Thank you.
Okay, Chair, we have 15 attendees in county. You can proceed as you wish.
Good morning. My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this morning ZBA hearings.
With me is our Vice Chair, Ishmael Shaheed.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our Board Member, Thomas Holleman.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
And our Board Member, James Snell.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Also here this morning is Emily Persico from Development Services, who will be serving as our alternate board member.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Present also is him.
Hello, can someone hear me?
Hello?
Yes, I think he's frozen. I thought it was just my computer screen. Chair, are you back?
I'm here.
Okay, yeah, you had froze for a second when you was mentioning Hillary name.
Okay. Hillary Emerson, our attorney, and our executive director, Tanya Sunke.
Be advised, the proceedings are being recorded. The video will be available by contacting
tonyasunkett at phila.gov. For the benefit of our court stenographer, we ask attorneys and
witnesses to identify themselves before testifying. If you're participating by phone, if you wish to
testify, press star 9 to raise your hand and star 6 to unmute. To enter an appearance statement,
call 267-270-5548. Leave your email and address to the property in question.
And finally, the question-answer box on the screen is not for comments or testimony.
All comments should be directed to our Executive Director, Tanya Summel.
Let's look at today's schedule.
Number one, MI 2022-007-286, 1716-18 Addison Street.
This case is continued.
Number two, MI 2022, 007-282-4100, Orchid Street.
This case is continued.
Are there any other requests for continuances?
Good morning, Jared.
This is Nadia.
I will be your co-host today, and I see no hands.
Okay, thank you.
I want to call for a status of the case, MI 2022-004-555-1711-17 Rittenhouse Square.
David Orfanides is the attorney, and Leonard Reuter is also the attorney for L&I.
Mr. Orfanides.
They have both been allowed to speak.
Good morning, Mr. Orfanides.
Good morning. Can you hear me?
I can. Just state your name and spell for the record, please.
Certainly. David Orfanides, O-R-P-H-A-N-I-D-E-S.
Right. Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Leonard, are you on?
Yes, I'm here. Can you hear me?
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Sure. Leonard F. Reuter, R-E-U-T-E-R, senior attorney, city of Philadelphia.
Right. Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do. Mr. Orfanides, you want to open up with comment? Yeah, just real quickly.
We had appealed, there were two violations that were cited against our property, my client's
property. Those violations have been addressed by the city of Philadelphia, marked as withdrawn.
At this point, there are no remaining underlying violations, which are in dispute or that I think
rightfully before this board um i think i would have the um the uh the case marked as moot
leonard yes i i think we agree with that the case could just be marked uh moot um
so i i assume that's a disposition that the board is the proper term to use
um in this case we we would withdraw okay i have the case withdrawn yep right thank you so mi
Thank you. So MI-2022-004-555-1711 to 17 Rittenhouse Square. This case has been withdrawn.
2022-004-555-7
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you both.
We're going to our regular list, and we're going to start with number four.
MI-2022-001-060-7034 North Broad Street. Jarrett Klein is the attorney.
we have no rco letter um there's a letter of support from council member squilla and the
applet also provided a uh petition in support of 26 neighbors good morning mr client could you
state your name for the record please excuse me mr chair this is hillary i'm recusing myself from
in this case, and Ryan McSherry will be serving as counsel. Okay, thank you. We have with us this
morning Ryan McSherry, who will be sitting in on this case. Mr. Klein, could you state your name
for the record? Certainly. It's Jared Klein, J-A-R-E-D-K-L-E-I-N, from Blank Rome, 130 North
18th Street in Philadelphia. Do you swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing
but the truth? Yes, I do. Could you identify your client, the relationship to this property?
Certainly.
Yeah, I'm representing the owner of the property, which is 2024 East Hazard, LLC.
Our vice chair has just a few questions for you, sir.
Certainly.
Good morning, council.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, I do.
Yes, I do.
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, I have.
Yes, I have.
Thank you.
please proceed and share your screen. Thank you very much. So this is 7034 North Broad Street,
a case that had a, I guess, a half a presentation made to the board
almost a year ago, and then was continued to have further civic association dialogue.
So I'm here to represent the case this morning. We, despite many efforts in terms of emails to
both the RCO and the council office have never been able to reconvene a meeting with the RCO.
There is a petition that is included in the packet that I'll reference in a couple minutes,
but just for full disclosure to the board, my last recollection was that the RCO was opposed,
though they did not send a letter. My understanding of the meeting that took place in March
of last year was a vote of opposition, though we don't know why.
Just to orient the board as to what we're talking about here,
734 North Broad submitted an application to, as we see it, continue to use this as three
residential dwelling units. The zoning archive of the property did not reflect a prior three
unit approval, though in its current state and since my client acquired it, it has been laid out
as and used as a three-family dwelling. And I'll have a little bit more documentation on that as
I move through. This is the property here. It's one of a collection of row home style structures,
some of which are used for multifamily, some of which are single family. The zoning archive
can show the board that we are in a strip of single family zone land though across from us
is cmx two and a half and we back up to rm1 so essentially our application is seeking to use
this property in a style that is consistent with the majority of its rear surroundings
this is the property here um seen from from the street
The zoning notice is posted in the windows. These are both posters from the prior iteration of the hearing, and then these are stamped for this hearing here, and a picture of what the property appears from the street.
