Please proceed.
Hi, we're a couple doors down from this building.
We've been here since 2005.
I have a couple questions.
One being, is the sale of this building contingent on these variances passing?
That's really not an issue that the board will take up.
And as to the, it was mentioned that there was a, the building hasn't been used for the past 15 years.
And I don't know if it's a schematics thing or what, but what, this building has seen plenty of use in the past 15 years, as well as plenty of neglect by whoever the owner was.
but um i i have never seen that anybody it looks like the argument here is that
things in the past have not worked due to the location or due to the lack of curb cuts
or lack of parking but um i think the neighborhood consensus here would be that it was a lack of
upkeep of the building um so i i don't know if you guys can make clearer the the lack of use in
15 years thing well why don't we if we could with all due respect just stick to you whether what
your position is as it relates to this development not what was prior use or not prior use no problem
um we we are against yes okay thank you anyone else to testify chair this is sharon i'm i just
wanted to tell you that um miss sunkett checked the rcozba mailbox and there was a letter from
Fishtown neighbors in opposition I am forwarding that letter to the board now
I mean I haven't I haven't seen it Mr. Chairman but
we'll get a copy to you I will send it to you too Mr. DeMarco thank you I just want to say
Mr. Chairman that there's been multiple owners over the past during the vacancy of this property
my client owns has owned the property only for the last two years so any neglect there might be
some neglect by prior owners but it's it's it's a function of the hardship proposed by the property
it's not usable it's an industrial property in the middle of a residential zone the testimony
and the residents confirms that there's been some nuisance activity it's it's you know it's hard to
maintain an empty structure in the neighborhood without having problems and you can see it from
a lay person's standpoint it's no longer usable it's obsolete it's for an industrial user it
hasn't been operating in an industrial capacity,
maybe some storage by some of the owners,
but that's not a real use.
It's clearly obsolete and needs to be able to develop.
We are proposing, okay.
I think you made your point in your spoken.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you.
Anyone else?
So something new and different.
Mr. Chair, I have Morgan Jones with the hand raised,
I will allow him to speak at this time.
Hello, can you hear me?
Yes, please spell your full name.
My first name is Morgan, M-O-R-G-A-N.
Last name is Jones, J-O-N-E-S.
You swear to affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Thank you, sir.
Please proceed.
I own the home directly across Wildey Street from this.
I lived there just 20 years.
And my concern with this design is it does not put first floor eyes on the street.
this is creating a block of garages. And I think putting the garage in is what's requiring the
height variance. And I see no reason why this can't just conform to RSA5 zoning, be a three
story home with first floor eyes on the street. That street has always been a desolate street
that's attracted, you know, problems. And I lived across the street. I've had a lot of problems with
break-ins and the like. I think this could very easily be a three story home with, you know,
no no garages facing willy thank you very much thank you thank you anyone else
miss katherine or with her hand raised i will allow her to speak at this time
morning ma'am please spell your full name and i'll swear you in uh katherine or k-a-t-h-e-r-i-n-e-o-r-r
you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
Okay, please proceed.
So I live at 1107 East Oxford.
I'm Mark Duzak's wife who spoke earlier.
Our garage is on slide 47, our gate.
And do you have any elevation from the left side if you're looking at this building from Willby?
So basically, do you have anything that shows what the building would look like that is butted up against our property?
the building would look like that is butted up against our property?
I do. I'm scrolling to it now.
This is the rear elevation.
That's the cross-section.
When it will be, that's will be right.
Right. So where that on the left side, where that gate is, that's our gate. Do you have
anything that shows i mean will there be there's going to be no windows or anything on that side
correct uh we would not be permitted to do that to do windows okay i just wanted to double check
because i hadn't seen anything um okay and also i'm in favor of the curb cuts just like mark said
i do think the first one's going to be a little dangerous but maybe this will actually stop people
from driving the wrong way down the street so that could actually be helpful um but i did want
to say our immediate neighbors on Oxford all have their own garages with curb cutouts and conform to
the height variance. Obviously, we're a little older buildings on Oxford, but there are some
that are brand new, but same thing, they conform to the height and they have garages and curb cutouts.
So for that reason, I am against any height variance. Thank you, ma'am. Anyone else?
and please something new and different no further answer this time sir thank you planning commission
thank you chairman tico ian hegarty for the philadelphia city planning commission
members of the board the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing zoning
on this site which council has noted uh is being evaluated fully as a cmx2 zoning district covering
the entire site because of the split lock condition the proposed dimensional variances
on this corner lot are minimal and we don't feel they conflict with the purpose and spirit of the
zoning code the ground floor non-commercial use is also justified as the property is not on a
major commercial corridor city planning commission would recommend that the board grant these
variances. Thank you very much. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, if I may, I would just note that we
have shadow studies in your packet which show a very minimal impact. Mr. DeMarco, thank you.
Thank you. All right. MI 2021-001860, 1102-04 East Columbia Avenue. My vote is yes with the
Proviso, Revised Plan 1 page, approved today.
Carol Tenere, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Confessor Plaza, yes with Proviso.
James Snell, yes with Proviso.
Thomas Holloman, yes with Proviso.
Thank you, we'll now go to case number four.
Thank you, everybody, have a good afternoon.
Thank you.
MI 2021-002097, 1826 West Thompson Street.
Paul Toner is the attorney of record.
Beach Community Services sent a letter of support.
Mr. Toner has been promoted to panelists, sir.
Good morning, Mr. Toner.
Please identify yourself, spell your name, and I'll swear you in.
Good morning, Mr. Chairman.
Paul Toner with Orphanese.
and Toner, we're counsel for the applicant in this case, Raza Thompson Properties, LLC.
Do you swear to our firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Thank you. Please proceed.
