Can you all hear me?
All right.
Thank you.
Good morning, Chair. We have 52 attendees.
Good morning, everyone. My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this meeting of the
Philadelphia Zoning Board of Adjustments. With me is our Vice Chair, Ismail Shahid.
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.
Michael will be on shortly.
And our board member, Taya Nguyen.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Also present is Hillary Emerson, our attorney, Ian Haggerty, the executive director of the zoning board, and our supervisor, Lakeisha Dandy.
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Before we begin, Executive Director Ian Haggerty has an important safety announcement. Ian?
All right. Thank you, Chair. Good morning, everyone.
This is Ian Haggerty, Executive Director of the Zoning Board of Adjustment.
The safety of this meeting is our highest priority. In the event of an emergency, please pay attention to announcements on the loudspeaker, which will provide detailed information. If no announcements heard, please follow the directions of the security officers or ZBA staff members.
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and as a note restrooms are located across from the elevators and there's a water fountain just
outside the double doors to the right thank you thank you let's look at our schedule for today
number seven mi 2024 005 506 53 20 53 51 wayne avenue that case is continued
And number 17, MI 2024.
And number 17, MI 2024-005-575-1005 North 6th Street.
That case is continued.
Are there any other requests for continuance?
Good morning, Chair.
This is Jasmine, and I will be your co-host today.
I have a hand up by the name of Vern Anastasio.
They have been promoted to panelists.
Good morning, Counsel.
Council, could you please state your name and spell for the stonographer?
Council?
Chair, he may be having technical difficulties.
Hello?
I'm not Vern, but.
Could you please state your name and spell for the court synographers?
David Orphanides, last name spelled O-R-P-H-A-N-I-D-E-F.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Your case number one, MI 2024, 000790324 South 17th Street.
That's correct.
Could you give us the status here?
Yeah, I believe my client wants to withdraw this appeal. However, I have an email from him, but I don't have his final approval of the letter I intended to submit to the board requesting the withdrawal or my appearance today to withdraw. So I'd ask for that the matter just be continued or so that I could submit that paperwork.
Thank you. MI 2024 00790324 South 17th Street. The case is continued.
Mr. Chair, this is Hillary. I would suggest that one be marked
attorney moving party. Attorney moving party.
Do we see Vern?
Good morning.
Good morning, counsel. Could you please state your name and spell for the
sonographer? Yes, sir. Vern Anastasio, A-N-A-S-T-A-S-I-O.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
What case, sir?
2307 Naudain Street, Mr. Chair.
Please give us status, sir.
Yes, sir. We need to meet with the RCO. We were unable to meet with them prior to today's hearing, so we've set that up now, which is why we need the continuance.
Thank you. So MI2024-005-489-2307, North Dane Street. Cases continued until 6-11-25 at 9.30 a.m.
Here for the record, Mike Johns, I'm here.
Vernon, you represent the people at North Dane Street?
well he's got the case okay all right any other requests for continuance
i see no more hands at this time chair sorry mr chair i keep getting uh uh un unpromoted so yeah
so so you represent the people in the age because originally that was pro se right
that's correct thank you very much thank you okay so let's go through our list here number
number three mi 2024 002 966 20 jackson street joseph vicaro is the attorney
um no exhibits second listing mr vicaro you here i see no one in the audience with that name chair
Okay, so MI 2024-002-966-20 Jackson Street, that case is continued until 6-11-25, Mark, must be heard.
number four mi 2024 005 488 1323 north 60th street no exhibits first listing
donna bruce is the listed applicant hudson auto tags is the listed owner
i see no one in the virtual audience with that name chair so mi 2024 005
488 1323 North 60th Street. Cases continued. Mark must be heard.
Cases continued, Mark, must be heard.
And, Mr. Chair, what is the continuing state for that one?
06-11-25.
Thank you.
At 930, correct?
Thank you.
And number 14.
MI 2024-005-525.
1222 West
Luzerne Street. Tito
Reynolds is the listed
owner. E.B. Riaz
is the listed
applicant. No exhibits, first
listing.
I see no one
in the virtual audience with that name,
Jerry. So MI2024
005-525
1222 West Luzerne
Street.
Cases continued until
6 11 25 at 9 30 a.m mark must be heard
we're going to go we're going to go to our add-on list
number one this is a revote mi 2022 006 213 25 51 west silver street
I vote no proviso per amended refusal dated 8-24-24.
Michael Johns, my vote is no with proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is no with proviso.
Teneda Graham, my vote is no with proviso.
Tyowin, my vote is no with proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is no with proviso.
Number two, MI-2023-006-909-1443 Tasker Street, do we have a Mandarin interpreter?
Chair, I have two hands up.
The first hand is by the name of Renee Felder.
mike wang is the mandarin interpreter for for this case in the next case
okay his hand is raised thank you no problem mike wing has been promoted to penalist
good morning could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer
i'm sorry mr chairman were you just addressing me yes i am please could you state your name and
spell for this demographer? Sure. My name is Mike Wang, last name W-A-N-G. Do you soundly swear or
affirm that you will interpret accurately, completely, and impartially from English to
Mandarin and from Mandarin to English to the best of your abilities? Yes, I do. Okay, so number two,
MI 2023-006-909-1443 Tashkar Street, I vote no.
Michael Johns, my vote is no.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is no.
Teneda Graham, my vote is no.
Iowen, my vote is no.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is no.
Mr. Wine, could you please interpret?
案件号码230069091443Tesco这个地址 刚刚委员的投票都否决
Thank you, sir. And number three, MI 2024-005-351-4242, Cotman Avenue, I vote no.
Michael Johnson, my vote is no.
Mr. Wang, thank you very much for your help. We appreciate it. We're going to go to our regular list.
We're going to start with case number 18, MI2024-006-488-5419 Chester Avenue.
Renee Felder is the owner applicant.
Renee Felder will be the owner.
Renee Felder will be rejoining us as a panelist.
Ms. Felder.
Hello, everyone. How you doing?
Good morning. Could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Renee Felder, R-E-N-E-E, last name Felder, F as in Frank, E-L-D-E-R.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
So this application is for two-family household living in an existing structure.
The proposed use two-family living is prohibited in the RSA 5 zoning district.
our vice chair has a few questions for you okay good morning miss velger 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 you may proceed and share your screen
oh i thought you guys had all the documents so i have to show you guys the
Oh, okay. All right. Bear with me. Let's see.
Show your knee and share your screen.
You go to my folder. I didn't know. I apologize.
Ms. Felder, if you have a hard time getting it up right now, we can come back to you.
That way you can take your time and have your documents ready, okay?
Are you ready to go now?
Okay, please proceed.
Share your screen.
I did hit share, but I don't know which one.
Thank you for coming out.
All right.
Can y'all see it now?
Not yet.
we see a list of you're going to have to open up what your documents are,
right? Can you see what's up on our screen?
I can see you guys over here to the right. Okay.
So this is one of my pictures that I sent.
That's like a block up from the parcel.
They're building multifamily units. They have them all on this block,
new developments um that's just one picture and i'm asking for it to be grandfather back
into the original cold and coding which is the multi-family unit and i can bring that up also
for as um why don't you start with pictures of your of your building
oh gosh i thought you guys would have all that i'm so sorry all right good just
why don't you do this i'm going to come back to you in about a half hour
and that way you're going to have all your documents lined up and ready to go okay
so we'll be back to you in a half hour okay thank you thank you
we're going to go to number two mi 2024 002 922 21 23 to 25 clearfield street michael
michael hanny is the attorney um there's a recommendation of support from southport
Richmond, and a letter of non-opposition from Council Member Squilla's office.
There are also revised plans.
Good morning, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
Good morning, Council.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Michael McElhenney, M-I-C-H-A-E-L, M-C-I-L-H-I-N-N-E-Y.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Our vice chair has just a few questions.
Good morning, counsel.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
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, I have.
Thank you, counsel.
Please proceed and share your screen.
okay i'm here on behalf of clearfield warehouse llc which is the owner ben estepani is the
architect on the project um let me scroll over i like to go through the preliminary uh attachments
are our zoning appeals at exhibit 11 a copy of the property with the zoning posters posted is
at exhibit 12 our rco notice with the community is at exhibit 13 we did have two meetings the
most recent being november 13th 2024 that did result in that letter of support
My client's deed, having taken titled September 12, 2022, is at Exhibit 14, and our tax clearance is at Exhibit 15.
As you can see, there is a balance for tax year 25. That payment is not due until March 31, 2025.
And as the chairman referenced, we do have a letter of support, 34 in favor, 3 opposed from the local community group.
After the first meeting, they asked for changes, and we will be presenting revised plans to accommodate the changes that the community wanted.
Exhibit two is our zoning refusal.
Our application is for the complete demolition of the existing semi-detached garage structure.
and were requesting to erect a semi-detached structure that was originally proposed at four
levels with four roof decks and two roof deck access structures for 14 dwelling units,
multifamily household living. The property is zoned, as you can see at the top RSA 5,
and that generated two use refusals and one zoning refusal. Going from the bottom up,
the multifamily use is not permitted by right in the RSA 5 district, so that's a use refusal.
the second refusal whereas the buildings on either side of us are two stories or two and a half
stories that would require our third story to be set back eight feet and we are proposing to have
the building built at the front property line and then the first refusal is the roof deck having
been constructed in the first um the first eight feet there's our there's the roof deck must be
eight feet set back from the front of the property and we did not have that required
setback at the fourth floor level. We are removing the fourth floor level in the revised
plan that we'll be showing today. Exhibit three is a zoning map showing orienting the property
and the surrounding zoning uses. The property is on the north side of East Clearfield Street
in the center of the block. It is RSA 5. Going to the west, the corner property is CMX 1
at Amber Street. And then going one block farther are all the commercial and residential multifamily
on Frankfort Avenue. And then going to the east, we have the ICMX, IRMX, and I2 properties. And
this is like an old rail line that runs and divides the east side of East Clearfield from
the west side heading towards Frankfort Avenue. The second photo of Exhibit 3 is an aerial view
just to show the subject property with the blue dot and the rail line to the east showing the
dividing from the residential to the industrial partials. And the third page are some aerial
photos again just showing 3D dimensions of the subject property with a view on the top of the
picture to the west Frankfurt Ave properties and then to the east the rail line. And if I could
turn to exhibit four which are some photos of the actual site at issue. So the subject property is
this garage building. It's about a story and a half tall. It was used by the prior owner for
storage and vehicle storage and other storage. It is a 100% lot coverage building as exists.
On either side of our building, we do have a, on the left side, the west side is a two and a half
story building. On the right side is a two story building. The building to the, and looking towards
the east we have the 2127 clearfield that's zoned for a duplex and i don't have the note here but
2129 as well as zoned for a duplex use the remaining properties going towards the east
are three-story single-family houses and vacant lot in the middle of the block
the next photo at page two is the remaining houses on the north side of the block going
towards the train station, the rail line, and the final photo is at the corner showing the end unit
and then the rail line immediately to the right, and it's clearer on this next photo at Martha
Street. You can see the rail line that divides the neighborhood. Page four shows the south side of
Page four shows the south side of the block, which is the rail line on the left.
the block, which is the real
And then we have two-story residential homes, some vacant lots, some other single-family home at Martha Street.
And then going to the west on the south side, we have vacant lots, some single-family homes, some vacant lots, until you get to the three-story on the corner, which is towards Collins Street.
which was last zoned as a ground floor tap room with a single family above so we have some two
stories some vacant lots and some commercial uses on this immediate block as we go farther above
collins street going west we have some residential structures and then the commercial uses as you get
to the farther west towards amber street and frankfort avenue and this is just a photo at
on page eight of the properties closer to Frankfort Avenue, the commercial uses.
Page eight at the second photo is a view looking east with the garage building farthest to the
right on the photo and showing properties along the north side of Clearfield. Going to the west,
we have houses, garages, and then at the corner there'll be a commercial use.
photo page nine just shows the residential houses to the west and then the garage use
is the next one over going west so more residences until you get to the corner at amber street which
is a corner grocery store supermarket going opposite across the street on amber street
then we have an auto repair use auto detailing use and then the remaining uses are heading
towards Frankfurt Avenue. We do not have interior photos, so I took an aerial. This is a sealed up
building. It is a 100% lock coverage building. The roof has been removed for safety reasons,
and as I mentioned, it was last used just for storage purposes by the prior owner.
Exhibit 6 is the original zoning plan, and I'm going to take away the tabs just so we can
A brief overview. This property is a 32-foot wide by 100 feet deep, 100% lock coverage building
currently. The request is to build a new semi-detached structure that originally was a
four-story building, not to exceed 38 feet in height, so it would be dimensionally compliant
height-wise. And we had a roof deck at the front of the property, and at the fourth store, there's
another roof deck with pilot houses. We are proposing a full code compliant nine foot rear
yard and a side yard to provide additional light and air that's five feet, seven and a half inches
wide. And the main access point for the proposed units will be through the side yard. And I'll
show that on the layouts, the floor plans on exhibits. It'll be exhibit eight, I believe.
the this is a side view of the original plan which again was uh four levels the first three
levels would be to the front of the property line and then a recess five foot setback a fourth floor
roof deck area that was one of the refusals and then a fourth floor um of three additional
residences the rco requested even though the height is within 38 feet and by right in terms
of height for the RSA 5 district, they did ask for reduced unit count, and they asked for reducing
the height so that it's more in line with the size and height of the buildings on the block.
So the revised plan is to remove this fourth floor level, which I'll show on the next plan.
And so the layout from above appears very similar. We have the full nine-foot setback,
a full the same side yard the fourth floor has been removed we do have the roof deck and pilot
house that would be accessed for any of the units and we do have the five foot setback
before the roof deck would begin
and the new side view elevation of the revised plan shows the removal of that fourth floor level
to bring it down to approximately, as you can see over here, it's 31 feet to the roof deck surface
as opposed to before it was closer to 38 feet. The front view of the property, and I'll try to
make this a little larger for the front elevation, you can see windows at all three levels. The second
and third floor level do have recessed balconies to provide light and air and outdoor space for
those front upper units and all the units will have access to the roof deck for outdoor space
as well as access to the rear yard. On the renderings I'll show more clearly there is this
five foot side yard. We do have a gate to secure the side yard which is where the occupants would
which is where the occupants would be coming in and out of to enter the uh the structure
be coming in and out of to enter the.
the next exhibit is the revised proviso plan form just detailing those changes of removing
the fourth story to reduce the height the building goes from 38 feet down to 31 feet
one of the comments at the community meeting was when you have 30 morning do you have bacon egg
and cheese on a when you have 38 feet um in four stories you end up with low ceiling heights so
actually the representative from the councilman's office requested it would be better living space
if we had higher ceiling so by removing the fourth floor we were able to make the floors a little
higher nine feet floors instead of eight feet so it is better better living space for the occupants
and the unit count reduced from 14 to 11.
The next exhibit, and let me pull up.
The next exhibit is the,
exhibit eight is the proviso plans form.
The RCO package that we presented at the last meeting
has the rendering, so that's tab nine,
which page Z102 shows the proposed rendering.
As you can see, we now have that building
that's approximately 31 feet high.
The building to the west of us is about 24 feet, I believe.
And the building to the right, the semi-detached, is 20 feet high, two-story structure.
One of our refusals is because we have a third floor and there's a two-story next to us,
we'd have to reset our third floor back eight feet, which is kind of silly where the building
next to us then would be higher than us.
So in speaking with the community, the agreement was to keep the building at the front and
to get rid of that fourth floor so that it's more in line with the scope of the other buildings
on the block. We are 100% lock coverage currently, whereas the other buildings are not. So we're
also going to be reducing the occupied area by putting the residential structure in at this
location. And I'm going to go to the floor plans to give a better view of, and this is the side
elevation Z104. Before we go to the floor plans, as you can see, this is the coming down the
courtyard. The ground floor units do have access to their individual units by outside doors that
go to the side yard and have access to the rear yard. All these side units do have light and air
windows attached because we have that five and a half foot side yard. And the main entrance to
the building is this door behind the first ground floor unit. Z, the next page is, and I'll close
this again, just to show the floor plans. The first floor plan, again, has a direct access into
the unit, which is a two-bedroom, one-bath, two-bath unit, living room, kitchen. In the main
entryway coming in, we have a trash room, which is always a concern when you're adding units is
how are they handling trash. So we have a designated trash room, a designated mail area,
and a stair tower to go to the second and third floors for those units. And there's a separate
stair tower at the rear, again, for access to the second and third floor units. The ground floor
units all have their own entryway to the outside. And we have windows along the entire property
line. So all of these rooms have light and air. The first floor rear, we do have a one bedroom,
one-bath unit. And the very back unit, unit three on our plan, is again a one-bedroom,
one-bath unit. Since these units do not have washers and dryers inside and storage is always
an issue, part of the discussion with the community was make sure we have laundry in
the building, which we do in the lower level. And we've also added additional storage units for all
the dwellings so that they have additional space for their materials. There's no living space
downstairs. It's just utilities and storage units for the tenants. The second and third
floors are identical to each other. We end up with four one-bedroom, one-bath units at each level
accessed by that central stair tower and accessed by that rear stair tower. And all these buildings,
the stair tower does go up to that pilot house to provide outside access. And these units are
good-sized units, going from the back to the front. Unit 7 is about 434 square feet,
one-bedroom, one-bath unit. Unit 6 is 478 square feet. Unit 5, 407. Unit 4, 517. And that's going
to be the same dimensions on the upper units. The lower unit, the two-bedroom unit, two-bath unit,
unit one is 712 square feet. Unit two is 573 square feet. And the unit at the rear unit three
is 475 square feet. So we have good living space. We have full kitchens, living room,
dining room, laundry and units, trash storage to address all the community concerns. And the
laundry in units, trash storage to address all the community concerns, and the appropriate density for this location.
As part of the exhibit, there's a mix of uses on this property in this block with the multifamily vacant lots, single family.
The buildings right next door to us, I did include the zoning archives just showing that they are approved for two units each at 2127 and 2129 East Clearfield Streets.
The we would request and submit that this is an appropriate use to change the garage use to provide additional affordable rental units, quality living space in the community.
And with the community support, we've requested the board grant the requested use variance and dimensional variances so that my client can construct the requested multifamily apartment building at the location.
and with that i believe this you want to bring your client on please
yeah if mr whitfield is on the zoom if he could raise his hand
alfred with two has been promoted to peniles
hi sir could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
Mr. Whitefield, can you please state your name?
Do we see Mr. Whitefield?
Yes, Chair.
He has been promoted to penalist.
Mr. Whitefield?
Council you're an officer the court we will accept your testimony questions or comments
from the board yes I have a question at any point had this been considered to have like
units that accommodated those in wheelchairs I noticed on the plans that you had a lot of
turning radiuses on a building that only has stairs on upper floors yeah and that's that's
really i don't know if ben estepani is on the architect one of the issues with anything above
the ground floor is getting space to add the an elevator which they opted to do a walk-up instead
of an elevated building the and i'm not sure if any of the ground floor units are ada accessible
or not that's if mr estebani could opine on that um that might be the architect here
yes chair ben estefani has been promoted to penalists
sir could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
Ben Estepani, B-E-N, last name, E-S-T-E-P-A-N-I.
Tell the truth, the whole truth is nothing but the truth.
Counsel, that's your witness. Please proceed.
Mr. Estepani, did you hear the question about turning radiuses and accessibility?
Yeah. The ground floor units are all accurate.
The plan was to treat those as type B rental units, so we have clearances for there to make those units all ADA accessible.
The upper floors were showing the turning radius just because during the first RCO meeting,
comment had come up about an emergency um just getting through some of these doors
um even though we aren't providing an elevator um it was brought up like a stretcher or something
like that to accommodate um someone in case of emergency so we widen the hallways at certain
spots um primarily at entries and at the egress towers to allow for maneuvering extra people
so we just found that to be just the easiest way to kind of represent that extra space
with the other floors okay well what's the requirement for the type b units how many
for this building um i don't remember offhand um i have to double check and uh get that
information for you but i don't remember offhand also just to clarify this is not an elevator
building even no okay right but yeah but they're required because of the number of units no no that
but yeah but they're required because of the number of units no no that part I understood
part I understood
he he said it was an elevator building when he was oh no I said it I said it because it wasn't
sorry if I misspoke yes how many how many uh uh what's the what's the height of the buildings
on that side of the block are they all two-story like the one next to you that you show are they
there are other three-story units buildings you get the buildings directly adjacent are
two stories and then i think michael was showing earlier on there were some three stories further
down the block the immediately attached buildings are part of the rco package i'm showing the
building to the west is a 24 feet high building that one has steps at the front that actually
elevates where you enter into the building which is why it's higher the building to the east is a
20-foot structure that enters that grade.
They're multifamily buildings
on the block.
The ones to the right identified
21, 27, and 29 are both
occupied as duplexes.
The owner of
my client, actually his aunt,
lives in the building immediately
next door at 21, 27
as a tenant.
Thank you.
Other questions from the board?
Yeah, so I think just a comment I have is what's the lighting plan for that access alley along the side of the building on the side elevation where the entrances are?
So as part of the community meeting, we discussed having cameras on the front of the property and all the door entryways along the side would, there would be cameras at the main entrance and lighting on the side too, because that is the main entranceway for all these units.
So I think just the general comment I have is that there's a lot of units that you're trying to accommodate on this site and all of the walkways are really narrow.
that's going to be a really dark narrow alley like just five feet wide especially with the
planner in the front and like it's pretty tight in terms of like trying to allow for even two
people walking side by side on a sidewalk or people trying to accommodate things even with
the the staircases it's gonna be really tight trying to move large furniture into some of those
upper units and so I sort of question the density on the site given that I think it's just going to
be tight to maneuver. Other questions, other questions from the board? Yes. How many units
were you allowed to have based on the lot size? So as an RSA five rezoned lot, it would be one
one unit one house and the property is 32 feet by 100 feet deep
questions or comments from the board anybody anyone else
questions or comments just i'm sorry one more question did you did you look at based on the
width of the street what um your sight line requirement would be are allowed by zoning
based on the width of the street i know it's not an overlay district but
we didn't look at that only because we were under the rsa 5 requirements already at 31 feet um okay
all right thanks okay questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson not at this time mr
chair questions or comments from the audience
questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see no hands at this time chair planning commission
good afternoon mr chair good morning uh dan powers with the city planning commission
do you swear do you go d-a-n-p-o-w-e-r-s you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth. I swear. Please proceed. The comprehensive plan recommends no change to
the RSA 5 residential single-family zoning at this location. This is a 3,255-foot square lot.
This is a mixed block base with two-story and three-story row homes, so a three-story building
would be in keeping with the character of the block base. The City Planning Commission recommends
that the board grant the requested use of variance for multi-family use, but at a lower number than
is requested as we feel that 11 units is too dense for this property. The City Planning Commission
recommend that the board grant the dimensional variances for additional height but deny the
proposed dimensional variance for the roof deck within the front setback thank you um council
i'm going to hold this till next week where i can sit and talk to the other board members
um and consider what planning and what you both said okay i appreciate it i'll be next wednesday
and consider what planning and what you both said okay i appreciate it i'll be next
and we're going to vote on this at 9 30 a.m thank you and counsel could you stay on please
michael
michael will be rejoining us as a panelist
cancel
good morning again mr chairman oh good just for the record state your name please
michael mcelhenney so this is mi 2024 005 495 1502 south 52nd street
um could you identify your client the relationship to the property yes mr chairman the my client is
brick house llc that's b-r-i-q space h-o-u-s-e llc the member of the llc is william hannum h-a-n-n-u-m
okay our vice chair has a few questions sir
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 to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Oh, I have.
So please proceed and you can share your screen.
Good morning again.
On the screen is my client's exhibit packet, which consists of 12 exhibits.
and our ZBA appeal is at tab eight. Our photo showing the property was posted with the zoning
notice and refusal at exhibit nine. Our RCO neighbor meeting along with the proof of mailing
is at exhibit 10. We did meet with the RCO on January 13th last week and had a very thorough
discussion of this application. Exhibit 11 is my client's deed. He took title August 30th,
2023 to the subject property from the estate of Milton R. Simmons. Our real estate taxes are at
Exhibit 12. The page one of Exhibit 12 shows a balance due for 24 and 25. 25 taxes aren't due
until March 31st, and my client did remit payment to clear out the 2024 taxes prior
to today's hearing, and that's part of Exhibit 2. The 51st Democratic Award Executive Committee
did send a RCO letter that came over after I submitted my exhibits, and they do have a letter
of support for the requested variance. Our refusal is at tab two. The subject property, 1502 South
52nd Street, is currently zoned RSA 5. My client is requesting permission, a zoning variance for
two-family household living in the existing structure. We're not changing any height or
area of the building, just the use. And that generated one use refusal because two-family
household living is not permitted by right. Exhibit 3 is the zoning map and aerial maps of
the property and surrounding area. This property is one in from the corner at the south side of
South 52nd Street, south to the east of Greenway Avenue. We're attached to a corner CMX2 use
building. To the west of us is another commercial CMX2 use and then some RSA5 buildings. Diagonally,
we have a commercial building on the corner and RSA 5 uses. Immediately across the street are all
CMX 2 uses and going to the east on the same side of South 52nd are RSA 5 properties until you get
to the corner at Woodland Ave, which are CMX 2 zone properties. And across Woodland, we have a
mix with CMX 2 and ICMX. The second photograph on page two is just an aerial view again, just
showing where the property is on the block and the context across the street.
We have the Grace Tabernacle Church that takes up the majority of the block.
To the west of us, we have a takeout restaurant and diagonally we have a laundromat,
as well as at the far corner on Woodland Ave.
We have a laundromat there as well.
And I'll show street view photos in a second, make it make more sense.
The third photograph is a 3D aerial view looking south at the subject property.
just to show the block. We have several three-story structures, some vacant lots in the
middle of the block. And on the north side is that Grace Tabernacle Church property.
And I'm not going to go through all the 3D images, but it just, I have images north,
But I have images north, south, east, and west just showing the context of the immediate area.
south, east, and west, just showing the context of the immediate area.
The final photo of this Exhibit 3 is just the map of the property just showing its deeded lot lines.
This is an 18.5 foot wide parcel, and it's 70 feet deep.
And these are twins on this block.
So every property has a side yard and access to an alley at the rear.
so they have access to the rear and the front through the side yard.
Exhibit four are the site views of the current photo of the outside of the property.
It's a two-story structure.
We do have a side yard to the west.
Looking at the second photograph, to give context,
the corner property is a CMX2 commercial property that has been vacant,
according to the RCO, for decades at this point.
My client's property is the second one in from the corner.
and then we are attached to an abandoned house at 1504 south 52nd and another abandoned house
is next to us at 1506 the next photograph will show a close-up of 1504 uh it's boarded up
condition and 1506 it's boarded up condition the fake doors and windows on the front are
performed by clip to seal up the building and actually make them look like doors and windows
these buildings obviously have become a dumping ground for trash and other debris and my client
is unfortunately attached to this abandoned structure at 1504. The uses on this block
consist of some single-family houses, and I put the addresses in just for orientation,
1510 South 52nd, as you go down the south side of the block. We have some vacant lots where houses
once existed and have since been torn down. Farther to the east are some more twins,
and as we go farther down the block we have a series of occupied twins and at the far farthest
end of the block closest to woodland ave at 1528 south 52nd we have another vacant abandoned
building that's boarded up and then the properties at 1532 and 1530 south 52nd are two duplexes on
the east side of the block which is identical to what my clients requesting to do at the west end
of the block, is to have the two-family use in the existing structure. Going farther to the south
at 1534 is another duplex. Again, the same setup that my client's requesting at the west end of
the block. The final property on this block that faces south 52nd is 1536, which is set up with
two doors, was used for some commercial use sometimes, and it appears to be residential
at this time. The final property at the Woodland Ave is a food market on the corner. Across the
street is a grocery store or a Liberty Auto gas station. I took some photos looking to on the
south, same side looking towards the west. We have a Chinese takeout restaurant at 1450. Next
to that's a triplex at 1448. And farther down the block, you can see another new construction
multifamily. A diagonal across the street is the laundromat I've referenced earlier.
And then directly across the street from the subject property is 5138 Greenway, which is a
retail use. They just got a new zoning permit for sale, food, and beverages, so some kind of takeout
restaurant of some sorts. The majority of the block across the street to the north of us is
the Grace Tabernacle Christian building that is used for religious services and daycare uses.
And then at the end of the block towards Woodland is that laundromat use.
And then the last photo I took is across the street at the ICMX property.
It's a Popeye's takeout restaurant now at Woodland Ave.
Exhibit five are interior photos.
As you can see, the inside requires a complete updating gut renovation.
There's no water service at the property.
When my client purchased the property, it has been taken over by an illegal occupant that has been using it for storage.
As you can see, there is water infiltration inside, and it's full of items, trash, debris that my client hopes is dealt with in the near future.
The other interior photos on the second floor just show the bathroom, just storage of different items, a bed in disarray.
And the front bedroom just full of, again, lots of trash and debris that we don't have full possession of at this time to address.
Exhibit six are the proposed floor plans.
This is a simple floor plan.
The front of the property, the front door will remain for the first floor unit.
We have a full living room, kitchen, bathroom in the center, and two bedrooms at the rear that are good sizes, the 9 feet 7 inches by 10 feet.
9 feet, 7 inches by 10 feet, and then 13.5 by 10 feet, 7 inches at the rear. The rear bedroom
And then 13.5 by 10 feet 7.
does have access to the rear yard and the first floor unit, the two bedroom, one bath unit has
access to the basement. The basement is going to be for non-living space, storage, utilities,
washer, dryer, that type of items. The second floor unit, we would be installing a new door
on the left, similar to those properties that were farther on the east toward Woodland Ave
to allow access up to the second floor unit.
The second floor unit would open
into the living room and kitchen area
with a one bedroom, one bath at the front,
large 10 feet, nine inches by 11, seven,
washer dryer in the unit
and the rear one bedroom, one bath at the rear.
Again, it's 11 feet by 11 feet for that rear bedroom.
So we have good size bedrooms, two baths,
living space, washer dryer.
Both units will have access to the rear,
very yard and on the right side of the building going to the west we have windows all along the
property so all of these these units the bedrooms will have and living rooms will have light and air
we have one two three four five six windows along the side of the building and then we have windows
at the rear as well the exhibit seven are just a summary of the other multi-families on the
current block, as well as the properties I showed, the new construction properties to the
west on the same side of the street. And those zoning archives are just a part of
behind those addresses. We'd request that the board, in light of the condition of the property,
it's not habitable and needs complete renovation and the abandonment on this subject block,
including what we're immediately attached to with the trash and illicit activities that go on with
those buildings. We'd request the board approve the request for the use variance to have two units in
the existing structure. We believe it is the minimum variance necessary to afford relief here
so that my client can obtain the financing to renovate this property, bring back habitable
units online. And we do plan on working with the community to address the two abandoned buildings
next door to us because that has been an ongoing concern for the neighbors in addition to my
client's property. With that, Mr. Chairman, if I could call my client to testify. Please.
