Thank you.
okay chair we have 50 attendees you can proceed as you wish all right thank you very much
good morning my name is Ishmael Shaheed and I will be chairing this morning's
ZBA meeting with me is our board member Thomas Halliman present vice chair board member Jim
Snells. Present vice chair. And also we have Emily Persisco from the development services that will
be an alternate board member today. Present Mr. Chair. Also present we have our attorney Hillary
Emerson and executive director Tanya Sunke. Here's our virtual format. Please be advised
proceedings is being recorded and a video will be available by contacting Tanya Sunke.
uh benefits of our sonographer will ask attorneys and witnesses to id themselves before testifying
if you are participating by phone and wish to testify press star nine to raise your hand
and star six to unmute to enter an appearance statement call 267-270-5548 leave an email
and the address of the property in question.
The question and answer box is on the screen for testimony
or comments. All comments should be directed to our
executive director, Tanya Sum.
Getting on to our
list of continuance, we'll start off with our continuances.
MI-2023-005626, 2200 North 8th Street.
We're going to continue that.
Number three, MI-2023-001445, 611 Denson Street is continued.
number 10 mi-2023-005663 50 east pastoral street is going to be continued as well as
number 11MI-2023-00566148
East Pastoral Street is continued as well.
So you have one more continuance. It's going to be
MI-2023-001
512-1307
East Moyaminson Avenue. It's being continued as well.
Moving on to
our withdrawals.
We only have one, and that's going to be number 15,
MI-2022-006-212-6428-2022.
30 North Beachwood Street. This case is being
withdrawn.
Are there any additional
companions that I've missed?
Good morning, Vice Chair. This is Javette Benton. I'll be your
co-host for today. We have Vincent DeFito with their hand up.
They have been allowed to speak and are muted.
okay good morning how are you please state your name and spell it for the court reporter please
yes it's vincent anthony defino and my last name spelled d-e-f as in frank i-n-o i'm an attorney
i'm representing rita damato uh i could give you an application number or
Do you spell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
All right, what is the actual address?
All right, what is the actual address?
912 South Front Street.
912 South Front Street.
Okay, that's number 18, Mr. Chair.
Yeah, so I have a conflict today.
I will be representing Rita D'Amato, but I have a conflict.
I have to be in orphan's court in about six minutes on a Zoom conference that could last a couple hours.
so i'm requesting a continuance plus i think we need to go back to the neighborhood
and just uh hammer out some things so probably uh if i can get like a 60 day or 90 day continuance
okay uh mi dash uh this is gonna be the first this will be the first continuance so
So, number 18 MI-2023-005625, 912 South Front Street is being continued.
Thank you.
Anyone else on the virtual audience has a case that needs to be continued or withdrawn?
Vice Chair, we have Richard DeMarco with their hand up.
They have been unmuted and allowed to speak.
good morning mr demarco good morning mr chairman can you hear me okay loud and clear all right
great so i have two issues for you today the first is on 1307 moya mensing avenue i know the board
has continued that matter i do want to make a motion to dismiss the case based on the following
and just so you know my involvement in this i represented a number of neighbors before this
board in another case involving the property about five or six years ago or so. This board
ruled that this property was improperly converted to a triplex. This is now, I believe, the third
matter before you where they are trying to legalize the triplex. I and the council person,
Mark Squilla, and the Penn Sport Civic Association have been involved with this property for quite a
while. I would move to dismiss the case based on the fact this is the second listing. The applicant
has not met with the registered community organization, Penn Sports Civic. And this is
now the third time that the owners, it keeps flipping, the owners keep selling to another
person without full disclosure as to the zoning issues with the property. This is now the third
matter before you. And I believe you have some legal issues of res judicata. And look, the board
already said they would continue it i understand that i did want to make this oral motion to
dismiss um obviously when you hear the case again we'll be here uh but i do want to put this in
front of you and move for dismissal and put that on the record on behalf of the neighbors so with
that um thank you counsel for your comments you're welcome i have one other matter too
sorry mr chair just in relation um to to that case so one um i i don't believe counsel for the
applicant is here um to respond so i i don't think we can we can entertain that motion um but also
the the reason the continuance was requested this time is because the attorney um is recovering from
an extended illness um it was not prepared to move forward today um so that's probably also why um
He's not here, but Mr. DeMarco, we will note you and your clients' concerns for the record.
Thank you.
I appreciate that.
I understand.
And I have one other matter for you as well.
Continue, counsel.
So I have been in immediate discussions.
I was retained very recently on 1335 McKinley Street.
We got wind of an RCO opposition letter.
um uh hillary was was good enough to share it with me um earlier we were just aware of the
opposition i have been discussing potential revisions to the plan this is a special exception
case for a personal care home uh my client is khadijah green um we were discussing right up
until you uh opened up the zoom today of potential continuance we have decided to request a late uh
make a late request for a continuance on this we would like to um make some changes to the to the
proposal um i believe this is the first listing we may ask the rco to host another meeting
we may reduce the number of beds to from four to three and we would ask for a a continuance
in order to potentially redo the plan a bit and potentially have another meeting with the neighbors.
and potentially meet uh have another meeting with the neighbors i know they voted on the case but
I know they voted on the case, but
there was a support petition that we did not the applicant did not share with the rco we'd like to
take a chance at potentially getting non-opposition in the matter um so we would request a continuance
of 1335 mckinley street to take one more chance to meet with the rco and um revise the proposal
Thank you. Number seven, MI-2023-005685, 1335 McKinley Street is being continued.
I thank you.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience that has a case that needs to be continued or withdrawn?
Vice Chair, we have Vern Anastasio. They have been unmuted and allowed to speak.
Good morning, Council.
Good morning, Mr. Vice Chair.
Please state your name and spell it for the court reporter, please.
Yes, sir. It's Vern Anastasio, A-N-A-S-T-A-S-I-O, on behalf of Mr. Jerry Lee.
You swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please continue.
Thank you. I'm here for 549 North 10th Street.
I know this case has been on the docket for quite some time, and it was marked be heard today.
The RCO had an unconventional request to physically tour the property as a community, and that could not have been accomplished until after their holiday break.
So that has been done, and to their satisfaction, but as a result, they do want us to reconvene with them one more time post-inspection so they can produce what they found to the general neighbors.
As a result, I do have to ask for one final continuance for a must-be-heard matter after my RCO follow-up to the walkthrough.
This has been the fifth listening counsel, so we will continue, but this will be the last and final continuance.
I've expressed that to the RCO, and I understand completely. Thank you.
No problem.
Hi, Mr. Chair.
This is Tanya.
Would it be okay to do attorney moving party so he doesn't run into this problem again?
That's not a problem.
That's great for me.
I'll be able to make sure that we've actually met with them before requesting the hearing.
Thank you.
All right.
Number six, MI-2022-002928, 549-51 North 10th Street is going to be a continued attorney moving party.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you.
to anyone else out in the virtual audience has a case that needs to be continued
or withdrawn vice chair we have alex goldberg with their hand up they have been unmuted and
allowed to speak good morning good morning mr chairman can you please state your name
is spelled for the court reporter alex goldberg a-l-e-x g-o-l-d-b-e-r-g uh you swear to tell the
truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do uh you address your so we had uh 4535 pulaski
avenue originally on the list for today a withdrawal was filed a few weeks ago and i didn't
hear it right off at the beginning of this hearing i just wanted to make sure that it had
been withdrawn uh you see that hillary is that on the nine o'clock um mr goldberg what was the
address again 4535 pelaski avenue okay that that is not on our list so it it must have been
withdrawn prior to posters and things going out so it's not on the schedule for today great thank you
all right mr chair um um i have one um one addition on number two mi-2023-005-626
um 2200 north 8th street um the attorneys requested that the attorney moving party for
the continuance sure would you like me to read that into the record um sure thank you
MI-2023-005626, 2200 North 8th Street.
0-0-5-6-2-6
2200 North 8th Street
continues with
attorney moving party.
Is there anyone else in the
virtual audience that has a case
that is being
continued or withdrawn?
Vice Chair, I see
no hands at this time.
Moving right on.
going on to our add-ons okay moving on to our add-ons number one mi-2023-0056
670-1416
North 27th Street.
Allison Hartwin?
Mr. Chair, we don't need to...
Allison Hartwin has been unmuted and allowed to speak.
We don't need to call her up, Mr. Chair.
We're just voting.
I'm going to vote this in.
My vote is yes with a temporary
variance.
Three years ending
March 1st, 2027. Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with proviso. James Snell, my vote is yes with
proviso. All right, moving on to our regular list. Number one, MI-2023. Sorry, Mr. Chair,
Sorry, this was an error on my part.
So the last case, there was both a variance and a special exception.
Did you wish both the variance and the special exception to be temporary?
I just wanted to clarify that for the record.
Thank you.
All right.
No problem.
No problem.
Moving on to the regular list, number one, MI-2023-005687, 600-602, North 64th Street.
Jeanette McCullough?
jennette mccullough has been promoted and coming back in as a panelist vice chair
thank you good morning
good morning miss mccullough
she should be coming back here now vice chair okay good morning good morning i'm her daughter
amy mccullough and i couldn't be with her this morning she's a little um she's having trouble
figuring out how to get in i think mom you've got to raise hit the hand button she knows she's here
okay yeah can you ask her to raise her hand because we need to speak with her as the
owner of the property
she did raise her virtual hand chair and i did promote her to panelists
Good morning, Ms. McCullough.
Are you there?
Ms. McCullough, please.
Can you hear me?
Yes, I can hear you.
Are you in a position to be able to put your camera on?
camera
is it on
it was
it was on mom you've got to hold the phone up
you have to just turn the camera around to yourself now
That's it. You just have to hit the little camera button at the bottom to turn it towards you.
It looks like a small camera.
Hit the what?
It looks like a small camera.
It's up at the top of the screen.
On the left-hand side.
And it's the third.
It looks like a little teeny camera at the very top of the screen.
I think...
I see you
but I don't see
what you're talking about
so Ms. Jeanette are you in position to be able to
move forward with the presentation and share your
presentation with us this morning? I do have a
presentation but I'm just not
I don't know how to
what I did
on the phone.
Can you hear me?
Yeah, I see, Mr. Chair, I believe the architect
is on it, may be able to share the presentation.
Obviously, Ms. McCullough
needs to be the one to give
the presentation,
but if the architect has the materials,
he can share them.
I haven't started
speaking.
is coming back in as a
panelist
mom let the architect
speak for now and then they'll come back to you
just to be clear
the architect cannot testify
he can only share
his screen and show the
materials miss McClellough has to
testify because she is the property owner
So, Ms. McCullough, can you please state your name and spell it for our court reporter,
please?
I'm going to have to probably unmute.
Mom, you've got to unmute the button so you can say your name.
Can you hear me?
Yes, please state your name and spell it for the court reporter, please.
Jeanette McCullough.
can you spell it
j-e-a-n-n-e-t-t-e
m-c-c-u-l-l-o-u-g-h
you swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes this application is for the
of a one off street parking space accessory
to an existing single-family structure.
You are...
Board member, Mr. Thomas Holloman, has a few questions to ask.
Good morning.
Do you...
I'm sorry.
Good morning.
Did you email all the exhibits and documents as required five days in advance to this hearing?
I sent them to the architect?
Thank you.
Please proceed and share your screen.
So, Ms. McCullough, you can continue on with the presentation now with your architect.
Ms. McCullough, can you see what's on the screen? You can see what's being shown?
No, no, that's the problem. I don't know what happened to my screen. I don't have a screen. Oh, maybe that's it.
Can you see, can you see, and Mr. Johnson, if you could put up like a photo or something, I just want to see if Ms. McCullough can see what's being shared on the screen, because if not, we may just need to come back.
I shared the screen. The site plan should be on the screen.
What do you want me to see? I don't, I don't, sorry, excuse me. Mr. Johnson, I don't see the
site plan. I only see a folder that lists documents. Oh, I'm sorry. Let me see something.
That's okay. Stop sharing. Share screen. Share.
That's it. Thank you. Ms. McCullough, can you see plans on the screen?
Yes. Okay. Okay, great. So now, since you can see what your architect is showing,
you can explain about your project, and Mr. Shaheed will ask you a few questions.
so ma'am you can continue on this is the uh architecture plans you want to show
let me know what you're trying to do uh with the extra parking space on the side of the property
with the extra parking space on the side of the property?
Well, it's the back of my house, and what I would like to do is put the driveway in
well um
because there has been – I've lived here for 40 years,
and there has been a great increase in the number of people needing parking.
And they just built a, they just built a, they took the church and they built an apartment complex with no parking.
And all of those people are now parking in all, I live on the corner and they park in all my parking spaces and I don't have any place to park.
so i would like to use um use a little bit of my backyard to put a driveway back there so that i
can come and go as i need to do you have any senior citizen now and um i need to be able to park
reasonably close to my house do you have any actual photos of the street okay
what about the street view
I guess Mr. Kenneth
it'll be right in here
is there a street
degress already
yes from the right
of way yes
Mr. Johnson I'm sorry
but you can't testify
Ms. McCullough has to answer questions
so Ms. McCullough
is there a street
degress right there in the middle of the street
looks like I see an X on the floor
on the ground out front
because the lady behind me
already has a driveway
she has a driveway
and she uses
part of the street in front
of where I would want to
put my driveway
he uses it to come and go
got it
so right now
the driveway would be right in front of another parking space
off the street so you're taking one parking
space from the street to
utilize behind your property correct
that you see there
it kind of goes over
onto where my
yard ends
So when she comes out, if you can see the car there, when she comes out, she comes out partially in front of the area where I want to put my driveway.
So we would actually be not using more space, a complete space, because she's already using part of my space.
okay all right we see that you have met with the uh neighbors of overbrook association
um with about the zoning committee uh can we see the uh appeal letter and
sort of your tax shirts and stuff please
copy of the
Okay, can we see a copy of the D?
Thank you.
uh any questions from the board no mr any questions from our attorney hillary emerson
not at this time uh questions from the virtual audience
there are no hands here planning commission thank you vice chair and good morning david
F-E-C-T-E-A-U, with the City Planning Commission.
Do you switch...
do you swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes sir i do proceed
please thank you sir uh vice chair and board members uh good morning david effecto with the
city planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential single
family zoning at this location there is no unique physical condition or circumstance of this property
that would prevent it from being used in conformance with the zoning code accessory off street parking
is not a common condition on the 600 block of north 64th street the city planning commission
recommends the board deny the proposed variance for accessory off-street parking
mi-2023-005687 600 to 602 north 64th street my vote is yes
yes. Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes. James Snell, my vote is yes.
Congratulations. Moving on number four, MI-2023-003682, 1215 West Tioga Street.
Excuse me, Mr. Chair, I believe we have a couple other pro se cases that we're going
to hear number five to start.
I'm going to go to number five.
MI-2023-001-534-4927 North 8th Street, Aerie Resusio.
Aerie Resusio, Rosario has been promoted to panelist.
I'm sorry I was muted um no problem let me start my video one second I think you should
be able to see me now. Can you see me now? Yes. Good morning. Good morning. Can you state your
name and spell it for the court reporter, please? Yeah, it's Eddie Lara Rosario, E-R-I-L-A-R-A-R-O-S-A-R-I-O.
You swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Yes, I do.
um our board member mr holliman has a few questions to ask you okay good morning did you
did you email all of the exhibits and documents as required five days in advance to this hearing
yes i did thank you please proceed and show your screen okay
mr vice chair did you read the refusal into the record
sure uh this application is to legalize the front edition uh porch enclosure on existing
attached structure for use of a single family household living
okay should i proceed yes please
all right so like you say this hearing is uh to request a variant uh for the close of the front
of the porch of my property at 49 27 or as3 um this is the violation notice in order to correct
that i received from lni um as you can see on the letter it was sent to my old address in new york
um i got it because thankfully i was still in contact with my ex-husband and he sent me a
picture of it when he got it that's how i became aware of the requirements uh for in order to do
this uh job uh and according to the letter um the only thing they ask on the letter is that i get
the required permit for it which were the construction permit and the zoning permit
permit. They give me some time to get it done. If not, they say that I will have to pay these
fines on the letter. They did send two letters. I'm sorry. You can see both of them on this
page. They sent a second letter to make sure that we did got the permit. Of course, I was
in the process. It took some time. But after that, I never got any notification from them.
But after that, I never got any notification from them.
This is a copy of the refusal letter, where they say why the permit was refused.
This is the application for appeal.
According to the application, I'm applying for an appeal because this variance will not create any environmental damage, pollution, erosion,
or increase the danger of flooding in the area.
It will not substantially increase traffic or congestion in the public street.
This variant will not substantially or permanently harm the neighbors' use of their property
or impair any other supply air or flight to those properties.
I went to LNI and did everything they asked me to do.
They told me I just needed to get a permit.
I did the application process.
we submitted the plans and then they ended up denying the permit because accordingly
to the refusal the distance between the fronts of the property
can be shorter than the next property adjacent to me so this is the project information form
as required this is copy of the deed when as you can see i purchased the property a few months
before I started the project.
This is the transfer tax.
This hearing was scheduled back in October.
So I did get a certified tax compliance back then.
But it shows that all the taxes were paid
since the hearing has to be postponed
because I had trouble meeting with the RCO.
I did request a new one that was issued on February 15th.
It's this one.
That shows that the property is still clear of tax.
this is the inspection that was done by the architect as you can see on the inspection
they apply category one to this project meaning that the building and structure
represent low hazard to human life in the event of failures as well of all the details of
the construction like everything is detailed around the inspection the work
two inspections done, this is the second inspection, these are a copy of the plans that were submitted
to LNI when I first did the application, it's a couple of pages because we detail everything,
all the materials that were needed, as required, all the dimensions, this is part of the same
package submitted the first time uh they did a first revision on they were they asked that we
describe the properties uh the adjacent properties so as you can see on this plan both of the
properties were described as well as the dimension in the front of the property
in this plan we only did the dimension for our porch that's why uh they did uh
third revision a second revision I must say this is the new plan that was sent in the final plan
on this one the architect described the front of my property and both of the adjacent property
that's when they came to the conclusion that our the front of my house will be shorter than the
both of the adjacent property and that's the reason why he ended up being a denial
do you have any pictures of the property yes this is the nest um so this is the poster the required
poster and these are pictures before the property this is from the outside and from the inside i
just want to point this out uh because if you look at this part right here uh one of the neighbor the
neighbor to the left is a tenant she was living there she has been living there for a long time
at the RCO meeting she was complaining that the enclosure was damaging the property but as you
can see on this picture before the project you can see that the pole is damaged so if anything
you can see this part is breaking and damaging so you can see it on this one as well how this
is bent and damaged so instead of provoking the damage we actually fix it because by enclosing
the porch the walls what they do is just give me more support uh to the structure um but that has
been since fits so you can see on this one how damaged it was and you can see how it has been
fits um and this is the property now like after everything was done that's how we look
from the outside and from the inside um these are some documentation of the request when i
was trying to get in touch with the RCO meeting. They never answered until I finally got the
response, but it was too late for the meeting because the next meeting was in October, right
after the hearing. This is the letter that was mailed to the neighbors, letting them know about
This is the letters that were mailed to the neighbors, letting them know about the RCO meeting, certified mail received, as well as proof of delivery, and the receipt from the post office that the letters were sent.
the RCO meeting.
We sent about 173 letters.
The RCO meeting venue was changed just a few days before the meeting, but I did went ahead and posted a sign at the old location to let people that show up know where the new location was.
and I was allowed to make my presentation
due to that fact.
This is the result of the RCO meeting.
Eight people voted in support.
Six people were opposed.
So I got my votes there.
These are other properties
that are in the same sidewalk of my property,
in the same block,
just a few houses away from my house.
and this is the this is right across the street from my property and this is a perfect example
of why the permit was denied because they say that both property has to have the same distance
but as you can see on this one this property has an enclosed portion this one doesn't
and this is another property like right next to it that it has an enclosed porch so this
property is like kind of in the middle of two properties with enclosed porch and these properties
are on your on your block or across the street it's uh in the block across the street from my
property so this is like the property right in front my property okay uh and this is like part
of the block where you can see that pretty much most of the houses have their enclosed porch
like as you can see in the picture like most of them are house and closed plush uh somebody
actually testified at the RCO meeting
one of the neighbors and he
testified that he was witness of the
project and that
he testified that most of the property on that
area has been closed for so
it's nothing new that I'm doing and
it is according to every
other property in the
area and in the same block
so that will be my presentation
if you have any questions let me know
thank you
any questions from the board?
no Mr. Vice Chairman
no vice chair any questions for our attorney hillary emerson not at this time questions
from the virtual audience i see no heads at this time vice chair planning commission thank you
vice chairman and good morning david effecto with the city planning commission chairman and board
members the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential single family zoning
at this location the appellant began remodeling their home without benefited permits however
enclosed front porches are common on this block face the city planning commission recommends the
board grant their proposed variants from the front setback provisions in the zoning code
thank you dave uh number five m m i dash 2023 dash 001 534 49 27 north eighth street my vote
is yes thomas holloman my vote is yes james now my vote is yes all right thank you thank you so
We have one more, right?
Hillary is number 14, I think?
Number 14, MI-2023-005710, 1405 Oakmont Street, Sean Doreen.
It's Mr. Doran available.
Chair, I see no one by that day with their heads up.
Sean Doran, if you're in the audience, please raise your virtual hand.
They have been promoted to panelists.
Good morning.
Good morning.
Please state your name as fellow for the court reporter.
Sean Doran
S-H-A-W-N
last name Doran
D-O-R-I-N
the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes I do
our board member
Mr. Holloman has a few questions for you
good morning
did you email
all of the exhibits and documents
as required
Five days in advance to this hearing
To the best of my knowledge
Yes I did
Thank you please proceed
And share your screen
the green button at the bottom of the screen screen share okay mr vice chair i would you
The green button
like to read the refusal into the record now this application of a six foot solid fence around
an existing property size and location as per plan
We did get one
refusal on the fence
because the height is at 100%.
Please proceed, Mr. Dorey.
What happened with
Sanai, Big Paul,
you have to be quiet, baby.
Sanai,
sit down, sit down. Baby, sit down, please.
Okay, okay, okay.
I'm sorry.
Um, what happened was I had, I'm sorry, say that again.
You need to share your screen.
Mr. Doran, can you please show us the documents on your screen that you submitted as part of your presentation?
Are you referring to the stuff
that I sent in, correct?
So we're looking for a copy of your deed,
your tax rate, the pictures,
some of the
plans on the actual project.
Thank you.
you need some time you need us to come back to you sir
uh yes all right we're going to move on and come back to you uh
i'm going to move on to you stop sharing your screen
Yeah, we're going to move on to
Number four
MI-2023-003682
1215 West Tioga Street
Devin Uktay
Devin Uktay has been promoted to panelists, Vice Chair
Thank you
Good morning, counsel.
Mr. Doreen, you can stop sharing your screen on the camera.
Good morning, Chair.
Good morning.
How are you, sir?
Please state your name and spell it for the record.
Devin Uchtah.
Last name is U-Q-D-A-H.
can you swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do you give us a
little bit about your client yes my client who i think is on the line is m real estate investment
um this property is currently zoned as a single family um on a block that is um has multiple
properties most of them actually that are zoned as multi-family um the client wants to have the
zoning change to multifamily we've met with the we've met with the rco and we have a support letter
um and we have the drawing so prepared so we're prepared to proceed uh i'm going to read uh so
this is for the erection of the rare edition above existing attached building for use of
multifamily household living on the three house dwelling um our board member mr holliman has some
questions to ask good morning counsel do you agree do you agree to waive the reading of the
refusal and stipulate to his accuracy yes did you email all of the exhibits and documents as
required five days in advance to this hearing yes thank you please proceed and share your screen
Yes. Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.
And you don't see my screen. It looks like it's coming up now. Yes.
You see it. All right. So, again, the owner of property is Emerald State Investments LLC.
The address is 1215 West Taylor Street, Philadelphia, PA, one one four zero.
I'm just going to scroll through some presentation, it's a table of contents.
Here's the deed to the property, showing that my client is the actual owner of the property.
This is a Google map view of where the property is located, right here the red dot is where
it is.
It's on the west side of Tioga, again another map.
This is the notice of refusal that my client received.
Here are the drawings for it that my client plans to do to the property.
The client is planning to rehab and turn it into a multi-unit family home.
The three units.
Picture of the property.
it's a picture of the notice
there's some pictures of the inside of the property to be completely rehabbed
this is the vacant um bank and property license
here is a picture of a neighboring property that is um of similar size and is a multi-unit um property
this pictures of the block with a was showing multiple multiple address
multiple properties are multi-unit on the block
again a neighboring property that's already multi-unit
and another this is property 1241 west tayoga that was granted a permit variant to be considered
multi-unit which is also on the block similar here
this is 1243 45 west tayoga also has a zoning change for it to be multifamily
we held a meeting with the rco
uh at the time there was a different attorney but he helped well he held the meeting with the rco
this is on tayoga improvement yes
this is a copy of the notice of the bookman notices that were mailed out
this is a letter of support from the rco
showing that the vote that seven other there were seven votes yes and no no votes
okay all right so i just have one question uh council um understand that there is a
a proviso that is looking to be enforced um do you all have anywhere where you're going to be
throwing the trash at on this property?
We will.
We have talked about it.
We don't have an exact plan now,
but I think more than likely
we're going to get like some type of
like bin or some of the sort
in the back of the property.
Okay, because this is an enforceable
proviso of no trash
under the front steps
in front of the property.
Understood, Chair.
all right questions from the board no mr vice chairman no vice chair
questions from our attorney hillary emerson i just like quick clarification um mr ukta is
your client in agreement with the proviso suggested by the rco yes okay thank you
any questions from the virtual audience
i see no hands at this time vice chair planning commission sorry excuse me mr vice chair did
mr okta want his client to adopt his testimony i believe he said his client was present in the
i believe he said his client was present in the audience okay yes yes um let me see if if i see her
audience okay yes yes
tanya are you in the are you on the zoom at the moment i know we were talking this
morning i'm not sure she had to hop off tanya jefferson has been okay
tanya could you yes i'm here yes i agree can you please can you please uh for the court reporter
tanya jefferson t-a-m-y-a-j-e-f-f-e-r-s-o-n uh do you swear to tell the truth the whole truth
and nothing but the truth yes i do please proceed counsel hi have you heard my testimony
Yes, all of it.
And you agree that it's true and accurate?
And will you adopt my testimony?
Yes, I will.
Thank you.
All right.
I'm going to move on to the Planning Commission.
Thank you, Vice Chair.
Good morning, David Fechto with the City Planning Commission, Vice Chair and Board Members.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential single-family zoning at this location.
In 2015, the city changed the zoning map in this part of the block from commercial mixed use 2 to residential single family 5, in accord with recommendations in the comprehensive plan.
The application for a multifamily dwelling appears to match the character of the block.
The city planning commission recommends the board grant the proposed use variance for three dwelling units.
Thank you.
MI-2023-003682-1215, West Hyelda, my vote is yes, with proviso.
No storage under the front steps.
Thomas Holliman, my vote is yes, with proviso.
James Snell, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Thank you.
Number eight, MI-2023-004870, 5702-04, Chu Avenue, Giuseppe and Adam Marino.
Giuseppe or Adam Marino, please raise your virtual hand.
mr vice chair this is a case for which um we received no exhibits it is the first listing
yeah so we're going to go ahead and continue this case is no one raised their hand
there are no hands up at the side vice chair all right we're going to continue this case
mi-2023-0048705702-04 true avenue this case is being continued
Next case is number nine.
MI-2021-002827,
2132 North Darien Street,
Rachel Prickster is the attorney.
Vice-Chair Rachel Prickster is coming back in as a panelist now.
Good morning, counsel.
Good morning.
Please state your name and spell it for the court recorder.
It's Rachel, R-A-C-H-A-E-L, Pritzker, P-R-I-T-Z-K-E-R.
You swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Can you please tell us about your client?
The client is, I'll just pull up the full name of it, Urban Real Estate LLC, and that's the owner of the property.
All right.
Our board member, Mr. Holloman, has a few questions to ask.
Good morning, counsel.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulates to its accuracy?
Did you email all the exhibits and documents as required five days in advance to this hearing?
Yes. Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen. Thank you. I'm going to let the board
know today is my 35th birthday. Oh, happy birthday. Thank you, but I'm glad I get to share it with you
all. I very unsarcastically will tell you are some of my favorite people in the city, so it's a good
way to start my day. Great, great, great. So this is for an erection of an attached structure,
a roof deck and a roof deck access structure for use as a two-family household living.
as a two-family household living. Correct. So my screen, you can see
Correct.
2123 Darien Street. It is a vacant lot. It is on a block that has over 50% of the lots vacant
and in an area that has a lot of vacancy as well.
The property is a middle lot.
And I'm just going to bring up our refusal.
The property is on RM1.
So it is zoned for multifamily.
We generated two refusals.
And as mentioned, we are looking to erect an attached structure,
roof deck, roof tech access structure, and for two units. RM1 has certain dimensional requirements
that doesn't allow for two units on the site, although it is zoned RM1. So we're asking for
some dimensional variances and a use variance to do the two units and also to only provide
five feet for rear yard instead of seven. And as mentioned, this is a small lot. So some of this
is just obviously given the size of the lot and although it is zoned from a use perspective
for RM1. I'm just going to go to the zoning maps. As you can see, all these blocks are RM1
and as mentioned earlier, I think 45 of the lots are vacant land according to Atlas and
And clearly, with the amount of vacancy and not having single-family home development, the lease modification of the code, we believe, is two units, again, still in character with the nature of the block.
And just given the particular nature of this property just being kind of short and squatty, it doesn't allow for two units by right.
So that's what we're here for, in addition to, again, asking for some relief about two feet for a five-foot rear yard instead of a seven-foot rear yard.
just gives the board a good idea area of the sort of vacancy on this block and some of the lack of
development. And again, just asking for two units for a viable project. And again, only dimensionally
asking for the rear yard to be five feet. I'm going to go through the plans. The architect
wasn't able to be here today, but so I'm going to do sort of my best. As you can kind of see,
this is the project on Darien Street. We sort of have set out our project, again, just rear yard
dimensional variance, and then, which I believe is de minimis, just two feet, and then the proposal
for the two units. Every other part of this project is going to be complying with the code as far as
dimensional requirements for height, side yard, and dimensions. And you can kind of see we're
proposing a four-story structure, not to exceed 38 feet in height with a brick facade as well.
