It's just storage for, you know, storage, owner storage and utility, the utilities are down there.
and then this is our orange notice poster showing proof of posting for today's hearing
this is locust street to the right of the property to left of the property our photos so there's
three units unit a b and c so i want to give you know again this has been there forever um
the other thing is my client once he found out that this was not a legal triplex he let the
leases lapse and he hasn't re-rented any of those units at all wanting to like do the right thing
and legalized before you have someone in there.
So unit A, and I have floor plans too.
More of unit A.
And then unit B.
And I believe this is, the unit A is a two bedroom, one bath.
Unit B is a studio.
And then unit C is a bi-level.
and then just want to show the three hot water heaters that are there so
two of them are in that lower level basement and one is in one of the units and then our plans and
drawings again not drawing the scale just one of our you know we had our clients draw this out
for us and we're trying to you know kind of illustrate it in nature only but if you walk
through the front door to the left is unit a which is a living room and the kitchen bathroom
two bedrooms if you notice there is no access for unit a to the lower level no one has access
to that it has to come directly from the street and it's for utilities and storage instead for
unit a you come to the second floor landing unit b i would call the studio and you can see here is
kitchen living room and a bathroom and then unit c is that bi-level where you come into you know
basically open floor plan the kitchen living room bathroom and they have multiple bedrooms
and a bathroom upstairs we met with the community on january 21st to 7 pm proof
We met with the community on January 21st at 7 p.m. Proof of us emailing, proof of mailing of that notice. We sent it to 100 addresses which are within the affected area, listed the addresses, proof of mailing to those addresses, our application for appeal that we filed on Iran's behalf.
again he owns in his personal name um you know he did not expect to go through this variance process
but in order to get the rental licenses for three units he needs to do that and he understands he
has to get a co2 you know uh and the deeds of property showing he actually owns it with his wife
and then finally the certificate of tax claims his taxes are actually paid
through 2026. I would ask that Aron virtually raise his hand and be sworn in.
Aron is joining us as a panelist. Thank you.
I am here.
Hi, could you please state your name and spell it for the stenographer?
Yes, Aaron Magan, E-R-A-N, M-A-G-E-N.
Aaron, could you please, Aaron, could you please turn on your video so we can see you?
I can. I'll only be able to do it for a little while.
i did not anticipate the hearing going this long and i'm about to start teaching a class in the
elementary school and they're just privacy considerations stay there go ahead okay uh ron
you have you heard everything i had to state today about your zoning matter yes and is and
specifically that you plan to do the work that the community has asked of asked of you correct yes
all right and um one other thing and i forgot to mention this during my presentation you have been
paying commercial trash fees to the city of philadelphia during the duration of your ownership
correct yes okay and so everything i said is is true and correct and you you would adopt it as
your own testimony yes all right thank you questions on the board yeah just um trying to
establish uh what makes us think that this has been a historic three family property
based on the like advertisement it was sold as three you know he can answer that
Iran was when you purchased this property was it a three unit
yes it was yeah when I purchased it yeah and you know he doesn't know this but it was an arm one
property too so if he just I mean understand that it could have been the reason I asked is because
as a previous rental license for a single unit from 2003 to like 2012 which mean and then I think
he bought it in 2015 so yeah for 10 years it looks like it was single family and then the units on
either side of it look like they're both single family so I can't speak to that I can take a look
at like you know the fact that we have multiple instances of multi-family I think I'm going to
a look to see if if one of those properties is next door to us see and then just i guess my
question then is that the adjacent neighbors were they in support at the meeting are you aware if
they were at the meeting i'm not aware of who was in the meeting room i the general feel was
this is not out of character and i believe the rco leaders here to to you know state whatever it was
I did not attend the community meeting. But I will say that two doors down, 4412 Locust Street is multifamily. So, you know, it's, again, not out of character. I have not looked at the zoning file to see if there were zoning permits, how far it goes back. But as you know, too, the, you know, some L&I files are current and some aren't.
