Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
All right.
is the court reporter have you returned I have chair and thank you very much
I apologize for a couple of things I'm not hitting on all cylinders today that's for sure
I think I skipped over the case number three
is there any objection Ms. Pritzker and Mr. Masters if we go to another case which should
probably take a few minutes only a couple of minutes uh because we're i mean you got a lot
of you got a lot of witnesses um and i went out of order it was my mistake so if we can i want to
go to case number three uh mi 2021-002578 1609 Ellsworth Street Michael McElhenney is the
attorney of record
East Point Breeze neighbors sent a letter
of support
again I apologize to everyone
skipped over three
is Mr. McElhenney
available
is there anyone for
1609 Ellsworth Street
he's coming in now as a panelist chair
I'm sorry, Chair.
This is Tanya, the Zoning Administrator.
I can speak.
Yes, ma'am.
Mr. McElhenney, we are trying to hear your case, and we're trying to promote you, and it's saying you're declining.
I will allow audio now for you to speak to this case so we can move on.
Thank you.
McElhenney, please spell your name, and I'll swear you in.
you need to unmute yourself good morning members of the board apologies i was having trouble
reconnecting i kept getting a glitch yeah my apologies i skipped over your case
thank you um michael mckelhenny law office of orphanities and toner
here on behalf of the property owner at 1609 ellsworth street the that's coke coco's
please spell your last name it's m-c-i-l-h-i-n-n-e-y you swear affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth nothing but the truth i do please proceed and i should we have a question for you
i'm sorry mrs canary has questions for you
carol you're muted
sir you agreed uh to waive the reading of its refusal and stipulate to its accuracy
i do and have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents proof of ownership
proof of tax compliance copy of the refusal or referral photos and plans five days prior to this
hearing? I have. Have you met with RCO and have a letter? We have and we do have the letter. Thank
you. Please proceed. Thank you. And members of the board, if I may share my screen.
Share. As I stated, I'm here today on the behalf of the property owner, Coco's Chicken and Waffles
LLC. As a preliminary matter, we did post the property with the zoning notice. We do have
attached the deed to the subject property showing my client's ownership and tax compliance, which
are at Exhibits 13, 14, and 15 of the package given to the board. We did meet with the East
Point Breeze Neighbors Association on October 20th, and we have received a full letter of support,
which is Exhibit 1 and the Exhibit Packet. Exhibit 2 of the packet is the refusal, which is the
reason we're here today. My client's plan, and let me zoom in so everyone can see, my client's plan
for the subject property is it's an existing structure. We are proposing a partial demolition
of a rear addition and then erection of a new rear addition with a smaller footprint. There
There will be a roof deck access structure and a roof deck on this application.
And the use is for a three family dwelling.
In meeting with the community and prior to meeting with the community, we have actually
changed that from three dwelling units to a request for two dwelling units.
And the reason for the refusal of the property is RSA 5 and the two dwelling units multifamily
creates the refusal.
And the subject property that we're here about is on your screen today. It's Exhibit 3. It's a three-story existing structure. And to orient the board, the subject property is on the north side of 1600 block of Ellsworth, which abuts the industrial properties on the south side of Washington Avenue.
And Exhibit 8 shows the current zoning map. As you can see, to the north are the I-2 industrial
properties. The properties on the 1600 block of Ellsworth are zoned RSA 5, although most of the
uses, the majority of the uses on the block are currently multifamily. I can go back to the
exhibit three the site photos going through the the subject property and the neighboring
properties the 16th and Ellsworth the corner property is a two-family multi multi-family
property 1603 is also a multi-family property with two units going to the west again is a
Going to the west, again, is a duplex on the other side of the subject property.
duplex on the other side of the subject
Thank you.
Continuing down the west side of the block, you'll see there's many pink or purple doors on the existing structures.
Those are all multifamily properties.
They're all owned by a common owner.
The properties were sold off by the city as part of a redevelopment effort back in the 1990s to provide quality, affordable housing in the neighborhood.
And I know the board's had a busy day, so I'll try to go through this more quickly than usual.
Looking at the additional units at the other end of the block, capping off the block, is another two-family dwelling unit.
On the south side of Ellsworth Street is an off-street parking for the properties that front on 16th Street.
And then continuing to the west again are various multifamily properties at 1606, 1608, 1610.
And farther down the block at 1620, 22, and 24, again, are all duplexes.
And looking at page 9 of Exhibit 3, there's a new construction renovation at 1628 that is also multifamily.
and then there is an abandoned property farther down the street on the south side of Ellsworth
Street. The subject property itself is has and I should say my client Jameel Harrison should be in
the room and he'll be able to adopt my statements at the conclusion of this presentation. The
property has been in Jameel Harrison's family for a few generations at this point. He has purchased
from this the estate of a relative and as you can see the property suffered severe water damage
and requires major renovation to bring it back to habitability
we do have a revised zoning plan as part of the presentation and
And that is the original zoning plan, only to remove a front egress well at the front
of the property, a covered basement escape well.
That is not going to be part of the application.
So the revised plan has removed that from the plan.
Otherwise, the plan is the same as was submitted to L&I.
So Exhibit 6 is the revised zoning plan dated October 21st, 2021.
Again, it's the existing three-story structure.
My client will be removing a two-story addition at the rear and a one-story addition at the rear, and then building a new three-story addition that will not encroach into the rear yard as deeply as the existing one-story structure that's there now.
