Thank you.
Thank you very much. Good morning, everyone. My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing
this morning's ZBA hearing. With me is our Vice Chair, Tanetta Graham.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Board Secretary, Sheila L. Gaston.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Board Member, Michael Johns.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Board Member, Tyia Nguyen. She should be here. And Board Member, Ryan McAdams.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Also here is Layla Beebe.
She's punching me already.
I don't know what's going on.
Also here is Layla Beebe.
And so that everybody understands, she's new to the board.
She's been here for a few meetings.
We are very fortunate.
She's a business agent for the Carpenters Union, a lifelong Philadelphian,
and really, really understands the construction project.
So, again, thank you for being here,
and we appreciate you taking this assignment with us. Also present is our attorney Lynn Reuter-Uber,
also our board director Ian Haggerty, and our board administrator Lakeisha Dandy.
This hearing is being recorded and will be posted on the ZVA website. By participating,
you consent to be recorded. This is an in-person meeting with remote participation,
whether in person or on zoom if you're called to speak please state your name and spell it for
the sonographer and also wait to be sworn in after you're sworn in each time you testify you're going
to have to start by stating your name to enter an appearance indicate your at the indicate the
property address on the zoom webinar speak with a staff member
call the zba office by close of business tomorrow call 215-686-2429 and and provide your name email
and the address of the property in question remote participation raise your virtual hand
when you're directed to speak when you speak you have to click to join as a panelist button
used the q a only for procedural questions not case comments if you if you are joining by phone
press star nine to raise your hand and star six to unmute for in-person participation when
testifying get close to the microphone so that all attendees and also the court reporter can
hear you no talking eating or drinking during the the hearing aggressive behavior will not be
tolerated in an emergency follow staff directions the main exit is the double doors in the rear
the stairwell is to the left once you should get out there in the event event of an evacuation
go over to love park which is across the street there on off of our street and please remain here
so we can account for you. So let's look at our schedule for today.
8, 12, 1. Okay, so number one.
here let me see here here it is
be with you a minute here yeah one here right um mi 2024 006086 777 state road i understand
Mr. DeMarco is in the audience.
Chair, they're being promoted to panels.
Thank you.
Can you hear me, Mr. Chairman?
Good morning.
Mr. DeMarco, could you please state your name and spell for the sonographer?
richard demarco last name spelled d-e-m-a-r-c-o right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
the whole truth nothing but the truth i do
I do. Mr. DeMarco, could you give us an update on this case?
Yeah, sure. I know it's been listed a few times. There's a delay in, so surveyors are hard to come
by these days. And we had the Planning Commission, in order to complete the amended refusal
that the board has requested, the Planning Commission requested updated drawings. And
It's a huge property, and they had trouble finding a surveyor, so I do need another continuance.
I understand it's been listed quite a while, but we do intend to get it.
We do have a survey now, and now we need to just mark it up and get the information that the planning commission wanted.
So it's been an unusual delay.
I apologize for that.
We could always make it listed attorney moving party if you need to, but I understand that's part of the do now.
but we we uh we're moving along but i appreciate the board's patience it's going to take another
we're going to give this an august date okay it's fine all right so i am away august 5th to 12th by
the way um okay i have to figure that one out um so later in august the date we have is the 12th
could we have another date yeah i'm i'm on in the air on that day apologize all right so why don't
we do this why don't we do this we're going to continue this we'll get back to you with the date
okay yeah very well all right thank you so all right thank you very much all right all right
take care everybody number two 28 20 38 hayne street which is mi 2024 006 090 that case is
continued until 8 12 2026. number three mi 2025 004 186 1936 cecil b moore avenue that case has
been withdrawn number four 35 23 north 24th street mi 2025 005051 that case is continued until 8 12 26
at 9 30 number 4 35 23 24 street that's MI 20 25 005 051 that case is continued until 8 12 26 at 9 30 a.m
number 8 33 23 ashfield street which is mi 2026 000 304 that case is continued until 8 12 26 at 9 30
number 9 315 winoah street winoah street that is mi 2026 000 316 that case is continued until
8 12 26 at 9 30 a.m and number 10 53 17 wayne avenue that's mi 2026 000 317
That case is contained until 8-12-26 at 9.30 a.m.
And number 12...
Number 12 is MI 2026-000-349-6829 Chew Avenue.
Sylvia Sinaia Williams is the listed owner this is the first listing we have no exhibits
do we see anyone in the audience
chair nope we don't have anybody in the audience at this time but we do have a hand
up from jennifer bazitlow sure i had my hand raised for continuance on another case that's
not related to this one let me handle let me handle this one okay okay yes all right so mi
2026 000 349 68 29 shoe avenue uh that case is continued till 8 12 26 at 9 30 a.m and mark must
be heard. And then number 13, MI 2026, 000-447-2548 Diamond Street. Alex Palmer is the listed owner.
Diamond Street, Alex Palmer is the listed owner, and Mamie E. Talley is also of the Mamie E. Talley Trust.
This is the first listing. We have no exhibits.
I don't see any hands at this time, Chair.
Okay. So MI 2026-000-447-2546 Diamond Street. That case is continued until 8-12-26 at 9-30-M. Mark must be heard. Are there any other requests for continuances?
jennifer chair yes we have a hand up from jennifer bazillo and also strawberry mansion community
concern okay let me go jennifer first all righty good morning chairman and members of the board
hi could you please state your name and spelled for the sonographer sure it's jennifer bazitlo
B as in boy, A as in apple, Z as in zebra, Y, D as in David, L as in Larry, O as in Oscar.
What case?
I am asking for a continuance of 2005 South 4th Street. My client contacted me late last night
that he had an emergency, a personal matter, that he was not available today. It is his personal
home that's the subject, and I do believe it's contested, so I don't feel comfortable proceeding
without him. Hold on one minute. Mr. Chairman is number five.
Okay, there's what I got. I'm already past it.
She looks so big like this.
Is there anyone in the audience here for the for that case?
I see him in the back when he come up.
Good morning, sir. Please state your name and spell for the stenographer.
Thank you. My name is Pat Fitzmaurice, P-A-T-R-I-C-K, F-I-T-Z-M-A-U-R-I-C-A.
Do you swear or affirm the tell the truth, told the truth, nothing but the truth?
We know there's opposition in this case. The appellant cannot be here. The attorney is requesting continuance.
We're going to get a continuance. We'll do this in August, okay?
Okay. I understand. Just for the record, there are two neighbors that are also here.
And what we'll do is this will be Mark must be heard.
And I agree to that. That's perfectly reasonable.
Just, and also, I would just also note, this is not the primary residence for this applicant. It's an empty vacant lot. So I just want to put that out there.
Okay. Thank you.
All right. Thank you very much.
All right. So number five.
Mr. Chair, this is Ian Hegarty. Pardon the interruption. For the sake of time, I would recommend placing this on the September 15th, Tuesday, special hearing at 930 a.m.
Okay. All right. So MI 2025-005-375-2005 South 4th Street. This case will be continued to September 15th at 930 a.m. and Mark must be heard.
Thank you.
Thank you. Anyone else?
Chair, we have a hand up from Strawberry Mansion Community Concern.
They're allowed to speak.
Good morning.
Hello, can you hear me?
I can.
Oh, good morning.
My name is Bonita Cummings.
Can you please speak your name and spell for the stenographer?
Bonita Cummings.
B as in boy, O-N-I-T-A, C-U-M-M-I-N-G-S.
All right.
I was just checking.
Hold on, hold on, hold on.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, told the truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed.
What case?
I was just checking because I thought I heard you say 2546 Diamond Street in the end.
I was looking in the chat and I didn't see it, so I was just making sure it's 2548 for continuance.
Diamond?
Okay, thank you.
oh thank you um anyone else no hands at this time chair go to our add-on list
number one mi 2024
MI 2024-001-949-2900 Snyder Avenue, I vote yes, with amended, no, I'm sorry, hold on, this case will be continued to August 5th at 9.30 a.m., thank you.
number two mi 2025 001287 9864 frankfurt avenue i vote yes michael johns my vote is yes
cheryl gaston my vote is yes tenetta graham my vote is yes i mcadams my vote is yes
number three
number three mi2025-005-980-3409 goodman street i vote no michael johns my vote is no
cheryl gaston my vote is no tennetta graham my vote is no i mcadams my vote is no
number four mi 2025 007 240 2130 north 31st street
i vote yes with proviso use applied to entire building also a certificate of occupancy to be
obtained michael johns my vote is yes with provisos charles gaston wrote is yes with proviso
ryan mcadams my vote is yes with proviso
number five mi 2026 001 94 56 12 haverford avenue i vote yes michael johns my vote is no
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is no.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes.
Number six, MI 2025-004-680-5830 Whitby Avenue.
The vote in this matter has been rescheduled to Wednesday, June 22nd at 9.30 a.m.
Mr. Chairman, July 22nd.
july 22nd at 9 30 a.m and number seven
mi 2025 007 890 3301 um grand's back street
we're going to move this run right we're going to this case will be moved
to 7 15 at 9 30 a.m the vote is moved the vote pardon me the vote yeah thank you all right let's
go so we'll go to the number and we'll go to our regular list now number six mi 2026 000 181 400
north of Grove Street. Karen Tilly is the appellant.
Good morning. Karen Tilly, T as in time, I-L-L-E-Y.
all right thank you do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do our vice chair has a
our vice chair has a few questions for you
good morning good morning have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of
this hearing yes okay and you are here for uh you're in a two-family household living right
yes ma'am and your refusal was because it's a cmx two district and you should have uh other
than residential uses on your first floors you agree to that yes ma'am but but when i purchased
the property it was a two-family dwelling duplex okay so you want to get it legalized as yeah and
then for some reason it came back as a commercial yep okay all the street on callahill two-family
dwelling. All right, so you have, you're getting assistance with your case, so you can look at
um you have you're getting assistance with your case so you can look at the screen can you see
the screen. Can you see the screen? Can you just describe?
the screen you just describe tell us what you're trying to do and you can describe the pictures
that we're seeing too okay this is the hallway to the first floor and mind you there is no space
for commercial activity there and moving on please another view of the first floor again no activity
commercial activity available there that's the front door to the first floor
that's one of the bedrooms to the first floor again no commercial activity second
floor again no commercial activity space there bathroom second floor
down the stairs to the second floor entry and that's one of the bedrooms and that picture to
the far left is the picture of the building again you will see there's no commercial activity present
and that's a picture of the zoning notice again the second picture and that is the picture in 08
before prior to me purchasing the building and again you will see that the building
structure is still the same today.
Two floors.
So, why don't you
talk about what happened when you went to the RCO
meeting?
I'm stating the same thing that I'm
stating today, and they
agreed that
I should move forward
to pursue the two-family dwelling.
Okay, questions from the board.
You've been operating as a two-family dwelling? Yes, ma'am.
Okay, and what do you do about the trash for each unit?
The trash is put out every Monday, and I pay for trash.
So there's no issue with them storing trash non-trash days on the outside of the property?
No, ma'am. I keep the police clean. Like you can see right there, I have other pictures showing that the corner is always free of debris, snow removal. I do everything to maintain my property for my tenants and for the neighborhood because I believe we are an asset in the neighborhood because my tenants also support other stores and businesses there.
And I also have one of my tenants here attending to verify what I just stated.
And is there a basement?
And if so, what is it being used for?
Storage.
All right.
And just for you or just for the first floor tenant?
No, for me.
Just for you.
All right.
Thank you.
Other questions?
Questions from our attorney?
Not at this time, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
No hands at this time, Chair.
Planning Commission good morning do you want to have sorry you want to come up
good morning sir good morning good morning could you please state your name and spell
for the stenographer my name is robert chisholm r-o-b-e-r-t-c-h-i-s-h-o-l-m do you swear or affirm
to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes sir chisholm would would you like to tell
us something about this property well i've been living there i've been a tenant there second floor
for 12 13 years now and we have no problems there thank you very much and thank you for coming here
we appreciate it okay i like i'm gonna let you know i like the neighborhood now
she's a very good landlord and i have no problem you got her smiling
she is a very good man but thank you very much we appreciate it planning commission
thank you chairman and good morning david vecto f-e-c-t-e-a-u with the city planning commission
you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes sir please proceed
thank you sir chairman and board members the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the
cmx2 commercial mixed-use zoning at this location this part of the neighborhood west of gross
street still carries its original 1933 zoning designations at some point this ground floor
front portion of the property was converted to a dwelling unit without the benefit of permits
however there are no commercial corners at this intersection a commercial unit here would be
However, there are no commercial corners at this intersection. A commercial unit here would be out of character with the block face. The city planning commission recommends that the board grant the proposed use variance for not including a commercial ground floor.
Thank you very much. MI 2026, 000181, 400 North Grove Street. I vote yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Tonetta Graham, my vote is yes.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes.
Hi, Owen, my vote is yes.
Layla Bibi, my vote is yes.
Thank you. Thank you. Have your votes.
And sir, again, thank you for coming down. We appreciate it. I appreciate you.
All right, we're gonna go to number 11.
MI 2026
Horrock Street
David Miller is the owner.
Come on up.
Good morning.
Good morning.
Good morning, sir.
Sorry.
I got you.
Good morning.
Could you please state your name as Bell for the stenographer?
David Miller, M-I-L-L-E-R.
Excuse me.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Absolutely.
Our Vice Chair has a few questions.
Good morning.
Have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, I have.
Okay. And you are here for personal services and single-family household living?
And within single-family household living?
Single-family household, yes.
Yeah. Okay. So I'm going to, you were refused because that use, what you're trying to do,
was prohibited in your RSA 5 district. You understand that?
I understand, right? I'm not supposed to be teaching and...
Yes. I'm just stating why you were here. So, okay, you can start your case and explain to
us why you're here and what you're trying to do and you can show your exhibits sure i just uh
upload them am i going to be am i staying as a stay as an attendee joins a panelist what am i
joining panelists very good
and there's the share okay i was wondering what happened to that okay so i'm a professional uh
guitarist musician i've been uh playing for 52 years and uh playing professionally for over 40.
I've been teaching my house. So the house I live in at 6311 Horrocks is the house actually I grew
up in. My mom left me the house. And I've been teaching there since 1998. So it's been about
28 years I've been teaching there. And I had, so I was, I got my variance in 2012. I didn't
realize I didn't think about it and then I ended up getting a variance just to
teach to teach guitar there I've been so I've been teaching it for 28 years I've
never had so why don't you do this why don't you could you go on your screen
sure right so if you're talking maybe we can start seeing what what we're talking
about sure and from me show some pictures of the house yeah whatever you
think you need to show. Good. So I'm going to actually see if I can just do this. I'm going
to share a couple. So this is I'm going to share a couple older pictures of the house and then
and then a couple newer ones because I always do the I do the front up. Try didn't try to make it
a nice place. Now it's coming up. Okay, good. So I'm just going to show a number of pictures.
So we have all your documents. So okay, good. So I'm just showing so this is this this was taken
a number of years ago. This is also taken a number of years ago at the front of the house. So I just
landscape the front. I try to make the front nice. I keep the neighborhood clean. I'm really the only
one on the block who goes out there and cleans up the street. I do it on a regular basis. I would say
probably three to six, seven days a week, depending on what's going on. So these are all from the past
over the years. This is the front of the house. This is the area in front of the house. And I'll
show you current and if I'm going too fast please let me know oh sure okay
good and then so this so this is a current picture and I have a few of them
This is the straight front of the house.
this is the straight front of the house
These were taken in the past three weeks.
So my wife and I put together the front.
She helped me.
I want to give credit where credit's due.
I think that's a good point.
That's a very good point.
All the women in the audience are shaking their head yes.
I just want you to know that.
Happy wife, happy life.
that's right men got to do right by the woman so um it's your post and we have that okay good so
um do you want to see some should i put up some pictures of the inside of the house or what
whatever if you want to show us where you teach that's fine okay sure so
so this is my teaching studio this used to be my mother's bedroom so i lived in this house um
From the time I was 14, I went up to Boston and did my bachelor's degree at Berklee College
of Music. I did my master's degree at New England Conservatory. I taught at Berklee
for a number of years. I taught middle school band and orchestra at St. Stephen St. Agnes
School in Virginia. I was a musical director for a theater company in D.C., a division
of the Arena Stage. I performed in Japan. I played in Germany. I played in many, many
bands over the years in the Philadelphia area
and in D.C. and in Boston.
How many people do you see a week?
I guess it depends
on the week. 25 maybe.
So four or five a day?
Yeah, something like that. 25
to 30. And
I've never had a complaint. There's never been
one complaint in 28 years of teaching there.
No complaints to L&I.
Never had the police at my place.
So I just
really try to
take care of the place. I'm probably the
the oldest living, the oldest resident, you know, in terms of, like, you know, my precedence there.
So it's, I've seen the place go through a lot of changes, and I'm just trying to be very upright
and say, well, you know, I should be zoned, so I'm here, you know, I'd just like to get that in.
