how many people 38
there's only two or three handful of cases
is happening
maybe folks want to just zoom in listen in
you said 29 still cases
isn't there one that has opposition
it only takes one
Good morning, everyone. My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this morning's meeting
of the Zoning Board of Adjustment. With me is our Vice Chair, Tanetta Graham.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our Board Secretary, Cheryl L. Gaston.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Board Member, Michael Johns.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Board Member, Ryan McAdams.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Board Member, Layla Beebe.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Also, here is our attorney, Lynn Reuter-Huber, and also our board administrator, Lakeisha Dandy.
This hearing is being recorded and will be posted on the ZBA website.
By participating, you agree to be recorded.
This is an in-person meeting with remote participation.
Whether in person or in Zoom, when you're called to speak, please state and spell your name and then wait to be sworn in.
After that, please state your name each time before testifying.
To honor your appearance, indicate on your Zoom webinar the location, the address.
Speak with a staff member.
Call the ZBA office by the close of business tomorrow.
call 215-66-686-2429 and please provide your name email and the address of the case
for remote attendees where is your virtual hand when you recall to speak
when we call on you please make sure you click the join as a panelist button
use the q a's only for procedural questions not questions about the case
And if you join by phone, please hit star nine to raise your hand and then star six to speak.
In-person attendance.
If testifying, get close to the mic so that all attendees and also the court reporter can hear you.
No talking, eating, or drinking during the hearing.
Aggressive behavior will not be tolerated.
In an emergency, please follow the staff directions.
The main exit is the double doors in the rear, and the stairwell is to the left once you're outside the doors.
If we evacuate, please go across the street to Love Park and remain there so that we can account for you.
So let's look at our schedule for this afternoon.
Number one, MI 2023-005-052, 2021 North Van Pelt Street.
Vernon Anastasio is the attorney.
good morning mr chair this is jason hand i will be your calls for the session
vernon anastasio has been about to speak good morning mr chair members of the board council
could you please state your name is spelled for the sonographer yes sir it's vernon anastasio a-n-a-s-t-a-s-i-o
on behalf of mr uh donald uh major all right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole
truth and nothing but the truth i do vern this case has been around for a while please let us
know where we stand with this it has uh we uh are close um and uh you know we we just uh
my client uh was out of commission for a while health reasons uh so there was a little bit of
disconnecting communication but we are prepared to go the next at the next listing yes all right so
we're going to we're going to continue this case it's going to be mark must be heard
thank you continue till 10 28 26 at 9 30 a.m i appreciate it thank you mr thank you sir
I appreciate it. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, sir.
Number four, MI 2025, 005-374-6241 North Woodstock Street,
New LLC and Woodstock Truth listed owner is Bisa Muhammad.
We have no exhibits.
This is, I believe, the second listing.
Good morning, Mr. Chair.
I do not see anyone answering to that name in the virtual audience this morning.
Thank you.
So number four, MI 2025, 005-374-6241 North Woodstock Street.
I vote to dismiss.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is to dismiss.
Sonata Graham, my vote is to dismiss.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is to dismiss.
Michael Jones, my vote is to dismiss.
sorry that wasn't sure um number five layla bb my voters to dismiss okay number five m i 2025
zero zero six one seven two four thirteen north 41st street this case is continued
until september 15th at 9 30 a.m
Number six, MI2025-006-619-413-North 41st Street.
Eric Bloomer is the owner applicant.
This case will be continued, applicant moving party.
Number 7, MI 2026-000-087, 5800 Phillips Street.
This case is continued until 1028 at 9.30 a.m.
number 10 mi 2026 000550 2825 to 35 common avenue this case is continued to 1028 at 9 30 a.m
number 12 and i believe um
this will be here hold on a minute
we can call all these three together all right so number 12 mi 20 26 001 122 um 11 11 11 11 12
North 40th Street, and MI 2026-001-124-1116 North 40th Street, and MI 2026-001-126-1120 North
40th Street.
All three of these cases will continue to turn a moving party.
Any other requests for continuance?
Mr. Chair, I do not see any further hands for continuances.
Thank you, Jace. I appreciate it.
So we're going to move to our add-on list.
Number one, MI 2025-007-690-3301 Gransbach Street.
this case has been moved to wednesday august the 5th at 9 30 a.m
number two mi 2025 to 005578 951 jackson street
i vote yes michael johns my vote is yes well pro what's that proviso that's two
okay proviso maximum two units michael johns my vote is yes with proviso
cheryl gaston my vote is yes with proviso tenetta graham my vote is yes with proviso
i'm mcadams my vote is yes with provisional
i mcadams my vote is yes with proviso
number three mi 2025
zero zero six six five zero 1754 bellfield avenue
okay we don't always do that do we
Spanish interpreter please do we have an interpreter I mean I still should be coming
back in as a panel. Good morning. My name is Stephen. I'll be the Spanish interpreter.
My name is S-T-E-V-E-N, last name A-U-B-A-I-N, interpreter ID Y-M-288. Do you swear or affirm
that you will interpret accurately, completely, and impartially from English to Spanish and from
Spanish to English yes I do. Could you please call for us, for me?
Yeah, okay. Could you call please Pedro and Joseph Tennant, who is the owner?
Así que Pedro y Joseph Tennant, que son los dueños, si pueden levantar la mano.
have to swear anybody just do the vote okay all right okay could you please or let make sure he's
in the audience if you would así que pedro y joseph tennant sees este pueden levantar la mano
mr chair i do not see any hands raised for the matter
1754 bellfield avenue my vote is yes john's my vote is yes
y que el 1754 bellfield avenida el voto es sí
cheryl gas the micro dishes cheryl gass and vote a c it's not a gram my vote is yes
ten and a gram but the seats ryan mcadams my vote is yes ryan mcadam and vote a seat
i don't know whether you heard me but i did say i voted yes michael johns and michael johns
thank you sir do you require any other interpretation no that's we're fine today
and thank you as usual for getting going for us okay all right thank you for using
the service interpreter disconnecting okay all right we're going to go to our regular list
Number three, MI 2025, 004-967-2004 West Indiana Avenue, Shervis Johnson.
That'll become a big end as a panel.
hello good morning can you hear me good morning could you please state your name and spell for
the sonographer yes sharice johnson s-h-e-r-r-i-c-e last name johnson j-o-h-n-s-o-n
right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes okay um we have questions about this case my correct counsel
yes we do um hello this is lynn reidel huber board council um miss johnson um we did not uh receive
uh a copy of your lease that indicates that you're the tenant
yes um i misunderstood the documents that were needed to be submitted i submitted a deed so
i'm currently um getting the lease um i would just need like i should have it by the end of the week
there's also well i'll wait for you and and also i i wanted to clarify i know we got some documents
um you indicated that you had sent um something out to the neighbors but i don't know if we
received what you actually sent out to the neighbors like we we received proof of mailing
Like, we received proof of mailing, but we didn't receive what you actually mailed.
but we didn't receive what you actually made.
I thought I just needed to send the proof that the notices were sent out in lieu of the RC meeting summary, which the coordinator RCO says she has not pulled that together for me yet due to some health concerns.
So that's why I sent the proof of mailings as proof that.
Go ahead.
I'm sorry.
When you do that, you need to actually provide also what you actually mailed out.
So we would have that together.
So just a copy of the letter that was sent out.
Correct.
I actually do have that.
We're going to continue this, correct?
Correct.
So we're going to continue this case.
2004 West Indiana.
This case will continue until 1028 at 930 a.m.
thank you ma'am thank you do me a favor yes before that make sure you call the office to
make sure that we get have everything we need okay and they'll help you ensure that we have
all your documents okay okay will do thank you thank you all right number nine
MI 2026
000455
3109 Wharton Street
Anthony Travis is the owner
This is a pro se
that will be rejoining as a panelist
can you folks hear me can sure um good morning good morning board my name is
Sure. Before one minute, could you turn on your video?
Um, I was wondering, uh, sure.
Okay. Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Sure. Anthony Travia, A-N-T-H-O-N-Y-T-R-A-V-I-A.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Our vice chair has a few questions for you.
okay morning have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in
advance of this hearing yes we have okay and you are here for application for
visitor accommodations yes I am okay and you received a refusal because the
visitor accommodations is prohibited in your zoning district is that correct
yes it is okay all right so you want to share your documents and begin to tell
us what are you what you're trying to do sure all right thank you
are you sharing the documents yeah ask him to let me share um we have someone who has
the documents prepared can you allow them to share
sure his hand is up yeah yes and they have been promoted he just will not be able to testify okay
All he'll do is go through the documents. You'll do the testimony. Fine. All right. Thank you, sir. Thank you.
So this is the deed of ownership for the location, 3109 Wharton Street, Philadelphia, PA.
we have all your documents okay all right so what i think you should do is probably um
go to some photos everything we have is there if you were there okay so why don't you start
testifying what is it you want to do and how are you going to go about doing it so uh i'm looking
to provide visitor accommodations in the apartment that's there it currently has a rental license
it's current uh the first floor is a warehouse the second and third floor is one apartment
with two bedrooms two baths living room dining room den it has a washer and dryer for people to
use and the building next to us with the orange doors is light of the world chapel who is in
support of our project. Do you have some internal photos of the property too? Yes.
are you going how many apartments are you going to use one okay and that that is
explain again where that is on the on the on the property so the first floor is the warehouse
right the second and third floor which only go back 22 feet i got it is the one unit it's a
two level one unit apartment right and that'll be the one that'll be your uh your one you want to
will uh activate them yeah yes mr chairman can i sure you can i just want this is lynn
huber board i'm sorry lynn reidel huber i'm board council i'm the lawyer for the board um i just
wanted to clarify is the entire building on the second and third floor going to be the unit that's
the visitor's accommodation or is there another part of the building that is going to be not part
of that so the warehouse is not part of the visitors accommodation it would be the second
and third floor single apartment okay so there's no other unit in your plans there indicates there's
another building is that the church that's not part of it on the one plan on the site plan um
Um, yeah. Yes. Okay. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Um, questions from the board.
Yeah. Um, and I would just like to talk about how we plan on keeping the neighbors.
Sure. Go ahead. So we plan on to have, I, I have, uh, other Airbnb units, not in Philadelphia,
But we require the names, ages and relation of everyone that's going to be staying there.
We're also going to require a three day minimum.
We have security cameras.
We have monitored smoke and burglar alarms.
We have fire extinguishers in there.
We have ladders from the upper floors in case of emergency.
And we're going to allow, if accepted, the warehouse to be used as one parking space for the unit.
The trash will also be stored in the warehouse.
Are you going to manage it or a realtor?
I'm going to manage it.
I am a realtor.
i was a realtor okay and where are you going to put the trash in the warehouse store it in the
warehouse all right questions from the board okay so where is the entrance to the unit it's that
black door okay to the left of the property and then so then in the picture that was the steps
coming from that up the steps to the second this unit which is a bi-level unit in effect
correct correct okay and then um the so what is so the windows next to it are they
is that closed off from this stairway or is that part of the way that's part of that yes
The large garage door with no parking symbols is part of the warehouse, and also the other one next to the black door is part of the warehouse.
Ah, okay.
And the warehouse is not operating, is it?
It's used for myself just to store, you know, tools and what have you.
But it's not like a business concern of some sort.
No, there's no business there.
All right.
And then you said that you've done this in New Jersey.
So are you familiar with the rules here about how this?
So are you familiar with the rules here about how visitor accommodation spaces are supposed to operate and some of the requirements like that they be connected to one of these services like Airbnb or Rebo or something like that?
Yes, that's our intention, to list it on the appropriate sites that can get us tenants, vented tenants, through them and through myself.
And I'd just like to say we had a neighborhood meeting, Tasker Mars, and they issued a letter of support.
yes which is um quite a thing because it's
a lot of neighborhoods are not too happy about these kinds of uses okay uh thank you any other
questions questions from our attorney none at this time mr chairman questions or comments
from the virtual audience or the current audience here no hands raised mr chair
um planning commission thank you chairman and good morning david effecto 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 please proceed uh thank you chairman and board members the comprehensive
plan recommends no change to the icmx industrial commercial mixed use zoning at this location
the city rezoned this neighborhood in 1974 and a council supported map change a 2020 zoning
ordinance passed by city council which regulated short-term rentals did not change the basic rule
prohibiting full-time use of a dwelling unit as a short-term rental this type of absentee management
where the owner does not live in the unit has been illegal since the first short-term rental zoning
regulations became effective in 2015 what's changed since the passage of the 2020 ordinance
is that there is now a licensing and enforcement mechanism city planning commission recommends
that the board deny the request variants for visitor accommodations um council we want to
list 3109 and then second and third floor what was that do we want to list the exact location
second and third floor okay all right so am i 20 given that there's other use
probably on the first floor yes that's what i'm saying just second and third floor right
mi 2026 000 455 3109 wharton street second and third floor only uh i vote yes with proviso
temporary variance to expire 7-16-29. Michael Johns, my vote is yes with proviso. Cheryl Gaston,
my vote is yes with proviso. Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes with proviso. Ryan McAdams,
my vote is yes with proviso. Layla Bibi, my vote is yes with proviso. Thank you, sir. You have your
votes thank you board i appreciate your help thank you um number 11 mi 2026 000 555 3925
east netherfield road jessica reardon is the uh owner applicant
Good morning. Is your mic on? You have to turn it on. Yep.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Sure. My name is Jessica Reardon, J-E-S-S-I-C-A-R-E-A-R-D-O-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Jessica, do you need help? I see where you asked for some...
yeah at our east falls community center meeting i didn't know how to share my screen so hillary
longer so okay all right and and as we're getting that set our vice chair has a few questions for
you sure hi good morning have you submitted your documents and is it five days in advance of this
hearing yes i did on july 9th okay all right so you're here uh you want to uh erect an addition
a roof um over some stairs correct okay and you're being refused because it meets it fails to meet
the setback requirements right you understand that okay all right so thank you you can share
your screen and your photos and tell us what you're trying to do sure can you hear me okay
yep we can hear you
thank you so much
look here it is
It was a security thing.
there you go great we're in business so why don't you start off by saying what
you're trying to do sure I can show you on the photos sorry there's
let me just get rid of this one
so this is the so um i bought the house in august of 2016 and since i moved in
the basement has had flooding it doesn't happen all the time it's basically just
when there is a very very heavy downfall it overwhelms this drain at the bottom of the stairs
That drain, since I moved in, I have had many plumbers come out to interrogate the drain.
It's totally flush.
It does go out across the front of the property into the sewer system.
I had asked if they could widen the drain.
However, since it's a part of the sewer system, it's old cast iron pipe, the entire right
side of the house total front yard all the trees that are you know some of them original to the
house from 1950 would have to be torn up um so what i've done since then is i um if you can see
here i got a security storm door that is weatherproofed i weatherproof the inside of the door
um i had inquired from a couple companies in terms of whether i could put some sort of like
vilco door over this however it's a very odd shape and in addition to that the dryer is right
there's a window if you can see here this is the basement um there is a there is a window here and
the dryer vent goes out here so I wouldn't be able to cover that area um there so I um then
asked about you know getting a sump pump and and you know French drain but that would only solve
kind of like this immediate area the water would still come through this basement um so
So that's kind of where we are currently at. I had asked about putting a roof that kind of totally, that will totally cover this area and I can show you.
so this is what it would is is going to be uh looking like um it is um uh 23 feet wide uh 10
feet across that includes the roof covering and the total length of the sidewalk currently
is eight and a half almost nine feet so the extra foot would be to help from driving reins
coming in to that stairwell area and the sorry initially when I had submitted the documents
in December there was never an official survey of the property even since back from 1950
So I had gone over I used external historical documents from the city, but they were from a site plan when the development was being built back for back in 1950.
So at the meeting with East Falls Council Committee in April and with Hillary Longer and other people, they had recommended that I get an official survey based on the meets and bounds from my deed.
that i get an official survey based on the meets and bounds from my deed
and when i initially submitted the the proposal to the zoning board which had failed it had a buffer
of two feet from the neighbor's property line but then when i got the official survey which i include
in an updated proviso plan i can try to zoom this in you can see that the side yard of intention
currently is 18 feet rather than the thought the original document from 1950 showed 12 feet
so with a 10 foot addition it would still trigger a zoning violation but it would be
eight feet from the property line rather than two feet um and you can see um
so the currently the house i have two awnings both with copper roofs um both with uh the front
um you know original uh hosts and this this side roof would mimic exactly that yeah copper roof
6x6 posts. Hold on. So the copper roof, 6x6 posts, cement 36 inches into the ground. The copper would be tied into the Wazik and Schist facade and, you know, the fascia board would be tied in with, you know, strong tie knots and
and bolts and uh and it would be done with the you know mimic everything i do to the house
i spend a lot of money on it i i love this house i love east falls um so i don't really want there
to be any doubt that this would be done um perfectly and most people think this will solve
your problem yes yeah um my uh my brother is a engineer not in pennsylvania but in jersey
um so he has um helped me out with you know his his specialty is water management and water runoff
um so he has helped me with kind of coming up over the past 10 years different solutions and
you know this is ultimately where we're at i didn't want it to be like this but if you know
i have to spend a lot of money to make sure that my basement if i have to shop back the basement
one more time i mean and just like all everything that's like been ruined in the basement um you
know like mold and mildew and you know luckily we haven't had any yet because we've been on top of
it but you know my kids i have two little girls that play down there and i just okay i got it
all right so questions from the board well i think i think you're doing the right thing
um i don't know how hopefully you made out okay this past weekend with the rain because it was
horrible yeah so a week ago some water did come in yeah yeah that was that was a tough rain um
but yeah i think you're doing the right thing i think it's an appropriate design for your building
for your house um i think it's going to be a decent addition just make sure you do your splash
blocks and depending on the size of that roof they may require that the you have gutters that
tie into the um the storm system so just confirm yeah there there is a there is a drain i don't
don't know if you can see it um there is a drain here that also ties into the um to the city sewer
system um but uh yeah i i understand what you're saying it's like an additional gutter system on
that roof yeah they may require i don't know off the top of my head what the square footage
which is, but there's a certain square footage that once you go over, you have to provide a gutter and a, and a train. If not, you can just use splash blocks, but. Okay. All the questions from the board. Yes. Is your home historically certified? No, no. Okay. Yeah. I had to look that up when I replaced all the windows, but it's not. Okay. But I guess the other issues, I mean, you have, you have Wissahick and Schist.
which is you know surprised and valuable anymore because it's so rare and hard to get
yeah so you know um in terms of doing this i hope that whoever is doing this will be cognizant of
that and use uh whatever methods are necessary to uh uh not ruin uh oh believe me i would be
oh oh believe me i would be devastated if they ruined that house yeah yes okay all right thank
devastated if they owned that house yeah yes okay
you other questions questions from our attorney no questions at this time why should there are
comments from the virtual audience or the current audience here chair i have a hand
up from hillary linger i will promote them at this time
good morning good morning sir please state your name and spell for the stenographer
hillary langer h-i-l-a-r-y-l-a-n-g-e-r do you swear referring to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth i do please proceed sir we know who you are thank you um yes uh we met uh
several times with Jessica and she commissioned the survey which locates
the roof eight feet from the property line that's still in violation of the
zoning code however we felt we could support it because it is an open
structure it maintains the the ethic the language of open air around all those
single home properties but we did want to support it on the condition that she would
build in these materials so we would like to submit the letter agreement attached to our
letter of support as a proviso to if you decide to grant this variance it is a policy of our zoning
committee now because this does not necessarily apply specifically to jessica because i think
it's clear she is implementing high quality materials on her house but we are generally
burned by homeowners and developers in the past who bait and switch they have something nice at
the zoning hearing and then it gets really cheap and then we have something you know we wish it
never been built. So we are in support and I would request that the proviso agreement
is entered as part of the proviso along with the updated plans that Jessica has submitted.
Thank you very much. I think our council has something to say here. Yes. Hi, Lynn Reidelhuber,
BOARD COUNCIL, THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRESENTATION, BUT JUST SO YOU KNOW, THE BOARD DOES NOT
STAMP ANY LETTERS THAT YOU INDICATED. WE CAN DO PROVISES ON OTHER THINGS, BUT WE CANNOT DO THAT.
OKAY. SO JUST AS A GENERAL QUESTION,
HOW DOES THE LETTER AGREEMENT BECOME ENFORCEBLE?
THAT'S A PRIVATE AGREEMENT BETWEEN YOU AND THE HOMEOWNER.
okay so it is not a under the purview of the zoning board correct okay we are
going to stamp the revised plans that's different than what you've indicated to
your letter but what plans that the applicants submitted those will be
stamped okay all right anyone else in the virtual audience I do not see any
further hands mr chair planning commission
the camera here sorry there we go uh thank you chairman and good morning dave effecto
with the city planning commission chairman and board members the comprehensive plan recommends
no change to the rsd3 residential single family detached zoning at this location the city rezoned
this neighborhood in 1971 and a council supported map change the proposed dimensional variance will
not injure the use of adjacent property and the appellant has shown that the proposed dimensional
variance is required for them to continue making viable economic use of their property the city
planning commission recommends that the board grant the proposed dimensional variance thank you
MI 2026-000-555-3925-East-Netherfield Road.
I vote yes with...
Hold on here.
My provisor.
I vote yes with proviso. Revised plans, nine pages, stamped by ZBA on July 15, 2026, and I have to tell you, it looks very nice, by the way.
And I have to tell you, it looks very nice, by the way. Thank you. Like I said, I spend a lot of money on my house. I don't want to hear the money. I might get nervous. Michael Johns, my vote is yes with proviso. Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with proviso. Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes with proviso. Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes with proviso. Layla Beebe, my vote is yes with proviso. Thank you. Great, thank you. You have your votes.
Thank you. Like I said, I spend a lot of-
Number two, MI2025, 004-958-5610-14 Germantown Avenue.
Vern Alastasio is the attorney.
They're coming back in as panels now, Mr. Trey.
Morning, Mr. Chair.
Morning. Counsel, you've already been sworn. Just for the record, just state your name, please.
Sure, it's Vern Anastasio on behalf of Ms. Carnina Gignard.
And it's the owner of the property, am I correct?
Yes. Occupant.
Vice Chair has a few questions?
Excuse me. Is she the owner? I think...
Occupant. Occupant.
Okay. Tenant.
Okay. Good morning.
Good morning.
submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing yes and this is referral
so uh do you wait to read another referral and stipulate to its accuracy i do okay thank you
you can share your screen and proceed with your case thank you
I'm going to start with what my client just recently gave me in her own words.
I did have my own description, but I think she says it best.
I'm representing Ms. Guignard in her husband and their efforts to open ad events on the
Ave. It'll be a place for special events on Germantown Avenue. Their vision is to provide
a welcoming space where members of the community can celebrate life's special moments close to home.
They strive to create an environment where guests feel comfortable, safe, and valued
while enjoying quality event experiences at reasonable prices. Baby showers, birthday parties,
weddings, wedding receptions, company meetings, group gatherings, repasses, church events, and
more. Typical hours of operation will be Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and events will run anywhere
from in between 12 noon and 11 p.m., obviously, you know, blocks of time within that time frame.
They manage the space. Ms. Gignard's husband has many, many years of experience at the Fittler.
club which is a very well known private event space in center city and he's been with them
since its inception and now he wants to bring that sort of level of quality and professionalism
to germantown avenue the petition that we're submitting into evidence we have a 71 page
exhibit packet today. As you can see here, all immediate neighbors on the 5600 block of
Germantown Avenue who are signing in support of this. We also have already a commercial activity
license. We have other petitions of support that we are submitting today. I'll just briefly scroll
through them. You received a full letter of support from the RCO as well and the vote tally.
The Google reviews for this business as it has been operating as well, you know, five stars. There's not one bad review in, you know, in the entire. I think it's 87 plus reviews that they have that garnered through the Google review process.
and we should show you show you some plans
of course there'll be commercial trash pickup
there's the interior layout drawn to scale just the first floor
you see there's a vestibule sort of common area we have restrooms storage
little kitchenette area for you know there'll be no cooking on you know in
here just stuff to refrigerator or prep and then the ballroom area itself access
to the whole glass door in the back there's the oops our exit to the rear
yard here are some interior shots and exterior shots
currently operated burn yes they were they were unaware that they needed a
special exception they thought the use was uh consistent with
with the code, but as you can see, it's ready to roll.
This is the letter that was mailed out to the 12th Ward and all the other corresponding RCOs.
54 individual households were mailed, and we have proof of tax compliance as well.
With that, I'd like to call my client, Cornelia Guignard, to the stand.
Do we see the client?
Yes, I'll be rejoining as a panel shortly, Mr. Chair.
Good morning.
I'm sorry.
Are you able to see me and hear me?
I can. Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Yes. Carnina Ginyard. C-A-R-N-E-N-A. Last name G-I-N-Y-A-R-D.
Do you swear or affirm that tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Counsel?
Thank you. Ms. Ginyard, did you hear my presentation to the board?
Yes, I did.
True and accurate, for the most part, to the best of your knowledge?
Yes, it is.
And do you adopt it as your own testimony?
Yeah. Thank you. I have nothing further, Mr. Chair.
Questions from the board.
Just the usual. Okay. So this is going to be for what kind of events for the most part?
I can go back to that page if you'd like. It's birthday celebrations, baby showers,
um funeral repasses i did a list of them and i submitted that into evidence as well
okay and then um actually on page 59 miss gaston of the exhibit packet as you can see here showers
parties weddings wedding receptions company meetings too small oh i'll pull it back i'll do
You're welcome. Okay.
Again, just 3 days a week is what's expected between noon and 11.
Okay, and then in the in the plans there you had a little prep areas.
They're like a sink in there and I'll bring it. I can bring that back as well.
Hold on. I'm always concerned about, you know, making sure that there's some place where of course.
So there's another source of water for cleaning purposes, you know, that we're not using the bathrooms for that, that we do have some place where there's maybe a larger kind of.
Yeah. Again, here's the, I'm going to start at the top. There's access through the glass door to the events hall.
And then in the rear, we have the kitchen prep area with a sink, countertop, refrigerator, storage, all of that.
countertop refrigerator storage all of that so that's separate from the um three other bathrooms
So that's separate.
okay and is there um i guess the question is is there some other kind of area where we have
water that can be used for like mopping and uh cleaning the tables and things like that
i think they probably use the kitchen sink uh but ms guignard can you
miss guignard do you use the utilize the kitchen sink as a source of water when it's time to mop
the floors they can use the water however we do have a mop sink as well that's what i was asking
okay thank you other questions
questions from our attorney not at this time mr chairman questions or comments from the virtual
audience yes mr chair i have a handout from a pamela bracy i will allow them to speak okay
good there good morning could you please state your name and spell for this thermometer
Pamela Bracey, B-R-A-C-E-Y.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Are you a neighbor?
I'm not a neighbor. I'm part of Solo Germantown Civic Association.
Thank you very much. Please proceed.
We'd just like to say we'd like for the proposal to follow the lease, which I believe is five years.
and we talked about um security not necessarily in uniforms uh but someone there to kind of make
sure that everything goes well and um also for trash they said three days and we said if something's
on sunday then could you make sure the trash gets out covered up and that sort of thing and that was
basically what i'm testifying today thank you thank you for taking the time to calls we appreciate it
and mr chair for the record my client agrees to the trash plan as uh as demonstrated by the witness
uh as well as the security plan okay thank you very much um anyone else in the virtual audience
i do not see any further hands mr chair planning commission thank you chairman and good morning
david effecto with the city planning commission chairman and board members the comprehensive plan
then recommends no change to the CMX3 commercial mixed-use zoning at this location most of this
neighborhood still carries its original 1933 zoning designations this property has a history
of commercial use and is not in and is on an active commercial corridor we created the event
assembly facility definition to accommodate businesses that would have less of an impact
than nightclubs or private clubs and the appellant has shown that the proposed event assembly facility
will have no detrimental impacts beyond what might be expected the city planning commission
recommends that the board grant a proposed special exception thank you very much uh mi 2025
004 958 5610 to 14 germantown avenue i vote yes with proviso temporary variants to expire
7 16 31 all events to be done by 11 p.m. at night and no cooking on premises
thank you mr. chair michael johns my vote is yes with provisos
Cheryl Gaston my vote is yes with provisos Tenetta Graham my vote is yes
with provisos Ryan McAdams my vote is yes with provisos thank you my vote is
with proviso. Thank you, Vern. Thanks. Okay. Number 8, MI 2026, 000441, 1342 South 22nd
Street. Zen Jin is the attorney.
They should be back in as a panama short message here.
good morning good morning counsel could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
yes my name is zen jen z-h-e-n last name j-i-n right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do could you identify your client the relationship
to this property yes my client is uh mr uh lutz geminez hernandez uh for geminez property
investments which is the owner of the property okay our vice chair has a few questions
good morning have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing
yes and do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy
we do take issue with one item on the refusal which is the two-year rule i do not believe that
should apply to this case and i'll explain it during my presentation sure okay all right thank
Sure. Okay. All right. Thank you. You want to share your screen and proceed?
you want to share your screen and proceed yes thank you
Yes. Thank you. I'm going to share with the board what was previously submitted as an exhibit.
I do want to note that I believe we did update this exhibit
afterwards because of the plan changes. However, I will go over that as well when we get to the
plans. So good morning. This is an application for 1342 South 22nd Street, a CMX1 zone property.
this is for an application for eating and drinking establishments essentially a sit-down restaurant
which will use the first second floor and the basement of the property there's no residential
use being proposed so the application has a bit of a history it was originally filed and handled
by another firm they took about a year without making a lot of progress with this
we eventually were hired to take over this matter. And when I was hired, I asked that
my client get the prior counsel on record to go ahead and withdraw himself as counsel and then
move so I can enter my appearance. He apparently withdrew the case instead of withdrawing as
counsel. What then happens, we refiled this case and this is now before the board. However,
the two-year rule generally applies where a case is denied or dismissed by the board i do not
believe a withdrawal should normally apply in this uh apply the two-year rule in this case
so the sole refusal here is in my opinion the proposed use which is uh prohibited because it's
a sit-down restaurant is prohibited in the cmx1 commercial district this property has quite a
history as a takeout restaurant in two apartments. In fact, you will see from the photos that as of
the last time that this property was used, it was essentially a Chinese restaurant,
takeout restaurant with residential above. However, the interior is currently basically
vacant and gutted and is in need of full renovations, which makes our application
make more sense, because we will do the entire fit out based on the updated plans that is going
to be part of this proposal. The RCO supported us strongly in this application. They voted to
support, and I want to know some of the neighbors' comments regarding this. They're looking forward
to another local business. They're supporting, they would love to have the idea of a restaurant
at this corner. They like the fact that we're keeping the two-story structure without trying
to add to any of that. So this was a well-supported proposal with the neighborhood.
So to get to the actual application, the property will be renovated completely by my client as a
sit-down restaurant. He has about 15 years of experience operating this exact style restaurant
at 951 Wolf Street.
It's a Mexican restaurant
and it will be a Mexican-style restaurant here as well.
