good morning again and thank you good morning again uh tanya and excuse me
yep we just need a couple of seconds
Thank you.
okay chair as you wish thank you and Tanya will it be Yvette or Lakeisha
it'll be Yvette chair okay on the double check thank you all right 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 board members Mr. Thomas Holloman and Mr. James Snell
So, pardon me, Ms. Board Administrator Yvette Benton and Board Attorney Ms. Sharon Saleta
are also in attendance, along with Ms. Tanya Sunkit, the Zoning Board Administrator.
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 on the web or otherwise.
Third, 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. For anyone participating by phone, if you wish to testify, you must raise your hand
by hitting star 9 and then star 6 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. 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 like to remind everyone, please do
not attempt to testify in the chat. Any comments or questions should be directed to our board
Administrator Ms. Yvette Benton. Having said that, I will read off the
on the add -on list case number MI 2021 -001476, 731 North Uber Street. This will be held one
more additional week at the request of Ms. Jones from Council President Clark's office,
waiting for a submission letter from the neighbor who mistakenly went to 1515 Arch thinking that
our hearings were were live number four on our add -on list MI 2021 -001 -411 -3527
Frankfurt Avenue my vote is yes to reconsideration and rehearing
james snell my vote is yes to reconsideration and rehearing thomas holliman my vote is yes
to reconsideration and rehearing thank you we'll now go to our reg yes i'm sorry this is sharon
i wasn't clear in the notes we have received the letter from um the neighbor on number one
on the add -ons list but we need additional board members here today to test to test i'm sorry to
vote the case. Okay, that vote is being held. Thank you. On the regular 930 list, the following
cases have been requested to be continued. Number two on our list, MI 2021 -001566. 1541 South 24th
Street, a continuance request by the attorney of record, Mr. Henry Clinton. Number four,
the request of the attorney, Michael Lambert, MI 2020 -001 -555 -1903 West Airy Avenue is continued.
1903 West Airy Avenue is continued. Number seven, at the request of Attorney Mr. Michael Lambert,
MI 2021 -001573 -2783 Roberts Avenue is continued. And I believe those are the only continuance
requests as of yet. So if anyone disagrees with those continuances that I read into the record,
please raise your hand only if you disagree with those cases being continued please raise your hand
chair i see no hands at this time thank you i will now ask if anyone would like to request
a continuance or withdrawal for the 9 30 list please raise your hand
chair we have attorney zen jen with his hand up mr jen you can unmute yourself and wait for the
Chair. Thank you, Mr. Zinn. Please identify yourself in the records by your full name,
and I'll swear you in. Thank you. Good morning. Zinn Jin, Z -H -E -N -J -I -N, 1617 John F. Kennedy
Boulevard, Suite 1838, Philadelphia PA 19103, here on behalf of the applicant for 5120
Marion Street. You swear to affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
I do. Thank you. Please proceed. We were given information from Mr. Charles
Richardson this morning from Councilwoman Cindy Bass's office and he advised that we should seek
a continuance in this case to finish some items with discussion with the RCO voting matter on this
case. Thank you. So MI 2020 -003261 -5120 Marion Street is continued. Thank you. Thank you. Any
other requests for continuances or withdrawals? I see no hands at this time, Chair. Thank you.
We now proceed with the regular list. Number one on our list, MI 2021 -001558, 1415 West
Allegheny Avenue. Robert Greenbaum is the attorney of record. Councilwoman Bass has sent a letter of
support along with the
Tayogi
United RCO.
Mr. Greenbaum?
Mr. Greenbaum, if you're in attendance,
could you please raise your hand?
He's coming back in as a
panelists now, Chair.
Tanya?
It's not allowing me to promote him to
panelists i've clicked twice and it's not allowing me to do it okay keisha must have did it so mr
greenbaum is available now um yvette if you could go out and come back in sometimes i have that
problem as well um i'm in tanya mr greenbaum yes ready mr greenbaum please spell your name and i'll
where are you in thank you very much mr chairman it's robert greenbaum r -o -b -e -r -t g -r -e -e -n
b -a -u -m i'm counsel for the owners of 1415 west allegheny we are here today before the panel excuse
me sir listen you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
I do, Mr. Chair.
And our board member, Mr. Snell, has questions for you.
Mr. Greenbaum, also, have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents, proof of ownership, proof of tax compliance, copy of the refusal or referral, and plans and photos five days prior to this hearing?
Yes, I have, Mr. Snell.
Okay. Have you met with the RCO?
We have met with the RCO, and we have, as part of the package we submitted in advance of today's hearing, a letter of approval from the RCO.
Okay, that was my last question. Do you have a letter? So, okay, that's great. Please proceed.
Thank you, Mr. Snell.
We're here appealing a refusal to convert a single -family dwelling into a multifamily dwelling.
The zoning only permits single family.
The zoning only permits single -family.
the original application was
The original application was for two units.
The owner has on evaluating the property determined that he needs to do three units.
We have submitted an amended application to L &I, but have not yet had a refusal.
However, we would anticipate that the refusal would be the same, you know, for three units as it is for two, in that the zoning only permits the single family use.
If I may share my screen, I can quickly go through the various exhibits
to familiarize the panel with our project.
Ms. Sunkit, is there a way for me to share my screen?
Yes, Mr. Greenball, if you go to the, make sure you have your documents prepared to go forward,
then click on the green item at the bottom of the screen that says share.
Here we go, we hear you coming through. Perfect. Thank you so much, Ms. Sunkit.
So, as indicated, this is the set of exhibits that we submitted in advance of today's hearing.
I won't waste the panel's time going through the copy of the deed.
The notice of refusal is here.
And as I mentioned, we have submitted an amended application, which is pending.
This is the application submitted along with the tax certification that was submitted at the time of the appeal.
we do have an updated certificate, which we will get to later on in the exhibits.
This is simply a map of the relevant zoning. The black flag here shows the location of the
property. This is West Allegheny, and this is North Carlisle. The property is actually the
corner of property here so it fronts on Allegheny and North Carlisle.
This is the site plan and I'm sorry I'm playing with the magnification but the documents are
of different sizes so I'm trying just to keep it so that everybody can see the whole
The building has an attached garage space here and two additional parking spaces that are surface spaces located here.
This is the plan for the lower level, which is a one -bedroom unit.
This is a plan for the first level, which is also a one -bedroom unit.
And then this is a plan. This is the plan for the third unit, which encompasses the second and third floors of the building.
This is the second floor of the building showing the common space of the apartment, meaning the kitchen and living room and two bedrooms.
And then on the third floor, there are two bedrooms and an office or den.
All of the bedrooms have bathrooms attached to them.
And there is also a powder room in the kitchen, living room, dining room area in all three of the apartments.
these are just photos of the zoning notice at the property
to give you some context again this i don't know if you're able to see the red arrow here
make this a little bigger uh this is um a photo from november of 19 that i got from
Google Maps, and it is showing the corner property here. And it also shows it a little
bit in context with the adjoining buildings. This is a twin building. This is 1413, 1411,
bit in context with the adjoining buildings. This is a twin building. This is 1413, 1411,
1409, and then Ebenezer Baptist Church is here. 1409, 11, and 13 have all had variances granted
1409, and then Ebenezer Baptist Church is here. 1409, 11, and 13 have all had variances granted
have all had variances granted for multi -family dwelling. 1409 has four dwelling units,
for multifamily dwelling.
1411 has also four dwelling units, and 1413 has four dwelling units.
This shows the property taken from the south side of Allegheny looking down Carlisle.
And so this is the side of the building. This is just a closer shot.
And this shows a little more of West Allegheny. This is 1417 West Allegheny, which also has had a variance granted for two professional offices and 11 dwelling units.
and obviously this is a large apartment building called Temple Lofts. Several of the properties
on Carlisle have also been granted variances for multifamily units. 3216, which is the third house
in or third house north on North Carlisle, has been approved for three dwelling units,
and that dates back to the 30s. 3218 North Carlisle is four dwelling units and that dates back to the
40s. This is just the letter to the neighbors as required and the mailing list of all the people
to whom it was sent. This is the updated zoning and tax clearance certificate and then
This is the letter in support from Tioga United, and this is just the proviso application indicating that we're seeking an amendment to change it from two dwelling units to three dwelling units.
um i have on the call with me uh my client or the principal of the client
uh robert mayer and i just would like to have him sworn in so he can testify
mayor when you get on please spell your full name and i'll swear you in
mr mayor you can unmute yourself and speak now hello uh my name is robert mayor that's r -o -b -e -r -t
m -a -y -e -r um i am the managing member of 1415 west allegheny llc uh the owner of the property
in question where i'm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Greenbaum. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Mayor, you were in attendance of the hearing during my testimony and my presentation. Is that correct? That's correct. Okay. And if you were asked questions to detail what I've gone through, would you affirm the information that I have provided to the panel?
Yes, I would.
Thank you.
And you would adopt the testimony as your own?
That is correct.
Thank you.
Mr. Chairman, I have nothing further to present, but of course, I'm happy to answer any questions that the board may have.
Questions from the board?
Anyone else would like to testify in this case?
If so, please raise your hand.
Chair, we have a call -in user with their hand up.
Call -in user, can you unmute yourself and speak now?
Hello?
Good morning.
Please identify yourself, full name.
adrian fernandez f -e -r -n -a -n -d -e -z
comparable neighborhood parcels association rco
you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes thank you please proceed
okay um we are asking for um supervisors one that the trash be kept trash and recycling be
kept indoors except for collection days. And also, that's the limit of two units because
the legal notice to the affected neighbors and the affected RCOs and other parties listed
two units and we were not presented the amended appeal application nor an amended notice of
appeal application, nor an amended notice of refusal.
Thank you.
Thank you. Mr. Greenbaum or Mr. Mayor, what's your trash plan?
The trash and recycling will be stored indoors in appropriate containers and then taken out on
trash day. Anyone else would like to testify in this case, please raise your hand.
i've seen no hands at this time chair planning commission good morning david vecto f -e -c -t -e -a -u
with the city planning commission we're informed to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the
truth yes sir i do thank you thank you mr chairman mr chairman and members of the board
Comprehensive plan recommends this block for high -density commercial mixed -use zoning.
This is a 2 ,531 -square -foot lot.
Under the recommended zoning, multiple units would be allowed by right with a ground floor commercial use.
We recommend that the board approve the requested variance.
Thank you.
um mi 2021 -001558 1415 west allegheny avenue my vote is yes with the proviso trash to be stored
indoors until trash day um excuse me chair this is sharon we are waiting for it oh i'm sorry
it's on the other side i apologize um so the record is closed correct sharon and the vote
will be taken a pending receipt of the revised refusal from all and I yes the record is closed
besides from the revised refusal could we also um Mr. Fecto could you also put on the record you
are um your recommendation is for three units is that correct uh this is Dave Fecto again from the
City Planning Commission yes Sharon that is correct our recommendation is for the revised
three units. Thank you very much. Thank you all. Thank you, Sharon. Thank you. Mr. Greenbaum?
Yes, sir. You understood that you were waiting for the receipt, the revised refusal from O &I,
then we'll vote. Yes, sir. And I'll submit that directly to Ms. Zuleta. Is that what the chair
would like? Yes, please. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Have a good day. Thank you. May we be excused?
Yes, you may. Thank you. Thank you. I'm sorry, Chair, if I could ask that Mr. Greenville also submitted to the VBA. Of course. Thank you very kindly. Thank you. Should I send that directly to you, Ms. Sunkit? As well as Ms. Saleta, yes. Okay, perfect. We're a tag team. Okay, fair enough. They're good, and they're excellent, too. Yes, they are. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Case number three now, MI 2021 -001 -498, 1651 West Grange Avenue.
They're a letter of support from the Concerned Community Association and also a letter of support from Councilwoman Bass.
Larry McRae, I believe, is the owner of the property.
