The administrator. I'm here. DPZ Zoom today. So that's Bill instead of Pauline for IT.
And then for the administrator will be Jason Hand. Thank you. And if we could just pause for
two minutes and then we'll be ready. You'll let us know when you're ready. Yes, sir.
Thank you.
Thank you.
okay sure we have about 20 attendees we're ready to begin as you wish very much um good morning
everyone my name is frank de chico i'm the chair of the zoning board of adjustment
i'll be participating in today's hearing along with our board secretary confessor plaza and
board members Mr. Thomas Holloman and Mr. James Snell. Board Administrator Mr. Jason Hand and our
board attorney Ms. Sharon Saleta are also in attendance as is the zoning board administrator
Ms. Tanya Sunkett. For those of you who haven't yet participated in one of our virtual hearings
I'll go through some of the basics of what you can expect. First we will be administering oaths
to individual participants prior to their testimony second we'd like to advise everyone
that this proceeding is being recorded and that by participating you acknowledge your agreement
to be recorded and that the recording will be made available to the public on the web or otherwise
third for anyone participating by phone if you wish to testify you must raise your hand
by hitting star nine, and then star six to unmute yourself. I'll repeat. For anyone participating
by phone, if you wish to testify, you must raise your hand by hitting star nine,
and then star six to unmute yourself. Finally, to enter an appearance statement,
call Google 267 -270 -5548 and leave your email address and the address of the property at issue.
I will repeat that. To enter an appearance statement, call Google 267 -270 -5548 and leave
your email address and the address of the property at issue. And I would like to remind everyone,
please do not attempt to testify in the chat. If you have any comments, questions, or concerns,
please direct them to mr jason hand today's board administrator with that uh before we begin i would
like is to ask if there's anyone here for a resumption hearing to raise your hand all other
hands please lower them only raise your hand if you are here for a resumption hearing
i see no answer thank you with that uh i will read off the request for continuance or withdrawals
on the 930 list. Number seven, MI 2020 -001 -574. 2500 North 31st Street is being withdrawn.
Number eight on our list, MI 2021 -001 -736. 3353 Cotman Avenue is being continued.
Number 11 on our 930 list, MI 2021 -001 -684 -4656 Worth Street, W -O -R -T -H Street is continued.
Street, W -O -R -T -H, Street is continued, and number 12 on our list, MI 2021 -001781, 5617 Hadfield, H -A -D -F -I -E -L -D Street, is continued at the request of the applicant.
If anyone disagrees with the cases I just read on the record to be continued or withdrawn, please raise your hand.
Only if you disagree with the cases I just called.
Excuse me, Chair. This is Sharon.
Did you call number 12 as continued?
I'm sorry. That was a mistake.
That is not being continued.
We did receive exhibits.
okay thank you okay so number 12 not yours no worries number 12 5617 Hadfield
will not be continued the case will be heard today
any hands as far as anyone else to disagree with the cases that are continued
go ahead at this time Mr. Chair thank you at this time I will ask if anyone would like to
request a continuance or withdrawal for the 930 list. If you're requesting a continuance
or withdrawal on the 930 list, please raise your hand at this time.
Mr. Chair, Mr. Alan Ockamson has his hand raised, so I will allow him to speak at this time.
Good morning, Mr. Ockamson. Please identify yourself for the record and I'll swear you in.
Good morning, Mr. Chair. Alan Ockamson of Ockamson PC, 123 South Broad Street,
suite 1600 philadelphia pa 19109 from the tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
i do thank you please proceed uh we're uh asking for a short continuance of the matter regarding
3842 fairmont avenue at the request of the community we've made some alterations to our
drawing specifically we added the front porch uh because this is a front porch uh part of the
neighborhood uh and so we'll have we sent an authorization letter just recently uh to miss
sunk it so to get authorization to to obtain a new refusal which will amend our zoning appeal
but as you can imagine given the end of the year and the change in the tax abatement program
um and the fact that we're working with the community on this matter we would ask that
and we have community support because of it we're asking for a short continuance uh to present this
matter well um that'll help you have to work that out with miss sunkett yeah miss sunkett can again
we really didn't i think you guys should talk offline okay okay okay um hi cheer this is tanya
I can confirm that Mr. Nockerson can reach out to me after he gets his amended refusal, and I can work with him on immediately rescheduling.
Thank you, Ms. Sunkett.
You're quite welcome.
So MI 2021 -001 -721 -3842 Fairmount Avenues continued.
Any other requests for continuance or withdrawal?
no further hands at this time sir
thank you um i thought i saw a hand go up just now i'm sorry i thought i saw a hand go up just
now but maybe maybe i didn't so you're free to blow thank you first case mi 2021
21 -001 -685 -1241 South 52nd Street.
Mr. Slepner is the attorney of record, and vote must be held for amended refusal.
Is Mr. Slepner available?
Yes, he is.
he has been made into a panelist sir good morning mr schlepner please spell your full name for the
record and i'll swear you in uh yeah good morning chair uh isaac schlepner i india s sam double a
alpha c charlie last name's schlepner s sam l larry e elvis p peter n norman e elvis r robert
with Mattione Limited, 100 North Independence Mall West, Suite 5A, Northwest, Philadelphia, PA, 19106.
Where from to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
where for him to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do i'm looking at uh real
quick mr slepner you have uh you have professor confessor hold off a second please all right i'm
just looking mr slepner right you got 1446 south 52nd and 1420 i don't think we can hold we can
hear these together can we um i would actually request they be heard separately okay that's it
Thank you. All right. Confessor, thank you.
Sorry about that. Mr. Slepner, you agree to wait the reading of its refusal and stipulate to attack her seat?
And have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents, proof of ownership, proof of tax compliance, copies of refusal, or referral, photos, and plans five days prior to this hearing?
Yes, we did.
And have you met with the RCO and have a letter?
Thank you.
Please proceed.
All right.
Thank you.
Mr. Chair, it actually, this matter, similarly to what Mr.
Nakamson described, we had had plans, presented all our documents to the board, gotten our
refusal.
We had a meeting with the RCO.
The RCO is the 51st Ward Democratic Committee.
And after our meeting with the RCO, we kind of came to understand and decided to alter the plans a little bit.
Our initial refusal was just for use. This was planned as a four -unit on an RSA 5 property.
And the new plans also have that, but the new plans also include a front porch, which would seem to trigger a refusal for open space or lot coverage.
I actually communicated with Ms. Sunkit. I sent her a letter. She sent me a letter to be forwarded to Curtis Daniel of the LMI zoning section to get an amended refusal. So that is pending. I was hoping that we could present to you what we do have today and that the board could at least hear us today and then hold the vote pending the refusal, the amended refusal.
Thank you.
Please proceed.
Thank you. Again, my name is Isaac Slepner. I'm with Mattione Limited. I represent the owner of 1241 South 52nd. And if I may, I'm going to start to share my screen at this time so that everybody can. That's not what I'm looking for.
um i'll go through our printed materials as briefly as i can make it um first up is our
and with me is my client uh lavar clark who is the sole member of the principal of the llc
and also logan dry our architect uh exhibit one is our tax clearance junk property llc is the
owner of 1241 south 52nd and the llc is compliant uh as of 721
One. This was compliant when we sent it to the board in any event exhibit two is our notice of refusal, which, as I said, our original notice of refusal was just refusal for use, and we are pending and amended refusal from L and I exhibit three exhibit three is a letter from the RCO.
Now, the RCO heard the three cases that I'm going to be bringing this morning. The RCO heard those all at the same time. And this was in July of 2021. And the RCO did provide us with a letter, and the letter has no opinion. It said did not reach agreement on the application.
um that said you know there were some attendees at this meeting this we didn't present to an empty
room but uh they said that the rco said that there was um there were not enough people to
take a vote that would have qualified under their bylaws um but in any event we did meet with them
they did provide us letters for all three of our properties um exhibit four is the site plan and
And I am going to rotate this so everybody can see it a little bit better and I will enlarge it.
So these are our this is our revised site plan.
And as you can see, those little cloud indicators indicate where we revised this.
And you can see at the front, there is a front porch, a drawing of a front porch, lot coverage and open area and occupied area would be triggered by this.
New front porch addition, but we do think, based on our meeting with the RCO that, and when you see the photos, it fits in with the streetscape. The neighboring property has a front porch, and we wanted to keep it to those dimensions.
The next exhibit would have been a revised plan form or a amended notice of refusal. We haven't gotten that yet, so please excuse the bright red over here.
our next exhibit is the floor plans and I'm actually
Our next exhibit is the floor plans, and I'm actually going to twist these floor plans a little bit to orient everybody better.
So the bottom of the page here is the rear yard.
The top of the page here is 52nd Street.
So starting, it's planned to be a four unit, four apartments.
so there's front and rear and front and rear are the first and basement units so there's the front
porch up up here front steps front porch front door to the common sorry to the common hallway
and then you come into unit a which is the front unit occupying the ground level and basement
there are the basement steps inside the unit back here is the door to unit b which is the rear area
the rear of first floor and basement.
There are the steps inside the unit to get down to the basement,
and this unit also has access to the rear yard space.
Then you go up, unit two is the second floor.
That would be the third overall unit,
unit C. Unit C does not have access to the rear yard.
Then scrolling down here,
This is, and then the third floor unit, you go up, up, up, then you're in the third floor unit.
And the third floor unit also has access to the roof deck.
The roof deck is only used by the third floor unit.
It's not used by the entire building.
So those are our floor plans.
Uh -oh.
Thor, are you there?
Hello?
Yes, we're here.
Okay, well, that's good. I'm here too, but my screen just died on me.
We still see your screen.
Oh, there we go. This is all right. This is fun. Here we go.
Exhibit seven. Can everybody see my exhibits here? We're somehow got down to exhibit seven.
Exhibit seven is a rendering, and I don't know that we have a new rendering just yet, but we do have new plans.
the front porch would occupy this this area and logan dry if you're out there maybe logan can
give us a little bit more insight my architect logan are you out there
mr dry has been allowed to talk sir yep i'm here
sir please identify yourself spell your full name i swear you in
Sure. Logan Dry, L -O -G -A -N -D -R -Y, Architec of Record from KCA Design Associates, 6525 Tulip Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19135.
You're a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Thank you. Logan, if you could just, I guess, give the board a little bit more insight as to the revisions that we did to this plan.
I think I mostly described it, but I just wanted to make sure that everything was clear.
Yeah, so I mean, just again, to reiterate, you know, the initial design that we proposed, we submitted to the city. Dimensionally, it was as of right, you know, we had all of our yard setbacks, open area, building height, pilot house, roof deck setbacks, all of that was dimensionally by right, initially just seeking a use refusal for multifamily.
um you know after we did meet with the neighborhood group and took a second look at
um the contextual buildings around us since this was the the sort of last empty lot on the block
of all front porches um we decided to kind of go back and and revise those plans slightly so you
know just looking at the rendering here um you know whereas we were previously proposing a front
yard um rather than a porch uh you know the new design proposes a front porch that matches the
uh dimensions of the adjacent porch um so again you know basically picture what you have here
um as well as the porch on the front and then we also did um you know revise some of the
window fenestration and things like that you know on the upper floor it's not really
affecting the zoning but again just trying to make it a little bit more
contextual so all of that's captured in the floor plans and the zoning plans that Isaac presented
And obviously, at this point, we're just waiting for, you know, the amended refusal from L &I because that front porch basically takes our total building coverage over our originally proposed 75 % as of right.
So we're waiting for that additional open space and coverage refusal as a result of adding that front porch.
Thank you, Logan.
um and uh members of the board you'll see some photos in another second those also are in there
And members of the board, you'll see some photos in another second.
Those also are in there.
So you'll see a little bit of context in terms of the porch next door.
In fact, Exhibit 8 are our photos.
And let me see if I can flip these.
Well, yeah, let me flip these around because they're not.
Some of them are portrait and some of them are landscape.
You know how it is.
All right.
This is a photo of our site currently.
So you can see the house next door.
that's 1243. And there's a porch there. It's a stone porch. And then the front door of the house
it's covered. It's actually looks pretty pleasant, like a pleasant porch. I would like to have a
front porch like that on my house. Our property is this half you see here, half of this lot from
the fence post over to the party wall. That's our property, 1241. I'll scroll down. There's a few
other photos of ours. We're going to rotate this back. This is the proverbial landscape shot.
Again, our property is the middle here from the fence post to the party wall,
and then this is 1239 at where the fence and the corner of the fence are.
Exhibit B are the photos of our orange poster, which were posted at least 21 days ago at our site.
And there should be three of those in there.
Here's a little bit of a broader shot of ours.
I'm not sure why it's posted on the fence, but I guess that's where they could physically find a spot for it.
And here again, you'll see in the context of the neighboring house.
This is, again, this is 1243 with this large stone porch here, and then 1241 is ours, the grassy empty lot right now.
and then there's a wide shot of our zoning poster again um i'll twist this back because
everything else is uh documents so this is our um original appeal document oh no oh
where did i just go with all this sorry technology um
here we go this is our uh original application for appeal which was filed on 4721 exhibit 10 is
our project information form that we filed as part of the requirements for the appeal
exhibit 11 is an affidavit of service uh that we served on july 15th notices to um
many neighbors uh this is our letter of july 13th the meeting uh this was actually a notice of
our uh zba hearing and our meeting which was um july 26th and all of the various interested
parties interested rcos council member goffier's office uh etc were all cc'd on this letter
uh also contain a copy of our original refusal because this was before we decided to go with
porches. Exhibit B is our list of all of the addresses that we mailed in advance of our RCO
meeting and this hearing. Exhibit 12 is a deed in favor of Junk Property, LLC,
which was recorded in June of 2015. It was a sheriff's sale and a sheriff's deed.
so um that is uh and at this point i would like to um call uh lavar clark who is a principal
of junk property llc lavar are you out there
he's been allowed to speak hello this is lavar clark good morning please spell your full name
sir uh lavar clark l as in larry e as in edward v as in victor a as an apple r as in robert
clark c as in cat l as in larry a as an apple r as in robert k as in kite
we're firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes thank you mr uh lavar
um you're the principal member of junk property llc correct yes
And Junk Property, LLC is the owner of 1241 South 52nd Street, correct?
Thank you.
And did you hear all the testimony that I offered to the board and that Logan Dry offered to the board today?
And is all of that testimony true and correct to the best of your knowledge?
And would you adopt that testimony as though you had given it yourself?
I have nothing further for my client.
questions from the board no mr chairman no no anyone else would like to testify in this case
please raise your hand mr chair mr andrew goodman
Mr. Chair, Mr. Andrew Goodman has his hand raised.
I will speak at this time.
Thank you.
Mr. Goodman, please identify yourself and I'll swear you in.
Good morning.
Andrew Goodman, G -O -O -D -M -A -N.
You're representing the Office of Third District Council Member,
Jamie Gaudier, room 586, City Hall.
I'm going to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
Yes, I do.
Thank you.
Please proceed.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, members of the board.
Our office has no opposition to the variance request here at this address this morning.
Thank you.
Anyone else would like to testify in this case?
Please raise your hand.
Mr. Chair, if I may just go back on the record for a brief moment.
Please.
I just had a few things I wanted to add prior to you calling the Planning Commission representative.
I did just want to add that on that 1200 block of South 52nd, we are at 1241. And on that same side, and I apologize that I am blanking on whether it is the east or west side, I believe it is the east, but I could be wrong.
On our side of the block, there are at least three other properties in that 1200 block that are used as multifamily, whether they are done so legally or not is another story. 1223 South 52nd is a three family. 1221 South 52nd is a three family. And 1219 South 52nd is either a two or three family. I just wanted to add that.
Anyone else to testify in this case?
No further answer. Thank you. Planning Commission. Good morning, Chairman DiCicco. How are you today? Ian Hegarty with the Philadelphia City Planning Commission. That's H -E -G -A -R -T -Y.
You swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do. Thank you. All right, members of the board, good morning. In 2019, the zoning map was amended on this block from RM1 to RSA5.
and this was done in accord with recommendations from the comprehensive plan and with the support
of the community. I don't think we've heard any evidence presented from the applicant today that
there are any unique physical circumstances or conditions of the property. This is a vacant
lot and so we don't believe that there's a hardship justifying a four -dwelling unit count
on this site. City Planning Commission recommends that the board deny the variance.
when was that remapping that was 2019
okay thank you um
tom you mentioned something earlier about a basement window yes mr chairman can you go back
to the plan sure bear with me here um yeah
all right do the seller plan yeah sorry give me a moment here i know i'm flashing these things by
pretty quickly let me go back to the interruption this is tanya sunk it uh mr holliman may you
please lower your volume just a bit yes i will
all right uh so this is our you're asking for the seller floor plan it's right here to the left
correct yes do your bedroom in your basement does it have a window um it does that's actually at the
front here is a window which is also the egress well and um again that's the that's the living
space not the uh bedroom the bedroom is where the bed is ah now you passed it oh well that's
that's at the rear and there's a window right here no go to the center of a property oh you mean
where the stairs are yeah that's that's showing a closet and a bed um can i may i recall our
architect to um speak to that yes logan you there yep i'm here hey logan um
mr holliman had just asked about the bedroom in the basement and a window sure yeah if you
if you want to zoom in right now we've got that designed as a sleeping quarter
um so basically if you want to zoom in on that isaac oh yeah it's a slight nuance basically in
the code but if we uh leave the door off of it and provide the window there for the natural light
it's technically not a legal bedroom but the code would recognize that as designed as a sleeping
But the code would recognize that as designed as a sleeping quarter instead.
quarter instead.
It's not illegal because you can always put the door back.
I mean, you could, but we've got it designed with the window there that opens up into the living space and no door.
But the window is not in the room.
Right, but as a sleeping quarter, we don't need an emergency egress out of that.
That's why the difference between a sleeping quarter and the bedroom would be.
I don't think you're correct.
Yeah, we've designed them and got them permitted in the past,
but it certainly would come down ultimately to the building examiner's interpretation of the code.
But, I mean, we have done this design in the past and gotten it permitted with the sleeping quarter designation.
Logan, have you done the study or the mapping, how many feet it is to the egress and all of those factors?
yeah all of all of the uh all of the rooms within this building need uh you know under the new code
maximum 125 foot travel distance to the to the nearest fire rated exit or uh egress window in
which case you know you know i don't know if you can see the dimension of the bedroom there but
we're well within that maximum 125 foot travel distance permissible by the ibc
okay okay thank you thank you logan by 2021 -001685 1241 south 52nd street
my vote is yes with the following proviso maximum excuse me chair this is sharon if you are voting
to approve this we have to wait for the amended refusal
i'm sorry say that again sharing um oh we have to wait so this will get rescheduled uh resumption
the record will be closed except for receipt of the amended refusal once it's received it will be
about it. So noted. Thank you. Thank you. I'm waiting on that amended
refusal and I'll be in contact with Miss Sunkett and Miss Saletta as soon as I
receive it. Thank you. All right. MI 2021 -001 -726 -1384 Ridge Avenue.
there's a letter of support with provisors from the 14th ward executive committee
good morning mr jen please identify yourself and i'll swear you in
Yes, good morning. Zenjen, Z -H -E -N -J -I -N, 1617 John F. Kennedy Boulevard, Suite 1838, Philadelphia PA, 19103, here on behalf of the applicant.
We're affirmed to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Thank you, Mr. Klazman. I'll ask questions for you.
Mr. Jen, do you agree to wait the reading of its refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents, proof of ownership, proof of tax compliance, copy of the refusal or referral photos and plans five days prior to this end?
I have.
Okay. Have you met with the RCO and have a letter?
Yes, we have met and we have a letter.
Thank you. Please proceed.
Thank you. I'm going to share with the board the information related to this case.
we have submitted to the board refusal the letter from the RCO photos plans tax clearance and related
documentation this is an application for a new construction on what is currently multiple lots
two lots the proposal is to consolidate the lots and put a new semi -detached structure for
multi -family household living with a commercial space as required in the district I want to point
out this is a CMX4 commercial district which is relatively flexible when it comes to actual uses
so our use itself are fully in compliance with the requirement of the code where we have the
refusals are two dimensional well one is a dimensional item and one is for parking
under CMX2 in the commercial district we're required to have two off -street parking spaces
we're proposing zero due to the location of the property and the difficulties in
putting in the off -street parking. The other refusal is for a dimensional side yard
required for eight feet. We're proposing a one foot ten inch but I will show to the board on the site
We are proposing a 1 foot 10 inch, but I will show to the board on the site plan that, in fact, there is a shared alleyway.
So the 1 foot 10 inch is actually, there's actually a wider access way than what may seem initially.
So the, here you're looking at the rendering of the plans.
The same rendering was presented to the community.
Essentially, this will be a structure built on Ridge Avenue.
It is in the middle of the block.
What is surrounding it now are existing buildings. One is a garage and the other side is a commercial mixed -use building. However, across the street, we have what is really a large, I believe it's a store. I believe it's an Audi store, but I could be mistaken on the exact type of store it is.
but it is a Audi store of some sort.
Again, it's a store right across this property.
So what we're proposing to do
is to have the building structured on this lot,
which actually has a bit of a string shape in the back.
It's not a rectangular lot.
However, the main focus of the refusal,
which is the side yard,
would come into play in this part of the property
that I'm zooming into, into the property. So essentially, if we left an eight foot
wide side yard, with the existing alleyway that's already shared with the neighbor,
what we would have is basically a 10 foot pathway to the back, which really in all for all intents
and purposes, doesn't really accomplish any additional benefit other than taking away some
of the space. In this particular, on this particular block, while there are shared alleyways
for the purpose of taking trash out from the rear yard, a large wide opening really would
not be beneficial, nor does it really help provide off -street parking because it still
wouldn't be wide enough for access way, nor would it allow any parking spaces to be put
because the rear yard really isn't that large.
The design here, the 1 -foot -10 -inch side yard
actually combines with the 2 -foot -4 -inch half
of our half of the access way,
allowing about 3 -foot there,
and then there's another 2 -foot on the other side
from the other property.
So this is still a relatively wide passageway
for trash extraction from the building.
Speaking of the trash extraction,
because it's a multifamily building
along with the commercial space, we have designed an exterior trash room as well as interior
trash storage space as much as possible for the units. Every unit has two stairways,
one access in the front, one access in the back, and the rear stairway allows access by all units
to the trash room, which is designed to hold enough trash for all the residential spaces.
And on trash day, commercial trash pickup would come, they would be able to access through this, again, the shared alleyway with total of about five foot sit back, I'm sorry, total about five foot width, allowing them to take the trash and bring it out to the street.
The community's primary concern actually involves trash being left in front of the building.
In their letter, one of the key provisals is making sure that trash is managed in a way where they would not be visible on the street other than for the duration of the pickup.
In addition, the community asked that we try to use a facade that matches the neighboring properties, which the Aldi with the multifamily across the street kind of has a grayish brick type facade as well.
So we'll make sure that it is consistent with the block.
