Are you with us, Tadas?
Tadas Karasavisius.
Please spell your first and last name, and I'll swear you in.
My name is Tadas, T-A-D-A-S.
And my last name is K-A-R-U-S-E-V-I-C-I-U-S, Karasavichis.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Thank you, Mr. DeMarco.
Mr. Karasavichis, say your name for us also.
We make sure we get it right.
It's Karasavichis.
Karasavichis.
It's a tough one.
It's Lithuania.
Sorry.
Did you hear all of my factual statements and testimony?
and are they true and accurate? Yes, they are. Do you adopt them officially as your own testimony
in this matter? Yes. Great. The five units that you are proposing at this site, let me go back
to the site point. Are they the minimum number of units to allow you to feasibly develop this
property? Yes, that is correct. And tell the board what you remember about the 2020 attempt
to try to develop this property consistent with the zoning classification that was i right that
that was attempt to have an offices offices there yes it was supposed to i think all the permits
everything was pulled and uh we were supposed to start construction to do the offices for city
fitness and um obviously the covet hit and overall the location of the offices i think the the owners
just didn't really love it due to parking and just being in the middle of a neighborhood it
just didn't work out so they just pulled they pulled out. So as the owner you have attempted
to develop this property uh consistent with the zoning and you were unable to correct? That is
correct. And are you uh and is there any confidence in you as the owner that you can attract a
commercial tenant to this location in light of its positioning among a single family residence?
no no the way it's located in the middle of a neighborhood that just due to lack of traffic
and i'm sure not a lot of tenants would like to put in uh anything in there and is the context
that we described accurate as far as the other curb cuts in the area that is correct
um so mr chairman that's all i have i do want to have uh that's all i have for a totus i do want
to call Rustin Ohler to speak a little bit about the revisions and the. Why don't we
why don't we do this in the interest of time let's ask the board if they have any questions
do this in the interest of time let's see us the board if they have any questions.
if not we might might not be that necessary to rustin to speak unless you think it's
that important so i'll ask the board and board have any questions no
mr demarco if you need anything for the record if you'd still like to bring mr rustin on that's
fine if not we can move i can do it with two questions if that's okay just in case there's
opposition today. Understood. All right. I'll be fast. Rustin, please raise your hand virtually.
He's going to have to speak. Rustin, please identify yourself and I'll swear you win. Spell
your name. Rustin Oler, R-U-S-T-I-N-O-H-L-E-R, 1225 North 7th Street, Philadelphia, PA.
You swear if I'm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Thank you, Mr. DeMarco.
Russ, and the board has a long list today, so they've asked me to be brief.
I won't ask you to share your screen and go through intimate detail.
But are these variances that are, let me start with this, is the lot unusually shallow?
At 40 feet?
And are the dimensional variances that we are requesting the minimum necessary to alleviate that hardship caused by the shallow lot?
Yes, they are.
And can you just tell the board briefly what revisions we made in response to the community's surge at this location?
Yes, we've removed all the pilot houses.
We've reduced the overall height and ensured that the cornice height does not exceed 41 feet 6 inches,
which would be what would be allowable cornice right in any by right building.
okay and do you feel as an architect that that the variances are uh are warranted due to the
unique conditions yes uh mr chairman thank you that's all i have i'll just putting on the screen
i know it's upside down does the board have any questions for mr oler no mr chairman no no as you
can see thank you as you can see this these are the archive documents uh which show the failed
attempts to develop the property Mr. Chairman including 2007 and the 2017 2020 attempts were
all unsuccessful and involved variances granted by this floor thank you do you um it's a revised
plan what was it one page revised plan one page okay thank you okay uh anyone else would like to
testify in this case please raise your hand mr chair i have a miss marie marie winfelder
i'm allowed to speak at this time ma'am please spell your first and last name i'll swear you in
marie winfelder w-i-n-d-f-e-l-d-e-r you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth? I do. Your address, ma'am? 1122 East Oxford Street.
How close is your residence? Is that your residence? Yes, right around the corner.