Absolutely. So, and the further you go back in time, the less current they are. All I can tell
you is that it was, you know, my client's testimony was a three unit when he purchased it. It was
advertised as multifamily. It's not out of character. It was an RM1 property when he
purchased it. He's not, again, I haven't looked at this, but there was no violation for the use
he's taken upon himself to legalize it. So, and then I guess my second question is what's the
plan for the four bedroom apartment on the second and third floor uh iran what what's your plan are
you looking to do you know obviously you're limited to three unrelated people at the same time so
you know obviously you're limited to three unrelated people at the same time so do you plan
to rent that out to a family oh in terms of how that unit would be used yes yes yeah we had yeah
in general i rent out to families not unrelated folks but in general we also advertise it as a
three three bedroom plus an additional space like office or storage if people want to do so we think
it as a three bedroom when we we advertise it as a three bedroom plus an extra bonus space okay
all the questions questions from our turn yeah well i i bring well i still have to bring up my
issue of course you've got what's your access to the rear yards through the bedrooms on the first
floor is that the only access to your back to the rear yards and where is the trash stored there was
another one there the trash is stored in the front um it has always been stored in the front let me
in the front of the house in the front of the building yes it has it's been for some time and
and we actually that was one of the requirements from the community was to rebuild that closure
that enclosure that's been there forever so let me just share my screen
in the meantime i'll say that's correct about the backyard the access is only
through the two bedrooms of the first floor unit right which is problematic for me but
Iran is this is not a twin is this the configuration that existed at the time you
purchased this property yes yeah I did not change that there was no other access to that yard
so in terms of the photographs here this was the enclosure that existed for some time it just got
into disrepair regarding the vents which we're looking to replace by way of agreement uh with
you know with the community at their request and then in terms of the floor plans just go through
floor plans yeah so this is existing um yeah i was looking at different the first but they're
actually yeah so both bedrooms the only way to access your rear yard is through the is through
the uh it's through the bedrooms which is problematic uh and then i know you say you're
you're renting these the upper floor out as a three-bedroom with a bonus room
but it's really it's a four-bedroom so and I guess the concern with the four
bedroom even in public housing requires if you have a four bedroom you need two
and two at least two baths two full baths and you only have one well I can
only say, you know, the third space there, and if we can pull up the image again, Ellen,
but the space that is second from, you know, let's call them the top of the drawing north,
the second spacer, it's small, it, it cannot and should not be used as a bedroom next to
bathroom uh sort of on top of the bathroom as it were on this photo right this is it's a it's a
smaller space than uh i guess it would seem from from this drawing like anybody there would see
pretty clearly that it's not not a bedroom and i think a board member uh johns you indicated that
needed two bathrooms and here are two bathrooms there there's yes there's one downstairs one
upstairs full full full bathrooms all right all right thank you and then can i just add with
regards to the yard access i mean it it is how it was the way when i got it but uh there are houses
touching this building on on both sides there's no way to to go in through the side so the only
access would be you know basically by accessing the unit on the first floor which obviously would
create some privacy concerns for people living there any other questions from the board there's
no access from the basement to the rear yard correct yes so what's going to be the plan
for access into the basement with the new trash enclosure they would obviously have to put the
trash more towards the side. Again, it's not a space that you would use every day. It's merely
for owner storage and utilities to maintain, but I don't see that as something that's going to be a
daily occurrence. So obviously though, you have to, you know, you can't block it, but like they
um but like they would put the trash on the sides of it and if need be then move the trash cans when
would put the trash on the sides of it and if need be.
you once in a while need to get down there okay or stored inside if the board feels so inclined
to like make that proviso that could be a proviso to be trash stored inside in the lower level
make that okay so we're not voting today anyway or installed in the units yeah
or stored within the units i think their units are large enough yeah i think the more appropriate
thing would be to create it if you're asking me if the trash should be stored inside like what's
the alternatives i would say the better alternative would be to store the trash in the lower level i
mean i i defer to ron this is building iran would you have any objection to storing the trash in the
lower level or have the tenants store the trash in the lower level it's just it's just a
practicality issue you know carrying the trash to the streets down the stairs i think is a little
less safe to carry a lot of trash obviously the units store their own trash but it needs to go
into big bins in order to then be picked up by the city so that's that's the function of the
bins just to hold the trash when it's waiting to be picked up by the city
and i'll add again i mean maybe unnecessarily but it's it's never been an issue right there's been
never any conflict with neighbors or with the city around the the trash system there has worked well
the tenants take out the trash and put it in the bins before it's it's the pickup day and then take
it to the curb and then bring it back and that's it uh so it's not it's not like people are going
