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.