which was read into the record.
And here, you'll note that the ZBA has previously granted a variance for a three-family household living, and that has been active since September 8th, 1954.
So what we're seeking here is just to add one more unit to the residential household living.
Here is our application for appeal, which, you know, also includes the visitor accommodation
request which we're withdrawing today.
Project information form, and here are some photographs of the posting.
which was done on 1-16-23 so you could see they're on the railing in front of the house
And here are some floor plans and interior photographs of the property.
and here are some floor plans and interior photographs of the property
Let me make this a little bit smaller so you can see.
Okay, so this is the top floor here and you'll notice that each unit has a bedroom,
a living space, a kitchen, and bathroom. It also has a washer, dryer, and dishwasher in each unit.
And currently, the top three above-ground units are being rented by tenants, and the basement
unit is vacant. However, the basement unit used to be occupied by the prior owner.
I want to show you here, this is where I live, and here's the property in question today.
So we're very close by, we actually can see the property from our backyard. Here's a street view
showing that there's parking along the street here you notice the property is a twin
we're over here on the left hand side and again the above ground units the three above ground
units are being rented right now there's here's the backyard there's a shared staircase and each
unit has a private entrance. This is a basement unit that's currently vacant.
You'll notice that there's a window right here and the floor to ceiling height of the unit is
seven feet. And this is, you'll notice also that the basement unit has two access points.
One is from the shared staircase that I mentioned before, and one is right to the backyard.
So these stairs are actually right over here on the side of the house.
Here are some photos of the first floor, second floor, and third floor unit.
Here is our letter from the RCO.
I'm sorry, this is a letter we sent to neighbors, excuse me, about the RCO hearing.
Here's our certificate of mailing.
And here is our letter from the RCL showing support for this use.
and here's the property certificate showing that there's a three-family dwelling unit already
the variance has already been approved by the ZBA
from 1953 so here's all the paperwork for that
and this is just a zoning map showing that we're in an RSA 3 and here's the zoning
bi-right summary information. I think that's it.
Okay. Can you hold for just one moment?
Sure. Okay.
Sorry about that.
i think i i've shared everything is there any you have someone and uh swear on to this uh
the owner so you're the owners i guess you'll be swearing to the testimony of which you've
given so let me get any any questions from the board no mr chairman no mr chairman
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions from the audience?
No, Mr. Chairman.
Yes, Chair, we have Charles Richardson.
Mr. Richardson.
Good morning again, Mr. Chair.
Charles Richardson from the Office of Councilwoman Cindy Bass, room 508 City Hall.
So just wanted to say the councilwoman has no opposition to granting the variance for the four multifamily units.
But as the visitor accommodations have been withdrawn, she originally had the opposition to that, but there is no opposition to that now.
Got it. All right. Thank you.
Anyone else in the audience?
I see no handshare.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Shahid. This is Ian Hegarty with the Philadelphia City Planning Commission. Last name is spelled H-E-G-A-R-T-Y.
You swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir, I do. Thank you.
Please proceed.
Good morning, Board members. The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing RSA 3 single-family zoning at this location.
This proposed use is a legalization of an additional dwelling unit in the basement of the building.
Given that the existing improvements to the basement appear to be permanent and longstanding
and that the current owner did not add this unit,
City Planning Commission recommends that the board grant the variance for an additional dwelling unit
and affirm withdrawal of the request for visitor accommodation use in this structure.
Thank you.
MI-2022-005265, 7323 Blyan Street, I vote yes with proviso, variants granted for multi-use
family household living only.
Thomas?
James Snell my vote is yes Jim did we get you I was gonna say sorry Mr. Holloman is your vote
with or without the proviso
Thomas Sullivan my vote is yes with the proviso thank you thank you
James Snell my vote is yes with proviso thank you this right here votes passes
thank you
mi2022005268
Ogden Street
Zen Jin is the attorney
Harmony Investment Group
Mr. Jin is coming back in
as a panelist
hillary can you read the uh refusal and please
uh this applicant is represented by council and we don't need to uh read the refusal in on the
council request got it thank you good good morning good morning council uh please state
your name and spell it for the record yes my name is zenjin z-h-e-n last name j-i-n 1617 john f
kennedy boulevard suite 1838 philadelphia pa 19103 here on behalf of the applicant
do you swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do can you please uh tell us about the client that you represent please uh yes my client is
the owner of the property uh harmony investment group llc and mr bader is here today on behalf
of the llc thank you uh our board member uh thomas holliman has a few questions you need to ask
in this situation with this property uh there is a uh corrected not a corrected but an amended
refusal being applied uh for because of some changes we agree to uh miss uh emerson's aware
of that and i i would otherwise stipulate to the accuracy of the refusal okay hey tom you're going
in now so i'll i'll jump in um have you emailed all of the exhibits five days in advance into our
into our offices uh for this yes yes all right thanks please proceed thank you i'm going to
offices for this case?