And in addition, they asked that garbage disposals be installed so that it would avoid having a lot of food trash being stored in the trash room.
From the standpoint of the actual property layout of each unit, I'm going to zoom in
again to give the board a better look.
I want to point out that there is no, I'm sorry, this might be too zoomed in too far.
The basement is used as part of the commercial space for their use, so there are no basement
living spaces in this property.
There's an ADA accessible unit one, which is a studio style unit. And then the additional units
are basically one bedroom and two bedroom units in the floors above.
So based on the fact that this is in the middle of a block, as far as location,
fact that this is in the middle of a block as far as location, we would argue that there is a
hardship for putting parking into this, particularly off -street parking, because in order to do so,
we would essentially have to remove most of the access of the commercial space or reduce the
commercial space to the point where it's not really that useful to the community. In addition,
this side of the street, although not clearly shown in the photo here, but there is parking
on the street on this side. And it is actually a detriment to the community to take those spaces
away to maintain a curb cut and put in a garage. The community also feels that a commercial facade
is better than these garage entrances that are like what is next door to us. So because of all
those reasons they have supported our request for the no parking off street variance. So with that
I would ask the boards if the board has any questions I'll be happy to reshare any of the
exhibits and also I believe my client is here with us as well if any questions may be directed
towards my client. Thank you let's get your client to adopt your testimony and then we'll
move on from there. Thank you. Is Ms. May Tang here? Please raise your hand.
As a further point, Chair, I just want to point out this block, because the CMX2 is a combination
of multifamily and commercial for pretty much the entire block. It's Z Bin Tang that should
be here. I see the hand raised.
Hello.
Please identify yourself and I'll spell your name and I'll swear you in.
May Tang, M -E -I, last name T -A -N -G.
We're affirmed to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
Please proceed.
Thank you, Chair.
Ms. Tang, did you hear my testimony to the board and see the presentation I just made before the zoning board?
yes thank you can you verify that what i've said is true and correct and adopt my testimony as
your own yes thank you thank you any uh questions uh of the board no mr chairman no sir anyone else
to testify in this case please raise your hand there is a letter that was submitted by miss
Monroe in support
of this application.
Sir, Ms.
Diane Monroe, as our hand
brings, I will allow her to speak at this time.
Good morning, Ms. Monroe.
Please spell your full name and I'll swear you in.
Okay, good morning.
Diane,
D -I -A -N -E
Monroe,
M -O -N -R -O -E.
Where or for
I'm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
Yes, I do. Yes, I do.
Please proceed, Diane.
Okay. Thank you so much for allowing me this opportunity. The community do support this project as per the provisos. I understand that you may not be able to incorporate those provisos, but we do have a CBA outlining those provisos.
Thank you very much.
Very good. Thank you.
Anyone else to testify in this case?
Excuse me, Chair, this is Sharon.
I just wanted to note that one of the provisos, in differently worded, would be allowable, and that would be trash stored on premises and out of public view.
Planning Commission.
thank you chair to chico ian hegarty for the philadelphia city planning commission
members of the board in 2017 the zoning map was amended in this area but this parcel was not
changed the narrowness of the lot presents a physical hardship for providing access to parking
and the side yard dimensional variance is supported by the president of the adjacent
alley cited and described by council the city planning commission recommends that the board
grant the variance my 2021 -001 726 1384 ridge avenue my vote is yes with the proviso the trash
to be stored out of view inside the property confessor plaza yes with proviso jane snell yes
for proviso thomas holliman yes we provide so thank you case number three mi 2021 -001 -684
4, I'm sorry, 1446 South 52nd Street.
four i'm sorry one four four six south 52nd street
Mr. Slepner, you're still under oath, but please identify yourself with the record.
sure uh good morning again chair and members of the board isaac please just spell your name and
But remember, you're still under oath.
Once more, Isaac, I, India, S, Sam, A, Alpha, A, Alpha, C,
Charlie, last name, Slepner, S, Sam, L, Larry, E, Elvis,
P, Peter, N, Norman, E, Elvis, R, Robert.
Still under oath, sir.
Please proceed.
Hey, Mr. Slepner, real quick.
Do you agree to wait to read in a right's refusal
and stipulate to attack, or see?
Yes. Have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents, proof of ownership, proof of tax compliance, copy of the refusal or referral photos and plans five days prior to this hearing?
Yes. And have you met with the RCO and have a letter?
Yes. Please proceed. Thank you.
All right. Thank you. With that out of the way, I would like to just begin sharing my documentary exhibits and then call for a little bit of testimony and answer any questions.
I'm going to go ahead and share my screen at this point.
And we are talking about 1446 South 52nd.
So, again, I am Isaac Slepman with Mattione Limited.
I represent Philly Homebuyer, Inc., which is the owner of 1446 South 52nd.
And my client, LeVar Clark, is the principal of that entity.
And he is here today, as well as our architect, Logan Dry.
So I'm going to just start on our exhibits. Here we go. So first is our certificate of tax clearance, junk property, LLC, owner of 1446 South 52nd. I think that may have been a typo on our cover sheet, but they are compliant.
And this was sent to the board along with our materials about a week or so ago when we forwarded the materials.
Second is our notice of refusal, which we already stipulated to.
Exhibit three is our letter from 51st Ward Democratic Committee.
And as I had mentioned previously, we met with the RCO in July on the three of the properties that I'm here on today, including 1446 South 52nd.
And we did have, there were people in the room with us. I presented all of our plans and had conversations with them. But there was, the RCO says they did not reach an agreement on the application because there were not enough near neighbors. However, that is defined by their bylaws.
We did have a meeting with them. I thought it was pretty productive, but they did not seem to take a position.
Exhibit four is our zoning site plan, and I will rotate that so everyone can see that a little bit better.
This is going to be a standard three story with basement and roof deck, and it is planned as a three unit multifamily.
multi -family this is the site plan this is 52nd front door this is the footprint of the building
egress well from the basement and rear yard space exhibit five is our floor plans and i
would well i'll go through them and i'll have my architect uh offer a bit of testimony the floor
plans are similar similar to ones you've seen previously from me today but they're not exactly
the same and i'll walk the board through them so the uh the first unit is fairly large it's
1715 square feet and that encompasses the first floor and the basement so this is the front door
if you look at the bottom of your screen the bottom of the plan is the front of the house
at 52nd street uh right here at the first floor that's the front door that goes to a hallway
common space and that goes those are your steps going up and then to the left is your entrance
to unit A. And unit A does encompass both the first floor, which includes access to
the rear yard from a door off the kitchen, as well as the basement space. And as our
architect Logan Dry, well this bed, this does have a bedroom here with egress well, window
and egress well, and there's a bedroom here with also a window and egress. As you go up,
you get to the second floor unit. The second floor unit is on the second floor. That's a
on the second floor. That's a planned two -bedroom as well, both of which have a window. The rear
planned two -bedroom as well.
bedroom and the side bedroom has a window here, which has some open space down that way. You go up
and you're at the third floor, which is a planned two -bedroom as well. Again, both bedrooms with
windows. Bedroom at the rear here with a window and kind of side rear with a breezeway or an air
shaft and then steps up to the roof deck. The roof deck is just for use for the third floor unit.
Those are our floor plans. This is an elevation front and rear. So as you can see, it's built up
a little bit raised. The ground level is a little bit raised up and here's the rear with the rear
egress window, front egress window. Exhibit 6 is a rendering and I'll turn that around so that
everyone can see that. It's a pretty standard new construction rendering using metal and brick and
I'll have my architect offer a little bit more on that. As you can see there's egress at the front
and then our front steps, large windows for good eyes on the street.
Submit 7 are our photographs, and I will walk everybody through the photographs.
Submit 7A, so this vacant that you see here are actually two properties.
Ours is 1446 South 52nd, which is the left half of this vacant,
so kind of basically splitting this car down the middle.
To the left of that is 1446. You'll actually notice immediately next door to us is 1448 South 52nd,
which is a new construction build three unit property as well.
I'll scroll down. I'll show you some more photographs.
This is just a view from across the street. You see ours again is 1446, which is the left half
for this vacant. There's 1448, which is new construction. This is 1444. And then there are
some single family. And then there are also actually a number of multifamily also on this
1400 block. Other multifamily on this 1400 block, you've got 1438, which is a duplex, or at least
appears to be a duplex 1436 is another new build three family 1432 also is a two family 1414 is a
three family and 1410 is used as the two family 7b are photos of our orange notice of hearing
for this hearing today posted at our site at least 21 days ago
um there's one close -up photo of it here's a little bit of a wider shot of it and okay and
there's another wider shot and you can also see 1448 is also still a new build um three unit
property exhibit eight and i'll rotate this back exhibit eight is our initial application for
appeal, which was filed timely on 4 -7 -21. Exhibit 9 is our project information form, which is mandated
by the code and answered all those questions. Exhibit 10 is an affidavit of service.
We served the neighbors on July 15th with a notice of the meeting, the RCO meeting,
which took place on July 26th. That notice, that letter included copies to all of these listed
people, including the coordinating RCO, 51st Democratic Ward, Andrew Goodman of Councilmember
Gauthier's office, as well as the several other RCOs that overlap in that area of Southwest Philly.
They've all been CC'd on that letter. It also included our notice of refusal
and included our long laundry list of neighbors who were mailed on that notice.
Finally, it was a long list of neighbors who were noticed.
Finally, this is a deed in favor of my client, Philly Home Buyer LLC,
recorded on 5 -24 -19, and it was another one that was purchased at Sheriff's Sale.
I'd like to call my client, LeVar Clark, to offer some testimony.
LeVar, are you there?
Yes, I'm here.
LeVar Clark, just identify yourself and you're still on the roof.
My name is LeVar Clark, spelled L as in Larry, E as in Edward, V as in Victor, A as in Apple, R as in Robert.
Name is LeVar Clark, spelled L as in Larry, E as in Edward.
Last name Clark, spelled C as in Cat, L as in Larry, A as in Apple, R as in Robert, K as in Kite.
Mr. Clark, Philly Homebuyer Inc. is the owner of 1446 South 52nd, correct?
And you're the principal member of Philly Homebuyer Inc.?
And you've heard all the testimony that I've offered to the board today, correct?
And do you adopt that testimony?
Was that testimony true and correct to the best of your knowledge?
And would you adopt that testimony as though you offered it yourself?
And I have nothing further for my client.
Thank you.
Any questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
anyone else to testify in this case please raise your hand
no further hands at this time sir any commission thank you chairman de chico
and hegarty for the philadelphia city planning commission uh so this property was part of the
same remapping in 2019 where the zoning map was amended um on many blocks in this area
from rm1 to rsa5 and that was done in accord with recommendations from the comprehensive plan and
with the support of the community again we feel the applicant's hardship claim is not supported
with evidence of unique physical conditions of the property itself this is a vacant lot
so the city planning commission recommends that the board deny the variance thank you
MI 2021 -001 -684, 1446 South 52nd Street.
My vote is yes with the following proviso, no bedrooms and basement.
Professor Plaza, yes with proviso.
James Snell, yes with proviso.
Thomas Holloman, yes with proviso.
So, MI 2021, that's 001 -684 -1420 South 52nd Street.
Mr. Slepner.
Yes, thank you.
So long as you're still under oath, just identify yourself, and Mr. Plaza has questions for you.
Thank you, Chair.
Once again, Isaac Slepner, I India S Sam, double A Alpha C Charlie, last name Slepner, S Sam, L Larry, E Elvis, P Peter N Norman, E Elvis, R Robert of Matione Limited for the app.
Mr. Slepner, you agree to waive the reading of its refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
I guess I do.
Have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents, proof of ownership, proof of tax compliance, copy of the refusal or referral photos and plans five days prior to this hearing?
Have you met with the RCO and have a letter?
Thank you. Please proceed.
All right. Thank you.
This is 1420 South 52nd, and I am going to share my screen in just a moment.
um the owner of uh of this property is easy house cash llc um my client levar clark is here with us
he's the primary uh member of easy house cash llc and i will uh take the board through my materials
at this time all right 1420 south 52nd 1420 south 52nd is in that same block of 52nd street as you
just heard 1446. But I'll just take everybody through this briefly. First up is our tax
clearance cert. Easy House Cash LLC is the owner of 1420 South 52nd. And this clearance was valid
through the point at which we sent it to the board about a week or week and a half ago.
Exhibit two is our notice of refusal, which we have stipulated to. Exhibit three is the letter
from the 51st War Democratic Committee, which was the coordinating RCO. And again, the RCO did not
reach an agreement on the application. We did, once again, we did meet with them. There were
people at the meeting. We had lively conversations and discussions, but the RCO ultimately did not
take a vote and did not reach an agreement. Subit 4 is our zoning site plan, and I will
to show this to everybody briefly. This is also proposed as a three -unit multifamily,
three -story with basement and roof deck. The front elevation here, the rear elevation here,
you can see the front elevation is slightly raised. There's the basement egress at the front,
basement egress at the rear, parapets, and this is open space for an air shaft at the rear of the
second third floors um the left here is south 52nd street this is the front uh front entrance foot
The left here is South 52nd Street. This is the front entrance, footprint of the building, egress, and rear yard.
Zipit 5 are our floor plans, and I'll leave it turned in this direction just to show everybody.
So again, this is pretty much identical to the one at 1446, but I'll walk everybody through it briefly.
Unit A is one unit, which is fairly large.
It encompasses the first floor and the basement.
Front door at the bottom of your screen here is 52nd Street.
Here's the front door of the whole house.
You walk back here to start to go up to the other units.
To your left, you enter into Unit A.
There's also stairs to the basement.
Basement window with front egress.
Basement window with rear egress to the rear yard.
and first floor access to the rear yard as well.
Second floor plan, you walk up the steps,
you come in, entrance hall to unit B,
windows at the bedroom at the rear
and at the kind of side rear bedroom,
which has an open window out to the air shift.
Up the stairs to the third floor,
again, two bedroom with windows on all,
window at the rear, window at this air shaft area. This unit also has steps up to the roof deck,
which is for the use only of the third floor unit. This is an elevation. As you can see,
the property is slightly raised up. You've got an egress window here at the front and at the rear
for the basement and open space here for air shift and windows
at the side side rear if you will exhibit six is a rendering I will twist that around again
it's a modern design and I you can see the egress at the basement here slightly raised
large windows again for good eyes on the street exhibit seven are photographs and let me take
everybody through the photographs all right this one so 1420 if you can see here is there's a lot
of vacant space right here these are three vacant lots 1422 20 and 18 ours is 1420 which is the
middle vacant lot so i guess gauging from this picture if you can imagine basically from the
front of that u -haul through the cab it doesn't it's wider than that but it's that's roughly where
you're looking um that's a corner view of of all of them people park there now they just
park on these three vacant lots um and and obviously we'd be building there so that
wouldn't be the case going forward in the near future. And again, a side view of
these three, but 1420 is the one in the middle. I think you'll be able to see it better when I
show you the pictures of the orange poster. So this is photo one of our orange poster
posted at least 21 days ago. Photo two, and here's a wider shot. So you can see it's right
there in the middle of those two of those three vacant lots again to our left is 1422 to our right
is 1418 and we are 1420 and here's one more view of ours with the orange poster. Exhibit 8
is our application for appeal, which was filed timely on 4 -7 -21. Exhibit 9 is our project
information form, which was filed as a prerequisite requirement to filing the appeal. Exhibit 10
is again an affidavit of service stating that we mailed a notice to the neighbors per the
requirement to the code on July 15th of 21. That notice, this was our notice letter, again, dated
July 13th, informing everyone of the RCO meeting. It was sent to the neighbors. It was cc'd to
Councilmember Gauthier's office, Andrew Goodman, as well as the coordinating RCO, 51st War Democratic
Committee, and all the numerous other RCOs that operate out in that neighborhood. That included
our notice of refusal, which you can see here reprinted, and the list of addresses mailed.
Well, there were a lot of addresses, and I'll also show the deed. I'll introduce the deed to the
There were a lot of addresses, and I'll also show the deed.
I'll introduce the deed to the property in just a second.
This is a deed recorded on 9 -10 -18, conveying to Easy House Cash, LLC, 1420 South 52nd, again purchased at Sheriff's Sale.
I would just point out that this property is actually in a CMX 2 .2, rather, a CMX 2, which requires frontage of commercial at the ground level.
There is not much commercial, if any, on this block of 52nd.
There are, however, a lot of multifamily.
I can, again, go through them.
um on the 1400 block you've got 1410 being used as a two family 1414 being used as a three family
1432 as a two family possibly a two family 1436 is a brand new three family 1438 is a two family
1448 is a brand new three family um in addition if if this property were to conform to the
dimensional requirements excuse me if this property were to be to conform strictly to the
dimensional requirements um it would not these wouldn't be viable apartments they would be
tiny and there would not be a demand for them and thus creating a hardship um
so that is why we're seeking uh the variance for additional uh occupied area of the lot
and with that i will um call my client levar clark
Mr. Clark, you're still under oath.
Mr. Clark, Easy House Cash LLC is the owner of 1420 South 52nd, correct?
And you're the principal of Easy House Cash LLC?
And did you hear all the testimony that I offered to the board today?
And was all of that testimony true and correct to the best of your knowledge?
yes and would you adopt all that testimony as though you would offer it yourself yes uh thank
you i have nothing uh further questions from the board no mr chairman no no anyone else to testify
please raise your hand mr goodman has his hand raised i will not be speaking at this time sir
Thank you, Mr. Goodman.
Identify yourself.
You're still under oath.
Good morning.
Andrew Goodman, G -O -O -D -M -A -N, representing the Office of Third District Council Member
Jamie Gaudier.
Mr. Chair, members of the board, our office has no opposition to the requested variance
at this address.
Thank you.
Anyone else to testify in this case?
no further hands this time sir thank you planning commission thank you chairman dechico ian hegarty
for the philadelphia city planning commission members of the board the comprehensive plan
recommends no change to the existing cmx2 zoning at this location uh we're seeing that the refusals
result from a decision to provide a fully residential building uh that use we feel is
consistent with adjacent non -conforming properties on the rest of this block face and so the city
planning commission recommends that the board grant this variance my 2021 that's zero zero one
six eight one one four two zero south 52nd street my vote is yes with the proviso no bedrooms and
basement confessor plaza yes with proviso james snell yes with proviso thomas halliman yes with
Superviso.
Number five on our list, MI 2021 -001679, 1627 South 11th Street.
Mr. James and Jessica Perkins gives a letter of non -opposition from Councilman Squilla.
Have we received, Sharon, any exhibits?
is mr and or mrs perkins available
mr chair i have a kyle harris with his hand raised
chair i apologize for not answering immediately um i have not received exhibits yet
okay so there is somebody who wants to speak on this case please raise your hand
yeah mr kyle harris has his hand raised i will allow him to speak at this time because okay
thank you sir please identify yourself spell your name and i'll swear you in
hi mr chair hi this is uh kyle harris that's kilo yankee
Hi, Mr. Chair. Hi, this is Kyle Harris. That's Kilo, Yankee, Lima, Echo, Hotel, Alpha, Romeo, Romeo, India, Sierra.
You swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Thank you, sir. Please proceed.
Yes, hi. So as I said before, I'm Captain Kyle Harris.
I purchased this house, 1627 South 11th Street, Philadelphia, PA -19148 in January.
The city, I guess, hasn't recognized that yet, but I did purchase the home from Perkins.
Yeah, are you the applicant?
I am the applicant and the owner of the home, yes.
Okay, because we have a Mr. and Mrs. Perkins.
Yeah, I did send everything in probably 10 days ago, all the exhibits, if that's what she was referring to.
It's from me, not from the Perkins, so I don't know if that's the reason.
I will check again. Can you tell me if I was copied on them?
So I submitted them to the two emails that were told of me in the instructions, which should be SulaTazba at gmail .com and then RCOZBA at phila .gov.
It's in my sent folder on Gmail, so I don't really know what else to do in that regard.
I will check again. Thank you.
So what we'll do is, Mr. Plaza has got some questions for you.
We'll go forward with the case while Sharon is checking for your exhibits.
Sir, have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents, proof of ownership, proof of tax compliance, copy of the refusal or referral photos and plans five days prior to this hearing?
Yes, I have.
Have you met with the RCO and have a letter?
I have the refusal letter.
I haven't personally met with the RCO.
Yes, I have.
Sorry, the RCA of the board for the neighborhood.
Excuse me.
I have that letter as well.
And it's approval.
I thought you were referring to the refusal from the ZBA.
Thank you.
Excuse me.
This is Sharon again.
I'm sorry, but I'm still not finding those.
Could we move this case back on?
And would you mind resending me, forwarding the prior email to me so that I can check
the exhibits?
Of course.
Of course, and can I confirm your email is Sierra Uniform Lima Echo Tango Alpha Zoom.
Wait, can we, why don't we just spell it, please?
Okay, yep, S -U -L -E -T -A -Z -B -A at gmail .com.
Yep, that's correct.
Thank you.
Yep, I will re -forward that to you.
Would you like me to forward it to the RCOZBA at philom .gov as well?
No, just to me, that will be fine.
and we'll just move the case back once one case so that i can check those documents thank you
oh great sir we'll get right back to you mr harris appreciate it all right we're going to
now move to case number 10 mi 2021 -001677 4363 frankfort avenue john romondi is the attorney of
record. My notes suggest there was no, have not yet received exhibits. Is Mr. Ramondi available?
Mr. Chair I do not see Mr. Ramondi in the uh okay um all right so MI 2021 -001 -677 -4363
frankfurt avenue will be continued uh i believe but for the well i skipped over one my apologies
my apologies let's go to case number six i inadvertently skipped over that one mi 2021 -001
762 2201 jfk boulevard mr adam laver is the attorney of record logan square neighbor neighborhood
association sent a letter of support is mr laver available
mr laver has been promoted to panel sir thank you mr laver please identify yourself spell your
name and i'll swear you in good morning mr chairman members of the board adam laver of
blank room one logan square philadelphia pa 19103 you swear if i'm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth i do mr chairman thank you mr plaza has some questions for you
morning mr labor you uh agreed away to reading of its refusal and stipulate to attack your seat
good morning mr plaza yes i do thank you and have you emailed an exhibit factor with the required
Thank you. And have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required document, proof of ownership, proof of tax compliance, copy of the refusal or referral photos and plans five days prior to this hearing?
a document, proof of ownership, proof of
Yes, Mr. Plaza, I have.
Thank you. Have you met with the RCO and have a letter?
Yes, we have a letter of support and representative of the RCO, Mr. Dennis Boylan, I understand, is here today as well.
Thank you. Please proceed.
seat. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, members of the board, Adam Laver of Blank Rome, on behalf of
2201 JFK Owner LP, an affiliate of PMC Property Group, which is the owner of the land abutting
the south side of the alley along the 2200 block of Cuthbert Street, which you can see, I hope,
on the screen in front of you with me today is also bravery webster who is the chief operating
officer of pmc property group as the board likely knows pmc is the developer behind the 350 million
mixed -use development the riverwalk along 23rd street which is located at the terminus of this
subject alleyway. Riverwalk has changed the center city skyline. It's brought a new full -size
giant supermarket to the urban core, among other highlights of the project.
