from the roof line so we're looking at a block that has some sorry some blight behind it as far
as vacant lots there's about two vacant lots on the block and ultimately it's filled in with existing
homes. This is a visual of the block, I guess, looking east, I believe. Here's the subject
property off to your left hand of the screen, and on the reverse image is here. So it's a pretty
tree-lined block, very typical North Philly street-lined block, and parking only on one side
of the street, and this is North Nutrona. Our conversation is going to center on the subject
property which is unoccupied and no construction has occurred there it's not nothing has happened
in this in this particular property so here are some of the pictures from the so from the street
you'd see this as you walk in the front door you know it's it's basically a shell property as you
move through the property there is no nothing it's not habitable at this time as you can see
as we move through these photographs living room area just completely you know vacant and it would
need to be restored completely for living front door you can see hallway going up to the second
floor the photos tell a story of a property that needs complete renovation and that's what we have
here so you move up to the top floor you'll see again you know no area of the house is suitable
for residency at this time and um and again and if you go into the very rare of the property you
know the mechanicals have some aging but it's probably the only thing salvageable perhaps is
this furnace um don't even know if this hot water heater works and those are the sort of the interior
pictures getting right down down to the plans i'll make this smaller so that we can take a look at
what's proposed. And I think I'll have to make it a little bit smaller. So here, so
what is proposed, let me just move through here. This area is the first floor. So what
is proposed is as you walk onto the front porch here, that there will be two entrances.
One entrance, 101, that you can see indicated here, would move into where there's currently
a window that would that existing window would be there would be widened to the end there would be
a door immediately to the left of that window and you'd walk in and you have living room area
kitchen and the bathroom in the rear with the bedroom so this would be a studio walking
downstairs you'd see it's an unfinished basement there's nothing down there no bedrooms down there
no access only accessible to the lower level unit as you go from the porch again going upstairs you
have you come here and there's a kitchen with a living room area kind of open concept to the
front with a bedroom with its own bath in the back so that's bedroom number one climbing up
the steps you enter onto the third floor of the property where there are three bedrooms and two
baths one would have its own and this is a sort of an ensuite on the top floor rear and the front
it'd be a shared bath between this bedroom which could be a bedroom or just a sort of a small room
could be a child's room or a bathroom and then there's the front bedroom on the third floor
so the layout is is very typical and the layout would match the same roof line as as well as the
the presentation that you see all up and down that street so there would be no difference in
how it appears as you can see even looking at this this will end up being a five uh one two
three four five bedroom house if it were single family the variance that we seek we believe that
this is a this is a block that uh the in for it to be renovated completely and for it to be
economically feasible to do so we believe that this particular block um that this configuration
allows for it to be done in a manner that is appropriate for just the owner to make actually
not lose money on his particular investment i'm sure there's arguments for and against that people
people say you can do any kind of house and it'll sell in the city but this my client wants to
house and it'll sell in the city. But this, my client wants to present living that will
present.
enable people who reside in this neighborhood to live in this neighborhood and to rent in
this neighborhood. People who are young, young people or young families would not be purchasing
or looking to rent a basically a five bedroom house. But in this configuration, it allows for
the house to be accessible to people with modest means and so on. So this is part of the reason
and the reason that rationale for this particular property be renovated as it is so let's talk about what happened next in the RCO meeting that took place that was noticed this is our notice there was 102 as you can see from this map addresses that that were received our notice of this application but only 28 of those actually front north in the troner others are blocks behind and blocks around fronting on 33rd street or Montgomery
summary, and those folks had not shown as much interest in this particular application.
These are labels from the addresses that we mailed to and the proof of mailing that went
out for each and every one of those 102 residents.