The one at Wolf Street is called Los Gallos,
a well-reviewed Mexican restaurant.
This one will be a little bit larger overall
because of the use of the second floor with seating.
But it's otherwise going to match
that restaurant's operation in almost every way.
It is primarily going to be designed for people to come in and sit down and eat.
There will be delivery, but not as much focus on takeout.
It's going to be mostly sit-in and with the delivery as a side function.
One of the things that is being utilized is the basement will be utilized for a lot of the coolers, dry storage.
and one of the primary changes we eventually worked out with the architect is that we wanted
to have make sure that there is a trash storage room that is going to be utilized and there are
Velcro doors right near it so that it allows trash to be stored in the basement and taken out the
Velcro door. The rest of the property will be basically utilized 100% on the first floor with
the kitchen in the back, a seating area in the front, and there is a bar service in the front
as well. There's also the second story, which will be a small bar and sit-down service. There
are restrooms, ADA restrooms on the first floor, and additional restrooms will be on the second
floor. First floor is ADA accessible. Second floor would require people to go upstairs. There's no
elevator being proposed in this particular proposal. So that is basically the idea here is to
So that is basically the idea here is to have a restaurant that has good food and provide a environment that allows people to relax and enjoy.
What I'm going to also do is share with the board real quick the look of Los Gallos at 951 Wolf Street, which isn't in my exhibit package.
I just pulled it up on Google to kind of give the board an idea of what we're talking about food-wise.
So this is the menu and food at Los Gallos at 951.
This will be the same menu that would be used at the current location.
So as you can see, the operation hours will be very similar, seven days a week, about 10 a.m. to 10.30 p.m.
and everything is going to be essentially a second location of Los Gallos
with similar services, food, and ambiance.
And with that, the primary hardship to this property
is that it was, in fact, used as a restaurant for many years,
although a takeout operation.
We believe that this use here does fit the neighborhood's needs
and with the neighborhood's feedback,
we believe that this will be a good use at this location would ask for the board's favorable
review of this variance application. I'm happy to put up the exhibits again and also answer any
questions from the board. Why don't you bring your client on and have your testimony adopted?
Sure. Lutz, can you please raise your hand virtually to be identified?
Mr. Chair, I'll be coming back in as a panel shortly.
Thank you very much.
Hi, my name is Luz, L-U-Z, Jimenez.
Could you spell, please, for the stenographer?
Yep. L-U-Z, Jimenez, J-I-M-E-N-E-Z.
Thank you. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Truth.
Counsel?
Thank you. Mr. Jimenez, did you see my presentation on your screen and hear my representations before the zoning board?
yes can you verify what i have uh shown and uh uh presented to the zoning board to be true and
correct and adopt my testimony as your own that's correct thank you questions from the board yeah
can you go back to the plans yes and this is full this is full eat-in no takeout it's eat-in uh
takeout would not be a primary use that's correct gotcha okay and your hours of operation uh 10 to
10 30 seven days a week okay commercial trash pickup commercial trash pickup yes what about
venting uh venting to the roof uh through the roof or through the building through the roof
or outside through the roof uh it's through the building so the the rear of where the kitchen will
be is actually on the first floor uh the second floor here is where the uh there's no actual
So because the second floor is set back, it will be vented up through here.
It'll be on the first floor.
So here's actually the hood system, and it will be vented through here.
Can you zoom out so we can see the whole plan?
Oh, sure.
I'm going to see the layout.
I know it's a little dense and hard to read when it's zoomed out.
just want to see because you've got that sec so the second stairway coming from the from the
second floor is just a it's just going to be used for staff because it goes to the kitchen or how
is that uh so you're eliminating the side door so this is this is a stairway to the second floor
that would be used by customers and this one back here would be used by the staff okay and you're
eliminating that side door, I guess. This one? No, there is a
side door in the existing building, I thought. Yes,
there. We are not that's, that's where you put keeping it.
Yeah, that's part of the kitchen. Yes. Right. So you're
doing the ramp out of that. Okay. With two fully accessible
bathrooms on the first floor. Okay. Yes. Thanks. Thank you.
yes thanks thank you questions
Questions
counsel um yes um i just want to put on the record um we understand about the two-year
rural refusal that it was you did withdraw so that's not a question with regard to us right
now but i'm just putting it on the record you didn't file an appeal though against lni but
we're just noting it for the record that that is not going to be something that we're concerned
about thank you yeah it's incorrect under refusal correct calendar we are we okay with uh the use
should we say the entire building or do you want to how do we it is for the entire building yes yeah
we don't have to mention that okay all right questions or comments from the virtual audience
planning commission sure i'm sorry we have a call-in uh user with the hand raised i've allowed
and speak sure hi uh tiffany green consented to the point break tiffany could you please spell
your name for the stenographer yeah t-i-f-f-a-n-y g-r-e-e-n right do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes please proceed tiffany yes directly across the
is the St. Simons Episcopal Church and I was approached by one of the members
they had set up a meeting with the other lawyers and and so I told
them we can do informational only because we were we're not the
coordinating RCO so we did the information only meeting when the
developer owner came in with the other lawyers so the church was pretty well
attended with the minister and the deaconess and um also there's another member she's gonna she's
calling and she only has a landline and she's older so please be patient with her but the
theme is is this um during the meeting that the church and some of the community members were
opposed to it what i'm concerned about is that uh i was able to get in contact with miss jeanette
to another community person she informed me that the deaconess has had surgery and she said that
they really didn't she's going to she can testify to this and that they hadn't really heard anything
about back about the meeting or the public meeting or anything because i guess information was going
to the deaconess at the meeting they were very much opposed to because this property is a half
a block from point breeze avenue we have quite a few open uh a vacant stores on point breeze avenue
and the uh the whole sense of it was why didn't you just go and purchase on point breeze avenue
He wants to put a full sit-down restaurant on the first floor and the second floor,
and also he wants to serve alcohol.
And this area, 22nd Reed, has had quite a bit of new development.
They have very little abandoned homes, a lot of young families with children playing up and down on Reed Street,
and they felt that it was just not conducive for the neighborhood.
It's like really changing the character of the neighborhood.
Also, he did talk about doing Uber Eats and that type of thing.
We were asking how are they going to pick up and deliver, you know, because if you go there after 7 o'clock, this area is very dense and all the parking is really, you know, crowded, along with the church that comes in on Sundays, and also I think they do a Bible study on Wednesdays.
So my concern is that I don't know what happened with the church.
I was wondering if they maybe could put on hold before you vote,
so maybe through Kenyatta's office we can talk with the church,
because also the block captain was there.
I heard she recently had a health issue, too,
and so maybe this is why you don't have any real people testifying
whether they support it or they don't support it.
I just want to say only two residents showed up for the public meeting,
so that does not necessarily constitute a resident's support, you know,
and everybody else was not within just RCO members or community members.
So I'm asking if they maybe can be put on old contact to find out due to the health and illness of certain key people,
you know, before you take a vote on this project, maybe we can find out through Kenyatta's office,
they have Councilman Johnson's office to find out, you know, what is the position of the church,
what's the position of the block captains and stuff like that.
Tiffany, did you see the vote for this?
it says 12 to 0 with the RCO. They have not supplied us with the summary letter. I don't
know why we're not seeing the summary letter and we're not being supplied with the addresses of
the people who vote so we have a real serious concern about the 12. I have not seen that
and we just had a meeting with them to discuss why the summary letter is not being sent out
to other non-coordinating RCOs. I know when I attended the public meeting I asked who was here
I know when I attended the public meeting, I asked who was here from the meeting, and only two people was a doctor who did directly across the street and another member who testified and said they lived within the area. Now, the other people, I don't know who they are and the which comes up. And I know that the deacon is to have surgery and that the block captain has had a health issue.
from the meeting and only two people.
oh if you want mr neck can come on as you can see hopefully she can come on here the landline
she's been here for 40 years let me see if there's anyone we're going to see if there's
anyone else okay thank you very much for taking the time thank you anyone else in the virtual audience
no hands at this time chair okay um planning commission
chair i'm sorry to interrupt we do have a call-in user who have just raised their hand thank you
all right they're allowed to speak
no it's me she says she's calling and she's trying to do star nine i don't know
problem with that
she's not did anyone else try to do star nine
good morning do we see anyone on the line
there are no further hands up at this time okay planning commission
thank you chairman and good morning David Vecto with the city planning commission
uh chairman and board members the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the cmx1 neighborhood
commercial mixed uses owning at this location the city rezoned this neighborhood in 1985
in a council supported map change this property has a documented history as a takeout restaurant
dating to at least 1975. the appellant has shown the proposed use would not cause detrimental impacts
beyond what might reasonably be expected therefore the city planning commission recommends the board
grant the requested variance for a sit-down restaurant so number eight mi2026 000
chair i'm sorry to interrupt that caller has made it through and they are now raising their hand
thank you all right call in user you're allowed to speak
good morning
I believe it's star nine to unmute yourself.
If it's not start, okay.
Star six.
Good morning.
Good morning.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
My name is Jeanette, J-E-A-N-N-E-T-T-E, King, K-I-N-G, Coleman, C-O-L-E-M-A-N.
you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes i do are you a
neighbor yes my we have been in this area over 60 years okay thank you very much why don't you
proceed with your testimony okay i belong to saint simon the cyrenian of physical church
which is located 1400 south 22nd street which would be diagonally from the restaurant
Now, first of all, our church has been over there over 100 years.
I don't approve of it because of the alcohol.
We don't need an alcohol.
And still plenty of seniors in the area.
And the car parking is atrocious.
I have to park on Point Breeze Avenue living at 22nd and Earp.
So that would be worse.
And the traffic, someone is definitely going to be harmed by the traffic.
It'll be flowing from 10 a.m. in the morning.
I think you said until 10.30 p.m.
That's not good.
It's definitely not good for this neighborhood.
So I'm refusing it.
I refuse to raise my hand for it, to have it in our facility.
Thank you very, very much for taking the time.
Is there anyone else in the audience?
No further hands at this time, Chair.
So MI-2026.
Can I say something with regard to the liquor on the premises?
Don't they have to go to the state to get approval for that?
We have nothing to do with that.
Right.
So that's this.
I guess what I'm saying is the community would have a.
They would have a separate meeting regarding the liquor.
Exactly.
All right.
Thank you.
All right.
Thank you.
MI 2026, 000441, 1342 South 22nd Street.
I vote yes.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes.
Sherwood Gaston, my vote is yes.
Sheryl Gastin, my vote is yes.
Tannetta Graham, my vote is yes.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes.
Brian McAdams, my vote is yes.
Layla Beebe, my vote is yes.
Thank you, counsel.
Is there anyone in the audience whose case has not been called?
No hands at this time, Chair.
Thank everyone for this morning, and see everyone for a busy afternoon.
2 o'clock i'll see the board in the afternoon thank you i noticed that we noticed that thank you
good afternoon everyone my name is bill bergman and i will be chairing this
uh meeting of the zoning board of adjustment with me is our vice chair tenetta graham president mr
chairman board secretary charlotte gaston president mr chairman member michael johns president mr
chairman hi when she may be on shortly ryan mcadams president mr chairman layla bb
right president mr chairman also here is our attorney uh lynn reuter uber and our um
administrator lakeisha dandy um this hearing is being recorded and will be posted on the zba
website. By participating, you agree to be recorded. This is an in-person meeting with
remote participation. Whether remote or on Zoom, if you're called to speak, please state
your name, spell it, and wait to be sworn in. After you've been sworn in, you will
state your name each time before testifying. To enter an appearance, put the address on
your zoom webinar um speak with a staff member call the zba office by the close of business
tomorrow call 215-686-2429 and provide them with your name email and the address of the case
remote participation raise your virtual hand when directed so that we can call you to speak
When you are called on the speaker, click the join as a panelist button.
Use the Q&A only for procedural questions.
Do not ask questions about individual cases.
If you are joining by phone, press star 9 to raise your hand and star 6 to unmute.
In-person attendance.
if if testifying get close to the mic so that all attendees and also the court reporter can hear you
no talking eating or drinking during the hearings aggressive behavior will not be tolerated in in
case of emergency follow the staff's directions the main exit is the double doors at the rear
and outside of that is, to the left, the stairwell.
In case of an evacuation, please go to Love Park, which just as crossed to Art Street,
and please stay there so that we can account for you.
So let's look at our schedule for this afternoon.
Number three, MI 2026-000-228-610-240 High Street.
That case is continued to 10-6 at 2 p.m.
Number seven, 10 South 20 Street, which is MI 2026, 000, 983.
That case is continued to 9-15 at 9.30 a.m.
And number 10, 148 West Spencer Street, which is MI 2026-001-018.
That case is continued to 10-6 at 2 p.m.
Are there any other requests for continuances?
Good afternoon, Chair.
This is Jasmine, and I will be your co-host for this afternoon session.
I see no news at this time.
Okay, so let's go to our add-on list.
So, number one, MI2026, 001782, 1528 South 2nd Street.
I vote yes with proviso.
Maximum two dwelling units.
I'm not on this one.
Oh, Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with proviso.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes with proviso.
Layla Beebe, my vote is yes, with Proviso.
Number two, MI 2025, 006-847-2715 Westmoreland Street.
I vote yes, with Proviso.
External trash storage.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes, with Proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Ryan McAdams, my name, my vote is yes, with proviso.
We're going to go to our regular list now.
So, for a point of information,
we have quite a few cases on the list today.
We will be monitoring the length of the cases, and if we have to, we'll have to have some
uh hearings at a later date so and that doesn't mean that we want attorneys to shorten up their
their schedules we'll just have to go a little bit longer so another day okay um because at
this point right now we're we're scheduled i think to at least 7 30. so all right so our first case
This will be number 15, MI 2026-002-362-5534-4 Boyer Street.
Tiffany Lennon is the owner-occupant.
It's a pro se.
Tiffany Lennon has been promoted to panelists.
Thank you.
Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Okay, Mike's perfect where it is now. Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Tiffany Lennon. T-I-F-F-A-N-Y-L-E-N-N-O-N. Do you swear or affirm that tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Our Vice Chair has a few questions for you.
good afternoon um have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of
this hearing yes i did okay and we are here for your application for a single room residence yes
for a special exception yes and and yep so your referral you need a referral which requires a
special exception in rm1 um okay so you can uh share your screen and show your pictures and
tell us what you're trying to do all right can everyone confirm that they can see my screen
it's coming on right now okay coming up we see it all right so good afternoon everyone again as
I stated my name is Tiffany Lennon and I'm here to present for a special exception for the property
located at 5534 Boya Street so here today is an agenda of items that we're going to go through
we're going to I'm going to give you an update on the property overview the current existing
condition the property use occupancy some site plans property management and then i'll go over
some good neighbor plans and then if you all have any questions i'll also request for your approval
at the end the property of 5534 boyer street it is currently in the rm1 residential multi-family
zoning area so again i'm looking to extend this to a group living single room residence
This is currently a property that is rented through the Philadelphia Housing
Choice Voucher Program, so it does usually occupy residents for rental property.
Here are some images of the exterior of the property. You have the
front of the property as well as the back of the dwelling as well here.
For the first floor plan, so this is just a site plan overall view of the actual property. And again, we'll get into more details of the actual floor plans into the presentation.
So the first floor is currently has a floor plan layout with the living room, dining room, kitchen, and the shed utility. This will be a shared what we will call a common area.
This shared space, again, will be utilized by all residents that occupy this space.
The property is currently a five-bedroom, one-bathroom home.
And as you look at the floor plan a little more, in the back of behind the kitchen, sorry, go back.
There is a shed utility, so my request today is to get a group living for five occupants initially
with an extension to eight once an additional bathroom is added.
The thought is that this shed utility, eventually we can convert this over to a bathroom in order to add additional residents later on.
So you want eight? How many residents do you want?
Today, five.
Five. And then you want to look sometime in the future for eight?
For eight within extended another bathroom, yes.
The second floor is currently occupied with three bedrooms and then the main bathroom.
again the master bedroom can house up to two beds and then the other bedrooms
Again, the master bedroom can house up to two beds, and then the other bedrooms are smaller rooms, so they can only occupy one twin extra long bed.
The third floor unit has two large size bedrooms, and they both can occupy two beds comfortably along with dressers, and they also will have closets as well.
Again, the occupancy plan, as discussed, is that the master bedroom initially will have two residents. We'll reserve bedrooms two, three, and four for one residence, and then the five will keep that as reserved for our future expansion once we get the new bathroom.
the bathroom renovations as previously stated we want to construct the shady unit that's in the
back to add an additional bathroom there so that we can increase our resident to
residential occupancy within the property
the plans within the property um i would like this to run as not a business but more of a
residential home offering it to veterans and individuals and sober living so again I don't
want this to be occupied as a business so there will be no exterior structure changes to the
residence there's no signs will be placed however we will have an oversight of the property that
consists of a house manager who will come by the unit at least twice a week to ensure that
rules are being followed by the residents and we will have camera surveillance on the exterior
of the property and all common areas within the property. Again, as the landlord and owner of the
property, as I do today for any residents that rent the property, I'll be responsible for grass,
landscaping, snow removals, ensuring that trash is placed on a timely manner and stored in the
proper um trash cans as well parking and transportation um the residents we are going
to encourage the residents to utilize public transit transportation and ride share when
possible however we don't anticipate a large volume of vehicles or any disturbance to the
area as far as parking. House rules. There will be some house rules that will be enforced by any
residents that reside in here. I will follow the same protocol that I do today when scanning
through residents. They will be instructed to submit an application, background check,
um all of that will still remain in place in addition to house rules they have to abide by
um and that's no overnight guests um to be mindful of the quiet hours that we'll enforce
which is from 10p to 7a and again we'll have the house monitor um available to make sure that these
rules are being followed in addition we have access to the cameras 24 hours seven days a week
have you ever done this before uh for in group living no i have just rented the property to
larger size families let me ask you is there anyone is there other group living in the area
um there was in the past i'm not sure if it's thank you um part of my good neighbor commitment
is that i want a positive relationship with the neighbors um and open communication prompt
response to any of their concerns um again that regular inspection is going to be crucial um and
also i will ensure that i'm responsible for the tenants that are screened when placing them into
the home some of the benefits from transitioning this home is of course to provide a safe structured
housing for vets and individuals in recovery this supports the long-term residential stability and
community integration, property improvement, enhanced oversight and safety, preservation
of our neighborhood character, and also it's just been one of the high requests from the
VASH program, as well as Veterans of America, as they continuously look for homes for the
veterans.
As you were talking about the neighbors, could you tell us about the RCO?
Yep, I can go down to the RCO.
we had a public meeting on um june the 25th where i think it was about five community members who
joined the call the rco did submit over their findings yesterday and they are opposed to
this request however the community is in support of this so okay um the rco has expressed that
they're um opposed to this due to um i guess issues that may have they may have
Opposed to this is due to, I guess, issues that they may have encountered with previous group homes, which led to some violence of some sort.
But again, violence can happen amongst anyone.
so again I'm here today to request the approval for again at least five
residents within a group living setting with hopes to increase the eight
residents with the additional bathroom while I may not have the backing of the
RCO I do have the backing of the community and members who you know took
the time to join and see what the home is going to have to offer so i asked today that you approve
that based on the community questions from the board a question you mentioned recovery what is
what is are you anticipating that uh this will be a transitional housing and what is this drug
recovery PTSD recovery are there going to be meds folks on meds what's the so again this is not going
to be ran as a traditional program but per the VASH program and the Veterans of America there
are veterans who have may struggle with some type of you know drug abuse or things in that past and
so I just wanted to put that out there in case these veterans do have some type of sobriety that
they may need assistance with i will provide programs that they can go to but i personally
am not running it as a program i'm just offering them a home i see so so and and your intent is to
i think you mentioned once or twice a week have someone stop by the property so there's there
there won't be an on-site stab person yeah no um i kind of went back and forth and i feel like
But at times when there's on site, there's room for someone to favor one over the other.
So my goal was to just have someone externally just come in and ensure that the property
is being maintained.
Other questions?
So there's one, well, first of all, you have pictures, could you show your pictures?
um and that one bathroom that you have there's there's not a half bath in the
home it's just that one full bath yes the one full five complete strangers to
share yeah okay other questions and and I do have a question so um you're
requesting a group home and is there and I this is a question for for for the
um zoning staff is there a difference between group home and our sro and can you designate
in an sro that it will only be for veterans no no okay thank you other questions
um on your drawing was it for the room that you specified space for two beds would that be for
multiple occupants so they can house they can house up to two vets in one room
and what those like would that be the tenants be related or just two unrelated two strangers
how how does what's the plan for them there will be two unrelated okay so it's kind of the the
roaming setup um again this was a program that the city bash is really um offering and looking
for landlords so that's what kind of drove me to this all right other questions from the board
so that is my question so you you said that you haven't done this before
so what's what's the driving force here what do you what do you why would you pick this as
you know your way of doing well I'm currently a landlord um through the housing choice voucher
program and I've rented this home multiple times over the years to large family um I mean the last
tenant and she had up to i think it was 10 people in this house um and so i constantly get emails
from the housing choice voucher and the veterans of america looking for houses for vets or they
have rooming vouchers for these vets that they're looking to place into a home and so that was that's
what drove me to kind of opening a home for vets um again it's it's it's kind of the same concept
as renting a guest to one tenant um with a large family this would just be
one tenant um with a large family this would just be multiple people within the home that's not
related and you are working with some kind of program to get the tenants yes the housing
choice voucher program currently have a program called VASH and that VASH program is looking for
houses for veterans and so um I started the process but until I get approved I really can't
send over any more details to start screening and recruiting vets, but I did let them know that the
property could potentially be coming. I have rented previous properties through a Veterans of
America program, but that was just one vet in a home at that time. Okay, and then who does the
screening? You do the screening? They do the screening? I do the screening. It's a background
check app that I use, Smart Move, and it allows you to do a background check. You do background,
criminal and credit. And the residents would be people who need some place to stay. They are
going to be out working or whatever during the day? They'll be working individual. If they're
working, again, they're individual vets who have served the country and just don't have nowhere
to call home. A lot of them can't afford to sustain the rent that's out here for a whole
unit and so this seems the way that everyone has been um maintaining i guess with this financial
issues out here okay and what are we doing about food and um so in the kitchen so each cupboard is
going to be designated for the rooms um so i'll have a setup where each room has their own secure
locking for their foods in the kitchen okay and then they would then be cooking on their own
yeah okay yeah so it's not disabled um anyone with um you know any type of disability or need
that 24-hour support home care none of that this is solely for individuals who are functioning
day to day just need a place to call a home okay and what about furniture furniture i fully furnish
the home okay so they have couch there um they'll have tvs tvs in each room um they'll get a dresser
they have the closet and their beds their bedding um i do provide their first set of beddings um
and then if they want any additional bedding outside of what i provide then they're free
to purchase their own but i do set them up initially upon their upon them coming here
because i'm not looking for them to leave again i'm approaching this as a long term like a lease
um everyone will get a year lease as i do everyone else that i screen um it's not like the typical
rooming house where you pay a weekly stipend um just the funding for the most part comes from the
vash or the veterans american program um and if there's a difference that the vets have to pay
then of course they have to meet the requirements to ensure they can pay their portion so it's kind
of like section eight um program but it's just for vets all right so and and then this is a full bath
right yes okay and it's just the one just the one all right thank you questions more attorney
um yes hi lynn reidel huber i'm board council um i don't believe you submitted your presentation
that you just presented so can you upload that by the close of business tomorrow yeah but for some
reason you know how the options are to upload specific documents and exhibit it's not it won't
allow a PowerPoint presentation because I did attempt to okay okay if you can do it by the end
of a close of business tomorrow yeah and I have hard copies if you need as well we need to make
it's in our records that's okay yeah thank you no problem questions or comments from the virtual
audience or this audience here yes chair i have a hand up by the name of cheryl smith i'm going to
allow them to speak okay hello hi would you please state your name and spell for the sonographer
My name is Cheryl Smith, C-H-E-R-Y-L, Smith, S-M-I-T-H.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Are you a neighbor?
No, I represent the 12th Ward RCO.
I wrote the letter.
Please comment.
Give us your comments.
We have the letter, by the way.
We have the letters.
You can summarize it if you want.
Okay, so her plan, the neighborhood
okay so um her plan um the neighbors were um none of them were i think it's only two
near neighbors and one was a um the other two were community members um
they were not close neighbors um they lived around the corner or whatever but anyway um
they were in support of the project um one of them was mostly a supporter because he
We knew a person or people who were veterans and were possibly looking for homes.
But once I discussed it with my committee, and we felt like this was kind of an aggressive plan for up to eight individuals who are not related, who are recovering to be alone in a house most of the time.
We felt like when people's backs are turned, anything can happen, even though she has surveillance and security in there, things can still happen.
And we and I personally have seen what happens with a group home or what can happen with a group home, because this is still considered a group home.
um when you know people get out of hand and you know in that situation you know there was a major
fire people died and you know and it was it was terrible so we felt like at least that there should
be at least more um on-site um responsibility having somebody stop by twice a week and who
knows how long they're going to be there they're just going to come in look around and at that
time people can hide things or whatever we just felt like it was a little bit aggressive for that
kind of neighborhood and um you know i'm not we're not against people in recovery or people needing
homes but um it just it just was a bit much and also even though she said she's going to you know
build another bathroom one bathroom with five like you said unrelated people can be a problem um
sharing the kitchen can be a problem because you know things happen so we were just concerned
about mostly um no on-site um availability all right well thank you very much for taking the
time of course we appreciate is there anyone else in the audience no chair i have no more
hands up at this time planning commission good afternoon chair michael gall with the philadelphia
city planning commission m-i-c-h-a-e-l-g-a-l-l you swear affirm to tell the truth told truth
nothing but the truth i so affirm please proceed sir the comprehensive plan recommends no change
to the existing rsa5 residential single family attached zoning at this location
the appellant has demonstrated that the proposed use of group living would not cause undue detriment
to the local area beyond what might otherwise be expected at this location at the proposed
occupancy level therefore the city planning commission recommends the board grant the
request of special exception for group living use thank you mi2026-002-362-5534 boyer street
i vote no michael johns my vote is no charles gaston my boot is no tenetta graham my vote is
no brian mcadams my vote is no layla bb my vote is no thank you thank you
number nine
MI 2026, 000985, 2900 North 13th Street. Alex Goldberg is the attorney.
Mr. Goldberg, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Alex Goldberg, A-L-E-X, G-O-L-D, B-E-R-G.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Do you identify your client and explain the relationship to the property?
Yes, my client is Giovanni Reynoso Rodriguez.
He is the tenant for the commercial space that's the subject of this application.
All right, and our vice chair has a few questions.
Good afternoon.
Have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing?
i have and this is a referral so do you have the reading of the referral as simply to its accuracy
i do okay thank you can show your screen and proceed with your case
thank you and i see that a apm is in support of the project that's right
That's right.
