I just noticed, Mr. Demurg's joining, that Maniunk does not have any temporary housing.
we did have a bed and breakfast uh very close to this location on gay street
but that recently sold and the purchaser is going to convert it back to a single family home
so this busy commercial district really could use some temporary housing for the many shops and
restaurants all right brian hi how you doing hi could you please state your name and spell
for the stenographer it's brian b-r-i-a-n domerg d-o-m-e-r-g-u-e do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes i do counsel uh mr demurgo are you a uh managing
member of uh manioka starker properties llc i am and were you in the audience and did you hear my
testimony? I did. Is it truthful? It is. And do you adopt it as your own? I do. Just one other
quick question. You have two entrances, one here on the right side which accesses a one-bedroom
and then here on the left side or south side of the building another entrance that
accesses the other two. Are there areas of trash storage for those apartments? There is trash
receptacles uh closets on both sides of the building on the right and the left that all
the tenants can store their trash in great i've got no further questions perhaps questions from the
great i've got no further questions perhaps questions from the board
yes do you have prior experience with um visitor accommodations i i do i did have uh temporary
rentals in uh in myrtle beach at one point in time we also have multiple uh residential units our
group in maniunk in rocksboro and around the city and outside the city uh we also you know have uh
on staff property maintenance, and our office is located on Main Street down the street from this building.
Questions from our attorney.
No questions at this time, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Chair, I do not see any further hands.
Planning Commission.
Michael Gall with the Philadelphia City Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing CMX 2.5 commercial mixed use zoning at this location.
There is no unique circumstance or physical condition of this property that prevents from being used in strict conformance to the zoning code.
A search of nearby properties does not show any close by conversions to visitor accommodations.
And this is a high traffic location, which gives this proposal a high potential for community nuisance, making it out of character with the location.
Therefore, the city planning commission recommends the board to deny the request of the area.
Thank you.
MI 2026-002-044-4450 Main Street I vote yes with proviso temporary variance to expire
8-13-29 and also use limited to second floor with other previously approved uses to remain
michael johns my vote is yes with proviso
daryl gaston my vote is yes with proviso netta graham my vote is yes with provisals
brian mcadams my vote is yes with provisals tywood my vote is yes with provisals layla
baby my vote is yes with proviso mr o'brien thank you very much we're sorry we kept you so
i'm glad we got it in done today i appreciate it thank you mr chairman thank you for sure
thank you okay is there anyone in the audience um whose two o'clock case has not been called even
though it's 6 39. chair i do not see any hands raised oh good okay so we're going to go right
to our our 3 30 list um good evening everyone my name is bill bergman i will be chairing this
meeting of the zoning board with me as our vice chair tenetta graham president mr chairman sec
our board secretary Cheryl Gaston present Mr. Chairman board members Michael John present Mr.
Chairman Iowyn present Mr. Chairman Ryan McAdams present Mr. Chairman Laila Beebe present Mr. Chairman
our attorney is here Lynn Reuter-Huber and also our executive director Ian Haggerty
this hearing is being recorded and will be posted on the ZBA website by participating you consent
to be recorded this is an in-person meeting with remote participation whether in person or on zoom
if you're called to speak please state and spell your name wait to be sworn in after that state
your name each time before testifying 200 appearance indicate the property address on
your zoom webinar speak with a staff member call the zba office by the close of business tomorrow
call 215-686-2479 leave your prop leave the property provide with your name email and the
case address remote participation raise your virtual hand when directed so that we can have
you speak. Please, when we call on you, click the join as a panelist button. Use the Q&A
for procedural questions, not about the case. And if you are joining by phone, press star
nine to raise your hand and star six to unmute. Let's go and check our schedule for today.
Number two, MI-2026-001-150, 614-16 Rodman Street.
This case has been continued until 1-13-27 at 3.30 p.m.
Number four, MI 2026-001.
MI 2026-001350, 3301 North 6th Street.
This case has been continued until 1-13-27 at 3.30 p.m.
Number six.
okay am i at number six mi 2026 002 005 36 36 survivor street this case is continued until
1 13 27 at 3 30 p.m are there any requests for continuances other than that
We're going to go to our case number one.
MI 2026 001 143 1925 Page Street.
