C-A-S-T-I-L-L-O
do you swear or affirm
to tell the truth
the whole truth
and nothing but the truth
did you swear to tell the truth okay our uh our vice chair um excuse me mr miss sanchez is that
is that you are you miss sanchez i'm his wife oh you're his wife okay sorry i was emailing with
miss sanchez okay it seems like he's having a little bit of difficulty understanding what
we're communicating to him um would it be better for us to continue this and for us to get an
interpreter for him no i want to continue or we try we want to try okay um but you he's got to
speak on his own he's got to speak on his own you can't be interpreting for him so if he needs
interpretation services we need to be able to have an interpreter here so we can't you can't
act as an interpreter for him because he needed neutral third party okay mr castillo are you okay
to go on yeah okay um uh our vice chair has just a few questions for you
good afternoon sir have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is
needed and required to proceed with this case five days in advance of this area
did you answer yes i'm sorry chair this is tanya i know yes i do believe that i could reschedule
this as soon as possible yeah we'll do that time demand that an interpreter handle this case and
not the person's spouse thank you very kindly totally totally agree so mr castillo we're going
continue this we will bring you back in as soon as we can and when we bring you back we'll have
an interpreter and then we'll get through this okay okay thank you very much we'll get we'll get
okay so let's now go to
Okay, so let's now go to case number one. MI 2023-003-954-3753 North 18th Street. This is a resumptive hearing. Mr. Nockamson.
They'll be coming back in as a panel, sir.
Mr. Nockamson, is this your first time today?
It is my first time today.
Okay, so could you please state your name and spell for this stenographer?
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, and nothing but the truth?
So, Mr. Nockamson, this is a resumptive hearing.
We're going to have an update from the RCO, additional public testimony, planning commission recommendation, and then a response from you at the end.
But I believe yesterday you had a case similar to this.
So why don't you start with just a couple general issues relative to the case?
All right.
So we're looking to put a three-family dwelling in this property, and we have two refusals.
and this is an RSA-5 property, and we have two refusals, the first of which is the use for three
units, not out of character for the neighborhood, and we gave an example on that block of another
three-unit dwelling. The second refusal is a de minimis refusal for rear yards setback, where nine
feet is required under the code, and we're at eight feet, one inches. So what the community was
concerned with was not the use of the property or the setback. They were more concerned about
how if the rear of our property mimicked the properties to left and right of it.
I'm going to share my screen and just so you can see what we did.
Let's get to that portion.
So we have revised plans where we now have an 18-foot rear setback on the third floor,
third story, 10-foot setback on the second story,
And we reduced the building depth by six more inches to go more in compliance, but not completely with the rear yard setback within the Philadelphia zoning code.
So just the easiest just to illustrate it.
So these are revised plans.
So basically what they wanted us to do was to step it down, you know, so, you know, further, you know, on the first floor, then a little more setback on the second floor.
and then further set back on the third floor this would mimic the properties to left and right of us
ultimately we did get a letter of support based on that that was their only
complaint about this project so we got a letter of support which is dated march 1st of 2024
with you know with the understanding that we would be submitting this with revised plans which we did
submit all right and that's where we are thank you is there anyone from the rco present
once again is there anyone from the rco present in the virtual audience today
okay all right questions or comments from the virtual audience
I have a hand up from Charles Richardson.
Okay, thank you.
Mr. Richardson, you were sworn earlier today.
Just state your name and begin your testimony.
Charles Richardson, Councilwoman Cindy Bass, room 508 City Hall.
Having examined the letter that came from the RCO, they were in support, so the Councilwoman has no objection to granting the variance.
Thank you very much.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
Planning Commission.
No further hands, Mr. Chair.
Good afternoon.
Amy Boyd with the City Planning Commission.
A-M-Y-B-O-Y-D.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing RSA 5 single-family zoning at this location.
The appellant has not supported their hardship claim for multifamily with evidence of unique physical circumstances or conditions of the property.
The requested year-yard depth variance is de minimis.
The Planning Commission recommends that the Board grant the variance for year-yard depth and deny the variance for multifamily household living.
Grant the variance for a rear yard gap and deny the variance for multifamily household living.
Mr. Nockman, would you want to respond to the testimony that we've had so far?
Yeah, so the lot is 1,392 square feet, which is rather large for an RSA 5 property.
And it's not out of character to have triplexes, especially on this block.
And during my original presentation, we provided an example of one property on that block, which is similarly a triplex.
And again, we did work with the community on this, and they have no objection to the actual use of the property.
It had to do with non-zoney related matters.
Thank you.
Mr. Nackamson, I don't know if Hillary has spoken to you or not, but we're going to hold the vote on this to May 29th at 2 p.m.
The record is closed.
All right. Thank you.
Thank you.
And just to clarify, because Mr. Nockmson, I didn't get to reach out to you about this one.
And that is just so we need to have a couple members watch the video of this hearing that we just had in order to vote.
And we should have those members present and have them watch the video next week.
Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Nockmson.
Number two, MI 2023-006-343-9901 Frankfurt Avenue.
David Chandler is the attorney.
There's a letter of support from the East Tarsdale Civic Association.
20 in favor, 8 opposed.
Mr. Chandler.
I'll be coming back in as a panelist, Mr. Chandler.
Sure, thank you.
Hi, Mr. Chandler.
