and we're proposing six foot three inches.
It's a one-story add-on
and it really won't affect the neighbors
because it's just one story
and there's a lot of trees around.
And the one neighbor that it will impact
is she's fine with it.
Do you have a close-up of the house
where you're going to put the vision?
um that's the back of the house that's the side of the house you see where that big tree is
uh on the bottom picture there yeah that's sort of where it's gonna jet out just a little bit
there just to put that's the inside of the house and um that's my um the postings for the variance
um it's just really going to be like a powder room set out so this is really hard there's only
one bathroom on the second floor here and as we're getting older we really want to age in place
and um it's been difficult so west mount airy neighbors are in support of you yes yes i have
that letter okay there's that letter for that all right questions from the board no mr chairman no
Mr. Chairman. No, Mr. Chairman. Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Chair, we have Charles Richardson. Hi, Mr. Richardson. Hello, Mr. Chair again.
Charles Richardson, Office of the Councilwoman Cindy Bass. Councilwoman has no opposition to
granting this variance. Thank you very much for calling in. Anyone else in the virtual audience?
I see no hands, Chair. Hi, Planning Commission. Thank you, Chair Ian Hegarty for the Philadelphia
thank you chair ian hegarty for the philadelphia city planning commission board members the
City Planning Commission. Board members, the conference.
comprehensive plan recommends no change to the rsa2 single-family zoning at this location however
we feel the proposed dimensional variance is minimal and does not conflict with the purpose
and spirit of the zoning code we recommend that the zoning board grant the variance thank you
MI 2022-003-309-630
Glen Echo Road.
I vote yes.
Carol Cineri, my vote is yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shahid, my vote is yes.
All right.
Thank you, ma'am.
Good luck.
Thank you very much.
All right.
All right.
15 mi 2022 003 292 1523 north bailey street
bern anastasio is the attorney letter of support from brewery town chargewood community civic
Association, also submitted a petition and non-opposition support signed by a few dozen
neighbors.
Good morning, Mr. Chair.
Good morning, Vern.
Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
Vern Anastasio.
It's V like Victor, E-R-N, last name A-N-A-S-T-A-S-I-O.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client and relationship to the property?
Yes, I represent Mr. Michael Connolly, who is the owner of the property.
All right. Our vice chair has a few questions.
Hi, Vern. Do you swear or...
No, that was already done.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with 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 that okay great you may proceed and your screen's up so
that's good thank you 1523 north bailey street uh we're doing a lot consolidation two lots
into one and then we're proposing three artist studios and seven dwelling units. This is exactly
what IRMX has in mind when the code was rewritten, industrial, residential, mixed use, and that's
exactly what we're providing. Unfortunately, what is required though is two parking spaces
that are accessory we are proposing zero we're proposing zero because if we were to be compliant
we would then be eating up parking for the folks on the block which is not something they want so
I'm going to hold on here
this is what we're proposing it's a double lot and we're proposing an addition
As you can see, and we're going to have, if the administrator wouldn't mind promoting Ian Toner, who's the architect on the project, I'm going to have him walk you through the units.
But while that's being done, the existing house is a two-bedroom, one-bath. It's over 1,000 square feet.
We have unit one is a two-bedroom, one-bath at 8.04. Unit two is a two-bedroom, one-bath at 8.40.
unit 3 is 861 unit 4 is 827 so all ample unit 5 is 523 and unit 6 is 726 and and i'm gonna
back up here um and let me get through this first i guess we also have uh the lock consolidation
plan that's also in my exhibit packet on page 9 and 10.
Let me share some photos. This is the property as it exists. Properties.
the rear interior we have lots of photos that are part of the packet
basement
there's a rear yard
we'll also get to the some of the workspace this artist studio portion
Some of the workspace, this artist studio portion.
My client is an artist, a long-time member of the community,
and just wants to be able to renovate the property correctly.
Here is proof.
I'm going to pull out a little bit, proof of posting.
Here are the various signatures that my client personally circulated to get in support, three
pages worth.
Here's the flyer that went out to everyone and ensured that 103 individual households
were mailed.
So we have proof of posting.
I have an updated tax certificate that I submitted separate, under separate cover, that I'm also going to move into evidence.
I have an email from Doris Aldridge from the RCO letting us know early on about the tally.
As you can see, 15 folks support, two oppose, and three abstain.
And since then, she has sent separately a letter, which you all have on file, and I believe the chairman referenced.
again this is exactly what we sort of imagined when we the code was rewritten in 2012 this is
industrial with the studios residential with the seven units and mixed use we are not going to
provide the two off-street parking spots because that would be actually detrimental to the community
and that's why they've supported us in this appeal with that I'm going to hand it over to
Mr. Toner in the event he wants to add anything.
Mr. Toner, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
Ian Toner from Toner Architects, I-A-N-T-O-N-E-R.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, counsel.
Mr. Toner, would you like to...
Yeah, go ahead, Vern.
Sorry.
I just want to ask you to walk the board quickly through the units and talk about the trash plant.
