Thank you.
chair we have 51 attendees and we can start as you wish
thank you
good morning everyone my name is bill bergman and i will be chairing this morning's meetings
with me is our vice chair ismail shaheed present mr chairman our board member cheryl l gaston
Present Mr. Chairman
Our board member Tanetta Graham
Present Mr. Chairman
Our board member Michael Johns
Present Mr. Chairman
And our board member Taya Nguyen
Present Mr. Chairman
Also present is our attorney Hillary Emerson
And our executive director Ian Haggerty
Here's a virtual format
Proceedings are being recorded
With your participation you agree to be recorded
The video will be available by contacting zbaexecutivedirector at phila.gov.
For a court stenographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying.
If you are participating by phone, press star 9 to raise your hand and star 6 to unmute.
To earn an appearance statement, call 267-270-5548.
Leave your email address and the address of the property in question.
And finally, the question answer box on the screen is not for testimony. All comments or questions should be directed to ZBA Executive Director at phil.gov. Let's look at our schedule for today.
Number three, MI 2024-001-644-2135 West Van Angle Street.
That case is being continued.
Number seven, MI 2024-004-473-1000-52 Frankfurt Avenue.
Cases continued, attorney moving party.
Number 11, MI2024-004-578-1722 Ridge Avenue.
There is a request for continuance from United Francophil Civic Association.
It's Mr. Anastasio in the audience.
Good morning, Chair.
this is Yvette Benton. I'll be your co-host for the day. Mr. Anastasio has been unmuted and
allowed to speak. Thank you, Ms. Benton. Good morning, Mr. Chair. Could you please state your
name as spelled for the court stenographer? Yes, sir. It's Bern Anastasio, A-N-A-S-T-A-S-I-O,
on behalf of Danielle Lawless. You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth? I do. This is the first listing. We have a continuance request from
francisville civic associate and also council member young's office could you give us your
position on this i have no objection mr chair thank you very much for for calling in we appreciate it
so number 11 mi 2024 004 578 1722 ridge avenue that case is continued and number 16
MI 2024-004-714-2109-11 West Nidro Avenue, that case is continued.
Are there any other requests for continuance?
Chair, we have someone by the name of Cherie Miner with their hand up.
They have been unmuted and allowed to speak.
hi my name is sheree my i'm the owner of from the heart youth haven at 2135
hango street what hold on one minute please spell your name for the court stenographer
sheree s-h-a-r-e-e last name minor m-i-n-o-r you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole
truth nothing but the truth yes and what case do you want to talk about uh 2135 west venango
That's MI 2024-001-644.
So we continued that case already.
so so we we continued that case already are you aware of that i am not okay um we we have a
request from your attorney to continue this case okay okay because you so you you got to meet with
the rco one more time i believe or meet with the rco okay thank you thank you for calling in is
or any other requests for continuance? Chair, we have Strawberry Mansion. They have been
unmuted and allowed to speak. Good morning. Can you hear me? Could you please state your name
and spell for the court stenographer? My name is Bonita Cummings, B as in boy, O-N-I-T-A,
C-U-M-M-I-N-G-S, Strawberry Mansion Community Concern. Do you swear or affirm to tell the
truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do it's coming what case are we talking about
2300 north 25th street um there was initially uh one rseo then another it got scheduled and then
it was some technical difficulties and we weren't able to get it rescheduled but due to the nature
of the use, it does need to have a public community meeting. So we can work to get it
for December the 19th if that meets with the applicant. So we did send a request this morning.
Let me see if I can get it. Mr. Vaccaro, are you in the audience?
Mr. Vaccaro is with Omita and allowed to speak.
Good morning, Mr. Vaccaro. Could you please state your name and spell for the court sonographer?
Good morning. My name is Joseph Vaccaro, V-A-C-C-A-R-O, Attorney for the Applicant.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do, and I do object to this request for the continuance.
Could you please tell me why, Mr. Vaccaro?
Absolutely. The coordinating RCO always was and still is all in the family group associates.
My client had received that notification by email on May 10th of 2024.
We were scheduled to have a community meeting with All in the Family by Zoom on July 25th, 2024.
The notifications were sent out.
They were approved by All in the Family.
we even got a Zoom link for the July 25th RCO meeting. We were waiting and waiting and waiting
for over a half hour. I finally got through. I called the other RCOs. No response. Nothing
happened that evening. Again, we were waiting for a long time on the Zoom link. And then I finally
got through to a lady named Odessa, who's in charge of all in the family. And her position
was, oh, I forgot. I'll send you the letter of support. So we got the letter of support anyway.
We were initially scheduled for the zoning hearing on September 18th, and we were not able to proceed
at that time because we had not even received the posters from the zoning board.
So this is our second listing, and my client is ready, willing,
and able to proceed with our presentation.
And you already have a letter of support?
And we already have a letter of support.
It's in our packet.
But, Mr. Vicaro, you did not actually give a presentation to the community.
Is that correct?
We did not. We were ready, willing, and able to. And her name was Odessa from All in the Family, which is the coordinating RCO. She said, when I finally got a hold of her on the phone, she said, I'll send you a letter of support. And that was the end of everything.
and that happened and that happened all the way in all the way back in july so strawberry mansion
which is the only other rco that's intervening in this matter um they had all of august they
had september they had october and they had november only now at nine o'clock in the morning
on the day of the hearing are they chiming in saying so so so mr vicario here here's what
we're going to do we're going to continue this one more time i i think i heard the rco say that
they have december 19th open um whatever happens to the meeting will take everything in consideration
whether you go or not but they they're offering a 19th of december meeting i'm going to continue
with today sir i'm just looking whether the 19th is available for me and again yeah i i'm still
I'm just looking whether the 19th is available for me. And again, I'm still noting my objection.
All right.
Mr. Vaccaro, I understand your objection. If the 19th is not available, then I want you to work that out with the RCO. Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Okay. Any other requests for continuances?
Here, we have a Stephen Gaze with his head up. They have been unmuted and allowed to speak.
sir could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer
mr gaines please unmute yourself hello hi could you please state your name and spell for the
court stenographer yes steven with the v gaines g-a-i-n-e-s you swear or firm to tell the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the truth sir i do could you please um what case are you interested
it in? 5963 Kimball Avenue. I believe it's number 10.
Okay. This is the first listing. We do not have any exhibits.
No. All right. And who is the, the applicant is Gaines Construction, LLC?
Well, it's me. But you're going to need an attorney.
okay well okay what once again um mr gaines who who owns the property what what's the is it owned
by an entity or is owned by yourself personally it's owned by me stephen gaines okay now then
you'll you will be fine um you can you can present on your your behalf okay um yeah that that is
fine. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Oh, I'm sorry. Okay, good. Is there anyone else who has a request
for continuance? I see the heads, Chair. All right. So, number 12, MI 2024-004-579-150
Brown Street. Lewis and Vanessa Porto are the listed owner applicants. We have a letter of
support from Northern Liberties
Neighbors Association, we do not have any
exhibits. This is the first listing.
Louis or Vanessa Porto, if you're
in the virtual audience, please raise your hand.
Porto has been unmuted and allowed to speak
to you.
Good morning. Could you please
state your name and spell
for the court stenographer?
Yes, my name is Luis Porto.
spell it please for the stenographer
l u i s p o r t o you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
i swear mr porto i've seen that you i've noticed you've met with the rco we don't have any of your
exhibits i actually uploaded everything last night my apologies here i didn't know so so here here's
what we're going to do. We're going to
continue this case
because we need
time to review your documents,
okay? We can't take them the night
before, okay?
I understand. All right. Thank you
very much, and you'll hear from us with a new date,
okay? Okay. How do I
hear about it, Chair? Do I get an email?
You will hear. Yeah, we'll send
you an email, right? Thank you very much.
Thank you. Okay.
We're going to go to our
adverts.
Number one, MI 2024-002-077-3940-Baltimore Avenue.
I vote yes.
With proviso, maximum, hold on one minute, I'm sorry.
I just want to note for the record that this is a re-vote.
I vote yes with proviso.
Revised plans, seven pages, stamped by ZBA on December 4th, 2024.
John, my vote is yes with proviso.
To another Graham, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes, we're proviso.
That's everyone.
Okay, number two, MI 2024, 002-809, 1329 South 22nd Street.
My vote, yes, we're proviso.
I vote yes with proviso. Maximum two dwelling units per amended refusal dated 10-23-24.
Maximum two dwelling units per amended.
Johns, my vote is yes with proviso.
Senator Graham, my vote is yes with proviso.
Iowen, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ishmael Shahid, my vote is yes with proviso.
Just waiting for the record, Mr. Chair, that was a re-vote to correct provisos. Thank you.
Number three, MI 2024-002-410-2913-15 Kensington Avenue. This case is continued until 12-11-24. We will vote at 9.30 a.m. Thank you.
And number four, MI 2021-004-633-3900 Main Street.
This case is continued.
We will vote on 12-11-24 at 9.30 a.m.
We're going to start hearing our cases.
We're going to go to number 13 first.
Sorry, Mr. Chair.
Can we go to number 8 first and then go to 13 for time scheduling reasons?
Thank you.
So MI 2024-004-487-2814 Bridge Street.
Henry Clinton is the attorney.
Mr. Clinton is coming back in now as a panelist chair.
There's a letter of unanimous support from the Bridesburg Community Civic Association.
morning mr chairman morning mr clinton please state your name and spell for the court sonographer
sure henry clinton h-e-n-r-y clinton c-l-i-n-t-o-n do you swear or firm to tell the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do uh i understand we don't have a tax compliance yet
Right.
What we have is my client entered into an agreement with the city to pay them back over time, and he's made his first payment.
Hilary, do we have that?
I'd have to double check.
I don't recall seeing it when I went over the exhibits.
And if it just happened, then we might not have seen it yet.
Right.
It just happened yesterday, and I put it in the exhibit package, and we uploaded it.
I will double check during your presentation.
It could be that it was uploaded after I reviewed it.
So let me take you, Mr. Emerson.
Mr. Clinton, our vice chair has a few questions.
Good morning, counsel.
Do you agree to wait the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
I do, Mr. Shahidi.
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that's needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
I have saved for the tax certification issue that we just discussed.
We just came in yesterday.
Understood.
Thank you, counsel.
Please proceed.
is that visible Mr. Chairman it is all right good morning again Mr. Chairman members of the board
Henry Clinton here on behalf of the owner of this property Jason Locke L-O-C-K-J-A-S-O-N
Mr. Locke is on the call
This is my exhibit package containing Exhibits A1 through A10, and I also include some zoning records.
This is a request for construction of a single-family home on a lot that used to be a foundry, F-O-U-N-D-R-Y, back in the 1940s.
It's been vacant for at least 25 years.
My client now owns it.
He intends to move from Port Richmond to Bridesburg with his wife and three children.
This is new construction.
The two issues are parking and a front setback.
This is the refusal.
It is an RSA zoning district.
However, across the street is a commercial use.
It's Ellis Coffee, which has been at that location for about 170 years.
And I'll show you aerial photographs.
They have curb cuts and a parking lot directly across the street from this property.
So our two refusals have to do with the interior garage that my client would like to have at the front of the property and also a front setback.
And I'll explain that as I work through the presentation.
As you said at the outset, Mr. Chairman, there is a unanimous letter of support from the Bridesburg Community Action Alliance.
And there were several members at the meeting who happened to live on the block.
Mr. Locke apparently knows the number of people on the block as well as in the neighborhood, so he was well-received, as was the project.
Mr. Locke apparently knows the number of people on the block as well as in the neighborhood, so he was
Here's their rationale for supporting the project.
They understand that two cars will be taken off the street.
They also understand that there's no issues with the rear yard or open space, nor height.
And here are the photographs.
So this is Ellis Coffee across the street.
This is a vacant lot where my cursor is, not where the red dot is situated, but where my cursor is.
And to the left or east of where my cursor is, that used to be the foundry.
And I have zoning records to show you.
However, my client's lot is right here.
And even though there's a looks like a cartway in the rear, the foundry property goes down and wraps behind my client.
So he has really no access to the rear of his property for parking.
So therefore, he has it in the front of the property.
Just another view of where the vacant lot is and Ellis Coffey's across the street.
There's a curb cut right here for parking into their parking lot.
There's additional curb cuts down here for tractor trail rentrance.
Just another perspective.
The lot, again, is the green area.
And now we're looking eastbound.
The lot is here to the right.
that was coffee again to the left posting of the signs uh noticing the community group meeting
as well as today's meeting and parking on the street is a little bit odd when i was there
i only saw cars parked on the south side uh and as you get further eastbound the cars pop on the
curb and then i there are some vans parked in front of the parking lot i don't know if they
were there temporarily or not but it appeared the parking was just on one side of the street but i
don't want to say that's a guarantee i only can go by what i viewed when i was there
additional uh proof that the signs were posted so here's the plans for the for the property it's
going to be a four-story property under 38 feet where the yellow arrow is that's where the house
will be located the garage will come all the way out to the front of the adjacent property
And that's what one refusal resulted in because the house next door is set back, at least the porch is set back six feet with the garage and the parking.
We had to come out further than that.
Here's the floor plan.
There will be a basement.
There's going to be steel girders across the first floor here and then poured concrete to support the weight of the vehicles.
rear yard. First floor will have living, dining, and kitchen area. Second floor will have three
bedrooms. Mr. Locke has three children, two girls, and a boy. And then the top floor will be for him
and his wife. There is no rooftop deck. However, there is a deck off the last floor, the top floor
off the master bedroom. I just wanted to go to the tax clearance issue. So my client owed some
back real estate taxes in the amount of almost $3,000. He entered into an agreement
with the city of Philadelphia to pay over time. So he has already made one payment of $120.62.
cents. That's proof of payment. And the second document, excuse me, this is proof of the
agreement. And then the second document is the payment that he made this past, I guess,
two weeks ago or so. Here's the zoning map. Again, as I said, the lot is a little bit odd
shaped. There is a cartway 12 foot wide in the rear, but my client cannot access that because
Because the foundry property, which is adjacent, comes and wraps around behind the property.
And across the street is the ICMX Ellis Coffee establishment that I mentioned.
This is a deed indicating ownership.
Our notice letter sent to the RCO community, everybody within 250 feet of the property.
We mailed out 59 pieces of mail.
These are all the addresses.
And these are some of the zoning records just to support what I said at the outset, that the property 2812 to 24, again, my client's property is 2814, but it was encapsulated within the foundry and the castings company that was in place since from 1941 up until 1996.
That's why we think probably in 1996 to 2000 range, the foundry was demolished and it's been vacant ever since.
These are the records that support that. This is 1942, foundry. Again, 1942, a foundry. And 1948.
These are the records that support that.
This is 1942.
So, in conclusion, we have a situation where it's a long, vacant lot, unused, undeveloped.
My client intends to build a single-family home for himself and his family.
We have a commercial property across the street with numerous curb cuts there already.
The community is supporting the application because they want to see some development,
And they're hoping the rest of the area that the foundry owns somehow can be developed with single-family homes.
We're not impacting the development of any adjacent property.
We're generally in harmony with the code because it is an RSA-5 and we're proposing single-family.
We are not going to result in additional strain on any of the utilities in the area.
and we have no impact on light and air
and we believe we're in harmony
with what the community wants
and with the neighbors on the block
would like to see.
And with that, I'd ask my client
to unmute himself if possible.
Morning, sir.
Can you unmute yourself?
What's your class, Dave?
Jason Locke, L-O-C-K.
He is on the call.
Jason Locke, can you please unmute yourself?
Raise your hand.
He's been unmuted and allowed to speak.
Thank you.
Morning, sir.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Good morning.
Jason Locke, J-A-S-O-N-L-O-C-K.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
Yes, I do.
Please proceed, Mr. Clinton.
Mr. Locke, you were on the call when I presented your project, correct?
Yes. And if you had the opportunity to testify, would you adopt my testimony as your own and as true and correct?
Yes. And have you entered into an agreement with the City of Philadelphia to pay the real estate taxes?
Yes, I have. And have you already made one payment? Yes, I have.
Right. Thank you, Mr. Locke. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Questions from the board. Questions from the board.
I have a question. Is that a one-way street or two-way street?
Bridge Street. I think it's one way, Ms. Graham. When I was there, cars were only going west to east.
Thank you. Any other questions? What's the purpose of the basement? What's the use of the basement?
Let me go back. It's just going to be for utilities because he has three children. I guess the extra
space is going to be helpful, but it's not going to be any living space. There is an egress well
there um mr johns but there's no intent for living and we can have that as a proviso if
if you see fit but uh it's really just for more space for the family
other questions
it's not question but like more to orientation can we go back to that picture um i think of the
parking there in the rear that
doesn't belong to
this one?
No, you had one that
well, yeah, that shows it, but there was another one too.
Okay, go back to that one that you just showed.
Where this parking that's behind there
that's belongs to who that part of the property is not owned by your client or not right i think
the picture you're probably referring to made me find that i don't want to speak for you but i think
yeah there was one issue this one maybe no it was the actual picture they were it had this
split and it showed like parking on one side and then there was a little opening and then there was
something else on the other side.
I'll go back and look for that, but this could help
a little bit. So here's the cartway
and here's the foundry property.
You can see it comes and wraps around
my client's property, so he's
dead-ended right here.
Gotcha. Yeah. There was a picture
that showed that.
Let me see if I can find that.
Wasn't this one, maybe? No.
I'm sorry, Ms. Jackson.
i'm sorry miss it's okay i'll find it no i saw it and oh maybe go back go back to the the one you
It's okay.
I'll fight it.
No way.
just so what i'm looking at there's the coffee shop and then across the street is a lot right
and there's that parking behind there and what looks like a it's it's not a square-shaped
property it's the so that's the back where you're talking about that your client can access because
it's not really part of his property right i guess the way to i should have said this is the green
area is his lot gotcha and the foundry wraps around behind him and blocks any access
if it were there it'd be great i mean yeah yeah because you could access it from the rear
correct okay all right thank you thank you miss grant questions
questions or comments from our attorney um just briefly um mr clinton i didn't see the updated
packet come through so if you could resend it um for some reason it didn't come through so we have
the tax documents but the city system is showing an active payment agreement now so i could confirm
that thank you miss humerson we will do that again and thank you for the courtesies questions
or comments from the virtual audience i see the way as chair planning commission
thank you chair good morning uh i'm meg cavanaugh for planning commission staff
m-e-g-c-a-v-a-n-a-g-h you swear or affirm to tell the truth told truth and nothing but the truth
Please proceed.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing RSA 5 residential single-family zoning at this location.
There is no unique physical condition 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 variances for accessory parking and front setback.
MI 2024-004-487-2814 Bridge Street, I vote yes.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Tanada Graham, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Tywin, my vote is yes.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, members of the board.
And again, I appreciate the courtesy you extended.
Thank you.
Go to number...
Sorry, Mr. Chair, we have another change in the schedule,
But also, we wanted to see if there's a Spanish interpreter in the audience, can you please identify yourself in the Q&A?
Again, if you are here as our Spanish interpreter, please identify yourself in the Q&A so we know who you are.
And we will be hearing that case shortly.
Mr. Chair, if we could actually jump to, pardon me, number 15 on the list to accommodate a scheduling matter,
that would be great. Thank you. MI 2024-004-704-1741 South 5th Street. Raymond
DeRizio is the attorney. There is a letter of non-opposition from Council Member Squilla.
Mr. DeRizio is coming back in as a panelist chair.
good morning mr derizio good morning could you please state your name and spell for the
court stenographer yes good morning mr chairman and members of the board raymond derizio r-a-y
m-o-n-d-d-o-r-i-z-i-o where are firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes do you have an rco letter sir i don't personally have the letter but i believe it
was sent in independent um independent of me i didn't actually receive it but we did
meet with the rco our vice chair has a few questions sure good morning counselor do you
agree to wave the reason of the refusal or stipulate towards x good morning yes i do
have you emailed them all the required documents and exhibits that's needed to proceed with this
case five days in advance of this hearing yes thank you council please proceed and share your
Okay, thank you. I'm just going to bring up.
Okay, so this is 1741 South 5th Street. My clients are husband and wife. They're seeking a special exception to for their project. Here's the refusal.
They're seeking to actually make bubble tea and do prepared foods like a deli.
No cooking, just making sandwiches, making the bubble tea and having their corner establishment, like a food, basically a food shop.
Um, they purchased the property in 2019. This is their deed. Um, here are the plans. Basically the basement is going to be for utilities, for storage. Uh, the first floor will be for the actual establishment where there'll be a counter. There'll be a section to make bubble tea, which only requires boiling water.
They purchased the property in 2019.
um second floor is an apartment um they do have a tenant in there so there's a second floor and
when i get to the photo um i'm sorry second floor is like a apartment with the third floor being
like a small piece to the floor it's not even a whole floor that covers the entire footprint
there is a garage on the side as the property goes down
um marsh street um here is a picture of the property sorry a corner uh property it's already
has been a store for in the past for several years um this is the side view as i said that
third floor area is kind of like a small piece to the property which is basically living quarters
for the second floor um there is a garage moore street i'm sorry i said morris but moore street
fifth and moore um this is the side part they have a place to park and unload uh deliveries
that they get or items that they will obtain for the store um cross the street from the store
across 5th Street. There's a couple community gardens. This is the inside. My clients didn't
make any changes. They're not seeking to make any changes to the exterior.
It will do some cosmetics to the inside. This essentially is what it is.
Here's my application. We did send out notice to the neighborhood. We did meet with the neighbors
and the RCO this is a copy of their zoning notice it was posted to the property
and these are copies of the mailings the certified mail but essentially they're going to run the
store their hours are going to be around 7 30 a.m to 7 30 p.m the neighbors seem receptive to having
some bubble tea in the neighborhood um and then essentially they want to hand it down to their
son who's a minor right now but eventually he is going to run the store and live there live in the
property um to to run the the store in the deli and my client is here to adopt my testimony
why don't you bring your client on sure her name is uh miss chen connie chen
if you're in the audience please raise your virtual head
they have been obedient and allowed to speak to you could you please state your name and
spell for the stenographer yes hi good morning everyone my first name is r-i-x-i-n-g last name
c-h-e-n where are firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes please
proceed counsel thank you miss chen you heard my testimony and my presentation to the board
this morning correct yes okay and was it true and accurate to the best of your knowledge
information and belief yes and do you wish to adopt it as your own yes okay thank you i have
no further questions questions from the board yes um uh are you are there plans for sit down
no sit down no sit down just take out only just take out and is there um
okay there's my question the questions from the board yes um what was this used for before
i believe it was a corner store and deli in the past several years ago um and when my clients
took it over they rented it for a bit but they're going to take uh ownership and run the business
themselves with the bubble tea which is my client's idea to start so um i'm sorry so when did your
client take this property over they bought the property in 2019 okay
and they're running it they've been running it as this corner store they had in the past right
now it's vacant there's no one in there and the properties there's a tenant in there but
there's a tenant in there but the store is not there's no nothing being run on the first floor
the store is not there's no nothing being run on the first floor
okay and this bubble tea you said there's no did you say there was going to be no seating
no seating um the bubble tea just basically take out they boil the water it's leaves it's
water i don't know the exact recipe my client if you need to know certainly can
provide a better explanation than me, but it's essentially boiling water
with the leaves. That's all really, it's a big pot
that you boil and that's how you make it.
Okay, and it's all going to be takeout. Yes, there's no tables or chairs.
All right, thank you. Other questions from the board?
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience i'm sorry mr i did want
to note we did we did receive a copy of the letter from um dickinson square west civic and it was in
unanimous support thank you very much uh questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see the hands here planning commission thank you meg cadena planning commission staff
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing CMX-1 commercial mixed-use zoning at this location.
The proposed use is consistent with documented prior use of this property dating to the 1970s,
and the proposed use will not cause detrimental impacts to the neighborhood beyond what normally might be expected.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the Board grant the special exception for eating and drinking establishment prepared food shop.
Thank you. MI 2024-004-704-1741 South 5th Street, I vote yes.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes.
Tywin, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Have a good day.
Number 13, MI 2024-004-695-4708 East Roosevelt Boulevard.
Do we have our Spanish interpreter?
If there's a Spanish interpreter in the audience, please raise your virtual hand.
Chair, we have Rosa Martinez with her hand up.
She's been unmuted.
She's the applicant.
That's right.
But do we have an interpreter first?
Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that we do.
I think the request might have been sent in with the exhibits instead of being submitted a couple weeks in advance so that we could reserve the interpreter.
So, unfortunately, it appears we'll need to reschedule this matter.
So, number 13, MI 2024, 004-695-4708, East Roosevelt Boulevard.
This case is continued.
Number two, let's see here.
Hold on a minute.
Number 14, MI 2024-004-699-4715 Pearson Avenue.
Marlon Valadares is the owner applicant.
It's a pro se.
Marlon Valladares, if you're in the audience, please raise your virtual hand.
They're coming back in as a panelist now, Chair.
There's a letter of support from the East Tarsdale Civic Association.
good morning
can you hear me
i i can could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer
marlon valladares my last name b-a-l-l-a-d-r-e-c like zebra the last one right do you swear or
affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes um our vice chair
has a few questions for you sir good morning sir have you emailed in all the required documents
and exhibits that's needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing yes
thank you sir please proceed and share your screen
and can you please turn your uh video on as well
thank you
and request spanish interpreter because my english is no no so we can't do that
and request
sir we can't do that okay what let's not hold on hold on what we're going to need to do is
we're going to have to get you an interpreter and reschedule the case okay i had my cousin
they can be my interpreter he's speaking but but but but we can't we can't accept that we need
an interpreter that's approved okay okay sorry about this but we'll be in touch with you
but we'll have to order an interpreter to handle your case and sir please please send us please
send us an email to make that request because we can't we we need a couple of weeks to be able to
make that request and have it confirmed we can't just do it the day of the hearing or the day before
I'm saying already in the 15 and the,
I sent twice the email to request the interpreter.
Okay, well, we will look into that.
But unfortunately, we don't have an interpreter here today.
I'm very sorry about that.
I sent twice because, you know, I don't understand,
but I don't want to be, say something wrong.
No, no, that's okay.
That's okay.
All right.
We will get you,
we will find you an interpreter for the next case.
Thank you.
Thank you.
So MI 2024-004-699-4715 Pearson Avenue, cases continued.
Let me just see here, number eight, did we handle eight?
We did.
Shoot.
Number two, MI 2024-001-631-2732, West Montgomery Avenue.
Teona Brown and James Mathis are the owner applicants.
Letter of Opposition from Strawberry Mansion Community Concern.
Burt was three in support, five in opposition.
Chair Teoda Brown is coming back in as a panelist now.
Good morning.
Good morning.
Hi, could you state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Yes, Teoda Brown, T-I-O-N-A, Brown, B-R-O-W-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Our vice chair has a few questions for you.
Good morning, ma'am.
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits as needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, I have.
Thank you.
Please proceed and share your screen.
Good morning.
My proposal is to bring group living to 2732 West Montgomery Avenue for young children.
I believe that this is imperative to our neighborhood.
We have over 8,000 children that are homeless and in need of care.
A little bit about myself.
I am a foster parent.
I am a teacher.
I've taught at Vox El Centro, Strawberry Mansion.
I've also been a mentor at the Bridge Intensive, which is on Lancaster Avenue.
I'm a mother, and I'm a proud person to work with young people.
We have over 8,000 homeless youth in the city, and the need is there.
We are only asking for a maximum of six young people to have group living at this address.
And I believe that when we work together as a team in the community that we can thrive.
These are some of the young people that over the last two decades that I have worked with,
having youth that would have dropped out of school, return to school, get their diplomas
or other certificates, helping teen mothers go to parenting class and getting interview
skills.
