else. But this is just our site plan to kind of show where we
are. Just trying to go down here. So this is Morris, and this is
25th Street. And this is the existing curb cut, which is, you
know, 12 feet. This is the dry vial, which is 18 feet, again,
not out of character in terms of width of a dry vial that this
board has approved in the past on many occasions uh again this is the uh you know the request
because of the columns to have um you know the the frontage um which i guess would be considered
minimum uh side yard width but really it's frontage here of how we oriented here this is the uh
refusal regarding the rear yard depth which is again we're just using it as a pedestrian
walkway with this which is more than sufficient in terms of width.
And then here's just the again just some renderings of what we're looking to do.
These are all four-story structures, a mixture of brick and other materials.
The site plan more focused, but again, these are the single-family homes on Morris.
These are the duplexes that hugs the rear of this development.
And then you can see just from a dry vial perspective of the units between the single
family as well as the multifamily.
And then here's just floor plans.
This is for the single family.
but this is you entering Morris Street you have a little vestibule area storage a bedroom
you know a bathroom most importantly we took one curb cut of 12 feet and we that was pre-existing
and we were able to put off-street parking for for for 12 of the 18 units the single family homes
We purposefully did not put a front-loading garage there.
We want to keep eyes on the street for these properties, so the garage is in the rear.
And a particular note is we have trash storage in the units, specifically where the garage level is to account for trash storage.
The ones that don't have garages, the duplexes that don't have garages, it's actually noted on the site plan where the trash is going to be stored.
You go up a flight of steps. You have a living room, a half bath, and a kitchen. You go up another
flight of steps. You have two bathrooms and a bath and a laundry facility. And then you go up
another flight and that's the master suite with a deck. That's the single-family use.
Then the multi-family use.
there's one entrance for the lower level and one entrance for the upper level unit this is the
upper level unit you have the garage you go up a flight of steps you're on the third level you
have a bedroom open floor plan bath and then you go up to the fourth fourth level and you have two
more bedrooms, two baths. For the lower level unit, you go directly in. Again, no basement use.
This is an open floor plan, kitchen, dining room. You go up a flight of steps, you have two bedrooms
and two baths. And then just more elevations. Again, everything allowed as a variety in terms
to height. We did meet with the community on October 25th. Again, we had unanimous support of the
on October 25th. Again, we had unanimous support of the individuals in the community who voted.
individual
And I'm just trying to get it to my computer like usual. It's slow.
Well, you know, the other stuff you have is just, you know, again, exhibits that, you know, we would, you know, typically share with the board, showing proof of mailing, the deed to the property, things like that.
I'm going to unshare my screen, so maybe things are going a little quicker via Zoom.
Again, we have unanimous support from the community that members that did attend the meeting, the coordinating RCO reflected that in a letter of support.
Councilmember Kenyana Johnson also supports this project, which is, again, atypical.
Typically, they only, at best, do non-opposition.
I know that there was another correspondence from this Concerned Citizens Group,
which was not the coordinating RCO.
They did not separately take a vote.
They were at that meeting.
I know that there's a lot of non-zoning related matters with regards to their issues, something about the overpass not being saved, things like that, which would deal with, you know, whether it's ICMX or this residential use.
I believe a lot of those things are unfounded.
But, you know, with that being said, I would like to have my client, Gaziada Seven, adopt my testimony, and we would be more than happy to take any questions from the board.
you want to adopt your testimony uh the testimony yes so mr aliceven can you virtually raise your
hands yes i'm here could could you spell your name for the court reporter yes my name is gazi
joe ataseven g-a-z-i-j-o-v-a-t-a-s-e-v-n do you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth? Yes, I do, sir. Proceed. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Addison, you heard
everything I stated today. Yes, I heard that. Is it true and correct? Yes. And do you adopt
it as your own testimony? Absolutely. Yes. All right. Thank you. Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman. No, Mr. Chairman. No, Mr. Chairman. No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions from the virtual audience?
Um, yes, sir. There is a Miss Betty Barfort with her hand raised. I will allow her to speak at this time.
Barfort, please unmute yourself and wait to be sworn in.
Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
Could you state your name, please?
I don't know where she is.
