and we are live uh thank you everyone uh good morning my name is frank de chico i'm the chair
of the zoning board of adjustment we have a quorum so i'm officially calling this session
to order attending our board members mr james snow one second i'm sorry one second because
people are still entering they're not here yeah i was going to do that and then say and then turn
it over to you okay i'll wait i'm just going to introduce the board and then turn it over to you
got a lot of people for this one
all righty chair okay thank you again good morning everyone my name is frank de chico i'm the chair
of the zoning board of adjustment we have a quorum i'm officially calling the session to order
In attendance is our board secretary, Mr. Confessor Plaza, our board members, Mr. Thomas Holloman and Mr. James Snell.
Also, we have our city solicitor, Ms. Sharon Saleta, and our board administrator, Ms. Tanya Sunken.
As you're probably aware, today is our fourth week of holding virtual hearings.
While we may have to make some adjustments along the way, our plan is to call each case, which is, I only believe, one this morning, and basically proceed as we would have in a live hearing.
We ask that the attorneys for the applicants or other interested parties identify themselves for the record when the case you'll be participating in is called.
We will then hear the appellant's presentation, followed by any presentation by attorneys representing other parties.
interested parties and members of the public not represented by council will
then be given an opportunity to testify we will finally hear the recommendation
of the Planning Commission at the conclusion of today's hearing the board
will either vote the matter immediately or hold it for discussion in executive
session if the case is being held for discussion it would be voted on the
record at the next scheduled executive session, Wednesday morning, August the 12th at 9 30 a.m.
A couple of changes related to the virtual format. First, we will be administering oaths
to individual participants prior to their testimony rather than to the room as a whole
since we do not have a room. Second, for the benefit of anyone participating by phone,
we ask that attorneys and witnesses please identify themselves prior to speaking or
testifying. I need to repeat this because we've been having some problems. For the benefit of
anyone participating by phone, we ask that attorneys and witnesses identify themselves
prior to speaking or testifying. Third, we'd like to advise everyone that this proceeding is being
recorded and that by participating you acknowledge your agreement to be
recorded. If anyone wishes to testify, please raise your hand so that we may be
able to identify you and Mr. Sunkit will give you the information on how to
participate either by phone or on your computer. Ms. Sunkit?
i'm sorry chair um can we pause for one minute
yep we don't have no one here we don't have planning commission so let me see if i can get
someone okay tanya this is abby aisha is here yeah i'm here okay thanks all righty you can go
forward to you. Okay. Sharon, you do me a favor. My notes are kind of crazy this morning. Would you
read the title, the calendar number, please, and address? I misplaced my notes.
Okay, I'll read that, Chairman. Calendar number. Thank you. Yep, you got it, buddy. Calendar number
2000 Spring Garden Street.
I just found it. Okay. The attorneys...
I'm sorry.
And that...
Professor, did you... You had the
calendar number?
Yeah, I located mine.
Calendar number 39837
2000 Spring Garden Street.
Thank you.
If the attorneys could raise their hand.
And I believe the attorneys are Andrew Fisher, Ryan Bolin, and Rich DeMarco.
good morning good morning gentlemen um i know we left off last week so i don't recall where
we left off so who will begin test with your testimony was it you mr bolin or was it i don't
remember um it's actually mr fisher represents the appellant so he would go first
Is he here? I don't see him.
Andrew Miller, if I could make a correction.
I'm so sorry, Mr. Miller.
There's another attorney who appears before the board named Andrew Fisher.
Good morning.
All right, Mr. Miller, good morning.
Good morning. May it please the board.
This is the first hearing in the matter.
Mr. Miller, I apologize for interrupting.
Please identify yourself for the record.
Sure. My name is Andrew Miller. I represent the Appellant 2000 Spring Garden LLC. This is our first substantive hearing. Last week, we had argument on a continuance, which was granted in order that the RCO be able to have a Zoom conference.
That occurred on Monday, and today will be our first hearing where any testimony is heard.
May it please the board, what I'd like to do is I'd like to give an opening that summarizes our case and the evidence that you will hear this morning.
