This is a pretty straightforward project where all we're trying to do is get visitor accommodation use for this property,
which is a residential property and a rather large condominium development.
We have off-street parking.
So we met with the South Broad Street Neighborhood Association. One person, one affected property showed up. They voted in support of this property.
During the meeting, we were told that if the neighborhood group saw proof after the meeting that this is not against the bylaws of the association and the condominium to have visitor accommodations, and they received a letter in support from the condominium association, the group would support it themselves.
ourselves so you know it did take us you know we had the meeting last i believe last week it did
take us a few more days than we you know we hoped but you know we're dealing with the condominium
board so everything takes a little bit longer so um i believe this weekend maybe we got a letter
in opposition but again and one of the indications was that we didn't provide that letter and proof
of you know that this is not against the governing condominium documents we got that letter since
We do have in our presentation packet a portion of the declaration showing it's not against the condominium rules and regulations to have Airbnbs.
And, you know, I believe for those reasons alone, we, you know, this board should support this matter because it's a very straightforward matter.
And again, the people who did show up in the meeting, one person was in support of it.
So we do have that correspondence from the Marine Club Condominiums Management.
It's also not uncommon to have visitor accommodations within the Marine Club.
And we have we showed a couple of listings of that, as well as across the street where the apartment building, which has the target, also has an Airbnb unit.
We also have our listing, which shows that, you know, we're a well-regarded, you know, Airbnb operator.
We also have reviews showing that as well.
Maps of the area, photographs of the interior of the property as well as the surrounding area.
And then just simple floor plans.
Our RCO meeting notice along with proof of mailing of that notice.
Our application for appeal that we filed on Mr. Milano's behalf.
The deed to the property showing that Mr. Milano is the owner of the property.
As well as the certificate of tax clearance for the property.
Again, well, the zoning classification is I-2, so the use that we're asking for is just visitor accommodations.
This is a residential condominium building, and we would ask for a proviso for three-year temporary variance, which I think is reasonable under the circumstances.
And then, again, the South Philly neighborhood group indicated, too, that everyone who was in attendance outside of the board itself voted in favor of that.
That's that one person.
They, the board themselves, all voted against it.
They, the board themselves, all voted against it. And, you know, here's the letter explaining such. And then again, in this paragraph here, they said, well, we don't believe that visitor accommodations would be allowed in this condominium building.
and you know here's the
If you show us that and you show and give us proof that the board is in support of that, you know, that would go a long way.
You know, in the letter, they said that during the meeting, they said if their board is OK with it and, you know, it's not illegally used by based on the condominium bylaws, they would be fine with that.
That's what we did.
We have that letter and it's from the Marine Club Condominium Association.
The following unit has approved to rent short-term through Airbnb or materially similar platforms.
This approval does not need renewal subject to state and federal laws, as well as the declaration, bylaws, and regulations of the HOA.
And then I also included, which is a recorded document, the declaration of the condominium building, which is the Marine Club.
and specific i only gave a portion of it because i didn't want to have all the pages thereby do
have its you know section or article 7 talks about restrictions on use and alienation and
lease of units and i grant you typically when you see these condominium uh you know rules and
regulations it does limit the amount of time typically that a unit owner can lease a property
usually it's at least 180 days. Here, there's no mention of that. And actually, this condominium
regime has no such prohibition. And again, from the letter you see, they confirmed that. But if
you look at 7.1 and 7.2 of the declaration, there's no such prohibition or limitation.
So all we have to do is give notice that we're leasing the property out. And it's so long
as this is approved it's approved that's what happens here and then nearby airbnb listings so
again people don't want to always you know get you know have a property you know you know have
a hotel room at the ritz you know they want something a little bit more unique and here
again this is a you know north you know south broad street this commercial corridor and um you
know we have a parking space and someone you know wants a little bit different flavor and that's what
But, you know, our Airbnb offers and many, many Airbnbs in this vicinity.
And you can see here, they're like, you know, again, I took these, you know, from the Airbnb site.
But this is where the, you know, where the new target is on South Broad Street in Washington.
There's an Airbnb there.
There's Airbnbs in the Marine Club as well.
So not uncommon.
And then here's our listing.
You know, we have stellar reviews. My client takes it very seriously. He actually stays many nights there. Not many. He probably stays there when he when, you know, there are events in downtown that he goes to or, you know, maybe at the stadiums.
He probably does like maybe seven nights. I think he said maybe seven nights and maybe he affirmed that he only does so many nights a month to just basically pay the mortgage and the condo fees of Airbnb use.
So it's not overusing the property, but regardless, there's no effect on the community because this is an enclosed condominium building where people have off-street parking.
And, you know, again, just having that letter of support shows that he's not causing a nuisance within his own condominium.
And then the reviews are, again, we just took off of Airbnb.
You know, they're very good.
and then maps of the area here um we're not in the heart of a residential property we're
we're on south broad street and there's only in this property is i too
so um not that that should matter um but i think it does
and the interior photos from you know from the airbnb website
and then photographs of of the uh the marine club building
and then proof of you know posting for that uh for today's hearing
and then perspectives from both south broad street and washington have
and then there's some accommodations within the marine club
and then again simple drawings it's you know it's it's you know a simple floor
It's, you know, a simple floor plan. You walk in, you have two closets, you have a bathroom, you have a kitchen, you have a living room, and you have a sleeping quarters.
point you walk in you have two closets you have a bathroom you have a kitchen
And then again, it really was not that well attended the meeting, but the one person who did show up was in support of it, but we had it March 19th, which I believe was last week.
598 addresses were notified to that meeting list of the addresses that received notification
of that of that community meeting
and then proof of mailing
and there are applications for appeal
on Mr. Milano's behalf, along with the deed to the property, and then a certificate of
tax clearance.
I would ask that Mr. Milano, if he's still in the virtual audience, virtually raise his
He's been allowed to speak.
Sir, could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
david milano d-a-v-i-d m-i-l-a-n-o do you swear affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing
but the truth yes i do please proceed counsel uh mr milano you had every you heard everything i had
to state today yes about your zoning matter is it true and correct yes and do you adopt
as your own testimony yes and then by the way the couple one question you know you live near
near the property like you live closer to the stadiums but you don't live far from it right
correct and then just to confirm you probably rent this property on average six to seven nights
a month is that correct correct and that's just paid your mortgage and your condo fees right
yes correct and then you're also a super host meaning that you know you get because of the
good reviews you get you get a special designation right correct yes thank you questions from the
board no mr chairman questions or comments from our attorney
questions or comments from the virtual audience
yes i have a hand up from a peter zutter i have allowed them to speak sir okay
hi sir could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer
uh yes can you hear me yes i can yes okay my name is peter zutter p-e-t-e-r zutter z-u-t-t-e-r
all right do you swear or firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
I do. Are you a neighbor? I live about three blocks away. I'm also president of the South
Broad Street Neighborhood Association. Please proceed. I live 40 South Broad Street.
Certainly, you don't have to tell me. That's fine. Please proceed.
So, yeah, we were at that meeting and I hope there wasn't miscommunication. When we asked
for the letter from the condo association, it was not like a definite approval. And we have a lot of
concerns about these Airbnbs that are popping up. We have a lot of them that are popping up on South
Broad Street that are not legal. And we are just concerned that if we open the door to legalize
this in a facility like the Marine Club, where there are several hundred apartments that we're
going to have more and more of these popping up and it's going to amount to a somewhat disorganized
hotel. And our concern would be that not all of the applicants would maintain their properties
as well as the owner of this unit. It's also, we did not have the information about either the
letter from the condo board or the little excerpt from the condo documents at our meeting. I don't
know that it would have changed our mind because the other concerns are rather significant, but if
you look at 7.1a and about two-thirds of the way through there, it says no residential unit owner
shall permit his unit to be used or occupied for any prohibited purpose, nor may they seek a variance
to permit such use. Now, I'm not an attorney. I don't know how much power a condo association
president has, but it does say in there that the owners of the units are not allowed to apply for
a variance. And I would kind of think that that takes precedence over a letter from the
uh condo uh chairperson um and this was the first two i don't recall hearing anything
And this was the first, too. I don't recall hearing anything about a three-year temporary license. I don't know if that would make it more palatable, but that's the first that we were hearing about that was at today's hearing. So, thank you.
about a three-year temporary license
can i just respond to you can't you go ahead go ahead sure yeah so we we can't seek a variance
for the prohibited use within the con within the condo building itself so airbnbs are not
a prohibited use within the condo building itself that's that's what the language is stating not
that you know we can't seek a variance at all um anyone else in the virtual audience
zoning codes. Anyone else in the virtual audience?
