we have also agreed separately it's not really a zoning matter something that we can show on the
plans but we have agreed that the roof deck itself will not be unreasonably above the uh the roof and
as close to uh on roof level as possible um you hear me now yes i can mr chairman okay thank you
yes i can mr okay thank you how many pages the revised two pages revised plans they were
how many pages the revised two pages revised plan
submitted already to uh all right thank you um do you need to bring your client on uh i don't
believe i need my client i would simply say that yeah mr rubin and i'm sorry i spoke over you
that's okay we'll stipulate your client would agree that uh adopt your testimony so we have
mr freeman and uh mr rubin two of the heavy hitters in northern liberties
who's the most who's the most prominent one
i'd say i'd say larry because he lives across the street
well mr rubin lives across the street i meant to say mr rubin yeah
i meant to say mr rubin yeah
mr yes
Larry, okay.
Please identify yourself with a record, please, by your name.
Yes, I'm Larry Friedman,
chair of the Northern Liberty's Neighbors Association zoning committee.
Friedman is F-R-E-E-D-M-A-N, correct?
Correct.
You swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, sir.
do you do you do you agree with the testimony of mr whalen yes yes yes all the issues yes
and uh basically i'm just here i was actually on the the last uh at the last hearing um
as more or less more or less an observer because we of course did send out a support letter
until the very end and then it was kind of a little bit late for me to chime in so i thought
I would just be here today to say that we saw this back, I believe it was August.
We had a very extensive meeting. It took a long, long time. The zoning committee supported the
project. After that, there were some additional negotiations and the zoning committee
uh supported the additional negotiations and that's the plan that we supported okay well thank
you uh any questions from the board no no no anyone else if you would just i i would i would
like uh mr rubin to be able to yeah this was getting anyone else would like to testify please
raise your hand matt rupin is available to be sworn in good evening mr rubin
Good evening, Mr. Chairman and members.
Hi. Matt, please identify yourself with a record name and address.
Matt Rubin, M-A-T-T-R-U-B-E-N, 1000 North Oriana Street, Philadelphia, 19123.
Do you swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Thank you. Please proceed.
As per what Mr. Whalen said, I met with him and the architect and the owner or owner's representative
after the last hearing, discussed what he said, and they came up with a revised plan that they
have submitted, which addresses the roof condition to my satisfaction and to the
satisfaction of what I understood to be the agreement that was had, you know, that was in
place. Learn more about the project that was good and appreciate Mr. Whelan also mentioning at the
hearing the effort to mount the roof deck as low as possible on top of the roof. And so what he
said is accurately representing the situation from my point of view thank you appreciate your
testimony thank you anyone else like to testify in this case please raise your hand
oh the hands at this time mr chair thank you planning commission
good evening david fecto city planning commission mr chairman members of the board
this property is indicated for single family residential use in the city's comprehensive plan
On October 27th, we gave testimony recommending against this proposal.
We thought that it could simply be redesigned to be by right, and we still think that it could be redesigned so it could be built by right.
So we're going to not support the proposal again.
I appreciate your testimony. Thank you.
MI 2020-003296, 332 West Wildey Street.
My vote is yes.
With revised plan, two pages of revised plan approved today.
yes with proviso yes with proviso yes with proviso thank you mi2020-000811490 conaro street c-o-n-a-r-r-o-e
mr chair
Mr. Chair, I have just promoted Mr. Joseph Consul to panelist.
Good evening, Mr. Consul. Please identify yourself with the records by your last name for the
sonographer. Good evening, Frank. Good evening, board. Thanks for having me. Joe Consul. Consul
Madison, 1 West 3rd Street, Suite 204, Media, Pennsylvania, 19063. And do you swear and affirm
to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? I do. Do you agree to waive and
stipulate? I do. And have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents, including
proof of ownership, proof of tax compliance, a copy of the refusal and or referral,
photos and or plans of the property within five days of this hearing yes sir i have and have you
met with the rco we did thank you sir please proceed hi everyone uh this will be short and
sweet i'm here on 2020 00811 the property is 490 conroe street uh the property uh is a two-unit
building in Roxborough. We have the owner, representative of the owner, Ms. Jennifer
Cessna. The owner is MNNC Properties 2, LLC. This property up until the 1970s was part of 6100 Ridge
Avenue. We'll have a picture of it here. It's not the property on the corner. That's 6100 Ridge
where the building next to it, but they were one property. It got subdivided at some point. The
the commercial space in the front was sold off.
