ZBA Hearing - August 26, 2026

owner i'm a person going to testify okay we're looking for um celeste or an antonio either one

of those i heard some hand pop up do we see any other hands yes sir celesta silva is rejoining

Thank you very much.

Celeste?

Are you there Celeste?

Celeste, can you unmute yourself please?

uh can you hear me i can't could you you can hear me um please state your name and spell

for the stenographer oh my name is celeste da silva c-e-l-e-s-t-e uh da silva d-a-s-i-l-v-a

would you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth

yes i do counsel please proceed um mr silva did you hear my testimony just now regarding

your property 245 west coulter yes i heard it um do you adopt it as your own yes i do

um is there anything you'd like to add to the board before we open it up to

um any neighbor input and anything else no i have nothing else to add all right questions from the

board yes i i think my main question is just trying to understand hardship and why airbnb

versus a traditional rental for the single-family home mr silva

um we have been renting uh traditionally for over 15 years i've had i believe a total of four

tenants um just my experience uh out of the four tenants only one of them uh and she happened to

be section eight she was really really nice kept the place very clean uh did everything you know

on her lease um uh the other three uh you know each one of them stayed maybe three or four years

or whatever they paid accordingly you know but you know i would tell them look you need to keep

the place clean at one point there was um a little garden in front of the house um if you see from

the pictures there's no garden now but i kept telling her look you need to keep it clean keep

i kept telling her look you need to keep it clean keep it you know keep it trash free um

you know, keep it trash free.

and then the yard and everything they were responsible for it you know you know on the lease

and she she didn't do that now eventually we said okay heck with it we're you know cementing the

front of it um and then and then i have my you know the next tenant after that she was really

really nice Patricia. She was section 8. She left because she just went, she had a child and she

wanted to move to a better area with better schools. But then my third tenant, that was during

COVID. I mean, you know, that was the one where like, you know, we told, you know, I could see

from, you know, looking in the, you know, hallway, you know, it wasn't being kept clean. We would

tell her look you need to keep the yard clean it's on on your lease uh she just did not clean um

you know that's the pictures that i showed you where there was like weeds everywhere

and that was during the covet era um and when she she stopped paying rent but when she finally

had to leave uh i went in there and it was just it was just horrible it was a mess the yard was full

weeds you know after me telling her you know many times you need to you know keep the place clean

um but anyway she left then i had um the last ten the fourth tenant uh which was she left around

2024 so that tenant seemed to be perfect on paper great you know everything great on paper

she paid rent you know well no problems but a couple months into her tenancy I get complaints

from my next door neighbor they're yelling and screaming just loud noise you know and you know

I told my neighbor you know I'm so sorry I thought she was you know a nice person you know it was a

mom and a daughter and a little boy that was all I was living there so then there was issues I'm

going to go into it because it's private things concerning that tenant but you know some authorities

were called uh she eventually left on her own and that was kind of my like the last resort i

just could not take it anymore and then someone told me about airbnb and he said you know if you

go to airbnb you know the people are just you know the guests are just much more professional

and so i thought i'd try that and you know i had a rental license i thought okay i'll

i already have a rental license i'll just go right into it i didn't think anything of it

and i've been doing it for you know almost two years and i've had no issues i've had

more than 44 guests in there um the place still looks beautiful it's kept clean

I go in there more often. Now I'm responsible for the cleaning. So it's kept clean. The yard is kept clean. There's no weeds coming out. There's no trash. And it's just been better, you know, for the neighborhood, for myself. And I really do not want to go back to regular tenancy. You know, this has just worked out much better.

Other questions? Other questions?

i mean i guess my follow-up question is a lot of the issues that you could have with airbnb you can

have i mean with a regular tenant you can have with airbnb so how are you managing this property

it sounds like you got into some of it sounds like you're doing the cleanings in between tenants

um are you managing your listing are you dealing with trash and turnover and everything individually

are you working with a property management i have um they call it a co-host which is like a property

manager and he helps me with it um i do i have someone that helps me clean because i do have a

full-time job as well but i go in there i try not to schedule like too many people because i do go

in there after each and every person to make sure everything is good if there's any trash

um my husband works in the city he works with septa so he'll literally come he has a a van and

he you know if it's not trash day he'll just grab it put it in his truck and you know we'll take

care of it if it is trash today i'll put it out yeah is is your co-host based in philadelphia

uh no he's not he's uh virtual okay so you are you and your husband are still the closest

physical person if there's an issue at the unit you are the one that's responding

