And Mr. Snell and Mr. Holloman, if you could turn on your cameras as well, that would be
great. Thank you. Mr. Holloman, your audio sounds great this morning.
Thank you very much. I hope it continues to be that way.
okay chair we have 41 attendees we can proceed as you wish thank you
good morning my name is bill bergman and i will be chairing this morning zba hearings
with me is our vice chair ismail shaheed present mr chairman our board member thomas holliman
Present, Mr. Chairman.
And our board member, James Snell.
Present, Chair.
Thank you.
Also present is Hillary Emerson, our attorney, and our executive director, Tanya Sunkett.
Here's our virtual format.
Be advised, the proceedings are being recorded.
The video will be available by contacting tanyasunkett at phila.gov.
For the benefit of our court stenographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testify.
If you're participating by phone and you wish to testify, press star 9 to raise your hand and star 6 to unmute.
To enter an appearance statement, call 267-270-5548.
Leave your email and the address of the property in question.
And finally, the question and answer box on the screen is now for comments or testimony.
All comments should be directed to our Executive Director, Tanya Sunken.
Let's look at the schedule for this morning's meeting.
Number five, MI 2022-005-928-4829 Haverford Avenue.
That case is continued.
Number nine, MI 2023-001-046-12066 Abbey Road.
Vern Anastasio is the attorney.
I understand there's a request for continuance.
Mr. Anastasio.
Good morning, Mr. Chair. This is Jason Hand. I will be your host today. Mr. Anastasio has been about to speak.
Thank you. Good morning, Mr. Anastasio. Could you state your name and spell, please, for our court sonographer?
Good morning, Mr. Chair. Vern Anastasio, V-E-R-N. Last name is A-N-A-S-T-A-S-I-O.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
I do, sir.
I understand you requesting a continuance for this case?
I am. I've been recently retained, like last week, by Evelyn Barrera, who is the owner, applicant, and I need to equate myself with the case before we can move forward.
Okay, thank you. So MI 2023-001-046-12066 Abbey Road. Cases continued. Mark must be tried.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you.
Number 12, MI 2021-004-460-1508 West Nidro Avenue.
Yolaine Leon is the owner applicant.
I understand this is a request for continuance.
Yolaine Leon.
Yolaine Leon, if you are in the virtual audience, please raise your virtual hand and wait to
be sworn in.
They've been allowed to speak.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Yolaine Leon.
Could you spell your name, please?
Yolaine, Leon, Y-O-L-A-I-N-E, Leon, L-E-O-N.
Right.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I understand you're requesting a continuance.
So this case is the fourth listing.
This will be the last continuance.
This case must be heard the next time.
So MI 2021-004-460-1508-WestNedro. Cases continued. Mark must be tried. Thank you.
thank you thank you number 13. mi 2023 000 489 4400 north a street this case is continued number
Thank you.
Number 13.
14 MI 2023 000 499 536 Green Lane. Case has continued. Number 15 MI 2022 001 765 163 to 71
West Wyoming Avenue. Joseph Consul is the attorney. I understand he may have a request for continuance.
Mr. Consul
They've been allowed to speak, sir
Mr. Consul, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer
Good morning, Joseph Consul, J-O-S-E-P-H
Last name Consul, C-O-N-S-O-L-E
You swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Are you requesting a continuance for this case, sir?
I am, Chair
Could you give us a reason why?
Yes, we met with the RCO once
There were some issues. I believe my client was working with them to try to address them. I hadn't heard from him for months. I got into conference with the councilman's representative recently about this, and he wanted to, because the church has a lot of positive energy in the community, he wanted to intervene and try to help come to something satisfactory here.
I said I would ask for one more continuance.
That was probably the best I could do.
So MI 2022-001-765-163, the 71 West Wyoming Avenue.
Cases continue, and work must be tried.
Thank you.
Number 16, MI 2023-002-171, 1359 Creasy Street.
Jennifer Jordan is the owner applicant.
I understand there may be a request for continuance. Jennifer Jordan.
Yes, that's me.
Hi, could you please state your name and spell it for the court stenographer?
I'm Jennifer Jordan, J-E-N-N-I-F-E-R, last name J-O-R-D-A-N.
Right. Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I understand you have a request for continuance?
Yes, please.
Could you please give us the reason why?
I am requesting, my first application had to do with getting zoned for, and a permit for short-term rental.
However, I was worried that this wouldn't happen in time and where I would be denied and not able to make my rent during, or excuse me, mortgage during that time.
So I switched to long-term rental instead of short-term.
And I have had a short, a long-term tenant in there with the proper licensing, of course, and they renewed. So I, I don't have the need for short-term rental. However, I already paid and did all of the requirements except this hearing part. So I'd like to push it back for me to get hurt at a later date.
Okay, so MI 2022, 002-171-1359 Cressy Street.
This case continued, but must be tried the next time.
Thank you.
Thank you.
And number 17, MI 2022, 001-943-3116 North 16th Street.
Jeffrey Young is the attorney.
I understand this may be a request for continuance.
Mr. Young.
Yes, good morning, Mr. Chair.
I'm trying to get my video working here, but yes, we are.
My name is Jeffrey Young, attorney for the applicant for 3116 North 16th Street.
We are requesting a payment.
Mr. Young, just for the record, can you spell your name for the court stenographer?
Yes, J-E-F-F-E-R-Y-Y-O-U-N-G.
Right. Do you swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Mr. Young, this case is just the third listing. The next one, it must be heard, okay?
Yes, Mr. Chair. Thank you so much.
Sure. So MI 2022-001-943-3113 North 16th Street. Case is continued. Mark must be tried. Thank you.
let's go here back up um let's go to our add-ons
um let's go to our add-ons mi2022-001-058-332 excuse me mr chair this is hillary can we just
make sure there are no other um requests for continuance okay is there any other requests
for continuances in the audience mr chair i have darlene pete with her hand raised i have allowed
him to speak good morning mr chair counsel could you state your name please and spell for the court
stenographer my name is darlene threet d-a-r-l-e-n-e threet t as in thomas h-r-e-a-t-t right
do you do you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do proceed mr chairman i represent uh zoning application zp 2022 10 86 98 1610 margaret street
commissioner i have been unable to schedule the uh civic association meeting this is my
second request for continuance um i would appreciate excuse me mr i think that's the
wrong location yes that no that's so that case is on the 330 list so call in on the 330 yes calling
at 330 and make the request that oh i apologize okay that's okay all right thank you is there
any other requests for continuance i do not see any hands at this time sir we're going to go to
our add-on list, MI 2022, 001-058-332 Delancey Street. At the request of the parties, the vote
in this matter has been rescheduled to Wednesday, September 27th at 9.30 a.m. We're going to go to
our regular list. Number one, MI 2022, 005-552-36 East Coulter Street. Anwar Wright is the owner
applicant pro se. There's a letter of opposition from Faith CDC coordinating RCO. There's a letter
of opposition from Solo Germantown with some enforceable proviso should the board grant it.
i am why right
mr chair they will be returning as a panelist shortly okay all right
Mr. Wright, please unmute and wait to be sworn in.
Well, good morning, Mr. Wright.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Good morning, Mr. Chair.
My name is Anwar Wright, A-N-W-A-R-W-R-I-G-H-T.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you turn your video on, please?
One second.
Can't get my video. One second.
Oh, it's not my video.
seems like i'm having difficulty starting this camera right this is what i'm going to do i'm
going to go on to the next case i'll come back to you in about a half hour see if you can get that
straight okay definitely thank you thank you we're going to go to number eight
mi 2023 001 264 314 winona street sarin andy kim are the owners pro se
they have been promoted to panelists they will be rejoining shortly sir thank you
good morning good morning mr kim could you state your name please and spell for the court stenographer
Andy Kim, A-N-D-Y, Kim K-I-M.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
So this application is for the erection of a one-story addition to a single-family existing semi-detached structure, size and location, and shown in plans.
Where a side wall does not meet a required side yard requirement, horizontal extension of that wall into a front yard, rear yard, or side yard is an increase in a specific non-conforming conformity and is not permitted. The required side yard, whereas is four feet, seven inches, is being proposed, the width is eight feet.
um the required open area is 50 whereas the proposed is 40 the required rear yard is 15
feet whereas the proposed rear yard is 12 feet 11 inches our vice chair has just a few questions
for you mr kim okay good morning mr kim have you emailed in all the required documents and
exhibits that are needed and required to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing
yes we have done thank you please please proceed and share your screen
are you able to see we we see that sir okay so um 2019 we uh moved to 314 winona street and we
have um we had asked the builders to build this um edition and uh i didn't know uh basically they
built it very quickly and i was under the impression they would have pulled the permits
so basically the edition was built we moved in then there was the pandemic and it took a while
to figure things out and we really would like uh we're hoping to get this approved um
basically we're trying to legalize something that was built without a permit and uh we uh we had
requested the help of well first of all i had to find a new contractor um and he helped us by
referring us to Quest Design Services.
They've helped us in the whole process.
We met with the RCO, the Corning RCO,
and they all approved this.
And so we are, yeah, we are hoping that
for a favorable decision.
Would you like me to go through the paper?
So why don't you, I mean, just to make it more simple, could you go to the RCO letter, please?
That's your notification of the meetings. Okay.
That's your mailing.
you're posting
there's letters from neighbors right yes letters from neighbors uh sorry i'm trying to
okay that's that's fine take your time this is your deed
there it is here solo solo germantown okay yes i go back and show his pictures of what
what what you have there um okay uh hold on let me see where the pictures oops
i saw you go by it a couple of minutes ago
where are we
so there's there's uh there's one
here here's the the side of it yep yep yep right and that's the back that's the other side okay yes
All right.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Mr. Chair, I have Charles Richardson with the hand raised.
I have a lot of them to speak at this time.
Good morning, Mr. Chair.
Good morning, Mr. Richardson.
please state your name and spell it for our court stenographer. Charles Richardson, C-H-A-R-L-E-S-R-I-C-H-A-R-D-S-O-N,
Office of Councilwoman Cindy Bass, Room 508 City Hall. You swear or firm to tell the truth,
the whole truth and nothing but the truth? I do. Proceed. Councilwoman has no opposition to
granting the variance for this edition. Thank you very much for taking the time to call in.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
I do not say any further hands, Mr. Chair.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman, and good morning, David Fecteau, F-E-C-T-E-A-U, with the City Planning Commission.
Thank you.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir, I do.
Proceed, sir.
Thank you, sir.
Chair and board members, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential single-family zoning at this location.
The proposed dimensional variances are minimal and do not conflict with the purpose and spirit of the zoning code.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the board grant the proposed dimensional variances for rear yard depth, open area, and a non-conforming sidewall.
Thank you.
MI 2023-001-264-314 Winona Street, I vote yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Thank you.
Sir, you have your votes.
Thank you so much.
Okay, thank you.
uh number 11 mi 2021 004 390 7100 excuse me mr chair um can we please uh actually go to number
two um councilman o'neill would like to testify in that matter okay sure thank you
M.I. 2022-003-075-2050 Welsh Road.
Vern Anastasio is the attorney.
There was a meeting held by the Greater Busselton Civic Association on 6-28-22.
We do not have a letter.
The applicant has provided 54 neighbors in support by letter.
And, Mr. Chair, we have received the tax information on this case.
Thank you.
Mr. Anastasio.
Good morning, Mr. Chair.
You just state your name for the record.
You've already been sworn.
Vern Anastasio.
I represent Maria Gutierrez, the owner of the property.
Right.
our vice chair has just a few questions thank you good morning council do you agree to waive
the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his accuracy i do have you emailed in all the required
documents and exhibits that are needed and required to proceed with this case five days in
advance of this hearing i have thank you please proceed and share your screen thank you i'm
I'm sharing the screen currently.
Mr. Chair, 2050 Welsh Road received a variance for offices, medical offices, doctor's office, 33 years ago.
Dr. Banner ran the Northeast Medical Center out of this property for the last 33 years.
That's the last known use of the property.
We put an application in four offices, business and professional, and it's professional offices
to support a home health care agency. But let there be no misunderstanding. There is no treatment
going on at this office. There are no visits going on to this office. This is just administrative
offices that's it and there's not much more to it than that um this is what the property is
hold on for a second
i'm gonna go back up here just for what it's zoned for single family
although the property hasn't been a single family dwelling in about 50 years
Although the property hasn't been a single family dwelling in about 50 years, this is the interior layout of the property, none of which was done by my client, by the way.
Just want to make sure that that's also very clear.
There was no interior work done outside of just cosmetic.
No walls removed, no partitions adjusted.
This fairly odd-looking property, a zone for residential, sits by itself on an island of sorts with a large parking pad and has been, since 1991, medical offices, the Northeast Medical Center offices run by Dr. Banner.
Here's the interior.
As you can see outside of cosmetic, nothing has changed since 1991.
one this is all the layout that it's been forever there's a basement
a new space
here's the property as you can see certainly not conducive to single-family residential
here's the exterior
and here's the paperwork that shows the very long history
of the administrative medical office
my client uh did appear before the uh community group there's the flyer that went out
28th of june
and although it appeared as though the rco uh opposes the application
we have signatures from nearly 60 immediate neighbors all in support
obviously because it's a no-brainer the office the building has
not been a single-family home in generations. It's been 32 years, and the last known use
is a doctor's office. And what we're doing here is actually less impactful because there'll be no
patients coming in and out all hours of the day. There are no treatment whatsoever,
However, unlike a doctor's office, which is open daily, nine to five, you know, most offices, this is a group of administrative staff going into the building, working all day and leaving no customers, no clients, and no patients.
With that and the additional supporting documentation, I'm going to move all of this into evidence.
And I asked Ms. Maria Gutierrez to raise her virtual hand and be recognized and sworn in.
Ms. Gutierrez.
Yeah, there's no one with their hand up by their name.
we have a jack o'hara i think jack's with the rco yeah he is and daniela castro yeah daniela
castro may be the name that's on the computer okay i'll allow them to speak thank you
hi could you state your name please and spell for the court stenographer yes it's maria gutierrez
hi spell your name please yes maria m-a-r-e-a gutierrez g-u-t-i-e-r-r-e-n-c
right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes proceed counsel thank you mr chair miss gutierrez did you hear my presentation to the
board this morning yes is it true and accurate to the best of your knowledge
is it true and accurate to the best of your knowledge yes and do you adopt it as your own
And do you adopt it as your...
testimony yes thank you mr chair because of the overwhelming support of the immediate neighbors
who live in the neighborhood and because of the physical condition of the property itself
although zoned for single family nowhere near resembles anything that could even be
turned into a single family for all those reasons and a long history of 30 some odd years as
professional uh offices for a doctor's office no less uh we ask uh respectfully that the appeal be
granted thank you thank you questions from the board no chair no chair questions or comments
from the virtual audience mr chair jackal harrett has his hand raised with permission to allow him
to speak at this time mr harrett could you state your name please and spell for the court stenographer
yes uh mr chair uh jack o'hara j-a-c-k-o apostrophe h-a-r-a do you swear or affirm to
tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do proceed sir uh i'd like to start by
saying mr anastasi's uh summary of it couldn't be further from what the community feels and what
they've done. There was an initial presentation to our RCO back in June of 22. This is, I believe
it was, the case was continued. We did send a letter into the ZBA at that time. The hearing
date back in 22 was August 10, 22. That was continued. There was March 1st, 23. That was
continued and we're here at September 13th. At that original RCO meeting, it was a unanimous vote
to oppose this. I've never seen this list that Mr. Anastasi is presenting today of all the
immediate neighbors. My understanding, all of the neighbors, all the immediate neighbors
and the community are opposing this change of use. The immediate neighbors complain of
cars parking. It's a residential neighborhood, and there's cars parking and people
attending for whatever reason. They're visiting the building, whether for the schooling or
or teaching but there's a traffic issue it sits on a corner it's a residential block
this is not a business district Mr. Anastasia is trying to change it to a business block it is not
and the immediate neighbors do not want that so the opinion of the immediate neighbors today
as it was last year is to continue to oppose this variance application
mr chair i just have one question for the um for the witness may i yep proceed thank you
sir thank you i do want to make sure that we're on the same page
was my presentation not consistent with your testimony that the rco opposes this is that
correct the rco opposes your variance request yes yep okay very good uh and do you have any evidence
that um that opposition is based on immediate neighbor opposition yes immediate neighbor yes
okay have you presented that evidence no i was not asked for it no we sent in our summary
uh it was a unanimous vote to oppose your application understood but you do understand
we have submitted to the board today 60 signatures of immediate neighbors in support of this project
is that right a list yes a list you've never presented to us the community a list i have yet
to uh review uh the dates the addresses yes i've never seen that list correct right it's a signature
of petition we've never seen that list mr anastasia that's right this was collected after the vote
of the RCO
in opposition, but
this is what it looks like.
It clearly states what it is,
an office for
a health care agency.
Yes, I see it.
I have nothing further.
Thank you.
Thank you, sir.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
Councilperson Brian O'Neill
with their hand raised.
I've allowed them to speak at this time.
Good morning, sir. Good morning, Mr. Chairman.
Your name, please, is spelled for the court stenographer.
Yes. Brian, B-R-I-A-N, O'Neill, O apostrophe N-E-I-L, L, and councilman for the 10th district, which includes the site in question.
And I'm councilman for the 10th district, which includes the site in question.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do. Proceed, sir.
Thank you. The my understanding of the history of this is that there was a doctor's office.
There was no problem for, I think, the attorney said seven, 30 years.
And that's all uncontested. But and I believe this operation was occurring when the hearing, the meeting of the RCO occurred in June of 22, meaning that it was it hadn't been approved yet.
So the neighbors that came out, and I think it was 27 to nothing, they don't come out because they live far away. They come out because they live right near it. And I would stress to the board that they had experience then with an overbilled, overuse, I should say, more than an overbilled of the property for the use in question.
A doctor's office gave them no problem for 30 years. As soon as this operation opened, all of a sudden, they've got parking. There's a side street right next to this building, very narrow side street with single family homes.
There's Welsh Road, which is all residential on both sides of the street, except for this property.
A doctor's office is one thing, but offering training and the kind of activity that is going on there.
I'm talking about activity of traffic, cars parking, people coming in there to use the services of this building.
This is clearly something that belongs in a shopping center.
There are shopping centers a quarter mile away. Plenty of them in both directions. This property is on a street between the boulevard and Busselton Avenue. There's strip centers, larger shopping centers.
when people come out to a meeting, I think the board has to recognize that that is a lot different
than somebody presenting you with something to sign, which almost everybody signs based on what
they're told they're signing. We don't know what they were told they were signing. There hasn't
been another meeting of the RCO. And I had my office and Alice Udovich, who's on the call,
contact Mr. O'Hara the other day to see if anything had changed. Because I walked the
property and saw the car parking, I'm going to say a year ago, when another one of the hearings
was coming up that was continued. And clearly, what the neighbors are complaining about
isn't that there was a doctor's office there or that this is some kind of professional building.
It's because it's more than that. The testimony that we just heard is there's like four people
working in here. 27 neighbors don't come out to a meeting of a civic association or unanimous
voting, and then nothing changes because in this case, while it was operating illegally,
we now have the neighbors who have seen it operate. So there's not, you're not guessing
like you would on a, and trusting the testimony on a, on a new application where the business
hasn't, hasn't started operating yet. We have almost, well, a year and a half at least of
activity there that the neighbors are still opposed to. And Mr. O'Hara stays in touch with his,
with his members he's been getting complaints all along this this time period of over a year
so i would ask the board to uh uh turn this down uh refuse the application and um the right place
for this is in a shopping center and again there are plenty of them thank you mr chair i just want
make a couple of follow-up points here based on the council members of testimony he said that
there were 27 people that came out and voted we have almost three times as many actually that's
not true twice as many who actually support and they live right there all immediate neighbors
that's number number one issue number two to suggest that a doctor's office who has patients
all day long uh it doesn't have the traffic that it's an office building there's people that come
in there there is absolutely no services provided there no patients visit this facility if in fact
If, in fact, that were to happen, then LNI has a compliance and an enforcement mechanism, which is not really the issue here today.
that were to happen, then L&I has a compliance.