I was zoned in 12, and then it fell out, and I hadn't thought about it. I'd just forgotten about
that life goes on and i just looked at it and said you know all right all right questions from the
board so does your um what do we call your students yeah they come through the rest of
the house to get to this bedroom is that yes it's the front bedroom yes okay um and
do they walk do they drive how well they just so they there's always room out front i end up
parking in the garage so i don't even take up room on the street so they park out front they
come up to the step they text me when they come and then this way it keeps a nice smooth flow in
the house and i let the other student out i let the student in they come up they leave their case
downstairs so it doesn't scrape the walls they walk up the steps and they come in the studio
and i've had some students for um there's one student i've had he's in his 17th year
and um i had a number of students who who uh who are one guy who's in his eighth year um one of my
students um is the head of the streets department mr gaddy the back of the room he's been with me
for three years three and a half years i hope that's okay a little plug a little plug any other
questions. So wait, so do you teach drums there? No. Oh, okay. Just guitar. I've taught all sorts
of instruments. I did my master's in jazz comp and also in my undergrad in jazz comp and music ed.
So I've taught K through 12. I've played all sorts of instruments. And your neighbors on either side
of you, no complaints about noise or anything like that? Never once. I mean, if they said
something i sure i take it up with them i mean you want to be polite with your neighbors for sure but
i've never you know i just try to have to like soundproof this room any or anything like that
i've never never soundproofed the room it's just um that's your mom's color that's my it's my color
it's been painted like that a few times it's okay no no it's okay it's okay um she left me the house
uh some years ago and um i i just uh with my fiancee we my wife we've just painted the house
over the past year I've painted the entire house so I try to take care of it I mean it's
it's home sweet home yeah any else anyone else how many how many um students do you have on a typical
day um I'd say six five on a typical day it could be anywhere from four to six something like that
something like that and then how late is the latest um is the latest lesson nine o'clock
and then how late is the latest um
are you we go till mine 9 p.m yeah and are you using the room for any kind of amplified music
after 9 p.m no no okay you've got it and then is there a bathroom on that floor that they have
access to sure i'm actually glad to show you um let me get out of this and i'll show you some of
the other pictures let's see and so this is the living room and let's see what we got here this
This is the dining room, and this is the kitchen, and this is the hallway, the stairwell to
the upstairs.
let's make this a little bit bigger this is the small bedroom this is my wife's personal room
do you live at the house too you're living there now yeah good this is yeah this is it
and right what else do i have here this is the hallway it's the upstairs hallway
so where do you how do you get your students i mean like are they referred somehow or
working with the school district or sometimes i referred i've advertised um i have a website
so okay i used to advertise in the yellow pages when that was the thing you know that was a while
ago that was a while ago a little stand-up comic too you got everybody in the audience laughing
behind you that's right that's right i would give robin williams a run for his money
all right i do i did see the picture of the bathroom did you see that
diet i don't think i uh i took a direct picture no but i saw the the doorway in the hallway
yeah yep all right other questions from the board and that's the front door at the bottom
or like right at the bottom of the stairs um no let me see no okay so i have the front
you know i don't know if i took a picture of the front door from the back i don't think i did
um well you know what let me see
this no you know i don't think i did
no the front door would be back in in this area okay so i apologize if i uh if i missed that i
missed that opportunity this is the back of the house keep this place pretty pretty clean and
pretty straight he didn't click on it he didn't click on it yet oh is it not sharing yeah there
we go okay sorry i'm just looking at my screen i'm not looking up to see what's okay all the
questions sure sure um did you submit those photographs yeah okay yeah i didn't see them
in the and i could have just missed them sorry i'm lynn reidel huber board council so um
lynn reidel huber board council so i just wanted to make sure that you did submit those you uploaded
those so yeah i did i actually have so i tried to upload them and they were large and so it's i i
spoke with someone at zba and they said i could email them and i can show you okay you emailed
them i can i can show you where where i emailed them um if you want to make sure they're part of
record let me see let me see if i have this here or if i have it
yeah so this is there you go this was sent in the 26th so this is the first set
oh okay you sent it there okay the first set of pictures this is a
any other questions from the board council do you have any other questions thank you
no no more questions questions or comments from the virtual audience
No hands at the time. By the way, I'm also the block captain.
So, so you voted for yourself. I, I just, just got the, I, no, no, I'm not.
I'm just making making a statement. I get it. Thank you for being a block. I just want to just want to say, oh, that pays pretty well. So congratulations planning.
I just want to just want to say, oh, that pays pretty well.
So congratulations planning commission.
Thank you, chairman and good morning.
David effector with the city planning commission, chairman and board members.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the R S a five residential zoning at this location.
The city rezoned this neighborhood in 1974 and a council supported map change.
the zoning board of adjustment previously approved this use in 2012 with a five-year temporary
variance city planning commission believes that this use probably qualifies as a home occupation
and if so probably doesn't actually not actually need to be at the board so the city planning
commission recommends the board grant their post-use variance you you want to say something
yeah i'd like to to ask for a 10-year variance if that's workable
um i'm just gonna yeah we'll just approve it period i mean i'm i don't i don't think
okay so mi2026 003 000340 6311 harrock street i vote yes
Sheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Tonetta Graham, my vote is yes.
Mike Adams, my vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
Layla Beebe, my vote is yes.
You have your votes.
And thank you very much. You were very entertaining.
Thank you all.
And by the way, it's permanent. We gave it to you. We didn't.
It's permanent?
Thank you very, very much.
Wow. You guys just made my year. I appreciate that.
Well, number seven, MI 2026.
What did he do?
All right, number seven, MI 2026, 000185, 240 East Highland Avenue.
know, Robert, yeah, careless is here as, as my counselor said, no, that's Bob.
I would love to be Karellis or whatever.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Robert Karellis, unfortunately, C-A-R-E-L-E-S-S.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
I do, Mr. Chairman.
Could you identify your client in the relationship to the property?
Yes, I represent Leslie Gomez and Richard Sachs, the record property owners.
Okay. And our Vice Chair has a few questions.
Good morning. Have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing?
I have.
And do you waive the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Okay. All right. Thank you. You can share your screen and proceed with your case.
I hesitated there, and I'll explain why, but with the huff that I accepted the refusal on this from L and I, but we'll go through that.
So, again, thank you, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
I'm pleased to be joined today by Leslie Gomez, who is actually even one of my colleagues at COSIN, as well as Maddie Schroeder, who's going to be the operator of the use that we're going to talk about today.
And I'll also note that Mr. Sachs, the other record property owner, is in the virtual audience.
So just for purposes of the record, we have submitted all of our required documents, including the deed, proof of tax compliance, the zoning application, the refusal, the zoning application, the photograph, and the poster.
And we're grateful to have a letter of support from the Chestnut Hill Community Association.
So it's very similar to the last case. Actually, we applied for this is an R.
A 3 zoning district. We had applied for a home occupation on this.
This is proposed as an accessory license, massage therapy use in the property.
It will operate like a home occupation. Ms. Schroeder lives at the property with Mr. Sacks, Andrew, who is the son of Ms. Gomez and Mr. Sacks. It's actually their family home, Mr. Sacks' childhood home, which makes this kind of a special feature of this application.
You know, so if Ms., just so the board understands, if Ms. Schroeder was proposing a chiropractor, she would be able to pull a by-right permit for a home occupation, but because it's massage therapy, L&I interpreted the use as personal services and refused it.
You know, so if Ms. just so the board understands, if Ms. Schroeder was proposing
So, as I mentioned, I stopped my foot and we came here because of the because of L and I's interpretation.
We also have a corresponding companion variance to allow a second principle use of the property under 144014 a.
But again, as we'll go through the presentation here, and I brought the presentation that Miss Schroeder actually put together for Chestnut Hill, which I think is really well done.
And you'll see that this really is a limited home occupation use, not a second principal use of the property.
So, Ms. Schroeder is a licensed massage therapist.
She has all the required medical training, all the required insurance.
She resides at the property, again, with Mr. Andrew Sachs, who is the son of the property owners.
And what we're proposing here is the massage therapy used within an 8x11 studio, an 88-square-foot space of the property.
And we'll go through that and show you some pictures on that.
We met with Chestnut Hill Community Association a number of times, got their feedback, implemented that feedback.
And again, like I mentioned, very grateful to have the community association support there.
We also, Ms. Schroeder, went around and we have a petition signed of 23 of our neighbors.
We're also very grateful to have support from letters of support from other neighbors in the neighborhood, including those on both sides of her.
As you see here, we have letters of support in the record.
This is a picture of the outside of the property, and then to your left here is the 8 by 11 studio space.
There are no proposed exterior signs. There are no changes proposed to the exterior of the property.
no lighting changes there'll be no sound this is a floor plan here so you can see this is the
the front door of the property here it leads right up to the studio in the in the home
this will be as I mentioned a very limited operation the practice is going to be limited
to one to three clients a day always spaced out in a gap hours are limited to Monday through Friday
930 to 1130 a.m. and 1 to 430. This is intentional, so they're not impacting folks
leaving for work, coming home for lunch, or coming home from work. There will be Saturday
and Sunday's appointments, but they're not regularly scheduled business hours. They're
just there for emergency health treatment. Ms. Schroeder is intending to specialize in
lymphatic draining, so if you have an issue and you need to see her on Saturdays and Sundays,
you can do on an emergent basis. There are no walk-in clients. All clients deserve appointment
There's always going to be spaced out, I believe, by 30 minute gap between each one. So there won't be a constant revolving door into the property.
And and and the short is committed to always have the the accessory use closed on holidays, and during the chest and hill fall for the arts and spring garden festival days.
um this was just an exhibit we put together for the for the community association there is an
abundance of parking on street parking here but um this just these are just this will amplify
um a sampling of during the uh anticipated business hours what the on-street parking
would look like at different points in time um so again like as i mentioned there's never one
more than one client at a time never early in the morning you know never over lunch never after 5
No overnight parking obviously as well.
And just some further photographs here of the on street parking conditions at different times during the different days.
We can continue to go through this, but you know there's obviously benefits to having a local business here, which Miss Schroeder is committed to being a great partner of Chestnut Hill.
And these are just some benefits to massage therapy.
There was overwhelming support from the community association here.
And again, you know, our, you know, what we'd submit to the board is that there will be no changes to the residential character of the property.
As I mentioned, this will effectively be a home occupation, despite L&I's interpretation.
There's no separate building entrance for the use.
There's no adverse impact on the surrounding neighborhood.
There's no noise, no vibration, no glare, odors, parking demands, traffic impacts, or other effects that will interfere with any neighbor's enjoyment of their residence.
There's no truck deliveries, no pickups, or anything of that nature.
And so we would respectfully submit that there's no detriment to the health, safety, and welfare of the community.
In fact, we would respectfully assert that there's a positive benefit to being a good local business and providing a good medical massage therapy use within the community.
And, you know, as I mentioned, we have very grateful to have a letter of support from Chestnut Hill Community Association.
They did issue their letter with provisors, which are largely just what I repeated to you and what we repeated to them.
issue their letter with provisors, which are largely just what I repeated to you and what we repeated to them. So it's not necessarily a condition to this, but it's in the record. We would agree to these conditions if the board was inclined. Otherwise, they're in the record and we're committing to them. So
I have Ms. Schroeder here with me. I also have Ms. Gomez here with me. They can adopt my testimony very briefly, and we're happy to answer any questions you might have. So, Ms. Schroeder, if you want to. Why don't we do that? I just want to first.
I would, you could please state your name and spell for the stenographer.
Hello, my name is Madeline Schroeder, S-C-H-R-O-E-D-E-R.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Counsel?
Maddie, did you hear my testimony to the board just now?
Yes, I did.
And would you adopt and affirm that as a figure of your own?
Yes, I would.
You have, I have a Miss Gomez here who's the property owner.
If she could just affirm my testimony, that would be great.
Good morning.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Hi, good morning. Leslie Gomez, L-E-S-L-I-E-G-O-M-E-Z.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Counsel?
Leslie, did you hear my testimony before the board just now?
Yes, thank you.
Would you adopt and affirm that testimony as it were your own?
I would, thank you. And I would also say as a 15-year member of the District Attorney's Office of Philadelphia, this is the most fun I've ever had in court. Thanks.
I tried to tell her.
that's amazing um happy to answer any questions that you may have we don't always do that yes
questions from the board
okay so when you say massage therapy what are we what are we talking about here it's not like
the kind you get at a spa is it different or and if and and if it is different what's different in
what capacity so i am licensed currently in swedish massage which is what you would receive when you
go to a spa i'm also quite good at deep tissue and currently am set to be doing more continuing
education in lymphatic drainage which is a medical massage as well as i'm hoping at some point to do
uh neuromuscular so it's a com it's it's a both a combination of yes you would get it at a spa
and also if you have other things going on this is going to be a bigger benefit and have a deeper
understanding of the body and what we need okay and you said that you have going to school and
you have training and licenses and what have you for yes yeah i've done nine months of training
i'm fully licensed and with massage you are required to do an extra 30 hours of continuing
education every two years so wow that's a minimum for me i have a lot of interest so okay and then
you're doing this in a home and just that one that one room yes yeah it's one eight by ten room
our whole house i think it's about 1800 yeah 1851. um so it's a really it's actually the smallest
room in our house besides our bathroom okay and you're doing it there rather than
and an office or other space. Yeah. The reason why I'm doing that is because I love massage
therapy a lot. And also the reality is the burnout rate for it is about eight years.
It's extremely hard on the body. It's really kind of bad for your joints. So part of why I'm only
ever going to do it 15 hours a week is because I want to do this for a really long time. I'm also
a yoga teacher so that's my main my main gig outside of this but um but yeah that's why i'm
doing it out of my home because otherwise i would need to charge people an arm and a leg to make
rent and i believe that massage should be affordable given the opportunity okay and where
are you getting your clients from so a solid combination i've had friends and family i'm like
i said i'm a yoga teacher so a lot of people i mainly teach yin and restorative which puts people
to bed. So when you put people to bed in that situation, and you tell them you're a massage
therapist, you usually have a lot of interest. So it does just kind of carry over that way. And
I'm lucky to not be in a major rush to gain a huge amount of clientele. Like I said, there'll
be no outdoor signs, it'll be a mainly referral business. Okay. And then your attorney mentioned
that uh there was no problem with like parking for no yeah we're very lucky to live in like
I I grew up in Vermont I didn't know how to parallel park before I moved here so
so quite the adjustment um but it's always been so easy to park around here and there's we are
lucky enough to have parking around back of our house for my partner and I to park our personal
cars which means that there would be no added strain on the street all right thank you thank
you any other questions yeah um so what bathroom would the clients use if they have to use the
restroom so we have one restroom in our house it's on the same floor as the massage studio it's
actually just one door over yeah they don't have to go all through the house all right thank you
yeah they don't have to go all through the house all right thank you any other questions
Any other questions?
council no questions at this time mr chairman council we did have a little conversation
about what we were thinking about for proviso we said no sign and the the time we want to use the
time if you wanted to put any provided what's the times again so we we were committing to let me
just make sure i stated accurate well one of the general ones we thought about was only in daytime
time hours does that sound right yeah that would be fine yeah okay all right questions or comments
from the virtual audience chair we have one hand up from uh jose ortega okay they're allowed to speak
hi um will there be more than one client at a time hold on hold on hold on one minute could
you please state your name and spell for the stenographer oh yes uh jose jose ortega r-t-e-g-a
you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes i i swear please
proceed i just want to know if um the operator is thinking about bringing more therapies into his
house into her house sorry so she is shaking her head no okay it would only be me operating the
business i have no intention or interest in hiring anyone else and because i only have two hands i
can only work on one person at a time so and also because i need to change the room over in between
clients that really does mean it needs to be one client and then i need to have space in between
two so never more than one car parked at the same time never more than one client in the home
all right well thank you for your answer and um i'm just going to say that the streets never
looked at empty when i'm look around thank you thank you for calling is there anyone else in
the audience no hands at this time planning commission thank you chair and good morning
david vecto with the city planning commission chairman of board members the comprehensive
plan recommends no change to the rsa3 residential single family zoning at this location
the city rezoned this neighborhood in 1977 at that time this block retained its original 1933
single-family attached zoning the proposed personal services will not injure the use
of adjacent properties so the city planning commission recommends the board grant the
proposed use variances for personal services and for multiple principal uses so mi2026 000185
240 East Highland Avenue. I vote yes with proviso. Hours limited to daytime and no signs.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with proviso.
Tynetta Graham, my vote is yes with proviso.
Brian McAdams, my vote is yes with proviso.
Iowen, my vote is yes with proviso.
Layla Beebe, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thank you very much for your time.
Thank you.
All right.
Number 14, MI-2026-002-570-3144 West Pachonk Avenue.
They're being promoted to panelists there.
Thank you very much.
Councilor, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Good afternoon, members of the board. Hercules Grigos. H-E-R-C-U-L-E-S-G-R-I-G-O-S.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Counsel, could you identify your client in a relationship to this property?
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Hercules Grigos, representing Bellwether District Holdings, owner of 3144 Passionc Ave, known as the Bellwether District.
