Thank you. Good morning again, everyone. My name is Frank DiCicco. I'm the chair of the Zoning
Board of Adjustment. We have a quorum. I'm officially calling this session to order.
And the board members who are in attendance are Confessor Plaza, our board secretary,
Mr. Thomas Holloman, our board member, and Mr. James Snell, also our board member.
And we also have, and attending is our board administrator, Ms. Tanya Sunkit,
and our city solicitor Sharon Saleta. As you're probably aware today is our fourth week of
holding virtual hearings. While we may have to make some adjustments along the way our plan is
to call each case and basically proceed as we would have in a live hearing. We ask that attorneys
for the applicants or other interested parties identify themselves for the record when the case
you'll be participating is called. We will then hear the applicant's presentation followed by
any presentation by attorneys representing other parties. Interested parties and members of the
public, not represented by counsel, will then be given an opportunity to testify. We will finally
then hear from the recommendation of the Planning Commission. At the hearing's conclusion, the board
will either vote the matter immediately or hold it for discussion in executive session. Any case
held for discussion, will be voted on the record at the next regular scheduled August 12th, 9 .30
a .m. morning session. A couple of changes related to the virtual format. First, we will be
administering oaths to individual participants prior to their testimony, rather than to the
room as a whole, since there is no room. Second, for the benefit of anyone participating by phone,
we ask that attorneys and witnesses identify themselves prior to speaking or testifying.
Third, we would like to advise everyone that this proceeding is being recorded and that by
participating you acknowledge your agreement to be recorded. We'll also remind everyone that
wishes to testify to raise your hand when your case is called. That way we'll be able to recognize
you and patch you in and tanya miss sunkett will give you the details on that uh soon as i finish
up with one more piece of work here please i'm asking we're asking the attorneys to please
limit your testimony to those issues that are extremely important to your case
it is a lot difficult getting through these hearings there's no fault of anyone but it's
just the matter in which this format we're using does take a little bit more time. So again,
we're asking you to limit your testimony to those issues that are necessary for the record.
Ms. Sunker, Tanya, would you want to give the folks the directions on how to call in and then
I'll go on with the cases? Yes, if you've reached us by telephone and you wish to testify,
then you would have to raise your hand to be acknowledged and when you raise your hand on
the phone you have to press star 9 and in order to unmute yourself when directed you will have
to press star 6. If anyone wishes to put in an appearance statement you can call a google voice
line to leave a message at 267 -270 -5548. Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Tanya. All right, I'll now
read off the list of continuances and withdrawals. Calendar number 38454, 106 Leverington Avenue is
withdrawn. Calendar number 38886 -1737, that, let me start again, 1731 -37 Washington Avenue
is withdrawn. Calendar number 39355 -4206 Chester Avenue is withdrawn. Calendar number 38453 -200
West Duncannon Avenue is continued, calendar number 37332, 2806 North Water
Street is continued, and calendar number 37198, 1600 Carpenter Street is also
being continued. Did I leave anything out, Tanya or Sharon, on the
continuance or withdrawals? No. Okay. We do have a couple. Yeah, I'm just going to ask you if anyone,
if there are any other requests for continuances or withdrawals, please raise your hand and
identify yourself. And also, if we called off any cases, any of the cases I just called
Any of the cases I just called as being withdrawn or continued were made in
as being withdrawn or continued were made in error, please know.
error, please let us know that also. Frank Garcia, are you here
regarding a continuance? You may unmute yourself and speak.
Yes, I was requesting a continuance for 2501 East Haggard Street.
So that's calendar number 38666.
2501 East Haggard Street.
I know.
I believe Adam
Laver is the attorney.
Are you, Mr. Garcia, representing
the applicant?
No, I'm a protestant.
I'm a neighbor a block
away within the
And we still have
not come to an agreement
the applicant's
attorney.
Frankly, due to the pandemic, there's been very little effort.
Hold on. Mr. Garcia, just just I'm sorry to interrupt. Is Mr. Laver available?
Yes. Good morning, Mr. Chairman and members of the board. Are you able to hear me?
Yeah. Just identify yourself, please.
Sure. Adam Laver of Blank Rome, One Logan Square on behalf of the applicant. Mr. Chairman.
And do you swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Yes, Mr. Chairman, I do.
Thank you.
It doesn't look like I have video privileges, but I'll continue speaking without.
As the board may recall, we had a very full and complete hearing in this matter just prior to the local outbreak of the pandemic on March 11th.
At the conclusion of that lengthy hearing, the board requested that we continue to meet with ORCA, the recognized community organization, and we have been in discussions with Rosemary Thomas, who I believe is with us today.
I don't know Mr. Garcia specifically, but based on my recollection, he did not enter his appearance on March 11th at the initial hearing.
Accordingly, I would respectfully submit to the board that based on the limited nature of this additional hearing,
Mr. Garcia, with all due respect, should not be permitted to offer testimony to that.
You mentioned the lady who was from Orca.
Rose Thomas is the president.
I was in touch with her as recently as about 10 minutes ago.
Ms. Rosemary Thomas, I see your name.
Would you please identify yourself with a record?
Hi, Rosemary Thomas, president of the Old Richmond Civic Association.
Do you swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
All right.
I assume you've heard the conversation from Mr. Garcia and also from Mr. Laver.
I have.
What is the position of ORCA regarding a continuance?
um i we just adam mr labor and i have been working together with the last few days
to finalize a cba for our board to review and we just received it um at like 9 18 this morning so
our board has not had a chance to fully review it yet um i don't know if a continuance i don't want
to continue this for months, but I do think a small amount of time for our board to properly
review the CBA would be appreciated. Would it be acceptable if we heard the case
and hold the decision for one or two weeks? What's the shortest amount of time you can
get a consensus from the board? Mr. Chairman, I believe the case has already been heard. It was
heard on march 11th it was only i'm sorry he did say that yeah i apologize the issue as i understand
it mr chairman members of the board to come back before the board with an update on our efforts to
address candidly what are non -zoning issues but legitimate community issues outside of the zoning
spectrum concerning environmental uh matters concerning the demolition of the former industrial
real site. And that is my understanding of the limited nature of this follow -up hearing today.
Everything that Ms. Thomas said is accurate. Unfortunately, as things often happen with
As things often happen with hearings and ongoing negotiations, we've been working back and forth.
I had actually been in touch with Ms. Saleta as counsel for the board as a procedural courtesy to let her know recently that, unfortunately, I did not think that we were going to be able to reach an agreement.
I suspect from my last conversation with Ms. Thomas this morning that we are in agreement on all issues, perhaps with the exception of one, and I am concerned about further delays to the hearing, but certainly committed in every respect to trying to work this out.
okay why don't we do this uh we'll hold this for one week we'll make a decision next wednesday
uh 9 30 a .m august the 12th
thank you mr chairman all right so calendar number thank you thank you for your time calendar number
three eight six six six two five oh one that's three five east haggard is being held for discussion
for one week. It'll be voted on next Wednesday, August the 12th at 930 a .m. Mr. Chairman, for
clarification for Ms. Thomas and anyone else who's participating, is it the board's expectation
or desire that we reappear to speak, or will the decision be made at that time on the record
without testimony? Unless there's something new and different to add or some issue, I don't think
we need to meet, you need to testify again. We'll just vote. If you have any changes,
Ms. Thomas, as well, just forward those concerns to the board. Understood. Thank you for the
clarification. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Any other requests for continuances or withdrawals?
We do have Jeffrey Young. Jeffrey, you've been allowed to speak. Unmute yourself and testify.
Good morning, members of the board. My name is Jeffrey Young, address 3900 Ford Road, Suite B, Philadelphia PA 19131. I'm here to enter my appearance on the record for appeal number 37198, 1600 Carpenter Street.
We understand that there's going to be a continuance.
I represent Protestants in this particular matter, a near neighbor and a community organization.
And we are, you know, just as one of my parents on the record, and we are, you know, in support
of the continuance.
Thank you, Mr. Young.
Good to hear you.
Okay, calendar number.
We already read that in as a continuance.
Okay, thank you.
anyone else who wishes to enter a continuance or withdrawal, or did we call a continuance or
withdrawal an error? Please raise your hand at this time. I have someone here with the name of
Nancy Nugent. Nancy, you can now speak. Nancy, Ms. Nugent, would you please spell your name for
the record identify yourself name and address my name is nancy wynn n -a -n -c -y -n -g -u -y -e -n
i'm the executive director of viet lead 320 west oregon avenue philadelphia 19145
i'm speaking as a protestant on the continued appeal for 1600 carpenter i have a couple of
questions. This appeal has been, this is the second continuance that has been granted for this
property. I would like to understand what is the process. The first continuance was given over a
year ago. The developer never met with community organizations to adjust their plan as was
requested by the ZBA board. Can you explain what the process is here on out? We're unclear on how
to move forward with the developer that doesn't want to negotiate or work with us or the neighbors.
Can I speak to this for a moment? The board was prepared to go forward with this.
However, we received a request for a continuance not only from the developer,
but from SOSNA, the community organization. And I think based on that, the combination of the
uh appellant and the community organization that's the reason it was given another continuance
will is the process that how many continuances are generally granted can you kind of give us
a sense of that there is no set rule on that really there's no set
There is no set rule on that, really.
There's no set rule, but what we could do is when the continuance will give a date, whatever date works for all parties, and say must be heard.
That would be very helpful, Chairman Chico, just because we've been organizing around this for a year now.
We've been trying to get this meeting to happen.
I understand that Sazna did request a continuance.
partially it was because you know they also want to see the plans adjusted you know this has been
a huge problem for us because the businesses have been closed you know now we're under this pandemic
I feel like we need a little bit more direction from the board to force a hand for the for
streamlined to actually readjust its plans in a you know in communication with community members
who are being impacted. Understood. And Ms. Sunkit will come up with a date. Maybe, Tanya,
we can give them a date a little further out than we typically would. I remember this case. It was
very controversial, I do recall. But we'll give you a date, and it'll be a must -be -heard date.
Thank you. I appreciate that. Thank you. I would suggest that all those who appeared for this case
still um use the number and put in an appearance to ensure that you get notification how do i put
in an appearance sorry this is i've never done this virtually the number i gave at the beginning
okay we'll confer with our with our with uh jeffrey thank you yes i gave a number at the
beginning i also emailed it to jeffrey yesterday and he can always reach out to me for assistance
as he always does. Thank you. Okay, thank you. Anyone else, Tanya? Yes, we do have
Madeline Shacumba. Ms. Shacumba, are you here regarding a continuance? If so, you can now speak.
Can you hear me? Yes, Madeline, please identify yourselves by your name.
Madeline Shikumba, M -A -D -E -L -I -N -E, Shikumba, S -H -I -K -O -M -B -A.
I'm here to speak on half of 1600 Carpenter Street.
Well, you may have heard we're going to continue that.
I understand that.
I understand that you're going to continue it, okay?
I just want to point out the fact of what Ms. Lynn had said to you about the developer not willing to come forward to negotiate with us, okay?
So I sent a continuance, but they did not even consult with me about the continuance
because I have been trying, I've been working with the, Ms. Newman and the neighbors concerning
this matter over a period of time since we have been in this thing.
And I feel so, over the years.
Shacumba, I hear you.
You heard, we're going to continue.
It's going to be a must be heard.
all right just knowing the development comes forward and willingly that's that's all that's
that's between the developer and your your organization and the sasna thank you
anyone else tanya
no chair you can move forward thank you all right uh first case
Calendar number 39373, 1401 North 5th Street.
Excuse me, Chairman.
We were going to go back to 50, to Wall Street.
I'm sorry.
This is with Rachel?
Yeah, I apologize.
I'm sorry.
So that was, I know I've made a note somewhere over here.
I'm working in cramped quarters.
Rachel?
rachel you can unmute yourself and speak good morning everyone um please identify yourself
as a record for rachel pritzker r -a -c -h -a -e -l pritzker p -r -i -t -z -k -e -r pritzker law group 1635
market street suite 1600 philadelphia pa 19103 i represent the applicant uh the owner of 5230
Walnut Street. And this is, this was a record was held open, correct? Yeah, the community group had
requested, in addition with the council office, had requested a continuance or this be held so
that they could convene another meeting. I assume that Max is here from the council office. I was
called by Max last night after, or yesterday afternoon after reaching out to the RCO. They
They apparently held a meeting without inviting us to it in which they, I guess, discussed our matter and came up with, I guess, some conclusions.
I guess discussed our matter and came up with I guess some conclusion that we're unaware of I
would prefer to not listen to any testimony about that meeting or have any information from that
meeting be you know allowed on the record because we weren't invited to it so I don't know how the
RCO can request additional time and then and ask for more inclusion and then not invite us to that
meeting so yeah i thought we at the time if correct me from wrong that a woman by the name
of mango i believe it was m -a -n -g -o uh she was uh i think she is the uh zoning director or whatever
of the rco and all she had said is she wanted some time uh to speak to the near neighbors who
may not have been aware of what was going on and i think it's a by right development if i recall
it's by right except we are just asking for a variance to not provide a curb cut on walnut
street because it's a state highway right and they asked to have another meeting so that more people
who live nearby could participate in the meeting and then we weren't invited to that meeting so
i i don't know if near name more near neighbors showed up i don't know what was discussed um
again i think it's a moot point it's a by right and the the curb cut is not something that you
had in your application anyway so I don't know what the discussion is would
be about right I would just like the board to vote the case so that we can
move forward with this project and what is that calendar number again three nine
do you have it Sharon by any chance I'm looking shower and you have it I do it's
calendar number 39828 and can i say that the refusals in this matter were for not providing
three required parking spaces and one required accessible spaces is that correct rachel correct
and you were not able to provide those because they would have required a curb cut correct that
would have to get approved by PennDOT. And that address again is 550? 5230 and 32 Walnut Street.
