at 746 north bucknell street i'm just north of this property right do you swear or affirm to
tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes i do proceed uh my concerns are i i did
send a letter and i just want to i think you had mentioned that you recognize that you received the
letter with my comments.
I'm just concerned that the VFW is a single-story building, and I will be able to see this deck from my back garden.
I'm just
concerned that the VFW
is a single story building.
That's my first concern.
My second concern is concern for the neighbor to the west.
You can see that they're building a walkway out into the light well, the shared light well, and this is going to block the light and air from the neighboring house.
um also i noticed that there's posts within 18 inches of the property line i understood that
that was not permitted that any deck support needs to be uh further than 18 inches away from
the property line um and i just think this deck is just elevated too far off the ground at the
third floor it's just you see how long those columns are and it's just going to be imposing
both on me and the neighbor to the west i know that the stoning provides you know how to access
a deck and on a roof and i think i don't really i don't know what the hardship is here but i don't
see it and i think that it can be easily accessed some other way without you know requiring variances
thank you thank you for calling are there any other comments or questions from the virtual
audience. I see no hands, Chair. Chair? Yes. You're breaking up, Chair. Can you hear me now?
Yes, I can. Okay. Mr. Seapus, do you want to respond to that? Yes. The concern with the
neighbor to the west hello yes concern with the neighbor to the west we if you saw the letters we
got from all our near neighbors uh our neighbor to the west supported the deck all right thank you
planning commission thank you chair bergman ean hegarty for the philadelphia city planning
commission members of the board the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the single family
zoning on this site it's our view that the proposed dimensional variances are minimal here
and they do not conflict with the purpose and spirit of the zoning code the city planning
commission recommends that the board grant these variances thank you mi 2021-002-917-2327
aspen street i vote yes carol scenario my vote is yes thomas holloman my vote is yes
yes my vote is yes thank you thank you sir thank you thank you good luck
mi 2021 004 692 2814 west style street
letter of support from brewery town sharpswood community civic association
christopher dean is the attorney
mr dean please unmute yourself
good morning mr chair and members
Hi. Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
Yes. Christopher Dean, last name D-E-A-N, and I represent Jake Washburn and Lydia Colina.
Do you swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Our vice chair has a few questions.
Hi. Good morning. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership tax compliance, a copy of the refusal or referral, photos under plans of the property, five days in advance of this hearing, and have you met with the RCO, and do you have a letter?
Yes to all.
Okay, great. You may proceed, and please share your screen.
Good morning. As I stated, I represent Jake Washburn, Lydia Colina.
Also present today, if needed to yield any questions, is Jay Washburn and the design professional Ben Estepani from Pace Architecture.
This is an application for a one off-street open-air parking spot in the front yard where the mouse is pictured at 2814 West Stile Street.
I'll briefly just go through the packet.
This is my client's deed.
This is the copy of the refusal, project information form, our letter of
project information form uh our letter of support we did meet with the brewery town
sharswood community civic association uh we had 28 in favor 12 opposed and here is the attached
letter we do my client's tax clearance we can supplement with a um this was submitted in may
so we can supplement if the board requires the june clearance as well
this was our notice of the of today's zoom um zoom hearing and these are the accompanying proof of
mailings okay here's a picture uh this is so 2014 is the white house my client's property uh this
is the south side of the street there is no parking on the south side of the street um my
My client's proposed proposed the curb cut will not interfere with the sidewalk.
It will not even interfere with the stairs pictured at all.
My client has a compact car.
It'll all fit right here.
The reason behind this application, my client's mother-in-law is partially disabled.
They are expecting a child.
They will need help with the child care.
This will also create one less parking spot to have competition with in the neighborhood.
I do have the design professionals here to discuss if anyone has a question about the turning radius.
There is a provided, this is how it would look driving down the street.
So there's no parking on the south side.
Here's where we park.
And just up the street at 2844 West Stiles is a similar, same turning radius.
There is a driveway and a parking garage, so it would be the same exact turning radius at 2844.
And there's another picture of the property.
So it would all here, it would not even extend, the car would not even extend to where these stairs are.
It'll be where the fence is.
And here's a copy of the notices posted on the property.
And we also have the streets pre-approval back in October.
so with that i'd be happy to um take any questions thank you do you want to have your
testimony adopted by the owner yes i would
could you have them raise their hand
jake if you're
yeah hi this is jake watchburn hi could you state your name and spell for the court reporter
Jake, J-A-K-E, Washburn, W-A-S-H-B-U-R-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Proceed.
My wife and I are applying for the open-air parking space in front of our house for a compact car,
parking in Brewery Town, given all of the multifamily development,
as well as us being directly behind Gerard Avenue
has created just a terrible parking situation.
We have one car.
We would like to take that one car
out of competition of everybody else trying to park
and put it into the front of the driveway.
Our baby is due September 15th.
My mother-in-law is partially disabled.