Yes, yes.
share with the board the uh information that we previously submitted with this application
this is an application that was before the belmont civic association for review i am going to go to
the refusal uh this again is under an amendment request that the board has authorized authorized
and it's still pending so we asked the board to hold the case at the end pending the the amended
refusal however our original refusal is for a cmx2 zone district to the proposal is to build a
multi-family structure only without the commercial this property is a corner lot and at the location
that it is located in a commercial use on the first floor is not very viable we actually met
with the rco who supported our request with some stipulations which led to the amendment request
one is that they understand of course with the conversion of the commercial unit to a residential
it would become an additional residential unit but they asked that we reduce our original request
of six units to five which we are in agreement with also the community has concerns with roof
decks and ask that we do not have a roof deck on this building which we also agreed with commercial
trash pickup and designated trash area in the rear of the building with mark hands that was also
added to the site plan so the revised building plans basically the community just want to make
sure that the building will be built according to the revisions of the five units and other items
so we're in agreement with all the community's requests with regard to this property it is a
again a large corner property which is in a commercial district and because of its location
and because i'm sorry it's zoned commercially but because of its location everything surrounding
this property is residential and therefore we believe a residential use of the first floor
makes more sense at this particular corner than a commercial use the layout of the property also
with the way it is designed we're leaving the rear yard space it's a rather large rear yard
it meets the open space requirements we'll be placing trash inside that area which will be
enclosed i'm going to zoom in so the board can see better what what the plans look like
if you could just give me one moment
My apologies, I'm having a little issue with the zoom on this.
So we did mark clearly the trash bins in the back for the five units.
It is accessible by all the units, which makes it easier for them to be properly used.
The building is otherwise brick facade and will meet all the dimensional requirements of the code.
We also have provided a handicap accessible unit on the first floor, which actually allows, that's why there's a ramp design, so it allows handicap access.
The rest of the units are essentially bi-level units in the upper floor.
There's a front and a back bi-level unit.
And then you have the first floor, front, back, and center unit.
That makes the total of the five units.
With the community's support of the changes, and given that a commercial use would be difficult in this area,
we would ask the board's favorable review of this request for the variances that we're seeking.
Thank you.
my client is here to verify my testimony and i'm happy to answer any questions or redirect
to any part of the exhibit okay let's get your client on the line yes yes mr bader can you
raise your hand virtually virtually mr bader please unmute yourself and please wait for the chair
please please state your name and spell it for the record
my name is chagai bader c-h-a-g-a-i my last name is bader b-a-d-e-r
you swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes please proceed counsel thank you mr bader did you see my presentation
and hear my testimony before the zoning board?
Can you verify what I have represented is true and correct and adopted as your own testimony?
Can you verify what I have represented
is true and correct and adopted?
Thank you.
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions from the virtual audience?
I see no hands, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair.
board member holloman your mike is feeding back thanks um board members the comprehensive plan
recommends no change to the existing cmx2 mixed use zoning at this location however given the
relative lack of commercial activity at this corner city planning commission uh agrees with
the appellant and recommends that the board grant the variance for ground floor residential use
the proposed amended dwelling unit count of five is consistent with the spirit of the zoning code
which would typically permit four dwelling units and one commercial unit. City Planning Commission
recommends that the board grant the variances with proviso as amended by applicant. Okay so
this record will be closed on this case and we'll be holding this case pending the receipt of the
amendment and the reflected revised plans. Hillary do we have a date when we're going to go back at
this? No, we are going to wait to hear from Mr. Jinn. Yes, I will provide the amended refusal as
soon as it is received. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Jinn. Thank you. All right. Next case,
number eight, MI2022005212. 2025 North. Excuse me, Mr. Chair. Can we actually move this case
to the end, council has a scheduling conflict.
They should be available by the end of the list.
Okay. Thank you.
Number nine, MI
2022-002210
1814, North Van Pelt Street.
Michael, I don't want to butcher that up,
attorney of owner parish is council available good morning vice chair
michael mclehoney m-i-c-h-a-e-l m-c-i-l-h-i-n-n-e-y council for parish condominiums llc
the owner of 1814 van felt and 1816 van felt there's two that are being done together
okay uh do you swear to tell the truth go ahead mr chair you swear i'm in do you swear to tell
the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do all right hillary i don't see uh 1816
that's number 11 mr chair if you could read that one into the record as well
you can hear them together i'm going to also read number 11 into the record mi2022002209
1816 north van pelt street as well and may i share share my screen uh yeah uh so we're going to
ask a few questions good morning good morning council good morning do you read the way
morning do you read the way the reading of refusal and stipulate the accuracy yes we do yes we do
We did meet with the RCO. They have not provided a letter.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Okay, so just before we get started, we have not received the RCO letter as of yet.
So if you can get that over to us, that'd be great.
And Mr. Chairman, as part of my packet at Exhibit 16, I did include the email chain with the RCOs.
I've spoken with St. Elizabeth's emailed, text, phone calls, and they have not responded.
So there is no letter to produce, and I'm not sure if they will produce one.
I also spoke with the 32nd Democratic Ward, who's another RCO on this project, and requested that they either submit a letter or participate.
I have not received a response other than Ms. Judas Robinson, who runs that RCO, was going to speak with St. Elizabeth RCO to request a position letter.
But I have not received any feedback from any RCO at this point.
Mr. McElhaney, just a question. I saw the RCO meeting was in June, last June, with St. Elizabeth.
with St. Elizabeth? And was there a follow-up meeting as well? Yeah, so we met with St. Elizabeth
And was there a follow-up meeting as well?
Yeah, so we met.