Okay. All right. I know you don't want to hear any testimony, but I have to,
courtesy, if anyone is on regarding this matter, please raise your hand if you haven't already
done so. Max Weiss, you can unmute yourself and speak. Hi, this is Max Weiss, W -E -I -S,
ASS, Director of Legislation and Policy for Councilmember Gaudier. As Rachel said,
Cobbs Creek neighbors did hold a meeting last night. And, you know, we were surprised that
Rachel and her client were not included. And, you know, that was just an unfortunate mistake.
the near neighbors did appear at the meeting last night there were two folks who did express
concerns about parking on the block being very congested because a lot of people park in the
area during the day and then take the L downtown and then come home at night and then drive home
so you know they did express that concern about parking and um the community group does um remain
opposed to the project and just um you know so we we we still do stand behind them in opposition
understood all right just to clarify max um you're stating that they the neighbors have a
concern about parking and that their thought would be that if we do a curb cut it'll eliminate
more parking on the street, which is already
a problem.
Yeah, which was part
of the conversation we had initially.
Right.
Be careful what you wish for, right?
Yeah, I just wanted to clarify that point.
Okay. All right. Anyone else
on this case?
Nothing, Chair.
Thank you.
Hold on, please.
i'm working on a small little table here and i can't everything okay calendar number
three nine i'm sorry no i was going to give you the calendar number again
okay calendar number three nine eight two eight five two three zero dash three two market street
my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes thank you any other requests
Sorry.
Thank you.
No problem.
I think we've handled all the continuance issues, correct, Tonya?
the continuance issues correct tanya yes chair you can move forward okay calendar number 39373
Yes, Chair.
1401 north fourth north fifth street number five street north 15th street north 15th
Adam who is it I'm sorry good good morning Mr. Chairman members of the board Adam Laver of
Blank Rome on behalf of Michael Al -Haddad owner of the subject property at 1401 North 15th Street
I'd just like to clarify that the address of the property is 15th 15th Street thank you I had it
I had it down for Fifth Street, so noted, it's North 15th Street.
No worries at all.
I am going to try to do screen share one moment here.
Are you able to see the aerial photograph up on my screen?
Very good.
I've submitted exhibits with Exhibits 1 through 12 to the board previously.
Michael, who has appeared before this board, owns several properties within the community.
He has established a reputation for honesty, good business practices, and open communication.
The exhibit packages that I've shared with the members of the board include RCO support at Tab 5, not only from the coordinating RCO, but from two additional impacted RCOs which lend their support.
Michael being based in the community does have a very good working relationship with these folks
and had hoped that they could be here today but there are computer accessibility issues and there
was not comfort with the with calling in by telephone unfortunately so I would ask that
the board take note of the three letters at tab five the subject property as you can see on your
screen is located in an RM1 zoning district. I'm circling it with the cursor right here. It's the
large brick building that fronts on North 15th Street and runs along Master Street through to
Carlisle Street. It is located, I'll give you another view here, it's the brick building on
the right. It's located across the street from a CMX4 high -density zoning district. The property,
as you can see, is four stories. It's over 17 ,000 square feet in size. The existing registration for
the property is 12 apartments. We are proposing to register the use for single -room residences,
a total of 39 rooms. The referral is at tab 9. This is not a variance. It's a referral.
there is one referral for this use. It won't come as a surprise I'm sure to
members of the board that we're here in the Temple University neighborhood and
the property largely serves as off -campus housing. In this instance the
property really meets the demands for quality student housing in the
neighborhood and the project is supported by the community due to the
single -room residency, better allowing regulation of student behavior through individual leases that
will hold students accountable and allow appropriate operation of the building. It becomes a win -win
for the university, for the surrounding residential neighborhood, to have a contained well -known
building and a local operator, which is why this makes sense. I can't help but recall, as some
members of the board will. I think it was in 2018 that there was a terrible fire of an unlicensed
single -room residency property. And at the time, Commissioner Perry spoke about the importance of
having properly licensed buildings such as this that are sprinklered, that have security, that are
well -maintained. In this instance, local residents are employed to handle trash and maintenance with
Michael, long -term employees. Michael partners with community leaders in his ownership and management
of the property. Let me show you some additional photographs here of the interior, just so you can
get a sense of the finishes. Here you see a kitchen, for example, and one moment,
well -lit, nicely renovated space for bedrooms. The authorization of certificated relief will
The authorization of certificated relief will not alter the character of the neighborhood
not alter the character of the neighborhood or
or district or be detrimental to the public welfare.
The proposal fits into the surrounding neighborhood as evidenced by the support of the community
and speaks to granting of relief being of benefit to the public and within the spirit
of the zoning code.
The special exception will represent the minimum modification to afford relief and will represent
the least modification possible of the regulation at issue.
the grant of certificated relief will not substantially increase congestion in
the public streets increase the danger of fire again I remind you this is a
fully sprinklered building with two means of the egress through the property it
will not otherwise endanger the public health safety or general welfare there
are no additional issues I've sent in a full record I believe this exhibit
package has 57 pages. Michael is here to adopt and affirm at the appropriate time, and I'm here to
specifically answer questions that the board may have. Let's hear from your client. Mr. Al -Haddad,
would you please raise your hand virtually, and when given permission, state your name and address
for the record. Good morning. You can unmute yourself and speak. Good morning, everyone. My
name is Michael Al -Haddad. I'm the owner of the property of 1401 North 50th Street. Mr. Al -Haddad,
please spell your name and provide your address. Michael Al -Haddad, A -L -H -A -D -A -D.
my office address is 1000 West Gerard Philadelphia PA 19123. Thank you. Mr. Al -Haddad do you swear
and affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth? Yes I do Mr. Chairman.
Thank you. Thank you for completing that oath. Mr. Al -Haddad my understanding is that you've
been participating in virtual hearing from the start is that correct? That's correct.
And would you adopt and affirm my testimony as your own?
Yes, I do.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you.
Is there anyone who wishes to testify in this case?
If so, please raise your hand.
Mr. Chairman, I should further mention to you that I briefed Council President Clark's thoughts regarding this matter.
They're aware of community support.
Thank you.
here we have destiny flores destiny you can unmute yourself and testify regarding this case if you
wish hello um this is for the howden plaza correct
i'm sorry ma 'am would you please identify yourself with a record
um i am destiny flores a resident of south philly
down Philly this is in 1400 North 15th Street okay what case are you here for
um the how been plaza the development there where is it how been I think it's
carpenter 1600 carpenter yeah yeah that case is being being continued you can
check with your local RCO on the date they're going to we're continuing that case okay thank
you thank you anyone else anyone else for 1401 North 15th Street Jeffrey Young are you here for
this case your hand is up
no chair that's all okay thank you questions from the board
planning commission
this property is indicated for residential use on the city plan we have no objection to the
granting a special exception thank you calendar number 39373 1401 north 15th street my vote is
yes my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes thank you all right mr labor you have the next
case calendar number three nine four one three one four oh eight east oxford street
you've already been sworn in so please proceed thank you uh mr chairman members of the board
for the record adam labor flank rome one logan square and i should and i i forgot to read
confessor carol usually does this do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate
to its accuracy yes i i do mr chairman thank you thank you please proceed okay i'm
yes I do mr. chairman thank you thank you please proceed okay I'm going to
share the screen and pull up there with just one moment oh mr. chairman members
of the board in the interest of the board's time I would like to suggest
that this case 39413 be heard with its companion case 39418 which is 325
Belgrade Street the properties are located immediately across the street
from one another they are the same developer they were reviewed by the
community which supports the both projects and it may be faster for you if
I do it that way.
Okay, so we'll hear it.
I'm sorry, Mr. Chairman.
I was going to say that that is number six on your list of cases, and it's calendar 39418325 Belgrade Street.
Got it.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
So I'm going to start with the first case that you called, and I'll distinguish within my testimony.
I'm here on behalf of Dora Berkovitz, B -E -R -K -O -V -I -T -Z, and Devir Aharon, that's D -V -I -R -A -H -A -R -O -N, who are the owners of the subject property, and in fact, both properties, and in fact, the two of them, as I'll mention later,
hope to move their families into new construction homes across the street.
Regarding the first property, which is up here on the screen, I'm showing you with the cursor,
it's a very large property. Here is Oxford Street, a long expanse along Oxford Street,
and then here with the mouse, I'm showing you frontage on bell braid. You have exhibits one
through 17 for that property. And then across the street, I'm circling that and I'll show you
close -ups later. Across Oxford is the other property, number six, I believe, on your agenda.
You have a separate exhibit package with one through 15 on that. In both exhibit packages,
you'll find RCO support from Fishtown Neighbors Association at tab five in each. A couple
Profitory notes as I begin. We have been in touch with Council President Clark's
office regarding these matters. I've spoken with Mary Jones, who I do not
believe is able to attend this morning, but recognizes the support from FNA.
Additionally, it's my understanding that there are several supporters from the
community who have taken the time to attend this virtual hearing and may
offer their support if the board wishes to hear from them later. As I've
mentioned, we've worked closely with the Fishtown Neighborhood Association on the plans before you,
which reflect revisions. There is a revised proviso plan that was submitted
that is only for this 1408 East Oxford Street development has revisions. The plans incorporate
valuable suggestions including a height modification. That's the main
change which I'll get into in a moment. Both of the projects have been designed
by Ambit Architecture. Rich Villa of Ambit Architecture is here to speak to
the board as needed. The larger of the two projects is the former National
Metal Crafters site with frontages along Oxford and Belgrade. It's an unusual
configuration which you can see in this photograph that I have up on my screen.
The size of the property is 14 ,403 square feet. Despite the industrial
nature of the former use, the development site is owned RSA 5. That's really what
brings us here today. There is a nearby significant presence of CMX 2 and you
can see that just looking at the aerial photograph and the developments that's around here in terms
of height, most visibly, for example. A stroll by the site, I'm going to skip to another page here,
depicts a changing neighborhood as shown in the photo that I've pulled up from tab three.
The subject property is surrounded by approved development projects that are changing the
neighborhood pursuant to the city plan and permitting denser development. It is estimated
it is estimated that 20 or more homes could be built on this former industrial site. I'm pulling
that 20 or more homes
up the survey here. I'm going to zoom in just a little bit so you can sense, and I'm showing you
with the cursor, the size of that property. We're estimating that 20 plus homes could be built up
the site with massive, impracticable backyards, very dissimilar from what you would see in
Fishtown. And of course, there's no parking requirement. Turning, if I may, to the proposal
for the subject property, I'm going to advance ahead a little bit and pull up the zoning site
plan. Here we go. We propose the consolidation of lot lines into one, the construction of a new
multifamily apartment building with 42 residential units and 34 off -street
accessory parking spaces. There is a single curb cut here, which I'm
indicating with the hand icon off of Burke Street in and out through one curb
cut. This design actually returns two on -street parking spaces to the
community, which is a great addition. Also, although not before the board, here
at 1400 East Oxford, this property, which I'm circling with the icon, is also owned by my
clients who have committed open landscaped space for the entire property at the corner,
which is a great community resource. The plans, which have been revised, as I mentioned,
and I'm going to zoom in a little bit more here call for a we're looking at the Oxford Street
frontage at the moment a four -story building 45 feet to the point where my where the icon is the
rooftop with additional rooftop amenity space above that which is set back significantly in
a smaller footprint. A family -oriented mix is proposed, no studios, 27 one -bedroom units,
12 two -bedroom units, three three -bedroom units. Commercial trash pickup is proposed from the
interior of the property with accurate trash hauling to drive into the development off of
Belgrade after 8 a .m. for trash removal. The developer is committed to working with the
coordinating RCO which supports this project on notification concerning the
development of the former industrial property. We are also proposing 20 off
street interior bicycle spaces. You can see the updated zoning site plan on the
screen also at your tab 13. I'm going to move to conceptual renderings which I
think are quite impressive. That's a tab 17 in your packages. Looking at these
conceptual renderings, you might think that the buildings have been here from
Fishtown's industrial past, although cleaned up nicely. Of course they're all
new. You see here on the left -hand side of the page industrial brick facades, all
new construction. On the top right is also the Oxford Street view. We have a not
red brick but an industrial looking brick. It really fits in quite nicely.
Moving to the next page here you see on the left the Berks entrance which is
where cars will come in and out through one curb cut. You see a view along Oxford
Street and you see the garden here at the corner which again is not
specifically part of the property but it's important when we look at the
overall development not only of this site but the site across the street.
Amenities for this apartment building include package locker, fitness center,
swimming pool and spa storage lockers and a landscaped common roof deck the
refusal is at tab 9 in your packages and I'll go through each of the refusals as
quickly as I can multi -family living is not permitted in the zoning district we
previously discussed the impractic ability of the very deep lots for
single -family homes and also noted the presence of multiple CMX2
multi -family parcels along with non -conforming uses. There are additional
refusals regarding off -street parking. Not only is off -street parking not
Not only is off -street parking not required, but it's not permitted.
required but it's not permitted.
We are proposing the shared access driveway, which generates multiple refusals.
