Any concerns related to the hearing operation should be directed to ZBA Executive Director
at phil.gov. Before we begin, our Executive Director, Ian Haggerty, has an important safety
announcement. Ian? Thank you, Chair Bergman. Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to the ZBA
hearing room. In the event of an emergency, I want to remind everyone, please pay attention
to the announcements that come over the loudspeaker. If no announcement is heard, please just follow
the directions of security officers or the ZBA staff. The main exit is through the double doors
at the rear of the room where you came in. If an order is given to evacuate the room for any reason,
the stairway is to the left outside the double doors. If an order is given to evacuate the
building for any reason, the rally point will be at Love Park. That's directly across the street
from the main entrance to this building please remain at the rally point so that we can account
for you as a reminder restrooms are located right across from the elevators and there's a water
fountain just outside the double doors to the right thanks and welcome thank you so let's look
Thank you. So let's look at our schedule.
at our schedule number 11 mi20
Number 11, MI 2024, 006-674, 4611 Emory Street.
That case is continued until June 11th, 25.
Number 12, MI 2024, 006-677, 3028 North 15th Street.
That case is continued, Attorney Moving Party.
Are there any other requests for
contingencies?
We also have
a hand
Bern Anastasio has a hand up.
He's been promoted.
Good afternoon, Bern.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair, members of the board.
Could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Yes, sir. It's 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?
Yes, I do.
Is the case you want 2315 West Cumberland?
No, sir. I'm prepared to put that case on today.
Okay. What case?
It's 2021 Stenton Avenue.
Bernie, number 13 is 2021 Stenton.
We have no exhibits.
This is the first listing.
Yes, sir.
We are in the process of trying to meet with the RCO.
As a request, I'm asking for a continuance today.
Thank you.
Okay, fine.
So MI 2024-006-699-2021 Stanton Avenue, cases continue to June 11th, 25, at 2 p.m.
Thank you.
Anyone else?
There are no more hands, Chair.
I'm going to vote on three cases, and we have an add-on.
So MI 2024-006-40045 West Seymour Street.
MI 2024-006-40149 West Seymour Street.
And number three, MI 2024-006-465-47 West Seymour Street, I vote yes to all three.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes to all three.
Excuse me, Mr. Chair, there is at least, there's two provisos for those cases.
what what um it's a revised plans this is for all three of them um revised plans one page
stamped today february 5th 2025 and then a maximum of four dwelling units revised plans
um today's date one five double two five twenty five and one page one page maximum four units
John, my vote is yes with provisos.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with provisos.
Tana Graham, my vote is no on all three.
Tywin, my vote is yes with provisos.
Ishmael Shahid, my vote is yes with provisos.
Thank you.
We're going to go to our number one case, MI2024, 002258, 2315 West Cumberland Street.
Bernan Anastasio is the attorney.
Bernan Anastasio is returning as a panelist.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair, members of the board.
Counsel, you've already been sworn.
Just for the record, could you state your name?
Yes, Vern Anastasio, A-N-A-S-T-A-S-I-O.
Could you identify your client in a relationship to this property?
I represent Mr. Jerome Wichit on this particular case.
For a point of information-
I'm sorry, Derek Atkinson, my apologies.
okay for a point of information i have a letter of opposition from strawberry mansion community
For a point of information, I have a letter of opposition from Strawberry Mansion Community.
concern.
concern and also a petition in support with 19 signatures our uh vice chair has a few questions
thank you good afternoon council do you agree to wait to read another refusal or stipulate to
exact person i do have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that's needed
to proceed with this case five days in advance this hearing i have thank you council please
proceed and show the screen thank you mr chair i represent mr derrick atkins excuse me mr anastasia
i just wanted to note one other update for the record that um we also received a letter of
opposition from councilmember young so thank you sorry very good thank you 23 uh 15 west cumberland
Street. Derek Atkinson is my client. I have a 73-page exhibit binder here, and it includes
the assigned petition of immediate neighbors in support of the legalization of this pre-existing
use. The last exhibit in my binder are MLS listings from Reddit and Zillow, showing that
the property was marketed and sold as a two-family dwelling. So 2315 West Cumberland Street,
the application was to legalize the pre-existing use. It's been refused because the underlying
zoning classification is in fact RSA 5. As you can see, it was refused because the two-family
dwelling is not allowed in an RSA 5 district and with that I'm going to share my plans
first let's get to the basement area here
no living space just a water heaters and storage
a first floor unit will be entered through the porch then a vestibule and then of course
into the first floor we have a living room full bath
a bedroom and a study the kitchen in the rear that is eat-in and trash storage for the first floor
unit the second floor unit is very much the same up the stairs into the living room eat-in kitchen
with a trash closet that is sealed with an exhaust fan outside for trash storage,
a full bath, a den, and a bedroom in the rear.
