they could also just change the building type
Good morning, my name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this meeting of the Philadelphia Zoning Board of Adjustment.
With me is our Vice Chair, Ismail Shahid.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our Board Member, Cheryl L. Gaston.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our Board Member, Tanetta Graham.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
And our Board Member, Taya Wynn.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Also, here is our attorney, Hillary Emerson, and our zoning board executive director, Ian Haggerty.
Recording of this meeting will be posted on the ZBA website.
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is Love Park directly across Archery. Please remain there so we can account for you. Let's
look at our schedule. Are there any requests for continuance? Good morning, Chair. This is Nadia,
and I'll be your co -host today. I see no hands. Okay, so we're going to go right to our main
list. Number two, MI 2024 -001 -595 -52 East Washington Lane. Candace Jamison and Charles
Whatley are the owner applicants? There's a letter of unanimous support from Chew and Belleville
neighbors. Candace Jamieson or Charles Whatley if you're not virtual audience. They have been
promoted to panelists. Thank you. Hello. Good morning. Could you please state your name
and spell it for the stenographer.
Candace Watley, C -A -N -D -I -C -E -W -A -T -T -L -E -Y.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
All right, so this application is for use
as a multifamily household living,
three dwelling units in an existing structure.
The proposed use, multiple family household living
is prohibited in the RSA3 zoning district.
Our vice chair has a few questions.
Good morning.
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits as needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Thank you.
You may proceed and share your screen.
Thank you.
One second, please.
I'm getting it together.
Sure. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Should be the green bottom, the green button at the bottom, right?
Yes. Here we go.
Just OK. OK. All right. Please begin.
OK, so this is 52 East Washington Lane.
I'm just going to go through the pictures.
Here is the zoning pictures. I have three.
Then we have a picture of the block here, and all these are triplexes.
And between 52 and 50 Washington Lane is where the trash will be placed.
We have the mailbox, which is something that the RCO requested to be inside.
here's when you walk in the front door and that's the steps to go upstairs that's the landing
and here we have the first floor apartment when you walk in that's the kitchen
in the living room area and that to look out from the living room into the hallway
and the front room that's like an office area
and then we have the hallway and we have bedroom one bedroom two and the bathroom
and that's bedroom one
bedroom two and here's when you first walk into the bathroom and here's when you turn to the right
into the bathroom. Here's the second floor apartment door. Here's when you open up the door
to the apartment, that's the living room. This is the living room and this is the front bedroom.
And when you open up the front bedroom, that is the door, that's the bedroom. This is a close -up
of the kitchen. And here is like a pan out view of the kitchen. Here's the second bedroom.
It's the bathroom. That's just another picture of the bathroom, the tub area. This is the door.
This is the hallway landing to go to the third floor apartment. Here's the third floor
apartment door here's when you open up the third floor apartment door
these are the steps to the third floor apartment
and here we have went the landing
here's the bathroom
the back bedroom
this is the kitchen living room area
kitchen this is the front bedroom
front bedroom it's another view of the kitchen slash living room area
here's the backyard
here's the back of the house
yeah and that's it for that
how long has this been a duplex it's been a triplex when i purchased it it was a triplex
i'm sorry ma 'am yeah it was a triplex when i purchased it and when was that um initially
back in 2016 and then it went to my son and my name in 2021 all right thank you questions from
the board. Questions or comments from our attorney? Ms. Watley, is there any parking
at the property? No, it's just street parking. Just street parking. Okay. I just wanted to
note for the record, because this is an RSA3 property, it does require one parking space
per unit. So that was something that was missed on the refusal. So just noting that for the
record if the board if the board grants here that it would also be granting
variants for not having the required accessory parking. Thank you. Questions
or comments from the audience and the virtual audience? Chair we have Charles
Richardson with their hand raised and they have been allowed to speak.
good morning mr chair good morning could you please state your name and spell for the
stenographer certainly charles richardson r -i -c -h -a -r -d -s -o -n office of councilwoman
city bathroom 508 city hall you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
truth? I do.
And just for a point of interest, we ended our day last week with you, and we're starting our day now again with you.
This is getting to be habitual, I guess.
Councilwoman has no opposition to granting the variance.
Thank you.
Anyone else in the virtual audience?
I see no hands.
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, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the RSA3,
Residential Single Family Zoning at this location. This appears to be a legalization
of a long -standing triplex. The City Planning Commission recommends the board grant their
proposed use variants for three dwelling units with no off -street accessory parking.
Thank you. MI 2024, 001 -595 -52 -East -Washington Lane, I wrote yes.
Cheryl Guest, and my vote is yes.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes.
Tyowin, my vote is yes.
Tishmel Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Motley.
Number one, MI 2023 -005 -926 -3223 West Burke Street.
Pascual Calavita is the attorney.
This is a resumptive hearing.
Chair, I'll be recusing myself.
Thank you.
That was Tenetta Graham, everyone.
Good morning.
Good morning, counsel.
Counsel, could you state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Pascual Colavita.
P -A -S -Q -U -A -L -E -C -O -L -A -V -I -T -A.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, told truth, nothing but the truth?
Counsel, your video's off.
I've clicked it twice.
Let's see.
For some reason, it's not going on.
I see that it's off at the top, but at the bottom, there's no line through it.
I've undone it.
Mr. Colavita, this is Ian Hegarty.
Do you have your camera, like a physical cover over your camera?
I do not.
