All right. So I'm here to present 16 South 51st Street.
What we're trying to do here is make this into visitor accommodations.
It's currently a two-family dwelling. It's an RM1 property.
What we would ask that if the board feels so inclined to grant this variance,
that there would be a proviso stating two units, maximum two units, because there's two units in
this proposed visitor accommodation dwelling. So during our presentation, we'll first review
the notice of refusal, then a letter of support from the Walnut Hill Community Association and
Coordinating RCO. The members of the community in attendance voted unanimously in support of this
matter. We also have even another letter from another RCO in support. Given my client's
longstanding history of good use of this property as a two-family dwelling and that she's a
commercial operator as well in this community, we would ask that the board grant a five-year
temporary variance, giving her longstanding reputation and community. We also have a petition
that's pretty extensive as well. And we'll review that as well. My client tried to use this for
long-term accommodations and was very unsuccessful finding good tenants that would stay. And it's not
uncommon to have Airbnbs here. And we'll show you some of the Airbnb listings nearby. We're also
near public transportation, which is very helpful in terms of Airbnb use.
We do have a rental license for the two unit dwelling just to show that my client always tries to do things the right way,
including obviously seeking the board's approval to allow her to use it for Airbnb or visitor accommodations.
Maps to the area. Again, this is an RM1 property.
Given the size, the lot, we can actually have four units here.
My client does not want to go through a massive construction project, and we're just asking to allow her to have short-term accommodations for the two units.
Photographs of the property in the surrounding area.
In her photographs, you'll see that she takes very good care of the property inside and out.
Her plans and drawings, just simple floor plans.
There's an entrance for each of the units, an exterior entrance, so that's a good use of the property.
Our RCO meeting notice, again, we had a well-attended meeting.
Everyone who attended the meeting as a community member voted in support of this project.
Our applications for appeal that we filed to the ZBA, our deed to the property, showing that Kamara is the owner of the property and her personal name.
And then finally, the certificate of tax clearance, showing that she's in good standing with regards to real estate taxes.
Notice of refusal.
So again, this is an RM1 property.
So four units is technically allowed as a right, but currently this is a two-family dwelling.
We met with the community.
Again, as you can see, 10 people from the community voted in favor, zero against, and then their zoning board voted three to one in favor as well.
It was a very well-attended meeting.
And then in addition to coordinating RCO writing a letter of support, the West Philadelphia Economic Development Council also independently wrote a letter of support for this project.
And then my client did an extensive petition of surrounding properties.
Here she is, you know, on the corner of 51st and Ludlow, but you can see all these properties nearby within essentially a one-block radius signed letters in support of this proposed visitor accommodation use.
And then this is the signatures along with their information.
And then nearby Airbnb listings. So it's not out of character to have Airbnb listings nearby. Here we are, corner 51st and well, and there's probably almost a dozen instances within a two block radius of similar Airbnb use.
And then nearby Airbnb listings, so it's not out of character.
And then rental license, again, just to show that my client is doing everything the right way, even though it's an RM1 property, you still need to get a rental license, and she has an active one.
And then maps of the area, again, we are an RM1 property, given the size of a lot, which is 1,507 square feet.
We could technically have four residential units.
We just want to keep the two residential units that are there.
We just want them as short-term accommodations.
And then, again, when we're near Commercial Corridor 2 on Market Street, near Subway Station, as well as multiple bus lines as well.
Photographs of the property. Here's the entrance to one of the, for the upper level unit.
And then here's the entrance to the lower level unit. Again, everything above grade.
are orange notice posters on each public street showing that we properly posted the property for
today's hearing. 51st Street to the right of the property, to the left of the property,
Ludlow to the right of the property, and to the left of the property. And my client really takes
great pride in keeping the property in nice condition. So unit number one is a four-bedroom,
three bath and unit, which is really nice.
And then unit number two is just a studio.
And then we did simple floor plans to kind of, again, they're not perfect.
and not to scale but we try to like help you understand you know what you're seeing here from
the pictures so again not architects here we try our best though um you saw that that side door
that was um on Ludlow um this is you know that side door you have a kitchen a living room and
a bedroom and they have a bathroom you have trash stored here um you know then you flow 51st street
upper steps. The first floor, again, open floor plan, living room, dining room, kitchen, go up a
flight of steps. There's three bedrooms on this floor, and then the third floor would be another
bedroom. Then we met with the community on October 15th at 7 p.m. We emailed what we mailed out
to the community, to the coordinating RCOs, RCO and relevant parties, we mailed that notice to
148 addresses. This is the list of addresses. This is proof of mailing to those addresses.
Our application for appeal that we filed on behalf of a corporate client,
along with the notice of refusal on the project information form,
deeds of property, showing that Hewitt Realty LLC is the owner of the property,
and then finally certificate of tax clearance showing that they owe no real estate taxes to
the city of philadelphia as it pertains to this property uh with that being said i'll share my
screen we can always go back to it i would ask uh that camara uh virtually raised her hand
and be sworn in and i'll have a few questions for her
they've been allowed to speak
okay do you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
kamara machu k-a-m-a-r-a-m-e-h-c-h-u
they're affirmed to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do please proceed council oh yeah kamara you heard everything i had to state today about
or is there any matter yes is it true and correct yes and do you adopt as your own testimony yes
thank you mr knockamson how long has she had the property and been running it in this way
oh she hasn't she's owned okay since 2018 um and it's headlong she's owned it and run it as a two
unit dwelling for long-term accommodations she's looking to make it for short-term accommodations
and we're hoping to have a five-year temporary variance given her long-standing good use of
the property as well as her being a commercial operator that's well known in the community
for a different property questions or comments from the board question
for a different property questions or comments from the board question the the uh rco meeting
what was the outcome again uh it was 10 people the 10 community members that voted was 10-0 in favor
okay and do you had what about the uh directly adjacent neighbors were they present um i have to
see i have to see like the petition um uh i think let me let's just go over the petition
let's see why don't you show the but why don't you put the map up with the petition
yeah let's just look at the petition and see what we have here
was there council support or no opposition
we have not received anything from council with regards to this matter
so it looks like our it may not be next door but two doors down on 51st street and right behind us
on ludlow but you can see we try to stay within a one block radius of the property that means a
little bit scattered here, but for the most part here, you have a ton of support.
