Okay. Our clients circulated petitions to the near neighbors, and we have 17 of the near neighbors
who have signed the petition. As you see in the petition, we explained to the neighbors that
quite a number of the homes that are on that block are already multifamily.
One of them is actually a vacant lot that was purchased by a neighboring owner from the city through the vacant property program, and that lot is deed restricted to remain an open green space.
So the majority of the buildings on this block are no longer in compliance with the single-family zoning.
These are the 17 petitions in favor.
This is the letter of non-opposition from Cops Creek Neighbors.
We had the community meeting back in February 6th,
and there were no neighbors at all, no near neighbors at all in opposition.
So the community expressed support for the project,
and the RCO letter is for non-opposition.
Let's do our plans here.
So this is an existing duplex, so we're not changing the configuration, we're just legalizing it.
This is our site plan.
we have a small side yard in the rear space and and the backyard
and on the first floor um the first floor is one unit and it has
a single bedroom on the second floor we have three bedrooms and a kitchen area
and our photos this is the first floor kitchen
the first floor living room
The first floor bedroom.
First floor bathroom.
Another view of the first floor bathroom from the kitchen.
This is the corridor on the first floor.
Stairs leading up to the second floor.
The second floor kitchen area.
Second floor, rear bedroom.
Second floor, front bedroom.
Second floor, bathroom.
And this is an unimproved basement.
Any more pictures of the basement, and then these are the zoning posters.
that are displayed on the front of the property.
When we presented to the RCO, we showed them the status of many of the other properties on the block.
So here we are. This is a fairly, you know, strong RSA5 area. There's just one property on this block face that's a CMX2.
property on this block face that's a CMX2. But this chart shows that 440 South 54th Street is
that vacant lot that has the deed restriction from the city, from the land bank. 430 South 54th
has been a legal quadruplex since 1961. That's the one that's known CMX2. And then 441 and
446 have been legal duplexes for quite some time, 444, starting in 1940, and 446 in 1972.
Here we have 430 South 54th proof of zoning from 1961 that legalized the four family. This is
444 South 54th Street that legalized a two-family in 1940.
446 South 54th Street, evidence of the permit that legalized the two-family in 1970.
This is our tax clearance for the property.
The deed of ownership.
Move through that.
Our application for appeal.
Our hardship is that the current duplex cannot be converted into a permitted use without extensive reconstruction and demolition,
and also the character of the block has significantly changed
and is no longer suitable for only single-family living.
Of the eight other lots on the block, two are legal duplexes,
one is a legal quadplex, and one remains vacant with a deed restriction from the city.
Our project information form.
this is the rco notice that we sent the letter to all of the near neighbors
our proof of mailing and all the addresses that we sent the rco notice to
At this point, I would like to call my client, Monet Amos, to adopt my testimony.
Ms. Amos, if you're in the virtual audience, please raise your hand.
Ms. Amos, please unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
And could you please state your name and spell it, please, for the court reporter?
can you go
hi could you state your name please
I'm sorry chair
no go ahead you go ahead
if you have two devices may you
mute one or turn it off please
or maybe turn your audio down because we're just getting the feedback
how's that um it's a little better but we do still have a feedback
okay i'm just gonna move my cell phone it's not on but maybe
is that okay
that's better could you state your name please sure my name is my name amos do you swear or
affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing about the truth i do i do steve could you ask
some simple questions we'll just get yes or no from her please and excuse me chair may she spell
it for a court reporter sure spell your name please the spelling of my name is m as in mary
O-N as in N-T, E as in Edward, T as in Tom, last name Amos, A-M-O-S.
Thank you.
Proceed, Steve.
Good morning, Monet.
You heard my testimony this morning.
Do you agree that it's truthful, and do you adopt it as your own?
Is there anything that you would like to share with the board about this project?
other than the fact that it's a home of I think I'm the third generation to own the home
third generation to own the home. My grandmother owned it first, and then my father, and now it
my grandmother owned it
belongs to me. Once I expire, I intend to leave it to my daughter, so it is a family home.
We take great pride in it, and I think that's about it.
All right. I have no further questions of this witness, but I do have a near neighbor who would
I'd like to testify in support of the project also.
If Sabrina Cunningham is in the virtual audience,
could you raise your hand
and be recognized by the administrator?
Ms. Cunningham, please unmute yourself
and wait for the chair.
