the non-conformity may remain and may be used not notwithstanding these non-conformities so i think
one of the routes the board could take here this morning is basically an interpretation of that
section and and indicate that this that uh the refusal was issued excuse me issued an error
and that we don't need zoning relief that we can move ahead with this project without any kind of
variance relief. Alternatively, we would ask that the board consider granting us a variance,
and the basis for the variance would be that this improvement exists, and there is a case
law that says if you have to demolish an improvement to not require variance, that
that in itself is sufficient basis to grant a variance. The fact that you shouldn't be required
to demolish an improvement or not use an improvement in order to move ahead using the
property. So those are the two grounds for relief. Again, the one we don't believe even requires
variance relief. Okay, so having said that, I will go continue on with the photos. And this is
West Albert Street, which is to the rear of the property. These are some townhouses that exist
beyond let me go back these are these are the townhouses here these are the rear of those
townhouses that i was just showing you the front stick so that's what we have at the rear of the
property and again here's another view this is on huntington street looking back across 28th street
up so you can see it's a residential neighborhood up across 28th street as well
and then these are some posting photos this yellow poster is the poster uh that we we um
put up for this hearing we had a hearing schedule earlier in december and whoops
again i'm not technically that great with this thing um the orange posters in the packet
were posters that we had for the December here.
So we've posted this twice now for the zoning here.
And then I just want to go back to some graphics to give you a sense for the proposal.
And I'm going to use, this is our site plan, which we've rendered.
These are the Albert Street townhouses.
This is the school building itself.
here's the driveway off of north 27th street a small lot 11 vehicle spaces there is no parking
requirements so we don't even need parking but we're providing parking for staff and for residents
to the extent it's needed it will be senior housing senior housing typically does not require
significant parking so we're we're comfortable that the 11 spaces will be sufficient and again
there is no parking requirement that the zoning code imposes on this type of housing and then
we're also going to have a green space in here with walking path for residents to come out the
seniors to come out and walk there's a small sitting area and then I also have and I'm not
going to spend much time on this this is the sort of the finished look of the building again this is
from this would be from 27th street here's the driveway access there'll be a fence and gates
to get in this is again this is the huntington street frontage this is 27th street
and then i also have it the packet we have some some layouts of each of the floors each this is
the first floor there will be a community room um we'll have supportive services that will be provided
for the residents. There will be hours each week
where if a resident needs some assistance, they can go here
and the supportive services staff, which will be a separate
subcontractor, we'll be able to connect them with
to connect them with with providers for supportive services there's a management office each floor
providers for supportive services. There's a management office.
will have a lounge computer area and a laundry so each floor each of the three floors will have
those amenities here's the second floor you see here's the lounge uh in in brown laundry trash
area for each floor and there's the third floor and then these are the the layouts for each of
the units. They'll all be one-bedroom units, a bedroom, a living dining area, kitchen, and a
bathroom. And they're basically two. There's a unit A and a unit B. And the square footages
range from 840 gross square feet to about 925 gross square feet.
let me just check my notes here now as far as the uh the rco meeting again we did uh the
coordinating rco here is all in the family and um back in october late october we sent out
a letter to about 290 addresses um advising them of the november 14th rco meeting it was held by
zoom there were about 10 attendees um it wasn't clear at the time of that that meeting whether
a second rco meeting would be required uh in mid november mid-december we were advised that they
that i guess strawberry mansion and swamp poodle wanted us to come back
so we continued to the december zoning hearing and we now have that second rco meeting scheduled
for this thursday so um that's basically where we are we recognize that the board will not be
issuing a decision today but that's the uh the gist of the the gist of the uh the case happy to
oh one other point i wanted to make um there's a requirement for a tax clearing certificate
if you look at exhibit 15 we tried to obtain the tax clearing certificate certificate using the pha
tax number. And this is what we got. Multiple attempts. We were trying for a zoning board.
This is the OPA number. There's the end of the PHA's EIN, housing authority,
and incorrect information entered, review your information. And every time we tried it,
we got this. So because this is a city-owned property, we just asked it. And because we're
We're not able to obtain this.
We would just ask that the board waive the requirement for a tax clearance certificate in this case.
And that's all that I have as far as my main case.
Again, Ms. Colley is on the line.
She can answer questions or I can answer questions.
Counsel, we want to have your testimony adopted.
So could you bring your client on?
Could we promote Emma Colley as a participant?
they've been allowed to speak good morning could you please state your name and spell for the
stenographer good morning my name is emma collie e-m-m-a c-o-l-l-e-y where we're affirmed to tell
the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do yes please proceed council okay good
Good morning, Ms. Kali.
Good morning.
Have you been in attendance and observing this hearing since the beginning a few minutes ago?
Yes, I have.
And have you heard all of my statements to the board?
And were they accurate?
Yes. And can I just add one thing?
I just wanted to clarify, I think Mr. Kerr explained this well, but I did want to clarify, once developed, this property will be, you know, privately managed by HELP, which is the organization I work for.
We will have a 99 year ground lease from the Philadelphia Housing Authority. So, you know, de facto ownership, more or less. So this is not PHA housing, it's not public housing. Help will be owning and operating the development.
And with that clarification, Ms. Colley, do you adopt all my other statements as your own testimony?
Okay, Mr. Chair, I think we can move on.
Questions from the board.
Yeah, I have a question.
Do you know if there was any kind of like historical review or anything to the like of this property?
historical review or anything uh to the light of this property because it's been around for a minute
to to date no there was no indication um in the process that that historical that it was historic
or that it required historic review but as we move through if we get the approval from pha phfa
Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency. Obviously, that that issue would become relevant if, in fact, there was some historic aspect to it.
