ms gaston i apologize uh the proposed hours of operation are seven days per week 5 a.m
for the early morning coffee folks to 10 p.m.
Okay. Thank you.
Questions or comments from the Planning Commission?
Madison Matera, Planning Commission staff, M-A-D-I-S-O-N, M-A-T-E-R-A.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, told truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the CMX-3 commercial mixed-use zoning at this location.
The appellant has demonstrated that the proposed use will not cause detrimental impact beyond what would be reasonably expected.
The Planning Commission recommends the board grant the requested special exception for takeout restaurant.
So MI-2026-001-790-302 Market Street.
I vote yes with proviso.
Use limited to ground floor and basement.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes, with proviso. Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes, with proviso. Hi, Owen, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
We're going to move on to the two o'clock list.
25 okay good afternoon everyone my name is bill bergman and i will be chairing this meeting
with me is our vice chair tenetta graham president mr chairman board secretary
cheryl l gaston president mr chair board members michael johns president mr chairman
tyo win president mr chairman also here is our attorney uh lynn reuter uber and our executive
Director Ian Haggerty. This hearing is being recorded and will be posted on the ZBA website.
By participating, you consent to be recorded. This is an in-person meeting with remote participation.
Whether in person or on Zoom, if you're called to speak, please state and spell your name,
then wait to be sworn in. After you've been sworn in, please state your name each time before
were testifying to enter an appearance be indicate the property address on the
zoom webinar speak with a staff member call this eba office by the close of
business tomorrow call 215-686-2429 and and provide
686-2429 and and provide your name email and the case address remote participation raise your
virtual hand when we indicate for you to speak when we do call on you please click the join as
a panelist button use the q a only for procedural questions not for the case itself if you're
joining by phone press star nine to raise your hand and star six to unmute in-person participation
if testifying get close to the mic so that all attendees and the court stenographer can hear you
no talking speaking or drinking during the hearing aggressive behavior will not be tolerated
in an emergency follow the staff instructions the main exit is the double doors at the rear
and to the left is the nearest stairwell if we evacuate please go to love park
remain there so that we can account for you so let's look at our schedule for this afternoon
number one mi 2025 006 634 3336 north 17th street um this is the second listing we do not have
exhibits um the the uh the sean ward is the attorney is that right and rusk and las cadra are
the applicants
good afternoon chair once again my name is jason hand i will be your coach for the session i see
either individual in the virtual audience today okay so this is the second listing so mi2025
006 634-3336 north 17th street i vote to dismiss michael johns my vote is to dismiss
gerald gaston my vote is to dismiss tenetta graham i've also dismissed tion my vote is to dismiss
And number two, 1018 Busselton Avenue, MI 2025-007-354, that case has been withdrawn.
Number three, 7000 Castor Avenue, MI 2025-007-533, this case has been continuing until 10, 14, at 2 p.m.
Number 5, 6129 Washington Avenue, which is MI 2026-002-082, case has been withdrawn.
And number 10, 428-58 North 2nd Street, which is MI 2026-002-133, case has been withdrawn.
Number six, number six is MI 2026-002112-4058 West Gerrard Avenue.
That case is continued until 1014 at 2 p.m.
Are there any other requests for continuances?
Mr chair I do not see any further hands okay we're going to go to our add-on list
number one mi 2026 000 810 200 north 58th street I vote yes
for a temporary variance that expires August 19, 20, 20, 29.
Mr. Chairman, sorry, excuse me.
That should be a temporary special exception.
Oh, thank you.
Temporary special exception.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes with proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with proviso.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes with proviso.
Iowan, my vote is yes with proviso.
We're going to go to number 15.
Number 15.
Oh, that's right.
Sorry.
There's a lot of people here.
And my 20.
24, 0, 0, 6, 7, 0, 0, 3, 801.
Old York road, I vote no.
Michael Johns, my vote is no.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is no. Tanetta Graham, my vote is no. Taya Nguyen, my vote is no.
