Okay, Chair, we have 43 attendees and counting.
You can proceed as you wish.
Thank you.
Good morning.
My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this morning's EBA hearings.
With me is our vice chair, Ismail Shahid.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our board member, Thomas Holliman.
Mr. Holliman is here.
And our board member, James Snell, who's just checking in.
Also present is Hillary Emerson, our attorney.
And also our executive director, Tanya Sunken.
Here's our virtual format.
Be advised, the proceedings are being recorded.
The video will be available by contacting tonyasunkett at fillet.gov.
For the benefit of our court stenographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying.
If you're participating by phone and 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 finally, the question and answer box on the screen is not for comments or testimony.
All comments should be directed to our Executive Director, Tanya Sunken.
Let's look at today's list.
Sorry, Chair. I'm here.
Thank you, Jim.
Number one, MI 2022-004-386-4067 North Free Street.
I understand there may be a request for continuance.
I need a representative, Haiyong Bach or David Chandler to please come on.
Hi, good morning, Chair.
This is Doreen Blakey, and I will be your co-host this morning.
Hi, Young Bach or Mr. Chandler.
Can you please raise your virtual hand?
There are no hands, Chair.
MI 2022 004336 4067 North 3 Street.
This case is continued.
Mark must be tried.
Number four, MI 2023-002-937, this property was not properly posted, the case is continued.
Number 12, MI2022, 004-234-6729 Elmwood Street.
Joseph Maley is the attorney.
There is a request for contingence.
Would Mr. Maley come on, please?
Joseph Mellie, if you're in the audience, please raise your hand.
Chair, I have C.L. Morton with a hand raised, a hand just went back down.
Okay, let's see who that is.
It went back down, and I see no more hands.
Wait a minute, Craig, sorry Chair, Craig Melodosian and a call-in user.
I will allow Craig Melodosian to speak first.
Well, let's get the call-in user.
Let's see if that's the attorney first.
Call-in user, you're allowed to speak.
Please unmute yourself.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court sonographer?
Yes, it's Adria Fernandez, F-E-R-N-A-N-D-E-Z, R-C-O.
wait a minute are you for this we're at 6729 elmwood avenue um i have a question about number
four because the address wasn't given was that 20 can you please give the address before you
finish the continuous as it said no posting said number four is 5610 lancaster avenue
okay thank you sure and mr chair just to clarify for miss fernandez it's not that the property
wasn't posted it was not posted with the proper documents that's why it was continued
That's why it was continued. Okay. I was waiting for another address. I'll just wait. Thank you.
okay i was waiting for another address i'll just wait thanks
Chair, I have Craig Melodosian, I will allow you to.
Mailey, we have no one responding for number 12. Am I correct?
No handshare except for Craig Melodosian. Okay. Bring Mr. Melodosian.
Mr. Melodosian, you're allowed to speak.
Good morning.
Good morning, sir.
Just for the record, state your name, please.
Last name Melodosian, M-E-L-I-D-O-S-I-A-N.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Proceed, sir.
I'm the coordinating RCO.
We have no opposition to the continuance.
uh there's not been a community meeting uh or even engaging with the attorney uh
we would again we have no problem with uh a continuance we had recommended to them that
they be the moving party but i'm not sure what happened and why they didn't respond in that
fashion mr meladozian thank you very much but uh this continuous had to be requested by the
attorney in person today. So MI-2022-004-234-6729 Elmwood Avenue. This is the third listing.
I vote to dismiss. Thomas Holloman, my vote is to dismiss. James Snell, my vote is to dismiss.
Thank you. Number 13, MI 2023, 003-011-906 South 49th Street. This case is continued. It's the first listing. Are there any other requests for continuances?
Chair, I have a hand up. I have two hands up. One from Andrew Goodman and the other Joseph Consol. I will allow Andrew Goodman to speak.
Let's go. Mr. Goodman first, please.
Good morning, Mr. Goodman. State your name for the record, please, and spell it.
Andrew Goodman, A-N-D-R-E-W-G-O-O-D-M-A-N, here representing the office, third district
council member, Jamie Gaudier.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
What case, sir?
We actually may have our hands raised for the same one, 5652 Windsor Street.
our office would like the opportunity
to kind of help
conduct further meetings between the applicant
and near neighbors
let me check
Hillary what number is that
that's number
seven Mr. Chair
thank you
is mr let's bring mr yes i was gonna say he's he's here as well so let's bring him on
mr good morning mr console could you state your name please as spell for the court sonographer
joseph console j-o-s-e-p-h-c-o-n-s-o-l-e right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the
whole truth nothing but the truth i do board the council purse uh persons uh andrew goodman has
that have requested a continuance for this.
Are you okay with that?
Yes, we concur.
Okay, thank you.
So MI 2022-007-349-5652, Windsor Street,
this case has been continued.
Are there any other requests for continuances?
Yes, Chair.
I have a total of three more hands up.
The first one is Sherry Cohen.
I will allow to speak.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Yes, Sherry Cohen, S-H-E-R-R-I-E-C-O-H-E-N
Right, do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
What case are you calling about?
I'm calling about 5600 North Sydenham Street
Okay, I hear that, let me get it up
okay um what what's your position are you connected dennis are you are you the owner
uh no i i'm a near neighbor
mr chair um sorry to interrupt um yeah so we have a request for continuance for for this case from
a concerned community association and i see they have their hands raised the council office and
The council office and the attorney for this case also have their hands raised.
the attorney for this case also have their
hands raised.
Let me bring the council for the, let me bring the attorney on first.
Mr. Bove.
Good morning, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
My name is Darwin Bove.
I'm at 1500 Market Street.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
I always do. We have someone apparently requesting continuances for this.
And it's a somewhat misguided request. We've been working with the coordinating RCO,
which is different from this RCO. This is under the guidance of the council office.
I believe Mr. Richardson is on the line as well and can confirm this. And I think this is a situation where you have a property seeking relief when it's abutting another community. And that's where we are.
So you're against the contingency?
We are against it.
Is Mr. Richardson on?
Mr. Chair, can we first hear from the RCO who's requesting the continuance?
Sandra Broaddus is here on behalf of a concerned community association.
Thank you.
Sandra Broaddus is allowed to speak.
Please unmute yourself.
Good morning, Mr. Chair.
Good morning.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Yes, my name is Sandra Broadus, S-A-N-D-R-A, last name B-R-O-A-D-U-S.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
I do, sir.
And are you the coordinating RCO?
No, I am not.
We are an affected RCO.
Well, why don't you want to give me your position here?
Our position is for as long as there were RCOs, ACCA has been the coordinating RCO for this area.
It has since been, cases have since been assigned to Oakland Worcester, which is in fact Charles Richardson, who is representing and coordinating that RCO.
So when that transition happened, cases, many of them, did not go addressed for over a year.
This one, 5600 Sydenham Street, is one of them.
We understand because we have suffered through the misscheduling and delay of the cases as the community,
the actual organized community where there are actually community members that get together and
meet and talk about the process. We have been subjected to the delays. We have sent requests
on behalf of this applicant trying to get this case heard. Given all the confusion and debacle,
there was an attempted meeting with the applicant that failed back in August. There was one
community member who is Sherry Cohen that attended by invitation of ACCA. And it was,
there was no presentations and nothing to present, no community members, and it was agreed that the
case would be continued. The understanding was that given all the grievances that were available
from the community that the community would have an opportunity to negotiate some terms with the
applicant. Since then, we have not been contacted. The community has not been involved. And so the
community on its own have put together their concerns. They are before you now in the report
that we sent to the council office and oak lane worcester and we would like an opportunity to meet
with this applicant this case should not just be pushed forward because they've been inconvenienced
we've been inconvenienced too all right thank you very much is mr richardson on the line
yes chair mr richardson you're allowed to speak morning mr richardson
Charles Richardson, Office of Councilwoman Cindy Bass, room 508 City Hall.
R-I-C-H-A-R-D-S-O-N.
Right. Do you swear for them to tell the truth, tell the truth, nothing but the truth?
Certainly do.
What's your position on this case?
What's your position on this case?
Position on this is they should be able to go forward if they choose to go forward.
My position on this is they should be able to go forward if they choose to go forward.
There was a meeting.
There was no near neighbor.
Mr. Cohen lives outside of the 250-foot range and was not included on the mailing that took place.
And, again, with regard to ACCA, they were used to being in charge of everything over in that community, essentially running roughshod over a lot of folks.
But since that point, there was a new RCO that did come online who is under Sharon Milburn Carter, who is not myself.
So, you know, Ms. Brodus is a little bit far-fetched with regard to what she's trying to put out there.
We feel that they should be able to, if they want to go forward, they should go forward and let the chips fall where they may.
All right. Thank you. Mr. Bovek?
We would like to go forward.
Case will go forward. Everyone will have a chance when I open it up to the community. Thank you. Any other requests for continuances?
I have Karen Cromartie
with her hand raised
and the hand went down
I see no more hands
I'm going to go to cases
I don't have any exhibits
MI 2022
007151
431 North 39th Street
no exhibits
second listing
Audrey Martinez
and the powerhouse development, right?
Audrey
Audrey Martinez, if you're in the audience.
The powerhouse development, Incorporated.
Or powerhouse development.
Raise your hand if you're in the audience.
The only hand up is Charles Richardson.
Shall I allow him to speak?
uh well we allow him to speak but i'm let let me handle this first because i'm sure he's done
Karen Cromartie is back up no other hands chair all right let's see is Karen Cromartie what she
what she needs okay
Karen Cromartie you're allowed to speak please unmute and wait for the chair
hi yes good morning chair could you state your name please and could you state your name and
spell for the court stenographer karen crow marty c-r-o-m like in mary and like in mary
a-r-t-y you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
Yes. What case are you involved with? I am case MI 20-22-007349. What's the location, ma'am? 5652 Windsor Street.
That case has been continued, Mr. Chair. Yes. So that case has already been continued?
Yes, I understand. It's been continued, but I'd just like to make a statement.
Well, you can't make a statement today. The case is already continued. You'll be notified of the next listing. Okay?
Okay. Thank you so much.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
So back to number three, MI20220071514431 North 39th Street. Audrey Martinez, there's no hands up.
No hands, sir.
So this is the second listing. MI2022007151431 North 39th Street. I vote to dismiss.
James Snell, dismissed.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is to dismiss.
Okay, that's, we have the votes.
um mi 2020 number five mi 2022 001 680 5710 malvern avenue tramiki stanley or aka traviki
towns no exhibits this is the fourth listing there was a continuous request on 524 23
three we still have no exhibits mr chair this is hillary um the applicant just sent in some
documents this morning but most most of the required documents were not included in the
package so this case is not ready to go forward excuse me chair i do
ready to go forward.
Excuse me, Chair.
I do have Treviki Stanley in the audience.
Been promoted to panelists.
Mr. Stanley, state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer.
Mr. Stanley?
hello can you hear me i can't could you could you please state your name and spell for this
it is t-r-a-v as in victor i-k-a stanley is the maiden name s-t-a-n-l-e-y right um do you swear
or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes so this is the fourth
listing and we we still do not have all the necessary exhibits we're not sure what necessary
exhibits there the blueprints were sent in by our architect larry gilbert um back in 2022
um there was no other exhibits that were requested so from us so here so here here here it is so
we don't have all the exhibits. I want you
to call the office. This case is continued today
but the next soliciting, it must be heard. You call the office, they'll tell you
everything that you need, okay? Okay. Thank you.
Excuse me, Chair.
I have a hand up by the name of D. Dukes
should i allow them to speak please bring bring them on okay
d dukes you've been allowed to speak please wait for the chair hi good morning this is d hi could
you state your name please and spell for the court sonographer sure d dukes d-e-e last name d-u-k-e-s
i am the president of the winfield community neighborhood association
Hold on. Okay. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, Chair.
What case are you involved with?
This is 5710 Malvern Avenue.
I just, we do not have all the exhibits. This case is continued, and I told the applicant it must be tried the next time.
Okay. And I understand that you made the decision for the continuance. This case has been going on, and most of the community are not in favor of the case.
Okay. But you heard my comments. The next time it's listed, it will either be tried or will be dismissed. Okay?
Okay. Thank you, Chair.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
them. Let's see here. Six. Number six. MI 2022 0073732126 West Cambridge Street.
Jamie Rivera is the listed applicant. Jose Cortez Ortez is the listed owner.
we have no exhibits second listing
mr chair i just wanted to clarify we did get a request from um swamp poodle um rco for
continuance must be heard um because there has apparently not been an rco meeting that was on
9 24 23 am i correct yes that is correct mr chair okay but we have not had any um had any
correspondence with the applicants my knowledge okay um mr cortez
mr cortez if you're in the virtual audience please raise your hand
and i don't see mr cortez here all right thank you so this is the second listing the last listing
no one appeared, we still do not have exhibits. So MI-2022-007-373-2126 West Cambridge Street,
I vote to dismiss. James Snell, my vote is to dismiss. Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is to dismiss.
And number 14, MI 2022-003-989-2851 Bodine Street, Angela Bucci and Michael Bucci, we have no exhibits. This is the second listing. There has been no meeting held.
There was a request for continuance for 12-14-22, or Mr. and Mrs. Bucci here.
there was a request for continuance for 12-14-22.
No handshare.
Okay, so this was the second listing.
There's been no RCO meeting.
So MI 2022-003-989-2851, Bonine Street, I vote to dismiss.
James Snell.
My vote is to dismiss.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is to dismiss.
Okay, we're going to go to our regular list.
We're going to go start with number 15, MI 2023-002-993-9916 Busselton Avenue.
Jarrett Klein is the attorney.
We have a letter of support from the Greater Busselton Civic League.
Mr. Klein.
Eric Klein has been promoted to panelists.
Good morning, Mr. Chair, members of the board.
Mr. Klein, could you state your name?
Could you spell for the court stenographer?
Certainly.
It's Jared, J-A-R-E-D.
Last name is Klein, K-L-E-I-N, from Blank Rome, 130 North 18th Street in Philadelphia.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, hold truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Could you identify your client, the relationship to this property?
Certainly.
My client is American Living Concepts II, and they are the owner of this parcel.
our vice chair has just a few questions sir sir good morning good morning counselor do you agree
to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to attack with you good morning mr shaheed yes i
do have you emailed them all the required documents and exhibits that are needed
um and required to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing yes i have
thank you mr kline please proceed and share your screen thank you very much
I will, as I go through, have a couple of witnesses to add some additional info and confirm some of my statements.
So I will let our emcee know as we get to that.
So we're here for 9916 Busselton Avenue, which was long the home of a sod farm and other commercial light industrial uses over the course of several years.
The proposal before the board today is really to transform this parcel from what is now an eyesore into a very, very attractive residential complex.
The proposal is for 90 residential dwelling units with 135 accessory off-street parking spaces.
And the comments that we or the refusals that we received had to do with the use because our site is zone CA1.
and for some of the landscaping and parking requirements.
The one that I'll touch on first is this parking refusal.
Just so the board understands, the site is zone CA1,
so the calculation of parking spaces for 90 units would require 135 spaces.
I think we've all seen that one-to-one parking is not something that many sites can offer right now.
And I have some data as we go through that shows that we're offering what we think is more than sufficient parking for this space.
To orient the board as to where we are, this is the lot here.
It is bordered on one side by the Goodwill and on another side by an existing condominium complex.
This is Busselton Avenue here.
The frontage that we have on Busselton is this small piece here.
There's an existing curb cut with an existing traffic light.
Aside from the small street frontage, this property is otherwise landlocked, which creates a hardship for the lot because there's only one ingress and egress point.
And it has been utilized in a commercial way for decades.
Other, just so the board can understand the unique shape of the lot also, as you can see, it widens a little bit as it comes from Busselton.
And then as we go around the playground here, it narrows into this strip.
So it became a challenging site from a design perspective to make it usable really for any purpose.
The zoning district around it is also quite mixed.
You have a mixture of CA1, RM1, some SP back here for the parkland.
So it's a very mixed zoning area.
So it's a very mixed zoning area.
Just photos of the zoning.
Just photos of the zoning poster at the site, which is currently unimproved.
And this is what the frontage on Busselton looks like today.
This gate access here, this is the traffic light that I referred to earlier.
It's where Northeast Boulevard meets Busselton.
So there is this existing curb cut and existing traffic light to handle our ingress and regress.
This is an aerial shot that really comes in a little bit closer to show you where the goodwill is in the existing condos.
So really what we're doing is extending the residential feel of this existing condominium complex into this lot here.
The overall site plan of the lot, what the proposal is, is for six structures, each of which would house residential units.
We have the curb cut on Busselton, and then parking located for each of these buildings as you move through our lot.
One of the other unique features of this lot is the Paul's Run stream that runs through the middle of the site.
You'll get a little bit more detail on that in just a moment, but one of the things that we tried to do was not only adapt the site to an existing stream running through it,
but really revitalize what was there to improve both the creek bed and to make it sort of an attractive passive and passive amenity for the apartment complex.
This is a little bit more detail in the landscaping plan.
And these are some existing pictures of what the site looks like now.
So each of these orange highlights on the map corresponds to one of these pictures here.
As the board can see, it is not in the best shape right now.
Since my client purchased it, they have done a substantial amount of cleanup on the site, raising some of these older buildings, cleaning up a lot of the trash.
And that was really their first step towards trying to beautify this.
This chart is designed to show the board a little bit about what's around us.
This is our site here marked in the red. Current multifamily uses you can see in the yellow. And commercial shopping centers are in the orange. So it's really an evenly mixed area that we're in between the multifamily residential and the commercial.
We think that multifamily residential works better for this site, given the existing commercial options all up and down Busselton Avenue.
In terms of green space, the board can see that we're providing 90 apartments on 4.14 acres.
And so that equals a 1.5 parking space per apartment and an overall green percentage of 46% of the lot that we're preserving as green space.
We thought this chart was instructive for the board just to see what else is around us.
The other multifamily residential apartment complexes in our immediate area offer, by and large, more units on less acres with less green space.
And we thought this was an important slide because really what we're trying to do here is not cram as much density as we can onto this site.
We're really trying to provide a good product.
And we think that the amount of green space we're providing compared to other other buildings is really a good feature point.
As I mentioned earlier, we're also providing more parking than the other similarly situated buildings around us.
And that addresses that third refusal I mentioned earlier.
And again, this is the overall zoning site plan. If I could ask Lindsay Status Law to raise her hand. She's from Grounds Reconsidered, our landscape architect, and I'd like her to take you through the next couple of slides.
Lindsay High Standards Law has been promoted.
thank you uh chair do you want to swear her sure could you state your name please
and spell for the court stenographer
sorry okay lindsey hi stanislaw it's h-i-g-h and then s-t-a-n-i-s-l-a-w right do you swear
or a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Please proceed.
Thank you.
Lindsay, can you tell the board what your professional background is?
I'm a landscape architect at Ground Reconsidered.
And did you prepare some landscaping plans and renderings for 9916 Busselton?
If you wouldn't mind describing for the board what I'm showing on the screen now.
