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