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?