Good morning, everyone.
We will start momentarily.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Good morning, everyone.
Good morning, everyone. My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this morning's meeting of the Philadelphia Zoning Board of Adjustment.
My name is Bill Bergman.
With me is our vice chair, Tanita Graham.
Present, Mr. Chair.
Our board secretary, Cheryl L. Gaston.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Board member, Michael Johns.
He's here.
Can you hear me, Mr. Chair? This is Hillary.
Yes, most certainly.
Yes, he is getting on.
Yeah, we know that he's here.
Our board member, Taya Nguyen.
Mr. Chairman.
And our board member, Ryan McAdams.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Also, as you already heard, Hillary Emerson is here.
Our zoning board director, Ian Haggerty.
And our board administrator, Lakeisha Dandy.
Recording of this hearing will be posted on the ZBA website.
By participating, you consent to be recorded.
This is an in-person meeting with remote capabilities.
whether remote or in person if you're called to speak you must state and spell your name
then wait to be sworn in once you've been sworn in please state your name each time
before beginning your testimony any person may enter their appearance to become an interested
party to a case there are three ways you can identify the property address on your zoom webinar
you can see a staff member or you can call this eba appearance line by the close of business
tomorrow call 267-270-5548 leave um or you can call the zba appearance line by the close of
business and leave a message that includes your email the address of the property of the appealed
case following guidances for remote attendees when directed by the chair you must raise your
virtual hand in order to be recognized to speak second of your call to testify you'll be prompted
to join as a panelist, please accept the request and turn on your camera. Third, the webinar Q&A
is for questions about the hearing. Do not comment on the case in the Q&A. Fourth, if you're
participating by phone, press star 9 to raise your hand and star 6 to unmute. For our in-person
attendees, please refrain from talking, eating, or drinking during the hearings. Verbal and physical
aggression will not be tolerated. Restrooms are across from the elevator. A water fountain is just
down outside the room to the right. When speaking on the record, you must speak directly into the
microphone in order to be heard by all attendees and our court reporter. In the event of emergency,
please follow the directions given over the public address system or by the staff. The main exit is
through the double doors at the rear of the room. The nearest stairwell is to the left outside the
doors. In case of an evacuation, the rally point is Love Park. Please remain there so we can account
for you. So let's look at our schedule for today.
Number three, MI 2024-006-131-4732-42 North Ward Street.
That case has been continued until 4-29-26 at 9.30 a.m.
Number five, MI 2024-007-291-4005 Brown Street.
That case is to continue to 429-26 at 9.30 a.m.
Number 7, MI-2025-002-578-3749 North 19th Street.
That case is to continue to 429-26.
And number 8, MI-2025-002-593-2114 East Lehigh Avenue.
That case has continued to 4-29-26.
And last, number 11, MI-2025-002-705-898 Moorfield Road.
that case is continued to 4 29 26 at 9 30 a.m are there any requests for additional continuances
thank you we're going to move on we have a few uh no exhibits here
No exhibits here.
number one
Number one.
MI 2024 003 179 815 Crispin Street.
Listed owners are Joseph Bernardino.
No one appeared.
This is the third listing.
Mr. Chair, this is Hillary.
Just to clarify, the listed owners are Ismet Bala.
and Bukhari Doscue. Joseph Bernardino was the listed applicant in this matter.
Is there anyone in the audience for this case?
We see anyone?
Okay, thank you. So this is the third listing. So MI 2024,
224-003-179-8115 Christmas Street.
I vote to dismiss.
Michael Johns, my vote is to dismiss.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is to dismiss.
Tannetta Graham, my vote is to dismiss.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is to dismiss.
Iowyn, my vote is to dismiss.
And also number six, MI 2025-002-514-181 Daly Street.
Vern Anastasia was the attorney.
We need a proof of posting, Mr. Anastasio.
Thank you.
Morning, Mr. Chair.
Hi, good morning, sir.
Could you please state your name and spell for the sonographer?
Sure. Vern Anastasio, A-N-A-S-T-A-S-I-O.
Do you swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, of course.
Vern, are you ready to go on that number six?
Yes, I am.
There was some kind of technical issues with the board and the administration, but we were able to get everything in.
Proof of posting will be forthcoming before my case is heard.
And I don't think I'm at the top of the list, am I?
I don't believe I am.
You're not.
Yeah, I didn't think so.
So it'll be forwarded.
Thank you. Thank you. Let's go to our add-ons. Number one, MI 2025, 004-120-825 West Butler Street. This case has been continued to Wednesday, November 5th at 930 a.m. Number two, Tanetta Graham, our vice chair, will handle.
Thank you, Chair. Good morning, everyone. MI 2024-002-357, 1945 North 25th Street. My vote is yes with proviso. Maximum two units, no household living in the basement, and no roof deck or roof deck access structure.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes with provisos.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with provisos.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes with provisos.
All right, Wayne, my vote is yes with provisos.
Number three, Tanetta will handle that too.
Okay, thank you again.
MI 2024-002424, 822 Barlow Street, my vote is yes with provisos.
Per refusal dated 10-15-24, and approval is only for failure to provide one required accessory
all street parking space single family household living used to remain michael johns my vote is
yes with provisos cheryl gaston my vote is yes with provisos ryan mcadams my vote is yes with
provisos iowa my vote is yes with provisos number four mi 2025 003 689 31 35 south juniper street
I vote yes.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes.
Excuse me, members.
Can we certify that we watched the video?
I'm starting with yes.
I'll do it.
We'll start over again.
So MI 2025 003-689-3135 South Juniper Street, I vote yes.
And I certified that I watched the original video.
do i need to certify also yes okay um just that you watched the the video consideration hearing
yes yes right i watched the consideration here so my vote is yes uh and uh that i and i certify
that i watched the reconsideration here um cheryl gaston i certify that i watched the video recording
that I watched the video recording from the 10th, October 14th,
from October 14, 2020.
2025 hearing. And my vote is no.
Oh, that's another gram. My vote is yes.
Tywin.
I certify that I watched the video recording from the February 26th,
2025 hearing. And my vote is yes.
Ryan McAdams.
I certify that I watched the video recording from the February 26th,
2025 hearing. And my vote is yes.
Thank you.
Number five, MI2025-004-486-3935 Ogden Street.
I vote yes per amended refusal dated 6-28-24.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes.
Mike, I think you're accused.
I think you voted on this one.
Anyway, I, Cheryl Gaston, I certify that I watched the video of the October 14th, 2025 hearing, and my vote is yes with proviso.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes with proviso.
Brian McAdams, I certify that I watched the video of the 724 hearing, and my vote is yes with proviso.
number six mi 2025 004 506 59 69 oaklands avenue the vote on this matter has been moved to november
5th at 9 30 a.m
number seven mi 2025 004 920 10914 nadina court
I vote yes with proviso. Her refusal dated 10-16-24. Maximum two dwelling units must obtain a certificate of occupancy.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes with proviso.
You have to certify.
Oh. Do I need to certify for that?
Yes, that you watch the video of the consideration hearing on 10-14.
I certify that I watched the video
on 10-14
and my vote is yes with provisos.
Cheryl Gaston,
I certify that I watched
the video recording of the
October 14, 2025
reconsideration
hearing and my vote is yes
with provisos.
Tynetta Graham, my vote is yes with provisos.
Taya Nguyen, my vote is yes
with provisos.
um mi 2025 0 0 0 0 2 5 66 17 algard street i vote no
michael johns my vote is no sir ogasta my vote is no tenetta graham my vote is no
Ryan McAdams, my vote is no.
Tywin, my vote is no.
And 1701 Market, our attorney, Hillary Emerson, will read this into the record.
Yes, we're going to have a nun per tongue hearing, 1701 Market Street.
Adam Laver is the attorney.
Morning, Mr. Laver.
Good morning, Mr. Chairman and members of the board.
Could you please state your name and spell for the sonographer?
Adam Laver.
L-A-V as in Victor, E-R, Blank Rome, 1 Logan Square.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, Mr. Chairman.
For the record, identify your claim, please.
Blank Rome represents 1701 Market, LLC, an Altera Property Group entity, which is the
owner of the subject property.
Please proceed.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the board.
We're grateful for this opportunity to appear this morning before the board and appreciate
the courtesy. As the board will recall from the prior hearing in this matter, I won't go over
all of the background except to speak to the request for non-protunk relief specifically.
A notice of refusal was issued by the Department of Licenses and Inspections in this matter
on June 16th, 2025. Following discussions with the department in an attempt to reach a meeting
of the minds, which did not happen, I filed a timely appeal to this board on July 15th, 2025.
There is no dispute regarding the timeliness of that filing. In the filing, my cover letter
to the board stated in pertinent part in the event that the zoning board of adjustment does
In the event that the Zoning Board of Adjustment does not grant the requested relief,
not grant the requested relief
appellant would wish to proceed with filing a request for variance relief at that time.
Mr. Chairman and members of the board, this specific language is language that had been suggested by prior counsel of this board many years ago.
And in the limited instances in which we have filed appeals of this nature, we have used it.
But more importantly, upon learning of the board's verbal decision in the code interpretation matter, which last brought me before the board, even before receiving an official notice of decision, I reached out to a board executive director who is here today to pursue a request for variance relief path.
I mentioned that to show the board the efforts that we took for timely addressing.
So I would respectfully submit that there were non-negligent circumstances here.
Furthermore, granting the relief requested would not prejudice any parties.
We have already commenced the community engagement process.
We're not aware of any opposition.
we want to engage with all interested parties and have a fully open and transparent process.
As a side note, it is worth noting that pursuant to code bulletins, a new application could always
be filed to allow us to ultimately come before this board, which would be an unfortunate
duplication of resources. And in some, Mr. Chairman and members of the board, we respectfully
believe that this speaks to the requested granting of relief, not prejudicing any parties
and being appropriate. I'm pleased to answer any questions or respond to any board concerns.
Okay. Hillary, is this strictly a vote now? Or questions?
If the board has questions, they can ask, but otherwise you can move directly to a vote.
from the board. Any questions from the board?
Thank you. In this matter,
721, mark a treat. I vote yes.
And Mr. Chair, just to clarify
in granting this, the
request for Nugpertank is granted and the
application that has been
submitted is now accepted as
timely filed. Okay, thank you.
I vote yes. Michael Johns, my vote
is yes. Cheryl Gaston,
my vote is yes. Tanita Graham, my vote
is yes. Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes.
All right, Wayne, my vote is yes.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Members of the board,
have a pleasant day. Okay, we're going to go to number
nine. MI 2025
002 663
to 30 West Hainstreet.
Isaac and
Jordan Holland Townsend are the
owners.
Isaac, will you please raise your hand?
They're being promoted to panelists here.
Right.
Thank you.
Mr. Townsend, can you accept the invite for to promote the panelists?
Mr. Townsend?
good morning mr chair this is jason um please give us a moment we're doing our
run uh mr tons of the panelists right now okay thank you
Okay, thank you.
Jason, you want to move on?
Maybe they can be ready in a little bit.
Sure, Mr. Chair, no problem.
All right, so here's what I'm going to do.
We'll come back to this, and we're going to move on right now
to number 12, MI2025-002-710-3207, North 6th Street.
Jose Matos is the appellant.
Hi, Chair.
Mr. Matos is being promoted to...
Okay, thank you.
Good morning everyone. Hi, Mr. Matos. Good morning everyone. Could you please turn on
your video can you see us we do not all right mr. Matos I see you mr. Matos
you'll be doing the testifying, am I correct?
My English
we cannot use an interpreter
that we do not provide.
I need an interpreter too.
So, Ian,
we'll have to continue this
for interpreter.
Alright, so
here's what we're going to do. We're going to continue the case
we will, the next hearing, we will provide
an interpreter for you, okay?
I'm going to try English. What's that?
I'm going to try English, yeah.
Sir, what language do you need an interpreter for?
Spanish. Spanish? Okay.
We will provide a Spanish interpreter for you at the next hearing.
Okay, so MI 2025
25-002-710-3207 North 6th Street.
This case is continued to 429-26 at 9.30 a.m.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
And number 14.
mi2025004 758 3645 north 19th street albert sylvester is the applicant
good morning mr chair albert sylvester has been promoted they should be coming back in shortly
sure right that's good good morning everyone good morning mr sylvester could you please state your
name and spell for this stenographer first name is albert last name sylvester s-y-l-v-e-s-t-e-r
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
All right.
So this is a reconsideration hearing.
We will incorporate evidence and testimony from the prior hearing into the record.
The scope of reconsideration hearing is revised, clear or floor plans.
So you will make your presentation, and then there will be questions from the board, public testimony, and planning commission.
We'll have a chance to update.
So could you please start your presentation?
All right.
Good morning.
Thanks again for having the reconsideration for me.
I will be sharing my screen to show the architectural plans that I revised from the previous meeting.
from the previous meeting. And so, Mr. Chair, this is Hillary. I just want to note for the record that
And so, Mr. Chair, this is Hillary.
we did receive a continuance request for this case from the 13th Ward. However, this is a
reconsideration hearing, so there is no additional community meeting requirement. I understand a
meeting was scheduled. I don't see Mr. Carnes here to discuss that request, but I just want
to note that on the record that we did receive that request so that a meeting could be held,
but there is no meeting requirement. Okay. We're going to continue
that. Please proceed. Share your screen. Okay.
Can you see my screen?
Yes. Okay. You're just going to have to, you know, give us
each individual picture, if you could.
Okay, this screen here is the property plans
for the outside of the property.
But going down to the first floor unit is here.
I'll zoom in a little bit more
so that everyone can see hopefully a little better.
where i made the uh revised is the bedrooms into uh living rooms so the for the first floor unit
here is the first room bedroom is here and the living room is here and the what i put together
was the square footage. I understand from the last meeting that living rooms need to be 120 square
feet. First floor living room is 146 square feet. Bedroom is 119 square feet. And also the first
floor, there is the back area where the yard is at. So it wouldn't really make too much. It doesn't
makes sense to have a bedroom leading out into the back uh leading out into the backyard if
someone's in the unit they would have to go through the bedroom to get to the backyard so
changing the back room from a bedroom to a living room makes makes better sense
and also the the second floor is here so the steps to enter the unit is here this is the
kitchen and the dining area and the front room is the living room so instead of and again the
reason for having this living room at 197 square feet it makes better sense to not move from this
previously from a bedroom through the kitchen to get to the the bathroom the
back room on the second floor it is a bedroom here so as far as layout wise it
would be a little easier to get from the bedroom to the bathroom here that's the
second floor and the third floor is here where you enter the unit here and the
first front room on the top floor is the bedroom here you'd see it's 187 square feet and the back
room is the living room here this is 200 square feet again it makes it does make better sense to
have living room closer to the kitchen or as opposed to coming from the back room previously
through the kitchen area and to the bathroom.
So those were my revised plans for the property
to use it as such, one-bedroom units.
Questions from the board?
I'll just remark, thank you very much
for making those changes and those considerations
that we put up at the last hearing.
Okay, okay, good, good.
Other questions from the board or comments?
I'll just concur, particularly with my little pet peeve about the bedroom and the bathroom.
Thank you.
All right.
I think it's more of a comment than a question, but with that new living room on the first
floor, I do think that the closet is still going to make it read as a bedroom.
and so just like I understand that you have the plan labeled a certain way but I would uh just
you know be sure that that you list it as a one bedroom because
Be sure that you list it as a one-bedroom, because people are going to think that that's a bedroom because of that closet.
Understandable.
All right.
Back and remove.
All right.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual or the current audience here?
No hands at this time, Chair.
Planning Commission?
Thank you, Chairman, and good morning.
David Fecto, F-E-C-T-E-A-U, with the City Planning Commission.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir, I do.
Please proceed.
Thank you, sir.
Chairman and board members, we will stand on our prior recommendation.
Thank you.
So MI 2025, 004-758-3645 North 19th Street, I vote yes.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
tie when my vote is yes
okay um thank you sir you have your votes let's go back to number nine
mi 2025 002 663 2830 hayne street west hayne street
isaac and jordan howlin townsend
All right, Mr. Townsend. He's still not promoting. See if you can do it, Jay. He's still not promoting.
okay all right so so what i'm going to do is i'm going to we're going to continue the case
and you know i'll make sure that they know that they have to contact the office for the next time
to make their case um um so mi2025 002 663
okay mi2025 002 663 28 to 30 west hayne street this case is continued to 429 26 at 9 30 a.m
well what we'll do is we'll have them um get a hold of the office right and then see if in fact
we can get them back in okay thank you um number two mi 2024 005 744 4858 fairmount avenue um
um steve masters is the attorney um steve how do we did we uh how we do with the rco well
why don't you state your name first and i'll swear you good morning mr chair members of the
board steve masters s-t-e-v-e-m-a-s-t-e-r-s do you swear or firmly to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth i do how would you make out with the rco with this we had a very productive
RCO meeting last week
in which there was overwhelming
support for the project
we were expecting to get
copies of the RCO
report and
vote information but
we have not received that
why don't you present your case
can I get promoted
let's see
I have to find it again
hang on
yes I am logged in
but it looks like I got
logged out for some reason
Okay, it looks like it's working.
all right
good morning again um mr chair members of the board uh i'm here with our our clients um
uh the the uh business name for the client is mount boy investment group llc um anthony page
is the member of that LLC. We're here on 4858 Fairmont Avenue. I'm going to go through
some of the exhibits and then Mr. Page will present a little bit more about the project.
um it's a little a little clanky here
this is um a project for a duplex and in a um in a property that is zoned for single family
However, I'm going to jump to the planning commission's 2035 plan.
Wow, it is very slow when we're moving here.
so the 2035 plan um we're showing you is um whoa i apologize there there's like a very big delay
so i'm i click on something and i think it's done and it's still in process
Thank you.
It looks like it's coming back up.
Thank you.
We have a hard time with your computer, Steve, or?
Yeah, this is my computer.
I think it's the connection that I'm using inside the room.
Yeah, I'm on the Wi-Fi.
Get off the Wi-Fi.
So that's your petitions there, right?
The 34 signatures you have.
Correct.
So it looks like we are on the part that I wanted to be on, which is the Planning Commission's report for 2035.
What I'm going to try to do is get off my VPN.
My VPN, maybe that's what's going on.
Yeah, and maybe that's what's going on.
Could you transfer this to your associate's computer,
then use hers?
um could try that why don't we do this why don't we do this why don't you we'll go on to the next
case but i'll get right back to you okay so see if we can get this going and then we'll come back
okay thank you thank you very much um number four mi 2024 006 754 226 written street joseph
consul is the attorney there's a letter of support from the whitman council no vote count provided
and proviso of interior trash storage.
Non-opposition from Council Member Squilla.
Mr. Council.
Chair, we have a hand up for Mr. Zen-Gen.
Maybe he took the case over.
Mr. Gen, you're allowed to speak?
Good morning.
I will be representing the applicant for today.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Counsel, could you please state your name and spell it for the stenographer?
Sure. Yep, we're good.
Yes, good morning.
Xin Jin, Z-H-E-N-J-I-N, here on behalf of the applicant.
All right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Counsel, could you please identify your client, a relationship to the property?
Yes. My client is a LLC. It is, apologies, one second.
It is J.G. Premier Home LLC, the owner of the property and the owner, I mean, the representative of the LLC is here today as well.
All right. Vice Chair Teneda Graham has a few questions.
Good morning. Have you submitted your documents five days in advance of this hearing?
I believe it was submitted by the applicant themselves. However, I have reviewed the documents and asked them to submit an updated one this morning. I don't know if the board has that available.
Okay. And do you submit to the refusal and the reading note? I'm sorry.
Do you waive the reading note of refusal and submit to its accuracy?
All right. Thank you. You can proceed.
Thank you. I'm going to share with the board the exhibit that I have on my file. If it is slightly different than what the board has, please let me know.
Can the board see my screen on theirs?
We can.
Thank you. So this is an application for the legalization to use the property as a two-family dwelling.
This property is zoned in the RSA 5 district and as a result only permits a single family dwelling.
However, Whitman Council is well aware and the neighbors as well, as my client did a petition in the area as Whitman Council normally would require.
They're aware that this property has historically been a two family dwelling and my client also acquired the property as is.
We're just trying to legalize the conditions within the property.
So the property in question is here.
This is a corner property that has a front entrance.
Oh, I'm sorry.
I don't know what happened there.
Let me.
As well as a side entrance.
However, the layout is very simple.
There's one unit on the first floor, one unit on the second floor.
The property has been occupied for many years.
it's not a new condition the meters in the basement existing the basement itself is used
for utility and storage and it's not a finished basement so that is essentially what the conditions
are for this property we do have because of the corner property we do have both a rear deck as
well as a rear yard accessible from the street for trash storage for both units, so no trash
is ever left outside.
Whitman Council specifically also requested that no trash cans or dumpsters or anything
no trash cans or dumpsters or anything of that nature be left on the street side.
of that nature be left on the street.
The plans are a little hard to read. I'm sorry about that.
Let me try to make sure it's zoomed in properly.
So it's a pretty simple layout on the plans.
Let me again try to zoom in a little further.
So the entry is from the front of the building.
there is a side door that leads into the first floor unit and then there's direct exit from the
rear bedroom to the outside so that is the first floor the second floor is laid out very similar
it's a these are all single bedroom units with a kitchen living room and a bath with access to the
rear exterior. Historically, this property was a duplex as the history shows that at one point
it was a store in a single family. Then it was converted into two family only as far back as
in the 50s. And the community does agree that it is historically been used that way and therefore
they had no opposition to legalizing the conditions. And it's because of that reason,
we request the board's favorable consideration in this application in allowing it to be legalized
as a two-family use. Thank you. My client should be here to verify my testimony adopted as his own.
His name is? His name is Mr. John. I don't want to screw up his last name. JG actually
stands for his initials. Mr. Gaeta, G-A-E-T-A.
They're being promoted to panelists.
Mr. Gaeta, can you...
Good morning, sir.
You need to unmute, Mr. Gator.
Do we see him?
I see him on the screen.
He's still muted.
counselor do you know when he bought the property uh the yes i do have the deed here
the property was purchased on the september of 2021 and it was a duplex then it was a duplex
then yes can you hear me now we can sir could you please state your could you please state
your name is spelled for the sonographer yes sir john gata g-a-e-t-a jr right do you swear
or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes sir is it possible
could you turn your video on oh
I don't know how to
all right counsel why don't you start your question yes thank you great go ahead am I there
yes yes yes can you uh verify that you purchased the property in 2021 in the condition it is in
today? Yes, sir. We bought the property as is in 2021. And it was a duplex at that time?
Yes, sir. Thank you. And have you seen and heard the rest of my presentation before the zoning
board today? Yes, I did. Can you verify what I have represented is true and correct and adopt
it as your own testimony? I adopt the testimony. Yes, I do. Thank you. Questions from the board.
You purchased the property in 2021. Has it been rented since then or occupied since then?
Mr. Gera, did you hear that question from the board?
Yeah, I'm trying. My phone's ringing. I'm sorry.
so the question the question was you you bought the property in 2021 has it been occupied
and rented out since then yes sir
additional questions from the board
um is that a deck on the back of this yes it's a it's a deck on the second
Is that a deck on the back of this?
Yes, it's a deck on the second floor, and there's a rear yard for the first floor.
Gotcha. Okay. And then you're keeping the trash where?
The trash is being stored on the first floor in the yard.
Okay. And how does the second floor unit have access to that?
they'd have to walk it downstairs
and put it in through the door
on the first floor to have access
there's a door in the fence correct
ah okay
so they have to walk outside
yeah they can't
be throwing it you know you won't be
able to hand it down so you have to come down
the steps and go through the door
where you have accessibility through
the yard door
that would be on
American Street
and the storage in the meantime the trash storage in the meantime for the second floor unit is is
there a trash room is there a how no they bring they bring it down and they put it in the first
floor yard so that when the trash men come they could put it out that day and it can be picked
up they do have a they do have exterior uh rear yard deck i mean rear deck that can temporarily
store it there until they bring it down to the first floor they don't have to leave it in the
premises. Thank you. All right. Okay. Thank you. Other questions? Yes. What is the plan for the
basement? The basement's not furnished, and there's no plan for any living spaces. It's just
storage and meters and utilities. Okay. Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson.
um just briefly um mr jen we did receive um some updated plans but if there's a complete
packet that you'd like to submit you can resubmit that um by close of business tomorrow thank you
sure thank you questions or comments from the audience or the virtual audience
no hands at this time chair planning commission good morning chairman david vecto with the city
planning commission chairman and board members the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the
rsa5 residential single family zoning at this location the city rezoned this neighborhood in
2004 and a council supported map change a prior owner converted this property into two dwelling
units the city planning commission recommends that the board grant the proposed legalization
of two dwelling units in my 2024-006-754-226 ritten street i vote yes um maximum two units
michael johns my vote is yes with proviso cheryl gaston my vote is yes with proviso
tenetta graham my vote is just with proviso ryan mcadams my vote is yes with proviso
i win my vote is yes with proviso thank you counsel thank you um mr masters is back and i
can see he's ready to go yes uh just for the record state your name again you've already
been sworn steve masters please proceed sir
am i getting promoted
okay great
I don't see my
screen being shared though
let's do the sharing
it's coming up, you're up
awesome, okay
all right let's make this this one's going to be the charm i think all right so um
we're here on this project it's um single family zoning we're proposing
um two family zoning and we have 34 signatures from very close neighbors
these are all right right on the 4800 block of Fairmount
right around the corner on Reno Street but almost all of them are on
that block or the next block of Fairmount
in the 2035 plan for Mill Creek which is the neighborhood that we're discussing today
section D says that all of the parcels that are within the section D that are RSA
all of the parcels that are within the section D that are RSA or RSA 3 or RSA 5
are proposed to be RTA 1, which is duplex, or RM 1, which is multifamily.