Now, dear Austin is the owner applicant.
This is a pro se.
good evening mr chair this is jason hand i will be a co-host for this session
they are coming back in as a panelist thank you
hello everyone i i'm sorry we're here so late but we we had a lot of cases today
could you please state your name it's spelled for the stenographer nadir austin n-a-h-d-i-r
austin a-u-s-t-i-n do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the
truth yes i do our voice chair has a few questions for you good evening have you uh submitted your
documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing yes i did okay and you understand
that you're here for application for a personal care home that's correct yes and that you are
requesting a special reception um approval for this district yes okay all right thank you you
share your screen and tell us what you're trying to do okay give me one moment
so i'm going to start with this uh brief presentation slide deck and then go through
the interior pictures within my exhibit that i submitted but this is just a special exception zba
um this is a notice of referral i'm requesting a personal care home
the deer deer you froze up oh you can't yeah could you do it again please yes can you hear me now
we we can okay yeah so i was saying that this is actually let me just go to another area of my
house i just said my connection was unstable if you give me like 30 seconds i just want to move
Okay. I apologize for that. So, notice of referral. I apply for, you know, personal
care home in an RSA 5 district to increase density from three to five individuals. These
are all children. So I just want to go through, this is a chapter 3800 home. It's a youth
residential home. I just want to give a high level program overview. So I requested up
to five youth. These are school age children, target age is from eight to 11. This is residential.
Within the house, it will be 24 seven supervision, adult wake supervision. So it's 24 seven staff
up to two adults per shift. And this is a, again, a chapter 3,800 Pennsylvania regulations.
It's just a normal home for kids that's coming through the child welfare system. So essentially
it's, you know, what a daily life looks like. It's just school, home activities, normal home
with, you know, procedures in place around staff and all that stuff associated with staff.
and that's it the residential character for this is just you know it's no customers you know so no
customer traffic youth don't drive um there's you know adjacent properties no impacted adjacent
properties life safety we're applying you know applicable with all building fire coats and
there's a lot of uh fire requirements from the chapter 3800 um that we we met those requirements
So, no expansion, fixed demand, it's just, you know, for public infrastructure and the
And the physical capacity can does meet the requirements for five kids in terms of square footage.
physical capacity can, does meet the requirements for
So this is the block right here. This is my property.
And adjacent to my property is a one of those three story roof decks student housing, I guess.
This is 19th and page. So this is, you know, just looking at the residential character.
So I think, you know, this does fit well within the residential character.
It's high density, a lot of student housing in the community.
Here's one adjacent to mine that was built up about a year ago, and this is my property
right here.
Then at the end of the block right here, we have four units that's been zoned for four-unit
building, and that's this one right here.
And then there's a lot of development in this neighborhood with three-story houses, higher
density than mine.
And then this particular one next to me is six beds, six baths.
So, and it also zoned as RSA five.
So let me just show you some pictures of the inside,
the property.
So it's been set up, you know, this is,
so this is the living room area.
This is where a staff person would sit right here,
a desk right there.
This is the dining area.
We have like first aid kits.
There's a lot of requirements from the chapter 3,800 regulations
that require, you know, youth rights and different postings that we have on the wall, first aid kits.
And in those that lock medication storage, those types of things.
Here's the kitchen area.
We got a fire extinguisher.
And then this is the back area right here.
So this is a, so before I go ahead, that's the back door going into the back area.
So that's our egress.
And then this is the back area.
so this would be a staff bath staff only bathroom there's a half bath back there
with a washer and dryer and then the backyard just standard backyard and then upstairs so this
is the full bath and then we have a front bedroom right here so bunk bed a desk
and let's see sorry and then this is the yeah that's the front bedroom middle bedroom again
a bunk bed a desk and then this is the back room right here with a single bed
and that's it that's my presentation any questions
of course have you had experience doing this i don't have experience my team has extensive
experience in this uh one of my one of the members of my team actually supervised was
a supervisor at the net net henry house which is a delinquent group home for boys
So what kind of home, what kind of people do you get here?
Uh, so for this right here, this is child welfare. So this is a dependent,
all dependent children. Right. Okay. Are there questions from the board?
Um, yes. So in this facility, are you going to have youth of both genders or of different genders?
