trash plan photographs of the property notice letters regarding the rco meeting and the deed
and the llc is again the owner and developer hopeful developer of this property
and we met with the rco in a hybrid meeting and received the overwhelming support
from the RCO and the community.
As you can see, they took the position of support
in their letter, and there was at least 21 in support
and who were non-opposition.
We're seeking several variances to permit 12 residential units
in this RSA-3 zoning district.
And I want to come down and show just the site photographs.
First, it is a vacant site.
That is the site.
And the land use in this area is predominantly multifamily despite the zoning.
There are at least nine other nearby properties that are multifamily zoning.
The variances would permit the development of the property in conformity with the surrounding multifamily structures.
Again, it's a vacant lot.
And if you look surrounding the property, there are several other vacant lots.
across the street, and multifamily structures there as well.
This is 746, which I will talk about in a minute, just to the south, and that's looking down the street.
As you can see, large properties, many with front porches, most of which are multifamily structures,
as you can see, again, from the other side of the street.
Directly across the street, two multifamily structures with vacant lots in between.
And again, on the corner, another multifamily set of structures.
And again, that's the property in the context of what we're talking about.
What we're requesting is the development and conformity with the surrounding property.
And when I look to the floor plans, it would be three.
Each floor is the same.
It's four floors, each floor with three residential units, all of which a front unit, which is two bedrooms in a living area, a middle unit with two bedrooms in a living area, and a rear unit with two bedrooms in a living area.
And the units are at least 800 square feet.
They're larger units.
They'll have modern amenities and conveniences.
And importantly, the rendering show not just 748, which is this project, but 746, which this board in 2021 granted a variance or variances, the exact same variances we're asking for today to allow 12-unit structure.
You can see they will all have, both have, if this were granted, red brick facades.
They would have porches like the other projects have porches, mansard roofs like the others have.
And again, they would have bicycle parking out front.
They would share a courtyard entranceway.
Again, this one, 746, was granted by the board for the exact same uses that we're talking about here.
They would have windows that share a courtyard in between the two.
There was a rooftop deck used for one of the units only.
Having these buildings with the modern safety features is important given that there have been many tragic recent fires in older homes that don't have things like sprinkler systems and hardwired safety smoke.
things like sprinkler systems and hardwired safety smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors.
Again, another view of the properties and how they would look and how they would look in the context that they're in.
The most significant feature of this property is that it's a mirror image of the property at 746 North 40th,
which is just to the south of 748.
As I said, this board granted a variance in 2021, 4746, to be developed into 12 units, virtually the same floor plan as proposed for this property.
There are no material differences.
The lot sizes are the same.
Everything is the same.
The only request from the community was for us to show that we would have a gated trash area for use by both properties with a walkway down the middle.
The trash would be picked up by private trash pickup.
walking through the area between the two buildings and out onto the street and then move back and put into the dumpster would be placed back into the gated trash room for trash area for both properties in the rear of 748.
That was the request of the community.
The community supported this because they looked at it and said, we want to see exactly what was on 746 replicated at 748, the same facade, the same porch, and the same uses.
and get rid of this vacant property,
which is problematic for the community.
The variances will benefit the public
by providing a modern building with life safety features.
They meet the goals of the code
by providing for a use consistent with the adjoining property
and other properties that are all multifamily in the area.
The grant of the variances will not adversely impact
light and air to adjacent properties
who meet the 38 foot height requirement that will benefit the public by reducing the likelihood of
illegal dumping or other environmental problems at a vacant property in the community.
What I would like to do is call Robert Sherman to be presented to the board.