Yes. So, we're looking at our rendered site plan that's really describing all of the landscape features for this property. So, we're focusing on the Paul's Run stream and the restoration of the banks. So, cleaning up the dead, diseased trees, pruning, and planting the banks for stabilization, keeping open space on either side of the bank where there would be picnic tables and Adirondack chairs.
So we're looking at our rendered site plan.
there are canopy trees close to all pavement areas as well as throughout the site and then
ornamental trees throughout there are evergreen trees at the site the property lines for
vegetative screening where that's necessary and there are five retention basins which will all
be planted as rain gardens and we feel that is important both to the feeling of the place and
also supporting the streams ecology um there are sidewalks on both sides of the street and there
are also nature paths um that run throughout the open space area and around the rain garden so
that totals about a mile of walking paths throughout the site
yeah thanks lindsey and one of the things i'll add for the board about the walking trails one
of the things we did as we went through the community process uh at the suggestion of
councilman o'neill was add some connectivity to the lackman playground so there will be a way to
to access this city recreational area through a gate in our in our community lindsey can you just
tell the board briefly uh what this slide is showing in terms of the plans for the stream bed
yeah the photos at the top are existing photos of the stream um there are invasive plants along
the bank there are some dead trees and fallen trees so below are photos of the um the goal so
there's a list here of the things that would be part of the stream restoration so removal
of invasive plants, installation of erosion control, mat and plugs.
Excellent. And when you mentioned rain gardens earlier, are these some examples of what you
were testifying about? Yes, this is what we anticipate for the retention spaces.
Okay, great. Thank you very much, Lindsay. Thank you.
um turning very very very quickly board um i can get into more detail on this if you would like to
but these are the floor plans of the various units that are proposed around around the complex
these are going to be a mixture of one bedroom and two bedroom units the one bedroom units are
approximately 1016 square feet this two bedroom unit here is 1200 square feet and the styles go
So they're fairly consistent as you move from building to building.
This is the material palette for the exterior.
There's going to be wood cladding with some brick and some metal fascia.
And I'll pause briefly on these shots just so the board can see the difference in the styles of layout of the various buildings.
They're all going to look similar to each other, and they're all going to have a similar floor plan.
These are the various elevations.
Again, these structures are also designed to be a height that is compatible with the surrounding area.
These are some elevations, so the board can see that our height line is relatively consistent with what's around it,
and a rendering showing how we're going to fit in terms of the apartment complexes that are around us here, here, and the Goodwill facility back there.
And some additional renderings of what we anticipate the interior of the complex to look like.
I could very briefly ask Leslie Cunningham to raise her hand.
Mr. Klein, who's the next one?
What's it about?
Leslie Cunningham is the engineer who prepared the site plan.
And then very, very briefly, I have our traffic engineer, Andy, to give a very brief statement for the board.
That'll be it.
If the board does not need to hear from Ms. Cunningham, I can skip to Andy if the board would prefer.
I think you should go to Andy.
Okay, Andy, can you raise your virtual hand quickly, please?
And I will be as brief as possible, Mr. Chair.
Sure, sure.
You don't have to be that brief.
Andy Heinrich has been promoted.
Hi, sir.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
It should be coming in now, Chandra.
should be coming in now sure good morning good morning could you state your name please and
spell for the court stenographer uh my name is andreas heinrich andreas is a-n-d-r-e-a-s
heinrich is h-e-i-n-r-i-c-h and i'm a traffic engineer okay do you swear or firm to tell the
truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do proceed counsel thank you andy i think you
just mentioned that you're a traffic engineer? Yes. And did you perform a review of the anticipated
traffic impact from the 90 residential units proposed at 9-0? Yes, I did. Yes, I did. Can you
briefly tell the board what your conclusions were about the way that the traffic flow is set up and
what any impact this would have? Yes, certainly. As explained previously, the driveway will
intersect Busselton Avenue opposite Northeast Boulevard at a signalized and existing signalized
intersection. We anticipate that the proposed development will generate about 650 vehicle
trips per day. That's 325 in and 325 out. The morning and afternoon weekday peak hour traffic
volumes are estimated at 51 during the morning peak hour, mostly exiting traffic, and 59 trips
during the afternoon peak hour, mostly entering traffic.
To provide a little perspective with what that traffic volume means,
Busselton Avenue currently carries 2,800 to 3,000 cars an hour
during the morning and afternoon rush hours.
So this increase in traffic due to these multifamily homes
is going to be negligible compared to what currently exists on Busselton Avenue.
And there is currently a curb cut and traffic light at the intersection that this site borders?
That is correct.
Okay. Thank you very much. Does the board have any questions?
I think we're fine at this point. Do you have someone to adopt your testimony, Mr. Klein?
Yes, I do. That was where I was going to go next. I just wanted to add before I do that for the
board that we did meet with the Greater Busselton Civic League. Their letter of support is on the
screen before you. And to adopt my testimony, I'd ask Jack Beinenfeld to raise his virtual hand.
Good morning, sir.
Hello? Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell it for the court stenographer?
Yes, my name is Jack Beinenfeld, B as in boy, I-E-N-E-N-F-E-L-D, as in David.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, counsel.
Thank you very much. Jack, did you have a chance to listen to my presentation this morning?
I did.
And do you adopt my statements as true, correct, and your own, as if you've been given a chance to more fully testify?
Yes, I do.
Thank you very much. Mr. Chair, we're happy to answer any questions. And as I mentioned, we do have the site engineer available as well.
Sure. So questions from the board?
No, Chair.
No, Chair.
Questions from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
No, Mr. Chair. Thank you.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Yes, Chair. Brian O'Neill had to hand up.
morning uh councilman mr o'neill can you unmute yourself good morning mr chair members of the
board could you could you just state your name and spell for the court stenographer
uh yes brian o'neill b-r-i-a-n-o apostrophe n-e-i-l-l i'm councilman for the 10th district
which includes his property right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and
nothing but the truth yes please proceed sir okay thank you um this property is zone
C1 commercial. I believe it is the right, the correct zoning for the property. And
for many reasons would be preferable for the community and my district at large.
The meeting that was held, well, let me first start out by saying the meeting,
Mr. Benefeld is a good landlord. His family, his dad, himself, I'm sure there's children,
they run a good business. People show up and say at a meeting, you know, I'm giving you a
testimonial to how good they are as landlords. I agree with all of that. I don't agree that this
I don't agree that this is a nuisance property. My office is right across the street. I've never had a complaint about this property. It is quietly sits there waiting for another development, and that's what we have before us today.
is a nuisance property. I've never had it. My office is right across the street.
What we don't have is a CA-1 development. We have a stream running through it and rain gardens for meeting the water department's requirements for stormwater.
They're beautiful. They'd be beautiful in a commercial development as well, and they'd be required.
And that's basically the open space that we have here.
So I would just ask the board to put aside the nuisance property aspect of this, put aside the open space of this, because it would be the same in same situation if it were commercial development.
What I what I do see is and I submit it as an exhibit, an article that was well read and well written about this project in the Philadelphia Inquiry and Daily News just a month or two ago.
There seems to be some statements that this is loaded with open space.
If it were an apartment building and needed a variance just for apartments, it was already zoned for apartments, I would say it's an overbuild.
But this isn't what's in front of us.
This isn't trying to get multifamily and a variance for some reason or other, dimensional or whatever.
This is a commercial property.
And it is built to the hilt.
I have about 60,000 homes, residences in my district.
40,000 of them are single family.
20,000 of them are apartments.
There's no need for apartments.
There's been no testimony about that.
There's been no testimony about the hardship that's required of why this can't be used as a commercial property.
So when I look at if somebody were to say to me what.
What kind of residential is needed, it would be senior housing, it would be 55 and over condominium developments, single family, smaller for people that are downsizing or younger people that that want to start smaller.
That's not that's not the case.
I have no problem with the neighbors. Mr. Bienenfeld, Henry, Jack's father, built the condominiums right next door, probably a little over 40 years ago.
They're well built. They've never been a problem. They line up right to the south of this.
The Bienenfelds have a lot of apartments, not contiguous, but to the north, very close by.
They're great landlords. Not not an issue. But there's also embedded in that inquire article statements that this is better have better have apartments than than than industrial warehouses.
zoning. And that's not a choice here. If we were here with industrial, I would have the same
problem with somebody trying, I don't think they could. I think it's a red herring because I don't
think this is possible to be an industrial warehouse site. But the fact that people have
that on their mind worries me in terms of what were they thinking. The Busselton Civic, I've
been associated with them for 44 years they have never agreed to apartments where there was
commercial zoning never once there are no if you look at the there are no nearby neighbors
that come out to these to this uh uh these meetings so what you have is possibly people
worried about an industrial something or other not ever going to happen and people who were there
to be helpful and talk about Mr. Bienenfeld as a landlord, but not an issue in this case.
The issue in this case is, should the property be used as it is zoned? And I believe it should.
And from a zoning standpoint, not only is it not a nuisance property, but this is so far from the
least variance for this commercial property, that it's not even a close call. So no nearby
neighbors. So I'm responsible. I have to make a determination.
So I'm, I'm responsible. I have to make a determination. Is this the right thing for
that property? There's not an inch of this property that isn't part of, well, I shouldn't
say an inch. There's very little of this property that is not parking or apartments. It is packed
in and you couldn't put another apartment on there without going higher. And the, and that's
a non-starter, but
I just want to get back to the fact
that this is a commercial property
should stay that way
and I have not seen one good
reason why it
can't be. Thank you.
Thank you.
Are there other...
Mr. Chair, can I briefly respond?
why don't we wait to see
if there's anyone else and you can respond.
I'll give you the last words, okay?
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Is there anyone else in the virtual
audience sir oh yes chair hand up jack o'hara okay good morning could you state your name please
hi could you state your name and spell it for the court stenographer
hello jack o'hara please unmute yourself wait for the chair good morning mr o'hara could you
state your name please as spell for the court stenographer yes mr chairman uh jack o'hara o
apostrophe h-a-r-a right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the
truth i do proceed sir uh the community uh the rco is uh in support of this uh project uh the rco
met with the developer twice prior to the presentation to our membership, so three
presentations in total. There was never a mention of anything other than the apartment complex that
we were considering, and my understanding is it's at a high end. I don't know if you'd
describe them as luxury apartments, but I think they begin at $2,000 a month, but they're on the
higher end of apartments. And we welcome that. There was not a request for commercial. There was
not an objection from neighbors about this. And neighbors did attend. Yes, Mr. Bielefeld does get
a lot of support from other tenants of his, but the neighbors did come out and they were in full
support of this. Mr. Bienfell is unlike some other developers in the area. He is literally
his business is in Busselton. This is not some out-of-state developer.
So we welcome that. He has other properties that have good reputation. So that is important to us.
So it's a quality project that we've screened pretty thoroughly and did not get any negative statements for commercial.
No one was no one was requesting this to remain commercial.
This is the first we've ever heard that that mention.
So we as an RCO, we did our homework and the community heard it and it was pretty supportive of the project.
So we welcome it. Yes, that's my statement, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you, Mr. Howard. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
No hands here. Mr. Klein.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. We certainly appreciate the councilman's comments. And I just want to respond to two things. The first, in terms of the concept of density for this lot, I won't put the chart back up, but I would encourage the board to go and look at the exhibit we included that compared our density to other projects that exist.
I think for the acreage of the lot that we have, we're actually providing a less dense product than what is available in the neighborhood and did that intentionally.
On the issue of the hardship, to the extent that it was not articulated clearly enough, the hardship here is the unique shape of the lot, which, as I showed the board, goes in and out and is very long, narrowing as it goes through the site.
The history of its non-use and the fact that there is commercial saturation already in the area.
As Mr. O'Hara referenced, no one at the community association had a desire for additional commercial.
And the fact that we only have a single point of ingress and egress means that the site.
And the fact that we only have a single point of ingress and egress means that the site lends itself better to a residential component than the more continuous in and out that would accompany a commercial use.
Thank you.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman, and good morning.
David Effecto, F-E-C-T-E-A-U, with the City Planning Commission.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir, I do.
Receive, please.
Thank you, sir.
Mr. Chairman and board members, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the commercial shopping center zoning at this location.
This property completed its civic design review in July of 2023.
The Civic Design Review Committee's advisory recommendations are not an expression of the City Planning Commission's recommendation or opinion regarding zoning variances, special exceptions, or other discretionary approvals associated with this proposal.
We would argue that the unusual configuration of the lot and the presence of a large multifamily development adjacent to this site create hardships to this parcel's use under the current zoning.
We would also argue that the number of proposed parking spaces is appropriate and directly related to the number of proposed dwelling units.
However, the appellant has not shown that complying with the landscaping requirements in the zoning code would create a hardship.
So the City Planning Commission recommends that the board grant the proposed use variances for parking and residential use, but deny the proposed variance for landscaping.
Thank you. Mr. Klein, we've had a lot of testimony here.
We had some documents that we received a little bit later, the news article, et cetera.
So I'm going to hold this until next week, next Wednesday.
Hillary, would we vote this at 930?
Yes, Mr. Chair.
And one other note, I did not realize this was a CDR matter.
Mr. Klein, can you please forward the CDR completion letter for our records?
Yes, certainly.
Thank you.
So we'll vote on this next Wednesday at 930.
Thank you, Mr.
Thanks to everyone who testified.
We're going to go to.
Number two, MI 2023, 002-919-932, New Market Street.
Alan Nockamson is the attorney.
Mr. Chair, this is Hillary.
Mr. Nockamson has asked if we can do his three matters sequentially because he has a time constraint this morning.
So I believe they are the next few on the list anyway.
Numbers.
We're fine.
We're fine.
Number eight and number 10 after this one.
Right.
So thank you.
Mr. Nockamson has been promoted.
Chair members of the board, Alan Nockamson, A-L-A-N, last name Nockamson, N-O-C-H-U-M-S-O-N.
Do you swear to affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Do you identify your client, the relationship to this property?
For 932 New Market Street, it's David Perez.
and um our vice chair has a few questions for you good morning counsel do you agree to waive
the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy i do have you emailed in all the required
documents and exhibits that is needed and required to proceed with this case five days in advance of
this hearing uh yes thank you um please proceed and share your screen thank you and mr knockerson
before we start i understand we don't have anything from the rco yet they intend to have
additional meetings? Yeah, well, that was actually going to be my starting point. We actually met.
All right. Well, you start there. That's fine. Good. All right. I always want to make sure I'm
careful about these things. So we met with the coordinating RCO earlier this week. Unbeknownst
to us, they have a two-step process with regards to issuing a letter to the ZBA. We met with them.
I believe it was favorable, but they have to meet, the zoning committee has to meet with their
executive committee. And that won't happen until I think next week. We don't want to push any type
of project through without them going through their due process. So we would ask that I present
this matter to the board today, hold it for the letter from the community group, and then give
me an opportunity if necessary to comment about that letter. And then the board can vote at that
time okay all right thank you very much all right so i am here i don't know what's going on with my
All right, so I am here. I don't know what's going on with my computer, but here we go. I'm here to present 932 New Market Street. As you can see, we have two separate entrances at 932 Market Street.
And that's why we're here today, because this is an RSA-5 property my client bought some time ago, thinking it was a two-unit dwelling.
And it was only once he had to obtain a rental license that he did not understand that it was not a legal two-family dwelling.
He actually occupies one of the units themselves.
They're thinking about moving out of the property.
So that's why they invest the gate-to-gate rental licenses, something they wouldn't need if they were still occupying the property.
So we're going to review the notice of refusal.
I have as a placeholder the correspondence from the Northern Liberties Neighbors Association.
There is no letter yet, but we always have as a placeholder when we submit our materials five days before the hearing date.
It's not out of character, not only for the property, but for nearby properties to be multifamily in nature, even though there's an RSA 5 classification.
And I'll show you an example of one.
Maps of the area, photographs of the property, simple floor plans, our meeting notice showing proof that we met with the community.
Well, at least there was a notice that was sent out for the community meeting, as well as proof of mailing of that notice.
or applications for appeal that I filed on behalf of David Perez, the owner of the property,
the deed to the property showing that Mr. Perez owns the property, and a certificate of tax
clearance showing that no real estate taxes are due on account to the property. At the conclusion
of my presentation, I would ask that Mr. Perez virtually raise his hand, be sworn in, and I have
a few questions for him about my presentation. All right, so notice of refusal. So this is an
RSA 5 property, we're not changing the building structure in any way. But because we're seeking
two-family household dwelling, we're being refused for that reason alone.
And then the correspondence, and like I said, we met with the coordinating RCO and the community
on October 2nd. I believe that meeting went well. My colleague, Alex Goldberg, presented
at that meeting. And it sounded like from what he stated to me, we're hoping to get a favorable
letter of support, but we'll wait and see. And if commentary is necessary by me, I will respond
in kind. Nearby multifamily dwellings that have an RSA 5 classification. Again, we're 932. So
the area here, again, we are between, we're basically between 95 and 2nd Street and Poplar
and Hancock. So we're nestled in there. You can see there's a diversity of zoning classifications
even nearby, RM1, besides RSA5, CMX2, CMX2.5. So there is different types of zoning classifications
other than RSA 5 nearby. And then again, just, you know, we want to give a perspective from a map,
you know, with a map from a Google Maps perspective. And as you can see, we are just
around the corner from I-95. And then there is some commercial use up here as well on North
2nd Street. So this density will help support those commercial businesses as well. And then
photographs of the property. Again, there's two separate entrances. My client, when he purchased
the property in July of 2017, saw two separate entrances. He's not a developer. He was renting
out the property unit to help pay for his mortgage. But you can see I got something for
Cyclomedia dated June 25th of 2017, the month before he purchased the property. So this is a
matter of public record records on the city's website you can see there were two two different
doors he all he did was painted doors since then and then this is the uh the proof that we posted
uh the hearing notice for today's hearing and as you again you can see a closer look there's two
separate entrances two separate mailboxes and like and then this is new market street to the
right of the property to the left of the property and then our plans and drawings i mean we can just
kind of just go through the floor plans but let me just try to do that a little bit
um but they live in the lower level right so you come in through the right door they're immediately
in their unit it's an open floor plan and there is a lower level that that they that's just you
that they that's just you know you know opened and then but if you wanted to go to the other unit
know you know opened and then but if you wanted to go to
you would come in from the left-hand door go up a flight of steps and here is the other unit here
and then that's a what's called three bedroom three bath that they have been renting out
hold on a second
all right so just technical difficulties new computer all right so we we have um we met with
the community again on October 2nd uh the first page is our here our community meeting notice
we also emailed that meeting notice to the coordinating RCO and all other RCOs as well
as the district council member zoning aid uh so we have proof of that but it was also mailed to
110 addresses. These are the addresses they were mailed to. Proof of mailing to those addresses.