Our vice chair has a few questions.
Good morning.
Have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing?
We have.
And do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
do all right thank you you can share your screen to proceed with the case great thanks so much um
i have with me today uh my partner catherine missomer um as well as jake mendenhorpe from
pannonia engineering uh we're here today seeking a technical variance for our project
on a portion of the property known as pad 14 which is consists of approximately 75 acres
which consists of approximately 75 acres of the Bellwether District in southwest Philadelphia.
Site is approximately, as I said, 75 acres bounded by 26th Street to the east,
our new entrance on Hart Tramp Street to the north, as well as Penrose Avenue to the south.
This portion of the site has been approved and under construction for a 1.4 million square foot facility to house beverage manufacturer Drink Pack.
Drink Pack chose Philadelphia to serve as its East Coast operation and location.
We're excited to move forward with this, the first tenant on the industrial portion of the Bellwether District.
As you may know, the site is currently under construction and moving swiftly to make our deadline to transform this former refinery.
We're here today with a technical variance to reduce the parking count of the site.
The site is zoned I-3, and essentially, the parking count really doesn't meet the needs of how buildings are operating today.
The building is approved for approximately 1.4 million square feet.
This is a drink pack chose Philadelphia for its East Coast operations.
The code's outdated parking requirements for industrial warehouse uses really don't anticipate over a million square feet of construction.
Based on the size of the building, the code requires 1,009 parking spaces.
Just flip to the site plan here.
This is well in excess of what's needed to operate the site. As you can see in the plan top right, that is where approximately 500 plus parking spaces are going adjacent to our office. And then code required this area here, an additional 400 plus parking spaces in this area, which we think are redundant and unnecessary.
For reference, at the onset, we expect to have 30 employees each shift, which is approximately 12 hour shifts plus 20 office employees Monday through Friday, and at max build out, we'll have 75 employees on site plus 50 office employees.
So, considering shift change, what we think is max capacity, we'll have approximately 200 employees accessing the site at peak times given shift change.
And this really doesn't even take into account modal splits and public transportation.
As such, we think the 1000 plus parking space required by the code is not appropriate use for the site.
We're proposing 585 spaces, which is more than adequate to accommodate our parking needs.
We've revised our plans.
Here's the revised plan. I'll show you the landscape plan here.
As that's loading. We revised our plans on site to take this additional parking and add landscaping in the 400 spaces. We're going to landscape that area and we're going to maintain.
Okay, I'm having technical issues, I'll check it out, but basically we're we're the code
requires a tree buffer along the parking we're going to maintain that tree buffer and landscape
that area this will reduce the sea of asphalt reduce heat island effect and really have
diminished impact on the use of the site also reduce the amount of pervious coverage and improve
our stormwater management we're seeking a variance to make this reduction and we're here asking for
your support i would just say it's the minimum relief necessary will not alter the essential
character of the neighborhood as the use is permitted and reduction in parking to increase
the landscaping will only benefit this i3 industrial site will not impair appropriate
uses or development or adequate light and air to adjacent properties will not substantially
increase congestion in fact less parking less cars have the benefit to the area
and it will not be detrimental to the neighborhood as evidenced by our letter of support from the
coordinating rco uh i have sure jake here from pannoni with any questions
Sure. Jake here from Pannoni with any questions.
Is he going to adopt your testimony or do you have anybody else that would do that?
My team is on their way, but Jake can adopt my testimony if that's helpful.
Sure. Why don't you come up?
Jake, state your name for the record.
John C. Medendorf the Horth.
Hi, good morning. Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Absolutely. So John C. Medendorp IV, J-O-H-N-C-M-E-D-E-N-D-O-R-P.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
Counsel?
Jake, you're the civil engineer for the project?
Have you heard my testimony today?
I did.
And do you adopt it as your own?
All right. Questions from the board?
so this was a by right project originally and that's why the parking requirement was yes because
part of the part of the approvals yes so as part of um you know drink pack was coming to philadelphia
we moved quick to meet the um timelines so we proceeded with the by right project and
proceeded to construction and we came back once we realized that the additional parking was really
redundant and reducing the parking just improves the site adding more landscaping as a benefit
so you're proposing almost half of the parking requirement that the code says we're proposing
half but as i said about half yeah um but as i said um the um the industrial district code really
really contemplated um you know post-world war ii um you know assembly line um workers
and that's how they came up with their parking requirements um if you're familiar with any of
the drink packets very automated you know assembly lines much more automated more warehouse workers
and much more space.
So, you know, if it was an old knitting mill in Kensington back in the day,
you would have had many more workers and maybe a 50,000-square-foot building.
But in this case, a lot of it's automated.
So while we do create a lot of jobs and, you know,
I think there's 270 permanent jobs at full build-out,
the shift changes and max is about 200 employees coming in and out.
So you're still going to really only be using about a quarter of what the code says?
That's correct.
been solid and and one other thing that's important to note um this area um if in the future
the site there's a change in use um it's easily convertible back to parking that's why we we left
the tree line the tree buffer in for the parking and if we had to come back and add parking from
where we can easily add that um and just replace the landscaping okay and are you using pervious
surfaces or are we doing impervious so there's um on the on the portion that we're removing it will
be landscape pervious surface um okay the rest of the asphalt i believe is impervious but we have
massive stormwater management systems that jay can kind of go and deal with basins yeah we're
managing all of our stormwater as required by the code all right thank you any other questions
our attorney yes uh lynn reidel here for board council you mentioned revised plans i just want
to make sure um have there been changes since you submitted them to ellen i mean when i was
when i was speaking of the revision i meant the appeal and the filing the refusal we received
just want to make sure because that means something else okay i'm just wondering about
that thank you questions uh from the virtual audience no hands at this time chair planning
commission
thank you chair and good morning david effecto with the city planning commission
chairman of board members the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the i3 heavy industrial
zoning at this location the city rezoned this neighborhood in 1973 in a council supported map
change the appellant wishes to reduce the required number of parking spaces by almost half
the zoning codes parking requirement for warehouses was created before the current
trend to replace workers with machines considering the reduction in required workforce caused by
automation the city planning commission recommends that the board grant a proposed reduction in the
required number of parking spaces thank you david i'm sorry chair to interrupt a hand went up from
dominic long from council's office sure you're allowed to speak hello good morning mr long could
you please state your name and spell it for the stomographer yes dominic long d-o-m-i-n-i-c-l-o-n-g
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed.
I'm here on behalf of the 2nd District Office of Council President Johnson, just saying that we support this project, or the very, should I say.
Thank you very much for taking the time to call us. We appreciate it.
So, MI 2026-002-570-3144 West Pass Shonk Avenue, I vote yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes.
i am mcadams my vote is yes i win my vote is yes layla bb my vote is yes thank you
you guys are doing great work down thank you so much this is incredible it's just
it's a game changer we're excited to get it moving thanks so much right sure
is there anyone in the audience whose case has not been called
hercules good to see you good to see you good to see everybody is there anyone in
the audience whose case has not been called
no hands at this time chair okay um see everyone at two o'clock and thank you very much
I'm good yourself.
How many people in the audience?
Oh, good.
Thank you.
good afternoon everyone my name is bill bergman and i will be chairing this meeting of the zoning
board of adjustment with me is our vice chair tenetta graham president mr chairman our board
secretary cheryl l gaston president mr chairman board member michael johns president mr chairman
board member ryan mcadams president mr chairman and i also have with us our board member layla
Beebe, who is our new board member on the end here. I've introduced her several times now.
We are very fortunate to have her. She's a business agent for the Carpenters Union,
and she definitely understands the construction project, so we're very fortunate to have her here.
Also here is our attorney, Lynn Reuter-Huber, also our ZBA director, Ian Haggerty, and our board
Administrator Lakeisha Dandy this hearing is being recorded and will be posted on the ZBA website
by participating in this you consent to be recorded this is an in-person meeting
with remote participation whether in person or on zoom if you're called to testify please state
your name and spell it and then wait to be sworn in once you've been sworn in each time you testify
please state your name to enter an appearance indicate your property
address on the zoom webinar speak with a staff member call the ZBA office by
close the business tomorrow call 215-686-2429 and please leave your name email and the address of
the property in question for remote attend participation raise your virtual hand so that
we call on you to testify when we call on you you must click the join as a uh a panelist button
Use your Q&A for questions about procedures,
not about the comments concerning the case.
If you are joining by phone,
press star nine to raise your hand
and star six to unmute.
In-person attendance.
If you're testifying, get close to the mic
so that all in attendance
and also the courts and opera can hear you.
No talking, eating or drinking during the hearing.
Aggressive behavior will not be tolerated.
in an emergency, please follow the staff instructions.
The main exit is the double doors at the rear, and to the left of that is the stairwell.
If we evacuate, please go to Love Park, where then we can call on you and make an account for you.
So let's look at our schedule for this afternoon.
so let's look at our schedule for this afternoon
number one get this next to me here
number one eight five seven five tarsdale avenue mi 2022 001088 that case has been withdrawn
Number two, MI 2025-004-380-4370-74 Main Street, that case is continued until 8-12-26 at 2 p.m.
And number four, MI 2026, 000810, 200 North 50 A Street.
Eric Carroll is the attorney.
Mr. Carroll, could you please come on?
Good afternoon, Chair.
this is jasmine and i will be your co-host for this afternoon session thank you eric carroll
has been allowed to speak mr carroll could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
good afternoon can you hear me i can okay uh eric carroll e-r-i-c-c-a-r-r-o-l-l
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
I do. Mr. Carroll, we have some missing exhibits on your case. We don't believe that the RCO had
proper notification. I do have, I had had some email correspondence with Mr. Haggerty in the
last couple of days regarding that issue. I saw that, yeah. Yeah, I do. I can present all the
correspondence we did have. My client had been reaching out to Achievability, the coordinating
RCO and I think they were going through some sort of leadership change and we kept getting bounced
around and they never scheduled anything so here's what we're going to do we're going to continue one
more time and it'll be mark must be heard and you you will go on then and that way we're going to
ensure that um everybody's notified okay um yeah we're going to make we're going to continue that
until 8-12-26 at 2 p.m.
Thank you, sir.
Number 8, 547 East Shelton Avenue,
which is MI 2026-001-076,
That case is continued until 8-12-26 at 2 p.m.
And number 9, 1635 Church Street, which is MI 2025, 001-087.
That case is continued until 8-12-26 at 2 p.m.
number 15
so number 15 mi 2026 002 327 2450 north 30 street that case is continued until
7-8-26
7-8-26
at 9 a.m., 9.30?
7-8 is today.
What am I doing here?
Yeah, I'm sorry.
Okay, why don't we do that?
We'll call.
Is Dennis up in the audience?
chair i do not see that in the audience
what all right we're going to continue that case until 8 12 26 at 9 30 a.m
oh that would be 2 2 p.m chair 2 p.m okay all right let's look at the
our schedule for today what we just did the schedule let's go to our update our add-ons
what we just did the schedule let's go to our update our add-ons ready
number one mi2026 000 862 3456 rose hill street
at the request of the applicant the board as is reopening the record in this matter
to hold a resumptive hearing for the applicant to present revised plans that address some of
the concerns that the board had raised on june 17th this case will be heard on um tuesday september
15th at 9 30 a.m number two mi 2025 004 126 220 north 50th street i vote yes michael johns my vote
is yes. Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes. Tonella Graham, my vote is yes. I'm McAdams, my vote is yes.
Number three, MI 2025-005-850-416 East Woodland Street.
The board is vacating its prior decision in this matter and revoting to include an amended refusal that reflects the proposal as granted by the board in the prior vote.
I vote yes with proviso per amended refusal dated 6-17-26.
Applicant, the approved use is a lot line adjustment to create three lots from one lot at 416 East Woodland Street and one dwelling unit, single family on each of the lots.
No roof deck or roof deck access structure.
michael johns my vote is yes with provisos cheryl gaster my vote is yes with provisos
tenetta graham my vote is yes with provisos ryan mcadams my vote is yes with provisos
Number 12, MI 2026-001-496-3245 North 27th Street.
Brandy Teller is the owner applicant.
Brandy Talley will be coming in as a panelist.
Hello.
Good afternoon.
Could you please state your name and spell it for the stenographer?
Brandy Talley, B-R-A-N-D-I-T-A-L-L-E-Y.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Our vice chair has just a few questions for you.
Good afternoon.
Have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing?
And I'm just going to summarize why you're here and your refusal, and I'll just ask you to affirm it for me.
So do you agree your application is for Child Care Center, and is this the building, right?
Okay. And you will refuse because the proposed use of the child care center is prohibited
in your RSA 5 donor district. Do you affirm that?
Okay. All right. You can share your screen and proceed to tell us what you're here for
and share your documents.
Okay. So I got to share my documents. All right.
How do I share my screen? What did she say?
I wasn't prepared to share my document. I thought when I submitted it that you already
heard it but let me see how do i stand my screen
oh are we are we help providing help here or
are we are we help providing help here or oh okay all right um so um listen um when you when you come
here right you send your documents in in advance and then you have to present them okay all right
so what's going to have to happen is we're going to have to continue this i can share them i just
on your computer in front of you they're on my yeah i had them in front of me printed out yes
so you want me to do it like that well no no you have to put it on your computer okay so here's
what we're going to do listen we'll hear a couple other cases we'll come back to you okay
okay i'll just start to share just how you share the screen what i'm saying is i'll come back to
you and then by then you're ready to go all right all right thank you sure
number three mi 2026 000 500 45 27 to 31 north broad street alan knockamson or alex
goldberg is the attorney and it's mr goldberg
mr goldberg please state your name and spell for the stenographer alex goldberg a-l-e-x-g-o-l-d-b-e-r-g
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing about the truth
i do mr goldberg could you identify your client a relationship to the property
sure my client is 4527-31 and broad street llc uh they are the owners of the property and its
representatives eric rays and lawrence callickman are in the virtual audience our vice chair has
just a few questions good afternoon um have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days
in advance of this hearing i have and do you waive the reading of the refusals and stipulate to their
accuracy i do okay all right thank you can share your screen and proceed with your case
okay all right my screen is up so this is an application to legalize two signs one accessory
and one non-accessory at this location this is a cmx two and a half zone property at the corner
of north broad and bellfield ave in the building structure that the signs that you're seeing on
your screen is a personal care home for which the sign on the right advertises. So that would be the
accessory sign. You can see it's called For the Seniors. There are tenants there by a building
that is owned by, again, 4527-31 and Broad Street LLC, which has a non-accessory sign for a law firm
on the left side. This obviously you can see is a large wall face. They've had issues with
graffiti over the years. This has helped deter some of that, although they still have had to
spend a significant amount of money removing it. And we are seeking refusals for the size,
the location, and the use of the signs, right? You can't have, according to the code, a non-accessory
sign you could have the accessory one but the law firm one um is technically um you know falls under
a different zoning category um there has been signage of this location for a significant amount
of time um you'll see photos of that um going back to the to 2009 um we met with logan civic
association they supported this application four to one we met with them on june 8th just honestly
were happy that we had made an investment in the building structure over the course of the
ownership, which is since 2019. They've added new windows, did a gut renovation, new paint,
removed graffiti, and obviously the signage that you can see. This is along Broad Street,
as you can imagine. Signage of this nature is not out of character. You can see more so the
billboard type um um but you know not not any um smaller than the building than the than the
signage that we're proposing here's a zoning map again you can see we're a corner property here
the signage that we're asking to legalize is facing our own lot this is not um signage that
is along the street frontage of the property um there's a parking lot that is sort of the tip of
this triangular parcel and the wall that we have faces that parking parcel. Here's a Google Maps
perspective. Here's some photographs. So this is what the signage looks like.
Here's some photographs. So this is what the, this is, this is what the signage looks like. Alan wanted to handle this case because, you know, he aligned with the left side, but I told him I would handle it.
um this is this is this is the signage from 2019 it was actually the same two businesses but older
versions of of the same two older signage of the same two businesses that had been there
in this you know pretty much size and form for seven years and then going back to 2009 prior
to my client owning the property there was also signage on this wall i assume over the course of
the existence of this building with no building structure.
It is an attractive location because Broad Street is busy
and it's a large flat surface.
This is the front of the property on North Broad Street.
This is it from Belfield.
Posting photos to the right on North Broad and to the left.
Then here's Belfield.
Here's the plans and drawings.
So I'll zoom in here so you can see.
Both signs are 22 feet wide.
one of the signs the sign on the left for the law firm is 22 feet tall so perfect square the
one on the right for the personal care home is 23 feet six inches tall so slightly tall
longer but they both sort of hang from the the top of the building structure at night the sign
has very minor down facing lighting there's no illumination behind the signage or from underneath
of it or facing sort of outward. It's tasteful and was, you know, reported as not a disturbance
from the community group that, you know, we met in front of. And by the way, the personal care home
that this property advertises for has been in this neighborhood for a long time and serves
2,500 people in North Philadelphia. And after speaking to them, they think that, you know,
this has been very helpful in the success of their business, getting the word out about them.
