Thank you.
okay chair we have 52 attendees and you can start as you wish thank you good morning everyone my
name is bill bergman and i will be chairing this morning's eba hearings with me is our vice chair
ismail shaheed president mr chairman and also our alternate board member lebaron leonard palmer from
and the Division of Development Services.
President, Mr. Chairman.
President also here is our attorney, Hillary Emerson,
and our executive director, Tanya Sunket.
Here's our virtual format.
Be advised, the proceedings are being recorded.
The video will be available by contacting
tanyasunket at phil.gov.
For the benefit of our court stenographer,
we ask attorneys and witnesses
to identify themselves before testifying.
If you're participating by phone and you wish to testify, press star 9 to raise your hand and star 6 to unmute.
To win an appearance statement, call 267-270-5548.
Leave your email and the address of the property in question.
And finally, the question and answer box on the screen is not for comments or testimony.
All comments should be directed to our Executive Director, Tanya Sumter.
Let's look at our schedule today for continuances.
I have a request here for number nine.
Number nine, MI 2023-000-901-140 Wharton Street.
Mr. Vern Anastasio is the attorney.
Mr. Anastasio, if you're in the audience, please raise your hand.
Good morning, Mr. Chair. This is Jason Handel. I'll be your co-host today.
Mr. Anastasio has been allowed to speak.
Good morning, Mr. Chair.
Good morning, Counsel. Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court sonographer?
Yes, sir. It's Vern Anastasio on behalf of Ms. Deborah Drake, the owner of 1402 Wharton Street.
Do you swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do, sir.
I understand you're looking for a contingence for this.
Yeah, it's an unusual request because I know that's been several listings. We did get this case late last year. And we did, in fact, have an RCO meeting just recently at the end of February. And the RCO did ask us to return one last time. So respectfully requesting a final continuance. And for the sake of time, if it's okay with you, I'd like to be named the moving party.
All right. Thank you. So, number nine, MI2023-000901-1402-Warrant Street,
Cases Continued, Attorney Moving Party. Mr. Anastasio, please stay on the phone.
Number 16, MI2022-007-359-7105 Grays Avenue. I understand you're looking for a continuance there.
I am. I'm working with the Southwest RCO Coalition. Craig, I believe, is in the hearing room today. We have come to an accord and a path. We just need to memorialize it. Therefore, I ask that we continue this and I be named a turning moving party. And it can be must be heard.
Thank you. So number 16, MI-2022-007-359-7105 Grays Avenue. This case is continued. Attorney moving party and also must be heard next time. Thank you, sir.
Thank you.
We're going to go and look at several cases that we do not have.
Exhibits.
number one mi2023 0001 4647 north front street vanel rosario is the owner applicant this is
a pro se i believe we have an interpreter in the audience
Thank you.
the interpreter has been allowed to speak mr chair
morning sir could you could you please identify yourself
and spell your name for the court stenographer
carla k-a-r-l-a jacobson j-a-c-o-b-s-o-n
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
I'm going to call this case, and could you please call it, also interpret.
So this case is 4647 North Front Street.
Vanilla Rosario is the owner applicant.
This is the third listing.
Could you please see if she's in the audience?
Mr. Chair, I do not see them in the virtual audience.
There's no hand going up.
thank you so mi2023 0001 4647 north front street this is the third listing i vote to dismiss
Ishmael Shahid, my vote is to dismiss.
LeBaron Leonard Palmer, my vote is to dismiss.
Interpreter, thank you very much for your help.
We appreciate it.
You're welcome.
Thank you, sir, for using our services.
Thank you.
Number four.
MI 2022-002-822-6701 Rising Seminole Avenue.
No exhibits, fourth listing.
11-23 there was a hearing
Rogerio Santos appeared
Attorney has stopped
Responding to them in the past week
They need a new attorney
Is the appellant here?
Mr. Chair
Mr. David Orphanidis
Has the hand raised
I have allowed them to speak
And not see the main applicant in the office
Good morning, Mr. Chairman.
Good morning.
Could you just state your name, please, and spell it for the court stenographer?
It's David Orphanides.
His last name is O-R-P-H-A-N-I-D-E-S.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Do you represent the client now?
He came to me at the end of last week.
I've had dealings with him in the past.
He was under the impression that everything was in order, but apparently nothing was submitted.
I just don't think he's familiar with the process.
I did email Tanya and Hillary yesterday or last evening and also included the Longcrest Community Association and Council Member Phillips office in the email.
um um long crest did respond with a copy of their letter of non-opposition dated september of 20
28th of 22 that's when they actually had the rco meeting um i it's i think at this point it's really
just getting the necessary documentation assisting him like the like the tax clearance i'm not
positive how the notices were mailed for the community group meeting so little details like
that just to make sure everything was done properly. And we will assist Mr. Santos, who is
the operator of the business there, to get that together. So we would respectfully request one
more listing. And by then, I think we should be good. All right. Thank you. So MI 2022-002-822-6701
Rising 7 Avenue. Case is continued. Mark must be heard. Thank you. May be excused. Yes, you can.
Thank you.
Thanks.
Have a good day.
Number eight.
MI 2023-005-760-1333 North 21st Street.
Alec Sokoloff is the attorney.
We have no exhibits.
This is the first listing.
They have been allowed to speak, Mr. Chair.
Morning, Mr. Sokolov.
Morning, Mr. Sokoloff.
Good morning, Chair. Good morning, members of the Board.
Good morning, Chair.
Good morning, members of the board.
We would just request a continue.
We were just requesting.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Sure. Oleg Sokolov, O-L-E-G, last name S-O-K-O-L-O-V.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do, Chair.
Could you tell us where we stand with this case?
Sure, Chair. We're just requesting one continuance on this matter.
this is the first listing. We had to reschedule the RCO meeting, and it should be rescheduled
for this month. I'm in communication currently with the Brewery Town Sharkswood Community
Civic Association to get information for the notice letters. Thank you. I appreciate it. So
number eight, MI 2023-005-760-1333 North 21st Street. Cases continued. Mark must be heard.
Thank you, sir. Thank you. Number 12.
Now, OK, that 12 is going to go on. 13 is going to go on. And number 19.
MI 2023-001-707-1639 Cecil B. Moore Avenue
Leon Bowie is the listed applicant
Yellen B. C. B. M. Associates are listed owner
we have no exhibits this is the second listing
Mr. Chair, there are no handswaves for that matter.
Thank you.
So, MI 2023-001-707-1639, Cecil B. Moore Avenue.
This is the second listing.
There was a request for continuance on 10-11-23.
There is no one who answers today.
I vote to dismiss.
LeBaron Leonard Palmer, I vote to dismiss.
Ishmael Shaheed?
You're winning out on me, Chair.
Can you hear us?
A little bit.
Okay, I can hear you now.
Yeah, that was a vote to dismiss we had.
It's much I hate my voters to dismiss.
Thank you.
We're going to go to our add-on list.
Excuse me, Mr. Chair, before we do that, can we go to, I believe it's number two.
We had insufficient exhibits for that case to move forward.
I just want to see, well, actually we need an attorney.
I want to see if anybody is here on that case.
Yep, sure. That's funny. Thank you.
So, MI 2023-005-846-6150 Lebanon Avenue.
Modern Living LLC is the listed owner.
Igor Andruska is the listed applicant.
There were exhibits submitted.
We need copies of letters that were mailed to the RCO.
Also, has there been an attorney retained?
this is the first listing
Igor Andruska has been allowed to speak sir
good morning sir could you please state your name
and spell for the court stenographer
yes good morning this is Igor Andruska
Igor I-G-O-R Andruska
A-N-D-R-U-S-C-A
and my attorney is here as well
hold on one minute
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Do you have your copy?
Who's your attorney, sir?
Bill Thompson.
Bill Thompson?
Bill, are you here?
Yes, we see Mr. Thompson here.
Mr. Andruska, did you meet with the RCO, and do you have a letter from them?
yes we did and they did submit it uh via email and i've seen it okay please forward that to us
as soon as possible because that is um that is the one piece that we don't have in your exhibits
um we also weren't aware if you had an attorney so now that we know you have an attorney you can
proceed but we do need a copy of the rco letter so please forward that and we will circle back
get back to you in about 10 minutes thank you okay all right i'm going to go to our add-on list
first so mi 2023 002 760
So MI 2023-002-760-4720 Richmond Street, the vote in this matter has been rescheduled to Wednesday, March 13th at 9.30 a.m.
Let's see here.
I guess we're going back to number two, right, Holra?
Yes, Mr. Chair.
actually no i'm sorry there is a 18 yep that's great i knew there was one thank you
so mi 2023 005 775 595 adams avenue victoria core is the owner applicant it's a pro se
the application is for a sit-down restaurant and an existing structure
Okay, Mr. Chair, the core has been promoted to panelists, you will be rejoining shortly.
Thank you.
Morning, Victoria.
good morning
could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer
uh yes my name is victoria chore last name chore c-h-h-o-r right do you swear or firm to tell the
truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes sir our vice chair has just a few questions
for you, okay? Okay. Ish? Yeah, I don't know what's going on here, but do you agree to waive
the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed
them all the required documents and exhibits
that is needed to proceed with this
case five days in advance of this hearing?
Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.
You see where it says
share screen?
Let me see.
you're coming up okay okay please proceed and tell us what you want to do okay
um okay so this is the um there's a hearing to request the zoning for 595 adams avenue
My name is Victoria. I am the owner of the property. So this is the notice of refusal received. We would like to have a restaurant at this property. Here is the application for appeal.
the appeal is for the use of the existing property as a restaurant um the existing property
has a long-standing history of being a restaurant um since 1993 and this project aims to continue
to use that property for the same purpose uh the the use of the building as a restaurant is
compatible with the existing structure configuration and the layout and location are all suitable for
dining establishment. Therefore, no major modifications or renovations are needed to
convert the building into a restaurant. Do you have photos of it? Yes. Why don't you show your
photos uh here are the photos of the outside of the property as well as um inside
hillary do you have copies of the photos yes mr chair thank you thank you
okay and and um you went to the uh meeting with the rco
yeah i have the the letter letter i believe it's at the end right here
there it is there okay yeah and you agree to their provisos
yeah and you agree to their provisos yes okay all right um all right thank you questions from the
board no chair no questions chair questions from our attorney hillary emerson not at this time
mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
mr chair i do not see any hands raised at this time thank you planning commission thank you
chairman and good morning david fecto with the city planning commission that's f-e-c-t-e-a-u
do you swear or firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes sir i do please proceed thank you sir chairman and board members the comprehensive
plan recommends no change to the residential single-family zoning at this location. This
property has a documented history as a bar and restaurant dating to at least the 1980s. The
City Planning Commission recommends the board grant the proposed use variance for a sit-down
restaurant. Thank you. MI 2023-005-775-595 Adams Avenue. I vote yes with proviso. No takeout
window. Hours of operation close by 11 p.m. LeBaron Leonard Palmer, my vote is yes for
Proviso. Ishmael Shahid, my vote is yes with Proviso. You have your votes. Thank you. Okay.
Okay, we're going to go back here to number two, MI2023-005-846-6150 Lebanon Avenue. Attorney by the name of Thompson, am I right, Hillary?
Yes, Mr. Chair, William Thompson is the attorney for this matter.
William Thompson, yep.
okay mr chair they have been promoted to panelists they will be rejoining shortly
thank you
Good morning, sir.
Morning.
Good morning.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
William F. Thompson, T-H-O-M-S-O-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Would you identify your client, the relationship to the property?
The client is Modern Living LLC.
see. The principal is Igor Andruska. Okay. Our vice chair has just a few questions for you, sir.
Good morning, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its
accuracy? Yes, sir. 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 just got involved in this this
morning uh i heard what uh the chair said and i'm assuming that my client has submitted all those
exhibits but i'm unaware of it uh whether it actually happened so i heard it for the first
time i believe we received everything am i right yes yes mr thompson we received everything except
the rco letter which um your client just forwarded to us i do want to note for the record um it is
in opposition. The RCO is the Overbrook West Neighbors Incorporated. Yes, I saw the letter,
so I did see a copy of that this morning. Okay, so you can continue to proceed. Share your screen.
I'd like to hear the presentation. Okay. I don't see Mr. Andruska on here.
well we need do you have did he give you the documents to present that's what i said mr
chair i do not have the documents so i don't know i'm assuming he has them on his screen to share
because we have none yes and he's been promoted to panelists yes mr adresco you have been sworn
ALREADY, COULD YOU JUST PUT UP YOUR DOCUMENTS AND THEN LET YOUR COUNCIL
PROCEDE OFF TO DOCUMENTS?
I'M SORRY, MR. CHAIR, MR. ANDRISCO HASN'T BEEN PROMOTED TO PANELISTS
OKAY, THEY'LL BE REJOINING NOW.
okay hello sir could you put your documents up on the screen and then your attorney will present
HELLO?
off the documents okay yes i'll let me know if you're gonna see
those do you see those right now no we do not we see you
um well i'm opening those on my screen unfortunately are you on the phone yes i am
mr william you have all those documents i have sent it they're not they're not loaded here for
their purposes i believe if you open the email they can see it from your screen if you're on
your computer we're going to try to do that mr chair okay thank you
everybody
Council yes it seems to me that you know you've just been hired you haven't even
seen the documents yet I I think I would recommend we continue this case to you
Yeah. Yes, Mr. Chair. I think that's an excellent idea and I appreciate your suggestion.
All right. So I'll move for continuance.
All right. Thank you. So MI 2023, 005-846-6150 Lebanon Avenue. This case is continued. Mark
must be heard the next time. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Appreciate it. Thank you.
Number three, MI 2022-000-485-7137 Woodland Avenue.
Bernard Anastasio is the attorney for the owner.
This is a resumptive hearing.
he's coming back as a panelist okay
morning mr chair morning you've already been sworn could you just state your name for the record
sure it's verne anastasio uh representing pauline nguyen right so this is a resumptive hearing um
And I believe the first thing we want to do is open this up for the RCO.
Is there anyone from the RCO present?
Craig Melodosian has the hand raised.
I have a lot of you to speak, sir.
Great.
Good morning, Craig Melodosian, C-R-A-I-G-M-E-L-I-D-O-S.
I-A-N. Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do. Please proceed, sir. Right. We've submitted, after protracted negotiations,
we've submitted a letter of support with Proviso. There were several critical issues
needed to satisfy one of the RCOs and the immediate near neighbors, and that was that
There would be no sales or rental of personal vehicles on the lot.
There had been a dispute over a period of time regarding the number of parking spaces on the lot.
Council clarified that by submitting a site plan that we referred to in our letter that demarks the number of spaces on the two different lots.
The parcel sits at the northeast corner of 72nd and Woodland Avenue along the commercial corridor.
It is settled in between RSA 5 on the north side and the PHA Paschal Homes on the south side.
So there had been some contention over the years between the neighbors, the residential neighbors and the commercial use.
This project actually started five years ago with a different MI number and a different attorney, and it was interrupted with COVID. We've resumed working with the Anastasio law firm. I think that significant good progress had been made with their management and the compliance of.
good progress had been made with their management and the compliance of the owner applicant on the
site. So we would, again, support it with Proviso. We hope that the issues that we raised as Proviso
are amenable with council and the board. Vern had set up a separate CBA, but we will leave that
aside. And I give it back to you. I did want to say one thing. It started five years ago,
So these cases are protracted and wanted to thank the board for their patience and working with us to be able to come to, I hope, will be a win-win resolution for both parties.
Thank you. Thank you for your comments.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Mr. Chair, I do not see any further hands.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chairman, and good morning.
David Fecto with the City Planning Commission, Chairman and Board Members.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the industrial and residential mixed-use zoning at this location.
This property has a documented history as vehicle repair dating to 2008 and a history of auto sales dating to at least 1962.
Since this is a new zoning application, the appellant should bring their property as closely into conformance with the zoning code as they can.
So the City Planning Commission recommends that, given the history of this property, the board grant the use variants for vehicle sales and rental and personal vehicle repair, but with the condition that the property be required to comply with the landscaping and screening requirements in the zoning code.
The code allows either a landscaped buffer with trees and shrubs or a decorative masonry wall or decorative fence.
Thank you. Mr. Anastasio, would you want to have a comment on what you've heard so far?
Yeah, just that I agree. My client agrees to the provisos laid out by the RCO in their letter of support, which does run counter to the Planning Commission's recommendation that we be permitted sales and rental.
But we do think after years of negotiating and mitigating some issues and violations and all sorts of other things that what we have before you is is best for everyone.
So I'll stick with that.
OK, we're going to hold the vote on this so that our board member, Thomas Holloman, can review the video of the resumptive hearing.
We'll vote on this next Wednesday at 930.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Number five, MI 2022-005-442-3021 There Avenue.
Jermaine Harris is the attorney.
There is a recommendation of support from the Tasker Morris Neighborhood Association.
we were joining as a panelist okay
good morning mr chair morning uh mr harris could you state your name and spell it for the record
please uh yeah so my name is jermaine harris and i represent uh the applicant in this matter
ibrahim shai uh shaji who's the owner of the subject property 3021 bear avenue just for the
record could you spell your name oh i'm sorry jermaine harris j uh j-e-r-m-a-i-n-e h-a-r-r-i-s
right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do our vice chair has just a few questions
good morning counsel do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy
i do 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 everything has been submitted except
for the tax clearance. I spoke with my client this morning. He has a tax issue and he's supposed
to be meeting with the supervisor at the Philadelphia Revenue Department later on this
morning. But I wanted to appear rather than requesting a continuance because this case
has been continued about three times previously. I wanted to know if I would respectfully request
If I could make the presentation, but then the vote be held until a payment plan be issued with the city, my client believes that he'll be.
a payment plan be issued with the city.
My client believes that he'll be able to get a payment plan with the revenue department.
Well, let me ask the chair chair.
That's fine. Please proceed.
Please proceed.
Thank you.
so this is concerning uh 30 30 21 bear avenue and this is a request for this particular
building to be used as a as motor vehicle repair as well as sales now i have attached here uh
which you can see on the screen, the exhibit packet, which I submitted in advance.
And we have posting of the notice of today's hearing.
And here is what we're talking about.
This is a building.
This building was originally 3041 Vare Avenue, and it was recently subdivided 2040.
19, but 3041, there was a previous use of these particular uses that we are requesting
in this application.
However, once it was subdivided, it was discovered that when a new address was given for this
particular parcel that the it lost its use and it had to go through it has to
go through this process to get a use variance so again this is the front side
of the building this is the rear of the building this is the inside of the
building and this is the lot of uh the particular building and uh this is a small office space
within the building but hold on sorry i lost my exhibits
just bear with me
All right, let's get back track.
I don't know what happened to my exhibits here.
I just had them.
I'm trying to go back to them.
Yeah, I don't know what happened.
I'm sorry about that.
technical difficulties at any rate this is the site plan uh for the building
and this is the building itself again this was all one part of 3041 uh vera avenue but this is
uh the site it's a pretty large lot uh as to what it is and then we had a quite a while ago we had a
meeting with the community uh on this and we got a letter of support
which was dated February 17th of 2023 uh they had no problems with uh what was being proposed
by the applicant uh this was in front of degrees uh this was in front of the tasker mars neighborhood
association and what i have here is uh again this again was part of a larger property with 3041
and this is where there was a license for that particular property
And this is where there was a license for that particular property for the vehicle repair.
pretty
That was as of 2017.
But then if we go back even further, same thing.
It was vehicle repair as well.
And that was as of 1997.
And that was from the prior owner of this particular building.
We have here the deed, evidencing ownership, and we have the notice of refusal from L&I, which was issued almost two years ago.
So, again, the application was for vehicle repair and maintenance and personal sales.
This is a CMX2 district, and there's a lot of commercial uses in this.
So really, what we would ask for is an approval of this particular use, since this is a use that has been in existence for many years of the predecessor address of 3041.
And I also have here with me the owner of the property, which, if you would allow for him to be promoted, Ibrahim Shaji, I would ask that he be promoted so he can adopt my testimony.
Mr. Shaji.
They've been allowed to speak, sir.
Sir, could you please state your name and spell for the courts?
Good morning.
Could you state your name and spell for the courts stenographer?
Absolutely.
Your Honor, my name is Mahdi Shaji.
I am the applicant.
Could you spell your name, sir?
It's M as in Mary, A as in Apple, H as in Harry, D as in Dog, I as in Igloo.
and the last name is s is sam h is in harry a is in apple j is in jackson i is in igloo
do you swear affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes your honor please
proceed counsel okay mr shaji did you hear the testimony that i just uh presented to uh this
board yes yes counsel i have and do you agree with excuse me mr harris i'm i'm sorry to interrupt
I just want to clarify, is Ibrahim Shadi and Mahdi Shadi the same person?
No, no, ma'am. That's my father. He's on the line right now. He's at his home. I'm not sure if he's able to speak.
Dad, are you able to unmute and speak since you're the owner of the property?
Is he calling in on a phone, do you know?
He's calling in on a phone line.
okay um could he do um this is star nine to raise your hand so that we can we can allow him to
then unmute himself well i'm gonna text him right now to see if that can happen he's he's not really
techno technological savvy so i do apologize so he just needs a star nine i believe it's
star nine to raise hand staff please let me if i have that star nine you're raised in star six
to unmute. Darn it.
Once we give you permission to unmute, yes.
I do apologize. He's
70 years old. That's okay.
It's okay.
I'm just waiting on his
response.
I mean, I am the applicant. I just submitted
the application for him because I had a feeling this
was going to be a little bit of an issue.
You work in the business with him?
Yes, Your Honor, I do part-time, correct.
But for any reason, due to technical reasons, if we're not able to get him on the phone, I'd be more than happy to speak on his behalf.
Well, so, so, Mr. Harris, you're an officer of the court.
And we accept your testimony.
okay all right okay questions from the board questions from the board
no mr chair no chair i do apologize my father said he just is responding right now so i'm
trying to get him on the phone i apologize okay
Mr. Shaji?
Dad, are you there?
Mr. Shaji?
I'm just, I'm just texting him, say press star nine.
Okay. So here, sir, listen, I apologize.
Sir, sir, listen, your counsel can, has spoken for him.
He's also the court. We accepted his testimony.
No questions or comments from our attorney.
Yes, your honor. I apologize.
Okay. Questions or comments from the virtual audience.
i do not see any further answer mr chair planning commission thank you chair bergman and good
morning david fecto with the city planning commission chairman and board members the
comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning at this location from commercial mixed use to
industrial and commercial mixed use this property has a history as personal vehicle repair and
maintenance under the recommended zoning this use would be allowed with a special exception
and vehicle sales are incidental to vehicle repair the city planning commission recommends
that the board grant the proposed use variants for personal vehicle repair and maintenance
and vehicle sales and rentals but since this is a new zoning application the appellant should
bring their property as closely into conformance with the zoning code as they can so the city
planning commission recommends that given the history of this property the board grant the
use of variance. Oh, I already said grant the use of variances. However, we recommend that
the appellant be required to comply with the landscaping screening requirements in the zoning
code. And the code allows either a landscape buffer with trees and shrubs or decorative
masonry wall or decorative fence. Thank you. Mr. Harris? Yes. Mr. Harris, we will not vote on this
today we will wait till the tax issue is handled whether that's what a plan or not
and then we'll bring it back after we have word that that's been done okay okay your honor so
just so just so that i'm uh clear then once i submit the because i've never had this situation
before so once i submit the tax uh the tax clearance then would i be given another date or
would i my understanding is once you submit the tax clearance we will we will have a date for this
to be voted on by the board oh okay and would i yeah this will not just just to clarify this would
not be a resumption we've done everything that we need to do it's just once you send it in
Yep, the case is closed, except for the tax cert. Once you send, once we receive the tax cert, this will be put on an add-on list to be voted as soon as possible.
Okay, thank you for the clarification, Ms. Emerson.
Thank you, Mr. Harris.
All right, take care.
Okay, number six, MI 2023-005-882. 221 Tree Street, Jennifer Rizzillo is the attorney. There's a letter of support from the Whitman Council.
And there's a letter of non-opposition from Council Member Squilla.
Mr. Chair, I do not see Jennifer Bizzitlo in the virtual audience, but I do have a hand raised from Angela DiPrima Bucci. Do you want me to allow her to speak?
I believe that is the property owner, Mr. Chair.
Well, the Brian Thomas and Viola Bryson are the property owners.
Oh, no, sorry.
Excuse me, Mr. Chairman, this is Jennifer Bizzidlow.
I signed in with the wrong link.
No, that's okay.
That's okay.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
I just want to also say I haven't been promoted to panelist yet either.
All right.
Why don't we promote her to panelists?
Shelby, we're joining those panelists shortly.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Good morning.
Could you state your name and spell it for the court stenographer?
Jennifer Bazidlow.
That's B-A-Z-Y-D-L-O.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth?
Nothing but the truth.
Thank you.
Would you identify your client and the relationship to the property?
Sure. My client is Viola Bryson, who has been the property owner for 70 years.
Okay. And our vice chair has a few questions.
Good morning, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed and required to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes. I also just wanted to note that I supplemented the record yesterday with 51 letters of support from near neighbors.
Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.
All right.
Okay, so again, my name is Jennifer Basidlo.
I'm here today on behalf of Viola Bryson, who has lived and owned and lived in this property since 1954.
If we're calculating, that's 70 years.
I also have several of her family members online today, too, in case we need them as well.
since Ms. Bryson is fairly old and has some issues with technology. So I just want to go through our
packet. We submitted, we have the refusal, which are for dimensional variances. The deed showing
that Ms. Bryson has owned the property. If you see here, Viola, she is the owner of the property.
um the property taxes are paid we have a letter of support from uh whitman council
unanimous support a letter from um council member squillo in non-opposition uh and we have some
other stuff we're going to go through the aerial views of the property um there's also in here
zoning map photographs uh which we'll come back to as well there's the rear of the property
property inside the street. And then we have, this is the property next door. And then we have the
plans for the addition. So let's just go back to the one photo so you can see what we're talking
about. So this brick home in the center, this lighter brick home, is 221 Tree Street. This is
a relatively small property uh that is only 715 square feet uh the dimensions are 14 feet by 48
so we have a small south valley lot here it is zoned uh rsa5 and we are still proposing single
family use here uh viola has lived in this home like i said for the past 70 years and she has
lovingly cared for it uh and treasured it uh raised her children in it um as you can see when
we go over and we have these 51 letters of support from near neighbors including 19 on this street
and also a bunch on the Jackson Street which is the street that faces that that backs up to this
property. Unfortunately 223 Tree Street which is this property to the left here was a problem
house for a long time. And then in July of 2021, it was intentionally set on fire for arson. It
destroyed that property, obviously, but it also destroyed large portions of Viola's home. And she
has not been able to live in the home since then. In March of 2022, there was a make safe permit
issued to um basically to reconstruct the rear of the home as it had completely been destroyed by
fire um that work was done however it was later realized that how this was redone required a
zoning variance um the difference between what was there and what is current what was rebuilt
is this second floor addition was built out about a foot further than it was before to align with
the rear of the property. So this was once they discovered that the work was done and it was
discovered that they needed the zoning variance. That's why we're here today. It's about it's an
expansion of a nonconformity by about a foot in the rear of the property. Let's see. So that's
why we're here. It was rebuilt. It was rebuilt a little bit bigger. I will add that that is an
additional bedroom space. And as I mentioned, Ms. Bryson is elderly. The additional space in the
bedroom is great for mobility purposes, allowing for mobility aids to move around in a sleeping
quarters, that sort of stuff. So, you know, not only it really is a functional addition for her
It really is a functional addition for her as well so that she can continue to live in her home.
as well so that she can continue to live in her home.
She has currently, for the past couple of years, been living with various of her children and is really eager to get back in her home.
So the refusals that were issued, I'm coming back to these photos too, but the refusals that were issued were for rear yard size and open area requirements.
um so uh the rear yard requirement we're proposing eight and this is only at the second floor um the
the first floor is grandfathered in we built on top of the existing um wall line there um required
is nine proposed is eight uh there's a couple of things here first of all there is an alley to the
rear of this property that is four feet uh so when you consider half of the rear alley we have 10
feet between the rear of the building and kind of the mutual property line between the properties.
As you can see, the top row of houses here is Jackson Street. This is our property right in
the middle. And they do have larger rear yards, so we still have a good distance between properties.
