the block is already flooded
with people, there's no parking space
I have to now
walk blocks from my house
back home, they're in traffic
with my child
that shouldn't be happening
and yeah, like Alexis mentioned earlier
the person that was
at the meeting the first time
mentioned that they have nothing to do with what's going on
but I've seen that guy there
plenty of times
orchestrating the events that are taking place
at the moment at this building.
Felipe, did you live there
when the place was operated as a church?
No, I lived there.
I moved in.
I moved to this block in 2020.
All right.
Thank you.
Of course.
I was in the street before it is what it is,
before it's being used currently.
Thank you very much for your input.
Anyone else in a virtual audience?
I see no handshare.
I see no handshare.
Counsel, you want to respond?
council you want to respond
Yes, I believe we do have the operator representative here as well, Dr. Shid.
I don't know if he's available in the audience and can maybe shed some light to these claims that are coming up.
Let's see if he's there.
Or Ms. Sammy Mo might be present.
If you are, please raise your hand virtually.
Ms. Mo, please unmute yourself.
You're free to speak.
Hi, Ms. Mo.
Could you state your name and spell it, please, for the court reporter?
My name is Sammy Mo.
First name S-A-M-M-I.
Last name M-O.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, counsel.
Thank you.
Ms. Mo, you're associated with the schools that intend to operate in this location, correct?
To your knowledge, the activities that are taking place with families, is that something that the school has normally in its agenda, or this is something completely different than what your operation would be?
uh that's that school is uh uh it's normally like uh um a weekend sometimes um so because
and uh we have our school have like a performance coming uh so we use that place to practice um
for the performance uh i think uh dr she is uh not here today um so uh dr she is a manager about
uh this place so but we we been uh like uh we've been brought the the side side or we don't we don't
use the entrance from the side or on the seven two three four registry we go we we go in like
drop off and uh in the front door so um like we've been we've been uh we've been
we've been taking care of the like uh the the traffic and uh we tell the the people
stop uh parking on the side street of a 724 um i'm i'm i'm not there like every day because i uh
I dare like sometimes a couple days a week
to check in the property.
So once, when we use that place,
we just have for like some kind of practice there.
Okay, so was it used recently for that purpose
or because the neighbors are saying that it was being used?
We used it for,
uh uh how to say um uh recently for we we used it for recently like to practice our performance
okay but that's not associated directly with the school activities
no we don't have activities like uh monday to friday we don't have the activities there
so only that i saw they will do performance there okay to practice okay thank you um
Thank you. Chairman, I do want to just quickly share with the board that the people that are actually going to be teaching at the school also are certified teachers with the degrees.
So this is going to be a classroom situation. I'm not so sure about the performance practice. But again, the understanding is, of course, that the space would not be used in a way that would try to cause problems for the neighbors.
They do try to direct traffic. And as a school, of course, once once they're fully operating, majority of the activities during the week is actually classroom activity, not having people, families coming. Families are not usually operating within the space with these students. Thank you.
All right. Planning Commission.
Excuse me.
It's right.
Wait a minute. I'm sorry. Tina, you have somebody else?
yes we had someone with a hand up named tingle his name did we just hear them
i'm not sure let them answer let them answer um yeah you actually you actually just heard me i
just i did i did yeah yeah go ahead alexis um so i don't have an issue with there being an
after-school program for children my concern is that the person who dr chen or somebody who's
not here today who's going to be the um tenant and run that school is also running like they run
women's yoga there like monday through friday at like i want to say like 10 o'clock in the morning
want to say like 10 o'clock in the morning to maybe 12 o'clock in the afternoon they have all
to maybe 12 o'clock in the afternoon they have all sorts of activities going on i have
sorts of activities going on i have ring camera footage they're there all the time um and it's
associated with the person running the school so i don't know if there's anything they can do to
only keep it to school activities but it's almost like a constant influx of people using that
building and this is a residential space and i think there's plenty of commercial space on
tarsdale ave princeton avenue places where it might better suit their needs thank you very much
I'm sorry about this here.
I didn't realize she had already testified.
That's fine.
That's fine.
Planning Commission.
This is Ron Bednar, City Planning.
First name Ron, R-O-N.
Last name Bednar, B-E-D-N-A-R.
You swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth, Ron?
Proceed.
While this property is currently indicated for residential on the city plan, given the physical conditions of the site,
I recommend that the requested variance be granted, provided that only uses explicitly described in the refusal be permitted.
Thank you.