The subject property that we're speaking about today, although Zones CMX5, is severely
compromised. In this photo in front of you, we can't even actually see the underside below
the SEPTA rails that is the subject of the site I'm trying to show you with the cursor here.
The site is approximately 23 ,000 square feet in size. However, it's covered by the SEPTA
regional rail viaduct. It's further encumbered by service easements for the elevated rail that
prevent vertical construction underneath the rail. I can't think of many more sites that are
as hampered as this one. Current photos are on the screen at the moment. The parcel has unofficially
been used for surface parking under the viaduct. It's accessed from Cuthbert Street.
You can see in the photographs that there is also frontage along 22nd Street
and along 23rd Street, which would be to the left in this photo. Here's another photograph
showing 23rd Street. The subject property is to the left. The application, Mr. Chairman and
members of the board, seeks to legalize non -accessory parking use, which is the only
viable use at this site, given the constraints mentioned. PMC Property Group has worked closely
with the Logan Square Neighborhood Association, LSNA, is the coordinating RCO, which does support
the request for variance relief, and the president of LSNA, Dennis Boylan, is here and will speak
and turn, I'm sure. PMC has also worked with direct neighbors to the north at the 2200 Art
Street condominiums to better the block, to provide much -needed cleaning, lighting improvements,
and a proposed mural art installation, along with improved pedestrian signage.
Here is the proposed site plan for the area under the SEPTA rails that's bounded to the
right by 22nd, 23rd to the left or the west, Cuthbert to the north. The proposal calls to
stripe this otherwise unusable parcel for parking for 30 automobiles.
The project, as mentioned, has been reviewed by LSNA, which offered its unanimous support
in a vote of 30 to 3. The meeting was well attended with 114 participants, as mentioned in the letter
from Mr. Boylan. There's only one refusal, which I've highlighted for you, for the use itself,
the non -accessory parking, which requires variance relief. Although not directly related to zoning,
I'd quickly like to show you the proposed artwork for mural along the south wall,
showing different Philadelphia iconic imagery. Here's detail, Baldwin Locomotive,
the Philadelphia Art Museum, Rodin's Thinker, and William Penn.
Rodin's thinker, and William Penn.
Here is just a conceptual rendering
before the mural art was finished,
but this gives you a sense of the underside of the viaduct.
The mural would go to the left or to the south,
to be a great improvement.
Here is just a image of the Baldwin locomotive
in current conditions, which will be much through stuff
and the art museum.
This proposed use is in keeping
with communal needs for parking.
It presents a practicable solution
to a site that offers no viable opportunities
for development, will provide needed parking,
upgraded lighting and art,
and it fits into the surrounding neighborhood
as evidenced by the extensive support.
And with that, Mr. Chairman, as I mentioned,
Gregory Webster is here at PMC Property Group. And I'd ask Mr. Webster to please raise his
virtual hand at this time. Gregory Webster, PMC Property Group.
i do not believe i see the certain individual individual audience today
uh i know he's present if we're having technical difficulties as an officer of the court
uh i stipulate yeah mr labor not to interrupt will stipulate that your client would adopt
your testimony any questions from the board no mr chairman no anyone else would like to
testify in this case, please raise your hand. Mr. Dennis Boylan has his hand raised. I will allow
him to speak at this time. Good morning, sir. Please spell your full name for the record and
I'll swear you in. My name is Dennis, D -E -N -N -I -S, Boylan, B -O -Y -L -A -N. Where or from to tell the
truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth? I do. Thank you. Please proceed. I am the president
of the Logan Square Neighborhood Association, the coordinating RCO for this project, for this
case. And our board at our July meeting unanimously voted to support this request for
variance. Thank you very much. Anyone else to testify? Mr. Webster indicates that he's
available, but Mr. Chair, I don't think it's necessary unless the board feels otherwise.
with all due respect i don't think it's necessary thank you planning commission
thank you chairman de chico ian hegarty with the philadelphia city planning commission
members of the board in 2016 the zoning map was amended in this area in conformance of
recommendations of the comprehensive plan this parcel was intentionally not changed
this is an existing non -conforming use as council has pointed out there are very few other potential
uses given the physical conditions on the site city planning commission recommends that the
board grant the variance. Thank you. MI 2021 -001762 -2201 JFK Boulevard. My vote is yes. My vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes. Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes. We're back to number 5,
1627 south 11th street sharon have we been able to resolve the issue on it yes we have we do have
the exhibits you can go forward with this one
Frank you're muted buddy. Hello. Oh my mistake sorry. Mr Harris we have your exhibit so please
proceed with your testimony. You've been sworn in and you've been asked all the questions from
Mr Plaza so please proceed. Yes sir thank you very much and I appreciate the time.
Just curious can everybody see me or see my screen or can I get. We only hear your voice
at the moment okay yeah i guess not quite sure why it's not lying to show myself um
but as for the screen sharing goes join this panelist there we go
great hello everybody all right let's see if i can share my screen everybody's
got that
all right
all right let's see cool so um all the exhibits were presented i got everything uh submitted from
let's see
the uh notice of the refusal from the uh lni etc the application for appeal um but i got a short
little presentation we just go through and that would make everything a little bit easier
So I started this project. I was trying to get an existing garage or pre -existing garage reopened,
just a facade opened on the side of my house on Mountain Street and basically allow it to
have a vehicle put in place. That way it can be used for what it's intended for. So here's a map
view of my of where I live obviously there's the side street mountain street on the in the small
photo this is where the garage would be as you can see it looks like a garage to me I consulted
with the architect they confirmed that obviously and so the idea would be to tear this wall out
and get a curb cut to allow for the vehicle to go into the house here's the design from the
architecture firm Toner Architects, Ian Toner, consulted with a traffic engineer obviously
to make sure a vehicle could fit inside the house in that space. It does. I don't know
if I can zoom in here for everybody to see those actual dimensions. Let's see. Can everybody see
that okay yes great cool any questions on this design is the curb cut still existing i'm familiar
with this property that's what i mentioned is there still a curb cut there uh no so i i i mean
it looks like it it's sloped obviously uh but i would i would definitely have to uh uh hire
somebody to reestablish that curve cut. So let's zoom back out. So there's the refusal
from L &I. The reason for the refusal was the size and dimension of the property in the room
allowed. So it says eight and a half by 18 is the allowed side of the parking space. I'm proposing
eight and a half by 16 and a half. Most modern vehicles can easily fit into this space,
including my own. I got a RAV4. So it would, with that space allowed,
it would be able to park in there, have a garage door and close it just fine. The other reason was
the proposed accessory or accessory parking space in an attached structure is prohibited access from
the front street um the house has two front streets two doors um in my for my intensive
purposes this is the side of my house um there are other garage doors on this on the same side
of mount street um so not 100 sure as to why uh it's just i guess a change in the code um however
this is why we're here um for this refusal and just uh requesting the permission of the board
to continue with this if able yeah i'm familiar with that neighborhood obviously but i remember
that there was a garage door there and it's obvious they built that side of the building
out to accommodate a car that would be longer than whatever size was required at the time
correct yeah i came out at like two extra feet is what i believe that's why the bump outs there
yeah okay um questions from the board no mr chairman no anyone else to testify in this case
please raise your hand no further hands at this time sir thank you planning commission
thank you chairman de chico ian hegarty for the philadelphia city planning commission members
of the board comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing residential single
family zoning at this location the proposed garage use and location is consistent with the previous
use and location on this property the dimensional variance we believe is minimal and does not
conflict with the purpose and spirit of the zoning code therefore the city planning commission
recommends that the board grant the variance thank you very much MI 2021 -001 -679 -1627
South 11th Street. My vote is yes.
Snell. My vote is yes.
Thomas Holloman. My vote is yes.
Professor Plaza.
My vote is yes.
Thank you and thank you for your service, Mr. Harris.
uh very much any unfinished business is there anyone who uh wanted to be heard and was not
Any unfinished
business? Is there anyone who
acknowledged mr andrew goodman has his hand raised again i will allow him to speak if that's
time is it okay sir thank you mr goodman you're still under oath please identify yourself
hi andrew goodman g -o -o -d -m -a -n representing councilmember gaudier's office
um just point of clarification is this still on the 930 list mi 2021
001718 5617 hadfield street
that case uh i believe was continued or no oh that was the one that was a mistake so it's my
mistake i apologize well sharon we're okay with that case correct
yeah i think our notes had continuance but it was
i think acknowledged earlier that we would go forward with that case my apologies
mi 2021 -001 -718 -5617 hadfield street h -a -d -f -i -e -l -d and it's a pro se case melissa george
yes good morning yeah again my apologies uh there was a notation that was placed on this case in
errors please spell your full name and i'll swear you in sure melissa george m -e -l -i -s -s -a
g -e -o -r -g -e word for him to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
i do thank you mr plaza has questions for you
yes ma 'am have you uh have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents
proof of ownership, proof of tax compliance, copy of the refusal or referral photos and plans
five days prior to this hearing? Yes, sir, I do. Have you met with the RCO and have a letter?
Yes, sir, I do. Thank you. Please proceed. You're welcome.
um i am coming today for a variance for a daycare i currently have a family
daycare in southwest philadelphia and i am uh coming in asking for it to be extended to a group
you have any exhibits you can share with us yes i'm actually going to request to share my screen
i have everything pulled up i just have to do it sorry
can you guys see the screen
yes um hold on i'm sorry i have everything pulled up i was so ready
for this sorry so i wanted to start off with the i kind of put it in a presentation i don't know if
that was necessary um just to uh show a little bit um of the daycare this is the outside of it
um this is just talk a little bit about myself hi this is tanya sunken i'm sorry to interrupt you
we don't have anything visible on the screen at this time can you try to reshare
oh sure sorry uh let me see so hit the green share button and then try to go
for it with your exhibits okay uh
i want to just do the desktop maybe that's why it's not coming up
we had it up before oh I did oh what happened can you see okay here it's coming now but we
see your yahoo email so you can go into your exhibit there we go okay I don't know if this
is necessary sorry this is my first time um so this just talks a little bit I can just talk
briefly about my background um I have been working with kids since 2000 I graduated college
um and i have worked in uh the city of philadelphia for the department of human services
i've done independent living i've done foster care for over seven years
um i've done a different case manager's position a long time ago called spow
um i started working more in a mental health and i had a lot of clients who go to daycares
and they weren't necessarily allowed to stay because of behaviors.
allowed to stay because of behaviors. I have my license as a behavior specialist. I've had my
I have my license as a behavior.
license for several years and I work as a licensed behavior specialist. I do mobile therapy work
and I was doing outpatient therapy for a while. Three years ago, I had a daughter and I decided
to pursue what I wanted to do of doing the daycare. And because of my background, I have
accepted children who have challenges at daycare, which has been pretty okay so far.
I am also currently in the process of doing a six -month course for cognitive behavioral therapy,
and I will be certified as a cognitive behavioral therapist. In my work, I was recognized by the
insurance company for the delaware county for outstanding service and dedication um and it says
to promote recovery and resilience um that was pretty pretty um rewarding for me um i did foster
care as i said i've worked in different parts of the community um i also do um my way of giving back
i'm originally from trinidad so my family uh works and help the community we provide different
resources supplies food the picture at the very bottom is our most recent community event which
we did in july and we usually go down to the old courthouse and we just provide food and different
supplies to the homeless population and that's done every year this is just different things
about the day here currently this was our most recent field trip uh that we go to when we do
go to field trips the parents are involved as well so they do participate um there's a teacher
that comes on thursdays he does art and music classes for the children um and i'm just trying
to request the benefits to expand um just to add different things to the community for my
background to transfer to help the children both children with mental health and without
one of the reasons this is pushed especially over covid a lot of parents were calling
asking for me to take their children but unfortunately i was to capacity so i wasn't able to
take any more um and i'm not sure if you guys need this but this is just different
paperwork that we have for our emergency plan sorry for the tactics um this is our first aid
things that are located. This is the entrance. Our fire extinguishers are up today. They actually
came today to do the updates because it expired. This is the very entrance. So if you're looking
at the picture, you're facing the front. It's a cubby and these are the hygiene products at the
front. These are where all our exit signs are. That's the picture of the front door. There's a
a few pictures at the back, if you can see,
you'll see some more pictures.
It was hard to get them on here.
This is the gate leading outside of the daycare
into the back of the home.
What you're seeing there is the barrier of the fence.
This is the basement door exit.
There's also a window in the bathroom,
but there's an actual basement door.
This is just showing the outside of the property.
And that's up the steps.
And once you go through those doors, that's the kitchen part of the care.
And this is the front part of it.
This is just our information board and documents for our families when they enter and also for myself for compliance.
I opened the daycare, August 2019.
September 2019, I had two children.
This is also footage of the inside.
has pretty much been to capacity
probably like a few months after opening.
These are pictures of the
A -C -O -M -A.
I'm going too fast.
Okay, Ms. George?
Yes. Thank you.
We're going to ask the board if they have any questions.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Anyone else
would like to testify in this case,
please raise your hand.
Mr. Goodman has his hand raised again.
Thank you.
Mr. Goodman is still under oath.
Just identify yourself for the record.
And thank you for bringing that to my attention.
I apologize.
Oh, yeah.
No problem at all.
Andrew Goodman, G -O -O -D -M -A -N,
Office of Council Member Jamie Gaudier,
3rd District.
Mr. Chair, members of the board, our office supports the granting of this variance at this address today.
Mr. Chair, members of the board, our office supports the granting of this variance at this address.
Thank you. Anyone else to testify in this case? Please raise your hand.
Mr. Chair, I have a person with the initials RM with their hand raised. Do I allow them to speak?
Yeah, let's hear what that person has to say.
good morning my name is randall mccaskill uh i just wanted to go mr please spell your full name
r a n d a l l m c capital c a s k i l l
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Please proceed.
Are you here on this case?
Are you here on the Hadfield Street case?
Yes, I am.
I'm here to speak on behalf of Ms. George.
Okay, thank you.
Please proceed.
Yes, I've had the privilege of working with Ms. George for several years in the mental
the health field, and I've been a witness to her work, and I've seen how she goes about
caring for the clients that she has, she has a heart for people, and the individuals that
I've seen work with Ms. George, I've seen them grow as not just modifying their behavior
and doing better because of any behavior issues they've had, but they become better people.
I really believe that the project that she's bringing forth to you all today
will be a benefit to the community where she lives.
There's so much issues and problems that exist,
especially now with gun violence and mental health issues,
that the program that she's offering will help.
It won't solve all the problems,
but it will be a resolution to some of the problems.
And I believe that's something that's worth acknowledging and approving.
I just wanted to offer that perspective because I believe that the work she can do and the program she's offering will help improve the fabric of the community that she lives in and for all the individuals who are there who can receive her help.
I thank you for this time this morning.
Thank you for your testimony.
Anyone else?
do you know for the hands sir thank you planning commission
thank you chairman de chico ian hegarty for the philadelphia city planning commission members
of the board in 2019 the zoning map was amended on this block from rm1 to rsa 5. the proposed use
group child care allows up to 12 children which is why it's not permitted generally in rsa 5 zoning
district feel that the applicant clearly has uh is running a well -run operation here and we believe
that she can uh handle this however we would uh just recommend that the uh zoning board consider
adding a proviso to limit the total number of uh the total capacity of the space to something less
than 12. would not that be determined by the state uh the what we're talking about here is the use
that would be granted by the board and that is defined in the zoning code as being for up to 12
children however the state also has additional regulations that would control the total
occupancy based on the size of the space and again miss george how many people were you looking for
how many um currently i have six so anywhere for us to 10 would work um also i do not want to make
it too um overcrowded because 10 is fine the board's record then the planning commission's
board is recommend maximum of 12 correct where our recommendation then would be maximum of 10.
okay thank you thank you am i 2021 -001718 5617 hadfield street my vote is yes with the proviso
Maximum of 10 individuals
Confessor Plaza
Yes with proviso
Jane Snell
Yes with proviso
Thomas Holloman
Yes with proviso
Thank you
I think this time
I might be correct
Do we have any
Unfinished business?
I believe that's all, Chair.
I believe that's all
Thank you
Thank you. We'll see everyone back at
We'll see everyone back
At 2 o 'clock
2 o 'clock. Take care, everyone.
Thank you
See you later.
Everyone be safe.
We are now live.
If you need anything, just pop on in.
Thank you, and
we'll give Tanya and Jason
a few minutes. They'll let us know when you're ready.
we are ready to begin sir okay thank you good afternoon everyone my name is Frank DiCicco I'm
the chair of the zoning board of adjustment I'll be participating in today's hearing along with our
board secretary Mr. Confessor Plaza and board members Mr. Thomas Holloman and Mr. James Snell
board administrator Jason Hand and our board attorney Ms. Sharon Saleta are also in
attendance as is the zoning board administrator Ms. Tanya Sunkit. For those of you who haven't
yet participated in one of our virtual hearings, I'll go through some of the basics of what you
can expect. First, we will be administering oaths to individual participants prior to their
testimony. Second, we'd like to advise everyone that this proceeding is being recorded and that
by participating you acknowledge your agreement to be recorded and that the recording will be
made available to the public on the web or otherwise. Third, for anyone participating by
phone, if you wish to testify, you must raise your hand by hitting star nine and then star six to
unmute yourself. I'll repeat, for anyone participating by phone, if you wish to testify,
you must raise your hand by hitting star nine and then star six to unmute yourself. Finally,
to enter an appearance statement call google 267 -270 -5548 and leave your email address
and the address of the property at issue i will repeat that also
to enter an appearance statement call google 267 -270 -5548 and leave your email address
and the address of the property at issue.
I would also like to remind everyone,
please do not attempt to testify in the chat.
Any comments, questions, or other concerns
should be directed to our board administrator,
Mr. Jason Hamm.
With that, I will read off
requests for continuances on the 2 o 'clock list.
Number 11 on our list, MI 2021 -001900.
5154 West
Gerrard Avenue
number 12 on our list
MI 2021
dash 001
5728 Thompson Avenue
if anyone
objects to those cases
being continued
please raise your hand at this time
only if you object
to the two cases that I just
called in to be continued.
Raise your hand at this time.
No hands at this time, Mr. Chair.
Thank you.
I now ask if anyone would like to request
a continuance or withdrawal
on the 2 o 'clock list,
please raise your hand.
Only if you were requesting
a continuance or withdrawal
on the 2 .30 list,
please raise your hand at this time.
Mr. Chair, Ms. Dawn Tancredi has her hand raised. I will allow her to speak at this time, sir.
Thank you. Good afternoon, Ms. Tancredi. Please spell your full name, and I'll swear you in.
Good afternoon, Dawn Tancredi. My last name is T -A -N -C -R -E -D -I.
We're affirmed to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
Thank you. Please proceed.
Okay. Mr. Chair, I'm here on behalf of number two on your list today, 1102 -04 East Columbia Avenue. I represent the property owner, 1104 East Columbia, LLC, and there was correspondence earlier today with the attorney for the zoning board that this case would be continued.
and so i'm asking that this case be continued to a date as soon as possible i believe there was
confusion about the change all right dawn if you could after we if you hang up speak with
miss sunkett on the availability of continuance okay thank you all right thank you so mi 2021
21 -001 -860 -1102 -04 East Columbia Avenue is continued.
1102 -04 East Columbia Avenue is continued.
Any other requests for continuances or withdrawals?
I see no further answers, Mr. Chair.
Thank you.
With that, we'll start with case number one,
MI 2021 -001859 -1007 -13 New Market Street.
Steve Pollack is the attorney of record.
There is a letter of support with provisos submitted by the Northern Liberties Neighborhood
Neighbors Association.
Mr. Pollack has been promoted to panelists, sir.
Pollack, please spell your full name and I'll swear you in.
i got bumped off sorry mr chairman no worries i guess ida is playing games
um good afternoon my name is steven s -t -e -p -h -e -n pollock p -o -l -l -o -c -k
I'm the attorney for the owner of the property, Proud American LLC.
I have to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
I do, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you.
Mr. Plaza has some questions for you.
Mr. Pollack, you agree to waive the reading of its refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
I do, Mr. Plaza.
Have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents, proof of ownership, proof of tax compliance,
copy of the refusal or referral folders and plans
five days prior to this hearing?
We have, Mr. Plaza.
Okay, and have you met with the RCO and have a letter?
Yes, we do.
Thank you, please proceed.
Okay, Mr. Chair, if I could introduce
and have them join me,
I have William Proud, Bill Proud of Proud Masonry fame,
who is the owner of the property,
along with his daughter, Sarah Proud.
And I also have with us Lauren Thompson,
who is our architect. And most important for me, I have my associate Nico Rigobuto, who will hopefully you allow him to share the screen.
Mr Rigobuto, please share your screen.
So we ask that your associate raise his hand and the others raise their hand to be allowed audio when necessary.
If everybody could raise their hand down in that lower portion of the screen, you see
a hand and you raise it.
Is Mr. Rigoboto being promoted to panelists?
I need him to be able to share the screen, Jason.
So if that's what you have to do, I guess.
And again, you might hear silence because when you're promoted, it sounds like you're
getting bumped out, but you're being bumped up to a panelist.
Thank you.
Okay. So, Mr. Chairman, members of the board, we have a package of documents and fixtures that we've presented from A1 through, I believe, A14.
This is a an application for a temporary variance that we've worked out with the Northern Liberties Neighbors Association.
I believe that at Larry Friedman, who is the longtime zoning chair, has issued his letter of support.
We have it at A10. I believe it was hopefully the board has already received it.
And it's attached to our A14 because what is is happening here is this is a narrow piece of vacant ground that is across the street from Jerry's Bar, which Bill Proud and Sarah have been operating for about nine years.
They have, during COVID, been able to get a temporary street license that expires at the end of this year at 1231.
2021, that is in our packet of exhibits at A12 from the City of Philadelphia.
So in going to the Neighborhood Association, since this is a narrow piece of ground that cannot be used for a single -family home as allowed in the RSA 5 district that it's in,
So that's the unique and physical hardship to this property. We asked to see, especially, I guess we were a little bit, unfortunately, crystal balling, but this is to provide outdoor dining for about 35 patrons on a temporary basis to run through the end of the year to go co -terminus with our temporary sidewalk street cafe license that we have with the city.
and that we've agreed to certain provisos and in our A14 we do hopefully
And in our A14, we do hopefully address the situation, and I'm sure Ms. Saleta is very familiar with this, that the board does have the right and ability to limit the size and duration and place conditions on a variance.
So that's why we've agreed just to have it run through the end of the year, through December 31st, 2021.
