we are recording
are we three two one yet
we're recording now chair you can go forward in about a minute okay thanks
we have about 16 all together you can go forward when you wish thank you good morning my name is
Carol Tenere and I'm the vice chair of the zoning board of adjustment. I'll be participating in
today's hearing along with board secretary Confessor Plaza and board members Thomas Holloman and James
I'm sorry can we have a roll call? I know I went too fast. Confessor present. Thomas Holloman
present. James Snell, present. Bill Bergman, present. Board Administrator Tanya Sumpkit
and Jason Han are also present. Board Attorney Sharon Saleta is in attendance. Also joining us
this morning is Bill Bergman, our new chair. 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. This is available to the public by contacting
tanya sunkett at tanya that's t-a-n-y-a dot sunkett s-u-n-k-e-t-t at philadelphia.gov
third for anyone participating by phone if you wish to testify you must raise your hand by hitting star
nine then star six to unmute yourself to enter an appearance statement call 267-270-5548 and leave
your email address and address of the property at issue. I'll repeat that. You must raise your hand
by hitting star nine and star six to unmute yourself and to enter an appearance statement
call 267-270-5548. Four, if you are an LLC, an LLP, or religious organization, you must be
represented by an attorney. But the question and answer box is not for testimony. Excuse me. Any
comments are to be directed to Ms. Tanya Sunkett. I go right to the continuances.
No, the add-on, Madam Chair.
I do that every time.
No worries.
Okay, for today, we have two cases, three cases that have to be voted.
Calendar number MI-2021-002634, 326 Roxborough Avenue.
My vote is no.
Professor Plaza, my vote is no.
James Snell, my vote is no.
Thomas Halliman, my vote is no.
Calendar number MI-2020-001841, 3469 Crystal Street, my vote is yes.
Professor Plaza, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
calendar number mi-2021-003186 2039 east york street i was not present to vote that it's
jim tom and confessor confessor plaza my vote is no to reconsideration
james snell my vote is no to reconsideration thomas halliman my vote is no to reconsideration
thank you and i'll move on excuse me with the continuances
calendar number mi that's number three on the regular list at 9 30 mi 2021 002829
mi 2021 002829 123 north 53rd street that case has no exhibits and it will be continued and it's
a must be heard number eight calendar number mi 2021 i'm sorry i hate to interrupt that's okay
but it appears as though we have an attorney's hand up for that one mr young if he could be
allowed to speak as you wish. Okay, that's fine. Is that Jeffrey Young? Yes. Okay.
Jeffrey, you can unmute and wait to be sworn in.
Mr. Young, can you hear me? Yes, yes, I can hear. Hi. Hi. Can you put your name and address on the
record and spell your last name and i will swear you in jeffrey young 3900 ford road suite b
philadelphia pa 19131 uh youngest spelled y-o-u-n-g do you swear for him to tell the
truth and nothing but the truth uh yes okay and you're speaking on um 123 north 53rd street
Yes. Exhibits were submitted over the holiday weekend, and we actually just had our RCO meeting last night, which was a cause for a delay in the exhibits being submitted.
But we do have a support letter from the 44th Ward RCO.
Excuse me, this is Sharon. This is 2351 North 31st Street we're talking about?
uh 53rd number three at 9 30. no i'm sorry
that's correct right jeff yes 123
north 53rd and this is sharon jeffrey you're saying that you submitted exhibits uh yes exhibits
were sent to um let me i can check the exact email but the exhibits were submitted to the
uh rcozba um email address was it was i copied um let me check here shannon's
um i'm sorry shannon i do not believe you were copied on that on that exhibit i'm sorry i can
forward it to you at uh now okay um the board's call then on whether to go forward i'll check to
sure to be sure that the exhibit packet is complete okay if it is complete it won't be
continued the case can be heard so the only thing missing from our exhibit packet again is the RCO
letter which we just received this morning but I can I'll submit that to Ms. Saleta as well
okay so Ms. Saleta that would mean that everything is completed and case can be heard well I haven't
looked through the exhibits yet, assuming everything is there. Okay. Thank you. Thank you,
Mr. Young. Thank you. Number eight, calendar number MI 2021-002835, 2351 North 31st Street.
This is a continuance requested by the applicant's attorney, and the continuance is granted.
Number 10, calendar number MI-2021-002652-4225 Viola Street.
Another continuance requested by the applicant's attorney, and that's granted.
Number 11, calendar number MI-2021-002840-5511 Spruce Street.
Another continuance requested by the applicant's attorney, and that's granted.
Number 12, calendar number MI-2021-002828, 6516-20, Upland Street.
Another continuance requested by the applicant's attorney, and that's granted.
And finally, number 14, calendar number MI 2021-002848-7106 Castor Avenue, continuance requested by the attorney for the applicant in order that the applicant meet with the RCO, and that's granted.
Does anyone in the virtual audience have any objection to those continuance read out?
Madam Chair, I see the Strawberry Mansion Community Concerns hand raised.
I will allow them to speak at this time.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Hi, can you put your name and address on the record?
Spell your last name and I'll swear you in.
My name is Bonita Cummings, Strawberry Mansion Community Concern Director, RSEO.
Okay, in which case are you speaking about?
Well, I was speaking about an address.
Just give me the address.
