Hilary, can you hear?
Yes, I can.
Can you hear me?
Yes, I could.
Hold on.
Hold on.
The chair may not be able to hear us.
I'm not hearing anybody.
Okay, sure.
The chair is going out and coming back in again.
He cannot hear any of us.
can you guys hear me by the way
yes yes great i've been having audio issues this week but thank you
Good morning.
Good morning.
Good morning, Chair.
You feel wonderful.
Can you hear us okay?
No, it must be a problem.
Sure it does.
All right.
Do you have any idea what's going on? I can't hear anybody.
Okay. All right. Hold on.
You may want to make sure Zoom is using his speaker down by the microphone.
There's a little carrot. You click that or you're able to select the speaker you want to use.
um is this bill i'm sorry on yeah i'm sorry it's no okay yeah okay um so i'm talking to two bills
at the same time um so you were saying to check to make sure his speaker is selected
yeah at the lower lower left of the screen there's a little microphone and there's a little
carrot right next to the microphone if you click that up it shows what mic you're using and what
speaker zoom is using oh okay okay all right so bill do you see the the microphone down at the
bottom that all right go ahead
um dpv zoom bill um i'm i'm gonna message you directly um the chair's number and give him a
call because he there's multiple options and he's not sure if one of them needs to be changed
so and i i can't see i i can't see what he's looking at right so um so i will message you
his number. Give me one second.
Hillary, can you hear me?
I can hear you.
I can hear you.
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
Just hit another button.
Just hit another button.
Yeah, I'm good.
Oh, you're good now?
Okay, great.
I hope so.
LeBaron, can you hear me?
Yes, I can.
All right, we're good.
We're good.
I don't know how that happened because I had the same system on before, but okay, we're good.
Sometimes things get switched.
I've had that happen on my computer, too.
Okay, we have 37 attendees, Chair. You can proceed as you wish.
Thank you. Good morning, everyone. My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this morning's EBA hearing.
With me is our Vice Chair, Ismail Shahid.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our Board Member, Thomas Holliman.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our Alternate Board Member, LeBaron Leonard Palmer.
Good morning, Mr. Chairman.
Also, here is Hillary Emerson, our attorney, and also our executive director, Tanya Sunkett.
Be advised, these proceedings are being recorded.
The video will be available by contacting tanyasunkett at phil.gov.
For the benefit of our court sonographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying.
If you are participating by phone and you wish to testify, press star 9 to raise your hand and star 6 to unmute.
To enter the pyramid 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 now for comments or testimony.
All comments should be directed to our Executive Director, Tanya Sunken.
Let's look at this morning's schedule.
Thank you.
Number four, MI-2022-005-219-4212 Parkside Avenue.
Meredith Ferlicker is the attorney.
good morning mr chair this is jason hand i will be your co-host for this morning
miss ferriger has been allowed to speak good morning council could morning council could
you state your name please and spell for the court sonographer sure meredith m-e-r-e-d-i-t-h
Ferliger, F-E-R-L-E-G-E-R. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth,
nothing but the truth? I do. The council member has requested a continuance. I understand. Are
you in favor of a continuance? Absolutely, Mr. Chairman. And in fact, we're intending to submit
a request for leave to amend this application to basically just reflect the legalization of
the existing use instead of requesting the addition of any additional unit.
So, yes, we're very much in favor of a continuance.
Thank you very much.
So MI 2022-005-219-4212 Parkside Avenue, that case is continued.
Number five, MI 2022-006-705-2000 Larry Street, this case has been continued.
Number seven, MI 2023-000629-1447 West Cayuga Street.
That case has been continued.
And number nine, MI 2023-006-880-3200 Copman Avenue.
That case is continued.
Are there any other requests for continuance?
Mr. Chair, I have a hand up from a Jack T. Nguyen.
I have allowed them to speak.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Jack T. Nguyen, please unmute and wait to be sworn in.
Mr. Chair, this individual may be having technical difficulties on his end, so we'll go to the next person.
All right, is there any other requests for continuance?
Yes, Devin Ukta has their hand raised.
I've allowed them to speak.
Good morning, Chair.
Good morning, Counsel.
So, sure. Could you state your name, please, and spell it for the court stenographer?
Devin Ukda, D-E-V-I-N-U-Q-D-A-H.
Devin Ukta, D-E-V-I-N-U-Q-D-E-V-I-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
Counsel, are you here for 5900 Pulaski?
I'm here for multiple address, but yes, that is one of them.
Okay, so we have no exhibits on number three, 5900 Pulaski Avenue, and this is the third listing.
yeah chair so i'm asking for a containment i took over this case from prior council
so i'm still gathering the information okay so mi 2022 003 966 5900 plastic avenue
cases continued mark must be heard and what other case sir um i also have
1447 uh west cayuga i i already called that that case is being continued sir
and then i have 1307 west susquehanna avenue okay 1307 west cut you want to continue that too sir
yes sir okay so mi 2023 000 633 1307 west susquehanna avenue
Cases continued, Mark, must be heard.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Are there any other cases for continuance?
I don't see any further answers, Mr. Chair.
I have two cases for withdrawal.
Number one, MI 2021-004-544-4900 Reno Street.
That case has been withdrawn. And number two, MI-2022-003-457-623-39-North-39th Street.
That case has been withdrawn. We're going to go to our first case, which is number,
We're going to hear number 12 first.
2023-006-885-27 North 3rd Street.
Eileen Quigley and Meredith Trego are the listed attorneys.
There's a recommendation of support from Old City District,
and a letter of non-opposition came from Council Member Squill.
sir eileen quigley will be rejoining as the panelists shortly
good morning counsel could you please state your name it's spelled for the course sonographer
yes good morning chair members of the board eileen quigley e-i-l-e-e-n quigley q-u-i-g-l-e-y
right do you swear a firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
Could you identify your client, a relationship to this property?
Yes, I will.
First, as you said, I'd like to introduce my colleague as well, Meredith Trego, T-R-E-G-O.
Meredith is M-E-R-E-D-I-T-H.
Our client is your agency, a nonprofit, and founder Meg Saligman, who is here with us.
They own the property.
All right.
Is Meredith going to be testifying to?
No, Your Honor.
Okay, good.
good good all right our vice chair has just a few questions for you ma'am
good morning council do you agree with the reading of the refusal or stipulate
we have one comment to make about the refusal on the refusal it notes that
it requires a special exception however this assembly and entertainment use
requires a variance because of the overlay at 14502 and just for the board and council's
information the RCO was aware that it was a variance case we did include the variance
explanation in the notice letters and also posted those notice letters at the property when we posted
the other zoning notices. So there was notice of the variance request. Okay, thank you. Have you
emailed them all the required documents and exhibits as needed to proceed with this case
five days in advance of this hearing? Yes, we have. Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.
Thank you very much. So as I said, and as the chair said, I'm here today on behalf of your
agency, and I'm with my colleague, Meredith Trego. I would like to thank Ms. Emerson for
allowing us to go first due to an emergency I greatly appreciate your
accommodation we would like to also introduce Mike Salomon Saligman who is
here today on behalf of your agency the nonprofit that owns the property and we
that owns the property, and we are here with, and just to back up, Meg Seligman, as you may already
are here with and just back up
know, is an internationally renowned muralist and artist, and among other murals, she created
the Common Threads Mural at Broad and Spring Garden, and we are also here with Brian Schneider,
the architect from the design team from Heckendorn Shiles Architects.
As I said, we are here to request zoning relief for the assembly and entertainment use,
This use is required based on our discussions with L&I because the existing use of the property is an art gallery, and in order to allow for artistic expression and performance, the assembly and entertainment use is required.
that's why we're here seeking the variance as you all know we're very
fortunate to live in a city with so such robust and renowned history and
artistic and cultural institutions and we are proud today to be here on behalf
of your agency seeking this variance this is an existing art gallery as I
said and in order for it to be used to its fullest potential as a space where
full artistic performance can be experienced we require this special
accept this variance for this assembly and entertainment and this will also
allow your agency to meet its mission and its purpose and intent as I said
this is required for performances pursuant to our discussions with L&I
this is not for a nightclub the reuse of this existing building it's an existing
bank building known as a manufacturer's national bank this was previously used
as an office but this building has been vacant for many years um it's historically designated
and it's one of the most miss quigley are are you are you sharing or is miss trego sharing
oh we don't see anything yeah may i that's okay yes absolutely thank you that was an opening
comments i'm sorry i kept on going i just that's okay i'm excited about the art gallery and this
performance space, so it completely left my mind. Can you see my exhibits? We see here.
All right. Thank you so much, Ms. Emerson. I apologize, and I appreciate your note to me.
So before I continue any further, we did submit these exhibits. These are our exhibits.
I hate to retread, but we have the necessary required documents, tax clearance certificates,
exceed. But to get back, let me show you the exterior. Here is the Manufacturer's National
Bank building. And as I said, this was used as a, the last use was an office, but it's been vacant
for many years. And it's one of the oldest and substantial banking institutions in the city.
And allowing for this reuse to allow the art gallery to also move into physical artistic
performance through the variance for assembly and entertainment really allows
Meg and your agency to continue the care and preservation of this building
through Meg's loving care and restoration that's executed by Bryant
at Heckendorn Shiles. These improvements that were approved by the
historical commission let me find my floor plans here will allow for full accessibility for
handicap accessibility to the space they have an will have an accessible entrance and an elevator
so all may enjoy this space so as i said this adaptive reuse of this building is really crucial
in maintaining and preserving the building as far as any trash we don't
expect there to be any real trash concerns it is an art gallery the
assembly and entertainment use really just allows for the physical artistic
expression and performance if there are any events at the space the trash will
be handled by any contractor or vendor or caterer that will be hired by your
agency and vetted by your agency. There is no application for a liquor license. Your agency is
not seeking any liquor license. If there is any alcohol at any event, that liquor license will be
held by any vendor or caterer that comes to the space. The hours of operation are typically Monday
through Sunday from 10 to 11. These are time tickets, so they expect 25 to 27 people every
20 minutes with a maximum occupancy throughout an hour of 80. There is a higher occupancy load
of about 150. But that is a very good day. But we just wanted to give you the max.
But that is a very good day, but we just wanted to give you the maximum.
As I said, this is for assembly and entertainment use to allow for artistic expression.
It meets the minimum variance request.
It's also in keeping with the spirit and intent of the code.
And we do not believe that there is any detriment to the public health, safety, and welfare in granting this variance.
in fact there is a hardship if the variance isn't granted because as i said this is all this use is
by right the art gallery is by right the assembly and entertainment use really allows the full
potential of the art gallery and artistic expression through performances to be displayed
and experienced by patrons coming into the space i would like to call on um i'd like to ask the
board if they have any questions. As I said, we do have Meg Saligman here. Why don't we have your
client come on in and adopt your testimony? Thank you. Can you please elevate Ms. Meg Saligman?
They've been allowed to speak. Good morning. Could you please state your name and spell for
the court stenographer? Good morning. My name is Meg Saligman, M-E-G-S-A-L-I-G-M-A-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you.
Meg, you heard my presentation?
I did.
And would you confirm that my presentation was accurate?
I do confirm its accuracy, yes.
And Meg, if you were to testify, would you adopt my presentation as your testimony?
I certainly would.
thank you may i also have brian schneider i'm sorry
um brian what do you want to bring another witness one i just want brian schneider as
the architect to confirm and adopt the testimony as it relates to any improvements that were being
made sure bring them on yeah they have been allowed to speak good morning could you please
state your name and spell for the stenographer uh good morning yes my name is brian schneider
B-R-Y-A-N-T
S-M-Y-D-E-R
You swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
I do. Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you, Chair.
Brian, you heard my presentation?
And would you confirm that that presentation
is accurate?
Yes, I would.
And if you were to testify, would you adopt my testimony
as yours?
Yes. My presentation is your testimony?
thank you questions from the board no mr 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
good morning meg cavanaugh planning commission staff i need to spell my name correctly correct
M-E-G-C-A-V-A-N-A-G-H
Do you swear or affirm that tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the commercial mixed-use zoning at this location, although the proposal is not anticipated to cause detrimental impacts to the neighborhood beyond what might be expected normally.
The City Planning Commission has no objection to the variance for assembly and entertainment use in the overlay.
Thank you.
MI-2023-006-885-27-North 3rd Street.
I vote yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you, Chair.
May I please move our exhibits into evidence before I leave?
Yes, you can.
Thank you.
Thank you.
That concludes my business.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Number 11, number 11, MI-2023-006882, 5235 Jefferson Street.
Christopher Dean is the attorney.
There's a recommendation of support from the Parkside Association of Philadelphia.
49 in support, only two opposed.
Letter of support from Winfield Community Neighbors Association.
And a letter of support from Council Member Jones.
they're coming back in as a panelist sir okay
good morning council good morning chair members sure could you state your name please and spell
for the stenographer christopher dean d-e-a-n council for sandra slaughter owner of
D-E-A-N, counsel for Sandra Slaughter, owner of today's, excuse me, 5235 Jefferson Street.
All right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Our vice chair has a few questions.
Good morning, counsel. Do you agree to weigh the reading or the refusal or stipulate towards accuracy?
Have you emailed them all the required documents and exhibits that is needed and required to proceed with this case?
I have.
Thank you. Please proceed.
All right.
Hopefully, everyone –
You're all.
Okay. And I apologize in advance if there's the suite underneath me is getting worked on today. So if you hear some hammers and drills, I apologize. That's why I have the headphones on.
So it's my pleasure to present 5235 Jefferson Street. My client is here, Sandra Slaughter, along with her son, Nadir Malik, and Nadir owns the nonprofit NANM, Inc., which we hope will operate and lease at the property.
we are here to seek seeking a variance for technically an entertainment assembly hall
but what what we envision here will be a community developmental hall um contributing growth to the
community to the park side community especially um it's worth noting my client my client started
this process over a year ago and he withdrew his initial application um so we could really
get in touch with the community get invested and learn learn what the community wants and that's
why you're going to see that, as Mr. Chair alluded to, 49 to 2 in support with Parkside
as long as Winfield and Councilman Jones' office supporting this project.
So I'll just speak briefly about the project and I'll just go through the slides and then
we will have my client testify.
So NANM Inc., what we intend to do with this property, as you can see here is a rendition
of what it will look like, and I'll show you what it currently looks like. This is not going to be
similar to the last presentation. There's no entertainment in this project. This is not
going to be any kind of late night partying. At most, you're going to have private baby showers
and family reunions you can use this hall for. But the main focus of my client set up this
nonprofit just for this project in hopes to get this variance granted. You're going to have
neighborhood cleanups my client has actually already taken part in neighborhood cleanups
with his non-profit with parkside um including on i believe april april 6 they already they
already completed one um after school activities for kids so we envision after school a four to
eight window depending on when school is out the kids can hang here and say they can it avoids
trouble. It'll be promote their growth. We want to have educational workshops, organized neighborhood
cleanups, food drives. My client intends on partnering with local churches. We've looked
into CPR, first aid training. He wants this to be a community meeting spot, a community hall
to bridge the gap between Parkside and the Park West neighborhoods.
uh this area this location actually was a former barbershop so a barbershop we don't it's not going
to have any detrimental impact on traffic and parking in fact a barbershop has much more
transient of transient customers in and out all day this is going to be there's going to be many
many times when it's dormant it will not be there will be be no use and then there will be
community meetings on the weekends, and then as I mentioned, after school for kids.
So this will not have any negative impact, certainly not a greater impact than the prior
approved use of this property.
Just to go through the slides, this is my client's deed, Ms. Slaughter, to prove that
she owns the property.
Her tax clearance issued through May 17th.
Here is the actual design.
When I go through it, if anyone does have questions about the design, I'd be happy to put this slide back up.
This is our refusal.
Our application for appeal.
Project information form.
This was our notice of the community meeting, which we held on March the 13th when we received the 49 in favor.
This is the letter of support from Winfield.
um as met as alluded to on the letter my client has agreed to support cleanup efforts and he
As alluded to on the letter, my client...
already has done so since since this meeting um our hours of operation um that was a community
concern we certainly will not be going past we envision eight o'clock on a weeknight on a weekend
11 p.m as i mentioned this is not going to be this is not going to be a hall for use for
really entertainment purposes. There's no liquor
license involved. You're going to have
family. It's just going to be a community
hall, baby
showers, family reunions, and
the rest will be communal
benefits.
This was the
Parkside vote, 49
and 2, and a letter from
Councilman Jones' office. This is a current
picture,
so we are also going,
the addition, we are going to beautify
the building, which has another positive impact to the community. The remaining slides are just
to show the parking, and I apologize of the slant of the pictures. Parking obviously is always a
concern. There is ample parking, there is ample street parking at least, so we do not envision
this is going to have, it's not going to add to any congestion or lack of parking in the area.
And you can actually see right here my client already, this is his logo right here, already being active with food shares in the area.
And this was the notice for today's zoning.
I'll go through all of the – just the proof of mailing.
And at the end of it, I'll show pictures, and then I will have my client testify.
okay here's the proof of the zoning poster
this is the interior
and there obviously is with with pitching there will be
the potential for caterers with their own license to come in to handle, you know,
community events or private events like baby showers.
And with that, I would, if she, Sandra Slaughter, or it may be under Nadir Malik.
I think they're both on the Zoom together.
sondra slaughter has been about to speak good morning could you please state your name and
spell for the stenographer sondra slaughter slaughter s as in sam l-a-u-g-h-t-e-r
sondra s as in sam a-n-d-r-a do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth yes please proceed counsel thank you uh miss slaughter are you the owner
of 5235 jefferson street yes did you um did you hear my testimony this morning
yes do you adopt it as true and accurate yes okay and do you intend on renting this property to your
son yes okay uh is nadir with you right now yes okay um yeah i guess mr chair if we could have
um nadir malik sworn in all right could you please state your name and spell it for the stenographer
nadir malik n-a-a-d-i-r-m-a-l-i-k do you swear we're affirmed to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth yes chair please proceed counsel mr malik um what is your non-profit
this is nam inc n-a-n-m inc incorporation and and you said did you set this non-profit up for
the purposes of this prop this property yes sir and if you just tell the board and the members
of the community what efforts you've made to invest in the community and what your goals are
if your mother is successful with this variance
and you're able to operate an assembly community hall?
Well, first we wanted to do community neighborhood organizations,
meetings for the neighborhood, for the side of Parkside
where other neighbors can't get to.
And on Thursdays, we do a food share for the elderly neighbors
who can't make it to the other side of Parkside Avenue.
We're on Jefferson, so it's kind of like a stretch for the elderly.
So we make deliveries and we also get food in every Thursday and also sometimes.
So we make deliveries and we also get food in every Thursday and also sometimes Tuesdays.
Also, from four to eight, we want to have a planning for the kids in the neighborhood to either come like a safe space for the kids to come to and have an opportunity just to enjoy themselves.
Because sometimes the outside is not so nice in the area.
Okay. Anything else you want to contribute?
At this point, no.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
LeBaron?
LeBaron?
Give me a minute here.
Ishmael?
It appears he dropped out here, but LeBaron is here.
I think he's just having trouble unmuting.
We'll be right with you, counsel.
Thank you.
trying to get back in now
we have the baron's phone number
yes i'm i'm in touch with him mr sheriff working to get in touch with him okay
can you hear me now i can is that you ish yes i didn't have any questions for you
okay thank you questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson
My only comment was that I didn't know if Mr. Dean wanted either of the individuals who testified to adopt his testimony.
Didn't you say that?
I did with Ms. Slaughter.
Okay, I'm sorry, then I missed it.
That's okay, thank you.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I do not see any further hands at this time, sir.
My planning commission.
Good morning, Meg Cavanaugh, Planning Commission staff.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing single-family residential zoning at this location.
However, this property has evidence of a previous commercial use.
The City Planning Commission recommends the board grant the variance for assembly and entertainment use.
Thank you. MI 2023-006-882-5235 Jefferson Street, I vote yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
yes ishmael shaheed my vote is yes thank you counsel thank you everyone have a nice day
all right and i appreciate um moving us up hillary all right thank you number six mi 2023
zero zero zero two four one 1809 to 17 north 32nd street henry clinton is the attorney
no letter at this point from the RCO
but there was a meeting held 328-24
strawberry match in CDC
they're coming back in as a panelist
morning Mr. Chairman and members of the board
morning Mr. Clinton could you please state your name and spell for this stenographer
Sure. My name is Henry Clinton. It's H-E-N-R-Y Clinton, C-L-I-N-T-O-N.
Do you swear or firm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
I don't.
Would you identify your client and relationship to the property?
Sure. I have several clients. They're all related. One is the estate of Edith May Williams, the executive.
They're all related. One is the estate of Edith May Williams. The executor is her son, Joseph T. Williams. He's on the call. And then his brother, Paul Williams, also owns a couple of the parcels that are being consolidated today, and he's on the call.
Thank you. And our vice chair has just a few questions for you, sir.
Good morning, sir. Do you agree to read the reading number of fees or certificate to a game?
I do, Mr. Shahid.
Have you emailed them all the required documents and exhibits that's needed and required to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
The bulk of everything was in five days. We just recently sent in photographs of the postings.
Okay. No doubt. Please proceed and share your screen.
Thank you, Mr. Sheehan.
No problem.
Is that visible, Mr. Chairman?
It is.
Again, good morning, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
Henry Clinton on behalf of Joseph Williams, the executor of his mother's estate, and Joseph
Williams' brother, Paul Williams. This is phase two of a two-phase project, and I will show the
board what phase one was. It's basically the duplication of what was done about a year and a
half ago, and I'll discuss it as I get to the refusal. So these are the table of contents
containing it's good it's a1 through a10 i also have a couple articles to to show the board just
just for for edification of what's going on in the uh in the solar field um this is the refusal
so this lot right now and i'll show you aerial aerial photographs is basically vacant it has
two structures that are dilapidated uh and we're proposing to consolidate four lots into one lot
and then subdivide that one lot into 14 single-family homes,
seven on One Street, Moore Street, and seven on Wilt Street.
This basically, Mr. Chairman, is the exact same project
that was before the board, as I said, a year and a half ago,
right across the street.
And when I show you an aerial photograph, I'll bring it into perspective.
We had basically four refusals.
We did meet with the community group.
Their chief concern was that this project sits in the Strawberry Mansion overlay and roof decks are not permitted.
We do not have a roof deck.
We have a roof area, and on that roof area will be a solar array of solar panels because this is an all-electric house.
The architect from Cano Design, Mr. Yontz, will testify at the end that the materials that we're going to use for the roof are not to be walked on.
They're structural materials basically to support the solar array that's going to be on the rooftop deck, excuse me, the roof area, I don't want to say deck, for each of these 14 properties.
There's no other way to access the roof to maintain the panels and or to maintain the condensers that will be up on the roof.
So that was the main issue that the community had.
Hopefully someone from the community is on the call and they will basically second my comments.
The other refusals are open-air refusals, two of them.
We're about half of what's required for the parcels.
Two of the parcels were only less than 5% off, so I would say that's the minimus.
The other refusal has to deal with the rear yard of several of the lots.
Again, we're just about two feet off.
And then the lot area, the architect is going to address this at the end.
Because of Section 14 of the code, there's an explanation as to why we really are in compliance in the lot area, but we'll get to that at the very end.
So let me get to the heart of the project.
Again, we do not have an RCO letter.
Hopefully someone's on the call.
I don't know that the RCO, frankly, Mr. Chairman, would write a letter of support.
So maybe they're just staying neutral.
I don't know.
Again, I hope someone's on the call.
So here's the photograph of the project.
montgomery avenue here this is 33rd street the reservoir is up here uh the park is to the left
a closer view so right now the parcel we're talking about is where my cursor is making
a square these are dilapidated buildings here on the corner and this is a one-story garage directly
across the street is phase one phase one is the exact same layout the exact same structure same
number of bedrooms, solar array on a roof area, and seven houses on one street and seven houses
on the other street. And we're proposing the same thing over here. Seven houses on Wilts Street,
seven houses on Marsh Street, and with the drive aisle down the middle, just like the project next
door. The project next door, foundations are poured. It's not up and running. I can't really
show you photographs of what it's going to look like, but I can show you renderings.
but I can show you renderings.
So this is, again, the existing parcel.
So this is, again, the existing parcel, Moore Street here.
Moore Street here.
Wilt Street is over here.
32nd Street is running north-south.
The two buildings, three-story buildings,
which are uninhabited and have been uninhabited
for a number of years, will be demolished,
and the one-story garage will also be demolished.
Just another perspective in the foreground
is the current approved 14 single-family homes with two-car parking. Again, we're duplicating
that same project right across the street with the same architect and basically the same owners.
So here is the subdivision plan. So basically, there's four lots, one, two, there's a large lot
here and then a fourth lot here and then the entire square will be consolidated and then
it's going to be subdivided into seven lots on wilt street w-i-l-t like in wilt chamberlain
and seven lots on moore street with and 32nd street is to the west so the idea would be
you would come down 32nd street enter to the rear and you have two car parking for each of
these single-family homes. Again, just another depiction in the utility plan, because we do
have to bring electric lines into the property for the solar array on the rooftop. These are
just detail sheets for the solar array panels. I don't think I want to spend much time on that.
again the roof mounted and meant to be placed on the roof
because these homes are all electric as i said before again just another layout of
the project seven houses to the north seven houses to the south drive aisle ample turning radius
we do have streets approval again you can see there's two car parking for each of the properties
So we're really, you know, we're losing one parking spot because of the curb cut on 32nd Street, but we're picking up 14 spaces and hopefully that's going to, you know, allay any concerns neighbors have about parking on Wilt Street or on Moore Street.