Today's issue is that we're trying to get a variance for office space.
That's what this is. And it's consistent with the 32 years of Dr.
The only difference is Dr. Banner, who was a neighborhood guy, left, and now Ms. Guiteres, who is not necessarily a neighborhood person, wants to occupy.
That's the only difference.
She bought this property believing that she was able to have her office there because she'd seen a doctor's office there for 30 years.
So the only difference are the last names of the occupant.
The activity is almost the same with the exception of that. We don't see clients or patients in this facility. And again, just looking at the building for it to be zoned single family residential just doesn't make any sense whatsoever. So thank you. I have nothing further.
Other comments from the virtual audience.
we see any other hands
Jack O'Hara has their hand raised again
do I love him to speak
okay Mr. O'Hara
Mr. O'Hara
i'm sorry i was unmuted uh mr chair just for the record state your name again you're already sworn
certainly it's jack o'hara j-a-c-k-o apostrophe h-a-r-a all right proceed sir uh the note that
councilman o'neill pointed out uh that this petition obviously was circulated uh prior to
the presentation that was made on June 28th. I see, I just see the top dates of June 18th. So
this was all prior to the presentation that was made at the RCO on June 28th. I don't know what
was said to the people who signed that. They were not present at the June 28th meeting. And
like I said, and Councilman O'Neill said that it was a unanimous vote after their presentation
on how the business was conducted and how much traffic it was going to attract.
Mr. Chair, the collection of the signatures took several days, and the application is very clear
on what we sought support for from the immediate neighbors. It's a business professional office
for the Home Health Care Agency with training of the existing staff still there.
Nobody coming in and out.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman, and good morning.
David Fechtow with the City Planning Commission.
Chair and board members, the comprehensive plan recommends no change
to the residential single-family zoning at this location.
This property has a documented history of use as a medical office building.
And Chair, if this were a drop-in clinic, we would be concerned about traffic congestion, but the appellant has stated that it is not such a facility.
So the proposed business and professional office and personal service are in keeping with and complementary to the existing use on the property.
The City Planning Commission recommends the board grant the proposed use variances for a business and professional office and personal service.
Council, we've had a lot of testimony
Relative to this
I'd really like to spend some time
With the entire board
To discuss where we stand with this
We will vote on this next Wednesday
At 9.30am
Thank you very much
Thanks for everyone's testimony
Okay, we're going to go back to number
We'll be out here
Let me see here
Number 11
MI 2021-004-390-7120, Wissahickon Avenue.
James McLeod is the owner applicant.
No RCO letter.
There was a meeting held 1522 by the Westmount Area Neighbors.
Mr. McLeod will be coming back in as a panelist, sir.
Good morning, Mr. McLeod.
Good morning, Mr. Chair.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
James McLeod, J-A-M-E-S-M-C-L-E-O-D.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Okay, so this is the pro se. For the erection of a detached private residence parking garage containing three parking spaces accessory to an existing single family household size and location as shown.
Private resident garages with a gable, hip, or gamble roofs are subject to a maximum height limit of 15 feet. This is 21 feet. Our vice chair has just a few questions for you, sir.
yes good morning sir have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that are
needed and required to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing
yes i have thank you thank you please proceed and share your screen
oh am i speaking now yeah you can show your show your documents put your your documents up
hey i'm computer literally that's okay
there should be a share screen button on the bottom it's green
i got it so we have them you're up sir you're coming up
this is the denial okay
did you ever receive a letter from the rco sir
sorry my name is
let him answer please
yes I believe so
you have the letter
I see the appeal
application
the project
I have that, yeah.
My deed.
Right.
Tax clearance.
The plans.
You had that?
That's fine.
You had a plan?
You posted the property.
You had to post a letter.
The interior pictures.
is the exterior pictures okay
what's that there these are all the requests these were requests for the rco the meetings
with the okay okay and it took it took some time so that's why
these are all the letters okay and here's the original the original plans i mean original
permits
and these are pictures that i took of my neighbor's garages which they the pictures are actually
flip i don't know how or can you figure it out um if you do you need me to flip the picture so you
got you can um i think we understand what you're talking about with the pictures yeah they've
actually shown us like garages you believe in yeah right and my immediate area like right
literally down the street from my house okay um and that's about that that's the gist of it and
And just, I would like to say a few words on my behalf for the variance.
I am the owner of 7120 Busaken Avenue.
I would like to thank the board for the opportunity to present the case to obtain a zoning variance for my freestanding garage.
The construction of my garage was started in 2016.
L&I issued a permit for it.
I believe the permit for the garage was issued around May of 2016.
of of 2016 after submission of the drawings and paperwork by engineer Robert Rosen
After the submission of
of SNE engineering LLC and my expediter Harold Murray of Murray drafting and design service
both men are now deceased but the final but the final drawings which contained the plans for the
garage that I used were supposedly approved by L&I and both individuals confirmed the drawings
for the finished garage. As I completed the construction for my garage myself, I did not
finish the garage until 2019. I was visited by L&I only two or three times during construction
with no mention of being out of compliance with the zoning regulations until I was 80%
finished with the project at that point i finished the project in order to protect
the work and everything else that i had done which was already completed and apply for a zoning
variance to comply with that i had done and also paid all fines that were levied regarding
construction of the garage in addition as i required with the request of the variance i met
with the local community organization west mount area neighborhood association i believe the
meeting went well to my knowledge there were no complaints or objections to the finished project
by the neighbors as it did not affect anything in the area as to the letter of opposition by
the board only it is my understanding that they were more concerned with how it got built as
opposed to finished project finished product again i have tried to explain why this happened
as regretful that it did i have submitted pictures as you've seen i submitted the pictures
of of which i know garages exceed of the 15 feet by six 15 feet by six feet the reason for the
extra height is storage of materials needed for the care of my four antique cars finally as a as
i am a novice at this process i would like the board to know that i trusted the direction by
the people i hired who were licensed to direct me and i apologize and in addition in considering my
I would like you to know that not having it would create a terrible financial hardship for myself and my family.
Thank you.
Hillary, do we have a letter from Westbound Every Neighbors?
I have not seen one, Chair.
Mr. McLeod, do you have a letter?
unless it was sent in a long time ago but I have not how they voted well when we had it was no
there was no voting against it the only thing we had got back which was I think about it was like
nine months nine months after I received was it nine months or a year it was even longer than that
it was like she like the um the woman just said um it was a very long time we're gonna try and
fined in there.
Are there questions from the board?
It was
a very long time ago.
I mean, it took a very long time to
respond, and then
the correspondence that I had
with the head of the board,
he said
they wouldn't issue a vote until
I took care of the fine.
Until I paid the fine with the city.
Okay, thank you.
Questions from the board?
No, Chair.
no chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
i do not see any hands mr chair cleaning commission thank you chair bergman and good
morning david facto with the city planning commission chair and board members the
comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential single family zoning at this location
this building appears to have been built without the benefit of permits the appellant has not
presented evidence that the variance is economically necessary, which is required for dimensional
variances. The city planning commission recommends that the board deny the variance for additional
height. Hillary, we can vote without this letter, or do you want to hold it? Because the meeting
occurred so long ago, I believe that we can vote since they've had ample time to submit the letter.
Right. Thank you. MI 2021-004-390-7120 Wissahickon Avenue. I vote yes.
Thomas Holloman is yes.
is yes jane snell my vote is yes yes my vote is yes thank you sir you have your votes thank you
James Snell, my vote is yes.
thank you very much thank you all sure thank you we're going to go back to number one
mi2022 005 552 36 east colter street and we're right
that we were joining as a panelist sir okay
good morning mr chair hi mr wright thank you uh you've already been sworn um just a few questions
from our vice chair good morning mr wright have you emailed in all the required documents and
exhibits that are needed and required to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing
yes i have thank you um please proceed and share your screen
okay so good morning mr chair and uh everyone else um today i'm prepared to present for my
hearing uh in front of the board which is for a variance for a semi-detached structure for
for uh two-family household living and the property is currently zoned as rsa five single
family uh here is the uh here was my denial my initial uh refusal um okay uh the reason
for variance requests or the hardship so this is a property that purchased from the previous owner
after i've been abandoned uh and the city demolished the property for l and i violations
so i've been looking for a good size lot to build a duplex in which
I and my family would reside as my current home is fairly small, 870 square feet here in West
Philadelphia. So the current zoning of a single family on the property on 36 East Coulter Street,
the property that I acquired, it hinders from constructing a duplex in which I can provide
housing security for my older children and where I can try to provide them with the opportunity to
save money and build wealth and then possibly become homeowners themselves without the worry
of the rising cost of renting. And having a second unit, it will help me alleviate this
hardship for myself and for my children while still allowing them their own privacy and their
own independence. The proposed design layout for 36 East Coulter Street will allow myself and my
wife and my younger children to occupy the larger bottom unit while my older children, some of them
more in college. Some of them, one of them is a truck driver. They're independent. It would allow
them to reside in the apartment above. And due to the current dimensions of the parcel, I can't build
two separate single family structures to accomplish this. But however, attaining a variance for a
multifamily dwelling will allow me to accomplish this. It would allow my older children a separate
dwelling, giving them their privacy as college-aged adults, but still allow me to see them
Delhi to provide them with guidance and assist them as they transition into a new stage in life.
Before I share my documents, I just want to mention something about the RCO meetings that we had.
I've had three RCO meetings as it relates to this variance. The first was on December 15,
2022. The second was February 9, 2023. And the last one, the final one was last week,
September 5, 2023. For each meeting, letters were sent out to the community, which included
around 56 addresses initially. Some of those addresses belong to one property, St. Luke's
Church, which is located across the street from the property, and also expands down Germantown
Avenue, the 5300 block. Other properties may have been vacant or lots, so the total number
of addressees considered near neighbors were 46 to 48 addresses. So about eight to 10 addresses
were returned back to me from the letters that I sent out. So the first two RCO meetings,
Mr. Chair, we had two non-votes. The reason for this, sir, was because of a disputed walkway
between my property and my neighbor's property on 34 East Coulter Street.
The previous building that settled on 34 East Coulter Street was not connected to
either neighbor, not 34 East Coulter Street, nor my neighbor on 38 East Coulter Street.
either neighbor, not 34 East Coulter Street, nor my neighbor on 34 East Coulter Street.
When I first received the architectural drawings of the property, I presented them to my neighbor
on 34 East Coulter Street, as she would mostly be affected by the build. We'd already been in
touch, talked in person on the phone, and likewise through text message. So when she saw that the
design of the building would be attached to her property she requested a change in the design
uh likewise the RCO requested a change in the design and she because she believed that the
walkway was shared and she didn't she didn't she didn't understand that my property came to
always to her wall and I'm going to speak about that in a bit she claimed that on her deed it
said end of row and that the previous structure was not connected to our house which is true
So I shared my land survey with her, which was done by Aqua Economics out of Bluebell PA. It was a company recommended to me by my architect, which showed that my property went through the wall of 34 East Coulter Street, my neighbor.
I also provided her with a phone number to this company to get in contact with them if she wanted to confirm with them.
So at that point, my neighbor at 34 East Paul District, along with the RCOs, they reached out to Mr. Charles Richardson, Chief of Staff at the Office of Councilwoman Cindy Bass, requesting a continuance of the ZBA hearing.
He said his office will have the city's survey department do an official survey of the property lines, which should satisfy neighbors' concerns.
This request for continuance was presented to you, sir, on my ZBA hearing back in February.
And you asked me, was I okay with the continuance? And I said I was. On August 29th, my local RCO, my neighbor, as well as myself, received an email from Mr. Charles Richardson, who forwarded an email from the city survey department confirming that my property line did, in fact, go through the wall of 34 East Coulter Street, thus allowing me to build directly to that wall to my neighbor's property on 34 East Coulter Street.
uh one thing i'd like to mention and i think is important that during the first two rco meetings
nothing was mentioned regarding opposition to me building a duplex it was never about any
congestion on the block it was never about any parking to the point that my neighbor on 34 east
culture street she actually said that she had no problem with that because two families always
lived there uh on 36 culture street the sole point of discussion was my building next up into
next to her property and how the bill may negatively affect her structure and that concern
no doubt is understandable uh the possibility of disturbing a foundation uh but that is why
you know we will hire an engineer
that's why we'll hire an engineer to assess any prop any risks to our property also uh my architect
mentioned on the first rco call that we would have her wall monitor with specific equipment
um uh throughout the excavation process and also i mentioned to them that there are strict
lni protocols as it relates to digging and excavating and that i'm following all the
guidelines and protocols as it relates to building and as it relates to construction
oh sorry about that um why don't you start showing us some of your documents okay okay sure
Let me share my screen. Okay.
I think pictures of the existing property would be interesting to see.
Is that the vacant lot there?
Yes, I'm pulling it up now.
Some reason I've been having issues with my internet, but it's strange.
I've never had this before, but one second.
Let's see if I can get this picture up here.
Oh, here it is.
So here's the vacant lot.
Right.
This is the vacant lot here. 34 is to the right, which has which is has no windows.
And it was even asked to me, you know, to mirror the build and the design build, which I'll show you in a bit to the other side.
But the problem with that is that it would it would obstruct the lighting and the views for my neighbor on 38 East Carter Street.
As you see, all their windows is on that side of their house, which on the other side, there's no windows at all.
which on the other side, there's no, there's no windows.
There's no windows at all.
This is a picture of the previous building that was there before it was
demolished by the city. It had two entrances as well.
Entrance here and I believe it enters in the front.
all right what's the rest of the block look like there's the multi-family houses on the block
um there's there's one uh at the end of the block there's one uh multi-family it's one duplex
on the block i'll show you one second so this is this is uh my neighbors this is they're all
these are all single families and there's one which is um here it is right here this here is uh
this is one which is a uh duplex i think this is the only one that's on the book what's on the
block right the majority of the block is single family homes yes except this one here on the
corner which is at 66 okay here's the architectural drawings right here this
was what was presented my architect he designed it to look look like the rest
of the homes on the block yeah and as you see the difference between the
design here and before is that the house before wasn't connected to 34.
So this was, this was the, uh,
the main point of discussion throughout the three, the three meetings.
And both sides of you will be single family homes.
Okay. All right.
Do you have anything else you want to offer?
um let's see um
okay questions from the board
no chair no chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
mr chair i have cornelia swenson with their hand raised i have allowed them to speak at this time
hi could you state your name please and spell it for the court stenographer
hello hi could you state your name and spell please for the court stenographer
okay i have to um good morning or good afternoon mr chair thank you for allowing me to speak
my name is cornelia swenson that's c-o-r-n-e-l-i-a s-w-i-n-s-o-n
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
listen first
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the truth
can you hear me
I hear you now
and are you a neighbor
yes I am
I'm at 34 East Coulter Street
proceed then
thank you very much
I have been a neighbor of this property for 35 years, approximately 35 years, a little bit more, maybe 84 was when I purchased the home.
The block is single family homes with the exception of one property at the end of the block, not the property that Mr.
Wright showed. And as far as I know, it's a duplex.
I'm not sure whether it's legally a duplex, but the block are all single-family homes.
This hearing today is about an application for multi-family on the block, regardless
of how anyone feels on the block. Our block had this meeting, discussed the merits of
our concerns and share those with Mr. Wright. I did not want to make this meeting about anything
else in terms of my comments other than the fact that it's a multi it's not a multi-family block
there are expectations we already have a lot of parking problems we're right up the street from
We're right up the street from a major, major private school, and parking is already a problem for our block.
a major, major private school.
We want to maintain the single-family structure on the block, and that and nothing more.
Ms. Winston, thank you so much for taking the time to call us.
We appreciate your input.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
Yes, Mr. Chair.
They're Ines Love with their hand raised.
I have allowed them to speak at this time.
Good morning.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Ines Love.
I-N-E-S-L-O-V-E.
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 chair for the RCO.
Proceed.
Proceed.
As you saw from our letter, we sent in, we, the community, opposed this property because the community is a single-family community and because of the, excuse me, the part of the structure of the property.
We think it's too dense.
They also thought that it was not in compliance with the rest of the community.
We asked the applicant if he would consider taking, making a walkway on both sides of the property, five or so feet, I believe it was.
And that's been asked throughout the meetings.
There was no, we couldn't come to a meeting of the mines.
There was no change in the architect's rendering.
We only met with the architect one time at the last two meetings.
He was not available.
so any changes that that were requested were not made we could not understand the hardship that the
applicant says he has he could never really explain that but because the community is the
way it is we thought it would if he wanted to if the applicant wanted to participate in that
community there had to be some he had to give into some way to help make sure that that community
stays the way that it is, and that the properties on either side were not in any way in danger
of being affected by his bill. Okay. Ms. Love, thank you so much for taking the time to call,
and we'll take under consideration everything you said. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
Yes, Mr. Chair. Allison Weiss, with their hand raised, I've allowed them to speak at this time.
Good morning, Ms. Weiss. Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court sonographer?
Ms. Weiss, you're breaking up a little bit. Could you start again?
Ms. Weiss, we can't hear you. You're breaking up.
Ms. Weiss, you're breaking up. We can't hear you. We do have your letter of opposition
from Solo Germantown. Thank you for sending that. We understand it. Okay. Is there anyone
else in the virtual audience thanks yes mr chair charles richardson with their hand raised i have
nothing to speak good morning mr richardson you've already been sworn just state your name for the
record please good morning again mr chair charles richardson office of councilwoman cindy bass
room 508 city hall uh councilwoman joins with the two rcos in opposition to this variance
thank you so much for taking the time the calls is there anyone else in the virtual audience
Yes, Susan Ponson with the hand raised. I have a lot of them to speak.
Could you state your name, please?
Suzanne, S-U-Z-A-N-N-E, Ponson, P-O-N-S-E-N.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Are you a neighbor?
I am a neighboring RCO, president of a neighboring RCO.
And I just want to WCGN, West Central Germantown neighbors.
and I'd like to support the near neighbors
as well as the RCO, the convening RCO.
All right.
Thank you so much for taking the time to call us.
We appreciate it.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
One further hand with a number ending in 5556,
I will allow them to speak at this time.
State your name, please,
and spell for the court sonographer.
Hello?
Hello?
Yes, this is Allison Weiss, Solo Germantown Civic Association.
Yes, this is Allison Weiss,
the Dunnantown Civic Association.
Could you, just for the record, could you spell your name?
A-double-L-I-S-O-N-W-E-I-S-S.
All right, do you swear or affirm, tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Ms. Weiss, when you called before we couldn't hear you, I mentioned that we have your letter of opposition from Solo Germantown.
Is there anything you want to add?
I just wanted to concur that at the meeting, there was overwhelming opposition to granting up the variance.
All right. Thank you so much for taking the time to call.
We appreciate it. Anyone else in the virtual audience?
There are no further hats, Mr. Chair.
Hi, Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman, and good morning.
David Fecto with the City Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential single-family zoning at this location.
there is no unique physical condition or circumstance of this property that would
prevent it from being used in conformance with the zoning code the city planning commission
recommends the board deny the use variance for two dwelling units thank you MI 2022 005
552 36 East Coulter Street I vote no Thomas Holloman
James Snell. My vote is no.
Ishmael Shahid. My vote is no.
Thank you. Thank you, sir. All right. Number three, MI
2022-002-567-1412
South 52nd Street. Zen Jin is the attorney.
Letter of support from the 51st Ward, Democratic RCO,
and also the applicant submitted a petition in support with 16
neighbors.
Zen Jin will be rejoining as a panel of students here.
Good morning.
Good morning, counsel. Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Yes. My name is Zen Jin,
Z-H-E-N, last name J-I-N, 1617
John F. Kennedy Boulevard, Suite 1838, Philadelphia PA
19103, here on behalf of the applicant.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client in relationship to this property?
My client is YYC Realty LLC, and Mr. Chen Jinshu is here on behalf of the LLC.
Our vice chair has just a few questions, sir.
Good morning, counsel.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate towards accuracy?