So now we go down to the area of the map. So this is Fairmont Street here,
and the d area is right here and our property is right um here so it's straight it's it's
unsolidly within the area that is supposed to be converted into duplex and and um and multifamily
this is some contextual uh so our property is here there's fairmont um on the edge here
of of these structures is the american legion hall and across the street is a long time uh
vacant lot suggesting that there is uh that that the current single-family zoning is not
conducive to continued development in the area
for trash our trash plan is that there will be two units of course the first unit the trash
will be secured in the rear of the building inside a security fence and gate the tenant
will be supplied with at least two 96 gallon trash cans with wheels and attached lids the
trash will be picked up at each tuesday by the philadelphia trash unit tenants will be required
to pull the trash cans to the curb for the trash removal, and then once the trash has been removed,
tenants will be required to return the trash cans to the rear of the building and secure the trash
behind the security fence. For the second unit, the trash will be secured in the front of the
building inside the security fence gate. The tenant will be supplied with at least the same
or the same procedure as the first one the as we'll see from the plans the the unit the the
bottom unit has access to the backyard and the top unit has access to a a roof deck so that they each
have outdoor space that they can enjoy with their with their family here are our drawings
Our elevations are here.
this is the rear elevation
so that door would be accessible for the first floor tenants
but not for the for the top tenants and there's the side elevation
our floor plans coming up next
there is proposed
two bedrooms
in the basement
a living room
and one bedroom on the first floor
and then the combination
second and third floor
we have
one bedroom on the second floor
and two bedrooms on the third floor
All right, on the third floor, there are three bedrooms.
So the second unit has four bedrooms total,
and the first unit has three bedrooms.
This is built.
This is a photo of the outside of the house.
This house was profoundly blighted
before Mr. Page purchased it.
and instead of leaving it in its blighted condition while he waited for
And instead of leaving it in its blighted condition while he waited for the whole process to unfold for obtaining his duplex zoning permit, he decided to do what he could by shoring up and repairing it as a single family.
And basically, as you'll see, he took it all down to the studs, but he was able to beautify the outside, which the neighbors at the RCO meeting last week were extremely appreciative about because he could have just said, I can't do anything.
My hands are tied until we go to zoning on this.
so you can see the the side the there was there was quite a lot of praise given to him at the
RCO meeting for for the quality and the and the artistry of of what this building looks like from
the outside so here we have the first floor and the stairs that go up those stairs are are going
up to the second unit which is the second and third floor and then the door here would be open
into the the first floor for the for the lower uh unit this is um mr hage help me out here are we
looking at the the um the dot the bedrooms and here on the first floor i might have to right
how about if i oh sure right could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
yep you go good morning my name is anthony page uh anthony a-n-t-h-o-n-y page p-a-g-e
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes i do please
proceed counsel all right mr page we're looking at um a photo of the first floor can you tell the
board uh what is going to be um what what that area is going to be used for yes uh so uh initially
when you walk into the door there, that will be entrance, living room space.
Then there will be a small kitchen to the right.
I'm sorry, I apologize, small kitchen to the left.
And then there's a bathroom in the back there, and then one bedroom.
And this is the actual close-up view of the bathroom on the first floor.
Steve, I think you might want to go to the basement.
Oh, okay.
Just give us an idea what the basement's like.
Okay, this is...
We're just going fast through the second floor.
Is it third floor?
Third floor to the roof.
Third floor, second bedroom.
Are these photos current condition?
Well, we went in, like I said, we went in, it's actually looking the same, but we went
in and actually cleaned up a little more so some of that trash you see is no longer there.
But this is the basement view here.
But these photos are how old, Mr. Page?
Yeah, it's still framed up.
It still sticks as it is.
and this will be
I believe this will be one of the bedrooms
in the basement
and where you see the blue
and the blue and red lines
there will be a bathroom there
and this is the other side
this will be the second bedroom
that will be in the basement
just to the right of the bathroom
okay that looks like
What do you have in terms of windows in the basement or access to light?
Yes, there's two emergency.
Each room is going to have one window with an emergency exit with a gate that allows the tenant to,
if there's a fire or emergency, they can exit through the windows there, which shall lead to the side of the building.
Do you have a sense of the dimensions of those windows?
They would be on the drawings, I believe.
Okay, let's look up.
On the plans, I'm sorry.
Yeah, there they are from the outside.
Let's look at the plans and get the exact
sides of the windows.
Okay, so this is the basement on the left, correct.
Can you zoom up?
Can you zoom out so we can see the whole plan instead of just kind of zooming into the that pressure there? There's a window there. I believe it's.
Yes, 36 by 56 windows.
can you zoom out so we can see the whole layout sure okay
is that is that the right size for you mr. Johns yeah that's that's good okay
If I may speak, if you look to the far left, that's the basement there, and then if you
go up a little, if you look to the right of each bedroom, that would be the, that's one
window with the fire escape exit there, and then also another window with the fire escape
exit there as well.
And I believe the windows are 36 by 56, I believe.
Mr. Johns, do you want any more views?
No, I can see.
I can read the plan.
I don't know that we're ready for questions yet.
Yeah, I just wanted to just quickly go through the posting.
This is the posting for today's hearing.
we also have a um a tax uh clearance payment agreement that was entered into by our clients
yesterday this is the documentation from the city
it is dated october 30th 2025 showing that the llc has entered into a payment agreement for
all arrearages for
property taxes
which we submit as in livable tax
certificate tax clearance
exhibit 8
is the deed
Exhibit 9 is our application
for appeal.
It's starting to run out of battery, so why don't we...
Okay, sure. And then we have the proof of mailing to all the RCO.
Your client's already been sworn. Why don't you have them adopt your...
Sure. Mr. Page, you've heard my testimony today. Do you
agree that it was accurate and true and do you adopt it as your own yes do you have anything
further that you wanted to to share with the board about your project um uh all that i want
to say is that um you know i i look forward to it if possible to uh advance one in the community
that changes you know some of the properties in the area this is my this is my first project um
initially i was going to move into the actual uh building myself with my my daughter and my wife
But the building was very, very huge.
So I decided that, you know, maybe I can, you know, turn into a duplex and, you know,
I can live on the top floor if possible and possibly rent the bottom out.
So, you know, I just want to say thank you for having me here today and hopefully things
work out for me.
Steve, what's the rest of the block look like compared to multiple units?
Well, the planning commission in that section D said that basically it's a multifamily
area um there is the uh the the home for the um the american legion that's like three three
stores down um we we we were able to to document some of the multi-families but but um i i don't
have a full census of it yeah questions from the board yeah i think most of the block is single
family two stories and this is three story though it's not necessarily issue for me because it's on
the corner. But my question, my sort of bigger question is, this was a significant amount of
work done. And so I'm trying to figure out how we're here.
And so I'm trying to figure out how we're here at zoning.
And there was a third-story addition put on,
bays put on, rear addition put on.
And it's pretty much complete other than sort of finishing,
you know, closing up and how are we here at zoning now?
So Steve, it looks to me like he went in and said it was a single home
and then it got approval to put a third story on from l and i correct and also rooftop deck is
right thing else and and he built it consistent with the single family zone he had he had permits
for everything but in the process of him uh putting that together he concluded that the
amount of rent that he would need to to do a single family with with um seven bedrooms was
going to be out of sync with the the going rate for housing in that neighborhood so he determined
that it would be better to have like more naturally occurring affordable housing by
splitting it he did start out by saying this is a single home down high he did and he and he and he
actually he told the community last week that he intended to do a single home and then he realized
that the the money the the economics didn't work on it other questions michael anymore yeah i did
So with the third-story addition, that would have required zoning.
Did that go to zoning?
Because there was a third-story addition put on.
It was by rate, though.
It's under 38 feet.
So everything was done with permits, and there was nothing that needed zoning to bring it to where it is right now.
Including the basement?
Because the basement doesn't look like it's listed on the zoning permits for the alteration nor the third-story addition.
Everything was done according to plans we filed for everything.
So the basement was inspected by L&I?
In the base?
And what did it go in as?
How many bedrooms?
On the initial single family, I believe, I don't have the plans in front of me,
but I believe it was about five bedrooms, I believe.
total for the whole for all three stories so yes okay
other questions mr masters can you pull the plans up again sure and then i so right now what's
what's going on on the second floor currently it's i mean i know you said it's framed out
is the kitchen framed out no uh we were just waiting to get everything approved first but
i was just kind of showing you guys this is open floor planning what i will be planning to do
So the plans you're showing for the second and the third floor, outside of the bedrooms that are shown on the L&I permit, you still have to go in and do...
Yes, correct. Oh, yeah, we didn't do any work because I didn't know whether I was going to be approved for the two units.
What would be your plan at this point if you're not granted approval today?
I probably will have to, you know, move forward with the single family.
So, you know, I just was waiting.
Hopefully I can get the approval because the house is a very, very huge house.
It is.
But you built that, right?
You put that addition on.
Correct.
But here we do have a hardship that that's appropriate because the planning commission
has identified that that the single family use in this area is no longer viable.
There's the there's the open lot across the street that no one has developed, which they
should in all in all right because it it would be um it is totally appropriate to have but they
but people can't make a single family housing uh work in this neighborhood so that's why the
planning commission is saying that it should be duplex okay other questions on the board i mean
i would argue that this was a self-imposed hardship it was a two-story house you've made
it a four-story house but well to to remediate the the blight and to and to make a house that
the neighbors at the
RCL meeting last week said that this is
the nicest house that they've seen
in their whole neighborhood and that they're really appreciative
that he wants to raise the level
the quality of the housing
in the neighborhood. I'm not commenting on the work
I'm commenting on the fact that now
a four story house is being considered
a hardship when it was a two story
existing building. The planning
commission says that
the entire area is
no longer appropriate for single family. So if he tried to put single family in,
he would have found it to be very
challenging. Any other questions?
Yes. Let me make sure I understand what we're doing
here. So you're going to have a bi-level
apartment? Yes.
With the basement in the first floor? Is that what I'm
With the basement in the first floor, is that what I'm hearing?
hearing.
And there'll be three bedrooms in there?
And then the other unit is going to be four bedrooms?
The other unit is going to be, yes.
And can I see this plan again for, I mean, where's the kitchen?
Where's the living room?
Where's the, and it's by level again?
yes uh so uh the first floor would be uh the basement and the first floor together
and then it'll be the second and third floor together so i i guess i again i i hear the
argument that okay maybe you can't have single family here but here you're talking about seven
bedrooms in this?
Three bedrooms in one unit and four bedrooms in another.
Seven bedrooms, right? All together, but for two units.
Stan, I thought that's what I said.
All right. Okay, so why did we have to have
so many, you know,
I just don't, I'm not sure what the hardship
is for having this
kind of, it looks like really an overbuild
and an overcrowding,
if you will, of the space, even if it's a large space
I understand that, but this is, I can't
imagine that there's anything comparable nearby. Is there
anything like this here? You're in a
two story but i think the testimony was that the neighbor said there's nothing like it in the area
am i right hey uh there um there are other uh there are four four apartments units i believe
like directly across you i think that's it right there so you know this is a large uh
yes um it but it's it's within like a block or two of of the property
this has four mailboxes at um at 4908 aspen um but the the reality here is that we know that this
is legal i mean you can you can have things and they don't they aren't necessarily legal
any more than what we're looking at today well in terms of character of the block that that is
the character of that house that has four units of whether it's legal i don't i don't have the
the data on that but i do but i do know and it's not refuted that the planning commission says that
it's no longer and i guess mr facto will obviously weigh in of in his in his interpretation but but
the planning commission's 2035 plan is saying that this is no longer a viable single family area and
That doesn't mean then that they mean that you can convert it to just any number and or any height, any, I mean, that doesn't mean that something like this is what they intend when they say that.
so um miss gassner are you are you suggesting that if there was a smaller number of bedrooms
in in each unit that that would be more satisfactory for you not i'm not really a
fan of the household living in the basement i'm also not a fan of a four bedroom unit i don't
under it i just don't you can you can have a duplex without forbidden okay i don't i don't
know that we have approved too many you know i mean the crux of this is that he went to l and i
and said i'm putting an addition on my single home and i'm putting a deck on the top right
he he changed his mind right because of course whatever and now he's saying to the zoning board
i want a duplex with seven units of seven bedrooms all together three one and four and the other so
mr mr chair if if there was a smaller number of units with that i'm not i i think that i think
we're going to hold this and have a discussion about it anyway so i'm um i'm not saying that
smaller bedrooms will do it i think the question really is is that you told ellen i it was single
home i think you change your mind you want it to be a duplex and i think that's what we're looking
But as I said earlier, he did that in part.
But as I said earlier, he did that in part, he did want, he did intentionally
He did intentionally want to have a single family,
and then the economics caught up with him.
But he also wanted to reduce the blight in the neighborhood
and not leave it blighted, which would have been...
I heard your initial test.
Yeah, yeah.
So I think he would be open to having...
I haven't spoken to my client,
but we could discuss whether he would be fine
with a smaller number of bedrooms per unit,
right and if that would be more satisfactory it's already built though i mean it's already built so
that kind of doesn't make sense right it's other than if you make if you reduce the number of
bedrooms and you can make one bedroom like twice as large right or something so that doesn't quite
make sense i think the issue is really the point that um board member win made is that you could
have simply done a two-bedroom a two-story renovation you chose to do a three-story
renovation as a single family put all these additions on and now we're asking for a duplex
i agree it's it's a great local building that's just i think that's the that's the kind of issue
that we probably are going to talk about in exactly is there a section that shows the depth
of the basement because there's a plan of the basement but there's no well there are photos
that's not helpful i'm trying to figure out how many feet it is but you want to know like what
what the ceiling height is?
I don't know.
The ceiling height
and the depth
will look great.
It's not on this plan.
i don't i don't see it on the plan it isn't because it would be on the section yeah
and do we would you would you like us to get you those and
that information since you're going to be consulting on this anyways um yeah hillary
yes mr chair we can close the record we're gonna hold this for two weeks
um or two weeks mr chair we don't have hearings in two weeks so it'd be either one week or three
weeks it'll have to be three weeks in okay whatever that date is um and i you know obviously
we can have things submitted right but you know this is going to be held for a conversation in
executive session um and um if you want to submit also we'd look to see if we can get the rco letter
by then right right now if you if you um you want to submit some other issues that you would want us
to take a look at in an executive session, that's fine.
All right, thank you very much.
All right, hold on.
So Mr. Chair, okay, so the date in three weeks
would be on November 19th, and so we can vote it then.
We can leave the record open, and we're specifically
looking for supplemental information from the applicant
based on the questions today and the RCO letter
as well as any response from the applicant all right all right let me let me see if this is
there anyone in the virtual audience who has comments no hands at this time chair planning
you want to wait uh no we'll weigh in okay all right thank you chairman and good morning david
effecto with the city planning commission chairman and board members the comprehensive plan recommends
no change to the rsa 5 residential single family zoning at this location the city rezoned this
neighborhood in 1970 and a council supported map change at that time this property changed from
residential multi-family to residential single family this property received a zoning permit
for a single family home in 2022 this is a primarily single family block face the city
planning commission recommends the board deny the proposed use variance for two dwelling units
Thank you. Okay. Steve, you know, we'll be back. We'll be back here in the 19th. Study an executive session that morning. Okay. Thank you so much. Thank you very much. All right. Thank you.
Number 13, MI 2025 004035 706 to 08 South Street. Alex Goldberg is the attorney.
good morning mr goldberg good morning before i start congratulations on your wedding i get
a chance to congratulate you since thank you um please state your name and spell for the
sonographer alex goldberg a-l-e-x-g-o-l-d-b-e-r-g do you swear or affirm the
Alex Goldberg, A-L-E-X-G-O-L-D-B-E-R-G.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Thank you.
Could you identify your client in a relationship with the property?
My client is Philadelphia Erotic Gallery, LLC, and its representative, Stevie Laney, is sitting to my left.
Do you swear or affirm to?
Excuse me, Mr. Chairman.
Hello?
Yeah, this is the court reporter.
I apologize. I believe I may have accidentally muted the DPZ Zoom. It looks like it's unmuted now. I apologize.
Okay. Thank you.
Okay. Again, my name is Alex Goldberg. I have Stevie Laney sitting to my left and the other representative of the entity, Tobias Olson, sitting behind me in the physical audience.
um we're asking for uh several variances here to put a erotic gallery uh museum and small
retail component um in the ground floor commercial space at 706 south street this is a cmx two and a
half zone property um on a street which has historically had these types of uses but because
Because it is a regulated use, we're required to come before the board and the RCO, which
again was in full support to ask for approval.
Here's the notice of refusal.
The first and the last refusals that you see on the screen basically say the same thing.
I think we're getting both because of the regulated component, but they're both saying
that this adult-oriented merchandise use is not allowed in CMX 2.5.
And then the two in the middle relate to proximity to both residential properties and other regulated uses.
The three that you see there are all on the 600 block of South Street, but there are also similar uses on the 300, 400, and 500 blocks of South Street as well.
And, you know, I think my client would agree with me that, you know, South Street is, you know, we need as much commercial activity there as possible.
And it's great that our business is looking to fill one of those spaces and contribute to the regrowth and the return of South Street.
So you see the four refusals on the screen there.
But again, the CMX two and a half zone property, there's two residential dwelling units above.
those are not related to the applicant and my understanding is they're currently occupied
the LLC has a lease term of three years that's to my understanding starts upon opening
and the last thing I'll mention on this screen is a couple months ago we were retained after
the community meeting but we added on the library and cultural exhibits use that you'll see
on the description which is allowed by right but we wanted to include the retail component which
will be sort of in the front and then uh basically an art gallery and photo gallery in the rear and
i think that that better falls under the library and cultural exhibits here's the letter of support
from south street head house i was not at this meeting so um you know once stevie is sworn in
feel free to ask her questions about that but sure we have the support there were 20 attendees um
people, you know, were receptive to the use. She's an involved member of the community and
has done murals on South Street and is involved with Philly Aids Thrift, which, you know, hence
the letter. So she's a known quantity and, you know, generally supportive. And we also have a
letter of non-opposition from Council Member Squilla, as well as a letter from Philly Aids
Thrift, sort of describing their commitment to sexual health education, which is going to be
a component of the business here. You know, a reference to Stevie's character and her involvement
in the neighborhood and on this block and how the Philadelphia Erotic Gallery will benefit South
Street. Here's an About Us, you know, basically this place will be a spotlight on the history of
sex, gender, and erotica in Philadelphia. There's going to be art classes here. Stevie's an artist.
There's going to be neurodivergent sex education classes here.
There will be exhibits, spotlight for local artists.
spotlight for local artists. Um, there was, uh, you know, you may have seen in the letter,
There was, you know, you may have seen in the letter.
but there was questions about what does this look like from the, from the street? You know,
obviously there's, there's all different types of people, including families on South street,
but there's no intention to do anything, um, inappropriate for lack of a better term. Um,
It'll be pretty vague, I guess you would say, no nudity or anything like that in the windows.
So that's that.
Here's the zoning map.
We are across from RM1.
My understanding is there were no indication from the neighbors at the community meeting that they had any issue with this.
But because we are across from a residential district, we are getting that refusal.
Here's some photographs.
This is the front of the property.
this is the commercial space we're talking about here's the posting photo to the right
of the property on south street and the left we're not proposing to do any real work to the
interior besides you know paint and movable items we're not doing any construction work it's a
pretty raw space right now um the history here was in 1990 there was a travel agency with the
two units above then there was a nail salon then there was a costume shop not sure what was here
just before but I think it's been vacant for some time so we're happy to put a use in there
it's a small rear yard or I would call it more of a breezeway in the back that you'll see
nothing going on back there I guess store trash cans although the use will not really be generating
trash significant amount of trash here's the plans and drawings this is the basement it's an
unfinished basement for storage that stevie will have access to here's the first floor you can see
the door to the left gives access to the residential component the door to the right
gives access to this commercial space it's about 940 square feet um we're not moving any walls
again just you know art um shelving i'm sure and and you know some some light furniture
the rco meeting notice went out in a timely fashion there's the bulk mailing certificate
application for appeal
here's the lease of the property philadelphia erotic gallery llc is the tenant
and then the last item is the tax clearance just a couple more things i'll note um tobias and stevie
are the only employees it's just them uh hours are 11 a.m to 6 p.m closed on tuesdays so very
reasonable hours there'll be a gallery gift shop in the front ticketed museum in the back um
and that's pretty much it so um if we could bring i could you uh state your name and spell
for the stenographer could you get a little closer is that one
yes stevie laney s-d-e-v-i-e-l-a-n-e-y right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the
whole truth nothing but the truth yes please proceed counsel stevie did you hear my testimony
today yes was it true and correct yes and you adopted as your own yes questions from the board
yes i have a few questions so the plan is showed is that current and existing conditions
because it looked like you had a lot of
what's called them rooms for lack of
better term but there were no doors
on them
but when you showed the photographs
it did look like they were full
rooms in the photos
these look more like gallery
the intention is to be a gallery
but there are
three rooms
we took the doors off of
them or the two that had
doors one room did not have a door it was just like a kitchenette um but yes we took the door
and is that the first room or is like the one that's six feet by nine six nine um or is that
the five foot width room on this plan i think that which which one are you in well there's so
there's two rooms that kind of had it there's one in the back the second one that was the kitchen
yeah that's so that's the one i was asking about the kitchen that was the kitchenette
yeah it was just a sink and so of the places where there's gaps here because there's not gaps
in the photo right there the walls don't stop they're they're full walls you just took the
doors off which ones have full walls and just now our openings and which ones there were when we
moved into the building there were the first three walls that fourth one towards the middle of the
hole that was not there this is not here you're adding you're adding this we we didn't add any
this came right out this came out of the lease so this was how the space got it so you don't
actually have a plan that shows how you intend to use the space i mean we're not trying to
I mean, we're not trying to build another wall.
build another wall we we just want it
We just want it to...
We're using the space as is and just...
Understood, but this plan is neither as is
nor what is going to be used for.
Yeah, how would people flow in
if they wanted to go to the museum?
What would the flow be like if...
There's a hallway and then, yeah,
just three separate rooms.
So you just go...
Yeah, walk in and out of the room, yeah.
And the rear and the back,
what's that larger place in the back?
Is that where the kitchen was back here?
No, no.
That was, it wasn't even a full kitchen.
That was just an empty room when we moved in.
And what will you use it for?
That's a museum room.
So the last three rooms will be a museum, and the front is just a store.
And is the museum room also, like, where are you going to be holding sort of your education
courses in any of your sort of public programming?
That would be in the main floor or the entrance.
The retail space.
I will say it would be really helpful, even if it was just diagrammatic, to see how you
all plans into the space from like a programming standpoint just to understand what activities you
plan to happen in each room and even just like basic furniture you intend to have in the room
that would be really helpful and just trying to better understand the overall plan for the project
my second question is about i know it's not part of this permit but signage and use of the retail
window um i think you know yes there are certainly similar uses on south street um but i know from
like just other similar museums and other cities i think the one thing about this museum and its
location is like of all the uses on south street most of those uses tend to be closer to third and
fourth and south this is at seventh and south which is a lot closer to the residential side of
the neighborhood i know right across from you is a big apartment building that has a lot of
families like there's always kids and strollers and stuff and there's even a playground um that
that that part kind of a complex frequency is about a block away and so just kind of understanding
the context of putting this use now so much closer to the more family side oriented side of the
neighborhood and like one not trying to like still how you could advertise your things because i
think you know we can have but all the other ones are on commercial corridors where they're facing
other businesses and not necessarily facing just like a street level residential community so
what's your plan for the for that um window and how do you plan to either like deal with
any concerns that might come up from neighbors i know i've heard complaints from that um complex
before for things that weren't even quite as i think uh you know controversial as yours and so
So I'm just like, how do you plan to handle neighbor relations and signage and things like that at the street level?
