I don't know how many.
Yep, yep.
how many people how many okay good 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 vice
Chair Ismail Shahid. Present Mr. Chairman. Our board member Cheryl L. Gaston. Present Mr. Chairman.
Our board member Tanetta Graham. Present Mr. Chairman. Our board member Michael Johns.
Chairman. And our board member Taya Nguyen. Present Mr. Chairman. Also present is our attorney
Hillary Emerson and our executive director Ian Haggerty. Our supervisor is Lakeisha Dandy.
Please be advised this meeting is being recorded and your participation in this meeting indicates
your consents to be recorded. The video will be posted on the ZBA website approximately one week
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meaning that individuals can participate either in person, at the hearing room, in the one parkway
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Please note that the eating or drinking
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In addition, verbal and physical aggression
will not be tolerated. If you're participating remotely, remember the Q&A on the Zoom platform
is not for testimony or comments. Any comments related to the hearing operation should be
directed to zbaexecutivedirector at philip.gov. Before we begin, our Executive Director Ian
Haggerty has an important safety announcement. All right, good morning everybody. Welcome to
the ZBA hearing room. The safety of our meeting is the highest priority. If there is an emergency
for any reason, please pay attention to the announcements over the loudspeaker, which will
provide detailed information and instructions. If there is no announcement, please follow the
directions of security officers or ZBA staff members. The main exit from this room is through
the double doors at the rear. If an order is given to evacuate this room for any reason, the nearest
stairway is to the left outside the main exit. Follow the illuminated exit signs to reach the
stairway. If an order is given to evacuate the building for any reason, the rally point is at
love park which is directly across arch street from the public entrance to this building
please remain at the rally point so we can account for you and as a reminder restrooms are located
across from the elevators where you came up and there's a water fountain just outside the double
doors to the right thank you chair thank you hillary will you have the dates there when i
proceed okay thank you so let's look at our schedule number nine MI 2024 001 941 53 15 17
Chancellor Street that case is continued and the date for that will be July 9th 2020
And the date for that will be July 9th, 2025 at 9.30 a.m.
Number 11, MI 2024-001-949-2900 Snodder Avenue. That case is continued.
7-925-930 a.m.
And number 15, MI 2024, 005-756-2439 Master Street, that case is continued.
To 7925 at 9.30 a.m.
And here are cases that we do not have any exhibits.
One minute.
Number seven.
Here it is.
Okay, I'm good.
No, I'm sorry.
Number five, MI 2023-006-398, 1301 North 52nd Street.
Bruce Harmon is the listed owner.
No exhibits, third listing.
Mr. Harmon.
Good morning, Mr. Chair.
This is Jason Handel.
I'll be your co-host for this session.
I do not see that individual in the virtual audience this morning.
Okay, thank you.
So MI 2023-006-398, 1301 North 52nd Street.
No exhibits to her listing.
I vote to dismiss.
Johns, my vote is to dismiss.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is to dismiss.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is to dismiss.
Iowyn, my vote is to dismiss.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is to dismiss.
Hillary, could you please read number seven?
Yes. Number seven on the list this morning, MI-2022-003966, 5900 Pulaski Avenue.
Devin Upta is the attorney. Dulcinea Williams is the listed owner.
Is anyone in the audience?
We have no exhibits, Mr. Chair. This is the fifth listing.
Could you read the address one more time for me?
5900 Pulaski Avenue.
I vote to dismiss.
Mr. Chair, I'm sorry to interrupt, but it looks like we had a hand up for Mr.
Yeah, we have a hand up for Mr. Charles Richardson. I've allowed him to speak.
Good morning, Mr. Chair and Board.
Good morning, Mr. Richardson. Could you please state your name and spell for the chorisonographer?
Certainly. Charles Richardson, C-H-A-R-L-E-S, Richardson, R-I-C-H-A-R-D-S-O-N, Office of Councilwoman Cindy Bass Room, 508 City Hall.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do. This case has been around since 2022.
This is when they first came before the community, and the RCO continually has, each time it's come up, they have sent something in to say that they were against it.
But, you know, the councilwoman also was against the, you know, granting this variant.
So, and Sidney Mitch, you're ready to dismiss it.
That's fine.
Thank you.
So we're dismissing that.
So I vote to dismiss.
John, my vote is to dismiss.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is to dismiss.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is to dismiss.
Daya Wynn, my vote is to dismiss.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is to dismiss.
Number eight, MI-2023-006-693-1503 East Luzerne Street. No exhibits, third listing. Alfred Carroll and Ramon Lund and Bin Tron are the listed applicants.
Chair, Mr. Alfred Carroll has been allowed to speak.
Good morning, Mr. Chairman.
Good morning, Mr. Carroll. Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
My name is Alfred Carroll, A-L-F-R-E-D.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth, sir?
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth, sir?
Yes, I do, sir.
Yes, I do, sir.
Can you give me the status of this case?
Certainly.
So I purchased this property about a year ago.
The application, I was told, was already submitted, and they had a hearing date scheduled.
The prior owner had not submitted all the paperwork, so it had been continued.
I have, I believe, followed all the instructions.
I posted the notice in an appropriate place.
I was confused by how the forms are submitted, so it was last minute, but this morning I submitted on the site, and I have here with me also the Application for Appeal and the Project Information Form.
So, Mr. Carroll, we're aware that you submitted earlier today. We need time to go over your paperwork. This case is going to be continued, sir.
And this will be, by the way, this will be continued for the last time.
So I would recommend you get in touch with the office and make sure that you know everything you need.
Thank you.
All right.
So MI 2023-006-693, 1503 East Luzerne Street, cases continued.
Until July 9th, 2025 at 9.30 a.m.
Right. Number nine, MI 2023-006-850-834 North 63rd Street.
Vern Anastasio is the attorney. No exhibits, third listing. Mr. Anastasio.
Good morning, Mr. Chair.
Could you state your name and spell for the stenographer, please?
Yes, sir. Vern Anastasio, A-N-A-S-T-A-S-I-O.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you give us an update on this case, please?
Yes, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Chair, it appears as though my client has sort of gone MIA.
I don't know if there's a personal issue.
We have done our due diligence in communicating with her, letting her know the consequences of not communicating with the firm.
As such, I respectfully withdraw the appeal at this time.
so mi2023 006 850 834 north 63rd street this case has been withdrawn thank you thank you sir
and number 12 mi2024 002 002 3612 north 15th street michael and jin han cho are the listed
and owners, second listing.
Hello?
Michael Cho, he's been allowed to speak.
Hi, I'm Michael Cho.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Yes, my name is Michael Cho.
My name is spelled M-I-C-H-A-E-L, last name C-H-O-E.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, sir?
Could you give us a status of your case?
Yeah, it was continued from before because they had technical problems.
I was using my cell phone.
I couldn't log in.
So right now we're, you know, we're at, where were you at before?
There's a grocery store, and it also sells smoke items as well, but they would like to keep it if the community allows it.
Sir, let me tell you where we stand.
We do not have any exhibits.
This is the last time we'll continue the case.
We're going to continue it.
Please check with the office to ensure that all your exhibits are in.
Thank you very much. So MI 2024-002-002-3612 North Fish Street. Cases continued to July 9th, 9.30 a.m. Thank you.
We're going to go to our add-on list.
number one mi 2024 002 922 21 23 25 east clearfield street i vote yes proviso her refusal
dated 7 29 24 revised plans two pages stamped by gba on january 29 2025
25. Michael Johns, my vote is yes with provisos. Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with provisos.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes, with provisals.
Tynetta Graham, my vote is yes with provisos. Taya Nguyen, my vote is yes with provisos.
Taya Wynn, my vote is yes, with provisals.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes, with provisals.
Number two, MI 2024-005-519-401, Lindley Avenue.
I vote yes.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes.
Taya Wynn, my vote is yes.
number three
might have come back off of that
Ishmael has refused
recused himself on that project
number three
MI 2024
Poplar Street
I vote Ness no with proviso. Her refusal dated 1-22-25.
My vote is no with proviso.
Sorry. Cheryl Gaston, my vote is no with proviso.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is no with proviso.
Tywin, my vote is no with proviso.
Ishmael's recused on that case.
Number four, MI 2024-003-732-1040 Wall Street, I vote yes with proviso, per amended refusal, dated 123-25.
My vote is yes with proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Tywin, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Number five, MI 2023-007-092-789 South 2nd Street.
I vote yes, with proviso.
Revised plans, one page, stamped by ZBA, January 29th, 2025.
michael johns my vote is yes with proviso
cheryl gaston my vote is yes with proviso tanetta graham my vote is yes with proviso
hi and when my vote is yes with proviso ishmael shaheed my vote is yes with proviso
thank you we're going to our regular list number two mi 2023 000 784 263 east upsell street
Miranda Darden is the listed applicant.
This is a pro se.
Miranda Darden has been promoted to a panelist
and chair of the results.
Okay, there was another handbook that's been put down.
Excuse me.
Good morning.
Good morning.
Could you please turn your video on?
Good morning. Could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
I'm Miranda Darden, M-I-R-A-N-D-A-D-A-R-D-E-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
So this is for the erection of a fence around the perimeter of an existing single-family,
semi-detached structure. Fences that are located between the street and the building on the lot
shall be no more than four foot in height and no more than 50% opaque, whereas a solid timber fence
six foot in height is proposed at the front yard. Our vice chair has a few questions for you.
Good morning. Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that's needed
and required to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes. Thank you. You may proceed and share the screen.
okay um really quickly what am i supposed to be sharing today
all of your documents that you're going to present with us which is going to be your
denial letter um your um the deeds the photos and any okay that you may have so anything that i
put through as an exhibit everything that you said gotcha okay thank you
I will share my screen once I figure out how to do that.
Can you see my screen?
It should be the green button in the bottom.
Here, it's coming up now.
Okay, perfect.
Thank you.
Okay. So, I will start with the notice of refusal.
Okay, so I will start with...
Okay. Tap on that.
Thank you very much. We have that.
Your next document, please.
This is the application for appeal.
Okay. Thank you. We have that document.
Project information form.
Yep. Thank you. We have that.
And then the application plan initially submitted.
I have the East Mount Airy neighbors.
And they were unanimous in your support, I understand.
All right. So why don't you tell us what you're doing and show us some photos.
so this is kind of a good place to start initially i had a fence there that was
falling apart and we knocked it down to extend from this line on to the side however it does
stop short of the front of the house so my front porch is right here right and because this is a
side property i think there is a there is a limitation to front front porches and side
porches or side fences to be four feet tall so um it's kind of hard to tell in this photo but
all of these properties surrounding my properties are actually elevated and also this is a very high
traffic street so there are a lot of people that walk to and from school for example on these blocks
and i have three dogs so the goal was to not only ensure privacy deter litter but also keep
my dogs um separated from ongoing pedestrians um and they're they're larger animals do this
why don't you show us the rest of the photos i think we're we have a pretty good understanding of
this. So here's another photo of the zoning paper posted and it's nothing too exciting to look at
but yeah just along along the side of the property this is my fence. What else? And this is kind of
a good photo to show from far away, just how that aligns on the side of the house.
Okay, so you went to a contractor and you weren't aware that you had to have
this zoned. Is that what happened?
Pretty much, yes. And then the contractor now moved to a different country. So we tried to
filed the paperwork after the fact, not knowing that this probably should have been filed
beforehand. And it's just been an ongoing scheduling nightmare, honestly, with trying
to get everything posted and up in time to present for this meeting. So hopefully this
Questions from the board.
Questions or comments from our attorney?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the audience?
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Yes, Mr. Chair, we have a hand up from Tyrone Williams.
I've allowed them to speak.
I don't think this is Tyrone.
um mr williams i don't i don't think this is your case that was a mistake that was a mistake
okay thank you okay mr chair please support me for that we have a hand up from charles
richardson i've allowed him to speak sure mr richardson you've already been sworn just for
the record state your name sir charles richardson office of councilwoman cindy bass councilwoman
has no opposition to granting this we're actually glad that mr darden is finally getting this done
This has been around for a minute, so no opposition.
All right. Thank you very much for taking the time to calls.
Planning commission.
Thank you, chair.
Thank you, chair Bergman. And good morning, David.
With the city planning commission, chairman and board members, the.
Oh, sorry. FECTEA.
Do you swear or refer to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir. I do. Please proceed.
Thank you, sir. Chairman and board members, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the RSA3, residential single-family zoning at this location, but there is no unique physical condition or circumstance that will prevent this property from being used in strict conformity with the zoning code.
condition or circumstance that will prevent this property from being used in strict conformity with
the zoning code the city planning commission recommends the board deny the proposed variance
for a non-compliant fence we also note that the proposed fence may constitute an encroachment
of the public right-of-way which can only be cured through a bill of counsel thank you mi2023
0-0-0-7-8-4-2-6-3
East Upsil Street. I vote yes. Michael Johns. My vote is yes.
Cheryl Gaston. My vote is yes. Tanetta Graham.
My vote is yes. Taya Nguyen. My vote is yes. Ishmael
Shahid. My vote is yes. Thank you. You have your votes.
Thank you. We're going to move to number
10. MI 2024
four zero zero one nine four seven twenty three fourteen north broad street jessica nelson is the
listed owner this is a pro se jessica nelson will be returning as a panelist shortly mr chair
hello hi could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
Jessica Nelson, J-E-S-S-I-C-A, last name N-E-L-S-O-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
All right.
So this application is for use as multifamily household living in an existing structure.
The proposed use, multiple family household living, does not contain a use other than residential and other than parking along 100% of the ground floor frontage and within the first 30 feet of the building as required in the CMX 2.5 zoning district.
Our vice chair has a few questions for you.
Good morning. Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits as needed to proceed with this case?
no problem please proceed and share your screen okay i would say there's also a letter of support
from the uptown entertainment developing corporation
um it's coming up okay
perfect is everyone able to see my screen we see it okay wonderful
both. Okay, so feel free to direct me on how you'd like to see this, but here I have all of the
pictures of the units. I won't go through each one unless you would like me to, but right now
I'm just showing the floor plan for each unit. This is the photo of the zoning notice. I have
the zoning application. I also have the refusal notice. I have the application for appeal.
I have the project information forum. Here are the list of the addresses to which the public
meeting notice was sent to. Here is the public meeting notice. Here I have the meeting summary
forum from that meeting. And then on the subsequent page is the letter of support.
I then have the certificate of tax clearance. And then separately, I have the deed, which I also
submitted. Ms. Nelson, how many units do you have in the building? Four. Four. Could you show again
the drawings of the
absolutely please
so that's the basement right
there's no living in the basement
there is so this is the
picture of the if this
would be helpful this is a living in the
basement
and then excuse me for the blurriness
but I thought that this might be helpful
to see I believe it's called like
the easement I believe
the ladder that is there
I thought that might be helpful to see
this is another view
of. Well, is that an apartment in the basement? Yes.
Okay. Show us
the rest of the building, please. Absolutely. This
is the first floor unit. Will you also like me to
show all of the pictures from each one? Would that be helpful? Sure.
Okay. This is one bedroom.
That is another.
living area, also living area, other pictures of living area. That is the bathroom.
This is what is titled as unit three, so on the second floor, bathroom, bedroom, another bedroom, living area, another view of the living area, that is also a bedroom.
This is what is titled as unit three, so on the second.
And then this is the fourth one, the one on the third floor.
This is a living area, same living area, bedroom, bedroom, leverage of the bedroom.
This is the kitchen, kitchen, restroom.
So my understanding in 2004, your property was approved for three apartments with no basement living.
I believe so. But when I acquired the property, I didn't do any construction. That living was already there when I acquired the property.
Thank you. Questions from the board.
is so so the we're just trying to get this straight so the property was approved for three
family uh with no living living in the basement but what you're asking for is to have this
basement apartment correct and i believe before then um it was originally listed as a four family
and then i believe it then went to three um and i guess i'm guessing i'm asking it to go back to
four and you go can you go to the floor plan of the basement and the first
so this is all one unit there's no there's no this is like an efficiency is that what this is
i believe so i'm not familiar with the terms i'm not sure no there's no like separate bedroom
shown in this plan no so it's like I guess it would be almost like a studio because everything
is open um it's like in I don't know if it'll be helpful for you to see the actual pictures but as
you can see so this is one point of entry or exit that's the stairs you come down and all of this
is open so at the side right here that's the kitchen you know there's that window I believe
it's called that easement which is like so there's another exit right here um does that
go to because i see this glass block oh sorry there's a backyard um i think the picture of the
backyard oh um excuse me if i did not maybe i didn't send a picture of that one uh excuse me
for that it looks like I do not have a picture in here of it but there's a background could you do
if could you do us a favor could you explain the ladder photo you showed you showed a photo with a
ladder absolutely so that's right here so in that um you know you see this square right here that
that's like that window um and then I have the ladder here to serve that's like the second um
exit. And then once you go through that, there's a lot, there's that backyard that
does this egress well open into the backyard or to a side yard?
Oh, sorry. Can you, can you repeat that please?
Does this egress well open to the backyard or a side yard?
Backyard. And then is there a grate at the top of this stair or is it open?
It is open.
for my understanding on your floor plan for the basement floor which i think you have listed as
unit one there's a door at the front where you see the bathroom where does that door go to
this that's like that's storage that's not that's not an exit so there's an exit
the other exit is right here up these stairs yeah that's the property actually extends further than
the plan is
showing?
Because that's
currently showing a door that would
look like it would be a front
door. It's showing that the door is in the facade.
Ah, yeah. So there's no
there's no, like this door
is not an exit. It's just
like a small, a very small
closet. There's no
unless maybe this floor plan
Yeah, so the plan is missing the
closet. Yeah, this is this
door right here. That's really a closet.
That's not some type of exit or another part of entry.
That's just a closet.
And just for clarity, the part of your plan that says room, that is eight foot by three
feet, three feet, four inches, that is a closet, correct?
That is a closet.
I'm not sure why it says room.
That is a closet.
I just want to point out that that is not a code if it was to be used as a room.
And then are you planning to do any additional work in this space or is.
um are you planning to do any additional work in this space or is your plan to rent it as is
to rent it as is unless um there is requirement to do work like let's say it is required that
i make a wall so it's not a studio but as of right now i didn't have any plans to do any work
and then for you what is your how many people are you intending to rent this space so i um
currently live on
unit 4 in this
unit so it would be owner occupied
and then I would rent the rest.
So how many people
are you? So it would be
three people
not including myself.
Three people
in the basement unit specifically?
Oh no, apologies.
I thought you meant throughout the
building. In the basement
it would just be one person.
I would, my plan would only be to have one person there.
Could you just tell me, how do you get to the basement apartment?
That was my question.
Where's the entry to the basement apartment?
Sure, absolutely.
The, let's see, do I have a picture of the, I do not have a picture of that.
But when you walk in this front door, there's a hallway.
um when you walk in the store and through the hallway there's the there's an entry to the first
floor unit there's also don't you have a floor plan of the first floor um i do so it says
i don't know if you can see this is okay okay thank you for that so as you can see you walk
in here there's a door um and then you get through the basement that way
and then up these stairs are the other units but yeah the basement is through the entry
and the entry to the basement is right here actually one more question do you have laundry
in any of the units or in the building um no there is laundry hookups um so i can
place laundry like each unit can have its own um it they can't accommodate it
But as of right now, the only unit that has laundry is the one that I'm currently in.
And then do all units or all tenants, would they have access to the rear yard?
No, the only tenants that would have access to the yard would be the basement tenant through that exit, that egress, and then the first floor tenant.
Do that better.
So, yes.
Can we go back to that basement plan?
Absolutely.
So then the stairs that you're showing, that egress point is on the other side.
It's where those also.
So once this person gets into this basement, that's the only means of egress, right?
out of that that unit is that how i believe so right so i guess the normal entry would just be
through these stairs but let's say there's like an emergency they are for you know then there's
also this point as well but the normal entry would be through the stairs so that's that's the
only uh egress out other than the entry and that's the only natural air and light um no there are
more window so there is a um where can i show this image there's these there's a window here
there's also one in the bathroom um it's hard to kind of see but there's also some window and you
get you know some light through there as well is that a window that opens or there's like a that's
I can it's better to show in the other image just kind of like that um you know through this
this little box here can be opened up so that fresh air can come in um so that's there the
bathroom and then obviously there's that long that egress it has a it's a much larger window
um they can get air and light there as well okay thank you questions from our attorney Hillary
emerson not at this time this question is from the audience
questions from the virtual audience
there are no hands raised mr chair thank you planning commission
thank you chairman and good morning david vector with the city planning commission
chairman and board members the comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning at this location from
CMX 2.5, commercial mixed use, to CMX 3.
This property has a documented history as at times 3 and at times...
This property has a documented history as at times three and at times four dwelling units for the ground floor office.
The configuration of this building does not make it unusual for use as a ground floor office or other consumer commercial space allowed by Wright and CMX 2.5.
However, the proposed zoning of CMX 3 would make commercial use optional.
The proposed four dwelling units are in keeping with what would be allowed in CMX 3.
the city planning commission recommends that the board grant a proposed use variants for not
including ground floor commercial space thank you um we're going to hold this till next wednesday
we're going to vote on this next wednesday at 9 30 a.m after i have a discussion with the board
okay um would i oh sorry sure no you go ahead um what i need to join next wednesday with a
news you won't have to all you have to do is listen in you'll hear them okay thank you very
much. Thank you. I'm going to go to
next one is number 14.
MI 2024
005 637 301 South Camac
Street. Chandler Hayes Vazen is the owner
applicant. There is
unanimous opposition from Washington
Square West and a letter of opposition from
Council Member Squilla.
They've been promoted to panels, Mr. Chair.
Good morning. How's everybody doing?
Good morning. Could you please state your name and spell for this
stenographer uh chandler c-h-a-n-d-l-e-r vizan v as in victor e z as in zebra i n as in nancy
right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do okay um this application is for use as a visitor accommodation in an existing structure
with other existing uses in the structure as previously approved the proposed use visitor
accommodation is prohibited in the cmx1 zoning district our vice chair has a few questions
good morning have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits as needed to proceed with
this case five days after this hearing i have you please proceed and you may share your screen great
um can you guys i use teams for work what can you guys remind me where you go
to do that? Green button at the bottom of the screen.
Got it. Okay.
Open up your documents ahead of time.
Yep. You're coming up now.
Perfect. Okay.
So first thing I wanted to share
was my
denied zoning application.
All right, that is my refusal, proposed use in the zoning board, or from L&I.
Project information form, I have the letter that sends all my neighbors notifying them
of the rco twice that went out to about 100 neighbors around me
certificate of tax clearance we have that great
and then you mentioned the uh from the rco the um meeting summary form just showing that that
happened on November 26th. And then the board voted on December 10th. And then my deed.
Okay. So why don't you tell us how long you've been doing it and show some photos again on the
property? Great. So I did kind of just prepare a statement. Would you mind if I just did that
first? Yeah. How long is it? It's probably about three minutes. Sure. Go ahead. Okay. I think it
just kind of, it would be the easiest thing.
So I bought this house in January of 2021.
At the time I was not ready to live in it right away.
I lived in graduate hospital during the pandemic.
It was an Airbnb from February of 2021
to September of 2023 with months long breaks
With about with months long breaks for extensive exterior renovations and to fix a long list of violations from L&I, historical violations that I inherited from the previous owner.
for extensive exterior renovations
and to fix a long list of...
During that time, had over 150 different parties that stayed in it for short visits for from two days to a couple of weeks.
Did not have one violation from the city or complaint from a neighbor or the business next door.
There's a restaurant next door, directly next door that I share an alley with.
Had a camera out front, took care of the home like it was my own because I knew this neighborhood was tight knit.
didn't want to cause any problems. I've never accepted anyone without at least a few good
reviews. It just wasn't worth the money at that time, even if it was a weekend that was a high
net worth weekend, so to speak. As you see from the reviews that I uploaded, which I'll show you
in a second, the property was managed by me and it was a guest's favorite, one of the highest
rated in the city in all categories. During this time, aside from property taxes, these folks
contributed to the local economy by visiting local businesses. They would often ask me where
to go to eat, what to do, things to do. And you can see from my submissions in 2022 that I uploaded
to the board, contributed an additional $8,000 in taxes to the city, aside from my property taxes
and hotel taxes. When the city started enforcing the short-term rental rules in 2023, I transitioned
their property to a long-term rental, but found it very difficult to rent to the steep. If any of
you have been in a Trinity in Philadelphia, you know that it does vary from Trinity to Trinity,
but in this one, they're almost ladder-like staircases. I personally don't mind them.
I'm young and it's easy for me to go up and down them. I find them charming, but very difficult
to rent. I showed it over 20 times and to find someone interested, it was difficult. I ended up
taking a net loss during that timeframe. I know everyone on this call knows that owning a historical
home built in 1850 is expensive. I've not put the earnings from the Airbnb into my pocket.
I've invested them in the exterior of the property, start bolts and repointing, $20,000, reforbing the shutters, $17,000, $8,000 for a new front door with a transom window.
The front door was from the 60s and needed to be replaced.
Also needs new windows, which is another $30,000.
After the tenants moved out, I decided the best course of action was to try to get the zoning variance.
I followed all the instructions to a T, including sending the notice out to the RCO meeting on 1126 via mail to over 100 neighbors twice.
Not one showed or wrote in dissenting.
Even the committee was surprised by this, the RCO meeting I attended.
I spent 20 minutes or so with the committee trying to understand their concerns.
I gathered what was most important.
And what I got from that meeting was that what my immediate neighbors thought was the most important thing.
They mentioned they had never supported a variance at one of these meetings before, on the front end, before we even got into our discussion.
