Good morning, everyone.
My name is Frank DiCicco.
I'm the chair of the zoning board of adjustment.
We're waiting for us to offer.
Frank, there's nobody here yet.
Oh, oh, oh.
Don't we have nine attendees?
Yeah, they're all coming in now.
Oh, I see.
We can't really say anything until they come into the room.
It's like the door is closed.
As soon as we say live, then they're coming into the room.
and then after we get them in the room
then we can make announcements
alright so you'll let me know
and hopefully we'll have the
sonographer by then
thank you
no problem Pauline
we're also missing sharing
okay Frank as you wish
good morning everyone my name is Frank DiCicco I'm the chair of the zoning board of adjustment
we're going to be delayed a few minutes we're waiting for a stenographer so we'd ask everyone
to be patient. When the sonographer signs on, we'll begin this morning's session. So everyone
be patient. We've been having some technical issues this morning. And again, we're waiting
for the sonographer to come online. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Good morning to us.
oh good morning everyone hi how are you good okay you'll let us know when you're ready okay I'm
ready okay all right so Tanya you'll let us know when you you're ready for us we're ready as you
wish chair thank you good morning 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 Vice Chair Ms. Carol Tenere,
Board Secretary Confessor Plaza and Board Members Mr. Thomas Holloman and Mr. James Snell.
Board Administrator Tanya Sunkit and Board Attorney Sharon Saleta are also in attendance.
For those of you who have not yet participated in our virtual hearings,
I'll go through some of the basics of what you can expect. First we'll begin this morning's
session by reading a list of cases to be continued.
If you believe any announced case is being continued in error, we will give you an opportunity
to respond.
After reading the continuance list and receiving any feedback, we will take any additional
continuance and or withdrawal request.
Then once we've confirmed what hearings are being continued, Vice Chair Tenere will begin calling the remaining cases for this session.
Then once we've confirmed what hearings are being continued, Vice Chair Tenere
When a case is called, we ask that attorneys representing applicants or other interested parties in the matter identify themselves for the record.
We will then hear the appellant's presentation, followed by any presentation by attorneys representing other parties.
interested parties and members of the public not represented by council will then be given an
opportunity to testify we will finally hear the recommendation of the planning commission
at the hearing's conclusion we will either vote the matter immediately or hold it for discussion
in executive session any case held for discussion will be voted at the next scheduled wednesday
morning sessions. Please note the following changes related to the virtual format. First,
we will be administering oaths to individual participants prior to their testimony.
Second, for the benefit of anyone participating by phone, we ask that attorneys and witnesses
identify themselves prior to speaking or testifying. Third, we'd like to advise everyone
that this proceeding is being recorded and that by participating, you acknowledge your agreement
to be recorded. Fourth, for anyone participating by phone, if you wish to testify, you must raise
your hand by hitting star nine and then star six to unmute yourself. I'll repeat, for anyone
participating by phone, if you wish to testify, you must raise your hand by hitting star nine
and then star six to unmute yourself.
Finally, 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 that as well.
To enter an appearance statement,
Call Google 267 -270 -5548 and leave your email address and the address of the property at issue.
With that said, we can begin.
But before Vice Chair Tenere calls our first case, we'd like to announce the following cases are being continued.
And they are MI -2020 -0005581455 Sparks Street, S -P -A -R -K -S Street.
MI -2020 -000801, 2309 -13 North Broad Street.
MI -2020 -000853, 231 Schurz Lane, S -H -U -R -S Lane, MI -2020 -000067,
2901 McKinley Street. Calendar number 39495, 348 Green Lane. Calendar number 39658,
5201 Germantown Avenue. Calendar number 39700, 5386 Chew Avenue. The following two cases are
being withdrawn. Calendar number 39687 -577 Jamestown Avenue and calendar number 39454
4 -6 West Palmer Street. If anyone believes that any of the cases I called that are being
continued or withdrawn, please raise your hand at this time.
um chair we have oksana oksana if you want to speak to a continuance yep um hi guys my name
is oksana redko and i just wanted to confirm because ms redko would you please spell your
first and last name sure first name oksana which is o -k -s -a -n -a last name redko which is r -e -d
So my question was about the address 11 -0 -2 -9.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
He asked for your address.
It has to go on record.
Yep, that's what I'm saying. So the address is 11029 Renard Street, which is R -E -N -N -A -R -D.
That's what I'm saying.
So the address is 1 -1 -0 -2.
That case is being heard.
Okay. Thank you.
Thank you. And if there are any other requests for continuances or withdrawals, please raise your hand at this time also.
Here we have Allison Weiss.
Ms. Weiss, you can unmute yourself and speak to a continuance.
Ms. Weiss, please spell your first and last name and provide us with your address.
Ms. Weiss, you have to unmute yourself.
i'm not sure what's wrong chair we also have joseph
joseph you can unmute yourself and speak to a continuance
mr consul please give us your full name and address
joseph consul uh i'm here one west third street suite 204 media pennsylvania
one nine zero six three and console spelled c -o -n -s -o -l -e do you swear and affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do please proceed uh i'm i this is a
question that may lead to a continuance on mi 2020 000 767 the address 5625 sprague street
We were assigned the 12th Ward Democratic Committee.
That's not the morning list.
Excuse me, Mr. Consul.
It's not on the morning list.
What's that address again?
5625 Sprague Street.
I have the calendar open in front of me.
Is that on the 930 list?
yes Tanya or Sharon I don't see that on yes it looks like it was scheduled for
the 930 list but it didn't come up on the schedule for us okay you know I'm
sorry that was that was on the list I didn't receive exhibits and I think that
I emailed mr. console to ask about them and didn't hear back and didn't include
it on the summaries sorry about that I don't think I sent you the exhibits did
Did you? Yeah. And then you had emailed me about Sparks and we continued that. And then I had a
question about Sprague, which you told me to present here. I'm sorry. But go ahead.
So board, the 12th Ward Democratic Committee was our assigned RCO. They told us 10 days ago that
they couldn't hear the case. I then got a call from Reverend Chester Williams from Chew and
Belfield Neighbors Club, which was the second RCO listed on Atlas. And he said, we can hear the
case, but you have to talk to the council person. I said, I don't know what that means. He said,
well, you got it. So you got to email this guy. So I emailed the councilman's assistant,
never heard back. And I got another call from this reverend. He said, are we going to hear
your your matter is the coordinating rco and then i emailed um everyone at the zba and uh
was told you know got email on friday saying just present present this question on wednesday
and see what the board thinks um so again this was my error i apologize um no problem uh are
you asking for a continuance or you're asking for i i don't know what to do regarding this other rco
who wants to hold the matter uh do do i present do i present to it or you know just a non -
in fairness to you if you if it works for you we'll hear the case and maybe we'll hold
and wait for a letter from the rc give it a week or two for the rco to respond it does work for me
I prefer that. All right. What's that? That's MI -2020? 00767. 00767? Yes. And the address again is?
5625 Sprague. S -P -R -A -G -U -E. Okay. So you'll be number five on the list of four.
So, you'll be number five on the list of four, all right?
All right.
Yeah, Sharon, we set the packet on the ninth.
Yeah, sure.
Do you need another copy of it?
No, I've got it.
I just pulled it up, Joe.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
Okay, Joe, we'll hear that this morning's list, all right?
All right, thank you, Frank.
Thank you.
Are there any other requests for continuances or withdrawals?
Please raise your hand.
I have Charles Richardson.
Charles Richardson, you can unmute yourself and speak to a continuance.
Good morning, Mr. Richardson. You know the drill.
Good morning, Chair Charles Richardson from the Office of Councilwoman Cindy Bass.
Speaking to the last gentleman who, with regard to Sprague Street, we're going to request a continuance on that.
They have not met with the RCO as yet.
The 12th Ward, and actually what the correspondence I received from him, I received on the 1st of this month.
which was just a notice that
I think it was actually sent to you guys
as well that they had not been able
to schedule as yet.
I haven't received anything from
Reverend Chester Williams
and I don't know why he actually would have
approached the
because he had
no reason to approach the guys
not being assigned as the coordinating RCO
to approach them in the first place.
So I need to actually speak to him
and then I will actually contact the gentleman after this hearing is over
and we can see what we can work out with regards to getting something scheduled.
You said you don't know why he approached him, he meaning the Reverend?
Meaning that Reverend Chester Williams, yes,
because he was not assigned as the coordinating RCO as the 12th Ward
and I had not received anything from the 12th Ward indicating
that they could not do the hearing.
The 12th Ward told us they couldn't do it.
i have the emails um attached to my packet all right why don't you do this joe mr richardson
with all due respect we'll hear the case and hold and you and mr console after the hearing
have a discussion about the procedure going forward all right and it'll work charlie um just
for mr richardson um that doesn't mean that we will just be waiting for a letter the rco will
have a chance to testify after the meeting.
Do I have your contact information, Mr. Richardson?
Sorry to hold everyone up here.
You have my email address.
The telephone number that you can reach is 215 -686 -3424.
Thank you very much, everyone.
Thank you both.
All right.
Any other requests for continuance or continuances or withdrawals?
Chair, I have a hand up for a phone number ending in 555.
You can unmute yourself and speak to a continuance.
Hello, can you hear me?
Yes, ma 'am.
Please identify yourself for the record, name and address, spell your name for the record.
Yes, this is Allison Weiss, solo Germantown Civic Association, 4908 Wayne Avenue.
and i'm speaking with regard to 160 manheim street you swear to the firm to tell the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the truth yeah uh we request the continuous because
the rco meeting will be held on september 22nd
manheim is
that's not on a 9 30 list yeah it's later today i think it's a 3 30 list
3 30 list it is number one on 3 30 at 3 30
so ma 'am if you don't mind i'm sorry i'm sorry no problem just call us back uh
at when we get into 3 30 list all right okay thank you i'm sorry no problem no problem thank you
here i have rachel prisker good morning and unmute yourself
speak to a continuance good morning um rachel r -a -c -h -a -e -l pritzker p -r -i -t -z -k -e -r
pritzker law group 1635 market street suite 1600 philadelphia pa 19103
we're in firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes so i just wanted to um just follow up from allison for 160 manheim it is on the 330
30, we will ask the same consideration to, we've talked to Sharon about having a case
put on so that it's on the record and then we will, you know, have our meeting on the
22nd and we'll, you know, come back at that point just so that we don't slow down the
slow down the process by getting a continuance when the RCO meeting is in less than 10 days.
process by getting a continuance when the RCO meeting's in 10.
Anyone else?
We have a Gwendolyn Wilson. Gwendolyn, you can unmute yourself and speak to the continuance.
Ms. Wilson, please identify yourself, name and address for the record.
Ms. Wilson?
Okay, Chair, I guess we can move on.
No other hands up.
no sir thank you uh carol please call the first well no i'm sorry you got to go through the other
list the add -ons right yes that's correct those okay calendar number 39286 2915 cecil b moore
my vote is no my vote is no
my vote is no my vote is no my vote is no
thank you calendar numbers three two two zero two and three two two zero three
one five zero and one six six berks street my vote is no my vote is yes adopting
finding with proviso adopting findings of fact and conclusions stamped today
my vote is yes with proviso yes with proviso yes with proviso um excuse me this is sharon
on the first case on the list cecil b more we were going to ask if anyone um from the community or
if we could get it get any feedback on the rco meeting that was held after the last cba hearing
uh is there anyone out there
who wishes to speak on that matter calendar number 39286 2915 cecil b moore
here we have mary jones from the council person's office
Mary, you can unmute yourself and speak to a continuance.
Good morning, Mary.
I mean, this decision, I'm sorry.
Good morning, Ms. Jones.
Please identify yourself with the record.
Good morning.
My name is Mary Jones.
I represent Council President Darrell Clark, City Council, I mean, excuse me, City Hall,
room 496.
And do you swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Thank you.
Please proceed.
uh just in terms of the the rco they communicated their uh opposition to this project directly to
our office they also sent some documents i thought to the zone to uh the zoning board as well
i do have them if you all don't well you could submit those but i don't know if you were on we
already voted that case it was a unanimous vote of uh no right so i don't think it is necessarily
relevant but i just in terms for the rco they did express their opposition to us and we do have your
letter and the rco documents miss jones okay thank you thank you anyone else continuance withdrawals
all right i'm sorry i i lost my my train of thought uh mi -2020 -000936 270 dupont street
my vote is no my vote is no my vote is no my vote is no my vote is no my vote is no
Q -MI -2020 -00861 -631 -East Thompson Street.
My vote is no.
My vote is no.
My vote is no.
My vote is no.
My vote is no.
That concludes the add -on list.
Okay, Chair, if I could ask a question.
There appears to be someone regarding 5201 Germantown Avenue continuance.
Rosalyn, you can unmute yourself and speak to this continuance.
Hello, my name is Rosalind McKelvey and I'm from the Wakefield 49ers. We were assigned
Hello, my name is Rosalyn McKelvey, and I'm from the Wakefield.
Ms. McKelvey, please spell your first and last name and give us your address.
R -O -S -A -L -I -N -D, last name McKelvey, M is in Mary, C -K -E -L -V as in Victor E -Y. I live at 4926 Wakefield Street, Philadelphia.
to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes sir thank you please proceed
um in february we received a notice about 5201 germantown avenue which we noticed was under
repair and construction and then for our february meeting coming up we had a secretary's mother died
so we had postponed things till March and the COVID happened everything shut down
then I received notice when I went that there was a case coming up today and I went there
to talk to the person renting the property of Barber because we haven't had any I had a
communication from the representative from Ms. Gwendolyn Wilson who was being represented by
Mr. Blake I believe and said that we hadn't had our meeting and he said everything was closed
so we're in the process of looking for a meeting but I don't know why there was another inquiry by
Ms. Allison Weiss from Solo, but we were assigned by the councilwoman the case. So we're asking for
some time and continuance to work this out. We already announced that, yeah, that case is being
continued. Oh, well, y 'all have a blessed day. Stay assistant. Thank you. You do likewise. Thank you.
Anyone else?
um we have a Gwendolyn Wilson I guess from the previous case yes um um Gwendolyn
you're uh can I mute yourself and speak to the continuance
Miss Wilson please identify yourself spell your first and last name and give
us your address
Ms. Wilson
Had problems earlier, right?
She's unmuted, but there's no audio, so we can proceed here.
Okay, Carol, please call the first case. Thank you. Thank you, Tanya.
Calendar number 39927, 11 -029 Renard Street. The owner is Aleem Redco. And what is proposed is the removal of one interior parking space and replacement with a surface parking space. The use refusal is for the parking setback.
aksana you've been promoted to a panelist already you can share your screen and unmute yourself
uh hi guys so this is aksana redko um and i'm speaking on behalf of my dad alim redko
which is a -l -i -m -r -e -d -k -o um we live at 11 029 renard street this is the first hearing that
I'm attending, so I'm not really sure what the agenda is and like how I can share my screen.
I'm sorry, are you the attorney? No, I'm the daughter of the owner. Okay, but Sharon,
are you here? Because I see you having trouble. Yeah, because she can't represent him.
I'm actually on the deed. Okay. Okay. You can go forward.
um so yeah so we so the plan so we applied um for an application to remove the interior garage
and create a surface parking spot will it will it my dad and my mom live in a twin house in
Philadelphia and um we wanted to so we have a garage and we were planning to make a garage
into the recreation room. I sent a packet of documents to Sharon with 36 pages and with all
the pictures. So we are planning to close off the garage door and create a recreation room, like put
some fitness, kind of a fitness center and like a study room for me and insulate that garage door.