We want to be very respectful to our neighbors and comply with them.
We have a, on the glass door, those blocker sort of things, kind of that shimmer, whatever that you put on the window.
The big it open.
Yeah, yeah, thank you.
um adhesive stuff that we put high up enough that one you can see in if you're tall and if
not you can't um the window has a sheer glittery curtain at the moment that we kind of want to
keep you can if you really squint hard you might be able to make out what's going on but we do like
to have that little subtlety and mystique to it.
We want to definitely lean into the art culture
and education side of this
so we're not trying to be shocking to anybody
or put it out there.
Again, we want to be respectful to the neighbors.
Do you have any plans for signage
or it would just be in the window signage?
Just be a logo window in the signage.
A vinyl or a sign?
yeah yeah so so you're saying the retail merchandise that you're selling will not
be visible from that window no okay and then what what type of merchandise are you hoping to sell
um well i have a lot of um a collection of artists it's going to be consignment based so
some of them are little zines magazines pins artwork gallery work um all your classic gift
shop museum stuff keychains and all that uh maps the city and
what about hours of operation 11 a.m to 6 p.m every day except tuesday
and again i just want to kind of piggyback in a way it would be more helpful to know
how you're going to actually use this space sure um i i really can't
use this space sure um i i really can't tell and um again i i'm
just um yeah i mean tmi that's that's fine i mean again i guess i had this swingers globe at
seven oh it's one of my museums yeah yes yes yes yes so i was in about every court system with that
one it's going to be shelving so i i guess the question the question would be is the individual
rooms what are they going to look like are they're going to shelves are they're going to be chairs
and i and i think so that we're not keep going back and forth i think what we need to do is
um maybe uh get us a copy of what that would look like yeah and um and that way we'll uh
we're going to hold the vote on this um i don't know that we could get it done in a week and then
we're closed two weeks so i think what we'll do is we'll go to that third week that you just heard
me talk about i'm happy to get this is a business that's trying to no no i know i i could get you
the plans today if we could get this voted on if you want us to put it on the schedule next week
we'll put it on the schedule next week what we'll need is exactly what was said i think what it would
be is showing what the rooms are and and what's going to be there are you going to have chairs
in the room or is it all open and just things on the wall and like he talks about shelving so i
think that's what you should try to put on a drawing and i think everybody then would understand
exactly what it is and maybe just a little bit of two of what what your logo would be right that
you're going to put out right so that people have an idea what it's going to look like in front too
okay um you can do that just a recommendation i think based on like the museum and the sort of
class use you're going to have people that are like sitting and staying for a longer time
than most retail sales and you only have a single stall bathroom and so you do you might want to
also check code provisions because i do think you might end up having to need additional restroom
facility okay yeah she said they have to okay okay um hillary
yes mr chair you heard me right so we're gonna i did this it's it's basically closed other than
received from them um i'm going to open it up to the to the virtual audience also planning
beforehand so questions or comments from virtual i just had one comment too i just noticed on the
refusal it didn't specify the location of the uses in the structure mr goldberg would would
you object if the board grants to proviso indicating that the uses are limited to the
first floor and basement no objection okay okay thank you questions or comments from the virtual
audience or anything good morning chair this is jason hand i will be uh stepping in as calls
temporarily we've got two hands up the first one is by alex andrea gerber i will promote them
and they should be back in shortly.
Hello.
Sorry about that.
Hi, good morning.
Good morning.
State your name and spell for the stenographer.
It's Alexandra, A-L-E-X-A-N-D-R-A, Gerber, G-E-R-B-E-R.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Absolutely do.
Are you a neighbor?
I am a neighbor.
I'm also a business.
I don't only live in the neighborhood.
I have a business in the neighborhood.
I own Gerber Tax and Accounting and Stevie and, oh, sorry.
Why don't you start your presentation then?
Stevie and Tobias are longtime clients of mine.
In the time that I have worked with them, not only have they demonstrated an ability
to go over and above to not only understand what their responsibility as business owners
and people who do business in the neighborhood and in Philadelphia, but in terms of the way
that they interact with the community and the care that they show is unparalleled.
I have been an accountant in the accountant world for 24 years, and rarely do I have artistic
artist clients, people who show such initiative and are so committed to the community in the way
that they are. And so, you know, I've been able to kind of talk with other business owners. I have
a good deal of business owners on South Street, clients who live off of South Street. I'm also
the president of the Philadelphia Dragons and Sports Association, which I'm not here to represent
them but just letting you know kind of how I work in the community and I know that people
to see more of South Street occupied and especially from someone from people
of South Street occupied and especially from someone from people like Stevie and Tobias who
are so committed to the area um and I just wanted to make sure that the board know that there there
is support from the neighbors um not only I have a 10-year-old son so I'm very well aware of being
um you know judicious in in what is shown um but the way that Stevie and Tobias even told me about
it and how they want to kind of support this part of the community and also show, you know,
a reverence for it is pretty impressive. Okay. Thank you very much for taking the time. We
appreciate it. Absolutely. Samantha Thompson will now be promoted to panelists. They should be
coming back in shortly sure thank you um hello my name is samantha thompson s-a-m-a-n-t-h-a-t-h-o-m-p-s-o-n
and i'm a representative from the south street headhouse district all right all right do you
swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do please proceed with
your testimony um i want to echo everything that that miss gerber was um saying she stole a lot of
what i wanted to say but um stevie and tobias have been tremendous community members for south
street even not having their own brick and mortar they've been an awesome advocate for everything
that our mission stands for and they were very professional and answered all the neighbor
questions during their rco hearing and i'm fully confident as well as the rest of the board of the
south street head host district that that she and tobias would be a great addition to our district
all right thank you very much for taking the time we appreciate it is there any other hands
thank you no further hands mr chair planning commission thank you chairman and board members
and good morning david fecto with the city planning commission chairman of board members
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the cmx 2.5 commercial mixed use zoning at this
location the city rezoned this corridor in 2015 in accord with recommendations in the comprehensive
of plan proposed use is compatible with other nearby uses along the south street corridor
the city planning commission recommends that the board grant the requested use variants for retail
sales of adult oriented merchandise and the proposed variances from the separation requirements
for regulated uses thank you very much um mr goldberg has said he'll have this ready to go
next wednesday we will look at an executive session and we will vote next wednesday at 9 30 a.m
Thank you very much for coming in, and thank you, Mr. Goldberg.
Thank you.
See you later.
Number six, MI-2025-002514, 181 Daly Street, Vern Anastasio.
That should be coming back in trolling, Mr. Chairman.
Morning again, Mr. Chair, members of the board.
Council, you've already been sworn, just for the record, state your name.
Vern Anastasio, A-N-A-S-T-A-S-I-O, on behalf of Ariana Akay and her husband, Adam.
Right. You've already been sworn. Our vice chair has a few questions for you.
Thank you.
Good morning.
Morning.
Have you submitted your documents five days in advance of this hearing?
And do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
All right. Thank you. You can proceed with your case.
Thank you.
okay we have a 97 page exhibit binder plus uh outside of the binder we have a letter of support
from Girard Estates, Neighbors Association, as well as the vote tally showing unanimous.
I just received an email, a notification from Council President Kenyatta Johnson's office
saying that he would like to see this proceed as I present.
So the application is for, on the first floor, uses consistent with CMX1 in the zoning district,
which is the minimum classification for commercial. It'll be vacant until we find a
tenant and a single family dwelling above. The property, however, currently is zoned RSA 5,
which is weird because it's never been a single family home. There's a long history going back to
2009 that we found online of it being the first floor party kitchen, sweet and savory shop,
and wolf catering. So there has been a consistent business activity.
uh and wolf catering so there has been a consistent uh business activity on the first floor
and we just want to bring it back to that here is here are the plans i'm going to zoom out a
little bit and i could always zoom back in for you at that's your and then it just went blank
so excuse me i don't know what that's about
bear with me just for one second
Okay, there we go.
And as you can see, the basement is going to be nothing more but mechanicals.
The first floor, the last particular use was a commercial kitchen.
Obviously, it's just going to remain vacant.
And when it is occupied, it'll be the use will be consistent with CMX one, which a commercial kitchen, of course, would not be allowed by right.
There is a corner entrance very much akin to what what a commercial space would would have.
And then, of course, the existing.
One bedroom apartment at the top floor.
I'll take you into some photos
there's the corner as you can see
it looks like it would have been a commercial space
and in this particular neighborhood
corner properties are either
Many of them are either commercial or multifamily.
And then we'll get you some photos here.
One bedroom apartment is very nicely appointed.
K's managed this property, among several others that they have in Philadelphia.
They are Philadelphia residents.
They live here.
This particular property is in South Philadelphia that I happen to be particularly familiar with.
Here's the commercial space.
And the neighbors are very excited to have commercial space back up and running here.
We have our mailings that went out, our proof of mailing.
201 individual households were, in fact, mailed.
And I believe you have the letter of support and the boat tally from Girard Estates.
I moved both of those into evidence as well as the 97-page exhibit packet.
And with that, I'd like to call my client.
Vern, did you put the posting up?
Maybe I didn't see it.
Yes, I sent that separately.
Yep, board council has that.
Did you send it over to us?
Yes, I did.
Yes, Mr. Chair, we did receive it this morning.
Good, thank you.
And I attest I took that photo myself.
Let me bring your client on.
Thank you.
Ariana, okay, if you could please raise your virtual hand.
They're being promoted to panelists.
Hello, good morning.
Hi, good morning.
Could you please state your name as spelled for the stenographer?
Sure, it's Ariana Akay, A-R-I-A-N-N-A.
last name a c c a y you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes please proceed counsel thank you mr chair ariana did you hear my presentation to the board
today yes i did is it true and accurate to the best of your knowledge yes do you adopt it as
your own testimony yes thank you i have nothing further mr chair questions from the board yes
can you go back to the floor plans sir
Sir. Okay. This is good. This is good. I just want to just quickly remark that this is a nicely laid out building.
Here we go.
The unit on the second floor makes sense, unlike some of the other ones we see, and the ground floor commercial, I think, works.
So, I have no problem with your question.
Thank you.
Other questions?
I think my only question is about the storage of trash for the upstairs unit.
They keep it inside the unit currently, as they always have.
There have been no 311 complaints at all at this property.
and there's a tenant in the upstairs property already oh yes all the questions
questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson not at this time mr chair questions or
comments from the virtual audience no hands at this time chair planning commission thank you
chairman and good morning david vecto with the city planning commission chairman and board members
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the rsa5 residential single-family zoning at this
location this property has a documented history of commercial use with residential above the city
planning commission recommends that the board grant their proposed use variants for multiple
principal uses and for uses as defined in cmx1 thank you mi2025 002 514 1801 daily street i vote
yes. Michael Johns, my vote is yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes. Tanita Graham, my vote is yes.
McAdams, my vote is yes. Iowyn, my vote is yes. Thanks, folks.
Okay. Let's see here. I got one more.
One, two, three, four.
Yep. Where's that? Here it is. Yep.
Number 10, MI 2025-002-667-5045
Jackson Street. Henry Clinton is
the attorney.
They're being
promoted to panelist here. Thank you.
Good morning, Mr. Chairman and members of the board.
Good morning, counsel. Could you please state your name
and spell for the stenographer? Sure. My name is
Henry Clinton, H-E-N-R-Y
Clinton, C-L-I-N-T-O-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do. Could you identify your client,
the relationship to this property?
Certainly. My client is an LLC, C&B, Legacy, Enterprises. Two members are on the call, the sole members, Mr. and Mrs. McFadden, capital N-C, capital F-A-D-D-E-N.
Our vice chair has just a few questions for you.
Good afternoon. Have you submitted your documents five days in advance of this hearing?
I have not submitted all the documents five days before there were last-minute lease negotiations between the two parties.
My client is the owner, and there's a tenant in this child daycare center.
So we just finalized a lease amendment last night right before the community meeting, and I've submitted that.
Okay, thank you.
And do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate you as accuracy?
I do, Ms. Graham.
Thank you.
You can proceed.
Is that visible?
Let me start again.
Not yet, Henry.
It's coming up now, Henry.
It should come up.
Yep, more than maybe not.
It keeps going to the Zoom.
I'm not sure why.
Is that visible now?
We see you, Henry.
That's not good enough.
And you start again from the outset.
Should be coming up.
No, it keeps, it keeps, starts to come up, then it goes to Zoom.
Yeah, I don't know what. We do this routinely, so only Zoom is showing.
Let's just show Zoom. Anybody have any ideas? Bill?
Hey, Mr. Clinton, this is Ian Hegarty. It seems like you're sharing the web browser only instead of your whole screen or the application documents.
So, yeah, go back and start over again. Just make sure you're picking the right window when that share screen dialog box comes up.
How about that?
How about that?
There you go, Henry.
There you go, Henry.
Thank you.
Yes, thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Hegarty.
Thank you, Ian.
Good morning again, Mr. Chairman and members of the board.
I'm here on behalf of C&B Legacy Enterprise.
This is a re-legalization of a child care center that was approved by a prior board in 2014.
It's occupied by a tenant, Robin Lewis, and I believe she is on the call.
Just by way of history, my clients purchased a property in 2018, and at the time that they
purchased it, it was a legal daycare center.
Unbeknownst to them, the use permit that was issued in 2014 had a five-year sunset provision.
So when my clients bought it, it was legal, but then that legality ran out two months
later, unbeknownst to anybody, in particular, my clients. The daycare has been operating
since the five-year sunset period, which ran out in 2018, has been operating continuously from that
time to the present time with the annual inspections by the Department of Human Services.
But unfortunately, no one knew that the zoning lapsed until my clients contacted an architect
to consider putting on a second floor on this one-story structure, and the architect alerted
my clients that it really wasn't zone problem. So we're here before you to, as I say, re-legalize
this child daycare center. We don't have any violations or complaints from the neighborhood.
This is something that my clients want to do to make it right. That's kind of the background,
and I'll walk through the presentation.
Table of contents, A1 through A10.
Refusal, RSA 5 zoning district,
child care center, obviously is not permitted.
We met with the RCO last night,
Wissahyp, no meaning civic.
They said they would get a letter.
I believe I was there.
I think the meeting went well,
but I don't have a letter
and I'll ask that we submit that later
when it is issued.
uh photographs just an aerial view closer view this is a property that runs the length of
jackson street where my cursor is down to glenlock and this is pratt street here
on jackson street is a two-family dwelling uh the the length of the property is about 125 feet
And so the half that fronts on Jackson is residential.
The back half, and these sections are probably split evenly, is the one-story daycare with a yard area.
So if you have 125 feet, it's about 60 feet of residential and 60 feet of commercial or daycare center.
And we do have a permit for the two-family dwelling on Jackson.
I'll show you that as we walk through the presentation.
This is looking on Pratt Street.
This is the one-story structure.
It used to be a three-car garage back in 2012 and 2013.
This is the main entrance.
It's about 695 square feet.
This is the interior.
It's licensed by DHS for up to 14 children from ages 0 to 12.
This is Ms. Lewis. She's at the front door. Check children in as they come in.
And as I said, I think she's on the call. She talked about trying to be on the call.
This is just a panoramic view, which I asked Ms. Lewis to take on the inside.
So this is the accessible bathroom here. There's also a door to the rear yard.
The children go out every day as long as it's not less than 40 degrees.
Let me go back.
There's also a kitchenette.
There's food that are served, chicken nuggets, macaroni and cheese.
Transmitting.
can i be heard you're good henry thank you mr chairman so again just more interior photographs
uh hardwood lammett on on the floor uh ample lighting cubby holes accessible bathroom also
a changing table with supplies above this is the outdoor area as i said the property if if it's
split in half roughly uh this is the play area this is the rear door to get to the child care
Center. These are the postings. Noticing the community meeting as well as today's hearing.
Noticing the community meeting as well as today's hearing.
And then we have plans.
I'm going to have to blow these up a little bit.
So as I mentioned at the outset, the residential portion is toward Jackson Street.
The rear is toward Glenlock Street.
And child care facility, these are the plans that were submitted to DHS.
The play area in the rear, as I said, it was a three-car garage at one time, converted in years 2013 to 2014.
Here's a blow-up of the rear section of the building, indicating the accessible bathroom, the kitchen.
There's also a sink in the bathroom, refrigerator, and also a small kitchenette.
I wanted to get to the zoning documents.
There was a balance of 583, but my client paid that with a little bit of interest, so we're now clear on the taxes.
Soning map indicating RSA residential.
It is a through property, as I said, from Jackson to Glenlock.
This is indeed indicating ownership, so my clients purchased it in March,
and the sunset provision of the original use permit expired in May of 2018.
As I said, we had an issue with regard to the lease.
The lease that my client was operating under with the existing tenant
has been in place since 2014 or so.
And since that time, they just operated on a month-to-month lease.
And as of yesterday, you can see it was dated yesterday,
just before the community meeting.
That lease was revived and then amended to indicate an increase in rent.
And that is, in fact, a month-to-month.
This is the commercial lease that was in play in 2015.
A notice letter to all the residents within 250 feet of the property.
152 pieces were mailed out.
The Pratt Street, Jackson Street, Glenlock.
And then here are the zoning records.
Again, it's a street-to-street parcel.
You can see the prior three-car garage.
This is just a hand-drawn site plan.
Zoning permit from 2003 indicating that there are two apartments in the front structure.
Obviously, we're not here for that, but I thought the board would want to see that.
This is the use permit that I discussed that was issued.
Let me blow that up.
In 2013, providing for a child care center, daycare center, but here's a proviso, five-year sunset provision and limitation of 14 children.
This is just some historical zoning records.
They're not really pertinent for our use.
Also, I found some permits from the year 2013-14 for electrical work.
Let me see if I can flip that around.
This is a 2013 electrical permit.
Let me flip it back around.
This is a plumbing permit from the same time frame, 2015, indicating work was done by reliable plumbing and draining.
Another electrical permit from 2013, and this is obviously a key document.
This is a certificate of compliance issued to Robins Nest Child Development Center.
That is the tenant. The LLC is owned and operated by Ms. Lewis, who has a BA in child development.
She has two other staff members. As I said, there's 14 children.
We're capped, even though the legal capacity is 15.
Currently, there's eight toddlers, ages one to two, two four-year-olds, and two age six and eight.
There are annual inspections by DHS to make sure the facility is in compliance.
There are no known complaints from any of the neighbors, and they've been operating, as I said, without the necessary zoning permit, although they have been certified as licensed by the Department of Human Services.
So my clients are on the call, as I believe is Ms. Lewis, if there's any questions, but I would like to...
uh as i believe is miss lewis if there's any questions but i would like to at least have my
client unmute themselves and adopt my testimony why do you have your client adopt your testimony
miss mcfadden how many years have they ran the property so my clients have owned it since 2018
okay the tenant thank you it's been in the building since 2015 when it was redone okay thank
Thank you.
Ms. McFadden, can you unmute yourself or Mr. McFadden?
Can you please raise your hand, Mr. or Mrs. McFadden?
There are no hands raised at this time.
On the call.
Yeah, they're on audio.
They said they're on audio.
Is there a phone?
Do you know which telephone number they're calling from?
It'll be 215-499-8760.
they're allowed to speak thank you very much good morning could you please state your name
and spell for the stenographer
this is mcfadden can you please unmute yourself yes yes i have could you please state your name
and spell for the stenographer yes my name is benita mcfadden that's b like boy e n i t t a
last name mcfadden all right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing
but the truth yes i do uh proceed counsel thank you mr chairman uh hi mr mcfadden how are you
i'm doing well how are you good good were you and your husband on the telephone uh participating in
this call when I presented your project? Yes, sir. And based on what you heard from me, would you
adopt my testimony as true and correct as if you were to testify? Yes. All right. Thank you very
much. Questions from the board. You're welcome. Yes. For the above residential unit, how do you
access that unit uh that that's accessed off of jackson street if i can get i'll pull that back up
if i can yeah that's accessed on jackson street not on the not on the side right
all the questions is this this is a this is of the daycare is the least right correct is that
what it is yes yes mr johns um i have no issues with the project just a i just a general comment
the exterior is kind of dismal is are there any plans to do anything with the exterior of the
daycare yeah i believe uh mr mcfadden are considering painting it they were considering
put it on the second floor but i don't think that that's going to move forward so they had discussed
painting it can you tell me the ages of the children again sure currently there's toddlers
ages one to two there's eight there are two four-year-olds and they're one child six and one
child eight okay all right thank you other questions questions or comments from our attorney
questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson not at this time mr chair questions or
comments from the virtual audience no hands at this time chair planning commission thank you
chairman and good afternoon david effecto with the city planning commission chairman and board
members the comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning at this location from rsa 5
residential single family to rm1 residential multifamily the city rezoned this neighborhood
in 2014 at that time this property zoning changed to rsa 5. the zoning board approved a use permit
in 2013 for daycare center with a temporary five-year proviso that restricted the use
to a maximum of 14 children the city planning commission recommends the board grant the
request to use variants for a child care center.
We noticed, Henry, there's no RCO letter, right?
Correct.
We met with him last night.
i know could you attempt to get it and we'll vote one of this next uh we'll do it next wednesday
I know.
Could you attempt to get it, and we'll vote on this next, we'll do it next Wednesday.
certainly all right so everything is closed other than an rco letter and obviously uh council would
have an opportunity to respond to the rco letter if we don't have the rco letter we'll take the
necessary action okay thank you mr chairman all right thank you all right is there anyone in the
virtual audience whose case has not been called no excuse me this is isaac howland i was um
I had a technical difficulty earlier, but I was able to get access to this panel.
Is this the one who is 28-30 West Hanes?
Your case has been continued, sir.
And we gave a date.
And if you have any problems next time, because we think you had a computer issue, the staff is more than willing to help you to prepare.
Okay, cool.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I see everybody too. Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this afternoon's meeting. With me is our vice chair, Timothy Graham.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our Board Secretary, Cheryl L. Gaston.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our Board Member, Michael Johns.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Board Member, Ty Wynn.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
And our Board Member, Ryan McAdams.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Also, here is Hillary Emerson, our Attorney, our Executive Director, Ian Haggerty, and
our Board Administrator, Lakeisha Dandit.
Recording this hearing will be posted on the ZBA website.
By participating, you agree to be recorded.
This is an in-person meeting with remote capabilities.
Whether remote or in person, if you're called to speak, you must spell your name and wait to be sworn in.
Once you're sworn in, please state your name each time before beginning your testimony.
Any person can enter their appearance to become an interested party.
You can identify the case address of your Zoom webinar.
You can see a staff member, or you can call the ZBA appearance line by the close of business tomorrow.
Call 267-270-5548.
leave a message that includes your email address and the address of the property of the appealed
case. The following guidelines for our remote attendees. When directed, you must raise your
virtual hand in order to be recognized. If you're called to testify, you'll be prompted to join as a
panelist. Please accept the request and turn on your camera. The webinar Q&A is for questions
about the hearing. Do not comment on cases. Fourth, if you're participating by phone,
press star nine to raise your hand and star six to unmute or in-person attendees refrain from
talking eating and drinking during the hearings verbal and physical aggression will not be
tolerated restrooms are across from the elevators a water fountain is just outside the room to the
right when speaking on the record you must speak directly into the microphone in order to be heard
by all attendees in the event of emergency please follow the directions given over the public
address system or by the staff the main exit is through the double doors at the rear nearest
stairwell is to the left outside the doors case of an evacuation the rally point is at love park
directly across art street please remain here so we can account for you let's look at our schedule
for today. Number one, MI 2025 003 648 648 1000 North 48th Street. This case is continued
to 3 11 26 at 2 p.m number four mi 2025 003 800 109 hilltop road this case is continued to 3 11 26
at 2 p.m number six mi 2025 003 848 502 to 04 south juniper street david orphan 80s
please mr orphaned is in the virtual audience
do we see his hand yes he's joining us let me in
hi mr orphanetes could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
certainly my name is david orphanetes last name is spelled o-r-p-h-a-n-i-d-e-s
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do mr orphanetes
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do
mr orphanetes is this case ready to go on it is do you have the extra the other person
well so the so this is a matter of correcting as far as 1330 lombard street the abutting property
is concerned this is just a matter of confirming the existing conditions out at the site my client
has been involved with the neighboring uh the neighboring property owner with this from the
beginning. They're completely aware of this and they're aware of the hearing. I can't force them
to be present today. And so Hillary alerted me to this earlier today. And I would ask.
