We're just going to allow the attendees to enter the room.
Okay, Chair, we have 65, excuse me, 65 attendees, you can proceed as you wish.
Good morning, everyone.
My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this morning's DBA hearings.
With me is our Vice Chair, Ismail Shahid, our Board Member James Hallman, and our Board
member, James Snell. Present, Mr. Chairman. Also present is our attorney, Hillary Emerson,
and our executive director, Tanya Sunken. Here's our virtual format. The proceedings are being
recorded. With your participation, you agree to be recorded. The video will be available by
contacting Tanya Sunken at philip.gov. For a court stenographer, attorneys and witnesses will
identify themselves before testify. If you're participating by phone, press star nine to raise
your hand and star six to unmute. To enter an appearance statement, call 267-270-5548. Leave
your email address and the property, the address of the property in question. And finally, the
question box on the screen is not for comments or testimony. All comments should be directed
to our executive director, Tanya Sunkett.
Let's look at our schedule for this morning.
Number eight, MI 2023-007-155-2401 Aramingo Avenue.
That case is being continued.
Number 9, MI 2023, 007-157-832 Bridge Street, that case is continued.
Number 10, MI 2023, 007-092-789 South 2nd Street, that case is continued.
And number 14, MI-2023-007-101-2225 St. Albion Street, that case is being continued.
Are there any other requests for continuances in the audience?
Good morning, Chair. This is Doreen Blakely, and I will be your co-host today.
Thank you.
There are no hands.
Okay, thank you.
And number seven, MI-2023-007-207-2222 North 16th Street.
We have no exhibits for this.
This is the first listing.
Harry Cooper is the listed owner, and Ambrou Chakwan is the listed applicant, third-party professional.
I see no hands, Chair.
So number seven, MI 2023, 007207, 2222 North 16th Street.
This case is continued.
Mark must be heard.
And number 13, MI 2023, 007132, 58 West Pomona Street.
Para Keo is the attorney.
There's no exhibits.
This is the first listing.
chair there are two hands raised the first one is nor re-hands the first one is norman cooper
okay not allowed to speak um excuse me miss blakey um could we have i see tara cow has her hand raised
could we have her speak first thank you so much sure thank you
good morning counsel good morning hi could you please state your name and spell for the court
uh yes my name is tara ko first name t-a-r-a last name k-a-o do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes counsel this is the first listing
we do not have exhibits for this case um exhibits i i sent them i did send them um
So you're saying nobody received it?
so you're saying nobody received it yes
Oh, I sent them.
I didn't receive them.
I sent it last week.
I'm also going to go through.
I apologize.
All right.
So this is the first listing.
we don't have the exhibits if you have any issues please call the office and what we're going to do
is we're going to continue this okay oh my god i i apologize that's okay that's okay that's okay
yeah all right so mi 2023 007 132 58 west pomona street cases continue mark must be heard
thank you for calling in council oh okay thank you so much okay um
we're going to go to our add-on list excuse me mr chair there are a couple other
um individuals that wish to speak it may be related to this case but i'm not totally clear
okay yeah yes chair um i do still see norman cooper all right mr cooper please identify
yourself yeah how you doing good morning mr cooper could you state your name and spell for
the court stenographer? N-O-R-M-A-N-C-O-O-P-E-R. Right. Do you swear or firm to tell the truth,
the whole truth, nothing but the truth? I do. Are you here in reference to Pomona Street?
I'm in reference to 222 North 16th Street. Okay, hold on a minute.
that's number seven mr chair we continue that must be heard so so uh we we've continued that
case sir and we've marked the next time it's it's brought in here it must be heard
you continued it because you said you didn't have the exhibits we do not have the exhibits
and when we called the case sir um nobody raised their hand at that time are you are you related
to well you have your hand raised now but not at the time when we called the case um are you
related to harry cooper the listed owner myself and harry cooper are the owners okay okay well
yes we don't have exhibits and the case has to be continued you'll be notified sir
thank you is there any other hands up yes pomona cherokee civic council will be allowed to speak
good morning could you please state your name
spell for the court stenographer
seems like they disappeared chair
okay all right so
there is another hand
Stephanie Vogel will be allowed to speak
good morning could you please state your name and spell for the court sonographer
stephanie she disappeared too and okay all right so seem to come up and just
so just show everyone's clear mi2023 007 13258 west pomona street the case has been continued
is marked must be heard.
Thank you.
Okay, so we're going to go to our add-on list.
MI 2022-004-553-9855-89 Busselton Avenue.
This is a revote.
Myself, Ishmael, and James Snell will be voting. I vote yes, with proviso. Use limited to 9859 Busselton Avenue and commercial trash pickup.
My vote is yes, with proviso.
Ishmael?
Chair, are you calling me?
You're going in and out.
Yeah, yeah, I did call you, sir.
Yeah, I was in a dry spot.
Okay, so you're voting on 9859 Busselton Avenue.
98 59 Busselton Avenue. The vote is yes, but the use limited proviso use limited to 98 59 Busselton
The vote is yes.
Avenue and commercial trash pickup. Ishmael Shahid, my vote is yes with proviso. Thank you.
We're going to start with number four, MI 2023-002-377-2655 South Hutchison Street.
We do have an interpreter for this case.
The owner applicants pro se are Ming Hong and Chow Cheng.
Interpreter.
The interpreter, can you please raise your virtual hand?
There it is.
I only see a hand up with the name Street Donna.
Would that be done?
I don't think that's the interpreter.
So I believe April Zhang is the interpreter.
We're looking for the Mandarin interpreter.
You're the Mandarin interpreter.
Could you please raise your hand?
I see you, Hillary.
They have been promoted.
Good morning.
Morning, interpreter.
April Zane, please unmute yourself.
You're free to speak.
Yes, this is the interpreter.
Good morning.
Could you state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
April Zane, A-P-R-I-L, last name Z-H-A-N-G.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth is nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
I am calling case 2655 South Hutchison.
The owners are Ming Hong and Chao Cheng.
你好,你是 Ming Hong, Chao Cheng,你在吗?
是你的房子的地址是不是2055 South Hutchison这里啊?
i do excuse me i do not see anyone with their hand raised by those names
perhaps let's let's see yeah let's see if miss streets street um
they have been promoted
Good morning.
Interpreter, could you please tell them to state their name and spell it, if possible, for the court stenographer?
Mr. Chair, I see the other individual disappeared, but I do see Sam Zhu with his hand raised.
I believe he may have the applicant.
Yeah, I agree.
He's the expediter for this case.
Thank you.
Sam Su has been promoted also.
Sam, do you have the applicants with you?
I'm trying to promote Sam Su.
Can someone else try, please?
It seems like it's not working.
Hello?
Mr. Zhu, do you have the two individuals with you?
No, they are not with me right now, but I'm sure they are trying to...
Okay, all right. Thank you.
Interpreter, could you please call 2655 South Hutchinson again for Ming Hu, Ming Hong, and Chai O Cheng, please?
I do not see them in the audience
I'm looking
they're not in the audience okay um you're not in the audience here hillary what i'm hillary
what i'm going to do is i'm going to hold this just for a case or so and then come back to it
because i don't want to tie the interpreter up all day if they're not here okay so interpreter
i'm going to find mr chair here here one or two other cases then i'll come back so please stay
with us, okay? Okay. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. You're welcome. Okay. So number 16.
MI 2022-004-261-2807 Nightingale Road. Donna Caristo is the owner applicant.
There's a recommendation of support from the Normandy Civic Association.
Donna Caristo.
Donna Caristo has been promoted.
Good morning.
Could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
I'm muted.
I'm muted.
Let me try again.
Donna Caristo.
D-O-N-N-A-C-A-R-I-S-T-O.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Would you please turn on your video?
Turn the video on?
How do we do that?
Oh, boy.
I was just enjoying the panel, and we already did that.