And as you can see, all of the homes on Tree Street here are roughly the same setback. We're
not doing anything tremendously different um from like deviating from what's there i'll also add
that this is is a small property again it's 715 square feet um if it was um either and it's 48
feet long if it was 45 feet only three feet shorter we would only be required to have seven
uh it's also worth noting that the square footage of this property is more in line with the rs6
zoning district, which only requires 700 square feet minimum. And in that zoning district,
only a seven foot rear yard is required. So the code is acknowledging that it is pretty hard to
meet these dimensional requirements when you have this kind of small, short lot. And so what we're
proposing at an eight foot at that second is a reasonable compromise between the existing code
And the reality of what's on the ground at that property. Same thing for open air. You know, the rear wall is roughly in the same place it was before the fire. And the addition is only on the second floor. The open air requirement is on the second floor.
if we were at 45 and 48 we would have no open air requirement only rear yard um so again we're still
proposing a fairly compliant um addition based on the conditions of the property regardless of what
it's actually zoned um and like i said it's not out of character with the block we have a block
that's has all sorts of you know relatively similar size rear yards um and so we're not
building all the way to the property line we got a nice space there's access for fire safety purposes
with the rear alley out to the street all that sort of stuff um so let me just go back to
the letters i've mentioned this a couple of times yep yep so we had i wasn't at the meeting the
clients were there themselves but they had the support the community is in support everyone's
very excited to have viola back on the on the block and this is one of the things that's
preventing her from getting back into her home. So, um, so counsel, here's what, here's what we
could do. Um, you could call your client and if she has a hard time getting on, we will gladly
accept your testimony. Great. I, I have, um, I have, I believe people who have a power of attorney
for her on the line to adopt my testimony, if that's acceptable, or you can just accept my
testimony. And we gladly accept your testimony. You've talked to the client, right? So your,
Your testimony is accepted, okay?
Okay, great.
Thank you so much.
I appreciate it.
So questions from the board?
No, Chair.
No, Chair.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I do not see any hands, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you.
Planning Commission?
Thank you, Chair Bergman, and good morning.
David Fechter 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
dimensional variance for rear yard depth is minor and does not conflict with the spirit and purpose
of the zoning code, and we would argue that the small lot size, 715 square feet, poses an economic
hardship justifying the variance for open area. The City Planning Commission recommends the Board
grant or propose dimensional variances for rear yard depth and open area.
Thank you. MI 2023-005-882-221 Tree Street, I vote yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
LeBron Leonard Palmer, my vote is yes.
Liberian Leonard Palmer, my vote is yes.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you so much.
Thank you so much.
Number seven, MI 2023-005-881, 226 Washington Avenue.
Zen Jin is the attorney.
There's a letter of non-opposition from the Penn Sports Civic Association.
They'll be coming back in as a pentacle zone.
Good morning.
Good morning, counsel. Could you state your name and spell, please, for the court sonographer?
Yes. My name is Zen Jin, Z-H-E-N, last name J-I-N, 1617 John F. Kennedy Boulevard, Suite 1838,
fellow of EPA 19103 here on behalf of the applicant.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client in a relationship to this property?
Yes, my client is UNHTRIEU, middle initial V as in Victor, and my client is the owner of the property.
Okay, and our vice chair has a few questions, sir.
Good morning, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, I do.
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed to proceed with this case by the advance of this hearing?
Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.
Thank you. I'm going to share with the board what was previously submitted as an exhibit.
Can everyone see my exhibit?
We can, sir.
Thank you.
So we have submitted a copy of the refusal and related documentation for this application.
This is an application for a legalization, well, not legalization, my apologies, for
use of the property as a two-family household living at this location.
This is a Washington Avenue property.
It is part of a small part of a block that is zoned RSA 5.
However, this property is unique in both its history and design, which led to the non-opposition from DRCO with regard to our particular request.
One of the interesting factors about this property is that it was previously legally used as a single-family and a sculptured artist's office and artist's studio.
So it was separated between the front and the upper and lower floors, plus there was initially legal additions done.
So the property is actually substantially larger than the neighboring properties, which are very small, 500 plus square foot lot, single family houses.
Plus, we are actually right next to a commercial use as well.
So this block is a pretty short part of Washington Avenue between two streets, including two in-cap commercial mixed use, and we are the next building.
Because of the larger size and the existing conditions of the separated floors and an existing studio that is now what we're requesting as the second unit, the RCO feels that there's enough existing conditions to warrant not opposing our request for a two-family use.
The upper floor is an existing single family that would remain, and then the lower floor
will become its own single family.
And that is essentially the reason why we're seeking this particular variance before the
board.
I want to advise the board that my client is overseas and would not be present today, but
I have verified all this information with him prior to appearing before the board today.
I'm happy to answer any questions or redirect to any part of the...
And just for the record, could you show the Pennsport Civic Association letter?
Absolutely.
My apologies.
Let me.
So this is a letter from Pennsport.
And they they have they're not opposing the variance.
So we appeared before the Civic Association.
We responded to all the questions because of the size of the property.
relative to the size for two single-family homes,
the neighborhood had no opposition to the idea
of converting this into a two-family dwelling.
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
No questions, Chair.
So, Chair.
It's a comment from our attorney, Hillary Emerson.
There's a comment from our attorney, Hillary Emerson.
Not at this time.
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I do not see any answer, Mr. Chair.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman, and good morning.
David Fecto 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 zoning for this block dates to 1999, when this block base was changed from multifamily to single family.
This appears to be a reuse of a former business space within an existing structure.
The City Planning Commission recommends the board grant the proposed use variants for two dwelling units.
Thank you. MI 2023-005-881-226 Washington Avenue. I vote yes.
LeBaron Leonard Palmer. My vote is yes.
No, Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you.
Number 10, MI 2023, 005759, 815 North 16th Street.
Olaf Sokoloff is the attorney.
There were no RCO letter at this point,
But there was a meeting held 2-21-24 at United-Francisville Civic.
The applicant also has provided 18 foreign letters of support from neighbors.
Good morning, Chair Oleg Sokolov.
Could you just spell your name?
Did you testify once today already?
Did I have you on before?
I did just on a continuance request.
So you've already been sworn.
Just for the record, state your name again.
Oleg Sokolov, on behalf of the applicant, Clara Perkins, O-L-E-G, S-O-K-O-L-O-D.
Right.
And our vice chair has just a few questions for you, sir.
Good morning, counsel.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to his accuracy?
Good morning, Mr. Shahid.
Yes, I do.
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 mr vice chair however as i have just learned from mr bergman the rco seems not to
have submitted the letter yet however i do have an email i did not include it in the exhibit packet
because i was under the impression that they would be sending the letter which they have not provided
to me but the email does outline the vote of the february 21st meeting that we had
Thank you. Council, can you please email that over to our board council?
Yes, I'll do that. Well, I can display it too when I share my exhibit, so why don't I just do that.
Thank you.
Is everybody able to see that?
Yes, yes.
Okay. So, as stated here in the letter, the vote came out to 17 in opposition, 12 in support, and 5 in non-opposition.
And as you can see here as well, this was last Thursday, and I was informed by the RCO that they would be submitting the letter by the end of the week for our meeting today.
why don't you proceed thank you mr chair
so as stated this is an application for 815 north 16th street i'm here on behalf of the applicant
miss perkins um i will have her son alan who oversees her affairs uh on this call as well
This is a request to use the property for the purposes of visitor accommodation in an RM1 district.
You'll also see that this property was previously granted variance for two-family household living in 2014.
Here is the deed to Dr. Clara Perkins.
Ms. Perkins purchased the property in 2021.
It has been run and overseen by her son, Alan, as I stated.
The property is a two-family dwelling.
The applicant has had some difficulty renting it for full year terms.
Currently, there's a six-month lease on the top unit and nobody in the bottom unit.
This has kind of gone on since they've owned the property.
They've been unable to secure any year-long leases and at this time are unable to secure a further six-month lease.
this is just a view down 16th street looking uh i believe this is south and then this is north and
what i would just like to point out here that this is ridge avenue right here that
basically heading north on 16th street the property
basically heading north on 16th street the property properties change into a number of
multi-family properties and this property as you'll see when i display the zoning map actually
is about three properties away from a cmx 2.5 district and also a commercial quarter of various
cmx zone properties on ridge here's some interior photos of the property you can see it's very well
appointed. Some, you know, lovely renovations were done putting marble in the bathrooms,
lovely painting, lovely fixture installations, and this property is very well kept.
Here's a toning map for the property, and this is what I was discussing. So
the property is basically three houses in. These three houses running north towards Ridge Avenue
along 16th Street are RM1 properties, and then the properties abutting 16th Street and at the
intersection of Ridge are CMX 2.5, and then some of the properties along here in Ridge are a variety
of cmx uses i'd also like to point out so this is kind of a display of hotel accommodations in
the nearby area and when i say nearby i would say that's a bit of a stretch there are only
three hotels within even a 20 square block area and they're quite quite far from
anything going north on the property the closest is the dominics at the divine marine
Here's our project information form, our application for appeal, our notice letter to the community.
As I stated, we had a meeting with the RCO, which is the United Francisville Civic Association,
on February 21st, where the results were displayed.
And I'm not sure why there is no letter, but I do apologize for that.
Our certificates of mailing.
I believe this was sent to about 180 nearby neighbors.
We also included in the packet some proposed rules if we are granted this variance.
You know, we've tried to make sure that some of the issues that may come up and have come
up in the past with Airbnbs or visitor accommodation requests are dealt with in the rules.
You know, obviously, no loud music, maximum occupancy, no smoking, things of that nature.
And most importantly, there is a backyard to the property, so all trash will be stored in the backyard, and it is currently stored in the backyard for the current residents.
I also like to include, this is something that my clients have been using recently.
Pardon me.
This is something that my clients have been using recently to be able to oversee certain things within the unit so they can monitor it from afar.
This monitors noise and is able to actually turn off the Wi-Fi system if certain decibel levels are hit.
it's also able to detect how many entries were done
on the keyboard for the door pad lock,
which is going to be an electronic lock.
And as the chair stated,
we have 18 letters of support from nearby neighbors,
including five letters of support from people
on the immediate block,
which I'll just quickly point out here.
These are actually abutting neighbors on Ridge Avenue.
And then here we go, here's one on North 16th, another one, and another one here, and another one here.
So as I said, five. These are pictures of the zoning posters being hung.
And then lastly, just a printout of the Philadelphia tax system showing compliance through 2023.
The applicant actually has her taxes and insurance escrowed with her mortgage company, so we're
unclear as to why the 2024s haven't been paid, but they will be paid very shortly by the
mortgage company.
At this time, if it's okay with the chair of the board, I'd like to bring on Mr. Alan
Perkins just to adopt my testimony.
any mr perkins doesn't own the property no it's his mother's property
hillary can we do that
um i think to be consistent
I think to be consistent with what we've been doing today, Mr. Chair, that we should just take Mr. Sokolov's testimony.
I think, you know, you're also the court. We'll gladly take your testimony. Okay.
Thank you. Thank you.
Questions from the board?
No, Chair.
No questions, Chair.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I do not see any hands, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Sokoloff, is this a request for both properties?
It is, yes.
Questions or comments from the Planning Commission?
I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
May I just add one thing, Chair?
Pardon me?
May I just add one thing that I forgot to mention?
Sure. We would also propose that this be granted on a temporary basis as a proviso for three years.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman, and good morning.
David Fecto with the City Planning Commission.
Chairman and board members, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential multifamily 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.
The City Planning Commission recommends the board deny the proposed use variants for visitor accommodations.
Thank you.
MI 2023, 005-759-815 North 16th Street, I vote yes with proviso.
Temporary variants to expire 3627.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with proviso.
lavera leonard palmer my vote is yes for proviso thank you counsel thank you and just just to
finish off miss emerson i will email that letter uh excuse me that email i received just just for
your records and i will also um to be fully buttoned up i will check back in with the rco
to to obtain the actual formal letter and forward that to you as well all right thank you so much i
appreciate it thank you all have a great day all right thank you so number 11 mi 2023 001 700
1223 belmont avenue tamika mccoy is the attorney there's a letter of support from centennial
parkside rco and council member gathier has written a letter
Our office supports the requested variants at 1223 Belmont.
Our understanding is that the block was remapped away from commercial, not because it wasn't believed to be an appropriate use, but because of the lack of market interest at the time.
We are pleased to see more commercial back to Belmont Avenue, as is the community, so we support the variants.
High Counsel, could you please state your name and spell for the court sonographer?
You're muted.
Thank you.
Could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Thank you.
Good morning to the panelists.
Tamika McCoy, MC, capital K-O-Y.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client, their relationship to this property?
I represent B&T Properties, who own this property.
On the webinar is also Ms. Mallory, who is the principal for the Pink Cafe, who is the occupant for 1223 Belmont Avenue.
And you represent both?
So, in this instance, yes.
So, our vice chair has a few questions for you.
Good morning, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his
accuracy? Yes. 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? Yes. Thank you. Please proceed
and share your screen.
Thank you. This is the application for 1818. I'm sorry.
You just bear one moment. You get the right one.
Here we are.
Okay, my apologies. So this is the application for the property located at 1223 Belmont Avenue.
Okay, my apologies.
The intended use is as a sit-down restaurant. It is on a commercial corridor. I have
with me previously submitted. And at this time, it shows that the requested zoning will not
increase any congestion in the area, nor will it endanger any of the public or cause any harm to
the use of the properties of any of the adjoining neighbors. There is no environmental damage that
that would be affected. The anticipated use is a sit-down restaurant. It occupies the first floor
of the premises. There is also four residential multifamily units above. None of that would have
to be impeded or altered in any way. There would be no obstruction to traffic or obstruction to
light or air neighbors nor would it impact any of the neighbors use of their uh property
attached with this petition we have the actual application
we have a copy of the deed together with the tax certification
we've also closed the certificate of tax clearance which again is previously
submitted to the board. There were notifications sent to 51 area residents who were all contacted
in mail. Those are proof of the address. There was a RCO meeting held on February 1st. The RCO
is represented by the Centennial Parkside Community Development Corporation. There was overwhelming
support for this project. In fact, the project essentially is a sit-down healthy option
restaurant where they are providing juice bars, salads, and light sandwiches to area residents.
There are no other restaurants that exist in the current corridor. And so that's why there's
such overwhelming support for the pink cafe uh this is a copy of the refusal i think important
to note is that the use of this premises previously had a variance for a sit-down restaurant and bar
um the problem the property essentially sat vacant for a substantial period of time
and so it reverted back to what the original use was um attached here is also photographs
of the structure. Again, there will be no impediment to any of the apartment units that
sits above, no impediments to any of the neighbors. There's ample parking. This is the right side of
the pink cafe. It actually sits so that you can see the left side. This is a street that looks
up Belmont Avenue. The next stoplight would be Girard Avenue. Again, it's a major commercial
corridor across the street directly. There is a repair shop for auto repair and body work
directly across. There's ample parking on Parkside Avenue. This looks down Parkside Avenue
westward toward Fairmont Park. There's actually a school a few doors down where children
can actually come and get smoothies and fruit juices. There was a posting of the zoning notice
affixed on the door as is required. We also have here the existing plan and structure. As I said,
there would be no economical hardship to anyone in using this premises as a sit-down dining
restaurant. The capacity is expected to be I believe it's 45 that is the capacity for the
premises. Attached here is the RCO letter that expressed support for the project and actually
is looking forward to welcoming them to the community. This is signed by Ms. Gomez, who is
the representative that submitted this letter.
At this time, I would like to present Ms. Mallory so that she could adopt the information that had been submitted.
At this time, I would like to present Ms. Mallory.
Ms. Mallory has been allowed to speak.
Hi, Ms. Mallory, could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Sure. My name is Leslie Mallory, L-E-S-L-I-E-M-A-L-L-O-R-Y.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you. Good morning, Ms. Mallory. How are you today?
I'm well.
Did you hear the testimony that had been submitted in support of the application for 1223 Belmont Avenue?
And would you adopt the testimony as if it was given by yourself?
and um you attended the rco hearing um can you tell me some of the takeaways from the area
residents when you approach them about your plan to establish the uh pink cafe
um they were very excited and um they said they don't have any restaurants any sit-in restaurants
in the area and within walking distance that they can get to and um they think it would be good for
THEIR COMMUNITY AS WELL AS THE SCHOOLS IN THE AREA AND THE RESIDENTS OF THE AREA IS THERE ANYTHING
ELSE THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO ADD FOR THE BOARD TO KNOW OR NO SOME OF THE NOPE THAT WAS IT OKAY I
WOULD SUBMIT ON THAT ALL RIGHT THANK YOU QUESTIONS FROM THE BOARD NO QUESTIONS CHAIR
QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS FROM THE VERT FROM OUR ATTORNEY HILLARY EMERSON
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no hands, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman, and good morning.
David Fecto with the City Planning Commission.
Chairman and board members, the comprehensive plan recommends no change
for the residential multifamily zoning at this location.
This property was rezoned in 2019 in a community requested map change.
This property has a documented history as a ground floor commercial use
with dwelling units above the city planning commission recommends the board grant their
proposed use variants for a sit-down restaurant thank you mi 2023 001 700 1223 belmont avenue i
vote yes ishmael shaheed my vote is yes lebaron leonard palmer my vote is yes
thank you counsel you have your votes thank you very much have a wonderful day all right okay
All right. Number 12, MI-2022-004-443-3445 Thiem Street. Darlene Threat is the attorney.
I believe we have letters, am I correct, Hillary, from the RCO and the local council person? Am I right?
Yes, Mr. Chair. We do have a letter of opposition from Impact CDC. We also have a letter of opposition from Councilmember Lozada. And I believe Ms. Threat will present that they do have a letter of support as well as a petition.
Thank you.
Good morning, Council. Could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Could you unmute first?
Thank you.
Good morning, Commissioner.
Darlene Threat on behalf of the applicants.
Just for the record, could you spell your name, please?
Darlene, D-A-R-L-E-N-E, Freight, T as in Thomas, H-R-E-A-T-T.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Could you identify your client in relationship to the property?
My client is Ms. Zuni Donato, and I do believe she's on the line today.
Okay. Our vice chair has a few questions.
Good morning, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, I do.
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed and required to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.
Good morning, Commissioners. I'm Darlene Threatt, and I'm representing Zuni Donato for 3445 Kimes Street.
Commissioners, a package of exhibits were submitted, which I rearranged, and I have a listing of the exhibits here today.
First, we have the permit application, refusal, the appeal, the PIF, the deed, the tax information, plans, pictures, community letter.
PIF, the deed, the tax information, plans, pictures, community letter of non-support,
letter of support. And commissioners, I had a petition circulated with all the neighbors on
the block of Kimes Street. I believe I have 16 signatures in support, both neighbors on either
side of the property. Commissioners, we filed a use application permit to legalize.
I'm sorry.
Yes, we can't.
Yeah, the documents aren't sharing.
Thank you.
Oh, I'm sorry.
That's okay.
Let me go back.
Here it comes.
okay sorry about that uh so i did submit a package and i believe i outlined what was in my package
uh commissioners we applied we had a use application permit to legalize this existing
two-family dwelling on 3445 carm street uh we received a refusal uh the refusal is because the
two-family dwelling is not permitted in the RSA-5 zoning district.
There was also an application of appeal filed.
We presented a copy of the current deed.
And I'm going to jump to the plans here, commissioners.
I'm going to reduce them a little bit so we could see the whole plan here in the screen.
Can you see the screens, Commissioner?
Can you see the plan?
Great.
I'll just move this for a little bit.
Here we go.
Commissioner, here's the site plan of the entire dwelling.
We propose to use it as a two-family dwelling, and here's a layout of the entire premises.
We don't plan to use the basement for anything.
The basement actually just had utilities in there, and you can see here are the two hot water tanks that are located below.
On the first floor plan, we have a one-bedroom apartment.
Here's the one-bedroom.
We have this other area here.
We have the bathroom, and we have what we have labeled the family area.
If you come in from the outside, you can get to the second floor by ascending the stairs.
And then you'll go to the second floor plan.
The second floor actually has two bedrooms.
We have a bedroom in the front.
We have a bedroom in the rear.
We have a family area and a kitchen here.
Here is an elevation of the property, how it looks currently.
I also provided you with a side plan, a side elevation, so you can see what the property looks like.
Commissioner, here is a picture of the outside of the property with the original posting.
i took some additional pictures of the property in the street to just give you a look of
what the street looks like and what the property looks like it's a generally a nice well-kept
clean street and miss zonato's property is a nice well-kept property i took some pictures
of the inside for you so you can see how it has been renovated it's modern it's clean
is this an existing duplex you're trying to legalize yes yes sir it is an existing duplex
i'm going to scroll down a little more past some more of these pictures here
Just out of curiosity, how many other duplexes on the block?
I believe there are two other duplexes on the block.
This is a picture of the rear yard.
That's the new posting.
This is a picture of the basement to show you that it really is empty.
We only have water heaters down there, and then there is access to the basement from the outside.
here's a picture of the front of the property showing the two mailboxes
here's additional pictures of the street
Here's additional pictures of the street, the stairways, the second kitchen, the second bathroom.
I took a side picture to show you the real length of the property.
Here is the letter that was sent out to the community for the community meeting.
I wasn't a part of this case at the time, but I do understand that there was a community meeting which was pretty well attended.
And here are the, here's a letter from Impact Services, and they were against the using of this property for a duplex.
We did go to the community also in an effort to get additional support.
I have a letter from the pastor that lives on the block indicating that he's lived on the block for many years, that the renovation of 344 Kime Street was an addition to the community and that the place is well kept.
I also had the client circulate a petition along the block.
And I'll blow this petition up for you a little bit.
As you can see, there are approximately 16 signatures on this petition, and the signatures of both neighbors are also on this petition, and they all have no objection to the use of this property as a two-family dwelling.
And, Commissioners, with that, my client, as well as I, am willing to answer any questions that you have concerning this matter.
Counsel, what was the vote at the RCO meeting?
honestly um commissioner i don't want to misinform you i don't really know what the
vote is um may i ask my client please is it on the letter
i don't have a letter hold on a second yeah i think you have an rco letter yeah i don't know
the actual
let's see
plus 1412
let's see there were 10 attendees
there was opposition
thank you
support 2
Why don't you bring your client on?
Ms. Zunato, are you on the line?
Ms. Zunato, can you raise your hand, please?
They've been about to speak.
Hello?
Good morning.
Could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Zuni Donado, C-U-N-Y-D-O-N-D-O.
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes please proceed counsel miss zonato are you the owner of 3445 com street yes and did you
attend a community meeting in reference to this property yes and can you tell the board in general
what was the feeling of the community in regard to legalizing this property for a two-family dwelling
uh nobody show up to the meeting
i'm sorry can you repeat that to the community meeting yes for uh the board uh was nobody
so only the board attended the meeting there were no members from the neighborhood
uh i think she said nobody spoke but then the board voted is what she's saying i think
mm-hmm yes okay and mr donald have you heard my testimony as presented today
yes and would you adopt it as true and correct it's true that's all i have
question questions from the board no no questions here questions or comments
from our attorney hillary emerson not at this time mr chair questions or
comments from the virtual audience?
I do not see any further hands, Mr. Chair.
Planning Commission. Thank you, Chair
Bergman, and good morning. David Fecto with the
City Planning Commission, Chairman and Board
Members. 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. This property
appears to have been converted to two family
use without the benefit of permits. This is a primarily single-family block face.
The city planning commission recommends that the board deny the proposed use variance for two dwelling units.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the board deny the proposed use variance.
Counsel, I'm going to have a conversation with the other board members next week at the executive session, and I'll vote on this next Wednesday at 930.
Thanks, Commissioner.
All right.
And you have another case I see here.
MI 2023-001-600-3149 Jasper Street.
and i understand we may have we have letters for this too hillary am i correct
yes i believe there's a letter of non-support yes yeah we we just got a copy of the the letter
of opposition um as well as the letter of opposition from council member lazada okay
thank you please proceed uh council just state your name for the record you've already been sworn
My name is Darlene Threatt, D-A-R-L-E-N-E, Threatt, T-H-R-E-A-T-T.
And could you identify your client and the relationship to the property?
My client is Mr. Jorday Tejada. Mr. Tejada, are you on the line?
And our vice chair has a few questions for you.
Counselor, do you agree to wave the reading of the refusal or stipulate to his accuracy?
Yes, I do.
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of its hearing?
It's my understanding that the documents were emailed in.
Okay, thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.
can you still see my screen we see the uh it's the i think it's
well i'm not sure what case is what here hold on a second
that's from the last case what i say
okay here we go okay
commissioners i represent the applicant who owns uh 3149 uh jasper street commissioner um
This was an application for a duplex and the legalization of an addition.
At this time, Commissioner, I am going to amend our application and withdraw our request for a use as a two-family dwelling.
At this time, I'm asking just to legalize the addition to be used in conjunction with the one-family dwelling.
Commissioner, we submitted documents to the board.
The documents contain the permit application, the refusal, the appeal, the property information form, the deed, tax information, plans, pictures, community letter, and a proof of mailing.
Here is the zoning use application that we permit that we originally submitted.
Again, I'm going to withdraw the request for use as a two-family dwelling.
At this time, I'm just asking to legalize the addition, which consists of a one-floor garage and a two-floor addition on the back of the building.
Commissioner, this is the refusal that we received.
Generally, we received a use refusal and two zoning refusals.
I'm going to withdraw the use refusal again at this time and speak towards the two zoning refusals.
The zoning refusal concerned the occupied area and the zoning refusal concerned the rear yard.
The occupied area was supposed to be 75 percent.
The client built the property using 100 percent of the land, and he did not leave any rear yard at this time.
Commissioners, I'm just going to scroll down now to the plans.
My machine will move.
I submitted the deed, tax information, and I'm going to jump to the plan now.
I'm just going to reduce it a little bit so we can see the whole plan.
uh commissioner this is currently the old plan of how the property looked before the addition
was built basically you would enter the property from the front here and this was all open area
in the side of the open area we had a existing alley which is still existing
existing alley, which is still existing. In the back of the open area here, we had an existing
in the back of the open area here we had an existing
alley also. The client proceeded to build a garage in this area and a two-family addition in this
area. I'm going to scroll down a little bit now more to the actual site plan if you'll take a
look at it here. So this was the original existing building. The client built a garage area right
here. And he also added a two-story addition in the back here. I'll show you some pictures of it.
That's the site plan as the property exists today.
Basically, that's the picture of the posting. And that's the picture of the one-story garage that
the client built to accommodate his personal
parking on the block there. Here's another
picture, and I'll just show you that there is a little alley, there is a little breezeway
for access that you can get down to the side of this house, and you can go back
in the alley in the rear of the property.
Here's an additional picture of the rear of the property,
which shows you the alley, the breezeway, and the property.
As you can see here, the client built a two-story addition in the back of this property here.
Here's another front view of the property.
A view of the entry into the property from the addition.
here's a side view of the property uh showing the breezeway um it's a look towards a con
street right from the back from the back of the property
it's another view of the rear of the property to show that there is space there's a breezeway back
there. Here's a picture of the actual garage
that they built where they would like to park their vehicles at.
Commissioner, a meeting was noticed and there
was a meeting held on May 1st, 2023.
It's my understanding that the community was against the
two-family use. I'm not sure if it was just presented as
legalizing an addition at that time.
Also, I have attached
in this package the notices
that were sent to the community.
And with that, Commissioner,
I'm here to answer any questions that you may have
about this application.
Are there any other parking
garages on the block?
No, Commissioner, there are not.
Okay. You want to bring your client on?
Mr. Tejada, are you on the line?
I do not see anyone answering your name on the virtual list.
I'm sorry, Mr. Han, you said you see no hands raised?
That's correct.
No hands are raised, and I do not see anyone answering to that name in the virtual audience.
my hand went up
I went back down again
so counsel
you're an officer of the court
will take your testimony
will you adopt my testimony today
yep that's what I just said
alright thank you
no chair
I'm sorry to interrupt you
go ahead
yeah again
I interrupt you, Mr. Chair, but it looks like Jorge Deco is present.
Is that your client?
Yes, it is.
Bring him on.
Jorge?
Could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Jorge Antonio Deco.
good afternoon um jorge um did you hear my presentation i gotta i gotta swear in a minute
he needs to spell his name and then
sir could you please spell your name for the court stenographer
J-O-R-G-E-T-E-C-W-O-T-Q.
I'm sorry, Mr. Chairman, this reporter, I did not understand that.
all right he's he's spelling his his spelling his name in spanish so i think we'll need to
just take the excuse me the testimony of mystery today that's right right thank you okay all right
all right questions uh from the board no chair
no questions all right questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson
not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
no further hands mr chair planning commission thank you chair bergman and good morning david
fecto 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 appears to have
built a garage in addition to the home without the benefit of permits there is no unique physical
condition or circumstance of this property that would prevent it from being used in conformance
with the zoning code the city planning commission recommends that the board deny the proposed
dimensional variances for occupied area and rear yard depth
and by 2023-001-6003149 jasper street i vote no
ishmael shaheed my vote is no the baron leonard palmer my vote is no thank you council thank
Thank you very much, Commissioner.
Number 14, MI 2023-005-885-336-38 North 10th Street.
Zen Jin is the attorney.
Letter of support from the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation
and a letter of non-opposition from the Callahill Neighborhood Association.
Delby, we're joining as a panelist.
Okay, thank you.
Mr. Chair, we've also received a letter of non-opposition from Councilmember Squilla with the provisos as noted by the community organization.
