Good morning, everyone.
Good morning, everyone.
My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this meeting of the Philadelphia Zoning Board.
With me is our board member, Cheryl L. Gaston.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our board member, Michael Johns.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Board member, Taya Nguyen.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Also, here is our attorney, Matthew Webster, and our ZBA director, Ian Haggerty.
Recording of this hearing will be posted on the ZBA website.
By participating, you agree to be recorded.
This is an in -person meeting with remote capabilities.
Whether remote or in person, if you're called to speak, you must state and spell your name, then wait to be sworn in.
Once you've been sworn in, please state your name each time before beginning your testimony.
Any person may enter their appearance to become an interested party.
There are three ways.
You can identify the case property address on your Zoom webinar registration.
You can see a staff member, or you can call the ZBA appearance line at the close of business tomorrow.
Call 267 -270 -5548.
Leave a message that includes your email address and the address of the appeal case.
The following guidance is for our remote attendees.
First, when directed by the chair, you must raise your virtual hand in order to be recognized.
Second, if you're called to testify, you'll be prompted to join as a panelist.
Please accept the request and turn on your camera.
Third, the webinar Q &A is for questions about the hearing.
Do not comment on the Q &A.
Fourth, if you're participating by phone, press star 9 to raise your hand and star 6 to unmute.
For our in -person attendees, please refrain from talking, eating, or drinking during the hearings.
Verbal and physical aggression will not be tolerated.
Restrooms are across from the elevators.
A water fountain is just outside the room to the right.
When speaking on the record, you must speak directly into the microphone in order to be heard by all attendees and the court reporter.
In the event of an emergency, please follow the directions given over the public address system or by staff.
The main exit is through the double doors at the rear of the room.
The nearest stairwell is to the left outside the doors.
In case of evacuation, the rally point is Love Park directly across Art Street.
Please remain there so we can account for you.
Let's take a look at our schedule for today.
number one
Yoakam Street
that case is
continued
attorney moving
number five
number five
MI 2024 -003 -394 -3910 Germantown Avenue.
That case is continued, attorney moving party.
Number 13.
MI 2024
006823
5329 North 13th Street
that case is continued
number
number 14
MI -2025 -000
What's wrong, ma 'am?
Come on up.
Good morning, ma 'am.
Hi, could you please state your name
and spell for the court stenographer.
Michelle, M -I -C -H -E -L -E.
Right.
Last name, two letters, E -L, capital E -L.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
I affirm.
Please, take a seat, ma 'am.
So we have a request from the listed applicant
to continue this case.
Could you give us your,
and first of all, is the listed applicant,
applicant. Natasha Watson
or Ivory and Elizabeth Jones present?
Good morning, Chair. This is Nadia and I'll be your co -host today.
Natasha Watson will be promoted to panelists.
Ms. Watson?
Yes. Good morning.
Hi, Ms. Watson. Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Natasha Watson, N -A -T -A -S -H -A -W -A -T -S -O -N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Ms. Watson, you've requested a contingent.
Could you give us the reason why?
I was not able to get the text paper that was needed.
I think I was a little unclear on who was supposed to provide that.
But with the email that was sent last night, I'm actually on my way there, about 20 minutes out.
But with the information I was given last night, it was a little bit more clear.
It said that it was a real estate tax compliant.
I was very unclear on where I would get that from.
Okay, thank you.
Could you give us your – please state your reasons.
You don't want a continuance?
We've been here three times.
with continuances. We started out with part of our neighbors who opposed the appellate.
We had some of them in the local library because of their work, illness, and their conditions of
age. They couldn't get here, so we had them in the library. We have neighbors that are here today
for the, this is our third time
coming, and each time
from your point of view
she wasn't prepared
she wasn't prepared
so this is what we're going to do
we're going to continue this one more time
the case will go on the next
time whether it's prepared or not
and I'm sorry you came down
we're going to continue this
to the 6th
of august at 2 p .m and i i know it's hard but we're going to do one more time
and the case will go on and i thank you for coming into all your interest thank you okay
for the record thank you oh no thank you very much ma 'am but it will go on the next time
um natasha did you hear me yes i would recommend that you call the office and find out everything
you need because the case will be heard
the next time.
Thank you so much.
Number
MI 2025
000400
Mount Vernon Street. This case
is continued until
January 7th
2026 at 930 a .m.
And number
MI 2025
000491555
Van Kirk Street. Octavia
Brown is the owner.
Could Octavia please come on.
Octavia Brown will be joining as a panelist.
Hi, good morning, everyone.
Good morning.
Could you please state your name and spell for the course?
Yes, my name is Octavia, O -C -T -A -V -I -A.
My last name is Brown, B -R -O -W -N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Octavia, we need to know, was your property posted for 21 days prior to this hearing?
And you have pictures of that?
I submitted it on the DBA website, the portal where you attach the pictures.
So we just had to check on that.
I'm going to call your case later, so please remain on the line.
Okay. Thank you. Thank you. And we have a few cases here without exhibits.
Number four, MI -2020.
MI 2024 -002 -966 -20 Jackson Street.
Joseph Vaccaro is the attorney.
There are no exhibits.
This is the third listing.
Joseph Vaccaro, if you're in a virtual audience, please raise your virtual hand.
I see no hands.
Okay, thank you. This case has been called. We've had this case three times. We still have no exhibits. So MI 2024 -002 -966 -20 Jackson Street, I vote to dismiss.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is to dismiss.
Ty Owen, my vote is to dismiss.
Michael. Michael, you're muted. There you are. There you go. I vote to dismiss. Thank you very
much. Yeah, my microphone went out for some reason. So number nine. MI 2024 005 624 2068 East
Ayn Street, Elliot Perez, Barrios is the listed owner.
The applicant is E .B. Riaz.
This is the second listing.
We have no exhibits.
Elliot Perez, if you're in a virtual audience, please raise your virtual hand.
I see no hands.
So this is the second listing. We will hold this one more time and must be heard. There is support from the RCO and also the council. So MI 2024 -005 -624 -2068 East Ann Street. This case is continued to January 7th, 2026 at 930 a .m. Mark must be heard.
And number 10, MI 2024 -005 -636 -812 McKean Street.
Hello, Lynn Wang is the listed owner.
This is the second listing, no exhibits.
There is opposition from the council person and the RCO.
if you're in a virtual audience
please raise your virtual hand
chair we have a hand
up by E .B. Reyes
so okay I think he may be
okay please let him in
E .B. Reyes please accept the promotion
to panelists
hello good morning good morning could you please state your name could you please state your name
and spell for the stenographer eb reyes um oh sorry um eb reyes um i b i r e y s right do you
swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes is this your your case
I'm sorry.
I just joined now.
I don't know if you mentioned 2068 Amstree.
That was continued.
Okay, yes, please.
Yes, I need to get...
So this is 812 McKean Street.
You're listed for this, too.
Oh, withdraw, withdraw.
Well, do me a favor.
Please send us a letter.
Oh, okay.
And what was the other continued date, please, for Amstree?
January 7th.
All right, thank you so much.
Thank you.
this is ian hegarty executive director if you could please get in touch with the staff and
send a withdrawal letter for that case we would appreciate that thank you yes because yes i'm
sorry because i got in the car accident and i just thank you i'm back thank you all right bye -bye so
mi2024 -005 -636 -812 mckean street mark must be heard waiting for a letter continue to january 7th
at 9 .30 a .m.
Last, number six.
Number six, MI 2024, 005203, 1716 Frankfort Avenue.
This case has been withdrawn.
we're going to go to our add -on list number one mi 2025 000 465 2035 to 37 abigail street
We're going to go to our add -on list.
i vote yes michael johnson my vote is yes cheryl gaston my vote is yes tywin my vote is yes
we're going to go to number seven first
MI 2024
5351 Wayne Avenue
Rachel Pritzker is the attorney
Good morning.
Good morning, counsel.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Yes, Rachel, R -A -C -H -A -E -L, Pritzker, P -R -I -T -Z -K -E -R.
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 their property?
Yes, my client is Queen in Germantown, LLC.
The owner is Nadal Hassan, and he is the owner of the property.
You waive the reading of the refusal and you agree with his accuracy.
Yes, except I will say that we've made changes through the process with the community.
So some of the refusals, which I'll go through, have now been complied with.
Please proceed.
Start your presentation.
Share my screen.
Can you see my screen?
Why don't you make it a little larger?
Better?
So this is 5351 Wayne Avenue.
This is an RSA 3 parcel on Wayne Avenue.
And this application was for the erection of a semi -detached structure with cellar, roof deck, pilot house,
for originally used as eight multifamily units with two accessory off -street parking spaces.
We've made changes to the project through the community process, so we're now proposing four
units, and we've removed the parking at the request of the community. They wanted the spaces
to remain on the street. Our architect, Carl Enberger from Canary, will be on to present the
plans. We have a whole host of refusals. This is a RCA3 property, although it is on Wayne Avenue,
a commercial corridor. It is a vacant lot. It is 2 ,540 square feet. And as mentioned,
we are proposing four units of reduction from the eight units multifamily on this corner property.
Um, if we look at the surrounding block, um, most of the surrounding block and the current block has three or five unit buildings, uh, 5349 Wayne Avenue is three units, 5347 is three.
Rachel, could you maybe put that up where we're testifying to?
Better?
A little bigger.
These are all the properties on that block that are three, four and five unit buildings.
Obviously, as mentioned, it's on Wayne Avenue, which is a commercial corridor, despite the base zoning of RSA three.
So what we're proposing, obviously, the eight units was more than what's currently existing.
And so that was what the pushback from the community was.
And so, again, as mentioned, we reduced it from eight units to four units, which I'll share that in a second.
We do have support from the community, given the reductions.
The property has been vacant since at least 1996. So obviously compliance with the code for RSA 3 was not feasible for all of these years. And so and given the surrounding context and the neighborhood and it being on a commercial corridor with existing multifamily, a four unit proposal as revised was more in line and feasible for this project.
It's worth mentioning that according to the city's 2035 comprehensive plan for the Upper Northwest District, that multifamily development of this property is strongly encouraged.
This is on since I guess it was published in 2018, but on pages 72 and 73, the plan states that the goal is to redevelop vacant land and buildings, promote new residential infill along Wayne Avenue in the vicinity of Wayne Junction.
and obviously to provide multifamily housing to encourage commercial around transit.
provide multifamily housing to encourage commercial around transit. So again, what
we're proposing is in line with the comprehensive plan as well. And I think the reduction that we
made through this process makes this in character and appropriate. There are some dimensional
considerations, some of which have been relieved given we removed the rear parking, which triggered
a refusal, and some of the lot coverage. We were just asking for some de minimis
dimensional variances as well. 50 % open area is required. Although on RSA3, it just made it
difficult to fit a building that made sense on this lot. Like I said, our architect will go
through those plans in detail and the revised plans. Here's the portion of the comprehensive
of plan that we're relying on for those statements. And then just going to go down to
tax balance, the deed. Again, just an aerial view of the property. It's a corner property.
As you can see, the surrounding blocks on this side of Wayne Avenue are all RM2 or RM4, which
allow for a higher density multifamily, even across the street, RTA1. And then it's a corner
property. So the directly adjacent corner property is CMX two and a half. We're not providing
commercial, but we are providing similar density, but keeping within the 38 feet of height permitted
by the RSA3. Some aerial photos that you can see, this vacant lot on this corner.
Posters, our architect will also go through, if you can see there's some pretty unique
architecture in this neighborhood, so a lot of the revisions we also made were related
to aesthetic, just providing something that the community felt fit more with the character
of the surrounding properties. That was some of the adjustments we made as well.
and then pass the zoning posters code section as you can see for rsa3 you can't have multi -family
dimensional considerations
parking considerations although we did provide parking to try to meet
the parking the location of the parking triggered a refusal and ultimately the community asked us to
remove the parking so there was more parking in the street we met with the community several
times beginning in January and worked through a host of revisions. It was the Faith Community
Development, I believe it was 12th Ward Democratic Committee that we worked with,
and they actually can't thank them enough for the amount of times they met with us and their
flexibility in working with us. Ms. Cheryl Smith in particular was very helpful in making sure we
had continued conversations. We proposed a number of reductions on units and ultimately edited
up with the four units. This is the notice and the mailing. And then this is the letter from the
RCO, 12th Ward Democratic Committee. As you can see, there's a vote of support from the community
again after many meetings, which we thank them for participating in. Some more details from them.
And again, I think it was worth noting that the last time there had been really any development
on this site, it was a four -unit building. So again, that's kind of why we came to four
as a conclusion of what made sense for this property. If possible, the rest is just zoning
archives related to that. If possible, if we could bring on Carl Enberger, who's our architect,
he could just go through the revised plans. And we did submit a proviso plan form as well to the
board, um, showing the different changes, um, related to what I just testified to.
We see the architect's hand.
Can you hear us, Carl?
I can hear you.
Hi, Carl, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Yes, it is Carl, C -A -R -L, Enberger, E -N -B -E -R -G -E -R, Jr.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please share your screen and start your presentation.
okay can you see my screen you can okay um i will um go through some of the beginning
go through some of the beginning of my presentation and some of the stuff that
of my presentation and some of the stuff that rachel um
Rachel just went over so I won't spend too much time on it but this is again a
photo of the current site it's the vacant corner property in the in the in
the foreground of this photo just to give you an aerial view of it to better
understand it there's again we're a vacant corner a lot there are the old
doubles that fill the rest of the block as rachel noted there every single one of these properties
is a multi -family anywhere between three to six units on this on this block
um the in the background of this is the previous submission that we originally
submitted last year just to go through some of the updates that we went through worked through
with the neighborhood communities we reduced the number of units from eight units to four units
this allowed us to increase the unit sizes and provided diversity of unit types which is
something that the neighborhood wanted we got rid of our basement units and we got rid of parking
and the curb cut as rachel noted they preferred to retain the on -street parking rather than
require us to meet the off -street parking requirements. That, in turn, allowed us to
have a rear yard, which they appreciated. And then, as Rachel also noted, we worked through
the aesthetics of the building a lot with the neighborhood to kind of pick up on the context
and make sure it was properly integrated with the neighborhood. So we have four reasons for
refusal remaining, the four units, multi -family units, the minimum open area we are not meeting,
minimum side yard we are also not meeting, and we are not providing any parking, so that still
requires the variance. This is the current proviso plan that we submitted last week. I'm going to
blow this up in detail and step through it quickly. In the basement, there's just storage
and utilities for these plans, but Wayne Avenue is on the left. West Coulter Street is on the right.