We've just had a we've had a conversation about this. We're going to continue the case
until you can produce the person. OK. I mean, could we do a hear and hold and then I could
have something provided to you from them in writing we're going to move on today we want
the case if it's not ready today and we don't believe it is we're going to continue it i'm
going to give it a date but you can call and we'll see if we can get it back in here a little bit
quicker okay understood so mi 2025 003 848 502 to 04 south juniper street that case has continued
to 3-11-26 at 2 p.m., but if you would, you could call and see if, in fact, we can't get
it in sooner, okay?
Thank you.
Number 7, MI-2025-003-870-811 South 19th Street.
This case has been withdrawn.
And number eight, MI-2025-003-886-1227 South 15th Street.
It's Mr. Orphanides' case.
There are no exhibits as the first listing.
We're going to continue this until 3-11-26 at 2 p.m.
Are there any other requests for this?
Mr. Chair, Mr. Orphanides has his hand raised.
sure on that one thank you
you've already been sworn just state your name for the record please sure david orphanetes
his last name is spelled O-R-P-H-A-N-I-D-E-S. 1227 South 15th Street. We have no exhibits. I
understand you are the attorney. Yes, I just wanted to update the board. We did meet with
the community group, and there are some things that we're working on with them regarding the
property and the other properties that my client owns on the block. And then we're going to either
we're fine with the March 11th hearing date. We may send a letter and request for that to be
changed to attorney moving party, but we'll be in touch with you about that. Okay, thank you. And
in that date we gave it was 3 11 26 at 2 p.m correct thank you thank you are there any other
requests for continuance hi this may not mean i will co-host this hearing now and i see no hands
Okay. All right. Um, so we're going to go to our add-on list.
So number one, MI 2024-005-506-5351 Wayne Avenue, I vote yes with proviso.
Her amended refusal dated 8-5-25, and also I certify that I have watched the video on
10-22-25.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with proviso.
Tywin, my vote is yes with proviso.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thank you. Number two, Tanetta Graham will handle this.
Thank you, Chair. MI-2025-003386, 6903 Germantown Avenue. My vote is yes.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes.
i win my vote is yes number three mi 2023 004 267 900 east chelton avenue
i vote yes with proviso maximum three
I vote yes with proviso. Maximum three dwelling units, no rooftop deck, no household living in
the basement. Michael Johns, my vote is yes with proviso. Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with
proviso. Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes with proviso. Ty Owen, my vote is yes with proviso.
Number four. MI 2025 002 910 4351 Peach and Street. I vote yes with proviso. Revised plans, two pages, stamped by ZBA on October 29th, 2025. Plans must be stamped by the Planning Commission prior to permit issuance.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes, with Proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes, with Proviso.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes, with Proviso.
Tywin, my vote is yes, with Proviso.
Number five, MI 2025-001-886, 627 North 64th Street.
The vote in this matter has been rescheduled to Wednesday, November 5th at 2 p.m.
Number six, MI-2025-003-224, 5416-26 Lena Street, I vote yes with proviso, per refusal, dated 8-6-25.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes with proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with proviso.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes with proviso.
My name McAdams, my vote is yes with proviso.
I win. My vote is yes with proviso. Number seven, MI 2025-003-977-1514 Christian Street. I vote no.
Michael Johns. My vote is no.
Cheryl Gaston. My vote is no.
Sonata Graham. My vote is no.
Ryan McAdams. My vote is no.
I win. My vote is no.
And we're going to go to our regular list. Number two, MI 2025-003658, 2039 South 10th Street. Leonard Alteri is the attorney. Non-opposition from the RCOs with provisos from Councilmember Squill also.
East Passion Crossing is also in favor.
Good afternoon, everyone.
Counsel, could you please state your name and spell for this stenographer?
Yes, my name is Leonard, L-E-O-N-A-R-D.
Last name is Alteri, A-L-T-I-E-R-I, with the law firm of Claire Harrison Harvey Brandsburg.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
I do, Mr. Chairman.
Could you identify your client, a relationship to the property?
My client is 2039 South 10th Street, LLC.
They are the owner of the property.
Our vice chair has a few questions for you, sir.
Good afternoon.
Have you submitted your documents five days in advance of this hearing?
I have.
And do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
And I just wanted just one caveat.
The exhibits were submitted within the five days.
When reviewing them yesterday, I realized that the second page of the plans were cut
off, so I just supplemented that yesterday.
It's just one page for the plan.
Thank you, Kim Rossi.
What's your case?
Perfect.
All right, perfect.
Everybody can see the screen.
All right, so again, Leonard Outs here at the law firm of Claire Harrison,
representing the property owner of 2039 South 10th Street, LLC,
for the property located at 2039 South 10th Street.
The property itself is located at the corner of Snyder Ave and South 10th Street, just
to give a perspective.
Here we go.
So it's actually this area where these three bollards are.
So this is the footprint of our property, and it follows this yellow curb line, if you
Many people think it's actually the parking lot of the bank that's located on the corner,
but in fact, this parcel right here is what we're talking about, and it runs, again, this
natural curb line that's shown or delineated in the yellow.
It is currently a surface parking lot. What my client is proposing to do is to construct an attached five-unit multifamily structure with walkout roof decks at the second floor level and balconies on the third floor level, as well as for non-accessory structured parking to have three spaces in the bottom.
So essentially what it's going to look like, it's going to replicate the building that we're going next to.
And we have Tim Kerr, who will be able to provide more information on the actual architectural renderings.
So, again, we're within this bollard area right here.
So again, we're within this bollard area right here.
And, again, these three bollards roughly right about there.
So, the property is located in the CA1 auto-oriented commercial one zoning district.
Again, that's that sliver that we see right here on the screen.
It's also located in the narcotics injection site's overlay district.
We did meet with the RCO on August 11, 2025, where they voted to support our application.
As was noted in the beginning of the introduction by the chairman, during the meeting, we did agree to the following, which the board did incorporate as provisos in their letter of support,
that we will provide a dumpster inside the proposed garage that all tenants will use for internal trash collection and said dumpster will be serviced by a private trash collector.
The owner will make a good faith effort to engage with the mural arts to replace the existing mural that will be covered by the new construction.
Again, as you see in this picture right here, there's a mural on there right now.
My client owns this building that we're adding on to essentially.
So we will have good faith efforts in communication with mural arts to paint the new exterior wall.
And then the owner will also install a green roof that we hope will capture around 75% or more of the rainwater runoff from the roof of the new building.
When we met with the neighborhood, the concerns were essentially consistency with the neighborhood character.
This surrounding neighborhood is predominantly residential in form and function.
There was concern about introducing or expanding a commercial use and how it would be inconsistent with the established character, potentially disrupting the cohesion, walkability, and quality of life in the neighborhood.
But we also heard from the community about the avoidance of a commercial encroachment, you know, having, since this parcel is zoned as a commercial use, having an expanded commercial use in a stable residential block, which I think we can all agree would create an undesirable spillover effect, such as traffic, parking shortages, and late night activity, trash accumulation.
um also just looking at the parcel itself the unlikely commercial viability of a commercial
structure being able to be constructed on such a narrow lot um many see a1 parcels especially
those on small narrow lots embedded in residential neighborhoods lack the visibility access or foot
traffic to support a viable commercial operation and a residential use is more realistic and the
sustainable use of the parcel minimizing long-term vacancy or blight as i said i do have tim kerr
who's the architect um and i think at this point mr chair if there's no objection we'll have him
sworn in and we'll kind of walk through the uh the floor plans to the board okay
why could you please state your name is bell for the sonographer
could you move forward a little bit make sure that's right there we go okay timothy kerner it's
t-i-m-o-t-h-y kerner k-e-r-n-e-r do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and
nothing but the truth yes i do counsel please proceed sure so tim i apologize because i went
to school with a tim kerr so tim kerr kerr and her excuse me if you just want to walk i'm just
going to control this for you and i'll let you walk through the uh the plans for the board sure
um and actually if you could scroll down a little bit and show the elevation i think that helps
uh so although this is a five unit uh residential apartment building we have intended to make this
appear like two uh separate three uh three-story houses on either side to continue the the context
of the residential area there are some two-story houses there are also three-story houses on both
10th street and south hutchinson street and if you scroll down a little bit more you could see that
and zoom out a little bit you could see the comparison of the existing on the left and
And those are two-story residences facing the two streets.
And then we're simply adding two more.
Well, it's really one structure because the lot goes all the way through from street to street.
But it's acting like two structures.
Leonard mentioned a roof deck.
It's actually on the second floor level.
So the roof deck is above the one-story garage area.
And then there's two balconies on the third floor level, one on each side.
There are, above the commercial space on the ground floor, where the owner would be using for his business, there are two units.
So there's a one-bedroom unit on the, yeah, I guess you could zoom in there.
Okay, so on the left-hand side, there's a one-bedroom unit on the second floor, and then on the third floor, there's another one-bedroom unit.
You could see the roof deck for that second-floor unit, and then the balcony for the third-floor unit.
On the right-hand side, we have a studio apartment on the ground floor, and then a one-bedroom unit on the second floor and on the third floor.
So again, it's really just, it's rather than making this automobile commercial use.
So, again, it's really just, it's rather than making this automobile commercial use, which doesn't have sufficient access for that type of use, we are really continuing the residential patterns from the adjacent blocks, which is the reason that the community group felt positive about this application.
I think that summarizes everything, unless there are any specific questions.
Well, why don't we do this?
We're going to finish the presentation, then you'll be open to questions then, okay?
So, Councilman, do you want to proceed?
Yep. So in order for us to be able to construct this, we are seeking relief this afternoon for the following that, you know, because it is a commercial district, non-accessory structure parking is prohibited in the CA1 commercial district.
The multifamily household living is prohibited in the CA1 commercial district.
And then we get into some dimensional area issues as well that we're also seeking relief from.
Again, the consistency or the common theme from the neighborhood group is, one, a lot of people did not even know this was its own individual parcel.
Again, as you saw from the bollards, my client has a very good relationship with the bank owner.
We could have fenced that off, but instead we decided to work collaboratively with that bank owner, allow them to continue to operate on there.
The bank owner was present at the hearing or at the RCO meeting there and supported the application as well as the RCO.
And, again, as a letter of non-opposition from the councilman.
How about your client?
Is your client?
He is here today, Mr. Chair.
So, Bill, do you want to come up?
Bill, can you just state your name?
Get closer to the mic.
State your name and spell it for us.
Bill Bascarello.
Can you spell that?
E-A-S-Q-U-A-R-E-L-L-O.
Do you swear or affirm that tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Bill, just a few questions I have for you.
You are the authorized owner of 239 South 10th Street, LLC.
Correct.
And were you present in the room when you heard the testimony being made by myself and Tim?
I was.
Is everything that you heard true and accurate to the best of your knowledge, information, and beliefs?
And would you adopt that testimony as your own?
I would.
questions from the board. Yeah, I have a question. I'm sorry. I have a question about the garage.
How does that, how is that garage going to, going to work?
Well, I guess the, the, the garage is going to be used for the client has a plumbing business.
And so it is only going to be used for his trucks. It's not going to be used for the actual
residents of the property it's for his um the trucks that he has for his plumbing business
okay thank you other questions is it just the trucks or is there also going to be material
and equipment storage some some equipment some light equipment and material will be stored there
okay and then has the is the curb cut already been approved by the streets department
No, we're not yet.
There's an existing one.
There's an existing one in the rear of the property.
But this is not, this is where the entrance, this is not the garage entrance.
This is the apartment entrance, correct?
The RCO wanted to provide some interior trash storage.
So where was the trash plan for the units?
We're going to have all the trash is going to be stored in,
we're going to have a space for it in the garage all the tenants going to have access to that
garage that's my understanding correct bill just to the we're going to it's not on the plan but
it's it's going to be there's going to be a room framed into that garage where there'll be two
dumpsters where they can dispose their trash of they'll have access from the steps from the steps
okay and is this lab on grade yes all the questions um
yes uh the garage doors there in the front there used to be a lot of outcry about those kind of
things um is that the only yours will be that'll make it two in this area are there any others
like that on this block or is there any other garages that also face on that block
and you're also kind of limited because the space next to it obviously
is the banks parking lot um and we're just making it consistent and again understanding
that it would be too but making it consistent of what's there now okay
thank you all the questions i'll come up and show you where i'm thinking and we could put it
Gotcha.
Who's that talking about?
That was Vern. I think he got a mute.
That was Vern, I think.
Okay, thank you. Questions from our attorney, Hillary Emerson.
Not so much a question, but I just wanted to note that if I understand the non-accessory parking, if you're just parking vehicles, but if you have other equipment and materials that you're storing there,
you may need to permit a use permit for like a like equipment and materials storage yards and
buildings um so that may be something you want to discuss with l and i so that you don't get
a violation later understood questions or comments from this audience or the virtual audience
i see no hands share okay planning commission
amy boyd with the planning commission amy boid
you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
i do please proceed the comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning at this location
from ca1 commercial auto oriented to cmx2 commercial mixed use the multi-family proposal
would be allowed under the proposed zoning the appellant has demonstrated that the proposed
deviations from the dimensional parking requirements are in harmony with the surrounding
neighborhood and will have minimum impact on the surrounding properties the planning commission
recommends that the board grant their request variances for multi-family non-accessory parking
occupied area accessible parking parking ratio and access driveways mi 2025 003 658 2039 south
10th Street, I vote yes with Proviso.
Interior trash storage, commercial trash pickup.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Teneda Graham, my vote is yes with Proviso's.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes with Proviso's.
Iowyn, my vote is yes with Proviso's.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you very much, everyone.
Number five, MI 2025-003-847-2113-29, Oregon Avenue.
Stephanie Magna is the attorney.
There's a letter of support from Gerard Estate Area Residents,
a letter of support from Gerard Estate Neighbors Association.
Counsel, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Yes, Stephanie Magna, last name M-A-G-A-G-N-A.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Could you identify your client, the relationship to this property?
My client is the Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society.
They're the property owner here, and I have with me Melissa Levy.
She is the executive director of PAWS.
Vice Chair has a few questions.
Good afternoon.
Have you submitted your documents five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, I have.
And do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, I do.
Okay, thank you.
You can proceed.
Thank you.
I'm in the process of being promoted, so give me a second to share my screen.
there we go there we go can you see that now there we go okay um so this property is at the corner of
22nd street and oregon avenue um it's zoned ca1 which you can see we also have frontage on south
21st street and we are right next to the auto zone that's located here as well um
forgive me one second here's a copy of our zoning map that you can see here you'll see that the
site is zoned CA1 we're adjacent to other commercial and CA1 uses in this neighborhood
but somewhat uniquely we have an RSA3 row of single-family homes directly behind us as well
which has created some unique challenges for this site so this site has two existing buildings that
are located here. One is a retail strip property. You can see that that has been there as well as
an office building. These buildings prior to my client purchasing the property earlier this year
have been vacant for some time. It's our understanding that the tenants that were
formerly located in this building vacated sometime during COVID. It was a COVID casualty here.
So the retail strip that you can see here, as well as the office building that's located next door, has kind of been a source of attractive nuisance in the area, has attracted some graffiti, and in general the buildings as they stand today are in disrepair.
These are just some more site photos.
The property in and of itself has been the subject of other interest from other developers prior to my client purchasing the property.
I'll give one example because my office was involved.
There was a proposal to put a Wawa at this location. I believe it was in 2024, 2023. That proposal was for a Wawa as well as a gas station. That use met with considerable opposition from particularly the rear neighbors behind us, the RSC3 lots behind us.
There was a proposal to put a Wawa at this location.
I believe it was in 2020.
Given the challenges that are presented by having such an intensive use, particularly one with gasoline and the traffic that would be generated by that type of commercial use right adjacent to single-family homes.
So that application has fallen through.
So there's been some challenges in trying to figure out what to do here on this site, given the existing condition of the property, as well as its proximity to the homes that front along Shung Street.
So my client, the Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society, purchased this property earlier this year with the intention of redeveloping the site to put a new two-story building here for a new vet clinic as well as a rescue facility.
They are a nonprofit organization that takes care of pets in need as well as offers veterinary services to the neighborhood and a rescue facility.
We met with the neighbors in the neighborhood earlier this year, very, very early in PAW's process to design this building back in January, and presented our initial plans for the building and particularly the use operations that were here.
We were seeking feedback very early in the design process on what types of considerations from a site plan standpoint would address any questions or concerns that the neighbors did have related to this use.
And because of meeting them very early in the process, we were fortunately able to encompass a lot of those feedback and comments into our final site plan design that's shown here, which we'll discuss in a little bit.
So we did submit our application, and the application is, again, to build a new structure, to take down the existing vacant structures, put a new two-story building here that provide adequate parking on site.
The use is classified under the zoning code as animal services, but because of the rescue operations that will operate out of here, they necessarily have to be able to have some temporary boarding facilities for the animals that will be in their care.
That classifies this particular use as a boarding and other services, which is a subcategory of the animal services uses.
So while animal services is generally permitted in the CA1 zoning district, boarding facilities in and of themselves require a variance in the CA1 district.
We are also seeking a variance relief for the roof deck that will be accessory to this use that we're proposing as well.
As I said, we met with the community here very early in the process.
I'm very happy to include letters of support from both our coordinating RCO, the Girard Estate area residents.
Here's an email correspondence from them, as well as a general letter of support.
We can touch on these if the board has any questions.
But we also have a letter here from Gina, the other affected RCO here.
so i'm very happy to include their letters of support as part of this project um so again just
getting into um the comments i made so again the site design here was care was taken to make sure
that any questions or concerns that the neighbors particularly our neighbors along shung street had
regarding this use was addressed as part of how this site was laid out meeting them very early
in the process let us incorporate that into design so key points to factor this is only a two-story
building we have approximately a 60 foot setback in the rear from our neighbors and along the rear
property line as well there's an eight foot fence and a landscaping buffer a robust landscaping
buffer that will include evergreen trees as well as other trees there to kind of shield the real
real neighbors from this use they do have a driveway immediately behind the rear property
line so their homes themselves are further set back but there is a significant setback here along
the rear property line we also have our trash storage that's shown here along the rear that
has an eight-foot fence shielding that area as well that is our commercial trash storage
all medical waste is stored inside the building deliveries happen here Monday through Friday
nine to five normal operating hours approximately three times a week but I'll let Melissa provide
some more details if we have them other key things to point out is that we have adequate
parking provided on this site we're not providing any more we're not providing any less so we're
providing adequate parking while also having a building that will allow us to accommodate the
existing operations and serve this neighborhood, as well as allow for some future growth of the
organization. This is intended to be their new headquarters, so that the building itself has
been designed with that in mind. And I'll also point out that we have the roof deck that is
being proposed is intended for use by the volunteers and the employees of PAWS. The outdoor
space that's shown here to the rear is a pet yard that is reserved for the animals so the roof deck
is intended to be outdoor space for the people that will be here because we have reserved the
outdoor space at the ground floor for the animals that the youth will serve that out roof deck is
located be in front of the second floor of the building so the rear property line where our
the second floor of the building so the rear property line where our neighbors our residential
neighbors, our residential.
neighbors are located will have no visibility to the roof deck because it is shielded by the
second floor of the building we have significant side yard setbacks that you can see as well
and again we have a very significant front yard setback with the landscaping and the landscaping
plan in general that's been approved by the planning commission in concept these are our
building elevations um as well as a copy of our landscaping plan um so again in general we think
that this use is a very beneficial use to the community that pause serves and i'll let melissa
speak a little bit more to the organization itself um but this won't present some of the
other challenges that other uses that have sought to be put here in the ca1 district would create
generally beneficial use to the community um and as as well as meeting the other zoning
requirements related to parking and landscaping that we're proposing here, we do think that this
will be a consistent use with the neighborhood without bringing any detrimental impacts to the
neighborhood overall. With that, I'll let Melissa introduce herself and say a little bit about
POD. Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer? Sure. Melissa Levy, M-E-L-I-S-S-A-L-E-V-Y.
Do you swear or affirm, tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth? Yes, I do. Please
proceed council melissa thank you um did you hear the statements i made to the board this afternoon
yes i did are they true and correct to the best of your knowledge and belief yes would you adopt
them as your own i would thank you is there anything you'd like the board to know about
pause and its mission i'd just like to take a moment to explain who we are as an organization
if that's okay um we are 19 years old um we um serve two primary functions in philadelphia one
is to rescue animals who are in danger in other shelters we make them well we find them loving
homes and then we fill their spaces with other animals who are waiting for that chance and a
another very important piece of what we do is to serve pet owners in our community who can't
access the services that they need for their pets otherwise so veterinary care pet food
counseling, other support services, ultimately to enable those individuals to care for their
pets and keep them as part of their families and then keep those animals out of shelters.
So we really are trying to come at the problem in Philadelphia of vulnerability among pets and
people from those two perspectives. And we have been growing very steadily over all of the years
that we have been at this and really see this property as an opportunity to invest in our
own future, but also to serve the community more fully, because the need really does far
outstrip what we are able to do right now.
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
Yeah, I have a question.
So what's the average boarding stay for a pet?
It can vary literally from a couple of hours to a few days, in some cases a few weeks if
the animals are um undergoing medical care for example um typically what we aim to do is for
animals that we rescue um we aim to move them into foster homes as quickly as they can because
that's really where they're happier so even if they're coming back and forth to us for medical
care they're in in a foster home and not in our building any longer than they absolutely need to
be other questions how many vets are going to be on site at any given time um for starters
probably three, three to four. This will provide us an opportunity to expand our team. So we'll
be doing that gradually, but we expect to begin with three to four. And then is there going to
be emergency care services or urgent care services for pets on site? Probably not. Our scope of
services is really meant to kind of take the place of primary care. So we may be able to accommodate
certain clients um urgently during the during business hours but we don't ever expect if you're
asking about after hours services we don't that's not our that's not our role yeah and then in terms
of like are all of the appointments by i mean are all of the visits by appointment only or are there
walk-ins for the most right now all of our appointments all our services are provided by
appointment only um there are certain types of services like vaccines where we will open for
a set number of hours 10 to 12 or you know a few hours in the afternoon where we can accommodate
walk-ins but it's for a fixed period of time and then is this going to relocate your current
facilities or is this going to be an additional facility so we are in the process of really
looking at our overall operation and making those decisions um we we do expect that this will
envelop at least one of our existing locations and allow us to grow okay other questions yes
What are your hours of operation?
We operate, because we care for animals, we operate seven days a week, but typically beginning as early as 8 o'clock in the morning and going until 5 o'clock in the evening as far as serving the public.
We operate, because we care for animals, we operate seven days a week.
Okay. And then when you're boarding the animals, who's with them overnight?
night. So our staff provides care for our animals, depending on the population of animals that we're
caring for, they are, they're not intensive care cases. And so they typically don't require care
overnight. We typically will secure the facility for the evening and come back in the morning and
the animals that we're housing in the facility are, are fine to be to be left that way. But if we,
um if we have emergency cases or intensive cases they're typically moved off-site to a facility
where they can be monitored around the clock and who's going to be using the deck oh that's just
an outdoor space for our staff our volunteers kind of adjacent to a break room area where they can
step outside and just get some fresh air it's just for our team yeah yeah as i mentioned the outdoor
pet yard that there is for the animals not for the staff to kind of enjoy for their personal use
there are 71 parking spaces at this location by zoning code so we are not providing any more or
any less um that constrains the area that's otherwise available for an outdoor space for
the humans here plus the pet yard that is required and associated with the use okay and then i guess
My last question is, okay, so how many patients do you anticipate you might have at any given time?
And what are you doing about the waste from the animals?
Just to give you some context and some track record, we do operate three other facilities right now where we house animals during the day.
We have commercial trash service that comes multiple times a week so that we are able to keep our facilities very clean, the area around them really unharmed or unaffected by any refuse.
But our veterinary clinic can serve between our spay-neuter services and our clinic appointments anywhere from 20 to 50 animals a day by appointment.
Those animals are really not generating any, you know, refuse that aside from disposables that are used during those services.
The animals that we care for are being are being maintained, you know, throughout the day by our staff and volunteers and trash is packaged securely inside our building and then placed in a secure dumpster right outside and then collected.
And does that include your operating on these animals and things? Does that include some sort of biohazardous type waste?
So any biohazardous waste is, is actually maintained inside our building, we have a medical waste removal service. So all of the sharps and things like that, that are the product of our medical services are kept under our kept are securely stored inside as part of that operation. And then the medical waste removal service comes into the building to remove those materials. So they're all in self contained containers that are made for that purpose.
All right. Thank you. Thank you.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience or the present audience here?
I see no hand. No, there's one hand here, one minute.
Jessica, I'm going to allow her to talk.
Did she speak?
Do we have someone?
Hello, can you hear me?
Yes, I can.
