old city district rco did hold a community meeting on this project the meeting was well attended
and we did receive a unanimous letter of support the developers shown a commitment to neighbors
in this neighborhood as well as respecting the existing context by including store as much
historic character in this new construction as possible we have included some superimposed
renderings in your packages i apologize they're relatively large files to some harder to see but
But as you can see, what we're proposing is consistent with some of the existing buildings, despite the fact that it would be new construction.
As a result, the proposed dimensional variance represents the least modification of the code necessary to utilize this property in conformity with the surrounding neighborhood.
This would be the new construction here, which looks very similar to the existing buildings on either side.
the proposed will not be detrimental to the public welfare as evidenced by our unanimous
letter of support and the councilman's letter of non-opposition we respectfully request that the
board grant the requested variances we do have revised plans today that do reflect minor
modifications to the exterior of the building made in conformity with the philadelphia historic
commission based on their comment and review they do consist of two pages we'd respectfully request
that the board grant the requested variance. I would just ask that Mr. Zubek be promoted so
that he can adopt my testimony today. Thank you. Brian, if you could raise your hand so they can
see you. Mr. Zubek, please unmute yourself and wait for the chair. Mr. Zubek, could you state
your name, please, and spell for the court reporter? Yes, Brian Zubek, B-R-I-A-N, last name
zubek z as in zebra o u b as in boy ek right do you swear or firm to tell the truth the whole
truth and nothing but the truth yes proceed counsel thank you brian have you heard my
testimony today yes would you agree that it's true and correct yes would you adopt it as your own
thank you brian are architects also available should the board have questions but we have
nothing further all right questions from the board no chair no mr chairman no mr chairman
questions or comments from the virtual audience there we have a gabriel deck with his hand up
okay that's our architect oh that's okay what we don't we we're okay without the architect is
there anyone else in the virtual audience no there's no other hands chair thank you planning
Commission. This is Ron Bednar, City Planning. The property is indicated for commercial mixed
use on the city plan based on our revised plans. We recommend aggressive variance to be rented.
Thank you. MI 2022-006-717-130 North 3rd Street. I vote yes with proviso. Per amended refusal dated
12-2-22. Revised plans, two pages, stamped by ZBA on April 5th, 2023.
Thomas Holliman, my vote is yes, with proviso.
James Snell, yes, with proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Thank you, counsel.
Great, thank you all.
Okay, number nine, MI-2022-006-714-2434 North 20th Street.
Okay, number nine, MI 2022-006.
Sean Whalen and Rebecca Cole are the attorneys.
Letter of opposition from All in the Family CDC.
Mr. Whalen
Ms. Cole
They're coming back in as panelists share
Thank you
Hi, Mr. Whalen. How are you, sir? Good afternoon, Chairman. I just want to make clear
Ms. Rebecca Cole will be handling this for our office. Okay, thank you. Thank you. I'm handling
the next case after this. I noticed that, sir. I know that's coming. Thank you. Ms. Cole,
could you state your name and spell it, please, for the court reporter? Sure. My name is Rebecca
Cole, R-E-B-E-C-C-A-C-O-L-E, here with Vintage Law on behalf of the property owner. Right.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client and the relationships to the property?
The property owner is Rats Group LLC, and my client is Vince Sherman here on behalf of the LLC.
Okay. And our vice chair has just a few questions for you.
Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his accuracy?
have you emailed all the required documents and exemptions that are needed to proceed with this
case five things in advance to our offices we have we received the rco letter yesterday however
okay you sent it over already and you guys have it yes all right thank you please proceed and
Thanks. Can everybody see my screen? We can. Okay. Thank you. So again, I'm here on behalf
of the property owner, RADS Group, LLC. Vince Sherman will be here to adopt my testimony at
the end. This seeks to legalize a triplex and an existing long-term triplex at the property.