But in order to do that, we need to take out the garage spot and make surface parking spot.
surface parking spot and on january 14th we got the refusal from the board therefore we did all
And on January 14th,
of the necessary steps and we scheduled the rco meeting with the somerton civic association and
that meeting was held on march 10th and i think um the chair from that organization chris
Bordelon, send the notes to the zoning board stating that they give their approval for the
variance. We have a letter of support from Somerton Civic. So yes, and we attached the
pictures of all of the flyers that we put up on the street. So we mailed the letters to our
neighbors and no one had any issues with us doing this project we're not doing
anything like additional we're not building any new building we just want
to insulate our house better because in winter it just gets very cold in the
basement and it will just create a better environment for for me and my
family so we have plenty of space outside and we are not intruding into our
neighbors property and we're not closing the sidewalk so people can walk on the
boardwalk so yeah is there anything else that you would like to know about the
project and about the variance
uh does any of any of the board members need to see any photographs
i mean it seems to be pretty straightforward
anyone else wish to testify in this matter if so please raise your hand
no hands at this time thank you planning commission welcome home thank you this is
paula burns with the planning commission
to tell the you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do a little closer to the mic or you i do thank you this property is indicated for
residential use on the comprehensive plan we have no objection to the granting of
the variance you calendar number three nine nine two seven one one zero two
nine Reinhard R E N N A R D Street my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is
yes calendar number mi -2020 -000859 1400 south 33rd street
the attorney is brett feldman
good morning mr feldman good morning good morning members of the board
mr feldman can you put your name and address on the record
yes uh brett feldman 1835 marcus street philadelphia pennsylvania
19103. And I represent the applicant and property owner, Sioka Automotive. With me today is Paul
Frank, who is director of special products for Sioka, as well as Devin Gray and David Erfer of
the project architects from JKR Partners. Thank you. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
and nothing but the truth? I do. Do you also agree to waive the hearing and stipulate to its
accuracy i do wait not no you're not waving the hearing you're waving the refusal i do it's a
good try you may proceed uh if i may share my screen sure
this is like vanna white waiting for her to i know number over
Is it up yet.
Up yet.
Okay, one second.
It's up now.
It's up now.
There we go, right?
Okay, okay.
So, again, I'm here on behalf of Siocca Automotive.
Let me just briefly introduce Sciocca.
They are one of the largest car dealerships in this state of Pennsylvania.
They have 21 dealerships in Pennsylvania and in New Jersey.
Almost every make, Ford, Chevy, BMW, Audi, Mercedes.
And this is probably one of the more exciting projects that's going on right now.
So they also have a Subaru dealership outside the city.
A couple of years ago, Subaru came to Sciocca and said, we'd love to return to the city
of Philadelphia.
It's been many, many years, I think since it was on North Broad Street, that there was
a Subaru dealership in the city of Philadelphia.
And over the past couple of years, Sciocca has been working on this project.
And let me just, I'll get right to the pictures here.
Our tax clearance certificate, the zoning map.
This property is, again, 1400 South 33rd Street.
It is right off of 76 near the University Avenue exit.
There, Avenue runs along it, 34th, Reed, Dickinson Street.
It was several kind of blighted buildings.
And it's actually, the dealership is now under construction.
Let me just get you to the site itself.
We do have proviso plans.
It's very involved with the community.
these were materials that we showed to the community. Here's the location now. So here's
76. Here's the University Avenue exit there. And then right here is Dickinson, 33rd, Reed,
and then 34th behind us. These are the buildings that were there. Most of those are gone now
because the dealership is actually under construction. This is a 30 plus million
project that is going on. We're all used to seeing dealerships mostly in the city with
a one -story building surrounded by parking fields. This is much more based off of what
you might see in Manhattan. I'll show you this right now. There's three stories, but it's all
interior. This is what the dealership is going to look like. It is two stories in this portion,
three stories in the back. And again, this is under construction right now. These are the
renderings that show what it will look like. And we work very closely with the community.
This application, and you'll see, it's all interior. This is where the cars are stored.
There's service. It is something that the community is very excited about. We're talking
about two or three to 350 new jobs to this neighborhood and you know very
exciting what the application is for is for signage the signage the refusals
it's an industrial property but the what we're trying to do is have these signs
that we had approved down at the first level and over here move to the second
level so you can see it better from 76 and as far as the wayfinding you can
gain access, get off the road at the University Avenue exit, and get to this location. So the
refusals are for these signs here. I'll take you through this sign here to put it up above the
second floor. Here's the signs as they wrap around. They're all completely code compliant
as far as size, but just to move them above the second floor to the second floor is what creates
the refusals. There's also, I'll show you a sign right here that's actually existing. It was used
for the prior tenant and we just wanted to document the continued use of that just so there's
no confusions with LNI and how it used for Sioka as an accessory sign. And I can just take you that
that's what this will look like at night. We've worked, you know, for the last, I don't know,
year plus with the different community groups down there. We did meet with
Charles Reeves, president of the Tasca Morris Neighborhood Association on this
and you have their letter of I think it was almost unanimous support right here
page 43 but it's been a great relationship so far. It's under
it's it's it's been a great relationship so far uh it's under construction uh and the relief
construction
we're seeking is is only for those signs uh with that um i would ask if the board has any questions
mr frank is on the line and we also have our project architects as well
why don't we get one of your witnesses uh mr frank and then swear him in and then we'll
ask for questions
mr frank are you are you available
Paul, if you want to unmute yourself.
There we go.
Can you hear me now?
Please identify yourself, your name and address for the record.
Hi, my name is Paul Frank, spelled P -A -U -L.
F -R -A -N -K.
I'm with Sioka Dealerships at 750 South West End Boulevard, Quakertown, Pennsylvania.
Do you swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Thank you.
Please proceed, Mr. Feldman.
Mr. Frank, you've heard my testimony?
Yes, I did.
And is it true and accurate?
Yes, it is.
And do you adopt it as your own?
I adapted as my own. Yes. Okay. And, and again, this would be a Subaru returning to the city.
The building is under construction and hundreds and hundreds of jobs that we were CEO was bringing
to the city. Correct. That's correct. And the signage was important to the signage is important
both to Sioka and to Subaru national, as far as visibility to motorists and as far as wayfinding
on the adjacent elevated and non -elevated roads that surround this property, correct?
That is correct, and it matches with Subaru's architectural design guidelines.
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
Anyone else wish to testify in this case?
If so, please raise your hand.
What happened?
hello anybody hear me yes we hear you my screen went blank so I hear you put your finger on your
mouse that work figure it out oh there I go we have no additional hands up chair
Planning Commission.
Chairman and members of the Board, this property is indicated for industrial use on the comprehensive plan.
While we have no objection to the granting of the variance for the existing rooftop sign and the proposed signage,
we do not support the large sign that is abutting the access ramp as shown on the rendering that was not discussed during the presentation.
Thank you.
MI -2020 -000859 -1400, South 33rd Street.
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
Thank you so much for your time and consideration.
Thank you, Brett.
Okay. Calendar number MI -2020 -000850 -2004, Cambridge Street. The attorney is Sarah Alderfer.
Ms. Alderfer, you have been promoted to a panelist. You can unmute yourself and share
your screen as necessary.
Hi, Sarah. Can you put your name and address on the record, please?
Sarah Aldefer, S -A -R -A -H -A -L -D -E -R -F -E -R, 1500 JFK Boulevard, Suite 800, Philadelphia.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth and nothing but the truth?
And you also agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Okay, you may present your case.
All right, I'll go ahead and share my screen.
Okay, so I'm here today on behalf of TVM Group, which is the equitable owner of 2004 Cambridge
Okay, so I'm here today on behalf of TV.
Street, pursuant to an agreement of sale dated June 9, 2020, which is exhibit two in the
booklet that I submitted.
Our plan is to build a duplex on the Cambridge Street side of the property and a single family
home on the George Street side of the property. 2004 Cambridge Street is an RM1 lot that runs
street to street from Cambridge to West George. In developing our plan, we looked at the surrounding
properties and what they had. And we developed a plan that was very, very similar, if not almost
identical to what is currently existing at 2006 Cambridge Street, which was granted a variance by
the board on February 14th, 2018, calendar number 31766, and the zoning archive containing that
information is exhibit 10, which is page 72 in your packet. So to take you through the refusals
on this application, we have two refusals, one for the setback of the pilot house on the single
family home here. And then one for the open area, we are proposing 224 square feet of open area,
which is 17 .5 % as opposed to the 320 square feet or 25 % that is required. So to take you through
the plan, the duplex fronts on Cambridge, and it is a two bi -level units. Cellar, first floor,
second is one unit, and then third floor, second floor, third floor is another unit. I would note
here that the cellar is, according to the elevations, only set three feet, eight inches
below grade, so the majority of the floor of this, of what we're calling the cellar is actually
above grade. And you can see that on the renderings. So I'm showing you now the
zoning site plan, which is page 66 of the PDF. Let me just scroll a bit.
Apologies, I think I'm a little frozen.
So, as you can see here, this is the elevation of the rear of the duplex.
and you can see in this elevation that the floor is not completely below grade
and that a large portion of that cellar unit is in fact above grade.
So taking a look at the renderings.
This is the Cambridge Street side as proposed, and this is the West George Street side.
Regarding the pilot house that's proposed on the single family home, the pilot house is set at the
rear of the single family home, which creates a refusal. That was designed that way for two
reasons. First, and primarily, is that if we were to put the pilot house, which is located at the
rear of the property, so it's set back five feet, it would not be even with the pilot house of the
adjacent property and would then block the view of the adjacent property from their roof deck.
So we wanted to avoid that. In addition, the pilot house at the rear of the property allows for the
location of the stairs at a convenient location inside the property, which creates more space
inside the single family home. And then, you know, in terms of it's set back from the street, which
we've completely, it's just that the rear property line of the single family home is along the rear
yard. And so there's not a setback there. So it really only creates a setback issue for this
property itself and not for the adjacent properties. Other things of note on this plan
Other things of note on this plan, we are adjacent to a five foot wide alley, which provides for egress from the rear yard in the event of an emergency and so we're abutting onto our property line.
But on the West George Street side, there is a five foot alley that runs along the eastern edge of the property here into and well alongside a portion of the rear yard.
we met with the coordinating RCO FND, the coordinating RCO United Francisville Civic
Association and got their support. We discussed issues with them of where the property lines fall
as well as issues of this fence in the rear. And then we also did a courtesy presentation to
Francisville Neighborhood Development Corporation and got their support. And the letters of support
are in your packets at exhibits 13 and 14. And with that, I'm going to ask my client to come on
and adopt my statements. Bob, are you there?
who would that be i don't have um it would be um bob stein or um boris harrelstein i have a boris
boris you're gonna mute yourself and speak
hear me yes sir would you please identify yourself for the record name and address and
spell your name my name is boris perstein or bob stein 2036 poplar street b -o -b -s -t -e -i -n
you're infirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
Thank you.
Please proceed.
Mr. Perelstein, are you the principal of TBM Group, LLC?
I'm the owner, yes.
And have you heard my statements?
I did.
Are they true and correct?
It was.
Do you adopt them as your own?
With that, I'm ready for questions of the board.
I believe we have the architects on the Zoom as well.
questions from the board no no no no thank you anyone else wish to testify in this matter if so
please raise your hand if you haven't already done so
here I have a Spence Cass Spence you can unmute yourself and speak to this case
yes um i'm speaking sarx oh yeah please identify yourself name and address by your name
hello fence you have to unmute yourself
spence cass can you hear me now yes and please spell your first
Okay, S -P -E -N -C -E -K -A -S -S, 915 North 20th Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19130.
You swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed.
uh the neighbors uh the five properties on north 20th street that have their rear yards
against the property line of 2004 cambridge street um have some concerns because um
i'm sorry to interrupt you but you need to have your testimony on behalf of yourself
Okay. All right. I'm concerned that the alley, it's listed on the drawing is only three feet, not five feet. And in actuality, it doesn't measure even three feet right now.
So we'd like to or I'd like to see them strike that line so that the neighbors can we can understand if they're going to encroach or if it currently encroaches on this back alley that's back there and also what disruption there'll be to their rear yards and alley during construction because the middle property goes all the way back to the property line.
Currently, there's a jog in the block wall that separates these properties.
So it's uncertain where the property line is.
So it's, it's uncertain where the property line is. So that's concern number one. Concern number two is the facade on Cambridge Street. None of the buildings on Cambridge Street, which is a small street, have cast stone going all the way up to the second floor.
uh they're very modest brick homes i believe excuse me for interrupting uh the board has no
enforcement materials but we can get to the first question if you will okay sarah maybe you can get
your architect to uh address the issue that the gentleman just brought up about the alley
i think you said it was five foot in your testimony so yeah apologies i misspoke um it is
It is a three foot alley and I would just, while the architect is in the process of unmuting
himself, I will just say that it is, you know, the issue of the alley, we, it is our plan and
duty to build only on our property. And we have no plans to encroach on a property that is not
ours. We understand that alley issues are complicated in the city and we have an interest
in maintaining the alley free and clear and not obstructing on it just as much as any other
property owner on that alley. You advise your, excuse me, your
your applicant if he or she could share a phone number or whatever during construction. I think
the gentleman raised questions about the alley being used maybe during construction so they can
at least inform the residents, adjacent residents and the residents in the rear as any construction
that may impede access to the alley during, during construction. Sarah, who's your architect?
Um, from Nome Architects, um, either Derek or Justin should be on the call.
If they could raise their hand and I can have them on for you. I don't
not sure who to put on for you okay well if if bob is still there um he's familiar as the
equitable owner he's had these plans um he he he can also testify as to the location of the
boundary lines and the existing block wall so i think you you explained that you you cleared it
up you misspoke you said so it's actually three foot not five and your testimony is you're not
going to encroach on any of that three the three foot alleyway correct correct
all right anyone else have any questions uh regarding this case if so please raise your hand
i have a robert losick
would you please identify yourself your name and address by your last name for the stenographer
so no robert can't speak robert it's not allowing you to because your
version is um an older version of zoom
anyone else
no other hands up chair thank you uh planning commission
chairman and members of the board this property is indicated for residential use on the comprehensive
plan we feel that this application represents an overuse of the property and we have concerns
regarding the house fronting onto george street which is used almost exclusively as a rear access
street and not as a front frontage street accordingly we recommend that the requested
variance not be granted well would you repeat that about the the cambridge street frontage
we have concerns regarding the house fronting onto george street which is almost used exclusively
as a rear access street and not as a frontage street
if i could quickly respond um i'd just like to re -emphasize that we are building that well this
plan is almost identical to what was approved in 2018 for 2006 cambridge 2006 cambridge has a
single an existing four -story structure with a first floor garage and single family home above
so our plan is a direct mirror of what this board approved for george street in 2018
yes and and looking at the streetage or the street frontage we still may not have supported
that but we feel that it is basically a driveway access street
and chair if i could offer um robert losick who was unable to
testify because of his zoom um is stating in the q a we are
is stating in the Q &A we are concerned regarding the egress from the alley just to put that on
concerned regarding
record yeah yeah yeah just just the ceilings and then I'll talk to
all right uh seems they're having technical difficulties uh anyone else i know robert
was trying to get back on but all right calendar number three nine oh excuse me chairman before
you vote um i'd just like to request a proviso for revised plans i've already
submitted the proviso form and revised plans via email on friday how many pages
one and i reviewed those plans and the proviso plans form and the changes are minor and can be
done by revised plans thank you now let's see mi -2020 -000850 -2004 cambridge street
my vote is yes with proviso revised plan one page adopted today
my vote is yes with proviso yes for proviso yes for proviso my vote is no
you carol i'm going to step away for a couple minutes so handle the next case please
okay calendar number three nine thank you all for your time oh you're welcome thank you
calendar number three nine two six nine twenty two thirty six north hancock street the attorney
is Rachel Pritzker. Good morning. Good morning. Can you please put your name and address on the
record? Yes. Rachel, R -A -C -H -A -E -L, Pritzker, P -R -I -T -Z -K -E -R, Pritzker Law Group, 1635
Market Street, Suite 1600, Philadelphia, PA 19103. Do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth
and nothing but the truth? Yes. And do you also agree to waive the reading of the refusal and
stipulate to its accuracy? Yes. Okay. You may present your case. Thank you. Yep. Okay.
so we are here for uh 2236 hancock street um we have melvin brown and lorraine troy here as well
um they're the clients for this matter this project is an existing single family home and
we're just here for the erection of a third floor addition and for a roof deck and pilot house
to again, an existing single family. The only refusal that we generated was for minimum open
area. Essentially, as you can see from the plans, we are looking to provide the addition just flush
with the existing floors so that we can provide more of modern living space for this single
family home. We met with, I think we're shy, my refusal, we're proposing 15%, which is 126
square feet versus the code requires 210 square feet or 25%. Again, if we were to provide the
required minimum open area, we would sort of have a very odd looking addition and are just looking
to add a little bit of modern living space and to have it flush with the existing structure so
that it's uh in uniform we met met with you met with the rco which i think is nara square yes we
met with nara square civic association um we have the letter right here um they voted in support of
the project um and i'm happy to take any questions again this is just for minimum open space
You'd like to put your clients, bring your clients so I can swear them in and then they
can adopt your testimony.