Mr. Hannum, can you please raise your hand?
William Hannum has been allowed to speak.
Sir, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
yep can you hear me yes please state your name state your name then spell for the stenographer
william hannam w-i-l-l-i-a-m h-a-n-n-u-m do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole
truth nothing but the truth yes i swear please proceed counsel mr hannam did you hear the
statements that i presented to the board today yes i did were my statements true and correct
to the best of your knowledge information and belief yes they were would you adopt my statements
as your own yes no further questions questions from the board yes i have a question what is
the width of the side yard access the breezeway that's a great question i don't have that exact
measurement but it might be referenced in the deed which is exhibit 11 um
yeah it's not shown on the way it looks like it says a three foot wide alley is there any plan
for lights in that alleyway
well currently question
william can you address whether you intend to install lights along the side of the property
um yeah the floor plan that you saw is basically um supposed to be a pretty accurate draft and we
didn't think about that but it is a great idea and now that i'm thinking about it um it's something
we'd probably like to add also is there a controlled access point at the street line
or at the sidewalk at the edge of your property
um can you elaborate what you mean by controlled access point
Yeah. Right now, there's a gate. There is a gate.
And is your plan to keep that existing gate?
Okay. Other questions for the board?
Just confirm your width for your interest.
just confirm your widths for your entry doors
and the width for your hallway and stairway to the second floor.
Yep, they will all be code widths,
three feet wide hallway and three feet wide door.
I know it's shown a little less on the plan.
The plan is a draft just for visual reference at this moment.
where are the tenants uh to put their trash so all units will have access to the rear yard of
the property to have it in stored trash containers to be brought out on trash day the first floor
unit does have access to the basement if they wanted to have containers down there as well
but most of the neighbors on the block seem to keep their trash in the receptacles at the rear
and bring them out on trash day the goal is to keep them off the front porch
which right now we have an occupant so all tenants will have access to the rear right
correct because the side alley will provide access to both tenants thank you other questions
from the board one more question the basement has no egress to the backyard correct correct
questions or comments there's just a window
not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the audience
questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see no hands at this time chair mining commission
good morning mr chair dan powers at the city planning commission
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the rsa5 residential single family zoning at this
location the property has a use permit on file from 1979 nothing about this property has changed
since then there's no unique physical condition or circumstance of this property that would prevent
it from being used in strict conformity with the zoning code this is a primarily single family
block face the city planning commission recommends that the board denied the proposed use variants
for two dwelling units thank you mi2024-005-495-1502 south 52nd street i vote yes
Michael Johns, my vote is yes
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes
Tynetta Graham, my vote is yes
Tywin, my vote is yes
Thank you, counsel
Thank you, counsel
Number 8
MI2024-005-514-2323
East Susquehanna Avenue
Henry Clinton is the attorney
There's a letter of support from the Fishtown Neighbors Association
The vote was 32 to 6, and a letter of non-opposition from Council Member Squill.
Henry Clinton will be rejoining us as a panelist.
Morning, Mr. Chairman.
Good morning, Council.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Henry Clinton, H-E-N-R-Y, Clinton, C-L-I-N-T-O-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client, the relationship to this property?
Sure. I have two clients, Thomas Zopp, C-Z-O-P, and Cara Ferencina, F-R-E-S-I-N-A.
Thank you. Our vice chair has a few questions.
Good morning, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
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, except the tax information came in a day or two ago.
Thank you, counsel. You've already sent that in, correct?
Mr. Clinton?
Pardon me, I didn't hear you.
I said you have sent it in already, right?
Yes. Yes, sir.
Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.
Thank you, Mr. Sheen.
Is that visible, Mr. Chairman?
It is. It is, sir.
All right. Just by way of background, I had this project before the board in 2022.
It was seemingly approved for everything we asked for, but there was one small item that was not approved.
It was a rear step to a deck. I'll show you the photographs.
So we're coming back again with a new owner. I was representing a prior owner.
He sold the property to my current clients, and so we're asking for relief, basically for a six-inch high exterior step, which I'll explain as we move through this presentation.
Table of contents, A1 through A10.
Refusal.
This is a single-family zoning district, and you'll see the erection of a rear deck and existing single-family dwelling, as shown on the plan.
as shown on the plan. The fence is not part of this application because it was part of the prior
The fence is not part of this application because it was part of the prior.
application. We have a simple refusal for stairs from the ground level to the deck
are expressly prohibited in an attached structure, and it's only a single step.
We met with Fishtown Neighbors Association, overwhelming support this time, as well as
in 2022. They were curious as to why we came before them again, but again, it just was a
quirk in the system where this step did not get approved. This is their explanation letter,
and you can see the community had supported prior building the fence in 2022, and then the new owner
and the community believed the stairs behind the fence had been approved as part of that plan,
But unfortunately, that was not the case.
This is the letter of support from 2022.
Again, it was overwhelming back then as it is now.
The signatures that I've attached are signatures from the prior plan.
I don't mean to suggest that we went around and got more signatures.
We already had approval.
So I thought it would be helpful to have these signatures in my presentation today.
So this is a corner property, and what we got approved previously was this deck and this fence.
What the issue is before the board is this single step outside the deck.
You need this step to step up and enter the fence and walk onto the deck.
But Ellen I points this out as still an issue, and this is the sole reason we're coming before the board is to approve this single step.
So I hope I don't lose your attention on this presentation because of this simple matter.
This is the corner property.
Here's the side yard.
The step is where my cursor is.
I have closer photographs.
This is a ground level view of the property.
There's an outside storage shed, which has been approved or really just receptacle to put trash in.
The step is beyond where that container is.
You can see it right here in this photograph.
Again, just giving you an aerial photograph perspective.
It's a side yard of a corner property.
And here's a closer view of the step leading into the fenced deck area.
The plans, this was existing.
This is the demo plan.
This is the building plan.
And this is the undercarriage plan that supports the deck.
I think it's better that you could look at the site plan.
Again, a corner property, the deck fence previously approved.
And here's the single step, which is outside on the sidewalk.
Now, we did need to get streets approval for both the outside receptacle as well as the step.
And we've received that.
So that's really the presentation in a nutshell.
We're coming back again to complete what we thought was completed in 2022.
As I said several times, we had the deck approved.
This board approved it in 2022.
We had the fence approved.
But for whatever reason, this dangling participle here, this step, did not get an approval.
So we're not impacting any lighter air of any adjacent property, obviously.
This is in harmony with the neighborhood.
It's a residential use.
We have the full support of the community, and it's basically in harmony with the code.
So with that, I would conclude this presentation and ask my client to unmute himself.
Thomas, can you raise your hand, please?
Do we see his client?
Jason C. Z. has been allowed to speak.
It's Jason. I said Thomas.
Good morning. Good morning, sir.
could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Morning. My name is Jason Cazop.
It's spelled J-A-S-O-N-C-Z-O-P.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Jason, were you on the call when I presented your project before the board a few minutes ago?
Yes, I was.
And if you had the opportunity to testify, would you adopt my testimony as your own?
And that's true and correct.
Yes, I would.
Thank you, Jason.
Thank you.
Questions from the board.
That door swings out as shown on your plan.
Yes, Mr. Johns.
That's an issue.
I think the code requires that there be a landing if your door is swinging that way, so it makes sense that it swings in.
I think the code requires that there be a landing if your door is swinging that way.
So it makes sense.
Yeah, I think someone asked that question in the neighborhood, so I think you're good to pick up on that.
And since this storage shed is here, it's kind of the swing of the door comes out onto the same plane as that.
And the issue was, could a wheelchair still get by?
and yeah that's that's not my point though my point is that when you open it the billing code
requires that if you swing a door there should be a landing right um so there should be a landing
you swing the door in
so then you would like to have the door swing in yeah yeah okay just for you know some
someone doesn't come out and trip.
Or make the step longer.
Then you've got a streets,
imagine a streets issue.
You'd have to go back for streets approval
unless you're within the line of, say,
the existing steps next door, which is fine.
Right.
Well, I guess I'll have the client make the decision.
Could we have a provisor that we have one or the other?
Yeah, I don't have a preference.
But that's my only issue.
What's the proviso, Henry?
I think Mr. Johns would like to see either the door swing in or the step be extended no further than the steps on the adjacent property.
Well, it would be a landing at the level of the concrete slab and then a step.
But then it probably makes them more sense and easier and cheaper to swing the door in.
You know what I mean?
Yes. All right.
Hillary.
I'm just looking, I mean, because the scope is only for the stairs and not for the fence.
And the door is part of the fence. Is that correct?
Correct, which was already approved, but I understand John's is concerned.
So then we have no jurisdiction then, I guess.
No, we're only looking at the step.
If there's a proviso related to the step, excuse me, I can look into that.
But if they're, yeah, with relation to the dorks as part of an already approved fence, I don't think we could do something there.
Other questions from the board?
No worries.
Hillary, questions? Any additional questions?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Comments from the audience?
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Yes, Chair. I have a hand up by the name of Robert Everett.
They have been promoted to panelists.
Good morning, Mr. Everett.
Mr. Everett?
Chair, they might be having technical difficulties.
Yeah, well, he's from the Fishtown Neighbors Association.
Anyone else in the virtual audience?
There are no more hands at this time, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Good morning, Mr. Chair.
Dan Powers with the City Planning Commission.
This step appears to be in the public footway
and outside of the scope of our recommendations
to the Zoning Board. Thank you. MI 2024-005-514-2323 East
Tuscant Avenue, I vote yes. Michael Johns, my vote is yes. Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Tynetta Graham, my vote is yes. Tywin, my vote is yes. Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
thank you Mr. Chairman members of the board thank you counsel number 16 MI 2024
005 574 1510 North 25th Street Zen Jin is the attorney
good morning counsel this is the first time in three years that we've seen you because this is
the first so so we appreciate you coming today uh could you state your name and spell for the
stenographer okay good morning again uh my name is zen jen z h e n last name is
Good morning again. My name is Zen Jin, Z-H-E-N. Last name is J-I-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client, the relationship to the property?
Yes. My client is Olympic...
One second, I'm sorry.
It's Olympia Stillman LLC.
Mr. Shagai Bader will be the representative for the company.
And I understand that there's a letter of non-opposition
from the Brewery Town Chargedwood Civic Association.
Yes, we were able to work out a CBA with the community.
Okay, and our vice chair has a few questions.
Of course.
Good morning, counsel.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
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?
We submitted all exhibits except for the RCO letter, which was just received yesterday,
which was submitted yesterday. Understood. Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.
Thank you. I'm going to share with the board the previously submitted exhibits.
If I could be made a panelist so I could share. I'll raise my hand.
I am sharing with the board what was previously submitted as exhibits.
Can the board see that exhibit on their screen?
I can, sir.
Thank you.
This is an application for what is essentially currently a vacant lot to be used as a three-family dwelling.
The location of the property makes this application a multifamily for the reason that we have a lot that is abutted on one side with a very large REM1 17-unit property.
We are part of a small group of single-family lots on that block.
Behind our lot is also RM1 property. Across the street from our lot, currently there are permits,
because it's RM1 as well, there are currently permits for five buildings to be built of multiple
different levels of multifamily. When we met with the RCO, it did come to our attention that
one of the buildings on the other side in fact immediately abutting our property is a single
family property that owner was present and the particular concern of that owner was primarily
relating to building construction safety and that their property would not get damaged
the community's particular concern was parking as well as trash management
um egress and finally uh the developments um displacing the residents in the area who may
not be financially well off as a result we worked out a cba with the community to make sure at least
one of the units would follow the low income requirements of the city of philadelphia uh per
the, I believe it's the annual income percentage rate requirements to set the rent to permit a
lower income person to have access to the unit. So Breitown, Charlotte, issued a non-opposition
as a result. They also discussed the same issues before the board that I just represented in their
letter. I'm going to go ahead and move to the photo of the site. This site, again, as the board
can see, we are the vacant lot that is kind of filling on the block. The picture showing the
larger gray building here is the multi-unit building. They have about, I believe, per their
permit, 17 units in there. It's a combined lot of three or four lots. On this side, you can see in
this photograph that is the single family structure across the street right now the construction i'm
not sure what the status of construction of that is but i see permits being pulled for plumbing
etc however if we were to look at a google map right now it would not show the buildings on the
map it would still show the vacant lot the plan of the property design is to match the building's
height and front design and levels to the single family to our right as you're facing
right as you're facing the property. It is a three-story structure design with the same height
the property it is a three-story structure design
as the single-family property. Although that property to our left is a four-story design,
we feel that it would be more fitting to go with the three-story fitting the existing building to
the right. So from a height standpoint and front facade will look very similar to the existing
building to our right the layout of the property as far as the floor plans are concerned
i'm going to scroll down to that and zoom in for the board so the way the floor plans are laid out
the first floor and basement will be a combined one unit accessed from the front the second and
third floor access through the same front entrance goes into a stair central stair stairwell space
where they can access a front and back those are actually covering both the second and third floor
their front and back by levels giving it more of a feel of a by-level house rather than just
purely an apartment running the entire floor so the second unit would be the front half and then
the third unit will be the back half with the bedrooms on the third floor the living kitchen
on the second floor with the first unit the bedrooms are in the back of the building on
the first floor with the living room in the front and then a then flex space on the on the in the
basement for the purpose they could if they choose to use it as a workout space or anything that
would be fine as well we're trying to make sure that all the sleeping quarters are on the first
floor and not below level the building has a an easement access way allowing everyone to be able
to follow the side of the building which will be left with the access way to the rear yard which
is enclosed trash will be stored back there would only be brought out during the time that a pickup
is needed during our discussion with the community we indicated that lights will be placed in the
alley the community suggested a gate to be placed in the front which will be done so keys will be
given to all the residents um and security camera will be placed front and back to make sure
the alleyway is uh secure and and uh have have coverage with security cameras so that is
excuse me can you zoom and zoom out a little bit so we can see all floors four plans at once okay
much better thank you so again the alleyway is here it can be accessed through the side of the
property and again here's the rear yard where the trash storage would be so that is the proposal
that we have there is no roof deck there are no roof deck or is roof deck being proposed in this
property at all and that again was not brought up as an issue with the community so once we went
back and worked out with the community, the one unit being designated for lower income.
We have received their non-opposition in this particular application.
So with that, I would ask the board's a favorable review of this application.
I am happy to answer any additional questions, and I believe my client is here to verify
my testimony.
Why don't you bring your client?
Mr. Bader, can you raise your hand virtually to be identified?
do we see mr bader yes shakai vader has been allowed to speak yeah hello hi sir could you
please state your name and spell for the stenographer yeah my name is shakai vader
c-h-a-g-a-i my last name vader b-a-d-e-r you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth yes please proceed counsel thank you uh mr bader did you hear my testimony
and see the representation and the presentation before the board yes um can you verify to the
board what i've represented true and correct including the cba terms yes thank you
questions or comments from the board can you tell me the building site again please
the building height
Mr. Bader
do you happen to know the building height off hand
or I can go back to the plan
I believe it is
I will zoom
into the
zoom into the height
I apologize, I'm trying to get to the elevation.
I apologize. I'm trying to get to the elevations.
Here it is.
35 feet at the roof level.
Thank you.
And just for a point, Council, the building next door, the one with all the units is four floors?
All right. And then the other one is the same as this?
Yes. The other building will be 35-foot, three-story.
All right. Other questions?
What's the width of the side alley?
The side alley...
It says three feet on your elevation on this.
And then at the ground floor, what is the sort of barrier at that light well that's on the side?
Is it a...
This light well here?
No, the one on the side.
This one?
I'm sorry.
If you're walking down the side alley, it's the light well that's about halfway down.
Oh, this light well.
What's the security feature at the ground level?
Well, the light well itself will be accessible to the tenants.
Is there a grate?
Is there...
Oh, I'm sorry.
The light well ends at the ground level.
It doesn't go underground.
It's showing in the basement plan.
oh it is it is yeah is there going to be a grill that's going to be over that light well
or a fence or or a fence
i'm sorry let me go back to the yes normally we put the grill is the normally normally you
put grail would you be okay with putting a fence there as well no problem thank you i just wanted
I didn't know it was being addressed.
I'm not trying to propose offense.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Other questions from the board?
Depth of the basement below grade.
Basement slab below grade.
What's the depth?
The depth below grade.
i believe it might be on the elevation side here we go
nothing nothing shows just a zero and then says cellar floor there's no
oh there's no height indicated do you happen to know the um proposed basement
depth that's below grade what's the total depth of the basement um i think it was
i don't remember maybe six seven feet somewhere left uh total yes so so do you would you happen
to be able to tell what the below grade portion would be
we have one feet for the footing and the rest is need to be like it's around
seven seven i think seven feet something like six seven feet under the water yes seven feet below
grade i don't i don't i don't think that's true this kind of need it for more more information
on the documents because it it doesn't show i don't think i saw that you that you that it
shows what it is from the from the plans it looks like a part of it will be above grade and then
there will be a portion of it below grade um we can update the board certainly with that actual
actual depth if that is uh one of the concerns yeah it's it's always it's a real concern with
for me um because once you go six seven feet below grade you know your folks are living
completely underground. Understood. So that's a real concern for me. Okay, other questions from the board?
Questions or comments from the audience?
Questions or comments from the virtual audience? I see no hands at this time, Chair.
planning we're going to bring this back but do you want to vote on it now i can do that mr chair
uh dan powers at the city planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change to
the rsa5 residential single family zoning at this location in july 2024 the city issued a zoning
permit to split a formally combined law into two one would be zoned rm1 residential multifamily
on Stillman Street and the other will be zoned RSA 5 on 25th Street. The city then issued a
zoning permit on August 2024 for 14 dwelling units for the Stillman Street lot. The appeal
the appeal today is for the 25th street lot which is still zoned rsa5 this lot's size and depth is
today is for the 25th Street lot which is still zoned RSA 5. This lot
in keeping with the other row home lots on this block face of 25th street most of which are single
family with some being built as recently as 2021 there's no unique physical condition or circumstance
of this property that will prevent it from being used in strict conformity with the zoning code
the city planning commission recommends that the board deny the proposed use variance for
three dwelling units thank you um hillary we're gonna bring this back for better drawings as
we do a whole resumptive hearing for this um yes mr care schedule for resumption please
council you'll bring make sure the new drawings are submitted and we'll bring this back when 3 18
1625 at 9 30 a.m okay thank you thank you
next case number nine mi 2024 005 1515 1613 north phillip street christopher dean is the attorney
there's unanimous support from south kensington community partners
christopher dean will be rejoining us as a panelist
good morning mr chair and members good morning council could you please state your name and
spell it for the sonographer christopher dean d-e-a-n all right do you swear or affirm to
tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do could you identify your client
the relationship to this property mitchell clark and he is the owner and he is present
All right. Our vice chair has a few questions.
Good morning, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
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. I will just add to that. I did email Hillary this morning.
I inadvertently, I believe, sent the wrong external photos, and I couldn't find a way to delete them.
So if you see, if there are external photos of a garage, it's not for this parcel.
And I won't be presenting that today.
Understood. Please proceed, council.
Great. Okay. Just confirming that my screen is shared.
We see it, sir.
Okay. So good, Mr. Chair and members, thank you for the opportunity to present 1613 North
Phillip Street. On behalf of my client, Mitchell Clark, we are here to obtain a variance for a
duplex in a RSA 5 single-family use. I'll briefly go through the exhibits and then just focus on
the pictures and what we think makes our hardship today. It's my client's deed. He purchased the
property slightly over three years ago for fair market value. My client resides at the property.
here is the refusal proposed to family household living the and we'll get into these documents but
the property itself was listed as a duplex for sale the physical dimensions are of a duplex
and there was a rental license at the property for a duplex and the reason for the my client
was not grandfathered in was because this went this use did go inactive for a period of over
three years which necessitate the filing of this variance this is our application for appeal
project information form let me zoom out
and these are this is page one of the of the plans you can see
the front of the property it's a three-story duplex consistent with neighboring properties
these are the plans and i will show more with the actual pictures from the mls
but you have a unfinished basement you have unit one you enter on the front door
there is this egress a large egress which we will show pictures of to access unit two which
is access through a deck and all in all it's a you have a you have a one bed one bath one living
and then you have a two-bed, one-and-a-half bath.
Both units have kitchens.
Both units have washer and dryers in the unit.
Some comparable zoning.
1639 North Phillip Street is a four-story, three-unit multifamily dwelling in the same zoning.
The same could be said for 1628 North 2nd Street.
1614 North 2nd Street is a three-story, three-unit multifamily.
and 1612 North 2nd Street, three-story, four-unit, multifamily.
And I have attached the zoning permits at the end of the presentation.
So as I mentioned, this is a large egress.
There is actually and there's two lights. One is one is operated by a switch or the proposed tenants to use.
There is actually, and there's two lights.
One is operated by a switch.
And the other one is the neighbor has a motion light. So there's two ways to to ensure the area is well lit at night.
This is the access to the rear unit. You come through through the gate, you go up these steps and you access it.
you access through the rear. And here's another picture of the same egress in the front door
where my client resides in the front. And here is an interior photo of the one kitchen. This
would be the second unit's kitchen on the second floor. The second floor is where there's a wall
a wall dividing unit the front unit and the rear unit um this is a so when my client purchased the
property and this was is key to his the hardship um the property was advertised could you just make
it a little bit larger it's a little hard to say oh my apologies let me know if this that's a little
bit better if this suffices so this was the advertisement um which you know led to my client's
ultimate purchase. You'll see it does indicate it's a three-story duplex, and then it highlights
the features of how you can use the duplex. These are actually pictures from the listing itself.
My client has not done any alterations to the property. This is the front unit.
This is the front unit's kitchen.
This is the rear deck access.
And then this is the, which we showed another picture of, the second unit's kitchen.
You're coming down these steps to here, and then you have the relative bathrooms and bedrooms.
We did meet with the South Kensington community partners.
We did get full support.
In fact, one of the voting members has been in the neighborhood for, I believe, over 20 years, and she did mention that it was her belief that this property has been used as a duplex for as long as she's been in the area.
And this was the meeting summary.
This was another letter of support from a local school principal, you know, supporting my client and supporting the actual duplex.
my client's tax clearance we just received it yesterday i originally did submit the proof of
the taxes but we did get the tax clearance yesterday this was the historical zoning
that i mentioned this was approved for duplex previously and we there is a rental license
here's the rental license 2009 at the property a two two unit dwelling residential license
that did go inactive which is why my client had to go through the zoning process
um and this is just a zoning this was a building permit um for any work on the property to show
that was done um in consistency with you know um that my client didn't do any um unpermitted
alterations this was our notice of the rco this was our notice to today's meeting at the zba
and the rest is
these are all the certificates of mailing
and then I did include at the end
the 1612 North 2nd Street
historical zoning
for multifamily use that we did include
in the plans that were submitted
and the same can be said for 1614 North 2nd Street
to a three-family dwelling unit.
So with that, I will have Mitchell Clark,
if he could be sworn in.
Bring him on, please.
Mitchell Clark, if you're in the virtual audience,
please raise your hand.
Chair, Mitchell Clark is coming back in as a panelist now.
Mr. Clark, could you please state your name
is spelled for the stenographer mr clark
mr clark state your name and then spell it for the stenographer yes mitchell clark first name
m-i-t-c-h-e-l-l last name clark c-l-a-r-k-e do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the
whole truth nothing but the truth i do please proceed counsel uh mitchell clark did you hear
the testimony that i uh laid out before the board yes and would you adopt my testimony as
laid out before the board yes and would you adopt my testimony is a true and accurate
rendition of your testimony i do um and just to clarify the pictures i have um on the screen now
was that the condition of the property when you purchased it it was okay um and did you believe
you were buying a duplex when you purchased the property yes sir okay questions from the board
questions i do okay so uh this entrance to this second unit is it only through this access way
and these um steps um through this deck is that the only way you can get to the um second unit
that yeah that is that is correct it's through this is this the door you're referencing
Okay. All right. And when you purchased this property, did you or your attorney check any zoning records before you purchased it?
Or did you just go by what was in the records from the seller of the property?
I went by what was in the records. I didn't have a lawyer at that point. So I was brought to my attention at closing.
Okay. And did you have title insurance when you purchased the property?
And did they look into what was the actual zoning for the property and what uses would be allowed at the property?
Yes. So it was kind of later in the process.
Okay. And then in addition to that, there is such a thing as a city certification,
which you can get from the Department of Licenses and Inspections,
which tells you what uses may be made of a property,
what the prior uses were and what have you.
And while they put a lot of disclaimers on it,
it at least would have given you a better idea of what the property was
actually zoned for.
Yes, I'm aware of that now.
It's been a learning experience.
Gotcha. Thank you.
Questions or comments for our attorney?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair. Questions or comments from the audience?
Questions or comments from the virtual audience? We have one. Chair, we have Daniel Trumman with his hand up.
Okay, hi, could you? You didn't allow to speak. Hi, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
i could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer that was a mistake my hand
wasn't supposed to be up sorry
so you want to testify okay
pardon me damn powers at the city planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends
no change to the RSA 5 residential single-family zoning at this location. This property has a
documented history of two-family use dating to at least 1957. The City Planning Commission
recommends that the board grant the proposed use variance for two dwelling units. Thank you. MI
2024-005-515-1613 North Phillip Street, I vote yes. Michael Johns, my vote is yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes. Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes. Tyowin, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheen, my vote is yes.
Thank you.
Thank you, members.
Have a good day.
Thank you.
Number 10, MI 2024, 005-516-1010 West Cologne Street,
Cologne Street.
Henry Clinton is the attorney.
There's unanimous support from the North Central East RCO.
Vote was 8-0.
Letter of non-opposition from Council Member Young.
can you please raise your virtual hand
he's coming back in as a panelist now chair
morning mr chairman hi mr clinton you've already been sworn just for the record state your name
Henry Clinton.
Can you identify your client, the relationship to this property?
My client is Michael Salomone, S-A-L-O-M-O-N-E, and he is on the call.
Right.
Our vice chair has a few questions, sir.
Good morning, counsel.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits as needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing yesterday the tax record was
Yesterday, the tax record.
produced and one additional zoning record but everything else was produced five days before
thank you mr clinton please proceed and show your screen thank you mr sheen
Mr. Chairman, is that first page visible to you?
I might want to make it just a little larger.
Thank you.
Good morning, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
I'm here on behalf of Michael Salamone concerning 1010 West Kelowna Street.
This is a proposal for a two-family dwelling in an I-2 zoning district that's surrounded
by RM1, which, frankly, was previously approved in 2020, but because of COVID, my client wasn't
able to get to the project.
He had a zoning permit from 2020 and a building permit from 2021, but after three years, the
zoning permit expired.
So we're here again before the board asking for what was previously approved about four years ago.
I have a table of contents A1 through A10.
We also have zoning records indicating that we do have a prior zoning permit and a prior building permit several years ago.
This is the refusal I-2 zoning district.
We're requesting a two-family dwelling.
Two refusals, two-family dwellings are not permitted in an I-2 zoning district.
And in an I-2 zoning district, the two-family household will require some off-street parking, which we do not have.
This is the RCO letter, as the chairman referenced at the outset.
We do have support. We met with them on two occasions, and the community is behind the project, and they were previously behind it in 2020.
So, Temple Field to the south, the project is right here at 1010, and actually in 2020, my client came before the board and had 1010 approved and 1012 approved.
So, we're only here today on 1010. We will likely come back before the board in several months on 1012.
but you can see this is an industrial area at least to the right and i'll show you the zoning
plan but it's primarily residential across the street is fill abundance it's been there for
several years and based on historical photographs we understand and also based on meeting with the
community we understand that that this lot 1010 has been vacant for decades just another perspective
looking east
and the lot
is right in this area.
Vacant lot
residential
on the adjoining street. This is
an abandoned building.
This is a 1016 Kelowna.
Current day shot of the lots
that have been cleaned up.
Postings of our
zoning notices.
So at one time, this was one lot, 10-10 and 10-12.
It was subdivided, and we have the approval stamps down here to the left, as well as the Board of Survey District's notations and approval here of planning.
That's why I said at the outset, my client originally had both projects, partial A and partial B, approved, but both permits ran out.
We're only here today for 10-10.
1010 is on the right-hand side.
I can blow that up a little bit.
We don't have any issues with open space,
rear yard, or height,
and it is a proposed construction
of a three-story dwelling
with two-family living quarters.
These are the zoning,
excuse me, these are the floor plans.
We'll start from the left in the basement,
two bedrooms.
one unit is the basement of first floor, the second bedroom on the first floor.
Then you'd go up the stairs to the second unit, which is kitchen, living, and bedroom on the
second floor and up the stairs to the third floor where there are two bedrooms and there is a rooftop
deck. So the occupant or the tenant in the basement of first floor would have rear yard
access for open space and the tenant on the second and third floor would have access to the roof
for open space. Elevations all brick on the front with some metal siding.
Elevations, all brick on the front with some metal siding also on the front, egress well on the front.
This is the rear of the property will be siding as well as siding on the side.
Now, if we come back to the board for 10-12, the siding on the other side, obviously, will be covered with the adjacent building.
But this is an outline of what the proposed exterior materials will be.
A cutaway of the property, again indicating basement and first floor as one unit,
second floor, third floor as one unit.
The remaining documents are what you would see in a typical presentation.
the tax clearance. There was an outstanding debt owed of $328.94. It hasn't registered,
I believe, other than with our screenshot. And this is the printout from the Philadelphia Tax
Center indicating that the $286.96, which is the remaining real estate taxes, are not due
until the end of March.
Other than that, my client has no tax liabilities to the city.
This is the zoning map I mentioned earlier.
The darker purple or blue is the subject 1010.
You can see it's surrounded by RM1,
as well as the entire area is I2.
And as I showed you in the aerial photographs,
it really is a residential area, not an industrial area.
Deed indicating ownership.
My client purchased the property in 2019.
Our certificates of mailing.
And these are the zoning records.
So partial A, which is 1010, as I mentioned, it was one lot at one time.
They get approved for zoning in December of 2020.
The erection of a single family home, excuse me, erection of a structure, two family.
and these are the plans that were approved that basically it's a mirror of what I presented today
with the stamps as I noted, and this is the actual building permit my client obtained in
July of 2021 for the erection of three-story structure for use as a two-family household
living building to be sprinkler, and that's my client, Michael Salamone.
So we're here in an I-2 industrial zone, surrounded by a residential and surrounded by an RM1 designation.
We have previously been approved.
We're looking to be approved again today if the board looks kindly upon this application.
We have the support of the community, and we're basically in harmony with the code.
We're not affecting any adjoining properties light or air.
We're in conformance with the height regulations, open yard, and rear yard.
And with that, I would ask my client to raise his hand and adopt my testimony.
Mike, can you raise your hand?
He's coming back in as a panelist now, Chair.
Thank you.
sir could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
michael back in any minute chair
michael can you read can you speak hello good morning why could you please state your name
and spell for the stenographer uh michael salamone m-i-c-h-a-e-l-s-a-l-o-m-o-n-e
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes i do please proceed counsel thank you mr chairman mr salamone were you on the uh
the call when i presented your project to the board yes i was and if you had the opportunity
to testify on your own behalf,
would you testify as I did
and adopt my testimony as true and correct?
