we are live you and we'll give everyone an opportunity to uh let us know when you're
ready we're ready to begin with our hearings
okay mr chair we have 40 members or 41 members in the room right now we're ready to begin sir
thank you and to the board members uh when i announce your name in the opening statement
just please say present okay good morning everyone my name is frankie chico i'm the
Chair of the Zoning Board of Adjustment. I'll be participating in today's hearing along
with our Vice Chair, Ms. Carrollton-Airey.
Present.
Board Secretary, Professor Plaza.
Present.
Board members, Mr. Thomas Holloman.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
And Mr. James Snow.
Present. Board Administrator, Mr. Jason Hand and our Board
Attorney Ms. Saren Saletter are also in attendance as is our Zoning Board Administrator Ms. Tanya
Sunken. For those of you who haven't yet participated in one of our virtual hearings,
I'll go through some of the basics of what you can expect. First, we will be administering
oaths to individual participants prior to their testimony. Second, we'd like to advise everyone
that this proceeding is being recorded and that the recording is being made available,
will be available to the public by contacting our board administrator, Ms. Tanya Sunkit at
tanya.sunkit at phila.gov. For anyone participating by phone, if you wish to testify,
you must raise your hand by hitting star nine and then star six to unmute yourself. I'll repeat that.
for anyone participating by phone if you wish to testify you must raise your hand by hitting star
nine and then star six to unmute yourself finally to enter an appearance statement call google
267-270-5548 and leave your email address and the address of the property at issue i will repeat
that. To enter an appearance statement, call Google 267-270-5548 and leave your email address
and the address of the property at issue. I'd like to also advise everyone, please do not
attempt to testify in the chat. Any comments, concerns, or issues you may have, please address
them to our Board Administrator, Mr. Jason Hand. With that, I'll begin the first add-on
for this morning's session is MI 2021-000904. One Red Lion Road. My vote is to deny the appeal.
Harold Tenere, my vote is to deny the appeal
James Snell, my vote is to deny the appeal
Thomas Holloman, my vote is to deny the appeal
Sorry guys, Confessor Plaza, appeal denied
you're muted Frank sorry about that thank you we'll go to the 930 list case number eight
MI 2021-002100 2431 North 29th Street request for continuance is granted number 11 on our list
MI 2021-002095
4319 Wrong Street
Request for Continuance by Attorney
Mr. Leo Mogendorf
I will ask now if anyone objects
to any of those continuances
I have just read into the record
If you object to those continuances
please raise your hand at this time
Mr. Chair, Mr. Leonard Reuter has his hand raised. I will allow him to speak at this
has his hand raised i will allow him to speak at this time is that is that is okay yes sir mr
time. Is that okay?
reuter please identify yourselves by your name and i swear you in uh thank you may please the
board leonard reuter r-e-u-t-e-r for the city of philadelphia uh i'm actually
leonard excuse me do you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
i do please proceed sorry yes i just meant to comment uh ask a question about the one right
red lion road case i just wanted to remind the board there were actually i think technically
four separate appeals that were filed to uh one by uh two by um busselton civic league and then
two by sandmeyer steel so uh i just want to clarify that the vote covered all of the appeals
uh so noted sharon do we need to read them back read that back in i apologize i think that would
be a good idea thank you mr reuter i will um send the board the additional mi numbers
great thank you okay while we're waiting for that information thank you leonard uh
anyone object to the continuance that have just been read into the record for the 930 list
so you don't have mr chair thank you i'll now ask if anyone would
like to request a continuance or withdrawal
Mr. Reuter has his hand raised. I will allow him to speak.
Again, Mr. Reuter, you're still under oath. Please proceed.
Thank you, Leonard Reuter, again, for the City of Philadelphia.
I'm just asking the board and the other participants in the Green Street matter whether there's been any decision on whether or not that would be continued,
or I believe L&I has already issued a new decision there.
So I don't know if that's something that Ms. Soletta wants to address now or if you want to wait until that comes up on the list.
Well, yeah, let's wait.
I will then ask as soon as we finish with this question, I'll ask the next question will be, is anyone requesting a continuance?
And that may clear it up.
All right.
And no other hands are up, Jason?