We're doing this in an effort to address parking needs identified by the community.
Again, we're able to take this industrial site, return two on -street spots to the community,
and only use one in and out along Belgrade.
we have parking for 34 cars for 42 apartments which is more parking than is required in any
other zoning district in the city of philadelphia unfortunately by providing the parking however we
trigger refusals on the rear yard depth issue the philadelphia city planning commission has made
a determination which generated the refusal in that belgrade is deemed a front of the property
if you review the plans or even just look at the rendering that we have here
along Oxford, with the actual front of the property, the main frontage along
Oxford, practically we have exceeded rear yard setback requirements if Oxford is
considered the front. Next and last of the refusals is maximum height. As I've
mentioned this has been reduced and revised. 45 feet is proposed to the top
of the apartment building with an additional 11 feet for the rooftop amenity which is set back
a whopping 25 feet off of oxford street for a small 825 square foot rooftop amenity
i'm going to bring up an illustrative plan here you see some massings of the building up at the
top of the plan. And you will note, I'm using the icon again, the hand icon. This is Oxford.
This is the significant setback off of Oxford. And this is the 825 square foot structure at the top.
So it really doesn't have a presence. It's not discernible from the street level.
Let me also pull up one more exhibit here. Here you see looking at the rooftop floor plan at the amenity is right here I'm indicating and that's very small and you have the setback dimensions as well.
I'm going to step out of this if I can and move across the street to the
companion project. This is the Belgrade Street project which is the smaller
project. Here we go. Here we have an aerial view of the property. You'll see
that it fronts on Belgrade. It has significant frontage also on Oxford. It was also part of the
industrial complex. Both sides of the street were part of the industrial complex. The zoning
district is the same, similar particulars. The lot size is 9 ,800 square feet in size.
The proposal calls for the demolition of the former industrial structures and the creation
of seven single -family homes with accessory parking for 13 cars through a shared driveway.
The homes are proposed at three stories going to 35 feet with a setback and a small fourth story
to 45 feet for the setback. The primary refusals, which you can find at tab nine,
concern again the parking that is not required but since we are providing it
it generates refusals we are proposing a shared driveway off of Oxford this is
on the side of Oxford Street without parking so there's no loss of on -street
parking to the community we're taking cars off the street and there is the
minor height variance to accommodate the proposed smaller setback fourth story.
I'm going to try to show you some additional, here we go, here are some renderings.
We're proposing a significant setback of 14 feet for the first three homes off of Belgrade
and eight feet for the other homes as shown in these conceptual renderings.
On the left side, you see Belgrade with Oxford running back.
On the right side, this is a view looking along Oxford.
Belgrade would be at the very end.
You see the brick homes here.
Then you have a differentiation of materials.
Then you have a differentiation of materials with glass front, the single curb cut driveway to the shared access, and another home.
So these last two homes are glass front, and then there are five additional brick fronts as you get towards Belgrade.
Many people complemented the use of different materials.
As I mentioned at the outset, Dore and DeVira, as the developers of the site, plan to be owner occupants, moving their young families into the townhomes.
This will be a benefit not only to the upkeep of the townhomes, but to their apartment building across the street, which they will personally manage.
Both of these projects will revitalize the former industrial parcels with active development that is appropriate for the district.
The proposed development balances the city plan of record with community priorities, including half of the variances generated due to the off -street parking plans.
The authorization of variance relief will not negatively alter the character of the neighborhood or district or be detrimental to the public welfare.
The proposal fits into the surrounding neighborhood as evidenced by the support of the RCO in both matters.
They truly are companion cases, and this speaks to the granting of relief being of benefit to
the public and within the spirit of the zoning code. The proposed variance is, and I would like
to again remind everyone that we have revised proviso plans on the development across the street
that decrease the height. They represent the minimum variance to afford relief and represent
the least modification possible of the regulation at issue. These huge industrial parcels do require
some relief to allow the permitted uses that the district contemplates. The grant of variance
relief will not substantially increase congestion in the public streets, quite to the contrary,
nor the danger of fire or other life safety issues.
Devir Aharon, who is one of the principals, is here and can be sworn in and adopt and affirm.
And as I mentioned, our architectural team is here.
There are also, I understand, supporters, should the board wishes, but we do understand
that these virtual hearings run longer than anyone wishes.
So I don't want to burden you with anything more than is necessary.
What was the name again?
DeVir, D -V -I -R, first name Aharon, A -H -A -R -O -N.
Mr. Aharon, could you raise your hand virtually, and the board chair, Mr. DeChico, will wish to swear you in.
You can unmute yourself.
Can you hear me?
Hi, my name is Devere Aharon, D -V -I -R, last name Aharon, A -H -A -R -O -N.
And Mr. Arlon, do you swear in a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Thank you. Please proceed, Mr. Laver.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you, Mr. Arlon.
You've stated your name on the record.
Could you please provide your nearby home address as well?
Yes, my home address is 2061 East Susquehanna Avenue.
Thank you.
And is it correct what I said that you plan to be an owner occupant of one of the proposed
new development homes?
Correct.
Thank you.
And were you here for the full virtual hearing that has just occurred before the zoning board
of adjustment?
Were you able to clearly hear my testimony?
Would you adopt and affirm it as your own?
Thank you. Thank you.
Mr. Chairman, I believe you're on mute.
Mr. DeChico, we can't hear you. Can you hear me now?
yeah somehow i'm on a full screen i don't know how that happened but in any event i understand
mr labor that there are some other witnesses who are in support before i get to those folks is
there anyone who wishes who's out here to object to these applications if so please raise your hand
now. Amanda, you can unmute yourself.
You can unmute yourself.
Hello, could you hear me?
Hi, my name is Amanda Broing, B -R -E -U -I -N -G.
Her address?
1412 East Columbia Avenue.
Are you swearing for them to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Thank you.
Please proceed.
So my property connects to the proposed construction of 321 through 325 Belgrade
Street by my rear yard. I'd like to first recognize the length the developers have gone to
to appease and interact with the neighbors on Oxford Street. After attending the February 18th
community meeting, I understand they took time and effort to make the project visually appealing
and within the confines of what may please the immediate neighbors on the front side of this
particular project. Unfortunately, this level of care was not taken for the residents of Columbia
Avenue. My main opposition is to the maximum height variance. While the developers and Mr.
Lava recognize the height will be within limits in the front of the homes, they've not taken care
to consider how the height overage in the rear of the building will affect myself and my neighbors
on Columbia Avenue. When asked repeatedly during the community meeting for documented evidence of
a hardship to extend the maximum height. It was not provided. Instead, Mr. Laver appealed to the
community by indicating the height needed to be extended to 45 feet to allow for parking garages
below four of the seven homes. However, these garages provide just four of the proposed 13
parking spaces for seven homes. This is based on plans presented at the community meeting.
thus if the four garages did not allow for parking there would continue to be
nine spaces for seven homes I believe this is sufficient and does not
represent a hardship for the developers also in looking at the plans I see the
homes would be in compliance if they were three floors rather than the four
proposed if my understanding is correct a hardship must be presented in order
for the variance to pass and it has not been identified as I stated during the
community meeting, I request a SUN study be conducted related to the height of the proposed
homes, and I kindly request this maximum height variance be denied. Finally, I'd like to note
that I submitted a letter for the record yesterday evening. I apologize for the late submission, but
I was unaware of the meeting until very recently. I understand the zoning board has a strong
suggestion that notice of rescheduled meetings be sent to the RCO and neighbors, but that did
not appear to happen in this case. This meeting was not listed on the Fishtown
Neighborhoods Association website and I did not receive a mailing about the
hearing even after emailing Mr. Laver in late May indicating I would like to be
informed. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Thank you. I'd like to address the
comments respectfully that have been made. We have been in full communication with the
recognized community organization FNA, which we did share full information with regarding
rescheduled hearing going above and beyond the requirements in that regard. And as I've stated,
And as the record shows, the RCO is in support of this matter.
I never am happy to hear when a neighbor is not pleased with aspects of a development plan.
And I can assure all parties that there was no intention not to have any communication with any specific individual.
I'm sorry that, ma 'am, that you weren't in touch with me with your most recent
letter so that we could have engaged in further discussion. However, that being
said, from a variant standpoint in terms of what we are proposing, and I
address this to the board, which is appropriate in this instance, we are
talking about a minimal addition for a setback which would be allowed with
other types of ordinances anyway on top of the rooftop. I think that's why in
this instance we had a packed house of neighborhood residents who came out to
view the combined development proposals. I was told by the leadership of FNA that
it was perhaps an unprecedented number of people who came out to listen and to
perhaps an unprecedented number of people who came out to listen and to offer their input,
offer their input.
which led to these revised and updated plans that are before you. And that's why we're here today
with that support. And we did, before we came to you today, make the modifications on the setbacks.
So I recognize that I may not be able to address this neighbor's concern from around the block. We're always happy to keep in touch, but I'll rest with that.
Thank you. Is there anyone else who is in opposition to this application? Please raise your hand.
here we have someone by the name of christina you can unmute yourself and speak
can you hear me christina please uh give us your full name spell your name christina messer
m -e -s -s -e -r 1334 east oxford street philadelphia pa 19125 and do you swear and affirm to tell the
truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do thank you please proceed okay my concerns are
for the property on Oxford Street.
I did attend the FNA meeting,
and I did reach out to FNA in March
regarding a petition for the surrounding neighbors
to have them sign if they were
for the property being built or not.
I did not hear anything from them.
They actually, they did get back with me
and then coronavirus happened
and i didn't hear anything from them after that um at the fna meeting the vote for was overall in
favor but the surrounding neighbors was unfavorable um i do believe that there was a packed house for
that meeting because the developer is from the 19125 area and that's possibly why it was
favorable for developer but my concerns are for the apartment building and the density of our
neighborhood and the parking and all that stuff thank you anyone else who is in opposition
to this application or these applications i should say please raise your hand
we have a david johns you can unmute yourself and testify
hi my name is emily hinchman i'm david johns's wife um my last name is spelled h -i -n -c -h -m -a -n
my property is located at 1414 east columbia avenue and directly abuts the project on belgrade
do you swear and affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do please proceed thank you i um would just like to reiterate everything that miss brewing
said we have reached out to the developer and the um attorney mr laver and
And were promised, I guess, communication and did not receive communication regarding
any new meetings.
And furthermore, I would just like to reiterate and agree with everything that Ms. Brewing
She said it much more eloquently than I am.
Did you attend the community meeting?
I did.
Thank you.
anyone else who is in opposition please raise your hand for these applications
no one else chair you can proceed all right i understand mr labor you have a few people who
are in support in the interest of time uh could you recognize one or two of them and
we do appreciate they're taking the time to be with us this morning but again in the interest
of time, we would like to narrow it down to one or two folks. Certainly. I would ask those people
with whom we've spoken. Eric, would you please raise your hand, Eric? Eric, please raise your
hand virtually so that the chairman... You can now unmute yourself and speak, Eric.
Hi, can you hear me?
Please identify yourself, sir.
Eric Borma, E -R -I -K, Borma, B -O -E -R -M -A.
I live at 1409 Marlboro Street.
I'm directly behind the apartment complex that's going to be built.
And you swear to the firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
And you swear to the firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed.
Please proceed.
I just, you know, I understand the objections, but I think Dorr and his team have done,
they've gone well above and beyond trying to accommodate everything.
They've made multiple changes to the building.
They've worked directly with us because our parking lot is going to be directly impacted by this building.
So, you know, there's two other buildings that went up around us where we got no, you know, no contact from the builders.
So, you know, we're definitely in support of it just because they have, you know, just they've taken that extra effort, which we haven't seen from any other builders, at least since we've been here for the past almost five years now.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
There are a couple others out of the group who have been identified by Dwar and Devere.
if that applies to you
please raise your hand virtually
for the chairman
I know we're eager to move forward
with the lengthy list today
no hands are up
you can proceed
thank you Mr. Laver
any questions from the board?
Planning Commission so both properties are indicated for residential use on the city
plan regarding the 1408 East Oxford we have no objection to the grand unit
variance providing that a lower unit count be considered 14 are allowed by
right we believe it could be actually less dense and also compliance full
compliance with the parking landscape that's required on that particular site
regarding the Belgrade property to 325 Belgrade again in this case the property
is indicated for residential use on the city plan and giving the site
constraints we have no objection for granting of that parents thank you calendar number 39413
1408 east oxford street my vote is yes with the proviso two pages uh revised plan two pages
approved today and my vote is yes on calendar number 39418 325 belgrade street my vote is yes
to both my vote is yes to both with provisors my vote is yes for both with proviso with proviso
with provisors thank you let the record also reflect that vice chair carol team carol
tenere is thank you thank you thank you mr chairman and members of the board thank
everyone for participating appreciate your time yes are we is this number five no number three
calendar number 39824 2101 east westmoreland
before mr um klein comes on can i mention that he has the next two cases
this case Westmoreland and after that calendar 39058 theory 18 East Durham
Street that case was originally heard on July 21st continued to allow further
dialogue with the RCO and neighbors and mr. Klein will speak to that before you
vote thank you thank you mr. Klein do you agree to waive the reading of the
refusal and stipulate to its accuracy oh wait I'm sorry can everybody hear me
okay we can now do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate
to its accuracy yes I do you put your name and address on the record and spell
your name with a stenographer absolutely good morning mr chair members of the board jared klein
it's j -a -r -e -d last name k -l -e -i -n from blank rome llp 130 north 18th street uh here on behalf of
dgpm1 llc the owner of 2101 east westmoreland street uh i'm joined uh today on the zoom uh by
my client david goldstein and our i'm sorry i'm sorry did we get did he get sworn in
no the chairman swears him in now all right uh mr klein do you swear and affirm to tell
Mr. Klein, do you swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do
Thank you.
