You're ready.
Chair, we have about 38 attendees.
You can start when you wish.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Good morning, everyone.
My name is Frank DiCicco.
I'm the Chair of the Zoning Board of Adjustment.
I'll be participating in today's hearing along with our Vice Chair, Ms. Carol Tenere, Board
President. Professor Plaza. President. And board member, Mr. Thomas Holloman. President. And board member, Mr. James Snell. President. Also in attendance is our board administrator, Ms. Lakeisha Dandy. And our board attorney, Ms. Melissa Freeman. Also in attendance is our zoning board administrator, Ms. Tanya Sunkett.
For those of you who haven't yet participated in one of our virtual hearings, I'll go through
some of the basics of what you can expect.
First, we will be administering oaths to individual participants prior to their testimony.
Second, we'd like to advise everyone that this proceeding is being recorded and that
by participating, you acknowledge your agreement to be recorded and that the recording will
be made available to the public by contacting the Zoning Board Administrator, Ms. Tanya
sunkit at tanya.sunkit at phila.gov. For anyone participating by phone, if you wish to testify,
you must raise your hand by hitting star nine and then star six to unmute yourself.
I'll repeat that. Anyone participating by phone, if you wish to testify,
you must raise your hand by hitting star nine and then star six to unmute yourself.
Finally, to enter an appearance statement, call Google 267-270-5548 and leave your email address and the address of the property at issue.
I'll repeat that.
To enter an appearance statement, call Google 267-270-5548 and leave your email address and the address of the property at issue.
I'd also like to remind everyone, please do not attempt to testify in the chat.
Any comments, concerns, or questions should be directed to our board administrator.
So please do not attempt to testify in the chat.
Having said that, I will begin by reading the add-on list for today.
number one on our add-on list is MI 2021-003066 1131 South 19th Street. Before we get into the
vote there's a letter that was submitted by the Point Breeze Community Development Coalition
addressed to the board, dear Mr. DiChico and Zoning Board. Below is a summary of a public
community meeting held regarding the above-referenced zoning. The above-referenced zoning is 1131
South 19th Street. It goes on and explains what the code means, whereas the proposed use
two-family dwelling units is expressly prohibited in RSA 5 residential district,
whereas the proposed used prepared food requires special exception approval
from the Zoning Board of Adjustment in the CMX 1 commercial zoning district.
Position from the RCO, four in support, zero oppose. Reason for position from the RCO,
Point Breeze Community Development Coalition, and the Zoning Committee does support this project
with the following proviso. And I don't believe that the proviso is enforceable. The proviso
reads on second unit on second floor will not be a rental unit. I do not believe we can
enforce that, but I'm putting it on the record anyway.
The near neighbors within a two-block radius area are in support of this project with that proviso I just ran in.
The near neighbors within two block radius area are in support of this.
To the record, the date of the meeting was October 25th, 2021 at 6 p.m.
It was a Zoom meeting.
A number of attendees was 45, including the developers.
17 people voted on this project.
Sincerely, Albert Littlepage, Point Breeze Community Development Corporation Director,
and Pietra Gamble, Zoning Co-Chairperson. Having read that letter in the record,
my vote is yes. And the only two others who vote on this are Mr. Plaza and Mr. Holloman.
Professor Plaza, my vote is yes. Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
jane snell my vote is yes oh jam you were not at the hearing show just oh that's right i'm sorry
that was a different case yeah sorry no words no words um mi 2021-00 i'm sorry tier this is tanya
i'm sorry to interrupt i just wanted to be certain that we weren't supposed to hear another case first
before we did the add-ons
are we talking about um hold on are you referring to 22nd street mr anastasia i thought we were
supposed to hear him first oh i thought we were going to do that before we got into the regular
list i apologize so it was before the add-ons okay you're right thank you so much chair thank
you okay we're going to go a little bit out of turn mr anastasia who has some personal issues
he must take care of early this morning so we're going to go to number two on our regular list
mi 2021-002-605 129 north mole street logan square neighborhood association as of right now
we have not received a letter of mr anastasio hopefully can clear that up so mr anastasio
please raise your hands by your full name and i swear you win morning mr chairman and thank you
for the accommodation today.
Vern Anastasio, A-N-A-S-T-A-S-I-O,
1315 Walnut Street, Suite 1006 Philadelphia, 19107.
Where from to tell the truth, the whole truth,
nothing but the truth?
I do, sir.
Thank you.
Ms. Canary has some questions for you.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal?
Am I on?
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal
and stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with required documents consisting of proof of ownership, tax compliance, a copy of the refusal or referral, photos and or plans of the property, five days in advance of this hearing, and have you met with the RCO, and do you have a letter?
I don't think I have a letter, but everything else, yes.
Okay, great.
You may proceed.
Thank you.
This is 129 North Mole Street.
The application is for visitor accommodation in an existing structure.
This is one of a row of homes right behind the 1515 Arch, which is where we would normally be having these hearings, across the street from McGee Rehabilitation Center.
It is only one of three owner-occupied homes on the block.
Here are the plans.
Here are the photos.
We did meet with Logan Square.
We did meet with Logan Square.
There's a proof of posting.
There were 40 pieces of individual mail that went out.
We do have a tax certification.
and i also want to share with you i'm going to stop sharing that binder and i'm going to
share it with you if i can we went door to door uh with the list of the 40 households
on cherry street and mole street many of the homes were unoccupied permanently but we were
able to secure 16 signatures of folks who live both on cherry and on mole street uh in support
of the visitor accommodation uh and i'm going to stop sharing this for a moment
come back to the binder
Come back to the binder. And did want to mention to the board, and I thought I had it here, but I don't seem to have it handy.
all within a five-block radius of this property. There are over three dozen hotels or Airbnbs
all serving the area that surrounds City Hall, McGee Rehabilitation Center, Love Park.
