I do swear.
Please proceed.
Yes, I work for Council President Kenyatta Johnson. He supports the variance at this time.
Thank you very much for calling in. We appreciate it. Any other hands?
Yes, Chair. I have a hand up by the name of Kiana Markham. They have been allowed to speak.
Good afternoon. Good morning. Could you please state your name and spell for the court sonographer?
Sure. Good morning. Can you hear me?
I can.
Yes, thank you.
My name is Kiana Markham.
It is spelled Q-I-A-N-A, and the last name is spelled M-A-R-K-H-A-M.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Are you a neighbor?
I am the current tenant.
Okay, please proceed.
Yes, thank you.
I'm here today to share the reality of living in an I-2 building in a single-family dwelling
that prioritizes the activities and practices of commercial tenants over the residential tenant
and why I believe the Philadelphia Code is right to prohibit single-family use in an I-2 district.
When I rented the unit, subject of a space, almost 32 months ago,
I had no idea about zoning, permits, and variances.
I was excited to simply find enough space to accommodate my unique living work situation.
Not long after moving in, I started to experience the realities of why single-family use
in an industrial district commingled is not appropriate
and appropriately prohibited by the Philadelphia Code.
I will only choose to share a few of my experiences.
I will only choose to share a few of my experiences in respect for time, but Bark Park, which is the Animal Boarding Services building located directly beneath my unit, has been a big part of what has impaired my right to enjoy my home.
Bark Park is a high-traffic, multi-location chain with plans of expanding the 1715 McKean Street location.
significant construction hazards bar park has undergone and continues to require significant
construction to maintain the animal services spaces and provide animal boarding grooming day
care cat care adoption service and regular pickup and drop off they're open seven days a week
constructions have been scheduled outside of business hours not to disturb their patrons
as a result i've had to deal with unsupervised contractors ripping out and replacing flooring
just underneath my living space beyond 8 p.m on saturdays and sundays without notice these choices
were not made in consideration that a resident lives on site. Semi-truck delivery noise. Daily
noises and deliveries from semi-trucks, which emit fumes and loud beeping noises, trying to
back up and turn on a very narrow residential South Fetchley Street like Colorado, has disrupted
my ability to work from home on numerous occasions. Industrial activity hazards. On June 13th of 2022,
one of the commercial tenants in the building was attempting to unload large sheets of plywood
from a semi-truck when a forklift accident occurred as I was walking to my car. I was
almost injured by the plywood sheet that were dropped only a feet from my mother's small
convertible Mazda Miata. Thankfully, I was able to physically dodge the accident. Had my 76-year-old
mother been there, she may not have been so fortunate. Abandoned dog feces. Regularly having
to report dog feces just left outside of the main entrance. Dog feces trailing through the building
are a serious hazard and may cause concern because of microorganisms and pathogenic problems to
humans that are resisted to several classes of antibiotics. Patron disturbances and verbal
assault. The doorbell for Bark Park would be routed to my doorbell when Bark Park didn't
respond right away. This became a nuisance, and as a result, I requested to have my name removed
from the directory. Unfortunately, this never completely solved the problem because when
bark park did not promote or respond to patrons ringing their doorbell patrons would become
impatient and bring my home demanding access additionally patrons would regularly park in my
assigned parking spot and become agitated when i would ask if i could park in my own spot i even
had an employee from bark park verbally assault me because i asked one of their patrons if i could
park in my spot unsecure building leaving the main entrance open during business hours left me
feeling unsecure as a resident with people freely roaming through the building just because the door
automatically locked at 7 p.m. did not provide peace of mind. The building was free of unauthorized
visitors, unable to receive scheduled packages, constantly having packages, work-related packages
for me, delayed due to delivery exception animal inference by USPS. I am here today because the
activities that are appropriate for the commercial tenants of 1715 McKean Street and I-2 district
are at odds with single-family use. I believe that the code is written appropriately. I do not want
anyone else to have to endure what I've had to endure. The I-2 district was not designed to mix
single-family with industrial use, nor mixing single-family use with animal boarding services.
Living in this apartment has disturbed my ability to rest and enjoy quiet time in my home and also
conduct business as a professional. I will not be able to get my time or money back, but I would
like you to thoroughly consider whether the existing code should be called into question
just because someone wants to bend the rules.
Please do not grant this variance.
All right.
Thank you very much for taking the time to call us.
We appreciate it.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
There are no more hands at this time, too.
Planning Commission.
Good morning, Amy Boyd with the Planning Commission.
A-M-Y-B-O-Y-D.
All right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed.
The comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning at this location from medium industrial I-2 to industrial residential mixed-use IRMX.
Under the recommended zoning, household living is allowed.
Therefore, the City Planning Commission recommends the board grant the requested variance for household living.
Thank you.
Mr. Vona, I'm going to hold this vote until next Wednesday morning at 930.
I'm going to sit with the board members and go over some of the testimony that we have, okay?
So we will vote on this next Wednesday at 9.30 a.m.
All right.
Thank you.
Thank you.
All right.
Thank you.
Number eight.