I think I might have seen one hand, but it's since I'm going down, sir.
okay i will now ask if anyone would like to request a continuance uh for the ninth on the
9 30 list the continuance or withdrawal please raise your hand on the 9 30 list
as tina marie russell has her hand raised i will allow her to speak at this time sir
thank you good morning miss russell please spell your name and i'll swear you in
tina marie russells t-i-n-a-m-a-r-i-e r-u-s-s-e-l-l
you swear or firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
i do um again i'm sorry about my my timing but i haven't looked yet i'm not 25 14 north 17 street
i believe that's a 9 30 list if it is um the applicant was supposed to put in a continuance
okay i apologize this zba hearing is corresponding with our food distribution so it's hard for me to
try to do both so i might be on the wrong time what was that address again 25 14 north 17th
3 30 frank and number three okay thank you so much 3 30 thank you okay anyone requesting a
continuance or withdrawal for the 9 30 list please raise your hand
i see no hands mr chair
thank you um hold on please
sharon have you sent that uh correction over on the red line road yet
i have not but um can we hold that right we can do that later i can read those mi numbers actually
I have three MI numbers. I believe Mr. Okay. Please proceed. Okay. The MI numbers are 2021-000-904, 2021-000-876, and 2021-000-875, all one red line road.
My vote is to deny the appeal on all three MIs and MI numbers.
Carol Tenere, my vote is to deny on all three cases to deny the appeal.
to deny the appeal. Confessor Plaza, appeal denied to all. James Snell, appeal denied to all three.
Professor Plaza, appeal denied.
Thomas Holloman, appeal denied to all three. Thank you. Thank you Leonard for bringing that to our
attention. Okay. I'd like to announce that case number three on the 930 list, MI 2021-002671,
1451 North Broad Street. We're going to move that case to the end of the 930 list. We expect it to
be a long hearing. So we will move that to the end of the 930 list. Having said that, we will now
begin with the case number one MI 2021-002-178-10156 Busselton Avenue. Sean Ward is the attorney of
record. As of my notes that I have we have not yet received a letter from Somerton Civic.
Mr. Ward if you're out there please identify yourself and I'll swear you in.
good morning mr chairman sean ward on behalf of the applicant
olig ustaiev uh property 10156-58 musselton avenue calendar you swear we're firm to tell
the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes i do thank you sir please proceed
do we have our questions yeah we do i was waiting for the chairman to say i know my
mistakes are that's okay do you agree to weigh 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
refusal 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 to all the above with regard to the
rco letter it was submitted late yesterday uh it was submitted via email to rco's eba
on which i was copied and i do have a copy of it with me today it is a letter of opposition
okay you may proceed thank you very much sure
just to confirm can everybody uh see my screen share
yes okay thank you uh mr chairman members of the board i've submitted my typical exhibit packet
um it looks familiar to you it's the same packet i submit every case the again the applicant is
Oleg Ustayev, O-L-E-G-U-S-T-E-Y-E-V. He is the president of the Bukharian Jewish Community
of Somerton. He is represented today here by his son, who is also a member of the
Bukharian Jewish Community of Somerton. The property is 10156-58 Busselton Avenue.
again the calendar is 2020-002-178 this application resulted in a notice of refusal the application
was for a permit for the consolidation of two lots into one and for the erection of a detached
structure for use as a community center with accessory offices it resulted in five refusals
one more than one principal use on a lot is not permitted in the rsd3 district more than one
principle building on the lot is not permitted a community center is not permitted in the rsd3
there is a side yard setback variance request 15 feet is required versus 11 feet four
is proposed and that is that consists of the existing dwelling on the site which
we intended to allow to remain for other use and then there is a refusal for bicycle spaces
two are required, zero are proposed. Accordingly, we seek relief today for two-use variances and
three-dimensional variances. A2 is the application of appeal. A3, the project information form.
A4, proof of ownership. A5, tax clearance. A6 is the lot consolidation survey plan.
A7 are the site plans. A8 are the elevation and floor plans. A9 are photographs.
address. A-10 is my RCO meeting notice with a certificate of mailing. Pardon the typo there.
Pardon the typo there. A-11 is the RCO letter, again, which was submitted directly, and I do have a copy of it with me today that I can share on my screen.
A-11 is the RCO letter. Again, which
A-12 is the relevant zoning history, 10-156, Hustleton.
1950, it was the erection of a single-family dwelling.
In 1982, it was used as a law office in one apartment.
