And as you can see, this is the front of the property with two entrances.
And this photo just indicates those entrances a bit better.
There is one entrance for each unit, so it's easily accessible.
There is also a rear exit.
And as you can see, there are multiple meters.
So, this is a long-standing use that we are looking to legalize here.
So, here we have views to the right of the property on North Front Street, views to the left of the property on North Front Street, and our proposed site plan that we have here.
Again, it's an existing structure. We're just looking to legalize the use here.
The basement is going to remain available to the first floor unit. My client actually lives there currently.
They are a couple, so they're just going to keep the basement for themselves as one unit.
And then the second floor is the unit that they would be maintaining as the second unit.
And again, that would be what they would be renting out.
And currently, they have their nephew there.
So it's more or less a family home at this point in time.
And as I mentioned, there are two separate forms of, excuse me, two entrances.
So the entrance that's closer to Front Street, you enter, you can make a right, and you can
get access to the bedroom and eating kitchen area.
and the other entrance you can go to excuse me go through here and you get access to the
upper level unit on the second floor here we have the application for appeal again this is just the
legalization of a duplex and the notice that we sent out for the community meeting on september
30th with the zoom information date and time as well as a copy of the refusal 79 properties were
notified in total. And here we have our certificates of mailing as well as the deed showing that my
client owns the property and a certificate of tax clearance. So if I could actually just have
and a certificate of
tax clearance. So if I could
actually just have my client,
it's either Santi or
Sanfei Faxong.
If they could just come on
and adopt my testimony, that would be great.
And they can have...
Yes, hello?
Hi, Samai.
hi please spell your full name for the record it's um s-a-m-y-t-h-o-k-h-a-x-a-n-g
do you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes i do thank you miss amazon so did you hear my test my presentation today
yes i did and was it true and correct yes and would you adopt it as your own testimony
yes i will thank you thank you any questions from the board no mr chair no no anyone else
to testify in this case please raise your hand yes we have miss emerson thank you
good afternoon miss emerson please spell your full name and i'll swear you in
good afternoon mr chair members of the board hillary emerson
e-m-e-r-s-o-n on behalf of councilwoman sherelle parker
where from to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
i do please proceed thank you um as as ms amazon noted um our office served as the rco for this
case because unfortunately we don't have one in this part of our district right now we held a
meeting um and did not have any neighbors in attendance and tried to follow up with another
neighbor who had come to another meeting recently did not get a response so we weren't able to
provide a position from the community. But the proposal for the third unit raised some concerns
for the councilman because it was located in a basement and had a rear access adjacent to a
common driveway. So after consulting with her clients, Ms. Amazon, they were just seeking a
legalization of the duplex, which we have no issue with. There's multiple properties on the block
that were converted to duplexes decades ago so that's we don't have an issue with the duplex
thank you thank you planning commission
good afternoon board peter bernard for the planning commission
this property is indicated for single family residential in the comprehensive plan
we feel the applicant has demonstrated sufficient hardship for a duplex accordingly the planning
commission recommends the board uh approve the variance thank you mi 2021-002-837-5805
north front street my vote is yes with proviso maximum two units carol tenere my vote is yes
with proviso professor plaza yes with proviso james snell yes with proviso thomas halliman
yes supervisor thank you thank you we now go to case number 10 mi 2021 that's zero zero two
eight five five five two six south front street verne anastasio is the attorney of record for
the applicant. Paul Bonney is the attorney for the Protestants, I believe, Society Hill Civic.
There's a letter from the coordinating RCO South Street Head of House District
and a letter from Queen Village, Queen Village Neighbors Association
and Society Hill Civic all opposing this project.
thank you mr anastasio you're first up
thank you sir identify yourself and i'll swear you in sure verne anastasio 1315 walnut
suite 1006 philadelphia uh 19107 we're affirmed to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but
the truth? I do, sir. Before you begin, let's get Mr. Bonney. I'll swear him in, and then
Ms. Tenere will have questions for you, Vern. Mr. Bonney, actually, you are sworn in from,
you're still under oath from earlier today, but just identify yourself, and Mr. Anastasia will
begin. My name is Paul Bonney, B-O-N-I. I'm not only the zoning chair, but also the attorney for
societal civic association thank you uh verne miss uh our vice chair has some questions for you
yeah mr verne do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate
Mr. Verne, do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, refusal referral, photos under plans of the property, five days in advance of this hearing, and have you met with the RCO, and do you have a letter?
