Okay, thank you, John.
Ready to go.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Okay, you can start as you wish, Chair.
Good afternoon.
My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing the 3.30 ZBA hearings.
the 3.30 ZBA hearings. With me is Thomas Holliman, our board member.
With me is...
Present, Mr. Chairman. And James Snell, our board member. Present, Mr. Chairman. Also here is Hillary
Emerson, our attorney, and our executive director, Tanya Sunket. Be advised, these proceedings are
going to be recorded. A video will be available by contacting tanyasunket at philip.gov. For the
benefit of our court stenographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before
testifying. If you're participating by phone, if you wish to testify, press star nine to raise your
hand and star six to unmute. To enter an appearance statement, call 267-270-5548. Leave your email
and the address of the property in question. And finally, the question answer box on the screen
is not for comments or testimony. Any comments should be directed to our Executive Director,
Tanya Sunkin. Let's look at our continuances for this afternoon.
Number one, MI 2022-002-908-740-44, South Street. That case is continued.
Number two, MI-2022-005-981-58-Gallon Road. That case is continued. Number three,
Number three, MI 2022-002-822-6701 Rising Sun Avenue. That case is continued. Mark must be tried.
Number five, MI 2022-005-977-2400 Oakdale Street. That case is continued.
And number six, MI-2022-006-001-5408 Cheslin Street,
that case is continuing.
Is there anyone who has comments relative
to the cases that I just called?
Chair, we have a Jonathan Wall with his hand up.
Mr. Wall, please unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Yes, thank you. Mr. Wall, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
Yes, it's Jonathan Wall, J-O-N-A-T-H-A-N, last name Wall, W-A-L-L, and I just had a question.
One minute, one minute. Do you swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
And what case are you concerned with?
This is the property at 740 to 44 South Street.
So when it's continued, there'll still be an opportunity for protestants, right?
Oh, absolutely. Yes.
Okay, sorry. I'm just not.
Absolutely.
That was my only question. Thank you so much.
Okay, sure. Not a problem, sir.
Is there anyone with a request for continuance?
Yes, Chair, we have Leah.
We have Leah DiBatteo.
Ms. DiBatteo, please unmute yourself away.
hi could you state your name please and spell for the court reporter
hi this is leah di mateo l-e-a-h-d-i-m-a-t-t-e-o right do you swear or firm to tell the truth
the whole truth nothing but the truth yes what case are you interested in this is for 58 west
Gowan, which has continued. I had sent in a letter seeking to send some revised plans to L&I.
I just wanted to check in and find out what the next step is for that.
Mr. Chair, this is Hillary. Ms. Matea, we've received your letter. We are processing it. And
if it is approved, you will receive a letter from the zoning board to take to L&I to have your
revised plans reviewed for an amended refusal. Okay. Thank you so much. Thank you. All right.
Okay. So I also have case number seven, MI 2021-004-842-426 East Clearfield Street,
Maria Rodriguez. We have no exhibits. This is the third listing.
I see no hands at this time, Chair.
i see no hands at this time chair number seven mi 2020
Number seven, MI 2021-004-842-426 East Clearfield Street, third listing, I vote to dismiss.
Thomas Holloman, I vote to dismiss.
James Snell, my vote is to dismiss.
Thank you.
We're going to go to number four, MI-2022-005-978-3245 Edgemont Street.
Vern Anastasio is the attorney.
Hilary, do we receive a letter for this?
Yes, Mr. Chair.
There was a letter sent of support from ProPAC.
Thank you.
this the anastasio is coming back okay
good morning sir
afternoon i'm sorry good afternoon mr chair i believe i swore you once today right yep okay
So just state your name for the record.
It's Vern Anastasio, V-E-R-N-A-N-A-S-T-A-S-I-O.
I represent Daniel Mendoza, who is the property owner.
Thank you.
Mr. Holloman has just a few questions, sir.
Thank you.
Good afternoon, counsel.
Good afternoon.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate his accuracy?
did you email all of the exhibits and documents as required five days in advance here yes sir
yes and we have a letter that i forwarded uh to attorney emerson dated february 1st of this year
in full support uh by the rco thank you please proceed and share your screen thank you
okay this is the property in question it's a corner property two-story
it is for 3245 edgemont street purchased by my client uh being purchased by my client
as a pre-existing non-conforming to family dwelling here's the first floor plan
living room dining room open sort of area we have a large bathroom kitchen and one bed
and the second floor there's a stair in the middle second floor is a two-bedroom apartment
and first floor is 795 square feet second floor is 662 square feet
And then the total living space is about 1,457 square feet.
This is the property as it exists.
We also have some interior photos to show you that this was renovated prior to my client.
I'm getting it under contract.
And we also have at some point this property was illegal to family dwelling. We have two not new heaters, two water heaters that were put in around 2013, upgraded to gas meters and to electric meters.
it's the property again here's some proof of posting
we did in fact meet with propac which is the rco in that area we met on the 1st of february
and here's proof of mailing 205 individual households we've also included in our exhibit
which is total of 45 pages the deed to the property as well as proof of taxes paid
Under separate cover, we forwarded, and I still move into evidence, a letter from Propac RCO dated 1st of February in full support of our appeal.