1988, again, law office in one apartment.
and then in 2009 a zoning permit was issued for the demolition of that mixed-use structure
following a fire. 10-1-5-8, Busselton, it was a medical office and one apartment. A-13
is the zoning map and my screen's blocked by the, hang on a second, A-14 is the aerial photograph.
Again, so we have a copy of the refusal attached to the application.
We have a copy of the application of appeal, the project information form, my transmittal
letter to the board filing the appeal, a copy of the deed for 10-156, a copy of the
D for 10-158. Tax clearance for, let me blow that up, tax clearance for 10-156, showing the taxes
are paid through 2021. Same thing for, wait a second, and for 10-158, taxes are paid through
tax year 2021. Then we have the lot consolidation plan as you will see. There are two lots 10156
Busselton Avenue, 10158 Busselton Avenue. There are narrow lots very deep. Towards the front of
10158 is that existing frame dwelling which was used as a medical office and a one apartment.
The plan is to consolidate those two lots into one that has been reviewed by the survey and
regulators and approved, and therefore the application was filed.
Moving along, we have the zoning plan, which was submitted. I have a better copy that we can use
for display purposes here. Basically, the plan calls for the erection of a detached structure
towards the rear of the property to be used at the first floor as a community center for
the Bucharian Jewish community of Somerton, which basically entails Somerton, Busselton,
Huntington Valley, and portions of Trevos Feasterville. It calls for on-site parking of up to
22 parking spaces. Again, the existing structure would remain and hopefully be used in the future as
some other business office uh if the board was of a mind that that should not remain we
we'd be amenable to discussing that and accepting that uh going back i'm sorry you'll see let me go
back to this one you'll see we provide buffering landscape buffering around the perimeter of the
property as well as some interior landscaping on the lot as required by the planning commission
There is also buffering screening the parking lot from the front street.
There is an existing common driveway curb cut at the front that was shared by both lots
that will remain and be utilized for the community center if approved.
So with regard to the floor plans, the front elevation you'll see the first floor would be
used as a community center. Above there would be accessory offices for use by the community center
staff and the Bukharian Jewish community of Somerton, additionally there will be offices
that could be rented to members of the community for business purposes at that site. The reasoning
for that is to offset the cost of the maintenance of the community center as a non-profit. So again,
typical floor plan for the second and third floors. Series of offices, these are conceptual,
as you can see on the plan. There will be an elevator serving all three floors with a separate
entrance for the offices at the other end of the building. Again, then the community center
entry to the left, it would provide an open space area for community events and
it would be also available to other community groups in the area if they should have the need.
in the area if they should have the need. Okay, so the photographs, this is the existing dwelling
on the right. This is 110-156. To the left here is a single family residence. And to the right,
well, we'll get to that, but this is just a street view of the two lots together. And this
is the shared common driveway that we spoke of just earlier. Again, a front view of the existing
structure. This is the lot. There is a small detached garage in the rear that would be
demolished pursuant to the application. Two doors down to the left or south is the Beth Emanuel
Synagogue. To the right is the Jefferson Health Medical Center. I have an aerial which we can
get a better view of that. That is in there pursuant to variances as well.
Across the street is the George Washington High School.
Okay, so there's several pictures of that.
And directly next to the George Washington High School is the 10151 Family Medicine Building, Dr. Gardner, existing to this day.
And then you have views of Busselton Avenue facing north.
This is the Jefferson Health Center there.
Busselton Avenue facing south.
The white sign is the Beth Emanuel Synagogue that I spoke of earlier.
This was our notice of meeting.
The meeting was held at the Somerton Civic Association on July 14th at 7 o'clock p.m.
That notice included a copy of the refusal, and it went out to the address provided by the Planning Commission.
Certificate of mailing indicates that the 40 addresses contained on that list were
mailed a copy of that notice. And then we have the zoning history showing, you know, the the
permits that I discussed, they they are attached to documenting my summary on page one of my exhibit
packet. Again, the arrow, the zoning map, you'll see this, this lot here that extends from Varee
road out to Busselton Avenue or State Route 532 is the Jefferson Health complex. These two lots
here, the one blue and the one to the right, are the subject properties. And then two doors down
is the Emanuel, Beth Emanuel, across the street. Again, is the George Washington High School.
And obviously the tip of the triangle here is zoned CMX2, I believe.
So, again, with the aerial photo, I think it shows it best.