This is Smith, if you can unmute and start your video, please.
is it jessica smith yes yes jessica you can unmute and wait to be sworn in
good morning ma'am please spell your full name and i'll swear you in
um jessica j-e-s-s-i-c-a hackett h-a-c-k-e-t-t hyphen smith smith
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth or nothing but the truth
i do thank you mr levy miss smith um have you heard the uh description i gave of the property
and the proposed use yes um is it your desire to get this property in uh proper license order yes
um have have you basically uh undertaken to uh maintain and uh uh keep the place you know clean
and and well pointed and all that good stuff yes okay and you adopt mr levy's testimony
yes i do okay thank you any questions from the board no mr chair no anyone else to
testify in this case if so please raise your hand here we have charles richardson who is available
to unmute himself and be sworn in by you good morning mr richardson you know the drill please
identify yourself and i'll swear you in good morning mr chair charles richardson from the
office of councilwoman cindy bass room 312 city hall you swear or affirm to tell the truth the
whole truth or nothing but the truth? I do. Please proceed. As the RCO has indicated, it is not
opposed to granting this variance. The councilwoman supports the community and will not oppose this
variance as well. Thank you very much. Anyone else to testify in this case? No other hands,
Chair. Thank you. Planning Commission? Good morning, Mr. Chairman, members of the board,
David Fecto, City Planning Commission. The comprehensive plan recommends no change in the
existing single-family zoning at this location. This property has documented history as both a
rooming house and a three-family dwelling. We recommend that the board support the requested
variance. Thank you very much. MI 2020-00020353862 Avenue. My vote is yes.
Confessor Plaza, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Thomas Hallowin, my vote is yes.
Thank you. I believe that completes the 930 list.
If anyone believes that they have not been given the opportunity to testify, please raise your hand.
See no hands.
Thank you. Any unfinished business?
tanya sharon no cheer not for me thank you okay thank you all see you back at two and jim you
can take your time at lunch thanks thanks frank talk to you bye thank you all
recording thank you and uh yvette we'll give you a few minutes you'll let us know when you're ready
you're good to go chair we have 43 people in the room thank you um good afternoon everyone my name
You're good to go, Chair. We have 43 people in the room.
Thank you.
is frank de chico i'm the chair of his only board of adjustment i'll be participating in today's
hearing along with our board secretary mr confessor plaza and board members mr thomas
holloman and mr james snell board administrator ms yvette benton and our board attorney ms
Sharon Saleta, are also in attendance, as is our Zoning Board Administrator, Ms. Tania Sunkit.
For those of you who haven't yet participated in one of our virtual hearings,
I'll go through some of the basics of what you can expect. First, we will be administering oaths
to individual participants prior to their testimony. Second, we'd like to advise everyone
that this proceeding is being recorded, and that by participating, you acknowledge your
agreement to be recorded and that the recording will be made available to the public on the web
or otherwise. Third, for anyone participating by phone, if you wish to testify, you must raise your
hand by hitting star nine and then star six to unmute yourself. I'll repeat. For anyone participating
by phone, if you wish to testify, you must raise your hand by hitting star nine and then star six
to unmute yourself. Finally, to enter an appearance statement, call Google 267-270-5548
and leave your email address and the address of the property at issue. I'll repeat that.
To enter an appearance statement, call Google 267-270-5548 and leave your email address
and the address of the property at issue and i'd also like to remind everyone please do not attempt
to testify in the chat any comments or issues concerns please direct them to to ms yvette
benton uh having said that i will now read off a list of requests for continuances on the two o'clock
list number let's see uh other than the cases 11 and 12 sharon there are no other requests so far
i'm going to ask if there are any but those are the only two we know of correct that's correct
now we're going to hold off on the request for continuances for 6399 drexel avenue until we get
to that on our list all other uh applicants and or attorneys who wish to request a continuance
at this time please raise your hand 63 99 direction we will get to you momentarily
chair we have alan notkinson with his hand up mr notkinson you know mute yourself and speak
thank you good afternoon mr notkinson please identify yourself and i'll swear you in
Yes, Allen, A-L-A-N, last name Nockamson, N-O-C-H-U-M-S-O-N, 123 South Broad Street, Suite 1600, Philadelphia PA, 19109.
