Thank you.
Good morning, everyone.
My name is Bill Bergman and I will be chairing this meeting of the Philadelphia Zoning Board
of Adjustment.
With me is our board vice chair, Tadetta Graham.
Good morning, President, Mr. Chairman.
Our board secretary, Cheryl L. Gaston.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our board member, Michael Johns.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Board member, Ty O'Wynn.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our board member, Ryan McAdams.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Also, here is our board attorney, Hillary Emerson, our zoning board director, Ian Haggerty,
and our board administrator, Lakeisha Dandy.
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number one we should call Vern okay number one MI 2021 004 387 6809 Woodland Avenue Vern Anastasio
is the attorney. Good morning, Chair. This is Jasmine, and I will be your co-host for this
morning's session. Vern Anastasio will be rejoining us as a panelist. Good morning, Mr. Chair,
members of the board. Morning. Counsel, could you please state your name as spelled for the
stenographer? Yes, sir. It's Vern Anastasio, A-N-A-S-T-A-S-I-O. Do you swear or affirm to
tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? I do. Could you give us an update on
the 6809 Woodland Avenue. Yep. We're very close. We just received this morning a letter of non
opposition from the RCO. However, the last mailing that we did was over about two years ago. And
Attorney Emerson did say we do need an updated one. So I'm asking for a short continuance just
so I can do one final mailing. And then we can come back and button this case up. Yes. So I'm
and then we can come back and button this case up yes so i'm on our council yes yeah so so mr
on our council.
anastasio so there's actually a little bit of confusion on this one because a resumptive
hearing was requested but when we went and looked back at the notes this the record when this was
heard back in 2024 was actually closed pending a letter from the rco um so okay okay so the board
so the board had not previously authorized reopening the record and having a hearing on
this matter okay but we did but we did discuss it and because um because today um because there is
now an amended refusal that is a different use than was previously discussed at the prior hearing
um the board is going to to reopen the record so we can have it so we can discuss the the new
proposed use um and and the chair will give you a date for that resumption hearing so that's
That's perfectly reasonable.
Thank you.
Thank you.
So MI-2021-004-387-6809 Woodland Avenue.
That case is continued to 428-26 at 9.30 a.m.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'm going to call number 2, number 3, number 4, and number 10 together.
So number two is MI 2024-005-757-9212 North Delaware Avenue.
Number three is MI 2024-005-759-9214 North Delaware Avenue.
And number four is MI 2024-005-889216 North Delaware Avenue.
And number 10 is MI 2024-006-068-9218-North-Delraveno.
Jennifer Bazzillo is the attorney.
Good morning, Mr. Chairman and members of the board.
I am here.
Hold on.
Could you please state your name?
Sorry.
Spelled for the stenographer.
Jennifer Positlo, B as in boy, A as in apple, Z as in zebra, Y, D as in David, L as in Larry, O as in Oscar.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Could you give us an update on these four cases?
So we haven't been able to have a meeting with the community group yet.
I'm hoping I've reached out again to schedule that meeting. This project happened before that group
one time before but it was about five years ago and it's you know I wasn't the attorney then so
we're hoping to have another meeting. I think I previously said if that if there isn't a meeting
that takes place before the next scheduled listing we will just notify the neighbors and we will
proceed all right um so uh council this has been going on for a long time yeah um we we don't even
have any exhibits yeah um so sorry mr chair there's a hand raised from joe carson i believe
he may be the rco um in this matter mr carson joe has been allowed to speak hi mr carson could you
please state your name and spell for the sonographer certainly uh joe carson uh joe
c-a-r-s-o-n right i do swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
i do mr carson you heard what council had to say am i correct yes uh we have uh not been able to
connect we as an rco when we saw this listing reached out to um uh miss miss uh jennifer there
and Basidlo and
you know we haven't been able to connect
we have brought this topic up
in our meetings and
we there is
hasn't been an appetite for
more conversation on it
although we certainly can bubble it up again
all right
Jennifer and
we're going to vote to dismiss
all four of these cases
and we will waive the two-year rule wonderful we just can't keep bringing this back okay okay you
know you'll we'll waive the rule so i'll i'll say them all together and then so number two
mi 2024 005 757 92 12 north delver number three mi 2024 0055 759 92 14 north delver
MI 2024-005-788-9216, North Delaware.
And number 10, MI 2024-006-068-9216.
MI 2024-006-068-9218 North Delaware I vote to dismiss and recommend that the two-year rule be
waived Michael Johns Johns I vote to dismiss and recommend that the brain be a waived
Cheryl Gadsden I vote to dismiss with waiver of the two-year rule
Tanita Graham, I vote to dismiss with waiver of the two-year rule.
And McAdams, I vote to dismiss with waiver of the two-year rule.
Eileen, I vote to dismiss with waiver of the two-year rule.
All right.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you.
I also have another matter that I am submitting a withdrawal of.
I just wanted to make sure that was on the record as well.
I saw that, yeah.
Okay, great.
Thank you.
I'll take care of that.
Thank you.
All right.
So number six.
Hillary, there's people in the audience.
Am I correct?
uh yes that is correct um we're looking for m i m i 2024-005-972-4530 blake's blackston street
elvin epinat diaz is the uh owner um do we have an interpreter yes we do have an interpreter
um mr stephen albain is here to interpret on the zoom
Stephen Albain has been promoted to panelists.
Good morning.
My name is Stephen Albain, A-U-B-A-I-N, interpreter ID YM288.
I'll be the Spanish interpreter.
right do you swear or affirm that you will interpret accurately completely and impartially
from english to spanish and from spanish to english to the best of your ability yes i do
so could you please call for me uh elvin ipin and diaz is the current owner i believe he's
sitting right here so why don't you start and this is the k-lingle different than that all right
the interpreter will call you
why don't you do that for me
do me this favor
please tell him to state his name first
and spell it
Así que denos su nombre y deletréelo.
Elvin Armando y Pina Díaz.
E-L-B-I-N.
A-R-M-A-N-D-O.
Juría afirma decir la verdad, toda la verdad y nada más que la verdad.
I'm sorry, Mr. Chair, Mr. Robin, can you just provide the spelling for the stenographer?
Thank you.
Yes, and there's the interpreter speaking.
He wasn't done spelling his name.
He spelled Elvin Armando, so E-L-V-I-N, and Armando, A-R-M-A-N-D-O.
Is your last name, yeah, yes, Diaz is your last name, or Epina Diaz, is that your last
Y su apellido, ¿es Epenin o es Díaz?
Epina Díaz.
Y del término, por favor, and I'm asking for the spelling.
I-P-I-N-A.
D-I-A-Z.
The interpreter calls verification.
Epina es I-P-E-N-A.
So, it's I-P-E-N-A, second last name, D-I-A-Z.
Okay, so could you tell him we have no updated exhibits?
Así que no tenemos evidencias actualizadas.
so i was i was supposedly paying someone to represent me on this case um for this open
porch and i've been paying this person for three years while the construction has been going on
i don't know now if i'm being scammed um okay so uh i i think what we're going to have
Okay, so I think what we're going to have to do is continue this case, right?
And then, I guess, Ian, could we refer them to someone they could report this fraud to, all right?
So, could you tell him that we're going to continue the case, right?
Because it's not ready to go, and that we would refer him to someone he could talk to about being scammed, all right?
So we're going to continue this case for another date, because he's not prepared to proceed, and we're going to refer to someone who could talk about that, and they're going to refer to someone who can talk about that.
6, 9, 25, 9, 30.
Así que este caso, MI 2024, 005972, 4530 Blackstone Street,
va a ser continuado a junio 9 del domín 26 a la 9 y media.
All right.
Thank you very much for coming in.
We do appreciate it, please.
And interpreter, as usual, thank you for helping us.
All right.
And thank you for using the service.
Is there another case that requires interpretation?
All right.
Thank you.
Thank you. So number nine, MI 2024-006050, 29 to 76 East Chelton Avenue. Cherry Lewis is the listed applicant. Chelton Realtor Partners and Mainline Federal Savings are the listed owners. No exhibits, third listing.
I see no one in the audience by that name, Cherry.
all right thank you so number nine mi 2024 006 050 29 to 79 east chelton avenue this is the third
listing i vote to dismiss michael johns i vote to dismiss cheryl gaston my vote is to dismiss
tenetta graham i vote is to dismiss ryan mcadams my vote is to dismiss they win my vote is to this
so number 11 mi 2025 000 953 3904 aspen street um there are no exhibits this is the second list
and we understand there's a possibility of an appeal could eric kellum withdrawal i'm sorry
eric kellum the listed owner and bria kennedy um could eric kellum come on
i see no one in the audience by either name i say we say have we have um erica kellem is the
listed owner yes and then bria kennedy um was the listed applicant third party professional
so i'm going to dismiss this we'll make it a dismiss so mi2025 000 953 3904 aspen i vote to
dismiss michael johns i vote to dismiss cheryl gaston my vote is to dismiss it's not a grand
my vote is to dismiss i mcadams my vote is to dismiss i win my vote is to this
okay um number 12 mi 2025 000 992 97 68 re-road david anacario anacarico is the
attorney for the owner. We have no updated exhibits. This is the second listing.
Chair, I see no one in the audience with that name, and I have no hands raised.
Okay, so MI-2025-000-992-9768 re-road. I vote to dismiss and waive the two-year rule.
Michael Johns, I vote to dismiss and waive the two-year rule.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is to dismiss and to waive the two-year rule.
Tana Graham, my vote is to dismiss and waive the two-year rule.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is to dismiss and waive the two-year rule.
Number 13, MI 2025-001047-2006, Bellevue Street.
Jaisal Rain Development Corporation is the listed owner.
Israel Graham and Paul Kramer are the listed applicants.
This is the second listing.
Good morning. Israel Graham.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Yes. Israel Graham. I-S-R-A-E-L. Graham. G-R-A-G-E-L.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
All right. So, Mr. Graham, this is the second list and we have no exhibits.
Mr. Graham, this is second list and we have no exhibits.
Yes, I was in motion to hire a lawyer because my last listen, I had to let me know since I was an LLC that I had to hire a lawyer.
Yes, I was in motion.
So I'm in motion to hire a lawyer.
So I was wondering if I could get a continuation.
All right.
So we're going to continue the case.
But it's going to be marked must be heard.
You have to be ready to go on the next one.
Thank you, sir.
All right.
So no, that's okay.
MI 2025, 001-047-2006 Bellevue Street.
This case continued, and Mark, must be heard, to 6925 at 9.30 a.m.
Okay, thank you, sir.
All right, thank you.
Number 14, MI 2025, 001-099-6324 Sackett Street.
this case has been withdrawn and number eight
mi 2024-006-032-2125 west cambria street um 2020 inc is the listed owner um
we have not received documents is there anyone from
the that location in the audience i see no one by that name chair and i have no hands raised
okay so mi2024-006-032-2125 west cambria i vote to dismiss michael johns my vote is to dismiss
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is to dismiss.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is to dismiss.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is to dismiss.
Hi, Owen, my vote is to dismiss.
We're going to go to our add-on cases.
So number one, 2025, MI 2025, 002-368-4821 Garden Street.
This case has been rescheduled to Wednesday, 2-18-26 at 9.30 a.m., and I'm going to do two cases together.
MI 2025, 004494, 9247R, East Roosevelt Boulevard.
And number three, MI 2025, 004495, 942, 9 East Roosevelt Boulevard.
i vote no to boast both and also uh a correct vote no to a proviso corrected refusal dated 1-7-26
michael johns my vote is no to both with proviso
cheryl gaston my vote is no to both with proviso tennetta graham my vote is no to both with proviso
Ryan McAdams, my vote is no to both with Proviso.
Ryan Wynn, my vote is no to both with Proviso.
Number four, MI 2025-001-863-1503, Crestwood Road, I vote no.
Michael Johns, my vote is no.
Charles Gaston, my vote is no.
Tinetta Graham, my vote is no.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is no.
Ryan Wynn, my vote is no.
number five mi 2025 004 600 1302 204 ruscom street
i vote yes michael johns my vote is yes charles gaston my vote is yes
tenetta graham my vote is yes ryan mcadams my vote is yes
I win. My vote is yes.
Number five, MI of our regular case, number five, MI 2024, 005-847-7335 Montour Street.
Joseph Vaccaro is the attorney.
Joseph Vaccaro will be rejoining us as a panelist.
good morning can you hear me i can sir could you please state your name and spell for the
sonographer uh good morning may it please the board joseph vaccaro v-a-c-c-a-r-o on behalf of
the applicant hugo zuniga okay do you swear or affirm the
Applicant Hugo Zuniga.
Okay. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
I see unanimous opposition from
Burholm Community Town Watch and Civic Association.
But you also gave us an application,
a petition with 22 signatures from the neighbors.
Our vice-chair has a few questions, Mr. Vaccaro.
Thank you.
Good morning. Have you submitted your documents and
exhibits five days in advance of this hearing i submitted the documents on sunday and they were
updated with interior photos on monday okay thank you and do you waive the reading of the refusal
and stipulate to its accuracy yes i do you can show your screen and proceed with your case okay
thank you very much uh may it please the board i have the pleasure of representing hugo zuniga
he is sitting to my left in the same physical room that i'm sitting in
and it happens to be the house in question.
Hugo had purchased the property during May of 2022.
Can you see the front page of what appears to be a deed?
We see it better now, Jim.
Okay, so that's the deed.
He purchased the property in May of 2022.
It was advertised as a two-story, two-family house.
he purchased it as a two-story, two-family house. This is part of my packet. This is
what was advertised when he had purchased the property. It was advertised as a five-bed,
three-bath, 1,896-square-foot house about this home, two units. And that's what prompted him
to buy the property. It's a two-unit, three-bedroom cape, and much to his chagrin and surprise,
he discovered that the property is still only zoned as a single-family house. Back in the
1960s, if I could show you the zoning history, I apologize. This was 1939. I'm looking at the
stamp august 25th of 1939 there was um approval to build a second story to the house and it's the
second story that has always been used and my client needs to legalize the you that use as a
second as a second apartment to legalize the two uses he lives on the first floor so this this would
be an owner-occupied property. If I could jump down to some photos, I think I might have overshot
the photos. So he lives on the first floor with his family, and he rents out the second floor
of the property. There already was a tenant in the property. When he had purchased it,
he switched tenants at some time in between, and here we are, seeking to formalize and legalize
that second apartment upstairs. I am looking for the photos that I've included.
We'll just bear with me.
Well, while I look for those here, why don't I just, I'll stop sharing this and I'll show
the photos of the, of the interior, which were, yeah, that's what I'm looking to do.
Can you see a living room with a couch?
we do okay let me explain that yes that's the second floor that's the second floor there's a
there's a bedroom on the second floor a kitchen with a dining area another bedroom and a living
room and and here's another room bathroom so it's a fully furnished unit he did not do any of this
construction that all of this construction everything that you see on the interior of
the second floor. All of that was there when he had purchased the property. All he's done to it
is give it a fresh coat of paint when the new tenant moved in. That's it. If I could go back
to looking for the photos of the outside of the property, it's a very large lot with ample room
for parking um so the other tent neither his tenant nor his family would be taking up
um too many parking spots um i'll stop sharing the interior photos i've located the photos of the
the exterior of the property here you go starting with the plans so he's gotten
of the exterior of the property.
formal plans here's the outside if I could zoom out a bit or at least try to
zoom out here's the front entrance with the zoning poster here's the front
entrance. This front entrance is the entrance into the first floor unit which
is occupied by Hugo and his family. If you see if you see the steps to the far
left those would be the steps to a separate doorway which goes up to the
second floor. This is the side this is the rear entrance that goes into the
kitchen of Hugo's unit on the first floor and as you can see this ample
parking space he's got the driveway that's his truck he's a he he does tree
service he prints trees these two vehicles they're parked on his driveway
with ample space in the back and here you can see another vehicle another view
of the driveway first floor this is the second floor my cursor is going over the
second floor the unit in question that we're trying to legalize and he has his
tax clearance we've had two meetings with the RCO he's attended the first one
on his own before he retained me. And then I participated in the last RCO meeting and
there were some questions about trash pickup. Well, he has plenty of space to store the trash
in the back. There were questions about parking and the due diligence that he did when he had
purchased the house. There was no other response for many months from the RCO,
and we only learned of their letter of opposition in the last two days.
He did submit a tax clearance certificate, which is part of our packet,
as well as the petition from the near neighbors, which are in support of his application.
So does the board or council have any questions?
I think what you should do is have your testimony adopted first.
Why don't we do that?
I do have English is not his first language.
Well, we only use our own interpreters and you're an officer of the court.
Have you talked to him with help?
Multiple times.
I speak Spanish, sir.
All right.
So you're an officer of the court. Questions from the board?
Question. So you have a question. So so there was no RCO meeting or there was an RCO meeting.
There were two RCO meetings. There were two RCO meetings and you got.
So but you don't have a letter of opposition. You have a letter of 13, 13 folks.
You know, it was unanimous opposition.
They never gave us the letter. No.
yeah you do there's this letter letter of opposite unanimous opposition 13 votes
right i i know of its existence but i haven't seen it okay okay okay so you just haven't seen
the letter so and so and now you have a petition of 20 folks that that support it correct but they
didn't come to the meeting well well i didn't take attendance and it's well i mean it's i guess
my concern is when somebody comes with a petition of whatever opposition or support and then there
was a meeting and there's like unanimous you know opposition and then these people weren't at the
meeting it's it's it's that's the point of the rco meeting people have got to go to meetings right
and and vice face their opinion they come they can't come after the meeting in my opinion they
can't come after the meeting and say oh we don't like this now and we have a petition and they
didn't go to the meeting. I hear what you're saying and I appreciate what you're saying and
and that being said the petition that my client has circulated it's it is evidence it can be
considered by the board and you take it for what it's worth. Just because these individuals have
chosen not to show up at an rco meeting well people show up at rco meetings for various reasons
they don't show up at rco meetings for various reasons and they signed positions there were
three it's kind of tough all right that's okay that's that's a concern for me all right
that's okay that's that's a concern for me all right other questions from the board i appreciate
that i'm looking at the block um is there any other uh two residential houses on that block
let me ask my client any other classes to do residencias in this block
Luca? No, on this block. Yeah, in this block. How many? No, no, no. How many houses? Okay.
From what he sees, he's got at least two houses across the street, which are two units. He's
not sure if they're legal or not though. Other questions from the board? Yes, so the tenant in
the second unit is going to enter from the side door? Correct. She's got her own, that tenant has
her own private entrance. Okay. And you're saying that the unit was bifurcated before the current
owner purchased it it already has separate meters for everything correct yes separate separate uh
electric and gas meters yes and joe you're saying that was done in 1939 the second floor was built
in 1939 or sometime after 1939 uh whether it was done as a second separate unit i'm not sure sure
but when he bought the property there already was a second unit and it was advertised as a second
as a two-unit property.