As I was saying, I'm joined here by David Goldstein, the representative of the ownership group of the property and our architecture team from Harmon -Deutsch and Oller.
I'm going to share my screen and go through.
So 2101 East West Moreland Street, as with the application that you just heard, is a former industrial site.
It's zoned ICMX. The property is located here. It's about a half a block off of Frankfurt Avenue, which is here, and is bordered by Amber Street, where you can see my mouse cursor.
This is the front of the property.
The last zoned use for the property was as a music recording studio office.
Prior to that, it had a variety of warehouse uses, but has been vacant for some time.
And as you can see, the property is not in active use right now and has fallen into a state of disrepair.
that can be best shown with this photo. As you can see, the rear of the property,
the roof has come off, and it is not a viable structure for continued use.
As I said, the property is zoned ICMX, but it is surrounded by a variety of residential uses.
And I will go to the zoning map here. You can see that the area surrounding the property is a mix
of ICMX, RM1, RSA5, and so there's a lot of residential that surrounds the subject property.
So we approached the development scheme with an eye towards doing something that was not an
industrial commercial mixed use because the surrounding area of the subject property didn't
really support that, you know, some of the uses that would be allowed by right in the ICMX district.
There are two structures that are existing at the parcel right now.
There's this building here in the front and what we're calling building one, which is this structure back here, which is further up along Amber Street.
So part of the proposal is to adjust lot lines to create three lots from 12 that exist at the site now.
Those lots run up Amber Street and include the Westmoreland property.
So we'd be consolidating them into three lots to be used as one site.
The proposal is to keep this structure that you can see on your screen now and retrofit the interior to use it as 11 units.
We're then going to demolish the structure that's fallen into disrepair and erect a new structure that would be used as 48 residential units.
So it's a total of 59 between the two buildings.
With that is going to come 18 off -street parking spaces.
The parking is going to be accessed through a drive aisle that you can see on the screen here.
So parking will be along this side of the building.
The entrance, entry and exit to that will be off of Westmoreland Street and the Amber Street side.
Mr. Klein, we're not able, all we see is the existing building.
Do you have a plan that you want to share with us?
I do, Mr. Chair, and I will adjust my screen share to enable that. Bear with me just one second.
Is that showing now?
I don't see anything.
bear with me for just one moment i apologize mr chairman
are you home i am yeah i can run across the street and go get the plans then i'll wait there
i'll be right over my screen my screen is telling me it is sharing something with you but
or you're not seeing it all it says is jared klein has started screen sharing
aha does anyone any other board member have anything but a blank screen
i'll see the same thing to you frank
Bear with me for just a moment.
I'll give it one more shot and then I will move on.
Thank you.
i just wanted to share again are you still not seeing that yeah nothing so i want to continue
with your testimony we'll maybe it'll come up somehow okay so the the plans and maybe if if
the architecture team is on zoom maybe they can be given access to share their screen they may have
it but the the the sorry the plan that I was going to show would show you a curb cut off of
Westmoreland Street that would allow 18 cars to be parked along the rear of the property with the
Amber Street frontage maintaining its traditional residential look. We met with the Harrogate Civic
Association and I had their letter that was included within the exhibits that I had previously
provided to the board though again I'm not sure if the board can see that or not. But the Harrogate
Civic Association sent a letter that was dated March 5th after we had met with them and noted
that they found the applicant presented all the necessary information and that they were in
support of the application. There was also a letter from Councilman Squilla's office indicating he was
in non -opposition to the application. Given the board's hectic schedule this morning and my
inability to share my screen, I will pause for a moment to see if there's any questions and perhaps
Ms. Sunkit could recognize either Rustin Ohler or Eric Quick, who may be able to share their
screen more effectively than I can. Rustin, you've been promoted to panelists. You can share a screen
as necessary and unmute yourself to speak. Thank you. Rustin, let's see if your screen share
works better than mine. It does. Very good. Rustin, would you
identify yourself? Yeah, Rustin Oler, Harmon Deutsch Oler Architecture, 1225 North 7th Street,
Philadelphia, PA. And do you swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but
the truth? I do. Thank you. Please proceed. Rustin, since your tech is working better than mine,
would you mind briefly walking the board through the plans and have a brief conversation about the
styles of unit types that we're going to have in in the proposed building yeah so i'll make it brief
for you um as jared had mentioned um the building to the north which is the existing four -story
structure we're going to remain um there's 11 units to go in that building that's identified
here as building one um the remainder of the structure um without the roof that has been
dilapidated will be demolished um there is a common shared drive aisle between our property
and the neighboring property at 3310 Collins Street through one curb cut, which will access
18 off -street parking stalls, which are tucked underneath the building. We have our residential
lobby entrance tier off of Westmoreland Street, along with interior trash storage and mailrooms.
We have an elevator, a fully accessible building, six units at the ground floor, and then the upper
floors are identical in nature two through four it's a four -story structure mixture of ones and
two bedrooms and studio units for a total of 48 units in this building 11 in the existing building
we have 20 interior bicycle stalls these are just some typical unit types
new elevations of the building you can see the existing building here to the left of the page
and then the newer structure which is the four story portion here which we're
building up to Westmoreland Street and then I have an artist rendering of what
the building will look like at the corner of Westmoreland here okay thank
you Ross any questions from the board so far no no
Mr. Klein. Mr. Chair, I will briefly just touch on the specific refusals that we have.
There are three. The first one we've discussed, and that's for the residential use in the ICMX
district. The second refusal was for the amount of parking. There are 30 required parking spaces
based on our unit count. We're providing 18. Given the constraints and the way that the site
constraints and the way that the site is currently configured 18 was the maximum number of spaces
is currently configured. 18 was the maximum number of spaces.
that we could fit we do believe that providing the 20 bicycle storage spaces in the proximity
to septa mass transit route makes the 18 spaces sufficient for the type of residence we expect
and i note that the rco which is normally where parking concerns come from was comfortable with
the plan as we presented it. And the third refusal was for the ADA parking spaces. Again, two
are required. We're providing one, again, based on size constraints of the space.
And with that, out of respect for the board's time, I could talk about this application a lot,
but I will stop there. We appreciate that. You have two pages of revised plans, you said?
Yes, there were revised plans. All of them reduced the general size of the building. There's a slight reduction in GFA, land coverage, and we changed some of the architectural details on the egress wells and location of the Pico Vault.
Thank you. Do you have your client on the line?
I do. David Goldstein, please virtually raise your hand for us, if you would.
david you can unmute yourself and speak hi david goldstein david can you spell your last name and
give us your address for the record please g -o -l -d -s -t -e -i -n -2 -0 -1 -6 naudain street
And Mr. Goldstein, do you swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do, Mr. Chairman.
Declined, please proceed.
David, did you have the opportunity to listen to my complete presentation and Rustin Oler's statements?
I did.
And do you adopt them as true, correct, and your own?
Yes, I do.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Is there anyone else who wishes to participate in this here, in this application?
Please raise your hand.
No hands are up chair. You can proceed. Thank you. Any questions from the board? No. No.
So while this property is indicated for industrial commercial mixed use on a city
plan, given the recent development pattern and revisions made, we have no objection to
the granting of the variance provided that the code required ADA parking is added.
eight all right uh calendar number three nine eight two four two one oh one east westmoreland
my vote is yes with proviso revised plan two pages uh approved today yes with proviso
yes with proviso
up all right uh carl we're going to go to uh number five but before you do mr klein
uh if everything goes right where the board will take up that matter on 1523 south broad
today we'll have a final vote on it today very good thank you thank you calendar number three
nine zero five eight three one eight east durham street mr klein you're back
Do you agree to waive the reading of this refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Good morning again, everybody.
Again, just for the record, Jared Klein from Blank Rome, 130 North 18th Street, on behalf
of the applicant.
The chairman will swear you in.
You know, in the future, Carol, maybe you should do it, said, and we don't have to stop
and start, all right?
I'm sorry to change it, but it might be easier.
Mr. Klein, you're already on the roof from the previous hearing anyway.
I am, and I still swear to tell the complete truth.
Thank you.
As the board may recall, this matter was heard on July 21st.
Just to briefly refresh the board's memory, this is a property that is a RSA 3 zone lot
that is surrounded by an existing RM 2 zone apartment complex.
We had a lengthy hearing on July 21st at the conclusion of which the board asked that we
reconvene with some of the neighbors that had appeared at the hearing and engage in some further
dialogue about the project. We did do that. We had two Zoom calls with near neighbors, the first
of which lasted over an hour, during which we listened to all of the concerns related to the
project, including some of those that we can't make any amendments to. And at the conclusion of
that first call, the developer offered to reduce a unit, so make it from eight
units as requested to seven, and to present the community with some revised
And to present the community with some revised renderings with some exterior architectural detail that would help address the concern about how the proposed structure would blend into the surrounding community.
renderings with some exterior
We did provide two renderings to the near neighbors who had an opportunity to review them.
And unfortunately, on our second Zoom call, the neighbors indicated that neither of the designs warranted further conversation and that while we had a very respectful dialogue, they were unchanged in their opposition.
I've submitted a letter to that effect, and I hope the board has it, but I would request that the board, taking into account the hardships as discussed in the Planning Commission's non -opposition from the last hearing, vote this case at this time.
Mr. Klein, you indicated that the developer was willing to reduce the units from eight to seven?
That was a proposal that we made to the community as what we hoped would be a global compromise, yes.
Okay, all right.
If that unit count is particularly important to the board's decision, we can certainly honor that.
Okay, thank you. Is there anyone who wishes to testify on this case?
Please raise your hand.
We have Kelly O'Day. You can unmute yourself.
This is Kelly O'Day. I testified at the previous hearing on July 21st.
i'd like to point out that the mr auday you swear to firm to tell the truth the whole truth
and nothing but the truth yes i do and please give us your address ma 'am yes sir it's a 301
east dorm street in philadelphia 19119 i live across the street from 318 east dorm street
i participated in the two meetings that mr klein referred to in our discussion between the new
neighbors and the applicant. We pointed out that the applicant has withdrawn the use of a regional
leasing office, which is 1 ,500 square feet, and they proposed to go from eight units to seven
units, which would say approximately 1 ,000 square feet. So they're reducing the usage by 2 ,500
square feet, and yet they have not reduced the size of the building. That does not make sense
to us we we pointed out our major concern is the overwhelming size of the building in a single
family residential area we have 11 properties on this in this block 10 of them are single family
houses one is an apartment building and that this would change the character of our neighborhood and
the applicant was not willing to consider a reduction in the size of the building
even though there were two significant reductions the other thing that we requested was a
consideration for a setback on the third floor so that there would be a less
dominating appearance and that was not acted upon either so the neighbors
simply do not feel we can live with a such a large building and a very small
lot I will remind the board that it is a 4 ,400 square foot parcel and they are
proposing to use 3 ,960 square feet for their building. And that is, you know, 90 % of the
space. Now they have a unity of use so that they will move the building, but still well over half
of the building will be in the original RSA3 parcel. Thank you. Mr. Klein, Mr. O'Day mentioned
something about an apartment building. Refresh our memory. How many units were in the existing
apartment building? Currently, there were 93 units. Okay. And if your client were to reduce
the number of units from eight to seven, does that not change any of the size of the building
or does it remain the same as was presented? We had presented it as remaining the same size.
We would just take that square footage and reapportion it to other units within the building.
If the size of the building continues to be the sticking point, we did not have full building plans drawn up.
We had a site plan, so we didn't have a design of the building to present to the neighbors.
But if the size is particularly important, we could agree to a proviso that the Durham Street frontage on the top floor would be set back an additional five feet.
Mr. Klein, another building, no matter how many units, engulfs that neighborhood, because
they're based on the first hearing. There were many other large buildings, and there's
a nice block of homes, if I remember correctly.
if I remember correctly. On the other side of the street from the subject property, yes.
On the other side of the street from the subject property, yeah.
There are one or two homes on our side. The other side is residential. Our side of the street is
primarily made up of the apartment complex. Is there anyone else who wishes to testify on this
in this case. Mr. Chairman, could I add just one point? The even side of 300 block of East
Storm Street has one apartment building and two single -family homes, and there are 10
properties on the other side, or eight properties on the other side. But the apartment building
complex is consists of 96 I believe it was 96 units 93 currently 93 units so it's not like
it's a duplex or a triplex it's a multi it is a very big apartment complex so I would
so Mr. Klein if you're if if the board were so inclined to grant this variance
uh with a maximum of seven units describe again what we would you your client would
be willing to do as it relates to the size of the structure
we don't have a rendering that we can present but we would agree to a five foot setback
on the upper floor um set back from the durham street side
Mr. Klein which what floor is that that would be I believe the third floor of the proposed
structure thank you all right anyone else to testify on this case if so please raise your hand
no hands are up chair you can proceed thank you questions any more questions from the board
no no any commission
on yes uh planning commission remains and non -opposition thank you
calendar number 39058 318 east dorm street
my vote is yes with the provisos maximum seven units third floor setback
uh five five foot setback at third floor that makes sense yes from if you wanted to note from
dorham street just to make it clear five foot setback third floor is set back five foot from
dorham street additional five feet yeah i i just wanted to make it clear that we're setting back
the portion of the building that fronts on Durham as opposed to the rear which
fronts into the apartment complex. All right so there is already a setback and
you are setting it back an additional five feet? The building itself is 14 feet
three inches from Durham Street. What we would be able to do is when we build
the building our building plans would show an additional five feet at that
third floor. Okay so it would be additional five foot setback at third
floor level that's correct fronting on durham and maximum seven units thank you yes mr chair thank you
my vote is no my vote is no my vote is no
thank you thank you very much for your time i appreciate it
am i going to six or seven seven
Calendar number 39316, 3375 East Thompson Street.