I do not.
I can actually see where the three faces are, and I don't see a screen for you, and Karima Quintana's got a line through both of their site, but my video, it lists as on at the bottom, it's off at the top.
I mean, I don't have a problem proceeding. You guys have seen me enough times. Maybe you don't want to see me again. I don't know.
uh i if if the share uh aspect of this functions i can proceed because this again as you stated
this is just a return from a previous meeting just to conclude to show you the changes that we
uh removed all basement living and met with the community group that's basically all i'll be here
four. Okay. So yeah, Hillary, I just talked to our council. We're fine with that. So just let me
give you an idea where we're going to, how we're going to handle this. So there'll be an update
from you about the second RCO meeting and concerns previously raised by the board. There'll be
questions from the board, the public testimony, and then the planning commission, and then
obviously we'll vote. So why don't you start your presentation? Thank you. Again, Pasquale
Colavita, attorney on behalf of Kimit Hassa. I'm going to start sharing this. It's Hassa Construction
is the actual owner of the property. As was stated, this is a continuation of our initial
hearing on October 2nd of 2024. I'm just going to supplement this with a notification of the
neighbors in 7a, the letter of support after our meeting on January 23rd, a 10 to 1 vote in favor
with the copy of the plans here. And as you can see, the first floor, if I can some way move this
over. Shows no basement living and window, there's no window well arranged.
Basement living and window. There's no window well or anything in the front.
And notice of the posters that were done by Mr. Hassa and the actual meeting summary.
this is the revised plans with proviso the other ones were just the floor plans which are not part
of the the zoning application and a copy of the tax clearance certificate so we went back we had
initially set up an appointment with them for some odd reason no one had showed shown up at
that meeting and it was never, I guess, formalized, but we reposted again. It was stated in
7A, which replaced the prior one on January 10th. So it seems like everybody is now in agreement
with a three -story property, two -unit dwelling, no rooftop deck with the no basement living.
So I just ask that you grant a variance for a duplex here, a two -family dwelling, as is set forth within the proviso and plans.
And I can bring my client on to confirm everything.
Why don't you bring your client?
Or listen to questions first, so if you have any.
And for a point, we also have a letter from Councilman Young in non -opposition.
Questions from the board?
Can you fill up the floor plans again?
Is there anything specific you're looking for that I can scroll through?
I was just trying to look at the egress.
the two egresses on the first floor. This is fine. Where it is, it's fine.
Okay. Are you going to bring your client on?
I am. Sure. Bring your client on. His name is Kimit Haasa.
Kimit Haasa, if you're in a virtual audience, please raise your virtual hand.
We have a jury. Okay, I will. I'll take her. She actually was the initial one at the first hearing. So this may work out a little bit better as she can adopt that testimony as well as this one, since we never did that. So that's fine.
They have been promoted to panelists.
Thank you. Good morning. Are you, are you there?
I'm sorry, they have to set the panelist's promotion before they can speak.
Good morning.
Good morning.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Yes, Yorida Hassa, J -O -R -I -D -A, last name H -A -S -A.
Do you swear or affirm that tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Ms. Hasa, did you have an opportunity to listen to my testimony, both at the previous hearing that you attended as well as today?
Yes, I did hear a little bit, but I just wanted to let you know that Kimmel was not able to be on this meeting today.
That's fine.
you're you're you were here on his behalf you're part of the company and that's why you're uh able
to respond to these questions did you again did you hear what i said earlier today and not everything
what did you miss um i just heard about uh uh the part uh when you were um like a little bit
for when you were doing the introduction about uh all right i'm going to ask you a quick question
we'll get through this quickly did you did you have an opportunity to to hear my testimony
regarding the um the plans that that we had resubmitted them and that we went in front of
the community group and that we submitted plan new plans with no basement living i made that
part i was at the part when you were uh showing the uh zoning uh pictures and uh that the neighbors
were notified and aware of this meeting today okay all right did you agree
and aware of this meeting today. Okay. All right. Do you agree that that's an accurate
testimony that if I were to ask you those? Well, I just asked you those questions. Are those
the plans that we submitted? Okay. Were they truthful? Yes. Do you adopt them as your own?
Yes. Okay. Questions or comments from our attorney?
I just wanted to note for the record that there is one page of revised plans that is being requested if the board approves, and the RCO has requested a proviso for no household living in the basement. Thank you.
Questions from the audience, the virtual audience?
I'd say no hands.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chairman, and good morning. David Fecto 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.
Despite the presence of several duplexes and triplexes, the character of this block face is predominantly single -family.
There is no unique physical condition or circumstance of this property to prevent it from being used in strict conformity with the zoning code.
the city planning commission recommends the board deny the proposed use variance for two
dwelling units thank you mi 2023 005 926 3223 west berg street i vote yes with proviso revised
plan one page stamped by zba april 8th 2025 no household living in basement
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes
with proviso
Tywin, my vote is yes with proviso
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes
with proviso
What are you getting
missed in Ophamson?
Yeah, if you won my letter
thank you
Thank you
Thank you, counsel
May I be excused?
UK. So number three, MI 2024 -004 -377 -4902 Notch Street. Al Nocklinson is the attorney.
There's unanimous opposition from Solo Germantown. There's a letter of support from the 12th Ward
Democratic Committee.
Counsel, could you please state your name
and spell for the stenographer?
And this is a resumptive hearing, by the way.
