signs and is not proposing to increase the area which the signs will cover. Therefore,
we recommend that the request advantage be granted. Okay, thanks, Ron. Calendar number
MI-2021-002583, 5675 North Front Street. My vote is yes. Thomas Holliman, my vote is yes.
John Munlock, my vote is yes. Okay, great. Thank you. Thank you.
All right.
I believe that is the last case for the two o'clock session.
Does that sound about right, Tanya?
Yes, Chair.
Okay, great.
All right.
So look, it's 520.
You guys want to take a quick 10-minute break and come back at 530?
Yes, sir.
Yes, Chair.
Sounds good.
All righty.
See you at 530.
Thank you.
Okay, great.
All right, so we're going to start our 3.30 session right now.
If everybody's all ready, we're going to get going here.
All right, good afternoon.
My name is Jim Snell, and I'll be Acting Chair for this afternoon's zoning hearings.
Board Member Thomas Holloman and John Monlach from the Department of Planning and Development
will also be participating.
Board Administrator Tanya Sunkit and Board Attorney Sharon Saleta are also in attendance.
Before we begin, I'd like to note the following changes related to the virtual format.
First, please be advised that this proceeding is being recorded and that by participating, you acknowledge your agreement to be recorded.
Second, for the benefit of anyone participating by phone, we ask that attorneys and witnesses identify themselves prior to speaking or testifying.
Third, for anyone participating by phone, if you wish to testify, you must raise your hand by hitting star nine, then star six to unmute yourself.
Fourth, we ask that you not attempt to testify in the chat.
You should instead wait until your case is called and raise your hand only when the board asks for witnesses to come forward.
So before we call our first case, I'd like to announce the following cases that have been continued.
uh looks like uh number one there is a request for continuous continuance that's uh
uh calendar number mi-2021-002188 2013 poplar street
and that looks like the only one for this session as far as a continuance
Are there any objections to that case number that I just called?
are there any objections to that case number
Any objections?
I see no hands, Mr. Snell.
All right. Thanks, Jason.
Okay, if anyone would like to request that another case listed for today be continued, please raise your hand.
Ms. Tina Marie Russell has her hand raised. I will allow her to speak at this time, sir.
Okay, thank you.
Hello, this is Tina.
Hi, Ms. Russell. Please state your name and address for the record.
Tina Marie Russell, North Central Philadelphia, CDC, 1631 West Susquehanna Avenue, RCO.
okay thank you uh do you swear affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do okay great please proceed okay so the applicant at the 25 14 north 16 street
make sure i got the right one so i've been moving around all day um has asked yes did not have a
community meeting and was supposed to request a continuance can you repeat that address please
I hope I got the right one.
2514 North 16th Street.
Okay, we have it listed as 2514 North 17th Street.
Yeah, that's the one, 17th Street.
So he was supposed to ask for a continue.
He didn't have a hearing, a community meeting.
He went to the wrong location.
Okay, yeah, it is showing that there's no exhibits, and this is the first listing.
We can do that.
we can do a continuance there. Okay, great. Thank you. Okay. All right. So MI-2021-002179,
2514 North 17th Street will be continued.
okay uh are there uh any other cases listed to uh for today where you'd like a continuance
i see no further hand at this time sir okay great thanks jason okay then uh we're going
to call the first case on the list. Number two, MI-2021-002180-2240-2244 North Franklin Street.
I believe Mr. Clinton is representing this case.
He's been promoted to panelist.
How you doing, Henry?
Good afternoon, Mr. Stell.
Great.
Can you state your name and address for the record?
Good morning, Mr. Chairman.
Henry Clinton, 1313 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA, Queen Memorial Building, 19146.
Okay, great.
Thank you.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Okay, please proceed.
Oh, I'm sorry.
I've got a couple other questions to ask.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
I do with one minor issue, and I'll raise that during the presentation.
Also, have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents, proof of ownership, proof of tax compliance, copy of the refusal or referral,
and plans and photos five days prior to this hearing?
Yes, I have.
And finally, have you met with the RCO and do you have a letter?
Okay, great.
Now you can proceed.
All right.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
can you see that i need to make it larger
is that visible yeah that's good okay uh so this is involving three properties it's
It's a subdivision of one parcel into three individual parcels representing 2240, 42, and 44.
This is my exhibit package, which contains exhibits AA through 810.
My appearance statement.
And this is to refuse.
and this is the refusal.
I'll just spend a little bit of time on this just to board and get.
I'll just spend a little bit of time on this
just to board and get their point of reference here.
So there are six refusals,
but three of the refusals,
two, three, and four,
relate to the CMX zoning district.