This would be nothing different than any other house on the block. The only difference is it
would allow the owner to rent it out for weekends or visits for folks who want to visit Philadelphia
and are not comfortable staying at a large hotel. My client, who I'll introduce to you in a moment,
has in fact had families stay with her while she's in the home. They're not needing the visitor
accommodation uh for i'm sorry this is the wrong uh for families who have patients who are staying
at mcgee during rehab and those families get to stay with my client on mole street
And with that, I'd like to have my client raise her hand, Betsy Deisroth.
Ma'am, could you please spell your full name and I'll swear you in?
certainly my full name is elizabeth e-l-i-z-a-b-e-t-h dice roth d as in dog e-i-s as in son
r-o-t as in tom h i also go by by betsy you swear affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth i do affirm sir thank you and mr amastasio thank you uh betsy you heard my
presentation to the board today i did burn thank you is it is it accurate to the best of your
knowledge yes it is do you adopt it as your own testimony i do okay is it true in fact that you
and your husband and or your husband circulated this petition with the list of addresses given
to us by the planning commission and you secured these 16 signatures in support is that correct
That is correct.
And is it true and accurate that, in fact, surrounding your home, there are literally
dozens of visitor accommodations, both hotel and otherwise?
Is that correct?
That is correct.
And in the past, when you have actually lived in the home, you have hosted families of patients
at McGee Rehabilitation Center.
Is that correct?
That is correct.
And you'd like to be able to do that without you being there as well.
and that's why you're seeking this visitor accommodation is that correct that is correct
okay i have nothing else mr chairman thank you any questions from the board no mr channel now
anyone else would like to testify in this case please raise your hand
chair we have dennis boylan please unmute yourself and wait for the chair
you good morning sir please identify yourself spell your name and i'll swear you in
good morning mr chairman my name is dennis boylan b-o-y-l-a-n and i am the president of the logan
square neighborhood association the coordinating rco for this uh hearing well for him to tell the
truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do thank you mr boylan please proceed um the logan
Square Neighborhood Association met in its capacity as an RCO with the applicant and
for their presentation for the RCO presentation. And after that, the board voted to oppose
this request based on a number of considerations. The first was this is a commercial use prohibited
in a residential area. It would provide an unregulated and unsupervised facility. And
that's important. Unlike an Airbnb, which comes with regulation, unlike hotels, which come with
regulation, this would be a facility in which the owner could not be present and the house could be
let out. We did receive communication from residents living in the near neighborhood
who wished to remain anonymous. They were fearful of some sort of retribution.
I have to object to that, disrespectfully. I have to object to that. Thank you.
Okay, well, I will simply communicate some of the things that they brought up, that there has been observed drug use, urinating in the backyard drain, fighting, and this is when the house hasn't been occupied by the owner, who's the applicant.
Okay well I will simply communicate some of the things that they brought up that there has been
And that was what was communicated to us.
We believe that having such an unregulated and unsupervised facility also presents a safety hazard in that there is no one responsible on site, nor is there an outside city agency that's coming in to regulate the property.
And so for those reasons, the Neighborhood Association opposed this on a unanimous vote.
Mr. Boylan, Mr. Anastasia, we've not yet received a letter from the RCO.
i did not receive the letter and i would like to ask my client to go on the record to speak
to and we did detail this uh at the meeting uh that she would be hiring a property management
company to deal with the property when uh if she were to have visitors so i do want betsy are you
still there yes i am here okay was it your intention to to if if this were to be granted
to hire a local property management company that would not only deal with the leasing,
but also the vetting of the folks who would sign up for the short-term visits. Is that correct?
Absolutely correct.
Okay. And none of the activity... By the way, you've lived in this house for how many years,
you and your husband?
I moved in in June 2003.
2003. Okay. So you've lived there 18 years. And again,
And you are practically surrounded by the other homes that are rented out on a regular basis, is that right?
That is correct. Other homes are long-term rentals on this street, primarily.
And none of the alleged nonsense or fighting that was proffered today, that hasn't come from you and your husband, is that correct?
That has not come from myself or my husband.
Thank you.
I'll simply go on the record as the communication I have would disagree with
that. I also want to make note that the letter was sent and Mr. Anastasia was copied on it
because I did receive a response from him. So yes, the LS&A fulfilled its obligation
in notifying both the CBA, the applicant's attorney, and Council President Clark's office.
i won't dispute that i probably just forgot receiving it is there anyone else to uh wishes
to testify in this case please raise your hand and mr chairman just for the record
the witness did testify that the board voted um none of whom uh i believe uh list or live in any
of the properties listed by the planning commission given to us thank you again i'll ask
is anyone else to testify in this case no hands at this time chair thank you can i can i make one
note there that the board did do a thorough review of this as did our planning and design
and zoning committees so yes the the neighborhood is very engaged and we watch over our uh our
full neighborhood understood thank you uh planning commission good morning chairman
to chico ian hegarty for the philadelphia city planning commission last name h-e-g-a-r-t-y
we're a firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth sir i do please proceed
thank you members of the board in 2014 the zoning map was amended from cmx4 to rm1
on this block that was in accord with recommendations from the comprehensive plan
We don't dispute that visitor accommodations exist in the surrounding area.
However, on this block, which is zoned RM1, the applicant's hardship claim is not supported with evidence of unique physical circumstances or conditions of the property.
And it's clear that the proposed variance is not necessary to enable viable economic use of the property.
So in this case, the City Planning Commission would recommend that the board does not deny the variance.
Thank you.
I guess my question is for Melissa.
We do not have the letter, a physical copy of the letter in our file.
Is that correct?
You're muted.
There you go.
That's correct.
My follow-up question is, could we vote on this without the letter, or should we just wait for the letter?