Yes, I would.
Thank you, Mr. Salamone.
Questions from the board.
Questions or comments from our attorney,
Hillary Emerson.
I'm sorry, actually I did.
For some reason, my mic wouldn't turn on.
Oh, for sure.
Question that I ask most folks,
which is what is the depth of the basement
below the grid?
And can you go back to the building sections or the elevation?
So excavation is to be about five foot and the basement would be eight foot ceilings.
So excavation is to be about five foot and the basement.
So you're going to be five foot below your top of your basement slab is going to be five foot below grade.
Correct.
And your windows are going to be completely below grade as shown on your elevation.
We would follow the plans. That is correct.
that that is a big concern for me that the windows are completely below grade
can you go to the section too
so i've seen the section you don't really
it's hard to it's hard to tell what you're showing on your your launcher tool no section can you go
into that it's hard as far as the front elevation i would be able to raise the window to be
partially below grade is this what you want to see mr johns or a different yeah that's what
yeah that's what i want to see so you're five foot below grade for the for the uh for that
for the uh basement slab okay all right thank you thank you mr johnson longitudinal section
showing a window
like a clerestory window
in the basement because the elevation
is not. It's showing a double
well I don't
you know I don't see the window at all
it's only on the front
elevation
yeah it's not
they're just showing the foundation
so that's why it's hard to know
but on the elevation they show that the window
is literally like about a foot above the
basement slab
No, they did. In the section, there's a line in the wall section that looked like it could be a window.
Oh, I see what you're saying.
I see what you're saying. Probably, maybe so, yeah.
Any other questions? Questions from our attorney?
Just briefly, Mr. Chair. Mr. Clinton, I don't think the tax documents came through, so if you could re-upload those, that would be great. Thank you.
Will do, Ms. Emerson.
Questions or comments from the audience?
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no hands at the Sampter.
Aye, Planning Commission.
Dan Powers with the City Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the I-2 medium industrial zoning at this location.
This neighborhood zoning dates to the original 1933 zoning maps.
The character of the block face is split between residential row homes and light industrial Philabundance community kitchen.
In 2020, the city issued a zoning permit to consolidate two house lots into one lot.
The proposed two dwelling units within one row home matches the character of the block face.
Off-street accessory parking would be out of the character with the block face.
The city planning commission recommends that the board grant the proposed use variance for two dwelling units and the proposed parking variance for not including off-street accessory parking.
Thank you.
MI 2024-005-516-1010 West Kelowna Street.
I vote yes.
Can we add a proviso about the windows or no?
Hillary.
What did you want that proviso to be, Mr. Johnson?
My concern is that the windows are completely below grade based on the plan.
And he said they'd be building based on the plan.
And so my proviso would be that windows, that the basement egress windows extend well above the grade level.
I mean, we might, if that's the case, we might, you may want revised plans.
I'm not sure how we would proviso that.
And that seems to be more of a building issue.
So it may be that we asked for revised plans.
That might be the better way to handle that.
Ask for revised plans then.
so so hillary it's a yes would request revise plans
um we can yes we can do it i mean do we know um mr clinton how many pages of plans were reviewed
by l and i was it like one for a site plan as far as i know one mr emerson okay so we can do
revised plans one page and we'll we'll hold the notice of decision until we receive the proviso
form and the revised plans okay and mr johns can you just tell me exactly what you'd like to see
so i don't misinterpret anything yeah i'd like to see that the the basement uh egress uh windows
are well above the basement, well above the slab, above the pavement.
the slab above the pavement.
So if the windows are just below the framing of the first floor,
then your windows, your egress windows are going to be above the pavement.
Got it.
As opposed to what is shown now is the windows are completely below the pavement level.
Got it. Okay, good.
So Hillary, this will be a resumptive hearing.
we can vote it with one page of revised plans um today or we can do a resumptive i mean it's
it's up to the board i vote yes revised plans dated one page one page dated 122 25
my vote is yes
with the revised plans
Michael Johnson
Cheryl Gaston
my vote is yes with
proviso
Tanetta Graham my vote is no
Tywin my vote is yes
with proviso
Ishmael Shahid my vote is yes with proviso
thank you counsel
we'll be right back
Thank you.
Just a reminder. Can you hear me, guys?
Oh, your mics are on. Just a reminder.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Okay, thank you.
Okay, thank you.
Case number 11, MI 2024, 005-518-370 East Eleanor Street. Richard DeMarco is the attorney.
Richard DeMarco will be rejoining us as a panelist
Good morning, everyone
Mr. DeMarco, could you state your name?
Richard DeMarco, last name spelled D-E-M-A-R-C-O
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Mr. DeMarco, could you identify your client and their relationship to the property?
Yeah, the client is Donald Kohler.
He's the owner.
I believe he's still with us.
And I notice you have a letter of unanimous support from the 42nd Ward RCO.
Do you stipulate to the reading of the refusal and agree with his accuracy?
I stipulate.
I don't agree with the accuracy, but I'm not going to belabor the point.
I'll be very brief.
We had a nice meeting with the neighbors.
There's support.
And so it's really not a big issue.
Why don't you share your screen and proceed?
Will do.
All right.
So I'll just cover.
Oh, wait a minute.
There we go.
You should be able to see my screen now, Mr. Chairman.
So the issue, the only reason I don't stipulate to the refusal, I believe that.
So this is a rebuild of a demolished home that was a curbside demo by L&I.
And the particular section of the code that deals with that allows you to rebuild as long as you don't increase the nonconformity, a nonconforming structure.
That is the case.
I guess the examiner was just thinking that there was some fault by the owner, but there's really no indication of that.
There were no violations prior to the curbside demo, but L&I determined that because there was a collapse in the rear, that the building had to come down.
And that is what happened.
Really, Mr. Kohler did not have any prior knowledge that there was a severe problem in the rear.
You would think he would, but he swears he did not know that.
And there are no violations to show that.
And the only refusal is rear yard, and I'll show you the plans in a moment.
You'll see why it really, really has to be built to the original footprint.
That's all we're proposing today, Mr. Chairman, is to rebuild the demolished home to the exact footprint as it was.
And let me just show you the original structure via some Google images.
This is the home right here.
It's a corner property.
As you can see, it looks pretty good.
This was four years ago.
And let me just show you why the rear, there's an easement in the back that really impacts how these properties are built.
They're all at similar depth.
I'll show you in the next photo.
You'll see what I mean.
So here's it.
Let me move this here.
This is the property here as it stood at the time.
You can see it's completely a flush with the easement in the rear, which, of course, you can't build on.
It's a shared driveway.
This is the original property.
It went all the way to the back.
So we are only proposing to do that.
Matter of fact, we're not including these bay areas that were on the original property.
That's not even proposed with this.
So it will go to the same property line.
So let me show you the plan.
So you can, obviously, this is the posting for today's hearing.
This was the posting for the RCO.
I mean, we had a very nice meeting in December with the RCO.
They fully understood what we were dealing with and agreed to support.
So let me zoom in for you so I can show you where the refusal originates from.
So let me, there.
That's the rear yard.
So this is why we have the refusal, Mr. Chairman.
But as you can see from the prior photos, this is where the line was prior.
And we have a very large front yard setback, which matches the other properties.
We are fully in context with the other properties.
It's just this small, tiny piece here that constitutes our rear yard that required the variance.
And we actually own out to this line.
We actually own the easement.
So we have plenty of open space, but that one and we have actually have rear yard depth, but we rear yard, excuse me, area, but we do not have rear yard depth.
So obviously, if we were to do a rear yard and comply with the code, we would not match the name.
if we were to do a rear yard and comply with the code we would not match the neighborhood we'd be
well out of context and it would really shorten the property since the front yard setback is so
significant it would really cause a hardship if we were actually trying to comply with the code
this is the elevation i'll keep the zoom in so you could see where our basement is not really
a basement. It's fully above grade, and it's walkout in the rear, so it's not really a
basement. I'll show you the floor plan so you can see. There's two means of egress for the,
and there's, of course, windows above grade, and this is the floor plan. I'll go to the basement.
You can see there's walkouts, two means of egress within the basement. One note about the,
Oh, and this is the RCO. We had a really nice meeting with the RCO. They obviously want the building to be rebuilt, and we had unanimous support.
One item on the tax clearance, Mr. Kohler is fully up to date on his taxes.
And by the way, if you're curious, this is the code section, which I believe indicated it should not be refused.
But let me go ahead and put this on the screen. I'll zoom back out.
This is the tax situation. As you can see, he's got a charge for the demo, the curbside demo.
They charged the property owner. But when you see his real estate taxes, it has a credit.
So he's fully up to date on his taxes. The insurance company is supposed to be dealing with this charge.
this is the demo charge, but the real estate taxes are paid. So we think that this does meet
the code's intent that the person be up on his taxes before getting a variance, but the variance
is really necessary to actually deal with the charge because he needs to get the property built.
It may be paid any day. There's some issues with the insurance company and there's an adjuster
involved and they're trying to get it resolved, but that it's still there, but that it's expected
to be taken care of shortly. But I think he meets the code requirement since his taxes are up to
date. So hopefully, Mr. Colt, that's it, Mr. Chairman. Hopefully, Mr. Kohler is still with us.
I'll ask him to be promoted so that he can accept my testimony.
Mr. Kohler?
Donald Kohler if you are in the virtual audience please raise your virtual hand
I see no one with their hand up at this time chair
Your officer of the court will take your time
Yeah I spoke to Mr. Kohler at length yesterday and that is his testimony as I
So Hillary how do we stand with the taxes on this
um we're we're fine mr church the real estate taxes that we look at and those are clearly paid
we with the lni bill is is not related to the real estate thank you very much questions on the board
here i have a hand up by the name of zone user i'm not sure if this is donald kohler
that might be him please let him on then
They have been promoted to panelists.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Don, if that's you, please speak.
You can speak and identify yourself.
I'm Donald Kohler, D-O-N-A-L-D, Kohler, K-O-L-L-E-R.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Please proceed, counsel.
Don, very briefly, were you able to hear the presentation I gave to the board just a moment ago?
Yes, I did.
Is it true and accurate, and will you adopt it as your official testimony in this matter?
Yes, I would.
That's all I have, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you, Don.
Thank you very much.
Questions or comments from the audience?
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no hands at this time, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Dan Powers with the City Planning Commission.
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the rsa 5 residential single family zoning at
this location the proposed dimensional variance for rear yard depth would match the character of
the homes on this block face the city planning commission recommends that the board grant the
proposed dimensional variance for rear yard depth thank you thank you so mi 2024 005 518 370
the East Eleanor Street, I vote
yes. Michael Johns, my vote
is yes. Cheryl Gaston,
my vote is yes.
Tanetta Graham, my
vote is yes. Ty Owen, my vote
is yes. Thank you, Mr. DeMarco.
Thank you, Mr. DeMarco.
Everyone have a good afternoon.
Everyone have a good afternoon.
So number 12, MI 2024-005-519-401 Lindley Avenue.
So, number 12.
Brett Feldman is the attorney.
There's a letter of support from the 42nd Ward and petition of opposition provided from a protestant, David Paz.
There's approximately 164 signatures.
okay thank you um mr feldman could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer
yes brett feldman b-r-e-t-t feldman f-e-l-d-m-a-n right do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do um could you identify your client
a relationship to the property. Absolutely. I represent the pastor Gino Jennings and the church
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the owner of the property, and he's the pastor.
All right. Do you stipulate to the reading of the refusal and agree with this accuracy?
I do. Share your screen and please start your presentation.
can everyone see my screen we can sir great great okay one other request can can the pastor uh gino
jennings be elevated as a panelist now um i just want to make sure he's he's out there uh he's been
waiting and then there's a medical emergency um if i could just see if he's if he's out there now i
I just have not been able to confirm his presence yet.
Dino Jennings, if you are in the virtual audience, please raise your virtual hand.
Thank you.
I see no one in the audience with that name, and I see no hands raised at this time.
I know he was planning on meeting and attending,
So we'll keep an eye to see if he's here.
So, again, I represent Pastor Gino Jennings in the Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Let me just move this down here.
It's really a great story.
This is some images of some of the work that the church has done, both domestically and internationally.
But unlike a lot of other churches, this is a flourishing church in the only part of the city, surrounded by Lindley, 4th, Duncannon, and 5th Street.
The pastor and the church purchased the property, I believe, in 2016-17.
And at that point, it was one of the decommissioned Catholic churches that were falling into disrepair.
the church involves that it's it's a whole complex this is the uh church building there is then a
school uh that was that was open for many many years that it also would close the rectory and
then a gym and then a massive parking field and when they purchased this property the church and
you'll you'll see the exhibits as we'll go through here um the archdiocese one of the reasons they
they closed was not only just dwindling membership and families in the neighborhood
But there was massive upgrades that needed to be done to all the systems, the inside, the outside, to keep this property operational.
And step one for the pastor and the church was this upgrade of the church itself.
And you'll see pictures how they've completely—let me just get right to it here.
This is the outside. It's just a remarkable edifice that was falling into disrepair.
And after this massive investment, here's what it looks like now.
It certainly could be designated historic. It is just stunning inside. You could almost eat
off the floors. I was blown away when I had a chance to visit this. So this was step one,
was to rebuild this facility in the inside and make it something that would be a showpiece for
the pastor and for his congregation. We're now on to step two, and let me just go through the
EXHIBITS QUICKLY. RIGHT HERE, THESE ARE EXHIBITS, EXHIBITS 1 THROUGH 13 WHICH I'D ASK TO BE
INCORPORATED INTO THE RECORD. AS YOU SEE THERE'S A LETTER OF SUPPORT FROM THE COMMUNITY GROUP.
WE ALSO HAVE, I BELIEVE, THE COUNCIL PERSON IS IN SUPPORT. BUT STEP TWO OF THIS IS THIS BUILDING
RIGHT HERE, AND LET ME JUST FOCUS ON THIS, THIS IS WHAT WE'RE HERE FOR TODAY, IS THIS SCHOOL
building, which was a 57,000 square foot school building, which was also empty and vacant.
And as part of what the church wants to do is provide senior housing.
And as part of what the church wants to do is provide senior housing, over 55 senior housing for church members who have provided service to the church within this facility here, within this 57,000 square feet.
There'd be 28 units, a mix of one bedrooms and studios, and these would be provided at a very subsidized rate.
They're looking at actually providing this at no cost, but going back and forth on whether it be a small rent, just so everyone feels that there's some obligation on a monthly basis.
But this is really part of what the church wants to do is reward and honor those seniors who have been an important part of the church.
So that's where we're talking about right here.
Let me just get to some of these other pictures here.
Again, this is the church building itself.
the refurbishments. That's the inside. And then we get to the school building here on Lindley
Street, the 57,000 square feet. There's three levels. We're not changing anything on the
exterior. Level one, level two, and level three for 28 units. Here's pictures from the inside of
the complex, from the parking field. You're looking towards Lindley. This is the church
building. This is the school building. This is the gym and rectory I was talking about.
And now here's pictures looking at it from different perspectives.
Lindley, which is where the 57,000-square-foot building fronts.
This is one of the main means of egress into that parking field off of 4th Street, and there's a secondary egress point.
Here is that large parking field, which accommodates church services on the weekends and operations during the week.
They also have shuttle buses that they use for part of the operations of the church.
And then here, as we go into the building itself, there's three levels.
It looks like, if you've been into any school building, it looks like a classic Philadelphia, whether it's public or archdiocese school.
Here is that first level, the bathroom, the hallways.
Here is what it looks like now on the first floor.
with the hallways, with the assembly space, and with some offices that exist when it was a school building.
Here are some of the classrooms that still look very similar, a very solid building.
Here is the second floor, again, windows, classrooms, classrooms, hallway, bathroom, again, into the second floor.
Part of this would also be some area for the church to have meals, and that's also part of the residential to really create a sense of community from the residents who are part of the church and the church itself.
And then here is the site plan.
Again, no changes.
It's just an adaptive reuse, 57,000 square feet.
The subject building is here shaded in the red.
Building A is the church.
building c which is not part of this is the the rectory and then building d which is that
which is that gymnasium building and then just the large parking field that you see here means
of egress off of off of fourth street and as well as in this this back area here
close-up of the site plan again and then and then turning to see here
you might want to make that bigger yeah yeah I know here is the here's that first floor
lower level there's six units again there are studios and one bedrooms with different means
of ingress and egress to the outside you know we just think these are really good units for
for the proposed residents and again we're just taking those classrooms breaking them up into
the rhythm that we thought was that worked we have our project architect Ian Smith who is
very experienced working with historical buildings and we can certainly talk about
how these units were were designed and developed to keep the program of the pastor
Here is the second floor. This is 11 units. I don't know if I can make that big enough here. Right here are the one bedrooms, the studios. This is along Lindley here. Again, these are the one bedrooms and studios here with windows out to the outside.
there's a existing space here that would be used as part of an overflow
sanctuary for the church as part of it's also of its religious services and
It's part of it's also of its religious services. And then this is the second floor, third floor, you want to call it. Again, another 11 units with, again, a mix of studios and one bedrooms with a dining area here that, again, is part of the communal space for the church.
then this is the the second floor
But these units, these residents are church members and obviously looking to participate in that in that in that dining room area here and can talk about this.
We're adding two elevators that aren't part of this right now to make this accessible for the for the over 55 residents that we're seeking and that we talked about with the community as part of their letter of support.
with provisos. Here's just a breakdown of the different spaces within. Again, six in the first
floor, 11 units in the second floor, and 11 units in that second floor, third floor. And then here's
the elevations. This is on Lindley, the first floor here, second floor here, and the third floor
here. No changes to the building itself. And again, adding in elevators to make this accessible
for those residents as part of what we're really looking to do here in this kind of very unique
application that I haven't seen anything like this in many years. Here's elevations from the
other side. Here's some of the cross sections. There's only a small unit, a number of units
in that lower level first floor. And then here's the other building sections from the two floors
and then the lower level.
And as far as our refusal,
the only refusal we have is for use.
And this is really a classic hardship.
We've got a 57,000 square foot
former church building
that former school building
that is vacant.
And the way the zoning works here,
the only other use we could have
would be to have a single one one single family unit within that prop within that building but in
fact we couldn't even do that because in rsa5 you can't have multiple uses uh on a property so that
would be the school and any residential you can't have multiple structures that would be this former
school and the church um and if this was rm1 because of the lot area you would have approximately
250 units. We're talking about 28 units here. And we have a zoning memo and certainly want to
reserve time to go through each one of the criteria in the zoning memo once the board has had a chance
to ask any questions that they might have for me, for Ian, our project architect, or David Gantz,
who is our operation managers of the church. But really a classic hardship here. And that this,
because we're not adding any floors, we're not adding any other mass,
seems to be a minimum variance in keeping with the surrounding areas
in terms of light and air and other of the zoning criteria.
This is our application for appeal, project information form,
our letter to the community,
and proof of mailing, posting photos that you see here.
our zoning. And again, RSA 5, there's almost nothing you can do on RSA 5 except for single
family, which really creates the hardship here. This is the deed. This is that we showed we have
no taxes due. And this is our zoning memo that we want to reserve time to talk about that. Again,
once the board has asked any questions.
We both believe-
Why don't you bring your client on
to adopt your testimony?
Have the architect ready
in case there's questions for him.
Sure, sure.
And again, I just wanted to point out
the letter of almost unanimous support
from the 42nd Ward letter.
We have that.
Democrats, they asked for some provisos
that we've been told the board cannot put
on any approval that we get.
So with that, I'm going to again,
see if Pastor Gino Jennings
is in the virtual audience.
Pastor Jeddings, if you're now available,
I know you're doing a medical emergency,
if you could please raise your hand.
Anything?
I see no hands raised at this time, too.
So Brett, you're an officer of the court.
We'll take your testimony.
Questions from the board.
I have a question.
How many of the parking spaces are reserved
for the residents in the building?
Yes, thank you.
I should have had a note for that.
What we're looking to do is we don't we don't expect that many of the residents will need parking because of.
We don't we don't expect that many of the residents will need parking because of the mass transit that they're because of, you know, a lot of them tend to be a little bit older and use those shuttle buses that we have.
But what we will be doing is any any of those units, those 28 units that do need a parking space will be allocated a parking space.
you know that large parking field there that that should provide significant parking okay
and then my last question is in terms of outdoor space for the seniors we're in that plan is there
some type of outdoor space for them to congregate yeah we have we haven't you know I can certainly
asked, there's a large, there's a beautiful, as you come around on 5th Street here, as part of
the church property, there's a beautiful outdoor area here. Let me see if I can get a better picture
of that. Yeah, right here. We've got this almost like park-like area out here on 5th Street that's
been perfectly maintained with landscape out there that we would hope would be an area that
residents could use out there and provide some outdoor area.
So it's not like clearly delineated for residential outdoor use?
Well, they would certainly have access to it. And again, these are church members,
so they would feel comfortable using that outdoor area because the church has events
already out in that outdoor area. So it's not like they would feel that they can't go there
because they're not part of the church and that there are some you know a non-accessory use to
the church okay my follow-up to that is so that means they will have to bring out their own lawn
chairs or something like that or would you be providing benches and tables and stuff like that
yeah so it can be a purposefully uh planned out open space for the 28 units oh it would it would
It would absolutely, we would look to have lawn chairs and, you know, amenities out there for the residents themselves. Absolutely.
Other questions?
Other questions?
Yeah, I think I agree with board member Graham. Maybe you can pull up the site plan.
And I think having a senior facility here is, it's a beautiful project, but making sure
that there's some defined outdoor space for seniors, I think is critical in these neighborhoods.
And so I would look to, you know, the development team to really kind of address that because
this is not just a senior building in the middle of a neighborhood, it's a campus.
And I think it should be planned as such.
um and and to that point what are the other buildings going to be used on um used as on the
site yeah let me let me do this i want to also uh promote our project architect uh ian right now ian
smith uh who really worked on the kind of the master plan here with with the with the church
himself. Why don't we bring him on, Brad? Mr. Smith?
which has been promoted to penalists.
And the other question I have is
two other questions, and I think
I'm done. How is
the project being financed?
Are there any public funds
associated with it? And
how, I don't believe that
the church can restrict
renting only to
church members. I think
discriminatory laws
you know require that you can't do that yeah let me i i i don't believe that i don't believe that's
the case um as a as a private as a private church entity um but let me let me first ask
ian to come on here ian i'm here can everyone hear me yes mr smith state your name then spell
for the stenographer my name is ian smith and it's spelled i-a-n-s-m-i-t-h do you swear or
for him to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes please proceed counsel yeah
and you've heard you've heard a lot i know you work closely with the church kind of on this
on this vision um to to provide senior housing for church members um can you talk a little bit
about kind of the vision and the goal that the pastor had um to make this this a reality in the
plants that you show today yeah yeah absolutely so i mean let's think of this first um in a wider
view sort of a 10 000 foot view this is a campus that is owned by the church organization um and
the church organization um and in some ways each of these buildings is to support sort of this
in some ways each of these buildings is
Thank you.
this institution that they are sort of you know running from this um property and primarily when
we start to think about this i think in some ways i know you know we're very focused on the
the refusal um item but primarily we may have mischaracterized the sort of a proposal from the
start, right? Primarily, this building, its primary use is to support the church function
as an overflow space and a commissary to support food. I would say 60% of the floor area really
supports that. We think about this as a multi-use building structure. The residential would be an
accessory to the primary use of this second building,
sort of adjacent facing Lindley Avenue, right?
And we're thinking about this as a campus as opposed to separate fund
generating sort of, you know, things, right?
The purpose was never to generate funds to sort of make this proposition
solvent. The purpose is to service the mission of the church, you know,
to satisfy its many constituents that um are participants of the church so in some ways
i want to make sure that we understand the perspective of this as opposed to the typical
um ian and let me say the a and listen i i think we understand where you're coming from but i think
if you would could you concentrate on the questions that mr john's brought well i'm trying
to get to the character of the vision like so these these aren't these apartments weren't to
serve the public in the sense of putting out notices and renting it to people it's a support
mission like people within the mission so why don't we talk about where's the outside area that
would be available for the seniors yeah so so when it comes to the outside area for the seniors
it um part of their i mean when we we characterize the seniors we said generally speaking these
people have done mission for the church for many years, right? They've been doing service
over 10, 15 years, and they're coming to a point in life where the church wants to take care of
them, right? And the issue is that they're going to have a relationship with the church and have
this social connection with regard to the activities that occur on the premise. So their
their relationship to an outside space i think in some ways is is a misdirection with regard to the
answer with regard to what they're the interest of you know they're being a part of this
wonderful mission and i i know though they have access to this outdoor area here on on fifth
street here absolutely but yeah they have access to the entire camp absolutely yeah that's all
that's all they're asking i just wanted to i just wanted to confirm that that we would be
using this outdoor. We've got this beautiful, well-maintained, well-landscaped area that's
raised off of the sidewalk that church members and residents of church member residents of the
residential can use and utilize, correct? There's also a gym, right, on campus that can be used in
sort of for walking and activities and whatnot. I believe that's building number, I think, three or
four which is north of our building as far as the site plan um and yeah that was that was the other
question here if you look right here this building here is a is a gymnasium um that right now the
plan would be to maintain that as a gym uh and uh there is no plans right now to to turn that into
any other use other than um a recreation area uh for both the church uh and again the church
residents who live within
Building B. So there's
plenty of recreation area both
outside and inside here on
this campus. And the same thing
goes for the building of, what is that,
401 Lindley?
Well, so 401 Lindley, that
building, there isn't a plan for that quite
yet. You're talking about here, right here?
Building C? I guess it was the rectory.
That's empty right now.
We don't have a plan for
that right now these are big projects these are yeah yeah that's and right and then these are
privately financed there is no public money right there is no there is no private money maybe that's
you know the the distinction here on who can live there and cannot there's no there's no private
money here in the in this project well i mean there's no public i don't know that even if it's
private there's no public money there's no public well i don't i won't argue that i'm not an attorney
but i don't know that you can do that even if there's private money that you can restrict you
can restrict the seniors maybe i don't know that you can restrict unless they're i don't know part
of a cult or something um but i think the issue really about the outdoor space was a defined outdoor
But I think the issue really about the outdoor space was a defined outdoor space that not is just that's not just open space, but that, you know, has some defined seating, some walking path, something for the folks that are going to live there all the time.
So I think that that's just a comment. It's a great project, but that's a.
Yeah. We could certainly work on a landscape plan at some point.
But again, there are there's a tremendous opportunities on the outside here.
and then also this gym space they got basketball courts in there i mean it was a you can imagine
what it looks like i think that's it michael are anyone else yes i have a few questions one i have
a question about the interior dining hall that was listed on the plan at floor two and is that
going to be a continued shared use and is access going to be restricted to residents when the
church is not in operation do they have access to that to that kitchen area right here
yes and as i as i understand ian this is primarily for the church itself um this area here which
again for churches often have an area where there where there's dining um and it's not
directly part of the residential um component of this but obviously again there's there's
interaction because these are um intended to be members of the church let him let me ask the
question please right mr smith so yes it's it's meant to be used for both people as i've been
directed by the owners and in this design it was formerly uh a catholic school cafeteria we wanted
to maintain that function and it supports the functions of the church which is adjacent as well
as serving the members if they want to partake in this sort of program. Can you walk me through
where the proposed elevator is going to be? Can somebody point out on the plan the general location
of the proposed elevator that's not? Yeah it's actually two elevators in this case and this is
a recommendation um by me um to help make sure that we have a solvent accessible use so at plan
north that brown area that's um right right here right there right below that yeah right below that
are two elevators that are that are serving the three-story levels and that's the only way
you can actually get the elevators to work on three levels because the basement is um below
grade on the interior side um and um is a full retaining wall below grade and as you move towards
Lindley Street it it emerges and is as primarily only three feet below grade okay and then walk
me through like if I'm in the hall standing like right outside the elevator bank where the stairs
go down right how do I transition into what you have coded as green or church space is that
all right is that a threshold so we are currently on the second floor so what we need to do is
transition to the first floor which should be the page prior to this isn't the dining area on the
second floor the dining area is on the second floor yeah I'm asking how do I get from that
hallway into the dining area oh oh I'm sorry go back to that yeah so you get into the dining area
through um uh through an opening that is aligned with the stair that goes down so it's just the
opening there's no doorway there's not a gate there's not a locked entry I'm sure there's a
there's a doorway there um that would be open when it's in function and use yeah but we didn't show
it uh in this particular case okay and then my um sort of last question is around uh what's the
process like how are you intending to market secure your tenants and what is your proposed
rent for the unit. So I believe Brett may have presented this earlier in his testimony and maybe
we can speak to that. He did not. That's why I'm asking. Yeah, sure. David, I want to ask the
operations manager david gantz to be promoted as panelist
hi mr gantz could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
hello can you hear me yeah i can please state your name and spell for the stenographer david gantz
d-a-v-i-d last name g-a-n-c-z do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing
but the truth i do please proceed brett yeah david i i know that we were expecting the pastor to uh
I know that we were expecting the pastor to address a lot of these issues, and I understand he's away on a medical emergency, but can you provide the board your title with the church?
to address a lot a lot of these issues and
Operations manager, owner's rep.
Great. And you've been working on this project now for some time, developing this project?
Yes, for a long time. I was the one that was in charge of renovating the church, and now we have the gift of doing this project.
Yes. And as I understand it, the vision of Pastor Jennings here is that these the rental here would essentially be there would be no charge or a very minimal charge, again, to reward church members their service over the years going backwards and also going forward,
that they would be providing service to the church in the community, both domestically and internationally as part of this project.
Is that correct?
That is correct.
So the number is under 500 to hopefully nothing.
That really is the hope.
And just that people understand, the people that are going to be living over there are going to be participating and continuing the mission.
So they will be traveling the world and helping in third world countries.
They will be helping the soup kitchen. They will be helping in the landscaping, you know, just the, and participating in every aspect of, of, of life.
I can understand like the missionaries living in the, in the building. I think my like specific question though has not quite yet been answered. How is rent going to be determined? Is there, is it a lease that's going to be signed? Is it a contract?
Oh, yes. Sorry. I apologize.
Income eligibility, what is the process to get to that decision?
The decision will be made by pastor of a number, and there will be a yearly lease that will be signed.
And the hope is 500 and under for these units.
Okay. So I guess, like, philosophically, these are being considered to be self-subsidized by the church.
Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.
and then i think just as a like matter of comment um the plans don't really look like a senior
building like typical senior buildings when you want to look at similar senior buildings typically
come with like pretty standard amenities things like laundry on each floor things like common
areas that could be shared i don't really understand right now where like okay and
visitations could be when like people come to visit them so i think part of some of the reaction
that you're hearing from some of the board members who are familiar with seeing senior
housing buildings is that the plan is currently missing a lot of the like really standard
and typical aspects of senior buildings that are um generally seen in in the so let me let
me touch on that every unit actually has its own kitchen and has a washer and dryer so every unit
has uh it's basically a living space just like you would have a condo somewhere an apartment
And there is on the first floor, share space for yoga and gym and a gathering place for people to sit and do things together.
