of the proposed development? They're about 27 feet plus the third floor. I would say they're
about 38 feet. What is stopping the developer from configuring this to being three floors, not four?
We are proposing three-story portion of the building facing Carlisle Street.
I'm saying from Carlisle all the way through to Broad, what would stop the developer from building
this within 38 feet and only three stories? It's really, for the project to be feasible,
this is not a possibility. When you say feasible, does that mean economically feasible for the
developer? It is, yes. It's economically feasible. Not feasible. It's not feasible, yes.
so without without the requested variance the developer would not be able to proceed because
it's not an economically viable project for them is that your testimony uh well it is it is the
truth i mean how could he propose to develop something that is just not feasible i have
nothing further, Madam Chairwoman. Is the Board of any questions? No, Madam Chair.
Are there any other witnesses who would like to weigh in on this in the virtual audience?
Vice Chairwoman, I would simply like to call my
Robert Volpe to adopt my testimony on behalf of the developer and the equitable owner.
That's fine.
And then while we wait for Mr. Volpe, again, I don't know what testimony Mr. Pressman would
be presenting through his own witnesses, if any. So I would just reserve the right to call
Ms. Reister back on rebuttal if there's any factual or dispute or something.
on uh on rebuttal if there's any you know factual or uh dispute or something like that that she
would be able to testify to thank you mr volpe please raise your virtual hand
he has been allowed to speak madam chair mr volpe can you put your name and address on
the record and spell your last name and I'll swear you in? Robert, V-O-L-P-E. Do you swear
for him to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth? I do. Okay. Mr. Whelan? Thank you.
Mr. Volpe, you're here on behalf of the developer for the project, correct? Yes, I am. Okay. And did
you hear all of the testimony that was already presented in this matter? Yes, I have. And do you
believe it to be true and correct to the best of your knowledge? I do. And would you adopt it?
Excuse me, can somebody tell me why Angelina Geiger is on Zoom with us?
I'm sure she's waiting for her turn to be called. I keep turning the video off. If you can leave
your video off, please. Okay, as long as you're aware of it. Okay, go ahead, Mr. Whelan.
no problem um mr volpe i asked you if you had uh if all of the information that you had heard
was true and correct to the best of your knowledge yes i do and would you adopt it as your own
yes i would thank you um and is there anything else uh that is new or relevant for the uh the
board to understand in its consideration of this project today i have no i have no i have no
questions does the board have questions no madam chair no mr pressman do you have any
no questions do you have any witnesses i'd like to call um my clients that are uh
just to the south they call angela hunt first please she's a resident at 1220 south broad street
Angela, can you please raise your hand so Mr. Hand can acknowledge you?
Angela, can you hear me?
Hi, can you put your name and spell your last name on the record and I'll swear you in?
Angela Hunt, H-U-N-T.
do you swear if i'm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes i do we're going crazy with technology today okay mr mr whoever's witness that is
mr cressman your honor um miss hunt um can you identify uh where you currently reside
uh i live at 1220 south broad street and how many uh doors down is that from the proposed
development at 1212 1214 south broad it's three doors down and do you have any concerns regarding
this uh proposed uh development yes i do and can you explain to the board what those concerns are
well primarily we're going to lose a lot of light when this building goes up if it goes up and we
also lose our views of north philadelphia on our second floor third floor and on our rooftop
and do you have any concern regarding the size or scope of the development yes um we did some
modeling um and we're really concerned about the massing it is so huge it's i mean if you can just
imagine a cruise ship going down a venice canal that's what it's going to look like
um facing us except it's never going to leave it's 25 feet from our house so it's going to
be very claustrophobic and it's as i said it will kill our view and um our light will be diminished
um did you you said you had some modeling done who did the modeling for you
um our architect dominique moore okay if i may can i uh share with the uh the board and mr whalen
these uh renderings of course yes well i'm asking the chairwoman oh sure you may okay
i'm gonna ask to share my screen
Give me one second, please.
I don't know what happened.
Are you able to see that, Madam Chair Long?
