Here, we have Oswaldo Quintero.
He's coming back in as a panelist now.
Please, please state your name and spell it for the court reporter.
Unmute yourself, please.
Good morning.
Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
Waldo Quintero, O-S-W-A-L-D-O, Q-U-I-N-T-E-R-O.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
Our vice chair has a few questions for you.
Mm-hmm.
Hi, do you, no, strike that.
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with all of the required documents,
including proof of ownership tax compliance a copy of the refusal or 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 okay sorry i'm sorry i hate to interrupt but as well though can you
turn your volume up maybe you're a little low it is hard to hear you okay can you hear me there
better yes they're wonderful thank you so your response
Yes. You sound wonderful. Thank you.
So your response was yes, and my response was you may proceed.
Thank you.
Thank you.
okay so this is uh continuing the zoning that we have for 116 west brockland street
can you see my screen blank at this point okay here we go
All right, so what I need to do, this is the letter, refuse, right?
Okay, show for appeal, right?
This is the property by Bo, right?
And I would like to have the two apartments in there as I explain on the plants.
Here is the deed, the property, under my name.
and this is a property it's a big property in the corner
it has plenty plenty of parking space on the back the yard you come parking there about three
vehicles i'm sorry okay there we go thank you
and the idea for me is uh for my father to live there on the first floor
and that's the house in the corner
This is the house, they got it.
This is the house on the front.
You can see the whole front.
Inside, I can park up to three cars, comfortable.
I have to go slowly because the file is very heavy.
I'm sorry about it.
And this is my first time doing a zoning work in the city of Philadelphia.
yourself yes we uh we already went through all the uh the community uh nobody is opposing we
got the letters and the signature from everybody in the neighborhood that we could okay we mailed
the letters and everything, then the post, the sign, everything.
Now there's a blueprint.
Right there, right.
This is the plant.
These are the blue plants.
There's plenty of properties in the area commercial.
You have any questions for me?
questions from the board no mr chairman no mr chairman no mr chairman
questions from the virtual audience
i see no hands at the sound chair planning commission
thank you chair bergman ian hegarty for the philadelphia city planning commission
Comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing residential single family zoning at this location.
Usually, as you know, in cases like this, we're looking for something, physical hardship with the property, something that's peculiar to the lot or to the structure that requires the use that's not compliant with the base zoning.
In this case, we don't see any hardship that's supported with evidence of unique physical circumstances.
So the city planning commission has to recommend that the board deny this variance.
MI 2021, 002533, 116 West Rockland Street, I vote yes.
Carol Tenere, my vote is yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Thank you.
okay mr oswaldo um you can um wait for the letter to come to you in the mail with your decision you
won your case okay thank you very much thank you very good job thank you
mi 2021-004-054-147 in west schoolhouse lane rco pen knox neighbors association letter of support
Sharon Harvey, attorney.
Ms. Harvey, if you're in the audience, can you please raise your hand?
Chair, I see no one with their hand up at this time.
Case continued, must be tried.
um chair this is tanya if you don't mind um would it be okay to go forward she is here
i see her here that's fine we'll just go forward then thank you chair
mi 2020 00752 1528 west erie rco 13th ward letter of opposition
requesting second hearing
chair we have harry cook coming back in as a panelist now
mr chairman hi mr cutt good morning chair your name is spelled from the court reporter please
Sure. Harry Cook, H-A-R-R-Y, last name C-O-O-K, Anastasia Law.
Mr. Cook, I see that the RCO is requesting a second hearing.
Your Honor, with respect, we've had two meetings with the RCO.
In all instances, they have a very hard line that no more than three units are going to be approved on this block.
um we've and we'll go into this in the case in chief they have a very myopic view of what
hardship is in our opinion and this is a pre-existing structure with pre-existing
units going back into the 40s i don't i spoke with mr karn i know he's here and he can give
his perspective on it but this is now the third listing for this um i spoke with mr karn yesterday
day. We've come down from six units to five in light of the cost of conversion. We've made
significant developments on trash storage and some trash plan. And at this point, I don't think
we're going to be able to get to the number that that RCO is applying across the board
as a standard, whether it's new construction or existing.
as a standard, whether it's new construction or existing structures. So we would like to move
forward on this. I have now prepped this case three times, but I leave it to the discretion
of the board. What I'm going to do is let the RCO head come on and talk to him about the
continuance. Sure. RCO representative. Chair, we have Mr. Charles Karn. Mr. Karn, you can unmute
yourself and wait for the chair. Good morning, all. Mr. Karn, state your name and spell for the
court reporter? Charles Carn, C-A-R-N, 13th Ward, RCO chairperson. And I probably have a couple
more committee members online, Austin. I can't hear the chair. I'm sorry. Do you swear or affirm
to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth? Yes, sir. The only issue I want you
address today is do you want to continue this? Yes, sir. Could you state why, sir? Yes, sir.