The attorney is Alan Nockmson.
Alan, you have been promoted to panelists.
You can share your screen and testify as you wish.
Mr. Nockmson, do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, I do.
Name and address for the record and please spell your name for the stenographer.
Yes, my name is Alan Nockmson, A -L -A -N, Nockmson, N -O -C -H -U -M -S -O -N.
My address is 123 South Broad Street, Suite 1600, Philadelphia, PA 19109.
And do you swear or affirm to tell the truth and nothing but the truth?
Thank you.
I am here to present 3373 -75 East Thompson Street. I handed you a pack of materials, or it's on the screen of eight exhibits. Do you see them?
I am here to present 3373 -75 East Highland.
We have the table of contents so far.
Okay. Okay, great. And by the way, Florian Thiem, the owner of the property, is present as well. He'll affirm my testimony at the conclusion of my presentation.
So the first exhibit is the deed to the property, showing that Florian team is the owner of the property.
The second exhibit is the certificate of tax clearance, showing that we're in good standing with the state of Philadelphia.
The third exhibit is the notice of refusal for this property.
This is an RSA 5 property.
Currently, it's two tax ID numbers of 3373 and 3375 East Thompson Street.
All we're trying to do is relocate the lot lines to even out the properties, and we're being refused because our minimum lot coverage area is lower for each lot, lower than the 1440 allowed by law.
If you look at what's also in this exhibit, I did a breakdown of every single property on the 3 ,300 block of East Thompson Street, the lot sizes.
and you know we can go through it but um you know each for the most part every single property on
that block is of similar size to the one that the ones that we're proposing uh you'll see the
application appeal and then really this is what makes our case if you look at it i don't know who
the surveyor was back in the day um but clearly the person had some issues with drawing straight
lines because if you look at the zoning map it's it's crooked by a big amount
and all we're trying to do is legalize it so I don't know if he was under the
influence or what but it's very interesting photograph of the property
there's a pre -existing structure on one and it's a side yard on the other you
know and we're looking at one point to develop it it goes street to street and
you'll see that there are garages in the back and these are just drawings of what you know the new
structure would potentially look like but that's not for today's you know hearing um we met with
the port richmond or propac um and as you can see uh they are supporting um our endeavor with this
appeal uh the nearby neighbors the immediate nearby neighbors voted eight to two in favor
of this and councilman squilla also issued a letter of non -opposition
Thank you. Do you have any witnesses, Mr. Notkinson?
Yes. Florian, are you on the line? Just raise your hand virtually.
You can unmute yourself and speak.
Please identify yourself with the record name and address. Spell your name for the record.
Florian Temme, F -L -O -R -I -A -N. Last name is T -E -M -E.
Do you swear and affirm to tell the truth
The whole truth and nothing but the truth
Thank you
So Florian you heard everything I stated today
And is it true and accurate what I stated
And would you adopt it as your own testimony
I would
Thank you
Anyone else wish to testify on this matter
please raise your hand if you're here to testify on this case
no hands are up chair thank you questions from the board
no no planning commission properties indicated for residential use on the city plan
given the nearby pre -existing lot configurations we have no objection to the gun events
Thank you. Calendar number 39316 -3375 East Thompson Street. My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
I believe that concludes the 930 list. Tanya, Sharon, do we have any other business before we recess?
Can we do number four? I believe so, right?
yes you you did do that one you were holding it until next Wednesday
that's right thank you thank you thank you
that conclude everything yes chair okay thank you see you all two o 'clock
okay all righty take care bye
good afternoon everyone my name is frank t chico i'm the chair of the zoning board of adjustment
Good afternoon, everyone.
My name is Frank.
we have a quorum i'm officially calling this session to order board attendance is our vice
chair miss carol tenere our board secretary mr confessor plaza thomas holloman our board member
and our board member james sneller world present as is our city solicitor sharon saletta and our
board administrator. As you're probably aware, today is our fourth week of
holding virtual hearings. While we may have to make a few adjustments along the
way, our plan is to call each case and basically proceed as we would have in a
live hearing. We ask that attorneys for applicants or other interested parties
identify themselves for the record when the case you'll be participating in is
called. We will then hear the applicant's presentation, followed by any
presentation by attorneys representing other parties interested parties and members of the
public not represented by by council will then be given an opportunity to vote excuse me will then
be given an opportunity to testify we will finally hear the recommendation of the planning commission
at the hearing's conclusion the board will either vote the matter immediately or hold it for
discussion in next in executive session. Any case held for discussion will be
voted on the record at the next scheduled 9 .30 a .m. meeting August the
12th. A couple of changes related to the virtual format. First, we will be
administering oaths to individual participants prior to their testimony
rather than to the room as a whole since there is no room. Second, for the benefit
of anyone participating by phone we ask that attorneys and witnesses identify themselves
prior to speaking or testifying third we'd like to advise everyone that this proceeding is being
recorded and that by participating you acknowledge your agreement to be recorded we'll also ask anyone
who wishes to testify to please raise your hand at the time your case is called and you will be
recognize, and Ms. Sunkett will now give you instructions as to how to proceed in that manner.
So I don't see any callers, but in the event that callers contact us for the Zoom
meeting, they can raise their hand by pressing star nine and star six to unmute themselves.
and anyone who wishes to put in an apparent statement and to be part of the case can contact
us using the Google number. I just lost it. And the Google number is 267. I'm sorry, give me one
minute. 267 -270 -5548, and you will call and leave your information regarding the case that you want
to put an appearance statement in for, and your name, address, and phone number, and you will be
registered as having an appearance statement for that particular case. Thank you, Chair.
Thank you, Tonya. The following cases are being continued. Calendar number 39324 -3761 Glenn Street. Calendar number 39315 -3964 North 7th Street. Calendar number 39320 -2209 South 63rd Street.
calendar number 393192326 North Park Avenue
and calendar number 399181925 North 4th Street.
If anyone has any disagreement
or believes we called out a case to be continuing in error,
please raise your hand now.
No hands are up, Chair.
Thank you.
and before we call the list um we have a case that uh there was only three members attending
uh back in july i believe i believe it was in july no july before july i don't remember the date
but anyway it's calendar number three nine oh eight eight one five two three south broad street
the two members who were not present is miss tenary and mr yesnell have you both read the
transcript? Yes. Can you prepare the vote? Yes. Please cast your vote now please. My
vote is yes. My vote is yes and I certify that I've read the transcript. Thank you.
The entire board will have to re -vote this. Oh, okay. Tom? My vote is yes. My vote is yes.
I'll be consistent I was a no vote I'll be consistent okay all right so it's four to
one with that we any hands up on the list of continuance none correct Tanya no none
chair okay uh all right carol calendar number we do not have a calendar number we have an address
439 -443 north 12th street the attorney is neil sklarov
mr sklarov
Please identify yourself with a record, spell your name for the stenographer.
Neil Sklaroff, S -K -L -A -R -O -S -S, 1500 Market Street, Suite 3500E, Philadelphia 19102.
Do you swear to firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
And Neil, maybe you can help us.
Do you have a calendar number?
The calendar number is 105 -3864.
105 -3864.
That's what it's on the calendar as.
It's also known as MI -2020 -000628.
So, board members, this changes things because we're now in an eclipse.
We will not be having calendar numbers for a lot of the cases.
What was referenced by Mr. Sklaroff is the meeting ID number that you can go forward with.
Okay, so then when we call it up for a vote, though, what do we use?
The address and the meeting ID number.
And that meeting ID number was the 105384?
Yes, right.
Mr. Sklaroff, is that the meeting ID?
well hold on one second nil yes i just want to make sure is that the permit number or the meeting id
number the mi is the meeting id number then it would be uh 000628 000628 is the meeting id number
correct yes okay uh carol yes mr skaroff do you agree to wave the reading of the repusal
and stipulate to its accuracy yes i do try to get our
are you seeing my screen now yes oh very well um good afternoon uh i have the pleasure of
representing pico energy company this afternoon uh with me is vincy john senior project manager
and joseph aguira government affairs manager this has to do with the expansion of the
Callow Hill Electric substation. We have forwarded to the board a number of exhibits and we will
briefly go through them as we make our presentation. We have a number of exhibits,
the first exhibit being our tax clearance certificate. The next is our demonstration
of ownership, this property at 12th and Hamilton Street was acquired in a taking almost 10 years
ago, August of 2010. And I call your attention to this paragraph four on the page that you're
viewing now, because it calls out that the purpose of the condemnation was for the expansion of
Pico's existing electric substation, the facility located on not only the adjacent property,
but also across the street, and that the expansion of the substation is part of a program
to improve reliability and increase the capacity of Pico's electric transmission
and distribution system in the city. And that's exactly what this project is. It's one phase
of a 10 -year project to upgrade the Callahill facility.
the Cowl Hill facility. This one project, which should be completed in 24 months,
This one project, which should be completed in 24 months,
has a value of about 50 million dollars. This exhibit is showing the posting of
the zoning notice at the premises as recently required and performed.
I have a few renderings here, one showing the property which is here between Hamilton and Noble, between 11th and 12th, as well as on the other side of Noble Street, the structures you see are existing, and the empty space is where we're going to be putting the upgraded equipment.
equipment. This is a little closer view of that same area. The structures to the right on this
block are existing and in time over the 10 -year period will be upgraded and replaced. Here is a
a view from 12th Street of the premises and from 11th Street.
This is a fence which has previously been approved, agreement with the community groups,
and has already been installed, and that's what you saw the posters attached to.
This is a rendering of the proposed project. Again, this is electric substation transmission
and distribution. This building here is a switchgear building that will be new on the premises.
It measures 48 feet in width, 107 feet in depth, and with the pink roof goes from 15 feet to almost
18 feet in height. The darker gray structures are protections for equipment referred to as
reactors. I won't pretend to tell you what that actually does. The wall here is a concrete wall
which will protect the wiring as it comes into the station. This is the view from 11th Street,
Obviously, in the near part of it, there are existing facilities that you saw, but this illustrates just the newer proposed facility.
We made an application for a zoning use registration permit, and the response to that was a notice of referral confirming that this is an RMX3 zoning district.
And it reads here that the proposed use, which is utilities and services basic, is a special exception to the zoning board of adjustment.
That is the only basis for not getting an as -of -right permit initially.
This qualifies as basic utilities because it is a transmission facility.
We filed an application for special exception, along with a project information form.
We are pleased that the Cowl Hill Neighborhood Association was kind enough to sponsor and hold a public meeting at which the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation participated.
We have included in these exhibits our letter to the RCOs, as well as our letter to the community, the neighbors.
And when we found out there was a hearing date, we sent notice again to the RCOs and then to the neighbors,
along with a copy of the zoning notice that was posted and the instruction for virtual hearings that the zoning board has published.
We are pleased to also include in our exhibits the favorable letters from Cowell Hill Neighborhood Association and Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation.
We think that the documents that we've put into the record satisfy that there's no special detrimental impacts to the neighborhood. This is an unmanned facility. There will be no impact on either public services or congestion or transportation.
no impairment of light and air to adjacent property
and no other adverse effect to the community
I think that short review of our application should be
I think that short review of our application should be sufficient.
We ask that you grant PICO a special exception.
Be pleased to answer any questions.
Thank you, Mr. Sklaroff.
Is there anyone who wishes to participate in this application?
Please raise your hand.
no hands are up chair thank you questions from the board no no planning
Commission we have no objection to the granting of this special exception thank
you so the MI number is zero zero zero six two eight four four three nine dash
North 12th Street. My vote is
yes. My vote is
yes. My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
Thank you. You're welcome.
Good luck. Have a great day.
Thank you. You too.
Calendar number 39357, 1725 North 17th Street. The attorney is Adam Laver.
members of the board mr labor can you put your name and address on the record please yes mrs.
tenere might i suggest if the board wishes uh the next two cases that are on the list are similar
the same property owner mr al -haddad who you may remember from this morning uh perhaps the board
would like to hear uh all three cases together three nine three five seven three nine three six
39361 uh that works for me any objections from the board no very good calendar okay so calendar
39360 1809 north bevere street i never know how to say that and calendar number 39361 1831
north 18th street and if you can now put your name and address on the record and spell your
name for the stenographer. Yes, Mrs. Tenere. Adam Laver, L .A. Villazen -Victor, ER, Blank Rome,
1 Logan Square, Philadelphia, 19103. Mr. Chairman, members of the board, I'm here on behalf of
Michael Al -Haddad, owner of each of the subject properties. Board members, you may recall that
Mr. Al -Haddad appeared before you at the 930 listings earlier today regarding the same
type of case. Each of these cases concerns properties that he owns in the Temple University
neighborhood which largely are used for very high quality student housing and the nature of the
uh referral it's one referral for each uh concern your labor i do have to interrupt you do you swear
or affirm to tell the truth and nothing but the truth i had them i had them down and still being
on their oath from this morning okay okay i apologize do you agree to wave and stip
i i this is very confusing i so affirm and i wave and stipulate to each of the referrals
Thank you.