Floor plans, pretty straightforward. I'll blow it up a little bit. Basement, living area and a bathroom. First floor majority is going to be the cars, the garage area, one bedroom.
second floor will be the living area and then the third floor will have two bedrooms then again
there's access to the roof area and this l-shaped diagram is for the solar array
just a side view of the property this is the elevation uh looking at moore street uh again
it's ground level so be wheelchair accessible uh some limestone at the bottom nice brick finishes
at the top. Just another view. And here's the drive aisle coming in off of 32nd Street with
garages below each of the home for two-car parking. Here's the solar array. So not only will the
materials not withstand lawn furniture or people walking up there, there's just no room. And the
homes are going to be all electric. They're going to be sold as all electric. And it just doesn't,
I understand the overlay situation, but as I'll show you an article at the end of this presentation, Philadelphia anticipates within several years of getting 25 percent of its energy to operate city buildings from a solar array in Adams County.
So I think this is going to be the move where we see more and more people putting solar arrays on the roof and not using those areas for deck or family purposes.
Streets approval for the project.
Henry, go back to that one minute.
You kept, you were saying before, seven units or seven homes.
There's 10 there, right?
Yes, 10, excuse me.
Am I right about that?
So there's a total of 10.
Yes, you know what?
Because the other project was different.
Okay, all right, sure, sure, sure, sure.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
This is the application.
our tax clearances since we have four parcels we have proof of each four that the taxes have been
paid there's proof they're actually just paid recently april 18th second parcel third parcel
uh fourth parcel
zoning map
the the deeds file are now indicating ownership that it's owned by the williams family or the
estate of the Williams family. All four Ds are attached and have been submitted.
All four Ds are attached and have been submitted.
Notice letter to the community, mailed out 163 letters advising them of the community meeting as well as the zoning board hearing today.
So this is what I was talking about, Mr. Chairman.
Philadelphia is going to power up to 25 percent of its building with solar energy.
I think 2024, it hasn't happened yet, but I think they're on the cusp of doing that.
This is in Adams County. Mayor Kenney initiated that back in 2018, and Council Chairman Darrell Clark moved forward with the bill in City Council. So we're going to be seeing some of the electricity of our city buildings due to solar panel.
And the same thing, Sherelle Parker, the mayor, new mayor, is looking to make Philadelphia a sustainable city.
And again, the solar array that we're going to see on more and more buildings, I think, is a real plus for the city.
And this is the materials that we're going to use on the roof.
It's a TPO product, not meant to be walked on, but is meant to support the solar panels.
So I also would like to show, Mr. Chairman, real briefly, if I could, the other presentation that was made a year and a half ago, or I can just summarize it, whatever the chair wants.
One is summarized that.
So basically, it's the same project with the same solar array right across the street.
Permits were issued March 16th of 2022.
Same layout, same design, same architect, same solar array.
And I would like to incorporate that. I do have it to show the panel or the board if that's warranted. But if not, what I'd like to do is ask the architect from Cano Design, his name is Carrie Jackson Yonce, Y-O-U-N-C-E, to be unmuted and to come on board. And I can ask him a few questions and then have my client adopt a testimony.
All right. Bring the architect on, please.
Mr. Jantz, can you unmute yourself if I'm saying your name correctly?
It's Jantz, but I'm here.
All right.
Sir, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
It is Kerry Jantz, C-A-R-E-Y-O-N-C-E.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Mr. Jantz, thank you very much.
Mr. Jantz, you heard my testimony today.
I have.
If you had the opportunity to testify, would you adopt my testimony as your own and as true and correct?
I would.
Just a couple questions.
This Phase 2 project, is it basically the same layout and same situation as Phase 1, which was approved about a year and a half ago?
Other than the change in unit count from 14 to 10, the project is identical.
And are there solar array panels on the Phase 1 of the project?
There will be, yes.
Because right now we only have foundations, but they were approved, the ZBA approved the solar panels on phase one, correct?
Correct.
And then the materials that are going to be used on the roof, can you describe that briefly and explain why it's not going to be used for walking or for furniture?
It's just a white TPO roofing membrane that is meant just to be a roof and is not suitable to foot traffic or furniture traffic in any way.
It would void the warranty of the roofing if there was any activity on the roof.
And then finally, can you address what I mentioned at the outset, the lot area that is listed on the refusal and why the lot area that we're using here on this project is really accessible?
Yes. So for phase two, 75% of the adjacent lots are of a smaller size, which then allows our lots to be a smaller size than phase one, because phase one had larger adjacent lots surrounding it.
Thank you, Mr. Yancey. I appreciate that.
Thank you.
Mr. Chairman, I'll just close briefly, and then I'll have my client adopt a testimony.
So the project we're proposing is a duplicate of what is across the street, been previously approved.
The solar array on the roof is not a rooftop deck.
We're not in conflict with the overlay district.
We're not altering the essential character of the neighborhood.
We're providing single-family residences with two-car parking.
We're actually decreasing congestion by taking cars off the street.
We're not impairing the light or air or development of any adjacent property.
we're not impairing the light or air or development of any adjacent property
we're in harmony generally with the code since it's single family and we're in harmony with
the adjacent project across the street uh with that i'm going to ask mr williams can you unmute
yourself either paul or joe do we see hands
I don't see either of those individuals in the virtual party, but I do see a hand up from a Rebecca Soule.
Do I allow them to speak?
Yeah, but let's see. Maybe they're using that phone.
I'm sorry, Mr. Chair. They have put their hand down just a moment ago.
Okay. All right. We still know Williams.
Mr. Williams
I just talked to him
you have to unmute yourself
I think he's on the telephone
is that star six
Jason have we seen
no but I couldn't crossly
has their hand raised
Joe Williams, if you're on the call, hit star nine to testify.
Excuse me, star six to unmute yourself and then star nine to testify.
Hello, can you hear me?
Yeah, could you state your name, please, and spell for the stenographer?
My name is Joseph Williams, S-J-O-S-E-P-H-W-I-L-L-I-A-M-S, and I'm here with my brother Paul Williams.
Okay, do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, Mr. Clinton.
Mr. Williams, were you on the call when I presented your project, Phase 2?
And was Paul also on the call when he's there with you now?
Yes, I am.
I was on the call also.
Thank you, Paul.
Henry, we're only going to take one person, okay?
Joe, if you had the opportunity to testify, would you adopt my testimony as your own and as true and correct?
I would.
All right.
Thank you very much.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Chair.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
um just briefly mr chair um as mr clinton and i had had discussed over email prior to the hearing
um we'll be holding this matter um because there's um some estate um some state paperwork
that's getting sorted out which hopefully will be within the next several weeks we have that
together and um i guess we could also hold unless there's someone here to testify um in lieu of a
letter, we could hold, see if the RCO submits a letter as well during that time frame.
Okay. Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Yes, Chair. I have Conlon Crosley with the hand raised. I'll allow them to speak.
Morning. Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Good morning. My name is Conlon Crosley, C-O-N-L-A-N, Crosley, C-R-O-S-L-E-Y. I serve as the Director of Development with Councilman Young.
Hold on one minute. Hold on. Do you swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do, Chair.
Please proceed.
um chair i was just uh i received an email from the coordinating rco uh specifically reverend
williams from strawberry mansion community corporation yep um the community was not happy
with the uh with with the pilot houses to access the solar panels and um asked to have a continuance
i sent an email i believe to uh a few folks last week about it and i just wanted to put it on the
record. Okay. So Colin, if you heard our attorney, we're going to hold this. We're not going to vote
on it today. We're going to hold it. And there's some estate issues involved. And also, we're still
waiting to hear from the RCO. Okay? Perfect. Thank you for your time, Chair. All right. Thank you.
Anyone else in the virtual audience?
I do not see any further hands, Mr. Chair.
Planning Commission.
Hello, Meg Cavanaugh, Planning Commission staff.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing single-family residential zoning at this location.
There is no unique physical condition or circumstance on this property that would prevent it from being used in conformance with the zoning code.
The City Planning Commission recommends the Board deny the requested dimensional variances for the newly created.
The City Planning Commission recommends the board deny the requested dimensional variances for the newly created lots as well as for roof decks.
Okay, so we're going to hold the vote on this and for some additional state work and also to hear from the RCO.
Hillary, we'll close this except for hearing from the RCO and also a response from the council relative to the RCO.
Does that sound okay?
Right. And and the estate paperwork. Yep. Yep. Yep. OK. Thank you, Mr. Clinton. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Hillary.
Number 10, MI 2023-006881-9225, Academy Road.
Jermaine Harris is the attorney.
Recommendation of support from the Home Circle Civic Association.
Mr. Harris, and it joined as a panel sir your main please on mute and wait to be sworn
in there i am okay yes good morning mr harris could you state your name please and spell for
this stenographer uh sure my name is uh jermaine harris and uh my spelling of my name is j-e-r-m-a-i-n-e
h-a-r-r-i-s you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
i do and could you identify your client and the relationship to this property yes my client is of
course wienerman and he is the owner of the particular property okay and our vice chair
has just a few questions sure good morning council do you agree to read another refusal or stipulate
to its accuracy. I stipulate to its accuracy. Have you emailed them all the required documents
and exhibits that is needed and required to proceed with this case five days in advance
of this hearing? I did. Thank you. Please proceed and show the screen. Sure. Okay, panel members,
This is concerning a legalization of a carport for a single family dwelling that my client has.
Let's see here. So this is the actual carport right here.
Let's go here.
Just bear with me.
This is another angle.
I mean, it's beside, it's attached to the house, which is covered by this tree.
But this is another angle of it.
Let's see.
Here's another angle of it.
And here is a posting of the zoning notice. This is a 12 feet tall by 30 foot in length carport. Let's get another picture here. This is another picture of it.
this is a posting of the zoning notice uh for today's hearing
wait a minute okay all right so this is uh my exhibit packet the first uh set of pictures
that i submitted was the exhibit a uh which was the pictures of the building including
the zoning hearing notice of the zoning hearing uh these are black and white
And this is basically a site plan of it. And it is, again, it's 12 feet. Well, it's 13 feet tall. And it's 31. It is 31 feet in length for this.
and this is basically a site plan of it and
this is a property that my client has owned this is a property that my client has owned
since 2010 now when he purchased the property he purchased it uh and it had
this particular carport that was there which is the reason why i use the language of he's seeking
to legalize it he didn't know that there was a problem with this until l and i observed this
problem and or observed the observed the the carport and saw that there was not approved it
was no building permits for it and it was just there and as a result that flagged the attention
to my client and now he seeks to get in compliance with this so that's what made this arise here but
again this is something that was pre-existing since uh my client has been living there he
hadn't had any issues from the neighbors uh regarding this particular carport now we did
have a community meeting and there is a recommendation of support by the Holmes
Circle Civic Association. There is the tax clearance right here. It was issued April 18th.
Again, this is evidencing the ownership of Mr. Wienerman's ownership of the particular property.
And this would be basically because when we had the community meeting, there wasn't any, there were questions about it, but there was overall, there was no pushback to this because it had been there for so long and there wasn't any complaints by the neighbors of it.
And we're seeking to get the approval of this, of course, and this is not something that would cause any problems with the neighbors.
It wouldn't affect adversely affect the adjoining neighbors that are there.
Additionally, the hardship is that this would be a significant expense because it is attached to the house.
It would be a significant expense in order for him to demolish this.
There would be damage to the side of his building since it's directly attached to it.
So we would ask that this project be, that this application be granted.
And we would open it up for any questions that any member may have.
Counsel, why don't you bring your client on first and adopt your testimony?
Mr. Wienerman.
I know he was on.
Mr. Wienerman.
Good morning, Mr. Wienerman.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Good morning.
My name is Christopher Wienerman.
Last name spelled W-E-I-N-E-R-M-A-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
So, Mr. Wienerman, did you hear the testimony that I just presented to the board?
I did.
And do you have anything to add to what I just stated?
Or are you fine with what I stated?
I do not.
okay do you adopt the testimony that i uh just gave to the uh board i do 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 from our virtual audience
i do not see any hands mr chair planning commission
i met cavanaugh planning commission staff
Hi, Meg Cavanaugh, Planning Commission staff.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing single-family residential zoning at this location.
There is no unique physical condition or circumstance that would prevent the property from being used as zoned.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the Board deny the dimensional variance.
I-2023-006-881-9225 Academy Road. I vote yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
ishmael shaheed my vote is yes thank you counsel thank you mary be excused you can
number 13 mi 2023 006-887-2005 south 4th street roger purry is the attorney
we do not have an rco letter as at this point um february 5th there was a meeting with the
Penn Sports Civic Association.
Actually, we do
have the letter
as of now.
It is a letter not taking a position
because the RCO disagreed
with the community.
Okay. The RCO
disagreed with the neighbors?
Correct. Okay. And
Council Member Squill's
leaving it to the board?
Correct. Okay.
Mr. Perry, could you
please state your name and spell for the stenographer. Yeah, good morning. My name is
Roger Perry, P-E-R-R-Y, first name R-O-G-E-R, and I represent Jack Investment Group, LLC, the owner.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do. Our vice chair has a few questions, sir. Thank you.
Good morning, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its
accuracy? I do. 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?
The document
on a letter
the RCO was received yesterday and the tax clearance
yesterday, but I've sent all those documents as of
yesterday or this morning over to everybody.
Thank you, Council. Please proceed and share the screen.
If I may, may I share my screen or is it shared?
It's not shared. You may share it. Please proceed.
We can see it now.
Okay, so this is 2005 South 4th Street.
Some of you may be familiar. It's in South Philadelphia.
It's just off of, just north of Snyder Avenue.
It's sort of the last remaining lot here.
And I'm here this morning with the architect who's done the plans for the property.
This is a request per the refusal, and the lot runs from 4th Street through to Moyamensing.
The request is to put a duplex, which faces 4th Street, with a garage facing Moyamensing
with the entrance and exit on Moyamensing Street.
So it would be completely new construction.
The property is in a single-family district, but the corner property is multifamily.
This is the block.
Across the street, there's four units.
I think it's in a condo or an apartment setup.
What I'd like to do is have Jerry Gutierrez, if he can raise his hand and be sworn in,
he's the architect of record and he would be able to speak more definitively to the plan either the
one i have here or anything that he wants to share if i may jerry can you be noted
i have napoleon gutierrez's hand who's raised allow them to speak thank you okay
good morning could you please state your name good morning my name is napoleon gutierrez
napoleon is spelled n-a-p-o-l-e-o-n gutierrez is spelled g-u-t-i-e-r-r-e-z my nickname is jerry
if that's easier for anybody do you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the
truth? I do. And you're the architect? I am. Please proceed, counsel. Thank you. Jerry,
do you want to use my drawings? Is that okay? Can you see those on the screen? Yes, I can see
the screen. Thank you. Okay. So could you explain briefly, having been sworn in, what
So could you explain briefly, having been sworn in, what the owner trying to win is actually the owner of Jack's Investment Group, but this is going through his LLC.
Can you explain what we have here and go from there?
Yes, of course.
Thank you, Roger.
The owner or client stated to us that he would like to develop the property for two dwelling units.
He's currently living or co-housing with his sister, basically two families.
His sister has two children.
He has two children, and they're currently sharing a house on the eastern side of South Philly.
And as much as he loves living with his sister, he would like a little bit more independence, which is why he wants to have a duplex unit on this property, along with a parking garage facing Moya Mensing.
The property actually, historically, before the buildings were demolished, had a single family with a garage accessed off Moy Messing, very similar to all the other properties to the right of this property.
So the duplex unit is accessed directly off of 4th Street.
They go into a common vestibule and then the first unit is the first and second floor along with the basement.
And the floor plans will show this, Roger.
So there's the common vestibule off of the first floor coming off of 4th Street.
so you turn left and you go into the unit number one which again is the cellar the first floor and
the second floor and then the stair then continues all the way up to the third floor and the fourth
floor which constitutes unit number two there is a proposed roof deck which is accessed off of unit
unit number two only.
Both units will share a backyard area which is open and then they also have access to
your Moya Mensing via either the alley which is gated will allow you to get onto Moya Mensing.
If there are any more questions, I'm happy to answer them.
Well, do you think, based on your experience, and you've done, I know, hundreds of properties,
that this particular use will adversely affect either the public safety, health, or welfare in this neighborhood?
I do not.
And this property is fairly close to Snyder Avenue, is it not?
It is.
And Snyder Avenue is an access, you know, to Center City and Broad Street and so forth.
And there's also mixed use in terms of commercial and apartments.
Counsel, let me ask you this.
What, the property next door, is that a single home or multi-unit?
I think the property next door is this one.
And I think this is a...
Well, where's your property?
Show me your property.
uh property is right over here so the that one on the corner is multi how about the next one
um the next is a street i think well do you know what these are jerry
as i understand it uh so the property was a single parcel that was developed into
four uh single family condominium units sharing a driveway in the middle that accesses the the
parking garages okay our property is located to the right of this property this is that's correct
all right and so the property next to your client going south what is that uh going south that's a
good question let me look do you know what this property is over here i believe that is well all
the properties south uh are zoned single family single family okay and then and then muy mensing
avenue where that you can enter for a garage is that whole block garages yeah most going south
towards uh snyder here so you see seven and so forth and on more immensely
And on Moyen-Mensing, okay, do you know what these along here on Moyen-Mensing, Jerry?
Yes. A majority of the existing parcels south of our property enjoys the same kind of configuration, homes, properties facing 4th Street, with garages being accessed off of Moyen-Mensing.
and that goes like that completely south to snyder that's that's correct although i i'm not
sure exactly i i believe corner properties uh on these blocks typically have a mixed
use commercial designation okay all right um you want to bring your owner on mr perry
yeah I don't know
I didn't see if Jack was on
it would be Twang Nguyen
Jack Nguyen
is he on the
yes they have been allowed to speak
thank you
could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
Jack Nguyen please unmute and wait to be sworn in
i'm all right mr chair i believe that they may still be having technical difficulties on their
end it's no mr perry you're an officer of the court will will consider your testimony
we'll take your testimony questions or comments 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
kate mooney has their hand raised i've allowed them to speak
good morning could you please state your name and spell it for the sonographer good morning
mr chair my name is kate mooney k-a-t-e last name mooney m-o-o-n-e-y you swear or affirm to
tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do are you a neighbor i am please proceed
um so i live at the block just north of this on fourth street and the block on moya mensing
that's being proposed for the garage use um is frankly an ice war block a number of cars
utilize the sidewalk of Moyamensing as driveways in front of these garages. And frankly, it's
difficult to traverse without cutting into the street. I'm looking currently at the street view.
There are two beautiful single-family homes on the corner that have taken advantage of the wide
sidewalks of Moyamensing Avenue. And, you know, I would, if we're going to allow
variances for things like this.
It should really be in the best interest of the neighborhood.
And I just honestly, as a neighbor, don't think that this single-story garage
is in the best interest moving forward in the neighborhood.
Thank you for taking the time to call us.
We appreciate it.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
Unless, Mr. Chair, Dr. Wynn had their hand raised again.
Do I allow them to try to speak this time?
Jack Nguyen, please unmute and wait to be sworn in.
We're going to move on.
No one else in the virtual audience?
No further answer, Mr. Chair.
Planning Commission.
Hi, Meg Cavanagh, Planning Commission staff.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing single family residential zoning
at this location. There is no unique physical condition or circumstance that would prevent
the property from being used in conformance with the zoning code. The City Planning Commission
recommends that the Board deny the use variance for two-family household living.
Thank you. MI 2023-006887-2005 South 4th Street, I vote no.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is no.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is no.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you, sir.
Number 14, MI 2023, 006-888, 4823 Longshore Avenue.
Alan Notkinson is the attorney.
There's a letter of non-opposition from the Taconi Civic Association.
I'm back in as a panelist.
I'll come back in as a panelist.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Good morning, Mr. Nockamson.
Good morning.
Would you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Yes, my name is Alan Nockamson, A-L-A-N, last name Nockamson, 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?
Could you identify your client in a relationship to this property?
My client is 4823 Longshore F. LLC, and in the virtual audience is its member, Danielio Burgos.
Our vice chair has a few questions.
Good morning, counsel.
Do you agree to leave 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 we have thank you counsel please proceed and share your screen
all right so we're here to present 4823 longshore avenue um which is on a commercial corner
However, this is a CMX2 property, excuse me, and we're trying to use this property for visitor accommodation use.
So during our presentation, we'll review the notice of refusal or letter of non-opposition from the Taconi Civic Association, nearby Airbnb listings, because it's not uncommon to have Airbnb listings in this neighborhood,
Reviews about my client from occupants of this property who used it for Airbnb use.
Maps of the area.
Interior photographs of the property so you can see how nice the condition of the property is from the inside.
And then also photographs from outside the property and then surrounding the area.
Simple floor plans showing the layout of the property.
Our RCO meeting notice, our application for appeal, the deeds of property showing that 4823 Longshore Ave LLC is the owner of the property, and a certificate of tax clearance.
Again, at the conclusion of my presentation, I would ask that Danilo virtually raise his hand, be sworn in, and then we'll have a few questions for him.
Alan, before you start, just so we're all on the same page, in 2012, it was approved for four units?
Yes. Right. And then there was plans for zoning permit for lot line adjustment and the plan chose seven units. So it went from four to seven.
I'm not familiar with that. I can ask my client, although he purchased it in 2021. So I could quickly look at that. So Hillary, am I correct in asking that so we at least understand where we are with that?
yeah so the the lot line um the permit for the lot line relocation did not include a change of
use however there were plans with it that showed that there were now seven dwelling units plus the
commercial space um so it was the we were just a little bit confused as to like the last approval
being four dwelling units and now seven and as you know in visitor accommodations the number of
units doesn't matter um but it was just a little bit confusing because it was noted on the refusal
that it was previously approved for four and now there are seven um we're also confused as to
whether the commercial use was remaining or whether that had been converted to a residential
dwelling unit yeah i think when we go through the floor plans we can go through that and then
And, you know, again, I have Mr. Brogos online who can answer some of those questions as well.
All right. Thank you.
Hi. Yeah.
So, yes, as Ms. Emerson stated, with visitor accommodation use, there's no requirement, you know, to have in the permits how many units we're just using for visitor accommodations.
But, again, we did not apply for this.
Our clients originally applied for it.
So I guess there was some indication in the notice of refusal itself for seven units.
So we did get a letter of non-opposition from the Tonkoni Group.
Again, my client's a well-known entity in this neighborhood.
They do a lot of business in this neighborhood.
They personally help support the commercial corridor through their efforts.
And, you know, we're not too far off of 95.
So, you know, there's definitely a need within this community for Airbnb use.
and then again not uncommon people who are looking for a cheaper airbnb use
And then again, not uncommon. People who are looking for a cheaper Airbnb use, not looking to get a traditional hotel in Center City, Philadelphia and wants to be close to 95.
And what we see is in a lot of neighborhoods, people have overflowed during the holiday season and they, you know, they can't accommodate having all their family members in their house.
So this is a different way of helping out neighborhoods through like these cheaper versions of visitor accommodations.
And you can see there's a substantial amount in this close proximity right here.
And then my client is not only well-regarded in the community, but within the Airbnb community as well.
This is just an example of some of the reviews they have.
And just as just as an aside, you know, again, just like, you know, landlords get reviewed, so do tenants.
And there are some preventive measures my client puts together for his Airbnb occupants, first of which the tenants have to be reviewed.
You know, he's not going to just approve anyone. So the tenant has to have good reviews.
And if any tenant proposed tenant, you know, has any negative reviews, he's disinclined to rent to them.
So they at least have to have one minimum review, and it has to be good.
They also have quiet hours from 10 p.m. to 9 a.m.
If there's any violations for noise, it's a $500 fine.
He has cameras in the front of the building, in the back of the building, as well as lighting.
And he provides his contact information to neighboring property owners.
Again, a well-known quantity in the neighborhood.
So we're on a commercial corridor.
On long, short, our property is CMX2.
It's a rather large property, too.
It's lot area is 5806.
So, again, we're not talking about the amount of units.
But if this was long-term accommodations, just quick math, we would be allowed, well, definitely over 10 units.
But we're not seeking that.
But I'm just pointing that out.
And then you can see from the Google map, like, how far we are to 95.
So we're really a stone throw away from 95, which helps in terms of visitor accommodation use in this neighborhood.
And then the interior of the property.
So my client has updated from a cosmetics point of view the interior of this property.
It's important to him that these properties look good.
It also attracts a better clientele as well.
and then photographs of the exterior of the property
and then the back of the property as well
and then
notice posters that were put out there
both front and back
and then this is contextual photos of the neighborhood
and then our plans and drawings
and we do have seven units here, it looks like
even the commercial unit will be used as
visitor combinations.
And I think that's our refusal, too,
where CMX2 is not allowed in a commercial district.
This is our RCO meeting notice.
