Okay, they're coming in, Chair.
currently we have 27 attendees let me know when you're ready we're ready to go whenever you want
thank you good morning my name is my name is bill burman and i will be chairing this morning
zba hearings with me is our vice chair ismail shaheed president mr chairman our board member
Thomas Holliman. Present, Mr. Chairman. And our board member, James Snell.
Present, Mr. Chairman. Also present is Hilary Emerson, our attorney, and our executive director,
Tanya Sunkett. Here's our virtual format. Be advised, the proceedings are being recorded.
Video will be available by contacting tanyasunkett at phil .gov. For the benefit of our court
sonographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying.
If you are participating by phone and you wish to testify, press star 9 to raise your hand and star
6 to unmute. To an end appearance statement, call 267 -270 -5548. Leave your email and address
to the property in question. And finally, the question and answer box on the screen is not for
comments or testimony. All comments should be directed to our Executive Director, Tanya Sandler.
Let's look at our schedule today. For continuances, number one, MI 2022 -004 -261 -2807
Nightingale Road. That case is continued. Number two, MI 2022 001 359 9216 North Delaware Avenue.
That case is continued. Number three, MI 2022 001 362 9214 North Delaware Avenue. That case is
continued. Number four, MI 2020 -22 -001 -365 -9212, Delaware Avenue. That case is continued.
And number 13, MI 2022 -001 -367 -9218, North Delaware Avenue. That case is continued.
And number 14, MI 2022 -001 -058 -332 Delancey Street.
This case was listed in error.
The matter has already been heard, and the vote is being held at the request of the parties.
The vote in this matter has now been rescheduled to Wednesday, September 13th at 9 .30 a .m.
I have a few cases here that we have no exhibits.
Number five, MI2022 -006539 -2652 Bridge Street.
MTGLO is the investors and listed owner.
This is the second listing.
We have no exhibits submitted and no one appeared on 412 -23.
Is there anyone in the audience from MTGLQ Investors?
Good morning, Mr. Chair.
This is Jason Hand.
I will be co -hosting for today.
I do not see any hands raised for that particular matter.
So MI 2022, 006 -539 -2652 Bridge Street.
This is the second listing. No one appeared at the last listing. I vote to dismiss.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is to dismiss.
James Snow, my vote is to dismiss.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is to dismiss.
Number seven, MI 2022 -006 -337, 2043 Church Street.
No exhibit, second listing.
there were no exhibits submitted and no one appeared for the applicant at 4 -12 -23.
the owner is alexander batista of alexis auto repair
mr chair this is hillary i just want to clarify i believe alexander batista is a tenant on the
I believe Alexandra Bautista is a tenant.
The listed owner is Philly Enterprise.
listed owner.
Philly Enterprise.
Thank you.
Jason?
Mr. Chair, I do not see any hands for that particular case.
All right.
Thank you.
So MI 2022 -006 -337, this is the second listing.
We have no exhibits.
No one appeared the last time.
I vote to dismiss.
Thomas Holloman. My vote is to dismiss James Snell. My vote is to dismiss.
My vote is to dismiss.
Number nine. MI 2022 006 367 42 26 Germantown Avenue.
Oliver Cooper is the
owner applicant pro se
the council person
councilwoman Bass
has asked to have this case continue
there has been no RCO meeting
Mr. Cooper
Mr. Chair I have a hand raised
from a number ending in
i would love them to speak at this time sure thank you
person at number three seven five seven star six two and
wait i think they put their hand down sir okay thank you mr chair this is hillary i just wanted
to clarify so last at the last hearing the councilwoman and the coordinating rco requested
the continuance this time the council office just let us know that there had been no rco meeting okay
oliver cooper no hands no hands sir okay this is the second listing there has been no rco meeting
MI 2022 -006 -367, 4426 Germantown Avenue.
I vote to dismiss.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is to dismiss.
James Snell, my vote is to dismiss.
Ishmael Shahi, my vote is to dismiss.
Thank you.
Number 10, MI 2022 -006 -332, 6142 Tulip Street,
Manual, Ashivra is the owner, pro se.
No exhibits, second listing.
It's unclear whether it was an RCO meeting.
Mr. Chair, this is Hillary.
I can now confirm there was no RCO meeting.
I haven't received an official request for continuance from the owner applicant,
but we can continue this matter because we know that there are still efforts to schedule a meeting
and it is not the fault of the applicant all right is there right is there anyone with their hand
raised no mr okay wait is it uh mr chair i'm sorry to interrupt you there's a hand up from
a number ending in zero zero nine eight i've allowed them to speak at this time sure hi
Start six to unmute, person.
Good morning.
Start six to unmute.
Can you hear me now?
Good morning.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
My name is Joseph Carson, J -O -S -E -P -H -C -A -R -S -O -N.
I just have a point of clarification.
Hold on one minute.
hold on, hold on. Do you swear
for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but
the truth?
Yes, sir. What case are you calling about?
calling about the one in the beginning of the meeting
you said it was continued. Does that mean we're not
talking about it today?
I'm not sure which one you're talking
about, sir. What's the
address? Okay. I got
it. Somebody answered the request. It was
92, 12, 14,
15. Yeah, well, all the, yeah,
they've all been continued. Yep.
okay great thank you okay all right all right so number 10 mi 2022 006 332 6142 tulip street
the case is continued mark must be tried number 11
MI 2021 003 854 616 North 11th Street. No exhibits, fifth listing.
No exhibits, fifth listing.
Kitty Tang, T -A -N, and Talibub Chari are tenants.
Jason, we see anybody?
Once again, sir, no hands.
All right. So MI 2021 003 854 616 North 11th Street. We have no exhibits. This is the fifth
listing. I vote to dismiss. Thomas Holloman, my vote is to dismiss. James Snell, my vote is to
And number 12, MI 2022 -006 -702 -1003 South 51st Street, Jarrett Louderback and Carly Endow.
This is the second listing.
i see no hands mr chair okay so the first listing there was someone here
so mi2022 -006 -702 -1003 south 51st street this case is continued mark must be tried
are there any other requests for continuances
mr chair i do not see any hands we're going to go to our add -on case
We have one today. MI 2022, 005, 716, 1027 to 29 Spring Street. I vote no.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is no. James Snell, my vote is no. Ishmael Shahid, my vote is no.
Thank you. We're going to go to our main list. We're going to go to number eight first.
MI 2022 -006 -363 -6229 Christian Street.
Erica Plax is the owner.
There is a letter of support from Cobbs Creek Neighbors
and a letter of support from Council Member Gauthier.
Okay, Mr. Chair, that person will be coming back in as a panelist shortly.
Thank you.
you're welcome
good morning
hello can you hear me good morning good morning could you state your name please and spell for
the court stenographer yes erica platt e -r -i -k -a -p -l -a -t -t -s right do you swear or firm to
tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes could you turn on your video please
thank you this application is for the proposed use as a multi -family household living
it was listed as three dwellings i understand now it's two am i correct
No, it's just a single home at this time.
No, no, but what are you asking for, two years?
Oh, yes, yes, yes, duplex.
All right, that's right.
Whereas the proposed use multifamily household living is prohibited in the RSA3 zoning district.
Our vice chair has just a few questions for you, okay?
Good morning, Mrs. Platt.
Have you emailed them all the required documents and exhibits that are needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
I have. Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.
Okay. Please let me know if can everyone see my screen? We can. Thank you. Okay.
Okay. So that's your application for appeal itself.
This is. Okay. Okay. This is my application. I'm just going to go through these with you.
And this is my refusal letter. Okay. This is the deed to the property. Thank you.
This is the zoning attachment that needed to be put in the window.
uh zoning uh attachment that needed to be put in the window okay
and this is the inside of the home um the house was boarded in 1972 as a gift to my grandmother
as a wedding present when my grandparents got married so unfortunately my grandfather being
a tourist did not update anything in the home so the home needs love and care um i do want to um
just briefly express that I am not a developer. I am not an investor. This is my home. My mother
went into labor with me in this home. So I do have an emotional attachment to this home. This is the
basement. This is the exterior of the home. It is a twin detached shared driveway, detached garage.
And again, I will be tearing that garage down, as you can see back there, to also create a little bit more parking space back there.
I know that that was an issue with some of the other residents on the block.
This is the front of the house.
And there are triplexes at the beginning of the house on both sides of the street.
This is the garage, which I will be demolishing.
This is the tax clearance.
This was the plans for the first, it was the triplex, but I will be doing the duplex and
I do have those plans at the end of the slideshow.
This is the receipt for the mailers.
This is the actual letter of the mailers for all the for the residents in the community.
This is also the letter from the Cops Creek neighbors stating that they were not in agreement with the triplex.
However, they are in agreement with a duplex. And I am OK with that.
And these are the plans for the duplex.
So you guys do have a copy of that as well.
And again, this is not, I'm not a developer.
This is to bring my family in so that we all can,
you know, just, you know, this is not -
And the council member is in favor too, am I correct?
Yes, yes, Jamie McCarthy, yes, she is.
I'm sorry, Garthier, she is in agreement, yes.
Okay, thank you.
Questions from the board?
no mr chairman no chair no chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
mr truth this is hillary excuse me i just wanted to interject quickly um miss platt you mentioned
that you were going to you plan to tear down the garage and add additional parking i just wanted
to let you know that that will require separate zoning permit and plans because this is only a
change of use application um so you can't you can't do demolition and add parking as part of
a change of use application no no no no i'm not adding parking that the uh the garage is basically
fault it's already almost down i'm just right taking the garage away the the parking spot is
just the one car garage and i'm keeping it as that i was just i'm sorry i might i might have
misinformed in that area but yeah but if you are if you are demolishing a structure you will need
a permit for that so just make sure you get a separate permit for that okay well I mean it's
definitely not necessary um it was just something I wanted to you know let the um other residents
know that I'm willing to uh do what is necessary to accommodate their needs as well uh but if
you know I can fix the garage up I don't have to tear it down it's not a necessity yeah it's
definitely not a necessity i can definitely just fix the roof on it yes i'm just letting you know
which is whatever you know whatever you you you plan to do like that you know if you are planning
to remove it and try more definitively create additional parking spaces that just does require
an additional permit so i just wanted to make sure you're aware okay thank you thank you i did
not know that thank you very much so questions from the uh virtual audience um yes mr chair i
I have a hand up from Vandellin Waring.
I have allowed them to speak at this time.
Hi, could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Vandellin Waring, are you still there?
Hands still up, Jase?
Hands still up, Jason.
Yeah, they've unmuted, but I don't know if they're not saying anything or if they can't
ask if the microphone isn't working.
Good morning.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
um yes there's a hand up from a number ending in zero three three zero i haven't got them to
speak at this time sure thank you could you state your name please and spell for the court sonographer
star six to unmute
Good morning.
Excuse me, Mr. Chair.
Once again, star six to unmute individual at number 0330.
still nothing mr chair anyone else in the virtual audience
i missed a hand up from but there was a hand up from a number ending in two zero zero one but
they've put their hand okay their hand is back up i'm about to allow them to speak at this time
sure please i could you state your name please it's spelled for the court stenographer
james seiler j -a -m -e -s -s -i -l -e -r okay do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth yes are you a neighbor yes please proceed
uh i'm one of the neighbors who is in uh opposition okay adding more
are multi -units to the block okay um i have not received or heard of any um any any document
stating that it would be changed from a triplex to a duplex and i'm unaware of any any letter
okay um i would like to know when this was issued when it was circulated and and when it was
presented well the letter came from the cobs creek neighbors association and they they recommended to
the owner reducing it from 3
Do we have a date? I don't have
the date with me, sir.
Are you still against 2?
I don't want any more multi -units on the
block.
There are many numbers that agree.
I don't know how many can
make it on this call.
Thank you very much for taking the time to call in.
we'll take what you said under consideration is there anyone else in the virtual audience
um yes Mr. Chair in fact they had their hand up but they're um they put it down now so you
can now proceed please okay um planning commission thank you Chair Bergman and board members and
good morning David Fecto F -E -C -T -E -A -U with the City Planning Commission
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes sir i do proceed sir thank you sir um mr chairman and board members the comprehensive
plan recommends no change to the residential single family zoning at this location there is
no unique physical condition or circumstance of this property that would prevent it from being
used in conformance with the zoning code the city planning commission recommends the board deny the
proposed use variants for two dwelling units. Thank you. MI 2022 006 363 6229 Christian Street,
I vote yes with proviso. Maximum two dwelling units. Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with
proviso. James Snell, my vote is yes with proviso. Ishmael Shahid, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thank you.
So one, two, three.
Number six, MI 2022 006 537 1028 Lindley Avenue.
Alan Nockmson is the attorney.
letter of support from
Logan Civic Association
I understand we also have a letter of
opposition that we received recently
yes Mr. Chair we received
Yes, Mr. Chair. We received a petition in opposition that was supplied to the RCO, that was supplied to the council office, and then our office this morning.
a petition in opposition
that was applied
All right. How many people were on that? Do you know, Hillary?
I did not get a chance to count, Mr. Chair. It was several pages, and there was various numbers of signatures on each page.
Mr. Nackamson, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Yes, Alan Nockamson, A -L -A -N, last name Nockamson, N -O -C -H -U -M -S -O -N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client and the relationship to the property?
Yes, my client is Earned Properties LLC, and in the virtual audience is its member, Angelo Adams.
All right. Our vice chair has just a few questions here.
Good morning, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that are required to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Oh, yes, we have.
Thank you, Mr. Nackamson. Please proceed and share your screen.
okay mr chair i think while i was transitioning into the
as a panelist i heard something about there may have been another letter issued this morning or
a petition speak up a little bit we're losing you you're going like in and out a little bit
hold on i i heard when i was positioning in as a panelist i thought i heard something about
a petition or a letter right you're right warning yeah hillary received it this morning okay miss
emerson do you mind emailing it to me so then after the presentation i can review and then
respond to it yes absolutely we just received it this morning all right thank you all right
may i share my screen you can thank you all right so i'm here to present 1028 lindley avenue uh
we'll review first the notice of refusal then the letter of support from the logan civic association
we have our own petition where we canvass the neighborhood of nearby property owners and
occupants where we received several signatures and support excuse me support we're proposed
we originally were proposing to have three units in this rsa3 property which is almost 2500 square
foot lot. We originally were proposing three. The neighborhood wished for us to have two,
and that's why we received support. But it's not out of character to have multifamily dwellings
in this part of town, even with this type of zoning classification. And we're going to show
you that as well. We'll review the maps of the area, photographs of the property,
our plans and drawings, our meeting notice step for the last meeting that we had where we
compromised and reduced our unit count to two. So if this board is so inclined to grant our
variance request, we would say maximum two units, our deed to the property showing that earned
properties LLC is the owner of the property, our application for appeal that we filed on behalf of
Earned Properties, LLC, and a Certificate of Tax Clearance showing that my client's in good
standing with respect to this property as it pertains to real estate taxes. At the conclusion
of my presentation, I would ask that Mr. Adams virtually raise his hand. He's the principal
member of this corporate entity that owns the property. I ask that he would be sworn in,
and then we will ask him a few questions regarding my presentation.
So first things first, this is an RSA3 property. We were asking for three units. Just to let you
know, this property has been used for some time as multifamily. So it's configured this way as
three units. Again, as a compromise, my client is willing to go down to two units, which is in
character to the size of a lot of 2 ,500 square feet, as well as the surrounding properties,
which are also multifamily in nature. We have two refusals. The first has to do with the use,
which we originally were proposing three units, which we would ask the board to grant
our zoning appeal now for a maximum of two units. And then the parking spaces, where
technically under this zoning classification, three parking spaces are required, one per unit,
where zero is proposed we you know given the configuration of our lot it would make no sense
you know for us to create a curb cut and it would be virtually impossible for us to create a curb
cut where we where it would allow for three parking spaces or now two again it would also
where it would allow for three parking spaces or now two again it would also be out of character
because you if you looked at the neighborhood no one else who has multi -family use has this type
of parking as well we're also near uh public transportation both several bus lines as well
as a line i think the fern rock station as well for the subway we did receive a letter of support
at a well -attended meeting, 11 people supported this project. And then we actually canvassed the
neighborhood. So in addition to our property, 14 other properties nearby signed a petition in
support of our use. And this was originally for three units, where we're now reducing that unit
count to two for proposing. And then again, we did a canvassing of the neighborhood as well from
like what the use is. And there are 13 other properties in close proximity, which have a
history of multifamily use. And then maps of the area. So we're essentially at the corner
of Lindley and 11th Street and we're between Warnock and Marvin and as you can see we're not
that far off from the Broad Street line here and you know this additional density will hopefully
support that commercial corridor and then photographs of the property this is the front
of the property from Lindley again as you can see there's no way for us to create any off -street
parking. We're physically limited in that respect. And then this is the hearing notice poster for
today's hearing. And this is Lindley to the right of the property. And as you can see, there is no
curve cuts anywhere near here. This is Lindley to the left of the property. And these are our plans
and drawings. We're not making any changes to the physical nature of the building footprint itself.