The spot in the back is two units
and it has been since that time.
It was purchased by my clients in 2020.
They realized they did not have two unit zoning.
They filed for the variance because it's CMX 2.5,
which would allow for two units,
but also would require commercial use
along the first floor frontage.
So we got a refusal.
The first floor of the building,
and i'll i'll pull up just a mock-up of their their blueprint here the first floor of the
building has one bedroom uh and this is one unit and the second and third floors are a total of
two bedrooms and that's the the second unit we met with the rocksborough central roxborough
civic association in september uh several members of the general public attested to the fact that
The property has been used as a two-unit and rented out consistently for over 30 years.
There was no opposition to the legalization of the duplex, and the letter sent by the RCO reflects the same.
We had over 50 people at that meeting, and no one opposed.
And that's really the bulk of my presentation.
I could call Ms. Jennifer Cessna to just verify what I've said is accurate.
Good evening, ma'am. Please identify yourself with the record. Spell your full name for
the court reporter. There she is. Again. We didn't hear you, Jen. Okay. Yeah, I just got
unmuted. Jennifer Cessna, J-E-N-I-F-E-R-C-E-S-S-N-A. Hi, Jennifer. We're in a firm to tell the truth,
the whole truth, nothing but the truth. I do. Ms. Cessna, have you heard my testimony today?
I did, yes, and it's completely accurate. You adopted as true and accurate to your knowledge?
I do. Is there anything you'd like to add? Nope, just that we're looking to downsize,
not not upsize so hopefully it's an easy one all right thank you uh questions from the board
no no no okay anyone else would like to testify in this case
please raise your hand including members of the rco and or the district council office
no additional hands at this time mr chair thank you planning commission good evening david fecto
city planning commission mr chairman and members of the board this property is indicated for
commercial mixed use on the city's comprehensive plan since this is a pre-existing use and the
neighbors have no objection we do not object to granting this variance thank you very much mi
2020-000811490 Conroy Street. My vote is yes. My vote is yes. My vote is yes. My vote is yes.
Thank you. That concludes the two o'clock hearing list.
Does anyone need a
does anyone need a break
I'm okay how about we take just five minutes I need a break all right five minutes is fine
thank you everyone I'm sorry Tanya are you ready yes chair thank you good evening everyone my name
is Frank DiCicco. I'm the Chair of the Zoning Board of Adjustment. I'll be participating
in today's hearing along with our Vice Chair. No, Ms. Carol Tenere is not here. I'll be
participating in today's hearing with our Board Secretary, Confessor Plaza, and Board
Members Mr. Thomas Holloman and Mr. James Snell. Board Administrators Ms. Tanya Sunkit
and Mr. Jason Hand along with our Board Attorney Ms. Sharon Saleta are also in attendance.
For those of you who haven't yet participated in one of our virtual hearings, I'll go through some of the basics of what you can expect.
First, we will be administering oaths to individual participants prior to their testimony.
Second, we'd like to advise everyone that this proceeding is being recorded and that by participating, you acknowledge your agreement to be recorded.
Third, for anyone participating by phone, if you wish to testify, you must raise your hand by hitting star 9 and then star 6 to unmute yourself.
I'll repeat, for anyone participating by phone, if you wish to testify, you must raise your hand by hitting star 9 and then star 6 to unmute yourself.
to enter an appearance statement call google 267-270-5548 and leave your email address
and the address of the property at issue i'll repeat to enter an appearance statement call
google 267-270-5548 and leave your email address and the address of the property at issue
i'd also like to remind everyone please do not attempt to testify in the chat
any comments should be directed to the board administrator Ms. Tanya Sunkit or Mr. Jason Hand
with that uh we will begin our first case excuse me before I do the first case I would like to
read into the record the following cases that have requested continuances
number three on our list MI 2020-001-957-2212 Bryn Mawr Avenue
number four on our list MI 2020-001-836-3461 Cotman Avenue
number six on our list mi 2020-001 382 4426 north 19th street number seven on our list
MI 2020-001-850-610-Fernon Street.