I'm hoping that by doing so, I can shorten the presentation that we have.
Any objections to that from Mr. DeMarco or Mr. Boland?
No, as long as we can respond, I have no objection at all.
Absolutely. You both have an opportunity.
Ryan Boland, no objection.
Thank you.
If I could ask the administrator to please allow me to share screen, I'll be able to make reference to my exhibits as I go along.
That would be helpful.
that would be helpful. And also, if they haven't yet done it, would Mr. DeMarco and Mr. Boland
put their names on the record and identify whom they're representing?
Sure. Richard DeMarco here for Mooring Properties, which is the owner of 2002 Spring Garden.
And Ryan Boland, 1801 Market Street, Suite 2300, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. And I represent the
RCO, Spring Garden Civic Association. Thank you. And I'm sorry, Chair, I don't know if I missed
it, but did we get, that get sworn in? Yeah, I just think I thought I swarmed in last week,
but we'll do it again. Do you gentlemen, do you gentlemen swear and testify, do you swear and
affirm that you'll tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth? Yes, I do. Yes.
Ryan Boland, yes, I do. Thank you. Thank you, gentlemen. Thank you, Tanya.
No problem. Mr. Miller, Mr. DeMarco, and Mr. Bolin, you all are promoted to panelists,
so you can all share your screen as necessary. Thank you. Thank you. Please.
I'm sorry. I don't know if you can see my screen now. Are you able to? Not yet. Okay.
This is Andrew Miller speaking. Yes.
Thank you.
my screen? No, okay. Mr. Chairman, my screen is ready. I just need it to be broadcast and then I
can begin. Can I sound to you? Are you able to assist Mr. Miller? So Mr. Miller, you have the
ability to share your screen. I'm not sure on your end. So once you become a panelist, you can.
Okay, once you click the share screen, go to the file and click on the file, right? I'm in the file. I'm sorry. I didn't. Okay.
okay so if you first click okay we got I apologize I didn't I didn't click no
worries world this is a learning process for all of us all right okay we have
part of your screen. Okay. All right. Okay. Thank you very much. May it please the board.
My name is Andrew Miller. I represent 2000 Spring Garden LLC, the owner of 2000 Spring Garden Street
in Philadelphia. The property is located at the corner of 20th and Spring Garden Streets.
We don't know the exact age of the existing structure, but it is not the original structure in the neighborhood.
It appears to be an infill, two-story building in a neighborhood of much taller buildings.
The first photo that you see is the front from Spring Garden Street.
It's the building to the right, the two-story building, just behind the trash cans.
the next image
the next image
I'm sorry
The next image is a view from the alley across the street of, looking across 20th Street at the back of the subject property.
This is a view of the property opposite this one, and I apologize.
guys. My order
has changed
in the
I'm sorry
that I'm not showing this to you in the order
that I intended.
Thank you.
This is a side view from 20th Street of our property. As you can see it's a
nondescript squat building and you can see above it the neighboring property at
2002 Spring Garden Street.
This image shows the rear portion of the subject property
where there is parking for five cars with a 51-foot curb cut.
The property ends to the right, and then it extends back to the property line where there's a five-story or four-story parking garage for the neighboring apartment building to the left.
On the right of this photo, you can see the scaffolding that has been in place for the last three years on the neighboring property at 2002 Spring Garden Street.
Spring Garden Street.
This image shows the property opposite this property on 20th Street.
You can see that there's the
grade slopes pretty dramatically away from Spring Garden Street down 20th Street.
This is, I'm returning now because I'm back to the correct order.
This is the view of the property looking from the alley across 20th Street.
This is the front view of the property showing the building next door at 2002 Spring Garden
Street towering over the subject property.
property.
This is another front view showing the disparity in height between the neighboring properties
and the subject property.
This is a view looking at the property from above in the rear.
Now, I'm going to reduce this so that you can...
Okay. So you see the property at 2002 with the scaffolding that's been there for over three years, and you see the subject property to the right.
