Thank you.
hey bill morning how you doing i'm great just saying my name i was having a little technical
issue here sorry yeah james snell yes present okay thanks jim no jim we didn't start yet we
We're fine, Jim. I'm sitting here trying to, I have a little problem with my laptop here, but we're good.
Okay. So if anybody has technical difficulties, just reach out to me. Hopefully it's just the three of you right now. So we'll pause. Thank you kindly.
We ready, Tom?
All ready for you, Chair.
Good morning. My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this morning's EBA hearings.
With me is Thomas Holliman, our board member.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
James Snell, our board member.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Ismail Shahid, our board secretary.
He should be on very shortly.
Also, here is our Executive Director, Tanya Sunkit, and our Board Attorney, Hillary Emerson.
Before we begin, here is our virtual format.
Be advised, the proceedings are being recorded.
By participating, you acknowledge your agreement to be recorded.
A video will be available by contacting TanyaSunkit at phila.gov.
For the benefit of our court stenographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying.
If you are participating by phone, if 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 address and the property in question.
And finally, the question and answer box on the screen is not for testimony or comments.
Any comments have to be directed for our Executive Director, Tanya Sumter.
Before we begin today, I'm going to read two statements that we want to make sure everybody gets a chance to hear.
Effective July 18, 2022, if the case is continued, attorney or applicant moving party, the attorney or applicant has 90 days from that date, the case is continued to either request a new hearing, ask for an extension of moving party status, or withdraw the case.
if ZBA staff is not contacted by the end of the 90-day period, the case will be automatically
listed for a new hearing date. Please note, extension for moving party status must be sent
to Executive Director Tanya Sunkett with Board Attorney Hillary Emerson copy.
And our second statement, ZBA staff is currently sending out letters to listed applicants on
appeals filed prior to 2019. If the case has been pending and a hold status, if an applicant or
their attorney does not contact ZBA staff to discuss the next steps for their case within
the time period stated in the letter, the case will be considered abandoned and administratively
closed. Questions about either of these policies should be directed to Executive Director Tanya
Sunkett and board attorney Hillary Emerson. So now let's look at our continuations for this
morning's hearings. Number three, MI 2022 001-796-1528 Christian Treaty. That case will be
continued. Number five, MI 2022-001-765-163-71 West Wyoming Avenue. That case is continued.
And number 11, MI 2022-001.
MI-2022-001-774-4872 East Roosevelt Boulevard. That case is continued. Does anyone have any
comments relative to those three cases that have been continued?
Good morning, Chair. I see no hands at this time.
Thank you. Are there any other requests for continuances?
Chair, we have Mr. Anastasio. Mr. Anastasio, you can unmute yourself and wait for the chair, please.
Good morning, Mr. Chair.
Good morning, sir. Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
Sure. It's Vern Anastasio, A-N-A-S-T-A-S-I-O, 2016.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
I do. What case, sir? Mr. Chair, I was actually asking for withdrawal. I know you only called for continuances. Typically, you call them at the same time.
Well, I'm getting ready to do it. Let me see. Hold on a minute. I think I have.
I just didn't want you to start. I have yours. I'll get. So, MI 2022-001-812-521-Wissahickon Avenue. That case is withdrawn.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you. Any other requests for continuances?
Chair, we have Joseph Vaccaro with his hands up. Mr. Vaccaro, you can unmute yourself and wait for
the chair, please. Good morning, Mr. Vaccaro. Could you state your name, please, and spell for
the court reporter? Yes, good morning. Joseph Vaccaro, V-A-C-C-A-R-O, attorney for the applicant,
Tomo and Brenda Santos right do you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing
but the truth yes I do what case sir now uh I just wanted to make sure I heard your writing 4872
I can't hear you sir I'm sorry can you hear me now yes I can okay I just wanted to confirm 4872
East Roosevelt was continued it was sir thank you I appreciate that have a good day any other
request for continuance. Chair, I see no other heads at this time. I have a series of cases that
we do not have exhibits. MI-2022-001-683, 1340 East Columbia Avenue. John Bone is listed as the
owner. Is there anyone here for that case? Chair, we have a Dorothy Byrne with her hand up.