21. There are six different proviso conditions. Our hours will be as stated in number two on
my proviso list, but it also matches up to the letter number two in Larry Friedman's letter of
August 25th, so that our hours will be closed on Monday, Tuesday to Thursday, 3 to 10, Friday,
3 to 11. Saturday and Sunday, they want to have a brunch. And then what we agreed to was a hard
stop at those hours. So that it wouldn't be that if you got there five minutes before you could
linger, it's a hard stop, everybody off at the end of that. As part of this, we've agreed to
no live or amplified music. There is an existing trash facility that Jerry's bar uses. And we've
also agreed no no fire pits no glassware uh the hope is that after going through this season
uh that if things prevail that we need it again that we will be during the winter at winter months
working it out again with the northern liberties neighbors association after we've had this trial
run to see where we go with further use of the property so with that presentation uh i would ask
that maybe bill proud be at least sworn in so he could i could have him adopt what i've stated on
the record bill you i think you're there yeah i'm here steve okay uh mr chair i i guess we need to
swear to proud please identify yourself spell your full name and i'll swear you in uh william proud
w -i -l -l -i -a -m -p -r -o -u -d
we're a firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes i do thank you mr pollack um bill you've heard what i've stated on the on the record uh
do you adopt everything is your testimony yes i do okay uh members of the board um we also have
with us lauren thompson who designed the plan uh that we we've presented to the board um just if
i could have lauren on very briefly just identify herself for the record and just confirm let me
ask you this is there any change in the plan from what currently exists no i think we can we can
accept that that plan will remain as is okay uh with that mr chair members of the board uh
We have some pictures you can look at. We have exhibits A1 through A14. I would ask that they be all accepted and entered into the record as duly entered exhibits and accepted by the board and used as the board for its basis of any decision it may render.
And I don't know if Larry Friedman joined us today, but as I said, our Exhibit A14 has the proviso conditions where I've listed them and attached Larry's letter so that it's very clear as to what we all are agreeing on for this temporary variance.
Given the Delta variant and what impact it's having on people's willingness to go in for dining, this is a survival kind of thing.
So instead of us taking up sidewalk of a public right -of -way, Bill and his family are using private property that they own for this temporary use.
With that, we would rest.
Thank you. Any questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
Okay, anyone else like to testify in this case?
If so, please raise your hand.
Mr. Chair, Mr. Larry Friedman.
Thank you.
Mr. Friedman, please identify yourself and I'll swear you in.
Can you hear me?
Yes, we can.
Larry Friedman is only chair, Northern Liberty Neighbor Association, 700 North 3rd.
Spell your last name, please, Larry.
F -R -E -E -G -M -A -N.
We're a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
Please proceed.
We're good.
Okay, short and sweet.
Thank you.
Anyone else to testify in this case?
Thank you.
you know further hands mr chair thank you planning commission
i think he's muted there you go sorry thank you there you go good afternoon chair peter
bernard for the planning commission here's by your last name i'll swear you in b as in boy
a as an apple r as in roger and as a nancy a as an apple r as in roger d as in dog
where from to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do chair thank you please
proceed this property is indicated for single family residential in the comprehensive plan
we recognize the unusual circumstances created by covid and their impact on the restaurant and
hospitality industry. Accordingly, the Planning Commission supports granting a temporary variance.
Thank you. Steve, could you slightly move up that page? Because I'm going to make sure I get the
the advisor. That's good. That's good right there. Thank you. And there's two more on the second
page. So we'll have to go to the second page too. Go back to the hour. Just hang in there for a
minute. That'll do it. Now you've got all six of them. Yep. Yep. You got it. Thank you. I wrote
it down but i want to make sure i don't miss anything uh mi 2021 -001859 1007 -13 new market
street my vote is yes with the following provisors monday establishment will be closed
hours of operation tuesday through 30 3 p .m to 10 p .m friday 3 p .m to 11 p .m saturday 9 a .m
to 11 p .m. Sunday is 9 a .m. to 10 p .m. All of these are hard stop hours. Capacity is 35 seats,
no live or amplified music, and to continue use of trash facilities, no glassware or fire pits.
Mr. Chair, I think you just add that it's a temporary duration.
Variance to expire December 31st, 2021.
Perfect.
Confess the plaza.
My vote is yes with provisos.
James Snell, my vote is yes with provisos.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with provisos.
Thank you.
Good luck to everyone.
All right.
Thank you, everybody.
Have a safe Labor Day.
Bye -bye.
Number three on our list, MI 2021 -001866.
1 -8 -2 -0, West Venango.
Rachel Pritzker is the attorney of record.
Tayo United, Inc. sent a letter of opposition.
And to the court reporter, remember, if you need a break, just let us know.
Good afternoon, Chairman.
Rachel, R -A -C -H -A -E -L, Pritzker, P -R -I -T -Z -K -E -R, 1635 Market Street, Suite 1600, Philadelphia, PA, 19103.
No time to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
Thank you.
Please proceed.
Rachel, you agree to waive the reading of its refusal and stipulate to attack her seat?
And have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents, proof of ownership, proof of tax compliance,
copy of the refusal or referral photos and plans five days prior to this hearing yes and have you
met with the rco and have a letter yes i'm a little confused about the letter of opposition
we actually met with them last week and there was uh it was a second meeting and there was a vote
of support so i don't know if there's a i'm only going by my notes so you'll clear that up for us
thank you yep um okay i'm going to share my screen
okay this is 1820 west venango street um this is an application for the erection of an attached
structure with a partial basement uh for use as a seven family dwelling units um originally the
application was for six um we did have do have revised plans and um i did speak with uh miss
who let me know that via Proviso, we could have it as seven units. We're adding one affordable
unit. So just want to clarify that on the record. That's the only refusal that we have as far as
this application is concerned. It's just for use. I'm just going to scroll down.
So, essentially, as you can see, there's a lot of other properties on this block that are multifamily, three, four, five, and six -unit properties, and so in addition to the fact that this is a large corner vacant lot at almost, I think it's almost 2 ,100 square feet, 2 ,080 square feet, we're proposing seven dwelling units, one affordable unit,
So essentially, as you can see, there's a lot of other properties on
Thank you.
And we do believe that this is in the spirit of the North District plan, as the multifamily dwellings that we're providing achieves the plan's goal of developing vacant land, which is on page 24 of the comprehensive plan.
Just to go through, this is the deed.
As I mentioned, this is a really long, large corner lot, as you can see from the aerial zoning maps.
It is zoned single family. However, it is a corner in most of the directly adjacent properties, 1814, 1812, and most of them on North 18th Street and on the 1800 block of Venanga are all multifamily, despite the base zoning classification.
In addition, it is a corner, so we believe it can absolutely support more than just one single family home.
As you can see from the aerial view, again, very long, large lot, almost a little over 2 ,000 square feet.
And as you can see, just from the aerials and even from the street view, the adjacent buildings are massive as well, typically why they house three, four, five, six units, as opposed to this would be an extremely large single -family home on the corner and would be out of character with the additional properties in the neighborhood.
These are the zoning posters, as you can see, how large the lot is.
and on here as you can see it also has a history of being multifamily for six dwelling units which
is why we had originally proposed six dwelling units it was increased from four to six
for the city's archives again we're looking for seven units here in order to provide one
affordable unit we originally met with the rco the tayoga united back in june and then we had
a follow -up meeting last week. I know that their original position was of opposition, but this was
a letter from the June 24th meeting, and I am hopeful that Mr. Ali is on because we had a
meeting with them, like I had mentioned last week, in which the vote was in support. We also have
a number of letters of support from near neighbors, 1639 Benango, 1703 Benango, 1703 Unit 1,
1728 West Benango, 1814 West Benango, which is the directly adjacent owner given there's a
vacant lot between us and them, 1814 West Benango, 1841 West Benango, 3637 North 16th, which is a
a few blocks away, two blocks away.
And then I believe we have Scott Woodruff here
from Design Blends who can go through the plans
and specifically the revisions that we made to the project.
Mr. Woodruff, please spell your full name
and I'll swear you in.
would have been allowed to speak sir uh scott woodruff uh w -o -o -d -r -u -f -f uh four thousand
i'm sorry uh 4001 main street suite 203 philadelphia pi
do you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do thank you miss
Scott, could you present the plans to the board and specifically the revisions that we made at the meeting?
I think it was last Thursday.
Yes, I can.
I can get access. I can share my screen.
Okay, Mr. Woodruff has been promoted to panelists now.
Okay, this is the proposed building at 1820 Menango.
Most of the changes that were asked and that we made related to the ground floor, specifically
specifically again for accessibility and adding the affordable unit as well as some of the
for accessibility and adding the affordable unit.
areas of access the building is developed in a way the first floor has three units
on it it used to have two we added an additional unit to the ground floor that also has access at
grade so that it can be used potentially for a senior or elderly person just to provide
better accessibility to that actual unit.
The first one's entered through the front, and there's a common stair and lobby that
goes up to two units per floor.
The second and third floor would be typical, both with two -bedroom, one -bath units.
and then the first floor has one bedroom one bath units specifically changes that were made to
the exterior we're just adding some more lighting along the street frontage
and then just some revisions to the fence in the back but the majority of the exterior was received
well from the neighborhood and was was mainly just um regarding some of the the additional unit
that was was on the ground floor rachel is there anything you wanted me to walk through
else than that nope um i think that that covers it and i do believe uh a representative from
tayoga united should be calling in or called in at this point that can speak to uh
let me ask the board if the board has any questions first no mr chairman no no and
anyone else would like to testify please raise your hand
no stevenson had his hand raised he's been allowed to speak mr stevenson please spell
your name and i'll swear you in yes donald d -o -n -a -l -d stevenson s -t -e -v -e -n -s -o -n
it's where for him to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do
i i i'm not sure what i'm sorry i thought he was your i apologize i'm sorry mr stevenson please
proceed all right um so um tayoga united is an organization but it's also uh involves the
community so most of the neighbors on the corner of this block which is grad street not venango
were never notified of any meeting that was being spoke of of last week um we didn't even know about
the zoning board meeting until the 28th or the 27th of August. But as far as this meeting that
this lady is talking of, who we met at the Tioga United meeting, the first meeting, we didn't know
of a second meeting. And before any decision is made, there are numerous of people on Grad Street,
the 3 ,500 block of Grad Street, which sits the side of this house on the phone lines and also
maybe on a Zoom call as well. A lot couldn't get Zoom, so they are actually on the phone lines.
and I just wanted to make you guys aware. I'm sorry, Chair. This is Tanya Sunkett. I would ask
that the witness currently testifying identify if they are affiliated with the RCO or just a
standalone neighbor. A standalone neighbor. Thank you, Kylie. Thank you. Yes. Rachel, could you
answer any of those comments and uh sure we did send out notices for uh for the second meeting i
have the proof of mailing that was submitted in the packet for both 1820 and 3323 north 16th street
um as mr stevenson may remember at the end of the first meeting uh the tayoga united had asked
would we be open to making some revisions that address the community's concerns we said yes
And they said to the near neighbors on the call, would you be willing to meet separately with the applicant?
They said, no, we have no interest in meeting. But Tioga United was happy to hold a meeting with us.
And again, the property has been posted. We sent out everything to the near neighbors as per the city's requirement.
And we submitted certificates of mailing. So and my phone number is on everything.
My cell phone numbers. And I haven't received I hadn't received any phone calls from your neighbors.
we also door knocked that's how i know that um there was uh support on the block specifically
on the venango street side um i appreciate that the neighbors on gratz are uh have called in but
uh we nobody has reached out to me um and the property has been posted and we did door knock
which i showed on screen thank you is there anyone from tayoga united on the call if so please
thank you is there anyone from tayoga united on the call if so please raise your hand
everyone else please lower your hand at this time
i'd like to hear from whoever is representing tayoga united if you're in the audience
oh yes mr chair
okay anyone else to on this matter please raise your hand
Charles Richardson, raise his hand.
I'm going to speak at this time.
Mr. Richardson, please identify yourself and I'll swear you in.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair.
Charles Richardson from the office of Councilwoman Cindy Bass, room 312, City Hall.
We're going for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed.
uh we have the uh first letter of opposition and uh we don't have anything from tayoga united
for that second uh meeting so uh we're kind of in a quandary at this point in time because we don't
you know have any any results of that of that meeting though i hear uh miss pritzker saying
that that that there was a vote of uh support that uh we had decided that you know so we have
decided at this point to let the board make the decision uh on this case because we don't we don't
have any further information other than the opposition that initially came out in june
could you forward to mr uh richards um a copy of that letter uh the one in support
yeah i don't have it i was told that they were going to oh um it's mr ali is on if he could
speak uh he is the one who is representing tayoga united and i see his hand is not raised
okay because that's why i wanted to get okay we got richardson mr richardson just hang in
there a minute please um where's ali
jihad ali please spell your full name and i'll swear you in
j -i -h -a -l -i you're breaking up please start again
sorry i got a mask on j -i -h -a -d -a -l -i you swear affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth i affirm thank you miss pritzker uh yes mr ali is a representative from
tayoga united he can speak to both the first meeting and second meeting that was convened
um and uh i'll let him speak for himself mr ali would you care to weigh in yes uh thank you mr
chairman and good afternoon i apologize for being late i apologize to mr richardson we just couldn't
get the uh the the email out to you uh in time to the board and to mr richardson but we did have a
meeting uh we had a fruitful discussion with the developer and both the developer and the design
and they came up with an innovative way
to help Tioga United achieve home ownership
in the neighborhood.
So we supported the project.
Any questions from the board for Mr. Ali?
No, Mr. Chairman.
I just wanted to have Mr. Ali confirm for the record
that Tioga United did support the seven units,
you know, including one additional unit
just because the original application had six.
I want to make sure that's clear for the record.
Do you concur with that, Mr. Ali?
Yes, Mr. Chairman.
We did support that based on the presentation that they had.
How many pages of revised plans?
I believe it's one page.
It's one page?
Yeah, and we would need a proviso for seven units.
Planning Commission.
I'm sorry, Chair, this is Tanya. I do have other hands up.
Okay, we'll go back to the other witnesses.
Please provide us with something new and different, and we'll get back to you, Peter.
Ms. Dorothy Brown with her hand raised.
Ms. Brown, please identify yourself with a record, spell your name, and I'll swear you in.
Yes, my name is Dorothy Brown, and I am on a neighbor at 3500 block of Gratt Street.
Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Thank you. Please proceed.
I was listening to what the young lady said, and we did have one meeting, our official meeting with Tioga United and the neighbors of the 3500 block.
I was listening to what the young lady said.
We voted not to agree on this development. Tioga United voted with us.
They did say that they have to vote with the neighbors.
As far as the second meeting, there were no knocks on our door.
I am actually the block captain for the 3 ,500 block of Gratt Street.
We did not receive another notice.
We did not have any knocks on our door.
The next time we heard about a meeting was actually three days ago when it was posted
on that.
I believe it was three days ago.
though I actually have it here, where it was posted at the property that they want to actually
use. Now, it actually says it must be posted by 14 days. It was not posted in 14 days,
but we are still against that property. So, thank you, Ms. Brown. It was reposted because
the signs were taken off, so we have to post it as many times as we can up to the hearing date.
Um, and I think you might recall from the meeting when we had said to the neighbors,
are you willing to have a conversation with us?
They said, no, we have no interest in speaking with you.
And then we had circled back with the RCO to convene another meeting and we sent out,
you know, proof of mailing.
I have to submit it with a proof of mailing.
So, um, I don't know what else to say besides that we followed the protocol and there were
near neighbors, um, at the meeting that we had last Thursday. Um, we, we actually did not receive
any paperwork about another meeting. And as far as that sign, I passed by there every day on my
way home from Lancaster Bible college. And the, the couple of days ago when it was posted was
the first time it was up i have photos of it being posted and reposted so i don't miss miss brown
miss brown you keep referring to we did not uh get any notice we did not get any knocks on the
door uh number one you have to speak on your behalf but do you how do you know that no one
else received because i actually checked with my neighbors when we saw the posting up and each one
of them were surprised that this was posted because they thought that our next meeting
was going to be on today and they had not received and I actually did an inventory of
my neighbors Mr. Stevenson and other of my neighbors I did go around to door to door
to ask them there's only 12 houses on our block so it was very easy for me to knock
on their doors and ask them had they received any notification about any other meetings what you
you just testified that you did see the notice when was when when did you see that I actually
saw that notice on Saturday that was the first time I saw it and I asked three of my neighbors
They had not seen it, but I walk my dog that way and come home from Leicester Bible College that way every day.
So if it had been up there before Saturday, I would have seen it.
All right. Anyone else to testify something new and different, please?
Mr. Charles Richardson.
Mr. Richardson, you're already still under oath?
Yes, Mr. Chair.
Based on Mr. Ali's testimony, the councilwoman has no opposition to granting the variance.
You'll have to listen to the rest of the testimony to make your decision, but she's not opposed.
Thank you very much.
Anybody else have anything to say that has not already been put on the record?
johnny whitfield she's been allowed to speak sir
whitfield please spell your full name and i'll swear you in
c -h -a -r -l -e -n -e w -h -i -t -f -i -e -l -d you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth nothing
about the truth? Yes, I do. Thank you, ma 'am. Please proceed. Okay. I live in the 3 ,500 block
of Grass Street. I have no notice of any property being built.
I have no notice of any property being built. No one has knocked on my door and said anything to me about anything. First I'm hearing of this is maybe a week ago. I did not know of the first meeting. And as I stated, no one has knocked on my door. I have not received anything in the mail either about the property that's to be built.
rachel when was the last meeting the more recent one thursday last thursday thursday
and we talked about this project okay so it's a week okay okay thank you anyone else
i have a marie
i'm sorry jason i can't hear you what was that
thought i had another person named maurice with his hand raised but maybe i was wrong
uh question did we hear from uh mr stevenson yet now stevenson yes okay next person is
the next person is uh is calling from a number ending in 8798 i will allow him to speak at this
time whose number ends in 8798 please unmute yourself
any other callers jason
no that's the only call right now the uh the only other person i have with the hand raised is a uh
there we go hello hello yes please ma 'am identify yourself hello hello please spell your full name
and i'll swear you in kelly bascom k -e -l -l -y b -a -s -c -o -m you swear for him to tell the truth
the whole truth nothing but the truth yes please proceed yes that post was not up there 14 days
ago that post just had got up there that sign that what they haven't been up there that just
got put up there 35 40 i'm sorry chair this is tanya sun to the administrator um if we could
ask all witnesses to testify about something different we did hear this information thank
you very kindly yep i maybe maybe i don't speak loud enough does anyone have anything new and
different it was only supposed to be six units and not seven we understand that was worked out
at the last rco meeting yeah mr ali is not on the board at united tayoga united and where okay
all right um that's not correct mr chairman all right uh is um all right we've heard
several people with the same concern i appreciate that and respect that so we're now going to move
to the planning commission good afternoon chair peter bernard for the planning commission
this property is indicated for single family residential in the comprehensive plan
we feel the proposal represents a significant overuse additionally there is no hardship to
relevant land nor a hardship for having a property that is too large accordingly the city planning
commission recommends that the board deny the variance thank you uh the revised plan one page
yeah with the proviso of seven units mi 2021 -001866 1820 west of enango my vote is yes
with the proviso revised plan one page approved today and revision to acknowledge seven units
professor plaza yes with proviso james snell yes with proviso thomas holliman yes with proviso
thank you we go to case number four mi 2021 -001 -867 -1754 wiley wylie street
Mr. Brown Patterson is the attorney of record. There's a letter of support from United
Francisville.
Mr. Patterson has been promoted to panelists.
I'm here now. Thank you.
Yes. Can you hear me? Yes, Ron. Please identify yourself. For sure. Thank you.
Good afternoon. Ronald Patterson, 1835 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19103. On behalf of the owner, applicant, and developer.
We're a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth? Yes, I do.
Thank you. Mr. Plaza has questions for you.
Patterson, you agree to wait the reading of its refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, I do.
And have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents, proof of ownership, proof of tax compliance, copy of the refusal or referral, photos and plans five days prior to this hearing?
Yes, I have.
And have you met with the RCO and have a letter?
Thank you. Please proceed.
Thank you. Share my screen, please.
We can see my screen.
Yes, we can say thank you just confirming. Thank you.
So, as you mentioned, this application regards 1754 Wiley Street.
It is on a corner, as you can see, Wiley and Perky Omen.
The corner property is under construction for a by right project in an RM1 residential zoning district,
having five single -family residential dwelling units. Previous to this building,
there was a building that housed three apartments. And also, were you able to see this new screen or
no? Yes. Okay. It has a 25 -foot existing curb cut where three parking spaces were used for that
prior building. So we're here today to seek approval to reuse this area for parking as it
was last used before the property was developed. As I mentioned, the property fronts on two streets.
This street that we're looking at here is Pert de Omen.
There's a rendering of the project before it will be done.
There's a site plan here. So despite that the refusal states that we're parking via a front yard
access, yet there are two frontages, but the frontage here on Wiley is the primary frontage.
we are proposing to access this rear area off of the side street.
Three spaces still.
So as you may know, there is a need for parking in this area.
The existing curb cuts do exist on the block.
I'll show you a different picture here.
there's a picture slightly down the block with some curb cuts and garages on the street
the hardship here hardly based upon the application of the code to the existing conditions
but for the fact that if we demolished the building we would still be entitled to use
those parking spaces we did submit the plans to streets department who re confirmed and approved
the plan for the parking and the traffic turning radiuses yet we believe that the benefit of the
parking exists and that it's within the character in the context of the area which i had stated
we can see there's no adverse impacts on the public health safety welfare and traffic which we
believe is evidenced by the support that francisville civic association had given us that letter
is regarding a meeting that was held on June 20, June 9th, sorry. Are you able to see that
letter? Yes. Okay, thank you, because it was submitted as of yesterday. So we believe that
based on the above that our application will be justified for this variance relief. If I could,
I would ask you to promote Mike Stamm, S -T -A -M -M.
sam has been a lot to talk mr michael stamm please spell your last name and i'll swear you
in sure uh stamm is spelled s -t -a -m as in mike m as in mike we're a firm to tell the truth the
truth, nothing but the truth? I do, yes. Mike, could you tell the board your connection with
this project? We're the owner and developer. Okay, and you've heard my presentation,
Okay. And you've heard my presentation, my testimony. Would you agree it is true and accurate and you would adopt it as if it were your own?
my testimony. Would you agree it is true and accurate?
I would, yes.
I could just briefly comment on the parking. As I mentioned, it is accessing the rear area. And is there a demonstrated and no need for parking in this area?
Yeah, no, absolutely.