Along with proof of mailing that notice.
my client personally did it himself or application for appeal that my client filed
the deed to the property
as well as the certificate of tax clearance with that being said i would ask that danielio virtually
raise his hand to be sworn in and then we can confirm some of the use as to the property thank
you they've been allowed to speak good morning sir could you please
Please state your name and spell for the stenographer.
Good morning, Chair.
My name is Danilo Burgos.
First name is D-A-N-I-L-O.
Last name is B-U-R-G-O-S.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth,
to hold truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
Please proceed, Mr. Nocklinson.
Yes, Danilo, you heard everything I had to state today
about your zoning matter.
And is it true and correct?
And do you adopt this as your own testimony?
Yes. All right. Just elaborate just on the use. So we're just all on the same page here.
Do you plan like do you plan to have any commercial use in this property?
We're currently using it as our operating office.
OK, so there is so there is a there is a vacant commercial space component.
So there is a portion of the building that's not being used for visitor accommodations.
The commercial space. That's correct.
Okay, and that takes up the first 30% of the building.
Okay. And that takes up the first 30% of the building. Is that correct?
Yes, sir.
Okay. So I think what, Mr. Chairman, if this board feels so inclined to grant the variance, I think the noise refusal is somewhat unclear that we should have a proviso having commercial space on remains on ground floor.
Okay. Thank you. Questions or comments? Do you want to have him adopt your testimony?
i did okay all right um questions or comments from the board no mr chairman
questions or questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson
um just to piggyback off of what mr knockamson said um if the board does grant um i would i
would note that the um the commercial existing commercial use at the first floor front um will
be remain will remain as a proviso so i'm not sure what was previously approved for the commercial
use there um but whatever was approved is is just stay is staying so it doesn't sound like it's
vacant at this time and hillary do we do we also talk about certificate of occupancy we could do a
certificate of occupancy as well i believe that is required because the use is changing from
prior residential to a visitor accommodation okay um questions or comments from the virtual audience
i do not see any further hands mr chair planning commission
hi i'm mc cavanaugh planning commission staff uh the comprehensive plan does recommend a change
from cmx2 commercial mixed use to rm1 multi multi-family residential zoning at this location
although neither the proposed nor recommended zoning allow visitor accommodations.
There is no unique condition that would prevent the property from being used in performance with the zoning code.
The Planning Commission recommends the Board deny the requested use variance for visitor accommodations.
So, MI 2023-006-888-4823 Longshore Avenue.
I vote yes for temporary variance that would expire 4-24-27, proviso, commercial space on first floor to remain, and required certificate of occupancy prior to residence.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with provisos.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with provisos.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you.
Number 15, MI 2023-007098, 5129 North 5th Street.
Roger Perry is the attorney.
There's a letter of support from the new 42nd Ward.
Roger Perry again.
Good morning.
Mr. Perry, you've already been sworn.
Could you just state your name for the record?
Yes, Roger Perry, P-E-R-R-Y.
I'm representing the owner.
All right.
Could you identify that owner and the relationship to the property?
The owner is Tumai, and she's the owner as an individual of the property,
and she is here in my office today to hear my testimony and adopt it as necessary.
Our vice chair has a few questions.
Good morning, counsel.
Do you agree to wait to read another refusal or stipulate towards accuracy?
yes i do have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that's needed to proceed
with this case five days in advance of this hearing yes i have thank you please proceed and share your
Okay, can we can. We're good. Okay, so this is 5129 North 5th Street. It's in an RSA 5
district. However, it's immediately adjacent to a parking area and a large church. And
that particular block is a mixed use with a lot of commercial, as we'll see as we go down.
This has been previously applied for. There's a letter of support from the 42nd Ward indicating.
So let's just briefly go through the documents.
This is my client, Tumai, who is the owner of the property and has owned it for several years.
Let's get a look at what the property looks like.
Refusal is the request to put a restaurant and one apartment at the second floor level in an RSA.
to put a restaurant and one apartment at the second-floor level in an RSA-5 district.
I'll turn off my phone here.
It's appealed.
All the notices were sent out to the neighborhood, and we did have an RCO meeting.
Okay, so this is the property.
It has a lower-level first floor and a second floor.
and we'll get this is the lot behind behind the property this is the rear of the property
has a kitchen under construction driveway to the parking area and so forth the property was posted
that's the posting of the property and so forth this is the neighborhood this is the property
This is an entirely open area with a church to the right, and you can see that there's a mixed use here and a mixed use here, some housing, some apartments, but a lot of commercial development.
This is an application to put a very nice Vietnamese restaurant into this location and provide a new amenity to the neighborhood.
This is, let's see if I can rotate that left here.
This is the immediately adjacent property, sorry about the posting, here we are, okay,
here's the property, here's the church, Ms. Ma bought the property with the rear parking
lots and so forth, it has access from both Fifth Street and with a large driveway here
and also has access from Lawrence Street in back.
That's the church, this is the rear.
parking area where it can be used for the restaurant. She owns this area, which comes
up off of Lawrence Street. I'll get down to the plan here. The restaurant is in this area,
a single family apartment on the second floor. So let's just scroll down. These are across the
street that show the mixed use, the commercial nature of the block and so forth. It won't
adversely affect the neighborhood in terms of the use or the parking or whatever. And so
So ISSG did the plans for the property.
This would be 5th Street over here to the right.
That's 5th Street, and then the parking is in back.
This is the intended second floor apartment.
This is the use for the restaurant area and so forth.
They all have separate entrances.
The apartment has a separate entrance on the side of the property with stairs leading up to the
apartment, kitchen would be in the rear of the property.
You may see that there was some, it's still in unrenovated condition, but this property
was approved, oh, I forget what it's, about five years ago.
2018. Six years ago, they started and then stopped and then
completely stopped during COVID. So it's in unrenovated condition now.
so this is the tax clearance certificate taxes are all paid and this is a letter of support by
the 42nd ward and so forth indicating that they've reviewed this we have the rco meetings
and they are in favor of getting this which is you know we feel will be a very nice amenity to
this neighborhood as a in this case a vietnamese restaurant the hours are not going to be long
Right now, she'll be closed on Sundays. She intends to be open like Monday to Thursday until 6 p.m.
And then on Friday and Saturday, maybe to 9 p.m. But this is going to be a sit down restaurant.
Mr. Perry, is there will the first floor and the ground floor be utilized?
yes it's intended that this lower level which has a completely separate entrance
will be utilized as uh part of the restaurant okay
and there's separate entrances separate entrance here and then there's an entrance
um on the side as well
why don't you bring your client on yeah sure uh you're here uh she's sitting here so can
sure could you state your name please and spell for the stenographer
Mr. Kelly, did you get that?
mr kelly did you get that i did share but if i could ask the uh the witness to please come
I did, Chair.
a little closer to the could you get a little closer please why don't you have her come over
next to you mr perry okay come on okay hi do you do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the
whole truth nothing but the truth yeah i do i do okay please proceed mr perry okay hi uh that's my
You heard the presentation that I made to the board, everything I said.
And is it true and correct to your knowledge?
And you would adapt it as your testimony if you spoke.
Is it correct?
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Chair.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
just quickly um mr perry the the parking lot that um you mentioned is that part of the same lot as
the the restaurant building or is it a separate lot it's a separate lot on the d let me see if i
can scroll up to the okay yeah it's it's uh has two separate addresses i think it's 5126 and 5128
right here okay uh lawrence street okay okay all right thank you and then just as the the chair
noted um or clarified um so this use is on the ground floor as well as the first floor so the
refusal the refusal omitted the the ground floor so if the board is to grant um it should include
a proviso indicating that this use is for both floors.
Okay. Thank you. Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Yes, Mr. Chair. Charles Richardson
has their hand raised. I have allowed them to speak.
Good morning, Mr. Richardson. Good morning, Mr. Chair.
Would you please state your name and spell for the stenographer? Yes, sir. Charles Richardson,
R-I-C-H-A-R-D-S-O-N, Office
of councilwoman cindy bass room 508 city hall do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole
truth nothing but the truth i do please proceed uh councilwoman has no opposition to granting
this variance thank you for taking the time to call us is there anyone else in the virtual audience
i do not see any further answers okay planning commission
hi meg cavanaugh planning commission staff the comprehensive plan recommends no change
the existing single-family residential zoning at this location.
There is not evidence of prior ground floor commercial use on this property,
and the requested variance does not reflect the minimum necessary deviation from the zoning code.
The City Planning Commission recommends the Board deny the use variance.
MI 2023-007098-5129 North 5th Street, I vote yes with proviso.
Sit-down restaurant use is for ground floor and first floor.
Thomas Holloman
my vote is yes
with proviso
Ismail Shahid
my vote is yes with proviso
thank you counsel
thank you very much
is there anyone in the
virtual audience whose case has not been
called from the 930 list
I do not see any hands Mr. Chair
thank you everyone
see everyone at 2pm
All right.
Chair, you can proceed as you wish.
Thank you.
Good afternoon, everyone.
My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this afternoon ZBA hearings.
With me is our Vice Chair, Ismail Shahid.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our Board Member, Thomas Holloman.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
And our alternate board member, LeBaron Leonard Palmer.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Also, here is Hillary Emerson, our attorney, and our executive director, Tanya Sunkett.
Here's our virtual format.
Be advised that proceedings are being recorded.
Video will be available by contacting TanyaSunkett 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 enter 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 Sun.
All comments should be directed to our Executive Director, Tanya Sun.
Let's look at our schedule for this afternoon.
Let's look at our...
Number five, MI 2023-006-059-5804 North 5th Street.
That case is continued.
Number six, MI 2023-006-11-2100 South 61st Street.
That case is continued.
Number 12, MI2024, 000751-2450, North 30th Street.
That case is continued.
Number 14, MI2024-00767-1425 Marlboro Street.
That case is continued.
Excuse me, Mr. Chair, on Marlboro Street, can we call the parties forward? The request was from attorney for protestants in this case.
Yeah, I think, but I will. Brandon Shaverin and Vern Anastasio.
They've been allowed to speak, sir.
Morning. Good afternoon, Mr. Chair.
Vern, for the record, could you state your name and spell, please, for the court stenographer?
Sure, it's Vern Anastasio, A-N-A-S-T-A-S-I-O, on behalf of some of the immediate neighbors on the 1400 block of Marlboro Street.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Brandon?
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the stenographer, please?
Yes, B-R-A-N-D-O-N, then S as in Sam, A, V as in Victor, R-A-N as in Nancy. That's Brandon Saverin on behalf of the applicant.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Mr. Anastasia, would you want to talk about your request?
Yeah, I recently got retained and would like to be able to get up to speed. I understand
Mr. Saverin is not opposing my request, and because it's the first listing. I thank you
for granting it. Brandon, you're okay with this? Mr. Chairman, I am. I just want to make one brief
comment, which is, as of now, I don't know the list of whom Vern represents. I think that he
is still figuring that out. So not his fault. But I would hope that we would basically be made
privy to who his clients are and what their objections are, given that this is about a
single family house. There's no objection from an RCO. The only variance is a curb cut. So I
I just would like to see. Sure, sure. Mr. Anastasio. Yeah, obviously, I'm meeting with Michael. I've just been retained. I am meeting with my clients.
I will be full transparency with Mr. Saverin. And it's my understanding that that the the rub here with those who live on that block is, in fact, the front loading garage.
But we'll get more into that later. Thank you. All right. Thank you both.
Thank you. So, MI 2024, 000767, 1425 Marlboro Street. That case is continued.
Thank you.
All right. Number 15, MI 2024, 000790, 324 South 17th Street. That case is continued. Attorney
moving party. And number 17, MI 2024, 00079811 Scherz Lane. That case is continued. Are there
any other requests for continuance? Good afternoon, Mr. Chair. This is Jason Hand. I will be your
co-host again for the session. I see Sean Whalen with their hand raised. I have allowed them to
speak. Good afternoon, Chairman. Mr. Whalen, could you state your name, please, and spell for the
court stenographer? Certainly. Sean, W-H-A-L-E-N. Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes i do what case uh this is 451 ron r-h-a-w-n street
451 ron r-h-a-w-n street it's actually uh two appeals listed for this property
ha 2022-851 and 856 i am representing councilman brian o'neill okay hold on do we do we see that
hillary hillary what one's that neither of those cases are on the list for today
okay so they they were formally removed i i do not know um they were not on
the list for today and it's my understanding that those matters need a vote from the board prior to
any further listings uh yes actually if that's the case then i'm i'm happy to uh to step back and i
know uh uh meredith fairlager was on the call also just to make sure so if that's the case i'm happy
with that and we'll await the board's hearing or the board's ruling yes yeah we will we will be in
touch regarding those cases thank you okay thank you very much any other requests for continuance
there are no further answers Mr. Chair
and number two
MI 2023
005989
3017 Diamond Street
this is the second listing
no exhibits
Pierre Smith
is the owner applicant pro se
Mr. Smith
um chair i have a hand raised from tyrone williams
well he's you you can let him on he's from strawberry mansion
okay maybe not speak i could you please good afternoon could you state your name please and
spell for this stenographer. Sure. My name is Tyrone Williams, Tyrone, T-Y-R-O-N-E, Williams,
W-I-L-O-I-A-M-S. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the
truth? Yes, sir. So, Mr. Williams, I've called for the applicant. He has not answered yet. I do
know that you have a letter that's in so i'm going to try one more time mr smith
okay so mr williams you don't have to say anything i'm going to make a ruling now
so mi 2020 mi 2023 005 989 3017 diamond street this is the second listing the first
the listing, no one appeared. I vote to dismiss. Thomas Holloman, my vote is to dismiss.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is to dismiss.
We're going to go to our add-on list. So MI 2023-006-126-706-08 Porter Street, I vote no.
thomas holloman my vote is no shaheed my vote is no
or two mi2024-001-154-9201 james street i vote no thomas holloman my vote is no
No, I hate my vote is no.
Number three is a non-protunk request, 3612 North 16th Street.
Alec Sokolov is the attorney.
Mr. Sokolov.
They've been allowed to speak.
Mr. Sokolov, could you state your name, please?
Yes, absolutely.
Oleg Sokolov, O-L-E-G-S-O-K-O-L-O-V.
on behalf of the owner of 3612 North 50.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
I do, in fact.
Could you give us an idea
why you would want this non-protein request?
Personally, good afternoon, Chair.
Good afternoon, members of the board.
Very simply stated,
this is a technical issue
that we had with receiving emails from the city
and we just were not alerted
to the issuance of the refusal in a timely manner.
And when we did, in fact, check, it was past the refusal period.
I don't want to involve her, but Ms. Emerson and I have been having some issues with our emails going back and forth.
So I think she can speak to the fact that I'm having severe technical issues with emails going to quarantine and things of that nature, which we've since resolved.
But that was the issue with this property.
And we request just leave the file up.
and we request just leave the file up it was the refusal date was 131 we unfortunately caught it
It was the refusal date was 130.
and i emailed miss hemerson on march 15th okay so 3612 north 16th street my vote is request for
non-proton is granted thomas holliman my vote is granted
Ishmael Shahid, my vote is granted.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you very much for the support.
Have a great afternoon.
Mr. Chair and Mr. Sokolov, for the record, the application for appeal must be filed by
close of business next Friday, May 3rd, 2024, in order to be considered within the nonpartum
period.
Thank you.
And Ms. Emerson, if I may, embarrassingly, this is my first non-pro-tunk.
Will the Eclipse system open up to allow me to file, or do I need to file in a different manner?
If you have challenges filing in the Eclipse system, please contact the ZBA staff, and they will work with you on that.
Understood. I appreciate everyone's time. Have a wonderful afternoon.
You too.
Thank you. We're going to our regular list. MI 2023-004-549-1515, Wesley High Avenue. Raymond DeRizio is the attorney. I do not see an RCO letter, but the meeting was held on March 19, 2024.
We were joining as a panelist, Mr. Chair.
good afternoon mr chair members of the board raymond dorizio r-a-y-m-o-n-d-d-o-r-i-z-i-o
i'm attorney for the applicant dorian noel property is 1515 west lehigh avenue do you
swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do our vice chair has
a few questions, sir. Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to
waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its
accuracy? Great. 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. So I'm going to, if you bear with me, I will.
So this is 1515 Wesley High Avenue, and here's the refusal. My client's seeking to get
a multifamily, four units in the property. We did meet with the RCO
back in March. This case was previously before the board and his, my client, Mr. Noel, his
application was granted to have a four-family multi-dwelling back in 2009. It's noted
on this refusal. However, his father became ill and he had to get away from the project,
so he never proceeded. So we are back again today on this. This is his deed. He purchased the
property in 2006. Here are his drawings. These are the same drawings he submitted previously.
It's basically three stories. He's seeking to have a first floor front and rear apartment.
The second floor will have two bedrooms. The third floor, I believe, is a one-bedroom apartment
for the four units. This is the notice that he posted.
and the appeal. I'm just going to scroll through this. The property is, used to be, looks like a
corner store, basically. It's on the corner of North Hicks and Lehigh Avenue. There is a side
entrance as well. My client has a small yard where trash will be kept. All of the residents will have
access to that this is a photo of the street same side of the street cross hick street which is a
a store um this is across lehigh avenue looking east this is across the street lehigh ave and
this is going west um i also have some more photos if i could bring that up um essentially sorry
oh this is the wrong one sorry i'm a little uh off i had to make separate
make separate
copies.
So as far as his tax compliance, he was challenging his tax bill. He was under appeal.
However, my client is resolving that. He went today and he resolved that. So he should be
sending in that tax certification forthwith. These are some of the photos of the interior
of the property. There's much work that needs to be done. My client's going to get started on that.
You know, we were at the meeting. It didn't seem like there was any problem
with my client's proposal. Again, he was approved for it last time and he's just
trying to restart this project due to the illness of his father, which he couldn't complete.
you want to bring your client on yes mr noel do you do you uh hear us
mr noel please unmute and wait he's raised your virtual hand and wait to be sworn in
chair doesn't seem like i um okay all right so counsel you're you're an officer of the court
will take your testimony i do sorry one second i do see a hand raised from another raymond
durizio i wonder mr durizio if that is your client hello hello mr noel i see you're under
my name. Okay, Mr. Noel, were you listening? Wait, wait, wait, wait. Mr. Noel, could you
please state your name and spell for the stenographer? Mr. Noel?
Can you hear me? Yes. Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
My name is Dorian Noel, that's D-O-R-I-A-N, last name Noel, N-O-E-L, like Christmas.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir, I do.
Please proceed, counsel.
Yes, thank you.
Mr. Noel, did you hear my testimony, and did you see the exhibits that were presented to the board this afternoon with regard to your case?
Yes, sir. I heard everything.
Okay. And do you agree with that testimony and accept those exhibits as your own?
Yes. The only thing that was wrong, it wasn't 2009, it was 2019 when my father had school.
2019. Okay. And you wish to adopt that testimony as your own with that correction of the year?
Okay. Thank you. I have nothing further.
Thank you. Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Chair.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Mr. Chair, I see Mr. Richardson's hand raised, so I think he can provide more information.
But he did just forward an email from the coordinating RCO, indicating that they thought there was going to be another meeting in this case.
So I will let him explain that further.
um questions or comments from the virtual audience that will be me mr chair yes sir
just state your name for the record you've already been sworn charles richardson office
of councilwoman cindy bass room 508 city hall uh received a email because i had made an inquiry last
week to uh allegheny west to find out whether or not a meeting had taken place because i didn't
to have any follow-up. And as I asked, was there ever an RCO meeting? And I just forwarded this to
Hillary and to you guys as well. The response was from Regina Smith, who is their coordinator.
Hi, Charles. We met on 3-19-24. The community and Tina Marie, who is another RCO chair,
requested, and they agreed to come back for another meeting. I have not heard from them.
So at this point, we would ask for a hear and hold if that be the case, or resumption, rather,
because of the fact they do need to go back and meet with the community, because that's why you
have no letter from the RCO, because they were supposed to come back. Okay. All right.
I was unaware of that. I know they said they would email me or follow up with me,
But, you know, if they want to meet again, I guess that's fine.
But that was not communicated to me or made clear to us during that evening.
to us during that evening so it would have been nice if we received any correspondence or letter
So it would have been nice if we received any.
regarding that but okay all right mr richardson thank you is there any other person in the
audience from for the verse from the or virtual audience who has comment um yes i have a hand up
from a number and again three five five two i will allow them to speak at this time good afternoon
June, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Hi, could you state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Yes, I'm Adrienne Fernandez, Swampoodle Neighborhood Puzzles Association, RCO, and my last name
is spelled F-E-R-N-A-N-D-E-Z.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
please proceed okay um we uh had um a meeting for i believe it's the same owner for 1514
west lehigh avenue and um i wasn't aware that uh there was a meeting because we did not get a
notice of um public meeting so i understand that there's going to be a resumption i was listening
and also that um there'll be another meeting and i'm just asking that the applicant party
send out the proper notices and the proper proof of mailing to all of the all the affected rcos
thank you for your comments i have that yeah i i absolutely have if i can respond i actually
you know we served everyone with a certificate of mailing and all the uh addresses um
Um, so I, you know, we have that and I can certainly, and I believe I included that in my packet, but I can certainly upload that to the board.
Right. Is there anything, anyone else in the virtual audience?
No further answer, Mr. Chair.
Planning commission.
Good afternoon, Chair, members of the board. This is Greg Waldman from planning commission staff.
Greg, could you spell your name, please, for the stenographer?
Certainly. My first name is Gregory, G-R-E-G-O-R-Y, last name Walden, W-A-L-E-M-A-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do, Chair.
Please proceed.
The Copyrights Plan recommends no change to the existing commercial mixed-use zoning.
A previous permit from 2001 indicates that there was a grocery store on the first floor,
and two residential units above.
Their grocery store has since been closed,
and the adjacent CMX2 properties have had their ground floors converted
to residential dwelling units.
The applicant could develop two units by right.
However, the applicant could utilize the low-income option
of the mixed-income housing bonus to achieve one extra unit
for a total of three dwelling units.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the Zoning Board
grant the variance for ground floor residential
but deny the variance for recalling units above two, since that by-right option is available.
All right. Thank you. So we're going to hold this case, hold the vote. It'll be closed other than
letters or comments from the RCO. Also, we would want to see the tax issue. And if we have a
Resumptive hearing will be the RCO making comments and also, Mr.
Derizio, you responding to their comments.
Yeah, I was going to say, if I can make a suggestion, Mr.
Derizio, once you've had or scheduled that follow-up meeting,
please contact the ZBA and then we can schedule a resumption hearing
accordingly.
So we schedule it now.
We don't know when the meeting is.
We don't want to have to reschedule.
so just contact us and we'll we'll reschedule a resumption hearing and Mr. Chair I think we can
just leave the record opened for the time being since we'll have a resumption all right thank you
all right number three MI 2023-005-992-1600 to 18 West Hunting Park Avenue
No RCO letter, but there was a meeting held on January 9th, 2024, with the 13th Ward RCO.
Dorothy Ann Hamill will be rejoining as a panelist.
Afternoon, counsel, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Dorothy Hamill, D-O-R-O-T-H-Y-H-A-M-A-R-I-L-L, Sterling Lesser and Benson.
Go ahead.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client, the relationship to the property?
My client is the owner of the property.
Also, attending the hearing is the proposed operator of the property.
Banquet Hall, Simeo Reeves.
Okay. And our Vice Chair has a few questions.
Good afternoon, Counsel. Do you agree to wait to read another refusal or stipulate towards accuracy?
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of the hearing?
Thank you. You may proceed.
Thank you.
Good afternoon, members of the board. My name is Dorothy Hamill. I'm representing the
applicant in connection with a proposed use in an existing building for assembly and
entertainment. That use is not permitted in the zoning district, which is I-1.
um the this is a copy of our zoning refusal uh i would note uh i would point out to the board
that in the notes there's there was actually a previous application uh two years ago which
granted the use uh with provisos um frankly i'm not sure what happened to that but um so this use
was previously approved. Also, just a little bit of history on the building.
The building had a banquet hall back in 2012 as well. Together with, there was also a daycare,
fitness center, and some other smaller uses. Currently, the property has 46 residential
apartments and a daycare center on the first floor. This proposed use would be the other use
in the building. This is a copy of our zoning application. We did have a meeting, which I'm
getting to our letter. This is proof of ownership. We did have a meeting with the community
organizations tax clearance through may 23rd this is a copy of the notice that was sent out
along with proof that we sent notices to the 200 the residents within 200 feet this is this is from
the RCO. We had our meeting. The RCO provided a letter of support for the proposal. However,
there were several provisos which were requested in their approval. We have agreed to those
I'm looking for because I don't know why. It's not fully on the, it's not fully in my proposal, but the provisos were that Banquet Hall would not have a liquor license.
So let me let me go back a second before getting into that. The proposal is not, you know, a large banquet hall for large parties.
The idea is for it to be a local gathering place for showers, church functions, anniversary parties, family reunions, things of that nature.
The proposed operator is a resident of the neighborhood and operates an existing business within the neighborhood, and so is very vested in the community.
the um there'll be no cooking on site uh people will either hire caterer or they will bring food
uh bring their own food in um it will be a byob so clients will be able to
It will be a BYOB, so clients will be able to have alcohol.
However, they will have to provide proof of insurance.
They will have to have all of the appropriate licenses necessary.