But to the left of this property is a restaurant.
Across the street is a large apartment building.
To my right, the connected townhome is a neighbor named Julie Seda.
She could not make the meeting today due to work, but she has owned the home for over 10 years,
including the time that mine was at Airbnb.
And in our discussion, I had zero concerns about it.
Additionally, I checked the Facebook group for the street this morning,
and no one has mentioned my property since the letters were mailed and the signs were posted for this meeting.
Lastly, I attempted to go a step further and talk to the neighbors on this second and third houses down on both sides of the street twice.
and they did not come to the door i feel like i've done my due diligence on both sides reactively
and proactively do my do my due diligence um the committee listened and seemed open to my
discussion and i felt like i overcame their concerns but it seems like their mind was made
up before i even started making my case um and you know i'm not i know i've gone along here but i
just the last thing i want to say was that uh if granted approval i would go above and beyond to
make sure i'm a good neighbor and i would put that first any guests that were unruly or or not
following the rules would would be ejected right away and that would be the my my number one concern
um can i show you one more thing sure um i wanted to show you um
the signage as well you know i don't know if anyone's here i guess you guys will ask in a
second but i just want to make sure you knew that i did put this up followed all the rules around
that um it is a very tight-knit street so you know if anyone did write in i i can't see that
So if anyone did write in or show any sign, anything, I want to make sure you knew that I did that.
And then I also want to make sure that you saw the did you want to see inside pictures or no?
Real quick. OK.
It's a Trinity, right? It is. So I'm just want to make sure you saw it was a guest favorite 4.96.
and these are some of the inside pictures so the kitchen's in the basement
and then it has just just a half bath in the basement and then living area on the main level
and then two bedrooms on the second and third floor with a bathroom so look how i mean you
can see those steps they're very difficult as a long-term rental it can be done but it's
you have to find the right the right person okay questions from the board
you have to find the right the right person okay questions from the board
yes do you know if there are any other short-term rentals on your block
um there are julie seda next door um she actually um that one is uh the one where you live in the
home but i forget what limited lodging she has a limited lodging um permit and then when was like
so um do you live in the city like how what's your plan for management i do i i i self-managed
this um so i i do stay in this home occasionally uh i this is this is a home that i stay in i also
have a home in florida but i also have a home in graduate hospital but my plan is to is to live in
this house full-time at some point okay okay other other questions from the board had you had the uh
you've been doing this for you said how long i bought the house in 2021 and i made it a
airbnb it was right away at airbnb three so three years yeah and again not not one even like a trash
complaint not one complaint um from the city on record um or no one called me so what was the
what was the issues at the rcm what did they yeah it was it was strange because when i got off i
really felt good about it i when i got the the report i was shocked to be honest because i
I thought even though they had never approved one of these before, I thought we had a really good conversation.
And I thought I kind of put their mind at ease.
I think everyone knows here on this call on 13th Street, one street over, there was a shooting at a party at an Airbnb.
And I think that's fresh in everyone's mind.
And I remember when I read about that, I thought, man, this is not going to make things easy.
But, you know, I take a very active role.
I took a very active role in this right away because I didn't want that to happen.
um this was something that i took very seriously and i tried to put their minds at ease on that
um okay i guess it wasn't enough other questions for the board yes um is this um going to be
one basically one unit like you're renting the whole house is that as the visitor accommodation
is that how this is going to work yep that's how it would work a lot of times it would be
if when a family would come to town they couldn't do hotels for a lot of different reasons so this
was a great alternative for them if they had kids or or it was two families that wanted to travel
together you know two couples or something like that and you also said that this is historically
designated is that locally designated it is yeah so i have to follow all the all the rules and had
two violations when i bought it okay all right thank you questions from our attorney hillary
emerson not at this time mr chair questions from the audience questions or comments from the
virtual audience no hands mr chair planning 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 rm1 residential
multifamily zoning at this location. There is no unique physical condition or circumstance that
would prevent this property from being used in strict conformity with the zoning code.
A 2020 zoning ordinance passed by City Council, which regulated short-term rentals, did not change
the basic rule of prohibiting full-time use of a dwelling unit as a short-term rental. This type
of absentee management, where the owner does not live in the unit, has been illegal since the first
short-term rental zoning regulations became effective in 2015. What's changed since the
passage of the 2020 ordinance is that there is now a licensing and enforcement mechanism.
The City Planning Commission recommends the board deny the proposed use variance for visitor
accommodation. Thank you. MI 2024-005-637-301 South Camac Street. I vote yes for a temporary
variance. That expires
1-28-27.
Michael Johns, my vote
is yes with proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with
proviso. Tanetta Graham,
my vote is yes with proviso.
Tywin, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ishmael Shahid, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thank you, sir. You have
your votes. Thank you.
Number 16,
MI 2024
54 30 to 44 pascal avenue um katrina carter geigert and virtual preventive care services
will the representative please come on
they'll be promoted to panelists shortly so there's support from the southwest
West Philadelphia Consortium of RCOs with a proviso and a letter of unanimity.
Philadelphia Consortium of RCOs with the proviso, and a letter of unanimous support from Southwest Philadelphia District Services.
I'm here.
Hi, could you please turn on your video?
My video is on.
Okay, I don't...
We don't see you.
Mirror my video settings. I'm trying to fix it now. Trust them. Blur background. Choose video settings. We don't see you.
i don't know why is your video covered because we see like a white or like you
oh now it's changing color like it's like something's in front of it trust it
it's not covered i don't know why it can't see me put it on all yours trust it they can't see
me put it on all yours hold on i'm going to switch to another computer i don't know why it doesn't
see me something must be wrong with my camera so why don't we do this i'm going to move on
we'll come back to you in about a half hour okay okay all right
Number three, MI 2023-002-401-1941, North 32nd Street.
Danetta Graham has recused herself from this.
the attorney is alan knockamson there's a letter of support from strawberry mansion
community development corporation with two dwelling units
good morning mr knockamson could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
yes alan knockamson a-l-a-n last name knockamson n-o-c-h-u-m-s-o-n do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do our vice chair has a few questions sir
thank you good morning counsel do you agree to
weigh the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy
i do have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that's
needed to proceed with this case five days in
advance of this hearing yes i have thank you can we please promote mr
knockamson to the panelists so he can share his screen
i think i am now promoting may i share my may i share my screen please
So good afternoon, or good morning, members of the board, Alan Nockamson of Nockamson
I am presenting 1941 North 32nd Street.
With me to my left is Jerome James Jr., a member of J&J Real Estate Investments, LLC,
the owner of the property.
During my presentation, we will review the notice of refusal, and as the chairman indicated,
We were originally going to ask for three units for this project, but now we're asking
for a maximum of two units by way of proviso.
Because of that concession, we received a letter of support from the Strawberry Mansion
CDC, where they unanimously supported this project.
I believe there was another RCO separately, I believe it was Strawberry Mansion Community
Concerned, that did not support this project.
But I believe the vote was 11 to 1, and we'll see that from the letter of support.
Then we'll look at the property history.
So this property has a long history of multifamily use going as far back as the 1960s.
So this was a three-family dwelling back in the day.
And from there, you'll see our next exhibit, our properties within the 1900 block of North 32nd Street.
We did a count of the amount of active RSA-5 properties on that block.
there are 36 of them 15 are multifamily in nature many of them are triplexes some of them are duplexes
meaning that 41 of the properties that are active on that block which are rsa5 properties are
multifamily in nature so what we're requesting from this board in terms of zoning variance relief
it's not out of character to what's going on on that block plus the the history of this property
as well next we'll review maps of the area which include our zoning map as well as the google maps
of the area photographs of the property in the surrounding area
Our plans and drawings, our RCO meeting notice, and again, it looks a little bit different than what we usually present to the board, because my client originally was representing himself, and we're trying to take him to the finish line here, especially since he's a corporate entity, or he owns the property, he's a corporate entity.
our plans and drawings our rco meeting notice um and again
Then our application for appeal that he filed on behalf of himself, and he transferred the property to a corporate entity since then.
Our deed to the property, showing that J&J Real Estate Investments, LLC, is the owner of the property.
And then finally, a certificate of tax clearance.
Again, at the conclusion of my presentation, I would ask Jerome to hit that button so his mic is live.
um and you know then be not yet but then you know to be sworn in and then i have a few questions for
him all right so our notice refusal as you can see we originally asked for three units
probably it's still appropriate you know for this property because you'll see all the other zoning
permits for this for this block many of them are triplexes but as can and this property is a history
of being a triplex but as a concession to the neighborhood they really felt strongly that
this should only be a duplex and you know that's what we're requesting now by way of proviso
and again we have a letter of support from the strawberry mansion cdc and in there they
specifically state that their support is conditioned on it being a duplex and then
obviously having a responsible trash storage and maintenance plan which he does because these
were the right side of the twin so all the neighbors all the occupants would have access
to rear yards so we can store the trash either inside or out and then here you can see the the
count 11 members affiliated with strawberry mansion cdc were in support of this project
and then the property history as you can see there's a zoning permit going as far back as 1961
showing that this is a triplex or was a triplex and then to illustrate you know where what this
block is looking like on the 1900 block of north 33rd street or 32nd street there are 15 other
properties that are multi-family in nature so we would be we're reaffirming our position as a
multi-family property which we have been for since the 1960s so it's not out of character and then
and by the way this board in july also granted the variance for two family dwelling at 1936
north 32nd street so this board has heard a similar type of request on this block but i
have all the rental licenses for all these properties that you saw um on this illustration
here so uh 1906 07 15 16 19 20 23 27 31 33 35 i think we should okay yeah all right yeah why don't
All right. Maps of the area. Again, we're not denying the fact that this is an RSA 5 property.
We have ample public transportation as well, as you can see, on 33rd Street.
And the photographs of the property, it's a really pretty property that just needs to be invigorated again.
And that's what Jerome's going to be doing by way of this conversion back to two-family dwelling.
And again, there should be a twin on the left side of the property.
So there's like a little breeze away for us on the right side of the property.
And then this is our proof of posting for today's hearing.
And then this property has been vacant for the longest period of time.
Google Street View only goes back to 2007.
And as you can see, it was a vacant property back then.
And this is 32nd Street to the right of the property, to the left of the property.
And then these are our plans and drawings.
Pretty straightforward.
This is the first floor.
so you we have that porch there um you know you'll come into a common vestibule area
you have a living room uh a kitchen and a dining area and then you have um and then a bedroom in
the back and then it's a full uh basement down there we took out the egress wells because that
was important to the community as well so we did take out the egress wells um you know and there
ramifications for that in terms as you know about allowing us for or not allowing us that bedrooms
in the basement um and then the second floor you come up um there is a mistake on the floor plans
i noticed this when i was sitting here but this should not be here this bedroom so you walk up
you have a common area of floor plan of a of here's really delivery room with the windows
here's the what would be the dining room a kitchen and then here's one bedroom and then you have
multiple bedrooms on the third floor it's a bi-level unit and then rco meeting notice again
a little bit different than what we typically do um it's you know but it's by the law you know he
he provided notice to 203 addresses.
provided notice to 203 addresses these
These are the addresses he mailed the notice to
for the community meeting.
This is proof of mailing those addresses.
And then usually we have the receipt, but he didn't,
so I just asked him to give me the receipt.
So ignore the other charges,
but we just circled the two charges for the mailer.
And there are applications for appeal
that Jerome filed originally on his own behalf,
but then he transferred the property into his limited liability company.
Project information form, deed to the property showing that he owns the property through his LLC.
And then finally, his tax clearance certificate. Even though it shows money owed, it's really not
because it's not owed until March 31st of 2025.
With that being said, I'm going to stop sharing my screen.
I would ask that Jerome be sworn in as a witness.
Hi, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
How you doing? My name is your speaker?
Yes. Okay.
My name is Jerome Jones.
That's J-E-R-O-M-E-J-O-N-E-S, Jr.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth,
nothing but the truth?
i do please proceed counsel yes jerome you heard everything i had to state today about your zoning
matter yes is it true and correct yes and do you adopt as your own testimony yes thank you
questions from the board so uh the um applicant doesn't plan to have any uh living in the basement
correct yeah he plans to have living in the basement you know he'll maybe have a second
secondary living area but he's not going to have bedrooms down there
and there was no egress well
there was no egress well he took that out
I don't think you can do that without
an egress well but okay
so no basement living
other questions from the board
questions or comments from our attorney
Hillary Emerson
not at this time Mr. Chair
questions or comments from the audience
questions or comments from the virtual audience
and we're going to wait one minute for our planning to come back they should be right back
Mr. Chair there was a hand up but now it is going down again
thank you planning commission please
thank you chair bergman and good morning david vecta with the city planning commission
chairman and board members the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the rsa5 residential
single-family zoning at this location this property has a documented history as a multi-family
dwelling and the board has previously granted variances for two or three units on adjacent
properties. Many of the homes on this block face were built as duplexes or triplexes prior to the
adoption of the original 1933 zoning code. This proposal matches the character of the block face
and will not impair the use of adjacent properties. The City Planning Commission recommends the board
grant a proposed use variance for two dwelling units. Thank you. MI 2023 002 401 1941 North 32nd
Street, I vote yes, with proviso. Maximum two dwelling units.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Tywin, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Ishmael Shahid, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you.
I would really love to add another proviso that you buy the property next door
and do another building that matches the historic front but i know we have a question could we add
a proviso for a ceo oh well i think that's a requirement yeah yeah thank you so number four
mi 2023 003 996 5400 valley avenue pasquale calavita is the attorney there's a letter of
Support from Frankfort Neighbors Advisory Committee.
I'll be rejoining as a panel shortly, Mr. Chair.
Good morning.
Good morning, counsel.
Could you please turn to your video one?
Counsel, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Of course, Pasquale, P-A-S-Q-U-A-L-E, C-O-L-A.
Pascual Polavita, P-A-S-Q-U-A-L-E-C-O-L-A-V-I-T-A, representing Sarah Shaheen, owner of 5400 Valley Street.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Our vice chair has a few questions.
Good morning, counsel.
Do you agree to wait to read another refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits as needed to perceive it as case
five days in advance of this hearing i have thank you counsel uh please proceed and share your screen
thank you
try to do as quickly as possible 5400 valley street sarah shaheen owner and attached are all of these
different documents. In lieu of going through each and every one, what I've done is I've
noted, I'm going to go through the more difficult portion of it out of order. I'm going to go to
seven and eight, exhibit seven and eight, showing that this is just an application for
a legalization of a pre-existing use to family dwelling, showing that in the zoning archives,
This was two units as far back as at least April 23rd of 1980.
The archives show it and their neighborhood properties with similar use.
And they're all more or less corner properties similar to that of 5400 Valley Street.
As you can see and read, 5401 through exhibits 8A through 8I.
Do you want me to go through each and every one, or can we, Mark, move the exhibits that I've already forwarded to the board showing that each of these properties are multifamily dwellings?
That's fine. Mark it. We won't accept it.
Perfect. So as you can see, Ms. Shaheen purchased this property on July 25th of 2022, believing that she's purchasing a two family dwelling based on her view of the property itself, as well as other information that I have at exhibit nine.
I'm going to go quickly to, again, out of order, but go to Exhibit 9, showing that when she had this MLS report, it indicated that it's multifamily as far back as, I've scrolled down here, I believe that this one is, let's see, 2010, that it was multifamily all the way back to 2010.
But when she purchased it again in that year, it also still indicated it was a duplex.
So let's get back to the refusal showing this is an RSA 5 district.
The appeal was filed by Ms. Shaheen.
She met with the community group, struggled there, hired me.
I met with the community group and as indicated in the beginning of the hearing.
they sent a letter of support.
I've provided them with all of the exhibits that are here.
She posted it as required in the applicable time.
That's at Exhibit 10.
Just to show you exhibits, I'm sorry.
She had her tax certificate,
which was valid to 2024.
And now just to show you that her real estate taxes have been paid up to date.
They're not due until 331 of this year.
Show you the.
The architectural plans that were not required to be submitted to the for the application,
but what she she provided to give an understanding of it there are two kitchens two um bathrooms
this property is one and let's get the photographs to just to show you what it looks like so that way
because you better understand it's a corner property that is raised on um that is above
ground including the i'll call it the ground floor what we typically think of is the basement is
above ground. And this is as recent as August of 2024. Clean property, multiple and okay,
Multiple, and okay, in addition to the two kitchens, two bathrooms, the bedrooms, the separated units, et cetera, the utilities are also separated.
in addition to the two kitchens to
Gas, electric are separated.
As you can see in the back, you can notice that the meter is there for each of those.
and goes back to, I was able to pull off of the 2015 showing, I'll get to that again.
By the way, that 2015 one was for approval of the fence, just in case you were wondering why it was there.
And again, in the back, in the rear, you can see the two separate knitters.
It's always been used. It's never been a banded use, the multifamily.
and we'll go through the interior entrance to the second floor unit from the first floor.
There are multiple mailboxes plus a house box for the owner's mail.
So this is the front door entrance, and you can get into the first floor to the left, as you can see,
and then the entrance to the second floor is right up the stairs.
Again, something one of their three, I don't probably see three gas meters, but it's only a two family dwelling.
One of them does not work. But what you'll see are two hot water tanks for each of them.
And these are two electrical meters.
And these are for each floor.
there are no it's not three bathrooms there are no three kitchens so it's only a two family
dwelling here and again i'm not going to go through each and every one since i've already
presented those and i'm trying to see the only other thing that i would if if you're interested
in seeing where these properties are located but but basically i'm going to represent it
The properties that I've shown that are multifamily in nature are basically in the same situation within a block or two of this property, all corner properties.
And with that, I just ask that you approve this variance for a multifamily dwelling, a legalization of a pre-existing use that from the very least has been since 1980, as you can see on Exhibit 8.
g which is uh 5400 valley street council why don't you bring your client on and have your testimony
adopted absolutely it's uh sarah shaheen
they have been allowed to speak hi this is sarah hi sarah could you turn your video on please
oh sure
I'm sorry Mr. Chair I've just promoted them to panelists
they will be rejoining shortly so that video can be enabled
could you please state your name as spelled for the stenographer
sarah s-a-r-a-h shaheen s-h-a-h-e-e-n do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole
truth nothing but the truth yes please proceed counsel good morning miss shaheen do you have
an opportunity to hear my testimony this morning yes i did do you agree to the accuracy of it
and truthfulness yes i do if you were to testify would you adopt it as your own yes i would
okay questions from the board yes can you um go back to the photos of these are two
two-bedroom units is that correct
one bedroom each okay they're one bedroom because the land i thought showed two bedrooms but
i think the other one may be well i can show you the photos both one-bedroom units they
they probably work out pretty decently but two bedroom units i was really going to have a problem
with no thank you for that clarification because it looked like it showed as a one bedroom unit
but i thought the plan showed too other questions one bedroom units and and you're testifying to
that then that's that's a living room when the kitchen is right to the right correct okay correct
yep that's correct okay that's that's good that's that's and the both units are like that
correct correct they're the same yes yep that's all questions for the board
correct they're the same yes yep that's all questions for the board
questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson
not at this time mr questions or comments from the audience questions or comments from the
virtual audience no hands mr chair planning commission
thank you chair bergman and good morning david vecta with the city planning commission
chairmen and board members the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the rsa5 residential
single-family zoning at this location this property has a documented history as two dwelling units
dating to at least 1980 the city planning commission recommends the board grant their
proposed use variants for two dwelling units thank you mi2023 003 996 5400 valley street
I vote yes.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes.
Taya Nguyen, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Chair, I'm going to recommend a five-minute break for staff and board members.
Thank you.
Number one, MI 2022-004-563-2005-07, East Sargent Street.
Renania Major is the attorney.
There's a recommendation of support from the East Kensington Neighbors Association.
Vote was nine in support, one opposed.
They will be coming in as a panelist shortly, sir.
Good morning. Can you see me?
I can counsel. Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Certainly. Rania, R-A-N-I-A, Major Esquire on behalf of the applicant.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your clients, please?
Yes. They're 2005-2007 East Sargent Street. The owner's name is John Santiago.
Okay. Thank you. Our vice chair has just a few questions.
Good morning, Counselor. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that's needed to proceed with this case?
Five minutes in advance of this hearing.
Thank you.
Proceed and share your screen.
Okay. Let me. So, let's see how this works. Entire screen.
okay um first of all here's the application and the reason i wanted to bring it to the board's
attention previously this had been an aluminum products um building where they were manufacturing
or actually assembling aluminum products my client wishes to use this solely as a
garage to work on his own seven vehicles we have been approved by the rco we have um the support
of councilman squilla and the this is showing you in part the postings
it's an actual set up as an actual garage his tax payments are all current
and one of the exhibits that we sent you are seven car titles he has seven of his own cars
those are the only cars that he would be working on in the facility um what actually happened was
because he has so many cars um of his own one of the neighbors had made a complaint because he had
some, I guess, parked outside. It buttresses on an alleyway behind the buildings. This is the deed.
This is another tax payment receipt. He's totally up to date. This was the one from last year to
show that it's been completed. I don't know what else you would like. It's right underneath. Let
Let me see. There's an inside picture for you.
And these were the floor plans that were drawn up by the architect.
I don't know if anybody has any questions.
Why don't you bring him on and adopt your testimony?
He speaks Spanish.
Okay. But you did speak to him and you understand it?
speak to him and you understand it yes all right so uh as an officer the court will accept your
All right. So as an officer,
to the
testimony thank you are you saying that there's going to be no commercial work done here at all
it's just his own that's correct it's his own personal hero right mr chairman from the board
yeah is there is there room in there for the you said seven cars yes
yeah right here you can see there are already five of them and that he doesn't have the other
two in there right now again it used to be an assembly building um where they actually
assembled steel parts of some type back in the day so he it's it this is just personal
parking use maintenance, is he going to do any kind of body or fender work or painting
of these vehicles? Is that part of what?
Whatever his cars require, I would assume would be done there. I can't, you know, I can't say
that he's not going to do any painting or body work to them. If one of them gets hit,
i'm sure he'll do it himself okay but that will require some other kinds of approvals but okay
but yeah i don't the main use would be personal upkeep maintenance it's really mechanical his own
vehicles yes but again i i don't want to say that he's never going to fix a fender bender if he has
one um but i don't think that's that's not the intent or the purpose okay thank you
other questions for the board all of these cars are specifically for personal use and they're
not being used for any commercial activities that's correct and and you have again here
i'll show you if you want me to go slower so that you can see them all
there we go so here's the first one this one is for a 1977 dodge he collects cars it's a 1977 dodge
this one's a 2010 infinity
The next one for the record is Nissan 2004.
The next one, Miriam Sabazco, for the record is spelled S-E-B-A-Z-C-O, that's his wife.
It's a 2008 Toyota.
the next one also titled in Miriam's name is a 2012 Subaru
the next one going back to his titled in his name is a 1980 Mazda
the next title in his name and his son his son is Jonathan spelled J-O-N-A-T-H-A-N Miguel
and John Santiago, which is my client, is a 2014
Nissan, and that's it. Those are all seven.
Other questions? Questions from our attorney,
Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair. Questions from the audience?
Questions from the virtual audience?
I do not see any hands, Mr. Chair.
planning commission thank you chairman apologize hold on
thank you chairman and good more good morning david effecto with the city planning commission
comprehensive plan recommends no change to the rsa5 residential single-family zoning at this
location the long-standing structure on the site prevents the property from being used in strict
conformity with the zoning code however vehicle repair and maintenance is not compatible with the
primarily residential block base and we also want to note for the board that according to the code
there's nothing limiting personal vehicle repair and maintenance to only repair and maintenance
of the owner's vehicles so the city planning commission recommends the board deny their
proposed use variance for personal vehicle repair and maintenance okay thank you um
MI-2022-004-563-2005-07, Sargent Street, I vote no.
Michael Johns, my vote is no.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is no.
Snedagran, my vote is no.
ION, my vote is no.
Shmuel Shaheed, my vote is no.
Thank you, counsel.
Again, may I just be heard, because this was not zoned residential.
It's not currently a residential zoning.
It's not currently a residential zoning.
Again, if you look back at.
Again, if you look back at the actual-
Council, we voted and we're going to move on.
Thank you.
Thank you.
May I be excused?
You can.
Number nine, number six, I'm sorry.
MI 2023-006-399-5044 Westminster.
Zen Jin is the attorney.
Lovely coming back in as a panelist, sir.
fourth ward democratic rco good morning good morning counsel could you please state your
name and spell for the stenographer yes my name is zen jin z h e n last name j i n do you swear
or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do could you identify
your client and the relationship to this property? Yes, my client
is Mr. Umani. He is the owner of the property.
Okay. Our vice chair has a few questions, sir. Good morning, counsel. Do you agree to
weigh the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy? I do.
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that's needed to proceed
with this case five days in advance of this hearing? I have.
Thank you, counsel. Please proceed and share your screen. Thank you.
I'm going to share with the board the documents previously submitted.
Can the board see my exhibit on their screen?
Thank you.
So we submitted this application.
The refusal for the application is based upon the zoning district being RSA 5.
What this application is, is an application to use the proposed structure for personal vehicle repair and maintenance.
While it is zoned in an RSA 5 location, I want to point out a note, even in the refusal, that this property and this particular building, which is commercial in nature, has been used as a warehouse storage of hearses and limousines from a long time ago.
And in fact, before that, if we look at the history of the building, it actually was a manufacturing site prior to the storage use.
We met with the 44 Ward Democratic RCO.
They do understand the uniqueness of this property, which gives rise to the request that we want to use it, not as a single family residence.