Yes, Alan Nockamson, A -L -A -N,
last name Nockamson, N -O -C -H -U -M -S -O -N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client
or relationship to the property?
Yes, my client is Warren Realty Holdings, LLC.
And to the left of me is Siobhan Jackson,
one of his representatives.
Okay, so this is a result of hearing.
Here's our schedule.
There'll be an update from the applicant
about the second RCO meeting.
There'll be questions from the board.
There'll be public testimony and planning commission.
And then we will vote.
Yes, Mr. Chair,
can I just give a brief synopsis of this matter? You can. What we're seeking here is to put an
RSA3 property as a triplex. There's two doors in the front of the property where if you looked at
the floor plans, one door goes to the first floor unit and a lower level unit. The second door goes
to the second unit, which is on the second floor, and then as well as the third unit on the third
floor. We met with the community after no vote was taken by the coordinating RCO or the community
because there was really no one there. We had unanimous support from the community based on
that meeting. If you saw that letter, I think there was a draftsman error where it said that
everyone was against it, but it said letter of support. So I confirmed with Charles Richardson,
who may be here, who saw the vote. I wasn't there for the vote, but the temperature of the room was
support. There were three nearby neighbors who are all in support of having this as a triplex
who attended that meeting, one of which I believe actually signed a letter of support, which is in
the previous materials and the materials that were submitted before this hearing. And it's not
out of character to have multifamily use nearby. 4901 is three units, 4903 is four units, 4905 is
three units 4907 history units and 4913 history units so based on the support of the community
who the people who attended that meeting especially the nearby neighbors
my understanding also because of the non -opposition of the district council
My understanding also, because in the non -opposition of the district council member, we would respectfully request the granting of the variances.
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
Questions or comments from our attorney?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Question or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no hands.
Planning Commission. Thank you, Chairman. Excuse me, Chair, sorry. Mr. Richardson? Yes. Okay.
They haven't allowed to speak. Mr. Richardson, just for the record, state your name. You've already
been sworn. Certainly. Charles Richardson, RSEHARD, SO, and Office of Councilwoman Beas.
The Councilwoman has no opposition to granting the variance. Thank you. Anyone else in the virtual
audience planning thank you chairman and good morning david fechto with the city planning
commission chairman and board members the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the
rsa3 residential single family zoning at this location the proposed uses are consistent with
documented prior uses the city planning commission recommends the board grant the requested variances
for three dwelling units and no off -street parking. MI 2024 -004 -377 -4902, Knox Street, I vote yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes. Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes. Iowyn, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shahid, my vote is yes. Thank you. Thank you, counsel.
Number four, MI 2024, 005 -373 -38 Jackson Street. Roger Perry is the attorney. This is a resumptive hearing.
good morning i'm here good morning mr perry could you please state your name and spell for
the court stenographer yes thank you mr chairman my name is roger perry r -o -g -e -r -p -e -r -r -y
Do you swear or affirm that tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
This is a resumptive hearing. Just for the record, could you identify your client?
Yes, thank you. I represent Frankie's World, which is a nonprofit child care organization with regard to a proposed lease at 38 Jackson Street.
All right, thank you.
So this is a resumptive hearing. Here's our schedule.
There will be an update from the applicant regarding the layout, concerns raised by the board at the prior hearing, questions from the board, public testimony, planning commission, and we have a council member, Squilla, has sent, re -sent the letter of non -opposition.
So, Mr. Perry, why don't you start?
If I can share my screen here.
Okay, is that sharing, I hope?
can you guys see my screen here yeah we're okay okay i'm just trying to move this over here a
little bit okay so uh just briefly up to date because i don't know if everybody remembers or
whatever uh frankie's world uh has been a very significant uh child care uh center in philadelphia
for over a decade.
They handle child care
for children with disabilities.
They have a, and they still do,
they're at 10th and popular,
but they lost their lease
upon the sale of the building.
And they conducted a very significant search
for a space that can handle
a large number of children in an open space.
And they found this opportunity
at 38 Jackson Street.
At the last meeting, the board asked us for a couple of things, some specific plans, which I'll have here right now, and also some additional photographs and so forth.
So the first document that I have to show the board is a plan that the architect has done showing how the property is going to be accessed because these are children with disability and often arrive in vehicles.
Water Street, which is here, this is Jackson Street, 38 Jackson Street.
This is the property.
And to the side on I -95, Water Street was closed by the city years ago, and it is closed and incorporated into use by 38 Jackson Street.
What will happen here is there will be a gate here, and vehicles will be able to come in, turn around, and there is going to be a ramp and a dedicated...
And vehicles will be able to come in, turn around, and there is going to be a ramp and a dedicated entrance directly into the building at the first floor to allow children, some who may be in wheelchairs, to come into 38 Jackson Street.
They wanted the board also asked for a representation of what the interior may look like because the property is currently essentially vacant and needs to be completely rehabbed and so forth.
So the interior, based on what Frankie's World has been operating for 10 years now, is going to have a, and this will be Water Street down here.
This is Jackson Street over on the left.
There's a dedicated entrance for the children to come in.
There would be a dedicated entrance for the staff to come in to administrative offices and so forth.
And then many areas of classroom.
They run multiple classrooms, depending on age -related and ability, and also eating areas, and then there'll be offices for staff and separate eating areas, separate bathrooms, and so forth and so on for, you know, disabled, handicapped accessible bathrooms and so forth.