And I have a heavy base of dealing with young people who have been traumatized.
as a child of a parent two parents that were drug addicted and i have lived in every shelter there
was in the city of philadelphia being as though my mother had 10 children we have been placed
We have been placed multiple places, and I understand the need of someone to actually
multiple places and i understand the need of someone to
have love and care in their heart to offer this service.
As it is not a business, it absolutely must be a passion because it requires so very much.
We have had children who've gone on to be artists and understand how important conflict
resolution is because we understand in our challenging community at times, our children
need to be prepared to handle what's going on around their environment so that they can grow
and be successful adults. These are some of the children who have graduated high school, being
the first members in their family to receive a high school diploma, and I'm very proud of that
work. We understand that some members in the community feel like we can't have this in our
backyard, but the reality is our children are in our backyard, whether they are living in DHS,
foster care couch surfing the homelessness of our youth is in our backyard and our children
there's a federal law that man states that our children stay in the school system that they live
in and to prioritize staying in the community and i believe having the children in this community
stay in their community get enrichment and resources they will thrive some of the information
that is put out to the community is unfortunate there's always negative things put out about our
young people but we have young people changing the face of the world we have young people that
are innovative they use social media in a very positive way they are finding ways to make strings
of income come in through ways that we could never have imagined they are creating creative forces
whether it be through music or art design our children are doing amazing things and i would
believe that we should shine a light on the positivity that our children do. Our program
will also assist with cleaning our communities, something that we've been doing. I've been doing
volunteer work, having young people go out and see how important it is to be a positive asset
for the community, and we will continue that line of work. Again, our purpose is to serve homeless
youth we have age criteria we want to go with what is the most need so young people are categorized
young youth can be categorized from 14 to 18 with us only asking for one to six youth whatever the
greater need is what we would like to serve if you anyone is familiar with dhs young people can
be in the home and they can also ask for a board extension because say if we have someone 18 and
they're turning 19, they can get a board extension. And our hope is to help the older youth transition
if they are with us into independent living, because that is accessible as well. We are going
to bring in conflict resolution specialists. There'll be mobile therapy, job readiness. We need
to prepare our children so home economics will be something that they will learn. Our transfer
receptacles will be stored in the back. We'll also have our children learn how to recycle and let them
know how important it is to keep up the beautification of the home inside and out and I
believe that also connecting with our community police officers they will also bring much needed
light to to the block because our goal is to have them always remember to check up on us
and stay in contact so that they understand we need them and they need us bringing a much needed
resource to our community. And I just know that if people are part of the solution, they're helping
with the problem. Our tribe is here and they are ready. We have Melissa Diggs, who has been the
director of care, who is a director of care management, an education consultant, a former
core supervisor for over eight years, and a former foster parent program director. Dr. Willie Cannon
Brown will offer therapeutic services. She will also bring in people who offer breathing
specialists and conflict resolution. Alexis Brown, a Temple graduate, will be a nutritionist and
life skills development. And we have Mr. Charles Austin, who will enrich the children's with
career development, culture arts coordination, and offer financial consultant to help us.
that was my presentation
there and just to
shape that our
Ms. Brown do you have pictures of
your property? Yes I do
Can you show the photos please?
Yes I will right now
Hopefully
am I still sharing?
You're sharing but we see your
original presentation. Okay let
me see if I can
Okay close that
Did I stop?
did i stop sharing i'm sorry okay i'm back you did you did all right now i'm here
so this is the exterior of the property
with dimensions listed is a four bedroom one and a half bath
these are the bedrooms the most that we would like to do is cosmetics
there are no leaks in the property their roof had been repaired so there was some staining to
the drop ceiling which we want to replace
one of the rooms which is a smaller room was served as a quiet area for young people they
may just want some time to their self outside of the bedroom they can go into the quiet area
where we would advocate for some, excuse me,
we would like them to practice their breathing skills
or writing, journaling, or arts there.
This is a downstairs area of the home.
This is also the downstairs powder room,
the kitchen, the upstairs bathroom, and the hallway.
will there be any um usage in the basement no absolutely no use in the basement
besides anything that would need to be stored in the house maybe if it's a can of paint or
christmas decoration so something of that nature but nothing
no use for um the youth would not have access to the basement
questions from the board
yes um question uh washer and dryer is there yes in the back shed there's a washer and dryer i'm
sorry i do not have a picture that behind the kitchen there's a back shed with a washer and
dryer there on site yes it will be functional washer and dryer at all times all right and then
upstairs there's one bathroom one bathroom yes okay four bedrooms one bathroom one and a half
yes oh one and a half yes that's upstairs one bathroom upstairs and one downstairs
no just just upstairs so upstairs there are the four bedrooms and one bath yes ma'am yes okay
your intention to have co-ed no no the intention is to have females
yes how many youth are you planning to host in the group home at one time
And then how is it staffed?
So it's a maximum of six, one to six youth.
It is 24-hour staff.
The other staff that will come in
will come in based off of how we rotate the program.
All of our youth will, of course, have to attend school.
And again, with that age, if they're 17, 18,
and they're working, they may be excused
for some of the programs that will happen in the house,
but there is 24-hour supervision for the home.
and because the number is low there's only six there will always be one staff member on at all
times the ratios for one to six so the way this works the youth are in the bedrooms there's no
staff that permanently lives at the property they're just work they're on shifts they're working
yes yeah and is there a space for the staff in the in the property like they have a office or
any type of secured location that the youth don't have access to so the downstairs that was the
conversation we had like as far as if they're the downstairs we have locked file cabinets that will
come into place and the downstairs area will be where the staff is where we'll set up our makeshift
office but we won't have bedding so it's like in the i guess what would be now the living room or
the dining room of the property yes so is there a public space that the that the youth are able to
access on the first floor of the house so they do have access to the living room they will have
access to the dining room kitchen as well yes and they have that mutual space which will be on the
second floor is the den room where they have if they want to go in there together they have that
space as well and then are the staff handling most of the I guess like general house upkeep
maintenance things for the youth that live there I'm thinking like who's taking the trash out on
things for the youth that live there i'm thinking like who's taking the trash out on trash day
trash day
who's dealing with the snow or if like a regular home maintenance or cleaning issue comes up is
that handled completely by staff no the goal is to make sure that our young people are prepared
for when they have to live on their own so if this is a teaching home you will learn how to do that
and they will have chores as well as they will have curfew.
So they will be assigned those things.
We also think about if they have work,
there are times where, okay,
we'll have to pick this up to help out.
So it's a place where everyone is helping each other,
but you have assigned tasks.
So when you leave and you're on your own,
you can say, I learned how to manage a home.
I learned the skills on, there'll be cooking classes.
They will learn how to cook,
but that's it will definitely be regulated where staff is overseeing this is the meal we're
providing but we want you to know how to cook we want you to help and it also fosters a relationship
of family when you're home and it's hey i prepared this meal and now we sit down and eat this meal
as a family and then where are the referrals like how are you finding the youth are they coming from
the city's homeless outreach list or like how are how are you identifying youth and then qualifying
them for the program so there's a great need with DHS so we are we're trying to do this in order
because the the conversation is don't put the cart before the horse so it's get your zoning
and we have youth so there's city and state contracts where they need people and we already
We had these conversations that once we're prepared and we can do this, we want to contact
with them.
Definitely the city has a great need.
Even with being a foster parent, the phone rings often where it's, can you take these
Can you take more kids?
And it's like, no, but well, we need kids and they'll call you often.
So the city, the state, we're looking what other people, not coolest, but there are names
just escaped me i'm so sorry but there are people that house older youth that also are looking
sometimes to place youth as well um i don't know i'm so sorry the name is completely completely
escaped me valley youth house these type of programs there go valley youth house these places
they need places to place older youth and would also partner with them as well okay so to be clear
like you would get the zoning first and then you would go file and register the house with dhs and
and the kids are coming from various programs in the city but you're getting direct referrals from
those programs yes ma'am and your contract would be with dhs to operate as a facility and cool yes
i don't have any other questions do you um have you have any any experience you have other houses
that you operate? Youth houses? My own house. Just in regards to being a foster parent, but I
have not done group living, but I have done foster care for over eight years and have had a working
relationship with KUWA, with DHS, and also have seen some of my youth go on to Valley Youth House,
and they've also been able to get their own housing after staying with us.
so under this company this would be the first the first youth house youth house yes ma'am and my
other question is how do you um the 14 and 21 is a big difference like in ages so like you know
there's a range you have some you know it's young adult and adult influence um how do how do you
kind of is there an intent to kind of maybe focus on like the younger younger adults or
it's just whoever whosoever gets an opportunity to come to the home um you'll navigate that in
terms of programming how would you deal with that disparity in ages the reason why i left that open
is just because in it in the in the chance so 14 to 18 is the group that i work with the most
that's the group that i love i work with the teens i love them so the thing is if someone was 18 and
they turn 19 they would still be able to receive help to transition to independent living so that's
why i didn't just want to take it off we don't we don't want if you're 21 you know you're at the
place where you're possibly got to age out of the system so we wouldn't be a good fit for you but
you've already 18 turning 19 if you're with us we would like to continue to help you until you can
go on and to get independent living so our focal point will be 14 to 18 just want to leave a cushion
for anybody that may turn 19 and they're just not hey you gotta go
turn 19 and they're just not, hey, you got to go.
If they answered the question.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
Your comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson.
I just wanted to note that we did, we do have a copy of the deed.
It was found from an earlier submission.
And while we did not obtain, receive the updated proof of tax compliance,
the city website indicates the property is in compliance. So this matter can move forward for
vote today unless the board would like to hold to deliberate. Thank you. Questions or comments
from the virtual audience? Chair, we have Strawberry Benchart Community Organization.
They have been muted and allowed to speak. Morning, could you please state your name
is spelled for the stenographer? Yes, Bonita Cummings.
Ms. Cummings, you've already been sworn, so you can start your testimony.
Okay, as the coordinating RVCO, we did a hand-delivered notice and
met with some good results because some of the closest neighbors did attend the meeting and we
have been several elders who live in that block who have been there for 70 years. And they were
adamantly opposed for various reasons as was demonstrated in our communication.
The experience that the group of Strawberry Mage community concern has is we are certified through the Department of Intellectual Disabilities Services through many of the trauma programs that have been brought to our communities.
I sit on the board of the CUA, CUA 7 for North Philadelphia, and I'm also the representative to NET Community Care from our CUA 7 board.
So there is a great deal of active family trauma work that we're doing as an organization.
So we are very aware of the needs of traumatized youth.
So these assessments and community meeting were not done without deep consideration and vetting of this process.
the city already has a process by which it allows three unrelated youth or individuals
to a household. And this particular organization or person, because it's really not like an LLC,
just a person, and some of the information that was given with another person's name added was
not mentioned at all in the community meeting. So the three unrelated persons is what we recommend
because this is a really heavy lift for the neighborhood, for the block, to put six at the
maximum, unrelated, traumatized youth. These are not just
regular families where
there may not be any traumatization. So we're dealing with traumatized
families and we're dealing with a range.
So it wasn't really clear exactly what the
range really, the range is from 14 years of age to 21
years of age. And that's a lot of inbreeding or commingling of age groups. And we wanted to be
able to be more clear, like there is really no plan. Like the sheet that was showed to you today
with several members of association to different organizational structure was not a part of any
packet that we received, any material that we received. So maybe it was just thought of and
put it in the packet for today. But the block position was opposition because they too are
residents who have been single family homeowners in a block that the designation change could very
well jeopardize the quality of life for those residents in that block and particularly our
seniors who've lived there for 70 years so we give a designation change and she goes from tiana brown
So we give a designation change, and she goes from Tiana Brown to some LLC that that property doesn't presently have, and she's no longer associated with it.
And now we have a property in a stable block of single-family homes that is now in a drug rehab or some other treatment facility that the community actually would have no input.
so it's not like this process can't take place we can't we can be considerate of um care for
our children uh i'm in that business i'm in that work but we cannot or should not um do it where
we further traumatizing um the youth and or adults that we would be trying to place in that
property because this is a neighborhood block. It's a house. It's not like a real group living
environment where therapy and the type of resources that it really takes to be successful
with the outcome of these individuals is not happening in this environment.
So to be fair to the neighborhood, to have gradual progress, to allow that block to grow with this program, if it is granted, it would be best to do it from what is already allowed.
We talked with the DHS Office of Administration. We spoke with CUA representatives on the administrative level, and they looked at this process and did not see a plan.
They felt that this is just a packet of what you would like to see happen, but it was no real individuals present, particularly at the meeting with any information, to show that there could be success.
So I would ask that we not further traumatize the block and or any individuals that could be in this facility and that we would consider what is by right, which is three unrelated.
And if Ms. Brown is working with that block and working with that community, that they can grow to that level of more and more and more individuals.
Those, again, those, you know, ages are vast, you know, varied rather across, you know, ages.
And we don't want to bring a process to that neighborhood that could overwhelm them and or place their own properties, you know, the comfortability of being in their own properties at risk.
So we were hoping today that you would, if you were considering it, you would consider allowing that block to have the community support it needs from this body to grow into that type of number of habitants in that house.
And in terms of the police department, they are not babysitters, and they cannot guarantee being available, which they don't do in our blocks already.
So they cannot guarantee being available for, you know, like 24-hour type of support.
so um this designation change um would be a hardship uh to that block at this present time
so i just wanted to uh i we we understand your position we understand your position
thank you is there anyone else in the virtual audience there we have willie brown they have
but unmuted and allowed to speak.
Hi, could you please state your name
and spell for the court stenographer?
My name is Willie, W-I-L-L-I-E,
Brown, B-R-O-W-N.
We're a firm to tell the truth,
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Please proceed.
I'm here on behalf of Tiana Brown
to speak of her character,
her work with youth
from the time she was a teenager.
She has commitment and passion for children who are in need of home, love, and care.
I visit her home and I see foster children there.
And I've seen them there from different culture and a variety.
I've seen them there from different culture
and a variety of age ranges
and a variety of abilities.
I've seen young people, young women,
especially one who became pregnant.
I don't know when the young woman became pregnant,
but she was a foster child.
She gave birth to her child
and received good care in the home of Tiana.
I watched her work with young people, give them opportunities so that they add value
to their own lives and add value to the community now and in the future.
Tiana has unique experience for working with children in a group setting, first because
of her foster care situation in her own home, but she also understands boarding school,
where there are a range of young people they generally have them grouped of course by age
but she understands how the importance of children and not just boarding school for the wealthy
but for boarding schools for underprivileged children my own son went to a school for
Veterans Children, where it was designed for orphans. So she understands and knows
the need for providing a safe and a healthy home for children. She has worked with children from
the, as I said before, from the time I believe she was a teenager. She started a little group
call TT time. While she may not have all of the paperwork or the plan that you, that the person
before me spoke of, does not mean that she could not present that if that would need be. But to say
that young women coming into a community would threaten the safety and well-being of seniors
is absolutely unbelievable to me. I am 84 years old. I've just seen a woman 95 years old. She
just transitioned. I saw another woman who was in her 90s. And there's a foster home around the
corner from me. And I've seen some of those kids go and visit these old people and the joy that
they bring. And these old people look forward to seeing you. The kids around the corner, they are
foster kids. So they come from traumatized situations as well. So I think to say that
young women who's looking for a way to improve the quality of their own lives is a threat to
people who are living and they're seniors. So I just wanted to say that I, I believe that Tiana
would be an asset to this community rather than not. That's what I have to say. Thank you very
much. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience? Sherry, we have Sonia McDuffie. They
have been unmuted and allowed to speak. Yvette, how many more people do you have with hands up?
after miss mcduffie we have one more person thank you miss mcduffie please state your name
is spelled for the court stenographer my name is sonya mcduffie s-o-n-y-a-m-c-d-u-f-f-i-e
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes are you in favor of this project or against i am in favor i am in support of tiana brown
All right. Is there anything you can offer that hasn't already been said?
Yes. On top of everything that has already been said, I, knowing Tiana and all the amazing accomplishments that she's made, it's not about her.
But the thing is, is that when you are leading a group of young women who've been through the particular, you know, trauma that these young ladies have experienced, you want to be in the hands and you want to be able to trust a person who's been through those same processes and have succeeded.
what better example you don't want a person um who is claiming to have do who's claiming to do
the work who a may have not experienced it she may or may not have experienced it
but um i'm quite frankly appalled at the attitude um and lack of regard i hear a lot of uh
um and lack of regard i hear a lot of uh things like they and um a particular reference about
the block every every neighborhood every every block is the neighborhood so to
uh single out these potential you know uh young ladies who are in need and ostracize them is
despicable
there is no one better
who could lead
and guide with the experience
and the proof
and body of work
Thank you Ms. McDuffie
I think you've made your point
we understand where you are
one more hand please
Chair we have Zakiya Salahut
they have been abused
and allowed to speak
Could you please state your name
and spell for the court stenographer
Ms. Salahud, please unmute yourself
Yeah, I just unmuted
Okay, can you hear me okay now?
Okay, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
My name is Zakia Salahuddin
Spelling is Z as in zebra
A-K-I-Y-Y-A-H
Last name is S as in Sam
A-L-A-H-U-D as in David
I-N as in Nancy
um I just also hold on hold on hold on one minute do you swear do you swear or affirm to tell the
truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes sir I do are you a neighbor no I am not are you
in favor or against this project I am in favor of this project and is there anything else you
can offer and we've we really have heard a lot about this yes I know and I just wanted to
reiterate um also i've known tiana over 25 years and i just wanted to say that i believe that i
know that her commitment and and the staff that she's going to have one point and the education
of the children are going to actually help improve the quality of life in that area she's always been
dedicated herself to, you know, issues that are improving the quality of life. So I just wanted
to add that I think that this would be a great, great asset, and she has a lot of support, a lot
of community support, a lot of people that will help make her program successful. Thank you.
Thank you very much for your time. Planning Commission.
thank you med cavanaugh planning commission staff the comprehensive plan recommends no change to
the existing rsa 5 residential single family zoning at this location the appellant has shown
that the proposed group living will have no detrimental impact to the neighborhood beyond
what might be expected the city planning commission recommends that the board grant
the proposed special exception for group living miss brown we've had a a great deal of testimony
this morning uh we're going to take this to executive session next wednesday which will be
the 11th, and we will vote on this at 9.30 a.m. Thank you for your presentation. Thank you. Have
a great day, everybody. So, number one, MI 2024-000-427-2549. Yes. Yeah, I just want to,
can you, can the staff confirm, because it was a statement that by right, there could be three
unrelated individuals in a house, and I just want the staff to confirm so that's clear that that's
true or not true. Mr. Johns, I can confirm that that is the case. Yep. Yep. Yep. Um, so number
one, MI 2024, 0004272549 North 19th Street. Bart Levy is the attorney. Um, there's a letter of
support from all in the family. Uh, the coordinator, there's no letter from the coordinating RCO.
though it was mailed four days prior.
Mr. Levy.
Mr. Levy?
Do we see Mr. Levy's hand?
There he is.
could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer i'm bart levy b-a-r-t-l-e-v-y
and i'm appearing for north warnock llc right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the
whole truth nothing but the truth i do i do mr chairman a vice chair has a few questions certainly
Good morning, Councilor.
Good morning, Counselor. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
Do you agree to wait?
I do waive.
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that's needed and required to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Thank you, Counsel. Please proceed and share your screen.
All right. Is the screen shared now?
Okay, very good.
This is to basically take an existing structure on North 19th Street and turn it into a useful thing, beauty.
The applicant wants to turn this unused structure into a two-family home.
The inside entrance looks like this.
As you can see on the far side, there'll be a doorway right at that stairway to get to the second floor.
There'll be a doorway sort of in the middle of this picture to get to the first floor.
This is the way the basement looks.
The basement's not going to be occupied.
It'll be used for storage.
You can see there's a water heater down there, probably the HVAC, but it'll be located there.
The stairs, obviously, everything here has to be restored.
This house, it was once in good shape.
The bones, as they say, look good,
but it just hasn't been cared for
in what looks like at least 10 years.
So all the wiring's got to be completely done.
All the structure's got to be checked out,
I guess, by L&I.
And, you know, ceiling work has got to be done.
We have a letter of support,
which we received from all in the family.
I believe it was sent to the chairman.
We are cleared through January 2nd, 2025 with the tax department.
And as you can see, North Warnock LLC is the owner of the property.
That's a copy of our refusal from the zoning board, our application, and essentially project information.
As you can see in the plans, if you'd like to go into them just a bit.
The bottom is the basement.
As you can see, there's nothing in it.
On the first floor, the way you can tell where the kitchen is, is it's this little thing that looks like a range.
That's essentially the kitchen on the first floor.
And this thing here that looks like a range up by the front is the kitchen on the second floor.
The stairway from the first floor entrance comes up here and deposits it pretty much there.
and the usual, I guess, descriptive descriptions.
These are our posters that we put up both for this meeting and for the RCO,
which also, if the chair will note, had some fairly sensible and modest provisos,
which were completely amenable to it.
I would ask, is Mr. DuPont on?
he's the owner of the corporation
has Mr. Dupont raised her hand
I guess it's up to me
if there's any questions
wait a minute do we see the owner
yes here he's been allowed to see
thank you very much could you please state your name and spell for this the doctor
yes my name is Gene Dupont
j-e-a-n dupont d-u-p-o-n-t you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the
truth yes sir we'll see you counsel thank you mr dupont did you get a chance to hear my description
and presentation about 25 49 north 19th street yes sir was it accurate to the best uh of your
knowledge truthful yes sir do you have anything you want to add to the board um that i didn't cover
no sir thank you if the board is leaving was this mr levy what's the history of the property
this has always been an rsa5 or was it multifamily before never multifamily this was a rsa5 and
what's the rest of the block look like it's kind of half as you can see from either side of the
pictures it's somewhat um undeveloped in that a lot of the homes have been removed i'll go back
to the picture here. The block, like I said, has got several vacancies on it, and most of the other
homes are either single-family homes or mixed two-family homes, just like this.
Questions from the board?
Yes. Can we go back to the layout, please, of the property?
Police of the property.
Are you talking about the letter written to the chairman?
No, the layout of the proposed layout of drawings, yes.
Which are very small and which is hard to...
I might be able to increase their slides.
Hold on a second.
That would be wonderful.
Ah, yes.
I didn't know I could do that.
That's good.
I didn't even know I could do that
have I got the right one for you
do you like the first floor
or the second floor
I'm trying to figure this out
that's the first floor on the bottom
as you can see you come in through
here right
you've got this door
which opens the foyer of the first floor
this other curve line here
that's another doorway
and you go up through there
let yourself up the steps
And now you're in the living area of the second floor, which is at the top.
Does that help?
All right.
I can get more of it in that.
Just amazing technology.
I just can't believe it.
And how many?
What is in the crosshatched part?
I'm sorry.
What's there in that crosshatched part of the first?
That's a good question.
I don't understand the significance of it because there's nothing about the floor or anything like that that's missing now.
Mr. DuPont, can you tell Ms. Gaston what the significance of the crosshatch work is?
That's this here on the first floor.
So right here?
Yes, sir, right here, like on the first floor as you come in, because I believe there's
already, there's still, there's floor there now, right?
Yes, there's floor there.
So other than just artistic license, can you tell the board what the significance of that
cross-hatching is there?
This is the main entrance.
or from 19th street as you as you walk in as you said it's still it's properly correctly there's
a door to go to the first floor can i can i cut in there's a there's a note that says hatch location
of floor to be constructed in accordance with detail whatever the detail number is
so it's it's it's obviously for building permits that's what the note describes that hatch area is
for. Is this a one-bedroom apartment? This is shown as a two-bedroom. Two-bedroom each floor.
Yeah. All right. Okay. Thank you. And that leads to my point. The floor as a two-bedroom.
I know this is zoning, but there's no light, air, or ventilation for what would be the living
rows, so I would be definitely opposed to two bedrooms.
If I may respond.
That's my opinion.
I don't think there's a response to that.
Well, the response to it could be that we'd be glad to provide ventilation as a proviso
of this construction.
No, no, natural air, natural air and ventilation for a living room.
natural air and light
and ventilation to a living room.
On the first
well, they're right.
Because both sides of the house
are sealed, the only
light would be... Unlike the second
floor unit, which has a living,
although small, it has
a space that has windows and
you know, it's an open area.
Right. And some light and natural
light and ventilation.
So I guess my question is, the block is kind of one of those mixtures where you have a majority two-story homes and most of those two-story homes are single family.
And then you have three-story homes on the other side of the street.
So this home is on the two-story side where primarily most of the houses are two-story single family.
So what is the hardship in creating, you know, just leaving it a by right single family home here?
Essentially, for the investment that is going to be required to restore this building, this property will not be able to compete and get the return a single-family dwelling would give.
That's the financial reason why we need a two-family dwelling in order to make the kind of investment at the cost.
a two-family dwelling in order to make the kind of investment
at the cost presented today.
The reason why the neighborhood organization approved it
on the family was because they recognized the need
for this type of housing for the neighborhood.
They saw the value of having two beautifully prepared units
like this offered to the public.
As I said, it's a very, very neat-looking neighborhood.
The vacant lots are completely well-groomed and tripped, but there just aren't an excessive number of housing opportunities there.
And these are simply more affordable.
And they're more competitive to the marketplace.
It's more what the marketplace needs.
And our return will be enough to overcome, of course, the interest of the taxes and investing this money in the property and keeping it and maintaining it successfully.
Okay. And my last question is, I know that RCO issued some provisals and just wanted to know where you stand on the provisals that they asked. I know some of them are unenforceable from the zoning context, but where do the clients stand on the provisals?
Do you think they're modest provisals and they're completely amenable to them?
Other questions from the board?
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
not at this time mr chair i should check comments from the virtual audience
oh chair i have one more question um so the who gave you the meeting you actually had a
had a community meeting or did you just talk with this rco because the coordinator so you
weren't able to get in touch with right we tried a couple of times and i i believe there was a
community meeting though i did i didn't myself attend it but i believe that this was basically
So can you ask your client if he presented this to the community at some point and that the RCO just didn't make a phone call to the RCO?
Mr. DuPont?
Yes, the very first time we have the meeting, the RCOs, they actually came out to the properties.
I met them there.
They went through.
And after that, they said they will make the decision.
So was the community there?
Did the community take a vote?
Or did you do a presentation to the neighborhood in general?
Yes, yes, we did.
Questions or comments, virtual audience?
Planning Commission.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Meg Kavanaugh, Planning Commission staff.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing RSA-5 residential single-family zoning at this location.
The application is not supported with evidence of unique physical circumstances or conditions of the property that would prevent it from being used in conformance with the zoning code.
The Planning Commission recommends that the Board deny the variance for two-family households today.
I-20-24, 000-427-2549, North 19th Street. I vote no.
I vote no. My vote is no.
Charles Gaston, my vote is no.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is no.
Tywin, my vote is no.
Ishmael Shahid, my vote is no.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you.
Number five, MI 2024-004-453-6465 Germantown Avenue.
Corinne Weiss is the attorney for the tenant.
letter of unanimous support
from East Mount Airy Neighbors, RCO.
Thank you.
Corrin?
Ms. Weiss?
Here I come.
Thank you.
Good morning.
Could you please state your name and spell for the course
stenographer?
Corin Weiss, C-O-R-E-N-W-I-S-E.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth,
nothing but the truth? I'm counsel for the applicant, Mr. Chair. In the audience should
be Jennifer Hilson, H-I-L-L-S-O-N, on behalf of the applicant, Little School on the Hill, LLC.
on behalf of the applicant little school on the hill llc and our vice chair has a few questions
good morning counselor do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy
yes sir have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits as needed to proceed
with this case five days in advance of this hearing yes sir thank you council please proceed
and show your screen thank you
green button on the bottom yeah there we go okay thank you um let me just get this to the top here
so uh good morning mr chair and uh members this is 64 65 germantown avenue uh located at that um
address is the Second Baptist Church of Germantown. And this is an application for a daycare,
a group daycare at that location. You'll see on my screen and in your records, the refusal that
was issued, which we've waived the reading, but I did want to note in the refusal, the notes to
the zoning board, and just show you that this space has been previously approved as a daycare
child care center and were before you only because it's been vacant for more than three years. So I
represent Little School on the Hill LLC. Little School on the Hill is a daycare that's been
operating in the neighborhood of East Falls. Their current address, 3585 Indian Queen Lane,
has been a child care center for probably 10 years or more. I know my sixth grader
went there when he was a preschooler, so it's been at least that long.