Go ahead.
So, as I had presented, and Mr. Al -Haddad is with us again.
As I had shared with you earlier, Michael owns several properties within the community.
He has a stellar reputation for honesty, open communication, and good practices.
I've submitted virtual exhibit presentations with exhibits 1 to 12
actually for each of them and each of the presentations contains RCO support
at tab 5. In several of the cases you'll see RCO support not just from the
coordinating RCO but from additional RCOs as well. I'd like to note at the outset
that Mr. Al -Haddad takes very seriously
Mr. Al -Hadad takes very seriously good operating practices and procedures, and I'd like to
good operating practices and procedures
confirm and state for the record some of these procedures that are in place and which he
commits to for the future concerning these properties.
He has in place twice per week commercial trash pickup, which is a minimum number.
In fact, he's told me during the COVID -19 pandemic, he's increased that.
That is commercial trash pickup currently in operation at each of the properties.
In addition, and this was a concern of some of the community members and something that I discussed with Mary Jones from Council President Clark's office, who may be with us today.
Michael has employed and will continue to employ long -term employees from the
community who maintain both public areas outside of the properties, for example,
steps and sidewalks, as well as interior common areas. These areas are tended to
at least twice per week and shall continue to be tended to at least twice
per week using local residents, employing local residents.
In addition and very importantly, as someone from within the community, Michael has provided
his personal contact information to each of the RCOs in the area and is committed to timely
address any concerns related to the operation of the properties.
And that really is the importance of why we're seeking this, the special exception relief.
We find ourselves, and you'll see here on the screen, you're looking at 1809 North Bouvier,
clearly within the Temple University campus, but also within a very established, long existing,
important Philadelphia residential neighborhood. It is good for both
Temple for the community and for Michael to be fully registered with these
residences that are fully sprinklered, that have good security and good
housekeeping. Here's a photograph of 1831 North 18th Street. Similar perspective in
terms of what we're looking at. These are all within a very close range of one
another and then here you'll see 17 5 North 17th Street. Each of the properties
is located within the RM1 zoning district and I can show you well you
have you have the aerial photos here I won't get into the specific details. Each
property is four stories. For 1809 North Bouvier the existing registration is for
three apartments. We are seeking to register the use for single -room
residences for 12 bedrooms. So in terms of density, we're very, very close.
Similarly, for 1831 North 18th Street, we have existing registration for four
apartments seeking to establish a special exception relief for 14 single
room residences to be able to better regulate student behavior through
individual leases that hold students accountable and allow appropriate
operation of the building. And moving to 1725 North 17th Street, we have existing
registration for four apartments and we're seeking to register the use for
single room residences for 16. We have, which is Michael's style, engaged in
communication with all parties who are interested. In the case of 1725 North
17th Street, there were three residents who had, did not live in very close
proximity but had concerns largely due to other operators who don't operate as
well as Michael. And they had concerns on trash and employment, for example. And that's why at
the outset, I wanted to state for the record regarding all these cases, the practices that
are in place and the practices to which we commit to for the future. Just to give you a quick sense
of these properties, here you see 1809 North Bouvier Street. This is a view of a kitchen
uh two views of the kitchen moving along you see excuse me mr labor yes that's that screen
hasn't come up yet it has not nope we still have the aerial photograph aerial shot let's see um
you still have the aerial shot okay i apologize i'm going to see if i can figure this out
I apologize I'm going to see if I can figure this out do you see the the
interior photograph now mr. chairman nope just the aerial shot all right I
apologize there must be a technical difficulty with the transmission what I
can tell you is that these photographs are all contained in the virtual exhibit packages that
I've submitted. And I apologize due to the technical issue, but I can definitely affirm
as an officer of the court that the finishes are of a very high caliber and show the way
that Mr. Al -Haddad upkeeps his properties. And they are in the record that was submitted.
The authorization of certificated relief will not alter the character of the neighborhood
or district or be detrimental to the public welfare.
The proposal fits into the surrounding neighborhood as evidenced by the support of the community.
This speaks to the granting of relief being a benefit to the public and within the spirit
of the zoning code.
The proposed special exception relief would represent the minimum modification that will
afford relief and represent the least modification possible of the regulation at issue to meet the
true intentions and needs of our city and L &I, as I mentioned earlier today, hearkening to
Commissioner Curry's statements about the importance of having all types of housing
properly regulated and licensed. The grant of certificated relief will not substantially
increase congestion in the public streets, increase the danger of fire, or otherwise
endanger the public health, safety, or general welfare, nor will this unduly affect transportation,
etc. The bulk of the residents we concede here, and as you were able to see at least with the
aerial photographs, are our students, and it is a, we believe, a win -win for everyone to proceed in
this way. With that, Mr. Al -Haddad is here. I'm happy to answer additional questions and I am
sorry that the 58 -page or so exhibit packages that I prepared are not showing on your screens.
Okay. You ask your client if he adopts your testimony.
Mr. Al -Haddad, would you please virtually raise your hand?
and he's still under oath since this morning mr al -haddad are you there
michael yes i am hello thank you uh yes the chairman has uh confirmed that you're still
under oath from this morning uh mr al -haddad have you fully heard the testimony that i've
offered this afternoon on your behalf yes i did and would you adopt and affirm it as your own
Yes, I do.
The interior pictures, one of them just popped up, the kitchen.
Oh, okay.
So this is, very quickly, examples of kitchen, example of a bedroom with very nice flooring and light, bathroom finishes, washer and dryer inside the units.
there are they're set up as pods so that each of the students has an individual
room but shared shared common spaces and it's a similar situation for the for
each of the properties let me just see I beg your pardon if you want quickly
since this is working. One moment. Here's another example. This is 1831 North
18th Street. You can see a bedroom set up here and another kitchen. This one it
happens to be a little bit older, but very nice finishes, well maintained, etc.
Thank you. Is there anyone who wishes to testify on this case? If so, please raise
your hand. I should say on these cases, any of the three cases. No hands are
Ray's chair. Thank you. Questions from the board? No. No. Planning Commission? Yes, the property is located at
Planning Commission? Yes, the property is located at 1725 North 17th Street, 1809 North Bouvier Street, 1831 North 18th Street. All are indicated for credential use on the city plan. We have no objection to the granting of the special acceptance for all.
Thank you very much. Calendar numbers 39357, 1725 North 17th Street. Calendar number 39360, 1809 Beauvais Street. Calendar number 39361, 1831 North 18th Street. My vote is yes on all three.
My vote is yes on all three.
Yes to all three.
Yes to all three.
thank you members of the board have a good afternoon you too thank you thank you
calendar number three nine three one eight seven one three eight state road yes
the attorney is to all three is in oh
tom came in late tom voted yes on all three
okay that's right i'll read it again calendar number 39318
7138 state road the attorney is zenzhen
Xen Jin, you've been promoted to a panelist.
You can share your screen.
Mr. Jin, can you please put your name and address on the record and spell your name
for the stenographer?
Good afternoon.
Xen Jin, Z -H -E -N, last name J -I -N, 1617 John F. Kennedy Boulevard, Suite 1838, Philadelphia
PA 19103.
Here on behalf of the applicant, the applicant is the tenant.
One second.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
I will stipulate to its accuracy, but I believe it's a referral notice, not a refusal.
Okay, and do you also swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Thank you.
This is an application which is in an ICMX district and was referred to the board because
the proposed use of automotive repairs is a special exception under this district.
My client has met with the RCO and I'm going to go ahead and share the information
with the board on State Road that I have before me so what we have submitted to
the board includes the notice of hearing community letter the lease tax tax
compliance plans and the posting what I'm going to do is go first to the letter
from the community and address that so this application is a special exception
However, the community issued a letter in opposition, and they did give a pretty detailed explanation as to how they reached this opposition posture.
My client plans to do a automotive repair location at State Road.
This is actually on the corner of State and National Street.
and the space itself is actually a commercial space with a single commercial entrance door.
It was used as some kind of, I believe, gardening or landscaping company location
until my client entered into the lease to try to use this as a basic auto repair.
My client has indicated to the community that he would be doing state inspections and all work would be done inside of the shop, nothing on the apron or driveway.
He is not doing any body work.
He's not doing any painting.
There's not a body shop.
It would be mostly relating to passing state inspections and that kind of related work, which would be limited mostly to changing wipers, taillight, headlight, and possibly brake work.
But there's no major component repairs such as engine swaps, transmission repairs.
It's very limited work.
the plan is to open six days a week from Monday through Saturday 9 a .m. to 5 p .m.
Initially, it would only be my client in the space. He's actually working. He's the mechanic. He doesn't plan to initially have workers beyond himself. Of course, if it gets busy enough, he may hire someone to assist him. But again, it's going to be a small operation, mostly a one -man operation.
initially it would only be my client in the space he's actually working
The space itself, which I'm going to show the plans before I conclude, is not big enough
for more than at most maybe two lifts.
So even if he wants to expand, he would not be able to go beyond two lifts, and it has
just enough space, again, to allow cars to be inside to get the work done.
Now, the community's main opposition seems to be that neighbors in the area have had
problems with other businesses.
And they have had agreements with other businesses that they felt were not followed.
And therefore, they were just generally against another business in the area.
However, I want to point out that this particular location is, I'm going to scroll down to the photographs now to let the board take a look at the area and the space itself.
this particular building this is the actual building in question this is right on the corner
of state and national street as you can see this is state road and the entrance here faces national
street across the street you have two very similar type of work mechanical work type shops
they each have one way but they're two different they're part of the same business it looks like
But they take over two spots. Further down and up the street, again, this is, again, the corner of State Road. And we have some businesses and mixed in with some residential across State Road and further down National.
but the entire area on the planning map is labeled as ICMX.
So this entire district for blocks around has changed now to ICMX,
and that is the predominant use in the area for which this is not inconsistent.
That is why this is a special exception.
For impact to the community, I want to point out that my client is not in operation.
This is not a space with a history with his operation showing that there are issues with what he's doing.
He is happy to keep all work inside.
He's happy to have commercial pickup of any kind of trash that comes out of the space.
Obviously, pickup of any oil.
He is not doing tires.
There's no tire work being done.
So he's going to be doing purely mechanical work.
From the standpoint of the special exception impacts to the neighborhood, because he's going to keep all work inside and because he's a very small operation, I do not believe he would cause congestion in the public streets or transportation system.
There's no overcrowding here.
This is a one -story structure with one possibly two base in the future, and it's on the corner of a major street.
It's not a large structure, so there's no impairment of light or air to adjacent properties.
And it will not burden water or sewer because it's not, again, it's a small space with a small operation.
The key question here is whether it would injure use of adjacent conforming properties.
I want to point out they're all basically commercial properties as well.
In fact, right across the street is basically a similar type of use.
As long as he's keeping with the environmental requirements and fire code requirements, I do not believe he would be endangering public health or safety. And this is, again, consistent with the comprehensive plan, which is ICMX for the entire area.
So, despite the position of the community, I would submit that they have not raised any kind of specific objection to this use, which would qualify as a hardship to the community.
This space, again, is a commercial space in ICMX, and it used to be something called Philadelphia Turf Specialists.
So, it's not a residential space being converted.
So I would ask the board for a favorable vote on this exception request.
I'm certainly happy to answer any questions at this time.
And what are the dimensions of the building, the width and the length?
The building dimension.
I couldn't see.
I couldn't make it out on the.
Certainly.
Let me try to blow that up again.
I'm sorry for the quality of the drawing.
um from the
wow i actually i apologize
well I actually I apologize but I can't seem to get a clear focused scan on this either I do know
that be this looks like let me let me pull the deed up which actually gives us some dimensions as
well as you can see my client is a tenant in the space he entered into a
lease with the landlord
my apologies i don't have the deed information all right i do believe though that the space
itself is uh pretty substantial in size as you can see from the the view here it runs it runs
all the way to the back here on state road and the entire width here is definitely over 20 feet
if not 30 feet. This is not a small, it's not a tiny space, but it's, again, it's the entire
corner, and it's a large square corner on the corner of state and national.
Another question. Any body and fender work? No. Proposing no body and fender work. And the days
and hours of operation?
It'll be Monday through Saturday,
9 a .m. to 5 p .m.
Anyone else wishes to testify on this case?
Please raise your hand.
I believe my client is here.
I'll get your, yeah,
let's get your client to adopt your testimony.
Get his name and address on the record.
and who is your client it's uh mr pedro uh delgado
uh you can unmute yourself and speak can you hear me now yes mr delgado uh please spell your name
for the stenographer give us your name and address first name is pedro last name delgado d -e -l
GADO 8805 Browse Avenue Philadelphia PA 19152. Mr. Delgado do you swear and affirm to tell the
truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth? Yes sir. Thank you. Mr. Delgado you heard my
testimony before the board. Can you verify that it is true and correct and adopted as your own?