Okay, so this property is located at the corner of West Cambria Street and North 13th Street, and it's an existing deli market that you see on your screen.
was properly permitted to open as such in 2025, summer of 2025 for retail sale of consumer goods
and retail sale of food, beverage and groceries. Not knowing that that was not included under those
categories, my client put a little flat top grill in the back, wanted to be able to make hot food
as a part of, you know, what he provides at this market. And Ellen, I was in there not terribly long
ago unrelated to a different permit and they said that goes beyond the scope because you have
ventilation technically this falls under a takeout restaurant although I'll say the only takeout
component is literally just takeout there's no delivery he's not on the delivery apps
this is you know I'll show you the menu but he serves you know burgers and dogs and wings and
different things like that sandwiches so not like a high volume of DoorDash and Grubhub and those
type of drivers um it's a neighborhood market you'll see there's a wide range of of products
they have stored inside my client met with the coordinating rco as you said apm they are
unanimous unanimously in support of this application um there are two residential
dwelling units above that are leased that are not connected to my client because he does not own
the property but there's a two unit rental license upstairs the ventilation is through the side of
the building on cambria street the there is no building structure attached to us it's a vacant
lot so we don't share a wall with anyone at this time and there's trash storage in the basement
currently being picked up by the city
here is the use permit for the retail sale of consumer goods and food beverage and groceries
from june of 2025 the operation uh the hours of operation are monday through sunday 7 a.m to 8
p.m there is no sale of alcohol or tobacco products this is the zoning map of the cmx2
property um you know a prepared food shop would be allowed by right here a sit-down restaurant
would be allowed by right here because of the takeout component we're seeking this special
exception although i would i believe that it is a lesser impactful use than you know
an establishment that has seating and a higher volume of of um cars i don't believe that to be
the case i think that most of the um customers here live in the neighborhood they walk here
there's fresh produce and fruit here you know household items and you know you can get a meal
here as well here's photographs so this is the front of the property here's to the side on west
cambria street here it is in 2012 there's a long history of mixed-use here in 2017
there was a vacant commercial permit on the ground floor with residential above
and the same for 1953 when there was a restaurant on this ground floor which is not dissimilar to
what we're asking for here's the notice posting both sides of the corner on cambria and 13th
is to the right and the left and then to the right and the left on the cross street
interior photos so there's the flat top grill that you see and the hood ventilation and then
just interior you know there's coolers for drinks and refrigerated products you can see
syrup coffee cream or sugar things you would expect to see in a small little grocery
as well as household products some storage in the back and then this is the perspective
from back in the kitchen looking back towards where the yeah the shopping area is and you'll
see that on the plan here's the menu again burgers cheese steaks breakfast cold sandwiches pretty
basic menu plans and drawings this is we occupied the first floor and have storage in the basement
so here's the first oops here's the first floor you there's two entries there's one on the corner
and then there's one on west cambria there's a counter at the front there's basically four aisles
or two aisles with two sides on each and then the kitchen area is in the back there's also an exit
point on the side here and then the residential entry point is towards the back of the building
on the west cambria street side no seating inside whatsoever and then the basement is just
um so that's an elevation the basement is just storage uh with a bill code door that leads
so that's an elevation the basement is just storage uh with a bill code door that leads
He's director.
directly down towards it here it is right here rco meeting notice proof of mailing
application for special exception we have the deed in here as well as the lease the lease
runs through 2030 with the tenant's option to renew beyond that and then the tax clearance
with that i would ask my client who may be here virtually giovanni reynosa rodriguez to
raise his hand i also have the expediter whose name is wanda rodriguez who handled this case
up until two days ago if you have additional questions for her giovanni giovanni i see no
in the audience with either name chair you're you're an officer of the court we will accept
your testimony questions from the board what are we doing about venting so there is ventilation
you can see it in the photos i'll show you where it is on the inside and where it comes out on the
outside so the ventilation comes out of the side of the building right here
and then there are photos in the you mean you mean you mean it you mean it's going to
there's there's no vent in that picture right this is the commercial hood right here yeah i
know but i'm you show the picture of the outside i didn't see a vent in that side wall let me go
back my understanding maybe i missed it no yeah that's okay i'm seeing two small vents here out
of the side of the building structure um they look like bathroom vets okay or dryer events
they don't that that's definitely not a commercial kitchen vent yeah so i know the ventilation is
installed if okay and and based on this and based on this picture the kitchen isn't further back
that's beyond that door right so those vents wouldn't be there if they were those vents
that's correct and and I'm happy to I believe Wanda's in the in the virtual audience she's
more familiar with the property than I than I am if you'd like to yes Wanda is in the virtual
audience I will allow Wanda to speak and then wait hold up hold up and then hold up hold up
one minute can we can we take an expediter's testimony just for the purpose of clarifying
the ventilation all right okay okay all right okay and then what you're talking about here is
sure this has an ansel system correct okay i believe so okay all right why don't we bring
the expedite we need to know a little bit more about whether it has the proper fire suppression
system i'm hoping that wanda can clarify that for us thank you wanda ronda rodriguez has been
allowed to speak ronda can you please unmute hello i wonder could you please state your name is spelled
for the stenographer yes my name is wanda rodriguez um it's spelled w-a-n-d-a-r-o-d-r-i-g-u-e-z
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes council wanda can you clarify for the board um the presence and location of a ventilation
system for the commercial cooking equipment yes there is a ventilation system on the side of
cambria okay is it i'm not sure if you were seeing my screen when i was explaining i did see your
screen and then pictures you cannot see it but i do have a picture i don't know how to upload it
for you can see it okay let me see if i can upload it give me a second
it exits out on the west cambria side which is the
yeah it's on the on the cambria side it's like towards um around where he was saying
about the vents for the bathroom it's around there
okay but let me see how can i upload it for you can see it maybe in the chat give me a second
i'm not sure that's going to work but yeah but there is a ventilator system installed
yeah the system on the inside clearly looks commercially installed so i would imagine that
it has to have the proper vent outside which is the picture that's the reason that ellen i
gentlemen requested a special um forbearance for that um take out to be a take out because of the
mm-hmm that's your question about the ansel system that's the is that regarding like fire
suppression fire suppression right yeah one yeah yeah wanda are you aware of the presence of a fire
suppression system connected to the vent the vent system for the hood for the grill um the fire
a fresh i think that he did have a fire um inspection guy come out i'm not sure i can't
ask him if you give me one second okay yeah i'm talking about the ansel system which is yeah if
you have fryers and you're grilling you've got to have and you've got gas you've got to have i think
he did have a fire inspection come out let me ask him give me a second because he's he only speaks
then just give me a second and i'm going to reshare my screen i think
you can see in the image the system yeah you might be able to see it i'm not an expert but
i believe yeah but that yes what those are those pipes hanging down that's that's the
the suppression system okay okay i mean at least that's part of it there's got to be a you know
a pull thing a poor cord or emergency kind of thing but but that's called a fire suppression
system is a cord you said no it's a it's called an ansel since an ansel system yeah right
ansel system yeah a-n-s-u-l yeah but this this picture shows that you like kind of have it there
you know what i mean i think i think yeah i would say it you you probably have it you know what i
mean. Okay. Other questions? Questions from our attorney? Yes, I have one question. I'm sorry,
let me get closer. In the lease, it specifically states convenience store in the lease. And now
you're adding takeout. Does the landlord know that you're changing it from convenience store
to take out my understanding is correct is yes that the landlord does okay questions or comments
from the virtual audience no chair i have no hands up at this time planning commission
michael gall with the philadelphia city planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends a
change in zoning at this location from cmx2 commercial mixed use to rm1 residential
multifamily this property has a documented history of use as a convenience store and takeout
restaurants since at least 1935 two years after the establishment of the zoning code the appellant
has demonstrated that the proposed use takeout restaurant would not cause undue detriment beyond
what might otherwise be expected this location therefore the city planning commission recommends
the board grant the requested special exception for takeout restaurant use mi 2026 009
nine eight five twenty nine hundred north 13th street i vote yes uh michael johns i vote yes
cheryl gaston my vote is yes tenetta graham my vote is yes ryan mcadams my vote is yes
layla bb my vote is yes thank you
number 14 mi 2026 002 226 1229 south 6th street joseph console is the attorney
hey word good afternoon mr counsel could you please state your name and spell for the
stenographer yeah joseph console j-o-s-e-p-h last name console c-o-n-s-o-l-e you swear or
affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do could you identify your
relationship to the property yeah um it's mr uh velasquez and he is the tenant that i'm
representing today for this commercial space and i see there's a unanimous support from dickerson
square our wife has a few questions good afternoon have you submitted your documents and exhibits
five days in advance of this hearing yes okay and this is a referral so you're seeking a special
reception so you wave the read another referral and stipulate to its accuracy yes all right thank
you you can share your screen and proceed with your case all right share my screen i'm here um
For 1229 South 6th Street, Franco Velazquez is on this call to adopt my testimony.
This is seeking to use this CMX1 property as a prepared food shop.
It's a special exception.
Space is going to include coffee, baked goods, and limited cafe service.
No alcohol or anything like that.
or anything like that this is an existing storefront with a history of commercial ground
this is an existing storefront with a history
floor use and we're trying to activate this space with a low intensity cafe there's the
Here's the referral, CMX1.
Here's the external of the space, some more external photos.
So this is the unanimous support, 14 attendees, 14 in support, I believe Dickinson Square
or Dickinson West with mailing notes for my client I'll give you some interior
your photos. Nice size space, split units, one bathroom, storage in the basement. We've
also included in our packet the alteration plans. Here's the new first floor plan, which
I would expect is the only real relevant. It's going to be called Cafe Medellin. It's approximately
1,000 square feet. Let's see. What else might be relevant here? Property history. I have
some of that to the extent that it's required. I don't think that it is. A sole medical dental
and health practitioner approval in 2019 uh and prior to that it had grocery and storefront
approval uses uh over the years and we're hoping that the board sees fit to approve this cafe space
uh in in this building with that i could call my client mr velasquez raises virtual hand and
die testimony francisco velezquez is being promoted to penalists thank you
hello hi sir could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
francisco francisco velasquez v-e-l-a-s-q-u-e-z do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the
whole truth and nothing but the truth i do counsel good afternoon mr velasquez uh did you hear my
testimony um just now regarding your um lease and intended use of 1229 south 6th street i did
uh do you adopt it as your own i do questions from the board nothing for the board
are you doing prepared food prepared food i'm sorry you doing prepared food fried food
kind of back to the same end cell system exhausted um we're preempt preempted uh
Cheryl's question, but are you going to be frying?
What are you preparing?
We're not going to be frying.
We're going to just be primarily coffee,
and we're going to have some baked goods
that all really we're going to be doing is warming them up
for about 20 minutes in the oven.
Okay, but you do have an exhaust, exterior exhaust on your plan.
That was the plan, yeah.
it's an existing exhaust is that correct mr velasquez it's not an existing exhaust
it's something that we would have to put in okay but you but despite the fact that you're not
actually cooking food live at the location yeah we're not cooking anything with frying or anything
like that okay the questions yeah is um what's the plan do you or i guess do you plan to do
take out delivery services like uber eats caviar or doordash and what is your plan for deliveries
and couriers we we do um and we would just uh plan to sign up with those uh with the carriers
but yeah the answer is yes well i'm thinking more so in terms of traffic like yes you're
Well, I'm thinking more so in terms of traffic. Like, yes, you're on a corner, but Titan Street and 6th Street are both really narrow streets. And I know how South Philadelphians feel about parking and traffic congestion. So is there anything you're trying to do to sort of help move people or help these things happen fast?
on a corner but titan street and
I know a lot of times when you've got a lot of delivery services lining up to pick up orders, you can get very clogged, especially if they're waiting.
You know, they have to wait till something's complete.
So, like, in terms of flow, are you using any windows?
Is there going to be a designated space on the plan inside the first floor?
We don't plan on using the windows, at least initially.
Actually, we do plan on having a designated area for pickup on the counter, kind of like you would normally do at a Starbucks or something of that nature.
Other questions?
Counsel or counsel?
No questions at this time.
I should say comments from the virtual would answer the current audience here.
I see no hands up at this time, Chair.
Plenty, Commission.
michael gall with the philadelphia city planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no
change to the existing cmx1 neighborhood commercial mixed-use zoning at this location
this property has a documented history of use as a prepared foods and small grocery business dating
back to at least 2004. the appellant has demonstrated that the proposed use prepared
food shop would not cause undue detriment what might otherwise be expected at this location
therefore the city planning commission recommends the board grant the requested special exception
for prepared shop use thank you mi2026002 226 1229 south 6th street i vote yes michael johns
my vote is yes cheryl gaston my vote is yes tennessee graham my vote is yes i'm mcadams my
vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes thank you board thank you thank you council
Number one, MI-2025-007-020-2408 Wesley High Avenue.
Zen Jin is the attorney.
Zen Jin will be rejoining us as a panelist.
Good afternoon.
Zen, you were already sworn this morning.
Just for the record, state your name.
Zen Jin.
Z-H-E-N-J-I-N.
Could you identify your client in relationship to the property?
Yes, my client is MB Group's property, the property owner.
And then before we start, there was some debate.
Initially, there was a request for four, and now it's three.
Is that right?
That's correct.
And also no office use.
We're moving away from that as well.
Our vice chair has a few questions.
Good afternoon.
Have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing?
And do you waive the reading of the refusals and stipulate to their accuracy?
All right. Thank you. You can share your screen and proceed with your case.
Thank you. I'm going to share with the board what was previously submitted.
We did supplement because the community's letter did not come in until yesterday.
So there is a supplemented exhibit with that particular letter, which I will address with the board.
So this is an application originally filed for use as a four family dwelling, four units, as well as an office, business, and professional on the first floor.
We have gone back and re-evaluated the history of the property as well as its layout, and my client ultimately decided to move forward asking for three total units in this property.
The history of the property is that this entire block, for the most part, was used as doctor's office plus residential units for both this building, 2406 as well as 2410.
These are rather large buildings that, while they're zoned RSA 5 since the 2014 remapping, was originally zoned RM1 before that.
And a lot of the configurations happened long before the RSA 5 zoning took place.
My client purchased the property back in 2023 in its current condition, which is essentially
five total units, including dividing up of the upper floors into four units, and then the first
floor being one unit that was probably the former doctor's office. The prior history of the property
shows that this was, for many years, the doctor's office with two residential units above.
After considering what the prior use was and what's consistent to his neighboring uses,
uh what the prior use was and what's consistent to his neighboring uses which incidentally
which incidentally...
uh we believe also are basically triplexes both on both sides also converted due to its original
use in in the history of being doctor's office and uh units of residential units above a three unit
proposal was ultimately brought before the community after an original proposal of four
units in office was actually circulated through the community for a petition so the community
group met with us and initially did not make a determination because they had some difficulty
understanding how three units is laid out in this property and wanted to schedule a property tour
which actually took place on june 8th at 6 30. after the tour we were initially advised that
we would be receiving a letter probably within a week or two with their comments and position.
We unfortunately did not get that until just yesterday. I'm sorry, on July 13th, so two days
ago. What we see in their letter are concerns I anticipate are partially due to the confusion
between what exists now versus what is being proposed uh what exists now are in fact multiple
residential units in fact there's four upstairs divided into two floors so naturally it does
look very dense the issue of uh the exiting of the property and fire code and other items were
initially addressed during the first zoom meeting i indicated to the community that once we have
obtained a zoning change for three units if if it were to be approved my client would have to submit
building plans and as part of that fire code requirements would have to be met we're not
looking to simply legalize an existing condition here this is going to have additional steps
following any zoning application decisions.
The trash storage, which actually is an ongoing issue
that my client's aware of,
he actually in his plans proposed trash rooms
since they were taking away some of the unit space,
we're able to convert that into trash rooms.
And also by reducing the total number of units,
you would also reduce the trash being generated,
which all would actually help alleviate
some of the concerns mentioned in the community's letter. So the actual support petition was done
prior to us, my office becoming involved. That was actually done back in April of 2025,
when Mr. Ward was still the attorney of record. As you can see, at the time, for the four
departments and office, many of the people in the area were aware these buildings were multifamily.
they actually did not have a strong objection to even legalizing something as dense as that however
again when we reviewed it we found that the actual prior use was more or less a office in two units
making it a three unit total and based on that condition of its pre-existing non-conforming use
we had discussed with our client and agreed that three units at max is probably what makes sense
here this property also is a rather large property i'm going to go ahead and move to the
photos and plans because we did submit prior to the community letter coming in our communications
with the community pending a letter and that is what's before the photo exhibit so as you can see
this is a property on a block that is on one end there's a church on the other end there are also
additional properties. Again, historical notes show that all these properties here
along the block more or less had some kind of multifamily use in its history and currently are
likely used as such, although we cannot confirm that for every property. The property itself
came to my client's possession with the four units on the second and third floor already split
and then having another unit on the first floor.
There are electric and water heaters and existing kitchens.
He did do the painting and flooring inside the space.
However, the layout in the existing kitchens really were just refreshed and was not changed.
So what we are proposing to do as a way to reduce the total unit count,
as well as making this into essentially a three unit property is to have the following layout.
property is to have the following layout. The basement was and is still going to be storage
and utilities only. There's a powder room in the one corner and an open space. There's no living
in the basement. The first floor would become one unit. So the first floor would have one unit
in the, I'm sorry, that's the second floor. The first floor would be the one unit with the
entry there's there is a single entry into the building with stairs leading up the first unit
would be to the entry to the left and that would take the entire first floor with the kitchen area
in the back bathroom uh and bedroom in the front with a secondary reading room or bedroom in the
middle section the second floor is accessed through a central staircase that would lead
up to the second floor which actually has its own open hallway to turn around to the third floor
originally there was a unit in the back and a unit in the front and they were separated what
we're proposing to do is to keep the unit front and back separation so the second unit would be
this smaller unit in the back it would be maintained as is what is one of the bigger
changes is that third floor and the front half of the second floor would now become one unit.
There was originally two additional units in the upper floor with their own kitchens.
The kitchens will be removed and the unit would be connected into one unit. So there's no
longer split entrances. The entry to the third floor would be here on the second floor,
leading both to the front part of the unit as well as the stair, which leads up to the upper
part of the unit. This would all be part of one unit with a single kitchen on the second floor
and then sleeping areas, living areas on the third floor. That essentially would reduce the
use from four units plus what was a professional office on the first floor, which also is
essentially laid out as a residential unit anyway. So that would literally reduce the total from five
complete units into three total units, which is what we're asking the board to consider today.
With this change, we believe that this is much more consistent both to the properties that are
next door to the block, as well as to the original legal use that was in the property,
which is, again, a doctor's office and two units. I'm going to share with the board real quickly,
this was not in our exhibits, but it is part of the record history of the properties,
And that is the neighboring property's history in the ATLAS system, which shows their prior and historical approvals for doctor's office as well as the, if the board can bear with me for one second, I'm going to pull up that information.
So what I'm going to share with the board right now is a historical record for 2406.
This is record in the Atlas for 2406, which is very similar to the record in 2408, which
is doctor's office and two family.
I suspect at some point a doctor's office might have had all three properties, but this
going back to the 1950s and that is the latest record in the file for these properties in the
area and the same actually also exists for 2410 which has a very similar late approval in the same
time frame which is also very much like what our property had as its original historical record
So I'm going to share with the board that information real quick as well.
So here's 2410.
As you can see, 2410, historically, it's a three-family dwelling.
And I believe that is still its current use.
So we're actually abutted on both sides.
And I believe further up the block, when I did the quick review of those properties,
they also had multifamily primarily as their use.
While there are single family houses across the street, this side of the block from history has been primarily multifamily.
And this property itself also was laid out as a multifamily prior to even my client acquiring it.
uh was laid out as a multi-family prior to even my client acquiring the property uh as it sits today
so we understand the opposition from the community but we are asking the board's consideration
in allowing a maximum of three units at this property particularly in light of its historical
uses which uh generates a hardship to now convert this completely to a single family dwelling
thank you and i believe my client on please sure um
let me make sure i uh knock knock knock him can you uh raise your hand and virtually to be identified
your client knock on last name starting with a b has been promoted to panel
Thank you.
is he has he is he available to speak it's yes um they're coming in as a panelist mail
great thank you back on police on mute when you get an opportunity
okay should i do with you or just no no video is good hi could you please state your name
and spell for the stenographer could you spell your name please n-a-k-a-m my first name and
last name is b-a-l-o-g-h-l-a-n-o-v do you swear or affirm to tell the truth told you
nothing but the truth yes thank you nakam uh did you see my presentation to the board and hear my
representation to the zoning board yes i did can you verify what i have spoken and presented to
be true and correct and adopted as your own testimony yes thank you questions from the board
then um i might have missed something can we look at the uh second unit please absolutely
yeah so this is the second unit it's actually a small unit in the back of the second floor
okay so no so i did miss something because when it was when you were originally i didn't see the
bedroom in the back i was just a little confused that's all oh okay it's one bedroom yes one
bedroom unit in the back all the questions so you can leave it right there go ahead yes
my quick quick question is the trash um is that an interior trash storage or is that like in the
hallway so it's going to be a trash closet um right now right it's enclosed yes ventilated
yes it'll be ventilated okay all right and that's for everybody well for all the tenants well the
first floor uh ultimately can have the backyard as well okay so this will be mostly for the second
and third floor second and third floor and it's enough for three trash bins uh we want to make
sure it's big enough not to have overflow right so so this configuration for the front part of
the second floor and the third floor is going to be remain the only i'm just trying i'm saying is
that correct is that correct so the configuration for the front half would remain correct and the
third floor change would be removal of the kitchens and so these open spaces that are on the third
floor are they just going to remain as open spaces like what's the what's the deal at this point they
would remain as living spaces um it doesn't make sense to fight to enclose them i mean ultimately
while he potentially could put an additional bedroom up here we we believe leaving it as
living areas better uh because it's a bi-level setup yeah it's it's a yeah yeah it's just a
weird thing to do because the way it's just set up but um yeah okay and the first floor unit there's
no there's no natural light and ventilation in the in the living room so that's a a bad place
to have a living room in the center of two bedrooms and there's just no light and natural
bedrooms and there's just no
light and natural ventilation
ventilation so it's just a
so it's just a
bad stuff but
Ellen and I will
get you for that one
the building
permit process
are the bathrooms
currently existing
Nakam the bathrooms are
existing correct yes all the bathrooms
existing yes
okay I was like I mean I
i agree with mike about the layout for the second and the third floor i do think that with some
reconfiguration this could make a lot more sense um and then a question i have about that trash
storage i mean i think it's it's good to have a dedicated space i think even though the third
floor apartment touches the second floor i think you know trying to get people to use trash rooms
correctly um is their plan to do commercial trash pickup or are the tenants expected
to manage this kind of shared trash room well i i believe we have to pay um the city for
the pickup as a triplex that will be something that would have to be done um okay yeah
question and then i think you know three stories what's the plan for storage now that the basement
as clear as the thought that everyone will have the ability to storage things downstairs so the
basement's essentially accessible through the first unit first floor unit so unfortunately it
would the storage really would apply to them um the third floor has a lot of space uh the only
small unit that would potentially have storage space issues would be this smaller unit on the
second floor. The third floor has a lot of open space, you know, assuming we're leaving this space
open as well as that space open. So I think they have actually plenty of area for storage because
their kitchen and bedroom down here and the bedrooms up there, the living areas here.
The, unfortunately, the first, the basement is not accessible otherwise to the upper floor units.
So their storage would be either on the third floor for the third unit or, and again, this one being a very small unit, it's really not designed for multiple occupants.
I think that's more or less for one or two people at most.
And the first floor unit is going to have exclusive use of the backyard.
Yeah, they have the access to the rear yard.
and that is um unfortunately because of the layout originally from the building uh
it there was no other way to get access for the upper floors to the rear yard
mm-hmm and this is a middle of a row property so it's not a corner property
okay um i have a couple of questions and my concern is about the issue that was raised by the um rco
about ingress and egress in case of some sort of fire.
This is going to have to be sprinklered, correct?
Most likely the building department, when we go for building permits,
will make that determination and probably will ask for sprinklers.
I don't know the exact answer to that.
Yeah. And the concern would be there's, you know, there's one way in and one way out.
Yes. While that's true, it is actually a very, in many of the multifamily units in the city,
this is still ultimately the layout. The code will require fire rated walls and doors
for the hallway and the staircase to permit escape in the event of an emergency. So there
are code required fire approvals. One of the things I know the city has moved away from
over the years is any kind of fire escape in these buildings. The fire department has generally asked
my clients to simply get raided walls and doors to extend the timeframe available for escape.
all right and you're gonna have to have the hardwired smoke detection systems and things like
that so that that helps as well okay all right so we have a we have a hard wire smoke detector
and then we have hallways uh fire alarm system right with the strobes and the that horrible
noise and that kind of thing okay yes so and then um there's no household living in the basement
right? Correct. Okay. And then this first floor unit where you have the bedroom in the front
and the back room, the bathroom in the back, you know, that's one of my little
You know, that's one of my little pet peeves where you have to wander through the whole, the kitchen and the living room and all of that at three o'clock in the morning to go to the bathroom.
pet peeves where you have to wander through the hole.
So, you know, I have a, I just have a bias against those kinds of layouts because I think they really aren't very good for.
I believe part of this layout, unfortunately, stems back to when it was still used as were designed originally as a doctor's office.
My client actually didn't change the layout on the first floor.
It was kind of laid out like this when he acquired the property.
Is that correct, Nakam?
Are you open to changing the layout if it would make the first floor unit better for ultimately its occupants?
i think that's something if l and i if l and i require any changes we can we can you can do it
and you'll be willing but if if it is okay like this i mean i'm okay like this too all right thank
you you're welcome thank you you're welcome anyone else on the board
or attorney no questions at this time
i see no hangs at this time chair any commission michael gall with the philadelphia city planning
commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing rsa5 residential single
family attached zoning at this location the property was remapped from rm1 residential
multi-family to rsa5 residential single family attached in 2014 pursuant to the recommendations
of the lower north district plan there's a documented history of this property being
used as a doctor's office with two residential units dating back to at least 1950 and multi-family
use is a common condition on this block however there are no three unit residences in this size
in the immediate vicinity that also have a permitted commercial space so the proposed
unit count of three with a a business use represents a potential overuse in this context
and is slightly out of character for the location therefore the city planning commission recommends
the board grant the requested variance for business professional office use and grant
the requested variance for multi-family household living use but with a recommended proviso of a
maximum two units uh we to be clear we're not asking for the professional office use at this
time just a three-family dwelling would that change the planning commission's position in any way
there would be more
three units right okay um three units no commercial so so you're planning you're done
all right so so that we just have a better understanding of this I'm going to hold this
to next Wednesday and we'll vote on that at uh 2 p.m okay and that will thank you
where we want to be all right thank you thank you Mr. Chairman the record's closed then
mr records it's closed thank you
number two mi 2025 007 358 to 1509 north 29th street stephanie boggs magna is the attorney
good afternoon i counsel could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
stephanie s-t-e-p-h-a-n-i-e magana m-a-g-a-g-n-a all right do you swear or affirm to tell the
truth the whole truth nothing about the truth i do um just for a point i think you might have
been walking over here when i started oh if cases get protracted they go past a half hour
we're going to have a presumptive hearing.
Understood.
Right now, we're projected out tonight that our last case will start at 729.
And the question is, I don't want to go beyond that.
I mean, so I'm trying to hold it on.
All right.
I will do my best.
Well, you'll do your best, but I mean, I'm just telling you, we get to close for a half hour,
I'm going to cut it.
Understood.
Could you identify your client, the relationship of the property?
My client is 1233 North 6th Street, LLC.
They're the owner of the property.
this is nathan torock he's the representative and our vice chair has a few questions good afternoon
have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing yes i have
and do you waive the read another refusal and stipulate to its accuracy i do all right thank
you you can share your screen and proceed with the case thank you all this pulls up um the subject
property here it is 1509 north 29th street um located along 29th street at the corner of jefferson
and 29th. It's an existing three-story building, been vacant for most of the last decade. It was approved for
It's been vacant for most of the last decade. It was approved for three family units in 2017, and there is a rather lengthy history here. But what I'll say to start is that the scope of this application is limited to renewing the approval for this building for three units consistent with the prior approval.
It is zoned RSA 5 as well for context. So we are requesting a variance for the proposed use.
Um, as I mentioned, there's some history here. So this property was approved by the zoning board in, or I'm sorry, by the zoning board in 2017 for 3 family dwellings with the provides that that there'd be no bedroom in the basement.
Um, the owner at that time, then pulled a buy right permit in 2018 for an addition to the building to add a partial 3rd floor and a roof deck. Um, then they then went on. This is the original zoning permit.
Our addition in 2018 with the plans here for reference.
They then went on in 2019 to pull a building permit for the work and began work afterwards.
Here's a copy of the floor plan that was approved back in 2019 for context.
There is a this is consistent with the board's approval.
There is no bedroom in the basement.
They continued construction from what we can tell.
They finished the addition, they finished the roof deck, and they finished reconfiguring what was a single family property and converting it to three units with the each individual unit being laid out inside.
This shows the framing going up work.
This is January of 2022, where these pictures come from, and work went on.
At some point, work stopped.
You can see conditions.
This is, again, as of 2022. But at some point after they finished the addition and they started the interior fit out work, work stopped. The building went into foreclosure. And in 2014, my client purchased the property from the bank out of foreclosure.
At the time they purchased the building, these pictures show you the condition inside. So the framing had gone up, the three units had been configured. Again, the addition was complete, including the roof deck, most of the drywall, the electric fixtures and such in the units had been constructed.
there's some more pictures for reference um at the time following purchase of the property
my client did very little work immediately after buying this it was represented at the
time they purchased it that there was a valid building permit for the site so that would
maintain the zoning so the property was permitted for use to continue fitting it out and permitted
for use as three units it had been vacant back and forth because of the foreclosure for some time so
Their original activities were limited to removing trash. There was water in the basement they had to pump out. Um, they secured the property, cleaned it up and kind of remediated some of the copper theft and other vandalism that had happened here. Um,
then in 2025, about, um, end of 2024, they went to finish out the remaining work that was done here. And at that time, they became aware that the building permit had expired. Um, work stopped immediately. These are from 2026.
showing the existing condition of the building. As you can see, there has been no interior kind of continuing construction work since we got the stop work order. The building remains in the condition that it was in substantially when we bought it.
Again, here's for the roof deck for reference and the front of the building for bigger context here.
So while the block itself is predominantly RSA 5 single family, this corner at Jefferson and 29th Street has some precedent for additional density that we imagine was part of the board's consideration in 2017 when they approved the building for three units.
The 2 corner properties are cmx 1, but they are approved for 1 is 2 units with ground floor commercial. The other is 3 units.
Our immediate adjacent neighbor at 1,507 was approved for 2 units in 2,025 by right.
Again, we were approved by the zoning board in 2,017 for 3 units, and 1,502 across the street was approved by the Zba in 2,021 for 2 units.
Copies of those permits are here as well included in the record just for context that the proposed use has some precedent in this particular corner of the block.
We did meet with the community on February.
The predominant comment we got was that they did not want multifamily at this location.
That was the overall prevailing sentiment, and here is their opposition letter.
You can tell the majority vote voted in opposition.
But there were some comments that came from the neighbors that went a little bit beyond that. They were limited, but there were some.
um that went a little bit beyond that they were limited but there were some um there were some
concerns expressed about what had happened to the property um some nuisance this this again was an
attractive nuisance in the neighborhood for years because it had sat vacant so there were some
concerns about that some concerns expressed about construction work and disturbing the neighbors
and trash left outside um there were also some comments about wishing there was an affordability
component to this project which had not been part of the prior approval so in light of the opposition
that we got from the rco and the comments we received my client has decided that to address
some of those concerns we it would make sense in this context to offer should the board be inclined
to grant approval in this case that there be certain provisos put as a condition upon that
approval one being that unit one will be a designated affordable unit um trash is going
to be stored inside of the building in a trash room that has been carved out on the first floor
plan that's shown here as an exhibit to make sure that all trash is stored interior to the building
until it's picked up the roof deck that again is completed will be limited to use by the third unit
so it will be restricted to one unit as opposed to being a common amenity shared by the building
to reduce use and hours and the potential for it to create a nuisance in the neighborhood
again that roof deck in particular was approved by right pursuant to the 2018 permit
that allowed the addition also construction activities can be limited between 8 a.m and
5 p.m monday through friday so they will not be on the weekends or after hours or very early in
morning to try to eliminate the concern that we did here and again consistent with the original
approval there will be no bedroom in the basement so we're not asking for any change to that
original condition so to sum it up given the history here when my client purchased this
building it was fitted out as a three unit building with very limited work that needed to be
done under the building permit to actually rent it out and complete the building permit had that
work been completed at the time we wouldn't be here because this would be a valid three unit
building um fully market rent and the zoning permit would have held um nate has done very
little work on this property behind what what is expected of a responsible property owner to make
sure that you are eliminating the potential for this to become again an attractive nuisance to
neighborhood and a source for theft or other concerns but the work has been limited to that
extent and when he did become aware of the permit issue they stopped work so at this point he has
an existing almost completed three-unit building that is permitted only for single-family use
by right under the code which creates a significant hardship for him to then have to convert this back
to a single-family use so the request is limited here to renewing the prior approval we're not
asking for an increase in density beyond what was originally deemed appropriate by the zoning board
um and to address the concerns that we were given by the community um again we feel that
the provisos that we've suggested aim to address those concerns and again they would be above and
beyond what was originally imposed by the zoning board in 2017. um so with that if i can have my
client why don't you please state your name and spell for the stenographer if you get closer to
mike yep nathan torak n-a-t-h-a-n last name torak t-o-r-o-k do you swear or affirm to tell the
truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do counsel nate did you hear the statements i made
to the board this afternoon yes i have are they complete inaccurate yes they are you adopt them
as your own i do okay um if i if i can i have a few questions for my client sure i think we have
a little bit of time right um when you purchased this property what was your understanding of what
it's permitted use was my understanding was there was a three unit building fully approved zoning
permit that you had shown earlier on the screen as well as a fully approved building permit okay
and what was its interior condition did that support that assumption correct yes it's it's got
uh three separate water uh supply lines it has uh three separate electric services uh going to the
units the there's three different kitchens that are already laid out each each individual unit
has fire rated doors that are you know labeled to access the units and everything that we saw
with the building made us believe that it was a true three-unit building including the zoning
permit and including the building permit at the time you bought the building what amount of work
on a percentage basis would you say needed to be done to finish it out probably the last five to
10%. Okay. And can you explain again for the board, just hearing it from you, what your scope
of work was that you actually completed since buying the building? Correct. Yeah. We had had
correct yeah we had had a lot of theft from the basement including the water main uh the copper
a lot of theft from the basement, including the water main, the coppers.
so we had gone into the basement we pumped all the water out of the basement uh we installed a
new copper line to uh stop the water from from going uh you know directly into the basement
there was a number of wires that were cut uh and so to have the power into the building we you know
picked some of the wires so there wasn't a safety hazard we removed a decent amount of trash um
Like I said, you know, we bought this from Spring Garden Lending, and we had to go into the building, and the previous owner just kind of up and left with debris, trash, and so we cleared all the trash, took a number of, you know, trailers of trash out of the property, and that was the extent.
