that was not the intention the intention was you know the because i asked mr ali dot this
you know or you know based on the fact that you have six four units potentially instead of six do
you intend to shrink the building down in any way or change the building configuration and there is
no intention to do that the exterior the exterior yeah from a zoning perspective the interior is
going to be revised the interior is going to be revised that's correct right because right now
this i don't know whether we've seen this before i've seen another unit like this where you've got
the access the only access to the backyard is to that bedroom which is uh which is a horrible
condition to have people that have to go through a bedroom to go to the backyard
yeah i don't i don't know i don't know how it's going to change up like in terms of the the floor
plan we have a pretty deep lot uh with a pretty decent sized building structure here um so you
know i can't tell you exactly how he's going to change things up if if there's going to be a
secondary entrance you know that's not going to be in the bedroom i can't speak to that
the questions from the board yes i mean if the board wants to hold this and for me to provide
updated floor plans you know we'd be more than happy why don't we now why don't we let the other
board members comment first to see what other issues are there okay cheryl yeah okay i i want
to go back to this to the basement where um we're not i guess my concern is uh that um
it not be used for um bedrooms or um living space and and you're not making any reassurances
with respect to that you're talking about some open floor plan i'm not sure what that means
well so the board can you know provide so you know in that respect and we defer to the board
in that respect but i will ask this that if there if there's a proviso of any sort we would just say
proviso of no bedrooms in the basement you know it's good to have the extra use down there
in terms of just like an office down there or just an extra living room down there um you know
people like to have space especially if you're working from home so especially if you have kids
extra play area so if the board gives any proviso i would you know request respectfully
that it would be limited to bedrooms in the basement like no bedrooms in the basement as
opposed to no living at all in the basement and this but this space would be for the first floor
unit only that's my understanding so what about laundry what about mechanicals that's isn't that
going to be in the basement too or how well each of the units are going to have their own laundry
like you know they have their own laundry closet and then yeah and then mechanicals it's typical
like you know yeah they have their own laundry closet okay yeah
like you'll have a space that's set up you know set up for mechanicals the landlord handles that
separate in the part you know if they need access all right the question i have a question can i
can i see the um the floor plans for the third floor for the two one bedrooms just want to see
like their entryway and if there's enough storage perhaps the basement could be storage for
those upper units because they're smaller yeah i just don't think you're going to be able to
because of the width of the property um you're not it's not wide enough it's only 18 feet wide
if it was wider you may be able to create a separate entryway to the basement where everyone
else would have access i don't know if there is the ability to have access that way okay how are
the two how are the two apartments on the second on the third floor split like how would they
go into their doors so i wanted to see that for a second yeah so let me move this here for a
second so you have the staircase here right and you know you come up the steps you make a right
it's unit well here unified but you let's just call unit three and then if you go to left that
says unit six but that's unit four uh and you know again you're walking in you have an open floor
planned here in a way you have like the kitchenette area you have like a living room it's it's a it's
a smaller unit i mean again you know we're looking at people who some people who don't want a lot of
space and some people who want more space and that's always a trade-off but you know this is
their space here and this is their space there yeah i think it's i can't well i'll you know i
would they could provide access to the basement for all the units that's true from the from that
center stairway clearly it could wrap down to the basement and have access to the first floor unit
and all the units above so they clearly could do that um um um they could clearly do that
i'll defer i'm i'm not the architect so i could tell the architect you know that you know
board member johns i am and you could i know you are right but but so but aside from that
we we're always hearing the argument that we've got to do the additional basement living space
because of the cost of the construction right but here we're hearing that we're doing an additional
of that basement space that is literally the size of a full unit, but it's just open space
and it's only going to be for a two-bedroom unit. So it seems cost-wise and from a standpoint of
hardship, why would you even do a basement that's just going to be open space? How can you charge a
two-bedroom unit for that you know so i'm so i think that's a fair argument that's fair that and
maybe that all this i can talk to again we talked to the zoning aid last yesterday afternoon i got
a hold of my clients probably not this morning but this morning but late this morning i can i can
see if he wants to build it on slab or what accommodations he can make for storage in the
basement um again he's not based on my understanding because i want from a zoning perspective i want
to make sure that we whatever the building footprint was and the elevations are like i
want to make sure that we we solidified that because i didn't want to get something approved
and then he comes back and it's like oh i want this smaller and then we have to come back to
this process but i hear you um i can you know let me talk to him let me give you updated floor plans
Maybe that will make it more thoughtful for us to kind of solidify some things rather than trying to maybe solidify things at the building permit stage more so.