Okay. Thank you. That's all I have, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you. Any questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
no no anyone else would like to testify in this case if so please raise your hand
see no further hands at this time sir thank you planning commission
good afternoon chair peter bernard for the planning commission
this property is indicated for multi -family residential in the comprehensive plan
this proposal already received approval for five mixed use units additional requests for off -street
parking accessed from the front of property privatizes existing on -street parking accordingly
the planning commission recommends the board deny this variance thank you mi 2021 -001 -867
1754 wiley street my vote is yes professor plaza my vote is yes dame snell my vote is yes
Thomas Holloman my vote is yes thank you case number five MI 2021 -000637
2626 West Lehigh Avenue Joseph Consul is the attorney of record there is a letter of support
with provisors from the strawberry mansion community concern
Mr. Consul we'll be coming back as a panel sir
hi everyone joe console here please i'd spell your full name and i'll swear you in
joe console that is c -o -n -s -o -l -e you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth i do my address has questions for you i'm sorry
Counsel, you agreed to waive the reading of its refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents, proof of ownership,
proof of tax compliance, copy of the refusal or referral photos and plans five days prior
to this hearing?
And have you met with the RCO and have a letter?
Thank you.
Please proceed.
All right.
I got my screen share here.
did my packet come up yes all right great hello everyone joseph consul consul madison
1 west 3rd street suite 204 media pennsylvania 19063 i'm here on 2626 west lehigh avenue
it's uh lehigh between 26 and 27th this is the external of the property and uh here
is a view of the block. At one time, as you can see by all the storefronts, etc., this block
was zoned commercial. There's several non -operating storefronts and several operating
multifamilies. It was rezoned RSA5. My client, Kyle, from Eugene Mickens, LLC,
um has submitted a request to convert this property to a two -unit property there's our
refusal got the refusal for two -family living being prohibited in this district um as i said
uh there's uh you can see all these old storefronts etc properties in need of tlc as is
uh the rest of the block um we're seeking to put in uh two two bedroom one bathroom units
he purchased the property in october of 2020 we originally went in front of strawberry mansion
rco uh in april this year at that time the community was supportive generally but um had
some concerns regarding a trash plan and security and cleanup measures. So we continued the ZBA
hearing and scheduled a second RCO meeting. Between then and now, my client has met with
the RCO twice, once at the property, and then once we had another meeting on Monday evening.
and that's where we got our letter of support here with provisos the the meeting went went well
the meeting went well and they asked us
and they asked
at least to read on the record that my client agrees
to limit the exterior facing and finishing
to either black, gray or beige
to match the other new buildings that are being built
in this section of West Lehigh Avenue.
Scan briefly, if there's anything else that's worth adding.
I just have some photos of the property.
As you can see, it's in need of some love.
It's a shot across the street, which I just showed you. It's a shot off the block.
That's across the street.
And here's our plans.
They asked us to eliminate any living space in the basement, which we agreed to do.
We've got a first floor, one bedroom. We've got a trash plan.
the first floor is access to the rear yard for trash second floor has trash receptacles built
space built into their entryway and then the second floor has two bedrooms and one bath just
like the first he's going to install security lighting and he has been maintaining the property
keeping it clean that sort of thing and that that seemed to be to the to the liking of strawberry
mansion uh mr council excuse me did i think did you misspeak i thought i heard you say one bedroom
on the first floor oh i'm sorry it's there are two two two bedrooms okay wanted to make sure thank
you i thought that's right uh all right so i'll call uh kyle malson if i can please raise your hand
Hello, this is Kyle Mawson.
Sir, please spell your name and I'll swear you in.
K -Y -L -E -M -A -L -S -O -N.
Order for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
Yes, I do.
Thank you.
Please proceed, Mr. Consul.
Good afternoon, Kyle.
Did you hear my testimony right now?
regarding 26 26 west lehigh avenue yes do you adopt it as your own yes is there anything you'd
like to add to the board no okay with that we we rest thank you questions from the board no mr
chairman no anyone else like to testify in this case if so please raise your hand
you know further have wait i got a call on user with the hand raised i'm not going to speak at
this time.
I put the hand down so you can proceed Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you.
Planning Commission.
Good afternoon, Chair.
Peter Bernard for the Planning Commission.
this property is indicated for single family residential in the comprehensive plan
we feel the applicant has failed to demonstrate sufficient hardship
accordingly the planning commission recommends the board deny the variance
all right mi 2021 -000637
West Lehigh Avenue
my vote is yes
Professor Plaza my vote is yes
James Snell my vote is yes
Thomas Holloman
my vote is yes
number six on our list
MI 2021
that's 001898
Sears Street
there's a letter from the
Pennsport Civic Association
and a letter from Councilman Squilla in non -opposition.
Mr. Chair, Mr. Nockmson has been promoted to panelist.
Good afternoon, Mr. Nockmson.
I believe you were, were you on this?
Yes, you were on this morning.
You're still on the oath.
Please identify yourself.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair, members of the board.
Alan Ockamson, N -O -C -H -U -M -S -O -N, 123 South Broad Street, Suite 1600, Philadelphia, PA, 19109.
Mr. Plaza has some questions for you.
Mr. Ockamson, you agree to waive the reading of his refusal and stipulate to the tag person?
Have you emailed an exhibit package with the required documents, proof of ownership, proof of tax compliance, a copy of the refusal or referral photos and plans five days prior to this hearing?
Have you emailed an exhibit package with the required documents, proof of ownership, proof of tax compliance?
Yes, we have.
And have you met with the RCO and have a letter?
Yes, we have a letter of non -opposition from the Penn Support Civic Association, as well as a letter of non -opposition from Mr. Squilla, Councilman Squilla.
May I share my screen?
yes please
so in front of you you'll see a packet of materials for 308 seer street and 307
erp street we're in the pensport section of philadelphia all we're trying to do is
reconfigure these two properties one each of these properties is a small lot all we're trying to do
is equalized a lot. Currently 308 Sears Street is 864 square feet and 307 Earp Street is 545
square feet. We're just trying to equalize the size of the lots to build a single family structure
on each property. You'll see from our packing materials this is not uncommon to have sizes
of these type of lots on this block of Sears and Earp. So my packing materials includes the
deed to the property, certificate of tax clearance, notice of refusal, as well as the description of
the nearby RSA 5 lots and their lot sizes. Our application for appeal, maps of the area, which
will also show how we're trying to conform to that block. Photographs of the property in the
surrounding area, architectural plans and drawings, as well as a letter of non -opposition from the
Penn Sport Civic Association, as well as a letter of non -opposition from council member Mark
It's going to increase the size of this so you can see better.
Here's our data to the property, showing that my client owns the property.
Certificate of tax clearance showing my client's good standing.
Our notice of refusal, again, each of these properties on Sears and Herb Street are RSA5 properties.
All we're trying to do is put a single -family structure on each.
If you notice, other than the lot size, we have no other dimensional variances, and we're just essentially trying to equalize the lot sizes.
See all the properties in the surrounding area on Sears Street and on Earp Street.
On average, these lots are 650 .72 square feet.
We're proposing to have 308 Sears Street be 703 .4 square feet, while 307 Herb Street would be a proposed 678, both larger than nearby lots in the area.
Our application appeal to the Zoning Board of Adjustment, along with our Notice of Refusal and Project Information Form.
uh again showing where we are in uh the neighborhood uh we're essentially between
wharton and reed and third and fourth street we're in this little nook where sears is and
where erp is but as you can see the other properties in the area primarily are subdivided
in half between one property facing sears one property facing herb and we are also separate
lots. We're just trying to reconfigure them. The Google map of the area, photographs of the
property, 308 Sears Street from the front of the property, 307 Herb Street from the front of the
property, Sears Street to the right of the property, Sears Street to the left of the property,
Herb Street to the right of the property, Herb Street to the left of the property.
Our plans and drawings, again, typical single -family home with modern construction,
uh brick facade if you look at the floor plans it's just an example they're kind of similar
but you walk into an open floor plan uh you have a living room down in the lower level
upper level you have second floor two bedrooms and the bath uh third floor you have a master
suite essentially master bedroom and master bath and then you have a roof deck same thing for the
other property we did meet with pensport civic association and again this is their letter of
non -opposition as well as the letter of non -opposition from council member mark swilla
along with our proof of sending a notice for that meeting and our proof of mailing
and with that being said i would ask that bill archer virtually raise his hand so he can adopt
my testimony
Mr. Archer, please spell your last name and I'll swear you in.
archer a -r -c -h -e -r for him to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
Archer, A -R -C -H -E -R.
Word for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing.
yes thank you mr markinson yeah mr archer you heard everything i stated today yes and is it
true and correct yes and do you adopt it as your own testimony yes thank you any questions from the
board no mr chairman no no anyone else would like to testify in this case please raise your hand
Chair, Mr. Dominic Savini has his hand raised. I will allow him to speak at this time.
Thank you, Mr. Savini. Please spell your full name and I'll swear you in.
Sure. This is Dominic Savini, D -O -M -I -N -I -C, S -A -V as in Victor, I -N -I.
We're affirmed to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
Yes, sir.
Please proceed.
Yes, so I am the committee person for Ward 1, Division 17, and also the owner of 309 Earp Street.
We as the residents of Earp Street, Sears, and surrounding Oriana and 3rd Street object and oppose the plan submitted for the dimensional variance between lots 307 Earp and 307.
eight Sears. Reasons for is the proposed plan squeezes two three -story houses with
roof decks that will tower over surrounding two -story homes and will obstruct views
and natural light to existing residences. These houses do not submit to conform to the block
in existing houses. They are a story above and a rooftop above that. I also have visual
renderings if you uh can let me share my screen yeah um Mr. Chair the only thing I would object
to I have no objection to Mr. Savini's testimony as an individual I do object to
his characterization that others in the neighborhood object I actually have several here
uh all of them have Mr. Mr. Savini you may speak on your behalf if there are others on the line
and they will have an opportunity to testify.
Thank you.
You can unmute yourself.
Hello, can you hear me?
Yes, we can.
Okay, so despite the Penn Sports
Civic Association recommendation,
they have not actually heard the voices of the residents
of Earth Street and surrounding streets.
mr sure i would i would object again you're speaking on behalf of other folks mr savina
if you can just present your testimony as it applies to you the other folks will have an
opportunity to be heard as well all right well i'll let them uh speak afterwards um but
there's no new construction that is on uh the block so the statements prior to that
reflect that this is similar is not true um we also
concerned with uh somewhat recent published accounts of v2 properties and their subcontractor
tractor rock haven builders um with a list of articles that mr savini that mr savini with all
that has nothing to do with this case yeah and your objection to the proposal uh that's before
us mr knockison yeah mr chair i i again we can go over a letter more closely but if you had the
letter in front of you and the members of the board all of these issues regarding non -zoning related
matters were actually brought up to the attention of pensport and they actually specifically
reference in their letter saying that these are non -zoning related matters and that our proposal
asking for a mere redistribution of the two lots to equal size lots is a reasonable request and
that's why they do not oppose it but they they did state that the nearby neighbors did have some
issues regarding height and other things which are not zoning related because we're not asking
for anything outside the philadelphia zoning code but it's actually in their letter all these issues
and they were all dealt with refresh my memory what is the height of this proposed that building
uh i have to take a look at it um but let me i mean if let me if you don't mind i'll share my
screen again for sure i just want to make sure i have it right yeah
i mean it looks like 35 .8 you're under you you're under what the uh code allows correct oh yes yes
that's why we have no yeah i think it's all right at least my plans it looks like a little 35 and a
half okay i just i thought so i just wanted to double check because mr savini mentioned something
Okay, I just, I thought so. I just wanted to double check, because Mr. Savini mentioned something about three -story houses being, this being a three -story house.
So you're, well, you're under, about three foot under the bi -right. Okay, thank you. Mr. Savini, we'll try again.
Are you there?
Yes, Mr. Savini.
Yeah, I just want to show some visual representations of the street and the
proposed buildings as they would exist in context.
And if I could share my screen, I could take two minutes and show you that.
I'm going to panelists right now, sir.
so mr mr trauma object excuse me i'm talking please can i can i have my moment
um here this is mr salvini so you'll understand council for the applicant is permitted to object
i had not getting two words out and he already interrupted me before so i just want to show
these okay i'm sorry this is tanya sunkett the administrator i would request that we all be very
respectful of each other please understand all witnesses that the attorneys have a job to do
they are allowed to object and put on the record as necessary any information please stop speaking
when someone else starts to speak and respect the chair as well thank you very kindly chair
thank you tanya uh mr knockinson state your objection
you're muted yes um mr chair i object i in terms of this rendering i i don't know
you know if this is a true and accurate representation you know of of what the
height would look in comparison to the other building so i i would i hear what you're saying
but either way you're still three feet under what the code would allow so whether this is
i understand what you're saying so let's go from there okay mr savini please just try and understand
mr savini by right they can you can build up to 35 feet height this property that this application
is three foot below what is by right what we're what we're talking about um in addition to that
is the width and then also um the the conformity issue of saying that these houses conform and that
there's new construction that's not the case these are approximations but i do work in photography
and architectural photography so this is a pretty good approximation you'll see that the first floor
lines up with the first floor of 309 and also the building that's next to it um as well as the second
floor lines up to the top of the house there so it's an approximation but it should show you
that these do not fall in line with the conformity of the block you'll also see that the other side
has mostly two -story houses all the way to the end
so those are just things that we wanted to submit and um i was actually on the penn sport civic
um meeting and i vocalized some of my concerns as did some others um i don't remember any uh
any residents actually approving of this or, or, or, you know, giving their blessing for it.
That's not something I remember. I remember everybody talking about how they did not seem
to think that this fit with the existing conformity of the block. Thank you. So you'll
know that photo that you have up with all the two story houses, every one of those homeowners,
if they so chose, could extend their houses to 38 feet. Thank you. Anyone else to testify in this
case? Something new and different would be appreciated. Thank you.
Chair, I have a Luisa Velasquez with her hand raised. I will allow her to speak at this time.
hello how are you my name is grisa velazquez
spell your first and last name yes l -u -i -s -a and the last name is v -s -victor e -l -a -s -q -u -e -z
thank you you swear if i'm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
i do thank you ma 'am please proceed i'm sorry chair to interrupt i apologize
I'm sorry, Chair, to interrupt. I apologize. Chair, if it's okay, may we please ask the
Chair, if it's okay, may we...
addresses of witnesses? Yes. Your address, ma 'am? Yes. Hi. My address is 300 ERP, E -A -R -P Street,
Philadelphia, PA, 19147. Thank you. Please proceed. And I'm just jumping in because I
want to confirm what Dominic, the last witness, mentioned about our blog not supporting the
project and unfortunately our block is a high age block and the majority of the residents don't have
access to social media or like computers or technology so a lot of these conversations
and meetings are being done in person and we talk and get together and we have you know i just want
to confirm that everything that dom mentioned i'm speaking for my my house we are and i know for
like multiple of our neighbors that we are against the problem there haven't been a lot of information
there hasn't been really nothing we're like basically kept on the blind of what is going on
that's all thank you and i'll just remind you and anyone else who wants to testify in this matter
the proposal brings this height of the building to around 35 feet which was permitted under the
old code the new code allows for a height to go to 38 feet so there are three feet below what is
a buy right everyone on that block who wants a two -story home who would like to go up three
i'm making it the simple way would like to go up to 38 feet buy right you can do that
Naturally, you got to get permits and things, but you can go to 38 feet as a right.
Anyone else to testify something new and different?
No more hands.
Thank you very much.
Planning Commission.
good afternoon chair peter bernard for the planning commission this property is indicated
for single family residential in the comprehensive plan while the proposal would result in undersized
lots it is consistent with existing development in the area accordingly the planning commission
is not opposed to the granting of the variance thank you mi 2021 -001 -898 308 sears street my
vote is yes professor plaza my vote is yes
james snell my vote is yes thomas holloman my vote is yes
here we go to case number seven pardon me mi 2021 -001864
3323 north 16th street rachel pritzker is the pritzker is the attorney of
record you've already been sworn in but please
spell your name and Mr. Kraplaz will have some questions for you and I don't know I see there
has not been a letter submitted yet it may have come in late from the Tioga United. Yep so Rachel
R -A -C -H -A -E -L Pritzker P -R -I -T -Z -K -E -R 1635 Market Street Suite 1600 Philadelphia PA 19103.
Rachel you agree to waive the reading of its refusal and stipulate to its accuracy
yes have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents proof of ownership proof of
tax compliance copy of the refusal or referral folders and plans five days prior to this end
yes and have you met with the RCO and have a letter yes thank you please proceed when I share
my screen. I believe that the council office has spoken with the RCO as far as the letter. I don't
know that they had time to actually get it out, but I do know that they were able to make
communication on this. So this is 3323 North 16th Street. We are proposing a semi -attached structure
not to exceed 38 feet in height with architectural embellishments to match the existing context and
for use is a seven -family dwelling as per the plans. Most of the refusals we received relate
to the RSA 3 zoning district and also just the context of the neighborhood that the architect
will go into specifically related to the side yard. The code requires eight. We're providing
three, which is what most of the adjacent buildings have, as you'll see once you bring up the plans.
We're looking for a de minimis variance for open area.
We're required 50%.
We're at 45 .8, so a difference of about 100 or so square feet.
And then, as the board's well aware, RSA 3 does not allow for multifamily.
And then, as the board's well aware, RSA 3 does not allow for multifamily.
However,
However, this property was previously multifamily, and there's a good mix on this block of both multifamily and single -family dwellings.
As you can see from the screen, 3301, North 16th is 3, 3311 has one private dwelling unit plus six roomers and six bedrooms.
same with 3321 and then a mix of uh quads and triplexes on uh one two three four additional
properties on the block um i will i think what would be best is to have scott join again just
to go over the plans because then it's a does a better job of addressing the two other refusals
again the open space and the side yard um as well so if scott woodruff could be promoted to panelist
that would be appreciated
woodruff has been promoted thank you just identify yourself you've already been sworn in
uh this is uh the site plan um yeah scott just just say your name for the record yep scott
woodruff uh w -o -o -d -r -u -f -f thank you please proceed you're still you're still on the roof
Thank you. The gray box here is the proposed three -story structure. We are matching kind of the existing block face of the existing buildings adjacent. As Rachel said, the two refusals, one for open area and one for the side yard.
As you can see, this lot is 20 foot, one inch per the deed.
All the existing structures along this block have a very similar three foot side yard, which we are also maintaining.
If we were to do an eight foot side yard, our building then would be shrunk to 12 feet and one inch width, which obviously is a very small structure and width.
for this uh again by coverage we are covering about the same amount as some of these other
structures on the site again fairly de minimis as we're looking just under 50 percent for open area
some of the changes i just want to run through real quick that we did have meeting with the rco
So they wanted some secondary access to the rear yard for trash, which we added some stairs here.
There's kind of like a weird retaining wall situation at the front, which we can look at some photos to understand a little bit better.
And then they wanted a porch covering or like canopy covering at the front of the structure, too, to try and match some of the existing structures.
uh as you can see in some of these photos you know this is kind of where our proposal would be
the existing structures um on the block face has some very distinct architectural features
um and aesthetic so we did our best to kind of match to blend in with some of the existing
character um and you can kind of see some of these existing houses have either
a canopy over the the entrances or some sort of porch on them
So, this is the previous rendering. I don't have an updated one with the porch, but again you can kind of get an idea of the architectural embellishments that we are trying to provide to match some of these existing contextual elements.
Again, the existing grade, there's a retaining wall that we're holding, so like a lot of the stairs that we're proposing will be behind there.
As far as kind of updated aesthetic, this is the new proposed canopy, which you can see is over the door.
We have an upper level door, which we can run through the planes and then a lower level.
This one is accessible.
So we have a small ramp that goes down here, which is more kind of just straight access into the proposed unit.
One of the things that was important is having a unit that could be accessible for seniors and then also providing enough lighting kind of in these spaces, which are, you know, three feet basically down on grade.
So there's enough lighting, which we obviously complied with.
so there's one unit kind of on this half level going up the flight of stairs there's two units
on the first level a small one bedroom and then a larger 600 square foot one bedroom to the rear
and then going up in the plant there's two units per floor with with a
And then going up in the plan, there's 2 units per floor with with a common access stair within the middle.
Rachel, is there anything else you wanted me to go through on the plan specifically?
Yes, yes. Excuse me. Sure. Yeah. My concern is this is new construction. So why can't you stick to the requirements for open space?
uh that's a good question i think um one of the the concerns at least for for ours was that
i just i think just honestly with the structure if we were to cut the structure back um having
some more of a larger structure it would decrease some of the density um that we were looking to
create to have affordable units um and decreasing you know another i think it was about four or five
feet on the building um really made it made it hard to get two units per floor plate um so that
was really the the ask for the de minimis variance of and i think we increased it to 43 because of
the porch covering um but the building itself covers 46 percent uh i mean allow it has open
area of 46 percent as opposed to 50 so we're you know four percent off um of what's permitted
so if you reduce the number of units you can get the uh open area requirements
that yeah that that would we have to do um to get that and again i think one of the
parts of this um at least with the client's perspective and actually you can speak to this
more was to provide a certain number of units to provide affordability correct um for the
development so that was kind of the the intention in that in addition you're going to do the zoning
bonus no it's we're not able to do that it's rsa3 so it uh we we don't have an opportunity to utilize
that so you would have to reduce the number of units or ask for a variance or four percent um
in order to have the the units that's why we're here
thank you yep i i think it's a great uh comment we we had grappled with it in addition to the
fact that there were some additional things like the retaining uh adding stairs into the retaining
wall um that we wanted to also be able to um include in the project and just even some of
the site conditions of doing that in addition to adding affordable units in this neighborhood
uh was why we we had thought that a de minimis variance for the four percent would would be okay
and we do have support from the community on this project as uh some of those considerations
specifically around the additional stairways
so that people could bring trash in and out from the rear
and making sure that we provided affordable units
was really paramount in this neighborhood.
The only other thing I would mention
is I want to make sure that the client,
Matanj Noel, is able to adopt my testimony
whenever appropriate.
Any other questions?
Tom, Mr. Holloman?
No, thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you. Anyone else would like to testify in this case, please raise your hand and then we'll get your witness on. I mean, your client on. I'm sorry.
Mr. Chair, I have a Matan Shmuel on the line. I don't want him to speak at this time.
Sir, please raise your hand. I'm sorry. Please identify yourself. Spell your full name.
matan shmuel m -a -t -a -n s -h -m -u -e -l i am the developer of this project
thank you matan have you heard the statements that i made today and do you adopt them to be
true and do you adopt them as your own yes thank you um chairman i do uh i do see uh mr richardson
and the council office and then also carmella bassard johnson um all right mr handling jason
will get to this okay mr mr richardson please identify yourself you're still under oath
good afternoon again mr chair uh charles richardson from the office of councilwoman
cindy bass room 312 city hall um again this was a meeting that we did not have any uh
uh response any results from so uh i'm wondering if mr ali is still on he can uh corroborate the
fact that the that the community did vote for that and then we can give our opinion
based upon his testimony is mr ali uh available
Is Mr. Ali available?
Yes, good afternoon, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Ali, identify yourselves by your name.
You're still under oath.
Jihad Ali, J -I -H -A -D -A -L -I.
I'd like to respond to Mr. Richardson's request.
We had the meeting, it was attended by near neighbors.
The neighbors talked about the different adjustments that the design team made.
The concern was trash.
