Thank you.
Thank you.
Number five, MI 2024-004-189-8244 Somerdale Avenue.
Meredith Ferliger is the attorney. There's a recommendation of support from the Braunholtz Civic Association, 32 to 4.
Meredith Ferliger has been promoted to penalist.
Mr. Chairman.
Counselor, can you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Meredith Ferliger, F-E-R-L-E-G-E-R.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
I sure do.
Could you please identify your client, a relationship to this property?
My client is officially A.G. Riverside in Philadelphia, Inc., which is the owner of the property,
but is more commonly known as the Faith and Hope Ministry.
Our vice chair has just a few questions.
I do agree to wave the reading. I do not agree to stipulate to the accuracy as I will address
during the presentation. Understood. Have you emailed them all the required documents
and exhibits as needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of the hearing?
I did. Thank you. You've already shared your screen. Please proceed.
Fantastic. Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, members of the board. The property before you today
is 8244 Somerdale Avenue in Northeast Philadelphia, more specifically the Ron Hurst
neighborhood. Today's request exclusively concerns parking and requests one minor
dimensional variance concerning the location of proposed parking in relation to this building.
The results of our community engagement are shown on the letter at Exhibit 17, as Mr. Chairman summarized at the beginning, showing that this applicant received unanimous support from the RCO board and resounding support from area residents that attended the meeting.
We did also receive a letter of non-opposition from Councilman Brian O'Neill. I did not hear whether or not you had included that on the record, but I did include that in the exhibit packet at Exhibit 17 as well.
With me today, I have Nay Vaz, who is a representative of Property Ownership and the Faith and Hope Ministry, which is the religious congregation that occupies this property.
In total, the exhibit packet that was submitted to the board contains 17 exhibits, including tax clearance at Exhibit 2 and the deed at Exhibit 3.
We do request that these exhibits be moved into evidence following conclusion of our presentation.
As shown on the zoning map on the screen at Exhibit 5, the property at 8244 Somerdale Avenue is located at the corner of Somerdale Avenue and Hofnagel Street.
The property is zoned RSA 3, as are basically every other property surrounding this, with the exception of a few that are zoned RSA 2.
although it's not necessarily entirely relevant to today's request for additional context the
board may be interested that this corner property was historically a part of a larger lot that
extended all the way back to Emerson Street but was subdivided years ago to facilitate the
construction of many single-family homes on Emerson Street and you can see those individual
lots that were created here up on this map. Aerial views are also included at Exhibit 6,
where the board will see the context of this immediate area. The property and the structure
on it have contained a religious institution for many, many, many decades, previously housing a
synagogue and since 2020 housing the Faith and Hope Ministry. The Faith and Hope Ministry serves
many Brazilian residents in the surrounding neighborhood, particularly Brazilian youth
looking for a safe and trustworthy after-school outlet. In the rear, you will see the single
family homes that were constructed when the former synagogue leaders sold off the land in the rear,
although in this view, it's to the top of the page. Directly across the street here, you'll
notice there is a large apartment complex. Since it is relevant to today's request, the board will
notice that the apartment building's parking extends all the way to the sidewalk here along
Somerdale Avenue and provides no setback. As you can see, the bulk of this neighborhood contains
mostly single-family homes, which are shown on the additional aerials. And again, this is
Hofnagel Street here. And again, looking across the street here, you have the large apartment
complex directly across the street from this particular property. When the Faith and Hope
Ministry Congregation purchased this property in 2020, they quickly discovered that on-site
parking at this location is quite difficult, which I will establish in the next couple of photographs
at Exhibit 12. I'll start first with a view from Hofnagel Street, where you'll
see the front of the building. Moving along further up Hofnagel towards Algon
Avenue, you'll see an existing paved area here to the side of the building that
has some very old striping. However, a careful look at this parking area will
reveal the various conflicts that this area has, including the long-standing existing detached
including the longstanding existing detached structure, trash storage areas, and various points of ingress and egress on this side of the building that's shown in this image.
structure
Parking in these older striped spaces requires drivers to pull in and back directly out onto the street, and not all of these spaces evenly align with the curb cut.
You can see here that the curb cut is not evenly aligned with some of these end spaces.
It's quite honestly somewhat surprising that this parking even existed, but it's been here for many, many, many decades.
For the congregation's older population, this has created considerable challenge.
If I move back up to the top of the photographs, you'll note that the congregation laid some gravel along the side of the building to assess whether this would be a feasible solution to the parking challenges that they have faced.
This instant application before the board today seeks to formalize this area as a permanent parking area that would contain a permanent curb cut and proper stripe.