And as part of the contract that they sign for use of the facility, they will have to enforce a limit of three drinks per person.
And they were, you know, we had proposed those and the RCO was very supportive of that because that's something obviously they are concerned about that it not become, you know, a party hall.
And that's certainly not the intention, particularly. Given the residential nature of the building, the proposed hours of operation for the facility will be Monday to Friday, 12 p.m. to 12 a.m., Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 12 a.m.
The idea is that during the daytime, we're proposing those will be predominantly business events and family gatherings, such as repasts, church functions, and they'll last somewhere between one to four hours.
Evening hours will be 5 p.m. to 12 p.m. for evening events.
There will be commercial trash pickup behind a locked gate,
and we'll have commercial trash pickup at least twice a week
if it is determined that there's more trash, then two days a week we'll be able to handle,
then we certainly recognize that we'll have to and we'll be willing to increase the trash pickup.
The other issue that was raised by the RCOs, which is included in their summary, is they're concerned about security and how we were going to handle that.
And they wanted to make sure that there would be no armed guards during 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.
We certainly have no intention of that, you know, certainly not during any time that the daycare center is in operation.
We are going to require all guests to provide security for evening events outside to make sure that, you know, not only the guests are safe, but that there's nothing surrounding, nothing that will affect the surrounding neighbors or businesses.
Um, they, so I think that we agreed to all of the provisors and concerns that the RCOs
raised, which is why they provided us with a letter of support.
The, I have pictures, uh, this is just from the letter.
it's the letter this is proof of all the mailings to the neighbors
let me uh let me shrink that down a little bit uh these are the uh these are the notices
we're still we're still looking at council we're still looking at the original
vote of the uh rco oh oh you are oh can you see it now okay we're looking at the rco vote
are you looking at the presentation now can you see rco vote the rco vote
Can you see it now?
RCO vote.
The RCO vote.
I don't.
I don't, uh.
That's odd because it's not up on my screen.
So, I don't know.
Let me see.
Take that out.
Does that do it?
It's not up on my screen.
So, I'm not.
Let me see.
Ms. Hamill?
You might want to stop sharing and reopen the document and then share again.
Let me stop share.
I will bring it up again.
Here we go.
And then share again.
Share.
Share.
Better?
Move it up.
Keep going.
Keep moving.
That's all the mailings.
Let me scan down.
Do you have a picture of the property?
Getting to that.
Shrink it down a little so we can see.
A little more.
That's it.
Proof of posting.
Proof of posting of a building.
A couple pictures.
This is a picture of the building from across the street.
As you can see, the daycare center is next door.
The tenant would be operating in what was the former furniture store.
The residential properties are above.
this is a picture from the side of the building this is no if it's in this picture but the
surrounding buildings are one is a vacant building and one is a furniture another
furniture store this is the rear of the building
this is a view down the street across the street is the
Marcus Foster Stadium down the street there are a number of auto repair businesses
down further the this is what the interior of the space looks like
This is, again, an outside picture, another inside picture.
You can see this is not a very large space, but it's, like I said,
it's not proposed that the property is going to be a venue for very large events.
It is intended to be for local community events.
We certainly, we talk to the RCO and are open to allowing the local RCOs, local community organizations to allow them to use the premises if needed for any community events.
So why don't we bring, how about your client? Why don't we bring your client on?
Stop your testimony.
Michael?
Greenzang, could you?
We see a hand.
Thank you.
Hi, could you please state your name and spell it for the court stenographer?
Michael Greenzang, M-I-C-H-A-E-L-G-R-E-E-N-Z-A-N-G.
All right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you.
Michael, have you been listening to my testimony regarding this application at 1600 Hunting Park?
And do you agree that my testimony is true and correct?
And do you adopt my testimony as to what your testimony would be had you testified?
I also have Samia Reeves who's going to be the operator if the board has any questions.
No, I was just going to say, I also have Samia Reeves, who's going to be the operator. If the board has any questions for her, I figured it would be a good time to get her on, too.
So why don't I see where the board stands first? Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Chair.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
just wanted to clarify is there a specific unit in this building that the assembly entertainment
use is proposed so you know there's a lot of notes on the bottom and there was previously
a banquet hall um and you mentioned there's already a child care center there but i wasn't
i wasn't clear if there was like a specific area that this should be noted
um i believe it's uh it would be unit number two but michael could you confirm that
raise hands and michael what you what unit what unit number 102. okay okay thank you
and then and then um mr richardson from council member bass's office just did forward the letter
from the rco there were two provisos that if the board is inclined to adopt could um could be
included um one being the hours of operation which was mentioned by miss hamill and also
they requested a five-year temporary um variance so those were the those are the two that were
enforceable. Are you okay with that? Yes, we're fine. Okay, sure. Questions or comments from the
virtual audience? Chair, I have Mr. Charles Richardson with the hand raised. I've allowed
him to speak. Hi, Mr. Richardson. Just state your name. You've already been sworn. Certainly,
Mr. Chair, Charles Richardson, R-I-C-H-A-R-D-S-O-N,
Office of Councilwoman Cindy Bass, Room 508 City Hall.
Councilwoman is not opposed to granting the variance
with the five-year proviso, temporary proviso.
Thank you.
Anyone else in the first audience?
There are no further answers, Mr. Chair.
All right, Planning Commission.
Good afternoon, Chair and members of the board.
This is Greg Walden, Planning Commission staff.
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing industrial zoning the proposed use for
assembly will not cause detrimental impacts to the neighborhood beyond what is normally what
normally might be expected the city planning commission recommends that the zoning board
grant the variance with the proviso that the use be limited to event assembly facility as detailed
in the section in the code under the assembly and entertainment section of commercial services
use categories under 14-601 use categories okay so mi 2023 005 992 1618 west hunting park avenue
i vote yes with proviso limited to section 102 hours 12 noon to 12 8 during the week on the
weekend 10A to 12P, and a five-year temporary variance that will expire 4-24-29.
Thomas Holliman, my vote is yes with provisos.
Ishmael Shahid, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you.
Number four, MI 2023-005-996-1118 East Montgomery Avenue.
Jared Klein is the attorney.
There's a letter of support from the Fishtown Neighbors Association
and letter of non-opposition from Council Member Squilla.
Mr. Klein.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair, members of the board.
Counsel, could you state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Certainly. It's Jared, J-A-R-E-D. Last name is Klein, K-L-E-I-N, from Nockamson, PC.
Oh, there you go. Okay. Thank you. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
All right. Could you identify your client and their relationship to the property?
Yes, certainly. My client is the owner of the building, Matthew Papajohn, and his wife, Catherine Recker.
Yes, certainly. My client is the owner of the building, Matthew Papajohn, and his wife,
the cat.
Chair, we don't see you.
Yeah, I seem to be having some trouble with my camera. I'm turning it on and off, but it is not.
Because it's going to be hard for you to make a presentation.
There we go. Okay. I fixed it.
Took me a second. Apologies for the technical difficulties.
Your vice chair, our vice chair once has a few questions.
Good afternoon, counsel.
Do you agree to waive 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?
It's probably in advance of this hearing.
Thank you.
Please proceed and share your screen.
Thank you very much.
Hopefully that works more smoothly.
Can everybody see that?
We can.
Okay, excellent.
So, yes, we're here for 1118 East Montgomery Avenue, which is the home of my clients,
and they have resided there for some time. The application is to do an addition to the single
family home to allow them to continue to live there and do some aging in place as they head,
hopefully not too soon, but head towards their retirement years. The refusal that we got
are two of them. The required open area is not provided. Now, we're not adding to this condition,
so this is an existing condition on the ground floor, so it is something that's being carried
over from the way the property was constructed, and the rear setback at the addition level
is not provided, but I think you'll see once we get into the plans that this is fairly set back
and unobtrusive to everyone involved. The property itself used to be a firehouse.
So I'll show some pictures here. There used to be part of the Philadelphia Fire Department that
resided here in this structure. So it has an unusually large ceiling height on the first
floor with these large doors. And you'll see that there still exists when we get to some side views,
part of the hose and pole tower is still on the on the roof and that creates some challenges to
expand the building because of the way it was originally constructed for a non-residential
purpose. These are the blocks of Montgomery to the left and right of the of the property
and photo of posting. Just to orient the board about where we are this is East Girard Avenue
Montgomery Avenue is here. We're an interior mid-block property there.
Aerial view in context. And we did do a bit of a survey of properties in the immediate area
that also have less than the 25% open area. So our properties here, as you can see, it's a fairly
common condition amongst the surrounding area that we're in, where there is less than the 25%
open area that's being provided. In terms of the plans, this is the area of the addition is back
here. This is the existing structure. There is this proposed stair tower and addition that goes
on the rear of the building. For context and scale, the area that is in red would be the new
addition so we're not adding to any existing condition in terms of the rear yard or open area
we're going on top of um on top of those areas but not adding to them and this is uh more of
floor plan sample to show um the mezzanine floor this is the ground floor of the building as it
existed existing laid out and here is the area that's going to be the addition really what
they're doing is adding a larger bedroom and deck onto this third floor just to give them some more
space to continue to live in this property. Part of the reason for the stair tower that's being
reconstructed also is that the stairs currently, because of the building's former use, are very
steep. So the stairs are being reconfigured into a more gradual incline for people as they age. It's
a little easier for them to get up and down a less vigorously inclined staircase. As the chair
mentioned, I think as I was joining as a panelist, we did meet with FNA. They were very enthusiastic
about it, sent in a letter of support with some comments that it contextually fits and would
allow them to stay in their home and maintaining some of the historic features. The vote was
overwhelmingly in support, and we also received some correspondence from Councilman Squilla
um following the uh rco's position um with that i'd like to ask matt papajohn if he could raise
following the RCO's position. With that, I'd like to...
his virtual hand briefly
they've been allowed to speak good afternoon sir could you please state your name and spell
for the court stenographer matthew papajohn m-a-t-t-h-e-w last name papajohn p as in peter
a double p as in peter a j o h n you swear affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the
truth i do please proceed counsel thank you mr chair matt did you have a chance to hear my
presentation this afternoon i did and would you adopt everything i said and the evidence i submitted
is true correct in your own if you'd had a longer chance to speak yes i would thank you very much
We don't have anything further, Mr. Chair.
Questions from the board?
No, Chair.
No, Mr. Chairman.
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.
Planning, Commissioner.
Wait a minute.
Excuse me, Mr. Chair, I'm sorry about you.
I have a Robert Everett with her hand raised.
I have a lot of them.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the stenographer?
Yes, good afternoon.
My first name is Robert, last name Everett, E-V-E-R-E-T-T.
You swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Are you from the RCO?
I am from the RCO.
Please proceed, Mr. Everett.
Just here to confirm everything Jared said is absolutely correct.
the neighborhood is thrilled to see that building get repurposed and keep the papa johns in there
thank you thank you for uh calling we appreciate it is there anyone else in the virtual audience
no other hands mr chair planning planning commission
good afternoon chair members of the board um the comprehensive plan recommends no change
to the existing residential single-family zoning proposed dimensional variance will not cause
detrimental impacts to the neighborhood beyond what normally might be expected the city planning
commission recommends that the zoning board grant variance thank you mi2023-005-996-1118
East Montgomery Avenue. I vote yes.
Thomas Holliman,
my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shahid, my vote is yes.
Thank you,
counsel. Thank you very much. Enjoy your
afternoon. Number seven,
MI 2023-00633,
South 5th Street.
Alan Notkinson is the attorney.
There's a recommendation
of support from Dickerson Square
West Civic.
The vote was unanimous and a letter of non-opposition from Council Member Squilla, along with a petition and support signed by 13 neighbors, along with a form letter of support.
Mr. Nockmson, just for the record, could you state your name? You've already been sworn.
Ellen Nockmson.
And Mr. Nockmson, could you identify your client in a relationship to this property?
yes my fine is elise ebert and she's in the virtual audience okay and our vice chair has a
few questions good afternoon counselor do you agree to wave the read another refusal or
stipulating to its accuracy i do have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that's
needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing uh yes we did thank you
Council. Please proceed and hear your screen.
Let me show you the right screen.
I'm here to present 2025
South Street. That's good. What I'm going to
show you first is the notice of refusal, then the letter of support from the
Dickinson Square West Civic Association. We did do an extensive
petition of the neighborhood. My client lives nearby. This is an investment property she's
hoping to have as an Airbnb with an allowable use as a duplex as well. It's uncommon to have
Airbnb listings nearby, and we'll show you that as well. Reviews of her Airbnb listing and use
are also included in our packet materials, our host profile as well. Don't know why we're getting
of refusal for the duplex use. There's a zoning permit of record for duplex use, plus there was
an active rental license up to the point my client purchased the property. When she tried
when she tried to get a rental license she was told that she could not they could not locate
to get a rental license, she was told that she could not. They could not locate this.
this the certificate of occupancy it's i believe that's an issue with ellen i not an issue with
this property um i think ellen i lost his certificate of occupancy but this has had
extensive uh duplex use that's been continuous over the years with uh proof of that duplex
used by a rental license then we'll review maps of the area photographs of the interior of the
property, as well as photographs of the exterior of the property and the surrounding area.
So simple floor plans here.
Our RCO meeting notice, this was a very well-attended meeting, as you'll see by the vote,
and they voted unanimously in support of this matter.
Our application for appeal that we filed on behalf of Ms. Ebert, as well as the deeds
of property showing that she owns the property, as well as the certificate of tax clearance.
At the conclusion of my presentation, I would ask Ms. Ebert to virtually raise her hand, be sworn in, and then I have a few questions for her.
So first things first, notice a refusal.
This is an RSA-5 property, but you'll see it's one of these corner properties that you would think of as multi-family in nature.
We have two refusals.
It's visitor accommodations in each unit of a two-family household living.
I think first refusal has to do with the two-family household living.
Technically, we're RSA 5, but it is an existing use here that has been continuous for some time with proof of that by way of a zoning permit as well as a rental license.
And then the second use that we're asking for is the visitor accommodation use within those two units.
And, you know, because we're RSA 5, we're seeking a variance for that as well.
But that's not uncommon in this part of the neighborhood.
So as you can see here, 33 people attended that meeting, that vote took place, all voted in support of this project.
And then we also canvassed the neighborhood.
My client lives close by, and she was able to get a few signatures on this petition, as well as a letter, a form letter of support that was signed.
And then it's not uncommon to have Airbnb used in this part of Philadelphia.
As you can see, we just did a canvassing of the neighborhood.
within like a three to four block radius. And we have one, two, three, four, five, six, seven,
eight other Airbnbs in close proximity. And then reviews, my client has a stellar rating.
So not in addition to her rating or ranking, she also makes sure that she only takes on tenants
who have similar rankings. It's important to her, obviously, as an investment property to make sure
is kept in good repair, but also not to be a nuisance to the neighbors of this property
and quite frankly, her own neighbors who work because she lives close by.
So she only selects tenants who also have equally good ratings.
And then this is her host profile as well.
And then here's a use permit showing that this is, you know, we have an actual use permit
for two-family household living here.
And then here's the rental license as well. It was active until July 3rd of 2023. My client purchased the property in October of 2022 when she tried to renew the license. This is when she had her issue with respect to the duplex use.
in the maps of the area. We're a corner property
on the corner of Mercy and 5th Street.
And then this is the interior of the property. This is what you would see
on Airbnb. She tries to keep it in nice repair
and in clean nature.
Again, this is an existing two-family dwelling
physically. So it would be a huge hardship on her part
to have to convert this to single family. And then this is the photographs of the
property looking both from Mercy Streets and Fifth Streets.
And then just a simple floor plan here. And again,
you can see this corner portion of the property. So there's two entrances, one for each unit.
So, again, this would be, I would think, more of a CMX1-ish property, where this would have been previously a commercial unit here.
But she uses this now as a two-bedroom, one-bath unit on the ground floor.
And then there's a separate entrance for the upper unit, which, again, is a two-bedroom, one-bath.
All was in that current condition or in that condition when she purchased the property.
And then we had our meeting on March 19th.
and then we had our meeting on march 19th we emailed notice of that meeting to the coordinating
We emailed no.
rco and other relevant parties we also mailed it you know two weeks beforehand to 189 addresses
list of the addresses proof of mailing to those addresses our application for appeal
that we filed on miss ebert's behalf deeds of property showing that she owns the property
and our certificate of tax clearance um i would ask that miss ebert virtually raise her hand
and be sworn in
we've been about to speak hi could you please state your name is spelled for the stenographer
hi elise ebert e l i s e e b e r t you swear or firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing
but the truth? Yes. Please proceed, counsel. Ms. Eber, you heard everything I had to state
today about your zoning matter. Yes. Is it true and correct? Yes, it is. And do you adopt it as
your own testimony? Yes. Thank you. One other thing, Mr. Chair, I know the board feels
is typically inclined to grant a temporary variance of three years. Given the overwhelming
support of 33 members of the community in favor of this matter, and Ms. Ebert's stellar passed
as an Airbnb operator, as well as her close proximity to the property, we would ask the
board to consider a five-year temporary variance. It's a very expensive product. This is a very
expensive and time-consuming process, so we would just ask for the board to consider that.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
no chair questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson
um yes just briefly mr chair um i did um discuss this application and another one we have later
today um with l and i because it does request two simultaneous uses right um at the property
um l and i did advise me that they they could coexist um and that you know the variances could
be granted for both um if the board would like to do a temporary variance for visitor accommodations
um we would just want to specify in the proviso that that was specifically for the visitor
accommodations and not for the duplex use as well yep yes i did notice that thank you um
questions or comments from the virtual audience
i have a john disley with a hand raised mr chair i have allowed them to speak
i could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
um yes sir my name is john disley d-i-z-z-l-e-y right do you swear or firm to tell the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes sir are you a neighbor i'm the president of
the zoning for Dickinson Square West. Okay. Thank you. Please proceed. I just wanted to add,
according to everything else that the young lady agreed to, she took it to the concerns of the
community. And so far, she agreed to add two cameras to the outside premises. She also agreed
to give Dickinson Square West Civic Association and some members of Mercy Street her number
in case we see something going wrong. So she's agreeing to be part of the community. And yes,
that's what i wanted to say thank you very much for taking the time mr disley we appreciate it
is there anyone else in the virtual audience no further answer mr chair planning commission
good afternoon chair members of the board this is greg guelman planning commission staff
in 2019 the zoning map was amended from use to residential single family at this location in
accord with recommendations from the comprehensive plan. The appellant has not supported their
hardship claim with evidence of unique physical circumstances or conditions of property. The city
planning commission recommends that the study board deny the variance. Thank you. So MI 2023
006333 2025 South Fish Street. I vote yes. With proviso, visitor accommodation is temporary,
expires
4-24-29
Thomas
Solomon, my vote is yes
with proviso
Ishmael Shaheen
my vote is yes with proviso
Mr. Nakamson, we're going to
move on to North Franklin Street
so MI-2023
413-1338 North Franklin
Street
letter of support from the 14th community organization with provisos
maximum three units interior trash storage and also
maximum three units interior trash storage and also there's a letter of um signed by approximately
30 neighbors mr knockamson just for the record state your name please
mr knockamson can you state your name please
we couldn't hear you for a minute i don't want to maybe i was maybe i was too far away from the
screen screen okay could could you identify your client in relationship to this property
uh yes my client is 1338 n franklin st llc in the virtual audience is its member keith aliots
and our vice chair has just a few questions
good afternoon counsel do you agree to wait to read another 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?
Yes, we have. Thank you, council. Please proceed and share your screen.
Thanks.
All right, so this is a pretty straightforward variance request. 1338 North Franklin Street.
This is an RSA 5 property, which has an extensive use as a triplex, and there are many
properties surrounding it, which have at least three units in them. So we'll review the notice
refusal. At first, we proposed four-unit dwelling. After talking to the community and looking further
at the history of this property as a triplex, we feel it's more appropriate for it to be a triplex,
and the community agreed with us. So if the board feels so inclined to grant this variance request,
we would ask for a proviso maximum three units. The chair also stated about proviso storing trash
indoors in the units. We have no objection to that either. So those would be the two
provisos that we would ask the board to consider. We do have a letter of support for the 14th
Community Organization, as well as an extensive petition of the surrounding properties. Again,
we wanted to look at the history of this property. Well, we looked at the history of this property
when we were doing our evaluation of this variance request, and we discovered that there was a zoning
and use permit, showing a history of multifamily use of three units.
So it's clearly appropriate under circumstances, given that extensive history, to reinvigorate
and revive that use to three units for this new construction project.
Then we'll review maps of the area, photographs of the property, our plans and drawings,
our RCO meeting notice.
And again, there was much negotiation with the community organization, just so the board
understands.
Not just the maximum of three units, but there are some non-binding provisos that we memorialize by way of a community benefits agreement as well.
Then we have our application for appeal, our deed to the property showing at 1338 and Franklin ST LLC is the owner of the property and the certificate of tax clearance.
And again, after my presentation, I would ask that Mr. Alias virtually raise his hand, be sworn in, and then I'll have a few questions for him.
So our notice refusal is this.
This is an RSA 5 property, but it's rather large in size.
The lot size is 1,754 square feet.
Originally, with this notice refusal, you can see that we applied for four dwelling units with two accessory surface parking spaces accessed via Perth Street.
We only have one refusal, and that's for the amount of units. I just want to make a point of this. You know, our interpretation of the accessory parking spots, the reason why we don't have a refusal is that's considered a rear street.
I just want to put that on the record that that's our understanding as to why we didn't get that refusal, because typically you would have a refusal for off-street parking. So we just want to make sure that the board understands that's why there's no refusal there.
Letter of support from the 14th community organization, you know, again, the enforceable ones, maximum three units, trash stored inside the units themselves.
We have no objection to that.
Petition was pretty extensive that my client circulated around the neighborhood.
And then, again, you can see here that this has been some three-family use for some time.
We have a zoning permit as far back as 1967.
We have another one in 2006.
and six. It looks like it had a little bit more use, at least here. It looks like it was six
It looks like it had a little bit more use, at least here.
families in a garage, but I can't really read it that well. Maps of the area. So there's a diversity
of zoning classifications here. We have some RM1, which if this was RM1, you know, this use even
for dwelling units would be allowed as right. We're all seeking three. There's CMX3, there's
ICMX and CMX1 in addition to RSA5.
And then this is where we are in the neighborhood.
You can see that there is some commercial use here.
So having multifamily nearby will only help support that commercial use.
And then photographs of the property is a vacant lot.
It's been vacant for some time based on our review of Google Earth.
And then this is just, you know, again, our property from different angles,
along with the posting of the property from those different angles.
And then this is pictures of contextually of
the neighborhood. And then this
is, you know, 4th Street where you can see it's not uncommon to have some
off-street parking. Mr. Nockamson, how's the block
relative to multifamilies? Oh, yeah. So
we looked at it.
It's 1328 North Franklin Street, four units, 1320-22-8, 1320-93, 1327-4.
I can go on and on.
There's like six or six.
Thank you.
So not out of character.
Again, pretty straightforward here.
We have unit number one, which is the first floor and the lower level.
Unit number two is on the second floor and unit number three would be on the third floor.
And then our RCO meeting notice we sent out on March 6th for a meeting that was March 18th at 6 p.m.
We also emailed that notice to the coordinating RCO and the relevant parties.
We mailed it out on March 6th to 107 addresses, proof of mailing to those addresses,
our application for appeal on behalf of our clients, the notice of refusal,
So the project information form, the deeds of the property showing 1338 and Franklin ST LLC is the owner of the property and the Certificate of Tax Clearance.
So with that being said, and confirmation of payment as well of that amount.
With that being said, I would ask that Mr. Aliot virtually raise his hand.
Do we see him?
Yeah, he's been about, I believe he's been about to speak.
Sir, could you state your name, please, and spell for the stenographer.
Keith Alliotz?
they've been unmuted
Mr. Aliots
Mr. Nackamson you're an officer of the court
we will accept your testimony
thank you
questions from the board
no Mr. Chairman
no Chair
questions or comments from our attorney
no this time Mr. Chair
questions or comments from the virtual audience
i'm sorry mr chair sorry sorry i didn't get to my notes fast enough um all right you did show
proof of tax compliance um uh mr noxon i did not see and if it was in the packet that you just
showed i apologize i missed it but i did not see a revised plan a proviso plans form for this one
which i assume there is because there were revised plans with the lower number of units listed
um i think all we're doing is doing a proviso maximum three units oh okay so there's no there's
no other changes other than the units not that i don't believe there's any change in the building
footprints reduction of that at all okay yeah and alex just confirmed that with me okay so yes
so then we can just do that via proviso.
Thank you.
Thanks, Alex.
What do you got, Alex on a speed dial there?
He's watching.
I work for him.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I'm yes, Chair.
I have a Karen Small with their hand raised.
I have allowed them to speak.
Could you please state your name?
It's spelled for the stenographer.
Karen Small, please unmute and wait to be sworn in.
Karen Small, please unmute and wait to be sworn in.
Hi, I'm muted.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the stenographer?
My name is Karen Small, first name Karen, K-A-R-I-E-N, last name Small, S-M-A-L-L.
Right, do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Are you a neighbor?
I am not a neighbor, but my daughter-in-law is a near neighbor, the next door neighbor.