Because of the history and the uniqueness, they are willing to support us in our application with the stipulation, of course, that we get a three-year temporary permit and that we will not keep the vehicles outside of the auto shop areas into the surrounding area at night.
Looking at the map of the property, I'm going to move to the photos and the overhead map, which I think better shows the uniqueness of the property.
this shaded area. I'm going to zoom in a little bit for the board's benefit
so it's easier to see. This shaded area here is the lot that we're talking about that's in
question. While we are part of what is a RSA5 surrounding area, this lot, one, it's a uniquely
shaped lot, but it actually is connected out to the street and sits in the center and faces the
back of pretty much all the properties surrounding it. Here you see how you would get into the lot.
It's actually a wide driveway that leads in. There are parking spaces, a parking lot, and then
we're talking about the actual building itself. So this is the entry area, and this is the
existing building. So the building, as you can see, is an industrial-style one-story building.
My client's proposal, of course, is to renovate the building on the exterior, fix it up, make
it look nice, clean up the lot, repave it if necessary, but refreshing the property,
not rebuilding the property.
The property interior, even as it exists now, contained the hearse storage and they did
maintenance on their hearses inside.
So there were, in fact, lifts already in there, and there's an office that was in the corner.
This is essentially going to be kept.
There's no need for us to do extensive changes to this structure.
I do want to point out part of the reason my client wants to use this space is because he has an existing auto mechanic shop that is actually under a lease.
And the lease is going to expire soon. Rather than having to continue to lease the space, which is only a few blocks away, he'd rather make use of the space that he actually owns and try to get the shop in a space that would no longer require lease.
and try to get the shop in a space that would no longer require lease,
and he can maintain and control more directly.
Here's more of the interior photos.
As we look at the design itself from the outside plan standpoint,
this is how the layout of the lot would break down
if we were to look at a completed design.
And here's the existing building.
again with the access here. There are parking spaces that are already existing. They're not
marked out on the actual lot, but they would be once the renovations are complete. The
rendering here shows kind of the conceptual how you may look once it's complete. There'll be more
lifts installed to allow more base inside. The space inside is large enough that vehicles can
actually come in park turn around and then be pulled out so it's a large space uh all the work
will be contained within the space we're not looking to do any work outside of the space
the mechanic shop is exactly that it's a mechanic shop um waste oil is picked up by a reliable waste
company uh so they're they're specialized in picking up waste oil there is a tire service
that my client uses. If a client requires a tire change, the service actually brings new tire
and takes out the old tire at the same time. So no tires will be stored on the property or within
the property at any time. So this is the kind of a rendering of what the parking area may look like.
And again, once the building is resurfaced, it's going to be named East Coast Auto Depot.
When we present it to the community, naturally, because of its unique location, the community did have some concerns.
And that's why they wanted to give it a test run for three years rather than an outright permanent use.
And my client certainly is confident that he will make the community happy and keep them happy, even though his business will be there.
To minimize sound impacts, we do want to point out that the building itself, when the vehicles are inside being worked on,
it's almost once the doors are closed, you will not really hear much, if any, sound coming out of
the structure itself. So with all that, we're asking for the board's favorable review of this
application. And again, we want to point out that this property does have a unique physical
location and history that gives rise to a hardship in this particular case. Thank you. I'll be happy
to put my client
on to verify my testimony.
Council, why don't you bring your client on?
Sure. Mr. Imani, can you
raise your hand virtually
by tapping the raise hand feature
at the bottom of the screen?
Okay. They have been
promoted to panelists.
Thank you.
Please
unmute so you can answer the board's questions.
are you uh there mr good morning good morning ladies and gentlemen
oh thank you very much could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
yes uh hisham imani first name h-i-c-h-a-m last name imani i-m-a-n-i
Do you swear on the firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you.
Mr. Imani, can you verify that you heard my testimony and saw my presentation before the zoning board?
Yes, I did.
Can you also verify that what I have represented and shown is true and correct and adopted as your own testimony?
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
Yes, I have a few questions.
One, do you know how many of the existing windows on the property are operable?
Mr. Imani, are the windows operable that's currently on the building?
It's a warehouse style windows.
OK, they're like square with a mesh metal inside the glass.
They're pretty large windows.
And yes, they're all in good condition.
But are any of them operable?
like can you open do any of them have the pieces you can open it to allow air into the building
no they are not they're not designed like that okay and then my second question is about the
the heating ventilation and cooling um can you talk about what the existing system is and do
you have any plans to upgrade the system the the the office part of it does have
heating and air conditioning
uh heating and air conditioning uh it's a wall unit uh the the the warehouse part or the garage
it's a wall unit
part have uh a used oil furnace it's a furnace that uh that the the shops use to uh that to use
that is used by the waste oil from the car no no cooling in in in in the building yes just in the
office what is your plan for the summer months when you have people working in the building on
the vehicles well my plan is to add um add air conditioning we're actually talking to a company
called quality air they're the one that's going to be handling that for us they came they measured
I did not get the proposal for the AC.
The reason I did not, they said,
you just give them a little bit of time
because they're plumbing, heating, and air conditioning unit.
And in the winter, they're very busy with the heatings.
So that's the company that's going to be here.
I'm waiting for the proposal from them,
and we're going to move forward with that.
I just want to point out that it looks like
from the RCO support letter,
there seems to be a concern about like physical like physical vehicles being on the street and
because it's rsa5 zoning district which is mostly single family residential and like no noise is
gonna always be an issue and that as much as you all can keep those doors and windows at the
perimeter of the property sealed and closed that will help mitigate a lot of that sound transfer
and any fumes or noise all the questions from the board yeah just i'll just make a a quick comment
I'm very familiar with this particular property.
I've known it forever, as long as I've been alive.
It's always been a livery.
What's that, about 25 years?
About 25 years, just 25 years.
It was always a very quiet place.
So if this owner plans to keep it the same way, I think the community, you know, that's why they probably didn't have any opposition,
because it's always been a decent
place. It sits
behind the houses so you don't
even see it. The only thing you see is the driveway
and so long as you keep the
cars out of that driveway
at the end of the day, I think
it's a good, no problem.
Thank you, Michael. Anyone else on the
board? Yes, a question.
Okay, so you're just doing
regular vehicle
repair and maintenance,
no body and fender
or spray paint.
Correct. There's no body work.
Okay. And then you said that there won't be any kind of tire storage there.
You will change tires, but you won't be storing tires there?
That's correct.
How's that work?
So the company that my client uses to bring the new tires,
he'll order them as customers come in, whatever tire size is needed.
The company that brings the tire at the same time will take the waste tire away.
It's part of the contract.
So they take the waste tire on the spot when they deliver the new tires to be fitted.
Gotcha.
Thank you.
Questions from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the audience?
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
No answer, Mr. Chair.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chairman, and good morning.
david vecto with the city planning commission chairman and board members the comprehensive
plan recommends no change to the rsa5 residential single-family zoning at this location this lot
is uniquely shaped and the long-standing structure prevents the property from being used in strict
conformity with the zoning code however vehicle repair and maintenance is not compatible with a
primarily residential block base the city planning commission recommends the board grant sorry the
board deny the proposed use variants for personal vehicle repair and maintenance thank you mi2023
006 399 5044 west avenue i vote yes for a temporary variance that expires 2-1-28
michael johns who does yes with proviso
cheryl gaston my vote is yes with proviso tenetta graham my vote is yes with proviso
Taya Nguyen, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Number 16, MI 2024-005-963, 5430 to 44 Paschal Avenue, Katina Carter-Geiger.
There's support from this from the Southwest Consortium of RCOs.
I come back in as a panelist.
Come back in as a panelist.
Southwest District Service.
Southwest District Services.
Councilman Gauthier agrees.
I didn't get a chance to swear you in last time.
Am I correct?
You did.
You did swear me, but I could do it again.
All right.
Our vice chair has a few questions for you.
have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits as needed to
proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing yes i did
thank you you may proceed and share your screen
green button at the bottom
Hold on. I put share. Can you sit? Oh, share.
It's coming up now.
I'm Katina Geiger. I'm from Virtual Preventive Care Services.
We are a company that provides services to individuals with intellectual disabilities and autism.
We are currently serviced every county in Pennsylvania, in the Philadelphia region, which what we want to open up is a day program for them, where they will come and they will learn skills for working, they will learn skills to be a part of the community.
um growing demand for services so the service that we want to provide there is a growing demand
for the services there's an increasing number of individuals with intellectual disabilities
and autism in the community who need specialized training to live independently secure employment
employment and engage meaningfully in their communities limited local resources while there
are so many services available there are often limited to scope lack sufficient capacity and
don't fully address the diverse needs of individuals with intellectual disabilities
and autism in the in that particular area state support and policy the pennsylvania office of
Developmental Disabilities has emphasized the importance of supporting individuals with
intellectual disabilities and autism in achieving greater independence and quality of life aligning
with the services we provide. Community Impact, our facility will fill the critical gap by offering
tailored programs that enhance skills in daily lives, vocational training, and social participation,
ensuring that these adults have the tools that they need to thrive.
We will have vocational training.
What we provide is vocational training, daily living skills, social and community engagement,
life skills workshops, personalized support, family and caregiver support, job placement,
and retention support.
Vocational training.
We provide hands-on job skills, training to help individuals with intellectual disabilities and autism gain meaningful employment, focusing on building skills to real-world job opportunities and self-sufficiency.
Daily living skills training.
Our program teaches essential skills such as budgeting, cooking, personal care, and time management to increase independence in daily lives.
Social and community engagement.
We offer social programs that help participants develop communication skills, build friendships, and engage with their community in meaningful ways.
Personalized support.
Each participant will receive a tailored plan that addresses their unique goals, strengths, and challenges with one-on-one support from trained staff.
Life Skills Workshop.
we heard we host workshop focus on self-advocacy self-making and health management to empower
individuals to make informed choices about their lives miss geiger miss geiger miss geiger here so
i think what would be important remember this hearing is about the property so why don't you
show us the property and start talking about the building itself okay so the property i do have some
photos of the property. So the property was formerly a banquet hall. This is a picture of
the bathroom, which the sinks are lowered to ADA regulations. This is what it formerly was. We have
ADA regulations. This is what it formerly was. We have not done any work on the building as of yet.
not to any.
We only have pictures of what it was hoping to get this variance so that it can pay. So these
are the former, these are the pictures of what it looks like now. It's an open concept to the
building. I'm going to show you the inside and then I'm going to go to the outside of the building.
this is what it was it was a banquet hall which we're trying to change the use now
to use it for the purpose that we have this is what it looked like
formally well now this is what it looks like now
uh we also have pictures and the powerpoint so miss geiger could you do could you show us what
Do you have plans on what it's going to be?
Yes, this is a future plan.
Thank you.
No problem.
Here, this is what we hope for the open concept would be to set up different tables for them, to set up different areas for them.
and on
on the outside
it has its own parking lot
so here we will have it well lit
here we will have
handicapped parking
along with other parking
And so it won't take up parking on the street.
That's what it formally looked like until it got fixed up.
Those are all the photos that I have.
How many people do you think you'll have a day?
So the program only allows you to have 25 individuals.
That would be the full capacity of the program.
You can only have 25 individuals at a time and about 10 to 15 employees working.
Is there anything else you have to show us?
No, just the presentation that I put together.
Okay. Questions from the board?
Yes. When you say adults, what are we talking about in terms of the age range?
18 and over.
Okay. And how, you have a parking lot, so they're going to drive there or someone's going to drive them there?
Or do you have other ways of transporting people to the facility?
Yes, we have veins, we have handicap accessible buses, paratransit buses, and some of the individuals, if their family choose to drop them off, they can, and if they choose for us to pick them up and drop them off, we can.
Okay, and they're referred by an agency or something?
Yes, the Office of, ODP, the Office of Developmental Programs, yes.
ah okay and so they do some kind of screening process and tell you what kind of services
absolutely okay all right and then uh you said you're going to have like 10 to 15 employees
this is this is like adult daycare if you will right it's not we can't call it daycare but yes
I don't mean it in that sense, I mean, it's not like a living facility.
No, it's not.
They come there, correct.
So what are we talking about in terms of hours of operation?
They'll come in at 8 and be going by 5.
Okay, all right.
And will there be services on, like, the weekends or just?
No, Monday through Friday.
All right, thank you.
Other questions from the board?
Yeah, so what code regulations will you be utilizing from the state?
Is this under the Regulation 6400?
Yes, Regulations.
No, not 6400.
Some of the policies have to come from 6400, but it would be listed as a day program facility.
And you'll be dealing with CPS clients, consumers, correct?
That is correct, yes.
all right thank you all the questions from the board is this the only facility that you will
have or do you have a current facility as a day program this will be the first one
okay and your experience um we've been around since 2016 we currently serve
We've been around since 2016. We currently serve. We do CPS, but we do it out in the community. We presently don't have a facility. That's why we're hoping to get this one.
We provide nursing services for them. We provide in-home and community support. We provide a lot of services for them. Behavior, health, I have a very big staff.
Thank you.
Questions or comments from our attorney? Hillary Emerson.
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the audience?
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Yes, Chair. I have a hand up from Craig Melodostein. I've allowed him to speak.
Good morning, Craig. Please state your name and spell for the stenographer.
Good morning. Craig C-R-A-I-G.
Last name.
I'm sorry. I dropped out. They switched me over.
I see. Craig, C-R-A-I-G, last name Melodosian, M-E-L-I-D-O-S-I-A-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
I do, Chair Bergman.
Please proceed, sir.
I wanted to indicate right off the bat that the RCOs that gathered on the meeting at 12-5 unanimously support this.
our one concern was at the meeting we did not have the benefit of the illustrations here today
as well as the lease so we wanted to clarify that in fact because of the number of people
participating in the program both as staffs and clients that there would be ample off-street
parking. The area is already congested. On the west face or west elevation of the property
is Linmore, the 5500 block of Linmore, which has single family row homes on both sides of the
street and only one lane for parking. People are currently parking on 55th Street, perpendicular
to the street. So it's important that we be able to get the cars onto the lot. The second issue
that was raised by Mr. Horn with HORN, with the Southwest District Services, was hours of
operation. I've personally been involved with this project since 2010, and there have been a series
of i'll simply say speakeasies and unlicensed halls in there uh attracting cease and desist
and the most recent one which you've seen pictures of uh failed an after hours investigation
on 326 24 i think with 19 violations associated with operation uh structural issues etc
So what we're indicating is we think this is the best presentation we've seen for this location, though it's I2, in the last 15 years.
So we'd simply ask that we codify hours of operation and off-street parking if they're provisible.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
so just to comment if there isn't parking already available on site we can't require
some sort of off-site parking um but we can put in an hours of operation proviso and i thought
the hours of operation were 8a to 5p am i correct yes okay and what days what days a week
Monday, Monday, Friday, right. Okay. Um, and, and, um, Ms. Geiger, are you agreeable to a proviso with those that would limit the hours of operation? Yes. Okay. Thank you. Um, anyone else in the virtual audience?
No further hands, Mr. Chair. Any commission?
thank you chair bergman and good morning david ekta with the city planning commission
chairman and board members the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the i2 medium industrial
zoning at this location the city changed the zoning maps in this neighborhood in 2012
in a community supported map change this building is located on a primarily residential block face
the city planning commission recommends the board grant a proposed use variance for adult
to care. Thank you. MI 2024-005-963-5430-44 Pascal Avenue. I vote yes with proviso. Hours
of operation 8A to 5B. For Johnson, my vote is yes with proviso. Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes
with proviso. Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes with proviso. Taya Nguyen, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with proviso. Thank you. You have your votes, ma'am.
Thank you.
You have your votes, ma'am.
Is there anyone in the virtual world?
Is there anyone in the virtual audience whose case has not been called?
Mr. Chair, I have a hand up from Mr. Jermaine Harris.
Yes, we do not call the matter.
Number 13, MI2024-002-293-6701-6201-North 15th Street.
Jermaine Harris is the attorney.
We were joining as a panelist, Mr. Chair.
Good morning.
Good morning.
I didn't want you to think we missed you.
I didn't think you did.
All right.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Oh, yeah, sure.
It's Jermaine Harris that's spelled as J-E-R-M-A-I-N-E, Harris, H-A-R-R-I-S.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
And could you identify your client in relationship to the property?
so uh roshian basely uh who is leesor of the particular property and i'm the attorney for
uh miss basely the applicant okay our vice chair has a few questions sure good afternoon counsel
do you agree to weigh the reading of the refusal or stipulate towards accuracy i do and i stipulate
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits as needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
I have.
Thank you. And we have received the non-opposition letter from Oak Lane and Worcester Community Coalition, RCL. Please proceed and share the screen.
okay get up excuse me hold on sorry i'm trying to get my zippets up
just bear with me hold on okay
okay sorry for the delay all right so this is concerning the property at 6201 north 15th street
uh and what my client is seeking to do is to use the property as a daycare the basement level not
the basement level but the lower level so what we have here this is a photo of what this is
it's a 52 it's a it's designated the whole building is designated as rm1 uh this property
is on uh it's on 15th street and it's near the intersection of broad street and uh broad street
stenton and between broad and i believe it's champlost but at any rate this is a 53 unit
building right here and what we're talking about right here is what my client uh is is
just began renting uh as of march of 2024 waiting for waiting to get permission to be able to use
this as a daycare now this property uh again it has residential use up here
But this property has been used. This property has been used, at least the beginning, the lower level has been used for commercial use for over two generations since 1980.
uh first it was used as a plumbing and heating office this particular particular part and in
1987 it was for uh it looks like a clothing store ladies clothing store
And then about five years ago, there was use of this. Well, last use of it was a pharmacy for that was used for this particular building.
and then about five years ago there was
However, because the property has been vacant for more than three years, it has this particular area.
It now has reverted to its original use of just the RM1.
which is just residential. Now, let me go to the plants.
So, what we have here is we have two main areas, two main rooms. The previous picture
was the was the main was the main entrance right here where you walk in front door and then you
have the daycare area it's 879 square feet then you exit this area and then there's a go into
this room and this is another main area right here and this is 608 uh square feet this is where
the children would be this is where the children would be at uh it is from six months the target
range is from six months to six years old so it'd be preschool um infants to preschool
and there would be two teachers that would be there for these particular areas and the
anticipation is it would be around 30 students or so 30 children that would be there the hours
of operation would be from 6 30 a.m until 6 p.m monday through friday so again we have the two
main areas then we have a hallway that leads to a exit that leads to a that
leads to the back door and then let's see here back here is the bathroom let's
see if I can move this okay I can and behind that is the kitchen so that's the
floor plans of this let's get back to the original exhibits
so if we look at the actual
that by the way this is a posting of the notice of the hearing again the front of the building
right here is where you would walk in and these are the windows
this is the rear of the building right here
now this is the main uh this is the main uh area that we the larger room this is what it would be
this is
this is the hallway leading that leading from the large room and then it would go into this room
which is the second room uh this would lead into this would lead to the outside the back
the back um this door would lead to the rear that we were talking about and this leads to the bathroom
this is the this is the second room
Let's see. Yeah, that's the second room. No, I'm sorry. This is not, that is not the second room. This is the kitchen. That was the kitchen area. It has not been fitted out yet.
but this is what it would be for the kitchen that's reflected on plans this is the side
this is the second room I don't know why it's scanned to the side but this is the second room
right here here's the deed um of evidencing the current owner
I'll see you later.
We have evidence that there's no taxes that are owed except for this year, but it's cleared.
Let me all see.
We have evidence that there's no taxes that are owed except for this year, but it's cleared.
we also had a community meeting
we had the community meeting and uh there was no letter there was no opposition uh to this
we presented what it was they were they didn't have any problems with what was uh being proposed
And so also, I'll have you know that my client has two other daycares, one in the Olney area and one near Broaden Olney, and then one which is not that far from this location.
And then one also in the Rising Sun area, Rising Sun as well.
and they've been in business for 13 years as an active daycare and so I don't have anything else
to present I would like to have the opportunity to have my client Ms. Baisley promoted to adopt
my testimony why don't you bring your client on please okay Ms. Baisley could you raise your hand
please so you can be promoted okay they will be coming back in as a panel shortly thank you
good morning good morning good morning could you please state your name and spell for the
stenographer yes my name is rashawn basely um my my name is rashawn basely and could you spell
please for the stenographer r-a-s-h-i-a-n-b-a-s-l-e-y right do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yeah please proceed counsel okay miss basely so
have you heard the testimony that i've just given to uh this board the zoning board yes and
do you adopt this uh testimony that i've just presented meaning do you agree with the testimony
that I just presented? Yes. Okay. Is there anything else you'd like to add? You don't
necessarily have to, but if there is anything else you'd like to add? No. Okay. And we would
open it. And at this point, we would just open up if there are any questions. Well,
Yes. Okay. How many bathrooms are you going to have here?
So I'm going to have one. Can you hear me?
Can you put on your camera, please? Thank you.
Thank you. Okay. How many bathrooms are there going to be?
wait a minute let me put the
so it's going to be
one handicap accessible
bathroom and also
two portal
two smaller
toilets for the children
okay and then
it's according
to the testimony you're going to have
infants from like six months
up to children as
older six years old so you're
talking infants to preschool so
So with respect to these spaces or the how how is that going to work?
You're going to have certain age children in one of these rooms.
And we will have it squared off to each age.
So they won't be all mixed together. We'll try to sort it off like, you know, so they won't be separated.
OK. Age groups. Age groups.
okay so you're talking what the infants to the say toddlers and then we'll do it according to
the ratio so usually the state will come in and they'll let us from like ages one to four
okay all right yeah and you're going to provide food for the children yes it'll be um breakfast
lunch and snack breakfast lunch and what was that snack snack snack I'm sorry
breakfast lunch and what was that snack snack snack I'm sorry I just didn't hear okay and then
um I'm a little confused about these doorways um what can you show the pictures again
okay let's see here
I mean you've got the security doors down in the pictures so I'm not sure yeah yeah
Yeah, let me pull it up.
Sorry.
All right.
All right.
So that's the front.
This is the back.
Right.
This is the front.
That's another question, but that's a whole other thing.
But I'm talking about the actual doors you were showing it to come into the building.
the doors that come into the building is this right here that one okay so this one in the
middle is that it looks like almost like a garage door now is that what that's the main
door that's two double doors behind it it's two double doors there that's the main door
okay and then on this windows on the right side yes what is that windows is that another door
No, that's a window.
And then there are the two windows.
Is that windows on the other side as well?
All right.
And then is there a, you showed the rear.
Is there a play area for the children?
We're going to try to do the indoor play.
We're going to do an indoor.
So you're going to have an outdoor area,
but you're going to do indoor play yes where are you going to where the children are going to play
outside you have to have outdoor you have to have a game oh we do have an outdoor we do have an
outdoor is that this is that he has a picture of the outdoor that's right all right so but
but you're not planning to use that too much it doesn't require outdoor space
Okay. All right. Thank you.
You have all the questions.
Yes, I have a question about the separation and the connection to other things on the first floor of that building.
Can you show the floor plans again and talk about what's on the contiguous wall?
okay which okay so this is the floor plan uh the hall the exit door leading to the uh
leading to the rear and then this is the the bathroom that we were just speaking of
yeah so my question is about what else is on the first floor of that building outside of this
property outside of what you have shown what's i russian do you know if there's anything else
that's breaking on the space there's nothing there it's all just a commercial space
it's just the whole bottom is the commercial space the whole floor of that residential
building is all commercial? Yes. And what are the other commercial uses in the building?
It's nothing else there. So you would be the only commercial in it? Yes. Yes.
Other questions from the board? Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
um just following up on board member wind's point um the refusal doesn't specify space
where this use is proposed but isn't you've just said that it's only on the first floor so
would you object to a proviso if the board grants specifying that the use is for the first floor
only no no objection to that okay that's what the intention of what this was for okay thank you
questions or comments from the audience? Step four.
Can you push the button there, sir?
Yes. All right. And then get closer to the mic.
Could you please state your name?
My name is James Harvey. I'm the committee
person for 17-4. I've been representing
this area for 25 years. Mr. Harvey, do me a favor. Could you spell your name
for the h-a-r-v-e-y and you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but
the truth yes sir please proceed mr harvey yes sir the property that they're showing you is
The property that they're showing you is not really the facade of the property.
is not really the facade
The address is 6201 North 15th Street, which is the entrance to the apartment building.
Underneath where she's showing you is a commercial spot, but she's not showing you next door where it is a beauty and barbershop.
The entrance on this property is on Stenton Avenue, which is congested.
everybody comes in that way comes in there's no parking the area that borders on 15th street is
residential and 80 percent of the people senior citizens the rest is third generation homeowners
like me and what they were saying about the entrance is going to be on stenton avenue
There's no play area.
This property has been had under a lot of zoning complaints against it for years.
The back that she's showing you is a document up photo.
There's dumpsters back there.
There's trash back there.
There's debris back there.
And people park.
And it's a dumping area.
Before she came with this area, Stittenhouse rented it out as an after-hour spot.
The owner rented out to a person, you bring your own liquor and food into this area.
This building has been under a different zoning thing for 20 years.
I've been around it ever since 68 when my grandfather lived there.
But with the facade she's showing you, she don't want to show you the broad view of the property, which is Stenton Avenue.
Stenton Avenue is a high denser area.
There will be no parking for her.
there will be no parking for the parents to pick up and there will be no places where she can put
a bus so when you look at this area and you look on stanton avenue there's a shell gas station
there's a car wash joining to it right there is a beauty shop and barbershop that's been there for
years she's just showing you the one face how she gonna have 30 kids in that place is beyond belief
There's no outside play area whatsoever, except the sidewalk, which is a lot of high traffic.
We have a senior citizen place around the corner and with the residential.