Number 15, MI 2026-004-382-2507 Almond Street. Adam Laver is the attorney. Mr. Laver,
could you just um state your name for the record because you've already been sworn adam laver
mr laver could you give us a brief overview of this particular request you have certainly mr
chairman and members of the board um blank room represents would you like me to screen share at
all or not? You could. I mean, that's fine. Thank you. Blank Rome represents L&M Real Estate
Developments, LLC, and its parent entity, the Riverwards Group. My understanding is that
virtually Larry McKnight, managing partner of the Riverwards Group, is available. And we also have
Rustin Oller of Harman Deutsch Oller architecture available should the board have any questions.
We filed a very minor request for adjustments to the previously approved application in this matter,
fully complying with zoning code requirements and not seeking any additional relief.
as you can see on the screen before you uh we saw we're seeking a reduction in parking from
65 stalls to 63 stalls that may be the most significant of uh of what we're doing here
but it does not impact again uh zoning code provisions a removal of a pico access wall
which is a utility access this is in coordination with pico i should note there's no objection to
to that removal of a common roof deck which was originally proposed removal of one roof stair
tower and removal of a previously proposed roof level elevator lobby the department of licenses
and inspections reviewed carefully the plans requested some additional information and you
can see uh at the bottom in handwriting uh that the examiner approved these changes subject to
this board's final review and noted proposed reductions only the board's notice of decision
dates back to september of 2022 unfortunately uh due to pandemic and financing issues this project
took much longer than we would have liked mr chairman and members of the board i stand here
today telling you we are ready to move forward quickly uh and safely and help uh to bring more
housing to this area and to the city it is currently a vacant parcel i'm not going to go
through that background unless the board requests so the board had previously approved uh through
revised proviso plans uh a a development and lni issued this zoning permit that's up on the screen
before you we had worked closely with the community uh and entered into a community
benefits agreement we felt that we were in a really good place as as far as that overall
development proposal went we just got the bad luck of pandemic and other issues that stalled things
so uh you can see uh in the lower left hand corner of these revised proviso plans board councils
sign off on what had previously been proposed two pages and here are the revised plans which really
don't show much this is not exciting stuff that i'm about to show you um in in the bubble you
You may be able to see, I know the type is small, the elevator overrun, removal of recess balconies. Here on this next page in the upper left hand corner, the removal of the rooftop deck. Pros and cons to all of these things, but this is what may
pros and cons to all of these things but this is what makes sense to advance this project forward
and again anything that's changed is bubbled and i previously outlined for you
we view these proposed changes as very minor and i'm sorry to take up the board's time
but we we hope that the board will allow us to move forward and if so quite frankly we are
prepared to try to do so as soon as possible all right questions from the board
questions from our attorney no questions questions or comments from the virtual or the present
audience here mr chair i do not see any hands raised hearings over thank you thank you mr
chairman members of the board number four
MI 2026-002-061, 913 North 16th Street.
Rachel Pritzker is the attorney.
I'll be right back.
Rachel on? Yep. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. As you know, you were already sworn in. Just
for the record, please state your name. Yes, Rachel Pritzker. And could you identify your
client the relationship to the property yeah my client is john pacalla of high and tight llc who
is the owner of the property okay and our vice chair has a few questions good afternoon have
you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing yes and do you
waive the reading of the refusals and stipulate to their accuracy yes all right thank you you
can share your screen and proceed with your case thank you you see my screen
yes we see it okay great so this is the refusal for 913 i'm going to zoom in um north 16th street
oh where did that just go
um this is the um application for proposed use of visitor accommodations within an existing
structure and the for the creation it's really the legalization of three accessory off street
uh parking spaces there's two interior spaces and one surface space as per plans this project
generated several refusals the property was purchased from an existing owner who had
already put had since 2017 the garages and the parking spaces on the property and the use was
already visitor accommodations from that time my client purchased it and did not change the license
over you have to renew the existing license within 10 days if you don't then you have to
get a whole new license for visitor accommodations which requires a new zoning permit all the other
conditions are just to be legalized we met with the rco and went through a lot of the zoning
archives it was evident that a lot of the existing conditions on the site had never been legalized by
the prior owner so this application seeks to legalize everything that exists on that property
none of which was caused by the current owner
i'm just gonna go down to
Show the site. So the property was listed and was listed with legal use as a Airbnb. It has
4,600 square feet and nine bedrooms. You'll see it was already built out as multiple units.