Mr. McRae is coming back in as a panelist now, Chair.
Thank you.
Mr. McRae, please spell your full name.
Larry C. McRae. McRae is spelled M -C -C -R -A -E.
Where from to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes. You're the owner of this property? Yes. Not an LLC or a non -profit? No. Thank you. Hold on. Mr. Snell has some questions for you.
Okay. Also, have you emailed an exhibit copy with the required documents, proof of ownership, proof of tax compliance, copy of the refusal or referral, and plans and photos five days prior to this hearing?
Have you met with the RCO?
And finally, do you have a letter from the RCO?
Okay, great.
You may proceed.
Frank, are you muted?
Oh, I'm not.
Mr. McRae?
You can proceed.
Hold on one second, please.
Yes. Hello. I have a lawyer by the name of Lynn Nichols.
Can you hear me?
Yes, we can. But your attorney, is he going to be speaking?
Yes, Lynn Nichols.
Okay, well, we'll get your attorney on. I'll have to swear your attorney in.
Ms. Nichols is coming back in as a panelist now.
Thank you. Ms. Nichols, please spell your full name and I'll swear you in.
Thank you, Chair. My name is Lynn, L -Y -N -N, last name Nichols, N -I -C -H -O -L -S.
You swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Please proceed.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, members of the board.
My name is Lynn Nichols and I represent Larry McRae, who is the owner of 1651 Grange Avenue.
we are here seeking a variant for a multi -family unit building with three units may I proceed with
my presentation yes please and can someone okay I see share my screen I didn't mean to bypass you
Ms. Nichols my notes indicated that Mr. McRae was representing himself but oh no that's fine I
understand. No worries. Please proceed. Okay. All right. So now I'm trying to share my screen.
Ms. Lasul, do you have your documents already on your screen? Yes, I do. And then if you are on a
regular computer, go down to the green button that says share and zoom. I'm on a Mac. So it
It says share screen, and then it's asking me, because I have it on my desktop.
So I'm going to select share, and now it's asking me to go in through.
Excuse me.
This is Pauline from IT.
Do you have your settings of your Macs configured to be able to share?
I just see that I don't.
So I apologize.
uh should i um share if we could um yeah i was gonna miss nichols yeah your work your work with
miss sunkett and pauline to see and work through your issues we're going to go to the next case
and then we'll come back to you okay i apologize thank you so much no worries no worries thank
so we're going to go to number five mi 2021 that's zero zero one five six eight
two two five one north franklin street mr clinton is the attorney of record
sir 37th lord sent a letter of rf support
mr clinton is coming back in as a panelist now chair
Good morning, Mr. Chairman.
Good morning. Please identify yourself and I'll swear you in.
Sure. Henry Clinton, 1313 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19146 Queen Memorial Building.
I'm here on behalf of the applicant for 2251 North Franklin.
I swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
Mr. Snell has some questions for you.
Good morning, Mr. Clinton. Have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents, proof of ownership, proof of tax compliance, copy of the refusal or referral, and plans and photos five days prior to this hearing?
Yes, I have.
And have you met with the RCO?
Yes, I have.
And finally, do you have a letter?
Yes, I do, Mr. Snow.
All right, great. You can proceed.
Good. Can I share my screen, Mr. Chairman?
Please do.
is that visible enough a little larger would be helpful slightly that's good thank you
this is my presentation package my exhibit package containing the table of contents
AA through A -10, and I'll walk through more important documents as we go through the
presentation. This is my appearance statement. This is the refusal, and I'll just stop here.
Property is owned CMX2, which permits commercial and two units above. What we're asking is that
the commercial unit on the first floor, which would be typical, be residential rather than
commercial. The refusals concerned the maximum square feet of the lot area. We're about 250,
of the lot area. We're about 250, 300 square feet off that target of 1 ,450.
300 square feet off that.
And then here's the key section. In the CMX2 zoning district, we're supposed to have commercial
on the ground floor within the first 30 feet of the building depth. And in lieu of having
commercial there, we're asking for residential. The roof access, we did away with this refusal
because we changed the plans
and there is a proviso sheet
with one plan to be stamped
if we're successful with this hearing today.
So that refusal is going away.
And then there's a maximum occupied area of 75%.
We exceed that by the minimum amount of 6%.
We do have an RCO letter of support
from the 37th Ward
indicating unanimous support for the project.
I also have a letter from the McCann team at Keller Williams indicating
that the property does not lend itself to commercial use on the first floor. It's in the
middle of a block and most of the block is residential as you'll see when I walk through the
project. These are photos for perspective for the panel. Again, here's the property in the middle
of the block, many vacancies on the block, and there's an occasional new home on the street.
Another perspective, just looking at North Franklin Street. Here's proof that we did put
up the zoning posters. This is our proviso sheet indicating that the pilot house at the roof level
has been pulled back six feet seven inches so it's no longer at the extreme rear of the building
thus eliminating the refusal for the access structure which was one of the refusals I just
went through. So in a nutshell this is a request to have the first floor all residential rather
than the first 30 feet commercial. These are the elevation drawings the front and back you can see
brick on the front with some standing metal panels.
You can also walk through the floor plans.
Let me just shrink these a little bit. So we have window wells
and a large light well in the rear yard.
And that would be for unit
one. There would be two bedrooms on the second floor.
There would be a rooftop deck.
On the second floor there's another unit, and the third floor unit has two bedrooms
and access to the rooftop deck.
The other documents are our pro forma documents, which are typical at all zoning hearings,
our application, our tax certification, the deed, zoning map indicating where the property is
located, and the zoning district, our deed indicating ownership, as well as proof of our
mailings and letters to the community. This use is basically going to be in harmony with the code.
It doesn't adversely affect anyone's adjoining properties later air.
And it's in harmony with what the community wants and has supported.
And with that, I'd open up the questions to the board and to have my client adopt the testimony as he is on the call.
Why don't we have your client adopt your testimony, then we'll see if this question is.
Okay. Joseph, can you raise your hand and you can be that in?
Mr. Gitterman, you can unmute yourself and speak now.
Yes, sir. My name is Joseph Gitterman. Please spell your last name. G -I -T -E -R -M -I -M.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Thank you. Mr. Clinton?
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Gitterman, have you been on the call?
excuse me i'm sorry about the dogs barking this is sharon um tom got knocked off can we
hold this for a couple of minutes while he gets back on
were you able to hear me over all that noise yes we're waiting for tom to get back on
Thank you.
Mailman must be at the door.
May I proceed, Mr. Chairman?
May I proceed, Mr. Chairman?
Yeah, proceed and then we'll wait for Tom to get on.
Yeah, yeah, proceed, and then we'll wait for time to get on.
Please proceed.
Please proceed.
I'm sorry, Chair.
This is Tanya.
I would ask that we wait for the third member.
Oh, I thought he got back on.
I'm sorry.
And so did I.
My mistake.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Um, chair, maybe about two to three more minutes, he's trying to come in on his phone.
Thank you.
chair and he's back you can proceed
thank you okay mr clinton uh mr gitterman yes okay thank you mr chairman mr gitterman uh were
you on the call during my presentation yes and if you had the opportunity to testify would you
adopt my testimony as your own and as true and correct yes thank you mr gitterman thank you
any questions from the board no anyone else like to testify in this case please raise your hand
here we have a geneva carter
thank you
we can hear you
please identify yourself
this is Thomas
oh Tom
but they said
Yvette did you say there was someone else
there was someone
with her hand up by the name of Geneva
Carter. Still up? No, no, her hand is not up anymore. Okay, we'll move on then. Questions from the board?
Thank you. We have someone else with their name up, with their hand up. It says call -in user 2.
Call -in user, can you unmute yourself and wait for the chair?
Good morning. I'm sorry. I heard Mr. Clinton's voice. We wasn't sure. Is this 1540? This is Tiffany Green, concerned citizen. Is this 1541 South 25th Street?
No, this is 2251 North Franklin.
Oh, thank you very much. I'm sorry. I heard Henry Clinton's voice. All right. Thank you.
All right. Planning Commission.
good morning david effecto city planning commission mr chairman members of the board
the comprehensive plan recommends this property for residential multifamily use
we support not requiring a commercial ground floor however this 1116 square foot lot could only
support two units under residential multifamily one zoning we recommend that the board deny the
requested variants for the third dwelling unit. Thank you. MI 2021 -001568, 2251 North Franklin
Street. My vote is yet. Mr. Clinton, you said there was a revised plan, correct? One page?
There's a provisor sheet and a revised plan one page, which has been submitted.
vote is yes with the proviso revised plan one page approved today
jane snell yes we're proviso thomas holloman yes with proviso thank you are we ready to go
back to west grange avenue yet yes chair she is ready thank you miss nichols thank you miss
nichols yes thank you for your patience i hope this works okay no worries thank you please proceed
All right. So all right, I think we have it. Can everyone see my screen? Yes. Okay. So
it worked. Thank you so much, the IT person. They were so helpful. So as you see here,
we're seeking a variant for a multifamily building with three units. Inside, you will
see an order, the notice of refusal. Next, you'll see the project information.
Here we have the deed to the property.
And the current document is the tax clearance for the property.
You're now looking at the site plan.
Could you go back to that, back to the site plan and enlarge it a little bit, please?
Sure. Do you want me to, do you want me to turn it as well?
Yes, that would be helpful.
All right.
Is that better?
Actually, it's a little bit too large.
Okay. I'll select a different size. How's that? Is that a little better?
And if you could turn it, that would be helpful.
Yeah, I will turn it.
Wait, the wrong way.
how's that is that better and and if you could enlarge the the entire screen as there we go
there you go perfect thank you how's that that's that's helpful thank you okay so a little larger
if you could though i'm just looking okay no problem i got this new computer and you know
it's a little tricky to use
i gotta go so you want it a little bit bigger let's see if that is that big enough
uh yeah i think so tom can you see it that's it that's good that's good that's good right there
thank you just let me know when you're ready to go to the next we're ready you please proceed
okay all right thank you so much for your patience this photograph and i have to go back to
view, rotate.
Hopefully I can get this to do
the right thing.
All right.
Here we go. This is the north side
of the property in the front.
We don't see that. We're not seeing.
Do you see it?
At least I don't
by somebody oh i got it now sorry good that's okay no problem okay please proceed all right
so this next picture is the south side of the property and i'm going to change the view back to
uh where it was
There we go.
This is a view of the south side of the property.
Can you see that?
All right.
The next picture is a view of the east side of the property.
Can you see that?
Yes. Okay. This next picture is a view of the west side of the property. This is on 17th Street.
The west side is the one on the left? Yes, the one on the left. Right here, this one. Yep. Okay.
Are you ready for the next picture? Yes, ma 'am. Okay. And this is a view of the rear of the property.
are you ready for the next yes yes yes okay and this is a picture
going to the next slide all right of the zoning notice posted on the property
are you ready now yes okay and these are the posted addresses that were notified
and this is a uh the rco the summary of the rco meeting
okay and the notice
And this is a letter of support from the RCO approving the variance.
And that ends my presentation.
Could you go back to the site plan?
Yes. You need me to maneuver it back into how I had it before with the, here we go.
you can rotate that i sure will
hopefully this is oops keep choosing the wrong way
okay there we go okay um i just want to make sure tom you're gonna
Mr. Holloman, are you looking at this?
I'm looking at it, but it's not clear to me.
Wait, do you need me to make it smaller, or do you need me to make it bigger?
What do you not see?
Enlarge it.
You want it much bigger than it is now?
It's not a site plan.
Go to the site plan, please.
Do you see this document here?
Tom, do you have any questions?
All right.
Ms. Nichols, you want to ask your client if he adopts your testimony?
Yes. May I close this?
Can I close this now?
Okay. Thank you so much.
Mr. McCray, you've heard the testimony here and seen the presentation.
Do you adopt the testimony that I've presented today as your testimony before the board?
