We're not opposed to the third story.
And the one that we were opposed to the fourth, they have found a way to build the fourth despite our opposition to it.
We feel that these buildings are detrimental to our neighborhood and the fact that so many different designs of them are coming around and affecting the aesthetic beauty of our neighborhood.
and uh we we don't mind a third story she said she needed it for uh her expanding family what
we are opposed to was the fourth because there's not living hoarders up there that is just something
for them to entertain and we are we live in the graduate hospital area the number of housing
that we have that are two-story or numerous and with this uh ability to build a third
uh we cannot stop that we're not trying to it's the fourth story that we would in the future
likely not to consider because uh it's not living quarters it's just for something for aesthetic
beauty uh what they consider aesthetic beauty we're hoping to uh curve the additions of these
for fourth floors because it's killing our ability to keep our seniors and our middle
class people in the area. Many of these buildings are being sold now to developers who are only
seeking to increase the height so that they can add more value to the house, but it's
putting out our middle class and our senior citizens. So as I said, we're not opposed
to the third floor and we can't stop in this particular case the fourth floor because they
are within the right of 38 feet but we'd like for uh you in the future to uh look at these things
more carefully and uh help us to retain our middle class and our senior citizens who live
in our area who are now being pushed out thank you thank you very much for your um for your time
and calling us we appreciate it um mr orphanages you want to respond before i go planning yeah i
mean just a first couple things first again the fourth floor i appreciate um you know i've worked
with miss uh chicago for a long time and uh there's um you know a lot of respect for her and what
she's done in the neighborhood and i understand her concerns um in this case first of all it's
not a developer. First of all, now with the height being reduced, the fourth floor is not before this
board, the issue of the fourth floor. This is not a developer developing this property. It's a
homeowner. She did reference the homeowner's personal needs. And while I wouldn't present
that to the zoning board, it's not a basis for the granting of a variance. It is a reason here.
It's not to increase the value of the property to then flip it, and she's made a sacrifice by maintaining the lower floor-to-ceiling heights at the lower level to create, have the opportunity for this space, this additional story above the fourth floor.
With that being said, and looking at the floor plans again, you know, that staircase is going to come up into the master bedroom and then go on up to the upper floor.
That space is, it's not entertaining space, it's personal space.
It would have been great if the basement could be finished, you know, to maybe to provide that, although it'd be completely below grade and very dark.
this is going to be a very nice light um positive space but it's it's not you know you're generally
not going to bring guests you know traipsing through your bedroom to get to this this area
up here um and then if you look at the existing photographs uh where do I
And then if you look at the existing photographs, where do I have them?
I mean, you can see, I mean, the ground floor is just, it's just not, it's not, it's not very big.
I mean, here's in the back and here's the front.
So there's just, I mean, these buildings are very small.
Again, I lived in two of them in this neighborhood over the years.
And, you know, it's very difficult, particularly as you grow a family.
And I think we want families to stay here in Philadelphia and not to move out as soon as they have kids.
And I think this is a great opportunity.
Again, the fourth floor, she's not extending it back as far as she could, as far as the depth of the structure.
She's not extending the fourth floor forward.
I mean, even by right, she could bring this up another, like I said, what is it? Nine and nine feet, five inches to bring it closer to Cater Street.
And she's not. She's keeping it back away from Cater Street, not extending even as far back as she could to impact if there's any going to be any impact upon the properties to the south of her on the north side of Bainbridge.
So for those reasons, you know, it's, I mean, it's, even though we're not even looking for
a variance for the fourth floor, it's incredibly de minimis.
She's not trying to be greedy here and take every square inch that she could possibly
It's very tastefully done.
I think you would, most would agree, hopefully you will agree that when you look at this
rendering, particularly when you compare it to what might be done, you know, by maybe
some other developer, even if they don't get the variance, but even as a matter of
right just to maximize if they were not to increase the floor to ceiling heights at the
first or second floor and keep them a little lower at the third and fourth floor just to get the
square footage that's going to show up on Zillow or wherever. I think that what we're proposing
here is much more tastefully done than what could be and what the concerns are. I understand the
concerns, but those concerns do not apply in this situation. Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chairman, and good morning. David Vecto, 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 appellant's proposal for not
setting the third floor back from the front edge of the property is in keeping with the character
of the block the city planning commission recommends that the board grant a proposed
dimensional variance from the required eight foot setback at the third floor excuse me mr chair
yes sorry there was one more uh hand raised it was sure sure
hi could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer yes good morning mr chairman my
My name is Brianna Wakefield, B-R-I-O-N-N-A, last name Wakefield, W-A-K-E-F-I-E-L-D.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I work for Council President Kenyatta Johnson, and he does not oppose this property at all.
Thank you very much for your call.
We appreciate your time.
Thank you.
David, did you finish?
Yes, I'm done, unless there are any other questions.
No, no, no.
Planning, planning, planning.
Yes, sir.
Yes, sir.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Right.
So MI 2024.
One comment, though, just a point of clarification.
The plan doesn't show that you have to walk through a bedroom to get to that fourth floor.
Just a point of clarification.
You are correct.
Sorry about that.
All right, so MI 2024-004-384-1918 Cater Street, I vote yes with Proviso.
Revised plans, one page, stamped by ZBA on November 20th, 2024.
Michael Johnson, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Tynetta Graham, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Iowan, my vote is yes with Proviso.
We have the vote. Is Cheryl on? Okay. Counsel, you have your votes.
I'm sorry, Mr. Chairman.
Oh, sure, sure, sure.
My vote is yes with provisional.
Thank you very much. Thank you, counsel.
Thank you. May be excused.
You can.
Thank you.