Hi, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Yes, Jessica Frye, J-E-S-S-I-C-A-F-R-Y-E.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
And you're from the Gerardus State group, right?
I'm the president of Gerardus State Neighbors Association.
Please proceed.
We enthusiastically support the proposed variances for 21, 13, 29 Oregon Avenue.
The applicant presented to, as she mentioned, a large subset of our community, including
the adjacent neighbors, back in January, and they were met with zero opposition.
As our attorney mentioned, there was just a handful of understandable concerns and requests
at that time that the applicant has addressed promptly and considered in their plans, which
um that the applicant has addressed promptly and considered in their plans which is so considerate
is so considerate.
they've been wonderful stewards of the property um even ahead of construction and we just wanted
to share that we would be absolutely thrilled to welcome them to our community thank you thank you
very much for taking the time the calls we appreciate is there anyone else
i see no hand chair planning commission amy wood with the planning commission the comprehensive
the plan recommends no change in zoning to the existing CA-1 commercial auto-oriented zoning.
The appellant has demonstrated that the proposed site conditions will minimize the impacts of the
proposed use on the surrounding neighborhood and that the proposed use is in harmony with that
neighborhood. The planning commission recommends that the board grant their requested variances
for animal boarding services and non-residential roof deck. Thank you. MI 2025-003-847-2113-29
nine, Oregon Avenue. I vote yes. Michael Johns. My vote is yes. She provided great service to the
city. Cheryl Gaston. My vote is yes. Tannetta Graham. My vote is yes. Ryan McAdams. As an
owner of two rescued animals, I vote yes. Ditto to what Ryan said. My vote is also yes. Look at
that thank you very much thank you um number 11 mi 2025 003 932 1201 205 chest on street augusta
o'neill is the attorney afternoon good afternoon could you please state your name and spell for
the sonographer sure my name is augusta o'neill spelled a-u-g-u-s-t-a last name is o apostrophe
N-E-I-L-L. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
I do. Could you identify your client, a relationship to this property?
Sure. My client is Identity Signs. They are the authorized signage company who's doing signage
for H&R Block, which is a lessee of the property at 1201-05 Chestnut Street. And I do have a letter
of authorization in my exhibit package. Okay. And our vice chair has a few other questions.
Good afternoon. Have you submitted your documents five days in advance of this hearing?
I did.
And do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
All right.
Thank you.
You can proceed.
Thank you so much.
I'm just going to share my screen.
I don't think I was moved to be a panelist to share my screen.
Oh, there we go.
and i saw mention that uh washington square was a unanimous non-opposition as well as
councilman school is not opposition that's correct um i actually don't have a letter
of non-opposition from councilman school but we do oh great that's wonderful thank you
thank you so much members of the board again my name is Augusta O'Neill I'm at the law firm of
Claire Harrison Harvey Brandsburg I'm here this afternoon on behalf of Identity Signs we are here
with an application to install new projecting signage accessory to an H&R block located at
1201 to 05 Chestnut Street this property is zoned CMX5 the building at 1201 to 05 Chestnut Street
Street is a mixed-use building. It's got a 7-Eleven on the ground floor, a retail store for the H&R
block, and there's also apartments directly above the office in the 7-Eleven. So if you were to put
the address for 1201-05 Chestnut Street into Waze or any kind of a GPS, it's going to take you right
to the front of the building. And so I'm going to explain why that's a challenge for the signage
here. And that's why we're asking for the variances that were here before you this afternoon to
request. So this is our, an overview of our building in Ariel. So the building, like I said,
fronts on Chestnut Street, but the HNR block that we're, that's the subject of today's application
is actually located back here. And so, um, as you can see the street that's, so the, uh,
front entrance for the HNR block is actually located on 12th street, even though it has that
chestnut street address so we received a refusal just get a copy of the refusal we received a
refusal because this property is also in the center city commercial area overlay in that
particular overlay we are not permitted to have a projecting sign the code states that projecting
signs are prohibited except on properties fronting market street between front street and fifth
street
so again just some more pictures just to orient the board um and to explain why we're kind of in
need of this projecting signage so this is 12th street our h and r block is located back here
our hr block is located back here so we're kind of dwarfed by the honik honikman center which is
so we're kind of dwarfed by the honickman
on um right across the street from us and here's the front entrance to the building as i've
discussed previously um the projecting signs as you go up and down 12th street are pretty prominent
again this is just another picture of the front of the building
um so i just grabbed from um google images a few other projecting signs that you can see
up and down 12th street this is the pacadeli that's on the same street um and i think that
a lot of personally a lot of these buildings likely have um gotten these projecting signs
because 12th street is such a narrow street when you look on the department of streets street card
for for 12th street it's about 40 feet wide as opposed to chestnut street for example is 50 feet
wide so it's a very narrow street and so um in order to be able to locate any of these businesses
or for example the park um it's at 1201 chestnut i'm sorry 203 south 12th street 123 south 12th
street there's another projecting sign for advertising a park um the mccools has a projecting
sign as well. It just helps with pedestrian orientation to the building. Included in my
exhibit package, I provided a copy of our signage plan. There is an existing flat wall sign on this
H&R block, but if you were to walk by the building, this is pretty much invisible to you as a
pedestrian so here's a picture of that projecting sign and we also have a
rendering showing it I'm sorry showing what it's going to look like it's just
going to be a small projecting sign we're not seeking a variance for the
size the size is going to be 12 inches by 20 inches but with the arm for the
sign it's going to be 12 inches by 24 inches the sign is going to be non
illuminated as you can see from the signage plan it's going to be aluminum
with the vinyl logo the H&R block has been in operation since 2024 there were
quite a few complaints from from customers that would come in that they
couldn't find the store which is what motivated the application that's for us
this afternoon we did meet with the board of the Washington Square Civic
Association the coordinating RCO back on August 26 they did issue a letter of
in opposition as chairman bergman had mentioned earlier which is at page five of the exhibit
package that i submitted my client also presented this application to the art commission
and a letter i'm sorry an email from the art commission noting that the application had been
before them on march 26 and was given preliminary approval was also included in our exhibit package
so just to go through the variance standard very briefly the denial of this application
we believe would result in a hardship because wayfinding would be more difficult for this
particular store for any pedestrians or anyone in the vehicle trying to find this particular
store within that apartment building this hardship was not created by the appellant
This is the least minimum relief to afford relief to my client.
It will not burden the public facilities or cause congestion, and it will have the opposite
effect of, in fact, making this building easier to find, and it will not endanger the public
welfare or endanger or causing a burden to neighboring facilities.
So with me this afternoon is Kayla Reppy.
She's an employee of Identity Signs who's going to be the signage installer, so I'm
just going to have her sworn in and then um take any questions the board may have and we're talking
one sign right it's just one projecting sign that's correct okay um he's he's in the audience
kayla reppy could you please um hit the raise hand button to be identified
we see him in the audience
okay i see no hands chair okay thank you
it's not there not there okay okay okay wait wait i found one okay one minute
oh kyla kyla i gonna allow him to talk okay okay
hi i'm present hi could you please state your name and then spell for the stenographer
kayla reppe k-a-y-l-a-r-e-p-p-e you swear referring to tell the truth
r-e-p-p-e you swear referring to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yep please please proceed counsel hi good afternoon miss reppie did you have an opportunity to hear
my testimony this afternoon yes was everything that i said true and accurate yes and do you
wish to adopt my testimony as your own i do and is there anything that you would like to add for
the board good here thank you okay thank you so much questions from the board
can i see again where the sign exactly is absolutely
this is it so it's going to be right up against this um column of the building
i'm protruding out protruding out gotcha okay thank you thank you all the questions
questions from our attorney hillary emerson
not at this time mr questions or comments from the audience or the virtual audience
i see no hands chair planning commission amy board with the planning commission the
The comprehensive plan recommends no change in zoning to the existing CMX-5 commercial mixed use.
The proposal completed its art commission review, which does not reflect an expression of the City Planning Commission's recommendation or opinion regarding zoning variances, special exceptions, or other discretionary approvals associated with this proposal.
The appellant has not demonstrated there are unique physical conditions or circumstances of the property that would prevent it from being used in conformance with the zoning code.
The Planning Commission recommends that the board deny the requested variance for projecting sign.
Thank you.
Can I respond briefly, just to note again that there are some unique characteristics to this building.
The fact that that particular office is so difficult to find for anyone that's a pedestrian on the street,
as well as the fact that fronting on that 12th Street, that 12th Street is such a narrow street,
so anyone who's a pedestrian on 12th Street is going to have a difficult time locating it.
there's obviously a lot of precedent for projecting signs on that particular block
as you can see from the pictures that were in my exhibit package okay thank you so mi 2025 003
932 1201 to 05 chats on the street i vote yes michael johns my vote is yes cheryl gaston my
vote is yes tennetta graham my vote is yes ryan mcadams my vote is yes i win my vote is yes
thank you so much thank you um mr goldberg i have a note here you're not ready till after four
I think I'm writing down.
Is that right?
Okay, come on.
That was your request to it before, right?
It was.
My client was not supposed to be available because of the document.
Okay, we're good.
They let me know they are.
so MI 2025 003 712 2428 Sharswood street. Alex Goldberg is the attorney. Alex, did you test
file your letter today? This morning? Yes. Yeah. Just, so just state your name if you would.
Alex Goldberg, A-L-E-X-G-O-L-D-B-E-R-G. Right. Could you identify your client in relationship
to the property? Sure. My client is D.B. Terrapin Properties, LLC, and its representatives Susanna
Freed and Deborah Leibovitz are in the virtual audience. There is a letter of support from
Brewery Town Chargerswood Community Civic Association and a non-opposition from Council
Member Young. Our vice chair has a few questions for you. Good afternoon. Have you submitted your
documents five days in advance of this hearing? I have. And do you waive the reading of the
refusal and stipulate to its accuracy i do all right thank you you can proceed okay
all right this is a this is a unique um peel i'm here because of the confluence of a number
of unforeseen circumstances my clients bought this property in 2018 october of 2018
as an rm1 zone property you'll see in the presentation materials they got all of their
permits. They hired a licensed contractor. Those permits were pulled in 2019. Um, in October of
2020, the zoning of the property changed to RSA five, which it is now, but at that point they had
all of their buy ride permits and construction was underway. And a month later, the general
contractor unexpectedly passed away. Um, his team took over. I think it was, uh, uh, some family
members and individuals
who were working for that general contractor
whose name was Oliver Samosa
And there were some disputes with the subs, and my client can sort of clarify any of the
and there were some disputes
with the subs and
my client can sort of clarify
backstory here, but the permits were not closed out, specifically the residential building
permit and the mechanical permit, they expired, and they didn't know any of this.
And somehow Al and I even issued a two-unit rental license, despite not all the permits
being closed out.
And then they got a violation for new use prior to CO, which alerted them to the fact
that the permits were not closed out but unfortunately at this point the zoning changed
so they couldn't just get new building permits to close them out to get rid of the violation they
have to go through the variance process that's the backstory here's the notice of refusal it's
two-family household living in what is currently rsa5 we're not proposing to do anything other than
legalize what's already there there's one tenant in the building that's on the first floor and
lower level after the upstairs tenant which was one of the two original tenants left my client
chose to leave that unit empty until they got through this process which will you know after
the zoning hearing will require a new contractor pulling new permits and you know finishing the job
here we presented this to brewery town charswood they were understanding you know they acknowledged
that hey listen this zoning change was pushed by the community to change it to rsa5 but uh the cat
was out of the bag was the term that they used in the meeting and you know they did they acknowledged
the hardship here which i think is a clear one and i am sure the board sees a lot of zoning change
types cases but this is a zoning change with the work also being done on top of that um so they
very strongly supported us um 12 to 1 with two abstentions it sounds like we also have a letter
of non-opposition from the council member there's reference in this letter to one ask that they had
which was to um provide some sort of covering over the existing egress well at the front of
the property which i know is not a zoning issue but my client had has no objection to here's that
rental license it's currently listed as expired probably never should have been granted but it
was so here's the zoning permit that was issued in 2019 for two story or for two family dwelling
in an existing three-story structure and here's a screenshot of the atlas page showing all of the
permits that were pulled in 2019 electrical and plumbing being closed out but mechanical in the
building permit, not. So that's the end goal here today, to be able to get a new rental license.
There are some multifamily on this block and in the surrounding blocks, although the circumstances
of how those came about are probably different than this one, but most notably 2424 Sharswood
and 2406 Sharswood, which are on our block, and the rest of these are on 24th Street Harlan and
some surrounding blocks here's a zoning map it's clearly all rsa5 now but there is some rm1 in
close proximity google maps perspective here's some photographs this is the front of the property
the trash is stored there currently um in you know a trash caddy type of thing in the front of the
property that neighbors didn't there were several near neighbors on the community meeting they didn't
express any issues with how the trash was being managed. The property is professionally managed
by OCF, so if the board would like us to contain that in a better structure, I'm sure my clients
would have no objection, but this is what the current property looks like, and you can clearly
see the two mailboxes there, although there's just one tenant. Here's the notice poster
to the right and the left of the property here's some interior photographs obviously
you know the property looks very much lived in
not proposing to do any changes here
here's the plans and drawings um these are the building drawing the construction drawings
you'll see on the next couple pages there are more illustrative ones the community asked for
both i provided them both to this board but they really show the same thing i'll zoom in this is
again all existing conditions on the first floor you would make a left at the shared entry and you
have um you know you have a three bed two bath unit that's about 940 square feet this is the
one that's occupied has access to the rear through a staircase in the back and access to the basement
which does have living space that that basement uh living space does have uh an egress well with
a staircase walk out of the rear as well up the stairs you have a three bed one and a half bath
this unit is empty the one um thing that is different between these plans which were
The one thing that is different between these plans, which were originally approved, is that the roof deck was never built.
This deck that you see off the top, off the back of the third story, which was, I don't know if that was intentional at the time to not build it.
Brewery Town appreciated it because they have an overlay that doesn't allow them anyway.
So the new submission to L&I for the new building plans obviously would not include that roof deck.
And instead of a door here, it would just be a window.
which is what it currently is here's the illustrative plans that just show the same
thing the meeting notice we met in mid-october the notice was mailed to 150 properties here's
the mailing certificates the application for appeal the deed to the property
and proof of tax clearance my clients Susanna and Deborah are one of them is in the
virtual audience if they could be. Why don't you bring one on please please raise your
virtual hand. She's allowed to speak. Okay. Hi, could you please state your name and spell
for the sonographer?
can you hear me i can could you please state your name then spell for the stenographer
deborah d-e-b-r-a lebowitz l-i-e-b-o-w-i-t-z you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole
truth and nothing but the truth i do yeah but could you turn your video on please i wish i could
okay I don't know I don't know why on the thing there's no option for video all right well
counsel please proceed sure um Deborah did you hear my testimony today I did yes and was it
true and correct to the best of your memory yes all it was and you adopt it as your own
I do thank you questions from the board
questions or comments from our attorney Hillary Emerson
not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual of the present audience here
i see no hand it's here
planning commission amy boyd with the planning commission at the time the district plan was
written it was recommended a change in zoning from r1 residential multi-family to rsa 5 residential
single-family. The current zoning is RSA 5 as of 2020. There is documented evidence of two-family
use at this property, including a two-unit rental license in 2020 and building and zoning permits
for a conversion from one to two-family in 2019. The Planning Commission recommends that the Board
grant their perseverance for two-family. MI 2025-003-712-2428, Charsworth Street. I vote yes.
Maximum two units.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Diane Wynn, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Thank you, counsel.
So, Brandon, we're going to, you're going next.
I think what we're going to do, this could be a little bit more protracted.
So, we're going to take a five-minute break, give you a chance to set up, and then we'll all be right back.
i'm here oh good okay so um michael johns is going to recuse himself from this because it was
like a great relationship with pha etc so why don't we start with uh who's going to do most
of the presentation i'll i'll start then i'm going to swear both of you and all that well
so why don't you go first meredith ferliger of delworth paxton f-e-r-l-e-g-e-r do you swear
excuse me okay okay do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the
truth? I do. Okay. Counsel? Brandon Saverin for Dilworth Paxson. B-R-A-N-D-O-N. S is in Sam. A-V
is in Victor. R-A-N is in Nancy. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth,
nothing but the truth? Yes, I do. And just for an overview, could one of you describe who your
and just for an overview um could one of you describe who your client is in the relationship
client is and then really
to the individual properties yes mr chairman our client is the philadelphia housing authority
who is the owner of all the properties before the board today i will address that with more specifics
during my introduction okay um our vice chair has a few questions then we're going to come back and
try to lay some ground rules out okay good afternoon have you submitted your documents
five days in advance of this hearing. We did. And do you waive the reading of the refusals
or stipulate to the accuracy? We waive the reading of all 10 and we stipulate to the
accuracy of all 10. Thank you. You may proceed. And we have support from the 37 board RCO for all
properties. What we'd like to do is to start with an overview. And that overview should
contain what would be like the plan the master plan for the site and then what we're going to
do is we'll go from the master plan the site um to each individual project but we're adopting some
of the testimony we get from that all right but we have to vote on each individual one all right
so why don't we do this why don't we start with an overview of what the site looks like and what
the plans are for the site. That sounds great. That is exactly. Hold on. Hillary, do you want
to recommend anything else? Mr. Chair, I'm just going to say, do we want to read all of the
properties into the record at this time? Sure, sure, sure. So number nine, MI 2025, 003-929-2307
north 10th street t2 65441 number 10 mi2025 003 931 2335 north 10th street t6177547
Number 12, MI-2025-004-148-2317-North 10th Street, T3-27-2456.
Number 13, MI-2025-004-234-2314-North 10th Street.
Number 14, MI-2025-004-381-2310-North 10th Street, T-13-519-253.
Number 15, MI-2025-004-431-1001-21-West Arizona.
Number 16, MI-2025-004-529-2332-48 North 10th Street.
Number 17, MI-2025-004-545-2341 North 10th Street, T7104634.
Number 18, MI 2024-004-669-2401-05-North 10th Street.
Number 19, 2025-004-675-2431-55-North 10th Street.
And that's it.
Mr. Chairman, I just want to make sure for MI2025004381, I think you said 2310 North 10th Street.
That one should be 2320.
I just want to make sure.
I'll deny it.
I mean, please feel free if.
This is 2401 to 05 North 10th.
Is that the way you're talking about?
No, that one was fine.
It was.
I thought it.
Well, listen, here's the thing.
I'm going to come back.
When I do each individual one, you know, Hillary, I'll make sure I call each one.
Perfect.
Well, we'll get to it.
Yeah, we're good.
I didn't do that.
All right.
Why don't we start with the overview?
Perfect.
And forget my mistakes.
Absolutely never.
All right.
Let me see here.
I think if I.
Let me share the screen.
That'll make it easier to switch back and forth.
All right.
Mr. Chairman, members of the board, again, Meredith Ferlger and Brandon Savarin from Dilworth Paxson.
With us today, we have a variety of members from the project team.
we have a variety of members from the project team to my right is zia raymond who is project
To my right is...
manager on this with philadelphia housing authority we also have a french from dale corporation
who is the construction manager for this project on zoom we have representatives from jkrp which
is the architecture firm on the project and then we also have representation from stantec which is
civil engineer on this project in the interest of time and in light of the fact that all that
all 10 of the projects did receive full expressions of support from both of the coordinating rcos
when we do get to the point of going through each individual case if it pleases the board we will
defer um most of the legal argument to the memorandums of law that we did submit in the
packets. We'll address just very briefly a summary of each of the cases, and then we'll be happy to
answer any additional questions the board has. Okay. So as I mentioned, the proposal before the
board today is being pursued by the Philadelphia Housing Authority and represents phase three of
the sweeping Fair Hill redevelopment. For all 10 of these cases, we did submit individual exhibit
packets, which each have 17 total exhibits. They do each include all of the required documentation,
such as refusals at Exhibit 1, ownership information at Exhibit 2, tax clearances at
Exhibit 3, as well as code sections, required notices and postings, and other detailed evidence
that supports the variance request before the board. In terms of a preliminary note on standing,
As I alluded to earlier, PHA is the owner of all of the properties before the board today via a notice of condemnation that was recorded with the Philadelphia Recorder of Deeds on March 15, 2023, following a declaration of taking that was filed with the Court of Common Pleas on the same day.
That notice of condemnation is in your packet at Exhibit 2.
also for the board's quick reference as we do walk through these cases for you
at exhibit one we did include a summary chart of all of the addresses uh the zp number a brief
summary of each of the proposals and the use and then also a summary of all the refusals that were
issued so as as we go through this if you need a quick reference point uh that chart is available
to you. We are going to go through them in the order in the chart. This order is sort of, you
know, least amount of refusals working up to most amount of refusal. The Fair Hill 3 project is a
groundbreaking 10-year, the Fair Hill project is a groundbreaking 10-year residential affordable
housing redevelopment plan from the Philadelphia Housing Authority seeking to revitalize the Fair
hill section of the city as is shown up on the map that you can see here at exhibit four
the project boundary for this particular phase that's before the board today is generally on the
the 10th street corridor between west cumberland street which is north in this orientation west
dauphin street which is south in the orientation north 11th street to the west and north 9th street
to the right as you can see here on the first page of exhibit five the fair hill three project
is adjacent to two other affordable housing residential redevelopment projects along the
10th street corridor known as fair hill one and fair hill two which had a combined 267 units in
first two phases fair hill um the fair hill project as you might recall from seeing prior phases
previously involved the redevelopment of the fair hill apartments and the creation of new street
pathways to better connect the neighborhood phase one and phase two are shown in this image you have
on your screen at page 42 which just for context included a mix of senior housing as well as some
low-rise units in case the board is curious or has any questions on page 43 up on the screen
we have provided the full breakdown of the affordability metrics for the entire fair hill
project that comprises all three of the phases which does include predominantly affordable
housing replacement units in the first two phases, as you can see here, while phase three that's
While phase three that's before the board today is predominantly funded by low-income housing tax credit units, and also includes 10 homeownership units that are not a part of the request before the board today.
before the board today is predominantly funded by low-income.
Phase one is slated to be complete by late 2027, and more detail on that phase is included on this slide as well.
Phase two is slated for completion in mid-2027.
Finally, phase three that's before the board today entails demolishing all existing structures on the various parcels and the construction of a total of 74 new residential infill dwellings that are designed to match the existing context of the neighborhood.
The projects that you'll see today include a mix of townhomes, including five two-bedroom homes, 43 three-bedroom homes, and 14 four-bedroom homes.
There are also six multifamily buildings, each consisting of two one-bedroom units, two two-bedroom units, six three-bedroom units, and two four-bedroom units.
Some sites have on-site parking, and there is also a community center that you will see in one of these sites as well.
Half of each of the multifamily unit type are fully accessible, and 100% are considered visitable.
The community center will include a large community room with a computer center, kitchen, bathroom facilities, as well as a PHA management office.
The Fair Health RE project embarks on an ambitious goal to improve the quality of life for local residents through improved housing, better neighborhood conditions, improved health and safety, and better educational and career opportunities.
An overarching theme, as the board may know, the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency also delegates certain thresholds for price points as well as density and design.
many of these considerations which have led to some of the refusals before the board today
again you can see some of the overall context in this map here with the community center located
relatively towards the middle of the phase three construction there are also as you can see three
sites with parking lots for a total of 21 additional spaces beyond those that would
have been constructed during fair hill phase one and fair hill phase two overall fair hill phase
three has 13 development sites 10 of which are before the board today the other three sites did
receive zoning permits by right and those are also noted on the key plan here you can see those sites
were issued permits for Site 1 at 2301 North 10th Street,
Site 4 at 2319 North 10th Street,
and Site 5 at 2329 North 10th Street.
As I mentioned, many of these requests are quite minor and very similar,
so we will move through them as efficiently as possible.
Most of these also involve lot consolidations
that were approved prior to the filing of these applications,
so the lot consolidations are also not before the board today.
As a general note, and I believe as Mr. Chairman mentioned,
we would ask that the full record that we present before the board today
for each case be incorporated as if presented fully for each individual case.