So when the people come up to drop the kids off, they're going to be double parking.
And that's going to cause a congested area, as they already have on 15th Street.
So when they come up in the morning, you have the one lane, the two lanes, that's going to exclude park and it's going to exclude the neighborhood.
The reason why they say the commercial property, years ago, there was a pharmacy there called Book Miners Pharmacy.
Guy had, it was a little mom and pop drugstore.
When he left, they had a little thrift store in there
where you had one or two, three people come in.
Nothing to this magnitude.
The thing they had with this club,
we addressed Stittenhouse about it,
and their issues with us is we can do whatever we want to do.
But if you look at their history of all the zoning permits
against them, in the back, that's the cleanest I've seen since 1950.
that's doctrine because back there is dumpsters cars parked back there kids can't go back there
if they come out the front there's nowhere for them in the front i and we also have
six daycares in our neighborhood already we have one on board and stenton which has self-contained
parking we have one at board and shelton which has outside we have one at board and 68 you have
wanted board in needle they do have little self-contained areas but they had 30 kids that's
going to be dropped off in this small place with one bathroom there's only one bathroom in there
and they have portable the facilities are not there where is her trash pickup going to be at
and it's just going to be a nuisance by she's saying she had community meetings no
because everything comes to me.
I've been at this.
Sidney Bass's office sent me the notice to do Zoom,
but I couldn't do Zoom.
I didn't know how to do Zoom.
I put it in for the parents to come down here to represent.
80% of my neighbors are against it.
We already overpopulated with the parking.
We had Stenton House with Derby Court
and the Philip Murphy House and Philip Murphy, too.
In the morning time, it's bad.
It's bad.
If there's a snowstorm like it was the other day,
If there's a snowstorm like it was the other day,
that's an emergency route on Stanton Avenue.
that's a murder.
But see, in her presentation,
she's not mentioning Stanton Avenue at all.
But that's the interest of Stanton Avenue.
Anybody want to come up there and look at it,
it's just she's showing you this, but not showing you this.
They're showing you the back, but not telling you the truth.
But we're against it.
Nobody had a meeting with us.
All right, thank you.
Hold on. Hold on one minute. Thank you for your testimony. Counselor, do you have any cross?
I don't have any cross, but I'd like to call my client as a rebuttal, if I may.
Thank you for your testimony. We appreciate you waiting here all that time. Thank you.
You want to call your client back, please?
Yeah, sure.
Ms. Baisley.
The, it was a whole lot that was said right there.
So can you address the, you heard testimony about there being dumpsters and there not being a place to play in their rear and that's not how it really looks.
When were those, when was those pictures of that?
Unmute, please.
You got to unmute.
unmute there we go okay okay so that's why i said that it wasn't required for them to have
outdoor play because it's not required by the state it's okay right but it just answered my
question when was that picture when were the when was that picture of the rear taken
Last Tuesday.
You're breaking up, ma'am.
I'm sorry.
Last Tuesday.
Do you agree with this testimony that in the rear that it's just dumpsters and there's no room to play back there?
No, I don't.
That this is doctored up?
This is doctored up.
That picture is current.
Okay. Now, regarding the people that were there and the number of bathrooms, why was it designed for one bathroom?
I'm not sure why it was designed for one bed front, but I know when I spoke with my architect, he said that it would be able to make a handicap accessible and also able to add additional toilet seating for the children.
And your other daycares, there are two other daycares that you have, right?
Yes, one on board, Nalini, yes.
And what are the number of children?
Is it similar to the proposed number that we're talking about here, about 30 to 35 students?
And do each of those have one bathroom for that?
Is there any issue?
Is there any specific parking at the Broad Nowany or Rising Sun?
is there any the same way it would be for sitting avenue um pull up and drop off no parking no
additional parking and it's been work have you had any complaints by the nearby neighbors
from the other from the other daycare of congestion never no complaints okay
You mail notices, were notices mailed out to all the nearby neighbors in this, of this community meeting that you had last week?
I don't have any further questions.
Okay, and Counsel, one more question.
Your client mentioned that the two toilets are going to be portable toilets.
What does that mean?
They'll be children's size toilets.
not portable toilets they the little miniature you use that term i didn't i didn't use that
i'm sorry yes that's okay okay anyone else in the virtual audience yeah mr charlie i just had
one clarification question for mr harris um mr harris are you are you representing the owner of
the property or a tenant i'm representing the tenant the applicant okay so in order for us to
proceed on this we would need a copy of the lease if you're representing the tenant because okay um
he has to show standing i understand that um we can we can supplement that we can we can submit
that okay the board will need to hold its vote then thank you all right all right um
Okay. The board will need to hold its vote then. Thank you.
All right. Can I ask?
Lanny, do you want to take your position now?
Can I ask one more question?
Go ahead.
Before we go. We asked about outdoor play. I've done a number of daycares and they require that you have a provision to provide outdoor play, whether it's at on location or nearby.
What's your plan for outdoor play for the children?
it'll be on location and that is that going to be in the rear yard or it could be it could be
indoor or outdoor yes no no no no there's gotta answer his question an indoor play you've got
or an indoor play right you've got that because you got indoor but there's a requirement to have
children be able to play outside also and i was just asking what's your provision if your provision
is on site then that's fine it's going to be on site yes okay but then that means that the
rear yard should be included in the lease that's not that's not true according to the state so
you can actually have um playground space inside or outside as long as the space is sufficient
okay well thank you for that clarification i've always got hit with having to do the outdoor
thank you any other comments yes should we as part of and i'm asking can we ask for um pictures of
the surrounding area like what we're seeing is just you know that one entrance and what have
you which is what i was questioning but can we also ask for pictures of the surrounding area so
we can better um uh so we'll have a better sense of what is really around absolutely so so we can
hold the record open um for a copy of the lease as well as contextual photos thank you planning
commission chairman good afternoon david fechto with the city planning commission um chairman i
think uh noting that the appellant is going to submit additional exhibits we'll ask to
hold our vote or hold our recommendation sorry all right good thank you um mr chair yes i'm sorry
to interrupt but uh we have two hands raised in our virtual audience one is craig meladosian um
okay craig i'll be back in as a panelist
no no craig are you involved in this case
sorry i was trying to lower my hand that is an error all right thank you is there another hand
up yes mr wait there was a there was a hand up but now it's gone down okay good um so planning
you're going to hold your two okay so um so mr chair we'll do a resumption of hearing then
on this case um the date of the resumption hearing will be april 8th at 9 30 a.m
Thank you very much. We're going to, this case is going to be, we'll vote on this, have another hearing on the 8th of April at 9.30 a.m. You don't have to, but if you want to, you can go back and listen to the vote.
well um so and uh may may i may i inquire so i'll submit the i just submit the additional
deletes the photos deletes in the photos but there's no further testimony that would be
presented correct like there's nothing like the record other than that the planning commission
will still give its recommendation and you will need to provide proof of posting the property
will need to be reposted okay okay all right that's fine so there could be additional testimony
based on the additional information that is provided so i i think what the gentleman is
saying he wants to come back with it with photos okay if you would um sir um if you would like to
submit materials um please talk with the staff about about how you can do that because we would
we need to receive those in advance of the next hearing.
Okay. All right. Thank you, everyone.
Is there anyone in the audience whose case has not been called?
I have Charles Richardson with his hand raised.
I've allowed him to speak.
Hi, Mr. Richardson.
Mr. Chair, so sorry.
I had tried to get in earlier, but let me...
No, no, no. Just state your name for the record. That's all.
Charles Richardson, Office of Councilwoman Cindy Bass,
room 508 City Hall.
The councilman is going to be against, opposed to that zoning variance.
The RCO meeting only had the applicant, the attorney, the applicant's partner, and the chair of the RCO.
the applicant, the attorney, the applicant's partner, and the chair of the RCO there. There
were no near neighbors there. The location is bad. It's right off of Broad Street, where they
make a notorious high-speed turn and gun it all the way up going on to Stanton Avenue, on to
Points North. And the gentleman was correct with regard to trying to, where are the parents going
to park and that type of thing the types of congestion that's going to cause at that location
and it's just a bad location to do that type of a business uh so the councilwoman is opposed to um
to that the to that variance thank you richardson thank you for taking the time to call us we
appreciate it is there anyone else in the audience yes chair i have a hand up from allison weiss
oh sorry i didn't hear allison this is not part of your case right
100 pulaski avenue i know okay thank you very much um oh it was dismissed i see okay
thank you we're gonna we're gonna be back at 2 p.m
thank you mr chair
good afternoon everyone my name is bill bergman i will be chairing the meeting
of the philadelphia zoning board of adjustment with me is our vice chair ismail shaheed
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our board member, Cheryl L. Gaston.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our board member, Tanetta Graham.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our board member, Michael Johns.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our board member, Ty O'Wynn.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Also present is Hillary Emerson, our attorney, and Ian Haggerty, the executive director of the zoning board.
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Okay, thank you, Chair.
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the right thank you chair thank you
Thank you, Chair.
Thank you.
So let's look at our schedule.
Number one, MI 2023, 007-208, 212 Diamond Street.
That case is continued until 6-8-25 at 2 p.m.
And number two, MI 2024, 005-237, 2281 Argonne Avenue.
That case is continued to 6-8-25 at 2 p.m.
You sure?
Just for record, state your name and spell it.
Ronald Patterson, Claire Harrison, all firm, 1835 Market Street.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
That number two was your case.
Am I correct?
That's correct.
Mr. Chair, pardon me.
This is the court reporter.
I cannot hear Mr. Patterson.
Is it on, Ron?
Can you hear me?
we'll hear you now okay yes thank you sorry i'll sit um so yeah this is a request for continuance
it is the second one but there's also a request for leave uh to for the board to uh send a revised
plan back to l and i for review to issue a revised refusal based upon the comments of the local civic
group the gerard estate area residents okay thank you that's okay thank you and number 10
mi 2024 006 529 59 77 janet janet street that case is continued till 6 8 25 at 2 p.m
we're going to start with uh let's go to our add-ons here
Number one, MI 2024-004-350-2821, Lehigh Avenue.
I vote yes.
Temporary variance expires 2-1-28.
Michael Jones, my vote is yes with proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with proviso.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes with proviso.
Tyowin, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ishmael Shaheen, my vote is yes with proviso.
Number two, MI 2024-001-649-7715 Ogons Avenue, I vote yes with provisos.
Her amended refusal dated 128-25, interior storage of tires.
Charles, my vote is yes with proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with proviso.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes with proviso.
My vote is yes with Proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Number three, MI 2024-004130-3700-40, Kensington Avenue, this is a request for reconsideration.
I vote yes to reconsideration and rehearing.
My vote is yes for reconsideration and rehearing.
Gerald Gaston, my vote is yes to reconsideration and rehearing.
Another Graham, my vote is yes to reconsideration and rehearing.
I win.
My vote is yes to reconsideration and rehearing.
Dishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes to reconsideration and rehearing.
And number four, MI 2022-003-966-5900 Pulaski Avenue.
This matter was dismissed in error during a 930-A list this morning.
The matter now has been continued July 9th, 2025 at 930 a.m.
We're going to go to number five to start.
MI 2024-006-332-1118 McClellan Street.
Joseph and Melissa Carter are the owners.
good afternoon mr chair this is jason hand i will be your calls for the session thank you
individual in question will be sworn in as a panel shortly thank you
we see him in the audience
hello this is uh just hi uh could you please state your name and joseph who's going to do the
testify uh i will okay could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer
Okay. Could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Sure. Yeah. My name is Joseph Carter, J-O-S-E-P-H-C-A-R-T-E-R.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
This application is for a third floor addition with a roof deck and pile house over an existing two-story single family attached structure with existing garage to remain.
If abutting lots on both sides of an attached building contain only two stories of enclosed area, the stories above the second floor of the attached house shall be set back an additional eight feet from the minimum distance between the front facades.
The required setback is not provided.
Our vice chair has a few questions for you.
And you do, by the way, have the support of the East Pachon Square Civic Association.
It's a letter of non-apposition also from Council Member Squilla.
Good afternoon. Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits as needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Five days in advance? Everything was emailed in, I think, about, it was over the weekend, I believe, so I think it was four days in advance.
Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.
Hey, can everybody see my my screen here? You can. Okay. So this, these images were pulled from
the Zillow listing before my wife and I purchased the property in October of 2023.
As you can see, it's currently a two story home that we're looking to put a third story on top of.
this is the rear view of the the property with the detached garage
here's a picture of the zoning notice on the garage with a zoomed out view of that
here's a picture of the zoning notice on the front front door with a zoomed out view of that
This is the state of the home before we bought the property, so our plans is to essentially
revive this property. As you can see, you know, the walls are kind of falling in. It's in pretty
rough shape, so the plan is to do, you know, kind of a complete gut job in addition to, sorry,
in addition to building upwards for the third story and the roof deck.
This is our deed paperwork from Settlement back in October.
Here's our Philadelphia real estate transfer tax from Settlement.
This is a rendering from Third Story Philadelphia, who's the company that we're going to be using
to um to do the work of uh what the property should should look like afterwards
okay so now we're getting into some of the architecture plans uh here's a side view
of the entire property um with the rooftop deck in the pilot house
here you can see the elevation for the third story in the pilot house with the
with the other existing stories.
These are just the demo plans for the interior.
This is just the electrical plans there.
Elevation from the front and the rear of the property.
It's just kitchen and bathroom.
Doors and windows.
Here's our refusal letter.
October.
This is our PIF.
This was the letter that was sent out to all of our neighbors in the Pasch Young Square area.
and photos to support that they were mailed out to i think it was about 180 or so
uh here is the letter from the rco meeting that you mentioned
uh with their votes
uh with their votes
here is the certificate of tax clearance for myself oops second here and then
and then the tax clearance for my wife melissa here
um do you have anything else that's everything okay questions from the board
what's the um your your uh roof height
we're gonna see if it's on the uh on the drawings i don't know the answer off the top of my head
can you zoom in we could probably see it uh yep it looks like it's uh
28 feet one and one and a half inches so that's to the what is that third that's the third floor
so third floor roof is at 28 feet uh yes okay
and mr carter are you done michael yep yep mr carter how many other uh houses on your block
have one up i think there's uh yeah i think there's three three others uh neither of our
adjacent houses have um the third story but there are other houses on our block that have this
uh through the same company too by the way
can you actually scroll over a little bit i'm just trying to see the roof of the pilot house
actually I have no questions. I have a question. So the adjacent neighbors on your both sides
are in support of your third story? Yes, they are. Thank you. Any other questions from
the board? Questions or comments from the audience? Questions or comments from the
virtual audience? Yes, Chair. I have a hand up from Susan Ponson. I've allowed them to
speak okay how could you please state your name and spell it for the stenographer
we were joining shortly mr chair sure
susan ponson please unmute wait to be sworn in
okay this took a little longer than i saw suzanne ponson suz susan do me a favor could you put your
video on oh okay sure sure thanks this is could you please state your name and spell for the
stenographer suzanne suzanne ponson p-o-n-s-e-n you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole
truth and nothing but the truth? I do. Please proceed. Are you a neighbor?
I had my hand raised from the very beginning. And this does not relate to this case at all.
But I didn't take it down because I was still waiting to hear. I put it in the chat.
It has to do with 5,900 palaces. So we've already made it. We're in the middle of the case. I really
can't answer that now all right is there anyone else in the virtual audience no further answer
planning commission
amy boyd with the planning commission amy boyd do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole
truth and nothing but the truth i do please proceed the comprehensive plan recommends a
change in zoning from the existing residential single family and commercial mixed use but zoning
to Residential Single-Family RSA 5.
The appellant has not demonstrated
that there are unique physical circumstances
or conditions of the property
that would prevent it from being used
in conformance with the zoning code.
The Planning Commission recommends
that the board deny the requested variance
for a third-story setback.
MI 2024-006-332-1118 McClellan Street,
I vote yes.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
my vote is yes my vote is yes thank you you have your votes thank you very much
Number three, MI 2024-005-323-4317 and 19 Comley Street, Phil Smoker is the enlisted attorney.
number three mi20
They'll be rejoining as a panelist, sir.
all right i'm here phil smoker the attorney for the applicant could you please state your name
and spell for this stenographer yes philip smoker philip smoker you swear or affirm to tell the
truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do could you identify your client the relationship
to the property sure i represent the property owner may gal and she should be on here as well
But she's at home and on Zoom.
Okay, thank you.
So we do have a letter of anonymous non-opposition from Wissahick and Civic.
Yes, correct.
Our vice chair has a few questions for you, sir.
Good afternoon, counsel.
Do you agree to wait to read another refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
Absolutely.
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that's needed and required to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, sir.
Thank you, counsel. Please proceed. And you've already shared your screen.
So you see my screen sharing right now?
Okay, good. Okay, so this is essentially a property in the Wissenoming neighborhood of northeast Philadelphia.
My client is an 85-year-old woman who lives there. She's a widow. She lives there by herself.
She has a son and a grandchild that lives out in California.
She's been living there and owned the property for 20 years.
It's essentially a single family home with a detached structure in the back that she wants to allow for.
So she wants the single family home to allow for essentially two units on one plot.
OK, the current home would remain as a single as a single family home that just but she wants to allow for the detached structure in the back to be used as a home as well.
Because as an 85 year old, it's a one story and she wants to build a kitchen in there and move in there and then perhaps rent out the existing single family home that she lives in right now.
um i'll scroll down here i mean this is the uh the refusal it's the application for appeal
the pif uh this is the deed which shows that she purchased this place back in 2005
um she's this is her tax compliance she is tax compliant these are some drawings i mean they
they're hard to decipher but these are the orange posters that she put up over 20 days
ago that's a that's one out in front of her house on the light pole or whatever this is in on her
her front door there um these are some more pictures uh and then the photos of the property
so here's a picture from google earth i believe that's the front of the property uh she was
telling me that she is very proud of her gardening that she does right this is in the front of the
house and the neighbors love it. And the neighbor, she's, she has no opposition from the, um, from
the RCO and no opposition from the neighbors for this. And she is well regarded in her, on her
block. She's lived there for a while. And, and of note, there are other, you know, duplexes on the
block. So she's, you know, although this is a detached structure, there are multiple multifamily
units on the block. So this is kind of the back area. This white building here is the building
that has been used kind of like as a utility or office. Already has a bathroom with a shower,
but she needs to add a kitchen, right? And before she gets all the permits required to add a kitchen,
she needs to get zoning to get permission to basically have multi-dwellings on one lot.
So as you can see, there's also plenty of room for parking for two houses.
She states that there's room for five cars.
So, you know, obviously room for five cars is plenty of room for a multifamily dwelling.
Here's another shot kind of zoomed out a little bit more.
That's the white building that we're trying to get, you know, as the second unit.
This is obviously the existing house that she lives in,
but she would like to move back here
move back here so she doesn't have to deal with stairs and things like that as she ages.
so she doesn't have to deal with stairs and things like that as she ages.
Here it is again.
There it is from kind of another angle.
This is a white building. This is the existing house.
And this is the letter of non-opposition.
Mr. Schmoker, do you have any plans for the back?
What it will look like?
So, I mean, okay, so I have a picture of what it looks like now.
From the outside, you won't be able to tell the difference.
It's just on the inside that is of note, and I have pictures of the inside, interior photos of the existing white building in the back.
This is what it looks like now.
Now, she doesn't – she hasn't drawn up plans for how she's going to put the kitchen in and things like that.
She hasn't – she doesn't have those plans yet.
So this is the interior of that white building in the back that she wants to have as a dwelling.
Questions from the board.
Well, is your client available or you don't – you're not going to –
I mean, she like the court will take your testimony questions from the board.
What's the square footage of the building in the rear?
OK, I mean, this is a little bit hard for me to believe, but she says it's a thousand square feet and the drawings show that it's a thousand square feet.
It's one floor, so it's a little larger than you might think, I guess.
What's the current use of that structure?
sure so it's been used as an office i think basically right now it's uh somewhat unused
let me see what she has in her um just bear with me for one second
right now she just uses that and it's like her exercise room right so she's the only one that
lives there nobody lives with her and she's not renting out the backspace for anything right now
she just uses it as her exercise room it's very close to her house but it is detached
i'm wondering like once this becomes a living unit what is the plan for um like the mailbox
and trash storage sure so sure so uh trash storage would i believe i mean i don't think
the amount of trash would be terribly affected um and i i you know again she's she's a an 85 year
old single a widow you know so she lives alone there's not going to be a ton of trash right um
um so i don't i don't think you know i don't think she doesn't really have plans except you
know maybe she would put it you know share the trash with the people that live in the red building
or um you know have you know separate containers out on trash day right all the trash would be
stored in her place uh in the new white building um and uh what was sorry what was the
other mailbox mailbox yeah i mean as as of now you know she doesn't have plans for that i mean
i think that potentially she would um uh have to basically split it up you know unit one unit two
you know it's 37 43 17 to 19 comley street unit one which would probably be the front building
and Unit 2, which would be the back building.
Has the survey already been done for the new address?
I have no further questions.
Thank you.
Any other questions from the board?
Is there a plan to either subdivide this in any way
or is she just planning to uh use this building as is sure because that's the question that yes
yeah figure out how you're gonna yeah you're you're trying to have two single family dwellings
on one lot and correct so she's she just wants two families to be living be able to live like
herself as a unit and in the back and in another family in the front no there are no plans to
subdivide uh there are no plans to split up the deeds or whatever no there are not plans to
split up the deeds or whatever no there are not plans to subdivide she just wants to be allowed
subdivide she just wants to be allowed
to have two families living on this one property essentially okay and did you say that there
already is a bathroom in this there is already a bathroom with a shower in the back in the back
building yes because it's been used as kind of like in the past as an office i think probably
before she lived there it's been used as like an office now it's just her exercise room
Actually, I do have another question. So you said that's currently being used for exercise room. Your client purchased it in 2005, but city records show that there was a 2007 zoning application for a second story to be added to that structure, and a 2008 zoning permit to utilize it as a 10 person daycare.
So I think part of why we're asking the questions is because it does seem like there's been
a considerable amount of thought about the use of this over the years.
And that's a little different than just being storage or exercise equipment.
I mean, I'm going to be honest with you.
She was not comfortable, you know, going forward on this application on her own.
So she retained me.
And, you know, I, but I was expecting her to be able to answer some of these questions.
So, I mean, is there any way – can I – you don't see her on your end raising her hand or anything?
She said – she told me she's on.
So in 2007, that project – that building was built in the rear.
Is that correct?
Okay, that's my mistake.
One story edition was in the rear.
That is my mistake.
I was under the impression.
In 2008, they tried to get a daycare center, but were disapproved.
Chair, we have May Gow on the Zoom call.
Perhaps we could ask her to come on as a panelist.
Thank you.
She'll be coming in as a panelist shortly.
So she's calling me now.
What's that?
Mr. Smoker, is she going to be on?
Mr. Smoker?
Okay, so yes, she should be on.
okay she'll be coming in uh as a panel shortly everyone i'm sorry for the hold up the request
to come on as a panelist yeah
hold on a second
okay she's just declined
i promoted her but they haven't declined
all right now there are panelists okay
may gal please unmute and wait to be sworn in
hi may
can you hear me
we can could you please state your name
and then spell for the stenographer
my name is
m-e-i-g-a-o
do you
swear or affirm that tell the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the truth
Mr. Smoker, please proceed.
Ms. Gow,
I have been telling the
about the origin
of this building.
I want to tell them stories.
20 years ago, I bought
the building. See their big
attachment. I'm so
excited because I
was a teacher. I wanted
do after school student program help student homework that's i set about 10 students i
cooperate with two other good teachers they can i can teach you math other teachers can teach
chinese miss scale don't go into too much detail okay yeah but i applied as a new boss they don't
but i applied the zoning board they don't allow me for 10 students just allowed me one to one
allowed me for 10 students.
tutoring that's what i said mr schmoker why don't we say what she wants to do now why don't you know
i want i'm getting old i don't have to tutor anymore i don't do more exercise because i have
ping pong table something i took away so i just want i had a back problem i cannot walk upstairs
there too much. So I have a big
house before I have family
relatives stay with me. They all moved
out. So now I just
want to stay in the back
building. It's flat. I don't need
to walk up downstairs.
Then I can rent out the
front building so I make an
actual income. I retire now.
So she wants to live
in a one-story building in the rear.
Yes. Correct. She wants to live in the back
and rent out the front. Yeah.
I just put a simple kitchen, a stove, a sinker.
That's easy, not a big kitchen.
I just put myself.
I'm retired.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the audience?
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I do not see any further answer, Mr. Chair.
Planning Commission.
amy boyd with the planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change in
zoning at this location from the existing residential single-family rsa3 the second
building on this property was an existing condition upon the current owner's purchase
the building has a history of permits for tutoring and storage returning the building
to residential use is more consistent with the residential zoning of this property
the planning commission recommends that the board grant the requested variance for two
family, household dwelling.
MI 2024
005-323-
4317-19
Conley Street, I vote yes.
My vote is yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes.
Haya Nguyen, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shahid, my vote is yes.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you.
You have your vote.
Thank you.
Happy Chinese New Year.
Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate that. Oh, thank you. That's so happy.
Okay. Thank you very much. Okay. Number four, MI 2024, 006-330-560107, Ray Street.
Ronald Patterson is the attorney. There's a letter of support from HMC Squared RCO.
Mr. Patterson, you've already been sworn.
Could you just state your name and spell for the stenographer?
They're coming back in as a panel, sir.
Good afternoon, Ronald Patterson, P-A-T-T-E-R-S-O-N.
Right.
Our vice chair has a few questions for you.