In actuality, we were hoping to just reuse the three -unit configuration that currently exists,
but we understand that the community wanted less density, and we are agreeing to that.
But you can also see that we have enough ample space to store the garbage in the rear,
and we would also ask for proviso trash stored at the rear of the property.
But as you can see, there's two entrances for each—well, there's an entrance for each
unit. So it's not like we have one point of entry. So for unit number one, which is on the first
floor, which is a two bedroom, one bath, you come to the side area and you come in and that's the
first floor unit. Instead of going to the first floor unit, you want to go to the second floor
unit. Here's a separate entryway. Again, the way that this house is configured and has been
configured for some times. And you would come up to the second floor. Each unit has its own floor.
There's no basement living. There's no roof decks. There's a responsible trash storage and maintenance plan. Again, we met in May at 6 .30 p .m. There were, I can't see, there's like 102 addresses that were notified of that meeting.
excuse me list of those addresses proof of mailing to those addresses
our deed to property showing that earned properties llc is the owner of the property
application for appeal that we filed on behalf of earned properties
and our certificate of tax credits with that being said i would ask that um
Mr. Adams virtually raise his hand.
I'm going to stop sharing my screen.
Is there three apartments there now?
There are three apartments there now.
And you're going to take that second floor and break it down to one?
Yeah, I think right now the second floor is two apartments,
and we're going to actually knock down the wall and make it into one apartment.
Okay, all right, good.
Thank you.
What's your client's name?
Okay, hi.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Yes, my name is Angelo Adams.
That's A -N -G -E -L -O.
Adams is spelled A -D -A -M -S.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, counsel.
Yes, Mr. Adams, you heard everything I had to state today about your zoning matter.
That is correct.
And is it true or correct what I stated?
yes it is and you docked my presentation um as your as the uh factual allegations as your own
yes i do questions from the board no mr chairman
No, Mr. Chairman.
Cheers.
Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Yes, sir.
I have a Sonia Garrett with her hand raised.
I have allowed them to speak at this time.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Good morning.
My name is Sonia Garrett.
Hi, can you spell it, please, for the stenographer?
S -O -N -I -A.
The last name is Garrett, G -A -R -R -E -T -T.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Are you a neighbor?
I am a resident of Logan.
Okay, proceed.
The vice president of the RCO for the Logan City.
Oh, good. Thank you.
please proceed we are in agreement of mr angelo adams reducing that from a three bedroom from a
three units to a two units we are in accordance with that okay um thank you so much for taking
the time to call in we appreciate your input is there anyone else in the virtual audience
yes mr chair charles richardson with their hand raised i haven't got them to speak at this time
Good morning, Mr. Richardson. Please state your name and spell for the court stenographer.
Charles Richardson, R -I -C -H -A -R -D -S -O -N, Office of Councilwoman Cindy Bass, room 508 City Hall.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed.
A little confused with regard to the petition, as we received it late yesterday and looked over it a couple minutes ago.
forwarded it at the request of the RCO. But looking at the actual petition, it says
in the wording that we oppose this development, essentially. But then they have a selection
where you can either say support or oppose, and then everybody has written support. So I don't
know if this is actually actually a opposition letter or if it's a support petition or a support
petition one way or the other. So we're a little confused with that. We were going to actually say
that the councilwoman is not opposed to granting the variance, but we need to get some clarification
from the RCO as to whether or not. And actually, we might have just gotten that from Ms. Garrett.
I think the RCO just testified. Right. So we're going to go with non -opposition on this.
Thank you, Mr. Richard. We appreciate it. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
Yes, we have a hand up from a number ending in 3757.
I'll have them to speak at this time.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Yes, my name is Sheila Bellamy, and the spelling is S -H -E -I -L -A -B -E -L -L -A -M -Y.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Are you a neighbor?
Proceed.
I live at the 5100 block of Hutchinson Street.
I have attended both meetings in reference to the change at 1028 as well.
Now, I was notified yesterday in reference to the zoning notice, and I walked around the corner, and I could see a zoning notice post on the window, which was unreadable, and there was no zoning notice, as someone stated, on the fence.
so the reason for me saying that is that i don't really know how many people in the
neighborhood was really actually accurately notified in reference to the zoning hearing
um i did see a lot of letters were sent out i did see the amount of people that were at
at the original RCO meeting?
Yeah, I was at them both.
Yes, I was at both of them.
Let me ask you this.
Are you in favor of the project or against?
I am not.
I'm against it.
Okay, you're against even though they went from three to two?
Yes, yes.
Okay, well, we'll take note of that.
We thank you for taking the time to call us
and give us your input.
Thank you.
I appreciate it.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
Yes, Mr. Chair. A hand up for my number ending in 3449. I've allowed them to speak at this time.
3 -4 -4 -9, I've allowed them to speak at this time.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the name?
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
3 -4 -4 -9, star -6 to unmute.
Still hands so up?
No, they're still muted.
hi could you please unmute
okay um is there anyone else in the virtual audience
yes diane monroe with her hand right okay i'm not going to speak at this time
hi could you state your name please and spell for the court stenographer
Ms. Monroe, state your name.
Oh, that was by error.
Oh, you're not, you don't want to test it?
That was by, that was, that was by error.
Okay, thank you very much for telling us that.
We appreciate it.
Anyone else in the audience, Jason?
Yeah, there was a hand up.
Oh, I'm sorry, Charlene Samuels.
All right, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
can you hear me yes could you state your name please and spell for the court stenographer
charlene samuels c -h -a -r -l -e -n -e samuels s -a -m -u -e -l -s -i -m the chair for the urban civic
association do you do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
Yes, I do. Please proceed. Yes. So I actually on here today, but I have two people that actually live next door to the property that have called us and who attended both of the meetings who are against it.
I don't I don't know if they're on today. Miss Elaine and Mr. Mac, who live right next door to the property, who are very concerned about what was has been going on with this property for a long time.
So I, you know, so I just want to say, yes, Logan Civic, the 11 folks who voted yes, but we do have some of the folks that said no to even changing it to the two.
So I just want to reiterate in on that. So, like I said, I don't know if the other two persons that live right next door to this property are on.
But I just wanted to speak on their behalf that, you know, they said they were not in agreement, even though the vote was yes.
And the vote was yes when they agreed to go from three to two. Am I correct?
Yes, for the 11, but not three, three. And you'll see on that letter, three did oppose.
And then they did submit to us the petition of those residents who also said no to change it to two.
Well, thank you. Thank you. So thank you so much for taking the time to calls. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
There are no further answers, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Malcolm, do you want to respond to the to that second petition before planning?
Yeah, two things, Mr. Chair. Just just like Mr. Richardson, I'm confused whether they're in opposition or because it does say support on there.
The other thing is, is the petition asked for people to state their position regarding three units.
That was the original proposal, but we're asking for two units.
So even the petition doesn't ask about two units.
Thank you very much.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman, and good morning.
David Effecto with the City Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential single -family zoning at this location.
This appears to be a longstanding non -conforming duplex.
The City Planning Commission recommends the board grant a proposed use variance for a maximum of two dwelling units.
Thank you.
MI 2022, 006 -537, 1028 Lindley Avenue, I vote yes.
Proviso, maximum two units, trash stored in the rear.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with Proviso.
James Stout, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Thank you.
Thank you, counsel.
Is there anyone in the virtual audience whose case has not been called?
I don't see any hands. Mr. chair, I think, I think we've heard all the cases.
I don't see any hands, Mr. Chair.
See everyone at 2 PM. Yes. Thank you. Everyone. Thank you.
Well, did you. Thank you. Thank you.
My name is Bill. Good afternoon. My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this afternoon's ZBA hearings. With me is our vice chair, Ishmael Shaheen.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our board member, Thomas Holloman.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
And our board member, James Snell.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Also present is Hillary Emerson, our attorney, and our executive director, Tanya Sunket.
Here's our virtual format.
Be advised the proceedings are being recorded.
The video will be available by contacting tanyasunket at phillip .gov.
For the benefit of our court stenographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying.
If you're participating by phone and you wish to testify, press star 9 to raise your hand and star 6 to unmute.
To enter the period of statement, call 267 -270 -5548.
Leave your email and the address of the property in question.
The question and answer box on the screen is not for comments or testimony.
All comments should be directed to our Executive Director, Tony Sunken.
Let's look at our schedule for this afternoon.
Your number.
number eight
MI 2023 002 231 3020 North 20th Street that case is continued are there any other requests for
nuances. Good afternoon, Mr. Chair. This is Jason Hand. Once again, I will be your co -host for the
day. I do not see any hands at this time. Thank you very much. And I have one case,
number nine, MI -2022 -007 -178 -3207 North 6th Street. I have no exhibits for this case.
The listed applicant is Rendon Zule Delvalli.
The coordinating RCO HACE is requested and continues.
Well, they did accept a request of contingent on 5 -3 -23.
Mr. Chair, there are no hands raised.
Okay, so MI -2022 -007 -178 -3207 North 6th Street, this is the second listing. No one appeared the first listing. I vote to dismiss.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is to dismiss.
James Snow, dismiss.
Ishmael Shaheed, dismiss.
We're now going to go to our add -on list.
Ishmael Shaheed will
I have recused myself of this
Ishmael Shaheed will take the case
and also
we have
LeBaron Leonard Palmer
who is an alternate
board member
will vote on this case
yep just pulling all my stuff up
one second
mi -20 -23 -003767
10 -23 to 10 -27
West S. Wahana Avenue.
After a further discussion
and deliberation amongst the commissioners,
my vote is yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
LeBaron Leonard Palmer, my vote is yes.
Excuse me, LeBaron, can you please certify that you watched the video from the original hearing? Thank you.
Excuse me, LeBaron.
can you please certify that you watched the video from the
Yes, I can certify that I watched the video from the original hearing. Yes.
Number two of our add -on list, MI 2023 -001 -315 -5331 Wayne Avenue. I vote yes with proviso.
proviso. Disapproval for multifamily living, five dwelling units, and one existing access
parking space. Additionally, interior trash storage and interior mailbox and mail storage.
Thomas Holliman, my vote is yes with proviso.
James Snell, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with proviso.
Number three, MI -2022 -007 -314 -1932, Cecil B. Moore Avenue, I vote no.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is no.
James Snow, my vote is no.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is no.
Number four, MI -2023 -000 -471 -2829 -59 North 23rd Street, this is a request for reconsideration.
i vote no thomas holloman my vote is no james snell my vote is no
number five mi 2022 003 437 6900 chester avenue
i vote yes with proviso revised plan one page stand by zba august 30th
approval use is multiple family living three dwelling units no commercial space
no roof deck roof deck access structure or all street parking thomas holliman my vote is yes with
provisos james now my vote is yes provisos ishmael shaheed my vote is yes with provisor
we're going to go to our regular list and start with number 13
mi 2023 001 744 12011 medford road bianca sanchez is the owner
Mr. Chair, they'll be coming back in as a panelist.
Good afternoon, everyone, Bianca Santos.
Good afternoon.
Could you state your name, please, and spell it for the court sonographer?
Bianca, B -I -A -N -C -A, Sanchez, S -A -N -C -H -E -Z.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I swear, I do.
So this application is for the legalization of an addition and two decks, one attached to the existing semi -detached structure and one freestanding deck.
Size and locations are shown in the application plans, whereas this proposed deck is prohibited
in the 15 -foot front yard measured from Birch Road. Our Vice Chair has just a few questions for you,
okay ma 'am? Sure. Good afternoon ma 'am. Have you emailed in all the required documents and
exhibits that are needed and required to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
I did. The only thing missing was the tax clearance, which I have, because I was having revenue problems. My social wasn't linked to the property, so I couldn't get one, but I did get one yesterday, that one in person.
Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.
you're coming up there you go
so tell us what you what what you're trying to do what you want to do here
let me put this oh okay so well this is before i got my clearance i just wanted to show something
that I didn't owe any taxes on the property.
okay um but this is the actual tax clearance letter that i got from miss um reynolds
But this is the actual tax clearance letter
that I got from Ms. Reynold's.
supervisor that's current department
you let me know when i can move on yeah well you're going to put the letter up you got it you
got a tap on the letter for it to come up it's not up oh okay we see we're good okay um
Um, this is the, my refusal application.
And attached is the appeal application form.
And the project information form as well.
So why don't you show us some photos of what it is?
I'm sorry?
Could you show us some photos?
oh sure i'm sorry so this is the property these are the pictures of the property
so that's the deck on the side of your house right okay and the next one is but that's the side
this is where they're saying i don't have the feed that i needed they're requesting um i only
have four or five and i need i think that we need 9 15 i'm sorry so this is the space right there
that's why it's being rejected okay this same side for another view
this is the other deck where is the pergola it's like a stand basically for the pergola okay
that is another view
and this is another view
or the other deck
so the deck's around the pool
there's a deck around the pool
and there's the one that is
next to the house
basically
that's the distance there right that is the distance between what you guys request well
city 50 feet now he has seven actually out of it all right here is the buster okay information
uh poster this is this was today that i took it since you guys need to see the date on it
okay and this is the one when i posted on august 5th okay um this is the meeting letter that was
provided for the community did the parkwood civic association ever give you a letter
they said i will send it to you guys because it wasn't and that was in that was in may
that was and let me read the letter yes may 23rd the only thing that i got that i took a screenshot
on facebook because i found it it was something saying that they approved mine but i didn't get
any letter okay okay this is yeah and quick question so there's are there other people
in your area that have decks similar to this yes okay questions from the board
no chair no chair chairman questions or comments from the virtual audience
Mr. Chair, this is Hillary. I have just a couple quick questions. Thank you. Ms. Sanchez, the last two photos you showed of the poster on your door, we didn't receive those. We only received the first photo that you showed. So if you could please send those in for the record.
yeah we only have this is the only one we received we didn't have the other two
timestamped photos if you could please send those that would be great um and then my my question is
the refusal references and addition as well as the the two decks what what's the addition that
it's referencing so the addition is this one um and and of course i can look on my oh yeah it is
this one right there yeah i think what they're saying the top the top part is an addition yes
that's the addition okay okay thank you questions or comments from the virtual audience
mr chair i do not see any hands at this time planning commission thank you chair bergman
Thank you, Chair Bergman and board members.
and board members david vecto with the city planning commission
David Vecto with the City Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential single -family zoning at this location.
The appellant appears to have built a deck in the required front yard without benefit of permits.
The City Planning Commission recommends the board deny the proposed variance.
Okay, thank you.
MI 2023 -001 -744 -12011, Medford Road, I vote yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Thank you.
Ma 'am, you have your votes.
Thank you so much.
Bye -bye.
All right, we're going to go to number one, MI 2023 -002 -348 -3501 Civic Center Boulevard.
Jarrett Klein is the attorney.
A letter of support from the Southwest Philadelphia District Services, and Council Member Gauthier supports the granting of the variances.
He'll be coming back in as a panelist.
Hi, Mr. Klein. Could you state your name for the record, please, and spell it?
Certainly. It's Jared Klein, J -A -R -E -D. Last name is Klein, K -L -E -I -N, from Black Rome, 130 North 18th Street.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, told truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
our vice chair has just a few questions sir certainly good afternoon counsel do you agree
to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy good afternoon yes i do have the
email done all the required documents and exhibits that are needed and required to proceed with this
case five days in advance of this hearing yes sir we have thank you please proceed please proceed
to share your screen. Thank you. So I am pleased to be here on behalf of the Children's Hospital
of Pennsylvania. And this application is for some temporary construction signage
that is accompanying the construction of the new patient tower within CHOP's campus.