Could you state your name, please?
yes and spelled for the courts and wait a minute and spelled for the court stenographer sure david
chandler c-h-a-n-d-l-e-r along with co-counsel hayan beck b-a-i-k and a-j willis w-i-l-l-i-s
we're co-counsel they're co-counsel and i'm here for 9901 uh frankfurt avenue okay all right hold
on hold on hold on hold on hold on do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and
nothing but the truth. Yes, I do. And Mr. Chandler, you'll be handling the hearing, right? Yes, I will.
Could you identify your client, a relationship to the property?
Okay. The owners are Jonathan Trinidad, like the country, and Natalie Ramos, R-A-M-O-S,
and they are the owners of the business and the property at 9901 Frankfurt.
And our vice chair has just a few questions for you, sir.
Sure. Good afternoon, Counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate towards accuracy?
Yes, I do.
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed and required to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, I did.
Thank you, Counsel. Please proceed and share your screen.
Okay. Well, now we will upload the presentation.
Yep, sure.
Here, AJ Trinidad LLC.
And, okay.
This is the resume of Mr. Trinidad.
And this is the resume of Ms. Ramos.
This is going to be a tire store, fixing tires, selling tires.
And right now, the property is abandoned.
So, at least it'll add something to the neighborhood.
And this is the property itself.
H.A. Trinidad Tires LLC is the company.
This is notice of refusal.
And this is the application for appeal.
And confirmation page.
Now, the East Torres Stale Civic Association voted in favor of this application.
So it has community support, as you can see.
We sent a letter to the councilman's office letting him know of this hearing.
Now, this is detailed information about the project.
As you can see, this is the site plan, and that's a view of the outside.
Right now, it's abandoned, but once, assuming that we are approved, then it'll be, basically, it'll be a vibrant business.
And that's another, more of the current outside views.
And that's another, more of the current outside.
And this is the interior.
This is the zoning notice, mortgage.
The deed, we did email the entire deed yesterday.
and tax and the this this is the um uh tax clearance certificate
uh issue date may 7th so they're okay with the taxes so that's that's it basically so so mr
chandler i noticed you showed the uh the notice of the hearing did you post it uh yes we did
of this this hearing we did do you have a photo for that yes we did um
no yeah no no no no is it not Hillary do you have a photo of it Hillary
um yes I believe there are some supplemental exhibits that separately um from this PowerPoint
um we did we did we do have a complete exhibit packet for this thank thank you thank you very
much. Mr. Chandler, could you bring on your client? Sure. Mr. Trinidad.
Hi, hello. Hi, Mr. Trinidad. Mr. Trinidad, you're going to do this, the speaking, right?
Me and my wife. Well, why don't we make it easier just one of you do it? Is that whoever wants to
be? It's just easier. Who wants to do it? I can do it. Okay, good. So could you please state your
name and spell for the court stenographer. My name is Natalie Ramos, N-A-T-A-L-Y Ramos, R-A-M-O-S.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do. Please proceed, counsel. Yes, Ms. Ramos, did you hear what I told the chairman
before? Yes. And do you agree with what I said? Yes, I agree.
and um do you have anything else to say or um we just want to ask um the opportunity to be able
to serve that community and uh we have a lot of experience on the business that it's not that
we're going to start something new my husband he been working um in a tire shop with his dad son
he was like probably 16 years old and i've been working with him since 2013 so i have a lot of
experience and i'm going to be more than happy to serve that community we just want to serve
and provide services to anyone who needs um tire services or any repair for the vehicles
so thank you very much questions from the board
no questions chair
no chair questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson not at this time mr chair questions
Is there comments from the virtual audience?
Do not see any hands, Mr. Chair.
Planning Commission.
Hi, Amy Boyd with the City Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the commercial mixed-use zoning at this location.
The property has a documented history of consumer retail.
There are no unique physical conditions or circumstances of this property that would prevent it from being used in conformance with the zoning code.
The Planning Commission staff are also concerned about the environmental impacts of vehicle repair and maintenance on the adjacent Pennypack Park and Creek.
Oil and other toxic fluids are routinely used in these facilities.
While bus efforts are made, these fluids routinely escape down to nearby storing drains.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the board deny the repairs use variance for vehicle repair and maintenance.
So, Mr. Chandler, I'm going to I'm going to take some time and go to the executive session next Wednesday.
We will vote on this at 2 p.m. next Wednesday.
OK. OK. So and we're going to I just want to sit, talk with the other members of the board.
OK, let's see where we're going to be with this.
OK, and thank you for your presentation. And thank you. Thank you both for coming in.
OK, may we be excused? You most certainly can, sir. Thank you. Bye. Thank you.
OK. Number five, MI 2024-000915-3114 North Broad Street. Meredith Verliger is the attorney.
There's a letter of unanimous support from the Allegheny West Civic Association and RCO.
There was also a petition of support signed by six neighbors, along with two form letters.
There was also a petition of support signed by six neighbors, along with two form letters.
Counsel, you've already been sworn once. Could you just state your name for the record?
Sure. Meredith Ferliger, F-E-R-L-E-G-E-R.
Could you identify your client in relationship to this property?
Sure. My client is Queenonia Investments, LLC, which is the owner of this property.
And our vice chair has a few questions.
good afternoon counsel do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its
accuracy i do have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed to proceed
with this case five days in advance of this hearing i sure did and they should be up on the