questions from our attorney not at this time questions or comments from the virtual audience
there are no hands raised mr chair planning commission amy boyd with the planning commission
the comprehensive plan recommends no change the current rsa3 residential single family zoning at
this location the property has a documented history of commercial use since at least 2007
the planning commission recommends that the board grant their requested variants for personal
services 2026 000 451 401 west alony avenue i vote yes
michael johns my vote is yes cheryl baston my vote is yes tenetta graham my vote is yes ryan mcadams
my vote is yes my vote is yes uh counsel you have your vote thank you thank you thank you
for hanging around so long we appreciate it yes thank you bye bye mi 2026 000 454 4001 ridge avenue
do Richard DeMarco is the attorney
that we were joining as a panel sir
good evening Mr Chairman good evening hi Mr DeMarco could you please state your
name and spell for the stenographer? Yeah, Richard DeMarco, last name D-E-M-A-R-C-O.
Be swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth? Yes, yes. DeMarco,
could you identify your client in relationship to the property? Yeah, the client's called Pave
Rocks Development LLC. Patrick Gibbons is a managing member that's here tonight. Okay,
our vice chair has just a few questions for you. Sure. Good evening. Have you submitted your
documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing? Yes, I have. Okay. And do you waive
the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy? I do. All right. Thank you. You can
share your screen and proceed with your case. Thanks, everybody. All right. Let me even get
this up on the screen. Sorry we're so late, by the way. No, no worries. You guys gave me an email
that gave me the heads up. I appreciate that. So does the client. I'm not billing. So I'm not
billing for three hours. Anyway, Mr. Chairman, we're here for a, it's a use variance, but that's
not the full story. I'm putting the refusal up on the screen. This is an existing structure that was
constructed about 10 years ago with variances granted by this board. It's a mixed use commercial
first floor use and then units above. You see it right here in the note to the ZBA. So this is an
existing commercial space. I'll show you in a minute that the commercial spaces have kind of
shifted, but they have been unable to get a viable tenant for quite a while. So we believe there's
a clear hardship. As you'll hear from Patrick Gibbons, they have rejected multiple uses out of
worry that they were too intense for the neighborhood. So they have found an office use
that will be very low impact it's a state farm office and uh what you'll hear from actually what
mr gibbons will confirm is that a lot of it's online anyway these days they're using apps like
crazy but there will be some some desk and some offices um some you know some office use but it
would have very low impact and uh because there is some parking issues in the neighborhood
We did attend a RCO meeting on Saturday, and the vote was in our favor.
It was a close vote.
I think there was actually a little bit better vote for us.
I saw some more hands than Rose Cooper counted.
Rose Cooper counted but either way we do have support so let me show you some photos and then
But either way, we do have support.
So let me show you.
I can very quickly move to Mr. Gibbons um uh let me get to the good stuff here give me
I'll use this here
against State Farm Office um low impact use hours of operation nine to five so the parking will not
overlap with residents coming to and fro here's a good um front view let me rotate this for you
so just to clarify for the record why the so basically i put the original floor plans in the
exhibits but the the the it used to be that the lobby would be here they move the lobby to here
as i'm indicating to the very right side so the commercial spaces are now together along this
frontage here. This where you see the paper, that's the new State Farm Office. This was a
little while ago, so I have updated photos. Let me show you that so you can see. So here's how
we'll look on the inside. And again, Mr. Chairman, they have turned down other intense uses such as
sandwich shops and restaurants. They were not going to move forward with that with the neighbors
because they work closely with this particular neighborhood group, and they promised that they
would not use an intense use like that so it's basically a state farm um office so let me go
ahead and ask Patrick uh Gibbons to raise his hand and he can accept my testimony all right
sure Mr Gibbons and while he's doing that I'll just put up on the uh so you can see the original
site plan while he's coming on board. There you go. So while he's doing that, Mr. Chairman,
the commercial spaces have been put together and then the lobby moved to the right.
So you with us, Mr. Gibbons? Yes. Yes. Mr. Gibbons, could you please state your name and
spell for the stenographer? Sure. It's Patrick Gibbons, P-A-T-R-I-C-K-G-I-B-B-O-N-S.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth, sir?
I do. Counsel? Mr. Gibbons, did you hear my initial presentation and can you adopt it? Is
it true and accurate? I heard it and yes, it's true and accurate. Okay. And can you adopt it
as your formal testimony in this matter? I do. And can you confirm that you have actually been
attempting to rent this property for almost 10 years and that you've turned down some more intense
uses in order to get a less intense use like the one we're proposing tonight. So it's been about
five or six years. We started building in late 16, early 17, and then around that time.