Good afternoon, counsel.
Do you agree to weigh the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that's needed to proceed with this case?
We can't hear him.
Yes, I have.
I can't hear you closer.
Yes, I have.
Thank you.
Please proceed and you can share your screen.
So good afternoon.
So this case regards 5601 Ray Street.
it's a property located at the corner of Ray Street and 56th Street it's a vacant high ceiling brick
building purposely built in 1935 before uses a pico substation has been long vacant for many
years we presume at least over 40 years here's an aerial view here and some other photos
So the property is located in an RSA 5 zoning district, which, as we know, permits generally only single-family dwelling units, but naturally and obviously single-family dwelling would not work in this building, and therein lies the hardship.
It's no longer useful for what it was specifically built for and used for for a long period of time.
So this application proposes a rehabilitative and adaptive reuse of this unique building.
And how we propose to add...
I propose to add a handsome second floor addition, step back from the street, and redo the facade, and part of it will hear the architectural reasons for this.
The upper addition is different from the brick addition, so it appears to blend into the background and not be affected by the height.
What we're proposing to do is then convert the building into 20 single-family dwelling units, utilizing the step-back, and within that step-back, utilize the area that's created for small outdoor roof decks.
In response to our zoning permit application, I issued a refusal letter for having more than one single-family dwelling unit and for the roof deck not being set back five feet from the building line, for example, with guardrails.
and we'll address that, and proposing a height of 43 feet, where the maximum in the district
is 38 feet.
We did meet with the HMC Square RCO on December 5th, and they supported our application with
some proviso requests that we can go through.
So with that said, I'd like to call Tim Kerner, our architect.
Mr. Kerner, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Yeah. Good afternoon. My name is Timothy Kerner, T-I-M-O-T-H-Y-K-E-R-N-E-R.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you. Tim, what's your occupation?
I'm an architect.
And are you familiar with these plans?
Yes, I am.
Okay, you drew them? You designed them?
I designed them.
Okay, great.
Had some help drawing them.
You've heard about my presentation and testimony. Would you agree it's true and accurate?
Yes, I would.
Would you adopt it as if it were your own?
Okay, thanks. So as I explained, this building, can you briefly describe it again, the Pico substation building?
Yeah, it's a large masonry building, which used to have a lot of machinery that brought down the voltage from, I guess it arrived at about 4,000 volts and dropped it down so it could be distributed to the houses around it.
It's no longer functional, the machinery is gone, the building is basically a large empty space inside, has 17 foot tall ceilings on the first floor.
It has a lower level concrete structure, very solid, needs needs a lot of attention and love to bring it up to what you're looking at right now in the picture.
And that's the intention. And in your opinion, could it be reused as a single family dwelling?
Yes, it could. One single family dwelling unit? Oh, I'm sorry.
Sorry, I didn't follow your question. It could be could be used as a residential building.
One single family dwelling unit. It would not really be appropriate as a single family dwelling.
Okay, good. And so in trying to make an adaptive reuse, what were the design considerations you took into account in terms of the second floor and its height, its massing, and a step back, if you want to elaborate?
Well, it's an interesting building. It has classical details built in brick, and so we want to be respectful of that.
We also thought that to build out to the full extent of the exterior walls would make it a more massive addition.
So we stepped it back in the four corners, which brings down the upper mass.
But we did that in a way that reflects the architectural character of the original detailing, which breaks the building facade up into three parts.
And we talked about a proposed for 20 units, correct?
Correct.
And how would they be arranged within the building?
So because of the high ceilings on the first floor, we have mezzanine apartments.
So we were able to use a second level.
We subdivided, actually, if you could flip forward a couple, there, that page.
There's one.
No, we're down one.
You could kind of see the idea of the basic unit that we have the kitchen, the bathrooms
towards the corridor in that axonometric view.
We have a large ceiling in the living room area with the windows, and then we have a
bedroom up above.
We have a mix of one bedroom and two bedroom apartments, but most are one bedroom apartments.
And the two bedrooms, was that a suggestion by the local community group?
They did raise that as an issue, that they wanted some of the apartments to be two bedrooms.
And also another question or comment was, would it be ADA accessible?
That was raised by the community.
And so the idea of making it accessible is to add a wheelchair lift on the outside.
is to add a wheelchair lift on the outside. We don't want to put that in the front and
We don't want to put that in the front.
the sidewalk, but you could see where we would do that if you flip forward to the
first floor plan, which I guess keep going.
Yeah, that one if you zoom into that, that lower one below that, yes. So the existing floor level,
which is a concrete floor, is four feet up from the sidewalk, and you can see those existing
stairs are concrete stairs, which kind of are down into the apartment below. So it makes it difficult
to put a wheelchair lift in the front. What we would do is that if you look in the left-hand
top corner, there's a stair, and we're going to reorient that towards the sidewalk to make that
basically a secondary front entrance. We'll put a wheelchair lift adjacent to that entrance so
that the first floor level would be accessible and and let's finally talk about uh the second
floor setback and the use of that open space for a roof deck uh we received a refusal for not
providing uh the five foot setback from the building line um could you um elaborate on on
this yeah so this is the area where i mentioned that we tried to break down the the mass of the
building and so we reset the the four corners of the building and then that seems like a nice
opportunity to provide the amenity of some outdoor spaces for those four units um so that is where we
we have we're using the building parapet as the parapet of those decks and let me clarify so the
parapet is is a wall that's not to exceed 42 inches correct that's correct and so if you were
to have raised that wall say four or five or six feet would we have received that refusal
Well, if we had raised that wall, then the zoning interpretation is that it's no longer – it's a building wall, and so that would be a building element, would not be a deck.
That would have obscured a view to the street and light and air, correct?
Correct.
So this is a better design?
We feel the 42-inch height would be appropriate for that.
Okay. And lastly, do you feel that the variances that we're seeking, that if granted, the relief would cause any detrimental impacts to the public health, safety, welfare, or traffic in the area?
No, I believe this project would be beneficial to the surroundings.
Okay, thank you. I have no further questions.
Are there apartments in the basement?
There are apartments in the basement.
Would you show that?
And you could see in this view that the windows do rise up above the sidewalk, so there would be actual light coming within.
But you could see in the section, in the next one, one down, that one.
Yeah, so if you zoom into there on the right-hand side.
This one?
Yeah, so you could see how we have the egress windows at 44 above the floor.
And we have a window well in the front and the sidewalk on the left hand side. That's that's the sidewalk on the right hand side. It's the rear yard. We can take advantage of that by making that window well deeper, more like a five foot from the window to the to the edge of the well rather than three feet.
All right. Questions from the board.
For the units that are shown, are there any that don't have a mezzanine bedroom?
The ground floor units do not have a mezzanine bedroom
because we don't have the ceiling height to do that.
None of the ground floor units have.
That's correct.
What's on the mezzanine in the section for the things on the ground floor?
Can you repeat that?
What's in the mezzanine?
The ground floor units are showing a mezzanine in the section,
so what's on that mezzanine?
That's the bedroom.
so there's a one mezzanine bedroom and then there's one ground floor bedroom
no the no the in the ground floor units are separate from i'm sorry the
in this you're asking about the you which ones are you the two bedroom units consider the first
floor how many of the units don't have the bedrooms and the mezzanine okay i think ron if
you go to that plan and you go to the yeah go to the right lower right corner just trying to figure
out if we have an ada ramp where where are they staying if all of the units have a stairwell if
you look it's a good question but if you look at that uh two-bedroom unit which is that one there
that has the bedroom on the on that floor so that that is the one unit on the ground floor that has
a bedroom on level with
the rest of the apartment.
Okay. That one, that single
two-bedroom unit. That's right.
And then how many two-bedroom units are there in total
across the entire
project? I think we have three.
Okay. And
the question for me is, so I guess
the bedrooms are on the mezzanine because you're
sitting dead on top
sitting dead on top of a ceiling slab?
of a cement slab.
Am I correct?
Am I correct?
The first floor, we have a slab.
The first floor is elevated from...
Elevated, four-foot slab, right?
Right.
And what's...
How many units are...
There's a box.
You're screwing up a little bit.
Yeah, to the left is...
But there's a key.
Thank you.
There we go.
I want to know how many units are on each floor.
And there are handicap accessible units or no?
Well, it depends. Are you asking if it's a fully accessible unit with the bathroom and the
kitchen's done in such a way? That has not been detailed yet. In terms of accessibility of
getting to the units uh the if you were to count if you were to say the bedroom has to be on the
first floor then we have one accessible unit that includes a bedroom on the first floor
uh what about trash pickup trash pickup would be we have a trash storage area which is in the i
guess if you look yeah i think go go down right into the site plan on z1 zoom yeah yeah you were
almost right there one more no sorry next one there yeah yeah yeah the site plan there if you
zoom into there um sorry that one doesn't show the doesn't show the trash but we have a trash
area which is which is off of the sidewalk uh which is in that area behind the gate from the
race street sidewalk so that's correct here sir where where is it
i guess it's in a different drawing uh go up ryan sorry
you have to go up here it's yeah it's it is located there but it
we have another drawing if you go up in the drawings sorry
i keep going higher
yeah sorry we don't have that site plan um but actually it is a jace is in the back rear yard
oh is it in the picture 17 is it that picture 17 if you click on 17 you should see the rear of it
thank you right so that's so that's the area that
yes that's right okay any other questions
i do have a question about the it looks like in the letter of support there was
conversation about off-site parking and just wondering how you resolved that with the local
rca so the the discussion was about the church which is a cat kitty corner across the street
and they have a parking lot which is directly across the street uh and the idea is that i mean
they only use it on sundays and so they're we've reached out to them we don't have a resolution on
that but the idea would be that the um tenants could park their car there we don't we don't have
that um resolved yet but it seems like it's something that would be an agreement between
the tenant and the church if that works out and then where's the bike storage the bike storage
is also in the back on and i'm sorry i'm not sure what happened to the site plan but is adjacent to
the trash storage area we have um bike storage in that backyard as well so how are tenants are
tenants only accessing that rear yard by exiting through the building or will they have access from
the sidewalk to that would have access from the sidewalk as well as from well that stair which i
mentioned in that corner uh is now turned towards the sidewalk in order to have that accessible
area so that that stair right there um will be way down into the sidewalk and then there'll be
a gate into that backyard which will be accessed to both the trash and the bike area and then do
all 20 units have access to all four roof like balconies no those are just for those units
okay questions for our attorney hillary emerson
not at this time mr jerry comments from the audience
questions or comments from the virtual audience
i do not see any further hands mr chair planning commission
amy boyd with the planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends a change in
zoning at this location from residential single-family rsa 5 to industrial commercial mixed
industrial commercial mixed use icmx the proposal includes reuse of an existing industrial building
use ICMX. The proposal includes reuse
the proposal for residential is in harmony with the surrounding area the pellet has not shown that
there are unique physical conditions or circumstances that would prevent the property
from being used in performance of the zoning code for roof depth deck setbacks and max building
height the planning commission recommends a board grant the requested variance for multifamily
but deny the requested variances for roof setbacks and max building height.
Thank you.
MI 2024-006-330-560107 Ray Street, I vote yes.
Michael Johns, I vote yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Teneda Graham, my vote is yes.
Tywin, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shahid, my vote is yes.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Counsel, you have one other case.
Why don't we just...
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Number 13, MI 2024-006-564-2012 Spruce Street.
Mr. Patterson, just for the record, state your name.
Good afternoon.
Ron Patterson, E-A-T-T-E-R-S-O-N.
Can you identify your client and the relationship to the property?
Yes, I can.
Kristen, please tell the board your name and address.
Hi, I'm Kristen Leslie.
Would you spell your name, please, for the stenographer?
Perfect.
K-R-I-S-T-I-N-L-E-S-L-I-E.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
So, Mr. Patterson, why don't you say that?
So, Mr. Chairman, the property is in ownership of Acadia Holdings Partners, LLC.
Is that your corporation?
Your principal?
So, you purchased this house, correct?
And you and your husband and children?
I have three kids.
And we'll get to, I'll explain about the property in a minute,
but I just want to get you in and out. So, and what would you like to do with this property?
We'd like to make it our permanent home. We've lived here since 2011, where we met here
and have had our kids here and plan to hopefully raise them here. But with such a big family
and possibly maybe one more eventually, who knows? We were looking to make sure that our
family had the space. And do you also, both you and your husband have businesses?
Yes, we both are entrepreneurs and work for ourselves.
Okay, thank you.
Can you move?
No, you can sit here.
So I'll start.
I just wanted to introduce you.
Sure, why don't you start?
So this property, this application regards 2012 Spruce Street.
It's mid-block.
I'm going to share my screen.
Thank you.
there we go okay uh 2012 spruce street mid block it's a historically designated structure
built in 1860. It was originally built as a house. It was later converted to apartments
and then back to a single-family dwelling unit in 2001, around that time. When it was returned
to a single-family dwelling unit, it was recreated in its original footprint and format
to historical characteristics. But that characteristics, as you'll hear, and the
layout is not useful in modern times in which to raise a young family. For example, there's a
kitchen in the basement. So as I mentioned, the Leslie's purchased it in 2004. It had been on the
market since 2009, which is evidence of the fact that the format and the design was not working
for anyone, especially with respect to the price that was being asked. Part of this application,
um part of this uh this application this is the front is to um add an addition in the rear on the
This is the front.
fourth first fourth floor level for an infill to match the others on the block to create a few
other roof decks um the property is located in an rm1 residential zoning district which does allow
single-family dwelling units. The maximum building height there is 38 feet, but the property in the
building, contrary to the refusal, is a little incorrect. The building exists at 55 feet in
height. And what the rear addition is doing is adding in an infill, which Mr. Reckley will
testify to, that brings the height to 53 feet, 10 and a half inches. So we believe, therefore,
there's no adverse impact to the rear area here and we did meet with um the registered community
organization center city residents association last night and they voted not to oppose i don't
know if you have a copy of that the letter but if not i'll show it to you hillary we had that right
yes we did receive that thank you thank you
and we also have a petition of support by the jason and immediate neighbors which i'm not
I believe you may have that as well, but if not, I'll show it.
I believe. Yeah, I believe we got that sent today.
Yes. Great. Thank you.
And lastly, the what is proposed here with the addition of the roof decks, since it was it is historically designated, we did apply to the Philadelphia Historical Commission, which approved this design.
So with that said, I'm going to ask Mr.
Weckerley questions. Hi, sir. Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Yes, sir. John Weckerley, Boxwood Architects, 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?
Yes. Please proceed, counsel.
John, what's your occupation? Architect.
And you're familiar with the property and you designed these plans we're going to testify about
today yes okay so um could you explain the current house layout and then just direct me to whatever
uh sheets you want to exhibit you want to look through do you have the set that is our set there
yeah yes so if you could just start on that um and then that first page there at the upper right
image as you can see as ron was describing the uh and if you can just zoom in everyone if you want to
so you can see uh in this section here as ron was describing the uh the existing the existing
building has an existing force fourth floor on the front side on the spruce street side
And the proposal is to extend that existing fourth floor to the rear of the property.
In addition to the addition you see here represented in the middle, the stair penthouse, as well as an elevator shaft that's being proposed within the existing atrium of the floor plan.
And as Ron said, the existing peak of the fourth floor is at 55 feet and the lowest portion of the upper roof of that fourth floor is at 53 feet, 10 and a half.
in conversation and i'll show this in a moment in conversation with the historic commission
they asked that the addition marry with the height of the top of the back side of that existing
fourth floor addition which is what we proceeded to continue with on the design and briefly discuss
the current layout of the of the building and why it's not so useful what's interesting about
the existing floor plate of the building is that there's an interior atrium and stairwell just get
to show you here you can see in this general area right here in the middle of the structure there's
a stairwell and atrium combination that, in essence,
a stairwell and atrium combination that, in essence, accounts for 17% of the floor plate
area, which really ends up dividing the home, unlike a traditional row home where the rooms
stack one, two, three, as you go from front to back, the atrium and stairwell occupying
the center core of the building really creates a left side, right side aspect of the floor
plan in general as you move up through the through the property so uh in talking do zoom in a little
bit while you're talking about it sure hard to follow there we go
this is the plan at the fourth floor um which shows the uh existing stair and atrium which is
actually a little bit wider uh there on the existing condition plan but this shows the
uh elevator shaft is being proposed um so uh as ron asked like that that in large part that um
you know condition where where there's a left side right side kind of was uh in the front end
of the conversation to how we program the um uses of the rooms and uh the the need to introduce
bedrooms and location of the kitchen and so forth as it as it kind of configured to kind of
stack either on the front of the property or the or the rear of the property would you say that's
why the building hasn't been utilized i i would think that's a very strong reason as to why
and so what are we proposing to to change that so if i can just back up now to show the massing
So here you can see what these renderings represent are at the Spruce Street side you can see this lower right image is a rendering of the existing condition directly to the left of that is a rendering showing the proposed condition which is no change on the Spruce Street side.
and then uh on the then as a as a bird's eye view of that same area kind of from the spruce street
side you can see on the right hand side is the existing condition with the heightened fourth
floor and the existing lower area behind it directly behind it to the left as i'm hovering
here you can see the proposed continuation of the fourth floor as it moves towards the rear of the
of the building and then uh and the height we're proposing on an infill is commensurate with the
existing building heights yes and i'll show you that here right now you can point out the uh the
neighbor the immediate neighbor who signed the letter of support i will yes so here you can see
in this lower uh left image is the existing condition and then uh this is the proposed
showing the proposed addition as i mentioned earlier this roof line here per the request
from the historic commission is that that this area it represents the back of the existing fourth
floor and they ask that that mansard roof line continue turn the corner and continue around so
our height matches with that condition um and that's our only refusal directed we're exceeding
38 feet where we've already exceeded it to 55 feet. That's correct. Okay. So it's not about
massing or gross FOIA or FAR? No. So would you agree that the design comports with the character
and context of the neighborhood and that it would create no adverse impacts? Yes. Okay. Thank you.
There's also just to mention the darker gray images modeling masses in this image here
represent structures that have that same condition where the fourth floor has been extended to the
back and there's also uh i don't have that drawing with us here but there's a there's i believe two
properties on the cypress street side which is the uh rear uh street behind the property that
oh you know what here it is here actually so this this uh this represents the immediate area these
yellow um highlights here represent our property is here with the red dot uh and then this this
building uh three properties to the west and uh one two three four properties to the east also
have the addition continuing to the back um and then uh and then directly across from uh the
property on cypress street uh on the back there this property has a has an extension as well
i believe the letter of support uh came from this property here uh directly to the east of
of our property, which would
our property, which would be 2010.
be 2010. Great. Thank you.
Great. Thank you.
Questions
for the port?
Yes. Will you be carrying this
rent-to-a-system once you go over to
the next floor? Yes.
Thank you.
Not question,
but comment.
Our office, well, my
former office building was at 1622
spruce and so that condition you're talking about with the interior sort of stairwell where
you basically had the front of the building and then the back of the building and we did some
renovations within the building too and it was the same kind of problem you had to try and do on
the upper floors kind of make it so that you could actually use all of the space as beautiful as it
is it makes it a very cumbersome floor. Yes. Yes. What's the height of the
pilot house and the elevator shaft above the fourth floor 55 feet?
You can see here that the existing roof, which is the peak here, is at 55 feet.
The lower portion of the existing 4th floor roof is at 53, 10 and a half, which is what we're marrying to for the new roof of the 4th floor addition.
And then we're showing the pilot house at 9 feet 5 and 10 foot respectively, which reach to 63 foot 3 and 65 foot.
Are they visible from the street?
Other questions?
questions from our attorney hillary emerson not at this time mr chair questions from the audience
questions or comments from the virtual audience
i do not see any hands mr chair any commission
amy boyd with the planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change in
zoning at this location for the existing residential multifamily rm1 the appellant
has shown that there are unique physical conditions or circumstances that would prevent the property
from being used in conformance with the zoning code. The Planning Commission recommends that
the board grant the requested variance for increasing non-conformities. MI 2024-006-564-2012
Spruce Street, I vote yes. My vote is yes. Gerald Gaston, my vote is yes. Tanada Graham, my vote is yes.
my vote is yes
my vote is yes
thank you
thank you for the scheduling accommodation
thank you all
thank you
Mr. Nockamson
we're not
Folks, I'm sorry about the smell in the room.
I've talked to the building engineer.
We're going to see if they can get that abated, but there's no danger right now.
So, Mr. Jacobson, you've been sworn earlier today, and I think we're going to have case 6, 7, and 9 together, right?
So it's MI 2024-006-400-45 West Seymour, MI 2024-006-401-49 West Seymour, and MI 2024-006-465-47 West Seymour Street.
so um there's opposition from wakefield 49ers and a letter of opposition from some solo germantown
and applicant also has provided 19 letters of support for the neighbors
um could you identify your clients in the relationship to the three properties uh yes
uh good afternoon again uh members of the board alan knockamson of knockamson pc a-l-a-n the last
named Nochumson, N-O-C-H-U-M-S-O-N. To my left is Jordan Parise Ferrarini, part of the development
team. Behind him is Akeem Presley, who's also part of the development team. The reason why I brought
Jordan in here is not only is he part of the development team, he's also the general contractor
as part of this project. So I think he'll be able to answer a lot of technical questions the board
be able to answer a lot of technical questions the board may have regarding this sure okay so
behalf regarding this right okay so our vice chair
our vice chair has a few questions for you good afternoon counsel do you agree to wave the reading
of the refusal or stipulate two of that person i do have you emailed in all the required documents
and exhibits that's needed and required to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing
yes i have thank you counsel please proceed and all right so i just realized that my connection
got disconnected from this morning and i try to go right back at it so just give me one second i
do apologize for that um so let me just read boot
I did earlier today and I just assumed that that would still be good for this afternoon
session and for some reason you can't reboot that.
So, let me, I should get the email momentarily.
Just waiting for the email to pop up to sign in.
Oh, here I am.
Join webinar.
Okay. Let me share my screen. Let me just make sure I have the right presentation.
Am I a panelist?
Yes, you are.
All right. Thank you.
It has a front porch.
It has a mansard roof.
It just fits very beautifully within the fabric of this community.
And, you know, as Jordan will tell you, as someone who...
I'm sorry to interrupt, sir.
There is smoke in one of the rooms on this floor,
so I'm going to ask for this hearing to get cut short
and ask folks to make your way to the elevator and get off the floor.
We're going to notify the building.
Thank you.
I'm stood.
Before we go any further, we're okay, right?
So before we go any further, case number 12, MI 2024-006-537-3740 North 18th Street, Vern Anastasio.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair.
Counsel, have I sworn you in yet today, Vern?
Yeah, this morning.
Just for the record, state your name.
Vern Anastasio.
And so 3740 North 18th, do you have an update for us?
Yeah, just that Mr. Richardson from Council Member Bass's office had asked that we seek a continuance.
in order to go back to the RCO,
so that's what we're gonna do here.
Thank you, thank you.
So, RMI 2024, 006-537-3740 North A&T Street.
Cases continue to 6825.
Thank you, Vern, for calling.
No problem. Really quickly for the court reporter. My name is Matthew Webster. I'm stepping in for Hillary Emerson as board counsel, just for a moment. Yes, Mr. Webster. Thank you.
No problem.
Really quickly for the court reporter.
so alan i think you were sworn i think they started to talk to you a little bit right
uh yeah i was sworn mr chair uh the you know the usual questions were asked of me i answered them
and i was and i was starting my wind up so why don't why don't you wind up all right there you
or what does somebody say or what or what all right so as i was saying if you look at this
picture here of the property um you couldn't tell like what's what um it's a really pretty
building structure and what was asked of us was to extend that mansard roof so like that
rendering slightly different than what you saw previously, what you've seen to the right of us.
Can you speak a little bit more into the mic? Yes, sorry about that. If you look to the right
of that first building structure, there was no mansard roof. It was asked of us by the community
to extend that mansard roof all around. Similar to what you saw, you know, the last presentation
in Center City, it makes it more architecturally interesting. It respects the character of the
neighborhood and and again as you'll hear uh jordan is one of those members of the community
who does a lot of work in the community uh who respects you know what the architecture is there
and hopefully what will be there so during our presentation we're going to first review the
notices of refusal there there are three properties 45 47 and 49 west evening street
the refusals are basically all the same and we'll go through them and then we did have correspondence
from Wakefield 49ers Community Development and Improvement Association group because they were
the coordinating RCO. It wasn't completely against. It was a split vote. More people were against it
than for it. But we had multiple meetings in front of the community. We had two meetings. So during
the first meeting, there were things that were asked of us, which we accomplished. And these
These things were asked of us by the community, mainly the people in close proximity to the
project.
Those people didn't show up to the second meeting.
We then reached out to them because we expected them to be there and they were surprised that
there was not community support overall.
We have letters of support from those individuals and you'll see they're all in close proximity
on that block or a half a block away.
We do have those revised plans based on that community input in terms of the unit count and some other matters you'll see.
And if this board does feel inclined to grant the zoning variances, we would ask that it would be by way of proviso with revised plans, maximum four units.
We are proposing five units originally.
And then you'll see the letters of support.
again all the people who are near us and again who are very supportive of this project and
who know Jordan and Akeem who are members of this community and trust that they'll fulfill
their obligations by way of this architecture and then we'll look at the property history 45
West Seymour Street was a five-unit dwelling that's what we mimicked this project as 45 47 49
were each going to be five unit dwellings originally it was a little bit too much for
the community. I mean, we are only a couple blocks away from Germantown Avenue, which is a commercial
corridor. And we thought that, again, in terms of city planning, it would make sense. Typically,
and you'll see from the zoning map, typically you have a CMX two and a half type of zoning or some
type of commercial zoning. It then bleeds into like a little lesser intensity from a residential
standpoint, typically RM1. Here we're RTA1, which is a more difficult zoning classification to really
adjust to, and then you go to RSA 5. So again, we felt like based on the history of the property
and then based on properties, and I have addresses nearby of five other properties
within a half a block radius, which are also four unit dwellings, we thought that that was
a reasonable accommodation to go to four units. We have an aerial view of the neighborhood.