I would like to bring on my client, if possible, Salim Payne, while I go through just the RCO
process. We met with APM, and they offered us a letter of support, which I will bring up here
of the zoning posters, just also shows some of the conditions of the site. So development will
definitely add to the neighborhood, help bring some revitalization, eyes on the street on this
block in particular. And our design is sort of in character with the adjacent buildings that
do have structures on them. Here's proof of mailing. This was the letter from APM. We met
them back in October and they submitted, as you can see, support for our application.
Okay, let's get your client on if we can. Yeah, is there a Salim Payne in the audience?
Salim Payne, if you're in the audience, please raise your virtual hand.
I see no one by that name, Vice Chair.
You and I, we can accept your testimony.
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Vice Chairman.
No, Vice Chair.
Any questions from our board attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Vice Chair, but happy birthday, Rachel.
Thank you.
Any questions from the virtual audience?
i see no hands at this time vice chair planning commission thank you vice chair
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Vice Chair, and good morning, David Fecta.
and good morning david vecto with the city planning
With the City Planning Commission, Vice Chairman and Board Members, the comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning its location from residential multifamily to residential single family.
This neighborhood still carries its original 1933 zoning.
This is a 558-square-foot lot.
We would argue that this small lot size presents a clear hardship requiring the proposed variance for rear yard depth, and the large number of vacant lots makes judging the character of this block very difficult.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the board grant the proposed dimensional variances for lot area and rear yard depth.
Thank you.
uh mi-2021-002827 2132 north darien street my vote is yes thomas holloman my vote is yes
james snell my vote is yes thank you birthday thank you
uh number 12 mi-2023-005627 uh 2856 south sydenham street
uh attorney henry clinton henry clinton is coming back in as a panelist now vice chair thank you
good morning mr vice chair good morning council how are you good doing well please state your
name and spell it for the court reporter sure henry clinton h-e-n-r-y clinton c-l-i-n-t-o-n
you swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i know uh can you please
uh let us know your relationship to the client sure the client is francis f-r-a-n-c-e-s
janelli j-a-n-e-l-l-i she is the owner of the property and she is on the call thank you um
our board member uh mr holliman has a few questions to ask good morning counsel do you
agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his accuracy i do mr holliman did
you email all the exhibits and documents as required five days in advance to this hearing
i did except recently within the last couple days i sent in the tax information from revenue
thank you please proceed and share your screen thank you mr halliman
is that visible mr shahid yes it is all right again good morning mr vice chair members of
the board i'm here on behalf of francis janelli concerning 2856 south sydenham street this is the
table of contents containing exhibits A1 through A10, which I will walk through for the board.
First is a refusal. This is a single-family district, and we're asking to put a third
floor on the property. Ms. Janelli has owned the property since 2008. She's married. She has two
children. She wants to keep the house, remain in the neighborhood. Her family is all in South
Philadelphia, many within walking distance. And as you've seen in other neighborhoods in the city,
typically in Point Breeze and Graduate Hospital, there is a move afoot to put thorough stories on
some of these smaller homes in the neighborhood because people like the blocks they live on,
they like the neighborhood they live in, and they want to stay in the city of Philadelphia.
So that's the background. The refusal, there's two refusals. The first one
concerns the open air occupied area of the property and you'll see when I show you the
site plan that we're really not shrinking the rear yard. What we're doing, we're cantilevering
a little bit on the upper floors and when you cantilever and the zoning examiner looks at the
code, that's considered a shrinking of the rear yard but in actuality we're really not shrinking
the rear yard. So the real issue today is we have two-story homes on either side of the property,
and we're asking to put a third story on an existing two-story. And you'll see later,
in addition to the support of the RCO Broad Street West, which was five to zero, we also
had the support and we have a signed petition from neighbors on either side.
So, Ms. Gianelli went to the neighbors, talked to both neighbors on either side, and neither one of them have any issue with the property.
This is the letter of explanation from the RCO indicating that the third story would be permissible.
These are letters, excuse me, petition of support.
And you can see we are 2856, and you can see 2854 and 2858.
Both are in support of this third floor addition.
In fact, you know, as an aside, during the meeting, there was one person at the meeting who asked for the name of the architect because he's interested in putting a third floor on his home.
asked for the name of the architect because he's interested in putting a third floor
on his home. So this is an area of photograph, just to give you some perspective. At the bottom
of the screen, where my cursor is, that's 15th Street, and you can see other people in the
neighborhood have put third stories on their homes where my cursor is. Sydenham is one street
west of 15th. It's a little bit wider than some of the streets in Graduate Hospital and Point
Breeze, like Pemberton and Cater Street. This street doesn't have parking on the sidewalk.
People were able to park right on the block. And I'm showing you the rear of the property just to
show you that people have attempted to extend the rear of their property. We're only extending the
rear by three feet, not impacting the rear yard, and we're going up one story. This is the front
of their home now. The idea is to put a third floor on and we're going to try to match the
existing brick as close as possible. Here's the plans. Again, we're not shrinking the rear yard
at all. The footprint of the house remains the same. Front of the house, rear of the house,
and this is the side view. So this is why one of the refusals concerns the open space because there
is a cantilever of the second and third floor. And again, the code looks at that as an infringement
on the rear yard. But again, not to be redundant, but we're really not affecting the rear yard at
all. We're coming out three feet, four feet on the rear and putting a third floor on.
This is the existing condition of the house, the basement. It's not a finished basement.
The utilities are in the basement. First floor, as you enter the front of the home,
There's a living room with the kitchen in the rear, and then the second floor, which is existing, two bedrooms and the bath.
So the plan is to add a third floor, add two bedrooms.
This is a four-family household.
Add two bedrooms with one bath, and then also have a rooftop deck.
And in deference to the neighbors, to the rear, we are setting back the roof deck five feet to the rear, as well as five feet on the front.
We have no refusals for that.
The rest of the documents are the pro forma documents you would see in an application like this.
And this is our tax clearance. The taxes are due the end of March. The mortgage company pays the taxes.
So I advise the client, let the mortgage company pay the taxes, but all taxes in the past are up to date and paid for.
And they'll be paid by March 31st by the mortgage company.
Zoning map indicating that we're about seven homes off Bigler Street, just north of Bigler.
There's an alley in the rear, so the contractor will have access to the rear of the house to do the renovation work.
This is one of the questions raised at the community group.
We're not going to have to close off the street for any underground utilities because it's an existing two-story house.
And there's ample parking on Bigler Street for any of the contractors that we need to work on the property.
This is the deed indicating Mr. Nellie has owned the property since 2008.
this is our notice of mailing
we mailed out 176
letters to the surrounding community
advising them of the community meetings
and that's the
presentation Vice Chairman
just in conclusion I'd like to just point out a few things
one is
that this is a unique situation
it's a narrow home
14 feet wide the lot is 50 feet
untypical lot in Philadelphia
but not one of the larger lots
We are not impacting anyone's light or air.
We're not impacting the development of either adjacent neighbor's property.
It's not detrimental to the public welfare.
It's in harmony with what the community group would like to see.
And it's in harmony with the neighbors on either side of Miss Janelli's property.
And I think we'll see more and more of these requests as Philadelphia continues to be a
city of destination and really a nice place to reside and to live with your family so with that
I would ask my client to unmute herself. Henry one question so what about the deck on the property
about the what the deck I see you have something in for a direction of a rooftop deck right yes
that's that's part of the application that's going to be on top of the third floor that's going to be
I said so is that going to be added on as well. Yes. Yeah, it's going to be a third floor and a rooftop deck.
All right. Let's get your client on this. Can you unmute yourself?
Mr. Clinton, what is your client's name? Francis Janelli, J-A-N-N-E-L-L-I.
Frances Janelli, J-A-N-N-E-L-L-I.
Frances Janelli, if you're in the virtual audience, please unmute yourself.
Frances Janelli, please raise your virtual hand.
I'm texting her too. She was on the call.
Vice Chair, she's been unmuted and allowed to speak.
Hi, yes. Sorry.
Good morning. Can you please state your name and spell it for the court reporter?
My name is Francis Janelli, F-R-A-N-C-E-S, Janelli, J-A-N-N-E-L-L-I.
Do you swear to sell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
And, Ms. Janelli, were you on the call, the Zoom call, when I presented your project for
your home to add a third story and a rooftop deck?
Yes, I was.
And if you had the opportunity to testify, would you adopt my testimony as your own
and as true and correct?
Yes, I would.
Thank you, Mr. Noe. Thank you.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Vice Chairman.
No, Vice Chair.
Questions from our attorney, Hillary Emerson.
Mr. Clinton, we didn't get the I see you put it up on the screen,
but we didn't get the tax documents.
So if you could just please resend that to us, that would be great.
Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Emerson.
That's all you had, Hillary?
Yes, thank you.
Any questions from the virtual audience?
Vice Chair, I see no hands at this time.
All right, thank you.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Vice Chair, and good morning.
David Fechta with the City Planning Commission.
Vice Chairman and Board Members, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential single-family zoning at this location.
the proposed dimensional variance for occupied area is minor and in keeping with the purpose
and spirit of the zoning code the small 729 square foot lot and shallow depth are typical
for this block and would warrant relief from the third story setback requirement so the city
planning commission recommends that the board grant the proposed dimensional variance for
occupied area and third floor setback provision in the zoning code thank you uh mi-2023-005627
2856 south sydenham street my vote is yes thomas holloman my vote is yes
james now my vote is yes have a good day council thank you mr vice chair
Number 13, MI-2023-002760, 4720 Richmond Street, Allen-Nockamson.
Vice Chair Allen-Nockamson is coming back in as a panelist now.
All right.
Good morning, Mr. Nockamson.
Good morning, Mr. Chair, members of the board, Alan Nockamson.
Alan, please state your name and spell it for the court reporter.
Yes, Alan Nockamson, A-L-A-N, last name is Nockamson, N-O-C-H-U-M-S-O-N.
do you swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do uh can you please tell us your relationship to
create one lot premises c from two existants
4720 and 4722 Richmond Street and an access easement for 4721, 2325 Salmon Street for the
erection of an attached structure with roof deck and two roof deck access structures for use of
multifamily household living for dwellings and initially you was it was nine units and now you
brought it down to four units correct that's correct Mr. Chair all right and our board member
Mr. Holliman has a few questions to ask good morning counsel do you agree to waive the reading
of the refusal and stipulate
to its accuracy?
Did you email all of the exhibits
All of the exhibits and documents as required five days in advance to this hearing.
and documents as required five days
in advance to this hearing?
Yes, we did.
Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.
Hi. I'm here to present 4720 Richmond Street. As the Chair stated, these are two properties
in the Bridesburg section of Philadelphia. Originally, we were looking to put a nine-unit
apartment building here. After much community input, we've reduced the amount of units
to four condominium units. And there's off-street parking here, as the chair stated.
There's a total of nine parking spots, three inside the building for the occupants of the
building, as well as six additional spots outside of the building, one of which will also be for
the occupants of the building. And there's also accessory parking for the benefit of 4721, 23 and
25 Salmon Street, which is the street behind us, which my clients also own. So for all intents and
purposes, this is part of like almost like a greater plan community where there's single
Family Homes at 4721 Salmon, 4723 Salmon, and 4725 Salmon Street.
So during my presentation, we'll quickly review the first refusal and then go to the operative refusal, which is before us today, the revised refusal.
We just received the correspondence from Bridesburg Community Action Alliance.
We just slipped it into our presentation material, so we resubmitted it this morning.
as soon as we received the letter uh we'll review the letter um from our vantage point the actual
board itself of the community organization supports our project while the greater uh
community that attended that the meeting is not in support of our project but with that being
said we did generate um you know letters uh that we distributed to uh members of the community uh
who are supportive of this project uh exhibit four deals with the revised plans that we have to
reduce the unit count even greater to four units and having multi-family on richmond street is
not out of character uh there there are two instances and we'll review that but 4726
richmond street is also a quadplex which we're seeking to do and 4444 richmond street is also
a quadplex. So what we're offering is not out of character to the greater Bridesburg community on
Richmond Street, which is, you know, has a mix between residential units on the block, which are
single family and multifamily, as well as there is a little bit of a commercial corridor there.
And then we'll address, you know, through this other exhibit, nearby properties with non-conforming
lot coverage and rear yard depth. Those are two refusals that we're dealing with today, although
I think they're more technical in nature and because we have essentially a planned community from Salmon Street to Richmond Street, three single family homes, and the parking itself is considered occupied area, even though it's open to the entire world and even within this planned community.
But, you know, I still want to show that if there was actually a building structure there, we wouldn't, you know, it's not out of character to have other properties that run afoul of the Philadelphia Zoning Code from a lot coverage and rear yard perspective.
And then, as I stated earlier in my presentation, we do have letters of support from nearby neighbors. We'll review maps of the area, including Google Maps, which will show that, you know, again, what I was stating about, that there is a commercial corridor of some sort, or at least an intermixing between residential units and commercial units on Richmond Street.
So having multifamily is not out of character and actually helps support a commercial quarter in a lot of respects.
And again, we're trying to put four units here on a very, very large, very, very large combined lot.
And those four units are going to be sold as condominiums.
And hopefully that will support the commercial quarter that does exist there.
Then we'll review photographs of the property and the surrounding area.
Then you'll see like what our plans originally looked like.
I'm just going to focus more on the rendering. You'll see how we dealt with the height variance
that we requested and still requesting, and then we'll review in detail our current plans and
drawings. We have our RCO meeting notices. We met with the community twice. First time we met with
them, we went down. We had originally nine units. Then we went down to six, and now we're down to
four. And I think at that meeting, we even discussed, you know, that we would go down to four.
And I think at that meeting, we even discussed, you know, that we would go down to four as well.
And then our application for appeal that we filed, the ZVA, again, we filed it on behalf of 477 Properties, LLC, the deed to the property showing that they own the property and the certificates of tax clearance showing that, again, they're in good standing with respect to their real estate taxes.
And then at the conclusion of my presentation, I will ask Irvin to virtually raise his hand, be sworn in, and I'll have a few questions that I'll pose to him about what I stated about this project.
So the original notice of refusal, as the chairman stated, originally was for nine new units in essentially this plant community.
There are three single-family homes on Salmon Street, and what we're looking to do is there's this rather large portion of the lot at 4720 and 4722 Richmond Street with a combined size of over 3,000 square feet.
And what we're looking to do is, you know, we were originally looking to put nine units.
We thought, you know, fit well within this lot, but, you know, again, we went down to four units.
But the original notice of refusal, there's a height variance, which we still have, but we addressed it and we'll show you how we addressed it.
There is a, what's it called, an occupied area variance.
And again, I think that's more technical in nature because we're providing parking in the rear of the building where that's considered occupied area.
The amount of units, because we're an RSA 5 property, multifamily.
Again, we reduced the variance request from nine to four units for two lots, rather large size lots.
And, again, not out of character because there are two other instances on Richmond Street, which also have four dwelling units in them.
The next one had to deal with the rear yard depth.
And, again, just like the occupied area, there's really not a variance there other than the fact that we have parking in the rear, which I think is a benefit to the community.
Because right now the Salmon Street properties technically don't have that parking in the rear.
And we're hoping to legalize that type of use by way of this proposal.
So you'll have, you know, you'll have seven units with a total of nine parking spaces.
So it's not even one to one. It's more than one to one.
Originally, we went for nine units plus the three on Salmon Street with 12 for nine parking spaces.
Then we went down from six, went down to six residential units where it would have been a one to one ratio.
And now we have more than a one-to-one ratio from units to parking, which you don't really see nowadays.
And then the last refusal has to do with the fact that, you know, we're required to have a van, accessible van as parking.
And again, even though we have a very large lot, you know, we're trying to get as much parking in here as possible in terms of the amount of parking spaces.
And, you know, we just, you know, feel that it would, I think the community would appreciate more instead of having an accessible van, they would rather have two parking spaces than one parking space for an accessible van.
But I would leave it at the discretion of the board as to that refusal.
And then again, then, you know, the revised refusal was based on an authorization letter.
Basically the same refusals I discussed, just to a lesser degree in terms of the unit count.
and our letter requesting authorization to revise our plans and then our correspondence from you
know the the bridesburg group um as you can see the letter that just came in um you know the two
at least it states here that the two board members of the coordinating rco are in support of our
project so while you know the board while the the group itself you know held to you know submitting
a letter in opposition to this project because the greater community that attended that meeting
opposed it it looks like from the letter itself the board members are in support of this project
but they wrote a letter just to take account of the amount of people who were there and how they
voted and then nearby multi-family project properties again according to public records
It's 4726 Richmond Street.
It's four units and has been since 2008.
And 4444 Richmond Street has been a quadplex as well since 2007.
And then, again, not that I think we've run afoul of this from an actual standpoint, physical nature standpoint,
but we wanted to show you nearby properties with nonconforming lot covered to rearview or depth.
And as you can see just on this block itself, all these properties on Salmon Street towards to the corner on Richmond Street, they all would would, you know, need and probably have sought variances for such coverage and rear yard depth issues.
uh for such coverage and rear yard depth issues and then we met you know we did solicit you know
people in the neighborhood and we have a number of letters that we submitted that i i don't know
if the board had a chance to review but i believe there's like seven letters
in the actual presentation materials a number of them are even on our blog
and then um you know we have an atlas map uh showing again you know again the building
structure itself you can see all these properties have block coverage of radar issues as well as
this property as well and then you as you can see here from a google maps perspective first of all
we're on the bus route which is helpful um you know there's a recreation center here um and but
there's, you know, there's a nice couple of ice cream shop here, a coffee shop, it looks like an
Irish pub here. Not sure the, you know, I should have confirmed with my client, but there's, you
know, a fire station here, there's a deli here. So it's a mix between residential and commercial
use. So having a quadplex is not out of character will help support the commercial order as well.
And, you know, how we see is that this diversity of housing will help, you know, people who can't
afford single-family homes in Bridesburg area. You know, an entry point to any neighborhood is
not just renters, but homeowners who are looking to move into a neighborhood. Not everyone can
afford a single-family home. So having these as condominiums will help those individuals
and at the same time, you know, move in here. But, you know, the parking will alleviate the
situation of any parking issues because we have a more parking ratio of more than one-to-one
where you have essentially seven units, four newly proposed units, plus the three single
family homes on Salmon Street with nine parking spots. And then photographs of the property. So
as you can see, these are the three single family homes that are currently on Salmon Street. There's
an existing curb cut. So having off-street parking, it's not out of character for this lot.
But what we're hoping to do is legalize and have some type of parking for these units in the rear.
So we'll have like six exterior units in the rear, or we'll have three interior units for the
building itself, and everyone will have access to that parking. And it'll be evenly distributed by
way of a planning community. And then, so this property has been vacant for some time. Google
Earth goes as far back as 2007. And as far back as 2007, this has been a vacant lot. So it's been
difficult for anyone to develop this lot as essentially what we've been told, two single
family homes be virtually impossible. We're asking for the creation of a loyal additional density.
We went originally, we thought nine was appropriate. We then went down to six, and now we're down to four. And I think, you know, economically, that's all we can do. And we're hoping that this will, you know, again, be something the board would be supportive of this economic development that's reasonable, give people a good, you know, price point to be able to purchase in the Bridesburg area.
and then this this is our notice poster showing you know obviously that we posted for today's
hearing and then this is richmond street uh from the left and right of the property as you can see
here is even an example i believe this may be the recreation center here so again not a straight
residential single family neighborhood even though the zoning may show otherwise and again
richmond street from another angle and then our plans and drawings so um yeah so our plans and
drawings so uh you can see originally we had even though we had a mansard roof we had a roof that
went straight up to 45 feet um we have changed that just so you can see these are the old drawings
But the new drawings are this, right? To the roof line, we are 36 feet high. So, you know, we're under, you know, the roof line for the original portion of here. Back here, it's set back, you know, where we still have like a need for a height variance.
But we wanted to provide, you know, condominium units of a good size. So all of our units are three bedrooms and two bedrooms. So we figured the three bedrooms are for younger families who want to move into the neighborhood but can't afford single family homes.
And then the two bedrooms are for, you know, people who are like looking to, you know, maybe people who live in this neighborhood as kids who want to continue to stay in this neighborhood, you know, near their parents or people who want to downsize.
And they don't need three units.
They don't need three bedrooms, but they need more than one bedroom.
So these are well-sized units.
The three bedrooms are 1850 square feet, while the two bedrooms are well over a thousand or over a thousand square feet.
The three bedrooms are 1,850 square feet.
And again, we're doing a brick facade. It's very handsome.
We try to match the character of the neighborhood.
You know, all, you know, not only is there like, you know, interesting sloping and like almost like a mansard roof, but there's a nice pronounced cornice line.
there's lentils for each of the windows they're double hung doors you know even the garage itself
is is has visually it's open um you know to you know the outside world so you know we're trying
to keep eyes on the street even the wind the door glass way is you know keeping eyes on the street
um and uh just one second hold on one second
I apologize there.
Just close the door so loud in my law firm today.
So I didn't want to distract you.
So anyway, but, you know, all the cars, for instance, are going to go through this common driveway, which currently exists, you know, as an open lot for all intents and purposes.
On the first floor, you're going to see like all the cars here, there are three interior parking spaces and there are six exterior parking spaces here.
One, two, three, four, five, six, and then one, two, three parking spaces in here.
This is where we're having the issue in terms of lot coverage and rear yard depth.
These parking spaces are considered an occupied area.
So really, you know, physically, we're not having issues with law coverage because, you know, we have enough open area.
We actually own these three single family homes on Salmon Street.
What we're trying to do is complete this planned community that was originally intended.
So right now we have three single family homes.
We're looking to add four multifamily homes for a total of seven homes in totality, provided diversity of housing.
And then, as you can see here, we try to be very responsible.
There's no basement living.
This is built on grade.
So usually when you see, like, you know, living in the basement, you know, that tends to be an overuse of the property here.
We're not looking to do that.
We have a trash room here where, again, we would be more than happy to agree to a proviso for commercial trash pickup.
And, you know, the trash is being stored indoors.
There's a bike room here, and there's a storage facility for the condominium association.
And then, again, looking at the floor plans, the second floor has the two bedrooms, and then the third floor and the fourth floor have the three bedrooms.
They're bi-level units.
And then, you know, these are the meeting notices.
So we met on January 18, 2024.
123 addresses were notified in the meeting.
Proof of mailing to those addresses.
And then we had the original meeting in September of 2023, where we showed the original proposal of nine units.
And this is our application for appeal that we filed on behalf of 47 Salmon Properties, LLC.
The deed to the property showing that they own it.
And then, you know, obviously, most importantly, it's the tax clearances.
With that being said, that was a pretty lengthy presentation.
Typically, when you see a lot of refusals, you know, you know, you question it.
But like, I think most of these refusals are easily dealt with, are common to the neighborhood and are responsible for this type of project.
I would ask that that my client, Irvin, virtually raise his hand so he can be sworn in.
All right. Yeah, let's get your client on.
What's your client name?
Irvin Doughty.
urban doughty has been unmuted and allowed to speak vice chair
mr doughty can you hear i can hear i can hear you can you state your name and spell it for the
court reporter please name is ervin last name is dowdy uh e-r-v-i-n d-a-u-t-i
do you swear to tell the truth the whole truth or nothing but the truth i do
please proceed council yes irvin you heard everything i had to state today about your
zoning matter that is correct yes and is it true and correct what i stated yes it is and do you
adopt it as your own testimony yes i do thank you thank you thank you mr questions from the board
no mr vice chairman no vice chair questions from our uh
No, Mr. Vice Chairman.
No, Vice Chair.
Questions from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Vice Chair.
Any questions from the virtual audience?
I see no hands.
We do have a head, Vice Chair.
We have a John Hewitt with their head up.
They have been muted and allowed to speak.
All right.
Good morning, Mr. Hewitt.
please state your name and spell it for the court reporter
John Hewitt
H-E-W-I-T-T
do you swear to tell the truth
and nothing but the truth
the truth to hold you
nothing but the truth
please proceed
this is probably
are you calling about this property
let me ask that question first
a lot of times
I only have one car a lot of times
I can't get parking on
Richmond Street
I know this might sound
silly but if I can't
find a parking spot can I come in
and use one of them two that are open
Is that
the only question you have before I move that back over
to council? Yes
Council do you want to
respond to that? Yes
So unfortunately, we would have to seek a separate zoning class use of this property, which would require additional variance.
We would have non-accessory. So all of the parking, you know, that we're proposing is accessory to this plan, proposed plan can be.
But I will say this, that we're taking cars off the streets where typically you cannot have that, you know,
If we were to build two single-family homes, we would not have off-street parking, which would cause further issues in the community itself.
Thank you, Council. Anybody else in the virtual audience?
Vice Chair, we have no other hands at this time.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Vice Chair, and good morning.
David Vecta with the City Planning Commission.
Vice Chairman and Board members, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential single-family zoning at this location.
The appellant is currently allowed to build two single-family homes by right.
Since the appellant already has an option to build without variances, the revised four dwelling units are not the minimum needed to afford relief.
These lots are each approximately 95 feet deep, so the variances for rear yard depth and lot coverage are not supportable.
There is no precedent on this block face for 45-foot-tall structures, and the lack of an accessible parking space is not something that the city can or should support.
The City Planning Commission recommends the board deny the proposed use variance and all-dimensional variances.
Mr. Chair, may I briefly respond?
Sure. Go ahead, counsel.
So we're repurposing this current curb cut that's being accessed by the three single-family homes on Salmon Street.
If we were to do a buy-ride project and put two single-family homes there, those three homes would lose their current parking in the rear.
So what we're trying to do is a responsible project where we have three single-family homes on Salmon Street.
We now dramatically, in more than half, reduce the amount of multifamily homes, which are condominiums in this planned community, from nine to four,
While still keeping the parking count as the same for a total of nine parking spots for seven units, essentially three single families, four multifamilies, by using one curb cut where we're only taking essentially one parking spot off of the street and providing more than adequate parking for all seven units here, providing a diversity of housing.
And most of the refusals that we're talking about are more technical in nature, the open area or the occupied area refusal.
And the rear yard setback is because we're providing the parking.
The height is also because we're providing the parking.
The only way we can provide the parking where it's a pass-through from Richmond Street to the rear of the properties on Salmon Street is to do this pass-through,
which requires a de minimis variance for height, which we're, for all intents and purposes, when you see the front of these properties,
we did the roof line specifically to the third story in the front to 36 feet high, where it's set back to that higher amount for 45 feet to have a responsible, economically viable project.
For all those reasons, we-
So we're going to hold this and take this to executive session.
Thank you very much.
on this next wednesday hillary is it okay at 9 30
yes that is fine all right thank you mr notkinson thank you see you later too
All right. Thank you, Mr.
Notchamson. Thank you. See you later today.
All right. I'm going to go back to
Mr. Doran.
MI-2023-005710
1405 Oakmont Street
is showing Doran available.
Doran, please raise your virtual hand.
Mr. Doran, if you're in the virtual audience,
please raise your virtual hand.
Yes, it's been promoted to panelists.
Good morning, Mr. Doran.
Mr. Doran, are you there?
Mr. Doran, please unmute yourself.
He's not muted.
It appears that he's having an audio issue.
I don't think he can hear us either.
Let's send them a message in the chat.
Mr. Dorn, are you there?
i sent mr door the message of the chat vice chair thank you
All right, we're going to have to see if we can catch him right after we do this next case.
We're going to move on and come right back to you, Mr. Dorn, if you can hear us.
We've got one more case and we'll come right back.
Hopefully get your communications together.
Number 17, MI-2023-005630, 2637 West Somerset Street, Meharie Bailey.
Meharie Bailey is coming back in as a panelist now, Chair.
Thank you.
Mr. Bailey.
Mr. Bailey.
good morning Mr. Bailey good morning everyone how are you all right uh can you please uh first
uh turn your camera on okay sorry no problem uh please state your name and spell it for the
court reporter Mahari Bailey B-A-I-L-E-Y do you swear to tell the truth the whole truth and
nothing but the truth. Yes, I do.
for Holloman have a few questions.
Hi, Chair. This is Tanya.
Sure. May I please ask
if he spelled his first name as well, please?
Thank you so kindly. My apologies.
Mahari, M-A-H-
A-R-I.
Thank you.
Mr. Holloman, can you
ask Mr. Bailey
his questions? Good morning,
counsel. Good morning. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its
accuracy? Yes, I do. Did you email all the exhibits and documents as required five days in advance to
this hearing? Yes, with the exception of the RCO letter of support, which we just received this
morning and sent over. Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen. Will do.
Okay. Can you see the screen?
Okay. Here we are.
Okay. 2637 West Somerset Street was purchased by my client, Dr. Hamira Mobley.
I'm going to just go through the packet and walk through everything. It'll be pretty quick and simple.
Here's a copy of the notice of refusal. It was refused because it's a single family residential district and the property is an existing two family dwelling that she purchased.
So here's a copy of the notice of refusal.
It was refused because...
Here's the application for appeal. All the info is there. It's mostly a financial hardship that she's been paying the mortgage for a year, but can't reside in the unit because it's not a legal duplex.
project information form the deed showing uh she purchased the property from new home investment
properties on uh june 28th 2023 um neighbor notification she um we've mailed out
the required document, the notification tool.
Sorry, I have to zoom out for this part.
We actually mailed out two notifications.
One, here's the corrected one.
Once we obtained the RCO date.
These are all the addresses.
I believe it was 197 addresses.
Here's the tax compliance.
These are photographs of the exterior of the property. It's currently boarded up because after she purchased and hired a contractor, he was unable to obtain permits to do the renovation because of the refusal.
So the property was boarded up because it's been vandalized and squatters and everything. So the property is currently boarded. Here's the other photos.
As you can see, there's two entrances to the front of the property.
The left is the first floor.
Right entrance is for the second floor unit.
The copy of the zoning notice.
Here's the, we hired an architect who I believe may be on the call to do the existing site plan and the proposed site plan.
So the existing plan, as you can see, it's an unfinished basement with utilities.
The first floor has a living room, kitchen, and a bathroom in the rear.
The second floor has two beds and one bath.
And as proposed, she's proposing no living in the basement, utilities, two bedroom, one bath on the first floor.
And then two bedroom, one bath on the second floor as well.
Here are the previous rental licenses that were in place in 2001 all the way through 2015.
Here's a copy of the appraisal.
When she purchased the property, the appraisal said it was a duplex as well.
Title told her it was a duplex.
The original MLS listing listed it as a duplex.
So as you can see, the homeowner just assumed that it was a legal duplex because all of the information pointed towards that.
And then finally, here is the letter from the RCO that was received this morning in support of the project.