But the renters came in around the end of 2020 and 2021.
But prior to renting anything out, there was interest, retail interest from the business community, mostly along the lines of cheesesteak shops, delis.
There were even some what they call dark kitchens, which is they really supply food to the like the Uber Eats and DoorDash.
And that would be constant movement of cars in and out of the neighborhood, picking up orders for for people that are ordering them off of those food apps.
So we didn't want to get involved in any of that.
So we felt we didn't find the right the right renter.
That that helped us with revenue, but also consider the unique needs of the neighborhood.
Right. And you've been working closely and you were with Rose Cooper and you were with me at the meeting on Saturday, right?
Yes, I was in attendance. Right. And then there was some parking concerns.
But we discussed how the traffic would be kind of timed with when the people were coming back from work, the office would be closed. Right.
Yeah, it's a five-day-a-week, nine-to-five. So really, the lowest possible impact you could have while still renting it out to a going business concern.
And commercial trash pickup and basically office trash, and you have a dumpster, and you have commercial trash pickup, right?
That's correct.
And it's stored on site, correct?
It is stored on site.
Mr. Chairman, that's it. And if you have any questions, then we're happy to.
um before we start council is this last comment hillary has on the bottom is that okay
yeah okay all right good um questions from the board yeah i have a question is uh is this
commercial space is it the all of this commercial space on that or it's just
is there a unit number or something so it it's under commercial space one is what we we call it
So it's under commercial space. One is what we call it.
And the second commercial space, we have no intention to use it as commercial.
It's really a lounge for the residents.
Mr. John, basically the lobby flipped closer to the elevator and the commercial space moved to the left.
Okay. Yeah. Gotcha. All right. Thank you.
Other questions? Additional questions for our attorney?
not at this time questions or comments from the virtual audience
all hands mr chair planning commission amy boyd with the planning commission the comprehensive
plan recommends a change in zoning at this location from the current rsa 5 residential
single family to cms commercial mixed use the proposed use would be allowed under the recommended
zoning further the proposed use is in harmony with the 2018 variance for a vacant commercial
space at this location. The Planning Commission recommends that the Board grant their requested
variance for business and professional office. MI 2026-000-454-4001 Ridge Avenue. I vote yes
with proviso. Unit number one only. Michael Johns, my vote is yes with proviso. Cheryl Gaston, my vote
is yes with proviso. Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes with proviso. Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes with
proviso i am when my vote is yes with proviso thank you mr chairman have a good evening number 14.
um uh we have a few people that are recusing themselves i will be your president chair and
i'll be i'll be recusing also i'll be recusing also
mi2026 uh 000479 1749 north 30 31st street alan knockamson is the attorney mr knockamson could you
please state your name alan knockamson a-l-a-n last name knockamson n-o-c-h-u-m-s-o-n 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 yeah my client uh is uh joe quinones uh he's
under agreement with uh phdc to purchase these properties and i believe he'll probably be coming
in he's coming through the door now yeah exactly perfect timing and um our board secretary has a
few questions thank you uh good evening good evening um did you submit your documents and
exhibits five days in advance of this hearing yes we have and do you waive the reading of the
refusal i i do i will say that the refusal the first refusal is kind of confusing but i do waive
it okay and stipulate to us accurate i do okay um then you can show your screen and begin your
presentation let me just make sure i have the right screen up i do uh oh i need to be promoted
oh there i am
oh that may be rain okay
hi uh doing 1748-56 north 31st street this property is in the strawberry mansion section of
Philadelphia. We are taking two lots, consolidating them or merging them together to create five
single-family dwellings here. Previously, these were five lots, so we're just recreating
history here. We have 13 exhibits, and we'll go straight through them. At the conclusion
of my presentation, Mr. Quinonez will be asked to be sworn in, and I'll have a few questions
for him so the refusal is this again we're taking two lots merging them into together
then subdividing them into five single family lots we have two refusals the first is the lot
size does not conform with the philadelphia zoning code that's the first refusal the reason
for the refusal is kind of confusing but let's just keep it simple i'll show you a drawing which
shows that this was five lots at one time the size of the lots are not out of character for
neighborhood will show you some we'll show you some uh screenshots of atlas nearby properties
second refusal has to do with our side yard two reasons why we have this refusal the other lots
are a little bit more narrow in width we're just create this is a tourniquet project we're creating
the same floor plan over and over and over again so it just makes it easier to have the same
architectural plans and drawings from a construction standpoint. Also, there is an infringement on our lot to the one building.