Any other questions from the audience?
Sir, we have a call-in user with their hand raised.
I will not for them to speak at this time.
Hi, I'm Tiffany Green, Concerned Citizens of Point Breast. Good morning, board.
Good morning. Could you spell your name for the court reporter, please?
Yes, T-I-F-F-A-N-Y-G-R-E-E-N, and I'm with the Concerned Citizens of Point Breast.
Sure. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
Proceed.
I just want to address, we did send us an opposition letter, and I just want to address some of the issues that the lawyer for the applicant has stated.
Number one, this particular area is ICMX, and the neighbors, the businesses, and institutions have stated in the 2035 plan that they would like to maintain this ICMX zoning district area as part of the district plan.
roughly because we feel we need areas where many of these businesses can operate.
One particular issue is that I just want to say that this is a self-imposed hardship
that I believe the applicant has created.
The applicant has created. There is no residential from Tasker Street back to Wolf Street, which is about eight blocks. On this particular block, 1700 block, there is approximately five auto body collision shops, several collisions and auto body.
There is no residential from Tasker Street.
They've been there for years.
They're good businesses.
They bring jobs to Philadelphia, and we support them being on 25th Street.
And so we feel at this point that this particular applicant is trying to change the whole, force a residential zoning district in this area.
And the reason why I was saying that, because the city of Philadelphia, in conjunction with Councilman Johnson, they have a committee, according to an article in Planned Philly, that city council has worked to limit zoning auto bodies in residential areas.
And so, therefore, because many other residents in Southwest have had extreme issues with auto body shops in terms of fumes and fluids and toxins and chemicals and a healthy environment.
And so these businesses have been for years on 25th Street, and they've been able to operate in a positive manner without having to worry about affecting the neighbors.
And so for the applicant to want to plot 18 residential home development on the same block with five other auto body businesses is really creating an issue that would be further down the line in terms of, you know, when it comes to getting a variance, it talks about is this a public safety, public health issue?
And, yes, that would be. And so, therefore, this particular block in itself would not really qualify for a residential. We say all that to say that also, I'm sorry, I'm getting a little bit.
Okay, so we want to state that ICMS District was part of the district plan with the Planning Commission, and it was all agreed upon.
And the city would be going against their own policies to try to limit auto bodies in residential areas.
So why would this particular project, which is not on Marsh Street, is actually on 25th Street on the corner?
And he has a driveway, which he has a refusal for. He's having 18 inches instead of 24, which means that when people try to drive into the complex, they will have a hard time really doing a turnaround and coming back out.
So at that particular point, that's why he doesn't meet the requirement for a driveway to walk to, you know, to come in and come out regarding that.
But at the same time, the buildings will be along 26th Street, which is also an issue because in Plan Philadelphia Magazine 2020, Councilman Johnson has stated that this building, this bridge is crumbling, particularly where he wants to build at 25th and Mars.
There's no lights there. There's no signal lights, which makes it a very dangerous situation. At that point, there's no walkability, because at that point, when you come out, the businesses next door have their cars there, so the residents would not be able to walk. There is no real walkability at that point.
And at the same time, the bridge right where the area is, because we've talked the clean water action, and they've submitted in a request for a federal bridge inspection right at 25th of March.
It's extremely crumbling down, and that in itself is a public safety and a public health issue at that particular corner.
And so it has white liquid licking down onto the pillars.
We did go around and we did meet with the residents, and we do have petitions.
And the residents have stated that they did not support this project on 25th Street Residential, and they would like to maintain the district plan.
I would object.
I know.
I know that.
We do have the petitions, and the young lady who was trying to get on, she was trying to explain why she has not sent those in at this particular point.
Mr. Allen has stated that he unanimously, he had unanimously support. If you look on the summary letter, 41 people attended and only four people supported. So I don't know how he can state that that was unanimous support at that time. And also, that was one of the meetings that also did, as the gentleman said before, 1313.
That was one of the meetings that also did, as the gentleman said before, in 1313, had a serious vote problem in terms of people trying to vote.
So that was a serious, that's an issue.
The other thing is that residential is just not allowed, not on this block at all.
All right.
And I think that we would like to maintain the ICMX district going forward.
I understand.
I understand.
I understand.
Mr. Chair, I'm being cut off. We sit and we listen to Alan give his spirit.
But I have other people that we have to get up. I understand where you are, Tiffany. Okay.
And Mr. Chair, just one minute. I will be brief. The four people that voted in support are the
nearby neighbors. That's the vote they count. There were many projects that day, like many
community meetings, and the people voted in support, and the council member voted or is
supporting this project as well. Is there any other people in the virtual audience that have a comment?
Colin, you're just back again. We don't allow her to speak anymore.
I think we understand where she is.
okay thank you any other comments
no further hands sir planning commission thank you chair bergman ian hegarty for the philadelphia
city planning commission members of the board the comprehensive plan recommends no change
to the industrial commercial mixed use zoning for this property which has been intentionally
applied here as a buffer between the industrial uses to the west of 25th street and the residential
uses to the east and in respect for the elevated freight rail line that runs above 25th street
this is one of several contiguous blocks of 25th street that have maintained their character
as a light industrial corridor we've heard the applicant claiming that the intent of the proposal
is to extend the neighborhood's residential character to the west. We would argue that it's
not the applicant's or the board's role to make determinations about extending the neighborhood
character. The correct venue for this is through amendments to the zoning map. And the proposed
variance here will adversely and substantially affect the implementation of the comprehensive
plan, which calls for maintenance of that ICMX buffer in this area. As for the degree of the
variants being requested. This is a lot that's just over 10,000 square feet. If this lot were
zoned RSA 5 for reference, which is the most common residential zoning district in this area,
then the applicant would be able to subdivide into 10 units as a matter of right. And so we feel that
this is an overuse. And so in summary, we believe that this application constitutes
a de facto rezoning of the industrial land to residential and is far in excess of the
minimum variance necessary to overcome any limitations that are associated with the
physical conditions of the property. We have no objection to the dimensional variances,
which we think are minimal, but we recommend that the Board deny the requested use variances.
MI 2021-002644-1701-S 21st Street, I vote no.
Carol Tenere, my vote is no. Thomas Holloman, my vote is no. James Snell, my vote is no.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is no. Thank you.
MI 2021 003544-5007 North 5th Street, first listing, no exhibits.
Dasha Hentz.
Can Lombus Hentz to speak or it should be promoted?
I was asking.
I'm allowed to speak.
Hello?
Hello.
Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
Natasha Hentz, N-A-T-A-S-H-A-H-E-N-T-Z.
Vice Chair, would you see what we need on this case, what we have?
Yes, I will.
Hello.
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance,
a copy of the refusal or referral photos and or plans of the property five days in advance of
this hearing and have you met with the rco and do you have a letter today yes
does anyone have a copy of
Does anyone have a copy of any of these required documents?
Tanya, Rebecca?
And if I may, Chair, may you swear her in also?
Sure, sure.
Do you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
Natasha, N-A-T-A-S-H-A-H-E-N-T-Z.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
do you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes proceed
tanya do we have anything on this um
tanya you just got cut off okay this is rebecca cole council for the board we have no uh evidence
of the exhibits having been sent to the board.
Ms. Hentz?
Ms. Hentz, we're going to continue this case.
So, I'm sorry, can you ask where are the documents?
I sent it on January 13th.
To what email boxes?
The boxes?
I sent it to...
so chair if you would allow um this to be moved back i can try to see if we can retrieve something
that's right okay i can have miss cole review it if you wish to proceed um
um we'll put it to see if you can find it but we're going to move on to the next case as we do
it. Okay. So Ms. Hintz, could you please resend the same thing you sent already? Yes. Thank you.
And you can mute yourself and turn your camera off until we come back to you. All right. MI
2021-003548-5108 Haverford Avenue. RCO 44th Ward, letter of support. Mr. Consul.
Mr. Consul has been promoted to panelist.
Mr. Consul, state your name and spell it for the court reporter.
Good morning, Joseph Consul, Consul Madison, LLP. That's 1 West 3rd Street, Suite 204,
media pennsylvania one nine zero six three how's everyone doing all right do you swear
a firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do our vice chair has
a few questions mr consul do you agree to wait the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its