Just to refresh the board's memory, the new patient tower itself was here before you,
I believe in June of 22. And this was the plan that the board had very graciously approved
variances for at that time. So we're now at the part where we are trying to build this new patient
tower that was approved by variants last year. As the board can see, this is a fairly large
structure that is a complicated construction undertaking. And so the signage that we need
for site safety and site security needs to be a little bit more involved and to remain there a
little bit longer due to the size of the construction than what the code allows. So the
refusal that we received, as you can see, it's for the number of allowable signs and maximum
allowable signage. Generally, the code allows signs for construction for a period of six months
or less this build is going to take longer than that um and that's really the basis for the
hardship for the variance is the length of time that we need to construct this building
is going to take a lot longer than than how long the code allows us to have the temp signage
this is the area here just to familiarize the board with the the context of the area
and this is our site here photos of posting uh are are here along with other permits that have
been granted. And there is a set of proviso plans that are in our exhibit package, exhibit five,
two pages that we'd asked the board to stamp today. What these proviso plans do is actually
decrease the amount of signage that was being asked for. So these plans, as you can see in the
red, they're being removed. This is the area of the signage that we're seeking approval for now.
And the signage generally is of a bright, nicely colored design to blend in with the aesthetic of the area, so it doesn't look like construction signage.
That's the idea here.
To give the board a sense, these are some renderings of what the temporary signage is going to look like along this fence.
Information about the building and information about the project.
And, you know, generally more aesthetically pleasing signage than your standard construction screening.
We, as I think that the chair mentioned, as I was coming in, we did meet with the Civic Association and they understood the context of the need for additional signage and their letter of support is here for the board's review.
And at this point, I would ask Peter Grohlman from CHOP to raise his virtual hand so that he might adopt my testimony and answer any questions the board may have.
And at this point, I would ask Peter Grohlman from.
They've been allowed to speak.
Sir, could you please state your name and spell it for the court stenographer?
Sure. Good afternoon. I'm Peter Rollman, G -R -O -L -L -M -A -N, Senior Vice President, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. I doubt the testimony is true, correct?
Hold on one minute. Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
I do, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Proceed, counsel.
Peter, I love your enthusiasm.
Did you have a chance to listen to my presentation and do you adopt my statements as true, correct, and your own if you had the chance to speak more?
Yes, I do.
Thank you very much.
Mr. Chair, we're happy to answer any questions.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
i do not see any further hands mr chair planning commission thank you chair bergman and good
afternoon david vecta with the city planning commission uh mr chairman and board members
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the commercial mixed use zoning at this location
the appellant seeks to erect more than the number of freestanding signs allowed for lot frontage
and larger signs than are allowed city planning commission recommends the board grant the
proposed variances but we would recommend the board place a maximum time limit on the approval
um mr client did you say two pages yes okay all right um am i
am i 2023 002 348 3501 civic center boulevard i vote yes revised plans
with proviso. Revised plans, two pages stamped by ZBA, August 30, 2023. Thomas Holloman, my vote is
yes with proviso. James Snell, my vote is yes with proviso. Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with
proviso. Thank you, Mr. Klein. Thank you very much. Enjoy your afternoon. Number two, MI 2023 -002 -333 -3848
Aspen Street. Alan Nockamson is the attorney. There's a recommendation of support from the
Mantua Civic Association. No explanation given. Also, the applicant has provided a petition and
support signed by approximately 13 neighbors. Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Nockamson,
you've already been sworn. Could you just state your name for the record? Alan Nockamson.
And could you identify your client in this issue?
Yes, my client is Hidmona, Inc.
Okay, and our vice chair has a few questions, sir.
Good afternoon, counsel.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that are needed and required to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, we have.
Thank you, counsel.
So please proceed and share your screen.
Thank you.
Hi, so I'm here to present 3938 Aspen Street.
We're looking to put a two -unit dwelling on this rather large lot of over 1 ,441 square feet.
and this lot also has a history of a duplex use. So in my presentation materials, we'll first review
the notice of refusal, then a letter of support from the Mantua Civic Association where no one
in the audience, which this was an in -person meeting, was against this project. I also have
the use registration permit showing that this property has a long history of multifamily use
And then it's not uncommon for properties in close proximity to this property to have multifamily variances as well, and we'll review that.
In addition to the people that attended the community meeting, my client canvassed the neighborhood and obtained many signatures of individuals who live in close proximity to this property, and you'll see that by way of the petition.
Maps of the area.
So we're basically at the corner of Aspen and Union Street.
But you'll see that from a zoning perspective, as well as a Google Maps perspective.
But you'll see that from a zoning perspective as well as a Google Maps perspective.
We have ample, as you can see from the Google Maps, you'll see ample public transportation available to occupants of our proposed duplex.
Photographs of the property and the surrounding area, our plans and drawings, our RCO meeting notice, our application for appeal that we filed on behalf of Hidmona, Inc.
the deed showing that Hidmona, Inc. is the owner of the property, and our Certificate of Tax
Clearance. At the conclusion of the presentation, I have one of the principal members of Hidmona,
Inc., who I would ask to virtually raise his hand, be sworn in, and I have a few questions
for him about my presentation about this matter. So first things first is our notice of refusal.
Also, we are seeking to have a two -family dwelling here.
And unfortunately, in this zoning district, multifamily use is not allowed, even though
this lot is 1 ,441 square feet, even though there's a substantial history of multifamily
So we did meet with the community, and the community was overwhelmingly in support of
this project.
While they did not give a reason to the ZBA, they thought it was appropriate use of the
property given it's a long history and of multi -family use as well as surrounding
properties nearby which are multi -family in nature as well and then here's our use permit
which shows that this property has been used in the past uh for a two -family dwelling
and then you know we also looked uh and canvassed the neighborhood only a block away from this
property. And there's several examples of RSA 5 properties that also have a history or have
received support from this board to allow for multifamily use. 3844 Fairmont, which is a block
away from us. 3900 Aspen Street, which is on the same block as us. 3941 Fairmont, again, we're a
block away. 3931 Fairmont, 3929 Fairmont, 769 North 39th Street, which is a block away, and 3974
Reno Street. And then again, my client made a conservative effort to do a significant community
outreach. And as you can see, many of these addresses are either on the block or the next
block up on Aspen Street. And then maps of the area. Again, although we are an RSA 5 property,
we are in close proximity to some RM1 use. And again, it's not uncommon for a lot of this RSA 5
use to be used as multifamily in nature. And then this is just a map from a Google perspective
of where we are in the neighborhood. And you can see we're not that far from Lancaster,
which is the commercial corridor. So this increased density should help that commercial
corridor out. Photographs of the property. Again, we're not changing the footprint of this property
in any way. We're just updating it to its previous use as a two -unit dwelling. And then here's the
hearing notice posting or proof of it. And then here is Aspen Street to the right of the property
and that's been street to the left of the property. And our plans and drawings, again,
pretty simple floor plan. You go into this porch area, you have a vestibule area, you go to the
right, that's unit number one, that's a one -bedroom, one and a half bath. You go up a flight of steps
and there's a bi -level for the second and third floors and that's a three -bedroom, two bath
on the second and third floors. And then our meeting notice, we met with the community
this month August 17th we had a significant outreach to the community in terms of the mailing
proof of these are the addresses we mailed to proof of mailing to those addresses
our application for appeal that we filed on behalf of Hidmona Inc
our deed showing that Hidmona Inc is the owner of the property
and our Certificate of Tax Clearance.
With that being said, I would ask that Efron virtually raise his hand.
He is one of the principals of this company.
Sir, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Please raise your virtual hand to wait to be sworn in.
sir could you state your name please and spell for the stenographer
do not sing any hands what is the name again may i ask
do not sing any hands what is the name again
ephraim i'm gonna apologize if i butchered a name uh techley gorgigas
oh there he is i see him
hi sir could you state your name and spell it for the court stenographer
they might be having some technical issues with their
Mr. Nachamson you're an officer of the court
we will accept your testimony
thank you Mr. Chair
questions from the board
no Mr. Chairman
no Chair
questions or comments from the virtual questions or comments from the virtual audience
i do not see any hands mr chair planning commission thank you chair bergman and board
members good afternoon david vecto with the city planning commission this property was rezoned in
2017 in a neighborhood zoning map change in accord with recommendations in the comprehensive
of plan and with the support of the community there is no unique physical condition or circumstance
of this property that would prevent it from being used in conformance with the zoning code
the city planning commission recommends the board deny the proposed use variance for two dwelling
units thank you mi 2023 002 333 39 38 aspen street i vote yes thomas holliman my vote is yes
james now my vote is yes ishmael shaheed my vote is yes mr knockerson please stay on
mi 2023 002 355 6104 market street um
so there's a letter of support from achievability and there is also a letter of
recommendation
for this to be a temporary variance
or if not
there would be no support from
Councilmember Gauthier and then the applicant
also provided a petition and support signed by
approximately 24 neighbors
Mr. Nockmson could you identify your client please
yes my client is the owner of the property
winfeld uh investments llc and in the virtual audience uh is its member len cheng right and
our vice chair has a few questions for you good afternoon council do you agree to wait the reading
of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy i do have you emailed them all the required documents
and exhibits that are needed and required to proceed with this case five days in advance of
this hearing? Yes, we have. Thank you. Please proceed to hear your screen.
All right, so we're here to present 6104 Market Street. This is currently zoned as a CMX2 property
where we have a permit for two residential units and one commercial unit. The essence of this
zoning variance request is to swap out the commercial unit with the residential unit,
and that's why we're here today. So first, we'll review the notice of refusal,
then the letter of support from Achievability, the coordinating RCO. Not only did we get the
support of the community group, but we also got significant support by nearby neighbors,
and you'll see that by way of the petition. You'll also see that this property has a past
of a non -residential use.
So before we received a zoning permit
to allow for two residential and one commercial,
at one point, this property was fully residential.
While it was only single family in nature,
it still was fully residential.
So it's not out of character to have this property
be used solely as residential.
Then we'll review the maps of the area.
I mean, it's basically on the L,
like where Market Street is.
So we have ample public transportation.
The issue we have today with this property and many properties in close proximity to
here is that the commercial corridor is struggling.
And part of the reason why it's struggling is the lack of density in this part of Philadelphia.
And what we're going to show through our presentation that it's not uncommon to allow
for full residential use, including on the ground floor in a multifamily nature in this
So what we're asking for is not out of character and doesn't stick out like a sore thumb.
So what we're asking for is not out of character and doesn't stick out like a sore thumb.
So given the history of this property as fully residential and given that there are other properties that are residential on the ground floor and given that there are multiple empty storefronts, including ours, which we cannot rent out, you know, we're asking this board to grant this variance.
And we'll talk about the temporary nature of it, which, again, is not something that would typically this board would grant just because the cost involved in converting this commercial unit to a residential unit.
Then we'll review maps of the area, photographs of the property.
We also have interior photographs.
You'll see what the condition of this property as a whole was before we cleaned up the residential aspects of it.
We'll also talk to you a little bit about Len Chang and his organization. Not only is he well -versed in managing properties, residential properties throughout the city of Philadelphia, their business model is focused almost entirely on affordable housing.
The other two residential units are affordable units.
If this board grants this variance, the third unit on the ground floor is going to be an affordable unit.
This community needs affordable units.
That's why they supported this project amongst all.
Plus, there's all these empty storefronts there.
We'll review the plans and drawings.
We'll have the RCO meeting notice, improved mailing end notice, our application for appeal that we filed on behalf of Winfield Investments, LLC.
fee, our deed to the property showing Winfield Investments LLC as the owner, and our certificate
of tax clearance. Again, at the conclusion of our presentation, I would ask that Mr. Chang
virtually raise his hand, be sworn in, and I have a few questions about my presentation.
I'm sure he may want to even interject because of his experience with this property.
So our notice of refusal, again, this is a CMX2 property. We're allowed three units as of right,
two residential, one commercial. And we just want to swap out the commercial unit with residential.
We've had this property fully functioning as a two plus one since 2017. And quite honestly,
it's just been a disaster from the commercial standpoint. We have not been able to keep a
viable commercial tenant in there. And this has been going on for over six years. How expensive
this process is how long this process is you know you know in spite of that my client is willing to
you know has been willing to forego like um having any rent there and honestly he couldn't get rent
there even if he wanted but he has two refusals uh the first is um you know you can't have commercial
residential on the ground floor of a commercial that's refusal number one and you know again
Again, we're just shy to allow for three units residential, forget about swapping it out,
and that's the second refusal.
We're only allowed two residential units, we're asking for three, and we don't meet
the lot size requirements of that.
But again, we're trying to swap out the commercial for residential.
Cheapability, again, we met with them at a well -attended meeting, and they support this
project, and they specifically referenced the petition.
We did great, you know, community outreach, even prior to the community meeting, it was important to Mr. Chang to show the community that he did that outreach. And, you know, again, given the property's history, given that there are other vacant lot of vacant commercial spaces on this commercial corridor, given that some of those other ground floor units are also residential, I think came into play for their support.
And then again, just showing that in 2000, before we owned this property, this was solely a residential property, had no commercial component whatsoever.
And then maps of the area. Again, we're CMX2. There's actually bordering on CMX3, which would probably allow for this use.
And then we were behind on RM1. Our lot size is $1 ,121. So if this was an RM1 property, this would be allowed as a right.
And then photographs of the property. Here we are in the neighborhood. Proof of posting for today's hearing, the hearing notice. And then you can see Market Street to the right of the property, Market Street to the left of the property. You can even see from these pictures, there are some non -commercial units on the ground floor.
So we canvass the neighborhood. These are the first floor residential neighborhoods in close proximity to us. 6108 Market Street, 6106 Market Street, 6048 Market Street. Actually, strike that. That's a vacant lot. 6044 Market Street, 6042 Market Street, 6040 Market Street.
6044 Market Street, 6042 Market Street, 6040 Market Street, 6032 Market Street,
6030 Market Street, 6028, 2622, and then 6018 -20 Market Street.
All ground floor residential.
And then here are the vacant commercial spaces, 6126 -32, 24, 6100 -02, 6050, 6056, 6012, 6006 -08, 6106 -6108.
And a few of them have been vacant as far back as 2012.
well. So interior photos, this is what the property looked like before my client purchased it.
It was in shambles. And this is the pictures now of the residential, the legal residential units
above. He takes great pride in this work product. Again, his business model is affordable housing.
And he would, you know, he would include this unit also within that business model.
and then our plans and drawings it's just a simple floor plan um you know you walk in you
have an open area with a living room and you have a bathroom and it looks like you have two bedrooms
and then we met uh with the community on june 29th uh you know we had a significant amount of
people who received our mailing here's those addresses proof of mailing to those addresses
or application for appeal
on behalf of Winfield Investments
or deed,
which shows that Winfield Investments
is the owner of the property
and certificate of tax credits.
With that being said,
I would ask that,
well, before that,
in terms of having a temporary variance,
it's going to cost my client,
and forget about the legal fees
and the time lost
in this property, this unit being vacant.
It would cost my client,
it's going to cost my client $20 ,000 to $30 ,000
just to renovate this one unit
and convert it into a residential unit.
Given the rents that my client charges,
he estimated, and he helped adopt my testimony as his own,
that it would take two years of rents
to equate, to equal the cost involved
in converting that unit.
So any temporary variance would make it unmanageable to actually, you know, continue on with this process.
We just don't want a vacant commercial space.
And we're saying that the grounds exist for us to convert that into residential.
With that being said, I would ask that Mr. Chang virtually raise his hands.
Sir, could you state your name and spell, please, for the court stenographer?
Sure. My name is Leonard Chang, L -E -O -N -A -R -D -C -H -A -N -G.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
Proceed, counsel.
Yeah, Mr. Chang, you heard everything I had to state today.
And is it true and correct?
And do you adopt it as your own testimony?
And in particular, regarding the temporary, any temporary proposed variance,
It would be economically unmanageable for you to agree to such.
Correct.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Mr. Chair, I have a Nanette Hill with her hand raised.
If I don't know, I'm going to speak.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Hi, my name is Leonette Hill.
Did you hear that clearly?
I did.
Could you spell it, please, for the stenographer?
The spelling is L -E -A -N -N -E -T -T.
My last name is Hill.
The last spelling is H -I -L -L.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Are you a neighbor?
Proceed.
Um, so my name is Leanna Hill. I am a lifelong community resident of West Philadelphia.
There is no denial that our business and commercial corridor is struggling. However,
as a community leader in West Philadelphia, we have been working with our elected officials as
well as Achievability to pretty much improve the corridor. And if Mr. Chain was involved with the
community, he would know this. So there has been several meetings to pretty much improve the
corridor, and we're going to continue to have those. In addition to that community meeting
that Mr. Allen spoke about, we asked what did his advertising
that Mr. Allen spoke about, we asked, what did his advertisement look like? Because they claimed
they were struggling to rent this commercial space, yet we couldn't find any advertisement,
you know? So we're all on a Zoom meeting, and we're looking for these advertisements. And when
asked, well, who's doing the advertisement? We were told by the applicant that they hired a
third party. The question was, okay, well, where's your third party advertising that you're renting
the commercial space. They didn't know. They didn't know where the commercial space was being
advertised. So how are you trying to rent a space? And we can't find anywhere where this space was
advertised for rent. So with that being said, no, I am opposing to this as a lifelong community
resident. 60th to 63rd and Market is a business, a commercial corridor, and that's how we want it
to stay. We do not want it to be K &A. And again, as far as those petitions that he had done,
they are questionable petitions. Because on that meeting at 6104, the residents that did
send that a meeting, and it was about 15 to 16 of them, Achievability should have sent that also,
we voted no. So during the community meeting that we had, the community said no. So he went ahead
and got his petition um and again those those petitions are questionable they're not we don't
know those people they're not verifiable so um again but the issue is you're against it you're
saying um i'm i'm i'm i'm heavily against it okay thank you very much for taking the time to call
in do you have a question can i briefly respond uh why don't we do this why don't we wait to see
if there's anyone else in. Is there anyone else
in the virtual audience?
Yes, Bridget Powell
with her hand raised. I have allowed them to speak
at this time. Hi, could you state your name
please and spell for the court
stenographer?
Before I continue,
I have a gentleman
who has a business
on that commercial quarter.
Hold on.
Could you state your name and spell for the stenographer?
her Bridget Powell b -r -i -d -g -e -t p -o -w -e -l -l thank you do you swear or affirm to tell the
truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth I do are you a neighbor I am I live in a unit block
okay proceed um I was also at the community meeting on zoom and yes we did not vote for
approval of this variance. And yes, he did present the petitions. And I also emailed you
petitions that I went and got on those same blocks that the owner has here. And I got all
non -support. And I basically want to say is that for over 20 years, I've lived over here in the
unit block. And we've seen the L and the construction. But at the same time, I use the L
to get to work. I can get off and go to the supermarket. I can get off at 63rd Street and
my children go to dance class there. And I can also get my hair done. There's daycares here.
And he also mentioned, we asked him how much was he asking for the commercial building? And he said
$1 ,200. And there was a gentleman on who chimed in. He says, well, when we asked, you told us
$1 ,700. So to me, $500 is a big difference and can make or break whether someone wants to rent
out your property. Okay. So you're against this proposal? I am against this proposal. And I'm in
agreement with our councilman, Gaudier, who says that if this can't be provisional, then she's
against it also. All right. Thank you very
much for taking the time to call in. Is there anyone
else in the virtual audience?
I'm, yes, Chair. A person with the initial
LH with their hand raised. I will
allow them to speak at this time.
Hi. Could you state your name and spell, please,
for the court stenographer?
Richard Milton.
Say it again. Richard Milton.
M -I -L -T -O -N. Okay.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Are you a neighbor?
Are you for or, listen, hold on.
Are you for or against the project?
Against it.
Do you have any other reasons than what's already been mentioned?
I actually live right next door to the property and cross the street from the other one.
And since he'd had them properties, I used to know the man that actually owned it.
And it definitely was a business before that.
And it definitely was a business before that.
But the man got sick.
But the man got sick.
So what says that man?
So since that man took over both of them properties, they don't took bodies out of the buildings.
So I don't know what y 'all are talking about.
It's a good thing that he's doing because all he's doing is messing the neighborhood up because they've been putting bodies out of the building, both of them.
And I'm going to tell you something else.
If he don't watch what he's doing, he can bring another body out of the one next door to me, and it's going to be a baby.
Do you hear that?
And I'm telling y 'all that can.
Thank you.
Thank you for your comment, sir.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
I see no further hands, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Knopkinson, do you want to respond?
So in terms of our petition, that's something we provided the community group at our community
meeting.
And I don't know, I don't think they took the vote in front of us, but we purposefully
put contact information like phone numbers or email addresses.
So it's verifiable.
I can't speak to whether or not they did that, but, you know, we intentionally reach out to the community in that respect.
So I can't tell you what the vote was for the people in person.
It sounds like some of the people that were in at that community meeting who are against it are also hearing against it.
But after hearing those individuals who are against it at the community meeting, the community group agreed to support this project without any provisional support.
planning commission
thank you chair bergman and good afternoon david effecto with the city planning commission
the comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning at this location from commercial
mixed use two to commercial mixed use three the proposed zoning would not require ground
floor commercial space and would allow additional units beyond what the current zoning permits
the city planning commission recommends the board grant the proposed use variants from the commercial
ground floor requirements in the zoning code and the dimensional variance to allow three
dwelling units.
Excuse me, Chair.
I'm sorry to interrupt, but it was one more person that wanted to testify.
Thank you.
And, Miss, you can put the other person on.
Hello, this is...
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Name's Cleveland English.
C -L -E -V -E -L -A -N -D, English, E -N -G -L -I -S -H.
Right.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Are you a neighbor?
Are you for or against the project?
I live at 6101 Market Street and against it.
Do you have any other reasons other than what's already been stated?
Yeah. Yes. He says he couldn't rent the place and he had it rented out as a barbershop. And then after that, someone was just living in the place. It wasn't a barbershop anymore.
So all we want is a business deal that doesn't matter what kind we want.
When you stop in that block, you know that there will be different types of business and you don't have to change everything to keep a business district business.
Just like in Chinatown, they don't want nothing changed down there, but they want to come in our neighborhood and change everything.
Okay, well, we're just going to concentrate on the property, sir.
Yeah, well, that's all I'm concentrating on.
We don't want it.
And if you already said that we did, definitely is not in communication with this neighborhood here.
Okay, thank you very much for taking the time to call in.
Mr. Nockmson, do you want to respond to that real quick, or are you okay?
No, I think the Planning Commission's recommendation actually speaks volumes that this is proposed to be a CMX3 property, which would allow our use as a break.
All right. So we've had a lot of testimony on this. What I'd like to really do is next Wednesday, vote at 2 p .m. on Wednesday. I want to take some time and talk to the group in an executive session about where we want to stand with this. Okay?
Thank you.
Thank you.
Mr. Chair, this is Hillary. We do not have hearings.
Yep. Yeah, we hear, yes. But we do not have hearings next week. So this would be voted Wednesday, September 13th at 2 p .m. Yes.
Thank you. Thank you very much. Okay. Number four, MI -2023 -002 -233 -9218 Frankfurt Avenue. David Orfanides is the attorney. Recommendation of non -opposition from the Upper Holmesburg Civic Association with a proviso.
Order Proviso.
Councilman Drish.
Councilman Driscoll is also in non -opposition with Proviso.
You're coming back in as a panelist, sir.
Hi, Mr. Orphanides.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Certainly.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman.
David Orphanides, last name is spelled O -R -P -H -A -N -I -D -E -S.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Would you identify your client, the relationship to the property?
Certainly.
My client is the owner of the property, Pozell Partnership 2 LLC.
And our vice chair has just a quick question, sir.
Certainly.
Good afternoon, counsel.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Good afternoon, Mr. Shaheed.
I do, and I do.
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that are needed and required to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, I did, Mr. Shahid.
Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.
Thank you.
Let's share.
All right. It's confirming you can see my screen?
We can, sir.
All right. Great.
So, again, my name is David Orfanides. I'm here on behalf of the Zelle Partnership 2 LLC, which is the current owner of the property, 9218 Frankfurt Avenue. You see a photograph of it up in front of you.
um my client again is the owner of the property as you can see from the photograph which i took
of the property from frankfurt avenue uh the property was available for lease um it was last
occupied in uh march of 22 by citizens bank uh it has been vacant since that time my client has
attempted to, is advertised, tempted to lease the property for uses that are permitted at the
subject property based upon its zoning classification. I have a copy of a flyer
that they have circulated to their network of regional brokers. They also advertised digitally
on costar and loop net and um other than i think uh and i have somebody um from the uh from the
client from the owner here um who can confirm my statements is that other than one or two smoke
shops or convenience stores that look toward the property but it never went any further
they had no interest in the property for a permitted use um that we have a tenant uh we
have a lease that's signed. It's contingent upon the zoning, and that is religious assembly use.
It's the Philadelphia Temple of the International Central Gospel Church. They're presently operating
up on Grand Avenue at 1840 Grand Avenue. I have photos of that, and they wish to lease this
property for more space than what they presently have for their church. It is not a use that's
permitted. The property, interestingly enough, is zone CA1. That is, and I'll show you with the
zoning map, that is a commercial area shopping center zoning district. You'll see from the
aerials and the photos that there is a bit of a strip group of retail stores and operations
to the left of the property here, but this isn't a shopping center parcel. I mean, it's really,
And when you take a look at the photos of what's across the street, we're in zone CMX2.
It's more of a local business type of property and where this use would be permitted.
But again, it's zoning classified CA1.
We do, as mentioned, you stated we have a letter of non -opposition from Councilman Driscoll.
Here is a copy of that.
It's at tab one.
And then we have a letter of non -opposition from UHCA, the Upper Holmesburg Civic Association, dated August 23rd, 2023. Councilman Driscoll's office is also dated August 23rd, 2023.
um they uh the community group well we had a meeting a community group meeting uh and just
so you know originally there was a different community group um the northeast community council
community alliance um northeast community civic alliance was originally identified
by the planning commission as the coordinating rco for this property uh you can see here the
email from the planning commission from april 14th uh i reached out to them made many attempts
i looped in the planning commission i looped in the councilman's office um other than one phone
email about when our hearing was we weren't able to get anything scheduled with them
The councilman's office then redirected us, had the Upper Homesburg Civic Association then assigned as the community, as the coordinating RCO for this project.
the councilman's office then redirected us had the
And here you can see their email from July 13th, where it was switched over to UHCA.
And again, we did meet with them.
And here's a copy of our notice on July 25th.
It went out to the list of addresses that you see here at tab 20A of our exhibit book.
So they are, I think they're generally fine with the proposed tenant of my clients.
The concern is, as I understand it, is what happens if zoning runs with the land and what happens if this church moves on to another location and the property is vacant, then they have a church that's approved, not knowing what is going to be going in there.
And so they had originally requested a 36 -month, three -year temporary, our leases for 38 months, and then taking into account time to get the space fit out, get an interior renovated, get a certificate of occupancy, they agreed to a four -year temporary for this variance, and my client was willing to accept that.
And that temporary is what, again, what's cited in both UHCA's letter of non -opposition and Councilman Driscoll.
Again, the notice of refusal, which is a tab three, as I stated, it confirms that the property is zone CA1 and that the proposed use religious assembly is not permitted.
Here's an aerial image of our property.
There are, when it was used as a bank, in addition to the drive -thru, there were 16 accessory parking spaces associated and permitted for that use.
Fortunately for us, the religious assembly use, based upon the square footage requirements set forth in the zoning code, requires for the amount of square footage that we have, which is just over 4 ,000 interior, that we have 16.
accessory parking spaces. So this property was perfectly suited from that standpoint when it
comes to the zoning code's parking requirements for our use. But you can see here's a small
strip retail. This is zoned. You'll see in a second right here, the property, that property
over here is zone CA2. But our property and then the Burger King next to us are zone CA1.
You'll see across the street from us, here's a zoom in.
You have a bunch of, a line, a bunch, a line of one -story commercial operations, which, again, are more in keeping with CMX2, which is what those properties are zoned, which we think this fits in with.
I have a copy, that zoning map is at tab five, tab six.
It's a copy of the zoning archives for the property, which, again, show the financial institution previously permitted use in the parking spaces.
Exterior photos of the property are tab seven interior looks like a bank presently, a tab eight.
The proposed floor plans you can see here are at tab nine.
There is a ground floor, then a partial cellar.
And you can see the layout.
The main part of the church where the congregation will worship is at the ground floor.
Then there's a break room, mechanicals, bathrooms below.
Here are photos of their existing operations up on Grand Avenue right here.
Small building.
You can see the interior.
They've outgrown the space, and they need more space.
Tab 13 is the marking materials that were distributed to my client's network of regional brokers.
Our zoning permit application is at tab 14.
Our appeal at tab 15.
The hearing notice for today's hearing at tab 16.
Our photographs of the posting of the notice and the notice of refusal at tab 17.
Tab 18 is a copy of the deeds.
There's a bit of an ownership history here, which is all – I think I've reviewed much of that with the zoning board's attorney.
The current deeds show CIRA – it goes from CIRA, Inc. to CIRA Company.
Then CIRA Company, just to say, it's made its transition through name changes and whatnot to the current owner of the property, which is Pazelle Partnership 2, LLC.
seek. We've also included a copy of the lease that my client has with it, the International
Central Gospel Church, which shows for 38 months. Our tax clearance, even though our tax clearance
calls Pozell Partnership, we did run it with Pozell Partnership 2 LLC. And for some reason,
And for some reason, it shows the same clearance as whether it's as Pozell Partnership, but we did enter the current entity and they came up with the certificate.
it shows the same clearance as whether it's as Pozell Partnership.
And then again, our 14 -303 notice.
At the present operations, my clients have a Bible study at 7 p .m. on Wednesdays, prayer meetings Mondays through Fridays from 5 to 6, and then the Sunday worship is from 10 to 12 Sunday morning.
They have about 50 people that come on average.
There's no drug counseling as part of their operations, as part of their present church, and none are proposed.
And again, my client is willing to accept the four -year temporary as a condition for the granting of the variance.
I have a question.
I want to bring your client on, Mr. Orphanidis.
Yes, Pastor Richard, who could jump on.
if you can raise your hand pastor richard they've been allowed to speak okay sir could
you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer uh my name is richard nyamedi
last name is spelled n -y -a -m -e -d -i right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth nothing but the truth yes i do proceed counsel um pastor richard um and you you
are the tenant um the proposed tenant for the uh for the space correct yes please okay and and did
you hear the statements that i made today regarding your existing operations and your proposed
operations um at the subject property 9218 frankfurt avenue yes please and and were the
statements that i made true and correct to the best of your knowledge
absolutely correct yes and would you adopt those statements as your own
yes i do okay thank you and then i okay i have my client actually for bozel if you'd like to
have him adopt my statements represented from gazelle partnership to llc um statements if
you'd like no i think we're fine questions from the board no chair no chair questions or comments
from the virtual audience mr chair there's a mark morrison with their hand raised i have
allowed them to speak at this time okay hi could you state your name please and spell for the
stenographer. Can you hear me now? Yes, please. Could you state your name and spell for the
stenographer? Yes, Mark Morrison, M -A -R -K -M -O -R -R -I -S -O -N. Do you swear or affirm to tell
truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do are you a neighbor no i am a member of a
the neighboring rco in this house all right proceed uh i attended the first zoom meeting
for this property with uh mr david or fennies and uh the main issue seemed to be uh parking which
is a always a concern. There's commercial businesses across the street. And as a member
of the RCO that is directly across the street, we only found out because we do a survey of
the zoning hearings that have come upon us. We were not named by the councilman as a RCO
for this matter. So we were not privileged to the information that was presented. What I found
from attending the first Zoom meeting, there were 22 people that participated in that meeting.
And when I looked at the vote from the Upper Holmesburg Civic Association,
there only looked like there were eight people that voted on it.
Could you pull that up, please?
What's that?
The vote from the letter of non -opposition from Upper Holmesburg.
Okay, so I see, what is that?
Six or eight people that voted.
Okay, thank you.
I did not attend that meeting. I was not aware of it at the time. Otherwise, I would have participated. My main concern, as always, is parking issues because it has a tendency to block the traffic corridor there for all the commercial businesses that are on.
block the traffic corridor there for all the commercial businesses that are on the other side.
The four -year proviso, I would support at this point, just for the fact to see if the parking
issues actually do get worse. We appreciate you taking the time to call us in, and we will
take what you said into consideration. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
no further hands mr chair planning commission thank you chair bergman and good afternoon
david effecto with the city planning commission mr chairman and board members the comprehensive
plan recommends no change to the commercial area zoning of this location there is no unique physical
condition or circumstance of this property that would prevent it from being used in conformance
with the zoning code the city planning commission recommends the board deny the proposed use
variance for religious assembly mi 2023 002 233 92 18 frankfort avenue i vote yes for a temporary
variance to expire 9 -1 -27 thomas hallman my vote is yes with proviso jane snow my vote is yes with
proviso? Ishmael Shahi, my vote is yes, with proviso. Thank you. Thank you, counsel. Thank you.
Number five, MI -2023 -003 -253 -3025 John F. Kennedy Boulevard. Meredith Ferliger is the
attorney. There is a letter of support from the Palnton Village Civic Association.
Council Member Gauthier has taken a position of support.
good afternoon mr chairman i could you state your name please and spell for the court sonographer
sure meredith ferliger f -e -r -l -e -g -e -r with delworth paxton 1500 market street suite 3500 e
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
I do. Could you identify your client in relationship to the property?
Sure. My client today is Brandywine 3025 JFK LP. That entity is a ground lessee under a ground
lease with Drexel University, which is evidenced by the Memorandum of Ground Leasing Your Packet
at Exhibit 3. And Brandywine is represented here today by Paul Committo, who is the Senior
Vice President of Development. Our Vice Chair has just a few questions.
good afternoon council do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his
accuracy i do have you emailed in all of the required documents and exhibits that are needed
to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing yes i did thank you please proceed
and share your screen thank you uh hopefully you can see my screen right now great before the board
today is a proposal for a freestanding monument sign that will identify the newly constructed
project at 3025 John F. Kennedy Boulevard. This project is the first tower to be built
as a part of the transformational Schuylkill Yards endeavor in West Philadelphia.
At tab 9, you'll note that the property at 3025 JFK Boulevard is zoned CMX 5. Although
slightly outdated, the aerial images at tab 10 show general site context. The property is directly
south of the Amtrak rail lines and just west of 30th Street Station. For a more current view,
the board can refer to photographs at exhibit 17. The first view that I have up on the screen here
shows the nearly complete tower that sits just to the west of the overhead CSX rail line.
This exciting project, often referred to as the West Tower, will include 326 dwelling units,
office and life science space, and retail space. For reference, the last zoning permit on file
is included in the exhibits at tab 13. The board might recall that we sought relief back in 2021
for a minor modification to the parking layout for this building.
The next photo is oriented to face 30th Street Station out in the distance,
where the board will see the adjoining High Line.
Now, in addition to identifying the West Tower itself,
the sign we will present today is also intended to identify the High Line Park,
which is a 7 ,500 -square -foot pocket park,
which is next to the West Tower, generally in this area you can see on your screen.
which is next to the west tower, generally in this area you can see on your screen,
and will also be partially beneath the High Line. I'll move briefly through the rest of
the photos to give the board additional site context. So again, this is just facing JFK
towards 30th Street Station. And as I flip through the photographs, please take note of the overall
scale of the new building as well as the general view obstructions caused by these High Line
columns. So again, this is just facing the new building on JFK Boulevard. And you can see a
couple different views here. This one in the bottom right here is from across JFK Boulevard.
And just a few more. At tab five and six, the board will find plans reflecting details of the
proposed freestanding sign. The monument sign is proposed to be built in the landscaped area
to the right of the tower. If I flip back to the photos for context, the sign will be built
just left of center of the first planting bed, which is shown here up on the screen. So just
generally in this corner, the north corner up here where I'm pointing to.
as shown on the site plan the sign will be roughly 19 .8 feet from the east property line
and seven feet from the front property line now please note that the sign location has
changed slightly from the original application to lni as it has shifted slightly northwest of
its original location the sign will be lit via external lights at the base of the sign
The overall sign area, which I will bring up to show you, is 84 .7 square feet, which has been
reduced from the original application, which included 94 .2 square feet. The proposed sign
will be 16 feet high, which is also a reduction from the original proposal at 17 feet high.
Most importantly, at tab eight, you will see some renderings here of the new sign in context to the surrounding area.
And I'll just flip through these so that you can get a sense of the scale of this sign in relation to the adjoining building as well as the adjoining rail line.
And this is just from where roughly Highline Park will be located.
now regarding the refusal as evidenced at tab one only one refusal was issued for this proposed sign
i've included section 149041 of the zoning code at tab 12. that section of the code limits a
freestanding sign to an overall height of 10 feet as i mentioned previously the proposed sign is six
feet higher than allowed for a total height of 16 feet. The applicant submits to a hardship to
the board today as a result of this property's unique conditions, chiefly its location directly
adjacent to the CSX High Line, which makes designing and locating visible signage challenging.
Now, if I briefly turn back to the photographs, this first photograph clearly reflects the
challenging site conditions that are created by this very large highline column that blocks
visibility as you travel west on JFK Boulevard. This condition is further accentuated by JFK
Boulevard itself, which is 100 feet wide. Now, as a result, the additional six feet in height will
ensure that the sign maintains a prominent presence to adequately direct visitors, residents,
and other patrons not only to the west tower but also to the newly built park which is partially
beneath the high line we also submit that this variance request is the least minimum variance
only a modest increase in height uh height is proposed and the scale of the sign is appropriate
given the mass of the over 400 foot high building for comparison sake i've included another similar
freestanding sign in the packet at Exhibit 14, which shows the freestanding sign that is next
to the FMC tower that's located just a few blocks away from this. That sign is nearly 20 feet high,
so the board can see that the mass of these high -rises often warrants a modest increase
in the base freestanding sign height. The proposed signage will not increase congestion and will serve
to appropriately direct visitors, particularly park visitors, to their destination.
No harm will come to you.
No harm will come to the neighbors as this project is surrounded exclusively by other commercial properties, most that are a part of the Schuylkill Yards project itself.
We are my silly.
There are no residences within a thousand feet, and the sign is only visible from JFK Boulevard.
A full legal analysis, as always, is provided in the Memorandum of Law I've submitted to the board at Exhibit 11.
With respect to the community, Powhatan Village Civic Association's letter of support is in the packet at Exhibit 16, where they did note that the scale of the sign was appropriate, given the surrounding building.
And at this time, I would ask if Paul Committo is in the audience, if you can hit the raise hand button to join us.
They've been about to speak.
Sir, could you state your name, please, and spell for the stenographer?
Yes, Paul Commito, P -A -U -L -C -O -M -M -I -T -O.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, counsel.
Thank you.
Paul, just some housekeeping.
Could you just state your position with Brandywine, please?
I'm Senior Vice President of Development.
And you're Senior Vice President of Development of Brandywine Realty Trust, which is affiliated with the ground lessee entity Brandywine 3025 JFK LP, correct?
That's correct.
Thank you. And you've heard all of the testimony and evidence that I've offered before the board today?
I have.
And would you agree that that testimony was true and accurate, and would you adopt it as if it were your own?
Thank you. We're happy to answer any questions.
questions from the board no chair thank you questions or comments from the virtual audience
i do not see any answer mr chair planning commission thank you chair bergman and good
afternoon david effecto with the city planning commission mr chairman and board members in 2017
this block was rezoned to commercial mixed use five at the property owner's request the appellant
has not shown that an economic detriment would accrue if they were required to follow the
dimensional requirement for signs in the zoning code. The City Planning Commission recommends
that the board deny the proposed dimensional variance. Thank you. MI 2023 -003 -253 -3025
John F. Kennedy Boulevard. I vote yes with proviso. Revised plans, four pages,
stamped by ZBA August 30th, 2023? Mr. Chairman, it's actually five pages.
Oh, Hillary, do we have that? Yeah. Meredith, the first page of the four -page set was just
a cover sheet. There were no plans. Okay. You're right. Thank you. No problem. You're right.
So, revised plans, four pages, stamped by ZBA August 30th, 2023. Thomas Holloman,
my vote is yes with proviso james snell my vote is yes with proviso
ishmael shaheed my vote is yes with proviso thank you counsel thank you number six mi 2023
002 367 7719 caster avenue bernanastasio is the attorney
recommendation support from the ronhurst civic association no explanation given
hi mr anastasio could you state your name please and spell for the court stenographer
hi mr chair burn anastasio a -n -a -s -t -a -s -i -o 2016 spruce street philadelphia do you swear or
affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do could you identify your client
the relationship to the property. Sure. I represent Mr. Danny Chee, who is the owner applicant.
Okay. And our vice chair has just a few questions. Thank you.
Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate towards
accuracy? I do. Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that are needed
and required to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing? Yes, sir.
Thank you, counsel. Please proceed.
Thank you. 7719 Castro Avenue.
Mr. Chair, this is pretty straightforward.
This is a first floor addition for the change of occupancy at the second level only for office use.
for office use no change of occupancy on the first floor level and retail and location was
No change of occupancy on the first floor level.
shown on the plan basically we are here for pre -existing commercial use on the first floor
we'd like to bring it upstairs a little bit the addition does provide some minimum side yard and
maximum occupied area of variances to be overcome.
But as you'll see, once I zoom out,
I'm working with a new format of Adobe.
So if you'll just excuse me for a moment.
uh these are this is the property in question we have the addition uh going in the rear and
the second floor and then
we have the plans for the existing retail space there'll be some um in the rear extension there'll
be additional retail space. And then upstairs will be offices and storage and nothing else
but that. Obviously, because it's zoned CMX2, the second floor is supposed to be residential.
However, based on our presentation to the local immediate neighbors, they prefer to have the commercial space expand to the second floor.
Obviously, the operations are during the weekday and won't detrimentally impact the neighbors' need for additional parking.
And, of course, there will be no evening activity that might preclude existing residents from having to find parking.
The history of the property shows that this has always been a retail commercial space at the property, and we are just looking to expand that.
I submitted the history of the property in our exhibits, as well as some photos.
showing uh the second floor being uh storage currently and that's primarily what we'd have
in addition to some offices we did meet with the uh registered community organization
which is here in a public meeting on the 29th of june and we have proof of posting
78 individual households were mailed. It was well attended. And as you noted, and I submitted
in a separate email to the board attorney and the executive director, there was support, in fact,
for the, from the Ron Hurst Civic Association. There was no one who voted in opposition.
And no one even voted in non -opposition.
Each and every one of them want to support this business.
It's a business that's been in the community for quite some time.
They'd like them to stay there, considering how so many commercial spaces are either closing or moving on to larger units.
And as a result, we respectfully request the granting of the variants.
With that, I'd like to call Mr. Danny Chee to raise his virtual hand.
They've been allowed to speak.
Hi, Mr. Chee, could you state your name, please?
And speak for the court stenographer.
Yes, the attorney called me Danny Chee, which is my English name.
My legal name is Z -Qiang Chee, which is Z -H -I -Q -I -A -N -G, last name C -H -I.
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes proceed counsel thank you mr chair mr chi did you hear my presentation
to the board this afternoon good and you adopted as your own testimony
yes and it's true and accurate to the best of your knowledge yes
yes thank you mr chair questions from the board no no chair no chair
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
planning commission thank you mr chairman and good afternoon david effecto city planning
Planting commission.
commission chair and board members in 2022 the zoning map was changed on this commercial corridor
from commercial mixed use two to commercial mixed use one at the request of the council office
with bill number 220776 the city planning commission recommended against bill number
220 -776 at its October 20, 2022 meeting. The proposed use and dimensional variances would
not have been generated if the previous zoning had remained. The City Planning Commission
recommends the board grant the proposed use and dimensional variances. Thank you. MI 2023 -002 -367 -7719
Castor Avenue. I vote yes.
Thomas
Holloman, my vote is yes.
James Hill, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote
is yes. Thank you all.
Thank you, counsel. Number seven,
MI 2023 -002 -197,
1342 East Palmer Street.
Richard DeMarco is the
attorney.
Letter of opposition from Fishtown
Neighbors Association.
Mr. DeMarco.
Sorry, good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Yes, sir.
My name is Richard DeMarco, last name spelled D -E -M -A -R -C -O.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client, the relationship to this property?
Yes, the client is Valix Property Group. Mr. Joe Jaquinto is in the Zoom to testify on behalf of the entity.
Our vice chair has a few questions.
Sure, sure.
Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his accuracy?
Yes, I do.
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that are needed and required to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, we did supplement, though, on Monday with some additional tax information and some photos.
Please proceed and share your screen.
Thank you.
So let me cover, if I may, Mr. Chairman, the tax clearance issue first.
Bear with me here.
Hold on a second.
I froze for a minute.
Bear with me.
All right, here we go.
So, Mr. Chairman, the tax clearance came back negative. There were, and members of the board, there is an old lien that was paid at closing but showed up to deny the tax clearance.
I submitted on Monday a bunch of information regarding that.
What I have here, which was submitted on Monday, is the HUD -1 settlement sheet, which shows payment of liens when the property was purchased by VALEX.
You can see here the beginning of that.
And you can see an $80 payment.
Hopefully you can see.
By the way, can you see my screen okay?
We can.
We're fine.
So this $80 ,000 was the payment of liens according to an agreement with the city.
And these liens are still showing up.
as attached to the property. So the city has not corrected that, but they are paid.
This is the proof of that. There's an agreement here that was signed by the buyer when the property
was purchased. And all of the lien numbers actually match those liens. And also there was
a real estate tax bill that was paid. That is also in my exhibits as well. We asked the board
to hear the case. If the board wants further clarification, we're happy to provide it later.
I think that we have provided enough to show that these issues were addressed, but we're happy to
continue to work on it to get something from the city. We've been on the phone every day since then
to try to get you something more. But these documents really do show that these documents
were paid. So we'd ask you to hear the case. And then obviously the board wants to hear the vote.
That's fine as well. And we'll continue to work on it. Okay, proceed. All right. So I want to start
with some photographs. We're here for a request to allow a front access garage on 1342 Palmer
Street, East Palmer Street. We had actually a drone take photos. I want to start with the
photos if it's okay. This is our property here. The property has been constructed without the
garage, but as you'll see when I go through the photos, there's an opening that has been
uh preserved uh depending on what the outcome of this case is it can either be uh constructed as
preserved. Depending on what the outcome of this case is, it can either be
a single family home without a garage or with it if we're successful uh with this case um this is
the property this is the school uh that the community was concerned about which resulted in
in some of the opposition in our case i want to point out that there's a curb cut to a parking lot
only a few doors down to the school and so there is and there's other curb cuts that I'll show you
in a second but this is as you can see a parking lot with multiple cars and a curb cut that is
already present not so far away. This is our property here note that we cannot utilize rear
access parking, even if we wanted to. Obviously, the developer would like to be able to not have
to seek a variance for dedicated parking, but we are unable to get rear access. So the property
prevents us from doing that. And as you'll hear from me and my witness, a lot of the buyers are
now wanting dedicated parking, and a lot of the buyers are also coming with electric cars.
Electric cars cannot be charged on the street.
And you'll hear Joe Giacquinto mentioned that almost 80 to 90 percent of the new buyers are coming with electric cars.
So even if we are the point I'm making, Mr. Chairman, that even if we are denied and the property comes with a buyer that has a car, which is very likely, if it's electric, he will not be able to charge it without running a line across the street to where the parking exists.
I forgot to mention there is no parking on our side of the street.
We would not be displacing any parking by having the front loaded garage.
You see here, I'm indicating a small, very small street called Willing Street.
There's already parking that, and of course there's no parking along the street,
but you can see the volume of the problem in the neighborhood.
There's an extreme parking problem in the neighborhood.
we want to not create a greater problem. We want to add off -street parking without displacing any
on -street parking, which is what we're proposing. You can see an existing curb cut here with
multiple cars. That is across the street. At the top of the page, I'll show you better photographs
here. Almost across the street, there's another curb cut that already exists on the other side
of the street. There are multiple curb cuts that already exist, Mr. Chairman. This is Willing Street.