Yes it is. Thank you. Is there anyone else who wishes to testify in this case?
please raise your hand
no hands are up chair thank you any questions from the board no no no
planning commission no
Darren were there any letters aside from the Tycone any other letters in the file
no it was just a letter from Tycone that we had available
so um this property is indicated for industrial commercial mixed use on the city plan
we have no objection to the special exception uh provided that all work is internal and no
parking on sidewalk i already got okay got that thank you calendar number 39318 7138 state road
my vote is yes with the following provisos no parking on side work all work to be done internally
hours of operation monday through saturday 9 a .m to 5 p .m no body and fender work commercial trash
pickup. Yes with proviso. Yes with proviso. Yes with proviso. Yes with proviso. Thank
you. Thank you. And good luck. Calendar number 39314, 1901 Tomlinson Road.
there's no attorney on this case if you're here for Tomlinson rule please
raise your hand
I believe the person who completed the appeal and application was Ian Toner.
Is Mr. Toner on the line?
Mr. Toner is, I'm sorry, Edward, were you
here to testify for this case?
You can unmute yourself and speak.
Hello?
Mr. McNamee?
Yes, sir.
Are you here on this matter regarding
1901 Tomlinson Road?
Yes, sir.
Okay, please state your name for the record.
Spell it for the stenographer.
Sure. It's Edward McNamee.
Last name, M -C -N -A -M -E -E.
And your address?
1901 Tomlinson Road, Philadelphia, PA.
Oh, okay, you're the applicant.
All right, I'm sorry.
Yeah, I'm sorry.
It wasn't indicated on our notes.
You're the applicant.
Okay, do you swear in a firm to tell the truth?
The whole truth and nothing but the truth.
Yes, sir, I do.
Okay, sir.
All right, please proceed with your testimony.
I was seeing if I could get the driveway put in on my property on Clark Street.
I have an architect, Ian Toner.
He laid out the diagrams and everything.
It's basically so that my daughter gets done work.
I don't have enough room.
I do have a driveway off of Tomlinson.
My daughter comes home late from school.
When she's done school, she does her work.
And when she gets home, it's late. And I would like to see if I can't get a driveway put in on Clark Street. So it's safer for her to get into the house.
Mr. McNamee, I'm sorry for interrupting. Do you have any plans you can share with us?
Yeah, I believe my, my, Ian Turner was supposed to be on here.
I don't have, okay, here he is.
We have his name, but, oh, there's Ian.
He's allowed to speak.
Yeah, I have the plan here.
I could, if I can share my screen, I can bring it up.
Please, Ian, identify yourself with the record.
Ian Toner, Toner Architects, 1901 South 9th Street, room 425, Philadelphia, 19148.
Do you swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do. Thank you. Please, please proceed. We'd like to see some of the plans.
Okay, Ian, you've been promoted to a panelist, so you can share your screen.
Got it. Okay.
So here is the site plan. Tomlinson Road is here and Clark Street turns and comes up this way. Clark Street at this point is a dead end street.
So this is the existing house. This is the driveway off of Tomlinson in front of the house. There's a fence that runs the perimeter. And what we're looking to do is add a gate here so that the car can come in and just get in off the street.
Do you have any photographs?
Going adjacent properties.
are you a corner property yes so this is looking at from in the intersection this
is Clark Street here and as it curves it's turning into Tomlinson and this is
looking down Tomlinson this is the existing driveway that goes in to the
front of the house. This is the broader view from across the intersection. So
this is the house, existing driveway is over here, and where we're looking to put
the gate is right here. So correct me if I'm wrong, that is so you would not be
That is so you would not be stacking two cars and have to use a one driveway?
stacking two cars and have to use one driveway.
Yes, that's so I wouldn't be blocking the curb so that pedestrians could get by.
If I try to put two cars in the driveway, one's going to be blocking the pavement.
So people are going to have to walk out into the street to walk around the car.
So you're creating another driveway is what you're really doing, right?
Yes, sir.
There are properties that we're looking at this photograph, this picture.
Properties to the left where your fence line ends.
It looks to me as though there are driveways or carports.
I see it looks like the back of a car.
Is that correct?
The two properties to the left as we're looking at this photograph.
Oh, yes.
They're duplexes.
They're duplexed.
and they have all street parking is that correct yes sir so this would not be the
only curb cut on that block correct no sir okay all right anyone else out there
has any questions regarding this case please raise your hand no hands up thank
you questions from the board no this property is indicated for residential
single -family use on a city plan believe the applicant has not demonstrated a
necessary hardship regarding the requirements of the code the additional
accessory parking space represents an inappropriate non -conformity not
consistent with our adopted district plan nor neighborhood parking control
standards we recommend the question variance not be granted hear what you're
saying Ron but I'm looking at this photo there's off -street parking curb cuts
everywhere all right calendar number three nine three one four one nine oh
one tomlinson road my vote is yes my vote is no
yes my vote is yes
tom did tom vote i don't have an issue with his service
well we have a majority that voted so it's uh three to one we're fine let's move on okay thank
you calendar number three eight six one nine one five zero eight west glenwood the attorney is
michael lambert my vote is yes yes okay yes
Michael, you've been promoted to a panelist. You can share your screen and testify as you
wish. Mr. Lambert, can you please put your name and address on the record and spell your
name for the stenographer? Thank you.
Mr. Lambert, when he gets on, you'll swear him in, Carol.
Mr. Lambert, I don't have audio for you.
Are you operating on a device that has a microphone because I don't see audio, only video for you.
good afternoon ladies and gentlemen of the panel can you hear me
yes yes can you put your name and address on the record please and spell it for the stenographer
yes absolutely uh it's michael lambert michael lambert id number 88422 l -a -m -d -e -r -t
okay and do you also agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy
Absolutely. Absolutely. One more question. Do you swear to tell the whole truth and nothing
but the truth? Absolutely. Thank you. You may proceed. Yes. Ladies and gentlemen,
this is a property. We have submitted a package to you earlier through the email,
which I'm assuming that you have already. This property on Glenwood was initially
Glenwood was initially zoned as a three -family dwelling in 1962. We're asking the panel to allow us to convert it to a two -family dwelling. First floor is a one -bedroom apartment, and the second and third floor are another apartment, two to three -bedroom apartments.
zoned as a three -family dwelling.
I also submitted a copy of the plan, and I'm assuming that the panel has received that plan.
I have a larger copy here, but I think the panel has a plan as a copy of that in the package that I sent.
Would you be able, Mr. Lambert, to share that on the screen with us?
Your Honor, I know you have a very limited time.
If the panel, I don't know if the panel could see this one, if I could add, oh, my assistant
to help, no, you cannot see that.
But we had submitted that package.
If the panel doesn't have the package, I can try to see if I can.
That would be helpful.
Thank you.
Could you share with me one more one, please?
We do have that.
I can try to email it to the board members now.
That would be helpful.
Michael you're muted I muted you
Mr. Lambert, you're still muted.
I apologize, ladies and gentlemen.
This is my first time on Zoom.
I apologize.
No problem.
No problem.
It's a learning experience for all of us.
I'm sweating here, so I'm losing about 10 pounds in sweat right now.
But this is the way I want to lose it.
Relax.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you.
I thought it was tough with you guys in person, but it's worse when you feel like you have
10 thumbs trying to be computer literate.
What do I get?
Sharon.
Mr. Lambert also had the disadvantage of having me as a technical assistant in this.
Sharon.
Sharon.
I don't have it.
If you could email it to me, I can assist with sharing the screen.
Okay, thank you.
Thank you, Tanya.
Crank that air conditioner up, Mr. Lambert.
I just turned it back on, sir, because I'm sitting here.
I'm sweating.
I'm sweating.
Let's just leave it at that.
So while we're waiting, Mr. Lambert, you did say this was originally a Triflex?
Yes, Your Honor.
In 1962, December 18th, it was the ZBA granted for a three -family building in an existing structure.
We are proposing a two -family, reducing it, requesting rather, a proposal to a two -unit apartment complex.
As the panel probably is well aware, there are several houses that have been converted into three -unit complexes.
We decide, well, not me, my client decided that instead of requesting three separate floors for three separate apartments, have the first floor as one apartment and the second and third floor as one unit together.
The second and third will be a bi -level.
Yes, sir.
Yes, sir.
Exactly.
Any other dimensional changes?
That's it, sir.
That's it.
uh i say i actually i sent photos on to tanya because this was in an existing structure mr
lambert would not have been required to submit plans okay all right uh you know what is there
anyone else out there who wishes to testify in this case if so please raise your hand at this time
any questions from the board no no no no planning commission
any questions from the board
um planning commission's uh comments on it i'm sorry
ron okay the um property is indicated for residential use on the city plan given its
proximity to public transit. We support the granting of the increased density variance.
Thank you very much. So Chair, it appears that we do have a call -in
person. You have been allowed to speak. You can testify.
Hello? Yes, please identify yourself. Name and address for the record. Spell your name.
adrian fernandez a -d -r -i -e -n -n -e fernandez uh for swamp little neighborhood parcels association
rcl and this is for 1508 west glenwood avenue is that right yes and swear to firm to tell the
truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes i do please proceed do you have our um letter
was of no support from the original hearing returned in, I believe, in January 2020.
I, it's, I don't know. It's, well, it's probably in the folder. Would you just give us a brief
description of why you're opposed? They're reducing the density from three units to two.
They're actually increasing it because I don't see any, I looked in the LNI record,
I don't see any evidence that it was a three family.
We're familiar with the block is mostly single family homes and it's a single
family rental. Now we don't want to increase because the owner who's
unidentified and could not find it.
We could not find this corporation registered in Pennsylvania,
New Jersey or Delaware. And we turned in the proof of that with our letter.
We don't know who the owner is. There was no community meeting, no,
notice given to neighbors or to
the RCOs. I don't know if they know the RCOs
are on the line or not.
According to my
file, Allegheny West
is in support of
this application.
They didn't hold a meeting.
That's your saying.
I don't know.
Maybe they did.
Maybe they didn't.
If there was a meeting,
a meeting summary form.
There's no meeting summary form sent out,
and there's no notice of a letter, no legal notice of a letter, and that evidence is not there.
We don't have it.
Other RCOs don't have it.
I even emailed Tiger United.
They didn't send anything back.
I emailed them Sunday.
Also, we're concerned about the violations where even with the one rental unit licensed there now,
Now, the owner, who we can't identify, is having problems with trash, construction trash and household waste.
And they were noted by Illinois violations, which it took them two years to comply with.
And we don't think increasing the density is not going to be a benefit to the community.
All right, Tanya or Sharon, is there anything in the file that indicates there was a meeting with any of the RCOs?
All right, I'm looking for that right now.
I believe there was something.
Your Honor, if I may briefly.
I have a letter from, and I think the panel already addressed that.
There was a meeting done at Allegheny West Civic Association, and that letter was submitted in the packet that granted the community approval and support.
It should be the third, fourth exhibit, second exhibit, and the third page, Your Honor, or fourth page.
What was the date of that meeting?
The date of that, Your Honor, if I may, was, what's the date of the letter?
November 6, 2019, held at the Paniti Recreation Center, Your Honor.
Thank you.
Yes, sir.
Yes, sir.
And it's Regina Rhea Smith, the chairperson of the Allegheny West Association, that signed it, or at least put her name at the bottom on the letterhead, Your Honor.
Thank you.
Thank you, sir, and members of the panel.
All right.
are there any other members any other interested parties in this case if so
please raise your hand now
questions from the board oh i'm sorry charles richardson
questions from the board oh i'm sorry charles richardson has been unmuted
then you can go ahead and speak sorry about that tanya
mr richardson please unmute yourself
can you hear me yes okay uh you can swear me if you want
yes give us your full name and address charles richardson councilwoman bass's office 312 city
hall okay you swear and affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do uh the glenwood case we do have like have a confirmation from uh allegheny west that a
meeting did take place uh and the councilwoman has no objection to granting the variance
Thank you, Mr. Richardson. Appreciate it.
All right. Any other hands up, Tanya?
No, Chair. You can continue.
Thank you. Any questions from the board?
I can confirm that that letter is...
The submitted exhibits do include that letter from the RCO.
Thank you. Ron?
Again, the property is indicated for single family resident...
for residential use on the city plan given its proximity to public transit we support the
granting of the increased density variance. Thank you. Calendar number 386191508 West Glenwood
my vote is yes. My vote is yes. My vote is yes. My vote is yes. Mr. Lambert so you'll know in
the future while we're still doing Zoom
meetings. No need to wear a tie.
Sir, I'm going to show
you. I have shorts underneath, okay?
All right. I have shorts on too,
but we sent a memo out.
Relax. Be comfortable.
No sweating.
No sweating. Listen, if
I can sweat some more, I'll finally be skinny.
So thank you so much.
That's a different issue. Take care.
Have a great day, folks, and thank you, sir.
and thank everyone for the ladies and gentlemen
have a great day
thank you so much
any other business before we
conclude here
not that I know of
nope it looks like that's it chair
see you in a short time
3 .30 right
alright see you then
see you later
is everyone ready Tanya yes yeah we're all ready okay Sharon yeah I'm here okay
good thank you good afternoon again everyone my name is Frank DiCicco I'm
the chair of the zoning board we have a quorum following this session to order in
attendance is our vice chair miss Carol Tenere our board member mr. Thomas
Holloman and board member James Snow, along with our board secretary, Mr. Confessor Plaza.
Also in attendance is our city solicitor, Ms. Sharon Saleta, and our board administrator,
Ms. Tanya Sunken. As you're probably aware, today is our fourth week of holding virtual hearings.