Other questions?
I guess my last question is,
do you have a sense from the RCO meeting
what drove the opposition from neighbors?
I really can't say.
There were just questions about trash pickup.
There were questions about the due diligence that he did
when he had purchased the property.
and and and we did have a discussion about the second floor about that second floor having been
built after that 1939 approval but nobody voiced any opposition and and that meeting took place
sometime in november i would have done some follow-up had i known or had i had a letter
of opposition a lot sooner as a matter of habit i always follow up with the rcos especially when
i have some opposition on a project let's see if there's anybody that's going to get off of
the rco questions from our attorney can i and i have a question um you show a truck parked yeah
that's his truck um okay so
i'm not talking about that i'm talking about there's a truck from the tree thing yeah right
so is that how he parks this truck does he use the property in any way as part of his business
or how is this no no he goes he goes from house to house property to property trimming trees
and that's his truck and he stores it in his back or in his side all right and what do we have in
the basement here utilities and storage and it's not even for the tenant it's for him
okay all right thank you do you have any sense from the adjacent neighbors the exact
the neighbors that are right adjacent to this property let me ask you
they we didn't specifically speak about this but nobody told them anything in favor nobody told
them anything against neutral thank you all right questions from our attorney hillary emerson
um excuse me just wanted to get clarification so is there is there like a shared driveway to
a parking pad in the back i'm just i'm just a little confused because parking is this is a rsa
three so parking is required um and they see there is parking i'm just a little bit confused as to
how how this is set up it's all his he says that that park that that that that
side driveway it's all his okay it's it's about 19 feet he says it's it's a
pretty wide driveway okay 19 feet wide okay it just as a note
19 feet wide. Okay. Just as a note, because it wasn't in the zoning documents that there was parking here, that may be something that needs to be legalized or formalized via L&I at some point. So just wanted to make a note of that.
Questions or comments from the audience, the virtual audience?
Yes, Chair. I have a hand up by the name of Alice Udovich.
Alice.
Good morning, Chairman, members of the board.
Alice Udovich, on behalf of Councilman Brian O'Neill.
Just for the record, could you spell your name so that...
Sure. It's A-L-I-C-E. Last name is U-D-O-V-I-C-H.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed.
I'm very familiar with this RCO, and I understand that they typically do not approve conversions.
However, after looking at the L&I archives, I do believe that this has been a two-family dwelling since around 1989, if I'm interpreting it correctly.
So the councilman takes the position of non-opposition.
Thank you very much.
is there anyone else in the audience no chair i see no hands at this time planning commission
good morning chairman david facto f-e-c-t-e-a-u with the city planning commission
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes sir i do please
proceed thank you chairman uh chairman and board members the comprehensive plan recommends no
change to the rsa3 residential single family zoning at this location the city rezoned this
neighborhood in 2012 in accord with recommendations and comprehensive plan this property has a
documented history as two dwelling units the city planning commission recommends that the board
grant their proposed use variants for two dwelling units so mr vicaro we're going to vote on this
next wednesday at 9 30 a.m okay we're going to take it to executive session and um see where
everybody stands okay thank you thank you very much thank you have a good day okay
Number seven, MI 2024-005-976, 7161-69 State Road.
Zen Jin is the attorney.
Zen Jin has been promoted to panelist.
good morning good morning counsel could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
yes my name is then jen z h e n last name j i n here on behalf of the applicant right do you
swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do could you identify your
client a relationship to the property yes uh my client's adan cruz uh tenant at the property and
the operator of the business. We also have a letter of unanimous support from Tacconi Civic
Association for total votes, and our vice chair has a few questions. Good morning. Good morning.
Have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing? Yes, we
only updated a lease addendum, which is within the five days. Okay, and do you waive the reading
of the referral and stipulate to its accuracy? I do. Thank you. Share your screen and proceed
with your case thank you i'm going to share with the board what was previously submitted in this case
can the board see my screen yes sir thank you this is an application which is a special exception
under the icmx district for use as a personal vehicle repair and maintenance shop there are
other uses as part of this property they would remain as previously approved we're specifically
here for the mechanic shop part of this property. So the proposed personal vehicle repair and
maintenance requires special exception approval in this particular district. The RCO supported
our application partly because this property actually has been used that this specific part
of the property actually has been used as a mechanic shop for many years. We're not sure why
the zoning for this mechanic shop the one that is currently the tenant wasn't in place
once the shop found out there was an issue they notified the landlord who then asked them to go
they notify the landlord who then asked them to go ahead and make the application to legalize the
ahead and
shop. The shop has never had an issue with the neighbors. It's not a nuisance property. It has
never caused any problems due to its operations to any of the neighbors. And certainly there's
nothing about the structure of the shop or its location that would make it more likely to cause
any issues beyond what is normally expected of this type of use this is part of the street that
the property is located on here's the posting what's interesting about the shop and why it is
uh generally less impactful than some other shops on streets like this it is actually set back quite
a bit from the street front giving it its own parking lot in the front of the shop which means
that cars that come in for repairs are always parked on the lot and never really on the street
and that really is the main concern main complaint from most neighbors when it comes to mechanical
shop operations all the work is done inside the shop the space inside the shop is quite large
it contains two bays which allows mechanical work and one bay has a frame straightening machine
that can help straighten out the frame of the cars that have body damage.
However, I want to be clear that this is not a body shop.
The frame repair simply pulls the car straight.
There's no painting or any body work other than simple panel replacement and framework at the shop.
So it is more of a mechanical repair in nature
and is part of the maintenance and repair services offered by this business but there's no painting
there's no other body work being done at this location as you can see this is the actual space
of the entire property so again the lot here this parking lot is primarily attributed to
the use of this particular business the business next door only parks one or two cars at most
and certainly doesn't take up the parking lot normally.
So with all that and with its history of being here
and with prior tenants and prior operators as well,
this particular use should not be a use
that would cause any negative impact
greater than what is normally expected
of this type of use at this location.
So with that, I would ask for the board's
favorable review of this application.
I believe Mr. Adden Cruz is available here.
to verify my testimony. Mr. Cruz?
Adding Cruz. Your client has been promoted to
panelists. Thank you. Mr. Cruz, could you please
state and spell your name for me?
Is he still muted?
You have to unmute first, Mr. Cruz.
Mr. Cruz just now accepted the promotion to panelists.
All right, good.
Thank you.
They should be joining us shortly.
Mr. Cruz
with some reason I still don't see him on my screen
it just showed up that they declined to be promoted
it's all right um i think he's having some technical issues can counsel you know officer
of the court um questions from the board i just want to just make sure that i heard you correctly
there is some sort of machine for yes there's a frame straightening machine that's part of the
uh shop okay but you're not doing general body fender and spray painting right so they the only
thing they're doing it would be uh paintless dent repairs which will just pop out dents there's no
painting involved uh body framing and if a entire panel is available to be replaced that's a
mechanical replacement so there's no it's it's the type of work that is involved mechanically
was replacing the panels.
Ah, okay.
okay all right thank you um council what what what unit is this do you know um
All right.
Thank you.
Counsel, what unit
i don't know if the lease could give me uh the lease i just says
c am i correct hillary yeah the lease the lease says um unit c but on the plans it looks like
it's unit a so that's why we're just a little confused um i believe the landlord's uh labeling
would be the correct unit so a c c would be correct because in both the original lease and the
and the addendum they listed as unit c right thank you questions or comments from the virtual audience
any comments from the virtual audience i see no he's chair planning commission thank you
chairman and good morning david fecto with the city planning commission chairman and board members
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the icmx industrial and commercial mixed use
zoning at this location the city rezoned the neighborhood in 2017 in accord with recommendations
in the comprehensive plan the appellant has shown the proposed personal vehicle repair maintenance
will have no detrimental impacts to the neighborhood beyond what might be expected
the city planning commission recommends that the board grant the proposed special exception
for personal vehicle repair and maintenance thank you so number seven mi2024-005-976-7161-69
state road i vote yes with proviso unit c only michael johns my vote is yes with proviso
cheryl gaston my vote is yes with proviso tenetta graham my vote is yes with proviso ryan mcadams my
is yes with proviso i win my vote is yes supervisor thank you thank you council number 15
mi 2025 001 280 1629 south 10th street henry clinton is the attorney
henry clinton will be rejoining us as a panelist thank you
Good morning, Mr. Chairman and members of the board.
Good morning, counsel.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
My name is Henry Clinton, H-E-N-R-Y, Clinton, C-L-I-N-T-O-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Mr. Clinton, could you identify your client and relationship to the property?
My client is Jules Esposito, E-S-P-O-S-I-T-O.
and he was on the call. Thank you. I see there was unanimous support from East Passion Crossing
Civic Association, non-opposition from Council Member Squilla, and a letter, applicant, a petition
of support from 44 neighbors, 12 in the immediate block. But in, before we start, in conversation,
Council, our Council, thought maybe there'd be amended refusal. Am I correct?
i think there's been discussion about that i don't know uh where we've come down on that
miss emerson um yes so i i think i think there was a little confusion when there was a request
to amend um previously submitted but it it appears that um in our conversations there
is an existing takeout use that in addition to the commissaries and catering services that would be
extended um into from 1627 to 1629 um so if we're we're adding that use and extending it and it
would also generate a refusal i think we do need an amended refusal in that case but we can hear
everything is is done and was presented to the community already we can hear the case
today it's just we'll hold and get an amended refusal so that the uses are are correctly
documented okay henry understood yeah just by way of background i was before supposed to be before
the board back in july and uh i did request an amendment refusal but whatever happened i'm i'm
good with whatever miss emerson wants me to do okay we we always feel the same way too if you're
interested in whatever miss emerson says exactly our vice chair has a few questions that's my motto
Good morning. Have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing?
good morning have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing
i have submitted most of them we got the letter of support uh late uh councilman squiller's letter
came in recently and then we added a proviso form just to be certain okay and do you waive
the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy i know okay thank you you can
share your screen and proceed with the case. Thank you, Mr. Graham.
Is that visible, Mr. Chairman? It is. All right. Good morning, everyone. Again,
I'm Henry Clinton here on behalf of Jules Esposito. And the request is twofold. One is
to continue a use that's been in play for 40 years at this institution on South 10th Street,
esposito porchetta and also for a unity of use just again by way of background there's an existing
establishment right now it's 1627 south 10th that's zoned cmx1 we're requesting that part of
that use be extended to an adjacent residential home that is owned by mr esposito and as i walk
through it i think it'll become clear what we're trying to do table of contents a1 to a10
refusal so it's a mixed zoning district it's cmx1 is on the corner that's an existing business as
i say been in play for 40 years and we're asking that the use of what was going on in 1627 also
continue in part at 1629, and 1629 happens to be RSA 5, so that's why both zoning districts
are referenced above. So the refusals of our multiple principal uses are prohibited in this
residential district, and commissaries and catering is prohibited in the RSA 5 zoning
district. And I'll show you at the end that the existing business has had a wholesale retail
and take-out permits since 1988.
This is the RCO letter of support.
Not only did all neighbors support it, the neighbors adjacent to the property,
but also all members of the committee, so there was unanimous support.
These are our letters, excuse me, our petition in support.
Mr. Walker actually lives next door to where the expansion is going to take place at 1631.
Then we have additional neighbors on the 1,100 block on Mountain Street, as well as on 11th
Street, which is not, I wouldn't consider them adjacent. Additional signatures from Mountain
Street, both the 900 block and 1,100 block, again, a little bit removed, but this is the more
important page. We have support from Varallo Brothers Bakery, which is at the corner of
10th and Morris. And I'll show you that in an aerial photograph. So they own three properties.
So there's three support signatures there. And also the other property that remains on
South 10th Street in this section is 1633, and there's a signature there by Ms. Vetri,
and there's also additional signatures from the 1600 block of South 10th Street.
More signatures, Mountain Street. All right, so just to give you a perspective, an aerial
view, this is South 10th Street. South 10th Street goes south, Morris Street, and then
Mountain Street. So the properties that we're talking about are seven properties between
Mountain Street, which is a small street, and Morris Street, which is a larger street.
So Esposito has been here for 40 years. As I say, they do wholesale retail, and they
also have a takeout permit from 1988 the idea is to expand the usage of takeout to the adjacent
residential property which has two apartments one apartment will be eliminated and we'll just
have ground floor access this door will be closed this window will be expanded to double doors
and i'll go through the floor plan and some other elevations as we move along you'll note
there's a dumpster on the side this dumpster has been here for 25 years at least there is a dumpster
permit and commercial trash pickup is daily you also note in front of the building there's no
parking signs there's a no parking from 8 a.m to 6 p.m every day it's only 30 minute parking
for deliveries and for people coming in to pick up goods or meat or roast pork whatever they want
uh goods or meat or roast pork whatever they want the rattle brothers bakery and i'll have more
the Rallo brothers
closer shots is at the corner of morris and 10th and then so if this approval if this request is
approved we'll basically have five properties on the block that are you know retail use and there'll
be two residential uh homes still in existence both of which support the project just another
view Morris Street Mountain Street 10th Street so now we're looking north again
just giving you more views of what the block looks like now we're looking south
residential across the street this is the Varallo brothers bakery as I said
They encompass three parcels, 1635, 37, and 39.
This is the inside of the existing establishment.
There's carving trays right here in the front of the building.
This is the entrance to the front door.
Just another perspective of the front part of the current establishment.
This is the rear where cooking takes place of the roast pork.
The meat is brought in by trucks, USDA approved, typically on a daily basis.
It's mainly roast pork.
That's what they're known for and have been known for throughout the years.
These are the two walk-in freezers where the product is stored.
Proof of the posting of the ZBA notices.
Uh, these are the revised plans will be submitted proviso form.
So, I'll walk through existing conditions right now, uh, starting from the left working to the right.
Uh, this is the existing first, excuse me, existing basement of the operating business right now as an office area, uh, a bathroom and a freezer.
1629 is a smaller basement, existing mechanical and basically an open area.
Existing on 1627, I showed you the photographs.
There's the front area where the countertops are, freezers, back area, and then the oven is in the far back.
Next door, as I said, is an apartment.
You can see all the dotted lines.
They all will be removed.
Everything on the first floor will be removed.
second floor it's really not pertinent because we're just going to keep one apartment in each
building proposed floor plans keeping 1627 the same 1629 there's going to be a meeting room
and then a freezer in the basement first floor is really where all the changes are going to take
place so as i said the door to 1629 will be closed up the apartment above 1629 will be entered
through the stairs on 1627. we'll have counter areas for customers to come in
some freezer boxes on the right hand side i should blow this up because it's not that visible
So a sandwich prep table here, sinks, stove, oven in the back.
There is no public bathroom.
These are the elevations.
Again, we'll work from left to right.
existing store with the two doors. This door on 1629 will be closed. We did have signage
originally on the application that's been removed. The only signage that will be in existence will
be what is existing right now, which I showed you at the outset. Double doors will be installed.
And then this is the rear of the property. Because we're putting an oven in the rear,
two-story part of the property. We have to run a stainless steel vent up above the roof line.
And there was discussion at the community group that this
venting looks rather close to the window on the third floor. I'll show you a side view. It's about
six feet away, but during the building process, I think we're going to have to bring this up to
roof and probably four feet in and then daylight it but whatever we are required for a building
permit that's what we're going to do this is the side view as i say this is six foot two the pipe
from the exhaust fan from the rear wall and this rail is really
since it's a side view it's really the showing the railing on 1627 it's
Since it's a side view, it's really showing the railing on 1627.
It's not on 1629.
Application for appeal.
My client doesn't have to pay the taxes until March 31st, but just thought it would be a good idea to pay it for this hearing and show the board that my client is on the ball.
So we did pay taxes for both $16.27 as well as $16.29.
There's the other receipt for $16.27.
Both have been paid.
Zoning map, this is the corner of Mountain and 10th.
CMX, one on the corner, RSA 5, one property in.
The deed indicating ownership of 1629 since 1995, and then 1627 since 1988, excuse me, 1986.
Notice letter sent to the community.
We sent out 193 pieces of mail.
There's our certificate of bulk mailing.
I just want to get to the zoning records.
So this is a zoning record.
I'll blow this up a little bit.
uh from 1988 indicating uh first floor food prep and takeout and second floor apartment
that's i believe that's 1988. uh and then this is what the property was back in the day in 1944
which really is irrelevant for our use it was a bakery and a two-family dwelling
And I just included the Varello Brothers zoning permit that they've been in place since at least 1995 for a bakery on three properties, the 1635, 37, and 39.
So this is a change of use.
It's really a continuation of use.
My client has great demand for his product.
Right now, he sells to restaurants, hotels, people who walk in off the street who want to buy pork, roast pork, roast beef, hams.
He has two to three employees right now.
If the expansion is approved, he'll have another two employees.
The employees that he has now either walk to the shop or they bike, and that's going to be consistent with what will happen.
If the expansion is approved, hours of operation are Tuesday through Friday, 9 to 5, Saturday, 9 to 4, Sunday, 9 to 2.
We don't believe this is altering the essential character of the neighborhood because of the seven properties on the east side of 10th Street.
If approved, there will be five properties that will be devoted to retail, Varallo Brothers, as well as Esposito Porchetta,
and the two adjacent neighbors are in support.
We're not impairing the use of light or air
on either side of the property.
We're not affecting the development of any properties
and we're in harmony with the desire of the community.
So with that, I'm going to ask my client to unmute himself
and adopt my testimony.
Henry, before he comes, there's no eating in the location.
Am I correct? Everything's out of there?
The way the application read was, not the application, my amended request was for no more than seating for three.
Three people?
Correct.
All right.
Bring your client on.
Mr. Esposito, were you on the call?
Jules, can you unmute yourself?
