vote on this next week at the two o'clock hearing. Hillary, is that okay?
just excuse me yes mr chair that's fine and the record will be closed okay yeah it won't be
Just excuse me. Yes, Mr. Chair, that's fine. And the record will be closed.
closing the record and mr chair i just asked the board i know there's been some additional people
that weren't at the hearing in september that have been here today i just asked the board to
again look at tab five with all the letters of support non-opposition we have from the immediate
abutting neighbors and other neighbors that are located across the street as well as those from
CCRA and Councilman Johnson's office. Thank you very much. Thank you. Number five, MI-2022-005218,
1537-39 Ridge Avenue, Vern Anastasio. Mr. Anastasio is coming back in as a panelist.
Thank you. Good afternoon, Mr. Chair. Good afternoon.
just putting my notes together
take your time
that was a long one
can you say
say your name and spell it for the record
Vern Anastasio
A-N-A-S-T-A-S-I-O
2016 Spruce Street
Philadelphia
swear to tell the truth the whole truth
and nothing but the truth
yep I do
please tell us your connection to your client
brief introduction
I represent Ridge Rams
the company that owns
the subject property
thank you
our board member Thomas Holliman
questions
do you agree to waive the reading
of the refusal and stipulate
do you email all of these documents that's required to this hearing did you meet with the
rco and do you have a letter all but the letter uh try as i might we've met with them back in
november and then again in december but i don't have a letter okay proceed and share your screen
Thank you.
Mr. Chair, members of the board, this is 1537-39 Ridge Avenue, new construction on Ridge.
CMX 2 is the classification, as is the entire corridor before it gets to CMX 4.
And when my clients built these properties and began to use them for temporary uses, residential uses, visitor accommodation, 2.5, it was in fact, it was a permitted use for limited lodging in the 2.5.
area. Subsequent to that, as you know, the city changed its rules, and we are here now seeking
the variance for the visitor accommodation. This is the property in question. They have,
in fact, attempted prior to going the temporary limited lodging option to lease the apartments,
Having a difficult time leasing this part of Ridge Avenue is just not as much in demand for apartments as one would have thought.
As a result, we have two commercial spaces and we've got 10 rooms, which we would be able to like to use those 10 rooms for visitor accommodation.
Let me show you the zoning map to give you an idea where this property sits. It's absolutely surrounded by either RM1, which is Residential Multifamily, as you know, or CMX 2.5.
And then right down the block is CMX4. Right here is the Divine Lorraine Hotel, which, as I believe you know, was, in fact, residential apartments.
But as a result of the market drying up, not being able to rent those apartments, this, too, is now going to visitor accommodation as a full-fledged hotel.
So, because it's in an area that would otherwise promote visitor accommodation, because it
is within 500 feet of mass transit, so this is deemed transit-oriented.
So this is deemed, you know, a transit oriented sort of development, because when they started this, limited lodging was, in fact, permitted under 2.5.
And by the way, not one 911 call, not one 311 call in the time that they've done this operation.
They connected with Luna Hospitality, which is a regional online company that strictly vets their folks who are coming in.
They are the property management team, 24-7 on call.
They've never had a problem with any of the neighbors, with any trash issues, or with any sort of L&I issues or calls for quality of life.
For all those reasons, I'm respectfully requesting the granting of this variance.
As I said, when my client started out, this was a permitted use, and I believe we only
have to look to the divine Lorraine to understand the pressures of the rental market over here.
They themselves are going back to a hotel, and my client would like to be able to have
this fully furnished and continue used as a visitor accommodation.
We find long term, so long as they're vetted, that those folks who occupy visitor accommodation
buildings care for the property more, cause less waste.
And of course, there's no move in and move out traffic or problems, no bed frames on
the sidewalk when folks move out.
It just takes for a more pleasant experience, especially in a commercial corridor like the Ridge.
So with that, I'd like my client to raise their hand.
I see no hands at this time. What's the name of your client?
Quinn Lee.
Quinn Lee.
I'm not showing that person.
We only have a dentist lead currently logged on.
Not dentist, no.
Wait a minute.
We have somebody with the last name Chin.
Did they raise their hand?
Yes, please.
Person with the last name ending in Chin, you're free to speak.
It's either Irene or KeeFan Chen.
Yeah, KeeFan and Chen is the one who's free to speak.
They're not muted right now.
Thank you.
KeeFan, are you there?
KeeFan Chen, you're free to speak.
Seems like he's having technical difficulties, Chair.
and you're muted, Chair.
Chair, you're muted.
You're still muted.
Oh, I was on mute. I'm sorry.
Okay, Counsel, we'll take your testimony
as your officer of the court.
Thank you. I appreciate that.
No questions.
Mr. Chairman, I have a concern about no RCO letter.
