I am, Chair.
Those 14 cases that you...
Those 14 cases that you sent to us, I read them in now?
Yes, if you could.
And if you approve them, it's with the proviso approved uses group living.
Do I have to say that for each case or could I say that?
You can read them together and then vote.
Very good.
Thank you.
So these are the add-ons for the two o'clock list.
MI 2021-000530, 1545 Page Street.
MI 2021-000532, 1522 Fountain Street.
MI 2021-000529, 1713 West Montgomery Avenue.
MI 2021-000524, 1800 North 18th Street. MI 2021-00527, 1828 North 16th Street.
MI 2021-0005251812N16. MI 2021-0005141940N17. MI 2021-0005151934N17.
M.I. 2021-000517, 1928 North 17th Street, M.I. 2021-000517, 1928 North 17th Street,
MI 2021-000-516-1930-North 17th Street.
MI 2021-000-521-1924-North 17th Street.
MI 2021-000520, pardon me, 1922 North 17th Street, MI 2021-000522,
1926 North 17th Street
and MI 2021
that's 000513
205 North 17th Street
my vote is yes on the 14 cases I've read into the record
with the proviso that they be approved
approved use as group living
Professor Plaza
my vote is yes with proviso on all 14. Thomas Holliman, my vote is yes with proviso on all 14.
Thank you. With that, we will go to the two o'clock list. And I don't see any
no continuance request on the two o'clock is that accurate sharon as of yet it is okay on the two
o'clock list um i would ask if anyone would like to request a continuance or withdrawal
for the cases listed for two o'clock if so please raise your hand
i see no hands chair okay thank you um case number one mi 2021-001-757-1847
spiviva street attorney of record is gussie o'neill fishtown neighbor association sent a
letter of opposition. Mr. O'Neill or Ms. O'Neill, please raise your hand. We have Michael Phillips
present. Phillips, you'll be representing this case? Yes, I will. Please identify yourself and
spell your full name and I'll swear you in. Michael Phillips, P-H-I-L-L-I-P-S, Claire Harrison,
in Harvey Brandsburg, 1835 Market Street, 14th floor, Philadelphia, PA 19103.
Here on behalf of Sepviva Properties, the owner of 1847 and 1849 Sepviva.
the owner of 1847 and 1849 Step 5th Street.
We're a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Thank you. Please proceed.
Mr. Phillip, you agree to waive the reading of its refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
I agree to waive the reading in terms of the accuracy.
I do take issue with, there was a rear yard refusal indicated on, a rear yard refusal
indicated that I do not believe it's accurate, and nonetheless, we have a revised plan.
Have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents, proof of ownership, proof
of tax compliance, copy of the refusal or referral, photos and plans five days prior
to this hearing?
I have, Mr. Pava.
Thank you.
have you met with the rco and have a letter yes thank you please proceed okay um once again good
afternoon uh chairman de chico and members of the board uh i have with me here today harris schwartz
on behalf of step biver properties the owner of these two lots as well as matt imperato from
KJO Architecture. This application proposes to adjust the lot lines of two existing lots at 1847
and 1849 Subviva Street to create two lots. So we're just going two to two. We're just adjusting
the lot lines and to build two single-family homes fronting Subviva with two accessory parking
parking spaces located off of Houston Street, which is a very narrow 15-foot wide street.
The refusal notes the parking, which is prohibited in the RSA 5 District unless accessed from
a shared driveway alley or rear street, and that is the only refusal we should have received.
With respect to rear yards where it says nine foot required, one foot proposed, I'll go
through the plans, but show that we're actually now proposing a 14, almost a 15-foot rear yard
on 1849 and a 14-foot rear yard on 1847. So there's ample space there. And also, despite the
letter in the packet from FNA, there is considerable support from the neighborhood,
as well as the near neighbors and the adjacent neighbors to the property. So I'm a bit confused
does to FNA's decision but it was made without a formal vote taken and I believe there are
you'll see as we go through the exhibits the petition of support and letters of support that
we have from the neighborhood. I'll begin with some photos of the of the surrounding property
so this is Sep Viva Street and right here on the corner of Sep Viva and Houston is the existing
lot. So right now there is a, at 1849, a one-story industrial garage, and 1847 is currently just a
oddly shaped vacant lot. Here's a better picture as we go out. Again, these are the two properties,
here's Houston Street, the very narrow 15-foot wide street, and in nearly every picture that
I'm going to show you of Houston Street, you'll notice cars parked up on the sidewalk right near
where our property would be, and that's really the condition at Houston, and that's where our
parking would be accessed from. Here's an aerial view. Again, this is 1847, Sep Viva, currently
vacant lot. Once again, the photo, I don't know why it came out warped, but cars parked along the
sidewalk, and here is the one-story industrial garage. Now, what we'll be doing is we're proposing
a curb cut around here on Sep Viva for the two accessory parking spaces. We are giving an
on-street space back, excuse me, on Sep Viva. The parking will be off Houston. So taking one
parking space off the street on Houston, giving one back at Sep Viva, so you're at a net neutral
there, and then providing the two parking spaces for the two single-family homes. There are a number
of garages and uh accessory parking spaces uh throughout the neighborhood i'll just take you
through a few other pictures uh once again survivor see other homes that have either
the parking space or uh or the front loaded garage it's 1858 here's our posting
and here are the proviso plans that are being submitted so you'll notice that 1847
we're creating just a much more regularly shaped lot we're going from 822 square
um we're creating just a much more regularly shaped lot we're going from 822 square foot lot
to 1223 square feet and we're reducing the size of the uh the lot at 1849 to 1440 square feet
there is a rear yard right here of 1849 that is 14 feet 11 inches the open area we also increased
after meeting with the community to 24% on the interior, 24% on the corner lot and 29% on the
other lot. So we meet both of those. This is just the revised proviso plan form. Here's our original
application. We made some other changes that I'll go through in a moment. We had this sloped roof
that in the initial zoning screen, the community did not like or FNA didn't like. So we removed
that. We also added more brick, increased the open area. Here's the petitions of support
from numerous members of the neighborhood, noting both the end result of a creation of these two
off-street spaces, but also what we heard from a lot of the neighbors is that Houston Street is
not a great street for parking on because cars are on the sidewalk. It's only 15 feet, and it
doesn't create really a good condition due to the narrowness. So this, we believe, will be beneficial
in an improvement for the neighborhood as well. In addition to the petition of support, we have
a letter of support from the near neighbor who owns both 1851-Viva through to 1852-TULIP,
and they also see this as a beneficial project.
