the whole truth nothing but the truth yes i do are you a neighbor uh not of this uh particular
case of the previous case there were uh technical problems uh i kept getting a message stating that
What case was that, sir?
For Monet Amos.
Well, sir, we've moved on from that case.
I'm very sorry that you couldn't get in, but we've moved on from that case.
Right.
Thank you for calling.
We appreciate your interest, but we've moved on from that case.
Thank you.
Planning 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 general industrial zoning at this location.
The applicant has shown that the proposed warehouse junk and salvage yard will have no detrimental impact on the neighborhood beyond what might be expected.
And so the City Planning Commission recommends the board grant the proposed special exception.
Thank you. MI 2022-006-249-681R, New State Road. I vote yes with proviso.
Use limited to unit D.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ishmael Shahid, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you.
Okay, number 15, MI 2022-002-946-2100-02,
North Franklin Street.
Zen Jin is the attorney.
Letter of support from APM.
Chair, Mr. Jin is coming back in now as a panelist.
Good morning.
Good morning, sir.
Could you please state your name and spell it for the court reporter?
My name is Zen Jin, Z-H-E-N-J-I-N, 1617 John F. Kennedy Boulevard, Suite 1838, Philadelphia
EPA 19103, here on behalf of the applicant.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Could you identify your client and the relationship to the property?
My client is DYS Properties, the owner of the parcel, and Mr. Bader is here on their
behalf today.
All right.
Our vice chair has just a few questions, sir.
Good morning, counsel.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed all the required documents and exhibits into our offices five days in
advance of the hearing?
I have.
Thank you.
Please proceed and share your screen.
Thank you.
I'm going to share with the board the information we previously submitted.
This is the packet of exhibits that was submitted to the board for today's purposes.
We have submitted the refusal, support letter, photos, plans, tax clearance deed, and related documentation.
I want to first jump to the refusal.
This is an application in a CMX2 district.
This is currently a double-sized vacant lot.
And our proposal on this location is to build a multifamily household living for seven families.
for seven families. The refusals directly relate to the seven family use and the lack of the
The refusals directly relate to the seven-family users.
commercial use. We met with APM who issued a letter in support particularly indicating that
the members of the community actually is excited for the opportunity to have a new building here
for the residential use. I do want to point out that this particular lot is a double-sized lot
and it's best seen through the site plan itself, 2100 to 02 is two lots side by side that's
been previously combined through in the past through some subdivision. This is at one point
a auto repair business years and years ago, but it's been vacant for quite some time.
The community itself is predominantly, and we're actually surrounded by RM1 uses,
which is what essentially we're trying to propose with this particular variance.
But CMX2 used on this corner, which is actually the corner of Diamond and North Franklin Street,
the neighborhood's feedback about the prior commercial use wasn't that positive.
It was an auto shop use.
They actually do not see the benefit of a commercial unit being put onto the first floor of this particular location.
and they're kind of glad that, you know, the more residential uses are coming.
In addition, part of the reason we're setting it up with the way that the seven unit is
because one of the design aspect is to put a handicap accessible unit into the first
floor.
By doing so, what my client did is instead of having a very large front unit with basement
access, he split the front unit to two, because again, it's two lot in width, and that bi-level
unit became two. The upper floor essentially are two units each, making the four additional units,
giving us a total of seven. So again, this is a design that allows us to add the needed residential
units in the area, the needed handicap accessible units, and again, we believe that this lot would
have a hardship to have a long-term viable commercial use, given that North Franklin's
really not a very large street. And even Diamond Street in that location really isn't very viable
with a lot of commercial. There are more residential properties and some vacant lots,
more so than any commercial activity. So based on that is why we came forth with this proposal
and why the community supported our request for these variances.
I'm certainly happy to show the board any additional exhibits the board would like to see,
and my client is here to verify my testimony regarding this application.
Counselor, are there other multiple units in the area?
Yes, actually, everything surrounding us are mostly multiple units.
The whole district in this area right now is RM1.
All right, thank you very much.
Or multiple surrounding blocks, yes.
You want to bring your counsel on, your recline on?
Mr. Bader, please raise your hand virtually to be identified.