We're trying to figure out how to turn the video on.
I'm sorry, Chair. You guys have to accept to join as a panelist.
Okay. There we are.
All right. Start my video. There you go.
There we go.
Okay. So, so Donna, you're the one who's going to testify, okay?
Yes. All right. So this application is for the legalization of a conversion of a shed into an addition at the rear side of an existing detached structure for no change in use from single family household living size and location as shown in the application plans.
No change in height of the existing structure. Whereas the 10 foot side yard setback is required in the RSAD 3 zoning district and no side yard setback was provided. Our vice chair has a few questions for you, Donna.
okay good morning 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
uh do we have them do we have so no donna you said you sent all the documents in right yes
yes all right all right please please proceed and then share your screen please
please do it i don't know share your screen it's at the bottom green screen he said yeah because
you want to have put all your documents up now okay yes thank you
which one would it be in the green button on the bottom yes i clicked that and then it asked me
to pick out. Donna's got to
speak, please, okay? Okay.
I don't know which one to pick.
I'm not sure.
Do you have
photos of the property?
Yes. It's probably asking you to
select a window. Can you
select photos of the property?
okay hold control to select multiple okay share okay there you go here we go thank you
show us some photos of the property what you're trying to do this is the old pool shed
right there right then no no no donna's got to speak okay sorry that was the old pool shed
back in 90
the new shed is
Uh, the new shed is the one that you're seeing right now.
the one
you're seeing right now.
And that's attached to the house.
Am I correct?
I went to the house, not to the fence.
All right.
Show us some more photos.
Tell them what it is.
It's the same picture.
Front view.
Front view of it.
This is the back view of it where my pool is.
The pool filter is in the shed.
That's why I had it rebuilt, because it was starting to age, and I didn't want it to age anymore.
Plus, I'm kind of disabled now, so I needed access from the house in rather than out the back door to the shed.
So that's really why I attached it.
So that's the inside of it.
Yes, that's my laundry room looking into the shed.
okay okay that's the filter
the pool filter sorry
yeah okay that's cool yep that's the pump the pool filter so why don't you why don't you did you went
to the normandy civic association right yes and what and they they they uh supported you in this
right yes yeah there was a full approval did they vote that night in front of you yes and was the
vote unanimous yes okay and do you have a copy of the letter there yes why don't you show us the
letter okay um i have to i have to share a different document all right he understands
We're sharing a different document.
Okay, sure.
It came from Alice.
Brian O'Neill's office.
We do have a copy of the letter.
Oh, you do?
We have a copy of the letter.
So, questions from the board.
no mr chairman no chair no chair questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson
not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
yes i have alice judovic will be allowed to speak good morning alice
good morning chairman members of the board alice judovic from councilman brian o'neill's office
Alice, could you just spell your name for the record?
A-L-I-C-E.
Last name is U-D-O-V-I-C-H.
Do you swear or firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed.
Chairman, the Councilman has no objection to the granting of the variance at this location.
Thank you very much.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
There are no hands, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Good morning, everybody. Amy Boyd with the City Planning Commission.
Could you spell your name for the court stenographer, please?
A-M-Y-B-O-Y-D.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing single-family residential zoning at this location.
The proposed variance for side yard setback is consistent with documented prior use.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the board grant the variance.
Thank you.
So MI 2022-004-261-2807, Nightingale Road, I vote yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
You have your vote.
Thank you so much, everybody.
Thank you.
Thank you.
All right.
So, so number 17, MI 2022, 004-440-204 North 52nd Street.
Corrin Weiss is the attorney or the attorney for the owner.
This is a resumptive hearing.
Excuse me.
You said the last name, the first name was Corrin Weiss, Corrin?
Corrin, C-O-R-E-N, last name is Weiss, W-I-S-E.
Thank you.
Corrin Weiss, can you please raise your virtual hand?
Coming in as a panelist, Chair.
Good morning, Mr. Chair.
Good morning, Mr. Chair.
Corrin Weiss.
Corrin Wise for Appliate.
Just for the record, could you spell your name, please?
C-O-R-E-N-W-I-S-E.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
So, Hillary, we need planning where they stand with this?
Yes, Mr. Chair.
this case was previously held for clarification of the use. The use on the refusal was listed as
a single room residence. I did verify with L&I that that is the correct use category because
there are both shared dining and bathing facilities being proposed at the property.
So, with that, I have advised planning that the use on the refusal was confirmed by L&I, and I believe that they are ready to give their recommendation.
Planning Commission.
Good morning, Amy Board with the City Planning Commission.
Please proceed.
The comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning at this location from residential single-family to residential multifamily.
The zoning for this property dates back to 1971.
Proposed single-room residence would be allowed with a special exemption under the proposed zoning.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the Board grant the proposed use variance for single-room residence.
Thank you.
We're going to hold the vote on this.
We have two of our members who will review the video from the prior hearing.
We will vote on 5-22-24 at 9.30 a.m.
Thank you very much.
Thank you, Councilman.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you.
We're going to go back to number four.
Interpreter.
The interpreter was April Zang.
She's been promoted.
Morning, interpreter.
do we see any hands there are no no one with the
hand raised by those names.
Thank you.
So MI 2023-002-377-2655 South Hutchison Street,
this case is continued.
Mark must be heard.
Interpreter, thank you very much for your help.
Could you state that for me, please?
The case has been continued.
Mark must be heard.
Thank you very much for your help.
We appreciate it.
Thank you.
We're going to go to our regular list.
Number one, MI 2024-000-913-1716 Jackson Street.
Henry Clinton is the attorney.
There's a letter of support from Broad Street West Civic Association.
Chair, I see Joseph Patton with his hand raised.
Is he affiliated with Henry Clinton?
No, he's from the prior resumption hearing that we just held.
Thank you.
Henry Clinton has been promoted.
Good morning, Mr. Clinton.
I'm promoting Mr. Clinton, but it seems like it's not working.
But it seems like it's not working. Can someone else promote him, please?
Can someone else promote him, please?
Mr. Clinton?
I'll be back in as a panelist.
Okay, thank you.
Good morning, Mr. Clinton. Just for the record, could you state your name and spell for this
phonographer?
Sure. My name is Henry Clinton, H-E-N-R-Y Clinton, C-L-I-N-T-O-N.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client and the relationship to the property?
Mr. Chairman, what property did you call because I was in between?
That's right. 1716 Jackson.
Okay. The client is Daniel Tardiglini and his wife, Stephanie. Daniel is on the call.
Okay, and our vice chair has just a few questions, sir.
Good morning, counsel.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
I do, Mr. Sheehy.
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?
I did, except that within two days I sent additional interior photographs.
Understood.
Please proceed and share your screen.
Thank you, sir.
Is that visible, Mr. Chairman?
It is.
Well, good morning, Mr. Chairman and members of the board.
Henry Clinton, on behalf of Daniel Tardeglini.
This is a request to make permanent a temporary use of a coffee shop at Jackson and Colorado
Street in South Philadelphia.
These are my table of contents containing refusal A1 to A10 as they be admitted into
evidence.
This is the refusal. This is an RSA 5 zoning district. And again, the classification is eating and drinking establishment and a sit down restaurant. But it's really a coffee shop and a two family dwelling above.
So we were before the board in 2018, as this note below indicates, and we received a temporary use authorization to use as a coffee shop for five years.
I think the board at that time wanted to see what the reaction would be to the neighborhood.
Prior to this use, it was Lancey's Bakery, which had been in existence from 1955 until probably somewhere in 2010, 2015.
15. So we're here back to the board asking to make this use permit. The use on the first floor
is a coffee shop and above is a two-family. And the two-family was new construction,
the back end of it, and then the building was entirely renovated. We do have the support
of the Broad Street West RCO. I sent out well over 100 letters. No neighbor showed up. Three
members of the board voted in support of the project. Mr. D'Antonio, who's the president,
noted that they didn't receive any complaints from the neighbors or members of the community,
so they voiced their support. This is a photograph. Again, the old Lancey's Bakery used to occupy
the entire first floor and about back to where my cursor is. We were in front of the board in 2018.
