Good morning.
Good morning, counsel.
Could you please state your name and spell it for the sonographer?
Yes, my name is Zen Jin, Z-H-E-N, last name J-I-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client, the relationship to this property?
Yes, my client is Mr. Slavik Leshko for Reece Street LC, the property owner.
All right, and our vice chair has a few questions.
Good morning.
Have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing?
And do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
All right, thank you.
You can share your screen and proceed with the case.
Thank you.
I'm going to share with the board what was previously submitted as exhibits.
can the board see my exhibit on their screen we can thank you uh so good morning uh this is an
application for 646 west huntington street this is an application for a variance from the existing
cmx2 zoning which as the refusal indicates in this district the first floor uh resident must
contain a use other than residential. And our proposal in this case is to allow the use of
that first floor as a residential unit, in addition to the existing by right setup, which was
two residential units and a commercial unit. This building is already in existence. It's not
a new construction at this point. The photos will show that you can see that the first floor was
set up originally as a commercial use with the two residents above. My client has had some
difficulty over recent times to try to get a tenant for this spot. This area is actually
predominantly zoned RM1, residential multifamily. There's an existing Chinese takeout restaurant
across the street. The other two corners looks like they are, in fact, part of residential
building districts and are used as multifamilies or straight across being a large development that
is part of an I2 district that has been converted to multifamily dwellings. The community actually
supported our request. They understand, in fact, the member of the RCO, the leader of the RCO walk
by the location. They understand that it has been vacant as a commercial property for over a year.
And my client has been actively trying to lease the space as a commercial space for that time
without success. So at this point, his proposal is to make it a residential unit, which would
actually be consistent with other uses in the neighborhood. As far as the actual proposal,
So the plans will show that the building itself has an existing rear yard that does allow
trash to be stored by all units, and it's currently used for the upstairs units, as
well as if there was a commercial unit, they would all have access to the rear yard and
put their trash.
The proposed unit on the first floor, the current structure of the first floor is that
the uh first floor itself is basically a open office slash vacant space for any commercial
vacant space for any commercial use that wants to go in. The basement is also an open space.
use that wants to go in the basement is also an
The Progress said that the architect prepared proposes the living room and kitchen and bath
on the first floor with the bedroom in the back and also two bedrooms in the basement.
Because this property was CMX2, the entire property is actually sprinklered,
including the basement. So it is sprinklered throughout the building. However, my client
and I did have discussion and he understands that there's generally a reservation for allowing
bedrooms in basements of properties due to safety reasons. This property's second floor has more
detailed already. These are existing residential plans for the second and third floor and the
roof deck that already exist. So again, we're here to ask the board's favorable discretion in
allowing the first floor and basement to be converted into one additional residential unit
rather than having it sit vacant as a commercial unit that has not been
has not had a tenant within it for some time having the residential unit active would put
eyes on the street would actually be a better situation for the property which is actually a
corner property than to have a vacant space on the first floor again the surrounding area is
predominantly residential, multifamily in zoning. So again, the community had no opposition
to our request of adding this unit into a residential unit. We believe that
the residential use would not detrimentally impact the neighborhood in the sense that
it is actually not adding to the density in a substantial form. A commercial use could
potentially actually bring more traffic and facility burdens than a single residential unit
again we're flexible on the board's ultimate discretion as to how we can lay out the residential
unit despite the proposal having the bedrooms in the basement my client should be available
to verify my testimony and i'm certainly happy to answer the board's questions bring your client on
sure uh slava can you uh raise your hand virtually to be identified so you can be added as a panelist
they're being promoted to pan
thank you
have they accepted the uh hi sir
what's your client's name again then uh slavic yes yeah slava could you please state your name
is spelled for stenographer uh slavic leshko s-l-a-v-i-k and lashko l-e-s-h-k-o right do
you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes i do counsel
thank you uh mr leshko did you hear my representations to the board and see my
presentation on your screen yes can you verify what i have represented to be true and correct
and adopt it as your own testimony yes can you also verify that you have been actively trying
to rent this space at the commercial and that you have not had any success in the past year
yeah thank you Sam why don't you why don't you bring up the basement before I open up her
questions sure questions from the board uh let me
right here where's um where's trash stored for all of the units currently in the and for the
commercial if if it's granted the residential unit on the first floor so the the way the
building is situated on the um on the street it actually has a rear yard area i know it's not
Let me see if it's shown on the site plan.