Our application for appeal that I filed on Mr. Perez's behalf, along with the notice of refusal
and the project information form, our deeds of the property. Again, he purchased it on July 31st
of 2017. That picture I showed you from Cycle Media is June of 2017. He did not create this
situation. He obviously wants to legalize this property, but he was shocked as anyone that this
was not illegal to family dwelling. And then just so you understand, I believe at the community
meeting, a lot of his neighbors showed up in support of this project as well, because not
only does he live there, but he's a responsible landlord as well. And then our certificate of
TAX CLARENT SHOWING THAT MR. PEREZ OWES NO REAL ESTATE TAXES ON THIS PROPERTY.
WITH THAT BEING SAID, I WOULD ASK THAT MR. PEREZ VIRTUALLY RAISE HIS HAND.
GOOD MORNING, MR. PEREZ.
CHAIR, MR. PEREZ IS NOT IN THE AUDIENCE.
THERE IS NO HAND RAISED.
MR. NOCHEMSON, YOU'RE AN OFFICE OF THE COURT, AND WE GLADLY ACCEPT YOUR TESTIMONY.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Chair.
No, Chair.
Questions from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
No, Mr. Chair, thank you.
Questions from the virtual audience?
There are no hands, Chair.
Planning Commission, do you want to take a position now or do you want to wait for the RCO?
Yes, sir. If it's okay, we can take a position. Sure. Thank you. Good morning, Chair and Board
Members. David Fecta with the City Planning Commission. The comprehensive plan recommends
no change to the residential single-family zoning at this location. This property appears to have a
history as a two-unit dwelling, although no record exists in the zoning archive. The City Planning
Commission recommends that the Board grant the proposed use variance for two dwelling units.
Laurie, why don't we close this except for a letter from the RCO and give Mr.
Nockamson a chance to respond if he has to.
OK, that sounds good, Mr. Chair.
Thank you.
All right, Mr. Nockamson, that's what we'll do.
Then we're going to move on to your second case of the day here.
number 10
MI 2023
002 913
2912 to 16
Germantown Avenue
just state your name
for the record
Alan Nockamson
could you identify your client
the relationship to this property
Philmon Highall
Hi, all, Michael.
And I understand we are waiting for an RCO letter.
Meeting was actually, Mr. Chair, 23 or me.
Mr. Chair, we did get an email from the coordinating RCO.
I believe it was late last night.
We slipped that into our presentation packet and we resubmitted our revised presentation
materials to the board this morning, which includes that letter of support.
Our vice chair has just a few questions.
Good morning, Counselor. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, I do.
I've emailed all the required documents and exhibits that are needed and required to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing.
Yes, we have.
Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.
All right, so I'm here to present
2912-16 Germantown Ave.
2912-16 Germantown Ave. Currently, it's a two-story structure that was most previously used
as a church. We'll review first during my presentation the notice of refusal. And by
the way, this is a CMX2 property, which does allow for multifamily dwelling. What we're seeking
is to eliminate the commercial component.
Really, there has not been much commercial use
for this property.
We've had a church there for some time.
So we're trying to remove the commercial component
where it's not out of character
because you'll see from pictures.
And we are looking to increase the unit count
and we'll explain that as well.
And that's one of our refusables.
We did receive correspondence
from 12th and Cambria Advisory Board last night.
And we included that in our presentation packet.
In addition, my client made a concerted effort to meet with as many nearby neighbors as possible,
and you'll see the petition that was circulated and signatures in support of this project.
We'll review maps of the area, photographs of the property, our plans and drawings,
our RCO meeting notice, along with proof of mailing of that notice,
our application for appeal that we filed on behalf of two key properties,
Investment Groups, Inc., the owner of the property, or deed to the property, showing that two key properties is the owner of the property, and the Certificate of Tax Clearance, showing that they owe no real estate taxes to the city with regards to this property.
At the conclusion of my presentation, I would ask that Philmon virtually raise his hand, be sworn in, and then, again, I'll have a few questions for him about this project.
So this is our notice of refusal. Again, it's a CMX2 property. We're looking to do 19 dwelling units in this 3,330 square foot lot built lot.
And essentially it's this. We're looking to do all studio apartments. There is a desperate need in this community for studio apartments, which are affordable.
Philmont's business model is affordable housing. And he's working with a group called Women of Excellence, Inc., who's in the neighborhood.
So he's been working with this group on properties outside of this neighborhood.
Um, so he's been working with them in the different parts of the city, providing such
affordable housing, you know, again, because of the need in this neighborhood, he purchased
this property with the hope that he can get a variance to provide studio apartments to
both younger and elderly people who need that, because there's really not a market in this
neighborhood for that.
Uh, so we have several refusals.
The first is this is a two-story structure, which is a non-conforming lot.
We're adding a third story to it, which is expanding that non-conformity.
Due to this technical refusal, we're asking that the board allow this variance to take place.
The second refusal has to do with the amount of dwelling units.
Again, we're not trying to put 19 three-bedroom units.
units we're only looking to do 19 studio units you know if you know the given the the size of
the lot you know technically under the code it's almost like the same amount of bedrooms that we
would be allowed as of right so 19 you know dwelling units sounds like a lot for this property
but because there's studios and there's physical limitations we can't put more than studios here
We think that the circumstances are appropriate to grant that variance, and we'll go further along with that proposition later in my presentation.
The third variance has to do with the fact that we would like to eliminate the commercial component for this building, even though this is a CMX2 property.
You'll see from photographs that it's out of character to have commercial use, not only for this property due to its history, but also in close proximity, there's no commercial use around there.
We're actually across the street from a cemetery. So commercial would not succeed here just because there's not much residential use to begin with.
And instead, we should focus on supporting the commercial quarter that does exist a few blocks away.
So those are our three refusals.
So we did receive correspondence from 12th and Cambria Advisory Board RCO.
It looks like there were 12 people in support, five people in opposition.
12 people in support, five people in opposition who were there physically, and then they also
had a Zoom component, and there were four people in support virtually and two people opposed.
So it was 16 to 7 in support of this project. Now, a couple things that they stated in their
letter I want to acknowledge is that they wanted one-bedroom units rather than studios. Again,
Again, in order to allow for affordable units here, and given the limitations on the size of the property as a whole, and the need for studios as opposed to one bedrooms where these individuals don't want to take care of a full one bedroom, but rather would have a studio, we can't comply with that request.
Again, and we stated that during our meeting as well, like that we needed the amount of units in order to keep this building affordable.
They also asked us to put a fire escape outside of the units.
I think what they meant is we talked to them about providing Jacob ladders for the second and third floors that would be affixed to the lintels of these windows.
We have no issue with that.
So I don't know if that's an enforceable proviso, but we have no issues with putting Jacob's Ladders there, you know, for life and, you know, and safety purposes.
And then they did reference the fact that they wanted to have a store, you know, within this building.
Again, we defer to the board, but it would be rather difficult for us to put a commercial unit in here because of the lack of density in this part of the neighborhood.
We have a cemetery right across the street.
There's not much residential activity at all on Germantown.
There is a commercial corridor, which is a few blocks away, which is struggling.
And we're hoping that this increased density will help support that commercial corridor.
But, you know, that's where we are with this.
But we have overwhelming community support for this project.
And then not only do we have overwhelming community support by way of a community meeting where a vote was taking place,
We also have overwhelming community support from individuals that we reached out to in the neighborhood. And again, this is by way of that petition. And then letters to support as well, which were in your materials that we filed not just last week, but also resubmitted today with the letter of support from the coordinating RCO.
and then maps of the area again we're not taking an rsa5 property and trying to
convert it into a multi-family structure what we're asking to do is increase the density
by way of studio units rather than having like essentially three bedroom units it's almost the
same amount of bedrooms that would be in the building itself it's just a need that the
community has. Again, we're working with a non-profit organization where we've housed
their clientele in other parts of the city. They asked us for such support in their community,
and they're a few blocks away. And that's why we purchased this structure,
and we're hoping to do affordable housing by way of this project.
And then this is just where we are in the neighborhood from a Google Maps perspective.
And as you can see, there's, you know, we have, you know, the cemetery across the street.
We have the recreation center. We have a few churches here.
We have a little commercial corridor down here, but not much.
But it's rather empty. And again, it'd be really difficult to put a commercial product here that would be that would survive.
And then this is our property. It's a two story structure.
it's been a church forever this is the property from west monmouth because we're in the corner
of monmouth and germantown this is proof of of our posting for today's hearing on both streets
and this is germantown to the right of the property as you can see um not much of a
commercial corridor here germantown to the left of the property same thing and you know obviously
of the cemetery across the street. And then West Monmouth Street to the right of the property,
and you can see there's some vacant lots here, and to the left of the property. And then you can
see the cemetery as well here. Our plans and drawings. So what we're trying to do is just
have a third story addition, and that's one of our refusals because we're just taking the
building footprint and adding a third story and really cleaning up this structure. But by adding
and really cleaning up this structure but by adding this third story to a non-conforming
this third story to a non-construction.
structure we created a refusal uh for that um and then you know this is just a different angle from
the front view from germantown the other one was from mount monmouth and then this is also from
monmouth a couple things to note you know here are bay windows which are in the current building
structure, we extended those out to the third story as well. And this is just our site plan.
There's no basement living here. There's no roof decks. We're actually storing garbage
responsibly outside, so that's an enforceable proviso. Obviously, we're required because of
the amount of units to do commercial pickup, but we would agree to a proviso trash stored outside.
And then this is just our floor plan. And there is one, two, three, four, five, five units on the first floor. And the other thing that was really important to the organization was all of the units on the first floor are ADA accessible. And this was helpful for the aging community that's there.
And then on the upper floors are the remaining 14 units.
Our community meeting notice was sent out.
It was for a community meeting on September 21st.
It was first emailed to the coordinating RCO and the other RCOs, as well as the district council members zoning aid.
And then it was mailed out to 153 addresses.
Here are the addresses that it was mailed out to, proof of mailing to those addresses, our application for appeal that we filed on behalf of Two Key Property Investment Group, Inc., along with the Notice of Refusal, Project Information Form, our deed to the property showing that Two Key Property Investment Group, Inc. is the owner of the property, and then finally our Certificate of Tax Clearance.
I would ask that Philmon virtually raise his hand.
Philmon is allowed to speak.
Please wait for the chairs.
Sir, could you state your name and spell, please, for the court sonographer?
Philmon Helmichael, F-I-L-M-O-N, last name H-A-I-L-E, M as in Michael, I-C-A-E-L.
Right. Do you swear or affirm, tell the truth, tell the truth, nothing but the truth?
Proceed, counsel.
Philmon, you heard everything I had to state today about your zoning matter.
And everything I state, was that true and correct?
And do you adopt it as your own testimony?
Thank you.
Thank you. Questions from the board?
No, Chair.
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Chair.
questions uh from our attorney hillary emerson not at this time mr chair thank you um
questions or comments from the virtual audience
there are no hands here planning commission thank you chair bergman and good morning dave
with the city planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning of this
location from commercial mixed use to residential multifamily. A proposal without ground floor
commercial conforms more closely with the recommended zoning, and the lack of a rear yard
is an existing condition. However, the appellant would be allowed seven dwelling units, not the
19 proposed, so the 19 proposed is not the minimum needed to derive value from this lot.
The City Planning Commission recommends the board grant the proposed variance for required rear yard
and the variance for not including ground floor commercial use, but limit the total number of
dwelling units to no more than seven.
Mr. Nockman, do you want to respond?
So, again, and I know this is not a zoning situation per se, but Philmon's business model
is affordable housing.
And also, you know, he's worked collaborating with a group in the neighborhood that is requesting
studio apartments. In order to make this project economically feasible, he really does need to
create that density and also to create a need for the community. It's not like based on the limited
size of a lot, we're going to be able to put more than studio apartments in there. So given the
unique nature here, I would ask that the board grant the variance requests. So MI 2023 002
913 2912 to 16 germantown avenue i vote yes proviso trash stored outside
I vote yes. Proviso, trash stored outside.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with Proviso.
James Snell, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with Proviso.
We're going to go back to number eight.
MI 2023-002-916-712 South Shell Street.
Mr. Knockerson, just state your name for the record.
Alan Nockamson.
Okay, and there's a letter of opposition from Bella Vista and a letter of opposition from Council Member Squilla, and we do have three letters of support from nearby neighbors.
Could you identify your client in the relationship to the property?
Yes, my client is Rich Autari.
Okay, and our Vice Chair has a few questions.
Good morning, Council. Do you agree to weigh the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
have you emailed in all the required documents that are needed and required to proceed this case
five days in advance of this hearing uh yes thank you please proceed and uh share your screen thank
you no problem all right so i'm here i'm here to present 712 uh south shell street um
What we're looking to do here is to allow for visitor accommodation use.
During our presentation, we'll review the notice of refusal, the correspondence we received from Bella Vista Neighbors Association,
the letters of support from nearby neighbors, a little bit about this property, and we'll look about us, the Airbnb listings.
It's not uncommon, not only for this to be an Airbnb, and it has been an Airbnb since, I believe, 2018, but there's other properties nearby that are also being advertised on Airbnb.
We'll review maps of the area, photographs of the property, inside and out.
We made some simple floor plans for this single-family structure that the board can review.
too. Our RCO meeting notice and proof of mailing of that notice is the next exhibit or application
for appeal that we filed on behalf of Rich is the next exhibit or deed to the property showing that
he has owned the property for some time. And the purpose of his property acquisition has always
been to do Airbnb. So before the city changed the way they've handled Airbnbs, his intention was
such that this is a non-conforming use, in my legal opinion, where ultimately the city changed
the rules on him, and it would be financially devastating if he would have to do long-term
occupancy for this property. And then certificate of tax clearance showing that he's paid all of
his real estate taxes for this property. So this is an RSA-5 property, and Mr. Oteri is looking to
have short-term use for this property. Mr. Oteri actually lives in a neighborhood. He lives nearby.
So not only does he own this property, he owns another property on 10th Street that he actually
lives in. And as stated previously, he purchased this property when, you know, back in, I believe,
2018, when this use was allowed as a right. He's done everything right. He does everything right
now. He's just trying to legalize this use. And again, it'd be financially devastating for him
if he could not use this property this way. He purchased this property for, again, we'll review
the deed by, I believe, $455,000 with the understanding that he can use this for short-term
accommodations. He can't make the money up by renting his property out. So, it would take a
significant financial loss. This is part of the revenue stream that he is dependent upon.
You know, so it would just be financially devastating. We did meet with the Bella
Vista organization. A couple of things that they stated in their letter, you know, that there's
frequent double parking and street obstructions. Is that good? Yep. Mr. Chair, members of the board?
Yeah, we're fine. All right. They mentioned that there was issues with, you know, individuals have
used this property, who have parked on the street. Again, Mr. Altieri lives next door.
Again, Mr. Oteri lives next door. People know him. You'll see the letters. I think two of the letters are supportive from nearby. Literally, they're next door neighbors to this property. So everyone knows Mr. Oteri. He self-manages it. If there's a problematic tenant, he deals with it.
People know him. You'll see the letters.
like then and there. There's no parking signs in front of the building, as well as in the building
itself. There's notification, do not park on the street. It would seem logical to me that you can't
park on the sidewalk, but he put it out there anyway, so people make sure that they don't.
You know, people were talking about, you know, there's other issues about noise complaints and
such. So Mr. Artari screens his tenants in the building. So he looks at three different things
as telltale signs of problematic tenants for short-term occupancy. If the tenant
like lives in Philadelphia, that's probably a tenant that he's not going to rent to. So again,
Again, they can try to reserve for this building structure, but likely Mr. Artari is not going
to rent to someone who lives in Philadelphia because there's no reason for someone who
lives in Philadelphia to rent a property.
Second telltale sign, he actually asks the tenant in the application, why are you using
my property?
If they're vague, someone can say, yeah, I'm visiting Philadelphia.
Great.
Or I need, you know, an extra building property because my parents are coming into town or a family relative is coming into town and we need extra space.
But if they're vague about it, that's usually strike number two.
And then strike number three is when it's the only indicate that one person is staying there.
This is a single family structure.
So if one person is only staying in there, it's a telltale sign that someone's probably trying to, you know, have a party or something else in there.
So those are the three things that he focuses on when he screens tenants.
The other thing is, and I think I've stated this before, Airbnb and the short-term accommodation websites not only rate the landlords, and we'll go over that, but they also rate the tenants.
But Mr. Altieri is not going to he does not rent to anyone unless they have a very, very high rating from other landlords.
It's really important to him that, you know, that he's responsible, not just because it's the right thing to do, but he actually lives around the corner.
So people know if there's an issue where to go. And, you know, he wants to limit that as much as possible.
But he'll obviously be respectful of the people who live in the neighborhood.
it. So, you know, have there been issues? Yes. Are there issues for long-term occupancy versus
short-term occupancy? Yeah. So it's how you handle those situations. And Mr. Oteri has handled them
well. And you'll see that from the letters of support. So, so Mr. Knocklinson, could you,
I guess the second paragraph, the enlarge that one more time again, you, you. Yeah. So look at
the second paragraph, nearby neighbors expressed many concerns generated by the occupants of this
short-term rental property. Frequent double parking, public illicit drug use, drinking and
intoxication, loud talking, verbal intimidation, and various noise in the street all hours of the
night. Yeah, so I talked to Mr. Terry. We, you know, obviously talked before the community
meeting um there was one incident in the summer of 2020 that was dealt with um other than that
like we're not aware of like any of these issues again the individuals who live next door to this
property actually signed a letter of support so again when you have you know a community meeting
you have people who attend the community meeting who just attend and they vote in support um there
were some nearby neighbors who voted in opposition as well. And we'll show you the vote counts. But
the people who are most directly impacted, the people who are next door, who would feel the
burn or the pain of drinking intoxication, loud talking, verbal intimidation, drug use,
they're the ones who actually are supportive of this project. So again, if you have individuals
who are just generally non-supportive, I can't speak to that.
And I can't speak to these allegations when the
individuals who are next door have not made those claims.
But everyone has
a right to state their opinion.
All right. So if you look at this, it wasn't like the entire community was
against this project, right? So you had four people in support
Right. So you had four people in support of it. You know, you had affected addresses.
of it um you know
Well, I don't know if so. If looking at this, it looks like the people who are in support of this project who are next door to us.
I didn't go to the community meeting. My colleague Alex Goldberg did.
But the person who's next door who I have a letter of support from, I don't know if they attended the meeting or not, but they're not reflected in the vote.
So it's not like the entire community was against this project.
And then here are the letters to support.
And again, here we have Carol Horan from 710 South Shell Street, who's in support of this.
We have Maddie, I think it says, I can't read the handwriting, Lorang or Wang, is 707 South Shell Street.
And then we have Suzanne Stone, who also lives at 710 South Shell Street.
so the nearby neighbors that we know of are in support of this project and then just a little
the vote overall was 20 to four uh let's see um or no i'm not oh yeah i don't know so let's see four
uh and opposed is that an eight or six eleven this is a six here from the that's but that's
the rco that's not the community so if you look at the community it was four to twelve and then
the rco was six in opposition and one in non-opposition so i treat non-opposition as
support like it's support i mean but obviously people were not people weren't you know i'm
going to admit people were not in favor of this but like generally but there were people who were
and then you know again it's a single family home he treats it very well you look at the pictures
this is a major investment for him he paid 455 000 i think the most important thing is
the rules changed on him he spent a lot of money on this it would and it's not like we're in the
market where oh you could just sell this property it's a tough market out there um and again this
is this is you know again um a little bit about them but they live in the neighborhood here's
When people were saying, oh, you allow people to park on our sidewalk, I said, well, do we?