We asked for an addition at the back and then the change of use from the bakery to a coffee shop.
You can see three meters, four meters, one common, one for the bakery, one for each apartment above.
This is a photograph of the interior of the bakery.
You can see there's some paintings hung on the wall in the rear.
Mr. Tartaglini has engaged local artists once a month.
the local artists in the neighborhood can come in
and put their drawings and sketches on the wall,
and they're for sale if someone wants to buy it.
This is a closer look at the seating area
for the coffee drinkers and tea drinkers,
as well as the artist wares on the wall.
Interior photographs of the apartments upstairs.
These are the plans.
But where my cursor is was a two-story addition that was put on between 2018 and 2020-21.
Everything else remains the same.
We don't have any issues with open space, rear yard, or height.
We have commercial trash pickup.
The hours of operation will remain the same.
Their application for appeal, indicating real estate taxes are paid up.
our zoning map, here's the corner of property,
our zoning map here's a corner property here's colorado street there's apartments across the
here's Colorado Street, there's a park.
street there's some other commercial uses on the other corners the deed indicating ownership my
client purchased the property in 2018 our notice letter indicating we mailed out 164 pieces of mail
and that is the presentation mr chairman so just in conclusion
uh the use that was approved 18 2018 five years ago it hasn't been continuous since then because
there was a lot of renovation underway the coffee shop's been in business about two years or so
well received in the neighborhood the neighborhood's becoming more densely populated with a lot of
apartments younger people moving in uh it's dog friendly mr tartaglini has dog treats for the
neighbors, dogs, animals that come in. It's a nice setting, great place to stop by. And we're asking
that the board look upon this and make this a permanent variance that he can maintain the
coffee shop and that we don't have to come back in five years. And the apartments, again, will stay
as is. We're not altering the essential character of the neighborhood. We're not impairing anyone's
light or air or any adjacent properties. We're basically in harmony with the code. It is a
commercial use, replacing a prior commercial-slash-retail use with residential above.
And with that, I would ask that my client unmute himself and be able to adopt my testimony.
Daniel?
He's allowed to speak.
Daniel, could you please state your name and spell for this photographer?
Dan, can you unmute yourself?
I'm not Dan.
Good morning, everyone.
Can you hear me?
Daniel, please state your name and spell for the stenographer.
My name is Daniel Tartaglini.
That's first name is D-A-N-I-E-L.
Last name is capital T-A-R-T-A-G-L-I-N-I.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
I do, yes.
Please proceed, counsel.
Mr. Tartaglini, were you on the Zoom call when I presented your project for the coffee shop at Colorado and Jackson Street?
Yes, sir.
And if you had the opportunity to testify, would you adopt my testimony as your own and as true and correct?
Yes, sir.
Thank you, Mr. Tartaglini.
Questions from the board? No, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Just briefly, Mr. Chair, I just wanted to note for the record that it appears the refusal is missing a refusal for having multiple principal uses on an RSA 5 lot.
But that's, I just want to note it for the record. There's nothing that we need to further we need to do. Thank you.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Yes, I have Alexander Duller will be allowed to speak.
Good morning, sir. Could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Good morning. My name is Alexander Duller, A-L-E-X-A-N-D-E-R-D-U-L-L-E-R.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Are you a neighbor?
Please proceed.
um i live across the street um i'm not sure if the immediate neighbor right who that uh across
this was across the street for me gina she also said she was going to be attending but
um basically we talking with some of the near neighbors we were basically asking the board to
grant this again as a temporary use maybe tied in with the lease to the actual business
ultimately the issue is i'm i'm an architect here in the city i've presented in front of
this board many times the moment you guys grant this as a sit-down restaurant um this restaurant
is not guaranteed to be here for the next 20 30 years i've lived on that block for 20 years now
Watched it go from Lancey's Bakery on the opposite corner.
There's another commercial space, and we've watched that become a nuisance depending on the use.
Right now, it's a very low-key office, but at one time, it was a carpet company that had big blinking lights all day long and all night long.
Ultimately, this coffee shop that's been open for the past couple of years is doing a great job.
But the moment it becomes, you know, some other sort of restaurant, it can become a nuisance to the neighborhood.
you know, some other sort of restaurant, it can become a nuisance to the neighborhood.
So we basically would like to make sure that the provisos that were attached to the original
zoning ultimately are attached again to this zoning because this could become a nuisance
restaurant. And by the board granting the use permanently, it could become any number of
restaurants any number of uses and in even in its current state you know right now we have a lot of
people double parking parking in the neighbors literally parking in our cars to go to the coffee
shop now typically it isn't a problem because you know most people double park go in get a cup of
coffee get a cannoli and you know head out in 10 minutes but I've definitely been stuck there for
at times it it you know henry says it's a dense neighborhood it's the vast majority of single
family homes when he presented this five years ago we asked that it either be another apartment
or be a use of a office or you know a lower a lower use something you know once again kind of
tied into daytime use that's why what five years ago we came and we we we asked the board at the
time to make it a temporary use and attach the provisos that were attached previously in terms
of hours and whatnot so basically we're i'm i'm just here for that the reason i didn't attend
the neighborhood meeting was it was on the same day as the solar eclipse and i was traveling i
was in ohio to actually witness that event so thank you thank you for taking the time to call
and we appreciate is there anyone else in the virtual audience
i've seen no hands planning commission
hello amy board with the city planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change to
existing single-family residential zoning at this location however the uses for multi-family living
and an eating and drinking establishment are consistent with documented prior use therefore
the city planning commission recommends that the board grant the variances for eating and drinking
establishment and to family household living. Thank you. Mr. Clinton, you want to respond to
the neighbor's comments? Yes. I mean, when we were there five years ago, I mean, I don't remember
Mr. Delver at the meeting then, but if he said he was there, he was there. My client has invested
substantial financial resources in this property.
The two apartments are ongoing.
They're in existence.
The coffee shop is a low-density use.
I understand Mr. Dollar's concern,
but I guess if the past history is any proof
of what future performance will be,
we'd like to ask the board to make this a permanent variance
so Mr. Tardegallini doesn't have to come back again
and expend resources to to plead his case when he hasn't had no complaints for any the entire
amount of time he's been there thank you mi2024 000913 1716 jackson street i vote yes
thomas holloman my vote is yes james snell my vote is yes ishmael shaheed my vote is yes
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Clinton, could you stay on, please?
We have another of your case here.
So MI 2023-007-173-2943 Master Street.
There's a letter of support from the Brewery Town Shardswood Community Civic Association.
The applicant also provided a petition and support signed by approximately 46 neighbors.
Mr. Clinton, just for the record, state your name.
You've already been sworn.
My name is Henry Clinton, C-L-I-N-T-O-N.
Mr. Clinton, could you identify your client, the relationship to this property?
The client is B as in Bill, S as in Sam, A as in Albert, J as in John, LLC, the principal
of which is Bonnie Sarana, S-A-R-A-N-A, and she is on the call.
Thank you.
Our vice chair has a few questions for you, sir.
Good morning, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
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?
We have Mr. Shishimi.
Thanks, counsel. Please proceed to share your screen.
uh good morning again mr chairman is that visible we're up it's up sheriff it's fine
Good morning again, Mr. Chambers.
uh henry clinton on behalf of the applicant bsaj comma llc principal of which is bonnie sarana
this is a request for a bakery at 2943 master street it's a corner property as i'll show you
So these are the table of contents, exhibits A1 through A10, which I ask to be admitted into evidence.
This is the refusal.
This is a CMX1 zoning district.