Here is the RCO meeting notice, again, we met with them on June 8th.
Mailing certificates, here is the application for the variance, deed to the property, and
the certificate of tax compliance.
If Eric raise could raise his virtual hand.
Do we see Eric?
eric is coming in now thank you
i see him there sam yep okay
Eric we're not getting any audio from you is this better yes it is thank you very much
could you state your name and spell for the stenographer my full name is Arkady A-R-K-A-D-Y
Last name is Reyes, but I'm known as Eric Reyes as a shorthand.
T-R-I-C-R-E-Y-Z.
All right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Counsel?
Eric, did you hear my testimony today?
I did.
Was it true and correct?
It was.
And do you adopt it as your own?
Thank you.
Questions from the board.
um i guess my question is that all along there seems to be changes with these signs
from the past that you've shown and they seem to be getting bigger and bigger so um
how far away from the residences are they let me go back to the zoning map
and there's some mixed use residential living along broad street and residential use on on
sort of streets adjacent to us i don't have the exact linear measurement um but we are sort of
at a very busy intersection as you can see on the on the zoning map on the screen the code would not
see on the on the zoning map on the screen the code would not allow us to have specifically the
allow us to have specific
non-accessory sign 300 feet away right that rule does not apply to the to the personal care home
one we i think the sign is the sign right i mean i'm not sure but even the one that's accessory
is a little large they're both larger than the code allows that is correct yes all right and
then you said there was some lighting there is some and eric correct me if i'm wrong here there
is some um minor down lighting from the top of the building structure um that assists with lighting
the parking lot and the signage am i describing that correctly that's correct and is that on
from like when dust to was oh sure eric is that does that come on with with timers or
or does that how does how do those function i am not quite certain um but i i think that there is
a timing device that operates based on whenever the time changes to whatever whenever it becomes dark
gotcha okay and um how how how are these affixed to the building
I believe that there are specific screws that affix them, but I wasn't present at the installation, so I think it would be difficult for me to explain anything more than that.
yeah it's it's like a lightweight mesh material and if i can zoom in here you can kind of see it
they're basically it's basically pinned to the the the you know the party wall there
tight so that it has no ripple effect um you know and can be repaired if necessary or
you know weatherproof things like that okay other questions thank you yeah real quick
But are those the only two signs or they will be interchanged or the signs that change?
We have no intention to interchange them.
And the lights on the roof are for the parking lot.
Correct.
And you can actually, yes, correct.
You can see them up there.
Other questions from the board?
Questions from our attorney?
No questions at this time.
questions or comments from the virtual audience
any hands
planning commission amy boy with the planning commission a y b o y d do you swear or affirm
to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do please proceed the comprehensive
the plan recommends no change in zoning at this location from the existing cmx 2.5 commercial
mixed use the appellant has not demonstrated that there are unique physical conditions or
circumstances of the property that would prevent it from being used in conformity with the zoning
code moreover the requested deviation from the code is not the least minimum the planning commission
recommends the board deny the requested variances for sign height size and proximity
I would just say in terms of unique circumstances, I mean, this is an abnormally large blank wall right on Broad Street.
It's a good opportunity for advertising and it's supported by the community and it helps support to local businesses.
Okay, so, MI 2026, 000, 500, 4527 and 31 North Broad Street, I vote yes.
so guest and my vote is yes tenetta graham my vote is yes i'm mcadams my vote is yes
lela bb my vote is yes are you taking the next one which is the next one um
uh 6169 oxford i am okay so mi number five mi 2026 000 860 6169 oxford
mr goldberg could you uh um you've already been sworn but just state for the record your name
alex goldberg mr goldberg could you identify your client a relationship to the property
sure my client is a tenant of the property um it is called united automotive care and it's
It is called United Automotive Care, and its representative Adnan Kadri is to my left.
REPRESENTATIVE ADNAN CAUSE.
Our Vice Chair has a few questions.
Good afternoon. Have you submitted your documents and exhibits for this case five days in advance of this hearing?
I have.
And do you waive the reading of the refusals and stipulate to their accuracy?
I would object to their accuracy, and I'll raise the reasons why when I share the refusal.
Sure, thank you. Share your screen and proceed with your case.
okay so another triangular parcel um in northeast philadelphia we are seeking to
legalize uh kind of an auto sales use here
uh and um personal vehicle repair um the reason why i objected to the refusal and i'll go to that
now as I go to full screen is because we are seeking a refusal or we're being
asked to seek a refusal for the personal vehicle repair and maintenance on this
lot which is owned RM1 personal vehicle repair and maintenance has operated
continuously here since 1977 there is an active motor vehicle repair license on
the property that is that my client holds which is a you know the zoning for
that as a prerequisite of the license so i'm not i don't agree that we need to seek that variance
it is what it is the other variance we we uh understand and accept that we do need to seek
it which is for personal vehicle sales and rental my client has a successful used car sales business
in south jersey he uses this lot in addition to fixing cars to hold some of the cars before they
go to the mount laurel i think mount laurel the mount laurel lot to be sold and in some cases to
be fixed before they can be sold. So, you know, we're seeking to legalize that use. I think it's
very few and far between. And you can ask my client at the conclusion of my presentation
that he actually sells a car from this location. In addition to those uses, we are legalizing,
which does not need zoning relief from this board, a trailer that was put on the parcel a couple
years ago that serves as the office space for this vehicle sales business.
Counsel, is this a disagreement with L&I?
Is that we're okay?
All right.
I do not, no.
So this is the RCO letter.
We met with Burr Hometown Watch, which is also kind of the 53rd Republican Ward.
It was a pretty well-attended meeting.
There was no one in opposition.
There were some members that were in support of a proviso of three years.
I will say my client has operated here since the mid-2010s. He has a current lease that takes him through 2029 with options to extend on a yearly basis beyond that.
The RCO asked for a proviso for a temporary permit to reflect those three years.
What I would say is if the board chooses to adopt temporary variance, I would ask that it not apply to the personal vehicle repair and maintenance because, again, I believe that we are legally operating as such.
And I would ask for the board to approve at minimum a five-year temporary variance just based off of the time and expense my client has gone through to get here, which included an expediter that ripped him off before he got to us.
And he's been operating as a responsible business operator with the necessary licenses to fix cars for a decade about.
So that's the RCO letter.
It was a positive meeting.
um most of the people in the meeting were like you actually fixed my cars we you know we think
you're doing a great job here's the 1977 zoning permit that says uh you know auto repair and
rebuild and and repair transmissions um in the in the description there um it's a one-story
masonry structure here is a tire dealer license that is also on the property but at this time
my client does not sell tires um here is an about us section of his business
they are a car dealer in bridgeton new jersey um they are very well reviewed
here's a zoning map so we're at a triangular portion portion
uh at the corner of oxford and devereau ave with a little piece on algon avenue
photo so this is that trailer right there this is the oxford avenue perspective
you'll see interior photos of this trailer as well here's from algon ave i'll also note that
there is another tenant on this lot that you can see in a photo coming next i believe right here
which is fenced off entirely separately is an auto tags business that is not part of our zoning
permit application and has nothing to do with his business so that's what that trailer is right there
Um, so that's what that trailer is right there.
you're still right on oxford
Here's to the right on Oxford and to the left, the right on Algon and to the left, and then
Devereaux to the right and the left.
We have a large cemetery, um, and I think abandoned school in close proximity.
Hosting photos, there are three of them for all three street frontages.
Interior photos, so the photo on the, um, these photos are, are of the auto body shop.
His cousin is the only mechanic that works there.
So he kind of, Adnan handles the car sales business.
His cousin is the mechanic.
It's just a three-person show with Adnan's wife who's sitting in the back.
Another photo of the auto body shop.
These are photos of the trailer.
It's a small office space.
Plans and drawings.
So here's the site.
um this is the uh sort of auto body shop building structure it's about 1500 square feet of floor
area there there's three garage doors storage bathroom office and waiting area and the scope
of his work is engine work transmissions and suspensions the trailer which is identified
here as building b is 12 by 40 uh it's a waiting area and two offices and this is just for the
auto sales use and then this other trailer over here also 12 by 40 is the one that is occupied
by a different tenant this trailer was installed sometime between 2022 and 2023
the hours of operation are 9 30 a.m to 6 30 p.m they're closed on sundays and their dealership
in south jersey is 10 to 6 closed on sundays the exterior of the building structure is hammered up
they have commercial trash pickup once per week if there are any bad tires to pick up from from
Cars he's worked on, they have those picked up separately by, you know, a responsible operator.
And that, let me zoom out here, is the zoning plan.
Here's the floor plan.
So this is the garage.
No work proposed to any of this.
And here's the floor plans of the trailer.
Just three small rooms.
We met with the RCO on May 14th, notified 11 properties, not a very dense area, but the meeting was well attended, the lease for the property, and the certificate of tax clearance.
That I'd like to ask my client to adopt my testimony.
Sir, could you please state your name and spell it for the stenographer?
Adnan Quadri, Adnan, A-D-N-A-N, Quadri, Q-A-D-R-I.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Counsel?
Adnan, did you hear my testimony today?
Was it true and correct?
And do you adopt it as your own?
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
uh my question is
you say your main business is in where mount laurel new jersey how far away is that from
one hour and 30 minutes
so it's in another state state so okay i mean
And I guess my question is, why would you have your business here that far away from the main one and in a different state?
Is there a specific reason why you've done it this way?
No, the only thing is that I was trying to get zoning in the beginning over there.
I couldn't get it, so I ended up getting my New Jersey license to operate, to sell cars legally in the correct way.
So the only way was to get a New Jersey license, which I was able to obtain easily while I was trying to get Philadelphia, like you said about the expediter, didn't do his job, I guess correctly.
And I reached out to Alan and then they're trying to help me to get zoning so I can move out of New Jersey and come next to my mechanic shop to make it easier.
Yeah. So the plan is to, once this is approved, to move out of New Jersey and just operate here. Correct. Okay. All right. Because that was... Yeah. That's my first question. How... What's the timeline for that? What's that? Meaning, is that the long-term goal? Or like, are you planning to close down the New Jersey location if you're able to get this variance immediately? Yes, immediately. Okay.
Okay. And then what kind of things are you doing at this facility and how will it change if you get rid of the other? So you're going to sell cars.
get rid of the other so you're going to sell cars you're servicing cars also doing what is
this oil change or change brakes the the regular maintenance of a vehicle there's no body shop
nothing going on no body shop no no body paint no nothing none of that none of that okay yeah
only repairs all right and that's for and are these cars that you are selling you're going to
use this as a car sales lot as well is that what i heard yes okay and are these new cars used cars
used cars all right fairly new but five years is a plan of the cars all right and what kind
surface are we talking about for this lot that we're seeing asphalt asphalt black asphalt right
now drainage drainage there there is yes there is okay all right okay thank you all the questions
questions from our attorney
at this time mr chairman now so uh should we split like they're saying or
that's what I'm saying so so which which one is the usage that we want to put a temporary
variance yeah I mean we would prefer no temporary at all but if the board is inclined to grant it
with did they say five years at at adam yes so sales
questions or comments from the virtual audience i see no hands at this time chair
planning commission amy boy with the planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends
no change in zoning to the existing r1 residential multi-family the property has a long-standing
documented history of auto related uses including auto repair permit from 2014.
the planning commission recommends that the board grant their proposed variances for personal
vehicle repair and maintenance and for sale and rental
in my 2026 000 860 6169 oxford avenue um
i vote yes proviso five-year temporary variance that expires 7 9 31 temper what say this one more
time personal vehicle sales and rental as a proviso
It's the same category, yeah.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Layla Beebe, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Who has hazel?
Good afternoon, Mr. Nockamson. Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Alan Nockamson.
I mean, everybody knows, but just for the record, spell your name.
I mean, I don't know who you are.
Alan, A-L-A-N, last name Nochamson, N-O-C-H-U-M-S-O-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client, a relationship to this property?
So my client to the left of me is Kenneth Glover.
Behind me, or behind him, is his mother, Marcia Glover.
Okay, our voice chair has a few questions.
Thank you.
Good afternoon.
Have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, we have.
And do you waive the read and other refusals and stipulate to their accuracy?
We do.
All right, thank you.
You can see your screen and proceed with the case.
All right, so I'm here to present 4704 Hazel Avenue.
Again, to my left is Kenneth, he goes by Cam,
and his family has owned this property for multiple generations the property
was deeded to him some time ago but he is now prepared to
renovate this formal former six unit building to make it three units
renovate this former former six unit building to make it three units and it's not out of character
to have multi-units here so we'll review the 12 exhibits here with the board and then obviously
i'll have a few questions for cam and then we'll take any questions from the board so this is an
rsa3 building it's a pretty large lot size of 2205 it was formerly a six unit apartment building and
And we're looking to make where it was three stories and each story had two apartments.
Now we're looking to do one apartment per floor and we're getting a refusal because there's RSA three where multifamily is not allowed because we're multi-unit.
It's also a parking requirement, one for each apartment unit.
We couldn't do that. And there's no history of any of this property having parking, nor any other of the properties, which are also multifamily RSA five, having parking in the general vicinity. We're also near a commercial quarter with, you know, public transit as well. So I don't think that would be necessary under circumstances.
So we met with the Cedar Park neighbors. They're one of the more sophisticated neighborhood groups. I actually love their presence. They actually give their own presentation before I give the presentation. And it's really interesting. They, they find all these historic Penn area.
too. What? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And they have an awesome presentation. Like if you like history
and architecture, they have all these cool maps they show. I mean, they had a whole history. If
the person, Catherine, is there, I would, you know, it was great what they did. And, but it
really actually made my case even more of how this has always been a multifamily section of the
neighborhood. And of course, it's transitioning. There are some parts that have been multifamily
that becomes single family but this particular block and neighborhood part of the neighborhood
is multi-family even to this day and the last known use was six units so the the executive
board which which is very sophisticated all vote and support voted in support thought this was a
really positive use of the property and a responsible use of the property the four
members of the community that were there did not think so they wanted you know single family use
ON THE FLIP SIDE, THEY WANT AFFORDABLE HOUSING, SO SOME PEOPLE IN THE AUDIENCE WERE LIKE, OH,
YOU CAN MAKE THIS INTO A MILLION-DOLLAR HOUSE. WE DON'T BELIEVE THAT'S THE CASE. AND, YOU KNOW,
AGAIN, THERE'S AFFORDABILITY ASPECTS AS WELL IN THAT NEIGHBORHOOD. AND, AGAIN, COMFORTABLY,
THIS WOULD BE THREE UNITS AND IT WOULD BE A POSITIVE FOR THE COMMUNITY, WHICH HAS AN OLDER HOUSING
STOCK TO BEGIN WITH. AGAIN, THAT'S WHERE YOU SEE FROM THE VOTE, YOU HAVE THE RCO BOARD, THREE,
and support the community for, again, not a well-attended meeting.
So my clients, again, have owned, you know, through the family on this block for multi-generations,
and they're still very involved.
But you'll see all the addresses here on Hazel, on that block, all of them in support of this matter.
and then again i want to show you from a property history perspective the last known use was six
units again two per floor we're looking to do one per floor and then not out of character either and
again i believe that these are only properties which have rental licenses so we're not showing
you they're being used as multifamily and they may or may not have a rental license
these are properties in addition to ours which have not just a history of multifamily use but
have rental licenses for multifamily use for in addition to 4704 which is our property 4700 hazel
4701 0208 12 13 17 18 29 30 32 34 35 36 so there are 14 other instances just on this block
that are multifamily in nature and then the property which is right next to us on hazel is
a mirror image of what we're expecting to do there's three units there is basement living but
there's an exterior set of steps which we have as well which we would use it's multi-level on the
first floor in the lower level and there's adequate walkway where you can store trash outside we would
just mimic exactly what they would do. And I think that makes sense. Again, we want to
give you all the rental proof of all the rental licenses for all these properties, and that's
in our presentation packet. And again, we're only asking for three. You see there are not
just threes, there's fours and sixes. So we're asking for something that I think is the least
modification possible under the Philadelphia zoning code. So you see a lot of fours and
sixes and fives there's threes but you know there's fours fours maps of the area again uh
we're we are mid-block um we are in our rsa five section of the neighborhood i think in name only
RSA 5 section of the neighborhood, I think in name only, because there's multifamily all around us, and there's even RM1 next to us.
because there's multifamily all around us.
And then you can see here, I believe this is Lancaster or Baltimore Avenue, but again, we're next to our commercial corridor, helping support that commercial corridor with that extra density.
And then photographs of the property is beautiful outside. It's been taken care of well. It just hasn't been used for a long time.
and so it's been unoccupied not inhabited and you know cam is now older when he got the property is
much younger and um he wants to you know develop it uh and you know keep it alive in in the family
name this is hazel to the right of the property to the left of the property and this is just the
example of the property next door to us so you see how they have those exterior steps leading
down with a separate door we would do the same thing this is covered up obviously and you can
You can also see there's a garbage area, an exterior garbage area.