They put in the steps so we could access trash, and trash would be in the rear of the property versus being in front of the property.
The affordability of the unit being for seniors, and that's why we supported the project.
The neighbors voted to support the project.
Thank you. Anyone else to testify?
I think I skipped over someone.
this is carmela vassar johnson ma 'am please spell your full name and i'll swear you in
it's carmela c -a -r -m -e -l -l -a last name vassar johnson v as in victor a -s -s -o -r hyphen j -o -h -n -s -o -n
for him to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes thank you ma 'am
I am a member of Upper North Neighbors Association, which is an affected RCO on this case.
I was in personal attendance to both RCO meetings for this property.
The owner and his team were very responsive to all of the community's concerns.
um the trash which has already been talked about the awning so that it blends with the feeling of
the neighborhood as it stands now and most importantly affordability of the units the
developer has promised to set aside one unit at least uh in a very neighborhood affordable
price range for rents. So Upper North Neighbors Association and the community
in general was in support and is in support of this project.
Thank you. Anyone else to testify?
No further hands, sir.
Thank you, Planning Commission.
Good afternoon, Chair, Peter Bernard
for the Planning Commission.
This property is indicated for single family residential
in the comprehensive plan.
We feel the proposal for six units represents an overuse
and the applicant failed to demonstrate a hardship
for either open space or unit count.
Additionally, there is no hardship to vacant land.
accordingly the planning commission recommends the board deny the variances thank you peter uh
rachel is there one page uh yeah i believe there's one page thank you mi 2021 -001864
3323 north 16th street my vote is yes with the proviso revised plan one page approved today
professor plaza my vote is yes with proviso james snell my vote is yes with proviso
Thomas Holloman, my vote is no.
Thank you.
We will now hear cases number 8 and 10 together.
MI 2021 -001902, 5008 West Thompson Street, and MI 2021 -009.
Excuse me, let me start again.
MI 2021 -001901 -5006 West Thompson Street. Mr. Notkinson is the attorney of record for both cases, and I understand there are a letter of opposition by the RCO HMC squared. I'm not sure what the letters stand for.
Mr. Notkinson has been voted to panelist, sir.
Mr. Notkinson, identify yourself. You're still under oath.
Yes, Alan Notkinson, Notkinson, N -O -C -H -U -M -S -O -N.
123, I'm sorry, 123 South Broad Street, Suite 1600, Philadelphia PA, 19109.
Sorry, I got ahead of myself. Mr. Plaza has questions for you.
Mr. Notkinson, you agree to waive the reading of its refusals and stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents, proof of ownership, proof of test?
Have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents, proof of ownership, proof of tax compliance, copy of the refusal or referral photos and plans five days prior to this, Aaron?
We have.
Thank you. Please proceed.
Have you met with the RCO and have a letter?
We do. We actually met with the RCO and the community on multiple occasions, both during official RCO meetings as well as with a representative of one of the other RCOs.
So, so we're here today regarding 5006 and 5008 West Thompson Street. We're in the Cathedral Park section of Philadelphia. If you go on the website of Cathedral Park CDC, it actually states Cathedral Park where you don't need a car because we got great transportation.
So what we're trying to do here is take two CMX2 properties that are mid -block in the area of town, and we'll go through the zoning maps, in the area of town, which is at least zoned multifamily.
And what we've seen and what we've investigated, and we have an expert witness here, it just doesn't make sense to have either of these properties have a commercial component on the first floor.
There are commercial components or properties or mixed -use properties in the area.
And as our expert will state, it's been a few years since there's been really much new leasing activity in this area.
So we hope that the board agrees with us that it would be more appropriate to swap out those commercial units with residential, increase the density on Thompson Street where it's RM1 from most parts of Thompson Street on the other blocks, and to help support the commercial corridor that does exist.
So what you'll see is, you know, in my table of contents are deeds to the property, certificates of tax clearances, notices of refusal, applications for appeal, zoning maps and Google map of the area, photographs of the property, our plans and drawings, and correspondence from the HMC Squared Community Association.
So I'll just make this a little bigger so everyone can see.
These properties are owned by Kumas Homes.
Kumas Homes, as you may be aware, has been in business for the better part of 15 years.
They are a well -known developer, well -respected in the area for their quality of product.
They both sell and rent properties throughout the city of Philadelphia.
They also manage their own properties that they do hold.
These would both be holds.
so certificate of tax clearance showing that we're good standing in terms of our taxes
and then notices of refusal both of these are cmx2 properties 5006 we have two refusals first
we just want to swap out that commercial unit with a residential one the second refusal is
that our lot is slightly smaller than would allow us for the two residential above and
the one commercial below, we're asking to allow us to build three residential to kind of match
what 5008 is. And we'll go through the floor plans. Even though our lot is slightly smaller
than 5008, which allows for three units here, two residential, one commercial, and we're asking to
swap it out. This one is only allowing us for one residential, one commercial, but you'll see from
the floor plans, they almost match identically.
The units are slightly smaller, but not much.
And then here's our refusal for 5008.
Again, here, we're just literally trying to swap out
the commercial unit with the residential unit.
Our application for appeal for both projects.
Could you increase the print size a little bit, please?
Yeah, sure.
Is that better?
and it's just the other applications for appeal with the project information form and then the
maps of the area um and again we can go on atlas but like this is just uncommon to have this much
cmx in the middle of the block um you'll see the other parts across the street well here you know
on this side of the street you'll see mostly the cmx portions would be hugging more the corners
uh and what we're asking for is to help support this commercial the commercial properties that
do exist uh where there hasn't been leasing activity new leasing activity in some time
for a lot of these properties rather than creating a unoccupied commercial vacant space
um here's a google map so again and and you know this is one of the issues that we had with
So, again, and, you know, this is one of the issues that we had with the community. And we try to work through a lot of those issues. One of them was transportation. You know, we were, you know, told, well, we don't want this multifamily here because there's an issue in terms of parking.
Well, as you can see here, we are near the 10 and 15 trolley.
We're a one -minute walk from the closest public transportation.
So there is a significant amount of public transportation.
And other than 5 ,006, we're asking to go from two units to three units.
Both of these structures are allowed for multi -unit.
It's just the type of multi -unit.
We're trying to swap out the commercial for the residential.
We even tried to work with the community because Kumas Homes owns a lot, not too far away from here, where we were even willing to entertain the idea of going through the variance process and creating a parking lot for this lot, another CMX2 property.
And that, you know, our request to do that or our offer was flatly rejected.
But we really did try to work through the parking issue, even though there is not one.
And even though Cathedral Park on their own website states that they embrace the fact that this is a community for public transportation.
Photographs of the property.
As you can see, we try to really maintain our properties as best we can.
No one's perfect.
You know, it rains, you know, weeds grow.
But for the most part, we really do try.
since we've owned it we've had no violations in terms of dealing with our uh vacant land
you know properties to the to the right of ours on west thompson street to the left and you can
see there's some commercial storefronts here um but you know again it would be helpful to
help this commercial corridor that does exist with additional density oops oh sorry um now
Now I want to give you just like interiors
of other Kumas homes.
Again, this is the proposed, like, you know,
what you would see in a typical Kumas homes,
hardwood floors, you'll see the kitchens,
you know, granite countertops, stainless steel appliances.
You know, they really try to like make their product
as nice as possible.
And then just different, you know, pictures of the kitchen.
You know, proposed interior of the bathrooms, again, granite countertops, subway tiles,
you know, hardwood floors throughout, just more pictures, interior.
And then here are our plans and drawings.
If you don't mind, I'll just like decrease the size a little just to ease it's easier
maneuver and i can always like highlight uh if you need to see a specific section of it uh but
there are going to be three units on each structure uh we're not seeking any type of
dimensional variances with respect to this project um we're not asking for something that's too high
you know no where your setback issues no open area issues we're simply looking to have
a unit a bi -level unit on the first floor which would be two bedroom uh two bath but unit number
two would be two bedroom one bath on the whole second floor and unit number three would be
two bedroom one bath the only difference is that i just want to make sure i get this correct
is that the square footage for unit number one
for the bi -level unit would be 1556 for 5006 west thompson street while the 1812 for 5008
west thompson while unit number two and three will each be 778 for west tom 5006 west thompson
while it'll be 912 for 5008 west thompson street
and that's just the same thing for 5008 the same thing
And again, just our floor plan. Again, the typical bi -level, you know, unit number one, unit number two is on its own floor, and unit three is on its own floor. And same thing for $5 ,008.
And then our letter with which HMC Square, I like to go over their comments one by one so we can understand where they're coming from. So they did admit that we initially met with them July 15. And there are issues that you enlarge that.
Oh, yeah. Sure. I'll make that really.
I'll make that really. Is that better? Can you see? A little more. Better? That's better.
All right. So we met with them twice. The initial meeting on July 15th, things they wanted us to reconsider.
The building height, which is not zoning related, and we're well within the height limitations.
The number of units, again, other than 5 ,006, we're allowed two units, right?
5 ,008, we're allowed three units.
The only thing is we want to swap out the commercial unit as to both.
We are requesting an additional unit for 5 ,006.
We believe it's appropriate given how it fits within the property, but we would leave it up to the board.
If the board would like us to have a maximum of two units on 5 ,006, we will defer to the board's best judgment with respect to that.
The other issue was parking.
And again, even though that's their motto that this is, you know, we've got great public transit, we really want to work through those issues.
And again, we had a property which was around the corner from ours, these two properties, where we would have had an opportunity to at least have a serious discussion about seeking a variance for converting that one property into just a small parking lot for some of these units.
That was completely rejected by the community, but we really did try to do that.
The other issue was about trash pickup.
They wanted private trash pickup.
during our second meeting we said we would not only do we would not only agree to commercial
pickup which we agree in the form of a proviso we would agree to commercial pickup twice a week
because it is an issue you know our office deals with a lot of of these similar type of neighborhoods
where uh especially during the pandemic with garbage pickup being sporadic uh with multi -unit
structures on where it's a greater density, we take ownership of that. And if the board
so agrees to grant these variance requests, we would embrace the fact of having commercial
pickup twice a week. The other issue had to do with how the front of the facade looked
in terms of having a bay window we agreed we said listen we'll get rid of the bay windows you want
something that's more traditional in terms of a flat facade we would agree to it they also indicated
they had issues with our roof deck we agreed at our second meeting to get rid of the roof decks
we want you know roof deck you know roof access just for utility purposes because we'll have our
HVAC units in there, but we agreed to everything. So we kept agreeing, agreeing, agreeing. And
ultimately they're like, no, all we want is single family, which would be a greater request
for variance to require a builder or property owner to put CMX2 properties, which allow five
units, and then to essentially ask us for two units. But that's what they wanted. And we said,
unfortunately, we can't agree to that, but we would agree to all the other reasonable
requests that they had so um you know they said that you know they did talk about if you look at
this kumas homes offers another vacant lot at 1301 felton street for parking this would require a
zoning variance but we were willing to do that and even talk about like you know trying to have
that catch up to this but ultimately they still voted against it um they say kumas homes is not
willing to compromise in the number of units but would be willing to remove the pilot house
We have since discussed the matter. And again, if the board is willing to agree to allow these variance requests, we would agree to a maximum of two units on the smaller lot, which I believe is 5 ,006 West Thompson Street.
uh and the next thing was the owner does does not believe they would be able to find suitable
commercial tenants for the first floor of the buildings and therefore want to make them
apartments which is completely accurate and we'll have gaziata seven testify to that effect uh and
you know the the last one had to deal with how much the rent was
so and then again it's six says the community members continue to express strong concerns
about the building height which is not zoning related because we're far within the code
parking again this is a public transportation uh section of the city where there's 10 and 15
trolley and even cathedral park cdc you know actually proudly states that uh and that they
want this to be a single two single family homes and then that's where they voted against the
And then that's where they voted against the project.
project and they sent two separate
And they sent two separate letters, one for each project.
So, and then this is just from Cathedral Park's own website, CDC.
Again, Cathedral Park, where you don't need a car because we got great public transportation.
So, you know, and that's basically where we stand.
And I do have Ghazi Ada7 on the phone or on the Zoom.
Mr. Ada7, can you virtually raise your hand?
I don't have to speak.
Good afternoon, sir.
Please spell your first and last name, and I'll swear you in.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman.
My name is Ghazi, G -A -Z -I.
The last name is A -T -A -S -E -V -N.
My address is 2424 West York, Philadelphia.
yeah um you swear a firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing about the truth
absolutely i do thank you mr markinson uh mr out of seven uh you heard a little bit of what i was
saying about the commercial aspects of this neighborhood um what's your experience in the
in the field of real estate yeah uh i have been a real estate agent almost five years i have been
in this business almost at a decade um so i'm a licensed uh realtor new jersey and pennsylvania
and i'm specialized residential and commercial um i check here we use the uh platform that access
the commercial and residential called bride mls um i checked the all the comps uh the commercial
lease comes uh about 540 days um the to see the all the leasing activities but there is nothing
has been going on uh almost i mean or one uh over one and a half years so and i draw by myself as
as well today uh and i mean visually uh saw the street uh the the neighbor component i think has
been drastically changed from commercial to residential. There are just one or two commercial
at the corner, rest of the street, I mean, the turn, I mean, naturally residential. So that's
my experience. And also data, it's supporting that almost 540 days, any kind of lease activities
has not been going on so mr adesev in your professional opinion would a commercial
business at 5006 and or 5008 west thompson street thrive and survive
absolutely i mean the commercial is i mean to my opinion i mean it's 100 clear
here, the commercial is not going to work that black.
Hi, I also have with me Mr. Frank Kumas, the principal of Kumas Homes.
Mr. Kumas, can you virtually raise your hand?
may you please virtually raise your hand so that you may be sworn in, sir.
Mr. Notkinson, we're having technical issues.
We'll just stipulate that you being an officer of the court,
your client would have adopted your testimony.
Is there anyone else to testify in this case?
I'm sorry, Mr. Chair. His hand is going up.
Okay. All right. We'll bring him back. Thank you.
Mr. Kumas, please spell your name and I'll swear you in.
My name is Frank Kumas.
You swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir. Thank you, Mr. Maka. Mr. Kumas, you heard everything I stated today.
Yes, I have. And is it true and correct?
Yes, it is.
And do you adopt it as your own testimony?
Yes, I have.
Would you like to add anything that I may have missed?
I mean, like we said earlier, we try to work with community.
Every step away, we always try to work with community.
And we skates of multiple meetings with community.
We went in the neighborhood and we get some couple petition signs.
We have about, I believe, a lot of petitions and the neighborhood supports on their projects.
but somehow we didn't get enough support that we're looking from our CEO.
But we did meet up with the neighborhoods, we speak with them, we explained to them,
we showed them the projects, we showed them the plans. And like you say, like Gazi says, we made a
And, and like you say, like Gaza says, we made a lot of research and commercial, we believe
and I believe that commercial is not going to work there.
That was the only reason we would like to have some residential units.
All right.
Thank you.
Anyone else to testify?
I'm sorry.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
Anyone else like to testify in this case?
Please raise your hand.
Mr. Chair, I have a Mark Harris with his hand raised.
Yeah, Mark Harris with his hand raised.
I will allow him to speak at this time.
Thank you.
Mr. Harris, please unmute and wait to be sworn in.
Mr. Harris, please identify yourself.
I think you were on earlier today.
I'll say you're still under oath, but just identify yourself again.
Jason, while we're waiting, is there anyone else?
I miss.
I have a Mr. Willie Jordan with his hand raised, so I'll allow him to speak at this time.
Jordan, please spell your full name and I'll swear you in.
Willie Jordan, W -I -L -L -I -E, Jordan, J -O -R -D -A -N.
Where are from to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Thank you, sir. Please proceed.
Yeah, I just wanted to bring attention to that date.
The attorney for the project keep bringing up Cathedral Park,
but officially Cathedral Park was not the RCO.
So it's not, it's kind of disingenuous to use Cathedral Park as they were, was not the point persons on organizing a meeting or so.
And also on the height, they did agree to take down the height and we wanted to know if it get passed, will they be able to, will they still agree to that adjustment?
me well whatever the plan indicates and mr notkinson could you address that what the height
is uh i believe it's 38 feet i don't believe we agreed to reduce the height what we did agree to
and we would still agree to in the form of proviso is no roof deck but to have access to uh you know
have have access you know to the roof uh so i would leave it to miss saletta to uh propose
a certain language, but we were to be agreeable to not have a functioning roof deck, but to have
some type of structure out there to give us access to our utilities. So we did agree to that.
The reason why I mentioned Cathedral Park CDC, because my understanding, again, Mr. Harris is on,
he was very vocal during those meetings. He was very engaged during the meetings. We met with
Mr. Harris separately. This is in the Cathedral Park section of Philadelphia. So again,
One of the leaders within the community also agrees with us that this is a public transportation area and that there is no parking issue.
Mr. Jordan, you understand that as a by right, the application, the applicant can build up to 38 feet by right.
That's not to suggest that you would support something if it was lower, but they don't need anyone's permission to go to 38 feet.
That's by right.
Yes, Mr. Chairman, I understand and I appreciate that.
And just because the right is, sometimes what we're trying to do is keep a community intact.
And it is strongly a single family, mostly single families in there.
And now we see this influx of apartments, and in addition to apartments, these party spaces up on the roofs.
So although people may have the right to do it, sometimes it's not, I don't think, the appropriate situation to have, Mr. Chairman.
Understood. But as far as the roof, you just mentioned the roof deck.
I believe the applicant's attorney said they're not seeking to have a roof deck.
They would eliminate that.
yeah we would agree in the form of proviso mr chair we would agree to that
no roof deck so i guess with that mr jordan i'm trying to figure out um do you have a final
position on this um um yes we we still strongly recommend single homes we're trying to rebuild
single homes we're trying to rebuild the community uh but it's obviously uh that between a
the community.
presentation and and um they may get the support on that and i would yield to if if that happens
well i'm just if so i'm not putting words in your mouth your position is to oppose the project as
it's being presented yes okay thank you thank you anyone did mr harris get ever get on
mr harris
and while mr harris gets on the only thing i would say is to the single family aspect it
would be a greater variant of the philadelphia zoning code to require us to actually have single
family in a cmx2 property where five units is allowed total between the two you know properties
and we are surrounded by rm1 as well besides the cmx2 if you remember from the zoning map
i'm sorry did you say it's about you can do five units combined
no i'm saying we could do five units combined the issue we could do two units of 50 5006
west thompson street we can do three units of 5008 west thompson street we want to eliminate
the commercial component that's one of the variance requests right i mean the other one was
for five to zero zero six west thompson street we're trying to add an additional unit to make
it three on each again if you look at the floor plans it's almost the exact same amount of square
footage we're talking about a little more than 100 square feet in each unit difference between
the smaller uh lot and the bigger lots okay all right um any other questions
chair mr andrew goodman has his hand raised all about to speak at this time
mr goodman please identify yourself you're still under oath from earlier today
Good afternoon. Andrew Goodman, G -O -O -D -M -A -N, here representing the Office of Third District
Council Member Jamie Gaudio. Mr. Chair, members of the board, our office stands with the RCOs
in opposition to the requested variances. We certainly understand that market trends being
what they are, that it is harder, that it is easier to fill residential vacancies than it
There's commercial vacancies, but there are active commercial uses on this block.
And so we do not see that as a hardship.
So thank you for the opportunity to testify today.
Thank you. Anyone else to testify?
Mr. Chair, I've got a caller with the number ending in 3458.
I can allow him to speak at this time if you wish.
I would ask any future callers
on this case to give us something new
and different
caller with
3458 as the last four numbers
planning commission
I'm trying again
there you go yes ma 'am
no this is Mark Harris
for some reason my headphone microphone
phone appears not to be getting through so i called on the landline are you you're here for
this case yes i am you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
i do please proceed
number of things we could say here uh first of all uh it was alleged by the uh applicant's
attorney that they've been maintaining the lot they've been actually done no maintenance at all
The city has a contract there with Carroll Park to do a mow of vacant lots, and they will maintain this lot.
And not only that, there's a pile of brush on the west side that has been there for months.
And on the east side, there's some roof material and the like, which has been there for some time.
Mr. Harris, I appreciate your comments and your concern.
But if you can speak to the zoning matter that the board needs to vote on and not.
Well, I take your word that there may be trash there, but speak to the application.
Well, the applicant's attorney made assertions which are false.
He did raise the point that we've excellent public transit in Cathedral Park, which we're very happy to know.
but in fact though many households if not most have cars and in this particular location
And in this particular location, we have a very active bar across the street as well as a smoothie shop on the corner.
we have a very active
It's very tight for parking.
And this additional density that they're trying to bring here is very much in the wrong place.
We don't have a street capacity to accommodate, particularly in the evenings and overnight or late hours, all the additional cars that this high density is going to bring.
Cathedral Park's posture for decades has been a promote single -family housing,
which was noted correctly in the RCO report.
It is quite possible and feasible for the developer to put single -family houses there,
if they chose to do so, but it's understandable that it's more profitable for them to build multifamily.
If these two properties were to be developed as proposed, we'd end up with a very tall, large building looming over the block there and facing right down Farson Street, all the way down to Kershaw Street.
All of those are single -family, two -story row houses.
It really would be visually offensive and annoying to all the people who live there for who knows how long, as long as the bonus would stand.
And a small correction to the attorney, the lot in question is actually across the street. It's not around the corner.
So that pretty much summarizes it. The community would like to see single -family development.
We believe that something as large as this and all these multi -units is maybe permissible, but it's undesirable.
It's not good for our community, and the off -street parking situation is very problematic.
The developer did make a suggestion to use the 1301 Farson Street for off -street parking.
Unfortunately, it's just not big enough.
And in order to use that, you'd lose significant on -street parking.
So we remain very strongly opposed to this.
Thank you very much.
Just in response quickly, I completely understand these arguments.
If this was an RSA -5 property that my client was looking to make into multifamily, this is a CMX -2 property.
We're allowed to build five units.
It's the composition. All we're trying to change is the commercial aspect.
Mr. Ada Seven stated that there really is not a market for that.
We don't want a situation where we build something and we can't find tenants.
It's reasonable to ask to swap the commercial unit with the residential unit to actually help the commercial corridor that does exist there.
In terms of like light in there for five thousand six West Thompson Street, the rear yard setback is 17 feet.
And for 5008 West Thompson Street, the rear yard setback is 44 feet, eight inches.
So even though that's not zoning related, I just wanted to point out that these are rather large lots, especially 5008 West Thompson Street, which will have a de minimis impact on the light and air of the surrounding properties.