It's a corner property, and the proposal is a sit-down restaurant, but it's really not a restaurant.
It's a bakery, but because they're seating, it's classified as a sit-down restaurant.
Prior uses have been a tattoo parlor, and you'll see some of the photographs.
It was also called Urban Legend at one point.
They sold T-shirts, hoodies, sneakers, and sweatshirts.
This is the RCO, Letter of Support, unanimous, 9-0.
Everybody loves a bakery.
Again, as the chairman mentioned, this is Brewery Town, Sharswood Community Civic Association.
And they were very impressed with Miss Serrano.
Miss Serrano already owns a bakery on Paschonk Avenue, a very successful venture.
She's trying to duplicate that business model on Master Street in North Philadelphia.
She's hands-on.
She's the baker.
She's there all hours of night and day, and she has a great track record, and the community
group was very impressed with her, as are the neighbors.
You can see the 46 signatures in support of the project.
so this is the the corner uh stucco exterior the idea is that the first floor
will have some seating not a lot just enough maybe 10 or so and there's some equipment and
i'll show you that on the first floor and then the second floor is really where all the baking
operations will take place so it's a full commercial use there's not going to be an
apartment or anything on the second floor we're not expanding the building we're going to keep
the facade, some nice detail at the cornice. This is a prior photograph before that awning
was put up by Urban Legend. You can see there's a yard space there. That's where the trash will be
kept. Interestingly, Ms. Saranis shopped on Paschalk Avenue. She only generates two bags
of trash a week. She belongs to a community garden. She composts everything that is excess
from the bakery and even her flour bags are compostable so there's very very little waste
with this operation some interior photographs just to show the layout this is the second floor where
obviously it'll be converted into a an area for all the cooking appliances and i have photographs
of the appliances for the board as we walk through this first floor again this is not
totally renovated yet. It's all
existing.
These are some of the baked goods,
products that Miss Serrano
is very skilled at,
bagels, cookies.
If it was a live presentation, Mr. Chairman,
we would have brought in some samples for
everybody, but virtually
unable to do that.
These are the plans
and layout. This is the first floor, again,
heating, bar stool area, equipment, appliances, handicap bathroom, access to the rear yard for
trash storage, commercial trash storage. Second floor, these letters comport with certain equipment
that I'll show you briefly as I walk through the presentation. This is the site plan, again,
the rear yard for trash storage. This is a more detailed look at the floor plan, seating on the
first floor front, cooking appliances, again the bathroom, and the second floor has most of where
all the cooking will take place. These are all the materials and appliances and equipment that
will be used on the first and second floor, sinks, tables, ovens, warmers, mixers. We have our tax
indication paid up to date. This is a zoning map
indicating this is a CMX1 usage across the street.
It's also a store. This is a deed indicating
my client just purchased the property last year.
Notices of mailing to 193 neighbors
all over the neighborhood.
So we're asking that this bakery use
come into play for this neighborhood.
It's a real shot in the arm.
The neighbors really are excited about it,
especially the near neighbors are very excited
are very excited that they can walk and grab a bagel in the morning, coffee, tea, and other
that they can walk and grab a bagel in the morning.
goodies in the morning. The use is consistent with the retail use. It's been there in the past.
It's a vacant building. It's been vacant for a year or so. There's no increase in the size of
the building or the dimensions or the height. We're not detrimental to any adjacent property.
We're not affecting light and air. We're in harmony with the code and we're in harmony with
the wishes of the neighborhood. And with that, Mr. Chairman, I'll conclude
the presentation and ask my client to unmute herself
to adopt the testimony.
Ms. Sarana, can you unmute yourself?
Ms. Sarana is allowed to speak.
Good morning. Could you please state your name? It's spelled for the court stenographer.
Yes, sir. It's Bonnie Sarana, B-O-N-N-I-E
last name s-a-r-a-n-a right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the
truth i do please proceed counsel uh mr anna were you on the call when i uh just presented your
project yes uh and the one thing i forgot to mention were your hours of operation which will
be 8 a.m to 8 p.m seven days a week correct correct and if you had the opportunity to testify
Why would you adopt my testimony as your own and as true and correct?
I would.
Thank you very much, Mr.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Mr. Clinton, just a quick question.
Ms. Serrana is part of the LLC that owns the property.
Is that correct?
Yes, yes, exactly.
Thank you.
First two letters, BS, are her initials, and the second two letters are her husband's initials.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
There are no hands, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Oh, sorry, Chair.
Wait a minute.
If there was a person with the hand up named Rachel, there she is.
I will allow to speak.
Morning.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Hi, my name is Rachel Street, R-A-C-H-E-L, last name Street, S-T-R-E-E-T.
Do you swear or affirm the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Are you a neighbor?
I'm a neighbor of Bonnie in her current location.
I'm actually on the call for another property, but I wanted to just voice that Bonnie is an excellent neighbor in East Pass, Yonk, where she has her business currently.
All right, thank you.
Thank you very much for getting on the phone.
We appreciate it.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
There are no hands.
Planning Commission.
Hello, Amy Boyd, City Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential and commercial mixed-use zoning at this location.
The proposed use is consistent with documented prior use of this property as commercial.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the board grant the variance for a sit-down restaurant.
Thank you.
M-I-2023-007-173-2943, Master Street, I vote yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shahid, my vote is yes.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Number three, MI-2023-007-154-4428 Howell Street.
Zen Jin is the attorney.
There's a letter of non-opposition from Wissan-Oming Civic Association.
Zen Jin has been promoted.
Good morning, counsel.
Mr. Jin.
Good morning, counsel.
Good morning.
Could you please state your name
and spell for the court stenographer?
Yes, my name is Zen Jin, Z-H-E-N,
last name J-I-N, 1617 John F. Kennedy Boulevard,
Suite 1838, Philadelphia EPA 19103,
here on behalf of the applicant.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client and relationship to this property?
Yes, my client is Mustafa Al-Kim. He is the owner of the property.
Okay, and our vice chair has just a few questions for you, sir.
Good morning, counsel. Do you agree to read another refusal or stipulate to his accuracy?
have you emailed in all the required documents
Have you e-mailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed to
and exhibits that is needed
proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
We have e-mailed the documentation.
Unfortunately, it was e-mailed just recently because of a delay getting the RCO letter,
but all the required exhibits are submitted.
Thank you.
Please proceed and share your screen.
Thank you.
I'm going to share with the board the documentation that was submitted in support of this application.
Can the board see my exhibit on the screen?
We can.
Thank you.
So this is an application for a essentially legalization of some existing conditions based on a single family dwelling constructed on the site.
The building itself was basically built based on an original structure that was on the site and therefore was not in conformity with the required setbacks for side and rear yard.
In addition, there's a chain link fence that was placed around the property, the front of which was five foot high, and instead of four feet, that which is required, and that was an additional refusal.
To better understand what is here, this is the property.
Again, it's a single family house.
This is the actual house in question.
This is the neighboring property.
As you can see, the front setback is not unusual for this block.
What we have here is a chain link fence that's essentially open.
So even though it is five foot, it is not actually blocking any views.
The side yard setback and rear setback, we cannot really do anything about.
The house was built this way.
This portion, even though it's renovated and changed, existed for a long period of time.
So the setback for the rear yard and side yard were pre-existing conditions and very
similar to other setbacks on the block, which is why the neighborhood actually gave us their support
or non-opposition was unanimous vote in non-opposition for this application. From the
layout standpoint, just to let the board see better what the building structure looks like.
So this is the building sitting on the site with the driveway and existing curb cut. This is the
actual structure itself, which is more modern design. And again, the interior layout is a
single-family dwelling. So given the existing conditions, we would ask the board's favorable
review of our request for these dimensional variances. And I'm happy to, again, answer any
questions or direct any portion of this exhibit as needed. Counsel, why don't you bring on your
client to adopt your testimony. Sure. Mustafa, can you please raise your hand virtually to be
identified? Mustafa has been allowed to speak. Yes, how are you doing? Good morning, sir. Could
you state your name and spell for the course stenographer? Mustafa Elkayim, M-O-S-T-A-F-A,
Last name is E-L space K-H-I-A-M.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you.