Melvin Brown and Lorraine Troy.
Tanya, if you see them, they should be on the line.
They can unmute themselves and wait to be sworn in.
Okay, Chair, they're available.
thank you do you can you please put your name and address on the record
lorraine troy l -o -r -r -a -i -n -e t -r -o -y 601
L -O -R -R -A -I -N -E -T -R -O -Y 6018 Nassau Road Philadelphia PA 19151. Thank you. Do you swear
or affirm to tell the truth and nothing but the truth? Yes. Next person.
Mr. Brown are you there?
Mr. Brown, you can speak. You're unmuted.
I'm not sure what's wrong with his audio. You can proceed.
Yeah, we can just have Lorraine. Have you heard my testimony this morning before the board?
Do you stipulate to its accuracy and adopt it as your own?
Thank you.
Happy to take any questions.
Does the board have any questions?
Is the board ready to vote?
But first, we're asking planning commission.
This property is indicated for residential use on the comprehensive plan.
We have no objection to the granting of the variance for the small reduction in open space.
Thank you.
Calendar number 39269 -2236 North Hancock Street.
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
Confessor Jim.
Confessor.
We need a third vote.
Jim Snell.
jim is um going i believe that's right confessor we need actually i didn't ask questions but i was
three feet away from listening to it so my vote is yes i actually heard the the testimony okay
thank you that confirms three votes and i know that because rachel didn't bring her baby out
today so no that's meredith no that's meredith i'm sorry i asked her to be fair i asked her if
i could borrow the baby for the case i got next week i apologize that's right it was meredith i
apologize. I was expecting her to come out, too, with the baby, and I thought, no, she's the wrong
one. Not yet, guys. Not yet. Okay. The baby yet. Okay. I think that concludes the 930 hearings.
Thank you. I don't remember earlier with Joe Consul, right? To Sprague Street.
Is that on our list? It was. Remember, that's the one we spoke about earlier. Am I correct,
tanya i'm sorry can we pause for one second i'm discussing matters with legal counsel
sure sure thank you
Thank you.
Thank you, Chair. If I could mention a case that was scheduled for this morning to be
voted 1019 Arch Street, and I just wanted to put on record that the case is still being
discussed by the board and the vote will be next Wednesday. Thank you, Chair.
okay as for this uh sprague street we're going to hear that correct and i think we
said we would hear and hold yes sir okay uh mr console mi -2020 -000767
uh i don't have the address i misplaced the address what i did sprague street
5625 was it get it is 5625 sprague street right 5625 sprague street
okay mr council i think i swore you in earlier can you put
okay mr council i think i swore you in earlier can you put your name and address on the record
please yes name joseph consul address 1 west 3rd street suite 204 media pennsylvania 19063
thank you do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy
I do. Yes. Thank you.
Thank you.
I'm here this morning on 5625 Sprague Street.
This is in the East Germantown -Belfield neighborhood.
The property is owned by Kazansky LLC.
There is one of the owners of Kazansky, Ari Garapov, is also on this call if his input is necessary.
This property is zoned CMX2.
Here is a view of the block that the property's on.
We are on the far left here with the alley next to it and a large open vacant lot.
We are seeking to have this property zoned for multifamily use without commercial space on the first floor.
Every other property on this block is a multifamily without commercial space on the first floor.
We, as discussed earlier, and I'll reiterate for the record, we made attempts to meet with the 12th Ward Democratic Committee.
We were told at the time that they were unable to accommodate us.
However, Mr. Richardson had chimed in earlier today to request that we do what we can to schedule a meeting and continue.
That being said, the request that we have on is for four units.
We understand without the input of the RCO, that is likely a tall ask.
And we had actually prepared for the RCO a set of plans with three units.
So we've got the three -unit plan on the right, the first floor plan versus the optional plan.
plan. This is how many units we'd be allowed by right in the CMX2 zoning with the square footage
that we have. So it's three two -bedroom units. These plans were not submitted and stamped. We
were just trying to get the approval for the number of units today. And we understand also
so that this may come with some provisos, and we're prepared to accept those.
We also understand that the board is going to hold its decision,
and hopefully I'll be able to connect with Mr. Richardson and get an RCO meeting here.
With that being said, we've got a first floor plan, a cellar plan with two egress walls
and an egress space in the back, which is common on this block,
the back egress for the cell, or not the egress walls.
We have those because of our location on the end here with the alley on the side.
So that's really the bulk of it.
If anyone has any questions or if anyone wants to speak to the owner,
we can pull him up as well get your uh client uh on the record okay all right can you raise your
hand well though it's subject we understand there's maybe some changes but let's get him
on the record for now okay i'm not sure who is it's our it should be re g -a -r -i -p -o -v
i have a text from him saying he's on the line hi hi uh do you hear me yes sir please identify
yourself for the record spell your first and last name and give us your address
hi uh my name is ari garipov a -r -i uh garipov g -a -r -i -p -o -v my address is 2641 woodland
Road, Abington, PA,
19001.
Are you ready for him to tell the truth, the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth? I do.
Mr. Consul, please
proceed. Mr. Garapov,
first of all, do you adopt everything that
I've said so far as true and accurate
as to be your
own statements? Yes.
Is there anything you wish to add
before we see if the board has any
inquiries for you? No.
No. Okay.
Mr. Richardson,
Mr. Richardson, you're still available?
not at all.
No, he's not here, Chair.
All right, but his earlier testimony, he did agree, I believe, that he and Mr. Council would have a conversation,
meet with the RCO and speak to the councilwoman about whatever it is that the RCO ultimately
decides on. So should we hold this or give a continuance date? We don't know because we don't
know when the RCO meeting will take place. Can we schedule it for a either input from the RCO or a
status update on October, is it October 6th, that we'll be doing follow -up hearings?
Yes, that's correct, at 930.
I would like that.
That's good.
We'll hold the decision on MI -2020 -000767, 5625 Sprague Street.
the decision will be made on october the 6th at 9 30 a .m um pending pending a meeting prior to that
with the rco and the district councilwoman all right great we'll meet with them and we'll submit
whatever we get from them thank you tanya sharon did i leave anything out um no but um joe you
should be prepared to come back and report on the results of the meeting also if any rco representative
would like to speak at that time they will be permitted to will that be a 9 30 check -in yes
it will yes all right i'll put that on my calendar right now thank you thank you all
uh planning on my calendar too joe sorry about the confusion this morning it's okay but planning
commission uh planning commission you you want to weigh in i mean we don't know what the ultimate
results are going to be i would like to and i just lost where my recommendation was uh this property
is indicated for commercial use on the comprehensive plan. We have no objection to the commercial
not being included, but we do feel that four residential units is excessive and represents
an overuse and forces bedrooms almost completely below grade with limited light and air access.
According to the rest, that the number of units not be granted.
Thank you. Okay. Interesting. All right. Thank you, Joe. Thank you.
I believe this concludes the 930 session.
is that correct that's correct any outstanding issues uh before we uh we end this session
nothing for me chair i know i will be sending out a revised summary list for this afternoon's
hearings um before two o 'clock very good all right everyone stay safe see you at two o 'clock
thank you bye -bye thank you and we'll give Tanya three or four minutes no we're fine it's only in
the morning chair oh okay all right very good thank you good afternoon everyone my name is
Frank DiCicco I am the chairman of the zoning board of adjustment I'll be participating in
today's hearing along with our vice chair Ms. Carol Tenere board secretary confessor plaza
and board members Mr. Thomas Holloman and Mr. James Snell.
Board Administrator Tanya Sunkett and Board Attorney Sharon Saleta are also in attendance.
For those of you who haven't yet participated in our virtual hearings,
I'll go through some of the basics of what you can expect.
First, we'll begin this afternoon's session by reading a list of cases to be continued.
If you believe any case announced is being continued in error,
we will give you an opportunity to respond. After reading the continuance list and receiving
any feedback, we will then take any additional continuance and or withdrawal requests. Then once
we've confirmed which hearings are being continued, Vice Chair Tenere will begin calling the remaining
cases listed for this session. When a case is called, we ask that attorneys representing
applicants or other interested parties in the matter identify themselves for the record.
We will then hear the appellant's presentation, followed by any presentation by attorneys
representing other parties. Interested parties and members of the public not represented by
counsel will then be given an opportunity to testify. We will finally hear the recommendation
of the Planning Commission. At the hearing's conclusion, we will either vote the matter
immediately or hold it for discussion in an executive session. Any case held for discussion
Any case held for discussion will be voted at the next scheduled Wednesday morning session.
will be voted at the next scheduled
Please note the following changes related to the virtual format.
First, we will be administering oaths to individual participants prior to their testimony.
Second, for the benefit of anyone participating by phone, we ask that attorneys and witnesses
identify themselves prior to speaking or testifying.
Third, we'd like to advise everyone that this proceeding is being recorded and that by
participating, you acknowledge your agreement to be recorded.
Fourth, 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. Finally, 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 that as well.
To enter an appearance statement, call Google 267 -270 -5548 and leave your email address
and the address of the property at issue. With that said, we can begin, but before Vice Chair
Tenere calls our first case, we'd like to announce that the following matters are being continued.
Calendar number 39693, 6442, excuse me, 6442 Head Street.
Calendar number 39627, 4240 North Broad Street, Suite No. 2.
Calendar number 39489, 8835 Germantown Avenue.
MI -2020 -000842, 623 North 36th Street, calendar number 40045, 3751 North Darien Street,
calendar number 49648 -3114 -Frankford Avenue, calendar number 39902 -3240 -North Front Street,
Calendar number 39307, 2504 East York Street, and MI -2020 -0011117, 5901 Germantown Avenue, is being withdrawn.
At this time, I'll ask if anyone has any concerns about a case that was just listed to be continued or withdrawn to please raise your hand. And also, if you wish to, ask for a continuance or withdrawal, please raise your hand at this time also.
Here I have Sloan folks. Sloan folks, you can unmute yourself and prepare to be sworn in.
Good afternoon, Mr. Fulks. And you're still under oath from this morning, but please identify yourself for the record.
I'm sorry, Chairman Chico. I wasn't on this morning, but I will be sworn in.
I'm sorry, Mr. Richardson.
Sloan Fulks, S -L -O -A -N -E -F -S -A -F -I -R -O -L -K -S, Office of Counseling Maria Keylor Sanchez, Survival Waits to Go.
You swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do, sir.
Thank you. Please proceed.
Just, maybe I didn't hear it, but I'm a request. I thought it was an email to have the continuance for calendar number 39707 -2900 North 4th Street continued. Is that being continued or is that being heard today?
Calendar number 39707 -2900 North 4th. We have it down as being heard.
Okay, I sent a request for continuance. I don't have a letter from the community stating that they had a meeting with the applicants. If there is a letter from the community for the applicants, we can waive that.
um this is sharon saletta i believe we did receive a letter and the attorney on this case is
darlene three um i can send you a copy of that letter if you'd like yeah that would be great
Yeah, that would be great. Thank you very much.
thank you thank you very much non -opposition and that's we would sound a little
Non -opposition. And that's, it's on the list on case number five, so you'll have some time to
review it. Thank you, Kat. Thank you very much, Chairman. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you.
Any other requests for continuance or withdrawals, or did anyone question a continuance that was
called on the record?
here i have a hand of jocelyn henry jocelyn you can unmute yourself and speak to a continuance
jocelyn please identify yourself spell your first and last name for the record
hello i am jocelyn henry j -a -r -s -h -l -y -n last name henry h -e -n -r -y i'm here representing
4642 hedge street your address ma 'am 4642 hedge street do you swear and firm to tell the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes i do
i'm here to request zoning um rooming boards for the property this case was continued the first
case on your continuance chair yes yeah it was no exhibits no rco meeting and in case was uh at
that result of that councilwoman sanchez requested a continuance okay miss henry did you submit the
required documents that was on your yes you emailed the documents to sharon saletta
um i followed the i followed the sending out the paperwork to all the neighbors within the radius
and right but did you have a meeting with them no it was canceled so you can't go forward until
you have your meeting with the um rco as well as the instructions that's sent out with your
posters state that you must submit exhibits five days before the hearing to the rcozba at g um gmail
box as well as sharon saletta who's the attorney for the board and if that's not done then your
case will be continued so you can look for a new email where you'll get a new address
for your hearing okay i mean i'm sorry a new date for your hearing okay thank you have a good day
Thank you. Anyone else have any believe that a case was called in continuance in error or wish to ask for a continuance?
I have a Nadia Montez, I believe it states. You can unmute yourself and speak to a continuance.
Nadia, please identify yourself, spell your first and last name and give us your address.
are you there Nadia okay chair moving on I have hand raised attorney Darlene
three Darlene three you're allowed to speak to a continuance you can unmute
yourself mystery please identify yourself name and address
Sir, Alene, are you there?
Okay, sir, I guess we can move forward.
Thank you.
Carol, please call the first case.
Thank you.
Calendar number MI -2020 -000870, 920 West Susquehanna Avenue.
The attorney is Alan Nockamson.
Mr. Nockamson, can you put your name and address on the record, please?
Yes, good afternoon, Madam Vice Chair, members of the board.
My name is Alan Nockamson of Nockamson, PC, 123 South Broad Street, Suite 1600, Philadelphia, PA, 19109.
Thank you. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth and nothing but the truth?
And do you also agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
I do. Thank you. You may proceed.
Thank you. You may proceed.
All right. In front of you is a packet of exhibits, which include eight of them. The first exhibit is the deed to the property, showing a golden rule, LLC, as the owner of 920 West Susquehanna Avenue.
This entity is actually owned by B2 Properties. I present often on behalf of B2 Properties. Just a little background information. B2 Properties is one of the largest residential home builders in the city of Philadelphia.
On average, they build approximately and sell approximately 100 units per year.
They're also known for their work product.
The last two years, the Philadelphia Inquirer actually has recognized them as developer of the year in the city of Philadelphia.
And they're looking to put a three -unit condominium building at 920 West Susquehanna Avenue.
you. The next exhibit I'm showing you is the tax clearance certificate showing that they're in
good standing with the city of Philadelphia. The only refusal we have here today is this is a CMX2
property. So technically, we're supposed to build a commercial unit on the first floor and then two
residential units on the upper floors. We're asking to switch out the commercial unit with
a residential unit to make this a three -unit condominium building.
And as you'll see, and here's our application for appeal with the ZBA, as you'll see with
the zoning map, this is a very multi -residential neighborhood.
We're at the corner here on Susquehanna, and you'll see a lot of CMX2 properties.
And the reason why I point that out is that if you look at the photographs of this part
in the neighborhood, and here's a photo of the vacant lot at 920 West Susquehanna Avenue,
you'll see at 912 -18 West Susquehanna Avenue, like these same CMX2 properties are vacant lots.
And, you know, we believe that, you know, from a city planning perspective, it makes sense to
create the density within this part of the neighborhood. So then the commercial quarter
can grow strong. And, you know, we don't believe that, you know, this part of the neighborhood is
ready for any commercial use whatsoever, that, you know, you know, if we marketed it, there would
be no, there would be no market for that. And you can see down the block in 901 West
Tusquehanna Avenue, that the nearby CMX2 portion of, or the commercial portion of property is
vacant so again just this is the basic you know v2 properties um you know three unit condominium
building a brick facade you know try to emulate you know the red brick that is constant throughout
the city of philadelphia and then you know each floor has its own unit and the only issue we have
today we met with the community excuse me yeah could you go back to that uh slot right there
yeah okay yeah so each each each floor has its own uh uh unit right so here's the first floor
it's actually a bi -level then the second floor the second unit um is it's on its own floor and
then the third unit its own on its own floor uh so and a staircase on the basement unit the back
bedroom is that a stairwell uh that's a that's that's a window well along with a staircase that
leads to you know to the ground level as well okay yeah thank you so we actually had the pre
so we met with apm uh the coordinating rcl and we had a pre -community meeting with them and then
We had a community meeting with them last week.
