I'll ask you, did you hear the testimony and the presentation of exhibits that I made?
Yes, entirely.
Thank you.
And were they true and accurate to the best of your understanding?
Absolutely.
Thank you.
Okay, and do you adopt that presentation as your own testimony?
Yes, I do.
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no hands at this time, Chair.
Planning Commission?
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
David Fechtow, City Planning Commission.
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential single family zoning at this
location the proposed use three dwelling units is less intense than the previously approved use of
four dwelling units so the proposed variance will bring the property closer into conformance with
the zoning code the proposed use is also consistent with a comprehensive plan recommendation
to encourage accessory dwelling units on large lots in the northwest section of the city so the
city planning commission recommends that the board grant the use variants for three dwelling units
thank you david mi 2022 001 684 6811 quincy street i vote yes thomas hollum my vote is yes
james snell my vote is yes ishmael shaheed my vote is yes thank you council okay thank you
may we be excused? You can. Thank you. Is there anyone in the virtual audience whose case has not
been called this morning? I see no hands at this time, Chair. Okay. Thanks, everyone. Be back at
2 p.m. Okay.
Good afternoon.
My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this afternoon's ZBA hearings.
With me is Ishmael Shaheed, our board secretary.
Present, Mr. Chair.
Thomas Holliman, our board member.
President of the Chairman.
And James Snell, our board member who should be on very shortly.
Also here is our executive director, Tanya Sunkit, and our board attorney, Hillary Emerson.
Before we begin, here's our virtual format.
Be advised, these proceedings are being recorded.
By participating, you acknowledge your agreement to be recorded.
A video will be available by contacting tonyasunkett at phila.gov.
For the benefit of our court stenographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying.
If you are participating in my 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 address of the property in question.
And finally, please note the question answer box on the screen is not for testimony or comments.
Any comments have to be directed to Tanya Sunkit, our executive director.
I have a few announcements I want to make.
number one effectively 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 date ask for an extension or moving party status or withdraw the case if zba staff
is not contacted by the end of the 90-day period, the case will automatically be listed for a
hearing. Please note the extension for moving party status must be sent to our Executive Director,
Tanya Sunkett, with Board Attorney Hillary Emerson copy. And two, the ZBA staff is currently sending
out letters to delicit applicants or appeals filed prior to 2019. If the case has been pending and
to hold status. If an applicant or their attorney does not contact ZBA staff to discuss the
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 our
Executive Director, Tanya Sunkit, and our Board Attorney, Hillary Emerson. So let's look at our
continuances for this afternoon. Number 10. Number 10. MI 2022 002378 3107 Clifford Street.
That case is continued. Number 11, MI 2022, 002384, 3125 Page Street. That case is continued.
And number 12, MI20220023794890 Somerdale, Lot 2. That case is also continued. Does anyone have any comments relative to those three cases in the virtual audience?
Chair, we have Bernard Carl Jadach. Mr. Jadach, you can unmute yourself and wait for the chair, please.
Hi, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
Hello?
Mr. Jadach, could you please unmute yourself?
Unmute.
Hi, could you state your name and please spell for the court reporter?
Bernard Carl Jadach, J-A-D-A-C-H.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Of the three cases I just mentioned, which one are you involved with?
Actually, it wasn't any of those three.
It's one of the other ones on the list.
I just wanted to make the board aware that it wasn't properly posted.
It's 2050 Welsh Road.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
Go ahead, Tanya.
I'm sorry.
We're not at that particular case yet.
Allow the chair to call it before you continue.
you can mute them staff and we'll wait for the chair to continue okay so does anyone have any
comments relative to the three cases i just mentioned chair we have carrie nace post
miss post you can unmute yourself or wait for the chair please
hi could you state your name and spell for the court reporter yes good afternoon carrie nace
paust n-a-s-e hyphen p-o-u-s-t right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth yes your case is 48 90 summerdale yes it is okay your comments oh yes
i was just uh requesting if we could have this hearing continued to the earliest possible date
and following September 13th, we are working with CDR.
It's subject to CDR review.
Okay, so what I would recommend is that you contact our office
and they'll do whatever they can to try and help you, okay?
Fantastic, thank you.
Thank you.
All right, does anyone else want to request a continuance?
I see no heads at this time, Chair.
Okay. Does anyone have a withdrawal?
I see no hands at this time, Chair.
Okay. So we're going to go to our add-on list.
And our first add-on is MI 2022-002-166-3811 Lancaster Avenue.
I vote yes.
Thomas Howellman, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shahid, my vote is yes.
Thank you.
And our add-on number two, MI 2020, 002812, 830 East Thayer Street.
A resumption hearing will be held for MI 2020 002812 830 East Therese Street on Wednesday,
August 24th at 2 p.m. The hearing will be for the sole purpose of reading the RCO letter into
of reading the RCO letter into the record if received and for the word to vote under the matter.
the record, if received, and for the word to vote on.
So now we're going to go to our our regular list. Case number one, MI 2022 002 385 1148 to 62
Frankfurt Avenue. Adam Laver is the attorney. Letter of support from the Fishtown-Kensyden
area business improvement district. Mr. Laver. He's coming back in as a panelist now, Chair.