Yes. Yes, I do.
Thank you.
Questions from the board? No. Anyone else would like to testify in this case please raise your hand.
Seeing all hands at this time chair. Thank you. Planning Commission?
Good morning. David Fecto, City Planning Commission, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
The comprehensive plan recommends this property for single family use.
However, this appears to be a long -standing three -unit building.
We recommend that the board approve the requested variance.
Thank you. MI 2021 -001498, 1651 West Grange Street.
My vote is yes. James Snell, my vote is yes.
Thomas Howellman, my vote is yes.
thank you we go to number six mi 2021 -00 someone may i be excused yes yes thank you so much for
your patience today thank you have a good day mi 2021 -001 -532 -2300 south 20th street
Mr. Raymond DiRizio is the attorney of record. Notation says we have not yet received a letter from the RCO.
Excuse me, Chair. Can I please ask Mr. Holloman, I think that you had two of your devices volumes on.
It looks like they're both off now, but when you speak, definitely only do one of them and we won't hear the echo.
get that Tom
Tom you're muted
are you able to unmute one without the other yeah I corrected it I lost power I corrected it
perfect you read my mind thank you no problem mr dorizio
he's coming back and now chairs a panelist
thank you mr dorizio please identify yourself with the record spell your name and i'll swear
you in yes good morning mr chairman members of the board raymond dorizio d -o -r -i -z -i -o
to Penn Center, Suite 521 -9102, Attorney for Applicant.
We're a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Mr. Snell?
Okay, Mr. D 'Orizio, also, have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents,
proof of ownership, proof of tax compliance, copy of the refusal or referral,
and plans and photos five days prior to this hearing?
have you met with the rco yes and finally do you have a letter from the rco well the rco
sent in an email this morning that's um from gear and that's miss jody um hold on i'm gonna pull it
up jody della barba she sent that in at uh looks like at 6 57 this morning an email and i was cc on
looks like at 6 57 this morning an email and i was cc on it and it's an email of support
okay great uh you may proceed thank you before you begin
sharon and or tanya have you received that letter i have not
it was an email it looks like uh miss sunka was copied uh councilman johnson i'm sorry this is
if we could proceed and i will have the staff take a look at the zba box okay thank you thank
you thank you please proceed thank you so this is 2300 south 20th street um
it's on the corner of 20th and wolf um it's my client mark lewitz he's the owner it's his
application for two family dwelling in the existing structure that was the refusal um
Um, I'm going to get to the deed. Here's the deed. He purchased the property in 2015.
Here are the plans. He's asking for two, two bedroom units. Um, this is a photo of the front
of the building. It's on the Southwest corner of 20th street. Uh, this is the side facing, uh,
or looking South. It's the side of the building. That is a photo of 20th street going North.
that's 20th street going south here are some photos of the interior sorry about that if i
could twist it but that is kitchen bathroom we did get a petition from the near neighbors
here are some signatures from them we did meet with gerard estate area residents mistela barbara
that was last week there's no opposition as far as i know to this proposal and here is my client's
tax clearance I believe Mr. Liuzzi is on the call. The building is currently uh the first
floor is currently in office is that correct? Yes yes. Okay I'm familiar with the property.
All right Mr. Liuzzi if you're available please spell your full name and I swear you in.
Mr. Liuzzi you can unmute yourself and speak now.
Mr. Luizzi, please unmute yourself and speak now.
L -E -U -Z -Z -I.
L -E -U -Z -Z -I.
Do you swear to affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Thank you, ma 'am.
Mr. Liuzzi, you heard my testimony, correct?
You were on the call?
Yes, I did.
I'm going to get off the cat tree.
I'm sorry?
And was it truthful and accurate?
Yes, it is.
And would you adopt it as your own?
Yes, I would.
And you wish to adopt it as your own for the purposes of this hearing?
Yes, I do.
Thank you.
I have nothing further.
Questions from the board?
Anyone else would like to testify in this case, please raise your hand.
There are no hands at this time, Chair.
Thank you.
Planning Commission?
Good morning.
David Fecto, City Planning Commission.
Mr. Chairman, members of the board,
the comprehensive plan recommends no change in the existing single family zoning for this property
we are aware of only one other two -family home on this block of south 20th street
we recommend that the board deny the requested variance david do you are real uh are you aware
that the first floor is commercial space i was not aware of that no it has been for a number of
years that's why i only just bring that to your attention so it has not been used as a single
family for a number of years okay thank you thank you thank you did we find the letter tanya
sharon jason is still searching for it sir so could what do you do you recommend we hold this
vote i don't want to hold it for another week if we can find the letter we can vote it today
this is sharon do you have a copy of the letter can you just forward it to me
please? Absolutely. I could forward the email to you right now. And I just did.
chair since my internet seems to be working a little slowly this morning do you want to just
hold this until the end of the next case and then vote it yeah we'll do it at the end all right um
mr uh darizio we'll we'll get to this uh and momentarily okay okay thank you i'm gonna log
back in for my phone only because I have to, I have an appearance before. Sure. No worries. Thank you.
All right. We can now go to case number eight, MI 2021 -001495, 5046 Germantown Avenue.
Yvonne Haskins is the attorney of record. Wakefield 49ers Community Improvement and
Development Association has sent a letter of support along with a letter of support from
Councilwoman Bass. Ms. Haskins, if you are here, please raise your hand.
She's coming back in as a panelist now, Chair. Thank you.
am i morning good morning please identify yourself spell your first and last name and
i'll swear you in good morning mr chairman my name is yvonne haskins yvonne y -v -o -n -n -e
Haskins, H -A -S -K -I -N -S, attorney for the applicant. You swear and firm to tell the
truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth? I do. Thank you. Mr. Snow has some questions for you.
Good morning. Have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents,
proof of ownership, proof of tax compliance, copy of the refusal or referral, and plans and photos
five days prior to this meeting? Yes, sir, I have. Okay. Have you met with the RCO? Yes, sir.
They've sent in a letter. Okay. And that was my final question. Have they sent or do you have a
letter? But okay, that's great. You may proceed. Thank you, Mr. Snow. Good morning, members of the
board. I represent the applicant and I have to preface my presentation by saying this is probably
most frustrating, one of the most frustrating cases I've ever presented. I would like to share
my, begin by sharing my screen to begin to give you some background as I present the case.
May I share the screen? And I hope I do a better job this time than I did the last.
yes yes you may and um can you go to the green button that says share
um i see start video i don't i think that's just to show my face okay i saw your video i just saw
you you look cute um so if you hit that green there we go we see you now okay so now hit the
button that says share at the bottom you're on a regular computer yeah i'm on it let me put it in
full screen and it's on you okay now i see it now i see it and you have your documents up already
i have them up and i i think they're right here and you click on it once you hit click on that
okay there you go it's coming up i did it all right
This is the history of members of the board. You will see the date here of 2004.
That's a permit that allows three families. This project is zoned CMX -2 .5 which requires
commercial on the first floor. However, my client has had a rental license for this property for
the past. I don't know how to enlarge that. Well, anyway, the rental license is showing
me on the screen if I ever figure out how to enlarge it that he's had and is that is current
as of this year. And so from this zoning permit, you can see that he had the right
for the three families of residential and the first floor. The issue here of the refusal,
The issue here of the refusal, which I will show you, I did send in the refusal, but I have to.
which I will show you.
This is Pauline from IT.
If you went to Zoom in, you could do what you did, except choose Zoom in instead of Zoom out.
Oh, is that what I did?
I Zoomed out?
It's not Zooming for me.
I thought I Zoomed.
zoom in, right? But it's moving. So you'll have to just pan over
and then choose zoom in again. Zoom in.
Can you see it now? That's a refusal? Okay. And that's the license that shows you that
But as of 2022, February, it was an active rental license.
But of course, we couldn't renew because we had the refusal.
The reason that this happened to change the use is that my client was planning to sell the property last year.
He hired an expediter to go to L &I to get a property certificate, as every seller has to get.
And somehow in that encounter between the expediter and L &I, they're both pointing fingers at each other.
One is L &I saying the expediter made a mistake. They looked at my permits. They looked at the history.
Then they said all of that had been discarded because the expediter had asked for a change of use back to commercial on the first floor.
unfortunately that is not what what the expediter claims that she asked for she claims that all she
asked for was a property certificate and so um so now here we are before you to get back what my
client had for 16 years i will show you the photos of the property now um starting with
I thought that was the front photo, but that's the backyard.
I have it marked improperly.
This is the rear of the property.
Here's the front of the property, and you can see the zoning posters in the window.
The first floor has the first floor living room, the first floor kitchen.
We have three bedrooms.
for some reason it's that's the third bedroom um there's a laundry room there's a one and a half
baths um in the in the in the floor you can see that it's a very attractive apartment
here are the floor plans that i will try to zoom in again
Let's see the next time I have to practice Zooming.
And these are the floor plans.
Can you see those, Mr. Chairman?
And so I think it's a very simple case for us to consider.
We have full support from the community.
This has been in existence for years and years.
and I'd just like to bring in my client
to affirm my presentation and testimony.
Client's name?
Frank Bruno.
Bruno, if you're out there, please raise your hand.
Mr. Bruno, you can unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Mr. Bruno, will you please spell your name
and for the record?
Yes, Francis Bruno, last name B -R -U -N -O.
Where from to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Thank you.
Did you hear my, were you available to hear my testimony?
Yes, I did.
In full.
And do you affirm this as your, and adopt this as your testimony?
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
that's the that's our presentation thank you request approval thank you questions from the
board no no anyone else like to testify in this case if so please raise your hand
i've seen no hands at this time chair thank you planning commission good morning david
Defecto, City Planning Commission, Mr. Chairman, members of the board, the comprehensive plan
recommends no change to the existing commercial mixed -use zoning at this location.
However, the applicant has shown the circumstances exist that would preclude the
However, the applicant has shown the circumstances exist that would preclude the use of the ground floor as a commercial use.
We recommend that the board approve the requested variance.
Thank you. MI 2021 -001495. 5046 Germantown Avenue, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
we're going to go back to case number six thank you mr chairman may i be excused yes you may thank
you thank you i 2021 that's zero zero one five three two twenty three hundred south 20th this
is only for the purpose of a vote my vote is yes
thomas holliman my vote is yes
sorry i was muted james now my vote is yes
Thank you. We now go to case number 10, 11, and 12. I believe they'll all be heard together. Case number MI 2021 -001 -531 -537 Jackson Street, MI 2021 -001 -552 -541 Jackson Street,
and MI 2021 -001499 -539 Jackson Street.
Jennifer Bislow is the attorney of record.
There are letters of opposition on all three of these cases
from Councilman Squilla and the 7th Street Community Civic Association.
Ms. Bislow, would you please identify yourself and I'll square you in?
i i just want to also say i didn't hear what you said about the community and and councilman letters
could you repeat that the letters of opposition from the seventh street community civic association
and councilman squilla on all three of the cases great um so my name is jennifer bazidlow b as in
boy a as in apple z as in zebra of y d as in david l as in larry o as an oscar uh 4500 worst street
suite d202 philadelphia pennsylvania 19124 you swear from to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth i do and i also have co -counsel on this who's with me um mark schaefer
so can you put your name and address on the record as well get sworn in yes mark schaefer
s -c -h -a -f -f -e -r 1500 walnut street suite 2000 philadelphia 19102 thank you mr schaefer you
swear to firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do i do mr snell has
questions. Thank you. Sure. Counselor, have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required
documents, proof of ownership, proof of tax compliance, copy of the refusal or referral,
and plans and photos five days prior to this hearing? Yes, I did. Okay. Have you also met with
the RCO? Yes. And did you happen to get a letter from the RCO? I have an email from the RCO. An
email. Okay, great. You may proceed. Thank you. I'm going to share my screen, all right?
And before you begin, Tanya and or Sharon, do we have that email from the RCO?