If you are in the virtual audience, please unmute yourself or raise your hand.
julio esposito will be promoted to the panelist
your client has declined the promotion to panelists he has declined
I just I did about them to speak oh good morning mr. esposito could you please sure could you
please state your name is spelled for the stenographer yes my name is Jules Esposito
Jules last name esposito do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing
but the truth i do counsel uh mr were you on the call when i presented your your project to continue
the use uh from 1627 to 1629 of your business yes i was uh if you had a chance to testify would you
yes i was uh if you had a chance to testify would you adopt my testimony as your own and as true
without my testimony.
and correct yes is there anything that you wanted to add that i missed no well you're right on the
ball ang all right all right thank you jules all right questions from the board yeah i have a
question so uh uh patrons will uh now only come into 1620 or will they be able to go into both
16 1629 rather and go to both 1627 and 1629 they'll be able to go into both mr johns okay
and so the the point of sale will be at both or how does that work because there's i don't
see a connection sort of up front between the buildings to you know to go into the
sort of patron areas it just seems you have the connection between two buildings um in the back
for the service and prep areas correct which makes sense so basically 1627 is going to maintain
the wholesale use uh and people who want to buy will be coming into people meaning neighbors
the general public will be coming in the 1629 but 1627 will not really be a place for customers to
come in and sit down or do anything like that okay thanks also the vent in the rear seems
problematic i think it will affect the air quality of the folks that are adjacent particularly the
one next door you've got a deck right there so if there's any way you could come in through the
building and go tight to the third floor and up to up be up above the roof uh would be good
because the way that it stands that uh exhaust vent is only about three feet above that second
floor roof so all the fumes would just blow right into the adjacent areas yeah i think i think you're
right on that. And there was discussion at the community group about that. And what Jules said
is he was going to take it up here, still six feet away, and then 45 to over above the roof.
I didn't mean to do that. But I think you're right. I think that's going to have to be addressed.
and i would i would hope that would be a building concern but i mean we'll put on the record that
we're going to get the end of that pipe away from uh either either those windows and as well as the
deck and then trash you said trash pickup is daily yes okay all right thank you all the questions
Okay, I'm still trying to figure out what we're doing in each building. So this,
the 1627, you're, when you say wholesale, what do you mean? You mean that
the meat is prepared and this is what you are delivering to other restaurants and things like
there is that right and i i guess i should expand on that because i don't think i was totally clear
to mr john so when i say wholesale it's also if you were having a picnic or a party you could go
in and you could you could buy you know 25 30 pounds of meat so it's not something that's going
to be as busy as 16 29. that's why i say it's more of a wholesale or a retail you can't go into 16 27
and you know buy a sandwich once we have 1629 going okay and then that's so 1629 is where
you're going to have the three seats and you're going to have basically takeout correct okay
all right and that would be of the meat so you're going to make the sandwiches and I guess you'll
have whatever it is that goes along with sandwiches is that right provolone and olives and you know
some condiments gotcha okay all right thank you i guess my general question is it seems like you
want to move the more retail location one house further into the block and what's driving the
decision to now have the retail store be the second storefront or the second facade in from
the block instead of keeping it on the corner and making the wholesale the one that is in the new
building given that there's more people that are going to come to the public one and it's on the
corner well the interior of 1627 is already set up for the wholesale
The interior of 1627 is already set up for the wholesale.
It has the large freezers for storing the meat that comes in that's pre-slaughter.
It has the carving tables.
So you would be talking about, you know, a whole new setup on 1629 and then putting what you wanted to do in 1629 and 1627.
So I guess the short answer is the client wanted to maintain the status quo at 1627 because everything's already in place.
And Henry, the fact of the matter is this is not like a typical sandwich shop that's open late at night.
Not at all, no.
In fact, it closes pretty early in the afternoon.
Correct.
All right.
Questions or comments from our attorney?
Just a quick question.
The dwelling unit that's remaining in 1629, is that on the second and the third floor?
I just didn't see plans for the third floor for what was proposed.
Yes, Ms. Emerson, right now there are two apartments there.
It's just going to be one apartment on the second and third floor.
Okay. All right. Thank you.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Yes, Chair. I have a hand up by the name of Tom Durango.
i'm going to allow them to speak sure
good morning sir hello thank you for taking my comments board could you please um state your
name and spell for the stenographer my full name is thomas de rego t-h-o-m-a-s-d-e-r-a-g-o
you swear affirm to tell the truth told truth nothing but the truth i do please proceed sir
I don't recall receiving any letter for public discussion of this change. Can't say I didn't see it. I saw a quick look at the addresses they sent the letter to. Wasn't sure if I was on there. 1618 South 10th Street, if you want to look, Henry or Mr. Clinton.
The first notice I got was the notice of refusal that was mailed to me by L&I, so that's why
I'm attending this meeting. I don't particularly oppose what's going on, although I feel that
regulations are not being followed currently, and I think it'll just be exacerbated once
the new shop is opened up uh in particular trash pickup while it may happen daily doesn't happen
between the hours that are supposed to happen generally happens about 4 30 to 5 30 in the
morning i know this because it wakes me up frequently i live across the street 1618 south
10th street uh you mentioned there's a loading zone well frequently the owner parks his truck
in the loading zone which means any customer that comes by is either hanging off a corner nearby
for pickup so the park the customers need to park illegally because the owner of the business
parks his truck in his loading zone as his personal parking spot so i feel that is a
misuse of a loading zone i also do not believe they have a grease trap currently and because
i've never seen a grease truck come and clean it out i do notice that they sweep the inside of
their establishment every night into the street and if you would look at the sewer grate next to
their shop it is caked in grease it's rather disgusting those are my complaints all right
and i think they're just going to be exacerbated with another shop and flatting what the regulations
should be thank you very much for taking the time to call us is there anyone else in the audience
i see no other hands at this point would you want to respond
uh quickly yeah only that i i just went to the list of addresses and uh
1618 south 10th is listed if you didn't get the letter uh i i know we sent it so i apologize for
that. Certainly no intent to overlook what you're doing. Mr. Esposito is on this call right now
and I think he'll take your words to heart as far as parking in that spot. I don't think he
should be doing that. If he is doing that, I'm going to direct him not to do that. And I know
I think he'll reach out to you directly to address any other concerns you have because
he's right across the street i got your last name again sir just so i have it
durego wasn't it durego got it d-e-r-a-g-o planning commission
to that yeah planning commission thank you chairman and good morning David Vecto with the
city planning commission chairman and board members the comprehensive plan recommends no
change to the RSA 5 residential single family zoning at this location the city rezoned this
neighborhood in 1998 and a council supported math change the proposal to expand the existing
catering from 1627 South 10th to 1629 South 10th will have minimal impact on surrounding properties.
The City Planning Commission recommends the board grant requested variances for
multiple principal uses and a commissary kitchen. So Hilary, this is closed, right? And this is
closed until we have an amended refusal? Yes, it's closed except for the amended refusal.
And then we'll have, you know, listed when it needs to be listed. Well, yes, we'll just
pull it up for a vote on the add-on list once we have the amended refusal all right thank you mr
clinton you just said right once we get the amended refusal we'll vote got it thank you very much thank
you very much is there anyone in the uh 9 30 a.m list case has not been called i see no hands at
this time too okay everyone we uh we have a very uh early break thank you i appreciate it
the first all right
good afternoon everyone my name is bill bergman and i will be chairing this meeting of the
philadelphia zoning board of adjustment with me is our board of vice chair tenetta graham
present mr chairman our board secretary cheryl al gaston present mr chairman our board member
michael johns he's there he's there our board member uh ty owen and she should be on very
shortly and our board member ryan mcadams president mr chairman also here present our
our attorney uh hillary emerson our zoning board director ian haggerty and our board administrator
lakeisha dandy recording of this hearing will be posted on the zba website by participating you
consent to be recorded this is an in-person meeting with remote capabilities whether remote
or in person if you're called to speak you must state and spell your name then wait to be sworn
in once you've been sworn in please state your name each time before beginning your testimony
any person may enter their appearance to become an interested party you can identify the case
property address in your zoom webinar you can see a staff member or you can call the zba appearance
line by the close of business tomorrow call 267-270-5548 leave a message that includes your
email address and the address of the property of the appeal case the following guidance is
for our remote attendees when directed you must raise your virtual hand in order to be recognized
if you are called to testify you will be prompted to join as a panelist please accept the request
and turn on your camera. Third, the webinar Q&A is for questions about the hearing. Do not comment
on the cases in the Q&A. And finally, if you are participating by phone, press star nine to raise
your hand and star six to unmute. For our in-person attendees, please refrain from talking, eating,
or drinking during hearings. Verbal and physical aggression will not be tolerated. Restrooms are
across from the elevators. A water fountain is just outside the room to the right. When speaking
on the record, you must speak directly into the microphone in order to be heard by all attendees
and a court reporter. In the event of an emergency, please follow the directions given over the public
address system or by the staff. The main exit is through the double doors at the rear of the room.
The nearest stairwell is to the left outside the doors. In case of an evacuation, the rally point
is love park directly across art street please remain there so we can account for you so let's
look at our schedule for this afternoon number one mi 2025 002 750 1122 frankfort avenue
that case has been continued attorney moving party
um here number three mi2025 002849 2619 north 29th street verna anastasio is the attorney
i see a request for a continuance mr anastasio
hi chair i'm karima cantana i'll be your co-host for today
And I'm going to promote Byrne to stand.
And I'm going to promote Byrne to stand.
Thank you.
on the list is there someone from his office can you please raise your hand someone from burns off
did we hear from him today he is okay but he continued
yes um he did indicate via email um with the rco and we were copying on it um that he was okay he
was not opposed to a continuing continuance as long as the case could be rescheduled on the sooner
side um which i believe our continuing state is in 4 15 i think okay perfect thank you so mi
2025 002 849 2619 north 29th street at cases continued until 4 15 26 at 2 p.m number
number six um mi 2025 003 209 3427 north 6th street um
this case is continued attorney moving party um until no date okay and is this a must be heard
mr chair and mark must be heard thank you now do we stand with number 10 i don't see joe here
um we we received the required document so we'll go on with that okay right yep we're good that
thank you and then number seven mi 20 25 003 591 40 23 west gerard avenue um we have no exhibits
it's this is the second listing one Gerard one Gerard property LLC is the listed owner
USA remodeling construction
okay this this case will be continued and it'll be marked must heard so MI 2025 003 591 4023 West
road avenue cases continued mark must be heard 4 15 26 at 2 p.m
that's good any other requests for continuance
no hands at this time chair thank you we're going to go to our add-on mi 2025
five zero zero five zero four nine four leverington avenue i vote yes to reconsideration and rehearing
michael mike oh oh i think my mic is going can you hear me now my vote is yes okay yes to
reconsideration and rehearing thank you cheryl gaston my vote is yes to reconsideration and
re-hearing. Ternetta Graham, my vote is yes to reconsideration and re-hearing. Ryan McAdams,
my vote is yes to reconsideration and re-hearing. We're going to go to our first case will be
number 11, MI 2025-007-367-765 South 43rd Street. Could you please state your name and spell for
stenographer yes my name is roses laughlin r-o-s-e-s l-a-u-g-h-l-i-n do you swear or affirm
to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do could you identify your client
a relationship to the property yes the my client is the philadelphia water department who is the
um owner through the city of philadelphia and we have a letter of non-opposition from spruce hill
And also a letter of support from Council Gauthier. Council Gauthier has said this is a very necessary piece of infrastructure and the site in question is too physically constrained to provide the parking required in addition to the substation.
Our voice chair has a few questions for you.
Good afternoon. Have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, they were submitted last Friday, February 6.
Okay, and do you waive the reading of the issues or stipulate to its accuracy?
see um yes okay all right thank you you can see your screen and proceed with the case
um before i share the exhibits i'd like to make an opening statement
um good afternoon mr chairman and good afternoon
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, and good afternoon to the board.
The Philadelphia Water Department is proposing to replace the existing water pump station located at 765 South 43rd Street with a new pump station facility at the same location.
This project will increase the capacity of the pump station from 8 million gallons per day to 108 million gallons per day.
PWD has designated this pumping station for replacement because it is nearing the end of
its useful life and has faced flooding and operational challenges. Replacing the station
with increased wet weather capacity will significantly reduce combined sewer overflow
discharge into the Schuylkill River, improving water quality and environmental health for the
city of philadelphia replacement of the pump station and the resulting water quality improvements
are also part of philadelphia's federally mandated long-term control plan
in order to proceed this project needs a variance to allow off-site parking code section 14802
section 9 excludes I2 industrial zone districts from having off-site accessory parking the new
water pump station includes a plan to utilize three off-site accessory parking spaces two of
these parking spaces are along the curb line on one side of the street a third parking area is
along both sides of the curb line which may require 42nd street to be closed during monthly
preventative maintenance on the CSO chamber and tide gates additionally PWD will first utilize the
driveway of the facility for purposes of parking this driveway has capacity for 1.5 vehicles or
approximately one van the existence of the new pump station will not increase the need for parking
from its current use and PWD will continue to utilize the same parking areas as it currently
does for maintenance of the facility. Preventative maintenance is performed one to two times a month
by three different crews one mechanical one electrical and one electronic. Each crew uses
one vehicle so if all crews were performing maintenance at the same time three or maybe
BEFORE VEHICLES WOULD BE PRESENT. ADDITIONALLY, A ONE VEHICLE CREW VISITS ONE OR TWO TIMES PER WEEK IN ORDER TO REMOVE DEBRIS FROM THE DEBRIS SCREENS.
um and now with the board's permission I'm sure why don't you show your presentation
we have all your paperwork so you can go through that pretty quickly
this is the initial zoning application right this is the notice of refusal
um the application for zoning variance yep
the project confirmation form
um but I think would be worthwhile if you have photos or drawings I think that would be the
thing to show uh this is the deed yep and then the certification of tax clearance here is the
um pump station architectural site plans um starting from here then
so maybe what maybe what you might want to do is show where the pump station is and tell us where
that is relative to okay the the map year ago that might be easier go ahead yes this is the
just the notices of zoning appeal and here is the current pump station right photos um so this is
there's an elbow of 42nd street which goes around um where this pump station is located okay
and then this is from the
and then this is from the presentation that was provided to the RCO um here is the existing site
and you have a rendering what it's going to look like when it's done yes so why don't we see that
oh it's the rendering looking if you have a rendering
very nice um and here's a more aerial shot right um okay all right um
and council persons ford and also spruce hill community association right so questions from
the board yeah i just want you to uh just highlight where the parking is relevant on one of the
drawings that you have or flight plan so um this is the what i'm sharing now the red highlighted
areas are the identified parking areas can you zoom in that parking would be a couple times a
month is that what we're saying yes so there are three crews that each visit one to two times per
month okay so all right why zoom in a little bit did you say the did you say the areas that are in
red are the parking areas yeah the or just or just or just the area one or is the area all three
areas are the parking areas yes so area one is highlighting the curb line there for um the
maintenance at the pump station and then area two is highlighting the parking for maintenance to the
junction chamber which is adjacent um and then area three is the um part the parking that i
referenced for the cso maintenance and why don't you say again that if all the three places were
together how many cars would that be all three crews i believe so all three crews were there
at the same time uh three or maybe four vehicles okay all right thank you all right questions from
board yeah yeah yeah i i don't see there's any issue really with this site in terms of parking
um i'm very familiar with this on part of st joe's campus and it's at the end of the hill
and it's right near the train and there's sort of nothing really around there um so i don't think
there's any issue with parking in st joe's as a huge if they still have the campus has a huge
parking lot right behind that so um definitely don't see that as an issue my question is um um
are you doing anything with the existing landscaping that's around the the parcel
are you adding to it or you are you um so i have the trees some there are some existing trees and
whatnot that are there um i have a witness that would be better qualified to answer that question
oh why don't we who is it uh it's uh brian sparks brian
mr sparks yes i'm here hello okay hi could you please state your name and
and spell for the stenographer yeah my name is uh brian sparks that's b-r-i-a-n-s-p-a-r-k-s
right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do mr sparks did you hear the issue about the landscaping yes i did yes could you uh respond
to that yeah so um rosa like in the um powerpoint we had some uh landscaping plans i believe if you
want to go back to the PowerPoint presentation. And then I forget what slide it is. Maybe we
can just flip through this, though. Oh, yep. You just had it on the last one. Yep, there
we go. So that's what the final landscaping conditions will look like at the site. So
we're going to plant some larger trees along the driveway that abuts this former St. Joe's
campus. And then we're just going to do native ground cover around the new junction chamber
that we're constructing any other questions thank you yeah i have a question because looking at
aerial maps it looks like there's other cars already parked um on the private side of 43rd
um on the private side of 43rd street is that street closed to regular vehicular traffic
street is that street closed to
or can regular cars still go back there park and turn around um when st joe's was still the owner
of the site they had their recycling operation back on 43rd street so they had some dumpsters
in that area that they also accessed um now that they sold it to the new owner i'm not sure if
going to need access to that um but there shouldn't really be any um public uh need for
for accessing that area um i guess i should also mention too that septa requires access to their
um right away for their um track area so they also have a an easement to to enter that section
of 43rd and 42nd street okay but south 42nd street is if there's not like public parking
spaces back there any cars that i see are just they might even be water department vehicles i've
guessed if i'm looking at overhead views and google maps yeah that might be accurate i can't speak
whether or not people do park back there i guess when we leave the gate open anybody can you know
do that but but typically the gate the idea is that the gate would be closed and that the shared
access with any other agency would be coordinated through water department employees that's right
yeah okay other questions questions from our attorney hillary emerson not at this time mr
chair questions or comments from the virtual audience or the present audience um i have a few
questions for my witness um brian could you confirm that you heard my testimony and saw the exhibits
yes i can confirm that and can you verify that everything i represented is true and correct
i do yes and will you adopt my testimony i will yes thank you um virtual audience
no hands at this time sir thank you planning commission amy boy with the planning commission
a y b o id do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do
please proceed the comprehensive plan recommends no change in zoning to the existing i2 medium
industrial the appellant has demonstrated that there is sufficient parking to support this use
including three angled parking spaces and one van space adjacent to the property the planning
commission recommends that the board grant the requested variance for parking thank you mi2025
0 0 7 3 6 7 7 65 south 43rd street i vote yes michael johns my vote is yes yes then my vote
is yes to that a graham my vote is yes my mcadams my vote is yes i win my vote is yes thank you
Thank you.
All right.
Number five, MI 2025-003-200-2005-07 East Sargent Street.
Alan Nockamson is the attorney.
Mr. Nockamson, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Yes, Alan Nockamson, A-L-A-N, last name's Nockamson, N-O-C-H-U-M-S-O-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Mr. Nockamson, can you identify your client in relationship to the property?
Yes, the left of me is John Santiago, the owner of the property.
And there's a letter of non-opposition from East Kensington neighbors.
No, opposition.
opposition opposition yeah opposition and a letter of opposition from council member squilla oh my
goodness yes um our vice chair has a few questions good afternoon have you submitted your documents
and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing yes we have and do you waive the reading of the
refusals and stipulate to the accuracy we do okay thank you you can see what you can thank you
Hi. So I'm here to present 2005-07 East Sargent Street. This is the front of the property.
The zoning classification is RSA 5. As you can see, this looks nothing like a single
family residence. And this property has a long history of non-residential use, 1968.
There's a permit in the file for storage of glass and a 1981 assembly of aluminum products.
