we are live thank you um and while while we're waiting tom um we got tom get her back okay
you guys will uh yvette you'll let us know when you're ready
yes chair got an echo something's uh adjust your volume or whatever
Um, no, it sounds like you're, um, try again, testing for you, Yvette.
I think it's because we're on the 18th floor.
It sounds like something's going on.
Now you sound clear.
Claire, how do I sound?
You sound very clear.
Okay, great.
Thank you.
So you'll let us know, Yvette, when you're ready.
chair we have 26 people in the room we're all good to go yvette sorry we can't hear your
uh the reverb it's got like an echo reverberation or whatever yes chair
we're ready to go live ready to go live i think we are live
yes you are for you to be livening cover chair okay thank you i don't see jim yet but we do
have a quorum because okay good morning everyone my name is frank di chico i'm the chair of the
zoning board of adjustment i'll be participating in today's hearing along with our vice chair
ms carol tenere uh board member mr thomas holliman and soon to be um other the other two
board members Mr. James Snell and Mr. Confessor Plaza will be joining us momentarily. For those
of you who haven't yet participated in one of our virtual hearings I'll go through some of the
basics of what you can expect and before I do that I just want to remind everyone our board
administrator today is Ms. Yvette Benton and our zoning board administrator Ms. Tanya Sunkit are
also on the line. For those of you who haven't yet participated in one of our virtual hearings I'll
go through some of the basics of what you can expect. First, we will be administering oaths
to individual participants prior to their testimony. Second, we'd like to advise everyone
that this proceeding is being recorded, and that by participating, you acknowledge your agreement
to be recorded, and that the recording will be made available to the public on the web or
otherwise. Third, for anyone participating by phone, if you wish to testify, you must raise
your hand by hitting star nine and then star six to unmute yourself. I'll repeat that. For anyone
participating by phone, if you wish to testify, you must raise your hand by hitting star nine
and then star six to unmute yourself. Finally, to enter an appearance statement, call Google
267-270-5548 and leave your email address and the address of the property at issue. I'll repeat
that. To enter an appearance statement, call Google 267-270-5548 and leave your email address
and the address of the property at issue. And I'd like to remind everyone, please do not attempt
to testify in the chat any comments or concerns or questions should be directed to our board
is yvette benton sharon you're not muted you were you're not muted thank you um i still don't see
jim but okay we're gonna have to hold off on the add-on uh correct sharon until we have a full
continue it. I'm sorry, Chair, what was it that you asked? We only have Carol and Tom right now.
Why don't you hold that then until later when other board members are on? Thank you.
Thank you. So we'll go to your regular list. Number one.
I hear something. Number one on our list, MI 2021-000798, 1025 Arch Street.
Is there anyone here for that case? 1025 Arch Street.
According to Councilman Squilla, the RCO has not held a meeting.
and i believe this is the second reading and i don't believe we have any exhibits
is there anyone here for 1025 arch street chairman this is rachel pritzker did we go
through continuances or request for continuances did i miss that we'll do that next okay my
okay my apologies no one here for this case mi 2021 dash 0007981025 art street my vote is to
apologies no one here for this case am i 20
dismiss my carolton to dismiss thomas holliman my vote is to dismiss i will now read off the
a request for continuances on the 930 list. MI 2021-002-502. 3948-50 West
Gerrard Avenue. Adam Laver, the attorney's request for continuance. That case will be continued.
number eight on our list. MI 2021, that's 000-792-441 West Roosevelt Boulevard.
This is a request by the attorney, Mr. Dattner. This is the third time this case is being
requested to be continued. Is Mr. Dattner available?
is mr datner available regarding 441 west roosevelt boulevard chair i don't see his hand up
actually zen jen has his hand up no i'm sorry you can um allow miss deborah canty to speak okay
Okay. Ms. Canty, you can unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Ms. Canty, good morning. Please spell your full name and I'll swear you in.
Good morning. My name is Deborah Canty, D-E-B-O-R-A-H. Last name C-A-N-T as in Tom, Y.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Thank you. Please proceed.
So I was expecting Mr. Dattner to be here representing me in this matter. The continuance
request this time, I wasn't aware that this was the third listing. I thought this was only the
second. And the reason I was asking for the continuance through him this time, the architect
completed all of the paperwork for me initially, but then after the June, well actually prior to
the June hearing that is not working with me anymore. So I did not get the notice that I'm
supposed to put up 14 days in advance of this hearing. And so by the time I realized that and
communicated it with Mr. Dattner, we were beyond the 14 day period. All right, Ms. Canty.
want to do
yep somebody
yeah where's Mr
where's Mr. Dantner
I am not sure
I saw a communication from him
yesterday with someone from your
from the zoning
board that indicated he
would be here he was asking for the link
I joined just be you
know in an abundance of caution
so I'm not sure where he
is and I'm glad I joined in an abundance
of caution. Ms. Canty
uh i'm going to break a little bit of precedent here we're going to give you a continuance
that must be heard okay must have next time up it must be heard so mi 2021
that's 000792 441 west roosevelt boulevard this case is continued must be heard
all right anyone disagree with those two continuances that have been read into the
record please let us know right now please if you're any questions regarding those continuances
i see no hands chair thank you i will now ask is anyone requesting a continuance or withdrawal
for the 9 30 list to please raise your hand
chair we have rachel pritzker
wait for the chair good morning miss pritzker please identify yourselves by your name and i'll
swear you in rachel r-a-c-h-a-e-l pritzker p-r-i-t-z-k-e-r 1635 market street suite
1600 philadelphia pa 19103 do you swear i'll affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing
with the truth yes thank you please proceed um i would like to request a continuance for 5028
knox street okay that's number nine on our list mi 2021-001572 5028 knox street uh that case is
5028 Knox Street.
That case will be continued unless there's an objection to the continuance.
