for looks like about three or four blocks um and i i do think that their addition at 2633 bainbridge
is very visible from the street um and i would like to see a better man started
Just a suggestion, I think it would look better with a true mansard condition at the roof.
Sure, yeah, as mentioned in our discussions with, uh, they, um, they, they didn't raise any concerns about this as they were pleased with the, the design. But, um, yes, I'll definitely take that in consideration.
Okay, other questions.
Chair, we have a hand. Oh, sorry, Chair. We have a hand up from Murray Spencer.
Promoting on the panels.
Thank you.
Hello.
Could you please state your name and spell
for the stenographer sir marie spencer m-u-r-r-a-y s-p-e-n-c-e-r do you swear or firm to tell the
truth told truth nothing but the truth i do please proceed sir i am the chair of the zoning committee
and the member of the architectural review committee and mr gruber did meet with the
committee and the uh zoning of uh meeting and we found that i appreciate tyler's uh question about
the mansard roof it may be with regard to the slope of the mansard but he has generally complied
with the mansard that we like to see on third floor addition and uh we supported the uh
The master as drawn at our community meeting that's that basically my comment.
the mansard as drawn uh at our architecture community meeting
Thank you very much for taking the time to calls. We appreciate it. Questions from our attorney.
No questions at this time. Questions from the virtual audience.
No further hands at this time, chair.
Thank you.
for for some reason i can't can you hear i can't hear anything i can't either this is
the reporter i am not getting any audio oh somebody else driving am i down now okay okay
I heard that you're now. I hear you now. Yeah, I'm sorry, chair.
We're gonna have to take the planning commission's testimony again, because I don't think that made it through the through the audio. Sorry about that. Thank you, David.
Let's try this again.
uh uh good morning chair david vector with the city planning commission the comprehensive plan
recommends no change to the rsa five residential single family zoning at this location the city
changed the zoning in this neighborhood in 1978 and a council supported map change the appellant
has not shown that they would suffer an economic detriment if forced to comply with third story
setback requirement in the zoning code the city planning commission recommends that the board
deny the proposed dimensional variance. Thank you. MI 2026. Pardon me. I'm sorry. This is the
court reporter. Mr. Fecto's swearing in did not appear in the audio. Could we please swear him
in again? Sure. Why don't we? We did swear him in, but we'll do it. Go ahead. Do you swear or
tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth? I do. Thank you. So MI 2026-001-170-2639
bamer street i vote yes michael johns my vote is yes cheryl gaston my vote is yes
tenetta graham my vote is yes i'm mcadams my vote is yes my vote is yes mayla beebe my vote is yes
okay chair um the this is ian hegarty again mr martin polanco from the first case is now
available in the virtual audience let's uh return to that one please thank you okay
Number 10, MI 2026-001097, could the interpreter come on, please?
Thank you.
interpreter
chair we're asking him to unmute
um he's in here it's all right he just loved he logged in like 10 minutes okay hold on hold on
Has it been a half hour?
Maybe he's not coming back for a half hour.
And we
and we told the interpreter a half hour it might be a little short
spanish interpreter are you available now
all right chair we'll take that as a note we'll come back to that one in a minute let's all right
okay so number two here
number two mi20250050513523 north 23rd street joseph consul is the attorney
they're being promoted to panelists
okay hi mr council you've already been sworn could you just state your name for the record
joseph console could you identify your client a relationship to the property
Yeah, my client is Chevelle Gordine, and she is tenant at the property.
All right.
Our vice chair has a few questions.
Good morning.
Have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing?
And you have a referral and a use refusal, so do you waive the reading of them and simply to their accuracy?
All right.
Thank you.
You can share your screen and proceed with your case.
All right.
I should be sharing my screen now.
Again, Joseph Consul, Consul Madison, with Chevelle Gourdeen, who should be on this call.
Here for 3523 North 24th Street, this is request for approval of a small personal care home in an existing residential structure, zoned RSA 5.
We have a refusal and a referral, because as you know, that's required for personal care homes.
I'll note that we're only seeking per, and we'll get to it, the RCO's request, a maximum
of four individuals, which is one more than would be allowed by right anyway.
So we're not suggesting this is by right.
We know why we're here.
This particular use in this building, we believe with the operational limits we're going to
propose will satisfy the criteria for the special exception and for the parking variance.
So, we submitted floor plans and pictures showing the layout.
The basement is non-living space.
The first floor contains ordinary living areas, living room, dining room, kitchen, laundry, and powder room.
Second floor contains four bedrooms and one bathroom.
The plans also show an evacuation route.
The building will not change from what it has always been.
The operation is intentionally limited, as you would see in the RCO support letter from Swamp Poodle.
They support it with three provisos.
That's first, trash and recycling stored indoors, except for collection times.
Second, occupancy is limited to a maximum of four veterans.
And I'll get my client to explain her vision here, and it's one per room, and third, no living in the basement.
And those are all accepted.
Chevelle Gourdeen is not proposing a high-intensity facility.
This would be small, non-medical, veterans-only, personal care home, each with a private bedroom, as mentioned.
Quiet, long-term housing, consistent with the residential neighborhood.
