Good morning, everyone, and we'll give Ms. Sunkett a few minutes if she needs.
Yes, Chair, they're coming in now.
Before we open up the hearings. Thank you.
Hi, I'm Pauline.
Yes, Tanya.
Could you make Fatina L. a co-host, please?
She'll be facilitating the hearings today.
Sure, doing so now.
Thank you.
Let me just make sure everybody is, should be everybody from the CBA staff.
Is that good, Tanya?
That's perfect.
Thank you kindly.
okay chair looks like we're ready to go thank you thank you again good morning everyone my name is
frank t chico i'm the chair of the zoning board of adjustment i'll be participating in today's
hearing along with our vice chair ms carol tenere board secretary confessor plaza and board members
Mr. Thomas Holloman and Mr. James Snell. Board Administrator Ms. Tanya Sunkit and Board Attorney
Ms. Sharon Saleta are also in attendance. For those of you who haven't yet participated in
one of our virtual hearings, I'll go through some of the basics of what you can expect.
First, we will be administering oaths to individual participants prior to their testimony.
Second, we'd like to advise everyone that this proceeding is being recorded
and that by participating, you acknowledge your agreement to be recorded.
Third, for anyone participating by phone, if you wish to testify,
you must raise your hand by hitting star 9 and then star 6 to unmute yourself.
I'll repeat.
For anyone participating by phone, if you wish to testify,
you must raise your hand by hitting star 9 and then star 6 to unmute yourself.
Finally, to enter an appearance statement, call Google 267-270-5548 and leave your email address and the address of the property at issue.
I'll repeat, to enter an appearance statement, call Google 267-270-5548 and leave your email address and the address of the property at issue.
before vice chair tenere calls our first case we'd like to ask if there's anyone requesting
a continuance or withdrawal so please raise your hand at this time and i think i went out of order
um i did go out of order didn't i
i'm going to read the continuance list uh that we have so far and if anyone objects to the
announced continuance uh continuance being granted please raise your hand first continuing case
is number six on our list mi 2020-001574 2500 north 31st street
MI 2020-001567, 5108 Haverford Avenue, MI 2020-001568, 5039 Worth Street,
and MI 2020-0015607810-20 Algon Avenue. If anyone objects, please raise your hand to
of those continuances that have just been read
into the record.
Chair, we have Elton Dos Santos with the hand raised.
Good morning.
Mr. Santos, you're free to speak, please unmute yourself.
we can move on hey anyone else request for continuance or withdrawal we have Celeste Hardister
Ms Hardister you're free to speak good morning ma'am please identify yourself
for the record name and address spell your name for us please my name is celeste c-e-l-e-s-t-e
hardister h-a-r-d-e-s-t-e-r 368 green lane philadelphia i'm the president of the central
roxburgh civic association uh i did not hear you swear and do you swear and affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do there yes what case are you calling records
to mi2020-001562 279 grape street uh they have not presented to the rco yet
grape street i have excuse me this is sharon's
this is sharon sledder we also have no exhibits on that case yes they requested a call the app
i haven't the continued case yes they requested it is the first continuance
um i'm not even sure okay mi 2020-001562 279 grape street is continued anyone else
there are no more hands here
okay um
carol i'll call it that's the this is the add-on case
okay mi 2020-001832 2215-19 north 7th street i believe the attorney is mr jinn
he's been promoted to panelists thank you good morning mr jinn please identify yourself for the
record i'll swear you in good morning uh zen jinn z-h-e-n-k-i-n 1617 john f kennedy boulevard
suite 1838 philadelphia pa 19103 here on behalf of the applicant we're in a firm to tell the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the truth. I do. Thank you. I'm sorry. Can I just ask one
question? Mr. Zinjin, do you have your volume up on your device? The microphone may not be
close enough. Let me adjust this way. Is that better? That sounds great. Thank you kindly.
Thank you. Yes, I do swear and affirm. Thank you. This is a follow-up to a previous hearing,
correct? That's correct. Please proceed. Thank you. I'm going to go ahead and share
the screen. We basically had this full hearing with the board about a week ago and the main
issue is that during our presentation we have plans that are revised. Is this coming, is my
shared screen coming over? Yes. Okay, great. I don't know why it's not jumping to the
page, but let me go ahead and do it manually.