Thank you.
Council, just for the record, state your name.
You've already been sworn.
Thank you.
My name is Zen Jin, Z-H-E-N-J-I-N.
Can you please identify your clients and their relationship to this property?
Yes, Mr. Jing Wu, J-I-N-G, last name W-U.
They're a tenant in the property, but the operator of the proposed business.
Our vice chair has just a few questions, sir.
Good morning, counsel.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to his address?
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 did.
Thank you. Please proceed to share.
Thank you. I'm going to share with the board what was previously submitted in this case.
Can the board see my exhibit?
Thank you.
So we have submitted the copy of the refusal, both letters of support and non-opposition from the two RCOs that was involved directly with the community meetings, photos, plans, and relay documentation.
This is an application for use as a, what is essentially a karaoke restaurant, but it is a restaurant use.
Because of the karaoke aspect, it triggers the assembly and entertainment use for less than 50 people, but it is also a sit-down restaurant by design.
This is a common type of design in the Chinatown community area, and it's a very popular type of restaurant with rooms where people can come in and enjoy karaoke as well as good food.
There are two aspects to this particular refusal-slash-referral.
The special exception applies to the assembly and entertainment use.
The sole refusal item really applies to five required parking spaces.
As the letters from the community indicates, both RCOs feel that the parking is not as much of an issue overall because from a parking standpoint, this is an existing building.
There is a hardship that it cannot have off-street parking, but in the area, there are parking
lots and on-street parking, and the use, even given the size of the use, the impact of the
the impact of the parking isn't likely to trigger a hardship to what is already in the community
parking isn't likely to trigger a hardship to what is already...
and what is surrounding the property. The main concern for most of the neighbors and community,
again, would come back to trash management. We were asked to make sure that we have commercial
trash pickup multiple times a week to make sure that trash is never left on the sidewalk or in
front of the property. And that is something that my client does agree with and have no issue with.
The PCDC and CNA also asked for visibility and proper ventilation.
Ventilation, it's going to be to the roof of the property.
And on the design of the front facade, which I'm going to show on the plans now,
you can see that we do plan to change the front facade to make sure that there are windows available for visibility.
The building itself currently, you can see from the photographs, is more of a, it is kind of a commercial frontage, but we will be, my client will be making certain changes to make it more presentable as a restaurant frontage.
So there are some parking spaces on the side, but again, it's not really directly accessible to my client. It's not his, the part that he is leasing.
So this is a space that is being leased and will be used.
So essentially, with the neighbors that showed up to the community not really being in opposition to the proposed use, in fact, some are actually excited about the idea of a karaoke restaurant being here and the neighborhood's non-opposition, and our agreement to the provisos that they would like, we would ask for the board's favorable review of this application,
both for the special exception
as well as for the variance
for the five parking spaces.
My client should be here
to verify my testimony.
Chairman, would you like me to ask?
Please bring your client on, yep.
So Mr. Wu, can you raise your hand
virtually to be identified?
Mr. Wu?
Mr. Wolf, you're in the virtual audience.
Please raise your hand and wait to be sworn in.
I'm sorry, sir, but I do not see any hand.
So, counsel, you're an officer of the court.
Your testimony is accepted.
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
No, Chair.
No questions, Chair.
Questions or comments from our attorney?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I do not see any further hands, Mr. Chair.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman, and good morning.
David Fecto with the City Planning Commission.
Chairman and board members, the comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning at this location from industrial and residential mixed use to commercial mixed use 2.5.
The zoning map was changed at this location in 2015 and a community requested map change.
The appellant has shown that the proposed assembly and entertainment will have no detrimental impacts beyond what might be expected.
The appellant has an existing building, so requiring parking would not be feasible.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the board grant their proposed parking variance.
Thank you. MI 2023-005-885, 336-38-North 10th. I vote yes.
With proviso, commercial trash pickup.
LeBaron Leonard Palmer, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Ishmael Shahid, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Thank you.
Thank you, counsel.
Number 15, MI 2023-004-396-1807 East Boston Street, Mark Fineman is the attorney.
There's a letter of support from East Kensington Neighbors Association.
Mr. Feynman.
Okay, sir.
They will be rejoining as a panelist shortly.
Thank you.
All right.
Good morning, Mr. Feynman.
Could you please state your name and spell it for the court stenographer?
Good morning, Chairman Bergman.
I'm Mark Feynman, F is in Frank, E, I, Anna's in Nicholas, M-A-N, and 40322 is my ID number.
Where or firms tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client, a relationship to this property?
My client is Maria.
My client is Maria M-A-R-I-A Lorenzo, R-L-O-R-E-N-Z-O.
She is the principal individual and owner of the entity, which is identified on the deed as the owner of the real estate Tantaros, T-A-N-T-A-R-O-S, Design Landscaping, Inc.,
and MLL, Real Estate LLC.
Okay, our vice chair has a few questions, sir.
Good morning, counsel.
Do you agree to weigh the reading of the refusal
or stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, I do.
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 did not, but I believe that they have been sent in
and we've been piecemealing,
trying to get the documents together,
but i believe they've all been sent in and i can i can elaborate if the chair would like me to
elaborate okay hillary have we received everything on this we have received everything and i just
wanted to know we did receive a letter of non-opposition this morning from council member
lazada and i was going to indicate that was the one thing that i i had not known whether or not
it had made its way into uh into uh miss emerson all right thank you so we have everything into
evidence please proceed and share your screen if if i may first my apologies because i i do not
have the capability of sharing anything because i didn't have anything um and i'll explain what
i mean by that um i was retained just recently by the applicant there was prior counsel in the
street who would happen to be on a few moments ago she had been counseled from the initial
application throughout about two weeks ago. Unfortunately, there was no communication
between my client and her office, despite multiple attempts and requests by my client to connect with
Ms. Street in order to prepare for the hearing that had been scheduled last time. And then
it was rescheduled until today. So, counsel, let me say this. You have to make a presentation.
Correct. The documents, I believe, are all in the possession of the board. I believe Ms. Everson does have those. I personally did not have those. That's what I'm going to explain.
But Hillary, he has to have them, am I correct?
He has to be able to share the documents in order to make a presentation.
That's right. That's right. So, Mr. Feynman, we're going to have to continue this to obtain the documents.
Could I ask for a short continuance?
Of course.
I would say we will do the best we can for you, sir.
Understood.
And by that point, I'll have an exhibit packet that I'll be able to submit in its entirety
to the board.
And I believe we'll be fully prepared to proceed at that moment.
Thank you very much.
So MI 2023-004-396-1807 East Boston Street.
This case is continued and we will be in touch, sir.
Thank you very much.
Okay, thank you.
Number 17, MI 2022, 004-440-204 North 52nd Street.
There's a letter of opposition from the RCO 44 Democratic Ward, and Council Member Gauthier also has a letter of opposition.
The applicant has provided six notarized form letters, and the applicant provided a petition and support from 24 neighbors.
Warren Wise has been rejoined as a panelist.
Good morning, Mr. Chairman.
Good morning.
Good morning.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Yes, sir.
Corrin Wise, C-O-R-E-N-W-I-S-E.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
Would you identify your client, the relationship to this property?
Thank you.
I will.
I represent Joseph Patton, P-A-T-T-O-N, who is the member of the property owner, budget
approved LLC.
He should be on the call.
All right.
And our vice chair has a few questions for you.
Council, do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
I have a question about the refusal.
The accuracy of the content, I don't have any issue with.
But the notes, it doesn't note any prior history.
I just reserve the right to go through the prior zoning history, which is active and voluminous.
go through the prior zoning history which is uh active and volumia the new voluminous and and
missing from the refusal itself understood um 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
yes sir my my client mr patten has emailed uh all the documents okay no problem thank you
please proceed to share your screen yes can you see my screen
yes we can okay this is actually the rear of the property let me see if i can
So this is the interior of this property, bathroom of unit A.
So I should start by giving some context.
This is 204 North 52nd Street.
This is a property located on 52nd Street. I referenced the refusal. It notes the base zoning is RSA 5. The zoning history of this property goes all the way back to 1973, where there's multiple entries, multiple permits, multiple approvals for what is a three-unit property.
back in 1973 was split into multiple units with approval.
The owners, my client has owned this only since 2021.
He purchased it in his current state as three residential units,
but the prior owners have been before L&I back in 1973.
Like I said, it was approved as a mixed-use building.
Retail on the first floor and two living units above.
They were back in 1979, and I can pull up these archives.
1979 with a store and two apartments.
1986, a florist and two apartments.
2010, a clothing store and two apartments.
Getting approval for some signage.
And I'll just show you the last permit to streamline this.
And you can see that where we are at 204 North 52nd Street, where it notes that the approval
is for two warning signs accessory to the clothing and jewelry store as shown on the
permits, whereas the use registration is for the retail on the first floor and two family
dwellings in the existing structure. Are you able to see that, Mr. Chairman?
Okay. So the history of this building has been a mixed-use, multi-unit building. The application
here today is for Mr. Patton through his LLC to bring what he feels is a more socially impactful
use. He wants to use this as a residential home for youths placed by the Department of Health
Department of Human Services, DHS. The building in total comprises about 2,000 square feet,
just under 2,000 square feet. Like I said, it is made up of three units presently. The layouts are
two two-bedroom units, and the downstairs unit, which was converted at some time to a residential
unit, is a one-bedroom unit. And I can continue showing these photos, but the application is
to Hal's youths placed by DHS
and have full-time supervision.
And sorry for the clunkiness.
There we go.
My exhibits are loaded individually.
So there's a bathroom on the third unit.
Here's the deck.
It's actually right-side up when you're present, but here we're looking at it sideways.
Bedroom of the third unit. You can see the building is nicely
pointed and in good shape. Kitchen of the third unit.
laundry in the third unit i'm sorry you laundry in the this is unit a first unit
kitchen of the first unit
bedroom on the first unit
on the first unit
this is the exterior of the building
apologize for the orientation but you see we have a separate
entrance on the side we have separate mailboxes
presently
front of the property with another entrance here
see the zoning notices
and this I should note next to this
so this is a walkway or a breezeway to access the
entrances on the side for the
separate units
there's a common area inside the property
It's turned around, same space, different view.
Downstairs in the basement, we have just utilities and mechanicals.
Here's the multiple water heaters for the multiple units.
I think I have meters.
So yeah, here's electrical for the separate units.
Mr. Patton did present this to the RCO on three separate occasions.
There were three meetings.
Here's also a petition.
Let's go back to the presentation of the RCOs.
So after the first RCO, there was a letter of opposition.
You had two more meetings after that. What happened with those meetings?
I was not present. Mr. Patton can speak more informatively about that, but my understanding, there were votes in his favor.
um and the the question i had for for you mr chairman of the board is the rco meeting
letter that you have was that resulting from the february 27th meeting or i believe that there was
the initial meeting was months before i think the meeting we have is 6 2023 okay so that's the first
meeting um okay so if there's no uh subsequent so there were two more meetings and i i i didn't
receive a follow-up letter my client hasn't and i wasn't sure if the board had okay thank you we do
not okay so uh but this is um this is signatures in support uh you'll note many if not the vast
majority of these are on the 200 block of north 52nd street supporting um this and the uh name
of the business, Mr. Patton is using as bright children of the future for this residential
home. This is a presentation he put together that's really helpful to sort of show his
level of commitment, what he's planning, and talks about the bright children of the future
program and the impact of his proposal. And he has several partners with lots of experience
running these types of residential homes.
And I believe some are on the call
to speak about how this will operate.
But I want to get,
there's of most relevance right now,
there are some plans here.
Here's a schedule of how the youths
will be monitored and maintained
throughout the school days and the weekend days,
getting them to different activities,
getting them to school and supervising them.
The full-time staff on site around the clock, they talked at the neighborhood meetings about storing the trash in the back, not taking up additional any parking on the block where staff is actually using public transportation and not parking on the block to take spots away from neighbors, having cameras and lighting on site.
having different professionals accessible to the residents as well.
And here's the plans with an oversight view of the roof.
I think this is the roof view.
minute one
bring your client on oh sure Mr. Patton if you can get it back to your testimony then we can
figure out what happened with these meetings okay very good while he's doing that um
there's that permit i also wanted to just show
all right they've been allowed to speak
sir could you please state your name
and spell for the court stenographer
did we see him jason
can you guys hear me
Could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Okay, yes.
My name is Joseph Patton.
My first name is Joseph.
That's spelled J-O-S-E-P-H.
And my last name is Patton.
P-A-T-T-O-N.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
You see it, counsel?
Mr. Patton, did you hear my testimony?
Yes. And do you agree and agree to adopt it as your own?
Yes. OK, thank you. Mr. Patton, let me ask you this, Mr. Patton.
You had two other meetings with the RCO. How those meetings go?
Yes. So both meetings went in my favor.
My lawyer, Mr. Cornweiser, have the results of the last meeting.
If you can pull that up for him, because I emailed that to him.
You're talking about the survey? Yeah, it was when it would say 15 percent said yes.
8% said yes with conditions, and then 23% said no, and then it was 54% people who wasn't ready
to vote, and I can explain that part. I had sent you two emails yesterday.
Okay, I can look for that. Just tell them, Mr. Chairman, what happened. I'll look for that.
Okay, no problem. So at the second meeting, the results, the reason why it was the way it was,
once I got done, my testimony and my presentation answered the questions, I was told to leave the
meeting when i left the meeting uh a lot of the community members they assumed that the meeting
was over so they had got off so then they realized that it wasn't over and they tried to get back in
when they tried to get back in the host uh noticed that they were trying to get back in
he just didn't let them back in um and that's how that ended so we never got nothing from there
Now, this meeting that we recently just had, which was February 27th, 2024 at 6 p.m., that meeting went in my favor.
What ended up happening was when the meeting went in my favor and it was time to they did the votes, the votes came out in my favor.
It was a lady. She was opposition of it. And she said, I don't think there's fear.
I don't know if these people are from the community. Now, remind you, chairman, this is our third time doing this.
And the results already came out.
When the lady said that, the RCO leader started smiling and said, yes, yes, yes, we're going to have to figure something out.
I'm going to call Mr. Joseph tomorrow.
I never received no phone call from him.
I reached out to their office asking for results.
That didn't happen.
And I informed my attorney.
And my attorney, we went over it.
And this is why we're here at a third meeting.
That was it.
Is this what you're referring to, Mr. Patton? Can you see my screen?
Yes. Yes. Yep.
And can I say one thing, one more thing, Chair, if you don't mind?
Hold on. Is this the meeting from 227?
No. This meeting was from, it's on there. I forgot the date, but Mr. Corrin, can you pull up the date?
It was. It was on there.
Easier said than done. I'll try.
yeah in your email you say it there you go it was september 28th okay september 23 at 6 p.m
okay well that that that was pretty much you you didn't get that vote either right
no so the thing no i didn't get that rope eva but people so it was evenly 23 said yes 23 said no
no so the thing no i didn't get that vote either but people so it was
but it was additional 54 of people who was not ready to vote and the reason why that happened
they were ready to vote when they tried to get back on the rco leader did not allow them to come
back on and they are the person who controls the zoom and could determine who can be in or out
so that's why about a week ago you had another meeting and never got a letter yes and i can
And I can explain that, too, as well. So the results came out. I wasn't there. It was in my favor.
And when it was in my favor, a lady who was opposition spoke against it and said, hey, I don't think this is fair.
I don't think that these people are not from this community. And the RCO leader had a smirk on his face.
He said, yes, yes, yes. We're going to figure something out. We're going to do this over. I'm going to call Mr. Patton.
I never received a letter. I never received nothing from them. I reached out, didn't hear.
So I let my lawyer know. And not only that, I have several neighbors who are on the call who can speak highly of what happened in the meeting who are in favor of this happening.
All right. All right. Thank you. Are you done, Mr. Weiss?
Just a few a few seconds more. I just do want to mention that as far as a hardship where this is zoned as a single family,
clearly would be a hardship to bring this back to a single family since it is approved as a
multifamily structure. The nature of the block is a mix of residential, multifamily, and commercial
structures. And should the board deem it necessary, provisos regarding trash and no parking on the
block and cameras and lighting or a variance temporary in nature are all agreeable. And Mr.
patten you know you can hear his passion this is uh his view of what is a more socially impactful
use to benefit the community the use of the community um and and give something back other
than just you know be be a landlord and rent out three units um and that's all i have at the moment
thank you thank you questions from the board no questions no chair questions or comments for our
attorney hillary emerson um just briefly mr chair um i think it would be helpful if i spoke to
lni about the use because i'm not sure the use on here is the appropriate use it says a single
room residence and this sounds more like group living um like the broader category of group
living so i don't think the use is listed correctly on the refusal so that's based on
what i've heard today so i'm i'm going to check into ellen i with ellen i on that
let's go let's we'll try to figure what we'll what we'll do is we'll continue
where we stand we won't vote today but what what's let's see questions or comments from
the virtual audience i'm yes mr chair i have a peter mitchell with their hand raised i've
allowed them to speak at this time mr mitchell could you state your name please and spell for
the court stenographer i sure will uh my name is can you hear me yes sir oh i don't get just
shit my uh my first name is peter p-e-t-e-r last name mitchell m-i-t-c-h-e-l-l right do you swear
or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes sir just shit are you a neighbor
Yes, I am.
Please proceed.
This will be an excellent vision for this young man because it really will help our neighborhood.
It really will help the youth that is in our neighborhood.
And a lot of people don't understand all the crime that's going on because this young man is really putting something positive
in the neighborhood, you know, to decrease the crime, to decrease
everything that's happening. And I feel like
being as though he's trying to do something positive
will enable our neighborhood and make it better. You know what I'm saying?
So this is a great thing
and I stand behind him, I stand behind him 100%
10 toes down with this, you know,
especially with all that's going on
so yes yes sir
this is a great thing
thank you for taking the time to call us
we appreciate it
is there anyone else in the virtual audience
yes Mr. Chair
I have a Dominique Bambi with her hand raised. I have allowed them to speak at this time.
I have a Dominique Bambi with her hand raised
I have allowed them to speak at this time
could you
Hi, could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Hi, my name is Dominique Hill. I'm H-I-L-O.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Are you a neighbor?
Yes, I'm actually one of his tenants. I live in the first floor rear.
Of this location?
Please proceed.
Yes, I fully support his project.
He's been really passionate about this.
And I really think this is a fearless act because he could be doing anything else in this community.
And to be doing this, it really would help because a lot of the crimes that's going on is from the young Black kids in the neighborhood and they need guidance.
And I feel like this is a good way to start.
Thank you for taking the time to call us.
We understand.
Is there anyone else in a virtual audience?
Yes, a hand raised from a Cynthia.
I have allowed them to speak at this time, sir.
All right.
Could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Hello?
Cynthia, please unmute and wait to be sworn in.
Cynthia?
They may be having me.
Hello?
Hello?
Could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
My name is Cynthia Lewis.
C-Y-N-T-H-I-N
L-E-I-W-I-N
Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth
and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do
Are you a neighbor?
I'm more than a neighbor to Joseph
I would like to say this
I'm just coming in from last night
during 16 hours
I waited up since quarter of 10
to be on this Zoom meeting
and I was just about to go
back out the door to do 16 I was a girl I'm nursing um Joseph came up with my son and since
he was about seven eight years old um what they're not saying he he didn't come from the best
background he used to have made a wonderful start he wants to put back into the community
he wants to help he never missed a day of school he never got into any trouble and I do live on the
first floor and if i'm willing to give up this apartment um in this building to see this young
man to help give back to this community and he has other bright ideals to help give back to which
he came from so i yes i'm in agreement that he could really make a a bright helping start
i live in apartment a and is willing to move all right thank you thank you very much we appreciate
you taking the time and staying up to cause.
Is there anyone else in the first audience?
Yes, lady.
Mia Patton, I've allowed them to speak.
Who is it?
It's Maya Patton.
Hi, could you please state your name
and spell for the courts?
My name is Maya Patton.
It's spelled M-I-A, last name P-A-T-T-O-N.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth,
the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
yes are you a neighbor yes are you a relative of mr patent
i am all right and i'm also a nurse and i and i also will be working at the group home as a nurse
okay i just want to say i've been i've been on every meeting since this whole um since joe ever
presented his project to the people to the rtl whoever they are and every single zoom has been
like they've been biased towards him like they don't let everybody vote it's unfair um people
have been removed from the cause for just stating their opinion on the project um so i really think
that you guys should give my brother another chance because y'all don't be on a cause but
all the people that has talked thus far before me have been on these calls and it can also say that
it's just blatant but they they're biased towards my brother they don't want to approve his project
they don't want to they don't like what he do and i feel like they already made up in their mind of
with their decision
on the project so it's just
unfair that they make us vote and we sit
on these meetings and these zooms for hours
just for our votes not to count
and I just
wanted you to
be aware of that
thank you very much for taking this time is there anyone
else in the audience
Robin Davis
how many more hands do you have Jason
after this
there's two more
Okay. Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Hello. Good morning.
Hi. Could you state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Yes, my name is Robin Davis, R-O-B-I-N-D-A-V-I-S.
Yes. My name is Robin Davis, R-O-B-I-N.
You swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
Yes, I do.
Are you in favor of this project?
Yes, I am.
I am in favor.
I am also a neighbor.
I live down the street.
My address is 252 North 52nd Street.
um and also if this project moves forward i will be working with joseph um i know joe i've known
joseph for um all of his life he also came up with my son and i can attest to that he did not
come up with a silver spoon his uh he was he was very present in school he was one of the men um
And one of, he was the only child, one of a couple children that went to school, actually did their schoolwork and graduated, went to college, the first in his family.
But I do, I am in agreement with what he is trying to do down the street.
All right.
Thank you very much for taking the time.
Another call, please.
Yes, we have a hand up from Willie Jordan. I've allowed them to speak.
Hi, could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Willie Jordan, W-I-L-L-I-E, J-O-R-D-A-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
We've had a lot of testimony about this. Are you in favor or against the project?
We are against the I am the lead coordinator for the 44th Ward RCO.
We have met with Mr. Patton several times. Mr. Patton's integrity or his record in life is not in question here.
We always address the plan and the plans and that he keep presenting to us do not make sense.
If anyone pulled him, really look up. He don't have any safety idea to bring these children in. He don't have the proper bedroom set up. He couldn't even explain to us the amount of children that's going to be in.
so um and we keep asking him he goes through a elaborate display of what the program's supposed
to do and we have we we keep asking him to separate the program part and the physical building
and he never can come up with a clear plan it has not right and if if that's what he's presenting
to this board you can look at it for yourself about the voting the only people we allow to vote
is neighbors mr mr patten has brought a lot of people from the community from different parts of
the community and we allow them to be in the discussion because we want to hear about his
character we want to hear about his past that's good but when it's time to vote only the members
that this project affect in the community is allowed to vote.
So that's why some people were cut off
when they identified themselves and not even live in India.
Mr. Jordan, we appreciate your input into this case,
and thanks for taking time to call us.
Do we have anyone else left in the audience?
Yes, Stephen Jones with their hand raised.
I've allowed them to speak.
Hi, Mr. Jones, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Hi, can you hear me?
I can.
Stephen Jones, S-T-E-V-E-N-J-O-N-E-S.
All right, do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
We've had a lot of testimony.
Are you for or against this project?
I am for.
Do you have anything to offer that we haven't heard?
Yeah, so I also am from the area, and I was also attending all three meetings.
I was actually, in the last meeting, it was really interesting because the young gentleman
that just spoke a few moments ago, you know, I am not necessarily, I won't be working on
this project, so I don't have any sort of interest in it that way, but I was interested
because it seems like the leadership of these past meetings
had some kind of bias against Mr. Patton, which was curious.
I think we've already heard that, sir.
So but the other thing is that in this last meeting that there was a vote that was put up and there was no evidence at all on the board about there being any votes from people that were not in the community.
So, but the other thing is that in this last meeting that there was a...
One person asked a question. There was a person who Mr. Patton said he think that that person was opposed, but she wasn't actually opposed.
she said that there was she wanted to um she agreed with conditions so the only opposition
that we had was that so the community was actually in agreement but we were in agreement um there
were most of us wanted some conditions and we do and i actually want to also oppose that the idea
that there was no um that mr patton wasn't clear about uh safety and and separation of building
versus the actual business part of it.
All of that was clear.
They did ask a lot of questions
and it took some time to get it out
because the questions weren't always clear.
But just wanted to put all of that on the record.
All right, thank you.
I appreciate your time.
Are we done with the audience, Jason?
Yes, Mr. Chair.
All right, planning commission.
Chairman, good afternoon.
David, do you want to hold up
till she checks with LMI?
That's what I was going to say, Chairman.
Yes, thank you so much.
All right.
So we will check with L&I to make sure that we're looking at the appropriate use refusal.
We will get back.
The record is closed other than what we find relative to L&I and council's response to what we find.
Is that correct, Hillary?
Yeah, Mr. Chair, I just wanted to give Mr. Wise an opportunity to respond to any of the public comment briefly.
and then he can respond to the Planning Commission's testimony next time.
But I just want to give him a chance to respond briefly to any public comments.
Thank you, Ms. Emerson.
Yeah, just briefly, thank you to all the witnesses that came forward and waited on the call.
Also, in my experience, and I wasn't personally present at these RCO meetings,
but in doing this for a number of years and appearing before different neighborhoods
with a project like this it is there is always um a challenge in in this is a dhs approved
home that's being proposed a lot of the logistics are handled through a process that comes later
i totally agree with mr jordan in that every neighbor wants to ask questions but it's even in
the um the attachments and the exhibits that mr pad provided to me that i've used today
There's a reference to the five bedrooms and maximum of 10 children, but Mr. Patton can say 10 children. DHS can say five children. So it's a lot of answers he may not have now, but in my conversations with him, in my review of the documents, he has referenced security measures.
I've mentioned any suggested provisos regarding cameras or security or lighting and trash and the full-time staff on site or going to, from nurses today too.
so all the logistics of operating this thing are more of a DHS protocol than a zoning protocol but
we do get obviously when we're talking about a house on a block in a neighborhood these things
all blend together so but I have run into those problems before where the neighborhood wants to
know a lot of answers to questions that maybe the applicant doesn't have yet or doesn't want
to commit to because things can change in a lot of ways and there's more to the process but
you're familiar with that. And thank you to the board and Mr. Chairman and Ms. Emerson with regard
to the refusal. That wasn't filed by my office. Mr. Patton says that he received that advice
from the L&I staff to list it as a single room housing, whatever it is. But with that,
I appreciate the time. Thank you very much. Thank you, everyone. We will be back in touch. Okay,
sir yes sir is there anyone in the virtual audience who who their case has not been called
today and this morning i do not see any hands mr chair okay see everybody 2 p.m
Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing the ZBA hearings.
With me is our Vice Chair, Ismail Shahid.
President, Mr. Chairman.
President, Mr. Chairman.
Also here is our board member, Thomas Holloman.
Also, here is our...
President, Mr. Chairman.
We also have an alternate board member with us this afternoon, Emily Persico from the Division of Development and Services.
President, Mr. Chairman.
We also have another alternate board member who will be with us for a part of the time, LeBaron Leonard Palmer from Division of Development Services.
Hey, Mr. Chairman.
Also present is our attorney, Hillary Emerson, and our executive director, Tanya Sunkett.
Here's our virtual format.
Be advised the proceedings are being recorded.
The video will be available by contacting TanyaSunkett at phil.gov.
For the benefit of our court stenographers, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying.
If you're participating by phone and you wish to testify, press star 9 to raise your hand and star 6 to unmute.
To win an appearance statement, call 267-270-5548.
Leave your email and the address of the property in question.
And finally, the question-answer box on the screen is not for comments or testimony.
All comments should be directed to our executive director, Tanya Sunken.
Let's look at our schedule for this afternoon.
Some continuances that I'll call out shortly.
Number one, MI 2023-006-962-3214 West Montgomery Avenue.
That case is continued.
Number four, MI 2023-006-110-2202 North 29th Street. That case is continued.
Number six, MI 2023-007-017-5700 Germantown Avenue. That case is continued.
Number nine, MI 2023-006-921-2431 North 26th Street.
That case is continued.
Number 11, MI 2023-007-020-508-14 Moore Street.
Is Darwin Bovee in the audience?
Also Steve Masters.
They've both been about to speak, sir.
Mr. Bovee, could you state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Gladly.
First name Darwin, D-A-R-W-I-N.
Last name Bovee, B-E-A-U-V, as in victory, A-I-S, as in Sam.
I represent the applicant.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Mr. Masters, could you identify yourself, please?
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair, members of the board.
My name is Steve Masters, S-T-E-V-E, M-A-S-T-E-R-S.
I represent about 20 near neighbors of the property.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do. And I'm requesting, Mr. Chair, if I could have panel visibility because I have some materials to share as part of my as part of my my my argument today.
Well, your argument. Well, here's let me say this much. Mr. Masters, Mr. Bovee, has requested a continuance in this matter.
