I've made four visits by the subject property on Friday, 1113 and Tuesday, 1117.
Identify the property, please.
Subject property is 5909 Elmwood Avenue, MI 2020-001-222.
There is no zoning notice visible from the street.
And in speaking with Ann Brown, the ward leader for 40B,
she believes that her constituents in that division would be opposition to this
excuse me excuse me this is Sharon Saleta I also have no record of having received exhibits on this
case all right hold on one minute Mr. Melodosian yes sir I see that Mr. Beller is listed as the
attorney is joe beller on actually no chair he's listed as the appellate just for the
applicant for the case oh yeah so he made the application but in my experience he would not
be presenting whomever takes over however we would have to contact them directly because it
It could be that the attorney's office is not aware that this was a case under him.
Okay, thank you. All right, Mr. Melodosian, we don't have any exhibits anyway, so this case is going to be continued.
Okay, thank you.
All right, Mr. Melodosian, we don't have any.
Thank you very much.
Thank you. MI 2020-001222, 5909 Elmwood Avenue is continued.
Chair, we have one more hand, Mr. Charles Richardson.
Good morning, Mr. Richardson. Please identify yourself for the record and I'll swear you in.
good morning mr chair charles richardson from the office of councilwoman cindy bass room 312 city hall
we're going to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do okay what case are
you calling about mi 2020 001 200 1127 west winga hocking street uh i am aware that the uh applicant
has had a very difficult time trying to get an RCO meeting because the Logan Civic Association
opted not to do any RCO meetings after they had been assigned to them. We've been working with
planning and we do have an RCO that's nearby that will be willing to do an RCO meeting for them,
the Logan Community Enterprise Center. I was wondering if Mr. Anastasio is on the line
And, you know, we get to ask for continuance or if he wants to do a hear and hold or something along those lines.
But we definitely want to be able to hook them up with the Logan Community Enterprise Center.
Thank you. Is Mr. Anastasio on?
Yes, he's available.
Mr. Anastasio, please identify yourself for the record, spell your name, and I'll swear you in.
Good morning, Mr. Chairman. Vern Anastasio, A-N-A-S-T-A-S-I-O, 1315 Walnut Street, Suite
1006, Philadelphia, 19107.
We're in the firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
You've heard the request from Mr. Richardson on behalf of Councilwoman Bass?
Yes, I have. And he's right. We've had a heck of a time trying to get an RCO meeting together.
I have also had my office email Mr. Richardson and Mr. Barge.
This is the first that I'm hearing that there's an effort being made to have a meeting.
And I'm certainly willing to go ahead with that.
I would respectfully request, given the amount of time that has passed in trying to get something together with the community, that we do do a hearing hold if everybody's okay with that.
Okay, it'll be a resumption hearing.
Mr. Richardson?
I'm sorry.
Yes, Tanya. I thought we were no longer doing those. If he wants, I could work with him to schedule him.
We're not doing resumptions. Well, I thought we were no longer going to do the hearing resumption.
Oh, OK. I'm sorry. I think that we will be doing them only in cases where there's something minor that we're waiting for.
OK, not in cases where there has been no RCO meeting yet.
All right. Understood. All right. So Vern, we're going to get you a hearing ASAP. All right.
Yes, sir.
We'll continue and go from there. Mr. Richardson, we'll continue the case and we'll try to get a hearing.
Tanya will do our best to get a hearing as soon as possible.
Yeah, I'll take care of Vern. No problem.
Thank you, Ms. Sutherland.
Thank you. MI 2020-001200, 1127 West Wing of Hawkins Street is continued.
Any other requests?
No hands, Chair.
Okay, with that, we'll begin our hearings.
Before we do, we have a couple of some unfinished business on the delay list.
Calendar number 36463, 1706 North 2nd Street.
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
Thank you. We have two other requests for rehearing MI 2020-00106760 North 23rd Street. My vote is yes to rehearing reconsideration and rehearing.
thank you I got stuck yes yes to reconsideration and rehearing yes to reconsideration and rehearing
thank you the next one MI 2020 that's 000673332 West Wildey or Wildey Street my vote is yes to
reconsideration and rehearing yes to reconsideration and rehearing yes to reconsideration and rehearing
Yes, to reconsideration and rehearing.
Yes, to reconsideration and rehearing.
Yes, to reconsideration and rehearing.
Thank you all.
Okay, we can proceed with our first case, MI 2020-001223, 1220 South 27th Street.
The attorney is Henry Clinton.
Good morning, Mr. Clinton.
Please identify yourself and we'll swear you in.
Good morning, Mr. Chairman, members of the board. Henry Clinton, 1313 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia PA, 19146.
Thank you. Swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Thank you. Madam Vice Chair.
I'm sorry. Could we give it one minute?
And something's wrong with your audio.
My audio?
No, Ms. Keisha.
oh sorry all right no it's not doing good
okay we're ready uh miss sonka can i share okay so so you've put your name and address on the
record you're sworn in yes mr clinton and do you agree to wave and stick yes i do have you
emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents, which include proof of ownership,
tax compliance, a copy of the refusal or referral, photos and plans of the property five days in
advance of this hearing, and have you met with the RCO, and do you have a letter? Yes, I do,
Mr. Nairn. Thank you. You may proceed. Is this large enough my exhibit? Yes. Okay. Good morning,
Mr. Chairman, members of the board. Henry Clinton on behalf of 1220 South 27th Street, LLC.
The principal of that LLC is on the call with us. This is a property at the corner of 27th and
Oakford Street. There's already a zoning permit in hand for commercial on the first and two units
above. The request is to do away with the commercial and just to down zone it to two units.
