ZBA Hearing - April 2, 2025

So what would your plan be,

or what is the possibility that all seven units

get rented out at one time like just the impact on the community like how can you help well what

will be a plan to have that should that take place um so i mean if that takes place we're

going to have to revisit the drawing board and um come up with a game plan um we we didn't we

didn't like when we went to the community meeting um it's like they were like half and half um the

The people that weren't with what we were trying to do with the short-term rental, they were really more just worried about different people coming into the area.

And that's completely understandable for somebody that lives there.

And something that, like, so I spent around, like, five years in that area because my family had a grocery store at 38th and Ashton.

I spent around like five years in that area because my family had a grocery store at 38th and Aspen.

So it's not like I'm a new face to the area or new to Philadelphia.

I was born and raised in Philadelphia.

I went to the public school system, and I'm also a Temple University graduate.

So like it's not like they're just going to see me now and then I'm going to disappear,

and I made that very clear to them, and they have my direct contact as well.

So different ways that we propose to them of how we can help out is for me to get engaged with them

and do either back-to-school drives or different activities

that they feel that we can be of help with and of service for them.

So something about us is that we're always open to different ideas

and different ways that we can contribute.

Other questions?

Yes, I guess my question is you're doing all of these properties.

You said you have 20 to 25 properties.

where you're doing the Airbnb model

or short-term rental visitor accommodation model.

So why that model?

Why not just do regular rentals?

Yeah, that's a great question.

I'm huge on customer service and hospitality.

I studied international business and tourism and hospitality at Temple,

and I always looked for a way to be able to tap into that creative,

mindset of mine. And one way that I'm able to do that is through the short-term rentals.

And through those short-term rentals, even though they're classified as short-term rentals,

we have people that come and stay with us 30 days, 60 days as well. It just gives us a different

avenue to have different people also come. We're not completely, like we've done long-term rentals,

but we just enjoy it more, being able to interact with different people from different backgrounds

that come from all over and that are from within our communities.

Thank you.

What's the minimum stay?

Two nights.

And the way we have it set up, so it's two nights if it's within seven days.

If it's beyond 45 days, we have a three-night minimum.

If it's beyond 90 days, it's a four-night minimum.

And then if it's above 180 days, we have a one-week minimum.

so it changes basis based on the range questions or comments for our attorney

not at this time questions or comments from the audience

i do not see any hands mr chairman planning commission thank you chairman and good afternoon

david vecto with the city planning commission chairman and board members the comprehensive

plan recommends no change in zoning at this location from the existing commercial mixed

use CMX2. There is no unique physical condition or circumstance of this property that would

prevent it from being used in conformity with the zoning code. A 2020 zoning ordinance passed

by City Council, which regulated short-term rentals, did not change the basic rule prohibiting

full-time use of a dwelling unit as a short-term rental. This type of absentee management, where

the owner does not live in the unit, has been illegal since the first short-term rental zoning

regulations became effective in 2015 what's changed since the passage of the 2020 ordinance

is that there is now a licensing and enforcement mechanism the city planning commission recommends

the board deny the proposed use variants for visitor accommodations

thank you mr care i'll kind of briefly respond yeah so this is not an ad hoc owner of airbnbs

he makes it his profession to do this i think it's responsible use given the cmx zoning

classification. This is commercial zoning classification. The history of the property

also is a rooming house. And given the size, configuration, the units, and the responsible

nature of this owner, I would respectfully request a five-year temporary variance. Thank you.

So what I'm going to do with this, Alan, I'm going to take this back to the executive session

next week and talk about it. And I'll vote on this at two o'clock. I just want to get

everybody together and have a conversation. All right. Thank you.

All right, thank you.

MI 2024-006-748-4283 Viola Street.

Meredith Furlicker was one of the attorneys.

Steve Masters represents the residents on the block.

Meredith?

Excuse me, Mr. Chair.

I'll be coming back in as a panel shortly.