We're going to check. It was submitted with my exhibit packet as well. Okay, I just want to
double check and you can proceed while Tanya's looking for it. Thank you. Great. Hold on, let
me just move where this is so that I can move my screen. All right, so like I said, I'm here today
On behalf of the owners of 537 -539 -541 -Jackson Street, the owners are Mei Li Lai and Ting Chen, who own the property through their LLC, 3401 Sky Properties.
I have submitted a packet. I'm just going to roll through some preliminary documents with the refusal.
The only refusal for all properties are for multifamily use in an RSA 5 property.
um we also have the deed tax compliance for all properties the email from the rco which we'll
come back to later our community notification letters with proof of mailing um i also directly
reached out to the apartment building that's adjacent to the properties in case they didn't
see the letter and current photographs. This is the outside of the property. Inside is in rough
shape right now. And the plans, which I'll pause here. I've also submitted the zoning archives for
these properties, OPA records for these properties, zoning maps, the 2016 notices of decisions and
zoning permits 2016 photographs to 2016 letter of non -opposition from the RCO and a
to 2016 letter of non -opposition from the RCO and a letter leaving the decision in 2016 up to the
board from Councilman Squilla. And I've also attached a email that I sent to Councilman
Squilla's office concerning the very troubling behavior of what happened at this RCO meeting.
All right, so 537, 539, 541 Jackson are each individual properties. They are each three
stories. They're about 2 ,300 square feet a piece, and they are on the 500 block of Jackson Street.
The only other use on Jackson Street, the only other structure on Jackson Street is a 67 -unit
apartment building, which you can see in this photo here, which is Jackson Place,
and across the street is Weinberg Park. There are no single -family uses on this block.
Our plan that we submitted, the application is to use each of these structures as a three -unit dwelling, family dwelling, with one unit on each floor.
For 537 and 541, they have identical floor plans. The first floor would be one bedroom, one bath.
and the second and third floor are two bedroom two baths and for 539 the first and third floor
are one bedroom one bath and the second floor is two bedrooms and one bath this is important for
later on when I talk about the community meeting but they're planning on the full renovation inside
and out of these properties and these units would be rented at 700 to 800 a month which makes them
affordable for families making as little as $25 ,000 a year and makes them accessible to the existing
community. This is the floor plans. So I want to go to the zoning archives because this is really
important. These buildings have been used as multi -unit residential buildings for at least
60 years. For 537 there was a unit there was a variance granted in 1977 with documentation attached
that it had been used as a multi -unit building since at least 1966. For 539 there was a variance
granted for a triplex in 1940 and for 541 there's a variance granted for a triplex in 1952.
So, as you can see, these properties have been used this way for a long time.
Let me just go to the next section.
It's also worth noting that the OPA records for all of these properties indicate that they are apartments and conversions.
And so they are currently being taxed and classified by the OPA as multifamily properties.
um so these have been multi -families since you know the 1940s 50s 60s etc and they have been
in continuous use and have only been used as multi -family properties since then they were
occupied up to 2014 um the two owners ago uh failed to obtain the rental licenses and also
failed to maintain the buildings in general between 2009 and 2014 which caused at the time
the 50 plus year old variances to lapse even though that use was still a continuous use of
the property. In 2016 the prior owner prior to my client to the current clients current owners
reapplied for the variances
and they were granted the variances
for each of the properties.
And at the time, the RCO had no objection
to this use of the property
and Councilman Squill has sent in a letter
which said that he would leave the decision
up to the zoning board.
Hold on, let me just get to these.
this is this is what the property looked like in 2016. As you can see it was really run down
and needed extensive work even then.
Sorry one second let me just get to the right document here.
So here's the letter of non -opposition from 7th street in 2016 and here is the letter
leaving it up to the board in 2016 from Councilman Squilla. So, so what happened? Why are we back
here again? The previous owner, JCAAL LLC ran into financial trouble and could not complete
and could not complete the substantial renovation that was needed on this property within the three years and obtain the CO.
the substantial renovation that was needed on this property within the
And so the 2016 variance lapsed, even though this property has still never been used for anything other than multifamily housing.
um since since the uh we now have a client uh sky properties llc who is well capitalized and
is prepared to invest over three thousand three hundred thousand dollars in renovation in these
properties over and above the acquisition cost to complete the extensive renovations that are
needed inside and outside of this prosperity and quite frankly without the granting of these
variances, this project is financially unviable. Um, since 2014, these properties, um, have sat
vacant. They have been, despite both, both of my prior, my prior client and my current client's
best efforts, they have been subject to squatters breaking into the building,
illegal drug use, dumping, and all sorts of other problems. Um, we are prepared to start this
renovation and finish it within the next five to eight months, have families living back in
these properties from the community, engaging with the neighborhood, and keeping a watch over
the area. If the variances are denied, they will likely sit vacant for a significantly longer
period of time. Let me go back to one other thing. So like I said, these properties have been used
since 40s really as multifamily properties. But not only that, it's consistent with the adjacent
uses in the neighborhood. Like I said before, the only other building on this block is a large 67
unit apartment building that's directly connected to my client's property. And also all of the
properties marked in red, which is 23 properties within the adjacent block, are in fact not
single -family homes and are used for something the last registered use was for something other
than single -family either multi -family or mixed -use commercial and residential.
Furthermore if you pull out a little bit further and you go to the next block over it's the 7th
Street commercial corridor and next block to the north is Snyder Street which Snyder Ave which we
know has many mixed -use commercial buildings and multi -family housing as well. In between Snyder
here there's another large apartment complex right here and there are several other apartment
buildings when you go beyond that narrow one block radius but i didn't feel the need to
list all of them since we had so many just within one block
and as you know when we look at case law allows us to look at the surrounding use and see that
when we have a building that's surrounded by multi -family uses it's appropriate
to consider it a hardship to use this family as a uses use these properties as single family
all right i do want to go back to talk about the rco meeting um
so this is the letter and obviously you said we had a letter of opposition i didn't receive a
copy of councilman's school's letter so i'm not sure exactly what it said um however i just want
to note that the community meeting was only attended by the RCO chair, Mr. Bruce Baldwin.
There was one other person who showed up, but they left. And so this opposition is based solely
on his opinion, which when you read through his letter seems to be a complete misunderstanding of
what we have proposed, the history of these properties, the procedural case history of
this property. And I have to point out also racism. I am not one to usually make this argument.
However, in the eight, almost eight years that I've been practicing, I have never seen such
egregious behavior at an RCO meeting. I was barely able to present any information to Mr. Baldwin.
He continually mentioned the national origin and race of my clients throughout the meeting,
kept asking if they spoke English, and if they spoke English, why weren't they speaking to him
when I had been hired to represent and present? And then, even more so, when I started talking
about community housing and how these would be affordable for the existing community,
Mr. Baldwin went on a tirade for over 20 minutes about how Asian landlords don't rent to the
community, they only rent to Asians and violate fair housing standards, which ignores the fact
that Asian Americans are part of this community. My client also insisted that they will follow
all laws and rent to whoever is a qualified candidate, regardless of their race. And I
and I asked if he specifically would had any evidence that my client had ever violated fair
asked if he specifically had any evidence that my client had ever violated fair housing.
housing laws. He just continued on about how the community couldn't support variances for
apartments that would only be rented to Asians. So um shockingly if you read his letter this
racism is reflected further in his letter where he points out again unnecessarily and without
any reason, my client's ethnicity and their English language skills. I believe that this case,
these variants should be granted on the merits of the case, about the existing uses and surrounding
uses. However, I did feel the need to point out this very overt racism, since this type of overt
anti -Asian racism needs to be called out and addressed, especially since this area of South
Philly is a wonderfully diverse neighborhood. And to have someone overseeing the RCO process
and affecting zoning decisions in this area that is openly hostile to Asian property owners
is very troubling to me. With that, I just want to summarize that I believe the zoning board should
grant these variances and that using each of these structures as three family dwellings is
completely appropriate given the history of the properties and the surrounding neighborhood and
the fact that these properties have been severely neglected prior to my client's ownership and that
we will renovate reactivate and rent them at affordable affordable prices to quality tenants
thank you thank you uh miss boswell you want to have your client adopt your testimony yes i
I believe Miley Lai should be on.
Can you raise your hand?
Ms. Lai, you can unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Hello?
Good morning. Please identify yourself, spell your full name, and I'll swear you in.
My name is Mei Li Lai, M -A -I -L -Y, first name and last name L -A -I.
You swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
Thank you. Please proceed.
All right. You heard my testimony here today and believe it to be truthful and accurate?
And you would adopt it as your own and choose to adopt it as your own?
yes thank you any questions yeah i just would you go back could you go back to the d
is there something in particular you would like i'm just looking at the purchase price it was
306 ,000 for all three properties I assume right 100 ,000 roughly 100 ,000 each okay thank you
uh questions from the board no no anyone else would like to testify in this case if so please
raise your hand there are no other hands at this time chair thank you planning commission
Good morning, David Fecto, City Planning Commission, Mr. Chairman, members of the Board.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing single -family zoning for these properties.
These properties received use permits for three -unit buildings in 2016.
At that time, the Planning Commission staff gave no objection to the requests for three units and a single -family zoning district at the ZBA hearing.
We recommend that the Board approve the requested variance for all three properties.
Thank you.
MI 2021 -001 -531 -537 Jackson Street, MI 2021 -001 -552 -541 Jackson Street,
and MI 2021 -001 -499 -539 Jackson Street.
I'm going to recommend that the record be closed
and the board will discuss this case
at next Wednesday's executive session.
Okay, Jennifer, we'll get back to you next week.
All right.
Any other unfinished business for the 930 list?
nothing that I have nothing you just make the announcement here nothing that I have here
there's no hands up at this time what announcement is that
oh just to see if we have unfinished business with the um
Oh, just to see if we had unfinished minutes with the, um, the attendees.
Is there anyone who has not been heard would like to testify? Did we miss anyone?
Yeah, no hands up at this time, Chair. Okay. Thank you, everyone. See you back here at two o 'clock.
See you later. Thank you.
and we'll give Yvette and Tanya a few minutes nope chair we're all ready
good afternoon everyone thank you 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 board members Mr. Thomas
Holloman and Mr. James Snell. Board Administrator Yvette Benton and Board Attorney Ms. Sharon Saleta
are also in attendance in addition to Ms. Tanya Sunkit, our zoning board administrator. 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 on the web or otherwise. 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 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. Finally, to enter an appearance
statement, call Google 267 -270 -5548 and leave your email address in the address of the property
at issue. I will 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 would also like to remind
everyone please do not attempt to testify in the chat any comments or questions should be directed
to our board administrator today ms yvette benton with that i will read off uh requests for
continuances on the two o 'clock list. Case number one, MI 2020 -001309. 109 Pleasant Street
is represented by attorney Michael Phillips, and he has requested a continuance.
number 10 on our list mi 2021 -001 772 6439 lansdowne avenue attorney of record is jared
klein requested a continuance uh just double checking sharon number six what was that with
number 2840 home avenue is that going to be continued or do we need to have Mr. Patterson
on no that should be read announced just continued okay so also number six on our two o 'clock list
MI 2021 -001 -769 -2840 home avenue is also continued if anyone disagrees with the request
for those continuances, please raise your hand at this time. Only if you disagree with the cases
that I've read into the record to be continued. I see no hands at this time, Chair. Thank you. I
will now ask if anyone would like to request a continuance or withdrawal for the two o 'clock
list, please raise your hand. If you would like a continuance or withdrawal on the two o 'clock
please raise your hand at this time and we have rachel pritzker with her hand up
miss pritzker you can unmute yourself and wait for the chair thank you miss pritzker please
identify yourself i'll swear you in uh 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 thank you swear a friend to tell the truth the
whole truth, nothing but the truth. Yes. Thank you. Please proceed. Sure. I'd like to request
a continuance on behalf of the applicant for 4603 Adams Avenue. Okay. That's number eight
on our list. MI 2021 -001 -767 -4603 Adams Avenue is continued. Thank you. Thank you. Any other
request for continuances or withdrawals on the two o 'clock list. I see no hands chair.
on the two o 'clock list i see no hands chair thank you without any uh other objection we'll
begin with case number two mi 2021 -001774 2228 saint albin street mr bertel is the attorney of
record there is a letter of support from sasna south of neighbor south of south neighborhood
Association. He's coming back in as a panelist now, Chair. Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman,
members of the board. Good afternoon, Mr. Bertil. Please identify yourself and I'll
swear you in? Steve Bertil, B -E -R -T -I -L, from Claire Harrison, Harvey, and Bransburg. Address
is 1835 Market Street, Suite 1400, 19103. You swear in a firm to tell the truth, the whole
truth, nothing but the truth? Yes, I do. Thank you. Mr. Snell has some questions for you.