We would also expressly request that all of the arguments that are made
be expressly adopted in reference to each case.
so that is our overview um as i mentioned we would like to go through them in the order in
our chart brandon is going to handle the first five set uh and then i'm going to handle the
second five and you're going to describe what's going to go on their property right yes okay yes
i will so let's let's try to figure out the best so your first one where where is that on my list
here the first one is 1001 west arizona street so it's mi2025 004 431 1001 to 21 west arizona street
good afternoon members of the board
good to see you in person and I will promise you I'll get in a rhythm as I go along here
i will promise you i'll get in a rhythm as i go along here so the first one may be a little
so the first one may be a little slow
slower and then we'll pick up speed so the first property we're going to present about here is
the one the chairman just read 1001 to 21 west arizona street in its exhibit packet exhibit
six shows the location of the property the property is zoned rm1 and results from the
consolidation of what was 11 parcels it's located on the north side of arizona street between 10th
and 11th streets as the aerials at exhibit 7 show 10 of those 11 parcels were vacant and one at the
western end contained a boarded up structure the zoning plan for these parcels which are now one
consolidated property is at Exhibit 8. Zoom in a little bit here. This shows that PHA will construct
five single-family homes and one duplex on this property. The duplex was selected in lieu of two
additional single-family homes in order to place a one-floor ADA unit on the ground floor of the
duplex. Only 55.6% of the combined lot area is occupied by the planned buildings. This leaves
room for small storage sheds for each family, six-foot-deep rear patios for each family,
and rear lawns of almost 16 feet of depth. Exhibit 9 contains both a composite elevation
of the entire property once it will be built.
You can see here that because we're on a side street,
unlike almost all of the other homes we'll present,
which are on 10th Street,
these are two stories as opposed to three.
And then the other pages of Exhibit 9
contain detailed elevations.
They're samples.
So we have an elevation for the single-family home-type structure, which are all the same here, and then an elevation for the duplex.
Likewise, at Exhibit 10, we have detailed floor plans for the single-family home-type buildings.
Each single-family home will have two bedrooms and one-and-a-half baths.
And then we have a detailed floor plan for the duplex, which will contain three bedrooms and two baths.
Exhibit 11 contains photos of the current conditions and photos of our hearing posters.
Shown at Exhibit 1 is the refusal, and the buildings themselves, here it is, did not generate any refusals.
The sole refusal is for lack of accessory parking, and two parking spaces are supposed to be provided.
Um, as is the case for all of the properties that we'll present today, the manner in which
this property satisfies all of the zoning codes qualifications for the requested variance
is detailed in a memo of law, which is submitted here at exhibit 14.
Um, I will focus on just one of those qualifications and summarize it, which is hardship.
The hardship can be summarized in that this block of Arizona street does not presently
have any legal curb cuts as far as we are aware so introducing a curb cut would negatively affect
the nature of the pedestrian oriented environment on the block further the parking requirement is
only triggered by the fact that the buildings are being constructed on one consolidated lot
as the refusal says the parking requirement comes not from the rm1 base zoning but rather from the
north central philadelphia overlay district sub area b and its requirement for off street parking
does not kick in until more than three dwelling units are proposed on a single lot so because
we're on a consolidated lot the code treats this development as though it were a seven unit
apartment building and applies a multi-family parking requirement rather than treating it like
a collection of single-family homes and a duplex. Parking, as you'll see, can be offered to
residents of these buildings at other Phase III sites, as Meredith will detail in some of her
presentations, and or in the large parking lots serving Phases I and II. The nearest Phase III
parking lot is going to be located directly adjacent to this site at 2332-48 North 10th Street,
but that doesn't satisfy the parking requirement because accessory parking cannot be offered on a
on a different parcel even if it's directly adjacent this concludes our presentation on one
even if it's directly adjacent this concludes our presentation on 1001 to 21 west arizona street
unless the board has any questions questions from the board questions from the board
mr chairman how do you want us to handle um having our client adopt our testimony do you want to
do that i i think what i would probably do is um why don't we go through them yeah and then i'll
read them all all one time when we're going to vote each one all right and that way we're going
to do with that and then at the end you can have your client right so what's your what's your next
excuse me sorry mr chairman um because all the revusals are slightly different as with their
proposals i have slightly different testimony for each one um i can handle them however you want me
too so what what will you you'll be able to remember what it was like if we do it all at one
time yeah i mean i haven't written down so what i thought we do is go through all 10
then go back and vote on okay so they'll go through all 10 we'll do public i'll read my
10 individually and then y'all vote okay great thank you now you'll get a chance great on each
thank you all right next one okay the next presentation concerns mi2025003929 which is
2307-11 north 10th street for this property just nine yep nine right 2307 north 10th yeah 2307
that's right yeah for this property exhibit six the zoning map shows the location of the property
on the east side of north 10th street between dakota street and dauphin street it is again
zoned rm1 and consists of three parcels that were consolidated as shown in exhibit seven
two of those parcels were vacant and one contained a home with the door and first floor windows
boarded up. The remainder of this side of the block was vacant save for one structure, one other
structure. PHA is proposing to build three single-family homes here. The zoning plan is shown
at Exhibit 8. Each home is the three-story A2 type home that is prevalent across the Phase 3
portfolio and is over 16 feet wide and 35 feet deep. This leaves room for small storage sheds
and six foot deep rear patios for each resident family and a very large rear yard. Under 45%
of the property is occupied by the homes. Exhibit nine contains the elevations. The first page is a
composite elevation. And one detailed elevation follows on the following plan. So this would be
the same elevation for each of the three homes, except it would be mirrored in one case, I believe.
Exhibit 10 is the floor plan. Again, this is a typical floor plan for one home and would be
mirrored for one of the three homes each of these homes will have three bedrooms and two and a half
baths exhibit 11 shows photos of the existing conditions and the zoning hearing posters
the application for this property received one-dimensional refusal
for insufficient side yard as shown at Exhibit 1 on your screen now.
The hardship as presented in the memo of law can be summarized in that for sake of construction
efficiencies, PHA's architects have designed only a few sizes of single family homes for
phase three. And those template homes cannot be combined to perfectly occupy the entire width of
the lot. So this leaves a 1.375 foot gap between the northern lot line and the northernmost exterior
wall of the homes. And I'll show you that on the zoning plan really quickly. That gap is
right here where my hand is this is considered a side yard by the zoning code and although no
side yards are required when one is present it must be at least five feet wide so in order to
work with the the templates for the different houses that PHA is going to design here we have
to have some degree of a side yard, but to have a code compliant side yard, we lose an entire house.
but to have a code-compliant side yard, we lose an entire house.
That's the hardship.
This concludes our presentation on 2307 to 11 North 10th Street,
unless the board has any questions.
Any questions from the board?
Yeah, I'm sorry.
Do you know if there's 2305, if there was support from that neighbor,
since that's the only house on the block?
I do not, and I think it's a vacant lot.
If it's not, it's a house.
The one structure that's left, yeah.
And it's occupied, right?
The meeting was very well attended.
It was an in-person meeting that was held.
There was nobody in the room that expressed any form of opposition.
So, and these are, these are like on the slabs, right?
So there wouldn't be any kind of issues with underpinning or anything.
All right.
Thank you.
Question I had was about the backyard.
Is this going to be shared across the three units?
so the yards do will not have fences that um delineate them from one another so in in that
sense it is shared yes and then um for the one foot side yard what is the plan for maintenance
because in the future the two lots on the corner are privately owned and a house could come up on
that party line leaving a one foot zone that now needs to be maintained is it going to be paved
what's the plan for maintenance
and how to, you know.
It will be paid.
So why don't we, did I
swear you in already? No.
Why don't you state your name and spell for the stenographer?
My name is Ziaurahman
Z-I-A-U-R
first name, last name
R-A-H-M-A-N
Right, do you swear or affirm
to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
I do. Please proceed.
Yeah, the
A side yard, in this case, a little over a foot, will be concreted.
And so that will be like the question raised by a member of the board.
It will not be a maintenance issue.
Is that going to be fenced off?
I just think like a foot and a half is not enough space for a human being to easily get down there.
But trash could blow down there.
I think animals can get through there.
so what's going to be the plan to keep that area clear if another building comes up on the party
line i believe that um that building i guess very close to the sidewalk so i do not think there will
be a building i'm going to put in place in that one foot space but we'll pave that area because
there's not going to be a fence because it's not going to be able to maintain it and in the front
to the back of the unit is going to be paved for that one little over a foot.
And in the back, we'll start the fencing on the side of the person.
I mean, I would suggest putting a barrier at the street level
just to keep debris on the street from blowing that way, but I understand.
We can look into that.
That's for the J.K.R.P. to the architect to figure out.
You can't talk. You've got to talk into the mic whenever you talk, okay?
So the architect will look into that, and that's something that we can accommodate.
We should be able to do that.
What's next?
The next...
Excuse me.
The next presentation concerns MI 2025-004148-2315-17, North 10th Street.
12th, right?
Yep, 12th.
Go ahead.
okay the zoning map at exhibit six shows the location of the property on the southeast corner
of 10th street and dakota street as you can see the zoning map reflects both rm1 and cmx2 zoning
but pursuant to the zoning code the planning commission had jurisdiction to determine which
base zoning governs this application and the planning commission chose the rm1 rules
um exhibit seven shows that the entirety of the property is currently vacant the zoning plan is
at exhibit eight and shows that pha is proposing to build two single family homes that are slightly
different from an architectural standpoint from one another as i'll highlight in a moment
the home on the corner is the a2 type home that we just discussed during the last presentation
The home away from the corner is an A3-type home, and I'll show you what that means momentarily.
But from the outside, in terms of mass at the ground level, each home is the same footprint, just over 16 feet wide and 35 feet deep.
This leaves room for storage sheds, a 6-foot-deep rear patio for each resident family, and a 21-foot-deep rear yard.
58.5% of the lot area is occupied by the proposed buildings.
58.5% of the lot area is occupied by the proposal.
Exhibit 9 contains a composite elevation and a separate detail elevation for each of the proposed buildings.
Exhibit 10 contains a separate floor plan for each of the proposed buildings since they have slightly different floor plans.
The corner A2 type home has three bedrooms and two and a half baths.
The other home, the A3-type home, has a deeper third floor, contains four bedrooms and two and a half baths, so an extra bedroom.
Exhibit 11 contains photographs of the existing conditions of the property and the zoning hearing posters.
The application for this property received one-dimensional refusal shown at Exhibit 1 for insufficient side yard width.
The hardship can be summarized in that the zoning code provides that where a shared alley separates a property from a vacant lot next door, attaching your building up to the alley does not qualify it as an attached building.
So in the RM1 district, a five-foot wide side yard must be provided between the nearest exterior wall and such an alley.
This is a hardship because conformity would require PHA to eliminate one of the two planned
homes.
If the lot on the other side of the alley happened to not be vacant, no refusal would
have been issued.
So we consider this to be a highly technical, de minimis refusal.
It's our position that the board would be able to grant a variance even if a hardship
does not exist, although it is our position that a hardship does exist because compliance
would cost a home.
this concludes our presentation for 2315-17 north 10th street unless the board has any further
questions questions move on okay the next presentation concerns mi 2025 004234 which
is 2314 north 10th street 13 whoops exhibit six shows the location of the property
which is near but not on the corner of North 10th Street and West Dakota Street, the property is
zoned CMX2. As the aerials at Exhibit 7 show, compared to most of the other blocks in the
Phase 3 area, this block is largely filled by existing structures, and a structure of some
sort is being built on the adjacent corner by a private party, which I'll show you in a moment
in photographs. So this one's a bit different. It's an infill project in which PHA is just going
to construct one single family home. The zoning plan is shown at Exhibit 8. This home again is
the A2 type home that I've now shown you a few times. Footprint of just over 16 feet wide by
35 foot deep. It contains three bedrooms and two and a half baths. We'll have the same private
storage shed and six foot deep rear patio and a very large rear private yard in this case.
Only 40% of the lot area will be occupied by the home.
Exhibit 9 contains elevations and Exhibit 10 contains the floor plans, which again are
the same as compared to the other A2 type homes we've looked at.
The application for this home received no dimensional refusals, but did receive one
use refusal as shown at Exhibit 1 because of the CMX2 zoning.
The refusal is issued for failure to provide a ground floor non-residential space.
The hardship as presented in the memo of law can be summarized in that this area is devoid
of any non-residential uses other than a few churches, and a non-residential use would
not be viable with this particular phase of an affordable housing tax credit project,
particularly because LIHTC funding does not cover non-residential uses.
this phase is designed around single family home construction so a commercial use would impair
the project this concludes our presentation on 2314 north 10th street unless the board has any
questions questions can you pull up the facade again sure i think just a comment i think my
first concern is that the next three adjacent properties are all two-story homes that have a
similar cornice line and design and this house does not fit in the context of anything else
that's on that block of all of the blocks this is the one that has the most other existing houses
to pull references from and while i understand that it matches the rest of the infill development
it does not look like it fits within the context of of this block and additionally the property
of this block and additionally the property next door has a significant setback so my first question
next door has a significant setback so
is did you all specifically talk to the owners at 2312 north 10th street and get their approval
because this is going to sit right up against their property which has what looks like to be
about a 15 foot setback i'm not aware of uh discussions with the neighbor um not to avoid
to the question i am curious what's being built on the other side of the our lot um
correct no directly adjacent someone is conducting construction as we speak and i'm
trying to pull up the zoning plan if i can do so yep yeah presumably and brandon will confirm
presumably whatever is being constructed on that corner would be would be either higher or would
be consistent with the three stories so it'll it'll help in blending it a little bit better
Zia, I don't know if you can address, in terms of design, when the project was being designed, what kind of interaction, if any, PHA had with any of the immediate neighbors for the few lots where there are neighbors?
i'm not aware of reaching out to each individual homeowners or other residents who are adjacent to
pha properties for this project so i'm not going to be able to answer that question that we
reached out but we have had i know for this is for a fact that we have had several community
and resident meetings over the course of past,
I would say at least three years or even longer,
time after time,
showing the presentation to the residents
and the tenants in that area.
Part of my concern is that, one,
it looks like that current resident has been using the thought
that this project's been proposed on to park their vehicle,
but also they have most of the windows on their property
are facing that adjoining lot which appears to have been vacant for many decades according to
city records so it's going to significantly impact the viability of that property again
their windows might not be legal so understood board member i mean um just a couple things so
first of all uh brandon was able to confirm that what's being built on the corner is is i think 38
feet high it's it looks like they kind of crammed in four stories in the 38 feet um so i'll use the
the uh expression you probably hear a lot here which is our project serves as a natural transition
between that project and the remainder of the block um the um if i if i pull up exhibit 11 which
is our photos um our site has been fenced off i believe the most recent photos are the ones with
the posters which were taken about three weeks ago i went right by it hold on
no it's because i'm looking at the wrong packet
okay there it is um so see the little plaque that says national on that fence that's our property
behind that so we've gotten to the point where we've been able to fence that off and i'm not
aware of any hostility or objection to that fencing by the neighbor the car is no longer there
that's going okay so far and we did of course mail out notification they would have received
our notice uh for this property and all of the others and we i i did not receive any phone call
from that neighbor i only received a couple of calls and they were they were really just
curiosity calls not anything to object or raise any concern okay but i think i think the point
obviously um and and dale representatives from dale are in the room uh duly noted on the concern
related to the windows and i think that that's important for them to keep in mind as they go to
work towards uh design drawings uh to make sure that they are coordinating and keeping keeping
apprised of any any unique circumstances like that one yeah it also wasn't the other property wasn't
shown accurately drawn on the site plan either so yeah that's um okay the next uh presentation
concerns mi 2025 003931 which is 2335-37 north 10th street
the zoning map at exhibit six shows the location of the property
so this location is at the northeast corner of arizona street and 10th street and the property
is zoned cmx2 um as the aerials show at exhibit seven um this
As the aerials show at Exhibit 7, this project will occupy the vacant corner, which was two parcels adjacent to some other recent development.
The zoning plan is at Exhibit 8.
Each home is the A2 type home that we've now gone through a couple of times, the three-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath, single-family home model.
Again, it's got a footprint of 16 feet wide and about 35 feet of depth per home, leaving room for small storage sheds for each resident family, a six-foot-deep rear patio, and a 23.5-foot-deep rear yard.
About 56.3% of the combined lot area is occupied by the homes.
Exhibit 9 shows a composite elevation.
elevation, the two homes will be mirrored horizontally as compared to one another.
And then we have one detailed elevation.
So for the other, you would just flip it.
And then exhibit 10 is one detailed floor plan.
Exhibit 11 has photos of that recent looks like four story building adjacent to our site
and the current condition of our property.
this application received no dimensional refusals but one use refusal this is the same use refusal
that we just spoke about for the 2314 site which is that in the cmx2 district you're required to
provide a non-residential use across the full length of the primary frontage that would be the
10th street frontage um and again um there are no commercial uses um anywhere around us on 10th
street i think if you go far enough up and down you just hit a couple of churches um the um nature
of non-residential use simply doesn't fit with um the project for this site or the phase three as a
whole it also cannot be constructed with uh light tech funding um that concludes our presentation
um for 2335-37 north 10th street um unless the board has any further questions regarding the
hardship or anything else it's a quick question so those have uh common yards as well the two
off has come here that's right next that's it musical chairs
all right mr chairman next uh we're going to tackle 23 20 north 10th street mi 2025 004381
good sorry all right so the zoning map at exhibit six shows the site at 23 20-30 north
north 10th street occupies the entire block from west arizona street to the north to west
Dakota Street to the south, and is zoned entirely CMX2. We have included aerials at Exhibit 7,
where again you can see there's no existing improvements on this block other than
some portions of existing fencing and a playground area.
We've also included photographs at Exhibit 11, where again you can see this is an entirely
vacant section of this particular block here. And this is just across the street that is a part of
some other phases here as well. On the key plan here, you can see that sites four and five that
were previously permitted is directly across the street from this particular phase. On the zoning
map here at Exhibit 8, you can see the nature of this particular proposal, which is for 10
single-family dwellings on the one lot, with two facing West Dakota Street, one facing West
Arizona Street, and eight that are facing North 10th Street. As Brandon mentioned with his
presentations, each of these homes has an independent shed for storage and significant
shared open space in the back with only 63 percent of this lot proposed to be occupied by structure
similarly the composite elevations for each of these block faces is shown at exhibit 9
and again similar to the cases that you've already heard today include
And again, similar to the cases that you've already heard today, include a mix of building
types A2 and A3.
And we've included floor plans for this particular phase as well at Exhibit 10.
You'll see again those home type A2 and A3.
The A2 are the three-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath dwellings, and the four-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath for the A3.
At Exhibit 1, there are a couple of refusals that were issued for this particular phase, which mimic refusals that you have already been presented today, so I will be brief.
The first refusal is similar to the last two cases you heard.
again, for the failure to provide a ground floor non-residential use, otherwise commercial use.
And again, as Brandon presented previously and is summarized in the memo of law, there is no
commercial in this particular area. And due to the funding constraints and the goals of this project,
the commercial use would not be viable here. In terms, again, this also received a refusal for
insufficient parking. And again, that's driven by the North Central overlay. But as you'll see
momentarily on some of the other proposals that I'm going to present, there is parking proposed
for this phase, just not on this particular lot. And again, as Brandon mentioned, this is really
only triggered because of the code's treatment of this development as multifamily, even though
So, in spirit, these are single-family homes that just happen to be sitting on one particular lot.
This concludes our presentation for 2320 North 10th, unless the board has any further questions on this phase.
I have a quick question. Is there a plan to relocate the play equipment?
No, there is no park area is called out for this phase of Fair Hill.
but we do have a park area which is a block away from it which is heart ramp community center
which is also also is a master plan of the a part of the master plan for fair health yeah
i do want to lean in on that a little bit one kaboom defined this area as a playground desert
i know because my organization has done lots of work up in that area and specifically the city
just did a lot of work to redo Faderall Square and specifically did not put a new playground
into that space and left in ball fields because this playground existed. So I do just want to
state for the record that I think the removal of the playground without relocating it in an area
that has a lot of youth and children is a big deal. I think also there's a lot of historic artwork
that was done by long-term residents in the community that is existing on this site. Most
of the originals that are still intact are actually left on this site. Some were already
demolished by the land bank, and I'm assuming by parts of people getting ready
to prep the land for this site. This is also the only
site that I can tell from our notes that had any
opposition. So I think if you all could share a little bit of
what brought up the opposition to this site at the community meeting.
This is the only non-unanimous
vote from the community.
Yeah, they're all nine and two, every one.
We were asked to.
I saw a unanimous for all of the other ones, I thought.
Well, nine and two.
Well, that comes as a surprise to us.
We were asked to leave the room when they voted,
and during the meeting there was no opposition brought up.
So if there's something.
All of them are nine and two.
But, like, just when you were in the room,
was there any indication from the residents that were in opposition?
Not at all.
Not at all.
The meeting was, like I said, it was very well attended. It was in person. We talked through mostly concerning management and how PHA goes about its property management, you know, obviously specific to these sites. There was nothing that I recall. Brandon, do you recall anything specific to this site?
no the regarding one other site and it was not this one um someone had a concern with parking
that was the only specific issue i remember whatsoever okay what's your also um i guess
with regards to the park and those structures in the park just one block away on 10th on 11th
11th and York and 11th and Cumberland area from 11th to 12th where the scepter
where the scepter track goes actually overhead that is parked with similar uh almost two city blocks
track goes actually overhead there is park with similar
so maybe that was the reason that urban farm yeah maybe that was the reason that uh consideration
was not given to relocate you know these uh parcels which has some park-like structure
because one is available only a block away actually and then on the other side on the east side
there's a heartland community center where there is playground and there is actually we put a new
brand new taught lot as part of the revitalization of the heartland community center itself i will
say that other park is not a public park it's private land it's uh actually the life to grow
farm and i would suggest that pha reach out to the farm and see if they want to relocate those
structures before they demolish them okay we'll we'll keep that in consideration definitely what's
next thank you uh next is going to be 2332 north 10th street that's mi2025 004529 yes that's the
whole block 16. yes this is the community center right uh that is correct yes it is
Mr. Chairman, members of the board, this site, as you can see up on the zoning map at Exhibit 6, shows the site at 2332-48th North 10th Street.
This occupies, again, the entire block from West Arizona to West York Street, and it is just the next block from the proposal that you just heard previously and is also zoned CMX 2.
again as you can see on the aerials this is also an entirely vacant block with no existing
improvements and the photographs at exhibit 11 again show the existing conditions of this
particular block with just some existing fencing and this is right across the street from
one of the earlier phases that you heard brandon present
on the zoning map at exhibit eight you can see here that the proposal is for six single family
homes which front on north 10th street one duplex dwelling fronting on west arizona street the
community center which is proposed to be right at the corner and this site also has 11 accessory
parking spaces which is more than would be required for the density of this just this lot
As with the other phases, each home has a storage shed and significant open space, as only 52% of this lot is proposed to be occupied by structure.
The 11 parking spaces here will be accessed from a 20-foot curb cut from West York Street.
And as you'll see in the next couple of presentations that include parking, the parking access is very consistent across all of the sites for access from West York Street.
you can see the composite elevation here up on the screen at exhibit nine and again this one has
several different building types to match the different types of uses on this particular site
and you can see the relation of the community center which is going to be right at the corner
and then again here from west arizona street
we have included a variety of floor plans at exhibit 10 and like the last presentation
the single family homes here are the two or the three and four bedroom types the a2 and the a3
for the duplex the b2 building design the first floor here is a fully accessible unit
that is also designed for somebody with a hearing or visual impairment.
Both of the units have a two-bedroom, one-bathroom.
And then we've also provided a floor plan of the community center,
which again is also ADA accessible,
and has all of the amenities that I described to the board in the introduction.
So you can see here the computer lab, office spaces, PHA,
maintenance and management, and then kitchenette and some open community spaces.
This application received probably the most number of refusals of all of the sites.
The refusal is two pages here, so I'll walk you through them just very briefly. First,
a refusal was issued here for failure to provide the ground floor commercial space.
And again, all of the arguments that we have offered in front of the board and in the commercial
space you don't have to go over that excellent um i will add on this one that the community
I will add on this one that the community center does technically meet the requirements of the commercial space, except for the fact that it does not occupy the entire ground floor frontage along North 10th Street.
center does technically meet the requirements of the commercial
Refusals here were also issued for the parking because it is accessed from a non-rear street, shared alley, or shared driveway, and is also technically considered to be located within the rear yard area.
So you can see how L&I interprets that on this plan here.
The application similarly drew a refusal for insufficient rear yard.
Just to summarize, although there is significant open area in the rear of all these homes, the rear yard for a three-sided property is measured from the, in this case, from the side of Building 39, which is the one with the B2 label here, which of course is right at that property line.
There would be no other possible access point for this parking without without eliminating it entirely, which would draw another refusal as the board has now seen the access from this side street does meet the intent of the code and is designed in a way to minimize impacts to the surrounding neighborhood.
Finally, a refusal was issued for insufficient street trees on 10th Street and York Street.
But as you can see here clearly labeled on the plans, there are no proposed trees on York Street due to an existing 12-inch water main in the sidewalk.
And similarly, there are no street trees proposed on North 10th Street due to an existing 6-inch gas main in the sidewalk.