So during my presentation, we'll go through 10 exhibits, which will explain this case.
uh which will explain this case uh first exhibit is the actual notice or refusal as i indicated
First exhibit.
this is an rsa5 property but i think only in in name um in classification um what we're trying
to do here is have personal vehicle repair and maintenance and equipment and material storage
yard and uh building materials um i i think the issue here is there's really no great way to
explain what Mr. Santiago does here. All he does is fix cars that he like, you know, wants to work
on. He's retired now, so he's doing less and less of it. But he takes cars, like he used to work at
a junkyard, and he takes cars that, you know, he wanted to fix up and, you know, once in a while
sell them. He's never used it as an auto, this place is an auto mechanic place. Although, you
know, I asked Mr. Santiago, because, you know, during a community meeting, there seemed to be
some neighbors on that block that used Mr. Santiago's services, but he never charged
for it. It was just being neighborly. There was a young couple who moved on the block
who was frustrated with the fact that there was this place here. I mean, ultimately, that's
what happened. And there was a violation that came across L&I's desk, or there's a violation
now of record. Mr. Santiago's owned this property since 2013. He knew no better that he needed
to get a special permit like you know again to the outside world this looks like this would be here
um as for this particular use so we did meet with the east kenton neighbors association
um and um it was a close vote i think it was uh nine to five against um but it really depends on
you know that given day with previous council who i don't think kind of explained the situation well
there was another zoning permit application and another appeal. And when that happened,
there was actually support of nine to one. So maybe they knew better than me. They actually
got nine support and one against, well, you know, but we'll see what happens here today.
But I think it's just a really hard situation because he's not an auto mechanic. He doesn't
want to be an auto mechanic. And I think that's what the neighborhood struggled with. They said,
well you know we know you john we trust you you've been here on this block for now 13 years but the
the zone a runs with the land so one of the things that we would you know be willing to do if the
board feels so inclined to grant the variance is to do a temporary variance we would ask for five
years but we defer to the board of how much that would be another issue was the hours of operation
You know, there was no defined hours of operation here. So, you know, we would agree to CERN limited hours of operation. And here, you know, John would do nine to seven, what's called Monday through Saturday. Again, he's not open to the public, but this is when he would actually do the work.
And the third proviso would be obviously all vehicles stored inside, but there's plenty of room. I think it easily can fit 10 cars in here.
So if you look at the photographs, this is the front of the property. This is the orange notice posting.
And this is the property. I mean, I don't think there's any dispute that this property has been here forever, but this is far back as Google Earth goes since 2008.
And then this is East Sargent Street to the right of the property, to the left of the
property.
And then these are the interior photos.
So you can see it's like, you know, just him and his friends working on stuff.
He's not selling to the outside public, but this is how it's been forever.
and then again kind of just seeing it we got an architect i mean to do kind of a floor plan to
kind of see that i mean i guess you can fit four cars in here like the way that it's put out there
but we haven't made any changes to the building structure um so um you know anyway we met with
the community on October 8th at 7 p.m., 204 addresses were notified at the community meeting.
List of those addresses, proof of mailing to those addresses, our application for appeal that
we filed on John's behalf, and then the deed to the property showing it that he owns the property,
and then finally our tax clearance certificate. I would just ask that, John, if you can hit the
button there, right there, it'll turn on the mic. John, pull close to if you would. No,
no you don't have to get just pull it towards you yeah and then hit the green so the green lights on
uh there you go perfect all right could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
john santiago could you spell it
j-o-h-n-s-a-n-t-i-a-g-o thank you
a n t i a g o thank you do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the
truth yes counsel yes john you heard everything i had to state today about your zoning matter
yes is it true and correct yes and do you adopt this your own testimony
yes okay thank you questions from the board yeah could you just tell me what's going on in the
rear of the property sorry mike what's happening in the rear of the property let me see let me
share my screen again i don't think we have an aerial view um is there any work is there any
area in the rear of the property you're doing any work or everything is interior
it's okay you don't have to be yeah i think it's a little nervous yeah i have to be nervous yeah
yeah so everything's interior yeah okay so it's just a rear yard just but nothing
then no cars or anything like that stored in okay thank you all the questions yes okay yeah
yep go ahead i can't get it i'm sorry michael they're jumping they did they don't go ahead
confused about what we're really doing here so you say he's not
charging or what is this this is just where he he basically worked at a junkyard for many many
years you're retired john right yes and all he did was take cars that he was interested in fixing up
and that's what he did in there so he doesn't charge third parties to like come in there and
fix their their cars he takes cars that are like dilapidated or needs like some tlc hobby it's his
hobby and that's what he likes to do of course of course the old course okay 79 the old course
there you go okay so okay again I guess I'm a little confused about why we need
zoning if he's just working on his own because we have a violation notice and I think that's
what the violation notice was for what let me I'll take a look hold on let me pull it up
here and i think that's the issue it's like if you just had a garage right if you know again i don't
live in the suburbs but if you live in the suburbs and you're handy which i'm not but like you know
you would lift the hood and you would fix it up and you'd have a fun time with like maybe a classic
car he does in the city there you know they thought of this as more of a commercial use which is not
but like we're here in in response to a violation notice but let me go get the we were here we were
here before a year ago right that's right with different council so and i and i think it's just
a really tough case um but that's why we also added previously we're here and we're past the
year period for for just personal vehicle repair and maintenance and equipment we added the the
the additional condition of material storage yard and buildings we find that that's more appropriate
because he's storing cars there fixing them for his own purposes but we kept the personal vehicle
and repair and maintenance because it kind of fits in there but it doesn't because
he is fixing cars up but not to the general for the general public if that makes sense
so he's fixing them up for what and then what does he do with them when they are fixed up
i'll take it to the car show a way to a car show car show ah okay like the one they just said yeah
yeah okay all right and they're that kind of classic card that they're yeah okay and as so
okay all right i again i'm still having a little problem with understanding the why is here yeah
yeah so i can share my screen if i can again this is the this is the violation notice in order to
correct uh dated april 9th of 2025. let's see and then one of the things is
right here
i mean i think there may be let me see what other violations are i haven't looked at this
in some time you have to obtain a co as well for that use uh you know they had the thing about you
have to obtain a vehicle repair license once you obtain the co and then uh something about
fire extinguishers which i you know obviously it's not zoning related we can deal with
um and that's basically it so three of the four violations have to do with the fact that they
And that's basically it. So, three of the four violations have to do with the fact that they believe this is an auto repair shop. So, we're just trying to get that use. You know, again, it's not a perfect situation. Oh, well, let's see. Hold on a second. Let me saw something.
believe this
Can you move it back?
Oh, yeah. Which way you want me to go?
Can you?
Go back up this way.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hold on.
This was the first one. I can make it bigger, too.
Thank you.
What does it mean by return for subject premises to its approved usage?
What was the approved usage?
Well, the last approved usage was in 1981. It was the assembly of aluminum products.
And before that, in 1968, it was the storage of glass.
Those are the two things of public record, which is on the notice of refusal.
so okay I have a question about what's happening on the second level
what's happening on the second level John anything anything
Michael can we finally get to you oh well by the way I was informed that the fire extinguisher
violation was complied with okay so okay michael so so so yeah so i just wanted to
go back to the um rco's opposition to the um project or site um what so the only issues that
you could sort of discern were was the fact that they know him and if this use is sort of
in perpetuity it runs with the land then some he leaves moves whatever somebody else can move
right in and just start you know a car repair shop and now cars are parked on the street and
they've got all those issues that was that what you understood that's what i understood they also
didn't understand because they're like well you don't really fall into any of these definitions
and i think we don't but like you know so i think that was the hard thing for them to
under you know to kind of rack their brains with too because we're not a commercial use here um
right but we have a so they so they don't have our cars out on this our cars being parked on the
pavement that he's working on our cars being parked in the name you know i mean are all the
cars being kept within that uh repair or that garage when not being worked on yes inside the
garage yes okay okay maybe i missed it but i never actually heard what the what's going on on the
second floor nothing there's is there anything do you have because there's a balcony on the
second floor yes a storage storage storage yes storage storage okay and we can we can even say
like just to state that this that the second floor will be for use of storage only of materials
that could be another proviso i mean it's not big enough space to do anything i think part of the
issue here is that this is a commercial building and it's a commercial garage and he even though
he was doing personal activities he was doing it on six cars which to any lay person would look like
a commercial business so like i think the violations while i understand in this unique case
were confusing makes sense like from a from a building and use standpoint i mean the neighbors
are not wrong he's just not charging money for it it's still commercial volume and use of the
building that's right and admittedly his english is not great so i can't say what he conveyed to
the inspector at the time so like you know that's probably it's also still a car repair shop like
he's repairing cars that's exactly whether like i think the i think uh fixating on the exchange of
funds for our goods for services is like i get why i get where the neighbors were coming from
i'm glad except this like say you're in the suburbs and you like say you're jay leno right
Jay Leno's garage is on his public property, attached to his house.
Yeah, but it's attached to his house on his private property.
That's the difference.
Well, that's the difference.
If we had a living arrangement on the second floor, which we don't, but if we had a living arrangement, would that change the equation then?
I don't think so.
It would still look like a commercial property in the city context that it is in, with a dwelling unit above a commercial property.
It's a commercial building.
I buy a Walgreens and I start mixing up potions in the Walgreens. It doesn't make it not a commercial building. It's because I'm doing it for fun. It's a commercial building. So.
I buy a Walgreens and I start mixing up potions in the Walgreens.
all right any other questions well i guess there was some suggestion that maybe the neighbors would
be okay with a proviso that they approve uses equipment and material storage yards and buildings
only but that wouldn't help here because i'm going to make that temper you're still but even
even with that part of the what's going on here is this fixing up of these cars so that i don't
think that fits under that i don't i mean you know what i mean yeah were they opposed to a temporary
two year three year kind of thing i yeah you understand that i'm just saying
there's an offering there was an offering at the community meeting okay there was and but
with that offering like you know admittedly they more people voted against it than for it but i
think i it was an interesting meeting even the one of the neighbors who john did work for for free
was like you know concerned and i don't know how they voted but they definitely had strong questions
and I think it's a difficult situation because I see it runs with the land and that's why I
recommended a temporary variance and what I heard was three years obviously we would want five
because it's an expensive process but if if we could just even do three years um I think that
would be helpful to get rid of that violation have them continue doing the work I don't know
how enforceable it is but we would only want it for our own personal use we're not selling to the
general public our services but you just said that he did some work for neighbors so he never
he never took compensation i asked that that doesn't change the fact that i know do auto repair
correct i get it whether you pay him for it or not if he's just doing his own little hobby of
fixing up cars and what have you but then that's one thing but if he's also along with that even if
he's just a nice guy and he's trying to help out his neighbors, he's still doing auto repair,
then you still need to have some kind of permission for that. And I can understand
better where the violation notice comes in just by what's being said here. So it's, it's.
I hear you and I don't think his intention was to solicit the general public.
and this isn't soliciting this is just even if he's just being a good neighbor you know and
he's just a nice guy yeah it still means that he needs to have some kind of permission for
doing that yeah and so i i understand the violation better now okay and i don't have
a problem with him doing his own private you know um repair or refurbishing I would guess
I might call it of you know cars that are classic and what have you I I like cars though you know
I don't have any problem with that but if you're going to be repairing cars whether you're getting
paid for it or not you're going to have to have some kind of variance so that you can do that
Okay. And along with that, there comes the question of what kind of repair work are we talking about? Are we changing oil? Are we changing tires? What are we doing here? And if we're doing those kinds of things, then we're going to have to have hazardous waste disposal issues.
We got, you know, what happens to the tires, you know, what, how many cars are we doing this to? It gets into a number of different issues, which, you know, again, are part of why there was a violation notice and some of the violations that are going to have to be addressed.
What do you do with the tires? Do you ever change your tires?
no just just the parts the body parts that's it so you don't do oil change i don't do all your
chain other stuff no tires i don't got nada stuff in the garage it's body parts
okay uh hillary comments
is there something in particular i think a lot of my questions are answered is there something
in particular no that you wanted okay comments from the virtual audience to this audience
chair there are no hands at this planning commission
amy boy with the planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the rsa
amy boy with the planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change to
the rsa 5 residential single family zoning at this location the proposed use was previously
designed by zba under zp 2022-006-373 in january 2025. at the time the planning commission stated
that the proposed vehicle repair and maintenance is not compatible with the primarily residential
block face we also noted for the board that personal vehicle repair and maintenance in the
code does not only limit the use of the property to repairing the appeal of the appellants vehicles
we maintain this position the proposed storage and the non-conforming structure would have
limited impact on joining properties the planning commission recommends that the board deny the
proposed use variance for personal vehicle repair and maintenance and grant the requested variances
for equipment storage okay so mi2025 003200 2005 207 east sergeant street recommend a temporary
variance for approved use is equipment materials storage yard and buildings only to expire 2 12 29
The hours of our call operation are 9A to 7P, Monday to Saturday.
All vehicles to be stored inside and a CO to be uptake.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes with proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with proviso.
Senator Graham, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ryan Wynn, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Let's see here.
Number nine, MI2025-006-260, 2200 North A Street.
Adam Laver is the attorney.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
Hi, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Yes, Mr. Chairman.
Adam Laver, L-A-V as in Victor, E-R, Lankrome, L-L-P.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, Mr. Chairman, I do.
Laver, could you identify your client in a relationship to this property?
Lankrome represents 2200 N8 LLC, owner of the subject property at 2200 North 8th Street.
There's a letter of support from the 37th Ward RCO. Support from the RCO is due to an executed CBA, I'm sorry, and a letter of non-opposition from Council Member Young. Our Vice Chair has a few questions.
Good afternoon. Have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing?
Good afternoon, Madam Vice Chairman. Yes, we have.
Okay. And do you waive the reading of the refusals and stipulate to the accuracy?
Yes, we do.
okay thank you you can show your screen you proceed with the case before proceeding as a
courtesy to the coordinating rco i understand that miss l who is probably known to this board
had a emergency she had to deal with today and her colleague denise anderson is only available
for a few minutes would it be possible for for ms anderson to raise her virtual hand and speak
before thank you denise anderson if you're available to raise your virtual hand
there she is chair this is jason hand i will be the co-host for the session thank you jason they
have been promoted to panelists they should be back in shortly
she's available okay hi good afternoon good afternoon could you please state your name and
spell for the stenographer denise anderson d-e-n-i-s-e-a-n-d-e-r-s-o-n right do you
swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes council
ms anderson i thank you for being here i understand that you have some family commitments
and wanted to address the board directly is that correct yes please proceed okay thank you for
allowing me to go earlier um i am the rco coordinator for the 37th ward rco um we've
been the coordinating RCO for this project since November of 2023 and we've held at least four
public meetings about this property. The project is on a very large block in our community and at
first we didn't like the project because it was planned for 500 units in a five or six story
solid block apartment building that covered the entire block with a parking garage on the first
floor. We told the development team that 500 units was too many and they listened. So the design that
So the design that they'll present today takes into account community feedback and the overall density of the project is much lower at 232 units.
they'll present today takes into account community feedback and the overall density
From their design, we appreciate the number of parking spots and that the parking lot is hidden on the interior of the development with minimal curb cuts.
And we appreciate that this property that is currently vacant and underutilized will be put to use again.
Specifically related to the zoning issues for the property, we support the construction
of residential units here rather than industrial use.
At this moment in this community, a large industrial facility here would not really
make sense.
We did enter into a community benefits agreement with the development team in April of last
The primary elements of that agreement are reduced size of the development, which I mentioned
earlier giving advanced availability of rental units to current neighbors keeping 25 of the
units affordable at 60 ami for 10 years the developer will accept pha housing choice vouchers
and they'll provide a preference for qualified contractors and workers from the surrounding
three zip codes for construction and then they'll also provide the contact information for the
construction supervisor during the period of construction so because the development team
has listened to and incorporated community feedback into the design and agreed to community
benefits related to the project the 37th ward rco supports their request for a variance from the zba
thank you very much ms anderson uh mr chairman and members of the board although it was
unconventional to begin this way it was important uh for the community's voice to be heard here uh
This case is one of the best examples of, as I had described it as the CDR at the CDR level being arm in arm, and we're grateful to Ms. Anderson and Ms. L and many others in the community who had terrific ideas to make this project better along the way.
um ms anderson if you have to leave we understand uh i'd like to uh state on the record that with
us on behalf of the development team is isaac singleton along with joseph gitterman both are
participating virtually as is uh architect rustin oller of harman deutsch oller architecture
and allow me to screen share you've already gotten a review from Ms. Anderson
this is the this is the property as it exists today
trying to do full there we go okay so here you can see an aerial image of of the property and
And what's before you is the proposed repurposing of an entire city block.
This has been the site of the Edward J. Darby and Son Incorporated Pennsylvania Wireworks,
a bit of Philadelphia history.
