Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chairman.
Good afternoon, David Vecto with the City Planning Commission.
chairman, and board members. The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the CMX2 commercial
mixed use zoning at this location. The appellant seeks to build a vacant commercial space with
six dwelling units instead of the four that the code allows them to build. There is no unique
physical condition or circumstance of this property that will prevent it from being used
in strict conformity with the zoning code. We also note for the board that absent participation in a
city, state, or federal program, or a city zoning incentive, affordability mentioned in the
appellant's testimony cannot be enforced by any city agency. The City Planning Commission
The City Planning Commission recommends the board deny the proposed use variants for two additional dwelling units more than what the code allows.
recommends the Board deny the proposed use variance for two additional
MI 2024-001-519-2128 Ridge Avenue, I vote no.
Michael Johns, my vote is no.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is no.
Senator Graham, my vote is no.
ION, my vote is no.
Thank you, counsel.
So, is there anyone in the virtual audience whose case has not been called?
I see no hands at this time, Chair.
All right.
Thank you, everyone.
See you everyone at 2 p.m.
Good afternoon, everyone.
My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this afternoon's meeting.
with me with me is our vice chair ismail shaheed president mr chairman our board member
cheryl l gaston president mr chairman our board member tenetta graham president mr chairman
our board member michael johns president mr chairman and our board member taya wynn
she's not on she'll be on any minute also present is our attorney hillary emerson
And our Executive Director, Ian Haggerty.
Here's our virtual format.
Proceedings are being recorded.
With your participation, you agree to be recorded.
The video will be available by contacting
ZBAExecutiveDirector at phillip.gov.
For a court sonographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses
to identify themselves before testifying.
If you're participating by phone,
press star 9 to raise your hand and star 6 to unmute.
To enter and appear in a statement, call 267-270-5548.
Leave your email address and the address of the property in question.
And finally, the question and answer box on the screen is not for testimony.
All questions should be directed to zbaexecutivedirector at phila.gov.
Let's look at our schedule for this afternoon.
Number one, MI 2023-006-919-2301 North 29th Street. I believe Darwin Bovee is in the audience for a continuance. Mr. Bovee?
Chair, I see no one by that name in the audience.
So, number one, MI 2023-006-919-2301 North 29th Street, case is continued, attorney moving party.
Number three, MI 2024-001-867-1112 Roy Street, that case is continued.
Number five, MI 2024-002-120-963 North Lawrence Street.
That case is continued.
And number 10, MI 2024-004-239-900 North 41st Street.
That case is continued.
Are there any other requests for continuance?
chair I see no hands at this time thank you so number six MI 2024-003-404-6915
North Broad Street Wayne Oliver is the listed owner we have no exhibits this is the second
listing the RCO is requesting it continues it's Mr. Oliver in the audience
Yes, Chair. Wayne Oliver has been allowed to speak. Wayne, please unmute yourself.
Chair, could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Wayne Oliver, please unmute yourself.
Okay, Terry, he's still on mute, he's still on mute.
Mr. Oliver.
Okay, so this particular case, the Oak Lane Community Action has tried to have a meeting.
They have not had a meeting as of yet.
So, number six, MI 2024-003-404-6915, North Broad Street.
Case is continued.
Mark must be heard.
We're going to go to our add-ons.
M.I. 2024-005-738-5200 South Broad Street.
I vote yes with proviso.
Her refusal dated 12-10-24.
Michael Johns, I vote yes with proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes, with Proviso.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes, with Proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes, with Proviso.
Number two, MI 2024-006-182-231 East Rod Avenue.
I vote yes, with proviso. Change of use for first floor only.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Teneda Graham, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Number three. MI 2024-004-300-3401-03 North 10th Street. I vote yes with proviso. Her amended
refusal dated 11-26-24.
My vote is yes with proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thank you. We're going to go to our regular list.
Number two, MI 2024-001-649-7715 Ogons Avenue.
Alan Nockamson is the attorney.
This is a resumptive hearing.
Alan Nockamson has been promoted to penalist.
Thank you.
Hello, Mr. Nockamson, could you please state your name and spell for the court's amendment?
Yes, Alan Nockamson, A-L-A-N, the last name Nockamson, N-O-C-H-U-M-S-O-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
So, Mr. Nockamson, my understanding, this is a resumptive hearing.
Am I right? That is correct. I was not involved in the original.
I know. So you you were a result. This is a resumptive hearing.
And we know you did not represent the person the first time around.
What we would want to do is could you update us on what happened between the last meeting and this meeting?
My understanding is that we we had another community meeting where a vote was taken by the community group.
And, you know, we're here today to present, you know, the what happened, you know, at that community meeting, maybe explain a little better, you know, what we're asking for.
My understanding, too, is that the board is going to hold the vote because we need another.
We needed an amended refusal and now we're going to hold for a corrective refusal.
Is that correct?
That is correct.
My understanding that my client with former counsel applied for, as part of their application for vehicle, equipment, supplies, and sales and rentals.
And unfortunately, I don't think that the refusal reflects that.
So just to be extra cautious, we're just going to get a correct refusal.
So why don't you start, sir?
All right. Thank you very much.
Thank you.