I don't recall anybody raising a light and air issue, but it used to be pointed out that two doors, two properties to the west.
there is a reasonably renovated property with commercial on the first floor it's not occupied
yet but they seem to be moving in that direction thank you uh anyone else we did hear from mr
jordan right woolly jordan yep he's all anyone else
no further answer this time sir thank you planning commission
good afternoon chair peter bernard for the planning commission
these properties are indicated for commercial mixed use in the comprehensive plan
we feel there is sufficient hardship for commercial use in this location and that
the additional unit is a reasonable minimum variance accordingly the planning commission
is not opposed to the granting of the variances thank you mi 2021 -001902 5008 west thompson street
and mi 2021 -001901 5006 west thompson street my vote is no to both
professor plaza notable james snell no to both thomas holloman no to both thank you
uh case number uh nine mi 2021 that's zero zero one nine one zero five zero zero one dash one nine
5 -0 -0 -1 -1 -9 Gainer Road, G -A -I -N -O -R.
gainer road
And to the court reporter, we have one other case after this.
Do you need a break now?
I mean, after this case, or you want to wait because we'll break for the 3 .30?
We can wait, Chair.
Okay, thank you.
i'm sorry i missed that are we taking a breakers no no i'm sorry i just wanted to ask them he
wouldn't need a break thank you please proceed thank you let me just uh share my screen
uh chair may i ask that we swear in yeah i'm gonna get there now i'm waiting i was waiting
for her to get her screen up there we go can you see that yes please spell your full name and i'll
swear you in sure my first name is augusta a -u -g -u -s -t -a my last name is o 'neill o apostrophe
n -e -i -l -l you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do thank you
mr plaza has questions for you yes uh you agree to wait the reading of its refusal and stipulate
to its accuracy yes and uh have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents proof
of ownership proof of tax compliance copy of the refusal or referral photos and plans five days
prior to this hearing yes i did and have you met with the rco and have a letter i do thank you
thank you so much so up on my screen is just a picture of the property that we're here about
this afternoon. This is the Windmore Court Apartments. It's at 5001 -219 Gainer Road.
It's zoned RSD3. I was actually previously here on June 30th with a similar application.
This is a fairly straightforward application that we're here for this afternoon. Just by way of
background, my clients have entered into a partnership with Woodward Properties, which
has owned the property for at least since at least 1987, probably longer, but that's as far
back as the city records go on this. The city's zoning records for some reason list this property
as having 34 units when in fact there's 35 units in the building. We received a refusal from L &I
because the property is currently zoned RSD3, which doesn't allow for the multifamily use.
And so in order to correct the city zoning records and to get an updated rental license, we have to go through the process of meeting with the RCO and asking the ZBA for a variance to allow the use, or I'm sorry, to allow the use just to increase the number of permitted units of the property.
um so again this is simply a request to uh correct the city's records there isn't going to be any
construction at the property there's going to be actually no physical changes to the property
whatsoever um we did meet with the RCO for the property which is the Winfield Residents
Association and we did receive their support a copy of their letter of support is in the
package that I previously submitted um at this time I would just like to call forward either
April Dutry or Kim White who are here this afternoon on behalf of the ownership
to adopt my testimony.
Kim or April, if you just want to hit the raise hand feature.
April, please spell your full name and I'll swear you in.
It's April, A -P -R -I -L, Dutry, that's Steve and David, A -U -T -E -R -I -V -E.
Did the court, excuse me, the court reporter get able to get that?
yes chair thank you please proceed do you swear affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing
but the truth yeah thank you please proceed thank you abel did you have a chance to hear
my testimony this afternoon yes i did and was everything that i said true and accurate
yes and do you wish to adopt my testimony as your own yes thank you very much um
Mr. Chair, I have no further questions for this witness.
Any questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you.
Anyone else would like to testify in this case?
If so, please raise your hand.
No further answer this time, sir.
Thank you.
Planning Commission?
Good afternoon, Chair.
peter bernard for this planning commission this property is indicated for single family detached
residential in the conference plan the property was built and has been maintained as multi -family
residential accordingly the planning commission supports the granting of variance thank you mi
thank you mi 2021 -001910 5001 -19 gainer road my vote is yes professor plaza my vote is yes
2021 -001910.
jane snell my vote is yes thomas holloman my vote is yes thank you we go to case number
Thank you very much. Thank you. MI 2021 -001904 -7543 Lime Kiln -Pike. Mr. Notkinson, you're on again. 50th Ward Executive, Democrat Executive Committee sent a letter of support.
ms clementa amazon will be rejoining as a panelist sir okay alan's done for the day i guess
okay uh ms amazon please please spell your full name and i'll swear you in good afternoon chairman
We're implementing Amazon, C -L -E -M -E -N -T -A, last name is A -M -A -Z -A -N.
We're affirmed to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
Thank you.
Mr. Plaza has some questions for you.
Yes, you agree to waive the reading of its refusal and stipulate to it's accuracy?
Yes, I do.
And have you met, have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents,
proof of ownership proof of tax compliance copy of the refusal or referral photos and plans five
days prior to this area yes i did and uh have you met with the rco and had the letter yes and it's
a letter of support thank you please proceed thank you just want to share my screen
can everyone see my screen yes okay so i will be presenting something 543 line
this is a very straightforward matter and that this is just a legal hold on
hold on is the court reporter able to get that so uh chair it's less than clear yeah
Now, Clementa, if you could, it's a little bit, your voice is a little muffled.
Okay, one second.
Can you hear me better now?
Try that again.
Can you hear me better now?
A little better.
Just start off slow and we'll see how we're doing.
Okay, I will try my best.
So I'm presenting 7543 Lime Kiln Pike.
It's a very straightforward matter in that we are looking to legalize a duplex.
an existing duplex so in my packet of materials I have the deed certificate of tax clearance notice
of refusal permit indicating that this property was used as a duplex since 1993 um the previous
owner allowed the rental license to lapse so it was assumed the property was abandoned so
we're just trying to dot our i's and cross our t's here the application for appeal maps of the
area photographs of the property our proposed plans and drawings as well as the letter of
support from 50th Democratic Board. So here we have the deed of the property showing that my
client owns the property. The certificate of tax clearance and the refusal. Again, this is an
existing duplex that we are looking to legalize. This was used as a duplex since 93, our application
for appeal. Map of the area. So we are in a regularly shaped lap and pretty much a triangle
along Lime Kiln Pike with Fayette Street to the rear of the property. A Google map view of the
property as well. So here's a view from Lime Kiln Pike, which is actually functionally the side of
the property. A view from the front of the property here. Lime Kiln Pike to the right of the property.
line complete to the left of the property and here we have our proposed floor plans or the
existing plans excuse me so it's two units one bedroom unit each and we did meet with the
community on june 9th and they did support this project and the notice was sent out on may 17th
to 72 properties in total a list of all the properties i went back notified our certificate
of mailing. So with that, I believe Jasmine Williams is on the line. If I could have her
top my testimony.
Miles has been about to speak.
Hello.
Hi, please identify yourself, spell your full name.
Jasmine Williams, J -A -S -M -I -N -E, Williams, W -I -L -L -I -A -M -S.
you swear affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do thank you thank you jasmine did you hear my presentation
i do thank you thank you jasmine did you hear my presentation today yes and is it true and correct
yes and would you adopt it as your own testimony yes thank you do any questions from the board
no mr chairman no no anyone else would like to testify in this case if so please raise your hand
sorry mr hillard miss hillary emerson wishes to speak i will now to speak at this time
thank you miss emerson please identify yourself and i'll swear you in
good afternoon mr chair members of the board hillary emerson on behalf of councilwoman sherelle
parker e -m -e -r -s -o -n we're going to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
I do. Please proceed. Thank you. The councilman does not oppose the variance requested in this
case. As Ms. Amazon indicated, this property was previously approved to be a duplex. However,
there seems to have been a lapse in the variance, but it has remained recognized by the city as a
duplex for trash and assessment purposes. We haven't received any complaints from the community
um regarding this property and they were they were in support of it as well
um thank you thank you anyone else to testify in this case
other hands at this time thank you planning commission
good afternoon chair peter bernard for the planning commission this property is indicated
for single family residential in the comprehensive plan this property was previously granted a
variance for two family accordingly the planning commission has no objection to the granting of
the variance thank you very much mi 2021 -001904 7543 lime kiln pike my vote is yes
confessor plaza my vote is yes james snell my vote is yes thomas holloman my vote is yes
thank you um have we left anyone out on the two o 'clock list
anyone uh wishes to be heard on the two o 'clock list if we didn't recognize you please raise your
hand and i think it is now 23 minutes after four we'll see everybody back at 4 35.
okay 4 35. okay chair okay sure okay
you're live again thank you and um
Oh, I just lost that. Shoot.
Okay. Tanya and Jason, they'll give you a few minutes.
Can anyone hear me?
Yes, we hear you, Frank.
okay thank you you're welcome
tanya and or jason can
are we connected ready to start oh okay i didn't hear all right thank you dpc zoom we can go ahead
and video thank you thank you good afternoon everyone my name is frank d chico i'm the chair
of the zoning board of adjustment i'll be participating in today's hearing along with
our board secretary mr confessor plaza and board members mr thomas holloman and mr james snell
pardon me board administrator jason hand and our board attorney ms sharon saletta are also in
attendance as is our zoning board administrator ms tanya sunkett for those of you who haven't
yet participated in one of our virtual hearings i'll go through some of the basics of what you
I'll go through some of the basics of what you can expect.
can't expect. First
First, we will be administering oaths to individual participants prior to their testimony.
Second, we'd like to advise everyone that this proceeding is being recorded,
and that by participating, you acknowledge your agreement to be recorded,
and that the recording will be made available to the public on the web or otherwise.
Third, for anyone participating by phone, if you wish to testify,
you must raise your hand by hitting star nine and then star six to unmute yourself. I'll repeat,
for anyone participating by phone, if you wish to testify, you must raise your hand by hitting star
nine and then star six to unmute yourself. Finally, to enter an appearance statement,
call google 267 -270 -5548 and leave your email address and the address of the property at issue
i will repeat to enter an appearance statement call google 267 -270 -5548 and leave your email
address and the address of the property at issue and i'd like to remind everyone please do not
attempt to testify in the chat. Any comments, concerns, or questions, please direct them to
our board administrator, Mr. Jason Hand. With that, we have no request as of yet for any
continuance, so I will ask now, would anyone like to have their case continued or withdrawn
to please raise your hand? Mr. Sean Waters raised his hand. I have allowed him to speak, sir.
Mr. Ward, please identify yourself and I'll swear you in.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, Sean Ward.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
I most certainly do.
Please proceed.
This would be, I believe, the last case on the board's list.
7918 Buist Avenue, B -U -I -S -T Avenue.
Calendar number MI2020 -003252.
So I did email Ms. Saleta last week indicating that pursuant to our discussion with Craig Melodosian, the leader of the RCO, the coordinating RCO, we still have not had a chance to meet on this application.
So I had asked that this be added to the continuance list, but obviously it didn't make it.
No worries. Sharon and I did have a conversation earlier, but we weren't certain about that.
So MI 2020 -003 -252 -7918 Buist Avenue is continued.
Thank you very much.
Any other requests for continuances or withdrawals?
Please raise your hand.
No further answer this time.
Wait, Mr. Charles Richardson put his hand up.
I will allow him to speak at this time, sir.
Good afternoon, Mr. Richardson.
uh please identify yourself you're still under a good afternoon mr richardson mr richardson
we were having a hard time hearing you had some noise in the background so please start over again
Mr. Richardson, we lost him. He's asking for a continuance or a draw. I can't go ahead with
these cases. We don't know which one it is. In addition to Mr. Richardson, as we're waiting for
him is there anyone else who would like to request a continuance or withdrawal on the 330
mr chair i'm here i'm here can you hear me now right now we can please again identify yourself
you're still under oath yeah charles richardson from the office i'm sorry for this background
noise officer councilwoman cindy bass from 312 city hall uh 1413 pacific street um not sure that
the rco has has had a chance to meet with the applicant as yet i don't have any indication
as they haven't taken place, and I was just wondering if Mr. Mulvihill was available
to speak to that. Mr. Mulvihill, because my notes
say there was no RCO letter, is Mr. Mulvihill available?
Mr. Mulvihill, please identify yourself with the record and I'll swear you in.
Good afternoon, Leo Mulvihill,
M -U -L -V -E -S -V -E -C -T -E -R -I -H -I -L -L, address 315 Green Street,
Address 315 Green Street, 1st floor, Philadelphia, 19125.
first floor, Philadelphia, 19125.
You swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
You heard Mr. Richardson's comments?
We held a community meeting over Zoom on April 29 at 6 p .m.
I do not have a community letter from 13th Ward RCO.
So, Mr. Richardson, there was a meeting.
There is no letter.
Would you be adverse if we hear the case and hold?
Uh, no, not at the moment. Um, I believe that the last communication that was had,
there was supposed to be another meeting scheduled, but, uh, we can go ahead with this.
And, uh, if there needs to be another meeting, then we can do so. Okay. Uh, Mr. Mobile.
Yes, chair. Do you have any indication as to whether there was a second meeting or there
will be a second meeting? I don't recall that a second meeting was requested,
but that doesn't mean necessarily it wasn't i don't have any recollection as to that
all right why don't we do that we'll go forward with the case uh we'll make a decision at the
end uh about uh maybe uh having a resumption hearing uh and in the meantime you can have
conversation or communication with mr richardson of course okay all right before we go i'm not
opposed to that, Mr. Chair. Okay, thank you. Before we proceed, any other requests for
continuances or withdrawals? No further hint at this time, sir. Thank you. Case number one,
MI 2020 -002205. 1413 West Pacific Street. Mr. Mulvihill, you've already been sworn in,
So Mr. Plaza will have some questions for you.
Mr. Mulholl's coming from the auditor panelist.
Confessor, are you there?
Yes, yes.
Do you agree to waive the reading of its refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
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?
And have you met with the RCO and have a letter?
We've met with the RCO, but as we've discussed previously, I do not have a letter.
Thank you. Please proceed.
Good afternoon, Chairman and members of the Board.
Leo Mulvihill today for 1413 West Pacific Street.
This is an application. Oh, pardon me. First off, I'd like to incorporate into the record my zoning packet. We have the refusal appeal and project information form at page one, area zoning maps at page eight, deed at nine, commercial activity license at 17, tax clearance at 18, my zoning notification letter at 20, I do not have an RCO letter, photos of property at 23, and plans at 37.
so members of the board this is an application for a two -family dwelling in an rsa5 district
west pacific street is one block off of broad street one block south of erie avenue just to
orient us along the city uh in this application because we are zoned rsa5 we received a refusal
for proposal for a two -family dwelling in the rsa5 district we also received refusals for open area
minimum rear yard depth you're proposing 10 open five foot rear yard whereas 25 open is required
under the code nine foot rear yard depth is required under the code as well uh one moment please
my project information form now i'm showing for the record page eight
showing a lot in question as i stated before we're one block we're just off of broad street
just south of Erie Avenue. The blue parcel taken from the Philadelphia City Atlas indicates the
parcel in question that we're seeking to develop. The CNX3 is all around us, all up on Erie Avenue,
on Broad, and on the northerly side of the block of us, of Pacific, and 15th Street.
If we looked at the zoning map, we can see it's
exactly where we were located with this blue dot.
My client's deed at page 9.
My client's commercial activity license at page 17.
Showing no tax balance for this at pages 18 and 19.
This is our community letter that went out.
We had a community meeting on April 29th at 6 p .m.
This is the notice of mailing for the property.
This is the notice of mailing for the property.
I have photographs of the property as well, beginning at page 23.
I'm going to have photographs.
Looking at 25 now, this is westbound down Pacific Street.
26, we're just going to do a 360 on the block.
This is northbound facing Uriah Avenue.
here we go 29 and 30 we're now looking eastbound towards broad street
this is the south side of the block two -story single -family homes mostly
and again looking westbound on pacific
now our proposal is for a four -story two -family dwelling
not to exceed 38 feet with a pilot house no roof deck the deck is pardon me the roof is
only going to be for mechanicals the pilot house is only for mechanicals access
going to page 38. this is the proposed rendering of the property
from facade materials that we brick and metal we are a little bit taller than the surrounding
structures but because there's no adjacent structure we are not limited to being two stories tall
you can see now off to the right of this drawing
we have unit one indicated in that light pink color unit two indicated in blue
going to the floor plan members of the board starting off on the left this is the basement
we have a den storage and record recreation room with the bathroom to the front we do have a storage
area for the meters hopefully so we can keep those tucked away off of the street that's all part of
unit one again indicated in the pink on the ground story we have living room to the front
we have a powder room in the middle kitchen to the rear which has access to the rear yard
on the second story we have a bedroom in the front bedroom in the back laundry in the middle
bathroom behind that all in all it's a two bed two and a half unit it's about 1690 square feet
indicated in blue as in the previous drawings we have unit two which is two bed one bath
in the third story we have living and dining to the front kitchen to the rear we have a trash
storage area so that the second unit will not be putting trash out into the street ahead of time
that we'll be able to store in this rented closet and then on the fourth story we have a bedroom to
the front a bedroom to the rear laundry in the middle bathroom behind that and then we have
stairs leading up to the pilot house for roof access which is only for mechanicals
there is no proposed roof decks on this structure
ultimately we are seeking to have this be a two -family dwelling because we are located
in an area that is mixed rsa5 cmx3 which does allow for multi -family even though this block
in particular is zoned rsa5 um unfortunately we do not have a letter from the community
um our meeting was quite some time ago so unfortunately i can't quite recall
all the specifics of that meeting. And I don't recall whether Mr. Richardson was present at
that meeting either and could elucidate. But that's our proposal. We're seeking to have this
be two -family dwelling for purposes of affordability rather than a new single -family
residence on this block that is precedent in the area due to the fact that we have some CMX3
for multifamily, even though we are on an RSA5 block. We're happy to take any questions at this
time and i believe michelle the architect is on the line if she has anything she'd like to add
she can raise her hand now
okay questions from the board no mr chairman no no anyone else like to testify in this case
please raise your hand. Mr. Chair, I've got Mr. Charles Richardson with his hand raised. I will
allow him to speak, of course. Mr. Richardson, they're still under oath. Just identify yourself,
please. Good afternoon again, Mr. Chair. Richardson from the Office of Councilwoman,
Cindy Bass. I have on the line the chair of the 13th Ward RCO, Charles Karn.
Mr. Karn, please identify yourself with the record and I'll swear you in.
Charles
Please identify yourself
Spell your name
And I'll swear you in
Wait a minute
Yeah, I think I lost him. Hold on one sec. If you can hold my
Sure, of course, Charles, yes, I'm here. Okay. Mr. Carnes, please spell your name and I'll
I'll swear you in.
Charles Carr, C -A -R -N, 134 RCO, Chairperson, 3853 Love 19th Street.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
Thank you.
Please proceed.
I remember this meeting vividly.
The presentation and the design, and it was on the wrong lot.
Um, we questioned that, um, and they were supposed to come back with a new design to
the first thing for in the directly affected, um, community as of that date, we had no
communication and, um, this is a surprise to me that we had this meeting today.
Um, I would like to continue it so we can actually tell again, schedule and get directly
effective residents there to actually identify where this property and where this design is
going to be at. Mr. Karn, do you have any sense of when that meeting could take place?
Sir, if you get, we try to do 21 days, but if you need a shortage in that, I'm pretty sure
we can get one together. Mr. Movahill, I don't know what your calendar looks like
over the next three weeks or so because what we can do is do a resumption hearing
as opposed to a continuance if that works i mean members of the board that should be fine
um from what i recall of this community meeting if we're looking to i believe my screen is still
being shared we're looking to page 38 of the presentation pack the architect in this instance
had put this house on the wrong lot it should be the house directly it should be the lot directly
to the right here that i'm indicating now with my cursor um i believe that's what mr karn is
referring to okay so why don't we do this uh tanya if uh i'm going to recommend that we do a resumption
hearing do we have a date it seems like they're just it's probably going to be a simple matter
um sure so all right here's what we'll do uh again mi 2020 -002205
1413 west pacific street this hearing will be resumed on
wait from this socket to give us a date
we can do october the 19th at 9 30. thank you so this case will be resumed to october the 19th
at 9 30 a .m at which time the board will consider any feedback from the rco and the district council
woman's office i'm sorry chair um this is tanya so are we saying feedback or are we just saying a
letter? I think it was just a letter. Okay, perfectly. I based the scheduling on how much
time we need. Thank you kindly. All right. Okay, Mr. Karn, everybody. Okay. Next case,
Mr. Mobile Hills, yours also, MI 2020 -003258, 2137 East Cumberland Street.
east kensington neighbors association my notes indicate there was not a letter submitted for
this case as well yes chairman i also don't have a letter for this um we did have a community
meeting for this project um i the other issue we have with this project is i never received
zoning signs for this new hearing um i realized that only late last week so my question is whether
this the board would like to hear the case today and then hold for a letter or whether this is
going to require a continuance and reposting? Well, if it was not posted properly, I suspect
someone's going to come back and acknowledge that. So I would suggest, I think we'll do a
continuance. Understood. And I'm sure Ms. Sunker will try to help you out as best she can. Of
course. Our caseload is very big, but she'll work something out. All right. Understood. All right.
MI 2020 -003258
2137 East Cumberland Street
is continued.
uh case number three thank you members of the board thank you mi 2020 does zero zero three
Case number three.
Thank you, members of the board.
two five nine two five zero by berry road mr ward is the attorney somerton civic and again my notes
indicate there's not yet been a letter from the rco mr ward please identify yourself for the record
you're still under oath
hold on I'm unmuting myself and starting my video
good afternoon Mr. Chairman Sean Ward on behalf of the applicant
call your first and last name for the sonographer and address
Sean Ward, S -H -A -W -N -W -A -R -D.
Address is 331 East Street Road,
Trevos, PA, 19053.
Attorney for applicant.
Thank you.
You swear from the self -truth,
the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
And do you agree to waive the reading of its refusal
and stipulate to attackers?
I will agree to waive and stipulate
to the amended refusal,
which is dated 12th,
Hold on a second.
It's an amended refusal, confessor.
I can't see my screen, so I can't tell you the date, but I'll identify it when I bring up my share my screen.
Have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents, proof of ownership, proof of tax compliance, copy of the refusal or referral photos and plans five days prior to this hearing?
Yes, I do.
Yes, I did. Thank you. Have you met with the RCO and have a letter?
We did have a first meeting and I do have a letter.
I'll address that.
We're going to meet again before the end of the month.
Thank you. Please proceed.
Thank you very much. I'll share my screen at this time.
It's good to share.
All right. Can we confirm that my screen is being shared?
Yes. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, members of the board, I've submitted my typical exhibit packet, which includes the notice of refusal.
I would point out that the amended refusal or revised refusal was dated 8 -12 of 2021.
The original refusal, as you can see, was dated 12 -4 of 2020.
Due to a miscommunication, that application called for this use in building number two only.
It was discovered thereafter that it was for buildings one and two, which was presented to the RCO.
However, they did not take a vote because they wanted to see the amended refusal to be sure they were voting on the right application.
So we did meet with them on July 14th and we will meet with them before the end of the month.
