of a bigger vision here for the renovation. Here's the notice posting. You can see these stone walls.
These are, you know, 100 years old plus maybe. Justin will correct me if I'm wrong. And our gate
is matching the height of those. So you really couldn't even see it from the side. Here's the
right of the property and at the left heavily wooded area there's a better picture of the
existing gate here it is from another perspective this existing archway with original iron work
is remaining a couple more perspectives there's also a pedestrian pathway through the entry point
Here's the plans and drawings. So this is the site plan. I'll just show you sort of where we
here's the plans and drawings so this is the site plan I'll just show you sort of where we are on the
are on the site. Here's the gate. You can see that there's a six, you know, it's 60 feet,
one inch set back. Then there's an existing parking court behind that. That's an additional
almost 69 feet to the primary facade. And then the gate is going right there.
here is a an elevation whoops an elevation of the gate so this is sort of a more rudimentary
drawing of the gate for for zoning purposes you'll see the more ornamental version in a
later slide but you can see it's six feet eight inches tall and that that existing
lantern and bracket is to remain I think at this point I'd like for Justin to be sworn in
and he can explain. Hey sir could you please state and spell your name? Justin Detweiler J-U-S-T-I-N
Detweiler D-E-T-W-I-L-E-R. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the
truth? I do. Counsel? Justin can you explain to the board what it's made out of who's making it
and what the sort of design intention was behind it just briefly? So this house has extreme historic
significance. It was designed by one of America's foremost architects of its era, 1928. And the
house is full inside and out of important museum quality ironwork by Samuel Yellen, who was the
foremost metal worker in American history. The arch over the gate, everything that you see on
this property was designed by Yellen. And so our clients have spent great expense restoring this
house. We're in the process of that right now. And we've added some new elements within the house
in the spirit of Samuel Yellen. And so these designs for the gate are very reminiscent of
the work that he did. They're also the work of a very popular and well-known Philadelphia
And they'll they're being fabricated and hand forged in his shop in Fishtown, and that's the basis for them.
We're matching the height of the wall because that 60 foot long driveway that you saw is very much a kind of privacy slot on the site.
One thing that we didn't mention, and I think is worth noting is the security factor here.
This is the last house on Hoarder Street before Fairmount Park, and the street ends and turns onto Parkline Drive, and that is an entry point into the park, and thereby people park.
They go in and out of the park to hike, and this property continually gets vandalism from people who are doing all sorts of nefarious things, and even as recently as a few weeks ago,
the construction the electricians and all the contractors had all their cars broken into
on the sidewalk right in front of this property so it's partial security and it's partial um
ornament okay thank you um and if you want to just swap places with sophia okay so that's
you know there's obviously drawings here you can see the different creatures they uh uh
an image of their dog at the bottom of the gate and that's essentially it we
obviously met with West Mount area neighbors July 1st we mailed notice to
what neighbors we were required to which is not many because there's these are
large properties and then the deed to the property and then the tax clearance
so with that I'd like my client to be sworn in sure hi could you please state
and spell your name for the stenographer i'm sophia why don't you just i'm sophia gordon uh
spelled s-o-p-h-y-a-g-o-r-d-o-n all right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth counsel okay sophia did you hear my testimony today and did you hear
justin's testimony today were they both true and accurate and would you adopt them both as your own
thank you questions from the board
so is this historically certified property i don't believe it's on the philadelphia historic
register yeah okay couldn't hear couldn't hear his answer it's not and justin opines that it
it's it's surprising that it's not because it has a lot of historical elements and could qualify
okay and um what committee i'm sorry what committee out area westbound area neighbors and uh oh okay
all right um but this wasn't something that had to go but i guess because i was trying to
I guess, because I was trying to figure out if you just had to go in front of any, like the historical commission or anything like that.
Maybe this had to go in front of any.
Did not.
All right.
Question tomorrow.
I didn't have a question.
So to be clear.
Oh, go ahead.
You had another one?