You swear to affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Are you requesting a continuance?
A withdrawal of 21-23 East Schoolhouse Lane.
number four on our list mi 2021-00208621-23 east schoolhouse lane is withdrawn thank you
thank you any other requests for continuances or withdrawals
we have no other hands up at this time chair okay we're going to start with our first case
on our list uh mi 2021-002085 1157 durrance street colomenta amazon is the attorney of record
There's a letter of support from Point Breeze RCO, and I suspect that 1157 Dorrance should be South Dorrance Street.
Ms. Amazon, if you're available.
I don't know if Mr. Knockamson is handling this, but he had his hand up. He's been promoted to panelist.
Okay. I'd say the one. I know that sometimes Ms. Amazon's on our list, but are you going to be presenting this case, sir?
Yes, I am.
Okay. You're already under oath. Mr. Plaza has some questions for you.
So, Knuckleson, you agree to waive the reading of its refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
So, Knuckleson, you agree to waive the reading of his refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents, proof of ownership, proof of tax compliance, copy of the refusal, or referral, photos and plans five days prior to this hearing?
Yes, we have.
And have you met with the RCO and have a letter?
Yes, we have a letter of support.
Thank you. Please proceed.
May I share my screen?
Yes, please.
Thank you.
All right. Let me just make it a little bigger so everyone can see.
Am I correct that this is South Dorian's?
You probably are, Mr. Chair.
Point Breeze.
Yes, it is. It's in the Point Breeze area of Philadelphia.
So we're here to present these variance requests for a proposed third-story addition to a pre-existing building structure in the Point Breast section of Philadelphia.
What you'll see is our agreement of sale showing that my client's under contract to purchase this property, certificate of tax clearance showing they're in good standing.
Notice of refusal. We'll go over the refusal for this RSA 5 property, simple variance request.
So number four would be the application for appeal.
Five would be maps of the area.
Six would be pictures of the front of the property and the surround the area, which will also show it's not out of character to have a three-story structure on this block.
Seventh exhibit are architectural plans and drawings.
Eighth exhibit is the letter of support from the Point Breeze CDC, as well as a petition that we generated getting signatures from people who live on that block and the block behind us on Cleveland Street, the people who will be most impacted.
So our agreement of sale.
Our certificate of tax clearance showing that the property owner is in good standing with the city of Philadelphia.
Our notice of refusal.
I'm just going to slightly make this smaller so we can see on one page.
So this is an RSA 5 property.
We have a number of technical refusals.
This is not the largest lot, and that's why we're having these refusals.
So the first refusal has to do with the minimum rear yard setback of the roof, and the corresponding one is the minimum front setback of the roof deck.
So this has to do with the fact that our building, our pilot house in the rear, and you'll see it on the photographs, and we'll go through it, or the plans, hugs the back of the property.
The fact is we're a 14-foot wide lot.
We're not very deep.
We're 50 feet deep, and our building structure is 42.
To have a functional floor plan, we need it to have where the pilot house would hug the rear of the property, and that's why we have those technical refusals.
The third refusal has to do with the minimum open area.
We're required to have 25% open area, 176.75 square feet.
We are proposing that 15.8 square feet of 112 square feet.
We are doing a little addition in the rear. But if you look at the pre-existing building structure, at least based on the calculations I have, this property is not compliant under the code, you know, based on those numbers.
So right now we wouldn't be compliant under the codes. And, you know, we're trying to have a functional floor plan because the staircase goes, you know, front to back because of the width of the property is only 14 feet and the depth of the property is only 50 feet.
We really did try to have the least modification possible under the zoning code.
The next refusal has to do with the front setback because we're next to the left of us and to the right of us are two story structures.
We're requesting not to have a setback in the front.
Again, not out of the character of the neighborhood.
We'll go over the photographs of that block.
We'll see numerous examples of three-story buildings.
Additionally, because of the depth of the lot of 50 feet, 42 feet for the building structure,
if we had to comply with the eight-foot requirement, we would not have any floor plan, essentially.
And I have Chris Johnson, a 24-7 design, who's going to testify to that fact.