So there is all those things that you are touching on.
Is that in what's notated here is the overflow sanctuary off the entry hall?
and then if you see as soon as you walk in previously about whether that in the dining
hall how they were going to be accessed um like you know after typical business hours for the
church and if those would be sort of open for so you would have access with a key fob
so basically the campus would be secure 24 7 under security and every single entrance to go
into let's just say private area or public area there will be a key fob to get in and there will
be locked doors so all the tenants will have access to those spaces but if someone from the
outside wants to come it would only have to be opened by security it's not like me and you could
come 24 7 and walk in there it would only be for tenants i understand i guess there's plans for
on-site 24-hour security yes okay and and also david we talked extensively about this the community
meeting. Cameras. We have some people waiting here. So is there anything else you want to offer
before we go to the public? Nothing further right now. I do want to reserve time for rebuttal and
also to talk about our satisfaction of both state and local hardship. Any other questions for the
board i just want to echo the uh concerns of a board member uh win about this whole facility as
this whole facility as a senior housing sort of facility.
a senior housing
I'm not sure whether it is, we didn't talk about this,
if there's some sort of assisted living kind of aspect of this,
or is it just seniors who have served the church in some capacity
and will be doing it in the future?
And that, of course, is a concern in terms of how this will operate.
as a living, a space for those members.
Other questions?
Questions or comments from our attorney?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions and comments from the audience.
Sir, could you please state your name
and spell for the stenographer?
Make sure your microphone's on.
My name is David Payas.
Spell my last name?
Please, sir.
P-A-E-Z.
Do you swear or affirm that tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
Sir, are you a neighbor?
Please start your presentation.
First of all, I'd like to state that if you just heard what was said by the lawyer and the architect, they were not even on the same page.
They were doing a lot of backpedaling.
And that's also a big concern.
like you said this plan is not very thought out number one um a big concern with the nate with
the community uh let me start over we had that zoom meeting with the community i forget what
it's called and uh the rco meeting correct at that meeting uh by the way 98 of the people were
from that congregation but at that meeting i asked the same i asked the same question i said
are you going to charge these people to live there their answer was no we're doing it out
of the kindness of our heart right there he lost me uh we're all adults here there's no thing
there's nothing there's no free lunches you know and if it's too good to be true it's always too
good to be true. So now they're saying that they're going to charge these individuals.
Again, backpedaling. Mr. Pais, I have to interrupt. I said at that meeting,
it would be either heavily subsidized or no charge, and we continue to say the same thing.
Okay. Why don't we let him finish his testimony, Brent? You're going to have a chance to go back.
Okay. One of the biggest concerns with the community is the parking.
during covid it was horrible and it hasn't changed because we have a lot of investors
unfortunately that are buying up properties and instead of renting their single family homes
instead of renting them out to families they're turning them into rooms that they rent so you'll
have three rooms up to six rooms in one home so that's six individuals in one house with six
vehicles. So we are already congested. We can't find parking on our own blocks. We have to park
two, three blocks away from our homes. And PPA, you have to pay to park your vehicle on your
block. It was $35 last year. This year, it more than doubled, $75. And that doesn't even guarantee
to your parking spot. When they meet on Sundays, that generates a lot of congestion, and people
are losing their parking, obviously. But then they have these get-togethers that are two to
three days long, and they're using those buses to bus people in. We're talking, this building could
hold that church could hold a thousand people and they are also using the gymnasium for
those reasons as well that's too many people i'm sorry can i grab some water i'm a little nervous
all right
so so parkinson issue what are the other issues what are the other issues you're concerned with
taxes our taxes from have our real estate taxes have gone up twice in two years this year
everybody's paying 50 to 100 percent more this year um these families are struggling already
okay if this property is developed it's definitely going to raise our taxes
and also we have a problem also with believing what they're really they're what they're really
saying they're going to do with the property. In that parking space, there's commercial vehicles,
There's commercial vehicles, you've seen the picture, tractor trailers, car haulers, there are buses, you know, and they also installed a phase three electrical system.
you've seen the picture. Tractor trailers, car haul.
Now, if you don't know what that is, that's used for industrial use.
That's how much energy it pulls.
Why would you need a phase three industrial electrical system put in for what they're supposedly using these properties for?
Explain that to me.
When you develop a property, I can understand upgrading the electrical system, but to put a phase three electrical system, it pulls so much power that we have blackouts in the area.
Mr. Chairman, I have to object to relevance.
i i i think okay i want you to concentrate on what else about it and then we're going to move
on right what what else about the project do you not like um i heard parking i heard other issues
yes um you know we don't we get no community help from these people they do not outreach to any of
us okay and that's that's the problem also we feel like that building and the other buildings
will be better used as community outreach programs
like Concilio, Esperanza, Temple University.
If I list everything that these organizations
give back to the community, it's longer than my leg.
It would take quite a while, quite a bunch of your time.
But nobody even says a word when they purchase a property
and develop it because they give so much back to the community.
I'll give you an example.
There's a family that lives right across the street from that building.
Mr. Piaz, are you saying someone else should own this property?
Why don't you do this?
Why don't you concentrate on why you don't want this
and not what other people are doing?
So you're saying they're not involved in the community is what you say.
They're not.
They do nothing for the community.
What else?
Other than that, like I said, we feel like there should be better uses.
There are better uses for that building.
And we do not believe, and why would you only let your congregation live there?
Okay, thank you.
And hold on one second, sir, one more thing.
There are other options to getting those elderly people to the congregation.
They have buses.
They have shuttle buses.
Right.
All right, Mark, thank you very much.
Brett do you want to
you want to cross
is there anyone else in the virtual
in the virtual audience
yes chair
I have a hand up by the name of
Charles Richardson
they have been promoted to panelists
good morning Mr. Richardson
Mr. Richardson
good afternoon mr chair hi could you please state your name as bell for this stenographer
charles richardson r-i-c-h-a-r-d-s-o-n office of councilwoman cindy bass room 508 city hall
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
I do. Please proceed.
Councilwoman is
on the
results of the RCO meeting.
The councilwoman is not
opposed to granting the variance.
Thank you very much for your call. We appreciate it.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
I see no more
here at this time, Chair.
Brett?
You said
do you do you want to follow up i mean yeah no absolutely um david can you again um are you out
there still david no david gantz you're saying yes i'm here okay i don't think you had ever
adopted my testimony um uh you heard my testimony yes uh and is it true and accurate it is
and do you adopt it as your own i adopt it as my own great great and uh ian are you are you still
out there in the in the universe yes i am i'm here okay okay let me just ask you this question um and
maybe i mischaracterized it but this is not you know we talked about a senior living over 55 unit
over 55 age. What we're looking to do, though, is to have an area here where older church members
can live on the premises and conduct their...
can live on the premises and conduct their,
their work with the church in the community.
And we can certainly get into that and also internationally and domestically,
correct? Yes. Yeah. And there are spaces within the, within the,
within the complex that we talked about where they can meeting spaces,
where they can recreate, correct?
That's a part of the plan. Yes. Okay. Okay. And,
And if there's any further, we heard some zoning board members who had some concerns that maybe some of those spaces weren't delineated enough or we hadn't, you know, put those all specifically on the plan.
If there's any concerns, we could certainly update the plans and provide those to the zoning board, correct?
Absolutely.
Great.
Great.
But again, the idea here was to have this space for church members who had provided service to the church.
And you heard the ballots of my other testimony and do you adopt it as your own?
yes and is it true and accurate yes great thank you thank you all right um
we've had a lot of testimony on this yeah we're going to take this back to the executive session
um next wednesday we will vote on this at
oh i'm sorry planning thank you i had a little longer than i thought planning please
thank you good afternoon mr chair dan powers with the city planning commission
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the rsa 5 residential single family zoning at
this location the proposal is for a multi-family housing and an event assembly facility on the
grounds of the incarnation church first church of our lord incarnation of our lord school the
church appears to have been present since at least 1910 and seems to blend well with the neighborhood
residential character. The property also has an entrance along Olney's North 5th Street business
corridor. Multifamily household living is a common use throughout Philadelphia to repurpose older
schools and churches. This proposal matches the comprehensive plan's recommendation to preserve
and reuse at-risk historic anchor buildings. The City Planning Commission wrote the definition for
event assembly facility for situations like this where a facility would not be open to the general
public and would not charge admission as opposed to nightclubs and public entertainment venues.
The city planning commission recommends that the board grant the proposed use variances.
Thank you very much.
And Mr. Chair, if I may, just, we passed up a full hardship memo to the board, which
I'd ask to be incorporated into the record.
It's incorporated.
And all of our exhibits, one through 13, be incorporated.
Right.
Also within there, I mean, we have all the analysis on least minimum variance, that it's
conformity with the with the with the city plan uh that it won't permanently or substantially
enjoy the appropriate use of adjacent conforming property or impair the adequate supply of light
and the adjacent conforming properties because we're not adding any more bulk or mass to this
but i would ask that the board um review that memo and we can certainly provide additional
supplementation on that i'd also ask the board there are federal uh and state um anti-discrimination
organization, especially on religious grounds, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and also
at the state level, that are also in that memo that we would provide, because there was not
supposed to be a substantial burden placed on churches in the free exercise of their religion.
So I would add that as well. All right. So we're going to hold this. We're going to sit in the
executive session next Wednesday, and we will vote on this at 9.30 a.m. I thank you for your
testimony, sir. Thank you for coming here and staying so long. Thank you very much.
thank you one number 13 mi 20 sure number 13 mi 2024 005 523 13 20 to 22 north fish street
Vern Anastasio.
Afternoon, Mr. Chair, members of the board.
I think I swore you once today, didn't I, Vern?
Yes, you have, yeah.
Could you identify your client and their relationship to the property?
Ben Reisman, his wife, Gia, the owners of the Mass Building, 1320 North 5th.
Do you stipulate to the reading of the refusal and agree with its accuracy?
Why don't you start your presentation?
And my understanding, this is going to be a hear and hold.
Am I correct?
That's correct.
Thank you.
Please proceed, sir.
And I am asking that we, the hear and hold go for two weeks, two weeks from today.
If the board can make that happen, we would greatly appreciate that.
13, 20, North 5th, right here is the building in question.
It is buffered, sandwiched between RSA 5 and IRMX 1.
It is buffered sandwiched between RSA 5 and IRM.
Sorry, hold on.
Yep, right here, sandwiched between RSA 5 and IRMX.
We are here on a special exception.
And I have 119-page exhibit packet.
I won't go through it all, considering the time, but I want to make sure that you get all the more important items.
For the use of assembly and entertainment, and as such, because it is zoned IRMX, the use is already considered compatible with the code.
We know that. That's why it hasn't been refused. But because it's a special exception, we must show that there will be no more greater impact than what would be expected for the use of this project.
So with that, the MESS building is a gathering facility, a place for the artistic community to gather, to workshop, to rehearse, to perform.
They would like to host events like weddings on a regular basis.
And in order to do that, we must seek the special exception.
uh the mass has been as a important community building um and community-minded neighbor for
years not only just for the kensington neighborhood but citywide they host eighth grade graduation
luncheons for the public school they host open friendly uh friday evening events for the community
at large that is open to the public they host fundraisers rallies uh and other events for
local organizations and groups and non-profits to raise money uh they've even hosted the 18th
democratic ward uh in their special events uh why don't you uh why don't you put it up
so we can see it as you talk about it yep let me show you the plans
this is existing space as you can see here's the proposed assembly and entertainment area
there's a caretaker residence already there
this is the space in question
we'll also get to photos for oh by the way we also had and i'm going to get to this in a minute
a sound engineer come out and give us a laundry list of items that we can work on to mitigate
any sound issues we've used this sound engineer report as the basis for our community benefits
agreement. We've been in constant communication with the Old Kensington Neighbors Association
and Miss Annie Moss. We do have an agreement. The reason for the hear and hold is simply to
get the CBA in writing, and then they will send their position. This is the front gate
to the building. Some photos. Here's some interior space.
This is the assembly and entertainment spot that was highlighted on the plan.
And for many years, like a rec center or a church or a library, this building has become a focal point of the community.
uh and it is celebrated uh which 23 pages of the last 23 pages of my exhibit packet
are all signatures and letters of support uh by all relevant parties in the community
and beyond this is the letter that went out to
all the neighbors
invited to not only the RCO meeting on the 13th
there was actually several RCO meetings
but nevertheless
and then today's zoning hearing
here are the addresses
and we have proof of mailing
from Vista, 134 individual households were mailed.
134 individual households were mailed.
So as I've said, we've been going through the process of crafting a community benefits
agreement with the RCO for quite some time.
We believe the care and the effort going in to have a sound engineer and a report made
And using that sound engineering report to build in the provisions of a community benefits agreement demonstrates and meets the burden to show, in fact, that my clients would not operate this facility in a way in which it would impact the community any differently or worse than any other property and operation of its kind.
And here are proof of postings, my apologies. Now let's get to the overwhelming support.
Starting on page 98, we have more than 40 signatures of near neighbors in support.
additional. We have letters from the Philadelphia School District, principal of the public school
in the area. We have a local Montessori school, also in support for their efforts at the building.
We have the 18th Ward Democrats, who pledged their support for the special exception.
Lauren Rinaldi herself, the ward leader, signed the letter of support. We also have residents of
1326 North 5th, 1340 North 5th, 1320, I'm sorry, 1342 North 5th, 1315 North 5th. Additionally,
Matt Graziano, who lives across the street and is also the RCO leader of an affected RCO that's
been involved in the meetings and discussions as well, all support unanimously the special
exception here we love philly play arts iron i think i think we've seen a lot of the letters
thank you thank you with that because we've met the burden uh to show that my clients will operate
uh this facility in a way in which that it would not impact adversely the community any more than
one would be imagined because of the overwhelming community support and our commitment to building
a CBA with the RCO, we do respectfully request the granting of the special exception.
I would like my client, Ben Reisman, who I believe is actually in person, to take the
stand and raise his hand.
There's no one here.
Well, then maybe he's online if he could raise his hand.
Ben Reisman, he has been promoted to penalist.
Wonderful. Thank you.
Hi, sir. Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Yes. Ben Reisman, spelled B-E-N-R-I-E-S-M-A-N.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you. Ben, did you hear my presentation to the board today?
Yes, I did.
You went accurate to the best of your knowledge?
And you adopted as your own testimony?
Yes, I have nothing further questions from the board.
Yes, I have a question about the letter of support.
I understand that it's contingent on the CBA, but could you walk us through what the votes were when you had the meeting?
I didn't see any vote tally, but that was not provided to me by the RCO.
okay so can i can i say something yes go ahead i mean i know that the vote was 20 to 20 in favor
and five opposed there you go there's you know if the five opposed are people that live on the
immediate block we didn't get that information no that has not been parsed but everyone on the
immediate block who i believe initially had concerns about uh the operation are part of
and parties of the CBA that is being crafted.
I have personally been in contact with the leadership of the RCO
and the immediate neighbors who had some concerns.
All of their concerns have been met.
Can you share what some of those concerns were
and how their plan to be addressed?
They wanted to make sure that the speakers that were outside
would not face Fifth Street, that they would be turned.
that they would be turned. We've agreed to do that. And they wanted to make sure that
We've agreed to do that.
and they want
events with live music would be contained during certain hours by 9 p.m. We're containing that
amplified music after nine o'clock per their request. Also, they want to make sure that that
gate that I showed you earlier is closed most of the time, except for logistic reasons. And that
That gate is, you know, very important for us to, you know, of course, have things come in and out.
But other than that, the gate will be closed per their request.
Closed but not locked?
Just a clarification.
Closed but not locked?
Well, we wouldn't want to lock anybody in the building.
No, no, no.
But ultimately, it will be locked at night.
But, yeah, closed because that was the issue.
They wanted to make sure that the gate was closed so that if there was music,
And mind you, the garden and the rest of the building is 120 feet from the sidewalk.
It's rather deep.
They just want to make sure that if there is any noise emanating from there, it doesn't come out onto the sidewalk, which is why they asked for the gates to be closed.
And then for the events that you're planning to host, is there a plan to host events later than at 9 p.m. in time?
Well, sure.
But amplified music, if it would be past 9 p.m., it would then be contained to just the interior of the building, which is not an issue.
And then are there any time and operation restrictions currently in plan, like hours of operation?
Is there like, what's the latest that might run?
Oh, I don't think it would last past midnight.
And all of that is being worked out.
we'll have a final cba yeah well cbas have nothing to do with us at the zoning board but
we can that's correct hours of operation by proviso which is why i asked yep other questions
questions from our attorney
overwhelming majority of these events are events you know that are from those from those exact
neighbors those neighbors are there that those events that's what they do questions or comments
from the virtual audience planning commission do you want to vote today here i have a hand up
by the name of brian walkins they have been promoted to panelists sure why could you please
state your name and spell for the stenographer
my name is brian watkins b-r-i-a-n w-a-t-k-i-n-s do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the
whole truth nothing but the truth i do are you a neighbor yes directly directly across the street
yeah thank you chair um this is the first that i'm hearing about uh events going on until midnight
in their business plan and on their website and at the okna rco meetings they said that the
events would end by 10 p.m and so this is the first i'm hearing about events potentially
lasting until midnight i i need to clarify i threw that that time out obviously everything
IS SUBJECT TO THE COMMUNITY BENEFITS AGREEMENT SO 10 P.M. IS WHAT WE'VE BEEN DISCUSSING WITH
WITH THE TEAM AND 10 P.M. WILL BE IT I CAN CAN I MAKE SURE THAT THAT'S CLEAR BUT AND I THINK
MR. RICEMAN WANT TO ADD SOMETHING AS WELL CAN I YEAH NO THE YOU KNOW WE'VE UM WE WE'VE BEEN DOING
events that are indoors already that do go to midnight and they don't they don't bother anybody
actually what we're talking about in the cba is just particularly amplified music that is um
like downstairs and connected to the garden which is what okay so it bothers mr reissman let me do
this why don't we let mr walkins finish mr walkins okay yeah um i only brought that up because of the
board member had mentioned
as the first of my knowledge about hours of operation and provisos.
So I just was following up on what she said and what Vern had said earlier.
Okay. Do you have anything else, Mr. Watkins?
No. I mean, unless the board member... Are you in favor of this project,
Mr. Watkins? No, I am not. I object.
Mr. Watkins is part of the working group that we're putting together
a community benefits agreement we wouldn't have done all of this through all this time and all
We wouldn't have done all of this through all this time and all this effort working with Mr. Watkins.
this effort okay working with
So he's completely testifying to the exact opposite of what we've been doing since yesterday.
OK, well, we appreciate that. And we hear his testimony. Is there anything else you have, Mr. Watkins?
No, Mr. Chairman, I just heard you went across at night.
Pardon? You went across Mr. Watkins.
um no i mean he i mean if he had something to offer as far as exact evidence that
this community this proposal would be any more impactful than any other he he would have provided
it he didn't do that so thank you is there anyone else in the virtual audience yes chair i have a
hand up by the name of chris giuseppe they have been promoted to penalist
i could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
do we see do we see him yes chair he did join as a panelist i apologize i was muted
please state your name and spell for the stenographer yes chris gillespie c h r i s
g-i-l-l-e-s-p-i-e do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
i do are you a neighbor i am please i live it thank you i live at 1340 north 5th street which
is about half a block away from the moss building and i live on the same side as the garden um i
submitted a letter in support and i just wanted to attend today to uh demonstrate the enthusiasm
with which I support my comments in my letter,
including specifically to the noise issue
that current and past business practices
at the Moss Building have necessitated evening events
that have included amplified noises of all sorts,
and they have never been a nuisance.
And in fact, many of our neighbors
have discussed enjoying them.
I would also like to express that two of my neighbors
who rent in 1338 North 5th Street could not attend either virtually in person, but also
express their support for the Moss Building and its positive cultural impact on our neighborhood.
Thank you so much. Thank you. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience? Yes, Chair. I have a
hand up by the name of Catherine Tweek. They have been... Just one more, Chair, after this one.
No problem. Could you please state your name and spell for the sonographer?
hello hello thank you for your patience hi state your name and spell for the stenographer
yes my name is katherine twig c-a-t-h-e-r-i-n-e last name t-w-i-g-g do you swear or affirm to
tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes i do are you a neighbor yes are you in
favor of the project? Yes, I am. Is there anything you can offer that hasn't already been offered?
No. In addition, I briefly wanted to say that this project and the events held at the Moss
Building do not adversely affect our community. To the contrary, denying this appeal would adversely
affect our community. They are an asset. They are an important community space, and they have also
been a very friendly and collaborative neighbor. I'm confident of their good faith in entering the
community benefits agreement. They have taken great steps towards addressing any and all neighbor
concerns that they've heard about. And I'm confident that any amplified sound issue around
9 p.m. will be addressed. So I just wanted to speak in their support. Thank you very much for
Columbus. Thank you. Planning Commission. Chair, I currently
have three more hands up. Nicholas Swansman has been promoted
to panelists. Okay, and you have two more after this, am I correct? Yes,
Chair. Please state your name.
Nicholas?
Nicholas, please go to the next hand.
Yes, sorry about that.
Nicholas, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Yes, my name is Nicholas Swasman, spelled N-I-C-H-O-L-A-S, last name S-C-H-W-A-S-M-A-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes. Are you a neighbor? Yes. Are you in favor of this project or against? In favor. Thank you very much.
Yes. Are you in favor of this project or against? In favor. Thank you very much for calling in. We
appreciate it. Next hand, please. Chair, I have a hand up by the name of Michelle Lipson.
They have been promoted to panelists. Hi, could you please state your name and spell for the
stenographer? Hi, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
do you have another hand up yes chair please move on i have a hand up by the name of just
pokes they have been allowed to speak i could you please state your name and spell for the
stenographer
the hand still up yes chair they came in as a penalist hi can you hear me
hi could you please state your name is spelled for the stenographer my name is jeff peltz it's
j-e-f-f-p as in peter e-l-t-z do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing
but the truth i do uh are you a neighbor i am i live directly across the street from the
in favor of this project or against i am an i am in favor yes thank you very much for calling we
appreciate it. Is there anyone else in the audience?
Mr. Chair, I'm sorry. Michelle Lipson
has been promoted to a panelist
previously and she's ready
to testify. Okay. Hi.
Could you please
state your name as Bell for the
stenographer? Michelle Lipson
M-I-C-H-E-L-L-E
last name Lipson
L-I-P-S-O-N. Do you swear
or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing
but the truth? Yes.
Are you a neighbor?
I live about a block away.
Are you in favor of this project or against?
Yes, I'm for it.
I think they're a very valuable community asset.
And it would be a real tragedy to see anything damage this business.
All right.
Thank you very much for taking the time.
Do we have any more hands?
Yes, Chair.
I have one more hand up by the name of Annie Moss.
They have been promoted to penalist.
Could you please state your name as spelled for the stenographer?
Hi, could you please state your name and spell it for the stenographer?
Any more hands up?
No, Chair, I do not have any more hands up at this time.
Hold on, is that Annie Moss?
She's the RCO leadership with whom we're collaborating.
Okay, could you please state your name and spell it for the stenographer?
Unmute, please, Annie.
Annie, you're muted.
Okay, can you hear me now?
I can.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Okay, my name is Annie Moss, M-O-S-S, my last name, with an R-C-O.
All right, do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Are you in favor of this proctor or against it?
With the CBA, yes.
You're in favor of it?
With the CBA.
Thank you very much.
I appreciate it.
Do you have that listed, our concerns and what we agreed upon?
We're holding that open.
We're holding it open until the CBA is executed and delivered to the RCO for the RCO then to release their position.
Yes, and I know that Mr. Watkins was concerned because of the 12 o'clock.
That was something that was not discussed, and we weren't privileged.
But our concern is only the outside music and live entertainment, especially after 9 p.m.
Okay, thank you very much.
Which will be contained.
Mr. Chair, in closing, I just want to say, because of the overwhelming support of nearly everyone who lives around this property,
because we've met the burden of demonstrating that our operation will be no more impactful
than an operation like this should be expected to impact the community.
And because of our willingness to continue to collaborate
and use our sound mitigation report that we've invested in
to build the foundation of a community benefits agreement.
Thank you.
For all those reasons, we ask that the special exception be granted.
Thank you.
all right planning commission good afternoon mr chair dan powers the city planning commission
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the irmx industrial and residential mixed
use zoning at this location the city changed the zoning in this part of south kensington in 2017
the city changed the zoning in this part of south kensington in 2017 in a community supported map
in a community support.
change the appellant has shown that the proposed assembly and entertainment will have no detrimental
impacts beyond what might be expected the city planning commission recommends that the board
grant the proposed special exception for assembly and entertainment thank you hillary where do we
we're just going to move on with this and we'll go once they get it we'll come back or what do we
going to do um so it's technically a hear and hold how and that was the request however
we can just hold the vote pending receipt um of the documents um the cba has been executed
between the parties not that again that affects us but at the request of the parties we can hold
the vote for that and then right um excuse me and then otherwise close close the record because i
think we've heard from everyone today except for the vote when we receive what we need yeah so
we'll just hold we'll hold the vote till we were till we receive that thank you thank you
number 15 mi 2024 005 530 335 poplar street joseph consul is the attorney
there's support from northern liberties letter non-opposition from council member young
Mr. Consul, can you please state your name
as spelled for the stenographer?
Yeah, Joseph Consul. It's J-O-S-C-P-H.
Last name, C-O-N-S-O-L-E.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Do you identify your clients and the relationship to the property?
Yeah, it's Pablo Mancino, and he's the owner.
Do you stipulate to the reading of the refusal?
and uh agree with its accuracy i do there was an amended refusal that i believe was issued this
morning which just corrected the address and the the top whatever but yes the amended refusal we
stipulated please proceed sir um first i didn't hear did councilman young what did he take a
Non-opposition?
Non-opposition.
Oh, okay.
Great.
All right.
I'm going to share my screen.
Joseph Consul here on 335 and 337 rear poplar.
What you're looking at is the entrance to these two lots.
The entrance is currently owned by 335 Poplar.
337 rear Poplar is in the back, and this drive aisle is the only way to get to it.
There is a home built on 335, and 337 rear is an empty lot.
I'll just go through those pictures.
Well, first I'll tell you that my client's plan is to relocate the lot lines to, as it looks now, 337 rear is 682 square feet.
And 335, which includes a drive aisle and an existing three-story single-family home, is 2,572 square feet.
So the goal is to split these properties up and this was one of the ones that had some comments on it, but it hasn't changed.
This is split it up into two lots. The 337 rear would be 1,000, I believe that's 605 square feet, and the 335 would go down to 1,199 square feet and would still contain the building.
In addition, there would be common area, 450 square feet, which would accommodate two cars to park at the outset of the drive aisle there.
So we received an amended refusal today for the adjustment of lot lines to create the common area and the two adjusted lot lines in the back.
My client is not proposing to build on 337 rear at this time.
He understands that there will likely be variances required for building anything on 337 rear.
But his goal right now is to separate the two properties into two lots and have a nice size lot for 337 rear that he can then attempt to build on.
And so we're just seeking the subdivision of those lots and the lot line relocation.
we're just seeking the subdivision of the of those lots and the lot line relocation
now we had originally had a refusal which we got a new refusal today that corrected the addressing
in the paragraph here and yeah we go a little further
that's the original refusal no longer relevant that's our proof of mailing
I'll show you some more pictures of everything.
Again, that's the access point.
This gives you an idea.
You drive in, and to the right is the existing three-story building, which I'll show you in a second, and to the left is 337 rear.
The neighbors specifically requested that no cars, that they'd be able to park two car width, it's 18 feet, and so not to be able to pull the cars all the way to the back.
And so that's, my client came up with the compromise to make it so he could park two cars in the front side by side versus in the back there, as was being done in this photo.
Great question.
This is just showing you a 337 rear.
There's the 335, that's the three-story single-family home, that property's been there forever.
It was my client's primary residence.
Just give you an idea of the space.
here's the parking plan that was submitted
showing space to park two cars it's in compliance 18 feet
see those two right there the RCO specifically asked for that to have it so the cars would not
be able to drive all the way to the back of the property
So our tax clearance certificate is deed in the project information form.
I think the hardship exists in the sense that 337 rear is not, it's landlocked, you can't
access it.
This drive aisle has always been the accessibility point for 337 rear.
And at 600 and some square feet, it's not really a buildable lot. By shifting the lot lines here, the resulting lots are both ample size, one of which has a property already on it, and the resulting lot for 337 rear would be then become potentially functionable, obviously, with other variances required for someone to build on and for eventually a new owner.
um as mentioned we got the rco support we met with them three times uh and eventually got their
support so if i could call my client mr consul mr consul hold on one minute so i have a little
note here the plan attached to the rco letter does not match what applicants submitted to cba
l and i only reviewed the lot line adjustment plan parking space is not at the parking space
is not shown on the plan reviewed by l and i are you aware of that in the district plan third
yeah i i don't think i don't know if the reason
i was like
yeah uh yeah i don't believe that my client had applied for that although parking was previously
granted under which is mentioned on the refusal um i don't think so hillary we're gonna we'll go
through this but we're gonna have to hold this well no so here let me let me let me clarify so
the only thing that was before that was in the application was the the lot line adjustment while
there is in the while there is a use for non-accessory parking on there the actual
parking spaces location and size are not part of this application because that's the only thing
that the L&I has is the subdivision plan. So what the RCO saw and what was in the applicant's
proposal were not before L&I. So I just wanted to clarify that while the use has been approved,
the actual spaces have not been. Well, the amended refusal does cite non-accessory surface
parking with two parking spaces. I know. I'm still a little bit confused by that because
they do not have a plan that shows two parking spaces. Yeah, me too. This came through this
morning um i believe it's in line with the rco once and with what my client
I believe it's in line with the RCO once and with my client, you know, but I don't know the specific way to codify all of it.
Right. Well, I think you might, I don't know what's, cause you probably, well, I think the curb cut was existing, then you wouldn't, I don't know if you would need streets for you for that.
I'm not sure if you had streets approval and what streets reviewed, but there was also the issue of the RCO submitted a plan attached to their letter that showed some additional markup on the plan that was in your packet, so it was a little bit confusing as to what they thought was okay and what the applicant was actually doing, because neither of those plans were reviewed by L&I.
I got you. My client agreed to build a small barrier there. Like that wouldn't that wouldn't have been something we put on the plan to prevent the cars from driving in the back. And that's what they had shown on their plan, which is this barrier here.
Got you. So they they added so they added that to their point.
That's correct. OK. OK. All right. Thank you.