If there is, please raise your hand.
I see no other hands, Chair.
Okay, thank you.
That case is continued.
Now go back to our regular list.
I'm sorry, is anyone else requesting a continuance or withdrawal?
Chair, we have a hand up from North Central Philly CDC.
please identify yourself and wait for the chair and please identify yourself and spell your full
name tina marie russell north central philadelphia cdc rco tina t-i-n-a-m-a-r-i-e-r-u-s-s-e-l-l
we're going to affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
please proceed we're asking for a continuous i mean a dismissal for um 2338 north 16th street
they were heard on nine two i'm sorry excuse miss russell yes what case what case are you referring
to um 2338 north 16th street it's a two o'clock case two o'clock waiting oh what's not two o'clock
okay i'm sorry i see you attending thank you anyone else requesting a continuance or withdrawal
please raise your hand chair we have alison weiss with our hand up miss weiss you can
unmute yourself and wait for the chair miss weiss please identify yourself spell your full name
yes good morning alison weiss a double l i s o n w e i s s solo germantown civic association
and i'm sorry but i swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes please proceed um i'm just um i'm sorry i'm a little bit um slow in reacting but i wanted to
know why there was a request for a continuance for 5028 knox street the attorney uh who represents
the applicant requested a continuance is there a reason that they requested a continuance that i
think this is the second or third one. I don't know. Sharon, do we know if this has been
continued in the past? My notes do not indicate that. Perhaps we can see if Rachel is still
present. Ms. Pritzker still available? Yes, I'm here. Yeah, Ms. Pritzker, Ms. Weiss is
asking the question why the request for continuance has this case been continued in the past
i believe it was continued once um we're asking for a continuance there was some comments uh and
some suggestions made at the rco meeting and uh we are working with um our client uh to see what
we can do to address it we were waiting to get a contractor at the site this is regarding a fence
So we were waiting to get a contractor to the site to see what considerations that we can make.
And that's just taking a bit longer than we hoped for.
So we just needed a little bit more time to work with the contractor and the client to come up with some solutions before we put the case on.
So that's why we're asking for more time.
All right. So here's what we'll do.
We already said we can continue.
I had no notes indicating that it had previously been continued.
So the case will be continued.
I'll go back and read it into the record.
MI 2021-001 572 5028 Knox Street. This case is continued. Must be heard.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Any other requests for continuances or withdrawals?
I see no hands, Chair.
Thank you. Case number two. Is Mr. Clinton available?
to discuss MI 2021-000-459-1502 West Erie Avenue.
Mr. Clinton is coming back in as a panelist now, Chair.
Thank you.
I'm here, Mr. Chairman.
Please identify yourself.
I have a couple of questions for you, and I'll square you in.
Henry Clinton, Queen Memorial Building, 1313 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia PA, 19146,
here on 1502 Erie Street.
And you swear if I'm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Mr. Clinton, I understand that there's a companion case to this that's listed for 2 o'clock.
Any concern if we move this case to 2 o'clock?
this one 1502 yes whatever the chairman would like well i just figured since it's a companion
This one, 1502?
Yes, whatever the chairman would like.
case and uh sure it'd be easier to get people who may want to testify on at two o'clock because
they're not aware of the nine nine thirty that sounds fair that work for you that'll work okay
so we'll continue that until two o'clock thank you sounds good all right um number three three
MI 2021-000372, 1625 West Thompson Street. Ms. Pritzker, attorney of record, please identify yourself. You're still under oath.
And she's coming in now as a panelist.
this is rachel r-a-c-h-a-e-l pritzker p-r-i-t-z-k-e-r 1635 market street suite 1600
philadelphia pa 1910 thank you rachel you're still under oath miss uh tenere has some questions for
you okay rachel do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy
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 to this hearing,
and have you met with your RCO, with the RCO, and do you have a letter?
Yes. Okay, you may proceed. Thank you.
Okay, so this is 1625 West Thompson Street.
Once it loads, the board can see that it's a RSA 5 site.
over it's probably the largest uh intermediate personal on the block excuse pardon the
interruption but the screen is blank okay give me one second I'm going to just download it and then
okay can you see that yes okay so this is the refusal we have again it's rsa property zone rsa
five uh however we're proposing the erection of an attached building with a roof deck and roof
deck access structure for use as multi-family originally proposed eight units as you'll see
from the revised plans we have reduced it to six units originally have proposed three accessory
off-street parking spaces, now we're proposing two, and the only refusal we have is for use
for multifamily in a single-family district. As you can see from the appeal, the property is
a long-standing vacant lot. It was originally home to a church that has since been demolished,
and so it was not single-family use any time in the last couple of decades. The land area of the
property is almost 2,500 square feet, 2,483 square feet, according to OPA. And so given
also the width of the property, it doesn't allow for subdivision to provide for single-family
homes. You'd have two kind of long, skinny single-family homes. There's a lot of other
properties on the block and within the 1600 block of North 16th Street, or sorry, West Thompson
Street that have multifamily and given some of the considerations in the district plan regarding
vacant lots and providing housing opportunities given this was a church before we decided that
multifamily was probably best suited for the site as again no single family had ever stood on this
site before again some of the neighboring properties are duplexes and triplexes however
they're on smaller lots than ours. Again, a 2,500 square foot lot, street to street.
We'll bring up the zoning plans. As you can see, it's the largest street to street
property on the block, similar in size and condition to the RM1 block directly behind.
similar in size and condition to the RM1 block directly behind. Most of those lots are actually