thank you chair sarah bond city planning commission s a r a h b a n h
The proposed dimensions are consistent with nearby properties with regards to the rear yard setback.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the Board grant the variance.
the city planning commission recommends that the board grant the variance thank you mi 2022
Thank you. MI 2020.
zero zero three nine six five three thirty four south 24th street i vote yes with proviso revised
plans one page stamp by zba on november 30th 2022. carol tenere my vote is yes proviso
Thomas Solomon. My vote is yes with proviso. James Snell. My vote is yes with proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed. My vote is yes with proviso. Thank you, counsel. Thank you.
Thank you. Number eight, MI 2022-003-939-850 South 2nd Street. Mike Gumbel is the attorney.
letter of support from Queen Village Neighbors Association letter of non-opposition from Mark
Squilla. Mr. Gumbel. He will be rejoining as a panelist, sir. Thank you.
Good afternoon. Hi, good afternoon, counsel. Could you state your name and spell for the
court reporter, please. Sure. Michael Gumbel, last name G-U-M-B-E-L. Do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? I do. Could you identify your client in
relationship to this property? Yes, I am actually the client. Okay. Property. All right. Thank you.
Our vice chair has a few questions. I do agree to wave the reading of the refusal and stipulate
to its accuracy i do could you email the exhibit packet with proof of ownership tax compliance
a copy of the refusal or referral photos and or plan photos under plans of the property
five days in advance of this hearing and have you met with the rco and do you have a letter
uh yes to all of the above except that the exhibits were sent on monday due to the holiday
okay you may proceed and begin to share your screen
okay can you see the screen we can yes we can okay um good afternoon committee uh my name is
mike gumbel uh i'm here for 850 south second street which is located in queen village it's
the corner of 2nd and Christian. The property itself is actually owned by MJDFG Holdings LLC,
which I'm 100% owner of. This property is a CMX1, which allows for commercial on the first floor
and residential above. I, for the last 12 years, have operated my law office and real estate office
on the first floor. And then on the second floor is a long-term tenant. And on the third floor
is another one-bedroom apartment, which we would like to receive the variance for to be used as
short-term rental. I've been a tenant in the building since about 2010, and then last year
I purchased it from my landlord, and my wife and I have been trying to make improvements to the
building and basically use it as a long-term investment for my business and for our family.
um so going down after we initially purchased it we tried to rent out that third floor unit
for about six months uh we couldn't get anybody in there um we then both of our families are out
of state so we thought about using it as an apartment for our families to come visit our son
and have a place for them to stay the only issue with that is that they're not here all the time
and I need to be able to bring in some income to be able to support the mortgage on the property.
So at that point, we considered turning it into an Airbnb or short-term rental,
which we have tested out this summer with some success. So if you're looking at the pictures
here, you can see my building is in the middle. It's the law office and real estate. The entrance
to the apartments is this black door. Next to me on one side, I have Lucky's Last Chance Bar.
And on the other side is Philadelphia Java Company, which is a cafe espresso bar.
And here you can see that mine is in the center there.
Here I have some pictures of the apartment itself.
It's basically just a single one-bedroom apartment.
and then following that i have uh an example of our the listing that we've used for airbnb
uh and some sample reviews from uh the people that have stayed with us
uh i think we've found a real niche as
I think we've found a real niche as kind of a Queen Village and South Philly-centric place for people to stay at.
It's kind.
We've tried to make it a very community-focused spot.
So, for instance, we've worked with the coffee shop and the bar and some of the other businesses in the neighborhood to get coupons that we pay for,
and we provide them to our guests so that they can patronize the local establishments.
we've also tried to be a resource for people in the neighborhood a couple months back one of the
houses around the block burned down and we made the place available for those homeowners to stay
at for that short term while they needed to until they got back on their feet another example is
there was a family that recently sold their house rather than having to stay in a hotel for several
weeks they were able to stay with us so that their kids could walk back and forth to merida's school
where they go to. So we've really tried to reach out to the community and offer our services for
them. Probably 75% of the people who stayed with us are people who are coming to visit
children or grandchildren who live in Queen Village. So it's really provided a service to
the community in that sense, making it convenient for those people to be near their families.
um we've had our guests pretty strongly we don't allow anybody who does not have a five-star rating
or reviews uh we always ask people why they're coming in so we can determine what what's bringing
them here and make sure that it's something that is compatible with what we want we do not want
parties we do not want and i think part of what council tried to do was eliminate party houses
And so we've very much tried to enforce that and been successful in doing that.