It's an approximately 120,000 square foot functionally obsolete wire mesh and wire products
warehouse.
uh it dates back to 1854 nearly 175 years ago however members of the board due to advances in
manufacturing and production uh technology the warehouse property itself is no longer efficient
it's unable to compete in the current industrial market space for me as a lifelong philadelphian
i looked at this property and i thought of other uh philadelphia landmarks landmarks like tasty
cake which had been at the same site for so long beloved supported by the neighborhood supporting
jobs but a time came when it really was as i said functionally obsolete as is this and so in this
case the owners of this long venerable business made the determination uh about three years ago
that they could not continue the business here and they would have to find another location
and so it was at that time that my clients became the owners of the space and of the property here
you can see a teaser of how we hope to reimagine the site once again with that terrific input of
so many nearby stakeholders that have made this a better project than it was three years ago
have but back to where we are once the wire mesh supplier made the determination that the old
warehouse could no longer be used the property was sold in 2023 leading to our appearance before
the board leading to all of the discussions to date here you can see some photographs to give
you some site context not from an aerial view but from around the property it's nearly three acres
It's bounded by 8th and 9th Streets, as well as Susquehanna Avenue and Dock.
it's bounded by eighth and ninth streets as well as susquehanna avenue and dauphin street
it is surrounded as denise stated by a largely residential neighborhood today
it's important to give a sense more closely before we go into the plans of what you see
as i have seen when i've been out to the property several times here you can see
9th street elevation so on the left is the warehouse and on the right is a vacant property
at the moment here is the property the subject property on the right and you can see that vacant
property but you can also see signs of residential housing on 9th street moving to dauphin street
Street there's the entrance to the office for the Darby office itself and a bit of streetscape on the
left is the Darby property and here on the right is the Darby property as well and I'd like to show
you 8th Street subject property on the right with the postings and the feel of the residential
neighborhood on the left a similar photograph
the subject property on the left
and now we're moving to susquehanna avenue so you can see eighth and susquehanna and the
surrounding neighborhood this is immediately across the street from the subject property
across the street from the subject property as well and now a transit map naturally transit
oriented in addition to bus routes of course the site is a 10-minute walk to the nearest
septa regional rail stations as shown in this exhibit here uh is just to place the site in
context i know that there are members of the board who are keenly familiar with this community
but just showing this for the record and the zoning map the city block in question
is zoned i2 medium industrial and you can see members of the board that we are surrounded by
rm1 and cmx2 primarily more reflective of the evolving surrounding solid residential neighborhood
a minute of relevant background in august of 2023 this team filed the initial zoning application
for this site it called for the demolition of the obsolete warehouse and for the new construction
of multi-family housing comprising at that time 501 residential units 164 parking spaces and five
commercial spaces we engage closely and collaboratively with the 37th ward rco and
with other voices in the neighborhood and the 37th ward has truly become a valued partner
in this important project uh important re-envisioning of the site we are grateful to all
involved for the time spent in many many meetings over the course of the last three years
at the direction of this zoning board and um with the council of ms emerson due to the significant
changes that came about in consultation with the neighbors we were directed to file a new
zoning application to set aside the old one that you've heard about and put forth a new
zoning application that reflected clearly the collaborative updates so in july of 2025
we filed a new application notedly that application did not create any new refusals
and it lessened the extent of variance relief sought it reduced the number of dwelling units
it eliminated the commercial areas something that came up in discussion with the neighborhood voices
about being there to support those commercial uses that are there already and not add more
competition but provide for stable naturally affordable housing in the neighborhood we
decrease the overall building footprint as you can as you'll see we decrease the overall gross
floor area we decrease the height of the subject properties and the proposal called to transform
the entire site into what we hope is before you on the screen right now
the proposal calls to construct 68 new buildings comprising a mix of triplexes
and quadplexes with interior courtyard accessory parking
with interior courtyard accessory parking 232 residential dwelling units 92 accessory off-street
surface parking spaces 77 class 1 bicycle parking spaces the proposed structures that are in the
style of philadelphia brick row houses that many of us hold dear are proposed at 38 feet high to
the roof with setbacks that would not be seen from the pedestrian experience for roof access
structures another 10 feet beyond that the design along each street shows the row house the brick
and 44 new street trees if you think back to the photographs that i shared a moment ago
the entire project has been designed for the community it's designed to meet current housing
affordability guidelines based on 60 ami there are no benefits being received for this project
no incentives etc the coordinating rco has put their support on the record for which we're grateful
uh as uh in addition uh council member jeffrey young has been uh monitoring the process and conlon
crossley uh from his office has been helpful all along the way that office lends its non-opposition
the civic design review committee completed its review of the project in one meeting
noting quote an appreciation for the collaboration with the community end quote
moving to the refusal uh based on that second application the only application that's before
you today there are three refusals before the board number one the zoning district does not
permit household living on this site that is zoned i2 industrial 105 accessory parking spaces are
required whereas 92 are proposed and three ada parking spaces are required whereas two are
proposed let's begin if i may with the household living mr chairman and members of the board
household living at this site i hope we've shown and the testimony has shown is in line with the
surrounding area and we all recognize the importance of industrial uh but uh having
just come from mayor parker's address to the business community a few minutes ago we're
looking for philadelphia to be at the forefront to provide the best opportunities for industry
and that's not the outmoded so it's it's making sure that we are using the uh resources that we
have highest and best use and this three acre site will fill a demand for naturally affordable
housing to serve the existing community regarding parking very interesting and we hear it all the
time there are always differing opinions on parking civic design review committee comments
actually question whether the amount of parking requested by the community is actually needed
I would posit that the slight reduction to the code requirement allows for a greater green space that I showed you in the conceptual renderings, while meeting a parking need that has been identified by those who know the neighborhood best the longtime residents.
as the coordinating rco pointed out to us in uh discussions that we had fodder all square
and the eighth and diamond streets playgrounds are both green spaces uh both open to the public
open to all within walking distance of this project and in fact several of our meetings
did take place at the playground at eighth and diamond on the last uh refusal although the plan
is short one ada space the ownership is committed to meeting all requests for reasonable accommodations
a term of art under the law at the proposed development and the layout that is proposed
is to balance the community's request for parking also to be able to as you'll see in a moment have
one curb cut in and one out rather than multiple ones to preserve the pedestrian experience and so
the space is tight to take as many cars off of the street keep them out of the public view and
and make this, make all the objectives work.
Moving to the overall proposal, and I'll show you in some greater detail what's in front of you.
and i'll i'll show you in some greater detail what's in front of you so 232 residential dwellings are proposed for the site as i mentioned 38 feet in height to the roof lines with setback roof access structures 10 feet high
92 i'm going to turn to this colored rendering which i prefer and it is the same thing 92 accessory off street uh
parking spaces within the interior where my cursor is and i'd like to note that you can see
off of 8th street where the number 12 is that's the one curb cut in and the one curb cut out
is on to 9th street where the number 12 shows again to indicate the drive aisle those are the
only curb cuts whereas if you go to the site as i have there are multiple curb cuts for what had
once been a very active industrial site in it some other things to point out on the plan
there's pedestrian access into the courtyard here at number 11 to the left and in other locations
So that there's movement in and out through a state style fencing, meaning you can see in and out, and it is inviting to the community while being safe and secure within the courtyard are the 2 a.
spaces to electric vehicle spaces and there is room for 77 type one a bicycle parking spaces
along the four areas that i'm trying to show with the cursor let's say middle top right middle top
left lower left and lower right we can go in on that more if desired there are 20 triplexes
uh up at the top of the screen fronting on ninth street there are 20 triplexes fronting on eighth
street at the bottom and there are 13 proposed quadplex residences along both dauphin street
and susquehanna avenue the blue at the right and the left i pointed out the curb cuts and just
for the record there are seven existing curb cuts at the site right now to propose with this
reimagining and you can see the 44 street trees that surround the property
the subject property has been significantly underutilized
i'd like to hone in for a moment on the pedestrian experience on the slide up on the screen right now
so we are along 8th street at the bottom there's the entrance in for vehicular entrance in and you
can also see a paved safe walkway on the right where the letter m is and where the letter l is
on the left a paved safe walkway as well and you would see the same thing if you were coming in
off of 9th street here you can see a sense of the elevations which hopefully you've got a good sense
of through the conceptual renderings and this plan is just showing the 38 feet to the roof line and
i had mentioned the setback roof access structures if there are questions we can come back to it but
that's highly technical in nature uh the proposed floor plans i'd like to give a brief overview
the quadplexes that i mentioned would front on both dauphin street and susquehanna avenue 14
buildings each and you can see that these in front of you the typical quadplex floor plan
shows a common entrance depicted here in gray at the first floor level which takes you to
every unit within this individual structure. On the next page we have typical corner quadplex
floor plans which are very similar but because they are corners there are obviously slight
differences. And here we have the proposed triplexes that would front on both 8th and
9th Street, showing you a typical triplex floor plan. Finally, the typical corner triplex floor
plan is shown here. The roof plan doesn't add too much at all and just is showing you that there
doesn't add too much at all and just is showing you that there are light wells
There are.
and roof decks for the upper units that are set back
so in sum there are 40 triplexes proposed and 28 quadplexes the mix of units is really intended
for the community in a number of ways we heard voices that seniors are looking for
opportunities for affordable housing not being interested in maintaining homes that they've
lived in for a long time but they also there's also a need for family-sized dwellings
96 one-bedroom dwellings are proposed 96 two-bedroom dwellings are proposed and 44
four-bedroom dwellings which is a real need not just in this community but in so many throughout
the city of philadelphia the i2 use at this location is not practicable nor is it desired
not by the community which is in support of this project a glance at the zoning map and the aerial
photographs show that the zoning surrounding the property is solidly residential with a smattering
of dated industrial common sense would dictate that the proposed multi-family residential use
is most consistent with the resident residential character of the surrounding neighborhood
and the authorization of variance relief will not alter the character of the neighborhood
or district in a negative way it will certainly alter the the block itself but this is something
that has been desired for a long time to meet the residential character of the surrounding
neighborhood the authorization of variance relief will not alter the character of of the
district in general and the proposal fits into the surrounding neighborhood as evidenced by
the support of the councilman the non-opposition of the coordinating rco the commendations of the
civic design review committee the proposed variance would represent the minimum variance
necessary to afford relief after three years nearly of a detailed uh discussion we believe
that we are bringing to this board the minimum variance necessary to afford relief and that the
grant of variance relief will not substantially increase congestion in the public streets
increase the danger of fire or otherwise endanger the public health safety or general welfare
i would also like to note that uh all of the architectural plans submitted take into
consideration the best practices uh that we have observed uh before this board and the city and we
have the full team available to answer any questions and to go back and hone in on any
of the plans that i've shared with the board today so why don't you have your testimony adopted and
you would one more time how many units in the original project uh there were 501 mr chairman
so you're you you're you almost cut it in half a little actually a little bit more than half right
okay all right that was a real i mean it was a real and how high was it before it was well
beyond the 38 feet that were okay all right why don't you bring your uh yes i'd like to call
development associate isaac singleton to please raise his virtual hand to be recognized by
chairman bergman they will be rejoining as a panelist thank you thank you mr hand
isaac please unmute yourself so that chairman bergman can recognize you
there he is isaac could you please state your name is spelled for the stenographer
isaac singleton i-s-a-a-c-s-i-n-g-l-e-t-o-n do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the
whole truth nothing but the truth i do counsel uh thank you for being here mr singleton as a
development associate with 2200 n8 llc uh it's my understanding that you've been present for
the entirety of this hearing correct yeah yes you adopt and affirm the testimony that i've offered
as your own yes thank you all right questions from the board i'll make a comment initially i
appreciate the fact that this development team has worked well with the community and has the level
of support from the community i think that's that tells a lot about the development team
Also, in terms of the way that the project has been laid out, the attention to providing safe access for pedestrians in and around this site, I think.
Access for pedestrians in and around this site, I think, should be complemented, because a lot of the developments that we see that are large scale like this don't take that into consideration when you have these large parking areas.
They don't consider the pedestrians, and I think you've done a good job with that.
And you've stayed within the height requirement of 38 feet, which I think is commendable by listening to the community and their concerns.
Also, of course, I've raised the standard concern that I have about basement living and bedrooms in the basement and the depth of the basements below grade.
I don't know what that is, but they look pretty shallow.
uh so i'm i'm there there's a concern there uh but overall i think the project
uh has done a good job in terms of um thank you other questions may i just make a comment for the
record very quickly thank you mr johns for for what you just said um the thought that was put
into the lower bi-level units was quite intentional allowing for the stair access right out into the
courtyard uh and um we feel very comfortable uh regarding uh that proposal um i have a question
just in terms of some of the design i know we went through it real quick but um some of the units have
rooftop decks and some of the they have access to it um i think no one shares the rooftop correct
You're right, Ms. Graham. The upper-level units each have a roof deck where applicable, and for the quadplex residences, the lower-level rear unit will have a small garden fronting onto that courtyard.
okay so i did see i think some of them had little balconies i'm not sure my concern is just there's
no open space for folks um um and then the the the whole open space in the project is just catered
toward parking and not toward like any place to sit out and just enjoy the weather um but yeah so
so there is open space in every unit every unit has us some open space there there first of all
I completely agree with you that the that there is limited open space overall there.
This is a challenge with the site and in most instances units residences have private open space.
There are a minority of residences that do not.
And that is where we hope that the limited greenery that we've put on here is there in addition to the playgrounds, et cetera.
But we have worked really hard to achieve that right balance.
Other questions?
I have a question about the number of accessible units.
And just did I miss how many there are?
I didn't put that on the record. We do not need Ms. Wynn. We're not seeking any variance
relief for a reduction in code requirements on accessibility.
For the housing units?
Right.
Okay. So my point is typically you're going to have at least 5% that are accessible, but
but we've only got two accessible parking spaces.
So I think my question was like one,
not seeing ramp access into any of the townhomes,
wondering like where these units are located,
their proximity to the handicapped parking spaces,
and why if we're gonna have more than two handicapped units,
which I would assume just based on shared unit count,
there's only two handicapped parking spaces.
it's something it's something that we uh first of all uh the corner units
are are the ideal uh residences for accessibility and maybe i should pull up for a moment
screen share for a moment the um plan here again
Okay, so I'm going to zoom in a little bit to the point you just mentioned, and I'm going
And i'm going to go over to this section here of the courtyard 16 and 17, which is showing the 2 Ada spaces if if if this board makes the determination that it really wants the the plan to include
to go over to this section here.
an additional handicapped parking space at this moment in time it can be done with a reduction
by one of a standard parking space we looked into this and we know it can be worked out
it's feasible we had preferred to state publicly that we would make every request for a reasonable
accommodation which actually means as you know going above and beyond the code if it comes up
so the development team is not new to housing uh even in philadelphia has is known to the community
and is absolutely willing to work on that but should ms win it become
uh critical to to the board to have that um proviso it's something that we we understand
although it would have to recognize a reduction in one parking space no i think it was less that
i was trying to mandate that it happened i was just trying to understand mathematically
where we landed and i mean to have 200 units you know five percent if they're ada and only have two
parking spaces that means that you know even people who are just getting picked i mean i have
a lot of there's a lot of units here and i have just general questions about like how we anticipating
uh pickups and drop-offs because right now there's a you know one big building here that
hasn't been in active productive use for a long time um and there's just this it's while i like
density it's a lot of density that's gonna be a change in this neighborhood and i've seen the
layout, but I haven't heard much about quality of life addressed. Well, I actually, I appreciate
your comments. I think that the single curb cut in off of 8th Street and the single curb cut out
off of 9th Street does allow for a nice flow through for pickups. And there is an abundance
of parking available around the site for potential pickup drop-off. We can work with
the streets department as needed to make sure that this is successful, and we can work with
the 37th Ward RCO, for example, to make sure that it is meeting the needs. I think that we are
looking at a balancing act of a very vocal i mean this hearing hasn't touched on it but a very vocal
desire from not necessary leadership but from from the the neighbors who are there every day
who are working right now and not able to attend the hearing to put as much parking into this site
as possible while at the same time we recognize the planners and the city vision of that may not
be completely in agreement with that so we had hoped that the design that is so refined now and
before you um addresses that in the best way possible but it is we don't suggest that this
is 100 perfect in every way it's real though and then is this um anticipated to be a low income
housing tax credit project uh this is we're not anticipating any uh governmental uh benefits so
any proposed affordability is it deed restricted there is there are no deed restrictions there is
a community benefits agreement that was mentioned and this as whyyy recently noted in looking
at this project it is a rare example of naturally affordable other questions real quick how
was that parking lot lit lit because I didn't see any uh is it the lights are on the buildings
or how is the parking lot lit the plan does not show uh right now a a interior lighting plan
specifically but um lighting definitely needs to be a part of this uh and it needs to take
into consideration those who live there right so it's not in their in their bedroom but also
those who live there right so it's not in their in their bedroom but also the safety factor
and we'll look that let me put that on the record that that needs to happen
for the success of the project and the well-being of neighbors and those in the community it just has
to all the questions i think that you mentioned that this might be a building that
seniors might want to say downsize into so we've got steps right multi-level units and what have you
how does that fit in with the plan to have seniors maybe occupy this property very very fair
question miss gaston we don't we don't purport to be assisted living or independent living
supportive community that that has meals and things like that it is going to be appropriate
for those who are a bit more independent but don't are not able or wanting after years of
having to do it to shovel the snow and to go down into uh mechanical areas and things like that
so so there are some units that are more ideally suited for uh for both seniors with
some limited mobility as well as Ms. Wooden was was stating for the uh accessibility units but
we do this is this is not right if uh if if you want to maximize full use and are really needing
more care all right or dealing with steps which okay there was there was some interesting
discussion ms gaston probably about honestly like two years ago about whether there should be
some buildings on the site that were restricted only to seniors because there was such a need
and then there was a realization that came from the community not from us that generations want
to be mixed and together and that there could be benefits to that and that that led to the
proposal that's before you today all right thank you all the questions questions from our attorney
hillary emerson not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
mr chair i do not see any hands planning commission amy boy with the planning commission
the comprehensive plan recommends no change in zoning to the existing i2 medium industrial
the proposal completed its civic design review on november 2025. the civic design review committee's
advisory recommendations are not an expression of the city planning commission's recommendations
recommendations or opinions regarding zoning variances, special exceptions, or other discretionary approvals associated with this proposal.
The proposal for residential three-story structures is in harmony with the surrounding land use.
The area's zoning maps still carry the original 1933 districts.
The appellant has not demonstrated that there are unique physical conditions or circumstances that prevent the property from complying with the required ADA spaces.
The Planning Commission recommends that the Board grant the requested variances for multi-family and accessory parking, but deny the requested variances for ADA parking.
Thank you.
MI 2025-006-260-2200 North A Street, I vote yes with proviso per refusal dated 11-6-25.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes with proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Ryan Wen, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the board.
Please allow me one quick liberty to introduce to the board a student from the Penn Cary School of Law.
Professor Wendell Pritchett's student, Shana Kahane, is observing today.
and we thank the board for allowing that to happen. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Pritchett.
MI 2025-002-846-501, Frankfurt Avenue. Augusto O'Neill is the attorney.
Looks like I'm going to keep going with it.
I can't. So, are you, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer Augusta O'Neill a U. G. U. S. T. A. my last name is spelled.
o-n-e-i-l-l. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
I do. Could you identify your client and the relationship to the property? My client is
5001 Frankfurt LLC, the owner of the property. Okay, and do we have a letter of opposition from
Frankfurt Neighborhood Advisory? I'm not sure if this was before or after some changes were made.
So that was before changes were made. Right. Okay. So our vice chair has a few questions. Good afternoon. Have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing? I did. I just want to know for the record, the only thing that wasn't updated was the tax clearance certificate. We've been working on that and I did have a conversation with the board solicitor about the issues with that. Okay, cool. And do you wear the reading of the refusals or stipulate to the accuracy? The refusal is accurate with the exception of one refusal, which has been eliminated, which I'll go through. Okay. Thank you.
You can share your screen and proceed with your case.
Do we have the tax?
She said, talk to Hillary about it.
We have taxes.
We're gonna hold?
Yeah, we'll have to hold for proof of tax compliance.
There's some things getting sorted out.
All right, thank you.
Thank you.
Members of the board, as I indicated earlier, I'm here this afternoon representing the owner of the property at 5001 to 05 Frankfurt Avenue.
This is an application for an adaptive reuse of a previously 2 story, almost 20,000 square foot building that is split zoned.