Unfortunately, the zoning code does not have a mechanism to exempt or waive this requirement in the case of utility conflicts, but it would obviously be quite a hardship to put the street trees in these locations.
They are, however, proposed on West Arizona, and as you've seen so far, they are proposed around the entire development in any possible location that does not interfere with the utility conflicts.
this concludes our presentation on 2332 north 10th unless you have additional questions on this
one any questions yeah i have a few questions uh one for the ada accessible parking space at the
rear what is the distance to the nearest entrance uh to the community center and is there a need
for a ramp at that side because the site plan doesn't show one and appears to show it's either
step or overhang. I can't tell at this scale. Board member at this time, if you wouldn't mind,
I'd like to bring on our architect to answer that question. If the administrator could look for
Jose Hernandez, I believe is here for us today.
And then just to confirm, B2 is a vision impaired and hearing impaired unit, not an ADA
accessible unit?
For this property,
it is both ADA accessible
and VHI.
There are other
duplexes, such as the one I presented
on Arizona Street,
which are not presently planned to be
Downstairs, too. It's an ADA
unit downstairs, but it's not set up
for VHI. You see the architect?
Yes, I see him on here.
What's his name?
Jose. Jose? I'm here.
hi jose could you state your name and spell for the stenographer jose hernandez j-o-s-e-h-e-r-n-e-n
you're going to have to get closer to your microphone sir
page proceeded
jose we can't hear you sir could you please repeat the question i'm sorry i was listening
to you could you state your name and spell for the stenographer can you hear me i do now okay
jose hernandez j-o-s-e h-e-r-n-a-n-d-e-z do you swear we're referring to tell the truth
the whole truth nothing but the truth i do counsel uh thank you jose did you hear board member win's
question in regards to the ada space in relation to the community center could you please repeat
it one more time yes i was asking about the distance between the ada parking space and an
entrance into the uh community center at the rear and confirming that there was no need for a ramp
that that's a zero no the only the only ramp that's required i mean you have the eight foot
striped zone from the from the space and then it's just a a handicap sort of curb that gets you
you know the six inches of the curb itself and then the distance from that curb i believe it's
about 10 feet to the rear entrance of the community center i see the no step now that
we're more zoomed in and then my second question is for the six single family homes
one there's a lot of traffic oftentimes with community centers there's also
One, there's a lot of traffic oftentimes with community centers. There's also a parking lot at the rear. Is there any type of barrier that's going to be put in place around those concrete pads at the rear that are kind of serving as the rear yard for those units as a security purpose?
services at this point there's no I don't do not believe there's any fencing to isolate similar to
the other properties the rear of the properties are open there is there is lighting at the rear
of the property that's photometric so at nighttime if there's any use of that that there's consistent
lighting along the rear of all the homes so there is no real issue of any sort of areas that someone
can go into that would be you know dimly lit or anything like that I was less worried about the
lighting um because i am familiar with how pha lights parking lots but i was more concerned about
youth like if a child is playing outside adjacent to a driveway um not having a barrier a fence that
would allow them to be enclosed in the space all of the other backyards allow that in this
that we've seen so far so this is the only space where you have single family homes
and with the number of bedrooms we're going to assume families are going to live here just
because of how they're going to get assigned per light tech rules so we have to assume that they're
likely to be children living in at least one of these six without a lot of barrier to protect
them from the driveway or from people that are coming in and out of the community center
just something to think about understood i mean pha would have to take that into consideration
further yeah so a board member is suggesting that there be fencing or some some kind of barrier to
block the rear we actually have a similar uh situation over at the north space three which
is situated at the corner of uh 11th and diamond where at the corner is the community center and
then along 11th street is at the single family homes and the parking lot is behind the the units
It's kind of very similar to this situation, and we do not have any fence to kind of separate
the parking area from the houses in the back.
And I'm not aware of any incident.
I know incident meaning you don't want it to happen, but even if we put fence, I'm not
sure how people will access or come into the houses from the parking area it will act as a barrier
and but we'll take it that into consideration and to see if the architects can present a viable
option which we'll be able to implement uh to kind of get both in place but other than that
um right now there is no plan for it
what's next uh next is 2341 north 10th street
only a couple more
this is mi 2025 004545
the zoning map that i have up on the screen at exhibit six
shows that this site at 2341 North 10th Street is directly across the street from the development
site that was just presented and sits at the corner of North 10th Street and West York Street.
This property, as you can see, is split zone, CMX 2 and RM 1. And as the aerials show here,
this is at the other end of the block from one of the development sites that Brandon presented
earlier. And you can see that this has had one example of new development up towards West Arizona
Street, but is otherwise largely vacant with a few structures that will be removed as a part of this
development. And again, as you can see here, this site has largely been used by, you know, parking,
not authorized parking, but is largely just vegetation at this point, and these structures
will be removed as you can see here on the zoning plan uh just to note that there is
there is one lot that is in the middle of this on north 10 street that is not included in this
development and you can see how the development really jogs around that that existing lot
so this proposal is for seven single-family homes two duplex dwellings and five accessory
parking spaces each home has a storage shed in the rear and and significant open space as only
45 of the lot is proposed to be occupied by structure in this case the five parking spaces
The five parking spaces provided here will be accessed from a 12-foot-wide curb cut, also on West York Street.
provided here will be accessed from a 12 foot wide curb.
The composite elevations are shown at Exhibit 9, and show the perspectives of this particular site from each of the frontages as well.
Floor plans for each of these varied unit types are also included and include both the three- and four-bedroom single-family home types.
And then in terms of the duplex dwellings, we have B1, which are two-bedroom, which, I'm sorry, are one-bedroom, one-bath units.
And these, as similar to the prior phases, are also fully accessible on the first floor.
And then B4 units are large four-bedroom, two-bathroom units.
And again, that first floor is fully accessible.
This application received several refusals, many of which we have already addressed.
One refusal was issued for a failure to provide a ground floor commercial space.
And again, all the arguments we presented previously would apply equally here.
But I will add on this case that the newer structure that you could probably see here in the aerials was actually recently granted a variance for insufficient commercial space as well.
So there is precedent for this on this particular block.
And then a refusal similar to the last property that you saw here, a refusal was issued for the parking being accessed from a primary frontage and not from a shared driveway, alley, or rear street.
And again, as the board has seen, there would be no other possible access point for this parking without eliminating it entirely from the development.
the access from the side here does satisfy the intent of the code and this would conclude our
presentation on 2341 north 10th unless the board has questions questions i have one question what's
the width of the walkway between the rear fence or the rear property line for that one private
property and uh parking lot are you talking about the basically right in this area here
jose are you able to answer that question the the distance between this property rear here
and the parking it looks and while he's looking at that it does look like the structure is quite
a bit farther this property looks to have quite a significant rear yard so it's not
their their structure is not directly at the rear their structure but i just want to know
because they're probably going to have a fence.
Someone is going to put up a fence to keep that property separated.
So I just want to, one, in terms of walkway, right,
because this whole thing is connected.
The units that you've now got on the other street
are supposed to have access to the parking lot,
and it looks thinner than most of the other walkways
that are shown on the site.
Who's your architect? Is he there?
Jose, are you still with us?
Yep, that dimension, the walkway itself is about 3'6",
and you can see sort of the planting area adjacent to that is this is a three-foot planting bed so
you're about six and a half feet away from what would be the property line of that real property
actually it's probably more than that because it looks like the wall of that structure is actually
beyond its property line so it's probably it's probably seven seven to eight feet total and then
what's the distance from the ada compliant units to the ada um parking space so from you'll have
you'll have to do some math so for uh yeah so if you zoom in please zoom in you can see the
dimension it started at the top at the b b unit you have 17 feet from the end from the entrance
or actually to where you see the nose step right there you have 16 feet from that door
that's a2 another 16 so 30 to go down 32 feet plus about another let's say you know 45 feet
to where that location of that ramp is or not the ramp the location of where the curb is
for the uh handicap space from the furthest for the furthest unit which is plan north
i mean you already know what i'm about to say jose i do think that's a that's a that's a quite
a distance um and especially considering that's the larger of the units i would assume that that's
the one that's going to end up needing the use of the parking space more um but you know it's
probably within the legal limits but it is it is a little far understood i mean board member i think
understood i mean board member i think this site is is quite challenging because of the fact that
this site is is quite challenging because
there is that uh one property in the middle uh i i don't know if that was part of pha's plans
in terms of the condemnation or what the situation was there but this this really is the only possible
location on the site to even provide the parking for the parking space not necessarily for that
ada unit it could have been swapped with the two single family units just south of it but
just gonna put that up and and jose i mean is there is there a particular why don't we move on
okay okay we can certainly address the specific locations and and you know why they were designed
that way if if necessary uh the next one is 2401 north 10th 2401 to 05 yeah mi 2025 004 669
all right
the zoning map up on the screen at exhibit six shows that this site at 2401-5 north 10th street
is just one block north of the last few proposals that the board has seen and is directly across the
street from the earlier fair hill phase one and phase two developments this property again like
many of the others is split zone CMEX2 and RM1. As the aerials show, this site is existing vacant
land with a few structures that will also be removed. And photographs are shown here as well.
This site is fairly well cleared already at this point.
On the zoning plan, you can see that the proposal for this particular lot
is for six single-family homes facing North 10th Street, two duplex dwellings, one facing North
10th Street and one facing West York Street, as well as five accessory parking spaces. And again,
like the other two you saw earlier, the parking is to be accessed from West York Street.
Each of these homes also has a storage shed and open space, as only 50 percent of the lot is
proposed to be occupied. This parking is going to be accessed by a 12-foot wide curb cut from
West York Street, and again, this serves to keep all of the parking access points consistent
across all of the development sites. The composite elevations are shown at Exhibit 9,
and again, show the viewpoints from the multiple different frontages for this particular site.
site. The floor plans are also included in the packet at Exhibit 10 and have the similar A2
single family design with both the three and four bedroom unit types. So that's the A2 and
A3 floor plan design. And then for the duplex, we have the B3 and B4 designs similar to the other
ones that you've seen today, the first floors are fully accessible. B3 will have two three-bedroom
two-bath units, and B4 are those larger four-bedroom two-bath units as well. This application
also received several refusals that you have also seen today. First, that same refusal was issued
for accessing the parking from a non-rear street, shared driveway, or alley. And again,
like many of the others, there would be no other possible compliant access point without eliminating
this parking entirely. A refusal was also issued here for insufficient rear yard depth as well as
insufficient rear yard area. And again, as you saw earlier, a lot that has three frontages
has a rear yard as is designated by the city, which in this case is designated as opposite of
North 10th Street. So the rear yard is this area at the south viewpoint of this particular plan.
Since the parking drive aisle is basically right at the rear property line, the development itself
is considered to have zero rear yard depth or rear yard area, despite the fact that there is
significant rear yard provided on this site as well. And board member Wynn, just anticipating
your question here, the ADA space is just about five feet from the B4 unit type. And then from
the B3 unit type, it looks to be about 34 feet, give or take. So I've zoomed in here so you can
So, I've zoomed in here so you can kind of get a sense here of the location of that particular space.
kind of get a sense here of the location of that particular
And that concludes the presentation on 2401 North 10th Street.
Unless there's other questions.
19, 2431 to 55 North 10th.
Glad we're on the same page.
2431 to 55 North 10th Street, MI 2025 004675.
This will be happily the last of the 10 cases.
And as you can see here on the zoning map at Exhibit 6, this site at 2431-55 North 10th Street is a bit farther north than some of the other previously presented proposals and sits right at the corner of North 10th Street and West Cumberland Street.
This site is also split zone, CMX 2 and RM 1.
As you can see on the aerials here, you can see very clearly this site in relation to the prior Fair Hill phases directly across the street.
And you can see the creation of the new street pathways to the left there.
And again, you can see this is existing vacant land.
We've also included photographs at Exhibit 11 as well.
on this lot on the zoning plans at exhibit 8 this proposal is for 13 single-family homes
each home has a independent storage shed significant open space as only 57 of this
lot is proposed to be occupied the elevation here shows that there are two different building types
proposed for this particular phase building type a2 and a3 and then you can see we also have floor
plans at exhibit 10 showing the single family home designs for both the three and the four bedroom
type design and like many of the others this received several refusals uh that have already
been addressed so first the refusal was issued for failure to provide a ground floor commercial space
I will note the unique factor of this particular lot that it is only triggered here for a very
small corner of the lot that is zoned CMX2. Most of this lot is zoned RM1. Likewise, a refusal was
issued here for failure to provide parking, but as Brandon addressed earlier in the presentation,
parking is provided on some other lots that you have already seen and could not feasibly be
provided on this particular lot due to the narrowness of the lot. And then a unique refusal
that you have not heard yet, a refusal was issued for failure to provide bicycle space,
a designated bicycle space area. But again, this is another technicality of the code
that would treat this as if it were 13 apartment units that would need to have
one designated class 1a bike space storage area as you have seen on this lot and throughout all
of the other developments each home has its own independent storage shed so these do meet the
spirit and intent of the code in that there is ample storage area there is just not one
uh common bike storage area and then this concludes the presentation on 2431
uh north 10th street unless the board has additional questions any other questions on that
one okay mr chair i would love to have um the architect our civil engineer and zia adopt my
our testimony yeah yeah who you want to do your client first that that's fine yeah just for
purposes of the record yeah uh zia again can you put your name your name i think you've already
been sworn just state your name because they already have it zero rahman and your position
with pha senior construction manager and you have authority uh to speak on behalf of pha in regards
to the developments presented today yes have you heard all the testimony and evidence that was
offered in front of the board for all 10 of the cases that was presented today yes do you agree
all the testimony that was offered is true and accurate and would you adopt all of the testimony
for all 10 cases as if you had given it yourself yes i'll do jose next what uh jose are you with
us i am uh jose uh can you just state your your position and your involvement with the project
jose hernandez principal in charge jkrp architects and you you were uh involved in the design of all
10 of these projects correct have you heard all the testimony and evidence that was offered in
Have you heard all of the testimony and evidence that was offered in front of the board today
front of the board today as it relates to
as it relates to all 10 of the designs?
I have.
Was all of that testimony true and accurate as it relates to the architecture and the
design of the 10 development sites?
And would you adopt that testimony as if you had given it yourself?
I would, yes.
I think that'll be good enough.
So, Hillary, we're going to start each one.
look at um questions from the board again questions from the virtual audience and planning
okay mr chair okay so mi 2025 003 929 2307 north 10th street questions from the board
questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson
not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual or the current audience here
Planning Commission.
Yes, Chair, we do have
Calvin Williams, and I have
allowed them to speak.
Yes, thank you so much.
I didn't expect to have anything to say today.
My name is Calvin Williams.
P-A-L-V-I-N
Williams, W-I-L-L-I-A-M-S.
All right, do you swear or affirm
to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth,
sir? Yes, I do. Thank you.
This individual case you're interested
in 2307 North 10th? Yeah, I didn't originally register for that, but my civic duty just moves
me when something affects me personally. And I just wanted to render my support for this project.
And the quick reason why is that I babysat my two young nephews back in the early 60s with the
original project with the fair hill apartments as they transitioned from the uh uh high rise to a
low rise and to buying a home uh and and having a business off of 30 of uh 74th and ogons avenue
and i want to say that holistically when this is done and done right it serves everybody in the
city too and thank you for an opportunity for this to have safe thank you thank you sir is there
anyone else no more hands share planning commission amy boyd with the planning commission
the comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning at this location from the current rm1
residential multifamily to rsa5 residential single family the proposals for affordable
housing which the comprehensive plan recommendation 1.2.2 calls to support the proposed structure and
side yard mimics the look of the surrounding
Roham neighborhood. The Planning Commission
recommends that the board grant the requested
variance for side yard setback.
2025-003-
929-2307
North 10th Street, T2
65441, I vote yes.
Oh, Cheryl
Gaston, I vote yes.
Tannetta Graham, my vote is yes.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes.
Ryan Wynn, my vote is yes.
Thank you. Number 10, MI-2025-003-931-2335, North 10th, T6177547. Questions from the board?
Questions or comments from our attorney?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
No hands, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Amy Boyd with the Planning Commission. The comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning at this location from the current CMX2 commercial mixed use to RSA5 residential single family. The proposal is for affordable housing, which the comprehensive plan recommendation 1.2.2 calls to support. The proposed lack of active ground floor use would be allowed under the proposed zoning. The Planning Commission recommends that the board grant their requested variance for no use other than parking or residential on the ground floor.
MI-2025-003-931-2335 North 10th Street, T6177547, I vote yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Tanetta Grant, my vote is yes.
Diane McAdams, my vote is yes.
Iowan, my vote is yes.
So number 12, MI-2025-004-148-2317-North 10th, T-3272-456.
Questions from the board?
Questions from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions from the virtual audience or the current audience?
No hands, Chair.
Planning Commission?
amy boyd with the planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends a change in
The comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning at this location from the current CMX 2 commercial mixed use to RSA 5 residential single family.
zoning at this location from the current cmx2 commercial
The proposal is for affordable housing, which comprehensive plan recommendation 1.2.2 calls to support.
The proposed 0-foot side yard is characteristic of the real home neighborhood, which these structures are designed to mimic.
The planning commission recommends that the board grant the request of variance for no side yard.
All right. MI 2025-004-148-2317 North 10th Street, T3272-456. I vote yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes.
Ryan Wynn, my vote is yes.
Number 13, MI 2025-004-234-2314 North 10th Street. Questions from the board?
questions from our attorney not at this time mr chair questions from the virtual audience or the
present audience i see no handshare planning commission amy wood with the planning commission
the comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning at this location from the current cmx2
commercial mixed use to rsa5 residential single family the proposals for affordable housing which
comprehensive plan recommendation 1.202 calls to support the proposed lack of active ground floor
would be allowed during the proposed zoning the planning commission recommends the board grant
the request of variance for no use other than parking or residential on the ground floor
mi-2025-004-234-2314 north 10th street i vote yes cheryl gaston my vote is yes
tenetta graham my vote is yes ryan mcadams my vote is yes hi i win my vote is yes
Number 14, MI-2025-004-381-2320, North 10th Street, T13-519-253.
Questions from the board?
Questions from our attorney?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions from the virtual audience?
I see no hands, Chair.
Planning Commission?
Amy Boyd with the Planning Commission.
The Comprehensive Plan recommends a change in zoning at this location from the current Zoom X2 commercial mixed use to RSA 5 residential single family.
The proposal is for affordable housing, which the Comprehensive Plan recommendation 1.2.2 calls to support.
The proposal for no active ground floor and no parking is in harmony with the surrounding row home neighborhood.
The Planning Commission recommends the Board grant their request of variance for no parking and no use other than parking or residential on the ground floor.
MI-2025-004-381-2320-North 10th Street, T13-519-253.
I vote yes.
Charles Gaston, my vote is yes.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes.
Brian McAdams, my vote is yes.
Iowan, my vote is yes.
Number 15, MI-2025-004-431-1001-21 West Arizona Avenue.
Questions from the board?
Questions from our attorney?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
A question from the virtual audience?
I see no hands, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Amy Boyd with the Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends the changing of this location
from the current R1 residential multifamily to RSA5 residential single family.
The proposal is for affordable housing,
which the comprehensive plan recommendation 1.2.2 calls to support.
The proposal mimics the single family with no parking structures
in the surrounding neighborhood.
the Planning Commission recommends that the board grant the variance for no parking.
MI-2025-004-431-1001-21 West Arizona Street, I vote yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes.
Iowen, my vote is yes.
Number 16, MI-2025-004-529-2332-48 North 10th Street.
Questions from the board?
Questions from our attorney?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Virtual audience?
None at this time, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Amy Boyd with the Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning at this location from the current CMX 2 commercial mixed use to RSA 5 residential single family.
The proposal is for affordable housing, which the comprehensive plan recommendation 1.2.2 calls to support.
The proposed lack of active ground floor uses characteristics of the neighborhood.
the proposal is also refused for parking not off the side street or shared alley and parking in
the required rear yard the property is also in the north central philadelphia overlay district
sub area b which requires parking for multifamily which is proposed on the site due to site
constraints the parking is not reasonably reconfigurable off a side street the appellant
has demonstrated that the site constraint prevents the property from complying with the required
street tree planting the planning commission recommends that the board grant the requested
variance for no ground for use other than parking or residential parking access from primary
frontage parking in the required rear yard rear yard depth and street trees
parking in the required rear yard, rear yard depth, and street trees.
MI 2025-004-529-2332 to 48 North 10th Street, I vote yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Toretta Graham, my vote is yes.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes.
Iowyn, my vote is yes.
17 MI 2025-004-545-2341 North 10th, T7104634.
Questions from the board?
our attorney not at this time mr chair virtual audience
no handshare planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning at this
location from the current cmx2 commercial mixed use to rsa5 residential single family
the proposals for affordable housing which the comprehensive plan recommendation 1.2.2 calls
to support the proposed lack of active ground floor is characteristic of the neighborhood the
proposals also refuse for parking not off a side street or shared alley the property is also in
the north central philadelphia overlay district sub area b which requires parking for multifamily
which is proposed due to site constraints the parking is not reasonably reconfigurable the
planning commission recommends that the board grant their requested variances for no ground
for use other than parking or residential and no parking access from primary frontage
MI-2025-004-545-2341-North 10th Street, T7104-634, I vote yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes.
I win, my vote is yes.
Number 18, MI-2024-004-669-2401-05-North 10th Street.
Questions from the board?
Our attorney?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Virtual audience.
No handshare.
Planning Commission.
Amy Boyd with the Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning at this location from the current RM1 residential multifamily to RSA 5 residential single family.
The proposal is for affordable housing, which the comprehensive plan recommendation 1.2.2 calls to support.
the proposal was refused for parking not off um parking not of a side street or shared alley
parking in the required rear yard and parking in in and rear yard area the property is also in the
north central philadelphia overlay district sub area b which requires parking for multifamily
which is proposed due to psych constraints the parking it's not reasonably reconfigurable the
planning commission recommends that the board grant the requested variances for parking off
for primary street parking in the rear yard and rear yard area.
MI 2024-004-669-2401-05 North 10th Street, I vote yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Tannetta Graham, my vote is yes.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes.
Ryan Wynn, my vote is yes.
Number 19, MI 2025-004-675-2431-55 North 10th Street.
Questions from the board?
Questions from our attorney?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Virtual audience?
Oh, yes, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Amy Wood with the Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning at this location
from the current RM1 residential multifamily and CMX2 commercial mixed use
to RSA5 residential single family.
The proposal is for affordable housing,
which the comprehensive plan recommendation 1.2.2 calls to support.
The proposal is for 13 rural home-like structures with no parking,
which will mimic the
Roeholm neighborhood. The Planning Commission
recommends that the board grant the requested variance
for no active ground floor use, no parking
and no bike parking.
MI 2025-004-675-2431-55
North 10th Street, I vote yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes.
Ty McAdams, my vote is yes.
Ty Ewin, my vote is yes.
Thank you, Counselor. Thank you very much for your patience
this afternoon. We appreciate it.
though. Okay. Is there anyone in the virtual audience whose two o'clock case has not been called?
I see no hands, Chair. Okay. You guys need a quick break. Five minutes. Five minutes. You ready to roll? You want a break? Okay. I swear to you, we're going to take five minutes, and then we're going to get to you. So sorry it took so long. Okay? Five minutes. That's it.
good afternoon everyone my name is bill bergman and i will be chairing this afternoon zba hearing
with me is uh our our assistant uh we have a chair our vice chair tenetta graham president
mr chairman our board secretary cheryl l gaston president mr chairman board member michael
Our board secretary, Cheryl L. Gaston.
President, Mr. Chairman.
Board member, Michael Johns.
President, Mr. Chairman.
Board member, Taya Nguyen.
President, Mr. Chairman.
And our board member, Ryan McAdams.
President, Mr. Chairman.
Also present is our board attorney, Hillary Emerson.
Our zoning board director, Ian Haggerty.
And our board administrator, LaKeisha Dandy.
Recording of this hearing will be posted on the ZBA website.
By participating, you consent to be recorded.
This is an in-person meeting with remote capabilities.
whether remote or in person if you're called to speak you must state and spell your name and then
wait to be sworn in once you've been sworn in please state your name each time before testifying
any person may enter their appearance to become an interested party there are three ways you can
identify the case property address on your zoom webinar you can see a staff member or you can call
this ebay appearance line by the close of business tomorrow call 267-270-5548 leave a message that
includes your email address, the address of the property of the appeal. The following guidance
is for our remote attendees. When directed by the chair, you must raise your virtual hand in order
to be recognized. If you're called to testify, you'll be prompted to join as a panelist.
Please accept the request and turn to your camera. The webinar Q&A is for questions about the hearing.