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that are needed and required to proceed with this case, five days and events of this hearing?
I have.
You can share your screen.
Thank you. I'm going to share with the board the information previously submitted.
Can everyone see my exhibit?
Yes, sir.
Thank you. We submitted a copy of the refusal, our seal letter in support from the 51st Board Democrats, along with a petition in support, notification, photos, plans, and related documentation.
This application is for a property that is zoned in a CMX2 district.
However, the location of the property led to our request before the board for a use as a two-family dwelling,
essentially asking the board to allow the first floor required commercial space to be used in a residential manner.
We met with the RCO multiple times. There were no neighbors coming out in opposition.
In fact, everyone was in support, partly because while this property is zoned CMX2 and was a long time ago used as some sort of office, it has not really been used in a commercial manner for many, many years.
The surrounding area, as you can see from the photographs, also shows that there's a large block of residential right across the street, and not even all the buildings here on this side are really commercial.
Even though everything is zoned CMX2, what we have is a partially commercial-looking building with a step-up.
But when we really look at the street, while this side has some commercial-style building, even this one is a residential at this point, this one's closed, this has been closed a long time, everything across the street is residential.
So based on that, the community actually supports our request for the residential use.
Our plan is to refurbish the property, change the front, paint the front, update the look, and use it simply as two units, one residential unit per floor.
one residential unit per floor. I'm going to zoom in so it's easier for the board to see
I'm going to zoom in so it's easier for the board to see.
the layout, although the layout is rather simplistic. It's not a complicated design.
We have a bedroom in the back, living room and kitchen, and two bedrooms for each of the units,
and that would be used in a fully residential manner. We believe that this is actually the
best use for the property. Given the history of lack of commercial activity, we believe there is
a hardship to continue to use this as a purity commercial unit. With the community support and
with the hardship that I have represented before the board, we would ask for a favorable
ruling in this matter. I'm happy to answer any questions, and I believe my client is here
available to verify my testimony. Why don't we bring your client on, sir?
Yes. Mr. Chen, can you try to raise your hand virtually to be identified? It's the first time
he's on zoom so i don't know if you'll have trouble
do we see his hand
they've been allowed to speak sir okay thank you
hi could you state your name please and spell for the court stenographer uh ding
Can you spell it, please?
Yes, J-I-N-X-I-U, the last name is C-H-E-N.
All right, do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I swear.
Proceed, counsel.
Thank you.
Mr. Chen, did you hear my testimony and see my presentation before the zoning board?
Can you verify what I have represented is true and correct and adopt it as your own testimony?
yes thank you hi questions from the board no chair no mr chairman
questions or comments from the virtual audience
i do not see any hands mr chair planning commission thank you chairman and good morning
david vecto with the city planning commission uh chair and members of the board the comprehensive
the plan recommends no change to the commercial mixed use zoning at this location. This property
has a history of use as a single family dwelling with ground floor commercial that dates to before
the adoption of the zoning code. The appellant requests to convert the ground floor commercial
unit into a residential unit. We don't have much information to rely on, but this block does seem
to be slowly transitioning away from its history as part of a commercial corridor. And so the city
Planning Commission recommends the board grant the use variants from the ground floor commercial
requirements in the zoning code. MI 2022 002 567 1412 South 52nd Street I vote yes. Thomas Holloman
my vote is yes. James Snell my vote is yes. Ishmael Shahid my vote is yes. Thank you counsel.
Thank you.
Have a good day.
Number four, MI 2023-001-039, 2712 North 16th Street.
Darlene Threat is the attorney.
There's a letter of support from the Allegheny West Civic Association and a letter of opposition from Swamp Poodle.
Swamp Poodle does send, if this is approved, some proviso request.
Counsel.
coming back in as a panelist sir sure thank you
good morning commissioners darling i believe i tore you in once today so just state your name
for the record please darlene three d-a-r-l-e-n-e three t-h-r-e-a-t-t 45 east
45 east city avenue bellicanwood pa19004 right could you identify your client in relationship
to this property um mr willie harakaya the um owner and manager of flores management is on the
line today okay our vice chair has just a few questions morning counsel do you
agree to leave the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his accuracy
have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that are needed
and required to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing
they have been mailed in thank you please proceed share your screen okay
thank you very much
You're welcome.
you're welcome
It's up. It's up. It's up. We see it.
We see it.
Second hand. I don't see it.
Commissioners, there was an exhibit package submitted into evidence which contained 12 exhibits, the permit application, refusal appeal, property information form, tax information, fire, certification, deed plans, pictures, a letter of support, a summary sheet, and a proof of mailing.
I'm just going to scroll down and show you the original permit application.
Basically, this property had received a violation and we're trying to legalize a existing two family addition, excuse me, property with an addition.
here is the
PIF form
we have a copy of the
deed we have a copy
of the fire
certification I mean the tax
clearance
it's a copy of the
city of Philadelphia
fire certification
Here's the deed for the property, and here's a copy of the plans for the property.
I'm just going to reduce them a little bit so you can see them a little better.
Basically, commissioners, here is the site plan for the property.
This is how the property appears.
The existing basement floor plan is empty. We just have the utilities in the basement. I'll
enlarge that a little bit for you. Then if we go down here a little bit, you can see the layout of
the existing first floor. Basically, the first floor is a one-unit apartment. There's a bedroom,
a den, a kitchen, a kitchen area, and storage space. This storage space is actually, and I'll
show you later on in a picture, the enclosed porch. Several neighbors on the block have
enclosed their porch for more space in their household. The third, the second and third
floor is basically a two bedroom, I mean a four bedroom apartment. We have a bedroom in
the front we have the kitchen area here and we have the bathroom and let me just enlarge that
a little bit more we have the bathroom we had up three bedrooms and a den on the third floor
On the second floor, you have two bedrooms, a kitchen area, and another bathroom area here.
The second floor apartment is approximately 1,200 square feet.
The first floor apartment is approximately 600 square feet.
Here I have for you just a side view of the property.
You can see the elevation of the property.
It's a pretty large property.
A little further down here, we have the pictures of this property. I'm just going to enlarge that a little bit. This is what the property actually looks like. Here's a front view of the property. You can see it originally had a porch here. It's had been closed, similar to the next door neighbor who has also enclosed their front porch.
I'm just going to scroll down.
I also want to show you these are the new postings for the property pursuant to the regulations.
Here is another picture of the block, and I just wanted to show you here how it had been an open front porch.
This is the neighbor's front porch, but the applicant enclosed the porch similar to other neighbors on that block.
And close the porch, similar to other neighbors on that block, and closing their porches.
I have some additional pictures for you. Just show you the interior. We've got the bathroom, the kitchen, additional rooms in the facility.
commissioners the applicant did meet with a allegheny west civic association
on july 25th 2023 they did write a letter of support it appears that the tioga united
association was also in attendance at this meeting and that they did support the application
Here is the actual meeting summary from the meeting, and down a little further here, I have the stamped proof of mailing, which was sent out.
And additionally, I just wanted to show you the actual letter that was sent out by Ms. Cordelia, referencing the meeting that was scheduled with the facility.
And with that, I would ask that the board consider our evidence and approve our request for variance.
Council, how long has it been a multifamily household?
Commissioner, I'd like Mr. Harakaya to address that because I'm not absolutely sure.
Okay, he's fine.
Mr. Harakaya, can you raise your hand, please?
please raise your virtual hand
and wait till we
okay they've been allowed to speak
hi could you state your name please
and spell it for the court stenographer
William Warkaya
W-I-L-L-I-A-M
H-U-A-R-C
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth yes sir
counsel. Mr. Harakai, are you the manager of this property? Yes, ma'am. And does Flores
Rental and Management own this property? Yes, ma'am. And can you tell the commissioner how
long this property has been operating as a two-family dwelling? I believe when we bought
the property, it was already like that. We were just trying to legalize it now.
Mr. Harakai, when did you buy the property?
According to the deed, I believe it was back in 2012.
I believe so. I don't remember that exact date.
Mr. I have no other questions.
You want him to adopt your testimony?
Mr. Harakai, have you heard my testimony as presented here today?
Yes. And would you adopt my testimony as true and correct?
Yes, I would.
I'd like to move our exhibits into evidence at this time.
Okay. Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
No, Chair.
Thank you, Jim. Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Yes, Mr. Chair. I have Charles Richardson with the hand raised again. I have another one to speak.
Good morning, Mr. Richardson. Again, just state your name for the record. You've been sworn.
Good morning again. Charles Richardson.
Office of Councilwoman Cindy Bass Room, 508 City Hall.
Councilwoman has no objection to granting variance.
Thank you very much. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
Yes, Mr. Chair, I have...
Okay, the hand is raised again.
it is from a number ending in 3552 I have allowed them to speak at this time
good morning could you state your name please and spell for the court stenographer
hello hi could you state your name please and spell for the court stenographer
yes Adrian Fernandez my last name is spelled f-e-r-n-a-n-d-e-z
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed.
Okay. Swampwood RCO is opposed to this variance. If it is granted, provisals are listed, and I am asking that those provisals be affixed to the land if the appeal is granted.
the um if the appeal is granted excuse me army so i thought you said something
Thank you.
um in the letter um i stated that um the lawyer for the applicant did not appear at the meeting
i was not at the meeting either however tauge united stated at the last hearing
they stated that they did the lawyer was not at the public meeting the property was not posted
before the hearing before the hearing and also they stated that they did not vote at all
on their property because they stepped out of the room during the presentation given by
they also stated that badeepsa was at the at the public meeting the public meeting was not
compliant nor the Allegheny West Foundation filed the zoning code to consult with all RCOs before
scheduling the meeting. So there were scheduling conflicts that did not have to happen if they had
followed the zoning code. So we were requesting a compliant meeting because we're getting that
area right there. There's a lot of trash parking and other problems, even though it's near Broad
street but those problems don't have to exist if we have more compliance with the appeals for
switching from single family to multi-family so we are opposed because the meeting was not compliant
and that the rco coordinator who's just one of the affected rcos were all the same
did not consult all the rcos before planning that meeting and that's why there was the low
attendance the the neighbors in the neighborhood the neighbors in the neighborhood many of them
stated they did not receive a notice we did not receive a notice um so therefore the meeting was
a mile from the property we give a lot of meetings in that area um for 17th street that is part of
our neighborhood we're well known around there and we do not give meetings one of the things we do is
give meetings close to the properties especially around there because there are a lot of senior
residents around there so um we are opposed to this variance because the way that the applicant
and also the rco coordinator went about um not complying with the zoning code we don't agree
with that and also if it's granted um we listed we listed provisos that we're asking for thank
you thank you for your input we appreciate it is there anyone else in the virtual audience
there are no further hands mr chair um council did you see the provisos um commissioner
unfortunately i did not see the provisos no household living in the basement interior trash
and recycling storage i can't see that we would really object to that commission thank you um
Anyone else in the virtual audience?
No further answer, Mr. Chair.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman, and good morning.
David Fechter with the City Planning Commission.
Chair and Board members, the comprehensive plan recommends no change
to the residential single-family zoning at this location.
This appears to be a legalization and documentation of an existing duplex.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the Board
grant the proposed use variance for two dwelling minutes.
MI-2023-001-039-2712 North 16th Street. I vote yes with proviso. No household living in basement, interior trash and recycling storage.
Thomas Holland, my vote is yes with provisos.
James Snell, my vote is yes with provisos.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with provisos.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you very much. Number six, MI 2023-003-527-2518-44 Frankfurt Avenue. Mark Feynman is the attorney. Letter of non-opposition from Council Member Squilla.
and also i believe yes yes mr president hillary um yeah we do have the letter of support now from
east kensington neighbors association that support was conditional on the applicant working with the
rco to refine the design of a new trash enclosure and that was accomplished prior to the the letter
being sent thank you very much mr feyman
Mr. Feynman is coming back in as a panelist.
Thank you.
Good morning, Mr. Feynman.
Good morning, Mr. Feynman.
Good morning.
Good morning, Chair Bergman.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Yes, good morning.
Mark Feynman, F as in Frank, E-I-N as in Nicholas, M-A-N, attorney for the applicant.
And the applicant is Sheikh Yusuf Morhoff and Kathleen, husband and wife.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
And our vice chair has just a few questions, sir.
Good morning, counsel.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his accuracy?
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that are needed and required to proceed to this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Technically, some items were not sent in within five days.
Most were.
The items that were not were items that were just recently received, and we made sure that they were sent over.
All documents have been received and I believe are of record.
Understood.
And I believe we did receive the RCO letter as well.
So please proceed and share your screen.
Thank you very much.
the green button on the bottom
are you able to see anything yet
mr fineman did you hit share screen i did and i'm looking at that again uh and once you share
the screen you have to click another button so that it'll come up visible to all the um
anyone with the link, correct?
I did that and then done
and seeing if that's coming up.
What kind of computer are you using, sir?
I have a MacBook Pro.
There we go.
There's the problem.
Our technical administrator,
are you able to assist at all?
I'm here.
One moment.
Thank you, Nikki.
okay you said you had a macbook macbook pro correct okay and what happens when you hit share
screen hit share screen it pops up share 25 uh 1844 uh frankfurt avenue document pdf and uh
people with access uh general access anyone with the link
okay so those are the options it's giving you correct
and then i clicked on and
mr fineman are you in zoom and clicking the green share screen button because it sounds
like you're hitting the share document button instead let me go back to my
Bear with me.
Here we go.
Is it coming up?
It should be coming up any minute.
It says started screen sharing it, but I don't see anything.
My apologies.
Why don't we do this?
Can I give an overview?
and also reference the uh i think we need i i think we need to see it mr feinman why don't we
do this why why don't we um why don't we move on and we'll come back to you maybe you can figure
out in the next 15 20 minutes how to do it is that okay i will try that yes okay all right thank you
Okay. We're going to move on to number seven. MI 2022, 005-717, 3517 North 18th Street.
Okay. All right. Mr. Movahill is the attorney for the owner. Letter of support from.
uh mr movahill is the attorney for the owner letter of support from allegheny west civic
association based on a request for a triplex they're coming back in as a panel so good
good morning chairman good morning good morning could you state your name please and spell it for
the court stenographer absolutely it's leo leo last name movahill ms michael ul vism victor i
h-i-l-l right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do do you identify your client and relationship to this property
client is a3 delivery llc on behalf of the company today is travis glover that's t-r-a
v as in victor is glover g l o v as in victor er and our vice chair has just a few questions sir
thank you good morning counsel do you agree to weigh the reading of the refusal and stipulate
to his accuracy yes have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that are needed
and required to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing yes i have thank you
please proceed and share your screen so my screen should be shared right now can everybody see it
great members of the board my client had initially submitted an application for an h
a bedroom rooming house for this and after we met with the community organization
allegheny west civic and discussed with them further what we wanted to do we requested an
amended refusal for three multi-family with three dwelling units that's why on my screen
We see a rather lengthy table of contents for purposes of the record.
We have the refusal of appeal on project information form of page one.
Our request for leave to amend at 10.
The letter granting leave to amend at 11.
Our revised refusal for three dwelling units at 12.
Area zoning maps at 13.
Deed at 15.
Our first zoning meeting notice to neighbors is at 19.
second zoning notice zoning notice to neighbors is at 22 as we did have two separate rco meetings
we did receive a letter of non-opposition from the rco that's at 25. our client's commercial
activity is at 28. tax clearance is at 29. exterior photos and property are at 31. interior photos are
at 55. our initial plan it says six it was actually eight units all together with six bedrooms that
at 63 and the revised plans for three units is at 64. so members of the board i'll first just go to
our revised refusal i'm now showing everybody page 12. so we filed our revised refusal for the
uses of multi-family three dwelling units in this property it is located in rsa5 district
showing everybody now page 14 we can see the rsa 5 district indicated in yellow
there is rsa 3 across the street and when we get to the photos later in the presentation we will
see that these are large homes with many bedrooms which is why my client is seeking to have this be
instead of one large single family home simply because it's financially
difficult to impossible to completely rehabilitate this and rent it out as a single
family home, have these three dwelling units instead. This is my client's deed.
That's our first zoning notification letter that went out to the neighbors,
along with our proof of mailing at page 21. 22 is our second zoning notice for our second meeting,
along with proof of mailing at 24.
At page 25, we do have the meeting summary from Allegheny West
showing that they are ultimately in support of the revised proposal
for the three-dwelling unit option.
And at page 26, they go into a little bit more detail about that.
This is my client's commercial activity license,
proof of tax clearance,
These are the exterior photos showing zoning signs as posted with revised refusal.
This is the porch of the property.
Directly next to us is a multifamily property, although I'm not sure it's 100% legal.
On this block, there is already a number of multifamily properties.
Again, the legality of which we're not 100% sure of, but they do exist.
Our property is located where I'm indicating with my cursor right now.
We do have the white door and you can see my zoning sign.
and for purposes of the record discussing page 34. this is looking at northbound on 18th street we
can see a corner store the rsa3 properties i discussed across the street at the left of the
the rsa3 properties i discussed across the street the left of the screen the rsa5 single
screen the rsa
family homes where we're proposing to put three units off to the right
and we're just going to continue in a circle around so we can see the immediately adjacent
properties looking at page 39 specifically my client has been in expressed direct contact
with the neighbor who lives at these properties as you can see on the street there is a legal
off-street parking space here for that owner we have been in discussions with them to ensure that
none of the tenants are ever going to be using her parking spot or ever blocking her parking drive
this is looking southbound on 18th
and now across the street looking westbound
and back northbound to the corner store.
Again, this is immediately adjacent property.
This is down the block. I believe this is a
some sort of fraternal organization or a church.
We can see multiple doorbells on property across the street indicating multifamily
use as well as multiple mailboxes
on another property down the street indicating multifamily use on the block.
at page 52 another indication of multifamily showing that it does exist same thing on page 53
finally page 54 we can see that at the end of the block in this
particular corner parcel with the turret multifamily
these are interior photos
showing some renovation work that has been done on the interior
Ending at page 62.
This was the initial plan at page 63.
I'm just going to I have that in case anybody has questions about the prior use with respect to the bedroom but this is our revised proposal.
The basement is going to be storage and utilities only.
First floor is going to be a one-bedroom apartment.
Kitchen is going to be to the rear, bedroom to the middle along with the bathroom, living room here.
And then you would go up to the second floor to get to the second apartment, which is to the rear of the property.
Kitchen is here, bedroom is here.
It's a one-bedroom unit.
Then apartment three is a bi-level unit.
There'd be living space with the bathroom to the front.
And you'd go up the stairs to get into the second story where you'd have your kitchen, your bedrooms to that parcel, and a larger bathroom as well.
These are all intended to be for rent.
My client's going to have storage containers in the rear for trash to ensure that it's not going to be out on the street.
The neighbors were specifically concerned about that because, as you know, trash in multifamily properties continues to be a concern of neighbors.
We're happy to take any questions at this time.
And Mr. Glover, if you would please raise your hand so you can adopt my testimony and add anything you'd like to add.
They've been allowed to speak.
Hi, Mr. Glover, could you state your name, please, and spell it for the court stenographer?
My name is Travis Glover. That's T-R-A-V-I-S-G-L-O-V-E-R.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, counsel.
Mr. Glover, you've heard my testimony today with respect to this project?
And that upon our first meeting with the community organization, you decided to change everything from what was originally proposed as a rooming house to a three-dwelling unit apartment, correct?
Correct.
And you've had a chance to discuss this project with immediate neighbors, not just at the meeting, but also on the street, right?
Yes, sir.
is there anything else you'd like the board to know at this time no sir thank you mr glover
i don't have any other questions to you but the board may questions from the board no mr
chairman no chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
i do not see any further hands mr chair planning commission thank you sir and good morning david
effecto with the city planning commission chairman and board members the comprehensive plan recommends
no change to the residential single family zoning at this location this property has a documented
history of approvals for four dwelling units dating to 1966 the city planning commission
recommends that the board grant the proposed use variance for three dwelling units thank you
MI 2022-005717
MI-2022-005717, 3517 North 18th Street, I vote yes. Her amended refusal dated 8-21-23.
check.
