ZBA Hearing - September 22, 2021

proposed so here's the self-storage facility existing townhouses we are putting an eight

foot fence along the property boundary of the townhouses along with some shrubbery

here the parking and then we have loading area over here along with the trash enclosure here

we did again because of the size of the project it did trigger review by the civic design review

committee we received several comments from them and as such we were able to revise the zoning plan

one of the comments was to add this sidewalk along this entrance road which we did

not shown on here but it is shown on the zoning site plan they also asked for a crosswalk

And then they also had made some comments with regard to the type and species of the landscaping that's being proposed, which we did revise.

Here is a rendering of what the proposed building will look like, which is what we reviewed with CDR.

This is just a view of the nighttime facade showing the lighting.

This is the other entrance farther down on Langdon Street.

And then here, again, this was where I was showing you the entrance.

These are the townhomes.

This is the fence that's being proposed, as well as the landscaping to provide the buffer.

As indicated, we did meet with the RCO to review the variance that's being requested.

as well as the design and the cdr process we did receive a letter of opposition from them

dated june 20th which is before you and again we did meet with cdr so we're here this afternoon

requesting the variants to provide less parking than is otherwise permitted or required i'm sorry

under the zoning code as i indicated it would require 53 which is excessive for this type of use

and we believe that what's being proposed is more adequate and allows for better design of

the property given the features of the property. So with that, if there are no questions,

I would like to call the engineer of the project, Mr. Dan Mattson.

Dan, could you write the down?

you can unmute yourself and wait for the chair. Hello, can you hear me? Yes, please spell your

name and I'll swear you in. Sure, Daniel, D-A-N-I-E-L, Mattson, M-A-T-T-S-O-N. Do you swear

if I'm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth? I do. Thank you, Ms. Powles.

Great. Mr. Mattson, were you here during my presentation this afternoon? Yes, I was.

And do you agree that the statements I have made are true and accurate?

Yes, I do.

And were you personally involved with the preparation of the zoning plan and design of this project?

Yes.

And had you testified yourself, would you adopt the statements I have made as your own testimony?

Yes, I would.

Great. Do you have anything further that you would like to add in terms of the relief that's being requested or the project that's being proposed?

no i think you did a good job of summing it all up i'm happy to answer any questions should they

arise thank you thank you any questions from the board no mr chairman what else

any questions from the board no mr chairman what else would like to testify in this case

please raise your hand here we have hillary emerson miss emerson you can unmute yourself

and wait for the chair uh good afternoon miss emerson you know the drill please identify

yourself spell your name and i'll swear you in good afternoon mr chair members of the board

hillary emerson on behalf of councilwoman sherelle parker my last name is spelled e-m-e-r-s-o-n

Do you swear to affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?

I do.

Thank you. Please proceed.

Yes, thank you.

Preliminarily, I just wanted to ask if counsel for the applicant could forward our office in the RCO a copy of those revised plans.

We did see the recommendations from the CDR committee.

I apologize.

And we were not aware that changes had been made in response to those recommendations.

So if we could get a copy of the revised plans, that would be great for our records.

And based on our meeting back in June, the councilwoman has no objection to the requested variance for the parking in light of the low traffic volume for this use.

There was also no community objection raised to this project.

The letter was a letter of non-opposition.

And we also appreciate that the access point for this commercial space is adjacent to other commercial space and not off of Somerdale Avenue.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you. Anyone else to testify in this case?

I see no hands at this time, Chair.

Thank you. Planning Commission?

Thank you, Chairman DiCicco, Ian Hegarty for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission.

As has been noted, the City Planning Commission's CDR, our Civic Design Review Committee, reviewed this plan and recommended actually less parking than is required by the code.

So in keeping with this recommendation of the Planning Commission, we recommend that the board grant this variance that's being presented today.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Ms. Pals, is there, there are three pages?

There are two pages.

Two pages?

Oh, I'm sorry. No, there are three pages because we have the attorney. So, yes.

Okay. MI 2021-002092, 4890 Somerdale Avenue. My vote is yes with the following proviso. Revised plan, three pages, approved today.

Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with provisos.

Jim, Jim or Confessor out there?

We have Jim.

I've asked him to unmute, but no response yet.

Chair, if I may request a pause so that I can contact them through phone.

Yes.