Mustafa, can you confirm that you heard my testimony and saw the presentation I gave to the zoning board?
Yes, correct.
Can you verify that everything I've represented is true and correct and adopt my testimony as your own?
Thank you.
counsel uh your client purchased this property like in this condition yes my client actually
purchased the property about uh two years a year a year ago a year and a half ago um the property
is undergoing um you know violation case still because of the condition it's in but it was
already built out the way it is when he purchased it thank you very much questions thank you no
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Chair.
No, Chair.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I've seen no hands.
Planning Commission.
Good afternoon.
Amy Boyd with the City Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing single-family residential zoning at this location.
the current um use is consistent with documented prior use and therefore the city planning
commission recommends that the board grant the variance for fence height and rear yard
yeah thank you mi 2023 007 154 4428 howl street i vote yes thomas holliman my vote is yes
King Snell, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Thank you.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you.
Number five, MI 2023-007-021-3962 Paris Street.
Number five, MI 2023-007-021.
Meredith Ferliger is the attorney.
There's a recommendation of support from the Mantua Civic Association.
Vote was eight in support, one in non-opposition.
Liz Ferliger has been promoted.
Good morning, counsel.
Good morning, Mr. Chairman.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Sure. Meredith Ferliger, F-E-R-L-E-G-E-R.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Do you identify your client and the relationship to this property?
Sure. My client is Mascoff, LLC, which is the owner of the property.
Vice Chair has just a few questions.
good morning counsel do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate towards
accuracy i do yes 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 i did thank you counsel please
proceed and share your screen sure thing again mr chairman good morning members of the board my name
is meredith ferliger with delworth paxton my client today is mask off llc which is the owner of the
property, and that LLC, the sole member, is represented here today by Serge Mazlenikov.
The request before the board today concerns one property in Mantua, which is located at
3962 Parrish Street.
As you noted, Mr. Chairman, this proposal did receive support from the Mantua Civic
Association, and I did include that letter of support in your packet at tab 14.
Let me first orient you to the location of this property. As always, the deed to the property
which was purchased at Sheriff's Sale and a tax clearance are included at Exhibit 2 and 3.
As you can see on the aerials up on the screen here at Exhibit 8, this property sits on Parrish
Street, just east of North 40th Street in Mantua, West Philadelphia. From these aerials,
although it's a little hard to tell with the trees, the board will notice this particularly
unique nature of this block of Parrish Street. This property and all of the properties
immediately adjacent fronting on Parrish Street are vacant, extending all the way down to Union
Street, which is on the screen south. The investment in this area of Mantua has so far
focused predominantly on North 40th Street, as you can see a lot of the new construction that
has begun to pop up. From this east view, you'll see that the corner of North 40th Street and
Parish Street has a brand new multifamily six-unit building that extends all the way back
to this lot on Parrish Street. Across the street but a little bit further down towards Union
are a row of residential homes. Directly across the street from the property let me switch the
view here so you can see it a little better. Directly across the street from the property
the board will note the fairly intensive commercial use that has begun to somewhat
spill into Parrish Street due to the lingering vacancy of this particular block of Parrish Street.
And again, you'll notice the new construction six-family dwelling right next door.
If I turn to some of the photographs at Exhibit 15, you'll see the existing vacant lot that is
the subject of today's request at 3962 Parrish Street. These photos show a closer look at
the varied character of this particular block, which is slowly seeing some additional investment.
And again, you'll notice the new six-unit building here and the automotive garage across the street
here. The long-standing vacancy of this side of Parrish Street has so far been an impediment to
new development, and today's request will hopefully spark some additional attention into this largely
vacant area. And again, this is a view from North 40th Street, where this will give a little bit
of a better perspective of the property in relation to both the new multifamily building
here at the corner, as well as the automotive garage storage facility. I'm not entirely sure
how it's exactly used, which is directly across the street. And again, this is just a view looking
towards Union Street, looking towards North 40th. So this is from Union Street.
towards north 40th. So this is from Union Street. And we did also include photos of the zoning
poster at Exhibit 15 as well. If we refer back to the zoning map at Exhibit 5, you'll see that
this property is now zoned RSA 5, having been one of the many blocks that was rezoned during the
2017 Mantua rezoning initiative. Prior to that, this property and this block were all zoned RM1.
You will notice that the RM1 line here stopped just short of this property, with the auto garage across the street retaining a CMX1 zoning that would effectively, in this condition, permit RM1 multifamily density if it were to be developed into a residential multifamily proposal.
Because of the location of this lot, it's not only adjacent to RM1 zoning and density, but the lot directly across the street is capable of significant multifamily development based on its zoning classification.
To the northeast, you'll notice the start of the industrial zoning that encompasses Pico's substation, which is just on the next block east of this.
Just north of this property on Ogden Street, which is just out of view here on this map, the board will this summer see a proposal for a large 87-unit development in this area as well.
The proposal for 69-3692 Parrish Street is shown on the zoning plans that I have up at Exhibit 6.
I'll zoom in a little bit.
This includes one new three-story structure, which is designed to be three stories to blend
with the mixed height structures on this particular block. The building will, as referenced, contain
six dwelling units. We did also include an image just for reference of the facade intent for this
proposal. This project has been uniquely designed to accommodate considerable private outdoor space
for many of the tenants, including a private roof deck, private second floor deck, private rear
yard, and a slight L design, which you can see here, which is open to the side of the property
for additional light and air. And again, you can see some of these referenced on the floor plans
here, unit two yard. There is also an interior ventilated trash storage area. You'll notice
an outdoor deck and then a roof deck. The units in the building range from 473 square feet all
the way to 1,100 square feet and includes two bi-level units. Now, regarding the refusal,
the proposal only received one refusal for the proposed multifamily use.
No dimensional variances are requested and the structures proposed to be quite a bit shorter
than the code would allow, further to the developer's goal of remaining consistent with
the surrounding new structures. And again, you can see here that this is proposed to be
just over 33 feet high, where the code would actually allow for up to 38 feet.
The applicant submits to a hardship given both the history of the property as well as the
transformed character of this neighborhood and block, which is highly relevant to the
applicant's entitlement to a variance. Historically speaking, the lot at 3962 Parrish
Street was used as a multifamily dating all the way back to the 1950s. Furthermore, although the
block now sits vacant, the available zoning history shows that this block was an exclusively
multifamily block until the structures were demolished at some point over the last several
decades. The historical use of this lot and this block is consistent with the instant proposal.
Aside from the historical multifamily use, erecting a single-family home on this lot would
also represent a deviation from the predominant multifamily dwellings that currently exist and
have been recently constructed on this block and in the immediately surrounding neighborhood,
including many that this board has seen and granted via variance.
As you can see at Exhibit 10, which I've summarized on the exhibit list,
permits are included in the exhibit packet showing a swath of new developments
with densities ranging from two family dwellings all the way to six units,
consistent with today's proposal.
5 and 6 unit proposals were approved for 3946 Paris Street, 3801, 3860, 3933 Brown Street, 844 and 846 Union Street, and 833 North 40th Street, which are all in the immediate vicinity of this property.
Importantly, and most relevant, 833 North 40th Street, which contains six units, is the property that I pointed to, which immediately abuts this one just at the corner.
Importantly, and most relevant, 833 North 40th Street, which contains
The Board has granted countless variances permitting multifamily use in this neighborhood due to the established limited viability of constructing new single-family homes in an area that has become characteristically multifamily.
This is especially true due to the unique situation of this lot being immediately adjacent to RM1 zoning and across the street from still remaining automotive use.