I'm sorry, on the top. On the first floor, you'll see our entry comes from the corner
by Wayne Avenue and West Coulter intersection. We have an accessible entrance, so there's a ramp
that circles around a planter and goes up to the first floor. The rear of the first floor has a
two -bedroom unit. Again, the community was looking for larger units to encourage people to stay
longer, not just looking for the smaller units that may have quicker turnover. We have storage
and trash internally on the first floor in a mail room. There's also a door to access the rear yard
from inside the house or from excuse me the building on the second floor we have one big
three -bedroom unit again leading to diversity of unit types and diversity of people who might
be renting this on the second floor we I'm sorry on the third floor we have a one -bedroom
in the front and a two -bedroom in the rear and then we did propose a roof deck originally
we are still proposing that and that is by right as we understand it I'll step through the elevations
really quick again the most important thing I think to point out with the elevations is that
we are trying to pick up on the context of the neighborhood so mansard roofs and don't dormers
are prevalent and and that's something that is highlighted in this design so that first image
was the Wayne Avenue elevation. The second image is the West Coulter Street elevation.
And then the rear elevation looks very much like the Wayne elevation. The adjacent elevation,
I'm sorry, the elevation facing the adjacent property has obviously less windows and it's
less articulated, but it still has a lot of brick that wraps the corners with an out -of -dormer
up on the third floor um again i'm showing you a picture of the um the site again so that you can
see some of the context of the um the uh surrounding properties so again dormers
mansard roofs are prevalent and then this is our proposed design that was presented to the community
again we have the uh entry ramp to the front and entry stairs that go to a front door
from the corner. This is from the opposite direction still on Wayne Avenue.
uh this is from the back so that we have the rear yard back here with a gate for access
This is from the back so that we have the rear yard back here with a gate.
um by the residents and that that's the gist of our presentation
council you have anything else no sir rachel
this council here rachel oh no just to bring my client on
all right please um is there a nadal hassan in the audience
nadal hassan please accept the promotion to panelists
hello could you please state your name and spell for the sonographer
Sure. Nadal Hassan, N -I -D -A -L, last name Hassan, H -A -S -S -E -N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Nadal, have you heard my testimony today? Do you believe it to be true and accurate, and do you adopt it as your own?
Thank you. Nothing further, Chairman.
Questions from the board.
yeah i have a i have a question why why do you have a ramp because it doesn't appear as though
the first floor is uh has is accessible the bathrooms and whatnot and you don't have an
elevator so i'm just wondering why you have the ramp um it is not a fully accessible unit but we
are required by the building code to have a type b unit which does permit for smaller bathrooms than
fully accessible bathroom okay so this um i can jump back up real quick
this back this back um i'm sorry excuse me this rear two bedroom unit um could be accessed
from the ramp through here this is all an accessible path and then this this one bathroom
in the in the bigger bedroom would have a would be accessible a type b standard
other questions
yes i have a question because i know you're proposing a roof deck and when looking at
the rendering it doesn't look that like there's that that's really been fully realized in the
in the rendering. And so is that is the plan that it's going to be accessible to the entire
building? Or is the thought that this is going to mostly be for the upper apartments?
We might just leave it actually open for the upper, sorry, for the upper apartments.
So probably for the top floor apartment. So that's what we're kind of thinking.
it'll be like more private but but it's there though we have a um we have a pilot house right
there but we were asked by the uh by the neighbors and the rco to kind of make it look more discreet
so you won't see it from the street so that's uh that's exactly what we tried to do i see the
pilot house i was just more wondering about the parapet it didn't but i guess from the same oh
yeah yeah there's like another like two or three feet on the um on the side but we just kind of
blended into the roof yeah the parapet gets concealed by this upper mansard roof so the
ceiling this is actually like the ceiling is at the top of the window like where the pediment
yeah more or less yeah yeah and then i think i just want to reiterate what mike said i think
that's i mean i understand that you're only required to do a type b unit but that is a
really tight entryway for a wheelchair turn um and i think that the first floor apartment is
it's tight for a two -bedroom um uh no we we appreciate the feedback just so you know we're
not um that we're not set in stone with the layout so we're definitely gonna i know that
that one bathroom is pretty tight in the hallway so we're not set in stone with the layouts of
the interiors of the units yeah i think in a city where we don't have a lot of accessible units
to have installed a full brick
ramp to be able to actually do
a, you have the space to do an accessible
unit. It would be a
feature to add. Yeah, absolutely.
It's definitely not a big deal when we have the space.
Other questions from the board?
Questions or comments
from our attorney?
No, sir. Questions or comments from
the virtual or the current
audience here?
Chair, we have Charles Richardson with the hand raised, and they've been promoted to panelists.
good morning mr chair mr richardson please state your name and spell with a stenographer
charles richardson r -i -c -h -a -r -d -s -o -n office of councilwoman cindy bass room 508 city hall
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, sir.
The Councilwoman is unopposed to granting the variance.
Thank you very much for taking the time to call us.
We appreciate it.
Anyone else in the audience?
Yes, Chair, we have one more hand, Georgette Bartell.
Georgette, please accept the promotion to panelists.
Good morning.
Good morning.
Hello.
Hi, good morning.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
georgette g -e -r -g -e -t -t -e vartell b -a -r -t -e -l -l right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes please proceed are you a neighbor um i live one
block away on schoolhouse lane in that in the um 100 block um i i was at the meetings for this
And I made comments and I appreciate that Mr.
Enberger listened to the community's reactions.
And I have been thinking about this a lot.
I was one of the people who advocated for the two bedroom apartment because we,
my husband owns an apartment building next to us that has apartments from studio to
four bedrooms.
and I think that those things are those kind of apartments are wonderful but I know this is a small
lot and I wanted to bring up in spite of the fact that they are saying that this lot is one of many
lots that have many units that this is the smallest lot on the whole block. This building is
they did a really good job on trying to make it look better but it does jut out into the street
farther than anything any of the others um so it would be eliminating any space that it has in front
and it's going to look look different um within five within a block really or two blocks of my
house which is one block away i found five apartment buildings and i looked them up
And there are a total of 260 units from studio to two bedroom.
And I feel like I know that the city needs housing, but I don't know whether this is really what we need right there.
this this hulk on the corner when when you saw Mr. Emburger's very first photo it was
of the house that's there now on the corner not on his lot but next to it and it's such a lovely
house with windows and it just seems like a um in spite of their efforts a blot on uh on our
neighborhood we do need trees it could be a community garden it could be you know what it's
been for the last 20 years that it's been empty it's been nice um anyway i know that this my voice
is not um uh going to be you know acted on but i do um i did want to say that i wanted to put in
the ear of the zoning board to consider the fact that we already are overloaded with apartment
buildings right here on chelton and wayne it's it's phenomenal and i've lived here for 44 years
and i've never seen and there has never been anything new and now all of a sudden we have
260 units within one block of my house okay thank you for very much for listening thank you for
taking the time because we appreciate it is there anyone else i see no hands
i have a question how far out does this uh building now sit from the the adjacent
how far out does this uh building now sit from the the adjacent properties
rachel carl
is he still on
i'm here okay i'm sorry or does it submit or i'm sorry sit from the adjacent property
Right. The setback of the adjacent properties. How much further towards the street does it sit?
Oh, we are meeting the requirement of zoning. We're eight feet from the front.
No, not what I asked. I asked how much further than the adjacent properties from the facade of the adjacent properties is this property?
um i do not know the exact number um measurement of of the i can uh look it up try to look it up
right now um well can you show the photos again or the rendering yeah um let me see the render
the rendering it's hard to tell yeah but you're not so i'm trying to get to i don't understand
this uh the yeah actually if i can um point somewhat
well i am back can you hear me
yeah okay um all right so uh i just shared my screen you can see the plan again is that right
Yeah, but I'm trying to see what's the house next to you.
Where is the front of the house next to you?
Yeah, so I'm going to, so basically that's our setback.
Right there, oops, sorry.
I'm going to follow the line of the property line here.
There is the porch line of the adjacent property.
So if I go back to, I don't have an exact measurement for that at the moment,
But yeah, I think I think we'd like to know what that is.
It's hard to tell on the rent. It's hard to tell.
Almost like it's a lot. You know what I mean? It's just difficult.
If that's something that we could get, that would be helpful because it's hard to tell if this thing really does sit way out, you know, 12 feet in front of every other house.
I don't know. So, yeah, we're basically roughly in line with that front edge of this.
um the adjacent porch but i think i think yeah i think we i think we need it i think we need it
because that we need it
okay i i um oh can you do that
yeah i i uh i will do my best to um so um i think we're going to move on to have a
result of hearing for this yeah if i can just chairman just to address the point about this
lot square footage so um while we're talking about dimension so our lot is 25 40 the adjacent lots
are 26 27 26 27 so when we talk about like it's the smallest it's like a hundred between 100 and
200 square feet differential just so we're i just want to make sure that the board knows it's not
like it's a thousand square feet small or 800 it's it's in line 2540 versus 2690 and 2600 and
2718 just so the board has that information as well okay um planning would you want to take a
position amy wood with the planning commission amyboid you swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth nothing but the truth yes the planning commission recommends a change in zoning
at this location from rsa 3 residential single family to rta 1 residential 2 family which would
allow two dwelling units by right the proposed unit count is not the least minimum the planning
commission recommends that the board deny the requested variances for parking in the side yard
and ratio of dwelling units per parking spaces open area and side yard we recommend that the
board grant their requested variance for multifamily with proviso max two units okay um we're
going to close the record on this other than um the question about how far it is compared to the
other places in the front um and um we can have this by next say tuesday monday or tuesday and
we'll vote on it next wednesday at 9 30 a .m in what form would you like that chairman um whatever
whatever you think is appropriate. Drawing with a little note would be fine.
Okay. Excuse me, Chair. We have a hand.
Excuse me chair, we have a hand up by Allison Weiss, I see Ms. Weiss's comments here, but
sure, bring her on.
Okay, they'll be promoted to panelists.
Good morning, Ms. Weiss.
hello hi good morning miss weiss could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
allison a double l i s o n weiss w e i s s right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole
truth and nothing but the truth yes just why i said we i have your um um your letter uh is there
anything i want to add well i just wanted to say that the uh business corridor ends well it goes
from the 4500 block to the 5000 block of wayne avenue and then resumes at chelton avenue so
the area in question is not really part of the commercial corridor it is more or less
the residential corridor so but characterizing it as a commercial corridor is not exactly accurate
and um i appreciate that you are going to take the time to review the drawings
and hopefully will agree with the planning commission and what we have so thank you very
much she put my understanding you're recommending two or three is that right three preferably two
okay all right thank you very much for calling we appreciate it thank you um let's go to case number
may we be is yes you can sure so everything will be scheduled we'll do it next week okay
thank you case number two mi 2024 002 371 1639 east cheltenham avenue we do have an interpreter
for this case the interpreter will be joining us the panelists okay
and good morning my name is steven and i'll be the spanish interpreter steven could you
state your whole name please and spell for the stenographer
Yes, my name is Stephen, S -T -E -V -E -N, last name Aubain, A -U -B -A -I -N.
You solemnly swear or affirm that you will interpret accurately completely and impartially from English to Spanish and from Spanish to English to the best of your ability.
Yes, I do.
All right. So, Stephen, first on this case is Franklin Delosantos, D -E -L -O -S -S -A -N -T -O -S, is the listed owner.
All right. Do you want me to call him into the...
Yeah, could you please call him for us?
Así que Franklin Delosantos, si puede entrar en la línea, levantar la mano para entrar en la línea.
i see no hands
so stephen there may be uh check to see if there's an expediter there who may show the screen
do we see any hands up at all
I've seen our hands
Actually, but I recall the Spanish name one more time, please
Así que, por favor, si Franklin de los Santos
Si puede levantar la mano para poder entrar en la llamada
Interpreter, if you could also give the instruction to press star six
Is that right, Sherry?
Star 6 to raise the hand.
I believe the appellant may be on a phone.
Así que si está utilizando el teléfono, por favor, demarcal estrella 6, estrella 6, para poder entrar en la llamada y levantar la mano.
Corrección, it's star 9, I apologize.
Que diga, es estrella 9. Por favor, seleccione estrella 9 para poder entrar.
Yeah, so we have two hands up for the first hand, Angelina Vidal -Rios, they'll be promoted
to panelists, and the second hand unfortunately went back down.
Angelina, please, is up the plan of this promotion.
Hello?
Usted me escucha ahora.
Could you ask him to please state his name and spell for the stenographer?
Así que, por favor, díganos su nombre, este de letrero para el reportero de la corte.
So my name is Franklin Martinez de los Santos, and sorry, I was having trouble with the phone
because I first marked six, and it was actually nine.
Okay, all right.
Ask him, does he swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Okay, so we're going to need someone to present his case for him, whether it's an interpreter or not, we need the documents to be put on the screen.
Permítame. Permítame. So the person that said that is helping me with this said that he was going to join on the line as well because I'm not very tech savvy to do it.
Or do you know his name?
Angelina Vidal.
Angelina Vidal, are you in the audience?
Angelina Vidal está en la audiencia.
Yes, Angelina is in the audience.
They have not accepted the promotion, the panelists, yet.
Así que están en la audiencia, pero todavía no han aceptado el pedido para promover los panelistas.
Yo creo que ella salió y está como que en otro estado, me dijo ella.
She told me that she was in another state as well.
We need that documents put on the screen.
Porque necesitamos esos documentos que los pongan en la pantalla.
Excuse me, so Angelina just needs to accept the promotion to panelists
so that they are able to share their documents.