Ms. Hunt, can you please describe what this modeling shows to the board?
okay that shows the existing 1200 block south broad in front and south carlisle at the back
okay if you look at the one colored building mid-block whose building is that that's mine
and mr chadwick's and that's 1220 south broad correct correct and if you look down south broad
street um the two to the north of you and the remainder of south broad um on the 1200 block
are all those properties appeared to be uh 38 feet or less yes they do um and then the shorter
building two up that's the existing building that's a part of the proposed development that's
correct and in behind your building there looks to be an opening is that a backyard uh and shared
in an alleyway out to South Carlisle? Yes, we have a backyard and an alley that goes to South Carlisle.
Madam Chairwoman, can you see this diagram?
Without a doubt.
Well, technology, you never know until it's posted.
I know.
Ms. Hunt, is this another diagram that is more prepared for you for this hearing today?
Yes, it is.
Can you describe what the red building is with regards to the diagram here?
That is the proposed building at the 1214, the J&A Culinary Institute, and that's how it will look according to their plans at the 50 feet height.
Just quickly, Madam Chairwoman, I will allow the questioning to go forward.
I would simply suggest that this slide presentation is being shown as a gross misrepresentation of what's being proposed.
So I will be calling Ms. Reister to describe how very different it is than what is being shown to the board at the moment.
Ms. Heinlein, in addition to the modeling that's done here, does this reflect the four rooftop decks that are proposed in this plan?
No, it does not.
Does it also, does it show the 10-foot pilot houses that would go on top of this structure to support those four roof decks?
No, it does not.
And does it show the roof deck on the back rear parcel on South Carlisle Street on the top of the first floor or second floor there of the dwelling?
Yes, it does.
Does it show the rooftop there?
Oh, no, I'm sorry.
So that would be improvements that are in addition to it.
Can you describe how this would impact your building and your use and enjoyment of your property if this building is built as proposed in the revised plans that were submitted to the RCO at the last meeting?
As you can see, it shows the massing to scale of their plans for 50 feet.
And if you look at our building at 1220, you can see that it's just going to kill any view that we could have with a rooftop deck.
And then our second and third floor windows will be blocked from light and from the view that we currently have of the north Philadelphia.
and um if you see that that little garden there all they're proposing to have all the windows and
balconies on this side or most of them so we we will not have any privacy there will be additional
noise um there'll be additional lights on and people out on their roof decks and looking down
directly onto us so we do lose privacy um light and our view
Do you believe that the variance would negatively impact your property and its value?
Yes, we had a real estate agent come who sold us the house and he said that yes,
and he said that yes it would uh devalue the house because we would not be able to um sell it
it would devalue the house because we...
with the view that we currently have well i think with zoning light and air matters i don't think
anyone's entitled to a view it's nice to have one but i don't think that falls within the zoning code
no i understand that you understand what you're saying
I have nothing further for Ms. Hunt. Mr. Whalen? Yes, thank you very much.
Madam Chairwoman, I have just a couple very quick questions. You already addressed the primary one
about views. Mr. Pressman, can I share my screen? Sure. Do you want me to collapse this down?
Yeah, you need to stop sharing.
all right so
uh miss hunt my name is sean whalen and i'm representing the developer uh can you see a
picture of um an aerial picture of what uh will represent this is south broad street and the
property here at issue yes i do okay and uh i'm just correct that you testified that your house
is this one that I'm circling right now, which is one, two, three doors down from the proposed
project, correct? That's correct. Okay. And so this is one, two, three doors down from your house,
and your home is actually not as deep as either of the two houses between you and the proposed
project correct that is correct okay and and your current home does it have any roof deck
no we have one planned though okay and uh do you have any deck on the second or third floor
no okay uh so you you have a rear yard correct correct all right and
am i correct again here's a proposed building one door two doors this is your building correct
correct so your rear yard is that where i'm circling right in the center of this picture
here yes it goes all the way back to the trees okay and and again it's adjacent to and abutted
by this two-story addition with a roof deck at the building directly adjacent to you correct
correct but that doesn't block our view totally we can see through it on the second floor and then
above it on the fourth it doesn't impede our view at all or our light no that thing thank you i
understand i just wanted to uh to make sure that i was correct that you have an existing uh two
story and roof deck addition immediately abutting your rear property it's one story and a roof and
the two roof decks understood um the uh madam vice chair those are the only questions i have for
uh miss hunt okay i if mr pressman is done i would like to uh recall miss reister for about
two or three questions if possible. Great. Mr. Whalen, you might want to wait because I have
one more witness. Oh, sorry, Mr. Pressman. No, that's fine. I figured she might want to
address him as well. So instead of piecemealing it, we'll do it at one time. Is that okay,
Mr. Whalen? Of course. Okay. Please call your witness. I want to call Christopher Chadwick,
please. Yes. Mr. Chadwick, can you identify your, do you want to swear him in, madam?