They're asking that it be owner occupied, which she intends to occupy the unit.
And then they asked about pets on the second floor. But with the new laws around ESA and service animals, we're unable to, like, comment on pets and service animals on the second floor.
All right. You want to bring your client on?
Yes. Dr. Hamira Mobley, are you available?
haveira bobley has been abuted and allowed to speak
good morning miss mobley good morning how are you all right can you please state your name
and spell it for the court reporter hamira h-a-m-i-r-a-h mobley m-o-b-m-o-e-l-e-y
do you swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes please proceed counsel thank you uh dr mobley have you heard my testimony today
yes was it true and accurate to the best of your knowledge yes and do you adopt it as your
own testimony today yes thank you um yes questions from the
no question no mr vice chairman any uh questions from our attorney uh hillary emerson
Just briefly, Mr. Vice Chair, Mr. Bailey, in the email that we also received from the Swamp Wheel RCO this morning, there was a list of four provisos that they requested, one being interior trash and recycling storage, two, a maximum of two dwelling units,
um just briefly mr rice chair um mr bailey in the email
three, no household living in the basement, and four, no rooftop deck.
Does your client have a position on those four requests for proviso?
They're all enforceable if the board decides to add them, if they grant.
I don't believe, Jomera, you have no issue with those, correct?
There's no issue. No, no issue.
Okay, thank you.
Thank you. Any questions from the virtual audience?
Vice Chair, we have a phone number ending at 3552. They have been unmuted and allowed to speak.
Good morning. Please state your name and spell it for the court reporter.
Yes, this is Adrienne Fernandez, Swampoodle Neighborhood Process Association RCO.
Hello. How are you doing, Ms. Fernandez?
Fine. How are you?
Can you state your name and spell it for the record?
yes um adrian a-d-r-i-e-n-n-e fernandez f-e-r-n-a-n-d-e-z you swear to tell the
truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes please proceed okay at this appeal address
um we support the appeal for variant variants and ask the zba to please vote to grant it um
with the four provisos that the ZBA lawyer, Hillary, has kindly read for us.
Understood. Thank you. Anyone else out in the virtual audience?
I see no on the heads, Vice Chair.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Vice Chair, and good morning.
David Vecto with the City Planning Commission.
Vice Chair and Board members, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential single-family zoning at this location.
the zoning in this block dates to 1972 this property has a documented history as two dwelling
units the city planning commission recommends the board grant the proposed use variance for
two dwelling units thank you uh mi-2023-005630 2637 west somerset street my vote is yes with
proviso, interior trash and recycling storage, maximum with two dwelling units, no household
living in the basement, and no rooftop deck.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with the provisos.
James, now my vote is yes with proviso.
All right.
Thank you.
Thank you, everyone.
No problem.
Can we go back to Mr. Doran
and see if he's able to connect now?
That's going to be
1405 Oakmont Street.
Doran, if you're here,
please raise your virtual hand.
He's been promoted to peddlers,
Vice Sheriff.
Good morning.
Mr. Doreen?
Are you ready to proceed?
Yes, sir.
Let me just call this back on for the record.
Number 14MI-2023-005710, 1405 Oakmont Street.
Mr. Doran, can you please state your name and spell it for the court reporter?
My name is Sean Doran.
First name S-H-A-W-N.
Last name Doran, D-O-R-I-N.
And I reside at 1405 Oakmont Street, Philadelphia, 19111.
Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Have you emailed in all the required documents that is needed five days in advance of this hearing?
To the best of my knowledge, yes, I have.
Thank you.
This application is for the erection of a six-foot solid fence around the existing property, size and locations as per plan.
Please share your screen.
Is it being shared now?
Not as of yet.
Should be a button at the bottom of the screen saying share screen.
Can you share?
Click share.
you may need to open up the document
we see that you're sharing the screen but you need to open up your actual document
so you can open up into the document
the things I want to present correct? yes sir
I'm sorry
so if you could show us your tax cert
and your denial letter
and some plans of the property.
All right. This is the
tax cert that I have received.
Okay. And now your denial letter
denial letter
this is the denial
got it
okay we understand we received a uh a letter non-opposition from councilman o'neill so we
have that um the letter to support from the borough hometown watch a civic association
do you have that letter yes you present your rco letter please
I'm sorry
it's my computer
okay all right yeah can you show us some pictures of the actual uh property and the actual fence
that you're trying to uh get installed and be um on the property okay that was the thing i
wasn't aware that a zoning permit was needed so i had put the fence up and in hindsight once i
found that out that's why i was trying to get the variance i think the only thing that i did do
uh which i was advised to do i did get the property survey done uh this is the receipt
for that when i got that done then um this is to uh put the letters up on the fence
I've seen
there's some plans. What was the plans for?
The plans were
It's a
six foot, six by eight
vinyl fence
and it's
going around. It's not in front
of the house, but it's around
the yard uh if you could tell right here i'm assuming everything can be seen um
to the the left side of the house is uh 24 is 24 feet over six foot high fence then it goes
runs along my neighbor's property do you have any picture of the fence next to you and your
neighbor's property i'm sorry do you have any photos of um the fence next to you and your
neighbor's property um here's a old photo this before the fence uh on this side where that wall
is located right there where that wall is right there that's where uh the gate is up now
okay okay um also
these are old photos it was a chain link fence already there and then in the front as you can
see so it looked like you went from a four foot chain link to a six uh foot violent uh fence
correct well right here in the front i guess this is called barn style wooden i guess this is four
feet and this is the front of the property got it would you ask is yes and then here it goes
got it would you ask is yes and then here go photos of the front of the house
okay whereas though even from a um a safety standpoint the the fences you can see it's not
impeding cars coming down the block um and it's just covering front of the yard and i
had got it at the time because my idea was to get
a pool. And just for privacy in the
rear yard, I have a son and a granddaughter here.
And now just believe I was told
that I can change the front of the fence to be
completely in compliance. I was just trying
to get the variance because of the cost that I would incur once again
to change the panel and everything on the fence.
Okay. All right. Thank you. Any questions from the board?
No, Mr. Vice Chairman. No questions.
Questions from our attorney, Hillary Emerson? Not at this time,
Mr. Vice Chair. Any questions from the virtual audience?
Chair, we have Alex Udovich. They have been unmuted and allowed to speak.
Good morning.
Good afternoon, Vice Chair.
Members of the board, Alice Udovich, A-L-I-C-E-U-D-O-V-I-C-H, on behalf of Councilman Brian O'Neill.
Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed.
Councilman O'Neill has no objection to the granting of the variance at this location.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Anyone else out in the virtual audience?
vice chair i see no hands at this time planning commission thank you vice chair and good morning
david effecto with the city planning commission vice chair and board members the comprehensive
plan recommends no change to the residential single family zoning at this location the appellant
appears to have built a non-compliant fence without the benefit of permits the city planning
commission recommends that the board deny the proposed variance for a non-compliant fence
okay uh mi-2023-005-710-1405 oakmont street my vote is yes
thomas holloman my vote is yes james now my vote is yes
all right congratulations sir is there anyone else out there the case has not been heard
for the 9 30 list oh thank you everyone i'm sorry
i see no hands at this time vice chair thank you all and look forward to seeing everybody at two
o'clock. All right, baby. Ready to eat? All right.
Chair, we have currently five attendees. You can proceed as you wish.
good afternoon my name is ishmael shaheed and i will be chairing this two o'clock board meeting
with me is uh barton board member thomas holliman present mr vice chairman also board member james
now. Present, Mr. Vice Chairman. And we also have LeBaron Leonard Palmer with us from Department
of Development Services. Also present with us is our Attorney Hillary Emerson and our Executive
Director Tanya Sunken. Here's our virtual format. Please be advised, proceedings are being recorded
and a video will be available by contacting Tanya Sunctit.
Benefits to our, the benefit of our court's cinematographer,
we ask that the witnesses identify themselves before testifying.
And if you are participating by phone and you wish to testify,
please press star nine to raise your hand and star six to unmute.
to enter an appearance statement and call 267-270-5548 and leave an email leave leave a
message or you can email the address of the property in question questions and answers
questions in the answer box for the screen is testified for all comments should be directed
should be directed to our executive director tying something moving on to our continuances
to our executive director, Tyneson.
Moving on to...
for the two o'clock list
mi-2023-004624 2628 south street it's going to be continued
number 13 mi2023-0057692026 that's a duplicate so let's move on to that one
mr chair there are two separate appeals in that case so please read that continuance into the
record okay uh number 13 mi-2023-005769 2628 south street this is being continued as well
number 14 mi-2023-006919 2301 north 29th street is being continued
are there any other continuances in the virtual audience that I have not called
good afternoon vice chair this is Yvette Benton I'll be your co-host for the day
we have Stephanie Magana with their hand up they have been unmuted and allowed to speak
good afternoon
uh my name is stephanie mcgania here i'm just not here on behalf of 2628 south street um i know the
rco um record please for continuance the letter of deferral i just wanted to note for the record
that as the applicant we have no objection and we look forward to working with them in advance to
the next hearing all right uh if you want to put that on the record you're going to have to state
your name and spell it for the record so we can get that on the phone. Stephanie Magana, M-A-G-A-G-N-A.
All right. And do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do. All right. So would you like to restate your statement again for the record?
Absolutely. So I'm here on behalf of the applicant for the new development application and the
signage application for 2628 South Street. The RCO requested a deferral so that we could
continued discussions. I just wanted to note for the record that we have no objection and we look
forward to working with them in advance in the next hearing. Thank you very much. Are there any
other hands in the virtual audience that need continuances? Vice Chair, we have Carmen Avila
with their heads up. They have been unmuted and allowed to speak. Good afternoon. Good afternoon.
My name is Carmen Avila. I'm a constituent from here in the area. We just want our voices heard
today? Sure.
Can you please state your name and spell it for the
record? And what property are you calling for?
24-5 North Newkirk.
We're calling about the parking lot. It's supposed to be
a parking garage going on in the garage, in the
parking lot. Okay.
We haven't gotten to that case yet.
I don't even see that.
Excuse me, Mr. Reshirt.
Ms. Avila, can you please state
that case again? I'm not
sure that that's on our list for today.
you said what was the address on new kirk street
miss avila please unmute yourself yes ma'am yes what is what is the address of the property that
you're calling about um it's at 29th and york is actually a parking lot that that case got
continue that's the one that was on 29th okay thank you all right all right anyone virtual
audience that needs the case that needs to be continued vice chair we have keisha usher barton
they have been abuted and allowed to speak good afternoon how may we how may we help you
can you state your name and spell it for the record
yes that is k-e-i-s-h-a last name is hyphenated it's usher like the singer
u-s-h-p-r hyphen martin m-a-r-t-i-n do you swear to tell the truth the whole truth and
nothing but the truth i do please proceed which the property
Yes, so I'm calling about 26, 28 to 30 South Street.
Okay, that property is being continued.
Correct.
I would just like to get on record, if possible, that I am on the zoning committee for SOSNA as well.
that I am on the zoning committee for SOSNA as well, and we did submit a letter of deferral,
And we did submit...
but we did so because we were unable to get in touch with, get a response from the applicant's
attorney, and so we submitted the deferral, and late Friday is when we received word that this
would be continued, so I'm just putting on record that had they worked with us earlier in the week,
we would have probably requested a continuance as well.
Thank you for your comments.
Anyone else in the virtual audience
that needs a case that has to be continued?
Vice Chair, we have Stephanie Bagaglia
with her hand up again.
They have been abuted and allowed to speak.
Good afternoon.
Good afternoon.
I'm here now on behalf of the applicant
for 1200 South Broad Street.
I see that case is lifted for a continuance.
We are not requesting a continuance
and we do intend to proceed.
What's the address again?
1200 South Broad Street.
Yes, that should not be listed as a continuance.
We've received exhibits for that case.
I don't have that as continued.
Okay, great.
All right, we'll call it short.
Thank you.
Anyone else in the virtual audience?
Vice Chair, I see no hands at this time.
All right, moving on to our withdrawals.
We don't have any withdrawals.
let me see here
we have no add-ons
so we're going to go ahead and
call number two
we're going to call number two and number seven at the same time
MI-2023-006-509-176
counter row street and number seven mi-2023-006945163 counter row street
david orfaniti is the attorney
mr orphanese if you're the virtual audience there he is he's coming back in as a panelist now vice
chair thank you good afternoon council
good afternoon sir uh please please state your name and spell it for the court reporter
definitely my name is david orphanetes the last name is spelled o-r-p-h-a-n-i-d-e-s
uh do you swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth thank you sir
uh what's your relationship to your client i am the attorney representing the owner of the property
american living concepts of mani yonk llc both properties thank you um our board member mr
holliman has a few questions to ask you good afternoon counsel do you agree to waive the
reading of the refusal and stipulate to his accuracy i waive the reading i do not stipulate
to its accuracy either for either one did you email all of the exhibits and documents as required
five days in advance to this hearing yes thank you please proceed and share your screen
can you all see my screen yes okay so um we're present these are two separate cases
um on opposite sides of the 100 block of conorow street um it's part it's proposed signage a
freestanding sign in front of each of the two properties uh 163 conorow 176 conorow i have
up on the screen right now, a rendering, an evening rendering of the proposed freestanding
sign that will be at 176 Connor Road Street. But I'm going to present these both together
because they are part of a, they work together because the properties that are located on
the opposite sides of Connor Road Street, not only are they located on the opposite sides of
Connery Street, but they're part of a larger complex or campus that used to be known. It was
the St. Mary of the Assumption campus, church campus, and eventually I think became the St.
John the Baptist, became part of that parish church. So back in 2018, there was an ordinance
that was passed to take what had been, I think, 16 individual lots to relocate lot lines and to
take this church that had closed, been open from 1849, but this campus that had been open
since the mid-1800s until about 2015, and to adaptively reuse the existing.
and to adaptively reuse the existing church and rectory and the school building.
176, as you'll see, is the existing church or the pre-existing church and rectory.
And then across the street is 163, which is the school.
176 is historically designated.
You can see here in the aerials the two properties in question, the one I'm circling right now,
That is 176. And then across the street, as you can see, is 163. What I circled in red is the rest
of the complex that was permitted through L&I for a total of between these two buildings at 176 and
163, we have 35 residential dwelling units. And then over the rest of the property, you have
21 single-family homes, off-street parking. Part of the original ground that my client purchased
in 2018 was actually transferred as part of this overall project to the Northlight Community
Group, which is located right abutting or across the street from our property up on Carson.
um but uh there was an ordinance that was passed to create uh the saint mary's um overlay and that
was in 2018 and here you go and it was originally ordinance 180101 you can see here because it's a
very large group of uh the overall lot area for all the lots together total i think around 69 000
square feet just over that, which is about 1.6 acres. So going back to the aerials, as you can
see, not far off of Main Street in Maniunk, not far off of Green Lane, but I mean, it's a group
of parcels that has dominated this community in the sense of its size for a very long period of
time. Again, my client is adaptively reusing and restoring meticulously the school at 163 and the
church and rectory at 176. And then with the other open area, again, a number of 21 tasteful townhomes
and off-street parking. Also, there's going to be part of the, for the ground that was transferred
over to North White, I think they'll be provided with 16 off-street parking spaces. Again, this
all went through city council. I believe at the time it was extremely well vetted. There was
testimony to that in front of city council. Our application today is, again, simply two
freestanding signs, one at 163 and one at 176. So this is 163 in the church building, I mean,
the school building. And these are revised plans. We had original plans that had the signs located
in the fencing in the front of the existing structures located in slightly different
places. And based upon the input we received at the community meeting with the Manioc
Neighborhood Council in early January, we took some of those comments and we revised the plans
to essentially for both properties create kind of widen the public space in front of our properties
each of the buildings by pulling the fencing back and in the case of 176 actually pulling the sign
back you can see here is a close-up in the bottom corner for 163 you can see here's the front of
the building here's the proposed fence line we're pulling the fence line back with the gate here was
the original plan for 176. And you can see where the fencing is up here and we have the signage
over here. So to flip back and forth between them, you can see that we've made us change
to create more public space in the area of the properties at 176 or 163. At 176, the original
plan had the fence kind of tucked well in front of but in tucked in front of a jog fencing
replacement fencing here and you can see in the revised plan based upon comments we received
we took the fencing straight across we actually moved the signage back I think it was
six feet and it's gone back to eight and a half feet so we've made some changes based upon what
we received the comments we received at the community here on the plans you can see the
signage each freestanding sign is seven feet by tall by three and three feet wide double-sided
internally illuminated we don't have signage that is shining from an external source onto the sign
from an external source onto the sign, creating a lot of glare. As you can see from this night
creating a lot of glaze.
rendering, it just has a nice type of halo or glow to it to direct people that either,
whether it's guests, whether it's deliveries, or more importantly, whether it's police and fire
onto the property to know where on the campus they need to go. So the overall campus is identified
at the top of the sign, which would be visible.
There is parking on one side of the street.
We'll show you in some photographs.
But even on the side of the street where there is parking, and you can see here, it's on
the side of 163, the top will still be visible.
And then as you draw nearer, you have the lower numbers, the lower signage, which has
numbers and directions into the campus on either side of Connerow Street.
um here is an overall image of what the project will look like when it's fully developed as you
can see it's a very fairly large campus here is 163 and here is 176 the church in the rectory
again developed for multi-family uh apartments and then you have the townhomes on carston street
townhomes on connor row on either side of connor row this is a site walking uh and driving
circulation plan. Again, here is 176, here is 163. Our signs are located, one is right in this area
for 176, and then the sign for 163 is right here. So again, it directs people back into this side,
the 163 side of the campus, when they're on Connerow Street, and then back into the campus
between located, a portion of the campus located between Connero and Carson coming in off of
Carson, coming in off of Connero Street, as you can see here. These signs are extremely important.
Again, not just for deliveries and for guests, but really for emergency personnel, police and
fire and ambulances to know, all right, this is the side that goes into 176. This is the side that
goes in 163. This is where the homes are and things of that nature to provide better direction.
Again, this is the rendering for 163. You can see one of the things we've added for both
projects, both signs, as a result of the community group meeting initially, there was no
landscaping around the sign. We've added landscaping around both signs. This is 170.
That's 163.
Here is 176.
And you can see here the planting.
This is similar to the sign that shows in the evening, illuminated.
You can see here.
So we added planting again, moved the fence back in a straight line to create all this kind of open, wider space for the public.
It's a fairly narrow street with narrow footways.
But you can see between the building, church building to the right, and the proposed single-family homes, not proposed, they've already been permitted, and other permits have been pulled, it kind of blends in and is tucked in.
And you can see that in the evening as well with the other lighting of the landscaping and lighting of the building around there.
The same thing holds true for 176.
It doesn't come out onto the footway by moving the fencing back.
We've created more open area in this area, an area of refuge, so to speak, as people walk up and down.
It's pretty steep, this portion of Connerow Street, leading down towards Main Street.
So it gives an area where people could stop if they needed to stop and not have all the other buildings that are located up and down on either side of Connerow Street.
We did check our block of Connor Road Street just to get an idea of home ownership.
We found that a lot of the properties, at least half of the properties, have owners with addresses other than the subject property or have rental licenses.
163 backs up to Gay Street.
We pulled the same information for Gay Street.
And although neither of these properties front on Carson Street, we'll pull the same information for Carson.
But you can see there are a lot of non-owner occupants that appears on the 100 block of Conroe Street, and that's at tab 10 of my exhibit book.
Here are some exterior photos.
Again, you can see 163 here.
And presently under construction, you see the fencing that's located in front of there.
So here is basically, here's the curbing, and here's where the existing fence was located.
And what we're looking to do now is you can see they've now moved the fence back to where it's going to be located, and we have a gentleman here standing with a board that's cut out three foot wide by seven feet tall and showing in the location, in a general location where it will be, the sign would be placed and erected if approved.
And what we're looking to do now is you can see they've now moved the fence back.
the variances are granted by the zoning board. And then you can see this for 176 on the other side,
the same thing. You know, the existing fence line right here, and then here's where it's going to
be. And then you can see right here that I highlighted, that's where the fence is going
to be pulled back where this boarding is located. So again, creating a lot more open space in this
area and the vicinity sign a signage based upon the comments that we received from the community
at the community group meeting uh i mentioned about the notices of refusal uh that i don't
necessarily agree um with what they have stated in the refusal they're basically stating that zero
square feet is permitted for freestanding signs in rmx2 now if you recall i've been in front of
this board recently with a number of other signed applications in RM2 zoning districts
where the same issue came up. And if you take a look at the, let's see, where is it?
there's any clear provisions here we go so it's interesting in 149041 for rmx2 it states that
for home occupations it's prohibited for non-residential uses it indicates 15 square
feet. But LNI has taken a position, just like it took with the RM2 signage projects that I brought
to this board, which the board approved, that it's not permitted in RMX2. Well, it indicates that
home occupations, it indicates what's prohibited. And this is a resident, this is not a home
occupation. This is a residential use. And the zoning code is silent. And the case law is clear
There are no such circumstances in matters of interpretation.
The call goes in favor of the applicant, the property owner, so to speak.
So it's our position that the signage is permitted by the language of the zoning code,
that they're really, unfortunately, because of the way they drafted it, there is no limitation
in the maximum area.
But just so you know, we're at 21 square feet per side.
It's three times seven.
I mean, not all of it is illuminated.
Like you would have if you had an externally illuminated sign, which is something that the community group, which I'll get to in a minute, had suggested we do at the community group meeting.
It's just in those particular areas where there's lettering or logos.
And again, the height of our sign is seven feet.
So we comply with that.
Again, you can see here.
Again, the community had suggested or requested some people in attendance.
I think they may be wrong. I've not seen the meeting summary form from MNC. Did have some emails from them where they expressed their position in this matter, which I'm sure they'll voice when I'm finished. But one of the things that some people had mentioned was to have an external illumination shining on the sign. We feel this is less disruptive and more effective than that type of lighting.
The other thing that had been suggested during the meeting was that we, instead of freestanding signs, which some people thought didn't fit into this, spoke up and said didn't fit into this street, which, again, we disagree.
We think that this is tucked in, tastefully done.
It's not overwhelming.
Very well serves the purpose of providing identification.
And for anybody coming to the property, particularly emergency personnel, to find this is the row.
they know it's here these you know it's wherever they need to be is in the row and then you have
signage that directs you to the individual units wherever they may be 176 163 whatever the case may
be um but we did do some renderings as i start i think i started to show you that now these are
taken from the opposite side of the street somebody walking down so it's a little more
of a sharper angle than it would be if somebody were driving but here you have you know the
difference between what we're proposing, even with the car parked right there, versus the signage. If
that car were still parked where it was originally shown in this rendering, you wouldn't be able to
see that flat wall sign. The church, again, is an old building. It's historical. It's not designated
It is historic, but the building on the opposite side, 176, is.
But the building on the opposite side, 176, is.
And here we did renderings as well.
Now, this is obviously taken from down the block.
It is a one-way from uphill, downhill.
But you can see it's extremely difficult to make out, to see the sign, let alone read it, discern what's in the signage.
And you can see here as well.
It's a little more difficult.
And the direction that the arrows are pointing, it's a little clearer. The sign, when it's placed perpendicular to the properties, is pointing into the campus on either the complex on either side.
When it's flat on the building, it becomes, you know, you've got those kind of crooked arrows that are bent in interesting ways up and down to kind of give the sense of the direction that's leading away from the sign,
which can be confusing and cause a delay in emergency personnel getting to where they need to be on site.
In that respect, we did contact the, you know, the mounting of a flat wall sign on the buildings.
And in the exhibit package at tab one, sub tab D, you'll see a letter dated January 26, 2024 from the Historical Commission.
um definitely not being in favor of mounting uh signage directly onto the face of um building
uh we do have in while we are on the subject of position letters you can see here at tab 1a
we have a letter of support from councilman jones dated february 2nd 2024 as you can see
their taste the signage is tasteful appropriate aesthetically pleasing and necessary to find a
new development. All the reasons why my client and the architect, who is extremely experienced
here in Philadelphia, I mean, I've known him for decades, and very experienced with historical
structures, he and his firm, and of doing high-quality, tasteful work. So this signage
was vetted and very thoroughly before it was submitted to LNI as part of this tasteful
restoration of these existing structures and the overall development of the properties.
And then Northlight, which I mentioned is the community center, wrote a letter of support
that you can see there, tab 1B.
And then I don't have, again, a letter from MNC regarding their position and their meeting
summary form.
I did have an email from them, which did give the results of the meeting and what their
their position of non-support for what we were proposing with some suggestions, some of which
we implemented, as I mentioned, and some of which we felt like the flat wall sign and the external
illumination not only weren't as desirable, but wouldn't be as effective in the situation or in
the circumstances of life safety emergency personnel would be detrimental to achieving
the goals of the signage that we're putting here. Some housekeeping matters. We do have a copy of
our appeal at tab 16, 14303s that went out separately for each of the two properties at
17A and 17B for the meeting we had at the beginning of January with MNC, along with the
certificates of mailing of each one, as you can see. Tab 18, we have the deeds for my client
acquiring the property in June of 2018, the deed of consolidation, which had to do with the
consolidation and relocation of the existing 16 lots into the lots that presently exist,
and then the deed of correction. We do have the tax compliance at tab 19 A and B for each of the
parcels uh the notices for today's hearing for both 163 and 176 at tab 20a and 20b and then the
posting photos are at tab 21 and you can see um there's an example of for 163 on the gay frontage
i mean on the conroe street frontage uh on the gay street frontage and then for connor 176 conroe
again, the posting that we had there. So, again, we feel that some of the refusals that were
issued, it was interesting because we got slightly different refusals from the different examiners,
although they were the same type of proposal, which often happens. The fencing, there is a
refusal. We're replacing the existing fencing, but it is actually further away from the curb line
than what's presently there.
So we feel that there is a warrants granting the variance in this case.
And then again, the refusal for regarding the freestanding sign itself,
whether or not the zoning code even applies in this type of,
for this property, for this type of proposed use,
I think is highly in question.
And then saying that you can have zero square footage
And then saying that you can have zero square footage if you're going to have it, I mean, obviously makes no sense at all.
if you're going to have it.
So in terms of those refusals, I think I've made the case regarding their inapplicability.
But in the event that this board does feel that they still should apply for the reasons we've stated and reasons that are stated in my appeals that I submitted to the zoning board,
we feel that it's warranted to grant the variance, that there is a hardship given the size of this
property, the proposed uses of the property, that it will not have an adverse impact on traffic or
cause congestion in the streets. In fact, it should help. There'll be less people stopping
and slowing and figuring out where to go, what to do. We feel that it's the minimum variance
necessary in both cases, both in terms of the size of the signage and where we've located.
the same thing for the fencing and as such we um again respectfully request that the zoning board
grant the requested variances um i would be the architect who could adopt my statements if the
once the questions are finished and i also have um jack bean and feld who's with uh again american
living concepts of manioc llc who could also adopt my statements and make any additional
comments that i may have missed in my presentation all right let's get your client on the line or
you want to do the architect first yeah let's do jim james campbell i'm campbell thomas
james campbell has been unmuted and allowed to speak mr campbell can you please state your name
spell it for the court reporter yes uh james campbell uh j-a-m-e-s-c-a-m-p-b-e-l-l
campbell thomas and company all right you swear to the truth and nothing but the truth i do
please proceed thank you sir uh jim did you hear the statements that i made to the board
this afternoon regarding these two uh applications and uh appeals to the zoning board i did and are
Were they true and correct to the best of your knowledge?
To the best of my knowledge, absolutely.
And would you adopt them as your own?
I would.
And is there anything real quickly, because I know I went on, I don't want to abuse this opportunity,
but is there anything that I missed or that you'd like to add to support their requested variances?
Just one thing.
the sign that's being proposed here really sits between the existing historic buildings
and the new construction, and we felt it appropriate to do a sign in between these
two properties rather than try to attach signage to one or the other. So that's why
a sign between these two properties seems most appropriate architecturally to us.
And they both are situated at like kind of the entry points from Connerow with walkways leading back into away from Connerow into the campus or complex of properties to either side.
So they're they're situated at this exact location on either side of the street for a reason and for an effective and a reason.
That is correct.
OK. And then, Jim, anything else?
No, I think that's really it.
Okay. And then Jack Beinenfeld, if he could quickly be, if he could raise his hand and quickly be sworn in.
Mr. Beinenfeld.
And again, we appreciate you taking this matter first because he's out of town.
Mr. Beinenfeld, if you're in a virtual audience, please raise your hand.
I see no one by that name, Chair.
okay um we'll take we'll take your testimony uh david uh you're uh
chair mr bidenfield just put his hand up okay sure let's hear from him
he's been up muted and allowed to speak vice chair
mr bingo please state your name and spell it for the court reporter please
jack we can't hear you
Jack, J-A-C-K,
Beinenfeld, B as in boy,
I-E-N-E-N-F-E-L-D.
Do you swear to tell the truth,
the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth?
Yes, proceed.
Certainly.
Sorry, Mr. Chair.
I keep cutting you off.
I'm sorry.
Just trying to get this done for you guys.
Mr. Beinenfeld,
did you hear the statements I made
to the zoning board this afternoon
regarding these two applications and appeals?
I did. Are they true and correct to the best of your knowledge?
Yes. And would you adopt them as your own? Yes, I would.
And is there anything you would like to add for the board's edification real quickly?
No, I just want to thank the board for their consideration and their time, and hopefully they understand the importance of these signs to the development.
No, I just want to thank the board for their consideration and their time.
Thank you, Jack.
Questions from the board?
No, no, no, Vice Chair.
Questions from our attorney, Hillary Emerson.
uh mr orphanetes i just wanted to verify there's um you provided one page of revised plans for each
of these appeals correct for today correct okay thank you let me just make sure jim that is correct
correct that's what i believe i received jim's still there i'm not sure but yes it's one sheet
Thank you.
Questions from the virtual audience?
Vice Chair, we have Conlon Crosley.
They have been unmuted and allowed to speak.
Good afternoon.
Good afternoon.
Please state your name and spell it for the court reporter.
Patty Crosley, please unmute yourself.
It seems they're having technical issues, Vice Chair.
Anyone else out there in the virtual audience?
We have John Hunter.
They have been unmuted and allowed to speak.
Mr. Hunter?
Good afternoon.
I hope you can hear me.
My name is...
Yes, we can.
My name is Port Reporter.
My name is John Hunter, H-U-N-T-E-R.
Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed.
Thank you.
I'm the zoning chair for Maniank Neighborhood Council.
