Good morning, everyone. The hearings will start momentarily.
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morning everyone my name is bill bergman and i will be chairing this meeting of the philadelphia
Zoning Board of Adjustment. With me is our Board Vice Chair, Tenetta Graham. Present, Mr. Chairman.
Board Secretary, Cheryl L. Gaston. Present, Mr. Chairman. Board Member, Michael Johns.
Present, Mr. Chairman. Board Member, Ty Wynn. Present, Mr. Chairman. And Board Member, Ryan McAdams.
Present, Mr. Chairman. Also, here is our Board Attorney, Hillary Emerson,
our Zoning Board Director, Ane Haggerty, and our Board Administrator, Lakeisha Dandy.
Recording of this hearing will be posted on the ZBA website.
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Let's look at our schedule for today.
Number one, MI 2025, 000479, 5236 Rising Sun Avenue.
This case is continued to 9.30 a.m. on 6-10-26.
Number eight, MI 2025, 000685, 11920 Waldemere Drive, Vern Anastasia.
11920 waldermere drive verne anastasio is the attorney and i saw also see the council
person's office in the audience
burn good morning mr chair this is jason handel will be your co-host for the session
mr anastasio has been about to speak good morning mr chair morning vern um uh alice is here from
the council person's office. So Vern, just for the record, state your name and spell for the
stenographer. Yeah, it's Vern Anastasio, A-N-A-S-T-A-S-I-O, on behalf of Mr. Farouk El-Hadi,
the owner of 11920 Waldemere. You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth,
nothing but the truth? I do. Alice, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
You can sit down. Why don't you sit down? I mean, I know you're going to be quick, but
why don't you sit down? Good morning, Chairman, members of the board. Alice Udovich, U-D-O-V-I-C-H.
on behalf of councilman brian o'neill you swear or firm to tell the truth the whole truth and
nothing but the truth i do alice why don't we start with you i would um on behalf of the
councilman respectfully request a short continuance in this case uh due to extenuating circumstances
that being the snowstorm the uh rco meeting was cancelled so we could make it short because
we're expecting it to be a short hearing verne i do have to object mr chair we've been trying
to meet with this rco for a long time however if this board has to do a continuance since there
was no meeting held i do ask that it be a 30-day continuance because of the snow okay so judge for
both of you i'm going to give it a normal date that we do and then what we'll do is we're going
to look to see how we can get it in quicker so this is continued to 6 10 26 at 9 30 a.m
but we will get back to both of you okay thank you thank you
This paper's sticking together here.
Number nine, MI 2025, 000686, 418 North Salford Street.
That case is continued to 61026 at 930 a.m.
And number 13, MI 2025-001-865, 1758 South Avondale Street at cases continue to 610-26 at 930 a.m.
Are there any other requests for continuances?
okay mr chair i have a hand up from jennifer bazitlo i will not them to speak oh that's right
uh hello good morning council good morning would you please state your name and spell for the
stenographer sure jennifer bazitlo b as in boy a is an apple z is in zebra y g is in david l is
larry o is an oscar do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
i do you have 6320 sackett street correct all right so that's a withdrawal though am i
it's going to be a withdrawal i was just asked to put it on the record um sure thank you so number
12 mi 2025 001 864 6320 sackett street that case has been withdrawn thank you sir all right we're
to go back to number five
mi2025 000 594 73 11 to 17 oxford avenue um we have no exhibits for this this is the second
listing ling chang and jan fine lin are the listed owners and the applicant is alicia walker is anyone
in the audience chair i do not see any hands raised for that matter this is second listing
we still don't have um our documents so mi 2025 0 0 5 9 4 73 11 to 17 oxford avenue
this i recommend to dismiss michael johns my vote is to dismiss
Cheryl Gaster, my vote is to dismiss.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is to dismiss.
McAdams, my vote is to dismiss.
Iowen, my vote is to dismiss.
Number 15, MI 2025-004525, 451 to 55 East Wyoming Avenue.
This is the first list and we have no exhibits.
Annabelle Ramirez Santos is the listed owner.
USA Remodeling Construction.
Chair, once again, I do not see any hands raised for that matter.
Chair, once again, I do not see any hands raised for that matter.
So this is the first listing. So MI 2025 004-525-451-55 East Wyoming Avenue. This case
is continued until 610. Somebody's here? Oh, come on up. Come on up. I'm sorry.
Why don't you sit next to the mic?
good morning so this is your first listing uh first of all state your name and spell for the
stenographer my name is my name my name is really castillo um i want to continue my case
okay sir can you can you just say and spell your name again please you can leave leave it on it'll
say on just leave it on you spell the name please for the stenographer um okay so do you
need a spanish interpreter for your hearing yes okay are you the owner of the property or are you
leasing, renting the property? He's leasing the property? Okay. All right. So are you leasing
the property individually or through a company? Okay. All right. So you can represent yourself,
but we will make a note that you need a spanish interpreter um we do not have any of the required
exhibits um for the case so we cannot hear it today we also did not know that you needed an
interpreter so we will make sure you have it we have an interpreter for you next time right so
mi2025-004-525-451 to 55 east wyoming avenue this case is continued to 6 10 26 at 9 30 a.m
Thank you, sir, for coming in.
Number 16.
MI 2025-004-643-6144 Van Dyke Street.
Alina Misnagat, Najin is the listed owner.
This is the first listing.
We have no exhibits.
chair i do not see any hands raised for that matter so so mi 2025 004 643 6144 van dyke
street this case is continued to 6 10 26 mark must be heard we're going to go to our add-on list
First, number one, MI 2025, 004-480, 100 East Wyoming Avenue, I vote yes.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes.
Ty Owen, my vote is yes.
Number two, MI 2025-005-590-4814 Trinity Street, I vote yes.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes.
Byowyn, my vote is yes.
So 6930 Ardley Street, Christina Kristall is the applicant.
This is a non-protunk hearing.
leonard reuter is here alan knockamson is here and uh
mr whalen are you representing the appellant in this case no i am represent sorry uh sean whalen
w-h-a-l-e-n i'm here on behalf of uh councilwoman cindy bass okay she is okay she she is not a party
to this case though uh she will be intervening in this case um but we can't even no we cannot
we cannot do that she has to file a separate appeal i understand the board's position but i
would like to make a record because i believe that it is incorrect and appealable and just
i know this is not a straightforward matter we do this why don't we we all worked out an agreement
so what was what agreement because there was no discussion why don't we do this why don't we do
this uh why don't i um leonard why don't you go first okay so uh i don't want to get your hopes
up too high we have we have let's wear people in okay give me a chance give me a chance spell your
name for this sorry thank you uh leonard reuter r-e-u-t-e-r right do you swear or affirm that
tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do mr knockamson you're a party to this
mr knockamson you're a party to this case uh yes i represent the property owner could you give me
case? Yes, I represent the property owner.
your name and alan knockamson a-l-a-n last name's knockamson n-o-c-h-u-m-s-o-n and hillary we should
probably swear in the applicant am i right correct right so why don't you you the app
okay could so christina christelle please
okay i'm sure sorry to interrupt but i also have a hand up from a richard creamer yeah
that's it why don't you let her one please understood
i promoted them they'll be coming back in shorter
good morning
mr creamer is your christina there uh christina is not there the appellate the
appeal was filed at al and i'm an equally interested party and she's asked me to speak
for the board to the board today no i'm sorry sir you you she filed the appeal in her name
we have been in communication with her she has to present the appeal is there no recognition
of the et al in the appeal filing the et al would need to be explicitly listed and in this case it
is not correct why don't is she there why don't we just not here otherwise she would be speaking
we'll have to continue the hearing then well no i would object to that i mean if she didn't show
up to the wait a minute wait wait wait um i started off by leonard could you comment here
first sure uh so just to get the main thing from our point of view the city's point of view out of
the way is um the city's not taking a position on sure the request for the non-proton because
that depends upon notice issues at the site that we don't have any independent knowledge okay in
terms of when it was suggested that there is an agreement i i just want to say that we we have
reached an agreement to make the make a request of the board which would be subject to the board
and the board's council which is to preserve i would and certainly the city would have no objection
TO PRESERVING THE ISSUE OF WHETHER OR NOT THE APPEAL A LATE APPEAL SHOULD PROCEED BUT NOT
NECESSARILY WE WOULDN'T REQUIRE THE BOARD TO MAKE A RULING ON THE NUNK PROTUNK AND THEN JUST
SIMPLY LIKE ROLL THAT INTO THE UNDERLYING CASE SO THAT WE CAN JUST HAVE WHAT AGAIN I SAID IT WAS
SUBJECT TO THE BOARD AND BOARDS COUNCIL THE IDEA BEING BECAUSE YOU KNOW IF THERE'S A RULING ON
THE NUNK PROTUNK AND THEN THAT GETS APPEALED AND THEN YOU KNOW WHO KNOWS IT COULD COME BACK
and then we're back here like a year or two years later on the underlying case we were just hoping
there might be a way to just simply just deal with everything at once and we haven't accepted
the appeal yet so we can't roll the non-protonk into the merits non-protonk is to determine
whether the board will even accept the appeal okay then then in that case um you know and
that's fine i totally respect that's why you know we weren't just saying we were doing this we were
asking the board if we could do that uh since it appears and i totally understand that we can't do
that um again we're not taking position on the non-proton but it does seem that you know if the
appellant's not here that the matter should be dismissed does it impact the board's decision
chair can i just i'm looking at the cover letter that's dated december 26th of 2025 that was
sent to the philadelphia zoning board of adjustment that's time stamp stamp december
29th, and
it states, this appeal
proceeds in the name of Christina
Christo, an affected neighbor.
That's on the cover.
So, I mean, there is... Well, that's why I stopped
up protesting. Yeah. Okay. So, do you have any other
comments? No? Okay.
I think we should continue it, right?
I think, in fairness,
the appellant, we should continue it because
she... We'll continue it for when the appellants
to be here. I just want to say, she
is not represented and did not
and did not understand her at all and all of that did not include other people i understand
thank you um would we make this a result of
okay all right no well so the i mean if the board gets to the merits of this case this is a frivolous
appeal well i'm not no that's that's okay but here's the thing we're going to continue i get
but my client is he's lacking funding right now because of this i cloud on his title to the
property we would ask first that the appeal get quashed on on for the reason alone this is a
that the appeal get quashed on on for the reason alone this is a petition on proton she's out of
Petition on Proton.
time we can't we're going to continue the case is continued um and and we will let the parties
know we will we will let the parties know of the the the next state okay thank you everybody i
appreciate it. All right. Okay. Let's go to number two. MI2025, 000484, 4240 Edgemont
street um holly joe harvey is the owner applicant um this is a pro se oh okay good morning
hi is your is it on the green light on and just pull a little closer to you if you don't mind
good yep um state your name is spelled for the stenographer holly joe harvey h-o-l-l-y space
j-o harvey h-a-r-v-e-y do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the
truth yes so this application is for use as a two-family household living within an existing
structure whereas the proposed use to fail in the household living is prohibited in the rsa
5 zoning district there's a letter of non-opposition from the bridesburg
um community action group and our um i'm sorry a letter of non-opposition yes of the community
action alliance and our vice chair has a few questions for you okay okay good morning um
have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing yes the
only thing that i just um received was yesterday but i did put it in the computer but i also have
a copy it's my tax compliance okay thank you and do you waive the reading letter refusal and
stipulate to its accuracy yes okay thank you you can begin your case so i have the we bought the
duplex in 2000 or the house in 2007 and it was already built into two floors when we bought it
and we had family living there for years and then we actually lived there for several years
and then to be honest I had no clue like what I had to do I mean I had family there so I didn't
know what all the rules were and what direction I had to go to and then recently when we moved out
I wanted to do the right thing and zone it correctly the way it should be okay
and what you want to move some of these um if you could maybe show us the the photos
I mean we have all the documents yes chair no problem
so one of you do you see the photo up there yes so why don't you tell us what we're looking at
so the um on the front door on the bottom that it would be the first floor and that was made
into an apartment and then the side steps and you have a yard on the back if you see the white fence
there's a yard that's connected with the first level he'll he'll open that up okay yes there's
a yard there and then those steps just go up to the second floor which is also built into an
apartment okay um and just tell us what we're looking at when we're we see it um this is the
this is the first floor this is the living room that's the kitchen on the first floor
and then that's just the hallway that leads to the bedrooms and the bathroom and there's a closet
there on the left that's the bathroom for the first floor that's one of the bedrooms there's
two bedrooms on the first floor that's still the same bedroom oh and then this is that's the this
is the second floor now this is one of the bedrooms for the second floor another bedroom
there's three bedrooms on the second floor and the bathroom is there on the right don't know if
there's a picture of the bathroom this is the living room on the second floor and that's the
front door right there that's still the living room and then that is the kitchen on the second floor
that's just the front of the house there goes our zoning signs right there
we have one there and then one on the side of the house on the rally
okay um how how long have you owned the property since 2007. okay questions from the board
yes are they completely separate right now in terms of utilities yeah well no the heat and the
air the heat and the air condition that has been separated we paid to get that separated
but I didn't know I want to do this first and then I guess I have to split the utilities okay
okay and then how many bedrooms are upstairs and how many are down there's three on the second
and then how many
floor and two on the bottom floor and then what's the living space because i saw the kitchen and we
saw the bedrooms but what's going on in terms of living or dining room um there's there's both
pictures up there they were yeah the living room on the first floor and living room on the second
floor they're up there that's the that's part there's two pictures of that that's part of the
living room and there's another one that shows the front door that's the second floor yeah there
you go it's a pretty big room okay and the the lower level tenant enters through the side yard
so they're going to go in no so they have a front door on the first floor oh yeah and then one
person second floor goes up the steps okay and then currently what's the plan for trash management
so the first floor we usually depending who was living there we usually have the sec the first
floor in the yard and then the the second floor has been using in that little corner space
and like where the steps kind of meet the um the white fence that's where we have for the
second floor but the first floor puts there has everything in the yard
other questions questions from our attorney hillary emerson um you said you had a copy of
your tax compliance okay all right thank you so just make sure um with the staff can make a copy
of that we'll add it to the file before you leave today questions should come send it but you did
send it I did it I send it on the exhibit file last night oh you did yesterday oh okay okay no
problem we'll make sure we have it we're having a lot of trouble getting it um I didn't know I
needed a tax id number in order to get it so i kept going online and it kept saying my information
was correct incorrect so finally i went down to the revenue yesterday and got it oh okay all right
well thank you for that yeah no problem questions or comments from the virtual audience
actually chair i have one more question did when you subdivide or when you sorry when you change
the heating closest thing from assuming it went from a furnace to the ducted to the mini split
system yeah so yeah so we so the the the actual duct system is for the second floor they have the
thermostat and then the first floor we did the split the splits yeah did they pull permits for
the splits i don't i'm not even sure to be honest that's my this is my husband joseph harvey hi
could you please state your name and spell for the stock last name last name's harvey also h-a-r-v-e-y
first name joseph do you swear or affirm to tell the truth told you with nothing but the truth
yes we have licensed contract that that did the work um i could get a copy of it and send it in
if that's if that's something i i think when you when you're approved you're going to have a
certificate of occupancy to be obtained and they'll come out okay okay okay great thank you appreciate
that questions or comments from the virtual audience chair i do not see any hands
planning commission thank you chairman and good morning david effecto f-e-c-t-e-a-u with the city
planning commission you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes sir i do thank you sir uh chairman and board members the comprehensive plan recommends no
change to the rsa 5 residential single family zoning at this location the city rezoned this
neighborhood in 1970 in a council supported map change the previous owner appears to have
converted the property into two dwelling units without the benefit of permits through no fault
of the current owners the city planning commission recommends that the board grant the proposed use
variance for two dwelling units mi2023 000 484 4240 edgemont street i vote yes with proviso
certificate vacancy to be obtained michael johns my vote is yes with proviso
cheryl gaston my vote is yes with proviso tenetta graham my vote is just with proviso
excuse me ryan mcadams my vote is yes with proviso my vote is yes with proviso
number 17 mi 2025 004 753 2232 fairmount avenue thank you thank you thank you thank you for
coming in. We appreciate it. There's a letter of non-opposition from Spring Garden Civic
and a letter of non-opposition from Council Member Young.
Council, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Yes. Good morning, Chairman Bergman and members of the board. Adam Laver, L.A. V.S. and Victor
er of blank room llp do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
yes mr
Yes, Mr. Chairman, I do.
Could you identify your client, their relationship to the property?
Certainly. Blank Rome represents A. Dikos LLC, D-I-A-K-O-S, A. Dikos LLC, the owner of the subject property and its sole principal,
Nicholas Kravartis, N-I-K-O-L-A-O-S-K-R-A-V-A-R-I-T-I-S.
Nick is here in the hearing room to my left.
Our vice chair has a few questions.
Good morning, Madam Vice Chair.
Good morning.
Have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, Ms. Graham, we have.
And do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, ma'am.
Thank you.
You can proceed with your case and share your screen.
Certainly.