We would do the same thing.
So that's just a different angle.
So we would have exterior garbage.
We also have a humongous backyard where we can stir the garbage as well.
So this is proof of posting.
And then these are our plans and drawings.
We'll start going first floor and then we'll go back to the lower level.
So you walk into this common vestibule area.
You make a left, you have a dining room, a living room, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, sunroom.
You can see there's a ton of light and air with all these windows.
We're not changing that up.
Can we make this a little bit bigger?
Oh, sure.
Thank you.
Can you see that better?
All right.
So here you're walking in.
You have a dining room here, two windows in the front, a window right here.
You're walking in.
You have more windows.
You have a living room.
You have a closet area, too.
Then you have the kitchen.
You have another closet area.
You have a bathroom.
You have a bedroom.
And you have a sunroom, right?
Instead of going into this, and then we'll just go back to the basement, because then you go down the flight of steps.
Let me just make sure.
You go to the basement level, and you go down these flight of steps.
You have a family room.
You have your own laundry room.
You have another bedroom and a master.
and a bathroom and a closet specifically and then you have these egress wells but you have
a separate exterior entryway with a front door or i guess a back door depending on the circumstances
the property to next next to us is completely configured the same way we're no different than
the property as legal as a three unit we're just asking to be a three unit rather than the six
unit we were previously because we are RSA 3 and we let the use lapse for more than three years
without rental licenses. That's why we're here today. But there's never been a single family
use for this property. Or at least the last known use. Now let's go up a flight of steps, right? So
we go up a flight of steps and again many windows with the bay windows right here. But we have a
dining room, a living room, a kitchen, and then you have that's I guess one unit.
And then you have the other unit, which is a kitchen, a living room, and a dining room.
And then you go to the third floor, is the interior staircase, as you go up in a flight of an interior staircase, and you have two bedrooms, a bathroom, which is next to the bedrooms, a washer and dryer.
And then the mirror image is right here as well.
So everyone has a bi-level, right? Whether it's the first floor and the lower level or the second and third floors. And again, many windows because we have that breezeway where there's, you can see windows throughout all the living rooms.
We met with the community on June 16th. Again, there were four members of this community that showed up, but there were three sophisticated board members that gave a detailed history and explained why this use was a responsible use and fit well within the fabric of the neighborhood.
It actually was more in line with the wants and needs of some of the community members that were in there saying, we want affordable housing.
Well, a million dollars house is not affordable.
I think I did quick math saying 6% interest rate, principal plus interest, plus taxes, plus insurance.
You're looking at a mortgage of like, I can't remember at the time, I think it was like $6,000 or $7,000.
That's not affordable.
that that would create a situation where it would make it unaffordable for a lot of members of this
community we had a three-bedroom and two two-bedrooms a three-bedroom could be used for a
family and the rates that we're looking for rent are in low 2000s and for the two bedrooms like
1850 so which would make it much more affordable for people in that neighborhood with a nicer
housing stock that's currently there this is proof that we emailed the notice a few weeks
stock that's currently there this is proof that we emailed the notice a few weeks before our
community meeting we mailed that notice to 98 addresses these are the addresses we were given
by the city planning commission proof of mailing to those addresses our application for zoning
variance notice refusal the project information form the deed to property showing that's my
clients names so they're not holding they're not hiding behind an llc this is a family-owned
property it's been a family-owned property i'll ask cam how long it's been in the in the family
name and they want to keep it as a family-owned property you know yeah i i talked to them after
the meeting said you know there are people who are saying that this you can sell this for a million
dollars and he's like there's no way he's like but we don't want to get rid of this we love
this property there's so much history there the people who are still on the block are are still
friends they're still friends with and so the people on the block want this to remain family
owned and to be multi-family and they think three units is more than appropriate for the
under the circumstances certificate of tax clearance they're on the payment plan for this
property um i think that's it um i would ask that uh can be uh sworn in sir could you please state
your name is spelled for the stenographer. Kenneth Glover, K-E-N-N-E-T-H, last name Glover, G-L-O-V-E-R.
You swear or affirm that tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth? Yes. Counsel?
Cam, you heard everything I had to state today about your zoning matter. Yes. Is it true and correct?
Yes. And do you adopt this your own testimony? Yes. Do you know how long the property's been in
your family's name? It's been over 60 years. Yeah. Okay. Thank you. Questions from the board.
I have a question. So can you go back to the basement? And the question is, are the two window wells the only windows or light that will be coming from the basement? I don't know if the door would.
The door as well.
The door. So it's just the two window wells and the door?
Yes. It mimics the property right next door.
And that's not the way that the first floor tenant would enter their apartment, right? That's just a way that they can.
No, that's just another way to exit, yes.
Yeah, I'm going to see if there's any photographs of that alleyway.
I don't see any good photographs from our direction.
But the property next door to you, you're mimicking what they are doing.
They have a bi-level, too, with a first floor and lower level with exterior steps.
And I think if it's the other picture, that one.
Wait, the windows right here.
Yeah. Where you see the railing, that's actually the door. I just had that covered so no one could go down there. But it would literally mimic the property next door where they would have an entrance, well, a way to get out. The door is going to be there and then it would have another window lateral to parallel to the one next door.
Yeah. And you do have windows. It's just a window well. So there are built in windows, two windows down there. Yeah. It's just you can't see from the picture.
And the twin house, are they in support of what you're trying to do as well as the other house to your left?
So the house directly next door, I spoke to the program manager because it's actually a program now.
I couldn't get in touch with the owner, but the program manager was in support.
And the other side?
And the other side, yes, absolutely.
Thank you.
Other questions?
I'm going to ask a question my other board member usually asks.
what are we what are we doing about the trash well so good question uh so there's two ways we
can do it we can mimic what the next door neighbor is doing because it's a common walkway
and i and i believe i showed that picture but let me just do that again
just trying to find it oh right there well you can see it from two angles there's a there's a three
foot common walkway between the two properties they have a trash area towards the front that's
enclosed this is the different angle we would do the same but we have a huge backyard we have a
backyard i think the open area the rear yard it's like around uh let's see it's 20 feet
rear yard so it's like 500 square foot rear yards so we can put that in the back but we
would agree to a proviso uh trash stored outside other questions questions from our council
No questions at this time, Mr. Chairman.
Are there comments from the virtual audience, or is it what he is here?
Yes, Chair. I have a hand up by Kathy Dowell. I'm going to allow them to speak.
Yes, Chair, I have a hand up by Kathy Dowell.
Good afternoon.
Hi. Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Yes, my name is Kathy Dowell, K-A-T-H-Y-D-O-W-D-E-L-L.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
are you a neighbor uh i'm with the rco okay and yes i'm a neighbor just a few blocks away
sure please proceed um well thank you mr nachmanson for your for your kind words about our
rco we try and and do a good job um and i think you made a very fair presentation of the issues
here um i came to this meeting to speak to some related issues um number one i know that we cannot
change the notification requirements in any way but we're finding in our neighborhood that
the letters are getting sent out and thrown away by people I don't know I
wanted to encourage attorneys and all of us to just think about can we put a
sticker on the envelope that says zoning notice and closed or I just think we all
should be thinking of a way as as snail mail becomes less and less a way for
people to communicate it is still the way people get official notices from the
city and so we in the neighborhood will try and remind people that they should
open their mail but I just wanted to raise that as an issue for you guys to
think about a little bit and that's directly related to the other issue
which is the issue of petitions I've spoken at these meetings before we tend
to take a very dim view of petitions in our in our neighborhood because we've
had some bad experiences with them we've had them used by applicants who were
unhappy with the results of a public meeting and did a petition after the fact um you know they've
just generally been poorly executed in this case that's not true in this case the owner took the
petition around himself i spoke with a couple of the neighbors um and and one of the neighbors i
know fairly well and she and i spoke at length about this um and i think the issue is really
that in this particular case the petition ended up doing the opposite of what i think the owner
was trying to achieve. The person that I spoke to didn't remember receiving the letter. She's
an attorney. I would think she would have paid attention, but she didn't remember. But she saw
the petition, and we talked about it. And after the meeting, I think what happened is that all
of the people who signed the petition felt like they had done their job. And so none of them
attended the meeting. And so the public meeting, which is the record of neighborhood input on this
project was all negative and so i feel that in a way the petition worked against the issue um
so i just wanted to raise those two issues for you guys to think about thank you um thank you
for taking the time to call us we do appreciate it is there anyone else in the virtual audience
there are no more hands at this time chair planning commission amy boyd of the planning
commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change in zoning at this location to the existing
rsa 3 residential single family the property has permits dating back to 1953 for multi-family
the planning commission recommends that the board grant the requested variance for three
family household living mi 2026 000 871 4704 hazel avenue i vote yes maximum three units
Charles Gaster my vote is yes
with proviso
Tanetta Graham my vote is yes with proviso
Brian McAdams my vote is yes with proviso
Layla Beebe my vote is yes with proviso
thank you
thank you
Armstrong
actually Mr. Chairman can we go back to number 12
that's the one we skipped with
yeah i'm i hope you're ready
oh he's got it okay
okay we're good
please state your name again
And so the so the court's sonogram knows this is MI 2026 001 496 3245 North 27th Street.
Randy Talley, Randy, B-R-A-N-D-I, Talley.
I think I already swore you in.
Our vice chair has a few questions for you.
We already did that.
So you can start your presentation in.
Ms. Talley, were you able to arrange your documents?
Ms. Talley, were you able to arrange your documents so that they can be shared on your
device?
Fantastic.
Okay, you go ahead.
Hello, can you hear me?
We hear you.
Yes, could you please start your documents?
Okay, I'm here today because three years ago I was given a proviso and I'm here today
because within them three years I was about I gained more clients and I was also I'm also
able to give 20 children in the neighborhood free child care and we was also zone number one in up
in north philadelphia um as child care so i want to continue to give back to the community by giving
20 children no matter the income which is the program called phl pre-k i'm the only one in the
neighborhood that's offering this program so i want to continue to give that to the children
so I'm here to ask for privacy um can you guys see the pictures
hello so what yeah we're here so why don't you start showing us what your program looks like
here that's why I was asking can you guys see the pictures um yes why don't you start over
we're not seeing it right now okay you can see them yeah we see a play area okay so this is one
the classrooms for the children for the phl pre-k this is the basement we had got finished
within the three years that's one angle this is the other angle this is the upstairs where
it's for the infants and the toddlers is that the first floor the first floor yes for the
infants and the toddlers and this is another angle and this is the from the kitchen angle
this is a street view of where we located on the block
And we did have a meeting with the RCL on June 18th, and no one went against the zoning
because of the three years that we was able to get back to the 20 families for free, child
care from 35 years old.
So no one opposed to it.
They all voted yes for it.
I did submit the documents. This is for the refusal from the LNI, and this is the hearing
notice, the appeal, the project information form, the zoning permit, the notice that went
out to 98 um neighbors this is the proof that it was sent out this is the layout of the building
how many students do you have i am i have right now i have 20 28 students these are the addresses
that we sent it to from the commentator to the meeting how many bathrooms do you have in the
building three okay where are they at one is um so we have one in the basement and we have one on
the second floor whereas they have two like two like toilets for the children so we like i guess
they call it three three toilets okay do you have anything else to show us no no not other than the
pictures questions from the board can you go back to the basement and just uh how are uh is there
what's the egress from the basement like okay so we have um we have a egress going straight to the
backyard area from the basement so we have one going to the backyard and we want to have one
going up the steps into the first floor is that in one of your pictures is that depicted in one
your pictures um let me see i don't think that i took the exactly that egress
is it a whole door that empties down into the yard yes
damn many pictures of the back of the house no i didn't take a picture of the back of the house
this is the basement so this area um we say exit it because we had to get a fire system so we had
to get a whole fire system for the whole building the building has been utilized at the child care
center for the last three years so we have to is that door there the exit to the backyard no that's
No, that's the exit to the utility room, the closet, but the exit to the backyard
the exit to the um utility room the closet but the exit to the backyard is right there where you see
is right there where you see the exit sign, and it's pointing to the exit to the backyard.
to exit.
Right. And it's that same kind of door? Yes. Like an outside metal door.
Yeah. Other questions? Okay. Always with these child care centers, I go through
the fire code issues which are of concern to me when it comes to kids. So you mentioned that you
had to put in a you had to put in a higher hardwired smoke detection system with the
alarms. They have the strobes and the the there's a horrible sound that those systems make but you
had to put that. So I didn't really have to do that but when I was like thinking about becoming
like the center i said let me just implement it in there is because i'm i may need it anyway so i just
got the whole whole one building building um hardwired yeah it's a center you you're gonna
yes and you have uh the two means of egress from uh the property correct yes on the first floor
in the basement and then one of those doors is one that has on the panic bars so people don't have to
reach for knobs and things. It has the panic bar that you can push to get out, correct?
I'm sorry, you said what, panic bar? Yeah, that one of the doors, the exit doors has the panic bars.
That's one of the things that they ask for. Okay, who asked for that? Because I didn't never read
that. But this is part of the fire code kind of issues with properties like this, where you have
uh young people who are not necessarily capable of self-preservation so there's some extra
requirements to make sure that in the case of some kind of fire or emergency that they can easily get
out okay so usually there's the request that you have like at least one door with the panic bars
All right. And you have the emergency lighting? Yes. Okay. All right. So that is also one of the things that they ask for. And then what age children do you have? I have infants until 12 years old, the school age. Okay. And where are the little ones? On the first floor.
They're on the first floor. Okay. Yes. All right. And you said you had the bathrooms,
but where are they? One is in the basement for the preschoolers
and the school age, and one is on the second floor for, for, just in case, for this, my
teachers as well as if they need another bathroom to use.
Okay. So the younger children, they're on the first floor, is there a bathroom on the
first floor? So they don't use the younger children
that are on the first floor they have we have um we have a party we have um i'm sorry changing table
that's connected to the wall so we use that it no no one on the first floor has goes to the
restroom they all have like diapers and pull-ups okay all right got you all right thank you
i'm sorry uh so the rco asked for a couple of provisos um uh providing your operating days and
hours do you what days you operate so right now we're operating from 6 a.m to 11 p.m
6 11 and also are you amenable to trash storage in your rear yard yeah so we have trash storage
in the land in the basement it's coming out the basement eagle right there where the basement
egress is where there's a land that we have a commercial trash can right there where we
that but we do the trash okay all right thank you
other questions questions from our attorney not at this time questions or comments from the
virtual audience to the current audience i see no he's at this time chair planning commission
amy wood with the planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change in
zoning at this location from the current rsa 5 residential single family the proposal is consistent
with documented prior use the planning commission recommends that the board grant their requested
variance for child care center mi 2026 001 769 1313 north 22nd street i vote yes with proviso
trash stored outside also provides a certificate of vacancy to be obtained
charlie gaston my vote is yes with provisos tenetta graham my vote is yes with provisos
ryan mcadams my vote is yes with provisors lela bb my vote is yes with provisos
ryan mcadams my vote is yes with provisos layla beebe my vote is yes with provisos
thank you congratulations you have your thank you thank you
mr nelson left
yes you're going to do that
and my 2026 000960 5551 armstrong street um alex goldberg is the attorney mr goldberg you
would have been sworn just please state your name alex goldberg mr goldberg could you identify your
client a relationship to the property sure my client is noble hands llc it's representative
sharif scott is here he just stepped out to go to the bathroom he's wearing he's wearing a pink
shirt so when he walks in behind me if you could wait we're okay we're okay so you'll you'll start
yeah i'll start
IT'S GOING TO BE PROMOTED.
I THOUGHT YOU'RE UP.
you should be able to see my screen now uh 551 armstrong street is the property address we're
seeking to legalize a two-family dwelling at this location um we met with the coordinating rco the
12th Ward Democratic Committee who issued a letter of support and this
property is already set up with two units it has two front doors it needs a
gut renovation I would say but the the two unit sort of use is clear while the
Philadelphia Atlas records are bare you know what's what's there is clearly a
two-family dwelling that is the only refusal that we're seeking because this
is just a use application. Here's the letter from the 12th Ward RCO. There were no community
members that attended. I believe that is because we are almost entirely surrounded by large
apartment buildings. I'll show you what that looks like, but the multifamily use is definitely
not out of character here come on up sharif um and um the they're they're in close communication
with the adjacent neighbors of the property who are also in support of this application
there were three sub three provisos that the rco asked for which we have no objection to
um no living in the basement trash in the side yard and mail delivered through the mail slots
so we have no objection to those. Here's a zoning map. A lot of multifamily development has occurred
here over the course of the years, almost all of which has the same zoning as us, which is RSA3,
so those have been approved by way of variance. You can see here, like, it's almost as if we're
surrounded on all three sides by apartment buildings. You have two twin apartment buildings
right here to our right, you have an apartment building directly behind us, and you have an
apartment building directly to the left of us so there's a lot of density some of some of most of
that density I would say faces other public streets with the exception of this this building
that's directly to our left and there are two twin structures that are directly to our right
but we're entirely standalone structure that is adjacent to parking for the apartment building
that's behind us existing utilities to utility meters to electrical boxes you'll see that there
are two kitchens as well here's the front of the property you enter up these stairs right here the
building is built slightly above grade one of the units enters directly off of this front porch and
the other end unit enters uh on that in that side yard area this is the rear of the property
this is that side door entrance right there for one of the units the property is actually street
to street so we have frontage on west clarkson avenue there's a garage back there which will be
owner's storage only. Tenants won't have access to that.
