Thank you.
okay chair we had 30 attendees we can start when you wish thank you very much good morning my name
is Bill Bergman and I will be chairing this morning's EVA hearings. With me is Carol
Tenere, our Vice Chair. Present, Mr. Chair. Ismael Shaheed, our Board Secretary. Not here
yet, Chair. He should jump in shortly. Okay. Thomas Holliman, our Board Member. I know
he's here he is here chair yeah and it is this this is here too he was just with us and james
snell our board member present mr chairman sorry mr chairman i had problems i'm present
and also here is our executive director tanya sunkett and our board attorney hillary emerson
before we begin here's our virtual format be advised the proceedings are being recorded
By participating, you acknowledge your agreement to be recorded.
The video will be available by contacting TanyaSunkett at philip.gov.
For the benefit of our court stenographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before I testify.
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, the question answer box on the screen is not for comments or testimony.
Any comments should be directed to our Executive Director, Tanya Stumpkin.
We have a few announcements we want to read before we start.
Effective July 18, 2022, if a case is continued, attorney or applicant moving party, the attorney
or applicant has 90 days from the date the case is to continue to either request a new
hearing date, ask for an extension of moving party status, or withdraw the case.
If the ZBA staff is not contacted by the end of the 90-day period, the case will be automatically
and elicited for a new hearing. Please note, extensions for moving party status must be sent
to the Executive Director, Tanya Sunket, with the Board Attorney, Hillary Emerson, copied.
Two, the ZBA staff is currently sending out letters to listed applicants on appeals filed
prior to 2019. If the case has been pending at a whole status, if an applicant or their attorney
does not contact the ZBA staff to discuss the next steps for their case within the time period
stated in the letter, the case will be considered abandoned administratively closed. Questions about
either of these policies should be directed to the Executive Director Tanya Sunkett and the Board
Attorney Hillary Emerson. I'm going to go over continuances, but Pauline, will you try to contact
Ishmael? He's having a hard time. He keeps getting kicked out. Sure, Tara. Will do.
Let's look at our continuances for today.
Number eight, MI-2022-002-559-2238 North 4th Street.
That case is continued.
And number nine, MI 2021-004-829-5604-06 Utah Street.
That case is continued attorney moving parties.
Does anybody have in the virtual audience have comments or statements relative to those two cases?
Good morning again, Chair.
good morning again chair i see no hands at this time thank you very much
I see no hearing.
and number three mi 2022
002 233 5607 to 13 germantown avenue request from the can from the council woman bass's office for
continuing because of the coordinating rco needs another meeting is attorney brickland
in the audience
miss brickland can you please unmute yourself and wait for the chair
hello hi good morning counsel do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth yes i do all right there's a request for continuing
for this case to have another rco meeting uh yes we understand that we did have an rco meeting
but none of the near neighbors um were present however mr chair this is a commercial area the
near neighbors um are all businesses uh the rco members are not um anywhere the rcos are not near
there and and just one last thing if you will indulge me the applicant is here and he did
get a petition signed which he's uh prepared to offer from the near neighbors from the actual
businesses supporting so it's a certificate of a special counsel counsel listen we're going to
continue this will be marked must be tried the next time okay and what is the date that that
i'm sorry i'm sorry this is tanya chair may we please have for the spelling of her full name
sure spell your full name please counsel s-h-o-s-h-a-n-a uh b-r-i-c-k-l-i-n
all right thank you and you you so you understand this case is being continued
will be marked must be tried if you have any issues about when it will be listed you'll have
to contact the office okay okay thank you thank you are there any other requests for continuing
which is for the this morning's cases chair we have a jessica khali miss khali can you please
unmute yourself or wait for the chair hi i'm new to this i i i good morning could you state your
name and spell for the court reporter please jessica kaylee k-a-h-l-e right do you swear
or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth always yes oh and what case
do you have um i don't have a case i'm uh i live on a street that has a case and i i'm new to this
but the zoning hearing with i was told is at 9 30 this morning i'll say so you're when we call that
case you will have an opportunity to uh make comment okay oh so i have to stay on the zoom
all day stay on the zoom call until until we call the case you don't have a listing of when they
will come up um can we continue ma'am ma'am you're gonna have to we don't have we have a listing of
this morning's cases when that's called you will have an opportunity thank you are there any other
requests for continuances? There are no hands at this time, Chair. Any requests for withdrawal?
I see no hands at this time, Chair. Thank you very much. We're going to go
to our add-on list. MI 2022-004-977-2600 Hagrid Street. This is a request for reconsideration.
i vote no carol tanari my vote is no mr chair um sorry can we use uh no to reconsideration
and rehearing i'm sorry i forgot to put the full language on there okay for request for
reconsideration and rehearing i vote no carol tanari my vote is no thomas holliman my vote
no to reconsideration and rehearing. James Snell, my vote is no to reconsideration and rehearing.
Ishmael Shahid, my vote is no to reconsideration and rehearing. Mr. Chair, do you want me to
revote that as no to reconsideration and rehearing? Thank you, that's fine. Thank you.
Our number two case on this list, MI-2022-003-345-6995 Heachan Street, that's a resumption hearing. Here's an update. Due to the delay in the receipt of the hearing transcripts, the closing statements...
