Unless, Mr. Feldman, please do not interrupt.
Please do not.
Please do not.
Please do not speak over each other.
I believe that that community benefits agreement was in the process of being developed.
and i think that may be the reason why mr feldman could you answer
So, unmute yourself, Mr. Thelma.
so unmute yourself mr feldman
May I finish my statement that I was interrupted?
No, Mr. Thelma, I would...
He has the right to object.
The provisions in the CBA, the 20% affordability at 40% AMI, the number of bedrooms, the number
of total bedrooms, the number of units has been known by everyone for, I don't know,
three months now.
The question was who was going to be the party that we entered into, and initially it was going to be – the idea was that this was going to be done through the city of Philadelphia in coordination with local elected officials.
When that did not become possible, Cedar Park stepped to the plate, hired an attorney to put this agreement, a lock solid agreement in place that we executed.
But the terms of that agreement have never been in dispute, and they've always been 50 years, 20% affordability, 40% AMI.
And it was supposed to be done with the city of Philadelphia. And when that fell through, Cedar Park stepped to the table and hired an attorney who put this together. And we've worked closely on this. So I just, I can't be more affirmative on this, that there's no new terms in this.
they've always been the same terms uh and and and someone stepped to the plate to make sure that
this this wasn't just the promises of a lawyer a developer or people you know but this was actually
going to be recordable and that's what it is okay thank you may i respond well just we're not going
to go back and forth you made a statement he's explained it you either accept or you don't so
So just move along with the rest of your testimony, please.
I would just object to the testimony provided by a number of the people who spoke in support of this,
a certain number of whom are members of the planning, real estate and architecture industries.
You know, I think that should be something that you should consider.
And many of them actually made strong arguments in favor of rent control and other neighborhood stabilization methods, and they should argue in favor of that instead of arguing about the inevitability of the further destruction and gentrification of our neighborhood.
And while I would support the buy right over this project, it would be as the lesser of two evils.
I think Mr. Gelley has a clear opportunity here to discuss both with the community and with our council member a different disposition of this neighborhood, of this property.
he could certainly uh sell the property uh at a profit to someone who would provide
meaningful affordability uh thank you very much board for allowing my testimony
but before we go any further um we've been at this for two and a half hours uh
i want to ask the board if the board has any questions as of right now no uh no chair
no no no all right uh the court reporter i assume you might need a break
no you're okay this is the court reporter chair i i would appreciate a brief break
uh it is now for
be back here at 4 35 thank you sir
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Is our court reporter, has he returned?
Yes, Chair, I am here and ready to go.
Thank you very much.
No, no, again, remember, stop us anytime.
Thank you.
I think everyone else is here.
We'll proceed.
And I'm going to ask this question, which I probably asked a dozen times.
Please, to the witnesses, tell us what it is about this project that causes you to oppose it.
And I won't use the other issue about the alternative is a buy right.
We know what that is.
You know the number of curb cuts.
So tell us what it is about this project that you're opposed to.
We're going to hear from about two more witnesses and we're going to have to move on.
Thank you.
Next witness.
we have juliet way you can unmute yourself and wait to be
hello good hi good afternoon please identify yourself with the record spell your name and
i'll swear you in hi my name is juliet wayne w-a-y-n-e you swear a firm to tell the truth
the whole truth nothing but the truth yes please proceed hi my name is juliet wayne i have rented
Hi, my name is Juliette Wayne. I have rented at 4803 Chester Avenue for two and a half years.
at 4803 Chester Avenue.
I believe that the developer used 4701-15 Kingcessing as the caption address to reduce
opposition by not notifying affected neighbors. For example, my house is less than a minute walk
to the building and yet they failed to include and notify myself and other affected neighbors.
But more importantly, this reeks of a zoning workaround to not have to rezone and make improvements on the nursing home that is very problematic.
As the first nursing home in Philadelphia to have a resident test positive for COVID, its handling of waste materials is problematic.
Ma'am, ma'am, ma'am, ma'am, ma'am, please, with all due respect, could you tell us what it is about the project that you're opposed to?
um i have and i have a question for you okay did you attend any of the meetings
yes okay so you were aware of this because you raised the issue about misleading i think you
maybe didn't use that word but you were alluding to a misrepresentation of where this project is
being proposed by creating a different address or using a different address yeah so i'm asking you
did attend meetings so you were aware of what is being proposed. Could you speak to what your
opposition to this project is? My opposition is that this is not an asset to the existing community
here and they're not taking into account the problems that are going on with the nursing home
and how it will be rezoned and they're not notifying people who are actually affected.
I was, I'm right across the street and I was left out of the zone of this thing.
And I don't think that this has, this doesn't reflect what the community here needs.
Thank you.
Next witness.
okay sorry chair um milan i can you unmute yourself and wait to be sworn in we're getting
duplicate hands if you already testified please lower your hand and those who have not you can
keep your hands up as the chair or board wishes will follow you at a later time thank you chair
thank you can you hear me yes please identify yourself first and last name
yes my name is mylan m-i-l-a-n my last name is marvelous m-a-r-v-n victor e-l-o-u-s
you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes i do please proceed okay um thank you mr chairman thank you members of the board
um we've covered a lot of material here i appreciate your patience and your your work
in this matter uh i am a near neighbor in fact i'm the immediate neighbor uh if you can stay
on the view that's currently posted my house is the little gray house right next to number four
the building right to the below and right to the right of it um my house is gigantic about 4 000
square feet has an enormous backyard and in this rendering it looks like a little toy i i think
that the scale and mass of building number four has been misrepresented in the rendering that
we've had. And I think it's hard to really picture how big this building is and what
an unbelievably large impact it's going to have. Also on this map here, you can see all of the
twin housing. You can see all of the RCA1 zoning. The other highlighted buildings that the developer
is trying to compare their new developments to are all pre-war stately old buildings,
which are integrated into the fabric of the neighborhood.