I've included additional views of the property in the next couple of photographs. So again,
you can see here from the side on Somerdale Avenue, the side of the building where they are
looking to add additional parking. And again, this is looking across Hofnagel Street at the
apartment complex across the street. And that is again where we started. If I move a little
further in the photographs. This view faces all the way up towards Algon Avenue, so you can see
Algon Avenue is just over 450 feet away up at the end of Hofnagel. We did also include photos of
these zoning posters that were timely posted on the property on August 19th, and they were posted
as required on both of the frontages of this property.
This congregation was granted a zoning permit and certificate of occupancy in 2023 and 2024
for their use as religious assembly, and they're both included in the exhibits at Exhibit 10.
For full reference, we did also include a survey at Exhibit 11.
I'll point out a few measurements that are relevant to today's request.
Along Somerdale Avenue, you will see, let me zoom in a little bit so you can see these measurements,
you'll see that there's only a maximum of 33 feet from the eastern edge of the building to the property line.
At the north side, there's only about 19 feet from the edge of the building to the property line.
The right-of-way in this location is quite large and unique with a 16-foot wide sidewalk right-of-way area that includes a grass buffer on either side.
And again, you can see the measurements here on this plan that the right-of-way here is 16 feet wide, which is really quite wide in comparison.
So you'll see there's a grass area that's along the street, and then there's the concrete sidewalk, and then there is also an additional grass area that is a part of the city's right-of-way that is not a part of my client's property.
So it's really quite a large right-of-way area.
You may have noticed in the photographs that a portion of that grass buffer along the property line was inadvertently covered with gravel, but that will be restored upon completion of the work contemplated by this application.
I have reflected generally that the area of that grass buffer that will be restored on the aerial that I'll bring up here.
And you can see here, this is roughly the area of that grass buffer along the sidewalk that will be restored with this application.
The zoning site plan is shown now at Exhibit 7.
Let me zoom in a little bit better on the parking here.
As you can see, this proposal contemplates the creation of an accessory parking area for six vehicles,
including one ADA accessible space, which is closest to the entrance of the building.
A 24-foot-wide curb cut is proposed along Somerdale Avenue, which will be constructed to Streets Department standards.
Streets did review this application during the application process, and their zoning level approval is shown at Exhibit 8.
And you can see here, it says they take no further exception to the most recently submitted version of the civil site plans.
If I zoom in a little bit, you'll notice again that this zoning plan here includes the nearly eight-foot grass buffer that is required to be restored with this application.
if i zoom in a little bit you'll
You can see it's just under eight feet here. It narrows a little bit up towards Hofnagel, but it is just under eight feet in total.
This particular aspect of this application and the existing condition of the right-of-way is important, as the Rothhurst community that was in attendance at the meeting was most concerned with ensuring that the parking is adequately buffered from the sidewalk.
Here, because of the width of the right-of-way, that buffer will range from 7 foot 8 inches to 7 feet 11 inches.
And again, those measurements are shown on this plan.
The exhibit packet at Exhibit 9 does also include a floor plan of the congregation's interior, but that is not subject to today's application, so I will skip over those floor plans, unless the board has any particular questions about the interior layout of the building.
As I noted earlier on, the application before the board today only concerns a small dimensional request, which is important as the board's review of this application is subject to a looser standard in accordance with case law that I've referenced in the Memo of Law at Exhibit 13, since this application does not entail any use-related requests.
This is one of the two errors that L&I made in issuing the refusal, in that it characterized this as a use refusal.
Having accessory parking on this site in this side location proposed is not prohibited by the zoning code.
Instead, this parking is allowed, but it would be required to provide an 8-foot yard.
This is where the refusal contains a second error.
The refusal notes that parking is prohibited in the required side yard.
However, since this property sits at a corner, again, at Hofnagel and Somerdale, both of the frontages are considered to be property fronts.
They are not considered to be property sides.
Now, practically speaking, whether you call it the front or whether you call it the side, it doesn't make a difference because the zoning code would require the eight-foot setback in either of those cases.
Now, again, the next image I'm going to show is purely for representation purposes.
It is not to scale, but it should show the board the clear hardship this applicant faces in providing a code-compliant eight-foot-wide setback.
And before I get there, again, these are just an image of the plans that the streets department did review and sign off on.
So, again, this is just a general markup that we put together to generally show the location of that eight foot required setback.
With the setback from Somerdale Avenue, the property is left with only 25 feet of usable space between the building.
These conditions stem from the long-standing conditions of this property and the building that was built in the 1950s and was not created by this applicant.
The impact of the eight-foot setback along Hofnagel Street is even more pronounced, which would leave only 11 feet between the building front and the property line.
