Who demolished the building?
I believe, you know what, Liz, I'm going to need Liz Casey for that.
Liz, did we demolish or was it the prior developer?
We hired Pedro Palmer, who also does all of the demolition for the city of, well, not all of,
But he is a registered contractor for the city of Philadelphia that does demolition paid by the city of Philadelphia.
Thank you.
It was us, Mr. Holloman.
I'll repeat again.
We've had no violations.
L&I has been out multiple times.
They're totally satisfied with what has been done.
But the owner of the home isn't.
I think there's a real safety issue.
There isn't.
Her property has been fully stuccoed.
So she wants a lot more than she's telling you today, and she's been leveraging this zoning case, and she has told my client she will never let him build there.
Her motivation is because she's not getting everything she wants from him.
He redid her sidewalk.
Liz Casey, am I giving accurate testimony here?
Yes, we redid the sidewalk in front and to the side of her house.
She was upset that you didn't stucco her entire wall, correct?
uh yeah that's the main issue that i have heard excuse me counselor did they follow the
specification for demolition of a building absolutely there's no violations mr holliman
none no violations thank you i'm sure if i could um mention to you as the conversation continues
the hands continue to grow. I do like to have Mary Jones from Council President's Office. Would it
be okay to allow her to speak? Yes, please. Thank you. Mary, you can go ahead and unmute to speak.
Thank you. Thank you. I just wanted to respond to the comments made about the RCO vote.
At this point, you know, the RCO has not been in touch with us to give us a final word on this project.
And while the vote is what it was, there were some concerns about the meeting itself with intimidation tactics
and trying to stop certain conversations
when safety of a building is indeed a zoning concern
if you're trying to get a variance
that's gonna involve building with an adjacent property.
So at this, just to clarify the record,
for the record, we're not going against the RCO.
They haven't given their final word
and the vote itself
is suspect
we're not
going to continue
this argument could go on for a week
we're not going to
We're not going to leave.
I think testimony
I think testimony is it.
okay are you done
Okay, are you done?
I'm sorry, are you done?
Tell me.
It appears to be Andrew Miller.
I'm not sure if that's typically the attorney that comes before us,
but if you allow him to speak, I will promote him.
Please do.
Mr. Miller, please identify yourself with the record,
and I'll swear you in.
I think he put his hand in.
Thank you.
so you can go forward, Chair, no more hands.
Wait, I'm sorry, Ms. Osan, could he put his hand back up?
Mr. Miller?
May I make one statement, Mr. Chairman?
I just, you know, the RCO is supposed to,
you can't just say you don't agree with the result
and then bag out of your responsibility, all right?
If there were concerns, they should have been offered.
The vote was with people who were from the neighborhood.
i don't know any i don't know any concerns of a problem with the vote the problem is that they
don't agree with the vote but you're supposed to hold these meetings if you can't do it responsibly
and you disagree with the result you can't run away from sending your letter and supporting
what your neighbors decide otherwise get them out of there and get a real rco in place
i'm sorry it's upsetting to me i agree all right mr miller yes hi my name is andrew miller
m-i-l-l-e-r i was i was present square or firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but
the truth yes i yes i do please yeah i was present at both of the rco meetings and i just wanted to
speak to that because there seems to be some confusion uh at the initial rco meeting uh there
was this this case or whatever was continued because of the concern for mrs brooks's home
and the damage to her home uh and in at the second rco meeting nothing had been done between the two
rco meetings which was why that the drama level increased it seemed um and i just wanted to speak
to that because the the applicant had stated in the first rco meeting that they would address
address the issues that are present on the party wall. And to my knowledge, they were not addressed
as Ms. Brooks and her attorney testified. I just thought I should make that clear that that was
present at both RCO meetings. All right. And at this point, Mr. Chairman, I will make clear
that Mrs. Brooks' demands were inappropriate and improper. And that is why they were not addressed.
You don't get to extort people when you're a next-door neighbor because you want upgrades to your property.
And we tried to make that clear without embarrassing anyone at the second meeting.
But you can't request to have your property become a Taj Mahal at the cost of a developer.
When L&I has issued no violations, everything was done properly.
There's no damage.
you know the record has been really unscrupulously distorted and confused members of the board
by saying there's damage there is none mr brooks won't even let the developer into her property
to see it and that should tell you something excuse me counselor do you have a picture of the
party wall um i don't in the exhibits i'm happy to take a picture for you and and get it to you
asap within 24 hours happy to do that i don't have a i don't have a current photo of it i can get
that for you though no problem it's been it's been patched and um you know it hasn't been stuck
because that would be a waste uh but again mr holliman no violations lni's been out multiple
time. But I'll get you a current photo for sure. Rich, did the request continue? In your words,
extortion? Are they still continuing? Well, let's put it this way. Extortion is a strong word.
And I'm a passionate advocate. So sometimes it's not really extortion, but it's clearly a demand
that is improper and over the top. And it's conditioned on support or opposition to this
case. And it was very clear at the second meeting that that was what's happening. And I would submit
to you, Mr. Neri, that that's why the vote went so favorably for the developer, because it was
obvious what was going on. You don't get a new wall, new sidewalks, and, you know, upgrades to
the interior of a property because you're opposed to a zoning variance. So it leaves me with a bad
taste in my mouth. I can't get my RCO letter when the vote was overwhelming. Listen, don't be an RCO
Don't be an RCO if you're not going to respect the vote of the people who, as you know very well, these meetings are weighted against the developer because the people who are opposed show up and the people who are okay with it don't go.