Thomas Howell, my vote is yes, with proviso.
James Snell, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Thank you, counsel.
Great. Thank you, members of the board. Have a good day.
Number 10, MI 2022, 006-117-808 North 46th Street.
Sherman Toppin is the attorney.
Letter of support from the Mill Creek Advisory Council.
They'll be rejoining as the panelists, sir.
good morning um mr chair members of the board would you state your name please and spell for
the court's stenographer yes my name is sherman toppin s-h-e-r-m-a-n-t-o-p-p-i-n right do you
swear or firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do could you identify
your client a relationship to this property my client is mr gavi atavison he should be on in
the virtual crowd right now and he is a developer and he is a member of the llc city land development
okay our vice chair has just a few questions sir good morning council do you agree to waive the
reading of the refusal and stipulate towards accuracy i do have you emailed in all the required
documents and exhibits that are needed and required to proceed with this case five days in
advance of this hearing yes I have okay thank you please proceed you've already
shared your screen okay again thank you of members of the board and mr. and mr.
chair I'm here representing mr. Gavi Asavason would see land development
property is located 808 north 8 north to 46th Street which is there in milky
Mill Creek area of West Philly some two houses in on the corner of North 46th
Street and Brown and that's where we're located you see the picture there in
front of you is the vacant lot at this time there's of course an illegally
parked car there we're hoping to get this development done so that that kind
of use doesn't happen people are coming over the curb and using this lot for
dumping and for this blighted lot for dumping and illegal parking so we're
going to be making sure that that's taken care of should this we be
successful in this particular zoning hearing this is my exhibit package this
This is the road map for today, our refusal, our deed, our application for appeal.
The project information form is there.
We're going to be looking at a few pictures and aerials of the property as well as photographs,
plans, the notice of the RCO meeting which was sent, the addresses of the neighbors that
have received those notices, and proof certificate of mailing.
We will present that as well as the zone new ZBA hearing notice for this particular meeting
as well as the posting of that tax clearance and the RCO letter of support, which will end there.
So going right into it, the refusal for this particular property, we're doing it,
we're seeking to erect a two-family household with a roof deck on top.
The refusals sort of fall into two categories.
One, because the development is located between two-story homes,
there is a refusal for a third story to be set back.
What we'd like instead is to have the facade of the property go three stories straight up and not set back.
We feel that is more consistent with the character of the property and more attractive to the community.
The hardship there is because this is such a small lot, just 15 feet wide and 56 feet deep.
Every inch of square foot is important for the marketability and the rentability of the property.
And having that setback would really compromise not just the top unit or the size of the property for the purposes of interior living as well as the width and the depth of the roof deck.
The second group of refusal items are dimensional, and we find these dimensional items to be somewhat de minimis, the first being the actual living space, 615 square foot is 75% is what the code requires.
we're seeking to extend that to 86% of the square foot. Again, because of the unique small
dimensional footprint of the property, we're looking for a 705 square foot, which is only
90 square foot variance, one room basically in our proposal. The rear yard, we're seeking only
a 2.7 feet variance there. Nine feet is proposed as the depth of the rear yard. We're looking for
6.25. Again, we feel that's de minimis given the very small, very shallow depth of the lot itself.
And again, connected to the rare yard, the 144 square foot is the is.
again connected to the rare yard the 144 square foot is the is the required size of the rare yard
we are seeking 114 which is just 30 square foot off the mark and that is what we're going to be
talking about today so here these are just our required documents you see our deed is here
i'll shoot through some of this our application for appeal which reiterates what i've just said
Our project information form is here is Exhibit 3. Exhibit 5, you can see that we're located
get smack in the RM1 area. This is our property right there. Four properties in from the corner.
So that's our zoning map from above. Looking at it from an aerial standpoint, you see
the corner property is a demolished three-story. This property was three-story going straight up.
I'll show a picture from historically that shows that this is our subject property.
Here is a vacant lot, and this is, again, vacant lots behind it.
What I want you to see here is that all around in this particular area, there is no property built in this footprint subject to this of the third floor setback.
There's been no new construction to story in this entire area outside of a community development project.
This was a community development project where all these homes were done together.
As a single development infill, it is an economic hardship to have to comply when you don't have the benefit of sharing the cost as these houses do, to go just two floors.
So doing a single family two floor home would completely be out of the economic possibility for our applicant.
And to go three floors, compromise on the eight-foot setback, that really compromises the size of the second unit on the top floor or the third floor and makes it very difficult to make that property saleable and marketable.
So that fits into what we're talking about today.
Moving right down, this is what is proposed as the construction.
This is the front facade, the elevations going to the front, and this is the rear elevation of the same property.
Very standard appearing.
In fact, this appearance of the front facade matches what is four doors down at the corner.
So we're looking at something identical and already familiar in keeping with the character of the community, as it says.
And then as we move down to our plans, I'll make this slightly larger so that we can look at what's proposed.
And again, two units.
If you enter the first unit here, there's sort of a foyer.
one door leads you upstairs to the second unit the first unit is occupies the bottom two floors
you have your living room in the front kitchen and with one bedroom in the back so it's a one
bedroom unit on the on the first floor which is flex space at the bottom utilities and and uh
and laundry as you go to the second unit you're looking at basically open space a living room
open an open concept there with the kitchen on the first floor and you go to the top floor um
and you have second floor you have your two bedrooms and this is where you'd have a problem
if the if you had to set back the property it would almost cut this room in half make this not
usable as a bedroom then you'd basically have a two one bedroom units and that is where the
variance that's where the economic challenge comes related to my client and the third floor of course
is the roof deck which would be much smaller if the variance and if the setback were to be complied
with as we move down we did send a notice to the this is the notice we sent to the rco and all the
required neighbors uh have that notice there is exhibit eight as exhibit nine we've got 133 letters
that we send in the affected area all around as you can see this comes straight out of the the rco
notifications website these are the addresses we mail to and in exhibit 10 you see our certificate
of mailing. This goes on for several pages. Okay, we are getting down to, sorry about that length of
that. This was the hearing for this particular ZBA meeting and here's the posting of the notice of
this continued meeting on the property. Three pictures of that and this gives you a good sense
of the depth. This tree comes down and you can see that even with the shallow lot that we have at a
very thin, 15 feet across, every square foot is going to be needed to maximize the usable living
space here. And as you can see back behind here, there is going to be a space for a smaller back
patio, 6.25 feet versus nine, but there's still an open space to see. So there's not going to be,
you're not backing up to another structure. So there's still some openness going into the rear
in light of that variance that we're seeking here's our tax cert current through october 5th
through october 5th and we in the meeting that we had with the mill creek advisory council
and we in the meeting that we had with the mill creek advisory
was not a very well attended meeting however the board of the mill creek advisory council
were in support we discussed the property and there was a gentleman who lived right next door
the gentleman who lives at 806 was in the property and he was in support uh we invited him to be a
part of this zba hearing but he did not uh he did not again i don't believe that he is here but in
In any event, we did get the support of the community, and we do have, we would ask that
the CBA, in conjunction with that, would work with the community and would allow the community's
wishes as well as ours to be granted.
So I think at this time, I'd like to bring my client forward to adopt my testimony and
answer any questions.
Mr. Tovisin, if you could raise your virtual hand to be advanced as a co-presenter here.
morning sir please raise your virtual hand to wait to be sworn in
why could you state your name and spell please for the court stenographer
uh my name is gazi g-a-z-i the last name is out of seven a-t-a-s-a-v-e-n
right do you swear or affirm tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes i do sir proceed counsel ah yes mr mr thawison have you been listening to the zba
testimony that i've just i've just made on behalf of this application yes and would you adopt that
testimony as your own yes and is there anything missing or anything that you'd like to add or
supplement to what i've already testified to with respect to this application no okay well at this
time the board may have questions for you but i would ask the board to admit my exhibits into
evidence everything's admitted questions from the board no no chair no chair questions or comments
from the virtual audience there are no hands mr chair planning commission thank you chair bergman
and good morning david fecto with the city planning commission chairman and board members
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential uh multi-family zoning at this
location the appellant has not shown that an economic detriment will accrue if they are
required to comply with the dimensional standards in the zoning code the city planning commission
recommends the board deny the proposed dimensional variances thank you my 2022 006 117 808 north 46
street i vote yes yes james now my vote is yes yes thank you council yeah thank you members of
the board thank you all right let's see if we go back for number
Culver Street,
Nastasio's
Engine,
Okay. Number six,
MI 2023,
003-527-2518-44
Frankfurt Avenue.
Mark Feynman, you've already been sworn, sir.
He'll be coming back
as a panelist.
Mr. Feynman?
he's coming in now as a panelist chair
hi mr fineman
good morning hi could you could you state your name just for the record you've already been sworn
yes uh mark fineman f as in frank e-i-n-m-a-n and my apologies
Are we up and running?
I believe I'm up and running.
Now it's making something.
There we go.
My apologies.
I do have two separate computers working, so you'll see me in two spots because of the circumstances, but I believe I'll be able to present with what I have here for you.
uh i'll be able to present with what i have here for you you've already been sworn yes and just
You've already been sworn.
for the record uh there's a letter of non-opposition from the council member we also have a lesson
a letter i believe of support from east kensington neighbors so why don't you start with your
presentation thank you um um here we go
okay i see okay so on the
we see your appeal yes so this is this is an appeal as we indicated my client has property
located at 2518-44 Frankfort Avenue, has been at this property for many, many years.
The best description is it's a triangle at the end of merging streets.
My client has operated a convenience store there during the years of operations, has
been very supportive of the community.
my client in trying to meet the demands of the community wanted to expand the offerings and in
order to do that needed to expand the kitchen capabilities within the interior of the structure
in order to do that needed to to build an addition the proposed addition would be built to code the
reason we're before the panel is because we were advised that we needed special
um that's a special uh uh an exemption was needed by uh from the zoning board of adjustment for
for the erection of the addition to the existing building for the use of a grocery store um
essentially the the additional space and if i may scroll so we have we have all that what i think
would be helpful is if you showed us some photos of the property yes and that's what you want to
do. I'm scrolling down now, so bear with me
one moment. And excuse me, Chair, if I may, would you be able
to make your screen a full screen?
Maybe to like the side of your dock, yes, and
make it wider. Thank you so much.
You are welcome.
So this image here that I show you shows the store and what's cut off, unfortunately, in the photo is to the left of the bottom there is the point of the triangle of the property.
But the building itself, as you see, with the red and white top there, on the far right here where my cursor is, is the intended area of where the addition would be built.
It would be the same height as the roof that's currently here.
And it would be built from right where this black car is over to just about where the sidewalk is, but not on the sidewalk.
that's approximately five and a half to six feet wide in that space there the depth would be
approximately 50 feet going to the back of the property line and then coming back across to
join to the back wall here that's approximately 20 some maybe 22 feet altogether this is a closer
view of that area here this would all come out what's in this area would be coming out and the
structure would be in this area. It would be a trapezoid structure. I'll scroll up and show you
an image that shows the blueprint of what that would look like.
And here we are. So right where the cursor is here, this is the wedged area that would be the
addition that's being sought and proposed. The plans would be submitted to build this and then
change the interior to allow for the expansion and removal of the existing kitchen over to this
area for purposes of being able to accommodate the customers that are coming in and what their
demands are and requests. As has been indicated, we did meet with the RCOs in the community there
And we met both with the Kensington East Kensington Neighbors Association.
And the. We received their support that they took a vote.
It was nine in favor, six opposed. We have from council council member Mark Swilla's office, a letter of non-opposition.
We also submitted a letter that we just received yesterday from...
A LETTER THAT WE JUST RECEIVED YESTERDAY FROM THE PRINCIPLE OF KENSINGTON HIGH SCHOOL, WHICH IS A FEW BLOCKS AWAY, PROVIDING THEIR SUPPORT.
WE ALSO SUBMITTED A PETITION THAT HAD IN ACCESS OF 300 SIGNATURES OF MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY ALL IN SUPPORT OF THE ADDITION.
And one of the things we did in meeting with the RCOs is discuss with them their concerns in the front end of the property up here, right where Sargent Street and Amber Street and Frankfurt all kind of merge up in this area here.
As the property currently is, we have our trash back in the area, which would be the area where the proposed construction would take place.
consequently we would need to move the trash dumpster we discussed that with the rco members
who attended the meetings and heard from them what their concerns were about the aesthetics and so
forth our proposal would be to move that trash dumpster into this area up here near the front of
the property where the triangle is we discussed with the rco and my apologies that this is loaded
the way it is, but this would show what we propose. There's already an existing sign there.
We would build an enclosure around that sign with slotted material. That material was presented to
the RCO members who agreed with the nature of that material. It would be a track type of material.
It would be slotted so it's not a stockade type of fence area. There would be three sides to it
that are fixed. The fourth side, which would be facing the store, would have a gate on it where
the rubbish removal company would be able to have access to go in and take the dumpster out
and empty the trash. We would propose putting on the exterior boxes, which would be for planters,
and putting live vegetation which my client would maintain in addition to that we would put as you
see these stationary planters which also would have vegetation the the reason for both of these
types of additions would be to comply with the request of the those members from the RCOs
indicating that they were hoping for some some greening of the area as well as something that
would impede traffic that been parking on the sidewalks of the property that it's not the
customers but it's residents or people doing business in the nearby properties the curb is
very low here we can't change that but at the same time our discussions with the representatives
from the rco would be if we put some large planners there it would make it a little more
difficult to try to park in those areas and we think that the spacing of those planners would
not only beautify the area but restrict the parking capabilities in that area so hold on
one minute please yes hillary what do we what is the provisos
so chair the the one proviso had to do with further discussions about the trash containment
area and so those discussions um already already occurred as mr fineman said so yeah there are no
additional provisos thank you very much and that and and that is exactly why i'm addressing this
because that was the proviso and we undertook to to have um multiple meetings on in that respect
okay and the fishtown district fishtown kensington area uh business uh rco uh indicated their support
and uh as did the east kensington these not these uh which is reflected as exhibit g shows the
posting and we posted in multiple locations because of just the configuration of the property
we did all three of the sides that would be accessible to the public both on i mean on um
sergeant on amber and on frankfurt so we posted in that thank you um could you bring your client
want to adopt your testimony please yes hi sir could you state your name and spell please for
the court stenographer morhaf sheik yousef m-o-r-h-a-f last name s-h-e-i-k-h-y-o-u-s-e-f
right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
Proceed, counsel.
Thank you very much.
Mr. Mohawk, you heard my presentation and representation to the board?
And what I presented, to the best of your knowledge, understanding, and belief, is that true and correct?
uh what i presented to the best of your knowledge understanding belief is that true and correct yes
and do you agree and adopt my presentation as your testimony here today yes and would you like
to have the the board um rule on your application for approving this project yes i do questions from
the board questions from the board no mr questions or comments thank you questions or comments from
the virtual audience i do not see any hands mr chair planning commission thank you chair bergman
and good afternoon david fecto with the city planning commission chair and board members the
comprehensive plan recommends no change to the commercial mixed use zoning at this location
the appellant has shown that the proposed takeout restaurant will have no detrimental impacts to the
neighborhood beyond what might be expected the rear yard variance is generated by an existing
building that was constructed in a way where the appellant would be out of compliance with
the rear yard requirement no matter what their proposed use would be so the city planning
commission recommends the board grant the proposed special exception and the proposed
dimensional variance but we also want to note that if the proposed planters are in the right
of way instead of within the appellants property boundary they will need a streets bill from city
council to permit those planters thank you mi 2023-003-527-2518-244 frankfort avenue i vote yes
thomas
James Snellman, my vote is yes.
James Snellman, my vote is yes.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you very much, members of the board.
Thank you.
Is there anyone in the virtual audience whose 9.30 a.m. case has not been called?
There are no hands, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, everyone.
A little bit over today, but we've got a lot of nice work done.
See everyone at 2 p.m.
All right, all right, Chair.
Okay, Chair.
Please.
we're ready to go for Tina I'm just checking for the participants yes sir we are you can
proceed as you wish good afternoon my name is Bill Bergman and I will be chairing this
afternoon's ZBA hearings with me as our vice chair Ismail Shahid present Mr. Chairman our
Our board member, Thomas Holliman.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
And our board member, James Snell.
Present, Chair.
Also present is Hillary Emerson, our attorney, and our executive director, Tanya Sunkett.
Here's our virtual format.
Be advised.
Proceedings are being recorded.
A video will be available by contacting TanyaSunkett at phil.gov.
For the benefit of our court stenographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying.
If you're participating by phone and you wish to testify, press star nine to raise your hand and star six to unmute and to enter an appearance statement, call 267-270-5548.
Leave your email and the address of the property in question.
And finally, the question answer box on the screen is not for comments or testimony.
All comments should be directed to our executive director, Tanya Sunken.
Let's look at the schedule for this afternoon. Number three, MI 2023-002-427-2739 North 5th Street. That case is continued.
Number five, MI 2021-004-365-4501 Belgrade Street. That case is continued. Attorney moving party.
And number seven, MI-2023-002-414-4900 North 11th Street, that case is continued.
Are there any comments in the virtual audience relative to the three cases that have been continued?
I see no handshare.
Are there any requests for additional continuances?
for additional continuances.
I see no hands here.
Okay, thank you.
We're going to go to our add-on list.
Case number one, MI 2022, 006105, 1412 North 17th Street.
Our board member, Ismail Shahid, has recused himself from this case.
I vote yes per amended refusal dated 8-15-23.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with proviso.
James Snell, my vote is yes with proviso.
Number two, MI 2023-002-355-6104 Market Street, I vote no.
Thomas Holliman, my vote is no.
James Snell, my vote is no.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is no.
Thank you.
Number three, over at our list, MI20230021971342E.
I vote no.
Thomas Holliman, my vote is no.
James Snell. My vote is no.
Ishmael Shaheed. My vote is no.
Thank you. Number four, MI 2023, 002-200, 900-58 North 9th Street. I vote yes.
Thomas Holloman. My vote is yes.
James Snell. My vote is yes.
Thank you. We're going to go to our
regular list and we're going to start
with number 12
001 881
Woodhaven Road. Augusta
O'Neill is the
attorney for the owner
Let's see here
good afternoon mill mill good afternoon mill mill brooks civic associate took a position of
non-opposition uh counsel could you state your name please and spell for the court stenographer
sure my first name is augusta a-u-g-u-s-t-a last name is o'neill that's spelled o-apostrophe n-e-i-l-l
do you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do could you identify your client in relationship to the property my client is
franklin circle realty llc they're the owner of the property right and our vice chair has just
a few questions good afternoon counsel do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and
stipulate to its accuracy i do have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that
are needed and required to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing i did
thank you please proceed and share your screen thank you so much
thank you members of the board um as i previously stated i'm here this afternoon representing the
owner of the property at 4401 Woodhaven Road. The owner is Franklin Circle Realty LLC. This property
is zoned CA1. This is an application fairly straightforward. This is just to clear up an
issue that recently came up with L&I to add some auto repair uses and just clarify the uses that
are happening at this existing business that's located at the property. Just to provide an
overview. The business that we're here to talk about is the Mavis Discount Tire. They're located
in the Franklin Mills Shopping Center, surrounded by a number of other commercial uses, as you can
see on my screen. They're in the southernmost part of the center, just east of the Pokessing
Valley Park. As you can see from the picture I provided of the property in your exhibit package,
This is, again, the site of an existing Mavis Discount Tire.
That business has been operating there since after receiving zoning approval to operate the business in 2019.
Also included just for your edification, some pictures of the interior.