So when we discussed the case with the board, one key item is that one of the units originally
proposed for residential will be set aside as a commercial unit per our agreement with the
City Council President's Office. So we have revised the plan to provide it to the board
for reference, and we would ask that if the board makes a favorable decision to include this page
of the plan, the floor plan, as revised plan and be stamped, this way my client would be able to
proceed to L&I with the plans and move forward if there's an approval. Thank you. Any questions from
the board? No. Anyone else to testify in this case, please raise your hand.
there are no hands here thank you planning commission
good morning david fecteau f-e-c-t-e-a-u with the city planning commission thank you david
you swear and affirm or tell the you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth yes sir i do please proceed good morning mr chairman and members of the board
while this law is designated for multi-family residential in the comprehensive plan
it is zoned commercial mixed use the council office has recently spoken with area residents
and believes that additional residential development in the area will create a need
for more commerce in support of those efforts at acknowledging the addition of the ground
floor commercial space the staff the planning commission supports the granting of the requested
variants. Thank you. MI 2020-001832, 2215-19 North 7th Street. My vote is yes with the following
proviso. Ground floor professional office as per revised plan, one page approved today.
Yes with proviso. Yes with proviso. Yes with proviso.
up. Thank you. Calendar number 1564. I'm sorry if I could interject again as always.
There are a couple people who had technical problems getting on
and they're requesting continuances. Would you allow them? Yep very good thank you.
Rachel I believe is one. Rachel you can speak to your continuance.
thank you so much tanya um rachel r-a-c-h-a-e-l pritzker p-r-i-t-z-k-e-r 1635 market street suite
1600 philadelphia pa 1910 this is miss pritzker do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole
truth and nothing but the truth yes please proceed um i would like to request a continuance for 43
29 dexter street also known as 279 grape street that uh was continued okay i just was having
trouble with my computer and just wanted to make sure you know as the attorney no worries thank
you thank you so much thank you anyone else
we have one handshake
we have um a request from um elton i'm sorry for tina um request for hermitage street
if you could open up his mic he was the one that was having difficulty with this audio
number 10 on our sheet this person says media account um would you unmute yourself and state
who you are yes hi my name is elton dos santos i'm the owner for 487 hermitage street
Mr. Santos, excuse me, would you please spell your first and last name?
Sure. First name is spelled E-L-T-O-N. Last name is spelled Silva Dos Santos. S-I-L-V-A space D-O-S space S-A-N-T-O-S.
Thank you. And you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Thank you. Please proceed.
Yes. I'm requesting a continuance for 487 Hermitage Street. We had 28 people attend our area meeting on October 1st, and three of our adjacent neighbors approved our plans for the house.
You're asking for a continuance, correct?
All right. Any objection to the continuance?
this is yes this is sharon sletta i'm confused sean ryan i've been in touch with your i believe
your architect sean ryan that's correct who told me that you were planning to go forward today we
have the materials we need you want the hearing continued and not heard today is that correct
because i thought you were prepared to go forward oh yes i am prepared to go forward sorry it's my
first time doing this and also using it's my third time using zoom so yes we'll hear the case
okay um having a continuance would mean that you are given a new hearing date in a few months
but we're ready to go forward today okay thank you yeah we would like to go forward sorry about
yeah we would like to go forward sorry about that okay and i'm sorry if i could just add to make
that okay and i'm sorry if i
sure sir that you're going to present not your architect okay yes that is correct thank you
kindly thank you anyone else i see no more handshare okay thank you i think we're about ready
to go am i correct okay before you go carol hold on one minute i just like to remind everyone
please do not attempt to testify in the chat. Any comments directed to the board should be directed
to the board administrator, Ms. Tanya Sumpkin. Okay, Carol. And if one more thing, one more
housekeeping thing. Is it okay, Chair, if you announce the case that we want to go last? Yes.
that number five, right? 2116 West Tioga. We're going to go out of order. That case will be
heard at the end of the last case in this morning session. Thank you. Thank you. Ready? Ready to
roll? Yes. Okay. Calendar number 1564 1010-12 West Kelowna Street. Yes. Good morning.
Good morning. Can you put your name and address on the record, please, and spell your last name?