Other than that, I'm pretty much here six to seven days a week on premises.
As I said, I have my offices here.
We have a lot of personal items here, so we're constantly going back and forth.
I do have a security camera on the front of the building to keep track of who's going in and out.
And I also have private trash service, which comes to pick up the trash for the building so that we're not overburdening any of the city resources.
Thank you. Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Do not see any hats, Mr. Chair.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair.
Sarah Bond, City Planning Commission, S-A-R-A-H-B-A-N-H. The comprehensive plan recommends
no change to the existing commercial mixed-use zoning at this location. However, the proposed
use is not likely to have impacts more than reasonably expected. The City Planning Commission
recommends that the Zoning Board grant the variance. MI 2022-003-939-850 South 2nd Street.
I vote yes for a temporary variance that will expire 12-1-25.
Carol Tenere, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with proviso.
James Snell, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you very much.
number nine mi2022-003-960-630 east chelton avenue alan knockamson is the attorney
letter of support 12-4 democratic committee rco coordinating rco letter of support from
chew and chelton cdc which is the affected rco councilwoman bass is not opposed to the granting
of the variance. Applicant provided petition of support signed by nine area residents plus four
residents who listed the subject property as their home address. Also two form letters of support
from residents of the 600 block of Chelton. Good afternoon Mr. Chair members of the board
Alan Nockmson, A-L-A-N, last name Nockmson, N-O-C-H-U-M-S-O-N, 123 South Broad Street, Suite 1600, Philadelphia PA, 19109.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client, please, in the relationship to the property?
Yes. My client is LP Real Estate Investment, and in the virtual audience is Lindsay Patterson.
the member of that corporate entity. Right. Our vice chair has a few questions. Counsel.
Mr. Nockmson, do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
I do. Have you emailed the packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance,
refusal referral photos and their plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing
refusal, referral, photos, and their plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing?
and have you met with the rco and do you have a letter yes your respects okay great you may
proceed and begin to share your screen thank you welcome back i know i feel like i haven't seen
you guys in a while yeah i do i do turn these in one day i think i need to be in detox i was
going to say it's like detox did you get a notice in the mail of your record-breaking performance
um i was waiting actually for the cameras to come out
and i was also waiting for the city of philadelphia to give me my stipend for the day
all right 630 east shelton avenue uh uh this is a very straightforward project it's an 8 000
square foot uh rsa uh three lot uh that we're looking to subdivide uh and there's a building
structure that's currently there that's a that's being used as a duplex and it has a history of
multi-family use going back almost 100 years and when my client purchased the property it was a
duplex and we had photographs in that respect we're hoping to legalize the duplex and to subdivide
the property which was previously two separate lots to begin with uh so you'll we'll go over
notice of refusal, the correspondence from the 12th Ward Democratic Committee, which they support
our project, as well as there is an email from Chu and Shelton CBC, another RCO for this property,
which is also in support. We have letters of support and petition signed by nearby property
owners. Then you'll see a use registration of number 44243, which shows that in 1943,
this property was converted from a quadplex to a triplex, just showing the long history of
the building structure that's currently existing. Then nearby recently granted multifamily variances,
which are RSA3 properties. Again, it's not out of character for this property to be multifamily
in nature. And it's also not out of character for nearby properties to be in multifamily nature or
the ZBA to grant such variances. And then I just wanted you to understand that this
subdivision is not out of character for this block. And we have lots of sizes of nearby RSA3
properties on our side of the street. Actually, even with this subdivision, we are still larger
than most of those properties on our side of the street. Then we'll have maps of the area,
photographs of the property or plans and drawings pretty basic again this is an existing use that
my client purchased and all he's trying to do is legalize it so he can get a housing inspection
license and the proper certificate of office and see um after that we'll review the rco meeting
notice we did meet with community twice uh the second time it was first time we mailed notice
by way of the rules of the zba the second time they asked us to actually hand deliver the notice
which we did, and I have an affidavit from my client indicating that he hand-delivered it
for the second meeting. Our application for appeal to the CBA or deeds to the property
showing LP real estate investment as the owner of the property or certificate of tax clearance.
