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.