ZBA Hearing - November 4, 2026

First of all, I'd like to clarify the attorneys, Ms. Webster's attorney's representation.

um representation of uh the chair of the 59th wards uh rco meeting um you know he was well

prepared and as the your one of your the members of your board just asked or just stated parking

was an issue. So it's not like it was coming out of thin air. So that's, that's that. As far as the

near neighbors are concerned, you know, the vote was taken, and of the near neighbors,

whether they signed the petition or not, which we don't have a copy of, it's, I don't know where

they're coming up with the fact that a majority of near neighbors were in favor um and now again

this was originally the original meeting was for four units and that was just completely out of

right and then and then they came back with like a three unit thing but we were never able to hear

the two unit um i'm just giving you that for the thing um and primarily half of the block

is our the units are already converted into multifamily however the half the half of the

block where they are um most of those houses all of those houses are um single family um

and i and as i said since we hadn't had an opportunity to um review the two-bedroom unit

uh idea um they floated it before us but we never saw anything yet you know we did we weren't able

to meet about it so that's all i'm saying um we were definitely a photo four and three okay

hold on one minute council do you have questions uh a few comments why don't we do this why don't

we wait to see if there's anybody else thank you for your call is there anyone else in the virtual

audience hello anybody else there are no more hands chair council uh just uh briefly uh we had

two meetings with the rco the first meeting we proposed a three-unit plan and the second meeting

we had a very long discussion about this specific plan uh that's the first thing the second thing

there are some long-standing I guess relationships in this area between people the lady who just

spoke rented property I believe from my client they've known each other for a long time I think

there's some interpersonal issues going on all right thank you here I'm sorry to interrupt a

hand just went up from a Demetrius Demopopoulos okay

demetrius you're allowed to speak okay can you guys hear me i can could you please state and

spell your name for this thermographer sure this is for light era correct for what sir

for lighty avenue or no no no no okay i'm sorry sorry wrong meeting all right thank you

is there anyone else in the audience we see

no other hands at this time thank you chair and good morning david vecto with the city planning

commission chairman and board members the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the

rsa3 residential single family zoning at this location the city rezoned this neighborhood in

1971 and a council supported map change this property was built as a single family home

in 1986 a prior owner appealed a permit denial to the zoning board requesting three dwelling units

that case was dismissed the city issued a rental license for one dwelling unit at the property in

2013 there is no unique physical condition or circumstance of this property that would prevent

it from being used in strict conformity with the zoning code the city planning commission recommends

that the board deny the amended proposal for two dwelling units mi-2026-002-867-263 west

written house i vote yes with proviso maximum two dwelling units and we include uh a trash to be

stored in the rear yard and no house stored in the rear was a proviso and no and no household

living in the basement and what's that michael no household living in the basement and no household

litigant basement. Michael

Johns, my vote is yes with provisos.

Cheryl Gaston, my vote

is yes with provisos.

Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes with provisos.

My vote is yes with provisos.

Layla Beebe, my vote is yes with provisos.

thank you you have your vote thank you board good luck thank you thank you very much so why

Thank you. You have your vote. Thank you, board.

Good luck.

don't we go back to number seven mi2025 004 680 5830 would be avenue henry durval

hello hi how do we make out with our computer

For some reason, I mean, I don't know why I can't see my video because everything is clear.

There's nothing black in my view.

And then also my architects, he has all the exhibits as well.

What's that, sir?

My architects, he has all the exhibits.

Is the architect online?

Yes, Mr. Ken Johnson.

So we can go on if the architect has the documents.

Am I correct?

Yes, sir.

All right.

Could we architect, please?

What's his name?

Kenneth Johnson

Kenneth

Kenneth Johnson

Johnson

They're being promoted to panelists

Thank you

Yeah, I'm here

Good morning, could you please state and spell your name for this phonographer

Kenneth Johnson

K-E-N-N-E-T-H

johnson j-o-h-n-s-o-n so do you swear or affirm to tell the truth told you it's nothing but the

truth yes all right so uh henry will be doing the testimony uh can you put the documents up online

for us yes and this is a resumptive hearing

yes so this is the refusal yeah we we have we have all that let me tell you what what we want

to do we want um henry to come up come online come online and testify as to everything he's

done that's different and then we'll have questions from the board and we'll move on from that so this

is a resumptive hearing he does we just want to know what different he's done to the property

since the last hearing.

Henry, can you do that for us?

Yes, yes, yes.

And then what you'll do is direct the architect

to move the video and the presentation.

Okay?

So tell us what you've done different.

Okay, so we went from a three-story to a two-story.

So, because, I mean, there was some concern about the property being too tall, blacking people's views. So we went from a three-story to a two-story. So along the black, all the heights will be the same.

And we also went from a four units to a three units.

And then, last time we met in person on South 58th Street, that's what we discussed.

And I believe the architect has all the plans to also show the modifications.

and you're going to call the architect as a witness architect please come on

show us what you have and how the changes are now on okay okay you can hear me

yeah mr johnson you would you please do that for us and tell us what's different

all right um like i say it was three stories now it's two can you can you hear me yeah okay i'm

sorry okay i'm just making sure yeah we went from uh three stories to two stories so now you see

the plan uh in the site plan where we have a two-story building um uh the rear window it was

well i don't know if you can see my cursor but it was a rear window back here on the first floor

and they wanted that removed because they said that you could look into the their neighbor's

red yard so remove that the front facade uh it's going to be brick veneer now before it was i think

final siding um and if you look at the floor plan instead of having four dwelling units now it's

three one in the front one in the rear and then when you go into the front you go upstairs and

And there's a third one on the second floor.