Así que Angelina necesita aceptar la promoción para panelista
para que pueda compartir los documentos.
and what do I do as Angela put up her hand yes Angelina has put up their hand
I send a promotion four times already and they declined every time I see
could you please pardon me interpreter Nadia could you please allow Angelina
to speak without being promoted to panelist so we can communicate the need
to show the screen.
They have been unmuted.
Could you tell Angelina, please,
that we need our documents put up?
Hi, I'm sorry.
I was having a little issue with the cell phone.
I'm actually using the cell phone.
I do apologize.
Can you put the documents up?
Give me one second.
And again, I do apologize.
No problem.
This is Ian Hegarty, executive director.
Angelina, there should be a pop -up coming up on your screen asking you to join as a panelist.
You have to accept that in order to be able to share your screen.
Did you see that pop -up?
Yeah, I just accepted it.
Fantastic.
Thank you.
I'm just trying to figure out, and I do apologize.
How do I upload these on the screen?
Okay, so here's what we're going to do.
We're going to, an interpreter, I'm sorry to tell you this, but we're going to bring this back.
You know, I'm going to wait a half hour.
you know i'm going to wait a half hour please get your documents together we'll call this case in
Please get your documents together.
one half hour and we'll be back okay okay thank you perfect then i'll move it to a computer and
i do apologize could we make sure to interpret that uh please tell them that este nosotros
vamos a mover el caso para entre 30 minutos así que en 30 minutos regresamos para que tengan
Thank you very much, Interpreter.
We'll call this shortly.
Great.
Number eight, MI 2024 -005 -585 -4022 North Reef Street.
Lydia Paulino is the owner applicant.
There's a letter of non -opposition from Esperanzo Housing.
Lidia will be joining in as a panelist good morning good morning could you please state
your name and spell for the stenographer uh my name is Angela Sanchez A -N -G -E -L -A -S -A -N -C -H -E -Z
i'm here with lydia paulino lydia has to do the testifying my name is lydia paulino
is there a language problem yes that's why i'm here to interpret with her
well you can't you can't interpret this case ma 'am we have to have an interpreter
all right all right um let's see if we can get an interpreter off for you okay
steven
steven could you come back one please
She probably walked away for a half hour.
Here's what we're going to do.
We're going to come back in a half hour.
We'll call your case, okay?
Thank you.
Thank you.
Number three, MI 2024 -002 -617 -3230 Belgrade Street.
David Orphanides, the attorney.
Good morning, Mr. Orphanides.
Could you please state your name
and spell it for the stenographer?
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
could you identify your client relationship to the property certainly uh my client is excuse me
i'm sorry this is a court reporter i cannot hear can you hear me is it just pulled a little closer
to the whole thing there you go better yep okay thank you um yes i represent best choice ventures
llc which is the owner of the subject property do you waive the reading of the refusal do you agree
with its accuracy um i the current refusal that we have yes but we're in the process of amending
that as hillary is aware of uh and i understand we're going to hold this vote on this if i'm not
right yes okay we're kind of sucking some administrative things as we work through the
amendment um could you identify your client again please certainly again my client is best choice
ventures llc all right please proceed and start your presentation all right everybody can see my
screen you can see it here in person for the first time um again this project involves 3230 belgrade
Street. This property was once part of a larger campus for the Nativity Blessed Virgin Mary Roman
Catholic Church that fronts on East Allegheny. The property was known as 3200 Belgrade, extended
to East Madison Street, was bounded on the east by Belgrade Street, and bounded on the west by
Miller Street. That property was subdivided in 2023, and I have up in front of you.
there you go um the survey plan the subdivision survey plan that the city of philadelphia approved
you can see to the left uh this is the church property uh in the middle um right here you can
see is 3230 and then to the right um there are a number of smaller lots that were created
my client purchased this was overall over an acre in size my client purchased the middle portion
My client purchased the middle portion that runs from Belgrade to Miller Street.
that runs from Belgrade to Miller Street.
I'm not sure why my mouse is lagging on your screen because it's not lagging on mine.
But so this where my mouse is right now is 3230.
That is the property that we're talking about today.
That property has on it the convent for the church and a two -story or one -story garage.
And this project is to adaptively reuse the convent for a 12 -unit multifamily dwelling.
and above the garage or in the place of the garage to erect a four -story duplex maintaining two -car
parking below. The refusals that we had originally were for the property is owned RSA 5. So it's
obviously to start with was an extremely large RSA 5 at over an acre. 3230, the property in the
middle that runs from Belgrade to Miller Street, is still a very large lot at over 10 ,000 square
feet. It's 10 ,884 .90 square feet. The smaller lots that we created prior to the closing to the right
of the screen, that front on East Madison Street are developed by my client as a process of being
developed right now as by right single family dwellings with an access easement that runs
across the rear of the properties from Miller to Belgrade Street. That easement, the access easement,
it butts the property line of 3230 and that's going to be important because you're going to
hear about that in a couple minutes um so the application is to reutilize the the convent which
you'll see a picture of pop up in a second there you go um that exists at fronts on belgrade street
there is going to be minor modification to this building uh you'll see in the photographs there's
a portion to the rear towards Miller Street that's only at the second and third floor we're going to
be enclosing the lower portion the ground floor portion and then there is a stair tower that
we're going to be enclosing um extending from the second floor to the stair tower and the third floor
to a stair tower at the rear those are the only modifications to the convent then you have the
garage, which you'll see in the picture right here. Because my computer is turning is on a
different screen, but it's lagging. But in any event, so there again, there's an existing one
story there, you can see it existing one story garage on Miller Street. And then there's always
going to be a demolition of that. And then we're going to build a four story building in its
place which um we have a rendering of and you can see in this picture you can see the stair tower to
the left that we're going to be bridging over to the right to the second and third floor
we have our serious legs i am on my on this other screen
there you go um and that's the that's the duplex that's going to be constructed on miller
street and that's the fourth story with the roof deck utilizing the existing two uh car parking
uh we have we have with the original application we had two refusals and two refusals only
um that was a refusal for utilizing the rsa5 property as multi -family um 14 units in total
12 in the convent and two in the above the garage structure you can see here and the other was the
garage structure would be at a total height of 42 feet where an RSA 5 only 38 feet is permitted.
You'll see in the revised drawings that I will show you, which came about following our meeting
with the Registered Community Organization, PROPAC, that 42 feet is measured to the height of the top
of the parapet and actually is about the same size height as the parapet would be in a by right
building which would be 41 feet 6 inches so it's at the minimum increase in height and the main
reason for that is having the parking at the ground floor there's not much that can be done
about the multifamily but again this is a very large lot and we're trying to adaptively reuse
this existing structure rather than tearing it down and building a couple probably four single
family dwellings maintaining this beautiful building that we have here when we met with
community group uh back on july 1st of 2024 the concern was and by the neighbors was where's
everybody going to park so as a result of that community group meeting what they asked us to do
and you can see this in the revised plan we added 12 surface parking spaces and you can see it to
the right of the screen here between the oops between the existing building and not sure why
There we go. Between the existing building and the East Madison Street properties.
Give me one minute.
you can see right here the strip we'll be using the the existing easement that runs across the
rear of the east madison street properties again conveniently my client owns those properties
right now at the present time so that's easy enough to be done um that that parking configuration
has been reviewed by the streets department and they've approved it. We are in the process of
going through a landscaping review by the planning commission. We have provided buffers both at
Miller Street and at Belgrade Street that we believe comply with the requirements.
We have provided interior landscaping, which we believe complies with the requirements of
zoning code there is a requirement between parking and residential properties to put screening and
that's going to be an impossibility because we're re we're usually utilizing the easement so we're
going to be requesting a waiver for that um when that ultimately is finished being processed by
the planning commission that was really the only concern that the community group has was the
parking as a result uh they issued a letter last fall um supporting this project and i did confirm
that their position has not changed i spoke with ken paul pro back on the telephone this week
and they're still in support of that i did reach out to council member driscoll's office
spoke to stan sinowiski and um i'm not sure if he's on um i did not receive a letter from him
before today's proceeding a couple of housekeeping matters um you know just one little extra thing
i did a project um for my client different entity but my client he is here bob huttenlock
on susquehanna street and it was also um modification of of a convent interestingly
enough you can see a picture here and i just wanted to give you the idea an idea of the type
of work that you can expect within the convent um this is this is one of the units pretty nice right
um and this this is the type of work that he does when he rehabilitates these structures
and this is the type of work that i think the community can expect to be done not only in
the convent in the duplex and also in the single family dwellings uh i've included with the exhibits
i submitted a copy of the deed that uh where my client purchased the property in november 2023
from the catholic church copy of our tax compliance certificate which is good to this through this
day a copy of the hearing notice our posting photographs both at belgrade street and at
miller street and again we met with the community group twice once was on july 1st and i have a copy
of our 14 303 notice and a certificate of mailing of that and then they wanted us to come back with
the plan. They didn't necessarily want to take our word that we were going to provide the parking
and present that. And I don't blame them. We came back and presented them with a plan that showed
the 12 surface parking spaces. The idea was to provide one -to -one parking. RSA 5 does not have
that requirement, but they thought that was important. And luckily we had the space and
where we were able to do that, particularly having that easement on the East Madison Street
properties running right along the side of the property where we could put, we could actually
locate those whole parking spaces. It couldn't have worked out any better. One of those spaces
is an ADA band space as is required by the zoning code. And then here is a copy of the other notice
for the October 7th meeting. And with that, I think it's not very complicated.
Can you show us how you broke the building up?
Yeah, sure. So I'll provide you with some floor plans. Sure. And I do have Brendan March from
NoMarketTexture. She should be on the line. She can answer any number of questions as well.
Um, but here we have the, the floor plans.
Um, so this is the cellar.
So these are, these are by levels.
Um, so you have three by levels, um, and you can see them here.
So there's, there's a mixture of, there's two studios in the convent, two studios,
four, one bedroom, one baths, and six, two bedroom, two baths.
The two bedroom, two baths, uh, range inside from 1020 to 1360.
So they're nice size units. So what's that? Oh yeah. Make it bigger. Sure.
So there you go. You know, there's some unique configurations,
but I think that, you know, you have some arched areas, arched surfaces,
obviously in an older building like this, there's a lot of little nooks and crannies.
It's not a straight box. And again, Bob Huntlock, my client, has experience in doing this type of work.
Bob Huntlock, my client, has experience in doing this type of work, and you've seen the pictures that show evidence that he can handle it.
But here you see, here at the lower level, here is the ground floor.
There is required bicycle parking, which is being required.
This is the entrance off of Belgrade Street that you saw in the photos, and then this is the rear.
So I can show you, let me see if I can show you that photo where we are enclosing.
So this is the area at the back of the convent at the ground floor that we're enclosing at the ground floor level.
You can see it right here.
And again, here's the stair tower that we're bridging across.
Going back to the floor plans.
Zoom back in again for you.
So ground floor, and this is, again, this is the area that we're enclosing, not adding any occupied area.
I mean, we're only at 54 % occupied area, 46 % open area.
So we're way below the permissible occupied area.
So with what we're doing, we're in the same footprint of both existing structures.
And then here we go.
Here's the bridge that you can see.
Let me see if I can make this a little hour here.
so that we're enclosing to between the stair tower and the main building
and then the same thing at the third floor
and in terms of the duplex
and there's just a roof so here's the duplex you have the two -car garage and then there are two
bi -level units. The lower unit is a two -bedroom, two -bath, and then the upper unit is a three -bedroom,
three -bath with access to the roof deck for the upper unit. Does that help, Ms. Gaston? Okay,
Mr. Brigham. Okay. Again, the letter from ProPAC that you should have in your file, but I included
it right here, and you can see that they're in support. They voted 37 to 3 in support of the
project, again, with the addition of the 12 surface parking spaces. And with that, I don't
have any more to present. Sure. Bob, could you please introduce yourself? Robert Huttenlock.
Hold that real close to you, if you could, please. Robert Huttenlock. You pulled all the
could you state your name is spelled robert hutton lock r -o -b -e -r -t h -u -t -t -e -n -l -o -c -k
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth told truth and not to put the truth yes please proceed
counsel uh bob what's your uh relationship to the owner of the property best choice ventures llc
i'm the owner of the llc okay and did you hear the statements that i made to the zoning board
today yes and they true and correct to the best of your knowledge yes and would you adopt them
as your own? Yes. Brendan Marsh, I believe, is on from Nome Architecture. Would you like them to
adopt my statements regarding the architecture for the project? You're an officer of the court.
If anybody needs him, we'll do that. Questions for the board.
Yes, I have a question about trash storage. So in the plans, I saw there was a lot of common
areas in the building for different things, and I did not see one for trash. That's a good
question so um we are planning we haven't set on an exact location yet more than likely it would
be in that area that exits towards the rear like between the duplex and the existing convent we
just have the water the old tower yeah right into the city it may be toward in the base of that or
it may be up against that um while we're still working on the landscaping with the planning
commission we weren't exactly sure but it's going to be blocked from view from the street by either
by the duplex and the convent and by the church on the one side and our single families on East
Madden Street on the other. And then I know you're still working through landscaping but just walk
me through what the like intent because right now it's a pretty hard scaped space it looks like it's
almost all asphalt currently around the convent and there's like an existing parking lot so
are there going to be any outdoor spaces for the tenants in the building? Well we'll have a we'll
have outdoor space some outdoor space between the rear of the convent and um where you see that
smokestack the smokestack is uh part of the church still but it's on it's on this property is it still
in commission or is it a decommission no it's still used okay they have an easement to use the
for that smokestack okay but there's an area between you know there's a kind of a courtyard
area there and then there's also an area between the as you can see there between the uh the stair
tower and the duplex okay and is the plan that it's going to be vegetated or paved it's
Okay. And is the plan that it's going to be vegetated or paved?
It's vegetated between the stair tower and the duplex.
We're showing now.
The buffer for the parking.
We're planning on putting potted plants back in the other area.