I didn't really get much, you know, honestly, much pushback based on what we were proposing.
We're allowed three units as of right.
We're just asking to swap out the commercial unit with the residential.
And especially given, you know, what we're seeing in the neighborhood where there's a ton of vacant lots, there are CMX2 right across the street, down the block.
I didn't get much pushback on the pre -community meeting and the community meeting.
And after the community meeting, you know, we made multiple attempts to reach out to the community representative, and we haven't heard back from her.
And, you know, we got notices that she was on vacation.
We then reached out to the main number.
So we've left multiple phone messages and emails with the community group.
Honestly, I'd leave it up to the board to see how they would like to approach the situation. I know the board would like to hear from what the community group typically has to say, but given the dynamics of this property and quite honestly, every second, close to December 31st with the tax abatement program is scary to every one of my clients.
I'm hoping the board looks at the merits of this and given the silence of the community group to show they're in non -opposition of this project.
I talked to Ms. Saleta earlier today just to find out if the community group did provide a letter to the board and not to us.
And my understanding is that no letter was sent to the ZBA as well.
And they did know about the meeting.
I was just about to ask that same question.
Sharon and Tanya, nothing in the file?
I checked my email just a half hour ago, and there was nothing.
Do you have anyone else, Alan?
Yes, I have Bill Archer, the owner's representative.
Bill, can you virtually raise your hand?
Bill, you can unmute yourself.
Yep. Can you hear me now?
Yeah, Mr. Archer, please identify yourself, name and address.
Bill Archer, 130 Clover Lane, Perky -Omanville, Pennsylvania, 18094.
And you swear to the firm, tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
Thank you.
Bill, what's your title with V2 Properties?
Managing Director.
And you heard everything I stated today?
And is it true and correct?
Yes, it is.
And do you agree to adopt it as your own testimony?
Alan, has your client done development in this catchment area of APM?
Yes, they have on several occasions.
Sorry.
You wanted to add something?
No, just on several occasions.
And we've been up front of the board as well.
And we actually have another one at 920 French Street, which we also presented last week and we haven't heard back.
and i believe that's like the hearings later either this month or next month all right thank
you questions from the board no no anyone else anyone else wish to testify in this case if so
please raise your hand if you haven't already done so no hands at this time cheer thank you
planning commission and uh mr ivan iron is it ian ian where are you it's ian
ian please spell your first and last name for the stenographer it's i -a -n last name litwin l -i -t -w -i -n
here with the planning commission yes you swear and affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and
nothing but the truth yes i do thank you please proceed although this parcel is zoned cmx2 this
zoning has not been updated since 1933. Therefore, we have no objection to
granting the variance to allow all residential development. Thank you.
MI -2020 -000870920 West Susquehanna Avenue. My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
thank you you're welcome calendar number three nine nine four zero 66 37 germantown avenue
this is a referral uh the people applying are vernon g gardner and trepetta b mason they are the owners
and this proposal is for a takeout restaurant on the first floor with existing one family
dwelling above a referral requires a special exception this proposed use takeout restaurant
requires a special exception approval in the zone in this zoning district the
applicants for this case could you please raise your hand
Vernon Gardner and or Trepetta Mason, please raise your hand.
Okay, I have to.
Trepeta Mason, you've been promoted to panelists.
You can unmute your mic, share your screen as necessary, and wait to be sworn in.
Can you put your name and address on the record individually?
We can hear you.
are you able to hear us yes oh yeah thank you we were we've been talking for a minute
our hands are raised sorry you have to keep raising no it was that was the blue hand that
you were supposed to raise so now you're fine you're going to give your first and last name
and spell it both of you yes okay my first name is trapeta uh t -r -a -p -e -t -a uh the last name is
mason m -a -y -s -o -n and do you swear or affirm to tell the truth and nothing but the truth
yes i do okay vernon you're next
get closer to the mic mr gardner get closer to the mic yeah let me turn this
V -E -R -N -O -N, Vernon, G -A -R -D -N -E -R, Gardner.
And do you swear or affirm to tell the truth and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Thank you.
You can present your case.
Good afternoon, everyone.
So I'm Tripita Mason, and we're presenting for 6637 Germantown Avenue.
So I can share my screen.
Okay. So today we are in front of you to discuss the point of getting a specialist exception to operate a takeout business at 6637 Germantown Avenue.
we had already scheduled our community meeting several months ago prior to COVID -19 and then
after COVID -19 we worked with our community organization Mount Erie Business Improvement
Association or the Mount Erie BID and as a result of that another meeting was rescheduled
so we sent our letters out to over 100 near neighbors including all of the other individuals
that were listed on the announcement.
In addition to that, our meeting was held on the 23rd.
It was unanimously supported by the community.
The property is located
in the two -mile stretch of Germantown Avenue
along the Mount Airy commercial border.
It has been empty for a while.
Our plan is that we're going to renovate the property,
just really aesthetic pleasing in the front
and be able to have a small Caribbean restaurant.
Upstairs, there is a residential,
but downstairs, you know, we want to remove the iron gate
and make a beautiful facade in the front
and just operate a takeout.
We have submitted all of our documentations
and I'm going to go,
I'm just going to kind of scan past them,
but we submitted our tax clearance.
We submitted the site plan,
as well as our application
for the special exception. We also submitted the vote, the information from our Mount Erie bid,
where members attended a Zoom meeting. And again, the project was supported anonymously.
In this COVID time, and you know, it's really important for us, where we will be small business
owners along that commercial strip, but it wouldn't be a viable strip if we weren't able
to have a takeout option. We've also made arrangements. I know one of the important
things is about trash and trash pickup. We submitted photos of the property along with
our application. This is a copy of our letter that we sent to the community members to attend
the meeting. And then I just wanted to, and this is the deed to the property as we were
asked to submit. Vern and I are co -owners, we're husband and wife, and we're co -owner
of the property. I'm sorry to be going so fast here. This is the facade where we
I'm sorry I'd be going so fast here.
This is the facade where we posted the notice.
These gates, we did not move them the whole time, you know, in front of the property.
So they were never moved and community members were able to see that.
That's a close up.
This is what the property, we took this photo in December.
This is what it looks like.
Our plan is to renovate the entire front and give it a really nice facelift, keeping the original facade.
This is the back area where we will have a dumpster that will be picked up by a private trash collection company.
So we wouldn't have any issues with trash.
In the front, we plan to put lighting, you know, that's following the aesthetic of the community.
But the takeout exception is extremely important for us because the restaurant is only going to be a small, like under 15 seats.
And we really do need the ability to be able to have takeout.
option. Oh, and we also have, we were asked to also submit. Okay. We were also asked to submit
the site. Yes, ma 'am. Okay. I'm sorry. Now that's back. Yeah. Okay. So we did submit the site plan
for the property, and this is just a copy of it here. This just shows the front of
the property. This is what we're hoping to renovate with the new windows, a door,
also a door facing, a door to go upstairs to the apartment where the current, you
know, to be able to go upstairs. And then this is just a plan of the inside of the
and inside of the restaurant on the first floor and again the kitchen the takeout area the dining
area and just a pretty small restaurant space with the ability to have takeout. Excuse me for
interrupting takeout area that that's enclosed though right you're not yes proposing a takeout
window or anything like that no no we're not it's enclosed yeah the takeout area is enclosed
Thank you. And the community is very supportive. We both live in Northwest. We live in Germantown and we're, you know, been pretty active in the community. And the bid, as well as community members are very enthusiastic about this. And they were, you know, they unanimously supported the project.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
Questions from the board.
no anyone else no anyone wishes to testify in this case if so please raise your hand
here i have charles richardson good afternoon mr richardson just identify yourself you're
on the road from this morning good afternoon charles richardson from the office of councilwoman
Cindy Bass. Councilwoman unanimously supports the special exception for Ms. Mason with regard to
this restaurant. We do note that the community is unanimously supportive of the special exception,
so we'd be glad to see them on the avenue. Thank you very much. Planning Commission.
this property is indicated for commercial use on the comprehensive plan this proposal supports
the local commercial corridor and will not cause detrimental impacts beyond that which normally
might be expected from the proposed use therefore we have no opposition to granting the special
exception thank you calendar number could i just ask that planning commission when you come on you
just say your name and you're from the planning commission for all the people listening and for
the recordings thank you thank you calendar number three nine nine four zero six six three
seven germantown avenue my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes good luck to you
Congratulations. Calendar number MI2020 -000860 and MI -2020 -000888 -712 -714 -North 36th Street.
the attorney is Alan Nockamson. Before you begin, Alan, Carol, just take note that
that's item number three. If you look down, item number six speaks to the same application.
if you look down item number six speaks to the same application but it's
sorry about that that was my doing last minute revisions no problem I just want
to point that out because the refusal on item number six is for multifamily
prohibited it doesn't give any more specification than that so is there
anything that is should be should be included in item number three the one
we're going to hear now as it relates to item number six there's that just
cover it does this there's MMI -2020 -000860 and 000888 cover
everything that's in it does there are okay there's one three family dwelling on each lot
with each with a roof deck and pilot house i think there's a slight difference in the refusal
um not nothing significant it's um the use is refused minimum open area requirements aren't met
and minimum yard depth requirements aren't met okay thank i just wanted to make sure we weren't
leaving anything out that's that for clarity purposes all right one one thing on number three
it's for an attached three family dwelling number six it's for it doesn't say it doesn't say it's
why i asked okay okay so there's supposed to be three family dwellings right okay so there's no
need for me to read in number six no alan can you put your alan are you there i am you're not
Can you put your name and address on the record, please?
Alan Ockamson of Ockamson, PC, 123 South Broad Street, Suite 1600, Philadelphia, PA, 19109.
And do you swear or affirm to tell the truth and nothing but the truth?
Do you also agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
As to 712, I do.
As to 714, I did notice an error.
We're actually seeking four units, not three units, in 7 -14.
four units for each. Also, in late last year at 3615 Mellon Street, which is down the block from
us, probably like a block and a half away on 36th Street, similar circumstances, over 1 ,600 square
feet, barely, approved four units. And then a little bit further down at 638 North Shedwick,
830 square feet, two units. So essentially, this board has approved a unit per 400 square
foot feet of lot size. So what we're asking for is not dissimilar to what the board has
previously approved. Now, the reason why we are seeking to have four units at 714 North 6th
street versus three units at 712 is 714 is actually a corner property and how the property
slopes and you'll see it in the renderings and in the pictures of the property how it slopes
the unit on the lower level is really a lower level unit it has its own door and there's nothing
there's no portion of that unit that's underground right so it has light and air safety everything
that you would expect of a unit in the city of Philadelphia that this board holds dear in terms
of life and safety issues. That's why we had four units for 7 -14, as opposed to 7 -12, where we only
have three units because we did not want to put a unit in the basement for 7 -12 in terms of its
own unit. Now, the unit for 7 -12, the first floor and the lower level are bi -level, and then the
second and third floors, just like 714, have its own units as well. The other refusals for 712,
first, we're attaching these as twins, 712 and 714. And what you'll see here in the zoning map
that I provide, or a map I provided, let me just get to this. This is what, so for whatever reason,
if you go into city's website for 714 and 712 North 36th Street, it's still showing, if you go
on atlas .philo .gov, it's still showing the building structures exist here, but that's actually a good
thing. Bad for my client because they're paying for a building that doesn't exist, but good for,
you know, illustrative purposes, showing that these buildings were connected at one point.
So what we're trying to do, and this goes with some of the other refusals, is we're trying to
connect these as twins because that's what's in this part of town. You have twin buildings
with porches. And that kind of goes to the other refusals that we're dealing with, which
I'll just go back. We're looking to, we have a refusal for rear yard depth. So we're proposing
a rear yard depth of 10 feet as in what's allowed or required under the code is 20 feet.
So we previously presented this project to the community, 712 and 714 North 36th Street, earlier this year.
And one of the pushbacks that we got, and by the way, the pushback had nothing to do with the density.
The pushback we got was that we were proposing to have almost like a center city -looking structure in this portion of West Philly that have porches.
And one of the things that they wanted was eyes on the street, a sense of community, and they wanted porches. They wanted the property to look like twins. So one of the things we did, you know, and we listened to them, was to push the building back a little bit and to add these porches, which actually created a greater variance for us. But we did it at the behest of the community.
We see those.
Oh, which ones?
you're you're describing oh here setback yeah
all right here here's the building structure oops okay here here's the building structure so
you'll see that we created these porches and it's elevated already you know but we don't have any
height variances but you also see here's the side unit like for 714 you can see it's above ground
so that's why we have four units but you'll see that we created porches because if you look at
the photos this is kind of what the neighborhood looks like right and that they wanted something
very similar type of look so and this is our lot um from olive street and this is our lot from
north 36th street by the way the other thing is to keep in mind is that these have been vacant lots
for um for over a half a decade so these have been vacant lots for some time uh so anyway but
So anyway, but the point is, is that we're trying to match the feel, like, you know, with a modern look, of course, but like of what that part of West Philly looks like with the twins, with the porches.
The point is, is that we're trying to match the feel.
So we push the building structure back a little bit.
And then the other thing, the only other refusal that we have, and I'll go back to notice or refusals, is the open area, right?
So the code requires 50%, and we're asking for 28 .75.
I would say this.
If you looked at, you know, what was there previously, this is not 50%.
And then if you went on atlas .philo .gov for every single property on the 700 block and North 36th Street,
which are all RSA -3 properties, none of them would meet the minimum requirement anyway.
So what we're doing is simply matching what's on that block in a lot of respects.
So we did meet with the community, and, you know, unfortunately, they did not find, you know,
that this project met what they were looking for in the community.
But the issue here is that, and even their letter kind of goes at it, and we can go through the floor plans afterwards, but in their rationale, none of it had to do with zoning related matters, right?
They want affordable rentals.
Well, we said that, you know, it's more affordable to have like a multifamily structure than a single family structure, right?
It makes it more affordable.
They were concerned about increases in their taxes.
either way like we're trying to put a new construction property there and we indicated
to them that it's apples and oranges like there are a lot there are some single family homeowners
there who are concerned that their taxes are going to go up we stated that from an assessment point
of view is apples and oranges a newly constructed multi -family structure should not factor into a
single family older construction but that's not his only related issue but we did have that
passionate discussion during a community meeting they indicated that they were concerned with
parking congestion and i wish i would have taken a picture of this because we actually had our
community meeting outdoors in front of the property there was we were there friday september 11th at
six around 6 p .m right which you would think it's high time for you know parking there was no one
parked on our side of the street. That means it was completely open. And I parked around the
the height of of these buildings given the slope of the property we're trying to respect that
their surrounding area of these three -story structures and again that's why we have some
living down here in the lower level um you know so just just based on the the merits of our case
we believe that a four story i was using a four unit on 714 and a three unit at 712 is appropriate
under the circumstances that's why my client purchased the property and and presented it
this way because that's what the board previously approved uh you know under similar circumstances
but with that being said and given the neighborhood opposition i know my client is open
to a discussion with the zoning board where he would agree to reduce it by one unit each
to you know but we don't believe that that's necessary but if the zoning board would like
to entertain something like that we would agree to that in the form of proviso but under the
circumstances you know again with the consistency aspect of it like this is what the board previously
approved and again while you're there i don't want to interrupt you 3606 and 3608 do you have
any photographs of what those
structures look like, what those
properties look like? No, I
wasn't the attorney. So, I mean,
Mr. Chair,
I don't know if those
drawings exist on Atlas.
That could be something there.
But again, what we're trying to do is embrace it, right?