So as Jordan will explain to you, and I didn't even know this, and I'm in front of this board
a lot. There's different Germantowns. There's different Germantowns that tell different stories.
And he'll explain that we're on the south side of Germantown. And there's differences. And you
can see even from that aerial view, there's a lack of development right there, right now,
right now in this part of Germantown, and the commercial corridor is struggling because of that.
in this part of Germantown. And the commercial corridor is struggling because of that.
We're trying to provide smart density, reasonable density, and beautiful architecture at the same
time. That's affordable. The other thing we'll talk about is the fact that, and Jordan will
confirm this, is that our AMI is between 60 and 70 percent AMI. This is not an affordable housing
project where there's a deed restriction but jordan is you know part of you know turn the
key program himself he's been embedded by the accelerator fund so he's well known in handling
affordable housing he also has a non-profit organization called trades for a difference
where he like you know again make sure that his his contractors are diverse and well trained and
then can do things outside of him as well. Then we'll have maps of the area kind of explaining
the zoning in terms of how we're CMX two and a half on Germantown. And then we kind of just go
straight to a more restrictive zoning where there's not that buffer where we're asking to
have that buffer. And again, not out of character based on the properties that I researched that
are half a block away. And then we have photographs of the property and surrounding the area. The
photographs of the surrounding area are going to show how we're respecting the the history and
architecture of germantown you know we're doing we're doing porches we're doing mansard roofs
like even the materials that we're using are more stone related we're doing smart architecture and
we're doing new construction where you don't see a lot of this new construction um because because
of this zoning classification it would be impossible to build and again we'll talk to
jordan after my presentation to kind of go with the hard check alan why don't you start okay as
you're going through this list i think we know most of it so why don't you start your presentation
all right so if if you look at the notice of refusal we have four refusals they kind of go
all in the same right so first if uh if service parking spaces and detached garages and carports
are prohibited in front rear side uh and front side of rear yards well not out of character
to the right of us on Garfield that's behind us there is parking pads and you know again there's
no parking allowed on our side of Garfield you would even see from the pictures there was
curb cuts on our property so again first one not out of character similar to other properties
second one in terms of multi-family multi-families allowed an RTA one just two units we're originally
we're asking for five units now we're asking for four units and we'll go through that third one
is about the side yard, de minimis refusal for all of them. So for 45 and 47, the side yard we're
proposing is 6 feet 9 inches, or 8 feet required as of right, while for 49, we're proposing 7 feet
4 inches. So we're 15 inches away from the requirement for 45 and 47, and we're 8 inches
away from the requirement for 49 again not it is de minimis under the circumstances and again to
respect the architecture and have a functional floor plan we're requesting that and then the
final refusal has to do with the parking it's a one-to-one ratio well again no one else has that
we're providing two parking spots and one of the parking spots is actually a handicap accessible
spot which we're required to do under the building code you know we would prefer not to but we are
we could potentially get three parking spots if we didn't and maybe we'll figure that out and come
back potentially later on if we can get that but we are providing two parking spots we're near a
commercial corridor we're near a bus line two blocks away so not of character not causing harm
to the community and that and those are basically the same refusals for 47 and 49 now the correspondence
from the wakefield 49ers organization i think they didn't completely understand what we were
doing in terms of the project so there's the second page of it talks about like the fact that
or i don't know if it's a second page but it may be where we're providing underground or below
ground living we're not actually as part of what we've made changes to is half so we're on the
slope the front part of the slope is the entry to unit number one which is completely above grade
and it has a huge window in the front in the back which was below ground is where we took away that
living because it was asked of us for uh hello can you hear me can you show the plans while
you're talking what oh you felt the plans right okay sure all right thank you
it's just because you're explaining stuff and you know then it's hard for us you know
we have to kind of explain it again to visualize it okay
why are you on that part alan you said it's below ground
Why are you on that part, Alan? You said it's below ground, but I'm looking at it as if it might be at ground level?
So, it is. In the front, it is at ground level.
So, as you can see here, this is just, and again, they're all similar, the plans.
I believe this would be 49. The type is a little small for me.
But if you look here, this is the first, the ground level here, and this would go into unit number one.
This is, again, above ground, and this is the porch area as well, where you would have access.
And then you have access here on the right side, which would get you into units number two, three, and four.
So, again, it's better to see here.
But what we did was, this was part of our floor plan originally.
We were going to have a bi-level unit for unit number one, which is over here.
We got rid of this bi-level portion in the basement area because that was below ground.
And they stated because of flooding issues and because they didn't want any below ground living, they wanted that eliminated, which we did.
And we got rid of the window wells in the back because we have no living.
So we cut the lower level living in half.
but the part that we cut was the stuff that was below ground. This part is above ground.
So when you walk into this gated area, and by the way to the left is an enclosed garbage area
for access to all of the property or the occupants, you walk into this courtyard area
and here you have right here is the front door for unit number one. What I would also like to
point out to the right of that door is a large window, right? And then this is where the living
room and the kitchen is for unit number one. It's a bi-level unit where then you have
bedrooms. You have two bedrooms and a bathroom on for unit number one. For unit number two
and three and four, all the access is through the side where we have steps leading up to here,
where you have unit number two, which is a one bedroom, one bath. And again, like to point out
the windows that are in the living area, as well as the bedrooms in the rear.
And then if you go up another flight of steps, that's unit number three.
And again, to point out, we have ample light and air for the actual occupants of the units.
So you have the living area, you have one, two, three windows.
Let me just make sure there's no more.
I'm just trying to get through this.
I'm just trying to drag this if it's not landing.
so you have one two three windows in the living area kitchen area for that and then you have a
large window for bedroom number one and then you have a large window for bedroom number two
and then the same thing pertains to the to the fourth unit which is on the third floor and then
as you can see there's no roof deck either because it would be out of character to have a roof deck
in this part of town did that answer your question uh member johns yes all right all right i'm just
going to go back because there's some things in here that i would like for you guys to see
kind of tells the story a little better let me just unsure
so one of the things if you look at their letter of opposition and again
it's really not so much of an opposition because there are members who actually voted of the
community that voted for the project so you can see it was four to eight here and actually one
of the community groups faith cdc they actually voted for the project um and then it was a closer
vote here but if you read the actual letter itself and there's a lot going on there they said we're
against underground living partly because if you know they had concerns about safety but partly
because of flooding. And again, as Mr. Jordan would state, you know, we're going to have
French drains, we're going to have waterproofing of the facade area, and we're going to have
a water pump as well. But regardless, we're above ground. So there's no issue. And there's
we're not we're above ground in terms of living as well, which was important to the group.
So we revise our presentation materials to have a four unit count, reduce the basement
size and remove the egress wells that was what was asked of us after the first meeting
so we were really surprised about the second meeting where we got that type of vote
and so we have 32 west seymour street 32 both of them occupants 35 west seymour street 35 west
seymour street 33 west seymour street two of them
33 West Seymour Street, two of them, 37 West Seymour Street, 37 West Seymour Street, 25 West Seymour Street.
I think we –
All right.
So, I mean, we – again, we – I mean, my client did the ground campaign here.
Like, you know, in terms – what?
All right.
So it's a lot.
I'm still going.
And then if you look at the property history, it was five units.
and for 45 back in the 40s or something like that.
So we kind of mimic that.
That's why we asked for five, but I can see why they asked for four.
So here are the addresses, 4933 Royal Street, four units,
smaller and lot size than us, slightly, 4758.
That's RSA 5.
4925 Royal Street, four units, RSA 5, 2172.
These lots are 2,500 square feet.
37 West Logan Street, four units.
RTA 1, kind of similar to us, only 2,109 square feet.
35 West Logan Street, four units.
RTA 1, 2,159 square feet.
55 West Logan Street, four units.
RTA 1, 1,949 square feet.
So again, we're asking for four units.
We have a larger lot than each of those properties.
And in two of those cases, those are RSA-5 properties, which don't even allow for multifamily living.
And then the aerial view.
These are our lots.
But you can see even over here, there's gaps in these blocks because of development.
And I'll just let Jordan speak, you know, because he's very passionate about this.
But he wants to fill in these gaps, you know, at least for these properties.
And, you know, he has a lot of other assets in the Germantown area.
But he'll explain the difference between the different parts of Germantown.
And then maps of the area, from a zoning map perspective, you see that this is CMX 2.5.
Again, what you would expect here is a little bit more density in terms of zoning.
We go straight to RSA 5, and then we have interspersed throughout a little bit of RTA 1.
And then you can see here we're in Germantown, and there's bus routes here.
And there are some businesses, but not a lot.
You would expect more in Germantown, but there's not because there's not enough density here.
And there are photographs of the property.
These are just vacant lots.
These are proof of posting for today's hearing.
And then, again, Google Earth only goes far as back as 2007,
but you can see these have been vacant lots for some time.
We're talking about almost 20 years.
I mean, not yet, but close.
And then you can just see here,
give you a perspective of the block itself,
mansard roofs, like, you know, porches,
like you know bay windows same thing here and then this is us from the south on this block
and then from the north and then you can see these curb cuts that were pre-existing on garfield
and there's no parking allowed on our side of the street either so we're not taking any parking
away but again now look at what we're proposing here that architecture fits very well within the
fabric of this community. Now, the question is whether the board will allow us to have
the use and the de minimis side yard variance. Again, Jordan will explain to you that he
can't build anything else. He's as far as he can go down, four units. I asked him specifically,
I said, can we go down to three units as a compromise? And he said, no. And then you
see here and again this is more so just to show that the the the massing our massing is in in
configuration and similar to the massing of other properties on seymour i will point out that this
is an older rendering so it this is what it previously looked like when the mansard roof
was not wrapped around but we've made a commitment to have a mansard roof wrap around
and then these are the drawings that we saw previously
and the floor plans we saw previously and then these are our meeting notices again this was
the second meeting and then finally just again for each one and then finally we i have the deeds
to the property showing that philly continental uh sales llc is the owner of the property along
with the applications for appeal that we filed with the board along with the tax clearance
certificates so i'm just going to try to go quickly through that because i know we we were
delayed a little bit but i want to at least show it to the board so with that being said um i would
ask that uh jordan be sworn in jordan could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
yes my name is jordan parisi farini it's j-o-r-d-a-n
Yes, my name is Jordan Parisi Farini. It's J-O-R-D-A-N-P-A-R-I-S-S-E-F-E-R-R-A-R-I-N-I.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Yes, Jordan, you heard everything I had to state today about your zoning matter.
Correct.
Is it true and correct?
Or do you adopt this as your own testimony?
Yes. So I said a lot about I testified a lot about, you know, you know, the differences between what some people would think one part of Germantown is versus another.
Can you just explain to me what, you know, what those differences are?
Yes. So Germantown is two different tales, two different stories.
You kind of have the haves and the have nots.
Historically, the west side has always been an area where there's been more wealth.
And the east side has been an area that has experienced lower income, higher levels of violence, higher levels of blight, vacant properties and things like that.
Over the last 10 years, you've been seeing a lot of change in Germantown.
It's caught a lot of buzz.
Everyone's looking at it as a place for good development, up and coming.
But that story is only in certain segments of Germantown.
um typically like northwestern side the more north you go the more to the west you go
the more development you see and the challenges in germantown between those two different areas
are like night and day where in the northwest side of germantown or more north it's it's a
completely different community and there's rents that support development there's not as much
nearly as much violence. There's not nearly as much blight. Down on the south side, though,
where there is a lot of violence, a lot of blight, a lot of vacant properties, it's not really an
area that's being developed. It's kind of just been kind of left to the side over the years.
And this is not to confuse Wayne Junction area, because that's technically on the south side.
But when you go further up, we're talking Brickyard. We're talking Germantown Avenue,
Seymour, where people are literally dying. There's a lot of violence, a lot of poverty.
um development is something that has been shown to be able to help remove blight create
beautification put people back in a position of feeling hopeful put the people back in a
position of feeling happy to be proud of where they live and trying to do that while also being
conscious of the other problem which is gentrification where you see a lot of people
that are from germantown especially on the west side can no longer afford to live in the community
um there's a bit of a problem then you add that and compound that with germantown wanting to see
historical development more expensive development um it's a bit of a challenge and then you add a
black developer into the equation and and all the obstacles and barriers that have faced
um us historically there's a pretty complex issue that we're trying to solve here
while bringing equitable development.
Let's talk about the hardship.
Can you build a property as a right
where it would require two units?
Forget about the side yard variance.
Could you actually get financing
and be able to build it
and then actually make money
to pay off your mortgage?
Not as a single family.
Why as a two family?
Not as a two family either.
You just don't have the comps to support
that to be able to get a loan. You'd have to sell the single family home for $750,000 to $850,000
and there's no data to support that's even close to possible. That would just further push
gentrification, which is another problem. Same thing with a two-family dwelling. You'd have to
be able to get an after repair value of $800,000, $900,000 to be able to cover your mortgage
costs or your debt service and it just wouldn't happen in the area. So you can make the debt
service coverage ratio requirements of a of a commercial loan this of this type even for two
units not while trying to maintain some sense of affordability because that's the big underlying
issue if we could go after 2,000 2200 market rate rents like the northern sides of germantown
if that was even an intention which is not you can maybe achieve it but in the south side of
germantown while trying to maintain 60 70 percent ami it's just not possible but and again you
couldn't generate the rents even
if you wanted to, you couldn't generate
those rents. No.
I think I don't have
any further questions
from Jordan. I'm sure he'll be able to answer
any of you. They adopted your testimony, right?
Okay. Questions from the board.
Since we brought up the DSCR,
what do you think the DSCR,
had you run it as a
two unit? Yes.
What was the DSCR? Well below
1.25, but we couldn't even get
anywhere close to a 1.25.
And then I know you said your target is to do 60 to 70 percent AMI.
And then I know you said your target is to do 60 to 70 percent AM.
Obviously, there's nothing we can do to provide so that what's your one marketing plan and your rent plan to be able to keep those long term affordable at that AMI?
Well, one, it's the market rate rent roughly in the neighborhood.
Anyhow, that's where the demand is.
And just from my experience, like I've done a lot of development in Germantown.
I've also played a major supporting role with the Jumpstart Germantown program.
did a lot of the underwriting the construction loan processes i've seen countless deals and
countless data in germantown i'm also a licensed realtor um and i spent right now i'm actively
developing an upward of 50 affordable homes so i have like a lot of i know your resume i know
that's for everyone else but could you just like what is the plan for this project um it's really
honestly just traditional marketing like we've been able to get tenants that are seeking brand
new construction units are really nice units
with a lot of amenities at those price
points. It really hasn't been a thing where we
had to get very specialized.
Have you considered at all also doing this
as Section 8?
We have, but
it's not the
development team's plan.
We think we can support the rent rules
at market rate.
Okay. And then, just because
the actual
refusals about the side yard,
what specifically do you
feel like kept you from being able to have that side yard be an additional one foot three inches
and putting the parking in the side yard well so it's 1.3 inches or 15 inches correct two of the
three and then it's eight inches for the other um again just to provide more functional floor plans
we wanted we needed an extra width um and in terms of just having you you were saying maybe
have the parking along the sides like some of the other houses in the area um so i would say that
the house if you look at the aerial view i believe if you look i've been down the whole
street you talked for a very long time okay so i i so i'm going to defer to jordan um to be honest
i wish the architect was on the speak specifically but i'm imagining it has something to do with that
side stairwell um and being able to get clearances with that side stairwell and still being able to
have like proper dimensions in the hallways in the pass through areas and so i know you had
originally proposed it as five bedrooms and you kind of went down to four had you ever considered
it as a three we looked at it heavily as a three i understand like the community would much better
receive a three we've even spoke with cdfis we tried to get the interest rate on the construction
money as low as possible and we still just can't we still can't make it pencil
um how much storage are uh do the units have i know i know you cut down some space uh in the
basement um how much storage are the units do you just have and i think the other question i have
is the the parking uh is that in the rear i think it was a one of the diagrams that you showed in a
packet um it kind of looked like the uh two houses were like a twin and then the other one was off
on its own on the side that's correct to answer your second question or commentary storage for
like say if you had a bike or you had like you know i don't know maybe your shop has toys or
whatever and um trash so so the trash is actually in the front so we have a front patio area um and
let me just share my screen again but that was something that was asked of us as well and you
and we can scratch in the front it is but you can't see it it's there's there's an actual wall
there's a there's a stone wall and then inside of that patio area
that no one's going to be able to see it's an enclosed trash container
so right here this is our enclosed this is our enclosed patio for the gate until left is the
trash container so you won't be able to see it because there's a stone wall in the front
um and then what we can do is there is probably sufficient space to put maybe some some bike
storage there i would think right of some sort um so we could do that so it would be common to all
the name all the residents all the questions yes um so alan one thing um i know you said
you switched down from five units to four units um so it's two car parking on each house
so will the parking be rented out or is it dedicated to certain units
certain units. I would defer to Jordan. I think I know
i would defer to jordan i think i know the answer but i would
the answer, but I would. They would be running out to the
tenants. First come, first serve.
And we're two blocks away from Germantown, which has a bus route, too.
Other questions? I just have a
can you hear me? Sure, Michael. Yes, I just have a quick comment.
I think from an architectural standpoint, I think you've
done a good job. The layout of the units are decent. The fact
that you have that one unit that really does enter directly from
the ground level, and it's completely above grade, I think
works. So the parking is probably a concern, but I don't
think is that big of a concern. So I think overall, it's done a
good job.
Thank you. Thank you.
Council, do you have any comments?
not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the audience
questions or comments from the virtual audience yes chair i have a donald kennel with the hand
raised i will promote them to panelists now why could you please state your name and spell for
the stenographer we're joining shortly hello this is this is donald kennel i'm a near neighbor that
I was on both meetings for this proposal.
Spell your name for the stenographer.
Donald, D-O-N-A-L-D, Kennell, K-E-N-N-E-L.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth,
tell the truth and nothing but the truth?
And you're a nearby neighbor?
Yes, I was a near neighbor who opposed this project,
and I was on both meetings,
as well as most of the neighbors that was on both meetings
that opposed the project.
Please proceed with your testimony.
Part of the problem about this was the density as well as the ADA compliance of the units.
During the presentation, the parking spot in the back was proposed to be for the ADA compliant units.
But to enter the units on that level, you would have to enter steps.
So it wouldn't be ADA compliance for the parking spot in the back.
The other thing was the density of the units.
It promotes a transient community where we were looking for less units to have neighbors that would be more, have more roots within the neighborhood, as well as all of the houses except for one on that side of the street are either single family or duplexes.
And I'm on the opposite side and I operate my home as a single family.
um yeah so overall the neighbors were um opposed of this project due to the density in the ada
compliance the lack of green space and amongst other things that was listed all right thank you
uh alan do you have any comments or questions yeah so i would say as to this the ada compliance
is challenging because of this the slopeness of the property um we did provide a parking spot in
the back our hope is maybe you know we get some type of waivers and because then we could add even
more parking if that's the case but we have to get through this process first um and in terms of
nearby neighbors like again we gave a lot of the nearby neighbors on our side i think it was on
our side of the streets who were in support of this project and um there are other examples of
this type of density a half a block away all right mr kennel thank you for your call is there anyone
else in the virtual audience? Yes, Mr. Chair, I have Rosalind McKelvey with a hand raised. I will
promote him at this time. Sure. Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
They'll be coming back in as a panel shortly. Hello. Hi, could you please state your name and
spelled for the stenographer. My name is Rosalind McKelvey, R-O-S-A-L-I-N-D McKelvey, M-C-K-E-L-V as in
Victor E-Y. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir. Are you a neighbor? I am the conductor of the Wakefield 49ers RCO meeting. Thank you.
Why don't you give us your testimony?
Thank you for hearing us today.
We applaud the articulation and the explanations that their counsel and them gave.
First, by the way, for some reason, your chat is disabled.
If other people can get through, I'd like to know it because it says chat disabled on our end.
So we haven't been able to give a comment.
check that with your tech support
hopefully
we want to hear your testimony
sure let's hear your testimony
my testimony is about what the neighbor's
Okay, my testimony is about what the neighbor's true concern is.
true concern is
they showed you
They showed you facades and bricks and told you about the history of the neighborhood.
But when it came down to it, like the young man who just got off when Donald was saying,
the neighbor said that the proposal, he came back with four.
their main concern and his developer keeps talking about money what they can make they could make
we did tell them that if you have 21 bedrooms there's no guarantee that you have one person
in one bedroom and people are waiting to fluctuate here and come in they know germantown's cheaper
and that's why they wanted more less bedrooms or there was even the suggested for one
can we even get families to buy this and it came back again to money so if y'all making the decision
on how much money the developer can make over the safety of the people if you have 21 bedrooms with
even one person in each one that's 21 people in three houses if they catch on fire
then you go to two people per bedroom there's 42 people that they have to get out of there
and you can get I'm not saying there's two bunk beds in a room but three people per bedroom could
be 63 people and after we saw what happened in West Philadelphia there's no gates there's no
ladders on this there's no fire towers or anything for people to get out they were concerned that
people like he said when we looked around the neighborhood they're going to fly to Germantown
to get a cheap apartment, but they're going to put a lot of people
in those four units, and we're trying to get 63 people
out of a burning building with a back street that doesn't allow the fire
engines to get up there as well, and the parking that
would be on curbs. So I won't read
Ms. McCovey?
I think we understand where she was.
Yeah, she might have broke off.
Yes, Chair, we have Charles Richardson with their hand raised.
I will promote them, and they will be in shortly.
Mr. Richardson, you've been sworn a few times a day.
Just state your name and testify.
I'm back.
Hi, Mr. Richardson. Just state your name and testify, please.
Certainly. Charles Richardson, Office of Councilwoman Cindy Bass, room 508 City Hall.
Listening to Mr. Perini and to Alan, you know, Mr. Perini made a nice statement about the social economics and everything of Germantown and who lives where and that type of thing.
But it has nothing to do with this case.
Alan tried to characterize the meeting as, you know, having support on, you know, but in actuality, the vote was 10 to 4 of people that were attending.
One RCO did support them.
Petitions.
This is something new that they've been doing is on the day of the hearing, they present petitions that they have circulated, but they have not supplied them to the council office or to either of the RCOs for review.
And Alan knows that I like to vet petitions or even those types of letters, you know, letters of support.
He knows that already.
But we never received anything to be able to do that.
They keep talking about the four, you know, nearby there are four units, four units, four units.
But they're not bi-level units.
What happened was that they had the fifth unit in the basement.
And then they cut it in half because of the fact that they were so much concerned about water coming in through the back end.
So that's why they cut it. But none of those are bi-level units.
So, you know, a lot was said, but none of it mirrored what the actual people said,
which was more in line with what the gentleman said in the very beginning about the density.
and trying to keep a family feel of that community
as opposed to a transient feel
where they've found most of those folks
that had been moving in more recently come and go.
So Councilwoman is supporting the RCOs
and the community by opposing this variance.
Thank you, Mr. Richards.
Is there anyone else?
Alan, I'll give you a chance when we're done.
Is there anyone else?
yes mr chair i have uh pamela bracy with their hand raised i have
promoted them so they could speak they'll be back in shortly
from all of them to they could speak they'll be back in shortly
i could
i should be coming back in shortly sir sure
Is she on mute?
Hi, could you please state your name
and spell for the stenographer?
I decline to be panelist again, Mr. Chair.
They've been allowed to speak.
Panelist.
Ms. Bracey, are you still there?
on the next we can proceed yes sir i have hyacinth johnson they've been allowed to speak
how could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
is that me yes yes it is please state your name and spell for the stenographer
my name is hyacinth johnson it's spelled h-y-a-c-i-n-t-h last name johnson j-o-h-n-s-o-n
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes i do are you a neighbor yes i'm at number 59 west oh that's okay
leave your neighbor that's fine are you for this project or against the project
i'm against okay is there anything you can offer that we haven't already heard
well my main concern is the the density and i think in terms of the garbage handling the trash
um you spoke on that i i love this street when i came when i bought this house about 14 years ago
it was due to
it looked like a family
oriented street there were people sitting
on porches there were neighbors talking
to each other
I liked the idea that you know it's a
community so I
do object to suddenly
there's going to be five
units in it's just
it's density and trash management
Ms. Johnson thank you very much for
calling we appreciate next hand please
yes Rosalind
is back sir
thank you so much
could you please
continue your testimony
is there anything else you can offer
obviously you're against this project
well I'm not against projects
and developers but I go to what
Ms. Tia Nguyen said the neighbors even
asked if he could possibly
something different with the property
could he build some homes that we could
get longevity families in. And I know he's sitting there quiet now, but he said it's
about the money. So no matter how cute the windows look and things, it's about how much
money they can get. And again, with 63 people stuck in two buildings, the neighbors felt
that it was just too dangerous and too much impacting. He didn't want to cut the bedrooms
Thank you very much for your input. We appreciate it. Next hand, please.
Yes, Rosita Baisley, they've been
allowed to speak. They'll be promoted to Panama shortly.
How many more hands do you have?
It was just that one, sir. Okay, thank you very much.
Okay, they'll be rejoining
us to Panama shortly. Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Yes, my name is Rosita, R-O-S-I-T-A, Baisley, B-A-S-L-E-Y.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
And if you would, could you turn your video on?