Council Member Squilla has also agreed to this continuance.
And we spoke to Councilman Squilla, and we also joined in on this continuance.
So, Mr. Masters, we are just going to continue this.
Well, Mr. Chair, the issue is that while we do support the continuance, we asked for that.
We believe that this case should be remanded, and I wanted to show you some materials so you can understand why the zoning board doesn't have jurisdiction at the moment to hear this case at any point,
because it doesn't it hasn't listed all of the properties that are involved in the project
and i wanted to to just mr chairman mr chairman i just subject to all of this this is a continuance
request that is clearly it's joint it's a joint continuous request
That is clearly it's joint. It's a joint continuous request.
I do ask that the board brings, brings us back in a timely fashion.
I initially asked Hillary if we'd be brought back in two weeks.
So, so Mr. Masters, Mr. Bovee, I'm going to continue this today.
I will mention that we'd like to get it back as quick as possible,
but the case will be continued, Mr. Masters.
well yeah so mr chair can in my oh sorry mr masters let me jump in i i am aware i'm aware
of the the issues that were raised in this case i have looked into this and i think um you me and
mr bouvet um need to have further conversations offline about what is before the board and what
isn't um and what should be the before the board and what isn't so we will have we will have that
discussion before this case is scheduled for a new, well, it's heard again. Okay. I'm happy with
that. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. So MI 2023-007-020-508-14 Moore Street. The case
continued. And number 12. Number 12. MI 2023 007031 4714 Griscom Street. That case is continued.
at number 15.
MI 2022-003-750-2024-28
North 12th Street.
This is the case we spoke about.
Am I correct, Hillary?
Yes, Mr. Chair.
So let me bring Vern on
and I'll tell him.
Mr. Anastasio?
Mr. Anastasio?
And if we can see if there's a representative from the council district council member Young's office president, is there anyone in the audience from the council member Young's office?
I do not see any hands, but Mr. Anastasio has been allowed to speak, sir.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair.
State your name for the record.
Yeah, Vern Anastasio, on behalf of TPP Capital Holdings, owner of the property in question.
So one of the things we spoke about during the break, I spoke with Hillary.
We're going to go on with this case.
We will hold the vote until we hear from Council Member Young's office, okay?
Better than a continuance, so thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Are there any other requests for continue?
Sorry, Mr. Chair, while Mr. Anastasio is still on,
And I believe he was withdrawing a matter that we were going to be considering on our add-on list this afternoon.
So I could just give him an opportunity to do that for the record.
Two o'clock list or later today?
An add-on.
I believe it was the last one, number six.
Oh, okay.
On the add-on list.
Thank you.
So MI 2023-005-594-702 North 18th Street.
thank you mr chair vernon astasio on behalf of the protestant uh i'm going to uh withdraw my
motion for reconsideration uh pursuant to 702 north 18 thank you should we don't have to bring
alan on do we uh no i don't think yeah i was gonna say i think he he is present i know he
has other cases this afternoon but that's great yes i know he's aware that there's been discussions
between the parties yes all right good are there any other requests for continuance
mr chair i do not see any further hands at this time okay and i also have number eight
mi 2023 005097 4329 in glendale this case has been withdrawn
i'm going to go to our add-on list
1. MI 2023-005-619-2908 Karnwath Street. The vote on this matter has been rescheduled to
Wednesday, March 13th at 2 p.m. 2. MI 2023-004-373-2442-50 North 9th Street. The vote on this
matter has been rescheduled to Wednesday, March 13th at 2 p.m. Number three, MI 2023-006-565-6435-44
006-565-6435-45 Media Street.
The vote on this matter has been rescheduled to Wednesday, March 13th at 2 p.m.
And number four, MI 2023, 006-949-933 Lindley Street.
The vote on this matter has been rescheduled to Wednesday, March 13th at 2 p.m.
And number five, MI 2023-003-123-2021 Wilder Street, this is a request for reconsideration.
I vote yes.
Excuse me, Mr. Chair, yes to reconsideration and rehearing, is that correct?
Yes to reconsideration and rehearing.
Ishmael Shkate.
I vote as yes to reconsideration and rehearing.
And that, Emily?
Yes, sir.
I vote yes to reconsideration and rehearing.
Thank you.
And we're going to start our cases, and I'm going to go to number 15 first, I believe.
Number 16.
MI-2023-005-133-7918
Ardley Street.
Dawn Tang Grady is the attorney.
We also have our Leonard.
Are you coming on too?
Yes, Mr. Chair.
This is Jason Hand.
Once again, I'll be your co-host this afternoon.
Thank you.
Both have been with you, panelist.
Good afternoon, Chair.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court sonographer?
Sure. It's Dawn Tancredi. That's D-A-W-N. My last name is T-A-N-C-R-E-D-I.
Sir Reuter, could you state your name and spell, please, for the court sonographer?
Sure. Good afternoon. May it please the board. Leonard F. Reuter, Senior Attorney for the City of Philadelphia. That's R-E-U-T-E-R.
Counsel Tangrady, could you identify your client and relationship to the property?
Yes, Mr. Chair.
I represent Ironhead Properties, LLC, the owner of 7918-20 Ardley Street.
I have a letter of opposition from the Chesterton Hill Community Association, a letter of opposition from neighbors along with the petition, and the applicant has provided petition and support signed by approximately seven neighbors, including adjacent neighbors.
Our vice chair has a few questions before we start.
Good afternoon, counsel.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed them all the required documents and exhibits that is needed to proceed with this case?
Bob, there is an advantage of the hearing.
Yes, my office did that.
Thank you, counsel.
Please proceed and share your screen.
Thank you.
Sorry, if I might just interject momentarily.
The reason why I'm here and why the case was called first, I'm here because my understanding is that Ms. Tancredi is going to preserve an argument making what's called a facial challenge to the ordinance in question, or rather the code insofar as it makes a distinction between an owner-occupied property and a non-owner-occupied property with respect to temporary property.
or short-term rentals so I'm here to I mean assuming she's still gonna want to preserve
that argument I'm here just to acknowledge that she is making that argument and that it's being
preserved because as both Ms. Tancredi and I and I believe boards counsel Ms. Emerson all agree
that the board doesn't have jurisdiction to make a decision with respect to a facial challenge
to a facial constitutional challenge to an ordinance.
What that means is basically saying the ordinance itself is unconstitutional.
To the extent that the argument is a little bit more tailored
that it's unconstitutional as applied to a multi-unit property,
I think the only factual matter that would have to be decided
is whether or not it's a multifamily property,
and we do stipulate that it is a multifamily property
if the argument were going to be more specific in that sense.
So all I need to hear is if Ms. Tancrini agrees with my summation
of what the constitutional challenge is,
The constitutional challenge is, and then I can step aside because the city, other than whatever recommendation the planning commission has, the city doesn't otherwise take any position on the variance aspect of the case.
and then I can step aside because the city...
Hope I didn't complicate that.
So, Mr. Chair, we are presenting a hardship case today.
We believe that my client meets the standard for a variance to be granted.
With that being said, we have included within our materials a memo preserving and addressing the challenges described by Mr. Reuter, whereas the code arbitrarily treats short-term rentals based on whether or not they are owner-occupied or not, and that treatment violates the Equal Protection and Commerce Clause.
And as Len mentioned, we've agreed to preserve these issues, and we are not addressing them here today.
Thank you.
Thank you.
And, yeah, I don't think I have anything else unless the board has any questions for me.
So, with that, a bit of due.
Thank you.
Thank you.
did you did i already swear you in dawn not yet all right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth nothing but the truth yes all right and our vice chair has a few questions for
you thank you uh i swear in already okay good all right please proceed dawn
Okay. So, good afternoon. As I mentioned, and just to be clear for the record, my name is Dawn Tancredi, and I represent Ironhead Properties, LLC, the owner of 7918 through 20 Ardley Street.
The property is zoned for three dwelling units.
The owner has three rental licenses, so the owner is allowed to rent out each of the three units.
My clients have been operating the units as short-term rentals for the past two years.
We are seeking a variance to allow visitor accommodations in this existing structure.
So the change here is that people would be permitted to rent for less than 30 days.
And there are several reasons why there is a hardship here.
first our client made a good faith effort to rent out the units for long-term rentals and was unable
to do so you'll hear from my client our client acquired the property in a blighted and unsafe
condition. It had major structural flaws and was a neighborhood hazard. They
reasonably put reasonable amounts of money into the property, rehabbing it in
a professional manner, obtaining all the appropriate permits. My client obtained
three rental licenses and made a good-faith effort to rent out the units
for long-term rentals when it came time to rent out the property they were unable to do so
and you will hear from my clients so they were unable to rent the property out for its zoned
purposes they learned there was a demand for short-term rentals in fact the demand came
from people in the neighborhood and that is how they began using the property for short-term rentals
The property, the second reason that a hardship exists here is that the property is adjacent to a property being used for four short-term rental units.
In evaluating hardship, the use of adjacent property is unquestionably relevant.
And the third reason that there's a hardship here is that because of the amount of work
the property needed to bring it out of its lighted condition and up to code, and I'm
showing you photos right now on my screen of what the property looks like now, the property
requires the variance to be used as short-term rentals to allow for the income to be generated
to cover the costs of all these reasonable repairs.
The property is essentially useless otherwise, from a financial perspective.
from my financial perspective we already addressed the memo that's included in the packet i would
We already addressed...
ask that our complete packet of information and submission materials be incorporated into the
record yes okay um so veronica and mark baronte are the principals of iron head principles
iron head properties they are both here today
Before I call Veronica, I would just like to speak a little bit about what we have here.
So the building itself includes three two-bedroom, two-bath units.
And here are some photos of the units to show you the product that my client offers.
Veronica and Mark cater specifically to families,
especially to families with loved ones residing in the Chestnut Hill area.
Parties are strictly prohibited, ensuring the property remains a peaceful and welcoming environment.
Veronica and Mark take pride in the property, maintaining it in impeccable condition, as you can see from the photos.
They are committed to cleanliness and its upkeep.
They self-manage the rental, assuring the highest level of responsibility and accountability,
not only for the property, but for the neighbors.
The goal is to provide comfortable accommodations, but also to foster an appreciation for the
unique charm of Chestnut Hill.
and this map here shows you my client's property highlighted in purple
and some surrounding properties so the property is separated from the building to the left
which is 7916 Ardley Street, by about 10 feet. This property here at 7916 has four units that
are used for short-term rentals. The property behind my client's property here that faces
Benazette Street is a commercial property. It's used as a shop and for storage of building materials.
the property to the right is a vacant garage the property across the street at 79 17 Ardley
is another garage it's a vacant garage there as well a couple doors down at 79 12 through 14
Ardley Street is a multifamily property with four units as you mentioned mr.
chair we do have a petition that was submitted with our packet the petition
does show support for a use variant specifically to change the use to allow visitor accommodations
for the existing three dwelling unit. And you can see there's a signature from the next door
neighbor to the right and also the next door neighbor to the left. Included in the packet
are favorable reviews. There are two pages of these favorable reviews.
There are two letters of support that have been included in the submission materials.
One was in the original submission materials and one was in the supplemental materials.
There is a letter of support from a family that uses my client's property when visiting
the nearby Institute for the Achievement of Human Potential, which is an institute focused
on children with special needs. There's also a letter of support from someone who rents my
client's property when visiting family in Chestnut Hill. We did meet with Chestnut Hill
several times pursuant to their procedures, which is well over the requirements of the zoning code.
Even after all of the meetings, we contacted Chestnut Hill to make ourselves available
and determine whether it made sense to continue discussions
to address neighbor concerns in an attempt to reach an agreement.
With that, I would like to call my client, Veronica Ferrante.
They have been allowed to speak.
Could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Good afternoon.
Veronica Ferrante, B-E-R-O-N-I-C-A-F-E-R-R-A-N-T-E.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
Yes, I do.
Please proceed, Councilman.
Thank you.
And Ms. Bronte, do you own 7918 through 20 Ardley Street through your LLC?
My husband and I own that property.
And are you here today because of a zoning application that was filed, correct?
Yes, I do.
Was the zoning application filed in response to any violation?
No, it was not.
Can you describe the property, the condition of the property when you bought it?
Yes, of course.
When we bought the property, it was in a terrible condition.
I actually couldn't believe that people were living in that situation.
And it was just terrifying.
It was dangerous, unsafe, messy, scary.
And do the photos that are on the screen right now show the condition of the property when you bought it?
Yes, correct.
And you rehabbed the property, and I can show you current photos of the property.
Do these photos that I'm showing you now show the current condition of the property?
Absolutely, yes.
We did a major rehab.
Pretty much everything was changed in this building.
We spend a lot of time and a lot of money bringing this property up to date, and we personally put our heart out just to make it look nice and beautiful and be proud of the work that we have done.
Can you describe the buildings surrounding your property?
yes so uh to one side we have um for a building with four units that is uh currently being used
also as a short-term rental in the back uh we have a commercial building um and the other side
we have a garage that belongs to the house at the entrance is from willow grove ab
um and then in front we have a garage that i don't know exactly what the situation is uh and
then we have another photo excuse me is this yes correct correct um actually when we bought the
property one of the tenants that used to live in this property used to use that garage and since
then i know he has moved from there uh but that is in there and then next to the garage is a single
family home with the backyard facing to our street. And what was your intention when you
purchased the property? This was our first investment property. We just wanted to work
on our way for retirement. We wanted to renovate the place and make it beautiful and safe and
and rent it out uh we we didn't know exactly what we were uh getting into uh we were just thinking
long-term rental because it's it's what we saw the neighbor next door um she she talked to us
and mentioned to us how there was a huge need of short-term rental in the community
um and we started researching since then because for us it wasn't clear how putting money on
furnishing this place was going to be getting really more, more revenue. So just to answer
your question, sure, we we thought about starting renting those places as a long term rent. As a
matter of fact, we we listed them, we put it in the MLS, we we tried to look long term tenants.
And it just didn't didn't work out for us.
OK, so when you weren't able to rent out the property for long term, you decided to try to use it as a short term rental.
Yes, yes, yes. And also what happened is because the construction took two years, we spent a lot of time there.
We wanted to make sure we were not bothering the neighbors. We we believe and trust our contractors, but we wanted to protect the community.
right make sure that there was no trash so we spend a lot of time there during the days uh
between our our full-time jobs uh managing or being on top of the constructions and the and the
managing or being on top of the constructions and the contractors.
And there is a lot of walking happening in that street.
And neighbors were the ones that will actually bring that to our attention as well.
So during the construction period for the first two years, did you meet a lot of the neighbors?
We did. Actually, we met all the neighbors.
We met Jack and Teresa, who owns the short-term rental.
Well, then after the construction, we met Josh, who moved to the house next door.
Across the street, there is a new couple neighbors, Jennifer.
We didn't meet them during the construction because they moved after that.
But so far, we have met all the neighbors around there.
Okay. And can you tell the board, what type of guests rent your property?
I would say amazing guests. Families who come to the Institute for Achievement of Human Potential.
Can you tell the board what that is?
Yes. So it's an institute that helps kids, helps children with brain damage and special needs and disabilities.
I learned through these, through actually one of my guests, the first guests, and I added in their review, they rented a place to Airbnb. And once they were there, they called me, and they asked me if I could come over, because they wanted to meet me. And they explained to me why they were coming.
They come multiple times a year to bring their kids to this institute.
And what this institute does for these families is just amazing.
They are able to help these kids and help this family.
And I'm really proud of our property because it really gives me a sense of community.
It really makes me feel that it's not anyone renting my places.
our families that are in distress, and they come to Philadelphia because we have this
amazing institute, and they want to feel like they are at home. They want to feel
there is a clean place that allows them to work on their kids' needs while they feel that they
live in a safe place. And besides people that visit your property because they have a child
attending the institute are there families in chestnut hill that use your property
uh yes so and i and i can answer that question from two perspectives i have families like
grandparents kids uh grandkids that come and visit their family members in in mount airy
chestnut hill and they want to come and spend time with their family but their families don't
have a house enough to hold them. So they go and spend their day with their family and then come
and stay and sleep in our places. And we also host and have host a lot of families who have
construction projects in their house, any type of issues in their home that they just need a place
to live, but they need to be still close to their house because they have to go to work or the kids
have to go to school. We also have guests that come to bring their kids to the Chestnut Hill
College and the school. Okay, and can you tell the board about the reviews that you've received?
I will say this is the best part of my job. People just love the property. Many times you
will see in these reviews this is the best airbnb i have ever stayed uh it feels like home it's
clean it feels safe nika is on top of uh veronica is on top of everything um people just just love
it and love it because the place is nice the place is clean i i run the place like my home
because it's it's my it's my home but also the fact that they can walk around in chestnut hill
they can walk to the to the street district they go and visit restaurants around i provide a guide
book um for places like my husband and i made an effort to get to know all the restaurants in
chestnut hill i tell them which ones are our favorite i mention the best uh dishes we get
in each of them and they just feel part of of the community okay and veronica can you describe
the parking situation on your block and do your guests have cars and i'm showing a photo of the
parking situation on the street from photos that you've taken before we bought this property we
visit a lot of properties right and one of the reasons we like about this property even though
about this property, even though it was in distress, the building itself was how quiet
it was in distress the building itself was how quiet
and how easy to park was in this street. Even during construction, the constructor will come
and bring multiple cars. We never had an issue finding a spot in this street. One of the things
that I like about short-term rental is we have the train station one block, one and a half block away.
people can walk everywhere
people who come to the institute they walk
over there
people who come and visit their
families they can walk or their families can
come and pick them up
yes we do have sometimes guests that bring
their car
but the reality is that
people who come and stay in Chestnut Hill
do it because
they don't need a car
and it's easy for them from my property
to move everywhere
can you tell the board how this property is managed i personally manage the property i am
screen every guest i personally uh talk to them in either either platform where they booked
um as specific questions to make sure that they understand our rules and they are going to behave
according to what we're expecting from them.
We have zero tolerance with parties.
We don't accept pets.
We have quiet hours.
We have a minimum stay of three nights.
The average will be 10 to 13 nights.
What I do is that I open the calendar later in the year
for the bookings to come in and as we get closer is when I allow the three nights minimum. We have
cameras outside the property and all that is specified in each of our listings.
Can you tell the board how trash is handled? Sure, so every unit has two bins, one for trash,
one for recycle
so four of those bins
two for each unit are on one side
of the building and
two of them are on the other
side of the building
trash come on Friday
with my cleaner is there she will pull the trash out
sometimes we have been going there
just to take the trash out
one of the neighbors
have offering when he realized
that we were coming over
just to take the trash out he said don't bother
I can pull the trash out for you
do not worry we even offer to maybe give them something but they they just do it as a good
face helping us out if uh if they see that the trash has to be taken out and because we do have
people that come for several nights if they happen to be there that night of the week we ask them to
please take the trash out and then bring it back and do multiple properties next to yours including
including yours, keep their trash in the same location?
So I would say yes, because there is an easement between my property and the four units next
So there has been times where through that easement you have our two trash cans or one
trash can and one recycle.
They want for the four unit building and they want for the back commercial building also
gets in the same spot in Arlie Street. If you drive there Friday afternoon, sometimes you will see
a lot of trash cans, but it's the product of the three buildings.
Okay. Have you spoken to any of your neighbors about the use of your property before you filed
the zoning application? And what feedback did you receive?
uh yes yes uh all all the neighbors at least all the all the neighbors uh that surround the
the property the the people next door they have uh short-term rental as well so we have a good
relationship with them we talk about the business and many times they have called me to uh to ask
for for advice uh uh the the people in the back the tenants in the back um he uh he knows that
we do a short-term rental i he has my phone number we always say if there is any issue to call us back
josh to the other side also he knows that he has been inside my units and um i i think at the
beginning they were very impressed that this was a short-term rental that that we put a lot of
quality in there. The last neighbor we met is the neighbor
It's the neighbor across the street, Jennifer.
across the street, Jennifer. She moved to the street
She moves to the street later.
Is this the property you're talking about?
And I'm pointing to the screen at 201, Benazette.
Yes, and you can see it in the picture below.
Yeah, so you can see that it's a garage.
To be honest, I don't know who owns the garage.
I haven't had any contact with that.
I was talking about the house next door.
That's the last neighbor we talked to.
um september i believe last year and did she have any issues what did she tell you
no no um we met her on the street um and we say hey veronica mark we own this property we we do
want to come and see and she said yes we show her two of the units we couldn't show that there
one because the unit was occupied and um and she said i wasn't aware that this was a short-term
rental. Can I ask a question? Is this the woman that moved the council? She moved. She said the
woman moved away, right? She didn't move away. I think she moved in there. Correct, Veronica?
Yes. No, she's still there. Yes. She moved there. She did submit a letter to the chair.
Yes, she should meet a letter. To be honest, I was very surprised because
when we had the opportunity to meet her in person that she came and see my units,
her comments were positive like wow this is great this is beautiful she even say now I know when my
family come and visit a place that is so close that they can they can stay and so yes I have met
all the neighbors and they have been at least in one of my units at one point yes okay thank you
and if you were unable to operate the property as short-term rental would you be able to maintain
this property? I don't think we'll be able to cover the expenses of this property and the
mortgage with long-term rentals. We gave it a try when we started. It didn't work out.
Okay. Just another question that I have for you. Are you familiar with any dogs being on this
property? When we bought the property, we acquired the property with two tenants. One of the tenants
had a Rottweiler and a Boxer. It was complicated for us because we now, as a new landlord, have to
acquire a new insurance that covered that. When we learned so much about that, that we said, no,
there is no way we can do that. Also, the kids that come to the Institute, they have high allergies,
a lot of sensitivity. So I cannot offer a product to that family and then being concerned that there
are dogs in the house. So we have cameras and I check them constantly. No, I have never been aware
of a dog besides that very first tenant in that property. Okay. I have no further questions at
this time you're at mr chair questions from the board no mr chairman no chair
questions or comments from our attorney hillary emberson
not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
yes chair we have a couple of hands uh christopher jacobson has been allowed to speak
hi hi could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer
Yes, my name is Christopher Jacobson, K-R-I-S-T-O-F-F-E-R, Jacobson, J-A-C-O-B-S-O-N.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Are you a neighbor?
I am in the community. I am not a near neighbor. No, I am about two blocks away.
Sure, please.
i'm in opposition to the variance i am here as a member of the community i'm not an immediate
neighbor i live a few blocks away but i pass the property every day i'm familiar with it it's a part
of my neighborhood and in my 30 years here by the way i've never considered it a blighted property
my opposition stems from the fact that this short-term visitor accommodation is non-owner
occupied. In my experience, this kind of business destabilizes a neighborhood. Some years ago,
the house next to mine became for a year and a half a non-owner occupied short-term visitor
accommodation. It disrupted my life. The main disruption was that I no longer knew who was
allowed on the property. That meant I no longer knew how to respond to what happened on the
property. For example, twice I was woken up in the middle of the night by someone trying to get in
by someone trying to get in through a window next door. Both times, it turned out a visitor
through a window next door. Both times, it turned out a visitor had lost his
had lost his key and couldn't get one from the absent owner. But in that moment, I had no idea
if I was witnessing a burglary. This, to me, is the core problem with a non-owner-occupied short-term
visitor accommodation in a residential area. No matter how nice the property is, or how well
maintained, or how good the guests are, or how convenient the business might be for visitors,
all things we've heard about, the problem of not knowing who belongs does not go away.
The mere existence non-owner-occupied short-term visitor accommodation in a residential neighborhood
like mine is therefore destabilizing, because it is a source of constant uncertainty,
not just for the immediate neighbors, but for the neighbors at large. This uncertainty is typical
in a business district, not a residential one. One should note, other forms of visitor
accommodation like hotels at least have staff on the premises, as does, I believe, the rental
property that was discussed next door to 7918. My property is surrounded by rental units. I've
lived here for 30 years. I have no issue with rentals, but if this variance is granted, the
owners of other properties, like the one surrounding me, may seek similar permission. If that were to
occur, my neighborhood would be changed for the worse. I believe 7918, if it is to be rented,
should be rented in a rental consistent with RSA 3 zoning, as it was in the past. Such rentals are
desperately needed. I am surprised, quite, to hear for the first time that they tried to rent this
because rentals here are scarce and desired.
I do not believe that the applicants have shown a compelling reason
why renting in this matter is not possible,
nor do I think that they have shown that this particular business
on this particular property is a benefit to anyone other than themselves.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you for taking the time to call.
Is there anyone else in the audience?
Yes, Chair.
We have a Jennifer Eusen.
they have been allowed to speak. Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Yes, my name is Jennifer Houston, J-E-N-N-I-F-E-R-Y-U-S-I-N. You swear or affirm to tell
the truth, the whole truth is nothing but the truth? Yes, I do. Are you a neighbor? Yes, I live
directly across the street at 201 Bendisit Street. My property was just mentioned. Please proceed.
My wife, Beth Belukas, and I live directly across the street.
We oppose the variance.
In my email to the ZBA, I submitted a letter detailing our reasons for our opposition,
as well as a petition signed by more than 50 near neighbors opposing the variance.
That petition includes the signatures of every adjacent neighbor and was obtained after a
lot of conversation and full information about what was implied by this variance.
As residents who live directly across the street, we experience the following issues on a regular basis.
Excessive noise, trash on our property, parking issues, loitering on our entry steps, blocking access to our home,
taxi, Lyft, Uber drivers driving at high speeds the wrong way,
and are blocking the regular flow of traffic on our quiet one-way residential street.
We still do not know how to be in contact with the owners who live off-site and manage a number of other rental units in a way that helps resolve issues when help is needed and not hours or days later.
Because the owners do not live on the premises, they cannot give immediate attention to the issues we, the neighbors, experience regularly.
this problem is amplified by the high turnover in each of the three non-owner occupied short-term
visitor accommodations in this property the high turnover rates leads to large numbers of people
whom we do not know in any given week in the year because of that we do not feel safe to approach
people whom we don't know with neighborly issues such as excessive noise and are forced to call
and city resources like the police to help with our problems that are otherwise easily remedied
among neighbors. When we know our neighbors, we feel safe to participate in our community
and resolve issues that may arise among us. I want to emphasize that a serious effect of
non-owner-occupied short-term visitor accommodations is the generalized erosion of safety and community.
Safety and community go together. You can't have one without the other. When the feeling of safety
is continuously degraded by the high turnover of people and non-owner occupied accommodations as
it has been by this property. We are increasingly compelled to keep our blinds closed, not to say
We are increasingly compelled to keep our blinds closed, not to say hi to others on the street, and avoid helping others when problems emerge.
high to others on the street.
In other words, because of increasing feelings of unsafety, we are increasingly compelled to live in a more isolated and isolating ways.
We chose to buy our home in Chestnut Hill on a quiet residential street precisely because we wanted to live in a safe, quiet community in which we can actively participate.
All of this significantly impacts our own right to the enjoyment of our residential property
and is degrading the general sense of community in our neighborhood.
Another serious effect is that this non-owner-occupied short-term visitor accommodation takes three
long-term rental units off the market.
Numerous studies have shown that by removing the supply of long-term housing, this type
of visitor accommodation drives up rental prices, adding to the overall affordable housing
crisis.
The limited lodging laws were in place prior to the purchase of this property. When asked about
the necessity of the variance during community meetings, both the applicant and applicant's
lawyers avoided answering this question. For these reasons, we oppose the variance. Thank you very
much. Thank you. I have a couple questions for Ms. Youson. Ms. Youson, are you saying that you
don't have the phone numbers for Mark or Veronica? I have one phone number, but we have not been made
aware of how to be in contact to resolve issues immediately. And we were never told that we could
contact them with issues. They only contacted us when this variance was under issue and
when the Chesson Hill Community Association asked them to reach out to us. And we still
did not know how to be in contact to resolve issues. So are you saying that you hadn't spoken
with my clients prior to the zoning application?
I'm not sure the nature of your question.
Can you restate your question, please?
Did you speak with Veronica or Mark prior to the zoning application being filed?
And do you know that an owner-occupied property that has a limited lodging license,
do you know that that owner could go away for up to 30 days
and rent out their unit or home for that entire time
and not be available and be out of the country.
Are you familiar with that?
I have learned some aspects of this law, yes, but yes.
And do you have a permit for the fence on your property?
Do I have a, excuse me?
Do you have a permit for the fence on your property?
I have no further questions.
Thank you for your call.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
Yes, Chair. I have a Celeste Hardister. I will allow to speak.
How many hands do you see?
I'm sorry, Mr. Chair.
After that, it's one more.
All right. Thank you.
Yes, sir.
Hi, could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Yes, good afternoon. I'm Celeste Hardister, C-E-L-E-S-T-E-H-A-R-D-E-S-T-E-R.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Are you a neighbor?
No, I represent the Chestnut Hill Community Association, the RCO.
Sure, please proceed.
Thank you.
I just want to say that the commentary that you've heard from neighbors today represents well the commentary that we heard at the meetings that we held.
