good afternoon board members good afternoon can you put your name and address on the record
please and spell your last name jermaine harris uh harris 100 south broad street suite 1523
uh philadelphia 19110 and you're still under oath do you agree to wave the reading of the
refusal and stipulate to its accuracy i do okay and have you emailed the exhibit packet
it with proof of ownership, tax compliance, refusal or referral, voters 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, I do. Okay, you may proceed. Thank you. Yes. Again, my name is Jermaine Harris,
and I represent the applicant who is Black Heart Equity, LLC. This is concerning the property at
397 East Upsil Street. And what we're seeking to do, what the applicant is seeking to do
is convert a legal four-family building to a six-family building. I'd like to share the screen.
Let's see right now.
you're not muted
yeah i know but i didn't know what was going on out there there's work
workers in the hallway
just bear with me i'm uh going to share it right now while you're doing that i think the question
was asked about the rco letter i didn't hear it has it yes yes it has it was submitted it was
submitted directly to the board on Friday by the RCO itself and also it was part of my package that
was submitted also on Friday. Thank you. Hold on.
I can confirm that we did receive the letter.
Okay, so what we have here in the package is the letter of support from the RCO, which is East Mount Airy Neighbors.
It was 14 members that attended, and it was a 13-to-1 support in favor of this particular project.
This project is, this building is in a block that is full of multifamily buildings, and on the opposite side of the street of, it's on Upsil Street, on the opposite side of the street, it's all RM1s.
um and for some reason it's all it's rsa5 on the side that uh blackheart equity 397
is on but the lot size of this particular project is uh 4 000 square feet so it's a very large
uh it's a very large lot size and the building size of the building is 3600 square feet um what
we're looking at here is the front of the building along with the posting of the zoning of the zoning
notice let's continue so the extra two apartments that would be put on in this uh that that would
be here is is that it would be basement apartments it would be two basement apartments now when my
client when he bought this project when he bought this building uh there was illegal
the previous owner had constructed to had constructed these basement apartments
and uh my client when he got the building uh he didn't rent it out so it's empty
right now but he has let me turn it around adjust the picture this is the rear of the building
and these are pretty large egress windows but uh and you'll see that there are four windows here
So, but that's the rear of the entire building, and it's sufficient to park actually eight cars in this lot behind this, what we're looking at.
This is, let me rotate this.
This is a pretty sparse street, but parking is not going to be an issue with this particular
of a project now on to pictures of the unit or the two units again these were pre-constructed
uh they were constructed before my client actually obtained possession and ownership
but this is the rear and this is where there would be the method of egress it's a pretty large
windows. This is for the other unit right here, the other bedroom, further pictures.
Let me turn this around.
One thing, again, that's important is that this building does support the size of this
particular project.
And again, this, for some reason, it wasn't remapped on this side of the street of Upsil, but it is, if it was an RM1, which is right across the street, we wouldn't even be here.
It would be, the lot size fits this.
So there's full support by the community.
It won't increase any congestion because of the parking.
Parking is pretty sparse on the block anyway, even if there wasn't parking there.
And we would ask that in light of the support of the community and the fact that this project does support the proposed use, that this variance be granted.
and i'd also like to know i'd also like to uh note that the owner of the property is here
michael feinberg he's also here as well i'd like to know you want to have your client adopt your
testimony yes sir let him raise his hand mr feinberg you can unmute yourself and speak
good afternoon sir please identify yourself with the record first and last name spell your name
good afternoon michael feinberg m-i-c-h-a-e-l f-e-i-n-b-e-r-g
you swear affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes sir thank you mr harris yes mr feinberg did you hear the testimony uh in the representations
that i've made to the zoning board yes i did and do you adopt those as if you testified
to that in full yes i do okay is there anything else you want to add and let them know about the
project that i'm i believe that you covered it adequately okay okay thank you questions from the
board no no no anyone else would like to testify in this case if so please raise your hand chair
we have charles richardson mr richardson you can unmute yourself
good afternoon mr chair hi you're still under just identify yourself you're still under oath
i actually didn't speak today so you have to swear i'm sorry i'm thinking of folks i apologize
all right please okay charles richardson from the office of councilwoman cindy bass room 312
City Hall. We're a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth? I do. Please proceed. The councilwoman recognizes that the RCO did send a letter of support for this property, but she can't support an illegal conversion that was done without permits, and it leaves her uncertain of the safety aspect of the property. So she is opposing the granting of the variance.