He's like, if people do, they're doing it against our will because we actually tell them exterior and interior, don't park on the sidewalk.
And he lives around the corner and people know him.
So and then he has over a thousand reviews, a 4.92 rating across all of his Airbnb establishments.
This is how he earned some of his income. And it's not uncommon to have Airbnbs in the neighborhood.
This is his and it's it's surrounded. Again, people don't want to be in center city.
Sometimes people want to be with like near their families that they're visiting.
this is one of those places
and then this is just a zoning
we're RSA 5
there's not one zoning classification here
which will allow our use as a right
and then this is photographs of the property
from the front of the property
our hearing notice
you know shell to the right
shell to the left
we have an exterior patio
that's actually where we store our garbage
we would agree to provide
garbage stored in there
but even when he stores the garbage
It's only temporary. When the tenant leaves, he takes it to his house,
which is around the corner from this property. And then here's
more interior photographs.
This is a very handsome house
inside and out. And that's why collectively
he has a 4.92 rating
from occupants. And then, again,
nothing about the use that's extravagant whether it's short-term or long-term the actual use is
not changing um and you know again it's just you know open floor plan on the first floor
you have two bedrooms on the second and you have a master on the third and then you have
some living down in the basement level it's like a little family room tv room
and then oops
yeah and then we we met with the community on july 11th at 7 p.m not only do we mail notice of
the community meeting to the affected properties we email the community notice to the rcos
as well as as council members only eight 148 addresses were mailed a notice proof these are
the addresses, proof of mailing to those addresses, their application for appeal value, follow them.
Proof of mailing to those addresses, their application for appeal value filed on Mr. Oteri's behalf, and then our deed showing that Mr. Oteri owns a property with his wife, Tony, and then Certificate of Tax Clarence.
Again, just to reiterate, he purchased this property when there were different rules in play.
Mr. Oteri would, you know, if this board is hesitant to grant a temporary variance where the board typically grants a temporary variance of anywhere from three to five years, I would ask that they grant one for two years.
You know, one year would be too little because I would almost have to apply now to get back in front of the board within that year period.
So I would ask that the board hold Mr. Artari on a short leash and give him a two-year temporary variance.
I would ask Mr. Artari to virtually raise his hand now.
Mr. Artari is allowed to speak.
Sir, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Richard Autieri, R-I-C-H-A-R-D-A-U-T-I-E-R-I.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Receive counsel.
Rich, you heard everything I had to state today about your zoning map.
I did.
And is it what I stated? Is that true and correct?
And do you adopt it as your own testimony?
I'm sorry, do I what?
Do you adopt what I stated as your own testimony?
And specifically, you purchased this property with the sole intention of using this as short-term accommodations?
And it would be financially devastating if you had to use it for long-term accommodations?
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
No, Chair.
no chair no mr chairman no mr chairman uh questions for our attorney hillary emerson
emerson no mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
yeah we got a week before before the uh what's the name is do the uh
we're hearing your conversation
yes chair i have robert
mine shine with the hand up okay we're allowed to speak
thank you um please state your name and spell
for the court stenographer hi robert manchine
r-o-b-e-r-t manchine is m-a-i-e-n
s-h-e-i-n right do you swear firm to tell the truth to hold truth nothing but the truth
absolutely i do are you a neighbor i am right across the street from this house proceed sir
okay so a couple comments one just i'll try to be as quick as i can but i have a few points
um one the city may have changed the rules for multi-tenant hotel housing but the zoning has
not changed before, you know, or after this house was purchased. It's always been lived in by single
families in the past. I would say I'd also contradict some of the comments about the
accessibility and parking issues. I'm literally looking at the house as we speak. There is not
any no parking signs in the front of the house or next to it. There may be no parking signs
further at the corner away from the house, but not on the house itself. So that's not true.
um it is an alley even though it's called a street um people actually go out and eat at night
on a regular basis neighbors who know each other access is a problem or for already existing with
even just single family homes in the area um I would also comment that I I believe that the
attorney on the call was not at the zoning uh at the community meeting and that is reflective in
his comments. There was a lot of opposition to this, passionate opposition, especially the
immediate neighbors. Some of the immediate neighbors who supported it have already left
and retired, namely Carol in specific. And some of the other neighbors are just sort of new people
who I'm sure they've just acclimated themselves to the neighborhood. So everybody that I speak
to that lives directly next to or across from this house currently is opposed to this. It would
have a real impact on the type of zoning. And the neighborhood has always been a family
neighborhood. There's literally kids that run around the block in a big circle on a regular
basis during the summertime. This is not an easily accessible street for a hoteling type situation.
So I disagree with a lot of those comments that I heard from the attorney.
So I disagree with a lot of those comments that I heard from the attorney.
All right. So thank you for taking the time to call in. We appreciate it.
Yes, thank you.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
Yes, Chair. There are three hands up. The first one is Paul Kramer, and I will allow him to speak.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Hello. Thank you, Mr. Chair. My name is Paul Kramer, K-R-A-M-E-R.
Right.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Mr. Kramer, do you live nearby?
I am the co-owner of 717 South Shell.
I live diagonally across from the street.
Are you in favor of this or against it?
I'm against it.
I believe that we all assume risks when we purchase property, and that property has had
a negative impact on the quality of living for all residents on this street.
and um the parking is not enforced in any way i just pushed past a large group of british um
rentals uh renters yesterday who parked right on the sidewalk they opened their doors i couldn't
get past that is a regular occurrence there's it's obvious that there are thousands of reviews
because there are people coming in and out of that place every week it's new people um there's
a party house. People party there. They rent it for sporting events. It's a very uncomfortable
environment, especially for some of the queer people on that street. And I truly have never
met this man or seen him before on this street. It is not true that he has close relationships
with anybody on our street. So thank you very much for taking the time to call, and we appreciate
your comments. Thank you very much. Anyone else with their hand up? Yes, Chair, Joel Palmer.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Yes, my name is Joel Palmer, J-O-E-L, excuse me, P-A-L-M-E-R.
All right, do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Are you a neighbor, sir?
Yes, I am. I'm in the flyer.
Are you in favor of the project or against?
I am adamantly opposed.
Is there anything else you can add that that was not already said?
Yes, sir.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
The first, I want to correct a few things that Mr.
Nackamson said in his presentation.
The first is there is no hardship attached to this variance, and that is a requirement
for a variance.
Economic hardship is not allowed.
Self-inflicted hardship is not allowed.
second the city did not change the rules on this neighborhood this is a residential neighborhood
it has never been for businesses or hotels and and make no mistake this is a hotel and it's uh
it's one that they churn people in and out of there all the time third you're not allowed to
put in a variance unless your your tax is cleared now mr knockamson put up a tax clearance notice
I will inform the board that after conversations with Councilman Mark Squilla, Mark Squilla has asked his staff to ask the Revenue Department to conduct an inquiry, because Mr. Terry, since the day he bought this property in 2018, has claimed a homeowner's exemption.
And I will add that he has never lived in it.
And Mr. Nockamson said he lived next door.
I think he misspoke, but he's never lived next door.
Then he said, there's somebody next door that signed a letter in support, and that's Suzanne Stone. Miss Stone owns the property on 9th Street. She's not next door. Her garage is next door, and it has a Shell Street address, but she does not live on Shell Street. And so that's another misrepresentation. Let's see.
So I think that it's safe to say you're vehemently opposed, you're saying.
Yeah, and there's a couple more things here. The city has missed out on business revenue from a hotel that's generating about $75,000 a year in revenue. There is no business license taken out by Mr. Artieri or his wife. They haven't paid taxes on this property, not property taxes.
I'm not concerned about the taxes. What I'm concerned about is that you do not think it's appropriate to have this. That's where we are. Am I right?
Thank you, Chairman, and I appreciate the opportunity to speak.
Thank you very much.
We appreciate your time.
Is there anyone else?
Yes, Liam Canary.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Hello, my name is Liam Canary.
That's spelled L-I-A-M-K-I-N-I-R-Y.
I-R-Y.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
You swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Are you a neighbor?
Yes, I am.
And do you support or are you against this project?
I'm against it.
Is there anything you can offer that hasn't already been said?
I just reaffirmed.
Well, we do appreciate that you took the time to call.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
There are no hands, Chair.
Thank you.
planning commission thank you chair bergman and good morning david vecto with the city planning
commission mr chairman and board members the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the
residential single family zoning at this location full-time use of a dwelling unit as a short-term
rental has been illegal since the first short-term rental zoning regulations became effective in
roughly 2012 there is no unique physical condition or circumstance of this property that would
prevent it from being used in conformance with the zoning code. The City Planning Commission
recommends that the board deny the proposed use variants for visitor accommodations. Thank you.
MI 2023-002-916-712-Shell Street, I vote no. Thomas Holloman, my vote is no. James Snell,
My vote is no.
Mr. Moshahi, my vote is no.
Thank you, Councilman.
Thank you.
Number nine, MI 2022-005-082-5600 North Sydenham Street.
Darwin Bovee is the attorney.
We're still waiting for an RCO letter here.
Mr. Chair, we did just this morning for this matter receive a letter of
non-opposition from the coordinating
RCO, Oakland-Wister,
as well as correspondence
from Mr. Richardson that Councilman
Bass is in non-opposition.
Thank you very much.
Darwin Beauvais has been promoted.
Mr. Beauvais, I think I
already swore you in this morning.
Could you just state your name for the record?
Yes. Darwin
Beauvais. Beauvais is spelled
B as in boy, E-A-U-V
as in victory, A-I-S
That's in Sam. I'm located at 1500 Market Street, and I represent the applicant in this matter.
Could you identify that, who your client is?
Who should be here? Emmanuel Kosaki, if he can raise his hand.
He is the principal of the Kosaki Group, which is the owner of 5600 North.
Our vice chair has just a few questions, sir.
Good morning, Counselor. Do you agree to weigh the reading of the refusal when stipulated to attack?
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that are needed to proceed? Thank you. Please share your screen and proceed.
okay so we've submitted uh exhibits one through 13 which also includes the refusal as well as
tax clearance certificates deeds floor plans uh maps of the various areas in various configurations
as well as photos of the property. Mr. Chairman, members of the board, this is actually a simple
matter because it's the legalization of a property that has existed for years. It is a three-unit
dwelling with two one-bedroom units on the first floor and a two-bedroom unit on the second floor.
Our refusal is for having this extra density in our RSA 5 neighborhood.
Having said that, let me go to our floor plans here.
okay so the first floor has an entrance in the back uh of of the building where you come into
the kitchen if we yeah you come into the kitchen see the bedroom so it's and and then you can go
into the bathroom. And that's the same mirror configuration on the first floor. Second floor,
as you can see, it's three bedrooms. My mistake. It's three bedrooms. You come up and there's also
a kitchen as well as a bathroom. And here's the hallway. Here are current interior photos.
The property is not occupied right now.
The property is not occupied right now.
That's the basement.
It's not finished.
And in essence, this is where the property sits in vis-a-vis all of the zoning classifications in the area.
It sits smack dab in the middle of single residence.
And yet, there are, if I may, there are a ton, well, there are quite a few multifamily units in that same vicinity, as you can see.
What I would like to point to the board, and this is, if I could stop sharing and reshare another screen, that is on the actual L&I website.
historically this property was was a commercial had a commercial storefront and it was a
a and for some reason throughout the years it the the commercial classification was taken away
and it was all made our rsa5 this refusal shows there was an attempt over 20 years ago
to bring back commercial activity in this area.
This refusal never saw the light of day.
It never, I don't know if the board denied it,
but this is what I found on the city's website,
that there was an attempt to create an ice cream parlor
with accessory eating and take out
in a retail sale of accessory items, right?
with the residential unit upstairs.
This never occurred.
We're sitting in an RSA district.
So the one thing I can only conclude
is that prior owners maintained a residential use,
albeit one that has density.
So let me just go back to my official presentation. So with that said, and these are just documentations that I found on the website of the other multifamily units that are there.
We did have, and this is probably the crux of the matter since we had to defend a continuance request.
The crux of the matter centers around our outreach to the community.
We filed this matter, I want to say last year, and we received a notice in January to reach out to an RCO.
That RCO, apparently there was some issues with who should do what and what communications should happen.
So we actually came before the board and asked for a continuance so we can go in front of the official coordinating RCO.
That did take place.
And we did have a meeting August 1st.
So here's my notice. And we included the refusal. And this proof of mailing may come in handy because I'm pretty sure that the other neighbors or the nearby neighbors, not the official neighbors, are going to suggest that they should have been involved.
Whereas we complied with the code, reached out to the number of residents that are described under the code that we should reach out to.
And then we also followed what the rules say and followed up with the official coordinating RCO that was chosen by the council person's office.
so with that let me just go to our photos
okay so this is what the property looks like you can see there's hasn't been any change to
convert this into some sort of three-unit dwelling. What has been done over the last
20 years, over 20 years, is an adaptive reuse. You're seeing what was a storefront,
You're seeing what was a storefront, but we're sitting in the middle of RSA 5.
but we're sitting in the middle of...
So there is an apartment with its front entrance here, and then there's another apartment with its rear entrance here.
And then there's three bedrooms here.
As you can see, our posting is reflective in these photos.
Here's another angle.
I think this is a little bit too close, but as you can see, that's the second entrance.
Here's the entrance.
So that's the front entrance.
Here's the second entrance, the second floor, the three-bedroom.
we've had these utilities for over 20 years as you can see
close up
and I believe when we did talk to when we did have our community meeting
um and Mr. Richardson did attend there was talk about a garage which is which is in the rear of
the property that garage the past owner did rent it out to individuals not attached to the house
um it was asked can the garage be dedicated to the residents and and we will accept that as a
So, with that said, I'm more than happy to address questions that the board may have, unless they want me to...
Why don't you bring your client and have your testimony adopted?
Okay. If he could be identified, Emanuel?
Emanuel Kosaki is allowed to speak.
Good morning. Emanuel Kosaki.
Hi, could you spell your name, please, for the court stenographer?
Sure. E-M-A-N-U-E-L. Last name, Kasachi. K-O-S-A-C-C-I.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, counsel.
Mr. Kasachi, did you hear everything I said to the board today?
I did.
And would you adopt that as your testimony?
I do. Are there any facts that you would like to add?
Unless any questions are posed, no, no additional facts.
All right. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Chair.
No, Chair.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just one comment.
mr bouvet mentioned the the garage obviously um any any commercial use of that garage would require
um you know additional additional zoning approval so the property is zoned rsa5
um i just did want to note that the the board if if it would like you know could just include a
proviso that indicates that the um the use of the garage is you know accessory to um the residential
use. And that's fine. That's a proviso that we've already agreed to. All right. Thank you.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience? Yes, Chair, I have Charles Richardson.
Morning, Mr. Richardson. Charles Richardson is allowed to speak. You've already been sworn,
sir. Just state your name. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Charles Richardson from the Office of Councilwoman
in the bathroom 508 city hall councilwoman is not opposed can you hear me yeah well you're a little
low you're really low uh let me see if i can try to better yes that's okay all right so the
councilwoman is not opposed to granting the variance this property has been that exact
configuration for as far back as in looking back on google uh street view you can go back to 2015
But a personal note that I know that that property has been that way for quite some time. It is apparent that Mr. Jones or Mr. Speaks, the two former owners, one of the two converted the place into three apartments without any permits.
But it has functioned as such for such a long time and was even noted in the RCO meeting by one of the participants that, oh, we've been trying to get a look inside of that place for years, but it's been that way.
by one of the participants that we've been trying to get a look inside of that place for years,
but it's been that way for a number of years. So that's why the councilman has no opposition to
granting that variance. Thank you very much. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
Yes, Chair Sandra Broadus. Good morning, Ms. Broadus.
Good morning, Mr. Chair. You're already sworn. Just for the record, state your name, please.
sandra s-a-n-d-r-a broadest b-r-o-a-d-u-s proceed um i am representing a concerned community
association um mr chair um i'm not sure if you all are totally familiar with the broad down the
corridor but down directly across the street from this property is widener memorial for handicapped
children. Right next to it is Girls High. Down the street from it is Kimball Park, Community Park. We
are also the friends of Kimball Park and Central High. The 5600 of Sydenham, which this property
sits on the corner of, it's angled so it's actually facing Olney Avenue. This corridor is used by
residents throughout the community as far back as Worcester Street to access the Broad and Olney
transit. Every morning, buses across the street line up for the Widener Memorial School students.
Every morning, the parents of girls at Central High School drop off their kids and they are
jockeying for space in front of this property, parking everywhere down along the park all the
way to Central High up to Broad Street. The traffic conditions had gotten to the extreme
extent that there were police officers on Broad Street at the top of the street. Can you leave
that picture of the property up for a second, please? They had to redirect traffic because
once rush hour starts in the morning, it is impossible to get there.
For people as far back as Ogons Avenue, at the opposite end of this block,
Sydenham Street is the jump off that we use to get to Oni Avenue.
It is a community passageway, except that this block has parking on one side of the street,
and it is so crammed that the neighbors are parking on both sides of the street
and usually you can't get through.
So it adds to the traffic debacle.
The space to the right that you see to the right of this property on the sidewalk
always has a car, a truck, or some vehicle parked in front of it.
What we are experiencing in our neighborhood is that when these unusual redesignations of properties occur, the front door of this property is now facing Olney Avenue.
So what we now have is tenants feeling as though they are entitled to treat that as the front of their home, meaning coffee in the morning, lawn chairs on the avenue, barbecues on the avenue, because that is their home and they do so with entitlement.
This is a vital walking pedestrian corridor for people that are trying to get to broaden on the end to school in the morning, and we do not want the irregularity of this zoning to have people now feeling entitled to use this as their front door, their front step.
The use has been an experience of the neighborhood because it's been done illegally for a while, and the neighbors have been suffering.
They have been suffering because they are jockeying for parking space.
They say that the tenants have bought police and calamity to Olney Avenue inappropriately.
um they the the the parking garage which um i've been trying to wait to share my screen because
i'm not going to do it well um is alongside of the building there was a business operating out
of it but the the part that we are concerned about is the fact that the
But the part that we are concerned about is the fact that the, what do you call it, the ingress is from Olney Avenue, meaning that if the tenants assume that this is their parking garage, they will literally be parking on Olney Avenue, literally parking on Olney Avenue.
And there is no regulation for that.
We are seeking regulation for that.
I'm going to show you the pictures in a minute, and I'm sure you have them because we submitted them as a part of our report.
But in the driveway, the parking garage was extended out to create this huge structure, which means that this property has relinquished its right to park in the driveway.