Visually, you can see this hardship reflected clearly on this drawing, with an eight-foot
setback from Hofnagel and from Somerdale essentially rendering the parking conditions
not viable.
Even if one or two spaces could be squeezed in, it would not allow for the ADA space,
which is important to have for the elderly population of this congregation, for which
this parking is really intended.
Fortunately, this property is uniquely situated to fulfill the intent and the spirit of the code.
As we discussed earlier, there is a grass buffer that is just under eight feet that buffers the parking from the sidewalk.
That buffer is going to be restored, effectively fulfilling the goals of this section of the code.
As I pointed out earlier in the presentation, the apartment complex across the street also has accessory parking that similarly violates this particular code requirement, with no documented history of any negative impact on anyone in the neighborhood.
The applicant submits that this proposal is the least minimum variance.
The refusal here does not stem from a zoning code prohibition against parking.
The refusal here does not stem from a zoning code prohibition against parking.
On-site accessory parking is allowed on this site, subject to the dimensional requirements that we've established cannot be met.
This site already has a non-conforming parking lot on the opposing end of the building, which has been in existence for decades,
but is no longer viable to accommodate the needs of a growing congregation without creating impact to surrounding residential homes and potentially to the congregants who are attempting to use that parking.
We submit the proposal will not increase congestion, harm neighbors' properties, or impair light and air.
Adding additional parking to this site will mitigate on-street parking challenges while religious activities are in session.
And again, I would remind the board that this is a religious institution, so the parking use on this site is going to be based on the regular hours of operation that you would expect for a religious congregation.
A lack of code compliance setback will not pose any danger to the public, particularly in light of the nearly eight-foot grass buffer that will ensure this project aligns with the zoning code's intent.
The proposal will also ensure that access to this parking is through a streets-compliant curb cut instead of any formal access points that may exist today.
This parking will also allow drivers to exit the parking area looking forward, creating a much safer parking condition than exists currently on the site.
This particular dimensional request will have zero impact whatsoever on any neighbor, given that these setbacks are along the Somerdale and Hofnagel frontages and are not bordering nor affecting any residents.
Along the south end of the site, there is an existing fence that will continue to buffer this property from the residences on Emerson Street.
A full and more thorough analysis is provided in the memo of law that I've included to the board at Exhibit 13, and I'd be happy to touch on any particular point in more detail.
As mentioned earlier on, we did meet with Ron Hercevic Association and presented this proposal.
Their support was resounding.
So at this point, I would like to call up my client, Ney Vaz, to adopt my testimony.
NAVAS NAVAS, IF YOU ARE IN THE VIRTUAL AUDIENCE, PLEASE RAISE YOUR HAND.
MAYBE NAIDEN NAIDEN NAVAS HAS BEEN ALLOWED TO SPEAK, PLEASE MUTE YOURSELF.
Hi, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Nathan, last name Vaz, N-E-Y, last name V-A-Z, Vaz.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you.
Nay, can you just identify your relationship to the property owner and Faith and Hope Ministry?
We first purchased this property in 2019.
I've become a religion institute, help a lot of the community, a lot of teenagers.
I am the treasury and also the administrator and vice president of this institution.
Thank you.
And have you heard all of the testimony evidence that was presented to the board today?
Yes, Mrs. Ferlin.
And would you agree that that testimony was true and accurate?
And would you adopt that testimony as if you had given it yourself?
Yes, ma'am.
And is there anything further that you'd like to add before we turn it over to the board for questions?
No, we all good.
Thank you. Happy to answer any questions.
Questions from the board.
No question.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson.
um not at this time mr chair although um i have received some information from the planning
commission that there may have been a landscape uh review by planning commission missed in this
application so that may be something that we want to look at
all right let's see where we stand with the rest of it questions or comments from the virtual audience
yes chair i have a hand up by the name of terry miller they have been allowed to speak
hi could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
Hi, Terry, T-E-R-R-Y, Miller, M-I-L-L-E-R.
Miller, M-I-L-L-E-R.
Do you swear or affirm?
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Am I talking to Terry Miller, right?
Yes, and my husband, Richard.
So why don't you testify first, and if we need him, we'll call him later, okay?
Are you, Ms. Miller, are you a neighbor?
Yes, I am.
Please proceed.
Okay, so they are proposing this facility holds 250 people, and they have been parking all over the neighborhood.
um they as far as gotten even people with orange jackets to park people everywhere
do not have um standard religious hours they are there sometimes from nine or in the morning
11 o'clock at night
they hold
hookouts
on the pavement
parties
they host parties