okay and what year did you move into the property 2004 okay and how do you still
live there today yes sir okay um and all right i just wanted to confirm your address that's it
no other questions all right um i would like to call mr willie gardner i have a question how long
has this business not been operating? Since 2014, but this case started in 2015, believe it or not.
Again, this is Sharon Saleta. And just to again restate that this, the court determined that this
is a non-conforming use that would be permitted to continue unless it is a nuisance and that's
the issue that we're considering thank you mr gardner can you put your first and last name on
the record and then give us your current address yes my name is willie gardner i live at 2101 south
South 61st Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19142-2404.
And you've lived there since 2015, correct?
And prior to that, what was your address?
2101 South 61st Street.
You had told me that you lived at 6538 Raynard Street?
I thought you met both addresses together.
there. No, no, no, no, no. Because I know that you've lived at the current address for four
years, but prior to that, you lived a block away from 2008 to 2015, correct? Yes. And when you
lived at the other address, you were only approximately about a block away from the
operation of this automotive business, correct? Yes, it's a block away, a block over, yes. Okay,
great. And during the time you lived there, would you, you've observed this business, you would walk
by it you would pass by it it was in your community correct yes ma'am it was okay and would you
consider this this business to have been a nuisance to your community no no no it was a very
good helpful thing because i mean because like you had a vehicle you could always get your car fixed
so i don't see any problem with it great so you would support this business reopening correct
absolutely great that's all i have to ask mr katuzzi i have a question mr uh gardner are you
a tenant? Yes, sir. Okay. And at the other property you live, the block or so away, you were a tenant
there also? Yes, I was. Thank you. Mr. Katuzzi? Mr. Gardner, just a few brief questions. How did
Mr. Gardner, just a few brief questions. How did you find, how did you hear about today's hearing?
you find, how did you hear about today's...
Because I live across the street from him and his business is there. The guy who's got this
petition with the people that's saying his business is not referred to the community. And
he asked me would I represent him in some kind of, well, this dispute which is going on now. And I
I say, sure, because he's more of a help to me than any harm.
So I feel like I should be here to support him.
Okay. Is he a friend of yours?
Yeah, you can say that.
Did you ever observe vehicles being parked on the sidewalk?
No, not to my knowledge.
Did you ever see work being done outside on the streets or the sidewalk?
No. It was indoor business. I never saw it.
Did he ever talk to you about the fire in the building?
Unfortunately, I wasn't around then.
I might have been probably in the hospital then.
I wasn't around that much.
But the fire, when that did occur, I wasn't there.
Is that because you didn't live in the neighborhood at that point?
Yeah, I was in the neighborhood.
So do you remember the fire?
Do I remember it?
The exact day that it happened?
mm-hmm no i don't remember that because i wasn't exactly in that area on the next block i was but
i didn't know wasn't aware of it the fire until the next day then i knew okay um have you ever
seen trash or rubbage being stored throughout strewn or stored throughout the back of the
property no i've never seen that so you've never seen tires or used vehicle parts engine parts
strew in throughout the back of the property no okay all right no other questions sure
when did the fire occur march of 2014 thank you it's in the record so there was extensive
testimony about the fire in the previous hearings thank you i'm good i have one more
witness that i would like to call um mitchell can you come up
hi how are you guys doing today mitchell can you put your full name spelling both your first and
last name on the record as well as your current address uh my full name is mitchell too it's
spelled m-i-t-c-h-e-l-l last name is spelled t-u my current address is 2052 south 61st street
philadelphia pa19142 all right does mitchell need to be sworn in yes sir please i'm sorry
do you swear or if i'm going to tell the truth the whole truth nothing about the truth
Yes, sir.
And your address again?
It's 2052 South 61st Street.
You're a homeowner or a tenant?
I'm a tenant, sir.
Thank you.
And that you have lived, this is directly adjacent to the property in question, correct?
Yes, ma'am.
Great.
And you lived there when the automotive, since 2014, but when the business was still in operation, correct?
Yes, ma'am.
Great.
And when that business was in operation,
did you consider it a nuisance business?
No, ma'am.
Did you think it was detrimental to the community
or to yourself?
No, it was more helpful, I think.
It just brought kids and stuff around.
All right.
And so you would support the business reopening, correct?
Yes, I would.
All right.
That's honestly, that's my questions.