The proposed six units will represent a natural blend of the predominantly multifamily residential uses on this block and is further consistent with the historical multifamily use that existed both on this lot and on this block at large.
If or when developed, the lot immediately across the street would be permitted for up to 18 units, further illustrating the trending density on this particular block and in this particular area.
Additional density and investment here to remove longstanding block, longstanding block, long vacancy is precisely why this proposal was met with such support from the community in a meeting that included representatives from three separate RCO groups.
And I will note that that meeting, they particularly were happy to see that this very, very longstanding vacant block was finally going to see a little bit of life.
We submit that the number of proposed units is also the least minimum in this case, as the density proposed is consistent with the density of surrounding structures, particularly the most immediately adjacent structure.
Additionally, six units are most appropriate here for the interior layout of the proposed structure and is not overbuilt from a dimensional perspective to accommodate the proposed density.
The units are varied in size to accommodate a wider range of rental price points and tenant
preferences. The structure itself is smaller than the code would allow, and the proposed units are
all well-appointed with individualized outdoor space, which is really something rare to see.
We submit this proposal will not increase congestion, harm neighbors' properties,
or impair light and air. The structure was designed to align with the varied character
of other structures on this block. A more detailed analysis is provided in the memo of law submitted
to the board at Exhibit 11, and I'd be happy to touch on any particular point in more detail.
At this point, I'll ask if the administrator could look for Serge Maslenikov.
They have been allowed to speak. Good morning. Good morning. Could you please state your name
it's spelled for the court stenographer hi my name is serge mastenikov s-e-r-g-e and the last
name is m-a-s-l-e-m-n-i-k-o-v do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing
but the truth i do please proceed counsel thank you uh serge um you are the owner of this property
and you're the sole member of mascoff llc yes and have you all heard all of the testimony and
evidence that was offered in front of the board today yes i did do you agree that testimony was
true and accurate and would you adopt it as if it were your own yes thank you um council yes two
is that two separate buildings next to this no it is not no it's one building here let me give
you a better it's one building it has kind of a cutout design so it's a little deceiving but
So the side of this building will be next to the rear of the property.
That is exactly correct.
It is the most immediately adjacent.
Let me bring up the zoning map.
So you can see this corner property here is that building.
So it's immediately above this.
All right.
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Chair.
No, Chair.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
There are no hands, Chair.
Questions or comments from the Planning Commission?
Hi, Chair.
Amy Boyd with the City Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing single-family zoning at this location.
The requested variance for a six-family multifamily living is not the least minimum
available. However, there is documented use of multifamily nearby. The City Planning Commission
therefore recommends that the Board grant the variance for multifamily living with a
with a provisor of four units which would be allowed under rm1 zoning thank you
of four units, which would be allowed under RM1 zoning.
mi 2023 007 021 3962 paris street i vote yes
thomas holloman my vote is yes james smell my vote is yes
my vote is yes thank you council thank you mr chairman members of the board
So number six, MI-2023-007-202-5369-275 Wenga-Hawken Street.
Sean Whalen is the attorney.
There's a letter of opposition from fake CDC.
There's also a letter submitted on behalf of Wenga-Hawken residents.
Mr. Whalen.
he's in as a panelist chair good morning mr whalen could you please state your name and spell
for the court sonographer certainly good morning sean whalen w-h-a-l-e-n you swear or affirm to
tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes i do could you identify your client
relationship to this property yes i'm representing the owner developer of the project k-i-t-o-v
our vice chair has a few questions sir sir good morning counsel do you agree to waive the
refusal or stipulate towards accuracy uh unfortunately i do not i agree to two-thirds
of the refusal uh but i do believe there's an erroneous refusal on there uh the parking
refusal is incorrect i'm happy to go into that now or later i will go into the presentation
Have you emailed in all of the required documents and exhibits that is needed and required to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, I have.
Thank you.
Please proceed.
I have to step away for one second and I'll come right back, but I'll stay on the phone.
Please proceed, Sean.
Thank you, Chairman.
Again, Sean Whalen here on behalf of the owner and applicant.
So you can see my screen.
I'll get to the refusal in just a second.
So this is just to a clarifying point, Ford, you stated it was Wingo Hawking Street.
I just want to be clear.
I'm sorry, Wingo Hawking Heights.
I'm sorry.
The only reason I bring it up, Chairman, is not to make an issue of it.
simply that we have a wingo hawking terrace right behind us okay that's a separate street so i just
wanted to be clear that we're talking wingo hawking heights um so this is up uh bellfield avenue which
many of us know church lane and then uh wingo hawking heights comes in here i'm not sure why
google puts the pin there uh it is this property right here this very large uh oklahoma shaped
property. You can kind of see it here better. There is an existing garage there and a very
large existing house. The issue for today's hearing is this very large open area right there.
I think we can see it actually better right here. So again, this is the existing Wingo Hocking
heights 5369 home the property goes all the way down here there's a very skinny again it's sort
of like the state of oklahoma flipped on its uh on its head comes down here and then goes up
um and this project uh this sorry the entire parcel is over 15 000 square feet so just to
give you some idea of of really just how large a parcel we're talking about
So there is no dispute.
It is a zoned RSA 3, and so is everything around it.
So again, not an issue.
Here is kind of to start giving you some of the context.
This whole parcel is 5963 Wingo Hawking.
We have previously applied for and submitted and had approved a PUD for the project.
So the existing house is on this very large, what's listed here is parcel D.
It's actually unit D.
That is still well over 7,000 square feet.
So it's a very large parcel.
The existing garage here on parcel A is on almost 2,300 square feet.
here on Parcel A is on almost 2,300 square feet, so still a very large parcel.
And then the issue for today is Parcel B and Parcel C, you can see here right side by side
in the middle of the page, they are both approximately 3,000 square feet and we are
proposing to build one single family home on Parcel B and one single family home on Parcel C.
And as you can see, this is just included to show that the planned community PUD has
already been approved and we already have the new OPA numbers and everything.
So again, here's an overall site plan, and I'll zoom in on this in a minute, but this
is the unit A, which has the existing garage that's to remain.
This is that very large house we were talking about on unit D.
So, in order to get there, we received three refusals. One for multiple principal buildings on a given site, because again, this is a single family zoning district, and multi-family use on a single parcel.
As the board knows, when you're talking about a PUD, for zoning purposes, the entire parcel is considered as one large parcel, and then once you start building, the individual units they're on have their own OPA numbers, their own separate tax ID numbers, they get everything separated.
We received a third refusal for stating that a minimum of one accessory off-street parking space is required per dwelling.
This is the refusal that we disagree with.
For reasons I won't go into, it took a long time to get to a refusal in this project, so we didn't want to go back and try to have that removed.
But you can see here, we are including a parking space for the existing house.
There actually was none there. So we are adding that parking space for the existing home in order to be code compliant. And then we are proposing in garages for both of our new homes here, both which will have parking.
So we are offering and meeting the one car per, one accessory off-street parking space per dwelling unit.
What you can see here, I will zoom in for you.