Sure. Oh, sorry, I had to mute there.
Also, sir, have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents, proof of ownership, proof of tax compliance, a copy of the refusal or referral, and plans and photos five days prior to the hearing?
Yes, to all of the above.
Okay, and have you met with the RCO?
Yes, we have.
And do you have a letter from the RCO?
Yes, we have a letter of support with two provisals.
Okay, great. You may proceed.
Thank you very much. I will share my screen now.
Okay, as was stated, I'm here for 2228 St. Alvin Street. I represent the applicants and the owners of Mark and Maxine of this property who are residents and owners in this property.
We are seeking today a variance for the removal of a rear deck, but more importantly, the addition of a third story so that Mark and Maxine can maintain living in this home and allow the home to accommodate their lifestyle.
The property in question, as you can see, fronts on St. Albans Street between South 22nd Street and South 23rd Street.
Hey, Mr. Bertil. I'm sorry. Are you just showing us the
yellow? Right. You should be seeing a zoning area map. Okay. Thank you. Okay.
Let me jump to the, so this is the existing conditions of the property. As you can see,
it's currently a two story residential home for the, for use as a single family home.
They are maintaining that use as a single family home. They are adding a third story addition with a roof deck and a roof access structure. The refusals that we have are due to the setback of the proposed third story addition and originally the setback of the roof deck.
As you'll see in a second, we have agreed to two provisos and revised plans that eliminates the roof deck refusal.
So now we only have the one refusal regarding the set due to the overlay that addresses the third story additions on the property.
As you'll see, as I go through the presentation, just a little bit of context of the area, although the block is predominantly two stories,
As you can see, there has been three additions put on on properties on the immediate block and immediate neighbors.
Here's another addition.
As you'll see with our design, we are mimicking the additions that have been done thus far with a dorm or roof that addresses some of the concerns that exist with third -story additions, so it's not as imposing on the streetscape.
We did talk to our near neighbors. As you'll see, we have a petition of support for our addition
from our immediately adjacent neighbors, but also neighbors up and down the block.
The property itself, let me go to the design here.
as you can see this is the proposed design for our addition as you'll see um it's almost
um it's almost identical to some of the designs that are here and we originally had one large
identical to some of the designs that are here and we originally had one large window
window but as part of the provisals that we agreed to with the community and we agreed to do
the two separate uh dormers um to to fit more of the character we're maintaining the cornice line
as is desired uh by the community group in fact we're enhancing the cornice line because as you
saw from our um the existing conditions um currently this sort of cornice has not developed
out at some point it was taken off uh previous to our ownership to the applicant's ownership
of the property but we're going to re -establish that with this addition designed to maintain
sort of the consistency across the corners of the block we did meet with the community group
we met with their architectural committee and with the full community group and we have a letter
of support for the proposed addition with two provisos, one of which is making sure the deck
and the railing for the roof deck is set back five feet, which eliminates one of our refusals.
And the other, as I stated, is utilizing the two dormers with double hung windows,
as opposed to what our previous design was. As such, because actually let me scroll down so you
You can see it was unanimous support,
no votes in opposition.
And therefore we are requesting that the board approve
our advance request considering the support
of both the near neighbors, the community group
and no opposition as far as we know.
With me, I have a representative from the owner.
If the board could recognize Mark Nicastra.
Mr. McCastro, please identify yourself, spell your full name, and I'll swear you in.
Spell it.
Mr. McCastro, if you're here, could you please raise your hand?
But yeah, it's updated for today.
I just wanted to make sure that you can...
So just as a reminder, someone has their is not muted and we hear voices in the background.
If you can mute, that'd be helpful.
And Mr. Bertel, if we're not able to get your client.
OK, we'll stipulate you being an officer to court.
Your client would have adopted your testimony.
OK, thank you.
With that, I'm here to answer any questions if the board may have any.
Any questions from the board?
anyone else would like to testify in this case please raise your hand
this is Sharon Mr. Bertil may I ask one question the I just checked your proviso plans form in
the revised plans it appears that both of the requested provisos are incorporated into the
plan so it wouldn't be necessary to add any proviso if the board approves it other than
plans one page that's correct thank you thank you anyone else to testify in this case
Chair, we have Ms. Cohen. Ms. Cohen, you can unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Good afternoon, Ms. Cohen. Please identify yourself with the records by your name.
Ms. Cohen, are you there?
Anyone else to testify in this case?
There are no other hands at this time, Chair. Thank you. Planning Commission?
Good afternoon, Chair, members of the Board. My name is Greg Waltman from Planning Commission
staff um my uh first name is spelled greg or gregory g -r -e -g -o -r -y lasting waldman w -a -l -d as in
door m -a -n as in man you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
um i do please proceed uh the comprehensive plan recommends this property for residential single
family use. This property is on a block that was constructed with two -story homes, some of which
have recently added a third floor. We believe that with the modifications that the property
will not have any adverse impact to the surrounding block. Accordingly, we recommend that the
requesting requested variants be granted. Thank you very much. MI 2021 -001 -774 -2228
2228 St. Albans Street. My vote is yes with a proviso one page approved today.
St. Alban Street. My vote is yes.
James Snell, yes with proviso. Thomas Holloman, yes with proviso.
Thank you. Mr. Bertil, you're up again. MI 2021 -001 -969 -2345 North Front Street.
Chair, this is Sharon. Since I gave you the summaries, we received a letter from Councilwoman
Sanchez in support and her, though I haven't received a copy of the RCO letter, it references
the RCO letter in support. Thank you very much. Mr. Bertil, just identify yourself.
And I can forward that over to Ms. Saleta. We've since received it.
Mr. Bertil, just identify yourself again. You're still under oath.
Sure. Steve Bertil, B -E -R -T -I -O, Claire Harrison, Harvey and Brandsburg for the applicant.
Thank you. Mr. Snell has questions for you again. Mr. Bertil, have you emailed an exhibit packet
with the required documents, proof of ownership, proof of tax compliance, copy of the refusal or
referral, and planes and photos five days prior to this hearing? Yes to all of the above. Okay.
have you met with the RCO? Yes, we have. All right. And did you get a letter from the RCO?
Yes, we received the letter today. Okay, great. Thank you. You may proceed.
Thank you. Let me just start sharing again.
Okay, as was stated, my name is Steve Bertil. I'm here on behalf of the applicant, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, or as we commonly known as SEPTA,
are here for a variance request for 2345 North Front Street. What we're here seeking is approval
for the erection of an enclosure addition on existing, an existing exit stairway from the
York Dolphin train station. And essentially we're constructing a turnstile type enclosure for the
exit. As you can see here, the property, I'm going to call it the property, although what we're
talking about here is exit rear stamps that are laid on top of existing city property. 2345 is
owned by the city. But the area in question is at the corner of North Front Street and East York
Avenue, excuse me, East York Street. The existing site, as you'll see here, is an exit stairway
from the York Dolphin train station. That exit out onto the corner, as you can see from
this. And as you can see from this photo, the steps themselves are attached to an existing
structure that falls within boundary lines of the parcel 2345 North Front Street. The steps are
actually not, the property itself is not in the public right of way as it stands. And as such,
any addition to it will require conformity with the zoning code in terms of occupied area, etc.
And for the refusal that we have for this proposed addition is for the increase of the existing occupied area that's out of conformity with the code.
So currently, the subject property has 80 % occupied area, and we are increasing the occupied area by 2 % with this proposed addition.
So just to see what we're talking about here, as you can see from this, first I want to
show you the zoning. So the site plan, let me zoom in just in case this is hard to see.
You'll see here where my mouse is circulating, where the existing stairway is on top of the
structure. And this is the turnstile enclosure addition that we would like to place. To the
right, you'll see the elevation plans that show you a little bit of the height and the
design of what we're talking about. Here's a better a close up of the turnstile addition.
And here are some renderings of what it will look like once it's a finished product.
And here are some renderings of what it will look like once it's a finished product.
As you can see, it's not dissimilar to some of the turnstile exit structures that you
see on some of the other train stops along the market Frankfurt line.
And here is a rendering sort of within the context of the existing structure.
And so part of the turnstile addition would be additional lighting, additional accessory sort of signage that doesn't require zoning, but most importantly, securing the exit from pedestrians or folks going up the exit as opposed to one -way traffic.
And so we did meet with the RCO. We met with their zoning board and also we met with the
pool community. As you can see, we do now have a letter of support
from the RCO, East Kensington Neighborhood Association. We also have a letter of non -opposition
from the councilwoman's office i believe um her uh representative from her office may be
on the call and he may want to testify as to this letter so as such i'm sorry i don't think you're
done uh yes i am um i was just going to summarize essentially what we're looking to do here is just
enclose the the exit stairway um and due to the unique positioning of the steps is subject to the
occupied area provision of the code. And we're adding a 2 % difference in what's
there. Um, and as such, this is de minimis. Um, we believe that, um, considering the
community support and the public interest of having this properly be secured, we
exit the board, um, grants variance. Do you have a client to adopt your
testimony? I do Malik Gates would be on the line as a representative from
up there. Mr. Bates, you can unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Hello. Good afternoon. Please spell your full name to the record and I'll square you in.
First name is Malik, M -A -L -I -K, last name Bates, B -A -T -E -S. Thank you. You swear a firm to tell
truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do thank you mr bertill uh mr bates did you hear the
testimony that i provided to the board this afternoon i did do you adopt and affirm the
truth of that testimony in the firm it is your own yes i do thank you very much thank you any
questions from the board no no anyone else would like to testify in this case please raise your hand
here we have sloan folks mr folks you can unmute yourself and wait for the chair
good afternoon mr folks please identify yourself
if you have to unmute yourself mr folks
i'm sorry i apologize no worry all right uh good morning uh good afternoon chairman de chico and
zba board uh my name is sloan folks i'm representing the office of councilman maria
sanchez uh room 508 city hall my name s s -l -o -a -n -e f -s -n -f -i -r -o -l -k -s
Thank you. You swear firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Thank you. Please proceed.
The applicant, having met with the coordinating RCO and receiving a letter of support, our office offers, would like to offer no opposition to this various requests. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Anyone else to testify in this case? Please raise your hand.
in no other hands at this time chair thank you planning commission
good afternoon this is greg waldman planning commission staff this property was rezoned
from commercial mixed use 2 to commercial mixed use 2 .5 as part of a district plan supported
remapping in 2016. this property is owned by the department of public property um and used as the
exit from the York Dolphin Station on the mark of Frankfurt Elevated Railway.
The proposed addition to accommodate a turnstile slightly increases the non -conformity by about
2 % of occupied area.
Accordingly, we recommend granting the variance that would provide de minimis relief in order
to enhance security to the corridor and transit stop.
Thank you.
MI 2021 -001 -9629.
0 -0 -1 -9 -6 -2 -9 -2 -3 -4 -5 North Front Street. My vote is yes.