They already created a structure that they no longer have a parking spot, but they use it anyway.
And without regulation, they are parking back there and blocking the entire passageway to the driveway.
So the neighbors can't get to and from the driveway.
These are things that go on in Philadelphia that result in neighbors fighting and ultimately shooting.
And we're saying that we don't want the neighbors in this block or this community to have to deal with this on their own.
There should be some regulation.
We propose that this property be fenced off.
And we have an example in the pictures that I'm about to show you so that the entire property is enclosed so that the sidewalk is free of tenant activity.
This is one of the things that the community hoped to meet with this.
Well, well, well, Miss Broadus, we we we can't we can't dictate that this property.
No, I understand.
And I think I think the real issue is what you're saying is you disagree with this being a multiple family dwelling. Is that what you're saying?
I'm saying I'm saying that the community is cannot absorb the three families at this location.
OK. And but you are aware that the RCO who was assigned to this is in favor of it.
Oh, no. We we we as the community heard that message loud and clear and we are very bothered by it.
I would like you to indulge me for just a second.
I've been on here for a long time.
I'd like to share my screen so that it is a part of the record of what it is that we are actually concerned about.
But we have we have you've sent that to us, didn't you?
You did. Right.
So it is part of the record.
OK, so do you see the garage?
is that something that you are able
to regulate
to stop the tenants
from this property from parking in the
driveway
I'm not sure about the driveway
if it's a violation they will come out
and cite us
the neighbors shouldn't have to
continually deal with this
and that's what's been happening
but that's the only way to deal with it
I can respond
Why don't we let Ms. Brodus finish, Darwin?
Ms. Brodus, do you have anything else?
We also do not agree with the proposed location of the trash.
There's a small alleyway between the garages and the parking that is only wide enough for a single trash can,
Which means that the tenants will be throwing trash back there.
There's a park half a block down the street.
Raccoons and mice and all kinds of things will rummage through the trash.
We want the trash to be kept inside.
We want it stipulated that they should not park on the sidewalk.
We want it stipulated that they have no parking space in the driveway.
um and if you don't want me to share my screen i won't but i would like to show
for the record what we're concerned about i think we have that miss produs
okay you've already sent that to us okay all right thank you we understand your points of view
is there anyone else in the virtual audience yes chair i have three hands just went up
and one is Kimberly Johnson.
Ms. Johnson, could you state your name, please,
and spell for the court stenographer?
Ms. Johnson.
Kimberly Johnson, can you unmute, please?
Ms. Johnson, go to the next person, please.
Ms. Johnson.
The next person is Bill Williams.
Mr. Williams, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court sonographer?
Mr. Williams, please unmute and wait for the chair.
Mr. Williams?
Bill Williams.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
It's B-I-L-L-W-I-L-L-I-A-M-S.
You swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Mr. Williams, are you a neighbor?
I'm in the area, and I'm with the ACCA.
Okay, okay. Are you in favor of this project or against it?
I'm totally against it.
Okay, is there anything that you can add that wasn't said?
we are we have been at all our meetings wanted to be a regular two apartments in that building
now we didn't talk about it but that garage they can use for trash storage and not have with all
these trucks parked all over the street in front of people's homes in front of the sidewalks you
know all kinds of stuff like that's happening people can't see when they come out of the driveway
people can't see when they come out of
Sydenham Street
Williams thank you for taking
the time we appreciate your point of
is there anyone else in the virtual
audience yes chair
C.L. Morton has a hand up
I could you state your name
please and spell for the courts
yes Cynthia Morton
C-Y-N-T-H-I-A
M-O-R-T-O-N
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth i do uh are you a neighbor i am uh not a near neighbor but in the vicinity
okay are you for this project or against it totally against it okay is there anything you
could offer that hasn't already been said mostly everything's been said i would like to say that
um as far as rcos are concerned um aca we do have participation where the other rco doesn't and
I know, but we met and we vehemently opposed it.
Okay. Thank you. But I think as you're aware,
the Oakland and Worcester Association is for it.
Thank you very much for taking the time.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
Yes, Chair. Kimberly Johnson has returned.
Hi, Ms. Johnson. Could you please state your name?
Ms. Johnson?
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience besides Ms. Johnson?
Yes, three more hands. Jennifer Bailey is next.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Jennifer Bailey, J-E-N-N-I-F-E-R, last name Bailey, B-A-I-L-E-Y.
You swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Are you a neighbor?
Yes, I am.
All right. Are you in favor of this project or against it?
I am against it.
Okay. Is there anything you can add that hasn't already been said?
I will say in reference to the parking in the back passage of the drive-thru, there is a lot of debris.
The owner, we were told that the garage would not, the owner was kicked out.
He was no longer there. That is not true. He was there on Monday. And this gentleman is selling things out of the garage in terms of flooring, toilets, bathroom stuff.
And he has deliveries coming as well, which is parking on the sidewalk and delivering tons of pallet of flooring and so forth out of there.
I have, as well as my 80-year-old father, has been down there to clean up nails, debris, glass, everything by that house when that gentleman comes out there and sells things.
And that's a problem because I frequently drive down that drive onto Alany Avenue.
And a lot of times I can't get past because of that truck.
The neighbors there at the end cannot even get out their parking spot because of the truck being there.
And we have said something to them, but it will get to a point, and I do not want it to get to that point, where violence has to be given because of this issue.
All right. Well, thank you for taking the time. We understand your position.
All right. Well, thank you for taking the time. We understand your position.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
Yes, Sherry Cohen.
Hi, Ms. Cohen, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Yes, my name is Sherry Cohen, S-H-E-R-R-I-E.
And if I remember correctly, I already swore you in this morning, right?
I believe so.
Are you a neighbor?
I am. Please proceed. Are you for or against this project?
I'm against the project, as stated, because we cannot absorb the number of people we already have living in the area.
The fact that there's already multifamily homes does not mean that we need another multifamily home.
And we, as a community, voted the other night at our community meeting, attended by a dozen people at the ACCA meeting.
We voted in favor of a two-family dwelling instead of a three-family dwelling.
Because if you look at the photographs provided by ACCA, you'll see the saturation of vehicles right on that corner and on Sydenham.
And we already have, you know, you know, an oversaturated neighborhood in terms of people and cars.
And we've already but we've already had that testimony.
And we we know that you're against the project, but you're saying you'd be in favor of a two to duplex.
So, yes, yes, yes. Thank you for taking the time to call us.
We do appreciate it. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
yes Kimberly Johnson
Ms. Johnson
could you state your name please
we've tried to get her in several times
we have not got her in
is there anyone else
no more hands here
thank you
planning commission
thank you Chair Bergman
and good afternoon David Fechtow
with the city planning commission
the comprehensive plan recommends no change
to the residential single family zoning at this location this property has a documented history
as a dwelling unit with ground floor commercial space the appellant requests permission to convert
the commercial space into a third residential unit staff has found no documentation for three
units in the zoning archives the city planning commission recommends that the board grant the
proposed use variants with a limit to two dwelling units thank you um mr bovay do you have any
comments yes um again i i think we have one of the um rare instances where you have a hardship
for a use again but what i showed the board earlier was an attempt over 20 years ago to put
in commercial space and and that never went anywhere right because the building as you can
see by its configuration was did have commercial activity at one point in time but now uh in order
to get commercial activity i don't know what that is can somebody mute right in order to get that
commercial activity we will have to have a variance in order to have this to continue with
this residential activity we still need a variance so i think because we're caught in
Between and in between, we do have a used hardship.
Second, right, I want to address the fact that there was testimony about the activity that it will affect this corridor and that the activity will be in conflict with this corridor.
I think the board should understand the practicality of commercial activity that they're claiming is taking place there because of these accessory garages versus that activity stopping.
You'll have a three bedroom apartment upstairs, two one bedrooms, accessory parking, no heightened activity.
whatsoever so so i think i i think their concerns are a little bit disingenuous because
of my third point and and and it centers around mr richardson's and
sydney bass's chief of staff what he said earlier they are this concerned group of of citizens i
don't even know if i pronounced their name right but they are livid that they weren't chosen to be
the coordinating RCO.
And because they are
livid, I'm submitting to the board
that they just want to
that they just want to go against this project just to show their proudness or it's uh it's a
go against this project just
to show their proud...
power grab so with all of that said i i i rest my case all right so mi 2022 005082 5600 north
sydenham street i vote yes with proviso accessory garage and rear for tenants only
Thomas Holloman my vote is yes with proviso James Snell my vote is yes with proviso
Mr. Beauvais you have your three votes yes thank you Mr. Chairman thank you we're moving to number
11 MI 2023-002-936-1437 Pashonk Avenue. Sean Whalen is the attorney.
Recommendation of support from East Point Breeze neighbors.
And also we've received a letter of support from a neighbor who lives on that block.
Mr. Whalen.
Sean Whalen has been promoted to panelist.
Good afternoon, Chairman.
Mr. Whalen, how are you, sir?
Could you state your name for the record and spell for the court stenographer?
Of course.
Sean Whalen, W-H-A-L-E-N.
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 and relationship to the property?
Certainly.
I'm here representing 1437 W. Pass Yonk Holding, LLC.
That's the owner of the property.
All right.
Mr. Holloman, could you do the follow-up for me, please?
Hey, sir, you in?
Mr. Wayne, all your records were, all your things were sent in on time.
Yes, Mr. Chairman, I'm happy to stipulate yes, yes, and yes. Everything was submitted. You have all the documentation.
Thank you. Thank you. And we're good to go. All right. Thank you.
All right. Would you like me to share my screen and begin? Please, please.
Thank you very much.
So hopefully you're seeing now an Atlas aerial view, just to give an outline.
This is 1437. You can see the blue dot here right along West Pass, Seonk Avenue, right in the middle of a major corridor.
Obviously, there's been a lot of conversation publicly lately about the Melrose Diner and its redevelopment.
That's pretty indicative of what's going on along this corridor.
We are in a CMX2 zone. We're surrounded by CMX2.5, but we are in a CMX2 zone.
However, the CMX2 requirements really don't come into play here.
Rather, what we're dealing with is an existing building.
So our hardship and everything stems directly just from the existing nonconformities under the current code.
We did proceed before the East Point Breeze Neighbors Association.
They did take a position of support.
And so, again, you can see here, this is the building.
and I'll just give this for context, it's fully built out. It was built approximately 15 years
ago. My clients purchased the property this past summer, and essentially what they're asking to do,
you can see here, there's a large open roof area and a large oversized roof access structure,
roof deck access structure. They're looking to just build out this floor, and in doing so,
they received what looks to be an overwhelming number of refusals. I will walk through to show
that they're much ado about nothing, but they are all simply due to the current build environment
and exactly what that means and how we extend that. So while we don't disagree with any of them,
I'll walk you through all of them quickly. So for instance, the very first one is that there's a
commercial roof deck and commercial roof decks are not allowed in this zoning district. This was
built at the time. So there's currently a first and second floor commercial unit combined. We're
seeking to have that made vacant. The prior user has vacated. And then there's a third story
existing apartment with an over large fourth story. It's actually so large that it constitutes
with an over-large fourth story. It's actually so large that it constitutes a fourth story
roof access structure. And so this is the commercial roof deck that they're talking
about. You can see there's a small kitchen, existing kitchen area here. And then if you go,
this is the extent of it. It's about eight by six. It's built out. It's on top of
existing structure, and it mainly is the HVAC access point. So again, looks and sounds like
an issue really in reality is a non-issue. Essentially, this was previously used only
for smoke breaks by the existing tenant. Secondly, we have an increase of height.
And again, what we're looking to do here, you can see up in the top left-hand corner, this is an existing built condition.
You can see this is the stair tower that I'm highlighting right here.
That stair tower is already built to the street frontage.
That would not be allowed now and is an existing nonconformity.
So in order to, again, what we're doing is simply asking to build out this floor over top here.
In order to do so, we have to increase the height of the stair tower in order to provide dual access to the roof deck and to accommodate the building code and fire safety and access.
That's the issue for height.
We are not increasing the overall built environment for height. The height is currently just over 56 feet, and it's going to stay there. But we will be elevating this one floor to add a story here.
In fact, there are two owners. One of them already lives on the third floor. The fourth floor will be a second dwelling unit, which is by right. There is no use refusal here for the second dwelling unit. And the other owner will be occupying that unit.
So if I can zoom in here for you very quickly, this is what creates the height refusal, is simply that extension of the existing and non-conforming stair tower.
Again, that's required for health and safety and fire code basis under the code as a second means of egress.
It's already there. Again, you'll hear me beat this like a drum, but our hardship is a clear hardship from an existing nonconforming building.
and the occupied area i'll show you in the plans occupied area and there's a discussion of a
vertical extension of a non-conforming rear wall that's a bit of a mouthful which i admit i'd not
seen that variance before myself but here is a site plan that was proposed for this this is
existing open area over here there is currently you can see here an eight foot setback that was
allowed by code back 15 years ago when this was approved and built that requirement under the
existing code has to be nine feet so an additional one foot is added now unfortunately the can't you
cannot so if we set back our our new story or our build out here by one foot from this existing wall
we would not have that refusal however as this board i'm sure is aware
the structural components of the bill of the wall are in the wall itself you can't structurally just
build a new wall one foot behind that wall and so all we're doing again is extending this wall here
directly vertically up to include and encapsulate this uh this roof deck that's being built you can
see here's the existing stair tower that's what i showed you before on the plans that's simply being
elevated up uh in order to provide access to what will be a new residential use only roof deck
so again you can see numerous images here of how everything is built out the first and second floor
is commercial it's vacant right now that will remain commercial that's by right there's a third
floor unit which is by right and a fourth floor unit which is by right and you know instead of
And, you know, instead of seeking additional density or trying to cram additional apartments in here, we just want these two large residential units.
seeking additional density you're trying to
And again, we believe that this is the least minimum variance requested because we are not expanding the existing built envelope in any way other than the, you know, to advance the further prior nonconformities.
and you know obviously we think there's no public health safety or welfare detriment
because we're only adding one additional residential unit and certainly I think the
vote of vote of confidence and support from the RCO you know certainly weighs and ways in favor
of that being the case there again as I've already said the the hardship we have stems from the fact
that we have an existing built building prior non-conforming and previously approved under
the code as it existed. So we are not exacerbating that in any way. We're simply building out an
existing story. So again, the fourth story currently now is just the portion of the roof
that has, let me see if I can show you, that has this. So it's a limited portion of a fourth story.
we're just going to build out that fourth story as a as a full unit and then we get the height
requirement we get the height refusal simply because we're raising uh this stair tower
so i believe that that addresses all of the issues that we have for today
i am happy to bring on michael scally on behalf of the owner why don't you why don't you bring
them on, please. Michael Scali is allowed to speak. Hi, Mr. Scali. Could you state your name,
please, and spell for the court stenographer? Good afternoon. My name is Michael Scali,
M-I-C-H-A-E-L, last name Scali, S-C-A-L-I. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
told you is nothing but the truth i do proceed counsel thank you chair uh mr scally you're here
on behalf of the owner 1437 w passion holding llc correct correct and did you hear all of the
testimony i already provided in this case i did and do you believe it to be true and correct to
the best of your knowledge information and belief i do and would you adopt that testimony as your
own. Yes, I do. Thank you very much. Questions from the board? No, Mr. Chairman.
Chair, I was having a little trouble there trying to get unmuted. No questions. No questions.
um chair i would just advise the board also that uh i do have agata reister here the project
architect if the board has any questions for her thank you why should your comments from our
attorney hillary emerson not at this time mr chair thank you questions or comments from the virtual
audience there are no hands here planning commission thank you chair bergman and good
afternoon. David Fecto with the City Planning Commission. The comprehensive plan recommends
no change to commercial mixed use zoning at this location. The appellant has not shown that
complying with the dimensional requirements of the zoning code will have a detrimental impact
on their property. The City Planning Commission recommends that the board deny the proposed use
and dimensional variances.
MI 2023-002-936-1437 West Paschalk Avenue, I vote yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Counsel, you have your votes.
Thank you very much, Chair. Have an excellent day.
Is there anyone in the virtual audience whose case has not been called?
there are no hands here all right sorry we went a little late see everybody two o'clock and thanks
thanks everyone all right thank you see you later everyone
patina we ready to go yes chair we have 25 attendees you can proceed as you wish
good afternoon my name is bill bergman and i will be sharing this afternoon's eba hearings
Our Vice Chair, Ismail Shahid, should be on any moment.
Also here is Thomas Holliman, our Board Member.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you.
And also our Board Member, James Snell.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you.
you. Present also is Hillary Emerson, our attorney, and our executive director, Tanya Sunken. Here's
Present also is Hillary Emerson, our Attorney, and our Executive Director, Tanya Snell.
our virtual format. Be advised, the proceedings are being recorded. Video will be available
by contacting tanyasunken 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
and you wish to testify, press star nine to raise your hand and star six to unmute. To an
Interappearance statement, call 267-270-5548.
Leave your email and the address of the property in question.
And finally, the question and answer box on the screen is not for comments or testimony.
All comments should be directed to our Executive Director, Tanya Sunkin.
Let's look at the Shafton's List.
Number two, MI 2023, 002-778-2848 North 26th Street. This case is continued.
Number 11, MI 2022-004-584-5824-26, North Broad Street.
This is a continuance.
Alan Nockamson is the attorney.
Mr. Nockamson.
Good afternoon, Chair. This is Doreen Blakely, and I will be your co-host this afternoon.
Mr. Knockelson will be coming back in as a panelist.
Thank you.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Knockelson, you've been sworn several times. I understand this is a request for continuance.
Yes. We're having difficulty getting tax compliance with this matter, so we're trying to work through that issue.
So we request one more continuing so we can get our house in order with regards to this matter.
Thank you. So MI 2022-004-584-5824 to 26 North Broad Street. Cases continue. Mark must be tried. Thank you, sir.
And number 12, MI-2023-001-070, 70 to 80 East Worcester Street, cases continued.
Is there any other requests for continuances?
I see no hands, Chair.
Okay, I see two withdrawals on the list.
So number three, MI 2022-007-293-2200 East Cumberland Street, the case has been withdrawn.
And number four, MI 2022-005-364-2537 North 32nd Street, that case has been withdrawn.
We're going to go to our add-on list.
Excuse me, Chair.
There's a person with a
calling user with the hand up.
Okay. I will allow
them to speak.
Calling user, please
unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Can you
say your name, please?
Yes, Adrian Hernandez
from RCO.
Did I swear you once today,
Adrian?
I don't think so.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
What case are you interested in?
Can I ask you, I think I may have missed 2848 North 26th Street, whether that was continued or not.
Let me see here.
My continued sources were...
2848 North 26th?
yes yes that case is continued okay thank you sure any other requests for continuance
no hands here all right we're going to go to our add-on list
number one mi 2022
MI2022, 005922, 1719 North 2nd Street. I vote yes with provisos.
Revised plans, one page, stamped by ZBA on October 4th, 2023.
Note, use of commercial space for a smoking lounge would require
Note, use of commercial space for a smoking lounge would require a separate approval.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with Proviso.