This is essentially a vision of what we're proposing.
um this side is x'd out because uh l and i asked us to submit one sheet for each each side so the
next exhibit uh which i don't need to go into has has the other side x'd out again these will be
twins they will be attached on one side fully detached on the other side now notably uh we did
not receive refusals for setback, open area, or anything of the like. And what I would stress here
is that in the ordinary course, we would have just been able to subdivide this very large parcel
and have four separate subdivided lots. However, for the hardship here that we have
is that Wingo Hawking Heights, for reasons unknown, was never physically opened on the
city plan. It is a publicly accessible city street. It is, however, a private street in
maintenance. It has public water, public gas, public sewer, public electricity. They receive
public trash pickup. There are, if it snows, the street is plowed. However, again, for reasons
unknown, it was never opened on the city plan. Now, what you can see here on the zoning map,
zoom in so you can actually see it. Again, this is the PUD, unit A, B, C, and D. This is all of
our property. This right here, this long, long line, is Wingo Hocking Heights. And I'll show you
the historical maps show that this was always supposed to come down here and come out to
Belfield Avenue. All of this was originally and historically owned by one individual back in the
1800s, and then multiple buildings were started to be built there. At some point in time,
and then multiple buildings were started to be built there. At some point in time, this large
parcel right here on Belfield Avenue was taken over by the land bank, and so that is owned by
the land bank. Everything else is privately owned, and again, the street you will see
cuts off about right here where I'm making it. It never cuts down to Belfield Avenue,
which again in in in the historical documentation it's unclear why why that never occurred
so here is a site photo standing on church lane it's one way going to the left here
this is wingo hawking heights heading up you can see a lot of other twins they're all twin homes
up and down Church Lane. All I did was I turned one direction down Church Lane and now up the
other direction. So a lot of twins, a lot of single families, all single family homes, and
that's what we're proposing. Now coming up here, this right here down at the far end, that's where
you'd be coming up from Church Lane. This here on the right is our existing home.
That is the existing home that still needs fixed up.
And then you can see one home here and a second home here, both very large stately homes on the opposite side.
This is Wingo Hawking Heights, and you can see there's a lot of parking up and down on the side.
And the day I was there, there happened to be also a lot of work trucks for one of the homes.
again this is the pardon me this is the existing house as it is currently
this is the house right adjacent to it at the very end of the road the road basically ends
right at this house's end there is another large property at the end of this that is separately
owned by another individual since the 80s where another home could be built. This is, I'm now
standing in the front yard basically of the where we'd be proposing the two new homes and this is
the home immediately across the street. Again you can see the state of Wingo Hawking, our property,
the subject property, is on the right. Again, this is sort of to show, and this is indicative
of other issues I'll go into, and I think the issues of opposition that the RCO had.
So we're proposing to completely fix this up, and we'd be building one home right here
and one home right there. Again, just kind of cycling through some of the other photos,
And this, again, is looking down towards Church Lane.
So, again, our hardship, which is clear and certainly not self-created, is that Wingo Hawking Heights is not a through street to Belfield Avenue and was never dedicated to the city and opened on the city plan.
I'm looking at the historical maps dating all the way back to 1895 here.
You can see this is our historical home. The garage was already there. Wingo Hocking Heights, for whatever reason, ends right around here, right somewhere in that property of the house next door to us. It does not hook down and finish off.
you can see again at some point in time it was renamed Nash Street before getting renamed back
to Wingo Hocking again at all times this is the 1910 Philadelphia Atlas map and now going up to
the 1942 Philadelphia land use maps you can see it's now called Wingo Hocking Heights there are
single family dwellings marked there. This large parcel at the end is the one that right now is
is vacant and has been vacant I believe forever but is is separately owned. This process this
parcel right here M3 is the one that the land bank owns. So again the road stops at around the T or
the S and does not hook down as it was always intended to do. And then again as you get up to
the 1962 land use maps, it was still intended to cut down. So at some point in time in history,
this road was just never finished down to Belfield and was never opened on the city map.
Again, if, and as the refusal shows, we meet all the requirements of the zoning code. The only
The only requirement we do not meet is for multifamily housing.
requirement we do not meet is for multi-family
And the reason we get that is because since this is not a public street, we cannot subdivide this large parcel into four separate parcels to have street frontage because you have to have street frontage on a public street for new subdivided lots.
Now, for zoning purposes, as part of the PUD, we have, you know, the four parcels right here, all of them sort of are grandfathered in on the public street frontage with the existing home.
So that that is the hardship we have. And that is something that we can't do anything about.
Now, I think notably, we did receive also preliminary streets approval from the streets department.
And we also went to the Planning Commission, whom we'll hear from soon, but they certainly
understood the issue we had and why we could do nothing about it.
And tellingly, the board might remember this, back in the summer of 2022, almost two years
ago, I was granted this exact same variance at 2309 Carpenter Street, where, for reasons that
were unable to be determined historically, the 2300 block of Montrose just was never opened
as a public street. For all other purposes, just like this one, it operated as a public street,
and you can see the zoning calendar number here and zoning permit was issued for a PUD
for six homes and again those six homes met all the requirements of the zoning code just as we
do here. The only issue was that we didn't have a publicly open street similarly to here. So we did
have a very robust public discussion and I spoke to at least one of the neighbors individually
and there was a lot of opposition although the opposition as you can see coming down here it
certainly was opposed. They did include a letter of explanation and this is really telling so I'll
take the time to go through it. What they were worried about mostly was the size of each property
and the amount of bedrooms and the square footage of each one. Again all of those are either not
zoning issues or we met the code requirements. The sizes of the rear and front yards, again,
we meet the code requirements for these new single-family homes in a single-family district.
The materials on the facade and the property matching are complementing the surrounding ones.
We made clear that we certainly intended to do so. And, you know, even from a selfish standpoint,
you know, the developer's not going to be able to sell, you know, two cheap-looking houses that
aren't built to the quality of the homes around them. The building of two homes right next to each
other with garages for parking, but they thought that extra parking was necessary because two-car
off-street parking wouldn't be sufficient. Again, we meet the code for one accessory parking space
off-street for each lot. Here, many of the neighbors park on the street and felt that
their parking would be impacted. There are also additional concerns, and you saw the sort of
state of the project, and I will openly state it before it even comes up, I'm assuming from
the community again. The property right now is in a sorry state. There was a prior developer
with whom my client was a silent partner and that developer unfortunately spent years and didn't get
anywhere and didn't do what he needed to do. My client bought him out of the project and is now
trying to do things the right way and get things finalized, fix up the large existing family house
and move these projects along so that you no longer see the overgrown weeds and the
the other issues that are already there um and you can see here they you know the rco expressly
stated very little confidence that this developer will keep his word about what is being proposed
in the stated timeline um so again it it's understood and i think justified where the
opposition was coming from and the neighbors they were also very concerned because wingo hawking was
never continued as it should have been. It was, I think this is one, so you can see right here
where it stops right at the end of the other house, the next house next to us. There was a lot
There was a lot of concern, you know, we will need to put in a new sewer line and a new water line and, you know, new utilities. And there was a lot of concern about how the construction of that would occur, where our construction vehicles would be, would we be blocking the entire street.
of concern, you know, we will need to put in.
um certainly we're going to have to meet and really exceed all the code requirements under
the building code to do so in this instance but these are very large properties we're able to
address the construction blockages because we can stage on this extremely large lot that we have
so i've already identified the hardship here a we have an extremely large property over 15 000
square feet that's awkwardly shaped sort of like an upside down state of Oklahoma. We have created
a PUD to try to address that because there were no interested buyers for the single lot for the
entire project. That's why we went forward with the PUD to try to put in additional single family
homes there. And, you know, again, it's the issue. I keep belaboring the point, but it's the issue of
Wingo Hawking Heights, for whatever reason, and the streets department couldn't determine it,
Planning Commission couldn't find it, we couldn't find it, why this street was never
formally opened on the public street. We would submit that the other two categories that we,
or criteria rather, that we have to confirm for a variance are that there's no detriment to
the neighborhood. Here, there certainly is no detriment where we're putting in
code-compliant single-family houses in a single-family housing neighborhood.
We're doing exactly what we'd be allowed to do by right, other than that single hardship
that we have with regard to Wingo Hawking Heights.
And finally, it is the least minimum variance because, again, we're asking for single-family
homes, which are, by definition, the least minimum variance that you can receive for
of property in order to build one in accordance with your owner's property rights under the laws
of Pennsylvania. And we would suggest that this actually also has significant precedence,
considering that not even two years ago, I received the exact same variance from the board
at that 2300 block of Montrose for the exact same reason that historically the road just wasn't
opened publicly on the city street, which is obviously not that unusual, but there's no
understanding or reason why. With that, I'm happy to answer any questions that the board may have,
or I can call my client to adopt my testimony. Why don't you call your client? Thank you.