Now, 2002 Spring Garden Street appears to have some additions, obviously with something other than historic quality renovations, and you see how it towers over the property at 2000.
Again, here's a view of the back showing how 2002 towers above the property at 2000.
And now we see a historic photo of what originally existed.
Now, this is from the archives, and it's dated August 19th, 1958, and you can see that the original property at this site was essentially a twin to the property at 2002 Spring Garden Street.
And you see that the scale of the property, looking at it from Spring Garden Street, matched the rest of the neighborhood.
Now, this is the historical map that shows the subject property all the way to the right.
And again, it confirms that the original property matched the property that was at 2002.
Now, this property is in a historic district, and as a result, before anything could be
done, historic approval was required.
And the Historical Commission has rigid guidelines run by professionals that one has to abide
by and a process that involves the community and design professionals.
And that process was a months long process that began in 2019.
The RCO and the next door neighbor who turned out to be the most, that's Mr. DeMarco's client,
who turned out to be the most vocal opponent of this project,
participated in that process from beginning to end.
The process involved...
The process involved numerous revisions as a result of the input provided by the Historical Commission,
by the Architectural Committee of the Historical Commission, by the staff of the Historical Commission, and from the neighbors.
And our architect will explain the progression from concept one on the left, which is a bigger, taller, denser building, to the final submission, which occurred last August.
Historical Commission approval was obtained on September 30, 2019, and the letter evidencing
that approval is attached.
Once Historical Commission approval was obtained, and the Historical Commission required that the building be respectful of the historical character of the neighborhood, the architectural history of the neighborhood,
and the Historical Commission employs the federal guidelines for historic districts.
As a result of the Historical Commission approval, three variances were necessary.
So the plans that had already been vetted by the Historical Commission, by the community,
had required three variances from existing code.
The most obvious requirement was height.
The Historical Commission required that this building be the same height as the neighboring buildings.
The district is RM1 and only 38 feet is permitted.
And that's the primary issue before you today.
is height, and you will hear testimony from the neighbors who say this property shouldn't be as
tall as their properties. Now, the fact of the matter is that they have backtracked a little
bit, and they're saying something a little different, and I expect that you will hear
something a little different, as indicated by the RCO letter of opposition.
What they will now tell you is that they don't object to the height on Spring Garden Street,
but they object to the height at the back of the building.
And that's simply not before you.
Either we're entitled to the height variance, there is no variance for massing before you.
So the only issue is, on the height is, should this property be allowed to equal the historic character of the neighborhood as required by the Historic Commission?
And is there a hardship in that we can't get Historic Commission approval for a 38-foot structure?
Now, the other two variances are really very technical, and they involve your determination of what is the front of this property and what is the side and the rear.
we received refusals for parking entering on the front because L&I wasn't going to make the
determination of whether or not 20th Street was the front of the property or the side or the rear.
Well, we submit, obviously, it's the side and there already is parking access from 20th Street.
So that's a really easy one for you to decide. And the other issue is a requirement of five-foot setbacks for balconies.
We are, all of the balconies are more than five feet from Spring Garden Street.
They are not more than five feet from 20th Street. And again, that's a technical issue.
Once the board decides that 20th Street is not the front and that the front is Spring Garden Street, those violations evaporate.
Now, you will also hear testimony and you will receive evidence from the opponents to
this project suggesting that they will lose access to all light and air as a result of
this structure being built at the end of the block.
Not only is that not true, but the images they will present to you are misleading.
As you can see from this bird's eye view, looking east. So 20th Street is behind the image
on your screen. As you can see, there's a 30 foot distance from the back of the building
to the property line.
And that's apparent behind the shaded area.
What we've done here is we've imposed an image
of the planned structure onto a Google Earth for you to see.
Now, here's another image looking...
southeast, showing the space between the building and the parking garage for the apartment complex behind.
Now, here's an image to the left of the exhibit that was presented to the Spring Garden Civic Association
by the opponents to this project, and you'll see the image prepared by the appellant's
architectural team, and you'll see the differences and how clearly misleading it is.