Yes, I do.
Mr. Whalen, as you know, we've received the exhibits late. We're going to continue this. What I want you to do is contact Tanya for a future date.
yes i was actually just wondering um i understand it was due to uh inadvertence that the uh memorial
holiday weekend that's okay intervened um this is actually a time sensitive matter so
if we can get either a date specific or um i i fear that this matter is going to go away and
something less desirable is going to be brought forward that's what i'm saying as soon as these
hearings are over today or tomorrow, get a hold of Tanya. Okay. I have already talked about that.
Okay. Thank you. Sure. Thank you. So that case is continued. In case number 10,
MI 2021 003 712 4628 Wayne Avenue. Could Rachel Pritzker please come on?
good afternoon hi would you state your name and spell for the court reporter please
for rachel r-a-c-h-a-e-l pritzker p-r-i-t-z-k-e-r 1521 locust street suite 605 philadelphia pa 19102
you swear affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes so we we there was no exhibits that we could find on this so we're going to continue this
please call tanya she will arrange for a future hearing for you chairman um so we didn't get the
rco meeting until the 25th and the first was scheduled because this is now the third this
would not be i guess the third or fourth continuance so we would have never the third so
we would have never been able to get it within the five days because our rco meeting was last
minute similar to what mr whalen said we have a loan that cannot be extended so that's why tanya
was able to accommodate us on the 1st. So what I want you to do is call Tanya. We'll move this
So what I want you to do is call Tanya. We'll move this as quick as she can.
as quick as she can.
Okay. Thanks, Chair.
Thank you. Thank you. Is there anyone else requesting a continuance?
I see no hands, Chair.
Okay. So let's go to our add-ons first.
Sorry, Chair. Augusta O'Neill just put their hand up.
Okay. Sure.
All right.
Hello.
So. Hi, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
Sure. Augusta O'Neill, A-U-G-U-S-T-A. My last name is spelled O-apostrophe-N-E-I-L-L.
Right. Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
I do. What case? I'm here. Just wanted to confirm that my
continuance requests have been received. It's for 3900 Main Street. I have the VP number,
but I don't have an MI number to give you. Wait a minute.
does anyone see that that mr chair this is hillary that is not on the list any of the
lists for today okay great okay then um because we previously someone and i just wanted to make
sure that it was received so okay thank you thank you for calling it thanks again okay so
So, or add one, M-I-21, hello?
No, I'm sorry.
Go ahead, Chair.
Do we have anyone else?
Yes, we have Joseph Consul.
Oh, sure, sure.
Hello.
Mr. Consul, state your name and spell for the court reporter, please.
Joseph Consul, that's J-O-S-E-P-H, space Consul, C-O-N-S-O-L-A.
Do you swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do chair. And what's your case? Well, I'm here on, I have three today, but we submitted
a withdrawal request for 3628 North Sydenham street. Okay. Thank you. I was just wanted to
confirm that that was in fact withdrawn. Okay. So MI 2022 zero, you want to withdraw in this case,
right? Yes, sir. Okay. MI 2022-001-333-3628 North Sydenham Street. That case is withdrawn.
Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Counsel.
No other hands? No other hands, sir. Okay. We're going to go to our add-on. MI 2022-00398-1504
south sixth street um this case planning commission recommended that this be the great
it be granted we were holding on for an updated lease we have received the lease my vote on this
is yes thomas howlin my vote is yes carl tenary my vote is yes james now my vote is yes ishmael
Shaheed, my vote is yes. Thank you. For the first case, I want to move to number eight.
MI 2022-001-568-4538-42 Edgemont Street. Sean Ward is the attorney.
Letter of support from Bridesboro Community Action Alliance.
Mr. Ward is coming back in as a panelist.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman.
Sean Ward, on behalf of the applicant.
Mr. Ward, you've already been sworn.
Could you identify your client in relationship to the property?
Yes, Mr. Chairman.