One thing that I do not recall hearing at our meetings is that there was an attempt to rent the property on a long-term basis.
But what I do very clearly recall is that the investment in this property to prepare it for visitor accommodation use was significant enough that it would prohibit them from financially being able to rent the property on a long-term use basis.
So they were very thorough, it seems, that the applicants were very thorough in applying for the necessary permits.
However, the permit for visitor accommodation use has been on the books since 2013, and apparently they did not pursue that permit before deciding to invest in this property in order to fit it out for visitor accommodation use.
So that was their decision.
Thank you.
Thank you.
One more hand.
yes he's been allowed to speak i'm back hi mr richard could you state your name please
good afternoon mr chair charles richardson the office of councilwoman cindy bass richardson is
r-i-c-h-a-r-d-s-o-n right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but
the truth? I certainly do. Please proceed. Bounce Woman is opposed to
I certainly do.
Please proceed.
Housewoman is opposed to granting this variance.
As the applicant had said, her LLC bought this property in 2019 as an investment property, looking to make it an apartment building, as it already had been.
But as she testified herself, they worked on the property for two years.
And incidentally, looking at the L&I records, there were no permits that were pulled for any work that was done on that property.
And they did an entire renovation of the property.
Excuse me, Mr. Richardson, we have copies of all the permits.
It's not listed on L&I's website.
So, you know, as far as I'm concerned, that is not the case.
And I'm sharing my screen and I can show them right here.
Let me continue.
And while it was constantly stressed, we all know that financial situations are not a hardship for a property.
There's lots of hearsay that's been going on with regard to statements about the people and how great they thought the thing is, you know, that this was and everything.
They don't live there.
And it's hearsay.
This small petition that you guys did submit, looking at it, looks like three of the signatures were the same signatures.
Also, one of them actually runs an Airbnb, if that's the one right next door.
The letters that you introduced were nice, but again, clients do not live on that block.
So, you know, they're kind of disqualified with regard to that because they're not there on a day-to-day basis.
The majority of neighbors are opposed.
So the councilwoman, actually, and let me just speak to the asking the question about the neighbor's fence and the 30 days and things along those lines, seeking to disqualify the near neighbors or just cast aspersions towards them.
It's not really good policy as far as that goes.
All right. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Richardson. We appreciate it.
No one else in the audience, am I correct?
Mr. Chair, I believe there is a neighbor, Rob Remus, that's trying to be called.
Yes, I've allowed them to speak, Mr. Chair.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court's demographer?
Yes, my name is Robert Remus, R-E-M-U-S. Can you hear me?
Yes. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Absolutely, yes.
Please proceed. Are you a neighbor?
Yes, I am.
All right, please proceed.
Okay. So, like I said, my name's Rob, and I'd like to discuss my support for Mark and Veronica, and frankly, for the Airbnb service, which they provide, which I seem to think is a very valuable need in Philadelphia, and especially in a neighborhood like ours.
I live 10 houses away on Arleigh Street, and I lived here for 25 years, very similar to the other neighbor that called in.
Raised my family here, coached here, ran neighborhood block parties.
I've been a reliable and respectful neighbor to almost everybody I know.
Truth be told, I've also used Airbnb, and as of recently, I used it last year when my father passed.
I had family from out of town.
I called on Mark, but he was booked.
I called on other people who have provided places, and they helped me and my family out, and it was fantastic service.
Based on that experience, you know, I decided to get more involved with Airbnb.
I could talk more about that, but I'm here really to support Mark and Veronica, you know, as neighbors and to support their business.
Thank you.
Back in 2023, I participated in the CHCA DRC teleconference regarding Mark's zoning application.
I supported them then, and I support them now.
During that conference, I heard some neighbors raise complaints.
We heard from both of those same people today.
Issues ranging from parking concerns, complaints, noise, traffic, loitering, pet noises.
But I didn't hear any specific events or see videos or hear any recordings of these things.
Just basic concerns.
And I understand that.
That's reasonable to think that that exists.
But like I said, I live 10 houses away.
And I've never witnessed any of these events since Mark started, Mark and Veronica started this Airbnb.
This is unscripted, folks.
Early on, I used to walk by and admire the work that Mark and Veronica were doing, redeveloping this dilapidated house.
My other neighbor said it wasn't a blight.
It didn't have a working sidewalk.
It was horrible.
I was afraid things were going to fall on top of us as you walk by.
So it was an eyesore, just like that garage across the street.
You know, I had to decide which side of the street to walk on with my dogs.
um you're probably wondering when why my opinion matters so much uh like i said i live here i have
two to three dogs my entire 25 years i walk by the property two to three times a day to winston
quad i also run my business from my house on arley street and i drive past it five times
five to ten times a day from 6 a.m. to midnight.
five to ten times a day from 6 a.m to midnight i'm what you call like a
I'm what you call like a super neighbor, right?
I'm here all the time.
I'm always around.
I've never seen any domestic issues, any police presence, any barking pets, no parties.
I haven't seen any parking issues.
In fact, I've always been jealous of that side of the block because you always have ample parking,
and we don't have that down where I live.
I've met people who stayed there, and they're completely normal travelers, too,
just like the people who stayed at other Airbnbs. Truth be told, I am a local landlord. I've been
for 25 years. I also had an Airbnb that was operational on Arley Street for close to two
years. The inspiration was having visitors up at my father's funeral. I thought it was a great
service. I needed something local, and it worked out perfect. I recently shut that down. But the
biggest concern I heard on that teleconference in 2023 was that what type of person is coming
into our neighborhood through this Airbnb? Who are they? Where are they from and why do they
want to stay here? But guess what? That's nobody's business. As a landlord, I've heard the same thing
when I try to rent an apartment. What's this person like? Do they have kids? What do they
look like? I'm like, you know what? They're financially and criminally vetted. That's all
I can tell you and, you know, deal with it. I try to be a good neighbor and I try to be a good
business person, but I draw a line behind, you know, questioning someone's background or whoever
they are. And I, you know, I would tell you that in the two years I had an Airbnb, the people that
visited my properties were here for weddings, graduation, family events, or just wanted to
walk around Chestnut Hill and experience a life here. That's been my experience with my people
in my Airbnb, and mine were considerably cheaper than Mark and Veronica's. I would say that there
was an A-plus property. Mine was a C. But this is my testimony as being a landlord. I'll share
one quick story with you, and then I'll sum up. One of my routine visitors was a grandmom from
Germantown who rented my place once a month to give her single-parent mom, her daughter,
a break from watching her kids and taking them to school.
So she came up and rented my Airbnb, and she would take the kids to school up at Jenks,
walk them up there, walk them to the playgrounds afterwards, go to dinner, go back in the house,
cook them a late night snack and have fun with them, right?
She did this for over two years once a month.
She was devastated when I told her I was closing it down because it just didn't feel like
dealing with the hassle of turning it into a hotel variance.
You know, she was devastated because she can never afford to be in Chestnut Hill.
And she loved Chestnut Hill.
She loved taking her kids around this town.
And it's a shame.
Okay, now I will sum up.
Please, let me sum up, okay?
Well, but do me a favor.
Concentrate on this property, not on the properties that you own.
I want to know what you want to talk about this property.
So, okay, about this property, I was addressing some of the things that I heard from the teleconference, right?
You said that.
The transits.
Okay, so now, so, and I also heard from the Business Association representative,
on that meeting that Airbnb people were not welcomed or not coveted by the local businesses.
And I found that to be preposterous. I found that I polled some of my Airbnb, but I know Mark also
polled his Airbnb people and asked them if they support the local businesses. They ate breakfast,
lunch, and dinner and shopped here. That was the end result. I asked the local businesses
if they accepted Airbnb people as customers and they laughed at me and they said, yeah,
we covet them we love them we love travelers okay but in summary folks i'm just going to tell you
one two sentences about myself and then i promise i'll come on mr remus you got it i don't i don't
want to hear any more about you need to hear something i'm a philadelphian i lived here
neighborhood store was our food store we had doctors and and and excuse me excuse me excuse
Mr. Remus, your testimony is done. Seriously. You've just went over and over and over talking the same thing. Thank you very much for your time.
Questions or comments from the Planning Commission?
Mr. Bergman, I would like a brief chance just to respond to the letter from the RCO.
Please proceed.
So, the letter is on my screen here.
So, we did meet with the RCO several times, and we worked with their protocol, as I mentioned, which extended beyond the requirements of the code.
Most neighbors were opposed to the short-term rentals in and of themselves, rather than raising any issues with this particular property.
Even we heard from Christopher Jacobson today, who discussed issues with other properties and not my client's property.
Even the letter itself talks about the potential for a new owner to run it poorly.
talks about the potential for a new owner to run it poorly, and we heard from a lot of people that
they did not have a problem with how my clients were running the property. As for the comment
that there have been parties, pets, smoking, and strangers, first of all, none of these activities
is illegal. All of these activities could occur in the long-term rental properties,
owner-occupied properties or even the short-term rental next door. The next
comment, neighbors said they have no idea who owns the property. First, this is
vague. I mean, what neighbors? My clients were here for two years during
construction and they met a lot of the neighbors and even you've heard
testimony that people have met them. My client does communicate with the
neighbors, including the neighbor across the street. The next comment, they prefer to live
in a neighborhood where neighbors know each other and not have a steady stream of strangers. First,
we can't keep people out of the neighborhood. And second, the people who do stay here are not
strangers. They are people with ties to Chestnut Hill. They are either visiting family or have a
child at the Institute of Human Potential. So the use fosters the community. Just for parking,
we saw parking is not a problem. Trash was not a problem. As to concern about changing the
character of the neighborhood, already we've seen that this use is going on next door.
As for taking three long-term rental properties out of the neighborhood, you heard from my client,
they tried to rent it out for long-term use and were unable to do so. And as far as the variance
being permanent, my clients agreed to a proviso. Thank you. Thank you. Questions or comments from
the Planning Commission? Thank you, Chair Bergman, and good afternoon. David Fecto with the City
Planning Commission. Chairman and board members, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to
the residential single-family zoning of this location. This is a legally non-conforming
three-family dwelling. There is no unique physical condition or circumstance of this property that
would prevent it from continuing to be used as a legal three-family dwelling. The City Planning
Commission recommends the board deny the proposed use variance for visitor accommodations. Thank you.
MI 2023-005-133-7918 Ardley Street, I vote no. Thomas Holloman, my vote is no. Ishmael Shahid,
my vote is no thank you thank you we're going to go to number
let's go here's five
number five
MI 2023
005120
Kalanet Street
Dietrich and Sharon
Rose the applications
for use as a two family household
living in an existing structure
excuse me Mr. Chair I'm sorry
there was a couple other cases that we need
to hear next due to scheduling
concerns
where do you want to go
I'm sorry, give me one second
It's number 14 and number 10
10 and 14
They can be heard together
That's Allen's, right?
MI 2023-004-797-1938 North 22nd Street
And number 14
MI-2023, 004-796-1940, North 22nd Street.
Recommendation of support from St. Elizabeth RCO.
Vote was unanimous.
Mr. Nockamson.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair, members of the board.
Alan Nockamson.
Just for the record, Alan, I mean, we all know.
Just spell your name for the record, please.
A-L-A-N, last name is Nochumson, N-O-C-H-U-M-S-O-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Do you identify your client in a relationship to the property?
Yeah, both of these properties are owned by Crud LLC, and in the virtual audience should be its member, Kevin Matheson.
And our vice chair has just a few questions.
Good afternoon, counsel.
So do you agree to weigh the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
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?
to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing uh yes we have thank you council
Yes, we have.
please proceed and share your screen thank you um i'm gonna do i i submitted these separately
the presentation materials i do have a combined presentation material just to streamline this
process so i'm here to present to you 1938 and 1940 north 22nd street i think this is a pretty
straightforward process. Hopefully we get the CBA back on track after that first matter. That was
rather long. So I have a couple notices of refusal. So this is a property my client purchased as an
RM1 property, turned into RSA 5. It's actually now, it is now being proposed by the 2035 plan
to be RM1. These are rather large lots. The only refusals we have, and you'll see through the
notices of refusal is the use of the property. If these were R&1 properties, these would be
uses as of right. Then we met with the St. Elizabeth's RCO, like they coordinated the
community meeting. We have unanimous support. I think that speaks volumes about the project itself.
Then the property history, we'll just quickly go through the property history showing when the
zoning changed on our property as compared to when we owned it. And you'll see that, again,
my client's attention was always to build a multifamily structure and um the you know
unfortunately there's only changed on him and you know now uh i guess because of marking conditions
and and the composition the neighborhood uh there's a proposal uh to have that reconverted back
to rm1 um and we'll review that and then it's not enough character to have uh multifamily nearby
with these rsa5 properties and we'll just quickly go through all of the properties that this this
board has approved under similar circumstances. Quickly review the 2035 plan. Look at maps of
the area, including the zoning map, which you'll see that we're nearby RM1 properties. Photographs
of the property, our plans and drawings, our meeting notices. We had a very well-attended
meeting where we had unanimous support or applications for appeal that we filed on behalf
of CRUD LLC. Deeds of property showing that they own the property and our certificates of tax
clearances. So again, you know, at the conclusion of my presentation, I would ask that Mr. Matheson
virtually raise his hand and be sworn in, and then I'll have a few questions for him. So notices of
refusal, these are both RSA 5 properties. For 1938, we're seeking to put four dwelling units.
The size of the lot is 1,763 square feet, so this is a rather large-sized lot. Again, I guess that
would be allowed as a fright. We're not asking for any dimensional variances, and we'll review
The renderings would show that we're trying to put together a property that would mimic the other properties in the neighborhood, not just from a use standpoint, but aesthetically as well.
And then the second refusal for 1940, we're asking for five dwelling units.
And again, the square footage for 1940 North 22nd Street is square footage of the lot is 2,130 square feet.
So that's another rather large size lot, which would accommodate five dwelling units.
if this was an rm1 property so we met with you know the community by way of us at the
saint elizabeth's organization and it was six board members voted in support of this project
and 12 community members voted in support this project
and then the property history i just want to give you a flavor of this this is 1938 this is a six
unit dwelling that was there so both properties has a history of multi-family use but here 1938
38 previously had six dwelling units at one point. We're only asking for four here. We think that's
a more appropriate use of those circumstances. And then the legislative history, as you can see,
in 2014, we purchased the property in 2013. In 2014, they changed the zoning from RM1 to RSA5.
And what I wanted to do was also show you the map of where we are in the neighborhood.
This was where we are, and that was RM1. And by way of that legislation, we became RSA5.
And then it's not uncommon, you know, even in spite of the 2035 plan, other property owners nearby have sought variances to convert their properties to multifamily use.
So for 1832 North 22nd Street, this board granted six dwelling units.
1836 North 22nd Street, they granted six dwelling units.
1914 North 22nd Street, they granted four dwelling units.
1800 North 22nd Street, they granted six dwelling units.
And then the 2035 plan, we point out that under the 2035 plan, the proposal is to convert this back to RM1 zoning.
the proposal is to convert this back to rm1 zoning just my client is was patiently waiting
Just my client.
for that to happen and it hasn't so that's why we're probably are availing ourselves of this
process and then maps of the area as you can see we are rsa5 but you know the next block over
is rm1 so again given the large size of lots given the history of the property
giving given you know how the zoning changed on us where we bought the property is rm1 and
it's being proposed as RM1. We think there are grounds for this variance request. And then just
this map of the area from Google Maps perspective. Photographs of the property, there are vacant
lots. Again, proof of posting for today's hearing for both properties. And then our property to
left and right on North 22nd Street. And then our plans and drawings. What we try to do is really
mimic the traditional uh philadelphia row home from a multi-family sense you have a cornice line
you have lintels you have like you know a brick a flat brick facade um you know we really hope to
add value to the neighborhood by way of this uh construction project and again we're not we don't
have any like dimensional refusals. Again, 1938, we're proposing four dwelling units. In 1940,
we're proposing five dwelling units. And then these are our hearing notices or community meeting
notices. We met with the community on January 24th at 6 p.m. We have two separate notices.
For this property in 1938, 110 addresses were notified of the community meeting,
listed the addresses proof of mailing to those addresses 1940 there are 111 addresses
the addresses that we mailed the notice to proof of mailing to those addresses
our applications for appeal on behalf of our client
our deeds to the property showing that they own these properties
and then finally our tax clearance so 895.87 is due for 1938 but that lines up with the 2024
taxes which are not due yet same thing with 1940 north 22nd street 942.06 or two but again lines
up with what would be due for 2024 which is not due yet I will stop sharing my screen I would
and ask that Mr. Matheson virtually raise his hand.
They've been allowed to speak.
Sir, could you please state your name
and spell for the court stenographer?
Kevin Matheson, K-E-V-I-N-M-A-T-H-I-S-E-N.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, counsel.
Yeah, Mr. Matheson,
you heard everything I had to state today
about each of your properties.
Is it true and correct? Yes. And do you adopt it as your own testimony? Yes. Thank you.
Questions from the board? No, Mr. Chairman. No, Chair.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson? Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I do not see any further answer, Mr. Chair. Planning Commissioner.
Thank you, Chair Bergman. A good afternoon. David Vecto with the City Planning Commission.
Chairman and board members, I'm going to give my testimony for both 1938 and 1940 North 22nd.
The comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning at this location from residential single
family to residential multifamily. The zoning maps in this neighborhood were changed in 2014
and a community-supported map change. Most multifamily dwellings on this block face have
between two and three units so the city planning commission recommends that the board grant their
proposed use variants for multi-family dwellings but with a maximum of three dwelling units for
each property thanks sir chair can i just respond uh sure i think this is actually a rather
straightforward one um in that given the large size of lots like we're you know again for the
four unit, the lot size is 1,763 square feet, which if you took the RM1 calculation, that would
be four units. And the same thing with 1940, that's 2,130 square feet, which would allow for
five units. So I think under those circumstances, given its history, prior to my client purchasing
it, given the change in zoning, given the proposed change in zoning, I think it's perfectly fair and
reasonable to ask for those unit counts. Thank you. Hillary, I'm going to vote them
both together. That's fine, Mr. Chair.
10 MI 2023-004-797-1938-North 22nd Street.
Number 14 MI 2023-004-797-1938-North 22nd Street.
And number 14, MI-2023-004796, 1940 North 22nd Street, I vote yes to both.
Number 14 MI 2023-004-797-1938-North 22nd Street.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes to both.
Dishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes to both.
Thank you. Thank you, counsel.
Hillary, do we have anybody else has a problem?
No, Mr. Trey, I think you can go to the one per se case we have. Thank you.
Okay, that's number five.
Okay, number five, MI 2023-005-120-3538, Cal and Med Street.
Dietrich and Sharon Rose are the owner applicants.
This application is for use as a two-family household living in an existing structure.
The proposed use of two-family household living is prohibited in the RSA 5 zoning district.
There's a letter of non-opposition from the East Falls Community Council.
Mr. Rose.
They'll be rejoining shortly.
You're here.
My name is Dietrich Rose, D-I-E-T-R-I-C-H.
Right.
Do you swear or refer?
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Our vice chair has just a few questions for you, sir.
Good afternoon, counsel.
Do you agree to weigh the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
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?
Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.
I bought this unit 2005, and it was used at the time as a two-unit apartment with the certifying adjustment to be used for that.
But as you can see on our proposal, this unit or this property has two of everything.
It has two entrances, two separate boilers, electrical panels.
Do me a favor, Mr. Rose.
It goes a little slower so we can see the front of the property.
All right.
these are the entrances these are the panels right and gas meters stoves or heating units
and these are domestic hot water units separately right and you bought this property in 2005 you
said that's correct it was a duplex it was a duplex then it was duplex yes okay thank you
and i also paid uh
and the east falls community council sent you a letter of non-opposition am i correct that's correct
These are the licenses you had on the place?
That's correct, Mr. Chairman.
That's your notice of violation.
Evaluation.
Evaluation.
I'm sorry.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
ish no chair questions from our attorney hillary emerson not at this time mr chair
questions or comments from the virtual audience
yes mr chair i have a hand up from hillary langer i have allowed them to speak
hi could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer
Hilary Langer, H-I-L-A-R-Y-L-A-N-G-E-R.
I'm chair of the school community.
Yep, I know who you are, sir.
Yep, do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth?
Nothing but the truth, Hilary Langer.
Please proceed, sir.
Yes, I wanted to state we had our required community meeting, and there was no opposition to the legalization of the two units. That's all I'd like to say.
Yes, I wanted to state we had our required community meeting.
Thank you very much for taking the time to cause. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
There are no further hands, Mr. Chair.
All right, Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman, and good afternoon. David Fecto with the City Planning Commission, Chairman and Board Members.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential single-family zoning at this location.
This appears to be a long-standing duplex operating since at least 1987.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the Board grant a proposed use variance for two dwelling units.
Thank you. MI 2023, 005-120-3538 Calumet Street, I vote yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Thank you.
Thank you, sir.
Number two, MI 2023-007-037-2136 North Percy Street.
Michael McElhaney is the attorney.
vote of community was undecided per email from north central east rco
good afternoon mr chairman good afternoon sir could you please just state your name for the
record and spell for the court stenographer michael mcelhenny m-c-i-l-h-i-n-n-e-y right
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
Could you identify your client, their relationship to the property?
Yes, Mr. Chairman.
It's N as in Nicholas, G as in God, Properties, LLC, and the member is Nori Furco, who is here today with us.
All right.
Our vice chair has just a few questions.
Good afternoon, counsel.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, I do.
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?
Yes, I did.
Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.
And Mr. Chairman, I was coming in when you referenced the RCO letter. I didn't actually receive one, so I sent an email.
The vote of the community was undecided per email from North Central East RCO.
Excellent. That's the email that I did for it over this morning just because I didn't get a formal letter.
As a matter of prerequisites, members of the board, Exhibit 11 consists of my client's tax clearance, just showing the taxes are paid through 2024.
The deed to the subject property is at Exhibit 10.
My client acquired this lot in 2019.
Our RCO notices at Exhibit 9, and Exhibit 8 are photos just showing the zoning poster at the property.
um exhibit two and i'm going to speed up just because i do know the board is running behind
exhibit two is the refusal uh our application is for the erection of a new construction
structure uh attached structure with a roof deck for two family household dwellings
the property is owned rm1 residential multifamily and we have three refusals
when my client purchased this property he knew it was rm1 but in this on this block we actually have
a overlay. RM1 generally has a 360 square foot minimum per unit. In this area, it's 425. So our
property is 742 square feet, whereas we really need 850 for a buy right two units. So that creates
the first refusal for number of units. The second is we have a roof deck access structure that is
at the back property line or at the back building line, whereas the code specifies a five foot
setback. And the third is the subject vacant lot is between two two-story structures, and the code
requires an eight-foot setback at the third floor level, and we're proposing to make the front wall
flush with the other properties without the setback. Exhibit three, I've included some maps,
including the zoning maps and aerial maps. The first page is just the zoning map showing the
The property is owned RM1, as is the block and the immediate surrounding area.
And properties to the south are I2 and I3.
The aerial view map, and I'm going to scroll down, just to give context, the second photograph
just shows that we're 10th Street.
There is a SEPTA train track that runs through.
Temple is to the west of us, as is 10th Street.
Susquehanna to the north, 9th Street to the east, and Diamond Street to the south.
The south is a PGW service center.
the eighth and diamond playgrounds around the corner and as i mentioned the temple football
field and what i would call the attention to the board on page four is looking at the
And what I would call the attention to the board on page 4 is looking at the 2100 block of North Percy. This is the view looking west. This is a block that consists of 56 parcels, lots. On this block, as you look, it's sawtooth. There's only 25 structures on this block. There's a ton of vacancy and some abandonment, as I'll show on the street view photos.
So exhibit four are the site photos for the block. The property is the vacant lot in the middle of the screen between two residential structures. Going to the north, we have the residential structure to the north of my client's property and then a vacant lot at 2140 North Percy, which is part of a PHDC workforce housing proposal that a bid has been accepted, although the property, this property and a bunch of other properties on this block have not transferred.
but it is planned for workforce housing.
Farther to the north are two other residential structures,
and then going farther to the north, 2146 through 2156 North Percy,
are again a series of vacant lots,
several of which are part of the PHDC workforce housing,
and then 2152 is approved for two dwelling units,
similar to the project that my client is proposing today.
And the property at the corner at Susquehanna going to the north
is a nine-unit apartment building under construction.
And I included views looking west on Susquehanna
and then a view looking east
just to show the context of the parking
and other vacant land on the area.
The photo for page four is looking the properties
to the south of the subject property.
There's three existing structures
and then again, a series of vacant lots.
And I identified what's going on in those lots.
We have 2126 and 2128 North Percy,
which are approved for duplex uses, the same as my client's proposing today.
21-24 North Percy is an abandoned clean and sealed building.
21-22 is a two-story house.
And then at 21-20 North Percy is another vacant lot approved for a duplex use,
same as my client's proposal today.
Going down the block, we have other residential structures,
including a three-story structure in the middle of the photograph.
and farther to the south we have some of the other workforce housing projects 2110 and 2112
north percy and at the end of the block 2102 through 06 north percy are three new construction
duplexes that were completed a few years back again that's almost identical to what my client
is proposing today for this block of percy street um at the corner there is a storage facility
at Diamond Street. And then looking north at the properties, heading north on the east side of the
block, we have a bunch of the vacant lots, 2105 through 13. Again, part of that workforce housing
initiative. 2119 through 21, part of the workforce housing initiative. And going up the block to the
north are an existing two-story structure, more vacant lots. 2133 Percy is another lot for that
workforce housing. And then there's residential structures going towards the north heading towards
Susquehanna. And two more vacant lots are part of that workforce housing at 2143 and 2151. So this
is a mishmash of developments on this block with existing single families, existing duplexes,
and the workforce housing projects that are coming on. I'm going to jump down to
our zoning plan the page five of page one of exhibit five is just the zoning site plan just
showing the lot dimensions we have a lot that is 14 wide and 53 feet deep and the second page of
the zoning plan i'll show in the middle is the rendering so we're proposing a three-story
structure without the setback at the third floor level. The height allows for 38 feet,
but we've shrunken the building down to 34 feet is the proposal. And the front of the property
will have an egress well at the front. The site plan for the proposed structure,
the front of the property is on the right on Percy Street. We have the egress well at the front,
the front entryway that leads into both units. And we've allowed for a rear yard that is 13 feet,
three inches deep, whereas nine foot is required by code. And the pilot house we did put at the
rear of the property without the five foot setback. And part of that is for floor plan layout
because it is a smaller size lot. The floor plans are on the screen now. The first floor
again enters at the front of the property and turns to the left. You have the dining room area
with an eating bar, a full kitchen, and full living room
with access to the outside backyard
with access to the outside backyard through rear steps and deck, washer dryer in the first unit
through rear steps and deck, washer dry.
one, I'll call it. And we have a indoor trash storage closet because the neighbors in the
community always voice how we deal with trash storage. So we have indoor trash storage and
access to that rear yard space to like the other houses on the block. The lower levels have two
bedrooms, two baths at the bottom, along with mechanicals and a full egress well to the backyard
and an egress well to the front for health safety requirements.
The second unit, which consists of the second and third floor, again, it's a two-bedroom,
two-bath unit.
The second floor has the kitchen, the bathroom, one-bedroom and one-bathroom, and mechanicals.
And we included a deck at the front of the property that's recessed so that we have outdoor
space for the upper unit, as well as an outdoor trash storage unit or closet for that unit
so it doesn't have to be stored inside the actual unit.
and the third floor consists of the one bedroom bathroom and a full living room at the rear
and the steps lead up to that rear um lead up to the roof deck and by pulling the pilot house back
it just allows for a better layout for the bedroom and living room um in the what is a small small
lot in terms of width um i've included at exhibit six just for the record i went through this as i
I was showing the street view photos, just the zoning records for all the properties on the block and how they're currently used and permitted for duplex use, workforce, housing use, the non-existing single-family uses.
and with that um mr chairman i would submit to the board that based on the vacancy on this block
the abandonment the fact that my client bought this property rm1 and quite frankly didn't
understand the calculation that there was an overlay in charge in place here because he saw
the other multifamily uses on the block um the duplex uses in keeping with what's happening on
this block um and should be permitted like the other duplexes on the block if i could call nori
or to raise his hand
nori can you hear on the zoom they've been allowed to speak okay sure could you please
Please state your name and spell for the court stenographer.
Hi, my name is Nori Ferko, N-O-R-I, that's Ferko, F-E-R-K-O.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
So, she counsel.
Mr. Ferko, did you hear the statements that I presented to the board today?
Were my statements true and correct to the best of your knowledge, information, and belief?
yes would you adopt my statements as your own yes is there anything that you need to add or
want to add or clarify for the board no no further questions mr chairman questions from the board
no mr chairman no chair questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson
not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
i do not see any further hands mr chair planning commission thank you chair bergman and good
afternoon david effecto with the city planning commission chairman and board members the
comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning in this location from residential multi-family
to residential single family this is a 783 square foot lot without the ncp zoning overlay the
the appellant would be allowed two dwelling units by right.