So, Hillary, are we going to hold this?
no we we have the we have the amended refusal um the two i don't know if the two parking spaces
are something that were previously approved and that's why they put two there because there was
already parking but the configuration that's being proposed with the two side by side side spaces
was not reviewed by l and i because plans weren't submitted for that just for the
lot line adjustment right so they previously approved three parking spaces and now we're
asking for two as non-accessory surface parking right it's got to be non-accessory because it's
on a separate lot right i understand right so yeah so i i think they're just recognizing the
existence of parking spots that were already there but now it's just two so i'm just saying
that because i'm not i don't know that like i said that the plans that lni has to not show the
parking spaces like laid out where you had them so just you know wanted you to be aware of that
i don't know if that would cause an issue later on the refusal we have now i think is the the best
that um we're going to get at this time so okay so questions from the board yes um mr council can
you pull up the site plan again it was a little cut off I'm trying to see what the bounds of the
three new lots like what the exact bounds are and then I have a question about the drive aisle is
there an existing easement that's already been recorded the uh so because the three parking
spaces were granted in 2005 to my client for three lots. For 335, there would not have been
an easement at that time. The ZBA in 2005 granted three off-street open-air parking spaces. As you
can see, under the first note on this amended refusal, it was for a deck and three open-air
OFF STREET PARKING SPACES. SO THERE WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN AN EASEMENT THAT WE NEEDED AT THAT TIME.
THERE WILL BE ONE RECORDED NOW TO THE BENEFIT OF EACH OF THE TWO OWNERS FOR THE LOTS IN THE BACK.
BUT I DON'T THINK THAT THAT WOULD BE UNDER THE PURVIEW WE'RE DEALING WITH HERE.
OKAY. AND THEN I KNOW THAT THERE'S CURRENTLY, IT'S A VACANT LOT, BUT WHAT WOULD BE
the plan for the the two vacant lots in the future has there been even well the ones just
just for the two the two cars uh but the the property in the back my client's here he can
speak to it i know i believe he just raised his hand and then just to be clear just for my own
clarity here there's going to be one lot that is mostly the drive aisle and what is like sort of
the offshoot that is 337 rear currently then there would be one lot that is the house and the deck
and then one lot that is currently sort of the open space adjacent to the deck oh correct yeah
like where the well so 335 has the home which 335 currently has the home yes a side yard
essentially for all intents and purposes and the drive aisle and the three parking spaces
Yeah, so now it's going to have that side yard, what I guess is the front yard where this tree is, and the access to poplar.
Okay, and then 337 rear would sort of be an additional space to...
Correct. It'll be this lot and then half of this where the cars are here.
Correct. It'll be this lot and then half of this where the cars are here.
Okay. Any other questions from the board?
Did you want my client to address his intended use?
Is your client here, Joe?
I thought I heard him raise his hand, but was that not him?
Pablo Mianchino has been promoted to penalist.
Why could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Are you there, Pablo?
Do we see him?
i see him it's just not
pablo please unmute yourself
he's got his hand raised again okay can you hear me yeah please hi could you please state your name
is spelled for the stenographer it's p-a-b-l-o-m-c-h-e-n-o pablo manchino all right do you
swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes i do please proceed
counsel um pablo uh um one of the board members had a question about uh the proposed use of the
337 rear are you able to address that yes there's no uh construction in the near future we just
solving this for future
Pablo, could you turn your
video on?
Yeah, one second. I'm looking for the video.
Yes, thank you.
Yeah, there's no plans for future construction in the near future, but there'll be a future development later on.
So we're just dividing this, subdividing to, you know, to save some time when it happens.
Can you walk me through the decision to subdivide out the front parking pad as opposed to consider a different configuration like either condos or using a planned unit development for future development?
yeah so there will be two properties so it will be a common area because as you can see the entrance
is just one aisle and that will have to be shared by the two properties the common area is now a
third lot so i guess i'm i'm just trying to understand why the decision to create a third
lot instead of leave the common area attached to one of the other two properties and just have an
easement? Yeah, when I was talking with the city surveyor, you mentioned something that
it's usually some of the properties in Philadelphia are doing that. And I thought it would be a good
idea to have a common area for the two properties that they can use to, you know, they can park the
cars, bring the trash in, and just use it as a common area. Instead of just having a narrow
entrance on one side and a wider
entrance on the other will be available
for both.
That was the idea.
Okay. Thank you.
Any other questions?
Is anyone
in the virtual audience relative to this?
Planning commission.
good afternoon dan powers of the planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends
no change to the rsa 5 residential single-family zoning at this location the appellant currently
has a single-family home on their lot that includes a side yard and rear parking accessed
from poplar street this lot is unusually shaped but that does not prevent the appellant from
deriving value from the lot as is there is no unique physical condition or circumstance of
this property that would prevent it from being from continuing to be used a single family home
with off-street accessory parking nor has the appellant shown that they would suffer an economic
detriment if the dimensional variances were disapproved the city planning commission
recommends that the board deny the proposed common area non-accessory parking and the
proposed dimensional variances for minimum lot size lot width and yard setback thank you mr
thank you mr council i'm going to hold this the next wednesday i'll vote on this at 9 30 next
council i'm going to hold this the next wednesday i'll vote on this at 9 30 next week
week i just want to yeah i guess i guess we'll just respond to council to the planning commission
and to council to board member win um if the common area if that is more palatable to be
remain one of the other lots uh we i can work that out obviously as an easement for the for
the other lot so everyone would have access to it to park um if that is more palatable then that's
something that that we would we would consider to the extent the board might want to look at that
anyway okay so we'll we'll talk about all that we're going to hold this vote to next wednesday
at 9 30 a.m okay thank you thank you mr council number 18 right yeah mi 2024
zero zero six four eight eight 59 54 19 cester avenue renee felder
renee felder will be rejoining us as a panelist
Hi, Ms. Felder
Ms. Felder
Does she have her hand up?
Yes, Chair. She has been promoted to penalize.
Okay, thank you.
No problem.
Renee Felder, please unmute yourself and turn your camera on.
Hello.
Hi, Ms. Felder. It's my fault that we got back to you so long.
you've already been sworn in
I hope your computer's
working and could you start your presentation
I'm sorry
that I wasn't prepared I thought once I submitted
everything that you guys will have
so I'm going to just go forward something short
and brief this is my first time
so I'm going to share my screen
we want this one
you're coming up now
okay could everyone see that we see your refusal so why don't you move on to the next one
whatever you have there um this is my zone and notice i posted up on the poster board in front
of the property okay um this is the neighborhood rco notice that i mailed out to the neighborhood
neighbors um this is actually my certificate of mailing which totaled out more than what was
more than what i was supposed to get which was 102 neighbors okay um and the reason why i'm here
I'm going to go back to this exhibit right here.
The reason why I'm here, because back in 1983, this particular property was coded as a duplex.
It was a multifamily unit.
I purchased this property believing that it was already coded as a duplex.
I bought it off We Love Ugly Houses.
I'm just going to see if I can bring up the picture of the property.
If it allow me.
I don't know.
Did everyone see this?
Okay, so this is the property right here, 5419.
The tree is in the way.
It has two entries, two separate entries.
It was already formatted that way when I purchased it.
The only thing that I had done was the drywall.
So after doing some history, I didn't know.
I currently work for the city.
And then I found out, hey, I'm not getting a refuse account.
I found out I had an illegal duplex.
So after I did the history, which is this exhibit right here, it was a duplex at one time.
So I'm asking that the property be grandfather back in as a multifamily unit.
As you see right here, the L&I inspection, when they came out, L&I had to come out and dictate exactly how the drive wall had to be.
they also stay in here um throughout the two family dwelling i didn't have extra
I didn't have extra money to, like, build extra doors or anything like that.
money to like build extra doors or anything like that
Only thing I did was update the property and the inside.
It's always been a multifamily unit, as far as I know.
So I'm just asking that you guys honor the fact and grandfather it back to the original coding.
Could you show us the pictures of the inside of the place?
I did have...
Okay, let me see if you can see this one.
this is i only have the second unit have to drag this over
so this is coming up the steps okay all right this is coming up the stairway
and then let me bring this one over
so this is how it looks once you get up there it's a two-bedroom unit
that I was working on.
All I did was update.
I had to update the wine rent and the sheetrock.
I didn't have no extra money to pull out walls
and make another door.
The property was already formatted that way.
And this would be the last picture I have
where it's upstairs.
And this is the living area.
So as I argue my case,
i'm basing it off the family history i already believe that this property was already a duplex
i did not know that it was an r what is it a r r a s5 zoning but it's it's other multi-family
dwellings around there they building up right here okay so when did you purchase the property
2009 okay and you've been living in it no i don't live there i don't live there who lives on the
is there somebody on the first floor yeah my sister your sister lives on the first floor
and the second floor you redid um yes okay all right and these are all the multifamily this is
a block away okay and this is the 5300 they're building up around there and i'm just asking for
you guys to honor just to grandfather it back into this original coding of multifamily unit okay
All right.
Questions from the board.
What's happening in the basement?
Nothing.
Nothing in the basement.
Only thing I can say about the basement is that I need to, what they call,
pave the walls because of the age of the building.
But it's just like the two meters there and there and two hot water tanks.
There's no living space in the basement at all.
Other questions?
I know you said that you mostly did drywall.
Can you talk about when you completed that construction?
Oh, I want to say the construction was completed 2009 to give it between 11 and 2012.
And how has the property been used since 2012 to now?
Well, at one time I was written it out and I had one rental license and then I just stopped
because the illegal
duplex. I don't want to get in trouble.
What happened when you went to the
RCO meeting the other day?
Oh. Yeah.
agreed.
Are there any other
questions from the board?
Yes. Do you have
any other interior pictures
the three you showed?
No, because
I didn't think I had to.
I just grabbed what I could, and that stuff was on my phone.
I was over here driving myself crazy.
Probably going to get marked A ball by now.
That's the only three that I had on my phone.
Because, again, I don't want – what you're saying?
You don't have pictures of the first floor space,
and you don't have pictures of the second floor space.
Well, the picture –
That was the second floor.
I was showing you how you come in separately.
That's what I said.
You don't have pictures of the first floor space, right?
No, ma'am.
And then the second floor, you showed an entrance, and you showed a landing, and you showed a space which you say is, I don't see a kitchen, I don't see a bathroom, I don't see any of the other parts of the space.
a little it's hard to it's hard to um make a decision here without some idea of what was
actually there when you um purchased well what actually was there was almost a shell
again i bought it from we buy ugly houses so that's why i brought up the lni um investigation
it was a shell so not a shell but i had to rebuild it for as the sheetrock and the wine and stuff and
So not a shell, but I had to rebuild it for as the sheetrock and the wine and stuff.
And Ellen, I had an investigator to come out.
So, Renee, I think the issue is what the board member is saying is we need to see some more photos.
And I think, you know, you know, you got pictures.
What I would do is take more pictures of the second floor and then get some pictures of the first floor, too.
Right. OK. Hillary, we can bring this back for a resumptive hearing.
um yes we can mr chair and i just wanted to to note sorry just to note briefly for the record
that we did receive um a letter of support from the 51st ward rco all right thank you so we do
receive this so what i want you to do is go back and take pictures of the more pictures of the
second floor and take more pictures of the first floor okay and then what we'll do was we'll bring
you back, and we're going to bring you back
on 3-18-25.
Okay, do I have
to submit all these documents again?
You should, at least.
Ma'am, what you'll need to submit
is the photos.
You'll receive another poster,
so you need to submit proof of posting
as well as an updated tax clearance.
And I think we did not receive
a copy of your deed the first time,
so we would like to
receive that as well.
Okay. And if you have further questions,
you can you can reach out to all right uh text clearance only they give you one yes they give
you one for 30 days yep and then you have to get another one if you if you're continued yes
okay yeah because i actually worked down here i hope they don't give me a hard way to go about
this they they shouldn't they shouldn't this happens all the time okay so i need to copy
the deed and more photos all right thank you very much all right thank you guys bye-bye is there
anyone in the virtual audience whose case has not been called i see no hands oh chair i have a hand
up by the name of maria last name starts with s they have been allowed to speak why could you
please state your name and spell for the stenographer state your name maria santor juglu
hi could you spell please m-a-r-i-a-a-m-a-r-i-a-s-a-n-t-o-u-r-t-z-o-g-l-o-u
um do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes what case are you interested in um i live on 742 christian street
that that'll be coming up shortly so we're we'll we'll be back in a little while okay
okay sorry thank you that is on the two that is on the 2 p.m list we're finishing up the 9 30 list
thank you chair this is ian hegarty uh if it pleases the board uh recommend that we start
the two o'clock list at 2 30. okay thank you
good afternoon everyone my name is bill bergman and i will be sharing this meeting of the zoning
board with me is our vice chair ismail shaheed president mr chairman our board member cheryl
L. Gaston. Present, Mr. Chairman. Our board member, Tanetta Graham.
Present, Mr. Chairman. Our board member, Michael Johns.
He should be on. Present, Mr. Chairman. Oh, thank you, Michael.
And our board member, Taya Nguyen. Present, Mr. Chairman. Also, here is our
attorney, Hillary Emerson, and Ian Haggerty, our executive
director of the zoning board. Our supervisor, Lakeisha Dandy.
Please be advised that this meeting is being recorded. Your participation
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Before we begin, our Executive Director, Ian Haggerty, has an important safety announcement.
Ian? All right. Thank you, Chair. Welcome, everyone, to the zoning hearing room this
afternoon. The safety of the attendees in this room is our highest priority. In the event of
an emergency, please pay attention to the announcements over the loudspeaker, which
will provide detailed information. If there is no announcement, please follow the direction of
security personnel or ZBA staff. The main exit is through the double doors located at the rear
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if an order is given for any reason to evacuate the building the rally point is at love park
directly across arch street from the public entrance to this building please remain at
the rally point so you can be accounted for restrooms as a reminder are located right
across from the elevators where you arrived and a water fountain is located just outside
those double doors to the right. Thank you. Thank you very much. Let's look at our schedule.
Number four, MI 2024-003-271-1201-03 Adams Avenue. That case is continued.
Number five, MI 2024-004-320-6560 North Bouvier Street. That case is continued.
And number nine, MI 2024-006-243-90 Rochelle Avenue, that case is a continued attorney-moving party.
Are there any other requests for continuance in the room?
Good afternoon, Chair. This is Jasmine Webster, and I will be your co-host this afternoon.
I have a hand up by the name of Wallace Wade. They have been promoted to panelists.
Okay, thank you.
Could you please state your name and spell it for the stenographer?
Wallace Wade, please unmute yourself and turn your camera on.
Do we see him?
Hello?
Hi, could you please state your name and spell it for the stenographer?
W-A-L-L-A-C-E
You're breaking up, sir. Please start over.
Wallace Wade.
W-A-L-L-A-C-E
Wade W-A-D-E
right do you swear or affirm
to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
sir what case what's the address of your case
number
900 East Shelton
so tell me
do you want to continue it
no we're
ready to go ahead
okay so
I have a couple of few things to go for, so I'm not going to come back.
No, I'll take that back.
Can we continue this one more time, please?
Can we continue one more time?
One more time.
We have everything together, but I still need to talk to my client to make sure everything is okay.
All right.
So MI 2023-004-267-900 East Shelton Avenue.
0-0-4-2-6-7-9-hundred-East-Chelton Avenue.
Cases continue.
Case is continued.
Mark must be heard.
Thank you, sir, for calling in.
We appreciate it.
Is there anyone else who has a continuance?
Yes, Chair.
I have a hand up.
Never mind, Chair.
The hand went down.
There are no more hands at this time.
All right.
So case number three, MI 2024-002-319-4309-31 North
Lawrence Street.
Walter Tolliver is the attorney.
No exhibits. Third listing.
Mr. Tolliver.
Or anyone from
199 Hunting Park.
There are no hints at this time,
Chair. Okay, so, number
three, MI
2024-002-319-4309-31
north lawrence street cases continue mark must be heard and number six mi 2024-005-134-5816
katherine avenue monica coach is the listed applicant vaxa enterprise this is no exhibit
second listing i see no hands at this time chair okay thank you so um number six
MI 2024-005-134-5816 Catherine Street.
That case is continued to 6-04-3025 at 2 p.m.
We could do, go to number two first.
Oh, here's our add ones. Number one, MI 2024-006-167-76 Germantown Avenue. I vote yes, proviso, per refusal dated 1-9-25.
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, I win. My vote is yes with proviso. Number two, MI 2024-006-220-2123 Catherine Street. I vote yes with proviso. No roof deck access structure above fourth floor.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes with proviso.
Excuse me, Mr. Chair, I just wanted to clarify the proviso for the record. It's no roof deck or roof deck access structure above the fourth floor. Thank you.
a roof deck or access structure above four floor.
Yeah, Michael Johns, my vote is yes with proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with proviso.
Tanita Graham, my vote is yes with proviso.
Taya Wynn, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with proviso.
Number three, MI 2024, 006033, 2601 to 31 North 28th Street.
Michael Johns will certify himself before he votes.
I vote yes.
I certify that I did review the video and my vote is yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Taiwan my vote is yes we're good okay all right we're going to move to number
two MI 2024 zero zero zero six four two seven forty two Christian Street burnout
Astasio is the attorney a letter of anonymous non-opposition from Bella
Vista and a letter of non-opposition from Councilmember Squiller
afternoon mr chair you've already been sworn could you just state your name for the record
uh yeah verne anastasio a-a-s-t-a-s-i-o and i represent the santagua family who owns the property
okay our vice chair has a few questions thank you good afternoon council do you agree to waive the
reading of the refusers stipulate to its accuracy i do have you emailed in all the required documents
and exhibits that's needed to proceed with this case five days advance five days in advance of
this hearing yes sir thank you counsel please proceed and share your screen thank you
Thank you. Mr. Chair, members of the board, 742 Christian Street is smack dab in the middle of the Italian market area in Bella Vista, and the application is for a takeout restaurant with seating and associated commissary services.
mr chair members of the board 742
This property has a very long history of food service.
It was a commissary for a very long time, decades.
The original owner, who still owns the property, was in the food service industry, and this space has always been used for that.
However, when it became vacant and the area was remapped, it did become RM1.
so the first floor use requires the variance and of course you could see here there's everything
been from storing food carts to cold foods to preparation of sandwiches to a deli going all the
way back here's the plans for the first floor as you can see you enter here there's only one little
step to get in. We've got just a handful of tables, a stand-up counter. We have the back
of the house. We have the full commercial kitchen. There it goes. Full commercial kitchen
and trash storage in the rear. Although previously approved, we have these apartments as well
on the second and the third floors.
Let's see what else we have for you.
Decades-long ownership-occupied building
with a long history of commercial mixed-use,
takeout restaurant applications for some seating,
and a potential commissary ghost kitchen services.
There'll be a commercial hood and exhaust that runs to the roof,
and the fan will be placed in the northwest corner near the adjacent restaurant.
Days of operation and hours are, as such, Tuesday through Sunday, about 11 to 9-ish.
There'll be commercial trash pickup.
There'll be deliveries used.
There's an existing loading zone on 8th Street, 15 feet away.
The residential trash containers will be housed within the property and exterior lighting and property management will be installed.
Here are some photos. That's the exterior. This is the door that goes up to the apartments. This is the door that goes into the food service area.
Here are some interiors.
there's some rear yard
additional upstairs its owner occupied as well
this family has owned the property and managed it for generations
For some reason, this is turning blank on me.
Hold on.
Please give me a moment.
Page 67 and 69 of the exhibit packet are, in fact, the letters of support from both the Bella Vista Neighbors Association and Council Member Mark Squilla's office.
The property is adjacent to a sit-down restaurant
And right across the street is a smoke shop
Within 250 feet
There are four other to-go food establishments
On Christian Street itself
And I'm going to try and pull up
This again
and if the internet will cooperate with me.
Just give me one moment.
Let's give me one moment.
here's the letter from council member squilla
and the letter from
Bella Vista Neighbors
who we met with twice.
With that, I'd like to have Maria
Santa D'Gardulu
raise her hand so she can be
recognized by the board.
Maria, last name
and didn't ask has been promoted
to penalist.
Good afternoon.
Could you please state your name?
Do we share a hand?
Yes, Chair.
Maria, last name, Indiana S.
Please unmute yourself and turn your camera on.
she have a hard time on muting
yes sure that's what it is give me one second i'm so sorry my mom is sure sure that's that's
fine i'm just opening it up for her could you please state your name and spell for the court
stenographer maria santor juglu m-a-r-i-a s-a-n-t-o-u-r-t-z-o-g-o-o-u
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you.
Maria, thank you for joining the hearing.
Did you hear my presentation to the board this afternoon?
Is it true and accurate to the best of your knowledge?
Do you adopt it as your own testimony?
Thank you.
I have nothing further, Mr. Chair.
The property is literally surrounded by exactly the same use.
all right questions from the board can you go back to the the the the image of the first floor
or not the image but i guess i don't are you talking about the hand-drawn plan the hand-drawn
plan. Yes, please.
Here we go. Are we certifying that this is currently to accurate scale?
well sure the uh the the actual outside the perimeter the actual outside yeah yeah that
was done yeah of course and is there any plans to do any work on the front facade at the entrance
no it's in perfectly good condition okay and then just how many of the plumbing connections for
what's shown here and depicted as proposed are already on site, or is more installation necessary?
Most of the back here is already on site. So the fixtures are already on site. That's right. So
majority of the construction we're talking about at this point is the hand-drawn portion, which is
the partition and the sort of counter? Counter space, partition, new flooring, all the real
heavy infrastructure for food service already
in place. They need to be upgraded
and obviously inspected by the health department, but it's
already there. Okay. And then is there any plans around signage?
None. If anything, it'll be flat wall.
Okay. Thank you. Any other questions for the board?
Questions from our attorney, Hillary Emerson.
Just briefly, I wanted to note that you are asking for a sit-down restaurant, and a sit-down
restaurant typically has fewer than four seats, so I noticed that more than that were proposed,
but I just wanted to note that for the record. Thank you. Questions or comments from the audience?
Yep. Hillary, can you explain that one more time? You said, what was that? A sit-down
restaurant? We apply for a take-out restaurant. Oh, take-out. I thought she said sit-down restaurant.
oh take out oh god i thought she said sit down but we are going to have seating and it's going
But we are going to have seating and it's going to be, you know.
to be you know um you know three or four tables of two tops questions or comments from the virtual
audience i see no tears at no he's at this time chair thank you jasmine thank you the planning
commission thank you chairman and good afternoon david facto f-e-c-t-e-a-u with the city planning
commission do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
sir yes sir i do please proceed thank you sir chairman of board members the comprehensive plan
recommends no change to the rm1 residential multi-family zoning at this location this
property has a documented history as commercial space with residential above dating back to at
least 20 years the city planning commission recommends the board grant a proposed use
variance for a takeout restaurant and commissary and my 2024 000 642 742 christian street i vote
yes can i suggest the proviso requires co sure required co and mr chair there is also an amended
refusal okay um let me do it again then mi 2024 000 642 742 christian street proviso
co to be obtained an amended refusal well johnson my vote is yes sorry the amended refusal is dated
10-29-24.
Amended
refusal dated
10-29-24.
Michael Johns, my vote is
yes with provisos.
Gerald Gaston,
my vote is yes with provisos.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is
yes with provisos.
My vote is yes with provisos.
Ishmael Shahid, my vote is yes with provisos.
Thank you.
Thank you, counsel. Number 7,
MI 2024-005-199-7000 Halston Avenue.
Meredith Trago is the attorney.
Excuse me, Mr. Chair.
I believe we're going to do number eight second.
Number eight, the number 11.
Thank you.
number eight mi 2024 005 492 1520 to 26 north dowry street augusta o'neill is the attorney
a letter of non-opposition from council member young's office
and a letter of non-opposition from north central east rco vote with seven in favor one in opposition
you can have three members of the board morning council could you please state your name and
spell for the court stenographer my name is augusta o'neill a-u-g-u-s-t-a my last name is
spelled o apostrophe n-e-i-l-l you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the
truth i do could you identify your client a relationship with the property my pro my client
is effie darian llc the owner of the property at 1520 to 26 north darian okay um michael johns
has recused himself from this our vice chair has a few questions good afternoon council do you agree
to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy i do 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 did and i also just wanted to know for the record that an updated refusal was just
issued by l and i this morning got it all right thank you please proceed thank you so much
after your members of the board as stated previously i'm here this afternoon representing
fe darien llc the owner of the property at 1520 to 26 north darien street this is an application
in partnership with Turn the Key to turn a vacant lot, relocate lot lines, and create three single
family affordable houses on the lot. This property is zoned RSA 5, as you can see from the refusal
that's on my screen. We did receive a refusal because the required minimum lot size is 960
square feet. We're proposing 800.5 square feet with these lots. Even with the smaller parcel
Even with the smaller parcel size, these are fairly large houses, as you can see from the proviso plans I've prepared up on my screen.
sides. These are fairly large houses.
Each of these homes are approximately 1,600 square feet of interior living space.
Consistent with other turn-to-keep applications I've presented to the board before,
the intent of this application is to take this vacant piece of land, which you can see up on
your screen, and to create single-family affordable homes on them. I did provide an overhead with my
exhibits just showing the residential nature of the area. You can see there's a lot of blocks
of single-family homes nearby. My client met with the affected RCO for this property in October of
last year. The RCO is the North Central East RCO. They stated in their letter, which was submitted
to the board, that they were appreciative of the addition of single-family housing in this area as
opposed to apartments because they feel that apartments have added to a parking problem
in their neighborhood i do have two applications before the board this afternoon and i've submitted
some app some exhibits that are in common to both of the applications um and just in the
the interest of time i can go through the uh exhibits that are common to both of my applications
in both my exit packages i did provide renderings showing what the exterior of the buildings are
going to look like these are common to what the frankles are are doing with these turn the key
applications the three-story one single-family buildings
also included in my exhibit packages i did provide some other samples of projects that the
frankles have done with the affordable housing again just showing the high quality beautiful
facade with the brick the interiors stainless steel appliances that are provided the beautiful
flooring it's just a picture of the interior this is a kitchen area again a picture of the kitchen
area sample bedroom sample yard outdoor space another sample of the exterior of these projects
it did also provide floor plans just to briefly take the board through a sample of what the these
projects are going to look like the typical floor plan you walk in and you're immediately in the
living area you walk back and on the first floor you have that kitchen space dining area which
leads to the backyard on the second floor you're going to have two bedrooms and a bath
and then the third floor there's um a bedroom bath area and then access to that roof deck
it's on the third floor
so again we have a letter of support from the rco that was affected by this application
we also have a letter of opposite non-opposition from councilman young
and just to briefly take the board through the standard for a variance in pennsylvania and why
we believe this application uh meets that standard the grant of the variance is not going to cause
any congestion in the public streets or otherwise endanger public health safety or welfare um i
think that's emphasized by the fact that both the affected rco and the council person are not in
opposition to it in fact the again the rco wrote that letter um indicating that they were appreciative
of the fact that this is going to be single family homes as opposed to um additional apartment
buildings uh this application is not going to injure the use of adjacent property or
impair light or air supply it will not adversely affect transportation and will create a net
positive for the city because it is going to be providing some much needed affordable homes
to the city so with me this afternoon is mr zach frankel i would like to call him forward at this
It's time to adopt my decision.
Zachary Frankel will be rejoining us as a penalist.
Mr. Frankel, could you please state your name
and spell for the stenographer?
Zachary Frankel, Z-A-C-H-A-R-Y-F-R-A-N-K-E-L.
do 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?
i do please proceed counsel springle did you have an opportunity to hear my um testimony this
afternoon i did and was everything that i said true and accurate it was and would you like to
adopt my testimony um on this application as your own yes i would thank you um members of the board
we'd be happy to take any questions for me questions from the board
I have one question.
Absolutely.
We saw some of these properties last week, and I was just wondering if we could clarify what percentage of Darien Street in total is going to be filled in with homes related to this project?
it will be we were awarded um an rfp by the philadelphia land bank
um the addresses of which entail a lot of the land bank owned property on darren street
yeah can can you tell me the number of those parcels or how many uh remain in this
lots are on the block?
On the block, I cannot.
This is a part of a project that
includes 37 homes.
That includes
the ones on 10th Street and the ones on 9th Street
as well? The ones on 9th Street as well,
yeah. Okay. 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 audience?
questions or comments from the virtual audience i see no hands at this time planning commission
thank you chairman and good afternoon david hector with the city planning commission
chairman and board members the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the rsa5 residential
single-family zoning at this location the city rezoned ludlow in 2017 in a community supported
map change this development will be part of the city's turn the key program which provides
enforceable affordable housing proposed lot sizes match the appropriate approximate lot sizes on
adjacent block bases the city planning commission recommends the board grants a proposed dimensional
variance for minimum lot size thank you mi2024 005 492 15 20 to 26 north darien i vote yes
proviso per amended refusal dated 1-22-25. Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with proviso.
Tanita Graham, my vote is yes with proviso. Iowan, my vote is yes with proviso. Ishmael Shahid,
my vote is yes with proviso. Number 11, number 11, MI 2024-006-472-647-67 North 10th Street,
Augusta O'Neill is the attorney.
There's also support from the 14th Community Organization, RCO, and non-opposition from Council Member Young.
Just for the record, Council, could you state your name?
My name is Augusta O'Neill, AUGUSTA.
And could you again identify who your client is?
My client is FE West Poplar LLC.
They have the permission of the land bank, which is the owner of the property, to bring this application.
and our vice chair has a few questions for you sure so do you agree to waive the reading of the
refusal or stipulate to its accuracy i do have you emailed in all the required documents and
exhibits that's needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of his hearing
i did thank you counsel please proceed thank you so much um and again just in the interest of time
because a lot of the exhibits were common to both um applications i won't run through all the
typical floor plans or interior pictures that I did with my prior application. But if anyone
would like me to go through those other materials, I'd be happy to. So again, thank you, members of
the board. I'm here this afternoon, as I stated before, representing FE West Poplar LLC, again,
which has the permission of the property owner of the land bank to bring this application.
This is an RM1 zone property. This application is to relocate lot lines to create 16 lots from one
lot and to put single family homes on 15 of the lots with roof decks. And just for
this application is a little bit different from the other one. So I just want to take you through
the subdivision plan. Okay. So up on my screen is the subdivision plan. This is at page 51
one of the exhibit packages I sent in.
This is an application, like I said,
to take one lot, turn it into 16.
Um, all of these are going to have single family homes, but because this proposed parcel N
All of these are gonna have single family homes,
but because this proposed
is, um, basically a flag lot because it fronts on Mellon street, um, Mellon street is technically
not a legal street. So there's going to be three units again, single family homes, but technically
a condo. But again, they're going to look the same as the other houses that, um, I previously
took the board through um and just because of that technicality because this lot doesn't have
frontage on north 10th street um this was turned into a condo so um we received two refusals as
part of this application one of the refusals was because of the lot size there are a handful of
lots that are 980 square feet some that are 820 and one that is 919 square feet and we're required
to have 1440 square feet in this zoning area zoning district rather and the other refusal
that we received was related to the minimum side yard width
again if I bring up the subdivision application you can see that the proposed lot n is kind of
irregularly shaped and so as a result of that we triggered that refusal for the lot size or I'm
sorry for the side yard you can see it kind of it goes down it gets skinnier
right at page 34 my exhibit package is a copy of our zoning plan
again as you can see despite these lot sizes being slightly under the required 1100 I'm sorry
1,440 square feet. These are still fairly large homes. GFA ranges from between 1,474 to about
1,700 square feet. I also provided in my exhibit package unique to this property, just a picture
just showing the current conditions. Again, this is another vacant lot that we're putting those
beautiful single-family homes on. I also did just provide an aerial again just to show that this
proposed residential project is consistent with what is in the area.