Mr. Chair, do I go right on to Mr. Bonney now?
No, I think Mr. Anastasia will present his case, and then we'll hear from the Protestants.
Mr. Chair, could I mention something?
I just want to make sure you understand the landscape is that, you know, QVNA is also an RCO.
They may not have an attorney, but they have a representative who would like to participate.
I know you very kindly give the attorneys, you know, sort of a special elevation here,
but I think it might be appropriate for Mr. Piven to be elevated, if that would be your...
Yeah, and QVNA did send a letter of opposition.
I mentioned that earlier, but we'll get Mr. Piven.
Let's start with the case, and when we ask for other parties to join in,
he'll be, certainly we'll recognize him.
Thank you.
I want to start with the letter dated 18 October 2021,
which is the coordinating RCO, the RCO that Councilman Squilla has designated as the be-all and end-all of this particular issue.
They have sent in a letter of support for what we're about to present today.
And I know you have this in your packet.
I sent this to my attorney, Soleta, and also to other interested parties.
So I just want to make sure you have that.
Again, the redesign project is lower in height and lower in density in response to the community input.
Pardon the interruption, Vern, but could you identify that RCO that you just brought up?
mention them by name please the coordinating rco uh the uh the one that council person
squilla has addressed as the uh the rco on record is south street head house district
uh which can be told here at the uh top of the letter but the uh they are in full support
of this application. And I want to now stop sharing that, and I will share my binder.
Hope you can all see it. I'll go as quickly as I can. I know it's been a long afternoon,
and I know you have other stuff going on. So before I get started, I wanted to just say that
there's a fundamental truth, and I know the chairman understands this, that even a moderate
density with residential helps commercial corridors. And a gateway parcel, such as the
one that we're about to talk about creates a sense of space of importance and advantage of
a natural position. This is a particular corner property at front and south that overlooks the
Delaware River. Again, pardon the interruption, just for clarity, is this the former Downey's
restaurant that's correct yeah okay that way i think that would be yeah and you know and most
of us are very familiar with it uh it's you know it's been uh dormant for quite some time
uh but what we're proposing is you know a development that is modest uh in its size and
scope uh and not from an outside developer but a long-term resident a member of our
of our community you know max weiner the weiner family has been around forever
and i i just want to make sure that you understand that what he's proposing
is in fact um uh you know a moderate uh redevelopment for this corner so that um
it becomes viable finally and with that uh what we applied for there's it's actually
and you know no one knew this but it's uh five separate parcels that sits on downies
and we're what we're asking for is uh creation of one particular property uh for you know out
for, you know, out of five lots, and we're going to attach a structure that has commercial on the
of five lots and we're going to attach it
first floor, consistent with Downey's. There's been many folks in our several meetings who've
asked my client to ensure that there would be a restaurant there, and he agreed to that,
even without having any prospects he agreed to, making sure there would be a restaurant there on
the first floor, and then for use for multi-family household living. Now, he initially asked for 18
units. We've gone down from there, and you'll see what I'm talking about
just about in a minute if I can
just want to make my objection for the record Vern that I'm not stipulating that you're allowed to
present facts and then just have your client adopt it all by reference that I think facts
should come from witnesses not from lawyers or exhibits of course but you know you're
you know i also want to mention that what factor you're speaking to i'm not quite sure
i mean well he says it's modest i think it is what it is so um but any event you guys do that
all the time yeah that's my classification i just want to mention also that i'm not aware that
councilman squilla said that the south street head house district was the end all be all
as verne says but i think actually could the councilman submitted a letter oh no that said
he's not taking a position on this case due to the fact that two of the rcos are opposed and one is
and since you mentioned it for the record councilman squilla's letter said that although
he cannot take a position, the coordinating RCO actually supports this project. But, however,
because the other two tertiary RCOs are maybe in opposition, he acknowledges that we've gone
through the process several times, that we've actually reduced and amended our application,
and that he's leaving it up to the board at this time.
So I just want to make sure we have that on the record.
Let's proceed. Thank you.