What's in the basement?

The basement is tenant laundry, utilities, and some place to store some tenant items if they need it.

some place to store some tenant items if they need it and of course the meter room okay

And, of course, the meter room.

anything else you want to point out to us sir

uh brick veneer removal of cyber window two floors from three dwelling units from four

dwellings nope that's about it for the um the changes that was requested by the rco

okay questions from the board yes could you tell me how uh the square footage of both the

apartments on the first floor uh the front apartment is 433 square feet and the rear one

is 516 square feet

for the rear apartment in the first floor.

And the second floor unit

is 880 square feet.

Other questions?

oh trash i'm sorry i was uh could you tell me what your trash plan is for the three units

well i'm the architect but the owner's only he could speak to the trash but we have ample room

in the rear yard for trash and a walkway to get the trash to the front on trash days

Thank you.

Other questions?

I just appreciate the changes that were made, particularly to the front facade.

I know last time we saw this, it had vinyl.

It's horrible.

I think making it break and consistent with the rest of the block is a much improved change.

Questions from our attorney?

No questions at this time.

Questions or comments from the virtual audience?

no hands at this time chair planning commission thank you chairman and good morning david

with the city planning commission chairman and board members the comprehensive plan recommends

no change to the rsa3 residential single family zoning at this location the city rezoned this

neighborhood in 2019 in accord with recommendations in the comprehensive plan at that time this block

face had been zoned single-family since city council adopted the original zoning maps in 1933.

all of the properties on this block face appear to have non-compliant side yards and none appear

to have off-street accessory parking this is a primarily single-family block face except for

one duplex so three dwelling units is out of character with the homes on this block face

the city planning commission recommends that the board grant the proposed dimensional and

parking variances but deny the proposed use variance for multi-family dwellings

mi 2025 004 680 5830 whitby avenue

i vote see here

i vote yes with proviso revised plans one page stamped by zba november 4th 2026 maximum three

dwelling units my vote is yes with proviso

Cheryl Gaston my vote is yes with proviso

Tanetta Graham my vote is yes with proviso

Tyo Nguyen my vote is yes with proviso

thank you

thanks

we're going to do 11 and 12 together

right so number 11 is MI 2026

003 276 4150

Lady Avenue

And number 12 is MI 2026-003-277-4152 Lighty Avenue.

I do believe we have letters of opposition for both.

Counsel, could you please state and spell your name for the stenographer?

Meredith Ferliger, F-E-R-L-E-G-E-R.

You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?

Yes, I do.

Questions from our vice chair?

Good morning.

Have you submitted your documents and exhibits for both cases 14 days in advance of this hearing?

Yes, I did.

And do you waive the reading of your refusals for both cases and stipulate to the accuracy?

Yes, I do.

And I do need somebody to promote me as panelist.

Okay, thank you.

Once you do that, you can begin.

Thank you.

They're being promoted, chair.

all right well good morning mr chairman members

Well, good morning, Mr. Chairman, members of the board, Meredith Ferliger of Dilworth Paxson.

My client today is Haverford Square by Metropolitan 14 LLC, which is the owner of both of the properties, represented today by German Yakubov, who is here and just had to step out momentarily.

He should be back any minute.

As you know, the request before you today concerns 4150 and 4152 Leidy Avenue, which are two opposing corners, as you'll see.

I did submit two exhibit packets that each contain 18 exhibits, but for just purposes of presentation today, I've combined them just to make it a little bit easier to go through.

To summarize the basis for today's request, both of the applications request the erection

of two new structures, each for use as a six-family dwelling. We do have several dimensional

refusals, as well as the use refusal for the proposed multifamily use. In each of the packets,

tax clearance is included at Exhibit 2, and the deed to each property is included at Exhibit 3.

As I mentioned, these properties are essentially mirror images of each other with very small

deviation just based on the width of the lot, so I will just stick to these exhibits, but I can

bring up anything in each of the individual packets if that's necessary. Now, just by way of

background, let me see if I can get rid of it. There we go. Just by way of background, you can

see on the zoning map up on the screen at exhibit 5 that the properties sit on lighty avenue right

as they meet west styles street so you can see here that the one that's highlighted in this

particular image is 4150 4152 is the directly opposing corner just to set some context here

just to the north of this block is viola street and just north of that is parkside avenue

If I flip to the aerials at Exhibit 9, you'll see the two vacant opposing corners that are the subject of today's request.

What you will also notice from these aerials is the complete abject lack of structures that exist on much of this block.

There are also several vacant lots immediately adjacent to these corners.

So the aerials are slightly deceiving. The lots that are before the board today do not encompass these entire vacant areas here. They are just the kind of narrow corners.

Now, just moving into the photographs at Exhibit 18, the first photograph is of 4150 Lighty Avenue, which is looking down that Stiles Street towards North 42nd Street.

Street and then I'll just walk you through these photographs briefly here so you can

see here the property frontage from West style Street and then across the property here again

you can really see just how significant the lack of structures are on this particular block of

Leidy Avenue and then this is another view looking down towards West Girard Avenue

uh and then flipping in the opposite direction this looks towards north 42nd street and again