CMX 2 and RSA 3. We are seeking to create a mixed-use building and erect a second and third
floor addition to the existing building. As you can see on the renderings that are on my screen
right now, this is what the anticipated final product is going to look like, this beautiful
building with aluminum cladding on Frankfurt Avenue. This is a development in the mixed
income neighborhoods overlay originally we had requested 39 multi-family units but after meeting
with the neighborhood civic group the frankfurt cdc and responding to some of the board's concerns
we're here this afternoon presenting a request for relief to provide 29 units
six of which are affordable at 40 percent ami my clients are rehabbing the existing building
that's currently on the property as i stated before previously before my clients at the time
my clients purchased the building this is what it looked like clearly you need some rehabilitation
the building that was on the property always functioned as one building but technically sat
on two lots um as you can see on this page of the page in front of me um this is the portion that's
fronting frankfurt avenue frankfurt avenue is running right along here and then this is the
wakeling street portion of the building this is technically zoned rsa3 or single family house
you can see clearly it's not a single family house it's just part of that that one building
included in my exhibit package were zoning maps my screen
so as you can see that 1613 weakling portion is zoned rsa3 and then the 5001 frankfurt avenue is
split zoned cmx2 and rsa3 because of the split zoning the quote unquote buy right at this at the
time of my client's purchase would have meant that the client the property could only be used
as a doctor's office which is what had been used as before is the eye doctor's facility
or it could be used as a single family home that's because the more restrictive rsa3 provision
would have applied to the entire lot here so again at the time that my clients purchased it
its most recent use had been an eye doctor's facility as you can see in the pictures that
in my exhibit package at page seven this is a picture of the building as it existed
close to the time my clients purchased it they purchased it in june of 2023 this is from september
close to the time my clients purchased it they purchased it in june of 2023 this is from september
2023 you can see there's a large sign up that's advertising the building for rent that's another
view of the property um here's our property on the right hand side on the left is the neighboring
daycare center this property is right under the l which is what you can see on the screen as well
these four rent signs were up even during the time that my client began working on the building
And there were there was no interest in in using the building as a as a doctor's office, and he can testify to that fact later.
A portion of the new rehab to building has already been constructed.
We did relocate the lot lines for the for these properties that my client could get the portion of the building that fronts Frankfurt Avenue under construction while we were seeking variance relief for those additional units.
you can see on the screen in front of me this was a down to the studs kind of a rehab for my client
it was in pretty the building was in pretty poor shape when they began working on it here's some
pictures of the interior again as I indicated before really this was a down to the studs kind
of a rehab because of the condition it was in also included some pictures showing what it looked like
on the inside at the time they purchased it clearly had been used as a doctor's office they
the counter here and the different suites just another picture of the level of construction work
my client had to do in order to rehab this building page 16 of my exit package i included
a picture showing what it looks like today um again this is partially under construction but
you can see he's got that beautiful aluminum cladding on the side of the building this
looks like something you would see in new york city um the reason that we had to relocate those
lot lines and get some of these units under construction is because at the time that my
client purchased the building, obviously there were some economic headwinds, the cost of
construction was rising. So he wanted to get something done while he was waiting for a zoning
board hearing and going through the variance process with the city. To my knowledge, this is
one of the only buildings of the size that's currently being constructed in that min overlay.
So again, as I indicated earlier, there are 20 units that are currently under construction today.
This doesn't mean that a 20 unit project in the men is going to alleviate the hardship that is presented by the split zoning for this for this property.
Instead, the evidence that I'm going to put for put before the board this afternoon is going to show that this project doesn't really work isn't viable for my client at 20 units.
It's not even viable at 25 units, which is what he's a buy rate permit for. We need to get to 29 units in order to make this economically feasible for my client.
In addition to those multifamily units, we're also bringing some retail uses to the area.
At the screen towards the bottom of the building, we're going to be using those suites for a laundromat as well as a corner store, a grocery store.
Those are going to be in the areas where that former eye doctor's office was, and then we're also going to be greening up the space on Wakeling.
we're going to be adding five street trees a copy of my landscape plan was included in my exhibit
package at tab three I provided the board a copy of my proviso zoning plan it shows a building with
with 29 residential units, again reduced from 39 in response to feedback from the RCO, from the board rather, with six affordable units.
We now have a building that is a maximum height of 38 that was reduced down from 50 feet.
We lost a fourth floor in order to bring that building down, so we were able to eliminate that variance from the refusal.
um and just to provide the board with a little bit of context this building i would submit is
really in the perfect location for multi-family use because we are right under the l as i showed
you in that picture previously um here is a map showing where our building is and all the different
transit spots that are close by we're very close to the frankfurt transit center
just to go through the refusal at tab one of my exhibit package
um there are three use refusals that are listed on this on this refusal uh again because this
building is collectively viewed as an rsa3 building our proposed multi-family use is
prohibited as well as the proposed food beverages and groceries in addition to the maintenance and
repair of consumer goods that relates to the laundromat that I was that I referred to earlier.
I do want to note for the board if this entire property were zoned CMX2
if this entire property were zoned cmx2 based on the square footage of the watts
based on the square footage of the lots
we would be entitled to 32 units and a 45 foot building we're proposing again a
35 foot 38 foot building and 29 units sorry i got a little tongue tied up
the other refusal that we received was for the rear yard depth we are proposing a 3.94 foot
The rear yard we're required to have 20 feet in this in this zoning district.
So again, this is an adaptive reuse of this building.
So we aren't changing anything about the yard.
We are working within the confines of the building that's already there.
But if we went up because we're going up higher, technically we've got to comply with the setback and get that 20 feet.
But it's not gonna be feasible because that would cut into the number of units that we'd be able to propose at this building.
and anything less than 29 units is not going to work at this location.
After construction is finished, these two properties are going to operate as one building,
which is how it functioned before my client purchased it.
there won't be separate entrances on uh for the wakeling property units or the frankfort avenue
property units everyone who's got a unit in this building is going to use the same entrance
as i indicated before we are already approved for 25 units on the cmx
uh two portion under a permit that was previously pulled by my office a copy of that permit was
provided to the board at tab 17. we're asking this afternoon for the four additional units
to make this project viable for my client.
As I stated earlier, the 20 units are already under construction
in the Frankfurt Avenue portion of the building,
and the majority of those units are around 500 square feet.
They're mostly one bedrooms.
There are going to be two means of egress for this building.
So there's a means of egress right onto Wakeling.
There's also a back door that deposits out into this alleyway that's off of Wakeling.
there are going to be stairs connecting all the floors rather than an elevator
um there is one handicapped unit that's going to be on the first floor of the building
there is a handicapped ramp which you can see in the rendering um this is a handicapped ramp but
if someone were to be in that handicapped unit they would go in these front doors and there's
to be an interior ramp and it's all accessible to get to that um handicapped unit
the units do not have individual washer and dryers but there is going to be a laundromat
on the first floor which is going to be available for use by the building tenants
um there are two trash chutes in the building i'm just gonna um increase my view so these x's
denote the trash chutes that are in the building there's one right here and then there's another
trash chute right off of wakeling there is a door right here so that when the trash is ready to be
taken out um whoever's taking out would just use that door and put it on on this alleyway or it
would be ready until it's ready for commercial trash pickup my client would have commercial
trash pickup as part of this multi-family building um the trash the quote-unquote trash
The trash drawer is going to look like any other door that's on the building.
At tab nine of my exhibit package, I've provided some slides just showing the what the buy rate quote unquote buy rate expansion would look like if we were to only use the 25 units that we received a permit for, as well as a slide showing what they would look like
with the variance request um so as you can see if we were to do the buy rate expansion
we would be left with this wakeling portion this huge 4 000 square foot unit
um and four smaller units sorry it just keeps i don't know why it's doing that um
the issue with that is that for there are a number of issues with with this layout
So these two units, which are on the third floor, we get little to no sunlight.
We'd also have to construct a separate staircase just for those units.
And the larger issue, in my opinion, is that the units would be limited to about 350 square feet to 400 square feet.
I've been in front of this board long enough to know that the board doesn't really like those really small units.
So, the variance that we're requesting is to allow us to get those units to be larger
to allow us to get those units to be larger
and fill out that weight link.
and fill out that weakling portion
and not have to use it as a RSA3 building
because it was never used that way.
And it obviously functions better
if it's the layout that we proposed today.
So as I indicated before,
most of the units that are on the,
what I'll call the Frankfurt Avenue portion of the building,
those are one bedroom,
Whereas the units that are going to be on the second and third floor with the variants that we're requesting, they would be comprised of two two bedrooms on the first floor, two two bedrooms, and a three bedroom on the second floor, and then three two bedrooms and one three bedroom on the fourth floor.
I'm sorry, on the third floor.
so we did meet with the the rco for this property the frankfurt cdc back in september of 2025
as i said before when we met with them we'd been proposing those 39 units
the board of the rco said that they didn't want this building because they felt it was too dense
So this is the only letter that's currently in front of the board.
I want to note there weren't any members of the community in attendance at that meeting.
you can see on the letter that was provided, no one from the community felt full of votes,
no one from the footless was actually participating, it was, there's no word that they felt, it was two deaths.
One of the things that came up in this letter, oh I'm sorry, one of the issues that came up
that was in the letter was that, I must have knocked it off when I was when I was speaking.
happened there who was that man
um one of the issues that came up that was noted in the letter although there wasn't a lot of
discussion about this at the meeting was the increased amount of parking issues were not
resolved so let me see I went ahead and my client and I discussed this um it was suggested that
maybe we could approach Jefferson because they have a facility across the street there's an
urgent care and a number of doctor's offices across the street owned by Jefferson. And they
also have a parking deck. So in my package, I provide an aerial. This is our building. And
then this is the parking deck. And Jefferson has agreed to let us use 10 parking spots in that
building for our apartment building. Coincidentally, when my client went and spoke with Jefferson,
they told him they were actually very excited about this building because now there's going to
be a use for um for their nurses or employees to have a apartment building new construction
that's going to be available for for their use so this is in addition to the public transit which was
i provided a transit map at tab 20 my exhibit package so in addition to those parking spots
this is also going to be very accessible to the l um in the frankfurt transit center
the I do want to note just for the record though that we're not actually seeking a variance for
parking we are not required to provide the parking in the CMX 2 area but we're just doing it to be
neighborly and to show in good faith that we've taken the concerns of the community into consideration
and we're working to address them um unfortunately the RCO did not agree to meet with us a second
time we did let them know that we have an updated plan we'd love to meet with you I personally sent
about 20 emails between october and this hearing date to try and schedule that second meeting
go through the additional plans um despite my outreach the rco never scheduled a meeting and so
we decided to move forward with this hearing today enclosed at tab 18 of my exhibit package
i provided a pro forma for the board um just to explain the 20 units versus the 25 that we have
the by right permit for or the 29 um my client is here this afternoon just to emphasize the the
financial hardship for why it doesn't work for him to only have a 25 unit building he really
needs the 20 29 units to make this to make this work um but as you can see from the proforma that
was provided. This only quote unquote pencils for him if there's going to be those 29 units
permitted. Just to briefly go over the variance. Oh, and the other thing I want to note about
this pro forma. There is a screenshot that my client provided the his lunch.
There is a screenshot that my client provided the his lender essentially can't service any kind of loan on on something that doesn't provide 29 units because there's just not.
It's not profitable enough at any other unit scheme.
Just to briefly touch on the variant standard, why we believe this meets the variant standard, the grant of the variance, the denial of the variance would cause unnecessary hardship, the logistics of the building, how small it would have to be for those units, and the financial hardship is such that we need the grant of the variance, and we believe that what we're asking for is the minimum necessary
necessary in order to um in order to alleviate the hardship the grant of the variance would be in
harmony with the zoning code we're providing affordable units in an area that really does
need them um and adaptively we're using a building that was really an eyesore close to a blighted
building until my client purchased it and rehabbed it um this is a building right next to the l as i
previously showed you some pictures of we're going to be providing some nice units um in an area where
someone who's a nurse for Jefferson or works at that facility across the street would be able to
live very close to their work. We're providing affordable units in overlay where there's really
not a lot of development currently occurring. And with that, I would like to call forward my
client, Atai Levy. Sure. Why don't you sit up there? So just so we're clear. Sure. You initially
were at 39 units. Correct. 50 feet. Correct. Now you're at 25 units. 29 units. No, you're
You're at 25 and 38 feet, and you want four more.
We want four more.
Correct.
What do you get on the mic?
All towards internal on the green light.
See the green light?
Try now.
Oh, okay.
Hey, there you go.
All right.
Thank you.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Yeah, my name is Itay.
It's I-T-A-Y, Levy, L-E-V-Y.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
Counsel.
Mr. Levy, did you have an opportunity to hear my testimony this afternoon?
Was everything that I said true and accurate?
I had pulled up on my screen a copy of Pro Forma.
Could you just elaborate for the board why it would be a hardship for you to have to do anything less than the 29,
why anything less than 29 really wouldn't work for you?
Yes, of course.
the main reason that is concerning to us is the ability to refinance the property
at the end of the project and the way the lenders work and i don't want to get into too much
details but it's the lender only will refinance if we'll get to 1.25 dscr which is debt service
ratio essentially what that means is the building needs to make a certain amount of income for the
bank to be comfortable to give us a loan now it's not really that they're going to give us a loan
as money because we took a construction loan and that construction loan is hitting a lot of interest
it takes a long time and we are we're in a position that we need to get to we need to get to sufficient
net operating income to be able to pay off the debt service and then they will basically
take that construction loan and turn it into a permanent loan for a long period of time
mine and my partner's goal is to hold the building for a long period of time it is also
it is also planned for us to hold it for a minimum of 10 years and that's our plan and
we wanted to do the right thing um and to be able to take our investment and have it hold and not
become a liability for us in the future okay are you done um i am uh does he want to adopt your
testimony oh i that was the last thing i wanted oh sure would you like to adopt my testimony that
i gave to the board this afternoon yes okay thank you all right questions from the board
All right, um, questions from our attorney, Hillary Emerson.
Um, I just want to note, because the 1, the property is split zoned with RSA 3, so I'm kind of surprised you actually didn't get a refusal for parking. Um, if that was missed by L and I, it's incorporated into whatever decision the board makes here. But I just want to note that for the record. I didn't think that was a little.
odd that hasn't come up before questions or comments from our um our audience
mr chair i do not see any hands planning commission amy boy with the planning commission
planning commission amy boy with the planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends
the comprehensive plan recommends a change in zone
a change in zoning at this location from cmx2 commercial mixed use to cmx3
this property was rezoned from cmx3 to cmx2 in a community-led remapping in 2014.
there was a split zone condition on this property with the building footprint spanning between two
separate lots one zone cmx2 and one zone rsi3 residential single family the proposal would be
allowed by right under cmx2 but the majority of the lot is zoned and cmx3 the proposed zoning
the rear yard depth is existing the planning commission recommends that the board grant the
proposed variances for multi-family retail sales of food beverages maintenance and repair consumer
goods and rear yard depth uh we're going to hold this vote am i correct hillary uh and then um
it's closed yes the record is always except for proof of tax compliance for both properties
Yes, thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much, members of the board.
Number four, MI 2025-003-193-421 North Lane Street.
It doesn't know how to get it uploaded.
Uh, okay. Um, we'll get somebody to do it. Um, thank you. Sure. Why don't you sit down and I'll, I'll, I'll swear you a little short. Um, let, let, let me, let me see.
Okay. Yeah.
Hey, Cheryl. How you been?
Um, John, could you please state, well, we'll get you sworn in. Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Sure. John McCrish IV, M-C-C-R-E-E-S-H.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client, the relationship to this property?
Yes. With me is Adam Zhu, X-U, and he is the principal member of the 3X Investment LLC, which is the owner of the property.
Okay, and we have a letter of support with provisos from neighborhood Cal Hill Association, the affected RCO, and also a letter of non-opposition from Council Member Squilla.
Our vice chair will have a few questions for you then as soon as we get somebody straight, you will.
Okay, thank you.
Good afternoon. Have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing?
Okay, and do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Okay, all right, thank you.
All right, as soon as we get you tied in here, we'll start it.
He just got us to tie in with his computer.
He didn't know.
Are you in the meeting or not?
How about I just bring up?
Yeah, sure.
Whatever.
yeah um i'm using hot spots right we're good okay yeah that's fine um but uh
well give me give me a couple minutes here sure yeah
i apologize mr bergman i don't come down here that often and no no i'm not that tech savvy no
you have a high rating from charles so that's that
We'll let you know that.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Okay, thank you.
Yes, I stay as a 10-8.
Oh, you want to be one except that?
Oh, geez.
Sorry about that.
Okay, that's okay.
Thank you.
Do you have your phones open if you want to share?
sure please
whatever you have here people can see okay right okay is that all right we're okay
go to the folder where where where's where's this document yeah
so why don't we get him to start show your documents right what's what do you have
uh yeah well now you you you're not going to testify yet the council will testify and you
just go through the documents okay so get the first one up so we have the notice of refusal
so it's a notice of refusal for uh at 421 north 9th street it's uh
For the refusal to use personal vehicle repair or maintenance is prohibited in the CMX 3.
You have the zoning application.
I don't think he's finding his documents yet.
I mean, he sees them, but he just don't know where they all are.
there's the special there's a refusal there you go that might be a little bit better at least you
see it okay yep so why don't you just do the refusal then i'll then i'll try to tell you
where we should be okay thank you so the refusals for uh one refusal for the proposed use personal
vehicle repair maintenance prohibited in the cmx3 zoning okay
what do you want next um why don't we do this i mean i we we have all your paperwork so what
would be important is if you could show us photos and maybe drawings or plans of what
he has and what he's going to do about 3500 square feet they're just using it for
I'm sorry it's about 30 he'll draw up the pictures it's 3500 square feet they're just using it for
general um maintenance and repair no body work uh they are they currently doing the work now i mean
are they currently now no they're running this and they're coming for zoning for it correct correct
correct it's yeah it's all contingent on them it's vacant right now that's contingent on
the the approval correct and they did meet with the uh chinatown rco right uh they did have three
provide those which we're fine with and there's a he'll show you there's a picture they already put
up the secure uh fencing around the parking lot and then the other things uh are maintaining what
And then the other things are maintaining the way.
the way
Do you have photos?
Pull up the photo.
There's parking on site.
And, John, why don't you try to talk while he's doing it?
What is it they're going to do?
Is there body work?
No body work.
No painting?
No painting.
They're going to be there six days a week, Monday to Saturday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and they have three or four workers.
It's a small shop.
What kind of work are they doing?
Oil changes.
Just oil changes, inspections.
Brakes, inspection.
Exactly.
And tires.
Tire changes.