I'm going to pull this out.
Oh, everything just went blank on me for some reason.
I'm going to stop sharing and I'm going to reshare.
My apologies.
Something's going on here with the.
I stopped sharing.
I'm going to reshare my screen.
Okay, we went through the refusal and we went through the plans.
And I'd like to share some photos.
Property in question.
Included in the exhibit packet is a long history of the property being used for commercial
being used for commercial on the first floor
on the first floor and a one-family dwelling above.
and a one-family dwelling above.
When my client purchased this property,
it had been separated as a two-family dwelling.
And these are the photos that you're seeing here.
This was at purchase.
to kitchens, to electric meters.
Here's the letter that went out to the community,
inviting folks to the public meeting November 14th.
And of course, the hearing that was postponed previously.
Here are the addresses.
everybody was notified which is uh the result of our meeting 174 individual households
were in fact notified here's the poster that was posted inviting everyone to today's hearing
it's the proof of posting on the property
And then the aforementioned history of the property for a very long time.
It was a funeral parlor on the first floor since 1940 with a one family residence above.
At some point prior to my client's purchase, the funeral parlor was converted into a separate apartment with the basement being vacant.
There was an application at some point for a two-family dwelling.
and as you can see here
this too speaks to the two family dwelling the youth certificate
This letter is sent to the zoning board saying that the property had been in continuous use as a funeral parlor and a one-family dwelling above.
Here's the deed that shows that my client purchased it at the end of 2023 in its current condition.
And all of the associated documents with that.
Here's a bird's eye view of the property and a zoning map of the property.
As you can see, it's extraordinary long as compared to the homes behind it.
Here is signatures of everyone who lives on West Cumberland in support of the legalization of the two family dwelling.
They know the history of the property. They know that the previous owner converted this property and sold it to my client, marketed as.
As you can see here, property is currently vacant and set up and zoned as a duplex.
And this is the information that my client relied upon at the listing.
And then, of course, based on the information that was provided by the realtors, he purchased the property because it presented itself as a two-family dwelling and learned last year that it was not zoned correctly.
and as a result have asked me to take this before you
to get the legalization of the non-conforming pre-existing use.
As such, because of the long history of the property being anything but a single-family home,
because the conversion of the two-family dwelling was done by the previous owner,
and because my client reasonably relied upon the MLS listing and the marketing of this property as
The MLS listing and the marketing of this property as a legally zoned to family dwelling.
I'm going to ask that the board respectfully grant the variance in this particular case.
And with that, I'd like Mr. Derek Atkinson to raise his virtual hand.
And so it has been promoted.
Mr. Atkinson, could you please state your name
and spell for the stenographer?
Mr. Atkinson?
Yes, how are you?
Hi. Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Yes, sir. Derek, D-E-R-R-I-C-K, Atkinson, A-T-K-I-N-S-O-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Atkinson, did you hear my presentation to the board this afternoon?
Yes, sir.
Is it true and accurate to the best of your knowledge?
Yes, sir.
And you adopt it as your own testimony.
Yes, sir.
Just to be clear, you saw the MLS listings in 2023, more than one, several listings, promoting this property as a legally zoned two family dwelling.
Is that right?
And you purchased it at the end of 2023.
Is that right?
Thank you.
Thank you.
Nothing further, Mr. Chair.
Questions from the board.
Has any work been done in the unit since purchase?
I was going to say nothing that requires a building permit,
but I will also defer to Mr. Atkinson.
That wasn't my question.
My question, has any work been done?
Mr. Atkinson, has any work been done in the property upon purchase?
um yeah he did some cosmetics okay thank you
and then to be clear um you said that the the what is the specific hardship that we're
claiming is that it was uh assumed as a duplex at purchase based on its listing in zillow and
therefore it cannot be returned to a single family use it can't be it can't it would have
to be gutted and returned to a single family home, which of course would put the property
upside down financially. The property presented itself as a two-family dwelling. The history
certainly supported that. And more importantly, on every occasion, the MLS listing and every
realtor that marketed it marketed it as a legal two-family dwelling. And our exhibit actually
proves that. So for those reasons, he just would like to be able to purchase what he thought he
bought. Obviously, he bought it at a premium thinking that it was illegal to family. And that
would further, you know, damage his interests, if you were unable to actually realize what he
purchased. And, you know, and the price he paid was based on that to family.
And what was the price that was purchased for in 2023?
I don't know. In the least, though. Let me take a look.
Well, according to records that are public and available online, it was purchased for $89,000.
Well, it was listed for $212,000.