Ms. Cunningham?
Ms. Cunningham, please unmute yourself.
I unmute myself.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell it for the court reporter?
Sabrina Cunningham.
The spelling is S-A-B-R-I-N-A-C-U-N-N-I-N-G-H-A-M.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Proceed, counsel.
Ms. Cunningham, can you tell the board where you live and how close it is to Monet Amos' property?
I live on, my address is 438 South 54th Street, and it is on the right-hand side of Monet.
You're their next-door neighbor, is that correct?
That's correct.
And how long have you been living at that location?
I've been here over 11 years.
Okay. Are you familiar with Monet and with the tenants who have been living in that house?
Yes, I am.
Okay. What is your opinion of how well this house has been run and what kind of impact it has on you and the other neighbors?
The house has been run sufficient. There's no impact. We are close neighbors.
If the guys or anybody in the house need anything, I'm always there to assist them and help them.
um i'll stay in touch with monet and you know if anything happens i'll call her and let her know
what's going on but the neighbors are fine no problem at all so do you have um how do you feel
about her um her application to to make the the two apartments legal uh i'm all for it okay
I'll support it 100%.
I have no further questions, Mr. Chair.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Chair, we have a Paul Garland with his hand up.
Mr. Garland, please unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Good morning, Mr. Garland.
could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
Mr. Garland?
He's unmuted, Chair, but he just does not have...
Mr. Garland, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
Okay. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
I see no other hands at this time, Chair.
Greening Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman. David Fecto with the City Planning Commission.
Mr. Chairman and Board members, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential single-family zoning at this location.
based on the testimony that we've heard the applicant proposes to legalize a long-standing
non-conforming condition so the city planning commission recommends that the board grant the
proposed use variance thank you mi2022-006-297-436 south 54th street i vote yes yes thomas holliman
my vote is yes
ishmael shaheed my vote is yes thank you counsel thank you so much
Number eight, MI 2021-005-092.
MI 2021-005-092-4334
Frankfort Avenue. Darlene Treat is the attorney.
Letter of non-opposition from Council Member Lozada.
Letter of support from the Frankfort Neighbor Advisory Committee
with unenforceable provisos.
Chair, Ms. Treat is coming back in as a panelist now.
Good morning.
Good morning, Commissioner.
Can you hear me?
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
My name is Darlene Threatt, D-A-R-L-E-N-E, last name Threatt, T as in Thomas, H-R-E-A-T-T.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Could you put your video on?
Hi, good morning.
Could you identify your client, the relationship to the property?
My client is Mr. Irvin Rodriguez.
He is the owner of the property.
Mr. Rodriguez, are you on the line?
Oh, good boy.
We'll call him.
Our vice chair has a few questions.
Good morning, counsel.
Do you agree to weigh the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his accuracy?
Yes, I do.
Hello?
Yes, I agreed to waive the reading of the refusal and I stipulate to its accuracy.
Have you emailed all the required documents and exhibits five days in advance to proceed with this hearing?
Yes, I have. I would like to say I did swap out the pictures.
So the pictures in my original submission are a little different, but the number of documents are the same.
Okay, we may need you to email them into our offices, but let's proceed. Please share your screen.
I'm going to try it again.
that's it that now you're coming up just to your zoom page yeah i don't know what's going on
That's it. I think that that might be it.
Try it one more time.
can you see my screen now i see the zoning board of adjustment revised proviso plans okay let me
just open up my exhibit package just give me a second please
I apologize.
I thought I had it opened already.
Can you see my screen, Commissioner?
I can.
Thank you very much for your patience.
Commissioners, this is 4324 Frankfurt Avenue.
I submitted an exhibit package consisting of 12 exhibits.
I'm going to go through them for you today.
At first, we have a notice of refusal.
At first, we have a notice of refusal. We applied to have an eight-family dwelling and we were refused because multifamily household living is not permitted in this zoning designation ICMX.
We apply to have a.
I would like to give you a little history of the property, though. We strike that. Here is our application of appeal.
the property information form
the uh certificate of tax clearance
the uh deed for the property
the owner's commercial activity license with the city of philadelphia
And attached here are our plans.
Basically, we would like to keep the commercial on the bottom,
but we would like to develop eight one-bedroom apartments on the top.
This is an overhead view of the area, and here is a view.