It would help a great deal
if she'd be able to come into the driveway
for our child
and just to improve just by incrementally
the parking situation on our particular streets
because it is often the overflow of people on Troy Avenue
and other people in the area that want free parking
tend to come to our street for that.
Okay, thank you.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see no hands here planning commission thank you chair bergman ean hegarty for the philadelphia
city planning commission chair bergman uh if it's okay can we have the applicant state
the uh distance between the front of the property of sorry the front of the structure
and the property line you can it's 16
say it again i believe it's 16 feet 16 feet again okay thank you very much i appreciate that
members of the board the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing rsa 5
single family zoning at this location um for use variances such as this we expect to see
evidence of unique physical conditions or uh um of the property we haven't seen that here
We also are instructed to find that a variance would be necessary.
We also are instructed to find that a variance would be necessary to enable viable economic use
of the property. We also feel that this has not been demonstrated. The applicant's particular
circumstances including ownership of a compact car and the particular family members are not
germane to the hardship here because they granted the variance would of course far outlast
this applicant's occupancy of this particular property. This proposed driveway increases the
danger to public safety by creating a conflict with pedestrians. We believe that any car other
than a compact car would protrude into the footway of this street and create a danger by forcing
pedestrians into the cartway. And finally, the proposed driveway we feel conflicts with the
characteristics of the surrounding neighborhood. For all these reasons, the City Planning Commission
recommends that the board deny this variance. MI 2021-004-692-2814 West Style Street, I vote no.
Carol Tenere, my vote is no. Thomas Holloman, my vote is no. Mr. Mayor Shahid, my vote is no.
I think
I think we're done
for the morning list
is there anyone in the virtual audience
whose case has not been called
Chair we have Rachel Pritzker
good morning
did I miss your case
you did chairman but that's okay which one is it uh 46 28 wayne avenue
okay where is that this is hillary rachel that's on the 2 p.m list
oh i have it on nine i have it at 9 30 but tanya had emailed me a while back but that's okay i'll
be back at two if that works thank you thank you rachel i got a little nervous
no worries no worries i'll see you guys at two is there anyone else in the audience whose case has
not been called okay here thank you excuse me chair we have one calling user no uh that's the
calling user from before we don't have to unmute her okay what about dante leonard as the chair
wish sure mr leonard please unmute yourself
yes could you guys hear me now we can could you state your name and spell for the court reporter
dante leonard d-a-n-t-e leonard o-n-a-r-d right you swear for him to tell the truth the whole
truth to nothing but the truth oh yes sir what case are you talking about sir 648 to 50 north
40th street i know i stepped away that that's when the case has been withdrawn i announced
that in the morning oh it was withdrawn okay i didn't withdraw the case is gone right okay
All right, thank you. Anyone else?
I see no other hands, Chair.
All right, thank you, everyone. See you at 2 o'clock.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Good afternoon, everyone.
My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this afternoon's ZBA hearings.
With me is Carol Tenere, our Vice Chair.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Ismail Shahid, our board secretary.
He should be on very shortly.
Thomas Holloman, our board member.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
And James Snell, our board member.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Also with us is our executive director, Tanya Sunkit, and our board attorney, Hillary Emerson.
Before we begin, here's our virtual format.
Devise these proceedings are being recorded.
By participating, you acknowledge your agreement to be recorded.
The video will be available by contacting tanyasunkett at phillit.gov.
For the benefit of our court sonographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying.
if you are participating by phone if you wish to testify press star nine to raise your hand
and star six on mute under an appearance statement call
and star six on mute. In an appearance statement, call 267-270-5548. Leave your email and the
address of the property in question. And finally, please note the question answer box on the screen
is not for testimony or comments. Any comments have to be directed to our executive director,
Tanya Sunkin. Let's look at this afternoon's continuations. Number three,
MI 2022-002963-1701 South 25th Street. This case is continued. Is there anyone in the virtual
audience have a comment about this case? Chair, we have a calling user. I'll allow them to speak.
Okay. Hi, Tiffany Green.
All right. State your name and spell for the court reporter, please.
Tiffany Green, T-I-F-F-A-N-Y, G-R-E-E-N, Concerned Citizens of Point Three.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
This case 1701 South 25th is a request for a continuance.
Yes, I will agree with that, but I want the next time to be a must-heard,
because uh the board had already uh made a decision on this case and this is a reconsideration
and okay all right okay and commissioner commissioner i just want to say that the
phone feature was not working this morning and and and i i wanted to try to tell you that
okay i'm sorry about that but we did try to get you in several times
Thank you. MI 2022-002-963-1701-South 25th. Must be heard next time.
Number four, MI 2022-001288-1940 Wharton Street, Sean Whalen. Mr. Whalen, could you come on, please?
Thank you.
Chair, he's coming back in as a panelist.
Thank you.
Good afternoon, Chair.
Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
Sean Whalen, W-H-A-L-E-N.
You swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?