There's a fenced-in rear yard here.
Here we go.
There's a fenced-in rear yard with a gate accessed from the side that all three units would have access to for storage of trash in the back behind the fence until pickup time.
And the idea is there was a ramp on one of the diagrams that I'm seeing.
Is there still a ramp on that first level?
the idea is to keep that yes there's still a ramp there that was built as part of the commercial
property and there's no plan to remove it um okay well what what does what what precludes
okay well what what does what what precludes uh you from making the first floor a one bedroom
unit accessible unit uh the basement in the first floor is currently connected uh it doesn't preclude
that particular proposal there is actually a bedroom proposed uh on the so the first floor
is essentially set up on the proposal as a one-bedroom uh unit um except the we would have
to redesign the bathroom to include a shower uh in the on the first floor which can be done
but that is currently set up but then there's access also directly to the basement which is why
the proposal was to have the additional rooms in the basement so that it's not simply left
it's a vacant space other questions
our attorney no questions at this time mr chairman questions or comments from the
virtual audience no hands at this time chair
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 cmx2 commercial
mixed-use zoning at this location this neighborhood still carries its original 1933 zoning this is a
new two-family dwelling with a ground floor vacant storefront built in 2025 there is no
unique physical condition or circumstance of this property that would prevent it from being used in
conformance with the zoning code the city planning commission recommends the board deny the proposed
use variance for not including ground floor commercial space and the proposed use variance
for the additional dwelling unit um mi 2026 001 142 642 was huntington street i vote yes
with proviso no household living in basement michael johns my vote is yes with proviso
it's another graham my vote is yes with proviso ryan mcadams my vote is yes with proviso hey
win my vote is yes with proviso thank you counsel thank you all right number 14 mi 2026
zero zero one one four nine 60 19 to 25 baltimore avenue nixon um canna is the attorney
they're being promoted to panelists
oh good morning um good morning how you doing i'm good good morning could you please state
your name and spell for the stenographer uh nixon connor n-i-x-o-n-k-a-n-n-a-h do you swear or affirm
to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes mr chair could you identify
your client and relationship to this property sure my client is damon neal um and he's a 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
yes okay and do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate your accuracy
yes all right thank you can share your screen and proceed with your case okay
okay this is 6019-25 Baltimore Avenue um my client has a business at their location
Damon Neal, his business is Neal Tires and Auto Repair, he is currently in a five year lease with the property owner for this property for him to operate his business.
for him to operate his business. These are drawings that we received from the property owner as far as renovations that were done to the property.
This is the, these are.
Just by way of history, this property goes back to I believe 1925. It started out as a garage
garage, auto body shop as a gas station, and it operated as a gas station until 1986 or
89, and the zoning was changed from an auto body shop to, I believe, an attempt to operate
it as a produce shop.
So basically, that's what changed the zoning in this case.
What we're seeking is a variance to go back to to to operate this location as a as an auto body shop based on the based on these drawings.
There's not it's not going to be any any change to the structure. I'm going to show you these are more photograph of the exterior.
This is the condition of the property that my client received when he leased the property.
Again, he's on a five-year lease.
And we submitted a letter from the property owner, and he's not available, but he has no objection to the zoning.
He actually purchased this property as an auto body shop.
I'm going to show you the interior of the property when he purchased it with the lift
and everything that was in the property.
This is basically the interior of the property, it's the workstation.
