We are a three-story building, and we're a corner lot, which makes us a much larger building.
And my corporate representative will testify more in depth to some of this.
But essentially, our building is just so large that it's not appropriate either for a single family, which is not contextual for the neighborhood,
or for a two-family because you would have two absolutely enormous, four, maybe even five-bedroom units in this property.
So we intend to and we'll have zoning plans drawn up once the board approve to whatever number of units.
You know, once the board approve whatever to whatever number of units the board approves, we do not have plans now, but we do have we have done a preliminary analysis, which would show we have, like I said, about 2400 square feet in the interior, which all right now is completely gutted because it had to be gutted and stabilized because it was in such bad condition.
and it needed to, that would generate basically two 700 square foot units and a 950 square foot
unit. So already in this building, we're talking about extremely large multi-bedroom units,
which would be appropriate again for families and neighbors to stay in. The target price,
if this were to open today, and we all know that it is not opening today, would be between $1,000
and $1,400 per unit based on the number of bedrooms. So again, this is being priced
in accordance with the neighborhood and the ability to build in there. And most notably,
the reason why I bring up the existing building is, again, as this board I'm sure knows fully,
an applicant in order to become compliant with the code cannot be required to demolish any or
all of its building in order to get that code compliance. So, you know, we certainly understand
and appreciate that the RCO was frustrated about the parking issue. However, we believe that,
you know, the parking issue certainly is the situation. It is the normal condition here,
But based on an analysis of all these blocks, you can easily see that the entire fabric of this community has been changed to a multifamily neighborhood, and we can't dimensionally put in those parking spaces anyway.
Again, we believe that this is the least minimum variance because the building size itself is not feasible for less than three units.
Obviously, four units would be better, but we purposely went with three units because
we are trying to meet the least, what we believe to be the least minimum variance here.
And additionally, you know, in order to justify cost-wise the feasibility of an entire gut
rehab of a property this size and renovation of it, you know, we need three units in order
to justify that overall cost.
The final piece for a variance would be the health, safety, and welfare, and making sure that there's no detriment to the health, safety, and welfare at this property.
We have, you know, I think made that clear through testimony I've already provided, but essentially there's no curb cut.
this building was vacant for a long time prior to my client's purchase of it, and it would be
completely contextual with what is already in the neighborhood. So with that, I'm happy to answer
any questions, or I can call Solomon Silber to testify. I call Solomon to testify. All right.
so silver has been allowed to speak sir would you state your name and spell it please for the
court reporter oh yes absolutely it is solomon silver s-o-l-o-m-o-n-s-i-l-b as in boy e-r
right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do proceed all right and uh before i get there uh i did i do apologize i misspoke earlier
uh there was an additional transfer of this property from two river holdings llc the owner
is uh ludlow l-u-d-l-o-w brothers llc and that's in a recorded deed from late last year
So, Mr. Silber, are you here on behalf of Ludlow Brothers LLC?
I am indeed. Yes, sir.
All right. And did you hear all of the testimony that I already provided in the case today?
I did.
And do you believe it to be true and correct to the best of your knowledge, information and belief?
Absolutely. I do believe that.
And would you adopt that testimony as your own?
I would adopt the testimony. Yes, sir.
Thank you. And now, Mr. Silber, I just have a couple of questions for you on a few of the things that I think more appropriate for you to discuss.
You and your companies manage and own more than 15 properties in this immediate vicinity, correct?
Yes, that is correct.
And are all those, generally speaking, are all those existing buildings that were rehabbed or were they ground up construction?
Those are all existing buildings that we've done very careful.
Those are all existing buildings that we've done very careful rehabs of.
We're definitely a believer in this area.
And as such, I've tried to do pretty high level rentals because we believe in the neighborhood.
We want to be there for a long time and we want to provide great housing to the community.
That was our intention.
Thank you.
And are all of those 15 plus properties that you own and manage, are they all rentals?
They are all rental properties.
Correct.
And are they all one, two, three bedroom units or do you have other unit sizes?
No, they're all, as you said, the biggest of them would be three bedroom units.
Obviously, some are smaller, but yes, one, two or three bedroom units.
Correct.
Okay. And approximately the average size of your unit, what would it be? Six, 650, seven,
eight? Where are you? Yeah, the average size is about 650 square feet per unit. Obviously,
the more rooms are bigger, but that's the average size, 650 square feet. Okay. And you heard me
already testify that generally three units in this property would be approximately 650 to 700
square feet for two different units, and then 950 square feet for a third unit, correct?