The application is to issue the variance for a group child care center at the location there
at the Baptist Church and move Little School on the Hill from the East Falls location into
into that church location on germantown avenue um moving through the exhibits i should say we
there was a meeting with the east mount airy neighbors you should have a letter from the
meeting from november 19th uh stating unanimous support for this uh for this use uh this application
let me try and page down here
okay so uh just paging through the application so no modifications at this location will be
required it was previously a daycare and it's fully intact and i want to show you the photos
where that's obvious here's the lease for the property uh between the applicant and the church
for the daycare spaces and just moving through uh the taxer wasn't available on the appropriate
website, but we have the printout from the revenue site showing there's no balance. I hope that's
sufficient. I don't know why the cert wasn't available, possibly because this is a church
property, maybe, not sure. So let me flip this. Here's notices on the gates of the church.
And the church in the background, you also see the parking lot,
uh which is a huge amenity when it comes to daycares let me flip back
so notice is posted on all the street facing frontages so here's uh the one of the classrooms
um as part of this application you can see uh plug and play here ready to go
This is the presentation slides that were presented to the neighborhood group, just highlighting that the operator, Ms. Hilson, is licensed and certified with experience as a child care provider.
There's not any modifications to the space needed, and the variance doesn't impact the health or safety or welfare of the community.
Miss Hilson has a background and education in child care and has been operating the little
school on the hill for a number of years. Here's the here's the plan with the highlighted areas
the entrance on the bottom left stairs up with the three classrooms comprising 1175 square feet
as well as a kitchenette and a bathroom in the space.
as well as a kitchenette and a bathroom in the space.
These are the happy children of Little School on the Hill
at the current location.
It's a Montessori-based program.
The template for the RCO meeting, I won't flip that,
but here's here's the uh east uh mountain airy neighbors mr chair you've received this i believe
we do okay thank you uh you know so unanimous they stayed at the bottom their approval of the
application here's the proof of mailing of the notices which the mount airy letter confirms
and that's
And that's the, those are the.
Why don't you bring your client on, Mr. Weiss.
Ms. Hilson, just raise your hand.
Jennifer Hilson has been unmuted and allowed to.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
My name is Jennifer Hilson, J-E-N-N-I-F-E-R, Hilson, H-I-L-L-S-O-N.
We're a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Yes, I do.
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you.
Ms. Hilsen, have you heard my testimony, and do you adopt it as your own?
Yes, I do.
Mr. Chair, I don't know that there's anything that I need to add with Ms. Hilsen, but we're seeking this variance.
Obviously, the hardship is that this church is at this location.
The base zoning is RSA 5. So the hardship is we, you know, you can't have a single family home on the site of an existing church. So we ask for the variance to be granted. Thank you.
Questions from the board?
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
i see the handshake planning commission
thank you meg cavanaugh planning commission staff the comprehensive plan recommends no change to
the existing rsa2 residential single family zoning at this location the proposed use is
consistent with documented and permitted prior use of the property dating to the 1980s
the city planning commission recommends the board grant the use variants for group child care
number five mi 2024-004-453-6465 germantown avenue i vote yes
johns my vote is yes
cheryl gaston my vote is yes sonetta graham my vote is yes iowan my vote is yes
ishmael shaheed my vote is yes thank you uh council okay thank you mr chair thank you members
Number six, MI 2024-004-456-5300-18 Winfield Avenue.
There is a letter of unanimous non-opposition from the Winfield Residents Association.
Counsel is Tamika McCoy.
Good morning, everyone.
If you want to counsel, could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Sure. My name is Tamika McCoy, T-A-M-I-K-A. Last name is M-C, capital K-O-Y, on behalf of the Jenkins, who own Spacelift Renovations, LLC, at 5300 Winfield Avenue.
Swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Our vice chair has just a few questions.
good morning counsel do you agree to wait to read another refusal or stipulate to its accuracy
yes have emailed in all the required documents and exhibits as needed to proceed with this case
five days in advance of this hearing yes thank you counsel please proceed you've already shared
your screen okay thank you very much um i'm gonna try to move through this um as succinctly as i can
The property at 5300 Winfield Avenue is currently zoned Residential 3.
It is used for commercial purposes.
There are three businesses that are currently located within the existing structure.
We have here the application that had been submitted in this particular matter.
And what is being sought is to subdivide the lot into two separate parcels, lot B and lot C.
The existing lot we are referring to as A, which basically encompasses the entire area.
The existing lot we are...
I have a copy of the deed that shows ownership to Space Lift Renovations LLC.
The representative who's here is Ms. Jenkins, who will be introduced to the meeting at a later time.
I also have the certificate of tax clearance that indicates there are no outstanding tax
obligations on a property.
There were notices sent for 29 neighbors that have affected property.
The addresses for those properties are included within the packet.
And as the board chair had announced, the RCO meeting, which was held in person November 21st of this year, resulted in their coming back.
And after having an understanding of the full plan for the area, essentially do not oppose the intended application.
And that, I believe, was unanimous.
The property now, and I'm going to show you what the property looks like, this is actually a picture of the property that has the notices affixed in the front.
And if we were to look eastbound on Winfield Avenue, you would see what's depicted in the picture here, and this would be the opposite direction.
on Winfield Avenue.
This is a picture that depicts directly across the street.
And this picture is on the 5300 block,
which is the cross street for Winfield.
This is also 53rd Street looking in the other direction.
And this is a frontal view of what that property looks like.
And as I had indicated, there are three businesses that currently occupy that premise, a real
estate company, Sickle Cell Association of America, and a real estate staging company.
The intention would be to have the parcel that that property sit on subdivided into two lots.
I am showing here the diagram that shows the parcel.
And essentially, I'm going to zoom in on the relevant portions.
and really what it is here, there would be a line drawn between the lot to create parcel B
and parcel C. Once subdivided, parcel B would be essentially 19,800 square feet
and parcel C would be 8,300 square feet.
We do have the parameters in terms of the spacing,
the 25 feet in the front and rear of the building,
15 feet on the one side and 10 feet on the other side.
There would be parking spaces that would be affected,
but those are three parking spaces that currently would exist on parcel B that would be moved to
another location on parcel B. So parcel B would maintain the same number of parking spaces. It
would just be moved to another area on that 19,000 square foot side. So as it stands right now,
there's one parcel and the application is for a variance so that that one parcel can be broken
into two separate parcels. The future plan is essentially that there would be a single family
dwelling eventually constructed on parcel C. That was all explained during the course of the meeting
with the RCO in terms of what the plan were. They specifically indicated that if parcel C is
designated and a single family residence ultimately is constructed in the future, that is
what they would like to see there. And that's why they pose no opposition to this variance request,
essentially seeking the subdivision of the lot into two separate parcels. Part of what would
be contemplated would be, um, two trees that are leaning significantly, um, being removed
that's on parcel C so that in the future, ultimately once that lot.
So that in the future, ultimately, once that lot is approved for the intended vision in the way that the RCL contemplates that a single family home would be constructed on this lot, those two trees would ultimately have to be removed as part of it.
It's just full disclosure in terms of, you know, what's happening on this lot so that there's a full understanding.
As I said, that was explained during the course of the RCL.
And the intentions are that the subdivision would lead to ultimately the construction of a single family residence on the 8,000 plus square foot that would be remaining on parcel C.
And with that, I would like to introduce Ms. Jenkins to the meeting so that we could address any questions that the board may have.
Ms. McCoy, what's your client's name?
Shaquire Jenkins or Malika Jenkins.
Malika or Shaquire Jenkins, if you're in the virtual audience, please raise your hand.
i see no hands at this time chair
so uh you know so the court we will accept your testimony questions from the board
yeah the question the uh proposed subdivided lot the smaller lot
um does that meet the um zoning requirements of the uh rsd is it rsd3 yes it does okay um i believe
there was one area where there was the request for a variance and that is that uh and i'm going
to go to the refusal just so that I can refer back to it. The rear yard has to be 25 feet.
The plan at the time had showed 10 feet. That had been corrected and updated. It now shows
25 feet. The minimum width of the lot would be 50 feet, whereas at the time the proposal
was 49.868 it was just shy of the 50 feet requirement and then the two trees that had
been discussed uh were part of it as well as the parking with the um existing plan as it is
it did contemplate um all of those things and so the rear setback and front setback are both 25
feet, the side yards. One is 10 feet, the other is 15. And as I indicated, the two trees that
I had depicted is within this area here near the fence line that is leaning actually toward
the neighboring house. Ultimately, that would have to be removed, but all of those concerns
had been addressed and the two parking spaces that would have been cut off had been moved to
another area on Parcel B, which would basically enlarge the paved driveway to allow for two
additional spaces. Gotcha. All right. Thank you. Any other questions?
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Anderson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair. Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no hands at this time, Chair.
Commission?
Thank you, Meg Cavanaugh, Planning Commission. For this one, staff noted
a completeness issue given there's no landscape plan provided, so
we'd like to withhold testimony until that's provided and reviewed.
Or withhold our recommendation.
So, Hillary, this will be
a resumptive hearing with just a landscape plan and the only thing that would be would be that
the planning would then take a position everything else is closed um if the plan generated refusals
there would need to be a corrected refusal as well it's possible that it was missed i'd have
to talk to L and I about that.
So why don't we just, we'll hold this for a resolution hearing.
I will check on the amended refusal and if, or corrected refusal, and planning would need
to review landscaping before that corrected refusal could be issued.
So I'll get that process started.
Ms. McCoy, you understand?
Everything good?
Okay, thank you.
All right, so.
So, okay, thank you.
Okay, thank you.
Have a good day, everyone.
All right, thank you, counsel.
Number nine, MI 2024-004-493-735 South 10th Street.
Clementa, Amazon, and Dawn Tangrady are listed as counsels.
There's a letter of non-opposition from Bella Vista Neighbors.
this is a legalization of an existing
condition, outdoor dining
counsel
Amazon's coming back and it's a
panelist chair
good morning chairman and members of the board
good morning counsel could you please
state your name and spell for the court stenographer
absolutely
We comment on Amazon, that's spelled C-L-E-M-E-N-T-A.
Last name is spelled A-M-A-Z-A-N.
Where are firm that tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Can you identify your client and their relationship to the property?
Absolutely.
My clients are Carol and Vincent Mickey.
They are husband and wife.
Carol should be in attendance in the virtual audience.
Our vice chair has a few questions.
good morning council do you agree to weigh the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy
good morning yes i do have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that's needed
and required to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing
yes i have thank you council please proceed and share your screen thank you
can everyone see my screen we can perfect again my name is clemente amazon today i'll be presenting
735 south 10th street during my presentation i will go through the refusal we do have a
rco letter of non-opposition and i will go through the details of the vote momentarily
Exterior photos of the property, the posting photos of the property, interior photos, the
notice that we sent to the community regarding the community meeting, the certificates of
mailing, application for appeal, project information for deed, and the certificate of tax clearance.
So as the chair mentioned previously, this is for the legalization of a rear existing
structure.
We are also looking to create a unity of use between the three parcels, the three parcels
at issue here specifically are 735 south 10th street 737 south 10th street and 935th water
street i will go through a map showing that they are adjacent parcels we are simply looking to have
the rear structure which is along those parcels legalized it has been there for quite some time
the properties are zoned cms2 it has been used as a restaurant for well over 20 years now my client
Carol Mickey inherited it from her daughter and she has been running it in day-to-day operations.
There is an outdoor seating area which the rear structure encloses. We are looking to make it a
bit more permanent and so we are moving forward with the zoning process because of that.
We did meet with the community on September 3rd. They did provide us a letter of non-opposition.
As you will see here in the neighborhood, there were three nearby neighbors who did attend within
250 foot radius of the property and they did express support of the project none of them
opposed 15 neighbors also supported the project there was no vote of non-opposition excuse me no
votes of opposition for this project and seven of the zoning committee members voted in non-opposition
so again three nearby neighbors voted in support 15 neighbors voted in support as
well and the zoning committee voted in non-opposition to this project
and here we just have the breakdown of the vote as i mentioned three affected in support 15 of
all attendees in support and the zoning committee itself voted in non-opposition all members and
here we have a map of the area as i mentioned there are three parcels that we are discussing
here each zoned as cmx 2 735 south 10th street 737 south 10th street and 930 fifth water street
As you will see in the presentation, it does occupy most of the area, which generated the
refusal here because we have a refusal for the rear yard as well as a refusal for the occupied
area. Here's a photo of the front of the property, Sam's Morning Glory, and this is a view just along
South 10th Street here. You can see a little bit of that rear structure along Del High Street.
We do have additional photos so that you will be able to see it more in detail.
we do have additional photos so that you will be able to see it more in detail.
Thank you.
Here we have a photo of the posting that was posted to the property in advance of the hearing.
A photo of the interior. It is a restaurant as you can see. Hours of operation are from 8 a.m.
to 2 p.m. during the week and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. over the course of the weekend.
another photo of the interior and here we have the rear structure that we are looking to legalize
here so it's typically used for outdoor dining as you can see the refusal that we have generated
here is because of the occupied area and the fact of no step back being here so it's enclosed we're
just looking to make it a bit more permanent and legalize the use this structure has been pre-existing
for quite some time now for whatever reason there was some confusion within lni my clients did
generate excuse me a violation for this existing structure that dates back to 1978 um and so we
have to go through the zoning process again to legalize it and this is just a view from the
exterior along del high and 10th street so we do have a fence with the clear excuse me polycarbonate
on top with plywood here we have a view along fits water street across the street
excuse me this water to the right of the property
this water to the left of the property and here we do have the plans for this particular project
as i mentioned the refusals were a result of the occupied area and rear yard depth
we do have full occupancy of the lot 735 south 10th the 737 south 10th
and 936 Water Street. We haven't had any issues with complaints for the property. It has been in
operation for well over 20 years now. Neighbors really enjoy the restaurant. A lot of them attend.
We are looking to maintain the structure as is, excuse me, my apologies, jumps back there. We are
looking to maintain the size of the structure just so that we can allow for adequate outdoor dining
phase so there's no overflow onto the curb or the sidewalk with diners so that's why we are unable
to meet the requirements of the rear yard and the occupied area for these lots here we have
the application for appeals assessment details of the project our project information form
the notice that was sent out for the community meeting including the date of the community
meeting and time as well as today's dba hearing date a copy of the refusal again the two refusals
that we have generated for this property are as a result of the rear yard requirement as well as
the occupied area as you saw in the plan it is three lots so part of the refusal is just because
of the configuration and the beauty of the use for the three parcels we are looking to maintain
the size and placement of the rear structure as is it is pre-existing and we haven't had any issues
from nearby neighbors with regards to the size the space or the occupancy of the area
unless the properties that were notified of the community meeting
our certificate of mailing
and the d showing that my client has owned this property since 1997.
And we also have the certificates of tax clearance for each of the three parcels 735 South 10th, 936 Water Street and 737 South 10th. So with that, I believe my client Carol Mickey is on if I may have her raise her hand.
his name is carol bicky
her phone name is carol mickey
she's been unmuted and allowed to speak
could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
it's mickey
miss mickey can you please unmute yourself
miss mickey
she looks to be unmuted chair she may be suffering some technical difficulties
counsel hi hi could you please state your name is spelled for the stenographer
carol mickey c-a-r-o-l-m-i-c-k-e-y you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth i do please proceed counsel carol did you hear my presentation today
Please proceed, Counsel.
Carol, did you hear my presentation today?
I did.
And was it true and correct?
And, Carol, how long have you had the rear addition for the restaurant, the outdoor dining area?
Since 1997.
Have you had any complaints or issues with neighbors in relation to that outdoor dining area?
And would you adopt my testimony as your own?
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
Can I ask how this came to the attention of LNI such that you had to go through this process?
Of course.
So we attempted to resolve this outside of the zoning because Carol did have this as a pre-existing use dating back to 1978.
For whatever reason, the documentation that Carol provided, Ellen and I wasn't willing to accept as appropriate for the use.
As a result, we had to come back and do the zoning for this over again.
But it's been pre-existing since 1978.
Unfortunately, we weren't able to deal with it administratively, so we're moving forward with the zoning process.
Okay, thank you.
Other questions from the board?
questions from our attorney hillary emerson not at this time mr chair questions or comments from
the virtual audience that's the door is here planning commission
thank you meg cavanaugh planning commission staff the comprehensive plan recommends no change to
the existing cmx2 commercial mixed use zoning at this location the addition was built without the
benefit of permits although the proposed rear setback is comparable to surrounding properties
the city planning commission recommends that the board grant the dimensional variances
mi 2024-004-493-735 south 10th street i vote yes johns my vote is yes cheryl gaston my vote
is yes tennetta graham my vote is yes taiwan my vote is yes ishmael shaheed my vote is yes
Thank you.
good afternoon mr chairman board members good afternoon council could you please state your
name and spell for the stenographer sure meredith ferliger f-e-r-l-e-g-e-r
we're a firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
we do could you identify your client a relationship to this property of course
My client this morning is Mascoff LLC, which is the owner of the property, represented today by Sarge Maslenikov.
My chair has a few questions.
Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to wait to read another refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that's needed and required to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
I did.
Thank you, counsel. Please proceed. You can share your screen.
All right. Make sure I have everything up here. All right. Again, good afternoon, Mr. Chairman,
members of the board, Meredith Ferliger of Delworth-Paxson. The request before you today
concerns 1692 North 54th Street. You have an exhibit packet that contains 16 exhibits,
which we do request be moved into evidence at the conclusion of today's presentation.
To summarize the basis for today's request, this application requests one-use variance for the proposed multifamily use of a lot that not only was historically used as multifamily, but also sits on a block that has transitioned to 100% multifamily use over the last several years.
This application not only receives support from the assigned RCO, but is further supplemented with several letters and a petition of support from near residents.
With that background in mind, let me first orient you to the location of this property.
The deed and tax clearance are included at Exhibit 2 for tax, showing that the taxes were paid, and Exhibit 3 is the deed.
and Exhibit 3 is the Deed. As you can see here on the aerial shown at Exhibit 9, this property
sits on North 54th Street, which runs north and south in this view here, and is right at the
corner of Stewart Street, which runs east-west. And this property is, again, right at the corner.
This aerial is slightly outdated, as you will see in the street-level photographs,
as there is now a new construction mid-block here.
As you will notice, this block of North 54th Street between Stewart Street to the north
and Hunter Street to the south is entirely undeveloped,
with the exception of that new mid-block structure that I'll point out momentarily in the photographs.
Looking here from the east, you'll notice that the block south of Hunter Street
has seen some recent new construction. Lancaster Avenue is here just northeast of the property.
From the south view, you'll see that directly across the street is the Heston Elementary School.
And finally, from the west, you may take note that the closest structures across Stewart Street,
so I'm pointing to these structures here that are directly across from the property on Stewart Street,
Face Lancaster Avenue. So all of these structures have their rear yards and rear of their structures facing Stewart Street directly across the street from this property.
So this section of Lancaster Avenue here, as you can somewhat see in this image here, is a bit more industrialized with some slightly heavier industrial warehousing type of uses, as well as some automotive uses.
but this is still within the official commercial corridor.
Turning to the photographs here at Exhibit 16, you'll see that this existing vacant corner lot
that is the subject of today's request. This lot is 1,745 square feet.
This next view here is shown from Stewart Street.
Moving back here to North 54th Street, I've provided a marked up photograph to begin to
provide the board with some of the area context. As I mentioned, you'll see mid-block, a new
recently constructed building that is approved for four units. Now across Hunter Street, which
is a little bit farther down here on North 54th Street, new construction projects are either 11
or 12 units. Now unit count aside, this entire stretch of North 54th Street is either made up
of vacant land or new multifamily development. Now moving up closer towards that newer development
here, there are a couple of existing structures that are also multifamily. This view faces north
towards the property, which is sort of in the foreground there. Now, if we move back towards
Stewart Street, this next view here faces north 54th Street, looking towards Lancaster Avenue here.
And again, you'll see here in this image what I referenced earlier, that all of the adjacent
and homes directly across Stewart Street face Lancaster Avenue with their, you know, rear here
on Stewart Street. This condition further leads to a lack of activation at this particular corner
and this particular block of North 54th Street. This next photograph here points towards Lancaster
Avenue, which is directly diagonal from the property before the board today, showing the
large furniture store as well as an auto repair shop, which is just slightly out of view here.
We did also include photos of the zoning posters, which were timely posted on the property on both
frontages. Now in this image here, let me scroll back up a little bit, you'll see here more clearly
the new four-unit development mid-block, which is nearing completion at this point.
You will notice in this photograph that because this is a mid-block structure, there are very limited windows and access points, really just in this small cutout here on the side.
This is important to keep in mind when reviewing the proposal before the board today, which has the very unique benefit of a corner location, which is ripe for some slightly higher density that really cannot be accommodated mid-block.
And that's also consistent with what you saw just across Hunter Street.
and that's also consistent with what you saw just across Hunter Street with a higher density
for the corner property. Now referring to the zoning map at Exhibit 5, you'll see this property
is zoned RSA 5. Now directly across the street, the school property and the entire opposing side
of this street is zoned RM1 as well as CMX 2. This section of Lancaster Avenue, as I mentioned,
is zoned ICMX, which is really consistent with that more heavily industrial nature of this
particular section of Lancaster Avenue. You will also notice here that the block south of Hunter
Street, with the newer high-density development I highlighted earlier, is also zoned RSA 5.
At Exhibit 8, I have included the Planning Commission District Plan, which I believe may even be inconsistent with the true plan for this block, but this did seem to recommend this lot for some form of CMX zoning.
Now, when the property mid-block was presented to the board, the Planning Commission indicated that this block was actually recommended for RM1 zoning.
So either way, it appears that this entire stretch of block was likely recommended for multifamily zoning.
Whether the corner was recommended for CMX or RM1, I'm sure the Planning Commission will identify that.
Now, given the natural progress of development that has occurred here, it is likely this entire block should be rezoned at some point to multifamily.
The proposal for 1692 North 54th Street is shown on the zoning plan at Exhibit 6.
Let me zoom out a little bit here.
Well, let's start with this.
The proposal before the board today includes one new four-story structure.
This building is proposed to contain eight dwelling units, two per floor. There is a large rear yard here that you can see of 20 feet, which backs up to a four foot wide alley that separates this property from the next closest structure on Stewart Street.
The yard will be fenced in with an enclosed trash storage area in the rear that can be easily accessed for disposal from Stewart Street.
And there's actually going to be two access points through that fence.
No roof deck is included for this proposal to further limit the potential impacts on surrounding properties.
The mechanical units are proposed to be on the roof.
and I'll just zoom out a little bit and you can just get a sense I do have a rendering but just
in terms of a basic elevation you can see that here so it's four stories. If I turn to floor
plans at exhibit seven again you'll see that fenced in trash enclosure represented here
on the floor plan. This is a slab on grade proposal so there is no basement proposed for
this four-story development. That has the very, very important and unique benefit here
of allowing the first floor units to be ADA adaptable units. The center staircase design
here, as you can see here in this image, it facilitates a natural two-unit per floor design
for this proposal. Going into a little bit more detail and I'll move around if you have any
questions. The two first floor units are one bedroom, one bathroom units of either 586 or
589 square feet. Both of these units can be accessed directly from street level at grade.
And you can see the door for unit one is shown here that I'm pointing to. The door for unit two
is shown here. And then the entrance point for all the other units would be in the middle.
And I'll be able to show you that on the rendering as well.
Now, moving on to the second floor here, and really a lot of these units are really quite similar in design.
But the second floor units are also one bedroom, one bath units of 563 and 597 square feet.
Now, as I will show you in the renderings, because of this corner location, all of the units throughout this building benefit from significant windows and light and air.
Moving to the third and fourth floor, they are substantially similar to what you saw previously.
previously. There are four more one-bedroom, one-bath units which are slightly larger,
which range from 510 all the way to 642 square feet. All of the eight units have interior washers
and dryers, as well as ventilated trash storage areas interior to each of the units.
as well as ventilated trash storage areas interior to each of the units and that is identified
on each of the floor plans as well.
I will show you the rendering here on the next page. Now as I mentioned, in consideration of
the exclusively multi-family trend on this block, this corner location provides a unique opportunity
for the additional density, as it can accommodate both ADA adaptable units and also has the ability
to provide considerable light and air into these units, as well as units that are more affordable
for the area. As you know, mid-block properties cannot provide windows on the side unless the
small cutouts are made into the building to pull the windows away from the property line.
Here, as you can see visually represented, the entire Stewart Street frontage is plastered with
windows, including at the ground level to activate this corner. And again, you'll see the entrance
points here, so this would be the entrance to Unit 1, this would be the entrance to Unit 2,
and then the middle is the entrance for the rest of the building.
Now regarding the refusal, the proposal only received one refusal for the proposed multifamily
use. There are no dimensional variances that are requested or required for this proposal.
The evidence presented this afternoon establishes an unmistakable hardship in developing any single
family use on this block or lot, given the history of the property and the character of the area,
which is exclusively multifamily on this stretch of North 54th Street, leading into Lancaster Avenue.
Starting with the history here at Exhibit 11, historically speaking, the lot at 1692 North 54th Street was used as a multifamily dwelling with four units plus a commercial space, dating all the way back to the 60s.
It appears that most of this block was also home to mostly multifamily use prior to the structures being demolished some decades ago.
There's no evidence of any structure existing on this block for at least the last 30 years.
Furthermore, as I've shown throughout the presentation,
this block is either entirely vacant or has seen recent multifamily development.
At Exhibit 10, you'll see a visual representation of this particular characteristic.
Mid-block, the Board recently approved the construction of a new four-family dwelling,
which you did see earlier in the photographs. Just south of Hunter Street, you can see the
density of the recently built structures this board approved on lots just slightly larger than
this one for 11 and 12 units, so significantly more density on lots that are not significantly
larger. This entire block is largely inconsistent with the zoning classification, including the
school across the street. Given the insurgence of new multifamily development, it would be an
exceptional hardship to construct new single-family homes in this location. A new single-family home
on this lot would be in a sea of multifamily, with no other single-family homes surrounding it.
Established case law is clear that the character of the neighborhood is one of many unique
characteristics of any particular lot that may allow this board to find a unique and
unnecessary hardship warranting of the grant of a use variance. All single-family homes in this area
front either on Stewart Street, I don't know why this aerial says Marion Avenue, this is Stewart
Street, or on Lancaster Avenue. There are no single-family homes fronting on North 54th Street
in this immediate area. We also submit that the number of proposed units is also the least
minimum, as the density proposed is consistent with the density of surrounding structures.
Additionally, as the evidence has shown today, eight units are most appropriate for the layout
of the proposed structure and is not overbuilt from a dimensional perspective to accommodate
the proposed density. Furthermore, the units are varied in size to accommodate a wider range of
rental price points and tenant preferences. This corner lot is uniquely situated to accommodate
slightly higher density, to accommodate both the ADA-adaptable units at the first floor,
as well as units that benefit from more light and air than is typical with multifamily development.
The new 11 and 12-unit developments just south of this have similar unit density per lot square
footage, ranging from about 200 to 350 square feet per unit. Given the uses of surrounding
properties, the historical use of this property for five units, including the commercial space,
the comprehensive plan recommendation for a rezoning at this site, the design
The comprehensive plan recommendation for a rezoning at this site, the design presented to the board today, and the length of time that no single-family use has been established, this proposal is the least deviation from the relevant zoning code provisions.