They're familiar with the developer.
He has a good reputation in the neighborhood
and they're looking forward to this
and support the parking.
This is the zoning map.
So you see this oddly shaped parcel
that we're adjusting.
You see the narrowness of Houston.
Here's Sepviva.
Here's Tulip.
And so these are the plans
that show what we're proposing to develop.
And I'll quickly show this is,
there are some elevations.
Now, originally, we were proposing something
that looked like this, which had this sloped roof
and not as much brick.
The community did not like that,
or the zoning committee didn't like it,
So we made the change to this more contemporary brick look.
Again, here's the parking.
We have these two accessory spaces, both accessed off of Hewson, the zoning plan.
So 1849 will jut out like this and have one parking space.
Still has an ample rear yard.
We're not cutting into that.
And in terms of 1847, again, it's on the corner. We still provide some outdoor space here before you get to the parking, and then the parking is right there.
And we feel that this is a common sense plan. It removes this unsafe condition of cars parked up on Houston Street. We're adding a parking space back on Tip Viva, so you're at a net neutral there, but creating these two accessory parking spaces.
um i would like to uh just quickly call uh matt imperato from kjo architecture
to just ask him a few brief questions and then i'll uh ask my client uh mr schwartz to
uh adopt my testimony when you get on please identify yourself spell your full name and i
you in. Could you have your client please raise their hand? Either Matt and or Harris,
can you please raise your hands?
if we can't it doesn't seem like we're getting that maybe you can just
can you hear me now okay yeah mr schwartz spell your full name uh harrod schwartz h-a-r-r-i-s
S-C-H-W-A-R-T-Z
I'm the owner of
1847-1849
Survivor Street
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Thank you, Mr. Phillips
Harris, you heard
my testimony
a moment ago? Yes
And do you agree with everything that I stated earlier as being truthful and accurate?
Do you agree
with everything that I
And do you agree to adopt my testimony as your own?
And can you briefly just let the board know some of the changes that you made to the project in response to our meeting with FNA?
um so like michael said we uh changed the slope roof deck uh that we initially proposed after
meeting with the fna board they wanted more conformity in the neighborhood and and while
we thought the slope group was a good idea we we obviously uh made that change um also with
dealing with some of the neighbors and some of the light concerns with their backyard we pulled
in 1849 Survivor Street's building an extra couple of feet. I also have a deal with the
neighbors next door that I will use a certain material because it is going to be bordering
their outdoor space and other changes that we made. We obviously use more brick, which is what
everybody wants and what I typically try to do on all my projects. I've done a significant amount
of time uh working with different neighbors and making little changes here and there and and and
talking about what we can do in terms of putting some trees on the street um i actually built the
houses directly behind this and in talking with the uh neighbors that live there now they had put
um street trees on their sidewalk because they had so many people parking on their sidewalk
cracking the side uh the cement um and they asked if i would do the same thing and and
And I do plan on doing that.
I think it'll be a great look for the neighborhood.
And, you know, I look forward to working with everybody on this project.
Thank you very much.
Questions from the board?
Yes, I have a quick question.
I assume that this has gone into streets department for zoning.
and i'm wondering if they have approved the curve the location of the curb cut
that won't happen unless we approve it correct is that right mr phillips or no
that's correct but this did go in for zoning and streets department did give
their approval on the location great i just want to make sure that they're okay with the location
thank you thank you john and um is there anyone else who has any questions for this
in this case, please raise your hand.
Chair, we have John Scott.
Scott, please identify yourself and I'll swear you in.
Hi, John Scott, 456 Moyer Street.
We're firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
Please proceed.
So I was at this F&A meeting.
i was also the board member that last year proposed the uh the virtual meeting guidelines
and uh so in this case the the fna zoning committee voted against this um and we don't
let the well we didn't set up set it up so that the neighbors would vote because we didn't have
a way to confirm their identities and also keep them anonymous um so my understanding is that the
The F&A voted against this, the neighbors were against this, and the F&A zoning committee basically represents their viewpoints as much as they can.
My specific concerns that I had were that the elderly neighbor on that street had difficulties with the off-street parking spots here.
So, Mr. Scott, were you aware of the revised plans?
uh i was not no i don't believe they were brought back to the to the neighbors
there is no parking on is it houston street mr phillips yes it's houston street no parking