uh can you hear me now yes please identify yourself yep sorry uh craig getting uh c-r-a-i-g-g-e-t-t-i-n-g
i live at 448 durfer street a few blocks south of the property thank you swear or firm to tell
the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth uh yes i do see uh i just wanted to express my
support for uh carmen who spoke earlier as well as john disley who i believe was attempting to
raise his hand earlier i don't know if he is still on the call um i was with john yesterday
walking around the neighborhood uh to let folks know that this meeting was happening
there did not appear to be signage in the area letting folks know that this meeting was occurring
uh signage in the area uh letting folks know that this meeting was occurring and he was you know
from with a social distance mindset attempting to let neighbors know that this meeting was happening
um and trying to send that information out folks seemed concerned about uh the construction
timeline and parking in the area what the folks have to do mr chairman yeah yeah you have to speak
on behalf of yourself sir sure um so i'm concerned about the impact of the construction
on that community, seeing the timeline that it might take, knowing the construction issues and
the parking issues in that neighborhood, and I'm expressing my support for neighbors who feel the
same way. Thank you. Objection sustained. We're going to move on. Planning Commission.
Good afternoon, Chair, members of the board. Ian Litwin, Planning Commission staff.
This parcel was remapped from CMX-2 to RSA-5 in 2019, according to the recommendations of the Comprehensive Plan.
Considering that this is a corner lot and the remapping was fairly recent, Planning Commission staff does not have any opposition to either the variance for height or the variance for a multifamily project.
Thank you.
MI 2020-002414
1927 South 5th Street
Number 5 Street
My vote is yes
My vote is yes
My vote is yes
My vote is yes
Thank you
Thank you Mr. Chairman
Happy holidays to everybody
Thank you, safe one
Likewise
Sharon, are we ready with Mr. Young's case?
Cases?
i'm sorry yes they are ready to go forward the two cases mr young is handling
thank you thank you uh confession we can do three and four now
okay am i oops three and four mi 2020
0-0-0-3-8-0
1727 North Lambert Street.
Also MI 2020
0-0-0-3-8-1
1729 North Lambert Street.
Good afternoon again, Mr. Young.
Please identify yourself and I'll swear you in.
Yes, good afternoon, Mr. Chair and members of the board.
Jeffrey Young, attorney for the
applicant, Mr. Damani
Hamlet. My address is
3900 Fort Root
Suite B, Philadelphia PA
Do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir. Please proceed.
Thank you. Mr. Young, you agree to waive
the reading of its refusal and stipulate
to its accuracy? Yes, sir.
Also have
Okay. Have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents, proof of ownership, proof of tax compliance, copy of the refusal or referral of photos and plans five days prior to this hearing?
So we did email the packet. It was not five days in advance of the hearing.
There were two separate dates for these properties that I was confused on which date we would have the hearing on.
But Mr. Letta does have copies of every exhibit for this presentation.
Okay. Also, have you met with the RCO and have a letter?
Yes. So in our packet, the RCO sent us the letter this morning, and I will send the letter out after this hearing is over.
But it is in my current presentation now.
please proceed thank you
want to share my attempt to share my screen can everyone see my screen
yes thank you uh so again uh jeffrey young uh for the applicant mr damani hamlet of
presented an appeal for 1727 and 1729 North Lambert Street.
Members of the board, these are twin cases.
The projects are exactly identical.
The design scheme, size, scale of the projects
are exactly the same.
And I'll move forward with showing the presentation.
Here's the deed for the properties.
My client purchased 1727 North Lambert Street
from the city of Philadelphia while he owned and lived in 1725 North Lambert Street.
Originally, he had a garden agreement with the property, took care of the property, and then the city ultimately transferred the property to him in 2014.
Originally he had a garden agreement with the property, took care of the property.
And my client purchased 1729 North Lambert Street at Sheriff's Sale.
Again, was a resident of the block, so decided to do something about the blight in his neighborhood and decided to purchase the properties.
Here is the refusal, excuse me, for 1727. Essentially, both refusals are the same. The application is for the erection of an attached building with a roof deck structure for two-family use, essentially.
I'm going to address, we are refused for the two-family use and for a minimum open area. I'm going to, I would like to address the open area first.
Excuse me. Here's the zoning map. As you can see from the picture here, most of the neighborhood is zoned RSA 5.
However, this zoning classification is a little bit misleading because to the northern part of our block is multifamily units that are for affordable housing, the Diamonds apartment complex.
again here we're uh erecting a structure 37 feet high uh to use as a two-family dwelling
um again for the minimum open area uh refusal um our lots are only 14 feet wide and 840 square feet
uh total um so we're a non-conforming lot um so to meet the minimum open area would take away a
large portion of buildable space for our two buildings here. But to meet the spirit of the
code, the rear yard depth is the required nine feet. And also our rear yard, the requirement
is 144 square feet. We are at 156 square feet for the rear yard depth. So I believe our minimum
open area refusal is de minimis um and as we are attempting to build um you know have enough open
space that is conforming with what our lot gives us and what conforms with the backyards and open
space um on on the block currently now to to address the the multi-family of variances uh both
projects will consist of proposed is two family units consisting of units on the basement first
floor level being one unit and the second and third floor level being the second unit. Here
each unit is three bedrooms, two bathrooms. The third floor unit, the upper unit has access to
the roof deck with the pilot house being set back toward the middle of the property.
So the view, you will not be able to see the pilot house from the view on the street.
Our roof deck is also set back five feet from the front property line.
You can hear this is the first floor and basement floor plan.
You know, we have laundry in the basement, you know, bedroom and two bedrooms on the first floor level.
I'm sorry, I'm trying to scroll down here.
Here's a picture of the lot. As you can see, there are two two lots side by side.