I should immediately apologize because our letter to you summarizing the meeting and the vote was only sent just before the hearing started today by mistake.
But the vote was to oppose the signs.
And I'm sure members of the board, you're wondering why would you oppose two signs on the street?
I think Mr. Orfanides very clearly and comprehensively explained the history of this scheme.
But the view of the local community was that we took lots of efforts and lots of discussions to try and integrate this development,
which is relatively large, into the existing context of the very center of Manioc.
It's one of the narrowest streets in Manioc.
And the sort of urgent desire was to integrate the houses so that they are similar context
and similar scale to the existing houses and appear as part of the existing fabric,
with the exception of the church and the school.
And I think the opposition to the science is that, you know, David Orphanidis, and I'm sure on behalf of his client, has referred to this as a campus.
And what we've been trying to do from the very beginning is to disassociate the scale and the size of this development so that it more comfortably fits into the context.
When we look to the signs, we consider them to be very sort of corporate, contemporary signs, and really they're only indicating the immediate direction to the church and to the school.
And yet the signs don't have the number of the church or the school on the sign.
They refer to the row, which I've never heard of before, and I'd be totally confused of what the row was.
Is the row the church or is the row the school?
and it has other extraneous pieces of information which the public wouldn't need to know but maybe
residents would such as the co-working space and the rental office so our response at the meeting
and which we conveyed to the the applicant was that these signs are inappropriate if you want to
sign each of the buildings and sign them with each individual building with a number and remove all
the extraneous pieces of this project sorry i said so you are in opposition of the project
uh yes all right there's no does anyone else out in the virtual audience
there are no additional hands at this time vice chair planning commission thank you vice chair
and good afternoon david effecto with the city planning commission vice chairman and board
members, the comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning at this location from residential
mixed use 2 to residential single family. Zoning maps were changed to RMX 2 at this location.
The zoning maps were changed to RMX2 at this location as part of the St. Mary's Master Plan, and that was after the district plan was adopted.
The appellant seeks one freestanding sign, or I'm sorry, two freestanding signs that do not comply with the area requirements in the code and a non-compliant fence.
The proposed freestanding signs would assist in wayfinding for the office and residential uses permitted in the master plan, and the impact of the fence variance has been mitigated by the plan's revisions.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the board grant the proposed signed variances for 176 Conroe Street and 163 Conroe Street, and the proposed variance for a non-compliant fence.
Thank you.
I'm going to call these together.
Number two, MI-2023-006509-176 Conroe Street, and 163, so MI-2023-006945-163 Conroe Street.
My vote is yes, with proviso, revised plans, one-page stamp by ZBA, February 28th, 2024.
Mr. Vice Chair, I just want to clarify that is yes to both appeals?
Yes. Yes to both.
Thank you.
And the revised plan is one sheet for both.
And the revised plan is one sheet for each address.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes to both.
Reprovised.
james snell my vote is yes to both and provisos to both thank you uh number three m i
yes thank you council number three dash um number three m i dash twenty twenty three
that's 004373
to 2250
North 9th Street
Byrne Anastasio
Byrne Anastasio is coming back in as a panelist now
Vice Chair
Thank you
Good afternoon again Mr. Vice Chair
Good afternoon
afternoon uh we've already uh sworn in um do you need your name for the record sir vern anastasio
a-n-a-s-t-a-s-i-o uh representing mr isaac badouche the owner applicant for the property
in question thank you um uh board member mr holliman has a few questions for you thank you
good afternoon counsel do you agree to reading of the refusal and stipulate to his accuracy
I do. Did you email all the exhibits and documents as required five days in advance to this hearing?
I have. Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.
Thank you. Sharing my refusal right now for 2242-50 North 9th Street.
The application is for consolidating several lots, four lots to be consolidated.
we've got one property that zoned i2 which is medium industrial we have the remaining
loss that are zoned rm1 we are going to be treating the property and the project in question
like residential multifamily use the total lot area of this site is 23,776 square feet
We have two overlays, the 5th District Overlay and the North Central, and I want to go over some of the refusals.
You're going to see here refusals for lack of side yard.
You're going to see for a multifamily household living.
You're going to see some for parking.
With respect to Section 14803-1, the parking requirements here and the refusal is pretty de minimis. We're extremely close to compliance with that one.
off-street loading requirement is really inconsistent with the residential use. It's
more aligned with the industrial underlying designation, which we are not pursuing
because industrial use at this site in this community is sort of a relic use, and it's just
not going to be something that's sustainable or viable section 1403 oh to 14802-3
oh to 14802-3 as i said is is the minimus and and the side yards are not consistent with what we
consider to be uh ostensibly row home development and you'll see in a moment uh what i mean by that
this is what we are proposing a row of several buildings with shared parking in the rear of
the development and here we are on this site itself just off Germantown Avenue
and Susquehanna and we've got some landmarks surrounding the property
itself. Here's some site photos to give you an idea of sort of the site itself. It's been
disinvested with some, a few exceptions for quite some time. And what we want to do here,
what my client wants to do here is literally invigorate this block with 54 units that will
increase foot traffic safety uh and give more vitality to the area than it has seen in decades
here we go again site
we are proposing green roofs and permeable surfaces which our engineer will talk about as well
Here are some of the breakdowns of the interior, and we did provide, and of course, here's
the parking column.
We did provide a change of plan, so we do have proviso plan documentation that went
out to the staff with two separate documents being changed that will need to be stamped
if approved. This is what we call, you know, in the planning business, as you know, transit
development. We have, for instance, the Broad Street line is merely six blocks away from
the site we have the temple station which is two blocks away and we have three main bus lines the
uh the 47 the 39 and the 23. 39 goes to kensington and port richmond as well as strawberry mansion
47 goes to penceport only and fernrock 23 goes down to chinatown and center city
and northwest of here of course is chestnut hill and mount airy
uh the buildings themselves are uh completely compliant 36 feet six inches except for the
parapet wall we have a hundred and uh 1054 square foot pilot houses uh and uh we have a 12 foot
curb cut on the north side of 9th street and north uh north 9th and north delhi with a 14 foot
driveway clearance. We did make some changes per our CDR review with 17 standard parking spots,
two ADA parking spots, one electrical vehicle parking. We have 47 exterior bike spaces
and 27 type IA bike spaces.
Our green roof is 11,109 square feet.
We've got about 68.5% of the total roof surface.
We are agreeing to plant at least nine total trees.
We've got permeable pavers in excess of 6,000 square feet.
And in total, 15 separate buildings for this new neighborhood, six triplexes, which equals 18 units, nine quads at 36, 54 units total.
We got eight three bedrooms, 14 one bedrooms on the first floor basement.
Second floor is two three bedrooms, 13 two bedrooms, and two one bedrooms, which equals 24 units plus 17.
And then the third floor has another 15 units.
So the the total is we've got about 10 three bedroom units, 28 units that are two bedroom and 16 units that are one bedroom, which is exactly the kind of housing diversity.
and 16 units that are one bedroom, which is exactly the kind of housing diversity
that the neighbors have asked for. We did, in fact, make some additional changes to the size
of the parking spaces so that a significant amount of them now are approved by Streets
Department for compact-sized cars in addition to the original traditional sizes. We have 180
EDA lift in the rear of the property that was added as a result of not only our RCO negotiations, but the CDR.
We have a four-foot clear path was added for pedestrian access to the unit in the rear, the drive aisle.
And parking numbers 11 through 19 were converted from standard parking spots to more compact cars to accommodate the four-foot path.
We did meet with the neighbors in question.
Excuse me for a second while I get there.
I'm going to show you some additional rendering so you can see some of what the exterior will look like.
Treating the facade respectfully to the surrounding neighborhood with the brick.
There's an old factory across the street that is fully brick as well.
we sort of want to pay homage to the brick facade treatments of neighboring
neighboring spots here is the the parking corridor
with the ample space for getting in and out
there's the project data much of it which i've already explained to you
so we won't necessarily go over that
and hold on for one second while i get my cursor to there it is we have additional paperwork as
well we have proof of posting as you can see the street has is uh in long need of some amenities
and some development you're going to hear not only from uh the rco today uh through their letter
here's the letter that was mailed uh to everyone who lives within 350 feet of the property
and of course this was sent to the zoning staff a little earlier
we've got the rco coming in with their official let's see if i can get there
Trying to scroll down so I could get that. There it is. 19 members of the community
were in full support. And streets department gave their approval as well. As you can see.
115 individual households were mailed. We have, of course, proof of tax clearance.
All the deeds were forwarded to the zoning board under separate cover.
I'm moving all of this into evidence.
This is going to fully transform this block.
And we hope increased foot traffic, increased activity, and then, of course, that comes with a whole lot of quality of life issues,
like reducing the opportunity for short dumping, litter, trash, and crime.
which is something this neighborhood has communicated to us they so desperately are looking for.
And it's a real investment that we worked hand-in-hand with the CDR and the RCO
to make sure that this development is, in fact, respectful of the community,
not super high, completely compliant with almost all of the dimensional requirements,
but also keeps in mind the fact that such a number of units could, in fact,
caused some parking issues, which is why we're providing all of the off-street parking.
Mr. Barr Levy, who is the design guru behind this beautiful development,
is available for any questions that the board might have for him
in regards to the design of the property itself.
Otherwise, if Chris Smitelli is available to talk briefly about the environmental issues
and the green roof and the permeable materials, I would ask that he raise his virtual hand
to be sworn in to just briefly discuss those plans and how they manifest themselves.
of those plans and how they manifest themselves.
Chris Vitelli, if you're the virtual audience, please raise your hand.
Vice Chair, I see no one by the name of Chris Vitelli, but I do see someone by the name of Simon Zafrani.
Yes, he's my second witness. I'll go ahead and call Mr. Zafrani. He is the adjacent neighbor.
He literally owns the property right next door that has been the loan-occupied structure on this block for a very long time.
So if you could please call him to the stand, I would greatly appreciate it.
He's been abuted and allowed to speak, Vice Chair.
Hi, good afternoon, all. Thank you so much for letting me speak here.
So I've been approached by the developer.
I think we have to put him under oath, please.
Can you get your name and spell it for the record, please?
Oh, I'm sorry.
My name is Simon Zafrani.
Can you spell it for the record?
S-I-M-O-N, last name Zafrani, Z-A-F-R-A-N-I.
You swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you, Mr. Vice Chair.
Mr. Zafrani, did you hear my presentation?
I did, yes.
Okay, and you are an adjacent neighbor to the project, yes?
Okay, and please explain to the board your position and your perspective about what we've come up with today.
Yeah, so I'm the only building standing in this street, actually.
And when I came to the meeting a couple months ago, I don't remember, I believe it was back in November or December, something like this, or even earlier than that.
we all spoke about it all the neighbors and we really wanted that development to happen
because there was a lot of dumping trash shootings at night so if we can have
more traffic and more neighbors and bring more people that would be great right and you've
reviewed these plans with my client and my team is that correct yes and it's your testimony that
you support the appeal yes thank you thank you uh do you have your client um i do i do he's my last
uh person to call sir all right mr isaac badush if you could please raise your virtual hand
isaac badush has been unmuted and allowed to speak
uh my name is isaac badush i-s-a-a-c-b-a-d-u-s-h you swear to tell the whole truth
do you swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes i do please to see you counsel thank you mr vice chair mr badush did you hear my
presentation to the board this afternoon yes i did is it true and accurate to the best of your
knowledge. It is, yes. Is it true that you work tirelessly, not only with your own team,
but with CDR and the local community organization to get the best possible
development for this long-neglected block? Is it true? Yes, yes. Thank you. Thank you. I know
that was a curveball. And do you adopt it as your own testimony?
Yes, I do. Absolutely.
Thank you. I have nothing further.
Sure. Counselor, I have a question. So I see you show one of the tax clearance. Can you
provide us with all the tax clearances for all the different parcels? Because we have not
received them as of yet. All the what, sir?
Mr. Vice Chair, those were all provided. Sorry. After the update was sent, all have been received. Thank you.
All right. No problem. Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Vice Chair.
No, Mr. Vice Chair.
Any questions from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
I only wanted to verify with Mr. Anastasio that there are two pages of revised plans. Is that correct?
yes z001 z002 thank you thank you
okay any questions from the virtual audience
i see no answer this time vice chair thank you planning commission thank you vice chair and good
afternoon david effecto with the city planning commission vice chair and members of the board
this property completed its civic design review in december 2023 the civic design reviews committee
the civic design reviews committee the civic design review committee's advisory recommendations
the civic design review committee's advisory recommendation
are not an expression of the city planning commission's recommendation or opinion
regarding zoning variances special exceptions or other discretionary approvals associated
with this proposal the comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning at this location
from i2 general industrial to rsa5 residential single family this neighborhood still carries
its original 1933 zoning well we would argue that residential use per se is in keeping with
the recommendation of the comprehensive plan under the proposed rsa 5 zoning 13 dwelling units would
be allowed by right and off street loading and off street accessory parking would not be required in
the recommended residential single-family zoning district so those variances are supportable the
city planning commission recommends that the board grant the proposed use variance with a maximum of
13 dwell units and the associated parking dimensional variances.
Thank you. If I could just briefly, I obviously respect Mr.
effect those, uh, um, aspirational, uh, recommendation. Uh,
but the reality on the street is across the street is an old factory. Uh,
and, but for Mr. Zafrani who testified today,
there is absolutely zero residential activity on this block. Uh,
These units, as proposed, which have been reviewed and approved by the neighbors, are exactly what this block needs.
Not only is it residential, but they're going to be affordable and approachable at different levels with the diversity of one, two, and three-bedroom homes.
So with that, I rest. Thank you.
Okay. So we're going to hold this vote because we're still waiting for the RCO letter to come in.
I understand you had the meeting on the 19th of September.
Mr. Right Chair, the letter did come in.
I believe Mr. Anastasio showed that as part of his presentation.
Page 46.
Page 46 of support.
All right.
Yeah, still going to hold it because we're going to executive session
and have a little bit further conversation on the units.
So if we should be able to vote on this next week at 2 o'clock.
thank you mr chair no problem moving on to number four mi-2023-006-565-6435-45 media street
Meredith
Ferlinger
I won't mess it up
Ferlinger
Vice Chair Meredith
Ferlinger has been
promoted to panelists
Good afternoon Council
Good afternoon Mr. Vice Chairman
you did fantastic
Please state your name
and spell it for the record
Sure. Meredith Ferliger, F-E-R-L-E-G-E-R, 1500 Market Street, Suite 3500E.
You swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I sure do.
Can you please identify your client?
Certainly. My client is Media Flats, LLC, which is the owner of the property at 6435-45 Media Street.
Okay. Mr. Holloman has a few questions to ask.
Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his
accuracy? I do. Did you email all of the exhibits and documents required five days in advance to
this hearing? I did. Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen. Thank you. You should
now see my exhibit packet up on the screen. As I mentioned, my client today is Media Flats LLC,
which is represented by Robert Sherman and Eugene Nadevich, and they should be both on the call
today. Just to summarize before I get into the bulk of the presentation, the request before the
board today is for a new 24-unit, 100% affordable multifamily proposal for which an application is
currently pending before the Pennsylvania Housing Affordability and Rehabilitation Enhancement Fund,
otherwise known as FAIR. The principal developer of this project is Stonewater Development Group,
which focuses on constructing environmentally conscious affordable developments throughout
Philadelphia. Stonewater not only develops affordable housing, but further manages all
of its properties following completion. For context, as I walk you through the proposal today,
For context, as I walk you through the proposal today, the only request for relief before the board is to eliminate the required non-residential, non-parking use along the ground floor, which is required under the property's CMX2 zoning classification.
the only request...
All other aspects of this proposal are by right and, in fact, significantly under what would be by right.
As mentioned, the property before the board today is located at 6435 Media Street in the
city's Overbrook neighborhood. The deed is included at Exhibit 3, and tax clearance is
provided at Exhibit 2. The exhibit packet includes 18 total exhibits. At Exhibit 16,
you will find a letter of support from the RCO, NOAA, for today's request.
By way of overview, you can see on the zoning map up on the screen at Exhibit 7 that this property is zoned CMX 2 and sits at the corner of Media Street, which is to the south, and North 65th Street to the west.
You will note that most of the properties surrounding 6435 Media Street are zoned RM1 multifamily.
The property itself is just under 17,000 square feet.
Turning to the aerials, which I've included at Exhibit 8, you will note the odd but decrepit condition of the existing property, which is largely vacant land surrounded by a one-story masonry wall.
If I flip back and you look through some of these historical images, you will see that the property was previously used in some form of a vehicle storage capacity dating back fairly far, at least to 1996.
If I turn to the next photographs, which you'll see at Exhibit 9, you'll get a better sense of the existing conditions of the lot and the surrounding area.
In the first few photographs, the board will note the existing masonry wall that surrounds this property.
And if I flip through the next set of photographs, you'll note that this property is quite out of character with the surrounding residential neighborhood.
You'll note that almost everything surrounding this property is of a residential nature.
And this is just directly across the street on North 65th Street, and again, directly across from Media.
Exhibit 10 shows the zoning posters, which were posted timely on February 6th.
At Exhibit 5, you will see the zoning site plan, which shows the irregularly shaped lot
at issue today.
This proposal is designed to balance the project massing with 12 units in each of two separate
buildings.
The buildings themselves are only three stories and 32 feet high, which is less than the code
would allow at 38 feet.
Additionally, while 80% of the lot is permitted to be occupied in CMX 2, only 44.5% of this lot is occupied by this development.
From a unit count perspective, this lot would permit a total of 42 units, where only 24 units are proposed.
Each building has a roof deck.
Although no parking is required in CMX 2, the proposal does include 11 parking spaces for residents, which is designed with porous paving and landscaping.
Parking is accessed from one curb cut on North 65th Street.
Street. Historically, the property was served by a curb cut from Media Street, but given the
proximity to the corner and the much lesser street frontage, it was much more efficient to
add the parking entrance from North 65th Street. I've included some renderings as well in the
packet that you should see up on your screen now, and some general floor plans. Each of these units,
which does not include a basement, is either a two- or a three-bedroom unit. So they're really
quite large units. And as I mentioned earlier, the property will be managed by the owner
and will be serviced with commercial trash pickup in conjunction with this particular
developer's other affordable housing developments in the area.
Now, with respect to the refusal, only one refusal was issued for this proposal
because the zoning code requires any building in CMX 2 to contain a non-residential use
to contain a non-residential use along the ground floor frontage and for the first 30 feet in depth
along the ground floor frontage.
which would only have applied to the media street frontage which was designated as the
primary frontage for this property. This application does not comply nor can it comply
for a multitude of reasons. As noted, no other variances are necessary for this project
and it is significantly under-built from a dimensional end-use perspective.
The applicant submits to a hardship in complying with the code requirement for three main reasons.
First, as the board has seen through the presentation of earlier evidence,
the property is surrounded by exclusively residential uses,
with no other commercial uses in a reasonable proximity to this property,
which would make locating a viable commercial space extremely difficult.
Shown at Exhibit 18 is a map of the city's commercial corridors
where the board can see that this property sits several blocks away
from the beginning of any of the nearest commercial corridors
where, of course, the commercial activity is focused and encouraged.
And you can see the notation of the commercial corridors
in that sort of light orange color on this map here.
In addition, records of nearby business licenses show that the only commercial uses in this
area are largely in-home daycares.
They're not traditional commercial uses that you might find with a CMX2 property.
The previous commercial use of the property, if you can even classify it as commercial
versus industrial, was not permitted by the CMX2 Zoning District, which prohibits any
automotive uses.
Furthermore, this property was previously approved in 2021 for the construction of a mixed-use building with 42 units and a commercial space.
However, despite even securing a building permit, that proposal was never built.
It's not unreasonable to surmise that the commercial space requirement may have been one component that fatally impaired the viability of the much more dense former proposal.
Second, the Board may be aware that financing programs that fund affordable developments,
such as this one, do not also grant financing consideration to non-residential uses.
Accordingly, this development was designed quite specifically in response to the requirements
set forth by PHFA, and including a non-residential use would render this particular proposal
unviable. Exhibit 17 includes a market study that was performed, which establishes the considerable
need for this type of affordable housing in this area, where there is a complete lack of affordability
or other multifamily projects that include income-based housing.
Finally, given the irregular shape of this lot and the character of this neighborhood,
that those features of the lot and the character of the neighborhood support the split design of
the proposed buildings with two low buildings instead of one larger structure. Given that
the property comes to a sharp point along Media Street, which I'm pointing to here on the zoning
plan, the L-shaped building design is the only feasible design that accommodates two efficient
rectangular buildings. And you can see how the building along media is even set back a bit off
of media to try and mitigate the impact of that sharp point. Because of this design, the rear
building is nearly 75 feet from Media Street. Designing a building that would follow the
property line would create extreme irregularities in the interior design. The floor plans show that
the residential units comprise the entirety of the floor plate. Furthermore, providing parking
for almost half of the residential units is a significant benefit to both residents as well as
the surrounding neighborhood, who did express specific concern over parking. Because the design
itself is necessitated both by the lot and the specific funding requirements, including a
commercial space would not satisfy the intent of the code in this location. The applicant
submits the requested variances are the least minimum to provide relief. Not only are the
proposed use in buildings by right, but the proposal is significantly underbuilt by about
half. Eliminating the required ground floor non-residential space is the only basis for
is the only basis for seeking relief, and as the Board has heard today, is directly necessitated by the lot, neighborhood characteristics, and most importantly, particulars of the affordable financing.
seeking relief. And as the board has heard today,
The applicant submits the proposal will not increase congestion, endanger the public, or impair light and air.
Quite to the contrary, this proposal provides a significant public benefit and includes parking for nearly half of the residential units, even though CMX 2 would not require any parking for any multifamily use of this lot.
Many of the surrounding residential structures have rear access parking, so including parking
with this proposal will further serve to limit congestion, and the board may be able to see
that condition in some of these aerials where there is rear parking from some of the other
residences. The parking for this proposal can be accessed efficiently from a 24-foot curb cut
that is the least minimum required distance from the Media Street intersection.
Regarding light and air, the buildings are only three stories and less than the code maximum of 38 feet.
Additionally, many of the surrounding homes are elevated,
so the new buildings will be substantially in character with the residential structures in this neighborhood.
The two-building design was driven specifically by the goal to limit the overall mass.
Now, regarding the community, although the community did express some concerns, those concerns were largely not focused on the requested relief before the board today, and were in fact concerns that would exist based on any development allowed by right for the multifamily zoning allowed on this lot.
But ultimately, as the board saw, the RCO did send a letter of support recognizing that this proposal is significantly less dense with much less risk of impact than the buy right density and structural allowances for this property under the code.
This lower density design is only possible with the affordable financing that allow financing allowances and will come with recordable restrictions against this property.
Certainly, the developer is sensitive to the community's concerns for safety and construction impact.
As a builder and manager of other affordable housing developments, this developer is uniquely experienced to ensure that these concerns are adequately addressed both during construction and long-term.
Finally, the community did express some concerns surrounding parking.
However, as the board saw, parking is not only not required for any multifamily use of the lot,
but the previously approved and by right 42 units would not come with any parking requirement.
Finally, the proposal will not burden area infrastructure or facilities, nor will it create environmental damage or other impact.
As noted early in the presentation, this particular developer is focused on enhancing quality of life
through environmental stewardship in its construction.
As always, a full analysis of this proposal's complete compliance
with Section 14.303.80 of the Code
is provided in the memo of law submitted to the Board at Exhibit 12.
I'd be happy to touch on any particular point in additional detail.
And at this time, I would ask the administrator
to look for Robert Sherman and unmute him.
Robert Sherman has been unmuted and allowed to speak, Vice Chair.
Good afternoon, Mr. Sherman. Please state your name and spell it for the court reporter.
Good afternoon. Robert Sherman, R-O-B-E-R-T-S-H-E-R-M-A-N.
Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you. Robert, you are an authorized member of Media Flats LLC, correct?
And have you heard all of the testimony and evidence that was offered in front of the board today?
Yes, I have.
Would you agree that testimony was true and accurate, and would you adopt it as if it were your own?
It is, and I will.
Thank you. Happy to answer any questions.
Questions from the board?
no mr vice chairman no vice chair any questions from our attorney hillary emerson
not at this time mr vice chair do we have any questions from the virtual audience
vice chair we have esther bayes they have been abuted and allowed to speak
good afternoon please state your name and spell it for the court reporter
Good afternoon. Esther, E-S-T-H-E-R, last name Manns, M-A-N-N-S.
Good afternoon, Esther, E-S-T-H-E-R.
This way to tell the truth and nothing but the truth.
Please proceed.
I am representing the residence of the 700 block of North 65th Street, which the proposed property will be built on our block one side.
And we are already in, it's already scarce, and having parking put into the proposed property, half of our block will be taken up with the property.
So half of our parking will be taken away.
Our other concern is that the homeowners on this block are female, middle-aged, senior women.
Most of us have been living on this block for 20-plus years, and we're concerned about the proposed construction due to safety and security,
the integrity
quality of life
in our neighborhood
yeah we do have
parking as far as in the
driveways but a lot
of the residents on this block
have two car
families so that
parking in the back driveways
will not help us
I'm sorry
We are concerned about the noise, a decrease in our property values, noise, traffic, the overall character of the neighborhood, and which we do think will be affected by any new building.
Our corridor is Haverford Avenue, basically, and Lansdowne Avenue.
We no longer have a pharmacy in this area. We no longer have a supermarket in this area. And so we would be amenable to some type of commercial business if the property was to go forth, if the proposal was to go forth. But we are in need of something that would benefit the neighborhood.
Thank you so much.
Thank you for my time. Thank you for your time.
Thank you for your comment. Anyone else in the virtual audience?
Vice Chair, we have Harolyn Holton. They have been
unmuted and allowed to speak.
Hello, please state your name and spell it for the court reporter, please.
Yes, good afternoon. Harolyn
H-A-R-O-L-Y-N Holton
H-O-L-T-O-N
You swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
please proceed i am on the corner property northwest directly across the street
what i'm concerned about and as we have met and spoken to each other is that that wall the
mason tree wall is that going to continue to be part of the new development plan should it move
forward no no that that wall would be removed okay so part of my concern with that is that
wall is straight erect it's not decaying except for some matron tree work that could be done in
between there so it's not falling the impact the environmental impact of bulldozers the the
vibrations that will affect whatever has been habitating uh raccoons rats uh all types of
things that's been under there in the summer we have to have bats and four by fours to chase them
away when they come out like everything else does when it gets hot and so the homes it's about maybe
seven homes directly attached to the front part of uh 65th street kids and neighbors when they play
out there we have to be out there literally defending is have been any kind of engineering
or architectural any kind of geological studies of what is going to unearth once you break ground
to deal with that and the vibrations of tearing down that masonry wall which would also change
the facade where three-fourths of our community homes have that cobblestone walling or they have
brown brick has any studies been done how are we going to protect ourselves from those rodents
which will seek you know they're going to seek to survive so they will move in directions such as
when the met was uh um started after that was a property a corner property that was decades empty
After that was a property, a corner property that was decades empty, those rodents filtered out into the community, restaurants, businesses.
those rodents
There is a pizzeria on the corner at 65th and Lansdowne.
There's a mom and pop store at that corner on the opposite end of 65th and Haverford.
There's a beauty salon. There's another restaurant. There's a B&B.
There are businesses in the area.
so we need to know what is going to be done to protect us when ground is broken some kind of
deep have to go down to set a foundation for erected two builders what's going to happen there
and also we're concerned about the quality we need stakeholders in there one of the reasons why
this thing we're opposing it is because if you build a property with the 40 or 42 or however
many you end up doing, if they're zoned as condos or something where people are buying and
mortgaging their stakeholders, that will bring stakeholders to the community to uplift our
community. We know, and I've been a resident of Philadelphia all my life, born in Philadelphia
in general. I've lived in North Philly, Mount Airy, Neistown, all those areas. We know what
the impact of affordable housing does. They're not stakeholders. They're not. While it's new,
it'll be fine after three or four years nothing happened also i don't hold a whole lot of
confidence with the property owners now friday march 1st will be one year since they purchased
the property not one time has anybody come out to deal with the debris the trash that's left behind
it's still out there since our meeting of january 16th when we met to talk about it the gentleman
we spoke to of uh uh what is it flex llc indicated that media flex llc indicated that he was sent to
went out directly to deal with the ice and snow that was out there. We've had three snow events
and not one time has anybody come out to do that. The children wait there for the school bus.
If we don't do it ourselves, as Ms. Mann mentioned, we're seniors. So we get our nephews and
grandsons and ourselves get out there and clean up that debris. So for a whole year, I don't have
a lot of confidence that after he builds this or the company builds these two 24 units that we can
trust that this two times a week uh with no management on site with no security on site
to monitor these homes and these things these apartments i have no faith in that because they
haven't done anything not once we either do it or we got help one time from clip not for the project
ma'am i understand what i'm saying is he owned the property now and if they're not maintenance
and he indicated that he would send someone out and that hasn't happened so i'm not taking this
Mr. Chairman, not to minimize her concerns, but these are not concerns that are directly related to the request before the board today. And as the board knows, the developer will have to comply with the City of Philadelphia building codes.
And one of the newer requirements that the board may or may not be aware of directly addresses the concern relative to rodents and vermin and things of that nature. So that is something that is very specifically required during the construction process and, again, would be something that would be a concern relative to the buy-write proposal that could exist on this particular property.
So, again, this is not to minimize these concerns in any way, shape, or form, but, you know, we would encourage the board to, again, focus on the request that's before the board and keep in mind that the by-right density of this proposal would certainly accentuate every one of these particular concerns, particularly the concern relative to parking.
So, Ms. Halton, we thank you for your comments and stooly noted. Is there anyone else out there in the virtual audience?
Vice Chair, we have Nadia Grace. They have been unmuted and allowed to speak.
Hi, how are you? I'm a resident of West Philly.
What's your name for the court reporter, please?
Yes, N-Y-D-E-A-G-R-A-V-E-S.
do you swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes so help me god
so are you in favor of the project or not in favor of the project ma'am i am not in favor of the
project okay go ahead my concern is about um not having any commercial um use in the area
because there's going to be so many extra residents coming with the development
I'm concerned that the local businesses are going to start to be overwhelmed
possibly out of stock or unable to keep up with the extra
or unable to keep up with the extra demand that is put on the supply that already exists in the business corridor.
I think having your commercial property may relieve some of the pressure on the businesses that already exist to accommodate for the additional residences that are coming in to the area.
So that was my concern.
Thank you so much for your comments.