Thank you.
Excuse me. I'm sorry, Ms. Tenere has questions for you.
Hi, Mr. Toner. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
We do, yes.
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, with the caveat that there was a transmission issue on Friday that we fully corrected yesterday.
Thank you. You may proceed.
Thank you. We're here today with a property right next to the St. Joe's Preparatory School and
butting on the other side, Girard College. This is two single family lots that are currently
vacant. My client is proposing to take the vacant lots, consolidate them into one.
The unconsolidated dimensions are 16 by 60, so they're large lots. The consolidated lot
dimensions will be 32 by 60. Part of my zoning packet today, we have our standard documents
including the notice of refusal, our letter of support, our floor plans, our zoning plan,
the lot consolidation plan, renderings of the property, a depiction of surrounding conditions,
renderings of the property, a depiction of surrounding conditions, an aerial view of the
an aerial
property, proof of compliance with our 14303 RCO notice, our application to appeal, site photographs,
zoning archives from the two properties at issue in this case showing that they had previously been
approved for triplexes. So the zoning archives has a document history of each lot having three
separate units approved so a total six we're asking for five today we also have our posting
photographs our tax clearance certificate as well as the last deed of the property
in terms of refusal we have one refusal um we're this is the rsa5 zoning district and
we received a refusal for having five units where one is allowed by right i'm sorry i do not have
machine screen. We got it now, thank you. There you go.
So this is an arrow view of the block in question, 1800 Thompson Street. This is the back corner of
the Jesu Church at St. Joe's Prep. These are our two lots right here. There are the last two vacant
lots on this block. Of note, before the board about three months ago was 1811 Thompson Street,
which is right here, which was approved for multi-family uses.
by consolidating the two lots into one large lot measuring
32 by 60 the floor plans provide for very functional uses so for the five units in question
unit number one is 1046 square feet unit number two is 1189 square feet
unit number three is 1172 square feet unit number four is 1180 square feet and unit number five
is 1180 square feet excuse me council yes can you can you enlarge the drawings
for the basement level yes is that is that better yes
so at the basement level i want to point out a few things um first of all the units uh unit one
is a by level that shares um living space in the basement and living space in the first floor
and then unit two is in the rear of the property but living space in the basement living space in
the first floor both the front and the back have double egress wells this was a feature that was
broadly supported by the beach community and was something that everyone looked very favorably upon.
The units have either two bedrooms, three baths, and that's in units number two, three,
four, and five, and unit number one has two beds and three baths.
In terms of the zoning plan, I'd like to call out several features, including that the rear yard is going to be very large.
This proposal is 100% dimensionally compliant with the RSA 5 zoning provisions.
We, in fact, provide more open area than is required by minimum within the RSA 5 at 25.4%.
Our rear yard is 16 feet 6 inches deep by 32 feet wide.
And going back to the floor plan, the access to the rear yard is achieved through this alley that runs from Thompson Street to the back of the property.
This alley not only provides access to the rear yard, but it also provides at the first floor level access to unit number two by separate entryway.
And then in the backyard area, there's going to be dedicated trash storage areas.
And then moving on to unit number three, which is on the second floor.
Again, this is a loft style apartment, fully open each unit at the second, third, and fourth
levels occupies the entire floor level with ample living space at 1172 square feet. The size of
these units is essentially the same as a two-story single-family home in this neighborhood.
And then we prepare, this is our Exhibit 8 in your packet. Exhibit 8 shows just how many
Exhibit 8 shows just how many multifamilies have been approved and are in use within this immediate block and the surrounding block faces.
multi-families have.
There are a total of 17 separate multifamily lots.
And I know when we were back before the board for 1811 Thompson Street, this was a multifamily that was actually approved and supported by the Planning Commission.
So my client certainly intends to add something to the neighborhood that's inconformity to what exists. The materials have a traditional brick. There are no bay windows. There's living space, outdoor space at each level of the property facing Thompson Street.
The neighbors like the eyes on the street. Again, the egress wells, two of them in the front, two of them in the back.
And here we can see the three foot, I think it was two inch alleyway that leads from Thompson Street to the rear.
Now, I do have Logan Dry from KCA Architects who's here.
I can go through some of the design features if the board would like, or I can answer any questions first.
i know sometimes thank you counsel my question would be do you have street approval for the area
wells i'm sorry you came in and you broke up a little bit okay do you have street approval
for the uh area wells the window wells so i i am not entirely sure i don't believe because
don't have a curb cut that it was brought to streets for the prerequisite approval um
perhaps logan dry could provide some insight on that
thank you raise your hand yep can you guys hear me yeah please spell your full name and i'll swear
you in sure logan dry l-o-g-a-n-d-r-y kca design associates 6525 tulip street philadelphia pa
1-9-1-3-5.
We're a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Mr. Drive, Mr. Holloman had a question regarding, was there a streets department sign-off as it relates to the window well?
Yeah, so any of our zoning plans that have any sort of encroachment, whether it's a, you know, bay overhead or whether it's a curb cut or any sort of encroachment like an egress well,
You know, we get the streets department pre-approval prior to the issuance of the zoning refusal.
So the streets department has reviewed this and approved them at a zoning level for the two proposed egress calls we have.
And again, the provisions that they're flush with a walkable safety rate on top.
So you have the street stamp on it?
Well, so what they've been doing in Eclipse is basically for the zoning,
They issue a letter that says it's been reviewed, which I believe we have, and if not, we can certainly send.
But then what they end up doing is they'll put a stamp on the final building plan.
So for the zoning, they'll just issue their letter through Eclipse that says that it's been reviewed and approved at a zoning level.
And we do have that letter that we can provide.
Can you show the letter now?
Paul, do you have that or not?