Again, as I mentioned, my client owns 1725, which is to the right here.
Here's a picture of the lot with the zoning posters posted on the fence.
Here's a picture of the adjacent property, 1725, again, that my client owns.
Here when my client purchased the property, this is what it looks like at the garden agreement from the city.
He took care of this lot to beautify the block and to beautify, you know, the neighborhood.
And my client is proposing to rent these at an affordable rate that is affordable to a three-bedroom Section 8 voucher holder.
As I can scroll here to show you that in this particular tier, we are in the Group 1 and 19121 zip code for a three-bedroom.
My client is proposing rental rates of about 1,300, which is equatable to Philadelphia Housing Authority's Section 8 rental vouchers.
Philadelphia Housing Authority's Section 8 rental vouchers. And I think my client
And I think my client.
is going to market these units to Section 8 renters, which is why the community supported
our project, given that there is a need for affordability in rental units in this neighborhood
for families. And that is exactly what we plan to do, provide families with affordable renting units.
just to show that some recent developments on the block here um you know there are a multiple
three-story homes that were built on this block selling for almost four hundred thousand dollars
now anyone from who is from this neighborhood knows that that is out of reach for them if they
want to stay in this neighborhood if they want to live in a a nice new unit in this neighborhood
that that price range is just unaffordable at the moment. And I think that providing for a duplex
and the multiple units helps lower the cost for folks to stay in this particular neighborhood.
The next slides are my proof of mailing to show that we mailed it to each, all the residents in
in the area here, and here is our support letter from the St. Elizabeth's RCO. We met
with the organization, again, via Zoom. It was well attended for a Zoom RCO meeting.
I've been to RCO meetings in person with less people, and they overwhelmingly supported
the project. And with that, I'll take any questions from members of the board.
Thank you. Mr. Young, do you have your client?
Yes, Mr. Hamlet is on the line.
Get him on, he can adopt your testimony.
Yes, can you unmute Mr. Hamlet, please?
Mr. Hamlet, raise your hand, please.
So my client is a school teacher who was doing parent-teacher conferences at the time as well.
I want to make sure I get him back on the line.
Good afternoon, how's everybody doing?
Hi. Good afternoon, sir. Please identify yourself in the record. Spell your name, please.
My name is Damani Hamlet. First name is D-A-M-A-N-I. Last name is Hamlet, H-A-M-L-E-T.
It's a hyphenated last name, D-A-U-G-H-E-R-T-Y.
Thank you. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Thank you. Mr. Young?
Mr. Hamlet, have you heard my testimony?
yes thank you very very well done thank you do you agree to his accuracy yes and do you adopt
my testimony as this or your own yes thank you any questions from the board no no no anyone else
would like to testify in this case if so please raise your hand
I'm sure. Okay. I'm sorry. Thank you. He, he lowered his hand.
I'm sorry. Sure. I'm, if I could ask a question, um, I have John Disley's hand up,
Mr. Disley, my question to you only is, are you testifying on behalf of this property?
You can now speak and unmute yourself.
I've been trying to testify on behalf of the other property of 1927, and no one would let me talk.
That whole testimony was a...
So, I'm sorry, Chair.
No problem.
No problem.
All right, we can move forward. Planning Commission.
Good afternoon, Chair and members of the Board.
Ian Litwin, Planning Commission staff.
This lot is designated for single-family residential use in a comprehensive plan.
However, this is a block with a mix of single-family and multifamily homes.
Therefore, Planning Commission staff has no opposition to granting the variance for multifamily use.
In addition, due to the lot size, we have no opposition to the request of variance for open area.
Thank you.
MI 2020-000381, 1729 North Lambert, and MI 2020-000380, 1727 North Lambert.
My vote is yes on both.
Yes to both.
Yes to both.
Yes to both.
Yes to both.
Thank you.
Yes to both.
thank you thank you members of the board thank you and number six uh yeah number six confessor
Mr. Chair, I'm sorry. May I interject once again? And as a reminder,
Mr. Chair, I'm sorry. May I interject once again? And as a reminder, I'm not sure if everybody's
aware of how the zoning board hearings work. The testimony has been provided of the case.
It's been decided. Therefore, no other testimony will be accepted. And people keep raising their
hands what causes confusion of the co-host. So if you're not testifying regarding the case of
the address that you hear, then we cannot take any more testimony. Thank you. And that interferes
with the, with the, the way and manner in which we're calling up witnesses. And sometimes people
aren't called up because other people have their hands up for other cases. So only raise your hand
as it relates to the case that the board is hearing. Thank you. All right. Number six, confessor.
MI 2020-002207, 2081 East Ann Street, A-N-N Street.
Mr. Mulvihill.
Good morning, Chair, or afternoon now, I'm sorry.
Again, let me grab my screen, Chair.
And is that working?
One moment, members of the board.
excuse me this is sharon saletta while mr mulvihill does that i wanted to tell you that
councilman squilla has sent in a letter of non-opposition thank you okay members of the
board i got this squared away now all right mr mulvihill please identify yourself for the record
you're still on the road yes uh for the record leo mulvihill m-u-l-v-i-h-i-l-l 2424 east york
street suite 11 philadelphia 19125 i'm here today i'm sorry do you wave do you agree to wave and
step i do uh asking if you have uh you emailed an exhibit packet with required documents including
proof of ownership yes proof of tax compliance a copy of the refusal or referral and photos of
and and or plans of the property five days in advance of the hearing i have
and have you met with the rco and do you have a letter we have a letter of support thank you
please proceed okay uh good afternoon members of the board i'm here today for 2081 east and street
showing on the screen right now with my material packets the refusal appeal and project information
form at page one area zoning maps at seven deed at eight activity license at 12 tax clearance at 13