And then the final refusal has to do with the minimum rear yard depth, nine feet required, eight feet is proposed.
Again, we fall basically in line with the property to the left of us and to the right of us.
Unfortunately, even a foot would be too much of undue hardship under the circumstances.
And to have a functional floor plan, we would request that the ZBA grant that variance and the other variances.
Our application appeal to the ZBA, along with the notice of refusal and our project information form, just showing where Doran Street is, you know, behind us is Cleveland Street.
uh you know we're between you know behind us is um is cleveland street and you'll that's the reason
why i highlight that is because we have letters or a petition of support from nearby neighbors
and as you can see we're between ellsworth and federal and 18th and 19th streets essentially
for the rest of the properties is a pre-existing two-story structure
structure in the Point Breeze area of Philadelphia. As you can see, Doran Street to the right of the
property, there are numerous three-story structures. And then if you look at Doran Street
to the left of the property, again, numerous three-story structures. So it's not a character
to have a three-story structure which goes straight up in this part of Point Breeze.
Plans and drawings. I'm just going to make this a little smaller so everyone can see it. And
obviously it can expand out if requested but again what we're trying to do is just rehab this two
story structure making a three story structure not taking full uh account of the height limitation
of 38 feet our building structure will only be 33 feet high so we're trying to respect the two
story character of the neighborhood by building a three story structure which is not out of sorts
essentially trying to keep that traditional brick facade and then you'll see the rear of the
property and this is where I'm saying that the pilot house hugs the rear of the property again
just because of the conditions of the property the dimensions of the property
to have a functional floor plan we are requesting those variances you'll see the site plan you'll
see how we are a comparison to the property to the left and the right of us we are slightly
a little longer than the person to the left and right of us,
but we do have a three-foot alley in the rear.
I know that can't be counted towards open area,
but we do have a decent-sized rear yard of 112 square feet,
so we ask that the board also grant those variances as well.
And then just a floor plan.
We can go through it.
Let me just make it a little smaller so I can see all on one page,
but it's just a traditional, like, renovated floor plan.
open floor plan on the first floor, lower level has just a flex space, whether it's for a living
room, an office, go up a flight of steps, there's a bedroom in the front and the rear, there's a
laundry room, there's a bathroom. And then the third floor has the master bath with a roof deck
on up top. Now we do have a letter of support from the Point Breeze CDC.
see. And we did make great outreach to members of the community. As you can see, our petitions
are for people on the 1100 block of South Doran Street, the 1100 block of Cleveland Street. We
really focused our intention on those people who would be most directly impacted. And then here's
our proof of mailing for the community meeting. And with that being said, I'm going to stop sharing
the screen um i do have uh both the owner as well as the architect for this project
um so i would ask that tim goo the um or the proposed owner of the property virtually raise
his hand what is his name again mr knockamson goo tim goo gu um i also know that sometimes he'll
have like a handle of koo do you see either those names
might he be under george curtis i don't think so um mr chair why don't we do this
mr notkinson you being an officer of the court will stipulate your client would have adopted
your testimony okay great is do you have uh chris johnson can chris johnson virtually raise his hands
he's the architect for this project.
Mr. Johnson, you can unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Good afternoon, Mr. Johnson.
Please identify yourself, spell your name, and I'll swear you in.
Christopher Johnson, C-H-R-I-S-T-O-P-E-T-R.
Johnson, 24-7 Design Group.
You swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
mr notkinson yeah mr johnson uh you heard everything i stated today
and with respect to my characterizations of the refusals and our intention to
uh have the least modifications possible the zba are that is that true and correct i mean
under the zoning code is that true and correct yes and would that would you adopt as your own
testimony yes thank you any questions from the board no mr chairman no
Thank you. Any questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
Who else would like to testify in this case?
If so, please raise your hand.
I see no hands at this time, Chair.
Chair, you're muted.
anyone else would like to testify in this case
there are no hands at this time chair thank you planning commission thank you chair to chico
ian hegarty for the philadelphia city planning commission that's h-e-g-a-r-t-y
you swear if i'm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes sir i do thank you sir please proceed thank you chair members of the board comprehensive