This is to the right of the property, one of those apartment buildings, and you can see the other one
there. Here's to the left on Armstrong. We're sort of at a weird
dead-end corner of the neighborhood here. This is Clarkson behind us.
Our two postings for our two
street frontages. Here's the interior photograph, so you can see
that the property needs a lot of work. It's not in shell condition,
but it will be if we're able to get this approved so that we can do a full renovation here's one of
the kitchens and this is part of one of the other kitchens that's up
This is part of one of the other kitchens that's upstairs where the appliances are gone.
Plans and drawings.
Very basic plans and drawings.
The green unit is the unit that enters at the front of the property.
Let's call that unit one.
It is a one bed, one bath, about 600 square feet.
We're looking to rent both of these units between 50% and 60% AMI.
That unit has access to the basement, but that basement is for storage and laundry only,
and that unit also has access to the rear yard.
The upper level unit, which is the purple unit, enters through the side yard here
through an existing entry point.
That unit is about 800 square feet.
It's a two-bedroom, one-bath with both of the bedrooms on the third floor
and the kitchen and living space on the middle floor there.
Here's the RCO meeting notice.
We met with the RCO on June 16th, 49 properties were notified, application, deed, and certificate
of tax clearance.
My client, Sharif, who's sitting to the left of me, is from the neighborhood.
He grew up down the street from here where his father still lives, went to Germondown High School and Pickett Middle School nearby.
Will be self-managing the property and has a positive relationship with the neighbors who all have his contact information.
And we're seeking to, you know, turn this property around so that it can be high-quality, affordable housing.
With that, I'd like my client to adopt my testimony.
Sir, could you please state your name and spell it for the stenography?
sharif scott s-h-a-r-i-f scott scott do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
is nothing but the truth yes please proceed counsel sharif did you hear my testimony today
yes was it true and correct yes and do you adopt it as your own yes thank you questions from the
board yes um so the rco recommended some provisos um no household living in the basement and trash
stored on the side yard is that amenable yes well there's one more right mail mail yeah
mail in the mail slots we have separate front doors so we okay so my counsel go okay
all the questions
questions from our attorney not at this time questions or comments from the virtual audience
I see no hands at this time chair and Commission Amy Boyd for the planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning at this location from the current RSA 3 residential single family to ICMX industrial commercial mixed use the property has a long standing apparent internal configuration as multifamily
the planning commission recommends that the board denied sorry grant the requested variance for two family household living
MI 2026, 000960, 551 Armstrong Street. I vote yes, with proviso. Trash starred in stored in rear yard, no basement living.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Teneda Graham, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Layla Beebe, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Just as a point of clarity, the request from the RCO was trash in the side yard.
I said side yard, didn't I?
Oh, I thought I heard rear yard, but...
No, I think I said side yard.
I said, okay, trash stored in the side yard.
We'll do either one.
I don't think either one's an issue, so...
I think it matters, but...
Okay, thank you.
number 10 mi 2026 001 237 2029 north bodine street alan knockamson is the attorney
there's two at once yes uh 10 and 11 could be heard at the same time but voted separately
10 and 11 right and number 11 mi 2026 001 344 2031 bodine street al knockamson is the attorney
mr knockamson could you um state your name and spell for the stenographer alan knockamson a-l-a-n
last name knockamson n-o-c-h-u-m-s-o-n do you identify your client relationship to the property
yeah my client is uh maestro home llc uh and in the virtual audience is its uh representative
ghazi ada seven our voice shares a few questions good afternoon have you submitted your documents
our voice shares a few questions good afternoon have you submitted your documents and exhibits
and exhibits.
five days in advance of this hearing yes we have and do you waive the reading of the refusals and
stipulate to the accuracy for both yes we do all right thank you you can see your screen and proceed
all right so we have a two side-by-side uh two family dwellings in the north square center
North Square section of Philadelphia. You'll see nine exhibits during my presentation, and at the conclusion of it, I would ask that Mr. Addis Sabin virtually raise his hand.
The refusals are the same in that we have two, oh, there we are, there you go. I didn't see them.
We have two RSA-5 properties. We're sticking to two duplexes, and we have two refusals. One is for the use, and the second is for the de minimis request for occupied area of a certain respect.
You'll see we're on a block where we are hugged by all industrial properties, and we have overwhelming community support for this project as well.
so unanimous support both from the rco committee as well as the community at large so we had 20
votes uh and 20 votes in support of this product these projects uh you'll see the letter here
we did make two commitments um and we are signing a community benefits agreement with this group
we know this group very well in this in north square obviously like most parts of philadelphia
there's an affordability crisis and you know joe is an affordable housing developer and he's made
a commitment to have each one unit in each structure at 40 ami over the course of 10 years
from the date of the certificate of occupancy and he's made that commitment in writing uh joe's a
well-regarded affordable housing developer uh he's done projects throughout the city including mantua
and does a lot of good community relations with those communities as well.
We also have a letter of non-opposition from the district council member, Lozada, for both projects.
And then maps to the area. This is what I was talking about.
We're in the middle of a row of these RSA-5 properties, but you'll see there's ICMX all around us.
And I wanted to take a picture of this as well from the city's website,
But you'll see that these single-family homes are kind of like on an island.
It's like this is like a tire storage area.
There are some industrial trucks that surround us.
So it would not be something that you would expect to have single-family homes near.
And so having this multifamily, allowing it to be 40% AMI for two of the four units, was something very appetizing to the community.
And Joe has made that commitment in writing.
Photographs of the property. These are the front of the property as we speak. Nothing saying single family about it. This property has looked like this for some time. We go as far back as 2014 on Google Street View. This is North Bondine Street to the right of the property and to the left of the property.
There's a sprinkling of two-story structures and three-story structures.
2006, 12, and 19 are three-story structures.
So you have three-story structures on both sides of the property.
But a lot of vacant lots.
And again, we abut in the rear a basically industrial site with tires and basically big rigs behind us.
These are our orange notice posting photos, plans, and drawings.
So the good thing is this.
We don't need to say no basement living because there is no basement living.
we're built on grades right so it's four stories on the first floor and second floor is one unit on
the third floor on on the third and fourth floor is another unit and then it's pretty straightforward
here in terms of the floor plans same as both you have uh you know a vestibule area a kitchen
a living room as unit number one going up a flight of steps you have two bedrooms and a
bathroom and a powder room instead you go instead of unit number one you go all the ways up to the
third floor you have a living room a kitchen an office a bed and two bedrooms and then the
bathrooms are right next to the bedrooms and then there's a roof deck as well again very well
attended meeting we've worked with this group a lot um they're you know they're they're a good
group to work with because they do more than just zoning and but their mission is really to provide
affordable housing to their community and they were appreciative of that and we talked to joe
about that we said listen if you're going to build in this community especially from a variant
standpoint you're going to have to give affordable units and he's made that commitment
not just like at 80 ami which is also deemed affordable but at 40 ami where the rents are
more in line with what that neighborhood would expect and he's also a certified pha
what that neighborhood would expect and he's also a certified pha landlord so he also takes vouchers
so we're talking about 40 percent ami and then the renters would even just take a fraction we'll
only have to pay a fraction of that as well uh this is our proof of uh mailings along with the
email that was sent to 114 addresses that were here proof of mailing to those addresses are
for both properties our applications for appeal for both properties along with the notice of
refusal for both properties and our application for zoning variance along with project information
form and notice of refusal and then you know showing that maestro homes is the owner for
both of these properties and then finally the certificates of tax clearance i would then now
ask that out of curiosity how tall how high 38 oh okay yeah so it's every it's in line um and and
it's a flat facade too so we didn't want to put bay windows we wanted something that was handsome
and and more in line with what you would expect all right so sir could you please state your name
and spell for the stenographer should i push the one oh you're good you're good it's fine okay my
My name is Gazi Atasevan, G-A-Z-I-A-T-A-S-E-V-E-N, representing the Maestro Home.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Counsel?
Gazi, you heard everything I had to state today about your zoning matter.
Yes, I did.
Is it true and correct?
Yes, correct.
And do you adopt this in your own testimony?
Specifically, you have entered into a community benefits agreement agreeing to provide affordable housing for two of the four units,
one in each uh property at 40 AMI and you'll be agreeing to do that for 10 years from the date
you receive the certificate of occupancy for each property correct all right thank you
council you want to put i have a question yeah yeah yeah no i didn't start um uh so
I forgot my question chair no you you said to me you were going to ask about the 38 but he
answered oh yeah no no it was another question though um oh there's um the maximum um occupied
area is you know you know we're triggering one of the refusals is there a rear yard like is it
taking up all of the space no we no it's it's by right it's nine it's a nine foot rear yard set
nine foot okay yeah everything we have the so yes we we run afoul of the occupied area
requirements but we meet the rear yard setback requirements of nine feet okay so who's who's um
who has access to the rear yard so actually i didn't bring this up and those thank you for
reminding me so technically it's the primary use for the first floor unit but if there is actually
a breezeway that's built between both properties so they're side by side and there's a foot and a
half on both sides to create a three foot breezeway in the middle so I mean technically you know the
upper upper floor unit could have it that's not the intention but just so you understand the roof
deck is for the upper floor that's right okay and last question is about the trash storage so we
have trash stored in the for the first floor unit in the rear and then there's a ventilated trash
closet for the upper floor unit thank you you're welcome all the questions questions from our turn
none at this time questions or comments from the virtual audience i see no hands at this
time chair planning commission amy boy with the planning commission do you want me to do
testimony for both together let me do both okay it'll be the same the comprehensive plan recommends
a change in zoning at this location from rsa 5 residential single family to i2 medium industrial
we know for the board that absent participation in a city state or federal program or a city zoning
incentive affordability mentioned in the appellants testimony cannot be enforced by any city agency
the parcel is undersized for this zoning district and there are no unique physical conditions or
circumstances of the property that would prevent it from being used in conformance with the zoning
code the planning commission recommends that the board deny the requested variances for multi-family
household living and max occupied area two comments uh mr chair um i think the city realizes that
having this as rsa 5 is inappropriate given the surrounding industrial use of the property
you know the least modification possible would be a multi-family use which will provide affordable
housing to members of the community and again as this is mr ada seven's business he's affordable
housing developer. So this is not out of character. This is something he's committed to and he does
on a daily basis. Thank you. Okay. So I'm going to vote for both. Number 10, MI-22.
You're doing it separately. You want me to do it separately? Well, 10.
You're doing it separately. You want me to do it separately? Well, 10 and then 11. I would do it separately. Okay.
Right. And my 2023 0 0 1, 2, 3, 7, 20, 29, North Bodine street. I vote. Yes.
Cheryl guest and my vote is yes.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes.
Layla Beebe, my vote is yes.
Number 11, MI20260013442031, North Bodine Street, I vote yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes.
Layla Beebe, my vote is yes.
Thank you.
I might.
No, you're, yeah, one more.
Thank you.
Yep. Number 13, MI2026001769, 1312 North 22nd Street.
Allen Nockamson is the attorney.
Mr. Nockamson, just state your name for the record.
You testified several times and you've been sworn.
Allen Nockamson.
Could you identify your client in relationship to the property?
Yes, my client is 1313N22ndOZLLC.
Our vice chair has a few questions.
Good afternoon.
Have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing?
And do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its actors?
I think you can share your screen and proceed with your case.
I have to say this is one of the more interesting cases our firm has handled in some time in that we had permits for both zoning and building.
we built it to almost completion and then we were told that we didn't own the property anymore
because the city condemned the property many many years ago and it took us years to get the title
back to our name so um no fault of our own it was somehow bad title um and you know we didn't cause
a delay and this is a this was a buy right project and we'll show the 12 exhibits and
i'll have mr campbell of patrick campbell of of the corporate entity uh to testify to this
but it was a buy right project for a triplex and i feel like we keep going to brewery town
shortswood and and say well we never really do this but we gotta legalize these roof decks and
i this is like literally the third case in like three months that we went in front of them and i
like a broken record but i would have to say this is the most unique one i've had clients buy
properties where you know it's incomplete and they they try to reactivate the permits and then
they realize they're out of time i have a client that bought the property got a zoning permit got
a building permit made a significant investment and just short of completion they were told they
don't own the property anymore and they had to halt the project then they had to go back to the
City beg to get the property back. They finally got the property back, but it was too late to reactivate the permits because we're out of time.
So now we're trying to legalize this use, but because there's an overlay with the roof deck, which was allowed previously, we have to come back here.
So that's, you know, that's basically the case in a nutshell. You know, we got overwhelming support. We did get one outlier in opposition.
There's always, I guess, one in every room, but like, you know, this is no fault of my client. And this is a classic case of vested rights. You know, we, you know, detrimentally relied on the zoning. How about this? We detrimentally relied on the fact that we owned the property somehow because of a misfiling with the city. They didn't properly account for the combination, allowed that us to buy the property, build a property, almost to completion.
So if anything, this is clearly a vested rights argument. But anyway, this has a long history of triplex use, which is, again, this is an RM1 property allowed as of right. Again, we, you know, based on the estimate of the commercial building permit, we spend almost a half a million dollars on this property to date, just for construction, not the actual acquisition of the property.
and it's not out of character to have nearby roof decks and we just gave you examples you know just
showing that it's not out of character then maps of the area again the use is allowed by right
photographs of the property we even took interior photographs so you can see how close to completion
we are this is north 22nd street to the right of the property to left of the property and then you
can see like we're there and it's a shame that it's sat this long but you know that we gotta
to dial our i's and cross our t's and you know this is proof of our posting for today's hearing
and then these are the plans we are six feet out of the ground we're two feet one inches below
ground so clearly enough light and air for this property and there is a slope as well
so clearly enough light and air for this property and there is a slope as well
towards the rear as well but basically six feet out of the ground and then just to show the floor
plans again this is you know you walk into common vegetable area unit a which is 1500 square feet
living room dining room kitchen bedroom with a bathroom bathrooms next to it internal staircases
you have a couple bedrooms down there in the bathroom i know the board's position about
lower level use but this was already cooked many many years ago it wasn't even in front of this
board it was just an azure bright project and we're just trying to legalize it just to go
through this process instead of unit a we have unit b which is on the second floor we have a
living room a kitchen a bathroom a bedroom and another bedroom and then you unit c again same
floor plan you have a living room a kitchen bathroom bedroom bedroom and then there is a
roof deck the upper floors have ventilated trash closets the first floor has access to the rear
of the property for trash storage we met with the community on june 18th as you saw it was a very
well attended meeting proof that we emailed it to the coordinating rco and other relevant actors
two weeks beforehand showing proof that we mailed it to 84 addresses these are the addresses we
mailed it to along with proof of mailing the deed to the property showing that we did purchase it
back from the philadelphia housing authority on october 3rd 2025 after getting a building permit
in 2020 almost to completion probably i would say i'll ask patrick in 2021 so it's been a four-year
odyssey then another year on top of here so my client is very excited hopefully to get approval
from the zoning board and complete the project and then application for zoning variance and then
I think really what's the most important thing is just tax clearance certificate I would ask
Mr. Campbell virtually raise his hand to be sworn in Mr. Campbell please
Mr. Campbell, if you're in a virtual audience, please raise your virtual hand.
Is it Patrick?
Yes, that is correct.
I'm going to promote them to panelists.
hello one issue right what the one issue that's the only one actually yeah sorry could you please
state your name and spell for the stenographer uh this is patrick campbell p-a-t-r-i-c-k
uh campbell is c-a-m-p-b-e-l-l you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing
but the truth yes i do counsel uh yes patrick you heard everything i had to state today about
your zoning matter yes i did and is it true and correct yes and do you adopt this your own
testimony yes i do specifically you purchased a property thinking that you owned it originally
got permits from a zoning and commercial uh building permit perspective built it almost
to completion and then found out that the property was previously taken by the previous property
owner or predecessor by way of combination correct yes many years prior they uh the city
take a combination from this uh the owner i purchased it from and they they had no idea
um and that's what happened and then it's taken you multiple years to get not only this property
back to but to get in front of the zoning board to hopefully legalize it such that you can continue
construction yes i've been back and forth with um the city for years over this property but they
finally let it me purchase it back from them yep thank you questions from the board
Yes. The rooftop, well, first of all, can you show the floor plans again?
So the rooftop is only for the third floor unit?
I believe so. Patrick, is that correct? Did I state that correctly?
Right now, it's open, like, through the staircase. Anybody could get up there.
Okay, I misstated then.
