ZBA Hearing - June 21, 2022

Okay.

Okay, are we on the record, sir?

I am.

I'm ready.

Yes.

Court reporter will begin shortly as we allow all to come in.

We'll begin shortly.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And Chair, we have 28 attendees.

We can start when you wish.

Thank you.

Good morning.

My name is Bill Bourbon, and I will be chairing this morning the EPA hearing.

With me is Carol Tenere, our Vice Chair.

President, Mr. Chairman.

Ismail Shahid, our Board Secretary.

President, Mr. Chairman.

And Thomas Holliman, our Board Member.

President, Mr. Chairman.

Also, here is our Executive Director, Tanya Sunkit, and our Board Attorney, Hillary Emerson.

Before we start, here's our virtual format.

Be advised these proceedings are being recorded. By participating, you acknowledge your agreement

to be recorded. A video will be available by contacting TanyaSunkett at phil.gov.

For the benefit of our court stenographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify

themselves before testifying. If you're participating by phone, if you wish to testify,

press star 9 to raise your hand and star 6 to unmute. To enter an appearance statement, call

267-270-5548. Leave your email and the address of the property in question.

And last, please note the question answer box on the screen is not for testimony or comments.

Any comments have to be directed for our Executive Director, Tanya Sunkit.

So let's look at this morning's continuances.

Number four, MI 2021-005-417, 1400 to 38 North Howard Street.

number five mi 2021 005 316 1630 31 church lane number six mi 2021 004 659 21 26 east lehigh

Avenue. Number seven, MI 2022, 000305, 2625 to 33 Jefferson Street. And number

7. Hold on one minute. Number 12 MI 2021 003 169 90 Rochelle Avenue. All those cases are being

continued. If anyone in the virtual audience has a comment about any of those cases, please let me

know. Good morning, Mr. Bergman. This is Jason Hand. Yes. I do not see any hands raised at this

time, sir. Thank you. Number 10, MI 2021-003-788. Would Mr. Saverin and Mr. Richardson please get on,

please. Mr. Chair, to clarify, that's 5951 Kemble Avenue. Yeah, I'm sorry. MI 2021-003-788-5951

Kimball Avenue. Mr. Saverin. Good morning, Mr. Chairman. Hi, Mr. Saverin. Is this okay for

the continuance on this case? I'll be coming back in, sir. Okay. Good morning. Yes. So we have a

wait one minute that if you're going to say, do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole

truth nothing but the truth yes i do and spill your name for the court reporter please b-r-a-n-d-o-n

B-R-A-N-D-O-N, S as in Sam, A, V as in Victor, R-A-N.

s as in sam

Are we okay for it continues for this case?

Yes.

Okay, thank you.

Number 10, MI 2021-003-788 will be continued.

Thank you very much, sir.

Thank you.

and then number nine mi 2021 001 951 54 west rod avenue this case is withdrawn

and number 13 mi 2022 0000 54 934 to 44 east panashawk avenue that case is withdrawn

is there any comments about the cases that are withdrawn

i do not see any hands sir okay we're going to go to the regular list

mi 2022 003 379 1008 addison avenue reed boyton

is pro se we have a letter of uh non-opposition from washington square west civic association

and councilman squill is in non-opposition mr boyden has been promoted panelists he'll be

joining us right now hi there good morning mr boyden could you spell your name for our court

reporter, please. Sure, it's R-E-E-D-B-O-Y-D-E-N. Do you swear our firm to tell the truth, the whole

truth, nothing but the truth? Yes, I do. Okay, our vice chair has a few questions. Sure. Hi, good morning,

sir. Have you emailed the exhibit packet with the required documents, proof of ownership, tax

compliance, 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 i sent the exhibits last

tuesday i believe and my rco meeting was the original one from before the reconsideration

i forget when that took place but it did happen okay great thank you you may proceed

excuse me one minute this is hillary yes can you read the um refusal into the record please thank

Thank you. Yes. Do you want the application read in as well?

Just read the language from the refusal.

I can't find.