Mr. Sherman has been about to speak sir. Hi Mr. Sherman could you state your name
and spell it for the court reporter please yes uh good afternoon robert sherman r-o-b-e-r-t-s-h-e-r-m-a-n
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes i do proceed thank you mr chairman uh rob uh did you hear my statements yes and are they
true and correct yes they are and do you adopt them as your testimony i do and do you have any
further comments for the board no thank you i have nothing further questions questions from the board
no mr chairman questions or comments from the virtual audience
do you know further answer mr chair planning commission thank you mr chairman david effecto
city planning commission mr chairman and members of the board the comprehensive plan recommends a
change in the zoning to a residential multiple family zoning at this location under rm1 which
is the most common in this neighborhood the applicant would be allowed eight dwelling units
by right so the proposed 12 dwelling units we don't believe are the minimum necessary to derive
value from this land the applicant has failed to prove that a hardship exists that would require 12
units as opposed to eight regardless of what is built providing parking on a lot with no rear
access would be impractical so the city planning commission recommends the board grant the use
variances but limit the number of dwelling units to eight units which would be allowed by right
under RM1 with no parking. What was the last approval for for the other building?
MI 2022 001 009 748 North 40th Street. I vote yes with provisos. Commercial trash pickup
three times a week trash stored in rear and that's the that's the provisos harold tenery
my vote is yes with provisos thomas halliman my vote is yes with proviso james snell yes with
proviso ishmael shaheed yes with proviso thank you mr chairman thank you uh is there anyone
in the virtual audience whose case from the two o'clock listings have not been heard
there are no hands at this time mr chair okay we're gonna we're gonna move right to the 3 30 list
So, good afternoon. My name is Bill Bergman. I will be chairing this afternoon's ZBA hearing.
so good afternoon my name is bill bergman i will be chairing this afternoons
With me is Carol Tenere, our vice chair. Present. Ismael Shahid, our board secretary.
Present, Mr. Chair. Thomas Holliman, our board member. Present, Mr. Chairman. And James Snell,
our board member. Present, Mr. Chairman. Also here is our executive director,
Tanya Sunkit, and our board attorney, Hillary Emerson. Our virtual format is this. Be advised
these proceedings are being recorded. By participating, you acknowledge your agreement
to be recorded. A video will be available by contacting tanyasunkit at phil.gov. For the
benefit of our court stenographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before
testifying. If you are participating by phone, if you wish to testify, press star nine to raise your
hand and star six to unmute. To enter an appearance statement, call 267-270-5548. Leave your email
and the address of the property in question. And finally, please note the question answer box is
not for testimony or comments. Any comments have to be directed to Tanya Sunken, our executive
director. So let's look at the continuances on our 330 list. Number two, MI 2022-00397-2005
south 4th street and number five mi 2022 000290 5651 to 63 walnut street both these cases are
continued is there anyone in the virtual audience has a comment
you know i asked mr chair are there any other contingencies requested for the 3 30 meeting
again i see no hands sir case case number one mi 2022 000 278 1333 snyder avenue
henry clinton is the attorney letter of support from the east passion crossing civic association
Mr. Clinton will be rejoining
as a panelist, sir. Thank you.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman and members of the board.
Howie, could you spell your name for the court reporter,
please, Mr. Clinton? Sure. Henry Clinton,
C-L-I-N-T-O-N. 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 the relationship to this property? Sure. The owner is Karkim, C-A-R-K-I-M Holdings,
LLC. And the principal is Dimitri, D-I-M-I-T-R-Y, Starominsky, S-T-A-R-O-M-I-N-S-K-Y. And he is on the
call. All right. Our vice chair, Carl Tenere, has a few questions. Hi, Mr. Clinton. Do you agree to
waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy? I do. Have you emailed the exhibit
packet with proof of ownership tax compliance a copy of the refusal or referral photos and or
plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing and have you met with the rco and do you
have a letter yes to all of the above okay great you may proceed and share your screen thank you
thank you is that visible mr nary it is all right good afternoon mr chairman members of the board
Henry Clinton for Clark Kim Holdings, LLC. This property concerns 1333, excuse me, 1333 Slater
Avenue. And with me is also the architect, Rustin Olwer of Harman Deutsch Olwer Architecture.
This is my table of contents, and I'll walk through each of the documents as we proceed,
containing exhibits AA through A11, which I ask be admitted into evidence. This is my appearance
statement. This is the refusal. So this is a current three-story vacant property between
Watch Street and Juniper on the north side of Snyder Avenue. It's a half a block from the
commercial district of Broad Street and directly across the street from South Philadelphia High
School. And I'll show you from aerial photographs where the property is situated in relation to two
of those locations. So the property sits in the CMX2 zoning district, as do all the properties
between Watts and Juniper on that side of Snyder Avenue. However, all the properties save one are
However, all the properties, save one, are completely multifamily.
completely multifamily.
