same except the basement is gone correct yes right everything the first second and third floor will
be exactly in line with these plans basement staying exactly as it is just as a regular
row home basement okay so i have a question about the porch then um so is the porch still enclosed
the porch is no longer enclosed no okay so the picture you just showed us was the older picture
of the home the porch that was open right so the the picture that shows the front of the property
yes let me uh scroll down to that so yes this is an old this is google image and this is this is
before uh this part was torn down you can see if you look at the photographs of the posting
so he's put a new front you can kind of see here um so he's torn it down they put up a
new railing here uh but it's no longer enclosed in that with that yellow kind of ugly siding i think
the questions from the board
questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Is there comments from the virtual audience?
Yes, Mr. Chair, I have Charles Richardson with the hand raised.
I have allowed them to speak.
Mr. Richardson.
Mr. Richardson.
Good evening, Mr. Chair.
Good evening, Mr. Chair.
Good evening.
Good evening.
You've already been sworn, sir.
Certainly.
Charles Richardson, Office of Councilwoman Cindy Bass Room, 508 City Hall.
Councilwoman is not going to stand in opposition to granting the variance.
Very much, sir.
We appreciate it.
Anyone else in the virtual audience?
No further answer, Mr. Chair.
Planning, Commission.
Amy Boyd with the Planning Commission.
Sorry, one second.
The Comprehensive Plan recommends no change to the RSA 3 residential single-family zoning at this location.
The property has a documented history as used as a multifamily dwelling with no off-street parking.
The Planning Commission recommends that the Board grant the proposed variance for three dwelling units and no off-street parking.
M.I. 2024-001-452-7130, Boyer Street. I vote yes with Proviso. No basement living, maximum three units.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Carol Gaston, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Tana Graham, my vote is yes with Proviso.
I win, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you. Have a good evening.
You too. Number three, MI 2024-001-459-5357-Lancaster Avenue.
John D'Antonio is the attorney.
There's a letter of support from Overbook West Neighbors Incorporated.
They'll be coming back in as a panel shortly, sir.
Good afternoon, Mr. D'Antonio.
You're muted, sir.
Can you hear me now?
I hear you now.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
John D'Antonio on behalf of my clients, Changing Lanes, Transport, LLC,
attorney ID number 83473, I do have present as well on the Zoom meeting
is the CEO and one partner, Christine Tarzan, and the operations manager.
Okay, hold on one minute.
Do me a favor.
Could you spell your last name for the court's stenographer?
It's spelled D-apostrate, capital I-N-T-I-N-O, John D'Antino, Jr.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client, the relationship to this property?
My client is Changing Lanes Transport LLC.
The owners are Aaron Davis and Christine Tarzan.
I also have present the operation manager, Michael James.
I do want to put on the record and disclose that Aaron Davis, one of the owners, is deceased.
He died recently.
But Christine Tarzan, who is the operating manager and CEO, is on as well.
And she does have standing in ownership.
Do you stipulate to the reading of the referral, and do you agree with his accuracy?
Share your screen and start your presentation, sir.
Are we okay with the taxes and things like that?
Yes, we didn't receive an updated proof of tax compliance, but I did check.
we didn't receive but I did check on the Philadelphia tax center and the
taxes are in compliance all right are you able to hold on are you able to see
my screen right now I see your postal service okay great yeah all right so
yeah just verify the postal service I believe we sent it out to more than 65
residents, nearby residents. There's the deed, changing lane deeds. You'll see my, again,
changing lane transport LLC. They acquired the property December 15th of 2022. By way
of history, this property was previously, well, it was always industrial, but it was
operated as an ambulance facility. And the residents obviously had an issue with that
prior ownership. I do
want to mention that at the RCL
meeting, we got a unanimous
approval by all
the participants, including
a number of neighbors that were there during this meeting.
There was a provisional
that the issue they had with the prior
owner was apparently some of the garbage
was being...
Mr. D'Antonio, what I think you should
do is, why don't you go through your
talk, but go through, show us some photos
of the property and things like that, okay?
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
and so
One second here.
I just had the pictures.
Hold on.
One second, sir.
I just need to open this one, okay.
All right.
All right.
Give me one second.
They were downloaded, but apparently they didn't.
