Okay, and we are live here.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Okay, we should be ready to go.
Thank you.
Good morning, everyone.
My name is Frank DiCicco.
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 Tineri,
Board Secretary, Confessor Plaza, and Board Members, Mr. Thomas Holloman and Mr. James
Snell.
Board Administrator, Mr. Jason Hand, and our Board Attorney, Ms. Sharon Saleta, are also
in attendance.
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, I'm going to shut my phone off.
Second, I would like to advise everyone that this proceeding is being recorded
and that by participating, you acknowledge your agreement to be recorded
and 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.
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.
And I'll repeat that as well.
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 would also like to remind everyone please do not
attempt to testify in the chat any comments should be directed to our board administrator
mr jason ham with that i will read the request for continuances of the 930 list they are as
follows pardon me mi2020-991574 2500 north 31st street number eight on our list mi2020
dash 003149 4114 cambridge street number 10 on our list mi 2020 dash 001 253
5432 vine street number 14 on our list mi 2020 dash 000066 6415 harbison avenue
and a late entry was MI 2020-002-267-533-Montgomery Avenue.
If anyone disputes any of those cases that were read into the record to be continued,
please raise your hand at this time.
Only if you have a concern about the cases I just read into the record.
Raise your hand at this time.
I see no hands at this time, Chair.
Thank you.
Would anyone now like to request a continuance or withdrawal?
If so, please raise your hand.
You want to request a continuance or withdrawal at this time for the 930 list, please raise
your hand.
Thank you.
once again sir i see no hands thank you very much uh we will now go to carol because i'm not going
to be able to vote on the first one we'll go to the add-ons okay calendar number am i unmuted yes
Calendar number MI-2020-000-383-2810, Frankfurt Avenue.
And I want to first confirm that Mr. Folks and the applicant's attorney, William Schwartz, are present.
sloan folks and billy schwartz
i see that mr folks is here but mr schwartz doesn't appear to be here could we um move us
back just one case so that i can try to contact mr schwartz yeah i heard i'm sorry i thought i
heard tanya earlier say he's going to call in um i offered him the option of calling in
on my cell phone and I would put him on speaker.
I'll try to reach him now.
Okay, let's go to number two then on the resumption.
Calendar number 002681
4320-22
Germantown Avenue.
The attorney
is Vern Anastasio.
Vern Anastasio has been promoted to panelist.
Okay, Frank, that's you.
Good morning, Mr. Anastasio. Please identify yourself as a record and swear you in.
Good morning, Mr. Chairman. Vern Anastasio, A-N-A-S-T-A-S-I-O, 1315 Walnut, Suite 1006, Philadelphia, 19107.
You swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
This is a resumption hearing. We were waiting to get some feedback from the RCO.
Yes, sir.
I have that feedback.
Let me just pull that up for you.
As you can see, it was unanimous non-opposition for the variants.
And if you recall, we were asking for a three-family dwelling.
that's that's still uh the the ask is three family correct
that's correct and i understand that planning supports but why don't we do this
um is there anyone that's what we were waiting for was feedback correct that's correct you
were waiting for the rco to weigh in yeah i think that planning supported it but why don't we get
them back on the record again anyway. Planning Commission? Thank you. Good morning, Chair DeCicco.
Ian Hegarty for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission. Are you swearing to the firm to tell
the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth? I do, sir. So for this case, the comprehensive
plan recommends the property for commercial mixed use. There's a documented history of single family
use in the property dating back to 1981. However, we don't believe it'd be reasonable to expect the
applicant to convert the ground floor from residential to commercial. And so we recommend
that the board grant the proposed variance.
You have no idea what's going on. I have to go out and come back in.
well i'm sorry am i 2020 i'm sorry chair if i could interject a thought i'm uncertain
if it's for this case or not but we do have charles richardson representing the council
person's office and what we allow him to speak yes please
mr folks are you here on germantown avenue mr richardson oh mr richardson i apologize
the charles richardson from the office of councilwoman cindy bass room 312 city hall
yes i'm here to affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
i do uh as the rco has no uh opposition to the uh granting the variance then the councilwoman
has no opposition as well. Thank you. Anyone else to speak on this case?
no other hand at this time sir thank you mi 2020-002681 4320-22 germantown avenue my vote
No other hand at this time.
is yes are there any provisos ver no thank you my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote
as yes thank you very much uh number three on our list mi2020-003086 1231 federal street
uh i believe sharon uh we're going to need you to weigh in on this please
yes there's going to be another hearing scheduled a resumption hearing
in order for the law department to participate since it now appears to be an appeal against
L&I arguing that this is a non-conforming use.
Ms. Sunker, do we have a date or should we just send notices?
Is Mr. Miller aware of today's proceeding that we were going to continue?
He understood that you were going to discuss it in an executive session and then
and announce whether another hearing is required.
I don't even know if he's on.
Do we need him to participate?
Not necessarily.
He can participate at the next hearing.