James Snell, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Thank you.
Number two, MI 2023-002-766-11-Sherers Lane, I vote no.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is no
James Snell, my vote is no
We're going to go to our regular list
Excuse me, Mr. Chair, one moment
Sorry, Mr. Snell, I forgot to have you certified that you watched the video of the hearing last week since you were not present at that time
Yes, I apologize for that, you're absolutely right
Yeah, I did, I certified that I did watch the video from last week
And my vote is no.
Okay, we're going to go to our regular list.
Number one and number 10 will be heard together.
So number one is MI 2023, 002-845-2613 Eves Seltzer Street.
And number 10 is MI 2023-002844-2815 Mercer Street.
Ryan Bolin is the attorney.
There's his recommendation of support for both from Southport Richmond Civic Association, unanimous, no explanation, and letter of non-opposition from Council Member Squilla.
Ryan Boland has been promoted to panelist.
Thank you.
Good afternoon.
Good afternoon, sir.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Yes, Ryan Boland, R-Y-A-N-B-O-L-A-N-D.
Right.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Could you identify your client in relationship to this property?
Yes. I represent Lucretia Hines, who is the administrator of the estate of Dominic LaRusso.
Okay. And Mr. Hallman, could you do the follow-up questions, please?
Yes. Yes, Mr. Chairman. Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading? Do you agree
to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his accuracy?
Yes, I do, as to both refusals.
Did you email all of the exhibits and documents that's required five days in advance to this hearing?
Yes, I did.
Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.
okay so I'm here and I represent the estate of Dominic LaRusso and I'm here with his son
Frank I'm going to give a brief introduction as to both properties and you have a map up here
that just shows you where these properties are.
They're just right around the corner
from where Mr. LaRusso grew up.
So we're here today with the support of the RCO.
We had a 22 to zero vote on one property,
24 to zero vote on another.
And we're seeking to legalize two garages
for parking personal automobiles
as well as incidental storage.
And the reason we're here today
as we went to sell these properties, and we couldn't get city certifications as to both of them.
You'll see here, I'll take you through the presentations, but the Seltzer Street property
has always been a garage, and it's a separate lot directly behind where Mr. LaRusso grew up,
and we couldn't get a city certification because they just didn't know whether the use had been
abandoned over the past 50 to 60 years. And the other property, Mercer Street, it was never
formally approved as far as I can see for parking, but there was always an approved use for the
storage. So these buildings were built back in excess of 50, 60 years ago as garages. They're
just one-story masonry buildings. This is RSA 5. There's only electricity, no plumbing. There's
really no use whatsoever for these buildings in their present form for electric. So let me show
you. So for East Seltzer Street, this property, it's 20 feet wide by 32 feet deep. Again, it's
always been used to store a personal vehicle. It's never been discontinued use for more than
discontinued use for more than three years. And this, they got a zoning permit for parking back
three years and um this they got his own
in 1961, which I'll show the board. And the other property, which is just around the corner,
the Mercer Street property, that's even bigger. It's 20 feet wide by 80 feet deep. And that again
is a one story garage. And this was always used for Mr. LaRusso's construction. He was a union
carpenter before he died. He always kept it as just really his little play workshop and he would
keep a work truck in there, but I haven't seen any evidence that keeping a work truck was legalized.
So we're here today on Seltzer seeking that the city confirm that we have a continued existing
use and for Mercer seeking a variance as to the project. So I'm going to take you through Seltzer
very briefly. We have a letter of support. I'll just take you through some photographs. Here you
can see the property highlighted. Mr. La Russa grew up in front of it on Somerset Street.
For some reason, this property is divided. There's another image of it.
Just to get a little better view of it. So it's right right here next to the railroad tracks.
It's kind of a trash strewn, narrow little street there. But as you can see from these photographs here,
it's mostly garages along the rear on Seltzer with the houses on Somerset Street.
Here's a photograph of the garage. Here's another one looking east. That's 95 in the background.
another photo another photo um here's just what the garage looks like as you can see this doesn't
look like a residence um really wouldn't be able to be used as a residence it's just an empty garage
um just to take you through some of the records here um here is the property certificate we got
from the city which in essence states that they don't have any records establishing um the use
over the past 50 years. So that's why we're here. Here is a zoning permit from 1961 for
building this garage. And my client will affirm my testimony that this has been continuously used
since the zoning permit was issued. Here is just some plans we had drawn up showing
all the dimensions of the plan. And then I also have everything else that's required,
The appeal form, the project information form. I have the deed. I have tax clearance, photographs of the posting, and I also have the letters testamentary showing that Miss Himes is, in fact, has authority to act on behalf of her father.
Let me walk you briefly through the Mercer Street presentation.
Again, here is the refusal, which relates to having a garage in RSA 5.
We have the letter of support, 22 to 0 in support.
Some photographs.
Again, I'll show you down here.
This was where Seltzer was, the highlighted areas where we are on Mercer Street.
There's another image.
Another image.
I didn't mark it here but right here where my cursor is that's where the the garage is
um here's here's another image of the garage um another one looking south down Mercer Street
and then this this is what a union carpenter's um little playground looks like just um he this
is all the wood and other things he always kept in the garage um it goes back about 80 feet so
There's a lot of stuff in there, but he always, as you can see the oil marks, he always kept his work truck in there.
And here are the records that show that that this was approved back in 62 for storage of contractor supplies.
So we believe that that use is already legal. We're just really here for parking.
Again, here's some more. Here's the the zoning board decision allowing storage of contractor supplies.
And then I have everything else required by the board. We have, again, we had plans thrown up that show the garage.
Just like the other one, it's just one story.
Application for appeal, I have project information form, I have the deed, tax clearance, photographs of the posting, and then I already showed you the letters testamentary.
I'd like to call my
client to
if Frank LaRusso
if you can raise your hand please
what was his name I'm sorry
LaRusso
yeah he's been allowed to speak
sir could you state your name please
and spell for the court stenographer
Mr. LaRusso yes say it again could you state your name please and spell for the court stenographer
Frank LaRusso L-O-R-U-S-S-O right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and
nothing but the truth I do proceed counsel so Frank just to confirm these these photographs
and everything I've taken the zoning board through these were your your parents properties correct
And they've owned these throughout your lifetime, is that correct?
So you have personal knowledge about everything I just testified to?
Yeah, pretty basic.
Did you hear the statements I made?
Yes, I did.
And were they true, correct, and accurate?
And you adopt them as your own?
That's all I have for Mr. LaRusso.
I don't know if the board has any questions.
Questions from the board.
no mr chairman no chair questions from our attorney hillary emerson
um i had uh just one one quick question on the um the mercer street property it has both um
dominic larusso and his his wife listed as owners is his wife deceased as well yes okay okay all
Right. I just I figured as much, but I just wanted to clarify that.
Thank you. Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
No hands, Chair. My Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman. And good afternoon, David Vecta with the City Planning Commission.
And Chair, we'll give testimony for each one of these separately since we have slightly different testimony.
So for 2613 East Seltzer Street, the comprehensive plan recommends no change.
to the residential single family zoning at this location this appears to be a legalization of an
existing use most of the structures facing the this block of seltzer street are garages
so the proposed use is unlikely to injure the use of adjacent properties the city planning commission
recommends the board grant the proposed use variants for warehousing and storage
now for 2815 mercer street the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential
single-family zoning at this location. The appellant seeks to legalize a garage which
received use permits for a garage and iron welding in 1969. The City Planning Commission
recommends that the board grant a proposed use in dimensional variances for multiple buildings
on the lot, garage parking, warehouse, rear yard depth, and occupied area. Thank you. I'm going
to vote them separately. So number one, MI 2023-002-845-2613 East Seltzer Street, I vote yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes. James Snell, my vote is yes. And number 10, MI 2023-002-844-2815
Mercer Street, I vote yes. Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes. James Snell, my vote is yes.
Thank you, counsel. You have your votes.
Okay, here. So now we're going to go to, we're going to number five. MI 2023-002-850-400 East
Evergreen Avenue. Adam Laver
is the attorney.
There's a letter of support from the Cheston Hill
Community Association
and there's a letter of support from
Cheston Hill Conservancy.
And also
the applicant provided a petition
in non-opposition
signed by approximately eight neighbors.
Mr. Laver.
Adam Laver is coming in as a panelist.
Good afternoon, Chairman Bergman and members of the board.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Adam Laver, L-A-V-A-Z-V-E-R.
Great. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, Chairman Bergman, I do.
Could you identify your client and relationship to the property?
Certainly. Blank Rome represents Valerie and David Mayer, M-A-H-E-R.
who are the owners of the subject property, 400 East Evergreen Avenue.
And Mr. Holloman has just a few questions for you.
Certainly.
Good afternoon.
Good afternoon, Counselor.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his accuracy?
Good afternoon, Mr. Holloman.
Yes, I do.
And I stipulate.
Thank you. Did you email all the exhibits and documents required five days in advance
Thank you.
Did you email all the exhibits and documents?
of this hearing? Yes, sir, we did. Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.
Thank you very much. I'm here this afternoon with Valerie Mayer, the owner of the subject
property. Also with us, Mr. Chairman and members of the board, Kevin Rasmussen, R-A-S-M-U-S-S-E-N
of Rasmussen Sioux Architecture. On the screen before you, you can see some aerial photographs.
The property is located within the Chestnut Hill section of the city.
It is the bourbon in style, as the board is aware.
Here you can see exterior photographs of the subject property.
It's an existing single-family residence.
It's occupied by the mayors and located in an RSD1 residential zoning district.
No changes are proposed to the existing stone Italianate dwelling.
It dates to 1861 to 1865, and the property owners feel a sense of stewardship with the history of this property and the neighborhood in general.
Here you can see some photographs of their yard, the rear yard.
Valerie and David have proposed the addition of a small 244-square-foot greenhouse in their backyard.
That's the subject of why we're before you.
this has generated a refusal. Here's the notice of refusal. I've taken the liberty of highlighting
the particular issue. There is one refusal. The code dictates that accessory structures
for residential use may not exceed 130 square feet. The proposed greenhouse is 244.69 square
of feet. This is a high-end greenhouse. It is not, however, custom-made. Here you can see a sense of
the existing single-family home you've seen photographed, and this small area where my
cursor is would be the proposed greenhouse. You can also see the dimensions listed showing
significant setbacks between structures, between neighbors. The greenhouse, as proposed,
would occupy a very small footprint. It's proposed to be constructed of traditional materials.
Here you can see a model prototype. This is a higher end, compatible with the historical
neighborhood. These are specifications from the company that manufactures these greenhouses.
And here is the site plan that was submitted to LNI.
The property owners are seeking a de minimis dimensional deviation from the code.
Very important to note that otherwise the proposal meets all setbacks, open area, height, and use requirements for the property.
Once again, the only issue is the square footage size of the structure.
Here you can see some elevations of the proposed greenhouse related to the existing single-family home.
The variance would comport with the comprehensive planning principles for the surrounding community, which includes many freestanding accessory structures, several of them that exceed 130 square feet in the greater Chestnut Hill neighborhood.
it. Mr. Chairman, at the beginning of the hearing, you mentioned the support that the board has
received. On the screen before you is the coordinating RCO's letter of support. We're
grateful to the Chestnut Hill Community Association for taking the time to carefully review this
matter. I have highlighted the support with the proposed provisos, which the applicant would agree
to. I'll read them if I may briefly. Stormwater runoff incurred by the structure will be
infiltrated within the subject property. Lighting shall be designed so that there's no light
spillage beyond the boundaries of the subject property. And the agreement with the near
neighbor at 410 East Evergreen will be honored. I'll get to that in a moment. There's also a
letter of support from the Chestnut Hill Conservancy, which echoes what I just read
into the record. And here is a private agreement with the near neighbor at 410. David and Valerie
care very much about peaceful coexistence with their neighbors, and this private agreement
achieves that. In addition, David and Valerie,
In addition, David and Valerie went and spoke with many of their neighbors.
These are all near neighbors on these pages, and they have lent their full support for this project.
Mr. Chairman and members of the board, the proposal will fit into the surrounding neighborhood, as evidenced by the support of the RCOs and the neighbors.
The variance would represent the minimum variance to afford relief and the least modification
possible of the regulation at issue.
The grant of variance relief will not increase congestion in the public streets, increase
the danger of fire, or otherwise endanger the public health, safety, or general welfare.
Once again, the existing single-family residential use would continue.
This will not adversely affect transportation or unduly burdened water, school, park, or
other public facilities.
There are no environmental issues. Valerie Mayer is here at the appropriate time to adopt and affirm.
We're ready for that. Thank you. Valerie, would you kindly raise your virtual hand so that you may be recognized by Chairman Bergman?
There she is. Hi, Valerie. Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Yes, good afternoon. This is Valerie Mayer, V-A-L-E-R-I-E, and the last name is spelled M-A-H-E-R.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do, sir.
Proceed, counsel.
Thank you. Good afternoon, Valerie. Have you been present for the entirety of the virtual hearing in this matter?
Yes, I have.
And would you adopt and affirm the testimony that I've offered as your own?
Yes, I do.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Chair.
Questions from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Yes, Mr. Chair, just one brief note.
Thank you.
I just want to know that the provisos that have been requested by the RCOs
are unfortunately not enforceable by the zoning board.
Thank you.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no hands, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman, and good afternoon.
David Fecto with the City Planning Commission.
uh mr chairman and board members the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential
single family detached zoning at this location the proposed structure is harmonious with the
surrounding properties and the city planning commission recommends that the board grant the
proposed dimensional variances for an accessory structure thank you mi 2023 002 850 400 east
evergreen avenue i vote yes thomas holliman my vote is yes james snell my vote is yes
ish yeah i'm not going to vote on that chair because i came in on the table okay fine fine
uh council you have your votes thank you thank you mr chairman members of the board have a good
afternoon all right you too uh number six mi 2022 007 615 4554 wayne avenue brandon saverin is the
attorney there's a letter of non-opposition from solo germantown based on revised plans
and letter of support from the 13th ward rco
Brandon Saverin has been promoted to panelists.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman. Good afternoon. Could you state your name, please, and spell for
the court stenographer? Yes. So this name includes the word Phila as an abbreviation
for Philadelphia. So my client is the owner of the property. No, no, state your name first,
That's right for the court reporter.
Thank you.
And spell it, please.
Yes, my name is Brandon Sapp.
That's spelled B-R-A-N-D-O-N.
And then S as in Sam, A, V as in Victor, R-A-N as in Nancy.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Could you identify your client and relationship to this property?
So the property owner is my client, and the property owner is an LLC named R-A-M, then Fila, then Community, and then the number 10, LLC.
okay and our vice chair has just a few questions do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal
And our vice chair has just a few questions.
Good afternoon, Counselor.
Do you agree?
and stipulate to its accuracy yes i do have you emailed in all the required documents that are
needed to be required to proceed with this hearing five days in advance uh yes i do
thank you please proceed and share your screen thank you
Okay. Good afternoon, members of the board. I'm going to start my presentation with some photos
of the property as it currently exists, and then move on to the refusal and the plans.
So at exhibit nine of the exhibit binder that we submitted, this is a street view photograph
of the property. It is the vacant lot in the middle, which is, I believe, a lot that, as I'll
show you, has been vacant for over 10 years. So my clients bought the property in this form a
couple of years ago. And if you see, these buildings have sort of like, you could call it
addition but a piece that sticks out on the first floor from what is otherwise a three-story building
that's sort of universally true here and and through our proviso plans that is what we are
proposing to build a similar looking structure that would have three dwelling units
in exhibit one of our exhibit binder which is a memo of law i authored to the board
This is an aerial photograph from atlas.philo.gov from 2012.
And this is many years before my clients purchased the property.
And you can see that the property is still vacant.
So, again, not a hardship that was self-created.
I'll get into the hardships in a moment.
But one of them is the duration of the vacancy of this property.
And in the rest of Exhibit 1, which I won't go through in full, is a memorandum I authored to the board about why we believe our proposal satisfies all of the requirements for a variance under the Philadelphia Code.
Exhibit 2A is our refusal. So here is the refusal. I'll zoom in a little bit and pardon the poor image quality.
Um, so originally we had applied to, uh, construct a three story structure that would have five
dwelling units, um, through the engagement with the RCOs, um, we decided to reduce the proposal
to three dwelling units. Um, and the RCOs also pushed us to conform the shape of the building
in the front, um, to its neighbors. And we have done so, um, as I'll show you in a minute.
The only refusal was for use. Even the original proposal did conform to all of the dimensional requirements of the code, and the revised proposal also continues to conform to all of the dimensional requirements of the code.
The only refusal is because we are proposing three dwelling units and we are in a single family district.
Although, as I'll show you in a moment, the overwhelming majority of other structures on our block of Wayne Avenue also contain multiple dwelling units.
Exhibit 2D is our original zoning plan that was submitted to L&I.
I won't spend too much time on this since it's been changed, but the elevation on it shows you what the original proposal looked like.
In Exhibit 3, we have a rendering of that original proposal, which looks like this.
And working with our architects at KCA, we changed the project such that now it looks like this.
So if you remember that photo of the rest of the block, we're going to have basically what those buildings next door have, we're going to have a first floor that meets the street line, and then there's going to be a significant setback of, I'll get the distance in a moment, but I think about a dozen feet, that pushes the second and third floor back, just as is the case with our neighbors.
So here at Exhibit 2E is our proviso zoning plan, our revised zoning plan.
It has an updated elevation, and the site plan shows that the upper two floors of the building have been pushed back.
The depth of that setback actually varies because the street meets all of these buildings at a diagonal,
but it looks like the setback at its widest point would be about 14 and a half feet.
The setback at its widest point would be about 14 and a half feet, and at its shallowest point at about 11 feet.
There would be a terrace that's set back from the street on top of that setback, which would be accessible to the occupant of the second floor dwelling unit.
So the building would have three dwelling units, as is now proposed, and I'm going to show you the floor plans of the interior.
That would be in Exhibit 4.
Here are those floor plans.
A couple things to point out.
Each of the three dwelling units occupies an entire floor.
There is no roof deck on this building.
There is just the small front terrace that the second floor will have.
And there is also access to the rear yard by the first floor dwelling unit.
There is not a full basement.
There is only a small basement in the front of the building planned, which is purely for mechanicals.
It is not a part of one of the three dwelling units, so certainly nobody would live down there.
It's not going to be part of anyone's home. It's just for building mechanicals.
We have support from the coordinating RCO, which the chairman mentioned.
I believe that letter is at the very end of our exhibit binder.
Um, and, uh, we also have, um, non-opposition from one of the, uh, other affected RCOs.
Um, and I think finally, just to touch on, um, the hardships in, in a moment that compel us to
develop, uh, three dwelling units as opposed to one. So one of those things, uh, as I mentioned,
is that this property has been vacant for over 12, uh, sorry, over 10 years since at least 2012.
And I actually don't know this for a fact, but for all of that time since 2012, or if not, at least a lot of it, the zoning code has compelled single family use at this location.