My client did meet with the affected RCO for this property back in December. That would be the 14th
community organization RCO. Just wanted to draw the board's attention to some of the comments that
were made um in the letter rco wanted to note for the board that the proposed smaller lots were
found by the community to still be sufficient in size for the purposes of the proposed use
all questions that the community raised to my clients were satisfactorily answered and after
the presentation by my clients a vote was taken by the community the result was unanimously in
favor of the proposal. Councilman Young also provided a letter of non-opposition for this
application, which appears at tab three of my exhibit package, page seven of the PDF for anyone
who's following along with their own PDF. And again, just to reiterate the variant standards,
I believe that this application certainly meets the standard for a variance in that
um it's going to be a huge boon to the public to get good to have this additional single family
housing and the affordable homes in this area um there's going to be no uh endangerment of the
public health safety or welfare we are not going to be injuring the use of adjacent property
or impairing light and air supply and it will not adversely affect the transportation uh routes
again it's a net positive for the city so um with that being said i would like to call my
client board on this application as well
is it mr frankel mr frankel
mr frankel just state your name you've already been sworn sir
zachary frankel will be rejoining us as a panelist hi good afternoon
mr frankel just state your name you've already been sworn sir zachary frankel
please proceed counsel uh mr fringell did you have an opportunity to hear my testimony on this
application related to 647 to 67 north 10th street i did and was everything that i said true and
accurate it was and would you like to adopt my testimony as your own yes i would thank you
It was.
Would you like to adopt my testimony as your own?
Yes, I would.
Thank you.
Members of the board, myself and my client are available for any questions that the board may have.
Questions for the board.
Yeah, I have a question.
Is there a site plan for Parcel Inn?
The site plan is part of the site plan, which if I could just refer back to my notes, I believe it's at page 34 of the exhibit package.
Yep, I was right.
So, if I may, as the owner or applicant, this functionally is really still three homes that match the contacts in the existing neighborhood.
the the difficulty with this parcel n is that at some period in time the city demaps this this
portion of melon street um so that these homes are front on so um i'm not not entirely sure why
they demapped it um we did deal with city planning um and a councilman's office for a brief moment
to try to get this remapped.
However, remapping it proved to be a much more difficult
and time-consuming process rather than creating this planned unit development
for these three homes that will also be responsible
for this common area on Mellon Street.
And then just to be clear, what's going to be the legal address
for the three homes at Parcelona?
They'll each have their same legal addresses on Mellon Street, so I guess it would be something along the lines of 9-something-something Mellon Street.
We haven't created the pod yet.
I think that's the only question I have.
Other questions?
Questions from our attorney, Ryan McSherry.
Ryan McSherry is now working as our attorney here.
Thank you, Chair.
No questions.
Thank you.
from the audience questions or comments from the virtual audience i see no hands at this time chair
thank you chairman and good afternoon david fecto with the city planning commission
chairman and board members the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the rm1 residential
multi-family zoning at this location this property is part of the city's turn the key program which
provides enforceable affordable housing west poplar was the target of extensive city-sponsored
redevelopment while the proposed lot area and minimum side yard width do not match the character
of the immediately adjacent blocks they are in keeping with the character of the older blocks
in the neighborhood not cleared during urban renewal the city planning commission recommends
that the board grant the proposed dimensional variances for side yard width and locked areas
Thank you. MI 2024-006-472-647-67 North 10th Street, I vote yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes.
Ty Owen, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Thank you. Thank you, counsel.
Thank you so much, members of the board.
All right. Number seven, MI 2024, 005199, 7000 Holston Street, Murdeth Trego is the attorney. No RTO letter, but the summary was sent to neighbors with proof of mailing. Letter of support from a next door neighbor.
Good afternoon, counsel. Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
hi uh good afternoon members of the board my name is meredith trego of ballard spar spelled m-e-r-e-d-i-t-h
last name is trego t-r-e-g-o do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and
nothing but the truth i do uh could you identify your client a relationship to the property yes
we are here representing pfs 24 llc who is the lessee of the property at 7000 holstein avenue
units five and six uh and they are the lessee the property is owned by holstein pa 7000 llc
our vice chair has a few questions thank you good afternoon council do you agree to
weigh the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy we 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 we have thank you council please proceed thank you
Sorry, it looks like I'm still not able to share.
Thank you.
um mr chairman and members of the board we are here today for a request for a special exception
for the use of the property at 7000 holstein avenue as an animal crematory which will be
held within an existing building in an i2 medium industrial zoning district i'm joined today by
Richard Slobodian, who's the owner-operator of the proposed use, seated here with me,
as well as Daniel Addis in his capacity as project manager, Mr. Mike Burwell, who is the CEO of the
company that manufactures the equipment proposed to be used as part of the business. Our exhibits
filed with the board include everything that's required, including our tax certificates in
Exhibit 2, proof of mailing for neighbor notices in Exhibit 7, and our proof of our zoning notice
posters in exhibit eight we are also aware that a letter of support was very recently provided
by email to the board from the southwest philadelphia consortium of rcos
i'm going to turn to exhibit three which is our notice of referral
the the use that we're here for today is a household pet crematory services use
which is part of a subcategory of the boarding and other services subcategory of animal services
So this subcategory actually also includes live animal uses, such as stables, animal boarding, and animal hospitals.
And we note up front, and it's included in our Exhibit 3B, a proviso form, that the community has requested.
And we are happy to agree to a proviso that limits our any special exception approval to the household pet crematory uses only and, you know, not allow other live animal uses at this property.
we further note that those zoning plans were required as part of this use application
turning to exhibit nine which has some zoning code excerpts so the household prep
household pet crematory services use is permitted by special exception in the i1 and i2 industrial
districts we are located in the i2 which is a medium industrial district and we just point out
by background interestingly that a human crematory use is actually permitted in a much permitted by
right in a much wider array of zoning districts throughout the city including several commercial
cmx 3 4 or 5 zoning districts we also note in exhibit 9 the standard for special exceptions so
as we will show today the proposed animal crematory use satisfies the requirement for
a special exception because it does not create a detrimental impact on the health safety and
welfare of the community exceeding that which might normally be expected from such use
Looking at Exhibit 10, which includes our zoning map, you can see here we are an I-2 district surrounded entirely by other industrial and auto-oriented uses.
We note specifically that we are roughly one-half mile to the nearest residential zoning district.
And then looking at Exhibit 11, our aerial maps.
So this site, that 7,000 Holstein, is located in southwest Philadelphia, where that blue dot is.
Zooming in a little bit closer gives a sense of the type of industrial and auto-oriented uses that surround the site.
And then another aerial view.
And then zooming in to the building itself.
So this building is an eight-unit condominium building.
the use is proposed to be located in units 5 and 6 which is located in roughly the middle of the
building looking to exhibit 12 which are additional photos of the site so this is a view looking north
from Holstein Avenue the building is off to the right hand side of the photo another view from
south 70th Street the building the back of the building with the garages is off to the left hand
side of the photo here is a picture of the front of the building units five and six are located
square in the middle and some additional photos just going through of the site and the building
itself sorry for the loading speed here's a site of the garage so this unit has a garage
loading speed here's a site of the garage so uh this unit has a garage and loading dock that's
entirely internal to the building some more photos
um so we're gonna turn to exhibit
13 which includes some interior photos of the site
the interior will be fit out with office space on one side
this is some of the existing conditions of the office space
as well as this is the warehouse area where the crematory equipment will be housed
and this is the garage area where the loading and unloading will occur
so i'm just going to walk through a few facts relating to the operation of the business
so primarily it's anticipated that the business will provide services directly to veterinarians
and animal hospitals and that business will not be driven at the retail lover level so we don't
anticipate that individual pet owners will be reaching out directly but rather they will be
marketing their efforts and their operations to you know animal hospitals and those types of uses
regarding deliveries the facility will own its own delivery and pickup vehicle likely a small van
that will conduct pickups and drop-offs to veterinarian facilities and animal hospitals
throughout the region on a scheduled basis so it's anticipated that the vehicle will be out
and traveling around the area during most operating hours animals will be transported to the site
and unloaded within the completely enclosed garage.
And from there, animal remains will be stored in a commercial cooler
that will be housed entirely within the building until the time of cremation.
At that point, the remains that are cremated will be shipped back
to the referring veterinarian or the owner of the pet.
The hours of operation are planned to be Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
and we note that operation of the cremation equipment will not happen daily to start we
anticipate it will run two days a week operating 9 a.m to 5 p.m the facility will be managed by
mr richard slodian who is seated here he will be the designated full-time manager and intends to
work on site overseeing all aspects of the operations of the business regarding employment
it's anticipated that the facility will begin operations with one additional full-time employee
and then working up to potentially two or three additional employees as the operations get going.
It's important to note that the requested special exception and an eventual zoning permit,
if approved, is only the first step here.
If the zoning permit is granted, the facility will need to obtain the required building permits
for the fit out of the space, as well as comply with all fire code requirements
and environmental regulations that pertain to this use and this property.
So we cannot even apply for those approvals until we have a zoning permit in hand.
We do want to note, and it's included in our Exhibit 16, that Air Management Service Regulation 11 governs all the requirements for animal crematory uses.
And so this regulation requires that we have both an installation permit as well as a license to operate.
And as part of that license to operate, we will be required to undergo a stack test, which is an emissions test.
And that includes testing for things like particulate matter, visible emissions, and other air contaminants that are regulated by the Air Management Services and the DEP, or Pennsylvania DEP.
Stack tests for crematory uses must be redone every five years, and all of our testing methods must comply with regulations of both the Pennsylvania DEP and the EPA.
so any approval granted today cannot go into effect until and unless all those additional
permits and approvals are granted so as such we note that the grant of the requested special
exception will not create a detrimental impact on the health safety and welfare of the neighborhood
exceeding that which would normally be expected from the proposed crematory use
with that i'd like to elevate mr richard slavodian as who's the applicant as a
So, sir, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer and move forward and put the button on if you don't mind.
My name is Richard Slobodian, R-I-C-H-A-R-D-S-L-O-B-O-D-I-E-N.
l-o-b-o-d-i-e-n. Do you swear or affirm that tell the truth the whole truth is nothing but
Do you swear or affirm the tele...
the truth? I do. Counsel? Mr. Stolbodian, you have just heard what I said. Can you affirm that what
I've said is true and accurate and adopt it as your own testimony? It is, and I do. We have two
additional witnesses that we'd like to call up to document our record for this special exception.
First, we'd like to ask questions of Mr. Daniel Addis, who I believe is joining us by Zoom.
Mr. Addis?
Dan Addis has been promoted to Penalist.
Hi, sir. Could you please state your name and spell it for the stenographer?
Hi, my name is Dan Addis, D-A-N-A-D-D-I-S.
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
i do please proceed counsel thank you uh mr addas can you please tell us a little bit about
your professional background and experience yep um i earned my professional degree in architecture
as well as my master's in science in architecture engineering and construction management from
carnegie mellon university um i've worked at onion flats architecture for almost 12 years
as an architect, and I have the title of project manager.
In the time that I've worked there,
I've worked on a variety of different project types
at all different phases of project delivery,
from zoning to building permitting
to construction administration
to certificate of occupancy.
And in the time, and my primary responsibility
as of lately is construction administration
and code compliance review
for life safety and ADA compliance.
I also have experience in the role of field manager, project manager, and general contractor under our construction arm of the company.
Thank you, Mr. Addis.
I'd like to offer Mr. Addis as an expert in project management, and his exhibit is also included in Exhibit 18, or his resume.
I'm sorry.
Thank you.
Mr. Addis, what is your role with this application?
I'm the project manager on this project and tasked with putting together architectural drawings for building permit application.
and this includes as-built verification, building code review, life safety analysis, and ADA accessibility compliance.
Thank you. In addition to a zoning permit, can you explain some of the additional approvals and permits that will be required for the operation of this proposed use?
Sure. So once the zoning permit is approved, the applicant applies for a building permit,
which includes submitting architectural drawings complete with building code review to Philadelphia L&I for review and compliance with 2018 International Building Code.
Once the building permit is approved, an initial inspection is scheduled with the city building inspector, and after passing, any approved scope can begin, and then following that, the contractor is required to schedule city inspections at the completion of each phase of work to continue.
So then concurrently with the building permit being approved and being able to start construction, any additional MEP or fire alarm permits are submitted for review by the city.
And then they have their own inspection requirements and they're reviewed under their own specific codes.
And then at the time where all of the architectural and mechanical or engineering work is complete, you schedule a final inspection with the city building inspector.
and any non-conforming or any issues that need to be addressed are addressed prior to the city
issuing a certificate of occupancy at which point you could open your business. Thank you. Have you
performed any preliminary investigations into whether the proposed use will comply if located
within this building? Yes I've done a preliminary code review as well as a inspection on site and
we've verified that there is existing one hour fire ratings minimum one hour fire ratings at the
at all tenant walls between units. Thank you. Based on your understanding of the city code,
can the proposed crematory use operate without the approvals demonstrating compliance with the
building code? No. In your opinion, and based on your experience as the project manager overseeing
compliance with the building code requirements proposed for the project, will the grant of the
requested special exception cause a detrimental impact on the health, safety, or welfare of the
neighborhood exceeding that, which normally might be expected from the proposed use.
Thank you, Mr. Addis.
Thank you.
Next we'd like to ask a few questions of Mr. Mike Burwell, who's the CEO of American Crematory,
which manufactures the equipment proposed to be used by the applicant.
Could you speak a little bit more into the mic?
Oh, sure.
The architect, I can do fine, but it's hard to hear you.
Michael, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
do we see him
Sorry, Chair.
He has been promoted to panelists.
Thank you.
Hi, sir.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Michael Burwell, B-U-R-W-E-L-L.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you.
Mr. Burwell, would you please describe your professional background and experience?
I have been manufacturing cremation equipment for both human and animals for the last 35 plus years.
Thank you.
We would like to offer Mr. Burwell as an expert in crematory equipment.
Mr. Burwell, what type of equipment is intended to be used for cremation at this location?
the equipment that we are proposing is a dual chamber machine specifically designed for pet
cremation and we note a picture of that equipment is included in exhibit 15 on this on this that is
correct that is our a250p-2 side-by-side thank you and where's the equipment manufactured
all of our equipment is manufactured here in southern california
Where is your equipment currently located and operating? What other states or locations do you operate in?
Every single state across the U.S. plus countries across the globe.
What is the environmental standard that the equipment is designed to meet?
Well, we design and produce our equipment to meet a very stringent South Coast Air Quality Management District, which is SCAQMD.
they're the most stringent air quality district in the nation. Most other agencies follow suit
with whatever rules and requirements are handed down or implemented through South Coast.
And our machines are built to exceed their requirements. Thank you. How are emissions
from the cremation equipment controlled? The emissions are controlled by a secondary
burner and an oxygen control system. Are you able to tell us a little bit, too,
about the safety features included on the equipment that ensure the safety of the operator
and the facility? Yeah, all of our equipment is built to UL, United Laboratory Standards,
and NFPA, which is National Fire Protection Agency, 2790, which controls all of the fuel
combustion process, implements all of the safeties so that all of the processes are met and safe
and designed for a piece of equipment of this type. Thank you. Are you aware of any safety
incidents or accidents resulting from the use or operation of the equipment proposed to be
installed in this application no in your professional opinion given your experience
installing and monitoring this equipment around the country uh will the grant of the requested
special exception in any way cause a detrimental impact on the health safety and welfare of the
neighborhood exceeding that which normally might be expected from this use no thank you mr burwell
um we'd like to move our exhibits one through 18 into evidence and we're happy to take any
additional questions from the board thank you um questions from the board sure um what animals
what type of animals uh will you all be taken in we'll we'll take in any household pet animals
any living creature most commonly are dogs and cats but any animal that comes to us is
cremateable. And the second question is, what other businesses reside inside of the facility
that you will be operating on? There is a limousine service and mechanic shop in one unit.
there is a coffee machine repair company, there is a vacant space, there is a construction
wood shop in one of the units, and then there is our units and urgent care on the far side.
Thank you. I have a question. Actually, I have a few questions. When looking at sort of admission
and emission regulations is there anything that's like in addition to the base code
that's required uh for pet crematoriums uh no so the emissions of pet crematoriums are regulated
No. So the emissions of pet crematoriums are regulated the same as other types of crematoriums, regardless of animal or human. And that's all regulated by Air Management Regulation 11, which also incorporates aspects of Regulation 6. We also have to comply with the Pennsylvania DEP requirements.
And then additionally, just knowing, like, the equipment gets really hot, and what is sort of the interior HVAC high-level plan so far around dealing with just indoor temperature control?
Sure. Do you want to answer that?
The ceiling height is 25 feet at the peak.
The equipment is no higher than 8 feet.
And additionally of interest, the machine is cool to touch while being operated at around 1,400, 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit.
So heat does come out through the stack, but that is out into the air.
And then just shifting away from the crematorium in the back and focusing on the offices in the front,
just based on the plans that you showed, it seems like there's a lot of offices for there only to be two employees.
And I was wondering if you could walk me through what's the current expectation for the use at the front portion of the building.
One of those offices is mine, a personal administrative office.
Another is currently a spare and open office should expansion ever be necessary.
The others are proposed not as office spaces, but as preparation areas for things like putting the remains in vessels, packaging up, and properly handling the material and preparing it for shipping or delivery to the veterinarians.
And understanding that you're not going to have retail services on site, are things like urns and all the things that the remains might go in, are these things that are going to be provided by your clients or is this things that you all are going to have to?
We will provide all urns and jewelry and other memorial accoutrement.
And where is the retail sales for that accoutrement occurring?
Is it occurring at the individual vet site?
We will have a full list of all options available when we provide our paperwork and options to the veterinarians.
We'll also have things accessible on a website.
And we'll make sure that the available options are known to the interested parties.
So just walking me through, like, if I'm a person, my dog just died, I'm at the vet, the vet is going to walk me through these options, or I'm going to self-service on your website.
We will work very closely with the veterinarian to give the veterinarian specific packages that are available to the owner of the deceased animal.
And they can choose what level, what type, color.
Those options will be available in a package at the veterinary's office.
And then will there ever be options for people to come view the process on site?
Because I just know, like, there is absolutely opportunity for people to come view.
We have that in our, you know, plan in our head to allow for someone who has experienced a loss to come and say final goodbyes to their loved one.
But currently there's no like dedicated space in the on site for that to happen.
It's not been put into the plan yet.
Thank you.
Any other questions?
A question.
So none of these animals, it talks about boarding services, but you're not doing that.
All these animals will already have been deceased and will be brought to your facility by a truck, van, whatever.
There will be no living animals coming into our facility.
And we note that the proviso is, you know, specific to that point because the subcategory that this use is a part of includes the boarding and the stables.
Right.
Our proviso gets at that concern that this will be limited to the household pet crematory services.
So then these are coming from animal hospitals, you said, and vets, correct?
Okay. And then once you, I guess there's some kind of check-in process of some sort of how you, so you know that.
The remains are all treated as exactly as human remains are treated. They are tracked and handled.
human remains are treated they are tracked and handled with the care and respect from the very
moment it enters our possession to the very moment the remains are delivered to the the loved one
okay and then um uh the venting and uh the venting from this machinery okay um there is
Is there some kind of like heat shields or whatever that you have as part of this machinery?
And I guess the also question about the, I guess, lining, say, of the stack and what have you, how do we handle that?
The machinery is designed to handle the transfer of heat from internally in the machine to the environment.
As I mentioned previously, the machine on the outside is cool to touch.
The emission stack is not cool to touch, but no one will ever be up there touching that stack.
Yeah, we would hope not.
Unless things have cooled down sufficiently.
There is insulation throughout in order to provide the most efficient heat transference from inside, including the stack itself.
As it penetrates through the ceiling, there is sufficient heat transference so that there's no danger to the surrounding environment.
Okay. And that's also where we get into the emission sort of standards where whatever is coming through the stack, it has to meet certain emission standards.
That's correct. Before we can receive a license to operate, the Department of Air Management Services requires stack testing.
Understood. Okay. Thank you.
Just one more question. So will there be any additional services outside of the cremation?
we have no additional services planned at this moment outside a animal cremation company
thank you to put it to put it in perspective what do you think the workload ends up in a given week
it will definitely be a full-time
you know working environment okay if i understand the question correctly yeah i mean
number-wise, or you don't predict? We did our market research, and there's sufficient demand
for full-time operations. Okay. Thank you very much. Did you do the hours of operation?
Hours of operation, Monday through Friday, 9 to 5. Okay.
And that's receiving. Will you stay after 5 to work, or do you only work between 9 and 5?
As an owner, I will stay as long as there's work that needs to be done.
The operation of the machinery itself is expected to occur really only during standard operating hours.
Thank you.
And you did say that there's storage-like services or, like, I don't know whether you have commercial refrigeration or whatever for the animals so that you don't have to work outside of the hours.
Correct. You know, we can leave the site and rest assured that these animals will not decay.
They'll be properly cooled in a commercial refrigeration unit on site in that warehouse.
So for clarity purposes, the burners won't be burning 24, I mean, like nine to five.
You said two days a week, right? But that is anticipated to grow or as the business grows?
It is expected and anticipated to grow, but at this time we expect two days of processing of the machine.
and it won't happen unless we're there on site.
And the machine that you have can handle that demand
should you have to increase.
Okay, thank you.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Ryan McSherry?
No, Chair.
Questions or comments from the audience?
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Yes, Chair.
I have a hand up by the name of Brianna Wakefield.
they have been promoted to penalist. Okay.
Hi, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
And good afternoon, Mr. Chair. Hi, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Yes, my name is Brianna Wakefield, B-R-I-O-N-N-A, last name Wakefield, W-A-K-E-F-I-E-L-D.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Do you live nearby?
No, I am a staff attorney to counsel President Johnson.
Oh, good, great. Please.
And, yes, I am calling in today to state that Council President Johnson supports this project.
And yes, I am calling in today to state that counsel President Johnson supports this project.
Thank you very much for taking the time to call us. We appreciate it. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
Yes, Chair. I have one more hand up. Craig Melodosen has been allowed to speak.
Craig, could you please state your name as spelled for the court's stenographer?
Good afternoon, Chair Bergman
Hi, Craig, could you please state your name and spell for the court's thermographer
Craig, C-R-A-I-G, last name Melidosian, M-E-L-I-D-O-S-I-A-N
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, sir.
I just wanted to indicate that there was a delay in getting in our consortium's letter of support as we were working on some issues with this through the end of business yesterday.
We did have two meetings with the applicant.
One was a technology-based meeting to review the specifics of this, along with our environmental consultant from the Clean Air Council of Philadelphia.
That was on the 2nd of this month.
We then had a community meeting on last Monday, the 13th of this month.
did want to point out that southwest philadelphia is an environment especially eastwick area is an
environmental justice community that currently has two superfund sites one under a runway at
the airport and the other one the somewhat infamous clear view landfill which the feds
have spent about 78 million to um to address so when an issue like this comes into the community
it does cause some concern among some of the people in Eastwick.
We distributed to our RCOs the criteria for special exception approval under Section 14303 of the zoning code.
We assumed that they looked at it.
Three of the four participating RCOs supported it.
The fourth one did not, which was one of the groups in Eastwick.
uh we went over the issues with them but they that that was that was their sense and we left
it as it is uh we felt that council and uh the team that they put together richard solbodian
and his sister uh answered all of our questions we felt that the burden that this placed uh on
the community and this facility, which is essentially looks like a strip shopping center,
but is an industrial strip, that it was not burdensome. It was less burdensome than some of
the operations that were there. I had made three site visits, spoke with the owner of unit number
one, who was supportive, I believe has put in a letter of support. We worked with the owner of
unit number four, because the family had non-zoning issues, issues regarding basically code,
the fireproof nature of the walls, as well as insurance coverage. Once they had that yesterday
at the close of business, they were satisfied and their abstention went to support.
So we welcome this business into the community. We wish them much success.
It is, I hate to use the word novelty, but it is unique and has caused interest and concern.
We do not believe it puts any burden on the business community.
As Meredith pointed out, the closest residential is RM1.
I measured it myself.
It's over a half a mile away.
The vast majority of the single family dwellings in the area are further than that.
This is an I-2 district, and across the street, we have a 250-acre fossil fuel site, which we're hoping to get abated.
So we welcome Richard into the community, and we wish him the best.
Thank you, Craig. We appreciate you taking the time to call.
Is there anyone else in the audience?
I see no more hands at this time, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman, and good afternoon.
david effecto with the city planning commission chairman and board members the comprehensive
plan recommends no change to the i2 medium industrial zoning at this location the appellant
has shown that the proposed animal boarding services will have no detrimental impacts to
the neighborhood beyond what might be expected this property is located in one of what one of what
beyond what might be expected this property is located in one of what one of what the
comprehensive plan designates as an industrial preservation area the proposed use will be
complementary to the current uses taking place in this part of the neighborhood the city planning
commission recommends the board grant the proposed special exception for animal service boarding and
other services. Thank you. MI 2024-005-199-7000 Halston Avenue, I vote yes with Proviso. Use
limited to household pet crematory services. Michael Johns, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with Proviso. Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Tywin, my vote is yes with Proviso. Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Thank you very much.
Thank you, counsel.
Break it there.
We get two more left and then we'll break.
Number 10, MI 2024-006-308-1310 Marlborough Street.
Alan Notchamson is the attorney.
There's a letter of opposition from Fishtown Neighbors Association
based on the original refusal.
Letter of opposition from Council Member Young.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Mr. Nockamson, for the record, could you please state your name and spell for the 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 in relationship to the property?
All right, so my client is Sage Property Group, LLC, and to the left of me is Jamie McDonald, its member.
Our vice chair has just a few questions.
Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits as needed and required to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
I have.
Please proceed and share your screen. I believe you've been promoted.
I have not the hand just make sure I have the right screen up
all right I'm going to share my screen
Does everyone see it?
We can.
So good afternoon.
My name is Alan Ockamson of Ockamson PC.
You might want to sit like a little closer to the mic.
All right.
Good afternoon, Alan Ockamson of Ockamson PC.
I'm here to present 1310 Marlboro Street.
This is a property that's probably a block or so away from Frankfurt Avenue in the heart of Fishtown.
And to my left, again, is Ms. McDonald, the owner of the entity that owns the property, although this will be an owner-occupied property.
So as everyone knows, Fishtown's gotten really expensive, especially near Frankfort Avenue, and it's cost prohibitive for a lot of people to live nearby.
This is an opportunity for Ms. McDonald to build a two-unit dwelling where she'll be living on the upper unit.
And in order to afford that, she wants to rent out the lower units.
So during my presentation, we'll review first a notice of refusal.
So originally, and we'll see this in the refusal,
Ms. McDonald wanted to put two parking spots in the front of her property.
Fishtown Neighbors Association was completely against that for multiple reasons.
And because of that, we're trying to work with the neighborhood.
We have eliminated that and we moved the property, the building structure to the front of the property, which you'll see by that notice of refusal.
a refusal the next one the amended one and and by the way we are meeting with the fishtown neighbors
The next one, the amended one. And by the way, we are meeting with.
association on february 4th so we would move that we would have this heard by the zba today
be held under advisement and then there would be a resumption hearing just in terms of the
community input aspect of it so the next exhibit we have is a correspondence from the fishtown
neighbors association jokingly there was only one person against that it was mr goldberg who from my
office who abstained from voting but it was a very bad meeting and we were we acknowledge that but
we're working with the community and i think that it really had to do with the parking because it's
not out of character to have multi-family there and there are three instances you'll see as exhibit
five um that you know where there's multi-family near on that block so what we're proposing is not
out of sorts and actually after that meeting we met with a few neighbors to the right of us
and we have letters to support from them based on the changes that we made by eliminating the parking
so we try to get to the person to the left of us but she's an older lady who literally does not
open her door we're going to continue trying to like reach out to her um but you know jamie's a
known well-known quantity on that block so we're hoping that based on these changes to eliminating
the parking aspect of it but keeping the duplex act aspect of it that will get community support
we'll find out uh exhibit six is our zoning map then we have photographs of the property in the
surrounding area and then you can see our plans and drawings both the original and the amended
you'll see the differences is that we moved the building structure to the front so now we have
eyes on the street um because we moved the building structure up um our building structure
is not set back in the front and it doesn't extend beyond the properties to left and right of us which
is important for the light and air of those property owners and i think that was part of
the concern too was we were out of sorts visually um we have a better facade we have lintels
um i know it doesn't show a cornice line but we intend to put a cornice line we it's a brick flat
brick facade more traditional look um than uh previously requested again we got rid of the
parking but we'll go over all that and and we may have a pronounced breezeway where garbage you know
people will have access from front to back and garbage will be stored in the rear uh so uh we
would propose if the board feels so inclined that part of the uh two two provisos uh no trash uh
stored in in excuse me trash stored in the rear of the property and then the second is no bedrooms
in the basement uh and then we have our hearing notice or a meeting notice with the community
this is for the one february 4th along with the proof of mailing that notice that went out
yesterday but we just want to show the board that we're attending to meet february 4th our
application for appeal that we filed uh with the zba or deed to property uh showing that sage
property group llc's miss mcdonald's uh group uh llc owns the property but again she attends to
live there, and our certificate of tax clearance. At the conclusion of my presentation, I'll ask
Ms. McDonald to be sworn in, and then we'll have a few questions for her. All right, so our notice
of refusal. As you see here, we have three refusals here, partly because of the parking and
also the setback, and then the use, right? So that was the older refusal. The new refusal just has
the use and again it'll be you know the deciding factor will be what the community believes
should be there but again it's really really expensive to live in fishtown right now
and you know in order to encourage a diversity of living arrangements like it's important to you
know i would put it from my example i live in fairmont i originally i lived on a two-story
street right it was an eight nine hundred square foot house it i developed roots in fairmont i now
live in a three-story house not that much bigger 1800 square feet but i raised my family there
in order to for all these communities to to thrive like people need to be able to develop
roots roots and you know it would be a shame that the only people that live in fair in in fish town
are the ones who can afford the million-dollar homes.
And, you know, the younger people are, you know, yeah, they can rent,
but the rent's getting cost-prohibitive.
And, you know, in order to own that, I mean, that's, you know,
what we would consider the American dream.
This is an opportunity for Ms. McDonald to help offset her mortgage payments
by having that second unit.
So when we sought approval to revise our plans, you know,
We wrote a letter to the ZBA administrator outlining just what I stated before.
Just what I stated before, we removed the two accessory service parking spaces.
We removed the two accessory service parking spaces.
We removed the 24 front setback.
The rear yard has been increased to a total of 41 feet.
Both units have access to that.
Ms. McDonald's unit on the second floor actually has a rear staircase that goes straight down.