Thank you. Good afternoon, Chairman Bergman and members of the board. Mr. Laver, could you state
your name and spell for the court reporter? Yes, Mr. Chairman. Adam Laver, L.A. Diaz and Victor,
E.R. Blankrome LLP 1 Logan Square 19103. Do you swear a firm to tell the truth,
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Yes, I do, Mr. Chairman. Could you identify
your client in a relationship to the property? Yes. Blankrome represents 1148 Frankfurt Partners
LLC, which does business as Altera Property Group. This entity is the owner of the subject
property at 1148-62 Frankfurt Avenue. Thank you. Our Board Secretary Ishmael Sheehy has just a few
questions. Good afternoon, Council. Good afternoon, Mr. Sheehy. Do you agree to waive the reading of
the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy? Yes, sir, I do. Did you email all the exhibits and
documents as required, such as the proof of ownership, tax clearance, copy of refusal,
or referral pictures or drawings of the property five days in advance of this hearing and did you
meet with the rco and do you have a letter yes mr shaheed to all thank you please proceed and
your screen. Thank you. Mr. Chairman and members of the board, on the screen before you should be
an aerial map of the property. Please let me know if you don't see it. As stated, I represent
as the ownership of the property,
better known as Altera Property Group,
which owns the property with frontages
on Frankford Avenue, Girard Avenue, and Dunton Street.
I'm providing aerial photographs here for context.
Here you see Frankford at the left,
Girard Avenue, which is the main commercial thoroughfare
in the Fishtown neighborhood, and Dunton to the right.
The site is outlined in red,
And in the lower left-hand corner is the historic Kensington National Bank, which is part of the property.
I'd like to note that Henry Sullivan is here on behalf of the ownership.
The Kensington National Bank that you see here is not part of the application.
However, it is approved for retail, commercial, and professional office uses.
that bank. I'd like to begin with some contextual photographs that show the property again. Here we
are along Girard Avenue, Frankfurt to the left, and Dunton to the right.
The site is in the heart of the vibrant Fishtown Girard Avenue commercial corridor.
It is zoned CMX 2.5. You can see it outlined here in the blue or the purple. Of note, it is mainly CMX 3, which surrounds the property, which is more common, perhaps, in this section of Girard Avenue.
The notice of refusal, the heart of the case before you. I've taken the liberty of highlighting the sole issue, which is before the board, and that is visitor accommodations is prohibited in the zoning district, and Altera Property Group, in conjunction with its proposed tenant, Sonder, is seeking approval for that use.
By way of background, Mr. Chairman and members of the board, it's helpful to note that new construction had previously been approved adjacent to that historic bank building that I had shown you, and that was approved, if you will, by right at the L&I zoning examiner level, and that included the ground floor Wells Fargo Bank, but the prior
the ground floor Wells Fargo Bank, but the prior approvals contemplated 60, 6-0 residential
apartments as well. Why are we before the board today? Changing economy and market conditions
have no longer, no longer support the residential use at this particular location,
and visitor accommodations are proposed, which generated this single refusal.
Before you are a few conceptual renderings of the overall project.
You'll see at the forefront the Kensington National Building, which is not where the proposed visitor accommodations are proposed.
Rather, to the right and the left, wrapping that historic building is the previously approved structure,
structure, a five-story structure with parking that goes around it to now, we hope, contain
the proposed sonder with the entrance on Dunton, which is to the right in the conceptual rendering.
Here you see the historic building to the left, the new property to the right, the relocated bank,
which I mentioned and here along Dunton would be the proposed entrance to the visitor accommodations
floors two through five in the same locations as the previously approved residential.
Here is a view of the proposed building off of Frankfurt where the parking that I had mentioned
would exit. The application before the board calls to register the new building for visitor
accommodations, which we would respectfully submit fills a need within the community.
Sondra itself is different from many other types of visitor accommodation uses. It's a leader
nationally in boutique visitor accommodation experiences, highlighting both the history
and the vibrancy of specific neighborhoods such as Fishtown. On the screen before you, I'm just
sharing a few different examples of other similar types of boutique experiences in other communities.
On the screen at the moment is Boston, for example. Andrew Levin, who is Senior Director
of Real Estate for Sonder, is available and present along with several of his colleagues
should questions arise. I'd like to take a moment or two to speak about operations because with the
proposed use in question, operations are appropriate for the zoning board's review.
The pandemic has changed. I'll just stay on this page. The pandemic has changed many things,
including this development. There's a growing demand for professionally managed hotels that
are not specifically Airbnb, not bland corporate experiences. Sonder is located in 35 cities in 10
countries. It's a public company that operates on a high level to maintain its brand. Here you have
Sonder with that reputation paired with Altera Property Group that would remain owner and
maintain and upkeep the complete development. This would be Sonder's 14th Philadelphia property.
it's operated in the local market for about three years. Of note, the average size of this location
is quite small, which is conducive to a good night's sleep, but not conducive to parties
which are specifically prohibited in Sonder. The average square footage is 487 square feet.
Unlike the previously proposed and approved by Wright 60-unit apartment building,
very few guests arrive in cars, in their own cars rather. And unlike the previously approved
apartment building, Amazon, UPS, and FedEx would not be delivering to Sonder as visitor accommodations.
E-commerce deliveries are specifically prohibited in Sonder properties. In addition, when I speak
about the reduction in vehicular traffic, Sonder sets specific drop-off and pickup locations to
funnel traffic through ride-sharing to agreed-upon locations. In this case, with the property already
having previously approved accessory parking, drivers would be led to the parking garage to
complete drop-offs and pickups in the rear of the lobby and off the street. In addition to that,
Sonder is exploring local transportation incentive opportunities to partner with SEPTA,
Indigo, bike share, et cetera.
indigo, bike share, etc. From a security standpoint, all guests are subject to advanced security
From a security standpoint, all gas
screenings in addition to verified photo ID requirements through an automated check-in system.
Unrestricted security deposits are required, which protects against damage from the parties
which are already prohibited, but a concern we recognize in other types of less scrupulous
visitor accommodations. Security cameras are throughout the property in interior common
areas and around the exterior of the property. For example, every time a door is opened into
the building, Sondra has a record of who opened the door. It's a lot of oversight and monitoring,
but experience confirms it makes for a better experience for those on site, not to mention
those in the surrounding communities. Contact information for a designated 24-7 manager on