Yeah, I mean, I could just say it's for the third floor, but I haven't really thought that through if everybody could use it or not.
no that would be nice because i was thinking of the second floor unit uh because at least the
first floor unit has access to the rear yard correct it does yes okay and and the third floor
would at least and bare minimum have access to the roof deck so it's just that second floor unit um
bare minimum have access to the roof deck so it's just that second floor unit um
needs some outdoor space as well so i would suggest you keep it open for everybody um
need some outdoor space.
that would be fine is um how how much below grade you said the we're two feet one inches
below grade and six feet above grade okay all right so that okay that's it thank you
all the questions right uh trash question trash would be stored in the rear
for the first floor unit, and then there's ventilated trash closets in each of the upper floor units.
Questions from our council?
Sorry, none at this time.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no hands at this time, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Amy Boyd with the Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning at this location
from the current RM1 residential multifamily to RSA5 residential single family.
The appellant has demonstrated that there are unique physical conditions of the property
that would prevent it from being used in conformance with the zoning code.
The Planning Commission recommends that the board grant the requested variance for roof
deck and roof deck access structure.
Thank you.
MI 2026-001-769-1313 North 22nd Street, I vote yes.
Cheryl Gaston, I vote yes.
Tynetta Graham, my vote is yes.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes.
Layla Beebe, my vote is yes.
Thank you very much. Have a good day.
Thank you.
Number 14, MI 2026-001-782, 1528 South 2nd Street.
Marissa Ferliger is the attorney.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Certainly. Meredith Ferliger, F-E-R-L-E-G-E-R.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I sure do.
Could you identify your client, their relationship to the property?
Client is S-K-S-K-L-L-C, which is the owner of this property.
That entity is represented today by Kirk Shepherd.
And we do have a rather long letter of opposition.
Our Vice Chair has a few questions.
Good afternoon. Have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing?
I did.
And do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, I do.
All right. Thank you. You can share your screen and proceed with your case.
all right good afternoon board members and welcome new board member before the board today
is 1528 South 2nd Street which is in the Pennsport neighborhood the application today is to legalize
four dwelling units in this property, which was lovingly known on the first floor as
Dee's Pub for many decades. Specifically, there is no question as to the legality of
two of the units. This request pertains to two other of the units. My client's mom owned and
managed this property for many decades before her recent passing. Upon taking ownership in
recent years due to her old age, Kirk quickly completed necessary cosmetic repairs to the
property that you'll see in the photographs. It was only recent that he became aware of the
zoning discrepancy, which is ultimately what brings us in front of you today.
We were quite surprised, as I expressed to my colleague over there from Pennsport, that we
were quite surprised to receive a letter of opposition from them, and I will address that
at the end of the presentation we did provide tax clearance in your exhibits at exhibit two
as well as a copy of the deed at exhibit three just to set some context here you'll see here
at exhibit eight that this property is a corner property on south second street which is right at
the corner of greenwich street and just looking from another view here you can see the property
from the front fairly uniform three-story block here the zoning map at exhibit exhibit seven
shows that this property is owned cmx one which is consistent with three of the four corners at
this intersection I have also included photographs in your exhibits at exhibit 15 which show the
existing exterior of the three-story building as you can see here the
As you can see here, the building itself has three entrances, one in the front here and then two along the side, and two of them serve the commercial first floor, which is noted on our zoning application as a planned office space.
building itself has three entrances one in the
That commercial space is ultimately in transition and the long term plans are unclear since the restaurant bar is no longer operational in this location.
The commercial space is ultimately not before the board today.
As you saw in the aerials and as you can see in the photographs, the block here is a fairly uniform three story block of mostly multifamily, which I will show you a little bit later in the presentation.
The context here is fairly similar along the Greenwich frontage as well. And again, you can see the predominantly three-story brick structures.
And then just from a few extra views here, again, you can see the view down North 2nd Street.
And then looking again at the intersection here, you can see the two opposing CMX1 corners.
And then looking down Greenwich street again, this is the side of the building and the residential entrance is the furthest entrance here.
And we did also provide evidence of the timely posting on both of the frontages.
at exhibit five let me walk you through the existing floor plans here so you can get a
sense of the existing layout of the property I will also show you photographs of these
which are all occupied again on the first floor here you'll see the commercial space
which is not the subject of today's request as it exists today it is still just set up
as a bar the basement is also connected to that commercial space as well on the second floor
are two units unit 2-1 is an existing one bedroom one bath unit in the back
and then unit 2-2 is an existing studio in the front
on the third floor you will again see two additional units in the back is unit 3-1 which
is a one bedroom one bath unit and then the front similar to the second floor is also another studio
unit and they're occupied now they're all occupied i'm about to show you photographs where you'll
you'll see their existing conditions uh so like i said at exhibit six i'm going to walk you through
some photographs just to get a sense of what this looks like so the first photographs here are just
showing you to establish as i mentioned earlier that my client did cosmetic renovations you'll
get a sense of what those cosmetic renovations looked like so you can kind of see here on the
left uh the condition that the property was in and then again some paint and some improvements
to flooring that is consistent throughout this presentation so this is as you would walk in the
entrance from the outside on the side you would walk down the hallway and then this provides
the stairwell to that second floor where the residential units are this second set of
photographs is taken from that second floor landing so this is directly outside of that
front studio doorway entrance and then this is the stairwell that moves up to the third floor
so like i said you can see here photographs of the existing units they are all occupied
so this is unit 2-1 and again you can see this is the one bedroom one bath unit on that second
floor rear and again you can see here the kitchen living space bedroom bathroom the next photograph
The photograph here shows unit 2-2. These photographs were provided to us by the existing tenant. This is that studio unit that is on the second floor front.
Then moving to the third floor again, this is unit 3-1, which is the third floor, one bedroom, one bath unit again in the rear.
and then unit three two this is the studio on the third floor and as you can see these are all
occupied uh and and with very comfortable and happy tenants for good measure i did also throw
in pictures of the commercial space but like i said this is not at issue before the board today
now regarding the refusal the property is zoned cmx1 and is adjacent to rsa5
AND IS ADJACENT TO RSA 5, SO THE APPLICATION WAS REFUSED FOR THE MULTIFAMILY USE.
so the application was refused for the
NOW AT EXHIBIT 9, LET ME FLIP THROUGH THE FIRST PAGE, YOU CAN SEE SOME OF THE HISTORICAL PERMITS FOR THIS PROPERTY, WHICH SOME ARE A LITTLE BIT INTERMINGLED WITH 1530 SOUTH 2ND STREET, WHICH IS THE PROPERTY IMMEDIATELY NEXT DOOR.
from what i've been able able to gather at least in terms of public records as far back as the 1950s
it was zoned for a restaurant with two dwelling units above now my client is not entirely certain
when mama dolores made the physical change here uh he's lived overseas for about the last 20 years
but at some point many decades ago uh we presume sometime around maybe the 80s or 90s
it was converted into four dwelling units and has remained that way ever since.
From what he understands from some of the history, as he can express,
his mom did speak with L&I at some point.
We're not sure whether those discussions resulted in any form of filings
or ultimately what happened in terms of permitting.
The history itself is somewhat discombobulated for the property,
so it is unclear if permits were simply never pulled
or if they are just indexed elsewhere. In any case, CMX1 would prohibit anything other than a
one-family dwelling in this location. Now, despite this, the city has issued at least two permits for
this property since 2010, and at no point in any of that permitting was the unit discrepancy
identified by L&I. In fact, as you can see here on the screen, as recently as 2025, the city granted
an electrical permit noting electrical for three apartments since one unit already had a meter and
was not included in this permit request. When was that? This was 2025. So they just got the meters
in 25? That's correct for the three of the units and even at that point the unit discrepancy wasn't
identified. Now aside from the physical conditions of the property, the property itself suffers a
clear hardship in that it has never maintained a single family use and has consistently maintained
tenants in the four units including current day as i mentioned my client does live in japan
so he employs a full full-time property manager that handles all aspects of maintenance trash
disposal and ensures that the property itself is kept clean it would not only be a considerable
hardship to return the structure to a single family use given its long-standing multifamily
history, but it would be a further hardship to attempt to convert it back to two units at this
point, which has not, to my client's knowledge, existed for many decades. Now, even beyond the
history and the physical condition of the property itself, as you can see up on the screen at exhibit
10, this multifamily use is entirely consistent with the context of the density of this block.
Which are either 3 and 4 units with a commercial building on the opposing corner.
This side of the block of South 2nd street only has 1 non multifamily use.
The adjacent property on Greenwich street is also multifamily.
As always, I did include in my memo of law, several references to confirm that it would be unreasonable and not the least minimum variance.
TO ASK A PROPERTY OWNER TO CONVERT A STRUCTURE BACK TO A SINGLE FAMILY USE AFTER A LONG DOCUMENTED HISTORY OF MULTIFAMILY USE, AND IN THIS CASE, IT WOULD BE A SIGNIFICANT HARDSHIP TO REQUIRE PHYSICAL MODIFICATIONS TO REDUCE BY TWO UNITS TO RENDER IT IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE LAST PERMITTED HISTORY IN THE 1980s.
We also submit this is not a self-imposed hardship, as my client purchased the property from his mother through the estate process and is undertaking this process voluntarily to ensure that the property has all of the up-to-date permits and rental licenses in place.
No violations were issued for this request, and my client understands that a certificate of occupancy is going to be required following the board's hopeful approval.
we also submit that the proposal will not increase congestion harm neighboring properties or impair
light and air now as i mentioned and with complete respect to my my colleague in the room here the
rco's letter of opposition did come as quite a significant surprise as we left the meeting with
an impression that the community members in attendance not only had no issue with the
multifamily, but also had sort of alluded to the fact that they knew that there were four units.
but also had sort of alluded to the fact that they knew that there were four units in this building.
Community members also acknowledged during the meeting that the property is uniquely situated
compared to others that have been reviewed in the past, given the significant multifamily uses on the block.
This is also validated by the RCO's letter that was submitted to this board,
which acknowledges that the neighbors were not opposed to the multifamily request.
So, as a result, we were quite caught off guard when the letter was sent last week, and I know my colleague here will certainly give his perspective on it as well.
Now, admittedly, there were concerns raised regarding the first floor commercial tenant, which is currently occupied by a mummers group for their office space.
That is being addressed by my client and is not subject to today's request.
As a result, we would, with complete respect to Pennsport and to the board, we would respectfully
request that the board assign appropriate weight to the letter in light of the evidence
presented today, and especially since it does conflict with the stated view of many members
of the community in attendance that they were not opposed to the multifamily, which is ultimately
the request before the board today.
At this point, I would ask if the administrator could locate my client, Kirk Shepard, and ask for him to be promoted.
Kirk Shepard has been promoted to panelists.
Could you put the drawings up again?
Oh, the floor plans, yes.
Can you guys hear me? Can you guys see me?
can't see you I don't see there you go all right all right could you please state your name is
spelled for the stenographer yes my name is Kirk Sheppard k-i-r-k Sheppard s-h-e-p-p-a-r-d
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
I do yes sir counsel Kirk have you heard all of the testimony and evidence that I offered in front
of the board today yes uh do you agree that testimony was true and accurate and would you
adopt it as if you had given it yourself yes is there anything in particular uh you feel
compelled to add before we conclude and turn it over for questions uh not at this time thank you
okay um questions from the board yes what's the square feet for the studios the studios
are the second floor is 320 square feet and the third floor is just about 300 square feet
that third floor is a little tight you think i mean for two minutes i mean i'm just curious i
mean i'm not disagreeing what did but yeah it's a little tight i i mean with with respect you
know there are there are and have always been tenants uh living in there um you know i think
people need we didn't even put electric up there i mean we only had one meter right up to 25
why the the meter the electricity was just paid uh in common sure yeah um but i you know again
there there are very happy tenants here i i you know i i believe that the smaller unit that you
are identifying uh is a is a um single older adult that you know the space is exactly what
they need and i think you know they're having some flexible unit sizes is is really beneficial
I know that the RCO is going to come on. What do you think happens?
I will leave it to Patrick to share. I mean, again, I think from my perspective, they don't want to create a precedent.
And I fully understand that. But this is a unique property. It is on a multifamily block.
You know, folks were not opposed to this, and they seem to understand that it's always been four units.
So I think there was maybe some distraction because of the commercial space.
If I had to write other questions from the board.
Questions or comments from our attorney.
None at this time.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience.
I see no hands at this time, too.
What's that?
She said she saw no hands.
Come on.
i swear you in one time today earlier earlier today so actually that was a long time ago right
earlier today so actually that was a long time ago right there was one in the morning and there's one
there was one in the morning and there's one now
now get around just for the record please state your name sure uh patrick fitzmaurice p-a-t-r-i-c-k
f-i-t-z-m-a-u-r-i-c and i've already swore you in so please start your testimony yes um good
afternoon board my name is pat this is your document too right dude yes i authored that on behalf of
the board and then it was approved by our board all right thank you so i'm the president of the rco
So as you noted, you already received our letter.
It's a little lengthy, but I think it tries to encapsulate where we came down on this
and what was under consideration.
So I don't want to waste time reiterating it.
I just kind of wanted to respond to some of the things that were said earlier.
The first thing is I wanted to make sure, you know,
my understanding is that this is owned by an LLC or a business.
Maybe I'm mistaken, but I just wanted to note that, you know,
references to the the owner and you know his mother who's passed away that's not entirely
accurate this is an investment property owned by a business um the other thing i would want to note
is you know there was a couple comments about surprise here um the applicant didn't say that
anything in our letter was inaccurate um and the points that were raised in the letter were raised
at the meeting um so i'm not really sure where the surprise comes from um i would want to comment
that while the neighbors that were in attendance conveyed they did not oppose a request for the
apartments, the overwhelming focus was derailed to discussing the first floor. So in my experience,
what happened here was the neighbors were more akin to saying, we don't really care about the
apartments. What we really want to talk about is the first floor, which I can appreciate is not
before the board today. I've lived in Pennsport and the adjacent neighborhood Whitman my entire
life. I'm not aware of any building that approaches the level of density that's being asked for this
three-story row home the applicant talked about a number of the surrounding
buildings to my knowledge they're all triplexes they're not five uses that are
being asked to be in three floors the applicant noted that the apartments are
currently occupied as I noted in our letter I would respectfully say the
zoning code doesn't contemplate an advantage or a presumption because an
owner illegally operates multi-families there. I listened pretty intently to the entire presentation
trying to hear what the hardship here is. I think I heard an attempt at two. The first I heard was
that this was never a single family and has had tenants. I agree. It's a multi-family. All the
other places that are around that are multi-families, but they're triplexes, three uses on three floors,
not five uses on three floors. The other potential hardship I heard was that it would cost this
business too much to comply with the law. I respectfully disagree that it's a hardship.
We've had a number of presentations in Pennsport over the time that I've been on the board.
We often hear this, that someone either can't rent something out and make a profit or that
they can't sustain the loss. Our board has taken the position that that's not a hardship. You can't
just circumvent the zoning code because you made a bad investment or your investment's not going to
pan out the way you thought it would um the only other thing is like i said um i would just note
that this is like the applicant said it's already a multi-family with two units upstairs up top um
so to now allow this to be four units just opens the door for every place that she's talked about
and that she has up on this map
to then come into us and say,
well, now I should have four units
and I should have four units
and why not five units?
And I don't understand where to draw the line
other than say what we've traditionally said,
which is if you want to have a triplex on three floors,
let's have a talk about that,
but certainly not five uses on three floors.
I mean, that's egregious.
So thank you.
Meredith, do you have any questions?
No questions, but I'm happy to respond.
Okay, is there anyone else going to testify?
Hi, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Sure, Ryan Fraschella, last name F-R-A-S-C-E-L-L-A.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
And are you a neighbor?
Please proceed.
live across the street. Um, so I'll let Pat's testimony comments, um, stand for themselves.
And really the only point that I want to hammer home here is the opposition to the density,
just the pure density of what this is asking for. As Pat mentioned, you know, five uses in a three
story building is a lot. I mean, we walked the neighborhood and by our estimation, this would
hood and by our estimation this would be one of the densest parcels in pensport i mean there are
be one of the densest
not many others where you can point to five uses on one parcel and so today my comments i just you
know were opposed to the density thank you i do i do have a brief question for him
so you mentioned that you live across the street is that right were you aware that there were
four apartments in this property yes um and how long have you been aware of that
probably five years that's that's a half right thank you thank you
yeah you wanted to respond yeah anyone else in the virtual audience
but just just very briefly um
It's extremely common, even when somebody inherits a property that they own it in an LLC for protection that does not change the fact that Kirk inherited this property from his mom.