We're trying to embrace the
structure. Well, I don't know. I'm trying to see what the, you know,
what your client's
proposal to me
looking at the photographs
of the adjacent properties
seems to be i know it's under 38 feet by right i got that but it looks out of scale but at least
on the photographs that you show of the properties of the houses on olive street from what i
yeah so yeah those that's olive street i'm not sure if it's east or west of or north or south
of your client but it seems to be your client's projects seem to be a little out of scale
that's why i was asking which what did this board approve on olive street does it look like what
we're looking at now or does it look more like your client's uh what your client is proposing
that's a good question i'm going to go on 36 i'm on atlas right now let me take a look
There are 38 feet.
they're exactly at their i mean again i'm just looking at my phone
so if they're 38 feet again i don't know are they are they right squared off is it
are they set back at the upper levels i'm just trying to get a sense of they're they're not
squared off i mean they are squared off they're they're not set back in any respect
just taking a look at it
so if you're you said your client would be willing to discuss reducing each of the units by one
what does that do with the height does it bring it down it could it very well could i mean he
you know he he could probably i would think that he would try to reduce that the height in some
respects it may reduce it by a story we had that discussion we didn't have an opportunity to talk
to the architect but it may very well have you know either have a fun setback or something to
that to that degree so i i mean he says he doesn't want to build something that doesn't make sense
either right if you reduce it by a unit each then you're not going to have all that square footage
in the building i get that i get that again but looking at the artist rendition that you show of
your client's property and looking at this houses on olive street again we're looking at photographs
i'm not there in person it just seems to be way out of scale that's all i'm saying well i'm not
trying to be critical it just it looks like this big box sitting next to these houses that kind
houses that kind of look like semi -suburban type houses with the front porches.
of look like semi -suburban type houses with the front porches no and i hear
No, and I hear it. That's why we try to do the suburban houses. I mean, the front porches as
well. So we're not adding height. That's how the building is, like in terms of the foundation.
But across the streets of school, which again, I don't want to misstate it, but like I believe
is much higher than ours. So yeah, so across the street. So I just showed you Olive just to
show what we were trying to match but across the street is a school um i believe because i remember
being there and seeing it and i feel like it was at least five stories looking at what you're
showing us now in the bottom right hand corner you look at your client's uh your client's property
and then look at the one to the left of it there's like a shadow of a house it looks like next to it
it seems to be much, much more out of scale. Again, I'm not trying to be critical. I'm just
trying to say if I live that next story to the house that you're seeing on the bottom right -hand
corner, to the left of your client's property. Yeah. And that's why we try to not take advantage
of the 38 feet. Yeah. And there's a sprinkling of both three -story and two -story houses
surrounding the neighborhood, mostly three stories.
But again, across the street, there's a school.
Again, this property has been a vacant lot for at least six years.
Because if you go on Google, it shows that like in 2014, it was a vacant lot.
So I don't know what it was before then.
But since 2014, at the very least.
So we want to develop it.
We want to develop it responsibly.
And given what the board has approved in the past,
Again, if you go on atlas .philo .gov, it looks like the board did actually grant it with no porches, which is out of character with the neighborhood, and built it to 38 feet high, which is higher than what we're proposing.
I think this actually fits within the model.
And four units, which probably the fourth unit, if it's four stories, was in the basement, while here it's in the lower level, and we're only doing three units here.
And I think, again, we don't want to do it, but we understand because of the opposition, which we don't believe is fair because it was not zoning related, and we did make changes based on previous discussions, we would do three and two, you know, to make this project work.
I don't want to belabor the point. I'm sorry.
You want to get your client on?
And then we'll ask the board if they have any questions.
Yes, Mr. Atasevan, can you virtually raise your hand?
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman and board members.
Sir, please spell your name, first and last name for the record.
Yeah, my name is Joseph Atasevan.
uh my address is 24 24 east york philadelphia
your last name please alta seven a -t -a -s -e -v -e -n thank you swear and affirm to tell the truth the
whole truth and nothing but the truth i do sir thank you alan please uh mr alta seven you heard
everything i stated today yes and is it true and correct yes and would you adopt it as your own
testimony yes okay thank you questions from the board i agree with you i do yes i think
reducing the number of units would put it into scale with the jason building
thank you anyone else on the board no anyone else wish to testify in this case if so please raise
your hand here i have andrew goodman andrew you can unmute yourself and wait to be afternoon can
you hear me yes mr goodman please identify yourself for the record andrew goodman last
name spelled g -o -o -d -m -a -n here representing the office of third district council member
jamie gaudier we're in a firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
absolutely do please proceed
great thank you i'm here on behalf of the council member to oppose the variance applications for
these two addresses um so standing with the coordinating rco as we have for many similar
applications in the Manchua neighborhood for a few simple reasons. They poke holes in a
for a few simple reasons. They poke holes in a community -led remapping effort that is very
recent with no demonstrable hardship or community benefit. While I appreciate the extra effort taken
by Mr. Knockamson to research some of the ZBA case history here, our argument would be that is not
how zoning and development decisions should be made for the future of a block. Those entail
comprehensive planning, community conversations, and remapping as a result, which is exactly
what happened in the Mantua community in recent years. For all of the cases that he listed where
there is a history of the zoning board approving multifamily in single -family areas, there are
probably just as many, if not more, from this year where similar cases were either denied,
continued, or delayed for this exact reason. Mantua community is seeing a
significant number of these sorts of applications, and because of all the
time and effort that neighbors put into this remapping effort, they are opposing
it, and understandably so, and for that reason we stand with them.
My only comment to that is that we did actually work with, try to work with the
community on this one. So pre -COVID prior to, you know, earlier this year, we actually met with the
community. And, you know, again, with all frankness, we did not hear the density issue. We heard more
about how the property actually looked and fit within the fabric of the community. That's why
we went back to the drawing board and we terminated our previous zoning appeals and then
re -presented this one with the understanding that this would be something that would be more
palpable to to the community so that's we wouldn't have done that but for the fact
that we heard from the community we had a community meeting and that's why we're presenting
this today so it's a little bit it was a little bit surprising to us i know it's a different
environment like you know six you know seven eight months ago from like you know today but
it was actually surprising to us the pushback more in general but again if you look at their
letter none of them were zoning related it it you know again if we would have had a zoning
you know conversation that would be a little bit different all of it were not zoning related and
some of it was was not correct in in some ways so like we're trying to develop a property reasonably
with community input and you know where it eventually you know because more likely not
that's gonna that's gonna be we're gonna get a building permit after january 1st
more likely not where that's going to be a a tax producing property on so many levels
let me just ask mr goodman where where is your office in in terms of the remapping process where
where does it stand right now for this area? It was done very recently. I think it was passed,
the Planning Commission staff member might have the more updated data, but I think it was
Mantua neighborhood -wide remapping was passed 2018, maybe 2019. And so for this reason,
we feel it's important to kind of defend the merits of that process. So whereas I know there's
many other areas of the city where the zoning has not been updated in decades and decades and decades,
this is not one of those areas.
Thank you.
Yeah, Alan.
Yeah, again, I know you have other matters,
but again, if you look at that,
again, the Planning Commission would know better,
but these are all recent decisions by the ZBA.
We're not cherry picking something
that happened 15, 20 years ago.
These are all within the past year or so,
other than this one, I guess.
Maybe, or I don't even know if there's a typo.
Thank you, I appreciate that.
Anyone else wish to testify in this matter?
please raise your hand no hands chair thank you planning commission
hi good afternoon ian litwin with planning commission staff these parcels were remapped
in 2017 as part of the management neighborhood remapping with the purpose of preserving single
family homes planning commission staff worked with the community through multiple community meetings
to address growth that did not match the goals of the community.
There is no hardship preventing the use of the property
in accordance with the zoning.
Therefore, we are opposed to the granting of the variances.
All right, thank you.
MI -2020 -000860
and MI -2020 -000888.
8 8 7 1 2 and 7 1 4 north 36th street my vote is no my vote is no my vote is no my vote is no
seven one two and seven
thank you
Calendar number MI2020 -001054, 1901 -75 North American Street. The attorney is Herc Grigos.
Mr. Grigos you've been promoted to panelists. You can share your screen and open your mic
to speak. Thank you very much. Mr. Grigos, can you put your name and address on the record
please and spell your last name? Good afternoon. Hercules Grigos, G -R -I -G -O -S, 1835 Market
Street, Philadelphia, PA. Okay. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth and nothing but the
truth? I do. Do you also agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its
accuracy? I will waive the reading. We have revised our plans in response to the community,
so I will just go through the changes to the refusal, how they've been reduced, and I believe
the solicitor has our revised plans that we will go through. Okay, you may present your case.
Share my screen again. Good afternoon, members of the board.
Share here. Okay, can everyone see that? I'm here today representing Brick Capital Real Estate LLC,
equitable owner of the property located at 1901 North American Street. We're here today with an
application for construction of a mixed -use multifamily project with ground floor commercial
and parking. I have with me today Scott Baldessari from Brick Capital as well as Stuart Rosenberg of
SGRA Architects, the project architect. The property is approximately a 60 ,000 square foot
property at the corner of North American, West Burks, and West Nara Street through to Phillips
Street. It's currently used as a granite and marble site, and that business is moving away
from this location further north, somewhere else in the neighborhood. Just to give the context,
you'll see to our north, we're catty corner to the Schober building, which was recently redeveloped
into 120 unit mixed use multifamily building. You see that here. And as you know, North American
Street is going through considerable change. The North American Street industrial corridor, that
vision never really materialized. And if you're familiar, to the south, a number of
mixed -use multifamily buildings on North American Street are either under construction or in
approval. And further exasperating the pressures on the industrial use in this area was the
redevelopment of North American Street and the development of the bioswale, which is a 120 -foot
wide street, and it was reduced with a large bias way on the middle to a two -lane from a four -lane
to a two -lane. Really doesn't make it conducive to truck traffic. Excuse me. So
this process has gone about almost a year. The project started as a 319 -unit
multi -family building with approximately 60 parking spaces, seven stories with 10 % of units
reserved for affordable housing at 60 % AMI. After considerable community engagement,
I'm really proud to say that I believe we have support of the local RCOs and we've really worked
hard to modify the project just to give you some procedural history. We originally started this
process um working with um getting going on a listening tour and speaking with a number of
different stakeholders in the community um understanding affordable housing needs
um understanding affordable housing needs understanding local hiring local contractors
understanding local hiring local
local businesses that could potentially uh be tenants in the um in the commercial
as a result of that the project has morphed and gone through um a number of changes and really
pushes and pulls to how to respond to all of the community concerns and all the stakeholders
Today, we're here with a revised plan at 286 units, 93 parking spaces, and a reduced height of 66 feet to top a building, with a small portion at 76 feet on building one, plus some pilot houses.
um we have about almost 10 ,000 square feet of ground floor commercial
and we're very proud to be leaders uh in affordable housing on north american street
where we've committed 10 of our units 28 units at levels of affordability that we're not sure
what we've seen private developers do we have four units at 60 percent ami 12 units at 50 percent
AMI and 12 units at 40 % AMI. Additionally, we're putting together, and this will be reduced to a
community benefits agreement, but we're putting together a fund to support, to be administered
through a third party to support basic assistance for long -time home residents. So with that, I just
wanted to orient everybody with the procedure and I'll try to walk through the plans. This is some
shots of North American Street and of the site, and you can see the bioswale under these shots
was under construction. This is Phillips Street to our rear, sort of a back street, and some houses
back up, but I think there are some homes that may be proposed for a portion of Phillips Street
that front on Phillips Street, so we wanted to be sensitive to that. Here's a shot of the bioswale
that you can see under construction in the building across the street. This is another shot of the
bioswales so you can see how North American Street 120 feet wide was
reduced from four lanes to two lanes. Here's a zoning site map just to orient
everybody the site is zoned ICMX. The project was developed you know sort of
in the spirit of IRMX or CMX3 and we think that's the right zoning for North
American Street this just gives you a sense of neighborhood amenities I'll
skip through the zoning site planning elevations and so the building is
basically broken up into into six different buildings and what the goal
was was to make sure that we had openings between the buildings to allow
for more light and air to flow through, have lots of open areas. We went up. At the bottom right
corner, you see that open area, the ground floor level. That is public open space that we hope to
program as a public park. Ground floor, commercial, parking, etc. Up at the top right is the tallest
portion of the building. The cornice line as you go across is 66 feet, and then there's one small
amenity space it's about 1300 square feet of building one uh that rises to 76 feet
this is the ground floor and you know there was a lot of effort and a lot of discussion with the
neighbors on how to uh resolve this ground floor um you know for every parking space um you know
came at the expense of the public space commercial space um so we we feel that we got the right mix
of retail and parking. We really pushed our parking levels to not reduce the commercial
and really find that right mix. At 286 units, we're well above a 3 to 10. And actually,
if you do the parking calculations, the allowable reductions for car share and bike share,
we actually meet the code and eliminate that refusal. This shows the courtyards above and
an amenity terrace above and I think this this slide here is something that was really important
that the design team did a great job with of really setting back the project as we got to
Phillips Street you know those balconies and you can see the building steps back each way as you
go along Phillips Street which is a more narrow street I think it's shown here as well I'll try
to get a rendering but this is the 3D in concept and you see the 10 -story show we're building
catty -corner to us. I'm just going to skip to some of these renderings. This is the
ground floor open area public space and this is you can
ground floor open area public space and this is you can see a shot that we're sort of redoing
Phillips street and the condition on Phillips street the goal here was to create stoops and
create eyes on the street and really create sort of the row home feel as you step back
on Phillips street and this is some of the murals that we hope to incorporate and work with the
community to have murals that respond to the history of the community as well as the commercial
space. So let's talk about the refusal quickly. We originally were at, as I said, 319 units. We've
revise this to 286 units. Our parking is now at 93 units. At 286 units, I believe with the calculation reductions, I believe our parking requirement is 75 parking spaces required, even if you just did a straight 3 to 10, we're above that.
So at an ICMX 1 to 2, with the reduction, it would require 75.
We're proposing 93 spaces.
Off -street loading, we've added the loading, and I can show that.
We have two spaces, two loading spaces shown.
I'm sorry, one loading space shown here, and this shows how we get into it.
Eight loading spaces is maybe for an industrial building or something much larger based on our square footage.
is not necessary for a multifamily building of this style, this size. And then finally,
the height, we are proposing 66 to the roof line and that one portion that goes above the 76. We
think it's consistent with the IRMX and we're not seeking any bonuses for our affordable housing,
but we think it's consistent. And the fact that we're on a 120 -foot wide street, we think that
the height is appropriate. This is just the changes that we've made.
This is just, for the record, a letter from a licensed broker confirming that
you know, uses under the ICMX would not be economically feasible. And just put that in
the record. This is our letter of support. We had three public meetings with NARA Square. We had
additional meetings with West Girard Progress and Zulu Nation. And we feel that we've responded
to um all their concerns um we got to the affordability that we wanted which i think
was most important to north square um uh the 66 feet we think that we're good there we really
meet the spirit of that and that's been the feedback um additionally um we've we've prepared
shadow studies or we're preparing them and we'll work through those but i think we submitted those
early on um or presented those early on in some of the meetings but we think that the
The proposed building with the setbacks has less impact than a by -right 60 -foot ICMX building with no setbacks required.
Additionally, there was a request for 100 parking spaces.
We got to 93.
We think it's appropriate.
We think it meets the spirit of the code.
And frankly, I think it's the right thing to do.
I think adding any additional parking at the expense of commercial space, we just believe that's not the best thing for North American Street.
Additionally, this property is about two and a half or three blocks from the Burke Street L -stop, and it's very well transit -oriented.
Are there 286 residential units?
286 residential units.
Okay, thank you.
We believe that the proposed project will not alter the essential character of the neighborhood.
Mixed -use retail residential, we think, is appropriate for this portion of North American Street.
As it changes, we think that adding the considerable amount of affordability and a deep affordability at 40 % AMI for a portion of it is really a game changer.