Okay, I'm on now.
Thank you.
Are you for this project or against the project?
I am for this project, sir.
All right, thank you very much.
we appreciate is is there any anyone else we're good okay um alan i told you i'd give you a chance
to short give a short response yeah so in terms of the coordinating the rco she mentioned that
there were issues or concerns about fire safety obviously this is a newly constructed property
we're going to have a sprinkler system and a fire suppression system in there
she also mentioned well we keep mentioning about the money but that's part of our hardship it's
but that's part of our hardship. It's a practicality. We can't just build something
the practicality. We can't just build something just to build something.
just to build something. And we were just forthright about that. We said that at most
we can cut as a unit from this to make it four units. It's a practical aspect of it.
As you saw from my presentation, there was a Google picture from 2008 where this property
has been a vacant lot. That's as far back as it goes. It could be much further in time.
And as you saw from the aerial view as well, there's a vacant lot two blocks down of the same type of size or vacant lots.
So, again, it shows that there's a lot of missing teeth in this neighborhood.
And practically, it's impossible for someone to build based on that zoning classification.
I want to address what Charles had to say.
We just don't dump letters of support, like, you know, just willy-nilly.
um we we have our clients reach out i think the community meeting was last week i believe so we
didn't we really were not we were surprised that we had this type of pushback based on the
commentary in the first meeting and our response it took a week for us to get those letters and
as soon as we get it we we make a resubmission to the board um charles also mentioned that our
units are bi-level units as compared to the other properties i referenced those five other
properties within a half a block away there's only one bi-level unit that's the first unit
and we're leveraging the fact that there is above ground use on the front so it's really
not the traditional bi-level unit that you would see you know where you know again there was you
know another presentation where there was complete units in the bedrooms here we don't have that um
And it talks about the transient nature of our development.
I can only go from experience.
And I keep saying this over and over.
When I moved to Fairmont, I lived in a smaller place.
You have to develop roots somewhere, right?
Not everyone could start off with a 3,000 square foot house.
It doesn't matter what neighborhood.
You have to develop roots.
When you start young, eventually you'll build up to maybe having a family.
Well, it starts somewhere.
And this is somewhere for some people.
Or it's the circle of life where some people don't want to own a single family home anymore, but want to remain in their neighborhood and they want to age out gracefully.
Well, this is a really nice place to age out gracefully.
They may have some family members who are suffering from like health issues, but they don't want to live with their parents for some reasons, but they want to live close by.
and this is another opportunity but if you just have single family home after single family home
and there's an affordability issue or the inability to find things that make sense for you
based on your stage in life well then neighborhoods die and and we don't and that's part of the reason
of why you have this type of planning uh in general so um and then finally uh in terms of
trash management and maintenance um it was also referenced we actually have a plan we showed that
we put like outdoor trash storage receptacles at the community's request and if the board feels so
inclined do by way of proviso commercial trash pickup to um encourage us to have additional days
to remove trash from the premises thank you very much can i say one thing can i respond please
Well, I mean, maybe I think we're good.
Planning Commission.
Amy Boyd with the Planning Commission.
This testimony is applicable to 45, 47, and 49 West Seymour Street.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change in zoning at this location from the residential single-family attached RTA1.
The properties have histories of multifamily use, but the density is inconsistent with the surrounding area and not the least minimum.
The appellant has demonstrated that there are unique physical circumstances or conditions
of the properties that would require parking provided in the rear yard and that the parking
ratio not be adhered to.
However, the appellant has not shown that there are unique physical conditions or circumstances
that would prevent the property from being used in conformance with the zoning code for
side yard depth.
The Planning Commission recommends the Board grant the requested variances for multifamily
with proviso, max three units, and grant the requested variances for surface parking and
required rear yard and parking ratio, but deny the requested variance for side yard depth.
Thank you very much. Alan, we've had a lot of testimony, and what I want to do is hold this to
next week at 2 p.m. on Wednesday. We will talk about it in the executive session earlier in
the morning, and we will vote on it at 2 p.m. Thank you. Thank you. Can I ask just one last
question? Is there any reason that in the future that these units couldn't be converted to condos
for sale. I mean, there's no legal reason. That's just my question.
I mean, there's no legal reason and that's that's that just my question. Yes. Thank you very much. Thank you.
OK, so number eight, MI 2024 006 403 3400 Spruce Street. Ira Caldwood is the attorney.
they will be coming back in as a panel sir
hello um mr bergman and chairman bergman and members of the board my name is uh ira carterwood
Could you spell your name for the stenographer?
Ira, I-R-A, Carterwood, K-A-U-D-E-R-W-O-O-D.
I'm an associate general counsel for the University of Pennsylvania Health System.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
And our vice chair has a few questions for you, sir.
Good afternoon, counsel.
Do you agree to read another refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits as needed to proceed with this case
five days in advance of this hearing i have thank you counsel please proceed and you may share your
screen and counsel i would mention too also that the southwest philadelphia district services has
sent a letter of support and council member gautier has taken a business of non-opposition
yes i would like to uh i could just thank you very much i can just uh go through these really
quickly. I have with me Derek Tausch, who's the university architect, the health system architect,
and he can present a very brief presentation on the two variances that are required.
Here, let me get this. Why don't you share your screen? Let's see. Share. Or do you want to have
the architect share his screen? Yeah. You know what, Derek, could we bring Derek on, please?
What is the name of the architect?
Derek Tausch.
They should be coming back in as a panel shortly.
Good afternoon, everybody.
Can you hear me?
I can.
could you please state your name and spell for this scenario yes sir uh derek tash d-e-r-e-k-t-a-s-c-h
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes sir
could you please put the presentation up and council will you start the presentation of what's
up and then he'll pick up on the technicalities of it sure we have uh we have two uh required
variances here one we're placing uh building identification why don't we do this council let
Derek, could you please go on the screen and put the presentation up?
Yeah, just should be showing.
You see it now?
We see it now.
Great.
Counsel, you can see it too, I think?
Yes, I can.
Okay, why don't you proceed?
Again, the two required variances are for a building.
They're both for a building identification sign on the Silverstein Pavilion on 34th Street.
The one is because the sign is going to be above the second floor window sill, and the second one is the size of the sign.
And Derek can explain to you what happened here and why the sign, actually an old sign, had to be removed in this new sign as proposed.
Derek, use your screen so you can, as you talk about something, we can look at it, okay?
Yeah. Do you see the screen now, right?
And do you want to see my cursor?
We do.
Okay. Excellent.
So, just starting here with the aerial view for orientation, I think most people are probably familiar with where the hospital is. Hospital University of Pennsylvania. This is Spruce Street before it becomes South Street further to the east. This is 34th Street. This is 33rd Street.
This is the original Hospital University of Pennsylvania campus,
especially known as HUP, now somewhat known as HUP West.
I think most are probably familiar.
A few years ago, we completed a large hospital expansion project
with what we call the pavilion.
So here at the left side of the screen,
you can kind of see the copper-colored hospital tower.
One of the critical elements of building this new hospital tower
was to maintain full circulation for staff or hospital operation, especially for safety, security,
all these kinds of things. And so one of the components of the hospital tower that was built
last during this long, extensive construction project was a bridge, which extends here. So
was a um bridge which extends here so you can see my cursor the bridge across 33rd 34th
you can see my cursor, the bridge across there.
and then also kind of extends across the face here to a position where it could plug into the
building so um within the hop west complex um it's one address but it's truthfully about 14
buildings built over 120 years or so um the building in question right now at this corner here
is the Silverstein Pavilion building.
So the Silverstein Building,
and I'll just continue here just for orientation,
and then I'll take you through some street-level photos.
Silverstein Building was built and completed in 1972.
In 1978, it was named for the Silverstein family
in honor of Louis Silverstein,
who was a major contributor and supporter
of the hospital health system
and the university around that era.
sign went up with that name in 1978 and remained there until the point of the sort of the end of
the construction project here when we needed to erect this piece of the bridge so i'll move
so this is a little blurry we looked back through our records trying to find a better photo and this
was a historic google earth photo they were able to find there was at the time the emergency
department used to be here there's now a secondary entrance into the hospital the emergency department
is really part of the new hospital tower. And there was a Silverstein Pavilion sign here
for recognition of that entrance. So if I go to, I'm going to skip past a couple of these to one
that's probably easier to see. Current condition. So now zooming in, you can see where that new
bridge construction occurs, where the former sign was here at this location. So that sign,
in order to achieve the construction needed to be displaced.
And our wish is to erect a new sign
for building identification, really,
at this location, at this scale.
So there's a couple of things here.
The sign is slightly larger than previous,
and part of our reasoning there is just that it is higher above the sidewalk,
so we want to make sure it's still legible from street level.
And then the addition of Penn Medicine, which was not part of the original sign, really just because as this whole neighborhood has evolved in that time since 1978, you know, it's a very dense area.
And there are a lot of Penn and CHOP and other folks kind of intertwined here.
So it's important that people understand which building they're coming to.
And below here, where the emergency department formerly was, this is a secondary entrance that some visitors are encouraged to utilize.
So it's important for them to understand which building they're trying to locate.
And I think that is the description, unless I can add to that.
So that's your request, that one sign?
This sign here, yeah.
Questions from the board.
Will there be any lights around the illuminating of the...
It is not illuminated.
It's...
Other questions?
yeah just i'm trying to know is it individual letters it's individual yeah what we call
aluminum pin letters it's individual letters fixed to the facade and they are not illuminated so we
just be very visible during the day and we rely on the ambient light of the neighborhood it's a
pretty pretty bright even in the evening just due to all the activity anyone else with questions
questions from our attorney no mr chair questions from the audience questions from the virtual
audience i do not see any hands mr chair planning commission
amy boyd with the planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change in
zoning from the existing special purpose institutional spin the proposal is to relocate
signage to accommodate the addition of a pedestrian bridge the planning commission recommends a board
grant their requested variance for sign location and max area. Thank you. MI 2024-006-403-3400
Spruce Street, I vote yes. Michael Johns, my vote is yes. Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes. Taya Nguyen, my vote is yes. Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Thank you. Thank you very much. Appreciate it very much.
Thank you.
Say that again.
Pardon me?
so the 3 30 list mi 2024 001 938 2091 bridge street we have an interpreter for this
counsel you don't have the i gotta i gotta let me go get the interpreter
did you need the interpreter
hello can you hear me now
hello we can hear you sir okay thank you very much hello my name is ronel and i'm going to be
the spanish interpreter and of course everything is uh everything is confidential ready when you
are hi could you please state your name again and spell for the interpreter
Yes, my name is Leonel, spelled L-E-O-N, as in Nancy, E-L.
Last name is Gillen, G-U-I-L-L-E-N.
Do you solemnly swear or affirm that you will interpret accurately, completely, and impartially
from English to Spanish and from Spanish to English, to the best of your ability?
Yes, I swear.
Okay, could you please...
Call for us.
Marley Hidalgo Perez.
¿Está presente Marley Hidalgo Perez?
¿Está presente Marley Hidalgo Perez?
Una vez más, Marley Hidalgo Perez.
Yes, they have been promoted to panelists. They should be rejoining shortly.
Do we have her paperwork and all?
Okay, all right. Interpreter, could you please wait until she comes on and I'll swear her in?
Yes, sir.
an interpreter can you ask her to unmute please yes sir yes ma'am
uh marley hidalgo perez puede encender su micrófono por favor
okay somebody's got their something on the back yes could you please tell her to spell her name
for the
And I will ask her if she can
because there's a lot of background noise
Marley Hidalgo Pérez
Señorita, por favor, puede
deletrar su nombre y puede
ver la forma de que
no haya tanto ruido de fondo
por favor, I have asked her
if she can move to a place where there's no
background noise
Thank you, interpreter, see how she responds
Yes, sir
my interpreter could you ask her do you swear or affirm that tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
señorita usted jura decir la verdad toda la verdad y nada más que la verdad
yes interpreter could you please tell her that we do not have all her documents
and that we are going to continue this case until six eight twenty five
until six yeah interpreter could you please tell her that we're going to continue her case
until seven nine twenty five because we don't have all her documents
señorita entonces ya que no tenemos todos los documentos vamos a continuar su caso hasta el 7
9 del 25 no todos los documentos se le ha mandado para absent
no but i have sent all the documents we have sent all the documents and we have the packages
for months this is the second time they continue this case
we have the tax here we have the pictures everything you guys asked for
listen uh interpreter please tell her we received her documents yesterday we need to have them at
five days prior and that we're going to continue the case and it'll become back up seven oh nine
twenty-five at three thirty p.m. si recibimos su documento
recibimos todos sus documentos ayer pero necesitamos tener los cinco días previo a la cita
así que vamos a continuar su caso de nuevo el 7 del 9 del 25 a las 3 30
Thank you very much, please tell her that the case will be in July and we will have an interpreter at that time too. Thank you very much, sir.
Thank you.
Muy bien, señorita, entonces vamos a darle a continuar hasta julio y vamos a tener un intérprete para usted en ese momento. Muchas gracias por su tiempo.
Thank you.
Gracias.
Number 11, MI 2024-006-532-1141-South 13th Street.
Vern Anastasio is the attorney.
No, no, we're two.
We're two left.
We'll be back in as a panelist shortly, Mr. Chair.
good evening mr hi verne you've already been sworn um could you just state your name for the
record yeah it's verne anastasio on behalf of dr vicky borgia of radiance medical group right
and could you um all right our vice chair has a few questions thank you good afternoon council
do you agree to weigh the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy yes sir have you
emailed in all the required documents and exhibits as needed and required to proceed with this case
five days in advance of this hearing yes sir thank you council please proceed you've already
the passion square civic associations in non-opposition as well as council members
Correct. And we also submitted signatures of immediate neighbors, 145 signatures of folks who live within the immediate neighborhood and support.
1141 South 13th Street. We've got a 94 page exhibit packet. I won't go over everything, but I'll go over the most important parts.
The application is for two solo practices for medical and one group practice.
Solo practices are by right use.
The one group medical practice is why we're here.
As you can see here, the group medical practice is prohibited in RSA 5.
and my client currently is a sole practitioner but she would like the opportunity to bring
another practitioner on when and if the time arises there's certainly plenty of space there
so as you can see the long history of granting uh different sorts of uh of uh of uses and
And as you're going to see here at page 76 of the exhibit packet, you're going to see a very long history going back decades of the first floor being a studio for drama and voice.
Before that, it was a cooking school. So the first floor hasn't been single family residential in a very, very long time.
Our proposal is just a continuation of the use as we propose it to be, continuing in the tradition of commercial.
Here's the plans, and I will zoom in a little bit.
It's a corner property.
Enter right here where my cursor is.
There's a reception immediately to someone's left.
And then there's a waiting area here along, I guess that's along this side here.
Yep. Along this side here. And then as you can see, one, two, three, four examination rooms with some lab and some storage, a restroom and a kitchenette for some breaks. Trash area in the rear.
And then as you can see, one, two.
there are the plans let me show you some photos
this is the property in question it's been vacant for a very very long time
uh i have passed this property myself um at least you know five or six dozen times in the
past few years and it's been vacant for for quite some time so but it's in you know relatively good
shape on the exterior it hasn't been hacked up over the years with bad materials inside does
need some work you can see here and my client is committed to bringing it back to life
nice big windows. I think it's really ideal for commercial use, and the medical offices
will be a real asset to the community. As part of the 94-page exhibit packet, we have Google
reviews, all five stars for Dr. Borgia. And of course, we also have information about our
practice. It's a unique practice. It's a general practice that focuses on accessibility
and affordability. And here's the letter that went out to all immediate neighbors,
inviting them not only to the RCO meeting
but to the zoning hearing up today on the
29th. Passion Square at Philly
Foot and Washington Avenue have all been mailed as have all of these
addresses.
As you can see, it's a pretty
tight neighborhood with lots of homes.
and we have proof of mailing from vista 192 households
which is kind of high so at this point i want to show you the uh after the presentation before
during and after actually we've collected signatures from 145 immediate neighbors on 13th
on peters on federal on wharton latona ellsworth
my client circulated these petitions
most of them secured in december and january
we have a letter of support from william and valerie cohen of 1165 south 13th which is
literally right you know right there there we are 1141
we have a letter of non-opposition from councilman squilla
and a letter of non-opposition unanimous support from passion square civic association
Again, here's some information on the practice itself.
And because of the long history of commercial use on this first floor, because my client is bringing a much needed amenity of medical services to the community,
and because she has support from over 145 folks who signed her petition of support in addition
to three separate letters, one being from the district council member and the other being from
the RCO, I respectfully request the granting of the variance. Thank you.
Do you want to bring your client on? I would like to if she's still available. She did have to seek
clients um about 30 minutes ago but dr vicky one quick question before she comes on this is first
floor only first floor only yeah so bern there's a note here no amplified sound on the second floor
No amplified sound on the second floor.
what's what's that mean
What's that mean?
screen.
I have no idea.
Who's that from?
Passion Square.
Two lists.
Proviso.
Close at 8 p.m.
And no amplified sound on the second floor.
I can't speak to that.
This application is for first floor only.
All right, good.
Is your client here?
Yeah, she should be.
Dr. Vicki Borgia, please raise your hand.
yeah our interior layout is exclusive to the first floor
and that's where the offices will be here
they're coming back in as the panelist chair
thank you very much
let's do this again
hi could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
uh my name is victoria borgia b as in boy o r g i a we swear or affirm to tell the truth the
whole truth and nothing but the truth yes please proceed counsel thank you vicky did you hear my
presentation today yes true and accurate to the best of your knowledge yes adopted as your own
testimony yes thank you very much i have nothing further mr chick questions from the board yeah
Yeah, my question is, so the 8 p.m. close by is not relevant either?
No, Mondays and Wednesdays, our hours are 3 to 8.
Thursdays are 9 to 5.
Fridays are 10 to 2.
And Saturdays are 9 to noon.
I think I know why that was put there.
There were two at the community board meeting I was at.
it was me and a restaurant that was trying to move to the second floor and i believe those were
in regards to them yeah i'm living on the second floor so i think that it had to do with the other
person the restaurant that presented on the same night sounds like it might have been an error
thank you did she adopt your testimony burn she did yep she did everything she was supposed
Do you have questions from the board?
I have no questions.
Just to be clear, this is primarily to accommodate one additional practitioner in your general practice office?
For the group practice, that's correct.
And then for the space, what would be the max that fits in that space?
well there's only a certain amount of um there's only a certain amount of um of offices for
examinations so one two there's four examination rooms now uh so i would assume four but
the you know anyway i answered your question
anything else
questions or comments from our attorney
none of this time Mr. Chair
questions or comments from the audience
questions or comments from the virtual audience
yes Chair I have a hand up from
Francis Arabia
I've allowed them to speak
I could you please state your name and spell
for this stenographer
hello my name is francis arabia f-r-a-n-c-e-s a-r-a-b-i-a do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes are you a neighbor yes please proceed
um so i live on the uh third floor with my uh wife and son and i just wanted to
clarify a note that we do live on the third floor that that is all um residence
and are you in favor of the project absolutely yes all right all right thank you thank you very
much for calling we appreciate it is there anyone else in the virtual audience no further hands mr
chair planning commission amy boyd with the planning commission the comprehensive plan
recommends no change in zoning at this location from the existing residential single family rsa5
the proposed use of group medical and dental office and health practitioner was allowed in
the previous c1 zoning designation um and in 2009 this property was granted a variance for
C1 uses, and it has a history of commercial and other uses. The Planning Commission recommends
that the board grant the requested variance for group health practitioner. Thank you. MI 2024-006-532-1141
1141 south 13th street i vote yes with a proviso first floor only michael johns my vote is yes
South 13th Street. I vote yes with a proviso. First floor.
with proviso cheryl gaston my vote is yes with proviso tenetta graham my vote is yes with proviso
hi owen my vote is yes with proviso ishmael shahi my vote is yes with proviso thank you counsel yep
thank you mr phillips
mi 2024 006 571 901 leland street michael phillips is the attorney phillips sorry we had
you here this long and sorry that we interrupted with a little smoke and fire and things of that
nature but could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
M-I-C-H-A-E-L-P-H-I-L-L-I-P-S with Claire Harrison, 1835 Market Street, Suite 1400, Philadelphia PPA 19102.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
We have unanimous support from the United Franciville Civic Association and non-opposition from Councilmember Young.
Would you identify your client and relationship to the property?
Yes, I am here on behalf of the property owner, High Top Leland LLC, and I have with me here today Ryan Lobauer, who is an in-house architect with High Top Real Estate and Development.
Our vice chair has a few questions, sir.
Good evening, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
You know, then, all the required documents and exhibits that's needed to proceed with this case, obviously, in advance of this hearing.
Yes, I have.
thank you council please proceed you already shared your screen thank you members of the board
we are here seeking a variance at the property at 901 Leland Street to convert the ground floor
which is required to have commercial uses in the CMX two and a half zoning district into two
residential units. This originally was a by right permitted project with 52 residential units and
ground floor commercial as required in the CMX two and a half district. And I'll orient you here as
screen. What you see outlined in red is the property at 901 Leland. And really the crux of
our argument and the basis for our variant is that, as you'll notice, the CMX 2.5 zoning
designation appears to be intended for the Ridge Ave commercial corridor. However, 901 Leland,
as well as the one property immediately to the northwest at 907 Leland, are the only two
properties that do not have any frontage along Ridge Ave. They only front along Leland. And as
you can see as well, right directly in front of the property, Leland is a narrow street. There is
no commercial activity whatsoever. Our intent, however, was to proceed with a buy-write project.
So at first we proposed vacant commercial use, and that was then changed to artist lofts with
the thought process that maybe this will yield a tenant on the ground floor who wants to come and
you know, work and also admittedly for the convertibility in case that was not feasible,
that it would be easiest to convert those sort of units to a residential use.
I will just continue to move quickly through the project. This is an outline of the building
as constructed. Here are some aerial views and you will see the Ridge Ave commercial corridor
as well as Girard Ave. However, our property has no frontage along Ridge. We only front Leland
Street, which, again, is a much more narrow street. Here is the front of the building as
constructed. It is a six-story building. Here is just some shots of, you know, this is Leland.
We, and here, you know, by contrast, this is the Ridge Ave commercial corridor with all the,
you know, commercial properties. Here are some interior photos of the units. It's pretty much
just, you know, there's a shell. However, there is also a kitchen and there is a bathroom. There
will need to be some convertibility that Mr. Lobar will speak to. One of the units will be an ADA
unit, and we have a unanimous approval from UFCA 14-0, and they expressed that the neighborhood
actually did not prefer to have commercial here and would want these two units to be
converted over to residential. We have the floor plans here. Both units are approximately 500.
We have the floor plans here. Both units are approximately 550 square feet each. This is as they are laid out as currently artist studios. However, you will see there is a bathroom and a small kitchen.
The only difference really between these units and the other units is they do have direct access to the street.
And unfortunately, because the property has already been developed, these individuals have to go into the building to get their mail and then leave the building and go back into their units.
There's no direct access into the corridor of the building.
But beyond that, these two units for a total of 54 should fit seamlessly.
And we believe that there is a clear hardship based on the orientation along Leland without any Bridge Ave frontage.
I would like to ask Ryan Lobauer if you could be sworn in and agreed or without my testimony.
Sir, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Ryan Lobauer, R-Y-A-N-L-O-H-B-A-U-E-R.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Proceed, counsel.
Ryan, did you hear my testimony a moment ago?
yes and uh has high top been able to find a tenant or a artist lofts use at this uh property no
do you agree to adopt my testimony as if it were your own yes do you agree that everything i stated
was true and correct to the best of your knowledge information and belief yes no further questions
for mr lobauer counsel didn't you say you're going to have him talk about bathrooms or something
one of the units will need to be upgraded to make sure that it's in compliance with the type a
ada requirements so we will do that as it um as part of the conversion questions from the board
yes what kind of efforts did you make is there someone here to testify
about what kind of efforts you actually made to try to rent these as um more commercial type space
so high top real estate development also has a full service brokerage arm these were uh listed
with the brokerage. They had, I believe, the MLS number. We were trying to find commercial
tenants, and I believe there was literally zero interest from anybody other than people who
wanted to live here and do a live work, but that was not an option. Brian, can you elaborate on
that, or do you agree with what I said? That's correct. Do you have anything further to add to
that how long how long did we do this who did we try to market these to it's been over a year i
believe this building opened probably a year and a half ago um the permit was pulled i believe with
the building permit um and it was occupied towards the end of 22 originally that was the tco and then
we had the finished um uh last year we began thinking about whether or not we could convert
these in March of 24, however, continued to try to give it another half year to see if we could
find anybody. And then it was finally in September that we decided to pursue the variant. So to
Ryan's point, that was approximately a full year and a half. And the rest of the building is
occupied? I believe there is only one available unit in the building right now. 51 and 52 are
are occupied okay thank you are there studios other studios in the building i know that's not
part of this but there are some see if there's a demand for studio apartments yes there are some
in the building it's a mix of one and two bedrooms as well but um yes are there any other like public
amenities in the building for the residents uh i believe we have a roof deck the roof deck there's
a lounge on the first floor are these tenants going to have same access to those amenities
same exactly the only difference is just that um they can't walk down a hole through there
and then just because from the images and the rendering that you showed the ridge avenue side
did have like a traditional storefront on the facade and i was wondering how is there going
to be any construction done to sort of adjust the facade now that it's being converted to
individual units so um that ridge that's actually not our building we don't have any frontage along
ridge avenue and i'll um just quickly so our building is outlined in red so there is a small
building that um you know abuts us and fronts ridge ave but we do not have any we only front
uh leland and so there were changes show the leland street facade yeah you just it went quickly
So, it's these two units that you see with the red outline that...