MI 2024-001-189-1515 Westmoreland Street.
westmoreland street binash and julie samuel are the owners
Banash and Julie Samuel are the owners.
binash samuel is coming in as a panelist okay thank you
good morning sir
sorry i was on mute good morning i could you please state your name and spell for the court
stenographer sure it's uh binash samuel b-i-n-o-s-h last name is samuel s-a-m-u-e-l
you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes okay so i do have a letter of support from allegheny west civic association and this
application is for use as a visitor accommodation in one unit of an existing multiple family
dwelling three dwelling unit. The proposed use visitor accommodation is prohibited in the RSA
5 zoning district. Our vice chair has a few questions for you sir. Sure. Good morning sir.
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that's needed to proceed with this
case five days in advance of this hearing? Yes. Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.
okay okay okay all right can you see my uh screen we can sure okay great okay so this is uh basically
what i'm trying to do is get a variance for visitor accommodation for my property you know
this is the refusal um l and i refused it because um it's prohibited in the zoning district
um and this is the appeal application can i share what floor you want to do this one
uh second floor so it's a three-unit building uh there's already a tenant on the third floor
um there's no um first floor is vacant i'm trying to do it on the second floor okay thank you yep
and then this is the project information form
this is the deed
tax clearance certification
so this is the property, this is the zoning poster
also this is outside of the house
another picture of it
and this is the interior of the second floor
it's fully furnished
and it's two bedrooms
and this is the letter from the association for approval
um and the other reason uh i want to get this visitor accommodation i was surprised it was not
approved because um when looking at it if you go to airbnb or verbal one of the websites you can
see there's you can see airbnb listings all around my property my property is right here in circle
in red so you can see um this property is already being rented out as a airbnb like short-term uh
tenants this is just one example of airbnb listings uh next page this is a verbal listings
so all the blue ones are already uh properties that are listed and mine is the red one right
there that i'm looking to get approval for uh and then i had a send out notification to all the 120
residents. This is the proof of that from the UPS, United Postal Service.
Yeah, that's pretty much it. Any questions? Questions from the board? Yeah, I have a question.
I didn't hear you. Is this an owner-occupied property or no? No, this is visitor accommodation,
so no, it's not an owner-occupied. Question. How many bathrooms for this
second floor unit each unit has their own bathroom so they're not going to be going in
it's not a shared bathroom the unit has its own bathroom no no i'm just asking you said that there
were two bedrooms but you didn't say how many bathrooms oh sorry one bathroom and this is only
for the second floor you want this for yeah yes all right um and then uh i guess my other question
is what you mentioned that there are other um listings for airbnbs around you yeah so you're
You're not currently doing this, correct?
Yeah, I was not. When I applied for it, Ellen, I said yours. I'm not approved for it as per the let me go back to the exact wording. The proposed use visitor accommodation is prohibited in the zoning district. That's what the refusal was for. But when I go to Airbnb's listings, you can see there's multiple listings all in that area.
Yeah, I was not.
When I applied for it, Ellen, I said you're
Okay. Thank you.
Other questions from the board?
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Yes, Chair. I have a hand up by the name of Charles Richardson. They have been allowed to speak.
Morning, Mr. Richardson.
Good morning, Mr. Chair.
Charles Richardson, R-I-C-H-A-R-D-S-O-N, Office of Councilwoman Cindy Bass,
R-I-C-H-A-R-D-S-O-N. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth? I do. Please proceed. The Councilwoman has no
opposition to granting the barriers for this use. Thank you very much for calling.
We appreciate it. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
at this time chair planning commission
amy boyd with the planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change the
rsa5 residential single family zoning at this location there are no unique physical circumstances
or conditions of this property that would prevent it from being used in conformance to the zoning
code the city planning commission recommends that the board deny the requested variance for visitor
accommodation. Thank you. MI 2024-001-189-1515 Westmoreland Street. I vote yes with Proviso.
Temporary variance expires 9-12-27, second floor only.
This is Cheryl Gaston. My vote is yes with Proviso.
Tana Graham, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Taya, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Sir, you have your votes. Thank you.
Oh, good question.
Okay. Number 16, MI 2024-002-372, 1151 South 19th Street, Arthur Gimenez and Sonietta Muhammad.
Arthur Gimenez is coming in as a panelist.
Good morning, Mr. Jimenez. How are you, sir?
Good morning.
Hi. Could you state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Sure. My name is Arthur Jimenez. First name spelled A-R-T-H-U-R. Last name is Jimenez, G-I-M-E-N-E-Z.
I'm Sanayi Mohamed, spouse and co-owner. Sanayi Mohamed spelled S-O-N-E-Y-E-T, Mohamed, M-U-H-A-M-M-A-D.
Thank you. Do you both swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
So this application is for the erection of a third-story addition with roof deck, accessed by a roof deck access structure over an existing two-family dwelling.
The proposed addition lacks the required eight-foot setback at the third floor due to the adjacent structures having two stories.
Our vice chair has a few questions for you, sir.
Good morning.
have you have you both emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that's needed
to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing yes yes we have thank you please
Please proceed and share your screen.
Let's share them.
So, we live in Philadelphia the past 10 years, and we both work for local nonprofits here
in Philadelphia.
This addition would allow us the flexibility to address our growing family.
We have two children of different genders. And also my mother-in-law, his mother, sometimes visits from the Philippines and giving her a place to stay.
And also evolving to, you know, allow us to continue to work from home as well.
So that's why we're pursuing this variant. Are there any questions that we can address for y'all?
i'm talking more because he had a no surgery deviated septum so um all right let me ask you
No surgery, deviated septum, so.
All right. Let me ask you this. Do you have any other photos you want to show us?