I am in opposition to this project.
In addition to the impact that the massive building is going to have,
I'm profoundly concerned about using spot zoning on such an essential parcel in our neighborhood.
It is the largest and just of the only open space in between Clark Park and Cedar Park.
I have lived in the neighborhood for over 20 years.
In that time, we've had 10,000 new neighbors move into the neighborhood, according to University City District.
In that time, we've had 10,000 new neighbors move into the neighborhood, according to University of Michigan.
10,000 new people, but we have had no new parks, no new green space, no new transportation, rec centers, no new city services.
We ask for zoning variances to allow for more construction to benefit more owners, to benefit more landlords.
But we're never able to get variances for amenities or basic services for not only the people that live here, but for the 10,000 new neighbors we have.
So I think that this project has some merit, but it needs more thought.
One final thing, and I appreciate your time.
We've heard a lot about the community meeting.
As the immediate next door, 1121 South 48th Street neighbor, I was at most of those meetings.
I was in favor of this.
When they say it was 64 opposed and five for it, I was one of the five.
I was one of the six.
I am now opposed, and the neighbor at 1123 is also opposed.
So if there is 66 opposed and perhaps three in favor, I hope that speaks to the depth and breadth of the opposition to the project as it's proposed.
And I will add that I would prefer the zoning by right.
Thank you for your time.
Mr. Marvelous, what is the height of your house?
Do you know, Mr. Marvelous?
I'm sorry, Chair, I removed him out.
If you can raise your hand again, sir.
No, no, that's okay.
Not that important.
It looks like a very tall house, that's why I asked.
It looks like it's 38 feet or more.
yeah that's why we that's why we reduced all the light blue is actually yeah i i get that
that's why i wanted to ask it and a lot of this came because the neighbor across the street on
48th street on the other side of 48th street um literally i sat with her for hours and hours
on this issue uh concerning height and we made these changes we added this
mr chair i'm back and if i could speak to that for a moment
i have a i have a question what is the height of your house
to be honest with you it's it's 30 ish it's um it's three stories of the mansard
and to speak to the size of this building if mr colvin shows the
i'm trying i'm trying go ahead you said it's 30 ish and a mansard yeah would you say it's at least
37 feet high forgive me i i i don't have that information about my house all right okay fair
enough but i will say that my this building the proposed building is so large that when you see
the view that the uh attorney has been showing of the corner of 48th and uh chester my massive
building is a hundred percent obscured you believe me if you see my house it's a massive house you
can't even see it behind this building. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you. One
more witness and we're going to move on to the next cases. Antonio, you can unmute yourself
and wait to be sworn in. Hello, thank you very much. Antonio Larson. Please spell your
full name? A-N-T-O-N-I-O-L-A-R-S-O-N. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth, nothing but the truth? Yes, I do. Please proceed.
Okay, a lot of my main points were covered, so I'm just going to say that I have been in
the neighborhood for 46 years. I have been a block away as a homeowner and a landlord for
15 years. I'm very opposed to the project, mostly on grounds of density that does not have any
benefit for lower-income residents, which are still a big demographic in this neighborhood.
So I think many people have commented on that, so I'll leave it at that. And my last point
is that allowing something like this to go through a capitulation to developers and their need to
make money is with no real benefits for the neighborhood besides some middle-income affordability
and luxury units for the residents that will inevitably come with gentrification.
Allowing this to happen with nothing set aside for low-income residents is a precedent that
I fear we will see repeated over and over again if we allow this to happen.
Thank you very much.
Thank you very much.
So, Mr. Larson, you said you lived there 46 years.
Mr. Lawson, you said you lived there 46 years.
I don't remember.
I don't remember what Mr. Feldman said.
Were you living in a neighborhood when the prior building was at this site?
I grew up two blocks away from Clark Park, where my parents still are.
And I've been here 15 years, one block away from the proposed site.
And I've never seen Brett Feldman in my neighborhood.
I didn't ask about Brett Feldman.
I asked about the building, the prior building.
I just thought I'd throw that in.
was that was that building existing at the time you've been living there was it existing
40 something years ago
well 40 something years ago i was six years old and i was yeah all right that's that has nothing
i can't comment on that well it does because the massive if you know the answer to that i don't
you asked it okay thank you that's the last of the witnesses chair you can go forward as you wish
all right uh with all due respect we know a number of people who want to testify i think we've been
through numerous repetitive comments from both sides so with that i'm going to ask the board if
have any questions no no no thank you planning commission
good afternoon ariel de liberto with the city planning commission
the proposal is supported by the city's comprehensive plan which includes
recommendations for what mixed income housing developments and to prioritize the infill of
vacancies sorry i'm getting an echo yeah we're getting feedback someone has everyone mute mute
their mics please try again mr mr liberto chair would you like me to start over yes please
uh again ariel di liberto with the city planning commission the proposal is supported by the