I have it. I got it.

For the erection of a roof deck above the previously approved edition and for the increase in size of previously approved roof deck above the existing semi-detached structure.

Size and location is shown in the application plans.

the proposed use is refused for minimum front setback for roof decks five feet required zero

feet proposed and mr chair this is hillary again i just is for the this proposed juice is refused

for minimum front setback for roof decks five feet required zero feet proposed

and this is yes um so i just wanted to know as this is a reconsideration hearing the testimony

and record from the prior hearing

are incorporated into this one.

Thank you.

So, we're ready.

Share a screen.

Great, I'll share my screen.

Thank you.

So, as you guys just mentioned,

this is a reconsideration hearing

where we're requesting exemption

from a five-foot setback

that's required for roof decks.

So, I'll quickly flip through some of these. This is the exhibit packet that I included last week. So, we have the refusal itself. We have the actual application. The PIF is included. Our deed. A letter from my co-owner, Marjorie Miller.

certificate of tax compliance and the posting for the property i posted the zoning notice

and the refusal out in front of the house had it out there for i think it was 14 days for a

for a reconsideration hearing and now to jump into the actual work i'll pull up the original

zoning plans that were submitted with this application there have been some alterations

since then, but originally we were proposing a roof access staircase from our third-story roof

deck up to a proposed fourth-story roof deck, but the staircase was located inside of the required

but the staircase was located inside of the required five-foot setback.

five-foot setback.

So there was a little bit of pushback during the RCO meeting with some neighbors,

as well as on the previous ZBA hearing.

So this was denied.

I requested reconsideration, and now this is the reconsideration hearing.

Here's a side view, the staircase on the north end,

and the front view, staircase on the north end.

As I mentioned, there has been a little bit of a change since this original permit, so we actually submitted a separate permit, so zoning and building permits, which are here, where we moved the staircase.

So instead of having it on the north end within the five-foot setback, we moved the staircase to the south end to access the new fourth-story roof deck.

So this was a separate permit that was approved. We've already completed the work,

as you'll see in some of the pictures, and the permits have been closed out.

So this brings me to the revised plans for this permit.

I have the proviso plan form that I filled out,

and I updated the plans for this permit by removing the staircase along the north end

so there's no longer a staircase within this five-foot setback and I removed the fourth

the fourth story roof deck from this permit as well since it was covered in the other one

so just those two changes the staircase and the fourth story roof deck excuse me

so that just leaves the only thing that we're requesting in this permit is exemption from that

five foot setback we're not proposing any physical alterations no staircase no roof deck

that has all been covered and approved in another permit

uh now to give you and feel free to jump in with questions if you have any

but i'll show you some photos of the property just to give you an idea of what this looks like

here's a photo of the front of the house you can see the parapet wall this this blue wall here

is the parapet wall on the front end of the third floor roof deck and you can see a little bit of

the railing that's on the front of the fourth story roof deck which has a five foot setback

now if we jump up to the actual third story so this was the third third store edition

third story edition that we added at the end of last year as part of a different permit.

But just to give you an idea, this is the third story. It looks out on the third story roof deck.

You can see out the door there. Same thing here. And if we jump outside, this is the third story

roof deck with the third story edition. And you can see the staircase that's now on the south end

of the house that accesses the fourth floor roof deck. And a view from the fourth level,

here's the fourth story roof deck. So this work has already been completed, closed out,

approved by L&I. So again, the only thing that we are requesting as a part of this permit is

for this rectangle area up here to be reclassified as a roof deck instead of a non-roof deck.

Since there's already this solid parapet wall that you can see on the right side, there's no physical alterations that are needed for this.

We won't have to put up another railing or anything.

It's simply just a technical classification of this area as a non-roofdeck changing to a roofdeck.

Thank you, Mr. Boynton.

Any questions from the board?

No, Mr. Chair.

Questions or comments from the virtual audience?

i do not see any hands mr chair my planning commission

morning this is uh ron bednar city planning first name ron r-o-n last name bednar b-e-d-n-a-r

do you swear a firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do proceed please

so this property is indicated for residential use on the city plan based on the revised plans

We recommend, of course, advance to be granted.