Yes. Zin Jin, Z-H-E-N-J-I-N, 1617 John F. Kennedy Boulevard, Suite 1838, Philadelphia PA 19103, here on behalf of the applicant.
And do you swear in a firm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Do you also agree to wait the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
And have you mailed an exhibit packet with the required documents, including proof of ownership, tax compliance, refusal referral, photos, and or plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing?
And finally, have you met with the RCO, and do you have a letter?
Yes, to all questions.
Okay, you may proceed.
Thank you.
Thank you for the accommodation.
I do appreciate it.
I will go ahead and share the information with the board relating to this case.
I have before submitted the refusal community letter from the 37th Ward RCO, photos, plans,
tax compliance deed, application, the PIF form, and the hearing notice related to this case.
This application is refused because we are seeking a residential use of the lot that
is zoned in a I-2 with a NCP subarea C overlay.
However, the refusals are primarily because we are looking for residential use in an I-2
district and that normally I-2 district would require a parking spot.
In this case, we met with the community and obtained a letter of support for our application.
And I want to point out the hardship here really relates to the location of the lot
and how it relates to the I-2 zoning district.
As you can see in the photograph here, we have what is essentially abandoned residential use on the one side and active residential use on the other side.
These are actually zoned RM1, residential multifamily.
So our proposed use is pretty much consistent to what is in the area, even though the lots are zoned I2.
Now, across the street, Philabundance just built a structure which is consistent with I2 use.
However, our lot, based on the location, the small street, it just doesn't make a lot of sense to push for an industrial use here.
So what my client proposed is residential structures, two of them, because we actually have two lots to be used as multifamily.
and as you can see from the application they're to be used as two family dwellings so it's two
duplexes on the one on each lot it's 1010 and 1012 they're actually about the right size for
residential buildings the width of the lots actually fits the purpose that we're seeking
as you can see the two lots together each would end up about 15 feet wide they have about
390 square foot of rear yard for each, and the structures will be fitting between the
back of the existing multifamily and the current abandoned residential multifamily.
The layout is two units, one unit on each floor, I'm sorry, one unit is first floor
and basement, and the second unit would be the second floor and the third floor.
The height and structure of the buildings are not outside of what is normed in that area and we would ask the board for favorable consideration in this matter.
and we would ask the board for favorable consideration in this matter. I'm going to
zoom out a little bit so it's easier to see the plan layout. There is a proposed roof deck for
this upper unit and the first floor unit has access to the rear yard as well. So we have the
first floor unit which has the access to the rear and the second and third floor unit. The second
unit has access to the roof deck so trash storage would not be an issue in this case since this is
do play. I'm certainly happy to answer any questions or show any other parts of the plan
the board would use. Could you slide that exhibit over a little bit that's it yeah and shrink it
slightly. Sure. So the plan is a three bedroom? Yes three bedroom or basement. What's the means
of ingress and egress from the basement um according to the plans i only see the um the
stairs that would lead up to the main floor as well as uh egress windows front and back
any questions from the board no
Anyone else would like to testify in this case, please raise your hand.
Chair, we have Rob Cashin.
Good morning, sir.
Please identify yourself with a record, spell your first and last name and provide us with your address.
Yes, hello, my name is Rob Cashin, C-A-S-H-I-O-N.
my address is 1013 west susquehanna
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do please proceed sir i um i have the property that's in the backyard um to this property
and i want to say i'm excited that the building is going to be built and is residential um i also
have restored the building that i'm in the only question i have is if there's i don't have any
parking and phil abundance is now going to have 55 customers some of them will have cars there's
so much room in the backyard of my yard and this house backyard instead of always lining it up in
the front why can't the homes be pushed back so that there's room to have a parking space a tree
garbage cans in the front instead of everything lined up now. It's hard to store garbage
in row houses and there's no parking coming soon the more the area starts to rebuild.
I'm not suggesting it can't be done but that certainly would require a complete
redrawing of the plan. It would also trigger further variances. Off-street parking and other
variant yep yeah because the front access along with the setback requirements uh it would actually
make it a much greater variance than what it is now and i think we'd rather see the trash stored
in the rear as opposed to the front all right okay any other questions anyone else