Okay, and when you received notice that there was no permits and were told to stop work, did you stop work at that time?
We did stop work, correct.
okay um so at this point based on the existing condition of the building um what would there be
a significant what would be the significance of having to convert this back to a single family
home uh it would be it would be tremendous uh it's it's fully laid out for a three-unit building
it's built exactly to the plans that were previously approved it would be a complete gut
and renovation of the building okay questions from the board so the other multi-families that
are on the block um they are duplexes are there any other triplexes that you know of on the block
1500 at the corner is a three-unit building that was approved by the zoning board I believe in 2010
okay and and what is happening at the basement of this property at the basement in the basement
level part of the unit one so i mean i didn't see the uh yeah absolutely yeah the floor plan thank you
sorry there's a lot of pictures let me scroll up
here's the floor plan um and again this is the floor plan that was approved with the
original building permit so this construction and layout has been set out already under the original
permit other questions questions from our attorney none at this time questions or comments from the
audience i see no hands at this time we we have people in the audience here so could you um ask
your client to take a seat. Yeah, absolutely. Right? And then come on up. Whoever wants to go
first. Sorry, Chair. Once you're done, I do
have two virtual hands raised. Okay.
Hi. Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Oh, I'm sorry. Okay.
he had 200 dollars right hi do you swear or go ahead continue j-o-h-n-s-o-n do you swear or affirm
to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes are you a neighbor yes please proceed
chair i'm sorry this is the reporter i did not catch the witness's name okay we'll do it again
go ahead jeanette j-e-a double n-e double t-e johnson j-o-h-n-s-o-n do you swear or affirm
to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yeah please proceed yes i have a question
now let's let's one instead of a question why don't you start tell us are you in favor of
this product or against no i'm against it okay all right so could you give us a reason why the
reason why i'm against it is because uh we just found out that in 2026 that it was going to be a
multi-unit home there was never a lot a multi-unit a three-family multi-unit home right there were
never uh permits posted stating okay that what the building was going to be all right um i've lived
on the block for 30 plus years has always been a single unit home we don't have many uh multi-unit
homes on the block the issue we have is parking we have a lot of seniors yep the trash the rodents
uh the extra traffic coming in and out uh and that's my concern thank you for coming here do
have any questions no um just did you receive proper notice for this hearing
no i got i took a picture of it off the door okay thank you the next person
hi could you please state your name it's spelled for the stenographer sure my name is gabriella
Gillithlee. G-A-B-B-R-I-E-L-L-A-G-I-L-L-I-T-L-I-E. Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Are you a neighbor? Yes, I am. Are you in favor of this
Are you a neighbor?
Yes, I am.
Are you in favor of this project or against?
project or against? I am opposed.
I am opposed.
You're opposed.
Could you give us a reason other than what you just heard?
Yes, I have a little something.
Well, instead of reading the whole thing, why don't you just give us what you're from your heart, okay?
Is that better?
So what we want to hear is something different than what was said.
We've had a history of, my grandparents have lived there since 1958.
58. So they have a long history of this, of the block and everything. We have a unit across right
next door to you at 1507. That used to be a single and then it was turned into a multi unit. In 2019,
when it began, there were three apartments, they changed it into three. We've had problems with
police, we actually had a homicide as a result of that. There have been problems with theft,
there have been police there's a lot of police that have been coming by to the area because of
that and right now we have um that same dwelling now has it's been bought over it's been turned over
the first the the first floor has three adults they have three cars one is a van what amazen
building are we talking about 1507 right next door this is the history of having multi-purpose units
in our place in our on our block the top floor has five people living there a pit bull a cat a
bird and all this other and there's no no one comes by to maintain it there's trash left out
at all times that's the number one show but now we now listen to me i totally understand what
you're talking about but concentrate on this building here and i understand you've had
processing history yeah give me an idea about this building here where you're not being taken
care of when you have a single family dwelling you know who's there you know your neighbors
we all have neighbors and we all are a family and we watch out for each other and when you have
multi-units it's that and then there has you guys put a railing up a couple like two months ago you
put a railing up on the house a wooden railing for some reason okay go ahead yeah so there was
some work done on the outside of this on 1509 um since then and we're just opposed because of
the parking and the trash thank you very much you have any questions no i don't have any questions
thank you very much is there anyone else you come on up ma'am
hi could you get close to the mic yes the name is burlane pull mic close to you pull close that's
it could you name your name and spell for this number b-e-r-l-a-i-n-e last name melton m-e-l-t-o-n
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do now look
a lot's been said from the other people right right are you for this or against i'm against it
right so being opposed is there anything you can tell me i haven't heard yet i think i cannot
certainly say what you haven't heard yet because i have the same concerns oh 60 years
60 years on the block okay and the multifamily would create havoc for us because number one
of the trash and number two the um main thing is the parking because we have right now we barely
have enough parking as it is and with three units on the three units sir yeah on the um
in the one building that takes up to six cars so well i understand your concerns that uh
we appreciate you've come down here and give us your concerns you have any questions
counsel I do not okay we have two people in the audience am I correct yes chair
me the first I have a hand up by the name of a hot last name starting with us I'm
going to allow them to speak okay thank you hi good afternoon afternoon could
you please state your name and spell it for the sonographer? Sure. My name is Ahaji Schreffler.
It's spelled A-H-A-J-I-S-C-H-R-E-F-F-L-E-R. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth, nothing but the truth? I do. Are you a neighbor? Yes, I live on the block.
Are you in favor of this or against? I'm opposed. Okay. Is there anything you can tell us? And
and please try not to repeat what we've heard. Certainly, I understand. There is one, I agree
Certainly, I understand. I agree with everything that's been said. It's very concerning. There is one additional detail I would like to add, which is that our block, specifically the corner there that's close to this property, also has three different SEPTA bus line stops.
with everything that's been said. It's been.
And so it's a very high volume traffic street. Additional cars on the block without enough parking leads to more people double parking in the road. It's a problem as it is. There's constantly double parking and many septabuses constantly up and down the street.
And it's just, I mean, there's car accidents constantly on our block. And I have to believe
that the limited parking is, you know, is part of that. And so I'm opposed, again, for the reasons
mentioned as well as that. All right. Thank you for your hanging on the phone. We appreciate it.
Is there anyone else left on the phone? No, Chair. That was the last hand up. Thank you.
Do you have any questions for the last person? I do not. Okay. I think I can sum this up very
quickly if if you want me to yeah if you could do it quickly i mean if not i'm gonna we're really
running low here if you give me one minute i can do that i'll give you two can i can call you army
no no no go ahead okay nate um can you just clarify the work that was done in the front step
yes we uh we we need to get insurance on the building so the insurance company required us
put a temporary railing out front so we put a temporary railing on the front stairs for safety
okay have you done any other work to the property no we have not okay thank you with that yes i'll
just say that we agree with the neighbors that having a vacant building on an otherwise single
family block creates many many problems i can't speak to the prior owner and how they did their
construction or how they maintained the building and i can't speak to the next door neighbor but
I can say that Nate has been my client for many years and will be certain to make sure that there is a point of contact that's available.
So if there are any concerns, they can reach out to Nate.
My contact information is on all of the notices that went out.
Feel free to reach out to me if there's concerns on any maintenance issues or if there is concerns during construction.
But again, we're not making a statement about this block and what is appropriate as a use for this block.
this is very specifically tailored to this building given its history and the physical
configuration that was done pursuant to valid permits that were issued the transcripts in 2017
from the zoning board hearing were not available by either to the department of records or from
this board but we do think the conditions in this block have largely remained the same
where there is some context for this use here and to address the trash concerns and property
maintenance issues again the trash will be stored inside the building and nate will make himself
available um and a final thing i'll say is that there is no variance for parking at this location
there is no parking required in connection with an rsa5 and given the location of public transit
nearby we do expect that that will be utilized by the tenants in this building planning commission
michael gall with the philadelphia city planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no
change in zoning from the current rsa5 residential single family attached the property was remapped
in 2014 from rm1 residential multifamily to rsa5 residential single family attached in a council
supported action this property has already been granted a variance in 2017 for three units by this
board and the physical condition configuration conforms to the previous zoning permit the
location is well served by public transit and multi-family use is a common condition on the
block therefore the city planning commission recommends the board grant the requested
variants for multifamily household living use. So, Council, there's been a lot said, and I really
want to go back to the board next week and sit and talk about where we stand with this, but we
will vote next week at 2 p.m. Okay, thank you very much. Next Wednesday, okay? Thank you. All right,
thank you, and thank you all for coming. We appreciate you sitting here all the time you did.
Thank you very much. Okay, number four.
Number four, MI 2026-000965-3605, Fairmount Avenue. Meredith Ferliger is the E-Attorney.
Good afternoon.
Good afternoon. Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Meredith, M-E-R-E-D-I-T-H, Ferliger, F-E-R-L-E-G-E-R.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I sure do.
Could you identify your client, a relationship with the property?
My client is Al Harreer Properties, LLC, represented by Rami Shrine.
And just for a point of information, I think you were sitting there when I gave my little talk about time.
I won't be in 30 minutes.
I won't be in 30 minutes.
You won't be 30 minutes.
You won't be 30 minutes.
I don't think so.
I don't think so.
We do appreciate it, but I don't ever want you to hurt your client.
We do it.
I mean, all I'm saying is if you have to continue, we'll continue.
Understood.
The place chair has a few questions.
Before we get there, I do need to be promoted as panelists.
It looks like they're just trying to unmute me.
I don't see the panelists.
Thank you.
Got it.
Good afternoon.
Have you submitted your documents in exhibits five days in advance of this hearing?
yes i did and do you waive the reading of the refusals and stipulate to their accuracy
yes i do all right thank you you can share your screen and proceed with your case
Thank you.
Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
today's request is simply seeking a re-approval of a project that the board approved back in 2021.
the permits have since expired and we are therefore before you today seeking new permitting for the
identical project since 2021 my client has located some new partners since the first approval was
obtained that should allow him to move forward with the construction of this project following
the board's hopeful re-approval today as you are aware the property is located at 3605 fairmont
avenue in mantua which once again received full support from the mantua civic association
and you should have that letter of support in your file it is up on the screen at exhibit 13.
just to give you some context here as you can see on the zoning map at exhibit six
The property here sits between North 36th Street and North 37th Street on the north side of the block and is zoned RSA3.
You can see this block is somewhat unusual in that it is split down the middle in terms of its zoning classification.
The lot itself is just over 1,500 square feet.
as you can see here in addition to the block itself being split zoned the north side of the
block is split RSA 5 and RSA 3 and then the south side is RSA 5 to give you a little bit of
additional context you can see here at exhibit 7 the nature of this particular block and the
enduring significant vacancy that still exists on this block with only two structures that exist on
the south side of the block and seven structures that exist on the north side of the block now of
those seven structures on the north side two of them are dense multi-family and you can see one
new construction here that was also built by my client and is very similar to what is proposed
today and then another fairly large apartment building here as well and then the next building
next to that is unoccupied and seemingly abandoned i did include some additional photographs in the
exhibits at exhibit 14 to give you a little bit better sense of the property and the conditions
of this particular block so you can see here the first photograph here is of the vacant lot
at 3605 fairmount avenue which is directly next to the left of the two-story home in blue here
to the left of that are several additional vacant lots as well as that abandoned structure that i
pointed to in the aerials moments ago now across the property again the conditions are relatively
relatively consistent here with mostly vacant uh fairly significantly sloped land
now looking up towards north 36th street and again the property is to the left of this image
you'll see that there are generally only two-story homes that exist on the bookends of this
particular block but most of the structures in the middle of the block have been demolished
or replaced with new multifamily dwellings and then this is a fairly similar view again looking
in the opposite direction towards north 37th street where the property is on the right hand
side here and then again looking from north 37th street again you can see the new construction
that my client built at the other end of this block and that larger apartment building that
pointed to in the aerials and then we did also include photographs of our timely posting in
the exhibits as well the zoning site plans
as well the zoning site plans are at exhibit 5a and show that this project proposes as it did in
2021 a three-story structure with four dwelling units ranging from 895 square feet to 990 square
feet which include two bi-level units and again these are the same floor plans up the same zoning
PLANS THAT WERE APPROVED THE LAST TIME AROUND. THE FLOOR PLANS ARE SHOWN AT EXHIBIT 5B.
YOU CAN SEE HERE IN THE DIFFERENT COLORS TO ILLUSTRATE THE DIFFERENT UNIT LAYOUTS,
THERE ARE TWO TWO-BEDROOM, TWO-BATH UNITS, WHICH ARE THE TWO UNITS ON UNIT THREE AND UNIT
four that are both 860 square feet and then there are also two one bedroom uh one and a half bath
units that each occupy a portion of the first floor and a portion of the lower level which is
in this case because of the slope predominantly above grade and then you can see here in the
rendering at exhibit 5c that the structure here just like it was at the other end of this block
was designed to blend to the best of its ability to the adjoining structure to the right in terms
of the front porch the front setback and the overhang awning on that front
now regarding the refusal itself this is somewhat of an unusual refusal for this particular area
because of that rsa3 zoning so as you know the proposal did receive a refusal for the proposed
multifamily use but i want to address the couple of dimensional refusals as well as i think i can
do that relatively quickly as you saw in the zoning map that i brought up on the screen
the block itself is split zoned between rsa3 and rsa5 now from a dimensional perspective
the proposal here as it was in 2021 was designed to substantially comply with the rsa5 dimensional
provisions given that most of the structures on this block conform with the RSA 5 dimensional
standards. In this case, an RSA 3 structure would be quite out of character with this particular
block and would be quite challenging for any form of development to comply with because this lot
is significantly smaller than a typical or contemplated rsa3 lot by code a minimum rsa3
lot is required to be 2250 square feet and 20 feet wide 25 feet wide in this case and with all
OF ITS NEIGHBORS ON THIS BLOCK THE PROPERTY IS ONLY 1593 SQUARE FEET AND 20 FEET WIDE SO IT WOULD
NOT BE FEASIBLE FOR ANY NEW STRUCTURE ON THIS LOT REGARDLESS OF USE TO MEET THE RSA 3 STANDARDS
NOW IN COMPARISON THE MINIMUM LOT SIZE FOR RSA 5 IS 1440 SQUARE FEET SO MUCH MORE IN LINE WITH
with the actual physical conditions of this lot and all of its adjoining neighbors.
Now by way of comparison, with the RSA 3 zoning, as you can see on the refusal, the open area
is required to be 50 percent of the lot, where in this case, 26.25 percent is proposed.
Now if it were RSA 5 or RM 1, 75 percent coverage is permitted.
That is the standard that you typically see with RSA 5 and RM 1. And in this case, 73% is occupied.
So again, just to show you the comparison here that it is designed to be consistent with the
dimensions that would be required for the bulk of this block. Now, just to kind of illustrate the
impact if uh the owner were to comply with the rsa3 provisions they would only be entitled to
build on a footprint of 796 square feet similarly the required rear yard for rsa3 is 20 feet where
nine feet is proposed and then lastly there is a refusal here for insufficient parking which again
is only required in RSA 3. It would not be required for the rest of the block in RSA 5.
Now, providing parking on this lot would not only be impossible, given the limited 20 feet of
would not only be impossible given the limited 20 feet of frontage and the relative lot size but it
would be entirely out of character with this block and this neighborhood in general which does not
typically have driveways or any form of off-street parking now in terms of the multi-family use the
conditions that lead to a hardship in this location have not changed since the original 2021 approval
which I did uh include in the exhibits at exhibit eight and again you can see it is the identical
proposal uh that was approved by the board it was zoned RSA 3 at that time as well
first this block is relatively consistent with uh the relatively mixed character that exists on many
blocks in Mantua which generally have occurred due to the rezoning that occurred in 2017
17 that zoned blocks like this away from their prior rm1 zoning so what you ultimately have
here is a mix of multi-family with some single-family uses uh which again are are predominantly
surrounded by significant vacant land so you can see here at exhibit 9 the large 10-unit building
that i pointed to earlier which is just two doors away uh and then that's directly next to
uh the four unit building here at 3623 fairmont avenue which has actually been constructed since
the board last heard this case in 2021 directly behind at 3608 and 3606 olive street which also
share that rsa3 zoning this board also approved four units on those properties as well
and then less than 200 feet away is a very large apartment complex that you can see
just out of image here which has about 101 units so overall the density that's proposed here is
entirely consistent with all of the surrounding structures and does reflect the density that
would have been allowable under the characteristic uh rm1 zoning finally we submit that these are
the least minimum variances based on the presented design as well as the density that is characteristic
to this particular area which permitting records show are mostly four or more unit dwellings and
you can see here all of the orange and red stars that indicate that we submit that the proposal
will not increase congestion harm neighbors properties or impair light and air and like
i said manchua civic once again supported this as they did the first time around as always i did
provide a full analysis at the memo of law at exhibit 10. at this point i would ask for the
administrator to look for my client Rami Shreim Rami Shreim has been promoted to
panelist hello hi state your name and spell for the stenographer yes it's r-a-m-y last name
shrine s-h-r-a-i-m you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
Counsel?
Rami, were you present and heard all of the testimony and evidence that I offered in front of the board today?
Do you agree that testimony was true and accurate, and would you adopt it as if you had given it to the board yourself?
Happy to answer any questions.
Questions from the board.
the trash that I saw in the rendering is the trash going to be stored outside for all units
or that was just part of the rendering it's just part of the rendering the trash will be stored
interior to the unit and then would be obviously put out for trash day but the trash is not going
to be stored outside right thank you Meredith did you go to the RCO meeting I did not attend
the rco meeting no my my client handles those himself all right okay other questions uh yes
okay so when this was originally approved were there buildings already on the property
no the conditions here are the same that they were in 2021 so nothing here has changed i think the
only thing that has actually changed i think there were a couple of structures maybe to the
i think there were a couple of structures maybe to the left of the property that have since been
left of the property that have since been demolished.
demolished but otherwise nothing has changed and it's the same zoning classification seems
that yeah you can even see that here on the prior permit that was issued you can see zoning district
rsa3 and with respect to the split zoning which has the most part of it uh for this property it's
just rsa3 so that it the property itself is not split zoned the block is split zoned ah okay so
the point is just that there is an unusual condition here where most most of this particular
block is rsa5 so by designing something to comply with rsa3 would not only be impossible for this
lot it would be out of character with the dominant zoning of the block from a dimensional perspective
but since it is a vacant lot you could still do something that's more in line with rsa5
this is consistent with rsa5 the dimensions here are rsa5 compliant the 1500 square feet is the
amount of the lot correct correct and most rsa5s they're 1440 square feet correct correct but this
As you can see from the table here, this occupies less than 75% of the lot, which would be consistent with RSA 5 standards, has a 9-foot rear yard, which would be consistent with RSA 5 standards.
It's 38 feet, which would be consistent with RSA 5 standards, and it has the front setback that RSA 5 would require.
you're saying that the dimensionals are okay correct so if if it were zoned rsa5 like much
of this block that the dimensions are not compliant with the rsa3 but the rsa3 lot
characteristic here is very unusual given the size of lot rsa3 typically applies to lots that
are much larger so that's that's why there's a discrepancy here
Okay. And no parking. Correct. Right. Hmm. Okay. Thank you. And the, and the, and the RSA five, this multifamily is not allowed. Correct. Absolutely. Correct. Okay. Um, so what's the depth of the basement below grade?
believe it's only four feet
rami do you happen to know that and that's in the rear that's a walkout that's a walkout
um a sunken uh um uh area that has is that that are those sliding glass doors there or is that
an egress well in the rear the sorry if if i may answer so the we it's this four feet
marriage was correct um and the um and height of the ceiling is is nine feet total um of which
only four feet are are below um street level okay and is that a walk out sunken sunken uh
area walk out in the front no that from the rendering no on the back it is yes it is a walk
out uh the front because there's the porch um um so yeah it's not a walk out in the front it is a
walk out in the back. Okay. Other questions? Questions from our attorney. No questions at
this time, Mr. Chairman. Questions or comments from the virtual audience? Yes, Chair. I have
a hand up by the name of E-Mean, last name starting with E. I'm going to allow them to speak. Thank you.
hello I could you please state your name is spelled for the stenographer sure my
name is Eman Elkaban EMA and last name e lk a lb a n you swear referring to tell
the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes are you a neighbor yes
please proceed yes so I'm a neighbor nearby and of course you know as we
want to see more development in the neighborhoods rather than just vacant
lots i also you know attended the rco meeting and i was you know informed about the fact that this
was already like approved and really nothing has changed and and i am a fan of seeing change in
the neighborhood and seeing you know more development and less just vacant empty lots
that just kind of attract trouble in my opinion um so yeah i'm in support of this project and i hope
Trouble in my opinion. Um, so yeah, I'm in support of this project and I hope that the, you know, the previously approved permits can be re approved again.
Council, you have any questions? Thank you very much for calling in. Is there anyone else? Thank you.
Yes, chair. I have a hand up by the name of Gwendolyn Morris. I'm going to allow them to speak.
uh could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer my name is g-w-e-n-d-o-l-y-n
last name morris m-o-r-r-i-s i'm a separate firm do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth nothing but the truth i do are you a neighbor i'm a community resident a what
sir a community resident i'm not a neighbor next door all right go ahead please proceed
she's with mantua civic association go ahead sir ma'am i have i have a heavy voice i have a heavy
voice that's okay i just wanted to i just wanted to add a bit to this conversation much like the
young lady before, I am excited about the development that has gone on, and as you know, in Mantua
for many, many years, and the more western part of Mantua, above 30 to 36th Street,
is where much of the vacant land existed and still exists to some extent. So to see development
in that part of this community means that Mantua entirely, because the lower end of Mantua is very,
very different, looks very different than the more Western part of Mantra. So we're really excited
to see development in that area. And we're in full support as a civic association,
as a 50 plus year resident of this community, as a former renter and a homeowner in this community.
I definitely, and I want to stay here or whatever. So again, I think that this also, you know,
encourages some of our younger residents to look at possibly you know remaining here uh that it
won't be and i looked at that particular location at 36 and fairmount i know what was there before
it i thought it was sherwood forest that's how overgrown those lots were in that area
so i am happy and excited uh to see development going on in that part of our community right
So, well, thank you very much for taking the time to to call in. Do you have any questions? Okay. Anyone else in the audience?
No chair, I have no more hands up at this time. Thank you. Planning commission, Michael, with the Philadelphia city planning commission, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing 3 residential single family attached zoning at this location.
The appellant has demonstrated that the dimensional requirements of the district would restrict the buildable area of this property significantly as the property is below.
the rsa3 minimum lot size multi-family use is a common condition in this neighborhood and the
proposed use would not cause undue detriment beyond what might otherwise be expected therefore
the city planning commission recommends the board grant their dimensional variances and the variances
for parking and multi-family household living use thank you very much mi2026 000965
3600 3605 fairmont avenue i vote yes michael johns my vote is yes
cheryl gaston my vote is yes tana graham my vote is yes ryan mcadams my vote is yes
i am when my vote is yes layla bb my vote is yes thanks everyone thank you council
um number five down here
but we're going to take a five-minute break and find alan and sure
oh you could say
MI 2026-000-967-167 West Seymour Street, Allen Ockamson is the attorney.
Allen, is this your first time today?
It is my first time today.
I know you don't like that, but could you please state your name and spell it for the sonographer?
Alan Nockamson, A-L-A-N, Nockamson, N-O-C-H-U-M-S-O-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client and relationship to the property?
Oh, wait, hold on.
He's here.
Yeah, go ahead.
Let me see.
I have my new.
Take your time.
What are we doing with time here?
It's supposed to be 421.
Supposed to be 421.
It's 420.
It's 420.
That means we're going home 8 o'clock.
Did you identify your client?
Yeah, so my client is Ultimate Real Estate Investment LLC.
To my left is Ghazi out of the 7.
its principle. Right. And you have a letter of support with provisos from the 12th Ward Democrats.
Is that correct? I do. I do. And I also believe I have a letter of non-opposition from Solo as well.
Oh, okay. Sure. All right. Our vice chair has a few questions. Good afternoon. Have you submitted
your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing? I have. And do you waive the
reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy? I do. Okay. Thank you. You can share
screen up a seat thank you hold on what i'm doing here sure
all right so we're here to present uh 167 west seymour street uh it's a property at the corner
of seymour and kaiser uh streets as you can see here it's a vacant lot we do not take the full
portion of this vacant area we only take a the more corner portion of it just so the board understands
what we're looking to do here is put a duplex here where you'll have one front door on seymour
once front door on kaiser we'll review 11 exhibits with the board and at the conclusion
of my presentation i would ask that mr out of seven be uh uh sworn in and you know adopt my
testimony uh first thing is is what you're seeing here is the notice of refusal as you can see this
is an RSA 5 property. It's rather large in area of 1124 square feet. You can see also that we have
no dimensional variances. We're only seeking to have multi-unit structure here, which requires
a variance for RSA 5 zoning classification. Again, this is a corner property, not out of character
from a planning perspective to have multi-family or multi-unit on a corner property, and there's
one across the street as well as multi-unit we did meet with the community um there was one person
from the community that showed up who was a nearby neighbor who was in support of this project she
actually commented originally she was upset she was like oh my god you're doing a multi-unit
structure here and when she found out it was only two units because they had another project where
it had five three three five unit project uh properties on her block she was upset with that
project when she saw our project that we're only asking for two she's like oh that's a reasonable
use of the property and so she you know supported that and i have to say that the both community
organizations as well supported with provisos uh some of them are and well there's one that's
enforceable right so do we want the trash inside do we want it outside we have a split decision
here we have the 12th democratic ward or 12th ward democratic committee that believes that the trash
should be stored outside we're a corner property we embrace that we actually showed that as our
part of our presentation you know that's their that's their policy to store it outside when
necessary or when possible the solo organization who also sent us and this is their letter of
support for uh 12th ward democratic committee the solo organization on the other hand wants to trash
stored inside i defer to the board all i would say is this um when you have a corner property
take advantage of the fact that you can store the trash outside in a responsible manner
you know for myself today is wednesday so it's trash day for me and you know we have a breezeway
we store it outside to force us to like actually store the trash inside you know there was a whole
discussion about rats and that you always find a way to work your way into the well it's the
scenario well it's practical it's but it's a practical thing right i mean so where do you
notice how you work your way into something i try the corner exactly a doggy daycare walks
best there every day you know i do hey if ian's on if he ends on the on the online once in a while
not this weather i live in fairmont i'll walk into the office and i'll pass by this building
and ian told me one day like not dressed up but just and he was like surprised but you know i do
do a lot of walking i try to be a man of philadelphia and i also try to be to be practical
and so the question is do you store the trash inside and outside you have two groups one wants
an inside one wants an outside and you know there was a discussion like well what's going to happen
with the rodents and and and things like that which is practical right like and and you know
cheryl smith of the 12th democratic wards like i want my rodents outside i don't want them inside
And solo, we're like, no, no question about rodents, but we want the trash stored inside.
We're like, no, we, and no question about rodents, but we want the trash stored inside. So you have to decide. So anyway, here's Solo's thing. And then he asked for other things. Like Solo was like, we don't want outside mailboxes. Well, we're going to have two doors. So don't worry about outside mailboxes. It's not a forcible proviso, but we're going to have mail slots, right? You know, for each door. So for mail, I'm just saying, you know, that's a practical solution.
we have revised plans here the other uh thing that you know we're very mindful of is about
having like egress for the lower level unit we do want basement use um you know for living in the
basement uh we provided not just we did the egress walkout and i think illustratively you'll see the
difference oops and then it's not out of character to have multi-family with uh rsa5 zoning and
we're only asking for two. Again, there are multiple instances of three plus 4907 Knox
is three, 4903 Knox is four, 4905 Knox is three, 175 West Seymour Street is two, West
51 West Logan Street is three. You get the picture. It's like a lot. And there's a lot
more addresses on Seymour Street that we include as part of our presentation. Again, we're
corner property again from a planning perspective usually you have multi-unit there whether it's
mixed use or just straight residential that's the question we also have a mix of zoning
classifications here cmx two and a half we also have rm1 so again you would expect to have some
type of density here to help support some commercial corridor here photographs of the
property again this is a lot that was not taken care of well like my client has tried their best
There was a discussion during the community meeting about trying to do a better effort of that.
So, like, we really are trying to make this an anti-dump site by developing it, because that's been an issue.
But we've tried really hard, and we've made a commitment, and we're going to continue making a commitment to do that.
This property has been the vacant lot since 2008, as you can see from Google Street View.
Proof of posting for today's hearing on both public streets.
This is 167 West Seymour Street from Kaiser Street.
west seymour street to the right of the property from the right of the property from west seymour
to uh you know i guess right and right but uh kaiser street to the left of the property
kaiser street to the right of the property our plans and drawings so this is a porch neighborhood
so we're respecting respecting the architectural integrity of the neighborhood by putting a porch
here with a bay window of that's curved that would be more in line with what you would see in this
neighborhood the porch kind of mimics the porches nearby you also have a cornice line you have
lentils you see you have the two doors we put a little bit stone component and a brick component
to kind of have a mix of materials have a little architectural interesting detail you also see
there's a ton of windows uh you know in the lower level we're four feet above ground five feet below
ground in the lower level and then you can see well actually i thought we oh well we had the
area i thought of rendering where we would store like the trash back there so maybe we don't but
what was important to the community was to show responsible use of the basement so again we have
a walk out here with sliding glass doors and there is a ladder here well it's just not wide enough
for us to do like a physical step walk out we have a ladder here but it gives it makes it very safe
this is not an egress well so we're very mindful of the board's position regarding this and then
just in terms of floor plans uh you just walk into depending on the unit unit number one is on
kaiser street direct access it's a one bedroom one bath you have a living room a kitchen a bathroom
a bedroom lots of light and air with all the windows down there you go down the flight of
steps there's a lower level and then here's the egress walkout but you see there are windows
interspersed throughout as well for the lower level and we are deep enough out of the ground
to kind of give that light in there and I know the board you know finds important instead of
unit number one which has one entrance we go to unit number two which is a separate entrance on
Seymour Street this is a three bedroom three bath again open floor plan lots of light in there with
all the windows there's a living room kitchen bathroom bedroom then you have to and there's
bi-level as well. You have two bedrooms and a bathroom. And again, we would prefer to have the
trash stored outside. That's how we designed it. But if the board feels so inclined, we would put
a ventilated trash closet on, you know, unit number two. And then there's a roof deck access
structure. So each party has a small outdoor area. Unit number two is the roof. Unit number one is
the outdoor area. And then we met with the community on July 7th. Actually, this was the
second meeting the first meeting no one showed up so we're lucky to get one person here and
from my you know feelings is this if it's a controversial project people will show up
you know feelings is this if it's a controversial project people will show up if it's not controversial
if it's not controversial
no one will show up and so here we had one person show up a little nervous at the beginning because
she was against it and then when we kind of went through the project i think she understood this
was a reasonable use of the property and i don't know if cheryl smith or allison weiss who are the
representatives of these the rcos were there online i'm sure they are they'll kind of verify
what i'm saying oh and then the other thing is we made a point of like putting in our
mailer like on the outside saying this is to community members important community information
this is not junk mail it affects your neighborhood please do not discard without reading that's been
a problem with a lot of the communities so and we are more than welcome welcoming of modifying our
materials to make sure there's many people show up to the community meetings uh this is again this is
a little bit before you know joe cleaned up the yard but they also wanted a picture to show proof
of posting for the community meeting not just for the hearing itself and we sent
that community meeting notice to can't read it down here 116 addresses these
are the addresses we sent it to proof of mailing to those addresses our
application for zoning variance our deed to the property showing that ultimate
real estate investment LLC is the owner of the property and Joe is its member
and our Certificate of Tax Clearance.