Again, my client signed his lease back in September of 2025.
He was operating his business until L&I showed up in, I believe, June 6th and basically told
him that dislocation, quote, was no longer zoned as an auto body shop, given the previous
zone rezoning that was done in 19. I believe it was 1989. No, I'm not sorry. 2020 2012 I believe it should be in the package. I'm going to show you the history of the property. It should be on there.
Give me a minute.
okay this is the application that it was rezoned back in um 20
could you flip your screen a minute for us okay well i'm not sharing well you're it's sideways
i'm sorry it's sideways you gotta oh i'm sorry i'm sorry commissioners you're right
okay so this is the zoning application back in 2017 um trying to rezone this property for
for a produce shop and when we had when my client attended the the the community meeting
it wasn't clear whether they have they ever actually operated the the produce shop at this
location, notwithstanding the rezoning.
At the community shop, I mean, at the community meeting, the issues that was raised was parking.
Again, my client has angled parking in front of his building that there will be no issue with parking.
My client is going to be, some of his business is going to be changing tires.
There was an issue as to the tires.
We have a contract with a tire removal company that was part of the package.
I believe it was 815, that a tire remover company would basically come to my client's property every month and remove the tires.
Prior to the tire remover company arriving, another consultant.
prior to the tire removal company arriving um another another concern that was shared was
where would the tires be stored while we wait for while we wait for pickup uh my client took it
upon himself to basically build and this was this was actually an issue that um that came up so what
What we did was we built a storage shed in the back of the property.
We have two of these in the back that will basically store the tires until pickup.
Again, my client is here with me, Mr. Neal, he's been an auto mechanic for over 44 years.
He has a location, he has a business in Delaware County.
He has another location in Philadelphia, this would be his third location, and as indicated
that from the from the community and we're not trying to bring a commercial commercial destination
into a residential this has always been commercial it was commercial as a mechanic shop for several
years until somebody attempted to to to operate a produce shop and it was changed from mechanic
shop to a produce shop and we're just seeking a variance to take it back to auto mechanic shop so
why don't you bring your bring your client on okay my client is here with me in my office
okay sir could you please put put them on the screen there a minute could you please
state your name and spell it for the stenographer
damon new d-a-m-o-n new n-e-a-l right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the
truth nothing but the truth i do please proceed counsel thank you mr neil you heard my testimony
and my presentation to the board this morning yes will you adapt that as your own yes
any questions from the board questions from the board
questions from our attorney um just one second
Yeah, okay.
Sorry. Lynn Riedelhuber, Board Counsel.
I just wanted to clarify.
Your request was for commercial vehicle repair and maintenance, but it seems like you're doing personal vehicle repair and maintenance, correct?
Or is that incorrect?
I'm sorry?
are you well not just as an auto mechanic shop i don't i'm you know um it's not not commercial
vehicles like buses or or limousines if that what you're referring to no also um you mentioned about
parking correct that wasn't part of your application though correct no um i believe
it was an issue that was raised at the community meeting as to if our business
this would impact the neighborhood as far as parking and from the exterior photograph that
I show we have parking on site for at least eight to ten vehicles so there would be no need for
street parking okay um just for the parking you should probably look in to see if it had been
legalized had it been prior you know had it been improved prior to this time because it's not
included in your application i'm sorry i can't i'm sure i'm sorry i can't hear what was that question
The question, my statement was that you did not put in your application any mention of parking, so that my suggestion is, please look into the history to see if parking had been legalized at that location previously.
Yes, if it hasn't, you're going to have to submit an application.
As far as, well, let me just.
you can reach out to council you know off the record but i'm just letting you just we're
going to only vote on the building today you may have to come back for parking what you should do
is call down here the council's office so they would give you the instructions correct well
Correct. Well, Mr. Chairman, what I was saying is parking was not an issue for my client's business.
what I was Mr. Chairman what I was saying is