And then both parties have access from front to back with this breezeway, so for garbage removal and such.
and then we added that exterior rear staircase to the second floor and then because of that request
you know we were allowed to amend our zoning appeal by seeking that additional or that
amended refusal which is our second refusal so i guess the third proviso would be
based on the revised refusal as well and then this is the letter from the fishtown neighbors
Association. Again, one third of it dealt with the parking, which we eliminated. The second third
dealt with the setback, which we eliminated by eliminating the parking and moving the building
structure to the front. And then the third had to deal with the hardship. Again, I would say the
hardship is this, is the fact is, is that it is impossible for people, you know, nowadays to be
able to afford to build a home from scratch generally because of rising interest rates and
construction costs. But just the cost of just living there is so expensive. And I think to
encourage a diversity of housing, as I stated, is important to have these duplexes. And I could see
if this was on a wholly single-family block if we weren't near a commercial corridor. But we are
near a commercial corridor and we are near uh we are on a on a multi-family block that has
some multi-family at least here's our letter of support again i think it speaks volumes of
the outreach we made what we heard from the community is that again our neighbors at 13 12
marlboro and 13 14 dash 16 marlboro after we made those changes they they wrote letters to support
And then again, not out of character to have multifamily here. So 1309 Marlboro has three units. 1358 Marlboro has three units. And then I believe the board also by way of variance also granted multiple units for two units at 1300 Marlboro as well as as late as October of 2024.
for and then maps of the area as you can see here we're right next to frankfurt avenue i mean this
is prime philadelphia philadelphia and fishtown real estate here but from a planning perspective
typically what you see coming off of a commercial corridor is maybe just a little bit of a step down
from cmx2 to like an rm1 of some sort so if this was an rm1 property i'm not saying it is
we would be allowed by right i mean the more than by right this is a rather massive lot of
1,919 square feet so again not out of character and also not out of you know the realm from a
city planning perspective to have this uh and then you could see where we are like you know
La Cologne it's like a block away from us and then photographs of the property again we're
between you know you know two uh two uh you know you know row homes hopefully we'll add you know
teeth to that street by adding our row home this is our proof of posting marlboro street to the
right of the property to the left of the property our plans and drawings which again we don't really
need to go into because we have the updated one these are the original ones but you can see it
was no lentils here we planted do have a cornice line here um and i'm trying to think what else
was different i think that's about it and then in the updated plans
first of all you can see that there's a there's a breezeway here so which is really important in
terms of life and safety but also practicality in terms of you know having the garbage you know
removed and stored you know every single week and then these are our floor plans and again we would
agree to provide some no bedrooms in the basement but this is just a simple one bedroom one bath
so you walk in there's a kitchen a living room one bedroom one bath there is a full living space
you know people still work from home right you know maybe we're here in person but a lot of
people still work from home and you know they want space they want an extra living space
um you know storage of some sort i'm sure that we'll put up a wall of some sort but that's where
we are in terms of the first floor which is one bedroom one bath instead you go up to and that's
a bi-level and then you go up to the second floor and again this is miss mcdonald's apartment and
apartment and this would be a three bedroom two bath you walk in it's an open floor plan with a
this would be a three bedroom two bath you walk in it's an open floor plan
living room a kitchen and then one bedroom here with one bath and then there's two additional
bedrooms and one bath shared bath uh in on the third floor and then there's a roof deck
let me just ensure my screen just make it easier and then re-share it oops did blow my hand
I'm trying to make it smaller, so.
All right, there we go.
All right.
All right, here's our notice for the hearing,
which is February, for the community meeting,
which is February 4th.
And then we emailed that notice, actually, today,
It looks like to the coordinating RCO and relevant parties.
And then that was sent out to 191 addresses like last time.
These are the addresses.
This is proof of mailing to those addresses.
This is our application for appeal that we filed,
the original application for appeal we filed to ZBA,
along with the original notice of refusal,
which we got rid of two of the three based on community input and compromise.
or note our project information form our deed to the property showing that sage property group
llc is the owner and then finally our certificate of tax clearance while it shows a balance due
that's not technically due to march 31st of 2025 um i would ask that um miss mcdonald be sworn in
how could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer you might want to turn to
Jamie McDonnell, J-A-M-I-E, McDonald, M-C-D-O-N-A-L-D.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Yeah, Jamie, you heard everything I had to state today about your zoning matter.
Yes, I did.
Is it true and correct?
Did you adopt it as your own testimony?
Specifically, the point of you purchasing this property was hoping to make this into a duplex.
Correct.
So that you can live in one of the units and rent out the other.
Correct.
That's the plan.
Thank you.
And, Alan, initially you wanted to park two cars in the front?
Initially, yes.
I don't think the community was very happy about that, to say the least.
I think it was more so because there was parking allowed on that side of the street.
If there was no parking allowed on that side of the street, that would make sense.
but they you know the fact between that and then just sending it back and taking eyes off the
streets i think was just very disruptive for the community right but you can see based on you know
the letters of support we got thereafter i feel like hopefully we'll the community will change
its mind generally questions from the board could you tell me the height of the building with the
roof deck yeah the the height of the building oh i got the wrong one still trying to get used to be
on a small table uh let's see uh the height of the building according to my notes is 37 feet high
not including obviously the pilot house but from the roof line it's 37 feet
all right um so there's been a lot of opposition to this project could you walk us through some
of the commentary and feedback that you've received yeah uh so i had the letter in front of
me so as i indicated uh it was threefold it was actually twofold uh it was the parking and the
setback and so we eliminated both of those and so the to be clear the rco has not seen anything
that you showed us here today that is correct again based on their community comments you know
we knew that it was best to kind of take a step back um in that regard and like i said you know
just by just door-to-door outreach to next door neighbors they're the one you know the ones that
most directly impacted by this situation they're in support of that so we'll see what fish town
neighbors association uh says with after community comment and then is your plan to leave the unit
in the llc or to purchase it from the llc as an individual um my plan would be to leave it in the
llc and then just like approximately what are you thinking about for the rent for that first
floor apartment so i actually have that in my notes too i have it 1400 1400 for the one bedroom
one bath that correct yeah and at 1400 like with that rent you'd be able to sort of maintain the
home as is like as you've proposed that's the goal yes all the questions from the board
questions from our attorney ryan mcshere no chair questions from the audience
questions from our attorney ryan mcshere
story.
questions from the virtual audience yes chair i have a hand up by the name of robert ever
they have been promoted to painless mr everett
mr everett
I had a hard time getting him on when he tried to get on this morning, too.
Mr. Everett.
He has been promoted to penalist.
Robert Everett, please unmute yourself and turn your camera on.
Can you hear me?
Hi, Mr. Everett.
How are you, sir?
Camera should be coming on momentarily.
Could you state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Certainly.
First name is Robert, last name Everett, E-V-E-R-E-T-T.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, Mr. Everett.
Okay, I'm just confirming what Alan said.
We are scheduling them for an RCO meeting on February the 4th, starting at 630.
They should be up about 650 in our agenda.
Thank you very much for taking the time to call us.
We appreciate it, Mr. Everett.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
Yes, Chair.
I have one more hand up.
Jason Selinski has been promoted to penalist.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Hello?
Does he still have his hand up?
okay hi how are you sir they have been promoted subpoena list
jason could you state your name and spell for the stenographer
jason solinsky j-a-s-o-n-s-o-l-i-n-s-k-y right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the
whole truth and nothing but the truth i do mr solinsky are you a neighbor i am please proceed
uh so i just have a question uh why is this being presented before being brought back in front of
fna what's that again i said why is this being presented before being brought back in front of
the fna with the revised where people stand now people were one line trying to get in we see where
people stand now when it goes back we will bring it back to the public again okay so it doesn't
come back in front of you again yeah okay um the other thing i wanted to state is there are only
two multifamilies on our block currently. I've lived here for 16 years. Those two multifamilies
have existed longer than I have lived on this block. None have been built on our block in the
entire time that I've lived here. Thank you, sir. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
No, Chair. I take no more hands at this time. Planning, are you going to take a position now
or are you going to wait until that comes back? Chair, if it's okay with you, we'd like to take
position sure all right thank you sir uh chairman and board members uh david effecto with the city
planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the rsa5 residential
single-family zoning at this location the zoning has been rsa5 since at least the early 1970s
the appellant wishes to build two dwelling units on approximately 1900 square foot lot
that's not unusual lot size for this block face this is a primarily single-family block face except
for two row homes one a duplex and one a triplex the city planning commission recommends the board
deny the proposed use variance for two dwelling units thank you so uh may i just respond sure
and also to the witness again i have in front of me it's in the materials 1300 marlboro streets
was approved as a duplex under calendar number zp-2024-007568 october 22nd 2024 so yes there
are two existing ones but there's a third one that was previously approved and recently approved as
a duplex just wanted to get that out there thank you very much so we're going to bring this back
on 3 18 25 at 9 30 a.m um it'll be closed other than the information we receive from the community
we will go back to the public again and then uh we'll we'll make a decision okay thank you thank
you thank you mr knockamson we have one more right
number 12 mi 2024 006 810 6205 germantown avenue mr knockamson is
it's a visitor accommodation there's a letter of support from west central germantown neighbors
It's a visitor accommodation. There's a letter of support from West Central Germantown neighbors. Vote was seven to three.
Yes, again, still Alan Nockamson. To my left is Darren Hardiman, the owner of 6206 Germantown F LLC, which is the owner of the property.
All right. Mr. Nockamson, our vice chair, has a few questions.
Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to read the reading of the 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 heritage?
I have. Thank you, counsel. Please proceed and you can share your screen.
I'm just having technical difficulties. I'm going to pull it up again on my computer.
All right, so we're here to present 6206 Germantown Avenue.
As you can see in the front page of our presentation material, this property, at least the beginnings of it, have been built where the property.
Can you speak a little bit more into the mic?
Yes. Can you hear me better?
Much better, much better.
I'm just raising it a little bit.
So it was a little low.
So if you look at the presentation cover page, we're that white structure there.
so we're still in the process of getting this property completely built.
The only variance we're actually seeking is for the visitor accommodation.
This is a CMX2 property, which allows for the sit-down restaurant,
but we're just doing this as part of this variance process.
During our presentation, you'll see the notice of refusal,
the correspondence from the West Central Germantown Neighbors Association.
my understanding well not only are they in non-opposition my understanding is the council
member the district council member is also in non-opposition i talked to charles richardson
earlier today i'm assuming he's he's online i haven't seen correspondence um we'll have an aerial
view of the property so we're right next to self-storage facility and it's a little interesting
there in germantown there's a self-storage facility to the right of us which again um
kind of leads to why visitor accommodations is more appropriate than like long-term accommodations.
People don't want to be near a self-storage facility.
And my understanding is that the property owner across the street is actually seeking a senior medical facility across the street.
All this leads to no one's going to want to rent there for long-term accommodations in the near future.
Then after the aerial view, we'll review maps of the area, photographs of the property in
the surrounding area, our plans and drawings.
These are the as-built drawings stamped by L&I.
So again, these are not illustrative.
This is what L&I approved, what we're building and trying to complete.
Then we have our RCO meeting notice along with proof of sending out that notice to the
affected properties, our application for appeal, our deed to the property, and our certificate of
tax clearance. Again, to the left of me is Darren Hardiman, who's a well-known quantity in the
Germantown area. He has a lot of real estate holdings there, does a lot of good things,
including, my understanding is he's proposing to have a mural placed on the right wall of the
property as an introduction to Germantown itself on Germantown Avenue. So our notice of refusal,
again we're a cmx uh two property and we're looking to put a sit down restaurant on the first
floor with three visitor accommodation units above and again the only refusal has to do with
the visitor accommodations this the sit down restaurant is allowed as a right and then we
met with the community um and based on our community presentation the west central germantown
neighbors gave us a letter i don't know if it's supportive or just non-opposition but the vote was
seven in support three not in support and one non-opposition so eight in positively and three
not so positively um and based on that my understanding again is that district council
member is in non-opposition to this project and then this is the aerial view you'll see again
this is the aerial view you'll see again this is the self-storage facility i'm talking about
this is the self-storage facility i'm talking
they have a significant like setback as well from side yards um but and and by the way we also have
an easement that we benefit from down that side i guess the right side of our property um as well
but again not and there's a right aids which has been closed for some time where someone's looking
to put a senior medical facility so again not the best situation for long-term accommodations we
thought that short-term accommodations would be a better use of this property and and what mr
hardiman is looking to do is more of like a boutique hotel in a way where you know i guess
some examples would be wm mulherens uh wim yaoi anna and bell and the dwight d hotels where you
have these visitor accommodations and you have these more boutique type of like bar restaurants
So that's what he's thinking about in terms of this project.
So maps of the area, again, we're CMX2.
We're on Germantown Avenue.
Again, near self-storage facility, and then there may be a senior medical facility across the street.
Photographs of the property.
Again, very nice-looking facade with lots of light in there with the windows.
And then this is Germantown to the right of the property, till left of the property.
And then our plans and drawings.
The commercial space is going to be the first floor and the lower level, and that's approximately 1,900 square feet.
Unit number one will be in the rear on the first floor and the lower level.
Excuse me, the commercial unit is 1,068.
Unit number one is 900 square feet, a two-bedroom, one-bath.
That's also a bi-level on the first floor.
in the lower level, and then we'll go through the plans and drawings of the floor plans,
but units two and three are both on the second and third floors as bi-levels, and those are
two bedrooms, two baths, both over a thousand square feet.
Unit number three is a little bigger, it's almost eleven hundred square feet.
And then this is just, again, the restaurant, the floor plans, again, based on what's actually
being built there. It's 32 seat capacity here. And then if you look at this, this is the first
floor plan. The restaurant, you would get in through the front, and then that's here. And
then you go into a lower level where the kitchen would be. And then, you know, we have a side
entrance for the units themselves. So you come in here on the left, and then this is unit number
one, which is a bi-level, which is already built out, approved. You can see these plans were
approved by L&I, and that's a bi-level of, and it's a two-bedroom, one-bath. Instead of the first
floor and lower level, you go up to the second and third floors. You see here, you get into a
common staircase, and if you go left, this is unit number two, which is a bi-level, which is a two-bedroom,
two-bath, 1,017. If you make a right coming out of here, this is unit number three, which is a
two-bedroom, two-bath, bi-level, 1,084 square feet.
So our RCO meeting notice,
we met with the community on January 8th at 7 p.m.
Proof of emailing that notice,
along with proof of the actual mailing of that notice,
was sent to the coordinating RCO and other groups.
36 addresses received that notice.
Those are the addresses, proof of mailing to those addresses.
Our application for appeal that we filed with the ZBA,
along with the Notice of Refusal and the Project Information Form,
and then the deed to the property showing that 6206 Germantown Avenue LLC is the owner,
and then the Certificate of Tax Clearance showing that a slight amount is due,
but the payment that was due for 2024 was just paid, and proof of payment in 2025 is not due.
So with that being said, I would ask that Mr. Hardiman be sworn in.
Mr. Hardiman, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Yes, Darren Hardiman, D-A-R-E-N.
Last name is H-A-R-D-I-M-O-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Yes, Mr. Hardiman, you heard everything I had to say today about your zoning matter.
Is it true and correct?
And do you adopt it as your own testimony?
yes um in particular you know i i wanted to highlight and i want you to talk a little bit
about your your thought process of it being more of a hotel boutique hotel rather than a hodgepodge
of visitor accommodation use so the reason for well first i own a few properties on the block
First, I own a few properties on the block, and I'm very well invested in the area.
I'm very
But for this space specifically, because we're trying to do a cocktail bar, I thought that it would be better used as visitor accommodation.
Even though we soundproofed the building, we put gypsum down, we were making sure that there's going to be no disturbance for the units above.
We thought that it would be better for the Airbnb or the visitor accommodation use just based on what's going on in the area.
There's a lot of change.
There's a lot of people coming.
But when my family alone and neighbors that I speak to, when people are in town, there's nowhere else to stay other than coming into Cedar City or going into Chestnut Hill.
So that's what drove the reasoning for the visitor accommodation coming into this space.
And it's not uncommon to have visitor accommodation uses in this area of town.
Correct.
I actually had my team kind of supplement, kind of do it old school with paper.
So I'm going to take one copy.
if you don't mind i'll approach or i don't know how that works now if someone takes it just get
okay get it here somewhere okay i didn't want to be rude
and alan to be clear the only refusal you have is your accommodation everything else has been
approved that's right and and and built honestly but i asked my team when i was looking at the
presentation before i left the office i'm like are there any other airbnbs nearby they're like
yeah there are i was like well why didn't we put in the presentation so i was like so i couldn't
update the presentation that quickly but i said print something out give me a map and tell me
where they are and there's a number of visitor accommodations nearby in germantown we think
that would be better to actually be on germantown that's more appropriate than being in the
neighborhood especially as more of a boutique hotel and again as mr hartemann stated he has a
lot of assets on Germantown Avenue and you know there are people who there's a need for this type
of visitor accommodation use but more uh like formal in nature than what's going on in the
Germantown area all right questions from the board can I see the basement uh plans I just want to see
the delineation between the commercial use on the basement and the apartments for the visitor
accommodations just want to make sure i have the right screen up first
so to be clear it's the the visitor accommodations is for
of the all of the apartments correct uh that that's correct okay
and uh get my screen
Chair, sorry for the interruption. Just for the record, we are in receipt of an additional exhibit titled 6206 Germantown Avenue, nearby Airbnb listings. That'll be scanned and added to the record. Thank you.
Thank you, Ian.
So, board member Graham, here we are, right here.
So, if you look, this is the front entry to the commercial space, which comes out of Germantown, and there's an internal staircase for the commercial space that goes down, and essentially, this is the restaurant area for the public, and this will be the kitchen area for the restaurant.
And then if you look along the side of the building, there's an entryway that goes along the right side of the building here, where this is unit number one, which is the first floor and lower level.
And in order to get to units two and three, you would go up this flight of steps.
All right, I have a few questions.
One, have you operated any other Airbnbs?
I have not operated any other Airbnbs, but I have a property manager who has operated
Airbnbs, actually operates an Airbnb in the building that I own adjacent to this one at
620204, but it's for long-term use only, not visitor accommodation, which would allow
us to do short-term stay.
A single Airbnb or multiple Airbnbs?
She operates about 15 different Airbnbs.
In the building next to her?
No, no, no.
There's a single Airbnb in the building next to me, and then she operates multiple Airbnbs
throughout the city.
Does she operate anywhere they're in the same building?
in the same building yeah i'm not certain so i just i i travel a lot traveled a lot last year
i stayed in many airbnbs like this i would say one of the biggest issues when buildings convert
like this is property maintenance um i think like over time when you've got multiple people
staying on top of each other sometimes these end up being denser than your typical like
than your typical like apartment building would have been at any given time have you thought
apartment building would have been at any given time have you thought
All right.
through um what are going to be the max uh number of people that could be in any of the individual
units at one time so right now in the building next door we have a two bed one bath um very
similar makeup uh the building next door a little bit bigger it's a six units of five apartments
plus commercial so in the unit that is being running as an airbnb is two bed one bath and
the maximum amount of people that have been there thus far is four and it was a family so there was
two adults two children they were in the same room um at this point they've been there for about five
months and that's pretty much what we've seen so that unit she's been renting it from me for three
years and it's been vacant for at max 30 days so about that as what's going to be there i imagine
that it would be the same in these um two to four people um can't see that much more we're putting
full-size beds into the units except for one of which is going to have a queen just based on the
overall size of the bedrooms so i don't see that there's going to be any much more and then in
terms of overall maintenance that i mean it's what i do so in terms of like generally when you've got
this many bedrooms in the units it accommodates families and typically families need things like
children's bed roller beds cribs and typically the airbnbs have space in the airbnb where they
can kind of store this stuff so they can swap it out are you thinking at all about where like
materials to support the boutique hotel or airbnb short-term rental usage so there's might be able
to be provided on site sure so there's ample closet space and all of the units we also are
putting in lockers for things that need to be refilled in each unit um we additionally we put
in my cube safes so no different than when you go away or go to a hotel there's cube safes and
the master bedroom only um just not in the guest room so everything in in terms of like the overall
planning perspective we're looking forward to be boutique hotel so we made sure that we rolled out
the red carpet for everything that's going to be there including welcome packages so all of that's
going to change we do not have uh cribs or things like that we're not going to provide them either
for the overall liability aspect of it so they won't be in our units right and then my last
question is with the bar next or the adjacent bar in the space is this a full commercial kitchen or
are you going to have like full food options on site it's full commercial kitchen we're going
for the type r liquor license which requires food to be sold anytime the bars open and then
so pursuant to that where are you exhausting the kitchen uh 10 foot above the building okay thank
you sure and by the way mr hartman is going to be owner occupied in terms of it's gonna it's
restaurant. Operating in the business.
Other questions from the board?
there any regulation
around the number of
individuals that can be in an
Airbnb by
bedroom size?
That I do not know, but what I can say is
aside from
us monitoring, we are putting on a
notice, we did let everyone know
there are going to be cameras in the hallways. There's no cameras
going into the units, but there are cameras in the hallways.
We also have decibel
meters that are going in they look like smoke detectors so if there's a party going on which
we do not allow nor does airbnb we'll be coming with the police to shut the party down um it's
happened at other units across the city but for us we don't want to be a nuisance i own on the
avenue i'm here i live work play in this area so we have no intention on doing anything outside of
the right thing so um with respect to the cocktail bar which i understand we're not um
So we're not approving in that sense, but what kind of operations are we talking about hour wise? Are you going to have live music? Are you going to have a liquor license so that the hours would be, you know, late? And how is that going to affect the habitability, if you will, of these Airbnb units?
so that's something that we took into consideration when we put down a quarter inch gypsum and then
we put down quarter inch sound mat and then we put down uh inch one inch gypsum so that there's
no sound transfer between units from the first to the second floor so that's been done across
the entire building so there won't be any sound transfer at all we are going to have music won't
be live music um and we won't have a dj we won't have a jukebox so people are going to listen to
what we play. And then the hours of operation? Oh, hours of operation
are Sunday through Thursday, 11 to 11, and
then Friday, Saturday, 11 to 12. We're looking to pick up the lunch crowd.
Okay. So you're not going to
operate till 2 o'clock in the morning? Absolutely not.
Okay. All right. Thank you. Other questions from the board?
Questions from our attorney, Ryan McSherry?
no chair questions or comments from the audience
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
questions or comments from the virtual audience yes chair
Yes, Chair. I have a hand up by the name of Charles Richardson.
I have a hand up by the
They have been promoted to penalist.
Hi, Mr. Richardson. You've already been sworn, sir. Just state your name.
Sorry about that. I'm being promoted to penalist and that takes us longer to get in.
No, no. You've already been sworn. Just state your name, sir.
Charles Richardson, Office of Councilwoman Cindy Bass.
The councilwoman, based on the results of the RCO meeting, has no opposition to granting the variance.
Thank you very much for taking the time to call us. We appreciate it.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
There are no more hands up at this time.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chairman, and good afternoon.
David Vecto with the City Planning Commission.
Chairman and board members, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the CMX2 commercial
mixed-use zoning at this location.
There is no unique physical condition or circumstance of this property that would prevent it from
being used in strict conformity with the zoning code.
A 2020 zoning ordinance passed by City Council, which regulated short-term rentals, did not
change the basic rule prohibiting full-time use of a dwelling unit as a short-term rental.
This type of absentee management, where the owner does not live in the unit, has been illegal since the first short-term rental zoning regulations became effective in 2015.
What's changed since the passage of the 2020 ordinance is that there is now a licensing and enforcement mechanism.
The City Planning Commission recommends the Board deny the proposed use variance for visitor accommodations.
Thank you.
Mr. Chair, can I just respond quickly?
So, given the location of where it's next to a self-storage facility, and more likely we're going to have a medical facility across the street, I think that this is an appropriate use of the property for visitor accommodation under the circumstances.
And I know that the board is more inclined to adopt, if they do grant the variance, it's more of a temporary variance.
But given how Mr. Hardeman plans to use the property more of a boutique hotel, I would ask that they grant it as a permanent variance.
But if they if the board doesn't feel so inclined, I would still ask for a five year temporary variance.
MI 2024 006 810 6206 Germantown Avenue.
I vote yes.
Temporary variance that expires 123 29.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes with proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with proviso.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Taya Nguyen, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Is there anyone in the audience who's had two o'clock cases not been called?
I see no hands at this time, Chair.
We're going to take a five-minute break and then come right back and do the 3.30.
Thanks.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Okay, we're ready.
Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this afternoon's Sony
board meeting. With me is our vice chair, Ismael Shahid.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
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 Wynn.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Also here is Ryan McSherry, our attorney, and Ian Haggerty, the executive director of the zoning board, and our supervisor, Lakeisha Dandy.
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Before we begin, our Executive Director, Ian Haggerty, has an important safety announcement.
Yes, thank you, Chair. Good afternoon, everyone. The safety of our meeting attendees is the
highest priority. In the event of an emergency, please pay attention to announcements on the
loudspeaker. If no announcement is heard, please follow the directions of security personnel or
ZBA staff. If an order is given to evacuate the room, the nearest stairway is to the left outside
the main exit from this room, which is the double doors located at the rear of the room. If an order
If an order is given to evacuate the building, the rally point is at Love Park directly across
is given to evacuate the building the rally point is at love park directly across our
Arch Street from the public entrance to this building. Please remain at the rally point so
we can account for you. Restrooms are located across from the elevators and a water fountain
is located just outside the double doors to the right. Thank you. Thank you. So let's go over our
schedule. Number one, MI 2023-003-305-8085 Rowland Street. Jennifer Bedzillo is the attorney for the
owners. This case has been continued. Is there any other requests for continuance?
I see no hands at this time, Chair.
So number two, MI-2023, 005-975-2000 East Cambria Street.
Augustine Marino is the listed applicant.
Darabella Perez is the listed owner.
This is the fourth listing.
We do not have any exhibits.
Sarah, I have a hand up by the name of Kimberly LaCroque.
They have been promoted to panelist.
Good afternoon.
Could you please state your name and spell it for the court stenographer?
Hello.
Hi, could you state your name and spell it for the court stenographer?
Yes, my name is Kimberly Lacroix, K-I-M-B-E-R-L-Y, Lacroix, L-A-C-R-O-I-X.
Right, right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
are you involved in this case on east cambria uh no this is on 80 85 roland
that case has been continued i understand but but i just want to bring your attention to the fact
that i believe this is now the fourth continuance it is but we ran into a situation there was
illness involved and we had a we had to grant one more continuance will this be the last
continuing i i certainly hope so and and it'll be mark must be heard and we will we'll do
everything we can to have it put on okay and and thank you for your interest calling us we appreciate
it okay augusta marino or darabella perez listed owners fourth listing
sir i have a hand up and phone number ending in 3443 they have been allowed to speak
hi could you please state your name or spell for the court stenographer
hi my name is tammy hart how is everyone doing what's that my name is tammy hart how is everyone
this evening are you involved in this one on cambria street i'm calling for for four zero
zero two on the reef street all right we're going to get to that a little later okay thank you one
more time is there anyone from cambria street in the audience chair there are no hands up at this
fine okay um and my 2023 005 975 2000 east cambridge street no exhibits fourth listing i
vote to dismiss michael johns my vote is to dismiss cheryl gaston my vote is to dismiss
tanetta graham my vote is to dismiss kaya win my vote is to dismiss ishmael shaheed my vote
to dismiss number three mi 2023 006 895 2873 north lee street michael ruth is the general
contractor michael ruth is a dba enlisted owner um no exhibits third listing
here michael ruth has been promoted to panelists
mr ruth
mr ruth yes i'm mr ruth could you state your name and spell for the stenographer
michael ruth m-i-c-h-a-e-l-r-u-t-h do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and
nothing but the truth yes i do mr ruth could you give us the status of your case
uh we just went to the rco and um everything was um it seemed to be
okay so here's the thing mr ruth we still do not have your exhibits
did you hear me yes i can hear you we still do not get any of your paperwork down here
Yes, I can hear you.
We still do not get any of your paperwork down here.
so you got to get all your
So you've got to get all your documents together.
Brittany, my expediter was handling that.
Can we get a continuing thing?
I think that's between you and the expediter, but.
She got her hand up.
Hold on a minute.
Chair, I have a hand up by the name of Brittany Jodine.
they have been promoted to panelists okay hi could you please state your name and spell for
the stenographer yes hello my name is britney jordan b-r-i-t-t-a-n-y last name is jordan j-o-r-d-a-n
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes i do chair you're gonna have to work this out with your client we do not have any documents
I know.
If I can screen share and then email you guys the documents, I was having trouble uploading them onto the site.
So the status of the application, the RCO did approve it.
And if I'm able to.
All right.
So here's what we're going to do.
I'm going to continue this one more time.
They have to be in the next time where the case is going to be dismissed.
So MI 2023-006-895-2873 North Lee Street.
This case is continued to 6-11-25 at 3.30 p.m.
Must be heard.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Number seven.
Number seven, MI 2024, 005-585, 4022 North 3 Street.
Angela Fala is the listed applicant.
lydia paulino is the listed owner this is the first listing
we did receive the we did receive the exhibits last night at 7 20 p.m this needs to be continued
could could the applicant please get on yes chair linda paulino has been promoted to penalist
hi good evening everyone hi could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
Angela
A-N-G-E-L-A
Falu, F as in Frank
I'm sitting here with the owner, Lidia
Hold on, hold on, hold on
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth
and nothing but the truth?
We need your documents five days in advance
so that we can properly go over them
We cannot hear the case today, it's going to be continued
How would I receive the continuous date?
I'm going to give it to you right now
this case is continuing until 6 11 25 at 3 30 p.m mark must be heard
i'm sorry what time 3 30 p.m
thank you thank you and number eight mi 2024 005 624 2068 east anne street
Elliot Perez Burritos is the listed owner, and E.B. Riaz is the listed applicant.
This is the first listing, no exhibits.
E.B. Riaz has been promoted to panelist chair.
hi could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer um um eb ib eb reyes ibi
r e y yes do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the truth whole truth and nothing but the truth
So your case, we do not have your documents, your exhibits at this point, and the case is going to be continued.
If you have problems on how you get the exhibits in, please call the office and they'll help you, okay?
Thank you, sir.
All right, thank you.
So MI 2024-005-624-2068 Ann Street, this case is continued to 6-11-25 at 3.30 p.m.
And number 10, MI 2024-005-636-812 McKean Street.
Hayo Lin and Bayo Wu Wang are the listed owners.
A.B. Riaz is the listed applicant.
No exhibits, first listing.
Ivy Riaz
has been promoted
back to panelists
hello are you the owner here are you no i'm just i'm the expediter um okay so i need i need to
Are you the owner here
or are you
talk to them we do not have any of their exhibits and this case is going to be continued thank you
okay so mi2024 005 636 812 mckean street this case is continued to 6 11 25 at 3 30 p.m
Our first case we're going to go to is number 5. MI 2024-002-371, 1639 East Cheltenham. Franklin Martinez Delastano is the applicant. No RCO letter or summary notice was given to the neighbors to hand delivery. The meeting was held July 2nd before take back your neighborhood.
