ZBA Hearing - October 21, 2026

Paust, P-O-U-S-T, attorney with the law firm of Fox Rothschild, here this morning on behalf

of the owner and applicant.

All right.

Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?

I do.

Counsel, could you please tell us who the applicant is and their relationship to the

property?

Yes.

The applicant is 7372 Henry, LLC, and they are the owner of the property.

And our vice chair has a few questions.

Good morning. Have you submitted your documents and exhibits 14 days in advance of this hearing?

Good morning, have you submitted your documents and exhibits 14 days in advance of this?

I did submit them. They were not 14 days in advance. I had worked with the council for the

zoning board, but they were submitted in advance of the hearing. Okay. Thank you. And do you wear

the reading of your refusals and you also have a referral? Correct. Yes. Okay. All right. Thank

you. You can share your screen and proceed with your case. I see a letter of non-opposition. Also

So there's the RCO is presently unopposed.

Does that sound right?

Yes, that is correct.

We met with the RCO.

I do have a letter of non-opposition, which I will include in my package.

Let me just share my screen.

Great.

And can you see the deed for the property here?

It should come up in one minute.

We do.

Okay, great.

OK, we have all your paperwork. So you might want to tell us what you're looking to do and then go to plans and pictures because we have.

we'll do we'll do so as i indicated i represent the owner which is 7372 henry llc we have a deed

here which was submitted in our packet we also have in our exhibits a confirmation of the taxes

having been paid as well as photos of our zoning poster on the property as you indicated we did

receive a letter of non-opposition from the RCO, which is Upper Roxborough Civic Association.

The property here is located on Henry Avenue. It's located adjacent to Valley Greenport in this area,

Wiggard Road over here to the plan left. This property is zoned RSD3. You can see here it's

located Long Henry. We have RSD3 on both sides with RSA3 to the rear of it, which is developed

primarily for single-family homes with being twin dwelling units. The property is currently

improved with a vacant building, which was previously used for an assisted living facility.

You can see we have photographs here on the screen.

It is unique given the size of the property, which is approximately three acres, which is fairly large compared to the properties in the surrounding area, as you saw on the zoning map.

Also, we do have very limited frontage here along Henry Avenue, as well as several natural features on the property consisting of steep slopes and heritage trees.

before you on the screen here is a copy of the existing features plan again as i indicated we

have steep slopes to the rear of the property as well as you can see many heritage trees that are

located throughout the property itself

in doing so again with the the size and these features it does make developing the property

in compliance with the zoning code, very difficult and challenging, which does present

hardship. The client is proposing to redevelop this property for single-family homes.

We did receive a refusal, which we will get into. Let me just go to the plan here.

So initially, we submitted a plan that shows the property being developed with 40 single-family

homes which would be comprised of semi-detached homes or more commonly known as twins however

the property is not proposed to be subdivided into separate parcels but instead would be

subject to the planned community act whereby they would still have fee simple ownership to

the units themselves and they would have a separate parcel number but the boundaries of

the property would actually consist of the footprint not necessarily a lot and since it's

not being separately subdivided, L&I determined that the structure of the community technically

falls under the definition of multifamily homes. However, just want to make clarification that it

is not multifamily in the kind of generic sense in that they will be single family homes, they will

be for sale, they will not be for rent. So we did receive the notice of refusal for multifamily

homes which are not permitted within the zoning district as well as a refusal for one primary use

being proposed on a property. In addition to allow the reasonable use of the property in development

there will be a disturbance of steep slopes which are in excess of 25 percent which again

resulted in a variance. As indicated we also received a notice of referral requiring a special

As indicated, we also received a notice of referral requiring a special exception to remove certain heritage trees.

so

After submission of the site plan, which is before you on the screen, and our refusal, we did meet with the RCO, Upper Roxburgh Civic Association.

We met with them on several occasions to review the proposed project and receive their feedback.

Because of the increase in the gross floor area, this was also subject to civic design review.

We did meet with the CDR committee on several occasions. I did just receive this morning while

we were waiting to be called a letter from the CDR, which I will submit to the board if they

have not received a copy given that it had just come in. But they did conclude that we completed

the CDR review and addressed their concerns. So based on the feedback that we received from both

the RCO as well as the CDR, my client and its consultants went back. They took a hard look at

the plan to make thoughtful revisions to address the concerns that were raised. The applicant did

make significant revisions to the plan, which I will show you here. As you can see, here's a copy

of the current site plan that we are asking approval of. I will show you this is better

able to review so that we can go over some of the revisions. So of most importance is we were able

to reduce the density. We removed eight dwelling units. We are proposing a total of 32 at this

point in doing that we were able to preserve this area back here which is located as m

which also allows us to preserve additional steep slopes so we are not disturbing as many as

was initially intended also able to maintain the landscaping back in this area

in addition we were able to move some of the buildings that were currently within this

location here which abut to the properties to plan north and in doing so we added a

little community park within this area. We also were able to add some additional trees

and a walking path which comes between the homes here comes back into this open space area which

CDR had asked that that be more usable so we were able to incorporate this sidewalk walking path

that comes down along here to Henry Avenue frontage along here.

We are requesting a variance, as I indicated, to disturb a portion of the 25%.

As you can see, as I indicated, the revised plans were able to preserve additional steep slopes in that area,

thereby minimizing disturbance and allowing the lease modification necessary.

Currently, the property does not have stormwater management,

And one of the concerns raised with regard to disturbing the steep slopes was potential runoff.

The proposed project will include stormwater management facilities to treat the stormwater in accordance with all applicable laws and ordinances, including those of Philadelphia Water Department.

We will be required to obtain unnecessary permits to meet, show, and confirm that we are meeting those standards.