Because of the corner location, because of the previously built out physical interior, and because it has two water meters, furnaces, electric meters, and gas meters, with the community support, we respectfully request the granting of this variance.
Is your client here to adopt your testimony?
I believe he is.
If Mr. Mendoza can raise his hand.
Mr. Mendelsohn can you please raise your hand
Chair I see no hands at this
Counsel you're an officer of the court
We'll accept your testimony
Questions from the board
No Mr. Chairman
No Mr. Chairman
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no answer this time, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, sir.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman and members of the board.
David Fecta with the City Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential single-family zoning at this location.
This appears to be the legalization of an unlicensed second unit where a deli used to operate.
the legalization will bring the property closer in line with the intended use
contemplated in the comprehensive plan and so the city planning commission recommends the board
grant the use variance thank you MI 2022-005-978-3245 Edgemont Street I vote yes
Thomas Holloman my vote is yes James Snell my vote is yes thank you counsel thank you all right
Number 8, MI-2022-005-983-2106 North 9th Street.
Lee Elsey is the attorney.
Do we have an RCO letter?
No, Mr. Chair, we do not for this case.
Was there a meeting?
Yes, there was.
chair mr ms lc is coming back as a panel okay
hi good afternoon mr chair hi could you state your name please and spell for the court reporter
yes my name is lee lc l-e-e-e-l-s-e-y right do you swear a firm to tell the truth the whole truth
and nothing but the truth? Yes, I do. Could you identify your client in relationship to this
property? Yes, I am the attorney, as well as the architect of record. And my client is
Fam & Co LLC, represented by Mr. Serge Valiansky, who is present.
Our Mr. Hallman, our board member, has a few questions for you, sir.
Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of refusal and stipulates to his accuracy?
Yes, I do.
Did you email all of the exhibits and documents as required five days in advance to this hearing?
Did you meet with the RCO, and do you have a letter?
We did the mailing. We did meet with the RCO. We do not have the letter. I've been in touch with Ms. Shirley of the Northeast RCO, who is the primary RCO of the matter.
She apologizes for the confusion. The letter got by her. We will present it as soon as available, I can say, from email with her.
um there was no opposition we will thank you thank you please proceed and share your screen
okay thank you uh screen is shared uh apologize after the weather yesterday we've had a little
bit um odd internet speed here let me know if i need to repeat anything uh
The address is 2106 North 9th Street, currently a vacant lot, as you can see in this picture.
We're located on North 9th Street off of Diamond Street.
We've highlighted within these images some of the nearby properties that have received variances for duplex use,
as well as additional coverage similar to ours in addition we've added a few more that have been
more recently granted variances this is a a common variance in this neighborhood here's
some photos of the existing you can see it's located next door to a shell as well as a vacant
lot. This is the property prior to demolition. My client purchased it in 2018 with the purpose
of rehabbing it. It was condemned by the city and they had to demolish it. You can see nearby
You can see nearby duplexes that have received variances or the other side of the street actually some of them did get variances or did get duplex status by right because of the overlay that falls in the middle of 9th Street separating our side of the block from the other side of the block.
duplexes that have received variances.
Here's the posting of the zoning notice dated February 22nd.
deed of the client zoning plan showing a proposed two-story or sorry three-story
duplex with pilot house and a roof deck. Our zoning refusal we have a refusal
um based on duplex use within the north central philadelphia overlay
outside of the overlay a duplex would be by right and in this rm1 district but within the
within this overlay we generated a refusal for use we were also proposing to occupy 81.5 percent
of the site where the maximum allowed is 85 percent. This is a relatively short site,
so the additional space really helps the units to function as desired by the community.
The lower unit, Unit 1, is 1,083 square feet. It is a three bedroom, two bathroom that occupies
the entirety of the cellar as well as the first floor. Now, our cellar is raised high enough
above grade where the egress windows do not require egress wells, and it requires steps
to get up to the first floor. Unit 2 occupies the second floor and the third floor. It is
1,212 square feet. It's a three-bedroom, two-bathroom, and it has sole access to the
pilot house and a roof deck above. Here's our notice letter to the RCO, our mailing certificate
kit showing 186 mailings, quite a few for this one.
We've included some zoning archive documents showing refusals up and down the block seeking
essentially the identical duplex relief that we are looking for.
uh our appeal our project information form as well as our tax certificate
now we had a we had a meeting with the neighborhood which involved the turnout of
it's been a while now i believe it was in the range of four to five neighbors
There were concerns having to do with just construction and seeking to understand how management of the building would work and who is the owner, whether they manage other buildings.
I believe all of those questions were addressed favorably, and the community is not opposing us.
we will provide the letter. Once it's prepared, Mr. Voliansky, are you present?
What is your friend's name, Mr. Elsie?
Serge Voliansky.
Mr. Voliansky
Ms. Voliansky
could you please unmute yourself
and wait for the chair
could you state your name please
and spell for the court reporter
Mr. Voliansky
is his hand raised
he put his hand down now he put it back up to him
yes can you hear me hi yes could you state your name please
your spell for the court reporter sergey voliansky
s-e-r-g-e-y-v-o-l-y-a-n-s-k-i-y
do you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes i do proceed counsel thank you uh mr
Yes, I do.
Proceed, counsel.