So this is a proposal, and I'll show you why it's just a proposal, because here, let me see if I can rotate.
Okay, so the interior is still rough.
There are some former offices that were set out, but here's what the first floor looks like.
This is the entrance, I believe, on Water Street.
um and some of the offices uh were pre -existing but have been uh unused at this point in time
these will be rehabbed for administrative offices prior office use and so forth so let me go back
and show you know i think we we went over the mailings and so forth there is a um this is
immediately adjacent to I -95, and we've agreed to work with Whitman in terms of trying to get
dedicated parking here. Both Councilman Squilla's office and Whitman have said that there should be
space available if we can get it assigned as dedicated parking. This is Water Street. This is
where the turnaround would be and a ramp and a dedicated access. This is what it looks like right
now where we posted it it's private and part of this 38 jackson street and so forth uh the posting
postings we reposted for um april the eighth hearing and sent that this is jackson street
and so forth um i don't think you need all the other the refusal um as we went over at the first
hearing is because this is in an i2 light industrial or medium industrial district and so
forth, but the letters that were provided indicate, let me show what we got here, letters of support
from Whitman Council, Councilman Mark Skogler's office indicating non -opposition, and a description
from the owners of the building that they asked for, noting that this area and this particular
property is primarily commercial. There's storage area in there, there's a recording studio on the
second story, and the adjacent properties are substantially retail, wholesale, commercial
properties. This is not a heavily used industrial district by any means and so forth.
So 38 Jackson Street is the landlord here. Frankie's World will be the tenant. We have a
substantial lease that's already been signed and negotiated to go into effect when we can get the
zoning approval from the board. And then we already have an architect who's prepared to go
ahead with the construction plans and so forth with the owner. And this would be all substantially
rehabbed. I don't think there's any, I mean, obviously it's going to be an improvement,
a substantial upgrade to the property itself and the area and so forth. And with that, I'll
pause for a moment, see if there's any questions or any additional information needed. I'm also
here with, should be here with representatives from Franties, the Lockwoods or whatever,
to the extent that we need to adopt my testimony. Why don't you bring your client on and adopt your
testimony? Yeah, could you determine if there's one of the Lockwoods here? Either Paul or Connie
Lockwood should be here. Paul or Connie, please raise your virtual hand.
They have been allowed to speak.
Hi, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Hi, can you hear me?
I can.
My name is Connie Lockwood, L -O -C -K -W -O -O -D, and I am one of the founding members.
L -O -C -K -W -O -O -D.
And I am one of the founding members
and the board of directors of Frankie's World.
We've actually been here 19 years.
Hold on, hold on, hold on a minute.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Could you turn your video on, please?
Oh, I'm sorry.
I thought it was on.
Please accept the panelists for motion
to be able to turn your video on.
Okay. Start video.
Okay. Thank you.
Good morning.
At least proceed, counsel.
Yeah. Hi, Connie.
Two things. One is, did you hear my presentation in terms of?
Yes, I did.
Okay. And if you testified, would you be able to testify substantially and adopt my testimony as truthful?
Yes, I will.
And you wanted to add something. Let me jump in there and see if you wanted to add something.
I was just going to say, we've been actually, this July will be 19 years that we've been operating Frankie's Road.
And this indeed is because you essentially have to move from Poplar Street and you did a long search with your board of directors and everything.
And this property seems to be ideal for what your needs are?
Yes, it does. With the open space in the offices, we will actually be gaining about 4 ,000 square feet,
which is desperately needed okay thank you mr perney what are the other uses in the building
uh there's a rather limited uh but there is there are three uses that i noted there's a recording
studio on the second story uh there is a storage area here that's used primarily uh there's an
italian american club that uses it uh for storage and there's also some mummers storage i didn't
include the photographs, but there are photographs of mummers' costumes and so forth. This is down
in the area, Pennsport mummers, Italian -American, and so forth. So it's really light use now.
The people, as per the letter that the owner noted, it's up here, okay, indicated and so forth,
as of right industrial, but they have not
pursued industrial. They were in music
recording studio storage tenants,
bouts of properties with Frankie Worlds
and a professional office tenant.
So we asked the owner
as to what their plans were
and they provided that information.
They attended Whitman Council
and so forth and everybody seems to be
happy with
having Frankie's World move into
this space.
Questions from the board?
Yes. Can you show me again how the children, particularly those who might have a wheelchair or something like that, are going to access the ramp and actually get into the space?
Absolutely. And Connie, as she indicated, has been dealing with disabled child, children who suffer disabilities for 19 years now. This has been designed by.
I know Ms. Lockwood.
Okay, so here is what the plan is.
This is a private access way.
Vehicles, including handicap accessible vehicles and so forth,
would be able to come in off of Water Street.
It's a wide, I'll show you that, but it's a wide gated area here.
They will come in here and be able to turn around.
And the proposed new entry is right here.
There's an ADA compliant ramp, and there's a dedicated entrance right here that pre -exists right now.
It's an old loading dock area and so forth.
So this will all be upgraded to an access ramp and so forth with a drop -off.