We have a refusal that we received for the property. It's the single-use refusal for the
three-family household dwelling in the existing structure. And I'd just like to address the RCO
letter um initially out the gate um in that we received it yesterday it was a surprise to us
that they were not in support we had a good meeting with the rco uh with a vote of community
members at the end fully in support and i would qualify this letter as one of non-support and i
believe it is based on confusion if you'll permit me to skip to that sure go ahead
So here's the letter of non-support and the issues raised were the third story of this property,
which was the same length and an answer to a question from the RCO staff. They
wondered if the third floor was the same length as the floor plans show it being the same length.
it is in fact the same length this photograph that the rco has included is an outdated photograph
from google maps taken from a side street of the property it does not represent the current
condition of the property which is in fact shown here on google earth as you can see the third
story of the property here is in fact fully, excuse me, fully built out all the way to the
end with this gray cladding up at the top. In addition, the client took photos of the exterior
of the property dated yesterday. You can see this is the current condition of the property.
This is how the client purchased this property. So it goes all the way out in the back on the
third story as well. There's another view from the side, again showing that the third floor is built
out fully, and another closer view of the side, again showing it is fully built out on the third.
And another closer view of the side, again, showing it is fully built out on the third store story.
Therefore, the floor plans and the third floor confusion should be addressed by these questions, these photographs.
Additionally, the letter from the RCO does not show the vote.
And we believe that if it had shown the vote, it would show that all the votes were in support from community members.
We also have a community member in the audience to testify and support following my presentation.
Again, this property received one use refusal.
For context, here we are.
The property is at the Blue Dot on North 20th Street, just south of West Cumberland, north of West Hager, and just east of West Glenwood.
For more context, this is further out. You can see we are a small, narrow, rectangular lot, 16 feet of street frontage, 70 feet deep, 1,000 square foot lot roughly with 1,800 square feet of gross interior area.
The area is moderately built up residential with a mix of two and three story homes, but also many vacant lots and as you can see we're about a block away from rail lines and an ICMX industrial zone near to several sets of apartments over commercial as well on Cumberland and York.
From the zoning map, you can see we're in an RSA 5 block here, just off of Glenwood.
You can see there are scattered CMX1 corners nearby.
And moving on to photos of the property, this is the current condition of the property.
This property is currently vacant in an existing three-story brick structure.
significantly dilapidated inside and in need of extensive interior renovation which is why the
client wants to do a full rehab of the building and bring it up to speed and offer some attractive
apartments to the neighborhood the prior owner had used this as a rental from roughly 2006 to 2019
city records show that there was a license that went inactive in 2019 and that pre-existing
owner had the layout designed for three units, which it was used as before. We also had some
issues at the RCO meeting sharing interior photos, which were large format, and therefore
we had some glitching, which is why we weren't able to show the interior framing. Those are
included here. Again, here's the outside of the property. The neighborhood context is a mix of
vacant lots and multifamily residences throughout the area. Here's the property on the corner,
three stories, red brick next to one adjacent vacant lot. Further down across the street on
Hager, there's several other vacant lots. And 2048 West Hager down this street had a rental license
for two units until recently. Further south on 2000 West Boston Street, it has a current rental
license for two units. Across the street, we have a vacant parcel in here at 2439
and facing north on North 20th towards West Cumberland. Two doors down, this pink building
had a rental license for three units until recently. Several other buildings nearby also
appear to be set up for multi-family use. 2445 is set up with multiple mailboxes. 2454, 2456,
and 2463 are vacant lots. And so while there's a mix of single-family houses, there's also
multi-family houses in the neighborhood. Here's our floor plans for the project.
this is seeking to legalize the three-family use in the single-family zoning district
this three-family variance is due to the prior use and layout and the existing framing which
i will show we are not proposing any new additional construction addition excavation or height
increase to the property this will be three residential units one on each floors one through
three the existing unfinished basement will remain there is no living space in the basement
whatsoever. The first floor will have roughly 600 square feet with a two-bed, one-bath layout
with an egress in the rear and the front of the property through Sherrod Hall.
Second floor would have a 600 square foot layout with two bed, one bath also.
Second floor would have a 600 square foot layout with two-bed, one-bath also.
And the third floor, which again is the same length and runs the full length of the floor plan.
This third floor will have 600 square feet, roughly two bed, two bath layout.