yes i'm the one that responds i go there after every single guest you know make sure everything

is good i have uh the cell phone numbers of you know the closer neighbors

the cell phone numbers of you know the closer neighbors and you know I let them

know if you have any issues just let let me know okay all the questions questions

from our attorney no questions at this time questions or comments from the

virtual audience Pamela Bracey you have been allowed to speak okay good

afternoon I couldn't do could you please state your name is spelled for the

stenographer yes p-a-m-e-l-a bracy b as in boy r-a-c-e-y do you swear or affirm to tell the

truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do please proceed i did attend the rco meeting

and it was a question that we raised the same as what one of the members raised why did the lady

decide she wanted to do an airbnb which we felt as though which i felt as though we've been bringing

a lot of people into the neighborhood. It appears as though that is more single family, even though

further down you do have businesses. But I think we should kind of keep our single family and

not have so many people coming and going. And especially if you're telling tenants or Airbnb

persons they can only have two persons there. I mean, you know, they may decide they want to

invite someone and she's saying her rule is you can only have two people no one else can come and

visit no parties we understand that but you could have a dinner if you wanted to and that could be

more than two persons so i just think that ignorance of her zoning is not an excuse for what

she should have done so i would say solo said temporary and i think maybe temporary

various if the board agrees and thank you thank you very much for taking the time to call see

joe do you have any questions no uh anybody else in the audience i see no hands chair um planning

commission nina solomonic with the planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends

no change to the existing RSA. Can't hear you. Can you hear me now? Yes. There's no unique physical condition or circumstance that would prevent the property from being used in conformance with the zoning code.

a 2020 zoning ordinance passed by city council which regulated short-term rentals did not change

the basic rule prohibiting full-time use of a dwelling unit as short-term rental this type of

absentee management where the owner does not live in the unit has been illegal since the first

short-term rental zoning regulations became in effect in 2015 what's changed since the passage

of the 2020 ordinance is that there is now a licensing and enforcement mechanism the city

planning commission recommends the board deny the proposed use variants for visitor accommodations

thank you um mi 2026 003 185 245 west culture street i vote yes temporary variance that expires

8 27 29 and also trash stored inside michael johns my vote is a 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.

Tia Nguyen, my vote is no.

TIA Nguyen, my vote is no.

TIA Nguyen, my vote is yes, with Proviso.

Number three, MI 2026-002-148-1933-43-North 31st Street.

Alan Nockamson is the attorney.

I'll be freezing myself.

You weren't here this morning, were you?

Oh, there you go.

Mr. Nockamson, could you please state and spell your name?

Alan Nockamson.

oh a-l-a-n last name knockamson n-o-c-h-u-m-s-o-n do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole

truth nothing but the truth i will could you identify your client and relationships in a

property yeah my client is friends rehabilitation program inc and then the virtual audience should

be aleda zelodon uh its director all right and our board secretary has a few questions for you

Good afternoon, counsel. Did you submit your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing? Yes, we have. And do you waive the reading of the refusals and stipulations?

uh yes we have and do you waive the reading of the refusals and stipulate to their accuracy i do

okay you can then share your screen and begin your presentation all right um if i could be

promoted to a pan as a panelist thank you you have been promoted

i do not see that

Do you see it?

I'm in now.

Okay.

Just waiting to join.

All right, so my client is Friends Rehabilitation Program.

They're an affordable housing developer in Philadelphia.

They do a ton of work in the Strawberry Mansion community and regularly collaborate with the

Strawberry Mansion CDC.

And what we're proposing here is to have five triplexes on lots that were formerly six lots,

and it's not out of character to have that.

I have a list of exhibits, which includes, I believe, 13 exhibits here, I think includes

my presentation, I would ask that Aleda virtually raise her hand to be sworn in.

First is the refusal. This is an RSA-5 property, a rather massive lot. Subdivided, as proposed,

each lot would be 1,161 square feet. We have two refusals. The first refusal is the use as

triplexes for this RSA-5 property, or hopefully properties. And then we also have a refusal

REGARDING THE OCCUPIED AREA, WHERE 75% IS REQUIRED, WHERE 80.7% IS PROPOSED.

WE HAVE CONFORMING REAR YARD SETBACKS, AND ACTUALLY OUR PROPERTY DOESN'T GO AS DEEP

AS, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE A 9-FOOT REAR YARD SETBACK WHERE THE PROPERTY IN 1931 ONLY HAS

AN 8-FOOT YARD FOOT SETBACK.