So if they drop off children here on the ground level, there's a slight rise up to the first level with a large entrance here that's going to be pre -existing.
and this it's already pre -existing and then a ramp up and then we will come into the Jackson
Street area which is area here so you see here where they come in and go into the space separate
from the staff area okay and then is there a separate entrance for um those who are using
the second floor and is that completely separate from the space that will be used by
the center? Yes, there are multiple entrances in terms of access. There's a right here
is the former main access where this comes in. This is sealed off from the center and then there's
where this comes in this is sealed off from the center and then there's stairs
stairs.
or wide stairs to go up to the second floor here there's also going to be a separate entrance for
staff this is primarily a staff area here so i'm not i'm not worried about the people that are
working within the facility i'm work i'm worried about the uh that there's a separation from those
who might be using the other commercial spaces within the building on the second floor.
There's a main entrance right here so that those people who want to access the second floor come
in here and go up the stairs. There'll be essentially a sealed doorway here that goes into
the Frankie's World. So this is a common area here.
okay and then my last question what were the hours again for this um facility sure connie
what are your normal hours going to be frankie's world operates from 7 a .m children start leaving
at 3 30 and we close the doors at five and that's that's five days a week five days a week okay
thank you all the questions for the board yeah could you just clarify for me
um you said that the front entrance where people go to get on the second floor you said there's a
door that they can access to get to frankie's world right there is that where your second
cursor is that will be a fire door with a um exit only from frankie's world there'll be no
entrance allowed where's the emergency egress for those with wheelchairs
where's the i'm sorry where's the left there another emergency egress or fire exit for
those with wheelchairs we are talking to our um architect about the door that we just discussed
being the fire door having a um i'm not sure exactly what they call it but it there's a
storage area right there where we could put down a, it's a portable ramp. It's made by Rubbermaid
and it's made to go right on top of stairs. You've seen them a lot in churches. The ramp
is one foot per two inches, which is not quite what is recommended, but it's still within the
reasonable way of getting the children out a second entrance there on the other side there
is another exit pardon me do you know if that's going to meet your fire code requirement for
legal i believe it is and there is another entrance if you look to the opposite side of
the screen you'll see some dark areas and there's an entrance there that goes into a very large
courtyard that's shared by um uh another building on the other side which i i believe is a um it's
like a cash and carry type place for groceries but there is um a large area out there and there
will be yeah right over the right you can see right where you are there roger that that goes
into a courtyard and there's no stairs that goes right out onto another yes gotcha okay
any other questions for the board
yes one more um is there a play area for the children the okay um a lot of our children
are heat and sun sensitive so what we have if you look at the dark area where we were just
discussing is what we have in this building we call tricycle alley there's there's a swing set
there's bicycles um we are going to have some type of jungle gym indoors um we also have um these
rolling carts that you
can put children in. I'm sure you've seen them at daycares. There are six
in a rolling cart. And there's a playground
at 2nd and Jackson that we have access to. So it's
a block and a half away.
For the children that can go outside. A lot of our children are not allowed to.
Understood. Thank you.
Question from our attorney, Hillary Emerson.
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience or the audience here?
I see no hands.
Planning Commission, do you want to change your position?
No, sir. We'll stand on our position that we gave the last time.
Stay with your position.
Yes, sir.
Okay. So, Council, we're going to hold this and talk about it in an executive session.
And Hillary, what's the date? We're not here next week. It'll be the following Wednesday.
And, Hillary, what's the date?
We're not here next week. It'll be the following Wednesday.
Yes, that sorry. Yes, that will be April 23rd, 930 that we would vote.
April 23rd, we will vote at 930, Mr. Perry. And thank you, Mr. Perry.
Thank you. I'll note that. Thank you very much.
All right. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you, ma 'am.
Number five and number six, we'll hear it together. MI 2024 -005 -664 -7213 Edmond Street and MI 2024 -006 -093 -7211 Edmond Street. Alan Nocklinson is the attorney.
There's a letter of support from Taconi Civic Association, and they're both resumptive hearings.
all right mr knockamson just for the record please state your name
alan knockamson and as we stated mr knockamson this will be a result of hearing and we'll be
looking for an update from the applicant about revised plans you'll have questions from the
board public testimony and the planning commission yes why don't you start and we're going to do both
at the same time thank you um i did create combined presentation materials for purposes
of this hearing i did make separate submissions for each of the testimony appeals uh may i share
my screen yes just make sure I have the right one all right so let's just get to the heart of the
matter, the revised plans. So just as again, as a reminder, we're here to take these two separate
zoning appeals where there's two separate properties and we're essentially dividing it up
to four duplexes. It's not out of character to have duplexes here where 7224, 7226, 7228, and 7230
are also duplexes on that block.
I'm just going to go through quickly through the refusals.
So that's the first refusal.
The second refusal has to do with the maximum occupied area
where the refusals are generally the same
in terms of the refusals.
Maybe the percentages may change a little bit,
but that's a diminished refusal
of where we're requesting to have an occupied area of 52 .2%.
We're trying to have nice floor plans for these properties.
Second refusal is the front yard depth, where eight feet is required and we're proposing six feet 11 inches.
Again, not out of character and I'll just quickly go through those drawings.
The fourth refusal has to do with side yard width.
So just quickly to just show you just that what we're proposing is not out of character.
in terms of those dimensional refusals. As you can see here,
we have nearby properties with non -conforming front yard depths.
And then we have nearby properties with minimal or no side yard depths. I will say that the
properties that we have that are unrelated to us, to left and right of us, have significant
side yard depths in that it helps us in terms of our smaller side yard depth. So we're not
affecting the people to the left and right of us. And in terms of our side, your depth of three feet,
eight inches. If you combine it, it's seven feet, six inches. So there's ample side your depth.