So we had the RCO meeting, and this is, before we even get to that, in this exhibit is basically
that pictures of the posting of the ZBA hearing notice on the front door of the property.
and the client had some difficulty getting actual a tax cert we have proof that he owes that he's
paid all these taxes so this is just um we'll we can we can supplement the record with the tax cert
the typical tax cert but um other than that there are zero taxes owed by jba and we can assert we
can prove that so what the exhibit that i have now the the rco meeting just turning our attention
to what happened there on October the 21st was very well attended. It was not one of those
meetings where nobody showed up. This was a meeting where there was almost 40 people on that call
from this street and from the RCO. My client and myself were the only two that were
from us. The rest of the people were from the community as well as the RCOs. In that particular
meeting, we obtained a, we went through it and there was vigorous testimony from one group in
particular. I think the gentleman, Mr. Masters' client, who will be talking perhaps later,
he actually came on the RCO meeting and then testified that he's a guardian for single family
on the block. Like that was his opening, showing a picture of him and various folks sitting with
him and he proceeded to to say that that this block should not be anything but that and that's
his his position um and and and we we respected that and we understood that and we expected to
see the people who supported him to be in that meeting because he so vigorously presented that
position he went on to say that he himself owns a three-unit or multi-family property on the same
street so in in his in as perplexing as that might sound that's exactly what he presented that he has
the only multi-family on the block and he doesn't want anyone else to do so and upon asking him well
if he's so vigorously opposed to a multi-family property why would he not revert his to a single
family. He had no great action. I'm going to object to hearsay at this point. Mr. Williams is going to be
testifying. We'll let him testify, but counsel, why don't you finish, Mr. Toppin?
Sure. And as we were getting down to the vote, which is our last page here,
sorry, there were 30 people in the meeting. 12 were in support and only two were opposed. I think
the final vote, this letter was a bit confusing because it has, I guess, you know, vote counts
on both lines. It looked different here. But again, there were 12 in support and there
were four opposed and five abstained. And this was the meeting. And at the end of the
meeting, we received this letter from Reverend Williams saying to us that although we were
successful in the vote that some others that had called him afterwards and that he wanted us to
reconsider and withdraw basically which my client wasn't inclined to actually do but in any event
that was what took place we got this letter we submitted it accordingly but then yesterday we
received a letter of opposition from the very same RCO with the same count I called and I call I'm
sure if mr masters will call reverend williams today but he spoke to me he told me that some
people had called him wouldn't identify who and that he reversed his position as a result of
those calls i told him that if if he entertained the calls or the or other individuals
that if if he entertained the calls or the or other individuals then then the those in the rco
meeting and was changing his opinion as a result of that because we've got 12 people from that
street who voted in support that we should have the opportunity to do the same he he didn't have
any really good answers to that but we did believe that he was very good the meeting was very well
um modulated by moderated by him but this after piece was a surprise to us and and that and I
voiced that to him and he said that he basically felt that the community's strenuous the calls that
he received afterwards changed his opinion basically and I don't know there was no other
RCO meeting he's at the board met and reversed as a result of his receiving calls after the RCO
meeting between our our vote and we had no opportunity to go and present there so
ultimately this is not any more complicated than that i think there there may be a number of people
that are here today to voice their their opposition or paint or or support on either side but our
folks were present they they were present in the in the duly conducted meeting and both rcos not
just the main rco but the second rco had all of their people there and you see the outcome
of the those that attended that rco meeting so the the council person has has been neutral as
with respect to this particular property because i think there is this question of what happened
that night and what has happened since um i'd like at this time to bring that that is the i guess the
the testimony that I plan to prepare,
but I'd like to ask Mr. Watson to adopt my testimony
and bring him forward to ask any questions
that the board may have of him.
Mr. Watson, if you are in the virtual audience,
please raise your hand.
you're watching
brian watson has been allowed to speak please unmute yourself
good morning sir could you please state good morning could you please state your name and
spell for the court stenographer brian watson b-r-y-a-n-t w-a-t-s-o-n
All right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, Counselor.
Oh, yes. Mr. Watson, have you been listening to the testimony that I've been making on behalf of yourself and this zoning application?
Yes, I have.
And is it true and accurate as to your hearing?
Yes, it is.
And would you adopt it as your own if you were testifying?