That's a quick summary of the case. Here's a table of contents, AA through A11, all my exhibits.
Appearance statement. This is the refusal. This is a CMX2 zone. All the properties on this block,
however, are residential except for one corner store. And again, this is a request to down zone
from an existing commercial unit on the first floor and two units above. And the refusal indicates
that in the CMX2 zone, you have to have commercial along the ground floor within the first 30 feet
of the building depth. So we're looking to do away with that. We have a letter of support
from the residents organized for advocacy and direction. It's a recognized RCO in the
Grace Ferry neighborhood. They are supporting this project.
Photos. This is looking south on 27th street. The property is currently a vacant lot. You can see
this is a residential single family. This is residential here. There's a corner store
all residences here on the entire block.
An aerial view, just to give you some perspective,
this is Grace Ferry Avenue, we're looking west.
This is Diamond Tool, this is 27th Street,
and this is the corner property here at 27th.
I said Oakford to Main Street here,
the small street is Ingram Street,
so it's really at the corner of 27th and Ingram Street.
A closer view of the existing lot.
These are the proviso forms in the event
that the board votes in favor of this project.
It would be one page sheet Z1 to be stamped.
Here are the plans.
This is the plan for the property.
It will be a residential unit on the basement of first floor,
another unit on the second and third floor.
And again, not to keep beating the drum,
but the commercial space on the first floor
is not really viable on this block.
The commercial corridor is on Washington Avenue, which is two blocks away from this property.
And in the midst of this pandemic, a commercial setting in this venue really is not going to make it.
And that's been confirmed with contacts with several commercial brokers.
This is a side view on Ingram Street.
There will be an entrance on the side as well as an entrance on the front.
these are the floor plans lower floor basement
these are the floor plans lower floor basement of first is one unit second and third is another
unit rooftop deck set back appropriately from all sides there's no request here for any relief with
regard to height open space or rear yard and what i wanted to show the the board besides the deed and
all the insular information here's a tax certification is the actual there's our mailings
but here's the actual permit that is in play now indicating two-family household with commercial
space so again our hardship is that the commercial space in this residential setting is really not
warranted commercial corridors on washington avenue and it's really a decrease in density
which the community supports i don't know if there's any questions from the board but i'd
like to have uh mark clinton uh unmute it and then he can adopt my testimony
Mark, are you on the line?
Can you unmute Mark Clinton?
if we're unable to get him uh as an officer
okay okay good afternoon good morning sir please identify yourself with the record spell your name
my name is mark clinton last name spelled c-l-i-n-t-o-n we're going to affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes thank you henry uh mr clinton have you heard
my testimony yes you had the opportunity to testify would you adopt my testimony as your
own and as true and correct yes thank you uh i ask that my exhibits be admitted into evidence
thank you any questions from the board no no no anyone else would like to testify in this case
If so, please raise your hand.
No hands at this time, Chair.
Thank you. Planning Commission?
Hi, I'm Paula Brumbelow-Burns with the City Planning Commission.
Just spell your name for the stenographer.
B-U-R-N-S.
We're infirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed.
we have no objection to the removing of the commercial space at this location
thank you mi 2020-001223 1220 south 27th street my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes
my vote is yes thank you thank you very much mr chairman member of the board have a good day my
mi2020-001221-1357 is a diary how do you pronounce that dryer dryry diary dire i guess
street mr anastasio i believe is representing the appellant
to come back in as a panel
The Laquishas.
Whoever was just speaking, you're breaking up.
Good morning, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
I call it Dyer Street for what it's worth.
fact. Okay. Name and address for the record, Vern. Vern Anastasio, A-N-A-S-T-A-S-I-O, 1315
Walnut Street, Suite 1006 Philadelphia, 19107. Thank you. He's already under oath. He's already
on. I didn't mean to interrupt. He's under oath. It's okay. Do you agree to waive and stip? I do.
And have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents consisting of
proof of ownership proof of tax compliance refusal referral photos and plans of the property five
days in advance of the hearing and have you met with the rco and do you have a letter yes yes and
yes okay okay okay you may proceed thank you i'm gonna share my screen
I'm going to share my screen.
Thank you.
All right, Mr. Chairman, members of the board, this is 1357 Dyer Street.
I represent Mr. Jamal Hicks, who is the recent owner of the property.
The property was marketed and sold to Mr. Hicks as a three-family dwelling.
As you can see, this is an older photo.
It had three mailboxes. It has three separate entrances. There is a walkout basement apartment, a first floor apartment, and a second floor apartment. The property has had for quite some time separate.
New. That's new.
this here
this here my client did not bought this with all of this here all three
gas meters and three hot water heaters all were in the property at the time of purchase
now let's walk through the plans
as you can see here this is the basement apartment
with kitchen utilities bath bedroom two bedrooms and a living room
and it's accessed by the side and then we have the first floor apartment
which is a one a two bedroom and a two bedroom on the third floor we met with the community group
and let's see here
i'm going to i'm going to stop sharing that document i'm going to
the frankfurt neighborhood advisory committee we met with them and they issued an october 9th
2020 letter uh where they in fact um approve our request provided that we meet all building code
requirements for the three-family dwelling it was very well attended uh and i believe slone folks
has been copied on this letter as well from mr blackburn and mr garland with that i'd like to
have my client raise his hand for to be recognized. Mr. Hicks, you can unmute. Okay, I'm here. Thank
you. Good. Good morning, Mr. Hicks. Please identify yourself with a record name and address
and I'll swear you in. Jamal Hicks, last name spelled H-I-C-K-S. My address is 2500 Hillcrest