This is our property here. As you can see, there's our zoning poster there. As you can see, the
opening is just being preserved here for the outcome in this case. If we're successful, we
would include the garage. If not, we would just have the wall there and a window. This is a pocket
park here, for lack of a better term, or community garden. And as you can see, we don't control it,
so we cannot provide access, rear access parking. This is Willing Street that shows cars parked
illegally along the sidewalk, on the sidewalk, and next to the sidewalk. This is right around
the corner from us. This is the curb cut across the street with the garage opening.
As you can see, on the other side of the street, we have parking, but our side of the street, which is right here, there is no parking.
You can see our property right here, Mr. Chairman.
Just two properties over is a depressed curb with a driveway that is unpaved that serves a large property in the rear here.
but this is accessed with by cars and there are cars that park within this back area here
so there are multiple curb cuts already on the block across the street and along our side
and this is another view of the already existing curb cut two doors over with cars parked within
that that area this is Willing Street as I showed you earlier this is the school
uh which which has a large parking lot here which is a couple of doors down from us
this is another curb cut on the next block uh the um 1400 block of palmer street which is
across from the cemetery well let me go to the let me let me go through the exhibits very briefly
And then I'll call Mr. Chiquinto. This is the refusal. It's a single refusal for the curb cut.
By the way, Mr. Chairman, we actually received approval for the garage over the counter.
for the garage over the counter. And I'm not looking for a medal or anything, but I wanted
And I'm not looking.
to let you know, we told the examiner that he had made an error because we didn't want to have,
you know, there was a practical reason for that. We didn't want to have to come back
to bite us. But I did want to mention that we were forthcoming on this and we sought the
community's approval. We sought this board's approval. Even though we received a permit
in error, we did notify the department that that was a mistake.
All right, let me show the site plan. Then we'll get to Mr. Jaquinto.
Bear with me here. My computer runs a little. Oh, this is another view of the front of the property, as you can see.
And also, this will be obviously paved new, the sidewalk in front of our building, depending on the outcome of this case, either way, obviously.
another view here and again we did receive the proper permits for the home without the garage
but we're waiting to complete the front depending on the outcome of this case
this is the curb cut almost directly across the street
we rotate this
went the wrong way sorry
okay that's another curb cut on the on the same block as well
this is another curb cut on the 1200 block and pad parking along the 1200 block of palmer street
on the next block over so again a long history of curb cuts in this community um also i want to
mentioned before I forget, Mr. Chairman, this board granted a variance. I'm going to show you
right now. Last a few months ago at 1113 Palmer Street, which is two blocks away, almost exact
similar circumstances. I'll show you two accessory surfing parking spots, access from Palmer Street
through the front. My esteemed colleague, Mr. Nockamson, represented the applicant. The board
granted the variance for that. Sorry. This is another curb cut. Here's our site plan. I do
want to mention, Mr. Chairman, let me rotate. So there were concerns about safety. Let me address
that, and Mr. Jaquinta will also speak on this. We will not have, sorry, I keep going the wrong
way, forgive me. We will not have this become a dangerous scenario. There are concerns about
safety. We will utilize any available and all available technology to make sure that this
curb cut is not a danger to the neighborhood. First of all, there was talk about that it
creates dead space um this is a pretty wide property um but we'll have flood lighting
um state -of -the -art flood lighting to illuminate the sidewalk um we will have mirrors installed
to make sure and of course the board's well aware of the technology that exists now
um there are rear backup cameras in most cars but even if the buyer in this case doesn't have it we
will have technology and mirrors installed to make sure that there's perfect vision for anybody
utilizing this curb cut. And as the board shows from my photos, you can see there's plenty of
curb cuts that already exist on this block and other blocks. There's an extreme parking problem
in the neighborhood. We are not going to contribute to the problem by adding a house with a car that
has to compete with existing on -street parking, and we are not displacing any existing parking.
So let me do this. Let me call Mr. Jaquinzo. Mr. DeMarco, before you move on, did you attend the RCO meeting? Yes. And it seems to be the RCO's letter is really strong against it. What were the main objects? Safety?
Yeah, so let me address that. So there were people that voted in favor. It was certainly not a blowout. I mean, there were a number of people that spoke in favor of the project and supported the project. We did try to speak to and go door to door to a number of the neighbors.
Mr. Jaquinto will verify this. A lot of people were unwilling to speak live in favor of the
project, even though they supported it. I would say to you that the vote does not really represent
the true opinion of people. A lot of people, for some reason, and especially
um opinion of people a lot of people for some reason and especially in this neighborhood don't
feel comfortable in speaking we tried to get a lot of the people who supported this project to
speak today there's only one or two people that are willing to do so hopefully you'll hear from
them shortly um i understand that there's there's concern about safety but um we've have we have
curb cuts throughout this city and throughout this community and there's been no issues with
uh pedestrian accidents from curb cuts like this they can be done in a way that does not impact
safety safety was the main concern the people who no one really objected to the gain of the
parking space it was this issue with the school next door and okay uh all right so i mean bring
your client on all right let's let me ask mr chiquinto to raise his virtual hand and answer
a few questions.
Jaquinto?
Hello?
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Joseph Jaquinto, last name spelled J -A -C -Q -U -I -N -T -O.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
Proceed, counsel.
So, Mr. Jaquinto, did you hear all of my factual statements that I made to the board today in my presentation?
Yes, I did.
All right. Are they true and accurate? And can you adopt them officially as your testimony before the board?
Yes. True and accurate.
Okay. I'd like you to answer a couple additional questions. Can you explain to the board, you're the developer of this property, right?
Correct.
All right. And you've developed, what, scores of properties within this community and throughout the city? Is that fair to say?
Yeah, since 2015, probably the, I would say about 95 % of the projects I've done have been in that area, that zip code.
Why don't you tell the board the typical buyer that you're getting in this area as far as whether they prefer an electric car, a car, or no car at all?
I would say nine out of the last 10 cars that we've sold to people have all asked for, hey, can we get an electric car hookup, whether it was outside to run it to their car or if there was off -street parking.
They all asked to make sure that the house was electric car ready.
And if you are not given the variance today, what will be the result if the buyer that buys the property owns an electric car?
Oh, I mean, it's going to be electric car ready anyway.
We wire the house for that anyway.
But with no parking out front, it'd be very difficult for them to go and charge your vehicle.
And if let's just say they were parked down the street, how would they charge the car, if at all?
I mean, it would be a huge trip hazard, but they'd have to run some kind of cable down the street.
That's what I was getting at.
They'd have to run a line across the street or down the block, right?
All right.
Why don't you expound, if you can, on your conversations with near residents?
I tried to summarize it, but why don't you explain to the board what your challenges you had in getting people to speak about this problem?
So I've been working in this neighborhood. I did the house across the street as well.
I've been working in the neighborhood for a while. And, you know, when we started this one,
a lot of people walking by or like, you know, had said, hey, I hope you're building parking
with this. You know, there's a huge parking you're adding the house and there's no parking.
So, you know, I kind of taken that as this is, you know, a good thing that they want parking
here. These are things that are good to hear. I almost find it, you know, there's no parking
on the other side of the street and i'm adding a house it's almost irresponsible not to um to go
ahead through the process and at least ask for parking um and talking to some of the neighbors
as it kind of got closer to the zb to the rco meeting um some of the folks that were hey it's
a good idea were less likely to didn't want to sign a position and less likely when i asked them
if they would speak didn't really want to speak because these are their neighbors and they didn't
want to go against their neighbors and some of the louder voices are the ones that um you know
are against it and you know the quieter voices really have nothing to gain besides you know a
parking spot and it's probably you know it's really not worth their their time to to go ahead
and go against their neighbors for that so there was a part of the rco letter that mentioned that
you didn't agree to uh place a bollard or tree to prevent sidewalk parking do you want to address
that to the board yeah i said i would i would be happy to put a ballard um out front um i think it's
Yeah, I said I would be happy to put a ballard out front.
I think it's a good idea.
They put some trees further down the block by the school because, I mean, if you ever go there around school time, all the parents drive up on – well, they used to drive up on the sidewalks wherever they can park to drop off their kid.
I would have no problem putting a ballard there.
I said maybe not a tree.
I look at a tree, but we have a community garden right there that the neighbors have really done a nice job with.
And then there's also a telephone pole right there, right next to that.
And then there's a fire hydrant right next to that.
So, you know, a tree as it, you know, it's going to be small in the beginning and, you know, not bad.
But, you know, as it begins to grow, it could kind of take over a bit of the sidewalk there.
so I I but I said I'd have no problem putting the ballard in I mean I'd even consider the tree if
they really wanted the tree but I just you know based on the layout there I thought a ballard
might be better than the tree and you've you've been on site almost daily isn't that right
yeah while we're working I'm there every day all right and the photos that I that you provided
those photos to me correct and the opeds that's correct uh and is it is there a parking uh what
is the parking situation um in those blocks and neighboring blocks um well i mean it parking is
very difficult um you know as you go from uh gerard through to frankfurt um a lot of cars cut
through there um and there's no uh it's like a four or five block stretch there's there's no
parking along the left -hand side of the road at all um on any of those blocks um so parking's very
difficult um you know getting amazon deliveries is very difficult it backs up a lot and like i
said with the construction on gerard a lot of cars use that as like a bypass from gerard uh from
gerard to frankfurt um uh you know uh parking's it's always very busy and parking is very difficult
That little side street, Willig, I mean, the sign says no parking, do not enter, or something to that regard.
Cars do park there.
I don't know that everyone's supposed to be parking there, but I'm sure the neighbors will tell you that everyone who has a vehicle has parked there at some point because there's nowhere else to park.
i'm just gonna i'm just scrolling my computer's a little slow i'm gonna put that photo back up
all right well that i think that's uh and of course is there any way for this is willing
street here mr chairman that he's referring i see yep uh is there any way specifically
sorry go ahead so mr demarco one question for your client yes sir the other properties he's
built in fishtown has he done front -loaded parking yes where uh i most recently i did
one on Fletcher Street uh about maybe six blocks away okay and that was the case in which I was
involved with Mr. Chairman you granted um you granted front access garage in almost an identical
situation and you and there was the case that I showed uh from the next block uh just last question
for Mr. Chiquinto um you physically you cannot there's no way to for this property to have rear
accessed uh parking correct that's correct i mean you know i wish there was and quite honestly
um you know if if there was parking on the other side of the street um you know we wouldn't be
here today i wouldn't be asking for a spot but you know uh the city has you know parking issues
and i mean that's that's we can't hide from that and you know uh taking another car off the road
if you're not displacing anything kind of seems like a no -brainer at least to me okay mr chairman
that's all i have i would just thank you questions questions from the board no mr chairman no chair
no chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
mr chair i have anise whitaker with their hand raised i have allowed them to speak at this time
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell it for the court stenographer?
Yes, Vinnie Whitaker, spelled V as in Victor, E as in elephant, N as in Nancy, I as in igloo, S as in Sam, Whitaker, W -H -I -T -A -K -E -R, I swear to tell the truth.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do, Chairman.
Are you a neighbor?
yes i am okay proceed okay thank you very much and good afternoon to everyone um i i'm and if i
go out of bounds and out of the lane please let me know but i just kind of want to address a few
things that the statements that were made um i want to first begin that the community and the
I want to first begin that the community and the neighborhoods voted no for this project.
neighborhoods
Thank you so much.
Lots of times parking topics come up, and it's a case -by -case basis.
I think we shouldn't sit there and blanket each case of parking, as the example that
was mentioned on the other Palmer Street, that's on the riverside.
The riverside is totally different from this little dense area.
and just to say that this side of the street is actually the main walking route to the school
at that corner of palmer and belgrade is where the crossing guard is at the other parking spot
that is there they barely use it the car just sits sits there's a car that just sits there
the schoolyard parking all the teachers are usually in between 7 30 7 45 so there's not a
lot of cars coming in and out there. There is a lot of sidewalk parking, and that's also a concern.
Many times we've seen that with the front -loading garages, cars also park on the sidewalk in front
of their garages. For whatever reason, it happens all the time. We have a lot of streets in Fishtown
that we refer to as solar streets because it's just garages and no eyes on the street whatsoever.
This curb cut will impact the children that come to and from school every day.
This is not a good choice for a front -loading garage whatsoever.
We need more eyes on the streets and not more cars coming in and out.
A parking issue is a whole other topic, and it's not a hardship for zoning.
So until the zoning is changed and they add parking as a hardship, this is not a hardship whatsoever.
So as a resident and someone who is in Fishtown and walks their child to school along the street, I am asking you to vote with the neighborhood and not support this project and vote no.
Thank you very much.
Ms. Whitaker, thanks for your call and thanks for your insight.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
Yes, Mr. Chair, a Sean Whitter with fair hand raised.
i have allowed them to speak at this time hi could you state your name please and spell for
the court stenographer sean witter s -h -a -w -n -w -i -i -t -t -e -r right do you swear or firm to
tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes are you a neighbor i am i am two
blocks away okay uh and uh yeah this comes down to kind of like a uh a parking equation from my
perspective although it might not be a hardship but parking certainly is for me uh and and if
we're not displacing somebody and we're getting one car as you know off the streets that would
be competition i guess for the lack of a better word uh you know i'm kind of for that so i agree
with the front load parking okay all right thank you thank you very much for your time and calling
again is there anyone else in the virtual audience there are no further hands mr chair
planning commission thank you chairman and good afternoon david effecto with the city planning
commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential single family zoning at
this location there is no unique physical condition or circumstance of this property that would
prevent it from being used in conformance with the zoning code the city planning commission
recommends the board deny the proposed variance for off -street parking, not access from a shared
driveway, alley, or rear street. Thank you. Mr. DeMarco, I want to take this to our executive
session. It'll be two weeks from today, and we'll vote for that on this at two o 'clock on that
Wednesday. Okay. I want to have a discussion about where we stand with this type of project. All
right. I would just, to sum up, I would just look to your decisions in the past on this very same
this year all right great and and the case will be other than that the case is closed okay very
well all right thank you thank you for your time have a good day everybody all right you too all
right let's see where we are here caster and palmer
position number 10 mi 2023 002 200 900 to 58 north 9th street ronald patterson is the attorney
um letter of support from the 14th ward democratic executive committee rcl
they're coming back isn't it thank you
hi mr patterson could you
Hi, Mr. Patterson, could you state your name for the record and spell for the courts?
Sure, Mr. Chairman. Good afternoon. My name is Ronald Patterson, P -A -T -T -E -R -S -O -N,
Claire Harrison Law Firm, 1835 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103.
Right. Do you swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Could you identify your client, a relationship to this property?
Sure. My client is 900 North 9th Street Ground Owner LLC, which is the owner and operator of the property at 900 North 9th Street.
Okay. And the vice chair has just a few questions.
Good afternoon, Mr. Patterson. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, I do.
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that are needed and required to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, I have.
Thank you, counsel. Please proceed.
Thank you. You can see my screen?
We can, sir.
Thank you.
So this application regards the building you see.
It was once the Quaker Warehouse Storage Building located at 9th and Poplar Street through almost to Girard Avenue.
In 2018, the board granted a series of variances, but primarily to allow this building, which was in an industrially zoned zone, to be converted to a mixed residential and commercial building.
It was approved for 350 single -family residential dwelling units in 2018.
And later in that year, I submitted a request to the board for administrative approval to reduce the number of units to 285, which was granted.
The building was substantially renovated, converted, building permits were issued, COs were issued, building is fully occupied.
Then, earlier in the year, I filed an application to the board, administrative request to increase the number of units, so we went from 350 to 285, to increase the number of units by 47, to a total of 305, I believe the number would be, sorry, 285.
and um uh the the board reviewed and said that uh it did no longer had jurisdiction
because the building permits were issued and uh the co was issued so therefore it was closed out
i have the numbers wrong it went from 285 now we're seeking 332 here's pictures of the building
and the board originally approved 350 yeah so we're no we're no longer we're not yeah that
was kind of my rationale. We never went beyond what the board originally approved, but by
under the L &I rules, especially that since once the CO is issued, the board is divested
up its jurisdiction. So where we want to, what we want to do, I'm looking for the plans
here. So for example, on some of the floors where you see the yellowed areas were not
residential areas, but office related uses. So we wanted to convert these areas into
residential dwelling units because of the demand.