Nick who's here with me today owns the long-standing venerable Zorba's restaurant
which is located immediately east of the subject property in the Fairmount neighborhood of our city
just trying to uh we just said the prison looks so nice in that picture there it's it does uh one
moment okay shameless plug that's my neighborhood i know i know that i wanted to do full screen
and there we go excellent um so uh nick is the owner of zorba's restaurant uh which is located
immediately east of the subject property as you're uh admiring the penitentiary uh the uh
which is really a amazing architectural and historical treasure the subject
property is in this rough that's not me we have a tech okay in this rough
location on the south side of Fairmount Avenue just down from the prison and
across from the large parking lot just just to give you that context the subject
property itself is uh housed a former chiropractor's office on the first floor and that's what we're
going to be talking about today the reuse of that space chiropractor nick just told me uh had been
there since 1998 he remembers because zorba's his restaurant had opened up around the same time
the subject property existing uh is the now vacant chiropractors space because nick has purchased
the whole property and an apartment above that professional space and again we're on fairmont
avenue just west of the prison as shown in the aerial photographs here you can see a little bit
better where the cursor is you can see the awning of zorba's restaurant and just to the right which
we'll get to in a moment is the subject property and the subject property in this aerial photograph
is outlined in red it only fronts on one city street it backs up to residential to the north
and we've worked closely I'm proud to say with all of the neighbors to address the natural
concerns, I would put it, that come up when you have mixed uses. Here you can see a photograph
of the subject property. One would walk in the turquoise door, and I'll show you interior
photograph, but walk in that door, make a left in the vestibule to get into the space that we
would like to discuss with you today, and head straight through another door and up secure
steps to get to the residential apartment above there's another view of the main entrance to 2232
and you can see once again streetscape the subject property to the right of the restaurant
another streetscape photo showing you a view standing alongside the
um a parking lot that's open to the public across fairmount avenue to the north looking south
towards the subject property and uh you can see that the subject property is located in the rm1
zoning district uh shown here in the purple outline and across the street is that full
city block public parking. The proposal calls to fit out the former chiropractor's office space
at the first floor for a takeout coffee shop, a dream of Nick's to have a sort of a taste of
a sort of a taste of the casualness the neighborhood nature of back home in greece this is not zorba's
the casualness, the neighborhood nature of back home.
restaurant zorba's restaurant is successful and existing and beloved this is in addition
it's separate and distinct although it's right there it's easy for nick and it makes sense
because he has the restaurant there and nick and his wife melania who's also a local entrepreneur
or live just two blocks down on Fairmount Avenue.
So many people in the neighborhood,
and even a couple of the letters
that were just submitted to the board only this morning,
and thank you, Ian, for scanning them,
speak of people remembering Nick as a teenager
and being such a presence in the neighborhood.
But the coffee shop itself would feature Greek specialties,
dark roasted coffee, spinach pie, pastries, et cetera,
to compliment but not compete
with the full service restaurant next door.
As you can tell, and you may know, Zorba's is a family-owned business with these deep
Fairmount roots. The notice of refusal is before you. There is one-use refusal. Variance relief is
required as the property has long been configured for commercial use at the first floor, but the
takeout restaurant use is prohibited and we would submit that this existing configuration
and the long nature of the commercial use speak to variance relief being granted this is part
of the fairmount avenue commercial corridor which is specifically noted in the letter of
non-opposition from the coordinating rco it serves nearby residential which is also noted
in the coordinating rco's letter of non-opposition here you can see some interior photographs so
again i had described the vestibule this is walking into the left through an open door into
that is not the chiropractor's office that's one of nick's office managers doing a little bit of
paperwork and what had formerly been the receptionist area in the chiropractor's office
here you have another view of what that setup looks like and nick has already started to explore
the potential beyond that space as you're heading south if you will towards the rear of the property
of what the potential business might look like side note the subject property
is located in a historic district and under the zoning code as we know there is encouragement
to adaptively reuse existing historic properties this would qualify however it falls just short
of the 2500 square foot requirement for past commercial use if we had been above that we
would not be taking up the board's time but we're happy to present this proposal uh here's another
photograph of that back space and um maybe i should zoom in a little bit here because this is
a all-important floor plan and uh the basement itself is just storage that's the pink utilities
But the first floor plan, I think, shows board members what you may be interested to know.
So in the lower right-hand corner, you can see the entry vestibule that I had described,
and really is just as it has always been.
The cafe, the public portion of the cafe in Tann with very little seating.
This is a place in sort of the European tradition to stand up and have a coffee and talk and walk the dog, et cetera.
it is not a place for lots of people to sit down it's it's casual uh neighborhood oriented and then
the green is the area where behind the counter where employees would be and then the blue in
the back is the kitchen uh etc so it's a um it's a compact space but one that would work very well
for for this use the project has been reviewed by count um by the district council member
uh and uh also by the coordinating rco as i've said operations proposed seven days per week
7 a.m to 10 p.m in consultation with neighbors because this is a mixed use community
It is balancing the neighbor who is up early and wants to walk their dog and needs their coffee, but also the one who wants to sleep a little bit later.
Commercial trash pickup, just as has always been the case for the commercial operators along Fairmount Avenue, but with some very defined.
operators along fairmount avenue but with some very defined strictures in place storage of trash
out of the public view in sealed pest-free containers with restricted hours on pickup
through a community benefits agreement that is more extensive than what i'm mentioning to the board
there are good neighbor commitments in place for example although we don't anticipate heavy cooking
because that's in the restaurant next door, there is a new exhaust system proposed with venting
through the roof. The menu itself is very much as I had described, the Greek delicacies,
the special coffees, spinach pies, and special sweets, some easily takeout types of egg sandwiches
that are particular to the Greek culture.
I can come back to this if members are more interested.
And here is Council Member Young's letter of non-opposition,
the coordinating RCO's letter of non-opposition,
noting that the commercial first floor was previously owned
and occupied by the chiropractor, housing his practice for many years.
and in relevant part noting quote we believe that the proposed greek bakery and coffee business will
be an asset for the neighborhood and for the fairmont avenue commercial corridor
end quote quote the proposed use will not result in adverse effects for nearby residents or the
community and in addition we have shared only just a few minutes ago some nearby neighbor letters of
support that are more specific that i won't get into in the interest of time mr chairman and
members of the board the authorization of variance relief will not alter the character of the
neighborhood or district or be detrimental to the public welfare the proposal fits into the
surrounding area uh in the interest of time nick is here to adopt and affirm and we're
happy to answer any questions could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
Nikolaos Kravartis, N-I-K-O-L-A-O-S, K-R-A-V-V-A-R-I-T-I-S.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Counsel?
Good morning, Nick.
You've been present for the entirety of this hearing before the Philadelphia Zoning Board of Adjustment.
Would you adopt and affirm the testimony that I've offered as your own?
Thank you, sir.
Questions from the board?
Yes, I have a question.
You mentioned that the trash will be stored in bins out of sight.
Will that be in the rear yard?
It's proposed, Mr. Johns, with community input in the alley out of the public eye in very specific plastic bins with wheels and only to be taken out at hours that are really when people would not be sleeping normally.
Thank you.
Are there any plans to take down the fence between the two properties and combine the backyards or use the backyards as a shared space?
There are not. And per the request of the coordinating RCO, we have agreed that should that what I've just said change, that we would have to meet with them and have their consent not to be unreasonably withheld, etc.
And then is the plan to manage the the upstairs property yourself?
The upstairs property? The apartment.
Self-managing is my understanding, Nick. Yes, yes, yes.
Just for clarity for me. So this is a separate business.
This is not an extension of your business currently.
Separate, yes. So we'll have a separate name and just be a separate entity.
yes okay thank you other questions yes question and it's not so much about but this is
spring garden was the civic association not fairmount civic yes uh although fairmount civic
is an rco that could have weighed in and uh but but the district council member selected
Spring Garden Civic Association as the coordinator. Fairmont Avenue. Wow. I'm not going to opine,
and I'm quite sure we're grateful for the involvement and the input of any civic that
is interested. I believe that Spring Garden Civic is participating virtually as we speak.
All right. Okay. And no disrespect to Spring Garden Civic, just saying where this is located
I'm a little surprised at that. So my other thing is, now you said that there's going to be very
limited seating here. So is the plan to
seating here so is the plan to at some point have outdoor seating like they have at Zorba's
there's no plan for that right now Ms Gaston um it really is as I hope I had tried to describe
that that neighbors walk in they might see somebody that they know and then they go out
with their dog or if they're not a dog person they go out for their stroll along the the drive
things like that but this is this is a different type of establishment in that way okay and then
the agreement you have about the trash that's all to make sure that with all this strolling
we don't stroll and yeah it's it's it's real I didn't want to take up the board's time I'm happy
to get into it should you wish but it's a very tight agreement uh i've worked and probably many
board members know pat freeland uh with spring garden civic association pat pat drafts some some
of the tightest agreements that i've that i've ever seen to the credit of the community and the
organization okay all right thank you other questions questions for our attorney um not so
much a question just a comment since there's still going to be the apartment
above the board may want to consider a proviso just indicating that other
previously approved uses to remain since it the refusal didn't really have that
and just kind of just said take out I appreciate council's comment thank you
questions or comments from the virtual audience or the current audience here
Sure. I have a hand up for my Justino Navarro.
Sure. Spring Garden Civic Association.
Move them right now.
Good morning. Morning, sir. Could you please state your name and spell
for the stenographer? Yes. Excuse me. My name is Justino Navarro,
J-U-S-C-I-N-O
N-A-V-A-R-R-O
Alright, do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
I do. Please proceed.
Thank you members of the board and Mr. Chair
Mr. Chairman, I'm in
I am in representation of the Spring Garden Civic
Association and the Zoning Committee
and for clarification purposes
and the benefit of the board, I'd like to
clarify that the block on which this
restaurant is located has
been in the geographic boundaries
of the Spring Garden Civic Association since its foundation in 1960.
In fact, the boundaries of the Civic Association go from Broad Street,
the west side of Broad Street, to Pennsylvania Avenue,
and from Fairmont Avenue to Spring Garden Street.
And it's also part of the Spring Garden Historic District,
a historic district recognized by the City of Philadelphia Historical Commission
for clarification purposes.
We were designated as the Coordinated RCO by the Councilman's Office,
and we appreciate that uh as is customary but i wanted to commend uh the counts count the uh
board the council uh adam neighbor and also mr gravaritis because we've entered into discussions
with neighbors that are right behind the property and uh they had some concerns and issues regarding
the operation of the proposed operation of this bakery and even of the zorba's restaurant and
to the property owner's credit and service owner credit we entered into a cba on both properties
2232 and 2228 and 2230 uh famine avenue and as council indicated it's a very um specific uh cba
that guards the interests of neighbors but also is intended to incent the expansion and viable use
and ensure that the property owner at Zorba's and the bakery thrives on the Ferman Avenue commercial corridor.
So, having said that, I would encourage the board to approve the application as submitted
to ensure the continued development of Ferman Avenue as a very vibrant commercial corridor.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you for calling in. We appreciate it.
Anyone else in the virtual audience?
I do not see any hands with the chair any commission
good morning chairman and board members David Fecto with the city planning commission
chairman the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the RM1 residential multi-family
zoning at this location the city rezoned this neighborhood in 1974 and a council supported
map change this property has a documented history as ground floor commercial with residential use
above the city planning commission recommends that the board grant the proposed use variants
for a takeout restaurant thank you mi2025 004 753 22
Thank you. MI-2025-004-753-2232 Fairmount Avenue, I vote yes with proviso. All previously approvals to remain.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes with provisos.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with provisos.
Teneda Graham, my vote is yes with provisos.
Vivian McAdams, my vote is yes with proviso.
Iowan, nice and phono, which is me saying yes with provisos.
thank you mr chairman and members of the board you do have a great place by the way when i drive
when i drive by there and i see people sitting outside it looks so relaxing
okay um mi 2025 000 486 35 22 to 24 north a street nicole span
applicant three
oh good morning good morning um could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
nicole span that's n-i-c-o-l-e span s-p is in paul a-n-n right do you swear or firmly tell
the truth told truth nothing but the truth are you going to use your computer or somebody's
doing it for you i didn't use my computer look she's going to use hers right
how do i do that though
thank you
why don't we do this why don't you what why don't we take you back there we'll get you straight
and then we'll come back and um let me jump around here a minute I'm going to go to number 11
MI-2025-001-863-1503-Crestwood Road.
Vernon Anastasio is the attorney.
I'll be coming back in as a pen of a short one, Mr. Chair.
Yeah, I just, yeah, I'll do 10-11 together, right?
i just wanted to make sure that i isolated was sitting there and i got this one we'll have
nobody left what we're done yep
is that why are we doing 10 11 together
okay so yeah so just a one yeah yeah i'm a little nervous there
burn yes sir uh burn you've already been sworn um um could you um state your name for the record
yep it's verna anastasio on behalf of claudia shooty the owner all right thank you our vice
Chair has a few questions for you. Thank you. Good morning. Morning. Have you submitted your
documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing? I have. And do you waive the reading
of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy? I do. Okay, thank you. You can share your screen
and proceed with your case. Thanks. Mr. Chair, members of the board, we're here for this shed
here. My client started to build it thinking that they could do that by right, but he learned
subsequently that a shed of that size could only be, I'm going to pull that up, 130 square
feet. The shed as proposed and it's only because of the overhang. It's 379 square feet. It's being
used to house, you know, it's a pretty large property being used to house gardening equipment
and outdoor furniture. And the nearest home is literally 60 feet from the shed. So it's
It's not a bother to anyone, which is why it enjoyed overwhelming double-digit support with absolutely no one attending the RCO meeting in opposition, which is why the RCO sent a letter.
And which is why the RCO sent a letter of support, why the council office was also generous enough to send a letter of support.
And I believe you'll hear testimony today, not only from the council member O'Neill's office, but also Jack O'Hara of the greater busselton.
He's also present today to express overwhelming support for this, for the shed.
There were violations so that my client then went into action and tried to legalize.
And that's why we're here.
It took us some time to get here.
But, of course, this is an unfinished product.
But that's the shed.
These are the photos of it.
As you can see, it's a very large property.
it doesn't impact
adversely anyone at all
in fact many neighbors
expressed an interest in
getting bigger sheds themselves
just some
interior workmanship
shots that we have here for you
Byrne, do you have the letter of opposition?
There is no opposition that I know of.
Do you have a letter of opposition, Mr. Chair?
We do.
We have a letter of opposition from the adjacent neighbor.
Yeah, well, I'm just telling you, that's all.
I didn't know that there was a letter.
The adjacent neighbor has, you know, even those good fences make good neighbors.
there is some sort of history there
that has really nothing
to do with this shed
the neighbor was mailed
and here's your proof of mailing here I have
they were no show at the RCO meeting
but there was
significant
attendance
and they all voted in support
as this letter shows here
We've got nearly 30 people voting to support and 14 to oppose, no opposition.
And, you know, the dimensional variance, as far as I'm concerned, it really is negligible.
And the only reason why they count some of that is because of the overhang.
So, you know, because this doesn't impact adversely anyone, and because, you know, the nearest home is literally 60 feet away, and because of the overwhelming support by the RCO, the Greater Busselton, and the Council Office respectfully requesting the granting of the variance.
With that, I'd like Claudia Schutte to raise her virtual hand and be recognized.
Thank you.
Claudia there should be coming back in as a panel. Thank you.
Here's the shed for the on the site plan to give you a better understanding. And here is the elevation.
showing the shed itself and then the open
area there just so they could have some furnishing out there
to sit underneath and not bake
just talking literally a couple hundred square feet difference
do we see claudia i'm here mr chair okay good good i could you please turn on your video
um yes if i can figure out how yes okay sure all right hi good morning could you please state your
name and spell for the stenographer my name is claudia schuti k-l-a-u-d-i-a-s-h-u-t-i do you
swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i swear counsel thank
you claudia did you hear my presentation to the board today yes true and accurate to the best of
your knowledge yes adopted as your own testimony yes thank you questions from the board
what's the oh go ahead no go ahead go ahead what's the difference between the allowed um square footage
What's the difference between the allowed square footage and the proposed square footage?
I'll bring that back up for you.
I did go by that pretty fast, so I'll bring it back up for you.
130 versus 379.
130 versus 379 so it's like twice the size of what's allowed right like three times it's almost
three times yeah because of the overhang because the image that overhang is what they're counting
unfortunately but it's open i mean it's not i don't know if you look at i don't know what you
mean by the overhang because i think of the overhang are you talking about everything that's
that's outside the outside space and not covered by the i'll show you in the plan again hold on okay
also either hillary or council can we confirm are we only talking about what you are referring to
as the shed that has an indoor enclosed in a non-enclosed space are we also talking about
the shed as well as the existing patio and the overhang over the existing patio that's attached
to the house no we're talking the total proposed cover area of this structure is 379 square feet
I understand I can read that Vern I'm asking because the way the refusal is written I would
assume that the description of it was about the attached overhang for the patio that is adjacent
to the house that you also showed and I just wanted to be clear oh okay considering both of
these or is it just one of them it'll direct my line of question right so it appears and and verne
please let me know if i don't have this correct but it appears so that there's there's a a covered
patio that's being added to the existing structure and then um and then in addition which is also an
over overhang um to a detached accessory structure and they're looking at the detached accessory
structure plus that overhang that is giving the total square footage it does not include the rear
roof covered patio attached to the home is that correct the the rear roof covered patio
attached to the existing structure is a by right thing uh the only the only issue uh with regard
to the refusal for zoning is that independent shed with its own overhang and that whole covered area
that i showed you in on the plan that is that is the subject of the refusal and it's why we're
here it's that's the 379. the the patio area is a by right situation and that i understood i was
just i'm reading the description as written and it was confusing so thanks yeah my client did that
pro se i wouldn't have put that in there because it's two separate things but nevertheless that
that's the answer to that question you know yes and so so i'm reading the the letter that the
adjacent neighbor wrote and i can understand the concern uh they talk about they worry about
rainwater and erosion and when i look at the design and shape of this roof the water is going to shed
onto his property. There's no doubt. There's no doubt. Part of that roof is pitching towards
his, to their neighbor's property. So that is going to happen.