Surrounding area, vacant across the street, largely a row home block on our side of the street, and some multifamily apartment-style buildings here located elsewhere on North Broad.
The units themselves, these are some interior photos taken of the layout of some of the existing units.
As I've said, it was laid out as three units and continued to remain as three units.
This exhibit here is an affidavit of the owner, a managing member of 2024 East Hazard, which is a company that owns this property.
I'm submitting this to the board just so you can see.
My client acquired the property in July of 2020.
And at the time he acquired it, he is attesting to the fact that there were three units.
And at the time he acquired it, he is is attesting to the fact that there were three units and three rental licenses that were that were issued.
And to his understanding, it had been used as a three family dwelling for decades and is laid out as a three family dwelling with no revisions made to the ownership during his his layout or during his his his ownership.
There are also active rental licenses that were issued.
Now, what happened here, as best I can tell, is the city issued licenses per floor.
So there's a 7034 North Broad number one, there's a 7034 North Broad number two, and
there's a 7034 North Broad generally, each with a single residential license.
So there have been three rental licenses issued to this address, though admittedly it is
unclear as to whether the city understood it was three in one building.
or they issued three licenses thinking it was the same property three times.
But that's the paperwork that is in the file now.
There are three separate rental licenses with three separate numbers.
We, as I mentioned, circulated a petition in the community
and people who were supportive of the use as a three-family dwelling
and noted in the petition language that they were aware of the longstanding use
the property as a triplex. Many of these signatures are from the immediate area.
And as I continue to scroll through, I'll note for the board specifically that this is the
block face that we're talking about. 7038 North Broad, 7028 North Broad have signed this as
indicating that they had no objection to the proposal. As I mentioned, we did meet with the
RCO back in March, I believe, of March of 22. And that, I'll just check that date. Yes, it was March
17th, 2022. As I said, that meeting took place. And to the best of my recollection, the concern
was just a general density concern. We never got specifics from the RCO and our efforts,
though I did have several conversations with Dylan Mahoney in the aftermath, a second meeting
was never convened. That was why we circulated the petition in an attempt to understand what
the immediate neighbors felt as the RCO process was not able to continue. But my recollection
from the last vote was that it was a vote of opposition. Can I ask if Carlos Giraldo is here
and can raise his virtual hand to adopt my testimony.
Carlos, Geraldo, if you're in the audience, please raise your hand.
I see no hands.
Mr. Klein, you're an officer of the court.
We will accept your testimony, okay?
Thank you.
I'd also note for the board that there is an affidavit for Mr. Geraldo
that's within the materials as well thank you uh questions from the board no mr chairman no chair
chair no chair questions or comments from mr mcsherry our attorney no chair questions or
comments uh from the virtual audience no hands planning commission the run bednar c planning
first name Bron, R-O-N, last name Bednar, B-E-D-N-A-R. Do you swear or affirm to tell the
truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? I do. Please proceed, sir. Comprehensive plan
recommends no change to the residential single-family zoning at this location.
The building has a history of use as a two-family dwelling since 1974 prior to the adoption of the
single-family zoning at this location in 1977. However, the applicant has not shown that the
third dwelling unit is needed to enable them to derive value from home. City Planning Commission
recommends that the board grant the variance with the condition no more than two dwelling units
allowed. MI 2022-001-060-7034 North Broad Street, I vote yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Chair, this is the...
I'm sorry.
I'll get Mr. Snell again.
Mr. Snell.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Thank you very much.
All right.
We're going to hear now case number...
We're going to hear now case number three.
Three.
MI 2022 004-784-536 Brinton Street.
Sharon Harvey is the attorney.
This is a resumptive hearing.
and they have been promoted to panelists thank you
miss harvey
good morning could you state your name please and spell for the court stenographer good morning mr
chair my name is sharon harvey sharon s-h-a-r-o-n harvey h-a-r-v-e-y i represent the applicant of
536 Britton Street, calendar number MI-2022-004784.
You swear, Fern, to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
So Charles Richardson, if I remember correctly, testified in non-opposition.
Planning was waiting to hear from L&I.
There has been an amended refusal issued by L&I.
Right. The description was updated to note one existing accessory parking place.
A use refusal was added for the insufficient parking place.
And we've requested a tax clearance. Do we have a tax clearance?
No, there is no tax clearance because she has not started her business yet.
So there is no tax. There's no business to start.
Hillary.
Yeah, Miss Harvey, it's not about business taxes.
It's about the real estate taxes on the property, and you can obtain a tax clearance for that.
I just checked the taxes on the Philadelphia Tax Center, and there are no real estate taxes
owed in this property, so it is clear at this time.
And just to clarify one thing on the amended refusal, the additional refusal was for not
having two parking spaces.
Three are required because a triplex is being requested.