Okay, thank you.
Tertiary.
Byrne, please proceed.
Thank you.
So this is the plan that architect Rich Villa will get into.
But essentially, it's a six-story building.
You know, we went, we asked for 18. We've come down based on our community meetings to 13. We've done studies on the impact of, you know, sun impact.
and he's also going to talk about the exterior property being all brick, which I think is
important to a lot of folks. This is what the property would look like. It's completely
consistent with a property that would be an anchor to the front and south. Right now,
Front and south is a bunch of small buildings and some really, you know, decrepit sort of property on the corner, which is old Downey's.
By the way, all of these properties here on Front Street are RM1, all multifamily.
So I just want to make sure that you understand that.
And I want to make sure you see some of the, some of the, you saw the proposed conditions
and now I want to show you what's been there for quite some time.
Downey's unfortunately has been there for quite some time and it's not done very well.
We have proof of posting, of course, and I want to pull out a little bit, and I want
to go to a synopsis, if you don't mind, and then we can talk about the particulars.
Talk about the particulars, just, and I do this synopsis just to make it quicker for you, because I understand that this is the last case of the, you know, the two o'clocks.
and I do this synopsis just to make
The original application was for 18 units. We met with the RCOs three separate times. We've reduced it to 13.
original height was over 65 feet we reduced it to uh just under 61
um mr chairman are these facts presented by a lawyer
well i'm an attorney and he's the attorney who represents the the applicant this is what
what do you mean by that question i'm not clear on it well attorneys attorneys make argument um
witnesses who can who can be cross-examined i'm not arguing i'm just letting you know he's laying
out what the proposal is which is typical i mean i'm just stating my objection i'm stating my
objection for the record thank you we initially asked for 18 units we've come down to 13 we
initially asked for over 65 feet. We reduced it just under 61. We reduced the lot coverage.
Per the request of the community attendees at the first two meetings, they wanted to ensure
the first floor tenant would in fact be a restaurant or an eating establishment because
we have that special ordinance in council that allows them to do that bump out on the sidewalk,
and we agreed to that as well. We've added red brick to the western wall per the request of
the residents. We also secured 13 private off-street parking spots to be folded into the
And again, we have not been refused for those 13 spots, but we're going to offer that, you know, offer that to them, build it into the lease. So if they have cars, they need to use those, you know, particular parking spots.
We have a letter of support from the RCO, the coordinating RCO, the South Street Head of House District.
Councilman Squilla also believes the leading voice on the zoning projects, you know, supports the appeal.
So that's why he's not getting involved.
The primary hardship for this, and this is where it goes, is the by right development of the 100 block of South Street.
And we have plenty of evidence that we will put into evidence today.
The 100 block of South Street has several vacancies, a nail salon, a check cashing place, which, by the way, is the most viable commercial space on the block.
We have a trinket store for Irish memorabilia, and we also have more than two unfriendly front-loading garages that kill the streetscape and walkability.
Now, by right, we can have a tiny, unmarketable commercial space with low-rent, student-style housing above, which we believe will be worse.
However, we could also have five trinities, and that does not welcome anyone.
We're at front and south, and we believe it attracts no one.
All of South Street, all of it, east of 6th Street is zoned CMX 2.5, which would allow a revised height.
But for the block we're talking about, this block, the 100 block of South Street, or at least this particular property on the corner, is a gateway property overlooking the Delaware River with unobstructive views and the South Street pedestrian bridge.
Now, I know this chairman was integral in making sure that that pedestrian walkway was something that could help increase the number of folks who, you know, actually visited South Street.
It's literally designed to attract people and lots of them.
How it goes now, if we were to build as a right, five trinities, five duplexes, which I don't even think we can get, it attracts no one.
how it goes now if we were to build as a
There is a threshold that, for the hippest street in town, offers nothing on Delaware Avenue, and walking up to those steps means nothing when you get to South Street.
Now, one block to the north, just one block to the north on the corner sits a 65-plus foot tall Toll Brothers building, far more into Society Hill than we are.
To the west at Abbott Square, also exceeds 60-plus foot tall at its entrance to Queen Village at 2nd and South, and we all know that.
QVNA, a secondary RCO, sent a letter of opposition, but readily admitted in an email sent 18th October to my office.