Is anyone else out in the virtual audience?
I see you go out the hands of this town, Vice Chair.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Vice Chair, and good afternoon.
David Vecto with the City Planning Commission.
Vice Chairman and Board members, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the commercial mixed-use zoning at this location.
This neighborhood carries its original 1933 zoning.
This property appears to have been built as an auto service garage.
The zoning recommendation for CMX2 was intended to preserve the ability of a business to continue operating there.
However, it is not located on a commercial corridor or in a commercial cluster with a comprehensive plan contemplates preserving.
The City Planning Commission recommends the board grant the proposed use variants from the ground floor commercial requirement in the zoning code.
Thank you. Hillary, do we get anything from the council district?
I do not believe so for this case, no.
All right.
So we're going to hold this right here, counsel, and we'll try to vote on this next week at
two o'clock as well.
Thank you very much.
All right.
And if possible, if you can get some kind of letter or something in from the councilman's
office.
Yeah, we'll do our best.
We touched base this morning, but his chief of staff was out of the office.
All right.
No problem.
And, Mr. Weiser, I'll just note then that the record is closed except for any input from the council office.
Yes, thanks.
All right. Moving on. Number five, MI 2020-2023-006-949-933 Lindley Avenue, Vernon Anastasia.
Vice-Chair, Mr. Anastasia is coming back in as a panelist now.
Thank you very much.
Council?
Hello again, Mr. Chair.
Hello again.
Can you state your name for the record?
Yes, sir. Vern Anastasio, A-N-A-S-T-A-S-I-O, representing Mr. Olsik, the owner of the property.
You swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Our board member, Mr. Holliman, has a few questions for you.
Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his accuracy?
Did you email all exhibits and documents as required five days in advance of this hearing?
I have.
Thank you. Please proceed.
Thank you.
933 Lindley Avenue, Mr. Chair and members of the board received unanimous support
from the almost, I'm sorry, virtually unanimous support from the RCO,
the logan civic association that's not the document that i wanted hold on please
sorry bear with me i have a lot of different documents up here
There it is. So I gave you the last part first. I just shared with the RCO, the letter from the RCO, showing all but one member who attended the meeting in support of the project.
This is the legalization of a three-family dwelling that sits at 933.
Lindley and
it is zoned rsa3 which is why we're here and i'm going to show you the plans
This is the property in question it's interior and exterior photos, side areas for trash.
this is the property
And let's look at the plans.
Here's the first floor.
We'll zoom in a little bit here so you can see the entrance with a large living room.
large kitchen, eat-in kitchen, and two bedrooms, and, of course, a bath.
Side staircase goes up to the second floor, where we've got an 858-square-foot unit,
710 foot square unit on the second floor 722 square foot unit on the first floor
so as you can see these are pretty ample in size uh and of course they will afford a young couple
or a small family to live in a newly renovated quality residential spot right on this corner
property. There's a letter of notification of both the RCO meeting and the Zoning Board
hearing. All the addresses that were mailed, 109 individual households were mailed. We do have a
tax clearance and a deed that was sent under separate cover. This property was recently
purchased by my client and the tax records were not reflective of the tax balances being paid
at settlement. However, those documents did get to Attorney Emerson. As a result of
the neighborhood survey, meeting with the neighbors, and knowing the history of this
long-neglected property, the neighbors were in full support of having the three-family dwelling.
My client understands that that is going to require that any building permits need to adhere to the International Building Code, which will make this property, of course, full of the fire mitigation requirements and full safety measures.
Again, the trash storage is in the rear, accessible through the side for all three units.
Property will have a management team as well.
The management team information will be placed on the property per the immediate neighbor's request.
And as such, because rehabbing this entire building for single family development would put it out of reach to just about everyone in that neighborhood because of the cost of rehabilitation,
the cost of construction, but providing three quality two-bedroom residential units where
a family could easily move into any one of them at a more approachable price point was
exactly what this RCO and the immediate neighbors were looking for, and we were pleased to oblige
and present and as such we respectfully request the granting of the variant
with that i'd like mr olsic to raise his virtual hand
we get his client in
is he there
I don't think so
what's his name again
Jeremy Olsik
Mr. Olsik out in the virtual audience
I'm not showing him
but I'm showing Jomar
last name ending in a P
two of them
Actually, two users by that name, Jomar, J-O-M-A-R, last name ending in P as in Peter.
Vern, you recognize that?
Yeah, yeah, please have him, please.
Thank you.
Sir, please unmute yourself.
I'm here.
I'm here.
Thank you.
Hello, Joe.
Can you please state your name and spell it for the court reporter, please?
Jeremy Olesik, J-E-R-E-M-Y-O-L-E-S-I-K.
Jeremy Olesik, J-E-R-E-M-Y-O-L-E-S-I-K.
Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you.
Jeremy, did you hear my presentation to the board this afternoon?
I did.
Is it true and accurate to the best of your knowledge?
Yes, it is.
Do you adopt it as your own testimony?
Correct.
Thank you.
I have nothing further, Mr. Chair.
Thank you.
thank you counsel do you have any uh questions from the board no vice chair no vice chair
any questions from our attorney hillary emerson um a couple briefings first an announcement that
doesn't apply to this case we're getting a lot of questions in the q a about cases on the 3 30 list
we are currently on the 2 p.m list once we finish the 2 p.m list we will take a brief recess about
five minutes and then we will come back to the 3 30 list so i just wanted to let people know
who are kind of wondering where you know where we are at we are still on the 2 p.m list
we will get to the 3 30 list once we finish the 2 p.m list um uh and mr anastasio i just wanted
to note briefly for the record because this is an rsa3 property i think we had one of these the
other week there's a refusal missing for parking spaces we don't need to get a new refusal but i
just wanted to note that for the record that technically parking is required and i don't
believe there was any provided in this case is that correct right this is this property is
consistent with every other property on the block uh there all the parking is on the street okay
great thank you and i did get your document for for the taxes for this one um i just want to ask
the board to hold this for one week because i want to make sure revenue everything is clear with
revenue i know there's liens on the property and those take time to get cleared off but i want to
make sure um revenue has everything they need and and this is fine from a tax compliance perspective
so i would just ask for a one week hold i i know i can get a response fairly quickly on this i don't
want to delay it unnecessarily i see from the documents that taxes were paid as part of closing
i just want to make sure everything is clear um it's because of the code requirements so um that's
all I have. Thank you. Thank you. Planning Commission. Oh, excuse me. Anybody in the
virtual audience? I see no hands, Chair. Planning Commission. Thank you, Vice Chair, and good
afternoon. David Fecta with the City Planning Commission. Vice Chair and board members,
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential single-family zoning at this
location most of the homes on this block face appear to have been built as duplexes the city
planning commission recommends that the board grant the proposed use variants but with a maximum
of two dwelling units in keeping with the predominant character on the 900 block of
linley avenue and the proposed use variants for required accessory off street parking
thank you so we're going to hold this right here uh ver until next week on the two o'clock call
Understood. This is an end of row, which traditionally would be more dense than anything else on the block, which then this proposal is consistent with that. But thank you.
Yeah, so this is closed. Just waiting for additional information.
Understood. Thank you.
All right, moving on to number six, MI-2023-005584, 2111 to 2141 East Rush Street.
Henry Clinton.
Mr. Clinton is coming back as a panelist now, Vice Chair.
Thank you.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman.
Good afternoon.
Seeing you already once for the day, can you please state your name?
for the record? Sure. Henry Clinton, C-L-I-N-T-O-N.
Can you please give us the
connection to your client? This
property or these properties are owned by an LLC. Principals of Witt
are Sam Dhaliwal, D-H-A-L-I-W-A-L
who is on the call, and Paulie Singh, P-A-L-I-S-I-N-G-H.
Thank you.
uh we have a couple questions from mr hollman good afternoon counsel do you agree do you agree
to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his accuracy i do did you email all the exhibits
and documents as required five days in advance to this hearing uh 90 of them or 95 uh two days ago
90% of them, or 95%. Two days ago, we continued to make changes to the plan, which we submitted. And then, actually, this morning, we got more tax information that we submitted to Ms. Emerson. So, other than that, yes.
we continue to
Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.
Thank you, Mr. Holleman.
Is that visible, Mr. Vice Chairman?
Yes, it is.
Good afternoon again, Mr. Vice Chairman, members of the board. Henry Clinton on behalf of the owner of these properties, Rush Street Partners of Pennsylvania, LLC. This is my table of contents containing exhibits A1 through A10, which I ask to be admitted into evidence. I also have some zoning records to show the board at the end of the presentation, which are tied into the aerial photographs that I have.
This is a lengthy refusal, but I think I can boil it down relatively simply.
We're requesting that seven existing lots be consolidated.
And on those seven lots, which will be consolidated, we intend to construct, hopefully, 25 single family homes.
Because of the way the project is laid out, the row homes are attached in, and the code looks at those attachments as buildings.
So even though we are proposing single-family houses, the examiner and the code looks upon these as multifamily household living, which they're not.
And when I show you the plan, I think it'll become evident.
The other refusals, some of them we've dealt with and had them removed, actually. Bicycle spacing, parking, they're calling for Class 1A bicycle. Parking space is nine. We have 25 bike parking spaces now. They're not all Class 1A because they're outside, but there are 25 bicycle parking spaces.
The refusal concerning multifamily household living is expressly prohibited in RSA 5 zoning district. We understand that, but our project is a blend of zoning districts, ICMX, as well as RSA 5.
the third from the bottom refusal has to do with again I believe the interpretation of
multifamily we're not multifamily next refusal has to do with two percent of the parking spaces
or at least one has to be accessible that's in a multifamily use circumstance but we've
complied with that that was one of the changes we made recently and I'll show you that on the plan
And then the first refusal has to be, it concerns one principal building.
Again, we have several buildings, but they're all RSA 5 single family homes.
And hopefully I'll be able to explain that to the board as we walk through.
This is a letter from the local RCO, which frankly, I was surprised.
I mean, you can see it's overwhelmingly against the project.
And you'll notice that there's no letter of explanation why.
And as I go through the project, I'll explain to you why, because I don't often come before the board without the support of the neighbors.
But frankly, the reasons that they gave for not wanting the project are a little bit irrational because they're not zoning issues.
some of the issues that were raised and i have the notes in front of me have to do with we don't
want gentrification we want parking and our project you'll see is one for one parking 25
parking spaces with 25 homes they didn't like the siding on the front elevation we changed that to
all brick they said the project doesn't fit in it's going to displace us you'll see when i show
of the aerial photographs. This project is replacing a one-story industrial building
that is underused, and the current occupant of the building is actually relocating his
auto repair shop within the neighborhood, and there's not loss of any jobs. The community
also basically said we're driving them out. It doesn't fit in, and it was just, it was
really, really a tough meeting because when my clients
purchased this property, they looked at all
the multifamily that were being constructed around the neighborhood
and I'll show you those projects and we said, you know, this is a single family
neighborhood, let's do single family and we know parking is a concern
so let's give the neighborhood parking. So we did both
So we did both of those things. And maybe that's why the councilman sent in a letter of neutrality. Maybe that's why we also were able to get, you know, 27 signatures of neighbors that supported the project.
of those things and maybe that's why the councilman sent in a
so here's the photographs just to put this all in context where my cursor is this is a one-story
industrial building used many moons ago as an automobile showroom now as i said is used by a
a local gentleman who conducts auto repairs he doesn't use the entire building because it's
massive and it's one story so our project is going to fill in these two empty lots and also
demolish the building and then put single family homes on Rush Street, which is here. My cursor is
Amber Street. And the idea is you're going to come down Rush Street. You're going to go into a drive
aisle, go behind houses on both sides of Amber and Rush and park in the rear. And then there's going
to be an exit on the other side of Rush Street where you can come out. So it's a flow through
traffic pattern. So I mentioned the amount of development multifamily that's going on in this
particular neighborhood. So in the very dark black is our project, which again, this building would
be demolished. To the right is a five-story building with 72 units. Down to the left is
another building that's going to contain 28 multifamily with nine parking spots and professional
and business offices. And directly across the street will be single family, which is what
this neighborhood is. So again, when my client and his architect and myself, when we looked at
this project, we said, let's go to the community with single family. Now, salted on the board here
are various dots. The red dots indicate all the neighbors that have signed a petition in support.
You can see it's pretty varied throughout. The blue dots are just indicate to the board that
there's a lot of vacant and empty lots on Amber Street.
Excuse me, I keep saying Amber, it's Auburn Street, on Auburn Street.
So we couldn't get signatures.
So it is a pretty good support of people who are nearby.
They couldn't make the meeting, but at least they signed the petition.
These are photographs to show the board, the one-story building.
It used to be an automobile showroom, and then back, way back,
It was a manufacturing industrial plant for American paper products.
View looking east, excuse me, west on Rush, are postings.
Again, some photographs of the building.
And these are some of the projects that are in the area.
This is a project, Somerset Square, 70 condominium units within one block of our project.
This is the project that has 72 units.
We were able to take pictures actually just two days ago to show you that here's the elevator tower for that building.
It's going to be a large five-story building directly across the street from the parking lot, excuse me, from the playground and adjacent to our project.
Again, some more photographs of this large multifamily project right down the street.
And then in the background, this is the one-story building that we propose to demolish.
So here's the plans. We had one set of plans and then revised them. So what I'll do is show you
generally what we proposed and then show you what the changes were to try to accommodate some
comments that we got. So this is Rush Street at the top. Auburn Street is below. And the idea is
you're going to come west on Rush. You would enter a drive aisle here. There's four houses to the
right, each with their own parking, some landscaping, and then the drive aisle continues down
westbound, and there's parking spots behind every home, one for one, and then you would exit
out on Rush Street again, and then proceed on your way. Rush Street is one way based on me
driving it the other day, so traffic would be able to flow without affecting anyone in the neighborhood.
This is the zoning map. Again, I said it was a blend of ICMX and RSA 5. So the yellow area, as the board knows, is RSA 5. These are currently vacant lots, and we're going to build single-family homes.
And if the whole site were zoned, RSA 5, we wouldn't have to provide parking.
We could just have a complete lot, just like all the other homes on the block.
But again, we knew the sensitivity of the neighbors to parking.
And despite the fact that we said we would have one-for-one parking, they basically said it wasn't enough.
And they basically said it wasn't enough.
And I said, look, you can park in the back.
And I said, look, you can park in the back and you can park in the front.
That could take care of two cars, but I was not persuasive enough.
Again, our first rendering showed siding above the brick.
And what we were trying to do is mimic the brick, two-story brick of the homes in the neighborhood.
But the community group was very vocal about not wanting any type of metal or hardy board backer siding above the second floor.
So you'll see in my next set of renderings, when I get beyond this group, I'll show you we now have a totally brick facade.
This is the corner unit, and I'll show you that when I get to the next set of plans.
Basically, when we presented the plan, we did not have any units that were visitable.
Visitable is a new word, more of an architectural concept that instead of saying handicap accessible, it's visitable, which means you have an area where you have a ramp into your home on your first floor.
You would have a bathroom that could accommodate a wheelchair or someone perhaps on the walker.
So this is what we had initially. And after we got some comments back, mainly from the planning commission, we changed this unit so that we are now in conformance with the request.
I mean, with the refusal and request of the planning commission.
So these are the revised plans. Basically, we still have the same layout.
You still come in Rush Street. You still have a parking aisle in the back. But now we've added bicycle parking to per household to the rear of every property, you know, which gives us a substantial amount of bike parking spaces in the rear.
And the other thing that was significant, and you think the architect did a real fine job here, and the architect is on the call, Mr. Kevin O'Neill, is this unit here, which is at the end, this is what is now called a visitable unit.
We've eliminated one parking spot.
Let me just blow it up a little bit more.
We've eliminated one parking space and then made this an accessible aisle with a ramp up into the first floor.
And then when I get to the floor plan, you'll see that we were able to make an accessible bathroom on the first floor in compliance with making this a visitable unit.
We have landscaping also on the rear, some trees, we have tree frontage.
We also have green roofs on each property.
These are some redundant photographs, but this is the elevation I wanted to bring to the board's attention.
We now have all brick facades on the front.
We continue with the green roof on every home, and we have a pilot house on each home also.
Again, some different perspectives of the facades.
The other thing the community group mentioned was they didn't like the fence or the gate leading into the community.
So we don't have a problem removing that gate, but we really didn't get much feedback, frankly, from the community group after our first meeting.
This is a typical unit. I don't want to show the board every layout of every unit, but basically in the basement, there's a flex space, bedroom flex space with a half bath.
go to the first floor living room and kitchen area to the rear yard one parking space for each
car i mean for each home in this project second floor would have two bedrooms and a bath and then
the third floor would have one bedroom and office with a rooftop deck these are all the other units
mr chairman i mean vice chair i again i can go through every floor plan but basically that first
floor plan that I showed you is what's typical in this community.
That's fair.
The rest of the documents are pro forma documents that you would typically see in a presentation
like this.
And I attach one address of the tax balance of zero with regard to one of the 14 lots.
About an hour before this meeting, this hearing, I did send Ms. Emerson the remainder of the Philadelphia Tax Center printouts, which I'll show the board in my next.
These are the deeds.
Indicating ownership.
This is our notice of mailing.
we mailed out 190 or so letters notifying the community of the community meeting as well as
the zba hearing finally i want to get to the zoning records i i walk through the
And finally, I want to get to the zoning records. I walked through the aerial photograph, Mr. Vice Chairman, and I indicated what the building was used for, 2013 auto sales showroom and body and fender.
currently now it's auto repair. The one property at the corner I pointed out was 28 dwelling units
with prepared food and business and professional offices. And then across the street was 13
single family homes. And then adjacent to our property was 72 dwelling units. So all those
documents that are supportive of that outline are attached to the presentation. I could go through
each one if you want but as an officer of the court they all are here and they all support
what i just represented to the board okay let's get your uh client on the line uh mr clinton okay
i just want to show you two more things if i could mr chairman this is the
the lot subdivision approval by the planning commission.
And then these are all the tax bills from every property on the site.
There's a zero balance for everyone except the first property.
And that amount, $417.14 is not due till March 31st.
And then when you get to the end of the properties,
there's two or three that actually have a credit of over $2,800. So I appreciate Ms. Emerson
pointing that out, and hopefully this will satisfy her concerns as well as the board,
the boards. So just in conclusion, this project is consistent with the neighborhood. It's a
single-family project, 25 single-family homes, 25 parking spaces, 25 bike parking spaces.
It's in harmony generally with the code for single-family. We're not overbuilding. We're
not trying to squeeze properties in. Most of them are 16 feet wide. We're not affecting anyone's
light or air, any development of any adjacent property. We're not affecting, we are certainly
not displacing anyone we're removing an industrial unused uh it's partly used but generally unused
building that's really an eyesore to the neighborhood and we're going to put in brick
facade buildings which are consistent with the other fabric of the neighborhood
so with that i would rest and ask my client uh sam can you unmute yourself yes i'm unmuted
sir uh can you please state your name and spell it for the record
sam dolly wall d-h-a-l-i-w-a-l do you swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but
the truth i do please proceed counsel thank you mr vice chair mr dolly war were you on the call
when i presented your project to the board yes i was were you also at the community meeting
where I went over some of the comments
or most of the comments that were made
by the community members?
And were my representations consistent
with your memory of what was said at that meeting?
Is there anything that you would like to add
that I may have omitted?
If you had the opportunity to testify,
would you adopt my testimony as your own
and as true and correct?
Yes, I would.
Thank you, Mr. Dollywell.
Mr. Vice Chair, I also have the architect, if you could adopt my testimony, too.
He's on the call.
Kevin O'Neill, could you unmute yourself?
Kevin O'Neill has been unmuted and allowed to speak, Vice Chair.
Thank you.
Mr. O'Neill, can you please state your name and spell it for the court reporter, please?
Kevin O'Neill, O-N-E-I-L-L.
Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, or nothing but the truth?
Proceed, counsel.
Thank you, Mr. Vice-Chair. Mr. O'Neill, were you on the call when I presented the project that you so artfully designed?
And is there anything that I said that you would say differently, or is there anything that you want to add to my presentation?
No, I would agree with your presentation.
And if you had the opportunity to testify, would you adopt my testimony as your own and as sure and correct?
Thank you, Mr. O'Neill.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Vice Chair.
No, Vice Chair.
Any questions from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
No, thank you, Mr. Clinton, for getting those additional tax clearances.
I appreciate that. I just wanted to verify if the board approves. There are two pages of revised plans. Am I correct?
I appreciate that.
I just wanted to verify if the board approves there.
Yes, Ms. Emerson.
All right. Thank you.
Questions from the virtual audience?
I see no hands at the time, Vice Chair.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Vice Chair, and good afternoon. David Fecto with the City Planning Commission.
Vice Chairman and Board Members, the Comprehensive Plan recommends no change to the industrial and commercial mixed use and residential single-family zoning at this location.
The zoning maps in this part of the neighborhood were changed in 2017 in accord with recommendations in the Comprehensive Plan.
This property is in a transitioning industrial area and is not within one of Philadelphia's designated industrial preservation districts.
The existing floor plan of the warehouse and lack of highway or freight access is unlikely to meet the needs of modern industrial uses.
The city planning commission recommends that the board grant our proposed use variances for multiple principal buildings and multi-family household living and the variances from the perimeter screening requirement.
Thank you.
mi-2023-005584 2111 to 2141 east rush street my vote is yes with provisos revised plans
two pages stamped by zba on february 28th 2024
thomas holliman my vote is yes with proviso james snell my vote is yes with proviso
Thank you, Mr. Clinton.
Thank you, Vice Chair. Have a great night, everybody.
All right. We're going to move on to number eight.
And Mr. Board Member Jim Snell is going to chair this actual case.
Thank you, Vice Chair.
Okay. Case number eight.
So we're at MI-2023-006.
938-1319-North-23rd-Street.
Before I call on the attorney, I want to note that Vice Chair Shahid is recusing himself,
and LeBaron Leonard Palmer from Development Services will be joining us to serve as an alternate on this case.
So we appreciate that, LeBaron.
So attorney for this case is Joseph Consul, attorney for the developer Cvetta Group LLC, Cvetta Property Group LLC.
Joe, can you identify yourself, your client, and your client's relationship to the property?
Yeah, Joseph Consul, that's J-O-S-E-P-H, last name, Consul, C-O-N-S-O-L-E.
My client is Chivetta Property Group.
They are under a development agreement with the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority to develop this lot.
Okay, great.
Michael Tomasetti, one of the owners, should be on the call.
Did you get sworn in earlier today, Joe?
I did.
All right, we're going to swear you in.
Do you agree to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
okay great we appreciate that uh at this time i'm gonna have uh board uh member tom holliman
ask you a few questions good afternoon council okay do you agree to waive the reading of the
refusal and stipulate to his accuracy yes did you email all of the exhibits and documents that's
required five days in advance to this here yes thank you please proceed
All right. So, 1319 North 23rd Street. As I mentioned, my client is Chivetta Property Group, one of Philadelphia's premier companies that partners with the city for affordable housing.
They are under a contract with the Redevelopment Authority to develop this lot at 1319 North 23rd Street.
Two weeks ago, we were in front of the board for a variance for 1318 North 23rd Street, which is the property across the street, was the same variance request.
These are corner properties that are zoned CMX2.
These blocks are not commercial blocks at all.
One and two, the agreement with the Redevelopment Authority is to develop a single-family home.
The agreement with the Redevelopment Authority is to develop a single-family home.
It's a three-bedroom, two-bath home.
They'll be developing an identical model at 1318 and 1319.
The board granted the variance for 1318, and now we're here for 1319.
It was just for some reason we got scheduled on separate weeks, but we presented in front of the Brewery Town,
Sharswood Community Civic Association on both of those properties at the same time. At that time,
we received their support as shown here. And here's their letter specific to 1319. I believe
they mentioned 1318 in addition somewhere in one of their letters here, but this is specifically
for 1319 um proof of mailing here's the photos and plans it is a corner lot as mentioned
it's photos of the lot and our posters uh we included our plans showing the layout that i
mentioned there is uh just mechanicals in the basement um and uh three bedrooms two baths
across the first, second, and third floor.
We'll match up to the properties next to it in height.
And that's kind of the extent of it.
We included everything else, our tax clearance certificate,
as well as the development agreement with the Philadelphia Housing Authority
showing their agreement with Chivetta Property Group.
With that, I'll call my client, Michael Tomasetti,
to adopt my testimony.
Again, we're seeking a variance
to not include commercial space
on the first floor
as this block has no commercial space
and we don't believe
has a specific need for it.
Thank you.
Mr. Thomas Hetty.
Is your client's first name
Michael, Mr. Thomas Hetty?
It is.
Mr. Thomas Hetty has been immuted
and allowed to speak vice chair all righty uh mr tomasetti we're gonna swear you in uh first could
you uh give your name and uh spell your name to the court reporter yes sir it's michael tomasetti
m-i-c-h-a-e-l tomasetti t-o-m-a-s-e-t-t-i okay great uh you agree to uh uh tell the truth the
whole truth and nothing but the truth yes all right appreciate that uh please proceed good
afternoon mr thomas eddie did you hear my uh testimony just now regarding 1319 north 23rd
yes i did do you adopt it as your own i do thank you nothing further okay uh any questions from
from the board no no questions okay no no questions from uh uh council uh hillary emerson
not at this time mr snow okay uh any questions from the virtual audience
i see no hands at this time mr snow okay planning commission thank you sir and good afternoon
David Fecto with the city planning commission board members the comprehensive plan recommends
a change in zoning at this location from commercial mixed use to residential single family the zoning
maps in this part of the neighborhood date to 1933 the appellant proposes no commercial ground floor
in a commercial mixed use district and this proposal matches that recommended zoning the city
planning commission recommends that the board grant the proposed use variants for not providing
ground floor commercial space okay thanks david all right uh mi-2023-006-938-1319
north 23rd street my vote is yes thomas holloman my vote is yes
the baron leonard palmer my vote is yes okay mr consul there you there you have it thank you board
all right number nine you think we're gonna swing this back over to uh vice chair shaheed
i had some big shoes i had some big shoes to fill how'd i go great great number great
I-2023-004889
3360 Stokely Street
John Griffin
is mr griffin in the audience mr griffin if you're in the virtual audience please raise your hand
he's coming back in as a panelist now vice chair thank you
good afternoon mr griffin can you please state your name and spell it for the court reporter
Yes, it is John Griffin, G-R-I-F-F-I-N.
You swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Can you please identify your client?
My client is Anwari, A-N-W-A-R-I, Marweiss, M-A-R-W-E-I-S.
Thank you. Mr. Holliman has a few questions for you.
Yes, sir.
Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his accuracy?
I do, sir.
Did you email all the exhibits and documents as required five days in advance to this hearing?
I emailed everything on Monday. I was not able to do it Friday.
There was some other documents that Ms. Emerson requested this morning, and we got over to her probably within the hour on that.
Thank you. Please proceed.
Yes. Can you can everyone see my shared screen?
Yes. OK, Mr. Shahid. Good afternoon. Members of the board. Good afternoon.
This is a matter where we are seeking a use variance as it applies to 3360 Stokely Street.
3360 Stokely Street is a fairly large industrial complex.
There are no residential dwellings that are bordering the property.
What we are looking to do, and I will go through this with you shortly, is to take a small slice of that building, literally 742 square feet, that we are calling, just for our purposes, we're calling Space A.
And we're looking to convert that into essentially a commissary kitchen that will prepare food for carts, just like you see carts that are on the street on many of the city corners that will prepare halal type food for those carts.
Those carts will then be picked up by their owners in the morning and then transported to the various places across the city where there are currently in existence halal trucks that are duly licensed by the city and the health department to properly operate.
So we're not looking to sell food out of this space. This is literally a, these will be my words, this is literally a prep kitchen to prepare the food. The carts will be stored in a much larger area of the building.
And I will show that to you shortly. They will be there very early in the morning to go out.
They will then come back probably late afternoon.
We have purchased and had in existence an eight yard dumpster.
And I will show you that that's going to be moved to the back of the property that will have a secured.
Fenced in area. We have a contract, which I will show you as well, which was designed to have at the end of each day, whatever leftover food there may be disposed of properly.
So we don't have a situation where food might sit there a night or two. And then, of course, that invites all kinds of other issues.
Every single day, there will be disposal and get out.
And then the trucks, not the trucks, I apologize.
The carts will then be cleaned, sanitized, stored overnight, and then the process will repeat itself.
And then the process will repeat itself. There is no Sunday sales.
There is no.
And I think most notably, there are no residential dwellings that are bordering this area at all.
You will see a cover letter that explains sort of largely what I just said that I had forwarded to Mr. Bergman.
Exhibit one is the RCO letter. That meeting occurred last week with a gentleman from my office was present.
We had some concerns that I think and I can say confidently we addressed all of them so that there are no issues.
We have that RCO letter of support that I've just sort of zipped through.
Exhibit two is the L&I refusal.
Three is the floor plan and site plan for this.
If you take a look on the right side where the shaded in area is,
not shaded, but the lined area that I'm focusing in on. This little area right here is what we're
going to call space A. This is the area that we are looking to turn into a commissary or what I
may commonly call a prep kitchen. It is 742 square feet in all. This is the outside of the building.
As we move a little bit down, we see the outside of the area over here.
this is important right here. This is the exhaust system that is required for the building. So
one of the people at the RCO had said, well, geez, don't you really have to have an exhaust system?
And we said we did. And we showed them this right here. And in fact, that person said, oh,
Great. Didn't know that. Thank you. So that is part of that.
Next up is we have the waste removal contract that I just mentioned.
It comes every single day.
So there isn't any issue with food not picked up at the end of the day or whatever is left over from the trucks.
I have talked to the clients and we had mentioned to the community the possibility somehow of whatever may be left over in food for people to come and take it, not necessarily to buy it because it would have been materials that are unsold.
We're trying to figure that out, but trying to do whatever we can maybe for the community and those that may be hungry for sales that just aren't going to be made.
Exhibits 5A through 5E are exterior and interior photos.
Here is a photo of the exterior, also another photo of the exterior.
This is sort of the area that we're kind of focusing on that will be done in a prep kitchen.
Just sort of mindful that after this process, if the use variance is granted, then we move on to the Department of Health that regulates this.
So we are still a number of months away from getting going on this.
But this is the initial step we need to take. The health department, as I think the board knows, strictly regulates this stuff. So there'll be lots of eyes on this stuff.
Uh, this right here is the door, uh, that, that sort of is right there, just so, just so you would know. Uh, and this right here is that it's does not comprise the rest of it.