So just, you know, if that's what the board wants me to do, we can hold it, you know, for that last part.
Well, why don't we see? Is there anybody else on the board have comments?
Washington comments from our attorney.
Not at least time, Mr. Chair.
Alan, we think this is the community.
This will be the first time they've heard four units.
Yes, that is the first time they've heard four units.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Yes, Chair, Strawberry Mansion Concern will be allowed to speak.
Good afternoon.
Good afternoon.
Just state your name.
You've already been sworn.
My name is Bonita Cummings. Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman and the board. I just wanted to speak about some things that have been stated.
speak about some things that have been stated. 1820 North 27th Street, the community deferred to
Story Managed Community Concern deferred to the board because many of these properties, you know,
had been moved forward, but we expressed our concerns. It turned out that the board
did lower the number of units for 1820 from four to three. In terms of 1820, in terms of 1827,
we we felt the same concerns like this overcrowding in density six units but again you know this is
new that we're hearing right now that there's some consideration for lowering of the units to
to four uh the below basement this below grade living um has has uh become a um like an experiment
to human life actually and there's we're starting to see the effects of that so there's low to no
natural light um the whole uh the ventilation um conditions that go on um with this the outlaw the
outlay of this the design of this uh property uh is like a dormitory style design where the
open stairwells one bedroom units and then therefore there's no family opportunities
in this design for a community that is deemed needing family units was also, you know, a concern
that we had. So, they are looking at lowering the number of units, but I do believe that the
design really needs to come back to make sense. You know, this whole going to bedrooms,
to get into yards, and also even the yard space,
that 78.7% open area,
not accessible to all of the tenants of that property.
And even if it was, it may not be enough space.
This is a property that's going to result
in a lot of people being in that stairwell
because the initial design was one bedroom.
even with the change of the design, the stairwell system needs to change. So I would appreciate if
the applicant has to come back before a decision is made in reference to this design
so that it can be something more acceptable to the community.
Thank you very much. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
no chair there are no more hands no planning i'm going to uh we're going to bring this back
for a resumptive hearing um would you want to make comments now or do you want to see the
the plans when they're done we're a hold for the plans thank you thank you very much so
alan will make this as resumptive here you'll come back with changes and um you'll go back in
of the board all right thank you very much sorry just to just to clarify so the resumption hearing
will be for the applicant to present um revised plans for four dwelling units and then any
additional um public comment on that and then the planning commission's recommendation is that
Correct.
Okay, thank you.
Okay, and Alan, please stay on.
So number 13, MI 2024-006-166-327 Green Street.
Letter of opposition from Northern Liberties.
Letter of opposition from Council Member Young.
Applicant provided 12 signatures, three from the immediate block.
Could you just state your name for the record?
Yep, Alan Ockamson.
can you identify your client in relationship to the property oh yeah my client is uh midas
investments llc and in the virtual audience is otar kashavili uh the owner of the property
our vice share has just a few questions sir good afternoon counsel do you agree to wait
to read another refusal or stipulate to its accuracy i do have you emailed in other required
documents and exhibits that's needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing
Oh, yes, we have. Thank you, Council. Please proceed.
All right, so we're here to present 327 Green Street. We're looking to put a duplex here.
uh interesting matter um to left of us uh is a cmx2 property which is a planning community which
is a cmx2 property which is a planned community which obtained zony approval by way of variance
obtained
and it looks like based on what i can decipher like there was a an agreement between the
predecessor to my client's property and that playing community to allow an easement to run
through that property next door to us for to give us one parking space on that property and i think
kind of some of the community opposition
really is just for the planning community
because they never, the people that own
the units in that planning community never
knew that deal was made.