Ms. Byrne, please unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Good morning. Could you please state your name and spell it for the court reporter?
yes john byrne uh joe h-n-b-y-r-n-e right do you swear for him to tell the truth the whole
truth nothing but the truth yes we have no exhibits for this mr byrne we're going to have
to continue this case you don't have um you don't have paperwork for this we do not sir
here may I step in and ask a couple questions or you can Mr. Byrne did you send via email
all the requested documents in the um information packet that you received um I actually thought
that our architect had sent everything in she had sent us um just the notification
for this meeting for this hearing so i had to send everything in there's a series of documents
that should be submitted five days prior to this hearing you are the individual who are required
to do that so because that wasn't done we're going to have to continue you to another date
i can be accommodating and try to put you on sooner than february which is where we are
but you can reach out to our office to discuss further. Okay, thank you. Sorry, did, how do we?
MI 2022-001-683-1340 East Columbia Avenue. Cases continue. Mark must be tried.
Case number four. MI 2022 001 682 160 West Somerset Street. Darlene Treat is the attorney.
Darlene Treat is the attorney.
Chair, I see no hands up at this time.
That case is continued.
Watch must be tried.
Case number six, MI 2022, 001-808-1718 South Chadwick Street.
Lu-Me Lin is the property owner.
Chair, we have someone by the name of John Crescenzio with his head up.
That's fine.
Mr. Crescenzio, please unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Mr. Crescenzio, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
Yes, my name is John Prestinzio. That's John, J-O-H-N, Prestinzio, C-H-R-I-S-T-I-N-Z-I-O.
You swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
What's your relationship to this 1718 South Chadwick?
I am the expediter who filed all the applications and followed this through since Mr. Liu approached us.
we do not have any exhibits i noticed that um also uh we have another problem too
the owner of the property was supposed to be on right now zoom is having technical difficulties
we did email the exhibits in i believe yesterday unfortunately okay so that's that mr christenzio
that's too late the case is going to be continued and will be mark must be tried okay okay all right
MI-2022. Excuse me, Mr. Chair. Yes. Yeah, yeah, Tanya and I are probably thinking the same thing.
Mr. Cristinzio, does, does your client speak English or would he need a translator?
No, he does speak English. Okay. All right. Thank you. MI-2022-001-808-1718,
South Chadwick Street. Cases continued. Mark must be tried. I'm sorry, kid. This is time.
if you don't mind indulging me for a minute.
I just wanted to ensure that Mr. Cretensio
can let his client know that he will be presenting
and not the expediter will be presenting.
Thank you kindly, sir.
Sure, sure.
Number eight, MI 2022-001-799-2512 North 18th Street.
No exhibits.
Shamir Morgan is listed as the applicant.
chair mr or miss morgan has their hand up you can unmute yourself away for the chair please
good morning could you state your name and spell for the court reporter please
good morning sir my name is shamir morgan um the spelling of that is s-h-a-m-i-r last name
morgan m-o-r-g-a-n right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth is nothing but
the truth that is correct um we do not have any of your exhibits okay they were sent over um and
i also have them up when were they sent over uh they were sent over yesterday yeah so you need
to send them within five days prior we can't process them so this case is going to be continued
okay sir all right yes thank you yeah mi2022 001 799 2512 north 18 street
cases continued mark must be tried thank you mr morgan
and number 14 mi 2020 001 129 6134 carpenter street
No exhibits, third listing. Sharon Eberindu.
Chair, I see no hands at this time.
MI 2022-001-129-6134 Cartman Street, I vote to dismiss this case.
Thomas Holloman, I vote to dismiss.
James Snell dismissed. Thank you. Ishmael Shahid voted dismissed. Thank you Ish. Okay we're going to go to the top of the list. MI 2022 001 800 1027 West Dauphin Street.
8-0-0, 1027 West Dauphin Street.
Zen Jin is the attorney.
Recommendation of support from the 37th Ward, RCO.
Chair, Mr. Zen Jin is coming back in as a panelist now.
Good morning.
Good morning, sir.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
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.
Thank you. Do you swear or firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client in relationship to the property?
Yes, my client is Bima Holding LLC, who is the owner of the property.
The representative for the LLC, Mr. Bader, should be here today with us.
Our board secretary has a few questions for you.
Yes, Chair, you went in and out.
yeah could we could you uh we have a could you have a few questions for mr jim please
hold on one second
do you agree to wave the reading and the refusal of stipulating to its accuracy i do
did you email all the exhibits in the documents that are required proof of ownership tax clearance
copy of the refusal and for referral pictures of the drawings of the property within five days
in advance of this hearing did you meet with the rco do you have a letter yes to all questions
please proceed and share your screen thank you i'm going to share with the board the
exhibit that was submitted previously can the board see the exhibit on their screen
Yes, sir.
Thank you.
So we have submitted with relation to this case, the refusal, support letter, photos, plans, tax clearance, and related documentation.
This application is an application to build a multifamily structure in the RM1 multifamily district.
However, my client would like to build a four-unit building at this location.
This lot is about 1,507 square feet.
Because of the NCP overlay, we are refused for that number of units due to the minimum
requirement being increased to 425 square foot lot area per unit.
However, we met with the RCO and the neighbors, and they supported the decision to seek four
units, partly because the economics of the units fit the community better with the four-unit
design. We're only seeking two-bedroom units or each unit, a total of eight bedrooms and four
units. They're a little bit smaller than three larger three-bedroom units. And in the net
density, there's actually one less bedroom overall as well. Because of the design being
something that the community actually like, and the sizing is something the community also feel
would fit the economics of the community. That is why we received, for the most part,
overwhelming support in this particular request. The property itself is located
in a filler spot. And as the board can see, it is one of the longer lots that is on the street.
And next to the property are also housing, some multifamily housing and some smaller lots,
which have a mix of single and multifamily housing.
However, this one is part of a much larger lot
in a row that generally contains multifamily.
And again, it is not out of character with the neighborhood
and the use itself,
even with the requested additional unit
does not pose a hardship on the neighborhood
with regard to increased density.
The proposal is to have a three-story structure built with a relatively elevated seller level, and it is divided into units, four total units being front and back.
I will zoom in to help the board see better the layout.
So they're front and back units.
They're all bi-level.
So out of the three-story structure, there are four bi-level units, each containing two floors, having the kitchen and living room on one floor and two bedrooms on the other.
And essentially, the front and back division lays this property out as four total units.
And essentially, the front and back division lays this property out.
There is also a roof deck for the upper floor units.
And I will also want to point out, and this is something that the community also noticed, is that there is an access alleyway as part of this lot and design, which allows all units to access the rear yard so trash would not have to be stored up front.
So all trash will be in the rear of the property.
And as such, the community supported our request for the additional unit based on the design and the layout of the property.
I'm happy to direct the board to any specific part of the application or answer any additional questions.
You want to have your testimony adopted, please?
Yes. Mr. Bader, can you raise your hand virtually to be identified?
Mr. Bader, please unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Hello?
Hi, Mr. Bader, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
Yeah, my name is Chagai Bader, C-H-A-G-A-I. My last name is Bader, B-A-D-E-R.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, Jen.
Thank you. Mr. Bader, you have heard my testimony and saw the presentation I made to the Zoning Board. Can you verify what I have represented is true and correct and adopt it as your own testimony?
Thank you.
Questions or comments from the Board?
No, Mr. Chairman.