Do not comment on cases in the Q&A. And fourth, if you're participating by phone,
press star 9 to raise your hand and star 6 to unmute. In-person attendees, refrain from talking,
eating, drinking at the hearings. Verbal and physical aggression will not be tolerated.
Restrooms are across from the elevators. A water fountain is just outside the room to the right.
When speaking on the record, you must speak directly into the microphone in order to be heard
by all attendees and our court reporter. In the event of an emergency, please follow the directions
given over the public address system or by the staff.
The main exit is through the double doors at the rear of the room.
The nearest stairwell is to the left outside the doors.
In case of an evacuation, the rally point is Love Park directly across Art Street.
Please remain there so we can account for you.
Let's look at our schedule for this afternoon.
With you?
Number four, MI-2025-007.
number four mi2025002762601 drexel road 6001 drexel road cases continued to 429 26 at 3 30 p.m
any other requests for continuation continuations
number two um mi 2025 002 755 1828 natrona street razzle choice is the listener owner applicant
no exhibits this is the first listing
I see no.
We don't have your exhibit, sir.
No, no, I'm really sorry.
You have to submit them five.
Here's our guy.
You submit them five days in advance by computer.
And then we study them and see what needs to be done and things like that.
So, right.
So let me, I know you've been sitting here a long time.
This is what we'll do.
um we're going to give you a date but we're going to see if we can get you back in earlier than the
date okay and then what will happen is we'll have the staff work with you to make sure you know
everything you need to do but i'm really sorry we need to we need it actually five days in advance
so we go through it and figure out what we need to do so i'm really sorry so at this point it's
continued to 4 29 26 at 3 30 but i'm going to make sure that the staff take a look to see if
can't get you in earlier and that this is i'm very sorry okay thank you oh sure
and do we have a ubiquitous can a translator
no they left we do have somebody hand raised um by journey um i think they're here for the
the last case that you just announced would you like for me to allow them to speak
So it's case one, MI 2024, 005-774-633 Parlin Street. Is there anyone here for that case?
633 Parlin Street. Is there anyone here for that case?
No hands, Terry.
Can we just see who the hand raised is?
Bevin Journey? I'm not sure what case that's for.
Yeah, I believe it's for the last case they had wrote in the Q&A, but I have allowed them to speak.
Got you.
Hi, good afternoon. Can you hear me?
I can. Could you please state your name and spell for this stenographer?
Yeah, it's Bevin Journey, B-E-V-I-N-J-O-U-R-N-E-Y.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
What case are you interested in?
1828 North Neutrona Street.
Okay, so what happened was we just didn't have the documents for that case.
I just wanted to make sure you were aware.
Many of the neighbors are signed on right now because we do have concerns for this.
And I just wanted to make sure, I understand that there was some confusion,
But if you guys do rehold that meeting and allow them to come early, I know that there's many neighbors signed on right now.
Well, yeah, so what we'll do is we'll make sure that we'll get the word out as we get the back.
Thank you so much. I appreciate that.
And thanks for telling us about this. We appreciate it.
No problem. Thank you.
Let me go back to number one. MI 2024-005-774-663 Parlin Street. No exhibits. This is the third listing.
and i do not see the um owner and the audience chair okay baru tashwaf listed owner and hamas
ala listed applicant
okay no handshare army no handshare okay my 2024 005 774 663 parlin street
This is the third listing.
I vote to dismiss.
Michael Johns, my vote is to dismiss.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is to dismiss.
Tanita Graham, my vote is to dismiss.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is to dismiss.
Iowan, my vote is to dismiss.
All right, we're going to start with number six, MI 2025-005-103, 329-31 North Broad Street.
Frederick Poindexter is the attorney.
i know you've been waiting patiently back there not a problem
could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
sure my name is frederick poindexter f-r-e-d-e-r-i-c-k p-o-i-n-d-e-x-t-e-r
you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
i do counsel could you identify your client the relationship to the property
Yes. First of all, I'm here on behalf of Saul Ewing, representing the Philadelphia Ballet as the client.
Also joined with me today is Shelley Power, Dr. Carolyn Newsome, Chief Executive Officer of the Philadelphia Ballet,
and Stephen Varenhorst, the architect of Varenhorst, the president of Varenhorst.
And our vice chair has a few questions for you, sir.
Good evening. Have you submitted all your documents five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, save for a follow-up on Monday, which we responded to, to provide additional photos.
Okay, and do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, I do.
Okay, thank you. You may proceed.
You must accept the promotion for panelists.
All right, the Callahill Neighborhood Association has a letter of support.
There's non-opposition from Councilmember Squilla, and the Art Commission has a letter.
That's right. Yes, thank you.
okay uh thanks again mr chair members of the board for the hearing today and thank you for
uh your uh efforts to have us uh heard uh this afternoon uh so fred point next on behalf of the
philadelphia ballet today we have a project for signage uh related to the new construction of the
Philadelphia Ballet headquarters. And just for a little bit of context for this project,
the Philadelphia Ballet was approved for a new construction of about five-story addition to
their headquarters at the Broad Street and Wood Street intersection on North Broad. So this
signage project will be at that intersection. So the current headquarters of the Ballet are
between Wood Street and Carlton Street, further recessed from the Broad Street streetscape.
The new construction will bring them to Broad Street with five-story construction, and this
project is intended to meet that new sidewalk with something that connects the ballet to
the community and creates awareness for the events, opportunities, and performances that
the events opportunities and performances that do occur as part of ballet programming
do occur as part of ballet programming.
so i will give you a brief overview of the property here and i'd ask that the exhibits
that are on display today be entered into evidence at the conclusion of the case
apologies all right so you can see the property here between wood street and carlton street is
surrounded by CMX 4 and CMX 5 properties, we have had direct communication with each of these
property owners regarding the signage, and there have been no concerns raised in those
direct conversations. And as you mentioned, Mr. Chair, the unanimous support was received by the
RCO, along with a lot of non-opposition from Council Member Squilla, and Shelley Power will
speak to the support that we've received from other organizations and the Commonwealth later.
sorry okay so we'll start with the reason for the refusal uh one the square footage of the
signage on broad street uh is a is requiring about 70 so or so additional square feet
of of of space and there's also the digital signage that raises above the second floor
windowsill, which we're requesting the variants for. And I guess the second, these were the
additional photos for contacts that were shared with staff this past Monday. So you can see here
the box at Broad Street and Wood Street is where the signage will be placed. You can see to the
The south there is the Packard Building, and you'll see across the street will be the 444 North Broad properties, and the adjacent property across Carlton Street is also the 444 North Broad property.
You'll forgive me here. Here you can see that these are pictures from different timelines. My apologies.
But the plans, as you can see here, just a second, call for the signage is the refusal
is triggered by this digital signage here, beginning about nine feet from the ground
on Broad Street and extending about 13 feet up from there above the second floor windowsill.
And that signage wraps around the new construction onto Wood Street.
So at that intersection, this is essentially a series of five signs together,
but the refusal is triggered by the digital signage, those two together,
creating the need for the square footage and then raising above the second floor.
um and i'd like to add that the you the awareness that we're trying to create here is for
the community efforts that are being made by the ballet for outreach for student instruction and
community enrichment so with that i'd like to ask uh if the board has any questions this is
only signs that you're talking about right here it's the it's the digital sign here uh on broad
street that requires the additional square footage or in general requires the additional
square footage and the extension above the second floor windowsill here for for the signage so that's
that's the only sign you're here for it correct okay correct um you want to bring your client on
yes please uh i'd like to ask shelly power to join me
hi could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
why don't you turn that on i think it's off okay i i pushed a button try now
there we go okay thank you please state your name and spell for the stenographer yes mr chair
shelly power s-h-e-l-l-y p-o-w-e-r do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing
but the truth i do please proceed counsel all right thank you shelly um did you hear my testimony
would you adopt it as your own yes thank you Charlotte can you explain the
mission and intent behind the signs and the challenges that you face with
awareness and yes our challenges are mainly because our existing building
which is only 15,000 square feet is set way back we've had this property out
We've had this property out front, and the way we have set up our Dance Innovation Lab,
front and the way we have set up our
it cannot have any windows and it can't have access from wood.
So we want to be able to have this sign to direct people around onto wood to a safe drop-off
for our children, drop-off for people coming to see a performance or for training, or actually
to join and come into our gathering space.
The gathering space is designed to bring the community in,
so we have to communicate in some way that they can go down Wood Street to enter in.
We also want to show what's going on in the building.
We think this is going to enhance the neighborhood.
It's going to bring children and families into our space
because they know it's there by seeing these images on the digital sign.
We do have support from the state, from Senator Saval and Senator Hughes,
as well as Councilmember Squilla the awareness to us is extremely important
the ballet has been here for almost 64 years now and this is the first time
we're going to have an expansive home that we're going to be able to bring the
community into we're going from 15,000 square feet to 58,000 square feet to
allow for this community engagement so it's incredibly important we can tell
them where to park from the sign we can tell them what's going on in the
building we can tell them when we're doing nutcracker at the academy of music that way
they're always in touch with us uh you went to the art commission too am i right yes we did okay
um questions from the board yes was a light study done on the sort of how much light is going to be
emanating from the sign there's a lot of uh residential buildings around that site i was
just wondering what the impact is going to be to local residents thank you for the question board
remember to my knowledge there's been no light study done but those direct conversations with
the property owners across the street and adjacent to the property we've addressed those concerns by
stating that we will not be emitting brightness greater than the code requirements and there's
also a dimming schedule in place so that at night the signage will be reducing in brightness over
time uh throughout throughout the night so that they do not disturb the residents either adjacent
on the left or south and north and across the street to the west and the digital signage only
no sound correct correct no sound other questions from the board so is this considered to be on the
avenue of the arts thank you for the question board member that question thank you yeah that's
actually one of the major reasons why we're here we believe that this is a major anchor for
stretching the avenue of the arts in north right create another anchor with the met with the
convention center so that we can say that the avenue of the art spans not just through south
broad but all the way up to north broad and this is one of the i think hallmarks of that expansion
okay um and i'm not sure if it exists anymore but at one time there was a avenue of the art
sort of um board or commission there is something weird yeah where anything that went on the avenue
of the arts had to go through them and the signage had to be anything on south broad yeah okay so but
this didn't have to go through them is that what you're saying they don't consider it to my knowledge
that north broad from beyond on the other side of city hall is is actually considered avenue of the
arts but we like to consider it as extending the arts to the north broad corridor which i think is
extremely important for the neighborhood okay thank you you're welcome other questions
questions from our attorney hillary emerson not at this time mr chair questions from the virtual
audience i see no hands chair planning commission amy boyd with the planning commission the
The comprehensive plan recommends no change in zoning from the existing CMX-4 commercial mixed use.
The proposal completed the Art Commission review, which does not reflect an expression of the City Planning Commission's recommendation or opinion regarding zoning variances, special exceptions, or other discretionary approvals associated with this proposal.
The proposals in character with the surrounding properties will have minimal impact on those properties
and is necessitated by the unique physical conditions of the property.
The Planning Commission recommends that the board grant the requested variance for sign area and height.
MI 2025-005-103-329-31 North Broad Street, I vote yes.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Tana Graham, my vote is yes.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes.
Iowyn, my vote is yes.
You have your votes. Thank you. Thank you. And thank you for waiting so long. We appreciate it.
You have your votes.
Thank you, Mr. Ford.
Thank you, and thank you for waiting so long.
We appreciate it.
Not a problem.
Not a problem. Thank you for your service.
OK, number five, MI 2025 0047572963 North Lawrence Street. Vern Anastasio is the attorney.
This is a reconsideration hearing.
Good evening, Mr. Chair.
Good evening, counsel.
Just for the record, you've been sworn in a long, long time ago.
Yes, sir.
Can you just state your name?
Vern Anastasio, A-N-A-S-T-A-S-I-O, on behalf of Mr. Donovan Brady.
And this is a reconsideration hearing.
Evidence and testimony from the prior hearing incorporated into the record for this hearing.
Scope of the hearing is limited to presentation of supplemental evidence not put on their record at the prior hearing.
So why don't we just go to you, Vern, if you want to, you can give a quick overview and then talk about what you have that's different.
Yep. We're legalizing a pre-existing three-family dwelling. Just for a point of reference, the previous exhibit packet, pages 8, 9, and 10, show the current layout of each unit, ranging from 384 square feet to 572 square feet, each with trash closets.
And also in that binder, just for a point of recollection, page 49 showed 26 signatures, all immediate neighbors in support of the variance, and I'll show you why.
Thank you. Now for the new evidence.
I'm going to just run down a brief timeline for you.
The property was renovated and converted to this triplex, we believe, around 2002.
2003, a gentleman by the name of the owner of Francesco de Jesus of 52nd 28 Masher pulled a rental license.
Property was then placed on the MLS and advertises a three-family dwelling, a triplex.
The listing that is also in the previous exhibit packet also detailed what each unit pulled in for rent.
My client then sees the MLS based on the rent rolls as a triplex and, of course, the affirmative marketing as a three-family dwelling, purchases the property, does some cosmetic upgrades, and then learns that it's noncompliant.
current owner then hired us to get the appeal as i said page 49 shows overwhelming support of the
immediate neighbors so did the rco support the legalization because everyone in that neighborhood
knows this property knew mr de jesus and knew what he did to the property i'm going to show you
the current value of the property and the cost of conversion and why it's all upside down and why
what we're asking for because of this unique physical condition. There is, in fact, a hardship.
My client did not create it. And granting the variance will not negatively impact anyone,
light, air, congestion, or otherwise, because it has existed for nearly 20 years,
actually over 20 years. Here's the valuation that we pulled recently, $117,400.
Here are the costs of conversion.
Here's one estimate at $200 a square foot, comes in just under $280,000 to convert.
Second estimate was even more, ranging between $312,000 and $353,000.
And that wasn't just assuming the property was in good condition without looking at inspection for termite damage, water damage, mold, or other extraordinary circumstances.
circumstances. Now, in addition to the property being sold, my client being hoodwinked, thinking
that he bought a three-family dwelling, not only did he get fooled in use, he actually got fooled
as it relates to the meets and bounds of the property. A client assumes the property, as I
I said did some minor cosmetic upgrades and also believe this was his yard.
He put in a he put in a brand new fence because it was fenced before that was falling down.
And that's what he believed the yard was until just recently.
He gets this on his door. Sheriff's sale, rid of execution.
that backyard is a whole other property that by the way he was not aware of and that backyard is
And that backyard is being sold at sheriff's sale.
being sold at sheriff's sale so not only did my client get
So not only did my client get fooled as in relation to the use of the property, believing he was purchasing a three family dwelling when in fact he was not.
He also believed he was purchasing a property with a sizable yard that he actually went and spent time and energy putting in a new fence only to learn subsequently that that's a whole other property, not even part of his deed that he is now losing.
So because my client is a victim of circumstance here, did not create this hardship.
And of course, we've already, I want to show you this as well.
The council office also agreed.
Just this week, she wrote another letter.
This is the second letter in support of this legalization of the pre-existing non-conforming
three-family household living.
So because the council member and the council member's office knows this property as well.
Again, Mr. DeJesus was a well-known person in the neighborhood.
And he also put on a third floor.
It's a whole other story.
But since the council person understands this and supports this, since everyone within on that block, 26 signatures in support, knowing the long history,
because my client is now not only lost the use, but now lost most of his yard.
Because of the unfortunate circumstances, not being from Philadelphia originally, we're asking for relief, and we do hope you understand that our request is reasonable, and I respectfully request it.
With that, I'd like Donovan Brady to come on at this point.
Good afternoon, everyone.
Hi, could you please state your name as Belfort Osteographer?
Yes, my name is Donovan Brady, D-O-N-O-V-A-N, B-R-A-D-Y.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Counsel?
Thank you. Mr. Brady, did you hear my presentation to the board this evening?
Yes, I did.
True and accurate to the best of your knowledge?
Yes, it is.
And do you adopt it as your own testimony?
Yes, I do.
I have nothing further, Mr. Chair.
Questions from the board.
Okay. I hear the tale of, well, I guess I'm just trying to figure out when this property was purchased.
Did he have a lawyer? Did he have title insurance? Did he have anybody looking into the use, the meets and bounds description of what he was purchasing?
He reasonably relied on the realtor who was selling the property. Like most Philadelphians, he did not hire a lawyer and purchase. Like most Philadelphians, there is no, especially when you're dealing with row homes, we all know, we don't do surveys when we buy row homes.
I mean, it's just not a traditional thing to do. It was marketed as with with that big backyard.
It was marketed as a three family dwelling. So he did not. The simple answer is no, he did not.
He reasonably relied on the agent at that table. Yes, he got title insurance.
But as you I believe, you know, Miss Gaston, they don't check for use.
They did not. Everything that was before him when he signed pointed to a three family dwelling and and and everything that he everything that pointed to a big backyard.
I hear you say that, but that's the whole point of having the title insurance so that there's somebody who, if there is some kind of, I don't know what to call this, error, mistake, whatever, that you can go to the title insurance company and say,
hey you know you were supposed to um what i paid you for was to research um the title for the
property only the title that's how they get out of it because it's only the title it's only
easements it's only encumbrances it's only liens they do not and i've been before this board many
times uh where uh for instance broad and ellsworth my client purchased an 11 unit building
what spent over a million dollars it turned out what he actually bought was a funeral parlor and
a duplex he didn't know that because title sailed right through the title does not check
The title does not check or verify the legal use.
or verify the legal use if they did
If they did, we wouldn't be here.
And then, okay, we'll go get past that.
What happened with this third story now that's on this property?
How did that happen?
No, it was built.
I mean, it was built legally.
I wasn't indicating that it wasn't built.
Are we sure?
Because there's no permits that's been pulled on this property.
Yeah. Well, there's no violations and there's no indication with regard.
Violation does not mean it was done legally. It just means Ellen and I didn't get it done.
That's true. We're going to find out if we are lucky enough to get a CO, right?
You know, that's that's the goal here. This is going to be the safest house on the block.
Once my client gets if he's lucky enough to get this variance, he has to go through the CO process.
thank you
and again none of that ever showed up on
title or anything like that
questions from our attorney
not at this time
questions from the virtual audience
I see no hands chair
planning commission
we won't be changing our
recommendation from the previous hearing
Okay. So MI-2025-004-757-2963 North Barnes Street, I vote yes. Certificate of occupancy to be obtained.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is no.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes, with proviso.
okay tie it when my vote is no
okay so we're hillary we're three two
that is correct that's it is that the vote yes yes okay thank you so it's been granted thank you
Thank you very much.
Number three, MI 2025, 002-760-1267 South 18th Street.
Eric Carroll is the attorney.
And he's coming in now as a panelist here.
Uh-huh.
Letter of non-opposition from residents organized for advocacy and direction.
Good afternoon, board. Eric Carroll, on behalf of the owner-applicant, T. Chris, LLC.
With me on the Zoom should be Chris Tomasco, who is the managing member of T. Chris, LLC.
Eric, could you state your name again and spell for us?
sure eric eric carol c-a-r-r-o-l-l you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and
nothing but the truth i do you identify your client one more time in the relationship to
the property yes chris tomasco k-r-i-s-t-o-m-a-s-c-o uh he is the managing member of t chris llc the
owner applicant our vice chair has a few questions for you good evening have you uh submitted your
documents five days in advance of this hearing? I have. And do you waive the reading of the
refusal and stipulate to its accuracy? I do. I thank you. You may proceed with your case. Thank
you. Okay. This project is 1267 South 28th Street. It's at the corner of 28th and Wharton
Streets in Grace Ferry. It is not the building in the background. It's this vacant lot that is
fenced in here. It has been a vacant lot for some time, at least 20 years. I'm not sure when
it became vacant. My client proposes to build a two-unit multifamily home. We're here
because of the zone CMX2, which requires a ground floor commercial use, and we are seeking to put
a residential use in that ground floor. Hey, Eric, just let me check one minute, because our records
are showing 18th street and you're saying 28th but mr chair no that that was an error it is 28th
street my apologies thank you very much okay um i'll show you the exhibits that that were sent
last week uh this these are some photos of the property showing the posting of the notices
this is a view from 28th street this is 28th street as well this is the view from wharton street
This is the view from Wharton Street, as is this.
As is this.
And here are the notices.
Again, my client is T. Chris LLC.
It's the owner.
They purchased the property in January of this year.
Tax clearance certificate was also included.
This is the refusal.
As I said, this is a CMO2 zoned property, which requires ground floor commercial use.
We are requesting to put residential instead of commercial.
The reason for the hardship is purely the building costs wouldn't justify putting in what could fit on the ground floor, whether it was a corner store or laundry or something like that.
It's a small enough property that's not going to be a big income producing commercial property.
What we are planning to build, you can see here, it would be a three-story building with a roof deck, two units.
The basement and first floor would be the first unit, two bedrooms, one-and-a-half baths.
The second and third floor would be the other unit.
Those would have three bedrooms and two baths, and then the roof deck.
I have the application for appeal, project information form.
There was some confusion about who was the coordinating RCO with this.
The initial notice I received said it was one of the Grace Ferries, but it turns out it was actually ROAD, the Residents Organized for Advocacy and Direction.
We sent out the notices. We had a virtual meeting on October 7th with the director, Mika Outlaw.
Nobody attended. So Ms. Outlaw issued a notice of non-opposition.
So again, we are requesting a variance to put a two family, two units of residential in this property that is owned CMX2.
Eric, what's the rest of the property, the block look like? Is it other multiple units?
It's all single families and multiple units.
There really isn't that much commercial use, even on the corners in this property.
If you go up a block and a half, you get to the Fresh Grocery Development off of Grace Prairie Avenue.
So there's a lot of stores within a very short walking distance.
Is this the only three-story building on the block?
This would be on the block of 28th Street.
There's a couple others. If you go south along 28th Street, south of Wharton, there are a couple, and this is a corner unit, so it's not going to be totally out of character with the neighborhood.
You want to bring your client on?
Yes. Mr. Tomasco, are you present?
Chris, can you raise your hand if you haven't already?
He's coming in now as a panelist.
Hello.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Kristen Tomasco, K-R-I-S-T-I-N, last name Tomasco, T-O-M-A-S-C-O.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you.
Mr. Tomasco, you are the managing member of T-Chris LLC?
Were you present on the Zoom when I submitted my testimony and other evidence?
To the best of your information and belief, was all of that testimony and evidence truthful and accurate?
Do you adopt that testimony as your own on behalf of TICRS LLC?
Thank you.
Counselor, could you put up your drawings again?
The plans.
Questions from the board.
Yeah. What's your plan for trash storage?
I believe we have a closet in each unit for trash.
And there's also a yard in the back of the property.
And I believe the original building that was knocked down,
there was three story.
um i think that two of the other corners of this intersection are three stories and um i believe
the whole block of 1200 south 28th street is rm1 already so is that basement living you said
um the unit yes the one unit would have two bedrooms in the basement
egress wells both in the front and back.
egress wells both in the front and back
Is this being built on top of the
no this is you're tearing down the existing structure.
It's already a vacant lot. Already a vacant lot. It was
vacant when my client purchased it.
And then do you have a section?
What's the depth of the basement below grade?
I believe it's five foot below grade, maybe even a little less than that.
I think it's four feet.
Reading the plans, I think it's four feet, four inches.
Other questions from the board?
Just support for the project from the neighbors, the near neighbors.
on the block especially the house next to the lot uh we actually purchased the the lot from
the neighbor next door they they owned it for many years they operated a corner store there
so i would we think that they're pretty excited since they sold it to us that something's going
to be built there um is there any plans like to relocate the mural somewhere in the neighborhood
just out of curiosity.
We're going to talk to the neighbor about that
and if necessary to the Mirror of Arts program
and we'd be happy to accommodate
if that's what the interested parties would want.
Other questions?
Questions from our attorney?
And not at this time, Mr.
Okay. Questions from the virtual audience?
No hands, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Amy Boyd with the Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning at this location
from the current CMX2 commercial mixed use to CMX1.
The proposal for ground floor residential use is allowed under the proposed zoning.
The Planning Commission recommends that the Board grant the requested variants for ground floor use.
mi-2025-002-760-1267 south 18th street i vote yes michael johns my vote is yes
charles gaston my vote is yes sonetta graham my vote is yes my mcadams my vote is yes
hi owen my vote is yes thank you mr carl for waiting around we appreciate it we've been here
a little longer today yes no problem chairman thank you barney thank you um is there anyone
in the audience who 330
case has not been called?
I see no hands at this time,
Chair. Thanks, everybody.
I think we did get a lot accomplished
today. I mean, it was a
Dilworth case
was like, you know,
we got a lot accomplished and
it's going to make Ian look
even better when he starts looking at these statistics.
Thanks,
everybody. All right.
Good night, everyone.