Oh, no, go ahead.
Do you have another question?
Are you done?
No, I wasn't.
So I guess I'm having a little trouble with the orientation here.
so how far back does this i'm going to go to the site plan i think i mean i saw the
walls but i didn't see it's going in the same place where the existing gate is
if you look at the the plan on the screen it's circled where the proposed gate goes so
that sort of tunnel effect of the stone walls you can see on the left and the right here on this
drive and then the gate is being replaced where it currently is and then there's a parking court
that's directly behind it so if i go back to the photos you can see it's kind of this is like
more or less from the curb from the street and this is that yeah wow okay so then i guess
all right so this vandalism that happened where were these cars parked they weren't it sounds
like they were parked on the street um which is a close access point to fairmount park um
but this wouldn't have any parking in it what what's that can you park on this i'm not sure
if you can park there legally like the street is parkable and that's sophia sophia she grew up
living that entrance that drops in the department yeah right um but i mean how would that well you
can't you could you could you could step over the gate that's currently there it's it's i think it's
okay four feet tall or less um the new one is you know almost seven feet tall and it's made of iron
um no i don't have a problem with considering the orientation i'm not but i'm not sure how
even that if folks are parked outside at the this gate that's going to prevent the vandalism
it it may not i guess time will tell but it'll at least help my client feel a little bit more
secure that that you know people like vaulting this fence and i don't think so property hopefully
not yeah i'm just i'm just surprised you didn't you're not you're not defense is not being proposed
for the front of this exactly you know the front of this entry i don't i'm not sure how this is
like stop them before they go on the brick on there right i mean i think that the idea was to
put it where it was and it looks nice under the existing iron archway and the columns that are
there from a design perspective i mean i hear you um i mean if you're not you're not being
prevented from any for any historical no and and they could put if they could put a code
compliant fence there at a later date if they if they wanted to yeah oh okay all right try it i
think my question was just is this going to be a manual gate or is it going to be motion sensor
automatic and I think there will be a key
a keypad as well
and then motion sensor
but not floodlighted no floodlights
sounds like no
really
that lantern that's above the gate
I just want to know
that's my question
but I mean wouldn't that also help with the
there will be a light above it
I imagine that there may be security cameras
there's lighting at the front of the property
i don't think it's flood lighting i think it's more ornamental um my client and her husband are
moving in here for like the first time since she grew up here so i i assume you know um
if you determine that you need to beef some things up you will as time goes on
yeah there you go i mean i guess a question i think a question i have more for sophia is just
I know that these are big properties and there's a long distance, but I know that you have support from the RCO, but have you have any of the neighbors on either? Well, I guess only on the one side of you expressed any concerns about just in general, because it seems like you're doing this for a safety reason. Like, have you talked to any of the neighbors and are they aware that you're, yeah, they're aware that we're doing that. Yeah.
And nobody has expressed concerns about the gate.
And I guess my only issue is, I'm not sure if this is enough in terms of the, to address the security issues.
to address the security issues well i i'm not we're not claiming to address all of them i just
Well, I'm not, we're not claiming to address.
