thank you very much for the patience um when will i know if um i just i just said well i'm
we're shooting for next wednesday at uh we would vote at the 9 30 meeting okay so you'll email me
again and then we'll have another zoom session we will next one mr collins you will you will not
need to appear again um you can come on the zoom and listen to the board's vote if you would like
but you do not need to appear again your hearing is complete okay thank you very much thank you
mr collins thank you okay number one mi 2022 005 222 1604 spruce street
Oleg Sokoloff is the attorney for the owner. There's a letter of opposition from the Center
City Residents Association. The applicant has also provided three letters of support.
Mr. Sokoloff has been promoted. Thank you.
Good morning, Mr. Sokolov.
Good morning, Chair Bergman.
Good morning, members of the board.
Everyone, can you hear me okay?
Yes, we can.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
Oleg Sokolov, O-L-E-G-S-O-K-O-L-O-V, from Rabinovich Sokolov Law Group.
Do you still need my address?
Please.
It's 1700 Market Street, Suite 1005, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19103.
Right.
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 the relationship to the property?
The named client is 1604 Spruce Multi LLC. However, the owners of the entity are on the line,
Mr. Stephen and Beth Wheeler. Okay. Our vice chair has a few questions for you, sir.
Sure. Good morning, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate
to his accuracy? I do, Mr. Shade. Have you emailed all the required documents and exhibits
to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing? I have, Mr. Shade. Thank you.
Please proceed and share your screen. Thank you very much.
is everybody able to see that we can't sir okay um this is for a visitor accommodation request for
one unit out of five within a five unit multi-family building located at 1604 that is
currently zoned as CMX2. I just want to point out that CMX3 would allow for a buy right of this kind
of use, but obviously we're not there. So here's our refusal. I'll take everyone through the exhibit
packet. Some pictures of the property. This is a two-bedroom, two-bath buy-level unit. This would
be unit A, which is the first floor unit. Something I'd like to point out that is not
depicted here. However, this building has a separate internal trash storage room. And my
clients also contract to a private trash service company, which comes and picks up the trash there.
so it's not run by the city.
Here's a look at the zoning surrounding the property.
I'd like the board just to notice that there are numerous CMX3
and other commercial mixed-use properties.
This is within a commercial corridor.
There are some convenience stores and dry cleaners along this block.
So a little floor plan of the unit.
chair would you like me to hold on this screen a little bit no i think we're fine okay
Our project information form, our application, just a breakdown of the other types of units
our project information
within the property. And while I'm taking everyone through the exhibit, my clients have
own these properties for about 10 years have used this unit as an Airbnb, but primarily have used
this unit for family to come stay when they're in town, or they themselves who live in the suburbs
often use this unit to come on into town and stay. Their child lives in another unit, and
sometimes their children that don't live in Philadelphia come to visit and stay in this unit.
So the request for it to be Airbnb is not just a commercial enterprise.
It is because they don't rent the unit all year round so they can have it free for family and for themselves.
You want your testimony adopted, sir?
I will ask for my clients to adopt it and then add a little bit if that's okay with the board.
Thank you.
Here's the letter from Center City Residents Association.
We had our meeting on November 22nd.
And then here are some signatures from nearby neighbors of the property.
that have supported our request.
Deed to the property
and tax clearance.
At this time, I would like to ask my clients
to come on and adopt my testimony
and add a little bit of their own, please.
Ms. Beth Wheeler, can you raise your hand, please?
Okay, Ms. Wheeler.
Yep, there she is.
Ms. Wheeler, you're allowed to speak.
Can you unmute yourself, please?
I did.
Can you hear me now?
Yeah, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
Elizabeth Weiler, W-E-I-L-E-R.
I go by Beth Weiler.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Proceed, counsel.
Thank you.
Ms. Weiler, did you hear my testimony here today?
And do you adopt it as your own?
I'd like to quickly ask you, could you tell the board a little bit about your rental practices
and what you do to ensure that you get the highest level of short-term stay renter at
the property and just a brief description of how you've used the property and also just
what kind of tenants you've had in the past.
It doesn't need to be too much.
Hey, my husband and I decided to invest in this property, this apartment building.
It's a great location.
And we had the five units rented out and the one unit became available.
And we were using it a lot for family and thought maybe it would be a good idea to do short-term rental with it.
And I can tell you about a few guests in the beginning of the pandemic, when everything shut down, we had a young woman come in.
She was having a baby.
And then as soon as the baby was born, the baby had to go to CHOP.
So her husband needed a place to stay.