Sure. We can keep it right here on this page.
What you see here and what you saw in the photos is what's shown in pink is an existing single-family home that we're going to keep as a single-family home.
and then wrapping around that is an older industrial building two stories which currently
has artist studios and one apartment um you know Bailey Street is full of studios for artists and
makers so it's it's got a really vibrant arts culture and the client being an artist himself
is really interested in maintaining that um because it's what makes this block really special
So the only way we're going to get two parking spaces on this lot is to put them side by side with a 24-foot curb cut, which means we're demolishing the house and a good chunk of the front of the existing industrial building and taking up at least, you know, say one, one and a half parking spaces off the street that exists now.
So it doesn't really help anyone, and it would reduce the amount of artist studio space in the project
and also demolish perfectly serviceable existing buildings.
So, I mean, that's really the reason why we're proposing not to move forward with any parking.
It just doesn't make any sense here and doesn't help anyone in the community.
And I think the community was very receptive to that message at the RCO meeting.
And they would be front loaders, is that right?
that's right yeah yes so they wouldn't even be um you know anything this board
do you want your client to adopt your testimony i do um if michael connelly could raise his
virtual hand and mr chair i move all of this and additional email materials that i have not
presented today that's fine i've already sent over to miss emerson uh i move all of it into uh
into the record. Thank you. Mr. Connolly? Yes. Hi, could you state your name, please,
and spell for the court reporter? Michael Connolly, M-I-C-H-A-E-L-C-O-N-N-E-L-L-Y.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir. Proceed. Thank you. Mr. Connolly, did you hear my presentation to the board today?
Yes. Is it true and accurate to the best of your knowledge? Yes. And do you adopt it,
your own testimony yes thank you my questions from the board no mr chairman no mr chairman
no mr chairman no mr chairman no mr chairman questions or comments from the virtual audience
chair we have jeffrey last name ending in g okay
my sir could you state your name please and spell for the court reporter
well i apologize this was for the case earlier i was asking a question on appeals that has nothing
in this case all right thank you very much anyone else in the virtual audience i see no other hands
here um planning commission thank you chair bergman ian hegarty for the philadelphia city
planning commission board members in 2014 the zoning map was amended to irmx in accord with
recommendations from the comprehensive plan to encourage this type of adaptive reuse these
existing structures council has shown is uh being retained uh cannot accommodate additional parking
spaces and so the city planning commission recommends that the board grant the variance
thank you mi2022-003-292-1523 north bailey street i vote yes carol tanari my vote is yes
thomas holloman my vote is yes james snell my vote is yes
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Thank you, counsel.
Yep, thank you.
Number 16, MI 2021-001-573-2783 Roberts Avenue.
Lynn Nichols is the attorney.
Letter of opposition from the East Falls Zoning Committee with accompanying police report.
And there's also another counsel involved for the adjacent property owner, Julie Bernstein.
Good morning, Chair.
Hi, good morning.
Could you state your name, please, and spell it for the court reporter?
Lynn, L-Y-N-N, Nichols, N-I-C-H-O-L-S.
Thank you.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
that is correct is Julie Bernstein available
yes chair I'm gonna allow her to speak now
do you want me to promote her to panelists or just allow her to speak
let her promote her to panelists okay
hi miss bernstein could you state your name please and spell for the court reporter
uh good morning julie bernstein first name julie j-u-l-i-e last name bernstein b-e-r-n-s-t-e-i-n
Do you swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Who's your client?
MH2 Oaks Portfolio LLC.
They are the owner of 2781 Roberts Avenue, which is the Chiefs of Portfolio.
So we're going to go, Ms. Nichols will present first.
Ms. Nichols, could you identify your client and the relationship to the property?
Yes. The owner of the property is Maude, M-A-U-D-E, Martin, M-A-R-T-I-N.
All right. Our vice chair has a few questions.
Hi. Good morning. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, 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. However, we met with the RCO and they did
not provide us a letter. I thought I heard from the chair that there was a letter of opposition
and a police report. Yes. Yes. I wasn't aware who, I know that Ms. Bernstein said in a letter
i didn't we weren't aware this says the east fall zoning committee
okay so they didn't share that with us chair just so you know is there any way we can get a copy of
that hillary miss nick yes miss nichols this is hillary i'm sending it to you right now
um i do not see that you were on it um and i did have one clarifying question for you um you
mentioned that the the owner is mod martin are they a principal and an llc because that's not
the owner that was listed on the deed that was submitted? Yes, the deed is in the name of Gracie
Painting, which is Ms. Martin's company. She- Okay. Principal, yeah. Okay, thank you for the clarification.
Was the consulting group LLC cc'd on that email from the RCO?
Was the consulting group LLC-
I'm just wondering.
Hillary?
It does not appear so, no.
Would you like me to forward it to that email as well?
No, I was just curious as to why they didn't send it to us.
I mean, we have two email addresses.
That's the only reason I was asking.
no i do not not see it on the email that i received okay may i proceed with my presentation