We don't think it will impair appropriate user development or adequate light based on the thoughtful design and the step backs and additional design features.
will not substantially increase congestion and will not be a detriment to the community as evidenced by our
uh substantially increased congestion uh and will not be a detriment to the community as evidenced
by our letter of support um i also wanted to say one one of the one of the big changes that we made
was um as we went through the process was to remove the curb cuts off of phillips street and
have one curb cut come off of nar street um and we think that was a a good decision um that came
from the community. So we're very happy that we got through this process. It's almost a year
process. We had three public meetings plus additional meetings with two other RCOs. We had
a meeting on community benefits, and we've just tried to go out and really respond. And, you know,
I laid out the changes from where we started to where we ended up, but I could probably show you 20 more slides of all of the in between and the back and forth and really, in a sense, to try to be responsive to all of the concerns.
And we hope that this project, we can agree and work to have local hiring for not just the construction, but the permanent jobs that this will create. And we're also want to work with the community on the tenants and for the commercial space and hope that we can find local businesses that want to occupy the space.
With that, I will ask Scott Baldessari, ask him if he's heard my testimony, put his name on the record, and affirm my testimony, and offer Stuart Rosenberg to answer any questions.
Rosenberg, please identify yourself with the records by your name and your address.
Scott Baldessari, is he on?
I don't know if my witnesses have been promoted.
While you're waiting for that, let me do this.
Questions from the board?
Kirk, were you able to get your folks?
If not, I'll ask.
Let me ask this anyway.
If there's anyone else aside from Mr. Grigos' witnesses wishes to testify in his case, please raise your hand.
Pardon me.
Sloan there?
I think the councilwoman's office.
Whoever that is, can't hear you.
Static.
Sounds like Tanya.
Tonya I'm sorry yeah I think my client raised his hand
mute yourself for a minute maybe that's we're getting some feedback
what's your client's name Scott
Baldessari, B -A -L -D -A -S -A -R -E.
Did that work?
We hear you.
Okay, good.
Scott, have you heard my testimony?
Can you just –
Hold on a minute, Craig.
Let me get his name on the record, please.
Spell his name.
Scott Baldessari, B as in boy, A -L, D as in David, A -S -A -R -E, 801 South 47th Street,
philadelphia pa19143 thank you do you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing
but the truth i do thank you please proceed scott have you heard my testimony and do you adopt it
as your own yes great anyone else who wishes to testify in this case please raise your hand
a lot of static
Nothing but static
whoever that is.
There we have a Sloan folks.
Okay, Mr. Folks.
Good afternoon.
yeah just identify yourself again and then you're already sworn in so just identify yourself
yes sir uh sloan folks uh slo pna f as in fire lks the office of maria caona sanchez uh councilwoman
Councilwoman, room 508 City Hall. Good afternoon, Chairman DiCicco and the CBA Board. The applicant has met with the RCO and has garnered a letter of support requesting the adherence to revise those listed in community benefits agreements.
room 508 city hall
Yes, please.
The Councilwoman supports the letter from the North Square Community Alliance and is
pleased that the developer has agreed to those requests.
The Councilwoman would like to thank the RCO and the community residents that work together
to reach community senses about the project.
Councilwoman would like to thank the developer for listening and recognizing the need for
affordable housing, supporting community, and minimizing the impact of the project
on residents. Presently in City Council, the Councilman is working on a mandatory
20 % requirement for the American Street Corridor to ensure more
responsible developments. The Councilman believes the agreement sets an
appropriate tone for collaboration. The few zoning -rated matters should be
before the issuance of permits should the project move forward. Our office looks
forward to working with everyone to accomplish a transparent CBA agreement
that can be enforced. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else on this case, please raise
your hand. Yes, Chair, we have Stuart. This is Stuart Rosenberg speaking.
Rosenberg, please spell your name for the record.
R -O -S -E -N -B -E -R -G.
And your address?
230 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19102.
And do you swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Thank you. Please proceed.
He's just here to answer any questions. He's the project architect.
I'm sorry.
That's okay. I'm glad we got him in.
Thank you.
All right.
Anyone else who wishes to testify on this case, please raise your hand.
Yes, Chair, we have Mr. Stanley.
Mr. Stanley, you can unmute yourself.
Okay, Chair, we just have one more.
Ms. Morales you can unmute yourself and talk. Hello can y 'all hear me now? Yes ma 'am
please identify yourself spell your first and last name and your address. Sure
sure I am the RCO Tenorah Square my name is Elizabeth E -L -I -Z -A -B -E -T -H
My last name is Segarra, S -E -G -A -R -R -A.
I live in the area of 2161 North Phillips Street.
I am an employee, the RCO2 Norris Square, and also a resident in the area.
Swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
Thank you.
Please proceed.
I wanted to kind of piggyback on what the lawyer was saying.
I wanted to say that we just got an update that the developer reached out to this agreement upon a green disagreement.
I wanted to add number 13 to that bottom list is sign the CBA in the next seven days.
The developer reached out to an RCO agreement to address this condition.
So we did come into an understanding.
and we're we're gonna meet and we we've agreed to everything and we look forward to um signing
that cva and working out um but we we've agreed to the uh number of units um and the plan is the
number of units and the plan is the plan which if the board is inclined to
plan um which if
approve this will stamp the plan which responds to the dimensional issues and
we've we really we feel great that we've acted we've had great back and forth and
we appreciate the RCOs willingness to to me and we appreciate you too thank you
Thank you ma 'am. Anyone else?
Yes, there's someone here to testify. One of the residents.
Thank you.
Sasha, you on?
Hello?
hello please uh state your name and address please spell your name for the stenographer
my name is patricia de carlo capital p as in peter a t -r -i -c -i -a capital d as in dog e
capital c as in cat a -r -l -o i've been a resident of this neighborhood for over 35 years that was
I need to interrupt you.
Do you swear to them to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
All right.
Please proceed.
So I've been a resident of this neighborhood for over 35 years.
Back in the days when the Philadelphia Inquirer dubbed us the Badlands.
And it sure did look like the Badlands.
And this organization, North Square Community Alliance, made it the point of making sure that the neighborhood reflected what the community wanted, what residents wanted.
And that was the mission, to move the neighborhood into a safe neighborhood where kids would get a good education, bilingual education.
They would have plenty of sports and entertainment, parents would have jobs, and more than anything else people asked for was affordable housing.
So now, after all these years, we built a lot of housing, affordable, both from ownership and rental, and now all of a sudden, we have a new invasion.
It used to be the Badlands, now it's the Gentryland.
So it's this invasion of developers, gentrifiers, who really do not care much about the neighborhood and its residents, but making money. So opportunities on the tax abatement.
This is my concern. There is nothing, nothing in the books that allows for zoning of 300 units of housing in this neighborhood.
The one that was attempted, the overlay, was pulled out recently, as you would recall, and for a very peculiar and particular reason.
The developer found out, after the fact, it's a shame, that the lot was seriously environmentally contaminated.
it. Across the street from that lot is a Superfund site that the federal government provided a lot of
funding to clean up. That other site, which has been a metal dumping ground, recycling, whatever
you want to call it, this particular project is right across the street from that one.
What makes us think that that isn't another super site?
Where do we go from a variance, which the word says, it varies.
It's not a total change.
It varies.
This isn't a variance.
There's nowhere near any zoning allowing for 300 units on American Street.
That was intended to be, under the empowerment zone, the area to provide employment, jobs for the neighborhood, business development. That's the purpose. This rush into approving a, quote, variance without any zoning, without any testing, without any planning to see how much of American Street is contaminated.
this used to be the heart of the industrial revolution this neighborhood has one of the
highest percent of cancer you know why because every time we tear down a house or something
like that or they build out a basement and pull it out the contaminated dirt that's been here for
over 50 years comes up this is a rush to judgment i'm asking you
comes up. This is a rush to judgment. I'm asking you to stop it right now. The developers have
Thank you.
tried, and you know, and it's this little majita, you know, little cracker here, little cracker
there. Well, we'll give them a little this, we'll give them a little that. No, the whole issue of
300 units in that lot is an outrage. There is no zoning allowed for that. So that isn't a variance.
that's a total zoning change. You have a planning commission, so they can plan as the professionals
that they are to see. We're going to hear from the planning commission. I don't mean to interrupt
you, but if you can summarize. Right. So I wanted to be stopped so that we can take our time,
stop invading this neighborhood and killing it, and let's plan with the neighborhood what the
future look and youth
of the American street should be,
not the first
developer that comes in.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
The only thing I would
like to say is, knowing
Councilwoman Sanchez, she doesn't
sell it for little bits and pieces.
So, having said that,
unless you have something,
Hercules,
I'd like to move on.
I just want to say we have a clean
phase one and phase two for the site we have done extensive environmental questions from the board
hi this is the audio check this is tanya yes do i sound okay you sound good but before that whoever
was. So Mr. Krakauer, it looks like he wants to speak, but he's having difficulty because there's
a lot of feedback in his audio. It might be, I don't know if something's going on with Zoom or
not, but did Mr. Krakauer speak? He probably signed in on two devices and that's why he's
getting that feedback. No, I don't. I just, Mr. Krakauer, are you there? If you have two devices,
you're going to have to turn one off or mute one. Thanks, Scott.
Hi, self. I only have now one device that's on.
We can hear you, Stanley, so please identify yourself for the record and I'll swear you in.
Yes, I'd be happy to do so. My name is Stanley Krakauer, 1515 Market Street,
suite 1200 philadelphia i am representing two rcos involved in this matter uh west gerard
progress is the name of one of them and
and stanley mr krakauer two things i need to swear you in but we're still getting feedback
i'm having terrible feedback and i don't know why
Sounds like you have two devices on.
Let me see.
Can you give me just one moment?
I don't think I have two devices on,
but I will make sure that the only other device in the area is off.
Let me see if I can get this completed.
Now he's on.
Let me see if we can get this.
Excuse me one second.
Let me get this over here.
Balthazar and Carol mute maybe that's try that yeah I've been muted but I'll mute again
there's like an echo it's an echoes yeah all right now it seems it's I'm not hearing it now
are you hearing me do you swear and affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing
about the truth I do thank you please I'll be very I'll be very brief uh the two RCOs
that I'm representing have been working with Mr. Grigos and we are working on a fairly
comprehensive community benefits agreement that will, I think, alleviate any of the
concerns that we've heard. Unfortunately, Mr. Grigos and I
are very close to consummating a very good community benefits agreement, but we were not
able to do it in time for today's hearing. We are going to continue discussions of this coming week.
I am fairly confident that Mr. Glingos and I will be able to finalize a CBA that will be good for the entire community.
I am fairly confident that Mr. Gringos and I
Now, I understand that Councilman...
I'm sorry, I had to mute him. It's just too much feedback.
Yeah, let me, Tanya, just let me get Hercules back on if I could.
yeah so excuse me this is sharon do you want to see if um stanley would like to call in on my
phone before you do that sharon hercules you heard what he's saying does that fit into the
timeline you're talking about i mean it's it's it's we he's he presented us with a community
benefits agreement we responded to the comments and speak with the councilwoman what we want is
we want to have one agreement with all the neighborhoods i i don't want to have so i think
all of the things that they have asked for, we don't seem to have a problem with. And we think
we can incorporate that into one agreement with all the RCOs as signatories. I know you'd like
to get this over with today, but... Well, I don't think that we need to, you know,
the Councilwoman has agreed that, you know, we need to proceed, you know, with the delays.
um and i think that we've acted in good faith we've come to the table and now it's just uh
the the letter from um norris square i think is um responds to the the concerns the vote was
conditioned upon us getting the 10 percent affordable we did that and um uh the councilman
was going to work with us just to marshal and get that signed um and okay prepared to do that
and we've given our word to the councilwoman and Stanley and I have worked together for a long
time and I've spoken to that group and I my goal is to put all of those issues because I think
they're similar issues into one agreement which is inclusion etc in addition to the affordability
thank you planning commission
good afternoon this is Ian Litwin with planning commission staff on this project completed
civic design review with mostly positive feedback and considerable considerable cooperation between
the applicant the community and the planning commission a summary letter of the cbr process
is forthcoming because of the changing nature of american street and the changes made by the
applicant in response to community feedback we have no objection to the granting of these finances
thank you hercules you have revised plan i do and they've been sent to sharon slutt i believe they
are two pages. How many pages? I believe they are two pages. Is that correct, Sharon?
Sorry, I'm trying to pull them up. I believe it is two pages, but I'm trying to find that one.
Take your time.
two pages correct two pages okay thank you okay thank you uh mi -2020 -0
let me start again mi -2020 -001054 1901 -75 north american street my vote is yes
with the proviso to revised plan two pages approved today my vote is no yes with proviso
yes with proviso yes with proviso thank you very much thank you
calendar number 39707 2900 north 4th street the attorney is darlene three
Ms. Threatt?
Can you hear me?
Yes, we can.
Good afternoon, Commissioners.
Jarlene Threatt on behalf of Iglesia, Nueva, Jerusalem, 2900 North 6th Street.
Wait one second, Darlene. Can you put your name and address on the record, and then I'll swear you in?
Darlene Threat, 2101 Pine Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19103.
Okay, and do you swear or affirm to tell the truth and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Yes, I do.
Do you also agree to wave the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Do you also agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, I do.
Thank you.
You may proceed.
Commissioners, I apologize.
This is my first Zoom hearing, and I do not see the shared screen where I may access my
exhibits.
I see it now.
Commissioners, can you hear me?
Yes, we can.
Yeah, I still don't see my exhibits up on the screen.
so your zoom is up so once you um go into tap on the document you want to share
and you should see a red box form around it then it should allow you to share
i don't see any exhibits on the screen though no but your zoom is still up so
click on the file that you want to share do you have that open because you still have you have
your zoom from the website open. Right. So where are your files?
Okay, now it's coming up. Yeah, I still don't see anything though.
Your, your file explorer was just open. Okay, maybe it's just taking its time.
so um no because you're because we see it it's your zoom is up right yes so
how about you un you go out click on share screen again and go out okay
okay i'm going to take control and stop you from sharing okay okay now
what you do is you're going to go ahead and make sure your file is open that you
want to share right then go to share screen okay
Nothing yet.
So now hit share screen so we can see what you want to share.
Can you see anything?
Not yet.
Did you hit the green button share screen?
Yes, I did.
and then did you click on the file yes I did let me see if I can optimize share
screen. There we go. We got you. I don't see it though, Tanya. Okay. So it's probably your view.
So if you're on a computer, go up to the right corner of your computer and make sure your view
allows you to see what you're displaying and not just the video of one person I think it's called
you can swap screen all right it looks like something is happening here
Okay, if you double click on it, okay, and you should bring it open.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
okay we still see you in your files let me see if i have it i might try to pull it up
okay there you go 2900 yes okay you want to double click and open them up and it should
they should open up whatever you want to want us to see the night right now we see your itemized
files? Yeah, only I don't see it, Tanya.
Would it be appropriate if we break now and come back in about 15, 20 minutes and take this case
as the first case? Is that appropriate? That would be fine. Tanya, you think you could work with me
a minute and let me see if I can get these documents open while you take a break. Sure, no
problem. All right, so then we'll come back, we'll start this case, and then we'll open up the 3 .30
session. Thank you. So it is now 10 minutes to 4, so we'll come back at 10 after 4. Okay. Does that
work? Yes. Thank you. Okay. I'll pause the recording now. Thank you. Carol, I'll read it
off. Calendar number 39707, 2900 North 4th Street. Good afternoon, Commissioners. Darlene
This is Exhibit A, and this contains the refusal, the appeal, the PIF form, property information, zoning history, deed, tax clearance, community flyer, petitions, letter of support, and the Zoning Board of Adjustment Provisal Plan.
Commissioners, the applicants applied to LNI to have a church approved at this location.
Just as a prior history, Mr. Montez currently operates the church at 3520 North 9th Street.
He's been operating that church there for approximately 30 years.
Currently, the church performs the same exact functions that we are requesting the new site to perform.
They're a religious institution.
They provide free after -school program, free mentoring program, free summer camp program, and a free tutoring program.
Commissioners, I would like to direct you specifically to exhibit number five in the exhibit A, which shows you that I actually bought this case before the zoning board back in 2008.
