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