So, that being said, I would stop sharing my screen for a moment,
and then we can always go back.
And I would ask that Mr. Ades...
If you please, sir, state your name and spell for the stenographer.
My name is Gazi Ataseven.
G-A-Z-I-A-T-A-S-E-V-E-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Counsel?
Gazi, you heard everything I had to state today about your zoning matter.
Yes, I did.
And is it true and correct?
Yes, correct.
And do you adopt this as your own testimony?
absolutely and whatever the board decides in terms of where the trash is stored you would abide
by whatever proviso they have i will thank you questions from the board
so for that unit two where when you say the trash will be stored outside that would be on the roof
deck no if we have outdoors if we have trash there's the outdoor backyard there will be a
separate like so if you think of the back let me go here and i thought we had but nobody nobody's
from nobody from that second floor unit is going to walk around a corner to put trash in the yard
there's just it doesn't that doesn't that's not like logical
i know if you live if you live on the second floor well because you walk in the neighborhood but no
the typical person is not going to come out their front door go around the house go to the back and
put their trash that's just like so i hear what the board's saying and again then i think i hear
the board's going to say in terms of proviso so we'll put the trash you know in their ventilated
trash closet where we have room in in the kitchen area okay other questions so the basement within
the basement for that first floor unit is going to be used for what it's just an open floor area
it's just it's just open floor area a lot of people work from home like you know and they
want just a separate area to do things um and i think it's just a lot and you can have it as a
family room down there you can have it as a secondary living area of some sort just it gives
a lot of options optionality a lot lot for one bedroom yeah i mean you also have a lot of stuff
people have stuff and they're they need to put that stuff somewhere questions from our attorney
no questions at this questions or comments from the virtual audience or the audience here
yes chair i have two hands up first hand is from allison weiss i'm going to allow them to speak
hi allison thank you hi could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
allison a double l i s o n twice w e i s s you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth yes please please start your testimony yes um we did send a letter um
and we also asked the um applicant owner of the property to consider switching the three bedroom
unit to the first to the lower floors so that a family could have access to the rear yard as
opposed to the family having access to the roof deck because we felt it was um a better opportunity
for the children to play safely outside instead of on the roof and we were i don't believe aware of
living space in the basement at the meeting so that um is of concern but again we would prefer
that the three-bedroom unit be upstairs and the single-person unit be upstairs.
three bedroom unit be upstairs and the single person unit down the one bedroom unit excuse me
downstairs um mr chair we do have the one bedroom unit downstairs i think i think she
i'm sorry i meant the that's okay single on the rooftop we we hear you yeah and mr chair we this
is the first i'm hearing about the switch in terms of unit configuration i honestly do not remember
and ask of us to put the three bedroom downstairs um yeah i don't remember that and we did show
living in the basement you know and i make a big deal of this anything we show the community we
show we tell the community we're showing the board unless there's modifications and then we tell the
board that i mean the other hand please yes chair i have a hand up by the name of cheryl smith i'm
wanted to allow them to speak. And this is the last hand. Thank you. Good afternoon. Hi. Could
you please state your name and spell for this photographer? Cheryl Smith, C-H-E-R-Y-L, Smith,
S-M-I-T-H. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
I do. Are you a neighbor? I'm representative 12th Ward RCO. I wrote the letter. Very good. Thank
you um i agree with allison um the living space in the basement and that butt out where the
in the drawing that the person was standing was not presented to us um so we he did um
allen did talk about you know using the bottom or the lower level or the basement for like um
office space or something like that but no you know we never talked about it being a living space
in fact we were you know adamant that it not be um well not for bedrooms anyway or anything like
that and um so that that wasn't discussed i agree with the um the um the member who's just said that
you know nobody's going to walk around the front to take their trash to the back um um so um and
And somebody else mentioned about it being stored up on, you know, if it was going to be put up on the, you know, on the roof deck until I guess trash goes out.
Either way, we would like it to be outside.
So I guess it's going to change with the person living there.
And it was never mentioned during my meeting about switching the apartments from third floor.
I mean, you know, double apartment downstairs and single apartment upstairs.
But, you know, that's going to be a logistical thing. But that outside small area in the back, that was never that was never shown to us or even mentioned.
and mr true actually i am thinking about it we may not have i just want to be factually accurate
thinking about it maybe we did not show that that's why we did the revised plans
but but but i wanted to make sure because understanding that we do want to have lower
level living and we did explain to the community i did do that that we wanted to have lower level
living not bedrooms down there but lower level living okay all right thank you uh any other hands
there are no more hands at this time chair any commission michael gall with the philadelphia
city planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing rsa5
residential single family attached zoning at this location while the property does have a documented
history of use as a three unit residential building that building was demolished there
are several examples of two family use on this block face therefore the city planning commission
recommends the board grant the requested variance for two family household living use
MI 2026-000-967-167-West Seymour Street. I vote yes with proviso. Revised plans, one page,
stamped by ZBA, July 15, 2026. Trash to be stored inside. Michael Johns, my vote is yes with proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with proviso. Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes with proviso.
ryan mcadams my vote is yes with proviso kaya wynn my vote is yes with proviso
leila beebe my vote is yes with proviso thank you thank you i'm still here yeah okay
number six mi2026 000 969 931 north american street alan knockamson is the attorney
Mr. Nockamson you've been sworn in please just state your name Alan Nockamson and Mr. Nockamson
And Mr. Nockamson, could you identify your client in relationship to this property?
could you identify your client in relationship to this property uh yeah so
Yeah, so my clients are Dahlia and Lerachmiel Daskal, and with me is their daughter, Leigh Moore.
Okay. Our vice chair has a few questions.
Thank you.
Good afternoon. Have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, we have.
And do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Thank you. You can show your screen and proceed with your case. Thank you.
Hi, so we have a single family home on the corner and we have refusals not having to deal with density.
There are some technical refusals regarding the height of the fence, which is not really a fence,
and also the rear yard depth where really we are in conformance and so we'll talk about that.
We have 11 exhibits and at the conclusion of my presentation, I would just ask that Lee Moore be sworn in
and I have a couple questions for her.
So, this is an RSA 5 property.
Lee Moore tends to live here with her parents and, you know, again, they have two accessory parking spots.
We're not taking any public parking away from the street here.
It's a good responsible use.
we're more than 65 feet away from the corner so we're not having to have it as a traffic hazard
of any sort but the two refusals are these and you'll see from the from the rendering and the
drawings um but technically they're showing that our fence which is not really a fence is uh 10
feet high which you know so we're only allowed four feet and then you know we're allowed rear
yard setback of nine feet so first we're uh in a regular shape lot but we're not really uh we
We really do have a rear yard. It's just parking there and you'll see it's a parking pad. That's kind of covered around the sides, not at the top.
So we met with the community, the Northern liberties, neighbors association. It was a well attended meeting. I think Alex told me it was like 6 to 12 neighbors, very sophisticated group memberships, very sophisticated within that community.
they voted in support of this project so again i don't think we are a non-conforming rear yard
but let's look at other non-conforming rear yards nearby there is a lot of them so i just wanted to
show that that we're not out of character to have that such a non-conformity and then you can see
an aerial view of the property so the people that would be most directly impacted by our building
structure lower level building structure here for our parking pads um is 933 and 951 you can see
that their their living space is 933 doesn't go that far back nine and same thing for 935 and
there's a ton of trees back there anyway so no one's going back there as as deep as we're going
anyway so we're not really taking away anyone's light in there and then maps of the area again
this is just a single-family structure. Also, I just want to point out there's a 10-foot alley,
so we have an artificial rear yard that you can argue that we're leveraging with that 10-foot
alley that's directly behind us. And then photographs of the property,
we're taking this structure, which is technically an RSA 5 property, and making it more in conformance
with the code to have a single-family house where Leigh Moore would be living with her parents.
so it's from laurel street as well as i showed you from north american street this is north
american street to the right of the property to the left of the property you can see there's you
know you know parking here as well i think our parking is a little bit more responsible laurel
street to the right of the property until after the property this is proof of posting from both
public streets our plans and drawings so a couple things here just going to focus on here this is
our parking pad here where you see that really we have an open area of 10 and a half feet but we
have a parking pad so we're considered as occupied area um there's the 10 foot uh alley behind us
which is the artificial rear yard setback 20 foot uh curb cut for these two car garage
and again we're not taking any public parking away from the street
like this there's no parking allowed on that side of the street
Again, very interesting architectural design. This is with ISA Architects. They have a more interesting, unique feel. And while it's not traditional, it definitely is something that, as a corner property, it makes it a little bit more attractive, especially in comparison to what is currently there.
this is what we're talking about these are the two parking spots this is the one story structure
where again we have it's see-through right it's a roll-up gate and oops sorry get down sorry
oops sorry get down sorry it's my my billing system and and see-through and
then it's while you see this as the fence area it's just it's just built out
like as as a structure but it has an open top it has open frontage it's
supposed to have light in there and again not really directly impacting you
seen this rendering well i don't think it's an accurate depiction of it there's some large trees
on these other lots so we're not taking anyone's light in there because they're not using that part
of of their lot we know the other neighbors knew of the of of our project they did not show up to
the community meeting and we have no inclination that they're against this project um i don't know
if we have an inclination that they're for this project but definitely not against this project
and then you can just see here the two-car garage um you know that's you know and you know you come
in through north american street uh there's a little flex area uh and uh what's it called
there's actually an elevator here because you know the moore's parents are a little bit older so they
you know need to be able to get up this you know get up you know the steps and um then there is
the hold on i know we have a oh here's the floor plans actually sorry so let's see so the floor
plans are this uh you you walk in you have a little guest suite here you have a little kitchen
here you have an elevator you have a coat closet you got 4a you got two parking spaces you go up
to the second floor you have a kitchenette area you have a living room again you have a little
The Paris area, and then there's there's 2 bedrooms and the study.
Oops. We met with the community on May 4th at 6 30 PM.
We emailed that notice a few weeks beforehand, which is our policy to make sure that the the community groups have noticed that we actually mailed a notice and proof of that notice.
we sent it to 129 addresses these are the addresses we sent it to proof of mailing to
those addresses our application for zoning variance our notice refusal which was included
with that our project information form the deed to the property showing that my clients own it in
their personal capacity they're not developers they just want to live there with their daughter
and finally certificate of tax clearance i'll stop sharing my screen i'll ask that the board
swear in could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
lemur desk al spell it for you yeah l-e-e-m-o-r last name is d like in david a-s-k-a-l right do
you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes counsel so lemur
you heard everything i had to state today about your zoning matter yes is it true and correct yes
and do you adopt as your own testimony yes thank you questions from the board
yes um my question is okay there are two refusals so the one uh the accessory parking space
is located in the required rear yard so where is that on this
Let me re-share my screen and kind of get through that.
I'm going to go to the site plan, which will show that.
Yeah, it doesn't show how much of an encroachment, but it's...
Yeah, well, actually, you know what?
There was floor plans, too.
Hold on.
Oh, here's the floor plans.
I always have the site plan, but do you see this where I'm circling?
If you can make it a little bit bigger, I might be able to see it.
All right.
And then I actually can show you the site plan where we're really 10 and a half feet set back with this, like this one.
If you want me to show you that, too.
All right.
Oh, here it is.
There's a tent.
Gotcha.
all the questions no the other question so that's okay um when you were showing the this
fence as they're calling it do you mean the front part where it's like open air yes yeah
can we see that oh yeah yeah and i think i had pictures to show and i i skipped over it but i
have pictures of other similar type of properties like this but this is basically and i have the
architect sarah wolf to answer any technical so it's like a it's like a mesh right yeah i don't
know about mesh it's like metal like that's the way it looks here it looks like a well a metal
well a metal yeah yeah exactly but it's light light in there you can see through in it and
myth yeah yeah exactly but it's light in there you can see through
like i said i had a picture somewhere in my presentation materials i know when i was
prepping i saw that and there's other examples exactly like what we're doing in terms of having
a more brick facade and having this type of mesh so then this is being considered as a fence yes
is that what they're calling that's the refusal it says fencing and walls
And they're saying it should be only four feet.
That's correct.
I mean, it says, well, it's at any fence located nearer to the lot line than the required building setback or the actual distance of the building from the lot line, whichever is greater, shall be no more than four feet in height and no more than 50% opaque.
I think we have the opaqueness.
I think that the issue is the fence.
That's their interpretation.
I mean is this like a garage like door and it's a roll up but but there's no we have no roof it's it's open air so I think that maybe they're contributing that as that's why it's considered quote unquote offense.
I think Council the plans that you submitted it looks different the actual not this but if you look at the plans it looks like a gate or something.
okay that's why okay because we looked at this also and we were confused because this looks
different than right i think will be submitted that's okay yeah i i it appeared like it was
a garage sort of door yeah and we at we did ask um miss emerson if if we would also run afoul of
occupied area i don't know if that is the case it looks like no because we don't think so
I can address that. If you're going to raise that, any missed refusals are incorporated in whatever the board is going to do.
I always put it on the record just to make sure. We're just questioning that. If that was another refusal that may have been missed, just maybe.
But again, not out of character to have this type of mesh, type of roll-up gate with a brick facade of this sort.
it's architecturally interesting we're not causing any issues with anyone's light in there
because of the next door neighbors or deep lots okay all right thank you all the questions from
the board questions from our attorney none at this time questions or comments from the virtual
audience or the present audience here i see no hands at this time chair planning commission
michael gall with the philadelphia city planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no
change to the existing rsa5 residential single family attached zoning at this location no other
homes on this block or on any adjacent blocks have off-street parking allowances in their required
rear yard nor do any have fences of this scale so this proposal is out of character with local
surroundings there is no unique circumstance or physical condition of the property that would
prevent it from being used in strict conformance with the zoning code therefore the city planning
commission recommends the board deny the requested variances for corner lot side fence setback
and rear yard depth.
MI 2026-000-969-931 North American Street.
I vote yes.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Snetta Graham, my vote is yes.
Jim McAdams, my vote is yes.
Iowan, my vote is yes.
Layla Bibi, my vote is yes.
Alan, thank you.
You have one more, but there's a few in between.
Awesome, thank you.
um number eight mi 20 26 000 984 427 manton street michael mackalhattan
daniel mackalhattan is the attorney michael's my brother yeah that was it yeah get out of here
good afternoon mr chair can i can anybody help me with this a little bit
i haven't i have not used this system before so i just want to put this up okay
i have not no i didn't
Mr. Chair, if you want to state your name and spell for the stenographer.
Daniel P. McElhatton, MC, capital E-L.
Daniel P. McElhatton, M-C, capital E-L-H-A-T-T-O-N.
You swear or firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do, sir.
Would you identify your client and a relationship to this property?
My client is Vincent Manzo and his son, Vincent Manzo, and his mother, Vincent Sr.'s wife, Teresa.
And they are the owners of the property, title owners to the property, and developers.
And while we're working on that, our voice share has a few questions.
good afternoon have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing
we have okay and do you waive the reading of the refusal to stipulate to its accuracy
i do so waive and stipulate okay thank you you can share your screen whenever you're ready
and uh begin your case and i'll i'll start by just describing what the intention is here
the manzos have developed two other properties on the 400 block of manton street
they have been on the even side of the street which has parking on it they required no variances
this is on the odd side of the street and there is no parking on the odd side there is parking
on the even side so the refusals were for the this is for a single family dwelling
three-story and parking in a garage that accesses from the street the the parking would not
interfere with the on-street parking, because that's on the other side.
Why don't you tell us about the RCO?
We had a meeting with the RCO on a cold and rainy night.
It was the Dickinson Square West Civic Association.
And after our presentation, they approved...
They took a vote and they approved our application, and I think they've submitted that proof to the zoning board.
And I apologize about not having been on the Zoom before we came aboard.
I think we're getting there.
And I really just want to show the property.
And if I can get that on.
Apparently, it is a vacant lot.
And, Chair, this is what it looks like so we're not holding everybody else up.
um how to this was submitted in the packet of materials that were supplied why don't we do this
why don't we see if we do is there a problem with the computer no it's problem was that i hadn't
logged on to the zoom it's the first time i've used the here it is here it is it's coming here
you go you're up see look up look from front yeah yep that's not what we want yet all right
That's all it's going to be.
There it is.
Eureka.
There you go.
It's not as exciting as Mr. Nockamson talking about the mice and the rodents, but I was enthralled.
I walked in, I thought, geez, this is exciting stuff.
We have all the documents.
so why don't you just concentrate on property what it looks like and also uh the how the how
the garage will work okay the garage will enter from manton street it will be a turn-in there's
no obstruction by cars being on that side of the street do we have that approved yet by the streets
department yes yes it was okay keep wanting to show us all your photos yep these are more photos of
the area. It's a nice street and they intend to enhance it and enhance the
neighborhood. So do you have a rendering of the house with the garage? I believe
Alex Duller is the architect. He should be online. Okay. I would ask Alex to. Why
why don't we bring alex on alex
we bring alex on alex
college doular has been promoted to penalist thank you
hello everyone hey alex could you please state your name is spelled for the sonographer
my name is alex dollar a-l-e-x d as in david u-l-l-e-r do you swear or affirm to tell
truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do show us a rendering of the of a rent a rendering
of the uh property with the garage and also maybe if you have a a turning radio radius i am pulling
that up right now someone else is sharing uh
i have dan dan needs to stop sharing yeah damn what are you stopping i'm sharing yours there you go
come on zoom let me share
okay here it's coming all right so here here is a rendering of what we are asking for
um basically there's a new single family house on the left uh four properties down there was
another property that was approved by the zoning board a few years back um another lot that was
joined and has a garage except i believe that building's a duplex instead of a single family
home basically our house is proposed house is here with a garage our turning radius is right here
zoom windows in front of all my controls but zoom in here
so our turning radius was approved by streets
and as dan pointed out there is no parking on this side of the street
so we would be actually be adding two parking spaces to the neighborhood
instead of taking away any parking spaces
and we are proposing a nice single-family home so the first floor has the entry the two-car garage
we would come upstairs to a full living level kitchen living room dining room a large pantry
powder room architectural feature we have an opening kind of down to the first floor
so that we kind of make that connection to the entry vestibule.
We go upstairs, and we have three bedrooms.
And then we go up, and we are actually proposing a fourth floor.
We set that fourth floor back so that we did not, you know,
basically impose upon all of the other neighbors and neighborhood.
and on that floor we have a large master suite and then go up to a pilot house
any other questions i can answer gladly do so section basically small little deck off of the
kitchen living pilot house all right questions from the board while the architects will hear
questions from our attorney
um mr chairman i don't think he's uh the um applicant has adopted the test okay
sorry you're right go ahead just commands thank you you've been here during the testimony that
i've given that that alex feller has given uh have you been present at that time well could
you first state your name and spell the first doctor vincent manzo v-i-n-c-e-n-t manzo m-a-n-z-o
right do you swear or firm to tell the truth told you it's nothing but true i do sir go ahead
council and do you adopt testimonies given by me and by mr dollar as your own i do all right now
Council no questions questions or comments from the virtual audience or the audience here
No questions questions or comments from the virtual audience or the audience here.
I have no hands up at this time to.
Planning Commission Michael Gall with the Philadelphia City Planning Commission. The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing RSA 5 residential single family attached zoning at this location. The maximum height exceedance being requested is de minimis from the code standard.
however there is no unique circumstances or physical condition of the property that would
prevent it from being used in strict conformance with the zoning code therefore the city planning
commission recommends the board grant the proposed variance to maximum height but deny the requested
variance for off-street parking allowance mi 2026 000 984 427 man street i vote yes
michael johns i vote yes cheryl gaston my vote is yes tenetta graham my vote is yes
my mcadams my vote is yes i am when my vote is yes layla bb my vote is yes
thank you mr chair that'll complete my business may i be excused sure thank you very much thank
you thank you great thank you um mr knockamson
mr knockamson out there yeah you could you
you didn't walk out to 42nd street did you no i was
mi 2024-001-254-1109 north 42nd street alan knockamson is the attorney mr knockamson you've
already been sworn just for the record please state your name alan knockamson mr knockamson
could you identify your client a relationship to the property mr mr gazi out of seven and our
vice chair has a few questions for you good afternoon have you submitted your documents
sentence it's five days in advance of this hearing I have and do you waive
the read another refusal and stipulate to its accuracy I do all right thank you
you can share your screen to proceed with the case
all right so similar to the other project I presented with mr. out of seven
and by the way I don't think I properly introduced mr. out of seven he's an
affordable housing developer he that's his business model so he does you know
he takes vouchers he's PHA certified landlord here a lot of times lately he
has but we've been representing Gazi for more than a decade okay and he does a
really good work and you know not only is he a developer he's also a licensed
general contractor and he's a real estate broker as well so there's a lot
in the city and you know good work so we'll review the oh you gotta move this
thing what's going on here I don't know what's going on here with this thing but
we'll how about this we'll continue just blocking my screen for some reason kind of push this down
all right i'm gonna stop sharing my oh wait there it goes i think it disappeared all right uh we
have an rsa5 property um with a significant lot size um we met with the community we got their
support um you know there was another uh lot that we were also presenting in front of them
they supported this one they didn't support the other one we're working with them on that
ALONG WITH A COMMUNITY BENEFITS AGREEMENT SO YOU KNOW ANY COMMUNITY THAT GAZI WORKS IN
HE TRIES TO WORK WITH THE COMMUNITY IN TERMS OF COMMUNITY BENEFITS AGREEMENT WHETHER OR NOT
THEY REQUEST IT LIKE HE DOES BELIEVE IN A TWO-WAY STREET SO HERE YOU KNOW HE DID GET FULL SUPPORT
EVEN WITHOUT MENTIONING THE COMMUNITY BENEFITS AGREEMENT AND YOU KNOW WE'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO
HOPEFULLY WORKING WITH CENTENNIAL PARKSIDE ON THAT OTHER PROJECT WITH THE COMMUNITY BENEFIT
agreement that's comprehensive so as you can see here it was overwhelming support the board itself
voted two in support zero opposed the community voted foreign support and foreign non-opposition
uh we did increase the ceiling height in the basement so that's the one modification we made
from the community meeting they supported it without it um actually my notes are back there
but we need it we are five and a half feet into the ground three and a half feet above ground
on the first floor so it's also not out of character to have multi-family nearby
so 4137 west gerard avenue we're you know have three units which we're requesting
we have six units at 4141 West Gerard we have three units 4129 West Gerard which we're
neighboring we're next door to 4131 West Gerard three units and then 4143 West Gerard four units
And then 4143 West Girard, four units.
and then 41
And then 4145 West Girard, six units.
You get the picture.
So we're near 4106 Cambridge Street.
The 2035 plan, I actually didn't realize we're going to have soon a 2050 plan soon,
but the 2035 plan proposes that this is an RM1 property.
If this was an RM1 property, this project as a triplex would be allowed as of right.
and you can see here we have mixed zoning we're not that far from gerard avenue we actually abut
rm1 properties there's some i2 there's some cmx2 and there's a lot of vacant properties nearby
us we're hoping to spur economic development and real estate development by building what
we're proposing to build again we're also near some public transportation the trolley and stuff
like that on gerard avenue and then photographs of the property this is the front of the property
This property has been a vacant lot for over 15 years, according to Google Street View.
This is proof of posting for today's hearing.
This is North 42nd Street to the right of the property and to the left of the property.
So while it's not 100% a porch neighborhood, we know it's important to many of the residents in this neighborhood that the porches remain and increase in population.
So we want to respect the architectural integrity of the neighborhood by mimicking it.
And that's what we did here.
So you can see here we have a porch area, brick facade, flat, lentils, cornice line.
We really did try to mimic the architecture because we know that's important to the community.
And, you know, we showed, you know, how far we are out of the ground.
um we have unit number one which come off the porch you come in here it's a one bedroom one
bath window kitchen living room bedroom bath we have an egress well coming out of here as you can
see we have a lower level which is an open floor plan where the washer and dryer is instead of
going to unit number one you go up another flight of steps that's unit number two which is two
two-bedroom, two-bath, bedroom, bathroom, living room, kitchen, bedroom.
This trash would be, as a proviso, trash would be stored inside for Units 2 and 3
and in the rear yard for Unit 1.
And then for Unit 3, it's also a two-bedroom, two-bath, bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, living room,
bedroom, bathroom.
Each of the units have washer and dryers in them.
So this is a well-attended meeting, as you can see from the vote.
Oops, trying to get this. We met on April 23rd at 6 p.m. And like I said, they weren't just voting for everything, yes.
You know, they thought that this was an appropriate use.
One of the issues was that we did not think that another portion of the neighborhood had porches nearby.
So we weren't mimicking like having porches. So that was upsetting to them.
That's why we had to represent. And, you know, for that other portion, they were also upset about the density.
here they weren't upset about the density so we met uh with you know we notified 94 properties of
that community meeting the list of the properties proof of mailing to those properties or application
for zoning variance along with the notice refusal in the project information form our deed to
property showing that crest line real estate and development llc is the owner of the property
and then finally our certificate of tax clearance uh that payment was recently just made and just
to show proof of that i would ask that mr uh uh out of seven be sworn in i'm going to swim in one
minute uh council uh did we hear revised plans from him yeah oh yeah notice when you jumped up
that's my fault maybe i'm showing the wrong version because i know it was just sent
okay okay all right just state your name because you've already been sworn yes sir
Gazi at the 7, G-A-Z-I-A-T-A-S-E-V-E-N.
All right, counsel?
Yes, Gazi, you heard everything I had to state today.
Yes, I did.
Is it true and correct?
Yes, correct.
And do you adopt as your own testimony?
Yes, I do.
Specifically about the proviso that trash would be stored inside, you have no objection to that?
Absolutely.
Thank you.
And I do think I actually did show the revised plans in my presentation to come to think about it.
Yeah, that's why we...
What you changed it said was increased basement ceiling height.
That's right.
We went deeper into the basement.
Actually, I think we went a little deeper into the basement just to create a better height.
It's like nine feet now, three and a half above, five and a half below.
So that would give you around eight feet, eight and a half feet total.
So that would give you around eight feet, eight and a half feet total.
Questions from the board?
Let's see what happens with the revised plan, and then I'll move on.
I'm sorry, I said it.
I'm going to see where they stand with the revised plan.
Okay, I'm waiting.
I'm waiting.
I can't do nothing else but wait.
Well, everybody had a question.
So can you, everyone goes to that one door?
That is correct.
It's, yes.
So they'll get their mail at that one door?
I would recommend that we have three mail slots.
Not mail slots.
three you know slots outside exterior slots
i'll i'll while we're waiting out i'll channel tyo where are you what are you doing with the uh
people get deliveries from amazon etc is there a space dedicated a lot of units in this building
i'm going to introduce my own personal experiences living in fairmont
yeah that that you know unfortunately you you gotta run to the door um but that's that's what
we do and you know we find that that works because of how like things you can track packages
it's just living in the city when if we could just i think michael did that on purpose just
to hear you say something but it's true we run we run to the door what you do is you have packages
We can go forward if you want. Okay, we just we don't have to worry about. No, we do. We're gonna there should be a proviso revised plans. 1 page stamped by Zba on 7, 15 July 15, 2026.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
no chair i see no hands at this commission michael gall with the philadelphia city planning
commission the comprehensive plan recommended no change to the previous rm1 residential multi-family
zoning at this location however in 2017 this block was remapped to rsa 5 residential single
family attached to the council supported action under the district plan recommended rm1 zoning
the proposal would be permitted by right therefore the city planning commission recommends the board
grant the requested variance for multifamily household living use with a count of three
residential units. MI 2026 001 254 1109 North 42nd Street. I vote yes with proviso. Trash
stored inside. Also revised plans one page stamped by ZBA 71526. Michael Johns. My vote
is yes with proviso. Cheryl Gaston. My vote is yes with proviso. Tanetta Graham. My vote
is yes with provisos ryan mcadams my vote is yes with proviso i win my vote is yes with proviso
layla bb my vote is yes with proviso thank you thank you have a great night um
mi 2026 001 549 3900 west gerard avenue
So, so before I swear you in, uh, I don't know if you were here when I talked about
the timelines. Okay. So. We're scheduled right now that our last case is going to be at 7
30 to start. Okay. So what we're doing is we're giving everybody a half hour. Yeah.
Right? Now, you know, there's trees you have put here a lot of information. We don't want you to shortchange your client.
If we get to the point we get much past a half hour, what I'm going to have to do is give you a resumptive here.
We're going to get it done in half an hour.
Absolutely.
A lot of people have said that.
If I don't get it done in half an hour, I'm not going to make it out of here.
Right. Please state your name and spell for this amount for a council.
Yes. Good afternoon, members of the board. Brett Feldman, 1835 Market Street, D-R-E-T-T-F-E-L-D-M-A-N, with my co-counsel, Andrea Salomon.
Right. Why don't you state your name, too?
Andrea Salomon, A-N-D-R-E-A-S-A-L-O-M-O-N.
Do you both swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
We do.
And could you identify your client, their relationship to this property?