MI 2022-003-379-1008 Addison Street.

I vote yes with revised plans, three pages, stamped June 21st, 2022.

Harold Tenere, my vote is yes with proviso.

Thomas Holland, my vote is yes with proviso.

Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes for provisor.

Ishmael Shahi, my vote is yes for provisor.

Thank you, Mr. Boynton.

Thank you, Mr.

Great, thank you, everyone.

Okay.

You're welcome.

This is beautiful.

MI 2022-000273-1238-46 Belmont Avenue.

Michael Mattione is the attorney.

Letter of support from Councilman Curtis Jones.

A letter of support from Parkside Association of Philadelphia.

Mr. Mattione will be rejoining as a panelist, sir.

Good morning, Mr. Chairman.

Good morning, Mr. Mattione.

Could you spell your name for the court reporter, please?

Sure.

That's Michael Mattione, M-I-C-H-A-E-L-M-A-T-T-I-O-N-I.

All right.

Do you swear for them to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?

I do.

Could you identify your client and the relationship to the property?

Yes.

It's Haverford Square slash Belmont LLC, and they are now the owner of the property.

Thank you.

Our Vice Chair, Carl Tenere, has a few questions.

Sure.

Good morning, Mr. Matione.

Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?

Yes.

Have you emailed the exhibit packet with the required documents consisting of 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 everything.

Okay, you may proceed and please share your screen.

Thank you.

Thank you.

okay again um i'm representing haverford square slash belmont llc who is now the owner of the

property and i do have german yakaba principal on as well and as we discussed we did submit

excuse me the tax clearance the refusal support letter from parkside association the coordinating

RCO, support letter from Councilmember Curtis Jones, the site plan, floor plans, renderings,

zoning map for the area, photographs of the site and the surrounding properties, and deed

and the affidavit of service of notice for the RCO meeting showing letters sent to 21

nearby neighbors this project is on the um let me just go down and you see we have the support

letter from the rco and it was a 14 to nothing everyone attending supported the application

and we do have a support letter as well from council member curtis jones and he he said

And again, he joins the Parkside Association and nearby neighbors in supporting the project.

So this project is on the edge of an industrial zone area.

It's a transition area from residential uses to Fairmount Park.

It's on Belmont Avenue and Belmont Avenue at top West Thompson Street.

This is the site.

It's a large site. It has an existing cell phone tower in the rear of the site that we can't move.

We have a long-term lease, so we're stuck with it.

So we have the building on the front and an outdoor area that surrounds the cell phone tower for use by the people living in the property.

The project itself is directly across the street from an elementary school.

It has next to it a self-service storage facility and another School of Discovery Charter, which also received a variance to operate in the I-1 Industrial Zoning District.

To the south is an auto repair facility.

Directly to the south of that, also in the I-2 Zoning District, are two additional residential properties.

So this is an overview. This is our property, Belmont Avenue, Wide Street, Big Street, Thompson Street, very limited use, Lex Street.

Across, you can see this is a school. These are all multifamily residential structures directly across the street.

And a little bit farther down, there is some commercial uses like the Pink Cafe.

And down here are also residential structures in the I-2.

zoning district this is the building that we would demolish and replace with the new building

just so you can have some context as to where we're talking again

where we're talking. Again, this is the building, this is the auto, and then this is residential

this is the building this is the auto and then

right in the same stretch, and then larger residential down the street.

There's the cell phone tower in the back of the property. Further surrounding properties

across the street, as you can see, it's all multifamily, residential.

there's the self-storage facility next to us it's a very low impact

use there's the other school the discovery charter school again on the same side of the

street as us going towards north towards fairmount park again looking north towards fairmount park

you can see there's a fire station as well across the street there is the school that's directly

across the street from let's see have one school here and another school over there on the other

side of the street and that is fairmount park up there as you transition from residential uses up

to fairmount park again another picture of the school directly across the street the multi-family

and limited commercial uses over there again there's a cafe and another vacant commercial

use, but all multifamily above it.