And she is at work right now, so I'm just speaking on her behalf.
Hillary, are we okay with that?
unfortunately i understand why that she couldn't be present miss small but she also has the option
of submitting a letter to the zoning board um because you are not an attorney you cannot
testify on her behalf okay thank you thank you miss small is there anyone else in the virtual audience
i do not see any further hands sir planning commission
good afternoon chair members of the board this is greg walton from the planning staff
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential single-family
zoning at this location the proposed three units is consistent with documented prior use of this
property and consistent with nearby properties the city planning commission recommends the
zoning board grant the variance with the proviso for three units as per the revised plans
MI 2023-006-413-1338 North Franklin Street, I vote yes with revised plans, maximum three dwelling units.
Thomas Holloman.
Sorry, Mr. Tritt, there's no revised plans, just maximum three dwelling units.
Isn't that what I said?
You said revised plans.
All right.
All right.
Thank you.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
With proviso.
Ishmael Shaheen, my vote is yes, with proviso.
And now we have one more that I believe is a resumptive hearing.
MI 2023-006-504-2108 North Marshall Street.
Mr. Nockmson, could you just state your name for the record, please?
Alan Nockmson.
Okay. Mr. Knackerson, so this is a
resumptive hearing. Could you bring us up to date on where we stand with this?
Yeah, so we made a presentation to the board.
I just want to give a little background. Let me just get the right
screen up.
I'm sharing my screen, Mr. Chair.
there we go hi so um we're proposing put a 12-unit apartment building here um we have revised plans
here based on community input we had three meetings with the coordinating rco apm at the
time of the hearing we only had two and the issue was we never met the quorum requirements of six
So we did have lively community meetings with community input.
They didn't want to issue a letter until they had another opportunity to meet to hopefully meet a quorum of, you know, for that third meeting.
So we made a presentation. The board held their vote.
We met with the community. And unfortunately, we did not have another quorum.
So they did issue a letter of no opinion because they did not have a quorum there.
But in the letter, they do recognize the fact that we've made extensive changes to the plans, that we have extensive support within the community based on the petition.
And, you know, what we're offering is not out of character to what the board has proposed previously.
And I would just point your attention to 715-17 West Cumberland Street, where in 2022, the board granted 16 units on the property, which is actually smaller in size than ours, where we're only asking for 12 units.
so we do have extensive support we actually did even though the the coordinating rco did issue
a letter of no opinion because they did not reach a quorum again they they noted the extensive
petition that we have and then we we actually added upon that petition i'm trying to find it
right now but in addition to the petition we have two letters of support from members of the
Two letters of support from members of the Executive Committee of the 37th Democratic Award, Ms. L. Amour Braun, as well as from Denise Armstrong.
Executive Committee of the 36th.
And then we actually reached out to a nonprofit that's well known in the area, Doors for Hope, that deals with low-income housing.
My client, that's what they're looking to do, but more from a senior perspective.
And again, just as a reminder, there have been many projects in this neighborhood where they try to do three-bedroom units.
They're not renting out.
It's a bad situation over there.
And, you know, what we see and what we feel is that 12 one-bedroom units rather than having, you know, three-bedroom units where there would be more bedrooms in this potential building structure makes more sense.
You know, based on what you see here from just the rendering, the units are ADA accessible, and if you looked at the site plan, everyone has access to the rear yard, so it's a common rear yard.
There's no roof deck.
That was something that was asked of us, and it's not even a part of our plans.
We have revised plans, you know, showing no roof deck, and there's no basement use.
It's built on grade. In the basement is the trash room, as well as tenant storage. So we think for all these reasons, we have created a very responsible project, and we hope that the board supports our endeavor. Thank you.
Hillary, can we go right to planning?
We can see if there's any testimony from the public regarding the changes that have been made since the last hearing.
Is there anyone in the virtual audience who has comments?
Go hands away, sir.
Planning Commission.
And just to be clear, Mr. Chair, planning did already give a recommendation,
so we're just asking if they have an updated recommendation based on the revised plans.
Good afternoon, Chair and members of the board.
We do not.
Thank you. So, let's see here.
Excuse me, Mr. Waldman, would you, do you have the prior recommendation?
Oh, sure. Yeah, I can read it.
Available, if you could just, yeah, just note it for the record. Thank you, the Chair. It's been a couple months. Thank you.
Okay. The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing residential multifamily zoning, that Pellin has not shown that the property, a standard row home lot, cannot possibly be used in strict conformity with the zoning code and that the variance is therefore necessary to enable the viable economic use of the property. The City Planning Commission recommends that the zoning board denied the variance.
Thank you. MI 2023-006-504-21108 North Marshall Street. I vote yes with proviso. Revised plans, one page, stamp by ZBA, April 24th, 2024.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ishmael Shaheen, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thank you, Mr. Nockmson.
Number 10, MI 2023-007-093-620-North 37th Street.
Meredith Verliger is the attorney.
This is a resumptive hearing.
They'll be rejoining as a panelist, Mr. Chair.
Good morning, counsel.
Did I swear you in earlier this morning?
Ted. Could you just state your name, please, for the record?
Sure. Meredith Ferliger, F-E-R-L-E-G-E-R.
And this is a resumptive hearing. Could you bring us up to date?
Sure thing. Mr. Chairman, we were in front of you, I believe, a couple weeks ago with a request to increase the number of units in a previously approved project from 15 to 19.
At the end of that hearing, there was a question, really two questions. Question number one that was raised was whether or not this application should have triggered the provisions of the min-required affordability overlay, and the second question was whether or not we would need a set of revised plans in order for the board to approve the removal of a green roof that was a part of the initial approval.
I worked with ZBA counsel and staff on these two questions and confirmed that our application
Our application should not have triggered the MIN, and the board can issue a proviso eliminating the green roof without having a set of revised plans.
should not have triggered the MIN and the board can.
So, again, just to refresh your memory, this merely requests to increase the number of units from 15, which was already approved, to 19 for all the reasons that were provided to the board in the first hearing.
Thank you.
um we're going to go to planning with this now do you want to open it up to the audience
um just uh just planning there were there were no changes mr chair we just need clarification
thank you planning planning commission good afternoon chair members of the board this is
greg waldman planning commission staff in 2017 the zoning map was amended to residential single
family at this location. The proposed increase in number of units from 15 to 19 increases the
property's non-conformity and is not necessary to enable the viable economic use of the property.
City Planning Commission recommends that the zoning board deny the variance.
MI 2023-007-093-620 North 37th Street. I vote yes with a proviso. Green roof eliminated.
thomas holloman my vote is yes with proviso ishmael shaheed my vote is yes with proviso
thank you counsel thank you number 11 mi 2024 000 747 44 15 chesson street
ronald patterson is the attorney supposed to be recused on that last one okay
do you want to go back and vote it with um is that the one i was going to recuse on
uh that actually was marshall street i'm i'm sorry i missed that that was number um
number nine that was supposed to be i'm sorry that's supposed to be bill tom and lebaron
we can go back and re-vote that one okay let's vote vote it do it right now um
this is which which hillary uh 37 street no number number nine marshall street
okay all right all right so
mi 2023 006 504 2108 north marshall street i vote yes with proviso revised plans one page
sent by ZBA April 24th, 2024. Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with provisos.
LeBaron Leonard Palmer, my vote is yes with provisos. Thank you. So now we're at 4415
Chestnut Street. Ronald Patterson is the attorney. Council Member Agathier has taken a position of
support. There's a letter of support, too, from the Spruce Hill Community Association. Mr. Patterson,
could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer? Sure. Good afternoon,
Mr. Chairman and members of the Court. Ronald Patterson, R-O-N-A-L-D, P-A-T-T-E-R-S-O-N,
1835 Market Street, foot off in PA, and Claire Harrison Law Firm. Do you swear a firm to tell
the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth? Yes, I do. Could you identify your client
and relationship to the property?
My client is the owner of the property.
It's 4415 Chestnut, LLC.
The principal is Scott Orens, O-R-E-N-S,
who will be my witness today.
And our vice chair has just a few questions.
Good afternoon, counsel.
Do you agree to waive the read and other refuse
or stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, I do.
Have you emailed in all the required documents
and exhibit that is needed to proceed with this case
five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, I have.
thank you please proceed you have already shared your screen oh thank you
so yes this application regards 44 15 chestnut street uh you see this is the front of the of
the building it actually it goes through to uh ludlow street here's a view of ludlow
um in 2019 we obtained a by right zoning permit to construct this building which is uh five
stories five floors first floor commercial had some commercial spaces on it um the floors
two through five have uh 40 single family residential dwelling units that was in 2019
Later on in 2019, we went back in for a buy-write permit to eliminate most of the first floor commercial space and create an accessory parking garage.
and create an accessory parking garage with some open space parking,
but a total of 22 spaces, 20 inside the garage, 22 spaces outside.
In 2021, the construction started, and in 2024, recently, the construction was completed,
and a CO was issued.
The first floor, within the last week, we received a new zoning permit
for a coffee shop, prepared food use here on the first floor.
Um, the, um, you know, currently the properties, uh, leased at about 50%.
Um, uh, but yeah, we've, we've been seeing that the demand for the parking is running
about 40%, but that translates into, and here's the, the entrance to the garage here.
it was inside the garage that the garage is being underutilized
yet I want to show you another
another document here
Can you see this?
There we go.
Yeah, we can.
So this is an area, Matt, we'll call it.
The bottom is 44th Street, Chestnut Street on the left, Ludlow in the middle, Marcus Street on the right.
These properties are holdings by the same real estate group, the Orange Brothers Real Estate.
The property with a red dot is the one we're talking about here.
Some of these, most of these or all of them have residential components.
some of them have parking associated with them some of them do not and so the fact that we're
now beyond our utilizing our parking we thought that it would be prudent to change the use from
an accessory to non-accessory for the parking garage so they can offer it to our neighboring
projects as well as provide it to the neighborhood as a benefit and as you mentioned
we did meet with the Spruce Hill Civic Association and they voted to support the project with
because it provides a beneficial use let's put this back up here
sorry with the maneuvering here
so the property zone located the cmx2 commercial zoning district non-accessory parking requires
referral which is what this is um you know allowing non uh accessory parking will have
have no detrimental impacts on the public health, safety, welfare, and traffic. I mean,
it's invisible as to which cars would be accessory or non-accessory. We would see no
increase in density or traffic. We're not asking to increase the number of parking spaces
in the garage. We have no impact on that. And the use for the non-accessory will have no greater
impact, therefore, than the permitted accessory use. And then yet, we've, you know, as noted,
that allowing property for the neighborhood would be beneficial. With that said, I'd like
to promote Mr. Orens, Scott Orens. Okay.
He better now to speak, sir. Sir, could you please state your name and spell it for the stenographer?
And before he gets on, you'll see the new page that I put up.
Hello, can you hear me?
Scott Orens, O-R-E-N-S.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Ron, nothing has come up.
Okay, sorry.
You're there now.
you see the pink screen now yeah yeah we do okay we do yeah okay uh scott um there for news uh
you see the pink screen now yeah yep
could you uh tell me your affiliation with 4415 chestnut llc i'm one of the partners uh uh the
ownership partners my other two partners are my brothers uh we own this building we developed the
building we built it and we created these parking spaces even though no parking space were required
by zoning at the time. And Scott, you've heard my presentation. Would you agree it's true and
accurate? Yes. And you would accept it as if it were your own? Yes. What you see on the screen
here is the parking layout? Yes. And that's not changing, correct? That's correct. And I did show
an earlier plan of your holdings in the area. And if you want to briefly explain how they would
interact with the parking and how it will be provided to the neighbors as beneficial use,
please feel free. We would like the ability legally to be able to rent any open space to
anyone else in the neighborhood across the street that might be one of my tenants or someone else
in the neighborhood that has a vehicle that they want to get off the street. This is a position
that's supported both by my next door neighbor because we have, based upon the development in
the area a lot more congestion with vehicles and it's supported by the spruce hill community
association great thank you scott uh mr chairman i have no further questions 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 further hands mr chair planning commission good afternoon chair and members of
the board this is greg walden planning commission staff the comprehensive plan recommends no change
to the existing commercial mixed use zoning because non-accessory parking will not cause
detrimental impacts to the neighborhood beyond what quite normally be expected the city planning
Commission recommends that the zoning board grant a special exception. Thank you. So MI 2024-000-747-4415
Chester Street, I vote yes. Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shahid, my vote is yes. Thank you, Counsel. Thank you.
Okay. Number 13, MI 2024-000752, 1740 North 16th Street.
Alan Notcomson is the attorney.
Beach Corporation has sent a letter of support with a proviso relative to interior trash.
They'll be rejoining again and as a panel, sir.
Mr. Noxon, just for the record, state your name.
Alan Noxon.
And could you identify your client in relationship to the property?
Yeah, my client is North 16th ST LLC.
and in a virtual audience is its member Firas al-Sayed.
And our vice chair has just a few questions.
Good afternoon, counsel.
Do you agree to read another refusal
or stipulate to his accuracy?
I've emailed in all the required documents and exhibits
to proceed with this case five days
in advance of this hearing.
Yes, we did.
Thank you, counsel.
Please proceed and face me.
Thank you.
All right, so this is an RM1 property, so multifamily.
It's not something where we're trying to convert an RSA5 property into multifamily.
The only reason why we're here is we're in an overlay which requires a greater amount per square feet for each unit up to the first four units.
If this was in the base zoning district of RM1 with no overlay, this would be a project as of right.
So first of all, we reviewed the notice of refusal and then a letter of support from Beach Community Services Incorporated, which was the coordinating RCO.
We do have revised plans.
Originally, we proposed to have five dwelling units here.
we're asking to have a maximum of four and we do that by way of
We're asking to have a maximum of four, and we do that by way of proviso or the revised plans, an aerial view of the property on that or the block in which the property is located, maps of the area, autographs of the property in the surrounding area, or plans and drawings or RCO meeting notice or applications for appeal or deed to the property and their certificate of tax clearance.
And then at the conclusion of my presentation, I would ask that Feroz virtually raise his hand and be sworn in.
So notice of refusal. So this is an RM1 property. We're looking to put five dwelling units in here.
We have a few refusals. So the first of which, again, because we're in the north central Philadelphia overlay district,
we are only allowed to have three units under that zoning district where five units is proposed.
We're asking for a proviso of four units.
So based on those calculations, our lot is 1,683 square feet,
even based on the 425 of unit of, even based on the overlay,
where you're only allowed one unit for every 425 square feet of lot size,
like that's 1,700 square feet for four units.
That means we're 17 square feet short, which is a de minimis variance request.
If we were in the base overlay of where the first four units would be a 1,440 square feet of lot size,
we would well fit within those parameters.
So, again, we're asking for a variance for that. The second one is actually incorrect in this respect. So if you look at the North Central Philadelphia Overlay District, it's a 3 to 10 ratio after the first three units, meaning this, if you have up to three units, there's no parking requirement.
After the first three units, for every unit thereafter, it's a 3 to 10 ratio.
So if we provide it for four units, we're only required to have one parking space, not three parking spaces within this overlay district.
Regardless, our lot is only 17 feet wide.
There is no way we can put a side parking spot along the side of the property.
and we would be required to then have front loading a front loading garage the community
would not want that like there's parking allowed on our side of the street so basically
it wouldn't be any benefit for us to take put a curb cut take one parking space off of the street
to give it for the benefit of one parking space off of the street so that's the second refusal
It would be impossible to comply with it without, like, essentially causing more harm to the community.
And then the third refusal is the maximum occupied area, where 75 percent is allowed, where we're at 85 point, a little over 85 percent.
We looked at the surrounding area. What we're proposing in terms of lot coverage is similar to surrounding properties.
So what we're proposing is not out of character to the neighborhood as a whole.
So we did meet with the Beach Community Services Incorporated group.
We do have revised plans based on we shrunk the size of the roof deck at their request.
We, you know, in terms of, you know, trash management, they asked us to put trash compactors in the units.
or some type of tenants maintaining trash disposal.
Don't know if that is an enforceable proviso,
but we would embrace it
by installing trash compactors into our units.
And again, it was unanimous consent
with their board of six individuals
in support of this project
with those revised plans,
which we have right here,
where we reduced the deck area
and we reduced the unit count from five to four.
And then this is just an aerial view.
As you can see, there was a building structure here at one point.
What we're proposing is not too different than what was previously there.
And you can see there are other buildings here in close proximity
that run afoul of the lot coverage requirements of the Philadelphia zoning code.
And then maps of the area. Again, we're an RM1 property. We're allowed to build multifamily here. We just are within this overlay, which is causing some technical issues with regards to our project.
And then photographs of the property, we're vacant lots. As you can see, this building to the right of us goes pretty far back.
And then photographs of the property. We're a vacant lot. As you can see, this building to the right of us.
And then this is a posting that we had or have for this hearing.
And then this is our property from North 16th from the left and right.
Our plans and drawings.
Our RCO meeting notice we met on April 3rd at 5.30 p.m.
We emailed that notice to the community organizers while in advance of that meeting, and we also mailed it to 126 addresses.
These are the addresses we mailed it to, proof of mailing to those addresses.
Our application for appeal that we filed on behalf of North 16th STLLC.
Our deed to property showing that they own their property.
And then finally, the certificate of tax clearance showing that they owe no money to the city of Philadelphia with respect to real estate taxes.
I would ask that for us, virtually raise his hand.
They have been about to speak.
Sir, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
can you hear me hello yes hi sir could you stay
and could you spell it please for the stenographer sure sir for us i'll say it
f-i-r-a-s i'll say it a-l-s-a-y-y-e-d you swear or affirm to tell the truth told
truth nothing but the truth i do sir please proceed counsel
So, Frost, you heard everything I had to say today about your zoning matter.
Yes, I did.
And is it true and correct?
Absolutely.
And do you adopt as your own testimony?
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Chair.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Vanderson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Planning and Commission.
Oh, I'm sorry.
questions or comments from the virtual audience
planning commission
good afternoon chair members of the board this is greg wallen from planning commission staff
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential multi-family designation at this
location the appellant has not shown that the property cannot possibly be used in strict
conformity with the zoning code and the variance is necessary is therefore necessary to enable
the viable economic use of the property for dwelling units and or occupied area proposed
use variance for no parking is consistent with nearby properties the city planning commission
recommends that the board grant the proposed use of no parking but deny the variance or dwelling
units and occupied area so mi 2024 000 752 1740 north 16th street i vote yes but provisos revised
plans one page stamp by zba april 24 2024 and maximum for dwelling units thomas hollman my
My vote is yes, with provisos.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Thank you, counsel.
Number 16.
MI 2024-000791-1215 Wood Street.
Murr Verlager is the attorney.
no rco meeting there no rco letter but there was a meeting held
letter of non-opposition from council member squiller
i'm back in as a packet council just state your name for the record please
Meredith Ferliger, F-E-R-L-E-G-E-R.
And could you identify your client in relationship to the property?
My clients are both Haverford Square by Metropolitan 3 LLC, as well as one of the members of that LLC individual, individually, Josh Lytle.
Our vice chair has a few questions.
Good afternoon, counsel.
Do you agree to waive the reason or to refuse or stipulate to his accuracy?
uh i agree to waive the reading i don't stipulate to the accuracy which i will address
Thank you. Have you emailed then all the required documents and exhibits that is needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
thank you have you emailed then all the required documents and exhibits that is needed to proceed
Yes, I did.
Thank you. Please proceed.
Mr. Chairman, I was coming back in as a panelist when you were giving an introduction. I'm not sure if it was corrected, but we do have letters from the RCO and from the Councilman's Office.
We do not have. I do not have the letters. So you're going to have to, if you would, send it over to Hillary, please.
I will certainly do that. I'll also bring them up. But before we.
I did say I did say there was a letter of opposition from Councilman Squilla and that there was no RCO letter from Cal Hill Neighbors Association.
Well, I will send that over. But just to start the presentation, as you will see, all attendees voted unanimously to approve the zoning variances.
So I'll make sure that she has this if it is not already in her possession.
thank you all right mr chairman members of the board the request before the board today
is for a new 21 unit loft style apartment proposal in the city's callow hill neighborhood
which has as i just showed received unanimous support from callow hill neighborhood association
we have a variety of refusals to walk you through today which are despite the number of refusals
fairly straightforward in terms of the requested relief due to the property's history, physical
constraints, and neighborhood characteristics. And I hope you can see my exhibit packet now.
We can. Great. The property before the board today is located at 1215 Wood Street.
As shown on the zoning map at Exhibit 8, zoom in a little bit, the property is a rectangular parcel
located on Wood Street with dual frontage extending back to Carleton Street. It sits
between North 12th Street and North 13th Street, just north of Vine and just east of Broad Street.
I'll come back to this a little bit later in the presentation, but the board may notice the
unusual zoning of a portion of this block as compared to the surrounding properties,
which are all zoned either CMX 4, 3, or RMX 3.
In comparison, this property, as well as those around it, are zoned IRMX.
At Exhibit 9, the board will see a few aerial views of this property.
As I present, please take note of the general massing of surrounding buildings.
In these views the board will see the existing two-story building that currently occupies 100%
of the lot. As is shown in these photos this is a dense area surrounded both by some old
and some newer structures of significant massing. In fact in this view you can see
that the existing building is hidden behind the buildings that surround it.
in the next exhibit at exhibit 10 the board will see the wood street frontage of the existing
building which has historically contained six condominium units although it does not sit on the
philadelphia register of historic places the existing building was erected around 1900 and is
over a century old this fact will be highly relevant to a few of the requests for relief
before the board today. The next view is facing towards North 13th Street and the one following
it looks the other direction towards North 12th Street. If we switch to the rear along Carleton
Street, you'll note there are currently two garage entrances into this building.
And the next photo shows how precariously these garages were accessed from the extremely narrow
Carlton Street. We did also, and this is just another view facing the other
direction, and at Exhibit 11 we did also include several photographs of the
required posting on both of the frontages.
At Exhibit 12, I've included a few photographs of the current interiors of
this building. As I noted, this building currently contains six condominium units.
Josh has owned several units in this building for over a decade and lived here some years ago.
As fellow unit owners expressed a desire to sell over the last decade, Josh implored them to allow him to purchase the units, with him purchasing the bulk of the units last year.
All six deeds are included at Exhibit 3, and tax clearance for each is provided at Exhibit 2.
As the board may see in these interior photographs, this is an incredibly unique building that retains considerable historical character.
this is an incredibly unique building that retains considerable historical character from
the industrial use that existed in this space back in the early 1900s. On the ceilings you'll
even notice the really unique gears that are likely over a century more or older.
These units all have a unique loft design which is shown in the current photograph up on the screen.
The board may also take note of the large steel beams that currently traverse the ceiling of some of these units.
And again, this is just another view showing the current loft design of the units in the building.
The zoning site plan is shown at Exhibit 5.
Should the board be inclined to grant today's request, we did submit a revised plan and revised plan proviso form
to reflect one very small change which is the addition of more bike spaces which was a change
that came out of the meeting with Callow Hill. In light of Josh's commitment to preserving this
existing building the project is designed to preserve the building while building a new
three-story addition on top of the existing building. Including the six existing units
which will remain, the proposal includes a total of 21 units. Uniquely, although the building
itself will only be five total stories, the height of the building will be just over 83 feet to the
roof, which is not proposed to have a roof deck. The height is driven by the fact that each story,
and let me zoom in while I explain this, each story will be 17 and a half feet tall in order
to accommodate the loft design that has defined this building since its conversion to residential
units in the early 2000s. At Exhibit 6, we have included some preliminary renderings,
which have been modified based on discussions with the community. The first image shows the
original design, which was modified on this second rendering based on community feedback.
The aesthetics of the project will, of course, continue to be refined.
Importantly, a more clear transition from the original building to the new building is provided.
There are additional renderings provided in the packet showing other views, but they were not updated at this point to reflect the more articulated design.
So, these additional views are really just included to establish the reasonableness of the massing that's proposed for this site in relation to surrounding structures.
So, I'll just skim through some of these views as well.
The floor plans are also included at Exhibit 7.
There are a few different one- and two-bedroom unit types that are proposed, which vary between 658 square feet all the way up to 1,343 square feet.
The commonality of all these designs is that the loft's functionality have been significantly improved from the current conditions.
The lofts have independent bathrooms, some even with offices, and are situated to avoid
conflicts with the living spaces below.
The property will be managed by the owner and will be serviced with commercial trash
pickup.
With respect to the refusals, I will work down the list and address each individually.
The applicant submits to a hardship in complying with the code requirements, as I will explain
as it relates to each refusal.
We submit that each of the requested variances is the least minimum for reasons that I will describe.
First, the board will note that there are two refusals relative to the application's failure to include the required six vehicular parking spaces.
As an initial matter, the number of parking spaces required should have been four and a half, rounded to five, not six.