You're right. And I general stuff. Not. I also noticed that one of the Chinatown said maintain secure waste oil per regulations and away from the public right away. Right? Correct. Okay. All right. So that that's what it looks like. Right. And the fence is going to be around the building. The fence is around the building. Yes. Okay. Could we see the inside? Sure.
and there's a curb cut right there on 9th street yes
okay I I he he answered before John had a chance so John John it's it's uh yes the curb cuts on
that street right okay um okay why don't we open it up to the board questions so are there any
windows no one knows that was so no no no window so when they're working they're gonna have the
the fit up the fit the fence has to be up yes yeah okay okay sorry all right all the questions
is there any plans to have some kind of exhaust system of some sort or would we i mean
well as they're working on cars they got to turn a car over correct so the question is are you
going to have an exhaust system right that'll take the fumes and take it outside yes yes there
will be one yes but there isn't one now no there's not one now but that that could be a proviso we
definitely they definitely will comply with that i mean you'd almost you'd have to otherwise it
would be dangerous yeah yeah exactly yeah it'd be dangerous for them right and about how many
yeah how many cars are being serviced uh a day uh well it's a small space so it's maybe
four or five a day depending on how busy they are yeah uh by appointment or how yes by appointment
correct okay and again you're just doing oil changes you said changing tires
inspections inspections like breaks minor repairs obviously if it's a if it's a large job they're
not going to be able to do that they're not doing body work they're not doing painting or anything
like that okay and uh you have hazardous waste you're going to have hazardous waste disposal
for any oils or other fluids yes okay all right so so john one question the garage is not in
It's not a real big garage.
Where are you going to keep cars that are not in the garage?
Exactly.
Where would the one of you answer if you can't jump?
Well, there are.
Will you please state your name and spell for this stenographer?
Yes, Your Honor.
Adam Hsu, A-D-A-M, last name X-U.
Right, right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Where will you keep cars?
like if four cars show up to do work where do you put them because there's not that much there's
on-site parking spaces up to at least 20 uh at the same site yes where where is that in front
of the building uh front of the building correct okay other questions is that is that on the street
is that on the street it's not on the street it's on-site parking i mean yes uh the parking lot
uh the premises has parking facilities itself could you show us that yes yeah soft street parking
that might answer my question
and there are bathroom facilities on the site in the in the garage and inside the garage yes
Thank you.
uh that's the real part of the premises right okay then the front i'll show you
the real part again
okay uh this yes uh as you see uh have plenty parking spaces uh at the front uh which is the
other side of uh 429 fuel house is the gym in the front and you see the parking says around the
building in the middle that's the parking also in the back side and are they are these are there a
certain number of parking spaces dedicated for your business yes up to 20. how many up to 20. okay
so the the garage door is on 9th streets the back of the building correct okay
well customers are going to come in through the parking the common parking lot common drive
off spring garden and park and enter the front yes okay and you would keep tires in the side
uh correct in the enclosed area okay all right any other questions the does the building like
for the commercial tenants on either side of you or what are the uses uh gene okay yes
other both times on both sides you what do the people do uh one side is a boxing gym
uh the other side is the uh fuel house is a kid's gym oh
and is there any plan for signage because there's no indication at this time no okay all right
questions from our attorney hillary emerson so is is your business in one of the units at this
property or does your business encompass the entire property it will be one of the units
contains only 3 500 square feet
do you know what what unit that is uh yes that's uh i believe it's a unit
I'm not sure if I'm confused.
It's a unit B.
Yes, unit B. I'm sorry.
Unit B. Okay, thank you.
Thank you.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Planning Commission.
I'm not seeing your hands, Mr. Chair.
Thank you.
Amy Ward with the Planning Commission.
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the cmx3 commercial mixed use zoning at this location
the appellant has not shown that there are unique physical conditions or circumstances
that would prevent the property from being used in performance of the zoning code
the proposed use is likely to have detrimental impacts on surrounding
and existing by right uses the planning commission recommends that the board deny
the request of variance for personal vehicle repair thank you um mi 2025 003 193 421 north
9th street i vote yes with proviso unit b only thank you michael johns my vote is yes with proviso
cheryl gaston my body yes with proviso tenetta graham my vote is yes with proviso ryan mcadams
my vote is yes with proviso ion my vote is yes with proviso thank you councillor thank you sir
thank you very much mr um mi 2025 004 308 13 11 west butler street joseph console is the attorney
good afternoon counsel how are you could you please state your name as well for the stenographer
joseph consul j-o-s-e-p-h-c-o-n-s-o-l-e do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the
whole truth and nothing but the truth i do mr consul could you identify your client
and relationship to the property yeah the llc is green girls eats and uh the uh sisters that
on the call with me today are ashley and lexus green all right we have a letter of support
uh from nicetown tioga improvement team rco and a letter of non-opposition from council member
uh from nicetown tayoga improvement team rco and a letter of non-op
young and you've given us 10 signatures from neighbors on the block our vice chair has a few
questions good afternoon have you uh submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance
of this hearing yes okay and do you waive the reading of the referral and stipulate to its
accuracy yes you can proceed with your case on your screen okay my screen should be shared
the referral should be up joseph consul here representing green girls eats llc ashley and
lexis green who are both medical professionals and sisters that run this llc are on the call today
we're here on 1311 west butler street requesting a special exception for group living
a personal care home in an existing structure the use as my clients can
explain to you is supportive housing for veterans the subject property is located
in the RM1 zoning district we're here for a single referral as a personal care
home in the RM1 district we hope that because we are seeking a number of
humans living in this property far below what would be allowed were this to be a
maximized RM1 unit that this will be a palatable approval for the board so the
the property itself give you the exterior photos this property here the
building itself is 2,400 square feet though the lot is over 3,000 it's the
front of the property there's off-street parking although I doubt that one car
This is allowed to be where it's at. You can see this angle now with the fenced-in
front yard and the fence on the side. Let's go back up to the top. We included
floor plans showing the layout of the property. This property is exceptionally
good for this kind of use because it's got two living areas both on the ground
floor and on what they label as the first floor though you know if you're
looking it's to me it's the second floor but that's not how it's labeled on the
ground floor my client can explain that the layout to the extent we're looking
for it but there's a kitchen a bathroom and what's labeled on here is two
bedrooms though I believe one of them will be administrative office for the
sisters the first floor we've got another living room utility room and a
bathroom second floor three bedrooms and another bathroom here's some interior
photos that we submitted showing the property at the time of purchase
just scrolling through them real quick you guys got all these a critical factor and for this
referral is the quality of the operation this will be owner operated facilities run by the
two sisters who I'll introduce in a moment Ashley is a certified nursing assistant and has been for
nine years, almost 10, and Lexis is a licensed practical nurse. This is a non-medical facility
offering supportive housing for veterans, providing a stable living environment to those
veterans who need assistance with daily living, but do not require acute medical care. Having
both a CNA and an LPN as owners ensures a higher standard of oversight, in our opinion.
We submit that this proposal meets the criteria for a special exception because, one, it's got no adverse impact.
As I mentioned, the number of folks that we're seeking is – the RCO asked us to limit it to eight, which was the number discussed at the meeting.
And, again, that would be far less than would be allowed under the RM1 rubric if we were maximizing the housing.
So it's not going to be overcrowded.
this is a residential use in a residential zone.
The exterior remains unchanged.
It's got a large yard that's fenced in and parking.
We believe that is a good setup for the kind of use
that my clients are seeking to use here.
In addition to that, as mentioned, we have RCO support,
councilmatic non-opposition,
and nine or ten approval signatures from DGC
nine or ten approval signatures from direct near neighbors.
So we've also included in our packet everything else that was required,
along with some information regarding the sisters and our tax clearance and the deed.
With that, I'll call whichever of the Greens are available, perhaps both of you,
to explain your operation a little bit
and adopt my testimony.
Joe, we're talking two people to a room, bedroom?
They'll describe what it would be,
but yes, I believe it's two to a bedroom.
I heard someone raise their hand.
Ashley Green will be promoted to panelists. They'll be rejoining shortly. Thank you.
Hello. Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer? Yes, Ashley Green, A-S-H-L-E-Y,
Green, G-R-E-E-N-E. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes. Ashley, could you turn on your video, please? Yes, I'm sorry. I'm just trying to hit my page.
no no it's anything for my settings right now sure sorry
okay can you see me now yeah we do we do okay hi how are you good uh hey would you um
would you describe so first of all did you hear my testimony regarding 1311 west butler
Yes, I did.
Do you adopt what I said as your own?
Would you briefly just describe your vision for this space?
So we are just trying to open up a vet's home to give us another opportunity, a place to stay, a welcoming home and somewhere just to be comfortable with it.
And if they needed like any assistance or anything, just to help them with it also.
So we came up with this idea also because our dad was in the military and we also have
uncles that's vets too.
And also being in the medical field for mine is 10 years, 12 years, if I'm not mistaken.
I'm following after like my grandmother, my mother, my sisters.
This is just something that we normally do.
We'll came up with helping people.
Thank you.
Is there any questions?
I'm sorry.
You can continue.
I'm sorry.
i just wrote down i'm sorry you can go yeah go ahead you go i just wrote down um a little bit
of the rules that i will be playing in the vet's home um if that's okay if i can just read i think
the board chair also wanted to know about how many uh humans will be in each of the bedrooms
how many people will you be serving and how many people in the bedroom and how many bathrooms
um i know for the down location um i think it's eight altogether if i'm not mistaken between seven
and eight okay and for the for how many how many bathrooms bathroom is two full bathrooms and one
half bathroom okay all right all right questions from the board yes what is your plan um for your
rear inside yard i know that there's um been mentioned about parking but what other plan
is there for any outdoor space for the residents um so we have so the parking is inside and we also
have a porch i don't think that you guys have pictures of it but it's a porch in the front and
a porch in the back also yeah and it's like a little like patio set that we put back there in
the back um just for them to have outside space if they want to get out you know take a breather
anything like that social gatherings we allow also for them when family members come over
they can also instead of just you know being in a house outside will be available too
and my my last question is is there any kind of uh communication that you guys have or agreement you
have or association you have with the veterans administration to to get referrals to get uh
veterans into your homes i'm not sure
other questions yes so a lot of veterans go ahead
do we have a lot of veterans have issues a lot of have medical issues and mental issues
how are you planning to deal with that um i think i don't know if my sister can talk at the same
time as me um she will be on their side since she is the lpn as far as like the medical issues
as far as like the medical issues and things like that is she available here as well in other words
and things like that is she available here
i think she should be yeah she's on so like administering uh drugs and and also a lot of
vets have physical issues also so accessibility i see steps how are you planning to deal with
accessibility. Lexis, can you hear them, Lex? I don't know if she raised her hand or not.
I'm sorry. It should be Lexis Green. What's your name? Lexis Green. They haven't promoted
the panelists. They should be back in shortly. Thank you. She said that her hand was raised.
hi everyone hi lexus could you please state your name and spell for the sonographer
yes lexus l-e-x-u-s last name green g-r-e-e-n-a do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
told truth nothing but the truth i don't counsel hi uh lexus um did you hear the questions that um
that uh um board member michael johns had just asked regarding um in regards to mental health
and medication administration that's correct lexus correct we are willing to support these
things met as far as medication administration i am a licensed lpn um i can help administer
um more so promoting them to administer their own medication but if need be i will be on site
and it's in regards to mental health i would be more so following upcoming like doctor's
appointments that they have if i have to reach out to social workers and counseling
i'll be on board to do those things as well
and the other uh comment was our question was about physical accessibility for veterans with
wheelchairs or other physical conditions how are you planning to deal with those issues yes so we
wanted wheelchair accessible um for our first floor just because it would be easier for us to
get the two steps that we have converted into um the wheelchair accessible where they could just go
up a ramp the second floor we were thinking more so about um vets that are able to walk
or is like one assistant will coming up and down the steps okay thank you you're welcome yes do we
have any pictures of the inside of this is there a floor plan of some sort yeah we submitted a
floor plan and I'll run through the interior photos again okay I guess
asking for non blurry photos or non pixelated photos possible give me other
photos greens I think I do I'm just I'm just gonna go through my photos right
now i don't have any of the upstairs but i do have some of the two bedroom downstairs when it was
cleaned out and things like that i just need two seconds i guess can you just pull up the floor
plan i know you guys submitted it but if we could look at it yeah that would be helpful
and how many people are you planning to have per bedroom here how many bedrooms this first shot
that needs to be a little bit it's three three bedrooms on well two bedrooms on the first floor
and three bedrooms on the second floor okay and how many people are planning to have per bedroom
or um between seven through eight yeah we per bedroom i think it depends on um what they were
with what the requirements are and the measuring of the room so we had someone come out and give
as measurements. And from their knowledge, it would be two on the first floor, and then
we would be able to squeeze two in one room for the three-bedroom, and then the other
ones were two. So, we're talking about four for the second floor and two for the first
floor.
Okay. And how many staff members are you going to have?
um it would be two staff members well one on each floor not two but one on each floor
okay and hours this is 24 hours or 24 hours okay so presumably you're gonna have shifts for these
workers so yes i'm thinking 12 hour shifts can you zoom out so that i feel like every plan but
one and sort of cut off yeah thank you all right what's the difference between the ground floor
what's the difference between the ground floor and the first floor so the ground
and the first floor so the ground floor is a two-bed room
floor is a two-bedroom one bathroom and the first floor is a three-bedroom one
and a half bathroom they both have laundry units so they're two separate
units yes like a duplex it's a duplex yes yes and where so the staff where
there where is the staff space going to be located so I guess we would have to
um have doesn't need a staff firm and then does the first floor unit or I guess the ground floor
unit is the only unit that has access to the basement yes ma'am okay so staff is going to
have to go in between the two units as they're supporting tenants or potential tenants yes ma'am
Yes. So I know this is sort of like assisted, not like assisted living, but what types of services are you anticipating that the staff is going to do for residents?
Assistance with ADLs, like if they needed assistance with being transported up and down, preparing meals, medication administration, depending on the medication that they will be taking.
and just watch out for behaviors and, you know, mental health and reporting.
So are the tenants going to be able to cook for themselves on site
or is all cooking going to be provided by staff?
No, all cooking will be provided by staff.
Yes, ma'am.
And then what's the plan for medications on site?
So I'm personally thinking to keep all medications locked and stored.
And then once I have a medication printout list from their doctors, I will be able to get I will be able to administer day to day, whether they're like Q6 hour meds or Q8 hour meds, then that's when they'll be a minister.
And then what's the plan for the common rooms? Because it does seem like.
There's less common space in the two units to, you know, they were they were designed to maximize bedrooms.
rooms um so where where do you sort of anticipate public space they both have
living room areas okay so the living room is going to be primarily for the
tenants yes and is that also if they have visitors
like if they're yeah is it okay
i have one last question do you um do you have the support of the
your neighbor adjacent to your right i think it would be 1309
1309 is it to the right or to the left i think it's to the right um i have no neighbors to the
right of me so i think it will be to the left like yeah it will be to the last house to the
left unfortunately he's deceased
so that property is empty right now yes i think for like ever since um
january this year yeah yeah no it was october of last year okay
other questions
questions from our attorney hillary emerson
not at this time mr chair comments from the virtual audience you're not seeing your hands mr chair
no hands do we have anybody no sir planning commission amy boy with the planning commission
the comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning at this location from the existing r1
residential multifamily to rsa5 residential single family the appellant has demonstrated
the proposed use will not cause detrimental impacts beyond what would reasonably be expected
The Planning Commission recommends that Roy Grant
their requested special exception for care home.
Thank you.
Hillary, I don't see any enforceable provisors, right?
I would like, I saw they said eight people,
but I think that the state sets that.
Right, right.
Yeah, no, there's a number of provisors,
but most of them are, yes, things that cannot be enforced.
Right, thank you.
MI 2025-004-308-1311,
butler street i vote yes michael johns my vote is yes sure guest and my vote is yes
tenetta graham my vote is yes ryan mcadams my vote is yes by when my vote is yes
thank you mr consul could you stay one please
mr consul
i'm here i'm not going anywhere yeah oh good good good sorry thank you so
I believe Mr. Michael Johns is going to recuse himself in this case.
So MI 2025-006-432-112.
So MI-2025-006-432-112 East Springer Street.
Mr. Consul, just for the record, could you state your name?
Joseph Consul.
Could you identify your client in a relationship to the property?
My client is Chivetta Property Group, LLC.
On this call with me is Michael Tomasetti, one of its principals.
And I noticed that we have an expression of no position from the East Mount Airy neighbors.
Our vice chair has a few questions.
Good afternoon again.
Have you submitted your documents and exhibits for this case five days in advance of this hearing?
But for what Director Hegarty talked about at the beginning, we received one document at the 11th hour.
But besides that, everything else was submitted timely.
Okay, thank you, and do you waive the reading of the refusals and stipulate to their accuracy?
Thank you, show your screen and proceed with your case.
All right, so it should be shared, my refusal, what my client-
We don't, Joe, Joe, we still have-
Oh, it's still the other one?
All right, so I'm going to stop and then start again.
There you go, there you go.
All right, so that's me.
It's Joe C. Now we're going to share.
All right.
All right, Joe Consul again, here for Javetta Property Group.
that should be the refusal for 112 East Springer Street we're requesting the
relocation of lot lines it's a subdivision to create two lots from one
existing lot and what will eventually be the erection of a semi-detached
structure on each lot for a single-family housing the subject the
subject property is RSA five.
Let's see if I can, yeah, there you go.
And we're here for two dimensional refusals,
which we're hoping are for the following reasons de minimis.
The total lot that we're dealing with here
is approximately 2060 square feet.
To subdivide it by right,
we would need 1440 square feet
for each of the resulting lots.
we don't have that we've got just over a thousand for each of the two resulting
lots a thousand and thirty approximately for each of those two two lots my
clients you've had a property group we've been on here before they are under
a purchase and development agreement with the Philadelphia Land Bank as part
of the city's turn the key program to fulfill the land banks mandate of
creating two affordable units at this location a compliant subdivision being
1440 per lot is mathematically impossible so what we're seeking is what
we believe to be the minimum relief necessary and that would be allowing this
to be split evenly in half not only that the if you go up and down the block the
other single-family homes are on lots this size or smaller there's none that
on lots bigger than 1,030 square feet at least as far as I can see. So what's
being proposed is, let's see if I have anything, there we go, is as I mentioned
two semi-detached single-family homes and this is in character with this part
of the block and this part of East Mount Airy and Springer Street. During the RCO
process neighbors raised primarily only one concern and that was about the the
big old tree on on the lot my client has committed to not removing the tree
unless absolutely necessary in order to develop these lots it's it was impossible
to say and it's impossible to say what the lot of look like once they start to
build in relation to the trees roots and things like that but besides that it
It seems like everyone was happy to have these lots being developed after all these years.