Now, in terms of our revised plans, I have them here. So there were several comments that were
made to us at the initial hearing. First was about egress in the rear for the for the lower floor
unit. So what we suggested at the hearing and what we have done here is we have created
egress steps. Like instead of just having an egress well, we have a staircase to the rear
yard so someone could just walk out. And that was something we proposed at the original hearing.
We also increased the height of the lower level by two feet, eight inches to provide more light
and air, which was very important, um, discussion, um, during our last hearing. Um, and we also
eliminated the egress well in the front. Uh, so we're not going to have to living in the,
in the front in the basement. Um, but we have, because that was a concern because where the
egress well was going to work was inside the, uh, the front porch. And it was concerned about like,
and it was concern about like what if someone puts patio furniture there someone's not going
what if someone puts patio furniture there, someone's not going to be able to
to be able to get it in there so we eliminated the the living in the basement in the front we
Thank you.
by raising the building where we got the extra light is we put windows underneath the porch as
well so now we have windows all around the perimeter for windows more light in there for
the people downstairs we have egress in the back we've eliminated that concern of the board with
the porch. And we also there was one thing with the side, what
did we do with the side? Oh, we provide exterior ramp inside
yards to access side unit entry door. So again, providing more
entry access for the that lower level units. So we have two sets
of revised plans, one for each project, given, you know, you
unanimous support from the community which is well documented the petition and our efforts to
conform in more towards the philadelphia zoning code we respectfully request that the board grant
these variances thank you do you want to bring your client on to adopt uh yes so we should have
Admir Bihari, who should be in the virtual audience.
Admir Bihari, please accept the panelists.
Hello?
Hi, could you please state your name as Bell for the sonographer?
Hey, my name is Admir Bahari. It's A -D -A -M -I -R, and last name is B -H -A -R -I.
Stonographer, did you get that?
Yes, Chair. Thank you.
Okay, thank you. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Yes. Admir, you heard everything I had to state today about your zoning matter.
And is it true and correct?
and do you adopt this your own testimony yes sir thank you questions from the court
can you pull up the floor plans again sure
and it looked like there's a reduction in stories is it it's now two stories um i don't
from the rendering i think the rendering doesn't give it justice but let me just let me see what
we have here. Yeah, I think it was a setback in the front, by the way. And that's why it looks
like it again to mimic the architecture on the block where you see a lot of two stories. So from
the front, it looks like a two story structure. Again, it's a porch neighborhood, we mimic that
architecture as well. But let me go through the floor plans.
That's the inspiration behind, you know, the design.
Okay, so you have like an entryway for the upper level unit in the front of the building,
and you have an entryway for the lower level unit on the side.
So as you can see here, there is an open floor plan of a kitchen and a dining area.
there's a bathroom and there's bedrooms there's an open floor plan down here for additional space
and there's one additional bedroom and with a bathroom down there but now we have direct access
for that for that bedroom with exterior steps i think that was the concern of the zoning board
was just more the window i was looking for the update yeah and we recommended it too to our
client that like when possible when you have a wide enough property to have those serious steps
it's actually a benefit for everyone um and then if you go up a flight of steps you have an open
floor plan one bedroom and then two bedrooms below down here so and what's the depth of that
that back on the third floor uh you mean the rear yard setback on the front setback oh the front
setback is six feet oh you mean on the third over here correct let me see zoomed in too small i see
the number okay it's like 10 feet yeah yeah and then so for the outside observer you don't really
see it it's kind of mimics the architecture on the block in the neighborhood so other questions
yeah so um you said you raised the the building so what is the below grade for the basement level
now let me see um let me see
uh if maybe someone from no more architecture can help me out here um i think it's six
if maybe someone from no more architecture can help me out here
feet it looks like but it looks like that's that's the grade right here it's six feet into
the ground and it's four feet above the ground so it's it's a better proportion than it was before
too and there's an exit in the rear and completely by itself an exit in my rear
Other questions from the board?
Questions from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Just, excuse me, just briefly, Mr. Nockamson, the RCO recommended a proviso for trash to be stored either in the side or in the rear.
Does your client have a position on that recommendation?
I mean, we, you know, again, because we have side yards, we would defer to the RCO's recommendation, but I would think it'd be more appropriate to have it in the rear because the side's not that wide.
So I would say from an egress standpoint, it would be more appropriate to do in the rear.
And I just want to make sure that there wasn't already a plan in place for interior trash storage.
So if not, then.
yeah but we can say like you know you know if trash is going to be stored outside to be in the
rear both units have access to the rear they do because there's there's side there's side yards
no yeah that i understood like it's at grade but i just wasn't sure since the upper level
had a balcony and a roof deck that the first floor didn't have access to that you were going
to allow them to use the backyard yeah i mean we can probably create like a little like interior
fence within there where there can be a separate door okay thank you questions or comments from
the virtual audience i see no hands planning commission
thank you chairman and good morning david fechta with the city planning commission
chairman will enter the same testimony for both properties um chairman and board members the
comprehensive plan recommends no change to the rsa3 residential single family zoning at this
location there are no unique physical conditions or circumstances of either property that would
prevent them from being used in strict conformity with the zoning code city planning commission
recommends the board deny the request use variance for two dwelling units and the dimensional
variances for occupied area front yard depth and side yard width. Thank you. MI 2024 -005 -664 -7213
Edmond Street and MI 2024 -006 -093 -7211 Edmond Street. I vote yes with proviso. Trash stored
in rear of property?