So what that tells you is that the market has not responded to that zoning restriction.
No one has stepped up to build a single family home in that time.
And we believe that that's evidence that the market does not support a single family home here.
Nobody can use a single family plan to attract the financing necessary to construct a new building.
Another element of the situation, which you could call hardship, you could call it a factor that means that we're not going to harm our surroundings as well,
is that if you look at our side of Wayne Avenue and in my memo, I actually have a list of
all of the other buildings on sort of our block of Wayne Avenue. And I think a block or two on
either side, the buildings, I mean, I'm not going to tick through every line here, but if you look
at these buildings, four, six, two, eight, Wayne, three residential units, the next one, four
residential units, the next one, three residential units. So almost all of these buildings have
three or more dwelling units. There's a few instances of one or two dwelling units, but
we are totally within context, sort of in like the median of this range by proposing three
dwelling units. And my final argument is the hardship is that there's actually significant
documents on Atlas about the history of this property, and it has never featured a single
family home, according to Atlas. In fact, the building that was there before its demolition
contained three units. Now, two of those units were residential and one of those units was
commercial. But as far as we're aware, there were at all times that there was a building on this
property, three units on the property in some combo of residential and commercial. But that's
what we're proposing to go right back to. A three-unit building just as always has been there.
So that's my presentation. I'm going to see if my client's available to adopt my testimony, and we're happy to take questions.
Mr. Severin, what's your client? Is it Matan?
Matan, yes.
Matan, okay. Matan will be allowed to speak.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Matan, please unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
yes matan shmuel m-a-t-a-n-s-h-m-u-e-l you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth i swear uh counsel proceed thank you um matan did you um hear my testimony
in your zoning case this afternoon yes i did um was it true and accurate to the best of your
Yes, I did.
Was it true and accurate to the best of your knowledge, information, and belief?
knowledge information.
Are you authorized to speak on behalf of the LLC that owns this property?
And would you adopt my testimony as if it had been your own testimony?
Okay, thank you.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
uh just one quick one mr chair um mr saverin um we received uh both the letter of support from
the 13th ward as well as the letter of non-opposition from solo germantown with a
couple of provisos um one being interior trash storage another being interior mailboxes and
mail storage um can you um advise us of your client's position on those that request yeah
yes we're agreeable to those two provisors
questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see no hands chair planning commission thank you chair bergman and good afternoon
david effecto with the city planning commission chair and board members the comprehensive plan
recommends a change in zoning to commercial mixed use at this location the comprehensive
the plan's recommended zoning is to reinforce Wayne Avenue as a commercial corridor. The
proposed multifamily use brings this property closer to this goal than the current zoning
would allow. The City Planning Commission recommends that the board grant the use
variance for three dwelling units. Thank you. MI 2022-007-615-4554 Wayne Avenue. I vote yes
with proviso. Revised plan, one-paged, stamped by ZBA, October 4th, 2023. Interior trash storage
and interior mailbox and mail storage. Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with proviso.
James Snell, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ishmael Shahid, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you.
All right. Number seven, MI-2023-002-911-5127 Irving Street.
Alan Nockamson is the attorney.
There's a recommendation of support for three dwelling units.
Mr. Nockamson.
Mr. Nockamson is backing as a panelist.
Could you identify your client and the relationship to this property?
Yes, my client is Two Key Property Investment Group, Inc.
And in the virtual audience is one of his representatives, Stephanie Smiley.
um is that for 51 27 irving street or is that's right it's not philadelphia homes
you had one earlier with that oh you know what maybe my notes are saying
property but maybe i'm wrong we'll take a look at the deed and and i'll confirm that let's just
take a look at the deed all right uh let's see i thought you had mentioned that name earlier in
the day. Yeah, me too. When I said it too, I was like, wait a minute, that doesn't make sense.
So let's see. Oh yeah, it's Villa Holmes, LLC. You're
right, Mr. Chair. So our Vice Chair has just a few questions.
Oh, I thought
I was off mute. Good afternoon, Counselor. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal
and stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed in all the required documents
and exhibits that are needed and required
to proceed with this case?
Five days in advance of this hearing.
Yes, we have.
Thank you.
Please proceed, counsel.
All right.
Thank you.
All right.
So I'm here to present 5127 Irving Street,
a property located in West Philly.
We're going to first review the notice of refusal. So this is an RSA 5 property with a long history of multifamily use. We met with the community on, I believe, two separate occasions. The first was when we presented this as a four unit project.
Actually, I think we only met with them once.
We met with them as a four-unit project.
There was concerns about, like, the amount of density that was created, even though this was a property that has a long multifamily use history.
They indicated to us that if we reduce the unit count to three, they would be in support of that, which I believe that's why we received the letter of support.
They indicated to us that if we reduced the unit count to three, they would be insured.
So if this board feels so inclined to grant our zoning variance request, we would ask for a proviso maximum three units.
And we have altered our floor plans to show the ZBA how we would lay out a three-unit dwelling.
It's not uncommon to have multifamily use on this block, even though this is an RSA 5 block, and we'll show you other properties on this block, which are multifamily in nature.
We also reached out to the community as a whole.
I always encourage my clients, besides going to a community meeting and making a presentation, is to canvas the neighborhood and to hopefully get support, at least explain what the project's about.
And we have a petition in that respect. Maps of the area, photographs of the property, our plans and drawings, our RCO meeting notice showing the notice that went out, proof of mailing of that notice as well, our application for appeal that we filed on behalf of Phila Homes LLC, our deed to the property showing that Phila Homes LLC is the owner of the property, and our certificate of tax clearance.
Again, at the conclusion of my presentation, I would ask that Ms. Smiley virtually raise her hand, be sworn in, and I'll have a few questions for her.
Notice of refusal. So this is an RSA-5 property. We're not changing the dimensions of this property in any way.
Originally, we were proposing four units. Again, this property has a long history of multifamily use.
After meeting with the community, we all agreed that, you know, there would be a maximum of three units.
And if, again, if this board, you know, supports that endeavor, we would ask for a proviso in that respect.
Letter of support from Walnut Hill Community Association.
As you can see, the zoning committee voted five in favor and one against having three unit family here, family dwelling here.
and they indicated that they were unanimously opposed to four units, but it's very supportive
of three units. And then again, we looked at the block in general and the surrounding area,
and it seems like there's a lot of multifamily use here on this block, even though this is an
RSA 5 property. So in addition to our property, there are 10 other instances which have a history
of multifamily use here. And then the petition, what we did was we took, you know, the addresses
that were within the notice requirements for this property, and we had our clients canvass
the neighborhood. And as you can see here, we've received significant support from not only nearby
neighbors, but people within essentially a block radius of this property. And then here's our
petition, as well as letters of support as well. And we really did try to focus on our block in
particular, the people who most be impacted by this project. And then maps of the area. Yes,
we are RSA 5, but you can see from the map, there's a diversity of housing here. There's CMX 2,
there's CMX 2.5, and there's RM 1 as well. And then you can see here that we're near public
transportation. We're between Locust and Spruce and 51st and 52nd, but we're also not that far
from public transportation. Looks like there's a bus line that runs across here on 52nd Street,
as well as on Walnut as well. And then photographs of the property. We're not changing the physical
structure at all. The exterior is going to stay the same. It's a two-story structure.
um this is proof that we posted for uh the hearing notice for today's hearing
and this is Irving Street to the right of the property to the left of the property and our
plans and drawings again all we're doing is doing some major uh TLC to the exterior and interior of
the property um you know we're not changing the building footprint in any way but here's a site
plan elevations again not changing the building footprint in any way but this is our floor plans
so you walk through you go on the porch you walk through the front door of the building
to the left is a three-bedroom one-bath unit on the first floor and instead of going to the left
on the first floor you go up a floor and you walk into a what's called a landing area and there's
two one-bedroom, one-bath units on the second floor.
We met with the community on August 16th at 7 p.m. This is proof of email of that notice to the coordinating RCO, the other RCOs, as well as the council members, zoning aids.
We met with the community on August 16th at 7 p.m.
So they got notice of the meeting that took place two weeks later. And then 119 addresses were notified of the meeting by way of mail.
and these are a list of addresses
that were notified of the meeting.
Proof of mailing to those addresses
or application for appeal
that we filed on behalf of Phila Homes LLC
along with the notice of refusal
on the project information form
or deed to the property
showing that Phila Homes LLC
is the owner of the property
and then certificate of tax clarity
showing they owe no real estate taxes
on account to this property.
I would ask that Ms. Smiley virtually raise her hand if he's sworn in.
Ms. Smiley has been allowed to speak.
Hi, Ms. Smiley, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Sure. It's Stephanie Smiley. That's S-T-E-P-H-A-N-I-E-S-M-I-L-E-Y.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, counsel.
Stephanie, you heard everything I had to state today about your zoning matter.
And is it true and correct?
Yes, it is.
And do you adopt it as your own testimony?
Yes, I do.
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
um a question for our council do we need revised plans on this
hillary or is that just the plans change enough to do it um so there were no plans in this because
this was a change in use so i'm a proviso only if the number of dwelling units is changing
that's good you need it you have anything else for this
uh no thank you okay questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see no hands here planning commission thank you chair bergman and good afternoon david effecto
with the city planning commission chair and board members the comprehensive plan recommends no change
to the residential single family zoning at this location this neighborhood was rezoned in 2022
in a community supported remapping the property has a documented history as a duplex the city
planning commission recommends the board grant a use variance for multi-family use with a maximum
of two dwelling units. Thank you. MI 2023-002-911-5127 Irving Street, I vote yes, proviso,
no more than three units. Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with proviso. James Snell,
my vote is yes with proviso ishmael shaheed my vote is yes with proviso thank you thank you
council number eight mi 2023 002 858 2901 to 19 north 25th street william o'brien is the attorney
um recommendation of support with proviso is from swamp poodle neighborhood
parcels association which was the coordinating rco
William O'Brien has been promoted.
Counselor, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman.
William O'Brien, W-I-L-L-I-A-M, O'Brien, O-B-R-I-E-N.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client in relationship to this property?
Yes, I represent the Christlike Pleasant Green Baptist Church, and included in the audience today is Dr. Gerald Chapman, who's the pastor of the church.
Okay, our vice chair has just a few questions, sir.
Is your beauty?
You're muted.
Good afternoon, counsel.
Do you agree to wave the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
I do. Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that are needed and required to proceed with this case in advance of this hearing? Yes, I have. Thank you, counsel. Please proceed and share your screen. Thank you. No problem.
can you see my screen we have it sure okay uh this is the the church uh it sits at the corner
of west cambria street and north 25th street uh west cambria is here uh facing
25th Street. West Cambria is here facing along the entrance to the church and North 25th is
I mean, you know,
to the left of the church. Both streets are one way. And this building, which has been a church
for approximately the last 50 years, was originally built nearly 100 years ago as a movie theater.
back then of course it had a large marquee for the last several years the church has been using
this banner it's a 16 foot long banner and they're here today to get a variance to allow
a five by eight foot sign and i'll show you a location and i'll go into some detail about the
sign the sign is important for the church because the mission of the church is not just to serve
its congregation, but also to serve the community. The sign will help advertise and inform the
community of food pantry days when there's food being given away, tutoring schedules that children
in the neighborhood are invited to attend. So it's important to the church's mission to be able to do
that. Um, the church, the property is relatively large. It's about 9,500 square feet. It's 155.
Um, bear with me the wrong way.
It's 155 feet along, um, 25th street.
And 60 feet, so 60 feet along West Cambria, 155 feet along 25th Street.
The sign itself will be located along the, what was, I guess, formerly the marquee for the movie theater.
um there with me i've got a new version of adobe acrobat that's so here's the uh
the sign will be posted just above this uh penthouse roof along the front facade facing
West Cambria Street.
There's the proposed location of the sign,
and this is the banner that will be removed.
The sign itself has two different sections.
One is static.
So this top part, this 18 inches where it says Christ like Pleasant Green Faith Baptist Church is a static panel, does not change.
And then below that is a 42 inch by about 84 inch panel that the messages can change to announce scheduled services, to announce when food pantry days are, to announce when tutoring sessions are being scheduled so that the community can be informed.
Um, the sign itself, uh, comes with, uh, it comes with factory settings, uh, which has a light sensor, which is sensitive to light conditions so that as the day goes darker, the sign becomes brighter.
However, that can be adjusted.
For example, if there was a street light 10 feet away from the sign, then when the street light went on, the factory settings would cause this light to become very bright.
but there is there are two ways it's it's it's it's a wireless control where you can adjust
the schedule as stated here on page 13 and you can also adjust it manually but it's done both
wirelessly and there is also a weatherproof waterproof port in case there's some failure
that it can be actually, you can connect right to the sign.
The box is approximately one foot deep.
It's aluminum as a polycarbonate face that includes a special surface that is impact.
that includes a special service that is impact and vandal resistant.
I think that's about it. We met with the community on
September 21st at the church. On page three is the RCO report. There were 27 people present.
The RCO recorded 13 votes in favor, no votes in favor.
The chairman, Mr. Chairman, you mentioned a letter with provisos.
I have not received that.
So I don't know if there's something coming that I haven't seen, but I'll certainly respond if it's something I haven't seen.
The notice went to 288 homes around the church.
I don't know if there's much more I can add.
Would you want to bring your client on?
Yes, I'd ask Dr. Gerald Chapman to raise his hand.
I have Tonita Chapman.
Okay, Tonita Chapman is the administrator of the church.
Tonita has been allowed to speak. Please unmute yourself.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Odell Chapman, G-E-R-A-L-D-C-H-A-P-M-A-N.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I affirm that.
Thank you. Proceed, counsel.
Thank you. Dr. Chairman, are you the pastor of the Christlike Faith Green?
are you the pastor of the church yes i am sir and were you present during the presentation
of this case yes i was and you heard my testimony yes i did and were my comments and statements
truthful yes sir and you adopt them as your own yes i do okay questions from the board
no mr chairman
uh questions from our council hillary emerson
no questions mr chair but just um a comment that you know we did receive the meeting summary form
from swamp poodle um and it indicated that there would be a separate email letter of explanation
with provisos but that we did not receive i know i'm waiting to see if when i get to the
audience see if they're all on the phone yeah i haven't received it either okay questions or
comments from the virtual audience there are no hands chair oh wait a minute sorry chair a hand
just went up phone number ending in 3552 i will allow them yep i state your name please and spell
for the court stenographer?
I hate this one
back up.
Hi, could you
state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
I believe it's Adrian.
Adrian, this is Tanya. Can you unmute
yourself, please? It keeps
muting. Yes. Thank you. Thank you, Tanya. Adrian, just state your name. I think I swore you already
today. Yes, you just did. Adrian Fernandez, Small Food and Majorhood Positive Association, RCO.
Okay, proceed. Okay. Sorry that the, excuse me, sorry that the letter with the proviso
was late, but it took a lot of research for us to get the right information to make the
proviso so there's one proviso but i do want to just give the reasons for it because we're getting
um on one's the net one street west cambria which is one lane and there's a school there we already
this is the second um request for a similar type large animated and illuminated sign so the proviso
that we have, I just sent in for the record, daily times for the sign to be on would be 8 a.m. to 7
p.m. Sunday to Saturday, which is seven days a week, and daily times for the sign to be off
would be 7 p.m. to 8 a.m. Sunday to Saturday, and that is the only proviso, but I would like to give
the major reasons for that. One is just the obvious health of people, people to have
different work schedules, which some of the neighbors had mentioned at the meeting.
at the meeting. You know, we have newborns. There's a newborn right across the street,
You know, we have newborns, there's a newborn right across the street.
the 25th, and Cambria, who's just born less than six months old, and we have other newborns in the
area, and disturbance to sleep for newborns, elderly, and other people. School is in now,
and other ADA concerns from Bright Light. Also, our big concern that we had to get professional
advice about was the negative aspects for migratory birds and also for beneficiary
insects. Swampoodle is in the major migratory zone, which from us goes all the way up to
Chestnut Hill. And that is important to us to maintain. We are also, because of that,
near the Discovery Center. So we did get advice from Discovery Center, from Insectopia,
from Cornell Lab of Ornithology
and also from the Bird Watch group in Philadelphia
who's been studying bright light
because of bird collisions,
which have been an ongoing problem.
Also, we spoke to Mr. Bob Supe
of the sign contractor, Stuart Signs,
and the manual, it's maybe a half inch thick or so,
but I read the whole thing very quickly
and there were no specifications for brightness at all.
So I had to go pretty far to try to get that information, which is very hard to get.
The sign monitors use a unit called MITS, N-I-T-S, for brightness.
And that brightness is how bright it is.
It also can give, you know, information about how much the light brightness spills outside of the equipment and how far it throws outside of the equipment.
Unfortunately, I did include pictures because we have a third really bright light on 22nd and Lehigh, which is a four-lane highway, and that light can kick out all the way out until the second lane of that highway.
So on a one-lane Cambria, that's going to be a pretty bright light next to people's homes.
And one concern was the change in the value of their homes because that light is going to be there at nighttime.
It would be a great disturbance and not attractive to the property value.
I found conversions for the 5,000 nits, and that's the measure of brightness of the TV, animated, and illuminated monitors, and that converts to 15,000 lumens, which is very, very bright.
and that shows in the pictures that i sent so our concerns for the people and also in our area
because we do have a lot of gardeners and we do have a land trust garden farm which i even myself
i'm a part of and we need our insects and we need our migratory birds we also learned from
insectopia that the pennsylvania state bird is the firefly which many of us call we talk about the
lightning bug here that's the one that we see and they have been slowly coming back when i was a
child they were everywhere and very bright lights like this disturbed their species behavior because
they um share the night with each other each of them coming out only three hours at a time
going in so other um other species can come out for mating or whatever and also um their navigation
they have wings that's also concerned for the migratory birds and that's where the collisions
have been a big problem.
I think that's a summary of the concerns
why I asked for the proviso that I did.
And again, say very quickly,
on times 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
seven days a week,
off times 7 p.m. to 8 a.m.
seven days a week.
Thank you very much.
Mr. Chairman, if I may.
Mr. O'Brien, why don't I do this?
Why don't I see if there's anybody else in the audience first, okay?
If I could, I wanted to ask if there's a Bob Soupee.
He's from the sign company.
And if he was able, he was going to sign on and be available to ask any questions.
The sign.
All right.
So let me just see.
Let me see if there's anybody.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience who wants to give testimony on this?
There are no hands here.
All right.
And is your person here?
I don't know.
Bob Soupee could raise his hand if he's in the audience.
Bob Soupee?
I do not see Bob Soupee in the audience.
Mr. Chairman, on the screen is page 13 in the materials.
It's a summary.
The whole control manual is in the exhibit.
it. It's part of what was provided at Ms. Fernandez's request at the community meeting.
It was a pretty thick package of information, but this is a summary.
It was a pretty thick package of information, but this is a summary. The light can be...
The light can be, the brightness can be adjusted from a value of one to a hundred, and it can
be scheduled.
The church has been a good neighbor for 50 years.