My client is Paul Ventresca, doing business as City Lights Development.
which is the owner of the property. I also represent Jeff Hodznowski, who is the recent
purchaser of 4542. However, Mr. Hodznowski, it's H-O-J-N-A-N-O-W-S-K-I, Hodznowski. He is an
employee. He's an assistant district attorney and obviously unavailable for today's proceeding as
he is in court but I am authorized to present on his behalf as well. Our Vice Chair Carol Tenere
has a few questions. Hi Mr. Ward do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate
to its accuracy? Yes I do. Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership tax
compliance a copy of the refusal or referral photos and or plans for property five days in
advance of this hearing and have you met with the RCO and do you have a letter? Yes to all the
above. Thank you so much. You may proceed and begin to share your screen. Thank you very much
and Mr. Chair I want to thank the board for its courtesies today despite the fact that I'm on
Chair, I want to thank the board for its courtesies today.
Despite the fact that I'm on vacation, I did not want to continue these cases as continuances are troublesome for the board or problematic.
vacation.
And these are ready cases, ready to go.
And it just made more sense to me and my clients and the board to dispose of them in a prompt fashion.
So can we confirm that my screen is shared?
it is it is thank you very much uh mr chair i've submitted my typical exhibit packet again i
represent city lights development llc and jeff and andrea podjanowski uh h-a-j-n-o-s-k-i
the property 45 38-42 edgemont street attached at a1 is the notice of refusal this is the
application to permit a permit for the creation of off-street parking space with a curb cut
there was one refusal front loaded parking requires a zoning board approval in this district
accordingly we seek a variance today a2 is the application of appeal a3 is the project
information form a4 is proof of ownership a5 is proof of tax clearance a6 is the subdivision
yes a9 is the rco letter of support from bcaa which is bridesburg community action alliance
a10 is if submitted the district council person's letter of support a11 i have the relevant zoning
history with regard to this project on 922 of 2021 a permit was granted for the relocation of
lot lines to create two lots from one lot. No variance was required for that subdivision. They
are two legal conforming lots. And on 10-6-2021, there was a permit for the demolition of existing
detached garage at 45-38 to make way for the erection of a new single-family dwelling
on that lot. A-12 is an aerial photo of similar curb cuts with all street parking on the block.
A13 is the zoning map and A14 is my standard aerial photograph. So moving on, just to get
through the exhibits real quick. Here is the notice of refusal. Again, the proposed accessory
parking from the front is refused, but, pardon me, and requires a variance from the board.
We have our application of appeal, our project information form, my transmittal letter to the board.
This is a copy of the deed.
As you can see, the parcel was subdivided into two, parcels A and parcel B.
Pardon me, moving on.
This shows that the property taxes are current.
actually were overpaid due to the settlement on the new lot. It resulted in a positive balance
for the property owner, which will be adjusted accordingly. Let me blow this out. This is the
approved subdivision plan. As you can see, the upper lot is what is referred to as 4542 and
the lower parcel is 4538. As you can see, 4542 is 40 feet wide, 4538 is 20 feet wide. They have
since been reconfigured so that 4542 is 33 feet wide and 4538 is 27 feet wide as they
front on Edgemont Street. I would point out that 4538 has an existing curb cut and parking pad in
the front, and we are here today to do something similar for 4542. With regard to the proposed plan,
as you can see, this has been reviewed and approved by the streets department. The stamp
is included on the plan for turning radius and whatnot, but the gist of the plan is to install
a curb cut on Edgemont Street, whereas the owner of 4538, the Hoshnowskis, would then have a parking
pad. Depending on the size of the vehicle, it could be for one car or possibly two if they are
compacts or subcompacts. Here is just an aerial view of the property itself.
As you can see, here is the existing parking pad. Here is the garage in the rear which
will be dismantled or demolished and a new single-family home will be erected here.
dismantled or demolished and a new single-family home will be erected here. 45-42 is the existing
three-story single-family home and in this area roughly right here would be the area for the
new off-street parking pad with a curb cut. Here is just a front view.
Again, the existing parking pad and the existing structure. I note our zoning poster is on the
fence up front. Again, here's another photo of the existing single-family dwelling.
To the left of our property, you will see they have a double-wide curb cut with a double-wide
driveway. And I will show you the aerial photograph shows numerous off-street parking
spots and curb cuts on this block. This is approximately two doors to the right.
Not only do you have a curb cut here with an off-street parking space,
they also have an existing detached garage with a curb cut and parking space.