Jane Snell, my vote is yes.
Thomas Holliman, my vote is yes.
Thank you.
MI, case number four, MI 2021 -0 -0 -1 -7 -7 -3 -2 -6 -3 -6 Belgrade Street.
Attorney of record is Jared Klein.
There's a letter of non -opposition from the old Richmond Civic Association.
Mr. Klein is coming back in as a panelist now.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair, members of the board.
Good afternoon, Mr. Klein.
I don't know if that's your screen that I'm seeing with blur virtual.
I don't know if anybody else sees that blur virtual background.
I am not sharing my screen, so I don't believe it's me.
All right. In any event, please spell your full name and I'll square you in.
Certainly. It's Jared, J -A -R -E -D.
Last name's Klein, K -L -E -I -N, from Blank Rome, 130 North 18th Street, Philadelphia.
You swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Thank you.
Mr. Snow has some questions for you.
Hey, Jared, have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents, proof of ownership,
proof of tax compliance, copy of the refusal or referral, and plans and photos five days
prior to this hearing?
Yes, I have.
All right.
Have you also met with the RCO?
Yes, we have.
Okay. Final question. And do you have a letter from the RCO?
We do. Yes.
Awesome. Okay. Please proceed.
Thank you very much. I'm going to share my screen. Does everybody see that?
Okay. Thank you, Mr. Holloman. Yeah. So we're here for 2636 Belgrade Street, and this is a fairly
simple and straightforward application. This is an existing structure that was approved
through a buy right permit for 19 residential units and a ground floor commercial space
consistent with its zoning. This application is to remove the commercial space and replace
it with a single residential unit. So a total of 20 residential units in the building and
removing that commercial space. Because we're zoned CMX2, we got a refusal for not having
the required ground floor commercial. The reason for this variance is that we have attempted to
do some lease up and found that this is just not a viable commercial space. It is a very small
commercial space and the property is already located off of a commercial corridor and I'll
show the board that now. This is the property that we're speaking about here. We're located
sort of adjacent to Aramingo Avenue, which as the board knows is a very well -developed
commercial corridor. And so there's not a lot of leasing opportunity or business viability
for a small commercial space that would be located on the interior of this property here.
So we thought a better use of the space would be to convert it to a 20th residential unit,
which is consistent with the rest of the development and minimally impactful versus
what was approved by right just to give the board a sense of where we are this is the street here
looking both ways on belgrade street this is the project uh it's actually further along in
construction now but when this photo was taken this is the property in development there and
more views of the of the street this is a more recent photo just to show the board the progress
on the construction that's been made and this is the belgrade street frontage um which is smaller
than as it as it backs up. Photos of our posting are included here. And just to give the board a
sense, this would be the layout of the additional residential unit we're adding. It is an ADA
accessible unit. When we met with the RCO, that was a point that they appreciated. We're trying
to provide a space that is handicapped accessible within this building. And as I believe the chair
noted when he started, we did meet with a very sparsely attended meeting with the old Richmond
Civic Association. Their letter is in front of the board now. As you can see, they noted that
they thanked us for our time and courtesy and talking through this proposal with them. And
although there was only one community member who attended that meeting, as you can see,
they concluded that the likelihood that the commercial space would be difficult and that
they take a position of non -opposition to the application. So again, we think this is a relatively
So again, we think this is a relatively minimal variance that's being driven by market conditions at that site, and will have no negative community impact and we'd ask the board to approve it.
minimal variance that's being driven.
I would ask Cynthia Schlegel if she is on the line to virtually raise her hand to briefly adopt my testimony.
Cynthia, are you there?
i see no one by that name at this time thank you mr klein uh you being an officer of court
will stipulate that your client would have adopted your testimony she certainly would
have thank you chair thank you any questions from the board no no anyone else would like
to testify in this case please raise your hand i see no hands at this time chair thank you very
much planning commission good afternoon this is greg waldman planning commission staff
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing commercial mixed use zoning for this
property the building was originally permitted in 2018 with a by right ground floor vacant
commercial space. The property is property situated on a side street all of the Aramingo
Avenue commercial corridor and the remainder of the block is primarily residential. We believe
the applicant has demonstrated a sufficient hardship in proving the challenge of finding
a commercial tenant. Accordingly, we recommend that the requested variance be granted.
Thank you. MI 2021 -001 -773. 2636 Belgrade Street. My vote is yes. James Snell. My vote is yes.
Thomas Holliman. My vote is yes. Thank you. We now go to case number seven. Thank you. MI 2021 -001 -768 -434
north 54th street uh rachel pritzker is the attorney of record uh my notes say that we've
not yet received an rco letter but i'm sure ms pritzker will straighten that out please
identify yourself you're still on the oath
chair i promoted brandon sevron brandon are you uh the attorney yes okay please spell your full
name, and I'll swear you in. B -R -A -N -D -O -N -S -A -V -R -A -N. Do you swear a firm to tell the truth,
the whole truth, nothing but the truth? Yes, I do. Thank you. Mr. Snell has questions for you.
Good afternoon. Have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents,
proof of ownership, proof of tax compliance, copy of the refusal or referral, and plans and photos
five days prior to this hearing? Yes, we did. Okay. Have you also met with the RCO?
Yes, we did on, I believe, May 13th. Okay. And finally, have you acquired a letter from the RCO?
Yes. And that was received June 13th. And I believe it was in our RCO packet. If not,
I apologize for that. But we do have a letter of support. Okay, great. You can proceed. Thank you.
Thank you. I'm going to share my screen just to show everyone the property.
Oh, this is actually the letter of support. Can the board see this?
Okay, great. So here's the June 13th letter.
um hmc squared was the rco and you'll see uh the vote i believe was um nine in support one
in opposition and one in non -opposition um and the reason we're here is seeking a variance for
a refusal to uh allow us to put a children's daycare facility in an rsa 5 district so it's
just one use refusal. I think it's probably helpful to see the property. So this is in
West Philadelphia on 54th Street. One block down in the distance there at that light is Lancaster
Avenue, just to give everyone a sense of approximately where we are. And this is the
property, which my client purchased recently from the Kingdom's Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses. It
was recently in use as a house of worship. And my client operates a daycare center in Smyrna,
Delaware, that he owns. He has also had a partnership with the School District of
Philadelphia to operate after school programs in Philadelphia schools over the years.
But this would be his first facility in the city for which
but this would be his first facility in the city for which he would own the land. And he was
Thank you.
attracted to this property because it's a nice size. It has a very nice size parking lot. You
can see here with well over a dozen spaces. And actually, if I sort of go down here, there's an
internal loop that passes by the building. So you could have sort of a one -way flow of traffic
through the property. Having attended a lot of ZBA hearings about daycare facilities,
you know, pick up and drop off traffic is a common concern of neighbors and a practical problem that
this site does a really good job handling because children can get in and out of the car off the
street. They're nowhere near the street and it's not going to hold up traffic. And this street is
is a nice width and has accommodated ingress and egress traffic from these gates for many years as
long as this church has been there. So I have, I believe, the architect on the line. He can speak
to the interior configurations that are proposed to turn the church into a daycare, but it does
not affect the external footprint of the building, which I know the neighbors were pleased to hear.
and I'm only going to bring him on if the board requests it.
I don't want to eat up any more of your time than needed.
We appreciate that.
Does the board need to see the interior?
So, all right, Mr.
Do you have your client to adopt your testimony?
His name is Curtis Singleton.
He should be out there on the line.
Mr. Singleton, you can unmute yourself
and wait for the chair to swear you in mr singleton please spell your full name and i'll
swear you in my name is curtis singleton c -u -r -t -i -s s -i -n -g -l -e -t -o -n where from to tell
the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes thank you please proceed mr savran
hey curtis um so did you hear all of my testimony and can you confirm for the board that it was
accurate and truthful and would you adopt it as your own yes i would adopt the testimony thank you
thank you questions from the board no anyone else would like to testify in this case please raise
your hand i see no hands at this time thank you planning commission
Good afternoon. This is Greg Waldman, Planning Commission staff.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing single -family residential zoning for
this property. This building is a former church and has dedicated parking, drop -off, and pickup.
The addition of a child care center would not alter the essential character of the neighborhood.
Accordingly, we recommend that the requested variants be granted.
Thank you very much. MI 2021 -001 -768 -434 -North -54th Street. My vote is yes.
Jim, you're breaking up.
breaking up jim you may want to go out and come back
tom could you uh cast your vote please thomas holloman my vote is yes okay we'll go back to
jim i think he had to leave and come back so just give us a couple of minutes absolutely
Absolutely. Okay, I think I'm back. Can you guys hear me? You're back. I don't know what happened there. Sorry. My vote is yes. Sorry.
Thank you. Next case, number nine on our list, MI 2021 -001800, 5122 Willows Avenue, Edward and Gwendolyn Foy, Cedar Park neighbors sent a letter of no position.
Chair, I'm about to send you more of an explanation for that letter, the RCO letter,
though in the summary they said that they did not reach an agreement.
The letter and the vote are actually negative.
They seem to be opposing it.
I'll send those to you now.
Is Mr. and or Ms. Foy available?
Mr. and or Ms. Foy available.
There is an attorney.
It is Rachel Pritzker.
Oh, I'm sorry.
Ms. Pritzker?
She's about to come back in as a panelist, too.
Thank you.
Rachel, you're still under oath.
Please identify yourself, and Mr. Snell will have some questions for you.
Thank you.
So, 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.
Hi, Rachel.
Have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents, proof of ownership, proof of tax compliance, copy of the refusal or referral, and plans and photos five days prior to this hearing?
Have you met with the RCO?
all right great uh finally uh do you have a letter from the rco yes great uh please proceed
thank you i'm going to share my screen
so this is 5122 willows avenue um we were refused um as this board may not remember but the board
back in 1989 granted a variance for this property uh for a duplex uh it's been as a duplex since
89 and we are going we're looking to add uh a third floor to it with an additional dwelling
unit so uh although the property is zoned rsa3 most of the refusals uh relate to um its base
zoning despite the fact that it's had a variance uh for 32 plus years um the other refusals are
for parking as the board's well aware uh in rsa3 you are required to have uh one for one parking
However, this is an existing structure. There's no accessory off -street parking capabilities for this lot.
Again, we'd have to either demo the building and set it back or do something underground.
And it also just isn't in alignment with the character of the block and the other many multifamily homes here.
The other refusal, obviously, is for multifamily. Again, the property was granted a variance for a duplex back in 1989.
um essentially besides those refusals i just want to point out to the board that there's many
properties on this block uh that are also multi -family so it's although it's zoned rsa3
it's not a traditionally rsa3 block um so our proposal for the additional unit is not out of
character um we met with the rco um here's the property and as the board can clearly see it's
across from a lot of RM1 and CMX2. I think that's why the properties have been granted
variances in the past. Again, this is the property just to show there's really no ability to do
off -street parking. And then additionally, obviously, photos of the building with the
zoning notice. We met with Cedar Park neighbors, and as Ms. Saleta mentioned, basically their
concern which I have in front of the board was mostly related to the third story as you can see
from the plans that I'm going to bring up in a second this is what we were proposing the third
story with a little bit of a setback behind the existing bay and the community essentially in
their letter didn't have issue with the additional unit it was more so the concern about adding the
third story that would change the uniform look of the block while we don't have a refusal for
the setback because it's technically a corner um we are willing to via proviso set the property
back eight feet um for the above the second story and i did confirm with miss saletta that we can do
that uh via proviso as opposed to revised plans as we were not able to pull together the revised
plans uh in time so i'm i'm hoping that um with the understanding from the community um that
basically most of their concerns, as evidenced in their letter, relate to, you know, just for the
setback for the third story. And that was really what the opposition was for, that if we agreed to
a proviso setting back the third story eight feet from the front, that that will be able to
adequately address their concerns. And just want to point the board's attention. Basically, they
said if the board does choose to allow the variance, it was recommended that the third
floor addition we set back eight feet from the front of the existing second floor which again
we're willing to do via proviso we also have in addition just to provide to the board we do have
letters of support let's see yeah letters of support we have about 15 of them
Let me see. Letters of support. We have about 15 of them that was sent from the adjacent neighbors as well. And this was even before we agreed to do the setback, which was a request from the community group.