And as mentioned, we met with East Mount Airy neighbors on January 20th, and we ended up
with a position of non-opposition, I guess kind of a divided opinion.
So, with that, I will call Mike Tomasetti.
They're going back in as a panelist for me.
Joe, did you show floor plans?
I don't know if I have floor plans for these two properties.
Mike can talk about what's going to be built, but I believe the first step for these subdivision plans just includes showing.
But I believe the first step for these subdivision plans just includes showing the model they're using, which is the two-story.
And again, Mike can comment on that and the subdivision itself.
No basement?
Yeah, these homes have basements.
All right, sir, could you state your name and spell first?
Yeah, my name is Michael Tomasetti, T-O-M-A-S-E-T-T-I.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, to hold the truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Good afternoon, Mr. Tomasetti. Did you hear my testimony just now about this proposed subdivision?
Yes, I did, Joe.
Do you adopt what I said thus far as your own?
Could you describe a little bit about the layout of these properties?
Yeah, I mean, they're three bedroom, two bath. These homes lie anywhere between 1,350 and 1,400 square foot.
i have nothing further pending any questions questions questions from the board
questions from our attorney hillary emerson not at this time mr chair questions or comments
from the virtual audience i do not see any hands mr chair planning commission
amy boy with the planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change in
zoning at this location from the current rsa 5 residential single family the proposed undersized
lots are consistent with other properties on this block when commission recommends that the board
grant requested variances for lot size mi 2025 006 492 112 e springer street i vote yes
cheryl gaston my vote is yes tenetta graham my vote is yes ryan mcadams my vote is yes
i win my vote is thank you joe thank you board thanks everyone i appreciate your time thank you
november 12 mi 2025 007 537 1026 to 44 market street john mcshane is the attorney mcshay is
the attorney there's unanimous non-opposition from west washington square west and a letter
of non-opposition from council member squill
they'll be back in as a panel shortly mr chair okay thank you
good evening can you see me and hear me i apologize i can sir could you please state
your name and spell for the stenographer yes my name is john mcshea j-o-h-n-m-c-s-h-e-a
right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
i do mr mcshea could you identify your client a relationship to the property
yes my client uh is the uh is ross dressed for less and coastal science services incorporated
ross dressed for less is the tenant of the property okay our vice chair has a few questions
for you sure good good evening have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance
of this hearing I have with the exception of the RCO meeting summary which we received
last night and we submitted once we received it thanks for sharing it and do you waive the
reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy I do I think you can show your screen
proceed with your case. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Good afternoon. As I stated, my name
is John McShea. I'm here on behalf of Ross Dress for Less, who is the clothing retailer
and is the tenant of the property located at 1026 Market Street. And the application
here today is for proposed signage for their building. I'm going to pull up. What you're
looking at here is the notice of refusal, and this document here is the memorandum of lease
for the building. A couple of photographs we're talking about. This is just an aerial photograph
of the property. We're talking about this. I'm going to highlight it here on our screen. This
this building here located on Market Street, the corner of 11th Street and Market. It's historically
used as a commercial building, and there's three tenants in the building, including a CVS Pharmacy,
the Ross Dress for Less, and there's also a charter school located in the building.
The next photograph, I'll zoom out a bit. This is a photograph taken from the intersection of 11th
and market street looking at the building uh you can see here um there's the raw stress for less
there's raw stress for us has been in the building um for about three months um and so they do have
um for about three months um and so they do have some signage and the application here tonight is
some signage and
to locate one accessory wall sign um at the roof line which i'll highlight right here is the proposed
location and the variance is uh required where in the cmx five zoning district the the maximum height
for a sign, for an accessory wall sign, would be the second floor windowsill.
And so what we're asking to do is put a sign in this location where actually the prior
tenant of this building had located a sign.
That was a Marshalls, another clothing retailer.
This is a photograph taken while they were in the building.
and you can see here Marshall's had a sign at this exact location where we are requesting to
put our sign. I'll show you how you will pull up a sign plan showing some of the details of
the sign in a moment, but I'd represent to you now that the sign we're proposing is identical
in size and location as the prior tenant Marshall's had. I'll bring that up now.
So what we have here is the sign plan. The first page here is just a layout of the floor plan of
the building. I'll zoom in so you can see it. But on the first floor, you have the CVS's retail space
on the right side of the building, raw stress fronts in the middle. Then the charter school
is really on the third floor of the building, but this is their entrance. And the second floor
floor plan is on the right side of this photo of this site plan here and this shows just again kind
of where the the tenant space is but as far as the signage that's the details here are on the
second page and i'll zoom in for you in a moment but there are three signs associate or that
that are being proposed for the building one of them is the large wall sign which exists today
there's a canopy sign that hangs from the canopy in front of the front entrance
and the sign which is that issue this application is right here the roof sign
you can zoom in a bit so you can see some of the dimensions here but as you can see it's a
It is a 23-foot-feet long, 24 inches tall, has white channel letters that are eight inches tall, each letter.
It's a static sign.
It's not electric.
It is illuminated.
and part of the reasoning for a request for a variance one moment I'm trying to see if I can
get back to the photographs is because as you could as you saw on the the colleges trying to
get back to okay if you can see from the the the the building photograph on the
corner where the the sign is being proposed the other tenants are also have
signage include obviously you have the CVS pharmacy signage above here is the
free air charter school sign and so it's a bit cluttered in this corner and so
because we're a new tenant in the building we obviously want people
customers to know where we are. And also, we believe is necessary for safe identification
for motorists and pedestrians going up and down Market Street. In addition,
directly across the street from Market or from our building is an AMC movie theater. And they
also have a sign which is right at their roof line, which actually sits a bit higher than our
proposed sign would be and then uh just another example right across the street from on from 11th
street you you you're i'm sure you're aware up and down market street there are these electronic
billboard signs which are right near the roof line um and also sit a bit higher than our proposed sign
as well and so we feel uh you know in addition to the fact that the prior tenant had an identical
sign of this location um the the commercial uh nature of this dish of this portion of market
street uh and the amount of similar signs up and down that in that area um would would would render
our sign um compatible with the character of the neighborhood and would in any way cause
any adverse impact on uh on the area um we did present this signage plan to the philadelphia
We did present this signage plan to the Philadelphia Art Commission back in September, and we did receive an approval from the Art Commission.
you are commissioned.
We also received an approval from the Streets Commission, I believe.
Tina Arcuri from Coastal Science Services is on the Zoom with us, as is Matthew Boyd.
Who do you want to have to adopt your testimony?
I'll have Tina.
it should be coming back in as a panel shortly council okay thank you
good afternoon hi could you please state your name is spelled for the stenographer
tina r curie t-i-n-a-a-r-c-u-r-i do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth i do counsel mr curie were you here uh on the zoom call and present for my
for my testimony earlier i was okay and do you adapt adopt and affirm uh my testimony as your own
i do okay thank you very much uh i don't i don't have any specific questions for mr curie but the
Board May. All right. Thank you. Questions from the Board. Okay. Context. Is this the Ross that used to be at, what was that, 8th and? Were you at 8th and Market and you moved down into this building?
I do believe that's correct. It might be a better question for Matthew Boyd. He's available online and he can jump on. He's a district manager for Ross.
Why don't you bring them on?
And it's just for context purposes.
I'm not, you know.
No, I understand.
Because it used to be, and it had, it had some weird way went from one building into
another or something that was, you, you went in one entrance, but there were like two parts
to it or something.
and it was something a little unusual in terms of it, but I thought it was a Ross.
It's not too far.
What's his name?
His name is Matthew Boyd.
No, he's here.
He's on his phone.
He messaged me that he's having trouble talking, maybe because he's –
but I can represent to you that you are correct, that that was Ross's prior location.
They moved here.
And how long ago?
Did you move from the 8th and market?
They opened in October of 2024.
Oh, okay.
I don't get down that way that often anymore, but okay.
And so then you're in the space that used to be the Marshalls and the Marshalls was across from the fashion district around 11th and market.
Correct.
Correct.
All right.
And then all your – I guess my only question is about the canopy sign.
Like, how are we approving that, because that's over the – is that over the public footway
in some way, or how do we get that approved?
well the notice of refusal from the license uh from from dni only refused the sign
for this proposed wall sign the canopy sign was approved
really huh interesting okay all right thank you any other questions
questions from our attorney hillary emerson not at this time mr chair questions from
virtual audience i did not see any hands mr chair planning commission amy boy with the planning
commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change in zoning at this location from the
current cmx5 commercial mix use the proposal was reviewed by our commission september 2025
the art commission's decisions are not an expression of city council sorry of city
planning commission's recommendations or opinion regarding zoning variances special exceptions or
discretionary approvals associated with this proposal the proposed sign location is consistent
with previous signs on this building the planning commission recommends that the board grant the
requested variance for sign height thank you mi2025-007-537-1026-44 market street i vote yes
michael johns my vote is yes cheryl gaston my vote is yes tenetta graham my vote is yes ryan
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
Thank you, everyone.
We're going to take a five-minute break, but just five minutes, and we'll be right back, and we're going to finish up.
Mr. McShea, thank you very much.
Is there anyone in the audience that had a 2 p.m. case that was not called?
we're we're moving to 330. good afternoon everyone my name is bill bergman and i will
be chairing this meeting of the philadelphia zoning board of adjustment with me is our board
vice chair tenetta grant president mr chairman board secretary cheryl l gaston president mr
chairman board member michael johns president mr chairman board member taiwan
President, Mr. Chairman, and board member Ryan McAdams.
President, excuse me, President, Mr. Chairman.
Also here is Hillary Emerson, our attorney, and our zoning board director, Ian Haggerty,
our board administrator, Lakeisha Dandy.
A recording of this hearing will be posted on the ZBA website.
By participating, you consent to be recorded.
This is an in-person meeting with remote capabilities.
Whether remote or in-person, if you're called to speak,
you must state and spell your name and then wait to be sworn in once you've
been sworn in please state your name each time before beginning your
testimony any person may enter an appearance you can identify the case
property address when you resume webinar registration you can see a staff
member or you can call the ZBA appearance line by the close of business tomorrow
call 267-270-5548 leave a message that includes your email address and the
address of the property of the appeal case. The following guidance is for our remote attendees.
When directed by the chair, you must raise your virtual hand in order to be recognized to speak.
If you're called to testify, you'll be prompted to join as a panelist. Please accept the request
and turn on your camera. Third, the webinar Q&A is for questions about the hearing. Do not comment
on cases in the Q&A. And fourth, if you're participating by phone, press star nine to
raise your hand and star six to unmute let's look at our schedule for this afternoon number one
and number two together mi 2024 002 704 225 west seymour street and mi 2024 002 714
227 and West Seymour Street.
Both cases are continued.
Attorney moving party.
Mr. Chair, Mr. Ward is also here
if you'd like to speak with him.
Sure, you can bring him.
Sure, we'll gladly talk.
Mr. Ward?
Can you hear me now?
I can.
Mr. Ward, I'm not swearing you in or anything in that nature because you're not giving us
testimony.
We all want to make sure that you're feeling better.
I want to thank you so much for the board's patience and courtesies.
I am feeling a lot better.
And now it's just a matter of playing catch up on RCO meetings to prepare for you folks.
But I really, you know, from my heart, no pun intended, I appreciate it.
But we're glad you're feeling well.
We're glad you're feeling well.
And I would tell you, your biggest cheerleader is Cheryl.
Hear me.
Your biggest cheerleader sitting next to me is Cheryl.
Oh, thank you, Cheryl.
And my wife's name is Cheryl.
So I got Cheryl's to the right of me.
Cheryl's to the left of me.
Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ward.
I really appreciate it.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
Be well.
Have a good night.
Okay, number four, MI 2025, 000943, 3210 North Fish Street, MGS Real Estate Investment, listed owner, Bria Kennedy is the DBA, no exhibits, this is a second listing.
Do we see any hands?
This is Jason Hand. I will be your calls for the session. I do not see any hands raised for the matter.
thank you this is the second listing uh we still do not have any exhibits
Thank you. This is the second listing. We still do not have any exhibits.
so mi 2025 000 943 3210 north fish street i vote to dismiss michael johns my vote is to dismiss
So, MI20.
cheryl gaston my vote is to dismiss tenetta graham my vote is to dismiss ryan mcadams my vote is to
dismiss my vote is to dismiss thank you so number three mi2024
zero zero five nine six four fourteen forty four north second street this case has been withdrawn
number five mi2025 000 972 5200 calmly street zenjin is the attorney
good afternoon uh counsel you've already been sworn just for the record state your name
zen jen z-h-e-n-j-i-n right could you identify your client in relationship to the property
yes uh my client's metro commercial uh recycling uh they're the tenant of the property and the
operator of the business. All right. And there's a letter of unanimous non-opposition from
Wissenoming Civic Association. Our vice chair has a few questions. Good evening. Have you submitted
your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing? Yes. And do you waive the reading
of the refusals and stipulate to their accuracy? I do. All right. Thank you. You can share your
screen and proceed with your case. Thank you. I'm going to share with the board what was previously
submitted with this matter it should be the refusal that is coming up on the screen
so if the board can see my exhibit thank you the refusal in this matter is for an application for
use as a waste handling recycling and junk and salvage yard in the property with other existing
uses. This property is actually a very large property that is in a I3 industrial district.
My client is a tenant that owns one portion that is currently a open concrete platform.
And the use here specifically is for recycling. Essentially, my client has other operations that
brings in paper plastic and aluminum recycling pieces the space here the proposed use is to
use it to sort and recycle the materials and then they will be shipped out per requirements to get
them properly recycled and refurbished so the actual use of the location would be limited to
sorting and recycling of these particular materials when we met with the community
the community issued a non-opposition particularly because what's surrounding this particular
property we actually have a metal scrap yard in on the one side of our our property we have a
mechanic truck repairs shop on another part of this property so this space being kind of one
piece of a large space that is away from the residents nearby do not cause any negative
impacts to the neighbors nearby because of this because the way the property is situated and
and where the recycling is gonna take place.
The community felt that there would be
nothing really noticeable from the street
of what's being done there.
Also, because it's really not a salvage yard.
We're not taking in junk cars.
We're not doing anything like that.
This is purely gonna be recycling.
That would not pose a health risk and danger to the community
from the community's point of view as well.
As you can see, there are parking.
in fact on the site both off street and on street for the most part more than sufficient for the
purpose of the various businesses that already operate there so the community does not feel
there's an impact to parking from the lack of off-street parking that is included in the site
itself the other businesses nearby have again trucks that bring materials there the shipping
the streets are capable of supporting the trucks coming in and out so there are no impacts there
from the recycling use based on what has been already provided at the location so this location
again you can see they're off street parking here on the plants already they are all part
They are all part of this overall space.
of this overall space what we're using
What we're using and what we're planning to do is to have the current concrete platform essentially enclosed so that the recycling operation will be done under a cover and protected from the elements.
is it?
The ramps, parking, access, everything's existing.
There's no changes to the design of the property otherwise.
And as a result, and given that this is a heavily industrial area with uses that are
even more industrial, heavy industrial nature than what we're proposing, we believe that
this would not be a use that's inconsistent with the existing uses in the area.
And as a result of all those points, we would ask for the board's favorable review of this application.
My client is here to verify my testimony, and I'm happy to answer any questions from the board.
Why don't you bring your client on first?
Vak, can you please raise your hand to be identified?
How long has he been in business there, Zen?
well the he has uh the the uh mechanical repair business as well which is and also a trash uh
business metro metro waste yeah so uh so yeah so he's been business in the area for i'm there you
go um but can you please uh tell the board first state your name and spell for this tonographer
Vaktangi Mulazi. V-A-K-H-T-A-N-G-I. That's my first name and the last name M-U-L-A-D-Z-E.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Counsel.
Thank you. Can you answer the chair's last question? How long have your business been in that area?
Since 2020, about this is our sixth year. So, yeah, six years. No, five years, sixth year.
Thank you. And did you see my presentation on the screen and also hear my representation to
the zoning board? Yes. Yes, I did. Can you verify what I have represented is true and correct
and adopted it as your own testimony? Yes, it is. Thank you. You're welcome.
questions from the board
what are what's your
how do you deal with the trash
around the site
we don't we don't have any
it's to me
the question is to me
yes yes
we don't bring any trash here we dump all
our trash at waste management
transfer station or
revolt transfer station
or Revolution Recovery Transportation, we do not bring any trash here
because the trucks are dumping at the end of the day every day,
and our accounts are syrup with those companies.
So what we are looking to do with this facility is we also have some customers
that generate clean cardboard and some paper material and some plastic,
And those are the material that we're trying to provide our customers with a different container to bring it and, you know, bale it.
Like this place here before us, before they had fire, used to be a Fessmeyer hauling company.
So they used to bale cardboard and plastic and aluminum because they used to work with Lowe's and companies.
And they would bring their recycling.
And that's what they used to do for the last 22 years.
So basically, we're trying to do the same thing.
So what we're trying to do is pull out of material, like provide the customers with the different containers for like a paper product and cardboard and anything that's recyclable, basically.
Everything other than trash.
Trash goes to transfer stations and the landfill.
So we have like five different sites that we bring the trash to.
is your location in there a specific site at the location no basically this is the whole thing
it's the entire address for 5200 common yes yes all right other questions
questions from our attorney hillary emerson um just to just to clarify the
So this use is on a property that already has other uses or businesses with the same tenant.
so this so this uses on a property that already has other uses
Is that correct?
Or is this a new, this is a separate property from his other businesses?
So the overall owner actually owns multiple addresses surrounding this property.
And they each have their own individual use.
So for this address, it'll be this particular use.
All right.
I wasn't, yeah, I wasn't clear from the plan.
Thank you.
Thank you.
to comments from the virtual audience
i do not see any hands mr chair planning commission amy boyd with the planning
commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change in zoning from the current i3 heavy
industrial the appellant has not shown that there are unique physical conditions or circumstances
of the property that would prevent it from being used in conformance with the zoning code
the planning commission recommends that the board deny their requested variances for junkyard and
parking mi 2025 000 972 5200 calmly i vote yes michael johns my vote cheryl yeah i didn't either
can you repeat your vote it got cut off oh oh yeah my michael johns my vote is yes
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes
I am when my vote is yes
Thank you, counsel
Thank you, have a good evening
Is there anyone in the 3.30 list whose case has not been cool?
I do not send your hands, Mr. Chair
I want to thank everybody
Especially the fact that I have to go somewhere downtown here tonight at 7 o'clock
And now I have to go and sit somewhere and just hide, okay?
so i want to thank you all for going so quick good night everybody good night everyone good night
good night take care