I believe this is a legacy zoning district
because the properties on this block
are all residential
and many of them are multifamily.
So this is CMX district.
And as the chairman of the board knows, you're permitted to have commercial on the first and two units above.
Because this block is residential, we see no reason that there be commercial space on the first floor.
And from the vote, from the community group, you'll see that they agree with us.
There's no commercial entities on this block right now.
So we're basically switching out a commercial use with a residential use.
And instead of having commercial in two, we're asking for commercial in three.
And that's with the refusals, the second, the third, and the fourth refusals concern is in a CMX zone, you can't have multi, CMX two, you can't have all multifamily.
In a CMX two zone, you're supposed to have commercial along the first 30% of the first floor.
And you're supposed to have a side yard.
And these properties on this block do not have a side yard.
So that's three of the six.
The other three concern partial B, and I'll explain that as we walk through it.
Partial B is the undersized of the two lots, and because of that, it generated three refusals.
This is the letter of support that we received.
Again, it's an overwhelming support from the 37th Ward.
Interesting, this community meeting was held outside
adjacent to the church in front of a lawn on a hot night
and still 20 people showed up.
So it was pretty impressive.
These are photographs, again, giving the board some perspective.
This is a church at the end of the block, a parking lot here.
This is a three-family.
In fact, I have attached to my presentation a zoning permit
that I obtained at 2251 in front of the board this past August, and that was for a three-family.
Again, just some more aerial photographs, proof of our posting,
and these are the plans. So over on the left is what the lot was, again 2240, 42 and 44,
And then on the right-hand side, it has been subdivided into three individual parcels
with the same frontage as all the other properties on the street, about 20 feet wide.
And one of the refusals, which I didn't really mention, it says that parcel B was too high,
and we got a refusal for that.
But as you can see on this chart, parcel B, the height is 35.7.
it doesn't exceed 38 feet at all. So that refusal really shouldn't be part of the presentation or
part of the package today. I can walk through the floor plans for you. It's basically the first and
second floor is one unit on all three buildings. The second floor is one bedroom, one bath. And
then the third floor is same mirror as the first floor, except it has an extra bedroom, one bedroom,
one bath, and that's because the stairwells don't take up as much room on the third floor
as it did on the second floor. And then there's access to the rooftop deck. The thought behind
this plan was, you know, give everyone some outdoor space where the first floor has a rear yard,
the second floor has a deck so they have some access, and then the third floor would have
access to a rooftop deck. Here are some of the elevations just to give the board a feel.
These are redundant floor plans.
I can go over them again,
but each property is going to have the same floor plan.
This is the exterior brick,
some cladding here on the second and third floor.
And as I indicated, there's a rooftop deck
with a pilot house.
So in summary, basically,
because of the nature of this block,
we don't feel and the community doesn't feel
that commercial would be warranted.
There's multifamily already on the block.
And as I said, I was in front of the board recently,
and I'll try to find that permit for you as I roll through this to show you
that, in fact, here it is.
Here's a zoning permit at 2255, and that was in August of 2021,
and that was for a three-family dwelling.
So that's literally right across the street from this particular project.
from this particular project. So again, I think it's in harmony with the block. It's in harmony
So again, I think it's in harmony with the block.
with the code. We're not affecting any light and air. Our heights are good. We just have one
variance on the open space for parcel B. The parcel A and C are conforming. And it's in conformance
with what the community desires and wants. They really don't want to have commercial on the first
floor with a dark space. That doesn't help anybody, doesn't help anybody in the community.
Whereas if we can get families on the block, maybe someday toward the end of the blocks,
commercial would be warranted at that point. So with that, I rest. I ask that my exhibits
be introduced into evidence. I'll entertain any questions from the board. And I also will
ask my client to adopt my testimony as you see fit.
And just for the record, as you stated earlier, Henry, the 37th Ward RCO and the 12th and Cambria RCO both have offered letters of support.
Correct.
If you could have your client adopt your testimony.
Sure. Joseph Gitterming, could you please raise your hand?
Yes, how are you?
Joseph, could you please state your name and address for the record and spell your last name?
Yes, my name is Joseph Gitterman. Last name is G-I-T-E-R-M-I-N, 126 Gardner Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19116.
Okay, great. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Okay, thanks. Proceed.
hello joseph how are you i'm good uh and you were on the call when i presented these three projects
to the board yes i were and if you had the opportunity to testify would you without my
testimony as your own and as true and correct yes i do thank you mr gitterman okay great
thank you uh there's does uh anyone else uh anyone else here want to speak on this matter
any hands any hands raised i see no hands mr uh snow okay great thanks jason how about the board
any questions from the board no no questions okay uh planning commission