If there is a neighbor that has a problem with his brightness, it will be adjusted.
I would respectfully request that rather than a 7 p.m. turnoff, a 9 p.m. turnoff.
Thank you.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman, and good afternoon.
David Vecto with the City Planning Commission.
Chairman and board members, the comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning at this location from residential single family to commercial mixed use.
In the recommended commercial mixed use zoning district, static illumination is allowed by right without animation.
And our rough calculations show that something approaching 40 square feet could be allowed in that zoning district.
So based on the comprehensive plan's proposed commercial mixed use zoning district, the city planning commission recommends the board grant the proposed variance for maximum square feet and for illumination, but deny the proposed variance for animation.
We also want to note that in the Zoning Code Title 14, Section 904, there is a definition for standards for luminescence of accessory signs.
MI 2023-002-858-2901-19-North 25th Street.
I vote yes.
um with proviso um signed to be on 7a to 9p and um hillary we've done this once before and
and um owner pledged to work with the neighbors is that okay hillary yeah that the about the
owner working with the neighbors is is a note um not a proviso but yes we can make a note and
And we would say, in terms of the sign being on, we'd say the hours of illumination will be from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Right. Hours of illumination will be 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Or is that right? Yes, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.
And note the owner or the minister will continue to work with the neighbors.
thomas holloman my vote is yes with proviso james my vote is yes with proviso
ishmael shahe my vote is yes with proviso
thank you counsel thank you nine mi2023 002899 1170 to 90 surrey road david orphanetes is the attorney
david orphanetes has been promoted to panelists
Mr. Chair, this is Hillary. I just want to note for the record, we did receive a letter from the Greater Busselton Civic League, essentially a letter of support with provisos.
and I have been in conversation
with both Mr. Orfanides and
Ms. Udovich from
Councilman O'Neill's office
I have advised the parties that
we will hear the matter today but we will hold
it because there needs
to be further consultation with L&I
regarding the
language of an agreed
to compromise those
Thank you
Mr. Orfanides please state your name
for the record and spelled for the court reporter?
Certainly.
My name is David Orphanides.
His last name is spelled O-R-P-H-A-N-I-D-E-S.
Right.
Could you identify your client?
Wait a minute.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Do you identify your,
could you identify your client
in a relationship to this property?
My client is Jack Bienenfeld,
trustee of the Jack Bienenfeld Separate Share Trust
under the Henry Bienenfeld Third Amended
and restated revocable trust agreement dated october 31st 2011. thank you our vice chair has
a few questions good afternoon counselor do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and
stipulate to its accuracy um good good afternoon um sir i waived the reading i do not stipulate to
its accuracy and i could have said in my presentation they missed they missed something
in the description that was in my application and that should have also been an additional refusal
But I've discussed that at the community group meeting with Councilman with Alice Hudevich and also with Hillary Emerson.
uh with councilman with alice hudovich and also with uh hillary emerson understood have you
emailed in all the required documents that is needed and required to proceed with this case
five days in advance of this hearing uh all but the tax clearance certification which i believe
i forwarded to hillary on monday uh two days ago it was a little it took a little bit of time
because of the trust understood please proceed and share your screen certainly
can everybody see my screen we can sir great um so the subject property is a 1170 to 90 surrey road
um this is the view from cruisetown uh road the property as you can see the arrow pointing down
to the building at the property, also has an address of 8950 Cruz Town Road.
But for purposes, the city's purposes, it's known as 1170 to 90 Surrey Road.
This property is a location of the Imperial Manor Apartments.
It is a 36-unit apartment building with 36 parking spaces along the side that you can
see here from the image, and then seven parking spaces along the front.
Um, it's, uh, this, this use in the structure was approved in 1974, uh, at that time.
And prior to that, uh, the property had been zoned ASC, um, area shopping center, which
I think, you know, uh, with the current zoning code was changed to CA one and CA two and
CA one.
um at some point originally when it was approved in 74 uh the two there's two commercial spaces
that were shown i'll get to that in a minute um that were vacant uh in 75 a beauty shop went in
one 79 a flower and gift shop went in one while it was still ach so back in 74 this actually this
apartment complex uh needed a variance for the residential use which was granted not for the
non-residential commercial units at the front. Sometime between 79 and 86, and I have copies of
the zoning archives at tab 8 of my exhibit book, or 88. So here's our permit in 74. Sometime around
between 79, when the flower and gift shop was permitted, and then 88, the zoning classification
for the property was changed to R12, to all residential.
R12, when the current zoning code went into effect, was changed to RM2, and that is the
current zoning classification for the property.
And you can see right here in the zoning map that I have at tab four, you can see right
here that our property is zoned RM2.
Again, you can see our property is located between Cruisetown, on the right-hand side
you can see here where my cursor is, above to the north is Surrey Road, and then behind
is Alton Street.
So what happened is the zoning classification was changed. So every time my client wants to try to get a tenant, a commercial or non-residential tenant, in one of those two ground floor front units, they need a variance.
And I think we're aware of even filing for an accelerated appeal, how long that takes.
He does have two tenants presently lined up. He has a flower shop and an auto tag business that are eager to get in, that have been waiting since the spring to get in. But, you know, it's hard to ask prospective tenants to wait six months, five months, four months to get into a space waiting for a variance that you would hope would be granted, but you obviously have no guarantee that it'll be supported by the community, the council person and or the zoning board.
So our application, the application that we submitted to LNI was for uses permitted in CMX2 as a matter of right and signage permitted in CMX2 as a matter of right for those two spaces.
In our application, we included, well, here's a screenshot of, and I'll get to that in a minute when we talk about the notice of refusal, of the dialog box that I always take an image of.
But I also upload, actually, a hard copy of a kind of old-fashioned zoning application because once you put in your application, hit submit on Eclipse, you can't see what you actually submitted anymore.
But I included from the zoning archives back from 74, the ground floor layout that shows the two commercial units, unit 101 and 112.
I've referenced those units specifically in my application.
They're each about 43 feet, 10 inches deep.
The width, as you can see on this, I don't know if I have it here.
Oh, here it is.
There it is.
So the width of the building is 54 feet.
of the building is 54 feet. You can see that here. So each of the units is 43 feet, 10 inches deep
You can see that here.
So each of the units.
by about 27 feet wide. So each one's 11, 183.5 square feet and size totals 2,367.
So this application is to solely utilize, was to utilize these two units for CMX2 permitted uses
and then have CMX2 permitted signage.
RM1 obviously has very rigid and strict
and limited sign provisions or sign permissions.
And it makes more sense here to have CMX2,
particularly when you take a look at the cover photo
and you see this sign was actually resurfaced.
It was left over from a diner that was permitted back in 68.
You can see that here.
Actually, before that, there was a permit for a service station
at the other end of the property down at Bloomfield Avenue, which you can see right here.
But again, so there's existing signage, the pole sign freestanding, and then there's existing
signage that was previously permitted on the front of the building. You can see the signage
that exists there now is for the last tenant. That tenant took both units, breached in between.
It was a dentist. It was there for a long time, was very popular, eventually moved to a larger
facility, and it's been vacant for quite some time while the owner's been trying to get a tenant
to occupy the space. As indicated by Ms. Emerson, I think there's a letter of support from the
Greater Busselton Civic League. We met with them the other last week, and we had a very lengthy
meeting to discuss the uses and how that would be phrased. We imagined that even though we were
applying for all CMX2 permitted uses, that some would come out, and we wanted to get the feedback
from the community. And Ms. Udovich can speak to it. When she spoke at the meeting, she expressed
desire, and again, not to put words in her mouth, for the councilman that not referenced CMX2,
given his remapping of his district to eliminate CMX2 and instead go with CMX1 and then add in
some uses from CMX2. So we're kind of good either way. And that's what Hillary was talking about.
It's the same uses. It's just how it's referenced, whether we keep it the way we apply CMX2 and
excluding, or we do CMX1 and add in additional ones and have what L and I will do to accept.
But the issue with CMX1 and adding is CMX1 has a limitation.
You can see here.
Actually, I didn't include it.
There's a note, this note five that you see under CMX1 for a lot of these uses state that that use can't take up more than 2,000 square feet.
So we have an issue if one tenant occupies both, having it be solely CMX1, we'd have to eliminate that exclusion.
So we're going to leave it up to the board to determine and Ms. Emerson's consultation with L&I to discuss how if the board elects to approve these, and it's the same uses either way.
It's just how you're coming at it from CMX2 or CMX1, or you just want to do a separate list with not referencing CMX1 or CMX2 to the uses that were approved.
So the notice of refusal, I showed you in the application again.
And you can see, if I blow it up, that I did reference, along with accessory signs and signage, permitted as a matter of right in CMX2.
I did reference that in the accessory signage.
I did reference that in the application online as well.
Unfortunately, the notice of refusal did not, I just want to go back to, here we go, did not include the reference to the signage at all.
And if it was CMX2 signage since the property zones RM1 or RM2, it should have also generated a refusal just like the use did.
I did reach out to the examiner after I got the notice of refusal back in April, alerting them to this, asking whether they viewed the CMX2 permitted signage to be included within the CMX2 permitted uses.
I didn't receive a response. I followed up last week, still did not receive a response to that.
I did include the application and the screenshots in my communications.
Again, the property is located at Cruz Town and Surrey Road.
You can see this is a real zoomed out image. We have commercial and light industrial. You have the John Meehan and Son operations across the street. You have the Croosedown Shopping Center down the street. Down here you have a gas station with Wawa. You have a fitness center. You have a short strip shopping center as you go down to Bloomfield.
you have a fitness center, you have a short strip shopping centers, you go down to Bloomfield,
and then you have the gas station that was originally way back in the 60s was permitted.
There are two, these two buildings you see here between Bloomfield and our property used to be
apartment buildings that were going to be apartment buildings that were owned by my client and his
family. They were converted to condominiums, you know, condominiums right now. And you can see as
As we zoom in, you can see what's across the street, you know, having commercial on.
This is a commercial corridor right here.
So the uses that were previously permitted, we would like to continue without the need to constantly come back and potentially lose clients every time somebody wants to utilize them when there's a vacancy.
The hearing notice for today's hearing is at tab 14.
Posting photos are at tab 15.
The ownership, the deed showing that my client owns the property is included at tab 16.
Our tax compliance that, again, we provided to Ms. Emerson this week is at tab 17.
And again, as I mentioned, we did meet with the Greater Busselton Civic League, who issued the letter of support.
The email from the Planning Commission from last June, this past June,
indicating the Greater Busselton Civic League is included at tab 8.
the list of addresses, residences, businesses, the councilmen, the planning commission,
the zoning board is included at tab 18B. Our notice, again, our meeting was September 26th.
We were there until very late going through the different variables of how we approached it again
from CMX1 and adding or CMX2 and eliminating. I don't think we got out of there until after 10.
So it was a very lengthy meeting. It was a hybrid meeting. So you had a number, a lot of people were there in person, a number of people who called in as well. So it was very well attended. I think the Greater Busselton Civic League did a great job in kind of working through the complicated aspect of this in terms of how the uses were going to be phrased, approved uses.
I don't think anybody had an issue. Obviously, the vote was 20 to 2, and you can see in the letter from Greater Busselton Civic League, they went with staying within the context of how we applied CMX2 and excluded.
But there was also a discussion Jack O'Hara put out just to be comprehensive and cover everything to also show CMX1 and then adding in certain CMX2 uses that might be tenants at this property, like a prepared food shop, a coffee shop, an ice cream shop, a deli, potentially sit down restaurant, you know, commissary or catering services where those CMX2 uses.
There are a lot of other ones that are permitted, but that we said if we're going to go with CMX1, we at least want to add those.
And those are referenced in very detailed fashion in the Greater Busselton Civic League letter of support.
And so with that, I would rest for now.
I would move my exhibits into the record and then reserve the right for any type of rebuttal or response to any questions there might be or any objections or protests from anybody in the community.
Do you want to bring your client on and adopt a testimony or no?
I would love to.
If Mr. Bienenfeld could raise his hand and he could be sworn in and then I can have him adopt my statements.
Jack Bienenfeld is allowed to speak.
Hi, sir.
Could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Jack Bienenfeld, B as in boy, I-E-N-E-N-F-E-L-D.
do you swear a firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
i did please proceed counsel thank you chairman uh jack did you hear the statements that i made
to the zoning board this afternoon i did and are they true and correct to the best of your knowledge
yes and would you adopt them as your own yes okay thank you questions from the board
no mr chairman questions from our attorney not this time mr chair okay um questions or comments
in the virtual audience yes chair i have alice udovic i will allow her to speak hi alice could
you state your name please and spell for the court stenographer certainly chairman alice udovich
u-d-o-v-i-c-h on behalf of councilman brian o'neill right do you swear to do you swear
or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do please proceed
first and foremost the councilman wants to thank mr orphanetes for his handling of this compromise
i know it's a somewhat complicated issue and hillary has been of great assistance as well
So what we were essentially asking for, if this could be inclusive of the entire CMX uses and adding in three of the food uses that are allowed under CMX2.
of the food uses are better allowed under cmx too um and that's basically it okay thank you
we appreciate your call and and is there anyone else in the virtual audience i'm sorry
i see no hands chair miss hillary do you want planning to take a position on this
um yes i think we can do everything today we'll just we'll just hold it so we can word a mutually
agreeable provisor that also works for L&I. Planning. Thank you, Chair Bergeman, and good
afternoon. David Fechtow with the City Planning Commission. Chair and board members, the
comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential multifamily zoning at this location.
This property was rezoned in 1985. This property has a documented history as an apartment building
with two legally non-conforming commercial units. The City Planning Commission recommends the board
grant the proposed use variants for uses as permitted in the commercial mixed use to zoning
district but limit the uses to specific use categories and we would also support uh commercial
signs if uh that would be an appropriate uh variance per mr orfinity's testimony okay thank
you um mr bergman if i can just say one thing just real quickly um so and hillary's aware of this but
I just want to put it on the record.
So the main reservation we had, and I shared it, Alice and I have spoken about this, about
the CMX-1 is that, as I mentioned, there is a limitation for most of the non-residential
uses, the commercial uses, to 2,000 square feet.
So if the zoning board were to go that route and say CMX-1, allowing CMX-1 uses with the
additional possibly with the additional uses that are listed cmx we would need the we would ask that
the cmx one square footage limitation per use be lifted and be removed we're limited to the sizes
of the units by the granting of this variance per the plans that were some floor plans that were
submitted um but again if one if it's not lifted one tenant were to take two spaces they would be
in violation of the cmx two and they would need of the permissions for the commercial use and they
we need to go to the zoning board and we can,
we don't want to hold up any more than we need to getting businesses in
generally helping providing benefits to the community and providing revenue
to the city of Philadelphia.
Okay. Thank you.
So we're going to wait Hillary till we find what's appropriate from L and I
and then what we could all agree to.
Yes, Mr. Chair. I think I've had conversations with L and I,
it's just a matter of, of drafting the language and having everybody review it.
I think we can vote this next week at 2 PM. No problem.
Fine. We'll do this next week at 2 p.m., David, okay?
Yeah, thank you very much.
And the record is closed.
It's closed. Thank you.
Thank you.
Is there anyone in the audience whose 2 p.m. case has not been called?
No hands, Chair.
Okay. So instead of taking a break, I'm going to move right to the 3.30 list because it's just a matter of calling cases out.
I don't believe we have any cases that we'll be hearing.
So why don't we just move right into it? So good afternoon. My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing the ZBA 330 hearings. With me is our vice chair, Ismail Shahid.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our board member, Thomas Holliman.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
And our board member, James Snell.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Also here is Hillary Emerson, our attorney, and our executive director, Tanya Sukit.
Here's our virtual format. Be advised if proceedings are being recorded.
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 are participating by phone and 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.
Finally, the question and answer box on the screen is not for comments or testimony.
All comments should be directed to our executive director, Tanya Sunday.
So let's look at our schedule here.
So here's our continuos.
Number two, MI 2023-001-365-2108-12, North 6th Street.
This case is continued. Number three, MI 2022, 005-434-5853 Masher Street. This matter is being continued to Wednesday, November 1st at 2 p.m.
Number four, am I –
Number four, MI 2022-005-088-4913 North Lawrence Street.
This matter should be continued to Wednesday, November 1st at 3.30 p.m.
Number five, MI 2022-007-458-5218 Art Street.
This case is continued.
um excuse me mr chair yes yeah i was gonna say could we ask for the request came from
the council office yeah that's why i'm calling jeffrey young is jeffrey young here
jeffrey um i see no hand i don't see a hand from jeffrey young
here. All right, so this MI 2022-007-458-5218
Art Street, the case is continued.
Number six, MI 2022-002-928-549-51
North 10th Street, Vern Anastasio.
I believe this may be a request for continuance.
verne anastasio has been allowed to speak good afternoon mr chair counsel could you state your
name please and spell for the court stenographer sure it's verne anastasio a-n-a-s-t-a-s-i-o
right you do you affirm do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing
but the truth i do swear i understand you may want a continuance for this yeah mr chairman i
want to first apologize. I know this is the fourth listing. I'm asking for some special
dispensation here. We have been in contact with the RCO. They've requested a walkthrough of the
property before they can do a final disposition, and we are working on settling on a date for that
walk through. So number six, MI 2022 002 928 549 to 51 North 10th Street. Cases continued. Mark
must be tried. Okay. Thank you, sir. Yep. Thank you. Number eight, MI 2021 002 827 2132 North
Daring Street, this case is a request for continuance.
Is Brandon Saverin in the audience?
Hi, Mr. Chairman.
Yes, I'm actually still a panelist.
Mr. Saverin, you've already been sworn to state your name for the record.
Yeah, Brandon Saverin.
Right.
So this is the fifth listing.
Could you give us where we stand with this?
So my client was represented by a prior law firm that did not know how to put the exhibits
together.
And what I discovered when I came aboard is that there had been an RCO meeting, but somewhat
comically, both the RCO and the former attorney forgot what happened at the RCO meeting.
So we're going to have another RCO meeting one week from today, and then the case will
be ready to go.
So MI 2021-002-827-2132 North Daring Street. Cases continued. Mark must be tried. Thank you for giving on the phone. Thanks. And number nine, MI 2022-005-973-3200 Tyson Street. The case is continued. Does anyone have any comments relative to the cases that have been continued?
i see no handshare okay also number one mi2023 00094 3251 fox street this
was a reconsideration hearing the request has been withdrawn and number seven
MI-2022-006-212-6428-30, North Beachwood Street.
Kenneth Clark, this is no exhibits.
This is the second listing.
Kenneth Clark is the owner.
Kenneth Clark is not in the audience chair.
Okay, so MI 2022-006-212-6428-30 North Beachwood Street.
This case is continued as marked must be tried.
Is there anyone in the 3-30?
Is there anyone in the audience whose 3-30 case has not been called?
There are no hands here.
um thank you everyone we are we are through for the day thank you thank you thank you chair
Thank you, everyone.
We are through for the day.
big night see ya guys