has a combo bedroom den in the back. There's this spiral staircase that goes up to the second floor
and currently on the second floor the rear of the second floor is separated from the front and as a
result the the rear of the second floor is almost part of the first floor unit. That is crazy
complicated, relies on the use of a spiral staircase and creates like an additional hole between the
first and second floors, which can't be good for fire safety purposes. So we are going to remove
that spiral staircase, patch that hole, and basically, you know, make this what you would
expect, which is, I'll go to our proposed conditions now, you know, one unit that occupies
the whole first floor and one unit that occupies the whole second floor, much more straightforward
and expected. And my clients, again, are going to move from Pittsburgh and live in the second
floor unit because that's the one that has the deck and they'd like to enjoy the new renovations
and the deck. The third floor unit is not going to be touched and really nor will the first floor
unit aside from the removal of that spiral staircase. It's the second floor where the
action is for the most part. And then I'll go through some photos. So here is what I call the
orphan space. This is the back of the second floor.
And the back of the second floor, which is, as I mentioned, currently part of the first floor unit, confusingly, that's the spiral staircase.
If you were to turn the camera around, this is actually quite a large space. It's bigger than it appears here. And that's the deck that I mentioned.
This is the third floor unit, not really proposed for much change other than the installation of the fire suppression system.
This is what currently exists in the front of the second floor, which is a studio unit. So the bedroom is sort of around the corner, but in the same room from the kitchen, which is shown here, the bedroom, there will be no bed in this room after the back of this floor is turned into a proper bedroom.
and this is the first floor um again not not major changes down here either it's quite a nice
space um the only thing is that the tenant currently has their bed in like this um den
space behind the kitchen there's an additional room behind this which is occupied by that
spiral staircase i guess they didn't want to sleep next to it so we'll be uh anticipating that
that person will use that back room once the spiral staircase is removed. Okay. And then I
just have a few more points to make on the history of the property and the block. So Exhibit 15 is a
list of other multifamily properties on this block. Not really surprising given the size of
some of these buildings and their proximity to Broad Street. So using rental licenses and
zoning permits online, counted three other triplexes, three other duplexes, and one, two,
three buildings that have more than three units. And I have copies of the relevant zoning permits
and or rental licenses in our exhibit.
So here, for example, at exhibit 15
is the rental license record for 1300 Ellsworth,
which is a triplex.
So I've got one of those for all of those.
I think it was nine or 10 properties.
Just breeze through those.
We did, again, keeping in the theme
of total compliance with the law,
I urged my clients to get a rental license for two units immediately after they bought the property.
They were able to do so because Tamara's father lives in the city, so they named him as their managing agent.
And, you know, that way the two tenants who are currently there are there under, you know, kosher circumstances.
Here's that rental license.
um here is a two-unit rental license that was held by the seller although um you know my clients
did not have an attorney when they purchased the property and the the mls the listing service said
that this was a four-unit building so they were not aware that only two units were legal
um this is the latest zoning permit the active zoning permit on the property it's from 1983
There's a few things of interest here.
So Tom, who was the owner at the time, declares in this application, I'll zoom in a little bit, that before he made this application, that the last previous use of the building was three units.
That's why we believe that sort of, you know, historically in a distant sense, this has been a residential triplex.
But then he writes in this sort of application text up here that his proposed construction is to do some renovations on the first floor and that it's going to be a personal art studio.
And accordingly, he sort of scratches off what I assume said something about what was going on on the first floor and just writes that there will now be two apartments.
We spoke with the community about this at the RCO meeting.
There was a gentleman who was very skeptical that this was really ever used as an art studio, at least one that was sort of open to the public or anything like that. So maybe Tom at the time did really have an art studio there. Maybe this was an attempt to shirk some requirements that would have pertained to his renovation of the first floor.
But what happened after this is somebody stepped in and renovated the first floor again. And, you know, you saw that it's a nice apartment. It's just that sort of flip back to a residence wasn't done with permits.
And we know that because here in 2007, an interim owner filed an appeal to this board seeking to legalize the lower unit. Now, that person failed to submit exhibits to the board.
Now, that person failed to submit exhibits to the board. We know per the ZBA's records that that is why the case was dismissed. So I just, you know, I want to be careful to make sure you know that this legalization of the three units, although it should have happened now almost 20 years ago, if not more, has never been considered on the merits by this board.
We know.
This owner failed to sort of submit the proper exhibits. And then later, somebody came along and tried to legalize this as an Airbnb, which the board denied. But we're not doing. This is not for short-term rental.
Finally, here is a copy of the RCO's decision letter. This was an in-person meeting. Their position is non-opposition. There was a 5-2 vote among the board members, and there was a 5-0 vote among the members of the public who were in the audience, so 10-2 in total.
And here are copies at exhibit 18 of the emails and letters that I sent out to advertise the RCO meeting.
I'll just quickly end with speaking about the hardships that I think we face.
I also would love to stop sharing my screen. There we go.
Okay. So I spoke about the hardship with the dimensional variance, which is really just that we have a solid structural back wall on that deck. And, you know, I think it would be economic waste to have to remove it and then reinstall it and you'd end up with less living space. Also, our neighbor basically has the same exact thing, but at a higher elevation in terms of the number of units.
So as you saw, I believe we're currently permitted for two units plus a art studio. There's no market for an art studio or any non-residential use in the middle of this residential block.
And, you know, I think history doesn't prove that there ever was such a market since the person who declared it to be an art studio used it as a personal studio.
It's not as though he went on the market and found a tenant.
If our request were to be denied, we would have to basically merge two of the units,
remove one of their kitchens, and almost certainly evict one of the tenants in the process,
in addition to putting a delay in my clients moving into the property.
That, I think, all constitutes a hardship.
There is no known use of this building only having two physical units, art studio or residence on the first floor.
It's always had three physical units as far as we can tell.
And finally, if it were only to be two units, there would not be a requirement to add a fire suppression system with sprinklers.
By legalizing this at three units, it's going to force us to put in those sprinklers, which I think is important and we're going to do.
um so that's bring your client on please bring your client um that'll be either
Rashid Williams or Tamara Birch Williams if you could raise your hand
they have been allowed to speak could you please state your name and spell for this
phonography. Hi, my name is Rashid Williams, that's R-A-S-H-I-D-W-I-L-L-I-A-M-S. Do you swear or affirm
to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth, sir? I do. Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you. Rashid, did you hear my testimony in your case this morning? Yes. Was it true and
accurate to the best of your knowledge, information, and belief? Yes. And would you therefore adopt it
as if it had been your own testimony? Yes. Thank you. Okay. Counsel, just one issue. You showed
the letter from Passion Square. Yes. We do have a letter from Councilman Squill, too, so just so
you know. Oh, okay. I was not aware. Thank you. Questions from the board. I have a question,
chair regarding use, referencing the use. So you saying your clients inherited, did your clients
inherit a tenant on the first floor and third floor, or were they acquired after their purchase
of the house? Ms. Graham, can I allow my client to answer that? Okay, go ahead, Rasheed.
Yes, they were, they moved in after we purchased.
thank you and just a reminder you know we we got the proper licensing to do that
um my questions are so you have this first floor you say with the spiral staircase that goes
into the second floor unit right and so there's a part of that space that
And so there's a part of that space that is not being used, but the front part was basically used as a what?
It's an apartment, board member Gaston.
I could show you those pictures again.
Maybe that would help, but it is fully built out as an apartment.
Maybe the nicest one in the building.
So who was living here?
was anybody living there yeah so there there was someone living there I think prior to the sale
and and there is now a new tenant living there they just don't use the back room at the spiral
staircase so here are the the photos of that unit again this is the kitchen this is the back room
which is sort of the bedroom and then there's I wish I had a photo of it but there's a really
nice living room in front of all this you can kind of see it through this uh portal here from
the kitchen okay so but but there's basically three units in there as we speak oh yeah yes
for sure and there's no question that that's been the case since at least 2007
All right. And then your plan is to take out this spiral staircase and make each unit a one bedroom unit, therefore, correct?
Yeah, that's right. I think that, you know, as we've heard discussion in prior cases, there's, it's hard to dictate how someone uses the space. So it's not to say that someone couldn't take a living room and make it a bedroom. But what I can tell you is that absolutely, it's one unit per floor, and we're not attempting to make renovations to, you know, pack in extra bedrooms or anything like that.
Okay. And then with respect to the deck or whatever we're calling this, it says, am I reading this right, that the roof deck lacks required five foot setback from extreme front building lines? Where is the front building line being considered here?
Excellent question. I had to wrestle with that myself. So what I learned is that with regard to certain code requirements, including this one, a rear street is considered a second front street. So there, yeah, it's not written clearly, but the examiner was talking about Annan Street. The deck doesn't get anywhere near Ellsworth, the actual front street.
Right. And don't we, well, okay. I thought that with multifamily dwellings, there was a, that the planning commission got to say what was the considered to be front street.
Yeah, so did I.
So I think the planning commission did make that determination that Ellsworth is the front street, but that determination does not apply to deck setback requirements.
At least that's what you explained to me.
All right.
And then that deck area is about how big?
and there's no there's no windows there's no it by the uh the neighboring property isn't affected
by windows anything so here's a here's probably the best photo of it so the neighboring property
has no um windows on that face the deck and because we have a shorter um structure in the
rear than the neighbor i think you know if anything they sort of encroach on us not the
other way around um yeah because they can move down from their deck going to this that's right
okay all right thank you you're welcome any other questions from the board i just have two or just
two comments i think the units are laid out fairly decently i think that the deck is consistent with
the the other decks that are uh adjacent and near the property thank you questions or comments from
our attorney hillary emerson 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 with the philadelphia city planning commission
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing residential single family zoning
however the proposed dimensional variance where the deck does not conflict with the purpose and
spirit of the zoning code, and the proposed use for multifamily is consistent with documented
for a multifamily is consistent with documented prior use of this property.
prior use of this property.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the Zoning Board grant the variance.
Thank you. MI 2024, 005, 001, 513, 1330 Ellsworth Street. I vote yes with proviso.
Revised plans, one page, stamped by CBA on July 24th, 2024.
for. And Mr. Chair, if we could add a second proviso just to clarify, maximum three dwelling
units. Thank you. Isn't that in the revised plans? But that's fine. It is in the revised plans,
but we do usually have it separate. Thank you. So revised plans will be revised plans,
one page, state by ZBA, on July 24, 2024, and maximum three units.
Shanael Shaheed, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Teneda Graham, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Hi, Nguyen, my vote is yes, with proviso.
James Smell, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Thank you.
Thank you, counsel. Number 16, MI 2024-001-516-1301 North 24th Street, TA-166919. Joseph Consul is the attorney. Ishmael Shahid is going to recuse himself for this project.
there's a letter of non-opposition
from the Brewery Town
Sharswood Community Civic Association
there was
a split
good morning Mr. Consul could you state your name
and spell for the court sonographer
it's Joseph Consul that's J-O-S-E-P-H
last name is Consul
C-O-N-S-O-L-E
do you swear or affirm
to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
um do you identify your client in the relationship to the property yeah my client is
chivetta property group and on the call today representing chivetta is michael tomasetti
do you agree to the uh the refusal and uh its accuracy i do and all your paperwork has been
sent in on time. That's correct. Please share your screen, sir. I believe I am. Is my refusal
up? You're up. Yep. All right. Great. Hey, everyone. Joe Consul here for Chivetta Property
Group. We are here today seeking approval to build a single-family home at 1301 North 24th Street.
My client, Chivetta Property Group, LLC, is, as of January 2023, under agreement with the Philadelphia Housing Authority to develop 1301 North 24th Street as workforce housing under the Turn the Key program.
They are under contract or agreement to develop a single-family home that does not include commercial space.
we submitted the plans that will be used to develop this property would be a three-bedroom
two-bath home with a basement that is for mechanicals and it has a little bit of storage
availability but this will be a single family home that sits on the corner this lot or this
block from one angle looks like this there's a lot of lots on this block and a lot of lots looking
the other way uh that um a lot of which my clients are developing this property is on the corner and
zone cmx2 there's no commercial space in in the surrounding area and at the rco meeting there did
appear to be any appetite for commercial space here so for that reason and for um the fact that
we we believe that um this project is extremely beneficial overall uh for um the city as evidenced
by the agreement between my clients and the philadelphia housing authority we are um hopeful
that the board sees fit to grant this variance.
So again, the variance that we're seeking
is essentially downzoning,
looking here for an RSA-5 on a CMX-2 lot
for a three-bedroom, two-bath, and that's it.
RCO, as you mentioned,
took a position of non-opposition,
seemed like most folks were in support,
Most folks were in support. Some folks appeared to be just against any kind of a variance, but did not want commercial space there. So, again, we believe that even for those that were sort of that raised their hand against it, we don't believe that they actually want to see commercial space. We just got the impression that they didn't want any sort of an approval here.
some folks appeared to be just
Mr. Counsel, could you bring your client or representative of your client on, please, and adopt your testimony?
Absolutely. Mr. Tomasetti, could you raise your hand?
They have been allowed to speak.
Good morning, sir. Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Yes, Michael Tomasetti, T-O-M-A-S-E-E-T-I.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
yes sir please please proceed mr council good morning mr tomasetti did you hear my testimony
just now regarding genetis property at 1301 north 24th street yes i did do you agree with what i
said and do you adopt it as your own i fully agree yes thank you nothing further board sure questions
from the board um do we have a plan for this property and uh the elevations i know we didn't
go through the whole packet but do we have those or just yeah we submitted the the the construction
plan uh i'm not certain of the height i am certain that there is no refusal for the height
michael are you aware of what the height will be i believe on this block these are uh basement
two-story homes okay no i i wasn't concerned about that i just i didn't know whether you had