Well, there is a space between both properties as well.
It's not much. If I'm looking at the pictures and it looks like it's maybe about a foot
or so, Twitter is going to run off the edge of the roof into their property. It just is.
and if that thing catches on fire there's no fire separation distance between you know their
property and this this shed his home is 60 feet from this shed well but his shed is right next to
it it's not far yeah you understand what i'm saying it could also not far so also it's an
unfinished structure so there's there's no reason why there can't be sort of uh uh stormwater sort
of uh direction uh with you know which would be pretty i think pretty common mr johns right if
that were done yeah well depending on the size of the roof yeah um but doesn't necessarily have
well that's that's also part of the rco's recommendation and we would and that's what
we would you know that was what uh the presentation was at the rco meeting that yeah but i think the
larger issue is that this was done without permits and review right all of the things that we're
talking about are possible and go through a pretty strong review from both the water
strong review from both the water department and the planning department to ensure that all of
department and the planning department to ensure that all of
these things happen i think the amount of construction and the type of construction
that was done negates and this is why these issues are coming up at this point um you know to do this
correctly the whole thing would mostly need to come down and start over so i just that's our
plan i mean after we get the zoning we're going to have to go through the uh you know the the
retroactive building permit phase my client thought he could just do it you know which
is unfortunate but that's that's the fact i guess a clarifying question i have is it looks like the
current accessory structure shed that this was built over it and that there's like according
to the the plans it looks like there's an attempt or a desire to make it bigger
correct okay so is the existing shed gonna get torn down because the renderings don't
match right why don't we why don't i have my client come back on so she can talk about the
detail mishuti we're her husband yeah my husband's here with me he will kind of explain he'll need
he'll need to be sworn in all right okay hi sir could you please state your name and spell for
the stenographer hi my name is gentian rustemi g-e-n-t-i-a-n-r-u-s-t-e-m-i do you swear or
firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
I swear. Please proceed.
Thank you. Sir, can you
explain the structure
that's the shed itself,
the plastic shed, is that being,
is it proposed that it's, that
actual shed itself
would be expanded, or
will it remain as is?
So the shed
is going to stay like it is.
But I hate your shadow.
So I'm sorry, we're just not
really understanding so you're talking about the existing shed are you talking about are we going
to to take that existing shed out and make sure one the chair yes the board member asked if this
shed is being taken out oh yeah we are going to take this out the old shed it is the old shed
okay and you're going to be putting in something a little larger is that right
it's not it is almost it's already from from the wood that is on the middle
And on the right side, yep.
Okay, so it'll be about that.
That will be the new space of the shed.
Understood.
Thank you.
Say that again, Rerm.
Yeah, okay.
The size of the shed will be, in fact, larger than the old existing.
It won't go bigger than the 379 that we have.
No, it's going to be 379 total.
379 is all of this here.
actual shed itself will end about here okay where my cursor is and that is reflected on the plan
okay any other questions questions from our attorney hillary emerson
not at this time mr chair can i i'd like to call mr john o'hara jack o'hara if i may
burn burn yep the council person's office is sitting here now i am here so what i'll do is
i'll go to alice then we'll yeah yeah i'm okay alice just state your name alice alice judevich
on behalf of councilman brian o'neill the councilman has no objection to the granting
of the variances at this location thank you very much questions or comments from the virtual audience
yes i have a handle from david rodriguez i will allow them to speak sure mortem
please accept the promotion to panelists sure thank you
all right sure they've been allowed to speak sure sir hello uh thank you
please could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer sure my name is
david rodriguez r-o-d-r-i-g-u-e-z right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth yes rodriguez do you have could you put on your video okay just bear with
me here i'll have to promote you sir i'm sorry please accept the promotion okay
and uh i can't see my camera for me join as a panelist or stay as an attendee you have to
join as a panelist okay okay they'll be coming back in sir all right thank you okay all right
can you see me we can now sir yep okay thank you so much all right um um are you a neighbor
yes i am i am uh actually i am the neighbor to to uh to the to the left if i'm looking at the uh
at my backyard, which is where he has his construction.
at my backyard which is where he has his construction so i wouldn't do his life or
So I would be to his left, or should I say to the west of the property.
Why don't you proceed with your testimony?
Thank you.
So I am even closer to the property than the one who is making the protest about the shed constructions.
constructions uh mr genti and claudia actually came over to us and it uh you know they'd ask us
if we were okay for them to expand uh the shed along with the additional constructions and we
have no objection whatsoever i heard earlier today that fences make good neighbors well
we don't even have a fence in between our properties and that to us makes it even greater
neighbors since uh they they are they have a child which that child actually does come over to our
backyard since we have uh grandchildren and great-grandchildren and and he enjoys our our
backyard uh area that we have for the children and so all i want to say with this is that for us
this construction if anything would most likely bring up the uh value of the properties for all
of us uh even higher and uh i i do understand that the neighbor who's making the uh complaint
may have uh some water coming over but uh understanding that mr genti himself is uh is
a builder is a constructor i'm quite sure that he'll be able to adjust that properly so from
our point of view uh my wife and i uh you know we we do understand that uh there is no problem with
this shed. I don't see any reason why the shed would be a
problem for the neighbor in lieu that his house is even a lot
further from from ours. That's all I have to say for now.
All right. Thank you so much. We appreciate it. Is there
anyone else in the virtual audience?
I have a hand up from Jennifer Moran. Sure. I'll promote
I'll be coming back in as a pen.
Hello, this is Jennifer Moran.
Jennifer, could you turn your video on?
Is that possible?
How do I?
One second.
I'm sorry.
All right.
Do me a favor.
State your name and spell for the stenographer.
My name is Jennifer Moran.
It's J-E-N-N-I-F-E-R.
And my last name is spelled M-O-R-A-N.
All right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
uh yes i do okay and jennifer we do have a copy of your letter okay so please proceed
all right well good morning um i'm the adjacent property owner i understand that um people are
saying that my house is further but unfortunately my biggest issue is is the water runoff and also
that the shed is all like on the pro it's 10 inches from my fence i'm i'm concerned about
water runoff I'm concerned about safety I'm concerned about if something catches on fire my
my fence will go on fire I have others you know I think it's and I would like if the variance is
approved I would like for that shed to be moved away to have more additional setbacks so it's not
right on my um property line okay um my client do you have any confirm do you have any questions
just that my client has already committed to to doing all the mitigation as far as water runoff
is concerned uh and uh you know again we're it's basically we're talking about the size not the
location so you know uh if it were 200 square foot smaller we wouldn't even be here the fact
of the matter is because it's uh slightly larger with that overhang uh and i think we can mitigate
any any uh concern with the with the plan that we've presented to the rco with respect to you
know the water runoff all right all right thank you is there anyone else in the audience no further
answer mr chair any commission i have a comment uh is this this uh owner is a builder
sometimes someone mentioned that they were a builder and so if they're a builder it's it's
very concerning that they would go through this to to build this and not have permits and not go
they would go through this to build this and not have permits and not go through the process
with it.
if they are a builder clearly they do decent work because it looks good right the framing looks yeah
i don't think he's a professional construction i don't think he's a professional builder but uh
you know the fact of the matter is he did believe and you know we could put that on
under oath on the record that uh he was doing he was in compliance when he was building this out
another builder okay there you go he's just a handyman yep handyman all right okay okay um
planning commission thank you chairman and good morning david fecto with the city planning
commission chairman and board members the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the
rsd3 residential single family zoning at this location the city rezoned this neighborhood in 1991
and a council-supported map change.
The appellant proposes to legalize a structure in the rear yard
built without the benefit of permits
that is nearly three times as large as the code allows.
They have not shown that they will suffer an economic detriment
if forced to comply with the dimensional requirements in the zoning code.
The City Planning Commission recommends
the board deny the proposed dimensional variance.
All that beautiful work would have to be torn out,
and we would hate to see that.
That's certainly an economic hardship.
all right so we're going to hold this to next wednesday uh we'll take it to executive session
where everybody have a chance to uh voice their views on it and we'll come to uh a conclusion
okay and we'll thank you at 9 30 a.m just want to move my entire exhibit packet into evidence as
well as well as the letter from council member uh brian o'neill all right thank you very much thank
you number three um nicole span
I think I already swore you in, right? Just for the record, state your name again and
turn your computer on. Nicole Spann. S-E-O-L-E-S-P-A-N-N.
Our Vice Chair has just a few questions for you.
Good morning. Have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this
hearing yes ma'am okay and do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy
yes ma'am okay thank you you can share your screen and proceed with your case
Okay. All right. So that's your posting, right? Yes. Okay. So that was the close-up of the posting. Yep. Then there was just another picture of the posting. That's the property right there, right? That is correct. And that's a duplex? No, it's a single-family home, and I'm trying to – I'm here today for the duplex issue.
but but it it already is a duplex and you're trying to let your it's a duplex that you want
to legalize right okay so my story bought the property with my fiance at that time um went to
ellen i to get the rental license and that's when they informed me that it was not a legal
duplex okay how long have you owned it since 2021
21 and it was a duplex when you bought it correct okay here is a copy of the deed yes we have we
have all your documents okay i think where you should be is show us the photos of the property
my pleasure
so here's a pictures of the property um if you notice like in this very first picture
where this is the downstairs the first floor and back here like through this walkway those
are the steps to the second floor uh it's a clearer picture on this bottom right screen here
on the first floor is two bedrooms one bathroom living room kitchen
uh same same thing for the second floor two bedrooms living room kitchen bathroom
this is the porch to the first floor right what do you have in the basement in the basement
uh right now which is tools there's no access to the basement from um in the unit this property
which drew it to our attention it has a five car garage a six car driveway
um but it does not have access from either of the units okay
um but it does not have access from either of the units
oh i'm sorry i keep scrolling the same picture
um here you'll see this is the second floor yep uh this is the living room on the second floor
that's the kitchen on the second floor bathroom on the second floor bottom left
uh go to the next picture do you live in one of the units ma'am no okay
on half but the first floor okay moving on to
i'm sorry yes
sure this is one of the bedrooms on the second floor right that is a closet also on the second floor
Oh, this is another bedroom on the second floor here.
So two bedrooms on the second floor?
Correct.
that's the second floor as well that's the garage this is the living room on the first floor
that comes in off the porch am i correct correct
the living room the kitchen area
more pictures
this is bedroom number one on the first floor
sorry at the bottom right that's the living room on the second floor just
wanted to point that out this is another bedroom on the second
floor on the first floor and there's two bedrooms on the first floor that is
correct the first floor of the basement the first floor the basement is a is a
basement it's not it's not liable i think that stucco ceiling threw you off stealing in the
window we actually ripped that down recently and um you know made it flush with drywall
this is the laundry area um it's like a separate area coming out the hallway from the living room
kitchen one bedroom uh the laundry area and to the right is where the bathroom is
this is just a storage area like i said that ceiling yes we pulled that out made sure everything
was good that's the bare basement there like i said there's no access from the unit to the
basement we pretty much use it for storage at the bottom right that's the driveway area like
said it holds about five or six cars there and this is the base this is your basement here
correct that is the basement and at the back of the driveway that's the entry to the garage
this is the door on the outside in the driveway that goes to the basement
and that's well this is the like i said the garage area
um this is the certificate of uh tax compliance
Terrific of tax?
Clarence.
Questions from the board?
Are the units completely separated?
So like there's separate utilities for the first floor, the second floor, and the garage separately?
When you purchased the property, did you get title insurance?
And did any of this come up on the inspection report?
Surprisingly, no.
none of this came up until i went to get a rental license and the plan is to keep this as a and like
sort of a rental property for both units correct are you using any parts of the property uh personally
the garage the garage in the basement and then how are you all using the garage in the basement
and storage space storage space okay other questions correct yeah question for you um
so so the that first floor extends all the way to the garage or is that a
separate because I mean it was kind of looking at the looking at the building
kind of looking at the looking at the building and um it it looks like this the first floor
and it it looks
extends all the way back to that first that that one-story garage area right correct and is that
part of it is that part of the apartment no sir until you get to oh it's not okay no so the garage
right there's no access to the garage from the to the unit from the unit that's set at all okay
correct okay okay and then how do you get to the second floor unit it was on the left hand side
on the other side so right here at the bottom you can see where you got a close-up shot of that
why don't you look for it i saw the close-up before oh okay gotcha okay yeah there you go
no that was good i saw i see the door so that door at back there it goes to the second floor
that is correct all the way in the back that goes to the second floor and this door right here to
the front goes to the front the first unit okay yeah it looks it's interesting because the house
looks small from the front but it's actually pretty pretty long and it's because it because
the rooms look pretty decent look like a decent size yes all right where's the trash store for
your uh tenants so there's a driveway and that's where the trash cans usually sit
the driveway going into the garage I'm sorry the driveway where the garage is correct right
okay other questions do the tenants um have use of the driveway yes so they can park yes that
block um unfortunately is parking limited yes questions for attorney um not so much a question
i just wanted to note that the refusal doesn't say anything about the parking um and that there's
existing parking so that may need to be recognized i don't see any permit history relating to
parking on here so that may need to be done through a separate zoning permit application
um and this is rsa5 and it's accessed from a main street so you might actually need a separate
variance to legalize the parking that's already there i just wanted to flag that for you um so
unfortunately anything we can do about it now but i just wanted to make a note because
um i noticed it wasn't on the refusal and i checked the zoning history um you know clearly
was put it put there at some point well before you um and the garage is there and all of that
but just wanted to note that there isn't a record of that parking being approved so just wanted to
flag that for you because you may need to do something about that in the future okay all right
questions or comments from the virtual audience i see no hints at this commission
thank you chairman good morning david vecto with the city planning commission
chairman and board members the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the RSA 5 residential
single-family zoning at this location the city rezoned this neighborhood in 2019 in accord with
recommendations in the comprehensive plan this block face has a mix of single-family homes
duplexes and triplexes so the proposed two dwelling units matches the character of this block base
the city planning commission recommends of the board grant the proposed use variants for two
dwelling units so mi 2025 000 486 35 22 to 24 north 8th street i vote yes michael johns my vote
is yes cheryl gaston my vote is yes tenetta graham my vote is yes mcadams my vote is yes
thank you thank you you look awful very you look happy
all right so number four mi2025 000 592 2296 brinmar avenue
rodney wright monique wright are the applicants pro se
there's a letter of support from winfield residents association 12 in support five
in opposition and a letter of support from council member jones
on eighth grade right will be rejoining as a panel sure
we're here well that's great to hear thank you could you uh thank you could you please state
your name and spell it for this stenographer monique are you going to testify yes okay please
state your name and spell for the stenographer monique m-o-n-i-q-u-e gray g-r-a-y right w-r-i-g-h-t
do you or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
i do all right so this application is for the legalization of a hundred percent
All right.
So this application is for the legalization of 100% opaque six-foot tall fence along the frontage of an existing detached structure for no change of use from single-family home living, for no change to existing accessory parking garage with two spaces have previously approved,
Whereas any fence located nearer to the lot line than the required building setback or the actual distance of the building from the lot line, whichever is greater, shall be no more than four feet high, no more than 50% opaque.
whereas fences on any side of our corner lot building facing a street shall
comply with their front setback rules set forth by section 14-706 apostrophe
three apostrophe a one our vice chair has just a few questions for you okay
yes good morning have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in
advance of this hearing yes okay and the chair just read your refusal so do you
You stipulate to the reading of the refusal further, and do you stipulate to its accuracy?
Thank you.
You can share your screen and proceed with your case.
Can you see my screen?
It's coming over there.
We see it.
Perfect.
Okay. So this is the side and backyard of our home at 2296 Bryn Mawr Avenue before the fence was erected. Although we have 2296 is our home, the front of our home is on Woodbine Avenue and the side and backyard faces Bryn Mawr Avenue.
to the next one in a second please
can you see this one no let's say it hasn't moved yet
oh can i can i stop sharing a share again please sure thank you
Can you see it?
uh it's coming up right now we we see i guess you're showing us a nice snow shot
can you see the first picture of the home i see them yep the side in the yard yeah okay
great thank you so this is the uh side and backyard again is on brenmar avenue and i'll
show you a picture of the front right now. So the reason why we erected the fence is because we had
theft to our property. Delivery people didn't know where to deliver our property, so they would
deliver it to the back steps. People walking down the street would go to the back steps and take
the items. People also use the side of our yard as a shortcut to get from one place to the other.
they would leave the sidewalk and go on the property. So this is the pavement for pedestrians
and this is our personal pavement to go to the front of our home. They would also leave dog
feces. Animals would come on to our property but the most reason is because in the snow we have
seen footprints to the back of our home and animal prints to the back of our home which is quite
dangerous um when people should not even be back there people take it upon themselves to
um walk back there that made us less secure um in our home they've also stolen things from back
here so we can't leave anything outside it's really unusable um from this perspective before the fence
after the fence this is the front of our home that faces whereby avenue and the fence is located
behind our front yard so our front yard is huge and substantial and the fence is behind that
which is lined up um directly with the property once we put the fence up uh delivery men were able
Once we put the fence up, delivery men were able to walk on our private path to the front and deliver packages so that they would no longer be stolen.
to walk
People no longer had the ability to walk past and take things from our property that was not theirs.
But the main issue was when we would have family functions and things like that on the side of the property, there would be pedestrians and people walking past that would literally, excuse me, drive up, park, and come and start asking us questions.
So we felt that that was a lack of privacy and unsafe.
They would say, oh, is this a barbecue?
When should we come back?
Can we have some?