Okay.

good afternoon

Good afternoon.

hi uh council could you please state your name uh let me start with meredith and i'll be right

here steve because you're sitting here uh meredith could you please state your name and spell for

the stenographer or meredith ferlinger f-e-r-l-e-g-e-r right do you swear or affirm to

tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do okay and um mr masters could you

please state your name and spell for the stenographer good afternoon mr chair members

of the board steve masters s-t-e-v-e-m-a-s-t-e-r-s from the law firm of just laws right do you swear

or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do and i think ian had

conversation with you about the length of the presentation and um i think we're we'll probably

go 40 minutes okay all right and then we'll see where we stand at the end of that okay

certainly and now so uh for both of you i understand meredith that you um you your

presentation is done am i correct that's correct mr chairman um i would just for the record just

like to show the board that we did properly post uh repost for this resumption hearing right but

But other than that small record keeping item, yes, sure object to our right for rebuttal.

Right. And Steve, it's you, in fact, are now going to make your presentation.

Correct. Why don't you start? Sure. Thank you.

Before I begin, I wanted to just ask everyone who's here in the room who is an objector to this zoning project to to stand up.

it looks like at least 10 uh people are here so uh marith there's uh yeah there's 10 people

several signs noted all right thank you go ahead steve um so i wanted to make a brief opening

argument and then i'm going to call on a number of these okay so um in the uh in the onset um i'd

like to make a motion to dismiss this zoning appeal because the applicant testified at the

first hearing that there is no unnecessary hardship as a matter of law. As we know, in a

zoning case, the applicant has to prove that they meet the burden of showing unnecessary hardship.

I'm going to be quoting from the transcript from the first hearing. We will be

supplying the zoning board with a copy of it, but this is pages 20 and 21 of the February 26,

2025 transcript. I'm actually going to share my screen so we can all see it. That would probably

be the easiest. Sorry about that for moving away from the mic. We're going to share.

okay um so we're now looking at on pages 20 and 21 of the transcript um attorney meredith

furliger said finally to be entirely candid to this board there is a dual application for this

lot pending that is not scheduled to be reviewed by the board until march that application proposes

an identical structure but a different use as group living. So the emphasis here is like it is

exactly the same plan. It is just a different use. We do not intend to discuss that particular

proposal today. However, that application only requires a special exception. Either a multifamily

use or a group living use would complement the applicant's new development next door.

So what does this mean? It means that they're proposing, and they're allowed to, LNI has a zoning bulletin that says that an applicant can submit multiple projects for the same property at the same time.

But here we have one application that's for a variance where you have to prove hardship.

And we have another application that's for a special exception where hardship doesn't exist.

By definition, by the logic of the zoning code, you cannot say that you have demonstrated hardship, that you need a variance in order to properly use your property.

when at the very same time this isn't theoretical this is not like a a abstract idea maybe you could

use it as this maybe you could use as that they're saying we want to use it as a special exception

we want to use it as group living and that basically completely invalidates this application

today they cannot establish hardship by their own because that would but by the by their own legal

decision uh strategic decision to put in a special exception now i'm not expecting the the board to

uh strategic decision to put in a special exception now i'm not expecting the the board

to rule on this at this moment uh although although if you wanted to huh why did you bring

it up well i mean i i if you want to rule on it that that's fine but but you you may you may want

to take that under advisement and make that as as as part of the the deliberations but our position

is they have legally no basis to move forward at this point i could murder if you want to have a

quick comment on that. Sure. Mr. Chairman, as Council Masters stated, that L&I has a process

by which it permits applicants, property owners, to submit multiple applications for the same

property. And although I'm sure that Mr. Masters would like the small snippet that he has highlighted

there to establish that this case that's before the board today, that somehow this snippet detracts

from the hardship and the evidence that was presented to the board, simply put, it doesn't

do any such thing. Applications are, as the board well knows, are reviewed independently of each

other. And my statement to the board during the February hearing was given as, again, being candid

and informing the board of the fact that there is a separate application, but the board, quite

frankly, is in no position to rule on a motion to dismiss on this particular application without

having even heard an application for a special exception. So, you know, simply put, every

application is reviewed independently, and the fact that there is another application pending,

even for an identical structure does not in any way detract from the unnecessary hardships that

were presented in front of the board as mr master said we don't have to rule today but everybody's

here and i want you to go on with your case okay present your case mr chair i just i just want to

note procedurally um if the board were to find that there there was no hardship in the case the

the proper step would be to deny the variance,

not to dismiss the case.