And just some additional shots in just showing the context of where we are.

And this is again, the residential uses that are right next to the auto facility,

and they are also multifamily and in the I2 zoning district.

Just want to go down to the floor plans.

We have.

In the basement, parking for 32 cars, you would access this from Thompson Street.

Come in.

This is Belmont Avenue.

This is Thompson Street.

You enter the basement off of Thompson Street.

There's a ramp that goes down.

It's all underground parking, 32 spots with the required ADA parking spaces.

On the first floor, we have artist studios.

These are permitted uses in the district.

All glass along both Belmont Avenue and Thompson Street, where the artist studios are.

An amenity room for the residents.

Bicycle storage and package room.

Lobby elevator.

There is a trash room, which has direct access to Thompson Street.

So we have private trash pickup.

The trucks will be on Thompson Street.

The totes will be wheeled out to Thompson Street.

Again, people aren't gonna be back on Thompson Street.

It's a very limited use street.

There's also a storage area

and an additional freight elevator,

which has access again, off of Thompson Street.

This is the existing cell phone tower site

and the rear area for residential use.

The floor plans, they are slight,

there's 84 residential units.

There are eight one-bedroom units and six two-bedroom units.

There are variations, limited variations on each floor.

Some have balconies, some don't.

This is also an area that's a courtyard but not used to provide light and air to these units that are on the inside of that courtyard.

That's the second floor.

The third floor, you can see there's some slight changes because there's some balconies on some of the units.

and the scene is for the fifth floor again slight changes on the floor plans

but nothing substantial and the same the sixth and the seventh floor and there's

the proposed rooftop deck with two stairs and an elevator access to get

there as well we also have renderings and again the exterior materials are

brick and some other composite.

And again, at the street level, this is an access,

you can walk back to the back area and there'll be windows

because this is an artist studio,

there'll be windows along this access way.

Also large floor to ceiling windows on both Belmont Avenue

and Thompson Street.

You can see again, showing down Thompson Street.

further renderings from the back showing the cell phone tower in the rear

the area behind it again looking at the roof off of belmont avenue

an additional rendering showing the back and one final rendering looking at the

rear of the property, the outdoor amenity space for the residents, and also could be

The outdoor amenity space for the residents, and also could be used for the artist studios that are there.

used for the artist's studio.

So this area is no longer industrial.

It is a link from the community, residential community to the south of the Fairmount Park.

A single variance that we're requesting will permit development of this property in a residential use with artist studios at the first floor.

that provides a transition, again, from the residential uses all the way up to Belmont Avenue.

There are multiple uses on the street, including to-school the firehouse, commercial uses, apartments, and et cetera.

And again, we have the full 100% support of the RCO.

So it would allow for better pedestrian and bicycle access along Parkside Avenue, sorry, along Belmont Avenue, getting up to Parkside Avenue and Fairmount Park.

The location of the property.

Personally, the artist studios, the owner of the property, and he's going to testify in a minute, also works with the artist galleries that are located on Belmont Avenue across the street.

And the studios will complement the galleries that already exist there.

The location and surrounding uses do create an unnecessary hardship to the property and justify grieving of the variance.

They're not going to substantially increase congestion.

The underground parking, which was really appreciated by the RCO, will keep all parking off of the street, minimize the impact of cars in the area.

And again, will help with making it more inviting to pedestrians and bikers.

What I'd like to do is call on German Yakubov, the principal.

Sure.

Sir, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?

Yes, German Yakubov, G-E-R-M-A-N Yakubov, Y-A-K-U-B-O-V.

Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?

I do so swear.

Please proceed, counsel.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And Chairman, when you looked at this property, did you look at possible industrial uses?

We did. And there just wasn't any real demand for it.

The current occupant has been there since the 60s, and they're moving out just because of the condition of the building and, you know, the lack of need for industrial space in this area.

They're transferring their business further into a more industrial park type of setting as opposed to this building.