um again how do you know the owner of the property uh he was a uncle of mine okay um so
um have you known him you're are you close with your uncle not really it's just uh we talk here
and there okay and how did you find out about today's uh hearing uh saw um a zoning that was
happening and then me and him just happened to talk about it okay did he ask you to testify today
uh he just told me to come in and uh speak my opinion of what's happening that's all
okay um and were you offered any consideration like any type of money or anything any time
okay all right oh sorry didn't mean to cut you off no other questions um i just wanted to add
that i did um whether or not it was necessary i had posted the property with the hearing
information for today so um the neighbors would have saw it and if they did know the property
owners they they could have reached out to them so that's i just wanted to put that on the record
um uh the only other thing i would add is at our initial two hearings we had a police officer
testify um he is no longer available he as far as we know he had moved
he is no longer available. He, as far as we know, he had moved to Florida. We have tried to reach
out to him numerous times. He has not, he has not responded to our request, and we do not have the
power to subpoena someone in Florida. So I would just ask, this isn't our prior notes of testimony,
it's sworn testimony. I'm just going to, for the sake of not being argumentative, note we're in
notes of testimony his testimony was um which is um excuse me miss yeah this is noted in the
findings and conclusions is it not and the entire record from both prior hearings is incorporated
into the current records then i will not testify any further on this matter so those are my witnesses
i just wanted to have an opportunity as ordered by the court for our witnesses to testify about
the status of this property and whether they um considered it a nuisance since other neighbors
were allowed to testify that it was not it was a nuisance. And I believe that is all that is
necessary um if the board would like to discuss this case um perhaps an executive session next
week. Will do unless Mr. Cattuzzi has anything else to add. So so briefly um what I'd like to
do is I have just a few exhibits I'll run through them very quickly for the board uh just excuse me
are these exhibits that were submitted in either of the original hearing the last two hearings
um so they were um I would just show there there is just two documents two or three documents
there are aerial photographs I would just like to show the board that that would be new um
I think that goes beyond what the court order requires or permits
and i would object to any new evidence from opposing counsel as this was specifically
for my witnesses to testify sure all right so you have any witnesses mr katuzzi yes we do i do have
one witness uh miss marlene atkins who's on the line excuse me i believe did miss atkins not
testify in the original he did i believe she did i believe her testimony is noted in the findings
and conclusions and again the remand was the specific for the specific purpose of hearing
testimony from petitioners witnesses who have not yet testified exactly and those were the witnesses
that Ms. Basidlo presented I'm sorry Mr. Cattuzzi but we want to keep this understood understood so
I would just ask that the board just accept the legal argument that was submitted to it and in
this briefing on Monday and uh Councilman Johnson the submission of that brief as well because that
doesn't have part of the quarter order. We'll make it easy. This record is closed. The board
will be discussing a decision on this for next Wednesday's executive session. Thank you. Thank
you both. Thank you. Calendar number 0617 1610 South 12th Street.
I'm waiting for Mrs. O'Neill.
They're coming in now as a panelist.
Okay, thank you.
Hi, can you put your name and address on the record?
Good morning.
my address is 1835 market street suite 1400 philadelphia pa 19103 can you spell your last
name o apostrophe n e i l l do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing about the
truth i do do you agree to wait the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy
see? I do. Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, refusal
referral, photos, and plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing? And have you met
with the RCO? And do you have a letter? Yes, to all the above. Okay, you may proceed. Perfect. Thank
you. Members of the ward, I'm here today representing the owner of 1610 South 12th
Street. An outside picture of the property can be seen on my screen. This property is currently
zoned RSA 5. It is currently set up to be used as two separate spaces inside. You can see there's
you can see there's two entrances here um my clients can i interrupt you for a minute
two entrances here. My client's... Can I interrupt you for a minute?
is this a former dental office yes dr rain okay thank you sure um my clients purchased a property
in 2020 from a dentist as mr chair noted um he had been using that first floor for his dental
practice it is my clients want to change that first floor dental office and turn it into an
apartment for their own use. It's my understanding from speaking to my clients that this dental
practice was fairly busy, so we believe that our proposed use is going to be a decrease in the
density. My client's wife, Maida, is handicapped, and so they would like to have this first floor
home so that they won't have to, so that she won't have to use the stairs. And so our application
received a refusal because of the proposed two-family use. You can see it's got the two
separate utility meters. We did meet with the RCO, East Pass Yonk Crossing Civic Association,
on March 8th. We did receive their support both from the zoning committee and from the meeting
attendees. A copy of the letter of support was provided with our exhibit packet at page 13.
My client is available if the board has any specific questions for him,
but I would like to call him forward at this time.
Also, there's a letter of non-opposition
from Councilman Squilla.
Julian, if you could raise your hand.
Not seeing any hands raised at this time.
Ms. O'Neill will stipulate you being an officer of court
that your client would have adopted your testimony.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
any questions from the board no no no no anyone else like to testify in this case if so please
raise your hand no hand sir thank you planning commission good afternoon david effecto city
planning commission mr chairman members of the board the comprehensive plan recommends this
property for single family use we recommend the board approve the requested variants
thank you mi21 excuse me mi 2021 000 617 1610 south 12th street my vote is yes
my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes thank you very much
Calendar number 0620
1718 Fairmount Avenue
The attorney is Catherine Missimer
and she's coming in now as a panamist okay thank you
good afternoon name and address please and spell your last name and then i'll swear you in
It's Catherine Missimer, M-I-S-S-I-M-E-R, 1835 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19103.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Do you agree to wait the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
I do, although I have one note on the refusal.
We believe that there should have also been a refusal for open area.
we included that in our RCO notice and presented that to the neighbors as well.
Thank you. Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, refusal,
referral, photos, and plans five days in advance of this hearing? And have you met with the RCO?
And do you have a letter? Yes, to all the above. Okay, you may proceed. May I share my screen? Sure.
can you all see that very much so thank you thank you all i am here today on behalf of
zara and amed saeed they are the owners of mass general contracting llc which owns the property
at 1718 fairmount avenue uh before you see the neighborhood petition of support for their
proposal. They're proposing to preserve the beautiful historic facade here. When we get to
a photo of it, you will see that it actually has scroll work on the front of the face, including
the year of construction 1927. So it's a pretty unique feature that they're looking to preserve.