That's it, right, Hillary?
There are revised plans, too, but also just say, if you're granting yes to both.
So it's clear you're granting.
Yes to both.
And they both have the same provisos.
Revised plans.
What is the result?
Two pages.
Two pages.
Stamped by ZBA today, right?
4 -8 -25.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with provisos to both.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes with provisos to both.
My vote is yes with provisos to both.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with provisos to both.
Thank you.
Why don't we stay here, right?
Why don't you stay, all right?
And Leonard, you might want to come up.
So MI 2025 -001 -558 -2308 -St. Albans Street. Michael McElhenney is the attorney. Also involved is Alan Notkinson, who is the attorney for the owner, and Leonard Reuter, who is the attorney for the City and License and Inspections.
I represent the public. I'm asked to sit and testify. My lawyers don't.
Yeah, well, I think your lawyer will call you. Okay, he'll call you as a witness, sir. Mr. McElhenney, are you on? Yes, Mr. Chairman. Could you please state your name and spell it for the stenographer? Michael McElhenney, M -I -C -H -A -E -L -M -C -I -L -H -I -N -N -E -Y.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth? I do. Mr. Knockerson, you've already been sworn. Mr. Reuter, could you please state your name and spell it for the court stenographer?
Good morning. May it please the board, Leonard F. Reuter, R -E -U -T -E -R, for the City of Philadelphia.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Mr. McElhoney, could you identify your client and the relationship to the properties?
Yes, Mr. Chairman. My client is Melissa Howell and Sean O 'Rourke. And Sean O 'Rourke is, they live at 2306 St. Albans. And Mr. O 'Rourke is in the ZBA room with the board.
Yes, Mr. Chairman. My client is Melissa Howell and Sean O 'Rourke.
Okay. So we'll start, you'll start, Mr. McCloney, please.
Mr. Chair, I would respectfully request that we move to dismiss this appeal. I think Mr. Reuter can speak better about this, given his knowledge of the Philadelphia zoning code from an L &I perspective.
Mr. Reuter, please proceed.
Yes, thank you. Yeah, the city's position is that the zoning board doesn't really have any jurisdiction here over the specific claims that are being raised by the appellant.
In their notice of appeal, they simply outline that the zoning permit was issued without consideration for the historic nature of the property.
There's also a mistaken statement that the Philadelphia Historical Commission approved the zoning permit.
the historical commission does not review zoning permits with the exception of they will certify
not not applicable here but they will certify you know prior uses of properties that are you know
institutional and other uses if they qualify for cmx3 uses or they can certify properties
historic nature for purposes of adding a accessory dwelling unit neither of those apply here the
historical commission does not review or approve zoning permits they review and approve
building permits and many times as in this instance i believe
persons will seek approval of the historical commission for a particular building permit
before they get any other permits so in this case permit when the application went to the
historical commission and based upon their review the staff review uh there was no impact uh on the
public there was no visibility of the of the uh structure in question from the public right away
this is a rear edition for i believe a bathroom or something it's not visible from a public right
away but in any case uh we're not getting without getting into the substance of the matter there was
a concurrent appeal that has been filed from the historical commission's approval that is pending
before the board of l and i review which is the appropriate body to hear appeals from decisions
of the historical commission uh that was filed i believe timely although i can't say for sure i
didn't look at all the dates but it looked timely uh and that will be pending before the board of
l and i review at some point in the future so while the city concedes that zoning permits
can be challenged if the underlying challenge is based upon the zoning code but in this case there
is a specific uh path of appeal from the historical commission decision to the board of l and i review
which has been taken by the appellants and therefore we don't believe that this board has
any jurisdiction or rather no authority to proceed with this claim at this time
we understand it's possible that the appellants filed this as kind of a belt and suspenders
approach um just to cover their bases uh but you know again until the historical commission i'm
sorry until the board of l and i review refused propriety the historical commission's decision
on the building permit there's really nothing for this board to decide
so we we would ask that the matter be dismissed can i just ask a question um mr reuter just to
clarify there was um are you saying there was no required prerequisite review by the historical
commission for the zoning permit in this case in this case no okay all right thank you all right
mr michelhanning well mr chairman um i was going to ask the same question that miss emerson just
asked because it's my understanding and having been through the process for 20 years when you
go to do an addition to a historic building and get a zoning permit for an addition that is a
prerequisite approval that the historic commission would review and presumably approve before a
zoning permit for that addition could be issued and that zoning permit is then the basis of the
building permit so there may be another uh procedural misstep here that the historic
commission didn't approve the zoning permit that is the basis of the building permit because that
this is a this is the historic garden block 2300 st albans the entire building structures massings
and it faces there's two public streets the prerequisite approval should be required under
the zoning code and i think this board would have jurisdiction um over over this appeal
yeah mr chair um this board's authority and jurisdiction is to interpret the philadelphia
zoning code what this appeal is requesting is to is to
What this appeal is requesting is to oversee the determination of the Philadelphia Historical Commission, as, again, I'll defer to Mr. Reuter, in that the right form is not this form.
It's front of the Board of L &I Review Board.
And for those reasons, we believe it should be dismissed.
And I'm going to reserve, you know, our right to object also at that in that form, in terms of the how timely it was filed. My understanding is that that appeal was just filed. So there's you have 30 days from actual or constructive notice of the of the actual issuance of the permit.