We are bringing a newly rehabbed, attractively updated apartment to the neighborhood.
and that was one of the reasons why the community members supported us in their comments at the
meeting and why the vote at the end was in support of this triclex use.
Again, you can see the interior of the property now. You can see that the framing is already in
place. This is the first floor front windows. This is the condition of the property when it
was purchased.
Here's facing back on the first floor,
more of the first floor, more of the first floor,
and here are pictures of the second and third floors.
Doesn't show much, but it does show that the framing
is in here already.
This was previously used to three family units,
and the layout lends itself to that,
which is why the owner is seeking to legalize the three-family use with newly rehabbed departments in their place.
We believe the client has met the unnecessary hardship here, which requires a variance,
due to the unique physical conditions of the property.
It is a small lot on a narrow-piece property with an existing three-story vacant structure
and the dilapidated interior conditions of the property when purchased mean that the client
will need to do extensive, expensive interior renovations. Therefore, variance relief is
required for economically viable use of the property. The interior living area is too big
to rent as a single-family unit. The existing layout and prior use was as a three-family unit,
and again, this three-story structure lends itself to three-family use.
Granting this variance will not be detrimental to public welfare or impair any adjacent property use, nor will it alter the neighborhood, which is already changing from single-family to this mix of commercial and multifamily properties.
Granting the variance will, in fact, benefit the community by revitalizing this property and renewing its residential use in the neighborhood, and in addition, bringing an attractive range of apartments, which the community is seeking.
Hardship to this property cannot be cured by grants of a dimensional variance, and we believe that this is the least minimum variance.
The three units will have a de minimis impact, and the community, moreover, supported this triplex use.
As a result, the client meets the criteria for variance relief, and we would request the board grant this variance for three-family dwelling.
um i'd like to call my client to adopt my testimony sure
vince sherman okay mr sherman
yes i'm here hi could you state your name good afternoon could you state your name and spell
for the court reporter first name vince v-i-n-c last name sherman s-h-e-r-m-a-n
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, counsel.
Thank you.
Vince, have you heard my testimony?
Yes, I did.
And do you agree it's true and accurate to the best of your knowledge?
And would you adopt it as your own?
And just to clarify some of the comments that the RCO raised, is it true you're seeking a three-unit variance based on the prior use and layout that was at the property when you purchased it?
yes and uh if the board would not approve three units today would you revise your request down
to two units for this project uh yes okay can you also tell us about any connection you have
to this neighborhood lastly born and raised around here born and raised my family and i
still have family members that live around here all right great um that that's it for our us
We also have neighbors in support if you'd like to hear from them.
I'll call for the virtual audience, okay?
Thank you.
Counsel, let me ask one question.
The original rental license, what was that for?
It was an original rental license.
I don't have access to the original rental license.
At one point, it was pulled for one license, but we know that rental licenses do not represent
exactly the use necessarily that was applicable at the property.
A license may be pulled for whatever use the property owner can receive, but it doesn't show the true use.
property owner can receive but it doesn't show the true use okay uh questions or comment uh
questions from the board no no no no mr chair no mr chair comments from the virtual audience
chair i see your hands at this time no hands
no he is here thank you planning commission uh city planning the property is indicated for
residential use on the city plan or adopted discipline recommends no change the existing
zoning at this location the applicant's hardship is not supported with evidence of unique physical
circumstances or condition of the property it would prevent it from being used in conforming
with the code therefore we recommend the question variance not being random okay mi2022
0-0-6-7-1-4-24-34 North 20th Street.
I vote yes.
Proviso, two units.
No more than two units.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with Proviso.
James Snell, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Ishmael Shahid, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Thank you, counsel. Thank you all. Right. Number 10, MI-2022-007-200-1935 Washington Avenue.
Sean Whalen is the attorney.
Letter of support from the South of South Neighborhood Association.
There, Mr. Whalen is coming back in now as a panelist.
Mr. Whalen could you state your name please and spell for the court reporter
Sean Whalen w-h-a-l-e-n right do you swear a firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing