh 6921 anderson street sure hold on do you swear
or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth what was that question
Do you swear or affirm
to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I have to swear you in before you speak.
You will tell the truth, right?
I'm understanding.
They're swearing you in. Will you tell the truth?
Yes, right? Yes.
Okay, please proceed.
Now you can play your concern.
what do they want me to do oh if you have a concern to share that my property joins the
My property adjoins the Sedgwick property.
Right.
And so my concern is if there's going to be a building and all of that, how large and what?
Because it's my back lawn that shared their back lawn.
And so any huge project that would be constructed there would address my privacy, my backyard privacy.
So if there's any large projects, they'd have to come back to us and have our permission to do it.
This is nothing more than approving what's been there and the people who have lived in this apartment for the last 16 years.
Have you had any problems with them at all?
have I had any problems with the tenants that are there now
no no I haven't had anything all right well thank you very much
thank you Ms. Stank too for your your input we appreciate it and thank you
so MI 2025 001 247 514 East Sedgwick Street I vote yes
michael johns my vote is yes
cheryl gaston my vote is yes
tennetta graham my vote is yes
ryan mcadams my vote is yes
iowen my vote is yes
thank you mr clinton
thank you mr chair and members of the board have a great day
great um
uh thanks everyone um
done a very reasonable time tonight
um and we did have a couple complex cases that
took a little bit longer and i appreciate everybody's input and uh next week right
next tuesday or wednesday again okay great body perfect have a good night all