Thank you very much. Any other comments from the audience?
I see no hands, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman. Ian Hegarty for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission.
Members of the Board, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing RSA 5
single-family zoning at this location. The applicant's hardship claim rests on the depth
of the lot. However, we disagree that the lot depth is so significant a hardship as to deprive
the owner of reasonable use of the property under the existing zoning. We note that the financial
return of the development is not a hardship factor in use variances, and we further note that in
terms of zoning entitlement, the use cannot be restricted to supportive housing for veterans.
this appeal should be evaluated by the board as a typical five unit apartment building in a single
family zoning district. This proposal is also in direct conflict with a specific recommendation
from the comprehensive plan which was agreed to in response to the widespread and well-documented
concerns cited by Ms. McKelvey to limit group housing and program housing in East Germantown
where it is significantly overrepresented. The City Planning Commission recommends that the
board deny the variance. Thank you, Ann. MI-2021-004-824-4981 Sheldon Street, I vote no.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is no.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is no.
Thank you, Mr. Mulvihill.
Thank you, members of the board. Have a good afternoon.
Okay. Is there anyone in the audience whose case has not been called?
i see no hands chair okay thank you everyone two o'clock
honda before i start do you want to take care of that issue
oh yes chair i'm sorry i forgot to mention that we do have an add-on
This case is regarding Sharon Saleta. Address is 1515 Art Street. I wanted to put on record
the board, planning commission, law department, zoning attorneys, and RCOs voted to grant the
special exception. Sorry, I'm getting ready to start crying. I'm starting to cry the special
exception and all variances however Mr. Letta did submit a request for reconsideration
the vote was no you must not go forward with the reconsideration and rehearing
you are granted retirement they added a proviso stating Sharon you must
retirement. They added a proviso stating, Sharon, you must enjoy your retirement and so much your
four-legged staff. Chair, we do have members here who wish to testify regarding this case.
Please, please. Is Ms. Gaskin available? Raise your hand. Joe Beller, please raise your hand.
Oh, no. Sharon, you might need an extra box of tissues if you wish.
i think you blindsided her already staff do you see joe beller
yes miss gerald gaskin if you could promote them to panelists please sure
and they wish to testify regarding this case
and i don't even have to swear them in because i know they're going to be telling the truth
yes they will cheer
and we have first Ms. Gaskin are you available welcome Ms. Gaskin your testimony hi I'm here
good afternoon and greetings I am speaking for the zoning land use and code enforcement subcommittee
of the real property section of the Philadelphia Bar Association and for the zoning bar as a whole
uh the members that I call uh affectionately uh the usual suspects and uh I want to thank uh Paul
Bonney for um who came up with this idea to and made it happen that we're able to pay tribute to
you Sharon uh during this time first I want to congratulate you on your retirement and thank you
for your many years of dedicated work in your role as counsel for the Zoning Board.
It's not an easy task and it requires a lot of juggling of interest of the public, the bar,
the board, L&I, City Council, the law department, the bench, along with an ample dose of professionalism,
good humor, and grace under pressure. And I also want to commend you for your dedicated
public service. Sharon, for many years, was just one of us, as we say, the usual suspects.
And one of the best things about our bar has always been that while we all may be adversarial
in a case, we are not adversarial with each other. And we, and a testament to that is the many
different interests that people who are here to pay tribute to you today. On a personal note,
Sharon, you and I have been friends and colleagues for many, many, many, many years. I don't want to
miss and we all will miss being able to uh call and get your uh wise uh counsel and your perspectives
on uh different issues outside of uh just the regular bar association uh or case information
and finally we all wish you well as you move into this next phase of your life
find something to do that is something that makes you when you put your feet on that floor
in the morning get up and be happy to spend the day doing something that you love and are passionate
about. Good luck and good fortune in your future endeavors. Don't be a stranger. We love you.
Thank you, Ms. Gaston. So very nicely said. We do have another person, if I can ask him to unmute,
and that would be Mr. Joseph Beller himself, otherwise known as Mr. Zoney Law.
Ms. Beller, you have two minutes to discuss how wonderful Sharon is.