Okay, thank you. Please proceed. Okay. I don't have any objections of them building on the lot.
My objection is to the garages because that's a one-way street and there's no parking on that street.
There's a lot of garages on Oxford Street and on Wilgee Street and everything that they don't use the garages because they can't get them in.
They use them for storage.
And if there's not going to be any basements in this building, I'd rather see the garages go and give the people a little yard
so they have open air because of this pandemic that's going on.
People want yards so they can at least barbecue or something.
And I am definitely opposed to this project.
Thank you.
Anyone else to testify in this case?
The Chair, Mark Duzak, has his hand raised.
I will allow him to speak at this time.
Thank you.
Sir, please spell your full name and I'll swear you in.
Mark Duzak, M-A-R-K, last name D-U-S-Z-A-K.
Where or firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
Please proceed.
So, I am the neighbor that touches the most of this property.
I touch two sides of the property.
I'm unaware of the change until now that they made some revisions to this.
I heard the story about zoning and variances in the past and all, but I do think one of the rejections was skipped in that story.
I heard the story about zoning and variances in the past and all, but I do.
I've lived at the property for eight years.
When I purchased the property, I looked at what the zoning was here.
I saw what was going on in the neighborhood.
I realized what could be built there.
I'm not opposed to the curb cutouts, although I do think the one at the corner of Columbia and Wildey is extremely dangerous.
Accidents happen on that corner all the time.
It's a one-way street, and people don't go the right way.
My real two objections to this is, one, there's no backyard.
so no one's talking about uh there's they're they're not putting a nine foot backyard setback
um that does not fit in with with all the other houses out here i know they changed the height
they changed the height to 40 to 40 feet it sounds like it's still 20 percent higher than
all of us that are conforming houses um what we have there and um as far as my understanding of
who's this owner isn't building it it's this isn't someone else that's coming in here so um
i don't think he has a hardship because no one's forcing this guy to buy the property
as far as the height i mean people dig out basements basements if you dug out your
basements and you and you and you spent more money you don't need a height variance and as
far as the setback i just think that's completely unacceptable my property touches the whole left
side of the property if you're facing it on on willity street and probably a third to 40 percent
of the property if you're facing it from columbia on the right hand side of the street
they're showing a lot of pictures here of garages and on and i have a rowing gate door that that's
that's the side of my house. My house is an L. I'm going to look at this. But when I bought that
house, I realized what the zoning was and what could be built there. A 20% height is still
variance is unacceptable to me. And that backyard, it just seems crazy. It's out of touch with what
is happening. This isn't Northern Liberties. We're more of a neighborhood community. So that higher
density, you take out all the backyards and you put in little decks and stuff. That's not what
Fishtown's about. And I have to see this property every morning, every afternoon, every evening,
and it just does not fit in. Anyone else to testify in this case? I just want to ask a
question of this witness. You have existing curb cuts for your property?
i hear your testimony accurately you have a curb cut i have a curb cut out i actually received a
variance in front of this board to put that rolling gate door in because of all the activity
that occurred to that property there when there was a woodworker in there there were crackheads
that would go in there they would jump the fence and come in my backyard um as far as that property
not being unrented, there's no market for it, you're absolutely crazy. I have people leaving
notes on my gate that they want to do storage there, that they want to rent there. There's
never been a for rent sign up there. The property is just not taken care of. It's totally dilapidated.
There's still a mattress on the roof, and I've lived at the property for eight years. I look
at that mattress every morning out my window. Well, sir, wouldn't it make sense to develop
the property so that its long-term vacancy could be ended and you could actually have residences
like you on the block? I would love to see that. I'm not against development. I just want you to
conform with my house. Well, your house has a curb cut, so why would you oppose a curb cut when you
have one? I'm sorry, I didn't understand you. I said if you have a curb cut, why would you oppose
curb cuts at this location when you enjoy that for your property? Maybe you misunderstood me,
but i'm not opposed to the curb cutouts okay but i did say the one at furthest of the corner of
columbia and willie is going to be extremely dangerous i don't have any questions that's fine
i but i misunderstood you want to build the property just build it like my house give me
put them give them a backyard and make the height the same as mine isn't your property over 38 feet
it looks pretty high from the elevations there's no variance on the on the height of my property
Mr. Chairman, I do want to, I don't have any further questions. I do want to mention the streets department has, has stamped these plans and the proposed curb cuts as preliminarily approved. That's the stamp in the red at the bottom.