This is just the waiting room.
more pictures of the waiting room and then just some images of just an image of the area where
More pictures of the waiting room and then just some images of just an image of the.
servicing happens and the bays where that where that occurs inside of the building. So just by
way of background in 2022 Ellen I advised my client that the zoning permit that they had
only covered the tire sales and servicing that was occurring at the business and not other light
auto repair work that was being done at the site. I included in your exhibit package a copy of
that prior permit that was issued. And again, it shows the vehicle equipment and sales and rental
specifies it's a tire shop. We were unfortunately unable to obtain a copy of the transcript from our
2019 hearing. So even though my client did testify at that hearing that there were going to be oil
changes and other, you know, light auto repair work being done at the site, unfortunately, we
weren't able to get a copy of that transcript. And so we weren't able to clarify this issue with
L&I. And I did also want to point out that the application that we had submitted in 2019
did show that there was going to be a service center out at the site. But again, because we
weren't able to get that transcript, we had to go through this zoning variance process to get this
approval that we're asking for today. So as you can see, we were issued a refusal because the
proposed use of personal vehicle repair and maintenance is prohibited in this zoning district.
We've had numerous conversations both with the RCO that's affected the Millbrook Civic Association
as well as Councilman O'Neill's office. We were able to come up with some provisos
to limit the uses so that it's not a general auto repair shop, because it's my understanding that
Councilman O'Neill's office did not want, you know, a general vehicle repair and maintenance
shop in their district. So we do have a letter of support from the Millbrook Civic Association.
That's at tab two of your exhibit package. And we've also agreed with Councilman O'Neill's
office in Millbrook Civic that if the tenant at the site were ever to change from a Mavis
discounts higher, that we would come back in front of the RCO and clarify what uses are going to
happen at the site. So that being said, I would be happy to pull up a copy of the proviso letter
that I sent to the board solicitor just to run through the provisos that we've come up with and
then call my client forward to adopt my testimony if the board would like me to do that.
Go ahead, please.
Sure. So the proviso letter that was sent to your board solicitor just clarifies that in addition to the repair, tire repair and sales, the uses that were going to be added are limited to oil changes, fluid checks, tire replacement and servicing, brake checks and servicing, battery checks and servicing, muffler and exhaust repair, power steering checks and servicing, suspension,
shocks and struts, repairs, alignment checks, air conditioning checks, repairs, as well as state
inspections. So as you can see, there's no, you know, there's no body work or anything that
creates a lot of noise or pollution. These are just fairly minor vehicle maintenance uses. And
we also did note in this letter that, again, if we were to change from a Mavis discount tire,
we would be back in front of Millbrook to present the application and get their approval.
You want to bring your client on, please?
So my client is Chris Koblo.
So, Chris, if you could raise your hand to be identified in the audience.
If you're in the virtual audience, please raise your hand and wait to be sworn in.
we see him jason
no i don't mr chair um cancel your office to the court we will gladly take your testimony
thank you um questions from the board oh mr no chair no chair questions or comments from the
virtual audience. Yes, Mr. Chair. Alice Udovich has their hand raised. I have allowed them to
speak at this time. Alice, state your name and spell, please, for the court stenographer.
Thank you, Chairman. Members of the board, Alice Udovich, A-L-I-C-E-U-D-O-V-I-C-H,
from Councilman Brian O'Neill's office. Do you swear a firm to tell the truth,
the whole truth, nothing but the truth? I do. Proceed. The Councilman has no objection to the
granting of the variants, and does agree with the provisos that Ms. O'Neill mentioned.
Thank you. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
Yes, Mr. Chair, I have a hand raised by a...
Yes, Mr. Chair, I have a hand raised by a Haristos iPhone.
That may be the original one.
Yeah, that's my client.
Hi, could you state your name and spell, please, for the court stenographer?
okay i think i think we we have our our council's testimony council's testimony um anyone else in
the first audience no further hands mr chair thank you planning commission
good afternoon chair peter bernard for the planning commission
hi peter could you spell your name please for the court sonographer just for the record
P-E-T-E-R, B as in boy, A as in apple, R as in Roger, N as in Nancy, A as in apple, R as in Roger, D as in dog.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do, Chair.
Please proceed.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing CA1 commercial auto at this location.
Seeing as this is an ongoing use, the Planning Commission has no objection to the granting of the variance.
Thank you.
MI 2023-001-881-4401 Woodhaven Road. I vote yes with proviso. Personal vehicle repair and
maintenance use limited to the following activities. Oil changes, fluid checks, tire
replacement and servicing, brake checks and servicing, battery checks and servicing,
muffler and exhaust repair, power steering checks and servicing, suspension shocks and struts repair, alignment checks.
Hold on a moment. I just lost my start here.
Alignment checks. I'll be right with you.
Alignment...
Muffler, exhaust repair, power steering checks and servicing, suspension, shocks, and struts repair, alignment checks.
Mr. Chair, there were two additional, sorry, air conditioning checks and repairs and state inspections.
Wait a minute, wait a minute.
Air conditioning checks and repairs and state inspections.
Solomon, my vote is yes with the provisos.
James Snell, my vote is yes with provisos.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with provisos.
Thank you.
Can't forget the expectations.
Thank you, council.
Thank you so much, and thank you for letting me go first.
All right. Number one.
Number one, MI 2023-002-475-3956 Parish Street.
Alan Nockamson is the attorney.
Recommendation of support from the Mantua Civic Association.
Applicant also provides a petition in support signed by approximately nine neighbors, along with 12 letters, form letters of support.
i'm back in as a panelist sir thank you good afternoon mr chair members of the board
alan knockamson a-l-a-n last name knockamson n-o-c-h-u-m-s-o-n right do you swear a firm
to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do could you identify your client
the relationship to this property oh yes my client is yc investment llc the owner of the property
and then the virtual audience is gazi out of seven it's representative our vice chair has
just a few questions sir good afternoon counsel do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal
and stipulate to his adequacy i do have you emailed them all the required documents and exhibits that
need to be required to proceed with this case five days in the games of this hearing yes we have
can you please proceed thank you
uh so i'm here to present oops 39 56 uh paris street
uh during our presentation uh we will first review the notice of refusal
Then the letter of support from the Manitua Civic Association.
then the letter of support from the manchewa civic association we also made a concern
We also made a concerted effort to reach out to neighboring property owners.
So we have a petition of support for this property.
Again, we'll also review nearby recently granted RSA 5 multifamily variances, which goes to the heart of our variance request here.
maps of the area, photographs of the property, our plans and drawings, our RCO meeting notice
that we distributed to neighboring property owners, as well as proof of mailing to those
property owners, our applications for appeal that YC Investment LLC filed in connection with
this zoning request, our deed to the property showing that YC Investment LLC is the owner of
the property and their Certificate of Tax Clearance. Again, in the virtual audience is
Ghazi Ada-7. At the conclusion of my presentation, I would ask that Mr. Ada-7 virtually raise his
hand, be sworn in, and then I have a few questions for him about my presentation.
First things first is the notice of refusal. So we're an RSA-5 property. We're looking to put
three family dwelling units in here and we have two refusals first one we don't quite understand
there is no uh structures building structures on our side of the block uh but it's saying that the
front line of our building structure doesn't line up um i'm assuming that uh with it with the
neighboring building structure i assume they mean the building structure on the other block
Our block is a porch block across the street. And I don't know exactly if they're pertaining
to our side of the street, which is on the other block, which is just row homes or across the
street, the porch. But we did not understand that one. But what we're proposing mimics what's on
our side of the block across, you know, the next block over. The second refusal has to do with
multifamily use. We're proposing three units. This is a 1,659 square foot lot. So three units is
reasonable under the circumstances, in our opinion. So we met with the Mantua Civic Association.
As you can see, we received unanimous support from the people in attendance at the meeting.
We also made a concerted effort to meet with as many of the neighboring property owners as we could.
Again, on our side of the street, there's no building structure.
So most of the people that we met with were on either North Union Street or North 40th Street, and then the block over of us on Parrish Street.
But we really, you know, focused our efforts on properties within a 250 square foot radius of us.
And then here are the addresses of those properties that are displayed in the map.
And then there's also not just the petition, but the letters of support as well.
And there's not a character for RSA 5 properties to receive approval from this board for multifamily use.
Here, 769 North 39th Street received similar approval for a triplex.
3974 Reno Street received approval from this EBA for multifamily use.
And then even if you look at the zoning map, there's mixed zoning in this part of Philadelphia.
There's RM1 use.
There's CMX1 use.
There's RSA5 and RSA3.
But on our block further down on 40th Street, it's multifamily in nature.
And then, again, to reiterate, there's no building structures on our side of the street on Parish.
So as you can see here, this is in the front of our property.
Here's proof of us posting the property with the hearing notice for today's hearing.
And then this property has been vacant for some time, as you can see.
So, again, we're hoping that this variance will allow this property to be developed.
And the community even stated that they're hoping that this initial use of the property will encourage others to develop this block that's vacant on that side of Parrish Street.
And then this is Parrish Street, you know, to I can't see it.
Hold on a second. Let me see. Blocking. Oh, there you go.
Parrish Street to the right of the property.
power street to the left of the property and then there are plans and drawings um what we try to do
And then there are plans and drawings. What we try to do is mimic the brick facades that you would see in this part of Philadelphia.
is mimic the uh
So you have a flat brick facade, a cornice, lentils. Because this is an extra wide property, we elected to have an interior alleyway where people can, you know, store their trash in the rear for all occupants and move it along to the front of their property as well.
and again we're not asking for any dimensional variances because this is a rather large lot of
1,659 square feet and then the layout of the building structure is simple the first floor
and lower level is unit number one and that's a two-bedroom two and a half bath the second floor
is unit number two and that's a two-bedroom two bath and the unit number three is on the third
floor, which is also a two-bedroom, two-bath. And then we met with the community on August 31st
at 5.30 p.m. It was an in-person meeting. 154 addresses were notified in the meeting,
listed those addresses, proof of mailing to those addresses, or applications for appeal that we
filed on behalf of YC Investment LLC, along with the notice of refusal, the project information
form, the deed to the property, showing that YC Investment LLC is the owner of the property,
and our Certificate of Tax Clearance, showing that no taxes are due with respect to this
property as it pertains to real estate. With that being said, I would ask that Mr.
Adesabin virtually raise his hand and be sworn in.
He's been allowed to speak.
sir could you state your name please and spell for the court stenographer
yes my name is gazi g-a-z-i last name is ataseven a-t-a-s-e-v-e-n
didn't i swear you once before today yes yes sir okay uh proceed counsel uh yes mr ataseven you
heard everything i had to state today about your zoning matter yes and is it true and correct
yes and do you adopt that testimony as your own yes i will thank you um questions from the board
questions or comments from the virtual audience
i do not see any hands mr chair planning commission
good afternoon chair peter bernard for the planning commission
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing RSA-5 single-family zoning at this location.
The zoning was reviewed and confirmed as appropriate as part of a community-led remapping in 2017.
We feel the applicant has failed to demonstrate a hardship that would justify the additional units.
Accordingly, the Planning Commission recommends the Board deny the variance.
Mr. Nockmson, do you want to respond to anything before we...
Yeah, so twofold.
As I pointed in during my presentation, there are two other instances within a block radius where this board similarly granted variances for multifamily use, one on Reno Street and one on North 39th Street.
These lots are rather large. And given the current environment of high interest rates and rising construction costs, it would be economically infeasible for my client to build a single family house.
And this property has been vacant since as far back as 2007.
I can't, you know, that's as far back as Google Earth goes.
So the current zoning classification, this property is preventing it from being developed.
In addition, as you saw, we are next to RM1 properties.
So again, what we're offering is not out of character to what you expect from this part
of the neighborhood.
And then finally, it's not just our property that hasn't been developed on this side of the block.
There's not one house or building structure that is on our side of the block on the 3900 block of Parrish Street.
For all those reasons, we believe there is a significant hardship for us to comply with the Philadelphia Zoning Code.
And thus, we ask for the granting of this variance.
Thank you.
M.I. 2023-002-475-3956 Parish Street, I vote yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shahid, my vote is no.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Number two, MI 2023-002-413-2201 South 3rd Street.
South 3rd Street. James Snell has recused himself for this. Henry Clinton is the attorney.
James Snell has recused himself for this.
They're coming back in as a panelist, sir. Thank you.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman. Hi, Mr. Clinton. Could you state your name and spell, please,
for the court sonographer? You are Henry Clinton, H-E-N-R-Y, Clinton, C-L-I-N-T-O-N.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client in a relationship to this property?
Sure. The client is the Electrical Workers Joint Apprentice Training Fund.
And my representative is the Director of the Apprentice Training, Brian Myers, M-Y-E-R-S.
He is on the call.
Our vice chair has just a few questions, Mr. Clinton.
Good afternoon, counsel.
So do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his actors?
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that are needed and required to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
I have.
Thank you.
Please proceed and share your screen.
Thank you, Mr. Sheehan.
No problem.
Mr. Chairman, is that cover sheet visible?
It is.
Thank you.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, members of the board again.
Henry Clinton for Electrical Workers Joint Apprentice and Training Trust Fund. For brevity,
I'll just use the reference to apprentice training throughout the presentation, Mr. Chairman.
This is my table of contents containing Exhibits A1 through A11, which I asked to be admitted
into the evidence. And this is the key document. Currently, this building, it's 100% occupied lot,
two-story structure at the southeast corner of 3rd and Jackson, and it's used as a medical
facility. The history of the property is that in 1990 or so, the Strutter's New Year Brigade
purchased this property and used it as a social club on the first floor, and I'll show you the
records toward the end of the presentation, used it as a social club on the first floor and
apartments on the 2nd. In 2003, Apprentice Training purchased a building and changed the zoning to use
it as offices and classrooms to train apprentices. So the use of this building has been an office
type use since at least 1990. And we're just asking that the use be considered as a group
medical practitioner offices, because that's what it's been used as since about 2015 or 2016.
As you can see from the refusal, it's in an RSA 5 zoning district, but it is a corner property.
And as I said, and you'll see from the photographs, it occupies the entire lot.
We do have a letter of unanimous support from Whitman Council.
There's a vote 7-0, as well as a letter of support asking that no dumpsters be on the sidewalks.
We've not done that.
The client has not done that historically and obviously will agree to continue its current practice of maintaining the trash indoors.
This is a photograph of the building.
Again, this is the southeast corner of 3rd and Jackson.
You can see a handicapped ramp to enter the property.
Again, it has been used as medical offices.
Currently, it is not occupied, but that's been the historic recent use of this building.
And you can see through the rear of the property is a garage door, and that's where the trash is stored.
An aerial photograph, again, just showing the extent of the building.
To the right where my cursor is, these are solar panels.
Some interior photographs, waiting room, front desk, doctor's offices, patient rooms, and basement.
A view of the building on the other side, on Jackson Street, indicating the zoning poster, notice to everyone.
These are just rough floor plans.
Again, it's 100% occupancy of the lot, garage in the rear, offices on the first floor, as well as on the second floor.
The remaining documents are my application for appeal, our tax clearance, the zoning map.
Again, it is an RSA 5 zoning district, but for over 30 years, it has been used as an office setting.
The deed indicating ownership, 2003, by the apprentice training.
and I want to show you obviously these are notices that we went out and mailed to 186
near neighbors and this is our certification of mailing
I just wanted to show the board some of the zoning records, which support my testimony thus far.
just want to show the board some of the zoning records which support my
So this is a zoning permit from 1990, indicating that there's a social club, Strutter's New Year Brigade social club on the first, apartments on the second.
And then in the year 2000, you can see this is the apprentice training for Electrical Trust Fund.
and it was changed from a New Year's social club
to offices and classroom.
So in conclusion, I'd just like to sum up, Mr. Chairman,
we're not altering the essential character
of the neighborhood with this continued use.
As I said several times, it's been an office use
since 1990.
Currently, it was used as medical offices.
So we're asking for a variance to continue the use
as a group medical, a group practitioner's office.
We're not being harmful to the community in any way.
In fact, the community certainly supports a medical use.
It served the neighborhood well for almost a decade,
and hopefully we can get another group practitioner in there.
We do have some interest, and we hope that we can conclude a sale
or a lease to another group medical practitioner.
we are not increasing the congestion again it's been in the neighborhood for some time and we
believe that the use past as well as current is in harmony with the code as well as with
the community desires and certainly their vote. So with that I would rest Mr. Chairman and ask
my client to adopt my testimony. Mr. Myers can you raise your hand?
Nathan, I'm allowed to speak.
Hi, Mr. Myers, could you state your name and spell, please, for the court stenographer?
My name is Brian Myers, N-B-R-I-A-N, and my last name is M-Y-E-R-S.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
Proceed, counsel.
Mr. Myers, were you on the call when I presented the project for a group medical practitioner's office at this location?
yes if you had the opportunity to testify would you adopt my testimony as your own and as true
and correct yes thank you mr myers thank you questions from the board
no mr chairman no chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
i do not see any hands with planning commission
good afternoon chair peter bernard for the planning commission
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing rsa5 single-family residential
zoning at this location however we feel the applicant has demonstrated hardship
accordingly the planning commission recommends the board grant the variance thank you
and henry you're comfortable with that interior trash storage as a proviso
Yes, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you. MI-2023-002-413-2201 South 3rd Street. I vote yes. Proviso, Interior Trash Storage.
Thomas Hallman, yes.
Ishmael Shaheem, I vote yes with Proviso.
Thank you. Thank you, counsel.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Have a great day.
Hi, Mr. Snell will be coming right back in. Number four, MI 2023, 002-420-741-43, Spring Garden Street, Stephanie Boggs, Magna is the attorney. Letter of support from the 14th Ward Executive Committee.
there will be a cba to address concerns in the future
counsel counsel could you state your name please and spell for the court stenographer
yes stephanie magania last name's m-a-g-a-g-n-a right um do you swear for him to tell the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do could you identify your client and their
relationship to this property sure my client is 741 rooster llc they're the the owner entity of
the property um which is an affiliated entity with arts and crafts so brian terry um who's with
arts and crafts is here on behalf of the applicant the owner our vice chair has just a few questions
for you yes good afternoon counsel do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate
to its accuracy? I do. Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that are needed
I do. Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that are needed and required
and required?
to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing? Yes, I have. Thank you. Please
proceed and share your screen. Thank you. So this property is 741 Spring Garden Street. It's located
on Spring Garden Street at the corner of Spring Garden and 8th Street. It was previously approved
for a multi-family building with commercial use of the ground floor um this construction is almost
complete um and we put up some some additional or some you know initial accessory signage for the
building um but this application is proposing the primary building identification sign for this
location um we are proposing one um accessory mechanical motion sign which will sit atop of
the existing canopy that's shown here in the photograph. So we are, we received, we submitted
our application, we'll find a refusal, and got a refusal issued by L&I. Although this is sitting
on top of a, the canopy structure above the main entrance building, they have deemed this a roof
sign. They've also issued a refusal for the motion of the sign, and its location specifically above
the second floor windowsill of the building. So we are requesting relief from those conditions
of the project. I'm going to pull up pictures of the sign. So you can see what is the sign
that is being proposed here. So it's going to be a rotating interior illuminated LED sign
sitting again above this existing canopy, the roof of the canopy, but not the roof of the
building, to be clear. And it is located kind of above our second floor windowsill as the reason
for the refusals. So we did have a chance to present these plans to the 14th Ward RCO, and we
met with them, and their letter of support is included within the packet. Their support is
conditioned on a proviso that we enter into a CBA to address two concerns that were raised by the
neighbors. The first, that the illumination of the sign be dimmed from dusk until dawn.
And the second, that we provide property contact information to the neighbors of the senior living
facility immediately next door. So I'm happy to say that we have drafted that CBA with those
provisions and have circulated it to the 14th Ward for execution. Our clients have signed that
and are happy to comply with those conditions moving forward. Specifically, as it relates to
the lighting of the sign our own residence located at the floor where the sign will be located
will be much closer in proximity to this sign than to the neighbors across the street so
not just because we don't want to disturb the neighbors but also because we certainly don't
want to disturb our own residents with the lighting of the sign that the lighting will be dimmed at
dusk and maintained throughout the day at a level that isn't disturbing to anyone around it but it
will function to identify the property along spring garden street and be consistent with not
only arts and crafts other signs along the street um but with the signage in the area so with that
i'll ask um brian to raise his hand and identify himself um and be called up for the board we also
have um ken from north standard the sign vendor here if there are any technical questions about
the sign they've been about to speak sir could you state your name please and spell it for the
court stenographer can you guys hear me yes could you state your name please and spell for the
court stenographer yep brian terry b-r-i-a-n-t-e-r-r-y right do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes proceed counsel thank you brian have you heard
my statements this afternoon yes do you believe everything i've said is accurate and correct
yes would you adopt it as your own yes thank you um if there are any questions for brian myself or
our sign vendor we're happy to take them questions from the board no mr chairman no chair
questions or comments from the virtual audience
i do not say any hands mr chair planning commission
good afternoon chair peter bernard for the planning commission
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing cmx3 commercial mixed use at this
location we feel the applicant has failed to demonstrate a sufficient hardship that
would necessitate a sign of this design accordingly the planning commission recommends the board deny
the variance. Number four, MI 2023-002-420-741-43 Spring Garden Street.