Sure. We represent PTTI.
sure uh we represent um ptti um the philadelphia technician training institute ptti and its ceo
and founder mr sherman mcleod okay my left all right we'll swear him in later okay vice chair
has a few questions for you good afternoon have you submitted your documents and exhibits five
days in advance of this hearing we have okay and you have several use refusals as well as owner
refusal so do you wait to read another refusal specifically to the accuracy yes yeah you only
got 30 minutes so say yes all right yes thank you show your screen and proceed with the case okay
great i can i can start yeah give us a general absolutely uh may i please the board again my name
is Brett Feldman, 1835 Market Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Along with my colleague, co-counsel
Andrea Salman, we are really proud today to be representing the Philadelphia Technician
Training Institute, PTTI, that is the zoning applicant. They're also the owner, equitable,
owner of nine properties that are at issue today that are on the 3900 block of Girard
Avenue in Cambridge Street. PTTI seeks use and dimensional variance relief to permit
the relocation of these nine lots to one lot for the construction and operation of a new
four-story post high school vocational technical training school that will also include
include on-site commissary and cafeteria for students perhaps the community as well as
accessory signs in an accessory surface parking lot PTTI has worked tirelessly to acquire these
nine properties six of them are owned by PTTI the other three we have went through closely with the
land bank and we've acquired three of those properties through that we we have almost acquired
now the three properties from the land bank we um were approved by the land bank board city council
and uh waiting on a closing subject to uh zoning relief um and again this is for the construction
of this of this school um you know for the record based on the unique characteristics of the property
and the substantial public benefits associated with the proposed development the requested
relief satisfies standards for both use and dimensional variances under the Philadelphia
zoning code. Turning to the exhibits, we've passed up exhibits 1 through 17, which I'd
asked be incorporated into the record. We're going to go through a lot of those, but just
briefly, we have a lot of information about PTTI, what services, what skills it provides,
what courses of education. We have property photos. We have really strong letters of support
from District Councilperson, Jimmy Gauthier, both at the land bank. So we had to go through
the whole land bank approval process. And now for this zoning approval process, we have a letter from Centennial Parkside, which was, I think, the RCO in the last case, a unanimous letter of support, very strong support language. And then we have letters of support from the state rep, the state senator, because we're in the process of obtaining state money for the construction of this many million dollar project.
and then the other standard other documents, refusals, zoning map, and I'll just get right to
those. With me today, Sherman McLeod, the founder and CEO of PTTI, and Robert Lynn, who is back there,
who is our project architect, and he was before the board, I think, about two and a half months
ago, but we'll have him come up shortly. With that being said, I would ask that Sherman be sworn in
so that he can briefly introduce himself, talk a little bit about PTTI, and why the need for this
second campus building. They already have a campus in 1900 West Gerard at the former Berean Institute
and this is this is the hopefully their new West Philadelphia second campus. Please state your
name and spell for this. Yes sir my name is Sherman McLeod and my first name is S-H-E-R-M-A-N
last name is M-C-L-E-O-D. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the
truth? Yes sir. Thank you please proceed. Absolutely Sherman I already introduced you as
founder and CEO of PTTI but I just wanted you to we'll talk about that but can you just first
discuss like your background where you're from where you got your education your work in the
private sector just so um the board can get a sense of you know who you are and how you came
to this moment sure I'm from North Philadelphia 24th and Lehigh and uh I'm sorry sir this is the
we have it pull the mic to you thank you right there yeah I'm Sherman McLeod from uh 24th and
Lehigh, born and raised there and grew up. My father was, he worked for the city too, by the
way. He was a sanitation worker. And long story short, got myself in a lot of trouble. My grandmother
got me out and I wind up graduating from Drexel University in 1982. So I've been around a little
bit. And from there, I went on to a fortune 10 companies, being able to develop systems and
processes and ultra high-speed equipment to be able to reduce operations down to the point where
to be able to reduce operations down to the point where it was like 70, 80% reduction in workforce.
But I know that the technicians were always the ones that were left to be able to service the process.
So I saw a great opportunity here in the city of Philadelphia to be able to do that.
And since that time, we've graduated over thousands of people that are really getting into jobs that are $35, $45 an hour in six months.
So that was my job to reverse engineer everything.
They didn't want to leave those companies.
I'll come back to it.
So as I mentioned, you opened PTTI at the former Berean Institute in 1901 West Girard?
That's correct.
And can you tell the board what PTTI is and what career training?
If you look on the slide here, we've got – this is your current campus in 1901 West Girard.
Can you just briefly describe that?
We just expanded the Berean Institute by 15,000 square feet.
That was the first thing that's ever happened on that campus since it was built.
and we're just the the clients that we serve as a new city there we're just bursting at the seams
so we anticipated that that would happen we're pretty much the only one standing in the city
of philadelphia from a non-profit private organization public private organization
it was a non-profit that is doing this in the city and so it's it's really important to be
able to expand the facility. And we look at being in the neighborhood because people don't have
transportation to go outside the city. And it's a friendly place where they can learn and grow and
then get into really large companies. And Sherman, again, these are the courses of study
post-high school that you offer. The largest welding facility on the entire East Coast right
here at 1901. And we have other piping systems, advanced manufacturing, which is heavy in my
background. And we have a program called Central Processing, where we teach people how to sterilize
products for the hospitals and clinics and other type of programs. HVAC is coming on stream in the
next few months, an electrician program as well. Great. And you have most of your students in
from philadelphia yes all of them 100 okay and how many students in a year approximately approximately
now 1500 students a year so we right now have over a thousand students in the school right now
great and um let me just go to the next slide just just wanted to show some of the the different
career opportunities coming out of ptti you can just like go through that quickly
Basically, this is inside of the 1901 West Girard campus?
Yes, it is.
Correct, these pictures?
Well, you see the welders on the top left.
Great.
And we developed some of our own advanced technologies to teach them in VR, as well as hands-on training.
So when they go out, we have over 60 people out there in the shipyard right now, making over $35 an hour.
So speaking of the shipyard, I just wanted to, many of us have heard, you know, all the exciting opportunities down at the shipyard and the Bellwether District, so some of those, we really hope, expanding employment opportunities.
Are PTI students there? Are they working? Are they being recruited? Are they part of those efforts that we hear about, including CNBC today?
Yes, they are. I mean, we have students deployed all over. That young lady right there, she works in construction, and she's doing great work out there.
We have people in the center, the bottom, working for SEPTA, all kind of the railways, everywhere.
We're kind of omnipotent at this point.
Great.
And while we're here today, and this is, I know you get emotional kind of when you see this picture, but this is the second, this is the 39th in Girard.
This is what we're here for today.
That's right.
Just briefly, why are we here as far as really the need for additional space?
Because we already run out of space.
And we want to make sure we keep everybody safe and to be the demand is so strong for people in the inner city is our client that they're coming to us hand over fist.
And now we have students to we don't even have to advertise for students, students who are graduating and bringing other students to us, alumni.
Great. Great. Sure. I don't have any other questions. I don't know if the board does, but I just wanted to give a base for.
We can if we have to. Great. Great. You finish your presentation. Great. Thanks.
So turning to exhibits, too. So here is getting to the project itself. Here's the assemblage. This is at West Girard. This is 39th, Cambridge and Union Street. Nine properties. The ones in pink salmon are the land bank properties. The other six are the properties that PTTI has already acquired. Again, putting these together, nine properties into one.
Here's our site. It's the kind of upside down L with the blue cursor right there on Girard Avenue. Tremendous mass transit, SEPTA right there.
On Gerrard Avenue, tremendous mass transit, SEPTA right there.
We're really part of this kind of educational district.
If you look across the street, there's the School of the Future.
We've got the zoo to the right, all the parking here.
So their first campus is on Gerrard, so it's very close to go back and forth between the two campuses.
So in so many ways, this was really an ideal location for us.
Just moving on to, again, here's a little more context.
The School of the Future across the street, our site, zoo, other parking facilities,
76 um next slide and then here's that kind of at a ground level um these lots are currently vacant
i think almost all these lots have been vacant since 2007 um if you go back on google street view
um so it's it's it's been a long time coming uh and even in the city plan which i think
alan referred to before for project near here this is one of the um sites this this this area right
here for redevelopment because of the long-standing vacancy and non-use next next slide
and sherman's real proud of this uh when pgti took over uh acquired many of these properties
they went out there with their students and with the 12 tons of refuse taken off off these
yeah it was used this was it had been a dumping ground this had been construction equipment
people were left there and it's just immaculate right now we actually had our community meeting
on the site in a tent to kind of celebrate what's happened there. Next slide.
I'll go through these. These are our letters of support. This is from the district.
We have every letter of support. Don't do that. We have every letter of support.
I'll get right through it here. Land Bank, at the Land Bank, the council person,
Sentinel Parkside, unanimous. We have an MOU. And if you look at the language, it's just about
as this is dynamical continuing on state senators, state rep, other interested parties, exhibit
four. This is our refusal. We have refusals for, we have a split zone situation here.
That's really part of the challenge here. We have two different zoning districts. We
have an RSA five and a commercial. So the way city planning review this is we get the
most restrictive of the residential, we get the most restrictive of the commercial, which
limits on what you can what you can do here we have a height refusal which as you'll as you'll
hear um because of the school because of the high floor to ceiling height 16 feet because this type
of school is not a traditional classroom this is basically a training factory um that you know to
to have these skills to have you know learn how to you know yeah wait you know two of our members
training centers, right? One, the carpenters union and the steam fitters. So I think we understand
the little bit of what you're talking about. Let's move on. We've got it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Next. We've got and refusals for signage here. We have letters of approval from the Art
Commission in Tamron Park. This is the district CMX1, RSA5. This is the split zoning, which
really kind of creates part of the hardship here. Exhibit tab six. So with that, let me
Let me now introduce our project architect, trying to make sure I'm on time here.
I'd like to now ask that our architect, Robert Lynn, be sworn in.
Sure. Let's get him, Mike, in front of him.
Hi, sir. Speaking of Mike, please, could you please state your name as spelled for the stenographer?
Robert Lynn, L-I-N-N.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth? Counsel?
Yes. Bob, thanks for being here. What is your current employment?
I'm the principal of Lynn Architects. I think I bored you with my credentials last time. I'll do it quickly.
You didn't borrow us, but you went through them.
I went through them.
44-year-old company I founded.
We're architects, civil engineers, code officials, and construction managers in Delaware County Media.
I'm registered in Pennsylvania and about 22 other states.
And I appreciate your service.
I'm 31 years on the Planning Commission in another province township in Delaware County.
I know what it's like to serve.
It's not appreciated often, but it's necessary.
It's very important.
And I'm also the zoning officer in three municipalities in Delaware County.
That's great.
and I've done four comprehensive projects.
Yeah, you have your CV at Exhibit 15,
you've worked in the city,
you were previously,
you've appeared in front of the Philadelphia Zoning Board
a couple of months ago, correct?
And multiple occasions before that, yes.
And at that time you were qualified as an expert
and I'd like to ask that Mr. Lin also be qualified
as an expert in architecture, zoning, land development.
Bob, you've been retained to represent the project
3900 Gerrard, correct?
I have and I was the architect
for the original building at 1900 as well.
So I've had a pleasure with working with Gerard, the old brand.
Yeah, the one the one he was showing the major edition expanded years back.
Yeah. Yeah. So let's just get right to it.
Can you just briefly describe the site? Yeah, I'm going to keep this succinct.
I know you're on the time limit here. The site's about three quarters of an acre.
It's got frontage on three streets. It has frontage in Gerard.
And my numbers say it's 100 feet. It has 195 feet of frontage on 39th Street to the east.
And it has 300 feet of frontage on Cambridge to the south.
uh cambridge is a row of a row homes immediately behind cambridge so we were very sensitive in our
Cambridge is a row of a row homes immediately behind Cambridge, so we were very sensitive.
development if you look at the plans you'll notice that we took the building and located it
completely up on the uh the front corner of the property um we didn't want to get greedy and
spread it out and we have our parking field and as you can see by the exhibit a fairly substantial
landscape buffer of both street trees and plantings on the rear uh the property has for the
first time in its history stormwater management um when he says he had a lot of junk on the site
He wasn't exaggerating. It was a backhoe and a trailer were abandoned there, so it was really pretty substantial.
It was a typical urban blank type of site for the last 20-plus years.
The entrance, we were very sensitive.
Again, if you look at the plan, we put the parking field entrance over on 39th Street, not back on the rear,
because that would have impacted the neighborhood.
It's a one-way street going from your illustration from your right to your left.
so we didn't want to have parking vehicles having to exit the parking lot up on the rear
and impact the residential.
As you pointed out, we had the meeting directly, and I swear there must have been camel.
That was a brutal, brutal, dusty day.
Did you shut it off in the other hand?
There you go.
Thank you.
A brutal, dusty day under a tent.
The neighborhood was gracious, cooking food.
There was such support.
It was really a pleasure to be up there.
um that was the uh i believe that was may of this year correct of course you've been through all the
land bank process and the rco process uh you've covered all that um the building itself is um
quickly is uh four stories you saw it it has a footprint of 8 440 square feet total building
area of about 33 000 square feet again i talked about location uh we're only required to have 31
parking spaces we have over 50 and the beauty in that is i'm not creating the typical philadelphia
site with no parking we've got a surplus above the ordinance we also have a surplus of a street
trees above the ordinance okay um can i do it again keep turning it off we talked about the
zoning a little bit um yeah can you just briefly just you know we're here because of it well we're
because of a combination of cmx1 and the uh and the rsa5 um the sign variants as you can see the
illustration on your screens the sign variances are for the uh the address of 3900 and the logo
that's the only signage we have so they're fairly innocuous i believe um again our height is a
product of you need good floor-to-floor height a good interstitial space you're teaching programs
where you're standing up a 10-foot stud you need some ceiling height um again we consolidate it on
the corner uh we have some nice uh ramps on the front so you can enter the building from the rear
or the front great and uh you reviewed our four-page memorandum of zoning hardship prepared
by our office correct it's probably one of the best write-ups on hardship i've seen seriously
in a long time you actually understood the concept um you know what what what are the
parameters what's zoning trying to do zoning's trying to cover hsw health safety and welfare
aesthetics, you know, air quality, utilities, police protection, and doesn't want to impact
any of those. So I could sit here in my extra 20 minutes, go through each one in detail,
but yes. I would hope you would. I would hope I wouldn't as well. I think we understand where
you guys are. Yeah. So you agree with the conclusion? I think the hardship is very easy
to discuss in the code. I mean, you got 143038E and you got 1, 2, and 3 with the different
criteria great i think both use and the dimensional hardship are very easy to work on this site right
and you talked about our engagement with the community through this through the land bank
process you actually started before we were involved for extra yeah okay um so finally in
you know your 50 years of experience in the fields of architecture zoning land development do you have
a summary conclusion first of all i conclude it makes me feel old thanks um uh you know this is
very much a project that should be community oriented the community put their heart out and
said it was. It's a good use. I had the pleasure of working with him now twice. He really puts his
money where his mouth is. Great city support, great legislative support, great community support.
That's all I can say about that. And when you take a look at what we had in removing the, I'll call it
the attractive nuisance of traditional urban blight, it's a real pleasure to be able to do
something on this corner. Thank you very much. Thank you. So with that, I would, if the board has
any other any questions for questions from the board yes i have a question so does the do the
parcels of uh are they i see them some homes right there on gerard avenue is there a space between
the parcels and the homes and is that your parcels there's a pair of remaining row homes
immediately to our side so from my back to gerard looking at our project to the right uh the next uh
They can have some vacant lots and there's a brand new apartment building was just erected is actually under construction now. Mid block, I'll call it. And then there's a the remaining homes are flanking.
uh mid block i'll call it and then there's a uh the remaining homes are flanking on the left hand
side they back into our parking field but they're not actually on gerard so there's very little left
out there that is still residential and is there any outdoor space designed like for the students
break time or whatever hangout time there's study time yeah there's a little space first there's a
little plaza terrace out front it's narrow but it's effective and into the rear of the site
towards the parking lot you see the little tan area um that's a little um plaza entrance uh
to the building that lets you gather there on the back side okay and my last question is um there's
mention of a cafeteria um or sit down restaurant is that that's not for the public that's just for
the students correct the student body it's currently for the students because a lot of
these students come as sherman points out to me uh without even lunch money and in fact he provides
transit passes for a lot of them um just to get on there and he says having a good meal is a good
thing they're also talking about maybe starting a culinary program where they could do some training
in the culinary and surprisingly when the community was there the community said we want to come eat
there so we're keeping our minds open towards the possibilities of having the community further
engaged so it's kind of a a little bit ambiguous but it's definitely oriented for the students in
the school with other possibilities as we move forward yeah i would just add we were trying to
capture as much of these different classifications and options so we don't have to come back to the
zoning board so that's why she used to work on the seri and sit down restaurant it's it's a typical
school cafeteria if you will hopefully with an upgraded culinary program other questions from
the board how many students what do you sure what do you see at this campus uh in a year it would
accommodate between 800 and 900 students in a year okay and what kind of hours are we talking
uh the hours would be from eight to three and then one to ten okay and then you're expecting
these students to come on public transportation for the most part yes ma'am that's that's primarily
one that's the other reason for the uh the location because it's flush with highway uh
also for public transportation the l and the bus and it's really close to everything in the city
including your other campus, too, downtown.
That's right.
So then the parking spaces are for the teachers and, or instructors, and students also, but
most of the students, they catch public transportation.
So we just have the parking lot primarily for instructors, faculty, and also students
that would drive.
and then um for this commissary and for the different materials that you need to help
teach the students and what have you we have some way that these materials are delivered
good question right through the uh 39th street up and through the lot and then into the building
not through the front ah okay yeah start 39th to make the right in and then you can load from
the back there we do have an elevator in the building it'll accommodate freight size loads
you know if you're going to bring in a two by four stud and rank i'll put in the passenger elevator
so we did it we did a fairly large elevator and again sherman's referring to this little
location you can see it over the computer screen that's your entrance in the back
and bring in materials so we kept it off the gerard okay and you said how many floors i'm
sorry i didn't total four four four four floors four floors yeah okay all right thank you just
Just to give a sense, how many employees do you have now, and how many will you have once you start this?
So we have 90 employees on site, on drive, and we're going to have 45 on the cell for $3,900.
Thank you very much.
Yes, ma'am.
Any other questions?
Questions from our attorney?
No questions at this time.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience or the current audience here?
we have one hand up chair
jihad ali you are able to speak just unmute yourself
hello good afternoon can you hear me jihad i can could you please state your name and spell for the
sonographer yes my name is jihad ali j-i-h-a-d-a-l-i do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
told you nothing but the truth yes i do all right so yeah so jihad we have your letter
and what we don't we don't have the letter well we have a letter right am i correct and
we don't want you to read the whole letter if you could just give us a little summary of what you
want to what do you want to say well i appreciate that we made by the way we've made your record
part of the the case well thank you uh commissioner and members of the uh body um i did
well thank you uh commissioner and members of the uh body um i did send a letter to the
executive director and you said you have my letter so i just want to make clear that oh
okay thank you before my statement i would like to respond briefly to the council's character
characterization about community support i support the support council describes as contractual
deliverable their own addendum makes the zba letter and hearing testimony express consideration
and voids the entire agreement if the variance is denied.
I asked the board to weigh it as what it is.
Now my testimony.
Good afternoon.
I'm Jahad Ali, East Parkside resident, 4276 Parkside.
I've submitted written testimony through the portal and to the executive director.
I support workforce development in East Parkside, and I am not asking the board to deny this application.
I know that the plans presented to place the building mass on Gerard Avenue, which is the right location for it.
What the Cambridge Street frontage receives, per the plan presented, is a 56-space parking lot screened by a tree line and a privacy fence.
That screening is the only buffer the residents of Cambridge Street get, and council estate of the school will serve 1,500 students per year.
I ask that any grant carry the conditions in my letter, the preconditioned survey of the Cambridge Street row houses with vibration monitoring, the parking and loading management plan given 1,500 students in 56 spaces, hours and trash controls on the restaurant uses, signage conformance, completion of the land-baked conveyance, and the community benefits made durable in a recordable form.
And I respectfully ask the board to grant with a proviso incorporating these conditions to make any grant per the plans of record.
So the screening and the project presented today are screening and the project built.
If the board has questions, I'm available. Thank you.
Thank you for calling it. Do you have any questions with him?
You know, I haven't seen the letter. I will tell you, we had a, I think the plans that you see are the plans that we're going to be doing here.
We had a tremendously transparent process, including the meeting itself, as we discussed, was actually on the property.
We had meals, a meal for all the residents.
We passed out all the notices.
You'll see the letter.
I think the RCL, if I can read it, presented the proposed project and provided an overview.
The discussions reflected strong community interest and support for the project.
many attendees expressed that they're looking forward uh to the proposed campus and to the
opportunities they bring to parks especially with respect to workforce development job training
youth engagement uh local participation and long-term um neighborhood investment so we are
we are committed uh to this this agreement thank you mr chairman before you go i just respond to
council he's he is right about what he did say but the problem is is when he said it because there
There was a meeting and there was an event, not a community meeting, but he eventually
did say that they did agree to some things about childcare, they agreed to about jobs,
they agreed all that, but then they issued an addendum that was revised three times where
they took all that back away.
So if the council can address that, but everything that they gave the community, they took back.
So at the end of the day, we're back to the community actually receiving a community benefit
agreement that absolutely nothing.
But I'm not here for that.
i just wanted to put on the record what i just have to clarify there is a executed community
benefits agreement with uh the leadership of centennial part side okay all right there were
three revisions all right all right planning condition michael gall with the philadelphia
city planning commission the comprehensive plan recommended no change to the previous rsa5
residential single-family attached zoning at this location however in 2017 part of this property
assemblage was remapped to cmx1 neighborhood commercial mixed use in a community requested
council supported action the location is transit rich with other educational institutional uses
on the same block at a similar scale the appellant has demonstrated that the proposed use would not
cause undue detriment beyond what might otherwise be expected this location therefore the city
planning commission recommends the board grant the requested variances for signage parking
and educational facilities takeout restaurant sit down restaurant and commissaries and catering
services used and mr chairman if i may i just want to make sure that mr sherman um incorporates
my testimony and adopts my testimony sure yeah yeah uh sherman you heard my you you heard my
testimony correct uh and is it true and accurate that's right and you adopt it as your own yes i
do okay and again uh for the board uh we passed up exhibits one through 17 which also includes a
hardship memorandum okay so all right all right mi 2026 001 549 3900 gerrard avenue i vote yes
I recuse because of uh yeah I can't eat that my microphone was on I'm sorry uh
i recuse because of uh
Cheryl Gaston my vote is yes Tanetta Graham my vote is yes Ryan McAdams my vote is yes
I am when my vote is yes Layla Beebe my vote is yes thank you great thank you so much for your
time you feel excited no thank you steve steve that's really that's really nice it's really nice
steve steve yeah
all right um
Steve, I'm sure you've heard my speech about time and things like that. We're going to give you a half hour if you have to. And I'm not telling you to cut your client short. If you have to, we'll give you a resumptive hearing.
and i would remind you that right now we're our last seven something is where we think our last
case is and the interesting thing is we have a guy that's coming for that last case
who we don't want to get mad mr masters is the last case of the day yeah i i heard that i was
the last one for this for this for the for the two o'clock and for the 3 30 yeah well um there's
not much before you okay so i i we're not going to have an issue with with the half hour here
sure yeah right why don't you state your name and spell for the stenographer
steve masters s-t-e-v-e-m-a-s-t-e-r-s right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the
whole truth nothing but the truth i do and mr masters could you identify your client a
relationship to the property my client is right over here um robert fiorello um and
your company's name is Fiorello LLC. All right. And our vice chair has just a few questions.
Good evening. Have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing?
I did, but I've also updated them regularly, including just a few minutes ago. Okay. Oh,
wow. And do you waive the reading of the refusal specifically to the accuracy?
um we actually can't waive the refusal because we we don't believe that that one of them is actually
accurate at all so you're not stipulating that's all to say all right thank you you can show your
screen and you can discuss that um and uh start your case okay
all right uh welcome mr chair members of the board um i just want to say it from the outset
that we have agreed with the RCOs to do a hear and hold today.
We have.
Okay, so we will go forward with our presentation.
We have a meeting with the RCOs for next week that we're going to flyer.
There were no near neighbors who appeared at the first RCO meeting,
and therefore they wanted to make sure that the community input was heard.
um so this is a um this is a it's a really stunning uh architectural project here um we're
talking about a historic industrial building um that we are preserving um in in at the same time
that we're adding uh stories to it to make it uh a multi-family uh dwelling uh but it's but
we're respecting uh and and and this was something that was discussed a lot at the rco meeting that
we were at we are we are preserving and respecting as much as we can of the of the original look and
feel of the building um in in addition to doing some very cool uh design things that i guess that
That's my interpretation of them.
So the other thing is that,
and we'll see this in the exhibits,
that the planning commission with the 2035 plan
has clearly stated that where our location is,
there's a high priority because it's transit oriented
or right by the septal line that is the, the, the,
wayne junction yeah so so it's the wayne junction which is really i think maybe the most uh active
uh train uh stop in inside the city of philadelphia um so
uh stop in inside the city of philadelphia um so uh the planning commission through the 2035 plan
has specifically said that the that the industrial zoning in this area should be changed to icmx
um and it's i mean by i'm sorry um yeah icmx and also um just see cmx 2 3 and and 2.5 so we're
we're basically proposing what is the norm
of what the Planning Commission wants to do.
But in addition, there are two other industrial buildings
that are literally adjacent to our building.
Both of them have been converted into multifamily living,
which establishes that there is a hardship,
that a hardship was found in both of those cases,
and that the whole character of the neighborhood
is really shifting to be multifamily in that area,
and also to create as much support as possible
for our transit system,
especially the trains that go there.
So exhibit one, we have four refusals.
One of them is that the three compact car spaces
and we were proposing four compact part car spaces we are in our revised revised plans
showing that instead of having four compact cars we have three compact cars and one full size which
would be compliant the multi-family is not allowed because it's a it's an icmx industrial zone
it says that there is parking in the rear yard which is expressly prohibited but in fact
when you look at the actual zoning code it says that parking in the front yard is prohibited but
parking in the rear yard is not so we don't understand why that's there but it doesn't it
doesn't it isn't valid the fourth um is the rear yard depth and we are proposing um 15 feet if we
had to do the full 20 feet it would it would squish a large part of the building um which
which doesn't make any sense to us uh exhibit two we have um the beginning of some petitions that
were that were uh circulated amongst uh the the near neighbors and these petitions even though
there's only five at this point are literally right next door these are these are people who
live in the very closest proximity um and um mr fiorella can can speak to that you know at um when
when we get to his testimony later.
For exhibit three, this is our presentation
that we made to the RCOs.
And one of their concerns was,
this is our building over here.
One of their concerns was,
how is this gonna look from Germantown Avenue?
So we have a view that we created showing that,
that it actually has a very low profile
when you're looking at it all the way from Germantown Avenue.
But it's possible that there will be infill with some single-family homes
or other residential structures right off of Germantown Avenue.
And again, this shows that there is not an ugly or a troubling view from Germantown to that area.
these are the the primary the priority recommendations from the planning commission
concerning this area and in terms of the thrive category they're calling to direct
multi-family housing development to commercial streets and train stations to increase the number
of people using public transportation and shopping at local businesses they're also
So in the Washington Lane to Wayne Junction area, they're also calling for the legacy industrial zoning districts to be removed and to replace those with CMX 2, CMX 2.5, and CMX 3.
And the purpose is to promote housing production through new construction and adaptive reuse on major corridors close to transit stops.
so that's exactly what we're doing we're trying to fulfill what the planning commission sees as the
as the major priority to really revitalize this area in germantown uh for these this is the map
um we're looking at area j and um this is this is where our property is in in this part of area j
right next to germantone avenue uh and that's the proposed zoning from 2018. uh we also uh have
uh oh this is i think the same slide as before so
um so these are um the two properties that I was referring to that that recently received
these are um the two
zoning permits um and and were constructed um to have significant multi-family the 4700 Stunton
Avenue um received um a zoning permit in 2022 uh you'll see that it was the same uh zoning it was
this ICMX and the zoning permit calls for multifamily and it's 26 units that were constructed
there. The next building is 4717 Stenton. That was also issued in 2022 and it was a construction
of 78 dwelling units 40 accessory off-street parking spaces including a bunch of bicycles and
electric vehicles um those are literally like i said right a choice adjacent to our building
and it shows that we're basically in sync with what with what the changes are in in this in this
a specific area in um exhibit four um is our revised plans um and these will make more sense
when when we look at the renderings but but we took a lot of the concerns that the community had
and we changed our design on the outside of the building these are not really zoning plans these
are these are more building planned issues but we but those were the those were the significant
and concerns that they wanted more preservation of the look and feel of the original uh building
but we do have just from you so that we are replacing the one compact car with the one
full size that that's part of the um refusals exhibit five um i'm gonna have um our architect
um ivano uh d'angela um walk us through the the design or everything so um ivano can you
come up here and and get sworn in and then we'll we'll just pull the mic over to you okay sure
killed by the client with it uh my name is ivano dangella uh i-v-a-n-o d apostrophe a-n-g-e-double-l-a
just try to get it a little closer closer yeah mr kelly are we okay with that
hello no mr kelly's our court reporter okay what do you do one more time right next to it please
my name is ivano dangella i-v-a-n-o d apostrophe a-n-g-e-double-l-a practicing architect here
in philadelphia resident of philadelphia for 61 years right all right do you do you swear or affirm
to tell the truth told truth nothing but the truth i do counsel um and mr dangella do you do you also
teach in different programs i've been teaching at uh what used to be college of textiles and science
philadelphia university and now jefferson university for the past 25 years part-time
all right so um let's let's um introduce the the board to what the concept is for
for your design here and and what what you're seeking to to achieve um with this project sure
The existing structure is going to remain. It's a brick and stone, Wissahick and Schist stone base. We will be adding three stories above it and a partial addition to the view.
Could you show it as he's speaking? Could you show it?
The renderings would be perfect.
All right, we're going to go down to the renderings. This is the original building.
So here's the existing structure, and that's the facade. At the moment, it has been changed. You'll see it in the renderings. The element on the right-hand side, Steve, is the driveway to the rear. It's an existing condition. It takes you directly to the rear of the building. It's a gated condition, and it would remain gated as necessary in the future.
this is what we call if you can zoom out a building section stanton avenue would be on the
left the rear of the property would be on the right the idea is to basically make a donut if
you will and have apartment living on the perimeters with an interior courtyard covered
by hopefully a solar array to introduce energy solar energy to the building but it would be open
to the air on its perimeters.
The roof also would be accessible to the occupants.
These are some interior views of what could be done on the interior
with the open courtyard as a primary circulation path,
not that it doesn't have elevator access and two staircases.
So, the lower level, that lower image is literally looking up at the solar array system, looking down into the courtyard. I don't imagine it being that dark, so just in case, that's a concern.
So the lower level, that lower image is literally
Here is the front elevation facing Stanton.
The existing structure is on the lower level of brick masonry.
What you see in gray is actually Wissahick and Schist that would remain.
It was poorly rendered by us in the beginning, but it's been revised.
The entrance is in the middle.
These balconies that you see was our hope to put more eyes on the street, as they say,
or as jane jacobs a very famous urban planner noted that is the best way to keep a street safe
this had some concerns for our rco and we addressed them in a revised condition
this is what you might see in the evening again conceptual if you will so these first two
stories are the original building and then these are the additional correct
So here is the the conceptual renderings. This is the this was our original plan, and this is how we're changing it to to to correspond to the community's concerns.