With two dwelling units and the relatively small lot size,
the third floor addition without the codes required
eight foot setback is supportable.
However, there is no requirement for roof decks
or roof deck access structures to be built on row homes.
So the city planning commission recommends
the board grant the proposed use variance
for two dwelling units and the dimensional variance
from the third floor setback provision,
but deny the proposed dimensional variance
for the roof deck access structure.
MI 2023-007-037-2136 North Persia Street.
I vote yes for the two-family living with the no eight-foot setback, but rooftop deck five-foot setback, I say no to that.
That is my provisos.
That is my provisos.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with provisos.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with provisos.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you for your time.
I'm going to put number three first.
And number 13 at the same time.
MI 2023-006-168-1708 Walnut Street.
And number 13, MI 2023-006-339-1706 Walnut Street.
We have a letter of non-opposition from the Center City Residents Association with provisos.
Mr. Matt Dittioni. Mr. Chairman. Hi. Good afternoon. Counsel, could you state your name,
please, and spell for the court stenographer? Sure. Michael Matt Dittioni, M-A-T-T-I-O-N-I.
Great. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do. Could you identify your client, the relationship to the property?
Sure. It's 13 Howard LLC, and they are the tenant at the two properties.
And our vice chair has just a few questions, sir.
Good afternoon, counsel.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
I agree.
Excuse me.
I agree to waive the reading.
However, the refusal for 1708, I believe, has an error.
You can stipulate that.
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?
Thank you.
Please proceed.
thank you thank you um
okay as i said um
is that up
black now okay so is it up it's up now it's up now yep thank you anyway sorry about that again um
I represent 13 Howard LLC, and our principal, Avram Hornick, is here today.
I just want to go down to the refusal.
The issue here is it says table 14502-2, sit-down restaurant is prohibited in the Chestnut and Walnut Street area.
Well, under the overlay, a sit-down restaurant is permitted as a special exception in the over.
We still have to come before the board, but instead of it being a refusal, it's a special exception.
So I discuss that with Hillary Emerson as well. So, again, 13 Howard 11 is attended at 1706 and 1708 to 10 Walnut Street, where it operates the Walnut Garden.
It's one of the several entities operated by FCM Hospitality, Avram Hornick's company.
Prior to opening the Walnut Garden, the properties here were vacant lots as a result of the fire that occurred in 2020.
and you have three basically vacant lots.
So we're seeking special exceptions and variances
to be able to continue to operate the Walnut Garden.
And as you can see on the screen,
we presented our tax payment information,
the referrals, the refusals,
the letter of non-opposition from CCRA,
site plans, the unity of use agreement for 1708 to 10,
so that that's considered as one lot,
but 1706 is separate.
A temporary use agreement that we have with the city
that allowed to operate last fall, a non-opposition letter from CCRA to the temporary use agreement
and the leases for the properties. 1311 is the operator. Avram also operates several other
establishments nearby like Rosie's Tacos, Harper's Garden, Noche, Concourse Bar, and the recently
opened Lucy's at 1720 Chestnut Street. Come down, you can see this is the Walnut Garden and how it
looks some additional photos and again we did have a temporary use permit for the fall
as children's play area the restrooms which are subject of one of the refusals
and the rear of the property again out on chancellor street as well so um began operation in
may and we had our temporary use permit which is attached here at exhibit six uh it'll operate
seven days a week beginning of 4 p.m monday to thursday noon on friday saturday and sunday
it'll operate during the warm weather it's right now closed because it's the winter
the kitchen would close at 10 p.m uh monday to thursday um and the garden itself will close at
midnight. Walnut Garden has taken upcycled discarded items such as shipping
Walnut Garden has taken upcycled, discarded items such as shipping containers, wooden pallets, and broken glass,
made them into magnificent works of art, creating this truly unique and stylish atmosphere.
In addition, they've added a wide array of fresh plants and trees, making an inviting garden experience.
The sit-down and take-out restaurant uses are permitted uses in the CMX5 class,
but under the supplemental use controls, they require special exception.
And also, because this is CMX 5, it contemplates that a building, a large building, will be utilized, and it makes it impossible to have a garden use without having a building, because we're required to have 65% of the Walnut Street frontage covered by a building, and because we're a garden, we do not.
This is a vast improvement of the previous vacant lots.
It's an inviting place.
It's an attractive reuse.
And as you can see from the site plan, this is 1706.
There's a children's garden in the front.
There's some food trucks, some sitting area, and the bathroom trailer there.
And 1708's got a much larger sitting area and a large tent for inclement weather.
The restaurant use will have disposable cutlery and utensils.
No music will be played outside of the Walnut Garden.
There will be incidental takeout sales.
And all deliveries will be from Chancellor Street.
Trash will be picked up on Chancellor Street after 8 a.m., Monday to Friday, after 9 a.m. on the weekends.
And deliveries, again, will be made on Chancellor Street after 8 a.m., Monday to Friday, and after 9 a.m. on the weekends.
The restaurant will be responsible alcohol management program certified by the PLCB.
Again, we're requesting a special exception, a conditionally permitted use for the restaurants.
Mr. Hornick's got a long history.
We believe that we meet the requirements for a special exception.
you know we're not going to cause congestion in the public streets this is a one-story
operation where a multi-story building could be built it's a commercial corridor we're not going
to overcrowd the land we're not really building anything on the land we're not going to impair
light and air we're not building anything that would bother the neighboring properties it doesn't
burden public facilities we're utilizing an otherwise vacant lot we're helping the neighboring
properties by adding eyes and ears to the community it doesn't endanger public health we're
again, taking away a vacant lot that otherwise could endanger public health. So we believe we
meet the requirements for the special exception. With respect to the variances, we need a variance
because we're supposed to have at least 65% building coverage up on the street. And when
you come down here, you can see we have at least 65% of the lot front is on Chestnut and Walnut
street area. Well, because we're a garden, we don't have any building coverage up on the street.
So we're required to have a variance because of that. It's the nature of the property. And then
also we have a side yard variance because back here where the restaurant, I'm sorry,
the restaurant, the restroom trailer is, we only have a three foot eight inch side yard on either
side. The lot at 1706 is 23 feet wide. The trailer is 15 feet, one inch wide. It's impossible to have
the trailer and have a side yard that meets the requirements. However, right next door to us is
1708, and that's part of the same beer garden. So there's no building next to us, so we don't
really need the five-foot side yard on that side. So it's the unique nature of the property.
When you look at this, all the variances are due solely to the unique nature of this premises and
its physical characteristics. Again, up on the street, we don't have buildings, so we don't
meet the requirements of the code to have building on 65% of the area. So in order to
make the Walnut Garden operate, we are requesting these variances and special exceptions. I do have
one issue with respect to the CCRA letter. If the board is inclined to grant the relief,
they ask that our special exception expire no later than three years from the date of the
decision. However, our lease expires on March 31st,
2028. So basically four years from today. So if you were
inclined to grant it, we would request that you give us a
relief until March 31st, 2028
when our lease expires. With that, I would like to call
on Avram Hornick.
They have been allowed to speak. Thank you.
I'm here.
Avram.
Mr. Chairman.
I don't see the chairman.
I'm available, Michael.
Please, Mr. Hornick, I'm sorry, could you state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Sir, it's Avram, A, B as in Victor, R-A-M as in Mary, Hornick, H-O-R-N-I-K.
Sir, it's Avram A, B as in Victor, R-A-M as in Mary, Hornick, H-O-R-N-I.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
And Avram, did you hear my presentation to the board?
I did.
Are my statements true and correct?
Do you adopt them as your testimony?
Thank you.
I have no further questions for Mr. Chairman.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Chair.
questions or comments from our attorney
Hillary Emerson
Mr. I just wanted to confirm
what Mr. Mattione said about
there being an error on
the refusal for 1708
that should be
instead of there being a variance
for the sit down restaurant use it should
be a special exception under the
overlay thank you
questions or comments
from the virtual audience
um yes mr chair i have a hand from wade albert i have allowed them to speak
hi mr albert could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer sir
good afternoon wade albert uh last name is a l b e r t right do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do mr chair please proceed thank you so i am
counsel for the center city residents association which is the coordinating rco for this case
yep and um i just wanted to explain uh the the issues that are raised in our letter and
particularly i want to address the um the our request for a um basically a three-year sunset
on the variant special exception request um with regard to this property first off i want to say
that we were we were saddened to see that this building suffered a or that the the building that
was on this property suffered a significant fire in 2020. And on behalf of the community,
we are happy that it is being put to a temporary use. Otherwise, it would be a vacant lot.
But this property is located on the 1700 block of Walnut, which is, for those who I'm sure most
people are aware, is a very thriving part of the commercial corridor of Center City.
The CCRA would really like to see this property developed into a structure, into a building
that is put to good use and a building that would have commercial retail on the ground floor,
just like every other building on this block and on the surrounding blocks.
And for that reason, because we would like to see that happen as soon as possible,
that we have asked for a three-year sunset on the variance and special exception relief that's
sought here. We understand that the tenant has a four-year lease, but we would like to see the
development happened earlier as soon as possible. So with that, we respectfully ask for the three
year sunset and also ask for the other provisos that are requested in our letter, specifically
with regard to the trash will be stored in dumpsters at the rear of the property in accordance
with all applicable health and safety regulations and removed by a reputable trash hauler. So thank
Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Albert. Mr. Chairman, we do agree to the trash proviso. And listen, our lease is terminable by the owner of the property if, in fact, they're able to develop it sooner. They just entered into a four-year lease because they didn't see the window of opportunity prior to that.
Thank you. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
No, there are no further hits, Mr. Chair.
Planning Commissioner.
Thank you, Chair Bergman. And good afternoon, David Fecto with the City Planning Commission. Chair, we'll be giving our recommendation for both 1706 and 1708 Walnut Street.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the CMX 5 commercial mixed use zoning at this location. The appellant has shown that the proposed takeout restaurant will have no detrimental impacts beyond what might be expected.
The proposal represents a continuation of an existing temporary use.
The activation of a site, while permanent plans are developed, is preferable for the health, safety, and general welfare of residents and visitors.
Accordingly, the City Planning Commission recommends the board grant the special exception and dimensional variances, with a proviso limiting the special exception to four years.
Thank you.
Siri, let me know if I can help.
I'm going to vote them separately.
So number three, MI 2023-006-168-1708 Wallace Street, I vote yes, with proviso.
Temporary special exception expires 3-31-28, commercial trash pickup, trash stored at rear of property, deliveries on Chancellor Street only.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes, with provisos.
Excuse me, Mr. Chair. Sorry, there's one additional proviso per refusal dated 2-13-24 for this one.
Excuse me, Mr. Chair. Sorry, there's one additional proviso per refusal.
Oh, I'm sorry. You're right. All right. Per refusal dated 2-13-24. Thank you.
Thomas Holliman, my vote is yes with provisos.
Ishmael Shahid, my vote is yes with provisos.
Thank you. So, number 13, MI-2023-006-339-1706 Wellness Street. I vote yes with provisos. Temporary special exception expires 3-31-28. Commercial trash pickup, trash-shorted rear property, deliveries on Chancellor Street only per refusal dated 2-14-24.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes, with provisos.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes, with provisos.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you.
Number seven, MI 2023, 006-926-800 Market Street.
Ronald Patterson is the attorney.
Recommendation of non-opposition for the Washington Square West Civic Association
and letter of support from Council Member Squilla.
Mr. Patterson.
He'll be coming back in as a panel shortly.
Thank you.
Hi, Mr. Patterson.
Good afternoon.
Could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Ronald with R-O-N-A-L-D, Patterson, P-A-T-T-E-R-S-O-N,
Claire Harrison Law Firm, 1835 Market Street.
Do you swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Would you identify your client, the relationship to the property?
Sure. The client is the owner of the property is Pavilion East Associates LP, which is the Goldenberg Group entity.
All right. Our vice chair has a few questions.
Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, I do.
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?
Yes, I have.
All right. Thank you so much, counsel. Please proceed and share your screen.
Thank you. Can you see my screen?
We can.
Okay, great. Thank you.
As stated, this application regards 800 Market Street.
It is ordered by 8th Street, Market, and 9th Street.
If you see here in this aerial photograph, it's we're here to seek re-approval again for a public non-accessory parking lot containing 292 spaces.
It was operated as such since 1985, and since 2002, we have been receiving temporary use variances by the board regularly for various reasons, which we'll get into in 2002, 2007, 2012, 2017, 2020, and last 2022.
It's operated 24 hours a day.
The parking lot was reconfigured in 2017 with attendance booths along with a new signed package.
That's not part of this application. That's not changing.
And so we're here today to ask for to renew the variance approvals with no change of the parking configuration, landscaping, and fencing.
The landscaping and fencing and other dimensional refusals are listed in the refusal were the exact same ones that were appeared in 2017, at which time we were granted variance relief by proving the hardships at that time, and nothing has changed since that time.
But since 2022, we've made substantial upgrades in the parking lot, including leveling out and regrading the parking lot and re-mapping, reconfiguring the parking spaces.
As I mentioned, the owner, Pavilion, East Associates, LP, a golden group entity is the owner, and if you don't know, they own the IKEA Shopping Center, the Snyder East and West at Front Street, Whitman Plaza at Grant and Boulevard, Park West 52nd and Parkside, and the Van Institute of Housing at 1100 Cecil.
Well, I say that because the point is they are serious, experienced developers, but they're not in the parking business.
As I mentioned about the refusals, they regard interior landscaping percentages, a number of bike spaces, a number of reservoir spaces, and, of course, the uses of non-accessory parking lot that's in the center city area.
As I mentioned about the refusals, they regard interior landscaping.
There's just some additional photos that I'm sure we're all familiar with the parking lot.
Historically, it was a former Gimbel site originally proposed for Disney Quest.
Later, more recently, a possible casino that didn't materialize.
And for many reasons, as you'll hear, it was not developed.
Some started, some stopped. There's been offers to develop by other developers or for uses there, but the uses are really not the kind that would be appropriate for or desirable for that area, such as a one-story big box in a retail store.
This site is really conducive to a fantastic, substantial type of development here.
Of course, currently, there's no office interest. There's a possible hotel, but any deal that is signed is going to take 18 to 24 months to approve and start construction on.
As I mentioned, the hardship, we did prove that before, but it exists still based on the current conditions, the past and current uses, the surrounding uses, and the viability and opportunities to develop this property.
Yeah, and there are no adverse impacts, including upon traffic.
It serves a beneficial purpose, providing needed parking due to surrounding hospitals, medical office uses, and the federal buildings.
It is highly occupied, 24 hours a day, and it has not given any traffic impacts, as I mentioned, based upon the design and the traffic study that we had a year or so ago.
As you mentioned, we did appear before to watch about Civic Association with unanimous letter of non-opposition and Councilman Squilla, his letter of support are recommending a three-year temporary variance.
With that said, if we could promote Robert Friedman.
They have been promoted to panelists.
Hi, Mr. Friedman. Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Yes, Robert Friedman, R-O-B-E-R-T.
Freedman is F-R-E-E-D-M-A-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you.
Mr. Freeman, by whom are you employed?
I'm employed by Goldenberg Management, Inc., which manages this property.
And what's your position there?
I'm general counsel.
Thank you.
You've heard and seen my presentation.
Would you agree that it's true and accurate?
Yes, I would.
Would you adopt that as if it were your own?
Yes, I would.
Mr. Freeman, would you like to add anything else to the history and the attempts that the Goldenberg Group has tried to develop this property and also turning down offers to develop possible uses?
Yes. The Goldenberg Group continues to seek a first-class complex development on this site. It can handle over a million square feet. It should be a serious, good, supportive project for the city located between the convention center, the historic area.
But today's market with interest rates, construction costs make this very challenging, and we don't want to proceed with a smaller retail or other type of use just to find some other use at this point in time.
As far as the interim use of the parking lot, it provides a service to the hospitals in the area, the restaurants, the offices, and also the fact that the Jefferson Garage at 1025 Chestnuts is probably going to be demolished in the next year or two, losing 300 spaces in the neighborhood.
This helps keep the cars from circulating through the residential areas.
And I think it's the best situation until we can do something more grand with this property.
Great. Thank you. And just to clarify, you're not in the business of public parking, correct?
No, no. We would much rather develop this.
Okay. Thank you, Mr. Freeman. Mr. Chairman, I have no further questions.
Okay. Thank you, Mr. Freeman. Mr. Chairman, I have no further questions.
Questions from the board?
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Chair.
Thank you. Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I do not say any further answer, Mr. Chair.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman. Good afternoon. David Fecto with the City Planning Commission.
Chair and board members, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the CMX-5 commercial mixed use zoning at this location.
The current lot does not comply with the code's landscaping, reservoir spaces, or bicycle parking requirements.
The City Planning Commission recommends the board grant the proposed use variants for non-accessory parking and the minimum number of reservoir spaces, but deny the variances for landscaping and bicycle parking.
Thank you.
Number seven, MI 2023, 006-926, 800-Marketreet, I vote yes.
With proviso, three-year temporary variance expires 3-6-27.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Ishmael Shahi, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Thank you, counsel.
14, 13, 15, 16, number 17, MI 2023 003 746 8200 to 22 East Roosevelt Boulevard.
Letter of support from Mr. Chair, I'm sorry, we skipped number 15.
There was a request for continuance, but we decided to hear it and hold it.
Oh, that's right. You're right. I'm sorry.
MI 2022 003 757 2024 to 38 North 22nd Street.
Vern Anastasio is the attorney.
there's a letter of support from St. Elizabeth's RCO
letter of support from 32nd Ward Executive Committee, letter of support from
Senator Sharif Street
Mr. Anastasio
Good afternoon Mr. Chair, Vern Anastasio here
A-N-A-S-T-A-S-I-O
Could you identify your client and relationship to this property?
Yes, sir.
TPP Capital Holdings and Mr. Anthony Mott.
And our vice chair has a few questions.
Thank you.
Good afternoon, counsel.
Do you agree to wait for the reading of the refusal or stipulate to his accuracy?
Have you emailed then all the required documents and exhibits?
Do you proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
i have thank you council please proceed to share your screen thank you sir mr chair uh we're
talking about 2024-2028 north 22nd street this is for specifically um a mission-based development
for 55-plus senior living.
52% of the units will be qualifying as affordable.
48% of them will be market rate.
We'll have seven studios at 60% AMI,
55 studios at 90% AMI,
two studios at market rate,
and 56 one-bedroom units at market rate.
As I believe you've noted, and I've sent over two separate exhibit packets.
I'm working through the first one right now.
It's a 90-page exhibit packet.
We have overwhelming community support for this project for senior housing.
We have two letters that we move into evidence from St. Elizabeth RCO.
We have one letter from the 32nd Ward, and we have a support letter from Senator Sharif Street.
In addition, we have a letter from former president of Philadelphia City Council, Darryl Clark, all in support of TPP Capital Holdings.
We all know that senior housing isn't necessarily a part of the code.
So how do we ensure that that will happen?
we are working and have worked out
with a deed restriction
part of the exhibit
Part of the exhibit packet that we present today has a used covenant that will run with the land
packet that we present today
that will be executed by my client. In fact, my client wanted to execute it before this hearing.
But unfortunately, the law department, I believe, communicated to them that we need to secure this
zoning prior to being able to execute the commercial space that's proposed on the first
floor will be a use agreed upon and through collaboration with the RCOs and the ownership
because ownership will be taking a full responsibility for that as well.
I'm going to show you some renderings here and then we'll get into some more of it. This is a
milestone development, Mr. Chair, with offering a new type of product for 55-plus living in the
city of Philadelphia. It's a state-of-the-art facility with an innovative layout, fully furnished,
mission-based living. And today, currently, and having some experience personally with older
parents, when you're looking for senior housing, you've got two ends of the spectrum in Philadelphia.
It's a watermark at six, seven, eight thousand dollars a month or housing for the desperately poor and indigent.
Very little for workforce, middle class housing that is affordable, that is quality, that's reliable and is run correctly.
And we're going to talk about the the rents and how that works.
But these are below market rate, 52 percent of them.
where for under $1,800, you're getting a one-bedroom unit,
and the size of these are going to be compatible with what a senior resident would be able to, in fact, occupy and afford.
Freddie Mac Financing is the product for this particular property and development.
And for affordable and workforce housing with Freddie Mac, they require any developer to provide a City of Philadelphia deed restriction for 10% of the total units to be subject to rent and income restrictions.
Our development team made a decision to go well beyond that. Again, 52% of our units will be provided with no subsidy, by the way. We also have two other proposed similar senior housing projects, 55 plus, that will come before the board in the next four months in the nice town, Tioga neighborhood.
neighborhood. With that, I want to show you some of the interiors, and we're going to
have AJ Riley called as my first witness today to talk more about this. But just to show
you, we have here, we shared roof access, interior courtyard,
full landscaping on the outside as well and the exterior
that's a shot from across the street
there's another corner
i want to show you existing conditions
talking about right here this old building right here as you can see
based on the condition of this particular building and the
vacant lots both on that same side of the street and across the street
We've got a block that needs some, you know, needs a little bit of love.
And I'm going to show you some more pictures.
Bear with me.
My client will testify second to how he came upon this property.
They actually actively sought him out to redevelop this space.
And this is what we're dealing with right now.
Here's the proof of posting that was posted by my client.
And these photos that I've just showed you of existing conditions, they are evidence and they are submitted as evidence of significant lack of much needed density on the street, a significant lack of activity on the sidewalk.
And these photos that I've just showed you.
and sits between the Raymond Rosen Community Center and the Frederick Douglass Mastery Charter School.
So this would be an integral part of that neighborhood development to connect those two significant touch points in the community
and fill up an otherwise hungry block for some amenities, for some activity, and for some density.
Here's the community letter that was sent to the neighbors, at least one of them.
And as I told you, we had a couple meetings with the St. Elizabeth,
And there are two letters generated from that particular RCO, plus a letter from the 32nd Ward in full support.
During the process, we met with the CDR more than once.
And there are two pages of changes to the design of the project that Mr. Riley will get into and testify to as well.
and now i want to come up to
why we're really here the refusal and i want to get tackle these if you don't mind uh first of
all the 14803 is the fact that our parking and we do have off street parking both for cars
and bicycle parking. Our parking is not accessible from a shared driveway, alley, or rear street.
And that's simply as a result of the orientation of the lot itself.
It sets one parcel off the corner and the orientation of the building, which we flipped
as a result of consultation with President Clark last year. So we flipped the entire orientation
of the building based on his recommendation. For those two reasons, primarily the first,
it's just impractical, impossible actually, to have any sort of access from a shared driveway
alley or rear street. The other 14502 variance of refusal is the vacant commercial space. Now,
While it's prohibited in RM1, which this is, it's designed to deliver amenities to the neighbors.
These neighbors don't have many amenities in that particular area.
And it's also designed to produce activity on the street, on the curb, on the streetscape.
And we're going to be working with St. Elizabeth and the 32nd Ward and the Fifth District Council office to ensure that whatever we place there is something that the neighbors want.
And, of course, it'll be generated from my client.
So that's the plan with because just putting more housing without any amenities will just further perpetuate the lack of an access of commercial activity for folks in that particular neighborhood.
And finally, the unit count. We are asking for 120 units. We could do less. But the financing of this property would then require us to bring it, the percentages way down to 10%.
Nowhere are we getting housing like this,
not only is it innovative and serving 55 plus community,
but the majority, 52% of these units will be affordable.
And that's only because, and a direct result
of asking for the relief
to put these number of units in there.
If we were not able to get the relief to put these number of units, we would not be able to carry this property, deliver the amenities and the services at below market rate, which is what our plan is.
So for all those reasons, we're asking for the variances to be granted.
I also want to show you, talk about the, just so you know that this is not a fly.
talk about the, just so you know that this is not a fly-by-night company,
Tioga Diabetic Optical Laboratories is another project that is being located at 3332 North 17th
Street. And there is a second senior housing unit for 55 plus, where 51% or 147 units will be
affordable. And in my packet, I do have the website pages and information on one of these
projects as well. Also want to share with you the covenant, the use covenant that the city of
philadelphia gave my client and we'll be working through that uh will restrict the use in perpetuity
for housing 55 plus and affordable at 52 percent the financing will be tied to that as well
just want to go over briefly the letters of support
Here's the letter that was penned by a council president at the time, Daryl Clark, supporting
TPP Capital Holdings in order to get a grant to proceed with their mission-based housing,
calling it innovative, transformative.
The first letter from St. Elizabeth.
Second letter from St. Elizabeth.
A letter from Honorable Senator Sharif Street, and a letter from the 32nd Ward Executive
Committee, Mr. Darnell Deans.
What I haven't talked about yet, and which will become apparent pretty quickly, is the
need for this.
One of the reasons why, and I believe that the board understands it, that some neighborhoods have existing older housing stock that is in disarray or in bad repair is because they're occupied by oftentimes senior citizens on limited fixed incomes with no resources to fix these properties up.
So folks want to get into quality, manageable spaces, and that's exactly what we're offering.
As a result, we submit this letter from August 27th, 2023.
We opened up a portal and currently have over 300 seniors, 55 years old and plus, on the wait list pending the approval of this development.
project was also featured in the philadelphia inquirer
here's proof of mailing to 100 individual households of the notice of course also in here
is uh the deed uh up-to-date tax clearance here's the tioga district project that they're working on
and again nothing like this exists in the city of philadelphia outside of what tpp is providing
you either have to uh cough up six seven thousand dollars a month or have to be
in very dire straits no middle class or workforce affordability and again for under eighteen hundred
a month, they're getting a one-bedroom. For under $1,200
a month, they're getting a studio. Of course, those numbers change
depending on what AMI is at the time.
AMI was different when we started this project
five years ago or so.
Here's the financing information that we thought
you'd be interested in, the Freddie Mac's Target Affordability
program, and we submit that also into evidence. Because this property and this block has gone
disinvested for such a long time because of the incredible need and demand from area residents
55 plus, and because of the overwhelming support that we enjoy from not only the RCOs and the
ward, but the state senator's office and the former district, sorry, former council president.
And the former district for sorry, former council president.
I do respectfully request that this board grant the variance.
I'm moving all of this into evidence and I'm going to call Mr. AJ Riley to the stand.
You've been allowed to speak.
Mr. Riley, could you state your name, please? And spell for the courts.
Yes, my name is AJ Riley.
R-E-I-L-L-Y
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the truth
please proceed counsel
thank you
Mr. Riley I'll be your
your hands
and move the cursor
to this second
exhibit packet
if you please just walk the board through
the design of the project
the changes that were made
at several different levels of not only the CDR, but of the former council president's
urging.
All right.
Good afternoon.
I think Vern did a nice job of kind of describing the need, and so I can walk you through the
design.
You know, the project sits between 22nd Street on the right of the screen.
Diamond is to the north, Diamond Street.
It's one parcel in, so it's actually mid-block, and Krosky Street to the west or the left of the screen here.
We originally had our residential entry along Krosky Street.
As Vern mentioned, we flipped that to 22nd Street, so we now have sort of a commercial entry on Krosky and our loading zone on Krosky,
but the main entry for the residents is off of 22nd Street.
um we had a couple meetings with cdr they asked that we add some additional handicap spaces so
you can see we've we now have three spaces instead of the one that was required we we included two
ev charging stations which was requested as well and a better larger pedestrian walkway
that connected between the two streets along the edge of the parking.
We also moved our trash room off of the street,
so we pulled that back into the service drive area,
so making for a better pedestrian experience
and not getting those odors as you're walking down the street.
You can see we've pulled the building off of the north and south property line
with a landscape buffer of 12 feet,
And this is to allow light and air all the way around our building and all the residential units that you'll see as we go up the building.
We have just say we have 10,000 plus square feet of commercial space here and a central courtyard, which is a way to bring more light into the center of a large commercial space to get daylight into that into that space as well, as well as an amenity space for residents.
and users of the commercial space.
So if you want to go up, this is just an aerial looking from above,
you know, from the corner of Diamond and 22nd Street.
To give you a sense, the building is approximately 81,000 square feet.
It's a courtyard building.