That'll allow the property to have a full 15-foot rear yard, whereas nine feet is required.
The property is fully dimensionally compliant, and the rear of the property does abut an open alleyway that goes out to the east and the west to 16th Street and 17th Street, respectively.
As previously mentioned, the property will have a roof deck as a part of the application.
The floor plans, what my client intends the floor plans to look like is the first unit to consist of the first floor in the basement and the second unit to consist of the second floor and third floor.
the first floor the first unit would end up being a two-bedroom two-bath unit consisting of
approximately 1,000 square feet full kitchen living room dining room in suite laundry services
full amenities to give a high quality living space one of the units my client does intend to
move into and rent out the other the first floor unit does have access to that full backyard which
will provide secure trash storage for the residents. And the second unit is a two-bedroom,
two-and-a-half bath unit, again, living room, dining room with full utilities and laundry
service inside the units. And that comes out to approximately 1,100 square feet or so.
So the proposal is for two dwelling units with sizable units and in keeping with the other uses
on Ellsworth Street. And I did do a summary at Exhibit 10 and 11 of just trying to do a quick
chart of how other properties on the block are currently being used. And as you can see, more
than half the block is multifamily of two units or three units, which makes sense in terms of
abutting the industrial parcels on Washington Avenue. So it's not a multifamily block. And we
would submit that it is a hardship to have to use the subject property as a single family dwelling
where the majority of the properties on the block are multifamily in current use.
where the majority of the properties on the block are multifamily in current use.
And it would be in keeping with the characteristics of that block.
As I mentioned, the RCO did provide us a letter of support.
And the main comment that we did receive from the RCO was to please keep the front of the property intact
because it is a uniform block with cornice lines that extend, which is rare these days with interblock teardowns.
And my client's intention, of course, is to keep that property intact with the cornice line.
With that being said, members of the board, I have no additional information to add at this time.
I would request that I be allowed to bring my client up to adopt the testimony and take any questions from the board.
Please bring your client his name or her name.
His name is Jamil Harrison.
Jamil Harrison, please spell your full name when you get on and I'll swear you win.
can you hear me yes uh jameel harrison j-a-m as in mary e-i-l as in love last name harrison
h-a-r-r-i-s-o-n where we're from to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes thank you mr mckelhill mr harrison are you a member of coco's chicken and waffles llc
yes i am and did you hear my presentation that i presented
yes i did and were those statements true and correct to the best of your knowledge
yes they were and do you adopt them as your own
excuse me do you adopt those statements as if they were your own oh yes yes i do thank you
any questions from the board no anyone else to testify in this case please raise your hand
no hands chair thank you planning commission thank you chairman de chico uh the comprehensive
plan recommends no change to the existing single family attached zoning on this block
however the property has a documented history of use as two-family dwelling so the city planning
commission recommends that the board grant the variance with the condition that the dwelling
unit count be limited to two units. MI 2021-002578, 1609 Ellsworth Street. My vote is yes.
Was there a revised plan, Mr. McElhinney? There is a revised plan at Exhibit 6.
One page. One page revised plan to remove the front egress well. Okay. So my vote is yes with
The proviso revised plan one page approved today and maximum two units.
Confessor Plaza, yes, we'll provide them.
Tom, Jim, Carroll.
Some technical problem I think we're having.
Ms. Tenere, are you there? Mr. Snell, Mr. Holloman?
they still they're still on the zoom as being logged in yeah i see that
Ms. Tenere, do you know that you are muted?
Errol, if you're there, you're muted.
Jim, you're muted.
We don't see Tom.
um maybe we can ask if they please log out and log back in if they can hear us
jim tom and carol log out then back log back in
jim there i'm on i'm on frank seven no worry i don't know what the heck's going on here
All right.
We took a vote on 1609 Ellsworth Street with the proviso.
Revised plan, one page approved today.
Maximum do you?
Yes, with proviso.
That's three.
We can now proceed back to our earlier case.
Again, I apologize to Mr. Masters and Ms. Pritzker.
to Mr. Masters and Ms. Pritzker.
Ms. Pritzker, the court reporter is telling me
Ms. Pritzker, the court...
that I may not have sworn you in.
So I will swear you in.
And if, just give us your, spell your name
and I'll swear you in.
Sure, can someone enable my video?
It says that I can't start
because the host has stopped it.
Say that again.
Oh, okay.
There you go.
yep it's Rachel I probably failed to swear you went so please do sure it's Rachel R-A-C-H-A-E-L
Pritzker P-R-I-T-Z-K-E-R 1635 Market Street Suite 1600 Philadelphia PA 19103 do you swear
affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth and as stated earlier
do you swear that everything you said up to this point is true yes thank you again my apologies to
you and the other folks waiting on the line went out of turn.
Before Mr. Masters starts, we do have one witness that has to leave by 1220.
So I just wanted to see if we could accommodate that in the next 24 minutes.
Yes, we can.
And I will, Tanya, we have a hard time for this.
um chair not necessarily a hard time but i would ask that we not go beyond 12 45 to ensure
all employees get their break yeah that's what okay chair i i was under the impression that
the applicant had rested um and had called all their witnesses and it was our we were now on
the opposition witnesses so i'm not aware of any of any additional witnesses that hadn't been called
Let's proceed with your witnesses, and Ms. Pritzker said later she may need to bring that person on.
We'll be excited at that point.
All right, sure.
I'm asking Kayla Franks-Jenkins to raise her hand.