They would not only speak to us, they would speak to our guests.
um and in a way that's kind of frightening because people walking up and down this down
the street you really don't know what the motive is and you don't want to have to get into you know
any conversations with people that you really don't know okay
so this is the uh our property from the corner perspective so you would walk downward by avenue
You will be able to see directly to the corner. Around the corner, you would have to pass our front yard in order to even to get to the backyard. This is another picture as well. So the walkway, you would walk down the street. We wanted to show you the intersection. So if cars were coming past, they would be able to see fully around the corner and down the street.
I'm sorry, my exhibits are going too quick for my fingers.
Apologize.
So if cars were coming down the street, they will be able to see around the corner.
And as you can see right here, the city put three lines in the street right here.
So which means that you can't even park in this distance so that cars can see around the corner.
They also put a street sign over here for no parking.
so that when cars approach the intersection, they can also see around the corner.
So cars as well as pedestrians can see around the corner when they come up to our property.
This is a picture from Bryn Mawr Avenue, and you can see from across the street,
you can see all the way down the street.
So pedestrians were crossing the street or cars were coming down the street,
you can see without obstruction.
There are no obstructions to sight lines where the fence is located.
Monique, that's a fence right across from you, too, right?
Yes, it is.
It's a fence right across from us, and that fence is right there.
So you can see in conjunction for our fence and theirs, theirs is here close to the intersection,
and ours is all the way back to the side yard of our property.
We wanted to make sure that when we put up the fence that it would not obstruct pedestrians or sight lines for cars.
And here is a picture of the intersection to show you the distance from the fence.
I'm standing on my sunport steps to show you the distance from the fence to the intersection.
So when cars are approaching, here is the sign where you can't park here.
And here are the lines where you can't park there.
So all of that is unobstructed for sight lines as well as walking purposes.
And here is the intersection showing cars coming to the corner.
And it shows that the fence has no obstruction to that.
All right. Questions from the board.
I guess I don't have a comment. I guess I don't have a comment. I guess it's not really a question.
I understand your your concern and all the things that you raised.
um i guess i'm just it just it it this is my own opinion i think the fence takes away from
the neighborhood completely um i just i just do if i look at the fence that your neighbor put up
right next to you it's it's a estate fencing it is very attractive um it it keeps the quality of
these these lawns um in the neighborhood so just and that's just my opinion i think that i think it
it takes away from the quality of the neighborhood other questions that's just my opinion
other comments comments from our attorney hillary emerson not at this time mr chair comments uh
from the virtual audience mr chad do not see any hands raised for the commission
Commission thank you chairman and good morning David Fecto with the city planning Commission
thank you chairman and good morning David Fecto with the city planning commission
chairman and board members
chairman and board members the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the rsd3 residential
single-family detached zoning at this location the city rezoned this neighborhood in 1967
in a council supported map change the appellant built defense without the benefit of permits
that does not meet the height and opacity standards in the zoning code the appellant has not shown
that they would suffer an economic detriment if forced to comply with the standards in the code
the city planning commission recommends the board deny the proposed dimensional variances
thank you MI 2025 000-592-2296 Bryn Mawr Avenue I vote yes I'm Michael John my vote is no
Cheryl Gaston my vote is yes Tana Graham my vote is yes Ryan McAdams my vote is yes
uh you have your votes thank you so much we really appreciate you all thank you thank you
Number six, MI2025, 000622, 6441 North 20th Street.
David Darcer Villarreal is the attorney for the owner.
Let's see here.
Chair, I have a hand up from Luis Castillo.
Do I allow him to speak briefly to see if they're wrong with the case?
no that's an expediter but why don't we see if we get unless the owners with the expediter
I'm about to speak briefly
Luis Castillo please unmute yes I'm here can you hear me is the is the is the owner there
I am the applicant the attorney is the attorney there yeah I know the applicant I'll be hard to
mr ramon jackets he's the owner of the program sir i i need the attorney there's we have an
attorney listed for the owner you don't have the attorney listed in the in this case
we have the owner
all right then put the own put the owner it's kenny put the owner on please yes sir mr justice
is Ramon
Ramon yes could you please state your name and spell for the sonographer
we're having difficulty hearing can we can you please turn on the video so we can see Mr. Vasquez
let me promote tomorrow real quick i'm sorry okay thank you
i'll be coming back in as a panel shortly
the next one
okay i could be is the who is the owner in the uh orange shirt yes could you please state your
name sir and spell for the stenographer hold hold on no no no
Now, you can't do that, right?
I mean, if he needs an interpreter, we'll have to get him an interpreter.
Perfect.
And Luis Castillo, L-U-I-S?
Now, answer my question.
Can he understand or do we need an interpreter?
He needs an interpreter because he doesn't speak English.
He understands?
No, he doesn't.
He doesn't do.
All right.
So this case is going to be continued.
And we'll have to have an interpreter the next time, all right?
So this case has continued to 6, 10, 26 at 9.30 a.m.
And Mr. Castillo, previously an attorney appeared on behalf of Mr. Vasquez.
Is he no longer retaining an attorney?
We can contact the attorney for the next time if you want it, if you need it.
Well, did he, has he retained an attorney?
Is he paying someone to represent him in this case as an attorney?
yes okay well then the attorney if he's doing that the attorney is the one that needs to appear
okay yes thank you thank you number seven mi 2025 000 6299 34 65 north third street joseph
Vaccaro is the attorney.
I'll be back in another panel shortly, Mr. Chair.
I'll be back to another time that's shortly, Mr. Chair.
Good morning. Can you see and hear me?
And counsel, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Yes. Good morning. May it please the board. My name is Joseph Vaccaro, V-A-C-C-A-R-O, attorney for the applicant, Francisco Rosario.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
RCO is in non-opposition, and also the council member is in non-opposition. Our vice chair has a few questions, Mr. Vaccaro.
Thank you.
good morning have you uh submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing
yes with the exception of the tax clearance um we anticipate uh being able to submit a tax
clearance certificate if not later this afternoon this week is that okay okay in that case we'll
need to hold this this we can hear it but we can hold it for we'll need to hold it until we receive
the tax clearance in terms of having a vote much appreciated okay and do you waive the reading of
the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy yes okay thank you you can share your screen and proceed
with your case thank you very much uh just let the record reflect that i have uh mr francisco
rosario he's sitting uh right next to me in the office where i am um can you see it's coming up
now yeah we have okay so you see what uh the screenshot of the property from yep no no i see
the city of philadelphia property yep right city of philadelphia property okay so if i could start
the um the presentation um my client owns this property um and it's a it's technically an empty
property it's a vacant lot technically um and that's why i'm showing you on the first three
pages. Going back to 2015, there's no improvement on the property. It's an empty lot. The property
is approximately 840 square feet with a 14-foot frontage zoned as RM1. Here's a satellite
view of where the property is, so I could zoom in. It's on the far north block. It's
It's on the far north of the block, of the 3400 block of North Third Street, just south of the Amtrak line.
That's the Amtrak line with Glenwood Avenue, just south of Tayoga.
It's the second lot in from the corner.
The property on the corner, which is owned by Luz Ramos, she participated at the RCO meeting, and she was in support of my client's application.
By way of history, this property was sold in 2019 by way of sheriff sale to Alberto Caro, and then Mr. Caro sold the property to Luz Caldozila in 2020, and in 2022, Francisco had purchased the property from Luis Caldozila.
I've included those deeds in my packet. I'm showing where the property is. Here's a screenshot of the property. It's right behind the tree, at least as of when the Google people took the photograph.
Here's another view of when the Google people took the photograph, the stop sign where my cursor is floating here. That's Glenwood Avenue. And then you have abandoned factories and the Amtrak line going further to the left.
Here's the refusal.
Here are the proposed plans.
Here's a picture.
My client had put up the gate to the building, and I have some other photographs which I could show you as I proceed with the presentation.
My cursor is over the neighboring property, that's Luz's property, who was in support of my client's plan.
With the application for appeal, if I could just scroll down.
Here are the deeds that I had described.
And when my client had purchased the property, here's the gate that I was describing.
Another view of the gate.
And the purpose of this application, yes, the refusal and the application describes a garage.
Under no circumstances does my client want to use this property to store any vehicles.
to store any vehicles uh there's no there is no curb cut there's no intention to put in a curb
There is no curb cut.
There's no intention.
cut this is the neighboring property this is loses neighboring property she uses it
basically as a backyard where she stores her vehicles um
he's a francisco was in the metal work business uh he has a he has a shop at 3006 north 6th street
It's about a mile away. If you make a left at the intersection of 3rd and Glenwood, make a left on Glenwood, make another left onto 6th Street, and just north of 6th and Indiana is where my client's metal shop is.
He has a lot of metal, a lot of equipment, and a lot of materials.
His intention is to legalize the use of this property for materials and equipment and tools.
I'm showing you some of the materials and equipment inside his property.
Here's a view of the inside.
Another view of the inside looking out towards Third Street.
He had put up these two plywood doors after he had purchased the property.
here's a view of the back alley he's not encroaching onto the back alley
here's another view of the back alley that trash is not on his property
here's a view of the back alley looking towards glenwood avenue and again and again this is
loses property my cursor is over loses property with the fence and the and the short wall
This is looking south, along with the other photographs. So he's not doing any work on the property. He doesn't plan on doing any work on the property. The work hours and work days are from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and all the work, all the metal work is being done at 3006 North 6th.
Any work is done off site. This particular site on 3rd Street is strictly for storage of materials and equipment and tools. So all he's doing is going to the property, dropping off, picking up and moving on his way.
He's not parking any of his vehicles on the block. He's not parking any of the vehicles, any of his vehicles on the site, in the site, none of that. He's not doing any of the work there either. Everything is being done either at his customers' homes, or at his customer sites, or at his shop on 6th Street.
As was indicated, we have a letter of support. I'm sorry, we have a letter of non-opposition from ASEE. There was a question of water runoff, which is going into 3424, the neighboring property to the south.
Obviously, if the board were to grant this variance for the use, my client is still going to have to go back to L&I to submit for the appropriate permits to build a more appropriate structure with the appropriate water runoff and water drainage system so that any issues on that neighboring property could be remediated and alleviated.
There was also a question about waste disposal. My client has a commercial services agreement with Metropolitan Waste Systems. I'm showing you their agreement. It's a one-page agreement. And again, any waste is not being generated at this property on 3rd Street. Any and all waste is being generated at and disposed of from his 6th Street property.
It's being billed at 3006 North 6th.
Yes, there's a related property on 3rd Street, but he's not doing any work there.
We have the letter of non-opposition from ASE.
And again, as it's a fair summary of the RCO meeting where my client participated, lose the neighboring property to the north.
She voiced her support.
We discussed the water runoff.
We had also discussed the waste management and the fact that my client's not doing any work, nor does he plan on doing any work or storage of his vehicles on the property in question at Third Street.
on the property in question at third street um he put up the posters
He put up the poster.
and i have francisco sitting to my i have francisco sitting to my right francisco did you
hear my my presentation yeah did you do joe joe joe joe mr remember i have to swear him in right
oh yes you do sure sir could you please state your name as bill for the stenographer
take your name francisco rosario and you could you spell it please for the stenographer
the last name is r-o-r-a-r-i-o joe could he do it one more time simply because i'm not sure
their stenographer heard the first part can you spell it again okay the name my name is francisco
all right thank you do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
do you swear to tell the truth yeah council please proceed okay did you hear my presentation
to the board yeah is it the truth yeah and would you adopt it as your own if you were going to
testify okay did you hear his answers yes to all three questions we did okay uh mr rosario
mr rosario how many workers do you have two and there's all the work being done on sixth street
correct and how many vehicles do you have and the vehicles do you store them on sixth street yeah
okay do you store any vehicles on third street this property do you store any vehicles on this
property not on this property do you do any work on this property no does it have any electric no
no no okay any plumbing no okay and um if the board were to give you this variance you're gonna
fix up the building and make the building right so that there's not going to be any water runoff
and it's going to be a proper building in accordance with the codes right yeah okay
mr vicario have you talked to the person next door that owns the property that we're talking
about the runoff we we haven't spoken with that person but it's it's our understanding that um
that uh that person uh that that person was discussed at the rco meeting and that's how
it got mentioned all right questions from the board so how are you getting the you say you're
not using it for the business but how are you getting the materials that are stored in there
to the property you're bringing it by truck or how are you doing correct correct he pulls up the
truck he pulls up the truck they park the truck temporarily they drop off whatever they need to
drop off they pick up whatever they need to pick up and then they're on their way so you use this
property is basically an adjunct to the business is that storage okay I could show you if I could
stop sharing this they have another picture from Google Maps bear with me
do you see a google maps uh screen it should come up in a minute okay okay you see it yeah we see it
okay so if i could zoom in a bit where the red dot is this is his property on sixth street
so this is the vertical is six the horizontal is indiana so that's his property where he does
his work that's his workshop um i'm going against the flow of traffic but we go up
make a right up Glenwood and here's third street the property that's the subject of this appeal
where my cursor is so that's where my my earlier in my presentation you go up toward Glenwood make
a left make another left down sixth and here it is it's 0.8 miles
and if you want to go the Allegheny the Allegheny Avenue route it's 0.9 miles
okay thank you thank you questions yeah so what's happening with the rest of the yard with the rest
of the lot well if the rest of the lot doesn't belong to him the rest of the lot belongs to
lose ramos uh she's using it as her backyard for her business um let me see here if i could
the structure covers the whole lot that one story structure covers the whole this whole parcel no
no no no let me go back to let me go back to the screen sharing of the photos that we took
of this lot. We're not encroaching on her property. We're not using her property for anything.
We're not encroaching on her property.
We're not using her property for anything.
Nope, not this one.
Nope, not this one.
So that's the front of your property.
Right, that's the front of our property with the poster.
I'm just going up.
that's the inside that's the back yep i'm just scrolling up to show the two properties together
okay so this is loses property next door we're not encroaching on that that's
my cursor is over the side wall so that's the end of my client's property this is the
neighboring property at the corner of third and glenwood okay so you confused me because
in the beginning you said it was a vacant lot that the structure was going to be on a vacant lot
so that's why i asked the question does this structure cover the total lot is it total lot
coverage right are you saying no or yes now right right it's it when i say it's it's not it's not a
vacant lot well it's not a vacant lot i'm uh because there is this structure there under the
city tax records it's showing it's showing as an empty lot okay and that's and that's all that i
was saying i'm not i'm not trying to imply that it's an empty lot it's just under if you look at
the office of property assessments website you know my the first two pages of my presentation
there's no improvement say taxable improvement zero going all the way back to 2015
so did he build the structure that was he was does the owner did he put the structure there
francisco did not the only thing the only thing he put is the those two plywood doors in the back
and did you put the gate no or the gate was already there so the gate was already there
when he had purchased the property back in uh 2022 so the only thing the only thing he did was
put those back door those back plywood doors just to close off the property from the outside
okay thank you no thank you questions go ahead so i have a question based on some of the feedback
we see in the rco letter it does seem like there's a lot of concerns from the community members
around things like drainage um and there were some a number of things that they were trying to
improvise or community agreement how has your client planned to address those concerns
Well, the drainage is going to be, is going to be addressed by the, you know, by the what, assuming that this board were inclined to grant us the variance for the use, then he's going to have to get the appropriate permits to, to build an appropriate structure. Okay. That's, that's not going to drain onto the neighboring properties.
that wasn't there so there was a number of things that looks like i'll say brought up though so one
was the storm water runoff the other was water resistant materials but they also talked about
things that had to deal with i think safety there's motion sensors security cameras so i guess
my question is how how's your client planning to deal with all of the issues that were brought up
the rco he's he's in agreement with all of those okay agreement with all those and that was expressed
at the rco meeting i'm sorry i just missed i just misunderstood your question it's okay yeah so it's
listed in the letter too um questions right and and hillary none of that's enforceable right am i
right they could get a cba but no unfortunately the requested provisors are not enforceable
and i have no questions questions or comments from the virtual audience whether or not it's
enforceable or not he's it's still in yours to his benefit because he's got equipment and material
that he wants to keep safe as well as as well as the safety of the neighbors so of course he's
going to do it all right questions or comments from uh planning commission thank you chairman
and good morning David Vecto with the city planning commission chairman and board members
the comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning at this location from RM1 residential
multi-family to CMX2 commercial mixed use this neighborhood still carries its original 1933
zoning there is no unique physical condition or circumstance of this property that would prevent
it from being used in strict conformity with the zoning code this is a residential block face the
city planning commission recommends the board deny the proposed use variants for an equipment
materials storage yard and building yep okay so um we gotta wait for the taxes to come in joe so
we're holding the vote i appreciate that and if i could just respond to the planning commission's uh
uh comment um if if in the event that this would be denied then my client would be
If, if in the event that this would be denied, then my client would be forced to expend huge sums of money to build a home or to build a residence at this lot.
And that's not his line of work. That's not his business.
So thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Vaccaro.
Thank you very much. Have a good day.
Show number 10, MI 2025 001815, 2100 Princeton Avenue.
larina romero is the dba and donna chalala is the listed applicant it's a pro se
hillary we still don't have the proof of mailing
we have proof that one letter was mailed to one address but there are 123 affected addresses that's
okay so i'm not sure that the requirement was met i've asked for clarification um but i don't
we need a lease too right we did receive the lease um but i have not received clarification
that the mailing was properly done thank you they've been promoted to uh panelists station
become a back control hello hi donna not lorena
is donna there no no it's laverna lorraine is the right person no it's lorena
that's the d i see it i see it but yeah doesn't it say dba
okay all right could you please state your name and spell it for the stenographer
Is Lorena L-O-R, hold on, this is misspelled, L-O-R-E-N-A, that's the first name, Zegura
is S-E-G-U-R-A.