And again, in the virtual audience, it should be Lindsay Patterson, the member of this corporate
entity. Our notice of refusal, again, we're an RSA-3 property. It's for a lot adjustment to
create two lots from one deeded lot at 630 East Shelton Avenue. And there's a building structure
which will be on one lot, which we're requesting to have as a two-family structure and as a vacant
lot for the other proposed lot. Our only refusal has to do with the fact that this is an RSA3
property and technically multifamily use is not allowed. We met with the 12th Democratic Board
again twice. They were supportive of us, not only because of our presentation, because
also of our significant community outreach. This is an elderly portion of Philadelphia,
which have limitations on technology. So that was why we had the second meeting, was it was
asked of us to hand deliver those notices and to distribute a petition, which we did.
and Douglas Rucker of Chew and Shelton CDC who also attended both of the community meetings
also lodged his support personally because he lived nearby but also on behalf of that RCO as well
and then our petition as you can see we really just focus on nearby properties so you can see
these are all on the 600 block of Shelton Avenue and then even our letters to support also are
focused on the 600 block in Charlton County.
And our user registration permit, as you can see, in 1943, this property was converted actually from a three unit to a four unit.
And our use registration permit as you can see in 1943
So, again, significant multifamily history.
And when we purchased it, it was configured as a two unit structure.
And then, again, it's not uncommon for the ZBA to grant variances of similar elk.
recently in 2021 they granted us a 617 locust avenue to allow for three units and then 535
east shelton also a three unit dwelling and then 533 east shelton avenue a three unit dwelling
and 531 east shelton avenue a three family dwelling and then i also want to give you an
idea of where we are so we're next door to a commercial property which is a general dollar
store but you can see from the size a lot other than this one lot all the other lots on this side
we have 10 other losses examples have almost like 3,500 to 4,000 square feet which would go in line
with our lot by subdividing it so what we're proposing is not out of character to any approach
And then the maps of the area, you can see where we are on the East Shelton Street, which we're in between McMahon Avenue and Musgrave and East Woodlawn Street to the rear.
And then you can see this lot. This is the building structure that currently exists.
And this is our lot as well. And we're merely just subdividing this in half.
As you can see, there's a walkway from front to back, so garbage can be stored outside for access purposes as well.
The first floor unit has access through the front and the back.
There is no basement living here.
The basement's merely used for the owner or for storage.
And then here's just our zoning hearing notice posting, showing that we posted the property.
And it was asked of us also to post the property for the community meeting, which we did as well.
And then Shelton Avenue is the right of the property.
Shelton Avenue is the left of the property.
And then just to show that, again, this is an existing use.
You can see the electric meters.
There are multiple meters.
There are multiple hot water heaters in this property as well.
And then our plans and drawings are pretty straightforward.
You walk up a flight.
You can go to the perch unit, go on Shelton Avenue, it's two-bedroom, one-bath.
You can go along the sides to go up to a separate entrance to unit number two, which is a two-bedroom, two-bath.
Again, there is no access for the first four units to the basement, so there's no basement living,
that's merely for home or storage.
And our RCO meeting notice, again, we kind of met the needs of the community.
They wanted us to highlight the fact that this was an important community meeting, and we did highlight that.
And we hand-delivered that to 85 addresses, the second one.
And these are the addresses, and this is our affidavit that my client personally hand-delivered to every single address.
And then we emailed that notice, obviously, to all the RCOs.
And our application for appeal, project information form, DTIP property showing that LP, Real Estate Investment and Development LLC, is the owner of the property.
And most importantly, showing that my client's good standing with the city with respect to this property and its taxes, by the way.
With that being said, I would ask that Mr. Patterson virtually raise his hand.
Mr. Patterson, when you get on, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
I have a Lindsey Patterson with a hand raised.
I will have him speak at this time.
Hi, yes.
Hi, Mr. Patterson.