Due to the delay in the receipt of the hearing transcripts, the closing statements for each party are now due by Wednesday, September 14th at 5 p.m.
At this time, the Board is still planning to vote on this matter on Wednesday, September 28th at 9.30 a.m.
Going to our regular list, MI-2022-002-561-2705, Black Lake Place.
Raymond Derizio is the attorney.
Recommendation of support from Parkwood Civic Association and a letter of non-opposition from Councilman Brian O'Neill.
Mr. DiRizio, can you please raise your hand?
Chair, Mr. DiRizio is coming back in as a panelist now. Thank you.
Good morning, Mr. Chair and members of the board.
Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
Yes, Raymond Dorizio, R-A-Y-M-O-N-D-D-O-R-I-Z-I-O.
My address is 2 Penn Center, Suite 520-19102.
Do you swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client in relationship to the property?
Yes, my client is Joe Ritchie.
He runs Ritchie Transport.
where he is the owner of that business
and he leases the property.
And our vice chair has a few questions for you.
Good morning, Mr. DiRizio.
Do you agree to wave the reading of the refusal
and stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, I do.
Have you emailed the exhibit packet
with proof of ownership, tax compliance,
a copy of the refusal or referral,
photos under plans of the property
five days in advance of this hearing,
and have you met with the RCO,
and do you have a letter?
Yes, and we have, and I believe it's attached to that packet that was sent in.
Okay, great. You may proceed and begin with sharing your screen.
Thank you. Spare with me one moment. I'm going off my iPad here. Sorry.
okay so 2705 black lace place it's um basically a business my client's been running
for several years he's looking to legalize the use of it uh he is in sort of an isolated spot
in the Northeast where it's a business center. Here was the refusal. He does vehicle maintenance
and repair, but it's basically to his own fleet. He's contracted by AAA to repair vehicles on the
roadside. So he has, I believe it's about eight to 10 vehicles that go out and service people's
broken down cars. So when he has his vehicles to repair, he takes them to his shop, which is suite
300 at this location and he repairs them. He has told me that once in a while when he gets calls
from some folks that are older, they usually come to his shop to do like a battery change
which takes maybe a half hour or so, but he generally does not have any cars that
need repairs that are outside on the property. So he doesn't have a
a lot of use for parking spots but he does have parking spots and they're used for his vehicles
that's proof of mailing this is my client's uh lease agreement he just recently renewed it in
august he's been at this location for several years um let's scroll through that he also
So these are plans of the location.
It's a large building.
I'm going to get to the photos, which may be a little more indicative.
Again, he got unanimous support.
So this is a photo of the property.
There's no residences around it.
It's isolated.
There's businesses.
There's other repair facilities in this location.
There's a union hall across the street.
basically open space not many residences here here's a copy of his tax clearance
so essentially he's seeking to legalize that use so that he can run his business
and do his roadside service I believe my client may be on I know he was at his uncle's funeral
this morning so he may be on but yeah I believe he would adopt my testimony if he's out there
you can get them on there, but we would submit this packet in our submissions and ask for the variants.
we would submit this packet in our submissions and ask for the variance.
Let's check the CVs in the audience.
If he's not, we'll take the attorney's testimony.
Thank you.
Mr. D'Rizzo, what's your client's name?
His name is Joe Ritchie, R-I-C-C-I.
Mr. Ritchie, can you please raise your virtual hand?
this is the first time he was using zoom there's a button on your screen
joe if you're out there and you just hit the hand button or touch the hand button please
council you're in the office of the court we'll take your testimony
thank you questions from the board no mr chairman no mr chairman
questions or comment questions or comments from the virtual audience
I've seen no hands at this time, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Good morning, Chair Bergman.
This is Ian Hegarty for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission.
My name is spelled H-E-G-A-R-T-Y.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir, I do.
Proceed.
Thank you.
Good morning, Board members.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing I-1 industrial zoning at this location.
Typically, this use is permitted in Iowan Industrial Zoning, but for an overlay that exists in this part of the city.
The proposed use is consistent with previous uses of this building and with the physical configuration of the structure.
And so the City Planning Commission recommends that the board grant the variance.
Thank you. MI 2022-002561-2705, Black Lake Place, I vote yes.
Carol Tannery, my vote is 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.
Thank you.
Number two, MI 2022-002-381-5437 Woodland Avenue.
Richard DeMarco is the attorney.
Letter of support from the Southwest District Services.
looking for an RCO letter.
Chair, Mr. DeMarco is coming back in as a panelist now.
I'm here. Good morning, everyone, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.
Hi. Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
Yes, Richard DeMarco, D-E-M-A-R-C-O.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Could you identify your client in relationship to this property?
My client is Steve Gordon, and he's the principal of the owner entity.
Okay. Our Vice Chair, Carol Tenere, has a few questions.
Mr. Chair, this is Hillary. I just wanted to interject that we did receive a letter of support from Southwest District Services for this case.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Good morning, Mr. DeMarco. Do you agree to wave the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, yes, I can.
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, refusal referral,
photos, and plans five days in advance of this hearing?
And have you met with the RCO, and do you have a letter?
Yes, yes to all of the above.
Thank you.
You may proceed and share your screen.
Thank you.
Yeah, hopefully I can be brief.