there's one bath for you yeah i just want to make sure one one full bath it's shared bath
okay and um that's even for the larger unit
that's correct yes yes all right and then um just just asking um why do we want to do this
why do we want to do the addition uh because the ability to have more uh rental income for
the business owner below uh bring more residents more foot traffic uh both many young groups were
ecstatic that more people will be coming to the avenue okay all right thank you other questions
questions for our attorney um yes i just wanted to clarify um the revised plans that you submitted to
the board are these the same plans that are being reviewed as part of the amended refusal
yeah well the amended reef yes answer is yes okay we just didn't know if there were any further
changes that had been made that's all no because these are the plans we submitted to the lni
examiner and that's that's what she's looking over okay the same plans that we have correct
okay great thank you thank you questions or comments from the virtual audience for the
current audience here i do not see any hands mr chair is planning taking a position now
go ahead michael gall with the philadelphia city planning commission m-i-c-h-a-e-l-g-a-l-l
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth? Told you it's nothing but the truth. I so affirm.
Please proceed. The comprehensive plan recommends no change from the existing CMX 2.5 commercial mixed use zoning at this location.
The proposed deviation from the rear yard setback is an existing.
I'm sorry, I can't hear you.
Yeah, the sound went out.
You're muted.
the comprehensive plan recommends no change from the existing cmx 2.5 commercial mixed
use zoning at this location the proposed deviation from the year rear yard setback
is an existing condition of the property and the proposal should cause no undue detriment
to the location beyond what might otherwise be expected but therefore the city planning
commission recommends the board grant the proposed variance for rear yard setback
we're going to have a resumptive hearing on 1117 at 9 30 a.m thank you council thank you mr
general number two
and by 2025 004-546-216 south 42nd street murray furliger is the attorney
good afternoon council could you please state your name and spell for the sonographer sure
meredith ferliger f-e-r-l-e-g-e-r do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth is
nothing but the truth yes i do can you identify your client in relationship to this property
Of course I can. My client is 216-218 LLC, represented here today by Gabe Buda Levin.
I'm sure you're aware there is a letter of opposition.
I am, yes.
And our vice chair has a few questions.
Good afternoon. Have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, I did.
And do you wait with the reading of the refusal and super late to its accuracy?
I do. There has been a change in the number of units requested, and I'll address that in the presentation.
Okay. All right. Thank you. You can show your screen and proceed with your case.
you i will and i do also i know it's very unusual nowadays to have an actual physical visual but
i do think it's going to be really helpful to the board in this case can i hand you up
uh just for they don't have to be part of the record they're in the exhibits council is that
okay sure why i think it's already part of the record yeah yep yeah
what i think it's already part of the record yeah okay
uh and again just for the record i did just hand up a physical exhibit that is
already a part of the exhibits today but i think it's going to just be helpful to you as i go
through the presentation to actually have it in front of you to reference and i think you'll
understand why all right the request before you today concerns 216 and 218 north 42nd street in
spruce hill the exhibit packet that's in front of you contains 17 exhibits just to briefly summarize
the basis of today's request. This application requests one use variance to permit the use of
this almost 12,000 square foot building as 12 dwelling units, which is an expansion beyond the
six that currently exist. As I mentioned briefly, that number of units is a reduction from the
number that was originally requested to l and i as you can see originally 15 units was requested
that has now been cut down to 12. as we expect you're going to see today this building is
remarkably complicated and subject to a significant hardship i'm going to try and walk through some of
the background information quickly because i do want to spend a little bit more time on the
photographic walkthrough that i have so let's talk about yeah right yep so we have you your
presentation 30 35 minutes and then we're going to go to the uh try to see if we can't get the
audience in it no problem and i think that that i think my presentation should be just about that
if not even a little bit less thank you no problem um and again i i do want to spend some time on that
photographic walkthrough because i think it's going to help you understand how the unit layout
here is truly driven by the structural characteristics of this building which were each built in either
1890 or 1930. so just very briefly the deed conveying this property to my client is shown
at exhibit three and tax clearance is shown at exhibit two for each of the lots
starting first with the zoning map at exhibit three exhibit four you can see that this block
is zoned rsa three which is entirely inconsistent as you'll see with the solitary dense multifamily
use of this particular block of south 42nd street this particular property these two
properties combined sit right at the corner of south 42nd street and locust street
And then if I turn to the aerials here at exhibit 8, zoom in a little bit, you'll see from the east view here that this is a fairly historically characteristic block, although it does not have any form of formal historic designation at this time.