So we agreed that we would proceed today and possibly either keep the record open for their letter or give it a resumption date, hopefully by October 6th, at which time we can just submit the letter and the board could vote the case.
So in any event, my exhibit packet includes the notice of refusal, both of them, the original and the amended.
It's an application for a moving and storage facility in existing buildings one and two.
The use is prohibited in RM2. That was the only refusal, and accordingly, we seek a use variance.
A2 is the application of appeal. A3, project information form. A4 is proof of ownership.
A5 is proof of tax clearance, which only showed through 2020 since this matter was listed at a prior date.
However, we do have a copy of the recent tax payment to satisfy 2021 taxes paid on 828 in the amount of $353.
So I submit that we are tax compliant.
I'm sorry.
We have a site plan.
We have photographs, my RCO meeting notice and certificate of mailing.
I do have RCO letter from Somerton Civic.
It's not in my packet, but it's separate.
I did email a copy to the board, as did Mr. Bordelon, president of Somerton Civic.
I was copied on that email as well.
I have not heard from Councilman O 'Neill's office.
I don't know if Alice is on the line, but again, I just haven't heard from him.
A10, if we do have a letter or comments from the councilman, I would ask that that be marked as A10.
A -11 is the relevant zoning history. There was only one use at this property on file.
Pre -1946, it was premier porch enclosure, which is
Pre -1946, it was Premier Porch Enclosure, which is a millwork and manufacturing company.
They were there from pre -1946 up until about 2018 when they, I'm not sure if they went out of business or if they just relocated out of the city.
My client bought the property shortly after that.
A -12 is the zoning map and A -13 are the aerial photographs.
So very quickly, we have the refusal.
We have the application of appeal, project information form, full copy of the deed, tax clearance.
Again, the latest printout only had it cleared through 2020, but 2021 has since been paid.
With regard to the site map, it's an almost triangular -shaped property on Bybury Road, just east of Philmont Avenue at the upper outer edge of the city of Philadelphia.
There are two buildings on site.
One building runs parallel with Bybury Road, that is building one.
Building two runs perpendicular to Bybury Road, and they are all storage garages.
This was a warehouse in Newark, and these were storage garages in building number two, all proposed for the present and existing use as a moving and storage company.
So with regard to the photographs, as you can see, this is Bybury Road running along the bottom.
Here's building one. Building number two runs, again, perpendicular to Bybury Road.
To the left and right and across the street, there are multifamily condominiums and apartments.
Again, this is a shot from the rear.
As you can see, there's a large parking lot in the rear of the building.
It's adjacent to the SEPTA regional rail tracks.
And then real quickly, the front of the building along Bybury.
Again, this is building number two, the perpendicular storage building.
Another shot of that.
This is the lunchroom and dispatch office.
And again, you'll just see it's a storage of household items
being ready to be moved to a new location.
Very shots.
And again, here's a shot of a moving van that would
back into the building and it would be loaded and taken to the new location.
Byberry Road looking eastbound.
Byberry Road looking westbound towards Philmont Avenue.
Our meeting notice, the meeting was held on July the 14th, included a copy of the original refusal, and then it went out to, as you can see, numerous addresses due to the fact that most of them are condominiums.
239 mailings in all were sent out.
Aerial photographs, Philmont Avenue at the upper extent,
the regional rail lines crossing through the center
and the red dot indicating the site.
Photograph, I mean, a zoning map, it's zoned RM2.
At the RCO meeting, basically, we gave them the full presentation
location. This is a copy of my summary form that was handed out to the 120 plus people that showed
up. We did indicate it was building number one and two. It's a use variance only. We described
the location, the previous use, indicated that it's a non -conforming industrial building which
cannot reasonably use as multifamily dwellings. It's a family -owned business. I have one of the
owners here in my office with me. She's not on the call separately. I will move my camera to
identify her so she can verify and adopt. But they specialize in long -haul moving and storage,
no commercial or industrial moving. It's all household items, furniture stored until the
new home is ready for delivery. There's ample off -street parking, as you can see in the
photographs, 10 to 12 full -time employees. And the days and hours of operation are basically during
the week, 6 a .m. to 7 p .m., occasionally on a Saturday, and they are closed on Sundays.
uh somerton did submit this letter a copy has been provided to the board
um i i can summarize it very quickly uh basically the same thing that i said
we made a presentation in detail about the application uh but they agreed to
have the board hold its vote pending a formal vote by the uh somerton civic once the uh the
meeting is scheduled and they are presented with a copy of you know another mailing uh with a copy
of the amended refusal and uh they would then uh make their vote and notify the board so if
the board has no questions of me i'll identify my witness and have her verify and adopt
my representations mr ward if we hold this uh do we have any idea when this next
my representations mr ward if we hold this uh do we have any idea when this next meeting
will be i've been assured it'd be before the end of the month and that uh they'd have their
letter ready by october 6th all right get your client on and um okay i'm gonna have to stop
screen sharing i'm sorry chair this is tanya sunk at the administrator may i ask a question
yeah mr ward yes ma 'am i i missed a little bit about your explanation of the tax balance
did you say as of today it was paid up uh hang on tanya i'll bring that back up um where to go
um the where is it uh when i did my printout from uh the revenue department it showed a balance of
$353 .93 for 2021. There's no liens, but there was a small balance due. And the owner of the
property made payment through the city's revenue portal and paid that amount on 828. And this is
a copy of the receipt saying that that payment was made for $353. Perfect. Thank you very kindly,
mr wart you're welcome thank you and you'll get your client on
okay uh with me today is leora israel that's l -i -o -r -a uh first name last name israel i -s -r -a -e -i -l
she is the cfo and partner of uh pro tri -state movers llc so i would ask that she be sworn in
ma 'am do you swear for them to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
Yes. Thank you, Mr. Ward. Okay, Leora, you've heard my representations to the board today?
Yes. Are they true and correct, to the best of your knowledge and information and belief?
Yes. And you adopt them as your own testimony? Yes. Thank you. And for the record, I also have
in the room to the right of Leora Israel is the principal of Strategic Vantage LP,
uh furcat kuzinov f -u -r -k -a -t furcat last name kuzinov k -h -u -s -e -n -o -v uh just in the event
the board has any questions for the property on questions from the board no mr chairman no
anyone else would like to testify in this case if so please raise your hand
no answer this time mr chair thank you planning commission
this is uh ron bednar city planning that's r -o -n -b -e -d -n -a -r you swear for him to tell
the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do please proceed
well this property is currently indicated for residential use on the city plan given
in its documented history,
we recommended the request of variance be granted.
Thank you.
All right, Mr. Chairman, so I defer to the board.
I don't know if you want to schedule a resumption date
or if you just want to leave the record open
for Somerton's letter, again, they've indicated
that they will hold that second meeting
before the end of the month,
probably the second or third week,
I mean the third or fourth week of the month
and that we could have that letter submitted
by on or before the first Wednesday of October.
Can we just hold this like that or do we have to share?
I would respectfully request that we do a resumption just so that everybody involved can have the discussion.
And then on September 26, if that's agreeable at three thirty, we can just allow a letter to be read into the record.
yeah okay i thought you would say that just want to double check what what date was that
december the 26th at 3 30 p .m uh september 20 i'm sorry september december listen to me
september 22nd or 26 26 isn't that a yes sunday no mr ward the 22nd does that work with your
meeting schedule uh they said that they would meet before the end of the month so if if they can't
get it by the 22nd we might have a probably on the safe side maybe could we do something later
tanya later in the month or beginning of october
i mean october 20 i mean september 29th would be fine i think because they generally meet on
monday nights so if we were to meet on the 27th i'm sure we can get a letter in before
uh you know on tuesday and then have it ready for the board on wednesday
okay we can do the 29th
anytime anytime's fine tanya it doesn't matter okay so it's not your typical
it doesn't matter okay so it's not your typical no we can still do 330 we can still do 330 ed
no we can still do 330 we can still do three
on september 29th okay awesome thank you all right thank you all right mi2020 -003259
250 by berry road this case will be resumed on september the 29th at 3 30 p .m at which time
the board will consider any feedback related to the rco's position thank you very much i got the
next i got the next case but i want to excuse my clients real quick if i could yeah i'm sorry
chair could we just clarify that that is just to have a letter read into the record well i use
feedback because that's what i would all right at which time the board will review any letter
related to the rco's position thank you just to confirm that because we have gotten quite a few
complaints about people not being able to speak at a resumption just for a letter okay understood
thank you all right uh as mr ward is um concluding his business with his previous client mi 2020
that's 003 -249 -3460 -J
like in the letter J as in John Street
there is a letter from Impact CDC of support
and Mr. Ward is back on
I am back thank you
Sean Ward on behalf of the applicant
my address is 331 East Street Road
Trevos PA 19053
And you're still under oath, and Mr. Plaza has questions for you.
Mr. Ward, you agree to waive the reading of its refusal and stipulate to attack IRC?
Yes, I do.
Have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents, proof of ownership, proof of tax compliance, copy of the refusal, or referral, photos, and plans five days prior to this hearing?
Yes, twice.
Have you met with the RCO and have a letter?
Yes, I do.
okay thank you please proceed okay let me go to
all right mr chairman can everybody see my screen
yes very good uh i've submitted my typical exhibit packet
uh i represent 3450 j street llc also on the uh zoom call today is george groves
representative of 3450 J Street LLC, and Ian Smith, who is the design professional
on this project. This was an application for the erection of a one -story addition,
which would be a six -floor penthouse above the existing fifth floor, and the erection of an
accessory roof deck resulted in four refusals. One is for the use. A new dwelling unit is prohibited
in I -2. I would point out that the board previously granted a variance for the erection of this new
building at J Street in Tioga. So we're looking to add one additional residential dwelling to this
project. The addition of that one unit requires one parking space, which obviously no parking
spaces are provided. We have a rear yard refusal, nine feet is required, whereas zero is proposed,
but we can address that and the maximum height 60 feet is permitted versus 67 proposed accordingly
we seek a variance we have the a2 is the zba application a3 project information form a4 proof
of ownership a5 tax clearance a6 site plan a7 or photographs a8 is the rco meeting notice and
certificate of mailing. A -9 is Impact CDC's RCO letter. I don't know if the council person
submitted a letter or if they are on the call today. That's Councilwoman Sanchez's office.
A -11, as far as the relevant zoning history, January of 2017, it was for the erection of an
attached structure 60 feet high with 18 dwelling units. July of 2019, it was the relocation of
lot lines to create two lots from one lot, 3450 and 3460 J Street.
October of 2019, a permit was issued for 24 dwelling units and vacant commercial space at
the first floor of this building. January of 21, a daycare center, first floor and basement
permit was granted. And May of 2021, we provided a unity of use application for 3450 and 3460
60 J Street, and that included 1046 East Tioga Street, and that was to address a
and that included 1046 East Tioga Street, and that was to address a Board of Building Standards
variance request. It had no change in the current or present or proposed uses of the property.
So A12 is the zoning map and A13 are the photographs, I mean the aerial photographs.
So again, we have the notice of refusal, the application of appeal, project information form,
my transmittal letter, copy of the deed.
And this was the plan attached to the deed, I'm sorry.
Tax clearance, you can see taxes are paid through 2021.
So with regard to the plan, as you can see, didn't want to do that.
so what you have here is this is the structure at 34 this is 60 j street um
we are looking to add a a penthouse unit above the fifth floor there would be a rooftop deck
a portion of it would be a communal deck for the residential dwellings inside the building
and a portion of it would be uh limited solely to the penthouse residence with when i mentioned 10
46 East Tioga as part of that unity of use. This is a vacant lot but pursuant to the unity of use
that will remain a vacant lot and there's access from Tioga Street sidewalk to the rear of the
property. And this is also in conjunction with the building next door at 3450 J Street which is also
a multi -family dwelling project. As far as the elevation goes, you'll see
we are looking to add a sixth floor penthouse unit above the existing structure.
And that plan also included some photographs, but I have plenty of current photographs. So
we have a picture of the zoning notice on the front door.
Here is the existing newly constructed building. Again we're looking to add a
six floor penthouse unit to it. Here's a shot from the corner.
This is the the new building and there is a breezeway and patio area which connects to the
other existing multi -family structure on the site. Across the street is Tioga Beverage.
so it's not a prior client of mine we put an addition on that building years ago
uh this would be uh tioga facing west it sits across the street from the joseph
scanlon playground and rec center and this is tioga street facing down towards kensington
avenue where the uh deceptor rail is again toga beverage across the street we sent out our rco
meeting notice went up to 120 identical mailings went out on that there's the addresses
and then impacts letter number of 10 d attendees was six and they provided as you can see unanimous
support before this application and then we have copies of those zoning permits that i
previously discussed they are attached to the packet and made part of the record in this matter
Again, here's the zoning map. This property is zoned RM1, whereas the adjacent property is zoned I2, but they are used in unity of use for the multifamily use there.
So, again, here is an aerial photograph. They're known as the J Street Lofts, and it's a very successful residential complex.
I do have Mr. Groves available to verify and adopt, and Ian Smith is present on the call.
Should the board have any specific questions with regard to the architectural plans?
Any questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
no bring on your uh yeah i would ask george uh raise your hand and be uh allowed to uh testify
hello hi please spell your full name and i'll swear you in george groves g -e -o -r -g -e -g -r -o -v -e -s
we're affirmed to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes sir thank you mr ward all right george you've heard my representations to the board today
Are they true and correct to the best of your knowledge, information, and belief?
And you adopt them as your own testimony?
Yes, sir.
Yes, sir.
Thank you very much.
Thank you very much.
Anyone else would like to testify in this case?
Please raise your hand.
No further hand, it's time to chat.
Thank you.
Planning Commission.
This is Ron Bednar, City Planning.
While this property is currently indicated for industrial use on the city plan, given the site context, we recommend to press advance.
Thank you.
MI 2020 -003 -249 -3460J Street.
My vote is yes.
Professor Klaza, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
Thank you.
Case number five, MI 2020 -003 -389 -446 -58N 12th Street.
Justin Crick is the attorney of record.
Callahill Neighbor Association sent a letter of support, as did Councilman Squilla and the Asian American Federation of the United States.
Good afternoon, members of the board.
Mr. Crick, please spell your full name and I'll swear you in.
Yes, Justin Crick, J -U -S -T -I -N -K -R -I -K. Address is 1500 JFK Boulevard, Suite 630, Philadelphia PA 19102.
He's where I'm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
I do. Mr. Plas has some questions for you.
Mr. Crick, you agree to waive the reading of its refusal and stipulate to attack her?
I do believe that there is a minor issue with the refusal.
It indicates four dwelling units when I believe the request is for a total of five, but that would not create an additional refusal.
Okay, and have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents, proof of ownership, proof of tax compliance, copy of the refusal, or referral, photos and plans five days prior to this hearing?
Okay, and have you met with the RCO and have the letter?
Yes, we do.
Thank you. Please proceed.
Thank you.
members of the board we're here today for the property of 446 -52 north 12th street
the property is currently zoned as um icmx with the industrial and commercial requirements
what the applicant is seeking is the legalization of this property with five units and commercial
frontage on the first floor we are not here to discuss the commercial use but that has been
approved as a use permit and will be a commercial establishment with uh for archery the entire first
floor as i'll show you the building uh you'll understand how it's set out but we're we're
concerned only with the residential component um of this property so as the refusal states
it says four dwelling units but based on the layout and a reading of the actual application
we have one unit above the area designated 448 and four units total above the area designated
450 -52. To bring this into context, we are on North 12th Street between Buttonwood and Hamilton
Street at the corner. And it is this entire property, while this will show you, it looks
like three properties, but all three of these are one tax parcel. And we're here seeking the
approval for the entire, the entirety of the property. This is the frontage on North 12th
street. And here you have a side view of the one story portion, uh, on the adjacent, excuse me,
adjacent street. This will, uh, the picture may be a little bit dated, but it is, uh, best to show
you where the apartments would, would be, uh, situated. So one of the apartments is located
above the structure and the two story component of the building. And there are two units at each of
the second and third floors. The property was originally used as a tofu manufacturing plant,
at which time the current owner's member was the owner, and he had owned and operated the plant in
the neighborhood, and at one point had begun to allow some of the workers to have lodging in a
place to stay. In developing or improving the property in the first floor commercial unit,
And in response to certain violations, the owner has subsequently recognized that they need to bring things up to code and get the approval of the zoning board.
So what the proposal plans, these are the current floor plans of the second floor of the building.
You have a unit up front, one in the back, and this side unit is actually the unit that's over the one -story portion of the building.
So we have this is the two -story section, which two units, one front, one back.
And then the third floor just shows the one in the front and one in the back.
And then the third floor just shows the one in the front and one in the back.
Some interior photos.
The property does have fire safety, but all of the systems are going to be upgraded.
All of the code compliance issues, if any, in order to issue the appropriate COs would be obtained with the approval of the variance.
This is the exit to the roof area.
This is not for roof deck use or any sort of pedestrian or occupant use.
This is only just showing you that there's access to a roof for maintenance purposes.
And we've met with both not only the PCDC, Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation, but also gotten received support from several other RCOs, including the Callahill Neighbors Association and the Asian American Federation of the United States.
So basically, and I just want to go through some of the other basic documents for you real quick before my argument is that here's a copy of the deed showing Mr. Nguyen, who was the owner of the property, deeded it over to a 448 12th Street LP, of which he is still a partner.
Tax clearance certificate, and I do have on a different screen, which I can share if the board requires the picture of the posting that my client had sent me.
But essentially what we're doing here is my client has been a longstanding member of the community and business owner and was a one time, a long time ago, a resident of the community, has continued ties with the community.
And during our discussions, the PCDC has supported this based upon our discussions and negotiations to continue to make the housing affordable in the area.
There is a community benefits agreement that is separate from this, but given that the nature of the property and the industrial use in the area has dwindled significantly, the industrial use is somewhat antiquated for the area and residential use would, in our opinion, be the highest and best use for the second and third floor.
That said, with the community's support, we are hoping that the legalization will allow
the owner to bring the property up to code and obtain the necessary certificates of occupancy.
I have Mr. Wen available to adopt my testimony.
Mr. Wen, are you available?
Members of the board, I was informed that if they ran into some technical difficulties,
I don't know if the weather is affecting them, but they did ask me to be prepared for that.
We'll stipulate that you being an officer of court, your client would have adopted your testimony.
Any questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
What else would like to testify in this case?
Please raise your hand.
Hi, Chair.
This is Tanya Sunkett.
May I ask a question of Mr. Crick?
I'm not quite sure because I'm not sharing the letter, but I did want to confirm that you are stating your refusal has an error saying four, but you're requesting five.
So the application indicated one apartment above this section and four apartments above this section.
This is all one address and one OP, Office of Property Assessment number.
So I noticed that it says four dwelling units.
Even five would be prohibited because residential in and of itself is not available in this district or in this classification.
But I believe that the examiner may have only seen the four units above this component of the property, the three -story component.
So the reason why I'm asking, Mr. Crick, is that if the board grants the variance, you will only get four for the permit with L &I.
So that was why I was just trying to confirm. If you're going down, it's fine. But if you're going up, other than what's on the actual application slash refusal, that I believe a proviso would be required for maximum five units.
But if we wish, we could always hold off and request clarification of how to change the language for Ms. Saleta next week.
Well, thank you. I am open to the board. If the board is willing to do a proviso for the allowance of the fifth, that would be preferable. I can understand the need for Ms. Saleta to weigh in. But again, I don't know that since we're not dealing with any dimensional or
But again, I don't know that since we're not dealing with any dimensional or capacity issues, even at the fifth unit, because that unit's located on the separate building.
I, you know, I do believe that the underlying issue is really the residential use at all, but a proviso would be welcome.
So you're suggesting then, Mr. Crick, if the board were to approve this with a proviso, maximum five units?
Does that work, Tanya?
I would actually, if everyone is agreeable, prefer Ms. Saletta's weigh -in, because sometimes when LNI is not very clear, it will hold your permit up for an extensive period of time.
So if we can hold it, deliberate next Wednesday, have Ms. Saletta's weigh -in, and then offer a vote next Wednesday.
All right, Mr. Crick, I think that Tanya gives good advice.
we can that way all the dots will be dotted and the i's will be dotted and the t's will be crossed
all right i have no objection thank you miss thank you uh planning commission
this is uh ron bednar city planning this property is indicated for industrial commercial mixed use
on the city plan. In 2015, this parcel was remapped from I2 to ICMX to protect the light industrial
area in the neighborhood. No further changes to the zoning at this location has been approved
since. Therefore, we recommend an equestor variant stop plan. Okay, we're going to hold
this until next week right so uh mi 2020 -003389446 -52 north 12th street
tanya do we revise that i say the record is closed yes all right the record is closed and
the board will discuss this at next wednesday's executive session thank you
Thank you. Last case, MI 2020 -003 -248 -7105, 7105 Grays Avenue. Is there anyone here for 7105 Grays Avenue?
Mr. Craig Melodosian has his hand raised.
Mr. Melodosian, please identify yourself with a record. Spell your last name and I'll swear you in.
Good afternoon. Craig Melodosian, M -E -L -I -D -O -S -I -A -N, Ward 40, Republican RCO, Coordinating RCO, P .O. Box 33355, Philadelphia 19142.
We're a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
I do. Mr. Melodossian, I know you're not the applicant, so just give me one more second. Is
anyone here beside Mr. Melodossian for 7105 Grays Avenue?
I'm going to ask Mr. Chair. Thank you. Mr. Melodossian, this case has already been listed
previously and we have no exhibits. Are you adverse to us dismissing this case?
uh that that's what i was uh going to request on behalf of the community
uh we've received no communications whatsoever from the applicant and for neither hearing was
there any notice uh that we could see visibly posted on the building uh and the building
does continue to operate in violation of the code we'd like to move it to enforcement if possible
Okay. MI 2020 -003 -248 -7105 Grays Avenue. This case is dismissed. And Tanya, can we order enforcement?
We can?
Yes, Chair. You can dismiss with the request for enforcement action, and then I will reach out to License and Inspections to request an inspection to determine if they are operating without the proper
required permits and licenses thank you so uh what ms tunkett just sunk it just read into the
record is what the case will be uh dismissed for and further uh and for enforcement for l and i
i know i screwed that first applause it no problem confessor plaza my vote is uh dismissed with
enforcement. James Snell, dismissed with enforcement. Thomas Holloman, dismissed with
enforcement. Okay, any unfinished business? Is there anyone who feels as though they didn't
have an opportunity to testify? Please raise your hand. No hand, sir. Thank you.
no answer thank you uh any unfinished business tanya
no cheer everything is great all right thank you everyone be safe enjoy your holiday weekend
see everyone thank you likewise great job
bye -bye thank you oh by the way you notice we're getting done at 5 30
when carol's here we don't get done the eight o 'clock
last week she was here for a while
I just want to say thank you
DPZ Zoom IT
and thank you court reporter John Kelly
everybody behind the scenes
you're very welcome
have a good weekend
all right
good night all
Thank you.