So there is no change in the building height, footprint,
or floor area that would cause any other variances.
But because it's still located
in an industrial zone district, ICMX,
the application really is considered as an addition
of a number of residential dwelling units,
which again would require variance relief
because residential units are not permitted.
We did meet again with the 14th Ward Democratic Executive Committee, which we had met back in 2018, and we entered into an extensive community benefits agreement with them, which is still in place.
We've met with the Ward Committee, and they further and still support our project with the additional number of units.
So with that said, I'd like to, if you could promote Elise, E -L -I -S -E, Farano, F -A -R -A -N -O.
Thank you for I'm about to speak.
Mike, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court's sonogram?
All right, Elise, E -L -I -S -E, Farano, F as in Frank, A -R -A -N -O.
Farano, F as in Frank, A -R -A -N -O.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Right, do you swear or affirm?
I do. Proceed, counsel.
Hi, Elise. Could you tell the board your position with the owner's group?
Sure. I am co -chief operating officer with the developer, the owner.
um and we had originally as ron noted sat the 350 units um and we were going to and we backed
on to 285 we were going to put offices in these spaces but as we know everyone's still working
from home um the property is leased up beautifully and we want to take those vacant spaces and make
them apartment law at least uh you heard my presentation would you agree it's true and
accurate yes and you adopt as if you were your own testimony i do and uh you and i were actually
uh partnered together to obtain the original approval back in 2018 yes is that fair enough
and we did go ahead and meet again with the uh rco yes and uh we're they're still in support
yes um anything else you'd like to add no okay thank you questions from questions from the board
no mr chairman no chair
no chair thank you questions or comments from the virtual audience
i do not see any hands mr chair planning commission
Thank you, Chair Bergman, and good afternoon. David Vecto with the City Planning Commission. Mr. Chairman and board members, the comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning this location from industrial commercial mixed use to industrial residential mixed use.
The appellant received permits for 285 dwelling units plus ground floor commercial space.
There is no unique physical condition or circumstance of this property that would require 47 additional dwelling units,
nor has the appellant shown that they have been unable to derive value from their lot with the current unit count.
The City Planning Commissioner recommends that the board deny the proposed use variance for the 47 proposed additional dwelling units.
Mr. Chairman, if you'd like me to address hardship since it was raised, I could at least touch on it. I believe there's two approaches to the hardship. One is procedurally. Again, this was presented and approved for 350 units.
Yes, we asked to reduce it, but the areas now where we had taken it from are no longer viable to be used for office, and so the demand for residential and not a demand for office there.
So it's the minimum amount of variance we're seeking because we're not above what was originally approved.
So, Mr. Patterson, I'm going to hold this till for two weeks, and I'm going to have to bring this up in the executive session of the board, and we'll have a vote for you at 2 p .m. two weeks from today.
Okay, thank you.
Thank you, I appreciate it.
All right.
Number 10, MI 2023 -002 -852 -5600 Chester Avenue.
David Orfanides is the attorney.
Letter of support from Southwest Philadelphia District Services.
And Council Member Gauthier has taken a position of support.
i'll be coming back in as a panel let's shorten the show
mr orphanetes you've already been sworn just for the record state your name
certainly my name is david orphanetes o -r -p -h -a -n -i -d -e -s right um and could you identify
your client, the relationship to this property? Sure. My client is the
Worlds of Opportunity 2, and they're the
owner of the subject of property 5600 Chester Avenue. Our Vice Chair has
a few questions. Certainly. Good afternoon, Counselor. Do you agree to
weigh the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy? I do to both,
Mr. Shahid. Thank you. Have you emailed in all the required documents
and exhibits that are needed and required to proceed with this case? Five days
in advance of this hearing?
I did, Mr. Shahid.
The one qualifier is that we were working on
making some revisions to the plans
that I got to the zoning board,
I forwarded to the zoning board attorney late yesterday.
They are incorporated into a revised exhibit book
that I forwarded.
And then we're also forwarded separately by email
and I will be presenting them today.
It's nothing substantial.
It's just, this is an application
This is an application for an eight -foot -tall fence around the Independence Charter School West, and there were some existing fences that were also a little taller than what's permitted in the zoning district, and I wanted to document those as well.
for an eight foot tall fence
around the independence charge.
So when my client was done, all their fences were legal. So that was all it was.
Fair enough. Thanks, Dave. Please proceed.
Thank you, sir.
Can you see my screen?
Can you see my screen?
Okay. So the subject, again, my name is David Orfanides. I'm here on behalf of Worlds of Opportunity 2. The property in question, 5600 Chester Avenue, is the location of the Independence Charter School West.
Here's a photograph of the property from the corner of 56th and Chester, heading down 56th Street from King Sessing in 56th.
And these are the properties and the buildings we are dealing with in this present application.
The property, it basically takes up a whole city block.
Again, you have 56 on one side where the building's front.
You have Chester Avenue.
You can see over running along the side of the former church building.
You have King Sessing Avenue opposite that.
And then along the back, cutting out a diagonal, you have what's called Gray's Lane.
Gray's Lane is not on the city plan.
It was vacated in 2013.
The property used to be owned by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
The church was the church of the most blessed sacrament.
There were two schools and a convent.
The middle building, I believe, was the Pius School.
This building here, you had the church at the corner of 56 and Chester, and you had the Pius School, and then you had the Marian School, and then there was a convent at the corner, which no longer exists.
So the application, well, I'm going to go around the aerial, you can see zooming in, and it's some three -dimensional images as we pan around.
The two buildings, the former school buildings, the Pius School and the Marion School, the center building and the building to the left in the photograph that I'm showing you from tab six of the aerials have been rehabilitated or presently being utilized by the school.
The church building is presently vacant, gutted on the inside, and is awaiting bids to continue to be rehabilitated.
The school has approximately, I believe, 900 or so students.
I have a representative from the school on the line that can correct me, and there are about 100 employees.
There are, as you can see in the photographs that I forwarded at tab 8, there are, as I mentioned, some existing fences and gates located between the buildings.
The church and the two schools, the first school was the middle school, which was the middle, when I say physically located in the middle, which was the Pius School, and then between the Pius and the Marian School.
And then some existing, you can see, chain link fence with barbed wire that was all here as we spin around.
And there's some fencing that runs down and some existing gene link fencing without barbed wire that'll be staying that runs down Gray's Lane and then comes back around the building to 56.
There's some temporary fencing along around to Chester Avenue.
I'm sorry.
There's some temporary fencing along 56 or along Chester Avenue.
And then there's some permanent fencing over these window wells on 56.
So you can see here on the plan.
And to orient you again, this is South 56.
You saw the photos from South 56 with the church, the middle located, centrally located school, and then the other school towards King Sessing.
I showed you the photographs.
You can see up here wrapping around the corner, there's an existing fencing with barbed wire from 56 from the school building that's located closest to King Sessing that wraps around the Grays Avenue.
There is some existing fencing that you can see that's located, that I showed you, that's located along Gray's Lane.
So what I've highlighted here for you is the areas where we're proposing new fences and or gates along the perimeter of the property,
and then one interior location running from this one -story garage that's on Gray's Lane to the back of the church property.
In this zoning district, the property is in RSE3.
The height limit, you're not permitted fences that are this tall in the front yards.
And because we have so many street frontages, basically every street is a front.
And because we have so many street frontages, basically every street is a front.
And even at the rear, it's only permitted to be six feet, as you can see in the refusal.
And even at the...
So we exceed both the front yard fence and the rear side yard fence limits of four feet and six feet, where we're proposing eight feet.
And again, well, and all the fencing that we're proposing is more than 50 percent of pay.
So in terms of the front yard fencing requirements, we comply with that.
The need for security is important. You have children here at the school, you have school property on the grounds, and obviously the use of barbed wire on the existing fencing that's been out at the site is not a great solution for securing the property.
So we feel that there's a hardship given what the use of the property is, given the surrounding neighborhood, and keeping everybody safe and keeping the school property safe.
Again, there are some existing fences and gates that do exceed the height limit.
These are the two that I showed you in the photograph that are between the church and then the larger school building in the center.
There's an existing fence and gate between, again, that I showed you a photograph, between the central school building, the larger school building, and the school building located closer to King Sessing.
And then some other fences towards Gray's Lane.
You can see right here down at Gray's Lane getting closer to King Sessing.
There's an existing fence off the back corner of the building located in the middle.
There is an existing fence that runs back by the one -story garage closer to Chester Avenue, and that's going to be removed.
And then, again, that's going to be replaced here.
And there's some interior fencing near the playground that's located between the church building and the building located in the middle.
So it's a minor variance.
We're not looking for 10 feet. We're not looking for 12 feet. It's a bit over there.
Realistically, the only the front yard fencing that we have is the fencing that's located here along 56th Street towards King Sessing and then back along King Sessing.
Because, again, Gray's Lane is not on the city plan, having been vacated.
So all the other fencing located along Gray's Lane is a rear yard fence.
The fencing along Chester is also in the front yard, so that would also be one of the ones that's subject to the front yard requirement.
The existing fencing that's over the window wells along Chester Avenue is not more forward of the building, so it would not be in the front yard, but again, does exceed the height limit of eight feet, and that is to remain.
As mentioned, we do have the letter of support.
We had a community group meeting that was advertised in compliance with the requirements of Section 14303 of the zoning code,
sent out to the list of addresses, pulled off with a Planning Commission link.
We do have that notice along with the Certificate of Mailing at tab D, and you can see that letter here.
We have our tax clearance at tab 15.
The deed showing my client is the owner of the property at tab 14, and the posting photographs are at tab 13.
We posted all the different fronts of the property.
We even fronted, it's a little unclear whether or not the property, if you don't look at the deed, fronts on South Frazier.
So we also posted down here at the corner of Gray's and South Frazier and Chester Avenue with an additional posting.
So with that, I would rest and answer any questions that the board has.
Do you have your client, somebody to adopt your testimony?
Dr. Carrie McGinley.
I just wonder if she could raise her hand.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Yes, my name is Carrie McGinley.
It's K -E -R -R -I.
Last name is M -Z -G -I -N -L -E -Y.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
But see you, counsel.
Dr. McKinley, could you please state your relationship to Worlds of Opportunity II and the Independence Charter School West?
Yes. I am the CEO of Independence Charter School West, and the foundation owns the property, and the school has operated in that capacity for the past eight years.
Okay, thank you. And did you hear the statements that I made to the board today?
And are they true and correct to the best of your knowledge?
Yes, they are.
And would you adopt them as your own?
And do you have anything else to add regarding the need for fencing that's either four feet taller or two feet taller than what's permitted under the zoning code, the need for the additional security that that additional footage provides and the hardship and not having it?
And do you have anything else to add regarding the need for fencing that's either
there.
I would just say, obviously, safety is a huge priority for us.
And when you look at the layout of our campus, you know, to have 900 students here on a daily basis, and these are play areas, areas where they're outside, arrive on dismissal, safety is a big concern.
So we're keeping kids safe from traffic, from, you know, just anyone straying onto our property.
And it's really a great need.
And it would make a big difference here.
And that would be a need during school hours and school days, as well as when school is not in session in the evenings, weekends or summers or vacations, correct?
Yes, it's full time.
It's, you know, obviously the priority is when the kids are in session.
But to just secure our campus, our buildings, all of the things we have for the students, the fencing is truly important.
And given the, you know, the valuable charge that you have of the children and just the attractive nuisance, I guess you could say, of having the school property, is six foot in your mind and the mind of the school insufficient to provide this needed security?
I think there's a big difference between a six -foot fence and an eight -foot fence in just, you know, keeping people in who need to be in and anyone else out.
In addition to, like, you know, things going over the fence, balls bouncing, kids climbing, eight feet would feel much more secure for our kids to be safe.
Thank you very much.
Questions from the board?
No, Chair.
questions or comments from the virtual audience
i do not see any further hands mr chair planning commission thank you mr chairman and good
afternoon david effecto with the city planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends
no change to the residential single family zoning at this location the appellant seeks two
variances for fence height the appellant has not shown that an economic detriment will accrue to
the property if they are required to follow the dimensional requirements in the zoning code the
city planning commission recommends the board deny the proposed dimensional variances for fence height
thank you mi 2023 002 852 5600 chester avenue i vote yes oh and we do have revised we do have
revised plans well i'm sorry revised plans one page stand by zba august 30th 2023 thank you
Thomas Holliman, my vote is yes, with proviso.
James Snell, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Thank you.
Number 12.
Thank you, counsel.
Appreciate it.
MI 2023 -002 -196 -2301 Spruce Street.
Alan Nockermson is the attorney.
There's a letter of non -opposition from the Center City Residents Association.
With an enforceable proviso of interior trash storage.
A letter of non -opposition from Council Member
Councilman Johnson.
I'm back in this panel.
Hi, Mr. Nockmson. Just for the record, state your name. You've already been sworn.
Alan Nockmson.
To identify your client, the relationship to this property.
Oh, yes. My client is Cary Borish. He's the proposed tenant for this.
All right. And our vice chair has just a few questions.
Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed in all the required documents that are needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
I have.
Thank you. Please proceed.
Thank you. Can I share my screen?
Please.
All right, so I know it's been a long listing, so I'll keep it brief here.
Get the...
All right, here to present 2301 Spruce Street, we're looking to put a coffee shop on the ground floor of this property, which is at the corner of 23rd and Spruce.
This is not a variance. This is a special exception we're seeking.
So we have a notice of referral.
We have a letter of non -opposition from the Center City Residence Association.
We have a letter of non -opposition from the Center City Residence Association, along with a letter of non -opposition from the district council member.
Quickly, we'll go through maps of the area, photographs of the property, simple floor plans showing the layout of this coffee shop or proposed coffee shop.
Our RCO meeting notice, our application for a special exception.
our lease showing that Mr. Borish is the tenant for this property, as well as a certificate of
tax clearance showing that the landlord is in good standing with respect to this property.
At the conclusion of my presentation, I'll ask Mr. Borish to virtually raise his hand,
be sworn in, and I'll ask him a few questions about the presentation.
Notice of referral. Again, this is a CMX1 property. This is conditionally approved. This use is
allowed conditionally as a prepared food shop and we're here to seek the board's approval
of same again we met with the center city residence association and we have a letter
of non -opposition and you know the chairman mentioned about trash being stored indoors
other than obviously in trash other than trash days and then here's our letter of non -opposition
from Council Member Johnson as well. Maps of the area, as you can see, we are a CMX1 property
on the corner of Spruce and 23rd Street. Again, you can see here from a Google Maps perspective,
it's not uncommon to have a coffee shop or restaurant establishments of this sort.
In the neighborhood, you can see throughout this map, there are different types of establishments
stuff like this. Photographs of the property. So this is our property from Spruce Street,
our property from 23rd Street. We plan to take hold of it and use this part of the property for
our coffee shop. The hearing notice poster on both sides on 23rd as well as on Spruce Street.
This is Spruce Street to the right of the property. To the left of the property, again,
showing not out of character to have restaurant establishments in this neighborhood on the
corners, you know, to the right of the property on South 23rd to left of the property on South
23rd. Our plans and drawings simply walk in. You have a couple counters against the wall here and
here's some tables. Here's a bathroom. Here's the countertop where people would be served and
there'd be a point of sale system as well for this prepared food shop. Meaning notice we met
With the Center of State Residence Association on June 27th at 7 p .m., more than 100 people were notified of this meeting.
The list of addresses, proof of mailing to those addresses, or applications for special exception on Mr. Boris's behalf, along with the notice of refusal, project information form, the lease showing that Mr. Boris is the proposed tenant for this property.
And finally, our certificate of tax credits.
With that being said, I would ask that Cary virtually raise his hand and be sworn in.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court signographer?
Yes, sir.
My name is Cary Borish, C -A -R -Y Borish, B -O -R -I -S -H.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do. Proceed, counsel.
Perry, you heard everything I had to state today about your zoning.
I did.
And is it true and correct?
Yes, it is.
And do you adopt this as your own testimony?