This is the first error in refusal, since the six existing residential units within the building would have been exempted from the parking calculation pursuant to Section 14801.2b.2, since the existing building was built prior to the 1933 inception of the zoning code.
calculations aside as the board probably noticed in the photographs there are a there are currently
a few existing parking spaces within the building however those spaces are accessed from the 10 foot
wide carlton street creating an ingress and egress point that is potentially hazardous to the
creating an ingress and egress point that is potentially hazardous to the community and
community and surrounding
surrounding structures. Given that the zoning code requires a minimum parking spot width of
8.5 feet, the board should be able to glean just how narrow Carlton Street truly is as it relates
to ingress and egress. Most importantly, the existing units in the building are serviced by
electrical and other interior utilities that currently sit within the basement, which is
little more than a crawl space that is subject to constant moisture infiltration and other
conditions that significantly degrade the important electrical equipment. Given that the existing
first floor units are slated to remain, the only feasible location to relocate some of the
electrical and other utilities is into that existing small garage space. Some mechanicals
will be placed on the roof, but any equipment that requires an interior environment will be
accommodated inside, rendering it infeasible to provide any new parking within the building.
Ultimately, the existing building would need to be demolished to accommodate any viable parking,
and that would be significantly counterproductive towards the owner's goal of preserving the
century-old building. Alternatively, a large bike room is provided at the first floor,
and the number of spaces has been increased to further encourage residents to take advantage of
this building's convenient transit-oriented location.
As it relates to the refusal for insufficient accessible parking spaces, that refusal was
also issued in error.
Accessible space requirements are only triggered at 148025A, where off-street parking is provided.
No parking is provided, so this refusal should not have been issued.
Second, the project received a refusal because the IRMX district requires an industrial or commercial use in the building.
As the board has seen, this property has contained a solely residential use with zero industrial or commercial component since at least 2003.
The building's conversion to a solely residential use was granted by variants following the accelerating trend of this immediate area moving away from industrial and commercial use, particularly for a mid-block property on this small street.
As outlined in the Memorandum of Law at Exhibit 14 and shown in the Zoning Permits at Exhibit 15, the properties surrounding 1215 Wood Street are used almost exclusively for residential uses, including hotels, single-family dwellings, and large multifamily apartment complexes.
Many of the newer projects listed in the exhibits were granted variances for similar reasons.
The only properties with a commercial component sit at corners.
As the board saw early on at the zoning map, this is the sole strip of land bearing the IRMX zoning classification,
with everything surrounding it containing a zoning classification, which would not require this commercial or industrial component.
Similar to the parking, incorporating an industrial commercial component into this building would only be remotely viable if the existing building were demolished,
to better accommodate better access and design for industrial or commercial users.
The 21 units proposed are similarly or less dense than surrounding complexes, which contain as many as 160 units.
the project also received a refusal for exceeding maximum floor area ratio which is limited to 500
percent of the lot here the gross floor area proposed is 665 percent even though this building
only contains five stories the gfa here is driven by the internal mezzanines which you can see up
in the elevation here, these internal mezzanines that are necessary to accommodate this loft
design. Even though they are not full floors, the zoning code treats mezzanines as additional
gross square footage, even though this is an entirely internal design consideration
and not one that has any exterior implications, height aside. Two of the mezzanines are already
existing, and the proposed design is intended to respect the historical and unique character
of this formerly industrial building. Finally, the project received two refusals related to height.
First, a refusal was issued for exceeding the code maximum height of 60 feet. Just over 83 feet is
proposed. Furthermore, the code imposes a slight setback requirement that would only
Furthermore, the code imposes a slight setback requirement that would only apply to the Carlton Street frontage.
Essentially, the code would require that the first 8 feet of lot depth from Carlton Street would be limited to 38 feet,
which in this case would be to the middle of the third floor.
The second 8 feet of lot depth from Carlton would be limited to 60 feet.
Not only would the setback render the loft design of the entire third floor unviable, but the conditions of Carlton Street are inconsistent with the goals of the setback requirement.
If I flip back to the photos, you will note that the building across the street on Carlton Street is significantly higher than the proposed building and has no setback at any level.
Furthermore, none of the newer buildings constructed in the immediate area have provided this code-compliant setback.
Finally, as I pointed to earlier in the presentation, the existing building has structural beams that exist across the entire ceiling.
Providing the 8-foot setback above the third floor would render the addition more difficult and require additional structural support that is not necessary by equally distributing the addition across the full envelope of the existing building.
Similar to the GFA, the additional height proposed is driven in large part by this loft design.
While a five-story building would normally fall within the 60-foot height limitation,
the loft design requires significant additional interior floor height.
If you look at the elevation, which I'll bring back up on the screen,
the board will note the overall floor heights of 17.5 feet,
with the floor-to-mezzanine heights remaining a more traditional roughly 9 feet in height.
Additionally, the structural characteristics of the surrounding block
would render a slightly smaller building out of character with surrounding structures.
For instance, the Zoning Board has recently approved several buildings nearby
to exceed maximum height limitations, such as 323 North 13th Street, 1238 Callow Hill Street,
and 1200 Callow Hill Street, which are all roughly 125 feet high. Mid-block, 1231 Wood Street was
also approve with a maximum height of 105 feet, over 20 feet more than this application proposes.
These newer developments, plus some of the older buildings on this block,
have fundamentally altered the massing of this area. The aerials demonstrate this very fact
with this block of Wood Street fading into the mass of the surrounding structures.
Many of these structures are zoned CMX3 or RMX, which does not impose a maximum height.
The applicant submits the proposal will not increase congestion, endanger the public, or impair light and air.
The property sits in close proximity to ample parking facilities, as well as the vast public transportation network in this immediate area.
The property is uniquely situated to accommodate auto-free tenants who will have access within walking distance to significant area amenities, including Center City and several streets with dedicated on-street bicycle lanes.
Furthermore, the proposed addition to the existing structure is consistent with the scale of developments that has occurred in and on this immediately surrounding block and will not adversely affect adjoining properties.
The proposal will not burden area infrastructure or facilities, nor will it create environmental damage or other impact.
A more thorough analysis of the proposal's compliance with Section 14.303.80 of the code is provided in the Memorandum of Law submitted to the board at Exhibit 14, and I'd be happy to touch on any particular point in more detail.
At this point, if the administrator could look for Josh Lytle and have him unmuted.
They've been about to speak.
Mr. Lytle, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Mr. Lytle?
Do we see his hand still up?
his hand is up but he's not on mute
Mr. Lytle could you on mute please
can you hear me now
I can't sir
I hit on mute and then I was immediately muted again. I apologize.
I hit on mute and then I was immediately
All right. All right. Thank you. So could you state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Sure. Josh Lytle, J-O-S-H-L-Y-T-L-E.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you. Josh, you own five of these six units individually and one of these units in your LLC, in which you are a member of, correct?
Correct.
And have you heard all the testimony and evidence that was offered before the board today?
I did.
And would you agree that testimony was true and accurate and would you adopt it as if it were your own?
Thank you. Happy to answer any questions.
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
any hands
i see no hands chair planning commission
Good afternoon, Chair and members of the board, this is Greg Baldwin, Planning Commission staff.
This is kind of a long one, just a little heads up there.
But in 2015, the zoning map was amended from medium industrial to industrial and residential mixed use at this location in accord with recommendations from the comprehensive plan.
The appellant has demonstrated a hardship in providing the required parking on site, including accessible spaces.
However, the appellants claimed hardship for building height, setback from narrow streets, floor area ratio, and not providing a ground floor industrial or commercial use are self-created.
If the applicant provided 50% of the ground floor area dedicated to industrial uses or 60% of the ground floor area dedicated to commercial uses spread out on the first two floors, then 72 feet could be built by right.
Furthermore, the IRMX zoning district is eligible for the mixed income housing bonus.
Using the bonus would allow an additional 150% FAR if units were provided to meet moderate income requirements and 250% FAR if the low income option were utilized.
So except for the parking, this project could be built by right by including industrial or commercial uses and deeded affordable units.
A variance at the board would deprive a public benefit to the city that could be achieved through available code provisions.
the city planning commission recommends that the zoning board grant the variances
for parking and accessible spaces deny the variances for use height street setback and
floor area ratio mr chairman can i respond to that please um sure briefly so i i with all due
respect to the planning commission's position that position does not in any way respect the
historic character of this building. Whether or not it's designated on the register or not,
our presentation showed that the intent is to leave the existing units in their current location.
So it's a little bit disingenuous to suggest that a ground floor use could be provided in a space
where the proposal is to leave the current existing non-conforming solely residential use in that
space. And again, you know, the goal of this application is to take the historically accurate
condition of the building and extend it throughout the building. So we certainly respect that
position, but we in no way agree with the position that these are self-created hardships. These are
driven by unique elements of this building, particularly given its existing condition.
Thank you, and thank you to the Planning Commission, too. So MI 2024, 000791, 1215 Wood Street. I vote yes, with revised plan, one page, stamped by ZBA, April 24th, 2024.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Ismail Shaheed, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Thank you, counsel. Thank you.
Is there anyone in the virtual audience from the 2 p.m. list whose case has not been called?
I see no hands, chair. I do not see any hands.
Thank you. We're going to take a five-minute break, then come back and do the 3.30 list. Thank you.
We can start the recording.
You can proceed as you wish, chair. Thank you.
You can proceed as you wish. Thank you. Good afternoon. My name is Bill Bergman and I will
Good afternoon. My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be sharing.
be chairing this afternoon's meeting. With me is our Vice Chair Ismail Shahid. Present Mr. Chairman.
Our Board Member Thomas Holliman. Present Mr. Chairman. And our alternate board member
LeBaron Leonard Palmer. Present Mr. Chairman. Present also here is our Attorney Hillary Emerson
and our executive director, Tanya Sunken.
Here is a virtual format.
Be advised, the proceedings are being recorded.
The video will be available by contacting
tanyasunken at phila.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 nine to raise your hand
and star six to unmute.
To enter a period statement,
call 267-270-5548, leave your email and the address to 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.
Number two, MI 2023-002-691-7014 Willow Avenue, that case is continued attorney moving party.
Number six, MI-2023-006-895-2873 North Lee Street. That case is continued.
Number 7, MI2023-006-909-1443 Tasker Street. Is Hayling Lee here?
Do we see any hands?
Mr. Chair, I do not see the person in the virtual audience.
Okay, thank you. So MI 2023-006-909-1443 Tasker Street, that case is continued. Mark, must be tried.
Then we're going to go to here. We're going to go to – is there any other requests for continuances?
mr chair i have steve masters with their hand raised i have allowed them to speak
hi mr masters um good afternoon mr chair um could you state your name and spell please for
the court stenographer sure i also would recommend that darwin boveby um be raised to
panelists at the same time my name is steve masters s-t-e-v-e-s-t-e-v-e-m-a-s-t-e-r-s
right do you swear or affirm that tell the truth the whole truth nothing about the truth
i do mr masters are you going to argue for a continuance
yes um we have requested mr masters i'm going to take that up when i pull the case
um well that's that's that's certainly you're right Mr. Chair but but since we were arguing
that only two and a half hours before this before the 330 list um we were given for the first time
the expert witness name and identity but but Mr. Masters I'm going to try to get rid of the rest
of the cases we have this case is the last case I'm going to hear for the day and I'm going to
bring that up for you. I don't, we'll bring that to a head and talk about that then. Okay.
Thank you. Very well. Thank you.
Any other requests for continuance?
Thank you. So we're going to start with number three, MI 2023-002-854-7727
castor avenue cindy lopez garcia this one also we have a spanish interpreter
with the interpreter please identify himself raise his hand
that we were joining as a panelist okay good morning good afternoon sir
is this the interpreter
oh there he is okay so good afternoon judge my name is leonel and i'm going and i am the
spanish interpreter do me a favor could you spell your name for the court stenographer
court stenographer yes sir my name is leonel spelled as an l e o n as a nancy e l
yes sir my name is leonel spelled as
my last name is spelled is gillen spelled as in g u i l l e n right do you swear or firm to tell
the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i swear your honor could could you uh announce the
case so it's uh 77 27 castor avenue and the the uh tenant is cindy lopez garcia
yes sir
Muy bien, el siguiente caso es el caso de la propiedad en 7727 Avenida Ester.
Y el propietario ahí es Cindy López.
O el inquilino ahí es Cindy López.
We see a hand.
Tenemos una mano levantada.
Cindy López.
Yeah, we're here.
Okay, thank you.
thank you um could you identify could you who's cindy lopez you yeah yeah that's me okay um
could you state your name is spelled for the stenographer
uh judge could you repeat that please you're breaking up a little bit or could she yes could
she could she state her name and smell it spell it for the court stenographer
you want me to say it again you need to interpret i'm sorry but dita please refrain from talking
I'm sorry, but he's not translating. That's why.
It's okay. We'll handle it.
Wait, wait, wait. No, we got to, we, she's, you're not the, the, the appellant here. Let the appellant stand there. Interpreter, all I want you to say is, could you please state your name and spell it for the court stenographer?
Yes, Your Honor.
Thank you.
Muy bien, señorita, señorita López, por favor, puede decir su nombre completo y lo puede deletrear para el stenógrafo, para el stenógrafo de la corte, por favor.
cindy lopez garcia c
e n t y g a r s i a l o p e z
okay cindy garcia lopez c-i-n-d-i
garcia spelled g-a-r-c-i-a lopez spelled l-o-p as in peter easy
thank you the next is do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the
truth usted jura y afirma que va a decir la verdad toda la verdad y nada más que la verdad
yes okay um our vice chair has a few questions okay nuestro vice administrador tiene unas cuantas
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
This is for the lawyer.
Usted está de acuerdo a evitar tener el uso del abogado.
Excuse me, Mr. Chair.
This is a pro se case.
I know.
I'm going to read it.
Thank you.
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that's needed five days in advance of this hearing?
Ha enviado por correo electrónico todos los documentos necesarios cinco días antes de esta audiencia?
Okay, so I'm going to interpret, I'm going to take this slow.
This application is for assign accessory to an existing structure.
Muy bien. Esta aplicación es para un accesorio en una estructura ya existente.
For use as a sit-down restaurant at first floor in the same building.
Para uso de un restaurante con asientos en el primer piso del mismo edificio.
with all other uses
as previously approved.
The proposed sign
is 73 square feet
whereas only 20 feet
is permitted.
el la señalización propuesta de 74
Thank you. So tell her to start sharing her screen, please.
Can you allow Beditza Carrillo to share the screen?
She can put the screen on, she cannot testify.
They're coming back in as a panelist right now.
okay we see that move on
my name is cindy lopez garcia i am a resident of the 7229 bradford street
Why don't you ask her this?
Ask her, tell us what she wants to do.
Sabe que vamos a comenzar de esta forma.
Dígame, ¿qué es lo que usted quiere hacer?
El sign.
The sign.
All right.
Could you please tell her to put pictures of the building up, where the sign is going
to go, and if she has a drawing of the sign?
Muy bien.
Por favor, quiero que ponga fotografías.
That's what I see here.
I said that's the sign she's going to use.
Ese es el rotulo que quiere poner, ¿verdad?
Tell her to show me a sign.
Show me a picture of the building itself.
Ok, muéstrame una foto del edificio en sí.
so that's
what it's going to look like
that's already up
is that the sign she has
that she's talking about
this is the one that they're putting right now
Okay, and that's already in place?
¿Y eso ya está colocado?
All right.
And ask her that she went to the Ron Hurst Civic Association and they were in support of her?
¿Y fue a la asociación cívica de Ron Hurst y ya estaban apoyándola?
Questions from the board.
¿Alguna pregunta de la junta?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, señor.
No, chair.
Our turn to Hillary Emerson.
¿Qué para Hillary?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Preguntas o comentarios de la audiencia virtual.
I do not see any further hands, Mr. Chair.
Plenty of commission.
So Ron Bednar City Planning, first name Ron, R-O-N, last name Bednar, B-E-D-E-N-A-R.
Hola, señor. Yo soy el señor Ron, R-O-N, Bednar, D-E-D-N-A-R, de la Junta.
We're referring to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
i do please proceed ron this property is indicated for neighborhood commercial mixed
¿Usted jura decir la verdad, toda la verdad, y nada más que la verdad?
Please proceed, Ron.
use on the city plan according to the historic street view dating back to 2007 the size and
location of the awning side appears to be pre-existing for the most recent 2022 remapping
of the property and is consistent with similar signs along the corridor.
Given the documented use history of the site, we recommend that Quest Advance be ready.
Thank you.
Muy bien.
Entonces, tomando en cuenta que esto está ubicado en un vecindario de uso comercial
mixto y tomando en cuenta
vista de parte del tomando en cuenta
la vista panorámica de la parte histórica
y que va de acuerdo a lo que se está
establecido en el dos mil siete
y tomando en cuenta que los rótulos
de los lugares aledaños
son de similar tamaño
y que tiene
todas las regulaciones según
la restructuración del dos mil
veintidós
entonces nosotros consideramos que
se le debe otorgar el permiso okay so mi 2023 002854 7727 caster avenue i vote yes
thomas halliman my vote is yes
ishmael shahid my vote is yes she has her votes
thank you thank you thank you uh interpreter thank you very much for your help it's a pleasure
thank you for your service have a pleasant day
okay we're going to go to number one
MI-2023-001-071-3829 Pine Street.
Augusta O'Neill is the attorney.
Letter of non-opposition from Spruce Hill Community Association.
We're coming back in as a panelist, sir.
good afternoon members of the board good afternoon counsel could you state your name
please and spell for the court stenographer sure my name is Augusta O'Neill it's spelled
a-u-g-u-s-t-a my last name is spelled o-n-e-i-l-l do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the
whole truth nothing but the truth I do could you identify your client in a relationship to
the property my client is 3927-31 pine street llc it is the owner of the property and with me
this afternoon is one of the principals of the llc mr george kirstis and our vice chair has a
few questions sure good afternoon counsel do you agree to wait for reading of the refusal or
stipulate to attack this i do have you emailed then all the required documents and exhibits that
are needed to proceed with this case five days and i've answered this hearing i did thank you
please proceed can everyone see my screen we can excellent all right thank you again uh members of
the board this afternoon i'm representing 3927-31 pine street llc they are the owner of the property
at 3929 pine street uh in closing your exhibit packages i provided a picture of the outside of
the property just to orient the board um this is a three-story building on a block of similar
buildings um close to the university of pennsylvania going east on pine street uh you'll see
that the street kind of dead ends. This is the University of Pennsylvania's Bryan Veterinary
School. The application before you this afternoon is an application to turn the
property into visitor accommodations for five units within that existing structure.
Just for context, up on my screen is a map of the area. The property in question is right here.
this property is located on the same block as i noted as the ryan veterinary hospital
it's near the va medical center as you can see on the lower portion of my screen it's very close to
chop and the university of pennsylvania hospital the property is zoned rm1 it's surrounded by a
The property is zoned RM1. It's surrounded by a multitude of student housing. A lot of the
multitude of
stories.
homes on the block that I just showed you a picture of, they are students from the University
of Pennsylvania. My clients have had a lot of demand for short-term leases, not as much
for this particular property for the longer-term leases. Their typical short-term tenants are
usually family members who are visiting someone um either who's at the uh that chop or one of the
other neighboring hospitals the property is managed by two different management companies
those companies are core property management as well as host aid there is a management company
that is available 24 7 there's also uh noise control systems that my clients have put in place
so that if the noise decibel in one of the units
gets to be too loud, management will be alerted
and the short-term tenant receives a notification
that you need to lower their volume.
The trash is also stored in a storage room.
My client has a management company
that makes sure that the trash gets picked up
three times a week.
And I say that as far as the noise in the trash,
just to emphasize that there's very little impact
to any of the surrounding property tenants. My clients purchased this property in 2020.
As you can see from the pictures that I enclosed in my exhibit package, they did some pretty
extensive renovation work to the inside. This is what the building looked like on the inside before
or at the time that they purchased it. My clients hired an interior decorator and,
or I'm sorry, interior designer. And this is what the property currently looks like.
Here's another picture of the interior. My clients appeared before the Spruce Hill
Community Association back on March 19th of this year. Spruce Hill issued a letter of support,
which is in your exhibit package. And I'm just going to highlight some of the comments that
they made uh the spruce hill community association noted that the geographical location and general
makeup of this pine street block is a good fit for what is being proposed drawings of the interior
spaces reflected a concern for quality design and workmanship the developers have a successful
track record in our community and that factored into our decision to recommend acceptance of this
application um so again there's i would submit to the board that there's no evers impacts on the
neighborhood or any risk of endangerment to anyone. Again, this application will enable
out-of-town, short-term people looking for short-term leases. If they're visiting sick
family members at one of the local hospitals, they'll be able to have a short-term accommodation
that's more similar to a home that a hotel would be. As you can see from the pictures,
there's there's kitchens in there so these units provide some amenities that your typical hotel
wouldn't wouldn't be able to offer with me this afternoon as i said before is george kirstis
he's with the llc the that owns the property so george if you could um raise your hand and
identify yourself in the audience so that you can be called forward to adopt my testimony that would
be great thank you mike george could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer
Yes, George Kirtzis. That's G-E-O-R-G-E. And my last name is Kirtzis, K-Y-R-T as in Tom, S as in Sam, I-S. Thank you very much.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir, I do.
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you so much. George, did you have an opportunity to hear my testimony this afternoon?
Yes, I did.
Was everything that I said true and accurate?
Yes, it was.
is there anything that you would like to add no thank you very much you perfectly represented uh
our point of view thank you thank you and um would you like to adopt my testimony as your own
uh yes i would thank you very much thank you questions from the board no mr chairman questions
or comments from our attorney hillary emerson um just a quick clarification um miss o'neill welcome
back thank you first of all um second it's so your is it your client's intention to keep both
the multi-family household living use and then to add the visitor accommodations use as opposed to
changing the uses changing the use of the property yeah that's correct so our application was to
to add that use and so any of the existing uses uh we would like to retain okay all right thank
Okay. All right. Thank you. So, Mr. Chair, I would just note if you're inclined to do a temporary, we can specify what you do for.
Thank you. So, Mr. Chair, I would just note if you're inclined to do it.
Okay. Thank you.
Thank you.
Questions from the board. Oh, I'm sorry. Questions from the virtual audience.
I do not see any further answers, Mr. Chair.
Leonie, Commission.
Yes, Ron Bednar, City Planning.
The property is indicated for multifamily 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 nor condition of the property that would prevent it from being used in conformity with the zoning code.
City Planning Commission recommends that the board deny the proposed use variance for visitor accommodation.
MI-2023-001-071-3929 Pine Street.
I vote yes.
Visitor accommodation permit expires 4-24-28, temporary variance.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with proviso.
So, Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes, we're provisor.
Would it be possible for me to just have a few minutes to discuss that proviso with my client before it gets adopted?
Well, it was adopted.
If you've had issues, you can ask for a request for reconsideration.
Mr. Chair, I just wanted to clarify the ending date for the temporary variance was 4-24-25.
2428, yes.
Okay, thank you.
Thank you, Counsel.
Thank you so much.
And glad to see you're back.
Thank you so much.
I appreciate it.
Let's see here.
So, two, three.
Number four, MI 2023-006-889-1236 West Allegheny.
Alan Noctempsen is the attorney.
I'm back in as a panel.
Okay, thank you.
Noctempsen, could you state your name just for the record?
Alan Nockmson.
Could you also identify your client in a relationship to the property?
Berg 1236 W Allegheny, LLC.
In the virtual audience is Danielio Burgos, one of its members.
And our vice chair has a few questions.
Good afternoon, counsel.
Do you agree to either read another refusal or stipulate to his accuracy?
how do you know then all the required documents and exhibits that is needed to proceed with
this case five days in advance of this hearing uh yes we have thank you council please proceed
and share your screen great uh this is a visitor accommodation case at 1236 west allegheny avenue
during the presentation we'll review first the notice of refusal this is a multi-family property
Not too far off the Broad Street line and near Temple Hospital. So my clients, clientele are usually either students or relatives of students who are visiting them or people who are who have family members at the hospital itself.
We did meet with the 12th Ward Democratic Committee.
We just finally got an email from them confirming their support of this zoning matter.
So we have that email that we put into the presentation materials.
You know, this is our property, which has a legal use as four units.
So just putting it out there, you know, because refusal mentions that this is visor combinations in the existing structure,
which have four units in there. Just wanted to show that we do have a building permit for that
as well. Not out of character to have Airbnb listings in this part of town. Again, close to
the hospital, both for family members of students and people who work at the hospital, but also
obviously people who have loved ones at the hospital. So it's much needed. It's close to
the hospital. It's not that far off the Broad Street line. My client is a well-known Airbnb
My client is a well-known Airbnb operator, so you'll see this listing as well as my client's profile on Airbnb.
operator, so you'll see this.
Maps of the area, photographs of the property in the surrounding area, as well as the interior photographs,
our simple floor plans, RCO meeting notice and proof of mailing of that notice, our application for appeal,
The deeds to the property showing my client owns the property.
Certificate of tax clearance showing my client owes no real estate taxes as it pertains to the property.
And then I would have Mr. Burgos virtually raise his hand be sworn in and adopt my testimony as his own at the conclusion of my presentation.
So 1236 West Allegheny Avenue, again, is an RM1 property of substantial size, 1,684 square feet of lot size in particular, and we're looking to do visitor accommodations in existing structure, which has currently four dwelling units in it.
So we met with the 12th Democratic Committee. We received a positive vote from them in support of this project. Seven members of the community voted in favor, two against. So there was overwhelming support there at a well-attended meeting.
Again, just showing that, you know, this has a current use of four dwelling units.
So having visitor accommodations is not something that would have too much of an impact on this community.