But this is the area where the food carts, again, we're not talking about the big trucks, the food carts will be situated after they are sanitized.
after they are sanitized. This is the deeds that show ownership. My client is a part owner
along with another family member. There is the real estate transfer tax certification.
uh there is the notice of posting that i think went up on february 2nd i informed miss emerson
of that i i could be wrong it's possible it was february 6th but i put that in an email
my office did tour that's also part of the necessary uh posting this right here and i
think we've all seen these a hundred times um i've forgotten how many times i've ordered from
one of these carts, being in Center City with an office. So that's what the carts look like.
And of course, that's what will go after sanitized each day that will go into this
much larger area, which is secured overnight. And that's that. I hope and I believe
Mr. Anwari Marweiss is on the line with us.
If perhaps we can let him in.
Can we promote him, please?
What is your client's name, Mr. Gregg?
Anwari Marweiss, M-A-R-W-E-I-S.
i see no one by that day vice chair
i i know he was on for a significant amount of time i had been texted religiously
you're an officer of the court so we can take we can take your uh word in
As an officer of the court, Mr. Shahid, I can advise that I have communicated with Mr. Marwise so many times, emphasis on the word so many.
He was aware of this presentation.
That's okay.
He probably couldn't hold on.
So we're going to move on.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Vice Chair.
No, Vice Chair.
Any questions from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Vice Chair.
And Mr. Vice Chair, just let me conclude, just for purposes of the record.
This entire packet was forwarded to him.
We went over it with him, and he had fully adopted everything without any changes.
Any questions from the virtual audience?
chair we have a call in user with the phone number ending at three five five two
call in user please unmute yourself and wait for vice chair
hello yes good afternoon can you please state your name and spell it for the court reporter please
yes adrian fernandez swampoodle neighborhood process association rco
Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed.
We sent in a letter of support with provisos for this address.
We do support disuse in the I-2 district.
We have four provisos that we're requesting.
The first one is trash and recycling and dumpsters and waste collection to be stored and managed inside the property lines and not on the street sidewalks.
Also, for all food business vehicles to be parked within the property lines, I believe the owners told us there would be about 25 food trucks.
Also, the variance limited to Space A and the related parking for Space A.
And the last thing is that provides with that the exterior exhaust plumbing equipment, fans and other plumbing equipment, be affixed or attached to the vertical exterior walls only
and no exterior exhaust plumbing equipment placed, affixed, or attached on any flat roof surface or structure
to avoid the oil spewing into the air and going to other buildings.
That's the last one.
Hillary, did we get all of those provisos in, and are they all enforceable?
Well, I believe that the – I think I did see them.
the i i think i did see them i looked at them briefly the letter came in this afternoon
I looked at them briefly, the letter came in.
um and there's a lot of things uh several of them involved keeping things within
the property boundaries which i think if there were if there were i mean we can't control the
street street parking um but certainly if anything was happening like on the sidewalks that would
involve streets department approval um and i i believe on the refusal it specifies
space a already so i think it is already limited to um that particular location um at at the
property correct mr uh i i can tell you um i i think for all of that we had talked about and
discussed and certainly have no objections to and just if we'll note uh back here uh the
If I can find it, the waste disposal, we have a copy of it somewhere.
um uh and and that um consistent with concerns is being moved to the rear of the property
uh and that will be in a completely fenced in a little storage area that you typically may see
when you have to dump stuff in a dumpster you got to get through like sort of a gate
uh we're doing that to uh not have that anywhere near the street and cause those issues
so i i respect those concerns and i believe we had addressed them
okay uh is there any other questions in the virtual audience was swan poodle done
i just wanted to know if they could honor the um exterior exhaust being
and affixed to vertical exterior walls only
and now on the roof.
All right, thank you.
That's what we got right here.
Anybody else in the virtual audience?
Vice Chair, I see the other hands at this time.
Planning Commission?
Thank you, Vice Chair, and good afternoon.
David Fecto with the City Planning Commission.
Vice Chair and Board members,
the comprehensive plan recommends a change
in zoning at this location
from I-2 General Industrial to I-1 General Industrial.
This property has a documented history as food manufacturing and distribution.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the board grant their proposed use variants
for commissaries and catering.
Hillary, is there anything we need to add to this proviso specifically outside of Space A?
um i don't you know i don't even think we need to um put space a in there because it's already
on the refusal so that should transfer to the permit i agree get it all right uh number nine
mi-2023-004889 3360 stokely street my vote is yes with proviso
Thomas Solomon
my vote is yes with
provisos
James Snell my vote is yes
with provisos
sir may I be excused
thank you
I dash 2023
dash 006
894-2319
2321 Bridge Avenue
Richard DeMarco
Richard DeMarco is coming back and is the panelist now, Vice Chair.
Thank you so much.
Mr. DeMarco, good afternoon.
Good morning, Mr. Chairman.
Good afternoon.
Good afternoon.
Sorry.
Long day.
Thank you, Damon.
Please spell it for the court reporter, please.
sure richard demarco last name d-e-m-a-r-c-o you swear to tell the truth the whole truth and
nothing but the truth yes uh can you please identify your client the client is uh an llc
called stash spot llc uh lawrence robinson is my client he's the sole member uh mr holliman
has a few questions to ask you sure good afternoon counsel do you agree to waive the reading of the
refusal and stipulate to its accuracy yes I agree did you email all exhibits
and documents as required five days in advance to this hearing I did
5 days in advance to this hearing. I did.
Thank you. Please proceed and share.
Okay. Thanks members of the board. I'm here on behalf
of Stash Spot LLC.
Here's our exhibit packet and I know that I'll start with the refusal.
I know Hillary had a comment on the refusal and
we trust her as far as what she thinks needs to be changed on it.
um i i think it's it's clear but um i i think i understand what she means she'll she'll certainly
say what she needs to say about that but whatever she we certainly don't want to have any problems
with ellen and i later down the road uh but anyway i'm here for a a use which is um we we're thrilled
to have full support of the neighbors on this um it's a nightclub uh and assembly and entertainment
use. The actual main use is a special exception case, which as the board knows is a lesser
standard. It's not necessarily to prove hardship as far as the use. It's going to be a live
entertainment venue for aspiring musicians. Stash, he goes by Stash, that's his middle name.
He's a musician himself. He has been working on this project for a few years.
He had to go to the land bank to get control of the property.
While there are some dimensional variants involved, there's a height variance.
It's really necessary due to the live music use.
There's going to be a stage on the first floor.
There's going to be a restaurant, a high-end restaurant.
I'll get into more detail in a moment.
There's going to be a smoking area, and Mr. Robinson will, of course, obtain all the proper permits for that.
So the reason why we, you'd probably be surprised that we have full support.
The reason is that the neighborhood does not have places for people to go and enjoy live music.
there is really a dearth of opportunities for up-and-coming bands that aren't in North Philly
that can't afford the big box theaters, and there's very few intimate locations for live music.
Some of you might remember Warm Daddies. That's not what we are, don't get me wrong,
But that's an idea to give you an idea of what this will be, a high end location for live music, for people who are trying to be developed their musical bands.
And that's what this is all about.
So the height variance is necessary because the first floor, and I'll get to the plans in a moment, the first floor needs high ceilings for the lighting and the sound systems.
and we have some refusals for outside decks there is going to be a private club element that's going
to have but when you think about a smoking scenario we're talking about like um like an
ashton's like a cigar cigar nights um and of course he'll have all the proper equipment for
that and um i won't i also want to mention that stash did some research about this this area of
the city was actually, uh, I'm going to segue really quick to a, uh, a blog, this area of the
city. And if you look, this is Ridge Avenue here. I'm indicating with my cursor and these orange
dots were, uh, were clubs, music clubs. Most of them are gone. This is our block right here.
So he's actually located on a, a strip that used to have was called the golden strip. It used to
have live music entertainment locations. Most of them are no longer operating. So he's filling a
need. And believe it or not, the neighbors were thrilled to hear that someone was doing something
like this. So let me show you the plans because I'm sure you're going to see that. Oh, I'll show
you some photos real quick. This is the posting. This is the building. There's going to be additions
to it. It's empty, it's vacant, needs some attention. There's a lot of auto-related
uses on this particular block. There are homes, but they're pretty removed. This is the building
here, and you can see there are some homes down here and back here, but they're pretty far from
location it's mostly vacant lots that it's adjacent to this is his um moniker if you will
the stash spot is what it's going to be called these are some conceptual ideas as to um
how the interior will look the sound stage um they'll also be and this is what he had in
the sound stage um they'll also be and this is what he had in mind for the uh outdoor spaces
they're going to be some nice lighting high end he's not going to have people out there late um
here are some of the menu suggestions going to be like a kind of a soul food cajun style menu
again these are some of the conceptual photos he's going to have some fried oysters
um like i said like an etouffee occasion theme all right here's the plan um
this is the uh first floor here
this is the second floor there's a stage here uh there's an open bar and this is the third
story here there's the outdoor deck at the third story level and there's an open patio at the
second story level this will be more clear on the rendering which i'll show you in a minute
these are the elevations and let me show you the rendering so it gives you a real better idea of
of how high end he's proposing this to be and i'll get to the details of the security and the
parking in a minute so this is the renderings by the architect and here's the open spaces here you
see it on here this is the third floor deck and the second floor deck these are variance items
the cmx2 zoning district requires variances for outdoor decks and as you can see there's
a lot of open space nearby so there's a real buffer from the neighbors let me get to um
this is the executive summary it's in our um packet mr uh robinson uh has a full business
plan for this so he is a businessman and i'll have him speak in a moment he operates a bus
bus company he has access to buses there is a nearby um city owned free lot about three or
blocks away. So there is on-street parking available, but Mr. Robson's going to have
shuttle buses to and from the parking area, the city lot, and he has already, and I prepared a
letter for him, he has interfaced with the parking authority for use of that lot. He's been told that
it's available for use, and he's going to have that for overflow parking as necessary.
Uh, let me show you the, so what we did was when we met with the RCO, we have full, actually almost unanimous support. The vote was 16 to 1 in support. Um, Mr. Harris from the RCO who we worked with, uh, wanted some, um, some commitments made, which we did. Um, they're not part of his letter, but, um, the intent, I wanted you to see it because it'll show why I think you'll, you'll see why we have the support we have.
This will be a 30 and over business.
He does not want the younger crowd, the younger set that can sometimes cause problems.
He wants to be an older crowd.
He's going to enforce a 30-year and over requirement.
As you can see, the provisor letter talks about the parking, overflow parking lot that he has available for use.
um we have a we'll have commercial trash hauling um we're going to allow the rco uh to use space
at reasonable times on non-busy busy nights he's going to make the the some of the spaces available
for the to the neighborhood group for meetings um he's got a veterans group that is um going to
use the space for some informational meetings and such. He's going to have licensed security
to prevent crowds control. And let's see, I think that's the main, here's the RCO letter.
I don't know if Mr. Harris was able to hang on at this late juncture, but I've never seen such a
a glowing uh support letter for a nightclub use um he he really spoke very fondly of the application
because a lot of the neighbors um were happy to hear about it um and you can see uh he mentions the
um the ridge avenue corridor that used to be a um an actual live music destination area and has not
lasted and this is hopefully going to attempt to reinvigorate that um so let me do this uh let me
have stash um raise his hand virtually i do want to pose just a couple quick questions to him so
you can meet him and see um that he's uh excited about it and going to really stick to his
that he's excited about it and going to really stick to his guns and get this thing done and
do it right. So let's go ahead and do that. Stash, can you raise your hand virtually?
And while he's doing that, you can see on your screen the Ridge Avenue Renaissance that the RCO
is hoping that this use can hopefully invigorate and really move that corridor away from
uh auto related uses to a more uh you know entertaining entertainment live music destination
where people can meet each other and i know you've seen some there's not a lot of places for
people to meet uh in the city and this is hopefully one of those things so uh hopefully stash
can be unmuted and we'll have him adopt some of these facts and testimonies what is your client's
dave uh stash robinson um lawrence robinson has been unbuted and allowed to speak okay
yes how you doing my name is lawrence l-o-r-e-n-c-e stash s-t-a-s-h robinson r-o-b-i-n-s-o-n
thank you do you swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes please proceed counsel thank you stash did you hear my uh presentation yes i did
All right. Is the facts and circumstances that I laid out in that presentation, are they true and accurate? And do you adopt them as your formal testimony in this matter?
All right. So just very briefly, explain to the board the process very briefly that you went through to get your control of this property.
About three years ago, I purchased 29, I mean, 2319 Ridge Avenue.
That took about, I went to closing on May 6th of 2021.
Then the property that's connected to it, 2317 Ridge Avenue,
I had to purchase from the city of Philadelphia, the land bank.
That took almost another two years.
And then going through L&I and zoning and things like that.
And so here we are now, almost three years later.
And did you work with the councilman's office throughout that land bank process?
Yes, I originally worked with Daryl Clark's office.
And before that, I was actually represented by Jeffrey Young Jr., who's now the city council member in that area.
But once he became the city council member for Daryl Clark, it became a conflict of interest.
And so I had to get new representation, which is you. So, Rich.
Right. So why don't you go ahead and just piggyback on what I was talking about.
Why do you feel this use is needed? And you did some research about this.
Why don't you just briefly explain to the board why you feel there's a there's a there's a real need for this type of use in the community?
correct um well for years and years and years um i've always wanted to open a live music
establishment um being someone that's been on both sides of it the singer but also the business
outside of it i always felt like there was nowhere for um musicians and singers and poets and
comedians to ever to go somewhere and just hone their craft and and have fun with it um like like
Like you said before, the Warm Daddies, the Souths, the place called Time.
Little places are really nice, but a lot of them don't really cater to the musician.
It's kind of like more so for hire.
And I wanted to bring something to the community where I know they would enjoy just meeting some new artists.
some of the artists that are on the radio now all of my friends associates that I've sung with
they all play for these different musicians and you know when there's a show in the city
that the Dell or at the Met they're always looking for somewhere to go somewhere to go so
you know I wanted to have a place where they're done their shows they can go back and come come
to my establishment and and sometimes you'll be there just for a dinner and you know you never
know who's going to come through the door um and that's what I wanted to provide because there's
nothing really like that in the city for musicians and artists and different singers to to come to
and and just kind of lay their hair down and have have fun and and I wanted to bring back dancing
And things for people my age to be able to do because I'm 39, but a lot of things in the city is either too young or honestly too old.
So I wanted to bring a mixture of the my age group to the older age group.
I wanted to bring a mixture of my age group to the older age group.
There's older bands that I've sung with, the UGOs, a lot of friends, the Manhattans, the Affiliant Truders, a lot of these different bands.
I would love to play on different nights, and I think it will bring something good to the neighborhood.
And you're going to have maybe some comedy nights sometime.
So it's late. The board has another whole list to go. So I think what we can do is I believe we've got no opposition here. So I'll go ahead and move my exhibits into evidence. I would just mention to the board, we could probably talk longer about this, but I'm mindful of your schedule.
So then questions or. Yeah. And just just to sum up, Mr. Chair, it's a special exception to use itself.
The dimensional variances are asked for in context with special exception.
And it's really just to bring a really nice product to have those variances will allow it to be to have the high ceilings that is needed and the room to do the uses that he wants.
Thank you. Any questions from the board?
No, Mr. Vice Chairman.
No, Vice Chair.
Questions from our attorney, Hillary Emerson.
I just wanted to note, as Mr. DeMarco mentioned at the beginning of his presentation, we do need to obtain a corrected refusal.
And I will handle that from L&I because the description didn't describe where the additions were or list the specific uses that were being requested.
There's some mention of them in the list of variances, but there needs to be a description of the scope of work.
And Ellen and I said, no, we need to take this one back and have it corrected.
So we'll do that and we'll aim.
We won't put a date on this, but we should be able to vote this either next week or the following week at the latest.
That's great. Yeah, that's perfect. Yeah. OK. Yeah. No, I agree.
The refusal is not the greatest. So, yeah, that could be actually. That's terrific. Thank you very much.
All right. Any questions from the virtual audience?
Vice Chair, we have Habsah Ayeda. They have been unmuted and allowed to speak.
Good afternoon, ma'am. Can you please state your name and spell it for the record?
Good afternoon.
Habsah, please unmute yourself.
vice chair it seems they're having technical difficulties
is any other hands up we have stephen michael kufffeld they have been unmuted and allowed to
speak good afternoon good afternoon um can you state your name and spell it for the record
Stephen, S-T-E-P-H-E-N, C-U-F-F, like Frank, E-L-D as in David.
Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, but nothing but the truth?
Please proceed.
Very briefly, as a member of the working music community, a full-time touring musician and touring manager,
I am in full support of this effort.
this is an establishment that is definitely needed in the community especially in the location that
is being proposed and i just want to be on record to say that this is something that
should definitely be voted to move forward thank you for your time thank you any other hands in
the virtual audience i see all details at this time advice chair planning commission thank you
vice chair and good after or good evening david fechta with the city planning commission vice
chair and board members the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the commercial mixed use
zoning at this location the proposed variances for rear yard and occupied area are existing
conditions on the property and are therefore supportable because of these conditions requiring
parking as a condition to reuse the building would be unreasonable the appellant proposes
assembly and entertainment in an existing commercial building assembly and entertainment
is allowed with a special exception.
The appellant has shown that the proposed assembly and entertainment
will have no detrimental impacts beyond what might be expected.
However, there is no unique physical condition or circumstance of this property
that would require the addition of a smoking lounge.
The appellant has also not shown why the proposed roof deck
is required to ensure viable use of the property.
So the City Planning Commission recommends that the board grant
their proposed special exception for assembly and entertainment
and the accessory off-street parking variants and the dimensional
and the accessory off-street parking variance, and the dimensional variances for rear yard, occupied area, and additional height,
but deny the proposed use variances for a smoking lounge and a non-residential roof deck, and the dimensional variance for a roof deck setback.
Just brief response, Mr. Chairman.
First of all, I thank the Planning Commission.
So the smoking aspect of this is part of the comprehensive entertainment use that he's providing.
We were surprised not to receive any objections from the RCO and the neighbors about it.
The open areas are part of that, to have the high-end entertainment building.
And the cigar lounge and the open decks were part and parcel of that.
So while I understand the Planning Commission's position, the high-end smoking lounge, and it's intended along the lines of Ashton's or Mahogany, the old Mahogany, was part, is part, integral part of the plan.
Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. DeMarco.
So we're going to hold this vote and vote this in the next week or two.
Hillary, it dates out to you, Councilman.
Yeah, thank you, Hillary.
Yep, no problem.
and the record will be closed except for the corrected
refusal. Perfect.
Number 11
MI 2020. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Have a good afternoon.
You do the same. Number 11
MI-2023
004813
1200 South Broad Street.
Stephanie Boggs
Magana
Is she available?
Stephanie Magana is coming back
and is a panelist now, chair.
Good afternoon.
I got to get up.
Good afternoon, Stephanie.
How are you, counsel?
Thank you.
Can you please state your name
and spell it for the court reporter?
Stephanie Magana, M-A-G-A-G-N-A.
Do you swear to tell the truth,
the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Can you please identify your client?
Sure. My client is 1200 South Broad Street, LLC.
They are the actual owner of the property.
Albert Staromanski is here today on their behalf.
We're also joined by Representative for the Owner,
Programs Employing People,
as well as Restaurant Alert or Project Architect.
Okay. Bear with me.
Mr. Halamiki has a few questions to ask you.
Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or referral and stipulate to his accuracy?
Yes, I do.
Did you email all the exhibits and documents as required five days in advance to this hearing?
Yes, I did.
Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.
Thank you.
Sorry for the technical delay.
Okay, so this project is for 1200 South Broad Street. The property is located at the corner of Broad Street and Federal Street. It's an existing two-story building that includes a courtyard, recently nominated for historic designation by the Preservation Alliance of Greater Philadelphia.
But here's some pictures of the current condition of the property.
The building has suffered from deferred maintenance for several years and is in need of significant repairs in order to kind of revive it and reestablish viable use of this site.
It's been owned and operated by Programs Employing People for the last 30 years, and they've operated out of this location during that time.
programs employing people as a nonprofit organization that serves individuals and
their families with developmental disabilities. They are one of only a few such organizations
that serve this community in the city and the only one that remain in this neighborhood.
And as I said, they've occupied this building for a number of years, but its size and its scope and
the changing nature of their own operations have meant the building is significantly underutilized
And they have run into a situation where it's difficult for them to maintain it to the point where at the end of 2023 or end of 2022, early 2023, they came to the position of needing to sell the property in order to continue their mission generally as an organization.
So they solicited offers from several different developers for this property, our client being the one that ultimately entered an agreement of sale with them because they were the only developer who proposed an option that did not call for the demolition of the existing building.
Instead, the proposal for this site specifically looks to maintain programs.
the proposal for this site specifically looks to maintain programs employing people and their
services at this location within its building under lease terms that are sustainable for PEP
at a term of at least 50 years under financially sustainable conditions for them and the project
is intended to make sure that that is a key component of the revitalized development here
on site. So in addition to revitalizing their space and reserving about 13,000 square feet for
PEP, including the PEP bowling alley in the basement, there will be an addition, a two-story
overbuilt addition and a four-story addition within the courtyard to accommodate 53 multi-family
dwelling units above, six of which will be dedicated to portable units maintained on site.
And there is also an existing, you can see here the back of the building on Carlisle Street,
there's an existing warehouse space on the back of the building that's currently an accessory
storage space for programs employing people. And the owner, the equitable owner is looking to use
that as storage space for their own properties going forward. So we are looking for approval
for that to become a non-accessory storage and warehouse space. As far as refusals for this
project who are seeking a few in connection with the redevelopment of this site. They include
certain landscaping requirements that are related to the existing conditions along Carlisle Street
where there is accessory parking and a setback of the building off of the street line. We're also
looking for a height variance. 45 feet would be permitted by right with the affordable dwelling
units here and we are seeking a max height of 55 feet as well as the variance for the non-accessory
warehouse space, as I mentioned, so that that can be an existing loading dock and warehouse space
can be used by the owner of the building for their own use off-site. As I mentioned,
Programs Employing People is the owner of this project, and they are a future tenant of the
redevelopment as well. And this project is essential for their future to be able to continue
their services in this location. As I mentioned, I am joined today by Michael Tucker, who is the
CEO for programs employing people to speak on their behalf, but I did want to mention
that their letter regarding this project and it's important to their organization is included
within our exhibit package, as well as a petition of support from numerous members of their
community and their families about their support for the project and what it means to them.
We're also thankful to have the support of the South Broad Street Neighbors Association.
well as discussing this with their zoning committee as we went through the historic commission review
process recently um so their letter of support is included within our packet and we've been
grateful for the support that they've shown us as well um and finally i will note that we did
recently receive approval for the redesign of this building from the philadelphia historic commission
the property is still under nomination but we do expect that to be designated formally for historic
APPROVAL AND THE PROPOSAL AND SPECIFIC PLANS THAT YOU'LL SEE THAT RUSS AND OLLER WILL PRESENT
IN A MINUTE WERE RECENTLY APPROVED. SO A COPY OF THEIR LETTER OF APPROVAL IS INCLUDED WITHIN
OUR EXHIBIT PACKAGE AS WELL. AND FINALLY I'LL NOTE THAT IN CONNECTION WITH THE HISTORIC COMMISSION
REVIEW PROCESS THERE WERE MINOR CHANGES TO THE SUBMITTED ZONING PLAN, NONE OF WHICH AFFECTED
THE VARIANCE HERE. THEY ARE VERY MINOR IN NATURE BUT WE ARE SUBMITTING TWO PAGES OF REVISED PLANS
for approval should the board the board look to grant relief in this matter um but these are our
revised plans and a copy of the proviso form all of which is consistent with the plans that were
shown to the historic commission and to the community through that process and finally i
would like now to take a brief pause for some housekeeping and ask albert staraminski from
1200 south broad street llc to identify himself to adopt my testimony and then i'll call michael
Tucker from programs employing people. Albert, can you raise your hand if you haven't already
and identify yourself with the board? Albert Starominski has been unmuted and allowed to speak.
Good afternoon. Albert Starominski speaking. How are you? All right. Can you state your name
and spell it for the record? Sure. Albert Starominski, A-L-B-E-R-T, last name S-T-A-R-O-M-I-N-S-K-Y.
you swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do please proceed council
thank you albert um can you just confirm that you're appearing today on behalf of 1200 south
broad street llc yes that's correct did you hear the statements i made to the board this evening
i didn't okay are they true and correct based on your understanding
yes they are would you adopt them as your own i would thank you um with that i'd ask michael
Thank you. With that, I'd ask Michael Tucker to raise his hand and identify himself.
Tucker to raise his hand and identify himself.
Again, he's the CEO of Programs Employing People.
They are the current owner of the property and the future of China to the building.
And we would like to give him an opportunity to speak on this project.
Michael Tucker has been unmuted and allowed to speak.
Am I on? There we are.
Yes, Michael, I can't see you.
Let me...
hmm it's not letting me show my camera but i'm here sure that's okay uh can you please state
your name and spell it for the record certainly michael tucker m-i-c-h-a-e-l-t-u-c-k-e-r
he's ready to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do proceed counsel
thank you michael um i'll turn it over to you i can go through these slides as you wish but please
If there's anything you would like to add to my statements to the board this evening, please do so.
Thank you. You did a great job, Steph. I just wanted to thank you for the opportunity to speak.
PEP was founded in 1969 by a group of families who recognized there was a need for service in the city of Philadelphia.
We provide services to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
And about 20 years ago, we opened a senior center, began providing services to the senior population.
In 1995, we purchased the building on South Broad Street. It's about 35,000 square feet.
From 1995 to 2024, we put in to the building itself to maintain it $2,900,000. In 2024,
the agency did a strategic assessment to repair the building and bring it up to a standard at
that time. That was estimated at $5 million, and that was 10 years ago. Since that time,
the entire system under the past governor and this governor has changed to be a more community-based
program. Whereas we used to provide services to thousands of people here in the building and in
the community, now 90% of what we do is community-based. In October of 2022, the board came
together and we sort of did an internal strategic review. We went through COVID. We survived it. We
didn't lay anyone off. We did everything we could do to maintain the service we provided to the
people who needed it most. The board decided at their October board meeting in 2022 to sell the
building. We engaged CBRE, who put our plan out in January of 2023, and we got a number of proposals.
Of all of those proposals, all but one wanted to tear the building down. When we met with Spring
Hill and they presented their plan, and then through our conversation with them, their entire
outlook was positive to us. They wanted to keep the building. They wanted to allow PEP to remain
in the building. And greater than that, they offered us space back. So they offered us about
18,000 square feet. When we were going through this process, we looked at alternatives if PEP
sold the building and moved. The cheapest space for the size we needed was $21,000. We couldn't
afford that. At the highest end of our lease with Spring Hill staying in the building, it will be
just about $10,000. And that's in a couple of decades from now. Most of the families we serve,
just about 50% of them live within this area. They live in this community. They walk here,
their families walk here, their participants walk here. It was so important to them that we stay
where we're at. This proposal was the only one that said, we will take care of upgrading the
building, doing a new build out that's ADA accessible, and the people could still stay here.
The community still uses our facility. They will continue to do that in the future.
Today, what we deal with, as Stephanie showed some of the pictures, you know, we're a small nonprofit, but we deal with graffiti, vandalism, trash, drug use.
The police are constantly outside moving people off of Broad Street.
When you look at the building at night, we have lights on, but this proposal brightens up the entire corner.
It provides security, but it's not just for our neighbors, but for us coming and going in and out of the building.
We know most of our neighbors, a number of our board members literally live within blocks of the organization.
There is almost no opposition. We heard one, and that was about a parking spot, literally one in our entire year-long process.
So people in this community know PEP because they use PEP. They're participants of what we do.
So we hope that you will vote in favor of this because it is vital to what we do and our continued success. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Tucker.
um with that i would like to call rustin oler who's our project architect to review go through
our design materials very quickly um rustin i will let you share your screen
if you can raise your hand and identify yourself for the board rusted old it is coming back in as
a panelist now so council you said you wanted to come on and do what because we're a little behind
on timing i agree rustin rustin oler is our project architect i'll ask him to be very brief but i
like him to go through our plans and explain the proposal and specifically the elements that require
relief you can keep it brief that'll be good please understood thank you
You can keep it brief. That would be good, please.
Understood. Thank you.
I will keep it very brief for you.
So Stephanie showed some of these, so I'll go through this really quickly.
But essentially we're looking at a two-story overbuilt on top of the existing building.
Least minimal amount of addition and relief that we can ask for based on the existing structure of the building,
the pending historical nomination
and the interaction with the interdepartment agencies.
We are essentially keeping the existing building footprint
except for a small info in the courtyard.
On the rear of the building,
we are maintaining all the existing parking area.
That's where the landscape refusal comes in.
In order to remove the refusal,
we would have to decrease parking count.
While parking is not required here,
it was a major ask of the community
and in its existing non-conforming condition.
The other primary variance that we're asking for is height.
So if we just go back to the front,
the height of the building is driven by the existing height of the building.
And we made the upper stories as minimal as possible
while keeping with today's industry standards
in order to lower that as much as we could
while maintaining the required viable program for the project.
i'll leave it at that for now thank you roston i think with that we can turn it over if there's
any questions thank you questions from the board no mr vice chairman no vice chair questions from
our attorney hillary emerson i just wanted to verify with miss mcgania you said two pages of
revised plans correct all right thank you uh any questions from the virtual audience
i see no heads at this time vice chair planning commission thank you vice chair and good afternoon
or good evening david effecta with the city planning commission uh chairman and board members
the comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning at this location from commercial mixed
use two to commercial mixed use three cmx three would allow an increase in height on the proposed
parcel and the proposed equipment and materials storage yards and buildings is incidental to the
proposed use of the property. Regarding the landscaping and screening variances, the appellant
has not taken advantage of a waiver that the Planning Commission can provide in lieu of the
proposed landscaping and screening variances. So those variances are not strictly necessary.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the board grant their proposed use variants for
equipment and materials storage yards and buildings and the proposed variance for maximum height
but denied the proposed variances from the landscaping and screening requirements in the
zoning code okay if i can very quickly just respond to that so the screening requirement
specifically relates to a landscaping buffer along carlisle street it was very important to
the community in the situation that we maintain the existing parking that is accessory to this
project as we move forward they are expecting that parking becomes a demand and parking is not required
with development um the the other landscaping waiver variance relates to a tree within the
existing courtyard of the property we have taken care to make sure that we are providing the
required number of street trees while also maintaining parking conditions along carlisle
street thank you uh hillary do we need anything in green minnesota or we have everything um we
we now have everything um mr reyster thank you thank you okay i'm going to vote on this
uh mi-2023-004813 1200 south broad street uh my vote is yes with provisos
revised plans two pages stand by zba on february 28th 2024
my vote is yes with proviso
james snell my vote is yes with proviso
thank you thank you number 12 mi-2023-006-946-800 south 12th street
Vern Anastasio.
