I see no hints at this time, Chair.
Planning Commission.
In report for the Planning Commission,
the comprehensive plan recommends no change
to the residential single-family RSA 3 zoning at this location.
The appellant appears to have established a community center
without the benefit of permits.
Tutoring is incidental to this use.
The appellant has shown that legalizing this community center
will not injure the use of adjacent properties.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the board grant
the proposed use variances for personal services and community center.
Thank you. MI 2023-005-953-5646-Cedar Avenue. I vote yes.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Tynetta Graham, my vote is yes.
Tywin, my vote is yes.
Thank you. Thank you, counsel.
Thank you. Have a good afternoon.
You too. Is there anyone in the virtual audience whose case has not been called from the 930 list?
I see more things at this time, too.
Okay. Thanks, everyone. See everyone at 2 p.m.
Thank you.
You can proceed as you wish, Chair.
Thank you.
Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this afternoon's ZBA hearings.
With me is our Vice Chair, Ismail Shahid.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our Board Member, Cheryl L. Gaston.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Board Member, Tanetta Graham.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our Board Member, Michael Johns.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
And our Board Member, Taya Nguyen.
Also present is our Attorney, Hillary Emerson.
Here's our virtual format. The proceedings are being recorded. With your participation, you agree to be recorded. Video will be available by contacting ZBA Executive Director at phila.gov.
For a court stenographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying. If you're participating by phone, press star nine to raise your hand, star six to unmute. 200 appearance statement call 267-270-5548. Leave your email address and also the address of the property in question.
Finally, the question and answer box on the screen is not for testimony. All comments should be directed to ZBA Executive Director at phil.gov. Let's look at our schedule for this afternoon.
i'm going to take three together number four mi 2024 002 411 3212 york street number five
mi 2024 002 412 3210 west york street and number six mi 2024 00
And number six, MI 2024-002-413-3208 West York Street.
All three, the hearings in the matters have been rescheduled to Tuesday, December 17th, 2024 at 9.30 a.m.
This is the final continuance for this matter.
Thank you.
And then number 16, MI 2024-005-135-2401 North 32nd Street, this case has been continued.
Are there any other requests for continuances?
I see no hands at this time, Chair.
Okay, we're going to go to our add-on cases.
Number one of our add-on, 2024-005-594-9901 Frankfurt Avenue.
The vote in this matter has been continued to Wednesday, October 23rd at 2 p.m.
Number two, MI 2024-004-449, 1401 66th Avenue.
I vote yes with proviso.
Interior access to the restaurant by public is prohibited after 10 p.m. and before 5 a.m. on Monday through Thursday and after 11 p.m. and before 5 a.m. on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Customers may order and pick up from the drive-thru lanes until 2 a.m. Sunday through Saturday.
My vote is yes to Michael Jones with Provisos.
Gerald Gaston, my vote is yes with Provisos.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes with Provisos.
Tywin, my vote is yes with Provisos.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with Provisos.
Number three, MI 2024-004-290-21 Wall Street. The vote in this matter has been rescheduled
to Wednesday, October 23rd, 2024 at 2 p.m. And number four, MI 2022-007-577-3935
Ogden Street, this is a request for reconsideration. I vote no.
Michael Johns, my vote is no.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is no.
Can we specify the votes involve reconsideration and rehearing?
Thank you.
I vote no to request for reconsideration and rehearing.
Michael Johns, my vote is no for, I can never remember that, reconsideration and hearing.
Yep, reconsideration and rehearing, yes.
Reconsideration and rehearing, yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is no to reconsideration and rehearing.
Tywin, my vote is no to reconsideration and rehearing.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is no to reconsideration and rehearing.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is no to reconsideration and rehearing.
Thank you.
We're going to start with number 10, MI 2024-004-844, 4248 North 7th Street.
Joseph Consul is the attorney.
There's a letter of non-opposition from Esperanza Housing and Economic Development, RCO.
Africa also has a petition signed with 10 signatures from neighbors, all from that block.
joseph consul will be joining us as a panelist good afternoon
mr consul could you please state your name and spell for the court sonographer
that's joseph consul that's j-o-s-e-p-h last name is consul c-o-n-s-o-l-e
we're referring to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes would you identify your client a relationship to the property
yeah my client is lndk acquisitions llc they're the owners the representative kirk wechter is on
this call my chair has a few questions sir good afternoon counsel do you agree to wait to read
another refusal or stipulate towards accuracy yes have you emailed then all the required documents
and exhibits that's needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing
yes thank you counsel please proceed and share your screen okay
sharing my screen
it's up all right uh so this property that we're um here for today is
4248 north 7th street uh we're here seeking approval to uh use this property as a duplex
In 1949, the property was first approved.
In 1949, the property was first approved as a duplex.
It was built as a duplex at that time, and there's nothing in the archives that would indicate that it was ever down-zoned back to a single family.
My client purchased it as a functional duplex.
I'll show you the photos in a second.
And he's seeking to legalize the use as a duplex.