And then nearby Airbnb listings, again, you know, in addition to our property, there's one, two, three, four, five, six other properties within close proximity to ours, which are similarly Airbnb properties.
And then my client has a good reputation on Airbnb. Here they have, you know, this site or visitor accommodation website, the Tux, where they have 47 reviews and, you know, almost a five-star rating.
maps to the area again we're not that far off of broad street here and um you know we're an
r-on-one property and you can see there's public transportation here as well um you know for people
who are visiting out of town who don't have cars photographs of the property my client with building
permits completely renovated this property as you can see here from the front facade
we also properly posted the property and you can see here with today's hearing we put two posters
here one closer to the door one closer to the street and then this is west allegheny from the
left and right of the properties and then interior photographs my client cares a lot about you know
what his property looks from the inside it helps in getting a better clientele of tenants
and then simple floor plans here uh again you know we we have one unit uh that's on the on the first
floor um and lower level we have another unit on the second floor and then we have two units on the
third floor. This is all existing conditions. We met with the community on March 21st. We sent out
that notice on March 7th. We emailed that notice soon after we sent it out, emailed it to the
coordinating RCO and relevant parties. We mailed it out to 152 addresses, list the addresses,
proof of mailing to those addresses. And then, you know, my client actually made the original
submission for 1236 West Allegheny Avenue.
So he included the notice of refusal, project information
form, and then showing the deeds of the property, showing that Berg
1236 W Allegheny Ave LLC is the owner of the property,
and a certificate of tax clearance showing that there's
no balance. Before my client comes on, I would say
that, again, this is a responsible operator of
visitor accommodations. He has a long history of such. He made a strong presentation to the
community. I know the board is more inclined to give a three-year temporary variance. We would
ask for a five-year temporary variance, given that this is such a long process, such an expensive
process. And given his history, I think he's a responsible operator. So with that being said,
And I would ask that Mr. Burgos virtually raise his hand.
Burgos, you've already sworn once today, if I remember correctly.
Just please state your name for the record.
Mr. Chair, I...
Mr. Chair, I don't seem to see Mr. Burgos in the virtual audience anymore.
Mr. Nakamase, your officer of the court, questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hilliard Emerson?
Just briefly, Mr. Nackamstorn, is your client seeking to change the use from the quadplex to visitor accommodations, or does he wish to maintain the multifamily household living along with the visitor accommodations?
He wishes to maintain the multifamily nature as well, along with the visitor accommodations.
Okay, thank you. Mr. Chair, I think you know my recommendation based on that.
COMMENTS FROM THE VIRTUAL AUDIENCE?
NO CHANCE, MR. CHAIR.
PLANNING COMMISSION.
RON BEDNAR, CITY PLANNING. THE PROPERTY IS INDICATED FOR MULTIFAMILY RESIDENTIAL USE.
THE CITY PLAN OR ADOPTED DISTRICT PLAN RECOMMENDS NO CHANGE TO THE EXISTING ZONING AT THIS LOCATION.
THERE IS NO UNIQUE PHYSICAL CIRCUMSTANCES AND NO CONDITION OF THE PROPERTY THAT WOULD BE PREVENT
being used in conformity with the zoning code. This is an overuse of the property. The City
Planning Commission recommends that the Board deny the proposed use variance for visitor accommodation.
2023-006-889-1236 West Allegheny Avenue. I vote yes with proviso.
Visitor accommodation temporary variance expires 424-28.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with proviso.
Dishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thank you, counsel.
Have a great night.
We're going to go to number five.
Is, you're going to, this is a former PHA property.
I'll recuse myself, yeah.
LeBaron, we're going to use you on this case.
So, number five, MI 2023-006-890, 2020-24 North Banbury Street, letter of non-opposition from Strawberry Mansion Community concerned with provisos.
Sean Whalen is the attorney.
Yes, sir.
Mr. Whalen, I think I probably, somewhere this morning, I swore you in.
Could you just state your name for the record, please?
Certainly.
You definitely did already get me once today.
Sean Whalen, W-H-A-L-E-N.
And could you identify your client and the relationship to this property?
Certainly.
The owner is Dante LLC, and the owner of that LLC is here today,
or the representative of the LLC is here today to adopt my testimony.
Mr. Holloman, could you follow up with the questions, please?
Good afternoon, counsel.
Good afternoon.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his accuracy?
Yes, I do.
Did you email all the exhibits and documents as required five days in advance?
thank you please proceed and share your screen all right again sean whalen from vintage law
here on behalf of the owner and applicant for this project uh you should be seeing
an aerial map this is a triangular awkwardly shaped triangular property right at the corner
of Page Street and North Bainbury, essentially just off the corner of North 25th Street and West
Diamond. We have a relatively, this is an image you can see it's fully built out. What we're trying
to do today is just legalize an existing building that's been a long-standing duplex, actually
dating back to 1968. And we are not seeking any new construction or height. We're just looking
to revitalize uh what has been a dilapidated building in this neighborhood you can see there's
a lot of vacant lots in this neighborhood a lot of properties in need of rehabilitation
and that was one of the main things that the rco was very excited about when they uh you know chose
not to oppose so again the the property is a triangular property here you can see at this
corner of Page and Bainbury Street. Like I said, it's zoned RSA 5, which only allows for single
It's zoned RSA 5, which only allows for single-family use.
family use.
However, there is an existing duplex, two-story use that's been fully built out at the site since at least the 1940s, which I'll show.
We received one refusal, the only refusal being that two-family household living is not allowed in an RSA 5 residential zoning district.
and here you can see the strawberry mansion community concern we did meet with them last
week and they were they provided the following i think the only proviso that really affects
this board is we did agree to do a commercial trash pickup twice a week at this property
so here's the existing building obviously you can see it needs a little a little tlc
This is North Bainbury Street here.
Page Street is up to the left.
You can see the existing front door here.
The status of the building has been and always has been.
There is a first floor unit.
You go up the center staircase and there's a second floor unit.
Both units stack and are three bedrooms for each one.
There is a basement.
However, the basement is not full height.
It's actually only under the rear portion of this property, not this kind of narrowing portion of the triangle.
And it is not living space and it will not be does not provide any living space currently.
And there's no discussion of living space down there.
And again, it's it's unfinished in storage only in limited capacity.
So, again, here you can just look down. This is the property on the left.
You can look down the street. They're all pockmarked with vacant lots and crime and drug use has been a rampant issue here in this neighborhood as raised by the RCO.
This is looking down North Page, the same side of it.
So, again, everything's just going to be cleaned up, new windows.
The roof is going to be addressed and we'll be putting in new tenants in the duplex.
So this is looking down north page. You can see the same sort of neighborhood condition.
And then this is the rear portion. There's a triangle portion here that is a rear yard.
That will be fenced in and there will be a private section for the trash cans to go right in this corner with a gate just right there for the private trash collection.
the property was posted on both sides of the building
and as I promised you have the in the zoning archive itself this building has been duplex
since 1968 and in fact it's actually before that was a four-family building from 1942 on
So, you know, we are not we did not create any condition at this property and we're not exacerbating any condition at this property.
Here's the overall site map view.
You can see the dark gray is the as built condition.
This light white section is that rear yard portion that I was describing.
That'll be cleaned up and fenced in and the trash will go right in this corner.
there will be a small trash hauler that'll pull up, go right across the sidewalk, pull the trash
cans over and put them back. So there will be no trash from the added use. And then what you can
see here, I will zoom in. Again, they both stack. So looking at one is the same as looking at both.
This is as built. There's no structural change taking place or being requested.
You walk in the front door, there's a full bath, a large kitchen and living area, and then one bedroom, two bedrooms, and three bedrooms.
So again, the total site area is 1,280 square feet, and we do believe that this meets all the requirements for a variance.
There is a hardship, which is the existing building in its current condition.
It's already built out as two three-bedroom units, and there is other multifamily use
in the neighborhood as well.
We do believe that there's no detriment to the public health, safety, or welfare as revitalizing
this property into its current condition for residential will match the residential nature
of the neighborhood and it will bring more eyes and attention onto the street and kind of this
And it will bring more eyes and attention onto the street and kind of this quiet corner,
which has been, like I said, rampant with drugs and crime.
And then finally, this is the least minimum variance request, because although it is a
single family zoning district, we are simply only seeking to develop this or rehabilitate
this property into its current condition.
We're not seeking any additional use over and above the intensity that's already been
there.
And with that, I'd be happy to call Movita Johnson, if you could raise your hand.
Movita?
Good afternoon.
Take your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer.
Movita Johnson, M-O-V-I-T-A-J-O-H-N-S-O-N.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you, Chair.
Ms. Johnson, you're here today on behalf of the owner and developer of this property, correct?
And you heard all of the testimony that I already presented today?
And do you believe it to be true and correct to the best of your knowledge, information, and belief?
Yes. And would you adopt that testimony as your own? Yes.
Okay. Board chair, with that, I would offer myself and my client, Ms. Johnson, for any questions the board may have.
Questions from the board?
No, chair.
No, chair.
Questions or so is, did you vote then?
oh yes yes i did excuse me okay so that's okay that's okay mr holliman
mr holliman
can you hear me mr chairman oh i can't i can't tom vote please do you have any comments or questions
no okay um lebaron
chair not hearing any questions from the board um maybe we could call planning commission while
sure planning commission uh ron bednar city planning hold on mr chair um we just did questions
from the board i i did have a quick comment and then we should go to the public okay um and i see
i see um lebaron is back i think he was just having some technical issues okay yeah for just
a second the right time to do it huh but all good now do you have any questions lebaron for
regarding this case okay um mr chair and just um as mr whalen noted there are provisors requested
by the rco um commercial trash pickup twice a week is enforceable um the other one that i saw
that was enforceable they asked about basement living um i think we could do something if the
board was so inclined uh as no household living in the basement thank you thank you miss emerson
and we would be fine with that again uh board chair because uh it's actually not possible to
put any living in the basement it's it's not a full full height or full size basement or finished
anyway questions or comments from the virtual audience yes we have a handout from strawberry
mansion community concerns i have allowed them to speak hi could you please state your name
and spell for the court stenographer all right can you hear me i i can okay hi uh good afternoon
uh bonita coming b-o-n-i-t-a c-u-m-m-i-n-g-s yep do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
told truth nothing but the truth i do please proceed um we did have a non-opposition or
unopposed to this development um strictly due to um its its existing structure being uh
reconfigured to this island-shaped property um but there are um uh as we tried to describe in
the proviso that if it's not something that will be a proviso, we definitely want it to
If it's not something that will be a proviso, we definitely want it to be in the record.
be in the record.
This could turn very quickly into more than one person per room.
So we just wanted to make sure that it is what they described, a single room occupancy protocol for this type of multi-year property.
So that it was described to us that it would be one person per bedroom.
uh they discussed the commercial trash pickup the only concern we had with that was to make
sure that the trash is actually separate from what they described as going to be a yard space
uh for the residents of this property so they're not sitting in trash that that
it'd be defined as to where that trash space ends and the actual activity yard begins
This property comes with no air conditioning for the building, so I don't know if that's a concern for the zoning board, but I would imagine it would be quite uncomfortable if not described how cooling would take place in this property.
They talked about no basement living. It has been proposed that there was no drug or recovery rehab use or house. And then, of course, again, no rooming house.
they talked about external grounds and property maintenance and another concern is that a project
like this where you have three separate people or maybe unrelated people living in rooms
they're not really privy to the eviction program so we were concerned that being that they may not
had leases that that could turn into maybe a problem of um evictions for uh the the members
that would be or persons that may be involved in um renting in these in these rooms so that's
what we wanted to get you know get in directly okay it's on the record conditioning thank you
very much for your for your call is there anyone else in the virtual audience
no further answer mr chair planning commission
So, Ron Bednar, city planning. The property is indicated for residential use on the city plan. Our adopted district plan gives that recommendation. Given the documented use history, we have no objection to the granting of the requested variance.
Thank you. So MI 2023-006-890-2020-24, North Bambry Street. I vote yes with proviso. Commercial trash pickup twice a week. No basement living.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with provisos.
LeBaron Leonard Palmer, my vote is yes with provisos.
Okay, thank you.
Thank you very much, Board.
Give me one minute.
Hi, Ron.
Did you want to share your screen?
thank you kindly sir
number eight mi 2023 007 020 508 to 14
moore street darwin beauvais and steve masters are both involved this is a resumptive hearing
i i did swear you a little while ago right uh mr chair you're talking to me yeah i think i
swore you in a little while ago then i yes you did when i when i came up prematurely yes all
Mr. Chairman, members of the board, I can raise my hand.
Could you state your name for the record, please, if you don't mind?
Yes, Darwin Bovee, B-E-A-U-V as in victory, A-I-S as in SAM.
All right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Okay. Go ahead.
Mr. Chairman, right. I think there's the, you know, there's been a lot of stuff flying back
and forth. And I was just trying to see if I can.
And I was just trying to see if I can make a suggestion to the board there that if possible, if we could present our case without interruption, then then opposing counsel can present his case and with cross examination.
Once he's done cross-examining, he can present his case. And then once he's presented his case, then we get to cross-examine.
That way, because last time it seemed very disrespectful on both ends, cutting everyone off and not getting too much guidance on how to deal with something, with a case of this nature in front of a virtual audience.
That's one suggestion. The other two points that I had to make, and these are just housekeeping points. One is, I believe Mr. Masters keeps suggesting that he wasn't aware of our witness.
When we submitted an updated exhibit package on April 19th, it was a Friday, five days prior, we did list our witnesses and those witnesses are there. I did double check to see if he was on that email, and he was. So that's a housekeeping point, right? Because I believe Mr. Masters wants to move on some sort of-
So, three, the third point, and this is the point that concerns me the most, the last time we were before the board, there were three board members the way I understood it to be.
You, Mr. Chairman, Mr. Holloman, and Mr. Snell.
I think we only have two of the three here today.
And under the rules, I'm kind of concerned because I believe, no, I begged the board and I appreciate the board's accommodating us that we will come back as quickly as possible because our transaction had a deadline.
So I'm begging the board.
Excuse me, Mr. Bouvet.
Excuse me, Mr. Bouvet.
So we have three board members that were present previously.
So, yes, LeBaron with an alternate board member on that date.
So we have three board members who are present.
And our rules only require a quorum to have a hearing.
It's just a matter of the voting that would be impacted if we didn't have the correct quorum present.
Yep, and that's exactly what I wanted to get guidance on.
So we are okay.
Okay. So with that said, if begging the chairman's guidance.
Why don't we do this? Why don't we do this? So why don't we do this? Mr. Masters wants to make a motion to continue this. So before we rule about who's going to let's let Mr. Masters speak. Okay.
Sure. Thank you, Mr. Chair, members of the board. There's two items that I do want to raise as preliminary matters with the board today. Before we get to the motion on a continuance, we raised a motion a few days ago that there's no jurisdiction for the board here today because there's no evidence that Darwin represents either the property owner or an equitable owner of this property.
he's claimed that there's an agreement of sale that entitles his client to purchase this property
he's also spoken many times before the board that there's some kind of an urgency and that this
agreement is is threatened to to run out of time but when i took a look at his exhibit
which I believe is exhibit four, which is the agreement of sale. It's a nine-page document,
and he only provided us with the first page. The first page does have the name of one of his
clients, Michael Daly, but it doesn't have the name of the entity that is the buyer. It says
the entity is to be determined. So the agreement, the one out of the nine pages doesn't even tell
us that 3R Ventures is the correct entity that wants to purchase this property. But more
importantly, there's no dates. There's no signatures on the first page. We really need
to see the whole document. For some reason, Mr. Bove has continued to update his exhibit
binders, but he only keeps giving us the first page. So we don't know if there was a deadline
if there was a deadline of when this agreement of sale would expire he's made representations
of when this agreement of sale
would expire, he's
to the board that there is a deadline we don't have any of that information and this is this
is not a standing issue that um that the uh and maybe that was my error in calling it a standing
issue but it's actually a jurisdiction issue the zoning code says that only property owners or
equitable owners can file applications and pursue applications before the zoning board so we first
have to determine whether mr beauvais client is actually is actually legally authorized to
represent this property today um that's that's question number one and the second one is yes
it's totally true that on friday mr beauvais gave us an an updated exhibit binder and he
He listed two representatives from the American Treatment Center, which is a recovery treatment facility and outpatient-only facility in Havertown.
He did not say that either one of those individuals had a role as the interim director of his proposed facility.
In fact, on Friday, when he updated his exhibit binder to us, he kept the page that describes who is on the development team.
And when it comes to director of the facility, it says to be determined.
Only today, two and a half hours before the 3.30 list, did Mr. Beauvais decide it was time to inform us that Mr. Chris Devaney is not just going to appear and testify as a supporter from a different recovery center,
but he is actually going to be employed, supposedly, as the director of this project.
Our expert witness, we've been preparing him for quite some time now, and when I was preparing
him literally late this morning, he said to me, well, these two new witnesses, do they
have a role in this in this facility or are they just going to be endorsing from a another
objection and i and i told him yes all we know all we know is that is that all right so so all
all we know is what is what um mr bovet told us on friday when when he added those two names and
he added an exhibit which was a letter of support from the american treatment center to the board
or maybe it was even to council member for some reason um so so there was no indication
until this morning um and or early this afternoon and for that reason it it is manifestly unfair
for him to be for for for the applicant to be able to proceed with that witness i don't i don't
object to another witness being called to support his project. But to have a witness who's now
saying, I'm going to be the director of this program, we have uncovered tremendous amounts
of material just in the few hours that we've been looking to find out more about this person. Do
they have any kind of a background? And what is their background? But the board has historically
treated very seriously, and I know this because it's been in cases that I've been involved with,
Mr. Chair, that when expert witnesses are listed without having the five-day notice,
I, in my case, when I've made a mistake and done that, my witnesses have had to,
there's been continuances and they've had to testify later times so that there was enough
time. We've had literally two and a half hours of notice that this person is testifying in his
role as director of this project as opposed to as a booster who who is who is employed by another
another facility so for that reason we think it is really important to have at least a five-day
continuance for that one witness um because otherwise it's manifestly unfair okay all right
Mr. Bilbeck, could you respond?
Right.
Clearly, right.
We've said that we're on a time deadline.
So, of course, he's asking for a continuous.
And to come up with a stretch that an agreement of sale is technically flawed.
When the board has the full agreement, it has the full agreement.
I don't know why Mr. Masters doesn't have it.
i don't know why mr masters doesn't have it but i'm always asking for that but i i'm sorry i'm
But the word does happen.
i have my time right and and standing there that mr masters i have my excuse me can i can i interject
for one moment um just for for the sake of clarity for the record i went back through our records and
a full copy of the agreement of sale was submitted to all parties by the applicant on april 12th
so we do have that for the record thank you and then furthermore the or to suggest that the
applicant cannot prove his case with testimony right that that's it's ridiculous we are not
presenting mr devaney devaney as an expert because he's part of the team and to say that
oh, he wasn't part of the team before, therefore he's not allowed to speak, right?
That goes against our burden in trying to prove that we meet the threshold for a special exception.
Mr. Chairman, it's clear.
He's requesting more time.
He submitted a...
Let me take over here, right?
Mr. Masters, we're going to go on with the case.
i'm not agreeing with your two issues so we're going to go on with the case darwin you're going
to you're going to start you're going to you have two witnesses that i understand now i want you to
both know that we put a timeline on this today for about an hour right i'm gonna get to an hour
we're already 15 10 15 minutes into this so i i know you we all want to be thorough with this but
Mr. Bovee, please start your case.
I apologize. I missed the email that had the full copy of the agreement of sale. I do see it now. So I withdraw that part of my request.
Thank you. Thank you very much. Please proceed, Mr. Bovee.
Okay, thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the board. Again, my name is Darwin Bove, and I represent the applicant in this matter. This is a resumption hearing, and earlier, I believe April 10th, we appeared before you, and we discussed all of our exhibits. If I can share my screen.
All right. Sorry, that was the email that we sent Mr. Masters. Let me take that off.
All right. So we were at the April 10th hearing, and we presented our exhibits from 1 through 18, where it includes our referral. This is a misnomer. It's not a deed. It was an agreement of sale.
Our updated tax clearance. We have prior zoning permits, description of our activity, memorandum of law, our community benefits agreement, as well as photos and a support letter from American Treatment Network.
We did meet and interviewed and presented to the board Ms. Bridget Daly, who will be our facilities manager.
Her job is to make sure that the nuts and bolts of the facility is up to par.
With that, we did go over our plot plan and our floor plans to describe how the residents will live and eat and receive their, not medical attention, but receive their counseling services.
So with that, I want to, and then we had our witness, Courtney, she explained the need for 3.1 level facilities and how there's very little to none freestanding facilities here in the city of Philadelphia.
Next, I would like to call Chris Duvaney. He is currently the general manager to American Treatment Network. If he could be identified.
Mr. Duvaney.
He's been allowed to speak.
I'm here, sir.
Sir, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court's sonogram?
Christopher Duvaney. C-H-R-I-S-T-O.
Christopher Devaney, C-H-R-I-S-T-O-P-H-E-R, Devaney, D as in Delaware, E as in Edward, V as in Victor, A as in Apple, N as in Nancy, E as in Edward, Y as in yellow.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you.
uh mr devaney can you please uh tell us your current position for the record i'm the general
the general manager of america treatment network okay and can you tell us your educational
background specifically relating to community counseling and substance use disorder treatment
i have a bachelor's degree in criminal justice and a master's degree in community counseling
Great. Can you briefly describe your roles and responsibilities as the general manager at ATN?
I oversee all of the clinical operations at American Treatment Network. We currently have
four facilities, and I provide oversight to each site manager of those sites.
Okay. Can you describe your experience in these facilities and managing these facilities?
So, yes, I have 24 years experience in the Behavioral Health Treatment Network in Delaware, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.
I also have worked a little bit in Florida.
I have extensive background in program development, policy development, grant writing, and supervising and providing treatment services at all levels of care from incarceration, detox, inpatient, and outpatient levels of care.
great great and you mentioned grant writing can you describe your experience in writing
and implementing policies and procedures so yes i've led or facilitated
approximately 18 carf and joint commission surveys i've written policies for those
that meet state and federal guidelines and i've written policies that are in accordance with
accreditation. I have implemented those policies in various places, most recently at American
Treatment Network. Great. And how do you ensure compliance with both state and federal regulations
in your facility? So we are licensed by the department in Pennsylvania. Our programs are
licensed by the department of drug and alcohol programs ddap and we are um between myself this
each site manager and our compliance manager uh we have an extensive process that we use to
review clinical records review personnel files and and review our policies and make sure that
all three are consistent with the standards of D-DAP. And what specific responsibilities
would you have as the interim director for 508 Moore Street?
So as part of my role, like I do at American Treatment Network, as we're developing new
programs, we put together an implementation timeline. Within that timeline, we identify
people that could oversee and run the treatment programs and we build around them the training
the policies and the protocols needed to operate the program so my my role with this project would
be to help build the on-site treatment team and fill the role as interim director be available
for consultation and implement the treatment program
that's agreed to by the executive team.
So just with that said, how many staff would you think
this facility would need?
Approximately 30 between clinical counseling staff,
support staff, and behavioral techs.
okay and out of out of the uh when you say clinical step you mean counselors yes the clinical director
and seven counselor positions okay is there a standard uh a state standard for the number of
counselors to residents yes so ddap has in their policies a one to eight standard uh for all
residential programs, but recently due to the opiate addiction, the opiate problems in the
uh problems in the state of pennsylvania and some workforce concerns they have
state of Pennsylvania and some workforce concerns they had.
in december they passed the legislature passed the law or passed um exceptions that were adopted
by the governor and on february a document came out from uh ddap saying that we could go to one
to twelve and for the foreseeable future as a ratio so we are well within that ratio of one to
12 and we meet the ratio of one to seven when you include the clinical or one to eight when you
include the clinical director in that ratio okay so safe to say that even though the standard will
be relaxed you're going to maintain this one to eight yes okay um
Um, like, let me ask you that, because you said earlier that you, you've done several
treatment centers.
Um, how do you plan on applying your previous successes to 508 more?
Because in essence, you're, you're hired as the interim director.
So you're trying to build up the program, correct?
Right. Right. So I think it's important that we have a couple of different foundations.
One, you guys have we have already done it with the drawings of the architectural drawings, the way the program is going to look.
It's designed well. It has adequate clinical space.
It has adequate space for the residents to relax and have social time and to prepare and eat meals.
The second piece of that would be to hire and train, recruit, hire, and train qualified staff to implement evidence-based programming that would meet the needs of the individuals living in the house, including the services that would include peer support, employment, soft employment skills, employment and job training, helping the residents to find employment, et cetera.
And so once all of those programs are documented on protocol and policies, and the building is done and it's licensed, we can get ready to get rolling.
On the other end, the leadership team will be working to get credentialed and network with the various insurance companies.
And I presume you've had experience in doing all of these things.