420 741 to 43 spring garden street i vote yes thomas solomon my vote is yes
james snell my vote is yes thank you thank you you have your three votes
oh yeah your council come back um we i need you again number six
M-I-2023-002-374-250 South Broad Street.
Stephanie Magna is the attorney again.
Let's see here.
It's also a signed case.
Letter of non-opposition from the Center City Residents Association
based on revised plans.
Counsel, just state your name for the record.
You've already been sworn.
Stephanie Magna.
Okay. Could you identify your client, the relationship to this property?
Yes. So our client is the Miller Theater, which is part of the Kimmel Cultural Campus.
I have Jennifer Stark, who is here on behalf of Kimmel, as well as Kelly Jennings from Exit Design, who is our sign designer.
Our vice chair has just a few questions.
we lost him for a minute thomas could you take care of that please
yes do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stimulate to its accuracy
i do not i the refusal is accurate but i don't believe it's complete um we're we're also we
believe required to get a refusal under generally table 149041. Digital animated illumination
is prohibited in the CMX5 district as well as the applicable overlays which are noted on the
refusal. Okay. Did you email all of the exhibits and documents as required five days in advance
to this hearing? Yes, I have. Thank you. Please proceed and show your screen. Yes, thank you.
so 255 south broad street um is the location of the miller theater formerly the miriam theater
it was renamed um in 2022 it's located in the middle of the kimmel cultural campus generally
between the academy music and the kimmel building itself um this application um in 2022 when the
name was changed um we had a temporary change of copy signage put up to kind of reflect the name
change that was strictly a change of copy from what was there previously reading Miriam theater
um and this application is proposing new accessory signage it will be a permanent replacement
for the Miriam theater signage that was up at this location so you can see I have photographs of
of the entrance to the sign uh or the entrance to the theater um what is showing the current
conditions of the signage that's there we are specifically proposing seven new accessory signs
It will include five flat wall signs facing Broad Street, three that will be located in the front of the marquee, the primary Miller Theater sign, as well as two signs on either side, as well as poster signs kind of here right in front of the doors of the theater.
In addition, we are proposing two projecting signs, projecting because they will be located on the side of the existing marquee.
And those will be digital animated illumination signs, extremely limited in their context, strictly to serve as a typical theater sign that advertises the time and the show of the next upcoming show or the name of the theater.
So while we recognize that having a digital projecting sign is unusual and it's prohibited under the code, which we did receive a recusal for, we wanted to clarify the extremely limited nature of the digital projecting signs.
So here is a copy of our refusal. As I stated, animated illuminated signs, which is the digital component of our projecting signs that are proposed on either side of the marquee, is prohibited.
It's prohibited in the CMX5 district as well as our overlay districts within the Center City residential area.
It's also prohibited within 200 feet of an intersection.
So we're aware of the sensitive nature of this, and Kelly Jennings is going to walk through our plan specifically to call out the programming of the sign as well as its design.
But we did have the opportunity to present the revised plans that are included within the packet to CCRA at their meeting on May 23rd, shared the designs, explained the limited capacity of the signs with them that have this digital component.
And I'm happy to say that their letter of non-opposition is shown here and it's included within our packet.
This opposition, of course, is conditioned on provisos that we are fully supportive of.
conditioned on provisos that we are fully supportive of. As I said, Kimmel is intentional
As I said, Kimmel is...
about making sure that these function, like traditional theater identification signs, to
strictly note what the time and date of the next showing is going to be, as well as the show name,
and nothing else will be shown here. So there are two provisos that are being suggested.
One, to confirm that the content of the animated signs will only display white text on a dark
background, which you'll see, as well as to limit the context of the animated signs to
either the name of the current or next upcoming show, event, or performance, and the time
of such show, event, or performance at the owner's theater, or the name of the theater
in the event that there isn't an immediately upcoming show or event.
So with that, I'll tell you, if you can raise your hand and be sworn in by the board, Kelly
is our sign designer with Exit Design, and she will walk through the specific designs
and details of the full signage package and specifically the nature of our digital signs.
Kelly, can you raise your hand? Yes, I'll be coming back in as a panelist. Thank you.
Hi, could you state your name and spell it please for the court stenographer?
Yes, it's Kelly, K-E-L-L-Y Jennings, J-E-N-N-I-N-G-S. Do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth? I do. Proceed, counsel. Thank you, Kelly.
um walk me through the screens as you want me to flip through them but otherwise can you explain
what the the full new signage package includes and then we'll focus on the digital signs
absolutely so um this slide that you're this page that you're showing here has the merriam
theater signage before the temporary miller theater cover went up so this just shows some
context of what was there before that and stephanie can go to the next page and then this gives you an
overview of the proposed signage so we'll go into a little more detail about this but essentially
we're putting anodized bronze letters that say Miller and those are back illuminated as well as
internally illuminated white letters that say theater on either side and then as Stephanie said
the two projecting on either side of that canopy are digital screens that would show in a really
limited capacity, the name of the upcoming show, the date and the time, or Miller
Theater that would only change when a show changes. So again this just shows
the relationship between what was existing and the newly proposed and some
of the materials that we're using which we'll point out in the next couple pages.
notice. And so this page shows that digital sign that we set are on either side of that canopy. So
as Stephanie stated, this would be white text on a black background. The example you're seeing now
of a show name, the date and the time would be what is typically displayed there for just the
next show. And if the theater is dark and there is not an upcoming show, it would show Miller or
Miller theater on that screen. The messages will only change, like we said, when the shows change.
And this is the, on the front side of the canopy, you're seeing here the letters that are the bronze,
anodized bronze letters, and you can see that there's some backlighting there,
so it'll be a halo lit letter at night. And these are the sign, I just wanted to point these out
because they're not specifically shown separately to the renderings, right Kelly?
Yes, thank you. Yeah you can see there the daytime is to the left, the night is to the right,
so you can see how some of that illumination looks at night.
We're not changing anything about the canopy, so the details underneath the canopy and the
lighting of the canopy will remain. And then this next page shows the theater
letters on either side of Miller. These are acrylic letters that will be face
lit illuminated as well on that front which you can see again in that
rendering down below. And then here you're just seeing the existing signage
kind of poster signage that we're not changing but is there along Broad Street.
I did want to call out, so we did have revised plans, like I said, that were shared with CCRA.
I'm sorry, I went through the old ones.
But I'll note that the only difference between the original plans and the plans that are being asked to be approved
that were shown with CCRA is to show this additional billing detail that's included at the theater.
Kelly, were there any other changes that the board needs to be aware of?
There were no other changes. We were just confirming that we are not touching any of that detail work on the canopy.
There were no other changes.
We were just confirming that we are not touching any of that.
And again, these updated plans that showed that detail are what was presented to CCRA at the May 23rd meeting.
So with that, I just wanted to reiterate that the signage that we're requesting relief for that is this digital component of the sign will be extremely limited in its scope.
to be limited to the show
and the name of the theater
in the event there isn't a show.
It will not change any more frequently than that.
And it's our intention,
certainly Kimmel's intention to maintain that.
And we're happy to see that
it will be included as a proviso.
So we would request approval of the revised plan
subject to the provisos proposed by CCRA.
So questions from the board?
No chair.
No chair.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Mr. Chair, I see Wade Albert with their hand raised. I've allowed them to speak at this time.
Good afternoon.
Hi, could you state your name, Mr. Albert, and spell for the court reporter?
Sure. My name is Wade Albert, W-A-D-E. Last name is A-L-B-E-R-T.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
i do mr chairman and you're from the center city residence right that's correct i'm council for
the center city residents please proceed thank you so when the project was initially presented
to ccra um we were we were a bit hesitant to consider this because animated signs um have
the potential to be dangerous to the community especially on a very busy street like broad
street um and they also potentially um if uh depending on how they're used could disturb the
neighborhood. But that being said, the sign that has been proposed is acceptable to us and seems
like it would not interfere with drivers or the community. So we asked the applicant to include
a number of provisos, which they went over and they agreed to. And so for that reason,
to protect the integrity of Broad Street and to ensure that it does not become a new Times Square,
we would respectfully ask that the um that the the provisos listed in our letter be included
in the license if granted by the zba thank you thank you for taking the time to call
and we appreciate your input is there anyone else in the virtual audience
i do not see any further answer mr chair hi planning commission
good afternoon chair peter bernard for the planning commission
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing cmx 5 commercial mixed use at this
location the proposed signage is currently under review at the art commission we feel the applicant
has failed to demonstrate a sufficient hardship that would necessitate an animated and a limited
sign at this location however we do feel the applicant has a demonstrated hardship for the
projection of the sign from the face of the building accordingly the planning commission
recommends the board deny the variance for animated and illuminated sign but grant the
dimensional variance thank you um don't worry do we have provisos or or is enough for the revised
plans eight pages um the the uh revised plans do reflect at least one of the provisos um and it i
and where it's more of an aesthetic issue than a zoning issue um i don't think we could incorporate
the first proviso um they're also before the art commission so i imagine some of that would
be addressed by the art commission good thank you mi 2023 002 374 250 south broad street
i vote yes with proviso revised plans eight pages stamped by zba on september 13 2023
23. Thomas Holland, my vote is yes. James Snell, my vote is yes with proviso. Ishmael Shahid,
my vote is yes with proviso. Thank you, counsel. Thank you. Okay. Number eight,
MI-2023-002-425-2101-Lombard Street.
Alan Nockamson is the attorney.
Letter of Opposition from the Center City Residents Association.
Applicant has turned in 26 form letters from neighbors along with letters of support from a neighbor on the 2300 block of Lombard Street.
the Philadelphia School. Mr. Nocklinson.
the philadelphia school mr knockamson
oh yes uh good afternoon again alan knockamson a-l-a-n last name knockamson n-o-c-h-u-m-s-o-n
and mr knockamson's been sworn could you identify your client relationship to this property
so the owners of the property are eliza and justin bresson they may be in the virtual audience as
well as the proposed operator of the business at 2101 Lombard, Jezebel Cariaga. Okay, our
vice chair has a few questions, sir. Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to
weigh the reading of the refusal or stipulate to his accuracy? I do. Have you emailed in all
the required documents and exhibits that are needed and required to proceed with this case
five days in advance of this year? Oh, yeah. I'm sorry. Yes, we have. Thank you. Please proceed.
Yes. Before I share my screen, I would like to state that I spoke to Wade Albert of the Center City Residence Association.
We're respectfully requesting that the board hold their vote so we can have another community meeting.
So we would like to present this matter and then meet with a community group.
uh and then once they you know once they have a potentially a revised letter um for the board
then to vote this matter thank you that's fine thank you
here to present uh 2101 lombard street um you know pretty straightforward project project
we thought. So sometimes you have hiccups along the way and things take a little bit longer than
you would expect. But we're here today to present 2101 Lombard Street. We're looking to do a
prepared food shop, basically a coffee shop with Argentinian food, you know, prepared food shop.
So we'll first review the notice of refusal, then the correspondence we receive from the
center city residents association um and then you'll see the um massive um outreach we made
to the community after that meeting where we have a multitude of letters to support from nearby
neighbors um in addition this is you know we we gave a proposed resolution uh that we gave to
the neighbors so you have context of you know i guess dealing with some of their concerns they
may have legitimately or illegitimately about the project so um but we wanted to share what we
shared with them uh and then about jezebel's like you know she's a well-known operator pre-pandemic
she had a thriving business in the neighborhood a brick and mortar site unfortunately the pandemic
happened she closed down her shop she still has like more of a catering shop in west philly
like an outpost where she makes the food and she's hoping to open up another brick and mortar
location now where again none of the food is prepared on site it's a coffee shop with you
know where again things are heated up so you'll learn a little bit about her you'll also see that
this property is an rm1 zoning classification but has an extensive history of non-residential use
on the ground floor. You'll look at maps of the area, and then the photographs of the property,
you're going to look at the property from the outside, and this property screams of being a
mixed-use property. If this was a CMX2 property, which I think would be the proper zoning
classification, this use would be allowed as a right. If this was a CMX1 property, even,
the use would be allowed by way of special exception. This really is, I think, a property
that may be misclassified given its history
and the way it's configured.
But again, we're going through this variance process.
Then we'll review simple floor plans of the property,
our RCO meeting notice.
Again, we're planning to meet
with the Center of City Residence Association next month
where we will hopefully be able to get their support
with regards to this project
after they see the extensive community outreach
and support we have now with the neighborhoods.
Then you'll see our application for appeal
that we filed on behalf of the property owner,
our deed to the property,
showing that Liza and Justin own the property.
There's a certificate of tax clearance
they received as well regarding the property as well.
So first things first is the notice of refusal.
This is an RM1 property.
Just trying to get...
Yes, but it's an RM1 property and excuse me, and we're proposing to
And, excuse me, and we're proposing to have a prepared food shop and two and there's already two residences above again because this is an arm one property and the commercial use we're seeking a variance.
then we have correspondence that we received from the center city residence association i mean
quite frankly we were very surprised given the history of the property given the configuration
of the property that would be on and given the the the op the operating operator being well known
uh and um applauded in the philadelphia community we were surprised there was any opposition but
But it happens sometimes. And, you know, we then met with many of the members of the community in the surrounding area and we've received, you know, written support from them.
And we're hoping to go back to the community group as well and have a community meeting and hopefully, you know, based on this extensive support to have a different letter issued by Center City Residence Association.
We really try to keep it, you know, within the confines of the immediate neighborhood. But you'll see that in addition to our address, which is number one, there's 20 other addresses where people have stated their support of opening up a coffee shop on this corner.
and then here are just the list of of the um or here are these letters to support and again you'll
see you know 2045 Lombard and you know on the 1700 block in Notre Dame and Rodman and more
Lombard 1900 block of Lombard and on 1900 block at the Lancy and then 1900 block in Notre Dame and
1900 block of Pine over and over and over again so 2200 block of Lombard
two of them uh 2200 block of panama 2300 of delancey 2300 block of lombard so they're all
within a close proximity to the property and then this is what my clients shared with members of
the community when they did distribute the petition and support and letters to support
one of the concerns was that we're going to make this into some type of smoke shop or hookah lounge
And I don't know where they get that. I try to explain to them that if we did seek that type of use, that's completely different than a prepared food shop and that we would, you know, the operator and or owner of the property would have to seek additional variance approval.
But, you know, that was one of the things and my client put in writing, of course, they're not going to do that. And they put it in writing. And people are also concerned that we're going to convert this property eventually to a bodega, which is not our intention either. And we put that in writing as well.
So I do think maybe the fact, you know, there could be a proviso here, an enforceable proviso about it not being some type of convenience shop or something like that, because that could be written as a prepared food shop.
But obviously, a vape shop or a hookah lounge or a smoking lounge would require a whole different level of approval from this zoning board.
And then just about Jezebel's, again, well-known establishment pre-pandemic, and, you know, unfortunately with the pandemic, you know, we lost a lot of good operators, and, you know, the good part is, is that she's now ready to open up another brick-and-mortar site in this neighborhood.
She did, I believe, get a letter of support from the Philadelphia School, which is a private school in this neighborhood too, and they're in support of this project. So it shows her roots in the community, that she's well known and respected, and we're hoping that the board, you know, finds it as such as well when they vote on this particular variance request.
And then just a little bit about Jezebel as well, you know, who she is, just very well-known operator.
She has an outpost in West Philly, and she's not going to do any cooking in the facility, in this location whatsoever.
She's going to be a coffee shop, and whatever she makes, she'll heat up at the facility.
But it's Argentinian food.
So she's known for empanadas.
and this is her previous location in the neighborhood at 25 36 klein street just
want to take show you a picture of like how she kept the facility from the outside um and you know
i think she would be like you know people think she would be an asset to the neighborhood um and
we hope the board similarly finds that as well and then here's just showing like the history of
the history of this property at one point there was a tire shop in here um another point uh there
this property. At one point, there was a tire shop in here.
was um well that was also said a tire shop i know that it was also um a gallery at one point in the
80s so it looks like it was a grocery store at one point as well so the ground floor has a history of
non-residential use, which is divergent from its RM1 zoning classification. And here it shows where
it's an art gallery as well. So it's not out of character for this property to put a prepared
food shop here on the ground floor. And then maps of the area. Again, this is not an RSA5 property
that we're trying to make into multi-units. This is a multi-unit property where we're asking one
of the units on the ground floor to be commercial in nature. And again, it's not uncommon for
properties in this neighborhood on the corner specifically, it's just like we are, where it
tends to be either CMX1 or CMX2. And you can see just across the street as well, there's a restaurant.
And then photographs of the property, again, quintessential corner property that you would
see in Philadelphia. You have multifamily above, like this little, you know, angler door is where
you would see a business operating um and we're hoping it will operate after the board votes um
you know after we meet with the community and you can see here as well uh two entrances one for the
this what we consider the commercial unit and then you have an entrance here for the upper level
residential units and then this is just proof of our posting of the hearing notice for today's
hearing and this is lumbar street to the right of the property and lumbar streets are left of
the property, 21st Street to the right of the property, and 21st Street to the left of the
property. And then our plans and drawings, again, just a pretty simple open floor plan. Not a huge
space whatsoever. It really wouldn't even accommodate a residential unit. That's what
we're asking for it to be a commercial unit. And then we met with the community on July 25th at 7
p.m. 145 addresses were notified of the meeting, listed these addresses, proof of mailing to these
addresses, our application for appeal that we filed on behalf of our clients, along with the
notice of refusal, the project information form, our client's deed to the property, showing that
they own the property, and the certificate of tax clearance as well. Just, you know, some housekeeping
rules or matters. My client or the operator of the business tends to be open seven days a week
uh from seven o'clock a.m to seven o'clock p.m and there is a specific part of the building
where we've been asked to store trash against the side of the building outside and you know
we would agree to that in a form of a proviso as well um i think that's it so i would ask that
either jezebel justin or liza whoever's in the virtual audience i would ask you to um
virtually raise your hand.
They have been
enough to speak. Hi, could you
state your name, please, and spell for the court
stenographer? Sure. Liza
Bresson, spelled L-I-Z-A,
last name
B-R-E-S-S-O-N.
Do you swear or affirm
to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes. Proceed,
counsel. Yes.
Liza, you heard everything I had to state
today about this zoning matter.
Is that correct? Okay. And everything I stated about the zoning matter, is it true and correct?
And do you adopt it as your own testimony?
All right. Thank you.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
yes mr chair i have andrew gaff with the hand raised i'm not going to speak
sir could you state your name and spell please for the court stenographer
good afternoon it's andrew yaffe uh a n d r e w last name y a f as in frank f again e
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
Yes, I do.
Are you a neighbor?
Proceed, sir.
I own the property directly across the street, 2100-04 Lombard Street.
I would, I have not met with or discussed this with the applicants on the surface.
met with or discussed this with the applicants um on the surface i am opposed to it uh i see
no zoning hardship here um but the neighborhood is zoned so residential area zoned rm1
as a matter of fact uh historically there was at one point uh a requested variance for
the three units which were granted and then the I believe the overlay changed or the zoning
changed and the property again is obviously RM1 now being that the applicants have asked for
the vote to be held I would certainly welcome the opportunity to meet and discuss this with them
But for the time being, I'm definitely opposed.