And to the court reporter, we do have three other cases.

Two are combined, which we're going to call at the end.

And we have one more if you want.

We can take a break now or we can come back after the next case.

We'll take a five-minute break.

As you prefer, Chair.

It's fine with me either way.

Thank you.

sorry for the hold of miss paus we'll be with you shortly no problem

Hi, Chair, this is Tanya, the administrator. Okay, there we go. Jim is there.

Thank you, Tanya. Jim, I don't know if you heard, MI 2021-002-092-4890 Somerdale Avenue. My vote was yes with a proviso. Revised plan, three pages approved today.

I'm sorry, Chair.

It appears as though he's having technical problems.

Jim, if you can hear me, could you please go out and come back in?

Chair, as you wish, could we move this a little past so we can wait for him to come back for the vote?

So we can wait for him to come back. Yeah. I was going to suggest that we'll take the five minute break now. Miss Pouse, if you don't mind, we'll get the technical stuff straightened out and then we'll come back. So also to the court reporter, we'll take five or so minutes out, please.

I was going to suggest that we'll...

Sure. No problem. Thank you, Chair.

Thank you, Tanya.

proceed and we'll go back we'll go back to the uh 10th the number 10 on our list one more time

mi 2021-002092 4890 summerdale avenue my vote is yes with proviso

revised plan three pages approved today.

Yes, with proviso. Thomas Holloman. Yes, with proviso. Thank you. Thank you again,

Ms. Powell. Sorry for the delay. No problem. Thank you very much. Have a good evening.

We're now going to go to case number 13. MI 2021-002-094-625 North

53rd street jared klein is the attorney of record my notes said we're still awaiting a letter from

the rco and mr klein is coming back in as a panelist now chair he'll clarify that thank you

for us good afternoon mr chair members of the board please identify yourselves by your record

and i'll swear you in certainly jared klein k-l-e-i-n from blank rome 130 north 18th street

philadelphia 19103 you swear a firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth

yes i do thank you do you agree to waive the reading and stipulate to its accuracy

yes and have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents including proof of ownership

proof of tax compliance a copy of the refusal or referral and photos and or plans of the property

days in advance of this hearing? Yes. And have you met with the RCO, and do you have a letter?

Yes, we do. Thank you. You may proceed. Mr. Chair, as I was transitioning into being a

panelist, I heard you mention that you were going to ask me to clarify something, but I didn't hear

what that was. My notes indicate we have not yet received an RCO letter. That may not be accurate,

so you'll clear that up for us. Yes, we do have one. It was a letter of support, and I will

show that to you all shortly. Thank you for clarifying. So yeah, so I am here on 625 North

53rd on behalf of the Liberty Housing Development Corporation, which as the board knows is a fairly

well-known affordable housing developer. And we're here for what is a very well supported by

the Community Affordable Housing Project at 625 North 53rd. To give the board the specifics of

what we're talking about, it is a mixed zoned parcel that has ICMX and RSA 5 on the same lot.

So we received refusals both for the use as multifamily household living,

which wouldn't be permitted in either the ICMX or the RSA 5 and the required bicycle spaces.

To orient the board, this is the property here. It's long vacant and part of this

proposal is to consolidate some of these lots into a new lot and to erect a new structure there.

Here's the sort of mixed zoning that I was describing for the board previously.

And these are some existing site conditions to give the board some context as to what is in this

area right now. What we are proposing to do is to consolidate the lots, as I mentioned,

and then to erect a new structure that's going to be used for 31 affordable housing units and

five off-street parking spaces. The end product will look similar to this, and we do have Ian

Toner, who's our architect on the line, should the board have any detailed architectural questions

as we move forward. These are some sample floor plans for the various units that will be contained

within the building. There is a mix of three-bedroom, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom units

within the building, trying to give a variety of housing styles as part of the affordability

offering. And as the chair asked, we did meet with the Civic Association. I'll bring their

letter up first. The 44th Ward Democratic RCO convened a meeting, and their letter of support

is up on the screen now we met with them on july 13th and their letter of support

We met with them on July 13th and their letter of support is here.

Also in the materials that I had submitted to the board were a variety of other letters from other stakeholders.