All right, do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
I swear.
All right, have you done the mailing for this property?
yes and how many letters did you send out i send a couple of them
so so ma'am the mailing requirement is to all neighbors within 250 feet of the property
and there's 123 neighbors um there so they you should have been done a mailing to 123 addresses
a hundred and twenty hundred twenty three yes they're given instructions for how to pull a list
of those addresses and then to send that letter to all of those addresses unfortunately if you
did not do that then we will have to continue this case because that is a requirement oh my
Okay, so, Lorena, how many did you mail, do you have receipts for that mail?
No, no.
Lorena? Yes.
How many letters did you mail?
I mailed, hold on, but I have a copy here.
we saw proof of mailing for one letter yeah i only say for one but i didn't send one no no
okay you need to be the only one um speaking it's making us difficult for us to hear
larina yes all right how many letters did you mail i sent 110 all right okay all right so
So here's what we're going to have to do. We're going to have to continue it. And before the next day, make sure you touch base with the staff and they'll make sure that you know exactly.
This is going to be, listen to me, this is going to be continued to 6, 10, 26 at 9.30 a.m.
6, 10.
26, 6, 10, 26 at 9.30.
okay and then check with the staff they'll make sure that you have the appropriate things to do
okay all right thank you you're more than welcome thank you that's that's the only thing basically
that i'm missing right thank you very much you're welcome thank you right here
mi 2020 this is number 14 mi 2025 001 878 11 26 harrison street jermaine harris is the attorney
there's uh well we'll be like it's one
they'll be back in a soprano shortly mr chair
good afternoon panel good afternoon mr harris how are you sir i'm fine how are you will you
please state your name and spell it for the stenographer uh sure my name is jermaine harris
and that would be j-e-r-m-a-i-n-e and i am the attorney for uh the applicant okay could you
identify your client well hold on do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing
about the truth oh yeah sure uh identify your clients my clients are uh gianna dr the deal
dardo e and will william villa okay and for a point we have a letter of anonymous opposition
from northwood civic association 24 votes and a letter of opposition from council member lazada
our vice chair has a few questions come oh it's afternoon now so p.m uh good afternoon do you uh
have you uh mailed your exhibits um five days in advance of this hearing i did okay and do
you waive the reading of the referral and stipulate to its accuracy i do okay thank you you can uh
Okay, sure. So, okay. So this is to legalize a duplex at 1126 Harrison Street. Now, this
This is the property here, and this is the evidence of the posting of today's hearing.
And these are the separate entrances of the property.
So, this property has a history of being a two-family, and as of, in fact, let's see, 1940, that was quite, maybe like three generations ago, but 1940, it was configured from a one-family to a two-family.
And it has retained that structure as of right now.
Now, my client purchased the property from a sheriff's sale sight unseen in 2017.
And just want to look at some pictures here.
So it's a two bedroom, one bath on the first floor.
This is the first floor. First floor is vacant. And that is what we're seeing right here for this apartment. And then we have the second floor apartment, which is one bedroom, one bathroom.
And we're looking at the photos for that. Let me get the picture. Let me get the plans.
So these are the floor plans for the particular building. This is the first floor, which has the two bedrooms in the front.
And then this is, you walk upstairs, come upstairs, then you go into, and then you have the entry for the second floor unit, which is living room, and then the bedroom.
And that's reflected, the layout is pretty much, is, is.
Jermaine Jermaine show us that show us the basement sure show the plants
that's the basement this is the basement right here there's not any living space
for that and I can have my client testify when I do promoter when I have
promoted but there's no living in the basement it's only it's laid out right as a third apartment
i mean there's a bathroom a kitchen
So I would have to ask my client about that.
i would have to ask my uh client about that
I'll have to ask her about that.
And Jermaine, let me ask you this.
What happened at the RCO?
So what happened at the RCO is that it was more so an opposition, not necessarily, mainly
not because of the presentation itself, just because, but solely because of the fact that
they just did not want a two family and they didn't want a multifamily. Despite the fact that
there are some multifamilies that are on a block, they don't want any multifamilies on it. So that's
really what it was now since we are talking about that community meeting i'd have you i
have it notated that there was only one nearby neighbor uh that voted so and i've included
petitions of 22 nearby neighbors that are from that block and the adjacent block who are directly
affected by this and they supported this particular uh they support this particular project
so they pretty much they understood that there was a history of it that it had been laid out that way
but and the reason why it reverted back to a single family is because
the prior owner apparently didn't renew the rental license and when you don't renew
renter licenses then it automatically then it reverts back to its original designation which
is the single family so that's the reason why it's in that position continue with your presentation
if you want to bring your client on sure uh i'd like to bring uh miss dordano i'd like to have her
promote it could you raise your hand miss uh dear donald
that's what we'll be joining us shortly chair sure thank you i'm gonna stop
hello hello
you hear me now hi um mr donald mr donald are you going to testify yes i'm all right all right
you're going to testify right yeah all right could you please state your name and spell
for the stenographer hello my name is william villa uh spelled w-i-l-l-i-a-m-b-i-l-l-a
right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
is it counsel yes uh so did you hear the testimony that i just gave uh to the board
yes okay do you agree with that testimony that i gave yes yes and could you uh just real briefly
could you address the basement uh and is there what the layout is of that and does the plans
reflect that what it what the state is i mean the plans the plans looks looks accurate but does not
have a kitchen it does have a sink on the middle like because i use that i leave all around the
corner and 1114 firmer street well no longer i used to leave there and i use that for entry time
and i used to have like a little pool table or watch uh sports with my friends because my house
is a small 1114 firmer street so i used to hang out there because it has a private entrance and
that's what that's all i did oh i'm pretty much as a storage now
and is the is m no one lives in the first floor no one lives in the basement it's only
use in the second floor correct it's usually the second floor now yep just the second floor
okay and
uh would there be any uh what kind of hardship would this be if this property were to be
converted back were to be converted back to a to a one to a one uh to a single family
it will be very hard for us like especially the money to spend on the property already because as
um as a young angel in 2017 uh it was a new all me for dinner we just bought purchased our first
house around the corner so i was driving by every day i saw the sign for sale on the auction i entered
by uh my lock and then i ended up winning we don't even know if there was a duplex
uh my lack and then i ended up winning we don't even know if there was a duplex we don't have a
kid when it did when we get the documents we open i open personally we open uh the property and they
find out there was a duplex it was already laid out as a duplex it has two kitchens and i thought
it was you know it was my lack and then um you know because we spent all the money at the time
so we leave the the property for a couple years just a bacon and till we start fixing a little
by little as i earn some money and start fixing that until like i finished you know just finished
i like painting and flooring and you know just appliances so when um but after i find out that
i was trying to i was trying to rental uh just trying to rent and get the rental license and it
says you know because of violation because but my mistake was because i thought it was a violation
on the block it has a street on the back the the wall is collapsing the whole neighborhood is
affected with that and that was the reason i wasn't getting uh the violation but as i said i
think it's a whole neighborhood is in the malaysian so that's what i thought i couldn't do anything
with that and to actually i got the letter it says uh it was getting me sued by the city and
and to like you know in the next call like this so that's what i was trying to do the right way
put it like how it was before and then i thought was a very like simple because let's say how the
documentation that's what it was before i've um tried to find a picture from the auction when i
bought it when it was bacon it was just what my neighbors was left and right unfortunately the
right neighbor passed away when i'm like it's so happy that we come over because we take care of
the property we keep it clean before there was a spot the uh younger people younger kids there
was a squadron and leaving in there it wasn't safe for them so i didn't have any issue with
neighbors or anything like that until i was trying to get on the license and now i'm just
trying to pretty much legalize because i thought it was because when we as you see the papers from
what was it 1940 it was already duplex and i thought that's what i would say this is all new
for me and we thought it was already a duplex science you know it was from years before
so why don't you explain to us what you're going to do with the basement in the future
they are just pretty much a store now because i don't leave close then anymore so it just
pretty much will be a storage for you or for the tenants for me for me because uh yeah it's for me
questions from the board who has access to the basement is there access for the tenants that
you're planning to have on the first floor or the second floor no it does it not has because it has
a private entrance around the wall it's like like on the back it's a ground level and there's a is
a is of the tree the tree entrance so that neither of the tenants will have access to this basement
is that no yep no no and you're not going to have any kind of household living of any sort
no no because i understand it's not legal or full of that you know i don't
i don't want to do any of that okay all right okay so then um
i don't want to steal one of my other board members thunder but
okay so what are we doing about the utilities here
the utilities are separate everything is separate like it has it has two meters since even we started
property we was paying trash uh for the two units so it's a commercial trash so that's what i thought
everything was on everything was legal because i said i'm on the need on uh i don't do anything to
just besides they're renewing and what do you call it? The utilities. Yeah, the utilities are
separate. Okay. And where are the meters? On the back of the house next to the entrance of the
basement. Okay. And what are you doing about the trash? We pay into the city. It has right next
to the entrance it has up you can see next to the door it has the alley there that's where the
trash cans go like neighbor in a trash can and then uh it's picked up by the city and yes for
the first floor and the second floor the same thing they both they both stay in the same place
okay all right thank you other questions are you opposed to a proviso that would prohibit
uh household living in the basement what do you mean what was that like are we opposed to
like them writing that there's a rule oh yeah yeah absolutely yeah i don't i don't want to
leave anybody even like for the old safety and i don't want anybody to leave in the basement yeah
that's and i know you said that all of the utilities are separated but that's across
like that's a pico and gas correct correct correct water and water water is just one
millimeter for the whole property are you are you planning to do any plumbing upgrades to put in a
second um furnace no no no okay other questions
no okay
other questions questions from our attorney
not at this time i did i did have a comment a question so you
because i'm trying to go back to tya's um question you said that there's one
unit that's that services both the units one
peter hvac unit that services both units
is that what you said no everything is separate okay everything is separate and no household
yeah i i think the only thing he said is that there was one water and that services both apart
and that's it okay which is pretty common okay okay and then and then these rooms that are in
the basement with closets and full kitchen and full bathroom are you removing that once again
and you're just not going to use it as if it needs to be removed like for anything so i will
remove but that's not have a full kitchen it has a sink and a fridge it has like you know and it
has one bathroom that's all it has and it has two two rooms that i was as i said i live around the
corner and i stay there like family members like comes in and they stay on the weekend and my house
was small so we just go and hang out there and i used to have a pool table but i empty everything
out of there because i'm no longer living around there but as it's either whether you're required
to be removed anything i'm going to do it because it's like i'm using just for storage like i use
it like car parts i got you i got you i got you i got questions or comments from the virtual audience
chair i do not see any hands raised for the matter planning commission thank you chairman
good afternoon David Fecto with the city planning commission chairman of board members the
comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning at this location from RSA 5 residential single
family to RM1 residential multi-family the city rezoned this neighborhood in 2017 and a council
requested map change this property appears to have a history of swinging between single family
and multi-family under several previous owners based on its lot size of 1383 square feet if this
property were zoned as recommended two dwelling units would be allowed the city planning commission
recommends that the board grant a proposed use variance for two dwelling units thank you mi
2025 001 878 1126 harrison street i vote yes with proviso maximum two units no household living in
basement michael johns my vote is yes with proviso cheryl gaston my vote is no it's not a
gram my vote is yes with provisals my mcadams my vote is yes with proviso thank you council
thank you sir thank you thank you is there anyone in the audience whose case has not been called
from the 9 30 a.m list chair i do not see any hands okay see everyone at um 2 p.m thank you
very much welcome doctor right thank you we got through a lot of good afternoon everyone my name
is bill bergman and i will be chairing this meeting in the philadelphia zoning board of
adjustment with me is our board vice chair tenetta graham president mr chairman our board secretary
shell l gaston president mr chairman board member michael johns president mr chairman board member
ty owen president mr chairman and our board member ryan mcadams president mr chairman also present
is our board attorney hillary emerson our zoning board director in haggerty and our board administrator
lakeisha dandy recording of this hearing will be posted on the zba website by participating you
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there so we can account for you let's look at our schedule for this afternoon
number six
Number 6, MI-2025-005-993-6100 Wissahickon Avenue. This case is continued to 5-20-26 at 2 p.m.
Number 8, MI-2025-006-073-1700 Spring Garden Street.
This case is continued to 5-20-26 at 2 p.m.
Are there any other requests for continuances?
Good afternoon.
A continuance request.
Oh, okay.
Oh, I'm sorry.
Let me just do this one more here.
I have a withdrawal. MI 2025 005 913 913 North 16th Street. This case has been withdrawn. And are you the McDonald's?
Yes, the McDonald's of 1401 66th Avenue to continue discussions with the RCO, the 10th Democratic Ward.
So you're going to continue it. Okay. All right. So MI 2025 004 571 1401 66 Avenue. That case is continued until 520 26 at 2 p.m. Thank you. Thank you. You still have one more case, right? Okay. Thank you.
Okay. We're going to go to our regular add-on list.
MI 2025-005-350-3430 North Bodine Street, I vote no.
Michael Johnson, my vote is no.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is no.
Tannetta Graham, my vote is no.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is no.
Tywin, my vote is no.
Number two, MI 2025-004-309-126, Alexis Lane, I vote yes with proviso.
Certificate of occupancy to be obtained.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes with proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with proviso.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ryan Wynn, my vote is yes with proviso.
Number three, MI 2025-005805, 14250 to 60 Busselton Avenue.
I vote yes with proviso.
Per refusal dated 116-26, temporary variance to expire 228-31, use limited to suite number one.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes with proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes, with Proviso.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes, with Proviso.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes, with Proviso.
Tywin, my vote is yes, with Proviso.
At number four, MI2025-005-864-2043, Frankfurt Avenue, I vote yes.
Oops, Michael Johns, my vote is yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes.
Sorry, Tywin, my vote is yes.
Okay, we're going to go to our regular list. We're going to start with number, is it 9 and 10? 9 and 10. MI 2025-006-075-21 East Clappier Street, and we also have with this MI 2025-006-080-23 East Clappier Street.
Okay, we're going to go to our regular list.
We're going to start with number...
Vern Anastasio is the attorney.
Here, Vern is being promoted to panelists.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair.
Council, you've already been sworn this morning. Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Yes, sir. It's Vern Anastasio, A-N-A-S-T-A-S-I-O, on behalf of Todd and Emily Grant.
All right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
We have a letter of non-opposition from the 12th Ward Democratic Ward and a letter of non-opposition with provisors from Solo Germantown for both cases.
Our Vice Chair has a few questions. Thank you. Good afternoon. Have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing? I did. Okay. And do you waive the reading of the refusals and stipulate to the accuracy?
I do. Okay. Thank you. You can show your screen and proceed with your case. Thank you. Mr. Chair, members of the board. This is fair as a fairly straightforward case.
AND LET ME SEE IF I CAN, THERE WE GO.
WE ARE PROPOSING TWO SINGLE FAMILY HOMES ON TWO LOTS, 21 AND 23 EAST CLAPIER.
I WILL BE CALLING MY CLIENT, TODD GRANT, WHO HAPPENS TO ALSO BE THE ARCHITECT ON THE PROJECT.
But this is after we've had a couple meetings and lots of input from the neighbors on what these homes would look like.
So this is what we've come up with in the latest iteration.
Let me explain to you why we're here.
It's virtually 100 percent compliant with the zoning code.
So that's great news, right?
However, because of the size of the lots, there is a unique physical condition that the minimum side requirement cannot be met here.
We are offering five feet as a side requirement, side yard.
The code, as we all know, is currently eight feet.
The good news is that all the other homes on the block have side yards, and none of them are at eight feet.
and very few of them are even at five feet. So our side yards are actually as big or bigger than
all other side yards on that block. So I deem this a de minimis dimensional variance that we're
looking for. And therefore, our whole premise is that if we were to lose that three feet,
it would make the houses, both of them, a lot less livable. So, they're not that super wide
to begin with. So, that's where we are. So, let's pull out. This is some interior layout.
As you can see, we have the garage. Hold on for one second. I want to
i have something else i want to share if you don't mind
we do have revised stamp plans that were submitted and also a proviso of a plans form was also
submitted under separate cover i'll make sure that the the attorney for the board also sees that
prior to approval if it if it's so necessary these are the the site plan for both
we have a side rendering elevation rear and front
i'll stop sharing that
Second.
And these are mirror images, these properties, obviously.
We have an entryway and a multipurpose room on the first level.
Second level is a living room, bath, kitchen and dining, all sort of open concept on both sides of the stair.
And then a modest three bedroom, two bath at the top.
As you'll see, one is a master, and the other is a full for the hall for both kids.
What do we have here?
also moving into the exhibit the posting notices
and this was a second flyer that went out not only did we do one that was mailed
but then we did another one that was posted on the property and distributed by some of the members of
the RCO. We met specifically after they voted to support. We met specifically again just to go over
materials and design, even though that's outside the purview of the zoning code. My client wanted
to make sure that we did, in fact, do that. So it was a little unusual, but we were happy to comply,
and we were also happy to get the support of both RCOs in attendance.
And with that, again, the unique physical condition being that the properties, if we were to lose the three feet on each, it would significantly impact the livability of the properties.
And with that, I'd like to call my client, Mr. Todd Grant, to adopt my testimony.
He'll also be available as the architect to answer any questions that you might have about the design.