My client's
predecessor and even my client
to date has never used
that easement, but will start
being used. We'll use that easement
by way of development of this property and
I think that's what's upsetting the planning community
is that someone's parking on their property.
But that was part of the agreement to allow
for the variance of the planning community.
So I just think they're against any type of development. So we'll review the notice of refusal. The correspondence from the Northern Liberties Neighbors Association. Again, it wasn't a very well attended meeting. My understanding, there was a few neighbors in the planning community who were just against it because they saw the accessory parking and they're like, how are you parking on our property? And we kind of explained that to them from a legal standpoint.
My client did get a petition going with a letter of support from the person to the right of him. So like the person who would also be impacted has no objection to this use of the property. And it's not out of character either, because we looked at it on that block. There's many properties that are RSA 5, they're multifamily in nature.
Like this property is in the Northern Liberty section of Philadelphia.
It's very expensive, cost prohibitive to buy anything because the single family inventory is seven figures, what you're looking at, many of these properties.
In order to anyone to develop roots here, they're going to have to spend that money.
They're going to have a lot of people who are never going to be able to buy in Northern Liberty.
So to have a diversity of housing, to have something that's a duplex will give people an opportunity to either rent or, if this turns into a condominium, to own it.
So next thing we have is the zoning map, then photographs of the property, then our architectural plans and drawings.
Matt, Master Pasqua, the architect for this project, can answer any questions from an architectural standpoint.
Our RCO meeting notice, again, we had a few people show up.
Like, there are other projects, you know, people showed up for those.
But there are, I think, maybe like three couples that showed up to this RCO meeting for us.
Our application for appeal, our deed to the property, and our certificate of tax clearance.
So this has shown up.
But notice of refusal.
So this is an RSA-5 property.
We have no other dimensional variances.
The only variance we have is to allow this to be used as a two-family household living. Correspondence from the coordinating RCO. Really, it was, again, what Northern Liberties does is they hear what the community has to say, and then the executive board ultimately decides.
you know they weren't like the executive board was not like this is the worst thing in the world
they were more like hey the only people we heard from in the community that showed up to the
meeting was once against them we have to follow what the what those members of the community that
showed up you know for the for the meeting but again you know my client reached out to the
members of the community after the meeting because he didn't think that this would be an issue
and including, you see here, 325 Green Street, you know, received support on the petition.
And then, again, we did an analysis of properties on that block.
So, you know, next door is a three-unit, next next door is a three-unit, 319 is a two-unit,
315 is a three-unit, and 313 is a three-unit.
So not out of character to have multifamily on this block, even though it's RSA 5.
And then again, just the backup data to show like rental licenses and such for these properties.
And then maps of the area.
Again, you know, even though it's RSA 5, you can see through examples that there's a significant amount of multifamily here.
You know, you have a commercial corridor down here as well.
You know, density always helps commercial corridors of this sort.
Also, you tend to have more density closer to those commercial corridors.
And again, you know, this property here, which we have access to by way of an easement for parking,
the people who are against this project are the ones who actually benefited from a variance in the past.
And again, this is Spring Garden Street, where there's a lot of commercial activity.
and again this is spring garden street where there's a lot of commercial activity
And then photos of the property.
So as part of our hardship, my client purchased this property as originally just a row home.
And because of how dilapidated it was, he had to tear it down, which has added considerable expense here that he did not anticipate expending.
So now it's a vacant lot, which is now made it more cost prohibitive to develop it, where now he really does need to have this as a duplex.
The proof of our posting for today's hearing.
Green Street to the right of the property, to the left of the property.
By the way, I believe this is a case that in front of us is the back of this spring garden properties.
properties. And I believe we're behind a shopping mall or strip or some sort of bigger commercial
thing. So you wouldn't typically see a lot of single family behind a shopping mall of this
sort. And that's why I think a lot of the properties on our side of the block on Green