Thank you.
chairing is 32 attendees and you can start as you wish thank you good morning everyone my name
is bill bergman i will be chairing this morning's meeting with me is our vice chair ismail shaheed
president mr chairman our board member cheryl l gaston present mr chairman our board member
Tenetta Graham. Present, Mr. Chairman. Our board member Michael Johns. Present, Mr. Chairman.
And our board member Taya Nguyen will be joining us shortly. Also present is our attorney Hillary
Emerson and our executive director Ian Haggerty. Here's our virtual format. The proceedings are
being recorded. With your participation, you agree to be recorded. A video will be available
by contacting zbaexecutivedirector at phil.gov.
For our court stenographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses
to identify themselves before testifying.
If you're participating by phone, press star 9 to raise your hand
and star 6 to unmute.
To enter an appearance statement, call 267-270-5548.
Leave your email address and the address of the property in question.
And finally, the question answer box on the screen is not for testimony.
All questions should be directed to our ZBA Executive Director at phil.phil.
Let's look at our schedule this morning.
Number one, MI 2021-004-541-251 Ripka Street.
That case is continued.
Mark must be heard.
Number six.
MI 2023
7250 Woodland Avenue
Cases Continued
Attorney Moving Party
Number 8
Oh, I'm sorry
8's okay
Number 11
MI 2024-001-273, 2000 South 21st Street, that case is continued.
Number 15, MI 2024-001-5915, MI 2024-001-571-809-42nd Street, that case is continued.
Number 16, MI 2024-001-591-803 North 42nd Street. That case is continued. Are there any other requests for continuances?
Good morning, Mr. Chair. This is Jason Handel. I'll be your co-host for the session. I have a hand up from Vern Anastasio. He has been allowed to speak.
Good morning, Mr. Chair.
Good morning, counsel. Could you please state your name and spell for the courts in honor?
Yes, sir. It's Vern Anastasio, A-N-A-S-T-A-S-I-O.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
What location are we talking about?
Well, Mr. Chair, I can bring an explanation with this, but I'm here to talk about 549-51 North 10th.
I know this is several listings out, but a letter was sent by the RCO.
We have come to an agreement on a development plan for the property subject to a CBA.
So I am respectfully requesting just one final continuance to get the CBA in writing.
And then Mark must be tried, please.
Laurie, what number is that?
That's number two, Mr. Chair.
And we had not received the letter yet.
Mr. Anastasio, you said they had issued a letter?
They sent us a letter.
I just assumed they had copied you on it as well.
We have come to an agreement on a number of units for the building.
for the building uh it's just but it's subject to you know working through a cba which shouldn't
It's just, but it's subject to, you know, working through.
take more than you know 30 days um but nevertheless the other reason why there's
several listings is because this rco is unique in requiring a walkthrough
in addition to a regular meeting so scheduling that um has of course added to the several listings
Not that I'm throwing them under the bus.
I'm just explaining.
So MI 2022, 002-928-549-51 North 10th Street.
Cases continued.
Mark must be heard.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Any other requests for continuances?
Yes, Mr. Chair.
We have Craig Mecledosi with his hand raised.
Good morning, Craig. Could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Craig, C-R-A-I-G, last name Melodosian, M-E-L-I-D-O-S-I-A-N.
We're referring to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
I do, Chair Bergman.
What's the location?
Looking for clarification on 2105 South Simpson.
mr chair that is number seven on the list we did receive a request for continuance from the
applicant but because it was the third listing we asked them to appear i don't know if they are here
today all right um i i'm unaware i just received his email uh i know he's out of town i'm not sure
what the problem is we did help him compose his last continuance uh we are uh you know we're
looking to get additional clean dwelling units in southwest and he was uh apparently in one of
these people who bought a duplex that was illegal so if uh if you so choose we would be supportive
of one last continuance i will privately admonish him and make sure he secures counsel we believe
he's out of town yes yes sir vince sorry yeah sorry and uh mr melodosian do you believe that
he has secured counsel at this point or no i i sent him a a list of attorneys who work regularly
in southwest philadelphia i i don't know if he's done that okay all right sorry go ahead
Vince Thonkath, Vince Thonkath, is he in the audience?
Yeah, I did not see that individual in a virtual audience.
So, MI 2023-006-092-2105 South Simpson Street, cases continue marked, must be heard, will
be heard next time.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Any other requests for continuance?
Yes, Jennifer Taylor has their hand raised. I've allowed them to speak.
Hi, could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Yes, my name is Jennifer Taylor, J-E-N-N-I-F-E-R, T-A-Y-L-O-R.
Where are you from? To tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
What case are you talking about?