I have.
okay um what strategies would you like employ on an outset to make sure that we are uh complying
with state and federal regs um so through our compliance program we'll make sure that our
clinical record has all of the documents and forms needed to um in it to be completed by the
staff to ensure adherence to the regs make sure that the policy manual is available and that the
staff and all of the staff coming on board have read and been trained in applicable policies
and then we the compliance team will follow up behind with monthly weekly and monthly reporting
to ensure that we're meeting the metrics and we're meeting the policies this is done through
resident interviews and chart reviews and and and participation in clinical meetings
and let me see your strategic planning and and program development
to let let's talk about um your experience with other facilities in building up business
development strategies and and how you can adopt that at 508 more well so you know we have a we
have in most of our marketing plans we approach uh the pain points for where individuals with
substance use issues
you know
spend frequent
we go to emergency
rooms we go to
primary care offices to pain management
clinics we also
the other
the higher level treatment programs
the detoxes those
programs that are 3.5 and 3.7
on the ASM
uh scale and we work with them to provide step down services to those individuals straight out of
and that's great and and i do want to ask you about community impact but
let me let me ask you another question what have you done this
Let me let me ask you another question. What have you done this for other known facilities?
I don't want to say reputable, but known facilities.
So sure, as throughout my professional experience, I was employed for a long time as a large nonprofit in the state of Delaware,
where we did substance use treatment programming and I helped build and implement programs there
after when I left there I went into the consulting business and I worked for
some large entities both regional and national I did some consulting with Banyan and I helped
them open a large treatment facility I did some consulting with Gadenzi in Delaware to help them
maintain compliance with, obtain and maintain compliance with the state of Delaware.
And I also worked with a group called Lyman House out of the state, out of Delaware to help them
grow their business. So yes, I've done these things. And then I've also done these things
at American Treatment Network where, you know, when we opened, we had one facility. Now we have
we have four great great great great all right so coming back to 508 more um what
what um impact do you see um that that that having a facility like this or better yet
what strategies would you foresee in walking hand in hand with the community
well i i you know i and i understand it's always it's always um difficult to work with the
community especially when they have concerns about us being there but i think it's important
that we connect with them we talk to them about the fact that we're going to have jobs available
to them to members of their community within walking distance you know within uh easy with
and easy to commute distance we talk about um that we're going to do community service we talk
about the fact that you know we're going to do background checks on the people coming in and
we're going to make sure that there aren't registered sex offenders um we also are going
to have a zero tolerance policy about uh using you know using drugs and alcohol and if a person
uses them we're going to move them to a higher level of care we're going to remove them from
the program. I think it's important that, you know, we understand that addiction and the need
for treatment is all around us. And, you know, one in every five people suffer from addiction.
So there's people already in their community that might need the services that we offer.
Great, great, great. And one last set of questions. The opposition has
hold on an expert witness are you familiar with that individual i i am uh by name i'm familiar
with him i was probably in similar meetings with him when uh gdenzia first opened in delaware
he is absolutely an expert in the field i i do not deny that um and i think that you know
that he has
done a lot for individuals
with addiction throughout the region
Psychedentia operated in.
But much like you, and you're at
the peak of your career,
and you're
at least
you're
if he's a legend, you're the current star.
So having
said that,
I understand that the opposition did present comments allegedly written by him and presented it to the board.
Did you get a chance to look at those comments?
I did review those comments, and they break down into three different categories.
I mean, three different sort of overarching categories.
One was the zoning, one that had to do with parking, available parking, which was discussed at the last meeting.
One that talked about whether or not there was the clinical know-how and wherewithal to operate at 3.1.
And one was working with funding sources and referral sources to make sure that, you know, the program would be filled and would benefit the community of Philadelphia.
And so, I mean, I think that to the second one, you know, American Treatment Network has been licensed and regularly and been through several licensure audits with DDAP.
It has done really well with them. And, you know, we are prepared to to help.
We are prepared to help assist and oversee this program, and I think that also, you know, willing to bring myself to bear on it to make sure that we implement a treatment program that's based in evidence-based practices.
and you know uh american treatment network is in network with cbh we do have we have gotten a lot
of referrals uh developed a lot of referral sources we do get a lot of referrals from people
from residents of our residents of the city of philadelphia so you know we have an understanding
of of working with cbh and what that's like um and and i think that it's important to know
that there is there is need you know the city of philadelphia continues to struggle with
with uh with unintentional overdose deaths in 2022 they had more than 1400 for seven years they had
um more than 1100 uh more than a thousand for the last seven years they've had more than a thousand
overdoses each year and you know of the of cities of comparable size and throughout the nation they
have the largest overdose rate for 100 000 people the mayor or the mayor has said recently and some
of her staff have said recently that um that they are having trouble with uh available beds for to
meet the needs of the community and and so we think that we could be a help i'm gonna object
not to hear say from from him talking about mayor parker um he needs to just focus on facts that he
knows himself i i think he's his experience will so is clear when i agree about the mayor so just
let him talk about his own experiences sure um when it comes to and just one last question chris
and thanks for your testimony thus far.
When it comes to building a program
at the levels that you've described,
do you think it's possible to do that here?
I think that this is a needed program
in a needed city.
Thank you.
Mr. Chairman, I believe
the way I understand it, I can present my witnesses, rest my case, and then Mr. Masters
could cross-examine all the witnesses? Or are we going to do it each witness? And here's the
reason why I'm saying it. If I could rest my case, because I know Mr. Masters is playing a game with
the clock and so now let's let's i'm i'm objecting to the to the harassment that that mr bove no it's
not harassment it's it's an observation so so so so i i think at this point mr master should
do his cross thank you mr chair um mr devaney um i wanted to go over oh actually can you
not share your screen darwin because i wanted to share my screen
okay i wanted to um first go over your um your cv a bit okay um you mentioned in your testimony
that you worked for some time um in delaware would that be this entry here from 1998 to 2019
at Connections Community Support Programs, Incorporated?
Yes, sir.
So let me just go through the positions that you held there
because I'm concerned about some of the time
that you claim to be doing various things.
So from the end of 2003 to 2006,
you were the Director of Community Continuum of Care.
Mr. Chairman, can we talk about the...
we didn't present him as a witness as an expert and and we're going over his resume so i don't
understand the relevance i would like i would like i would like to state
you're muted you're muted steve sorry um the community can the connections community support
Programs Incorporated, during the time that Mr. Devaney was a leader in that organization,
was prosecuted two times by the Department of Justice, one for fraud and one for violations
for violations of the controlled substances act from the dea and what i want to find out is
of the Controlled Substances Act from the DEA.
i know that mr devaney was i object to all of that we're bringing up let him finish let him
finish i understand mr devaney that you were that you say that you were the um the the coo the um
uh the operations officer for this entity and i believe that the ceo was your mother is that
correct that's oh my god so i object we're bringing in the mother like miss darwin you
said that you wanted to like have time for everything so maybe maybe it would be helpful
just to let me move forward so mr devaney can you can you focus for me and and just confirm
with the years that you were the coo of this of this non-profit december of 2006 to the time i
left and the time you left was when january of 2019 okay um that's what i thought so i'm going to
uh would it surprise you that your mother um answered in um objection but that was
third party objection all right i'm going to why don't steve why don't we do this why don't we
concentrate on him and not try to bring other people in and right okay so let's do i am um
okay thank you okay sure we're going to uh i'll go now to the to the court documents that i have
um that are connected to this um objection those court documents
well mister wait first of all let me answer this steve it's the court documents is the connected
to the gentleman that just testified yes mr chris devini is mentioned in these court documents as
one of the leaders who was involved in the fraud in the the first prosecution by the department
of justice he's also mentioned in the second group with the controlled substances prosecution
from the dea and the justice department because the time period that he says he was the coo
is the time period of when the illegal activities were happening so we have to go through mr chairman
Mr. Chairman, organizations always name the leadership.
No, this is the court.
Organizations always name the leadership.
The caption of that document has his mother.
So I don't understand the relevance.
Again, right?
All right, I'm trying to hear.
So, Steve, I think.
Has Condensia ever been charged?
Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute.
Here's where we're going to go.
Steve, try to focus on this.
What if he did?
And Darwin, I do think there's a degree of he's going to be the interim head.
And Steve's trying to say, well, the interim head has some problems.
That's the way I see it.
And I think what I want to do is get to this.
And Darwin, I will give you every chance to respond to this.
OK, let me just try to get to the beginning here.
These are very long complaints that the Department of Justice brought against Connections Community. So, we're going to get to the top here.
And this was, Mr. Chair, just so that you know, this was research that we had to do in the two and a half hours before the 3.30.
so it is um just just just just okay sure um excuse me mr masters just a brief question
was was this information previously submitted to the board and council for the applicant
okay we shared it with the board and the applicant before our case was called today
okay i did see updated exhibits from you but i did not get a chance to review them
Yes, these are in the...
And yet, again, my objection stands, right?
He wants the standard applied to everyone else but him.
Let's continue, please.
We'll go to the substance abuse ones first.
So that is...
And while you're looking for this, I...
Well, I have it. I have it. So, Darwin, it's not necessary for you to filibuster at the moment.
Just to give you the context, members of the board, there are four press releases put out by the Department of Justice concerning the false claims, fraud, and the substance abuse, criminal and civil violations.
the substance abuse, criminal, and civil violations.
This first one is from April 9th, 2021.
It's the U.S. attorney announcing filing the civil complaint against Connections Community Support Programs, Inc.,
as well as three of its current and former officers, including...
Now, this one is listing William Northey as the COO,
but apparently uh mr mr devaney tells us that he was a ceo at the time so i'm not sure if that was
if that was i can clarify that now i left in december of 18 so i'm assuming they filled the
position with somebody else okay all right so um then uh so you did you left you left the
organization in december 18 after the first false claims prosecution when was that there was no false
claims prosecution well there was a settlement there was a complaint and then a settlement was
reached all right we'll go to the false claims one then because i was in other words no one was
charged no right everyone was charged so so but not not not not chris no and again mr chairman
the relevance i'm going through this all right here we have so we have the four um here's the
false claims lawsuit that was from 2021, in which he's, as we go through the complaint,
we'll see the references to various practices that Mr. Devaney contributed to that were part
of the false claims. There was billing, false billing, that was basically defrauding Medicare
out of significance of money.
Money was a $15 million settlement
that was reached in that case.
So we have the complaint.
Is he asking a question?
This is what he's going through the exhibits, right?
I thought this was cross.
If he's asking a question, let him ask a question.
Right.
I think that's fair.
If you have something you want to ask,
if you have something you want to ask them,
please ask them.
and if you use that as a backup that's so uh mr devaney um in paragraph 115 of the complaint it
states on june 11th 2018 uh this has to do with miss spruel um on the same day she emailed you
expressing frustration over being forced into a position and being demoted to a therapist
do you recall um do you recall um this this email and and and these these allegations that the
government made against objection it's beyond direct objection it's not how to be on direct
he said that he is a qualified person and we're now seeing that he's involved
listen listen to me listen to me you gotta stop number one this was a lawsuit am i correct steve
this was a prosecution by the department of justice and by the state of delaware but but not
not criminally individuals criminally this was the institution they were suing right no no they
also named various um they named people but what i'm saying it wasn't a criminal charge am i right
no this was civil and it was settled by the department of justice as a that's what i'm
saying it's all civil okay right you can ask him a question about something you see in there
but move on with that please okay mr mr devaney you see the in the green the green highlighted
areas where your name is is um is indicated as being part of the of the of the activities that
happened around this lawsuit is that correct i do okay and are you aware that you that that
organize that your organization had to enter into a settlement uh and pay 15 million dollars to the
department of justice i actually did not know that they entered into a settlement okay you're aware
that you were part of that that you were listed in the complaint is that true what's i'm i mean
my name is throughout is in that document but i was not individually named in any complaint
right in in paragraph 188 it says that you repeatedly pressured the employees to meet
their billing targets and demanded detail plans how they were going to meet their targets
in 190 it says that you gave the act one team in newark until the end of the day to add your
June hours, the team was instructed to go back
into Lynx and their schedules to review
their June hours and add what they may have missed.
Mr. Chairman, again,
right? These statements
that he's saying in a
complaint...
Does he want to respond to what you just read?
I mean, instead of just going over...
All right, Mr. Devaney,
do you have a response to
these actions
being listed in the
complaint for
the false claims,
the fraudulent billing of Medicare and Medicaid payments.
give me a delaney i'm here i'm thinking about how to respond to this okay sure sure um excuse me
can i sorry can i interject um mr masters was i know this was civil litigation but was mr delaney
individually named or part of the settlement that that came out of these complaints he his mother
was and two other principals were um mr mr devaney was he so so here's here's the relevance um members
of the board mr devaney is saying that he is a good manager he's going to take this program which
doesn't exist at all and he's going to make he's going to build it into a great a great program
um in his past it's very important to to note that he was part of a corrupt organization that
defrauded medicare and medicaid of millions and millions of dollars he then was part of the
organization that engaged in right okay um so the the crux of the matter is he worked at a place
that the justice department sued right sued for civil litigation that they were doing some things
wrong whether it was billing drugs or whatever and the that institution then settled not him
but the institution right but it's it's more your mr chair it's more than he worked at a place
he was the coo he was the number i understand i understand i understand yeah yeah so so now he
now he's the general manager of of um let's let we'll move on to to um to american treatment
centers mr uh mr devaney um isn't it true that american treatment centers is operates a hundred
percent uh outpatient facilities there's no residential treatment that you provide
well first it's american treatment network so i i don't want the anyone to be mistaken by the name
okay okay thank you uh yes right now what we do is outpatient services you have no residential
facilities not at the time have you ever had residential facilities not at american treatment
network no sir right okay so you also um in the last hearing there was testimony that there's a
contract between american treatment network and this new uh entity that you now are going to be
the the director of apparently to can you describe what the terms of that contract are objection
what's the objection this goes into the financial interest that he's testifying exactly that he's
making money on this transaction and this is a zoning hearing not a financial uh uh uh witch hunt
so mr chairman mr masters have constantly taken a position that this that this application
isn't financially viable that is that that is so un-american because as you sit here
that is not for the board to decide if we mr harrow the question i asked wasn't about whether
is viable we we i wasn't you just he just used the words of financial interest i want to know
i want to know what his financial interests are in the exactly you just used the words again
he you're still mr devaney you're still going to be with american treatment network is that correct
that's correct right so what is the contract what is the amount of money
that American Treatment Network
is receiving an industry entity.
There is a contract.
That's what has been testified.
That's what's been placed there.
It's apparent he has a contract, Steve.
He still works for the other company.
He's going to go here,
the way I understand it,
and be the interim head
to get this place open.
Mr. Devaney,
will you still also be employed
by American Treatment Network
at the same time
that you're at this new facility?
the the agreement is between uh american treatment network and and the company that
owns this property i'm uh so my role this will be part of my role in my function and duty at
american treatment network right so you are you are the general manager of american treatment
network and this facility is going to be somehow related to your operations is that is that what
you're saying to help get it open and started okay so you're kind of incubating it or or cure
incubating it or or cure or or basically helping to to launch it it he asked he already answered
or or basically helping to
that okay he's the interim head he'll be the interim head so you're so there is a financial
you confirm there is a financial relationship and you are benefiting financially from already
relationship with with the american treatment network he has it chris steve he has a he has a
contract. All right. Does American Treatment Network currently have any contracts for Medicaid
funding from CBH? Yes. Objection, because this is beyond the scope of direct. The American
Treatment Network isn't filing for an application. The only extent that the question should be is
that, is there a relationship between American Treatment Network? And that's it. But to start
peeling back, I'm not finished my objection, but to start peeling back as to whether American
Treatment Network can work, does have the ability to be financial, that's beyond the scope of
free direct steve mr devaney said to us that he is confident that he can build up this new facility
and he works with cbh and he understands how medicaid funding works obviously he was involved
with the medicaid fraud in the past but now he says that he knows how it works uh correctly and
steve steve listen he said you can ask them about cbh and that so ask the question that you want
Right. All right. Mr. Devaney, you you're saying that that you have a contract with CBH for outpatient services with Medicaid. Is that correct?
That's correct.
Do you have any contracts with with CBH for inpatient for for residential treatment of with Medicaid?
No, sir.
Do you do you agree that there are different standards and different and different levels of regulation that have to do with Medicaid funding for residential versus outpatient?
Yes. Okay. So you don't have any direct experience with Medicaid funding for residential
in Pennsylvania. Is that correct? That's correct. All of the residential that you did was way back
in the past and it was in Delaware or in Maryland. Is that correct? That's correct.
Okay. So you now want to take over a facility that's a residential facility in Pennsylvania,
but you've never had any experience with residential treatment in Pennsylvania up till now.
That's correct, right?
In Pennsylvania, yes, that's correct.
And you agree that the regulations and the rules in Pennsylvania are different than Delaware and Maryland?
Yeah, I mean, yes.
Yes, I mean, ASAM is not used in Pennsylvania, for example, whereas in Delaware it was.
for licensing
do you do you know that i i know that ddap is adopting and has put out a literature
about comparing their current levels of care with 3.1 and 3.5 but but pennsylvania doesn't use the
asam um he just not in their not in their licensure standards that's correct right they don't so you're
now going into a jurisdiction that you've never
worked in before in terms of residential
and you're acknowledging that this
is the first that you're going to be doing this?
In Pennsylvania,
yes, sir. Okay.
Do you, have you spoken
to CBH about
how to get a contract for Medicaid
funding for people coming
to this residential facility?
Objection. Asking about
financial issues?
I guess the question is, he's asking, did you do this because that's the way, are you going to try to run the place like that?
Are you bringing people? He hasn't said anything about financial.
I just said, he said, did you talk to CBH about how you could get people in here? That's all.
Right. I thought he said, excuse me, I thought he said, did you talk to CBH about contracting with them to get Medicaid?
CBH is only about Medicaid funding. That's all they do. Yeah. Yeah. And I heard the word
contracted. Uh-huh. So, Mr. Devaney, have you spoken to CBH about sourcing people to come into
your program on Moore Street? No, that would be premature. Okay. Do you understand that CBH has
Okay. Do you understand that CVH has no active RFPs out looking for new partners with residential treatment?
no active RFPs out looking
Objection.
I don't understand the relevance.
You don't understand the relevance?
Yeah, watch your mouth, Steve.
Well, the relevance is that he wants to run a program and he needs people in order to treat.
all right so so mr devaney where if you don't get if you don't get um clients from cbh do you
have a plan today that that that is is um is showing where your clients are going to come
from objection that's speculation i don't think that's appropriate well you don't think it's
appropriate for him to have a plan as to how he's going to to know what i don't think is appropriate
is saying that, hey, if you don't get a contract,
nobody can predict the future.
Neither can you, Steve.
All right, Steve, either move on or either.
Mr. Devaney, in terms of your thinking right now
as the interim director,
where are the clients going to come from for this program,
this residential treatment program?
I mean, I think I answered that earlier.
Are they coming from American Treatment Network?
No, I didn't say that.
So will you summarize where you think that the clients are coming from?
They're going to come from...
They're going to step down out of inpatient treatment units.
They're going to come from emergency rooms.
They're going to come from the community.
Okay. So you did talk about places where you were going to attempt to relate, to connect with different providers to see if you could encourage them to send people to your program.
um the the the demographics of the people in your program are they the same people
who would are they choosing between your residential facility and the betty ford center
or other other high-end programs that are available in devon for example
no i don't know what you mean by that yeah and i think i want to object because i think he
answered the question saying he will go go and seek out um but then i think you're asking
i'm asking whether these people have private insurance or whether they don't have private
insurance and are and are you are you do you have a strategy i don't understand the relevance of
that right and my objection still stands because it gets into a financial issue i i agree steve
try to move on from this okay um all right we'll we'll have we'll have our expert um address it
then um um mr devaney you testified that there's going to be up to 30 staff required at this
facility yes i said there were going to be 30 staff needed to operate the facility right
Right. And the number of parking spaces you agree is seven, right?
We'll stipulate to that because that's what was...
And you also understand that many of the clients that you are hoping to get in your facility may have their own personal vehicles, right?
Objection. Our community benefits agreement already says we're not going to have... Cars won't be required.
and that's beyond the scope of yeah i do remember that testimony may say that darwin but the but
the licensing requirements of the state of pennsylvania don't allow you to take cars away
from from clients who are in halfway houses so then we have that so we have an issue with the
licensing well you have an issue this is not a zoning issue the zoning issue is how many how
how many parking spaces you need to run your facility.
Not whether or not the state is requiring us to have individuals with cars.
No, the state is not requiring you to have individuals with cars.
The state is prohibiting you from removing their cars.
Those were the words you used.
I think there's seven.
We know there's seven spots.
Steve, I understand what you're trying to make.
We got to move on with this.
All right.
Over an hour.
We're over an hour into this.
Got it.
But I will rest at this point.
So, Darwin, we're over an hour into this.
Do you want to go back and redirect with him?
Do you want to go back and redirect with him or?
Actually, because our intention is to rest it, rest our case.
I do want to bring on the I want to bring on Matt Sullivan.
How long and how long would how long would you need?
It's it's it's just it's I'm not even going to cross examine it, examine.
I mean, I'm not even going to do direct testimony.
Here's what we'll do.
You'll bring him on, do what you want to do, and then we're going to break for the night.
And we'll start with Steve with a cross of him.
The the the OK, if we can just pause for a second.
Yeah, if if because, again, we're we're concerned about our timing.
and we're looking at I just wanted Matt Sullivan to just speak in support of the of the program
I also wanted to have uh the applicant just to adopt the testimony and I also wanted to
have John Disley to speak on the CBA so and he has the right he's not called as a witness but
but he has a right to speak
because he is the RCO
I'm talking
timeline
what I would prefer you to do
if you want is bring on your next
witness you said it'll be
real short he's going to say whatever he's going to say
and then we're going to break
then can we bring
on John Disley
and then I'll just
I'll just have Matt
and the applicant adopt testimony at the next session.
Okay, so you're going to bring on John Bisley.
How long do you think you need for him?
Just five minutes.
I just want to establish the terms of the CBA
and the support that we received.
And then, Steve, we're not going to cross him today.
We'll start that the next time.
I understand. Thank you.
Thank you.
Mr. Disley
He was
Mr. Disley
Do we see his hand
He's been allowed to speak Mr. Chair
Okay Mr. Disley
Yes sir
I remember I already swore you once today
Okay, so just state your name for the record, sir.
John Disley, D-I-Z-Z-L-E-Y.
Mr. Bobe, proceed.
Mr. Disley, good to hear from you.
Are you familiar with my client?
I just met him a couple months ago, so I'm not familiar with him.
Oh, your client?
I thought you were talking about the Pools and Calci.
Your client?
And at the time, is it safe to say that the applicant, my client, sat down with the RCO and negotiated a full-blown, fully executed community benefits agreement, correct?
Right now, Mr. Chairman, it would be disrespectful on my part to keep adding on what the CBA has before it, including the RCO support, the CBA, which was the third edition of it, and as of last week, our letter of why we did it.
I just think I would better serve this body, this distinguished party, and everybody on, if I just continue to ask questions, answer questions on a zoning issue, and the reason Dickinson Square West Civic Association supported this project.
Well, let's start with that question.
You're Mr. Bove's witness, sir.
Yes, sir.
So let me just ask you that question.
Why did Dickinson Square support this application?
Well, not being extreme experts on the disease of drug addiction, we just felt that it was a transforming opportunity for our community and our city in this fight against drug addiction.
In that regard, we called upon all of our various alliances, including all the bordering RCOs, the registered state representative for this area, the state representative senator, and the office of city council.
And might I add, this is the third redemption of our CBA based on the office of city council
needing to have two more things added to it.
And not to disrespect anybody on this call, but the variance was for six spaces.
And not to disrespect anybody on this call, but the variance was for six spaces.
So I'm not understanding the seven, maybe I'm not counting, but just for the record.
So we used all these alliances in our decision to support this project.
that's what it what would you if anything uh say to the board about about the opposition
mr chairman and the members of the board respectfully i'm not going to get into that
type of character assassination i can just say that every everything that mr masters has done
including these unidentified and weak to be named people, was I don't know them.
And Mr. Masters' last email to me was not in opposition, but in effect, which I have in my possession,
he just wanted control of the CBA.
So what I would say to the board, that's all I would say.
Okay, no other questions.
um we are uh mr masters we're gonna break for the night okay uh we there we will continue um
we will work to see when we get this back in here i do appreciate both of you uh trying to work
together um and um thank you very much yes sir thank you mr disley i got to see i hear you twice
today, sir. Yeah, I'm trying to
do what's right, you know. All right, thank
you, Mr. Disley.
Thank you. Excuse me, Mr. Chair,
just one brief
housekeeping note. I don't
have on our records that we received a letter
from Dickinson Square. We
have a copy of the CBA, but
if there was a letter explaining their position...
You said nobody received a letter of rationale
that I was forced to do next week
by the Spirit? I can send that right now.
That would be fantastic.
Thank you, Mr. Disley.
Mr. Disley, thank you very much.
Thank you. I'm sitting there to you right now.
Is there anybody in the virtual audience from the 330 list who has cases not been called?
I do not see any further hands, Mr. Disley.
Thank you, everyone. Thank you, everyone, for staying a little later.
And we did get a lot accomplished today, and I appreciate what everybody did.
and LeBaron as usual
we see you an awful lot LeBaron
I appreciate it
thank you very much LeBaron
of course
great job Bill
see you later thanks Tom
great job Bill
great job everyone
good evening everyone
good night all
good night everybody