We did receive conceptual review approval from PWD for the project to this point.

With regard to the heritage trees and the referral we are requesting, there are currently approximately 149 trees on the property, of which 73 are designated as heritage.

The project was designed to attempt to limit the disturbance as much as we could, given the fact that they are scattered somewhat throughout the site.

And between the replacement trees, as well as additional street trees that we are adding, we have a total of 160 new trees that we will be installing on the property.

We will also be paying a fee in lieu in excess of $20,000 for the heritage trees requirements under the zoning ordinances.

So as you can see here, this is just a copy of the landscape plan. This was submitted in my exhibit packet, and you can see the additional trees that are being installed within the various locations.

This is a rendering of what we anticipate the proposed project will look like. As you can see

back here this is the area that's being preserved with the steep slopes and some of the landscaping.

Back in this area you can see this is the play area that I mentioned to you

and then the walking path that comes along here in the open space over to the Plan West.

and then the walking path that comes along here in the open space over to

We also, during CDR, some requests were made with regard to embellishing kind of the frontage here

and setting back the houses, adding some landscaping and some improvements here.

This slide just showed...

So they're twins now, right? Am I correct?

Correct. They are twins.

And you'll see here on this exhibit.

So let me go to the next one.

this is what they would look like. So they are twins. You have one building would consist of

two dwelling units. You have one on the left, one on the right. Each will have its own separate

garage. We are accommodating two parking spaces, one in the garage, one in the driveway

for each of the houses. Just go through here. This is a view from Henry Avenue, again,

showing the street trees and the fencing that we are proposing within this area.

uh the next slide just shows the elevation the front rear and side elevations of each

of the proposed buildings and then this would just give a view of what the elevations would

look like here we did also submit a floor plan you can see uh it's actually four parking spaces

correct myself i apologize you have two in the garage two in the driveway it is they are being

proposes three-bedroom homes. You have a living room, dining room, and then on the third floor,

you have one bedroom, two bedroom, a common hall bath, and then a third bedroom with a

separate bath. There's the elevations.

Let me just go back here. I do have two witnesses on the call here with me this morning. I have

Herschel Patel, who is the civil engineer on this project, as well as Rustin Aller from

Harmon Deutsch, who's the architect on the project. If I could call both of those witnesses

to provide just limited testimony. Okay. Why don't we start with the engineer first? Perfect.

Hi, I see another hand up with your name. Would that be?

Potentially. Okay. There are two hands up with your name.

okay why don't we start with either one it doesn't matter sure and say is a herschel on

i'm i'm not sure who that was there i'm gonna do it again okay

either one

Herschel are you on

yeah I promoted three

okay

Herschel

all right let me see if Rustin is on

I'm here

hi Rustin great

could you please state and spell your name for the

stenographer

Rustin Oler

R-U-S-T-I-N

last name Oler

o-h-l-e-r do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth

yes i do uh counsel please proceed thank you uh rustin were you uh present this morning during

the testimony that i have given yes and do you agree with the testimony provided yes and had

you provided your own testimony uh would you accept the the statements i made as your own

Yes.

Great.

And were you personally involved in the preparation of these plans?

Yes.

And were you present during the meetings with both the RCO and the CDR?

Yes.

Great.

And were the plans revised to address the concerns raised by both of those groups?

Yes.

Great.

And were there any other plan revisions other than what I had touched on that need to be explained to the board in order to address their concerns?

No, these are the final plan revisions you presented.

Great. And based on your experience in designing residential communities, particularly within the city,

do you believe that this project would allow a reasonable use of the property given the unique conditions with the natural features and the size of the property?

Yes, I do.

And have you designed this project so as to be consistent with the character of the other surrounding homes within the neighborhood?

Yes, layout and type and size of homes and lots is nearly identical to the development immediately to the right of it, which you can see here in this image.

Board members, I have no other questions for Mr. Ahler. If you have any specific questions regarding the design of the homes themselves or the type of homes, he would be available to answer them. Otherwise, I will go on to my engine.

um he would be available to answer them otherwise i will go on to my uh and you want to go on the

other witness please and then if we have questions we'll bring them back great uh herschel patel yes

carrie can you hear me i could i can thank you herschel could you please state and spell your

name for the stenographer yeah myself is herschel patel h-a-r-s-h-i-l last name patel p-a-t-e-l

Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?

Yes.

Who is she, counsel?

Thank you.

And Mr. Patel, are you a civil engineer?

Yes.

And you were involved in the preparation of these plans?

Yes.

Great.

And were you present this morning during my testimony?

Yes.

And do you agree with the statements that I've provided?

Yes.

And had you testified yourself, would you accept my statements as your own testimony?

Yes. And specifically, do you believe that the variances that are being requested are the least modification necessary to allow the development of this property due to the unique features, particularly with regard to the steep slopes and heritage trees?

Yes, that is correct.

And will the proposed project include stormwater management facilities to prevent stormwater runoff?

Yes, we worked very closely with the PWD to obtain the approvals. Yes.

Great. I have no other questions for Mr. Patel at this time.

Do you have your account, the appellant, do you want to have your testimony adopted there?

Yes, I would ask that my testimony be adopted as an officer of the court.

My client was not available this morning, which is why I had my expert witnesses attend as well.

Thank you very much for doing that.

We appreciate it.

Questions from the board?

Yeah, just a couple of questions.

First of all, this is a much better plan than what was originally designed.

So kudos to the RCO and CDR for helping you to kind of make some good decisions.

can you just briefly tell us you have you have conceptual stormwater approval can you just tell

us briefly what what you're planning to do mr patel if you could answer that question in terms

of the stormwater improvements yes so basically if you if you see on the plan we have a roundabout