Todd Grant you said yes sir okay Mr. Grant
Ron can you zoom in on the site plan
say it again can you zoom in a little on the site plan yeah sure in that bottom right corner this
one here as you can see our yard is bigger than adjacent property as well mr. Grant
it's Todd Grant or Emily Grant that should be present shares are being promoted thank you very
much. Thanks, Karima.
mr grant you've been promoted
hello this is todd grant uh hi sir could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
my name is todd grant it's t-o-d-d-g-r-a-n-t do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the
truth and nothing but the truth i do counsel thank you mr chair mr grant did you hear my
presentation to the board yes true and accurate to the best of your knowledge yes i adopted as
your own testimony yes and you are the architect on the project yeah that is correct great so i'm
One of the provisos for the RCO was that there will be interior trash storage. Could you show me that on the plan?
We don't necessarily have that on the, on the interior layout, but we certainly agree to that proviso.
I see another provides right here for interior mailboxes, and I wasn't really clear what.
really clear what that was attempting to do do you have a sense of what that requests
that was attempting to do
do you have
how it's being sort of addressed in the plans ms when i know it's you speaking but for whatever
reason your volume is significantly lower than everyone else's is that better yes it is okay
uh my question was i see another request from the rco for interior mailboxes and i was wondering if
you could expand on what that was trying to do from the meeting the two you know well we had
two meetings and I don't remember it once being mentioned uh and then of course I saw the letter
this morning about that uh um I they want some sort of mail slot that goes into the first floor
either the garage or you know uh that doesn't stick out outside uh like just with a mail slot
against the facade uh we're certainly okay with that instead of the box instead of an act i guess
i guess they were concerned that there might be some sort of suburban style
exterior box out front but we never okay we never even intimated that we would do that so okay
okay any other questions yes um and i guess um i'm gonna try and get down to some zoning nitty
gritty here so this isn't the minimus because it's more than a 10 deviation so is your argument that's
my that's my that's my perspective yeah okay so your argument is more hertzberg that this
well certainly hertzberg yeah yeah against the you know of course use of the yeah so under
hertzberg if we lost those three feet it would dramatically impact the financial feasibility of
any of this gotcha not to mention the livability gotcha okay what's the what's the width so i'm
just i'm sorry i'm sorry what what's no i'm sorry go ahead go ahead no what were you mr grant no i
was just asking what's i was just asking what's the width of the of the mr grant how wide is each
home uh each home is 15 feet wide yep thank you
yeah the questions thank you wait the lot is i thought the lot was 22 feet and the side yard was
three is that there's a lot 23 or 20. mr grant do you want to expand on the size of the lot
the if we go to the zoning uh sheet the the lot both lots are 20 feet wide
and we're asking for a five foot side yard yep okay questions from our attorney i'll bring that
back up if you'd like yeah if you could bring it back up just quickly no problem i just have
i have different uh different binders i'm working with here mm-hmm
the units are decent by the way i was hoping you'd say that laid out pretty i was hoping
they're laid out pretty pretty well so so so um each lot is 20 feet right here
hillary um yes just a couple quick things um one just verifying that um
um mr grant is a principal with the yes entity okay um and second we received what i assume are
revised plans for just 21 east clap your street we didn't receive any um proviso forms what are
the changes that are being proposed yeah i have uh yeah i have that and i could send you those
if you'd like okay yeah because we we didn't i thought i sent it under separate cover so maybe
did not get into the rest of the binder um yeah i was unable to find it so that's why i was trying
to understand what changes were being made hillary revised plans today's date yes i believe it's just
one page but i need to look at them because i don't i don't know what the proposed changes
oh i see okay hold on i'll i'll send it over again okay thank you yep okay go on
Okay, for me questions or comments from the virtual audience for the current audience share. There are no hands at this time. Thank you. Planning Commission.
amy boy with the planning commission oh amy boyd do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
told truth nothing but the truth i do please proceed chair would you like the testimony for
both properties you do both okay so this will be for 21 and 23.
the comprehensive plan recommends no change in zoning at this location from the current rsa
The comprehensive plan recommends no change in zoning at this location from the current RSA 3 residential single family.
This lot is 20 feet wide when 25 feet is required, creating a unique physical condition that constrains the site to meet the 8 foot side yard requirement.
The planning commission recommends that the board grant their requested variance for side yard whip.
thank you um i just i i don't know if if mr anastasi is able to send them now but i do like
i send you i did send you the changes okay i just i need to look at those before yep besides whether
i just emailed them uh it's a rough it's a raw form but it gives you the changes uh the
fully executed form i've already sent over but it doesn't sound like you see it so i'll send
it over again after the hearing um where did you send it to i just forwarded it to you personally
the the raw form okay it just hasn't come through yet that's all
it's slowly coming through hold on
all right so you're proposing to add a carport there's already a curb cut i believe because
there's parking yep um enclosed carport with walls down to the grade and added a garage door
to the plan. We modified the front roof to flat mansard roof, lower to 35 feet, six inch.
And we modified the rear roof to a flat mansard roof, which lowered it, the overall height to
29 feet. Okay. I think we can approve those changes. And that was just all subsequent to
RCO discussions. All right. Thank you. So it's one page, right? Yes. One page. So I believe it's
for it's for both properties right you're making those changes those changes are for both yes yes
you can both at the same time they're both requesting one page of revised plans so mi
2025 006075 21 east clapier street and number 10 mi 2025 00608023 east clapier street i wrote
yes revised plans one page stamp two four twenty six thank you michael johns my vote is yes with
proviso charles gaston my vote is yes with proviso tenetta graham my vote is yes with proviso mcadams
my vote is yes with proviso iowa my vote is yes with proviso thank you number thank you thank you
have earned yeah for three mi 2025 005 588 109 south 13th street um stephanie boggs bagna is the
attorney hi is your mic one i don't here we go can you hear me now sorry there we go could you
please state your name and spell for the stenographer. Stephanie Magana, S-T-E-P-H-A-N-I-E,
last name M-A-G-A-G-N-A. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing
but the truth? Yes, I do. Could you identify your client in relationship to the property?
My client is the Philadelphia Building Associates, LLC. They're the owner of the property.
Right, and we have a unanimous non-opposition from Washington Square West Civic Association.
Our vice chair has a few questions. Good afternoon. Have you submitted your
documents and exhibits five days in advance of this area yes and do you waive the reading of
the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy i do not okay this application seeks approval to add
one residential dwelling unit to an existing mixed-use building in the cmx5 district
we received a refusal for single-family use of the property the single-family use is defined in
the zoning code is use of a lot as for one residence for a single family that is not the
proposed use of this property we're adding one residential dwelling unit to the property the lot
will remain in mixed use retail commercial with now one residential unit in the alternative of
that interpretation being confirmed by the board we are asking for a variance to allow the proposed
use um the the board can't really can consider the challenge to the refusal without the city
being here because that's more of an appeal appeal against lni so we'll we'll you know
So recognize that you've made that challenge for the record, but the board will just consider it based on the variant. Understood. Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate your screen and proceed with the case. I do need to be upgraded. I am logged into the Zoom, but I'm not able to share my screen at this time.
I'll promote them to panelists.
I'll promote them to panelists. Great. Thank you.
Great. Thank you.
Okay. Thank you.
One second.
Okay, I see that there we go. Okay.
As I said, so here's a copy of our notice of refusal. Again, the refusal was issued for single family use.
We are looking to change the use of one unit unit 117 at the third and the fourth floor of this building for one dwelling unit.
The property is located at the corner of Sansom and 13th Street. It encompasses retail spaces 107 to 119. The address of the consolidated lot is 109 South 13th Street. But we have several retail frontages that are all part of this building and this property holistically. The main entrance to the unit is through unit 117, which is where the bottled location is here.
And again, this unit in particular is on the third and the fourth floor.
No changes are being proposed to any other uses of the building.
You mentioned, as we got started, we have a letter of non-opposition from the Washington
Square West Civic Association following our meeting with them.
This is a copy of our key plan.
You can see that the unit here, the third and the fourth floor.
This space was previously approved for office space.
I think technically in the zoning archives, it's been vacant for many years.
So ownership is looking to reposition it so that it can actually be rented cmx 5 mixed uses.
This neighborhood can accommodate one additional dwelling unit, and it won't otherwise affect the existing uses or operations of the building.
I did mention that the main entrance to the unit is on, I think, 13th Street through the 117 unit right by the bottled location.
There's a secondary egress through the Sansom Street exit here through the courtyard, but there is elevator and stair access through the main entrance on 13th Street.
And we have some site photos of the interior of the unit, like I said, laid out for what was previously approved as office space and will be renovated to accommodate a residential use, presuming that the board approves the application.
um just an exterior picture um with that i have john weckerly from foxwood architects they are
the project architects here if i could have him sworn in um we also do have owner representation
here as well if there's any questions this is the architect sir could you please your mic on
could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer uh john weckerly uh j-o-h-n w-e-c-k
e-r-l-y do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
I do. Counsel? John, did you hear the statements I made this afternoon? Yes. Are they complete and accurate to the best of your knowledge? Yes. Just to clarify, the main entrance is actually adjacent to a retail concept called Bottled, which is just two doors. I'm sorry, called to Zio's Restaurant, which is actually two doors to the left of Bottled on the site plan there. I could point it out if necessary. Great. Okay. Thank you.
the the residential unit is that above bottle though okay otherwise what did you adopt nice
statements as your own yes thank you um do you want to bring your owner on or no
they're available to answer any operational questions if you accept your testimony all right
john did yes all right questions from the board are there any other residences in the structure
That's going to be my question.
No, it's a mixed-use commercial building.
So there's the retail on the ground floor.
I believe there's office spaces elsewhere.
And then I guess the question is, what is driving the decision to convert this?
It's been vacant for a number of years.
So I think it was last approved as office space, but has never been rented and utilized as an office in a number of years.
Do we know why?
Like, is there a hardship, or is it just it hasn't been rented?
I can bring Daniel on to answer operational questions.
daniel white i believe he's on the zoom call if he could be promoted to a panelist and sworn in
he's our owner's rep and he can answer some background contests
did you say that there were other residential units uh on these floors above and other there's
none on not not that property but up along the block or there's some in one building but it's
new across the street above a restaurant but there's multiple apartments in that building
and everything above the restaurant as apartments but i'm pretty sure every other second and third
story on those two blocks are not residential and it's a it's a busy corridor yeah so that's
the nature of the refusal right so this is cmx5 so multi-family is permitted here if we were to
to have more than three units in this building it would be by right the reason for the variance
I think we understand that it's still weird to put a single residential unit into a commercial space and that's a chaotic block like from a residential standpoint, I think, but it would be adding one unit to a mixed use block that includes residential use and CMX five so to our extent, like we're not changing the building otherwise and we're certainly not changing its character as being mixed
use that would allow for this space um if daniel white has been promoted i can have mr wright
could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer good afternoon daniel white um
d-a-n-i-l-w-h-y-t-e do you swear or affirm the whole truth and nothing but the truth
Council?
Yeah, Daniel, could you provide some background on the rental efforts you've made here for
this unit?
I believe you provided the same to the RCO when we went with them.
So we've had the properties of the office broker for many years.
And if I take a step back, you know, we are Golden Properties.
We have numerous properties in Midtown Village along 13th and Sansom, including the Philadelphia
Building and 1315 Walnut Street.
you know the building where Van Lewin is, Elves, the Prunella, Pearl and Mary,
Sam Penn, Double Knot, Alpenrose, so you know we're heavily vested in the
neighborhood. That specific unit has been increasingly difficult police as an
office. We've had a list with an office program for many years and the issue
really lies in the layout of the space. So if you can just go back to the
pictures so I can find it out so it's a little unit and the window shades are
down so it's difficult to see but it's very hard to demise to actually build
offices conference rooms other requirements that any regular office
tenant would take specifically on the second floor because of the a-frame roof
it's very difficult and so you know where it's been vacant for years we're
completely out of options or ideas and what to do to lease as an office and so
even our office brokers are the ones who said you know this is and we're
willing to make the investment to you know put in kitchen and bathrooms and
everything up to code to make an apartment we have several apartments
right across the street above the other retail and restaurant stores we have
that we've been extremely successful in leasing we're you know 100 lease and a lot of those
are rented to office workers in the neighborhood service workers other that you know work you know
close by and want to be there so um really it's through the layout of the space is is what's
driving um the change uh thank you for that i think that does provide a little bit more clarity
for the the reasoning um in terms of management are you guys going to be managing the residential
unit yourselves i'm assuming the same way you'd manage the ones across the street yes we manage
all our properties in-house with a dedicated property manager who um his office in our main
office is at a 1315 walnut and then we have a a team of maintenance personnel and staff that
um you know are also on the properties and sites every day and then just because i acutely know
this block very well for a number of reasons um part of what makes that block really chaotic is
there's not a lot of entrances like there's architecture firm already up there it's really
hard to find their door it's really hard to get into their office how is the residential tenant
going to be able to sort of navigate and have safety and separation from all the other sort of
uses on that block because there's a lot of restaurants a lot of stores a lot of sure so
So we actually, on 13th Street, we actually, by the entrance, the entrance used to be set back inside.
What we did was, and we brought out the vestibule towards the street to prevent, you know, people from, you know, sleeping in that area and whatnot.
we also installed a castle system which is uh you know video um monitoring you know uh
access panel and you know the person who lives there will be able to allow guests in through an
app through the castle app and they log in you know they're able to provide entrance either
their phone or for a key card so it's very secure um you know and all our office tents are happy all
office tenants have been there a long time and um you know we're also very selective with our
tenants we run full background checks we made sure everyone's right we tried to meet with them
since that there wouldn't be an issue of uh you know of the wrong person being in the same
of the wrong person being in the same building as an office tenant okay and then where will the
building as an office tenant okay and then where
residential tenants trash go is it going to be distributed with the other office so we
yeah so so there is um not blocking but there are areas um within the kind of the stairwells are you
know have a have large kind of platforms and there are um i guess roll out garbage cans that the
office tenants use that our maintenance team takes out this tree on trash day and they would just use
that as their as a regular garbage and then my sort of last question is really related to like
uh quality of life like it's very loud on that street it's very bright on that street and you
know uh you know class a office space has a different rating in terms of insulation for
both noise and sound and light than a resident, that person that would be there all the time.
What are you doing to the unit to sort of ensure that whoever's living there is going to be able
to live there comfortably and not kind of be impacted at night by the rest of the activities
going on on that street? Yeah, understood. And, you know, that's kind of a decision you make and
knowing the neighborhood when you move in. We, you know, again, our apartments above the retail
across the street those tenants know what it is you know we explained to them well they're
into the lease um and we don't have any complaints because they know the the neighborhood they're in
and i think that's part of the allure is that people want to live in the neighborhood you know
eat work play so to speak um you know i myself have stayed in several of those units when i've
when i'm down in miami when i've been up there and uh you know they're really great even so
the other questions questions from our attorney hillary emberson
um just a clarification because i noticed on the the floor plans that it looked like only
part of the unit was actually being converted like the third and fourth floors would be
computed to residential correct okay so i i just want to point that out to the board because it
it may be that it's not the entire unit 117 it's only part of it so if the board is inclined to
grant you may want to include a proviso that indicates the use is limited to the third and
fourth floor yeah i should be okay okay yeah so the second or are rented to bottled
right and there's no connection from the second floor to the third floor
questions or comment from the virtual audience
no hands at this time chair planning commission amy boyd with the planning commission the
comprehensive plan recommends no change in zoning at this location from the current cmx5 commercial
mixed use the proposal is to add a dwelling unit in an existing mixed-use building where
residential is already allowed the planning commission sorry the planning commission has
no objection to the board granting the requested variance for single family household living
MI-2025-005-588-109-South 13th Street. I vote yes with proviso. Limiting use to third and fourth floors.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes with provisos.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with provisos.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes with proviso.
Iowa, my vote is yes with provisos.
Thank you.
you. Number seven, MI-2025-006068-2009 North Howard Street. Andrea Solomon is the attorney.
They're being promoted to panelists here. Yep. Okay. Andrea, you've already been sworn.
um could you just state your name for the record thank you andrea solomon uh from claire harrison
with me today is the principal of the owner applicant 2009 north howard alpha llc
i'm sorry my unanimous support from norris square community action network
and non-opposition from council member lazada our vice chair has a few questions
good afternoon had you mailed your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing yes
i'll just add that we submitted our revised exhibit package to include the letters of non-opposition
and support thank you and do you waive the reading letter refusal and stipulate to its accuracy
i do okay thank you you can share your screen and proceed with your case thank you it's just
Thank you. It's just allowing me to rejoin.
allowing me to rejoin.
okay thank you good afternoon again i'm here on behalf of 2009 north howard alpha llc with me
today is in attendance is mr michael scanapico um as chairman bergman stated we met with the
coordinating RCO North Square back in December
and received a letter of unanimous support.
The meeting was very well attended, 21 votes in support,
and a letter of non-opposition from Council Member Lozada.
The applicant acquired the property in 2022.
This application is limited to the ground floor units.
units right now they're zoned for industrial artist studios since the applicant acquired
the property they haven't been able to lease them as artist studios they've also marketed
them for retail use as permitted by right tried to get a coffee shop some other bakery
use other uses in there and have not been successful in getting commercial or industrial
tenants. So we're here today to turn eight of those bi-level units into dwelling units
for a total of 88 dwelling units at this property. It's improved with two buildings,
two four-story structures, and parking on the ground floor. This is a photo of, it fronts both
hope street and howard street hope street is very narrow and primarily residential use
and same thing with howard is a little bit wider but has legal street parking on both
sides so essentially same with but again a very residential block
this is the layout of the typical bi-level unit it's about 900 square feet
And the refusal because of the building, though, the surrounding block is primarily residential, is zoned for IRMX.