Question, is this your client's first time doing Airbnbs?
I do believe she may have another operation, but I would ask, Kamara, do you have any other
Airbnb properties in the city of Philadelphia? No, I have done it before the pandemic. So before
this was required as far as getting a license and everything like that at another property.
So just wondering why you feel like five years, the goal for the five years,
instead of a little bit less, if you haven't had experience writing this out as an Airbnb yet.
Well, the reason why I'm asking for it, board member Graham, the reason why I'm asking for it
is typically I know this board's more inclined to grant three years. It's a very expensive process
and time-consuming process.
And again, given the support that she received
from the community
and her longstanding relationship within the community,
I would ask that the board consider granting
a greater variance or temporary variance of five years.
If the board, again, feels that it's more appropriate
to do the more typical three-year temporary variance,
we would obviously appreciate that as well.
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
Are the adjacent properties, are they multifamily or single family dwellings?
Kamara, can you answer?
There are in one.
I don't know how they're being used.
I know how we're being used.
So they're all RM1?
If you go, oops, the other way.
We're RM1.
we're also like a half a block away from market street where you see a lot of cmx two and a half
and such so we're at the corner of low low and 51st gotcha okay questions or comments from our
attorney hillary emerson um just briefly um mr knockerson and if you mentioned this before i
apologize that i missed it so it's my understanding this is currently a two-unit dwelling and the
the request is to change the use for both of the units to visitor accommodations?
That is correct.
And given some of the issues we've had with permitting after the board has granted variances,
I think it would be helpful to show L&I and confirm that both of those units are being used as visitor accommodations.
That's why I'm asking for proviso for both units.
I mean, it is my understanding still that we shouldn't need to do that.
But I mean, I know what I know you've you've been you've been dealing with, Mr.
Chair, in this in this particular case, if you would if you would like to, you can add a proviso just indicating, you know, use of you supplies to both both existing dwelling units.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
i see no further hands mr chair unique commission
amy boyd with the planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change in
zoning at this location from the existing residential multifamily rm1 the appellant
has not demonstrated that there are unique physical conditions or circumstances that
would prevent the property from being used in conformance of the zoning code the planning
Commission recommends that the Board deny the requested variance for visitor accommodation.
MI 2024-005-634-16 South 51st Street.
MI 2024-005-634-6346
I vote yes.
Temporary variance expires 11-21-28.
Also, use applies to both properties.
Both units.
Both units, Mr. Chair.
Both units.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes with provisor.
Sheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with provisos.
Tannetta Graham, my vote is yes with provisos.
Iowan, my vote is yes with provisos.
Number 10, MI 2024-005642-4401 Holden Street.
Meredith Trego is the attorney.
Letter from Pautens, Saunders, RCO, describing no position indicated.
Councilmember Gauthier has taken a position of support.
Michael Johns will recuse himself for this particular case.
all right council could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer yes
good afternoon chairman and members of the board my name is meredith trego that's t-r-e-g-o
with ballard spar at 1735 market street 51st floor i'm here with my colleague matthew mclure
M-C-C-L-U-R-E as well.
Fair or firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client in the relationship to the property?
We are here on behalf of West Park Community Partners, who is the applicant for the project
at 4401 Holden Street.
They have a pre-development agreement and option to lease with the Philadelphia Housing
Authority, who currently owns the property.
Could you relate to the reading of the refusals and agree with their accuracy?
I do. Proceed. Thank you. Like I said, my name is Meredith Trego from Ballard's Bar here with my colleague, Matt McClure. We're here on behalf of the West Park Community Partners, the applicant for the project at 4401 Holden Street.
This is a public-private partnership between West Park Community Partners, which consists of LMXD and M-squared, along with PHA, and involves significant coordination with the City of Philadelphia.
Could you start sharing your screen, please?
I'm sorry.
That's okay.
Excuse me, could Matt McClure be elevated to a panelist as well?
Thank you.
Can everyone see my screen?
We can.
Great. Thank you.
This is a public-private partnership between West Park Community Partners and PHA.
It involves significant coordination with the City of Philadelphia.
And the project that we're talking about today will be one of the largest mixed-income communities in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania once complete.
I'm also here with our project team, including Drew Kometz, our architect with Erty McHenry Architects, and our engineer, Dan Slavin, with Langen Engineers.
We have submitted all of our required exhibits, including our proof of neighbor notices, tax clearance certifications, and we've also included a letter from the West Palton Saunders Park RCO, and we understand that the council person's office has provided a letter of support to the board as well.
um we're here today with a request for a minor variance for placement of the property's proposed
new buildings which will be set back from the market street street line the transit oriented
development overlay which we are in requires all new buildings to be located at the street line
at ground level of the primary street frontage and in this case due to circumstances that we'll
discuss, Market Street was selected by the Planning Commission as the primary street frontage.
And as we will show, due to the very limited amount of frontage on Market Street, it would
be physically impossible to locate all of the buildings proposed at this Market Street
street line.
And primarily, as we'll get into, that's due to the elevated Market Frankfurt line, which