Yes, that is correct. And, you know, as I heard you testify to, and I just want
to reiterate, it would be possible architecturally to put four, but we thought that
appropriate to the neighborhood, which is why we went for three, because that's the minimum number
of units that allows us to renovate the building in the manner that we want to do so.
Right. And just to finish that thought off, this building would be simply far too large for just two units, in your opinion, correct?
Far too large. Yes, absolutely. I mean, it's a building that is, in my opinion, tailor-made for the three, actually.
I think that's exactly what it's supposed to be and would lay out comfortably and spaciously for those three units, for those three occupants.
Thank you. And if you were constrained only two units, even though we believe three units is the minimum number necessary, do you think that two units of four or five bedrooms each would be able to be rented here? Or would that make it extremely difficult for you to rent in this neighborhood?
I think it's tough in this neighborhood. We like to obviously keep to the three bedroom
and it enables families and couples to occupy the units and have that be economically feasible both
for the occupants as well as for the ownership. All right. Thank you very much, Mr. Silber.
uh with that question yeah questions from the board yes mr chairman counselor do you plan to
use the basement for living space uh mr holloman uh i knew this question was coming uh we would be
happy to stipulate that there will be no bedrooms in the basement um we do anticipate that there
will be you know washer dryer facility uh something of that sort in the basement so i
want to say i don't know if you would qualify that as living space um there may also be like
a bonus room but we can certainly stipulate that there would be no bedrooms uh in the basement
thank you the questions from the board no mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see no further hands mr chair planning commission good afternoon david vecto f-e-c-t-e-a-u
with the city planning commission do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and
nothing but the truth yes sir i do proceed thank you sir mr chairman members of the board the
comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential single family zoning at this location
Due to the configuration of the lot, the requirement for off-street parking would cause a clear hardship.
There are a significant number of duplexes on the block, so two dwelling units would seem to be the minimum variance needed for this lot.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the Board grant the use variance with a maximum of two units and no off-street parking.
Chair, if I may just respond very quickly.
We do not disagree with the Planning Commission's analysis for most of the units and most of the properties on these two blocks, which are duplexes, but that's because those are two-story units.
The three-story units are the ones that are actually larger, and that's why we're asking for the third unit and not limiting our request to just a duplex.
uh the third unit and not limiting our request to uh just a duplex thank you thank you
Thank you.
mi 2022 001 007 1639 dyer street i vote yes three units uh proviso no bedroom in basement
my vote is yes with proviso thomas holliman my vote is yes with proviso
ishmael shaheed yes with proviso
thank you thank you very much
mi-2021-004-397-2028 west westmoreland street alan knockamson is the attorney
um letter of support from swamp poodle rco which was not the lead rco um
okay mr knockamson has been promoted to panelists sir
Mr. Nockleson, you've already been sworn.
Is he on?
He should be.
He'll be coming.
Good afternoon, members of the board.
Alan Nockleson, A-L-A-N, last name Nockleson, N-O-C-H-U-M-S-O-N, 123 South Broad Street,
Suite 1600, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19109.
I believe you've already been sworn.
Could you identify your client and their relationship to this property?
Yes, my client is Wise Holding Group, LLC.
And with me today in the virtual audience is Brian Wise, the member of that organization.
Our vice chair has a few questions.
Hi, Mr. Nockamson.
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 under plans of the property five days in advance of
this hearing and have you met with the rco and do you have a letter uh yes in all respects other
than we do not have a letter from the coordinating rco we do have a letter of support from one of the
rcos for this property though okay you may proceed and share your screen thank you
Again, good afternoon, Alan Nockmson of Nockmson PC and I'm here to present 2028 West West
Moreland.