And again, something that we're happy to do on this project. So just want to bring the board's attention that there's a lot of other letters of support for this project in particular.
With that said, I have the architect as well, Jeff Owen. I'm happy to have him on if the board has any questions related to the interior, the addition or anything architecture related. We also have the current owner, Gertie, on the line as well. Obviously, the city records haven't updated his ownership as for the confusion with the dress.
I think it would be helpful, briefly, if you could just show us some of the interior architectural issues and also where does trash get stored?
Sure. So trash would be stored most likely in the rear yard. I will have Jeff bring up the plans. These are just the these are just renderings. So the community had a better idea.
Do you see Jeff Owen on the line so that he can just quickly go through the plans and address the chairman's question about trash?
Mr. Owen, you can unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Good afternoon, Mr. Owen. Please spell your full name and I'll swear you in.
My name is Jeffrey Owen, J -E -F -F -R -E -Y -O -W -E -N.
You swear to the friend to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Please proceed, Ms. Pritzker.
Jeff, can you share your screen and just go through the plans for the interior, for the addition, and specifically address the chairman's question of where we plan to store trash?
So, unfortunately, I'm not able to share the plans right now.
I'm actually not in my office.
I think, Rachel, you do have a set of the plans.
If you could pull those up.
No problem.
Give me one second.
let me just get them up so that the board can see them as your and i do apologize that inconvenience
to the board thank you rachel yep yeah if you just want to zoom in on that first sheet
the um the plan to the left is the existing plan uh the site plan the plan to the right
is the proposed plan as you see the the property is is is wide the um the house and uh in question
only takes up a part of the of the uh property and there is an existing fence uh and side yard
where the um tenants can store their trash uh off the streets
and then rachel if you want to go to i believe these
there there should also be a set of um floor plans if you have access to those thank you
existing building is basement plus two floors um on the front of the building is an existing porch
uh where there are two entryway doors the left -hand door enters the first floor units
and the door to the right uh enter goes up the stairs to the second floor units
we will be using utilizing the second floor um this right -hand door and the stair extending the
stair up to the uh the new proposed third floor um so the front of the building and the entry uh
porch and entryway into the building will remain as is with extension of the circulation is there
up to the new third floor. Rachel, if you want to scroll down one more. Thank you. In addition to
the third floor, we are proposing an addition on the rear of the property on the first, second,
and third floors just to increase the occupiable area within, which is all by rights.
Yes, this is the. Right. So, yeah, if you want to scroll back one more page down, please.
To the elevation. There we go. The elevations at the top of the sheet on this particular page are all existing elevations and the elevations on the bottom are the proposed elevations.
And the elevation to the far left, bottom left, is the proposed front of the building.
As you can see at the front porch, first floor, existing bay window on the second floor, and then a proposed third floor addition.
on the second floor and then proposed third floor addition and then the bottom right hand elevation
the long elevation is looking uh you know the longitudinal direction of the building and you
can see um the third floor addition and also approximately about 15 feet uh rear addition
on the first second and third floors thank you uh the addition of the third floor would bring us to
what height? 38 feet. 38 feet. Yeah, the only variances we're looking for here are for not
providing the accessory off -street parking. Yeah, and the third unit. Any questions from the board?
No. No. Anyone else would like to testify in this case? If so, please raise your hand.
chair we have andrew goodman mr goodman you can unmute yourself and wait for the chair
mr goodman please identify yourself and i'll swear you in good afternoon andrew goodman g -o -o -d -m -a -n
here representing the office of third district council member jamie gaudier room 586 city hall
Do you swear if I'm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Thank you. Please proceed.
Thank you. I'm sorry, I apologize in advance. I'm jumping in late, so I did not see the full presentation, but we had seen the email correspondence from Ms. Pritzker about the setback.
Would you like to see some of the floorplanes?
um i'd actually just like to request i don't i don't think the rco unless there's someone from
the coordinating rco here now i don't believe they've had a chance to review so i would just
ask that the coordinating rco you know still have a chance to you know to weigh in and that the you
know that the vote be the vote be delayed to give them a chance to respond but you're asking for a
resumption hearing uh to consider the rco correct and i don't know if it needs i think it would just
be a let like a written letter from them so i don't know if it needs to be i don't you know
to be clear i'm not anticipating any i'm not anticipating a strong amount of disagreement
or anything of that nature i just would like to give them a chance to respond
mr goodman if i could just clarify that the uh the setback is not something that's required by
the code there is no refusal for the setback or for the height and i believe that the rco referenced
um the setback in their letter i believe it's something that they asked for
yeah yeah absolutely and i'm not and i'm definitely not contest i'm not i don't think
there's any disagreement here i just don't believe they've had a chance to actually
see the correspondence that's taken place over the last you know couple hours
so i understood but i think the letter speaks for itself they're saying if the board were to approve
it they would want it with an eight foot setback from the existing second floor yeah and i did
email them, Andrew, just so that you're aware. I believe I copied you on that email. And I did
let them know that we would be happy to agree to a proviso for the setback. Oh, yeah, absolutely.
I did. I did see that. I just haven't seen if they've been able to respond yet. So I just
wanted to, you know, give them that opportunity to respond. Thank you. Anyone else to testify in
this case no hands at this time chair thank you planning commission
good afternoon chair members of the board my name is greg baldman the city planning commission staff
the uh the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing single family
residential zoning for this property. The board previously granted a variance for two units in
1989. We believe that three units are an overuse for the size of the lot and underlying base zoning
and is out of character for the block. Accordingly, we recommend that the requested variance not be
granted. If I may, Chairman, I just want to respond to that. There are other three units on
the block um and the surrounding area is all rm1 so undoubtedly there's the ncmx2 so undoubtedly
there's other multifamily it's also quite a large lot as you saw and we're not even taking up yeah
if they wanted to just put a third story stay within a 35 foot height and keep it as two units
you can put as many bedrooms in as the third unit would allow correct all right okay thank you
excuse me this is sharon chair can i just ask that if you do approve this with the proviso
So that you'd be specific since we don't have plans to be specific that the the eight foot setback will be measured from the front of the.
Yes, please. Thank you.
Yes, please. Thank you. All right. MI 2021 -001800, 5122 Willows Avenue. My vote is yes with the
All right. MI 2021.
proviso. Third floor, we'll have an eight -foot setback from the existing second floor. Is that
right? Is that correct, Rachel? Yes, I just want Sharon to confirm. I don't want to have any issues
on her end either no that sounds that's fine thank you thank you
can i vote now frank yes yes please okay uh james snell yes yes with proviso
thomas holloman yes with proviso thank you thank you did we miss anyone did anyone not
get a chance to testify on the cases on the two clock list if so please raise your hand
i see no hands at this time chair thank you and uh any other unfinished business on the part of
the board or the administration no no okay um with that we'll see everybody back at 3 30
Thank you.
Thank you, Pauline.
Tanya?
Yeah, ready to go forward, Chair.
Just give me a second here.
Good afternoon, 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 board members, Mr. Thomas Holloman and Mr. James Snell.
Board members, Ms. Yvette Benton and board attorney, Ms. Sharon Saleto, are also in attendance along with our zoning board administrator, Ms. Tanya Sumkin.
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 on the web or otherwise.
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. 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. 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 will repeat that as well. To enter an appearance statement, call Google 267 -270 -5548 and leave your email address and the address of the property at issue. And I'd like to remind everyone, please do not attempt to testify in the chat. Any comments or concerns, please address them to Ms. Yvette Benton, our board administrator today.
With that, I will go through the request for withdrawals on the 330 list. Number one, MI 2020 -003 -147 -114 Green Lane. That withdrawal request comes from Mr. Daniel Reisman, the attorney of record.
And also number seven on our 330 list, MI 2021, that's 001 -530 -705 North 40th Street.
That request is from the attorney, Mr. Zeng Jin, to withdraw.
At this time, I will ask if anyone has any objections to those two cases being withdrawn.
Only if you object to those two cases being withdrawn.
there are no hands at this time chair you are now ask if anyone would like to request a continuance
or withdrawal for the 330 list if so please raise your hand if you're requesting a continuance or
withdrawal please raise your hand at this time here we have mr jen mr jen you can unmute yourself
and speak good afternoon mr jen please identify yourself you're still under oath from earlier
today. Yes, Zen Jin, 1617 John F. Kennedy Boulevard, Suite 1838, Philadelphia EPA 19103,
here on behalf of the applicant for 705 North 40th Street. I heard that it was...
um i heard that it was excuse me i'm i'm sorry mr jen let me interrupt you this was my mistake
Excuse me, I'm sorry, Mr. Jin, let me interrupt you.
it's listed as withdrawn um the request to withdrawal was withdrawn so that can can i go
forward today actually we would like to have it as a continuance instead hold on hold on both you
i'm sorry yes uh the dogs got in the way i couldn't hear what you were saying
start again sharon please i'm sorry they've been especially bad today i would i was i meant to
take that request for withdrawal off of the summaries that is not being withdrawn it's going
forward we're actually requesting a continuance of this matter instead okay all right no worries
mi 2021 that's 001 530 705 north 40th street that case is being continued not withdrawn
thank you thank you any other requests for continuances or withdrawals for the 3 30 list
chair we have justin crick mr crick you can unmute yourself and speak thank you very much
please identify yourselves by your full name and i'll swear you in yes justin crick j -u -s -t -i -n -k -r -i -k
for the firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes thank you yes uh
Basically, this isn't so much of a continuance as I request that the board just notify anybody in attendance that the matter of MI 2021 -001501 -4833 -37 North Howard Street, which is listed for August 25th, but we have noticed that our poster stated August 11th at 3 .30.
So if anyone's here, we're ready to go forward on August 25th at 930 as the ZBA calendar shows.
There's no technical problem with that, is there, Tanya?
No, Chair, that should be fine. Whatever is posted is what we will stick to.
Okay, so it's off the list for today. It'll be heard on the 25th.
And I apologize, Mr. Crick, for the inconvenience.
Oh, no, no worries. We're good on the 25th. I just want to make sure anyone in the audience knows. Thank you very much.
Got you. Thank you for clearing that up. Any other requests for continuances or withdrawals?
Chair, we have someone by the first name, Andrew. Andrew, you can unmute yourself and speak.
Hello.
Please spell your full name.
A -N -D -R -E -W, Waldo, W -A -L -D -O.
to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes i do thank you sir the reason for your
call i am uh applying for a zoning variance on a 1713 south 6th street i'm representing myself
i wasn't sure if maybe we should ask for continuance um we have a long history of
commercial use at the property um it's on residential right now um this is a miscommunication
yes i have you met with the rco we had a miscommunication with the rco so our meeting
was canceled and they said to talk to the zoning board excuse me this is sharon we also have no
exhibits you've not submitted any exhibits correct i haven't there was a miscommunication over the
architecture and site plans okay we'll continue that for you okay thank you mi 2021 -001529
1713 south 6th street is being continued any other requests for continuances or withdrawals
there are no hands at this time chair you go to case number three
on our 3 .30 list is MI 2021 -001 -496
1851 North Van Pelt Street
Shannon Scott
Ms. Scott can you raise your hand please
While we're waiting for Ms. Scott, have we received any exhibits?
No, we have not.
Is Ms. Scott available?
I am here.
Please spell your full name and I will square you in.
My first name is Shannon, S -H -A -N -N -O -N.
Last name is Scott, S -C -O -T -T.
Are you the owner of Van Pelt?
Yes, I am.