This is the view of the interior of the units.
They're bi-level units, very light and bright.
Initially, we were trying to get, like I said, artist studios in here.
Thought it was a good space to get up-and-coming artists up and running, but they haven't been able to lease.
so we want to get some uh the rental of the dwelling units in here um with that being said
um we're i'd like to ask that uh michael be sworn in so he can adopt my testimony
michael could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
no here you go much better michael scanapico uh m-i-c-h-a-e-l
S-C-A-N-N-A-P-I-E-C-O. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, told truth, nothing but the
truth? I do. Counsel? Michael, you saw the entirety of my presentation. Is it true and accurate to the
best of your knowledge? Yes. And do you adopt it as your own testimony? Yes. And I'll just ask,
can you talk a little bit about the marketing efforts, the possible tenants that you approach
to try to get in here? Yeah, sure. Happy to. So we did marketing in a number of different ways.
We tried, you know, Craigslist. We tried approaching some neighborhood tenants that
we thought could be a good fit. We also worked with the team at Scout, who has an office building
with creatives about 200 tenants uh in south philly to try to be a newsletter there um and then
you know this is a eco-friendly building solar has a lot of different elements to it which makes
it somewhat unique so try to use that to also push kind of the retail concept um out um you
know website and everything else so wanted to get some perspective so there was eight units left
There's a total of 10 units on the ground floor.
there's eight there's a total of ten units on the ground floor two of them are already
Two of them are already dwelling units and eight artist studios that we're converting to an additional eight dwelling units.
You said these are bi-level?
That's correct.
They're bi-level units?
Yes, they're about 900 square feet.
Okay, so the pictures that we're looking at, that's the one is the second floor, so it has two kitchens.
i'm just is that it's it's the same floor ground level floor on both angles
on two different angles so it does have two so what's
go ahead i can show the floor plans the the ground level floor does have uh two
two um egresses one to the street side and one towards the parking which is in the center
of the ground floor
And is the intent? Okay, they're going to be live work.
That'd be ideal and make them more affordable for artists. Yes.
The questions questions from our attorney, Hillary Emerson.
Not at this time, Mr. chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience.
No, hands up at this time.
chair planning commission amy boy with the planning commission when the district plan was
written this parcel was wrapped i2 medium industrial the plan recommended no change
and in 2016 the property was remapped ir max industrial residential mixed use the proposal
for ground floor residential is in character with the surrounding neighborhood and will have minimal
impact on surrounding properties the planning commission recommends the board grant the
requested variance for ground floor residential thank you thank you MI 2025 0060682009 North
Howard Street I vote yes Michael Johns my vote is yes Cheryl Gaston my vote is yes Tanetta Graham
my vote is yes my McAdams my vote is yes my vote is yes thank you very much have a great day okay
Okay. Number two, MI 2025, 004-573-1715-68th Avenue. Olivia Gabriel is the attorney.
They're being promoted to panelists.
Good afternoon, everybody.
My counsel, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Yes, good afternoon.
My name is Olivia Gabriel, O-L-I-V-I-A-G-A-B-R-I-E-L, and I am counsel for the applicant.
all right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes did you identify your client a relationship to the property yes my client is 66 beachwood
properties llc and i also have the owner of the llc sundra heman present all right thank you um
is that an rco letter there hillary we do
it looks uh looks like it we had not yeah we haven't we have not received the rco letter am
i right oh sorry this might be from the other one oh yeah right well uh counsel do you have
a letter from the rco i requested it i have not received that i we did have a meeting okay our
vice chair has a few questions for you and then we'll proceed okay good afternoon have you um
submit your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing yes okay and do you waive
the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy yes okay thank you you can share your
screen and begin your case thank you um i did submit omitted exhibits to include uh tax clearance
certification and with the board permission i will submit another um omitted exhibit i because
i have labeled some of the photos to reflect uniformity with the plan with the rendering
and i will share screen
All right, so the property is located at 1715 60th Avenue.
When my client purchased the property in 2021, they believed that they were purchasing a
property that was zoned for four units.
and one of the reasons why they believe that it was zoned for four units is because the previous
owner gave them a rental permit for four units. After they purchased the property, they started
to make cosmetic renovations and unfortunately the cosmetic renovation took longer than they wanted
due to COVID, limited funds and illness. The work was not completed until 2023 and they purchased
the property in 2021. When they attempted to renew the rental permit, that's when they found out
that the property was actually zoned for three units, not four units.
So this is the refusal, and the reason for the refusal, whereas the proposed use multifamily
unit four unit is prohibited, but it's already zoned for three units.
And this is our application for appeal.
there is no there is no renovated renovation all renovations have been made already
this is just to legalize what already exists
um this was our letter for our public meeting we did have a public meeting in
november of 2024
This is her tax clearance.
This is a copy of the rental permit from the previous owner.
As you can see, number of units 4, 1715, 68th Avenue.
And this is dated 2020.
And my client purchased the property in 2021.
This is our posting, our posting, and this is what we posted on the property.
All right.
So I'm going to go over the rendering just to show the layout of the property.
So it's three floors.
On the ground floor, there are two efficiencies.
on the first floor there is a two-bedroom two baths and on the second floor there is another
two-bedroom two bath all right all right so on the ground floor we have the two efficiencies
Studio A and Studio B. This is the general living area for Studio A. This is the bathroom
and kitchen area. And Studio B is a mirror of Studio A. We have the living area, the bathroom
and the kitchen. On the first floor, we have a two-bedroom, two-bath. Alright, so
this is the living room area. This is the kitchen. This is the first bathroom. This
This is the first bedroom, the second bedroom, and there is an ensuite bathroom.
And this is the second floor.
The layout is similar.
We have the kitchen area.
area, we have the bathroom, and we have another bedroom here and a bathroom. I'm sorry, a
living area and there is the bathroom I mean the bedroom in the bathroom
And there is the bathroom, I mean, the bedroom and the bathroom.
So this is the side of the property.
And the white portion is the front of the property.
And once we go up the steps, then you can go to the first and second floor.
To access the ground floor apartments, these are the two doors on the side.
And this is the overlay. As you can see in the neighborhood, we have many mixed use properties.
These, there are some buildings with nine units, seven units, and four units.
We have taken some photos of the inside of the units.
The first one, this is the ground floor studio A, the living area, the bathroom, kitchen,
the bedroom area. And studio B is a mirror of studio A, kitchen, laundry area, the living area,
bathroom area. This is the first floor, two bedroom, two bath. This is the, trying to make
it a little bigger. Oops, oops. Oh, maybe I should not have done that. Okay, here we are.
Okay, living area, bathroom, number one, living area, let me make sure that I stayed where
I was, sorry.
Okay, first floor, two-bedroom, two-bath, okay.
Okay, second floor to bedroom to bath,
bedroom one, bedroom two,
bathroom one, bathroom two, kitchen, living area.
Okay, this is an outside photo of the property.
I'm going to reduce this indulgence, please.
Okay, there you go.
Okay, so this is the side of the property.
You can see a posting.
Okay, this is the back of the property.
This is a parking area for two cars.
only two tenants drive so there is only two spaces needed but in the future if
more spaces are needed there is on street parking. This is the front of the
property. Here it is and you can see there are five meters each one of the
units have their own meters, and there is one meter for common area. This is for tax clearance.
This was the permit for the previous owner, and this was the application in 1959
for the three units. I believe in 1959 that's when they receive
permission to have three units but between 9 15 59 and prior to my client purchasing the building
it became four units you don't know exactly when that happened
and this was our notice for the meeting
this is the deed of the property. All right.
That's the extent of my presentation. My client is present,
cindra hemens that's a bring your client on please
can that person raise their hand
all right here she is
could your client please state your name and spell for the sonographer
Unmute, please.
Could you unmute?
That's it.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Sandra Hemans, S-A-N-D-R-A, last name H-E-M-A-N-S.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Counsel, please proceed.
Thank you.
Ms. Hammond, you heard the content of my presentation?
And to the best of your ability, is that accurate?
And do you adopt it as a testimony?
Is there anything else you would like to add to what I have presented so far?
um just that it would be i'm appealing hopefully to get this unit to remain a four
because it would be a considerable hardship for me if it has to be less than four units
hence the amount of time unfortunately that it has already taken me to get it up and in
and i would just appreciate it questions from the board
are these are all the units occupied yes so all the units are occupied can you go back to the
unit layouts yes the floor plans
so you're so you have the garage what's the garage being used for because you've got
parking in the rear for two cars you said so what's the garage being used for
right now i just have it for storage that's it
and the two units that are on the first floor they're just efficiency units is that what this
is yes because i don't see it i see a bathroom and a room and a sink i don't see like a full
kitchen like house where's the kitchen the kitchen where that sink is is that where the kitchen is
yes it's like a kitchenette so that's in that that sort of hallway space or space across from
the closet that's where the kitchen is that's the kitchenette for these basement units yes
well the studios and the living sleeping area is the larger room
any other questions yes where's the trash store for all the units
the two efficiencies they like to use in the back of the building
where the cards are parked for their trash cans and their recycling bins
the other tenants they like to use the lower portion of the front porch to store to keep their
other questions
counsel i i i'm sure our attorney's going to explain it but
we don't believe that the parking is legal in that back lot am i right hillary so would you
want to take that that's that's correct there's no parking noted in the refusal and it doesn't
look like there's actually curb cuts there it looks just like broken up curb for people driving
over it um and i didn't see any prior permits for the parking um and because it's in the rear yard
this is an rsa5 it probably would actually require a variance to have parking spaces there
unfortunately that's not something that we can add to this application because it's change of use
but i just wanted to flag that because you may want to submit a separate zoning permit application
and get a variance to legalize that parking if you want to continue using it.
um and and get a variance to legalize that parking if you want to continue using it thank you
the questions or comments from the audience the virtual audience
there there are no hands raised at this time planning commission
amy boy with the planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change in
zoning at this location from the current rsa5 residential single family this property has a
documented history of of multi-family use and there is a 1959 permit to change from two to
three family and a subsequent rental license for four family the planning commission recommends
the board grant the requested variance for four family mi 2025 is zero zero four five seven three
1715 68th Avenue. I vote yes.
Can we provide though that the trash
not be stored in the front of the house?
It's not
I'm sorry. It's not
being stored at the front of the house. I believe
it was moved
from here
Ms. Jimine, is it here
where you see the cursor?
um yes i've originally placed all the garbage cans under the mailbox they didn't like it there
so some put it in the back where it's convenient for them and the other remaining tenants they
like to use this lower portion of the porch for their um trash can we say where we wanted to and
not say we're not to or um we yeah it's hard because there's you know four different units
with different entrances and different ways to access the trash um i mean in this case it may be
it may be actually easier to say no storage of trash on um front porches okay um so let's go
back mi 2025 004 573 17 15 68th avenue i vote yes with proviso no trash stored on front porches
michael johnson my vote is yes with proviso charl cast and my vote is yes with proviso
tenetta graham my vote is yes with proviso ryan mcadams my vote is yes with proviso
thank you counsel thank you very much sure thank you thank thank you ma'am mi2025 005892 1341
East Oxford Avenue. Kevin Goldsmith is the current owner. This is a pro se. There's a letter of
support from Fishtown neighbors. The vote was 19 in support. Two of them were near neighbors. One
in opposition. Three abstained. The letter of non-opposition from Councilmember Young.
Chair, we have a hand raised from Trina Clark.
um she submitted the exhibits we can see if um the owner is with her
and i'm being advised that the owner is with her thank you
good afternoon yes i do have the owner with me and we can present the okay so
all right so the owner will be the one testifying okay yes okay so mr goldsmith could you please
state your name and spelled for the stenographer yes good afternoon committee my name is kevin
goldsmith k-e-v-i-n-g-o-l-d-s-m-i-t-h right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
and nothing but the truth yes this application is for the relocation of lot lines to create two lots
lot one and lot two from an existing single lot on each lot the existing three-story semi-detached
structures to remain for use as single family and household living the minimum required side yard
is five feet whereas 2.8 is proposed you have letter of support from Fishtown and non-opposition
from Councilman Young
and our Vice Chair
has a few questions
for you, sir.
Good afternoon.
Have you submitted
your documents
and exhibits
five days
in advance
of this hearing?
And the Chair
just read your refusal.
Do you waive
your reading
of the refusal
and stipulate
to its accuracy?
Yes, I do.
Thank you.
You can share
your screen
and proceed
with your case.
okay mr goldsmith why don't you start and tell us what you want to do
Okay. I'm having a hardship right now with a tangled title. I need to divide the deeds
okay i'm having a hardship right now with a tangled title
to separate single-family homes with separate OPA numbers. And there's no development and
there's no construction going on. Everything is the way we purchase the homes.
And both are single-family homes.
Yes, correct. They have their own entry, own yards, own individual side entries. We did
no construction this okay they have two separate opa numbers two separate waters uh bills and
and two separate tax numbers already existing already so you want to create two lots yes
because they're under 1d all right could you show us the rest of your photos
okay we have we have all your documents that you submitted
Right now, this is the property, my info as the property owner for 1341 East Oxford.
And this is the OPA for 1343 showing that I'm the owner of another existing home.
this is this is the deed yep
now this is this is the zba posting that i put up for the committee for the fish town committee
that's the zoning notice yep
that's mr everett's letter and this is this is the approval from fishtown neighborhood association yep
and now this is the plan in which i was approved also from the commission
That's the survey, the survey report, now this is the floor plan for 1341 East Oxford
shown that has its own floor plan and this is the floor plan for 1343 East Oxford Street the one
next door. All right. So now these are pictures of 1341 East Oxford Street of the bathroom
bedroom, and kitchen, and living room. Now these pictures are the house next door which
is 1343 East Oxford, living room and kitchen also, bedroom, bathroom, and this is the exterior
of their homes you can see one side is different compared to the other one two separate properties
now this is the um information the um the proof of my mailing the receipts
yep and also all the uh addresses for the letters that we sent out
are you through yes questions from the board
questions from our attorney Hillary Emerson
um i just wanted to to note that um there is there are outstanding um taxes due on this property
delinquent taxes so we will need to hold this until we have proof that those have been paid
okay so yes ma'am i'm having trouble hearing you i'm a little hard of hearing so i might have um
My expert dad had tried to help me interpret the questions so I can answer them correctly.
Well, it wasn't a question.
No, it wasn't a question.
I was just letting you know that the board won't be able to vote on this today because there are delinquent taxes on the property.
won't be able to vote on this today because there are delinquent taxes on the property
yes that's that's one of the reasons why i'm here also because i went to apply
to refinance and that's when it came up that they did not like to to borrow the money to to
re um catch up with my taxes i was trying to refinance and the dj i was gonna say once we
have um proof that i believe it's the 2025 taxes have been taken care of either by agreement or
paid in full then the board will be able to vote on this matter okay this is the real estate taxes
you're asking for that is correct okay for for both properties um well one one is caught up 1340
uh i think 1341 is still owed for 2025 i believe yes yeah i could take care of that matter asap
okay all right that'll be great just let us know and submit proof of that and then the
board will be able to vote on this matter questions or comments from the virtual audience
chair we have one hand up from robert uh fna zoning chair i think that's rco chair
mr everett there i'm muted mr everett could you please state your name and spell for the
stenographer yes uh robert first name rob e r t last name everett e v e r e double t
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes i do please proceed sir uh just certain sweet we've thoroughly uh right behind kevin and his
efforts to get his tangled title and his his issues cleared up so as soon as he gets that done and
gets back to you we're fully in support all right thank you mr everett as usual um anyone else in
the audience planning commission chair there are no hands at this time thank you i appreciate that
Amy Boyd with the Planning Commission. The comprehensive plan recommends no change in zoning at this location from the current RSA 5 residential single family. The relocation of lot lines is proposed to reflect the separate attached row homes, bringing the properties more into alignment with the spirit of the code. The side yards configurations are existing. The Planning Commission recommends that the board grant the requested variances for side yard depth.
all right so mr goldsmith you you've been told once you have that done just let us know and
we'll get it back yes i will i will take care before the end of this week all right thank you
very much i appreciate it thank you thank you thank you thank everyone and listening i appreciate it
see i'll be with you in one minute
MI-2025-006-132, 9533-35 Busselton Avenue, Gabriel Fellas, Alec Sokoloff, or the attorneys?
They're being promoted to panelists, Jerry.
All right.
good afternoon chair members of the board mr sokolov how are you sir could you please state
your name is spelled for the stenographer absolutely oleg sokolov oleg s-o-k-o-l-o-v
you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
I do uh could you identify your client a relationship to this property my client is
saas financial llc on the line uh later for the board's questioning and adoption of testimony is
agi george managing member of the limited liability company there's a letter of support
with provisos from greater bustleton civic association our vice chair has a few questions
sure good afternoon have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of
this hearing uh good afternoon miss win yes we have okay it's miss graham but oh i'm sorry
that's okay do you waive the reading note of refusal and stipulate to his accuracy
yes we do i'm sorry i had a different screen i'm sorry i couldn't see who was talking but
that's okay you can see your screen proceed with the case thank you very much
all right is everybody able to see that
Yeah. Great. So here we have an amended refusal. We originally submitted this. Well, let's go into the refusal. So this is located in CA1 district where personal vehicle repair and maintenance is prohibited.
that is what we're seeking to do now the original refusal which I'll show and just in the context
of working with the RCO was to use the property for both vehicle repair and a self
to use the property for both vehicle repair and a self-serve car wash.
After meetings with the RCO and hearing the RCO feedback,
we have decided to omit the car wash aspect of this request.