MI 2022-004-230-7234, Erdrick Street, I vote yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
thank you thank you thank you council maybe excused yeah you must certainly thank you
we're going to go to number three mi 2022 004 145 4047 valwyn park road ronda winfield
is the owner-applicant.
Recommendation of support, non-opposition
from Winfield Heights Civic Association.
Applicant provided a letter of support
from two adjacent neighbors.
Applicant submitted...
So this is for a proposed visitor accommodation
in the same building with an existing family,
single-family dwelling in an existing structure.
Whereas the proposed use visitor accommodation is extremely prohibited in our M-1 residential zoning district.
Rhonda Winfield.
Chair, we have no one in the audience by that name and no hands are up.
Oh, excuse me. There it is. Here you go. I'm a promoter.
Rhonda Winfield.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
she's just coming back in as a panelist okay great
hello can you hear me i can could you state your name and then spell for the court reporter yes
ronda winfield r-o-n-d-a last name is w-i-n-f as in frank i-e-l-d do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Yes, sir. Our board secretary Ismail Shahid
has a few questions. Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal
and stipulate to its accuracy? Yes, I am not counsel. I am the applicant. I just wanted to
clarify that. Counselor? I am not a counselor. I am the applicant. He's pro se.
she's going out chair i can't hear her she's she's pro se she's not a lawyer
oh okay okay okay okay all right uh did you turn all the uh documents in that was required five
days in advance for this year yes sir i did all right please uh show your skin proceed
sure uh hold on
Can everyone see my screen?
It should be coming on any minute.
Yes, it's up.
Okay, thank you.
So again, my name is Rhonda Winfield.
I'm actually the owner of this property.
As you stated before, Chairman,
I'm seeking a variance from RM1
to allow visitor accommodation,
which is now required after the approval of an ordinance
submitted by City Council in June of 2021
as it relates to short-term rental businesses.
I've lived in this residence.
It is a duplex.
I live on the first floor. I've lived here for 23 years, have been operating Airbnb short-term
rental business for the past four years. And during that time, there have been no nuisance
complaints or issues to the community since the operation of my business. I'll now review some
of the documents and photos that were submitted to the board. Of course, you already have the
refusal. This is my certificate of tax clearance that was also submitted with my packet. The D that
that was also submitted with my packet, the deed that was required to be submitted with my packet
that proves I am the owner of the building, the RCO meeting summary, which shows that I have
majority support from my neighbors and my RCO. These are actual letters of support from my
neighbors. Each neighbor on the side of me, and this is one neighbor that lives directly across
the street from me, who offers support and are just stating that there's been no negative effects
to the community as a result of the operation of my short-term rental business. These are,
wait, something's going crazy here. These are additional letters of support from actual guests
um which the board has received which basically give an overview of why some people have chosen
to stay in an airbnb in my short-term rental um in particular as opposed to going to a traditional
um hotel um you know for their uh stay here in philadelphia uh these are the photos
that I submitted to the board. As you can see, it shows that the postings were placed where they
were required to be placed so that residents or people who were walking by could see and had
notice of the meeting today. These are the photos of the front of the property, the left and the
right of the property as was requested by the board and also the back of the property.
Here is just some photos of the interior of the property, the bathroom. This is one of the two
bedrooms. As I stated, it is on the second floor. I reside on the first floor, so I am in direct
contact with guests when I have them. Excuse me, Ms. Winfield. Yes. Sorry, board. Could you please
turn on your camera so we can identify you? Oh, I'm sorry. I apologize. Thank you. Thank you.
Hold on. Let me see if I can do this.
can you see me now we can okay all right thank you so um these are pictures of the unit um as
i mentioned before it is a second floor unit i reside on the first floor um and again um you
know very quiet neighborhood i've had no issues or complaints from um any of my neighbors um
and uh that's all i have unless you thank you thank you question questions from the board
no mr chairman no mr chairman no mr chairman questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see no handshare planning commission this uh ron bednar city planning
While this property is currently indicated for residential on the city plan, given the physical site conditions, we recommend requests for variance to be granted.
Thank you. MI 2022-004-145-4047 Balwin Park Road, I vote yes for temporary variance to expire 1-1-26.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with proviso.
So we have the votes. I have Tom and Jim both voted. Yes. You have your variance, ma'am. Thank you.
thank you thank you okay now we got we heard you is we're good
number four mi 2022 001 695 530 to 32 moore street jack hubbard is the attorney for the owner
We don't have an RCO letter as of yet.
Mr. Hubbard is coming back in as a panelist.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
Hi, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
It's Jack, J-A-C-K, Hubbard, H-U-B-B-E-R-T.
Right.
do you swear a firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth