we really could make sure that everything in this property is safe.
They have a first floor tenant and there was some wires hanging when they
uh presented that we were concerned with that may have been uh relative to lighting they did
presented that we were concerned with.
There may have been relative to.
show they did send a new um picture that that lighting has been added um but i think there
may need to be at least some some review to just make sure that the property is okay but other
you know also they presented with trash cans all out front as a way of their storage and we
would like to make sure that storage trash storage will be inside not on the porch and not out front
and of course no basement living was also uh discussed um thank you miss cummings we appreciate
as usual your comments is there anyone else in go ahead why don't why don't we see anybody else
is in the audience okay is there anyone else in the virtual audience i see no hands
Please proceed, Vern.
Thank you.
Appreciate Ms. Cummings' input on that.
We did talk about the outstanding violations.
All have been cleared.
But for one, that will come as part of the process of getting a CO.
We can't occupy this fully building until there's a CO, which we'll get upon securing the zoning permit.
So with that, I have nothing further.
Planning Commission.
thank you chair bergman sarah bond philadelphia city planning commission s-a-r-a-h-b-a-n-h
i'd also like to welcome the new board members okay thank you do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth uh i do yes please proceed mr anastasia would
you mind scrolling back through the the photos of the second floor unit
Mr. Anastasio, I'm sorry, Mr. Chair, can I go back to the second floor drawing, please, of course.
Okay. Thank you. I just wanted to clarify. So this is the second floor unit that Mr. Johns
recommended that it only be a one bedroom was that was that correct that's correct okay okay
great okay i have my recommendation thank you uh okay in 2014 the zoning map was amended to rsa 5
at this location in accordance with recommendations from the comprehensive plan the requested variance
is not supported with evidence of unique physical circumstances or conditions of the property
however the city planning commission recommends that the zoning board grant the variance with
following proviso one bedroom only in the second floor unit. Thank you. MI 2024-001-066-1826
North New Kirk Street. I vote yes with provisos. No household living in basement,
interior trash second floor one bedroom only
my vote is yes is with proviso michael johns my vote is yes with proviso
tennetta graham my vote is yes with proviso
daryl gaston my vote is yes with proviso
tyan win my vote is yes with proviso
james snell my vote is yes with proviso
thank you counsel thank you
number 11 mi 2024 001 388 3515 shelburne street alexander perry is the attorney
Alexander Perry will be coming in as a payment, please.
Good morning, Mr. Chairman.
Good morning, counsel. Could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Yes, sir. My name is Alexander Perry for the owner applicant, and that's spelled A-L-E-X-A-N-D-E-R, P as in Peter, E-R-R-Y.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
And could you identify who your client is and the relationship to this property?
Yes, my client is Millie Perez. She has been the owner and occupant of this property for nearly 30 years.
Thank you. Our vice chair has just a few questions, sir.
Good morning, counsel. Do you agree to waive the written of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, sir.
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
We have.
Thank you, counsel. Please proceed.
Counsel, just for a point, do you have an RCO letter?
I didn't receive the letter. We had full support from the RCO, but they were going to send the letter to your board.
to um to your board i can follow up today and have them send that in um as soon as they can please
I can follow up today and have them send that in.
proceed i'm going to share my screen if that's okay sure uh this property is a single family
home it's been owned and occupied by the owner millie perez our client for nearly 30 years during
covid her family member i believe her brother-in-law built a porch in the rear of the yard
The porch is 100% legal. However, because it takes up the rear yard, it needs a variance for the lack of space in the backyard. The city counts that as taking up the space. So the variance is for a rear yard of zero because it's been taken up by a porch. And I'll show you pictures in just a second.
Here's the deed to the property listing my client, Millie Perez, from 1996.
It's a single-family RSA 5 home.
It's on the corner of the street with windows on the side and front.
And it's across from the Police Athletic League Park and just adjacent to the Police Athletic League building.
That is also where the RCO meeting was held with Kensington Independent Community Association.
The refusal here for variance notes the rear yard depth required nine feet, proposed zero.
There is a three-foot alleyway behind, immediately behind this property that hasn't been encumbered by this deck.
Here's the appeal number for the erection of a one-story rear addition.
It's considered an addition because it's not a deck, it's a porch under the code.
Here's the notice to all adjacent neighbors, our required posting.
I'll skip through this.
This is to all of the neighbors.
Here's the property.
It's 31515 Shelbourne Street.
It's a corner property with windows on the side.
Over here is the park.
and then behind it, here's the notice of posting, and here's the porch itself.
After the porch was built, based on feedback from the neighbors, it was enclosed because
it is in Kensington, and they were having people sleeping on the porch, putting refuse on the porch,
and the neighborhood said, you need to build that in. Because there are windows on the side,
it doesn't propose any fire hazard to occupants of the building.
Here's the alleyway.
This building on the left is the Police Athletic League, and here's the alleyway that is shared by all common owners on the block.
Here's across the street is the park.
Here's our tax clearance, and here was the architectural diagram that was submitted to the city with the porch as well as the fencing in.
And that's it.
And my client, Millie Perez, I believe is in the audience, and she can adopt my testimony and answer any questions if desired.
Please, please bring her on.
Millie, can you raise your hand if you're listening?
Millie has been allowed to speak.
Good morning. Could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Good morning. Can you hear me?
We can.
Oh, good morning, everyone. My name is Milagros Perez, and I can spell that M as in mom, I-L-A-G-R-O-S, last name P as in Paul, E-R-E-Z.
Affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Yes, I do.
Please proceed, Mr. Perry.
Thank you. Ms. Perez, did you hear my testimony that I gave previously?
um yes i affirm your statement um i'm so sorry oh no that's that's good you're you're jumping
ahead could you adopt it at your home uh your own testimony if it was true and correct yes
and just to confirm this is your your single family home and you've lived there for nearly
30 years correct correct yes okay thank you uh any questions from the board questions from the board
I don't know whether it's a question, but a comment. What you've done here is it's not a deck. Well, it's not fish or fowl is what I'll say. It's not a deck because a deck can't have a permanently affixed roof or stairs.
and it's not really a porch in the sense that you know this is I'm not sure what it's being used for
but it's more like with windows in it most porches don't have windows in it either so
I'm a little concerned about what was done here I'm also concerned about all this
i'm also concerned about all this um uh security fencing which is now being
Um, oh.
was there uh were there any refusals for all the fencing that was put in there
i'll share i'll share this screen again um sorry
can you see this okay so this this is the you're correct it's it's not a deck it's a porch
my misspoke it's a porch based on its height uh the there are no windows it's all open air
there is a roof which is okay under the code however the only window is over here this was
the existing structure this was a backyard it was previously all fenced in this is kensington
North Kensington. Right now, especially after the city moving everyone from under the L,
there's a tremendous volume of individuals who are breaking into homes. And the reason why this
actually first obtained a violation was the RCO member called the property in because there were
independent individuals sleeping on the porch and causing trouble in the neighborhood. The bars were
put on the plan sent to the city and they were a suggestion and if not requirement if they weren't
put in the police athletic league would have required it and uh i'm sorry the rco would
have required it because of its proximity to the police athletic league
thank you other questions from the board
no chair questions or comments from our attorney
not at this time mr not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see no hands planning commission
thank you chair bergman sarah bond the philadelphia city planning commission s-a-r-a-b-a-n-h
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing residential single-family zoning.
The proposed use will not cause detrimental impacts to the neighborhood beyond what might normally be expected.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the Zoning Board grant the variance.
Thank you.
Hillary, I should hold this until we have in our hand the RCO letter.
Am I correct?
You can do that, Mr. Chair.
If you'd like to set a time limit on that, you can.
Yeah, I will. Why don't we set a week on that? Council, we're going to vote on this next week. This is closed other than the RCO letter.
Thank you.
Okay, thank you very much.
And that'll be a vote at 930 on July 31st, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you.
Mr. Chair, would you like us to attend or will you do that as a board and we won't need to be there?
Good job, but you can listen in, but you don't have to come on.
Okay, thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, members of the board.
Number 12, MI 2024-001-412-15141 Endicott Street. Clementine Amazon is the attorney. There's a letter of support from the Somerton Civic Association and a letter of non-opposition from Council Member O'Neill.
good afternoon good morning good morning good morning council
hi could you please state your name and spell for the court sonographer
of course flamenca amazon sorry about that i think i think you have two devices on
uh give me one i think they're bouncing a little bit
please proceed again come on to amazon that's spelled c-l-e-m-e-n-t-a last name is spelled
a-m-a-z-a-n you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
Yes, I do.
Counselor, could you identify your client and their relationship to the property?
Of course. My client is Joelle Avicino. She is the owner of the property.
And our vice chair has just a few questions for you.
Good morning, Counselor. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, I do.
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, I have.
Thank you, council. Please proceed and share your screen. Thank you.
Thank you.
Can everyone see my screen?
We can.
So again, my name is Clemente Amazon, and I also have Agata Reister on the line.
If she could also be promoted as panelist,
She is the architect for this project.
In the event the board may have questions regarding the design, she'll be available to answer.
Thank you.
I'll be presenting 15141 Endicott Street.
During my presentation, I will go through the refusal.
As the chair mentioned, we do have a letter of support from the Civic Association.
We also received a letter of non-opposition from the councilman.
We have maps of the area, photos of the property, as well as the surrounding area.
posting photos, our application for appeal, project information form, the dean showing that my client
does own this property, it's evidence of tax clearance, as well as the notice that was sent
out regarding the community meeting. So this property is owned RSA3. My client purchased it
in 2020. At the time of purchase, it did already have a rear deck in place. She simply removed the
deck and replaced it. Unfortunately, she was unaware that she had to obtain licenses.
For the replacement of the deck, it was no change in location of the deck, size of the deck.
She just updated the design, and she received a citation from L&I.
And so now we are going through the process of zoning.
We received two refusals.
The first refusal is for the fact that the bottom of the proposed deck is enclosed.
You'll see in the images of the property that it does have latticework on the bottom portion of that deck.
the second refusal that we have is that the rear deck goes into its full lot coverage in short
as you'll see in the photos it's very characteristic for several problems in this
area council your council you're like you're you're sort of like i think
you're hard to hear put it that way
Hold on a minute. Court reporter, are you okay with it so far?
Yes, Chair.
You're okay with hearing?
So far, yes. It was a bit garbled, as you noticed, but so far, I think I'm okay.
All right. Please proceed, counsel.
So as I said, the post that we have here is some of those that are within this area work along Wilford Street, which is the street.
Excuse me, Chair. Pardon me. This is the court reporter.
I'm afraid it has gotten to the point where I'm having difficulty understanding.
Okay. I apologize. Is it possible for me to...