Unmute yourself Joe
Unmute
Am I just got it
Do you have it now
Listen
Sharon
This has to be a big day
Because
It's only the second time since COVID
That I've worn a jacket and a tie
I did it to impress you
I have to say. Joe, you always impress me. Thank you. I want to tell you something. I was laughing when I was thinking about this because they all want me to make funny, but it's hard to make funny when you've been so helpful over these years to not only me, but everybody.
Joe you always impress me
Thank you
The big thing is that you also, I guess this is the bittersweet part, you made us better lawyers.
So you should get credit, not only for what you did, but for CLE.
Because once you started working and doing this, we all had to be sure that our data was correct,
that we had all kinds of cases to support us.
But I want to say this because I think it was the most important thing.
Besides the fact that you were obviously helpful, you were the most even-handed person we've ever had to deal with.
I personally, and I know everybody else, Paul Bonney and I have been talking about this for days, you have really kept us in line.
you moved the things along because you knew what was extraneous before you started to help out
uh the zoning board and i go back to 1963 i think the first appearance 1960 maybe 61 and in those
days you could almost say anything you ever wanted to say but you kind of kept us in line
and i don't resent that i appreciate it and i want to tell you that i've talked to a number
of people in the last few days and the truth of the matter is that you will be sorely missed
and stay in touch and it's always good to see you and i do consider you a friend as well as a
colleague thank you joe that means so much to me thank you thank you mr beller we do have one
other. His testimony may be a little contentious based on the typical. Mr. Pollack, you have two
minutes to have a brief conversation with us about how wonderful Ms. Saleta is. That goes without
saying. I mean, that's stating the obvious. Sharon and I, I think like everybody else, back and I
keep saying, this is my phrase these days, back in the old days, back in the old days when we could
we could troll the concourse of msb uh and back in the old days when there wasn't an eclipse system
and we would file our own zoning applications i think that's the first time i met sharon way back
when but i tried to and again as cheryl and joe have highlighted uh one of the things that we've
always as a bar appreciated is the fact that the zoning board of adjustment in philadelphia
caught up to the rest of the zoning hearing boards
around the state that had their own solicitor
or at least the council that would advise them.
And we couldn't have picked a better first person
to have that role than Sharon Saleta.
When I tried to think of what word
capsulized Sharon to me, it's altruism.
And like anybody else,
we go to the great dictionary of Google these days
and altruism was the belief in the practice
of disinterested and self-concern for the well-being of others, to the extent that
they want to benefit somebody else at their own expense. That's Sharon Saleta. From her feeding
of the homeless to her well-recognized treatment of our four-legged friends, I look at Sharon as
like the Mother Teresa of Philadelphia. And the fact that she's a lawyer makes it even more
amazing. No, just kidding, Sharon. And she also found the time over the years to, as Joe has
aptly stated, add some balance and keep the bar herded up or herding our cats and the members of
the bar so we have some dignity and respect. And it's something that she's been able to balance
all that. She brought a whole new meaning to the words, findings of facts and conclusions of law.
i remember way back when and i i'm a kid because i only go back to my first case joe was in 1976
so you know i thought i was bad at 76 but i know you always you're you you go way back um and there
was a guy named harry kurtzman who was in tanya's seat and harry was a lawyer but harry would have
this ability to say to you hey you won they took an appeal you want to write the findings of facts
and conclusions of law that way that way if you screw up it's on you kid uh and you would you
Uh, and you would, you know, you would say, sure, sure. I'll do anything to do something like that. But Sharon brought new meaning to that. And when I also think about altruism, when I think about Sharon is if you talked about this at the very beginning of time, you know, the fact that she would get paid $500 per case, whether it was, whether it was a 10 minute case that got appealed or whether it was one of those, you know, contentious cases that Tanya has associated me with, where we go for three days worth of, of testimony.