think it's an added benefit of of of the of the gate but i mean now when you have you know uh
you got cameras you've got the motion detection lights you've got you know different kinds of
ways that you can um kind of deter yeah there's options the idea is to make it you know
I think a lighter approach now, to answer your question about being set back, we believe
i'm sorry if there's additional testimony being made right now it's not being entered into the
record because we can't hear it in the microphone so if you want to testify you need to step up to
the microphone i was just saying that the um you know the modifications that we're making are in
compliance with the secretary of the interior standards which is our national standard for
historic preservation and we feel that the arch and where the lantern is placed which does provide
quite a bit of light actually um is the intended entry point of the property and on the other side
of that gate will is where they will be parking so in that front court that will prevent that
will protect their cars and eventually the front door of the house okay so you're following historic
standards of a sort without it being historically certified yes okay all right well you know i'm
just well the the real fact of matter is you're putting security up but you're also hanging a
piece of art yeah I mean I'm saying this is a piece of art yes it's a work of
sculpture by a significant sculptor and I will also add grace so Yellen did the
front the front gated temple Yellen did that right no questions at this time
all right mr. chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
planning Commission chair we do have a hand up sure from Ralph he is now
allowed to speak sure hello can you hear me i can could you mr pinkus could you please state
and spell your name for the stenographer surely good afternoon mr chairman members of the board
my name is ralph pinkus r-a-l-p-h pinkus p-i-n-k-u-s right do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth mr pinkus i do please proceed i chair the west
mount area neighbors zoning committee and signed a letter of support that a revised letter of
support that was sent in to the board on july 9 2026 mr goldberg has referred to that letter
i only want to indicate that there was unanimous support of the west mount area neighbors zoning
committee at the meeting on july the first the only neighbor who came to testify at that particular
meeting happened to be a fellow by the name of dan gordon who i've met once or twice as i've
lived in mount airway for 46 years and chaired this committee for maybe about 20 and that mr
gordon just happens to be the father of your witness that's testifying today and lives
and the property abutting the subject property.
There were no other neighbors who, after receiving notice, chose to attend our meeting,
and we're pretty well heard from in the neighborhood.
So I just wanted to share that there is support, that everyone thought the gate that's been designed is very tasteful and quite interesting.
And it's a unique property.
I've actually been there once or twice.
in a wonderful location and in fact as was mentioned there are a lot of people that come
and go in that location as I do to take a walk in the Wissahickon it's a very central entry point
into the woods okay Mr. Pinkish thank you very much for taking the time is there anyone else
no more hands at this time really commission
ina solomonic the planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change to
the existing rsd1 residential single family detached zoning the proposed dimensional
the proposed dimensional variance is minimal and does not conflict with the purpose
variance is minimal and does not conflict with the purpose and spirit
and spirit of the zoning code the planning commission recommends the board grant the
requested variance for the gate height mi 2026 002262 1021 west hoarder street i vote yes
michael johns my voice several guests and my vote is yes tenetta graham my vote is yes
brian mcadams my vote is yes hi owen my vote is yes thank you thank you mr patterson
mr chair this is uh ian hegarty pardon the interruption i'd like to now
ask you to call uh from the 330 list number three 1108 howard street so we can uh bring
the interpreter on for that case thank you okay all right we'll be right with you
MI 2025 006733 1108 Holworth Street
um joseph the caro is the attorney and we could the spanish interpreter please come on
yes my name is uh good afternoon a good afternoon chair my name is one i'm going to be a spanish
interpreter id number is json julia is in india 803 do you swear or affirm that you will interpret
accurately completely and impartially from english to spanish from spanish to english
Mr. Vaccaro.
Good afternoon.
May it please the board?
Good afternoon, Mr. Vaccaro.
I think we've sworn you in a few times today.
Am I correct?
Once before.
Right.
So could you please state your name and then identify your client?
Good afternoon.
My name is Joseph Vaccaro, V-A-C-C-A-R-O, and my client is Washington, as in George Washington,
caraballo c-a-r-a-b-a-l-l-o and he's sitting to my right okay um joe tell me what do you
recommend is this going to be word for word we're going to need or how do you want to do this
no if the board is willing if the board is willing to uh accept my my testimony as if my client were
testifying and then we'll just go back and he'll affirm it right and then he could just affirm
All right. Interpreter, could you please explain that to Mr. Carvalho?
Yeah, please.
Joe, our vice chair has a few questions for you.
Thank you very much. Go ahead.
good afternoon have you submitted your documents and is it just five days in advance of this
hearing yes i have and do you wave the reading of your referrals and stipulate to their accuracy
yes okay thank you you can share your screen and proceed with your case okay thank you very much
if i could start sharing my screen here and joe there is a letter of opposition from council
member Lozada and a letter of uh unanimous opposition from uh Northwood Civic