Now, in terms of the community, this one was a bit unusual.
I do want to just address that momentarily.
When this application was filed and processed, there was no RCO for this property that was
currently identified at that point by the city. As a result, the councilman's office stepped in
and assigned this project to the next nearest RCO, which is HMC squared. We went through the
normal process and scheduled a meeting, which was held on October 10th. In preparation for the
October 10th meeting, I happened to notice that the Hestonville RCO was all of a sudden showing
as an RCO for this property. I immediately reached out and invited them to attend the RCO meeting,
which they did. That email is shown at Exhibit 15, which I'll bring up in a minute.
At that meeting, the representative from the Hestonville RCO questioned, understandably,
why the project had not been assigned to her group. She acknowledged that her group had failed
to file the RCO paperwork and was therefore not in the system at the time this application was
processed. Once that confusion was resolved, she expressed concern about what residents were in
attendance at the meeting, hoping that the Hestonville community was represented. We confirmed
that mailings were sent, and we did show the certificates of mailing, which we did also
include in your packet here at Exhibit 15. These notices went to addresses on Stewart Street,
Lancaster Avenue, North 54th Street, Jefferson, Hunter, and Conestoga Streets, so we did express
our confidence to her that the local community was well represented at that meeting. That said,
we did also express at that point our willingness to have another meeting.
HMC Squared issued a summary sheet noting the predominant result of support with the
proviso that we have a separate meeting with Hestonville representatives. The day after the
meeting, I reached out to the Hestonville RCO and requested another meeting. A few days later,
I was advised that they would be in contact. Again, on October 22nd, someone reached out
but did not specifically respond to the request for a meeting. I then followed up again on October
23rd, November 7th, and November 25th, but received zero response from them. All of that correspondence
is shown at Exhibit 15. And again, it's just shown to establish to the board that not only was
the Hestonville RCO in attendance during the RCO meeting, but we did make a very concerted effort
to attempt to have a second meeting with them, but we ultimately were not successful. So again,
seeking to validate that the local community was represented at the October 10th meeting
and to bolster the clear support for this project, my client did visit the local community
and fortunately was able to secure two individual letters of support, as well as seven signatures
of support from residents on Stewart Street, which are, of course, the ones that are most
directly impacted by this project. So this applicant we submit went above and beyond the
call of the code, not only to secure support from the assigned RCO, but to further ensure that all
RCOs and residents felt that they had an opportunity to weigh in if desired. We submit
the proposal will not increase congestion, harm neighbors' properties, or impair light and air.
This area will benefit economically from this proposal by creating new residents in the area
to support local retail stores and businesses, particularly given the property's location
directly across the street from the commercial corridor.
This structure itself is being designed to harmonize with the physical character of the neighborhood,
and more detailed analysis is provided in the memo of law submitted to the board at Exhibit 12,
and I'd be happy to touch on any particular point in more detail.
At this point, I would ask for the administrator to look for Serge Maslenikov and unmute him.
Serge Maslenikov has been unmuted and allowed to speak.
sir could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer
uh hi uh my name is sergey maslanikov s-e-r-g-e-y-m-a-s-l-e-n-n-i-k-o-b
M-A-S-L-E-N-N-I-K-O-B.
Affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Please proceed, Counsel.
Thank you.
Serge, have you heard all of the testimony and evidence offered before the board today?
Yes, I do.
Would you agree that testimony was true and accurate, and would you adopt it as if you had given it yourself?
At this time, do you have anything further you'd like to add?
Not really, except that whatever you said, that's how it was.
We tried to meet with the neighbors and unfortunately didn't get a response.
So I spent half a day walking down the street, talking to the neighbors,
explaining them what I'm trying to build here and got some signatures,
which is, I mean, like in terms of building,
it's really nice looking building on the corner with a lot of lights
and a nice brick facade.
That's what I wanted to say.
Thank you. We're happy to answer any questions.
Questions from the board.
I have a question. Can you can you go back to the rendering for a second?
Just curious, I know that it was a corner property and, you know, it was pretty much a green space.
I just wanted to make sure that there was an opportunity to replace some of the trees that would be torn down.
So I see them on the renderer. So I guess they're dancing street trees.
Yeah. Okay. That's the plan. Yeah. All right. Thank you.
The questions from the board.
Yes. Sure. My question is, you said that there were other four unit buildings in the area, and then there was one that had been approved to have 11 or 12 units.
is there anything else in between i mean there's four and then there's this 11 or 12 and you're
proposing eight so that kind of puts you in the middle i guess but yeah so you know unfortunately
as as we mentioned this block of north 54 street there's nothing there uh so there's there has only
been one proposal on this particular block, which is mid-block, and that was the proposal that was
four. Now, the block south of this, that's where you find 11, 12, 12. So again, given the location
of this property at the corner and the fact that it can really truly benefit from a much more
favorable design, that's where the density here is more appropriate than it might have been had
this been a mid-block location that truly can't accommodate the same type of interior unit design
because you can't put the windows. So it's sort of trying to balance, certainly not going for
11 or 12. These are slightly larger lots. So just trying to sort of balance the units based on the
lot size itself and the corner location all right thank you sure questions from the board
questions or comments from our attorney hillary emberson
not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
jessie delage planning commission
Thank you, Meg Kavanaugh, Planning Commission staff.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing RSA-5 residential single-family zoning at this location.
There is documented prior multifamily use of this property with four units in a structure that has since been demolished, dating to the 1960s, although the requested variance is not the minimum variance that will afford relief.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the Board grant the variance with proviso, limit the number of units to four.
number 17 mi 2024 is 0 0 4 7 2 2 16 92 north 54 street i vote yes well johns my vote is yes
cheryl gaston my vote is yes
tanetta graham my vote is yes i own my vote is yes ishmael shaheed my vote is yes
Thank you, counsel. All right. Number 18, MI 2024-004-727-4815 North Knight Street. Joseph Consul is the attorney. There's unanimous support from the Logan Civic Association. Vote was eight to zero.
Good morning, or good afternoon.
Mr. Counsel, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Joseph Consul.
It's J-O-S-E-P-H.
Last name, C-O-N-S-O-L.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you? I do. Okay. Could you identify your client in relationship to the property?
Could you?
Could you identify your client in relationship to the person?
Yeah, my client is Bianca Almonte, the owner of the property. Our vice chair has a few questions.
Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to wait to read another refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
I do. Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits as needed to proceed
with this case five days in advance of this hearing? Yes. Thank you, counsel. Please proceed
to share the screen. Okay, sharing my screen. Okay, I'm here on 4815 North 9th Street. This
property has been owned by my client and her mother since 2006. The property is
a currently a single family home. My client hired a contractor to install a deck and convert the
first floor level, which is technically below grade, but I'll show you the pictures in a second
that it actually goes out to the street in the back to convert that property into an apartment
unit, so making the single family into a two-family unit. The deck was constructed in the back of the
property, and they began work on the rest of the property. However, it came to light that the
contractor did not have permits, and so my client hired a designer. The designer, Magda Green,
did the plans, the plans are submitted, the refusals came in, and the two refusals that came in was for the deck that exists, which is the first refusal on your screen now.
A deck may not be enclosed by walls or a roof above the usable surface of the deck.
And the second one is two-family not approved in the RSA 5 zoning district.
Addressing the two-family use, this block has a lot of properties that need love going up and down the block.
We found several properties that have two-family conversions but are not currently legal.
The only one we found that was currently legal and is actually a smaller property than ours, ours is approximately 1,488 square feet as a footprint. This one's 1,322 square feet is 4852 North 9th Street.
So it's across the street, but otherwise identical, only slightly smaller.
Also, zoned RSA 5 was approved by this board in 2020, almost an identical request.
The work had been done on this one, and the board had approved it for two units.
So we believe that the two-unit use is consistent and beneficial for the block.
Um, my, uh, my client can, you know, can, can attest to that testimony as well. Um, but the, the block does need, um, rehabilitation and we, we believe that the, I mean, the, the work done so far looks nice.
unfortunately it was not permitted uh my client was unaware when she hired the contractor as
she'll attest to that um they were doing this without permits or plans and she spent a a lot
of money on on this work that was that was done here um so in terms of the deck uh you know there's
several of these um properties that uh face each other uh along blocks that touch each other here
this is kind of like a crude aerial photo but there are you know at least one two three four
five approved decks on here that can be seen there are a couple on this side on the side
of the street that we're on and then more on the other side the let's see if I zoom in a little
bit there's a whole row of them here 480 4844 4840 and 4836 one on the left which is 4829
and then 4816 at the bottom of the screen there so we're hopeful that the deck ask is is reasonable
as well. The plans submitted actually show the floor plan for the proposed unit on the lower level, which would be one bedroom, living room, utility space.
oh shoot
right me
get back up
and a laundry space that exits directly out to the street,
which I'll show you in the photos next.
In addition to that, the plans included the exterior elevations
for the deck that was already installed,
and I'll show you the photos now.
It's the refusal, it's the front of the property.
So there is an entrance to the basement unit in the front.
As you can see here, that's always existed.
And still in the front, take you to the back.
so then this is the back that leads to the covered deck and entrance to that basement space
and there's an image there so um you know as we saw the aerial but this is the parking spaces
for those properties and several of them have um parking spaces with decks there was some
anticipation that uh removing um what was considered a garage although there wasn't
Actually, a garage there would have generated a refusal, as was noted on the plans, but it didn't.
The only refusals were for the deck and for the two-unit use.
Otherwise, everything else was dimensionally appropriate.
Here's what the interior of the space looks like.
this property was already
really nicely done
prior to
this request
got a project information form
or deed
show that my clients took possession
And I believe my client can attest to the fact that her family owned it for a while prior to that.
I believe that's all that I have in terms of a presentation.
Again, seeking to legalize two-unit use there, consistent with a legalization on a smaller property on the same block.
and we believe this property will be a benefit to the community. It's beautiful.
The block needs some beautiful properties, and we're hopeful we can get the board's approval.
Bianca, are you in the audience to raise your hand?
Can I see your hand?
Yes, Chair. They have been unmuted and allowed to speak.
Could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Bianca Peralta.
P-E-R-A-C-A.
Peralta is P-E-R-A-L-T-A.
I have Almonte, but I changed my last name.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Apologies for getting the last name wrong.
Bianca, did you hear my testimony just now regarding the contractor you hired for this property, the work that was done, and what you're seeking to legalize?
I did.
At the time the contractor was doing the work, were you aware that there were no permits pulled and that they were required for what was going on?
No, I didn't. I didn't know that I had to have a permit.
okay um did you believe the contractor was handling all all of the associated
appropriate licensing and permits that were required here i believe so yeah okay all right
um and do you adopt all my testimony as your own otherwise yes okay i have nothing for questions
questions from the board
not question but comment um the well because there was no uh pulling of permits ahead of time
uh decks are not allowed to have a permanently affixed roof or stairs and that has been so
for since that legislation was actually approved back in the 1990s.
So, you know, this is nothing new.
And, you know, again, it's the usual, I didn't know,
or the contractor didn't let me know.
with the whole idea that you're doing this without proper permits.
The whole idea that you're doing this without proper permits and then asking for approval after that, you know, the asking for forgiveness rather than permission is a problem for me.
We understand that. I guess the only response would be is that my client, if you need to speak to her further, she's available.
This is not someone that bought the property, you know, two years ago and did this work.
This is a family that's had it for, I mean, at least she's been involved since 2006.
Bianca, prior to 2000.
But who is living in this space?
I mean, it looks pretty lived in.
My family, my mom and my brother.
So it was done to accommodate other family members?
It's not being rented out to the public?
Not to the public, only for my family.
i see and how long have your family owned the property bianca excuse me how long has that
property been in your family since 2002 2002 okay um and uh i i guess regarding the the stairs um
If the board has some intention of approving at least the deck generally and not the stairs, that's something my client would have to be open to.
Yes. Well, why do you need them now?
Is the violation just for the stairs?
no the violation stairs from the ground level to the deck are prohibited on attached structures
that's one zoning refused are permitted except in the case of attached structures
oh got it okay so were this to be a non-attached structure then that these stairs would be
would be appropriate so i guess we are seeking approval for for the stairs as it does match
other decks that are that are on the block
other questions
questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson
not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see don't hear his chair planning commission
thank you thank you having our planning commission staff the comprehensive plan
recommends no change to the existing RSA-5 residential single-family zoning at this location.
There is no unique physical circumstance or condition that prevents the property from
being used in strict conformance with the zoning code. The City Planning Commission recommends
that the board deny the use variance for two-family household living and variances for the proposed
deck. Mr. Counsel, we're going to hold this for a vote so we can talk about it in the executive
session. We'll vote on it next week
on the 11th at
9.30. The
case is closed other than that.
Okay? Thanks. Thank you.
Is there anyone in the virtual audience
whose case has not been called?
the hands, Cher. Thanks
everyone. See everyone at 2 p.m.
Thank you.
Thank you all.
Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this afternoon's meetings.
Our vice chair, Ismail Shaheed, should be here shortly.
Here is our board member, Cheryl L. Gaston.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our board member, Tanada Graham.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Board member, Michael Johns.
Hello, Mr. Chairman.
And our board member, Taya Nguyen.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Also present is our attorney, Hillary Emerson, and our executive director, Ian Haggerty.
Proceedings are being recorded.
With your participation, you agree to be recorded.
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If you're participating by phone, press star 9 to raise your hand and star 6 to unmute.
To enter an appearance statement, call 267-270-5548.
Leave your email address and also the address of the property in question.
And finally, the question answer box on the screen is now for testimony.
money. Any questions, contact ZBA Executive Director at phil.gov. Here's our schedule for this afternoon.
at philadelphia here's our schedule for this afternoon
number two mi 2024 005 262 1311 to 13 north 27th street that case is continued number three
MI 2024-005-732, 15-17 South 2nd Street, TA-30461, cases continued.
Number 10. MI 2024-005-752. 4028 Westminster Avenue. That case is continued.
And number 14, MI 2024-005-790-3625 North 16th Street, that case has been continued.
Are there any other requests for continuance?
Good afternoon, Chair. This is Jevette Benton. I'll be your co-host for this afternoon.
I see no hands at this time.
Thank you. And number seven, MI 2024, 005-739, 1454 South 28th Street. Vassal Giddaf is the applicant from Giddaf Construction. No exhibits, first listing.
i see the handshake thank you so number seven mi 2024 005 739 1454 south 28th street
that case continued mark must be heard we're going to go to our add-on list
Number one on the add-on list. MI 2024-002-706-2141 East William Street. I vote no to request for reconsideration and rehearing.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is no to reconsideration and rehearing.
Tana Graham, my vote is no to reconsideration and rehearing.
Iowyn, my vote is no to reconsideration and rehearing.
there oh michael's in yeah all right
okay uh number two mi 2024 002 707 2143 east william street i vote no to reconsideration and
re-hearing. Cheryl Gaston, my vote is no to reconsideration and re-hearing.
Tynetta Graham, my vote is no to reconsideration and re-hearing.
We're going to go to our regular list. Number four, MI 2024-005-734, 1935 North 20th Street,
Al Nockmson is the attorney.
There's a letter of unanimous support from Beach Corporation.
Mr. Nockmson is coming back in as a panelist here.
Good afternoon, Mr. Nockamson.
Good afternoon.
Could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Alan Nockamson, A-L-A-N, last name Nockamson, N-O-C-H-U-M-S-O-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client, a relationship to the property?
Yeah, from 1935 North 20th Street, my client is Zane Real Estate LLC, the owner of the property.
And in the virtual audience is Michael Ali Dodd, one of its members.
Do you stipulate to the reading of the refusal and do you agree with its accuracy?
Please share your screen and start your presentation, sir.
Thank you.
All right, so I'm here to present 1935 North 20th Street during our presentation.
So I'm here to present 1935 North 20th Street. During our presentation we'll review first a
notice of refusal. This is an RSA 5 property with that is a little over 1400 square feet of lot size
so it's a rather large lot. We're looking to put a quadplex there which is not out of character
to the neighborhood and so we have two refusals and we'll see that one is for use and one is
for open area. We do have unanimous support from the community by way of Beach Community
Services Incorporated. They were very favorable to this project. We have an aerial view of the
property or the block as well. You'll see that there is not much development here. So it again
is definitely screams that like this zoning classification is putting constraints on
development, and we're hoping to put a four-unit development on this property. We'll review maps
of the area. Again, I believe across the street is RM1, but unfortunately, our side of the street
is RSA5, which is preventing development, not just for our property, but most of the properties on
that side of the block. Then we'll review photographs of the property, which is just a
vacant lot. And then my client is a well-known and thought of developer in the city of Philadelphia,
So I have some sample interior photographs of the type of work product he puts into his properties.
Then we'll review the plans and drawings, our RCO meeting notice, along with proof of mailing of that notice,
our applications for appeal that we filed on behalf of Zane Real Estate LLC,
the deed to the property showing that Zane Real Estate LLC is the owner of the property,
and the Certificate of Tax Clearance showing that Zane Real Estate LLC owes no real estate taxes as it pertains to this property.
At the conclusion of my presentation, I would ask that Mr. Ali Dodd virtually raise his hand, be sworn in, and have a few questions for him about my presentation.
So notice refusal is this.
This is an RSA 5 property, but again, it's a rather large lot for an RSA 5 property, a little over 1,400 square feet.
We're looking to put a quadplex here, and during our presentation, we'll review why this is a responsible project.
first things first if this board feels so inclined to grant the zoning variance requests
we would ask that the board also include a proviso commercial trash pickup that was something that
we brought up to the community and I think they viewed that favorably as well so we would ask
that the board include that as part of any approval so we have two refusals here one is for use of
the property. Again, not out of character. If you look across the street, there's many
multifamily structures across the street that are on one. Unfortunately, our side of the street is
RSA 5, and there's really no development on our side of the street at all. There's no building
structures, and for good reason, it's really hard to develop over there without increasing some
sort of density here. And we think four units is a responsible use of the property. The second
refusal we have is for open area. Again, we're not affecting anyone's light in there. There's no
building structures here. And in order to create a more thoughtful floor plan and just have bigger
bedrooms and living space, we are asking for additional occupied area in a sense, which means
less open area. But either way, the request for variance is de minimis in nature, where we're
We're seeking slightly more than or slightly less than 100 square feet of lots of occupied lot size for that variance request.
Letter support from Beach. Again, unanimous support.
Aerial view of the property. So as you can see here on our streets, this is where we are.
there's really no development at all for any properties on this block facing our side of North
20th Street. Again, you know, there are properties here and here, which are R1 in nature. So we think
that by adding this density will encourage development and hopefully more development
on that side of the street and create eyes on the street as well. Maps of the area here, as you can
see this is RM1 right here, which we're using as a guide to for our project. And you can see we're
really surrounded by RM1 all around. And then where we are in the neighborhood, we're between
Norris and Berks and Uber and Woodstock in the North Philly part of Philadelphia.
Photographs of the property, this has been a vacant lot for some time. This is proof of posting of
for the notice posters for today's hearing.
Again, Google Earth or Street View
Again, Google Earth or Street View goes as far back as 2007.
goes as far back as 2007.
This has been a vacant lot as far as Google Street View goes, and I suspect it's been a vacant lot for a lot longer as well.
This is north 20th Street to the right of the property, to the left of the property.
Sample interiors.
So Mr. Ali Dodd and his real estate group really take great pride in the craftsmanship of their projects.
and they put high-end materials and appliances into their apartment units.
So whenever I have a developer who does a lot of work in the city,
I always try to highlight their work product.
So the proof is in the pudding.
And then there are plans and drawings here.
We're not seeking any other type of variances other than the use,
as well as the occupied or open area.
We're proposing to have a height of 35 feet.
Even our rear yard, even though we have an open area issue,
our rear yard is, for the setback, is 11 feet, which is well within code.
So we have a pretty massive size rear yard.
Everyone is going to have access to that rear yard.
So that's the other thing.
We're going to store our trash back here, but we'll still do commercial trash pickup.
but every single resident can go from front to back in this property. There's four bi-level units.
Unit number one, which is 910 square feet, is the first floor and lower level. Go further out,
unit number two is, and that's a one-bedroom, one-and-a-half bath. Unit number two is 924
square feet. Again, first floor and lower level. You go up a flight of steps to the third and
fourth floors, and you're looking at, or second and third floors, and you're looking at units three
and units four. Unit three is 1,066 square feet, which is a two-bedroom, one-bath,
and unit number four is 1,110 square feet, two-bedroom, one-bath. Our meeting notice,
so we met with the community on October 23rd at 5.30 p.m. via Zoom. We emailed that notice a few
weeks beforehand to show proof that we mailed that notice to 120 addresses. Here are the addresses.
The proof of mailing to those addresses. Our application for appeal that we filed on behalf
of Zane Real Estate LLC, along with the notice of refusal. And then the project information form.
The deed to the property, showing the Zane Real Estate LLC is the owner of the property.
and a certificate of tax clearance showing that they owe no money.
Now, while, you know, this is not an enforceable restriction on the property,
my client does affordable housing,
and his intention is to do affordable housing here as well.
But he's not going to go through the zoning bonus program.
He's just seeking to get affordable,
which he wouldn't be able to either anyway because it's an RSA by property.
But his business model is to do affordable housing.
With that being said, I would ask that Mr. Ali Dodd virtually raise his hand and be sworn in.
Mr. Ali Dodd, if you're in the virtual audience, please raise your hand.
I see no hand.
Mr. Nockmson, you're an officer of the court.
All right, thank you. I appreciate your testimony. Questions from the board?
There are comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson.
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no hands.
Planning, Commission.
Amy, what's the Planning Commission, A-M-Y-B-O-Y-D?
You swear or affirm to tell the truth,
to hold truth and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change in zoning
at this location from the existing
residential single-family RSA 5.
The appellant has not demonstrated
that four-family household living
is the least minimum variance to afford relief.
There is a property on the block
with a permit for four-family,
which is roughly 30% larger in lot size.
The appellant's lot is 1,405 square feet, which is just under the required size for the RSA 5 lot.
There are no unique physical circumstances or conditions that would prevent the property from being used in conformance with the zoning code for open space.
The Planning Commission recommends that the Board grant the proposed grants for multifamily with proviso, max three units, and deny the requested variance for open space.
The Planning Commission recommends that the Board grant the proposed grants for multifamily with
Mr. Chair, can I just respond quickly?
Please.
So, I appreciate that the Planning Commission is willing to recommend having three units here.
I do think that fourth unit is necessary.
Again, it's very expensive to build in the City of Philadelphia.
um we you know we're asking for that fourth unit um to you know be able to you know build this
property but also making sure that you know that we we really have those affordable units that's
my client's business model and i think that's something that hopefully the board can consider
knowing that it's not a zoning matter but it's something that's a practical matter thank you
Number four, MI 2024-005-734-1935 North 20th Street. I vote yes. Proviso, commercial trash pickup.
My vote is yes with Proviso.
My vote is yes with Proviso.
My vote is yes with Proviso.
My vote is yes with Proviso.
Thank you, Council.
Thank you.
Excuse me, Chair, can we actually jump briefly to number 11? I believe the applicant may need an interpreter, which was not requested in advance, so we may need to continue this matter.
MI 2024-005-763-221 West Loudoun Street. Armando Vincenza Bellin is the owner applicant.
oh chair we have someone with their hand up that says steven interpreter they've been unmuted in a
and hello my name is steven and i'm the spanish interpreter
oh okay great we we didn't realize we had an interpreter for this case this is a pro se
mr chair so we we can go to this case next um as well as um the interpretation okay sure all
All right. Okay. So it's MI 2024-005-763-221 West Loudoun Street. Please call – oh, interpreter, please. Do you have your interpreter?
Yes, my interpreter ID is Y.
No, no, no. Hillary, do you have your interpreter swearing in there right there?
Oh, yes, sure.
Thank you.
Yeah, new problem. And interpreter, did you put your first and last name on the record already?
So my name is Stephen, S-T-E-V-E-N, last name A-U-B-A-I-N, interpreter ID Y-M-2-8-8.
And do you swear and affirm to faithfully and accurately interpret from English to Spanish and from Spanish to English?
Yes, I do.
All right. Thank you. And if he's not promoted to panelists, can we promote him to panelists so he can turn his camera on?
Thank you.
And do you have the name of the applicant, Mr. Albain?
No, I do not.
So it's Armando Vincente Belan, B-E-L-E-N, Belan.
Armando Vincente Belan?
B-E-L-E-N.
Belan.
All right.
I do believe that he is here because he was communicating with us in the chat.
Armando Vincente, if you're in the virtual audience, please raise your hand.
Armando Vicente Valencia está en la audiencia virtual. Por favor, levante la mano.
He's being promoted to panelists now, Chair.
Could you please state your name and spell for the court reporter?
Armando Vicente Belén.
And it's Armando Vicente Belén. Señor, ¿se lo puede deletrar?
excuse me there appears to be a second person speaking you're also getting feedback um on the
um on the audio so if you have another device can you please turn it off and the only person
audio. So if you have another device, can you please turn it off?
that should be speaking is mr vicente asi que se oye como que si hay otra persona hablando y que
quizás tenga este otro de los audios prendido y puede interferir con la este con el audio
como tal. Así que si por favor pueden apagar el otro dispositivo y que solamente el señor Belen
hable. Okay. Sir, can you spell his name, please? Así que si nos puedes deletrar su nombre.
and this interpreter speaking can i just verify the
spelling yeah why don't you do that for me please do that
Vicente es V-I-N-C-E-N-T-E
y Belén es B-E-L-E-N.
¿Eso es correcto?
Wait, wait, wait, wait.
Listen to me, listen to me, listen to me.
You have to tell them it's only him speaking
and they got to turn, they have another device on.
They have to turn the device off
because we're getting feedback, please.
Thank you, Richard.
solamente para que usted sepa
el señor Armando
es el único
que es permitido hablar
y se escucha
que hay otro dispositivo
prendido
en el fondo
y lo tienen que apagar
porque está habiendo
interferencia
con el audio
¿está bien?
alright
do you
do you swear
or affirm
to tell the truth
the whole truth
and nothing but the truth
cura y afirma
decir la verdad
toda la verdad
y nada más que la verdad
Okay, so I'm going to read a statement now, so it'll take a couple minutes here.
This application for the legalization of an addition at the front of a semi-detached structure.
Frentes semifrente de una estructura desatada for use as a two family household living para uso para una vivienda de dos familias.
The proposed use to family whole living to household family living is prohibited in the RSA five zoning district.
El uso propuesto de dos familias viviendo en esa ubicación es prohibido de acuerdo al reglamento RSA 5 de la zona.
Whereas in the RSA 5 district, the distance between the front facade.
Donde a través de la zona RSA 5, la distancia de la entrada al frente.
Y la distancia del frente del lote no debería de ser la distancia más de.
The front facade and the front line
of the principal building
on the immediately adjacent lot
The interpretive class repetition
I'm sorry, can you please repeat that?
Sure I can, okay
Between the front facade
and the front line line
of the principal building
on the immediately adjacent lot
y que no debería de estar al frente o entre la línea del frente de la entrada
principal del edificio que está directamente al frente
el RCO ha dado una posición unánime en una carta
please share his screen on the computer and begin the presentation
Thank you.
operator could you ask that they're having a hard time
they're going to have to do the screen.
Maybe we can be helpful.
Así que, ¿están teniendo dificultad
compartiendo su pantalla?
¿Necesitan alguna ayuda?
Sí, por favor.
Yes, we do need help.
Are they on a...
Is our...
IT person on still?
Yes, I am here.
They look to be on the telephone.
um so do you have your documents on the phone
so you want to there should be a green um share button towards the bottom of the zoom screen and
You'll wanna hit that and select the document to share.
The interpreter asks them what's their progress, how they do it.