Again, we met with them in November and December, and I have followed up with Feltonville asking for the letter as recently as this morning.
Okay, thank you.
Any questions from the virtual audience?
I see no handshare.
Planning Commission.
This is Ron Bednar, City Planning.
Property is indicated for commercial mixed use on the city plan.
We have no objection to the grant and the variance.
Okay, no problem.
Thank you.
MI-2022-005218, 1537-39 Ridge Avenue, I vote yes, with provisos.
Commercial space at the front.
On the first floor in the front remains and temporary variance for visitor accommodation use will be expire 3-1-2022.
for visitor accommodation use and will be expire 3-1-2026.
Thank you. Thomas Holliman, my vote is yes with proviso.
James Snow, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thank you counsel, congratulations. Thank you, have a good evening.
number six mi-2022-005301 3233 west hunting park avenue jerry klein the attorney
mr klein is coming back in as a panelist thank you good afternoon again mr chair
Jared Klein from Blank Rome. Thank you, dude.
Can you spell your name for the record? Certainly. It's
J-A-R-E-D, last name Klein, K-L-E-I-N. And I was
previously sworn in, so you don't have to swear again.
Give us a little information about your client, please. Sure. My client is
the St. James School, which are the equitable owners
of 3233 West Hunting Park. They're under agreement of sale to purchase.
Thank you. Board member Thomas Holloman has a few questions to ask.
Good afternoon, counsel. 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 of this hearing?
And did you meet with the RCO and do you have a letter?
Yes, to all of the above.
Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.
Thank you very much, Mr. Holloman. So this is an application for a use change without any construction at 3233 West Hunting Park.
Just to contextualize this for the board, Hunting Park runs behind and then perpendicular to West Clearfield, where the St. James School currently exists.
this application is seeking to take the former home of the Royal Electric Supply Company
and convert that building into an educational use for the benefit of the St. James School.
And so the plan is to change the interior of the building,
leave a small portion as rentable warehouse space as an income stream,
and to convert the rest of the building into educational facilities,
a gymnasium, some offices, some classrooms, some storage space, all the things that would
sort of go along with a general educational use.
This is the Royal Electric Supply Company building here.
St. James is over here.
This is Hunting Park Avenue that runs behind, and this is Clearfield here.
So as you can see, the portion of the building that's going to remain for some warehousing
use has its own entrance and loading dock off of hunting park the educational use is going to be
the rear of the building that primarily faces clearfield uh so there are there are two two
entrances if this building were being addressed today it would probably get a west clearfield
address but at the time the lot was created this this small uh frontage on hunting park was was
chosen the site is zoned uh i1 so it's limited to industrial use um though this is a large site
that is now surrounded by RSA 5 uses, we think that creates the hardship, the context of the
surrounding area. You know, what would be allowed as an industrial use would not fit very well with
the RM 1 and RSA 5 that surrounds it. Certainly would have at the time the Royal Electric Supply
was built there, but the times have changed and the neighborhood around it has changed with it.
This is the building, as seen from Hunting Park, and then views of Hunting Park Avenue up and down from our location.
Photos and posting that were done on the frontage of the Royal Electric Supply Company building.
And this is the key plan.
As I said, this is a use change only, so we don't have detailed architectural drawings because we're not building anything.
But the idea is to use office and classroom space, leasing a small portion to be left as a lease and warehouse, and then the St. James entry, a gym, school storage, and office classroom uses.
As I mentioned, we're under agreement of sale to purchase the lot.
A copy of that was included in the packet of materials that were sent to the board.
And we did have a meeting with the RAH Civic Association.
Their letter of support, their vote was 62 in favor and zero opposed.
and their letter with a little bit of context is on the screen for you.
And their letter with a little bit of context is on.
As they note, because it's a school that has limited funding,
the redevelopment is going to take place in several stages.
The first one is going to be the use of this existing building
and then building out the interior as funding and circumstances allow.
With that, I'd like to ask David Kasevich to raise his virtual hand
so that he might adopt my testimony.
David, are you there?
I am here.
Excellent.
Can you state your name and spell it for the record?
David, D-A-V-I-D, Kasovich, K-A-S as in Sam,
I-E-V as in Victor, I-C-H.
Do you swear to tell the truth,
the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you. David, can you just tell the board your position with the St. James School?
Absolutely. I'm the head of school and one of the founders here at St. James,
and I serve in the executive director kind of role.
Excellent. Did you have a chance to hear my presentation this afternoon?
I did, Jarrett.
And do you adopt my statements as true and correct in your own if you've been given the chance to
more fully testify? I do.
Great. Thank you very much. We're happy to answer any questions the board may have.
Thanks. Thanks, council. Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions from the virtual audience?
I see no handshare.
Planning commission.
Ryan Bednar, city planning.
The property is currently thrown at residential and industrial on the city plan.