Also, there is an infringement on our lot to the one building structure that is on that side of that block. So we couldn't do anything anyway. You'll see why we had to, you know, create that side yard. It is a hardship.
We've got a letter from the Strawberry Mansion CDC, unanimous support, again, a turn-the-key project, as we've presented before here, Strawberry Mansion wants home ownership, and this program, Turn the Key, will provide affordable home ownership to nearby residents, as well as city employees, because city employees are also eligible for Turn the Key.
Petition, well, you know, circulated petition of people in support. Property history. So again, just to show you again, there were five lots here at one point. We're recreating those lot lines.
And then are there nearby comparable properties? You know, yes, there are of lot size. And we just wanted to show the board that as well of nearby parcels.
And then aerial views. Again, this is the only parcel that has a building structure on our side of the block on North 31st Street. Where are these others? Again, not out of character. They have single family with lot size of this size.
and then these are RSA 5 properties we're keeping conformity having single-family parcels here
photographs of the property the front on north 31st street since 2009 these have been vacant
lots as far as back as we can go in google street view this is the side of the property
from the secondary street proof of posting this is north 31st street to the right of the property
to the left of the property uh secondary street to the right of the property and to the left of
the property our plans uh and drawings and again we have uh uh jesse smith of jls architects who
can ask answer any technical questions here these are all properties built on slab there's no
basements these are two-story structures and you know just to kind of highlight what i'm talking
about this infringement on our property this parcel which is not included 1758 north of 31st
street was built onto our property and they're regularly shaped as well we wanted to give some
setback to you know so we didn't connect on a like this irregularly shaped building um also again
the other lots you can see are a little over 16 feet wide ours is 19 feet 0.25 those other parcels
So that's where we gain that 2 feet, 10 inch setback, side yard setback.
And these are just pretty basic two story structures.
We are height wise 22 feet high.
The occupied area is well within conformance with the Philadelphia zoning code as well.
Let me just go to the floor plans.
All right, here are the floor plans. Pretty basic floor plans here. You walk in, you have a kitchen, living room, dining room, living room. You go up a flight of steps. You have three bedrooms, two baths.
we went with the community on April 23rd at 6 p.m we emailed the notice that we mailed out to the
community a few weeks beforehand to show proof of mailing to 124 addresses these are the addresses
we mailed it to proof of mailing to those addresses our application for zoning variants
our notice refusal and project information form we also have the and you know we've shared all
this information with Ms. Emerson, just to make sure from a standing perspective, we have an
agreement of sale with the Philadelphia Housing Development Corporation.
I think it's a long agreement, and eventually you will see a tax clearance certificate for
these parcels. While I'm going through this, I know the board's running late today, so I would
just ask that Mr. While I'm showing the rest of my documents, I would ask that Mr. Quinones be
uh sworn in as a witness so canis could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
counsel uh oh sorry yeah you have to press that sorry oh okay i i think they heard you so um joe
you heard everything i had to state today about your zoning matter yes is it true and correct
And do you adopt this in your own testimony?
Absolutely.
Specifically, this project is for tourniquet, correct?
It is.
And this is providing five affordable single-family units to the Strawberry Mansion section of Philadelphia.
Absolutely.
And you understand that you're required to sell those units up to a certain price point.
to sell those units up to a certain price point that's exactly right to people within a certain
That's exactly right.
income stratosphere that's exactly right all right thank you questions from the board
questions from our attorney not at this time questions or comments from the virtual audience
i do not see any hands mr chair planning commission amy boy with the planning commission
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the current RSA 5 residential single family zoning at this location. The proposals for certified affordable housing. The citywide vision recommendation 1.2.3 is to promote new affordable housing units, prioritizing infill of vacancies.
the planning commission recommends that the board grant the requested variances for side yard and
lot size mi 2026 000 479 1749 north 31st street i vote yes with proviso per refusal dated may 20th
2026. cheryl gaston my vote is yes with proviso ryan mcadams my vote is yes with proviso
hi owen my vote is yes with proviso thank you thank you all right uh but let me get our
thank you very much all right thank you
that's not good
hey it's gonna be a that's gonna be a wet way in the back way back no umbrella
MI 2026-000-482-2124, East Lee High Avenue.
Alan Nockamson is the attorney.
Mr. Nockamson, you've already been sworn.
Could you just state your name for the record?
Alan Nockamson.
Right.
And Mr. Nockamson, could you identify your client in relationship to this property?
Central Capital Group, the owner of the property.
And in the virtual audience is F.A. Sarkowski.