So this is an existing structure.
We're not building anything.
A little bit about the history of this property.
This property has been a car wash since 1990 when it was built, just as a bit of novelty.
I remember using this car wash when I lived in that neighborhood as a kid, so it's definitely been there for a long time.
So I think it has been vacant for some time, so repurposing it now for vehicle repair I think is a great use.
As you can see, and you'll see later in the letter of support from the RCO, what we've agreed to is using, it currently has four bays.
We are going to be using one of the bays for office and storage, and the three remaining bays that are currently just car wash ports will just be for vehicle repair.
And then there's like a long vestibule that's going to be mechanical rooms, and there's a bathroom in the back.
So this is the property, like I said, many of you may be familiar with it.
It's located on Busselton Avenue, right between Grant and Murray, and it's quite a big lot.
it's actually 9533255 busselton so it's it's a double lot there we're not going to be changing
anything to the outside characteristics of the property except for and as part of the
discussion and proviso per the rco letter of support we are going to be removing these vacuums
some of the discussion with the rco was about excuse me noise it directly abutting the property
to the right and left are commercial uses but behind it is a residential neighborhood
so we want to make sure that we don't have any kind of noise going on so these vacuums will be
removed as the board well knows this is a very commercial corridor here on busselton avenue
there is a gas station not quite catty corner but a little further down on um i believe red line
right there up excuse me not red line um either way a few a few blocks down this is the inside of
the ports and the back of the property
as i said the the neighborhood is definitely a commercial corridor the entirety of this
block between Murray and Grant is CA1. And these are the residential communities that I was
discussing that directly above the back of the neighborhood, excuse me, of the property.
The board has granted similar variances in the neighborhood. We could find two within about a
mile radius, a little less actually, that were both CA1s where personal vehicle repair and
maintenance was granted at 1614 grant and then personal vehicle repair maintenance and a car
wash and automatic car wash was granted at 9201 Cruz Town Road. This is our second letter notice
to nearby residents. As I said, we had two meetings with the RCO, so I'll go through both of them. The
And just for a little bit, this is again the amended refusal that was sent out.
Here is our letter of support from the Greater Russelton Civic League.
And here are the provisos that we've agreed to after two meetings.
So no part of the structure would be used as a car wash.
We'll be installing noise reduction panels at the rear wall of the garage, and we'll
be eliminating the outdoor vacuums. This is a petition of support that our client had signed
by some nearby neighbors. So we have seven signatures of support. It's a similar owner
for many of these. This property was purchased in July of 2024 by SAAS Financial. Here's the deed.
Our application for appeal, our project information form.
Our application for appeal.
Our notice poster is posted at the property, a little zoomed in, you can see for today's
date. Proof of tax compliance. This was an outstanding balance that, if the board could
see, was just paid on the 30th. And then we have two sets of our certificates of mailing,
these being for the original meeting which was on in december
and then these being you can see in january date for our january 29th meeting
that concludes my presentation before the board if i could bring on
the managing member of the llc mr agi george could you raise your hand please
mr george yes i'm sorry mr george could you please state your name as spelled for the stenographer
um my name is aji george that's a-j-i-g-e-o-r-g-e you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole
truth nothing but the truth sir i do sir counsel thank you um mr george you heard my testimony
before the board today yes sir and would it be accurate to say that it's true and correct to the
best of your knowledge yes sir and would you adopt that testimony as your own i do is there anything
you'd like to add for the board's consideration of this matter i just wanted to um to say that i i
I did work with the RCO committee and tried to address all the issues, and we have come
to an agreement of actually, you know, whatever the demands were to meet those demands.
Thank you, Mr. George.
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
Any body work planned to be done here?
No body work, no paint.
No body work, no paint.
what is your plan for hazardous i'm sorry since you brought up the issue we're not going to be
selling tires we'll be doing tire rotations and balancing and things of that nature
what's your plan for your trash and hazardous waste um there is an area in the back that's
going to have the compliant types of cans that are required for for all of that waste
and Mr. George if you have more details on that would you address Mr. John's question
yeah well I will be probably putting a dumpster in the back which is going to be recycled whatever
needs to be done to meet the compliance I will do that the trash I will be placing the back
anywhere there's plenty of property in the back to place those trash so people's all right so
is there a plan for a uh removal like every week we i mean i see i understand you're going to be
dumping in the back but how often are you going to be removing the trash and taking it to the
appropriate uh dump sites or we have a contract in place or plan to have a contract in place
Yeah, we're going to have a service available for this.
So it will be automated in the sense that, you know, we're going to have someone come
in and take the dumpster.
So it won't be myself practically removing it.
It will be a company that will be doing it.
Are you done, Mike?
Oh, go ahead.
Okay. All right. So you're removing the vacuum that I'm seeing here in this picture. Don't move.
This is actually the back of the property. There is one vacuum here. All of the vacuums will be
removed. This is the front of the property here. Let me make that a little bigger for you,
Ms. Gaston. If you can see it, this is Busselton here. So this area right in front of the shrub
has two vacuums i believe uh which you're seeing here as well okay those those will be removed
all right and then where is this back wall what is this this noise
Where is this back wall? What is this noise reduction wall at the rear of the garage?
So the rear of the property, although it's substantially set back from the residential neighborhoods that you'll see here in the zoning map, I don't know if that's too small, but you'll see that the lot line itself abuts a RSD3 district that has a PUD, a collection of homes.
But we're talking about, Audrey, what would you say is the distance between the building itself and the back of the property?
I think it's about 70 feet, I believe it is.
Okay. So despite that, the way it's set up right now is this is a double bay.
That's not going to be a double bay. It's going to be just drive in and drive out the front.
So this back wall will have noise reduction put in to address the community's concern of any noise going back towards that residential area.
So when you say you're going to install the wall, is the wall just that part of it?
It will be inside those doors. So it will be the inside part.
yeah it's they're like um if you've ever seen like recording studios or anything like that
they're like sound insulation panels basically gotcha okay and uh we already talked about the
removal of like the hazardous are you doing like oil changes and things like that fluids
that kind of thing is that yes ma'am i'm planning on doing oil change breaks inspection
okay and tire tire just will be rotations and balancing okay so you won't be stirring any tires
okay all right thank you thank you miss gassi
hillary all these changes in the amended refusal
so personal vehicle repair and maintenance encompasses both a car car wash and
Repair service, so I, I'm trying to remember what was exactly changed about the refusal. I can, I can bring up the original refusal. Yeah, if you don't, you don't mind. I think it was just a minor change if I recall.
Yes, so the way it was originally written is personal vehicle repair and maintenance in two bays, two and three.
Um, with accessory office and storage and bay four and an existing car wash in one of the base.
And the amended.
just has three bays as repair and one as uh one is office so okay all right we're okay with that
whole resentment um if you're able to see that i think yeah i think it's fine like i said i
believe that car wash is encompassed in personal vehicle repair and maintenance but they've they've
agreed with the community to i mean they took that off of the refusal so right okay and and if it if
behooves the board to to approve this and you know a stated proviso that this won't be there
will be no car wash here and my 2025 0 0 6 1 3 2 9 5 3 3 to 35 bustleton planning commission oh
did i miss planning and then i think oh my god i think um uh alice udivich from council member
o'neil's office that has her hand raised as well okay all right no i'm getting i'm getting a little
excited here but we're ready to break we're ready to break it right now um comments from the virtual
audience chair we have alice udovich with their hand raised hi alice
good afternoon chairman members of the board alice yudovich on behalf of councilman brian o'neill
you've already been sworn just start your testimony thank you the councilman has no
objection to the granting of this variance and agrees with the provisos requested by the greater
busselton civic league thank you um planning commission the board with the planning commission
the comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning at this location from the current
say one commercial auto oriented to cmx2 commercial mixed use the property has a documented history
of personal vehicle repair and maintenance since at least 2007. the planning commission recommends
that the board grant their requested variance for personal vehicle repair and maintenance
Thank you.
MI-2025-006132-9533-35
20, 25, 0, 0, 6, 1, 3, 2, 95, 33 to 35, Busselton Avenue.
I vote yes with proviso per amended refusal dated 12, 30, 25, and no car washing.
Michael Johnson, my vote is yes with proviso.
Charles Gaston, my vote is yes with proviso.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes with proviso.
Taya Nguyen, my vote is yes with proviso.
Is there anyone in the audience whose 2 p.m. case has not been called?
Members of the board, thank you. May I have an excuse?
Yes, sir.
It was nice to see everyone.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Thank you, everyone.
Chair, there are no hands up at this time.
Move right into the 3.30 list.
Good afternoon, everyone.
My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this meeting of the Philadelphia Zoning Board of Adjustments.
With me is our board vice chair, Tanetta Graham.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
our Board Secretary, Cheryl L. Gaston. Present, Mr. Chairman. Our Board Member, Michael Johns.
Present, Mr. Chairman. Board Member, Ty Wynn. Present, Mr. Chairman. Board Member, Ryan McAdams.
Present, Mr. Chairman. Also present is our Board Attorney, Hillary Emerson, our Zoning Board Director,
Ian Haggerty, and our Board Administrator, Lakeisha Dandy. A recording of this hearing will be posted
on the ZBA website. By participating, you consent to be recorded. This is an in-person meeting with
remote capabilities whether remote or in person if you're called to speak just state and spell
your name and then wait to be sworn in once you've been sworn in please state your name each time
before beginning your testimony any person may enter their appearance to become an interested
party to a case there are three ways to enter your appearance you can identify the case property
address on your zoom webinar you can see a staff member or you can call this eba appearance line
by the close of business tomorrow call 267-270-5548 leave a message that includes your
email address and the address of the property of the appeal the following is is a guide for
our remote attendees when directed you must raise your virtual hand in order to be recognized to
speak if you're called to testify you will be prompted to join as a panelist before before
or please accept the request and then turn on your camera the webinar Q&A is for questions
about the hearing do not comment on cases in the Q&A if you're participating by participating
by phone press star 90 raise your hand and star six to unmute so let's look at our schedule for
afternoon number one mi 2025 000 792 26 2061 bybury road this case is continued until 6 10 26 at 3 30
p.m and number three mi 2025 004 950 2342 east huntington street that case is continuing until
6 10 26 at 3 30. we're going to go to number two mi 2025 004 747 1966 to 68 bridge street joseph
Vaccaro is the attorney.
They're being promoted to panelists, Chair.
Good afternoon, members of the board.
Good afternoon, counsel.
Just state your name and spell it, please, for the stenographer.
May it please the board.
joseph vicaro va ccaro on behalf of the applicant b15 enterprise the owner of the property
and i and i have in the room brian the de la nueces okay remember all right mr vicario you've
already been sworn in so our vice chair has a few questions for you but before we start
there's unanimous support from frankfurt neighborhood advisory committee and a letter
non-opposition from council member lozada thank you good afternoon um have you submitted your
documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing yes i did okay yes and do you waive
the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy yes i do all right thank you
can share your screen and proceed with your case okay thank you very much find the exhibits
do you see a refusal um yes okay very good so brian through his uh llc b15 enterprise had per
Brian, through his LLC, B15 Enterprise, had purchased the property in question on February 11th of 2025, and he is here to seek approval for four dwelling units on the property.
Let me get to the photos. So the refusal specifically states that the proposed four dwelling units is expressly prohibited in RSA 5. So the building is still zoned as RSA 5. Yet there was a restaurant and a beer distributorship down on the first floor.
he's currently not using the restaurant or the beer distributorship either as a
tenant or as an occupant so those two spots and I'm going to show you in the
photographs show a Chinese restaurant and a beer distributorship those two
spots are still empty even though the signs are still up they haven't been
removed those are still empty again the the proposal is for four dwelling units
if I could go to the plans and the photographs scrolling down here's a
picture of the building we're starting with a picture of the building as I had
testified earlier here's the beer and Chinese food restaurant which is closed
he has other plans for that at the appropriate time under separate
applications here's a here's the corner of the building on the Jackson Street
side here's the entrance to where the units would be the staircase going up
and here is inside unit a we're calling it unit a or unit one there's some
laundry facilities and the front door to unit a with a restroom bedroom living
room another bedroom kitchen and dining area and here's unit b the same thing another bedroom
with a living room area restroom unit c has a restroom bedroom
kitchen and dining area and unit d same thing restroom bedroom kitchen and dining area we
have our letter of support. And the tax clearance, it may show a $4,924 balance. With respect to that,
the taxes are due at the end of March, it's my understanding. And he has a mortgage on the
property. And the mortgagee is Velocity Commercial Capital. And they're the ones that pay the
mortgage. So even though there's a balance showing, it's paid through his mortgage.
So, if you could see the previous years, everything's all been paid off.
We actually have a credit of $182 from the previous year.
If he were making the payments personally, there wouldn't be any credits, and then there's
zero balance going all the way down.
if I could show you the plans
just if a car this is existing right yes it is existing and how long has it been
four units well he purchased it as such when he purchased the building he didn't
realize that there was that there was no zoning all right okay I'm looking for
the plans they're in my packet and I could point out where everything would
here we go
so the four units that would be split between the second and third floor
and if I could zoom in starting with the second floor plan on the left and that's page 15 of 58
15 of 58. So you have a den, kitchen and living room area with a restroom.
so you have a den living in
Here's the other unit. If I could scroll this way. Kitchen and living room, bedroom.
room. So that's the, let me close this out. That's a third floor plan. I apologize. And then the
second floor should be up here. That's the retail area on the first floor. I'm looking for the
second floor plans, but they're in here. They're in here. While I'm looking, does the board have
any questions? Well, why don't we see the second floor? Is that it there?
That may be. It's labeled as third floor plan over here. Here in a second floor plan. I apologize.
I just needed to zoom out a bit. That was the third. Here's the second. So we have
kitchen and living area, two bedrooms with a restroom. Here's the hallway. Here we have a
restroom, kitchen and living area with a bedroom. So that's the second floor plan. And that's the
third floor plan that I just described earlier. So why don't you bring your client on, adopt your
testimony, and then we can have some questions. Sure. Brian, I'm going to turn the computer over.
brian um first of all he's going to ask you to swear to tell the truth okay so could you please
state your name and spell for the stenographer brian the last name is d-e-e-d-e-l-a-s-n-u-e-c-e-s
all right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
Council.
Mr. Dillon-Weses, are you the owner of B15 Enterprise, the owner of the building?
Yes, correct.
And are you the sole member?
Yes, correct.
Did you hear my presentation to the board?
Is it true and accurate?
Would you make any changes to it?
Would you adopt it as your own testimony if you were going to testify?
Any questions, members of the board?
Questions from the board.
yes trash like how's the trash stored for are your units i know the commercial units are empty
right now but what's the difference between the trash the property the property already has a
so you already have commercial trash pickup yeah and it's and it's actually held in a parking lot
that's part of this property yes right next door okay did you hear that no why don't you go over
where it is first sure again there's a there's a parking lot which is part of this property
right next door which is part of this property that's where he keeps the dumpsters where they
get picked up where the trash gets picked up so so the tenants have to bring their trash down to
the dumpsters correct dumpers dumpsters that he provides yeah with commercial trash pickup
any other questions
yes and there is also ample parking there is also ample parking in that lot for the tenants
there's a question coming joe i'm sorry so when he purchased it there were two units
two residential units and the commercial units downstairs is that how this worked
There were two commercial units downstairs, but they were already empty when he had purchased
it, correct? So the two commercial units on the first floor, they were empty. He just bought it.
His main focus was on the four residential units that we're at, that we're discussing
on the second and third floor. Yes, but when he purchased it, the two residential units
that were existing, were they already approved?
The four residential units, they were not approved.
You had four units.
I'm sorry?
I'm going back to when he purchased the property, right?
Mm-hmm.
So there were two residential units
and then there were the commercial units, correct?
Incorrect.
There were two commercial units which were empty
and there were four residential units which we're trying to legalize there are four units okay four
Four units, okay.
Four apartments.
apartments
All right, okay.
I get it now. Okay. It's four residential and two commercial, but the commercial is empty and we're not here applying for the commercial yet.
Okay, thank you. Okay.
Thanks. Any other questions?
Questions from our attorney, Hillary Emerson.
I just wanted to note this case as in a couple other cases we've seen today I'm not sure that
the the parking that's on the property has been legalized so I just wanted to note that
for the record that could also require a variance based on its access point and location so
I just I didn't see anything in the zoning history or noted on the refusal about any existing parking
So, I just wanted to note that there may be separate approvals needed for that.
We'll seek them.
We will seek them shortly.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
This is Jason Hand.
I'm stepping in temporarily.
I do not see any hands raised for the matter.
Planning Commission.
Good afternoon.
Michael Gall with the Philadelphia City Planning Commission.
M-I-C-H-A-E-L-G-A-L-L.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I so affirm.
Please proceed, sir.
Thank you, sir.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change in zoning at this location from the current RSA 5 residential single-family attached.
The property has a documented history of two-family residential and commercial use, but there is no documented history of legal multifamily use.
The conversion to four residential units appears to have been undertaken without the benefit of permits.
the proposed four units is not the least minimum relief required the city planning commission
therefore recommends the board grant the requested variance for residential use but
with a recommended proviso of a maximum of two units
mi 2025 004 747 1966 to 68 bridge street i vote yes with previously approved uses um carried over
michael johns my vote is yes with proviso
my vote is no
tennetta graham my vote is yes with proviso ryan mcadams my vote is yes with proviso
thank you counsel thank you have a good day is there anyone in the audience whose
3 30 case has not been called
i do not see any hands mr chair
um um do we have any comments in the back relative to the time we're leaving
take care guys all right take care