So I just want to note that for the record.

Thank you.

So why don't we make sure you get plenty of time?

Okay.

Our second argument, Mr. Chair and members of the board,

is that the applicant in their primary presentation

used the wrong legal standard in arguing

that they actually have established hardships in this case.

If we look at page 15 of the transcript, we see that attorney Ferliger was arguing that the character of the neighborhood creates an extreme hardship to facilitate single family development on lots.

And what she did in her presentation was she flipped the burden. She basically said, they don't have the burden to show you that single family dwellings are no longer compatible with this block.

They're saying that all they have to do is show you that there are some multifamilies on the block, and all of a sudden that means that it's not feasible to build single-family.

They haven't proved that.

They haven't even given you any data or any expert witnesses to say that you cannot have single-families.

We're going to have testimony today from many people who live in single-family homes on this block.

Are they apparitions? Are they ghosts? Or are they real people who live in real single-family homes?

They are thriving in single-family homes on this very block. There's absolutely no evidence in the record at this point that says that these people don't exist or that their single-family homes somehow don't exist.

um our our third um our third basic opening is that um we do agree with one thing that that

attorney ferliger um suggested last time and that is that the focus should be on the character

of this neighborhood and the character of the block but the distinction is that the that the

applicant's attorney only talks about character about the built environment what's the character

of the construction, of the architecture, of how many people, of how many units are in a particular

lot. She used the word character six times in her opening statements. We, as the Viola Street

Residents Association, are also laser focused on preserving and protecting the character of the

block. But for us, the character of the block includes people. I know this is a shocking concept,

But, but our, but character isn't just what kind of units and what kind of dimensions and how tall the building is, but it's what kind of people are the, are there, are the people bonding together? Is there a neighborhood?

What kind of people are the people bonding together?

Is there a neighborhood feel?

And I'm going to point the board now

to a Supreme Court case from 2004

called Albert v. Zoning Hearing Board

of North Abington Township.

And in this case, the Supreme Court was asked to explain

what is the significance of single-family zoning?

Is it just that there's only one dwelling unit or is there something more?

And the Supreme Court told us, and I'm quoting here, indeed, one of the many benefits of single family zoning districts is that they create residential neighborhoods in which the residents may develop a sense of community and a shared commitment to the common good of that community.

Without some level of stability and permanence in the composition of the groups residing in such residential districts, this goal is necessarily subverted.

What the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania recognized in this case is that when you have a single family block, it's typically very stable, very connected, very, very, like the bonds are amazing.

And you're going to hear testimony from people who've lived on this block over 60 years who can tell you why they would never move away from this block because it is such a great place.

But when you put tenants or in the other extreme, if you have group living with transient people, we're going to hear testimony from some of the residents here about how that has disrupted the incredible bonding and nature of this block.

And that's why single family zoning is so important to be protected and preserved, because you cannot get in single family, what you get in single family zoning, you cannot do that with transient populations in apartment buildings that are crammed together and don't know each other.

So I think that is my opening.

Let's see.

Why don't we start?

Oh, no, sorry.

Okay, go ahead.

One more, right?

i have one more sorry um the so the viola street community um we're going to hear testimony about

they they themselves put together historic and historic designation application and created

a historic district for this area now this is a very historic district we're going coming up to

the 250th anniversary of the country a hundred and when it was the hundredth anniversary is when

the centennial district was created in the man music theater a lot a lot of really good things

happened uh for the 100th birthday but one but they wanted to preserve that that um that legacy

for philadelphia so they created a historic district that abuts the properties that we're

talking about here today the the the empty lot is is an empty lot where they're building but all

all of the buildings to one side of it are all these historic ones but then they also created a

very vibrant civic group. The Viola Street Residence Association, in large part because of

the threat of blight, they wanted to control and prevent blight, and they wanted to preserve

the beauty of the neighborhood. But that is not, unfortunately, that is not a goal that is shared

by the applicant. We have an email from the applicant to Joyce Smith, who is one of the

leaders of the Viola Street Residence Association, and she's also a leader of the Centennial CDC.

This is an email from German Jakubov, June 28th, 2021. And it was sent to J.B. Harris, who leads