Thank you for taking the time, the calls, and we appreciate it.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
Yes, Joe Bisque with the hand raised.
I've allowed them to speak at this time.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
My name is Joe, J-O, Byske, B as in boy, U-Y-S-K-E.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Are you a neighbor?
Masheed?
I live at 2107 to 2109 Lombard Street, so I'm one property away from the proposed property.
I have lived there since 2003, so 20 years, and before that I lived just two blocks away,
starting in 1995, so I've been in the neighborhood for a long time.
I can say that it has not been a commercial property, a living memory of the neighbors.
And just as a point of clarification, the initial presenter said that there was a restaurant across the street and pointed to a map that said Andro's.
There is no restaurant there. That is a residential building and has been since I've lived here.
So I just want to make that one point clear.
And I just want to say I moved to this neighborhood with my four children from 2100 Spruce Street.
And it was because it was a residential street and it was evolving. So we've had flat parking lots in the neighborhood that have converted to housing. It's got a strong residential feel with lots of children, good family relationships and sort of shared block parties.
And I think it's the, you know, the duty of the zoning board to protect the interests of the people who are there, who rely on the zoning to make their choices and make their decisions.
There are empty commercial properties on several corners nearby that need a tenant.
We're a block away from South Street, which also has empty properties.
So we see no hardship. We actually like Jezebels. I used to go there down on Pine Street, but I see no reason to change the zoning here.
and we do consider it to be a hardship to us if that were to be the case it's a very awkward
street corner where two lanes converge into one as you cross lombard street so one lane becomes a
right turning lane that already has fender benders and people stopping and our fear one of our fears
is that people pulling up to pick up food blocking that lane walking the bus lane on lombard street
all those would be problems but most simply it's a residential property we rely on that when we
move into the neighborhood and we really hope that you'll keep it that way thank you for pulling in
we we appreciate your interest is there anyone else in the virtual audience
yes a william clerk with their hand raised i've got them to speak this time hi could you state
your name please and spell for the court stenographer yes hello um i'm william clerk
w-i-l-l-i-a-m-k-l-e-r-k right do you swear or phone to tell the truth the whole truth and
nothing but the truth i do are you a neighbor yes i live at 2063 lombard i can see the proposed
property right outside my window sure um i would like to just kind of echo the concerns of the
previous speaker um and just address a few of the points that um was was made um um i i'm not aware
of any properties that are actually, you know, can see the, can see the proposed property from
the window that support this. I know, um, there was, you know, shows of support, but as you can
see from the distribution of them, uh, none of them are actually going to be affected by, you
know, the proposed change of this. Um, the, the previous, um, speaker is correct. Like the parking
and the safety is just going to be a disaster. Um, the double parking, um, is just going to
cause impatient drivers to go around and all the other, all the things that usually come
with impatient Philly drivers. In regards to it being in character, I disagree with that. We've
lived here for six years. The trend has been mostly turning things into houses. We had a
parking garage a few houses down that have become residential. A parking lot across the street has
houses down that have become residential a parking lot across the street has become residential
become residential
this house used to be a gas station when it was a tire shop um so i i do not agree that you know
it's in character with the direction the neighborhood is going and finally i'm also
a fan of jezebel's um and then because of that jezebel's actually closed at the end of 2018
so it's hard for me to um imagine that the pandemic had anything to do with their hardships
But and I have not been contacted by the party with their proposed proposed remediations for our concerns here.
So as of right now, I'm opposed. And I thank you for your time.
Thank you for calling. We appreciate your input. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
Mr. Chair, Wade Albert has his hand raised. I have allowed him to speak.
Mr. Albert, just state your name for the record. You've already been sworn.
Thank you. My name again is Wade Albert, counsel for the Center City Residence.
Thank you. So at the RCO meeting regarding this matter, I just want to point out that I don't have the exact numbers, but I recall that at least a half a dozen near neighbors spoke out against this project.
and there was zero support at that time. So I have been working with Mr. Nocklinson and I said
to him that if CCRA can see support, hopefully maybe that they can turn some neighbors with
proposed ways to make this establishment more palatable to the near neighbors, then we would
certainly reconsider and possibly um take our opposition back and turn into a non-opposition
and that's why we are going back to the drawing board uh but at this point um you know there
are still a number of near neighbors who are in opposition and we stand with with those near
neighbors uh at this time thank you all right thank you very much uh is there anyone left in
the virtual audience no mr chair no further thank you um hillary do we want to to give
planning the position of voting now or waiting till after they see where the community comes
that is up to the planning commission planning commission
good afternoon chair peter bernard for the planning commission
peter do you want to take a position now or you want to wait to see where they wind up
i think we'll go on the record today very good thank you the comprehensive plan recommends no
change to the existing RM1 multifamily residential zoning at this location. Given the original
construction of the building, we feel the applicant has a demonstrated hardship. Accordingly, the
Planning Commission recommends the board grant the variance. Thank you. So, Hillary, this will be
closed. We will wait for a letter or word from the RCO, and we will give Mr. Nockamson a chance
to respond is that proper yes yes we will close it except um except for an updated letter from the
rco just indicating that a meeting has occurred and mr knockamson can have a chance to respond
to that in writing and otherwise the record is closed all right thanks everyone mr knockamson
we have another case of yours here all right thank you mi 2023 002 426 1916 bainbridge street
there's a letter of support
from South of South Neighbors Association
also the applicant has
a support signed by 12 neighbors
along with 10
form letters
Mr. Nockerson just
state your name for the record you've already been sworn
oh yes
Alan Nockerson
and could you identify your client
the relationship to this property uh yes ryan moore and patricia sanchez are the owners of the
property okay our vice chair has just a few questions good afternoon counsel do you agree
to wait the reading of the refusal or stipulate towards agency i do have you emailed in all the
required documents and exhibits that is needed and required to proceed with this case five days in
in advance of this area yes we have thank you please proceed and uh share your screen thank you
all right so I'm here to present 1916 Bainbridge Street uh so this property is owned by Ryan Moore
and Patricia Sanchez. And I mean, honestly, they would prefer not to be here. The reason why they
The reason why they are here is due to unfortunate circumstances.
are here is due to unfortunate circumstances.
This property to the left of them structurally impacted their property, where their property of owning it for almost 25 years impacted it such that they had to demolish that building structure.
So they're really here because of no choice of their own.
But, you know, this is an RM1 property and, you know, what they're trying to do is, you know, lessen the burden of the situation by, you know, developing it in a responsible manner and you'll see from the community support, I think they have accomplished that task.
So we'll review the notice of refusal, the letter of support from SASNA.
We do have revised plans.
So certain things were requested to us by the community, which we have complied with.
So this board feels so inclined to grant our variance request.
We would ask that they grant it with proviso revised plans, which are attached here.
And they were separately given to Ms. Everson before the hearing as well.
one of the refusals besides height has to do with occupied area you know while it's a technical
refusal and we'll show you why regarding you know that refusal it's not out of character for
properties in close proximity to run afoul of the occupied area requirement under Philadelphia
zoning code and we did an analysis of that in addition to the community meeting where we had
unanimous support. We did canvas the neighborhood of property owners nearby. Like I said, my clients
have owned the property for some time, since 1999. They intend to, you know, when it's built,
it's going to be owner-occupied again. So, you know, people in the neighborhood know them.
They're a known quantity. So they got a petition and letters to support, and we'll go through those.
We'll review the maps of the area, photographs of the property, or plans and drawings, or RCO
meeting notice or applications for appeal or deeds of property showing that my clients personally
own the property and the certificate of tax clearance showing that they don't owe any real
estate taxes for this property. And at the conclusion of my presentation, I would ask that
Patty virtually raised her hand, be sworn in, and then I can ask her some questions about my
presentation. First things first, the refusal. We're an RM1 property. We're looking to put three
units. One of them is going to be owner-occupied. We have two refusals. First is the height.
We have a height, we're above 38 feet. But again, if you look at the property to the left of us,
we mimic that property. So it's not out of character to what we're asking for.
And honestly, the neighborhood really did not care that we are exceeding the height limit.
One of the reasons why we're exceeding the height limit is that we wanted to have the basement level
out of the ground to provide light and air, as well as, you know, we have a staircase that's in
the back as well. So to the community, given that the neighboring, the property to left of us is
also above the 38 feet height limit, they had no issue with what we were offering as well.
The second refusal has to do with occupied area. Again, the building structure itself
If you just take the calculation of building structure and compare it to the lot size, the building footprint complies with the occupied area requirements. We have a second floor side deck, which is considered an occupied area. And because of that, we are receiving this refusal as well.
we're trying to provide outdoor living space to the second floor units. Again, the community had
no objection to that. And, you know, they were actually happy that every unit would have
access to the outdoors directly through their unit. And then so we met with SOSNA and we got
unanimous support. I think they do reference the fact that we changed our plans based on their
recommendation and that's another reason why they supported this project and then again you know we
provide revised plans we made two changes from a proviso standpoint we removed the fourth floor
balcony and we added the basement egress stairs to the rear of the building it was important to
the community uh that the lower level unit which occupies the first floor in the lower level
um had direct exterior access and which they do now so that's if you know the board uh does grant
this variance we would ask they grant it with this you know revised plan which is right here
And then one of our variance requests has to do with occupied area.
and then one of our variance requests has to do with occupied area
First of all, this is from the city's website.
This is the building structure that used to be there.
The city hasn't updated their record.
So if you look at that building structure, we clearly don't meet the occupied area threshold under the Philadelphia zoning codes.
But neither does our property next to us or many of the properties in close proximity to us as well.
So it's not out of character to what we're offering, you know, to to not meet that occupied area requirements.
And then we met with not just the community at the community meeting, but also to our neighbors.
And, you know, we received people who signed our letter or a petition of support.
And then separately, people signed a letter of support as well.
And you can see all these people are in our block. So we're really focused on the people
who would be most directly impacted as well to this proposed use.
And then again, we're not trying to seek a variance for density. These are just dimensional
variances that, again, are not out of character to what you see in a neighborhood. So this is
So RM1 property, and we're allowed to have three units as of right.
And then you can see here, this is what the current condition of our property is.
The property to the left of us, again, caused some foundational issues, and we had to demolish our property.
And this is the current state of our property.
Another point of emphasis is that while we're seeking a height variance, the cornice line in the front is 36 feet.
Then we have a mansurred roof, which is pitched 11 degrees. So that was another point of emphasis for SOSNA is the fact that our cornice line is actually 36 feet, while we exceed the height limit of 38 feet.
Because of the pitch of the roof, it doesn't seem as high. And plus, we also mimic the property to the left of us. And then this is our poster showing proof of posting for today's hearing.
this is our property uh can't really see here but either to the left or right of us same here
on bainbridge and our plans and drawings again as you can see we have a mansard roof
um it's 36 feet high this the height of our property mimics the property to the left of us
And then, again, the only
The only
refusal we have to do with occupied area is because the second
story side yard. If we did not
have the second story side yard, we would fulfill our requirements for
occupied area under the Philadelphia Zoning Code.
And then just our floor plans, you know, simply, we have a three-bedroom, three-bath on the first floor and lower level.
We have a two-bedroom, two-bath on the second floor, and we have a three-bedroom, three-bath on the third floors and fourth floors.
And every single unit has outdoor living availability.
The first floor, lower level, unit number one has a backyard. The second floor has that side deck area. And then the third floor, fourth floor unit has the roof deck.
We met on June 21st at 7 p.m.
176 addresses were notified of this community meeting,
lists of those addresses, proof of mailing to those addresses,
our applications for appeal that we filed on behalf of Ryan and Patty,
our notice of refusal, our project information form,
our deed to the property showing that they've owned it and for some time.
And finally, our Certificate of Tax Clearance, showing they're in good standing with the city for real estate taxes. With that being said, I would ask that Patty virtually raise her hand.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
my name is patricia sanchez p-a-t-r-i-c-i-a-s-a-n-c-h-e-z do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes i swear was she counsel yes uh patty you heard
everything i had to state today about gerazonia matter yes and everything i stated was that true
Yes. And everything I stated, was that true and correct? Yes, that was true and correct.
Cracked
Yeah. And do you adopt that presentation as your own testimony? Yes, I do.
Thank you. Questions from the board? No, Mr. Chairman. No, Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I do not see any hands, Mr. Chair.
Hi, Planning Commission.
Good afternoon, Chair.
Peter Bernard for the Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change
to the existing RM1 multifamily zoning at this location.
We feel the applicant has failed to demonstrate any hardship
that would justify the additional height or occupied area.
The nearby non-conforming property does not establish a hardship
for the property owner under review,
and there is no hardship for vacant land.
Accordingly, the Planning Commission recommends
the Board deny the variance.
MI 2023 002 426 1916 Bainbridge Street I vote yes proviso revised plans one page
stamped by ZBA on September 13th 2023. Thomas Holliman my vote is yes with proviso.
James Snell my vote is yes with proviso.
Ishmael Shaheen my vote is yes with proviso.
Thank counsel, please. You have one more here. Okay.
I-2023-002-373-1237 West Tioga Street.
Letter of support from Nicetown Tioga Improvement Team.
And also a petition of support signed by approximately 13 neighbors.
Yes. Again, good afternoon, Chairman, members of the board.
Alan Nockamson for the applicant HHS Realty OLC and in the virtual audience is its member Hussain
Hussain. Our vice chair has a few questions. Do you agree to waive the reading and the
refusal to relate to his accuracy? I do. And have you emailed all the required documents that are
needed to proceed with this case uh yes we have please proceed thank you
hi um it's pretty straightforward matter uh we're a couple blocks away uh from
Broad Street at 1237 West
Diogo Street. We're looking to
put a multifamily
structure on this rather large lot of
1,603 square feet. So during
our presentation, we're going to first review
the news or refusal, then
review the letter of support from the coordinating RCO,
which expressed the, or confirmed the
support in the neighborhood. We also met
with members of the community outside the community meeting.
We have a petition.
We reviewed the Philadelphia 2035 plan.
So this proposed multifamily use goes in line
with the aspirations of the 2035 plan.
And I would believe that's another reason
why this CBA should support this variance request.
Then we'll review maps of the area,
photographs of the property, our plans and drawings,
our RCO meeting notice, our application for appeal, then our deed, and then our certificate of tax
clearance. Again, at the conclusion of my presentation, I would ask that Mr. Hussain
virtually raise his hand, be sworn in, and I'll have a few questions for him about my presentation.
So notice of refusal, this is an RSA-5 property. It's a rather large law of 1,603 square feet,
And we're trying to put four dwelling units in here.
We have two refusals.
First, this is our RSA-5 property and having four dwelling units technically under the Philadelphia Zoning Code is not allowed as of right.
Again, it's a big lot.
And if you look at the 2035 plan, it talks about increasing density specifically around the Allegheny Station, which we are adjacent to.
So what we're asking for falls in line with the aspirations of the 2035 plan.
The second refusal has to do with rear yard depth, where nine feet is required.
Well, technically, under the Philadelphia Zoning Code and the examination, excuse me, the interpretation of it, were seven feet, a little more than eight inches of that.
A little more than eight inches of that. And the only thing I would say to that is that we're really 42 feet. It's just an irregular shaped lot, and we'll show you that. So due to something we can't control, you know, we would ask that the zoning board allow that variance request as well.
and the only thing I would say
And then the letter of support, again, we met with the community.
They unanimously supported our project.
They did have some provisos.
I don't believe any of them are enforceable, but, of course, my client is going to comply with them, but they're not enforceable from a zoning perspective.
Petition, we met, again, with people outside of the community meeting that live close by, and they expressed their support as well of this project.
And then the 2035 plan, if you look at item number nine, it states concentrate new housing development adjacent to existing transit resources.
Specifically in the bullet point, it says increase the allowable density near major transit stations such as Allegheny Station by changing base zoning and or adding a TOD overlay.
Well, we are adjacent to the Allegheny Station. So having this increased use of the property by way of four units only supports the aspirations of the 2035 plan.
And then if you look at the map itself, it's I've never seen anything like this.
We're orange all around us or red or pink, except this one little block, which really doesn't make sense.
So, you know, especially when you consider the 2035 plan.
And then photographs of the property were a vacant lot.
Here's proof of posting of that lot for today's hearing.
This is our, you know, Tioga from both the left and the right.
And then you'll see that we mimic the architectural design of the property.
So a cornice, we have a cornice line that mimics the property to the left of us.
We have a porch just like the property to the left of us as well.
And then if you see
under the examiner's interpretation of Philadelphia zoning codes,
This is our rear yard setback of seven feet, almost eight feet, but we're really on the long side of it, 42 and a half feet long.
So again, within this, we meet the requirements within the spirit of the code.
And then just our floor plans are pretty basic.
The first floor, the lower level is a two bedroom, one and a half bath.
you go up a flight of steps to the right to the left of us is unit two which is a studio to the
right of us is unit three which is also a studio and then unit number four is on the third floor
which is a two-bedroom one bath we met with the community on may 16th at 6 pm 142 addresses were
notified in the meeting these are the addresses which were notified proof of mailing to those
addresses, our application for appeal that we filed on behalf of HHS Realty LLC, along
with the notice of refusal, the project information form, the deeds of property showing that HHS
Realty LLC is the owner of the property, and the Certificate of Tax Clearance showing that
my client's in good standing with respect to real estate taxes.
I would ask that Mr. Hussain virtually raise his hand now.
Counsel, could you first show us what the rest of the area looks like?
relative oh yeah yeah everything okay well that's what i'm sorry sorry i i don't mean to be
dismissive no so this is this is the whole neighborhood except our block we're the only
thing that's yellow in the entire neighborhood and we took as wide an angle as you can imagine
And then the block you're on, Alan, is that also multiple family units?
There are sprinkling of multifamily units here.
Again, this is also a big property.
It's over 1,600 square foot lot.
And is four units the minimum, you think, Alan?
I think, you know, unfortunately, and you've heard me say this over and over again,
And from a financial standpoint, it's just it's just so expensive to build, you know, nowadays.
You know, nowadays, and my client couldn't justify the expense to build anything less than that.
And my client couldn't justify the.
Okay. All right. Bring your client on, please.
They've been allowed to speak.
Hi, sir. Could you state your name and spell, please, for the court stenographer?
Hussain, Hussain, first name H-U-S-S-E-I-N, last name H-U-S-S-E-I-N.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Proceed, counsel.
Yes, Mr. Hussain, you heard everything I had to state today about your zoning matter.
Yes, I have.
Yes, and including the economic feasibility of not being able to build this unless it's
four units yes right yes all right and did everything i state is every did everything i
say today um has it is it true and correct it is yes okay and do you adopt as your own testimony
yes all right thank you questions from the board no mr chairman no chair
no chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
i do not see any further hands mr chair leaning commission
good afternoon chair peter bernard for the planning commission
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing rsa 5 single family residential
zoning at this location there is no hardship for vacant land and this property is outside
the established tod boundaries we feel the level of variance would be better addressed through
rezoning accordingly the planning commission recommends the board deny the variance
in my 2023 002 373 1237 west tayoga street i vote yes with proviso maximum three units
thomas holliman my vote is yes proviso james snell my vote is yes with proviso
ishmael shahid my vote is yes with proviso thank you thank you
number 11 mi 2022 006 210 46 19 to 21 lancaster avenue
Cheryl Gaston is the attorney.
Chair, I have a Roberto Espeno with a hand raised.
A letter of support from Mill Creek Advisory Council, and also Councilperson Gauthier has taken a position of support.
Proceed, Jason Mopset.
Please excuse me, sir.
I have a Roberto Espeno with a hand raised.
Do I allow him to speak?
you can okay see let's see what he has to say we're looking for cheryl gaston
mr chair mr espinal is the tenant in this matter right um yes so i don't i don't know if
Gaston would be under him
oh I do see
her legal assistant Christine
Schlosser on
alright they've been promoted to panelists
alright thank you
good afternoon council
They're coming back in, sir.
Okay, thank you.
They're in, Chair.
I'm not sure if she's having a problem with her audio, but she's not speaking, and it's
unmuted.
Ms. Gashton?