And then they would go in this main door here to access any of the other amenities as well as to pick up any mail or packages.
Correct.
And then, was there any thought about putting different doors on and putting mail slots in the tenant's doors so that they didn't have to?
And then was there any thought about putting different...
No, we didn't discuss that, but I mean, we could consider it. I'm sure there's some benefit to having the extra light. There's always that tradeoff with privacy when you have that much kind of storefront glazing.
But, um, um, and then I think my other question for these two units is trash.
Like, are they just going to be putting their trash out on their own on the sidewalk on
trash day?
No, we have a commercial trash pickup and there's a trash room that they will have access
to in the building.
And the other part of the, they may actually prefer to have the access to the mail room
through the exterior door, just because actually package delivery and package security is a
major uh component of um you know a major amenity for for people living in these buildings just to
be clear to deal with trash they don't have to take their trash out of their unit come into the
main door and then put it in the trash room where does the trash room in relation to that main
entrance it's uh on the first floor and there's actually a separate if we can go to that first
floor. Do we have the first one? The package room is actually directly behind one of the
units. Mail here, lounge, and then... I think the trash room is very hard to read. I just
trash room go back up yeah it's like above the lounge there it is there trash room and electric
correct so it's it's accessed through that uh the main corridor and then is there
security in this building or uh there's no um front desk if that's what you're asking but we
do have cameras and um uh keypad access okay any other questions from the board questions from our
attorney hillary embers not at this time questions or comments from the audience
questions or comments from the virtual audience
i do not see any further hands mr chair any commission
Amy Boyd with the Planning Commission. The comprehensive plan recommends no change in zoning at this location from the existing commercial mixed-use CMX 2.5. However, Leland is a narrow street on a residential area with no other commercial uses nearby, so the conversion to residential would be appropriate. The Planning Commission recommends that Board grant the requested variance for no ground floor commercial.
Thank you. MI 2024-006-571-901 Leland Street, I vote yes.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Tanada Graham, my vote is yes.
Tywin, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you very much.
Thank you. Thank you for waiting so long.
It's a pleasure to be back.
We're going to take a five-minute break, and then we're coming back,
And we really only have one case left. It'll just be a matter of going through it. One. Okay. Two.
Is there anyone in the rest of the audience whose 2 p.m. case has not been called?
I do not see any hands, Mr. Chair.
Yeah, don't worry about it.
Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this meeting of the Philadelphia Zoning Board.
With me is our Vice Chair, Ismael Shaheed.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our Board Member, Cheryl L. Gaston.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our Board Member, Tenetta Graham.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our Board Member, Michael Johns.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
And our Board Member, Taya Nguyen, will be right back.
Also present is our Attorney, Hillary Emerson, and Ian Haggerty, our Executive Director of Zoning.
Please be advised that this meeting is being recorded, and your participation in this meeting indicates your consent to be recorded.
The video will be posted on the ZBA website approximately one week following the meeting.
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When you are recognized to speak by the board, please state and spell your name for the court reporter, and then wait to be sworn in.
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Let's look at our schedule for this afternoon.
Number one, MI-2022-006-992-711 South 23rd Street.
No exhibits.
This is the first listing.
There's been a request to continue this case from SOSNA on 121-25.
Mr. Chair, I just want to note this is the fifth listing for this matter.
Thank you.
Right.
is uh michelle you the listed applicant in the audience
good evening chair this is jason and i will be your calls for this session
i do not see any hands raised for this matter so mi2022 006 992 711 south 23rd street this is
the fifth listing. I vote to dismiss. Michael Johns, my vote is to dismiss. Cheryl Gaston,
my vote is to dismiss. Tanetta Graham, my vote is to dismiss. Dishmael Shaheed, my vote is to dismiss.
Number two, MI 2023-006-896-138 West Sharpnock Street. This case is continued until 7-9-25.
Number four, MI 2024, 001-897-2614 Pine Street. This case has been continued until 7-9-25.
And that's at 3.30 p.m., Mr. Sheriff, correct?
3.30 p.m., yep.
Thank you.
and number six mi 2024 001 934 4313 lancaster street no exhibits second listing there's a
request from council member gothier to continue this case is is sonia bachkin or unique soror
soror event rentals present or fantastic futures
hello mr chair i do not see any hands raised for this matter either so thank you so mi2024
001 934 4313 lancaster avenue this case is continued to 7 9 25 at 3 30 p.m and mark must be
heard number seven mi 2024 001 938 2091 bridge street this case has been continuing until 7 9
25 to 3 30 pm number nine mi 2024 003 134 1901 to 03 chelton avenue this case has been continued
until 7 9 25 and number 10 mi 2024 004 348 2350 east albert street this case has been continued
until 7 9 25 to go back a minute and go through a couple of cases we do not have exhibits
number three mi 2024 001 895
Number three, MI 2024-001-895-1200 Algoth Street.
Gene Pierre is the listed owner.
Roger Tennant is the ARB Services.
No exhibit, second listing.
We have been allowed to speak, Mr. Chair.
Could you please state your name
Mr. Pierre
Could you please state your name
It's spelled for the court stenographer
My name is Gene Pierre
J-E-A-N
P-I-E-R-R-E
Do you swear or affirm
To tell the truth, the whole truth
And nothing but the truth
Could you turn your video on please
Hold on, let me promote
Sorry, excuse me
they'll be coming back in as a panel shortly okay thank you
please take it as a panelist
Mr. Pierre
speaking
do you swear or
refer to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth right
yes so Mr. Pierre
this is the second listing
for your case and we do not have your
exhibits
I attempt to upload them
and it did
yes it looks like the file was too big
okay so Mr. Pierre this is what we're going to do
we're going to have to continue the case
you can call the office and they'll tell you everything you need to have we're going to
continue this until july 9th at 3 30 p.m okay thank you thank you very much sir
so mi2024 001 895 1200 alcott street that case has been continued to 7 9 25 at 3 30 p.m
Number five, MI 2024-001-898-966 Wakeling Street.
Leonard D. La Cruz is the listed owner.
No exhibit, second listing.
Chair Anastina Moreno will be rejoining as a panelist.
hello hi uh could you turn your video video on please i'm having problems with the video
is that okay okay so state your name and spell for the sonographer
agustina a a u g s i n m o m o r e n o right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the
whole truth is nothing but the truth yes augustina we do not have your exhibits well they were sent
on the 7th of january excuse me one second um miss moreno you are are you the attendant because
our listed owner we have is leonardo de la cruz he's here with me okay can can he speak please
because he is the one
seeking relief. Is that correct?
Hello. My name is Leonardo
de la Cruz.
Could you spell your name for the sonographer?
It's a L-E-O
N-A-R-D-O
Go ahead.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth
and nothing but the truth?
Yes. Sir, we do not have
exhibits.
I want to talk to Mr. D. LaCruz because he's the one that's...
Mr. D. LaCruz, do you want to have your exhibits?
Mr. D. LaCruz, sir, sir, my English is not good, right?
And I don't want to make a mistake.
If you told me something...
So listen to me.
This is what we're going to have to do.
we're going to continue this case one more time and if you have a problem
make it a presentation we'll have an interpreter here for you okay all right mr de la cruz what
language do you need an interpreter for spanish okay we will have a spanish interpreter available
for you all right so 2024 001-898-96
I-2024-001-898-966 Wakeland Street is continued to 7, 925 at 3.30 p.m.
All right.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
so number eight mi 2024 002 278 415 south man peltry jennifer bazillo is the attorney
they'll be coming back in as a panel shortly mr chair okay
there was a letter of deferral on 10-23-24 by center city residents association
sorry and i'll explain what's going on council how are you hello say your name and spell for
the stenographer sure it's jennifer j-e-n-n-i-f-e-r bazidlo b as in boy a as in apple
Z as in zebra, Y, D as in David, L as in Larry, O as in Oscar.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client in relationship to the property?
My client is 415 South Van Pelt Associates, who is the owner of the property.
And I have Adam Cohen, who is a member of that group, here with me today.
And our vice chair has just a few questions.
Evening counsel, do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
I can agree to waive the reading, but I don't stipulate to the accuracy.
For sure. Tell us about that when you're a presenter.
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed and required to perceive it as case five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, and I did also upload some supplemental exhibits.
I apologize. I've been really sick with COVID.
I still have COVID, so I was a little bit less organized than normal, but you had all the required documents five days in advance.
Thank you. Please proceed and you may share your screen.
Okay, one second.
Okay, let me just put this over here.
Okay, so like I said, I'm here today to talk about its offense on this property.
I'm just going to run through our exhibits real quick, and then I'll get to the heart of what's going on.
So we have our refusal here, which is we only have one refusal, and it's about the height and opacity of a fence,
which this refusal is saying it's in the front yard, and that's where the accuracy issue comes in.
But we'll talk about that later.
Here is our deed that shows South Van Pelt Associates as the owner.
uh that's a big deed and then you can see that the only taxes owed are for 2025 and they're not due
yet um and then we're going to come back to the RCO but we did meet with them twice already
um and as well as done some neighborhood outreach as well which we'll go through
um this is a zoning map of the area here we're going to come back to all of these um just an
aerial view because it's it's an interesting property um and we're talking about this fence
that's in between a couple of properties there's our zoning poster notices this is the current state
of the fence these are the front side uh and it's a corner property so this is the building itself
and these are the surrounding streets uh we'll come back to all of these and then i have some
um we're going to talk about security of this property and why we're asking for a variance in
terms of the security of the property. We'll come back to all this and our plans and our final
rendering of what we're proposing here. So let me just go back to page 30 here. So what you can see
here is, so 415 South Van Pelt is a really interesting multifamily property. It's been
this way for a really long time. It's located in Rittenhouse Square area. It's between Pine and
Lombard and 21st and 22nd on this small street. This is the front of the building here in the
lower right corner. And then this is the side of the building on the top left that faces
Lombard Street. It's a large property that consists of, let me just get back to the aerial
property. Hold on one second. It consists of six individual buildings on one parcel.
So if you can see where the circle center of this blue dot is here, there's two buildings that face Van Pelt Street, there's two buildings that are kind of in the courtyard area, and then there's two other buildings that face Lombard Street.
So if you can see where the circle center of this blue dot is here.
So it's a really interesting property.
It has a total of 32 units and about 45 residents in it.
What we're here to talk about today is this fence area that's between one of the buildings that faces Van Pelt Street and it connects to a building that faces Lombard Street.
um so what you're looking at right now is what has been there um for as long as i can determine
i found pictures back to i think 2009 based on the age of the materials and the age of this
property i think it's probably closer to you know uh you know 50 60 70 years old on this is not a
new wall here. Um, so this was the old fence that was here. It's about 10 feet tall as,
as it was, um, and consisted of these bricks at the lower level with these metal railings
on top. Um, so, and that's about 10 feet tall. Um, so what was happening with this property
over the past couple of years was there was a lot of security complaints that the building
management was getting, um, about stolen packages, stolen bikes, um, people that weren't supposed to
be in the center courtyard, in the center courtyard. Um, and the, before anything was
proposed about this fence, the, um, property management had replaced a door with a sturdier
door because it had been kicked in by people trying to, um, steal from the tenants. Um,
They replaced the key system so that it was more secure.
And basically, at some point, they realized that people were jumping the fence to get into the courtyard to steal people's bikes, to steal packages, and kind of linger in this center courtyard area of the property.
so they were using this space here between the brick and the metal railing to kind of
this brick is up to about five foot eight inches and they were using that platform to pull
themselves up and this existing metal had prongs that faced both ways so there was a space for
them to hop over and you know commit theft and then hop back over or walk out the front door
with a bike or whatever um and these were increasingly concerns for the residents they
didn't feel safe they didn't think their property was safe um and you know we could talk about
property itself but when you have people breaking into your home um it's a scary thing because you
don't know what else they might do other than steal your bike um so the um the property owners
wanted to take care of their tenants um and they decided they were going to replace this metal part
with a solid brick, you know, concrete block wall covered in stucco.
And this happened towards the end of 2023, beginning of 2024.
And this is what was constructed.
They didn't know or didn't understand that this required permits
because they thought they were just replacing one material with another material.
L&I does issue a violation.
so at that point great they had no problem trying to get the correct permits um and they went to
apply with their building plans to get this all legalized and that's when it came back
with a refusal so we're going to go back to the refusal here to talk about
um why i don't think this is accurate and then if it is accurate why we have a hardship so um
The one refusal we received was for fences in the front yard, and the refusal was any fence located nearer to the front lot line, then the required building setback, or the actual distance of the building from the lot line, shall be no more than four feet in height and no more than 50% opaque.
this fence is not it is in line hold on I just I'm just getting back to where we're at hold on
one second because I want to be able to show you why I talk about it if you can see it's 100% in
line with the facade of these adjacent buildings it's not in front of the lot line it's not anywhere
beyond where the front of the facade of this building would be. In many other
In many other circumstances, if they didn't want to have a fence here, for example, so before I go on to that, so I don't think that that's a correct refusal because this is not in front of the facade, in front of the property line, in front of the building.
circumstances, if they didn't want to have a fence here, for example,
This is in line with the building. And I understand where the refusal came from. And in reviewing the code sections about fences, I think there's just nothing that really contemplates this kind of connection between multiple buildings along the existing facade line and the regulations for that.
because this is such a unique property where we have these multiple older buildings around a
courtyard with this one little gap that's fenced in and has been fenced in. So I don't think that
this is necessarily correct refusal. And I just want to state that for the record. I understand
we're probably going to proceed with it being that way, but I don't want to stipulate to it
being accurate. What I'll say in terms of hardship then is that if my clients instead decided they
wanted to expand their buildings and say we want to add on to the side of our building, we want to
make these units bigger, by right they could build a 38-foot building here. And it's only because
we're asking for a security fence and not for a building at this point that we're being limited
in terms of the height. And I do also want to say again, existing the previous wall here, this brick
is about a little under six feet tall already, and that's been there for a really long time.
And the previous fencing was about 10 feet tall total. This is a really unique property.
It has these disconnected buildings around a courtyard, where typically if you maybe had a
courtyard building, apartment complex, it would just go all the way around the courtyard. But we
have these couple of gaps where we need to fill in to secure that courtyard and secure the properties
of the buildings that are further back in this parcel. Obviously, I think most of us living in
and experiencing the city understand that a four-foot fence is not keeping anyone safe and is
not creating security for these residents. A 10-foot fence was not creating that. So I think
we have a really unique hardship based on just how these properties are laid out and where this
fence is located. We also understand that this, as it is, is not very good looking. So that's why
we're going to talk about how we worked with our community to try to get a better response. So
So let me just go up to. And let me just show you again. No, let's go back to. Sorry. I want to apologize. My brain is still a little messed up from COVID. So if I'm babbling to myself, I apologize.
Okay. So we had our first meeting with CCRA in June, June 25th. And that's where we proposed basically just legalizing what we had, what had already been done, that, that solid wall, and then maybe covering it with some stucco to match the side of the stucco of the building.
and the neighborhood understood the concerns about security they acknowledged that there
had already been a fence there that was pretty tall and understood that four foot is not a
reasonable fence height at that property but they were concerned about the aesthetics of this
of this wall of the fence which you know what we can agree on so what they had asked us to do
was go back and talk to some of the members of the community who had already, who had participated
in this for ideas about what they wanted to see instead. That we could have some sort of
compromise of security and a nice looking architectural element for the community.
And the general consensus was something more like what was there before. They didn't have a problem
with the bricks remaining. They liked the old bricks and they wanted to see metal above. So as
I said before, the problem was, was that people were using that gap to kind of reach in, plop
themselves over. And because of the orientation of how the top of the fence was, they were able
to jump over. Jim, what did you recommend? Why don't you show us what you recommend? Sure. So
what we did is we went back and we are proposing now to use a CMU 10 inch brick to kind of fill
in that gap area. It would be about a foot and a half at the lower point and about six
at the lower point and about six inches at this higher point.
inches at this higher point. And then there would be a four foot rail.
And then there would be a four foot railing
that all points out attached to the top of it.
When we went back to the community again in October,
they really didn't have an objection to this concept,
but they didn't want any stucco visible.
And so we agreed.
And why we don't have it on the rendering,
it is written on our plans
that what they proposed was to cover it in tile.
And so this will be covered in a decorative tile
that fits in with the aesthetic of the neighborhood.
We know it's a older neighborhood.
We don't want to put in like neon green
or anything like that,
which is something that will fit in
with the aesthetics of the community
and provide that extra safety for the residents.
And again, the total height of this would be 12 feet.
So we're going a little bit taller,
but we're having less opacity at the top.
And so, that's kind of a compromise. It's a little bit taller, but it's more in line
with what people want it to look like. And let me just show you the notes I received from CCRA.
One second. I have an email here. This is from Wade Albert from CCRA. And really, they were
looking for um you can see here that the request of the community was to just not have stucco they
don't want any stucco visible and we're on board with that i know you can't really make that a
proviso but this is a large building in this community and we're not looking to do something
tell the neighbors we're doing one thing and do something else um and if you look at number four
here too it says provided that your team supplies a redesign and eliminates the exposed stucco um
So we discussed an updated refusal at some point, but we just submitted proviso plans because it didn't change the refusal, our design, it was still for opacity and height, that they're likely not to oppose.
What happened was I haven't had a final vote from CCRA.
I talked to Wade this morning, and if you think it's appropriate, we would ask that you just hold your decision based on this presentation until they have a final vote in a few weeks.
Or you can accept that we've done extensive outreach to the community.
We've done extensive redesign.
We've met the criteria of what they have asked for.
But I did tell Wade that I would ask for that, for you to hold a vote for them.
But basically, we have a situation where we have a very unique property layout, we have documented security issues, and we've worked extensively to redesign our projects so that the community can, you know, our residents can have security, and the community can have something that looks, that looks good.
So that when they walk by, they aren't looking at something ugly or, you know, just a blank wall.
It should look substantially like what was there before, but just a little more secure for the residents.
So with that, I would and I just want to remind people that, again, if this was a because of the location, you could build a building there up to 38 feet tall.
So do you have a client that wants to adopt your testimony?
Sure. Adam, can you raise your hand so they can let you speak?
We will hold this.
We're not going to vote on it today.
They'll be rejoining us of Panama shortly, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you.
Yep, I'm here.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Adam Cohen, A-D-A-N-C-O-H-E-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Sure. Adam, just one question. Just verify that we've done extensive outreach to the community at this point in redesigns to meet their requests, correct?
Okay. And so you have had documented complaints from this building about security issues prior to raising the fence height, correct?
Correct.
And there haven't been any security issues since, correct?
None at all.
Okay, great. And then on that note, you heard my testimony here today.
uh do you adopt it as do you believe it to be fair and accurate yes and do you adopt it as your own
i do so questions from the board yes i have a question one could you pull back up the site plan
and walk through what that interior courtyard like from the sidewalk to the interior courtyard
what is the sort of the walking narrative sure so let me just i'm actually going to switch over
to an air to one that i can zoom in a little bit easier if that's okay um the plan in my
presentation packet it's the same documents but it's just not um easy to enhance so um let's
um let's actually go to a photo um hold on one second could you leave it on the plane
actually go to a photo um hold on one second could you leave it on
i i just wanted to show you so you could understand how people enter the building
i mean i saw their front door i'm i'm just trying to figure out what's happening in the court sure
so um so what's happening in these courtyards is that this is hold on let me just scoot over here
and move this so i can show so this is um you would where this striped area is i don't know
can you see my cursor on the screen I can okay so this area is the door right and that's where
people walk in to the building to the courtyard area this area right here and this area right
here is the courtyard this is one building this is two buildings three four five six
and this wall fence area is right there. So at the main vestibule, how high is that entrance?
Sure, so let me let me just go to the photo of the front of the building so you can you can see it
one second. So this is the front entrance. And as you can see, you know, it's right in between
the first and second floor, which is kind of congruent with where we're proposing this fence
to be. But this is completely solid. Is that iron on top of that too? Yes, there's iron railing on
top of that and it looks like i think there's some um like a little outdoor space for one of
the one of the units so my question was do you know the height to the top of that railing at
that location um i can see hold on one second i don't think i do off the top of i don't think
it's on the plans hold on it might be one second um adam do you know off the top of your head or
now no i don't okay so you can see here one second um the reason i ask is because your plan
and your elevations don't look to scale to the image of what you've shown or what's on google
earth and so i'm just trying to get a sense of like at the street side what is the highest
level that a person would not be able to see through this is the front elevation right here
So this is where the fence would come in. The highest part that's going to be opaque. Give me one second and I will zoom in for us. Okay.
And then while you're looking, my second question, which is probably for Mr. Cohen, is, is there a mailroom in this building anywhere or any common space on the interiors?
yeah there is a mail room uh borders lombard street uh it's also next to where the trash room
is so the mail and trash are currently stored inside the building correct so before i think
this like was predicated on this concern that people were jumping the fence and stealing
packages how are the individuals accessing the packages from the courtyard yeah so two ways
uh first off most of the packages are left in the vestibule where the main door is so when people
are able to gain access that's kind of the first area that they look and then the mail room isn't
enclosed it's underneath um like a hallway it's hard to describe it it's open to the courtyard
correct there's no door yes in the mail there's no door so once you're in the courtyard you can
right away easily access the mail area. It's not really a room. It's more so just like a covered
area between buildings E and F. Got it. So if I'm in the courtyard, if I can gain access to the
courtyard, I can access any of the buildings and I can access this mail area. Correct. And then my
second question is what are the actual activities happening in the courtyard on the other side of
the fence within your property line. Yeah. So if you could zoom out to the point, yeah.
Yeah. So you see the, that circle there, if you can zoom in on that, that is like a main area
where tenants will hang out. We have two picnic tables. We have six Adirondack chairs that people
also will put grills out there so um especially in the summer you'll see several tenants hanging
out there um by that area and what what's exactly against the fence because it looks like those are
enclosed areas with another fence yeah um so several of the units have their own uh fenced
in yards backyards or front yards so on the bottom right that's uh one of the units have has
So on the bottom right, that's one of the units have has like a front yard that's private to them that is fenced in.
And to the left of that, that's the bike area.
So we have two racks that can I think you can lock up to maybe 15 or 20 bikes.
And that was one of the main reasons that people were hopping over is because they would kind of peek through and see all these bikes.
So that was kind of like an appealing aspect for them.
And that's kind of also why we wanted to raise the height of the cinder block as well.
So people can't just, you know, peek their head over.
And are there any lights in that courtyard?
Well, we have like decorative lighting that kind of encompasses the walkways.
It's like a really nice kind of old style looking light.
I think there's about 10 or 15 of those.
uh that kind of like surround uh the walkway and then we did install one um
floodlight um what's the word i'm looking for motion sensor uh next to the wall fence i guess
in question um that was our first measure also to try and deter people from hopping over is
anyone walking by at night and immediately will flash that floodlight um that seemed to yeah you
can see right there seemed to work for a little bit but people i think during the pandemic became
more brazen and were jumping over regardless okay any other questions to to answer your initial
question um about how high it is opaque give me one second i'm just going to zoom in on that um
12 feet so no it's not 12 the the entire um fencing area is 12 feet right um but the the
top four feet are um are going to be that open metal grating so it's about eight feet um that
between the ground out front it's seven foot six inches here um with the metal is 10 is 12 feet
it's 12 feet yeah so because you have the metal on top of it but the but the opacity the part
that's completely opaque um is as you can see right here is is um you know around eight feet
depend it kind of varies there's like a slope but at the highest point it would be eight feet
okay all right um questions from our attorney hillary emerson not at this time virtual audience
i do not see any hands mr chair ron i'm gonna i'm gonna bring this back in three weeks
yeah um and what i and jennifer just so you know when it comes back
we're going to hold this for the um where the rco is to get what it is but
i would want you to have pictures of what it's going to look like and you talked about at the
top with tile we'd like to see what it is because okay this doesn't do it right so hillary i was
thinking the uh i think it's the 19th of february you want to give it the resumptive date okay
4 8 25 9 30 a.m for me wait what's the what's the resumptive date wait a minute wait a minute
Um, I, I, I thought if we came back in about three weeks, they should have the RCO done.
I thought you said April.
Um, sorry.
Wait a minute.
Wait a minute.
So I'm, I'm looking for that on the 19th of February.
And we'll make this, um, I guess the same time, three 30.
Bring it back at for the three 30 list.
So resumption hearing on two 19 25 at three 30.
And we'd want to see what the, where the RCO is on this.
and then i think we need to see the final drawings what it looks like i mean and i you know okay so
to add in the tiles to like the rendering area i think yeah i think so and i think you know um
in my opinion you might want to compare like show what you're doing because this is going to go
12 feet as compared to where you were at 10 feet right i mean the original thing they said they
didn't like was 10 foot 7 am i correct correct but it was completely solid and there i know but
what i'm saying is i think when you come back and make a presentation at it you should be show what
what it is and what the new one looks like and put your tile on it or whatever and then we'll
see where the rco is okay to be clear i would bring back a wall section because that's a wall
not just what i'm doing run what what would you like a wall section
oh i'm i'm just i'm i'm a little unclear what you what exactly that means
it's a it's a type of architectural drawing it would show the relationship of those three
materials really for including the tile to each other and their construction assembly
really for including the tile to each other in their construction assembly okay and ron i'm not
going to ask you to vote on it you want to see what it looks like yeah that's fine okay that's
fine all right um thank you thank you is there anyone in the virtual audience whose case has
not been called i do not see any answer mr chair all right thank you
You don't need to be here.