Sure. Can you put your name on the record and spell your last name?
Christopher Chadwick, C-H-A-D-W-I-C-K.
Do you swear I'm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Thank you. You may proceed.
Thank you. Mr. Chadwick, where do you presently reside?
I reside in 1220 South Broad Street.
And that's the same property as Ms. Hunt does. Is that correct?
Correct.
And that is three doors down from the South Broad Street development. Is that correct?
That is correct.
And without repeating her testimony, do you have a concern with regards to the impact on the light, ambient light that will be impacted with this development on your property?
Before I bring up the diagram, I want to know for the board your credentials.
So can you tell them what your educational background is?
Yes, I have a PhD in physics from North Carolina State University. There I specialize in optical science. The branch of physics I was involved in was involved in optical science.
Yes, I have a PhD in physics from North Carolina.
And based on that background and your education, were you able to do modeling to show the impact of the light on your specific property?
yes i'm gonna may i share the screen madam chairwoman yes you may thank you
madam chairwoman i would simply object to the extent that mr pressman is attempting to include
uh mr chadwick as an expert witness um with any kind of an expert report he can certainly testify
in his individual capacity as a resident of 1220 South Broad, but I don't believe that he's
qualified to offer any expert opinion today. And why is that?
We have only the basis of the fact that he is a PhD in physics, which while impressive is an
extremely broad and generalized practice, as is any optical or light-based product versus that.
we would need far more information with regard to uh his background and expertise to determine
whether or not it has any applicability here um certainly you know an expertise in physics doesn't
is not required with regard to a determination of whether the light or air from one building is
impacted to the next door building i mean we never have a physicist you know opine on all of these but
you know i certainly understand it'd be a good uh a good practice for physicists excuse me
this is sharon mr pressman are you presenting the witness as an expert i'm not presenting him as an
expert he is being uh he did his own study it can be taken for whatever value the board feels it's a
value is to uh enlighten them as to the impact on the light i think his credentials
provide him with the necessary background to do this study um but no i'm not proffering him as
an expert today. He's not an expert, and he's speaking as a neighbor. Yep, and therefore, Madam
Chair, I respectfully withdraw my objection. Thank you, Senator. May I proceed? Yes, you may.
Mr. Chadwick, I put up in front of you, can you see the study that you prepared?
uh right now i see the uh prior um presentation you you presented of the uh massing of the 1220
block i don't well that's unfortunate hold on is it up now or no i i do not see that okay
Let me get rid of those two.
I apologize here.
Just give me one second.
is it up now yes good is it too uh big or you need me to shrink it down a little bit
there how's that is that did the whole page yeah i can see the whole page okay um can you uh
walk us through this um in layman's terms possibly uh we have uh three columns here
is that correct correct and uh can you explain to us in the far left column uh what the perspective
of that is um for uh the members of the board and mr mr whalen so the um i guess just to quickly
go over the concept of the modeling here is that uh if you if you think of yourself as sitting in
middle of a beach ball for example and you have light shining on you inside that beach ball you
know that all the light that's coming to you is coming through the surface of that beach ball.
Now if you were to take and tape over part of that beach ball you would obviously get no light
through that section of the beach ball. So when you're trying to model kind of okay how much light
is going to be available at a specific area versus if you were to mask off part of that,
the effect there. With the way the light propagates you can model that.
uh the with the way the light propagates you can model that um and you only need to consider two
different angles in that particular scenario you consider your up and down angle like your vertical
angle and your horizontal angles so when we talk about the how the how the building is going to
mask off essentially part of the beach ball that is in is behind the three properties there um
immediately to the south of the project. So in the first column, the perspective is kind of at
standing height on the first floor. The middle column is taking the perspective of standing on
the second floor. And the third column is from the perspective of standing on the rooftop.