Vern Anastasio is coming back in as a panelist now, Vice Chair.
Thank you.
Good evening, Mr. Chair.
Good evening.
Vern, you've already been sworn in.
Just state your name for the record and then.
Vern Anastasio.
2016 Spruce Street on behalf of
Ms. Melanie Dupree
you swear to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes sir uh mr holliman
Is this the way to tell the truth, the whole truth?
Nothing but the truth
Yes sir
has a few questions to ask good afternoon council do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal
and stipulate to his accuracy yes sir did you email all of the exhibits and documents as required
five days in advance to this hearing yes sir thank you please proceed and share your screen
800 south 12th street the application is for our coffee house cafe sort of a prepared food shop on
the first floor of an existing structure uh this is a referral which as the board knows but for
the record our proposal is considered consistent with the code so long as we can demonstrate that
the use will not cause an impact any more than a similarly situated uh cafe would uh and in this
particular case this is in the hawthorne neighborhood my client owns the property
here's uh let's get down to um the layout here is the um uh corner entrance we've got three or four
tables this is a coffee shop like any other coffee shop in in many neighborhoods strangely enough
Hawthorne doesn't really have any coffee shops for the most part, and this is at the corner of 12th and Catherine Street, right across the street from Hawthorne Park, which is a large green space that was installed after the revitalization of that particular neighborhood by Universal and Kenny Gamble with the residential development there.
This property is not part of that development, but it is adjacent and across the street from that park.
This is the front of the property with the entrance on the corner to the cafe.
On the side, you have the space for the residential units.
units. This is the Catherine Street frontage and the rear elevation where there's a parking
pad and trash storage. I'm going to pull out a little bit here and share with you some
photos. That's a brand new rehab. This used to be a vacant lot. The property was built
from the ground up and that's where the trash goes here's the interior of the first floor
everything is brand new all new fixtures we met with the neighbors all of these addresses were
mailed here's the two-page letter that went out to everybody uh the hawthorne empowerment
coalition, HEC, conducted the meeting, 123 individual households were mailed, and they
have, I'm going to stop sharing this, and they've already sent over a letter of support,
and I have that here.
If you give me a minute, I'll be able to show you.
Hathorn Empowerment Coalition gave a letter of support for the coffeehouse.
They also sent a letter for the outdoor seating, which is not part of this proposal.
But with that, I'm going to ask my client, Melanie Dupree, to raise her virtual hand.
If she's still with us.
She did log on at two o'clock.
What's your client's name, Mr. Anastasio?
Last name is Dupree.
First name, Melanie.
dupree has been unmuted and allowed to speak great good afternoon good afternoon ma'am can
you please state your name and spell it for the uh record
mr pre it looks like
it looks like she's disappeared vice chair
melody dupree can you raise your hand again please
there she is she's been unmuted and allowed to speak vice chair
mr pre can you please state your name and spell it for the court reporter please
Melanie Dupree please unmute yourself
sorry Melanie Dupree m-e-l-a-n-i-e d-u-p-r-e-e thank you do you swear to tell the truth the
whole truth and nothing but the truth I do proceed counsel thank you Mr. Chair Ms. Dupree did you hear
my presentation to the board this evening yes i did is it true and accurate to the best of your
knowledge yes it is and do you adopt it as your own testimony yes i do thank you i have nothing
further mr chair thank you uh council questions report no mr vice chairman no vice chair questions
from our uh attorney hillary forson not at this time mr vice chair questions from the virtual
audience vice chair we have a wu bet halu they have been abuted and allowed to speak okay
good afternoon oh no no just saying thank you i was trying to get um miss melanie's uh
attention but that was never mind okay no problem thank you anybody else in a virtual audience
we have no other hands at this time chair thank you commission thank you vice chair and good
evening david effecto with the city planning commission vice chairman and board members the
comprehensive plan recommends no change to the commercial mixed use zoning at this location
the appellant has shown that the proposed prepared food shop will have no detrimental impacts beyond
what might be expected the city planning commission recommends the board grant their
proposed special exception for a prepared food shop okay
in my dash 2023-006-946-800 south 12th street my vote is yes
Thomas Holloman
my vote is yes
James Snell
my vote is yes
thank you
number 15
MI-2023-006
3105 North 16th Street
Allen-Occamson
Vice Chair Alex Goldberg
has been promoted to panelists
good evening mr vice chairman is this going to be goldberg or knockamson i have knockamson on my
paperwork uh it's going to be me tonight okay no problem uh so uh do you can you please state
your name and spell it for the report reporter please sure alex goldberg of knockamson pc a-l-e-x
g-o-l-d-b-e-r-g and you swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do uh can you please identify a client sure my client is s-l-c real estate llc and its
representatives shati and stacy cooks are in the virtual audience thank you counsel uh do you agree
to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy i agree to waive the reading i
would stipulate to its accuracy we are submitting proviso plans and agreeing to reduce the density
that's proposed but i can go over that when we get to that exhibit all right have you emailed
in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed to proceed with this case five days in
advance of this hearing? I have. Thank you. Please repeat and share your screen. Okay.
All right. Again, my name is Alex Goldberg of the law firm Nockamson, D.C. I'm here presenting for
3105 North 16th Street. My client, Mr. Cooks, grew up at 16th and Allegheny, right around the
corner from this property. As you can see on your screen, it's in pretty bad disrepair
at this point. We're hoping to significantly improve this property and for use as a two-unit
dwelling. When we initially applied for this zoning permit application, it was for a three-unit
it was for a three-unit dwelling as you'll see on the refusal after discussing with the owners
dwelling as you'll see on the refusal
after discussing
and the architect we we decided to to lower the density to lessen any any impact on parking or
trash or just general density in the area and further the the density that we're asking for
is not out of character as you'll see in my presentation materials so here's the table
of contents we have a notice of refusal we received support from the coordinating rco
allegheny west civic association exhibit three is those revised proviso form and i'll note that
there aren't any specific changes to the building structure but there was reference to a triplex on
the initial submission to l and i that reference has now been changed to a duplex so just to make
sure that this was tidy we've included those revised plans exhibit four is some nearby
multi-family variances this is an rsa3 property but there are many multi-family properties
on our block including a a multi-family structure attached to us right next door
exhibit five is a zoning map six is photos of the property and the surrounding area seven is
architectural materials and eight is the rco meeting notice which we mailed in compliance
with the city's requirements and then the application for appeal the deed to the property
and the certificate of tax clearance so here's the refusal you can see in the middle of the page
in addition to the proposed use here which we are agreeing to reduce to two units this
application includes in addition to the second and third floor rear of the property the first
floor rear wall will remain where it is and we're seeking to square it off with the first floor
So you'll see two refusals, the first one being for the use.
Again, we are agreeing to reduce the density, which was supported by the RCO, to two units.
That second refusal changes subsequently, as there's a one-to-one parking ratio in RSA 3.
So going down to two units would lessen the requirement to two parking spaces.
I'll note that only one property on this block has accessory off-street parking,
so it would be out of character to have that additionally when you see the photos you'll
notice that we are attached on both sides the the only you know real opportunity for
off-street parking I guess would be in the existing front yard that would remove green
space it would also require the addition of a curb cut taking away public parking and
a massive tree that's at the front of our property that sort of sits right in front
um here's our letter of support we met with allegheny west civic association on february
20th there were about a dozen people there the conversation was positive there were requests
for specific provisos which are on the next page which i will go over and you can see that
essentially eight to one was voted in support of this project here is a letter sort of recapping
the meeting, what we discussed. And further here, I'll note that specifically, we agreed to
commercial trash pickup. We agreed to garbage disposals in the units, as well as the installation
of Jacob's Ladders in the upper level unit. Here is the proviso plan form, referencing again the
reduction in unit count from three to two while keeping the building structure the same.
This is that site plan. You'll see it again later in my presentation. I would just direct
your attention to the side. That was previously a reference to a triplex, change it to a
duplex, and that's the sort of gist of these revised plans. Okay, here's exhibit four. It's
a list of screenshots of nearby multifamily variances in the last few years, the majority
of which are on North 16th Street.
You'll see threes and fours, some larger.
Again, we're just seeking two units.
This is our next door neighbor at 3103, which obtained relief from this board in 2021 for
a four-unit dwelling and so on.
so there is a mixed character of uses on this block as well as closer up on allegheny ave
and other parts of 16th street nearby here's a zoning map we have quite a large parcel here
we abut a public park at the rear here's a google maps perspective you know we're close to bus route
60 and two and you know of course close to the allegheny um broad street line which is a you
which is a you know a great transportation asset for those that live in walking distance which
a great transportation asset for those that live in walking distance, which
future tenants of this building hopefully will here's some photographs this is the front of the
property you know we're it's a it's actually a beautiful structure it's got a nice mansard roof
classic red brick some interesting brick work so we're hoping to kind of restore this property to
its former glory our notice posting here's to the right of the property i'll note that there is
parking available on both sides of the street our architectural plans and drawings so what you see
here these hash lines that's the addition a roof deck and roof deck access structure is included
and so you see that pilot house we have a very large rear rear yard with lots of open space as
well as the adequate front setback that is of course existing there currently here's the floor
plans, just two units. The first floor has access to the rear yard. The second floor does not. We've
included a ventilated trash closet. That's a larger bi-level unit with three beds and three
baths and access to a roof deck. Because unit one does have access to that very large rear yard,
we wanted to make sure that there was outdoor space provided to the unit two occupants by way
that roof deck here's the rco meeting notice again we met on the 20th it was emailed that
notification was emailed out to the coordinating rco and the other rcos involved 133 properties in
total here's the list of those addresses those bulk mailing certificates our application for appeal
here's the deed to the property showing that slc real estate llc is the owner of the property and
has been since may of 2023 and our tax clearance showing that the only taxes that remain are those
that are not yet due with that i would like to call my client stacy and or shati cooks to adopt
my testimony can we allow pull them from the virtual uh audience please
stacy cooks has been unmuted and allowed to speak vice chair
miss cook can you please state your name and spell it for the record
yes stacy cooks slc real estate s-t-a-c-e-y c-o-o-k-s do you swear to tell the truth the
whole truth and nothing but the truth i do see counsel hi miss cooks did you hear my testimony
today i did and was it true and correct yes it was and you're adopted as your own i do thank you
is someone else caller that's good counsel that's okay with me all right uh thank you
Any questions from the board?
No, vice president, vice.
No, vice chair.
Vice chair, I'm sorry.
Any questions from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
No questions, just wanted to note of the proviso
that Mr. Goldberg mentioned from the RCO
that commercial trash pickup is enforceable.
The board decides to grant and wishes to add that proviso.
Thank you.
Thank you.
uh questions from the virtual audience i share we have a caller with a folder ending at 3552
they have been abuted and allowed to speak good afternoon
good afternoon please state your name and spell it for the record
follow up the phone number ending at 3552 please unmute yourself
i believe it's miss fernandez um yes i want to know if i can go last if there's other callers
i have a technical issue go last on on this particular case on this address yes
Do we have any more cases?
Do we have anybody else in the virtual audience?
We have two more hands, Chair.
We have a Harold Hawkins.
Thank you for allowing them to speak, please.
They have been abuted and allowed to speak.
Mr. Hawkins, please state your name and spell it for the court reporter, please.
Hello?
Yes, can you please state your name and spell it for the court reporter?
Victor Floyd.
B-I-C-T-A
F-L-O-Y-D
Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do. Please proceed with your comments.
Yes, I do.
Please proceed with your comments.
Yes. On 923, Council Office District 8 hand delivered flyers to all the neighbors in the 3000 and 3100 block of North 16th Street opposing any new conversions on on properties from single family to multifamily.
Yes, on night.
The reasons why basic is because of trash, parking, public utilities and congestion on the block, lighting.
So I definitely oppose this conversion and this development.
And just for the record, you're speaking on behalf of council or as a neighbor?
Neighbor.
All right.
Thank you so much.
Anybody else in the virtual audience?
Nobody.
Oh, someone else just raised their hand.
We have a Donald Stevenson from Tioga United.
They have been unmuted and allowed to speak.
Good evening.
Can you please state your name and spell it for the record?
Hello.
Can you hear me, Vice Chair?
Yes, I can.
All right.
Donald Stevenson, D-O-N-A-L-D-S-T-E-V-E-N-S-O-N
from Tioga United Incorporated and affected RCO.
Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Are you in favor of the project?
No, Tioga United is in opposition.
We side with the nearby neighbors to oppose this from turning to a multifamily unit
Unit dwelling due to the substantial amount or number of apartment buildings, not, you know, regular dwellings turned into apartments, but there are outrageous number of buildings that are due to be built and that already exist.
And it's suffocating the neighbors nearby to have single homes, dealing with the quality of life, if it affects it in a negative way, also trash and rodents.
so we oppose that
and side with the neighbors
understood
anyone else and thank you for your comment
anyone else in the virtual audience
we have Miss Fernandez
left to speak that's it chair
Miss Fernandez are you ready
and prepared now
yes can you hear me now
we can
please
yes my name is adrian fernandez my last name is spelled f-e-r-n-a-n-d-e-z
swamp little neighborhood positive association rco
and we are one of the affected rcos for this address and you swear to tell the truth the whole
truth and nothing but the truth and yes i was already sworn in all right uh so are you for
the project? Opposed to the project. We just sent a letter today. We are opposed to the project.
Also, there were problems with the voting is falsified on a meeting summary form that was
submitted by the RCO coordinator. The RCO coordinator gave their affected RCO five votes
for the meeting where every affected RCO or unaffected RCO only gets one vote at any meeting.
So at the meeting were three affected RCOs. The RCO, the cervical coordinator, which is Allegheny
West Foundation, and they said they voted in support. So that's one support vote by an affected
RCO. There was also UNNA RCO, an affected RCO. Carmela voted with one vote for that affected
RCO. She voted one vote in support and Swampwood voted one vote in opposition. All of us were at
the meeting. There was only one affected neighbor at that meeting from the address 319 North 16th
Street. That affected neighbor's vote was not even counted. If you look on the
summary form, there is no vote of opposition from any affected neighbors. So there were only four
votes. Only the affected parties voted, even though Allegheny West Foundation did not consult
with any of the, well, all of the affected RCOs before the meeting to discuss the agenda
and method of voting and also the schedule. So the schedule, the agenda, and also the voting
was done without our consent. So at the meeting, they said that only affected votes would be
would be counted. There were only four effective votes, two in opposition, two in support.
counted there were only four effective votes um two opposition
All right. Thank you.
Also, we also, in our letter, we're opposed to this project because of overuse of the variants.
Also, that in the area, there's been correction of many of these type of properties to single-family homes
because the neighbors prefer to preserve the single-family homes.
um also the multi-family um addresses all over north philadelphia we have an excessive problem
with trash littering pet waste because we cannot get these multi-family addresses in many cases to
just um do what we do and put the trash out properly and to stop littering and pet wasting
the neighborhood it's becoming um a huge problem and you know the property managers are not doing
anything to solve it. Also, the utility infrastructure
will be burdened, and we understand there are private sewers behind
3105, and the house is on that side of the street, and some of them
have already incurred excessive costs to repair
sewer damages where work is being done to foundations and structures.
If the VBA
decides to grant the variance, although we are opposed to it,
We're asking that four provisos be placed on the property, and I just want to put those on the record.
One would be, excuse me, I just have to read them.
One would be no basement living, no rooftop decks or structures, a limit of two units, and also trash and recycling stored indoors, and no commercial trash collection.
This is an area that blocks where there are single-family homes, and commercial trash collection comes as early as 4 o'clock in the morning, and it's extremely disturbing to people who have to work or people who are just sleeping.
You never know what the schedule is, and just randomly at 4 a.m. you'll hear something like a bomb drop on the ground, and it's the dumpster being placed back at the property.
Also, there's a lot of liquid garbage waste, odors, and just, you know, vectors, and a lot of problems with commercial trash pickup.
And I don't see what that's necessary if they're only proposing three units, but we're saying that's too many.
We are with the neighbors.
We want to see this property stay as a single-family zone residence.
Thank you very much.
Thank you very much.
Mr. Vice Chairman, may I respond briefly?
So a couple, you know, just a couple notes. So I think there were concerns about lighting and security and things like that. You know, we, Mr. and Mrs. Cooks, they hardwire their properties for security cameras. There will be exterior lighting at the front and the rear.
regarding the trash we understand that with any multifamily development there's a you know there's
a understandable concern which is why we have the trash closet in the upper level unit we're going
to have trash storage in the rear for the first floor unit inside of an enclosure at the rear to
keep out pests and vermin we feel it's appropriate to agree to commercial trash pickup that was
requested of us by the coordinating RCO I think we can work out in our contract with the commercial
trash pickup company a pickup time that is the least disturbing possible to the nearby neighbors
and the property will be professionally managed so we don't want to be a bad neighbor
we are going to thoroughly vet the tenants there will be fines included for
you know trash related issues caused to the neighborhood and and you know the the cooks
They own and manage several properties in the city.
So they have a lot of experience.
He's from the area.
He's invested in restoring this property.
It's a rather large property on almost an 18,000 square foot lot.
These are not small apartments by any stretch.
They're both over 1,300 square feet.
So I don't feel like we're squeezing them in.
It's a diversity of housing option that's different than a single family home for a
couple or a small family that don't have the means or the desire to take care of a
standalone single family home would think this provides a nice option and it's not out of
character so with that i'd ask the board to grant the variance um question uh planning commission
thank you vice chair and good evening david vecto with the city planning commission
chair and board members the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential single
family zoning at this location the appellant seeks two dwelling units and permission to not
include required parking, including accessory off-street parking, would not be feasible on
this lot and would be out of character with the other homes on the block face. This property has
a documented history as one dwelling unit dating to the 1950s. There is no unique physical condition
there is no unique physical condition or circumstance of this property that would
or circumstance of this property that would prevent it from being used in conformance.
prevent it from being used in conformance with the zoning code the city planning commission
recommends the board deny the proposed use variance for two dwelling units all right and
did we get it did we get any um letters from the council district office i did not receive one all
right? Yes, not to my knowledge.
Thank you. MI-2023-006-943-3105 North 16th Street. My vote is no.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is no.
James Snell, my vote is no.
Is there anyone else out there for the 2 o'clock cases
cases have not
been heard.
I see no hands at this time, Vice
Sheriff. All right. I apologize
everyone, but we're going to take a five-minute
break and jump right into the
330. Try to slide
through it as quick as possible.
All right.
Please start the recording.
Good afternoon.
My name is Ishmael Shaheed, and I'll be
chairing the 330 board
ZBA meeting.
With me is our board member, Thomas Holliman.
Present,
Mr. Vice Chairman.
Also, our board member, Jim
President, Vice Chair.
Also present with us is
our attorney, Hillary Emerson.
I'm here, Mr. Chair.
Yep, go ahead.
And our executive director, Tanya Suckman.
It's getting late in the day.
And Mr. Chair, sorry, I just want to note
for the record that LeBaron Leonard Palmer here is here still as well as their alternate board
member. Thank you. Yes. So we have also LeBaron Leonard Palmer here as well as an ultimate board
member with us this afternoon. Here's our virtual format. Please be advised the proceedings are
being recorded and the video will be available by contacting Tanya Sunke. Benefits of our
personographer and attorney and witnesses to the ID themselves before testifying and
participating by phone. If you wish to testify, press star nine. If you wish to unmute, press
star six. Enter apparent statements calls, please call 267-270-5548. Leave an email
or address
for the property in question.
on to the
continuances.
Number 6, MI-2023-001365-2108-2112
North 6th Street. This case is being
continue. Mr. Chair, the request in that case was for continuance attorney moving party?
Yes. Continuance attorney moving party. Thank you. Number eight, MI-2022-005973,
3200 Tysons Avenue. Do we have the attorney here on this case?
Who's the attorney, vice chair?
Tara Kayo.
Is Tara Kayo out there in the virtual audience?
I see no one by that day, chair.
Okay, so we're going to continue this case.
And then we also have another continuance,
MI-2022005968.
5524 pulaski avenue this case is being continued
mr chair would you like to mark pulaski avenue must be heard as was requested by
the parties who requested the continuing sure and thank you this case must be heard on the next time
that it comes up as well.
So we're going to go, we have no add-ons.
We're going to go to our regular list.
And it's going to be MI-2022-0016.
Excuse me, I'm sorry.
I think we have a couple of hands up
for additional continuances.
Okay. Chair, we have Vern Anastasio. They have been unmuted and allowed to speak.
they have been unmuted and allowed to speak
good afternoon council good evening mr chair
i wasn't sure i even had my hand raised i have a i do have a case listed i thought it would
thought it was listed for the two o'clock uh but i i do have a 6 30 rco uh it's it's virtual
So I'm just asking the board's indulgence that when you do start the regular list, if you would be so kind as consider calling me, you know, at the beginning of the list so that I'm not late for my 630 RCO.
Of course, there's nothing holding you to that.
You could tell me to just ask for a continuance, but I figured I'd ask.
Thank you.
All right.
I will leave that up to our board member, Jim Snells.
He will be taking over.
Thank you.
Sorry, Mr. Anastasio, is that case 10829 Academy Road?
Yes, it was listed on the calendar, at the ZBA calendar for 2.30, so I thought that was a typo and showed up at 2 for it, but apparently it's 3.30.
It's 3.30. That case is currently number three on our list. I just wanted to make sure Mr. Snell knew what case that was.
Understood. Thank you.
Thank you.
All right, Jim.
Sorry, Mr. Vice Chair, we have one more hand up for continuances.
Vice Chair, we have Joseph Consul with his hand up.
They have been unmuted and allowed to speak.
Good evening.
Good afternoon, Joseph.
Good afternoon.
uh which case are you are you calling in about uh council 56 52 windsor
56 okay number four all right we still wait and this is the third listing
yeah i'm assuming we must be heard we we uh got positive support from the rco but
non-support from the council person who is willing to meet with my client to discuss the
matter um and so my client would like a continuance okay mi-2022-007349 5652
this case is being continued
and it
be heard
thank you
okay is there anyone else
out there in a virtual audience
that needs to get a continuance
I see no hands vice chair
all right I will be
turning this over to
mr snails but i will still be on the line
just need to step away from my screen all right vice chair thank you
okay uh let's go to our regular list uh nope case number one mi-2022-001680
Malvern Avenue
let's see here
is there a
is there a
lawyer at all on this case
no Mr. Snell
this is a pro se
matter but Mr.
I did want to check do we want to take
Mr. Anastasio's case first
yeah I'm sorry about that
let's do
We'll get back to number one in a minute.
Let's do number three.
We'll help Vern out real quick.
Okay, here we go.
Is Vern on the ready?
I don't want to do the case unless he's ready.
He's coming back as a panelist now, Mr. Snow.
Okay, great.
Thank you, Mr. Snow.
No problem.
No problem at all, Vern.
All right. Let's do case number three. MI-2023-001537-10829 Academy Road. Vernon Anastasio is the attorney.
um uh let's see here um and and i do want to note this and i know uh hillary just mentioned this
uh we have uh lebaron leonard palmer from development services is uh it will be on the
is uh it will be on the case as an alternate as well um uh verne if you could identify yourself
case as an alternate as well um
Thank you.
your client and your client's relationship to the property yes sir my name is verne anastasio
2016 spruce i'm representing jackie isaac canova who is the owner of the subject property
okay great i know you've been sworn in today correct yes sir all right great all right at
At this time, board member Tom Holloman is going to ask you a couple of questions.
Good evening, counsel.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his accuracy?
Yes, sir.
Did you email all the exhibits and documents as required five days in advance to this hearing?
Yes, sir.
Thank you.
Please proceed.
Thank you.
uh this is uh 10 829 academy road my client is trying to legalize a pre-existing non-conforming
three-family dwelling i've submitted under a separate uh email that i am going to also move
into evidence today uh two pieces of evidence one from redfin one from zillow the mll listing
listed the property either from Redfin, a five-family dwelling, and from Zillow as a
built-out triplex.
So the property, however, has only had a rental license for two units.
This is the property in question.
It is on a corner, and it is three stories, and this is the site plan.
This is floor number one. You go up to the front stairs. It's sort of split with the stairs.
On the right, it takes you up. And on the left, it takes you down into the laundry room, utility, and kitchen.
And we've got a bedroom and a living room. That's one full unit.
Empties out right into the rear of the property.
we've got our second floor which is a two-bedroom unit
and the third floor is identical as two-bedroom unit it has three electric meters
uh upon purchase it has three um um mailboxes there's the electric meters there's the mailboxes
when my client came upon this property, she's a young woman who believed that this was a legal
multifamily dwelling. And of course, Redfin and Zillow, Redfin had it listed as a five-family,
and of course, Zillow had it for the multi. This is the letter that went out to the neighbors,
and here are all the addresses that were mailed 79 individual households were mailed and we have
the tax cert in addition to the two listings that I submitted into evidence prior to this hearing
I also submitted two pages equaling 27 individual addresses on the same street all of which are
either two-family or three-family dwellings. 10, 835, 10, 837, and 10, 849 are all identified as
legal triplexes. In addition, 10, 855 is a legal triplex going for legalization. And then there
There are more than 22 family dwellings all on the same block.
It appears as all these homes, this is in the Northeast Philadelphia area of the city.
It appears that they were all built as multifamilies, whether they were built as duplexes and then
some converted or built as a mix.
They were all built for multifamily household living, and that's what we're dealing with
today.
We did go to the RCO.
My client has some English issues and there was a struggle accepting her as one of the very many multifamilies on the block.
So if I'd be lying if I said she got full support from the folks up there in the Northeast.
least, but I do believe the law and zoning is on her side here with the pre-existing
non-conforming use, a very long history of rental license being for at minimum two units
and all similarly situated homes on that block, either two and three family dwellings as such.
and because the ML listings both listed the property.
And because the ML listings both listed the property at a minimum of three units, we respectfully request the granting of the variance.
She plans to do nothing more than to keep it as it is and get a legitimate three unit rental license so that she can operate this under the code.
With that, I'd like Jackie to raise her virtual hand.
Is this your client, Burr?
Your client has been unmuted and allowed to speak.
Jackie is my client, yes.
Hi, good evening.
Hi, Jackie.
Could you state your name and spell your name for the court reporter?
Yes, it's Jackie Aishapunova, G-A-C-K-I-E, A-I-S-K-H-U-N-O-V-A.
Okay, thank you.
uh i'm gonna swear you in real quick uh do you agree uh to tell the truth the whole truth and
nothing but the truth yes i do okay great uh proceed thank you mr snell uh jackie did you
hear my presentation to the board this evening yes i did is it true and accurate to the best
of your knowledge yes it is and do you adopt it as your own testimony yes i do thank you i have
nothing further okay uh any any questions from the board no no them no jim okay okay uh any
questions from uh counsel uh hillary emerson um no questions mr snell but i i do want to note i
believe mr anasov you said the meeting was last night that's correct um that was okay so we we
just i i didn't see an rco letter yet and the meeting just happened so maybe we want to hold
for a week or two just to give the rco a chance to submit their letter um i mean unless someone
wants to testify in lieu of the letter uh this afternoon but just wanted to note that
i appreciate that i can stipulate um there was no support at least it wasn't support was not
the primary position of the group and and unfortunately there were some things said
that made me think that it had nothing necessarily to do with the zoning but maybe because my client
it doesn't look or sound or come from the same areas that many of these folks with the same
triplexes you know uh come from but nevertheless it is what it is philly you know we work with what
we have. Understood. Any questions from a virtual audience? Mr. Snell, we have a Mike
Bribzer. They have been unmuted and allowed to speak. Yes, can you hear me? I can hear
you, Mike. If you could first, could you state your name and spell your name for the court
reporter yes it's michael bremser b-r-e-m-s-e-r okay thank you uh you swear to tell the truth
i'm gonna swear you in real quick uh do you swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but
the truth yes i do okay thank you please proceed yeah first i'd like to apologize for not sending
getting a letter to you as we just had the meeting last night sure uh also i i i don't
I don't know if the council was implying
that we were looking at the
owners in any different way than we would look at any other owner
because that's not how we operate
our vote last night was unanimous 15 to
nothing 15 to zero as opposed
we have had an overrun of
single housing developments and duplexes that are being turned into duplexes and or triplexes
without anybody knowing. Now, I understand that this individual is going through the proper
channels. The feeling in our neighborhoods right now is they're fed up with it. We've had
L and I go out. They can't get into these
dwellings to find out if everything's
up to code. And
I currently am dealing with
six different
changes to houses
to duplexes
or triplexes
that we're dealing with
the councilman's office
and with L
and with l and i so our neighborhoods kind of had it um we we're fed up with it the parking has
and I. So
our neighborhood's kind of had it.
become a it's become ridiculous and you know it's funny when i sit here and listen to
us speaking about one car you know per you know you have six houses you have six parking spots
in our neighborhood i don't know if it's like this everywhere but i i don't know anyone that
has one car there's two three sometimes four cars okay although they have woods across the street
from where they live right now there's a four-lane highway that you would have to cross
if you parked across the street um so we're we're talking about adding additional parking there
um i guess uh and i'm from what i understand that after our meeting last night they've had
numerous trash violations
at that location.
And we've received calls
from local neighbors as they were
contacted in opposition.
Although they did not
all make the meeting last night,
they did contact our president
and oppose the
variance
to allow it to be
a triplex.
