Thank you. MI 2022-005-952-1469 North 57th Street, I vote yes.
James Snell, I vote yes. Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Thomas?
Counsel, you have your three votes.
Thank you.
Number 13. MI 2022-005-967-929-North 19th Street. Oleg Sokoloff is the attorney.
There is a recommendation of support from the United Francisville Civic Association.
Mr. Sokoloff is coming back in as a panelist now, Sharon.
Okay. Good morning, counsel. Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
Sure. Good morning, Mr. Chair, members of the board, Oleg Sokolov, O-L-E-G-S-O-K-O-L-O-V,
on behalf of the applicant, 200 West Girard Holdings, LLC, and I have with me a Ms. Jennifer
Tran as representative of the entity. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth, nothing but the truth? I do, Chair.
our vice chair has just a few questions
thank you
good morning counsel
do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal
and stipulate to his accuracy
good morning Mr. Shahid I do
have you emailed all the
required documents and exhibits
required to proceed with this case
five days in advance of this hearing
thank you please proceed
thank you very much
good morning to you as well
is everybody able to see that
yes okay great i will i will attempt to be as brief as possible as this board has heard a number
of these requests from from me um we are here seeking permission to use one unit out of a two
unit building for the purposes of visitor accommodation, more commonly referred to as
short-term stay. This property is located at 929 North 19th Street. That would be 19th between
Girard and Poplar. As you can see, the use refusal was generated as a result of this
property being in an RM1 district. Here's the D to 200 Block West Girard Holdings.
I'd like to take you through some photographs of the unit, please.
Here is the property.
Here's the interior of the property.
What makes this property unique is it is a five-bedroom, which, as the board well knows, is not suited for regular long-term rentals, as it would require either a boarding house or rooming house exemption in order to be used.
You can see that this property is immaculately kept by the owners.
A little background, there are no hotels or many short-term stay options in this area,
and this property has been used for this purpose over the years with full compliance with previous City of Philadelphia requirements and regulations.
this is an attempt and a request to bring the property into conformity with the current
ordinances required for visitor accommodation. This property in the past has been used often by
families who are coming in to see newborns or for events for people who live in the neighborhood and
want their family to stay close. As you can see, this property is surrounded by a mix of
As you can see, this property is surrounded by a mix of zoning categories, including CMX 2, CMX 2.5.
Our project information form.
Our application submitted on 9-13.
Proof of mailing.
Oh, pardon me.
Community notice letter.
An RCL meeting was held on February 8th with the UFCA, the United Francisville Civic Association.
At that time, we did receive support of the community, which is evidenced by their letter here.
it was quite strong to support, 29 in favor, five in opposition, and four in non-opposition.
And here is our tax status showing that all taxes and other assessments on the property
have been paid. If I may, Chair, I would like to invite Ms. Jennifer Tran just to quickly
raise her hand and adopt my testimony.
I'm a lot of curiosity. Is there a number of the apartment or the first floor, second floor,
third floor? I'm sorry, Chair. It's the second floor. The first floor is a long-term year-to-year
rental. And the third floor? The third floor, I believe, is part of this unit, too.
Okay, so there's two units. There's two units. There's one on the first floor and then this
larger unit that occupies the second and third floor, if I'm not mistaken, but Ms. Tran can
correct me if I'm wrong. Sure. Hi, Ms. Tran, could you state your name, please, and spell for the
court reporter? Sure. Good morning, Mr. Chair and the board. My name is Jennifer Tran, J-E-N-N-I-F-E-R-T-R-A-N.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do. Proceed. Thank you. Good morning, Ms. Tran.
Good morning, Oleg. Yes, to confirm, the unit is on the second and third floor of this two-unit building.
Okay, great. And is it, just so the record, and we're all clear here, is it, has it been described as Unit 2? Is that the mailing address, or is it B?
It's Unit 2.
Okay, great. And did you hear my testimony before the board here today?
Yes, I did.
And do you adopt it as your own?
Yes, I do.
Is there anything you would like to add to my testimony while you're here?
Yes, please, if you don't mind.
Yeah, so I'm here today because, you know, we just want to be compliant with the new visitor accommodations regulations.
As Oleg stated, I've been managing this rental for over six years since 2016.
We've welcomed over 200 groups to Francisville and also used to host guests in my home a block down the street on 19th Street as well.
And because of the unique large size of this unit, most guests are families or groups of friends, coworkers, or neighbors who come to town for weddings, reunions, college graduations, conferences, sporting events, or just sightseeing.
We don't permit pets, parties, or smoking.
I heavily screen potential guests to prevent parties.