I did not see her
Ms. Gaston in the virtual audience
Mr. Roberto
are you here for this case
maybe she's with him
you can unmute yourself
hi could you state your name please and spell for the court stenographer
Hi, this is Cheryl Gaston. I'm here.
hi this is shell guest and i'm here okay hi could miss
Okay. Hi. Ms. Gaston, could you state your name and spell, please, for the court stenographer?
Okay. I'm Cheryl Gaston. It's C-H-E-R-Y-L, Gaston. G as in George, A-S as in Sam, T-O-N.
And I...
Would you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
I will.
Could you have your videos turned on so we can see you?
AS A PANELIST NOW, CHAIR.
yes can you hear me now we hear you now we see you too ah perfect all right could you identify
your client and the relationship to this property my client is roberto espinal and he is the yeah
we'll bring him in when we have to right he's the leslie for the property all right and our vice
chair has just a few questions for you sure good afternoon counsel do you agree to weigh the reading
of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy i do have you emailed in all the required documents
and exhibits that are needed to proceed with this case thank you please proceed okay um and i need
christine to uh share screen please okay she's coming back in as a panelist chair okay thank
you thank you they have me as espinal instead of guest and i don't know why
We're going to see you. We're fine. We're fine. Okay.
All right. Are you here?
Here comes your screen. Okay. Proceed.
All right. Good afternoon, members of the board. This is an application of Lancaster Tire Center, Inc.
to use this property as a tire repair shop.
And if we can go to the next page, the table of contents, please.
What I have for you are the commercial lease,
and he also has licenses as for tire use.
He had a property at 44, I'm sorry, at 4438, I think it was, Lancaster Avenue and lost his lease.
So he's trying to move into another property nearby where he can continue to carry on his business.
there's the notice of refusal we have the application for appeal and project information
form tax clearance certificate not yet please go back please christine thank you um we have a
site and floor plan with elevations it's basically just a empty shop that had been used commercially
before. We have pictures, the zoning posters, and the site. And then we have, as you already
said, a letter of support from the Mill Creek Advisory Council. We also have four pages of
petitions in support. And we also have the support of the council person. So, okay.
Okay. Next page, please. Christine. This is the lease with the, and we can just go through this. This is the lease that Mr. Espinel has for the property.
And, as you know, we can have a deed, lease, or agreement of sale in terms of applying for a variance.
And then the notice of refusal, which is coming out, 13 pages for this lease.
These are some of the licenses that he has.
And then the notice of refusal is even though this is a CMX2.
Notice of refusal is, even though this is a CMX2 property and is on a commercial corridor, this use, which is considered personal vehicle repair and maintenance, but it's actually a tire repair shop, is not permitted as a use.
And so we are asking for a variance to allow it to use for the tire repair.
Go ahead, Christine.
We can move forward.
This is the application for appeal.
And what I will say is my client had basically done most of this.
So I was involved in some of the early stages of this, but everything was done in accord with the rules of the board.
This is the tax clearance. And then that was the earlier one.
This was continued because he needed to have an attorney to present his case here.
This is the site plan. And then we have some pictures of the actual building.
These are some of the postings. My client, in his zeal to do this, didn't ask us to put this on orange paper, the continued date, but it is still, it was posted as it should have been.
um and then this is a look at the building as you can see it kind of sits by itself the interior is
just um a commercially uh what had been a commercially used uh property at some point
there's no improvements to it so that um it's um suitable for the use that he has in mind
And as you can see, masonry.
And again, we have the, this is a picture of the area of Lancaster Avenue that we're talking about.
And again, it's a commercial corridor.
So it's not as if this is a use that would be not in keeping with the commercial character of this particular area.
Yep. This is the letter of support. And then we have like four pages of petitions in support
for this particular business
and Mr. Espinel.
And again,
and as you said,
the council person is also in favor of this
as a use.
This is some of the communications
with the RCOs
setting up the meeting,
which was in March of this year.
and uh and then these are the addresses and then uh they used um they actually did certified mail
for the receipts instead of the um certificates of mailing which are more expensive actually
but these are copies of those
and with that
I would like to have my client
be brought forward
Mr. Espinel
i'm here hi mr espino could you state your name please and spell for the court stenographer
could you spell your name for him too please
R-O-B-E-R-T-O-A-E-S-B-I-N-E-R
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, counsel.
Mr. Espinel, did you hear my presentation to the board?
Will you accept my presentation as your own testimony?
Thank you.
You're welcome.
Just to counsel, just for the record, there's a note here from Councilmember Gauthier.
Councilmember Gauthier, we have seen firsthand the business owner's commitment to being a genuine
We have seen firsthand the business owner's commitment to being
Thank you.
member of the community and readiness to address neighborhood concerns. The usually
large groundswell support from neighbors for this application is a demonstration of this.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
Yes, Chair.
No, Chair.
Proceed.
I have one question. I have a question.
So, where will you all be utilizing the storage of the tires on this facility?
It will be inside the building.
There is no storage on the outside of this facility?
No, we're not going to store tires outside.
No side yards or anything of that nature?
No, no.
The idea is you saw the space.
The space is very large, and it can accommodate the tire center uses.
And there's also like a driveway that's in the back so that they can use that for purposes of putting the tires on the cars.
And that's like an enclosed space, too, if you want to go back to the site plan.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I'm Mr. Chair. I have a Raman Hagarist with a hand raised.
Sure. Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
We see them, Jason.
Okay, they've unmuted. Okay. Hi, could you state your name and spell for the court stenographer,
please
Bachman Harkis
could you spell your name
Bachman Harkis
R-A-H-M-A-N
H-A-R-G-U-S-T
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
nothing but the truth
are you a neighbor
no actually reaching out
or speaking on behalf
of the community of the Kuba Masjid and Kuba Day School,
which is just down from the tire location.
Okay. Please proceed.
Currently, the plan is to put the tire shop at the corner of Wyalusing
and Lancaster Avenue, which is already a very congested part of Lancaster Avenue.
So we as a community have some concern as far as the increased traffic of the tire facility, as well as the continued occupying of limited space that is available for the neighbors that are actually living on that block, actually.
And as the pictures may show that 4619 is a standalone property, to the left of it, after a lot, there are some residential housing who are already pretty constricted with their parking availability as is, along with the, again, increased traffic, trolley goes down that street.
and currently you know the location is already being utilized for car washes they do have the
tire facility you know storing tires in there currently but we have some additional concerns
about the impact on you know the neighborhood for the the families that live there as well as
the school that is right nearby and so we are not in the favor of this approval okay thank you
for your input and we appreciate you calling in uh is there anyone else in the first audience
no further hence mr chair okay um planning commission
good afternoon chair peter bernard for the planning commission
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the cmx2 commercial mixed
use zoning at this location. The proposed personal vehicle repair and maintenance is
consistent with prior industrial use at this location. Planning Commission recommends that
the board grant the variance on the condition that all vehicles will be stored within the property.
Thank you. What I want to do with this, I want to counsel, I'm going to take this back
to my executive session next week.
We will vote for this next Tuesday at 2 p.m.
I just want to have a conversation with my executive group, okay?
Okay. Thank you. Thank you for your, your presentation.
Thank you for your...
Thank you. Is there anyone on the 2 p.m. list in the virtual audience whose case has not been called?
I do not see any answer, Mr. Chair.
Okay. We're going to take five minutes and I don't believe we have many cases left on the 330 list. So five minutes, we'll be back. Okay.
Thanks, everyone.
Thank you, Chair.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
If there's any questions, please use the Q&A.
i'm going to answer a question lakisha
we have someone from the um two o'clock let's keep raising their hand i'm trying to get them
to uh write in the q a okay sorry chair thank you i am ready when you are chair thank you
Thank you. How do we look, LaKeisha? I see Tom's back. Let's see here. Jim's there. Where's Ish?
I'm here. I'm here.
Ish is here. We're ready to go.
And we are recording, Chair, so you can start as you wish.
Thank you. Good afternoon. My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this afternoon's 330 ZBA hearings. With me is our Vice Chair, Ismail Shahid.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our Board Member, Thomas Holliman.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our Board Member, James Snell.
Present, Chair.
Also present is Hillary Emerson, our Attorney, and our Executive Director, Tanya Sunken. Here's our virtual format.
Be advised, the proceedings are being recorded.
The video will be available by contacting tanyasunkett at phil.gov.
For the benefit of our court stenographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying.
If you're participating by phone and you wish to testify, press star 9 to raise your hand and star 6 to unmute.
and star six to unmute. To enter an appearance statement, call 267-270-5548. Leave your email
To enter an appearance statement, call 263.
address and the address of the property in question. The question answer box on the screen
is not for comments or testimony. All comments should be directed to our executive director,
Tanya Sunken. Let's look at it this afternoon's list.
Number two, MI 2022 001 927 6200 Dickens. This case is continued. Number three, MI 2022
00-44-77-2633 Orthodox Street. This case has been continued. Number five,
MI 2021 005-086-5900 Harrison. This case has been continued. Number six, MI 2022 005-740
115 West Lehigh Avenue, that case has been continued.
Number eight, MI 2022, 005-736-1610 Margaret Street, that case is continued.
And number nine, MI 2022-001-771-2641 York Street, that case has been continued. Mark must be heard. Are there any questions relative to the cases that we've continued?
Mr. Chair, I have Lucille Murkowski put their hand raised. I've allowed him to speak.
Sure. Hi. Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Good afternoon. Lucille Mokarski, L-U-C-I-L-L-E-M-O-C-A-R-S-K-I.
Right. Do you swear or affirm, tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
What case are you calling about?
It is 2633 Orthodox, MI-2022-004477.
I was just wondering if I could ask why it's continued again.
It's been about three, four times now.
So we received a request on the 22nd of August to continue this.
We told the person to come in person.
I'll double check to see if they're here and we'll go from there.
But thanks for bringing that to our attention.
Mr. Chair, this is Hillary. I just wanted to add that it is our understanding from the request for continuance that we received that the applicant is seeking new legal counsel, and that is the reason for the request.
Okay. Is Michelle Cruz here?
Mr. Chair, I do not see you in the virtual audience.
So that case, MI-2022-004-477-2633 Orthodox Street, that case is continued.
Mark, must be tried.
Anyone else have an issue relative to continuances?
No further hands, Mr. Chair.
Any other requests for continuances?
have a hand up from a number ending in 6-8-9-6. I've allowed them to speak. Okay. Hi, could you
state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer? Hello? Hi. Hello? State your name,
please and spell for the court
stenographer? Yes.
Linda Kazavecchia.
All right. Could you spell it?
L-I-N-D-A
B-A-S-A
V-E-C-C
Okay. Do you swear or affirm,
tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
What case are you calling about?
Harbison Avenue.
Mm-hmm.
I would like to know why that's continued also, please.
Yes, there has to be the RCO wants additional meetings before that case moves forward.
Thank you.
Is there anyone else?
I do not see any further hands, Mr. Chair.
Case number four, MI-2021-004-368-2967, Amber Street.
No exhibits for Thlisten.
The past attorney is no longer there.
There also is a letter of opposition from the council person.
Fialco Properties is the listed owner.
This is the fourth listing.
Mr. Chair, this is Hillary.
I just want to clarify that 2967 Amber LLC is the listed owner.
Fialco Properties is the third-party professional affiliated with this application.
So 2967 Amber is the listed owner.
no hands chair okay so mi 2021 004 368 2967 amber street fourth listing no one's appeared
we have no exhibits i vote to dismiss thomas holloman my vote is to dismiss
James Snell my vote is to dismiss
Ishmael Shaheen I voted to dismiss
okay we're going to go to our regular list
number one
MI-2022-003-935
West Oxford Street
Raymond Derizio is the attorney
Mr. DiRizio is coming back into, excuse me, as a panelist chair.
So the Brewery Town Chargedwood Community Civic Association voted 20 to 1 in support.
The applicant also provided one letter of support from a neighbor on the block.
Hi, counsel, could you state your name and spell, please, for the court stenographer?
Yes. Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman and members of the board.
My name is Raymond Dorizio, R-A-Y-M-O-N-D.
My name is Dorizio, D-O-R-I-Z-I-O.
I represent the applicant in this manner.
My address is 2 Penn Center, Suite 520-19102.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Will you identify who your client is, please?
Yes. My client is Kevin Dixon.
okay and our vice chair has just a few questions for you sir good afternoon council do you agree
to weigh the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his accuracy yes have you emailed in all the
required documents and exhibits that is needed and required to proceed with this case yes thank
you please proceed and share your screen okay if you can bear with me one moment i am just gonna
Pull up. Sorry about that.
Okay. I'm here somewhere.
okay thank you for bearing with me so this is 2627 west oxford street um we have the refusal
because my client was seeking to um sell retail sale of goods and he was um primarily that was
the refusal he purchased the property back in 2016 he actually owns the property next door
i'll show you that this is the once we get to the photos um these are the plans it's a two-story
property
i'm sorry so two-story property you'll see commercial space
go ahead i'm sorry sorry commercial space on the first floor with uh one floor um
single family dwelling which my client will likely be occupying um this is the uh zoning map
here are the uh proof of posting of the date that was right on the front of the property
Proof of posting of the date that was right on the front of the property.
and these are the two properties
And these are the two properties to the left is the property at issue.
My client also owns the property on the right.
There is multifamily dwellings around.
Sorry, that's across the street.
This is the interior of the property.
He needs to do some work, and that's why we're here to ask for approval.
This was the notice of the public meeting.
we have the mailings that were sent out here's the email from an owner of a ceramic shop across
the street that is a letter of support they own two buildings across the street my client's
property at issue today used to be an auto mechanic auto body shop he's seeking to sell
flowers floral arrangements biodegradable balloons ice for parties and actually it's
fits in, we believe, with the fabric of the community because it's right near the
Valley Street Arts Corridor. This is a tax clearance, the Valley Street Arts Corridor.
And we did meet with the community. They expressed support for the project.
My client will be the owner, the operator of it. Issues with trash. He owns the building next door.
there's an over overhang in the yard he would store trash there his hours of operation would
be basically normal business hours likely monday to saturday or tuesday to saturday
um and basically they're going to do like art arts artsy flower arrangements that will be
sold um to the community um again there's a pottery store across the street and an art studio
um my client believe it fits fits in basically with how the neighborhood is going there is some
multi-family like i said he's going to live on the top floor um my client is here um he would
adopt my testimony and if you'd like to call them or um we could certainly
when you want to adopt your testimony
they're fitting out to speak hi sir could you state your name please and spell for the court
stenographer kevin dixon k-e-v-i-n-d-i-x-o-n you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth yes sir proceed counsel yes thank you and before i ask my client just
to let you know as the latter state you know there was overwhelming support only i believe
one out of 20 one out of 21 members that attended the meeting opposed and people in the community
are in support at least the neighbors so mr dixon you heard my testimony in my presentation today
correct yes sir and was it truthful and accurate yes sir and will you adopt that testimony as if
was your own yes okay i have no further questions questions from the board no mr no chair
no cares questions or comments from the virtual audience
i do not see any hands mr chair planning commission this is uh ron bednar city planning
first name Ron, R-O-N, last name Bednar, B-E-D-N-A-R. Do you swear or affirm to tell the
truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth? I do. Proceed, please. In 2014, the zoning map was
amended to RSA 5, residential single-family zoning at this location, in accordance with
recommendations from the comprehensive plan. However, the proposed use is consistent with
the documented previous uses on this property. Therefore, the City Planning Commission
recommends the uh that the zoning board grant the variance mi 2022-00-3935-2627 oxford street
i vote yes
james snell my vote is yes
Ishmael Shahid, my bodhishez.
Put a few provisors.
um council could you identify your client a relationship to this property yes my client is
Counselor, could you identify your client in relationship to this property?
herbert brown he is the owner of the property okay and our vice chair has just a few questions
for you yes thank you council do you agree to wait to the reading of the refusal to stipulate
to its accuracy i do have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that are needed
to proceed this case bob has been available as hearing yes please proceed you have already
Thank you. So this is 1514 Wesley High Avenue. My client originally was requesting to have three dwelling units in the existing structure. However, as chairman noted, there are some provisos after meeting with the community organization.
So this is the deed. My client recently purchased the property.
These are these are the plans. This is the front of the building. Obviously, it's a three story structure.
There's a vacant lot next door. The basement, no changes from after meeting with the community.
He wants to keep the utilities down there, washer, dryer, some storage.
First floor would be a one-bedroom apartment, and that was our initial request.
These plans show the second and third floor, which my client was seeking to have two one-bedroom apartments.
However, after meeting with the community, we've come to an agreement that the second and third floor would be one dwelling unit with two bedrooms.
And as noted in the provisos, trash will be kept inside until trash day.
My client's going to vet any potential tenants.
Here are some of the plans, as you see.
The property is in dire need of repair.
At least the inside will be a full rehab.
And, you know, the vacant lot on the side.
And even here's a copy of the posting of the hearing that was attached to the property.
There are multifamilies in the neighborhood.
This is Lehigh Ave.
This is directly across the street.
Again, across the street, just going down the block.
Another property on a street directly across.
This is on the same side of my client's property down the street.
um so no changes to the facade this is the corner store across the street from the property
these are the interiors the property's basically stripped down to the studs
um so he's going to obviously redo that this is sorry that's the yard there's a lot of trash and
that's been a problem there's been you know people dumping and such my client's going to put up a
fence he's going to make sure everything's cleaned out and do the best he can to make it um nice and
clean. That's a lot across the street. This is the RCO's letter. Again, my client has no
opposition. This is agreement with their proposals, no basement living,
that the tenants fenced in backyard. And also, I believe there was some proposals on what he
will be charging. There's his tax clearance, proof of mailings are all there. So essentially,
after meeting with the RCO, it seems like we all are on board with having this property as
two dwelling units, two units, a one bedroom and a two bedroom. And my client's looking forward to
of being a good neighbor
and contributing some affordable housing in the area
while maintaining a nice structure.
And my client is on, I believe, on the call
and I would wish to call him as a witness.
Please, ring him on.
Mr. Brown.
He's been allowed to speak.
Hello. Yes, sir.
Hi, sir. Sir, could you state your name
and spell, please, for the court sonographer?
Yes, my name is Herbert Brown. The spelling of my name is H-E-R-B-E-R-T. Brown is B-R-O-W-A.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
Good to see you, counsel.
Thank you. Mr. Brown, you heard my testimony to the board this afternoon. Is that correct?
Yes, sir.
And was it true and accurate?
Yes, sir.
and do you wish to adopt it as your own yes sir okay i have nothing for questions from the board
no chair no mr chairman chairman no chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
questions or comments from the virtual audience
yes i have a hand up from a number ending in 3552 i will allow them to speak at this time
i state your name please for the record
yes this is adrian fernandez swamp little neighborhood process association right here
Yeah, Adrienne, you've already been sworn. Please proceed.
Okay. I agree with Mr. D'Arazio's presentation and testimony.
And just wanted to confirm that the four provisos would be affixed to the land, limit of two multifamily units, no basement living, all trash and recycling stored indoors for the reasons we're both saying, and no rooftop deck occupancies or structures except for mechanical equipment.
thank you appreciate you calling in is there anyone else in the virtual audience
no further hands mr chair planning commission uh run bednar city planning comprehensive plan
recommends no change in the residential single family zoning at this location 2014 is owning
maps in this neighborhood were changed to conform with the recommendations in the comprehensive
plan. The property has a use permit on file from 1946. Therefore, the City Planning Commission
recommends that the board grant the variance but limit the number of units to the two units
documented in the zoning archives. Thank you. MI 2022-005-738-1514 Wesley High Avenue.
I vote yes with provisos. Maximum two dwelling units, no household living in basement,
interior storage of trash and recycling, and no rooftop decks. Thomas Holliman, my vote is yes
with the provisos
James Snell
my vote is yes with provisos
thank you counsel
thank you have a good afternoon
is there anyone in the
virtual audience whose
330 case has not been called
I do not see any hands Mr. Chair
okay thanks everyone good day
we had a good day here thank you
appreciate it all
good job everyone
so long everyone
thank you very much
good evening