In 2008, it was application number 4288. If you will read what we requested there,
we were requesting a much larger story, I mean a much larger project. It was approximately
44 feet in height, and it was three and a half stories. This project today has been greatly
reduced. The height of the project is only 28 feet, and we're only requesting one and a half
stories. Commissioner, Mr. Montez has outgrown his church, which is currently located at
3520 North 9th Street. He has run that church there for 30 years. He is requesting the opportunity to
is requesting the opportunity to build a new church at 2 ,900 on North 4th Street.
build a new church at 2900.
The new church would like to provide the same exact services as the old church,
again, the religious institution, after school program, mentoring program,
a summer camp, and tutoring.
This structure that we plan to build consists of,
and I'm going to go to the plans here, which are in,
And I'm going to go to the original plans, which are Exhibit C, because it's easier to
see than the three -page document that are the corrected plans.
Excuse me, Ms. Darlene?
Are you having trouble getting it back open?
Yes I am. What were you using for your internet was it
Chrome? Yes. If you hover if you hover along the bottom
it should pop up with which app you were using for this.
So along the bottom do you see Chrome? Yes. Okay if you put your mouse
on it does it pop up with yeah so do you have more than one Chrome window open
Okay, I got it back. I apologize, Commissioners.
I'm going to go to Exhibit C now.
Exhibit C are the original plans.
Commissioners, we plan to build two structures on this lot.
Actually, one is already existing.
The largest structure is referred to as B, and the smaller structure is referred to as A.
Exhibit A is the warehouse.
We would like to use this warehouse to house church equipment.
The church does several community activities whereby they have stages, props, et cetera.
They would like to be able to store their equipment used for the church as well as the sporting goods,
the equipment for the summer camps etc to be stored in the warehouse which is labeled as
exhibit a on the plan exhibit b on the plan would be the church the church is a one and a half
story structure a reduced from three and a half stories which was previously approved in 2008
the design calls for parking we have added the refusal says we don't have
handicapped parking we have four handicapped spaces and we also have a van
parking on this diagram additionally we have 31 parking spaces as well as four
bicycle spaces I did submit a zoning board of adjustment proviso plan and
frankly, this proviso plan reduces further the size of the church. Specifically, building A has
changed in height from 18 feet to 17 feet. The building B has changed in dimensions a little
larger from 110 by 52 to 110 by 55, but the height of the building was reduced from 28 square feet,
I mean, from 28 feet to 25 feet.
Commissioners, we did meet with the community association.
We circulated a flyer.
We sent the letters out, a certified receipt, and we had a meeting whereby we had about 52 individuals from the community that attended the meeting.
Basically, they had concerns of what would be provided to the community.
and would there be any costs
and would there be any benefits to the residents?
Mr. Montez indicated to the community, number one, that he was paying to build this church out of his own pocket.
Mr. Montez indicated to the community,
number one, that he was paying to build this.
Number two, that each and every program that the community, that the church offered would be available to the residents of the community.
Specifically, the community children would be able to engage in the summer camp for free and after school tutoring for free, as well as the mentoring programs for free.
The community did ask us in regard to whether or not there would be any open space on the land that specifically the community may use or the children may use to play or on.
And we indicated that we were open and amenable to that use for the community to enjoy.
If you look at the plan specifically, you can see that there is open space in this diagram.
The open space is here, and there's some more open space over here, and we had no objection
to providing an area at specific times for the children or the community to use.
Additionally, in our building here, the first floor is a multi -purpose floor whereby we
will have community activities. We'll have basketball and we'll have other activities
for the children of the community to use. After a pretty long meeting, the Community Association
voted on the meeting and they provided us with a letter of support indicating that they had
no objection to us developing this parcel as it is. Commissioners, I've also submitted
some pictures. And here we go. I'm going to open them up now. Here is just a general review of
how the parcel looks. The history of this parcel, it used to be a manufacturing plant.
After that, it was a mail service facility. Currently, it's just a huge vacant lot. It's
been vacant for a very long time. There is on -street parking, not a lot of it, but there
is on -street parking. And again, we are providing a significant amount of parking, I would say,
of 31 parking spaces. Commissioners, with that, I would ask that you consider our presentation
and you request the requested variance use.
Thank you.
Do you have any witnesses, Ms. Three?
Commissioner, I am hoping that Mr. Jose Montez,
as well as Ms. Nida Montez and their son, Eric Montez Ayala,
are currently on the Zoom call.
I only need to hear from one.
So if anyone wishes to testify in this case,
please raise your hand. So we have Nyada. Your mic is open so that you can now wait to be sworn in.
Please spell your first and last name.
I think we're having audio problems.
N -A -I -D -A
last name
M -O -N -T -E -S
you're swearing to
tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
I'm sorry could she spell her
first and last name again I'm sorry
N -A -I -D -A
last name
Montes
M -O -N -T -E -S
thank you
that first name is an m as in michael or mary n as in nancy oh n as in nancy i stand corrected
thank you you're welcome miss three yes ask your client if they dropped your testimony
uh miss uh montez have you heard the testimony here rendered by me to the board today
yes and if you were or if you your husband or um eric your son were to testify today
would you adopt the testimony that I just gave to the board yes thank you thank you is there
anyone who wishes to testify in this matter if so please raise your hand at this time yes here
Let's go to the next one.
Excuse me, I'm sorry, I didn't hear.
We're not talking to you at the time, it's Montez, okay?
We're not talking to you at the time, it's Montez, okay?
It seems like something's going on with Sloan folks, but that's the only person we had.
Good afternoon, Chairman DeChico, ZB.
Sloan folks, S -L -O -A -N -E.
Oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
Sloan, hold on a minute.
Yes, sir.
There are people in the background, I believe it's the Montez family, they're talking with their mic on.
No, that's Sloan.
Hello?
no that's sloan it's not the montage oh okay i hear people talking in the background all right
i did too now it's quiet oops thank you i apologize sloan fuchs s -l -o -a -n -e f -s of fire
o -l -k -s office of councilman maria quinona sanchez room 508 city hall and you're still
under oath please yes sir the applicant having made with the rco and garnered a letter of support
Our office also offers a letter of non -opposition in this various requests.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I jumped out of water.
Does the board have any questions?
All right.
Ms. Three, did you say that, is this a revised plan?
The revised plan is Exhibit D. It consists of three pages.
Three pages.
Planning Commission.
Good afternoon. Ian Litwin with Planning Commission staff. This parcel is owned for residential uses. However, the proposed use is in keeping with the neighborhood patterns where religious uses are intermingled with residential uses. We have no objection to the variances, but we do feel that the curb cut requirements should be met.
Thank you. Calendar number 39707, 2900 North 4th Street. My vote is yes with the proviso. Revised plan. Three pages approved today.
My vote is yes with proviso.
Yes with proviso.
Yes with proviso.
Yes with proviso.
Thank you.
Thank you very much, Commissioners. Have a great day.
You do likewise. Thank you.
Thank you.
So, Tanya, I'm going to open up the 3 .30 session.
That's good for me, Chair.
You're good to go?
Good afternoon, 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, Ms. Carol Tenere, Board
Secretary, Confessor Plaza, and Board Members, Mr. Thomas Holloman and Mr. James Snell.
Board Administrator Tanya Sunkit and Board Attorney Sharon Saleta are also in attendance.
For those of you who haven't yet participated in our virtual hearings,
I'll go through some of the basics of what you can expect. First, we will begin this afternoon
session by reading a list of cases to be continued. If you believe any cases being continued in error,
we will give you an opportunity to respond. After reading the continuance list and receiving any
feedback, we will take any additional requests for continuances and or withdrawals. Then once
we've confirmed which hearings are being continued, Ms. Tenere will begin calling the remaining cases
listed for this session. When a case is called, we ask that attorneys representing applicants or
other interested parties in this matter identify themselves for the record. We will then hear the
appellant's presentation, followed by any presentation by attorneys representing other
parties. Interesting parties and members of the public, not represented by council, will then be
given an opportunity to testify. We will finally hear the recommendation of the Planning Commission.
At the hearing's conclusion, we will either vote the matter immediately or hold it for discussion
in executive session. Any case held for discussion will be voted at the next scheduled Wednesday
morning executive session. Please note the following changes related to the virtual format.
First, we will be administering oaths to individuals prior to their testimony.
Second, for the benefit of anyone participating by phone, we ask that attorneys and witnesses
identify themselves prior to speaking or testifying.
Third, we'd like to advise everyone that this proceeding is being recorded and that by
participating, you acknowledge your agreement to be recorded.
Fourth, for anyone participating by phone, if you wish to testify, you must raise your
hand by hitting star nine and then star six to unmute yourself. I'll repeat. For anyone
participating by phone, if you wish to testify, you must raise your hand by hitting star nine
and then star six to unmute yourself. Finally, 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 that again. To enter an appearance statement, call Google.
I'll repeat that again.
To enter an appearance statement, call Google 267 -270 -5548 and leave your email address
and the address of the property at issue.
With that said, we will begin.
But before Ms. Tenere calls the first case, we'd like to announce that the following matters
are being continued.
MI -2020 -000672, 301 Ridge Avenue. If anyone would like to respond to that continuance,
or is anyone wishing to ask for a continuance or withdrawal, please identify yourself by raising
your hand now. I'm sorry, if I could just make a quick correction, it's 3017, right?
three oh i'm sorry 3017 correct 3017 ridge avenue thank you chair thank you at this time no hands
are up carol please call the first case okay this is turn if i could ask before you call the first
case would you be able to revote a case from the 9 30 list to add a proviso plans or a revised
plans proviso what's the calendar number um it is calendar number mi 2020 000 859 1400 south 33rd street
that's what are we doing we're revoting it um just revoting it because it didn't include the
revised plans proviso so it would be yes with proviso um revised plans one page approved today
next calendar number mi -2020 -00085
nine nine nine okay all right count mi -2020 -000859 1400 south 33rd street
my vote is yes with the proviso revised plan one page approved today
my vote is yes with proviso yes with proviso yes with proviso yes with proviso thank you
okay calendar number mi -2020 -000799 160 manhine street number two the attorney is
Rachel Pritzker. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Can you put your name and address on the record,
please? Sure. Rachel, R -A -C -H -A -E -L, Pritzker, P -R -I -T -Z -K -E -R, Pritzker Law Group, 1635
Market Street, Suite 1600, Philadelphia PA 19103. Thank you. And do you swear or affirm to tell the
truth and nothing but the truth? Yes. Do you also agree to waive the reading of the refusal and
stipulate to its accuracy? Yes. Thank you. You may proceed. Okay. So I know that the community this
morning from Allison Weiss had requested a continuance. I spoke with Sharon about this as
our meeting with the community on the 22nd of September and so we'd like to instead of continuing
it because this matter deals with an existing structure with tenants in it already that we
be able to put the case on and then hold for an RCO letter if possible instead of continuing it
at this point. Okay, we'll do that. Thank you. Great. So this case is 160 Mannheim. I'm going
to share my screen. Okay. We were refused the property zone RSA 3. Again, it's an existing
structure. It's a duplex currently. It's an almost 3 ,000 square foot big Germantown twin,
and we got two variances generated from the refusal, which is the duplex for two family
household living, and also the required two off -street parking spaces, although again,
it's an existing structure. As you'll see from our application and from the photos that I'll
share about the property. Again, it's existing. We're in good standing tax -wise. There are
tenants. They're separate meters, separate locations. It's a pretty large property. Again,
almost around 2 ,700 square feet, the building alone. It's already built.
2 ,700 square feet, the building alone. It's already built out. There's no ability to add
parking. You can't put parking in the front yard. It would be kind of add a character to add the
parking. Again, it's an existing structure. Underground parking is not feasible and we
can't access by a side street or a rear alleyway. In order to comply with RSA 3, we would have to
move all the tenants out, demo the existing structure. And this property was originally
zone for a duplex. The owner before my clients purchased it actually had pulled a permit
thinking he was going to rehab it into a single family and never did and sold it as a duplex.
We're actually dealing with that separately with that seller as we were under the assumption that
it was a legal duplex, as you'll see a pretty large structure. And let me just get to the
photos so you can see the interior layout. This is the apartment, kitchen, the first
kitchen. This is the living room. Obviously, you can see there's tenants in there, so they
were kind enough to let us take some photos. This is the bathroom, the first bedroom. This
is the second apartment, also a kitchen, bedrooms, second bedroom, dining room. As you can see,
it's a pretty large space so um plenty of room for two individuals and then separate doors as
you can see um so again already built out as a duplex i'm just going to show um there also we
were given um from the prior owners uh the rental license uh that shows that it was approved for two
units uh so my clients you know were under the assumption that that was uh correct um
Um, in addition, I would like to just share, um, if I can, zoning history, just to show
that, um, it was previously approved.
Uh, it was a three family at one point.
It was a five family at one point.
And then in its most recent history, uh, it was, uh, a duplex.
Uh, so it was crossed out single family.
it was never converted and the prior permit to the property shows uh i guess a three a three
family dwelling so we're just looking to legalize it as a duplex that's what it originally was
applied for or its previous use based on the 2003 most recent permit um and as you see it was
crossed out um so that's what we're here seeking relief um we're going to meet with the community
solo germantown on the 22nd of september we've already sent out um our required notices for that
meeting um and i'd like to just bring on um joe itzkowicz and um joe bernstein as well just to
get them uh sworn in and their names on the record and have them excuse me this is sharon saletta
Before you do that, Allison Weiss texted me that she has her hand up,
and she actually wanted to request that this be continued until after the RCO meeting.
So perhaps we should let her speak.
Yeah, she doesn't have her hand up.
I believe we addressed, I did address that in the beginning, but happy to.
I understand that, but she still gets to request that it be continued.
Thank you.
are you available
let's go to the other witness or witnesses that you have
rachel and then we'll come back for miss voice
for um see joe bernstein and joe it's quits as well
joe do you want to say your name your last name and your address for the record please yep this
is Job Itzkowitz, J -O -B. Last name is I -T -Z -K -O -W -I -T -Z. I'm a member of Joby Property,
the owner of the 116 Mannheim. My home address is 1402 South 15th Street, Philadelphia, PA,
19146. Job, do you swear in front of me to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the
truth? I do. Thank you. Please proceed. And Job, do you want to provide any additional information
besides what I shared, if not, maybe just want to corroborate sort of your experience with
when you purchased the property, the way that it's built out, the tenants that are in it,
and any additional information you'd like to share? Yes, everything Rachel said is correct.
I would just say that the same tenants are in as when we purchased the property,
I think at the end of last year. So there hasn't even been a changeover. I think that's it.
Do you know if there's been any issues with near neighbors as far as having concerns?
Do you know if there's been any issues with near neighbors as far as having concerns with the
tenants or the property or anything of that nature? Not to my knowledge. And have you heard
my testimony and do you adopt it as your own? I do. Thank you. Thank you. Joseph, are you there
as well? Yes, I'm here. Can you see me? Yes, Mr. Bernstein, please spell your name. Give us your
name and address for the record? Certainly. Joseph, J -O -S -E -P -H, Bernstein, B -E -R -N -S -T -E -I -N.
I live at 150 West Penn Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19144. Actually about five or six blocks from
the subject property. You swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the
truth? I certainly do. Rachel, please proceed. Yeah, Joe, is there anything that you want to add
for the record? I would just add that much of the block is multifamily. We've been pretty well
received since we purchased it. We've done just general cleanup. We've tried to mow the lawn
twice a week since we purchased it, particularly in the summer. We have cleaned up the block a few
times and we've had a number of neighbors reach out to us and tell us they appreciate our
involvement there yeah i would just um thank you joe just add to that uh just to be clear on the
additional properties that are also multifamily 139 manheim 141 143 145 and 147 all show based
on the city's records a duplex or multifamily use um yep joe have you heard my testimony and
do you adopt it as your own i do yes thanks rachel may i add one thing um the only other
thing is that in the agreement of sale there's reference to it as a two -unit property and an
assurance from the seller that it was a two -unit property. Not noted. Thank you. Did we get Ms. Weiss?