i did at exhibit 11 include a map that shows the newly established southeast spruce hill historic
district which stopped just one block south of this property i include this because it is
relevant to the request since had the district actually continued a block or two north this
building itself would have been able to utilize that historic exception in the code to permit
all forms of cmx3 uses including multi-family
the photographs at exhibit 17 are of the exterior and will provide you a little bit
more useful insight into the property and the neighborhood itself so the first photograph
that you have here is of the building frontage where you can see the two adjoining existing
buildings at 216 and 218 north 42nd street as you can see here these doors are at grade level
which is also effectively the basement but is also the street level and you'll see in the photographs
and on the plans that although it's labeled as a basement it is effectively the street level of the
property my client is proposing to combine the properties via a unity of use as they are already
physically joined on the inside and again you can hopefully start to gather some of that unique
And again, you can hopefully start to gather some of that unique historical character that my client is seeking to restore.
historical
The next photograph that I have here shows immediately to the right of the building showing one of the alleys that separates this building from its adjoining neighbor.
And then, as you'll see in the plans in a moment, there is a door that is on this side of the building that will provide egress from the lower level.
and then if we flip back to the other side of the building on locust street again you can start to
gather the mass of this building itself and the significant change of grade as you move along
locust street that renders that nearly that entire lower level above grade at street level
and then if i zoom out a little bit this is just a view from the intersection of south 42nd and
locust now if we move back on locust and flip in the opposite direction you'll see here that the
property has an existing garage which is not proposed to be altered or changed with this
application and then from a more direct side view you can see the three existing egress doors
which are again at the street lower level of the building for ease of reference we did
label it on the plans as the basement but you'll see again as you can start to see here that it's
not actually truly a basement and then in the next photograph here you can see the large
seven foot wide rear alley that leads towards the back of this property
and then i did also include some photographs of the rear yard which will be open and accessible
to all of the residents of this building.
And I did include just a couple of photographs.
And again, you can see that there is an additional egress door on the back of the building.
And again, this door is from that lower level basement, if you will.
And then in the next photograph, and as you'll see on the inside,
this building was historically used as the photography studio
for renowned photographer Armstrong Roberts.
And you can see his plaque is still on the side of the building.
And then just in terms of some context photos, I'll move through these quickly. This is a view across the street from the property.
And then looking up South 42nd street towards Walnut street, you can see in this image here.
And then you can see here, this is a view of the intersection.
and then again if you look across the street you can see the school I believe this is a part of
the Penn Alexander School across Locust Street and then we did also include photographs of the
zoning posters which were timely posted in your exhibits at exhibits five and six you do have
several plans, and I did hand up a visual representation that more directly compares
these just for your own purposes. So exhibit five is the existing conditions floor plan
showing how the building is laid out today. And then at exhibit six, you will find the
proposed floor plans, which were prepared by our architect, Chris Blakelock, who should be on the
zoom to answer any questions that you might have we did include two versions of the proposed plans
uh one with dimensions and one without dimensions uh the the one with dimensions is obviously a
little bit busy so we included both versions just to make it a little easier to reference
i will briefly introduce you to the existing conditions plans but i do have snapshots of
these floor plans with the interior photographs to reference as well so i do want to give you
a sense of the proposal so that when you see the interior you can hopefully understand how
this proposal is truly the best and most viable option for this remarkably complex building
so as you can see here at exhibit five the building is currently four stories
including that lower level. There are breaches at the street level, the first floor, as well as the
third floor. Everything that you see indicated in green was historically used as a part of that
photography studio, and that is the area that is proposed to be converted into additional
residential units. As you know, RSA 3 does not permit commercial use, nor does it permit
nor does it permit multifamily living. However, with multifamily living already existing in this
multifamily living. However, with most
building, that now leaves a significant portion of this building without any legal use whatsoever.