So they booked for three months.
I only do two weeks or more there because I like more professional type things.
It's not for entertainment necessarily.
People come in either.
They're working at the Kimmel Center.
We had the producer from Les Miserables stay for a couple weeks.
So we get professionals.
I like doing the longer stay.
I get parents in visiting their children, you know, whether they had newborn grandchildren.
And it's just kind of nice to have the living space, you know, the couch and the kitchen and washer and dryer.
It's like it's a home for people.
It would be accurate to say that you're very picky about who you.
Yeah. Yeah. Five star Airbnb plus.
um yeah we have strict criteria and we never had a problem never ever have you ever had any
complaints from any neighbors about this unit or the airbnbers there never ever no all right
All right. Thank you, Ms. Myler.
thank you miss myler okay thank you questions from the board
Okay. Thank you.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Yes, Chair. I have a Mr. Wade Albert with his hand up.
Hi, could you please state your name and spell for the court reporter?
Good morning. My name is Wade Albert, W-A-D-E,
His last name is A-L-B-E-R-T.
Right.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Thank you.
Proceed, sir.
Thank you so much.
So I am with the law firm of Stephen Zinley, and I'm counsel for the-
Mr. Albert, do me a favor.
Could you speak up a little bit?
We're having a hard time hearing this.
I apologize.
This is my computer.
No, I'm sure.
Hopefully you hear me a little bit better.
I'm pretty close to the microphone now.
We'll hear you a little bit better there, right?
Okay, thank you, and I'll try to speak up.
Um, so, uh, I was saying I, uh, I'm with the law firm of Stevenson Lee and I'm counsel for the, the coordinating RCO, the Center City Residents Association. Just wanted to provide some context for why we oppose this application.
For while it does appear that the applicant is a conscientious rider of an Airbnb, the organization was hesitant to not oppose or support this particular application because it would run with the land.
And in the event that the property may be transferred to a third party who may not be as reputable as a priori, we did not want to support the application under those circumstances.
And also, we believe that there was no hardship that was shown at all in this application.
So that was our position. Thank you.
Well, thank you for your comments. We appreciate it.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
I see no hands chair. Planning Commission. Thank you, sir. Good morning, Chair Bergman. David
Vecto, City Planning Commission. The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the commercial mixed
use zoning at this location. There is no unique physical characteristic or circumstance of this
property that would prevent it from being used in conformance with the zoning code. The City
Planning Commission recommends the board deny the proposed use variance for visitor accommodation.
Thank you. MI 2022-005-222. Hello? Chair, my apologies. May I quickly just respond to Mr. Albert?
Sure, you can. My clients, and we would be open if the board would approve provisos either requiring
this to use under this current ownership and further for a limited period of time, certainly.
Thank you. Thank you for your comments. So MI 2022-005-222-1604, Spruce Street. I vote yes
with Proviso. Temporary variance that will expire 3-1-26. Visit or accommodation limited to Unit A.
Thomas. Mr. Chair, sorry. Hold on, Mr. Chair. I believe this is Unit 1.
I thought it was, too, until Council referred to it as Unit A.
my my yes is it unit a or unit one okay
sorry comments temporary variance expires hold on mr chair i'm still not clear is it unit one
or unit a you know what just for the sake of certainty um may i have miss weiler just just
confirm it for us sure
miss weiler
i'm sorry i just quickly texted
oh here's miss weiler
unit a unit okay so thank you so hillary that's okay right
Yeah, so if that is what is officially used for mailing and identifying the units, then that is fine.
All right, so temporary variance expires 3-1-26, visitor accommodation use limited to Unit A.
Thank you.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with proviso.
James Snell, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Hillary, can we have the young gentleman that just said yes, please get on the record and
say who he is since we've taken testimony from him, saying yes, the apartment B.
that that was the that was the property owner who previously testified and came back okay all right
so so council stay on stay on council thank you mi 2022 number six mi 2022 005 204 1721 lumbart
Street. Same counsel. A letter of opposition from Center City Residents Association.
Applicant provided four form letters of support from neighbors in the 1700 block and 1800 block
of Lombard Street. Counsel, you've already been sworn. Just state your name for the record.
Thank you, Chair Bergman. Oleg Sokoloff on behalf of the applicant, 1721 Lombard LLC.
And our Vice Chair has a few questions.
Good morning, Counselor.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his accuracy?
Yes, Mr. Trayton.
Have you emailed all the required documents and exhibits to our offices five days in advance to this hearing?
I have, sir.
Thank you.