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