If you're not going to respect the vote of the people who, these, these, as you know,
This is one of those instances where you had people that voted in favor.
I can't get a letter.
I have the councilman's office in opposition, and everybody's running for the hills.
You don't get to run away because the vote didn't go the way you want it.
So I'm upset with how this has happened. We had full support, overwhelming support from the people who attended.
They're all neighbors. They're all people who live in the community, who live on the block.
We will comply with the code and make sure that, listen, if Mrs. Brooks has a problem, my client's fully licensed, fully insured, and would pay any claims.
But the problem is there isn't any.
Her property has been fully protected.
L&I has been out.
Excuse me, Counselor.
Excuse me, Counselor.
If you have a picture so that I can see that your argument is correct, they fully repaired or whatever the case may be, did the wall based on the standard specification put out by the city of Philadelphia.
But I don't have a picture to see that.
Well, picture is not going to show you that.
I'm here if I could may I make a request I think I know what you're going to say but go ahead
I was going to ask I don't want to cause any problems but if it's okay with the board to
hold the vote for the pictures and review an executive session I'm just concerned about the
court reporter and my staff taking a quick break before we do the 3 30 session that's all I want
Can I add one comment though? This has nothing to do with the requirements for a variance. This is a building permit issue. If they are not complying, it should be reported to L&I. But the demo, the party wall, these don't impact whether they have met the requirements for grant of a variance.
So we can vote the case right now?
Yes, you can.
All right. Planning commission. Happy to do whatever the board wants. Planning commission. You already heard from them. I did? I don't remember. Oh, they said single family, correct? Yes. All right. Thank you for your time, Mr. Chairman.
All right. I'd like to close the record on this. MI 2020-000760-1415 North 7th Street.
The record will be closed. The board will make a decision at next Wednesday's executive session.
Thank you.
Thank you for your time.
That ends the two o'clock list. I know everybody needs a break. It is now 530.
Carol, 10 minutes, 15 minutes?
15 minutes 15 minute breaks everybody back at 5 45
everyone uh i think we're ready to go and to the court reporter in the future you need a break
raise your hand yell do something all right of course thank you we do try to accommodate but it
got a little out of hand today a little all right so don't feel shit don't be shy just just let us
know that goes that goes for anyone
okay tanya and or lakeisha are we ready
yes chair ready to go forward okay good evening everyone my name is Frank DiCicco 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 Lakeisha Dandy and our board attorney Ms. Sharon
letter or 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 and that the recording will be made available to the public on the web
or otherwise. Third, for anyone participating by phone if you wish to testify you must raise
you must raise your hand by hitting star nine and then star six to unmute yourself.
Raise your hand by hitting star nine and then star six.
I'll repeat, for anyone participating by phone, if you wish to testify, you must raise your hand
by hitting star nine and then star six to unmute yourself. Finally, to make an appearance statement,
call google 267-270-5548 and leave your email address and the address of the property at issue
i will repeat that to enter an appearance statement call google 267-270-5548 and leave
your email address, and the address of the property at issue. And I would also like to
remind everyone, please do not attempt to testify in the chat. Your comments should be directed to
our board administrator, Ms. Dandy. With that, I will read a list of cases that have been requested
to be continued. Number three on the 330 list, MI 2020-000735, 2100 Benson Street.
Number four on our list, request by attorney for continuance, is MI 2020-003381,
213 West Berks Street.
Number five on our list MI 2020-003 225 2241 North 15th Street.
I would also like to ask if anyone I'm sorry I'm sorry Chair but the the request on North
15th Street was made by the RCO. If we could call the applicant's attorney,
Alan Nockamson, to be sure that he agrees with it. Thank you. Is Mr. Nockamson available?
Hello, Mr. Chair. Hi, Alan. Just identify yourself by your name and you're already sworn
in from earlier today. You're still under oath. Yes, Alan Nockamson of Nockamson,
MPC, 123 South Broad Street, Suite 1600, Philadelphia PA, 19109,
Nockamson is spelled N-N-N-C-O-C-H-U-M-S-O-N.
Are you in agreement on the request for continuance?
No, actually I'm not.
We actually have two letters of support from the community groups that we met with.
Excuse me, can I interrupt one minute?
I think there's some confusion here.
This is listed both on the regular list, but I had it as an add-on listed as number one.
I think the add-on information is correct and that it is going forward.
I apologize, Mr. Knott.
We just discussed it.
I pissed over that.
My fault.
My fault.
No, my fault.
All right.
No worries.
Anyone here for calendar number MI2021?
That's 000128.
1737 Bergen, B-E-R-G-E-N Street.
Anyone here for Bergen Street?
If so, please raise your hand.
No hands at this time, Chair.
Okay, we have no exhibits.
This case will be continued.
Looking for the other one.
Oh, number nine on our list, MI-2020-003389.