It's six stories total, but it really has four levels of residential units,
ground floor being more services and commercial. And the top floor, the sixth floor, is just a
small piece that includes a 2,700 square foot amenity space and outdoor terraces, which we'll
see a little closer as we go. So you can click on that one there, Vern. And this just gives you a
section of it looking from the south to the north to sort of help organize you and identify the
garden terrace on the second floor, the lower courtyard on the first floor, green roof up above
on level six in sort of the wraparound residential units. Next slide there, five. So this is to give
you an orientation of how the typical residential floors are organized. So we have sort of an inner
ring and an outer ring of units. Both of them have a lot of light and air, a lot of sort of
landscaping and views. We have a garden terrace on level two, and that's open to below. So you
can see down to the courtyard space. We have a mix of studios in one bedrooms. And this is what
we call our light studio. It's actually a residential unit that we've copyrighted in
our office because we think it's so unique and special. And what it does is it reduces the
the the width overall of a residential building from you know a typical residential building
you know a typical residential building maybe 60 feet wide and this reduces it down to as low as
maybe 60 feet wide and this reduces it down to as low
39 feet and what it does is it allows the the unit to kind of rotate from a traditional deep
unit to a flatter unit giving more light from additional windows and additional length on the
facade the unit is about 15 percent more efficient than a traditional deeper unit and you can click
on the next slide. And so because it's more usable space, there's less circulation space,
it's more open, and it allows the unit to be slightly smaller from some of the traditional
units. And so our units go from 400 square feet for our typical studios up to about 466 feet for
our one bedrooms. And in addition to that, we're using an ORI furniture system, which you can see
here, which is a really flexible, really awesome product that I actually got to test in their
product in New York. And I stayed in one of these units and it has what they call the cloud bed. So
during the day, the cloud bed hides up in the ceiling. So you push a button, it goes up to
the ceiling, you have a desk or a couch or sofa underneath it, and that can fold away and the bed
actually comes down and nestles over top of it. The next slide, I'll show you the closet. This is
a sort of accordion closet. So that piece collapses and creates a larger living space.
And when you push the button on the side there, it opens and gets a walk-in closet. So really
innovative stuff, really user-friendly. I wasn't sure about it until I went and visited and I saw
how functional it is and really how great it is at giving sort of dual use and creating
a lot with a little space. So the other thing you'll notice is the wood that is prevalent in
the unit. This is because we're using a mass timber, so a CLT, which is cross-laminated timber.
This is something that we're really excited about bringing into the Philadelphia market.
We're working on a number of developments with Anthony where we're integrating this timber
product. It's a structural system that gained popularity in Europe, and it's come over to the
U.S. in the last 10 years or so, and you're starting to see it kind of pick up steam because
it's renewable, it's sustainable. It reduces your carbon footprint by up to 20% as compared to steel
and concrete. It's lighter, so your foundations don't have to be as robust, but it's inherently
beautiful because it's wood. We like to say more wood, more good. But studies have shown that it
has this what they call biophilic properties, which allow the occupant to really connect with
nature. And it's shown to reduce stress of occupants. And it really is a beautiful
residential product that we think works really well for senior housing and
in promoting wellness among its its tenants and its residents okay you can go go on um this is
just looking at the the sixth floor which is is really just an opportunity for us to put
um we an amenity room a kind of community space for the the tenants of 2700 square feet so a large
space that can be programmed for their needs and their use and what we did is we pushed it back
from the perimeter of the building so um you really don't see it from the street unless you're
back quite a far distance so that helped kind of reduce our appearance of our height and then we
have a large roof terrace with some wood pavers and resident rooftop gardens which was something
that some of the community was asking for so we've included that as well um and then and then the
large green roof. So we'll go to the next. So this is a rendering from 22nd Street showing kind of the
main entry in the middle. We're cladding the building in sort of two main materials. The zinc
panel, which is like a really, we think, beautiful sort of soft real metal, not a painted metal, but
it's an inherently sort of natural material that over time will get a bit of a patina, sort of like
a a copper um but it sort of softens and then we're offsetting that and complementing it with
a kenobi wood product which is um which is a product that's a it's wood but it's it's dipped
in this sort of vinegar solution it's proprietary and it what it does it allows it to um withstand
uv and elements uh with a warranty of up to 50 years so it's it maintains its its properties of
being wood but it just has a sort of a sealer on it that allows it to last for a long time
Here's a view from Diamond Street, so looking south at the north facade of our building.
here's a view from from diamond street so looking south at the north
You can see we've sprinkled in some balconies with that wood material as an accent.
And then here's a couple of just elevational drawings to give you a sense of materials
and balconies and kind of the depth of the facade.
And then a couple images that you saw earlier, the ground floor courtyard, which is connected
to the commercial space.
and you can see the parking off to the side a nice kind of moment to bring you know light and
air down to the ground floor from inside the building and then the garden terrace up on level
two with raised landscape beds which allow some larger landscaping say trees and such and some
deeper soil but also keep the you know residents sort of in the middle and right not up against the
windows of residents as units. And then here you can see the rooftop view of the city looking to
the south with those rooftop gardens in the distance there in the background. And that's
essentially, I think, the show. Thank you.
AJ, one question. You are using these materials now in Fishtown. Is that right? And they're working?
so we're using a very similar um residential unit in fishtown we have a few developments
where we're using the mass timber um one is in uh one is actually in detroit that's under
construction and we have a couple in development here in philadelphia as well very good i have
nothing further thank you mr chair i only have one other witness to call today it's my client mr anthony
Miles. Okay. About to speak. Hi, Mr. Miles, could you please state your name and spell for the
court stenographer? My name is Anthony Miles, A-N-T-H-O-N-Y-M-I-L-E-S. Do you swear or affirm
to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth? Yes, I do. Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Miles, I'm going to ask you three sort of housekeeping questions first before we get into the substantive questions. Did you hear my presentation and that and the testimony of Mr. Riley today?
Yes, I did.
Is it true? Are they true and accurate to the best of your knowledge?
Do you adopt them as your own testimony?
Yes, I do.
Thank you. Can you please explain to the board how you came upon this property and the journey you've taken so far since?
Yes, thank you. So in and around April of 2021, we were developing a whole preventative health hub near Temple Hospital, and the owners of the property, and one of them at the time was the father of the Bynum family, Benjamin L.
Bynum Senior. His group of partners were looking for a mission-oriented developer
for this site, which used to be an old medical clinic. So they was looking around Philadelphia
and my name came up and they asked us if we would consider coming up with something for the site
that embodies what they did in the past with the medical clinic, some sort of community benefit
product project. So at the time, when we looked at it, we just immediately saw the best and highest
use would be senior housing for this area, along with adding some sort of commercial space that
would benefit the residents and the community, even though the zoning didn't allow it, we
see that they have to go together.
So we took equity that we were supposed to use for Tioga, and we actually purchased this
site in November, November the 2nd of 2022.
Okay. And please describe to the board your overall mission in delivering this particular product.
Yeah, we, as you stated earlier, what we've understood and we've started the process of doing senior housing in Tioga way before this project.
So our goal and mission is to deliver to the city of Philadelphia a thousand of these mid-market senior housing units.
That's our overall goal. And we like you said, there's a bunch of.
Um, and we, but like you said, there's a bunch of seniors in Philly that are aging out of their
houses because of this, you know, because of the disrepair. And so what we ended up doing,
um, to test the market is we established a, uh, a portal, uh, for wait lists. Um, and to our
surprise, not to our surprise, but we ended up having to shut the portal down because we ended
up getting, we're up to 500 people on the wait list now, but we had to shut it down because of
the delays in the zoning. And we intend to open it back up because this zoning process, I mean,
we're over a year and something into the zoning process. But that's our mission is to fill the
gap between low-income subsidized housing that the housing authority provides and also
what people can't afford on the main line or that. And one of the things I do want to add is
I have a lot of experience in senior housing and understand that market very well as I used to be
in charge of maintenance and construction for Chester Housing Authority. And I had
over 500 senior housing units under my direction. So I understand seniors and I understand their
needs. So along with AJ and his group, we designed this based off of what seniors are asking for
today. And that's why we went with the mass timber and also the fully furnished model with
furnishing, giving them all the furniture in the units. Okay. And you heard my testimony
pursuant to the use agreement with the city of Philadelphia that would permanently
place a restriction for 55 plus senior affordability at 52 percent. Are you prepared
to execute that agreement? Yes, we are. Very good.
And again, when we say senior, we mean 55 years old plus. Yes, we're talking about adults 55 and
older. Correct. Okay. Very good. Anything else you'd like to add, Mr. Miles? Only that
we are very excited about the project. We're excited to deliver this project. And, you know,
as a result of this project, we've gotten a lot of, you know, other council people who have
express interest at us doing a similar project in their district. So we're just excited and we're
hopeful that the board will grant the variance. Thank you. Mr. Chair, just to wrap up, you know,
I think the evidence and the testimony kind of speaks for itself. This is a transformative
proposal, a revolutionary 55 plus senior living product that doesn't exist until now, right now,
in the city of philadelphia with commercial amenities while it is nice uh and welcoming
and a blessing to have the support of the rcos and the ward and the state senator uh and and the
like uh we cannot deliver this product without the zoning relief uh and that could only come
from this board and with that i'm going to rest thank you questions from the board no mr chairman
no chair questions or comments from our attorney hillary emberson
not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
i do not see any further hands mr chair planning commission thank you chair bergman and good
afternoon david vecta with the city planning commission chairman and board members this
This proposal completed its Civic Design Review in November of 2023.
The Civic Design Review Committee's advisory recommendations are not an expression of the City Planning Commission's recommendation or opinion regarding zoning variances, special exceptions, or other discretionary approvals.
Regarding the proposed number of dwelling units, the appellant requests 120, which is significantly more than allowed by Reich.
The previous council president removed developer's option to earn additional dwelling units using the mixed income housing bonus and the green roof bonus in this part of the 5th council district.
However, since the appellant has agreed to include deed restricted affordable units, the commission is willing to act as if the mixed income housing bonus were still in place for this proposal.
the commission is willing to act as if the mixed income housing bonus were still in place for this
proposal with that bonus and the green roof bonus the appellant would have been able to earn up to
88 dwelling units so the planning commission recommends the board grant a maximum of 88
dwelling units regarding the additional height and proposed parking accessed from a primary street
the commission believes these variances are both necessary to enable additional dwelling units and
parking on this site so the commission recommends granting both variances regarding the use variance
for a commercial ground floor we have heard loudly and repeatedly concerns about traffic congestion
expressed by near neighbors potential traffic congestion would come from the commercial
component of this proposal not the residential component and given that neither diamond street
nor 22nd street have ever been commercial corridors the city planning commission recommends
the board deny the proposed use variance for a commercial ground floor thank you uh mr chair
can i actually just add that there was a comment i i did want to make and um mr effecto reminded me
of it so that the request the variance that's listed on the refusal for vacant commercial space
we we can't grant a blanket variance for vacant commercial space um so if there's if there's a
proposal to have commercial at this property in the future it will need to have a separate permit
application and separate variance relief if the property remains zoned at rm1 yep if i may mr
chair the commercial use space i know the rules have changed on this uh we would be seeking
commercial use of consistent with cmx1 and they would be these would be amenities to the folks
who live above them. So, and as far as the 88 unit number, I do appreciate the planning
commission's perspective on that, but we're providing 52% of our units as affordable
under no legislative scheme would we have been required to do that. So, and for that reason,
the 120 units is essential in order to provide a majority of the units to be affordable.
So that's the second point I'd like to make.
And as far as congestion is concerned, again, I showed you the aerial.
65% of the block is prairie.
There's not even a structure on it.
So I don't necessarily think congestion is a problem yet in this, you know, in this block.
And if in fact, I think the number of units and the people who would occupy them would finally bring some long awaited life back to the block.
Thank you. Thank you.
So as we counsel, we spoke earlier, we're going to hold the vote on this until we hear from or when we hear from Councilman Young or someone in his office, their their views on this.
And then what we will do is the testimony is closed other than what the councilman says and possibly response from you.
I would appreciate that. Thank you. All right. OK.
Are we going to put a date on that?
I talked to Hillary about this.
We're thinking two weeks.
I was going to request one week, but whatever you think is best.
We'll look at two weeks, and that'll be the two weeks on the Wednesday there, and we'll go at 2 o'clock in the afternoon and we'll vote.
Thank you very much.
That's Wednesday, March 28th, Mr. Chair.
Thank you.
Thank you.
All right, and thank you for your presentation.
permission to be excused you you can sir thank you um mr kelly we have one more case
on the two o'clock list and then we'll take a break you okay with that yes chair thank you
thank you so number 17 mi 2023 003 746 8200 to 22 east roosevelt boulevard brett feldman is the
attorney. There's a letter of support from Ron Hurst-Civic, a letter of non-opposition from
Councilmember O'Neill. Mr. Feldman will be coming back in as a panelist. Mr. Feldman, could you state
your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer. Sure. Good afternoon. Brett Feldman,
1835 Market Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19103. I represent the tenant applicant,
the Rau Group. Just for the record, could you spell your name for the court stenographer? Yes.
Just for the record, could you spell your name for the court?
Yes, Brett, B-R-E-T-T, Feldman, F as in Frank, E-L-D-M-A-N.
Brett, B-R-E-T.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, to hold truth to nothing but the truth?
And our vice chair has a few questions for you, sir.
Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
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? Yes, I have. Thank you so much. Please proceed and
share your screen. Great. Am I sharing screen now? It's up, sir. Oh, it is up? Okay. Okay. I'd ask
also that our project engineer, Shannon Hayback Park, be elevated to a panelist as well as Mike
Baum, and William DiPrenzio from the Rao Group. So with that, let me get right to it here.
This is an application to convert a former drive-thru bank at a large shopping center.
Here we go. This is the shopping center anchored by a large Acme supermarket, Roosevelt Boulevard,
Solly Avenue here, and then two other streets on the other sides.
This property, we're talking about the tenant space right here on Hofnagel Street to the right.
This was kind of a little bit of a quirky drive-through bank, and I'll just take you through that here.
You would actually drive through the building.
This was the bank space here.
It was this whole entire space.
You would actually drive through the back of this roll-down garage door, and that's where the bank was, and you would do your banking if you were going to use the drive-thru inside that area.
So that was the drive-thru.
The bank left, and let me just give you a little more of the existing here.
The bank left, and the space has been empty for some time.
And surprisingly, this shopping center, which you would expect would be zoned area shopping center or, you know, CA1, you know, some type of robust commercial district is only zoned CMX1.
So any new restaurant needs to come to the zoning board and there's significant limitations on any other uses at the property.
So my clients, the ROW Group, operate a number of Dunkin' Donuts in the city of Philadelphia, and we filed an application to reuse the drive-thru and open up a Dunkin' Donuts at this location.
um the we had an original refusal that was issued um and we begin to have more conversations with
the streets department uh and city planning and the neighbors uh and we had there was some there
were some concerns about the drive-through the way it was configured this is um if you see that
this was the original plan um it was to have the drive-through come right off of uh the street here
And then, again, we come right through the building and utilize that space in the building.
And then the other part of this application was we didn't need the entire space, so there
was going to be creation of two tenants, A and B. A was the Dunkin' Donuts and B was
a vacant space.
So we then worked closely with city planning on landscaping.
We worked closely with the streets department and the neighbors.
And with the board's support, we went back to plan and we took the pretty drastic step here.
And this was my letter to the zoning board asking that the plan be changed.
As I'll show you, the board then granted that approval.
We went back to L&I.
We got a new refusal, which was the same refusal for the takeout restaurant.
But the plan itself here, I'll show you right here.
If you look, we actually are now proposing the demolition of about 1,500 square feet, that a whole chunk of the building.
And instead of running the drive through off of the street here, you now come into the shopping center and then you have a more than code compliant queuing area.
I think it's eight spaces that you now have queuing.
Five, only I believe five are required.
and then you come now through the building
and that's where you would pick up your order.
Or fortunately, and I think the community very much liked this,
you could always go into the Dunkin' Donuts
and this will be an important community location
um to have a cup of coffee uh and to uh you know see your neighbors uh and and have that option in
to have a cup of coffee and to see your neighbors.
the neighborhood but it was a pretty drastic step to demolish 1500 square feet of the shopping center
to reorient the whole shopping center um we with this plan uh we went to the ronhurst civic
association um which issued its letter of support and i believe one of the representatives um the
president of their group was going to be on the call here to talk about their project. And they
were instrumental because this took a while to go through zoning, but their support, we got the
support of city planning on the landscaping. They stamped off this. Streets department stamped off
on this. And now the council minister supported this as well. We'll be doing upgrades to the
exterior. This will be the new Dunkin Donuts prototype here. This is the new exterior. It'll
be all modernized. That area that's kind of a little bit blah right now and a little bit run
down, but we'll be adding a new exterior to our space. It's a real good fit. It works well with
the drive-thru that's there, the configuration that we now have, and the ACME. It's a good
co-tenancy, folks go to the ACME, or they'll come to the Dunkin' Donuts, and then they'll go to the
ACME, and the community very well received that. So I think with that, I will, you know, if the
board has any additional questions, I can have one of our other representatives answer those
questions. Why don't you bring your client on? Yeah, sure, sure. Mike Baum or Bill DiPrenzio,
are you are you still out there
Mike Baum has been allowed to speak
sir could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer
yes sir
my first name is Michael last name is
Baum B-A-H-M
as in Michael
you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth
yes sir please proceed counsel
thank Mr. Baum can you can you provide
capacity that you
with the RAL Group, the proposed tenant here? Yes, sir. I'm the Vice President of Operations.
Okay. And as I briefly mentioned, the RAL Group, among other enterprises, owns and operates a
number of Dunkin' Donuts in the Philadelphia area and in the suburban areas, correct?
Yes, sir. Great. And you heard my testimony, correct?
Yes. Is it true and accurate?
Yes. And do you adopt it as your own?
Is there anything further you would add?
I know this has been a long process, but I know you're excited to get in there and to open up this new location.
Is there anything further that you wanted to offer to the board today?
Only that, you know, yes, it has been a long process.
But I think, I mean, we did work with both the community and the city to, you know, come up with this new design, which, you know, does take off a considerable amount of the building.
but I think gives a lot better drive-through in general.
And so I think it'll function a lot better.
It'll be better for the community.
It'll be safer for sure
than what we were initially proposing.
So yeah, I appreciate everyone's time and thoughts on this.
I know that includes the Civic Group
who was very helpful working with us.
Most definitely.
Great.
I have nothing further from Mr. Blum.
We also have our project engineer,
but i don't think that's necessary right so questions from the board no mr chairman no
chair questions or comments from uh hillary emerson our attorney um only to note that
there is an amended refusal mr chair i see it yep correct and uh questions or comments from
the virtual audience um yes chair i have a hand up from lee horn i have allowed them to speak
hi could you state your name please and spell for the court stenographer
lee l-e-e horn h-o-r-n-e right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth i do sir please proceed i am the zoning chairman for ron hearth civic
association thank you you're welcome sir uh i'll and i'll make this direct to the point in short
um the we orchestrated a meeting between the community and the representatives of this project
on 10 19 23 you are in receipt of our notice of meeting and letter of the same date the even though
the meeting was held before the approval of the new plan the meeting was held based on the plan
that is currently on your screen.
That would be the Bowler Engineering Concept Plan B, Revision 2, dated 8-31-23.
That would be the Bowler Engineering Concept Plan B,
Revision 2.
The neighbors are very pleased with the two-lane drive-through to the menu board
and then one lane through pickup window, keeping many cars out of the parking lot.
The landscaping separating the drive-through from the sidewalk keeps people safe
as they walk up and down the sidewalk.
There's no interference from automobiles and pedestrians.
This plan is cutting off access from Hofnagel Street to the back of the building
as you have to enter the normal parking lot to use the drive-through.
The plans that were submitted for the exterior of the building are very pleasant to look at.
This is not going to be an ugly building. It'll be an attractive building.
Everything that was done is in consideration of the neighbors and the shopping mall as it exists.
We and neighbors and the people of Ron Hurst stand for this project.
And we hope that you will give consideration to approve this project. That is all I have.
Mr. Horn, thank you for your testimony.
Thank you for the work you've done to get to this point.
Is there anyone else in the community?
They kept this going.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
Yes, Chris Lebovitz.
With their hand raised, I have allowed them to speak.
Isar, could you state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
do we see his hand
i mean he's about to speak uh chris okay yes uh yes my name is hold on hold on could you state
your name is spelled for the court stenographer chris labovitz chris l-a-b-o-v-i-t-z right do
you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes i do
So my hand was raised and I left a question.
It's for a hearing that's coming up at three 30.
So I apologize.
Thank you.
But, but that's okay.
Thank you for, thank you for being here.
We appreciate it.
Sorry about that.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
I'm no, no other hands, Mr. Chair.
My planning commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman.
And good evening, David.
With the city planning commission chair and board members,
the comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning at this location from
commercial mixed use one to commercial mixed use two. The proposed uses drive-thru and a takeout
restaurant are what a reasonable person would expect to find in a shopping center. The City
Planning Commission recommends the board grant their proposed use variances for a takeout
restaurant and a drive-thru. Thank you. So MI 2023-003-746-8200-22 East Roosevelt Boulevard,
I vote yes with proviso per amended refusal dated 1-24-24.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with provisos.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with provisos.
Thank you, counsel. You have your votes.
Thank you. Be well, everyone.
Is there anyone in the audience who had a 2 p.m. case that has not been called?
I do not see any answer, Mr. Chair.
Okay, so we're going to take a five-minute break.
We'll come back and we'll finish the 330 list.
Thank you, everyone.
Thank you, Chair.
We're ready.
Good afternoon, everyone.
My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this afternoon's 330 ZBA list.
With me is our Vice Chair, Ismail Shahid.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Or board member Thomas Holliman.
Thomas.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
And we also have an auditor board member with us,
Emily Persico of the Division of Development Services.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you.
Present also is Hillary Emerson, our attorney,
and our executive director, Tanya Sunken.
here's our virtual format be advised the proceedings are being recorded a video will
be available by contacting tanya sunkett at phil.gov for the benefit of our court stenographer
we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying
if you're participating by phone you wish to testify press star nine to raise your hand
If you're participating by phone and you wish to testify, press star 9 to raise your hand and star 6 to unmute.
To enter the appearance statement, call 267-270-5548.
Leave your email and the address of the property in question.
And finally, the question and answer box on the screen is not for comments or testimony.
All comments should be directed to our Executive Director, Tanya Sunken.
Let's look at our schedule for this afternoon.
Number one, MI 2023-005-886-2749 Tremont Street.
That case is continued.
Number two.
Wait a minute here.
Number two.
Wait a minute.
No, number three.
Number three, yeah.
MI 2023-005-909-2119 Oxford Street, that case is continued. Number four, MI 2023-005-894-2300
South 3rd Street. That case is continued. And number eight, MI 2023-005-911-4601
Springfield Avenue. That case is continued. Are there any other requests for continuances?
good afternoon mr chair this is jason and i will be your um co-host for this evening
thank you i do not see any hands raised at this time i have two cases we do not have exhibits
So MI 2023-001-074-2637 South Carlisle Street, Exend Zal is the listed applicant, and the construction company 1206 ZL Construction is the listed owner.
This is the second listing.
We have no exhibits.
Is there anyone in the audience for this?
mr chair i have a arena arena bugeva with their hand raised i have allowed them to speak
okay i believe i believe um irena is here for another case on the list not for this one okay
is there anyone from for 2637 south carlisle street
no hands at this time sir thank you so mi20 23 001 074 2637 south carlisle street
this is the second listing we have no exhibits no one appeared the first time i wrote to i vote
to dismiss thomas holloman my vote is to dismiss jishman shaheed my vote is to dismiss thank you
Number nine, MI 2023-006-161-4012 Wells Street.
Stacey Thompson is the owner applicant, pro se.
No exhibits.
This is the first listing.
Mr. Chair, I have a Jen Isdell with her hand raised.
I will allow them to speak.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court's sonographer?
Hi, my name is Jennifer, J-E-N-N-I-F-E-R, Isdell, I-S-D-E-L-L.
Right.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Are you involved in this case at 4012 Wall Street?
are you the owner no i'm a neighbor okay and you're here to testify uh yes okay so i have to
get i have to see if they're available first the owner i'm i'm i'm gonna call again stacy thompson
of 4012
Wells Street.
No hands, Mr. Chair.
So, MI
2023-006-161
Wells Street. This is the first listing.
This case will be continued,
but is marked, must be
heard the next time.
We're going to go to our list, and we're going to start with number six, to pro se.
excuse me chair we do have one hand raised okay
Excuse me, Chair.
We do have one hand raised.
that is from the the rco uh the rco chair so i mean for thompson street for well no for well
yeah chris did you have a question related to well street yes i did my name is chris labovitz
I was on earlier, C-H-R-A-S, L-A-B-O-V-I-T-Z.
I am from the Tacony Civic.
We did have a meeting with the owner of the property.
They kind of jumped out of the meeting towards the end when we had a high percentage of neighbors on our Zoom meeting that were in opposition.
And I just wanted to get that for the record, because I know that this is I know people been on here since, you know, three for a couple of hours.
I just want to make sure we get registered as an opposition.
Chris, thank you. And as you heard, we continue that.
But Mark must be heard the next time.
I just wanted to make sure that our paperwork was in there.
That's all. Thank you very much. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you. OK, so we're going to go to number six.
MI-2023-005-895-427-North Forty Street.
Van Vo and Vu Lee are the owner applicants.
The application is for use as a visitor accommodation in existing structure.
Letter of support from the West Palatin Saunders Park RCO with a proviso for a temporary variance.
Vu or Lee?
Vu Lee.
We'll join the panelists soon.
Hi, Mr. Chairman.
Hi, how are you?
Could you state your name and spell, please, for the court stenographer?
Yes, my name is Vule, spelled V-U-L-E.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
And you're the owner of this property of 427?
Yes, sir, I do.
This application is for a visitor accommodation in an existing structure.
The proposed use visitor accommodation is prohibited in the RM1 zoning district.
Our vice chair has just a few questions for you, sir.
Good afternoon, sir.
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed and required to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
sir i uh i did not uh email five days uh in advance uh i would like to request a special
consideration due to hospitalizations understood is everything in as of now yes okay um please
proceed and share yours thank you thank you mr chairman um first i would like to show that uh
all the exhibits have been now submitted he's the uh scroll to very quickly these are all
standard forms i don't have to yeah yeah we have all them oh okay so i'm gonna close that one no
so i'm gonna uh i would like to start my presentation
so thank you again mr chairman and the zba for allowing us an opportunity to present our
proposal my name is vu le my wife and i own this property since 2016. at that time our family just
moved here from Boston and we decided to put together our life savings to purchase this home
so it can be close to my work. My wife just had a second baby so we needed a supplemental income
to support our family and that's when we came across the idea of Airbnb. So today I would like
to share with you how we have operated our short-term rentals in the past seven years and
hope that the ZBA and the city will give us positive consideration. Since we were new to
Airbnb and my son was just in the kindergarten as a young family, we wanted to be safe and
selective of whom we would welcome into our home. In our listing description, we do not
shy away from emphasizing that our place is preferentially offered to those who are young,
professional and in medical field or academic field traveling for conferences or related
purposes and by doing so we have essentially turned away the bad apples who were just looking
for a cheap place to crash cause disturbance to the neighborhood and this has been our core business
cause disturbance to the neighborhood. And this has been our core business model since 2016.
Later on, I'm going to share with you our services and amenities in details, but let me first show
you whom we have served in the past seven years. So we're located right here near the corner
of 40th and Spring Garden. So we're just about five minutes walk away from Presbyterian Hospital,
10-15 minutes walk from Drexel, 30 minutes walk from U-Pen, Penn Medicine, and the Children's Hospital.
Many of our guests come for academic reasons, such as lab visits, attending conferences, attending classes.
But the majority of our customers are in the medical field.
They are doctors and nurses working night shift at the hospital.
Also, the medical students who come to Philadelphia to take one of their most important wardens.
certified exams, which happen to take place close to the neighborhood.
So as I have touched briefly in the introduction, we advertised that our place is for guests
traveling for professional and academic purposes only, and that we constantly strive to serve
these core needs. Please note that these rooms are not the typical glamorous staycation Airbnb
and B, where people come to host loud parties, plus musics are having a large gathering causing
the neighbors to have been called police due to noise violations. In contrast, our professional
guests are only here for meetings, to study for exams, and they need a really quiet place.
Our guests mainly utilize public transportations, and therefore they do not contribute to the issue
of locking packing space in a neighborhood.
Additionally, my guests do not typically have the time to go to the supermarket
to buy groceries or cook meals.
In fact, they would much rather enjoy dining out at a local restaurant,
and therefore we produce very little trash after they depart from our place.
So those are some of the concerns that the neighborhood, the local RCL had,
And now we are in full support of them because I have addressed these issues.
But besides being a homeowner, my day job as a scientist, I wanted to make my home not only comfortable to our guests, but also an environmental and eco-friendly place.
For example, we utilize a technology to monitor and prevent water leak.
In 2019, a colleague introduced us to a solarized filling program.
We have invested in solar panels on the roof, and these are our commitments to sustainable
living.
We also use high-quality linens that can last longer to minimize waste and emit from materials
that are faster to dry.
We also use high-efficiency laundry detergent to help cut down all the water and energy
usage for laundry.
And most recently, we replaced our water heater with a tankless water heater, which
only heat up the water on demand, which essentially cut down as much as 20% natural gas used for
heating up water.
Some of these improvements actually have been suggested by our former customers who use
science, engineering, technology in their daily works.
So here I want to very quickly, for the interest of time, to share with you a few testimonials from former guests.