I'm talking about 251 Ripka Street.
so that was uh number one um that case has been continued and i mark that must be heard the next
time yes sir and and i'm an owner of an abutting property so i'm just curious as to um this has
been continued four times and i'm just so it ends it will end the next time okay thank you sir i
I appreciate it.
And thank you for taking the time to call us.
We appreciate it.
Are there any other requests for continuance?
I don't see any further answers.
Number five, we do not have exhibits.
MI 2023-005-774-1616 North 2nd Street.
Hamas Al-Adha is the listed applicant, third-party professional.
NH Import Incorporated is the listed owner.
No exhibits, third listing.
Hamas Al-Adha, if you're in the audience, please raise your personal hand and wait to be sworn in.
Hamas Al-Adha?
you can proceed mr chair is he there
You can proceed, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Chair.
no i'm not not seeing him in the audience
okay so can you hear me i was asking can you hear me i didn't see him in the audience
All right. Thank you very much, sir. So MI-2023-005-774-1616 North 2nd Street. This is the third listing. We still don't have exhibits. The case would continue prior. I vote to dismiss.
Michael Johnson, my vote is to dismiss.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is to dismiss.
Tynetta Graham, my vote is to dismiss.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is to dismiss.
Thank you.
And number 14, MI 2024-001-335-4752-54 North 11th Street.
David Rowe is the listed owner.
E.B. Alazbel is the listed applicant.
This is the second listing.
Was marked must be heard.
No one appeared the first time.
There is a letter of opposition from Logan Civic Association.
Do we see anybody?
No, Mr. Chair, no hands raised.
Number 14, MI 2024-001-335-4752-54 North 11th Street.
The second listing, no one appeared the last time. We still don't have exhibits. I vote to dismiss.
Michael Johns, my vote is to dismiss.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is to dismiss.
Tana Graham, my vote is to dismiss.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is to dismiss.
We're going to go to our add-ons. So number one, MI 2024-001-17.
Excuse me, Mr. Chair. I'm sorry. Can we call?
I was going to do number four. Yeah, let's we can do number four right now. Yeah, we can do that number now. We do not have an interpreter. So we just need to see if anybody is here for that case. So and we're just going to have to continue it because we do not have an interpreter.
MI 2023-002-377-2655 South Hutchison Street, owner-applicants Ming Hong and Chow Cheng.
Is there anyone in the audience?
no answer is for this matter message so m i 2023 002 377 2655 south futterson street
cases continued mark must be heard
thank you going to go to our add-on list mi 2024 001 174 1819 natrona street this case will be
voted on at 2 p.m.
Number two, MI
2023-007-092-789
South 2nd Street. The vote in this matter has been rescheduled to Wednesday,
January 8th, 2025 at 9.30 a.m.
One, two.
We're going to start number two, MI-2022-002.
That was the case that was continued by Mr. Anastasio, number two.
Oh, that's the 16-unit, sure.
Number three, MI-2022-005-549-1500 Winsome Street.
Al Shermer is the attorney.
No RCO letter.
There is a proof of mailing.
was provided but we need copy of the notice
Mr. Shermer
They're coming back in as a panelist
Mr. Chair
Morning Mr. Shermer
Mr. Shermer
Mr. Shermer you're on mute
let me try that again good morning mr shirmer could you please state your name and spell for
the court stenographer yes name is hal h-a-l last name shirmer s-c-a
Yes. Name is Hal, H-A-L, last name Schirmer, S-C-H-I-R-M-E-R, here for Lillian Samuel, owner of 1500 Winsome Street.
This is a request for a variance.
So, Schirmer, could you get closer, Mr. Schirmer, get a little closer, a little hard to hear.
Oh, sorry. Let me get the mic up.
Yeah, please.
Okay. Any better.
All right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
And what is the relationship of your client to the property?
My client is the owner of the property.
The property was initially purchased by her now late husband.
So this is the widow picking up the property that her husband had owned from 2008-ish.
Vice Chair has a few questions for you, sir.
Of course.
Good morning, Counsel.
Do you agree to waive the written of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
I agree to the refusal. I did want to mention with one caveat that this is or can either be looked at a request to legalize a pre-existing 1941 property built as a two-unit. The other option is to simply view it as a non-conforming use since it was constructed as a two-unit back in 1941.
one. Understood. Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits as needed and
required to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing? Actually, they went in
on Sunday because on Thursday, and this is going to be the interesting part, I always get the
interesting ones. On Thursday, I found out that Isabella Fitzgerald, who is the RCO 10th ward
leader had passed away which is why we don't have an rco letter because of that on friday i ended up
reprinting 170 notices to the nearby neighbors and reposting the property inviting the neighbors to
neighbor hearings zoom hearings on friday on monday and tuesday yesterday and the day before
so we have all the information in it has been accepted i do need to get a tax clearance because