Mr. Bader, please unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Good morning, sir.
Could you state your name and spell it for the court reporter?
Yeah, good morning.
My name is Chagai Bader, C-H-A-G-A-I.
My last name is Bader, B-A-D-E-R.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, counsel.
Thank you.
Mr. Bader, did you hear my testimony and see my presentation to the zoning board?
Can you verify what I've said is true and correct and adopt it as your own testimony?
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
From the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Chair, I'm good.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no hands, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman and members of the board.
David Effecto, City Planning Commission.
Chair and board members, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the commercial mixed use zoning at this location.
The current zoning dates to 1933.
This section of North Philadelphia has never been rezoned.
There is no unique physical condition of this lot that would prevent it from being used in conformance with the zoning code, and so the City Planning Commission recommends that the Board deny the use in dimensional variances.
MI 2022-002-946-2100-02, North Franklin Street, I vote yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you. Have a good day.
Thank you.
Is there anyone whose case has not been called on the morning list?
Tara, we have someone with their hand up from a Galaxy S8+.
Okay, sure.
I believe that's the same person, too.
Hello. Can you hear me? Yeah, I can. Sorry. I've already sworn.
And I mentioned that your cases has that case you're interested in is over.
But if you have comments, please feel free to tell me what your issue is.
Yes. My issue was.
For what was presented to you, it's not the current or future intent for the application of Monet Amos.
She is using that as a rooming facility, not as a single or two-family dwelling.
And there were a lot of other problems with the property, illegal lockouts or self-help.
And a lot of other...
I'm sorry, Chair, this is Tom.
Your neighbor, sir.
Chair, he's been muted.
Okay. Mr. Chair, this is Hillary. I was going to jump in as well. The record is closed on this case. If he has additional information, he can submit a request for reconsideration.
Okay. Sir? Sir? Sir?
Okay. I hope you heard what was said. You can submit.
I am here, sir.
All right. So the case is closed. Listen to me. The case is closed. If you want to, you can go down and you can submit for reconsideration.
What was your voting on that? Because every time I try to speak, I am muted by the-
We had the necessary votes to approve it.
Sir, you can reach us at rcozba at phila.gov if you have any more questions.
Thank you. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience whose case has not been called?
I see no hands, Chair.
Thanks, everyone. See everybody at 2 o'clock.
Lakeisha, are we ready to go?
Yes, Chair.
Thank you.
Good afternoon.
My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this afternoon's EBA hearing.
With me is our Vice Chair, Ismail Shahid.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our Board Member, Thomas Holliman.
Thomas Holliman.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
And our Board Member, James Snell.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Also here is Hillary Emerson, our Attorney, and our Executive Director, Tanya Sunkett,
is also here. Here's our format. Be advised if proceedings are being recorded. The video will
be available by contacting tanyasunkett at phillip.gov. For the benefit of our court
stenographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying.
If you're participating by phone, if you wish to testify, press star nine to raise your hand and
star six to unmute. To enter an appearance statement, call 267-270-5548. Leave your email
and the address of the property in question. And finally, the question answer box on the screen is
not for comments or testimony. All comments should be directed to our Executive Director,
Tanya Sunde. So let's look at our continuations this afternoon.
Number two, MI-2022-004-229-3301 Emerald Street, that case is continued.
Number seven, MI-2022-003-308-5774 North 20th Street, that case is continued.
And number nine, MI-2022-004-231-4501 Woodhaven Road, that case is continued.
Are there any questions or comments relative to those three cases?
No hands, Chair.
no hands chair are there any additional requests for continuances
Are there any additional...
good afternoon chair this is Yvette Benton I see no hands at this time
thank you and also number five MI 2022 001 804 4430 Pine Street that case has been withdrawn
on. We're going to go to our add-on list. Chair? Yes. We have Brandon Saverin with his hand up.
Okay. Mr. Saverin, please unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Hello. Brandon, state your name and spell please for the court reporter.
Sure. Brandon Saverin spelled B-R-A-N-D-O-N.
S as in Sam, A, B as in Victor, R-A-N.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
What case, sir?
I just wanted to confirm that 4112 Petion Street has been withdrawn.