We'll go over our packet of materials, first a notice of refusal, then the correspondence
we did receive from Swampoodle Neighborhood Parcels Association, maps of the area, photographs
of the property in the surrounding area, our plans and drawings, proof that we met with
the community on April 21st, our deeds to the property showing that Wise Holding Group LLC
is the owner of the property, our application for appeal that we filed to the zoning board
regarding this matter, and our certificate of tax clearance. Along with me in the virtual
audience is Brian Wise, an owner's representative, and he will adopt my testimony. I'm taking
any questions from the board uh as well uh notice a refusal so this is a cmx2 property
uh and we are on the 2000 block of west west moorland uh and we're between 21st and 20th
essentially uh and allegheny and ontario as the major streets uh the commercial corridors that
are nearby are Hunting Park Avenue, Broad Street. I saw a number of activities on 22nd Street and
Allegheny. We're here to propose two dwelling units in an existing two-story structure. Again,
this is a CMX2 property. Given the last square footage of 2,161 square feet, as of right, we can
build a commercial and four units but we're only looking to do two residential units uh we did
meet with the north uh with the community on april 21st north central philadelphia sesquahanna
community development corporation uh was the coordinating rco we never did receive a letter
from them regarding the results of that community meeting we did receive the results though from the
swamp poodle neighborhood organization a letter of support with certain provisors all trash you know
all trash and recycling stored indoors except on collection days we have no objection to that
limit of two multi-family units we have no objection to that no basement of living just
No basement and living. Just like the other proposal that was heard just before us, we have no intention to put bedrooms in the basement. We would have no issue with the proviso, no bedrooms in the basement, but similar to the matter before us, we do plan to have our washer and dryer down there, maybe some storage and other items.
Just like the other proposal that was heard just before.
So if there was a proviso, we would say no bedrooms in the basement.
And then the fourth proviso would be no rooftop structures and rooftop access limited to maintenance only.
We have no plans to put a rooftop there. It's not part of our application.
But if the board seems so inclined to also limit the erection of a rooftop at some point, we have no objection to those provisos.
So again, there were four provisos, basically trash stored indoors, limit to family dwelling, no basement living where we would say no bedrooms in the basement, and no rooftop structure or rooftop access.
Maps of the area.
So this is our property.
Again, we're in West Westmoreland.
This is all CMX2, but you'll see from the pictures there's no commercial nearby on this side of the block.
So again, just a Google map perspective.
Other than the corner property here at 21st and West Westmoreland, there's no commercial on West Westmoreland.
Most of the commercial is down here on Allegheny or east to Broad Street.
And then you also have around here, Hunting Park Avenue.
And then on, I believe, 22nd Street, if you go further down, you would see more commercial.
So really what we want to do is support the commercial corridors by not redirecting commercial here at 2028 West West Florida.
For regards to the property. So this is our property. It's a two story structure.
You know, again, this is the undue hardship, right, to require us to put like commercial on the ground floor would be almost impossible and cost prohibitive.
It would be also out of character with this portion of the neighborhood.
again these are all two-story structures we don't even want to build upwards we just want to
repurpose this two-story structure and put one unit on the ground floor and one unit on the
second floor and that's it although as of right we could demolish this structure put a commercial
unit mid-block on a two-story block and build upwards which we don't on this very sizable lot
2,161 square feet. But as you can see from the pictures to the right of the property on West
Westmoreland, all commercial in nature. Our side of the block is two stories. The other side of
the block looks like three stories. West Westmoreland to the left of the property, again,
no commercial activity other than that one corner property, which is not uncommon because most times
in these type of neighborhoods, you will have a commercial component or some multi-family use
on the corners like this. And then Wise Holding Group is owned by Brian Wise. He's been in the
industry for well over a generation. He's also a realtor who can testify as to the feasibility of
having a commercial unit or lack thereof in the structure. But he renovates properties throughout
the Philadelphia region. He is actually from this area, the Nicetown Tioga area. So he's one who
knows this neighborhood very well. His mother still lives in the community as well. But I always
like to give examples of work product of my clients. So a sample kitchen, a sample bathroom,
another sample bathroom, a sample kitchen. Again, he uses really nice products. What he's hoping to
do is that he invests a lot of resources in Tioga, Nicetown Tioga. He wants to improve the
housing stock of where he grew up. And then just sample bedrooms, living areas, things like that,
hardwood floors uh floor plan it's very simple you walk up a flight uh you know the front steps
go left you have unit one uh it also has a basement area um as you can see this is where
the washer and dryer is downstairs but we don't intend to put any bedrooms down there so we have
no objections to no bedrooms in the basement you go up a flight of steps and you have another unit
Again, no roof deck. You know, trash would be stored indoors. Each of the units have its own ventilated trash room as well to make sure that is responsibly stored.
Meeting notice. We met on April 21st. As you can see, this is something that's specific that Ms. Russell asked us to do.
um but on the front of the envelope well it's a trifle but the front of where the address is
it says important community meeting please zoom in and we actually have it in red highlighted
in color to make sure that we direct the people saying that essentially this is not jumping out
to make sure that we direct the people saying that essentially this is not junk now right and
right until
to alert them the fact that this is going to be pertaining to a community meeting nearby
there are 142 addresses that were notified according to the city planning commission
these are the addresses and this is our proof of mailing we mail we try to mail these notices