But we're not proposing any significant changes to the exterior.
The exterior will pretty much remain with just some just some refurbishment, if you will.
And on the the site plan that you showed, you said there was some townhouses on the back street.
Is that part of your project as well, or that's like another project,
or those are just existing houses that you just called townhouses?
Those are existing houses that are independent of this project.
They're not part of this project.
Okay, and one last question.
In the diagrams, I noticed there was like two separate structures.
I don't know if they were attached to the building in the photo.
It looked like there was like, I don't know if they were trailers or something like that.
Would that have to be demolished?
I saw that in the photos.
I think it's in the photos.
Yeah, it's in the photos.
Showing the property.
I don't know if it's attached to the building or if it's just separated.
I don't even know if it's even part of this plan.
Okay, I'm back to our colored up.
The original photos that you showed of the site.
Original photos.
Right. Anything that's not shown on here would be demolished as part of the proposal.
So we do have a small.
So, Mr. Kerr, I think what our board member is saying is, could you show us the photo where those properties.
OK, I'll go back there. Let me.
And I can help to answer that if if that's OK.
Sure. Go ahead, Emma.
Two points. I'll go in reverse first.
If you're looking at this photo right here, yes, you'll see this old structure to the left of the historic building.
This is an addition to the school.
I believe it was from the 70s, if I remember correctly.
It was actually, I think, the old kindergarten or preschool.
Anyway, we're actually planning to preserve that.
It's depicted on the site plan in a light gray color.
And of course, it won't be boarded up like this. There would be windows and a portico, you know, that attaches the two structures, and we would turn that into the community room.
and then I wanted to make one point of clarification about the historic question from
board member Graham um this property is actually on the national register of historic places
um which is pretty cool and you know I think it's beautiful property so as Mr. Kerr said
Um, we are restoring, um, the exterior of the building, um, and, you know, any interior
and exterior renovation would be in compliance with the state historic preservation office.
Um, we are also applying for historic tax credits alongside our federal low income tax
credits.
So, you know, there's compliance that goes along with that as well, if we were to be
awarded.
um so that is you know an approval process we would work on over the you know next year or so
if and when we're granted tax credits um we got um you know much more to come on that but um we
would be complying with any historic preservation requirements definitely i apologize i misspoke
on that i was not aware of that all that had occurred uh but it does make sense this property
is historic because it is a very very fine piece of architecture yeah yeah obviously of course we
just focused on step one today of this zoning issue and then um as i think mr kerr said um
we'll have you know um some more work to do with the community with phfa and chippo etc to to you
know, plan out our development. And my last question is, given that the age of the building,
I know there's going to be some remediation involved. And so I guess, is that a plan that
has been presented to the community in the first community meeting or possibly in the second
community meeting? Yes, remediation will be needed. So far, we've completed a phase one
environmental report with our
Um, environmental report, um, with our, um, environmental consultant, um, called Hillman.
Um, the report, um, outlines, uh, you know, what will be needed.
That was done over a year ago now, so it's currently being updated again so we can, um,
you know, submit that to, for our PHFA application.
um i'm not sure that we shared that report in full with the community i i don't want to speak
out of turn but i think we can um yeah not opposed uh or at least you know of course summarize um
what will be needed in terms of remediation efforts thank you it's an add any other questions
from the board. Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson.
Just briefly, I just wanted to note that Mr. Curry, you offered a couple of reasons why you
believe relief was warranted. And I just wanted to clarify that the board can only consider
variance relief at this point. If there is a non-conforming use argument, that is actually
an appeal against L&I would have to be considered separately, and we'd need a city attorney here
in order to give the city's position on that. So the board can only consider variance relief
at this time. So I just wanted to clarify that for the record. Okay, yeah, that is a nuance.
it's always been my position that the board has the ability to make an interpretation
of the zoning wardens that's sort of that's one of their vested powers so they I believe that
they could look at this section 143059 and just read it and and and make a determination that
the plain reading of this section allows us to use this parking lot without without any
any zoning board relief whatsoever right well the zoning yeah no the zoning board could make
that determination but in that case you're challenging the refusal which and and the
city would need to have an opportunity to respond to that challenge of the refusal as opposed of
as opposed to you just asking for variance relief so that's why the board couldn't consider that
today is because the there hasn't been an appeal filed against lni for the issuance of the refusal
And thus, there is not a city attorney here to discuss the city's position on the issue.
All right. Yeah. Again, I do believe that the board has jurisdiction to make that determination.
And then if the city disagreed, they could always appeal the decision to court.
I think that's that's a way around that, because, again, my perspective has always been that the board has the zoning board has the has the jurisdiction to interpret the zoning ordinance.
So anyway, but we don't need to argue about that. Thank you.
Well, okay, so my understanding is there will be an RCO meeting on January 9th.
We are going to have a resumptive hearing on the 15th at 3.30.
At that time, we will take testimony from the community and also from the Planning Commission.
Thank you, Mr. Kerr.
Okay, thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you.
Members of the board and Madam Solicitor, we will see you on the 15th.
Is there anyone in the audience whose case has not been called?
Mr. Chair, I have a hand up from Mr. Rudolph Fair.
I've allowed him to speak.
Randolph Fair.
Hi, could you please state your name and spell for this time?
Yes, Randolph Fair, Sr.
R-A-N-D-O-L-P-H, Randolph Fair, F-A-I-R, Sr.
SR. I think I swore
you in once before. Yes, I got knocked out.
Sure. You're
interested in the case we just heard, right? That's
correct. So there's a community meeting on the