We did meet with BCAA. Attached to the packet is their letter of support.
Also attached to the packet the zoning permit for the lot line adjustments for two parcels from one.
and for the demolition of the existing detached garage. Again, here is the aerial photograph
depicting, I have plugged in these red dots showing the numerous off-street parking spaces
with curb cuts on this particular block of Edgemont Street in Bridesburg. So it is not
uncommon on this block. I believe my count is 14 or 15 off-street parking spaces with curb cuts.
Again, just for the record,
here's the zoning map that is zoned RSA 5.
Here is another aerial view of the street.
And if I go back to my page two of my summary
to try and bring it all home.
So again, the applicant and the owner
of City Lights Development and Jeff Hodznowski,
the property is on Edgemont Street
just below Buccius in Bridesburg. It's RSA 5. 4538 Edgemont is an existing vacant residential lot.
4542 is a single-family dwelling. I already went through the permit history. Just a few comments.
4538 is a legal residential building lot that has an existing curb cut and off-street parking bed.
Number two, a single 538.
We have not yet filed that application and no plans have been filed.
However, we did discuss with Bridesburg CAA that the proposed structure would blend in with the nature and character of the existing structures.
They did have a concern about the new types of dwellings that are being built in other areas of the city, such as East Kensington, Northern Liberty, East Fishtown.
they were concerned about how that would look and we assured them that that is not the desired
architectural look that we're looking for on this block. So we will share those plans with
them before we file permit applications. So we're just seeking a permit for the curb cut
and the off-street parking. And at number five, I have the other properties or driveways on the
4,500 block. I stand corrected 16 total. And I list them for the record, all the various curb
cuts and off street parking spaces. Based upon that, the BCAA coordinating RTO agreed to support
the application, there was limited opposition. And then we would ask that the board grant this
requested variance. It's similar in character in nature with what is existing on the block.
Mr. Ventresca is, I believe, on the call, but not being very tech savvy. Again, I would defer
to the board as an officer of the court. I did discuss this and he's reviewed this packet and
he would, if called to testify, agree that my representations are true and correct and he
would adopt them as his own we will accept that mr board questions from the board thank you no
mr chairman no no mr chairman no mr chairman questions from the virtual audience or comments
see no handshare planning commission good afternoon david facto f e c t e a u with the
E-A-U with the City Planning Commission. David, do you swear a firm to tell the truth,
city planning commission david do you swear a firm to tell the
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Yes, sir, I do. Please proceed. Thank you, sir. Mr.
Chairman, members of the board, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential
single-family zoning at this location. The applicant has not shown that a hardship exists
that would prevent their property from being used as a single-family home if the variance is denied.
Although there are other driveways accessed from a primary street on this block, their presence
does not constitute a hardship and so the city planning commission recommends that the board
deny the off-street parking space. Thank you. MI 2022 001 568 45 to 38 45 38 to 42 Edgemont Street
I vote yes. Harold Tenere my vote is yes. Thomas Holloman my vote is yes. James Snell my vote is
yes ishmael shaheed my vote is yes thank you thank you we're gonna go we're gonna go back
to our regular list number one mi 2022 001 287 1439 west venango street letter of support
from Nicetown Tioga Improvement Association.
Mr. Bertil is coming in.
Steve Bertil.
He's coming in as a panelist, Chair.
Thank you.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair.
Hi, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
Steve Bertil, B-E-R-T-I-L.
Council for Applicant, Troutman Pepper, Hamilton Sanders, 3002 Logan Square, Philadelphia PA, 19103.
Thank you. Do you swear, Fern, to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Could you identify your client and the relationship to the property?
Yes, I represent the owners to the property.
uh the client um the ownership entity is 1439 west of venango street llc thank you our vice
chair has a few questions i'm mr bertill do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and
stipulate to its accuracy yes i do 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 of the
above. Okay great you may proceed and begin sharing your screen. Thank you very much Vice
Chair. Thank you. Mr. Chair could you confirm if my screen is sharing? We can see it yep. Thank
you. As I stated, my name is Steve Bertil. I am a counsel to the applicant of the Brotherly Love
Investments, who are a small real estate investment company here in Philadelphia that