I WOULD HAVE SUGGESTED TO MY ARCHITECT TO MATCH THEM IN LINE BECAUSE THEY ACTUALLY

got more space but anyway we're more in conformance with the code in terms of the setback requirement

than our neighboring property we're also in the strawberry mansion uh well we're respecting the

fact that this is strawberry mansion so the height of our building is only a little less than 35 feet

um high and there is no roof deck proposed either in respecting their overlay we met with the

community we have overwhelming support unanimous support what's not in my materials we we did

reach out to the ZBA's administrator today. My understanding is there's a letter of non-opposition

from Council Member Young. I mean, that's what I was told. I don't have a copy of that,

but that was my... Give me one minute here. Yeah, so... Unanimous support, right? Yep.

Is there a Council Member Young who has a letter of non-opposition? Okay. I just don't have a copy of

it. That's why it's not in my materials. But, you know, again, not out of character for, you know,

in on that block 1931 in 1921 uh north 31st street are triplexes the properties have had histories of

had has had history of being multi-unit equaling three units and you know i just gave you the

materials uh that we found on atlas regarding some of these properties again uh friends rehabilitation

Program, Inc. is an affordable housing developer. In addition to that, they are also known for

several other programs, which is Homeless Services Program, which they're not doing here, but I'm

just saying, and a re-entry program, and as well as GRIP Program, which nurtures environments for

at-risk individuals to grow, learn, and succeed. So they're very well known in especially this

community, strawberry management community. Like I stated, they have collaborated on many

occasions you you would even see the letter of support from the strawberry mansion community

group uh stating that uh rather large law out of character you know as an rsa5 property behind us

on stanley street are rm1 properties again 1921 and 1931 are also triplexes aerial views of the

property so since our clients own this property they've had problems of dumping of cars and

trailers and this would obviously stop that and also you know build up that block that that does

need some help photographs of the property this is the property there's also two vacant lots here

that we don't own this is the property 1931 that we're mimicking in terms of height and like i

of height and like i said it goes a little bit deeper than us but you know again what we're

said it goes a little bit deeper than us but you know again what we're trying to

trying to do is conform as close to the code as possible with regards to occupied area this is

our hearing notice poster for today's hearing uh north 31st street to the right of the property

to the left of the property our plans and drawings again what we try to do is mimic the architecture

as much as possible so you have a flat brick facade you have a cornice line you have lentils

uh front doors that are defined um and uh the window lines even you know are matching a little

bit more architectural interest in terms of the cornice uh excuse me the lentils to kind of have

a look curve on the tops of it have some architectural interest um this is you know

our site plan uh we are uh four feet below grades and three feet above uh this is our floor plans

I'll quickly go through them. If you go through the front door, there's a vestibule area, you make

a right. Unit number one is one bedroom, one bath. So you have a delivery room, kitchen, and dining

room area, a bathroom, and the bedroom. The person can store their trash outside. There's a lower

level. We really just think of that as storage. Maybe someone puts an office down there. I don't

you know, the ceilings are not that high. You go up a flight of steps, you have the livery room

and dining room area, kitchen, a bedroom. Here's the ventilated trash closet for unit number two.

You have a bathroom and a kitchen. You go up a third flight of steps, mimics unit number two.

You have, you walk in, you have a living room, dining room, kitchen area, ventilated trash closet,

one bedroom two bedrooms bathroom this is just a you know survey showing that

this property is gonna be subdivide or at least a proposed subdivision this is

our proof of mailing for the community meeting we met on June 25th at 6 p.m.

these are the 158 addresses we sent the mailer to proof of mailing those

notices our application for zoning variance along with the notice of refusal and the project

information form our deed showing that friends rehabilitation program inc is the owner of the

property and then finally our certificate of tax clearance which i will be getting through the deed

you want to bring your client on yeah um elena can you virtually raise your hand

while i'm going through this and the certificate of tax clearance

a lady have been allowed to speak hi could you please state your name is spelled for the

stenographer a lady zeladon a l e y d a zeladon z e l e d o n do you swear or affirm to tell the

truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes counsel uh yes alayda you heard everything i had

to state today about your zoning matter yes i heard everything specifically that you know your

organization uh can you speak a little louder please sure especially since you're that your

organization is a non-profit organization that does affordable housing and that you regularly

collaborate with strawberry mansion cdc with respect to these matters yes that's correct

we're a non-profit organization all right great and um everything i state is stated was true and

correct right that is correct and do you adopt it as your own testimony uh can you repeat that

please do you adopt it as your own testimony what i stated yes thank you questions from the board