up and down all the time into the trash it's only before pickup and and like alan was saying that
there's plenty of room for people who need to get to like service the utility to go through that
area and go into the utility basement it's just a matter of having an extra having an opening on
either side of that enclosure which is which is part of the work order that we have in anyway now
for the request of the um neighborhood committee questions from our attorney um just a quick note
that i saw you you put the estimate um for the repairs up if you want that included in the record
just make sure you send that to us before the end of the day tomorrow we we we made every submission
i thought alex okay okay i didn't i didn't see it but yeah just make sure you submit that that's all
questions or comments from the virtual audience
does planning want to take a position
amy boyd with the planning commission amy boid do you swear or affirm to tell the truth told
truth nothing but the truth yes please proceed the comprehensive plan recommends no change
recommended no change from the previous rm1 residential multifamily zoning at this location
the area was remapped and council led remapping to rsa 5 residential single family in 2018
the proposed three units would be allowed by right under the comp plan recommended zoning
the planning commission recommends that the board grant their requested variance for three
family household living thank you um ian are you are you listening anything come out in
minutes we want to give this a resumptive
yeah that's so resumptive right okay all right so uh a result of hearing will be 5 19 20 26
at 9 30 a.m okay thank you right number two
mi 2025
two zero zero three six two four forty five oh one woodhaven road number one b gabriel fellis is the
attorney. How are you? Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Please take a seat. Could you please
state your name and spell for the stenographer? Good afternoon, members of the board. Oleg Sokolov
on behalf of the applicant. O-L-E-G-S-O-K-O-L-O-V. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth? The
whole truth is nothing but the truth? I do. Could you identify your client in a relationship to the
property? Yes, my client is Redmond Richard Court Prestige Lounge. Zafar Ahrukoloff is the tenant. I also have with me a representative of the ownership entity 4501 Woodhaven Holdings. You have a letter of support from the Millbrook Pacific Association. That's correct. 15 in support, three in opposition, and our vice chair has a few questions. Good afternoon. Have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing? Good afternoon, Ms. Graham. Yes,
We have, just for the record, there are a few additions that I put in the packet this morning.
this morning they're none of the required exhibits just some additionals and i'll be resubmitting
They're none of the required exhibits, just some additionals, and I'll be resubmitting them at the end.
them at the end of the presentation great thank you and do you waive the written other refusals
and stipulate to the accuracy yes i do okay thank you can show your screen and proceed with your case
let's see
Apologies, it's just taking a moment to load me as a panelist here.
It's telling me unstable internet as well.
Excuse me, I was unable to promote you, I don't see your name.
how about now
I'm certainly in here
I think your name is Gabriel right
no sorry Oleg Sokolov
okay okay I see
I will promote now
thank you
it's the first time you've been in here
I've never seen you before
I've seen you on TV all the time
what went on the on the zoom but i didn't i didn't want to scare you guys with my
in-person appearance so i've been i've been keeping it to the camera
you know what i'll when i when i do it from the office i'll start doing the stand the standing desk
yeah yeah yeah all right here we go
um okay we have all your document okay great um we're here on 4501 woodhaven road unit 1b
if the board is familiar with this this is basically an out parcel at the old franklin
mills mall which to be honest with you i don't even know what that's called anymore philadelphia
mall or whatever maybe you guys you know what it's called philadelphia mills but it will
always be franklin mills so what we're talking about here is not the the main edifice that has
all the the interior courtyard to walk through but some of those buildings that are on the
outskirts on woodhaven or knights road that have some of them there's a dick sporting goods in one
of them chinese buffet is right next to them so various kinds of commercial establishments there
to just go over a few things in the refusal so what we're looking for a variance to do is to
use the premises for the purposes of a smoking lounge primarily hookah and you'll see from the
pictures that it's already set up to to be this it's a very I would say luxury high-end hookah
experience as the board may know from some of the the requests for this kind of use that they've
seen this is certainly a type of recreational activity that's that's increasing in popularity
so and especially amongst certain immigrant communities who are very prevalent in this
northeast area the other I'll say refusal but with a caveat is for assembly and entertainment
because we're also looking to have billiards at this location so a pool pool being played billiards
The reason I say there's a caveat to this being a refusal is because assembly and entertainment is allowed in ca one.
However, it's the overlay here that that creates the need for refusal as a as opposed to a referral on that secondary use category.
Now, just something else, because this unit is part of this larger Philadelphia mall, Philadelphia mills, and these out parcels.
I think some of these notes that are at the bottom of this refusal regarding other variances
granted are not applicable to this particular unit. So we're unit 1B within this particular
edifice. These might be for other units in the same building or may even be for buildings right
next door, smaller out parcels. So I don't think they have any bearing on what we're requesting
here today but just so the board's aware that those really don't um apply to us specifically