And my understanding is that the appellant knew as, you know, we have text messages as far back as February 6th that they knew about the issuance of this permit.
Our office is going to investigate a little further, but I believe that their appeal also there is untimely. Thank you.
Mr. McElhaney, do you represent your client in front of the L &I review or two for this?
I do represent the two clients and additional neighbors as part of that appeal before the Board of Licenses and Inspection Review.
And the issue of timeliness will be addressed in that venue.
Hillary, what I would like to do is, could we take memos from all sides and continue it?
We can.
I do want to ask a question to Mr. McElhenney, because in the appeal, it indicates that the Historical Commission reviewed the permit and approved it.
Was there something definitive that your clients received that indicate that it was reviewed by the Historical Commission?
No, it is the understanding that under the zoning process for a historic building, you need prerequisite historic approval.
um there is no notice of the historic commission reviewing and approving a zoning permit or
building permit so nobody has actual knowledge of when or if that happened at this time right okay
all right thank you for that clarification if i could add one thing just under the jurisdictional
question 14 303 15a does give jurisdiction over decisions um zoning decisions uh to go before
this board and the zoning permit we are submitting is issued in error if the historic commission did
not review that application if i could respond please so uh again i mean if we'll defer to the
board if they want a memo but uh in this instance we think it's it's pretty self -evident i mean
there is literally no prerequisite approval by the historical commission for any zoning permit
the only things that go through the historical commission that involve zoning matters
are if somebody is seeking uh an accessory dwelling unit for an historic property or if
somebody is seeking CMX3 uses for a property that had a prior, like institutional use, like a
former school, church, something like that. There's never been historical commission review of zoning
permits. We understand that the zoning code indicates that this board has review over matters
in the zoning code and the preservation ordinance, which is 141000 a sequitur, is in the zoning code.
However, that the preservation ordinance itself only speaks of review of building permits with
the exception of those two other zoning type matters that are not at issue here.
And it specifically provides a 141008 expressly provides an appeal track to the board of L &I
review. So even if there's a general provision for this board to have authority over anything
in the zoning code this is a more specific provision that carves out uh appeals from the
historical commission uh and has those go to the uh to the board of l and i review um so whether
you know policy -wise it would be better for these things to be heard by the zoning board
that question's come up now and again over the past 75 years uh but it hasn't happened so um
You know, that's that's the city's position. I mean, we're happy to write over. So I Hillary, I think this is where it should be. I think we should receive documents from each side with what this position. Right. And for this, we'll say this motion. And then I think we bring it back in three weeks. And we vote on the motion in three weeks. Is that OK? Yes, that's fine. And that three weeks. Sorry, I'm just getting my calendar. OK. When will papers have to be in, Mr. Chair?
um one hillary give me an idea what you think is a fair time for that so
is would april 25th be fine and we can vote on the 30th april 25th what what date is that's a
April 25th, what date is it?
That's a Friday.
friday i think that's yes i think that's
Yes, I think that's fair.
Michael?
Yes, that's acceptable.
Okay, and that way everybody will have a little time to discuss it and figure out where we stand, and then we'll vote on the motion, and we'll see where we are.
We can schedule the vote for Wednesday, April 30th at 930.
All right.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Is there anyone in the virtual audience whose case has not been – do you have another case?
I have 4028 Westminster.
may I be excused this was that was resumption as well Mr. chair
not on this list not on this list
I would say that Mr. Goldberg go to the videotape now
but you know when is it it was on our list
40 28th
Westminster
I know I'm like double duty
I'm like you guys
I have to wear a suit twice in a week
so this was scheduled
for a vote today i apologize it did not it was a vote only not a resumption um we were waiting
for additional information on um repairs made to the property and comments from the rco block
and block and we have those materials like we gave updated photos okay so so we will we will
reschedule the vote on this matter um for tomorrow at 9 30 okay i mean we did post as well so i just
you know okay have proof of posting so what we do is our office we'll just put the date in there and
you know i mean so no my my apologies i missed i missed this one um so we'll schedule the vote
for this one tomorrow can we do it too or we have to do it i mean we can do it at two o 'clock
i think i have i don't usually let me see what my schedule it it honestly does not uh we just
have to announce it here because we're expecting it like yeah yeah let's do it two o 'clock because
so the so the vote on mi -2024 -005 -752 -4028 westminster avenue that will be now voted on
wednesday april 9th at 2 p .m thank you thank you goldberg's pretty efficient there i'll tell you
chair we have somebody with their hands raised cordelia bassett sure they have been allowed to
speak. Hi, could you please state your name as spelled for the sonographer?
Cordelia Baffick, please unmute your mic.
Cordelia Baffick, C -O -R -D -E -L -I -A -B -A -F -F -I -C. Do you swear or affirm that tell the truth,
the whole truth, nothing but the truth? Yes, sir. What case? This is the one that you just
mentioned. 4028 Westminster. I'm the
block captain. Okay. Yep. So we're
going to do that tomorrow. You're going to do that tomorrow.
That was our mistake. Okay.
Okay. Thank you so much. And Ms. Baffick,
that is a vote only. If
there's any materials that you wish
to submit, you need to submit those
by close of business today. Okay.
Thank you. Thank you. Bye -bye.
Thank you. Is there anyone
else in the virtual audience whose case has not been
called?
I see no hands.
Thanks, everyone. See everybody tomorrow
at 9 30.