While we may have to make some adjustments along the way, our plan is to call each case
and basically proceed as we would have in a live hearing. We ask that attorneys for applicants or
other interested parties identify themselves for the record when the case you will be participating
in is called. We will then hear the applicant's presentation followed by any presentation
by attorneys representing other parties. Interested parties and members of the public
not represented by counsel will then be given an opportunity to testify. We will finally hear
the recommendation of the Planning Commission. At the hearing's conclusion, the board will either
vote the matter immediately or hold it for discussion in executive session any case held
for discussion will be voted on the record at the next scheduled 9 30 a .m morning meeting
august the 12th august the 12th at 9 30 a .m that the vote will be taken for any cases that are held
in for discussion. A couple of changes related to the virtual format. First, we will be administering
oaths to individual participants prior to their testimony rather than to the room as a whole since
we do not have a room. Second, for the benefit of anyone participating by phone, we ask that
attorneys and witnesses identify themselves prior to speaking or testifying. Third,
identify themselves prior to speaking or testifying third we'd like to advise
everyone that this proceed proceeding is being recorded and that by
participating you acknowledge your agreement to be recorded but also ask
everyone who wishes to testify at the time of your case is called the police
raise your hand so that you can be then you can be put into the system this
Sunkit will now explain that procedure.
So for anyone who has reached this hearing by telephone,
if you wish to testify on behalf of a particular case,
you would have to raise your hand,
and on a telephone, you would press star nine.
Once you're identified by the chair and allowed to speak,
in order to unmute yourself, you will have to press star six. For all participants who wish
to put in an appearance statement, we have a contact number, which is a Google voice line
that you will call and leave a voice message identifying what address you're putting in
appearance for. That number is 267 -270 -5548. Again, for all who wish to put in an appearance statement,
you can dial 267 -270 -5548 and leave your name, information, and importantly, the address that
you wish to put in appearance for, and we will retrieve that information. You'll be a party to
the case. Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Tanya. The following cases will be continued. Calendar
number 37253, 3401 Tampa Street. Calendar number 392, excuse me, start over again. Calendar number
39328, 1302 North 18th Street will be continued. If anyone disagrees with those continuance,
please identify yourself by raising your hand at this time uh chair at this time no hands are raised
thank you uh carol we'll begin with the first case i'm i'm sorry i thought you were going to
ask for other continuances i'm sorry i apologize no are there any other i'm sorry are there any
other requests for continuances or withdrawals? Okay, so we have here Mr.
Zin Jin. You can now promote your video. He has a request for continuance. Thank
you. I am showing that I am... Zin, excuse me, just identify yourself with a record.
you've already been sworn in earlier. Yes, Zen Jin, Z -H -E -N -J -I -N, 1617 John F. Kennedy Boulevard,
Suite 1838, Philadelphia PA 19103. Prior to the start of this hearing, I was
in contact with Council President Clark's office, and I was advised that a continuance will be
thought by the councilman's office because they would like my client to enter into a benefits
agreement with the community. I do want to point out though we were originally planning to move
forward with this case today because the last time we had a meeting with the community was back in
December last year and it's been a substantial amount of time for us to have been reached out
to and worked out an agreement, but as a courtesy and also to work with the community, I'm willing
to do another continuance if the board is willing to try to get the benefits agreement
worked out.
No objection to a continuance?
No objection to the request based on the fact that we'll be working with the community.
All right.
so you'll speak with Tanya about getting another date all right yes any other
requests for continuances or withdrawals any hands go up no hands went up I'm not
sure if I mentioned I missed it but did we put on the record that that would be
continue yes okay yeah and i and i advise mr jen to contact you regarding a date okay all right
okay first case carol
First case, Carol. You have to unmute yourself. Unmute yourself.
Calendar number 38668801 East Willard Street. The attorney is Vern Anastasio.
And Mr. Anastasio can explain the procedural status of this case. There apparently was a
hearing in January. You held it asking for pictures showing three meters. It was held for 30 days but
was never voted. So I don't know that this is just going to be a vote today. I'll let Mr. Anastasio
explain it in more detail. He's not in appearance. Mr. Anastasio, can you put your name in it?
Carol, hold it. Tanya, I didn't hear you. Yes, he's not in appearance. I don't see him here.
all right so why don't we go to case number three maybe he's having technical difficulties
we'll move him to the back okay calendar number three seven four seven three four forty five
fairmount avenue rear the attorney is jared klein
Okay, Mr. Klein, you've been promoted to a panelist. You can share your screen.
Thank you, Mr. Klein.
Klein, can you please put your name and address on the record and spell your name for the stenographer?
Sure. Good afternoon, Mr. Chair, members of the board.
Jared Klein, J -A -R -E -D, last name K -L -E -I -N, from Blank Rome, LLP, 130 North 18th Street.
Okay, do you swear?
I'm sorry, Carol. Yeah, you finished.
No, he's already on the oath from this morning, so.
Okay, so do you agree to waive and stip?
Yes, I do.
Thank you.
you're on druids okay very good um good afternoon again everybody i'm gonna share my screen um
hopefully it'll work better this time than from this morning session max okay
are folks seeing my screen this time yes okay fantastic um so i am here on behalf of fairmount
of Commercial Properties, who is the owner of 445 -447 Fairmount Avenue. I'm joined on the Zoom
call today by Steve Parkin, who's a representative of the ownership group. This application is a
fairly simple one, and I'll try and be as brief as I can in consideration of the board's time.
This property, 445 -447 Fairmount, is a single structure that is located here on Fairmount
Avenue at the corner of Orkney Street which is a small side street running past the property.
The property's zoning history includes an appearance before the board back in 2002
at which time the board had granted a variance allowing commercial use on the ground floor
and I have the refusal here you can see the note the board allowed commercial on the ground floor
a 445 -447 with an approved breakthrough on the ground floor to connect the commercial units
and allowed for four residential units to be above. Two of those units are in the 445 portion
of the property, two are in the 447 portion of the property. We're here today with an application
to convert the ground floor into two additional residential apartments, so a total of six
between 445 and 447. The reason for that conversion is that although in 2002, a tenant
was obtained following the grant of the variance, my client has undertaken some significant marketing
efforts in the intervening time that have proven unfruitful in terms of renting the commercial
space. And within the packet of materials that I gave to the board at exhibit six are two letters
from the commercial real estate brokers who had been retained, one from CBRE,
noting that they were engaged in 2015 and 2016, and that he was unable to secure a tenant,
and that realtor noted the owner's prospects of attracting a viable commercial tenant were
highly unlikely. There's also a letter from the Dominic Fuchsia team. He was also engaged as a
commercial broker. And again, although the residential units were easily
occupiable, the commercial unit was very difficult to rent out. So in light of
commercial unit was very difficult to rent out. So in light of that, we are seeking permission to
that, we
turn the residential use or turn the commercial space on the ground floor into a residential use.
I have here some photos just to orient the board. This is the property here from the street
perspective. There are separate entrances for 445, which is located here, and 447 located here.
this alley orkney street which runs along the side of the property provides access and ingress
egress to the units this is a view of the side of the building as it runs on orkney street
and you can see down here there is an opening that allows the upstairs residential units into
the building and also an alley behind the property that is going to allow for our trash
storage as i'll explain in just a moment um the we met twice with the northern liberties neighbors
association uh and their largest comment i'll put their position letter on the screen their
largest comment uh had to do with concerns about about uh trash um at this building particularly
in light of the increase in residential density um so what we've done and you will see that um
The Northern Liberty's letter of non -opposition references a plan with trash receptacles. We presented this plan to the Neighborhood Association and they agreed that this was a sufficient trash designation. As you'll see what we did, these are the two units.
there are going to be two bedroom units one on the 445 side one on the 447 side and we created
trash storage in the rear of the property here accessed by this open alley to allow all of the
residents of the building to store their trash and in in one spot so it'll be internal strat
trash storage with a gate uh to prevent any any unauthorized dumping and to allow ventilation
into that area, and we, working with the community association, doubled the size of our originally
proposed trash enclosure to allow for trash for the entire building. As I mentioned, NNLA has a
letter of non -opposition, and with that, I will swear my client in unless the board has any
questions. You swear them in, and then we'll ask questions. Thank you. Steve, can you raise your
hand virtually so the zoning admin can identify.
Steve, you can unmute yourself and speak.
Good afternoon.
This is Steve Parkin.
I'm the managing partner of Fairmount Commercial Properties, LP, which is the operating entity for 445 and 447 Fairmount Avenue.
Do you swear in a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Thank you.
Please proceed.
Steve, can you just spell your name for the record and provide an address, please?
Steve, S -T -E -V -E, last name Parkin, P as in Paul, A -R -K -I -N.
My address is 135 South 19th Street, apartment 811, Philadelphia, 19103.
And Steve, did you have the opportunity to hear the statements I made during my presentation?
Yes, I did.
Do you adopt them as true, correct, and your wrong?
Yes, I do.
Thank you very much.
Mr. Chair, I turn it back over to the board for any follow -up questions.
Thank you. The trash areas, did that require a revision in the original plan?
No, there were no plans submitted because this was a use change only. So this was just a conceptual floor plan rendering, but we committed to the RCO that we will build it out substantially similar to this with the shown trash enclosure.
Thank you. Is there anyone who wishes to testify in this case? Please raise your hand.
no hands raised at this time thank you
uh questions from the board no no no planning commission the property is indicated for
residential use on the city plan given the site history we have no objection to granting the
Thank you. Calendar number 37473, 445 Fairmount Avenue. My vote is yes with the proviso to provide two trash areas, ventilated areas to the rear of the property.
ventilated areas to the rear of the property my vote is yes with proviso yes with proviso
My vote is yes.
yes with proviso yes with proviso thank you very much everyone have a great afternoon thank you
calendar number 39460 327 tasker street the attorney is michael goodhart
is this the case we had miss miss uh we listed it in our the other day no this was the case from
yesterday that um we had not squared away with the attorney that it was prepared to go forward
because we didn't have documentation so i rescheduled him for this afternoon okay i knew
that we had something that occurred with this yesterday okay thank you frank does he need to
be sworn in? Yes. Okay, Mr. Goodhart, you've been promoted to a panelist. You can now share your
screen if you wish and wait to be sworn in. Mr. Goodhart, can you please put your name and address
on the record and spell your name for the stenographer, please? Unmute yourself. We can't
hear you please sorry that's okay mark goodhart no offense taken to you having michael in your
record there but it's mark m -a -r -k -g -o -o -d -h -e -a -r -t 529 south 16th street suite 100 philadelphia
1 -9 -1 -4 -6 and do you swear to tell the truth and nothing but the truth i do do you also agree to
waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy? I do. Okay, thank you. You may
present your case. Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman and members of the board. I also have on the Zoom
my client, Micah Gold Markell, who's the sole member of the LLC owner of 327 Tasker Street,
and he's prepared to answer questions and give any testimony as needed. This is an application
for the legalization of a duplex uh that has been existing uh for over 30 years at the location
in its current configuration uh and use uh the zoning uh calls for single family and when my
client purchased the property from the longtime owner back in 2019 uh it was actually listed on
public record as being designated as an apartment. And they found out just before closing that it was
a single family. They found this out when my client went to pull a new rental license for
the duplex living. They agreed to work together to go through this process. Unfortunately,
the prior owner had a terminal illness and passed away, and now my client is here
on his own. As I said, the use has been a duplex for over 30 years. There's no reconfiguration or
work needed to be done as part of this application. It is merely a variance to legalize the long -standing
use. There was a public meeting held in February of this year, and the Penn Support Civic Association
issued a letter of support, which has been provided to the board in advance of today.
And with that, I would turn it over to the board for any questions that it may have of me or of
my client. Mr. Goodhart, you want to get your client on the record and ask if he adopts your
testimony i'll swear him in i will mr chairman uh micah if you want to raise your hand micah if you
want to raise your hand yes i'm here uh did you uh hear my testimony excuse me mr micah would you
please spell your name for the record and it's m -i -c -a -h last thing gold markel g -o -l -d hyphen
m -a -r -k -e -l and your address
1500 north american street philadelphia pennsylvania 19122 and do you swear affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i affirm mr goodhart
micah did you uh hear the statements and background and factual information
Micah, did you hear the statements and background and factual information that I provided on
the record?
Yes, I did.
Do you adopt those as true statements and statements of your own?
Yes, I do.
Thank you.
Mr. Chairman and the board, if you have any questions for myself or my client, we're happy
to answer anything.
Thank you.
Is there anyone who wishes to testify in this matter?
If so, please raise your hand.
no hands up at this time chair thank you tanya questions from the board no no planning commission
so this property is for residential use on the city plan given the site's history we have no
objection to the grand number thank you very much calendar number 39460 327 tasker street my vote is
yes my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote yes thank you um i contacted
i contacted mr anastasio on the first case on the 330 list he believes this is just a delayless
case but is unable to go into his office he hasn't been able yet to go into his office
to check the file he's asked if we could reschedule it for next wednesday morning
at 9 30 for a vote at which time he will have the documentation
tanya does that work
yes chair we can do whatever you wish well i mean i don't want to overburden the list but we don't
know we never know how many continues we're going to get these days all right so we'll list it next
but we want to do it it's just a vote that's fine we can go ahead and put it on the list
okay very good thank you uh sharon you'll notify or time you'll notify anastasia sure yeah
uh is that it i think that's it that's it thank you members of the board thank you um all right
everyone uh tomorrow morning right yes tomorrow at 10 a .m yes yep okay okay thank you thank you
thank you thank you good night good night good night good night good night everyone tanya call
me at midnight. Carol, you too much. It'll be Abby tomorrow. Okay, thank you for everything, Bill.
Oh, no problem. Take care. Bye.