Is there anyone in the virtual audience whose case has not been called?
no hands mr chairman thank you very much okay
No, it's Mr. Chair. Thank you very much. Okay. Thanks everyone. See everyone at 2 PM. Thank you all.
Thank you.
Everyone, my name is. Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this afternoon's meetings.
I have an announcement first, beginning with the December 4th hearings, any documents or other information that parties wish to submit the ZBA for hearing?
must be submitted through the ZBA's new online upload tool, ZBA Case Document Submission.
Information about how to access and use the submission tool will be included with hearing notices and zoning posters.
Please note that the applicant documents are due five calendar days prior to the hearing.
Documents submitted by any other party should be submitted at least 48 hours prior to the hearing
to allow sufficient time for processing.
In addition, the following information should continue to be submitted through email and not through the uploaded tool.
Request for continuance, withdrawals, reconsiderations, amended refusals, as well as requests by attorneys to enter or withdraw appearance.
If you have any questions about the ZBA case document submission tool, contact RCOZBA at phil.gov.
With me today is our board member, Cheryl L. Gaston, present Mr. Chairman, our board member, Tenetta Graham, present Mr. Chairman, our board member, Michael Johns, our board member, Taya Nguyen, I believe Taya is here.
Oh, good. Thank you very much. Also, here is Hillary Emerson, our attorney, and our executive director, Ann Haggerty.
These proceedings are being recorded. With your participation, you agree to be recorded.
The video will be available by contacting ZBAexecutiveDirector at phila.gov.
For our court stenographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying.
If you're participating by phone, press star nine to raise your hand and star six to unmute.
200 appearance statement call 267-270-5548.
Leave your email address and the address of the property in question.
And the question answer box on the screen is not for testimony.
All questions should be directed to ZBA executive director at phil.gov.
Let's look at our schedule for this afternoon.
Number one, MI-2023-006-059-5604 North 5th Street. That case has been withdrawn.
Number two, MI-2024-002-258-2315 West Cumberland Street. That case has been continued.
Number three, MI 2024-005-135-2401 North 32nd Street. That case has been continued.
Number four, MI 2024-005-385-116 South 11th Street. That case has been continued.
Number 8, MI 2024-005-631-5226 Chester Avenue. That case is continued. And number 15,
MI 2024-005-928-2353-59 East Haggard Street. That case is continued. Attorney moving party.
Are there any other requests for continuances?
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair.
This is Jason Hand.
I will once again be a co-host for this session.
I have a hand up from Darwin Bowden.
They've been about to speak.
Hi, Mr. Bowden.
How are you, Mr. Chairman and members of the board?
I'm calling regarding...
Darwin, do me a favor first.
Could you state your name so I can swear you in?
I know what you're calling about.
Yes. Darwin Bovee. That's Darwin, D-A-R-W-I-N. Last name Bovee, B-E-A-U-V-A-I-S.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
Is your case 8301 Tarsdale Avenue?
Yes, it is.
And can you give us status of that case?
Yes. We're requesting a leave to amend. We're looking to update our landscaping plan.
And I think we've done it in such a way that this may not need to.
And I think we've done it in such a way that this may not need to go before the board.
So this, but particularly I am requesting that the board staff look into some sort of nuance because we received approval from the board on November 13th.
However, LNI is still saying that the ZBA has to do something internally in order for our request to be recognized by them.
Mr. Bouvet, this is Hillary. I did receive your email. I will respond. I think there's a little bit of confusion here with what's going on because you're requesting to make changes that would eliminate refusals and have the permit issued by right.
So I think there's I think there's just confusion between the in the amendment process versus the permit issuance process.
So I will I will respond.
So, Darwin, this case is continued. So you're saying to continue this case?
They continue to make a moving party because we did.
Yeah, we did request to leave to amend.
All right. Very good. Very good. Thank you.
MI 2024-005-729-8301-Tarsdale, Cases Continued, Attorney Moving Party.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
We're going to go to our add-on list.
number one mi2024 001 167 1333 south 9th street i vote yes to reconsideration and rehearing
a vote yes to reconsideration and re-hearings uh cheryl gaston my vote is yes to reconsideration
and rehearing no i'm sorry uh my vote is just to reconsideration and rehearing iowen my vote
is yes to reconsideration and rehearing. Number two, MI 2024, 001-511-1601 North 27th Street,
I vote no to reconsideration and rehearing. Barbara Johns, I vote no to reconsideration
and rehearing. Cheryl Gaston, my vote is no to reconsideration and rehearing.
Snedda Graham, my vote is no for reconsideration and rehearing.
Tywin, my vote is no for reconsideration and rehearing.
Number three, MI 2023-007-016-1750 McKean Street, I vote no to reconsideration and rehearing.
My vote is no to reconsideration and rehearing.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is no to reconsideration and rehearing.
Neda Graham, my vote is no to reconsideration and rehearing.
Tywin, my vote is no to reconsideration and rehearing.
For four, MI 2024-004-131-2520, North Front Street, TE-117074, I vote no to reconsideration and rehearing.
Michael Johnson, my vote is no to reconsideration and rehearing.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is no to reconsideration and rehearing.
Senator Graham, my vote is no to reconsideration and rehearing.
Taya Nguyen, my vote is no to reconsideration and rehearing.
Number five, MI 2024-004-350-2821 West Lehigh Avenue.
The vote in this matter has been scheduled for Wednesday, January 29th at 2 p.m.
The record will only remain open for letters from coordinating and affected RCOs, along with a response from the applicant.
Number six, MI 2024-005-511-1128 O'Neill Street.
I vote yes for temporary variance.
That expires 11-21-27.
I vote yes with proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Tywin, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Number seven, MI 2023-005-047-209 West Chestnut Hill Avenue.
I vote yes per amended refusal dated 11-3-23.