So because it's known to RSA 5, we are here because that's single family only,
and we're seeking approval as a duplex.
Here's our proof of mailing.
Posters we home.
Exterior.
My client is doing cosmetic work, nothing structural.
this is kind of a trip into back in time here um you can see some of the panels on the left
very rough sketch kind of showing the the layout of the property uh as as it's been
one bedroom on in the first unit two bedrooms in the second unit just give me that again real quick
Deed, showing my client purchased the property in July of this year.
Or a tax clearance certificate.
Here is a petition that was gathered.
We made it very clear what we were looking for here, the time and date of today's hearing.
and we have a good number of owners from the block
that have signed a petition in support.
Again, that's the ZBA archive.
There's a few entries from the time that it was converted,
building permits for the tube family.
Again, that dates back to 1949.
And then finally, the letter from Esperanza
stating that they have no opposition for legalizing this property.
as a as a two-unit building that I'll call my client Kirk could you raise your hand I'll just
take you back to the interior showing the entrances to the units inside the initial vestibule
what's your client's name kirk k-r-k
kirk has been allowed to speak hi sir could you please state your name and spell for the
court stenographer
yes kirk wechter k-i-r-k w-a-e-c-h-t-e-r you swear or firm to tell the truth the
whole truth and nothing but the truth i do please proceed counsel good afternoon kirk did you hear
my testimony just now regarding your property at 4248 north 7th street i did uh do you adopt it as
your own yes okay nothing further mr counsel what's the rest of the block look like there
Just out of curiosity.
Kirk, can you give us a little bit of insight into the rest of the block?
Let's see.
In regards to what exactly?
I'm not really sure how to answer that.
Multiple families.
Are there other multiple families on the block?
To my knowledge, there is.
There is no commercial, though.
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
or yes what was the outcome of the RCO meeting oh we uh they have a they submitted a letter of
non-opposition uh that the neighbors that did show up from the block acknowledged that they
believed it was always set up as as a two unit and um they agreed to sign the petition which
we had submitted uh with our with our packet okay other questions from the board
questions or comments from our attorney
not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see no hands at this time chair planning commission good afternoon chairman and uh
david fechter with the city planning commission that's f-e-c-t-e-a-u
where we're a firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes sir i do please proceed thank you chairman uh um chairman and members of the board the
Chairman and members of the board, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the RSA-5 residential single-family zoning at this location.
comprehensive plan recommends no change to the rsa
The city rezoned this property to single-family in 2019.
The zoning archive shows that this property was converted into a two-family home in 1949.
The city planning commission recommends that the board grant their proposed zoning variance for two-family dwelling.
MI 2024-004-844-4248, North 7th Street, I vote yes.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Kanata Graham, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shahid, my vote is yes.
Thank you.
Thank you.
We're going to go to number one now.
MI-2022-005-219-4212 Parkside Avenue.
Meredith Verlager is the attorney.
There's a recommendation of support from East Parkside Residents Association.
Meredith Verlager will be joining us as a panelist.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman.
Good afternoon, counsel. Could you please state your name as spelled for the court stenography?
Sure. Meredith Ferliger, F-E-R-L-E-G-E-R.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Would you identify your client, their relationship to this property?
Sure. My client is 4212 Parkside Development, LLC, which is the owner of the property.
Please share has a few questions for you.
good afternoon counsel do you agree to wait to read another refusal or stipulate towards accuracy
i do have you emailed in all the required documents that's needed
and required to proceed five days in advance of this hearing i did thank you and please proceed
counsel thank you uh good afternoon mr chairman members of the board again meredith ferlinger of
delworth paxton my client today is 4212 parkside development uh which is represented today by
Eugene Nadevich, so he should be here on the Zoom. The case before you today is quite straightforward
in terms of request and did receive a vote of support by the local RCO, which is shown in your
packet at Exhibit 15. I'll just bring that up real quickly. To summarize, this application seeks to
legalize a sixth dwelling unit in an existing structure, which is a use that has a documented
yet inconsistent history dating all the way back to the 1950s. The application before you today
concerns 4212 Parkside Avenue in the city's East Parkside neighborhood. Tax clearance is shown at
Exhibit 2, and at Exhibit 3 you will see the deed to this property showing my client's ownership.
As you can see here on the zoning map at Exhibit 6, this property sits on Parkside Avenue between
North 42nd Street and Belmont Avenue and is zoned RSA 3. I'll come back in a moment and explain
all of the little dots that you see. On the aerials at Exhibit 7, which is now up on your
screen, you'll begin to see the context of this area surrounding the property. You may take note
that this is a very large, over 5,000 square foot structure that sits along a historic row of
structures along Parkside Avenue. Looking from the south, you can see that these are large
twin structures all facing Fairmount Park. And again from the east, this is looking towards the
back of these structures where you can see they're all really quite uniform and they do back up to
this alley that separates them from the homes on Viola Street. At Exhibit 8, I've included
additional exterior photographs to provide a little bit more context. 4212 Parkside is the