So can you just review for us what what we're seeing here and what the changes are?
we we thought it best to make some notation so it's diagrammatic in its nature the left side is
what you saw previously uh in and just highlighting the base of the building if you will the water
table uh you can see the stone on the right hand side which is existing and was repaired and
repointed by the owner a while ago there's the entrance it's actually a wooden door that was
fabricated by the owner as well the balconies as you can see on the left hand side have been removed
in the interest of the rco's concerns the balconies above instead of being full depth balconies they
became juliette balconies again with some interest of putting eyes on the street if you will so those
were the primary concerns also one concern that you can note is the existing facade sits proud
of the addition by 12 to 14 inches which was a request by the rco as well
highlighting the differentiation or the nature of the two buildings
okay is there are there more that you wanted to to bring it i don't think so okay um you're welcome
thank you so these are our zoning posters uh for uh let me just expand them out so you can read them
for today's date um that's the refusal this is the notice notice of appeal of the july 15th
for the tax clearance um mr fiorello was able to clear a balance um yesterday
and this is the the payment confirmation from the revenue department it was in the amount of
seven thousand one hundred four dollars and 36 cents and you'll see in the next slide is the
the full um matrix of of the of of the taxes that were paid throughout the years you'll see that
the 7104 36 was the only one that was outstanding and that's been addressed yesterday so we've we've
completed our tax clearance requirement um this is the deed um that uh that for fiorella llc to
own the property then we have our um our application for appeal which goes into some
depth on our argument about variance that there are physical circumstances and conditions unique
to the property that created the unnecessary hardship it's a single structure surrounded
by two immediately adjacent properties also zoned icmx that were both recently receiving variances
um in addition uh the as i said before the 2035 plan calls for the icm zoning to be replaced with
cmx 2 2.5 or cmx 3 and we would have then been able to to develop this by right if that zoning
was was in place um we have addressed the the compact car issue and the rear yard is wrong
because section 14803 1.2 provides the surface parking lots or parking structures in any
industrial district may be located anywhere upon the lot except in required front yards
um so we don't know why they thought a backyard and front yard was the same but they they're not
so we don't know why they thought a backyard and a front yard was the same but
um so uh our the rest of our appeal um was was um showing that we were not going to have any
adverse impacts on on any of the of the community or other or other issues in fact the the transit
impact that we're going to have is going to be quite extensively positive um our project information
form uh was highlighted um the intention to hire local community people both uh for the construction
and for the con the commercial uh that was gonna that would be placed in the in the first floor
and um our zoning notice to the neighbors is here with our mailing uh that went to uh this area um
and showing 36 postage envelopes were sent out
because it's not a very highly populated area,
but it's getting more populated.
It's changing, yeah, it is.
But unfortunately, our system in the planning commission
doesn't allow us to actually mail
to each individual apartment.
Yep. So, Mr. Fiorello, you've heard my testimony.
Could I swear him?
Oh, sure. Okay.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Yeah, it's Robert Fiorello. F-I-O-R-E-L-L-A.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Counsel?
Mr. Fiorello, you were here witnessing my testimony today, right?
And do you agree that it was true and accurate and adopted as your own?
Yes, I do.
Do you have anything you want to share with the board at this point about your project?
I don't think so.
All right.
Questions from the board.
How does the loading and unloading work?
Yeah, that can't.
Just say who you are.
Ivano D'Angelo, architect again.
The loading and the unloading would go up the driveway on the right-hand side of the building
as you're facing the building and enter the rear of the building.
so that driveway right there on the bottom of the page would take vehicles to the back
okay and so you're moving your move outs go there correct from the from the rear entrance
correct and then where is the where is the elevator but the elevator is up towards the front
yes you'd have to come through the rear vestibule move through the courtyard
and come to that condition right there is there any way to get through this is
there any way to get through this stairwell to get I mean it's that's a
long way if you're just sort of you know dropping off no argument you know moving
in moving out totally agreed we could potentially create an opening in the
driveway and maybe that would work it logically with a truck stopping traffic
in the driveway and move through the, shorten the electrical room and through what we were
hoping is a little gymnasium. So that could help reduce that. But the idea of getting it off the
street was probably the key factor for us in concerns of loading and unloading.
Other questions? Yeah. So there's still 49 units, right? That's correct. And what's the
configuration one to two bedrooms or studios there are four lofts 37 one bedrooms and eight
two bedrooms okay and is the is there lighting on the outside of the building natural lighting
no just lighting for like for this like natural artificial lighting yes yeah then is to have
artificial lighting you could see it in the um the evening rendering uh starting to kind of back to
at it steve okay convey an idea for fire egress you're also required to have uh lighting at each
of the exit conditions as well if and and what what material is that the the the structure with
the shape with the panels yeah what does that mean that's a photovoltaic cell made of sand
basically into glass you might we might even be able to see some out there if we look um matter
fact on the building right there um it's basically glass we were concerned uh if it's visible from
the street but it's not really visible from the street so although it has to be submitted as a
separate permit in building department okay yeah all right yvonne are we am i getting to the right
i saw the balconies but i didn't see that like i see down the bottom so the the lighting is just
at the uh primarily like the first line here we go so there's some accenting across the building
oh okay oh that's nice also at the lower level to highlight the side yeah i see okay now thank you
also at the lower level to highlight the sidewalk yeah i see okay now thank you yeah there'd be
light yes um yeah sorry lynn reidel hubert that's actually not correct now right those uh some of
those balconies are taken taken off correct that's correct right away just want to make sure when you
told the board about the lighting yeah on the same page yeah other questions from the board
is there additional lighting for the driveway to the rear parking lot and how is that going
to be lit uh the uh we we would uh use up and down lighting similar to the front facade that
would go up the driveway time okay and then i understand that there's going to be a gate
is that going to be sort of like a your typical like they're going to have a fob access or like
the way you would do an electric gate so that residents that have parking spaces can get back
there? Exactly. We're hoping that it would be, first of all, a signal would be placed on the
front of the building where one would notify if one car is coming or going, and it would be
operated remotely with key fobs. Okay. And is the plan that this is going to be a building with no
like standing management or is there going to be someone on site with the the occupant load that
we're seeing uh we're thinking that there would be a management on site okay or at least in
proximity yes and how is trash managed um for the units if you look at the floor plan that
steve has up right now the right hand side by the staircase number two that uh isn't showing steps
but the reality is there are steps there because there'd be problems um there's a trash chute that
goes directly to that trash room so it's a trash chute on every floor correct okay all right thank
you there's also 31 bicycle parking spaces that we've introduced inside the building as well
okay any other questions
council uh yes um looking at what you've submitted we do not have the revised plans
so they would need to be submitted well none of our except for the the change of the size of one
of the vehicles none of the plans are actually zoning plans they're they're all building plans
that would be that would be revised so when when we've when we're removing the the um balconies
that that wouldn't be part of a zoning plan so we we indicated them in the revival in the
revised plans because we want to make it really clear to the to the community that we are committed
to to changing those those features but we didn't we didn't know how to do that um since it's not
actually something that appears on zoning plans it it does oh the balconies the juliette the
balcony on the exterior elevation okay so you just the number of bicycle parking spaces you just
listed is twice as many as are on the refusal so if you're going to increase that as well
that needs to be shown on earth as well okay well so well fortunately we we have a here and hold so
we have yeah yeah we do need to provide plans okay and we also need an updated proviso form
about the uh yeah about the compact car number i did i did add the compact car to the to like
version five of the of the exhibit binder so it's on there lynn yeah okay lynn are we okay
with their disagreement with l and i we're going to we're okay on that yeah we're okay we're fine
on that okay okay but so we're going to need we're holding it for well we need
RCO we need revised plans and we need the amended provisor so questions or
comments from the board from the the virtual audience do we have any
comments okay um do we want planning to take a position now go ahead michael gall with the
philadelphia city planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends a change in
from the existing icmx industrial commercial mixed use to irmx industrial residential mixed
use zoning at this location the proposed use multi-family household living would be allowed
by right under the zoning recommended by the district plan as would the dimensional standards
and the variance in parking would be diminished in nature.
The location is well served by transit and other abutting properties have received variances for similar multifamily residential conversions of former industrial sites.
Additionally, a waiver was granted by the Philadelphia City Planning Commission for landscape requirements for this project.
Additionally, a waiver was granted by the Philadelphia City Planning Commission for landscape requirements for this project.
Therefore, the City Planning Commission recommends that the board grant the requested variances for multifamily household living use, parking, and rear yard setback.
So, here's a question.
This is closed except for documents that he needs to give you and also, right, so.
The RCA.
The RCA.
Except if we have to make comments relative to the RCA, right?
if the RCAO comes with something.
He can submit something.
He can submit something to it.
All right.
So it's all closed.
And we're just waiting now
and we're not going to give us a date.
I was going to have a date.
Go ahead.
I was going to give a date of August 5th.
That'll be August 5th
so that if he needs to respond to the RCO,
gives enough time for RCO,
revise everything.
Correct.
August 5th at 2 p.m.
Thank you.
Very good.
Thank you.
And you got done on time, Steve.
I did.
Thank you.
All right.
All right.
i got to give these people up here five minute break and then we're going to come back and
and take care of what we have and then i'll wait for a while
no you're not gonna have to wait down i'm hoping anyway
good afternoon everyone my name is bill bergman i will be chairing this meeting of the zoning board
of adjustment with me is our vice chair tenetta graham president mr chairman board secretary
Terry Sheryl L. Gaston. President, Mr. Chairman. Board member Michael Johns. President, Mr. Chairman.
Member Taya Nguyen. President, Mr. Chairman. Board member Ryan McAdams. President, Mr. Chairman.
Board member Lay, Lay, Lay, Lay, Bay, B.B. Lay, Lay. Mr. Chairman. Thank you. It's getting late.
Also present is our board attorney, Lynn Reiter Rumor. Also our board administrator, Lakeisha Dandy. Also present, this hearing is being recorded. It will be posted on the ZBA website. By participating, you consent to be recorded.
This is an in-person meeting with remote participation.
Whether in person or on Zoom, if you're called to speak, please state and spell your name and then wait to be sworn in.
After that, each time you testify, you're expected to state your name.
To enter your appearance, enter the address on the Zoom webinar.
Speak with a staff member.
Call the ZBA office by the close of business tomorrow.
call 215-686-2429 and provide them with your name your email and the address of the case
the address of the case remote participation raise your virtual hand when directed so that
we can call on you to speak when we call you to speak make sure you click the join as a
panelist line the button use the Q&A for for procedural questions only do not
mention the case if you are joining by phone press star nine to raise your hand
and star six to unmute in-person attendance if testifying get close to
the mic so that all attendees and the court reporter can hear you no talking
eating or drinking during the hearing aggressive behavior will not be tolerated in an emergency
please follow the staff the main exit is the double doors in the rear the nearest stairwell
is to the left in the case of an evacuation please go to love park remain there so that
we can account for you. Let's look at our schedule for this afternoon. Number 4, 5948
North Camac Street, MI 2025-006296. This case is continued until 11-426 at 3.30 PM. We're
We're going to go to our first case number five and my 2026 002 006 5508 Chester Avenue.
Steven Patrizio is the attorney.
Steven Patrizio will be coming in as a panelist thank you
can you hear me uh you're kind of low it's very very low my name is Steven Patrizio can you hear
me now is that better I can hear you yep it's it's it's better could you please spell your
name after stating it yes it just hit the video down there bottom left
Could you turn on your video?
Yep, we're going to now.
Okay, thank you.
It won't let me.
Bottom left.
Right here.
Right there.
Trying to turn on the video.
Can you see me?
It says it's...
No, we see your name.
Yeah, it says it's disabled by the host.
Try it.
Why don't you try that again?
right up top cannot start your video okay okay okay very good good all right my name is hold on
steve you already were sworn in am i correct i was not but i'm an attorney my name go ahead
my name is stephen patrizio s-t-e-p-h-e-n p-a-t-r-i-z-i-o my phone number is two three
23263. Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir. Counsel, could you identify your client, a relationship to the property?
I can. Seated to my right is Marina Simpson, and she is the principal of Charlie Bravo Productions,
LLC. Marina, please say good evening. That's okay. We'll get to her in a minute, okay?
Okay. Right now, my vice chair has a few questions. Good evening. Have you submitted your documents
and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing? I believe so. Okay. And do you waive the reading
of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy? Actually, it's a referral. Yes. Okay. All right.
Thank you. You can share your screen and proceed with your case. Okay. I guess you hit share there.
I have an associate who's helping me.
Well, that's fine.
That's fine.
All right.
So we have all your paperwork.
So why don't you, well, first of all, tell us what it is you want to do.
What we are seeking here today is a special exception for the use of this property for a community center for events.
um and um what i would like to do with um the board's permission is um begin with my one and
only witness miss simpson um who would like to basically tell you what she has in mind since she
is the owner of this property okay and what she would like to do with it and then why why don't
we do this yes bring her on why don't you have on the screen put the property itself up so that
we as as she's talking we can see it okay okay very good all right now what's her name
Mirena Simpson Mirena could you please state your name and spell it for the stenographer
hi good evening Mirena Simpson m-o-r-e-n-a-s-i-m-p-s-o-n you do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes sir counsel please proceed okay
So, April, if you could go to this first picture here, right there.
So, Marina, describe what this first slide is.
So, my husband and I purchased this property February 12, 2026.
We are really excited to move forward in changing this nailery with your help to an event space, a venue for the community.
So the photograph there that says nails, that's the front of the property as it exists today?
So tell us a little bit about what it was and this.
It was a knellerie for many years.
The owners were ready to retire and didn't want to pass the business on.
The children were uninterested in taking on the family business, so they wanted to sell.
And it was the perfect location for what I was trying to do.
Okay, so tell us a little bit about your familiarity with this neighborhood.
So I grew up in this neighborhood, actually a few blocks, 54th and Whitland, which is a couple blocks over from Chester Avenue.
We grew up in this community, and the community, honestly, in my personal opinion, is in need of an event space.
It's in need of a facility that can host a bunch of gatherings of different sorts, from school gatherings.
a bunch of gatherings of different sorts from school gatherings, partnering with the local
schools for coat drives, back to school, book bag giveaways, things of that nature. We also would
like to do more things even with our older senior citizens, have like bingo nights and just a lot
of things not just for parties but community events um weddings funeral repass uh community
gatherings um possibly even rco gatherings anything you know like police uh retirement
parties whatever the neighborhood needs i feel as though this um venue adventure would be
a special place to gather all right let's go to the next slide april please
so what is this is the first floor as it exists now um yes this is actually the back of the
property looking from like the yard to the front uh what you see right there is more so like a
kitchen area and then the pink i'm not sure if you guys can see it it's like pink walls
that's like a hallway um and it's on the right it's a door that leads to the basement and then
through the next door would be the actual like nailery. All right and the next picture is still
on the first floor? Yes this is the this is the hallway. This is how it exists now? Yes this is
how it is now. And I see a picture of the lavatory or the toilet area? Yes that's once you walk
through to your left. All right let's go to the next picture. That again is what the existing
nailery looks like this is what the nailery looks like today um and that's a view looking out to the
street and back back the street yes okay and now let's go to the next slide quickly please um so
this is the back of the property um the previous owners had put up some i guess kind of like
makeshift uh securities so that no one could kind of like get in they have the bob wire it's a gate
behind that silver padding, if you will. But we plan to secure the property a little bit better
than that. All right. Let's go to the second floor. April, thank you. All right. So this is
the second floor as it exists now today. This is the second floor as it exists. This is one of the
rooms on the second floor. And I think we can all agree to this in need of some remodeling,
tender loving care all right this is also on the first floor second second floor i apologize um
yeah this is the second floor and beyond that those three when the two windows and the door
is actually um outside patio okay yeah and then the next floor is also on the second floor front
is that the front yes that's the front and that where the green is that would be the very rear
rear row. Okay. Then there's a third floor to this building? It's a third floor that's
equally needing some attention. Okay. The third floor is not as big as the first and second floor.
It's like cut off. Okay. Yeah. And then the basement? The basement is the full length of the
extension of the building. All right. And those are the two pictures of the basement. And then
you have a picture of the roof um yes um after i purchased the property i immediately had a roof
put on and um just so no further damage water damage would be getting done to the property
what did you pay for this property uh it was 112 000 after all the extra things it was 118 okay
so these are the last pictures of the roof now yes the next slide we have is your vision okay
Okay. Tell us what it is that you intend to do with this property.
So I really don't want to make a bunch of structural, like a bunch of changes. We would like to remove the walls downstairs just to make it an open space because, well, as many of us know, when you go to a venue is, you know, like open space.
There will be like a kitchen area in the back where the previous kitchen is just updated.
We will have a handicap, a better handicap accessible bathroom and another bathroom.
So two bathrooms on the first floor. We would also like to have two bathrooms, possibly on the second floor.
All right. So is so this next slide is the second floor?
Yeah. Okay.
Okay. And then the next slide after that, is this the third floor?
The third floor, yes. We are just basically going to just update it and kind of keep it
in like the apartment state.
All right. So you're just going to basically open it up so that you can accommodate.
all right so you're just going to basically open it up so that you can accommodate a larger crowd
yes for for for small for bigger gathering yes all right then the next slides are what what are
those what are these slides those are basically the same slides from different angles um i'm not
sure if they want to press the the play and see how we visualize it i don't think that'll work
Try to get closer to the mic when you're speaking.
Okay, so we have a press and play that will not operate how it, explain what you had.
Well, we had a press and play presentation that would have given you a better look at
the design moving forward, what we really wanted it to kind of look like.
But we're unable to do that right now.
So that's what we envision with your approval that this venue is going to look like.
Do you have a contractor for this work?
What is his name?
Jefferson Guzman is the contractor.
We've worked with him in the past.
He's licensed and insured in Philadelphia, PA.
And he does, you know, like amazing work.
So prior to today, did you meet with the RCO group?
Tell us about that.
I was present for that a couple of weeks ago.
So on June the 24th, we had our RCO meeting, and they actually were very interested and very, what can I say?
They were on board.
They saw the vision.
They agreed with the vision, and they both, Mr. Roth and Mr. Kevin both agreed that the neighborhood would be, would benefit from opening up a community venue.
And those documents have been submitted to the board?
And we submitted deeds, and we submitted other photographs, yes?
Was there a fire alarm issue early on when you purchased this property?
Yeah, so the previous owners, they did not have the proper fire alarm registration.
They had a system installed, but it wasn't registered correctly.
So I definitely, one of the first things that I did was I got the contractors in there and the inspectors to come and do the box, register the box with license and inspection.
So and we've submitted all those documents. Yes. You've also submitted the deed to the property. Yes. With that and also your real estate tax certification. Yes. Yes.
Board members. Did I see drawings there? Could you go back to them? Can you go back to the drawings, April?
You might want to. Yeah. So you're going to use all three floors for this and the basement.
So the basement is just going to stay a basement. Right. I would like to change the first and the second floor.
The third floor is going to stay as it is like an apartment.
As an apartment. That's going to be an apartment.
the third floor is it's yeah it's uh like two rooms up there and i guess it was a bathroom
not not nobody's going to rent it yeah no no nobody's going to rent it it's just hold on
hold on a minute hold on a minute but council that's not on what you've asked for you've asked
for uh uh an event assembly facility to do that in an existing structure so you want a special
exception you didn't mention anything about an apartment no nothing it's not an important it's
three floors um marina misspoke it was it was previously it was a house and that's where
she misspoke it's not going to be an apartment nobody's going to live there
okay just so we're clear everything is going to be uh
yeah first second and third floor are you going to have things on all three floors or just no
limited to first and second the first and second that's it the third floor
what is the third floor going to be the third floor will probably be for storage
well then it's part of it so okay so it's going to be the whole building correct yes
but no but no parties or nothing nothing for the hill nothing for the public yeah it's still
related to the use that you're uh asking for with regard as a part right yep yes right yes
all right um anything else in your presentation no
All right. Anything else in your presentation? No, sir.
Questions from the board. Okay. So what kind of events are you planning to have here?
What kind of events? Go through it. So it's going to vary. We're going to offer anywhere from birthday parties, school back to school events.
We are hoping to partner up with the neighborhood schools, excuse me, pardon me, for like coat drives, back to school nights, you know, book bag giveaways, things like that, church functions, funerals, weddings, anything that people need to, you know, like gather, even if we wanted to host like Pilates classes.
It's a lot of people that are looking for spaces in that community to hold, you know, like things for the neighborhood and just don't have it in there.
They don't have it around the neighborhood.
Have you ever done this before?
I'm sorry.
Have I ever done this before?
Not personally.
I have worked alongside people in the venue business, but I have never owned my home.
Do you plan on using the rear yard for it as event space, for outdoor event space?
No. Just for, not for event space, no.
Okay. And what hours, what are your hours going to be on a daily or, you know?
Well, we planned on having it open anywhere from like 8am to maybe having the last event be
like at 8 because each event might be between three and four hours. We wanted to open up early
like 8 because just say for instance if someone is having a funeral repass and normally the event
starts at 11 maybe like the viewing. So we would like to give the family or whoever has to set up
ample amount of time to set up before you know the services start. So I would say between like
eight and midnight all the questions uh yeah on your plan i say okay go ahead no good go ahead
all right so and then what about food and drink how is that going to work um so the food we have
we're going to have like a kitchenette area in the back for when you bring your food in you can
heated up and things like that. We will have like a small refrigerator, microwave, you know,
things like that. It's not going to be any cooking on the premises. Like, yeah, it's not going to be
any cooking allowed on the premises, but you are welcome to bring, you know, your food in and maybe
use the sternos to warm it up. We're not going to be having a bunch of alcohol and things like that.
it's more so water, beverage, juice, soda, depending on your event.
All right. And then my big question about these always is, are you going to have some way that
you have a source of water, like a basin, sink, something so that you can clean tables
or clean the floors? Do you have anything in this? Because I can't, this is so small, I can't tell.
Yes, absolutely. So in the kitchen area, it will be an adequate size basin for, you know,
like hygiene purposes. The basement will also have a wash and dryer and sink area.
And bathrooms, everybody will have, you know, adequate working sinks.
And how many bathrooms do you have?
Right now it's three. We're trying to have one or two.
We're trying to have at least four, two on the main level, one like a handicap, a bigger handicap accessible bathroom and another smaller bathroom.
And then one on the second floor and another one on the third floor.
Okay, thank you. You're welcome. Michael, you have a question?
No, actually, Cheryl talked about the things that I was going to bring up.
Any other questions? Go ahead. So for the first floor and the second floor, will that be used as an event space like for the same event?
They have access to both floors or are they able to be rented out for separate events?
um so i honestly i would like if you're having a bigger event then you will be offered the first
and the second floor if you're having a smaller event then you know you might just need the first
floor i really don't want to have two different events going on at one time i don't really want
events going on at one time i don't really want people walking through somebody else's event
people walking through somebody else's.
because the way the entry is if you had a separate event on the second floor you would have to work
walk through the first floor event so no if you're having a bigger party then yes you'll be able to
run out the first and the second floor for one event okay so it'll just be the first floor by
itself or the first and second floor, but not the second floor alone? Yes. Okay. And if I could just
jump in here, we also talked about that for security purposes as well. Sometimes two events
can be a problem. And Marina is very security conscious. She comes from a family that is
very security-concerned, and that was one of the topics of discussion with the RCO.
And so Marina is a very, very responsible young person who...
So that's...
Thank you.
Any other questions from the board?
Questions from our attorney?
None at this time, Mr. Chairman.
questions or comments from the virtual audience or people here i see no means at this time too
yes i'm going to step in for michael oh sure hi could you please just state your name and
spell it for the stenographer yes nina solomonic s-o-l-o-m-o-n-i-c do you swear or firm to tell
the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes please proceed the comprehensive plan recommends
no change to the existing cmx2 commercial mixed use zoning at this location the property is
located on a commercial corridor there are no near residential neighbors abutting the property along
the commercial corridor but the rear of the property abuts a residential side street so
there is still potential for nuisance due to the event types allowed by assembly and event use
category therefore the city planning commission recommends the board grant the requested variants
for assembly and entertainment use, but with a recommended proviso for limited hours of operation.
DARYL FOX- We give it the hours. Do we want to do like we did the last time, 11?
DARYL FOX- I can't, I can't hear. We're trying to figure out what limited
hours means, okay? And what we're looking at is possibly everything has to be over by 11 o'clock.
DARYL FOX- That's fair.
Okay. All right. Well, thank you. MI 2026-002-006-5508 Chester Avenue. I vote yes with proviso. All events to be over by 11 p.m.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes with proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with proviso.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes with proviso.
Iowan, my vote is yes with proviso.
Layla Beebe, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thank you, counsel.
Okay, so we're going to go to number two and three and hear these both together.
So number two, MI 2024-007-462-6215 North 13th.
Number 3, MI 2024-007-465-6217-NOR13. Jermaine Harris is the attorney for both.
Jermaine Harris will be coming in as a panelist.
Thank you.
hello hi jermaine how are you sir okay it says i cannot start my video because it's been disabled
by the host okay we'll we'll have your someone take care of that for us okay
okay and while we're waiting why don't you just state your name and spell for the stenographer
uh here you go you're coming up
maybe not
jermaine there i am and there you go there you go okay i just state your name
there i am and there you go there you go okay i just state your name is spelled for the
stenographer sure uh jermaine harris that's j-e-r-m-a-i-n-e harris h-a-r-r-i-s
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
i do could you identify your client and the relationship to this property
Yes, it's Affluence LLC, and his relationship is that he is the owner.
Okay, our vice chair has a few questions.
Good evening.
Have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing?
I have.
And do you waive the reading of the refusals and stipulate to their accuracy?
All right, thank you.
You can share your screen and proceed with your case.
Thank you.
Okay, so this is for two properties, and this is for 6215 as well as 6217 North 13th Street.
and what my client is seeking to do is he is seeking to make this property into these two
properties they're side by side he's seeking to make them as a triplex and I just want to go over
let's start by looking at the packet no yeah start looking at by looking at the packet
so this is this is the postings of the notice hearing on that this is another picture
of what it looks like
and my client purchased this property these properties
in 2022. And as of right now, what they are is they are shelves. And what the plan is,
is to make each of these properties into two bedroom properties per floor. And I want to
go over to plans briefly. Let me blow them up. So there are three levels to this, one of which is
the lower level the um the basement level then there's first floor and second floor now these
buildings are pretty large it's on a three each building is on a three thousand square foot lot
and the improvement is 2,400 square feet and each has its own separate entrance so
for the lower level at a basement level it has an entrance in the rear and we'll
get to the actual pictures in a second but I just wanted to show you the floor
plans but each building has its own entrance uh each each apartment has its own interest for the
basement it's in the rear there's also let's see here egress on for both bed room uh for both
bedrooms for the for the apartment so one side is one side has the window well
for the first the other one has the window well for the second bedroom and
the same is true for the building that's on the right so the left is 6215 the
the right is 6217. 6217 right here, this is the window well for the bedroom for that one. This
is the window well for the bedroom for that one. Again, the entrance, the method of egress is the
rear and then you have the window wells for each separate
And then you have the window wells for each separate, for each separate bedroom.
Moving on to the first floor.
And by the way, these are, these bedroom, these apartments are 800 square feet.
It's a straight line up.
So it's about 800 square feet per floor.
So, again, if we're looking at the first level, we have what I'm pointing at is the 6215, this is 6217, the entrance is this way, the front door.
and you have the bedrooms towards the rear of these apartments.
Then you have the second floor and you have apartment five and apartment six,
Or in this case, the third apartment in 6215, the third apartment in 6217, the entrance is on the side.
And that has two bedrooms.
Both of them have two bedrooms all towards the rear for that.
And this is the entrance.
This is the stairwell walking up to that.
That's for $62.15. Stairwell entrance for $62.17.
Let's...
Here are the actual exterior of the building.
This is the side. This is the side for $62.17.
This is for going to the upstairs apartment.
This is the side.
This is for 6215 right here.
This is the side, the window wells.
So this is the exit for the basement part, the lower levels.
This is for 62.17.
This is for 62.15.
I think I have another picture right here.
Same, a different angle, but the same thing.
right again this is the front and this is the entrance for the first level of that so
that's what that is
again when my when my client purchased this property the prior owner had framed it out
but they stopped once they realized that there was a problem
with the city now we did have a community meeting with the Oak Lane Community Association
and they were in opposition to the three family they were open to the two family
But they were they were open to the two family, but they were they had concerns about the three family.
However, I will note that only seven nearby neighbors were actually present at this at the community meeting of I believe it was twenty one or twenty nine.
let me see it was it was it was 19 no 22 and only seven nearby neighbors now
there is community support among the nearby neighbors and there were petitions that were
signed by 40 nearby neighbors who had no objection, who supported this particular project as
who supported this particular project as proposed by the applicant.
And these are the signatures right here of that.
Also, there is multifamilies.
There are multifamilies also within the area.
There's an apartment complex that's right down the street from it, a 22-unit.
a two unit that's on the same, well, that's right around the corner from that side, another
two unit that's on the same block, no, that's on the same, right, that's on Park Avenue
that's right around the corner from there, and then there's a three unit that is on the
same block as that block. We have the tax clearance for this entity that owns the two
two buildings. So we have that and we have the evidence of ownership. Let's see here.
The evidence of ownership for these properties as they were sold collectively. This deed
is reflects that in January of 2022.
And so what we would ask is, in light of the community support, the fact that these are
large buildings that the request be granted for this, and I would like to call my client
so that way, have them promote it as well so that they can adopt my testimony.
So Mr. Pasha, if you could raise your hand so you could be promoted.
i have a phone number ending in seven two six four with their hand raised yeah that's okay yep oh
good afternoon everyone hi could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
my name is anwar pasha first name a-n-w-a-r last name is pasha p-a-s-h-a right do you swear or affirm
to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes i do counsel okay so mr pasha did you
hear the testimony that i just gave in front of the board uh yes i was able to um hear some of
the conversation i was trying to get on a video call but unfortunately i'm able to just listen
okay do you agree with the testimony that you heard me present to the board from what i heard yes
Okay. Now, is there anything that you would like to add to this presentation that you think
that you may want the board members to know before we go to questions?
Sure. I can just tell you it's been a long time coming. Thank you for allowing me to
speak and hear my case. Like I said, when I acquired the property, it was sold to me
um as two triplexes um my loan was predicated based on two triplexes um we realized that
for some reason city hall had it as a multi-family as well as the title company
um when we were trying to move forward and get things moving that's when we came into a couple
i guess halts when we realized that it was a partial deed so i had to pay for a survey
to have it legalized as two full separate deeds.
And then I had to go through, you know,
variations of, you know, trying to get it legalized.
You know, I went in front of the board.
I explained to them what I was trying to do.
I grew up in Philadelphia.
I'm really from the Philadelphia area.
I do a lot of investing in Philadelphia.
I sit on the board for the YMCA.
I give back to the community.
I also am part of a program called BORT, the Center for Black Mentorship, which I deal with Keith Williams, where we try to empower young black men, as well as their neighborhood, to have a skill set.
well as their neighborhood to have a skill set. One of my things that I do is I hire people when
one of my things that I do is
I come into the neighborhood to allow them to have a skill to be able to provide for their family
and just be able to be in a better position. Besides just the work ethics, we talk about,
you know, the way you carry yourself, your mannerism, just overall presenting yourself
out here to be a better person in life sir listen what i want you to do is concentrate on these
properties and i and i appreciate hearing everything you've done outside but you need
to concentrate on these two properties not a problem um pretty much when i acquired the
properties um i thought everything were pretty much was already straightened out when i realized
that um there were not legalized we pretty much i reached out to the attorney jermaine
I told them I needed services to get the situation straightened out.