So, he's saying that he's having difficulty.
interpreter
could you come back in a half hour
or is your scheduled book
I do have
a call I believe at
for Eastern
think I can stay
how about if we come back to you in a half hour
that'll be around 3 o'clock
and then
please tell them to try to
see if they can figure out what they're doing with that
and then if not, we'll continue it.
But I'm going to move on right now
if they're having a hard time, okay?
So we'll tell him we'll be back at 3 o'clock.
Así que nosotros vamos a regresar en media hora
y traten de arreglar el problema
y tenerlo resuelto para ese entonces.
Así que en media hora, a las 3 de la tarde,
vamos a regresar.
¿Está bien?
Thank you.
So we'll be back at 3 o'clock.
Así que regresamos a las 3.
Thank you, Interpreter. I appreciate you doing that for us. Number five, MI 2024-005-737-3301 West Gerrard Avenue.
Atusa Sharath is the attorney.
They're coming as a panelist now.
Thank you.
good afternoon counsel could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer
my name is atusa a-t-u-s-a and my last name is shirass it's s as in sam h-i-r-a-s as in sam
b as in boy you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client and relationship to the property?
My client is the Philadelphia Water Department, and the city owns the property at Fairmount Park, and that's my relationship to the client.
Do you stipulate to the reading and the refusal and agree with its accuracy?
Share your screen and please do your presentation.
Thank you.
Give me one moment, please.
There's a letter of support from Brewery Town, charged with Civic Association.
And a letter of non-opposition from Council Member Young.
So the Philadelphia Water Department, EWD, is proposing to replace an existing water pump station that's currently located at 3199 West Girard Avenue,
with a new pump station facility nearby located at 3301 West Gerrard Street.
The existing pump was constructed in the 1930s and supplies about 7 million gallons per day to parts of West Philadelphia.
PWD has designated this pumping station for replacement due to its age and critical functionality within PWD's water system,
i.e. the equipment is reaching the end of its useful life.
So, for this project, we are requesting a de minimis deviation from the height limitation of the code. The proposed height of the building is 40 feet, which is taller than what the zoning ordinance allows for, which is 38 feet.
So we're requesting two feet variance.
So this building height is required for the water pump equipment, installation and maintenance, and for the necessary structural and architectural components, which my client can certainly explain during testimony.
The first document I have here is the notice of refusal, which, again, explains that the height difference, the allowable height is 38 feet, whereas we are requesting 40 feet.
My client will testify that the nearest commercial properties are about half a mile away from this location.
um the second uh exhibit is the uh application for appeal uh here again requesting the deviation
from the height limitation um there won't be any increased uh congestion in the public streets or
pose a danger to the public um there is a uh house next door that's called the hatfield house it's a
historical building that's used for entertainment purposes and in the community, mostly, we will
not be touching that property. It shouldn't, there won't be any shadow or any light issues
with the property or the residential housing across the street. So this is the zoning appeal.
and then we have the project information form yep okay we have that we have that we're good
all of it okay great um this is just a screenshot of opa but i also supplemented with um a joint
memo of agreement between the department of parks and recreation and the water department
um for this location right here you okay um we have the tax clearance which is valid until
december 27th and then here are the plans uh the current building uh is over here
and they're trying to build over here and i'll scroll down more
So this is the plans for the building itself and this is a mock-up of what the building
would actually look like.
any um vegetation that is taken out will be replaced
and then i will share photos of the zoning notice
the date and time so that's the house that i was talking about that hosts the community
concerts and other entertainment purposes, and it would be next door.
And it would be next door.
And more postings.
Is that the current one?
I'm sorry.
Is that the current one you just showed?
This is from 11.11.
So, oh, I'm saying that's the current location.
Yes, this is the current pump location.
So, we put signs in front of that and then also where it's supposed to be.
Okay, thank you.
All right.
And then this is where the new pump station will be, right here, where these three trees are.
This is the old pump station, or the current pump station, I should say.
And this is the location of where the new pump station would be.
This is that house.
And then again, the three trees where the location of the new pump station will be.
And another view.
And the RCO documentation, this was the letter,
it's dated November 7th.
There's emails, email correspondence
with the RCO granting support for this project.
I believe you received the letter.
We do.
And these are just more.
So, for the project, they had a list, a spreadsheet with a contact list for near neighbors.
The public meeting notification letter was mailed on 11-8 to the contact listed for near neighbors.
The actual zoning, the RCO meeting was held on November 21st, virtually on Zoom.
a presentation was provided um during that time and i won't go through the whole presentation
but i just wanted to show you one photo um that i think has shows a better
depiction of what the uh current station is the existing pump station here
and then the proposed pump station over here
And then this is just the letter from the RCO with support.
So with that, I will end my presentation and ask Brian Sparks, if he's here, from PWD to raise his hand and be sworn in.
Sparks?
Brian Sparks has been unmuted and allowed to.
could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer yeah my name is brian sparks b-r-i-a-n
s-p-a-r-k-s where are firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do please proceed counsel okay mr sparks um did you hear my testimony yes i did and did you see
the exhibits i shared i did okay and can you please verify that everything i represented
it is true and correct that's to my understanding everything was accurate yes okay um does the board
have any questions for questions questions from the board i do just just for clarity are will you
have to demo the old structure to erect the new structure no that's going to be decommissioned
but the structure will remain to be repurposed for future use.
Okay. Thank you. Yep.
So that was my, yeah, that was my question.
Were we going to get rid of the one building and build the new one or how are we
going to do this?
And how long do you think this project is going to take?
um i don't know if dennis jatilan or steve britt are also on the call there are design engineers
um i would have to look at the specifications to give you the precise uh construction duration
i don't i don't want to misspeak i don't know dennis could what's the way in i guess my real
question is you you said that this this uh property this this station provides water for
uh like i thought you said like west philly that's right yeah that's for like west philadelphia so
West Philly, that's right, yeah.
That's sort of like West Philadelphia.
So the idea would be to use this facility until the new one is built and then bring that online.
the idea would be to use
That's correct, yeah.
The existing pump station will remain in service while the new pump station is being constructed.
That's right.
Gotcha.
Any other questions from the board?
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no hands.
Planning Commission.
We are boarded with the Planning Commission. The comprehensive plan recommends no change
in zoning at this location from the existing SPPOA.
The requested height variance is de minimis.
Moreover, the comprehensive plan objective 5.1 calls to
ensure adequate utility capacity to serve customers and modernize and bring
conditions of existing utility infrastructure and good repair, City Planning Commission
recommends that the Board grant requested variance for height.
Thank you.
So MI 2024-005-737-3301 West Gerard Avenue, I vote yes.
John's, my vote is yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes.
Tywin, my vote is yes.
Thank you, Council.
Thank you.
Number six, MI 2024-005-738, 5200 South Broad Street.
Michael Mattione is the attorney.
Letter of support from 26 Republican Ward RCO and letter of support from Council President Johnson.
Mr. Mattione's company is the panelist.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman.
Good afternoon, Mr. Mattioni.
Could you please state your name and spell it for the core stenographer?
It's Michael Mattioni, M-A-T-T-I-O-N-I.
Swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client in the relationship to this property?
Certainly. It's Moran Towing Company, and they are a long-term tenant at the property.
Do you stipulate to the reading of the refusal and agree with its accuracy?
There is an issue with the refusal. I spoke to Hillary today about it.
It fails to mention the parking that is at the site.
So the refusal will be revised, according to when I spoke to Hillary, she said it will be revised and sent back to us almost immediately.
So that is correct, Mr. Chair, in reviewing the refusal and the plans, I realized that unfortunately the scope of the project wasn't completely put into it.
So we can hold this for one week, and I will immediately request a corrected refusal, and we should be able to vote this next week at 2 p.m.
And Mattione, please share your screen and start your presentation, sir.
Certainly. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
okay so again i represent moran towing company and i have nathan hawser with me today he's the
regional vice president for the northeast based in the philadelphia office for moran towing and
as i stated moran towing is a long-term tenant at the navy yard pier one at the navy yard
they're also a long-term uh tenant at the navy yard in general and we submitted our exhibits
including there's a tax clearance now, the refusal, background information regarding Moran
towing, support letter from the 26th Republican Ward RCO, the coordinating RCO, support letter
from Council President Johnson, a site plan, floor plans, elevations, photographs, additional
support letters from various public officials. The zoning permit for Pier 1 reconstruction,
which was granted in 2023, which is where there was some confusion and thought that the parking
was included in that, but it apparently wasn't because the pier itself has been rebuilt. And
this is an application for the engineering and operations center to be built on the pier
and the lease and tax cleaners, like I said.
um or in towing was formed in 1860 and as you can see they are all up and down the east coast
As you can see, they are all up and down the East Coast, in the Gulf of Mexico, and also in the Caribbean.
in the gulf of mexico
And they've been around for 160 plus years.
They have more than 2,000 employees.
They serve 17 ports.
They have 94 tugs, 14 barges.
So they are a substantial company, and they are making a large investment in the port in Philadelphia.
In 2019, they entered into the lease, which is included in Exhibit 13, to redevelop Pier 1 at the Navy Yard that's at the foot of Broad Street.
That's as far south as you can go in South Philadelphia.
They entered into a 47-year lease down there for this.
They are totally rebuilding the pier all at their own expense, and the pier construction is basically done because that was part of the 2023 zoning permit.
The second phase is to build the engineering and operations facility, and that's why we're here today.
The refusal shows that the marine-related industrial use office and storage space is prohibited in the zoning district,
which for some reason is CMX-3, even though this is a marine industrial use, it's on CMX-3.
It allows things like marinas, but this is not a marina.
This is an industrial pier, and it's been there for a long time.
Moran's spending more than $20 million reconstructing the pier and building this building.
And at Exhibit 12 is the permit from 2023, which allowed me to lean industrial use here.
So phase two of this, again, is this operations center, which is proposed to be built down here.
And here is what the pier looks like today.
It's been reconstructed.
it's almost all done. Basically a brand new pier. I just want to show some photos so you
understand what it is. And there is the pier looking north. And again, some of the other
vessels that surround it. One of them ran tugboats. It's already down there. Some other
vessels, including an aircraft carrier on another pier surrounding this. And then some
additional photos just showing the the context this is the present little office for Moran
towing that is surrounded by urban outfitters it's not adequate for the new pier it doesn't
have enough room it doesn't have enough space it doesn't have an adequate dispatch facility and
conference facilities as well and then just some additional photos
again another large vessel on the Moran tugboat
just some other photos showing what surrounds it this is at the foot of Broad Street
I'm just showing some of the construction and again just off the pier looking north on Broad
street so that's what they propose to build um this is the pier itself as you can see as part
of the construction there is a public park that they moran has built on the northern end of the
pier that's uh for the public everybody down there urban outfitters all the other employers
down there they will have access to this park there's the access to the pier this is the
parking that was clearly included but was not mentioned properly so that's why we have to have
the refusal. This is where the engineering and operations facility is proposed. And as you can
see, there is places where the tugboats and barges would berth. Here's another plan just showing what
the pier looks like. And floor plans. At the ground floor, there's a shop. That's a two-story shop.
At the first level, there's an engineering room, some workout rooms.
On the upper floor, there's a large training facility, a conference room, and some other offices and ancillary materials.
The building will be about 8,000 square feet.
It will allow Moran to efficiently run its Delaware River and Bay operations, creating the opportunity to bring additional tugboats and jobs to the Port of Philadelphia.
These jobs pay very well.
The project, like I said, has the overwhelming support of both the coordinating RCO
and Council President Johnson, who specifically wrote his strong support for Moran Towing's
proposed development.
And it represents a chance to do things like address structural issues and breathe new
life into the property for much needed upgrades.
At Exhibit 11, we also have additional letters of support, a prior letter of support from Council President Johnson and a whole list of other.
And a whole list of other people in the House of Representatives in Harrisburg, Philadelphia Poor Corporation, et cetera.
So I don't need to go through all of them.
They're in the exhibits.
Mr. Matione, could you show the building itself what you're going to build?
I don't think I don't think we saw that.
I might have skipped over the there.
There are the elevations.
And that's what I was going to get to that, Mr. Chairman.
Sorry about that.
But this is what it would look like, north elevation.
Again, it's at the far southern end of the pier, the south elevation, some additional elevations west and east.
So that's what it would look like.
It's a modern engineering and operations building with some office space in it, a dispatch center, a shop.
The kinds of things that you need to support when you're going to operate a substantial amount of tugboats and barges out of the facility, you need to have it there.
It makes it much more efficient. Having it at a remote location is difficult.
You can't see what vessels you have. You can't see the conditions.
This way you have your eyes and ears right there where all your equipment is at the same time.
Again, this is an industrial pier and the proposed use, the engineering and operations center to serve the pier.
is really necessary to properly support the pier and the use.
It really does mandate that the variance is necessary to be granted.
The failure would really create a hardship to Moran.
They spent all this money on this pier, and to not be able to properly operate the vessels out of the pier
really does constitute a hardship.
This pier is an industrial pier.
That's the way it should probably be zoned, but it's not.
It's zoned CMX-3.
It's a unique location with unique construction.
If this was a different type, you could say, yeah, you could put a marina in here.
but this is not a marina pier. The variance won't alter the area, as you can see from the other
photos I've shown. There's aircraft carriers and other large vessels already there.
There's other buildings on other piers right in the same general area. It's, again, necessary to
properly operate the vessels. It's the minimum variance requested, but you need to have the
building there, and this is the minimum variance that you need to be able to operate properly.
It will be in harmony with the zoning code because it promotes the orderly development
of Pier 1 in its longstanding intended manner. It will benefit with new infrastructure. There's
new water lines and other utilities being brought in. It's in harmony with the master plan for the
Navy Yard, which calls for industrial use at this pier, along with the other piers that are all to
the west, or I'm sorry, to the south. So yeah, when you look at this, there will be no environmental
damage either. They're adding some environmental things to stop sediment from going into the river.
So when you look at this, it really requires that this variance be granted so that this pier can be
used as it's intended to be used for its industrial uses. With that, Mr. Chairman, I would like to call
Nathan Halzer from Moran Towing. Sure, thank you. Mr. Matioli, what's the name of your client?
Nathan Halzer, H-A-U-S-E-R.
Nathan Hauser, if you're in the virtual audience, please raise your hand.
Nathan Hauser has been unmuted in the last...
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Yes, sir. My name is Nathan Hauser, N-A-T-H-A-N-H-A-U-S-E-R.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
I do, sir.
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
And Nathan, did you hear my statements?
I did, Michael.
Very well done.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Are they true and correct?
Absolutely, they are.
And do you adopt them as your testimony?
Mr. Chairman, I have nothing further for Mr. Halzer.
Questions from the board.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Leslie Doha is chair.
Planning Commission.
Hello, Amy Board with the Planning Commission.
One second.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the CMX-3 commercial mixed-use zoning at this location.
Proposed use is consistent with the property's history of marine-related uses and other nonconforming uses nearby.
The funding commission recommends that the board grant their request of variance for marine-related industrial use with office and storage space.
Thank you very much.
Hillary, we'll hold this.
Are we going to give it a date?
Yes, we'll give it a date for one week, Mr. Scher.
Okay, so 12-11 at 2 p.m.
And the record will be closed except for the corrected refusal.
That's right.
All right.
Thank you, Mr. Scher.
Thank you, counsel.
All right.
Let's go back to our interpreter.
Interpreter. Okay, where's he at here?
Okay, where's he at here?
And the interpreter is on the line.
Okay, there you go. Thank you, sir.
Could you call for your client, please?
And this is the interpreter speaking. I'm sorry, can I get the client name again?
Armando Vincente.
Armando Vicente Belen, si puede entrar a la línea.
Chair, he's coming back in as a panelist now.
Interpreter, could you please tell him just to state his name for the record,
but he's already been sworn in.
Así que por favor diga su nombre para registro, ya lo han jurado.
Do you see him?
i promoted him to panelists chair for some reason he popped back over to attendees i'm
trying to send him back to a panel thank you thank you
and can we call the case um and for the court reporter please
it's a number of this again hillary i got it okay
MI 2024-005-763-221-Lowdenstreet.
So this case is MI 2024-005-763-221-WestLowdenstreet.
Here is showing he is a panelist.
Armando?
Armando, ¿está en la línea?
Sí, está aquí.
Yes, I'm here.
Just for the record,
¿could he please state his name?
Por favor, diga su nombre entero.
Armando Vicente Belén.
Armando Vicente Belén.
¿Could you ask him
to share his screen on the computer?
Ya puede compartir su pantalla
en la computadora.
you asked him is he now on a computer
So, at the bottom of the screen, there should be a green, here we go.
So, could you please have him say what he's trying to do?
Así que, ¿qué es lo que está tratando de hacer?
Están mirando los planes.
Dentro de la palabra, ¿qué es lo que está tratando de hacer?
¿Cuál es su plan?
¿Cuál es su plan?
Lo que tú estás haciendo en casa, lo que yo te dije.
Bueno, el plan es...
One person speaks.
Y solamente que una persona hable.
Sí, lo que pasa es que aquí está la hija mía.
Que está aquí en mi casa, la hija mía.
Que me está ayudando a cierta palabra que yo no sé definirla.
So my daughter is here
and she's helping me with certain words
that I need help understanding
So ask him to say what he's doing
Así que, ¿cuál es su plan?
¿Qué es lo que está tratando de hacer?
Permítame
Permítame. So, because I was unable to make the payments for the house so that I wouldn't lose the house, I was asking for my daughter to come live with me so she could help pay for the mortgage of the house.
Does he have photos of the project?
Tiene fotos de la propiedad o el proyecto.
why don't we show photos and i'll maybe understand a little bit better
Why don't we show photos and I'll maybe understand a little bit better.
are you able to see the screen i can see the screen but i want to see the photos
he's selling his original drawings the interpreter will clarify
Yes, I do have them, but I've been having problems uploading them.
So, we need to see the photos.
I think this project, I think this project,
The work has already been done.
Am I correct?
El trabajo ya lo hicieron para esta propiedad.
Sí, está lo que está hecho.
Yes, it's done.
We need to see the photos.
Así que necesitamos ver las fotos.
And if we, if we, if he has a hard time with the photos,
we're going to have to continue it.
and then make a presentation with the photos
would that be possible because i've been having difficulty
colt yeah we're going we're going to have to continue the case until he can get the computer
straight and have everything logged in um uh please tell him that yeah
he's asking what time
he will be notified by the staff
yeah he will be notified by the staff
of the new date and time for the hearing
así que se le va a notificar
por los trabajadores una nueva
fecha y hora
and insert
the pictures that we need to see
will be of both the outside
of the property and the inside of the
property where the work was done
y las fotos que nosotros vamos a
tener que ver son las fotos del exterior
de la propiedad y el interior
de la propiedad donde hicieron el trabajo.
Ok, pero que ellos
la tienen en todas las fotos. Se le mandó.
all the photos should have been sent as well.
Tienen todas esas fotos.
But he has to have it on his computer
to make a presentation.
Pero usted la tiene que tener en su computadora para hacer la
presentación.
And we did not receive any interior photos,
only photos of the outside of the property.
Y nosotros no recibimos
fotos del interior de la propiedad, solamente
The interpreter will repeat. He's asking again what time the next hearing will be.
Can I just repeat? He'll be notified by the staff.
And where will we receive the notification?
Via email.
Email.
A través de correo electrónico lo van a notificar.
Thank you.
Thank you.
And interpreter, thank you very much.
We appreciate your help.
Thank you for using the service interpreter disconnecting.
Thank you.
Number eight, MI 2024-005-741, 301-03 North Front Street.
Myrta Ferlicker is the attorney.
Let's see here.
counsel the councilman has uh deferred his comments on this has not received a letter yet
from the rco good afternoon hi counsel could you just state your name please uh you've already
been sworn? Sure. Meredith Ferliger, F-E-R-L-E-G-E-R.
Sure. Meredith Ferliger, F-E-R-L-E-G-E-R.
You'll identify your client in relationship to this property.
Sure. My client is Open Door Investments, LLC, which is the equitable owner of the property under agreement of sale.
To the reading of the refusal and agree with its accuracy.
Yes, to both.
Okay. Could you please start your presentation? And did you get anything from the RCO?
Sure. Yes, Mr. Chairman, we actually did get an email from them just this morning. I will show that in my presentation. They do express support with two concerns that we'll address in the presentation.
Thank you. And make sure Hillary gets a copy of that?
Sure thing. I did actually submit it through the official system, so she should see it now.
Yes, we have received it. We just haven't received an updated letter, assuming he will send it from Council Member Squilla, since their position was deferral based on not having seen anything from the RCO yet.
All right, Mr. Chairman, I assume you can see my exhibit list here?
Okay, wonderful. Good afternoon again, Mr. Chairman, members of the board. Again, my name is Meredith Ferliger with Dilworth Paxson.
here this afternoon on behalf of Open Door Investments, the equitable owner of the property
under agreement of sale. That entity is represented by Alex Kennedy as well as Logan Kramer. I believe
we have Alex here this afternoon. Our architect is with Core Design, and they should also have
representatives on today to answer any questions that the board might have. The request before the
board today is for two new luxury condominiums in the city's River's Edge neighborhood, just a few
steps away from the Delaware River. We do have a variety of predominantly dimensional refusals to
walk you through today, which are fairly straightforward in terms of the requested relief
due to the property's history, significant physical constraints, and neighborhood characteristics.
The property before the board is located at 301-03 North Front Street.
As shown on the zoning map at Exhibit 10, the property here at the corner is an irregularly
shaped curved parcel at the end of the block with frontage on Vine Street, which there's a
little section here at the bottom, Front Street, as well as North Water Street.
The board may notice that this narrow sliver of properties here from Vine all the way up to Callow Hill is zoned RM1, but is essentially sandwiched and surrounded by exclusively CMX3 zoned parcels.
At Exhibit 11, we've included a variety of aerials showing better context of this property as well as the surrounding neighborhood.
As I present, the board may take note of the general massing of surrounding buildings.
In these views, the board will see the existing one-story building that occupies 100% of this lot.
From the northwest view that I have up on the screen here, you will see the adjacent buildings
to the left in this image orientation, which are historically protected and may not be demolished.
This is an important factor to consider as it relates to the requested height variance.
From the northeast view, the board can see the North Water Street frontage of this property, which currently has four curb cuts and four garages.
This is also relevant to one of the variance requests.
Directly across North Water Street is a vacant parcel that was fairly recently approved for a new project that I'll describe in a few minutes, as it is also generally relevant.
At Exhibit 18, we have included some additional photographs of this property.
This first photograph here is shown from Front Street, where again you will discern the general massing of the immediately adjacent structures here.
this next view is from vine street where the board can clearly see the irregularity of this
lot with that significant curve along vine street from north water street on the next page here
you can more closely see the four existing garage spaces as well as the adjoining five-story
buildings next door. Moving a little bit further up on North Water Street, the board will see the
fairly new construction across the street roughly diagonal known as the One Water Street Apartments.
And looking in the opposite direction here across North Water Street is the large vacant parcel I
Across North Water Street is the large vacant parcel I pointed to earlier that is a proof for a significant new development, slightly smaller in mass, to one water.
pointed to earlier, that is a
Columbus Boulevard and the river are just east of this site, which you can see here in the image.
We did also include the photos of the zoning posters, which were timely posted on each of the three frontages.
now the existing building itself sits within the old city historic district but is a non-contributing
structure to that district that is permitted to be demolished however following that demolition
any new development on this lot will actually be subject to review and approval by the historical
commission to ensure that the facade is consistent with the district that process is ongoing but as
board knows is a prerequisite to a building permit not a zoning permit
the zoning plants are shown at exhibit five should the board be inclined to grant today's
request we did submit a revised plan of two pages and a revised plan proviso form to reflect very
minor changes that i will highlight and actually i'll bring up the revised plan as i talk but it
is substantially similar to the original plan. On the site plan, you will see that this proposal
contemplates the construction of a new four-story structure to contain two luxury condominium units.
As you can tell, this proposal and building is slated to occupy 100% of the lot, which is
consistent with its historical condition. At grade level, four of the existing curb cuts on
North Water Street will be consolidated into one new 18-foot wide curb cut to access three
private residence parking spaces. And you can see that curb cut indicated here on North Water Street.
At Exhibit 6, we did also include the zoning site plan that was reviewed and approved by the
Streets Department, confirming the acceptability of the proposed access conditions from North Water
Street. Turning to the floor plans at Exhibit 7, I'll zoom into each floor as I speak. Again,
you'll see here the lower level more closely. In addition to the three parking spaces that are
shown, the lower floor provides elevator access to the upper level condominium unit, as well as
stair access. This level is also designed to have an all-pair suite for the lower level unit.
Within the garage, and this directly goes to addressing one of the concerns that the community
group raised, is a designated refuse recycling closet for the storage of two 64-gallon trash bins.
And again, this is two single-family condominium units, so this trash storage will be more than
adequate for these for these two families in this location as i will also highlight momentarily on
the elevations the property has quite a significant slope so although the parking is accessed from
north water street the property itself slopes up towards front street so the parking and this
entire level is partially above and partially below grade and you'll be able to see that more
clearly on the elevations. Each of these two residential units are just under 3,000 square
feet each. So at the first floor level, unit one is 1,193 square feet, which has the kitchen,
dining, and living areas, including an office. Full bathroom is also provided at this first floor.
This unit can be accessed both from the stairs, which are in the garage level, as well as from a direct entrance off of Front Street, which, again, results from the fairly significant grade of this property.
So this is really technically partially on the first floor, partially on the second floor.
A private HVAC closet is also provided at this level, which you can see here.
Now, on the second floor, all right, so this is the second floor of Unit 1, and again, very similar, 1,198 square feet, so in total, just under 3,000 square feet.
And on this level, you will find three bedrooms, quite significant closet space, a laundry room, and three full bathrooms.
Unit 2 is on the 3rd floor and the 4th floor, which can be accessed either via the common stairwell or the residential elevator.
which can be accessed either via the common stairwell or the residential elevator,
which again is private for just this upper two-level unit.
This unit is flipped, so the third floor contains the bedrooms, while the fourth floor has the living space.
On the third floor are three bedrooms plus a den, two bathrooms, closets, laundry, and similar amenities to the first unit.
On the fourth floor is another bathroom, a bedroom, or an office, and kitchen, dining, and living space.
This unit also has access to the private roof deck, which can also be accessed either via the elevator or the stairs.
On this view, you will see the basis for one of the de minimis variance requests that's in front of the board today.
I'll direct your attention to this measurement right here towards the bottom, where you can see that the pilot house is nine feet, two and five eighths inches from the edge of the roof on Front Street.
It would need an additional seven inches and change to be code compliant.
So 10 feet is the minimum. So this is just a couple of inches off from there.
The entire roof deck itself meets the five-foot minimum setback along the entire roof deck frontage.
At Exhibit 8, we have included detailed renderings and elevations.
I'll highlight a couple of things for you.
First, you will notice that each of these units has balconies, with Unit 1 having balconies along North Water Street as well as on Vine Street.
and Unit 2 having balconies on Vine Street. And of course, the Unit 2 also has access to that
private roof deck. The revised plans documented removal of previously designed balconies that
were along North Water Street at the second through the fourth floors. From these renderings,
you will also clearly discern that this proposed structure is designed to align exactly with the
height and massing of the adjoining historic buildings to ensure that this proposal matches
the four-story facade at Front Street and the five-story facade at North Water Street.
On the elevations, let me bring those up. Actually, I'm going to go one more page here.