Mr. Cook called me yesterday. And from his comments concerning the 13th Ward,
you know, from from Broad and Erie all the way down to 22nd and Erie, we have had numerous cases
of existing dwellings requesting to go to higher units.
We do understand that the buildings are large, okay?
However-
Mr. Karn, Mr. Karn, listen to me.
I want you to concentrate on why do you want to continue this today?
What happened was yesterday and previously, Mr. Cook asked me to make a decision.
i would not like to make the decision for the community itself and that's what i told him
yesterday he wanted to come on he wanted to um come on today for me to say um what he wanted me
to say that's that is incorrect i would like to go i would like all right let's continue go ahead
i would like to have a community meeting so everyone can voice it i've talked to the council
person. We didn't send the numbers in, but we did send our opposition to it. And that's the only
reason I want to make sure that I am not going to be held culpable for saying these, to say yes,
to have three, five. All right. Mr. Cook, your response?
Sure. As a point of clarification, we did have that conversation yesterday. I am aware of Mr.
Karn's position as the leader and not the mouthpiece of the RCO, and I respect that.
The issue is that the RCO is applying a three-unit limit on that block of 1500 West Erie
Street, and we're never going to square that circle.
So if the hardship argument I made previously at two prior meetings did not satisfy the
RCO, even though it was within the bounds of case law, I don't see the point of having another
meeting and vote. However, if the RCO is willing to take into consideration all of the various
ways hardship is established and look at context, and perhaps we could meet with the Planning
Commission, I would be willing to take another stab at it. It's just as...
Mr. Cook, here's... Sarah, this is what we're going to do. We're going to continue this case
must be tried thank you sir yes sir okay charles will connect
sure thank you all right
MI 2021 004 355 1627 south 20th street first listing no exhibits
I see no hands at this time, Chair.
Just a moment.
A Mr. John Orr just raised his hand.
Tanya, I don't know.
Should I promote him to panelists or not?
I see.
You can allow him to speak.
Mr. Orr, you can unmute yourself and wait for the chair
Please state your name and spell for the court reporter
John Orr, last name O-R-R
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
do you swear a firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes are you here for
this particular case mr or yes i'm here i'm the immediate adjacent uh property owner so here's
the thing you're we're waiting for the owner so you'll you'll have to go off and we'll call you
back if we go on with the case perfect all right thank you owner still has not had his hand up
chair we have someone by the man by the name of mr curiti he had his hand up
i don't know if he's the owner or not yes he is he is hello this is robert kaskerti could you do
me a favor state your name and spell for the court reporter yes my name is robert kaskerti
rohit right do you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
Yes, sir.
We do not have any exhibits from you.
Did you send your exhibits in?
Yeah, I sent them in a little while ago before I had the community meeting.
When's a little while ago?
At least a few weeks ago, three weeks ago.
I can resend them.
Okay, Chair, if you don't mind, if we could move this forward.
ZBA staff, check for the exhibits, please, and the letter, and let me know.
Thank you kindly, Chair.
And we can ask, sir, if you could turn your video off and your audio, and we'll come back
to you, Mr. Rohat.
No problem.
Thank you.
And meet yourself as well.
I'm sorry, Chair.
I hate to interrupt you again.
I have been in contact with Ms. Sharon Harvey.
She had technical difficulties, but she is available now if you should wish to call her.
It's fine.
MI 2021-004054, 147 West Schoolhouse Lane.
RCO Penn Knox neighbors association letter of support.
Chair, Ms. Harvey is coming back in as a panelist now.
Great.
Hi, Ms. Harvey.
Hi, Ms. Harvey.
State your name and spell for the court reporter, please.
Hi, Ms. Harvey.
good morning good morning state your name and spell for the corporate sure
uh my name is sharon harvey sharon s-h-a-r-o-n r-v-h-a-r-v-e-y i represent the applicant at
147 west uh schoolhouse lane and good morning do you swear a firm to tell the truth the whole
truth nothing but the truth yes i do the vice chair has a few questions hi miss harvey do you
agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy yes it appears that
you have submitted the required documents is that correct yes that's correct thank you you may
proceed thank you
members of the board my client is requesting a use variance for the
property located at 147 west schoolhouse lane
the hardship to the property is that the
Oh, wow.
Excuse me, Chair, you are muted.
Ms. Harvey, we've lost you.
You might need to leave and come back in or stop sharing and then try resharing.
does she even hear you
Sharon does she do you hear us
we can't hear you