2601 West Huntington Street.
okay well that hasn't been heard yet so we'll hear that later well we it was supposed to be
a continuance so that's why i raised my hand according to the meeting we had of the attorney
we in the community asked for continuance for that i'm sorry i'm sure oh okay number nine
this is verne anastasio's case um if verne is present and could respond
did i miss a swearing name miss cummings i i am going to swear her in yes and could she spell
her last name please miss cummings can you spell your last name and i'll swear you in c-u-m-m-i-n-g-s
do you swear for him to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes thank you
i guess we'll wait to call good morning good morning madam vice chair i don't know if you
can hear me i can can you put your name and address on the record spell your last name
and i'll swear you in of course thank you good morning it's verne anastasio a-n-a-s-t-a-s-i-o
1315 walnut street suite 1006 philadelphia 19107 madam chair one second you swear or affirm to
tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes of course okay you may proceed thank you i
believe uh madam vice chair asked if anyone had a comment or concern about the list that was
already called yes and that's right and that and that's why i did not raise my hand because
that wasn't what you asked us to do so but uh since miss uh cummings has raised her hand
um i do respectfully request a continuance on 2601 west huntington in order for us to meet with
the RCO. Okay, great. So, thank you. Calendar number MI-2021-002020-2601 West Huntington Street.
This case is continued. And at this point, I will now turn the hearings over to Bill Bergman,
or new share. Good morning, everyone. Thank you, Carol, very much. Sure. Go right to case number
one, MI-2021-002849, 1203 North 41st Street. It's Mr. Anastasio. You've already been sworn,
and for the record, the RCO has sent a letter of support. There's also a revised plan of one page.
Mr. Anastasio, Carol has a few questions for you.
Hi, Mr. Anastasio.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, a copy of the refusal or 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 of that.
You may proceed.
Thank you.
and welcome mr chairman thank you thank you okay this is um 1203 north 41st street
it's for the construction of an attached structure for the use of it as an eight family dwelling
unit and a household uh living size and location uh to be determined on the plans we have of course
it's a zone in RSA 5 which is why we're here for the eight units and we are slightly off
the minimum open area. You'll see that, I'll pull back here, it's ostensibly two buildings
with sort of an interior courtyard and these are the plans that the KJO architectural team
will go over with you. But first, I just wanted to show you some of the photos that we have
of the lot in question. There's a lot of vacancy in this particular area, a lot of underdeveloped
and undeveloped land that desperately needs some vitality.
that desperately needs some vitality and some density.
The neighbors agreed to that approach.
They would like to see it become a viable neighborhood
with lots of folks, again, living in the area.
This is the RCO letter that went out.
Here is a proof of mailing to 93 separate individual households.
Here's the letter from Centennial Parkside addressed, let me zoom in a little bit, of supporting the applicant's request for the variance for the application 2021-005-931.
one um and with that i am going to there's a revised first floor
that i'll pull back on first
and i'm going to ask uh kevin o'neill or olivia from his team or both to raise their hands and
They will walk you through the actual building, and I'll do the scrolling for them.
Mr. O'Neill has been allowed to speak.
Thank you.
Kevin, could you state your name and spell it for the court reporter, please?
Good morning.
Kevin J. O'Neill, K-E-B-I-N, J. O'Neill, O apostrophe, N-E-I-L-L.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed.
Kevin, if you would just walk the project through for the board, and we can start wherever
you'd like me to.
Okay, so essentially we have a neat unit building.
We're proposing two units per floor, so this is a four-story building.
As Vern mentioned, we are in an RSA 5 zoning district, but we're surrounded by a lot of
RM1 zones and also a lot of commercial mixed use zones. So we feel that on a lot with on a on a
parcel with a lot of vacant lots on the block, we feel it's still an appropriate use to propose
multifamily here. So the the primary variance we're seeking is for is for the use. We have
again, we have the two units per floor, the ground floor is both of those units will be accessible
units access from the street so that those will both be wheelchair accessible and then there's
a similar layout as you go up each floor is essentially the same. We do have two stair
towers so we're meeting all applicable building codes there for life and fire safety and
we're also providing a courtyard in the center of the building which will provide
light and air to all of these units. So each unit has ample windows on both the front and the rear
of the units. And we also note there is no living space in the basement whatsoever, just storage
and building mechanicals in the basement. Happy to answer any specific questions that you might
have. Kevin, this is the lot as it currently exists, is that right? Correct. And it's surrounded
primarily by rm1 mixed use to even some industrial is that correct i'm i believe there's uh commercial
mixed use and rm1 and then rsa5 if i'm not mistaken there might be some uh industrial i'm
not sure if there is right on that block or not that's correct okay but in the in this general
area here yeah we're talking about and here's our prop here's our lot right here yes okay great
With that, I'd like to call my client, Faiz Serrano, to be promoted in order to put her on the record.
Could you please state your name and spell it, please, for the court reporter?
Please raise your virtual hand so you may be sworn in.
she says she's on as of 9 38 this morning so sorry can you guys hear me now
there she goes i'm so sorry okay my name is taylor serrano it's t-h-a-i-s s-e-r-r-a-n-o
you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes i do proceed thank you mr chairman miss serrano did you hear my presentation to the board this
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Ms. Serrano, did you hear my presentation to the board this morning?
morning
Yes, I did.
And subsequent Mr. O'Neill's description of the project in question?
Yes, I did.
Was it all accurate and true to the best of your knowledge?
And will you adopt it as your own testimony?
Thank you. I have no other further question, anything to add. We're open to questions and
And I would like to move this exhibit and all testimony into evidence.
Thank you.
Question from the board.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Any other people in the audience have any testimony or questions concerning this?
No further hands, Mr. Chair.
Planning Commission.
Good morning, Mr. Chair. Ian Hegarty for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission. Last name is spelled H-E-G-A-R-T-Y.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir, I do.
Thank you. So, members of the board, in 2014, this slot was rezoned from RM1 to RSA5.
This was done in accord with recommendations from the comprehensive plan and with the support
of the community. The RSA 5 zoning on this site was an intentional decision to establish single
family use on this block face. The applicant's not established a hardship here. With respect to