We can't excavate that area because the church's boiler room protrudes underneath of that area.
okay and then the side yard on the other side of the convent building and the duplex building
that's currently paved and the church has a has an easement there okay yeah there's a drive that
actually extends that kind of comes through here and kind of comes underneath so they that's still
maintained and that's so that's the easement that the church has that was part of the deal
so we actually don't really even control that it's even though it's on our property they used it and
it's just the way the properties had to be divvied up in order to try to maintain dimensional
compliance for the church and then for the building understood and then for clarity there's
14 parking spaces total yeah and 14 units so one to one is you know originally it was 14 and two
and luckily we were able to do that and again there's there's a little bit of green space in
the front here it's overgrown right now and this area back here will probably be some type of patio
or area where they can people can utilize and the easement for the drive aisle for the new parking
that's in the footprint of the current parking lot that's on the site yes right yeah yeah when
you say current parking lot like you mean historically or that where the school there's
a lot there now yeah yeah okay so it used to be a school and that was demolished and then it was
and then that was turned into a parking lot and that's where the single families are going right
and david we're going to see your final landscape plan once you work through it yes correct okay
Yes. Other questions from the board? Yes. So you are going to demolish the existing rear building?
Yes. Because of the engineering issue? Yes.
Structural engineering issue.
It was always going to be deemed a complete demolition because more than two -thirds of the joists were going to be removed.
The only joists are in the roof, and it's otherwise on slab.
So it was going to kind of look like an addition or maybe be an addition, but technically by code, it was going to be a complete demolition.
And now we're just going to take it all the way down to the foundation.
It was going to be it's going to be very expensive and it's going to be a lot of work.
So ultimately, it's it's better all around to just build a clean building from the ground up.
OK. And what about accessibility with respect to the property?
For the accessibility? Yes.
I would have to have Brenna come on and address that and have her be sworn.
I don't know what the existing building code has to say regarding that.
Why don't we bring her on, please?
And I can bring up the floor plans.
I think one of the units might be type B units, which were discussed earlier today with one of the other presentations.
Her name is Brenna?
Yeah, Brenna Marsh.
Mark, M -A -R -C -H.
Brenna Marsh, please accept the promotion to panelists.
and i would just say as a comment i mean with an old building like this i'm not sure
how we're gonna handle that i mean i'd imagine i mean even if i look at unit four i mean obviously
this is going to have to be addressed at building if not here i mean in some way but you do have
access to this rear unit back here um there are steps here but there is an opportunity for a ramp
obviously to come up or some type of lift um a lift obviously i think you'd have to go to the
ada board in harrisburg for that as opposed to a ramp but i mean there's space it's not like you're
limited miss marsh
you see the architects is she being seen hello hi hi could you please state your name is spelled
for the court stenographer brenna march b -r -e -n -n -a -m -a -r -c -h do you swear or firm to tell
the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do please proceed counsel
BRENDA, COULD YOU PLEASE ADDRESS THE QUESTION BY BOARD MEMBER GASTON REGARDING ADA ACCESS
TO THE BUILDING SINCE WE DO HAVE FOUR UNITS. FOR THE FRONT BUILDING, THIS BUILDING IS
TECHNICALLY BEING SPLIT INTO TWO BUILDINGS, BUILDING A AND BUILDING B. THE FRONT WILL BE
four units on the first floor which are all bi -level units so once you have a bi -level unit
you're exempt from the ADA type B units and we cannot we're not providing an elevator in this
and we cannot we're not providing an elevator in this portion of the building so none of the
portion of the building so none of the units up
units upstairs will need to be accessible at the rear there are only three units in that portion
of the building technically building b at the rear with this uh two -hour separation they have
their own entry at the rear here so since there are only three units there we are under the number
of units that require a type b unit okay all right so you don't need it i mean i think if you did
there is a opportunity to provide it there is the opportunity for unit four at the rear here
yeah okay how's the building legally being subdivided are you subdividing the lot i know
there's existing two there's two lots or is you just no no there's only one lot here there's only
one lot so it was consolidated well so no so originally it was all one lot and they subdivided
this lot and then the single families that are in east madison so you have two buildings
on on this one lot and as one of the things that i did point out to the examiner throughout this
process is i think that the original refusal should have had a multiple um principal structures
when it was converted from a garage and they are going to make that correction on the new
amended refusal i think it's city city records so the city records are still showing it in
pwd is two separate lots so that might be why as 32 for which one 32 30
because i can click on both yeah it's never 3230 has always been one lot so i'm not sure i'll have
to take a look at that because it's showing the archdiocese for one and it's showing them for
the parking for the other two right well the archdiocese still does own the church
they still do so that's 3200 still we're 3230 yeah i didn't click on 3200 i think yeah so
that's the archdiocese so they kept the church and the rect rectory and then you have the all
the east madison street lots the single families that you have there any other questions questions
or comments from the uh our attorney no sir questions or comments from the uh audience
the current or the virtual audience chair we have one hand up stan sawinski okay and they are going
be promoted to panelists. Sure.
Good morning, Stan.
Good morning. Good morning, Stan. Could you spell your name,
please, for the court stenographer? My name is Stan
Stan Sawinski, S -T -A -N -C -Y -W -I -N -S -K -I.
I am the zoning director for the Sixth Council District,
and the Sixth Council District supports this project.
Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, just one minute.
I know you get to the good stuff right away.
I know you get to the point, but do you swear or affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
And what's your comments, Stan?
My comment is that the Sixth Council District, along with ProPAC, we support this project.
Thank you very much for taking the time.
Is there anyone else in the audience?
Ian, are we giving this a date?
No, is this one of the ones you have a date with?
Oh, just the normal resumptive.
The resumptive.
Okay, so we'll have a resumptive hearing on this on August 6th at 2 p .m.
And that's when planning will make their comments.
Okay, we'll have them advance on that.
All right.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Appreciate it.
Let's hear one more case before we go back.
number
number 16 mi 2025 001 555 1224 frankfurt avenue adam labor is the attorney
the labor could you please state your name is spelled for the stenographer
Good morning, Mr. Chairman and members of the board. Adam Laver, L -A -V -E -R, Blank Rome, LLP. On behalf of Leopard, Real Estate Partners, LP, owner of the subject property.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, Mr. Chairman, I do.
Do you waive the reading and the refusal and do you agree with its accuracy?
Yes, Mr. Chairman, I do.
Why don't you please proceed, sir?
Thank you very much.
and we have a letter of support from fishtown kensington business a letter of support from
fishtown neighbors and also a letter of non -opposition from councilmember young thank you
thank you
i'm just looking to uh
oh here we go green show bear with me for a moment
technology is coming right up
there we go
mr chairman and members of the board as i had stated i'm here on behalf of leopard real estate
partners lp which does business as the fishtown collective uh uh this entity owns the property
at 1224 frankfort avenue which goes through to leopard street it's an important property
in the fishtown neighborhood what's up on the screen right now i call it teaser that's that's
what we believe we can transform this important site to and here you have some aerials for context
showing what i just mentioned uh in that salmon color that says site that were between frankfurt
and a leopard and some additional photographs showing that it is currently an unimproved uh
property a vacant property principals in the development team include roland cassis
Jason Nussbaum and Tom Hallinan,
who's right behind me here in the actual hearing room,
along with our hospitality partner,
Archway and Archway operating partner, Catherine Lundberg.
Catherine, thank you for being with us this morning.
Also participating virtually from
Nome Architects is Brenna March.
The development team's projects are well -known,
I know to this board,
but also well -regarded within the community.
Here you can see the photographs of the subject property if we were to walk by today. It's a
large empty lot. It was once home when there were structures on there. It was once home to a brewery,
a pickle factory, and then an ice storage building going back in time. A little bit of interesting
Fishtown history. Prior to the pandemic, earlier zoning boards, I don't think anyone who's sitting
right now was on the board at that time, nor was I, but prior to the pandemic, the zoning board
approved a visitor accommodations proposal at this site. And that proposal was for a 125 -room
new construction hotel. And here you can see actually the permit that was issued
back at that time. So the zoning board had found a hardship at this site for the same
use that we're here for today. What had occurred? What occurred in the interim?
Basically, we were stymied by the pandemic, financing issues, and the original proposal
expired. But the good thing that occurred during that time was also that Roland and Jason and Tom
and the team realized that a better proposal made sense for this site. One which happens,
as you'll see shortly, to be reduced in size and scale, but with the same visitor accommodations
use. And I would also submit to the board the potential to bring diversity to the nature of
the commercial properties along the Frankfurt Avenue corridor. What do I mean by that? There
are amazing restaurants in Fishtown. Everybody loves the restaurants in Fishtown, but there's
a mix of other commercial that's needed. And I know that Mr. Everett from Fishtown Neighbors
Association is here today, and he'll speak directly on behalf of the coordinating RCO
in the community.
But Roland Cassis is someone who is invested in a really direct way in this neighborhood
and wants to bring that diversity of commercial.
And so you'll see in this proposal that the plans have been designed to allow other types
of uses along the Frankfurt Avenue corridor.
And importantly, though, through this visitor accommodations use to.
And importantly, though, through this visitor accommodations use, to respond to really what's become a national tourist interest in Fishtown.
The site itself is transit -oriented.
It's a mixed -use prime.
It's around the corner from the Girard station, which is a real plus, I think we would all agree.
As you can see in the map on the screen, the site is zoned CMX 2 .5.
But let's get to the notice of refusal, the current notice of refusal itself.
Number one, as I had mentioned, we're seeking to refresh the visitor accommodations use
that the Zoning Board of Adjustment had previously found appropriate for this property, and that
this would respond to a demand for quality visitor accommodations within this section of
the city. I had mentioned tourism, but this team really takes seriously not just the tourism
factor, but the surrounding neighborhood, and this being an amenity to the surrounding
neighborhood. It's the extra bedroom, if you will, when family members are coming in from
out of town. And I'll speak to that a little bit in a moment or two. Second refusal, which is
related to the visitor accommodations piece, is that you'll see in the plans a small -scale
roof deck for the visitor accommodations. And under the zoning code, different than a standard
residential roof deck, because the visitor accommodations use is commercial, that would
require zoning board relief. And we're very proud of the appropriate setback, the scale of what
we're proposing. And you'll see here in this rooftop aerial, a rooftop map at the bottom of
the screen is Frankfurt Avenue. And at the top of the screen is Leopard Street. Leopard Street is
residential street. You'll see very specifically, and I'll point it out here with the cursor,
this is the location off of Frankfurt Avenue of the proposed roof deck, far away from the residential,
small in size, appropriately looking out over the life of Frankfurt Avenue, if you will.
And then we have the third refusal, which is that open area. 25 % is required under the code. And this proposal proposes 13 .8, which I would suggest is de minimis and appropriately meets the scope and spirit of the code in getting back to what I had discussed as the diversity of commercial uses,
the need for other commercial along Frankfurt Avenue, this will allow to have that little bit
of extra back of house, the containment of the indoor trash storage, the other uses away from
the residential Leopard Street, but within this structure, will provide for viable commercial,
meaning we hope to attract tenants that will actually lease here and fill a need for the
residents for greater philadelphia and and others to keep fishtown and frankfort avenue strong so
this third refusal uh we we really believe uh can make this project viable and meet the scope and
spirit of the code uh here we have on the screen it's been up there for a minute or two the proposed
zoning site plan, which proposes members of the board, a five story structure, 55 feet tall
within the parameters of the zoning code. My recollection is that this is about 20 feet less
than what the zoning board had previously approved. Just that's a side note. New construction
structure, mixed use project, 59 visitor accommodations units are proposed over the
ground floor commercial spaces that I've described at the first floor. Additionally, where the cursor
is off of Leopard Street in the white here, which I'm trying to indicate with the cursor,
you can see area for five accessory parking spaces off of Leopard Street for visitor accommodations
for the commercial nature as needed. We really don't expect, nor did we hear from the community,
a strong demand for that, but we want to lessen the impact on the neighbors.
The plan also calls for seven class 1A bicycle parking spaces.
The plan also calls for seven class 1A bicycle parking spaces.
Moving on to the proposed floor plans, you've got, in a sense, already through the site plan and some of what I've described regarding the ground floor.
But here at the bottom of the page would be the main entrance to the hotel and the commercial.
And something that's really nice, which you'll see in the conceptual renderings, is that this is a deeply recessed entry, relieving some of the – it's a benefit to the public because the sidewalk effectively becomes larger, and you don't have tons of people congregating to have to navigate along the sidewalk.
It's something that we took feedback from the Philadelphia City Planning Commission from the neighborhood, and so far we've only heard very positive feedback on that.
In terms of the commercial itself, you can see a commercial space A to the left, a commercial space B to the left on either side of that recessed entry.
And we do hope that there will be two quality commercial tenants.
Moving to the second floor, because the first floor is all the indoor trash storage and package room and back of house, bicycles, parking, et cetera.
Moving to the visitor accommodations above.
On the second floor, you can see a mix of units.
uh here we can see uh the typical third and fourth floor plans uh the same once again 59 total visitor
accommodation units uh throughout the fifth floor which is the top floor and the roof plan which
we've looked at a little bit through other advantages previously in this presentation
I'd also like to zoom in on typical unit layouts for these visitor accommodation units.
Really just nice, generous spaces for a weekend, for grandparents coming in to be closer to a new baby
and going back and forth to one of Fishtown's classic row houses, perhaps.
hopefully you get the idea here. Archway, and I mentioned Catherine is here behind me and
Roland Cassis and Catherine and the Fishtown Collective team have been working on Archway
within the neighborhood. They currently have 12 visitor accommodation units, but this is
the culmination of the vision for Frankfurt to have a real presence of an authentic Fishtown
particular hotel on Frankfurt Avenue through Archway, which has become a respected Fishtown
brand. This will be an amenity for those who live in the community and those in the surrounding area
as well in this sheet that we shared with the community i'd just like to highlight a a few
things one a commitment to affordability and local discounts in the neighborhood in terms of pricing
for those who are local flexible accommodations partnering with local businesses
and dedicated parking for guests reducing impact on the neighborhood also and i won't get into this
but I'm happy to put it into the record and we can discuss it if the board wants further
information. Really importantly, and we think that this in part is what led to the support of all of
the RCOs impacted, there are responsible operation policies in place going towards noise, minimum
stays, appropriate security. And in addition, there should always be commercial trash pickup.
We know that. But more than just commercial trash pickup is a respectful neighborhood aware
commercial trash pickup during having it done during hours when people are hopefully not going
to be asleep and it's going to be the least disruption. And there's a synergy of interest
and that's outlined in the materials that are now part of the record.
Here you can just see a sense of interior finishes for the archway residences,
the archway hospitality rooms, I should state. And I'm happy to just give you a sense of
conceptual renderings. Here's an overhead showing the green roof, which I didn't specifically
showing the green roof which i didn't specifically mention uh and you can see the roof deck you can
mention
see the recessed entry and um a um well let's go to the next here here you can see a view off of
frankfort avenue reflecting a rich brick facade and the primary entranceway and um also at the
top floor a wood cladding with a scallop profile which just is quite elegant another view along
frankfurt avenue here is a close -up of that recessed entryway but also note the archways
themselves uh and the um the glass the light the interplay with a lively uh safe street
and here in the rear along the more residential leopard street is a reduced presence uh towards
the left you can see the uh area let's get this cursor over the area that would be
those five parking spaces and also at the scale of those right across the street the the nice brick
cladding and another view as well along leopard street we're very grateful that the coordinating
RCO, Fishtown Neighbors Association, has offered its support for this project and encourages
the active revitalization of this site.
And I do know Mr. Everett is here, so I won't go into the details of that letter.
And in addition to that, the other RCO, Fishtown Kensington Area Business Improvement District
and Mr. Collazo facilitated several discussions
culminating in their position of support for this use
and also noting the growing demand for a more shorter stay
or the hospitality accommodations really being desired.
So, Mr. Chairman and members of the board,
this proposal fits into a dynamic, vibrant commercial corridor
in the surrounding neighborhood.
The proposed variance would represent the minimum variance that will afford relief and will represent the least modification possible of the regulations at issue.
The grant of variance relief will not substantially increase congestion in the public streets, increase the danger of fire or otherwise endanger the public health, safety or general welfare.
This will not adversely affect transportation or unduly burden water, sewer, school park or other public facilities.
There are no environmental issues, and we have the architectural team virtually and the development team behind me at the appropriate time.
Mr. Hallinan, would you just come up and sit down, please?
Good morning. Could you please state your name and spell for the studographer?
Sure. Tom Hallinan, T -O -M -H -A -L -L -I -N -A -N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Good morning, Mr. Hallinan. I know that you've been sitting right behind me through the pendency of this hybrid hearing before the Zoning Board of Adjustment. Would you adopt and affirm the testimony that I've offered as your own?
Thank you.
Is there anyone else you want to bring on?
Not unless there are specific questions.
We'll save the architects in case we need that.
Questions from the board.
You have a question. What were the CDR comments?
Thank you, Mr. Johns. I was actually just about to say that I realized I hadn't raised that. CDR was
quite encouraging regarding this proposal. We just met with them last week and the CDR concluded.
One of the comments focused on the entryway, the recessed entryway, and encouragement to have more of that, and also an appreciation for the reduced presence along Leopard Street in the rear.
Other questions?
Yeah, I have some logistic questions, just one for your business.
This is going to like add a number of units to your portfolio.
And could you talk a little bit through your plans for the property management for the for the site?
Sure. Well, we currently have probably about 500 units across the city that we have an in -house property management team that handles the specific long term rentals.
in -house property management team that handles the specific long -term rentals.
And then Catherine, our operating partner,
handles the management of the Archway product, which is what this would be.
And then what's the typical stay that you're anticipating for visitors or residents here?
Somewhere between three to six days.
Three to six days, okay.
And then with relation to the two commercial spaces,
is there a loading dock for them that's separate from the loading dock for the i don't want to call
it a hotel but from the residential building utilize the same the same parking lot same
parking so everything is going to come in through that rear parking lot for loading as well off of
leopard street okay also deliveries would be back there as well and then just because frankfurt is
a really, really busy street. Is there a plan for like drop -off pickup luggage? I think, you know,
when I think of a typical hotel system, there's usually some sort of place for cars to pull up
in front or valet. And is there a plan for that in the front of the building? Something that we've
discussed with FNA, and again, Mr. Everett, I believe is here, and Mr. Clazza might be as well,
and uh roland who has along with tom and jason a real presence in the neighborhood said it's an
issue that needs to be addressed in the neighborhood and we're all going to work together
and and pursue the appropriate approvals as necessary also so i don't have i mean i have to
be fully uh up front with you there's not an easy solution but we do believe that a coordinated
effort makes better sense okay but there is like a long term there's at least discussions and
plan to figure out some way to safely get people in and out we anticipating probably needing some
type of smaller drop -off loading zone okay in the front yes all the questions the board
i'm sorry how many units did you say 59 not not this but how many other units oh about 500 across
this oh okay yeah i i did hear that that miss gaston is uh mainly multi -family residential
right oh okay yeah all right in fishtown itself the archway brand which collaborates with um
fishtown collective only uh has 12 units at the moment on the um the hospitality visitor
accommodations and so uh we're excited about concentrating here uh on frankfort avenue i
guess the last question i have is right now for this business model where are these being sort of
rented leased. Are you using
an independent website, or is this going to be on another short -term rental site?
It does have its own independent website, but it also does push out to various channels.
So you use a project?
Questions or comments from our attorney? No, sir. Questions or comments
from the virtual audience? Mr. Everett?
Chair, we have two hands up. We have Colin
Crosley. Okay. And they've been promoted to panelists. Good morning.
Good morning, Chair. Hi, could you, Conlon, could you please state your name and spell for the
record? Yes, sir. My name is Conlon, C -O -N -L -A -N, Crosley, C -R -O -S -L -E -Y. Do you swear or affirm
to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes sir i do please proceed common
um the councilman wanted to uh present a letter of non -opposition for this project
thank you very much we do have a copy of it sir thank you all right thank you have a good day
other questions from our comments from the audience i'm bob's on hey where are we good
morning sir could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer good morning first name
is robert last name everett e -v -e -r -e -t -t you swear firm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth i do please proceed mr okay as mr labor said uh i'm the zoning chair
of fishtown neighbors association we support this project we're happy to see something finally
going into that vacant lot that's been there forever and yes if they need a loading zone
in the front. I don't think that will be an issue. There's already one right next door
that they could probably coordinate with them and shift it a
little bit. We like the idea that they did provide some parking for
the residents to load and unload in the rear off of Leopard Street
along with a dock for deliveries. We love the
front entryway and that did come up at the CDR that they encouraged
them to maybe the unique paving in that area to come out and spread it
into the regular sidewalk to kind of join it into the community.
kind of join it into the community, that trees or potted plants, whatever they ultimately decide
The trees are potted plants.
in the front will, you know, obviously help the air in the community and make it look more
welcoming. And lastly, as I'm sure you know, other communities as well, we would prefer visitor
accommodation on main drags in centralized areas like this, as opposed to scattered sites throughout
a community where there's residential homes. Mr. Everett, thank you as usual very much for
calling, and we appreciate it. Is there anyone else in the audience?
I see no hands.
Planning Commission.
Amy Wood with the Planning Commission. This proposal completed
at Civic Design Review in June 2025. The Civic Design
Review's committee's advisory recommendations are not an expression of City
Planning Commission's recommendations or opinions regarding zoning variances,
special exceptions, or discretionary approvals associated with this proposal.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change in zoning at this location from the CMX 2 commercial mixed use.
The appellant has not shown that there are unique physical conditions or circumstances of the property that would prevent it from being used in conformance with the zoning code.
The planning commission recommends that the board deny the requested variances for visitor accommodation, occupied area, and non -residential roof deck.
i'd just like to note for the record that the uh underlying zoning is uh cmx 2 .5 and um uh i i
won't i won't go further regarding the board's prior finding in this matter thank you so mi
I -2025 -001 -555 -1224, Frankfurt Avenue, I vote yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Tywin, my vote is yes.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the board.
We're going to go back to number two, MI 2024 -002 -371 -1639 East Shelton.
We have our interpreter, Stephen.
Yes, I'm here on the line.
Good morning.
Stephen, did you notice we were calling you a little while ago?
There's another case that we may need an interpreter.
Would you be able to do that?
At what time is it?
We'll let it go right after this.
Okay, yes, I can.
All right, so could you please call Mr. De La Santos again and also see if we can't find Angela Vida?
Okay, he's here
Okay, he's there, right?
Así que este es Franklin de los Santos
Sí, Franklin Martinez de los Santos
Yes, Franklin Martinez de los Santos is on the line
Okay, and could we see if we can
Have Miss Vida
¿Y si la señora Vidal, ella está en la línea?
Sí, ella está aquí, sí
Yes, she's here as well.
Okay, so she will not testify. She will just use the computer.
Would you please tell him to start his presentation?
Please turn on your video.
Okay, we see the application for appeal. Thank you.
Could you ask him to please explain this next?
So we want to make a multi -service building for the community because we need it and we
want the community to grow.
What is it he's trying to build?
¿Y qué es lo que están tratando de construir?
Estamos haciendo multiservicio donde vamos a ofrecer servicio de tases, un arostar y
envío de dinero y pagar servicios.
The enterprise requires verification.
Usted dijo cómo pagar impuestos.
¿Cuál era el siguiente?
Hacer impuesto, envío de dinero, pagar los servicios como agua a luz.
So we want a multi -service building that helps people pay their taxes to send money to buy, I mean, to pay for utilities like water and light.
Okay. And this will all be on the first floor?
Yes, correct.
And what's above?
Encima.
Encima está mi casa.
La casa es el mío.
Ahí vivo yo.
My house is there.
That's where I live.
So there's a letter of opposition
from the Take Back Your Neighborhood RCO.
Así que hay una carta de oposición
de el RCO, Take Back Your Neighborhood.
All right.
All right.
And could you show us photos of the first floor again?
The inside of the first floor.
and that's the office that would be the waiting room
there we will have two employees
there we have a private office
That's the emergency exit.
La puerta principal con su seguridad aquí para entrar.
And front door with security system to come in.
The RCO believes there's an apartment being placed in the rear of the first floor.
Así que RCO creen que hay un apartamento que están poniendo en la parte atrás del primer piso.
No, that is the storage where we will be putting stuff in.
Questions from the board.
Yes, can you go back to the first floor plan, the entire building?
And zoom in.
Sorry, to the side plan.
Y puede ir para el planeo del primer piso y ponerlo más de cerca.
La foto o el plan.
El plan.
Del primer piso y ponerlo más de cerca.
El plan.
Not this page, the previous page.
¿No esa página, la página previa?
And this is the interpreter speaking.
Do you want to see the pictures zoomed in or the plan?
i wanted to see the site plan which was on it he has two plans and i want to see the site plan
which also includes the backyard it's the entire building it's the entire lot footprint
but can you zoom into the site plan that
does that work yes what's happening in the existing one story building y que es lo que
What is happening in the building, in the part below the building that is already existing?
We have the office.
That's it.
No, I have a desk that is closed.
I closed it all because I have the desk there.
So I closed everything out because I have a desk there.
And I put wood around it to close the desk.
So based on this image on the left, it looks like it's a deck that you have.
Based on this image on the left, it looks like it's a deck that you have fencing around.
It doesn't look like a building.
It looks like a deck with fencing around it.
Así que se ve como este que si es una terraza que usted le puso como verja alrededor.
Sí, eso porque es el deck y yo le puse todo alrededor para tener seguridad en el deck porque ahí compartimos.
Yes, so it's a deck
And I put fencing around it
Just as a security measure
Since we share it
Okay, so it's not a one -story building
It's just underneath the deck
That you've put fencing around
Así que no es un edificio de una planta
Es solamente
Una terraza que usted le puso
Verde alrededor
Do we have pictures of this?
So we didn't include it since it's not part of the business and that is part of my recreational area next to my house.
Yes, but it's part of the property.
And so we're trying to understand what's going on with the entire property.
sucediendo con toda la propiedad okay so that those are the images that i have i understand
that but can you just verbally explain us what's going on so like right now how do you get to the
apartments so on the left hand side of the street um that is the entrance to the apartment
So that's a multi -service entrance for the store.
So how do you get into the apartment? Can you point to where you live?
So wherever the gas meter is, if you look there, there's the entrance to my house.
He might be zoomed in too much. We can't.
Yeah, we can't. We can't. He's got to move it up a little bit.
So does the interpreter speaking, it sounds like they're moving it, but it's not showing up on,
on our side.
okay and then just to be just for clarification the apartment is two stories or two floors
no just the house is on top and the business is below
Yeah, but you keep saying houses with an S.
So I think I'm trying to confirm how many dwelling units are in this building.
Así que, pero sigue diciendo como casas.
Así que, ¿hay solamente una casa arriba o hay más de una casa arriba?
No, una casa, una casa, una casa, una sola.
So it's just one house.
The one house is two floors.
Pero esa casa, ¿tiene dos pisos?
No, la habitación arriba y la sala abajo.
So it has the rooms upstairs
And then the living room downstairs
So yes, it is two floors
Así que sí, tiene dos pisos
Así, esa es la habitación
El área de la habitación abajo y aquí es la sala
Yes, so it has the space for the room
And then the living room
Okay, other questions on the board
actually one more question can we walk through how your violation so the work was done here
without all of the correct permits when l and i came out what did they what did they tell you
When L &I came out, what did they tell you?
Así que vamos a hablar acerca de las violaciones, porque cuando L &I vinieron, usted no tenía todos los permisos correctos.
Así que, ¿qué fue lo que le dijeron?
Ellos nos dijeron que teníamos que parar para sacar los permisos que nos faltaban.
So they told us to stop so that we can get the permits that we needed.
so how much work was done prior to lni coming what work were you doing
so everything
okay thank you gracias and my question is what about the sign here
Does he have permission for the awning sign there?
Necesitamos el zoning para que sea legal.
The interpreter requires repetition.
¿Me puedes repetir?
Que no teníamos.
Necesitamos el zoning para que esté bien todo.
So we didn't have it, and now we need the zoning so that everything could be...
Para que tenga el letrero completo.
So that we could have the full sign.
shouldn't that be included on the
yeah shouldn't that be on the
refusal
wouldn't that need an amended
permit
I don't know the answer to that I will ask
attorney
and are you
operating
you're operating this business
did you start
operating this business
uh when when did you start operating in this business
it's open but it's not being an operation for the public um because we're waiting for the
permission of the zoning okay thank you yeah one last question so your first violation was in july
of last year yet i can see that there were subsequent construction happening as recently
as may of this year why did you continue construction after the first violation
¿Y por qué también veo que hubo construcción en tan pronto como mayo de este año?
¿Por qué no había parado desde la primera violación?
Porque lo que estaba en la violación fue el área del aire, del aire, del aire.
So, because the area that was in violation was like the heater and the air conditioning.
Questions from our attorney?
No, sir. Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no hands.
Planning Commission.
Amy Wood with the Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the RSA 5
residential single family zoning at this location the property has a documented history as commercial
ground floor and residential dwelling dating back to the 1980s but was reverted back to one family
the appellant has not demonstrated that there are unique physical conditions or circumstances
of the property that would prevent it from being used in conformance of the zoning code
and the conversion was done without the proper permits the planning commission recommends the
board deny the proposed variances for business and professional office and multiple principal uses
Stephen, can you handle that?
En esta ubicación, la propiedad tiene un historial documentado como planta baja comercial y vivienda residencial, data de la década de 1980, pero fue revertida a una sola familia.
El apelante no ha demostrado que existen condiciones o circunstancias físicas únicas de la propiedad que impidan su uso de conformidad con el código de zonificación.
La conversión se realizó sin los permisos correspondientes.
La Comisión de Planificación recomienda a la Junta que deniegue las variaciones propuestas para oficinas comerciales y profesionales y múltiples usos principales.
Thank you. We're going to vote on this next Wednesday at 9 .30.
We're going to have a meeting in the executive session, but we will vote next Wednesday morning at 9 .30 a .m.
Así que nosotros vamos a tomar un voto para esto el próximo miércoles a las nueve y media de la mañana.
Nosotros vamos a tener una reunión ejecutiva y después votaremos el próximo miércoles a las nueve y media de la mañana.
Una pregunta, porque yo no sabía de nada, porque antes esta propiedad tenía un Sony.
Y entonces, al yo no saber, fue que se cometió un paseo, pasó eso.
what did he say so um i have a question because regarding this property it had a zoning and i
didn't know regarding it um so that's why those mistakes were made okay we understand that but we
will we have enough information that we will vote next wednesday at 9 30 a .m thank you and steven
could you please stay on yes así que este ya nosotros entendemos información y nosotros
tenemos suficiente información para
reunirnos, tomar un voto
y el miércoles a las nueve y media
nosotros tomaremos un voto
tengo que estar presente
so he's asking
if he needs to be present
you don't have to be present
you can listen on the phone
así que no tiene que estar presente
puede escuchar por teléfono
so number 8
MI 2024
24 -005 -585 -4022 Rees Street, Lydia Paulino.
Could you please call that for me?
Así que este es el número 8MI 2024 -005 -585 -4022 Rees Street.
Lydia Paulino, si puede entrar a la línea, puede levantar la mano.
Thank you, Stephen, for staying on too. We appreciate it.
No problem.
I could, could you have Lydia state her name and spell for this denot?
Y Lydia, si puede dar su nombre y deletrearlo para el reportero de la corte.
Mi nombre es Lydia Paulino, L -I -D -I -A -P -A -U -L -I -N -O.
So my name is Lydia Paulino, L -I, I mean L -Y -D -I -A -P -A -U -L -I -N -O.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
Jura y afirma decir toda la verdad y nada más que la verdad.
Would you have her bring up her documents on the computer and start her presentation?
Sí, puede compartir su documento en la computadora y puede empezar su presentación.
Está bien que Ángela pueda hacer la presentación.
Ella es la que me está ayudando a hacer todo el proceso.
Would it be okay if Angela helps me make the presentation?
She's the one that has been helping me throughout the whole process.
Angela can show the documents on the screen, but she cannot testify.
Así que Angela puede enseñar los documentos en la pantalla, pero ella no puede testificar.
Esta es la carta de la presentación del apoyo de RCO.
so this is the supporting letter of rco we need to see it on this she has to put it on the computer
pero lo tiene que compartir por la computadora
okay so that's a letter from esperanza puede ver ahí así que esa es la carta de esperanza
We need to see what she wants to do.
Necesitamos ver lo que quieren hacer.
There you go.
Esta es la aplicación para el Sony, para dos unidades.
So that's the zoning application for two units.
We have all those documents.
Why don't she go to her plans?
Así que ya tenemos todos esos documentos, puede proceder a enseñar los planes.
Así que ya tenemos todos esos documentos.
Puede proceder a enseñar los planes.
Esos son los planos.
And those are the plans.
This is on three floors.
Y esto es en tres pisos.
O es dos y un sótano, ¿correcto?
Sí, correcto.
Correct.
okay could you tell her to explain what what she's trying to do y nos puede explicar qué
es lo que está tratando de hacer sí que queremos hacer el el primer piso es un apartamento de dos
habitaciones en el segundo piso un apartamento de una habitación y el basement cogerlo para
stories the enter requires verification en el primer piso un este un apartamento de dos
habitaciones en el segundo piso usted dijo que un apartamento de una habitación
y en basement que usted dijo para cogerlo para storage okay so in the first floor we want to
make an apartment with two rooms in the second floor we want to make an apartment with one
bedroom and in the third i mean in the basement we want to make it a storage storage the basement
been shown in a living room and bedroom, doesn't it?
Pero el sótano demuestra una sala y un cuarto.
Esa fue la primera exposición que se hizo,
pero la comunidad la negó, y por lo tanto,
solamente lo voy a dejar para hacer un storage,
para guardar cosas.
So that was the first proposal, but the community
objected to it, so we changed it to just make it a storage.
Could we shoot photos, please?
So that's the entrance of the first floor. That's the hallway.
And on the right, it would be the entrance to go into the first apartment with two bedrooms, and that is a living room.
That is one bedroom.
That is the kitchen of the first floor.
that's a closet that's in the kitchen
on the first floor
and that is the door
to go up to the second floor
that is the hallway to the second floor
that would be the first bedroom
and then um that that the answer requires repetition
so um i don't have pictures of the um living room upstairs and the small kitchen
does she have a bathroom in the basement
tiene un baño en el
sótano
no lo que tengo es un
toilet en el
en el sótano
siempre hubo
el de eso del
del toilet
so it's just a toilet in the basement
but just a toilet
cuando la compré la compré
así en es tenía abajo
el baño
con el toilet
so but i whenever i purchase it i purchase it like that with a bathroom and a toilet downstairs
could you answer what's the rest of the block they have duplexes on the rest of the block here
so there are houses that have apartments questions with the board yes what's the
plan for laundry and trash storage y cuál es el plan de este lavandería y para guardar basura
buenos para usar para la bandería the interpreter word p sí para usar para
The interpreter would be,
si, para usar para lavandería y para guardar este basura.
lavandería y para guardar este basura
Bueno, sería basura regular y el reciclaje como se hace usualmente.
En verdad, no tengo un laundry abajo en el basement,
pero en caso de que tendría que ponerlo, podría hacerlo,
porque tengo el espacio en el sótano para hacerlo.
So, regarding trash and recycle,
it will be the exact same thing as how as how it is but um laundry we currently do not have a
laundry but we have sufficient amount of space in the basement that if we needed to add um laundry
we could add it there okay but right now there is no notated plan for trash so i don't know what
exactly how it is means así que este pero ahora mismo no hay este como un plan notado acerca de
So what I mean by the
trash would be how it was before is that there's the normal recycle pickup and outside the door
whenever you go to the alley that's where we have the space for the trash as well. So this is at
the rear of the property? Y eso en la parte de atrás de la propiedad? Si. Yes. So how does the second floor
unit access the rear? Y como es que la unidad del segundo piso como ellos pueden acceder a esta parte de atrás?
ese sería para el primer piso
no sé si puede ver la foto ahí
ahora en la pantalla
so that is
in the first floor
I don't know if you can see
the picture on the screen
we can
we see the first
si lo podemos ver
el primer piso
el segundo piso
podría poner el reciclaje
en el balcón
so the second floor
can put the recycling
in the balcony
in what balcony there's no balcony on this plan
so in the first floor um you can see the balcony or the porch the french porch understood
and then just for final clarification the only entrance and access to the basement
currently is through the stairwell
in the main entrance
in the new main entrance
y para confirmar
la única entrada para el sótano
es a través de la puerta
principal que hay una
escalera para abajo
si ahí se ve
que está en el plano
si puede ver en la
Yes, if you can see it in the plan, you can see where the stairs are to go into the basement.
I can, but this was a proposed drawing and you pulled no permits.
So I was not confirmed that they were actually constructed.
So to be clear, everything that we're looking at on this plan has already been constructed,
with the exception of the kitchen in the basement.
Así que, sí, pero estos son dibujos que son propuestos, así que solamente me quería confirmar que lo que estamos viendo es lo que está ahí actualmente y que ya ha sido construido, así que excepto lo de la cocina y el sótano.
No entendí, ¿me podría explicar nuevamente?
the interpreter will repeat
así que como estos son dibujos
que son propuestos
quería confirmar
que eso es
como se ve actualmente
que ahí donde está la escalera
para ir para el sótano
ahí está la escalera
para subir al sótano
para bajar al sótano
that's where the stairs
is to go down
to the basement
that was not quite my question
thank you
And this is the interpreter speaking. Would you like me or would you like to repeat the question so that I can say it again?
I think we have enough information.
My question is, or my comment is, it looks like here in this first floor unit, if you are in bedroom number one, you have to go through the living room.
you have to go through the living room and the kitchen to get to a bathroom.
Is that what I'm seeing here?
Sí, de lo que yo puedo ver en el dibujo, si usted está en la habitación número uno,
usted tiene que pasar por la sala y por la cocina para poder llegar al baño.
¿Eso es correcto?
Correcto.
Correct.
Okay. And then it looks like here on this second floor unit, I'm not seeing, am I seeing a living room or living area of any sort?
I see two bedrooms, I see a bathroom, and then I see a kitchen. So there's no living room, dining room, area in this unit. Is that what I'm seeing?
Is that what you're proposing here?
En el otro plan, veo que hay dos cuartos y hay la cocina y hay el baño, pero no veo un espacio para sala.
¿Eso es lo que usted está proponiendo?
Que arriba, sí, arriba hay espacio para el baño y para la sala.
So upstairs there's space for the bathroom and the living room area.
where is that not on this plan not on this plan it's just not i'm not saying it's just not
so there's three images in the picture that i'm sharing on screen
el espacio de arriba, el plano para arriba.
So, the right one would be the space upstairs.
Right.
Entonces sería subir las escaleras,
ahí se ve que está la habitación,
la sala de estar, el baño,
y después está la cocina.
So, if you look in that right picture,
you could see the bedroom,
you could see the living room,
the bathroom, and then the kitchen.
We don't have the living room.
What I'm saying is, I'm having a problem. There's no living room. There's no dining room. You've got, there's a kitchen, bathroom, two bedrooms. Is that?
So that's what the mistake was in that bedroom that it says bedroom next to the bathroom.
That's supposed to be the living room.
Then it sounds like to me we need new plans, right?
Number one, right?
Así que primeramente suena como que necesitamos nuevos planos.
And when you do it, I want to make it simple.
One of the things that I harp on all the time
Is having to go through a bedroom
To go to the backyard
This is a prime example
Of why it is a horrible thing to do
With having the trash in the backyard
And having to come through a bedroom
Así que una de las cosas que nosotros estamos tratando de evitar es que uno tenga que ir por un cuarto para llegar a la parte de atrás del apartamento
Porque hay que llevar la basura por los cuartos para llegar a la parte de atrás
and then one of my concerns which i mentioned earlier is you're trying to put these bedrooms
in here on this first floor and so if you're in the bedroom you gotta walk all the way through
the living room and the kitchen to get to the bathroom i mean that's it's bad
We have to move on with this case and I'm going to have a resumptive hearing.
and I'm going to have a resumptive hearing, okay?
OK, so questions or comments from our attorney.
So, questions or comments from our attorney?
No, sir.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no hands.
Planning, do you want to hold until you see new plans?
No, I can make my statement.
Amy, board by the Planning Commission,
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing RSI 5 residential single -family zoning
the appellant has not shown that the property cannot possibly be used in strict conformity
with the zoning code and that the variance is therefore necessary to enable economic
value from the property the planning commission recommends that the board deny the variance for
multi -family thank you um and one moment tell her that please okay este así que dice este de la
comisión de planificación el plan integral no recomienda cambios a la zonificación
rsa 5 para viviendas unifamiliares en esta ubicación la propiedad tiene este una historia
documentado en la planta baja comercial y vivienda residencial este y el apelante no
ha demostrado que la propiedad no puede ser utilizada esté en conformidad con el código
de sonificación
una pregunta
un momento
un momento por favor
so we're going to continue this case
August the 6th
at 2 o 'clock
and what we would expect at that
August 6th meeting
is new plans
that would take into consideration
everything that you heard today
We will have the chance to present them. The board will then ask questions, go back to the audience, and then we'll vote. So we will not vote on this until August 6. Be sure that she comes with new plans. We need them five days before the hearing, and she should take into consideration everything that she heard. Please interpret that for me, Stephen.
So we're going to continue this case for August 6 at 2 in the afternoon.
What we're waiting for are new plans and take into account everything you said on the day of today.
You're going to have an opportunity to present those plans and the board will have an opportunity to ask you if we pass them to the audience.
So for August, if you can present us new plans and submit them five days before your audience.
thank you very much for your time and please remember August the 6th you have to have your
documents and five days prior to that thank you very much and Steven we very much appreciate you
hearing two cases for us today thank you very much no problem thank you so much may i be excused yes
you can all right thank you so mi 2024 006 177 2068 east somerset street vernon astasio is the attorney
there's unanimous support from somerset neighbors and non -opposition from council member squilla
and there are 20 signatures.
Good morning, Mr. Chair.
Good morning.
Vern, could you please just state your name
and spell for the stenographer?
Yep, it's Vern Anastasio, A -N -A -S -T -A -S -I -O,
on behalf of Mr. Jeff Sommer.
Do you swear to her, Vern, to tell the truth,
the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
do you have proof of posting? I did send proof. I think the photo that we had was an old photo.
What the close up is of the old photo, but we did send over proof of posting,
but I don't have a close up of this particular listing. Okay. All right. Start your presentation.
Okay. Do you want to swear me in? I thought I did. I'm sorry. Do you swear
a firm to tell the truth told truth nothing but the truth i do please proceed sir thank you and i
stipulate to the accuracy of the um right of the of the refusal
as you said we have unanimous support here from the rco and also a letter
of uh of non -opposition from the council office i am moving into evidence 71 page exhibit binder
My client bought this property eight months ago, and it presented as a duplex.
And it presented as a duplex. He contacted me during the process and I accepted the case, knowing that this board and the community would support granting the variance because he did not create this.
He contacted.
This is a two -family dwelling that was marketed and sold to him.
And to gut it now, after it's been completely rehabbed by, I guess, the previous owner,
to gut it now and turn it into a single -family home would render it completely useless.
So with that, let's get to the plans.
I'll be able to zoom in if you'd like at any time.
Here's a basement.
It's just mechanicals, nothing more than that.
And then we've got the first floor and the second floor.
let's zoom in first floor right up the stairs into a hallway turn right here's your living room
your bedroom eat -in kitchen full bath there's a little mudroom area access to the yard
Please note, there is no bedroom here that you're getting yard.
Thank you.
Welcome.
This was an easy one.
They're not all that easy.
But anyway.
You've made them happy.
I'll tell you that one time.
Well, you know what?
If you're ever worried that it's not getting into our heads, it's getting into mine.
Believe me.
So my clients hear it from me now.
But anyway, the rear yard has got the containers, and this is universal access to the rear, actually, because of this breezeway right here.
Both units have access to the trash area, and that's that.
And then upstairs, we've got another center -situated bedroom with a living room at the front, a little eat -in kitchen in the rear, and then space is separated with the full bath.
This is a three -quarter bath, sorry.
So that's it.
Property management team will continue to maintain the property.
I'll show you some photos.
My property is only one unit's occupied.
The other one we're waiting until this is done.
Let's take a peek.
What's the rest of the block look like?
There are some duplexes.
There are actually even more than that.
There are triplexes, and a good majority, though, are single family.
and it was occupied at purchase as well one of the units again the second unit
is waiting for the approval obviously my client understands he's going to need to go through the
building code process with an engineer and an architect. As you can see, there's proof of two
meters. Here's the letter that went out to everyone. And there's proof of 132 individual
households that were mailed. We also went door to door. In addition to the unanimous vote of the
RCO and the council office. We've got Somerset, Rush, and we use the list given to us by the
Planning Commission, these addresses here, in order to go door to door. As I've said,
we've got the support of the RCO is unanimous, and I'll move that in. That's about it. I would
like to call my client, Mr. Jeff Sommer, to raise his virtual hand.
Jeff Sommer will be joining us as a panelist.
Hello, everyone.
Good morning, sir.
Could you please state your name as spelled for the stenographer?
it's jeffrey j -e -f -f -r -e -y summer s -o -m -m -e -r you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
truth nothing but the truth yes please proceed
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you.
Mr. Sommer, did you hear my presentation to the board this afternoon?
I did, yes.
Is it true and accurate to the best of your knowledge?
Yes, it is.
Do you adopt it as your own testimony?
Thank you.
I have nothing further.
Questions from the board.
Can we go back to the pictures of the basement, please?
it's not very pretty but sure no i guess but not there sure i saw that bed down there
yeah i saw a bed down there yes it looks like there's a there right here yes that looks like
a mattress yes it does so what is what is going on there and well the proposal is that there'll
no living space in the in the in the basement this is probably from remnants of the uh of the
previous situation and that's where these pictures came from okay mr sommer do you want to add
anything to that or do you want yeah the previous owner decided to finish that um he was living in
that unit himself at one point and uh wanted a basement in the bed or excuse me wanted a bed
in in the basement but yeah we have no the current the current tenant just uses it for storage
so and and is there a bathroom down here too no no no
but they'll be for washing and dryer i'm sorry there's a washer dryer right it's for washer
dryer and storage and utilities that's it no living no living in the basement okay and then
that washer and dryer is available for the use of the tenants of both of the units no i think the
washer and dryer is used for the first floor unit mr sommer can you confirm that yeah that that is
correct the first floor unit has access to the basement which is where the wash dryer unit is
the upstairs does not have washer dryer thank you thank you other questions yes can you walk through
any plans that you have for future construction at the site?
Yeah, thank you. So nothing, nothing major, just going to spruce up the upstairs unit
before we rent it. You know, new carpets, flooring, paint, that sort of stuff.
Okay. And then just because I'm looking at the records, it does look like this applied for a
zoning permit in 2022 for work that was likely completed and done without permits at that time
and was dismissed for a two -unit building. And then he attained a rental license during the
pandemic for one unit when he was living in it, which is probably how he ended up here.
Aram, can you confirm that, to the best of your knowledge, all of the utilities have been
properly separated yes i can and i'm sure mr sommer can yes both elect so we're saying
electrical and um all of the gas everything i don't know what that what kind of gas there is
but i think yeah i mean electrical and well i guess i think most of it's electric i think
everything is electric mr sommer there's um electric is separated there's one gas that's
shared by the that's shared one gas meter okay so that would probably need to be updated but um
you can work that out with lni okay definitely questions tomorrow attorney
no chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
I see no hands.
Planning.
Amy Boyd with the Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change in zoning to the RSA 5 residential single -family zoning at this location.
The appellant sinks two dwelling units in an existing two -story row home.
There's an expired rental permit on file for one unit in 2020.
There is no history of anything on this property other than single -family.
2052 2070 and 2087 are legal duplexes that predate the current zoning maps otherwise this
is a single family block face the planning commission recommends that the board deny
the requested variance for two dwelling units mi 2024 006 177 2068 east somerset street
I vote yes. Certific of occupancy to be obtained and no basement living.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes with proviso.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes with proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Tywin, my vote is yes with proviso.
Vern, why don't you stay there?
MI 2024 -006 -699 -2021 Stenton Avenue.
Just for the record, Vern, please state your name.
Vern Anastasio on behalf of Mr. James Ingram.
Okay. Do you waive the reading on the refusal and do you agree with its accuracy?
Please start your presentation.
Thank you.
We don't have an RCO yet, and I understand there's a problem. There's a new RCO.
so uh am i i uh we've been granted uh a waiver from the rco requirement from your up from the
from the office from our office that's correct we're not going to be going to an rco um i uh
at least that's the last i heard no my understanding is we're going to hold it for two weeks am i
correct counsel you are correct sir yeah we're going to hold this hold the vote in two weeks
okay okay in case yeah they decide if you if you get it you can't make well we're going to vote
understood that's fair enough thank you uh this is a three -family dwelling a long history of
multi -use commercial mixed residential use. The first floor was traditionally a very
well -regarded in the neighborhood 100 plus years carpet company that subsequently moved.
There really isn't a whole lot of commercial activity otherwise. So this property on the
first floor became a another living unit. And here we go here. This is unit one.
I know this says this is your entry door. I know this is dining room. It's more of a living room
sort of situation, maybe with a dinette set, kitchen, full bath, and a bedroom.
unit two
sort of the same sort of setup we've got a living room with a kitchenette a bedroom and a bath
and then the first floor we've got a bedroom living space and a full bath it's three bedrooms
in the entire building it's attached to a multi -family dwelling already
also with no commercial on the first floor
You have a photo of the outside.
I'm trying to figure out what this building looks like.
This is it's a it's in a weird corner.
So this is this great building is the building, and I've got plenty of outdoor shots.
there's an entrance there's a side yard each unit has its own containers
the property attached to it is a multi -family dwelling
I have additional shots as well.
I believe we sent over posting photos of the exterior.
As you can see, lots of water heaters, lots of electric meters.
All of that was done years ago.
103 individual households were mailed.
right behind it is a schoolyard uh not a whole lot of action as far as commercial is concerned
this is the multi -family dwelling right next to it on the right on the left
and there's proof of posting
we got moving into evidence 111 pages
we've got moving into evidence 111 pages we've got history that long documents
the commercial mixed use residential included
here is the listing as an apartment building
also potential uses that did not come to pass for obvious reasons as we all know the commercial
market in Philadelphia is not a good one.
Here's more of that.
He also pays the, of course, multifamily trash
fee. And
this is a mortgage that was recorded, but we did in fact
forward to the office the deed in question.
And you could take a look at the really unfortunate sort of shape of the building.
And it's shared, right?
Because there's a multifamily dwelling here.
And this now is a three -family dwelling here.
You've got your parking lot to your school here.
And most of this on Stanton Avenue is all residential now.
No commercial, really, except for the 125 -year -old carpet place that was here.
They moved over here.
And that's about it.
And with that, I'd like to call my client to the stand.
He could raise his virtual hand.
James M. Graham will be joining as a panelist.
good afternoon sir could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
james ingram and is j -a -m -e -s -i -n -g -r -a -m right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth nothing but the truth yes please proceed counsel thank you mr ingram did you hear
my presentation to the board this afternoon yes the true and accurate to the best of your knowledge
yes you adopted as your own testimony yes i have nothing further mr chair questions from the board
yes can you explain the um commercial use that you intend to have in the commercial space
um we don't intend to use it as commercial it's it's residential
yeah no that i understood but i feel like there was an old permit that said it was a business
professional office in addition to the three units i just wanted to so confirming right now
this is only going to be three residential units it's my understanding that's what the plans say
Mr. Ingram, would you like to confirm that?
Yes, main purpose is held a multi -dwelling unit.
There is an additional office space there that we have used for storage and everything.
Thank you.
Storage for the resident, you're going to use that for storage for the residential?
Yeah, the units themselves are relatively small.
so because of the unique physical condition of the property so that's yeah but did he not amend
the refusal on january 22nd 2025 i did yes yes so i'm saying that the note from january 22nd
says that it is to add a business and professional office in addition to the
three dwelling units i'm just confirming what are we talking about today
no we're not using it's for storage only
okay and what floor is that on first floor
and there's the units on the first floor with that
i'll go back to the plan it is okay sure show us why don't you do that
i don't believe the storage oh yep well there's that's it right there is this it right here mr
Mr. Ingram, right here?
No, it should be within the basement below the first floor.
The basement will be used for the storage below the first floor.
So there's nothing on the first floor other than the unit?
The unit, there is a, the unit is on the first floor and then next to the unit, the, well, below the unit, the basement is where the storage is. And then there is, uh, office facility. There's nothing in it. There's no business in it or anything like that. We've just been using it for storage.
The unit, there is a, the unit is on the first floor and then next to the unit.
present. Is that in the basement?
You walk into where that office space was
and then you can get into the basement where the storage is. There's no
business or anything there though. It's just we've just been using
it for storage. And there's no
intent in the future to operate it as a business?
Not at the present time.
The only thing that we might do, it is an office space.
I might set up there to do like property management and stuff like that.
So, Mr. Ingram, the issue is that this property is in a district where you need approval for anything other than these three dwelling units.
And so I think we're just trying to confirm to make sure right now that your refusal is correct so that you can use it as you intend in the future.
even if you want to use it for your property management even if you want to use it for
yourself all you're getting approved for right now is three dwelling units and you have a
application that it said that you wanted an office and a business purpose so i think we're
just trying to confirm so we can make sure that we have everything right on our end i appreciate
that yeah mainly it's for the for the three residential units can you hear me
You can't say mainly.
Is it going to be three units or not three units?
Mr. Chair, I'm here to present for three -family dwelling in an existing structure, period.
Make sure he understands that.
Now, it's his building.
If he wants to set up a little desk for himself, that's his prerogative, but it can't be used open for the public or have a business.
He would have to have approval to do that in the basement.
We've done it on other units.
It's an accessory use to the dwelling.
We have to put it on the...
So for future...
We're here for a three -family dwelling, period.
Right.
If he wants to use any other space for his own personal use, he'll deal with L &I at that time.
Okay, so then what was going on with the refusal from January 22nd to outline that?
That's what I am trying to figure out.
We have a note that says there was a refusal.
I mean, there was an amended permit from January of this year
that tried to add this business use,
and then I thought you just said, Vern,
that you're the one that filed it.
Now you guys are saying that you don't.
We're not doing it.
No, we're not doing it.
So we're taking it out of consideration.
That's correct.
Got it.
Sorry for the confusion.
If it's approved.
But we're taking it out of...
And we're holding a vote on this, right, Vern?
Yes, we have to hold a vote, apparently.
That's what the attorney had advised me.
I have a couple of questions.
Well, I have one comment and one question.
Your plans here, and again, this is my issue, I think.
I have a problem with these layouts where you have to walk through, from the bedroom,
um you have to walk through the kitchen and the living room to get to the bathroom so at three
o 'clock in the morning you're stumbling and bumbling around through the kitchen and the
living room to get to the bathroom on which i think which unit is that just the one you just
the one we were just doing okay see the bedroom there there's all right there's yeah i get up
living room here's the bathroom down here okay next floor um we have the same kind of issue
all right and i'm and i understand that you're dealing with you see this bedroom over here
yeah i gotta go through the kitchen yeah get to the bathroom i i i'm just i understand
that you are trying to work with the space that you have.
I understand that, but I really have a problem with it.
And this was when I did the cases with the health department.
You cannot have people going through to get to the bathroom,
they get to go through the kitchen in some way you know i i just and this is different it's a living situation
You know, I, I just, and this is different. It's a living situation, but still, um, I, I just really have a problem with that. It, it just seems like, you know, again, whoever's living there is going to, again, when they, when they want to shower, they want to take a bath or whatever.
They got to gather up all of those stuff to, you know, go to this bathroom and then come back through the kitchen to get to the bedroom.
I just I really don't like those kind of layouts.
And I don't think they're good.
That's a good living arrangement.
OK, so that's my comment.
I understand.
That's my comment.
I appreciate that. And thank you for recognizing the unique physical condition of the property.
I understand that.
Yeah. And by the way, this is already...
This isn't the only one that I've seen.
Yep. And this is how the building presented itself to Mr. Ingram. It's not like he did it,
right? So we're just trying to sort of...
That's my comment. My question is about what is all this in the basement with all these
wires and things
that I see in these pictures.
Let me take a look.
Mr. Engram can speak on us.
That's up
above the basement level.
But when we got to the
basement
level...
Right here?
That looks like a fan.
That was done
that was a lot of that stuff was oh i'm sorry yeah what's all this wire a lot of that was in
the basement already um so i guess that's still the wiring for the for the building some of it
is probably inactive um which can be removed and uh tightened up aren't you the property owner and
manager yeah well it can be it can be please understand that he's going to have to go through
the co process understandable but i just like i think my my question is like this there's a lot
happening here a lot of this was done not without permits i think it's obvious that it was done
without permits and i just want to know for you when your llc purchased this what was your plan
and what is your plan moving forward because it's like the basement's a mess there's an extra water
heater. There's a room down there. There's a lot of uses happening. There was work that was clearly
done since purchase, all done without permits. What is your plan and intention?
May I speak? I can answer the question. The question was for Mr. Ingram.
Vern, you represent. Go ahead. Oh, thank you. Only because I spent the last 10 months with him,
I know what his plan is. The plan is to hopefully secure a use permit for a three -family dwelling,
at which time engage an architect and an engineer to go through the CO process, schedule the
inspections, clean up the electric and all the major systems that need to be cleaned and up to
par, and also put in a sprinkler system, which is going to be required by the building code
uh examiner so we've got a lot of work to do still even though it looks nice uh first second
and third floor there's a lot of stuff behind the scenes that needs to happen before he can
have this uh you know fully occupied okay and the only use will be a three -family dwelling
questions from our attorney no mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see no hands planning commission amy boyd with the planning commission the comprehensive plan
recommends no change and zoning at this location from the existing residential single family rsa 5
the property has a history of commercial use and the proposal for residential is more aligned with
residential zoning however three family is not the least minimum and the conversion was created
without the benefit of permits the planning commission recommends that the board grant
their press variance for a multifamily with proviso max two units. So we're going to hold
this now, right? And it's two weeks enough. It's enough for me. I've been trying to get a meeting
for eight months. So what's the date two weeks? The date in two weeks would be June 25th. Right.
so we'll we'll come back june 25th at 9 30 a .m um i don't want to make it a resumptive hearing
we'll just you just vote on it everything's closed but we would need an update from you on where
just you just vote on it everything's closed
but we would need an update from you on where we stand but everything else is
closed thank you all right thank you
number 13 mi 2024 006 823 53 29 north 13th street natasha watson um sir i believe this one
wasn't this one continued must be heard
we may be on number 15 oh here it is here octavia brown yeah octavia brown number 15
mi 2025 000 491 555 van kirk street this is the one we had questions i heard in the beginning
i i may still have questions about that well that's okay thank you octavia hi hello good
Good morning, Octavia. I swore you in once before, just for the record, state your name.
Octavia, O -C -T -A -V -I -A, and my last name is Brown, B -R -O -W -N.
Counsel, do you have questions, Counsel?
Yes, I just wanted to make sure that I had this correct.
The photograph initially to prove posting only showed a refusal,
and then there was a photograph submitted more recently
that showed the poster in compliance with the code.
How long ago was that picture taken?
Can I answer the question in the beginning?
You remember?
You did.
The only thing we got was 21 days.
I asked for 21 days.
So was that poster up there 21 days?
All right.
Why don't you, I swore you in once,
why don't you start your presentation?
Give me one second.
I just got to make sure I'm doing this right.
I'm going to share my screen.
Thank you.
This is the file.
This application is for use as a group child care on the first floor of an existing attached
structure with existing group child care on the ground floor, creating totally two group
child care uses in the same structure and single family household living on the second
floor.
Are you guys able to see my screen?
Well, you have to then go to each one individual, right?
Yes, I will. I just want to make sure you guys can see.
Okay, I'm sorry.
So this, let me make this bigger.
So just to give you guys some pictures, that's the front of the building.
And this is the location that we're hoping to expand.
And I'm just going to explain myself while I'm talking.
And let me know if I'm -
Why don't you talk about what you're doing?
So you already have a child care center.
So I have a child -
Do you want to put a second one there?
So I want to, sorry, I have a child care center on the bottom floor, which is, quote unquote, the basement level of the building.
What I want to do is I want to move that to, well, the classroom aspect of it to this floor here.
And I want to use the space that we're in as the indoor play space, as well as the space for we have a lot of, well, I won't say a lot.
We don't have a lot of youth in general, but we have a good amount of youth in our center.
I want to say roughly 40%. And I believe it will increase based on my observation. They are utilizing early intervention services, child link services, if you will. So that means we have speech, speech coming in, we have OT coming in. We also have physical therapy coming in. And the space that we are in now, I would like to utilize that space for when they do come in to service our youth, as well as an indoor play space for those youth as well.
um in the space that i'm showing you guys this is the bag um the space that i'm showing you guys
i would like for to be where we have our center our classrooms um so that's so i mean i'm calling
an expansion but it's definitely a change of use for the location um i also have how many children
do you already have so we are licensed for seven um i think with this expansion because of i just
read through like regs and things like that I think the most that group can have in that particular
area based on RSA 5 and different things is 12. 12 and both? No just so I would maintain the 12
kids upstairs that we're talking about on the first floor and those are the same 12 kids that
we would bring down to the play space which is will be the indoor place. So it's the same kids
you're going back and forth between places? Yes. Create a play space? Yes because right now in our
Yes, because right now in our center now, we utilize the we have an indoor play space, but it's very small.
center now we utilize the we have an indoor
So we have our classroom area and we also have an indoor play space.
That's what we're licensed for. But this will allow us to have a bigger play space, which would be great for our youth.
And these I'm sorry, I'll go slow. These are letters of support from our parents.
so show us what you have now and then you should go back and show us where you're moving to okay
okay let me make sure i have a picture of that
um can you give me one second i'm going to pull up some pictures of our current
of the current unit but this is the one we're moving to
when you say you're moving to this is all in the same building though right this is not
moving to this is just space within the yeah it's just a change in space everything is in the same
building and on the third floor is where you live no so the third floor is empty i want to utilize
the third floor as an office space for myself. I don't want any tenants or anything in there.
I don't want to do that anymore at all, as well as a potential break room for the staff.
So you're going from 7 to 12?
Yes, and that's the, from what I know, that's the maximum that we can have.
Because there are other, there are, there's also other daycares in the area that I've consulted with and asked questions, as well as ELRC, who basically gives us our funding and licensing and things like that.
Joe, do you think you have photos of the first floor, the basement level?
I'm looking for it now.
did i downloaded the photos for this exactly why it's not coming up okay take your time sorry
okay i'm going to share it right now i'm just sending it to myself
folder and i'm sorry i'm in the front of this picture but um
So let me ask you this.
We can do this case at 2 o 'clock.
Are you guys able to see my screen?
We don't.
We just see it.
Oh, I just shared it again.
Hold on.
Okay, so this is the location.
Can you see it now?
This is the first floor?
So as you can see, that's the front area of the center right there where we have our classroom.
And then that door.
You have seven children there.
And you see that door here.
That's our play area.
That's our area that we utilize for play.
We have two bathrooms on that side where you see the two doorknobs.
There's two bathrooms and one is utilized for the youth and one is for the staff.
So now you want to move upstairs.
To have more play space.
yeah so this area here would be the complete play space and the upstairs with where we would
utilize the classrooms yes and and how would you get up there we would take the stairs so
we would just walk up this the stairs that's in front of the house okay all right now could
you show us what that's going to look like so there's two bathrooms in the basement yes so
do you want to go back to the pictures of the upstairs back to the other pictures okay sorry
about that no no no no okay um so this is the front exactly where you come in um let me pull
up another one and this is the front area um we will have when you first come in that's your
that's your base yeah no no this is up this is upstairs no i'm not seeing that i'm seeing you
oh my god all right let me share again sorry about that all right i'm going back okay
All right, let me share again. Sorry about that. All right, I'm going back. Okay. Are we here? You guys can see all the photos that I need to increase in size?
Okay, so that's right now a kitchen, am I right?
Yes, but I'm sorry, you cannot see. When you first walk in, there is a space that was normally utilized for a living room, and that's enough space that we can utilize for tables and chairs as well.
and we were going to utilize this area here
for the Eaton area for the youth
and then we
Which area? The existing kitchen?
Oh, let me close that out
I'm sorry
How old are the children?
They range from
nine months
he's almost five, to four and a half years old
And how many
kids would you have need for the classroom?
The older kids would go to the classroom?
Yes, so we have more rooms, which I was going to show you, so they allow for separation as well.
Sure, why don't you show us?
Okay, so I'm sorry.
So as you walk through, this is the hallway.
Let me close that out.
That's the only bathroom that's up here.
This is on the first floor?
Yes, that's the first floor.
This is another picture of that area.
um this is the back room that one of the rooms i wanted to utilize for the smaller youth because
of the carpet um i think it would be good for them um so that's the first floor too this is
the first floor not the not the basement so we will utilize this as a classroom
let me scroll over i think we need a plan i'm sorry i'm finding it really hard to follow
what's happening on each floor and in each room without seeing them in relationship to each other
and knowing how big they are.
And you're
talking about things
but the pictures are not
showing up, so
we're not quite sure.
Are you guys not seeing the photos
that I have?
We are.
What they're saying is
I did see you had a drawing there that you look like you did
yourself, right?
I think
you need a better drawing, right?
Right. And I think you need an idea of like showing photos in the way that you want to lay the place out.
Like I would show photos of everything you currently have.
I then show photos of where you're moving and then I would show photos of how you're laying out that spot.
And what I'll do is I'm going to have to give you another hearing date to come back.
And I'm sorry we kept you so long today, but we just got to be sure because this is a big jump.
I mean, you're going from almost twice as many kids, and we just want to make sure that everything is done in the proper way.
All right.
So we're going to have you come back August 27th at 2 p .m. for a resumptive hearing.
If you want to, you can call the office and try to get an earlier date, but I'm not sure there are any there.
That's the next resumptive time I have.
Thank you.
All right.
well well thank you and that guy and you know if you have any questions call the office and
somebody'll go through it with you but i think what you have to do is sort of tell your story
right this is what this is where i am this is where i'm going and like have drawings that are
i'm not telling you have to get an architect the architects here might say you should but
i mean i think you've got to have a little bit better of a drawing than what you have okay
And I know you've been approved and things like that by the RCO, but I just think we need to understand a little bit better what you're trying to do.
All right.
All right.
Thank you very much.
Is there anyone in the virtual audience whose case has not been called?
I see no hands.
See everybody in 53 minutes, 57.
Okay, here we go. Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing
this afternoon's EBA meeting. With me is our board member, Cheryl L. Gaston.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Board member, Tenetta Graham.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Board member, Michael Johns.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Board member, Ty Wynn.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Also, here is our attorney, Hillary Emerson, and our zoning board director, Ian Haggerty.
Recording of this hearing will be posted on the ZBA website.
By participating, you agree to be recorded.
This is an in -person meeting with remote capabilities.
Whether remote or in person, if you're called to speak, you must state and spell your name and then wait to be sworn in.
Once you've been sworn in, please state your name each time before beginning your testimony.
Any person may enter their appearance as an interested party.
There are three ways.
You can identify the case address on Zoom, you can see a staff member, or you can call
You can identify the case address on Zoom.
you can see a staff member
the ZVA appearance line at the close of business tomorrow, call 267 -270 -5548, leave a message
that includes your email address and the address of the property of the appeal.
The following guidance is for remote attendees.
When directed by the chair, you must raise your hand in order to be recognized to speak.
If you're called to testify, you'll be prompted to join as a panelist. Please accept the request and turn on your camera. And finally, the webinar Q &A for questions about the hearing. Do not comment on the Q &A. And fourth, if you're participating by phone, press star nine to raise your hand and star six to unmute.
you. For in -person people, please refrain from talking, eating, or drinking. Verbal and physical
aggression will not be tolerated. Restrooms are across from the elevators. A water fountain is
just outside the room to the right. When speaking on the record, you must speak directly into the
microphone in order to be heard. In the event of an emergency, please follow the directions
given over the public address system or by the staff the main exit is through the double doors
at the rear of the room the nearest stairwell is to the left outside the doors in case of an
evacuation the rally point is at love park across our street please remain there so that we can
account for you let's look at our schedule for this afternoon number 15 mi 2025 001 083 249
east camry street that case is continued are there any other requests for continuance
here's our add -on list number one excuse me mr chair i believe we had another request for
continuance um one second yes the hand is ending in um 3552 it's um miss fernandez i will allow
to speak yes i believe mr fernandez made a request for continuance related to okay sure
another case yes miss fernandez yes hi could you please state your name and spell for this
adrian fernandez f -e -r -n -a -n -d -e -c do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth yes what case adrian
3105 North 16th Street
I sent a letter requesting continuance
okay hold on one minute
I'm sorry is there an open
microphone on someone's device in the room
if you could just check your devices make sure your microphone is muted
what number is that case
That's number 12, Mr. Chair.
The number 12 is MI -2025 -001 -041.
Alan Nocklinson is the attorney.
Mr. Nocklinson, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair.
members of the board alan nogamson alaa