Yes, I am.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
Ms. Scott, before we go any further, you've not submitted any exhibits. Is that correct?
No, I submitted everything that was requested.
Mr. Snow, we'll ask you some questions and we'll take it from there.
James is having technical problems
so I will ask you some questions
okay sure
do you agree to waive and stipulate to the
accuracy
and have you
emailed an exhibit packet
with the required documents including proof of ownership, proof of tax compliance, a copy of
the refusal or referral, and photos and or plans of the property within five days in advance of
this hearing? I have not emailed photos of the property. That wasn't requested. No one sent me
a request for that. It was part of the application that you provide photos and or plans. Do you have
plans plans for the business or plans for what you're asking so we can see what it is you're
requesting chair this is sharon i just checked my email again the only thing i have a record
of having received for um three pages of photos from this that were sent in this morning and you
receive the meeting
minutes.
Can you copy me on them?
Salettazba at gmail .com?
I will pull up
all of my emails here. I've been
speaking with Ms. Dandy.
She is the person that I've actually
been sending info to.
Who is Sandy?
Ms. Dandy. Her name is Lakeisha
Dandy. Okay. You were
required to send them to the RCO
ZBA mailbox and to copy
me, Salettazba at gmail .com.
Yes, and I have uploaded, let me just go back to all of these emails here.
While you're looking for them, Ms. Scott, have you met with the RCO?
I have. I have met with the RCO. I uploaded the meeting minutes and everything that we discussed on that date.
I believe that was back in early April or so.
Do you have a letter from the RCO?
I did.
And I also submitted that letter as well.
As far as I can see here, everything was sent to the RCO ZVA at phila .gov.
I'm sorry, fuller .gov.
I'm looking at all the emails here and everything that was requested.
And from what I was told.
Was it also sent to me at slettazba at gmail .com?
There was a few people we sent it to the RCOs, Mr.
Your name is also listed, ma 'am.
Is it Sue, Suzanne?
I mean, all that I'm seeing right now are the photos that you sent this morning.
If we could maybe move this case back, if you could resend me the documents that you submitted.
Hi, this is Tanya.
Sure, I can send it right now.
I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt, Sharon.
This is Tanya.
The staff checked the folder.
We have emails with no attachments.
Yes, it was attached.
So we can, I guess, push this to later, Chair, while we check and see what we have.
Yeah, Ms. Scott, we'll move your case further back until we can straighten out any of the issues as far.
All right. You'll be heard. So just give us a few minutes.
Okay. Thank you.
Thank you. We'll go to number case number four on our 330 list, MI 2021 -001500, 1936 West Erie Avenue. It's a pro se case, Vincent and Joan Hardaway.
Hardaway. Councilwoman Bass sent a letter of support noting that the RCA meeting was held
and a majority of the attendees have voted to approve the variance. Mr. or Mrs. Hardaway are
you available? Yes I am. All right please identify yourself spell your full name and I'll swear you in.
Yes, I am.
Please identify yourself, spell your full name, and I'll swear you in.
My name is Joan Hardaway.
H -A -R -D -A -W -A -Y.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I agree.
Thank you, ma 'am.
Please, Mr. Snell has questions for you.
Good afternoon.
Have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents, proof of ownership, proof of tax compliance, copy of the refusal or referral, and plans and photos five days prior to this meeting?
Yes, I sent a packet in to the email address, and I sent a picture of the front showing the posting and the rear entrance and some of the photos of the location.
Okay, great. Have you met with the RCO?
Yes, we met on, I believe, June 17th with the RCO.
Okay, great. And finally, did you get a letter from the RCO?
Based on the RCO, my call just to confirm they sent it, and Mr. Charles Carnes is on vacation, and he stated he forgot to send it.
Excuse me, this is Sharon. This is Erie Avenue, correct?
right we have a letter from councilwoman best a letter in support noting that rco meeting was
held and majority of attendees voted to approve the variance thank you so miss hardaway you can
proceed with your uh testimony please yes
was there other questions well yes we'd like to see what it is you're proposing you'll have any
could you share with us your plans, some photos? Okay. What occurred was we owned the property
and we had moved into the property. And I don't know if you're aware, the properties are very
large. And we decided that we thought the house was zoned a boarding home. When I went to see
if um it was a boarding home or a commercial property i wasn't told that it was not it was
listed as a family single family dwelling and if i wanted to run out the lower level which had
already kind of been set up like that when we bought the property that i would have to proceed
and request a variance so there were no um modifications excuse me for the interruption
ma 'am do you have any exhibits you can share with us no i don't because there was nothing
to be done so i was just told that i should just proceed with asking the zona board for a variance
because no photographs i did send um photos of how the um area is the entrance to the area
it was a part of my packet and um the location in the lower level of the home
and that was attached to my email
so i don't at the planning commission have any information uh any of the photographs or anything
i don't think you do but i'm just curious as to what you may have that would help us
with this case. This is Ron Bednar. We don't have anything. Ron, just spell your name and I'll
swear you in, please. First name Ron, R -O -N, last name Bednar, B -E -D -N -A -R. Commission, do you
swear if I'm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth? I do. Thank you. I just
took a shot. I thought maybe you had something there, so. Chair, this is Sharon. If you're able
to access your email i did just send you um her exhibit packets which includes two photos
this uh hardaway uh one of the photos is an interior photo what is is that the first floor
that's the lower level lower level so there's a rear entrance to the home where you can go down
to the lower level and that was the lower level that I was wishing to utilize once my son goes
to office how many units would that lower level uh provide you with it would just be an efficiency
how many units would that make um our main home and so i guess two
your living quarters and a studio or efficiency correct yes all right um without any object let me
all right um without any object let me ask this i don't know i asked the board for any questions
we really don't have any further information i'm sorry chair this is tanya would it be okay to ask
the applicant a question yes please um miss hardaway i was just um looking at the documents
presented um was it a deed submitted to um are you the property owner yes i am the property owner
That is what I was looking forward to, Tonya.
I apologize.
I must have overlooked that piece of information.
What about your tax clearance?
Yes, it is there.
Yes, it is.
You cannot go forward without a deed.
Yeah, Chair, if I could respectfully request that we continue this case so that we can ensure that all relevant documents are submitted for the file.
yeah miss hardaway we have too many uh open uh ended questions to be answered so we're going to
need to continue this case okay thank you miss hunkett we'll talk to you offline okay thank you
all right number five on our list mi 2021 that's zero zero one five zero two two three four six
North 6th Street, Mr. Jin.
He's still on the two panelists now, Chair.
Thank you. Mr. Jin, you're still on the road.
Please identify yourself, spell your name.
I'm activating the camera.
Yes, good afternoon.
I'm sorry, I am not hearing any sound.
We hear you.
Okay, great.
I'm good now.
I'm sorry, I was being made a panelist, so I missed a little bit of what was being said at the end.
I said you're still under oath.
Please identify yourself.
Spell your name.
Absolutely.
Absolutely. 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.
And Mr. Snell has some questions for you.
Good afternoon, Mr. Zen.
Good afternoon.
Have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents, proof of ownership, proof of tax compliance, copy of the refusal or referral, and plans and photos five days prior to this hearing?
I have.
Okay. Have you met with the RCO?
Yes, we have met with the RCO and we have a letter.
Okay. That was my next question, if you had a letter. You beat me to it. All right, proceed. Thank you.
Thank you very much. I'm going to share with the board the information that we submitted as our exhibit, which included the refusal, RCO support letter, photos, plans, tax clearance, deed, and related documentation.
application. This application is based on a, it's a mixed zoning district of RM1, CMX2.
What we're proposing to do is essentially use the property which is predominantly covered
in the CMX2 district as a RM1 type use. Now, in order to not have the CMX2 use and have
RM1 use as the multifamily three units. We triggered two refusals, one of which is the CMX2
30 -foot ground floor requirement, the other which is a lot area requirement.
I do want to point out that our lot is 1 ,231 square feet. While it's less than the 1 ,440
required, it is also the 1 ,440 square feet was triggered in part because of the CMX2
commercial zoning district requirements for multifamily use of three units. We met with the
RCO and obtained a support letter from them. There was basically strong support for the proposed use
that is because the block itself as you can see from the photograph are a mix of properties that
are existing mostly residential and vacant lots with maybe some commercial type use more on the
corners than where my client's property is located, which is essentially a vacant lot at
this point. We proposed to put a three -story structure at this location, and each unit would
be based on its own floor. So each floor would be one unit, with the first unit also having access
to the basement. The cellar is not used for sleeping quarters. All the bedrooms will
Cellar is not used for sleeping quarters. All the bedrooms will be in the upper floor and kitchen and living room in the upper floor.
The second floor is unit number two and the third floor is unit number three.
In anticipation of needing outdoor space for each unit, a small balcony is placed on the second floor as a deck.
The third floor has a roof deck and the first floor has access to the rear yard.
So in that situation, each unit will have outdoor storage area available to them would help manage with trash and other outdoor required issues that the tenant may or the occupants may have.
Again, based on the above, the community, knowing that the area is predominantly RM1 and has very similar uses on the block, did not have any objection to our request, and therefore, we did receive support from the RCO.
I'm happy to try to answer any specific questions from the board or redirect and show any particular aspect of our exhibit.
thank you do you have a client to test uh yes i do uh mr joseph gitterman should be here
mr gitterman you can unmute yourself and wait for the chair
please identify yourself spell your full name and i'll swear you in
Joseph Gitterman, J -O -S -E -T -H, Gitterman, G -I -T -E -R -M -I -N.
You swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Thank you, Mr. Jin.
Thank you.
Mr. Gitterman, you saw and heard my presentation to the zoning board.
Can you verify that my testimony to the board is true and correct and adopted as your own testimony?
Yes, I do.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
anyone else would like to testify in this case if so please raise your hand
i see no answer this time chair thank you planning commission
yes this is uh ron bednar uh city planning
the uh yeah you've been sworn in already please proceed
Well, as property is indicated for commercial mixed use on the city plan, given the surrounding neighborhood context, we recommend that the press advance beginning.
MI 2021 -001502, 2346 North 6th Street, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Thomas Holliman, my vote is yes.
Thank you.
we will now go back to case number three if we're ready. 1851 North Van Pelt. I've had several
photos and an exhibit packet emailed to me just now. I have no record of having received them
earlier and if you're willing to accept them being sent in now there still seems to be no deed.
Can we ask the applicant if she submitted a deed?
Ms. Scott, have you submitted a deed?
No, I did not submit a deed.
I believe I have uploaded my tax documents.
I'm sorry, what was that your...
Tax document.
Tax document.
Yes, from the VRT.
No, you need a deed.
i think there's just too many pieces missing so we're going to need to continue this case ma 'am
yeah i would need someone to send the proper email requesting exactly what it is that is
needed because nothing nothing of all the information that you guys are asking for i
have an email from anyone so we're going to continue this case am i i'm sorry oh chair i'm
Sorry, this is Tanya. If I could ask of the applicant, did you receive the posters to post the property?
No, ma 'am. So the property wasn't posted either?
No posters. No nothing. There was no email for anything. No poster. I don't even know what posters you're speaking of.
OK, so we can talk offline and we'll try to schedule you sooner than later so that we could have this heard before the board.
thank you chair mi 2021 -001 -496 -1851 north van pelt street is continued i believe that completes
the 330 list of anyone who has not been heard and wishes to be heard at this time if so please raise
has not been heard and wishes to be heard at this time.
If so, please raise your hand.
your hand
There are no hands at this time, Chair.
Thank you.
Any other unfinished business?
This is Tanya, Chair.
Just the unfinished business is just to say I love my board,
and I thank you guys for always showing up and ready to get the work done.
All right.
Thank you very much.
Thank you, everyone, behind the scenes,
especially for making this day possible and making our jobs easier.
thank you have a good night all take care all right bye -bye good night thank you good night
good evening