Okay, thank you. Okay.
Okay. Anyone else to testify in this case?
Anyone else to testify in this case?
Mr. Taylor, there's a Jean-Paul Vieira with their hand raised. I will allow them to speak at this time.
Hi, yes, good morning. Can you hear me?
Yes, please spell your full name.
First name Jean-Paul, that's J-E-A-N-P-A-U-L.
Last name Vieira, that's V as in victory, I-E-R-A.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
Thank you, sir. Please proceed.
So I'm actually, the neighbor that just spoke, I'm actually right behind him.
And I would have to say that, of course, I share some of the same concerns as him.
um it is true that um tattis did come to my uh to my house yesterday we did speak
um you know i like many other people i am not opposed to uh to development either but i you
know within reason um i did express a concern about the shared property wall as the um
the that wall is probably majority spent uh you know against my property i do have a i guess a
mural up i have a you know an outdoor fireplace and all those other things that are kind of tied
into the property so there was concern and he tried he did assure me that maybe something could
be uh you know could be met as far as um you know maybe keeping the wall or or whatever but um you
know to the point of my neighbor who uh who is behind me i i think there are certain things that
you know obviously you know they did come back they did address some of the issues that were
raised as far as the height variance and i did have a question i heard earlier in the um in the
proceeding that it was going to be 40 feet six inches but then when the architect got on he said
41 feet six inches so i wasn't sure which one is it is a 40 feet six inches 41 i heard the same
thing i was just curious i can clarify and rustin it will can address it as well it's 40 feet six
inches to to the cornice but there's a parapet which does not count against height which is
goes to 41 it's a very small parapet and it's not account for height and if and if i'm to
understand that the parapet is going to be made of glass correct exactly okay and we will work
with mr i would say that we will work with mr mr john paul's a property of butts our property
is we are trying to be sensitive that's why we're not excavating um if that will allow us to not
on have any risk of undermining his property and we will work with them
and we're having my understanding is taught us did provide his number and mr mr john paul
i'm available as well oh i i do appreciate that i um you know i just yes i mean if there are
certain things that are going to be changed about the project that are vastly different from the
first project then um i think there could be some uh some you know compromises made i think the
removal of the pilot houses mr chairman and john paul should mitigate his any privacy concerns for
him because he won't have people looking out over the over the wall into his lane well there's there's
that but also i mean the tearing down of the wall in general i mean i think a lot of at least the
neighbors on my side kind of feel like that wall provides a lot of you know privacy and you know
overall i mean you know it's just it's been obvious kind of set up you know relative kind
of you know scene or scenario i mean there is some concern with people looking over in general
um i mean i'm not too as static about that but um right you know i mean there there will have
to be some development as far as whether there's five homes or there's something less um you know
i think that's that's something be honest listen i grew up in brooklyn that's something that's a
little bit of an issue that it's hard for me to be biased against um so that's not necessarily
what my concern was my concern was you know the tearing down of the wall and and you know kind
of like opening us up and exposing everybody um during the construction and you know and then
the hype but the height's been addressed so mr chair thank you um unless the board has questions
i do want to mr oler does want that we do have shadow studies that showed a very minimal impact
no okay i see you nodding i'm sure not unless we have to i mean i think i think the issue and
the gentleman just spoke i i was going to ask the same question i thought i heard 41 6
should be 41 46 inches 40 feet it's 46 40 40 feet 46 inches right anyone else to testify
something new and different please
the chair i have a mr jim thompson with us andre that will not speak at this time
good morning mr thompson please spell your full name and i'll swear you in
good morning jim townsend j-i-m-t-o-w-n-s-e-n-d where or affirm to tell the truth the whole
Or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
truth nothing but the truth i do