The surrounding block has almost all multifamily rentals and some PHA housing on the block as
well so that the multi-family use is not out of character um for the for the block or for
this neighborhood in general just the deed um here's a site again it's zoned rm1
As you can see, completely surrounded by multifamily or high-density commercial mixed use.
as you can see completely surrounded by multi-family or high density commercial
And it's this corner property here, zoned RM1.
An aerial view of the property.
And again, a view from the corner.
It's this corner property right here.
Another view.
Another view.
This view shows the existing garages which are on the side of the property, again they were pre-existing and so the application seeks to legalize those curb cuts and these garages that were here.
Just additional four unit buildings like this property on the same block, most of the block directly adjacent and across the street is all multifamily housing.
again the blocks are zoned RM1 more views of the garages
just wanted to show the units they're in good shape and nice large size units
Third unit.
fourth unit just want to get down to this is the the exterior spaces
um so this is where the hardship comes in and the reason that we're asking for visitor
accommodation so my client purchased the property um and it had an active rental license for the
hotel, which is visitor accommodations. It was issued back in 2020 and was only inactivated
July 1 of 2025. I think that was 30 days after my client purchased the property. The rule states
that if you bought a property like this, it already has a license. You have 10 days
to transfer the license. So he was, after purchasing the property, did not transfer
license within 10 days. In that case, what you have to do is go back through, get a new license,
but you have to get a zoning permit for visitor accommodations in order to do that.
When he purchased the property, all the financing, all the financial valuation,
the whole purpose of purchasing it was as an Airbnb. It doesn't really, and so again,
was not aware of that 10-year rule. He's not a significant landlord in the city, doesn't have
a ton of these properties, and so thought that at the 30 days when he was done purchasing property
that he could transfer this over. But the city has a rule that requires you to now go back through
the entire process. But again, the whole purchase of the property and all the financial
loans and everything was based on being able to do visitor accommodations. And again,
it's four units in an existing structure. He does have a four-unit rental license at the time.
The listings were removed off of Airbnb slowly, which is how he was even alerted that we had to
go through this process. It was not disclosed to him at the time when he purchased it.
These are the zoning notice of appeal and the refusal
on the property.
again in all the garages as well uh and rm1 you're not permitted visitor accommodations
without a variance from the zoning board of adjustment and then i'll have resting go
through our architect go through some of this but again we're legalizing the existing dimensional
considerations of the parking that's already been there and so they don't comply with the
current code of what's permitted but it was important we met with the rco that we got
everything legalized. We met with the RCO, it was United Francisville Civic Association.
We have a letter of support from them, sent out notice to all the affected neighbors,
and they provided us a letter of support for our application.
So everybody at the meeting, well, the majority of people at the meeting, all attendees to RCO Board 2, non-opposition, and then to people in general of opposition.
So everybody at the meeting, well, the majority of people at the meeting.
Also have a letter of non-opposition from Councilman Young's office.
We also have letters of support from near neighbors.
And then just want to have Rustin Oller from Harman Deutsch quickly come on and just go
through the plans.
Is Rustin in the audience?
Yes, Counselor, I should be coming back in shortly.
All right, thank you.
hello mr chairman and members of the board i could you please state your name and spell for
this photographer yeah roston oler last name o-h-l-e-r right do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do counsel i'm just gonna uh share my screen again