These have already been published on Airbnb, so I have their permission to share.
Dr. Eric is a pediatrician, and he stayed with us for many months during COVID-19 as he was helping a startup clinic nearby with their trainings.
And because he worked in the pediatric respiratory field, he was actually the one that suggested to us to install an indoor air quality monitoring system for the health benefits of our guests.
Laurie is a nurse working night shift at HOP, and she stayed with us regularly.
Because of her work schedule, she really liked our place because we implement the quiet hours.
Katya and Nawaloc, they are medical students who came to our place to prepare for board exams.
And since they are four medical graduates, they come earlier to get acclimat,
get used to the weather at a time, and they met each other and they do last-minute preparation for the board exam at my place.
We are proud to have served this community since 2016.
We continue to foster communication with them even after they have left out.
We continue to foster communication with them even after they have left our place.
They usually share their experience with either their friends and colleagues,
and so we mainly get new customers by word of mouth.
Please take note that these medical graduates will go on to be board certified
and coming back to the region and even to the local hospital to serve as our medical providers.
If you ever recently tried to make a doctor appointment, you would often be frustrated for having to wait a week or two before there's an opening.
And this is because the U.S. has been experiencing a physician shortage for the past 10, 15 years, and the latest estimate number is about 40,000 physician shortage.
And this number will quite triple in the next 10 years.
These gaps can only be filled by bringing in foreign medical graduates
and who have been very well trained and already practicing in their home country.
We have proudly served over 10,000 accommodations to these medical graduates.
And we believe that we play a small part in helping the U.S. alleviate.
this position shortage in the coming years so in the end i would like to thank mr chairman
the zba board and the city uh for allowing me an opportunity to present i'm happy to answer
any questions that you may have my understanding is the west palton saunders park rco has agreed
to this and they recommended a two-year proviso temporary am i right yes sir okay thank you and
you agree to that yes okay questions from the board no mr chairman no chair
questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson
not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
i do not see any hands mr chair planning commission this is uh ron bednar city planning
first name Ron, R-O-N, last name Bednar, B-E-D-N-A-R. Do you swear or affirm to tell the
truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth, sir? I do. Please proceed. This property is
indicated for residential use on the city plan or adopted district plan, recommends no change to
existing zoning at this location. There's no unique physical circumstances or condition of
the property that would prevent it from being used in conformity with the zoning code. The city
Planning Commission recommends that the board deny the proposed use variance for visitor accommodation.
Thank you.
MI 2023-005895, 427 North Forty Street, I vote yes with proviso.
Temporary two-year variance expires 3626.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with the proviso.
Ishmael Shahid, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thank you, sir. You have your votes.
Thank you, sir.
Okay. Number 10, MI 2023-005-904-2200 Madison Square.
Irina Bugava is the owner applicant.
There's a letter of support from South of South Neighborhood Association, SOZNA, with proviso for a three-year temporary variance.
The application is for visitor accommodation in an existing structure.
The proposed use of visitor accommodation is prohibited in the RSA 5 zoning district.
Irina.
They'll be rejoining as a panelist shortly.
Thank you.
Hello?
Could you state your name for us and spell it for the court stenographer?
Hi, my name is Irina Bugayva, I-R-I-N-A-B-O-U-G-A-E-V-A.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
And our vice chair has a few questions for you.
Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading or to refuse or stipulate to its accuracy?
oh excuse me um have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibited
to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing i did and i sent in three emails and
for some reason the third email with all the documents did not make it so i i uh send it in
today this afternoon or morning late morning afternoon so you have everything all the documents
that you're required. Okay. Thank you. Please share your screen. You can proceed.
okay thank you please share your screen you can proceed
oh hello hi arena so what you have to do now is you have to put your documents up on the screen
um so um yes um
um so um these are my documents okay let's see
you will need that green share button at the bottom of your screen yes i'm choosing the
documents that because i'm i'm i'm getting the documents from my um okay um from
i'm sorry no no no it's here you you're up now you're up okay can you see can you see what i
see it is your house the tan colored house yes yes sir yeah i see the tan color house
and i see you have it posted in the window yes yes let's see that's it okay yep yep
all the postages uh on both streets on medicine and 22nd because my house is the end unit uh it
it um ends to the 22nd street yeah and this is the house and uh this is pretty much the story
of me filing for the zoning permits yep um this is the fee that i paid this is the application
for the appeal right we have it all oh okay we have it all but you you keep going okay and uh
so this is the refusal note and this is the project form that i submitted and this is the
certificate of tax clearance and then uh this is the sosna rco notice um this is revived proviso
plan form. And this is the meeting. And this is it. Well, this is the SOSNA result of the
meeting with SOSNA. Let me see the vote. Okay. Yep. Okay. Okay. I think this is it. Yes.
Yep. Okay. Thank you. I'm sorry. I'm a little bit nervous. No, no, no, no. It's okay.
Well, listen to me a minute.
So I guess the question would be, you should probably tell us the people that rent from you, right?
I mean, and how do you make sure that there's not parties and things like that?
So in my house rule, it states very clearly, I can upload that screenshot of my house rules.
It states very clearly that my house can be used.
There are no parties.
I'm looking for that.
Okay, so absolutely no parties.
My house cannot be used for any kind of a party.
If I receive a disturbance call from my neighbors about loud noise, you will be immediately evicted.
That's stated in my house rules.
And I just want to say something.
when I just started doing this property eight years ago I started doing it because I thought
it was such a cool thing to host people from all over the world in Philadelphia you know they were
asking where to go what to eat what to see and I would I would tell them that you know I would
drag off about my city and so but then it's changed and I started catering more to people
to families and especially to families that have kids that would have to go to CHOP and sometimes
I would have people staying there for months at the time like you know like somebody a pregnant
woman who needed to operate on her newborn right after it was born and it would take a long time
so it kind of changed for me so I started gathering more to families and families with
kids that need help at the job but it's you know it's very rewarding in a different way i would say
that all right so yeah no no parties of any kind i always um ask people i always make sure how many
people are there i ask questions if i and i turn people down uh sometimes because sometimes they
try to and i say no i'm sorry you know i ask questions how many years have you been doing this
eight years okay all right and you've never had problems no i don't have any police reports of
any kind and i uh have my immediate neighbors numbers the information we communicate we
communicate all the time so they know that if there is anything they can send me text or call
can send me text or call me any time of a day or night and that hasn't happened thank goodness
me any time of a day or night and that hasn't happened
Thank you.
right so so let's uh questions from the board no mr chairman no chair questions from our attorney
hillary emerson not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
i do not see any hands at this time sir planning commission this is ron bednar city planning
properties indicated for residential use on the city plan our adopted district plan recommends
no change in existing zoning at this location there's no unique physical circumstances or
condition of this property that would prevent it from being used conformity with the zoning code
The City Planning Commission recommends that the board denied the proposed use variance for visitor accommodations.
MI 2023-005-904-2200 Madison Square, I vote yes for a temporary variance that expires 3-6-27.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thank you.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes, we'll provide them.
You have your votes.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Number two, MI 2023-005-887, 1818 North 54th Street.
Tameka McCoy is the attorney.
A letter of opposition from the Winfield Residents Association is attached.
Applicant provided several letters of support from individuals and organizations.
They'll be rejoining as a panel.
Could you say your name, please, and spell it for the courts tonight?
Of course, Tameka McCoy, MC, capital K-O-Y, hearing on behalf of Ms. Zakiya Marson, on behalf of Seed Growth Nonprofit.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, told truth, and nothing but the truth?
And our vice chair has a few questions.
Good evening, counsel. Do you agree to weigh the reason for the refusal or stipulate truth accuracy?
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?
Thank you. You may proceed. I see you have already shared your screen.
Thank you. In the interest of time, I'll try to be as succinct as possible, but cover all the necessary bases.
This is an application essentially for a special exception for 1818 North 54th Street, which is in the Winfield section of Philadelphia.
Enclosed with the comprehensive plan is the application, a copy of the deed, a copy of the advocate.
you're not you your screen's not moving you're still on this special exception
yes that's my computer it's okay it's okay um the the deed the tax clearance certificate is
also attached i'm trying to go directly to the document so that i don't have to uh belabor you
with the unnecessarily scrolling but for some reason okay here we go what we're looking at is
the deed i don't know why okay at any rate um the tax clearance certificate we notified um
the area residents i believe there was a uh total of 102 affected and impacted neighbors
who had been notified by mailing copies and proof of those mailings have also been attached.
Separate and apart from the items that had been previously produced, we had also submitted
interior photos. And I'm going to go directly to the actual unit. Perhaps if I refresh.
I'm just going to stop the share and then go back and hope that it all
Okay, sure.
You're on the photos, right?
You're on the photos, right?
Correct.
Correct.
Let's just manually go through.
What you see here are the notices that went out.
We have the neighbors.
We have the notice and the referral and essentially the photograph.
This is a three-story residential structure.
There's no contemplated construction that would go on on the structure.
What's happening, Your Honor, is a proposal to use the premises essentially to aid and assist teenage and young mothers expecting to be who need specialized medical attention in helping bring their children into the world in a safe, healthy, healthy and stable environment.
The nonprofit essentially is geared to having nurses, doulas, and other professionals actually on the premises 24 hours a day.
There was some resistance with regard to the RCO because I believe there was a lack of proper communication.
and I'll accept responsibility for the misguidance in terms of information
that should have probably been communicated a little more clearer.
I believe they were left with the impression that they would have to monitor the residents.
That's not the case.
This is a scenario where you have sometimes teenage girls, 17 years old,
who get pregnant and then essentially are not welcomed back into their household once
they are discharged from the hospital but have nowhere to really go with their infant
babies.
And so this is a solution to that problem.
And it is an extensive problem to such extent that local council member Kathleen Gilmore
actually funded a similar project with the support of the city of Philadelphia.
because there's such a need for the stopgap.
What you have, Your Honor, is a scenario where you have children who have children.
We did provide nine letters of support.
And the nine letters of support, I'm going to go a little bit out of order,
kind of takes into consideration Dr. Hawthorne of Lankanaw Heart Group,
who is a cardiologist who spoke to the utility and benefit this program would provide.
and more important. Could you move the letters over? Sure. So we can see it. You might have to
go through the screen, right? Yes, I think so. Yeah. Okay. Yep.
So this is a letter from Dr. Hawthorne from the Lankanell Heart Group, who is excited to work
with Ms. Marson concerning this project.
How this project came to be was Ms. Marson herself
had been hospitalized with myocardial infraction
during the course of her pregnancy.
She needed specialized medical care
and it was her experience in going through this
and wanting to essentially dedicate herself
to helping young women who also have those kinds of issues.
She has been a nurse, a registered nurse
with the Children's Hospital, University of Pennsylvania, and also with the School District
of Philadelphia. One of the doctors who provided a letter of support from the School District of
Philadelphia is a Dr. Brewer, who in her letter talked of her mother and that experience where
She, as a teen, was pregnant with Dr. Brewer, and it was because of a home similar to this, a safe space that enabled for her to essentially be born, raised, and help her mother learn the tools that she needed to provide the care that was needed to her infant child.
And so this is the service that Ms. Marsden intends to provide to other youths within that risk area where they're actually an adult, but don't have the skills or ability to be able to fend for themselves.
And what we don't want is for them to just wander out on the streets.
And so, as I said, city council just funded a similar program because of the beneficial nature of this program.
And I don't think that the RCO members got the gist of the actual program itself.
It is a program that's monitored by the state of Pennsylvania.
There is 24-hour care on site, so there will be either a nurse or a doula.
care on site. So there will be either a nurse or a doula on site. We did provide interior
photographs of the premises. It's located on a commercial corridor. This is looking directly
across the street from the residence. This is the frontal view of the residence.
This will be looking to the left of the residence and a photograph depicting the view from the right of the residence.
There is an auto repair shop and another medical facility across the street from the home.
As I said, there's no construction or modification in terms of renovations that's contemplated because it's a three-bedroom home.
and here we have the site plans that show three bedrooms where we would basically service up to
three women. Each of them will occupy their own bedroom with their child. There's a common living
space in the living room, dining room, kitchen, and also a parlor area. The medical personnel
that's on site would essentially be on premises. There is contemplated for there to be three shifts
at eight hours a day, and so there will be no time where there isn't a medical professional
on site. The property is also situated in such a way where there's a basement and a garage
also attached as part of the structure, and so there's no additional trash that would impact
any of the other neighbors. There's no expectation that the mothers, once they give birth, would be
up and down the street. They are going to be in a medically sensitive kind of situation. Some of
them bedridden. The person who is the principal, Ms. Marson herself, was able to bring her baby
into this world, as I said, eight years ago, experiencing cardiac issues during the course
of her pregnancy, also a young mother, but still having the support of the community to be able to
help her. And that's the service that she wants to provide. This is Ms. Marcin together with her
young child that she was able to bring into this world with the help of Dr. Parkland,
who submitted one of the supporting letters for Seed Growth Nonprofit. As I said, there were nine
letters of support, but there was some misguidance in terms of the actual purpose of the nonprofit
and the people that it would serve.
As I said, it's going to be monitored by the state of Pennsylvania.
There would be requirements.
All the nurses are state board certified.
Those certifications would have to be maintained on the premises as well.
With that, I would like to present Ms. Morrison to adopt the testimony that has been provided today.
Ms. Morrison?
They've been allowed to speak.
Hi, Ms. Morrison, could you state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Hi, yes.
My name is Zakiya Morrison, the Z as in zebra, A-K-I-Y-Y-A-H, last name Morrison, M-O-R-R-I-S-O-N.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Please proceed, counsel.
Ms. Morrison, did you hear the testimony that has been provided on your behalf today?
Yes, I did.
Do they accurately reflect what it is that you are contemplating with the Seed Growth
Nonprofit?
Yes, it does.
Do you adopt the statements that have been made as if you had made it to yourself?
Yes, I have.
And it is my understanding that you are a trained nurse?
I've been a registered nurse for going on 23 years in May.
I have no further questions, Your Honor.
I'd submit for your consideration.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Chair.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Yes, Mr. Chair, I have a Crystal Morris with my hand raised.
I've allowed them to speak.
Hi, could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Yes, my first name is Crystal, C-R-Y-S-T-A-L.
last name Morris
M-O-R-R-I-S
You swear or affirm to tell the truth
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
the whole truth and nothing but the truth
Yes, I do.
Yes I do
Are you a neighbor?
I am the RCO lead.
Please proceed.
Yes, just as a point of correction, we did understand exactly what was presented.
And what was presented today is what was presented to us during our RCO meeting.
And that is the thing that we voted against because the neighbors decided that that was not something that they were interested in having.
There are commercial things on the block.
There is an auto repair place, and there is a senior center, also housing directly across
the street.
But the near neighbors, there aren't a lot of houses on the street, but each of those
neighbors expressed that they did not want this in their community.
Now, we understand that Ms. Morrison is trying to do a wonderful thing.
And there were no arguments about the thing that she's trying to do to help the moms.
But the challenge was we have many people in our community who work in the social services field.
And hearing the presentation, they were concerned that she's not ready for an endeavor like this, especially since it's something where she would be trying to manage it off-site while she's continuing to work her full-time job.
which means the neighbors would be engaging with caregivers, albeit 24 hours. Those people would
be hired staff. There's no guarantee that folks come in when they're supposed to or behave the
way they're supposed to. And this is essentially a commercial operation that's being put in the
middle of a residential block. And I may say a modest three bedroom row. These are not, it's not
a large home. It's a modest row home. And so with the information that we were presented and the
questions that we asked, especially surrounding state licensing, state oversight, there were a
lot of things that just weren't clear and that the neighbors did not feel comfortable and felt like
ultimately issues would spill over and become neighbor responsibilities. And what we have found
in our communities is that people mean well when they come in and they rent this or they try to
run that. But at the end of the day, it is the community members who end up bearing the burden
when things don't go as planned. And so these near neighbors, I think some of them are also
on the line with me as well have voted that this is not something that they want on their block
and we strongly believe that the tax-paying neighbors who live adjacent to this property
their voice should be the one that's the loudest heard not the not the letters of recommendation
from folks who don't even live in Winfield so I understand that uh they are in support of
of her endeavor but we don't think that those letters should supersede the desires of the
neighbors who live on the block with miss morrison's endeavor um thank you very much
for your call we appreciate it uh is there anyone else in the virtual audience
yes mr chair uh gloria lawrence i would like to speak hi could you state your name and spell
please for the court stenographer hello yes my name is gloria lawrence g-l-o-r-i-a lawrence
l-a-w-r-e-n is nancy c do you swear a firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but
the truth? I do. Are you a neighbor? I am not. Okay, please proceed. Yes, thank you. I'm the
executive director of Essie's House of Hope. So Seed Growth has been working with us for the past
year to duplicate the programming that we're currently offering here in Baltimore, Maryland
for our young mothers. And we are very excited to see the impact that it will make on the community.
Our home is also, and I do want to note that we had the same concerns when we first opened up,
Of course, our home is on a very quiet block and we actually it's much quieter than that one.
And we have many retired homeowners.
So, of course, there was the concerns of having a younger audience come into the home and not quite sure what the support was going to look like.
But we have had the ability to make an amazing impact on the community.
So, of course, the girls are busy.
So, of course, the girls are busy. They're working, they're attending school, and they're participating in personal development workshops, so they don't have a ton of socialization time.
They're working, they're attending school and they're participating.
But amidst their busy schedules, they actually did have time to connect with the neighbors, and they were able to foster relationships.
They've been able to have porch chats, playful interactions with the children, which the neighbors have actually appreciated, just like they were their own grandchildren.
So we were able to create a tapestry of support, which was actually beneficial for the community.
And it brought some light and light to the community.
I do urge everyone to remember that if we do desire change, it does have to start somewhere.
And I believe that we should all be working together to dismantle the barriers for women with children, fostering an environment where we can reduce adverse childhood experiences and then foster seeds for leadership.
So I just wanted to say thank you, Kia, for being a liaison to the change in the community that you are located in and you so deeply.
And we all both know that these young women do deserve.
Thank you for your call and taking the time. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
Jason?
Yes, sir. I have Sandra Franks with her hand raised.
I have allowed them to speak at this time.
How many more hands do you have, Jason?
Just that one.
Okay, thank you very much.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Sandra Franks, please unmute.
Sandra Franks?
they may be having technical difficulties okay thank you is there anyone else in the audience
no sir no further hands planning commission sir ron bednar city planning city planning
commission has no objection to a time condition temporary variance thank you um
counsel yes so here's what i'm going to do when i want to have testimony like we've had
i really like an opportunity to talk to the other board members in an executive session
we're going to vote on this next wednesday at 2 p.m okay yes all right thank you very much
for your presentation thank you very much for your time and very much appreciate it sure um
Um, number seven, MI 2024, 000782-2851, Bodine, Bodine Street.
Jennifer Bazzillo is the, um, attorney.
Um, this is a rehearing.
letter of support from impact cdc letter of non-opposition from council member lozada
an applicant also provided uh form letters of support from neighbors um
council um you just state your name because you were sworn sometime a long time ago today so
Yes, Jennifer Pazidlow, B-A-Z-Y-D-L-O.
All right.
Could you identify your client, the relationship to the property?
My clients are Angela and Michael Bucci, who are the property owners.
Our vice chair has just a few questions.
Good evening, counsel.
Do you agree to read no to refuse to or stipulate to his accuracy?
getting late. 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 did. Thank you. Please proceed
and share your screen. Great. Here we go. All right. Let me just move this over here.
So, like I said, my name is Jennifer Bezidlow. I'm here today on behalf of the property owners,
Angela and Michael um I've submitted uh exhibits uh which are we'll go through some of them come
back to some of them but we have the refusal uh the only refusal is for two family household living
in an RSA 5 district um here's showing the deed for the property uh the the
Bucci's did buy this property at sheriff sale in 2018
property taxes are paid we have a letter of support from impact services like we mentioned
we also got 47 letters of support from neighbors all of
We also got 47 letters of support from neighbors, all of who were in the notification radius.
So and this is a list. This includes the block captain on the block, the pastor of the church on the block, as well as the block captain of the adjacent property.
But these are all the letters that were submitted. There's 47 of them in total.
so we're just going to go through there
these are the letters that were sent out
we have a zoning map of the current zoning map
showing where we are that's RSA 5
we'll come back to this
we'll also come back to the aerial views of the property
and we'll come back to the relevant portions of Philadelphia 2035 plans
uh and this is a map of uh vacancy around our property both empty lots and empty buildings
we'll come back to that there's our posting um for the hearing closer up this is our property
right here and i'm actually going to stop here because i think this is a good part to go in we
did submit the floor plans and we'll get to that as well um but so 2851 budenot street it's an
existing two-story building on about a 973 square foot lot uh this property is located about a block
and a half uh from the somerset l station in kensington um as i mentioned uh this property
was purchased at sheriff sale um in 2018 and at the time of purchase it was already divided into
two units um there was a door right here when it was purchased so there was a door to the upstairs
unit and then this is the door to the lower unit um you can also see that well this is the bathroom
in the lower unit hold on let me just scroll through we'll come back to these photos but um
there was two water heaters present uh and there was also two uh electrical panels one downstairs
and one actually embedded in the wall and covered with uh uh sheetrock upstairs that they had to
uncover and replace um so our proposal is to fully rent these are just the surrounding area
um so the proposal is to fully renovate the property um inside and out uh to and use them
use as a two-family dwelling this is a rendering of the facade once it's all done
And each unit will be one bedroom, one bath units.
There'll be nice units with central air, in-unit washer and dryers, and really nice accommodations.
The upstairs unit has already been renovated, so I can give you a kind of glimpse of what this is going to be.
So we got a really nice unit here with a new kitchen.
This is the living area up towards the front of the property.
You can see the in-unit washer and dryer.
And we have a nice-sized bedroom in the back.
As you can see, all modern fixtures, all nice.
And these are going to be offered at a price point that's accessible to the existing community.
They're looking for tenants of, you know, maybe especially for the first floor unit,
Maybe someone who's older who can't walk up down their steps anymore or something like that, or maybe just a young couple starting off.
So I just want to go over a little bit of the history of this property to get to where we are today.
So when the Bucci's purchased this property at Sheriff's Sale in February of 2018, this property was zoned RM1.
And so it would have been, it was large enough to be a duplex by right.
However, as you know, when you purchase a sheriff's sale for tax sale, the prior owner has nine months to reclaim the property.
So they waited nine months before they started any work in pulling permits.
And unfortunately, during that time, in June of 2018, this property was remapped to RSA 5.
So once they had waited out the period of time, they had bought an RM1 property from sheriff's sale, divided as two units.
when they waited the the statutory amount of time for the person for the prior owner to reclaim
we no longer had an arm one property um so this was only something that they discovered the zoning
change when they went to go apply for their permits that they thought was going to be
by right and no longer was um i will note that they did apply for a zoning variance back in 2019
um and they were denied at that time for a duplex i do firmly believe uh it's because they did not
have appropriate assistance of counsel given the state of the property and the fact that even then
they had went to the neighbors and garnered 48 letters of support from the near neighbors.
So they did take a moment to reconsider their options
And concluded that the only thing that made financial sense was to use this as a, they couldn't, given the economic conditions of the area, this was not a project that could be converted to a single family unit and the renovations done in any sort of economic way.
and concluded that the only thing that made financial sense was to use this as a they couldn't
So they reapplied in 2022. So you might ask, why are we here in 2024? Why was there rehearing? There was a significant family medical issue that took them out of state for some intervening times.
everyone is okay. I have been retained to help. And that's why we're here today. So I just wanted
to talk a little bit about Angela and Michael right now. They are experienced landlords and
responsible property owners. They own five other properties in the city, some of which are also
multi-units. And I think the best testament I can give to them being responsible landlords is that
they have two tenants who have been in their property for over 15 years. So they are responsible
landlords who look for long-term good tenants to, you know, bolster the community and not to
have any sort of detrimental impact. So prior to the meeting with Impact Services, like I mentioned,
Angela actually went and walked door to door to try to talk to all of the
notified properties and came up with those 47 letters of support. It's worth noting,
and I have over here, 66 of my letters were returned for vacant properties. That's about
39% of the properties within the notification radius are currently vacant, either properties
or land. So there's a significant vacancy issue here. So we did do the outreach. We got lots of
letter support, including 13 on this block of Boudinot Street. And like I said, including
block captains, pastors, that sort of thing. So we went to the RCO. We met with them as well.
They gave us a letter of support. And I just got the letter of non-opposition from the council
woman's office this afternoon as well. So we have that. I did want to just mention a couple of other
things. And this is largely about the existing conditions of the property. So let me just go
back here. As you can see from this aerial view, this is just part of this block. There is a massive
vacancy problem, both of land and of unoccupied buildings in this area. In fact, on this block,
there's 51, on the 2800 block of Boudinat, there's 51 properties, and only about 27 of them are
currently occupied and used as, and only 25 of those are single-family homes, two of them,
one of them is a church, one of them is a commercial property. So we have, again, a really
large vacancy, and when you expand that to the notification address, we look around a little bit
further, we have like, we have about 39% vacancy, which is even higher than for other areas in this
district, which is about 16%. So why this is important, we go back to the issues with the
remapping. Oh, let me just show you the vacancy again. And this was a helpful map that my client
put together orange being empty lots uh purpley pink being vacant built existing structures but
that are collapsing uh because they are vacant and deteriorating um so why this is relevant to
this argument is that um when this property this property was remapped as part of the 2030
2035 remapping process. And this is for the North District. And the North District plan
specifically identifies that vacancy and deteriorating housing stocks are a big
issue here. And so we're trying to address that in our own little way with one property.
We are, this property is located right here in this triangle labeled ABC in blue for corrective
zoning. And right here it says existing RM1 lots to RSA 5. And the important thing is the reasoning
behind this, which is to preserve existing single-family housing SOC and maintain
multifamily zoning along bus routes, major arteries, park peripheries, and most importantly,
in areas where there's areas of large concentration of vacant land. And so I would argue that this is
It's not a block that should have been remapped because we are having a massive amount, you know, over about 50 percent on this block and 40 percent in the general area of vacant land.
And this is something by granting this variance, it will allow the building to continue to be renovated, get some nice people into really great, really great rental space at an affordable price, reactivate this property.
really great rental space at an affordable price, reactivate this property. And I think that's why
the neighbors were so supportive of it was because it is something that they know the area needs.
And I also note that since the remapping happened in 2018 on this block, there have been no new
construction single-family homes, nor has there been any major renovations or rehabilitations of
single-family homes, which shows that, you know, which I would argue just kind of shows that this
is not something that's economically viable in the area. So, granted, so, based on the history
of the property, the history of the zoning, and this massive vacancy, and need to renovate the
existing housing stock, as shown in the Philadelphia 2035 plan for the North District, I think that
this is an appropriate variance that is supported by the neighbors.
And with that, I would like to call my client and try to keep this brief because I know
we're running late.
So is Angela...
Which one are you calling?
If Angela is there, that would be great.
Angela DePrivo.
Angela?
Hello?
All right.
Angela, could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Angela DiPrima hyphen Bucci. That is A-N-G-E-L-A-D-I-P-R-I-M-A hyphen B-U-C-C-I.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Angela, did you hear by testimony here today, believe it to be truthful and accurate?
Yes, I do.
And would you adopt it as your own?
Yes, I will.
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Chair.
Questions from our attorney, Hillary Anderson.
Just briefly, Mr. Chair, I just wanted to note for the record for Zidlow, we, based on the board members who voted on this previously, we will just have to hold this for a week for a board member to review the video before we can vote on this.
did not realize that until later today that we had a different forum that had previously made
decisions on this case so just wanted to know thank you that makes sense all right um questions
or comments from the virtual audience i do not see any further hands mr chair my planning commission
this is uh ryan bednar city planning properties indicated for residential use on our city plan the
The area was remapped in our adopted 2035 comprehensive plan to its present zoning at this location.
The applicant's hardship is not supported with unique physical circumstances or condition of that property that would prevent it from being used in conformity with the requirements of the code.
Therefore, we recommend the request of variance on the grant.
So, Hillary, we could do this by next Wednesday, am I correct?
Yes, that's fine. So we'll do this next Wednesday. We'll vote at 2 p.m. after I talk to the other members of the group. Thank you very much for your time. And we'll be back to you next Wednesday. Okay.
Thank you so much. Thank you. Is there anyone in the virtual audience whose case has not been called?
I do not see any hands, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Before we leave, is Emily so on?
i'm here mr chair emily we do appreciate your time i mean
between you baron we we work you pretty hard we appreciate you doing it um thomas i picture you i
thank you for changing your schedule today uh we appreciate having you this afternoon um
and uh look we got a little late but i do appreciate what everybody does and
jason um i could hear you had a little bit of a cold today so i do appreciate you coming to work
and work on the whole day.
So thank you all very much.
Thank you.
We appreciate you here.
Have a good night.
Have a good night, everyone.
Good evening.
Good night, all.