And in looking at this property, why did you determine these uses would not work?

uh talking talking to the owner um just doing some market analysis there's also uh much more

pressure for a need for residential development there we we've maintained uh a ground floor

industrial use for artist studios which complements the the growing um population of

artists in the neighborhood there's an artist gallery that was recently approved by the zba

across the street and uh miguel horn who's a famous philadelphia artist has a studio half a

block away on South Street. There are multiple artists that use his studio and it's always kind

of spills out into the street just because they don't have any space. And we figured this would

be a good lighter use of industrial space while still complimenting the demand for residential

use in the neighborhood. Well, if the variance is granted, will it cause any harm to adjacent

some properties? Not at all. And will granting of the bearings create any environmental issues?

It won't. If anything, it'll have a lesser impact on congestion. This property is within

a half a block of a trolley stop. It's across the street from a bus stop.

So it's very transit oriented. Did you hear my earlier statements?

I did. And are they thrown correct? Yes, they are.

And do you adopt them as your testimony?

I do.

I have nothing further for Mr. Yacobab and no further witnesses, Mr. Chairman.

Questions from the board?

No, Mr. Chairman.

No, Mr. Chairman.

No, Mr. Chairman.

Questions or comments from the virtual audience?

I don't see any further hands, Mr. Chair.

Planning Commission?

Ron Bednar, City Planning.

while this property is currently indicated for industrial on the city plan given the surrounding

context we recommend the course of variance be granted thank you MI 2022 000 273 1238 to 46

0-0-0-2-7-3-12-38-46 Belmont Avenue, I vote yes.

Carol Tenere, my vote is yes.

Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.

Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes as well.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

MI 2021-004-758-136 West Shartnack Street.

Sean Ward is the attorney.

There is a letter of support from West Mount Airy Neighbors Association, which was sent to us by Mr. Richardson.

And a letter of non-opposition is coming from Councilwoman Bass.

Okay, sir.

Mr. Ward will be rejoining shortly as an end.

I will promote him or do my best to promote him.

Thank you.

Good morning, Chairman Bergman, members of the board, Sean Ward, on behalf of the applicant, and that is spelled S-H-A-W-N-W-A-R-D.

Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?

Yes, I do.

Could you identify your client in relationship to the property?

Yeah, my client is Vargas Oganisian, O-G-A-N-I-S-E-A-N, and he's doing business as V&V Holdings LLC, which is the owner of the subject property.

Our vice chair has a few questions.

Good morning, Mr. Ward. Do you agree to await the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?

Yes, 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 yes to all the above okay great you may proceed um and begin

sharing your screen okay very good um mr chairman i've submitted my typical exhibit packet which

includes a one is the notice of refusal and the eclipse application. This was an application for

the erection of a semi-detached structure for use as a single family dwelling. It resulted in what

I would consider three minor variance requests. One is a vertical deck support which is less than

18 inches from the side lot line. The minimum side yard eight feet is required versus 4.127

feet proposed and one off street parking space is required in the district however it is physically

impossible to provide same so we seek a variance for those three a2 is the zba application a3 is

the project information form a4 is proof of ownership a5 proof of tax clearance a6 is the

original slate and elevation plan pursuant to our three meetings with the rco we revised the

facade elevation. It doesn't have any effect upon the refusals. However, in spirit of

cooperation, we did revise the front facade to mimic or blend in with the character and nature

of the block. A8 are photographs. A9 is my RCO meeting notice and certificate of mailing.

A10 is the RCO letter. A11 is the zoning history of the subject. There were three other

projects built on this block of Sharpenack Street, similar in nature, single-family dwellings with

side yard setback variances and variance from parking requirements. A15 is the zoning map and

A16 is the aerial photograph. So very quickly, we have our refusal, application of appeal,

project information form, copy of the deed, tax clearance.

This is the original site plan and elevation plan.

While we did make an effort in the beginning to kind of match the eaves of the front of the structure,

we did go back and revise it to what is considerably a much better design,

which was supported by the neighbors. With regard to the variance, the red dot indicates where the vertical column is on the rear deck.