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Mr. Chair, I have Wade Albert with their hand raised.
i have allowed them to speak at this time okay hi could you state your name please and spell for
the court stenographer or wade albert w -a -d -e last name is a -l -b -e -r -t do you swear a firm
to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do are you a neighbor uh i'm counsel for
the the center city residents association great thank you mr albert proceed i will keep this
short and sweet. The letter that CCRA sent does not oppose this request. It has a number of
provisos. I believe that, Mr. Chairman, you said that the trash provisos are enforceable,
so we would respectfully ask that the enforceable provisos or proviso be included in the license if
the ZBA is inclined to grant this request. Thank you. Thank you for taking the time to call us.
We appreciate it. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
i do not see any further hands mr chair any commission thank you chair bergman and good
I do not see any further hands Mr. Chair
any commission
afternoon david effecto with the city planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no
change to the commercial mixed use zoning at this location the appellant has shown the proposed sit
down restaurant will have no detrimental impacts to the neighborhood beyond what might be expected
the city planning commission recommends the board grant the proposed special exception
price sit down restaurant thank you um just just i believe our application is for prepared food shop
i just want to make sure the record's clear on that i think that's our refusal so or a referral
says the referrals are prepared food shop yeah okay um number 12 mi 2023 002196 2301 spruce
street i vote yes um proviso interior trash storage thomas holliman my vote is yes with
proviso james now my vote is yes with proviso ishmael shahi my vote is yes with proviso
thank you council thank you have a great day is there anyone in the virtual audience whose
2 p .m. case has not been called?
Mr. Chair,
I have a Renee Adams with her hand raised.
Do I allow them to speak?
Renee Adams,
please unmute.
Excuse me, Mr. Chair.
This is Hillary. Both of the hands
that are raised are for cases on the
3 .30 p .m. list.
Okay, so here's what we're going to do.
We're going to take a five -minute break, and then we're going to come back to do the 3 .30 list, okay?
Five minutes, and we'll be right back, everybody.
Thank you, Chair.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
3, 2, 3, 6, and 8.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I'm sorry, Mr. Kelly, are you back?
Yes, I am.
We look good.
Lakeisha, to go?
Yes, Chair.
Okay, thank you.
Good afternoon.
My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this 330 CBA hearing.
With me is our Vice Chair, Ismail Shahid.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our board member, Thomas Holliman, he's here, and our board member, James Snell.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Also present is Hillary Emerson, our attorney, and our executive director, Tanya Sunken.
Here's our virtual format.
Be advised that proceedings are being recorded.
Video will be available by contacting Tanya Sunken at phil .gov.
For the benefit of our court stenographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying.
If you are participating by phone and you wish to testify, press star 9, raise your hand, and star 6 to unmute.
To enter appearance statement, call 267 -270 -5548.
Leave your email and the address of the property in question.
And finally, the question and answer box on the screen is not for comments or testimony.
All comments should be directed to our executive director, Tanya Sunken.
Let's look at our schedule.
Number two, MI 2022 -003 -671 -1825 South 22nd Street.
Renee Adams is the owner.
This case has not been posted with the zoning posters and will be continued.
Hillary, do we have to bring Renee on?
ms adams is here um i have advised her that she needs to contact the zoning office with
questions but we can bring her on briefly um if you like ms adams
yes hi hi could you could you fine thank you could you state your name and spell for the
course stenographer renee r -e -n -e -e last name is adams a -d -a -m -s right do you swear we're
affirmed to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes miss adams your case is going to
have to be continued because we don't have everything we needed for the project okay
OK, so what we want you to do is get a hold of our office.
so what we want you to do is get a hold of our office you'll be notified when the
You'll be notified when the next listing is and we'll make sure they'll give you the right information for you to have everything you need.
OK. OK. Can I just say something? Sure. I've been trying to call that number.
Would it be possible if I can go to a Friday morning to try to pick up the necessary form?
This is the third time for maybe one or two forms that I'm missing.
And so what I want you to do is to call. I don't want you to go there in person.
You can also e -mail us and we will put the e -mail in the chat.
Okay. Look at the chat room and the e -mail will be there for you to e -mail. Okay.
Thank you very much for coming in.
Number three, MI 2022 -006 -734 -2402 Spruce Street, that case is continued.
Number six, MI -2022 -003 -757 -2024 -28 -North -22nd Street, cases continued, attorney moving party.
And number eight, MI -2022 -000 -397 -2005 South 4th Street, per Council Member Squill's office, this case will be continued.
This is Mr. Anastasio in the audience.
Mr. Chair, this is Hillary.
Yep, I see Mr. Anastasio.
He's going to clarify.
They advised us of the continuance, but we have not received the formal request.
Okay, all right, I'll get Mr. Anastasio in.
Mr. Anastasio, just state your name for the record.
You've already been sworn.
Hi, Mr. Chair Verne Anastasio, representing the applicant.
We're notified by Mr. Squill's office that this would be a continuance.
Is that correct?
Which property is this?
I have several.
2005 South 4th Street.
Yes, please.
Okay, thank you.
So that case is continued.
this is the fourth list they want to mark this must be tried. So MI 2022 -000 -397 -2005,
South 4th Street, case is continued, mark must be tried. Thank you. Thank you. And there was
another case that you mentioned for continuance, Mr. Chair, North 22nd Street. I did. I did. Yep.
We have that marked attorney moving party. I understand that. For the record, and I do just
need to put this on because my client has asked me to do so unless it is uh absolutely required
and the board is prohibited from hearing this case today uh we did in fact go through a portion of
the cdr review we mr anastasio excuse me this is hillary i understand your client would like that
on the record but we already discussed this via email the board cannot and you can forward my
email to them the board cannot hear the case until the civic design review process is complete
that has been the standard rule with the of the board for years understood no exceptions
fair enough i wanted to put it on the record but not even for me i get it no no exceptions so
thank you what i am asking is that my email to attorney emerson just be placed into the record
Well, that's fine. Thank you. Thank you.
Number seven, MI 2022 -006 -735 -4031 Spring Garden Street.
No exhibits. Second listing.
Council Member Gautier has taken a position of opposition.
Jeffrey Young is the attorney. Mr. Chair, this is Hillary.
Sorry, we received a late request this afternoon for continuance
and that matter from attorney Jeffrey Young.
Okay, so MI 2022 -006 -735 -4031 Spring Garden Street.
Cases continued.
Mark must be tried.
And then number four, MI 2022 -006 -562 -4229 Otter Street.
Sherman Toppin is the attorney.
This is the request for the withdrawal.
This case has been withdrawn.
Okay, we're going to go to number five first.
MI 2023 -002 -510 -1240 South 10th Street.
Demetria Davenport is the owner, applicant pro se.
Letter of non -opposition from Council Member Squilla.
Letter of non -opposition from the RCO, which is the Passion Square Civic Association.
letter of non -opposition from the RCO, which is to pass young square.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Sure, Demetria Davenport, D -I -M -I -T -R -I -A, last name Davenport, D -A -V -E -N -P -O -R -T.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Our vice chair has just a few questions for you.
This application is for visitor accommodations in the same building with all other uses as previously approved.
No sign on this application.
The proposed visitor accommodation is prohibited in the RSA 5 zoning district.
And our vice chair has a few questions.
Good afternoon.
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that are needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
I have, with the exception of the one document that I sent to Hillary this morning, which was the non -opposing letter for the Civic.
Understood. Please proceed and share your screen.
Thank you.
um mr chair i'd like to start with just stating that i am as as already stated i'm requesting a
variance to obtain a visitor's accommodation license um to comply with the new laws for um
for hosting for airbnb um my property is located in the east pass yonk area neighborhood where i
have resided for the last 24 years. It is a duplex. It's owned currently as a duplex, and I live in
the unit on the second floor, and I rent the first floor. So for 22 years, I was a long -term
renter and with long -term tenants. The last two years, I have been doing short -term and mid -term
rentals and have been doing it successfully without any issue or without any complaints
from the neighbors.
And so what I'm sharing with you is just my platform through Airbnb just to show you
that I have a great rating.
I have over 59 reviews showing that the unit is well cared for and taken care of.
And as stated, I have not had any complaints from my neighbors or any issues with the unit in terms of nuisance or anything like that in the community.
I did submit the non -opposing letter from my civic organization, was the Pasch Young Avenue Civic Association.
association. And it was not opposed. I think there were two people, two neighbors who did
give opposition. But from the committee, I had no opposition with the property. I'm just
trying to share some additional documents that I have so you can actually see the unit.
Okay, sure. Thank you.
I apologize, I'm just getting that out.
Your share screen at the bottom, the green button.
Yeah, I just have to make sure I have the right.
I'm looking for making sure I have all the documents.
I thought I had all the documents open in my file and I don't.
Here you go, it's coming up.
Can you see that?
We need you to just show us some photos.
Click on that.
I believe that they are in, but let me see.
I thought I was showing them.
Oh, here we go.
Okay, here you are.
Can you see the unit now?
Okay, great.
This is the rental unit?
This is the rental unit.
It is a bi -level duplex, and so I rent the first, and bi -level being that the unit does have two levels.
So this is the first level.
This is your living room where you see it's a very spacious unit, high ceilings, well furnished, full kitchen.
Noted by those photos, there is it's a one bedroom unit.
So with a full washroom here, the winding steps here takes you to the second level where it is a one a one bedroom unit bathroom.
So only on the second level, you just have one bedroom and a bath there.
again it's well furnished
it's been this gives you
something to lay out
in terms of square footage
it's 1200 square feet so it's a pretty
sizable unit
so that gives you some
some some there's some additional pictures so you can see a better view of the kitchen the living
additional
pictures so you can see a better
um it is in terms of security it is um it is um self -accessing meaning that i do have
I have a panel on the front where our neighbors, where those coming in and out are able to access it.
In addition to doing short -term rental, I've also did some mid -term rental.
And so I've hosted a number of nurses, traveling nurses that come into the area, as well as some students who currently I am hosting a student at Jefferson University.
And so it is a safe area, an area that's well -traveled in the community, and people enjoy it because it is around the corner from Patent Geno State. It's also accessible with public transportation. And so I've been quite successful in terms of being able to provide short -term rental and would like to continue to do so with the proper licensing.
Thank you. Thank you very much. Questions from the board?
no mr chairman no chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
do not see any answer mr chair planning commission uh ron bednar first name ron
r -o -n last name bednar b -e -d -n -a -r do you swear referring to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth i do proceed run comprehensive plan recommends no change
the existing residential single -family zoning.
The applicant has not shown
that the property cannot be possibly used
to a strict conformity with the zoning code
and that a variance is therefore necessary
to enable a viable economic use of the property.
City Planning Commission therefore recommends
that the request for variance not be granted.
Thank you.
MI 2023, 002 -510 -1240 South 10th Street, I vote yes for a temporary variance that will expire 9 -1 -26.
Thomas Solomon, my vote is yes with Proviso.
James Hill, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Thank you.
thank you you have your votes thank you all right number one MI 2022 006 -596 -1708 West Erie
Dan Mita is the attorney for the owner um there's a letter of support
from the 13th Ward RCO and Councilwoman Bass has taken a position of non -opposition
Thank you.
Hi, Mr. Mita, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. Thanks for your grace while I work through the
technological transition. Okay. My name is Daniel Mita, spelled M -I -T -A, with Dwayne Morse, LLP,
here representing LXR, LLP3, comma, LLC. Do you swear, Firm, to tell the truth,
the whole truth, nothing but the truth? Yes, I do. Our vice chair has just a few questions for
you, sir. Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate
to its accuracy? Yes, I do, Mr. Vice -Chair. Have you emailed in all the required documents and
exhibits that are needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing? Yes.
Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.
thank you mr vice chair
are you down at the bottom i am yeah i'm about pulling up right now
okay great
uh mr chair ladies and gentlemen uh of the board uh thank you for hearing us we're here as stated
for 1708 West Erie Avenue, Philadelphia PA 19 -140. We are appearing in front of you for
zoning relief relating to the property, which is currently zoned as RSA 5.
relating to the property which is currently zoned as rsa5 residential zoning the relief requested
is for a variance in connection with three units the property is currently constructed and situated
as three unit multi -family just by way of background our client acquired the property back
in March of 2018. They appealed to the ZBA back in 2019, and in February of 2019, received
approval from this body for the same variance with the same set of facts. Just to kind of
reiterate, the property was purchased as a three unit building. It was only post acquisition
because it was part of a portfolio that diligencing and pulling the appropriate licenses for the
subject property, it was identified that there was not a zoning license, which then led to the
zoning permit and our clients understanding that the property was not properly zoned, hence
proceeding with achieving zoning relief, which they obtained back in February, 2019, as noted
earlier, zoning permit was pulled back in July of 2019, number 91509. And as there were no changes
being done to the subject property, and it was already in use for the three units, and there was
really no work other than some general upkeep and cosmetic refreshments being done, the client did
not proceed with pulling a CO. Fast forward a little bit to the following year at the initiation
of the pandemic. By the time the client was able to, in order to pull the license, get the lead
paint inspection done, the time period had lapsed in order, the six -month period that is, in order
to obtain the CO. Hence, when the client went back to get the zoning license of October of last year,
L &I issued the refusal, noting the lapse of the zoning approval, which is why we are brought back to you today.
We went back before the RCO and fielded a number of subsequent questions.
And you'll see in Exhibit 15 of our packet, there's an RCO letter of support with Provisios dated August 18, 2003.
I'm very glad to go through recitation of the balance of exhibits that were transmitted.
But I trust you'll find they satisfy their requirements, the submittal requirements of our application.
If you have some photos of the property, why don't you show us the photos?
Absolutely. So I'll jump ahead to tab eight, which will be photos of the subject property.
I'm sorry.
here we go so this is uh you can see a photo of the front of the property and the rear of the
property these are the uh pictures of the streets in which it's situated intersection west area at
north 17th and on your left the neighborhood across the street 1708 west area which demonstrates
is a showing of mixed and multifamily units
and single -family dwellings.
Next photo, properties adjacent on your left
and on the right and intersection
of West Erie Avenue, North 17th Street.
I can proceed with showing interior photos
if you'd like, Mr. Chair.
Everything separated, electric separated and all that?
Yes, sir.
The utilities?
please? Yes, they're separately metered. Okay.
Some floor plans, interior visuals of the units. These are preoccupancy, post ownership. So they
reflect the work that our clients did to the units, two of the units prior to tenants moving in.
see new appliances granite countertops tile backsplash part of what floors throughout
there's the spacious units and this is just a google maps uh which indicates with the red dot
uh where the subject property is situated in the general context the neighborhood
there's other multiple units on the block
pardon me mr chairman there's other multiple family units on the block
correct that's our understanding that's right okay all right um do you want to
Correct. That's our understanding. That's right.
Okay. All right. Do you want to bring your client on?
Yes. I'd like to request that Mr. Seth Haggerty raise his hand and be admitted as a witness.
He's listed on our Exhibit 14, our list of witnesses.
Yes. Good afternoon.
Hi. Could you state your name and spell for the court stenographer, please?
Sure. Seth Haggerty.
s -e -t -h -h -a -g -a -r -t -y do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the
truth i do proceed counsel thank you mr chairman uh mr haggerty can you please uh
note your uh you already noted your name but please do note your title
with the owner lxr llp3 llc yes i am an owner of the of the entity that owns property
Okay. And Mr. Haggerty, you heard all of the testimony I submitted today.
And can you avere to its truth and accuracy?
And do you adopt it as your own?
Thank you, Mr. Haggerty. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Questions from the board?
No, Chair.
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I do not see any further hence Mr. Chair hi Planning Commission so this is Ron Bednar
city planning property is indicated for residential use on the city plan the district plan proposed
zoning changes at this location therefore we recommend the request of variance be granted
thank you MI 2022 006 596 1708 West Erie Avenue
I vote yes, proviso, interior trash storage.
Thomas Holliman, my vote is yes, with proviso.
James Snell, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you, members of the board.
Is there anyone in the virtual audience whose 330 case is not going to call?
i do not see any further hands mr chair uh thanks everyone i'm sorry i tied these up for like 25
minutes today it was i don't know so i'm still not sure what happened with the computer but i
have a good idea but no problem thank you all thanks to the best of us chairman got a lot of
work done tonight thank you yes great job everyone great job let's see you have a good night have a
good evening everyone thank you good night good night good night all