know you would say sure sure i'll do anything to do something like that but
And she had to go through reams and reams of testimony. So for Mr. Snell, I'm sure that she
could have been unionized a long time ago, but we never did. So again, we're all jealous of
retirement. Look, Beller's still putting on a suit and tie at his age and is ready to argue at any
time. So I think like a judge, a retired judge, Sharon, you'll be around. We're not going to get
rid of you we're all going to bring you back and as i said uh for all of us paul bonnie uh who was
uh did a great job of you know putting this all together because it's a time-honored tradition of
our section to say goodbye to uh board members and especially those board members or members who
were members of the bar uh we really appreciate what you did uh i think this was the golden age
of zoning who knows what's coming up next with the new ballot referendum there tanya i'll be a
little contentious uh but uh we all hope everybody who's sitting on the board can stay if they want
to stay and uh but it's going to be a new world and it won't be the same without you sharon
thank you steve thank you so much all of you appreciate it it's a lot of people here sharon
it's over a hundred that's a testimony to what you have done and because we'll continue to do
when i call you for the board um i just wanted to mention your staff really wanted to be here
but they had a case before ccp today and they were unable to come forward because they were
completing the facts and findings for the judge so your staff loves you the four naked ones and
all of us at the zoning board administration office appreciates all you do others want to speak
but of course we do have sessions that we have to have, but we just wanted to say farewell to you
and the way that you deserve to be told goodbye. All of you are the best part about having this
practice for so many years. I have loved working with you. I especially, and something I didn't
mention this morning, Tanya and your staff, I have, I practiced law for 35 years. I have never felt
as much like I am part of a team as I have in these past two years so thank you all thank you
all this is so kind I wasn't expecting this I'm so moved oh we had to blindside you yes so thank
you all the participants and again Mr. Paul Bonney kudos to you for reminding us to remind
Sharon how awesome she is and with that we're going to go into our 2 p.m sessions thank you
okay thank you thank you everybody thank you love you sharon i love you too thank you
so good afternoon everyone after that great send off my name is bill bergman and i will
be chairing this afternoon's meeting um with me is carol tanari our vice chair
present ismail shaheed our board secretary
and thomas hollman our board member present mr chairman also our executive director and
our beloved lawyer sharon saletta before we start thank you let me just review
our virtual format be advised the proceedings are being recorded
By participating, you acknowledge your agreement to be recorded.
The video will be available by contacting our Executive Director, Tanya Sunkett, at tanyasunkettatphill.gov.
For the benefit of our court sonographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testify.
If you are participating by phone, if you wish to testify, press star 9 to raise your hand and star 6 to unmute.
To enter an appearance statement, call 267-270-5548.
Leave your email and the address of the property in question.
And lastly, please note the question and answer box on the screen is not for testimony or comments.
Any comments should be directed to our Executive Director, Tanya Selkin.
So let's look at continuances for this afternoon.
I mean, number one, MI 2021-005-417-1400-38.
0-0-5-4-1-7, 1400 to 38 North Howard Street. Continuance is requested. Is there anyone
in the virtual audience has a comment about that continuance?
Chair, we have David Orphanides.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman. David Orphanides from Orphanides and Toner.
Just real quickly, I don't have an issue with the continuance. My firm has been retained
by the Howard Street Neighbors Alliance, LLC, which has members of property owners located on
the 1400 block of North Howard Street. So we're an interested party right now, presently a
protestant in this case, but I just want to hear that we were present today. Thank you. I appreciate
it. Thank you very much, sir. Anyone else have a comment about the continuance? There's no other
hands, Chair. Are there any other continuances for this afternoon?
Chair, we have Alan Nockamson. Mr. Nockamson. Yes, good afternoon, Mr. Chair, members of the
Board. Alan Nockamson of Nockamson, PC, 123 South Broad Street, Suite 1600, Philadelphia, PA, 19109.
You swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
I do. What case, sir? 5154 West Yard Avenue.
Number eight. Okay, number eight. Thank you, sir. That'll be continued. Thank you. Any other cases?
I see no handshare. Okay, so we're going to go to our add-ons.
And our first add-on case, MI 2021-003190, 150 or 59 West Jefferson Avenue.
Revised plans have been submitted.
I vote yes with revised plans, one page.
Carol Tenere, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with proviso.
number two mi 2021 004525 468 paoli avenue the rco letter was sent in the rco which is the
um hold on one minute the ridge park civic association the letter ends with our members
and guests voted unanimously to support this proposal. Therefore, we encourage the zoning
board to provide her with the variance that is requested, signed by Marlene Scheffler,
the president of the RCO. I vote yes.
Carol Tenere, my vote is yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
Okay. Number two, MI 2022-00052, 1740 Wiley Street, RCO United, Francisville Civic Association,
letter of support. Alan Nackamson is the attorney.
Mr. Nackamson is coming back in as a panelist.