With regard to the variance, the red dot indicates where the vertical column is on the rear deck.

It does abut the property line as opposed to being set back 18 inches from the property line.

With regard to the side yard setback, we have 4.127 feet.

This property is only 19.96 feet wide.

If we were to provide an eight-foot setback, the resulting property, the structure would be less than 12 feet wide

and would be problematic for interior architectural designs. In addition, given the small size of the

lot, to have an off-street parking space would be problematic. This is the picture of the site.

We're going to build an attached structure attaching to 138 West Sharpnack Street.

As you can see in the photographs, no other properties on the block have off-street parking.

Looking up and down the block, aerial views, you can see these are twin homes and there

are no Wall Street parking spaces.

And Westmount area, as you stated, did submit a letter of support, 9 in support, 0 opposed.

And I believe Charles Richardson is on the call.

He had issued an email yesterday indicating that the councilwoman was not opposed.

So based on the foregoing, we would ask that the zoning board grant their requested variances.

If the board would like, if the chair pleases, I can have Vargas allowed to speak to verify and adopt.

Or as an officer of the court, I would ask the board to stipulate that if called to testify, he would verify my representations as true and correct.

And he would adopt them as his own.

Sure. We'll allow it. Hillary, we need a copy of the tax documents?

we're we're good we're good with the tax documents um but i did i did want to ask um

mr ward do you need the revised plan stamped there's the one i don't believe so no hillary

i don't believe so because uh they don't affect the size or location of the structure nor do they

affect the refusals um you know but if the board has a courtesy to west mount area wants to stamp

them uh with the revised facade elevation uh design that's we have no objection to that but

we do fully intend to build it right no i i think we i think we will stamp it if you can just submit

um a proviso plans form and we can so that we can stamp them together so all right you'll have that

today all right thank you questions from the board so mr chair granting we need one pages

of revised plans stamped today okay sure thank you no mr chair questions or comments from the

virtual audience here we have charles richardson with his hand up mr richardson you can unmute

yourself or wait for the chair please good morning mr richardson could you state your name and spell

for the court reporter good morning mr chair charles richardson ch-a-r-l-e-s-r-i-c-h-a-r-d-s-o-n

office of councilwoman cindy bass room 312 city hall you swear or affirm to tell the truth the

whole truth and nothing but the truth i do proceed uh councilwoman is uh confirming what

mr ward said councilwoman is unopposed unopposed to uh granting the variance for this property

Thank you very much. Any other comments from the virtual audience?

Chair, I see no other hands at this time.

Thank you. Planning Commission.

It's our Ryan Bednar City Planning. The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential single-family zoning for this property. Proposed dimensions of the new structure are very close matched to the adjoining twin and all other twins on the block. Therefore, we recommend that the Board grant the dimensional and parking variances.

Thank you. MI 2021-004-758-136 West Sharp Backstreet. I vote yes. Revised plans, one page, 621.

Carol Tenere, my vote is yes with provisos.

Tomber Solomon, my vote is yes with provisos.

Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with provisos.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr. Ward.

Number eight, MI-2022-000280-525 South 42nd Street.

Mr. DeMarco is the attorney.

Letter of non-opposition from Spruce Hill Community Association.

Mr. DeMarco.

There, Mr. DeMarco is here, but DPC Zoom, I'm having problems promoting him to a panelist.

DPC Zoom, I'm having problems promoting him to a panelist. Can someone promote him, please?

Yes, I will promote him.

Thank you.

Let's see. I am receiving an error code. Did you as well receive the error code?

Yes, I got an error code when I tried to promote it.

I did also.

So could we ask him to please go out and try coming back in, see if that helps at all.

Mr. DeMarco, can you come, can you leave the hearings and come back in?

Okay.

I'm waiting for him to come back in now, Chair.

Yes, that's fine.

i just rearranged myself mr chairman i can't understand why i'm always sideways i'm trying

to be like that it's fine it's fine it's fine but it's driving me nuts to look oh gosh