you anyone else
mr richardson i was conflating uh my conversation i had earlier about the mix-up i caused this
morning on worcester street i think you were involved with that yes sir we appreciate your
uh you're you're correcting the situation i apologize to everyone okay uh anyone else to
testify if there is time to thank you planning commission yes i'm sorry ron bednar city planning
property is indicated for residential use on the city plan our adopted district plan fully
supported multi-family density at this location we recommend the request of variances i i think
You fade it off. You recommend. We recommend that the requested variance be granted.
Thank you. Someone was trying to speak. Yes, I just wanted to just briefly, Jermaine Harris,
counsel for the applicant. I just wanted to briefly address the councilman's concerns,
and it's a very legitimate concern. I would note that even this would just be the first step
of if this zoning is granted, there would have to be a certificate of occupancy that would have
to be obtained. And that will require extensive inspections through LNI before they would give
the certificate of occupancy before it can be used for living. So we would just submit that
So we would just submit that even though there was no legal conversion, not due to my client's fault, and he is doing the right thing by keeping it vacant, which he has been doing for the past year, that there will be a check, so to speak.
even though
There will be a checks and balances to make sure that this conversion was safe before that certificate of occupancy is given by the city, by L&I.
Okay, thank you. MI 2020-000792-397 East Upsall Street. My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
Thank you. And the next case, two cases, they're both from Overhill, right?
We're calling them together. Calendar number 2474-5319-Angora-Tarris and 5320-Angora-Tarris.
The attorney for both is Mia Mulvihill.
Mr. Mulvihill is coming and is a panelist now, Chair.
Thank you, Mr.
Okay. Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Mulvihill, can you put your name and address on the record and spell your last name, please?
Yes. Leo Mulvihill, M-U-L, D as in Victor, I-H-I-L-L, address 213 Green Street, 1st floor, Philadelphia, 19123.
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, refusal, referral,
photos and or 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. Thank you. You may proceed. All right so good afternoon members
of the board. Leo Mulvihill here on behalf of City Black Block Acquisition 7 and 8. Principal
is Alan Burrowich. I believe he may be on the line. In any case we're here today for two new
three family dwellings in RTA District. We've been on this block before for some other projects
where we were doing two family dwellings when this block was previously zoned differently.
What we're looking at now is for development of vacant lots, and we have full support from
Southwest Philadelphia District Services. Now, just for purposes of the record, I have my zoning
packet here. The refusal appeal and project information forms are at page one. Zoning maps
are at page 13. Angora Terrace is just basically a block south of Baltimore Avenue and West
Philadelphia. The deeds are at page 14. My client's activity licenses are at 27. Tax clearance
information is at 29. Our zoning notification letter and proof of mailing is at 32. Our RCO
letter of support from Southwest Philadelphia District Services is at 34. I have photographs
of the properties at 36 and plans at 57. So members of the board, what we have here on my
screen. Let me just adjust this real quick. We received refusals in this because we're asking
for a three-family dwelling in this district. RTI generally allows for two. We received refusal for
attached, which is interesting because this is basically a district that's made of twin homes,
so we received a refusal for that as well. But we're proposing to basically fill in two twins
that currently don't have their other better half.
And then number of parking spaces.
Because we're proposing three dwelling units,
we are required to provide all free parking.
It's simply impossible on this block,
and that's our hardship there,
simply because of the size, shape, dimension of the block.
This is the refusal at page nine
for the other property at 5320, Sam refusels.
What I'm showing now is page 13 by zoning packet.
These are the area zoning maps for the property. I'm going to zoom in to the, ooh, there we go.
It's the utmost one first. This is taken from the Philadelphia Atlas site.
Indicated in blue is the 5320 parcel. Up here is the 5319 parcel.
Both of those are vacant. And you'll see when I get to the photographs, this is a block.
It's pretty unique Angora Terrace, twin family homes.