I won't spend a ton of time on them now, but there are letters of support to hear from Vince Hughes,

State Rep. Amon Brown, Councilwoman Helen Gim,

Councilwoman Gauthier and Councilmember Green. So we have pretty wide-based community support

not only for this particular project but of the Liberty Housing Development Corporation in general.

I know the board has had a lengthy agenda so although we have our design professionals on

the line to answer any additional questions I'll ask if Bianca Waladin could raise her

virtual hand and adopt my test book. Bianca, if you're out there, hit that little button.

Ms. Walladin, you can unmute yourself and wait for the chair to speak.

Bianca, are you there? I'm here. Okay. Good afternoon. Please spell your full name.

bianca walladin b-i-a-n-c-a w-a-l-i-d-d-i-n you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole

truth nothing but the truth i do thank you mr klein uh thank you chair uh bianca did you have

a chance to listen to my entire presentation this afternoon yes and do you adopt my uh statements

as true correct and as if they were your own i do thank you very much uh mr chair as i said we

have the the team on to answer any questions but we would stop our presentation there thank you

any questions from the board no mr chairman no no any uh i'm sorry anyone else would like

to testify in this case please raise your hand there are no other hands at this time chair

thank you planning commission

thank you chairman de chico ian hegarty for the philadelphia city planning commission

members of the board the comprehensive plan includes a recommendation to encourage the

supply of a wide variety of housing types and levels of affordability throughout the city

this property is proposed to be as a tax credit uh supported affordable housing development

and so the city planning commission recommends that the board grant this variance

thank you mi 2021-002094 625 north 53rd street my vote is yes confessor plaza my vote is yes

james snell my vote is yes thomas holliman my vote is yes thank you all have a good afternoon

Thank you. We'll now go to cases 11 and 12. MI 2021-002-254-6399 Drexel Avenue and MI 2021-003-420-6399 Drexel Avenue.

There are a number of attorneys that are involved in this case. Mr. Shermer, I believe, is representing the appellant. Mr. McClure, I believe, is representing the permit holder. There's also a Mr. Conor Kokorin, who represents the appellant.

gentlemen let me do this first let each of you get on identify yourself spell your name and I'll

swear each of you in and then I have a couple of comments prior to your testimony excuse me chair

could we also promote Mr. Reuter who represents the city yes Mr. Reuter okay Mr. McClure I see

you're up would you spell your full name I'll swear you in sure Matthew McClure of Bower Spar

McClure is M-C-C-L-U-R-E, 1735 Market Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on behalf of the National Catholic Bioethics Center, which is the legal owner of the property, as well as CORE, C-O-R-E, Development LLC, which is the equitable owner of the property.

Also with me is Nathan Farris. I don't know if he's been brought up.

I'll get to him next. Do you swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?

I do.

thank you uh mr faris please spell your full name and i'll swear you in good afternoon mr

chairman members of the board nathan ferris ferris is farris at ballard spar 1735 market street

you swear or firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth

i do thank you mr reuter

can't hear you uh leonard good afternoon chairman members of the board leonard f

Good afternoon, Chairman, members of the board. Leonard F. Reuter, R-E-U-T-E-R, Senior Attorney for the City of Philadelphia.

Reuter, R-E-U-T-E-R, senior.

We're affirmed to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?

I do.

Thank you. Mr. Shermer, please spell your full name and I'll swear you in.

And I don't see him.

Well, we'll go to Mr. Kokorin right now, Connor Kokorin.

Don't see him either.

I'm sorry, Chair.

this is tanya the administrator i do not okay let me see if this is the person here

uh overbrook farms club is there could be mr sherman i believe

i'm sorry the uh one title overbrook farms club please state your name

this is connor corcoran counsel for overbrook farms okay if you hold a second sir i will

promote you to a panelist. Thank you. Sir, when you get on, please identify yourself by spelling

your full name. He was in between, Chair. Yeah, no worries. No problem. Okay.

Okay, Mr. Connor, could you state and spell your last name, please?

Good afternoon, everyone. Connor Corcoran, C-O-R-C-O-R-A-N, on behalf of Overbrook Farms Club.

You swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.

I do.

Thank you. Is Mr. Shermer available? Kyle Shermer?

I do see him as in attendance. Henry Shermer?

Henry Shermer. He's been promoted to panelists here.

Mr. Shermer, please spell your full name.

He should be coming back in any moment, Chair.

Okay.