No further
hands, Mr. Chair. Planning Commission.
Ron Bednar, City Planning. The adopted
City Comprehensive Plan recommended a change
from existing zoning to CMX3,
commercial mixed use of dislocation. Under that
recommendation, recommended zoning, the
proposed use would be permitted by right.
Planning Commission recommends the board grant interference.
MI 2024, 000310, 1100 South Broad Street, Unit 303C, I vote yes.
Temporary variance expires 327-27.
Thomas Holliman, my vote is yes with proviso.
James Snell, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ishmael Shaheen, my baby's yes list, the proviso.
Is there anyone in the, thank you, counsel, by the way.
Is there anyone in the audience from the 2 p.m. list whose case has not been called?
All right, we're going to take a five-minute break.
Okay, we're going to take a five-minute break.
We're going to come right back and finish up.
Thank you, Chair.
Good afternoon.
My name is Bill Berger.
Good afternoon. My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this evening's EBA hearings. With me is our Vice Chair, Ismail Shahid.
President, Mr. Chairman.
Our Board Member, Thomas Holloman.
President, Mr. Chairman.
Our Attorney, Ryan McChurray, is with us, and also our Executive Director, Tanya Sunken. Here's our virtual format.
Be advised the proceedings are being recorded. A video will be available by contacting
tanyasunket at phil.gov. For the benefit of our court stenographer, we ask attorneys and
witnesses to identify themselves before testifying. If you're participating by phone and you wish to
testify, press star 9 to raise your hand and star 6 to unmute. To enter the appearance statement,
call 267-270-5548. Leave your email and the address and the address of the property in
question. And finally, the question answer box on the screen is now for comments or testimony.
All comments should be directed to our executive director, Tanya Sunken. Let's look at our schedule
for this evening. Number three, MI-2023-002-401-1941-North 32nd Street. That case is continued.
Number seven, MI 2023-006-399-5044 Westminster Avenue.
That case is continued.
And number eight, MI 2023-002-377-2655 South Hutchinson Street.
that case was continued earlier are there any other requests for continuances
good afternoon mr chair this is jason hand again i will be your co-host for the session
okay i do not see any hands raised for further continuances okay thank you and number two mi
MI 2023-002-366-2251 South 23rd Street.
We have no exhibits.
This is the second listing.
There are no hands for that matter, sir.
Dennis and Barbara Prater, the owners.
Okay, so that case, MI-2023-002-366-2251 South 23rd Street, that case is continued.
Mark must be heard.
We're going to go to our list. Number one, MI 2023-006-398-1301 North 52nd Street. Bruce Harmon is the owner applicant. The application is for a takeout restaurant on the first floor of an existing structure with other existing uses in the same structure as previously approved.
We're going to go to our list.
Number one, MI-2023-002-366-2251 South 23rd Street.
The proposed use takeout restaurant requires special exception approval in the CMX-2 zoning district.
Mr. Bruce Harmon.
Mr. Harmon will be rejoining as a panelist, sir.
Thank you.
Mr. Harmon?
Hold on to him.
I'm having some difficulty promoting him.
Coming back in as a panelist.
Thank you.
mr harman uh yes sorry could you i'm sure could mr harman could you state your name
and spell for the court stenographer bruce b-r-u-c-e harman h-a-r-m-o-n do you swear
affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes i do could you please turn your
video one okay our our uh our vice chair is uh going to ask you a few questions
good afternoon mr harman uh have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that
are needed to proceed with this case probably in advance of this hearing yes i have thank you can
Please share your screen and you can proceed.
Let me apologize because of my ignorance and lack of due diligence of the virtual format.
I am not prepared.
I do not have exhibitions.
The last time I came out, did this, I came in, I guess, when you had the court live.