On these elevations here, you will see the grade change that I referenced earlier in the
presentation. So you can see here in the first image that the grade at North Water Street is
much lower than it is at North Front Street, which adds even further challenge to this site
when combined with its irregular shape. A sight line drawing is also shown for reference at
Exhibit 8. This is also an excellent visual representation of the grade differences this
property faces. The pilot house is positioned precisely to ensure that it is minimally visible
from adjoining streets. The revised plans that were submitted to the board document minor non-zoning
related changes such as removal of balconies at Water Street from the second through fourth floors,
removal of projecting cornices at the roof, revision to the roof deck railing, removal of a
Juliet Railing at the first floor at Vine Street and other adjustments to the pilot house to further
reduce visibility. None of these changes impact any refusals and would be by right even after the
board were hopefully to approve this request today. But we did include the revised plans
just to facilitate an easier zoning permit process. With respect to the refusals, I will
work down the list and I will address each individually. The applicant submits to a hardship
in complying with the code requirements. We submit that each of these requested variances is the least
minimum. If we start from the bottom of the list, which you'll see here on the refusal,
as I highlighted earlier, the pilot house is roughly seven inches closer to the front street
building edge than the code would permit. This is not only de minimis, but it is necessary
given the irregular shape of the lot and the necessity to locate the pilothouse so it is
minimally visible from the more dominant roadways. This pilothouse not only provides access to the
roof but includes an elevator which extends down to the basement level. The designers worked
through site challenges on a lot that is only about 1,500 square feet to ensure the elevator
is included, excuse me, which when combined with the other challenges of this site does
require de minimis relief.
Next, a refusal was issued for occupying 100% of the lot.
Next, a refusal was issued for occupying 100
80% would be required to be left open.
Now, as you saw earlier in the evidence presented, this lot is a small, shallow lot of roughly 1,500 square feet that sits on a sharp curve.
I'll bring back up the zoning plans.
And you can see that sharp curve here.
Given the unusual shape of the lot, it is even more crucial to gain as much interior square footage as possible to ensure that the residences are not burdened by unusual or irregular design.
Contextually speaking, every single property between Vine Street and Callow Hill Street on this stretch appears to occupy 100% of the lots, which likely stems from the narrowness of this block at less than 45 feet deep.
Furthermore, historically speaking, the building at 301 North Front Street has always occupied
100% of the lot.
I have included the zoning history at Exhibit 13.
You'll see here on this permit image that I have up on the screen where that 100% coverage
is specifically called out on an application from 1997 and was even approved by the zoning
Board at that time, recognizing that this lot is subject to a clear hardship. Even before then,
the Zoning Board granted a variance in the early 90s for a residential construction project that
was seemingly never built, but which also contemplated 100% coverage of this lot.
This particular history and that original project that was seemingly never built is also relevant
to the next refusal for the proposed height of this building at 48 feet 9 inches, where only 38
feet would be allowed. Interestingly, the last residential project proposed for this lot in the
early 90s proposed an almost identical height. This makes sense for several reasons that are
even more relevant today than they were back in the early 90s. It does appear from some of these
permits, and this is the one I have up on the screen here as a good example, that this property
was at one point in time zoned C3, which is the former version of CMX3, but was likely changed to
RM1 at some point in time after the inception of the new zoning code. Now, as you saw in the
renderings, I'll bring that back up, the proposed height will ensure that this new structure
perfectly aligns with the existing height of the historic buildings next door. Erecting a new
structure of only 38 feet would not only present a hardship given the steep grade and irregular
shape of the lot, but would also result in a structure that was entirely out of character
with the height of the two immediately adjacent structures. Historically, the building that sat
on this lot was out of character with the rest of the block, and this development will serve to
complete the uniform height of this block. As a reminder, these two adjoining structures are
considered historic and not subject to demolition, so capping the end of the block with a contextually
respectful structure is critical. The 48 foot 9 height noted on the refusal is actually measured
from North Water Street, which is the point of the lowest grade. By way of comparison, at Front
Street, the height is actually just over 41 feet, which is less than the adjacent neighbor at 42
and a half feet. And 41 feet, of course, is only a couple feet more than the code would allow. So
really, part of this refusal stems from the grade change of this property.
Now, in addition to matching the height of adjoining structures, this height is also supremely contextually appropriate to the new construction across the street, which sits within the more dense CMX-3 zoning.
At Exhibit 14, I have included two plans for the two nearest adjacent new construction buildings.
At 300 North Columbus Boulevard, which is across the street, the new building will be around 84 feet
high and One Water, which I pointed to earlier, is around 170 feet high. Finally, this project
received a refusal for the proposed parking, which per code is only permitted if it can be accessed
from a shared driveway, alley, or rear street. I will call the Board's attention back to the zoning
plans. As you will see, this is a highly technical refusal that upon granting would be consistent
with the intent of this section of the zoning code. As you have seen, this property has
As you have seen, this property has three frontages on North Front, Vine at the Curve, and North Water Street.
three frontages on north front, vine at the curb,
If you consider Front Street as the front, then the parking access from North Water Street would constitute a rear street, and this would comply with the code.
However, that is not how the zoning code treats a lot with three frontages.
With three frontages, each is considered a front, and the remaining attached lot line is the rear.
If this were a mid-block lot with frontage on just front and water, then the code application would be clear, and this parking would have been permitted in its proposed location.
Because it also has frontage on vine, the code treats this lot differently.
Clearly, it would not be feasible to design the parking access from the proposed party wall between 301 and 305 North Front Street.
In addition to being consistent with the intent of the zoning code, this proposed parking is also consistent and less intensive than the historical condition of the lot.
As you saw in the evidence, this lot historically had four curb cuts and four garages from North
Water Street, where this will reduce it down to one access point further away from the corner.
The last residential proposal for this lot that I've mentioned was approved and unbuilt in the
90s, also approved parking from North Water Street with two curb cuts instead of one.
The applicant submits that all of the requested variances are the least minimum to provide relief from the requirements of the zoning code.
This application only requests a series of dimensional variances that stem from direct and true hardships facing the lot.
Furthermore, the proposal is overall less dense than the code would allow, with four units being permitted by right, and this only requesting two.
These variances are consistent not only with the context of the neighborhood and surrounding structures, but are entirely consistent with the historical characteristics of the building and prior proposals for this lot.
The applicant submits the proposal will not increase congestion, endanger the public, or impair light and air.
Providing parking on-site for new residents will reduce on-street congestion and will pose no
impact to surrounding properties, especially since this represents a reduction in the long-standing
conditions of the property that should render it safer. The proposed structure is consistent
with the scale of existing buildings on the block and will not adversely affect adjoining properties.
Additionally, there are, and I'll bring up the aerials so you can understand this point, there are no structures across North Front Street up against the highway, nor are there any structures across Vine Street.
So there are no legal locks on either of those sections capable of development.
And as a result, this building will have zero impact on any surrounding property, most of which are already impacted by the larger buildings which have been constructed in recent years.
As I mentioned, we did meet with the RCO for the project and their expression of support is now shown up on the screen.
And as you can see here, with these concerns, our community supports the development.
This was just sent this morning.
The two concerns that they raised were ensuring adequate trash storage, which we did present
to the board today, showing that a designated trash storage area was added into the garage
level.
In addition, as a reminder, these are 3,000 square foot condominium units, so there will
be more than adequate trash storage areas within each of these units as well.
They did also raise concern over the proposed facade design.
We have been in additional discussion with them about the facade, but ultimately the
facade itself is subject to the jurisdiction of the Historical Commission, and the full
brick facade that the community prefers would unfortunately be entirely cost prohibitive.
With that said, the conversations are still ongoing and will continue during the the Philadelphia Historical Commission review process.
But ultimately, as the board knows, the facade itself is not a zoning concern and no concerns over the actual proposed variances were expressed.
This proposal will not burden area infrastructure facilities, nor will it create any environmental damage or other impact.
A more thorough analysis is included at Exhibit 12, as always at the Memo of Law, and I'd
be happy to touch on any particular point in more detail.
At this point, I would ask for Alex Kennedy to raise his virtual hand.
Alex Kennedy, please unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
alex kennedy please unmute yourself and wait for the chair
could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer alex kennedy a-l-e-x
last name is c-a-n-a-d-y you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but
the truth i do please proceed counsel thank you um alex are you authorized to speak on behalf of
Open Door Investments, LLC? Yes. And can you confirm that Open Door Investments, LLC will be
the entity that will be purchasing this property? Yes, that's correct. And have you heard all the
testimony and evidence that was offered in front of the board today? Yes, I have. Would you agree
that testimony was true and accurate and would you adopt it as if it were your own? Yes, that's
correct. Thank you. We're happy to answer questions and I can bring on the architect if there's
anything that i'm unable to answer questions from the board
questions or comments from our attorney hillary emberson
just briefly miss ferlinger i just want to clarify the because the entity listed on the
agreement of sale is different than open door but it does say that entity or i think it's design
pro development llc and that it says that or another designee yes and open door investments
is going to be that designee so it will be it's going to be purchased in open door investments
which is why which is ultimately how they were able to secure the tax clearance because that's
the entity that's been registered with the city okay what's their relationship to design pro
development alex can you answer that question yeah we design pro uh development um that's
it's one of our entities okay okay all right thank you thank you your comments from the virtual
audience chair we have louise estrada they've been muted and allowed to speak
could you please state your name is spelled for the stenographer
Please? Estrada? L-U-I-S-E-S-T-R-A-D-A.
Are you aware or affirm the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Are you a neighbor?
Please proceed then.
Mr. Estrada?
Yes. The lawyer should be here with us.
He must be here for something else.
I'm sorry, Mr. Stride, this is a different case.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
Chair, I have Darlene Threatt with her hand up.
Darlene?
My chair, she put her head down.
Thank you. I think she has a case later.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
i see no further here planning commission
hi sorry my video wasn't on um with the planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no
changing and zoning at this location from the existing residential multifamily rm1 the proposed
height and occupied area are consistent with the surrounding area and curb cuts are pre-existing
condition on water street the appellant has demonstrated that the irregular lot shape
constitutes a unique physical condition or circumstance that would prevent the property
from being used in conformance with the zoning code for roof deck access structure setback
the planning commission recommends that the board grant the requested variances
for three off-street parking spaces, building height, max occupied area, and roof deck access
structure setback. MI 2024-005-741-301-03-North Front Street, I vote yes with proviso. Revised
plans, two pages, stamped by ZBA, December 4th, 2024. Michael Johns, my vote is yes with proviso.
Carol Gaston, my vote is yes, with provisals.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes, with provisals.
Thyowen, my vote is yes, with provisals.
Counsel.
Thank you.
Number nine, MI 2024-005-751, 216 East Cabot Street.
Sean Whalen is the attorney.
There's a letter of support from Fishtown Neighbors.
Vote was 36 in support, two opposed.
Okay. Chair, Mr. Whalen is coming back in as a panelist now.
Chair, Mr. Whelan is coming back in as a panelist.
Good afternoon, Mr. Whalen. Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Certainly. Good afternoon, Chair. 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?
Could you identify your client in the relationship to the property?
Certainly. I represent the owners who are husband and wife, Stephen D'Onofrio and Rachel Teig.
Do you stipulate to the reading of the refusal and do you agree with its accuracy?
Yes, I do.
Please proceed and share your screen and start your presentation, sir.
Thank you. And just for clarity of the case, I believe, Chairman, you said 216 East Cabot.
It's actually 2316 East Cabot.
23, if I did, I'm sorry, 2316 East Cabot.
I was cutting in as a panelist at that point, so I'm not sure if I heard it correctly, but I just wanted to be clear.
All right.
I will share.
I hope I have what's a relatively simple case for everyone today.
This is an existing single-family home above an open artist studio and commercial space.
What you can see is a mid-block property on East Cabot in between York and Dauphin just off of Aramingo.
What you'll see here, this is the last property in the line of this entire CMX2 zoning district was previously one very large commercial warehouse.
You'll see some photos of that.
It has now been entirely redeveloped as residential, solely residential, and my client's property here at 2316 is the last remaining property that has an active commercial first floor, which generates the refusal.
So what you can see here, this is right in the middle, 2316 East Kabat.
You have the door on the right.
This leads up to the second floor where the single family home residential space is.
And then there's a very large 19 foot high ceiling artist studio in here that I'll show in just a second.
so again just looking down down the block to the south and then looking up the block to the north
and as you can see you know we have a very large apartment building built to 60 feet and the homes
next to us are actually built to 41 and a half feet so what we are seeking today is we have one
refusal. We are seeking to add additional living space to allow Stephen and Rachel to stay in their
home long term. They are considering starting a family and want to stay here long term. And like
I said, they both work from home and have an active commercial space on the first floor, which
raises the level of their second floor. And they're hoping to add a small, approximately 400
square foot addition onto the third floor in order to provide some additional living space
and an office for MISTAG. So again, this sort of gives you an understanding. I'm not sure why
Google pins 2316 here next door. It's actually this house. You can see the garage door
and this will give you the best instance. So right now there is an existing pilot house
right here on the left that is 166 square feet and you have an existing roof deck as you can see
sort of the only one to the whole south side everything all the other roof decks are to the
north. This roof deck this property was built by a company named Mom Investments and Stephen and
Rachel bought this property just almost exactly three years ago. The existing roof deck is actually
elevated off of the roof height, two and a half feet, and then has a parapet wall around it.
So what we're seeking to do is on this front portion of the property, we're seeking to,
here we go, we're seeking to add basically just a 400 square foot area to allow for some additional
living space, that existing roof deck, you can see it outlined here, will be removed and it will be
turned into kind of an outdoor living space balcony that will be actually at the roof height.
So we're reducing the roof height and all of the height effective to any of the properties behind
and all of the height effective to any of the properties behind us.
us. And this exists.
And this existing pilot house and access stairway from the second floor up to the roof
is existing and will remain unchanged, as will the rooftop units here.
So all we're talking about is a small additional third floor here.
We've additionally tried to set it back two feet and approximately a foot and a half
from the party walls and the front facade in order to further reduce and eliminate really any impact
to the sight lines. East Cabot is a narrow street, so you won't actually even be able to see it
from there. So like I said, we have one refusal, which is we understand we're allowed to build to
38 feet in height, and we're seeking to go to 42 feet. The sole basis for that
is this. You can see this existing first floor. So this has an existing steel beam
that creates a first floor. This is the existing commercial artist studio, and this is where
Mr. D'Onofrio works and actively builds and constructs his art pieces. So you can see in
here just how high this internal area is with, again, another steel beam supporting the upper
floor. Therefore, you know, if this were a standard row home, you know, where the first floor was,
you know, 10 feet or so, we would be well below the 38-foot threshold. But because we have this
sort of double height first floor, which was not a condition that we created, it was there
all along you know we have to in order to put living space you know additional living space
for this family to maintain in their home and maintain their artist studio we need those
additional four feet and we've squeezed it as much as we can again this first floor is already 19
feet you can see the height of the ceiling right over here so again we went we met with the FNA
Fishtown Neighbors Association zoning screening meeting. And then we had our full community
meeting actually last night, and I very much appreciate them. They turned around the vote
and their letter very quickly. We received overwhelming support. You can see, you know,
the vote ended up 36 to two. And, you know, again, this was overwhelming support, and especially in
large part to be able to keep this, you know, existing family who's been here for three years
already and wants to stay in the neighborhood, you know, already is the only, you know, the only
property in the area, as I said, that's actually abiding by the underlying zoning district. Every
other property, including this property across the street, has all been redeveloped as to residential
only. And therefore, you can see, you know, historically, this was not a condition we
created you can see here this is from 2011 uh when the entire block that i just showed this
down at the end is now that very large 60 foot apartment building um our property right here
is the one closest to me where this photo was taken and uh you know there was no condition there
and then it was put in as part of the you know while this was still an existing commercial
facility. So with that, I would, and here's just a, the city records for some reason still show
Mom Investments LLC as the owner. This is the deed that ZBA Council has and Stephen D'Onofrio
and Rachel Teig own this and have since November of 2021. With that, I would simply call Stephen
and Rachel, I believe, are on here. If you can see, raise your hand, please, Stephen and Rachel.
Stephen D'Onofrio has been unmuted and allowed to speak.
Or could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Stephen D'Onofrio.
Could you spell your name, please?
S-T-E-P-H-E-N. My last name, D'Onofrio, D-O-N-O-F-R-I-O.
Affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Yes, I do.
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you very much, Chairman. Mr. D'Onofrio, you're here today as one of the owners of the property, correct?
And you currently live at the house with your wife?
Yes, correct.
Correct. And did you hear all of the presentation I already provided?
And did you hear all of the presentation I already provided?
And do you believe it to be true and correct to the best of your knowledge, information, and belief?
And do you believe?
And would you adopt that as your own testimony?
And is there anything else that's not duplicative that you believe is pertinent for this board to hear today?
I think you summed it up pretty well.
It's just my wife and I, we've been living in Fishtown for almost a decade, but we landed up this spot because it was perfect for both our business and our life.
And as you mentioned, we're trying to start a family in this space, being able to accommodate both that and our business would just be able to cement us in this neighborhood and community.
So it's something we're really hoping we can make work.
All right. Thank you very much, Mr. D'Onofrio.
With that, Chair, I would simply say that we satisfy all the criteria for a variance.
I've already walked through it, but to be explicit, there is a unique hardship here, which is this double-height front garage, which is used as a commercial artist studio that is actually by right under the current CMX2 zoning.
simply because of that unique circumstance, which my clients did not create in order to put the
additional third floor living area at this property, which again is only 400 square feet
going on the frontage here. That creates that unique hardship that they need to overcome.
This is the least minimum variance in that we tried to squeeze the ceiling heights as much as
possible. And we're not building out an entire third floor all the way to the front facade
and to the rear of the property. It tried to be a considerate and smaller design that would afford
the owners here the living space they need in order to stay in the space while also
maintaining this as a commercial use under the zoning. And yeah, there will be no detrimental
impact. I think that's fairly clear from the 36 to 2 vote in support and letter of support provided
by FNA. But in addition, we actually are reducing the height that will impact any properties to the
rear because that roof deck that is kind of awkwardly already set up two and a half feet
above the roof line will be dropped to the roof and pulled back from the rear roof. And the addition
will be pulled back from, you know, both the front facade and the side party line.
So with that, I would rest and answer any questions the chairman or the board may have.
Questions from the board.
Yes, did you have a rendering of, and you may have shown it, I mean, I missed it,
of what the third level edition would look like?
I can pull that up.
okay so this is right here what is existing you can see that roof deck is about two and a half
feet up and you can see the existing pilot house on the right and then this is what is being
proposed so the entire front facade will stay the same we are seeking no parapet so we will be
approximately our roof line will be approximately six inches that you see right here will be
approximately six inches higher than the property next to us and um you have you know the balcony
in the rear and then this height right here will be the same height as the existing pilot house
and we'll simply add sort of a 400 square foot uh single additional room to allow for that living
space thank you the questions from the board
questions or comments from our attorney
Hillary Emerson
not at this time Mr. Chair
questions or comments from the virtual audience
planning commission
Amy Ford with the planning commission
the comprehensive plan recommends no change in zoning
at this location from the existing commercial mixed use
CMX2. The requested
variance for maximum height is subminimus.
The Planning Commission
recommends that the Board grant the requested
variance for maximum height.
MI 2024
005 751
2316 East
Cabot Street, I vote yes.
My vote is yes.
Carol Gaston, my vote is yes.
Tynetta Graham, my vote is yes.
Pioin, my vote is yes.
Thank you, Counsel.
Thank you, board.
Number 12.
MI 2024-005-786-3220 North Carlisle Street.
MI 2024-005-786.
Alan Nockamson is the attorney.
There's a letter of unanimous support from the Nicetown-Tioga Improvement Team.
An applicant also has supplied 17 signatures, 16 of which are from the block.
Mr. Nockamson.
Sure. Mr. Nockmson, just state your name for the record. You've already been sworn.
Alan Nockmson.
And Mr. Nockmson, could you identify your client, a relationship to this property?
Yes, my client is Jamise Smith.
Do you stipulate to the reading of the refusal and also agree with its accuracy?
Yes, I do.
Please share your screen and start your presentation, sir.
All right, so I'm here to present 3220 North Carlisle Street.
This is a property which has been a duplex as far as I can see on the Internet.
So we have a lot of evidence to that effect.
Also, it was marketed as a duplex to my client, who, you know, after the fact, when she tried to rent a license, realized that was not the case.
So first thing we'll do is review the notice of refusal.
This is an RSA 5 property.
But, you know, again, everything that, you know, is inside and out shows that this was has been a duplex for the longest period of time.
We have a letter of support from the Nice Town Tioga Improvement Team.
that was unanimous support at a well-attended community meeting we have a petition of nearby
neighbors including uh 3218 north carlisle 3221 north carlisle and 3223 north carlisle or all in
support we have the mls listing which shows on multiple occasions in the listing um advertising
it as a two-family dwelling and if you when we look at the pictures you'll see that anyone else
would think is a two-family dwelling given three electric meters and two hot water heaters, two
mailboxes, and two units. Again, my client just wants to legalize this use. Not out of character
to have multifamily here. You'll see we're near RM1, but there's also a multitude of properties
that are RSA5 close by, which are also multiple units in them. We'll review the maps of the area,
photographs of the property the interior of the property again my client's not trying to change
the building structure in any way increase the density in any way uh increase uh change
the configuration inside the property she's just trying to legalize this uh we have simple plans
and drawings based on you know what she you know drew out for us we created something that's a
little you know more discernible to the board again they're not to scale it's just our office
trying to help illustrate what, you know, is there right now. Our RCO meeting notice, again,
we met with the community and we received unanimous support or application for appeal on behalf of
Jamees, that we filed on behalf of Jamees, the deeds of property showing that she owns the
property and the certificate of tax clearance. And then I would ask her after I complete my
presentation for her to virtually raise her hand and be sworn in. So a notice of refusal,
This is an RSA 5 property. We don't contest that. We're just asking to legalize this two-family use. We met with the community, then a support petition, which includes three addresses, you know, within a few feet of our property.
But again, we kept to Carlisle Street so that you can see that all these addresses or most of these addresses, actually all these addresses are on this 100 block of Carlisle Street.
MLS listing, as you can see here, it says type of property, it says duplex, says the amount of units to building unit type to a lot of this.
I believe some of this information would be gleamed off of the public record.
I'm not 100% sure, but I think some of this where the MLS is automatically populated.
So I don't know if there's an issue with the file at L&I, but at least it was advertised my client as two units.
And the narrative even says that turnkey duplex right down the street from Temple Med.
Each unit is two plus one, which is exactly what we're seeking to do here.
which is exactly what we're seeking to do here um again now of character to have rsa5 properties
Again, I'm going to go back to the next slide, and I'm going to go back to the next slide
as multi-family buildings here's our property in north carlisle there are multiple
instances on this block as well as behind us on 15th street as well as on west allegheny
which are also multi-family in nature and this is just the backup data for that that we took off
of L&I's website.
Then maps of the area, again,
actually I mistakenly stated that we are RSA 5.
We're next to RSA 3, but we're also next to RM1, CMX 3,
as well as RM1. So there's a hodgepodge of zoning classifications
nearby. Again, not too far
off from, you know, where Temple
hospital is. We have ample public transportation. Photographs of the property. Here's our
hearing notice poster that we posted at least 21 days before today's hearing.
This property, and you can't see it here, but if you kind of zoom in, it shows two mailboxes
as late as 2012 for this property. And then here's our hearing notice poster again.
North Carolina to the right of the property, to the left of the property.
Here we just took a picture right off of the building, which shows three meters,
which typically means one for each unit and one for the common area.
Also in the basement, you can see there are two hot water heaters, one for each unit.
Interior of the property, showing the multiple units.
our architectural plans and drawings again not to scale not trying to say we're an architect
so if they're not to scale i do apologize but if you go onto the front porch you go through the
front door there's a vestibule area you make a left there's an open floor plan of a kitchen
and living room there's a full bath here there's one bedroom here and there's another bedroom here
Instead of going to the left, you go up a flight of steps.
You go to the second floor.
You have, again, a living room, an enclosed kitchen, a full bath, and two bedrooms, one facing each side of the building.
Again, we're not changing this property physically at all.
Our RCO meeting notice we met with the community on November 19th at 6 p.m.
We emailed the notice that went out to the community.
We always do this two weeks beforehand just to show them that, you know, here's the community meeting notice we sent out.
And then we show them proof of mailing in that notice that we sent to 94 addresses.
These are the addresses we sent it to.
Proof of mailing to those addresses.
Our application for appeal that we filed.
One of the notice of refusal and the project information form.
The deeds of the property showing that we represent Jamise.
and she recently purchased a property
and she's been focused on trying to legalize
that since
and then a certificate of tax clearance
so I know no taxes are owed
I would ask that
Ms. Smith virtually
raise her hand and she could be
sworn in
Ms. Smith
has been admitted and allowed to
Ms. Smith could you please
state your name and spell for the court sonographer
Jamee Smith
E-S-E-S-M-I-T-H.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Yes, Ms. Smith, you heard everything I had to state today about your zoning matter.
Is it true and correct?
And do you adopt as your own testimony?
Thank you.
Questions from the board.
What was the vote for the RCO?
That was only five people attended?
Yes, five people attended.
What about the next door neighbors?
Were they...
We have a support from
I think we also have 3216.
We did not get 3222.
Other questions from the board?
Questions or comments from our attorney?
Hillary Amberson.
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no hands.
Just a moment, Chair.
We have a phone number ending in 3552.
They have been unmuted and allowed.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
yes adrian fernandez swamp little neighborhood process association rco
Yes, Adrian Fernandez, Swamp Little Neighborhood.
you swear or firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes please proceed adrian okay um we uh support this variance and are asking for
three provisos the first one would be a limit of two units the second one being um all trash
recycling stored indoors and a third one being no basement living
thank you
any any go ahead council i have no problems with two maximum two units where that's all
we're asking for i don't know if that's necessary in terms of proviso um trash indoors um i i leave
it to the discretion of the board, you know, to, to, to, as to that, um, there is outdoor space
for the first floor unit. Um, so, you know, they would be storing the trash outdoors. Um, the
third provides, so, uh, no basement living. I, again, uh, yeah, I think the picture showed that,
like, it's an unfinished basement to begin with. Um, the two, two hot water heaters are down there.
I don't know if that's not really a zoning matter. If there's issues in terms of egress, that would be a building code matter.
Any other comments from the virtual audience?
Planning Commission.
Planning Commission.
Amy Boyd with the Planning Commission. The comprehensive plan recommends no change in zoning and facilitation from the existing residential single-family RSA 5. There is evidence that the conversion from one-family to two-family was done without the benefit of permits. The appellant has not shown that there are unique conditions or circumstances that would prevent the property from being used in conformance with the zoning code. The Planning Commission recommends that the Board deny their requested variance for multi-family households.
Hello. Mr. Chairman, can I just respond very quickly? You can. Yeah. So with the MLS listings, a lot of times they gather the information through the city's website. So there may be some zoning permit that may have existed at one point that has been lost. I mean, you know, you have Eclipse now, you have Atlas now, anything that's been done the last five to 10 years, you can feel confident it's in the zoning file.
This may be a situation where a journey permit may have been lost.
There's a long documented history based on what we've seen online that there's two family households living here.
MI 2024, 005-786-3220 North Carlisle Street.
I vote yes.
John, my vote is yes.
Iowan, my vote is yes.
you're on me my vote is yes and sure you were on mute when you voted
carol gaston my vote is yes sorry thank you thank you thank you counsel thank you number
13 number 13 mi 2024 005 786 789 i'm sorry 235 north 61st street olav sokoloff is the attorney
There's a letter of support from Achievability and a letter of support from Council Member Jones.
There's also a petition with 52 signatures.
Mr. Sokolov is coming back in as a panelist now.
Mr. Sokolov.
Good afternoon, Chairman.
Would you state your name as spelled for the court stenographer?
Sure. Oleg Sokolov, O-L-E-G-S-O-K-O-L-O-V, on behalf of the applicant, Jeffrey Allen Jr.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Do you stipulate to the reading of the refusal, and do you agree with its accuracy?
Yes, I do.
Share your screen and start your presentation, please.
I mean, I'm used to Mr. Shahid asking me those questions.