And for some reason, Sharon and or Tanya, I don't have, oh, here it is.
I have it.
What number eight on our list would be MI 2020-001862.
I don't have the address for that.
Sharon and or Tanya? Yes, it is 6717 Chew Avenue. That case is continued. Thank you.
Chair, if I could. Any of those cases that have been requested to be continued,
have any of them already been continued? Number seven, if we can ask that to be must be heard.
yeah i forgot to ask that in the beginning i apologize okay so mi 2020 that's zero zero one
eight five zero six one zero fernon street is continued must be heard
any other ones uh tanya did i miss nope i think that might be it okay um
can you continue we want to make sure we got that three this is two and three o'clock okay
3 30 all right um first case mi 2020-001957 2212 Bryn Mawr Avenue
Chair I think the first two cases are I passed over that again I apologize my mistake
let's start again so Mr. Anastasia just hang in there we'll be right with you
I went past the first two MI 2020-001
I went past the first two. MI 2020-001524, 109 West Rockland Street.
Sorry about that. MI 2020-001523, 111 West Rockland Street.
anyone here for 109 and 111 west rockland street
i am mr chair obviously okay um mr anastasio please be you're still on the oath from this
morning yes sir all right did you uh wave agree to wave and stip i agree to wave and stip
And have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documentation, including proof of ownership, proof of tax compliance, a copy of the refusal or referral and photos and or plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing?
I did all of that, yes.
And have you also met with the RCO?
I have.
Thank you, sir. Please proceed.
Thank you, sir.
I'm going to share my screen with you right now.
Can everyone see that?
All right.
Awesome.
It's 109.
Actually, it's 109-111 Rockland Street.
It's for the vehicle equipment and supply sales and rentals for business and professional offices in an existing structure.
That's 109, and this is 111.
for personal vehicle repairs and maintenance this has been a pre-existing condition for quite some
time clients thought that this had been legal legalized it's been it's been actually in use
for over 30 years and for some reason they recently received notification that it was no
longer in compliance. Let's look at 109 Rockland first. We have plans here for a storage area,
an office space, and a reception area. The refusal for 109 Rockland is storage.
So that's what we're here to do here is legalize the storage space.
Again, there's no painting here.
This is just a basic vehicle repair.
No ventilation, no painting at all.
And then we have in 111, three bays for cars and a ramp that goes into the property for repair.
There. This is what the property looks like. Let's take a look here. It goes from, here's
Rockland. If you can see my cursor goes right through and here's their parking lot in the
rear. So it's quite a large property. ZNA Auto Sales is already over here. I represent ZNA Auto.
so they've been in the neighborhood for quite some time they're they're pretty well known
well regarded this is the existing conditions i'm going to go through this relatively quickly
the rest of the block is primarily
commercial for the most part as you can see mostly stores garages warehouses
lots. Here's interior photos. Here's another business. We have a lease. We have the flyer
that went out to the community. We have proof of mailing. There were 64 neighboring homes.
we have tax compliance we did meet with the RCO I do not have a letter from the RCO
but they have in fact told me that they emailed one a letter of of non-opposition to
the zoning board of adjustment directly and when I spoke to the
to the RCO. They told me that they were out of town and they were not able to
to get that to us. I don't know if you could see
this email. I just tried to share an email with you. Do you see it here?
Yes. It's from Quincy Lazada. Good morning. I submitted a response of not
It's from Quincy Lozada. Good morning. I submitted a response of non-opposition to the office of Councilwoman Maria Kenyona Sanchez. I'm not in the office this week, but we'll send you a copy when I return.
Unfortunately, that was on the 5th of January. Today is the 6th. So they're not back in the office yet, but they have no opposition.
you. With that, I'm going to rest my case. I believe Mr. Atila should be online, who is my
client. If he's here, I ask that he raise his hand. Could I interrupt for one minute? This is