She'll explain briefly the intake process. There's no walk-in or emergency placements. This is not a shelter, traditional housing. This is not a treatment program or medical institution. It's supervised in a home-like setting for veterans who can live safely in their environment.
the applicant proposed and discussed with the RCO real operations. She calls a good neighbor plan,
house rules, quiet hours, limited and scheduled visitor access, no large gatherings. And again,
we agreed to the trash storage and put out only at collection day. We included in our packet
it. Is that? The neighborhood petition for support with
neighborhood petition for support with signatures from nearby North 24th street addresses
signatures from nearby North.
so we have documented neighborhood support for this specific proposal
we believe this will be compatible with the residential character of the property
regarding the parking the relief is modest there's requirement for I believe one
one-tenth of a space per each permanent bed under the rules. And while we're not able to provide
that, we don't believe that four individuals living in this property will create any kind of
issues in terms of parking. So for these reasons, we respect the board, structurally request the
board grant the special exception and the parking relief variance. I'll have my client raise her
hand and explain herself a bit and her vision for the space, which, again, was included in our
submission. All right. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, can I ask a question before we start? You most
certainly can. Thank you. Attorney Counsel, this is Lynn Riedelhuber, Board Counsel. You keep
referring to a she, so that prompts me to ask. The owner of the property is a he. It's a, well,
Matthew Foster. Matthew Foster, excuse me. So I assume you're referring to Chevelle Gordine,
yes not the owner that's correct so she cannot adopt the testimony she can testify as a witness
but you need the owner even in the event that we have we have a lease you did not produce a lease
no lease was attached all we have is the deed you did not produce a lease
and the deed that you provided was for the owner let me figure out well can i call miss gordine
about that sure but we as a witness yes you didn't provide anything though as at least though that's
fine I think I should raise your hand I have a hand up from Matthew Foster but they keep declining
they keep declining to become a panelist looks like i've got the owner too mr foster
uh and just to clarify mr consult are you representing the owner or are you representing
the tenant uh i'm gonna go with bonus right the second if he's on the call
Mr. Foster.
Hello?
I don't see you.
Mr. Foster, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Matthew Foster, capital M-A-T-T-H-E-W, capital F-O-S-T-E-R.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Counsel?
Good morning, Mr. Foster.
This is Joseph Consul.
um i might have mischaracterized your relationship with chevelle could you please explain to the
board um your ownership of the property and your relationship to this project uh basically uh i've
been friends with miss gourdine for some time um um the property's been sitting um i've been asked
to rent it out i did not want to um really get into renting it out i did i just uh had some
friends that had bad experiences with the renting stuff so i was kind of the house had just been
sitting um me and chabelle had a conversation um she said you know her vision of using it for
veterans um i had veterans in my family my aunt uncle cousins so i told her i said you know um
if if if that's what she's going to use it for i would have a problem with her doing that with
her doing so so um here we are that's that's basically the customer do you adopt my testimony
any then what i gave earlier and i offered up yes i did yes i did all right now i'll call my second
witness sure miss chevelle excuse me yes good morning hi could you please state your name and
spell for the stenographer chevelle gordine s-h-a-v-e-l-l-g-o-r-d-i-n-e do you swear or
firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth? Yes. Please proceed, counsel.
Ms. Burdine, would you explain your vision for this project and your experience in this area?
Right. So the vision is to, my goal is to allow veterans to live in a family resident,
you know, like environment, you know, just to live like you or I would live, just, you know,
a home where cooked meals and they have and they have peace because I have seen in the past
a home where cooked meals, and they have peace. Because I have seen in the past
a lot of veterans, you know, they're displaced. Some of them are being released from the hospital
and have nowhere to go, or they may have homes, but they're alone. So the goal is to just provide
them a home-like loving environment with structure. And what's your experience working
with these types of people in this sort of environment?
So I've been in a human service field for over 22 years.
I've worked with veterans in the residential atmosphere.
I have been the one that provides the doctor's appointments,
but of course, under other companies,
working for corporations,
provide the doctor's appointments
and that structure that I speak of
and being the companion
and making sure they do their daily living
and making sure they stay, you know, compliant with doctor's appointments and outings and
activities. Okay. I have no further questions. Questions from the board.
So is there any, have you had conversations with the VA or how are you planning to
get the residents? So that is my goal. I have a list of referral agencies that I would like to
build. Well, I'm working on building relationships with, as well as Friends Hospital. But the VA
grant and per diem program is one that I'm interested in, as well as the supportive
Service for Veterans Families, the VA Pension Benefits Program, and the Philadelphia Regional
Benefits Office. So my goal is to build those relationships so that I can be a referral source
for them. And how is the supervision going to work? So I will be available at all times. I mean,
not necessarily on site i will work some site hours but um i will have one staff at least one
staff available every shift uh what's the shifts so the intentions are like the eight to four
four to twelve
and then twelve to eight
um i have a question uh the i did see in the petition that one of the neighbors uh did sign
it do you have uh agreement from the other neighbor i think i saw 20 35 25 on a petition
i didn't see the other side do you have the support of both neighbors on both on either side
of you so off the top of my head i can't remember i know someone wasn't home oh he doesn't live
there okay that's what that one was no one lives there right now
any other questions from the board
questions from our attorney uh yes i just wanted to follow up if council could um submit the lease
He indicated that there was a lease between Ms. Gordine and Matthew Foster, if he can submit that for the record.
Thank you.
That was an error.
There isn't a lease between Mr. Foster and I.
He's just allowing me the usage.
And, you know, we'll visit some things.
They told me, give me a couple years to get my business started.
And, you know, he's just allowing me the use of the property because it has been sitting.
he's been sitting for over over three years yeah three four years
sorry lynn reidelhooper again i just wanted i think it should be clarified on the record
that there is no lease and um the applicant in this it has to be mr foster then as the owner
correct agreed questions or comments from the virtual audience
no hands at this time chair Planning Commission I'm shocked thank you chairman and good morning
David Vecto with the city planning commission chairman and board members the comprehensive
plan recommends no change to the RSA 5 residential zoning at this location the city rezoned this
neighborhood in 2006 and a council requested map change the appellant has shown that the