Well, he's stepped out.
Fair enough.
All right.
Is the board able to see my screen?
We can, sir.
All right.
Thank you.
Well, firstly, good afternoon, everyone.
My name is Oleg Sokolov.
I'm here on behalf of Jeffrey Allen Jr.
This is a very similar request to the one you just previously heard.
We're seeking to legalize the existing use of a two-family located at 235 North 61st Street.
Mr. Allen purchased this property in May, I believe.
Mr. Allen purchased this property in May, I believe, of this year.
So as soon as he purchased it, it was the same kind of situation.
It was listed as a two-family.
It was marketed as a two-family.
Mr. Allen did none of the conversions of the property to make it a two-family.
And Mr. Allen actually lives in one of the properties.
And as you'll hear from him, he is a veteran who is looking to use the other space for veterans housing and believes that by having himself living there, he can really provide an additional service to veterans who are oftentimes alone or don't have a support network.
So the two of them being there together is something that he believes would be a great benefit to a potential veteran that lives there as well as the community in general.
So, I'll take you through the exhibit packet. As I said, this property was just purchased
in May of 2024. As soon as Mr. Allen identified the nonconformity, we undertook this zoning
process to try to legalize its use. As stated by the Chair, here's our tax clearance.
And here is the property. You'll see that it may not be able to see it very well behind the post. But, you know, upon inspection, it was it had two mailboxes. It has two electrical meters. So it certainly was properly converted, except for this current zoning into a two family.
The property itself is two two-bedroom, one-baths. It's one on the first floor, one on the second floor. It is just a two-story edifice with a backyard with access from the first-floor unit.
This here is the first-floor unit, and this is the kitchen-slash-living room of the second-floor unit.
Once again, the first floor unit, the backyard.
Let me try to zoom out a little bit.
You'll see that it's identical to the property next door, except for that it has the open porch.
And then just some views down 61st Street in both directions.
This is the subject property, once again, located on 61st Street between Vine and Race.
Our application for appeal, as stated, Mr. Allen did not create any of the conditions existent at
the property and is just seeking to legalize the use so as to be in conformity with the zoning code.
We had a meeting with Achievability on November 13th, where we, as stated by the chair, received a letter of support.
As part of Achievability's pre-RCL meeting procedure, Mr. Allen went around the neighborhood and gathered 52, I believe was the count.
Yeah, that's correct. 52 petitions. As you'll see in the letter of support from Achievability, many of those signatories to the petition were verified by Achievability as having signed it.
So somebody from Achievability actually called, and that's evident in the notes located here on the RCO letter.
Obviously, they couldn't get a hold of everyone in verifying the signatures, but they were very happy with Mr. Allen's actions in going around the neighborhood.
Mr. Allen actually has some ties to the neighborhood.
He's from there, so is very much looking forward to living in the property and providing service.
Are all the utilities separated?
The utilities are separated.
That's correct.
Is there a history of the property?
What was, it's always been.
There is nothing, much like Mr.
Nockamson's previous presentation, there is nothing currently available in the Eclipse system.
There was a rental license, but it was only for one unit that was generated.
I can pull that up.
It's not part of our exhibit packet, but.
There's a rental license that was pulled.
We're not sure if by the previous owner or the owner prior to that, but it was only for
one dwelling unit.
And that's the only zoning or other.
And that's the only zoning or other information available on the Eclipse system.
Mr. Allen also received a letter of support from Councilman Curtis's office.
And as stated, the petition, you'll see that many, many of the signatures, I'll zoom in a little bit, are from the immediate block.
So we have 242 here, 246 North 61st. I do apologize. I neglected to look through this and definitively ascertain if we were able to get the neighbor's signature, but I will ask Mr. Allen that when he is able to come on the line.
But again, you will see that almost the entirety of the block of 61st Street is in support of this request, likely owing to Mr. Allen's longstanding history in the neighborhood, as well as the type of residency that he wants to provide for the upstairs unit.
Pictures of notices on the property.
and our certificates of mailing for the RCO meeting.
So I believe it's around 140 people that were noticed.
So even of the 140 people that were noticed, you know, we have nearly a third, or excuse me, more than a third of those people have signed the petition.
If it pleases the board at this time, if I may bring Mr. Allen on to just answer any questions or adopt your testimony, please.
Please bring him on.
Thank you. Mr. Allen, if you're there, will you raise your hand, please? Your virtual hand.
Jeffrey Allen has been unmuted.
around could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
yes my name is jeffrey allen jr um and it's spelled j-e-f-f-r-e-y allen a-l-l-e-n junior j-r
you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes i do please proceed counsel uh mr allen i'll just ask you one question before i ask you to
adopt my testimony if you've heard it all here today. Could you give the board a little context
as to why you're hoping to use this for veterans housing and how that idea came about for you in
general? Well, like you said, Oleg, I'm a veteran of seven years, was a commissioned officer in the
Army. And I've noticed over the years that the veteran community is an underrepresented community
in terms of resources or knowledge or guidance when they get out, support, direction, things of
that nature. And I've noticed that there's a good chunk of veterans who have different challenges
on getting back in their feet and adjusting to the civilian world. So I wanted to use my VA home
loan to get a house that was in the area that I grew up in and try to provide affordable
housing for veterans like myself because I fully understand for the most part about the challenges
that they face and I kind of resonate with that. And Mr. Allen have you been in contact with some
agencies that place veterans in housing to pursue this potential type of renter? Yes I have. Okay do
you have the name of that that organization for the board? Yes I've been in contact with
the representative at the veterans affairs office and i can find a name in a moment um
no that's that's okay i don't think we need that how you heard the the presentation that i gave to
the board today correct yes and would you adopt my testimony as your own yes is there anything
you'd like to add for the board's consideration
you certainly don't have to um i just like to add that um i received approval written signature
approval from both neighbors on both sides and you will be able to find that in the exhibit
thank you that will be all questions from the board
i have a question about the trash for the second level
So I know the first level has access to the yard.
What about the second level?
Mr. Allen, is trash currently just stored in the unit until trash day?
It's been outside.
It's not.
Well, it's currently being stored on the side of the house.
um it's an area to the left where there's a gate um where trash has been being stored
It's an area to the left where there's a gate.
where trash has been being stored
okay so that's that's access for both the first floor and the second floor right
yes okay thank you any other questions from the board
questions or comments from our attorney hillary emberson
not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
The comprehensive plan recommends no change in zoning at this location from the existing residential single-family RSA 5.
The appellant has not shown that there are unique physical conditions or circumstances that would prevent the property from being used in conformance with the zoning code.
The Planning Commission recommends that the board
deny the requested variance for a multifamily household.
MI 2024-005-789-235-North 61st Street, I vote yes.
John's, my vote is yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Sonetta Graham, my vote is yes.
Iowan, my vote is yes.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you very much, Congressman.
Number 15, MI 2024, 006-026-5543 Grays Avenue.
Bernard Astasio is the attorney.
There's a letter of unanimous support from Southwest Philadelphia District Services.
Council Member Gauthier has also taken a position of support.
Councilman Gauthier supports the requested variance at this land use change as part of a community-centered long-term planning of Southwest spurred by trolley infrastructure improvements.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair.
Councilman, I think early this morning, I think I swore you in.
Correct.
Sarah, could you identify your client in relationship to this property?
Yes, thank you.
My name is Vern Anastasio.
I represent Southwest Metals, LLC.
Sandra Morales is here this evening, this afternoon.
I'm sorry to testify on behalf of the applicant, as is her husband.
Stipulate to the reading of the refusal, and do you agree with its accuracy?
Share your screen and start your testimony, Sarah.
Thank you.
I have a 68-page exhibit packet that I will go through relatively quickly.
There is a zoning refusal, a floor plan and layout, some photos, RCO notification letter, proof of mailings, the zoning notice and proof of posting, the lease tax clearance, council support letter, and overhead views as well.
This is an I-2 district, so it's really an industrial site.
The proposed uses for junk and salvage yards and buildings on an existing structure, it is prohibited in the I-2 district, but the history of the property has always been industrial.
So with that, of course, this is now not working for some reason.
I want to stop sharing just for a moment.
and reshare.
I just got an error
computer. I'm so sorry.
and that's my second case i'm sorry about that hold on
my apologies while I try to pull this together I don't know what happened to my
Okay, can we see that or no?
Keith Fishtown Animal Hospital.
No, that's not what I'd like.
Okay, hold on for one moment.
This is the 5543 Grays Avenue.
We're good.
We're good.
This is the application that was mailed.
So all pertinent neighbors, as you can see, it's a very unique property.
I2 is the classification.
They're looking to do junk and metal car, automobile sorts of uses here.
We met with all of the four RCOs.
And let me, the second floor space is 1,632 square feet.
The first floor space, as you'll see here, consists of several garages, storage building, a truck scale.
So this family, Ms. Morales and her husband, has been doing this sort of scrap metal work in the neighborhood for 12 years or so with absolutely no incident, no L&I violations on Lansdowne Avenue.
and they would like to be able to continue to use this particular space for that use as well.
Here are photos of the site in question. It's adjacent to SEPTA-owned property.
We do have members of SEPTA here today in full support of this use, as well as the RCO support for the use, as it is, if there ever was a space, as the RCO leader said last night, Mr. Ross, for this type of industrial auto-related scrap metal use, this would be it.
We had a Zoning Board of Adjustment hearing invitation that went out, and then we had an RCO meeting last night.
You should have a letter of support from the RCO.
Here are the addresses that were mailed.
We have proof of mailing.
7, 8, 7, 8, 7, 8.
Vern, could you, you mentioned Lansdale Avenue.
So you're saying they were at Lansdale Avenue and they're moving to this place?
I'm sorry, Lindbergh Avenue.
They're in Lindbergh Avenue.
Lindbergh Avenue, okay.
Right in the immediate neighborhood.
And they're moving to Grays.
Yep, they're moving to Grays.
So the neighborhood knows these folks.
They, you know, Lindbergh Avenue has never had any incident whatsoever.
No violations, nothing at all.
They just want to be able to move to a particular site that makes a better sense for them.
Could you tell me how SEPTA plays?
How does SEPTA play into this?
They own the property adjacent.
And I believe Wendy Green Harvey or John Pinto, there are members of SEPTA here today to testify.
they actually attended the RCO meeting
and testified in support of the variants.
But it says SEPTA acquired the current location.
So SEPTA has the Lindbergh Avenue now?
I'm not sure that SEPTA has the Lindbergh Avenue property.
I'll call Ms. Morales.
onto the stand so that
she can clarify
You might want to show some photos
again too so we understand what we're looking
at. Yeah, sure.
Can you see the photos?
Can you see the photos that I'm showing here?
Yeah, pretty much.
It's a little light.
Yeah, I don't know why it's so light all of a sudden.
So the triangular kind of spear-shaped thing, you're going to do it there, right?
This is the property in question right here.
and if Ms. Morales
can raise her hand
her virtual hand
we can talk to her about
SEPTA's relationship with
the Southwest
Ms. Morales please
what's her full name Mr. Anastasia
Sandra Morales
and on behalf of
SEPTA we have
Moni Hodge
Fred Marshall, Logan Axelson, John Pinto, Robert Troop.
So we have several folks from SEPTA as well.
And I'm not sure why the pictures are getting faded.
Chair, I don't see Ms. Morales in the audience, but we do have some with the phone number ending at 3015.
Sure. Let's bring them on, whoever it is. Thank you.
Caller, with the phone number ending at 3015,
you have been unmuted.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Caller, please unmute yourself.
Follow with the number ending at 3-0-1-5.
Please unmute yourself.
Star-9 to unmute.
I'm sorry, star-6 to unmute.
And please understand, Mr. Chair,
that this is a referral, not a refusal.
I understand. No, I understand.
Can you hear me now?
I can.
Could you please state your name as Pell for the stenographer?
This is John Pinto, J-O-H-N-P-I-N-T-O.
I represent SEPTA's real estate department.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed.
Thank you.
Counsel?
Mr. Pinto, could you please explain to the board your position on this particular proposal
and SEPTA's relationship to this property?
I have represented SEPTA in the acquisition of three large properties at the confluence of Grays Avenue and Lindbergh Boulevard for a planned major trolley maintenance facility and the upgrading of SEPTA's trolley system.
One of the properties involved is at 3600 Lindbergh Boulevard, which is currently occupied by Southwest Middles as a tenant. We have notified them at the time we acquired the property that they would have to be relocated.
SEPT has assisted them in this effort to relocate, and they've explored several sites.
To the best of my knowledge, this particular site was determined ideally suitable for what
their intended use is.
So we strongly support this acquisition of this new location and the approval of its
And Mr. Pinto, just to be clear, my client, in their 12 years of operating where they
are have been uh upmostly professional uh uh proficient and without any sort of controversy
or uh issues or violations with the city of philadelphia is that right
to the best of my knowledge oh that would be anecdotal to me uh since septa has only
uh acquired the property approximately 18 months ago but thank you in discussing with these people
But we verified the veracity of what they told us on their history.
Thank you.
And, Mr. Chair, for those reasons, I do believe that the referral, the special exception in this particular case, would be conducive to being granted.
So, Vern, could you show us the building?
Because you showed us before, like, hand-drawn pictures of buildings, first and second floor.
What did that have to do with it right there?
What is that?
Yeah, okay. This is the structure that would be used. Hold on for one second. Right here.
This is the structure that would be used for the weighing of the materials, the housing of the scrap metal, and the opportunity for people to sell metal from the community, which they often do on Lindbergh, from neighbors who bring the metal in.
This is the structure that would be used for the weighing of that.
The RCO supports you and the council person supports you.
100%, yes.
Could you try to bring your client on to adopt your testimony?
Sandra Morales, if you could please raise your virtual hand.
Sandra Morales has been obedient.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Sandra Morales, S-A-N-D-R-A, last name Morales, M-O-R-A-L-E-S.
Fair or firm, to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Ms. Morales, did you hear everything I presented to the board today?
Is it true and accurate to the best of your knowledge?
Do you adopt it as your own testimony?
Thank you.
I'm going to ask you a couple of follow-ups that we have not gone over, but I know you know the answers to these.
Have you been operating in this neighborhood as a scrap metal yard for 12 years or more?
Have you been doing so without any incident, issue, violation, or problem with the city of Philadelphia?
And have you continued to operate and proposed to operate with the unanimous support of the neighbors who gathered to hear our presentation?
Thank you. Questions from the board?
Questions or comments from our attorney Hilary Emerson? Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Chair, I'm sorry. Sure, sure. No, that's fine. I was trying to disrupt anything. Anyway,
Right. So question. This new facility, it's not near like residential properties.
None whatsoever.
Okay. So it's located somewhere near maybe the auto mall part of things or is it like, I'm not sure where.
can you can you talk about exactly the proximity of where the property is i'm going to bring up
the the aerial photos again and again i'm sorry they're very light it's hard i don't know why
they're so light now they were not like uh last night when we had the rco meeting yeah and even
the legend up top
with the
commands and things
is light. I don't
know why. Yeah, my apologies
for that. That's a tactical issue.
But here,
again, the property
is here, this weird
triangle
section.
if Ms. Morales wants to talk
briefly about
yes i'm here can you hear me yeah yes so 5543 here's a better uh that that might be better for
us to see thank you go ahead so we are not near any um residential properties we're actually
farther away from the residential properties there's actually we're kind of like underneath a
what is that bridge it's like we're kind of like underneath the bridge far from the residence
there's actually two other yards not bridge i'm sorry like um we're just nowhere near the
residence there's two other yards not that far away from us so we're we're nothing is going to
complicate the residence or anything that we have to do with our with the job as described metal
yard or anything we are nothing is going to affect the residents in any way possible yeah i think if
if i can direct your attention to this photo again this is just by the overpass here uh where my
cursor is and all the uh the train tracks here to the left and if i go down here to the actual
zoning map you'll see it is all industrial gotcha but for but for over and across the underpass
overpass, then the highway, then you get into some RM1s. But that's, you know, well across
this very wide stretch here. Yes, it's an overpass. My apologies. Okay. Gotcha. Okay.
Yes, it's an overpass.
My apologies.
Gotcha.
All right.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
The questions from the board.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no heads.
Planning commission.
Amy Boyd with the planning commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing I-2 industrial
zoning at this location, the proposed use will not cause such eventual impacts to the
neighborhood beyond what would normally be expected.
Further, relocating the activity from Lindbergh Avenue to the subject property on Grays Avenue
will allow SEPTA to locate vital facilities for SEPTA trolley modernization on the Grays
Avenue site.
Sorry, the Lindbergh Avenue site.
The Citywide Vision recommends 4.1 calls for transit support and land use decisions.
Relocating the activity to the subject property will allow subject to locate their facilities for trolley modernization.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the Board grant the special exemption for junk and salvage yard.
Thank you. MI 2024-006-026-5543 Grays Avenue. I vote yes.
johns my vote is yes
cheryl gaston my vote is yes
tenetta graham my vote is yes
i am win my vote is yes
thank you all
hold on hold on hold on
council
mr knockamson
it's mr anastasio that you're talking to i'm sorry i'm sorry but but i do need you
uh burn that's fine case 16 231 easterrott avenue right yes sir okay so am i so we're done with this
one right we voted it yeah okay thank you yeah yeah um so 16 mi 2024 006 182 231 east rod avenue
um getting unanimous support from the fishtown neighbors association 38 votes recorded um
just for the record state your name verne anastasio on behalf of fishtown animal hospital
Do you stipulate to the reading of the refusal and agree with its accuracy?
I do, sir.
Share your screen and start your presentation.
Thank you.
This town out of a hospital already exists.
It's already here at the property, right adjacent to the subject property.
It's 4.7 Google rating, 272 rate reviews.
It is a gem to the neighbors of Fishtown, and it's on its way to being an iconic representation of business in the Fishtown area.
What my client would like to do, Ms. Lauren Cohen, is just take up the storefront right next door to the Fishtown Animal Hospital and use it for the same sorts of uses.
So and without breaching the internal walls because they're separate spaces.
But this would this property would be strictly for examination purposes.
And for that reason, we have a 65-page letter exhibit packet today.
Again, it's for proposed use to animal services, boarding and other services, basically an animal hospital, which, you know, is prohibited in the CMX2 district.
And that's why we're here.
I've included my appeal.
which I won't go over other than to say that it's just an expansion of an existing use that's
adjacent. And here's the layout of the first floor where the services would take place.
We have an entryway. We have a waiting room. We have several exam rooms, a ramp for ADA compliance.
We have a shower and a toilet, you know, bathroom, restroom area.
We have a treatment center, caging area, and we have a lounge for the staff.
Trash will be held outside.
Of course, there's commercial pickup, just as there is with the existing hospital next door.
next door. The basement is used strictly for storage, shelving and storage for either food,
The basement is used strictly for storage.
animal food, dog food, cat food, or medical supplies.
Again, here's the property in question. Fish Town Animal Hospital already exists here.
We simply want to go into the store right adjacent.
And, of course, we're going to keep, and this is the subject property right here.
There will be no internal breach.
This will just be for examination purposes.
Next door, we have acupuncture, surgery, dentistry, all sorts of medical, and here's the additional commercial spaces on the corridor.
but all
sorts of other services
for animals
are at the main building
property in question
here's the interior which is nothing
to look at but
I want to give it to you if we can
multiple electric
and gas
water units
here's the
the formal notice that went out to everyone
inviting everyone to
December 3rd, last night's meeting. You've received a letter of support from FNA.
Here's the Zoning Board of Adjustment hearing invitation that it was also mailed to.
All three RCOs were involved in that. Here are all the addresses that we mailed the notice to.
And as such, I believe about 147 households were mailed individually.
With that, I have no other question.
I have no other parts of my presentation, but I would like to ask Lauren Cohen to raise her virtual hand.
lauren cohen has been unmuted and allowed
hi miss cohen could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
sure it's lauren cohen l-a-u-r-e-n-c-o-h-n you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
and nothing but the truth i do please proceed counsel thank you mr chair miss cohen did you
hear my presentation to the board this evening i did thank you is it true and accurate to the
best of your knowledge. Yes. Do you adopt it as your own testimony? Yes. You operate currently
the Fishtown Animal Hospital adjacent to the subject property. Is that right? Yes. You intend
to operate the adjacent property, the subject property, exactly in the same way, form, and
fashion. Is that right? Yes. But there will be no internal sorts of breaches to the space. Is that
right? Yes. I think that's enough, Mr. Chair. Thank you. Thank you. Questions from the board.
Okay. I guess I don't understand. You're going to do the same services in this adjacent
building. How does that help you in terms of, I mean,
if an animal needs
the services
on the one side
and then needs something from the other side
you have to take the
side how are we
good logical question
Ms. Gaston
the new side will be for
examinations
obviously if there is
a need for acupuncture
if there's a need for surgery
or something like that
they would move to the main building next door. But this new space is just to increase the number
of examination rooms for animals. So this would be, in essence, kind of an intake
sort of facility, if you will? I wouldn't say intake. I think that's a little too
minute. Just legally speaking, as a zoning attorney, you would understand.
uh just legally speaking as a zoning attorney you would understand that i don't want to say
intake because animals will be examined here this is going to be part of the animal hospital
there will be examinations now will there be surgical procedures here not no i mean that's
where the the larger building is right next door but we want to be able to include this
this adjacent property as part of the services we provide but as the plans show
this is going to be primarily a place where animals go for examination rooms
okay and then once they're examined then there's some kind of diagnosis about further treatment
and then they may go to this other building is that yeah i mean that's i mean yeah like i had
Like, for instance, three months ago, I had a cat who was walking funny.
I would go into this new room, this new building, have an examination.
And if the doctor thought, Dr. Cohen thought that my cat needed surgery, we may just go next door to have the surgery, schedule the surgery.
Oh, okay.
All right.
Thank you.
Any other questions from the board?
why should there comment from our attorney hillary embers
um just briefly mr chair um mr anastasio i don't know if you received my email earlier but the
deed that was in the packet um expired in may i don't know if it had some sort of formal extension
you could send us yeah my client has emailed us me at least me back saying that uh the lease is
just subject to her saying that she wants to extend it and she does she has emailed me that
i'm not quite sure if that's going to be enough for you but yeah we do need something yeah we do
need something in writing so at least did say that you know there had to be an affirmative extension
um of it so if yeah so if we could have something that we would we would need that prior to the board
voting just for prior to the vote yes prior to the vote okay i can get to uh i'm sure my client
and or a landlord can get you
and execute an extension of the lease
within, you know, by the end of the week.
Thank you.
Great. Great. Thank you.
If that's the case,
can we schedule the vote for next Wednesday then?
We can schedule it for next Wednesday.
And if we have to reschedule, we will.
We won't. I promise you.
Okay. Okay. Sounds good.
Thank you.
Questions from the virtual audience.
Chair, we have Robert Everett with their hand up.
Sure, sure.
They've been obedient.
Good afternoon, Mr. Everett.
Just state your name and spell, please, for the court sonographer.
Good afternoon.
First name is Robert.
Last name Everett, E-V-E-R-E-T-T.
We're affirmed to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, Mr. Everett.
Yes, I do.
Please proceed.
I'm just the new zoning chair of FNA, so I'm a rookie here.
And thanks to Ms. Emerson and Ms. Howard Jeffers for getting me squared up this morning.
It's appreciated.
And you saw our letter.
We strongly support this project.
All right.
Thank you very much for taking the time to call us.
We appreciate it.
Anyone else in the first audience?
I see no hands.
Planning Commission.
Amy Boyd with the Planning Commission. The comprehensive plan recommends no change in zoning to the existing commercial mixed use CMX2. The appellant has not shown that there are unique conditions or circumstances that would prevent the property from being used in conformance of the zoning code. The Planning Commission recommends that the board deny the requested variance for animal services and boarding.
And I just need to respectfully rebut, Mr. Chair, if you don't mind.
Okay, sure, sure.
Well, I appreciate the zoning of the Planning Commission's position.
We have an existing Fishtown Animal Hospital adjacent to the subject property that is serving the neighbors in a way that no operation has served the community in generations.
The community is overwhelmingly asking that this business be expanded.
we cannot do that without this zoning relief and therefore there is a physical hardship
to the property to make this happen and as a result we respectfully request the granting
of the variance thank you so thank you so this case will be closed other than
next week we we hope to vote on this on the 11th at 2 p.m i'll have you uh i'll have you
i'll have you uh i'll have you at least within 48 hours thank you thank you very much and
at least within 48 hours. Thank you. Thank you very much.
seriously i'm sorry i had one one additional question um is the the proposed use is it just
the the first floor of the property or first floor basement just first floor okay
based on the application it's just the first floor uh i suppose miss cohen can talk about
the basement if uh but i know above that is living space okay right right so it just it it um
the refusal isn't isn't clear it just says for animal services uh you know in an existing
structure doesn't say where it doesn't mention additional uses so that's why i just wanted to
get clarification the first one is for the animal services uh above that is all already permitted
uses and below that of course would just be for storage of the of the uh of the commercial space
okay thank you so that will we'll look for this on next wednesday uh is there anyone in the virtual
whose case has not been called from the two o'clock list here we have joseph console with
his hand up oh that's right yeah he was the first case you're right Mr. Consul hey yeah that's right
I'm going to promote him the pen this chair please please yep
hey mi 2024 002 473 1675 dyer street mr consul is the attorney
letter of support from frankfurt neighborhood advisory committee
good afternoon board joe consul again mr consul you've already been sworn so could
you identify your client, a relationship to the property? Yeah, my client is J and M Investment
Group, LLC. With me on the call is one of the owners, Mr. John Mercado. You stipulate to the
reading of the refusal and do you agree with its accuracy? I do. Please start your presentation.
Okay. Good afternoon, board. Joe Consul here, 1675 Dyer Street. My client bought this property
in 2022. Property was a mess, needed rehabilitation. His goal is to rehabilitate it as a two-unit
residential building. The two refusals that we received, because this is zoned RSA 3,
there is one refusal for the mentioned two units and another one for required accessory
off-street parking that is not provided. I'll start with that. As you can see from this photo,
these are row homes here. Ours is in the middle, and there's no alleyway in the back that's
accessible. So providing parking would be impossible, and that provides a clear hardship.
And so we're hopeful that the board agrees on the parking bit.
Regarding the two units, I went through the block up and down both sides.
The whole block is zoned RSA 3.
The properties are of similar size.
And I'll just, I believe at least half of them are active multifamily properties.
So just like going from back to front, 1642 is a two unit, 1643 was a beauty salon, and three family, as far as we can tell, there's no beauty salon there, but they still have the three family home.
1647 is a 5 unit
49 is a 2 unit
2 family
at 1650
6 family
I only have a few more
I just pulled some of the easier ones to find
57 is a 2 family
um two family at 1660 um a two family approval 1676 i think i might throw one more in there
and then a three family approval 1665 um there's one two uh there's one more
and that i found and that was a two family for 1685 so
And that I found, and that was a two family for 1685. So it's all in the same block. And about half of the ones I showed you are approvals from the more present day that went through the zoning process to get those approvals. The other ones are from, you know, before RSA three existed, at least in the way that it does now.
We included the proposed plans for the property. Those plans call for a two-bedroom, one-bath unit on the first floor, and then a bi-level unit on the second and third floors.
um like a lot of the properties on this block there will be um legalized living space in this
third floor here uh it's it's common the properties next to it um each have a living space in that
in you know the kind of the the peaked um sort of third story there
uh and that one the second unit will be by level and we'll have uh one two three bedrooms actually
they have listed as uh four bedrooms um with a kitchen and and a bath uh let's see what else i
could show our other exhibits included our proof of mailing 137 pieces our
external photos showing our posters
worked on in the back they do have a building permit hold that you can see is
active on Atlas
and they're waiting
on the two-unit approval to finish
it up.
Indeed.
And our $0
tax balance included at the end of the
packet.
And finally, we met with Frank for twice.