But we were in complete
agreement because i and i have to say it's it has a lot to do with what's happening in our
neighborhood right now and uh people are just going and uh and and making these single homes
and or duplexes uh and upgrading them without going through the proper channels so even though
it's already operating as one i we we still don't approve of any type of change and we've been asked
by uh by various neighbors to please show our opposition to any variance that would allow this
okay thank you i just want to i appreciate okay thank you mr bronzer so so you're i'm sorry mr
chair i i i just want to for the record and i appreciate the testimony of the protestant
those trash violations we do acknowledge they were from the previous owner and they have been
uh cleared number one and number two again she's not trying to do anything other than
to legalize what she just purchased okay certainly understand the problems associated
with density and parking um but in this case seems like this whole block was done as a multi-family
okay all right all right thank you mr bremser your uh your your view is uh recorded is there
anyone else in the virtual audience that has a question or comment no we have alice udovich
they have been unmuted and allowed to speak good evening alice good evening everyone alice udovich
on behalf of councilman brian o'neill my last name is u-d-o-v-i-c-h okay i wasn't even going
to have you do that didn't you already uh weren't you on earlier today okay all right great great
good to hear from you. Okay, go ahead. I just want to stress that in every case the councilman
opposes legalizing these conversions. This area was developed with row homes with often a small
set of duplexes or duplexes on the end of rows. However, it's still in a zoning class for single
family because that's the desire of this neighborhood to keep as much single family
as possible. You'll often hear, and I've heard several times today because I've been on many
hours as you have, a request for not using the basement for living. And that's exactly what you
have in this instance. It's a basement apartment. And there's no reason why a property that's built
as a duplex cannot be used as a duplex. There's no hardship here whatsoever.
Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Alex.
Mr. Chair, I also just want to just, again, reiterate, appreciate the testimony of the council office, of course.
This property is 100% above grade, and it was built out as a duplex, I'm sorry, built out as a triplex,
marketed as a five-family and a three-family dwelling on two different listings that my client relied on upon purchase.
and it's identical to all the other properties on the block.
Okay, Ron.
Understood.
Any other questions from the virtual audience?
Comments?
I see no hands at this time, Mr. Snell.
Okay, great.
So, planning, planning commission.
uh uh planning planning commission yeah this is uh ron bednar um city planning first name ron r-o-n
Yeah, this is Ron Bette.
last on bednar b-e-d-n-a-o thanks ron um this property is indicated for residents excuse me
um mr mr snell did uh did you swear in uh mr bednar i said it was his first time testifying
this evening you're okay it's your first time sorry ron uh let me swear you in do you uh swear
to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do thanks ron proceed okay this
property is indicated for residential use on the city plan given a documented use history of your
site recommend the request for variance be granted provided two units only okay so i think what we're
going to do here i'm going to take uh council's recommendation okay well we don't have an rco
letter all right so let us get the letter and uh hillary what in a week or two uh we can uh vote on
it um why don't um why don't we hold this one to um march 13th at at 2 p.m uh the record is closed
um and mr anastasio did receive those extra exhibits you sent today so those are included
um but the record is otherwise closed except for a letter um from the rco thank you thank you all
thanks hillary all right thanks thanks for taking me first appreciate it sure thing sure thing
Okay, so on to case number two, MI-2023-005743, 56 North 58th Street. Nixon Kana is the attorney for the owner.
uh i also once again i'm gonna i'm gonna state uh uh lebaron uh is is um lebaron leonard palmer
from district services will be uh serving as an alternate on this case as well all right um so uh
if the attorney can identify themselves their client and the client's relationship to the
property. Good evening, Commissioner. Nixon-Connor representing 56 North 58th Street, LLC.
My client is the owner. First name spells H-A-M-D-I. Last name is A-Y-A-Y-D-A-H. I believe he's on
zone, but he might be on another name, the individual who's helping him navigate the zone.
and his name is Hamza, it's H-A-M-Z-A, same last name.
So they both should be on.
Okay, thank you.
I want to swear you in, Nixon.
Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Okay, great.
At this time, I'm going to have board member Tom Solomon ask you a few questions.
Good evening, counsel.
Good morning.
Do you agree to wave the reading of the review book and simulate to his accuracy?
yes I do did you email all exhibits and documents as required five days in advance to this hearing
not me personally but I believe they were interviewed I mean they were even email
thank you please proceed and share your screen
Can anybody see the screen or I can't see it?
Well, there's nothing really on the screen, just the top of the screen.
okay let's go to the top what about now commissioner uh i cannot no it hasn't changed
so you you are sharing your screen it's just your zoom screen just have the documents open first
so you might want to stop sharing and then reshare your screen okay
yep and now open your documents up and once you hit that green share button it's going to ask you
what documents you would like to uh share and then click on the documents
and then click on the documents can I get it yes okay thank you thank you thank you
we're good now yes okay um
Exhibit 1 is basically the notice of refusal. This property is a property that Avarian was issued going back to 1941. It has a ground level, unsure whether that ground level was ever
used as a residential, but in 1941, the variance was granted to use that ground level as a doctor's
office. My client is before the board this evening trying to the doctor's office is no longer there
and he's trying to see he's seeking a variance to use that as a as a residential space. Let me just
down here.
Okay. This is the picture of the structure. As you guys can see, I have a problem with
this a minute. Okay. So basically, is it? It's a right now, where the where the posting is posted?
That's, that's the former doctor's office. And my client is seeking a variance to develop that
as a as a residential, an apartment on the first floor, which we should now move this from a two
family dwelling to a three family dwelling. The next the next exhibit prior to that,
well in addition to that you could see the posting as the posting was done. I believe it was posted
since early February for for today's hearing. My client did attend the community meeting,
have the letter of approval from the community which which is further down in the exhibit
The RCO for this was Achievability.
They basically issue a letter in support
of the development of this property.
That's the D.
The D is in the name of the LLC,
which is owned by Mr. Hamadi, who is on the line.
This is his D.
and he owned the property since 2017.
Now he's trying to develop the property.
This is the current layout of the property.
As I indicated previously,
there's an apartment on the first floor
and the second floor.
On the ground floor,
again, I'm not sure looking at the record
whether there was previously a living space,
but according to the records in 1941,
the youth was converted to a doctor's office
from what we don't know and we're just trying to get back our hope is that it
was it was previously residential and we're trying to get it back to
residential. This is this is the layout unit one is now the doctor's office and
then unit two and unit three would be the second and third floor this is my
client's current certificate of tax clearance as of February 23rd or the taxes on the properties
are up to date. Again, in the application, I just want to just emphasize some of the points as far
as if this would increase congestion in the public streets. We don't believe it will. If anything,
it would decrease it, given that we're going from commercial to residential. There's really no
additional outside of permits for plumbing, electrical. We don't see any significant
and structural change to this to this property okay and and achievability was on board with this
yes they were yes okay is your is your client here could he adopt your testimony yes he will
if you want to bring him in a swarm name commissioner I could do that
If you want to bring him in and swear him name, Commissioner, I could do that.
If not.
Yeah, I think he's got to raise his hand.
Is your client's name?
It's Hamadi, H-A-M-D-I, but he might be under Hamazi, H-A-M-Z-A.
Hamza Ayada?
They've been unmuted and allowed to speak.
Mr. Amadi, can you hear me?
Mr. Hamadi?
Mr. Hamadi?
Habsah Ayyad, can you please speak up?
You're muted.
I heard something.
Mr. Hamadi, are you on the phone?
I'm sorry.
I didn't mean to overtalk Yvette, but he's free to speak.
Can you hear me?
Ah, there we go. There we go. Good evening. Mr. Hamadi, could you state your name and spell it
for our court reporter, please? Hamdi Farhad. H-A-M-D-I, the same Farhad. F-A-R-H-A-T.
Okay, thank you. I'm going to swear you in now. Do you agree to tell the truth,
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Yes. Okay, great. Proceed, please.
Mr. Farrar, good evening.
How are you doing?
Did you have an opportunity to listen to the presentation I just made to the board?
Was everything accurate?
Did you adapt that testimony to the board?
Thank you.
Okay, great.
Any questions from the board?
No, Mr. Snow.
No, Mr. Snow.
Hillary, any questions?
not at this time thank you all right great uh any uh questions from the virtual audience
mr snell i see no heads at this time okay great uh planning commission
property is indicated for residential use on the city plan given a documented use history
the physical uh site conditions we recommend that the variance be granted for two units only
provided removal of the encroaching 58th Street basement door.
Okay. Thanks, Ron. All right. MI-2023-005743 56 North 58th Street. My vote is yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
There you go.
Thank you, Commissioner.
Everyone have a good evening.
Congratulations.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I believe we're on number five now.
Okay, sir.
We need to go back to number one.
We skipped number one.
Oh, did we?
yes we did we did i'm sorry i accidentally x that out yes i'm sorry about that all right
back to number one council's correct again all right uh number one it's getting late we're
getting a little goofy here uh number one mi-2022-001680 5710 malvern avenue
uh travika stanley is the owner applicant this application is for the erection of a deck
at the rear of an existing attached single family dwelling uh refusal uh proposed deck
zero feet from the rear lot line on the edge of a common driveway and a three foot setback
is required uh we also have a letter of opposition uh from the winfield residence
so also once again since I've done it all on the other cases I just want to note for the record
that LeBaron Leonard Palmer from development services will be serving as an alternate on this
case so if the owner could identify themselves and then talk about the property they have been
promoted to panelists, Mr. Snow. Hi. Good evening. Can you hear me okay? I can hear you. Is this
Travika Stanley? Yes, it is. Yes, it is. Okay, great. Could you state your name and spell it
for the court reporter? Sure. It is Travika Stanley Stanley Stanley-Gordine.
Stanley, S-T-A-N-L-E-Y hyphen Gourdeen, G-O-U-R-D-I-N-E.
Okay, I'm going to swear you in.
Do you agree to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Okay, great. Proceed, please.
Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
Yeah, I say, Mr. Snell, I can read the refusal into the record for this one,
and then Mr. Holloman can go into his question.
all right that's good thank you sure this application is for the erection of a deck at
the rear of an existing attached single family dwelling size and location as shown in the plan
there is one one zoning refusal whereas the proposed deck is zero feet from the rear lot
line on the edge of a common driveway and a three-foot setback is required
kravika uh board member tom holliman's going to ask you a few questions uh good evening madam
did you email all the exhibits and documents as required five days in advance to this hearing
email the um i did email the documents on the 23rd of february um in addition to um i needed
to resend two additional documents to Ms. Hillary
yesterday, which I did. Thank you.
Please proceed and share your screen.
Can everyone see my screen?
I cannot.
I cannot.
is it and it's that green button at the bottom of your screen that says share screen once you
click on it you just have to have your documents open okay and I hit share yep just click on the
documents you would like to share or just click
share screen?
There we go.
Okay, great.
These are
I did send
Ms. Hillary a clear copy
of the deed to the property
which I purchased in August
of 2005.
This is one photo of the plans for the rear deck.
The deck extends from the back door of the home and around to the back of the property.
Now, initially, a portion of this deck was erected in 2012 after a fire.
took place in january of 2012 um so the the this is regarding the extension to the back of the
property um i i have to apologize i'm not uh well versed in the lingo of the layout of the plans
take your time take your time relax but this was prepared by um our architect larry gilbert
who has since retired
creating these plans for us.
Is Larry
possibly on the call here?
I'm not sure.
Larry Gilbert.
Is the architect on the call?
I don't see anyone by that name.
These are photos of the rear of the deck.
This photo is stemming from the back door, which leads out to the rear of the driveway.
Again, from where this posts, this was all erected in 2012.
um we just took photos of the flooring of the deck to show that the flooring was um
this is the newer flooring for the addition of the deck and also this is what it looks like at
the end of the driveway okay so i have a quick question so it looks like there's a few other
decks right yes attached to the houses i can kind of see that down the driveway there yes okay yes
um this um i guess started as a complaint with the neighboring property
It started as a complaint with the neighboring property that the deck was extended onto his property, at which time L&I came out to inspect the deck numerous times.
um the very first um the very first notice was their um the lack of permit so we made
appointments this was during COVID uh 2020 um we made appointments several appointments to meet
at LNI to um to um get the permit that was needed um we went we went there we initially told we
We were told we needed plans prior to us hiring Mr. Gilbert.
We did attempt to submit plans to L&I, at which time we went back after numerous appointments and they gave us a permit.
They provided us the easy permit and told us that that was pretty much what we needed.
The neighboring, the neighbor continued to complain, and we received additional notices, one for that we did need plans in which we hired Larry Gilbert.
Okay, so you did get a permit?
I'm sorry. I'm a little nervous.
Don't be nervous. Relax. Take a breath.
Is it possible that my husband can assist me with speaking?
Can I just say you're doing a good job, by the way.
Thank you.
He's doing a great job.
Hi, I'm right next to her. My name is Van. I'm the husband.
Okay, if I could, before I hear your testimony, could you state your name, spell your name for the court reporter, please?
Yes, my name is Van. My name is Van Gordine.
Spelled Van is V-A-N. Gordine is G-O-U-R-D-I-N-E.
okay van i'm gonna swear you in real quick do you agree to tell the truth the whole truth and
nothing but the truth yes sir great okay proceed okay in 2020 um we we were adding on an extension
to a deck that was already there okay with that extension with that extension that we were adding
on. We went down to Illinois. It was an eclipse thing we had
to go through. We kept on going down there. They told us
that it was okay. They told us that we could build the deck
under an easy plan.
An easy permit. So we
went on and had the deck erected and everything.
About a month
A month into it, we started getting complaints.
They told us that we needed to submit plans to the city.
I made several attempts, not several attempts.
I went down to LNI, several attempts, and spoke to several people.
They told me that we needed the drawings.
We went and got the drawings.
we were 15 days late on the joins because they told us 30 days so we went and got the joins
we took the joins down there and three l and i people down there told us you don't need this
type of permit you need you you need an easy permit i said well they sent us a paper saying
that we did something wrong they said they were wrong they contacted the person that wrote it
that wrote it up and they came back to us and told us that um no problem easy permit everything
is done a year later they come back and tell us about this that we need some plans we hired larry
gilbert he came out to our house he measured us i measured our land and everything told us
everything was fine and he submitted the paperwork back to the city i'm sorry to cut you off but may
Back to the city.
I'm sorry to cut you off, but may you get into the camera and speak?
you get into the camera and speak
Thank you so much.
You may proceed.
So we went down and got the paperwork for the deck.
um about a year later we get this thing from zoning and told us that we had a zoning issue
but nobody ever mentioned zoning to me or larry or anybody until about a year later this is almost
two years later now this deck has been up had been up for a couple years now and they told us
that the deck needed to be three feet back but in my neighborhood it's a bunch of driveways my
it's driveways that go almost a mile long all of our decks are right there on the edge everybody
not everybody because some of the houses sit on an angle but but at least 20 decks i took pictures
and sent the pictures and of all the decks we never knew nothing about no zoning thing some of
These decks were built after our decks was built, everything.
So they told us that we was three feet in a problem.
Now we're here.
And the reason and the thing about it is a next door neighbor has constantly, you know, he's broken our windows out in our house.
My next door neighbor house looked like a move house right now as we speak.
the policemen out here swat and everything we don't even want to go out the front of our door
i i suffer from ptsd i'm an ex-vet so i'm a little nervous excuse me um excuse me sir i i i understand
what you've been through unfortunately the issues that you're dealing with with your neighbor are
not something that okay the zoning board can assist with no that's okay we understand that
this has been a difficult situation we just have to stick to the zoning issues so we did everything
that we needed to do we didn't nobody knew nothing about no three feet and now this like i say this
deck has been up for years and now they're telling us to move three feet so we went to the rco
and rco you know she sent the letter and she said listen she don't want to change anything
about what was going on because i get me neither really but you know we don't feel as though we
should lose three feet of a deck because lni we went to lni lni kept me down there one day from
12 30 to about 3 30 and went over all of this stuff about zoning and everything these three
guys and came out and said there's no zoning issue here it's no this here none of this stuff here
sir sir i i get i i heard you i heard your wife i i understand i hear i hear what you're saying
All right. So I understood your testimony. No, sorry. I mean, I can tell it's upsetting to you. So just I understand what you're saying. So let's let's let's move on. Any any questions from the board?
no mr no uh jim snellen just call me board member tom come on
mr snellen trashmen trashmen and everybody fire departments everybody come up and down
their driveway and it's never been a problem okay uh hillary any questions comments
Not to the case, but I just want to note that Vice Chair Shahid did have to leave, so Mr. LeBaron, Mr. Leonard Palmer, is now acting as a board member, will be voting on this and other matters going forward.
Yep, sounds great.
Okay, so you have no questions or comments, Hillary.
Any questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no hands, Mr. Snell.
Okay, great. Planning Commission.
This is the Broadband of our city planning.
Properties indicated for residential use on the city plan.
Given the site record, we recommend that the request of action be granted.
Okay, thanks, Ron.
uh mi-2022-00168
2022-001680, 5710 Malvern Avenue, my vote is yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
LeBaron Leonard Palmer, my vote is yes.
Okay, there we go.
Congratulations.
Okay, moving on.
I believe we're on number five as of now. Okay. Number five, MI-2023-006516401 East
Roosevelt Boulevard. Johali Arias is the tenant applicant. This property is for use as a child
care center, I guess on the first and second floor, and assembly and entertainment in the
basement in an existing structure. Two refusals, child care center and assembly and entertainment
uses are prohibited in the RSA 5 zoning district. Multiple principal uses are prohibited in the RSA
five zoning district there is a letter of support from the new 42nd ward rco with the proviso
limiting their support to the child care center use only uh also a letter of non-opposition from
council member lizado okay um once again uh like council noted uh uh lebaron leonard palmer from
development services will be serving as an alternate and voting uh in this case uh at this
time could the uh property owner uh introduce themselves and and uh tell me about the property
good evening my name is joharly areas j-o-h-a-l-y last name a-r-i-a-s
Okay, great, Ms. Arias. I'm going to swear you in. Do you agree to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Okay, at this time, Board Member Tom Holliman is going to ask you a few questions.
Good evening, Madam.
Good evening, I am.
Did you email all of the exhibits and documents as required five days in advance to this hearing?
yes um my director she's on on there and yes she sent everything over
thank you please proceed and share your screen okay are you able to um uh have my director join
in too because i'm in dominican republic and i'm on a zoom call but uh she's the one who
has all the information are you able to see it what is what is her name she she she's able
to share the documents, but you will, I assume can see the screen and you will be the one to
testify. Yes, her name is Ayesha Lee. Ayesha Lee is coming back in as a panelist now.
Thank you. Ms. Lee, are you on? Yes. Good, good. If you could, please state your name and spell
your name for the court reporter? Ayesha Lee, A-Y-E-S-H-A, last name L-E-E. All right. I'm
going to swear you in. Do you agree to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes. Okay, great. Share your screen, please. Gotcha. Okay.
Okay, thank you.
And the owner of the property can start when you'd like.
Okay, thank you.
Yeah, please proceed.
So I'm trying to get a zone. It's a side building next to a church, also next to an elementary school.
I'm trying to get a zone for child care and for the first floor zone for school.
It used to be a school, a Muslim school, all girls. But somehow they changed the zoning into residential.
We don't know how it happened or what happened on behalf of that.
or what happened on behalf of that. So when I rented out the location at the moment, I, you
So when I rented out the location
know, we thought it was zoned for a Muslim school because we knew it was a Muslim school. And when
we went into more deep information into the city, we found out it was residential. So it was,
that's why we weren't able to get zoned for a child school or for a school. So as you can see
in the picture the first floor um actually the rooms are empty because that's what i would like
to put the school in um the second floor uh child care and after school as as in uh the time from
6 a.m to 7 p.m when kids uh when um kids leave at three from school they'll go upstairs for after
school which is the older kids and i was trying to do a hall in the basement which for hall events
for meetings, activity for the kids, like a boys and girls club for older kids for Fridays
and Saturday, for them to have the weekends activities from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. with permission
with the parents, you know, trying to have kids and teenager out the street. That's something
free from my behalf that I was doing activity on the weekends. So it's one building with all
those activities that um or zones that i was trying to get into that one building okay and
yeah and and you did get a letter of support from uh the rco right yes i got a letter and um from
the community from the churches around me from the school and parking we have space for more than
i think 50 okay all right well uh anything else to say about the property no it um what i really
wanted to say is that um i rented it out already the reason if you look at the pictures if she goes
one by one isha can you show them the the image one by one it's set up because um i have a day
current I'm a daycare owner on Adams and Tabor and I had um stuffed storage so I was already
rented I was like let me decorate it is even though I wasn't know I didn't know if I was
gonna get zoned or not but at least I got it ready and set up so y'all could see the vision
or what I'm bringing to the community uh for parents that have a long distance child care
there's no child care like maybe around that area like maybe 10 or minutes away which is my
daycare is 10 minutes away from there and um school i used like i said it was the muslim school
was the middle muslim school and i'm trying to make it as a school again a district for the
second floor but not muslim it's just open you know for all ages excuse me can you click on the
pictures i said can you click on the pictures so he could see one by one they could see please
I'm sorry I am you can't see you I am going through are they not big no they're not being
seen oh I don't I am wanted well we can see we can see them but they're very small I guess you
gotta with your fingers you know open them up I know I'm gonna stop and then I'm gonna put it back
one give me one second okay so while she's doing that I did put a poster up like I had on my
district to community i um i i we send out more than 190 letters uh to the community and um we
have also letters uh for everybody agrees you know that um is a good opportunity for the neighbor and
for parents and for kids and trying to keep these kids from you know a little bit safe and stuff
like that in a distance or um oh you can see the pictures there so yeah we see the pictures yeah
this is good um but i don't know how they put it back into a res i don't know how i i don't know
why big property so you see the parking lot can you can you slow down the parking lot so they
can see it oh that's the parking lot you see how big it is there's another picture you see
that's the space so it's the space for parking so where they pick up the children children come
map yep and then through the steps they could go through it from the back and that's the door for
them to enter we have uh one two three four four exit two floor basement yes okay so that's the
activity room i had it set up and then you're gonna see the game room where you're gonna see
a pool table for the kids movie area gym area uh relaxed area library area see that's for the older
kids all right any any questions uh from the board tom no thank you lebaron no questions
okay uh council hillary emerson any questions or comments um i just i did want to clarify um miss arias
I just, I did want to clarify, Ms. Arias, you said that you wanted to, you had a child care facility on one floor, the entertainment or the gathering space in the basement.
And you said you wanted a school on another floor because that's not what's in your proposal.
Can you clarify what you mean?
Yeah, I did put a school on the second floor, but they have it as in, Aisha, what did she write?
she wrote the ages she wrote the ages from uh teen which is for it's a middle school in the
second floor uh because there's no school around okay so is it is it an after school or is it an
actual like you're proposing a school like regular hours regular hours the school from 8am to 3pm
yes okay all right so so yeah so then the refusal is it's incorrect because that would not be a
child care center you should have educational facilities um listed as the use um so if if
that's what's being requested i think we need to get a corrected refusal um and that's something
that i can assist you with before um the board makes the decision on this matter we can continue
with the hearing today you're testifying as to what um you you want at the space but we just have
to have a refusal that accurately reflects what you're asking for before we can okay okay i
understand so yeah so the first the second floor the child care and then the the first floor the
school yes and then the event um downstairs basement and when you say school i mean what
what grades or what would the age group be there the age the age group is is from six to eight uh
Sixth to eighth grade. An actual school. Okay. Yeah.
Well, what do we, what do we do here, Hillary?
Well, we, I think we can finish up and take public testimony,
planning conditions, but we'll just need to hold it for a corrected or revised
refusal to reflect what's being asked. And then we can make a decision.
Okay. Okay. Yeah. Thank you. I was wondering if it could go back to, you know,
know the school used to be but it was a muslim school for our girls gotcha all right any questions
from the uh virtual audience any comments i see no heads at this time mr snell okay thank you uh
planning commission ron it's run bednar city planning the property while it is indicated
for residential on the city plan given the physical conditions of the site we recommend
the request of variance be granted okay and uh you know based on uh council's recommendation
we're going to hold this right hillary and uh i guess get further information yes we will we
will hold this the record will be closed except for um an updated refusal thank you okay thank
All right, so let me just, that's number five.
So MI-2023-006516, 401 East Roosevelt Boulevard.
We're going to hold this and, you know, we'll circle back on this with more information.
Thank you.
Have a good evening, guys.
Great.
Take care.
You too, bye.
All right.
I think Lucky Seven, our last our last case.
OK, MI-2022-0043864067 North Reese Street.
David Chandler.
And I'm not even going to make an attempt to say that I'll probably mispronounce the name.
Is this the owner or the attorney for the owner?
Is David the attorney?
Yes, I believe so, Mr. Snell.
I did just, is he, he's coming back in now as a panelist.
And once again, for the record.
Mr. Chandler's coming back in as a panelist.
Hold on for one second, Mr. Chandler.
Just for the record, the Baron Leonard Palmer from Development Services will be serving as an alternate on this case and voting.
OK, Mr. Chandler, are you are you on the line?
We cannot hear you. You're muted.
There you go. Yes. OK. OK, there you go.
All right. If you could identify yourself, your client and your.
All right. If you could identify yourself, your client and your client's relationship to the property, please.
OK, my name is David Chandler, C-H-A-N-D-L-E-R.
Co-counsel is Helen Beck, B-A-I-K.
And my client is Franklin Munoz.
That's Franklin as in Ben, first name Munoz, M-U-N-O-Z.
OK, great. Thank you. I'm going to swear you in.
Do you agree to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
All right.
Thank you.
At this time, I'm going to turn you over to board member Tom Holloman.
He's got a few questions for you.
Good evening, counsel.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his accuracy?
Yes, I do.
Did you email all the exhibits and documents as required five days in advance to this hearing?
I emailed most of them on the 23rd.
We got an email from Ms. Emerson last evening.
And so I emailed additional documents today regarding the ownership of the property.
The only thing is the tax clearance certificate.
My client is in the process of purchasing the property, so he'll need to apply for a tax clearance certificate.
Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.
Yes, sorry, this is Hillary. I just wanted to jump in and clarify who your client is, because there was an agreement of sale provided and a deed, so I wasn't sure. And you said the agreement of sale is with an LLC. Is that who Mr. Munez, I believe you said his name was, is associated with?
Yes, he's the owner. It's 4067 North Reese Property Incorporated. He is the sole owner.
okay thank you proceed please
There we go.
See something now.
Let's see.
Let's see.
Lakeisha?
could you uh lend your expertise here
i think we're having a little trouble pulling up uh the screen the exhibits um now do you
how we doing Mr. Chandler I'm trying to get the it's done it's um
yes look like he's trying to pull up his exhibits now
Thank you.
Mr. Chandler, it might help if you unshared
and then pulled up what you needed and then shared again.
Right.
i'm sorry it's all right
Thank you.
where your documents are on your computer like is it in word yes it's in the uh the main screen
oh here we go i'm sorry for the delight uh this is the uh our um and you just have to
click that green share button again oh sure okay
and then click on that document that you have open that you would like to share
right okay can you see it uh can you see the exhibits no no share screen share screen yeah
that one okay then you click okay can you see it you got something going on there we go okay
Yeah, this is our cover letter. And the Exhibit A1, this is the property description, owned by the former owner, Jose Torres.
on january 24th he signed an agreement of sale with our clients and corporation so that's still
ongoing right now um this is more of the property description this is the letter of support from
esperanza housing economic development actually this was uh even though it was
date of June 6, 2023. The actual hearing was held. Excuse me, Mr. Chandler. I'm sorry.
Yes. Could you please maximize your screen so we can be able to view the documents?
Oh, sure. Okay. How's that? Wonderful. Thank you very much. Perfect. Thank you.
okay uh this was originally helped i was um was in the uh was being litigated by another attorney
who since left and the rco meeting was held on december 12 2022 uh and it was a letter of uh no
no objection to the uh no opposition to this project uh we also received a letter from
uh council person's lozado's office and the council person also had a letter of no no opposition
uh and let's see
oh here we go okay here are some photos this was taken before the um
uh the posters are up basically our uh client seeks to uh have a variance to have a barber
shop on the first floor this is the outside the entrance uh this is the side view
this is again the side view
and this is the uh the front view yeah it's a view from west lycoming facing east toward north
uh north 5th street and north 5th street is uh there this is an interior shot of the um
of the barber chairs and next is this is five that that's these are the zone this is this was
posted uh on the the front door and was posted on on um saturday february 3rd so we have enough time
there and this was again another poster on the on the side and these three yellow circles indicate
the the posters again another poster okay and the other posters
and more posters and this is another poster another poster and this is a letter that we sent
to uh for the office of the uh council person lozato and notifying them of the hearing and
they we also included a shot of the uh letter of no opposition
great yeah and uh that that's it about our uh proposal um we have i believe mr munoz was at the
proposal um we have i believe mr munoz was at the it was uh on on the line at he was on the
it was
line at 3 30. i don't know about now but so so is is mr munoz on the line could he uh adopt your
testimony yes mr munoz
Mr. Munoz, are you on the line?
Franklin Munoz.
I'm here.
Yeah, can you speak up?
Yes, I'm here.
Okay, Mr. Munoz.
Mr. Munoz, how you doing?
Could you please state your name and spell your name for the court reporter, please?
Yes, Franklin Munoz, F-R-A-N-K-L-I-N, and Munoz, M-U-N-O-Z.
Okay, great.
I'm going to swear you in as well.
Do you agree to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Mr. Munoz?
Mr. Snell, he's unmuted.
However, it looks like he's having technical issues with his audio.
I'll tell you what, Mr. Chandler, you're an officer of the court.
We'll go with your testimony.
Yes, sir.
Any questions from the board?
No, Mr. Snell.
No, Mr. Snell.
All righty.
Counsel Hillary Emerson, any questions or comments?
just briefly I just wanted to note in terms of the taxes that they're paid through 2023 so we
can vote this case today they're in compliance thank you great great okay any questions or
comments from the virtual audience I see no hands at this time Mr. Snow all righty planning
commission sir ron bednar city planning uh the property is indicated for residential use on a
city plan or adopted district plan recommends no change the existing zoning at this location
the applicant's hardship is self-created not supported with evidence of unique physical
circumstances or condition of the property that prevented from being used in conformity
requirements of the code therefore we recommend the quest for variance not for granted
okay thanks ron uh if i may respond quickly to that sure go ahead mr chandler yeah but basically
it's uh there's no opposition from the neighbors and it's it would be a very convenient uh place
for a barber shop uh it's walking distance within a lot of houses that the uh uh and certainly it
would be a benefit to the neighborhood to to have something like that all right understood we're
going to vote uh case number seven mi-2022-004386 4067 north reese street my vote is yes
thomas holloman my vote is yes the baron leonard palmer my vote is yes
okay okay thank you mr chandler thank you okay thank you all right is there anyone in the virtual
audience who uh did not have their case their their three o'clock case called or i'm sorry
330 case called i see no hands mr snow all right well listen we'll we'll uh we'll tell bill we
finished like at 4 30 today don't tell them we finished at 7 30. all right so listen thanks
thanks everybody the baron thanks for uh pinch hitting there lakisha staff hillary thanks a lot
good job great job go get some good job almost bedtime all right yes good job everyone thank
you have a good night see you later bye-bye
Have a good night, friends.
Good night.