Chair, I had a hand up by the name of Angela Rios.
They have been promoted to panelists.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
My name is Angelina Vidal Rios.
First name, Angelina, A-N-G-E-L-I-N-A.
Before I do it, are you the owner of this?
franklin martinez is here with me he is the owner of the property okay does he have a problem with
his language issue yes okay so you can't testify for him what we're going to have to do
is reschedule this hearing and we will have an interpreter at the hearing that will work with
him but it was requested prior to this uh you wanted it you requested an interpreter prior
he had requested an interpreter prior that is correct so i i don't have any record of that
and you know we we just can't allow someone to testify for him so what we're going to do is
we're going to continue this and we will make a note right now that we will have an interpreter
here okay so i can't translate for you cannot you cannot so mi 2024 002 371 1639 east cheltenham
avenue this case is continued till 6 11 25 or 3 30 and we will make it a point to have an interpreter
thank you very much and number six
mi 2024 005 582 1550 winsome street um
Wanda Canal Glashaw is the owner-applicant. It's a pro se.
This application, hold on.
The letter of unanimous support from the 10th Ward Democratic Committee.
Gala Shaw, please.
yes chair juan jenica has been promoted to panelist
good evening good evening i could you please state your name
and spell it for the court stenographer.
My name is Joaquina Galashaw.
Joaquina spelled J-U-A-N-K-E-N-I-A.
Last name Galashaw, G-A-L-L-A-S-H-A-W.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
My attorney is also in the Zoom meeting as well.
What's your attorney's name?
Nixon, Connor.
Could we bring the attorney on, please?
Yes, sure. Nixon, Connor has been promoted to painless.
Good evening, counsel.
Good evening.
Hi, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Sure. First name is Nixon, N-I-X-O-N, K-A-N-N-A-H, with the law firm of Kana and Lasana, L-A-S-S-A-N-A-H.
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, sir.
Sure. Good evening, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate
Good evening, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
to its accuracy? Yes. 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? Now, within five days, Vice Chair,
I believe some of the documents were actually uploaded today.
Yes. Looks like we have it being uploaded as of yesterday
on the interior photos as well as some of the other documents.
So please proceed and share your screen.
My client purchased this property.
Let me just, if I could have an opportunity to share my screen.
Yeah, why don't you share your screen first?
Has he been promoted?
Yes, Chair.
You should be able to share. He should be able to do it now, right?
Yes, I just want to make sure I'm on the right page before I share.
Please share your screen.
Can everybody see that?
Well, we're okay, sir.
One is short, you know, bringing some of your documents up.
Okay, the first document, my client purchased this property in July of 2023.
Prior to purchasing the property, she basically, she advised the realtor that she was looking for a duplex.
um she secured financing for a duplex let me just
she was um giving the this is the next document on the screen here is the appraisal
um comms in the area can you open up the documents we can't see them nor can we go
forward without yeah you got you gotta you gotta tap on the documents and open them up okay
do you see that now um yeah yeah i i i don't i'm not sure what that document is but why don't you
continue to go through your document sure so this document this is the appraisal right that that she
that she received prior to the purchase and this appraisal show all the comparison in the area or
the duplex that were in the area um based on this based on this appraisal if i scroll down
you can see the various addresses within the area her property is 1550 windsor um the comparable
is 7936 Gilbert Street, another comparison 1501 East Warner Street, and then 7935 Gilbert Street.
These are all duplexes. The price that my client paid for this property is based on
the comparison within the area. Also, when she went to secure financing for this property,
specifically state on her approval
that she was getting
this loan
to purchase a duplex.
All right, so councilor, here's what I think
you should do. Start showing us the
property. You have pictures of the property. One of you
shows the property. Yes.
Let's go back to
here's the property okay
first floor second floor units I'm going to show you some interior photos as well
two cars garage one garage for the first floor one garage for the for the second floor
This is unit one.
That's the
property. That's the apartment on unit
Two bedrooms on each floor.
We're not seeing that.
No, I mean, we
see something from the appraiser.
Yeah, we're not seeing the
can you see that now yes okay this is a bedroom on the on the first
This is a bedroom on the first unit.
Is that the first floor?
And I'm going to show you the staircase from the first floor to the second floor.
Can members of the board see that?
We see the stairs going up.
Okay, so this is the first floor, and this is the step leading up to the second floor.
Could you show us some more photos, please, of the property?
you have two kitchens yes two kitchens
are the utilities separated downstairs everything's separated um mr chip um everything's
separated separate parking um i believe that the person that owned this property
advised my client that she owned it for 30 years and it's always been in the same position um
Show us the photos here. We keep going back to the disclosure transaction summary.
Trying to get out of here.
You want to see the two separate kitchens?
Okay. This is the kitchen on the first floor.
You see that? Now I'm going to get you the kitchen on the second floor.
This is the kitchen on the second floor.
And it's basically two bedrooms on each unit.
We did attend the RCO meeting on December 7th.
We received a letter of support today.
My client also, the notice of hearing was posted on the property.
Let me just get to that photograph for you.
Okay, prior to the RCO meeting, my client sent out the notices to neighbors that were impacted.
This is the proof of mailing that was submitted to individuals within that area.
And we have the tax clearance came back, I believe, yesterday or today.
Let's see what else I need to show you guys.
I noticed the RCOs had some concern.
What was the concern of the RCOs?
The RCO, the concern was, number one, I believe it was the trash issue.
And then the second concern they had was if my client would put a fire escape ladder to get access from the second floor
to give it a second entrance because as it is now from the second floor,
the second floor unit would have to come all the way down to the first floor to exit the building.
So the RCO was concerned that if there's a window, if she could put a ladder from the window in case of fire,
I think that was the only concern they had.
She agreed to that.
Yes, yes, she agreed to that.
can you continue on with the photos please sure this is the the proof of posting
the the property is actually in the gate so she she posted sign here i also have another
photograph where the sign is actually posted on the tree to let people know that it just
posting relate to this property. This is the second bedroom of unit one.
It's specific pictures, photographs you guys want to see. Well, one thing I wanted to bring to the
to the board's attention as far as I mentioned earlier when she was purchasing this property
and she
secured financing
let me just see what I'm looking for
Counselor you
could you finish that comment
no I'm just I'm trying to find
attachment for that
let's see
so you say she got finances
on the basis that it was a duplex
yes yes I just I'm trying to find her
Yes, yes. I'm trying to find her closing. Here it is. The closing is an FHA. Can members of the board see that?
closing, oh, here it is.
We see that.
Okay. So it's an FHA loan that she has, and it's based on a two-unit primary. So my client basically did everything she was supposed to do in this case.
She hired an appraiser. She hired a realtor. The financing, now she's trying to get a license to
rent a second unit and she was denied a refusal. There's no construction involved. She has adequate
parking for both the garage and off-street parking for the property. One concern, the RCO also
had was the issue of trash where will my client put additional trash can and as we as you can see
from this from the the photograph of the property the property sits off the street so what we're
going to do is we're going to keep the trash off the off the street until it's time to bring it
down all the all the trash can is going to be away from the curve until it's trash day and the picture
that shows that is just can you go through the remaining pictures please you stop in
it certain pictures just go through the rest of them okay
i think this is another bedroom this is unit one
this is the the posting
kitchen, second kitchen, second bedroom. Those are all the photographs we have.
Were there no pictures of the living rooms?
I believe the room with the glass is the living room.
Is there a bathroom on each floor?
There are bathrooms on each floor.
There are two two-bedroom units.
Is that what it is?
What's in the basement?
I believe that the basement is a regular basement.
It's not a finished basement.
It's accessible only to the person on the first floor.
And my client lives on site, so she's going to be occupying the first floor.
Do the basement already have it set up for two units?
No, no, the basement is not a unit.
It's just a regular...
Is it set up with the utilities?
Oh, yes, yes, yes.
The utility, the gas,
each unit have their own
high water tank.
Everything is separated.
As I indicated,
my client, upon purchasing this property,
talking to the prior owner,
talking to the realtor,
talking to the appraisal
and the loan officer,
this has been a duplex
for over 30 years.
and i believe my client my client was yes um one are there separate pico meters you mentioned
every utility except for electric yes pico i'm sorry um i'm sorry i'm in delaware county
and waters what you're saying everything separate everything is separated correct
um and then i just at purchase um did you do what did you run title
well i didn't represent her at closing but i'm sure that title work was done she's on the call
though so yeah yeah she's on the call um i'm sure title was done um could she answer yes okay and
what did your title search say um i'm not sure i might be able to pull it up or i could send it
that's okay did you get title insurance i do have title insurance okay um i'm just my concern is
that all of the documents for this call
it a four-bedroom, one-bath, single-family
home going back in all the zoning records
for the city of Philadelphia.
So understanding that that's
different than the as-built
condition, I do feel like
there was enough information on the internet, I did
it while you were presenting, to
determine that this was not
a two-unit
legally.
So, I don't know.
I'm just trying to understand. Do you have any
sense of how many other duplexes are already on that existing block are you asking me yes or any
either of you so there's a duplex directly across the driveway from me um and i believe there's two
more there's there's like every other house is a duplex and then when you had the rco meeting
is a duplex. And then when you had the RCO
meeting, did any of your, like, adjacent
or nearby neighbors come and express their support?
I don't believe so, no, not to my recollection. Nobody
from the block attended the RCO meeting.
Can we see a copy of the RCO letter?
So the meeting was on December 17.
So it shows 15 in support and no one opposed.
I guess, Ms. Gallagher, do you intend to remain in one of the units?
Any other questions from the board?
Questions or comments from our attorney, Ryan McSherry?
Yes, Mr. Chair.
I would just like to note that although there was a letter of unanimous support from the 10th Ward Democratic Committee,
it did contain unenforceable provisos. However, we could require a certificate of occupancy
to address the RCO's concerns. Thank you. Questions or comments in the virtual audience?
I see no hands at this time, Chair. Planning Commission.
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth is nothing but the truth
please proceed i think your mic needs to be on
thank you okay the comprehensive plan recommends no changes to the existing residential single
family zoning the appellant has supported their hardship claim with evidence of unique
physical circumstances or conditions of the property the city planning commission recommends
that the zoning board grant the variance for two-family household living mi 2024 005 582 1550
winsome street i vote yes with proviso obtain a certificate of occupancy prior michael johns my
vote is yes with proviso cheryl gaston my vote is yes with proviso tenetta graham my vote is yes
with proviso.
My vote is yes
with proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed,
my vote is yes
with proviso.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you.
Number four.
MI 2024
002 349
Wesley I Avenue.
Joseph Vaccaro
is the attorney.
Joseph Vaccaro
will be rejoining us
as a penalist.
can you hear me i can mr vicaro thank you could you please state your name and spell for the
stenographer good afternoon may please the board my name is joseph vicaro v-a-c-c-a-r-o and i'm the
attorney for jose rodriguez and manuel rodriguez i have jose rodriguez sitting behind the computer
in my office okay uh hold on do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and
nothing but the truth yes i do and could you uh hold on for a few questions from our vice chair
good evening counsel do you agree to weigh the reading of the refusal or stipulate
to its accuracy yes 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 and you may share your screen. Okay, thank you very much. If I may share my screen,
this is an application to legalize four apartments in this already existing building.
can you see we we see uh yes okay we don't see now oh oh dear okay see it now yep yes okay fine
so i'll start from the beginning my client jose and his brother manuel had purchased this building
which was built circa 1915 in 2021.
It already contained the four apartments
on the second and third floor,
which we're trying to legalize.
Jose and Manuel operate a first-floor grocery store, so this is a three-floor building.
Jose and Manuel operate a first floor grocery store.
So this...
There's a grocery store, which they operate on the first floor, and the four units, which
we are trying to legalize, are on the second and third floor.
Scrolling down, we have the refusal with the application to the zoning board with the project
information form, proof of mailing of our notice to the near neighbors.
we just passed the letter this is the letter that we sent to the near neighbors with proof of mailing
try not to scroll too fast so i don't miss any of the important exhibits
i'd like to focus on there we go so this is a schematic drawing of the building this shows the
The basement, my character is over the basement, if you can see.
The basement is used for storage pertaining to the grocery store.
The building measures approximately 60 feet on the 29th Street side and 50 feet on the Lehigh Street side.
It's a quarter building.
What we have, unit one consists of two floors. Unit one consists of two floors.
my the entrance to all four units would be from lehigh avenue and this is the my cursor is over
the main entrance where you would take the steps going up to the second floor and then there's a
hallway with additional steps going up to the third floor um with respect to unit one my cursor
is over unit one. This is, and it's actually labeled unit one here, unit one consists of
two floors. So this is the bottom part of unit one, which is on the second floor. And
then this is the top part of unit one, which is on the third floor. Going back to the second
floor, we have unit two, and my cursor is over unit two. And that consists of a two
bedroom apartment with a family area and a kitchen and bathroom. Here's the kitchen area
with the bathroom. And then unit three, my cursor is over unit three. That is another
two bedroom apartment, bedroom one, bedroom two, with a kitchen and bathroom area.
On the third floor, you have unit four. Unit four is a four bedroom unit, bedroom number four,
three kitchen family area hallway bathroom bedroom one and bedroom two this is all unit four
and then as i indicated earlier this is the second floor of unit one uh which can which is a two
bedroom apartment this is the view from lehigh avenue again the supermarket which my client
operates is here. This is the entrance that I described earlier. Unit 1 consists of these two
floors. This area where my cursor is now was Unit 2. Unit 3 would be in the back. And then this
would be Unit 4. And this is the 29th Street side. Trash would be stored in the back
along with the grocery store trash.
My client is not an absentee landlord.
He'd be at the site every day along with his brother
operating the grocery store.
So there's free and easy communication
between the landlord and the tenants.
If any issues come up, they'd be resolved immediately.
So far, there are no issues.
What happened was back in 2021, when my clients had purchased the property, it already was constructed in that area, in that way.
So they didn't realize that the property was not properly zoned for these four units.
And we're here trying to correct what the previous owner should have done, should have been doing.
This is an outside photo.
This is the Lehigh Avenue side.
Photo of the store.
this is again the lehigh avenue side
this is the corner my cursor where the windows are that's lehigh avenue where the bricks
My cursor, where the windows are, that's Lehigh Avenue, where the bricks are, that's the 29th Street side.
This is the 29th Street side.
This is an inside bathroom of one of the units.
The following photos are of the inside of the units.
They're already being occupied.
This is the front door to one of the units.
This is the unit one, the unit that consists of two floors.
one of the kitchens
scroll down some more
another restroom another bedroom
this looks this is a living room
another kitchen this fire suppression uh fire alarm system
So, this is a view from the roof of one of the fire escapes coming out of unit number three.
So, it's a means of escape.
This is a view from the back on the 29th Street side.
You have one balcony and another balcony.
Again, these are not terraces.
These are not balconies only for escape purposes in case there's a fire.
We had shown this document, this page from the OPA, but we had emailed to the board's council proof that my client did indeed pay the outstanding real estate taxes.
So I don't know why it's still showing that there's a negative balance, but we did submit to the board's council that the tax issue, that he is compliant with his taxes.
And we've also included the residential leases or the proposed residential leases for the units.
And we have the letter of non-opposition, if I could pull up that letter.
that's the proof of payment
I'm sorry
can you see that letter
okay I'll stop sharing
and then I'll start sharing
the letter
can you see it now
Okay. Here's the letter of non-opposition. We had a Zoom meeting with the RCO, Strawberry Mansion. I do have Jose Rodriguez. He's sitting to my left, but as I was saying earlier, he speaks Spanish. So I would ask the board to accept my testimony as if he were, as if he were testifying.
And you communicated with him. You understand everything.
Yes, I do.
All right. Questions from the board.
Yes, I have a question.
How many of the units are currently occupied?
They're all currently occupied.
Other questions?
Mr. Vaccaro, did you notice the provisos that the RCO recommended?
i'm looking for me i'm looking okay i didn't i didn't see any provisions so so so let me read
it to you sure interior trash storage no household living in the basement and a sale to be must be
obtained that's fine okay that's fine in insofar as the basement the basement's already being used
for his grocery store.
So he has no intention
of using the basement
for the tenants.
I actually have another question.
Has any construction work
been done to the unit
since your client purchased it in 2021?
your client purchased it in 2021 no no and then have any test has any testing been done to any of
And then have...
the utilities and building systems since it was purchased in 2021 let me let me ask my client
that i saw pocket test qualche inspección de cualquier sistema dentro del edificio come
He says that about two years ago, the alarm system was inspected.
The alarm system, okay.
And I'm sure as part of obtaining the CO for the building, you know, there's going to be a lot more testing done.
Well, sure. I mean, the building has been not in residential use for some time because it had been zoned for not having apartments. So, yes, I would imagine.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Ryan McSherry?
No, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Planning Commission.
Yes, Chair. I have a hand up by the name of Tyrone Williams. They have been promoted to penalist.
Hi, Reverend, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Good evening.
Good evening, Reverend.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Sure, Chair.
My name is Pastor Tyrone Williams, Tyrone, T-Y-R-O-N-E, Williams, W-I-L-L-I-A-M-S.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth, sir?
Yes, I do.
Please proceed.
I'm affected RCO with the Strawberry Mansion CDC, and I haven't heard of this case.
This is the first I'm hearing of it.
And, you know, I just want to bring that to the record that has affected RCO.
I didn't know nothing about this case, and this is not the first time this has happened.
And I don't know if we supposed to have been part of, you know, the decisions or the meetings or whatever, but I have not.
This is the first time I'm hearing of this case.
Mr. Vaccaro, was there anybody else there besides the other RCO?
There was another when we had our we did a walkthrough.
We did a walkthrough and there was a member of another affected RCO.
if i may look up the property on the city's atlas system and let's see if a name rings a bell one
moment please could it be swamp poodle yes all right uh pastor what uh what's your rco
strawberry mansion community development corporation okay
I did, because whenever I communicated by email, I circulated emails to all the affected RCOs.
Let me take a look.
Well, there's Strawberry Mansion Community Concern, Bonita County.
That's not me.
And then there's Swampoodle Neighborhood Parcels, Adrienne Fernandez.
So perhaps we weren't part of that because of the location. I just wanted to make that part of the record. As an infected RCO in Strawberry Mansion, we have not heard of this case.
Thank you very much for taking the time to call us. We do appreciate it.
Thank you.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
Yes, Chair. I have two more hands up. Strawberry Mention Community Concern has been promoted to panelists.
Hi, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Strawberry nature community?
Okay, there she goes.
I'm sorry.
Hi, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Hi, my name is Bonita Cummings, B-O-N-I-T-A-C-U-M-M-I-N-G-S.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
please proceed um strawberry mansion um community concern um notified all appropriate persons
involved in what the uh planning commission records indicate should be uh notified as
as affected and or coordinate rcos so story mansion uh community development corporation uh to monitor
So Storway Mansion Community Development Corporation, to my knowledge, was not an affected RCO.
So I'm not sure whether Mr. Vaccaro has sent any communication to them or not, but we follow whatever is instructed of us based on the information, and they are not an affected RCO.
Thank you. Also, there was a site visit by two RCOs and committees and their committee members.
And, you know, into the building. And we did have we're not opposed.
The building's been there. I mean, people have been living in this building.
And, you know, I'm not sure who's aware of what, but, you know, it's fully habitated.
And what we did see, we did have a discussion about one of the concerns primarily was electrical because there was, which we showed in the exhibit that we sent with our communication, you know, a lot of plug in around water, you know, tub areas with heaters, electrical heaters, and particularly around this time.
So I'm assuming that the certificate of occupancy may address those concerns and also whatever egress concerns.
The building was built in 1915, and so it is a very old building.
And we just, in being responsible, want to make sure that all of, you know, all of those types of safety and or even structural concerns are just mentioned.
And you've already talked about the trash, which will be maintained indoors in a yard area. We did omit just any open fire. Those balconies are wood, so I'm not sure if they're permitted to do a lot of open fire out on those balconies, but that would be the only other thing. Thank you.
Thank you for calling. We appreciate it.
And my last name is spelled F-E-R-N-A-N-D-E-Z.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed.
For this address, Planning Commission did send us an RCO notice,
and there are two affected RCOs for this address with Strawberry Mansion Community Concern,
RCO serving as the RCO coordinator.
And we did, with others, have a site visit.
And the applicant party, Attorney Vaccaro was there, and the applicant party had a good number of members from their company, which owns the grocery store in the building.
And they were very cooperative with everything that we asked for because the building was pretty unique in how it's changed.
But we are asking for a certificate of occupancy, so any type of hazards would be checked before, you know, would be checked.
We also asked that the lease has all occupants for each unit listed on the lease because the building is fully occupied.
And I don't know if we can ask this or not, but we're asking for a limit of four occupants per apartment,
and that would be 16 persons, the maximum 16 persons living above the store because there are a lot of occupants.
And also, there was no national and racial diversity in the occupants.
They were all Hispanic, possibly white Hispanics.
So we would ask that the owners consider offering rentals to other people in the neighborhood because it's close by.
One thing we don't understand, so there was no discrepancy in terms of the RCOs that were contacted or the RCO notice that was sent by the Planning Commission.
Also, it would help if ZPA could clarify for everyone when there's a conflict and recusal is needed because the RCO that called, it matches one of the board members, the organization that one of the board members is, I believe, director of.
And that would be Starbrain Managing Community Development Corporation.
Adrian, we don't believe that has anything to do with this case, so we know what the provisos are, and we appreciate your call. Thank you very much.
We know what the provisos are, and we appreciate your call.
Thank you very much.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman, Sarah Bond, Philadelphia City Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing commercial mixed-use zoning.
The proposed use is consistent with documented prior use of this property.
the city planning commission recommends that the zoning ward grant the variance for multi-family
household living thank you mi 2024 002 349 28 37 39 whistley high avenue i vote yes with provisos
interior trash storage no household living in the basement certificate of occupancy must be obtained
michael johns my vote is a yes with provisors
cheryl gaston my vote is yes with provisors
tennetta graham my vote is yes with provisors
tyoan my vote is yes with provisors
ishmael shaheed my vote is yes with provisors
thank you counsel
thank you
and number nine mi2024-005-635-412 bainbridge street number one
anthony chastic and dylan lamorte letter of non-opposition from queen the village
letter of non-opposition from council member squilla
and there is a letter of opposition from a near neighbor
counsel
oh apologies uh sure hi counsel could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
uh yes uh my name is anthony schwastik c-h-w-a-s-t-y-k do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do could you identify your client
the relationship to this property yes uh and i will start sharing my screen
okay so you're going to identify your clients right yes my uh client is carlos rogers
who is the oh you know what sorry let me stop share apologies
please. There we go. All right. Can you see the? We can. Okay, great. So our vice chair has a few
questions for you, sir. Yes. That's correct. Yes. 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,
they were emailed five days in advance thank you counsel please proceed uh yes so um i represent
carlos rogers who with his wife adrian rogers are the fee owner of uh the property uh the property
being 412 bainbridge street philadelphia pa uh this is a copy of the deed that should be shared
the um apologies okay so uh the uh timeline here is basically uh currently uh mr rogers and his
wife operate the premises for visitor accommodations particularly uh short-term rentals uh through
airbnb and vrbo the property is subject to a variance um which was granted on january 18th
2023 it's set to expire on february 1st 2025 so we filed uh a uh a zoning permit application
It was refused on July 30th, 2024.
We filed our application for appeal on August 5th, 2024.
This is the project information form.
And we have duly received our tax clearance certificate.
go. So basically the application before the board today is a permit for use visitor accommodation,
specifically short-term rentals. We would like to have a longer period for the variance,
particularly we think after the two years that we've operated, and as the evidence will show,
operated without incident that the variants be indefinite.
incident that the variants be indefinite, subject to, you know, any, you know, provisos the board
may see fit. This was presented to the Queen Village Neighbors Association. As you can see,
there were two folks in opposition. In discussions with my client, those were of a general nature.
There were no specific safety or privacy concerns that were brought up.
Specifically, there were no, and more importantly, I suppose, there were no incidents that were referenced.
So these neighbors were speaking more from a theoretical perspective.
You know, certainly well taken by my client and understood.
But, you know, again, there was no, there's been no incident since this is operated as an Airbnb under my client's control.
We had one neighbor in support.
The zoning, the QVNA has decided not to oppose our request.
So as you can see, we have on or about September 20th issued our letter and notice to the neighborhood.
And this is our proof of mailing, which has been submitted to the board.
And I'll get into the, uh, property. Oh, sorry. Uh, this is the, uh, notice that was posted to
the front of the, uh, courtyard so that anyone entering the property would be able to see that
a, uh, zoning hearing was, uh, was scheduled. And then finally, here are the pictures of the
property. Um, here's a bird's eye view. Um, certain landmarks you'll be able to see are,
uh, famous for famous 4th street deli, uh, to the left. I mean, I'm sorry, I'm sorry,
to the right. There's the PNC Bank to the left. This is the street view on Bainburg Street right
outside the premises. Similar street view. This is the front door of the unit. This is a security
camera utilized by the applicant. This is a photo from the outside looking into the living room of
unit this is one of the bedrooms of the unit that's another bedroom this is the
rooftop lounge area the kitchen the bathroom the living room as you can see
this is a Trinity style house and this is a the next few pictures are going to
be of the courtyard and areas surrounding the unit.
And that's, those are, those are the photographs.
So since Mr. Rogers has operated his Airbnb, his visitor accommodations, there have been
And no incidents, no calls to the police that we're aware of, at least.
He's had clear lines of communication with his neighbors.
In fact, he created a text chain so that he can get information real time about anything going on or any disturbances occurring.
That text chain, he's never had any complaints, certainly no serious complaints.
As for his involvement, he is not an absent – he lives about 20 minutes away in Riverton.
He has a salon that he owns on 3rd Street called Hushalon, and he's had a little over 100 bookings since the grant of the variants.
He has a near-perfect score on Airbnb, about 4.97 stars.
He's listed as a super host.
He visits the property once or twice a week to make sure that everything's in order.
And in general, it seems that this has been a positive and certainly not a negative property
with respect to the neighbors.
So, you know, as such, we request a extension of the variants or if it's more appropriate, a new variants, but we would like that variants to be indefinite if possible.
And when is your – did you say February 1st?
That's correct.
Is up.
Yeah, February 1st.
You want to bring your client on?
Carlos, do you – are you on?
I believe so.
I believe so.
Oh, excellent.
Oh, excellent. Great.
Great.
Hi, Carlos, could you please state your name?
Hi, Carlos, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Sure. Carlos Rogers, C-A-R-L-O-S-R-O-G-E-R-S.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Proceed, counsel.
Thank you.
Carlos, I want to confirm that there have been no incidents such as, you know, police being called to the premises
or any disturbances that were reported on your text chain
or any other sort of disturbances reported to you?
No, we haven't had any issues with any of our neighbors.
We've had over 100 stays.
And as you mentioned before,
it's been a pretty seamless relationship with all involved.
Great.
And did you hear the testimony I provided to the board?
I did.
Was it true and correct?
It was.
Okay. Do you adopt it as your own testimony?
Do you have anything else to add?
I would just like to say that, you know, we've been through this variance process before.
I feel that we've done everything in our effort to be accessible, to be on site, to be responsible owners.
And again, going through this process a second time has been somewhat of a burden.
And I'm hoping that we can move forward without having to do this again.
Thank you.
I'd like to now move all my exhibits into evidence.
And questions from the board?
No, just a comment.
It sounds like the short-term rental is going well.
Now, I hate to think that this process is burdensome because it was agreed to give just a limited permit for the use.
And I think it's critical that the limited time be given so we can see if there are any issues come about.
And it sounds like there hasn't been, so that's a good thing.
um so i think this is just a necessary part of the process if you you don't want to you know
carry on that type of agreed i just was um perhaps not quite clear uh initially that i would have to
do this process again so um that's not your responsibility that's mine so i take ownership
of that and uh for for what it's worth i believe uh uh mr rogers like most people wants to spend
as little time with attorneys as possible so uh uh which i can certainly relate to
but thank you any other questions for the board yes i have two questions one do you know if any
of the other condominiums in your complex also have short-term rentals well it's not a condominiums
there are separate ownerships um it's there's no hoa and there are other property owners and
other renters. Okay. And then, so with the courtyard, do your guests have access still
to that courtyard? The courtyard is always unlocked for not only our guests, but for
all visitors, homeowners, renters, and visitors. Okay. And then my second question was, there has
been some expressed opposition from near neighbors and was wondering if you could sort of expand on
any commentary that you might have heard and anything that you might have from direct
adjacent neighbors? The one neighbor is kind of hard to describe, but has a property in the
next street over, I believe it's Montrose possibly, and her party wall is above us,
and she has a deck kind of behind us. I was unaware that the previous owner had sold it to
a new owner and she was just unaware that we were using our property as a short-term rental.
There's no way for our guests to access her property or her, our property. I think she was
just uninformed and we offered to share our information. And so it wasn't really beyond
beyond that. I think it was actually to our credit that she did not know that there was
short-term rentals because we haven't had any people create a ruckus or concern for her.
The other guest, sorry, the other homeowner has been there for a number of years.
I don't know how to articulate this in the best way, but she seems somewhat unfiltered and off
a little bit and apparently has had issues with other residents.
apparently has had issues with other residents who own a rent on the courtyard.
So, and she has no, had no, hasn't had any direct criticism of our property.
And I've offered multiple times to offer my accessibility for whatever concerns she may have.
thank you i have no other questions any other questions yeah everyone has access to the
courtyard is there some formal written agreement that all the owners to share maintenance or
whatever for that area there is not um and in fact i make an effort to when i go there
sweep or leaf blow or address, uh, the, the courtyard. So we, um, there's no prior history
that I know of, of, um, kind of shared maintenance for that. As a matter of fact, uh, on my text
chain, I did, um, get as many people as possible to participate in paying for, um, their share to
repair the front gate, we had to have it welded and cemented and painted, and most of the people
were in agreement and participated in supporting that effort. Okay. Questions from the virtual,
questions from our attorney, Ryan McSherry? No, Mr. Chair. Questions or comments from the
virtual audience. I see no hands at this time, Chair. Thank you. Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair. Sarah Bond, Philadelphia City Planning Commission. The comprehensive plan
recommends no change to the existing RM1 residential multifamily zoning. The appellant
has not shown that the property cannot possibly be used in strict conformity with the zoning code
and that a variance is therefore necessary to enable the viable economic use of the property.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the Zoning Board deny the variance for visitor accommodations.
Thank you. MI 2024-005-635-412 Bamer Street No. 1, I vote yes.
Temporary variance that will expire 2-1-28.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes with proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes
with Proviso
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes with Proviso
Taya Nguyen, my vote is yes
Ishmael Shahi
my vote is yes with Proviso
Thank you, Council
Thank you, members of the board for your time
Have a great evening
There's anyone in the virtual audience whose case has not been called
I say no hands at this time, too
Thanks, everyone
We're an hour earlier than last week
I just want everybody to know that
And I want to thank Ryan McSherry for coming to Hillary's Rescue, and we appreciate you here, as usual, and thanks to everybody.
Thank you.