So I I did want to just correct that the other thing I wanted to to clarify is that I I think my colleague here alluded to the fact that this is 2 units being converted to 4.
and that is not the case that we have presented to the board nor is it consistent with what we have
shown the board in terms of photographs and this board has recognized in many of these similar
cases that a hardship does result when somebody either inherits a property or purchases a property
in a condition that is not to their own creation and as i mentioned kurt has lived in japan for
about 20 years now um so you know the the conditions of this property that he has inherited
are in no way to his own doing he is here voluntarily as i said there are no violations
on this property uh and he is simply trying to ensure that the permits are consistent that rental
licenses are up to date and that the certificate of occupancy reflects the actual physical
conditions of the property uh and as you heard from from the neighbor even they were aware that
was four units here okay good job yeah thank you um planning
amy boy with the planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change in
zoning at this location from the current cmx1 commercial mixed use the city rezoned this
neighborhood in 1999 in a council supported map change the property has a documented history of
two dwelling units and a commercial use they requested four dwelling units would constitute
an overuse of the property the planning commission recommends that the board grant the request
adherence for multi-family but with max two units um council i'm going to take this under
consideration we'll vote next wednesday at 9 30 a.m i just want to make sure i talk to all the
board members and we see where we are noted okay thank you mr chairman i just want to put on the
record that the records closed oh thank you the records closing well you know we're except for
the vote we're going to vote that's noted thank you um we have the 3 30 list could we take
a four and a half minute break
i was last again a four and a half minute four and a half minute break please
Bill? Thanks, Bill. Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Bill Bergman. I am chairing this
meeting for the Zoning Board of Adjustment. With me is our Vice Chair, Tanetta Graham.
President, Mr. Chairman. Board Secretary, Cheryl L. Gaston. President, Mr. Chairman. Board Member,
Ryan McAdams. President, Mr. Chairman. Board Member, Leila Beebe, who was our newest board
member and doing a wonderful job, and I think she's having a good time today personally,
but that's besides the point also president our sorry attorney lynn royer uber also um our zba
director ian haggerty our board administrator lakeisha dandy this hearing is being recorded
and will be posted on the zba website by participating you can you you consent to be
recorded this is an in-person meeting with remote participation whether in in
person or on zoom if you're called to speak please state and spell your name
wait to be sworn in and after that each time you testify please state your name
to enter an appearance statement indicate the property address on the
zoom webinar speak with a staff member call the zba office by close of business tomorrow
call 215-669-2429 and please leave your name email
2429, and please leave your name, email, and the case address.
Remote participation.
Raise your virtual hand when directed so that we can call you to speak.
Before you speak, make sure you click the button, join as a panelist.
Use the Q&A for procedural questions only, not questions about the eventual cases.
If you are joining by phone, press star nine to raise your hand and star six to unmute.
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The main exit is through the double doors at the rear, and the stairwell is to the left.
If we evacuate, please go to Love Park, which is directly across the street, and remain there so we can account for you.
So let's look at our cases that we have this afternoon.
Number one, MI 2023-002-607, 3836 North 17th Street, that case is continued to August 19th at 3.30 p.m., right?
Actually, we're going to hear it?
Well, no, no.
In this one, the case of MI-2023-00267 is actually a duplicate case.
It's a what?
It's a duplicate case.
The 23 is a duplicate case.
The other matter, MI-2025-006634, was continued from April 22nd and was announced to be heard today but didn't get added to the calendar.
So that this appeal, the MI-2023-002607, can be dismissed.
But the newer appeal, the one that's MI-2025-006634, will be rescheduled to August 19th, 2026 at 3.30 p.m.
And it must be.
Oh, thank you very much for doing all of it.
All right.
All right.
Sean, Sean, are you here, Mr. Ward?
Yes, Chair.
I'm going to allow Sean Ward to speak.
the other one i am here mr chair i'm mr ward could you please state your name and spell for
the stenographer john s-h-a-w-n ward w-a-r-d 34 applicant do you swear or affirm to tell the
truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i most certainly do you heard what our council said uh
Where do you stand with this case?
Yeah, I am fine.
There are duplicate appeals filed on this matter.
I'm not sure why that occurred.
I filed the original appeal, and then I was provided with a refusal for the second application, which was refused.
However, I would ask that a later date be given or this be a turning moving party because I need to schedule.
I mean, here we're in July, and you're scheduling after August.
I still need to meet with the RCO.
So I don't know. I don't know that I can get that in before the August listing.
So, counsel, this is Lynn Riedelhuber, board counsel. You're okay with the 2023 case being dismissed?
Yeah, I had sent a email or a request in the past that they be consolidated. And so a dismissal of one.
All right. Let's start with that. MI 2023-002-607-3336, North 17th Street. That case has been withdrawn, right? And the next one will make attorney moving parties?
Yeah, that would be great.
All right. So MI 2025-006-634-3336, North 17th Street. Cases continue to turn a moving party.
and mr chair do i see the karima is back who karima cantana isn't she uh
no no oh okay uh a different a different thing okay thank you thank you thank you for all right
she she never
All right. Number two, MI 2026-000449, 1233 South 58th Street.
No exhibits, first listing. Herman Newsome is the...
No exhibits. First listing. Herman Newsome is the listed owner. And also Daniel Davis is the listed applicant. We don't have any. Why don't you take a seat? Okay. Why don't you get close to the mic. All right. Turn on mic. Is mic on?
All right, great.
First of all, could you state your name and spell it for the stenographer?
Yes, Daniel Davis, D-A-N.
You've got to get closer.
There you go.
How was that?
Oh, shoot.
Real loud.
Go ahead.
Daniel Davis, D-A-N-I-E-L-D-A-V-I-S.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Mr. Davis, have you sent your documents in?
It should have been sent in.
i was not in charge of sending them in but they should have been sent we we we don't have any
documents okay i do have some of the documents with um no so what what we do is we need all of
them right and um uh let me see here right we would need all of them here's it here's in
yep all right okay
all right so mi2026 0004491233 south 50 a street this case is continued to 8 19 26 at 3 30 p.m
now we go to number four
number four mi 2026 001 551 6841 oxford avenue um jen faria is freya mata is the tenant
pro se
jean mata has been promoted to panelists thank you
hello good afternoon could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
my name is gene ferra mota j-e-a-n-f-e-r-r-e-i-r-a-m-o-t-t-a all right do you swear or affirm
to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth I do sir gene our
our vice chair has just a few questions for you of course hi good good
afternoon have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in
advance of this hearing yes ma'am okay and I'm gonna summarize why you're here
and you just let me know if you agree so you're here for some deck issues
walkout deck and a roof deck yes ma'am okay trying to legalize it all right and uh your refusal
was of course uh for the location of the deck and um not um not having any setbacks do you agree to
that um yeah yes ma'am okay all right so you can uh start your presentation and tell us what you're
trying to do and why you're here of course um so i'm tenant but the homeowner is my mother you know
So what had happened is it was constructed four years ago and we had a meeting with all the neighbors.
We went through to our CEO meeting and everybody showed immense support and all the neighbors.
To be honest, I mean, this is not I'm very illiterate when it comes to cold and everything.
And I work with cars, you know, I'm a triple A guy.
I do roadside. So it was my mother's dream at the time to have a deck.
And, you know, it's been there for four years.
Unfortunately, my grandma passed and my mother's not here with us.
I do have a power of attorney on her name, giving powers to me and also will and also the lease.
That's why I'm doing it here.
I grew up in this home.
We've been I've been here for 20 years.
You know, just little things in life has been thrown at me.
And I'm trying to do the best I can to be in compliance, to be honest.
Do you have pictures of the deck?
Yes, of course.
sir why don't you take your put your computer up put the pictures on it and then you can show us
and we can start talking okay okay yes sir um let me see here
um let me see here are you able to see my screen not yet okay
let's share this
screen it's coming up right now sir thank you all right
so here is the packet we have and everything we set so the pictures of the actual deck would be
at the end of our packet so that's a was it what was that we just saw this is the deck itself okay
all right so that's the deck right yep here's another angle of it all right let me let me ask
this are there other decks on that block oh yes there's one right next to it i actually took a
few pictures of decks of course so bear with me here let me lower this
so this is the notice um the decks that you've asked for there's actually my neighbor has one
too but these are similar decks on on the same you know street and on the other street adjacent
like close to mine and let me see here that's another one um that's another one
so this is one I I like I said I don't really understand I don't know if this is a deck or not
but it's um so I should have a picture of my deck next to my neighbors depending on the angle let
see if i could see it on the packet yeah
how long ago you put the deck up it's been there for about four years
so if you see here on on this image of my deck right next to it a little bit further is a deck two
and a contractor did it for you so at the time you know my uncle which is my mother's brother
he's a welder in a in the country uh carpenter by trade so from what i understand is they
misunderstood that you know it's from from what i understood something about the owner
owners could build a deck at a time because you know the deed is under my mother's name
and she's just as illiterate as I am so on code and everything like that so
we're trying our best you know to come into compliance right okay so how did you find out
about this and I gave you a violation yes they they gave us a violation four years later after
did that um yeah exactly sir okay questions from the board
the rco meeting how did rco meeting go it was actually wonderful he actually even stated that
uh a lot of the neighbors showed up for support which is is a great thing he said usually he
doesn't see as much folks uh denise which is my neighbor right next to me you know she basically
calls me son and he actually you know thought it was my mother and you know everybody really
supported and i was happy about that to be honest thank you all the questions
so from these pictures the support or just the two um polls that i'm seeing here yeah
i'm sorry i didn't understand man no i mean the support system for this
thick it's the two is that just two poles that i'm seeing here yeah it's um so it's up to the
standard it's a it's a fairly thick eight by eight which for the size of it it's you know
yeah yeah okay well the the good thing about it is it does not have what what is that on it is that
a it's just the coverings of some sort it's not a roof correct it's it's not an enclosed structure
so it's it you know it's more for shade um i'm just telling you
I mean, just telling you the rules, since this has already been done, okay.
Decks are not supposed to have either a permanently affixed roof or stairs.
So you're okay about the stairs, but that looks like a permanently affixed kind of roof system, correct?
yes ma'am i apologize all right any other questions from the board
um we've been through this before we can get co's for decks even though it's a
if it's attached to the house
building permit okay
council anything else no just that oh yeah should have a proviso at their point okay
questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see no hands at this time chair planning commission
amy boy with the planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change in
zoning at this location to the existing rsa3 residential single family the proposed deviation
from the roof deck requirements will have minimal impact on surrounding properties
the planning commission recommends that the board grant the requested variance for a roof deck setback
Okay. Thank you. MI 2026-001-551-6841 Oxford Avenue. I vote yes with proviso. CO and building permit to be obtained.
Thank you so much, sir.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with provisos.
Tanita Graham, my vote is yes with provisos.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes with provisos.
Layla Bibi, my vote is yes with provisos.
Sir, you have your votes.
Thank you so much, sir.
All right, thank you.
Number three, MI 2026, 000456, 1803 South 17th Street.
Eric Carroll is the attorney.
Eric Carroll will be joining us as a panelist.
good afternoon board good afternoon i i think i swore you early this morning right i was here
on a matter that has to be continuing on the two o'clock but i think you did get sworn in am i
correct yes okay just for the record state your name eric eric carol c-a-r-r-o-l-l can you um
identify your client the relationship to this property yes uh anthony barbudo should be on the
zoom uh he's one of the two owners of the property along with his sister-in-law okay our vice chair
has a few questions good afternoon have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days
in advance of this hearing i have and do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its
accuracy i do okay thank you can share your screen and proceed with your case thank you
Okay, this appeal is regarding the property 1803 South 17th Street.
That is a two-story residential building in Point Breeze, the corner of 17th and Moore.
This property has, for decades, been rented as two units.
One unit on the first floor, one unit on the second floor.
My client's property manager recently discovered that the property is, in fact, zone CMX2, which would require the first floor to have some sort of a commercial use.
My clients submitted a use application to change that and basically bring the longstanding existing use of this property to be legal.
This is a photo of the front of the property, as you can see.
there's the first floor that is one rental unit the second floor is a second rental unit there
is a basement which is for mechanicals and the first floor tenant does have access to the basement
for storage you can also see the zoning poster posted there another angle it's a little unusual
that this property is zoned cmx2 because it's not a corner property this property to the left in the
photo is a corner property and that has a child care group child care center on the first floor
And that has a group child care center on the first floor and then residential units above.
and then residential.
This whole block is mostly a mix of single families and multifamilies.
The multifamilies are two to three units, depending on the number of floors.
It's a mix of two-story buildings where there's two units and three-story buildings where there's three units.
Close-up of the zoning poster.
A picture from the rear yard.
um these are pictures of the of the one of the units on the interior each unit is basically uh
one bedroom a living room and a kitchen uh the two tenants on on each unit have been there for
for many years and they they do not want to leave my client has despite the zoning my client has
you know long-standing rental property certificate of rental suitability for these two units
this is the appeal that was filed again the hardship is that this is a we're just trying
to legalize the existing use it's been two units for for for many decades and it's would be
unreasonable to then kick out the first floor tenant convert it to commercial especially
because it's not it's not a corner property it's a property in and closer to the middle of the block
This is the deed showing that my client, Anthony Barbudo, and his sister-in-law, Kathleen,
own the property.
On June 22nd, we met with the Point Breeze Community Development Coalition.
Ten people attended.
We gave our presentation.
Only two people of those ten voted, but they voted two to zero in support of our appeal.
So try to obtain a tax clearance, but the system would not print out the actual certificate.
But you can see tax clearance passed, zero balance on the real estate taxes.
This is the notice that was sent out to the neighbors about the June 22nd meeting, and the certificate of mailing was included.
So, again, this should be a very simple appeal in the sense that we're just asking for a
variance to allow two-unit residential use as opposed to having to have a ground floor
commercial use.
And I'll be happy to answer any questions.
Why don't you bring one of your clients and have your testimony adopted?
Anthony, could you please raise your hand?
Anthony B has been promoted to panelists uh good afternoon Mr. Barbrito uh what is your phone name
and let me let me talk to him first okay oh sure yeah could you please state your name is spelled
for the stenographer
okay uh i got me yeah yes sir could you please state your name and spelled for this stenographer
it's anthony barbuto a-n-t-h-o-n-y b-a-r-b-u-t-o do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole
truth nothing but the truth i do okay anthony could you turn on your video if possible and
and counsel just start your questions when you can
how do you do that i'm not sure well that's okay you don't have to do it if you okay we're fine
uh anthony were you present on the zoom when i gave the presentation regarding your property
1803 south 17th street yes i was was everything i said truthful and accurate yes it was would you
adopt my testimony as your own yes thank you questions from the board
i saw that uh hi um so is there is there a rear yard to the property
yes there is okay and the first floor has access to the rear yard that's correct
is there um i mean it's a small it's a typical south philly backyard but it's there is one okay
is it is it large enough for a trash can uh yes yes it is um would your client be um amenable to
having uh some trash stored in the rear for the first unit and interior trash for the second unit
instead of it being on the porch um i think i mean that that that is a directive we could absolutely
give yes i'm not sure if this was trash day or not in the photo but
is the trash normally stored on the porch i guess that's trying i don't think right
I don't think it's not supposed to be yet. Well, it's not good if, you know, folks want to sit out on their porch, especially in the warm weather. So, um, yeah, I would like to provide so that.
it's not supposed to be yeah well it's not good if you know
Okay. Um, other questions.
Questions or comments from our attorney? No, not this time. Questions or comments from the audience?
I see no hands at this time, chair.
come on you've been sitting there an awful long time
someone's coming up to testify counsel
hi could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer my name is trina cuff
um the spelling is t-r-i-n-a-c-u-f-f you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and
nothing but the truth yes are you a neighbor I know I'm a resident of that property yes I live
on the second floor please give us your testimony um I've lived here for roughly about 13 years
and to mention about the the trash everyone on that block puts their trash on the porch I don't
know it must be a she may go down and change it all the South Philly thing she might go down and
change it all i grew up in south jersey we didn't do that but when i moved there i was like oh this
is what we're supposed to do yeah i mean the whole block does that but um i think it would be
unreasonable um to turn the first floor into a commercial property because we are not on the
corner we are right next to the corner and um there's already a lot of commercial stuff going on
directly across the street around the corner right next door and a block away so so you you like where you are definitely well you know what thank you so much for coming it was very and I watch you sit back here for an awful long time and really wouldn't want to thank you okay thank you is there anyone else who would like to testify
i see no hands at this time chair planning commission amy war with the planning commission
the comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning at this location from the current cmx to
commercial mixed use to rsa 5 residential single family the requirement for active ground floor
would not be applicable under the proposed zoning and the request for residential ground floor is
more in harmony with the spirit of the zoning code and with the block which is residential
the planning commission recommends that the board grant the requested variance for ground floor use
thank you mi 2025 000 456 1803 south 17th street i vote yes with proviso first floor trash stored
and rear yard second floor trash stored inside cheryl gaston my vote is yes with provisos
tenetta graham my vote is yes with proviso ryan mcadams my vote is yes with proviso
playla bibi my vote is yes with proviso um thank you thank you is there anyone left
in the uh 330 list whose case has not been called
I see no hands at this time chair
we're in Ian Haggerty's time schedule with way ahead and I appreciate all the work everybody
did today and I think when you add in all the add-ins we took care of we took care of a lot
of cases so thank you all and and lynn thank you well we always say hillary but you know
and um and um do you want to give us comments on your first real day