So you sent some things to Hillary.
Could it all be there?
Yeah, I did send them previously to Hillary.
Let me just – here we go.
So let's see.
Here we go.
This should be it.
Here we go.
All right.
So you can see this is the existing structure of the
property. And there is no intention to make any modifications or improvements or renovations at
all. The existing property has been running as an auto body shop. Obviously, it's not in
compliance with the ICMX current rezoning. We're asking for a special use. My clients acquired the
property as is. They made some minor reservations regarding painting and so forth. But you'll see
within this property, they do have the equipment for auto body shops, the lifts, the forklifts,
power tools things of that nature this is the entrance obviously the signs and so forth uh
garage entrance this and this is a garage area as part of the building it holds 46 parking spaces
that's more than enough to maintain and and hold the cars that are being repaired yard entrance
rear of the building rear door front of the building and then we get some interior
interior photos there's an office bathroom office area for the operating managers
and so forth so again this is an obviously this garage entrance in and out this has always been
a service area um my clients when they purchase the property we're under the impression that
and i wasn't involved doing that transaction that the zoning was proper and they could still run
their business as they purchased it obviously they got in trouble and here we are um again
this conforms with the area uh all the neighbors that attended the meeting there was quite many
there uh were unanimous and supportive of this um i do have my client um michael james who's
the operation manager uh he's agreed to make some renovations as well as part of the provisios
he would make some africade renovations to the exterior of the building which the neighbor's
light very much. He also obviously
is volunteering with the community.
The owner and the
operation manager are from that area
and long-time residents,
and they are, again, working with other
management companies.
So at this time, I would like to
wave in Michael
James and have him
sworn in.
Are you going to adopt your testimony?
Yes, please.
Thank you.
Michael James.
they have been allowed to speak hi sir could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
yes chairman uh it's michael james m-i-c-h-a-e-l james j-a-n-e-s
michael you heard that you heard the presentation
you swear or firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes i do please proceed counsel thank you michael did you hear the uh presentation and
see the documents that I provided
to the panel? Yes.
And would you affirm that
everything that I mentioned is truthful and accurate?
Yes, I do.
And do you adopt everything that
I mentioned, including my testimony, as your testimony
of your own?
Yes, I do.
And do you have anything else you would like to elaborate
regarding your intent
on using the property and some of the
provisions that we discussed that you would
implement to
make the residents more happy about the situation oh yes absolutely i appreciate the time uh this
this uh this evening um and just to add further the testimony from our attorney uh
Per the testimony from our attorney, the establishment was completely, you know, as far as the presentation of the property has been renovated with new sidewalks, new fencing, cleaned up the area tremendously with the neighbors.
We have some collaboration with the other businesses that were next to us once they saw that we came in and did.
And the community was very excited to see the new us being the new owners there.
You know, unfortunately, we were at this place today that, you know, it was previously used as, you know, a collision and repair shop.
And that's where our ask is today. But working with the community, we're employing the community as well.
To give you an example, our current employee staff obviously has been on hold, but we have the ability to give second chances, so we do have some great impact in the community.
When we had our board meeting with the community previously, they were pleased to hear the impact that we're having directly.
We're looking to have community engagement regarding, you know, training opportunities for youth as well to bring on this trade to adapt, you know, the way of the way of bringing some peace into the community, providing jobs.
We're very secure. You know, we have a great business model and security with the premises to protect the vehicles.
We ensure the community that there wouldn't be any other outside our defense, any vehicles that are sitting and polluting the street.
Any vehicle that enters into the establishment has to be approved by the insurance company as well.
And, you know, that backdrop as far as overall goals are.
And hopefully with everything moving forward, we look forward to continue to build with any community and establish jobs and employment,
but also bring in a resource on that corridor of length that they're having.
All right. Thank you.
Questions from the board?
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Anderson?
Just briefly, two things.
One, Mr. D'Antino, I'm D'Antino, I'm sorry.
um so i noticed in the documents that were submitted for the for the violation notice
that there was reference to um spray painting but there was no reference to spray painting on
the referral is your client seeking to have a spray painting booth yes so we obviously we would
need yeah a spray painting booth and for repairs yes okay so if that's not on and i have to pull