And as you know, Mr. Chairman, member of the board, CMX2 requires commercial on the first floor with residential above.
What we're asking the board to consider is instead of having commercial on the first floor to convert that or switch that out for residential on the first floor and keep the two residential units above.
The reason being is that all the homes on this side, save one, are multifamily residential, so the requested use is consistent with the use there, plus the zoning for this area is CMX2, but the commercial corridor is Broad Street.
Plus, as I'll show you in the zoning archives, this property historically was used as a three-family dwelling.
This is a letter of support from East Pass Young Crossing. The only proviso was that each of the units be outfitted with trash compactors, and my client has certainly agreed to that.
and these are photographs of the property it's right here situated between watt street and
juniper street it's a south Philadelphia high school broad street is to the west this is
Santander bank this is the subject property as you can see from the front of the other properties
they're all residential
Again, this is the view looking west towards Santander Bank and this strip of residential
multi-family on the north side of Sider Avenue. Interior photographs showing you that there
were four meters and it will be four meters, one for each unit and one for the common space.
again some more views different perspective for the board this is the the zoning map indicating
that all the properties as i mentioned are cmx2 although they're used as multi-family residential
again another perspective of where the property is situated between the other homes on that block
So basically, what we're asking for is on the basement of first floor will just be one
apartment rather than a commercial unit.
And on the second and third floor, there's an existing one-bedroom apartment on the second
and one-bedroom on the third.
When I say existing, it was used as one bedroom.
It will be continued to be used as one bedroom, but it's not occupied right now.
This is the tax certification.
What I wanted to get to was our zoning records attached as Exhibit A8 are the historical zoning records for all the properties between Watts and Juniper in this row.
1333 Snyder, which is a subject property.
You'll see from my attachments that from years 2004 to 2020, there was a residential rental license for three units.
For a time period, the first floor was used as a construction office, but it really wasn't viable, and it was returned to residential use.
We have existing permits for a roof deck, an existing permit for a rear addition.
1327 is three residential units.
1329, the same.
1331 actually has five units, although the rental license has gone inactive.
At one time, it was five units.
1335 is two units and 1337 is the one property that i mentioned earlier which has three units
one of which is a doctor's office on the first floor uh and mr chairman i can go through each
of the records quickly if if uh you're so inclined just to show that my summation is accurate
this is 1333 mr clinton we're fine okay
Okay. So I'll entertain any comments from the board or from the virtual audience. And my client
is here prepared to adopt my testimony. Why don't you adopt your testimony?
Mr. Sterominski, can you unmute yourself?
he's been allowed to speak sir i could you state your name and spell please for the court reporter
dimitri starominski d-i-m-i-t-r-y starominski s-t-a-r-o-m-i-n-s-k-y do you swear or firm
to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do proceed mr clinton uh mr
Mr. Jarominski, were you on the call when I presented the project for 1333 Snyder Avenue?
If you had the opportunity to testify, would you adopt my testimony as true and correct?
If you had the opportunity to testify, would you adopt my testimony as true and correct?
Thank you, sir.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions from the virtual audience?
Comments?
I see no further answer, Mr. Chair.
Planning Commission.
Good afternoon, Chair.
Peter Bernard for the Planning Commission.
Hi. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do, Chair.
Proceed.
The comprehensive plan recommends a zoning map change to RM1 Multifamily Residential at this location.
The proposal is consistent with the recommended zoning, and the applicant has demonstrated a longstanding multifamily use.
Accordingly, the Planning Commission recommends the Board grant the variance.
Thank you.
MI 2022-000-278-1333 Snyder Avenue, I vote yes. Proviso. Interior trash compactor to be provided
for all units. Harold Teneri, my vote is yes with Proviso. Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with
Proviso. James Snell, my vote is yes with Proviso. Vishnu Shahid, my vote is yes with Proviso.