ZBA Hearing - November 9, 2022

There is some.

uh there is across the street there's one of the one of the properties is multi-family in nature

so we did look at a similar property if a cmx property was across the street which is 2277

east cambria street which is the cmx one property which also is fully residential okay i will have

to say that i wanted to do some research today on atlas some and i have to ask what happened but

the L&I tab on Atlas has disappeared. So I couldn't do additional research. So I apologize

for that. But here's East Cambria to the right of the property. Here's Tuller Street to the right

of the property. Tuller Street to the left of the property. And then there are plants and drawing.

And I have the architect, Agata, in the virtual audience, and she can answer any questions.

Of particular notes, the second and third floors are accessed by one entrance on East Cambria. The lower level unit is accessed by, or the first floor unit is a bi-level, first floor and lower level.

It has two sets of staircases on the side on Tulip Street, one for the front door on the first floor, and then it actually has a separate set of staircases for the lower level.

So someone who needed to get out of that property can either go out on the front staircase here on the first floor at the ground level, but there's also steps that go down and up.

So for safety purposes, it was important to Mr. Tota to have that.

And then you can see that from this picture too. There's two sets of staircases for the first floor, lower level unit, on the first floor, and then on the lower level, and that's on the Tulip Street side, and then again on the East Cambria Street side, both the second and third floor units, both accessed from East Cambria.

and then these are the floor plans pretty basic uh if you go in on the tulip street side which

is the first floor you come in here there is an open floor plan with one bedroom you go down

you go down the steps now you can go either exterior go down the steps or you can go

the steps now you can go either exterior go down the steps or you can go

interior down the steps and there is a den area and there's two bedrooms down there

and then if you go to on the east cambria side you go up a flight of steps

and then the second floor is one unit

and you come in and there is a living room a kitchen a bed and two bedrooms and two baths

And then you go up to the third floor and you come off the landing.

And again, same thing, open floor plan of a living room, kitchen, two bedrooms, and let me just make sure it's one and a half baths.

And actually the second unit is also one and a half baths.

And this is the RCO meeting notice.

Again, our firm did not participate in it, but I'm just giving you the notice that went out.

with the notice of refusal and the proof of mailing of that notice.

Again, 28 people did attend.

14 voted in favor.

14 voted not in favor.

And then here's the detail property showing that Mr. Dillover Tota

purchased a property on July 21st for $135,000.

A month later, that property was demolished.

A $30,000 demolition lead is now on the property,

and he has a vacant lot.

The only way to, you know, to make this a functional lot, again, is to put a building structure there that would cost several hundreds of thousands of dollars, and that's why he's asking for this variance of three residential units.

And here's our application appeal that Mr. Dover, Mr. Toto, filled out and completed.

in our certificate of tax cards.

It shows $910.80,

but that amount was paid as well.

So with that being said,

I would ask,

I'm going to unshare my screen.

I'm going to ask that Mr. Tota

virtually raise his hand

to adopt my test donate,

and then we can answer any questions

that the court will have.

Sir, could you state your name

and spell it for the court reporter, please?

Chair, the only hand we have up is from somebody by the name of Jose Antonio.

Jose, let's see if maybe he's using somebody else's phone.

Okay.

Sir, please unmute yourself.

I'm unmuted.

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

Sure.

My name is Jose Antonio Chacon.

Jose Antonio is two words but one name.

Alan, does this have anything to do with your case?

he does but i'm not i'm not his client

okay so i'm looking for his client correct

uh i know he was texting me because he you know he kept asking when we're when are we and i said

i don't know so hold on one second um all right so mr knockamson you're an officer of the court

we'll accept your testimony okay and my understanding is there's a jeff there should

be a jeff reilly and their virtual audience as well for 2303 east cambria at least that's what

so what i'm going to do is i'll call when i get to the that part of it okay okay questions from

the board no mr chairman no mr chairman no mr chairman no questions or comments from the virtual

audience yes chair did you want to hear from mr reilly first sure that's fine okay

Okay. Mr. Riley, please unmute yourself.

I'm here.

Hi, Mr. Riley, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?

My name is Jeffrey Riley, J-E-F-F-R-E-Y, R-I-L-E-Y.

Right. Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?

I do, sir.

And your neighbor?

Yes, I am the chief construction officer for Cooper Street Development, who owns 2303 East Cambria.

Okay.

Counsel?

Yes, Mr. Riley.

My understanding is that your company is in support of this requested variance?

We are, in fact, yes.

Thank you.

Okay.

Is there anything else you want to say, Mr. Riley?

okay is there anyone else in the virtual audience

yes chair we have mr chacon okay

hi could you state your name please

sir please unmute you sorry about that i did uh my name is jose antonio chacon

My name is Jose Antonio Chacon.

Right.

Last name is C.H.A.