Oh, male only. Male only. Okay. And then what are their ages?
Target age range is 8 to 11.
Okay. And then how does this work in terms of schooling? Because I know oftentimes if they're coming from a list, are they immediately getting transferred into school in the neighborhood? Are they going to their original schools?
Yeah, so this is design preferences around school of origin. So, you know, this is local Philadelphia youth. They'll go to their school of origin.
If, for whatever reason, they are unable to attend that school, any safety issues, any issues there, they will go to the local school, but the preference is a school of origin.
And then, I mean, with a kid as young as eight, how are they, like, what is the staffing plan to be able to support them getting to where they need to be during school time and then after school time?
So we'll have a designated driver for transportation. So there's going to be designated drivers for transportation to transport each kid to their school and picking them up from school as well.
Okay. And then I noticed, like, you have the staff bathroom and then the staff sort of has a desk in what is the kind of public space of the house.
What will be sort of the purview of the staff versus what the youth can do on their own?
Sorry, can you repeat that question?
What will be the purview of the staff versus what the youth can do on their own? I'm asking specific to things like house maintenance, cooking.
Yeah, so there's going to be a lot of life skills. I mean, that's something, you know, each youth will have their own individual service plan.
So we're going to have ISPs for each youth in terms of their developmental goals, their developmental opportunities and stuff.
So there'll be opportunities for cooking, maintenance, chores, and just teaching the kids life skills and responsibilities.
And that's built into the program.
And that's built into the program.
The kids will be cooking in the kitchen.
Well, the kids will be cooking in the kitchen, but it sounds like...
Well, I mean, the older kids, so, you know, it's from 8 to 11.
So if an older kid want to cook, supervising, you know, supervised, right?
So everything is about building those skill sets, not just expecting the kids to just cook for themselves now.
Yeah, I wasn't going off of that.
It's just this is the youngest group that we've seen come that since I've joined this board and every other company that's proposed this,
including all the way up to adults has a person on site and the youth weren't allowed in the
kitchen so i think i'm just trying to understand where the zones and the areas in the house that
the youth could be versus what are the areas that are going to be staff only oh okay yeah yeah so
like the back the back of the house back there staff bathroom all that that's staff only right
like and staff will be like don't like there's a washer and dryer back there staff will be washing
clothes and all that kind of stuff so that will be staff only um the kitchen again it's all about
the developmental opportunities. You know, this is youth driven in a way. Like, if they're
interested in, I got a niece, she's, you know, 10 and she's very interested in cooking. So,
you know, if you're interested in something like that, then sure. Supervise, of course.
But yeah, so that's, there are opportunities there. And then what's going to be the plan
if any of the youth have things like medication that they need to take and how are they going
to be secured on site? So, the medication, every staff will be medication administration trained.
So that's a requirement.
And two, for storage of medication, we actually have like a locked storage bin for, let's see, I'm just going to go to that.
So this right here above this little first aid kit, that box right there is a locked storage for locked medication.
And there's also a locked medication cabinet in the refrigerator as well, in case some medications are refrigerated.
So any medications around the kids, all staff will be medication administration trained.
And that's a requirement.
I think my last question is around staffing.
How many staff do you intend to have on site at any given time, and what are their shifts?
Up to two, and they'll be doing 12-hour shifts, 12-hour shifts for continuity, building relationship with the kids, and, you know, you don't want too many people in and out.
So up to two staff at any given time, and it will be 12-hour shifts.
With a 12-hour shift, I mean, I just know from other long shifts, typically there's an employee break area or employee rest area.
It doesn't look like there is one designated here. Is there a space or are they expected to be awake the entire time they're on this?
Well, they are expected to be awake the entire time. Yeah, this is a wait.
Do you have the support of your neighbors on both sides?
Yes. And I submitted that letter for the RCO neighbor support. Yep.
And you said this is a highly dense area. What is your plan? Is there a plan to help
integrate the young people in the community? Yes, absolutely. I mean, so a lot of this
is focused on integration in the community. So we're planning different programming activities
and around the community and resources in the community. There's a lot of resources in this
community with temple university right there so yeah that that's the idea here is to safely
integrate them into the community what's the basement being used for uh the basement is not