And essentially they were built to be two units each when they were originally built.
this area was recently mapped. I believe it did used to be RSA 5 or RSA 3. You can see in the
immediate area we also have commercial zoning along Baltimore Avenue along with RM 1 and some
larger CMX 2 zoning right around the corner. This is the overhead zoning map. You can see our empty
lot here indicated by the blue pin. This is 5320. To the north here next to the parking lot, this is 5319.
so my client's deed at page 14 for the property 5319
and 5320 for my apologies there we go this is our commercial activity license for city block
There we go. This is our commercial activity license for City Block Acquisition 7 and for 8.
acquisition
Again, the tax clearance was not working for whatever reason.
The application is throwing an error, but I did get proof that all the taxes are paid to date for both the properties.
This is my zoning notification letter that went out March 9, 2021.
This is a letter from Southwest Philadelphia District Services.
Indicating that Southwest Philadelphia District Services supports the community and support
of this application as proposed to the erection of attached building for uses three units.
This is the letter of explanation of the vote.
There were four meeting attendants in support.
One, the member of Earth Keepers RCO is in opposition.
These are photographs of the property, the posting, including their refusals.
This is the 19 property. As you can see, these are the twin homes that we were talking about.
They were built with two separate entrances essentially to be used for one unit in the
bottom, one unit up here. We're just going to be doing the fill-in and be matching this twin,
and we'll show you when we get to those plans what I'm talking about there.
We're going to do a 360 of the block. You can look first eastbound, S directly across the street at 20, westbound, and back north to 19.
This is the 20 property. That's the adjacent property next door.
And there's our 360.
we do not own this lot our lot has been maintained
zoom out so members of the board this here is the zoning plan for 5319 the one for 5320 is
pretty similar essentially what we're looking at is a three-story structure not to exceed
38 feet we are going to be matching about the similar height of the building to jason at the
second story and then we ask for a setback and a third story on top to accommodate that third unit
Here's the setback for the unit C, which is the third unit to the top.
Unit A goes into the basement, which is basically a common open area.
Then there's a bedroom on the ground floor. Unit B is going to have two bedrooms. Unit C is going
to have two bedrooms. This is the overall massing of the structure, which is actually a little bit
smaller than the adjacent existing structures. 5319 next to 5321. We do match the setbacks in the
front and i'll go to the next page now here's 5320 similar idea again here are cross-section
elevations essentially the same members of the board perspective shown for reference and then
just so we see how that kind of mixes in we're matching the roof and paracut lines of the
adjacent properties of the second story it is a little bit more modern in appearance but that's
just due to the design and materials
and construction methods today.
Just noting again, the property itself is about 20 feet wide.
We're matching the setback of 5322 Angora Terrace.
And we're not extending even as far back
as the property at 5322.
So there's a substantial yard.
As you can see, members of the board,
there's simply no way to put off street parking
on these properties.
None of the adjacent properties have them.
And if we were to propose all street parking, he would simply take away from legal on-street parking on that block, which is simply unfair to the existing neighbors.
This is another just proposed rendering, schematic, just showing the materials.
This is not a roof deck, members of the board. This is just a setback, and this will be a Juliet balcony.
and this is just another rendering of the property we're just showing 5320 5319 is
identical it's just flipped based on the location of the property
that's shown in the site in the z plans that i showed earlier
going down to the floor plan which is page 62 all starting at the right
As I stated before, it's an unfinished basement. It's about 854 square feet. It's going to be used for storage, mechanicals, washer, dryer. There's a heat rest window in the front.
As you were to walk up the stairs into the main unit, you'd hang a left. As you get into unit A, which is about 1,600, 1,700 square feet.
living room in the front, kitchen in the middle, powder and a large bathroom behind the kitchen,
large walk-in closet, then a large bedroom to the rear, which opens up into that rear yard.
bedroom to the rear which opens up into that rear yard meters are tucked away by the way in the
front area in that alcove that you all saw in the design that when i showed the renderings
going that in if you were to go up the stairs into the tan area which is the common area into this
kind of turquoise area this is unit b it's 887 square feet living in the front kitchen in the
middle behind that's the bathroom decent sized closet with mechanicals washer dryer and then