So we had to go in front of the neighbors to see if they're willing to allow us to legalize these and get their permission to be okay with it.
As they said, they had some concerns, some issues.
I was able to address, you know, a lot of their concerns.
And, you know, what they asked me, I said I was willing to do.
You know, like I said, my loan is predicated on a three-unit triflex.
my lender basically indicated to me, you know, if it's not granted, you know, they have the right
to recall the loan. So, and I'm like, okay, so I just been asking for mercy from the neighbors to
see what would it take for you guys to feel comfortable and allow me to, you know, move
forward and allowing the situation to be approved. And that's kind of where we at now. That's how we
got to this point um you know i have the neighbors have asked me am i willing to hire people from
from the neighbors to give them employment i said yes i said you know i'm willing to teach them
give them opportunity um to have a skill again let's go back to the to the property i i appreciate
everything you're doing with the neighbors but concentrate on the two properties is there anything
else you want to tell us about the properties um i guess at this point i'm just hoping that you guys
can, you know, allow us to, you know, move forward and have it done. Like I said, the property
was acquired. It is a two-bedroom, two-bathroom, two full bathrooms per unit. Each unit has separate
entrants. What Jermaine was telling us, you have one in the front, one on the side, and one in the
back. The units in the back have two egress windows for both bedrooms. When I acquired it,
like I said a lot of the work was pretty much done the framing the electric the plumbing the
insulation the fire alarm Jermaine has told us most of that is there anything else you want to
add okay is it okay is there anything no not at this point no I think that's it okay thank you
very much Jermaine why don't you put the plans up would you put the plans up please sure questions
from the board hold on let me put up the plans first
that's good that's that that's it thank you very much sure on the board
so the basement i guess that the first one the second floor i don't really have an issue with
they're nicely laid out i think they're decent sized two bedroom units the basement is the unit
that i have issues with probably i guess other folks did too um it's not a whole lot of natural
light you've got these sort of deep um window wells it looks like it's fairly deep underground
and um it just seems like a like a cave so so that's a concern a concern for me with those
those basement units and can you zoom out some more you're not showing the whole plane
okay no i was just zooming in on the basement because you were mentioning the basement so
okay yeah that's why i did that yeah okay any other questions about where yeah where's the
walkout for the basement units that you showed in the photographs it's right here it's a it's in the
walker you have to walk around the back of the building to get to the to get to these basements
right and there's no windows or anything in that kitchen living room area so if you compare the
basement layout with the first floor and the second floor layout you see the stark difference
between the way that units the size of the apartments and the way that the apartments
are laid out just in terms of look at the kitchen living room area dining area of the first floor
compared to what would be just essentially just the kitchen and dining
compared to what would be just essentially just the kitchen and dining area of the first floor
unit in the basement and then there's no windows the only window that you have you got the door
wet you got the door into the basement then you've got the first window that you have is the bedroom
that has the egress well other than that there's no no light no air no ventilation i mean if you
ripped out half of that back wall in the basement and got some windows in there then it might be
salvageable um so but that's that's my concern other questions uh what's the depth of the backyard
um i don't know if we have a site plan as far as that i can just tell you
that the lot itself is 3 000 square feet um i don't know
There's no zoning plan that shows. I guess this is it. Okay. And then is the plan that all tenants
are going to have access to the rear yard, even though the first apartment one and two are going
to have to enter through that yard as well? Yes. So the way that it was broken down, the yard are
common area um if you look in the picture i don't have them in front of me unfortunately um there's
a walkway which is like i think like a four feet or five feet walkway but on the side of the walkway
it is a common area where all parties or all tenants can utilize the grass so um it's access
to all tenants and you have it on both sides so the tenants on 6215 have their own access to their
own grass as well which is a common area as well as 6217 has its own grass as well but if it's okay
with you guys i want to kind of speak on the window there is a window in the kitchen what
happened was we were trying to move forward and we had a stop work order um far as trying to get
everything looks like when the egress was there they were i was told that it was trying to do the
same but they said there was no work able to be done to put a larger window in the kitchen
could be able to have like an egress or natural light until once the zoning situation or the
meeting was approved. Then they said once that, then you should be able to be able to move forward.
So I just want to kind of elaborate about the window situation. And I understand his concern
about his dark. And that was something that I brought up as well to the architect was saying,
you guys have two egress windows here. You should put one in the kitchen as well to have natural
light as well as a form of getting out of the property for both units in a basement well i
guess i get yeah i guess the thing is they should have shown that on the plan as a proposal you know
what i mean for us to see and to see that there's going to be better light and and ventilation in
that in the living area or whatever that you have in the basement i i agree with that 100 i know
when i spoke to them they told us you know once if the zoning is approved they will basically you
know, I guess, restructure it. And, you know, they were saying to me was like, hey, let's
just, you know, see if they approve the three units, and then we can make authorizations
if need be. And I said, Well, I think it will help out a lot. Because again, you are in
a basement.
We're gonna really have to move on. I mean, Jermaine, do you have anything else you want
to add?
No, I don't have anything else to add. I mean, if there are any other questions that
any of the members may have. One more. Yes, I just have a question for the entrance exit and
the basement unit. I guess typically the basement would be a part of the first floor apartment.
Have you seen this? So what is the plan for, let's say there's a snowstorm and there's three
foot of snow overnight, you wake up, how do you open your door or what's the plan for snow removal
for the tenants in the basement? So I have a property management company that cuts the grass
and maintain the grass that's what we've been doing for the service and to until now um for
us when snow before we haven't removed it um just pretty much maintain the property that was one of
the agreements that i told the neighborhood that i will you know maintain a property um and so far
we have been keeping our work with that it seems like it could be a potential hazard well it could
a hazard not a potential hazard it's a drain system um in the middle of when you come down
to the back apartment it's a drain system where um where the water will degress but like so far
um i've been keeping my word with the neighborhood um i actually have been there myself personally
and helping out removing it so you know unfortunately that was the layout of the
building when i acquired it so i have been taking every necessary steps to prevent anybody from
um run into that issue all right questions from our attorney thank you yes uh mr
questions from our attorney thank you yes uh mr harris um you did not submit the color photographs
that you just um i did not submit the what color photographs there were five color photographs that
you have up right now those were not yeah we just yeah we just got those that was post
friday or whatever but i can stop if the if the board would allow i i could if i could supplement
the record to add these that's fine what i what i was going to say is if you could please submit
those five uh color photographs in each of your appeals and if you can do it by the close of
tomorrow yeah sure i mean i i yeah i have them right now i mean i could submit them well yes
yes it has to be in each case it has to be in what each appeal it has to be in each appeal
because they're separate records understood thank you any questions or comments from the
virtual audience yes chair I have a hand up by the name of Iris Brunson I'm going to allow them
to speak sure thank you hello can you hear me I can could you please state your name
and spell it for the stenographer i definitely will i'm talking on the line with of um miss
brunson but my name is sharon wilson i'm the vice president of oka the community organization and
the rco okay hold on one minute do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing
but the truth i do please proceed i just want to make some corrections to the testimony i heard
for Mr. Harris and to really hit home with the board that the neighborhood is overwhelmingly
opposed to this. We've been dealing with Mr. Pasha for a number of years now. Those bottom
apartments are very problematic because their exit and their interest is like less than three
feet to the fence of the house behind it. We had a lot of problems with the tenants when they sort
of tried to do this earlier. The house is in a lot of disrepair. The windows are open. They just
don't seem to really want to take care. The second thing is he indicated that he had some
agreements from some of their neighbors. I don't even believe there's 40 near neighbors in that
vicinity. And it just so happens that I am also a near neighbor. And I didn't get an invitation
from Mr. Harris when they originally done this. We invited him to come back to submit plans that
could actually be supported by the community. He, Mr. Harris declined on behalf of his client to
come back to the community and to try to get a resolution to this we've been working hard we want
to say yes but these plans are really problematic that is also a very densely parked area and he has
no plans for parking it's a it's a overuse of that building it's just too many apartments in
that small space okay thank you for calling jermaine do you have any questions i don't have
any questions for the for the vice chair to just uh testify but i can have my client testify as
to the signature since there's questions that she has about the veracity of the petitions why don't
we do this is there anyone else in the virtual audience no chair okay um you can bring your
client on and but please you know just concentrate on the on the signatures okay yeah sure so miss um
Yeah, Mr. Pasha, did you obtain, well, are you familiar with these signatures?
Yes, I am. What I did was I went door to door on actually the block of 13th and Godfrey. I
walked up from the beginning of 13th and Godfrey up to two blocks above, and I spoke to each
individual neighbors. The ones that told me they were in agreement, they wanted to hear what I was
to do when i basically told them what i was looking to do they said okay we're fine with it
i did have some neighbors said they didn't want to be bothered with it then i went one block over
on the left as well as one block over the right and i got petition signed from all parties um
saying that you know we would like you to you know finish the property um it is eyesore and i said
with your consent i would like to do that but i cannot do that without your support so i was able
to get i believe at that time maybe 50 signatures um also um i think i have got letters as well
Also, I think I have got letters as well. Unfortunately, I can't show them because I don't have it in front of me, but the neighborhood who I spoke to were in agreement of allowing me to move forward.
And like they said, one thing the young lady said, well, it is an eyesore. And I said, I can't do nothing about that without y'all consent.
So that was one of the reasons they wanted to increase the work being done to and hold up the value and maintain the integrity of the neighborhood.
That is the reason why I was given support and backing of all the signatures.
And one last thing.
There was a device that the vice president make a comment about you not wanting to meet with the community when they made an extra invitation.
Could you speak to that, please?
I'm not really sure because, like I said, I asked to have several conversations about it.
I know that the meeting or the verbiage that came back was, hey, we are open to allow you to turn
into a multifamily. We're just not open towards possibility of three units. And I was like, hey,
and they asked me several questions. I said, I'm open for whatever conversation that you guys would
like to have to make this a comfortable transaction or to help out to allow me to continue to move
forward i don't remember declining anything or even being presented with that all right okay
all right i don't have any further questions thank you planning commission
ina solomonic with the planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change
to the rsa2 residential single-family attached zoning at this location the property has
continuous violations for working without permits and there is no evidence that a conversion to
multifamily was performed without the benefit of permits. The planning
commission recommends the board deny the requested variances for parking and
multifamily use for both properties to say, or sorry, 6215 and 6217.
Jermaine, what I want to do, there's been a lot said about the projects. I'm
going to take this back to the board. We will vote next Wednesday at 2pm.
Okay, that's fine. In the meanwhile, I will, in the meanwhile, you'll get your
package down here again. Right. I'll supplement it with the colored photos. It's not a problem.
Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. All right. Steve.
sorry we had you down here so long both of you really uh mi 2025 006
730 3801 old york road steve masters is the attorney mr masters you've already been swarmed
just for the record could you please state your name good afternoon mr chair members good evening
good evening yes um steve masters s-t-e-v-e-m-a-s-t-e-r-s do you swear oh yeah we're good
with that could you identify your client a relationship to the property sir yes my client
is fnj used auto parts and auto repair and the owner is is um uh francisco garcia okay our
vice chair has just a few questions okay good evening um have you submitted your documents
and is a bit five days in advance of this hearing yes and so this is a referral um so you know you
require a special reception um so do you wait to read another referral and stipulate to its accuracy
yes all right thank you you can share your screen and proceed with the case okay
all right um members of the board uh this is as um the vice chair said this is a special exception
case we are looking to legalize a junkyard use of for auto parts at 3801 old york road
and we just have one uh referral which is that um in the i2 industrial zoning district
a salvage yard or yards and buildings require a special exception.
We have some signatures in support.
I went around last week and gave flyers door-to-door to let all the neighbors know that there was a hearing happening this afternoon.
uh this afternoon um there we already did a mail um uh notice but a lot of the letters got sent
we already did a mail
back so it was important to to let people know uh as as many as many ways as possible um and
so these uh these signatures are um there there's 10 signatures here they um they are uh people who
our uh residents in in close proximity to to um this business this business has been
um in operation with mr garcia for uh several years now but there but this neighborhood and
this location has been industrial for probably a hundred years the big problem here is not mr
Garcia's business. It's the business across the street on Old York Road on the side that is closer
to all the residential areas. It's a scrap metal business. It's run by someone who has literally
no concern or doesn't care at all about the welfare of the community and continuously does
things that are extremely harmful to the neighbors. Unfortunately, the neighbors don't
distinguish between Mr. Garcia's business, which is run really well, and this scrap metal business,
which is run really terribly. So in a moment, I'm going to show you some videos of some of the
things that happened from the scrap metal business that the neighbors, when we had our RCO meetings,
thought was from Mr. Garcia's business. And that's, I think, really the crux of why there is
some opposition to to this um to this uh zoning project so when we when we met with the with the
community we um oh i'm not showing my screen huh uh that's not good uh let's see
amazing okay thank you um so we we presented this um to the to the community um let's remember what
old york road looked like before francisco garcia opened up his auto repair business
at 3801 old york road there was rampant prostitution at all hours of the day and night
out-of-control trash dumping on both sides of Old York Road and thieves breaking into cars day and
night. Everything changed after Francisco bought his business to Old York Road in 2022. He has
kept calling the police and personally asked the prostitutes to move away from his business so
there's no tolerance for the prostitution anymore. There's no more out-of-control trash. He started
to hire local people from the neighborhood to pick up the trash on both sides of old york road this is
where he operates and also in areas with the terrible trash uh guy the the who who who just
is doesn't care about anyone else there was a big decrease in crime after uh after francisco came on
on the scene he installed security cameras which the police can use he calls the police many times
each week to deal with trouble he wants to partner with the community he's hired local residents
to clean on both sides he's all and he wants to even train young people in the community on
on classes to um to do mechanics training but the community has treated him as if he
is the problem not the scrap metal guy across the street and so let's let's go to the videos
okay um i wasn't able to figure out how to embed a video in a in a um adobe uh so we'll
but but since but since this is going to be in on the video for the for the for the the board
this should be fine so we have four videos here um and i'm going to have um francisco tell us
what we're looking at um in each of these videos first state your name and spell for this photographer
and get close to the mic you have to be really really close right yeah is it on mic one yes
okay state your name and spell for the stenographer yes good evening everybody
my name is francisco garcia f-r-a-n-c-i-s-c-o-i-g-r-g-a-r-c-i-a do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes that's right counsel so just to let
you know, Mr. Garcia had surgery recently on his vocal cords. So that's why he may sound
difficult. Yeah. But I'm just letting you know that it could happen. Okay. So let's go to this
um okay so uh let's go to this first one um mr garcia can you set the set this set the
first one.
information for us like what is that we're looking at here before i turn it on yes uh
what is this truck is right there that's the main entrance of my business and that truck going into
the this is right up here is your is your business entrance oh that's uh that's another
another oh okay oh right right there there yeah okay right there okay and and the truck is backing
up into the scrap metal business right okay let's look at it and this is like basically
blocking the entire road both directions of alderock road
i don't think i have i have um audio but it's it's going to be a video that we're going to be
seeing
so so this one i mean it's just it's just staying still the whole time right okay
um uh here is um
i think right now with this with this video we're going to be looking at the entrance to your
property and we're going to see there are forklifts that are used by the scrap metal company
and the the community thinks that the forklifts are coming in and out of Mr. Garcia's business
but they're actually coming in and out of the scrap metal business so I think this is one of
the scrap metal I mean it's one of the one of the um the forklift okay so here in the top of
screen here we're looking at um a forklift right it's a little hard to see because there's there's
the the time imprint but we'll see it better in in another version but this is a forklift that
was coming from a it picked up a car that was parked next to the scrap metal business and then
and it brought it into the scrap metal yard.
Okay, let's move this way.
This looks like a better forklift.
street okay once again mr garcia where is your business um it's around right here right yeah
okay and this is the crap metal business here yes um okay so that's a clear view of the of the
forklift coming in with a car to the scrap metal business you can even see it's a scrap metal in
the, in the top here, um, of, of the business sign. And they, all the cars are backed up
because they can't move because there's a forklift and a forklift is, um, an incredibly
dangerous, uh, vehicle to be used in a regular street. Um, which is why Mr. Garcia doesn't
use forklifts and why the scrap metal guy who doesn't care, uh, uses them all, all day
long. I think, uh, what's the fourth one. I think this is our last one here.
So here's the forklift coming back out. You can see that cars are, are, are moving in
very quickly and and this guy is backing out with a forklift again from the scrap metal
your business mr. Garcia's business is all the way over here and you see cars racing
by very close to the forklift yes we do you do yes inside the building but he uses them you'll
use them only inside your your your premises you don't take them out onto the street yes that day
that the forklift carrying the record it was the RCO meeting the sender sent us an email
It was the RCO meeting that sent us an email saying that's the problem.
That's why I forgot the email, but I got it.
It said that was one of the issues, and that's why I recorded a video that day
showing the proof that it's not us.
All right, so we have some more photos I want to show you, but let's go back to...
Okay, great.
Here we go.
did you show these photos the RCO yes we didn't we didn't have the the video to show to the RCO
um but um we we had we had we have we have we have the photos that we're going to show you of
of this yeah okay um all right so uh the the RCO asked for how many local and full-time employees
he has 10 full-time employees at his business um the the owner of the business is um sev
sabatrayer um narain who has authorized um mr garcia and his company to to apply for all
of the permits that he needs and licenses um so this is this is his um auto parts and auto repair
logo and here we have the zoning posters showing that we posted it for the July 15th date today
right outside of the front of entrance of his business this is a small like a larger size of
it then these photos if we can if you can just Mr. Garcia tell us what we're looking at at just
quickly go through all these photos yes that's the front of the building like the end of the
building the other side but this is the side of the street that your that your business is on
right yes is this part of there's there's other tenants in your business in in your location
right or or do you control the whole area no i control the whole okay okay um what are we looking
at here that's the main entrance okay and so all cars would come in or out of that entrance yes okay
and here that's the end of the building okay
this is another view looking toward to the main entrance yes okay
okay this is more when we start going inside the main entrance into your area
yes okay and these are are these the bays that you do that you work on cars yes that's the shop
the shop okay and then some of these cars that we're seeing here are they are some of these
junk cars or are they all cars that are just being worked on no those are customer cars customer cars
okay what are we looking at here that's the main interest okay and these are all customer cars yes
okay and you leave nothing on the street no everything inside that's another point mr
chair so the the community is very upset that that the scrap metal place puts a lot of cars
on the street every morning and then they they move them in at night mr garcia intentionally
doesn't put cars on the street he keeps them all he has a very large area for his business he keeps
them all back there um but and so this is now the this is the the junk area for your for your
business the uh backyard where we keep the car for parts okay
and this is another view of it yes okay
and how big is your lot chair this is the reporter i'm sorry i'm having trouble here
how big is your lot uh it's big yeah it looks yeah it's big yeah yeah these racks are are
are on these are all the parts for your for your for your repair work over here
um yes that's the driveway to connect to the back okay
that's the office this is the office okay
yeah i mean my in my opinion it's very clean for a for a place that that operates you know
with things that are kind of dirty um
that's the driveway that connect uh both building okay and and then what what are
what do you keep in these um on these racks that's our engine and transmission okay
that's the storage bar storage okay bar storage
that's the storage power storage
bar storage
that's the outer repair that's the shop where we are fixing the cars okay
that's the shop
does the enter to the office
i think we got the picture steve yeah literally very tidy yeah
so how did all those cars the ones that you're salvaging how did they all get in there
Towings, tow trucks.
And those come from the outside in, but you don't use the forklifts for them?
Outside, no.
Inside the building, yes.
And so then how often do you bring cars in?
With a forklift, not an out forklift.
No, I mean...
Cars in general.
Cars in general.
Cars in general, it depends, because the customer, most of them, they've been driving inside.
and get back driving the ones that need tow we have our own tow or we hire a tow company they
bring it what better questions where do you get the car where do you get all the cars that you
park that you party out like all those cars oh yes yes we bought in the ocean go park
then you tow them in yes okay um this is our tax clearance um we have the lease of
for Mr. Garcia from his landlord.
We have the application for appeal,
the project information form,
our letter to the RCOs and to the neighbors.
We did two of them, as I said.
So this one we just did on July 10th last week
to all of the houses within the 250 feet.
And we also had one on April 7th
we did through the mail for the rco meetings uh we also did a we also included the the um
the flyer from the rco that who they asked us to always include their flyer in in our mailings
these are all the addresses that we sent it to and the proof of mailing was 58
uh pieces but we also like i said did door to door for everyone so for a special exception
it's our burden to establish that our proposal meets the definition for the use permitted by
the special exception all the dimensional standards are satisfied and the application
complies with all the criteria and meets all the conditions for appropriate use we've established
that this use, this use of the junk and storage yards
is totally within the definition
for the special exception for an I-2 district.
And Mr. Garcia has gone well above
the regular expectations of someone
who operates in auto body and, I mean,
in an auto repair and a junkyard to actively engage
with the community and to chase prostitutes away,
to help the police do crime prevention.
These are all things that suggest that Mr. Garcia's impact
on the neighborhood will be overall very positive
and in sharp contrast to his neighbor across the street
who can't do anything nice or kind to anyone
uh in in the neighborhood um because he doesn't care about anything except himself um so at this
point mr garcia you've heard my testimony and um you were here today do you agree that it was true
and correct and do you adopt it for yourself yes do you have anything that you want to share with
with the board at this point about about your your business and this application no okay all right
questions from the board have you had have you had any conversation with the business across
the street in terms of you know how some of the things that they're doing is impacting your
business yes and what was that like basically he don't care so he's like i talked to him like look
the neighbors be complained because the car outside is no parking well it's nothing i can do
so it's not the basically on my end that I can do either because he got his license and
he got his license and he operated.
he operated so and he says there's nothing he can
And he says there's nothing he can do
about how he's acting?
Basically so.
But this activity that's going on on the street
with the forklifts and that kind of thing
and this impeding traffic and otherwise,
I mean, did anybody ever call the police?
That's what I say because the neighbor
should have made a complaint to him.
okay because it's nothing basically i can do so you you have no business relationship with him
you don't sell him anything yes i sell it the uh the chassis like the uh when the car is empty i
sell the metal to him you sell to him yes but even though i'd be like look we need to do something
because the neighbor i get angry with me not with you because they never go over there he said well
this business being operated over 40 years so basically it's nothing i can do all right any
other questions yeah how long have you been operating your business at that location four
years four years and then which other location do you have i got another uh another business too on
fifa lucerne that's a 423 west lucerne um and i'm the owner too what do you what do you do there
the same thing um junkyard too yes okay but i don't do uh scrap metal stuff like that the only
thing i do is sell parts right you part and then when you're left with the frame what do you do
with that sell it to somebody i sell it to the scrap metal okay all right all right other questions
questions or comments from our attorney yes um i'm going to be recommending that we hold this
um there is not a signed lease the lease is not signed and potentially there may need to be an
amended refusal because your use you indicated is repair and now you're asking about junkyard
so we're going to have to explore that but that use is already it's already licensed and we have
a we have a permit really we have to hold it anyway okay it's too late to laugh the least
you produced and the one you just did it isn't signed uh-huh all right but let's carry through
right um questions or comments from the virtual audience yes chair i have two hands up the first
is from Conlon Crosley. I'm going to allow them to speak.
Oh, wait, wait. I had another one. We would like you to produce, if you can, the four videos.
I know you said you couldn't, but could we... Oh, I can email them to you. Yes, that's what
we need to have. Okay, sure. I know you said it's... I don't know how to embed it in an
a micro in a in an adobe but i can yes yeah okay
put the councilman's person on please and they were captured by your camera right the videos
that we saw were captured by your camera
you see on good evening can you hear me i i most certainly can could you please state your name
is bell for the stenographer uh conlon crossley c-o-n-l-a-n crossley c-r-o-s-l-e-y
we swear or affirm to tell the truth told truth nothing but the truth i do sir please proceed
uh good evening uh chair and members of the board council member would like to take a position of
opposition for this project it does not uh fit the character of the community and places direct
hardship on the neighborhood all right thank you very much for calling do you have any questions
uh no okay thank you anyone else in the audience yes chair i have two more hands
up the next hand is cynthia barnes i'm going to allow them to speak
oh good evening cynthia could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
good evening and thanks for giving me a chance to um talk is c-y-n-t-h-i-a last name is barnes b-a-r-n-e-s
i am the co-director of the nice town tayoga do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole
truth nothing but the truth yes please proceed yes we i have several positions um petitions
opposing this this junkyard that's in a residential area that we've had we've
given them allowance to have three community meetings one where we came off
to have three community meetings one where we came off of vacation was in august of 2025
of vacation was
and we just had another one we normally don't do that but we were giving the guy
opportunity but i drive down that street in the morning to go to work and i see all this stuff
and in one of the pictures my car is one of the ones waiting for the forklift to go across the
street and as the gentleman said he sells the parts to the scrapyard so he's actually conducting
business with them so why would he tell him to stop doing that when he's selling the parts there
and they have no like the conditions around there it looks clean with the part that they showed but
you can see all the oil all over the ground and and you know it's bad for the um the environment
There are, you know, long-time homeowners right down the street, right next to Butler, on Butler Street, and I like to say that we've been opposing this since they brought it up, and I have set into three zoning hearings to all have them continue, and then tonight, I had to get off and go to work and come back on, and this has been four hours.
with this if i didn't care enough about where i live at i wouldn't have stayed this long all
right community oppose it i have a petition and i sign it to the um board chair okay thank you
very much we appreciate it steve do you have any questions or cynthia no all right do we have
another hand yes chair i have one more hand up okay your last name starting with h has been
allowed to speak sure hi could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
Dorothea Hackney, D-O-R-T-H-E-A, last name H-A-C-K-N-E-Y.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Are you a neighbor?
Yes, I live on the 1200 block of Butler Street.
Okay, please proceed.
I have lived on this block. My parents broke this house. I was born and raised in this house.
I'm 63 years old, and I just want to, I just hate someone not telling the truth and showing fictional pictures.
If you go down this block any given time, there are cars from his business parked up and down on this block.
the forklifts he does use forklifts that come in and out and for him to say that the but with the
that the community agrees or he went around he's never been to he has never came but to one
community meeting and that was the community meeting on 10th street at the community center
Other than that, we have heard nothing from them.
This is an eyesore.
The property where you see when it's open, it's wide open.
We have children around there.
It does not permit any children from running in and out of there.
It does not permit anything.
And for him to say, oh, he's the one that called the police about the prostitution.
He's the one that called the police about the trash.
No, he's not.
We care about our community.
Majority of the people in this area has been living in these homes for over 50 and 60 years, and we care about our community.
All right.
Thank you very much for taking the time.
Steve, you have any questions?
I have no questions for you.
All right.
Thank you very much.
No one left in the audience?
No chair.
Planning commission?
Nina Solomonic, the planning commission.
The comprehensive plan recommended a change to the previous I-2, Medium Industrial Zoning at this location, to RM3, Residential Multifamily.
However, this entire neighborhood was remapped in 2025 in a council-supported remapping action as part of the Planning Commission's Community Remapping Program that includes extensive engagement with residents, property owners, and business leaders.
As a result of this lengthy, iterative, and intentionally analytic and design process,
this entire block's base zoning classification was changed to RMX3 residential mixed use.
This property has a long documented history of code violations and is reported by the local community as a main nuisance source.
Additionally, through the remapping process, the local community expressed a strong desire for
Additionally, through the remapping process, the local community expressed a strong desire for the residential development in this neighborhood to be directed towards this block to intentionally de-industrialize it.
The proposed use junkyard and salvage yards and buildings is not compatible with the community's expressed vision for the stretch of Old York Road.
Therefore, the City Planning Commission recommends the board deny the requested variants for junk and salvage yards and building uses.
um thank you very much for your comments you have any statements you want to make real quick
yeah i would i actually um my research suggested that the um that the the the zoning on this was
was still industrial um so i'm surprised to hear that from the planning commission um this
the other side of of this property is a railroad track um and and the trains in that railroad track
go to industrial, they're industrial trains that go to industrial businesses all along
the Old York Road corridor. So we're in a situation where the city needs certain industrial
areas to have manufacturing and to have the kind of businesses that help people get their cars
fixed and have parts for cars that are accessible, that they can use. That I personally
wouldn't want to put residential neighbors next to industrial areas that's the reason that we have
zoning is we're not supposed to have industrial and and residential in the same place but
apparently in the history of of this neighborhood there was always some residential and industrial
that were that were co-existing and and that's and that's um a difficult uh that's a difficult
legacy to have in this case though what mr garcia is doing is is compatible with with the industrial
use of of the property and he is more he cares more and he is more attending than the typical
person who actually operates these kinds of businesses the the folks who are are bad-mouthing
him um i think that they really don't even know him they haven't really gotten in um and and they
claim that like well he hasn't shown up at a meeting but that's not the only way that you can
get to know people you can actually walk up to them and talk to them that that's that's like an
old-fashioned way of doing it and that and mr garcia has tried to talk to people but they seem
to be very very um biased against him and it and it could be because he you know isn't maybe from
that neighborhood and maybe he's not he's he doesn't have the same demographic characteristics
that some people do, and that's a shame,
that people should be able to embrace people
who are here in a neighborhood, regardless of who they are.
Just one quick question, real quick.
How close is the nearest home on Old York Road?
Do you know?
Like, is it several hundred down?
There, from his business, I can show you, I think, in a photo,
but it's the other side of Old York Road.
It's right across the street.
there are two across the street it's about um it's almost directly across the street but it's
a you know it's a wide street for old york road there are houses um there's a small there's a
small street and there are houses on both sides of that and then behind the scrap metal yard there's
another set of houses that are like in a in a small little it's not even an alley but it's
it's a very very small road thank you yeah lynn what do we need from steve
he's going to submit the four videos okay i'm going to submit a signed lease and we're also
going to be working on an amended refusal so how long do would we how long do we have to wait for
this the amended refusal uh
30 days okay so could anybody have a date
30 30 days and we'll get back to you with it okay okay all right thank you very much thank you
we kept you all a long time we we appreciate it thank you is there uh is there anyone in
the audience whose case is not from paul i see no handshare okay so um first of all for the staff
back there the staff i appreciate you saying staying you know how i am i don't like to stay
like this you know and i especially don't want to keep all of our staff out long but i do think
we accomplished a lot today and got a lot of interesting cases to listen to and things like
that so um and i and i would say that uh cheryl has a complaint about the air conditioning i
Cheryl has a complaint about the air conditioning. I don't know. I don't want to, you know, thought it was hot.
I don't know how I want, you know.
Well, Steve, we're sorry. Seriously, Steve, sorry to keep your ransom. Sorry to keep your ransom.
And, uh, lately.