So, as you can see, Unit 1 currently extends from the street level all the way up to the top floor.
unit two is currently on that first floor unit three and four are on the second floor
and units five and six are on the third floor as you can see as you compare the existing to
the proposed there are no material changes proposed to those existing units except to unit
one which will no longer have any portion at the top floor so that unit is going to be reduced in
size uh exhibit 10 shows all the permit history for the building itself showing that you'll uh the
permit history here shows that the building was historically used between five and six units
depending on which permit you look at and then a photography studio dating all the way back to the
1930s so this property existed in its current state for for almost 100 years just under both
together both together that's correct yes they they have breaches at three different levels
so now if we turn to exhibit six you'll see the layouts of the proposed units all of the existing
units have maintained maintained the same color indications again just so you can clearly see
what is existing what is to remain versus what is now newly proposed in that former photography
studio on the ground uh ground level street level unit one will have its kitchen and bathroom
on the first floor unit one will have the living room dining room and one bedroom and bathroom
and then on the second floor unit one will have two more bedrooms and bathrooms for unit one
this unit one is over 3 000 square feet and is specifically being designed for Gabe to live in
this building if we then move back down to the street level you'll see that unit seven will have
direct access from locust street it's indicated in blue and is a one bedroom one bath unit of
nearly a thousand square feet unit eight is on the other side and has direct access from the side
alley off of south 42nd street and will be a two bedroom two and a half bath unit of almost 1400
square feet the street level will also have a designated trash storage area mail room as well
as some utilities areas the entrance to the first floor is either through the front on south 42nd street
or off of locust street so you can see there's entrances along the side and then there are
entrances at that front on the first floor are four units including a part of unit one
Unit 9 is in the back and is a one-bedroom, one-bath unit of 540 square feet.
And then Unit 10 is also a one-bedroom, one-bath unit of 500 square feet.
And then Unit 2 is one of the existing units that is 650 square feet that will be renovated but otherwise materially unmodified.
and then the first floor also has an additional trash storage area in the back
at the second floor you'll find a unit 11 in the back which is a one bedroom one bath unit of 840
square feet unit three is another existing unit to remain which is a studio unit of 335 square feet
and then you can see here and you'll see even better in the interior photographs
that this unit cannot be modified or otherwise incorporated into any of the other units as there
is a level change that you'll be able to see in a moment and then unit four is also an existing unit
which is also to be renovated but otherwise the envelope is to be unchanged and that unit is 655
square feet and then finally at the third floor is one new unit that is labeled as unit 12
which will be over 1100 square feet and a one bedroom one bath with den the other two units
on this floor which are units five and six are also two of the existing units that are to remain
are also two of the existing units that are to remain unit five is the purple unit which is a
studio unit of 320 square feet and then unit six is a one-bedroom unit of 650 665 square feet and
this particular unit is the unit where the former owner of this property lives and will continue to
live post renovation and as you can see here and as you'll see in the photographs there is another
level change between unit 5 and unit 6 making any physical change there virtually impossible
all of the units have interior trash storage which is supplemented with the storage areas that you
saw at the first floor and the lower level since gabe will be living here there's no better eyes
on the street management to ensure that the property will be well maintained in addition
to trash management for this property and all of his other properties gabe and his team pick
up trash weekly in the neighborhood in which all of his properties sit now at this point and i will
reserve a lot of the legal argument for the memo of law just in the interest of time i do want to
spend some minutes walking you through the photographs so you can truly visualize the
existing conditions in relation to the renovations that you have now seen so at exhibit seven i have
included a very detailed photographic walkthrough of this building i am going to walk through it as
quickly as possible but please stop me if any questions come up as i'm walking through it
the one thing i do want to have the board take particular note of is the number of interior
stairs that exist not only in the building but between floors and within units and you'll see
here and I think this is why it's also helpful for you to have the plans in front of you I did
try and include snapshots of the floor plans so you can get a better sense of where these pictures
are actually taken so starting here what I did is these are broken down between side so the 218
side is the corner the 216 side is the interior so i'm going to show you the 218 side and then
we'll we'll flip over to the other side so this first image here you can see the street level
entrance uh which as you walk in you then can step down to that lower area which is going to become
a part of unit one uh and the unit one kitchen so there's not only steps that come up from the street
but then there's immediately steps that go down onto that lower level the photograph here also
shows a very good representation of the grade of that lower level which even at the front of the
building is technically a basement but is truly at grade this is a photograph of the bathroom
that will remain in unit one and again this is that lower level again