We got their approval.
They asked for some updates in the plans.
It was really just a labeling issue, but those updates were made and resubmitted.
They asked as a proviso that we provide escape ladders from the higher floors.
My clients are willing to do that.
I know that there's some concern in some neighborhoods about people living above the ground floor and having to get out.
It's just what it is.
my client's happy to comply with that
with that
I'll ask Mr. Mercado
if he's on here to adopt
my testimony
Ricardo
there he is
there she is
Joe Mercado
she's been admitted and allowed
could be john but could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer yes my name
is john mercado j-o-a-n-m-e-r-c-a-t-o we're a firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing
but the truth yes i do please proceed councilman uh mr mercado did you hear my uh testimony just
now regarding your company's
property at 1675
Dyer Street? Yes.
Was it accurate? And do
you agree with what I said? Yes.
Okay. Do you adopt it as your own?
Sorry. All right.
Nothing further.
Questions from the board.
I'm sorry. Can I
see the front of this property
again? Yeah.
You want this one or the more further out?
A little bit further out.
So yours is the one next to the property that's built out so that there's no porch.
All right.
Mr. McCracken, that's yours right there next to the one with the built out pillars, correct?
That's correct.
Gotcha.
Thank you.
The question is for the board.
and your comments from our attorney hillary emerson
not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
planning commission amy void with the planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends
The comprehensive plan recommends no change in zoning at this location from the existing residential single-family RSA 3.
no change in zoning at this location from the
Exactly.
The plan has not shown that there are new conditions or circumstances that would prevent this property from being used in conformance of the zoning code.
No parking is an existing condition of this property in the surrounding neighborhood.
The planning commission recommends that the board deny the requested variance for multifamily household living
and grant the requested variance for no off-street parking.
M.I. 2024-002-473-1635, Dyer Street. I vote yes.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes.
Carol Gaston, my vote is yes.
Caneta Graham, my vote is yes.
Tywin, my vote is yes.
Thank you, and thank you, counsel.
Is there anyone in the virtual audience whose case has not been called?
okay so we're going to take a five minute break and then we just have a few cases left
yes okay there were hands up they went down i see no head okay good so we'll be back in five minutes
um thank you good afternoon everyone my name is bill bergman and i will be chairing this
afternoon's hearings. With me is our board member, Cheryl L. Gaston. Present, Mr. Chairman. Our board
member, Tanetta Graham. Present, Mr. Chairman. Our board member, Michael Johns. Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our board member, Ty Wynn. Also present is our attorney, Hillary Emerson,
and our executive director, Ian Haggerty.
Here's our versatile format. The proceedings are being recorded. With your participation,
you agree to be recorded. A video will be available by contacting ZBA Executive Director
at phila.gov. For our court stenographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves
before testifying. If you're participating by phone, 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 testimony.
Any questions should be directed to
zbaexecutivedirector at philip.gov.
Let's look at our schedule for this afternoon.
Number three.
Number three.
MI 2024, 000685-2306 North 21st Street.
That case is continued.
Number four.
MI 2024, 00818-3309 North 6th Street.
That case is continued.
Number five.
MI 2024-000-903-534-Walkin Street.
That case is continued.
And number eight,
would number eight, MI 2024-004-729-8030 Frankfurt Avenue,
Chayeen Duro is the listed applicant,
and Craig St. Associates, a PennGen part, are the listed owners.
Would Ms. Duro
Please come on
Chinyere Duro has been
Admitted and allowed to speak
Could you please state your name and spell
For the court stenographer
My name is Chinyere
Could you spell that please
Last name D-U-R-U
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
The whole truth and nothing but the truth
Yes I do
So we received your exhibits
Too late to process and go through
So we're going to have to continue your case
You'll hear from us when the next case is scheduled
And the next time you have to have everything in
Within five days prior, okay?
Okay, I just have issues with the computer
That's why
Okay. All right. So we, we, uh, right. But we, we, we did not see,
received the paperwork as quick as we needed to. Okay. Thank you.
And Mr. Chair, also for this case, um, it,
it appears that the property is owned by a company. Um,
in that case, an attorney is required to present this case to the board.
Are you aware of that requirement?
No, I wasn't. It's a sole proprietorship.
So I thought I could represent myself.
is that is that what the because the deed just says it's a realty company no
because the deed just says it's a realty company no it's no it's me it's just me
okay if you could uh just send me an email and i will see um whether or not we'd be able to move
move forward or not because normally you would be required to have an attorney but
with a sole proprietorship you may be able to represent yourself but i need to look more into
the documents so all right thank you thank you thank you and number two mi2023 005 984 2300
south third street the listed applicant is robert rocco wise and bridget squilla
we we still don't have any exhibits for this case
rocco wise please raise your virtual hand
he's been abuted in a loud suspicion
Mr. Weiss could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
Rocco Weiss
R-O-C-C-O
W-E-I-S-S
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
told truth and nothing but the truth
Mr. Weiss we don't have your documents
I spoke to the
my architect today
He like he's been. I haven't spoke to him since this. It's got continued like three or four times.
Right. Three. You're right. Yeah. He has all the documentation and he asked me what I needed today.
And he told me like he replied finally. And I was like, OK, maybe he did it.
So I've been sitting here waiting for my turn, but I guess not.
So so here's what I think you have to do. I'm going to retain you this one more time.
You have to get a hold of him well in advance and get your documents.
you'll hear from us when the next schedule is
but I mean I'd get the documents right
now so you have it for the next time
yeah I try to get in touch
with him he just doesn't reply
well if not you think you're gonna have to start looking for
somebody else but we're gonna
do it one more time you'll get it
you'll get a request to come one more time okay
I did um I did send
in the uh like
I sent like 199 letters
and got it
right right but I think
whatever else you need from him please get it or not get everything do it yourself
okay all right thank you so mi2023 005 894 2300 south third street cases continued mark must be heard
Number 7, MI 2024-002-747-365-South-61st Street.
Devin Logan is the listed applicant.
No exhibits.
This is the second listing.
Council Member Gauthier
has requested continuance
because of no RCO meeting.
And also SRA Incorporated
is the listed owner.
SRA Incorporated
of Pennsylvania Corporation
is the listed owner.
Devin Logan or SRA Incorporated
if you're in the virtual audience,
please raise your hand.
I see no handstand.
So, this is the second listing, but no one appeared the first time. So, MI 2024-002-747-3265 South 61st Street, I vote to dismiss.
Michael Johns, my vote is to dismiss.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is to dismiss.
Senator Graham, my vote is to dismiss.
Tyone, my vote is to dismiss.
Thank you.
Case number one, MI-2022-005-736-1610, Margaret Street. Darlene Treat is the attorney.
i'm a beckon is a panelist okay
hey counsel could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer
Darlene Threat, D-A-R-L-E-N-E, Threat, T as in Thomas, H-R-E-A-T-T, for the applicant,
Louis Estrada.
Fair or firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Yes, I do.
Do you stipulate to the reading of the refusal and agree with its accuracy?
Yes, I do.
Yes, I do.
Share your screen and start your presentation.
Share your screen and start your presentation.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Your Zoom link came up.
Let me try to reshare, it just didn't come on.
here we go
can you see my screen commissioner make it just a little bit bigger if you would please okay
What's going on in here?
What's going on?
I don't see the enlarge button at the bottom of the screen today.
Just give me a second here, a little bit.
Yeah, I should be it.
No, what's going on?
That's better.
Sorry about that.
But I don't see the enlarge button on the top today.
Commissioners, I represent Louis Estrada, who owns 1610 Margaret Street.
He received a violation for not having zoning for operating an auto repair and maintenance shop.
I submitted a package of exhibits which contains approximately 57 pages.
The exhibits are the refusal, the appeal, a property information form, deed, a tax agreement, property information, plans, pictures, flyer, proof of mailing, and petitions.
Commissioners, we apply to the Zoning Board of Adjustment to legalize the existing use.
This property is located in the ICMX district, which is for commercial and industrial, and auto repair and maintenance is prohibited in this district.
We filed the appeal to the Zoning Board of Adjustment.
We filled out the property information form.
I have the deed here where Mr. Estrada purchased the property and is the legal owner of the property.
We have a tax agreement that he filed with the city of Philadelphia.
I have a general property information form, which gives you some particulars about the property.
And here we're going to come up to the plans.
commissioner this is a very very large facility which mr estrada uses for auto repair here is the
site plan it sits on margaret street it's a large facility premises a b and c i'm just going to slide
this over a little bit and this is basically the makeup of the entire garage here he has a
i think she she froze up yeah council i think you're you're you're you're frozen
Council
Hilary do we have her phone number
oh there's no wait we shall come back hopefully
Do we see her hand
Is her hand raised or anything
Trying to get back in
No chair
But if you would like to just move on
To the next case
Why don't we move on
And then we'll come back to see where she is
okay so number
number six mi 2024 001 17 i'm sorry chair to interrupt she's back now i can't wait and be
recalled commissioner no no no no no no i'm you you started let's let's finish okay
um i don't know if you heard me when i went through the plan did you
well you said i'm sliding it over and you never got over okay i'll go back to the plan
so i was sliding the actual floor plan over so you can really see the um footprint and
the interior of the property here uh basically it's a very very large commercial slash industrial
type building. These are the four corners of the building here. You have to put it up. We're not
seeing what you have. We're seeing you. You don't see it. Okay, I'm going to have to come back out
then. Let me move on to the next one and while I'm there, I'll be long and we'll get back to you.
Very well
Thank you
So number 6
MI 2024
001 173
7611 Revere Street
Sherman Toppin is the attorney
No RCO letter or summary
But notice was sent
To the Mayfair Civic Association
It was a meeting held November 18th
Mr. Toppin
He's coming back in now
Good morning, Mr. Chair, members of the board.
Counsel, would you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Yes, my name is Sherman Toppin, last name T-O-P-P-I-N.
Fair or firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
Could you identify your client in relationship to this property?
Yes, my client is Jeannie Mayer and her husband, Joe Ebell.
They may both be there in the virtual room watching.
All right.
Do you stipulate to the reading of the refusal and agree with its accuracy?
Why don't you start your case?
So I believe by presentation, you should see the home subject home.
So I'm pleased to represent this family.
What we have today is relatively a straightforward and simple type of zoning request for variants.
Here's my, in our typical exhibit list, we've got 14, but most of these are just statutory,
and we'll be able to move through them rather quickly and get right to the meat of the subject.
So we have one, the refusal really provides the reason why we're here, and that is the position of the garage.
we want to legalize the this particular zoning application is to legalize the erection of a
detached garage 18 by 25 feet in the rear of the property it's an accessory structure
semi-detached to the existing single-family dwelling and it is too close to the property
line on the side in the rear as you'll see in the picture whereas the it's required to be three foot
setback from the the property line on the side and rear it is 2.2 foot two feet two inches on
the left side of the garage and in the rear one point one foot six setback so we're shy about a
foot and a half on the on the rear and about eight inches on the left and that is that is what brings
us here before you today this property was actually inherited by miss mayor she inherited through
intestate succession she was executive of the will and the successor of the property so that's
what the deed presents here our application for appeal really presents the same conversation that
we're having now and our this is also the exhibit for our project information sheet but getting
right down to it this whole area is rsa3 the subject property is no different it is
This whole area is RSA 3. The subject property is no different. It is the same configuration as all the homes generally in the area. In the aerial, you can see the same. All the homes are basically, you have single families, singles that are just placed sort of midway in the lot throughout this community.
The subject property here has the little wind balloon, blue balloon, and here's the subject garage.
You can see from the aerial in the back, both neighbors have pools,
and so the only feature in the rear of our property is this garage that's been erected.
And closer to, you can see exactly what we're looking at.
Same footprint, all the houses sort of have a front yard of the equal size,
and all have rear yards of equal size.
and our client has this garage 18 by 20 foot and you can even see here it is relatively close to
the property line alongside and i'll show you some pictures that give you a better visual of it so
here's the front you can see this it ramps up to the garage and part of our variance is as far as
its location is that this this this grading the closest it could be or the to the is here for the
And you'll see in the next pictures that we've got, here's the space, the two foot, this is the side that's got two foot, two inches.
It's eight inches shy, which is just slightly off to the side.
You can already see that the garage, the way it's listed, the way it's presented here, it starts to move over to the left.
So there was room when my client was erecting the garage or installing it to really bring it over the full without catching this curve.
and coming down into the into so this is the better picture of the space again two foot two
inches eight more inches would it be would be compliant and they're just shy of that a human
can walk straight through here and service any all sides of this from the from this side the
front and the other side the rear is where it's a little tighter this is the 1.1 foot six inch
side and you can still see you can still walk straight back there's nothing really to service
but you can still see that now the client who also the homeowner who also erected this yes this fence
has erected this fence and he's mentioned that uh to me and and he's this fence is erected actually
in front of the actual property line so if this fence wasn't there we'd have another nine inches
behind this fence but effectively uh the measurement of lni is is from the fence forward
and that's where the 1.6 comes from the 1.6 inches comes from now on the on the side you can see
plenty of space on the front and on the as we get closer this is looking at the actual structure
here it's a very level lot and one of the things that we had when we will talk about what happened
in the rco meeting is that we agreed to install gutters along this front side in the other side
we did have a meeting with the RCO and they did have some concerns um I don't think there were
many um but okay yes so so we will we'll go we'll go forward from there we'll talk about what happened
so there was in the meeting they we just we agreed as we'll see in the plans um here we'll just make
this a little bit smaller so we can fit one screen so this is the plans of the layout of the property
This is the garage back here. And we agreed in our conversation with the RCO to this, the revised plans to install a gutter on either side, the full length of the garage on the left and right.
And that would create that would alleviate any water runoff, because as you can see, the lot is very level.
And one of the neighbors that did appear at the RCO meeting indicated that the runoff was a problem on their side.
We don't really see how, but just to play ball with the community and also to just compromise with the RCO's request, we agreed to this revised plans and to install these gutters here that would catch any runoff coming off of the roof and bring the water down the ramp of the driveway, and that's what the hope of the gutters will do.
Also, there's already gutters on every corner of the house as far as the impervious structure here. There's a little awning here that runs down the front, but that's not really any much of the issue. It's more the garage that we agreed to put up.
And so that was what the RCO chair after the vote that was taken was concerning. We sent a letter. Of course, this is our notice letter to the RCO.
this it included the plans and the space so that the neighbors would see exactly what was going on
43 members of the community got that these are their addresses and certificates of mailing
And ultimately, you know, notice of this hearing and our picture of the of the posting of the of the property.
and ultimately you know this is a notice of this hearing and
Here's the front with the zoning poster there at the property line and on the garage.
Also, if anyone wanted to look down, our our client parks is to puts his tools and commercial vehicle in and vehicle in this in this garage.
And he uses it for that purpose. And and we and they do have a tax clearance letter.
they went down there personally these and this is what they received which shows that there's a zero
taxes due as of through the the date of the december the 8th so in this particular we're the
only exhibit we don't have is the letter from the mayfair civic association and at the time a vote
was taken we had a majority of the vote at the and we agreed in the letter afterwards and during that
meeting to to revise the plans for the installation of the gutters on the garage itself and here we
are today we fully expected mayfair to have delivered that letter and to present it to the
board um but that's what we've come to to talk about today i'd like to bring my client in to
adopt my testimony the neighbors next door okay now yes there's the neighbor on the left is the
one that was at the rco meeting sorry the right of the property i'll go to the picture i'll show
you which one of which one of the two so you see this neighbor here 7609 she's the one um this
neighbor came and she was the one that said that there was runoff coming into her pool under the
fence and you know there's this lot her lot is almost completely covered by her pool she's got
a very large pool back there so we we agreed to put the guttering here to for to catch any runoff
and send it down the driveway on either side um i don't think this neighbor this neighbor did not
show at the at the hearing he's got a large pool as well but did not appear at the rco and this
was the only person of the community that appeared to the rco and she didn't oppose she just stated
that she would like to see that and she was she was fine in general with the the garage being
there just wanted us to do that is on you bring your client on yes if we can elevate
miss mayor to to a uh panelist i can ask her to adopt my testimony what's your client's name mr
toppen well joey bell is the husband and jeanine mayor is the wife so one of the two of them are
present. Joseph Bell, please raise your virtual hand. Joseph Ible, please raise your virtual hand.
Chair, I see his name, but he's not raising his hand. Yeah, he's not so computer savvy. If he
could uh if you could guide him mr bell if you could just click that hand that the hand icon
on the on your computer there they'll they'll see you once you do that
yeah yeah could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer
Joseph E. Bell, last name is spelled E-I-B-E-L-L.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, told truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Please proceed, counsel.
Yes. Mr. Bell, you've been hearing my testimony on behalf of your zoning application today. Have
you heard everything and do you agree to adopt my testimony as your own?
And is it did it actually portray the the evidence that you have shared with me that we've we've presented to the RCO?
Okay. Well, Mr. Chair, if there's anything further, we'd love to hear any questions that might come.
Correct. Questions from the board.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson.
um just briefly just briefly excuse me good evening Mr Toppin um you had mentioned that
there um some plan some changes were made to the plans um for gutters to address concerns um
raised by the adjacent neighbor one of the adjacent neighbors did you want those
plans are you taking to have those plans stamped by the zoning board as revised plans
well they were we would we'd be fine if that were the case we've certainly agreed to it we won't we
won't uh reverse our agreement to that we are going to install these gutters so if if the plans
are accepted by the board we we have no problems with those plans being stamped okay um yeah i
OK. Yeah, I think I think we could do that. I mean, it's not really a zoning issue, but sometimes there are things that, you know, applicants and other parties want memorialized and we could could do that on the plans.
think I think we could do that. I mean, it's not really a zoning issue.
We would just need it's one page. Is that correct?
That is correct. That is correct.
OK. So we would just need a.
It is this page, this page here, this page here.
Wait, hold on. Scroll, scroll down a little bit further. Okay. So, all right. So these are not, okay. So these are not the architectural plans. So go back, go back up. So it would have to be a revision to, sorry, scroll back up one page.
okay sure so the same architecture yeah the z1 yeah it would have to there would have to be a
revision to the z1 plans that were submitted to um to ellen i and that's what we could stamp
because the other ones are not technically architectural plans um what ellen i would
require at this stage okay so um yeah so if you want to update those and submit a proviso form we
can you know include that in the decision again assuming the board decides to to grant so we're
going to hold the vote today on hillary um i mean it's the plans can be submitted later or we can
hold and and see i mean he's already he's showing the plans he's going to take those changes and put
them on the site plan that would be the again assuming the board grants questions or comments
from the virtual audience planning commission so ron bednar city planning first name ron r-o-n
last name bednar b-e-d-n-a-r we're affirmed to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the
truth i do please proceed run uh the property is indicated for residential on the city plan
given the physical circumstances of the site recommend the request of variance be granted
So, Hillary, I can say revised plan one page.
Yes, and they will just and the applicant will just need to submit the gutters that are shown on the other page on the site plan that was reviewed by L&I, along with the proviso form, indicating that that is the change that was made.
MI 2024 001 173 7611 Rear Street.
I vote yes. Proviso, revised plan, one page, stand by ZBA. We'll do it today, Haley.
Yes, that's fine, Mr. Chair.
12-4-24.
Michael Johnson, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Carol Gaston, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Tywin, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Thank you, Sherman.
Thank you.
I'm going to go back to number one, MI 2022, 005-736-16-Margaret, Darlene Treat.
Darlene?
There she is.
Miss Treat, please unmute yourself.
she's still under the panelist chair
she's okay to be under the panelist right
yeah she should be able to
unmute and start her video
so Darlene you froze up on us right
yes I did I apologize
the service is just horrible
so where do you think we are now
let me see if I can reshare
are you able to see my screen yeah we see it yep okay so where I left off is I was trying to
show you the floor plan and I'm going to reduce it a little smaller so the entire plan is on your
screen. So originally I indicated to you that this was the actual site plan. The building is pretty
huge. It's about 6,200 square feet and this is the site plan over here and I'm going to enlarge
that just a little bit more.
Over here is the actual interior.
Over here is the actual interior of the building, and I apologize, I can't seem to make it any bigger today.
But this is a little storage area here. This is where we have the lifts for the cars, and this is the open area where we do work at.
You'll see from other pictures, this is the actual side of the building where we have a driveway.
There's a little entrance here where an individual can walk through here, and right here is a roll-down gate where we would drive the cars up the gate, excuse me, up the driveway and into the facility.
Again, the facility is huge, and we can store approximately 12 to 14 cars inside of the building.
I'm going to switch over to the pictures now.
I'm going to enlarge them a bit.
What is going on here today?
Here we go.
So this is a picture of how the entire building looks and how it sits on the block of Margaret
Street.
Our structure is really the only facility currently on this side, the right side of Market Street.
In the back of the building here is a playground for a property located on the block in back of us.
It's fenced in and it has some opaque screen and on the very corner of the block here is just an empty lot.
that's a picture of our posting and this is a picture of the interior of the property
you can see it's a large property it holds a lot of different cars we are asking to be legal to do
auto repair we're not doing painting we don't do any body and fender work um so there be no fumes
or no obnoxious elements going into the area.
There is also no residential on either side of Margaret Street
where our facility is located.
And I'm just going to scan through a couple more pictures
to show you how large this facility is
and the way the cars are situated inside.
It's a pretty big property.
This is the actual outside of the building.
And this is the driveway where you would drive your car up to go inside the shop here.
There is a facility over here, but I'd like you to know that we do have the posts and the barriers out here to protect this area over here where nothing could really go through the barriers to get into this area.
Additionally, we don't work outside.
We just drive the cars up the driveway and park them inside of the facility to have the repairs done.
This is a picture of the opposite side of the block of Margaret Street.
Again, this is a very sparsely developed block here.
There's an old firehouse. It's not quite on the corner.
There's actually an empty lot on the corner here that has a sign for sale on it.
This is an old abandoned firehouse that hasn't been in use for many, many years. We have another
lot here. And then we have a store directly across the street from our facility. I would
like to note that this is a high traffic, a high drug area. Mr. Estrada has problems with people
hanging out with them parking on the sidewalk. He has taken the liberty of putting cement type
blocks all along the sidewalk to prevent the cars from driving up and parking on the sidewalk.
I would also like to mention that this is a street where a lot of dumping goes on. And since
Mr. Estrada has been operating in this facility, he takes the notion of keeping this entire block
of Market Street cleans. He has someone cleans this block at least twice a week. It is the subject
of a lot of dumping trash. And frankly, it's also the area where there's a high drug trafficking
area. And there's the leftover from drug use that permeates the area all the time. This is a picture
of the property looking towards Frankfurt Avenue. The Frankfurt L runs right here. And we have one
other business here. I believe it's a safe place. This is the corner of our building where I told
you another property on the next block owns it. They have this lot fenced in and sometimes
they use it for their facility. It's not our lot though. And on the end again on this block the same
facility. It's not our lot, though. And on the end, again, on this block, the same side of the
block where our property is located, it's just another fenced in lot. There's nothing developed
there. This is a look down Dara Street, which is the corner of Margaret. And there's an auto body
auto sales place on the next block from 1610 Margaret Street.
It's just another picture of the auto facility for sale on both sides of the block. This is just
a lot where cars park sometimes. This is an actual business where they sell cars.
And this is across the street on Margaret Street.
it's a similar picture just give you a semblance of the area here and on the next block on the
left-hand side of Margaret street we do have residential houses again though there are no
residential houses um adjacent or across the street from our facility only in the next block
what happened when you went to when you went to the rco meeting um commissioner i didn't have the
liberty of getting a um i'm just going to flip through some of the other pictures of getting
the letter from the rco meeting but we actually did meet with the uh frankfurt um cdc and they
did have some concerns and i'm going to address them uh right now um this is a long shot looking
from Frankfurt down the block of Margaret Street. As you can see, there's some kind of safe company
here. This is our driveway here. This is our building. There's only one building on the
corner. It's a pawn shop. There's no residential above. There's an empty lot and one business,
and the rest of the block here is the vacant firehouse and a lot. Again, just some more
pictures. When we went to the CDC meeting, one of the concerns was Mr. Estrada owns an RV and he had
this RV parked in the back of his lot here on his property, I might add. The Civic Association
didn't like that. They thought it was a danger to the business behind because sometimes the
children play in a fenced-in yard back behind here. In order to facilitate the
community association, I did have Mr. Estrada remove the RV from the lot so the perceived
danger could be removed commissioners we did notice the community with the
flyer here is the proof of mailing and we did have the opportunity I'd like you
to see to circulate a petition where we have 35 names and I would submit to you
14 of the signatures on the block, excuse me, the signatures on a petition are from the residences
on Margaret Street in the next block. Frankly, I did have an opportunity to speak with some of
the residences and they consider Mr. Estrada to be a good neighbor and that he keeps the entire
street cleaned. Commissioners, the other concern of the Civic Association was that Mr. Estrada
opened this business without the correct zoning permit. I explained to the community that this
was the first step in regard to trying to get this business into compliance, getting the zoning use
permit. And after we were able to get the zoning use permit, that we could get the other permits
and licenses as required. Additionally, Commissioner, I did offer to the community
association to enter into a proviso whereby we would agree to get a certificate of occupancy
for this business within a year of getting the zoning. The reason that I suggest a certificate
of occupancy is because we all know in order to get to a certificate of occupancy,
You have to have the proper building permits and licenses for whatever is going on in your facility.
And Commissioner, that's all I have at this time.
And I'm more than happy to answer any questions that anyone may have.
Bring on your client.
Mr. Estrada, can you raise your hand, please?
Luis Estrada, please raise your virtual hand.
Mr. Estrada? Yes, I'm here. Hi, could you please state your name and spell for this doctor?
My name is Luis. First name is Luis, L-U-I-S, last name E-S-T-R-A-D-A.
My name is Luis. First name is Luis, L-U-I-S.
We are affirmed to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
Yes, I do.
Please proceed, counsel.
Mr. Estrada, are you the owner of 1610 to 1616 Margaret Street?
And do you operate an auto repair and maintenance service there?
and have you heard my testimony as presented to the board today yes and Mr. Estrada if you were
to testify today would you adopt my testimony as true and correct yes yes I do commissioners
that's all I have questions from the board question did I hear whether you it says auto
repair maintenance, no body and fender work, spray painting. Is that? That's correct, Ms. Gaston. No
spray painting, no spray booth, no body and fender work, which would mean there'll be no
fumes emanating from this facility. Gotcha. Okay. And then it says that you can
park 12 to 14 cars inside? Yes, we can.
And how many bays do you have for doing this, the work that you do? Does that include like
changing tires and things like this? Is that part of it? Yes. Mr. Estrada, would you address how many
lifts you have in that shop for you to do the auto repair work on the cars? Yeah, that's the
right word lifts i'm sorry yeah the lifts okay this is four lifts um that's no um
base because it's a whole it's like a warehouse so everything i keep all the work inside
okay so that's it's only one gate for the whole uh building to bring the cars in and be in service
there right and then you um park the cars like inside yeah i don't know cars outside and i try
not to block when the toll trucks come in for a fire department anything like that i'll try to
keep it keep the road clear okay thank you any other questions from the board
questions or comments from our attorney hillary hammers
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Planning Commission.
This is Ron Bednar, City Planning.
The properties indicated for industrial commercial
and excuse on the adopted
discomprehensive plan, no change
has been recommended
to the existing zoning
at this location.
Therefore, we recommend the request for variance
not be granted.
MI 2022-005-736-1610, Margaret Street, I vote yes.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Tannetta Graham, my vote is yes.
Paya Lynn, my vote is yes.
Thank you, Counsel.
Thank you very much, Commissioners.
Is there anyone in the virtual audience whose case has not been called?
thank you everybody a little bit of a long day but i appreciate it all and
thank you very much thank you all appreciate you there take care thank you good night all
good night good night everybody
good night team
good night everyone