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