We have a zero tolerance policy, and I'm really proud to say that we have not received any complaints from the downstairs tenant or neighbors in over six years since we've been operating this.
I'm still very much involved in the day-to-day business.
I manage this listing.
I'm the first point of contact for any questions or issues that might arise.
and um uh in closing and with the community's strong support again i just want to be compliant
with the new philadelphia regulation and uh come to the board today to seek this variance that
would allow us to continue the short-term rentals thank you questions from the board
thomas are you back on
we'll get thomas back one after the break questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see no hands at this time chair my planning commission
thank you chair sarah bond philadelphia city planning commission s-a-r-a-h-b-a-n-h
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing residential multifamily zoning
The appellant has not shown that the property cannot be used in constrict conformity with the zoning code, and that a variance is therefore necessary to enable the viable economic use of the property.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the zoning board deny the variance.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the Zoning Board deny the variance.
Thank you.
Thank you. MI 2022-005-967-929-North 19th Street. I vote yes. Temporary variance expires 3-15-26, and to be clear, it's 929-North 19th Street, Unit No. 2.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with Proviso.
James Snell, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Counsel, you have your three votes.
Thank you, board.
Is there anyone in the morning group of hearings that case has not been called?
I see no hands at this time, chair.
Thank you, everyone. Let's make sure we send Thomas. Thomas got knocked out. We want to try to send him another introduction. There he is.
Excuse me, Mr. Chairman. Excuse me, Mr. Chairman. Can you hear me?
We can hear you now, Thomas. You're breaking up a little bit.
Okay. I'm back. I'm going to try and see if I can get it clear. Okay?
All right. We'll work with you during the break.
Thank you.
all right all right see everyone at 2 p.m thank you very much see you later all right then thank you
Hello? Can you hear me?
Nicky?
Can you hear me, Fatina?
Nicky, Nicky, could you help Thomas a little bit, please?
Okay, Thomas, what's going on?
Oh, yeah, I can hear you.
Can you hear me at all?
Yes, yes, I can hear you.
Am I clear or am I breaking up?
No, you're clear.
Okay, all right.
I was breaking up.
I had to go out and come back in.
Okay, I can hear you fine now.
Okay, but I'm clear now, so I should be okay with the next session.
Is there a question, Nikki?
I don't have a question, no.
Okay. All right, then. Thank you.
Why don't we press...
Thank you.
Good afternoon.
My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this afternoon's ZBA hearings.
Our vice chair, Ismail Shahid, should be on shortly.
Our board member, Thomas Holloman.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our board member, James Snell.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Also present is our attorney, Hillary Emerson, and our executive director, Tanya Sunkett.
Here's our virtual format.
Bevised proceedings are being recorded.
A video will be available by contacting tanyasunkett at phil.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. All comments should be directed to our executive director,
telling you something. Let's look at our continuances for this, say, afternoon's 2 p.m.
meeting. Number five, MI-2022-006-188-1445-59-North 32nd Street. That case is continued.
Are there any comments relative to that case?
I see no hands at this time, Chair
Are there any other requests
for continuances?
Chair, we have someone with the phone number
ending at 3552
Call her with the phone number ending at 3552
Can you please unmute yourself and wait for the Chair?
Would you state your name, please, and spell it for the court reporter?
Follow with the phone number.
Follow with the phone number.
You get 3552, please unmute you.
You get 355.
Can you hear me now?
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
Yes, Adrian Fernandez, F-E-R-N-A-N-D-E-Z, Swampoodle Neighborhood Process Association, RTO.
All right, do you swear or affirm and tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
What case?
1518 West Lehigh Avenue?
We have no exhibits for that.
That's the first listing.
I'm getting ready to call that now.
Okay, thank you.
I want to ask one more question.
At this time, are you also looking at the 3.30 continuances, or will that be when-
No, I'm going to have to wait for 3.30 for that.
I can't get ahead of myself, okay?
Okay, thank you, Chair.
Sure, sure.
Any other requests for continuance?
Chair, we have a Brittany Gardner. Ms. Gardner, please unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Could you state your name, please, and spell it for the court reporter?
Good afternoon, Chairman. It's Attorney Brittany Gardner, B-R-I-T-T-A-N-Y-G-A-R-D-N-E-R.
I actually represent 1518 West.
Okay, hold on. Do you swear a firm to tell the truth, told the truth, nothing but the truth?
Yeah, I do.
You have case number one, which is 1518 West Lehigh.
We do not have any exhibits.
First listing.
Yes, I submitted a continuance request on February 28th.
So I'm not sure.
The case will be continued.
So MI 2022-006-211-1518 West Lehigh Avenue.
That case is continued.