Yes, I do.
Okay. At this point, I'd like to welcome any questions that the board may have.
or a cross-examination, Mr. Masters, may I?
Mr. Masters, do you want to cross?
Yes, thank you.
Mr. Watson, is it true that you own two properties
next to each other on this block?
Yes, I do.
All right.
And is it also true that the property next door to 1819,
you went before the zoning board just a few, a year or so ago,
looking for a duplex at that location?
18-21, I was turned down on that property.
I went through the process, the RCO.
We didn't get a vote, but they said they opposed.
So, yeah, so I went, instead of continuing my ZBA,
I went on with the ZBA meeting.
But the RCO, we never got a chance to vote.
There was no vote.
So they sent a letter of opposition, but there was never no vote.
All right, but let's just try to clarify this.
So 1821 North Natrona, that's the location that you tried to get a duplex in 2023, is that correct?
Yes, it is. Yep, that's the one I just explained to you.
And when you went to the zoning board, they voted, they denied you the variance, isn't that correct?
They denied for opposition from the RCO.
they made a decision do you have did you get a zoning permit for a duplex at 18 at 1821 masters
he's the property was denied he agreed to that okay uh and at that point do you do you recall
that council president um clark was in opposition of of your application i don't know who was i don't
know the relevance um i don't know the relevance mr master a denial is a denial
So let me go to the next question. Mr. Watson, this was in 2023. Has anything changed between 2023 and today?
this was in 2023 has any has anything changed between 2023 and today on this block uh to change
the the situation for your property now at 1819 and the property at 1821 is there any difference
in the block from 2023 to today yes what's the difference the difference is i was i got a letter
of approval from the rco i'm talking about physically on this block has anything changed
in terms of how many folks have single-family homes on the block,
things like that.
Has that changed at all?
I wouldn't know if anything changed.
I don't know who else.
Like, I only go through my ZVA hearings and my RCO mix.
I don't know if anybody else was approved or not,
so I wouldn't know that.
All right, so your testimony is you have no information
that anything has changed since 2023.
I just told you, yes, something changed.
The RCO, I passed.
I won from last year to this year.
i i was approved i got a letter of support that's what changed
i understand but i'm talking about on the block physically on the block there's no differences
you asked me the same question over and over again i i i yeah mr masters i think he said
he don't look at anything other than what he owns so why don't we move on yeah all right i have no
further questions so so sherman instead of opening up to the board i'm gonna let mr masters put his
and then we'll open it up to the board and the public all at one time, okay?
That's fine. That's fine, Mr.
Mr. Masters, would you please make your presentation?
Sure. I'm going to just do a brief opening and then I'm going to call Mr. Calvin Williams as my witness.
So, members of the board, this case, an exact duplicate of this case occurred in front of you in 2023.
At that point, the board composition was different, and one of the board members was actually the head of the RCO who was opposing this, creating a duplex at 1821.
um so we now are are faced with the exact same situation this this individual has bought two
houses on this block uh apparently with the intention to convert single-family homes into
into duplexes uh and despite the fact that that the block uh was made it clear that they did not
want him to do that in 2023 he's come back again and it appears that the the people who were coming
to that rco meeting in support of him were not from the block they were from farther away
objection there's been no evidence that these members were not from the block
that's the evidence i will be presenting with my witness why don't why don't why don't we hold up
on what you said and if you have a witness let your witness testify okay sure um
All right, let's go for, let's call Mr. Calvin Williams.
Calvin Williams, if you are in the virtual audience, please raise your virtual hand.
Calvin Williams, is he allowed to speak?
Mr. Chair, can we promote him to panelists?
calvin williams has been promoted to panelists
good morning could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
yeah yes uh good morning my name is calvin williams c-a-l-v-i-n williams w-i-l-l-i-a-m-s
we're a firm to tell the truth the whole truth is nothing but the truth
Yes, I do.
Please proceed, Mr. Masters.
Can I ask that Mr. Toppin stop sharing his screen at this point?