The last name is C-H-A.

Spell it for you.

Thank you.

Sorry.

The last name is C-H-A-C-O-N.

Right.

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

I do.

Are you a neighbor?

I am.

Okay, proceed.

So I live at 2305 East Cambria Street.

And unlike Mr. Riva, I actually own and live there.

uh i do not own and rent out so this does actually affect me greatly um excuse me

sorry about that i'm gonna try and be calm and concise it does really affect me um i know that

this would make a bad day for mr tota but this is like i saved up a lot for this house so

it's gonna be a bad few years from here um i have no problem with him building anything

uh there was a building when he bought it it was it did collapse um while construction was

happening on it uh i do feel for him that is a big expense uh it's under my understanding that

when a cx1c when this type of residence has changed that it would be something more in

line with the rest of the neighborhood which is rs5 uh that's really what i would hope but

I understand that he can have

multiple units that is in his right.

Sorry, I'm very

emotional about that. I do have

a couple other things. The

main thing is the property line.

Going past nine

feet, that will affect my light. It will affect

my view of my backyard.

That is the most upsetting thing.

And the other issues

I have,

the zoning notices, the pictures in the

packet, I don't know when they were from,

But those zoning notices haven't been up for a while.

I've never seen them.

So there's that.

And this petition, if you read, it doesn't really say anything about the exceptions.

And when I was presented with this, it was by a neighbor who was with Mr. Chota.

And she just was asking people to sign up so that she could live there.

When I asked if there were any drawings or anything, he didn't have anything.

so in my opinion this is not a good petition okay all right thank you for calling in we

appreciate your opinion is there anyone else in the virtual audience i'll give you a chance in a

minute yes chair we have eva d okay hi how are you can you hear me could you state your name

and spell for the court reporter eva last name d-o-m-i right do you swear or affirm to tell

the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes are you a neighbor yes i live on tulip street

where do you where do you live at 2930 tulip okay proceed um so i'm in favor i just wanted to call

in and say that i was okay all right thank you thank you for the call and we appreciate it

is there anyone else in the virtual audience

yes chair we have anwar turner okay

hi could you state your name and spell for the court reporter please

mr turner please unmute yourself

mr turner

hello hi could you state your name and spell for the court reporter

A-N-W-A-R-T-U-R-N-E-R.

Right.

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

Yes.

Proceed.

I'm going to like for it to happen.

Okay.

Are you a neighbor?

28.

Yes, I live on 2853 Tulo Street.

Okay.

We appreciate your call and thank you for taking the time.

Thank you.

Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?

I see no handshare.

Planning Commission.

Thank you, Chair.

Sarah Bond, City Planning Commission.

Okay.

So although this lot is zoned CMX1, it is adjacent to an RSA5 lot.

RSA5 is the more restrictive zoning, so this lot must conform to its regulations.

The appellant's hardship claim is not supported with evidence of unique physical circumstance or conditions of the property.

The Philadelphia City Planning Commission recommends that the Zoning Board deny the variance.

Thank you, Sarah.

So MI 2022-003-725-2301 East Cambria Street, I vote yes with proviso.

Revised Plan 1 page stamped by ZBA November 9, 2022.

Carol Tenneri, my vote is yes with proviso.

Thomas Holloman, my vote is no.

James Snell my vote is yes with proviso thank you thank you what was that again is my vote

James Snell my vote is yes with proviso

is no okay thank you so you have your three votes thank you let's see here okay so let's

Number 14, MI-2022-003-752-306-REED-STREET.

Sean Whalen, letter of non-opposition from the Penn Sports Civic Association.

Mr. Chair, this is Hillary.

We also have a letter of non-opposition from Council Member Squilla.

Thank you.

good afternoon chair hi mr whalen how are you could you state your name and spell for the

court reporter please certainly sean w-h-a-l-e-n right do you swear for him to tell the truth the

whole truth and nothing but the truth yes i do could you identify your client and relationship

to the property? Of course. 306-10 Reed Street with two E's. LLC is the owner of the property

and my client. Okay. Our vice chair has a few questions. Good afternoon. Do you agree to wait

the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy? Yes, I do. Have you emailed the exhibit

packet consisting of proof of ownership, tax compliance, a copy of the refusal or referral,

photos under plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing and have you met with the

RCO and do you have a letter? Yes to all. Okay great you may proceed and start with sharing

your screen. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. I know our day is getting long here for you

guys so I'll go quickly and offer to up front to just interrupt me as you have any questions.

um so we're talking about 306 reed street you can see reed street this is just some quick context

uh south third kind of going north and south here this is where it goes right into moya mensing

um just uh we're actually purchasing and talking about property that was purchased

directly from the sacred heart church right there at the corner

so again you can see here's that intersection i was talking about you can see some several