All right. Here to present 7715 Ogons Ave. My client is 7715 Ogons Ave. LLC. And then the virtual audience is Gregory Tenna, its owner.
you know I actually drive down this a lot I you know play basketball down at Abington Friends so
I go down to Ogonz a lot so I see this property Ogonz Air Avenue is a commercial corridor
in Philadelphia and you know we're looking to essentially legalize this property
for personal vehicle repairs and maintenance in an existing structure which would include
the sale of tires. In addition, obviously, we're going to add that language about vehicle equipment,
supplies, and sales and rentals of that equipment. So during our presentation, we'll review the
notice of refusal. We did get correspondence from the 50 Democratic Award. We had a meeting with
them, and I think there's a misunderstanding of what we're trying to do or maybe the extent of
what we're trying to do but we so we my client circulated a very extensive petition of people
in the neighborhood and close by and you'll see that through by way of our petition and the map
that we created i personally think uh that i don't know why we're here um you'll see in the
refusal like that this property has had this use since 1990 originally as a temporary use and then
as a permanent use. So what happened was we eventually got violation notice for the use
that he's been, you know, that's been this use since 1990. So previous counsel just filed another
zoning permit application and we got this refusal. So I can't understand why we're here, but I,
you know, we did, you know, we, you know, we will embrace this process. But you'll see the license
that we have or other licenses that we have and use registration permits.
You know, this is not the first time our firm has handled the sale of tires before,
and similar uses have been approved by way of variance, and we have two examples that
our firm has recently done close by.
Maps of the area, photographs of the property, simple site plan, our RCO meeting notice along
with proof of mailing that notice, our application for appeal that we filed with the ZBA, the
deed to the property, showing that the applicant owns the property, and a certificate of tax
clearance. Again, at the conclusion of my presentation, I would ask that Greg virtually
raise his hand and be sworn in, and then we'll be available to answer any questions the board
may have about this matter. So notice of refusal. This is a CMX2 property. We're looking for use as
personal vehicle repair and maintenance in an existing structure, as stated before, which will
also include the sale of tires. We're going to correct the refusal just to add exactly what we
asked for. But if you look here, in 1990, the ZBA granted a variance for auto repair shop,
no body and fender work to include retail sale of tires. The proviso was it was a one-year
temporary variance. So what happened? The following year, on or about, the ZBA granted
a permanent variance for exactly that work. So I'm not sure why we're here today. And I think
the biggest issue here is the sale of tires, as you saw in the letter from the community.
So the community did, you know, it was not a well-attended meeting. You know, the RCO board
voted one in favor and three imposed. And all attending meeting attendees was one in favor
and four opposed. So it was not a well attended meeting. But they indicated that the community
had some concern about the sale of tires because of how they were being stored. So originally,
they were being stored essentially in like a temporary like storage apparatus, like
really a tractor trailer. And that gave grave concern to the neighbors. So my clients pivoted
and created, what's it called, these tire racks that were in the back of the building structure.
And that was, you know, thinking that was the compromise.
And the neighbors were still not happy with that.
They think that this is going to be a fire hazard.
And you'll see from the license that we have in terms of disposing of tires,
like it's regulated by the state.
So in addition to this process of getting zoning approval,
So in addition to this process of getting zoning approval, it's overseen by the state of how we store and dispose of tires.
It's overseen by the state.
So there's all these regulations that we need to comply with.
So if it's not a safe structure or way of storing tires, obviously, we're not going to get a renewal license.
But this use has been in existence for this property since 1990.
Again, I don't know why we're here, but that's almost 35 years.
So my client circulated a petition of nearby occupants of properties, and you can see it's pretty extensive here. So, I mean, both not just the owners of the commercial units, but owners of residential units nearby.
And then this is the backup of that petition of people who signed and where they're located.
Again, my client did it under previous counsel, so it's not something like you would see with us.
But again, it's pretty extensive.
And then the license, you can see here, we had a license that's as active as March 13th of 2024 for motor vehicle repair and retail mobile dispensing.
So not sure why we're here. And then we also have something from the Department of Environmental Protection regarding the license that we have for removing and storing tires in, you know, according to the state of Pennsylvania.
And then this is just the original use permit for the use that started in 1990.
And again, not out of character for this board to approve, like, you know, again, the sale and ultimate storage of tires.
We were here regarding 5421 Baltimore Avenue, which was a less commercial property than the one that we have here today.
And here's the zoning permit for it.
And then 1937 Harrison Street.
Again, this board approved the storage and sale of tires.
And there's no any permits for it.
And then maps of the area.
We are in a commercial corridor.
Ogons is a commercial corridor.
We do abut residential.
We're between 77th Avenue and 78th Avenue.
This is just an overview or an aerial view of our property.
But as you can see, this is where the original storage of the tires were indoors.
We've changed it up and we'll have other photographs.
But this was a former gas station that became an auto repair shop in 1990.
And as you can see, this is what it looks like.
This is, you know, something that's been there for 35 years.
So, different angles.
And this is where the tires are being stored.
All we did was remove, we didn't change anything else, but remove the temporary structure that was there that was upsetting the neighborhood.
And we added these racks instead, which we thought would be, you know, something a little bit more amenable.
I want to focus on one other thing.
There is an actual divide between the commercial here on Ogons and the residential on 78th Street.
So it's not like we're attached or any building structure is attached or anywhere near this commercial aspect.
Just going in terms of like any type of fire hazards or anything else, if there would be.
And then this is the property.
Again, we always go on Google Street View.
it's always helpful to see what properties look like over time. This is something we pulled from
Google Street View in 2011. So you can see it really hasn't changed much.