Ms. Weiss, are you phone number ending in 555? If so, you can unmute yourself.
hello yes miss weiss
miss weiss please identify yourself give us your name first name and last name spell your last name
and your address miss weiss you have to unmute yourself
hit star six oh sorry okay now speak sorry uh allison weiss
fellow germantown civic association 4908 wayne avenue w -e -i -s -s
thank you do you swear and affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
Thank you.
Please proceed.
We had the community preferred to have the meeting prior to the testimony so they could discuss it.
And there were some neighbors that had some concerns about this property.
Well, as you know, we've heard the case.
We'll hold it pending the outcome of the meeting of the RCO.
when is the next rco meeting do you know we're meeting on september 22nd it's still going to
be the 22nd okay so we're a week away yeah so within uh two weeks we expect a letter from the
rco yeah we will be sending a letter okay um thank you and can i say uh miss weiss it won't
only be a letter you will we will schedule a second hearing you will have an opportunity
to testify if you would like it'll be a limited hearing but you will have an opportunity to
testify we'll be able to have community members there at that time correct yes okay thank you
yeah thank you sharon i appreciate that left it out i'm sure all right anyone else
if we can put on record october the 6th at 3 30. wonderful okay thank you october the 6th at 3 30.
uh anyone else to testify on this case please raise your hand no hands at this time chair
thank you carol next case thank you thank you gentlemen thank you
carol you have to unmute carol you're muted carol so i hate to be muted calendar number mi
dash 2020 dash 000799 171 Grape Street. The attorney is Jared Klein.
Good afternoon.
Mr. Chair, members of the board, Jared Klein, White Grom LLP, 130 North 18th Street.
Jared, do you affirm to tell the truth and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
And do you also agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
This is actually not a full presentation.
And we're back to give the board an update on post -hearing conversations between my client and the RCO.
And that's the Mount Yonk Neighborhood Council?
Can you present what you have?
Absolutely.
I'm having some trouble with my video at the moment, but I hope I can still share my screen.
uh can everybody see that yes great all right so i'll uh proceed without you having to see me
um we uh following the last hearing uh as the board may recall this application was to
add an additional residential unit to an existing 22 unit dwelling
um there was some conversation uh between the applicant and the rco at the last hearing about
items that could be addressed in terms of the aesthetic of the site and some other
issues that were raised by the RCO. And so we did have some follow -up conversations with them.
And I'm sharing the letter that Man Utd Neighborhood Council sent to the board earlier
this week, which accurately summarizes our conversations. As you'll see, and in fairness
to the RCO, they do note that they continue to have an objection to the additional unit.
But they also acknowledge that we've committed to several changes that mitigate the deficiencies of the site and want to acknowledge those.
And then they go on to list the items we propose, which include removing the parking spaces that were blocking the exterior windows of the additional unit we were proposing, and to replace that parking space with landscaping.
We're going to enclose in the screen the trash area.
We're going to address a concern that was raised about some striping in the no parking zone on Grape Street that appeared to be further than what the streets department would require.
We didn't paint it, but we've told the RCO we're going to do what we can to shorten the no parking zone, which will probably give a street space or two back.
and we're going to install an additional guardrail on the edge of the parking area if the board may recall
this is one where there was a bit of a height drop because of the slope of the street
so to address any safety concern and to additionally screen the trash
and with that the board said that or the MNC summarized that should the board choose to
approve the project uh they would ask for these provisos these provisos are certainly acceptable
to us um and i i would again ask the board uh vote favorably upon the application
thank you do you have any witnesses before uh we'll ask for other
um i don't mr chair i believe my client may be on the line but we're really just agreeing to
what's in this correspondence so i don't believe i need that verified okay very good thank you
questions from the board
anyone wish to testify in this case please raise your hand
There are no hands up at this time, Chair.
And if I could make a correction to the calendar number that you gave.
So the MI -2020 -000844.
M -I -2020 -000844 is the number to reference for this property.
Okay, thank you.
And Jared, if you can leave that screen up right now with the provisors, that would be helpful.
Absolutely.
All right.
Planning Commission.
Good afternoon.
This is Ian Litwin with Planning Commission staff.
Although this parcel is zoned RSA 5, single -family attached, the existing multifamily use was approved in 2009.
In addition, the comprehensive plan recommends this lot be remapped to RM1, residential multifamily.
Accordingly, we are not opposed to the addition of one unit, but we do support the provisor suggested by the Maniac Neighborhood Council.
Thank you.
um calendar number let's see mi 2020 -000844 171 grape street my vote is yes with the following
provisos uh enclose and screen trash area uh somebody's
uh i don't think we have any we have no authority i don't believe over the street
striping of the street that's going to have to be approved by the streets
department provide a guardrail along the edge of the parking area where there is
a significant drop to the sidewalk below and landscape the unusable the
unusable square at the corner and I want to go back up to the remove parking
blocking basement unit windows and replace them with landscaping sufficient
to prevent them from being used as overflow or visitor parking um i think that would require
a revised plan um that was just one i don't know um
miss mr mr klein would you agree that that without having to come back with a revised plan
um that as an officer court that you will make sure that your um client um abides by that proviso
yes sir we we know which parking space is specifically being referred to there and we
will i certify that i'll make sure it gets done all right it's in your written testimony to the
board so i will that'll be sufficient we'll so note that in the testimony all right so with that
i think i said my vote was yes with those provisos yes with proviso yes with proviso yes with proviso
thank you very much everybody sorry i couldn't get my video uh but it was nice seeing everybody
good job thank you calendar number mi2020 -000697
1030 west gerard avenue the attorney is adam laver
good afternoon mr chairman and members of the board um good afternoon can you put your name
an address on the record, Mr. Laver? Yes, Mrs. Tenere. Adam Laver, L .A. Fies and Victor, E .R.
Blank, Rome, 1 Logan Square, Philadelphia, 19103. And do you swear or affirm to tell the truth and
nothing but the truth? I do. Do you also agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate
to its accuracy? I do, Mrs. Tenere. Thank you. You may present your case. Thank you.
bear with me for just one moment okay are you able to see the large rendering that's up on the
screen yes yes yes good thank you
Adam Laver of Blank Rome on behalf of Zane Development and its principal Michael Al -Haddad,
owner of the property at 1030 West Girard Avenue. The development proposal before you today
comprises Phase 2, which is on the left hand of the screen, of a two -phase project. Phase 1 was
previously reviewed and approved by this board and is currently under construction here you
hopefully see in the elevations on the screen at the left phase one was fully approved it's
under construction phase two would propose to create a seamless multi -use project very
similar to what had been approved in phase one here you see the rear of the
Here you see the rear of the property. There's no front, rear, or side. Everything
property there's no front rear
is treated as a front for this property and I mean in terms of the quality of
the materials etc that's being proposed. The entire development site encompasses
a city block. It fronts on the south side of Girard Avenue as depicted in this
aerial photograph running through to West Harbor at the rear bounded by 10th
Street and 11th Street in the photograph you see tennis courts which are not
there anymore that's the under construction site already approved to
the left where it says 1030 West Gerrard Avenue that was a former recreation
center and that is the site of phase two this is a very important site within the
Council President's District in that it fronts on Girard Avenue, a commercial thoroughfare,
but also, as you can see in the photographs, clearly just to the south, you have significant
residential that's been there for a long time. I've provided Exhibits 1 through 13 to the board
and to Ms. Saleta and in the exhibits you'll see unanimous support from the
coordinating RCO and Ms. Diane Monroe is here today I'm sure. Also with us are
Stuart Rosenberg and Justin Coleman of SGRA Architects. Turning now to the
zoning map which is at your tab 6, you'll see that the site is on CMX 2 .5 in
purple, and you'll see a whole array of zoning classifications around it, which
really speak to the transitional nature of the site. Moving to our proposal, I'm
going to go through some renderings. You're seeing different images of the
site. The general overview calls for the new construction of a six -story multi -use
building with underground parking for 55 cars accessed from West Harper Street from the rear
of the site. Here you see 10th Street and towards the left you see West Harper Street. I'm going to
take you to an image now of the access point to the underground parking. It's really well done
in that you have a significant multifamily project here,
but you have the feel almost with the single curb cut
of single -family residential or low density,
which corresponds nicely with the residential across the street.
You also see in this view the pedestrian entrance,
an additional pedestrian entrance here along Harper Street.
That's another view of Harper Street as well.
The phase two parking has parking for 55 cars underground, bicycle parking for 40 bicycles.
There are five retail commercial spaces proposed in this pink or peach color off of Gerrard
Avenue with uses as permitted in the district.
And you see in the purple 10 townhomes called masonettes here on this plan are proposed
for West Hart to relate nicely to the residential that's back there. And then
above is proposed up to 110 apartments from the second through sixth floors
with rooftop decks. Here you see on the right phase one in white what was
already approved. Underground parking to the left, the 55 spaces for phase two.
On the left in purple are the residences, the apartments. You see ample courtyards
to add light and air and greenery through the project and I'm turning now
to the rooftop deck with significant setbacks and greenery and strictly
residential use. The refusals begin with height, which was the same as what was
approved in phase one by the Zoning Board some months ago prior to the
pandemic. This exhibit depicts in purple the phase one project and in red the
phase two project. You can see that the height appears the same from street. I
should point out in full disclosure that there's actually about a difference of one and a half
feet to accommodate for a difference in the grade but any pedestrian would read this as same and
but any pedestrian would read this as same and seamless,
and it fits in with other projects in the vicinity.
We are proposing the same height.
Here you see an aerial photograph,
which shows to the right some of what you saw
in that last plan in terms of the scope and scale
of the neighborhood.
And also I would submit as we did before
that the proposed building is appropriate for a major gateway such as Gerrard Avenue.
The height variance allows extra high ceilings at the ground floor to attract high quality tenants
and will be exactly in line with phase one. The second refusal, which really doesn't make sense
from a scope and spirit standpoint of the zoning code is that in the commercial district here
commercial is required along harper street well harper street as you can see with this
residential development is not commercial and we are not proposing commercial for harper street
we worked very hard with the townhomes that i referenced before to keep the scope and scale
the existing residential south of Girard, and to our knowledge everyone is in support of that.
Finally, the penultimate refusal concerns open area. Although the technical code
requirements are not being met, the open area along Harper Street closest to the existing
residential, the courtyard and rooftop spaces meet the intent of the code provision.
And finally, regarding density, what we're proposing is in line with phase one.
And in terms of meeting the challenges of density, it's very important to underscore
that where zero parking spaces are required, zero parking spaces, nearly 99, nearly 100
to be specific, 99 parking spaces are provided, 55 in phase two, which is before you.
44 previously approved by this board, all underground. The impact is minimal.
Furthermore, density at the site is appropriate to support the retail commercial not only proposed
in phase one and phase two, but proposed as part of the vision for Girard Avenue.
Indoor trash storage and commercial trash pickup from the interior are an important part of the proposal, and it's through a shared loading zone out of the sight of the public.
There are landscaped courtyard spaces and ample landscape setbacks along West Harbor.
The revitalization of the site with a neighborhood -supported development respects existing residential and commercial
and really seems to be a model for development in the neighborhood, if not throughout the city.
The authorization of variance relief will not alter the character of the neighborhood or the district
or be detrimental to the public welfare proposal fits into the surrounding neighborhood it's
evidenced by the overwhelming support of the rco i should also note that this matter was and i i'm
sure mr litwin will speak to this himself this matter was reviewed by civic design review which
completed its review in one session which was just this past monday so i'm not sure that a letter has
been issued. I haven't seen it. The variances requested would represent the minimum to afford
relief. We will actually, rather than increase congestion, decrease congestion with what we
have proposed. And once again, we have SGRA Architects here, should you wish. Also, Michael
Al -Haddad, the developer who's well known to this board, is certainly prepared to, I believe,
to adopt and affirm, but also to offer additional testimony if required by the board.
Thank you.
I'm going to bring your witness on.
And then I'll just swear him in.
Would you please raise your virtual hands so that Chairman DiCicco can swear you in?
Mr. Michael Al -Haddad.
Please spell your name, sir, first and last name.
Michael Al -Haddad.
Could you spell your last name, please?
Al -Haddad, A -L -H -A -D -A -D.
You're referring to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Mr. Laver, please proceed.
have you been able to participate in the entirety of this virtual hearing yes I
Have you been able to participate?
have and would you adopt and affirm mr. al -haddad the testimony that I've
offered as your own yes thank you sir thank you thank you any questions from
the board no anyone else I'm sorry anyone else wish to testify in this
matter if so please raise your hand I have a Stuart Rosenberg Stuart you can unmute yourself
and wait to be sworn in thank you I'm here just to answer questions as they may arise
Mr. Rosenberg is the architect yeah he was sworn in earlier today on another matter
um anyone else wish to testify in this case if so please raise your hand
We have Diane Moreau.
Diane, you can unmute yourself.
Ms. Monroe, are you there?
Hi, Ms. Monroe. How are you?
How are you? I am not technical. I'm just lost.
No problem.
Like I'm in the woods someplace.
I'm in the same boat. Just please spell your name and give us your address for the record.
Diane Monroe. D -I -A -N -E -M -O -N -R -O -E.
1117 Mount Vernon Street, Philadelphia P .A. 19123.
Thank you.
Do you swear and affirm to tell the truth?
I'm the chair of the 14th Ward RCO.
Thank you.
I'm sorry.
Do you swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Thank you.
Please proceed.
Excuse me, Ms. Moreau?
Do you have two devices going?
Oh, yes, I do.
Hold on. I'll turn the other one on.
Thank you.
All right.
Can you hear me?
It's still on.
Yeah, we're getting feedback from you.
I'm going to take it
and put it in another room.
okay is that better yes thank you okay as i said i don't know i had the telephone going
i had my ipad going i don't know what i'm doing i'm so sorry um i as you know i sent
you the letter and we did approve this the the 14th ward rco we did have the open community
meeting, as Mr. Lever said, and we do like to have this project approved based on the
provisos, and they are in agreement with the provisos, and they are willing to update or
place an amendment to the existing community benefit agreement that we have with them for the
for the phase one project. We did not receive any negative comments from the community and it appears
that the community is happy with the phase two of this project as well as the relationship that
they have developed with this developer. Thank you, Ms. Monroe. Mr. Laver, could
you, I think you're pulling it up now, there are provisos? Yes, Mr. DiCicco. The
provisos hopefully are up on the screen. Could you make that larger? Yes, one
moment. That's good. And there's an agreement on these provisors? Yes. Well, the brick stuff isn't
for us. Garbage disposals, we'll put it in on a little wet time. No, you can't do that one. It's
not for us. We could do the receptacles. You have a place, I assume, in the plan for trash? Yes.
number of units will match phase well that's already that's in your testimony affordable
round i think the only one correct me if i'm wrong sharon is number three right something
Right, something to the effect of trash receptacles provided out of sight of the public, would that be?
to the effect of um trust
We're absolutely in agreement, and I'd like to state for the record and for the benefit of the public,
and Ms. Monroe, Mr. Al -Haddad values greatly the relationship with the 14th Democratic Ward,
and there's a separate private agreement
that we will be bound to,
which I know is outside of the ZB.
I just wanted to state that publicly.
All right, Planning Commission.
Good afternoon.
This is Ian Litwin with Planning Commission staff.
This is phase two of a previously approved project.
Phase one was approved by the Zoning Board
in March of 2019.
Both phases have completed civic design review
with mostly positive feedback and considerable cooperation between the applicant the community
and the planning commission a summary letter of the cdr process is forthcoming we feel that
this project will have substantial benefits to gerard avenue and therefore we have no objection
to granting the variances thank you all right um calendar mi -2020 -000697
1030 West
Gerrard Avenue. My vote is yes
with the following proviso.
Trash to be
stored in an area out of public
Yes with proviso.
Yes with proviso.
Yes with proviso.
Yes with proviso.
Thank you.
Good luck.
Thank you.
Any unfinished business
Tanya and or Sharon?
not from me chair me all right and we is it 10 o 'clock tomorrow yes 10 a .m. all right
see you all tomorrow 10 o 'clock in the morning have a safe night everyone