He's familiar with what's going on,
and I suppose he'll inform his client.
I'll email him.
So we can do the May 18th date that Tuesday?
at 9 30 and this case can be put on at that time it's also the day of another special
okay good it's the packer avenue and it would be this one and maybe another one
thank you tanya you're quite welcome uh mi 2020 that's zero zero two seven five six one five one
one south 15th street my vote is no to request for reconsideration and rehearing my vote is no
for request for reconsideration and rehearing no to reconsideration and rehearing no to
reconsideration and rehearing no to reconsideration and rehearing okay i believe we can go to the
with the regular list now we we're ready for that tanya and sharon unless sharon has mr schwartz
no i i'm trying to reach him still um i'll check the attendance list again to see a piece
okay then i'll call the first case calendar number 2206 1370 south 46th street the attorney
is Leo Mulvihill.
Leo, are you present?
Mr. Mulvihill, are you present?
I know that he is planning to be here because he texted me not long ago to ask where he was on the 930 list.
So maybe if we could move this back as well.
Yeah, let's go to number two.
Okay. Calendar number 0019, 2100 South Opal Street. The owner is Tai T. Lee.
There are no exhibits. It's the fourth listing.
Is there anyone here for 2100 South Opal?
see no hands mr chair thank you so mi 2020 that's zero zero zero zero one nine
two one zero zero south opal street my vote is to dismiss email him my vote is to dismiss dismiss
dismiss calendar number 31 hold on one second carol hold on a second okay shaman muted finally
okay she was she didn't mute herself for a minute okay okay calendar number 3130
207 West Wildey Street the attorney is Frank Turner Jr.
Mr. Turner has been promoted to panelists.
Mr. Turner.
yes can you put your name and address on the record and spell your last name please
certainly um my name is frank turner mr turner could you get closer to your microphone or
increase the volume yes i can is that better not much okay um bear with me one second
i turn up the volume i believe the volume for the app is turned up all the way but i'll turn up that
volume on my computer as well is that any better uh not really okay i'm about as close as i can
get i'll just uh i'll speak i'll do my best to speak up if that's all right that works better
there you go great great okay name and address and spell your last name please certainly uh my
name is frank turner uh my address is uh 30 south 15th street uh 15th floor uh philadelphia uh 19102
and my last name is spelled T-U-R-N-E-R.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth
and nothing but the truth?
Do you also agree to waive the reading of the refusal
and stipulate to its accuracy?
And have you emailed the exhibit packet
with proof of ownership, tax compliance,
a copy of the refusal or referral,
photos and or plans of the property
five days in advance of this hearing
and have you met with the RCO
and do you have a letter?
um yes to uh all of those questions okay you may proceed thank you so what we have today is a um
a single family home located in the northern liberties area it is um butting up against
a grocery store i believe a giant uh grocery store um it was built in the last few years
and all of the...
Mr. Turner, excuse the interruption.
Do you have any exhibits you can be sharing with us?
Yes, I do.
And I can share my screen.
Bear with me one second here.
Just pulling up the plans and the photographs.
and um share screen
okay and is that something that you guys can see this um
Yes, plans that are presented here. Great. So this is a single family home as it exists. I'm working on getting the photograph of the of the of the building as it exists. It's a three story house. It's on an extremely small lot that is about 20 feet deep.
And because of the small size of the footprint of the property, there is an existing spiral staircase going up to the third floor that's not very sturdy or safe, according to our architect.
and so the solution that they've come up with is to build a second structure next to the building
that's taking up the 25% open area in order to put a compliant stairwell.
And if you guys can see the screenshot, one second here.
and so here's the existing building if you guys can see my my shared screen yes
yes and as you can see just to the right of the building the east portion of the property
is a small open area you might note in the back in the rear of the building
it does not comply with the nine foot rear air.
um uh nine foot uh rear area mainly because um the grocery store uh property abuts directly
against it and it can't really go back any further than that um it might have been refused for that
reason however it was already um in that condition as are um the other four block the other four
properties on that side of the block right there and uh so that's so in in short the
hardship that we are um contending with is the is the sheer is the size of the um
of the footprint of the lot and in order to maximize the space we're adding a fourth story
by right and also a roof deck by right however the 25 open area has um is being taken up by this
new staircase and uh if uh if the if it would um help the board with their decision i can uh
have Eliza Lanzuti, the architect, answer a few questions about the property and the plan,
and I am looking to see if she's in the list here, and I'm not sure that I see her. Eliza,
are you there? There she is. Yes, I'm here. Good morning, everyone.
um thank you good morning eliza and so can you um talk a little bit about let's excuse me let's uh
get uh your client's full name please certainly can you um can you uh let the board know your
your full name eliza and uh can you spell your last name for them sure so uh i i'm the architect
for this project. My name is Elisa, E-L-I-S-A, last name Lanzuti, L-A-N-Z-U-T-T-I.
Do you swear to affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Mr. Turner.