Moshe Arbiv, could you raise your hand?
hi Moshe you said Moshe Arbiv yes Moshe Arbiv should be A-R-B-I-V is the last name
Moshe Arbiv can you raise your virtual hand
and I don't see any hand raised with that name sir okay he's texting me that he's on
um i don't see him with his hand raised i mean i'm gonna search it
no i'm i'm sure you're right um he's been oh i see him now he's been allowed to speak
thank you very much sir could you please state your name is spelled for the stenographer
My name Moshe Arbiv.
Spell your name, please.
Moshe, M-O-S-H-E, Arbiv, A-R-B-I-V.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you. Mr. Arbiv, you are here on behalf of the owner, Kitab LLC, correct?
And did you hear all of the testimony that I already presented in this case?
And do you believe it to be true and correct to the best of your information, knowledge, and belief?
Yes, sir.
And would you adopt that testimony as your own?
Yes, sir.
Thank you very much, Mr. Arbiv.
With that board, I offer to myself or Mr. Arbiv to answer any questions that the board may have.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Chair.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Yes, just briefly, Mr. Whalen. So the refusal seems to indicate there are four dwelling units in three structures, but you referenced, I believe it was unit A is just the garage.
But you referenced, I believe it was unit A is just the garage.
Could you clarify that?
Because the refusal is, if that's the case, the refusal is not accurate.
So it is accurate.
So unit A, this was a garage.
You know, I can, I'm sorry for the quick scroll here, but this will be helpful.
So this is unit A kind of comes in right where this fence line is that you can see here. I hope you can see it on my screen. And these cars are not ours. They are the neighbor's cars.
So you can see there's an existing garage door here. This garage has existed. There has been an accessory dwelling unit in this garage for well over 100 years. You can see it's accessed from the stairs up here as well as this. You see the split right here. This is an adjoining property that's not ours.
um okay so so we had originally intended to just go ahead and demolish this garage however we
cannot do so because in in the time that it has been built um it has basically become one with
the adjoining structure and so there's a very large the entire bottom is open parking space
and the the area above is a prior non-conforming accessory dwelling unit that's been there for
since the 1800s okay all right so that's what the examiner is counting as the fourth unit
yes okay all right thank you for the clarification sorry questions or comments from the virtual
audience yes chair now we have six hands up the first one is olivia jane winter winters will be
allowed to speak good morning could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer
Hi, I'm Olivia Jane Winters, and my name spelled out is O-L-I-V-I-A-J-A-N-E-W-I-N-T-E-R-S.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed.
so um i am uh my my husband and i own the property that if you're looking at the property
in question it's to the right our address is 5351 wingo hawking heights um we purchased our
property three and a half to four years ago and have historically renovated the entire property
um i just wanted to address some of the things that sean whalen has discussed with you as well as
I sent some evidence and a document over to you guys yesterday. I'd like to start with the
document that I sent over and then address some of the things that were inconsistent with what
Sean has stated before. So the first thing is regarding the history of our community.
I'm sorry for interrupting this, Winters. I actually have a copy of the document if you'd
like me to share it for the board. Yeah, that's fine. Okay. Thank you. I don't have to. I just
thought it you might be better thank you um so this is actually i this first portion i grabbed
from the philadelphia historical commission it was a preservation recommendation that was submitted
in 2017 um so this was actually they're trying to turn this into the george t pearson thematic
district um so this was actually our neighborhood was built our little street was built um it was
commissioned by John T. Roberts in 1887. He had actually wanted to build five homes for he and
his children to live in. One of the homes has since been demolished in the past 140 years,
but the other four homes still remain. And the reason why this street is not showing up,
and I have discussed this actually with the City Planning Commission with Ian Hagerty,
we actually don't have a legal card and for this street and the reason why is because it was
designed to be a private street it is a private street and going back to actually what Sean had
stated we don't actually have public services our sewer main is actually private we do not
receive from the streets department any sort of maintenance on our street I can actually share
are some pictures. If we go back to Sean's pictures of our street, you can barely get up
our street. It is in such bad disrepair. And part of the reason why that is, is because the streets
department refuses to actually fix our street because they state that it is our responsibility
as the homeowners. And we're, we're trying to work on that right now because we can barely get
the homeowners and we're we're trying to work on that right now because we can barely get up our
own street um it's also not plowed at all and we rarely get trash pickup we actually have been in
an argument with the city about that for uh quite a number of years um so that actually kind of
addresses that issue it is indeed a private street it was intended as a private street and community
for a family. And since then, it is operated as one. So the three houses besides the property
in question are currently all resided in by their owners. We're all families with children.
And Moshi, for the past number of years that he has owned this, five years,
has completely disregarded the community, our feelings, and has frankly been incredibly
disrespectful in the way that he operates his property. I'd like to scroll down to the second
argument, which is the legal card. So you will be able to see that it is in fact a private street.
And I think the Philadelphia Planning Commission will attest to that as well. The property that
Sean mentioned that is on the right of my house was actually the former quarry. A woman does own
that. Her name is Linda. She has owned it since the 1980s. And it is undevelopable land right now.
It is a quarry. It is filled with Wissahick and Schist. And that is actually where they got all
of the materials to build our homes on the street. So there is some historical significance to that.
It's also on a major slope. And it is a huge forest. So there's a lot of problems with that in terms of development. Our street, in fact, does not go down to Belfield Avenue, and it hasn't since the 1880s. And I think that that could probably go back to John T. Roberts deciding not to finish that and keeping it the way that it was in the private community.
to go down a little bit. Regarding the actual street right now, if you look at pictures,
you can see that our streets, the width of our street is much smaller than other streets around
it. We do not have sidewalks. In fact, it could be considered a driveway. So the effects of
construction crews and trucks on the current residence would be horrific for us in fact
myself and alan uh who alan chestnut and his wife regina who live across the street
we would not even be able to get out of our own homes due to the nature of the size of the street
um let's go down to point three which is uh the state of the existing property sean had mentioned
that that Moshi, who owns the property, has just taken over. He was a silent partner before and
that he's working on maintaining the property. Unequivocally, that is not true. He has owned
this property now for a while and he continues to leave it in a horrific state. There is
construction debris all over. There is bags of trash, overgrown weeds. There is a sewage leak
that he has flowing into our street it's hazardous to my children and the other children and all the
members on the street and he has neglected to deal with it he had somebody come and dig up on the
street and then they removed uh the pipe that they had installed um as the uh and without permits
uh he also has expired permits right now and has continued to work in in and around the house um
Ellen and I has been called a number of times. They're fully aware of this.
I've spoken with both Robert Keenan and Robert Brooks.
They've written a number of citations for this, and he completely disregards the city processes.
He also in the past had workers there with an illegal backhoe.
He broke our water main, flooded the street down to Church Lane.
He left an exposed gas line that is still exposed in the front of the home.
Excuse me, Mr. Chairman.
What is all this leading to?
My sense is that what it's leading to is her being against the project.
Am I safe to say that?
Can she be brief?
I'm trying.
Thank you.
Thank you.
So, so, Olivia.
The question is, I understand everything you said the issue would be you're against the project. Am I correct?
Yes, very clearly me and the other two residents on the street.
So 75% of the residents on the street are opposed to it.
moshi would be the other 25 since only four properties are on the street um i would also
like to make the point that they've gone ahead and advertised this for sale for the past like
year year and a half with a giant sign stating to the public that it was for sale in four separate
lots um without it actually having gone through the proper processes through zoning okay um and
And then in terms of the parking that he stated, number one, the building that is on the left that is, I think it's mentioned as Parcel A, is actually a historic, it's not a garage, it's the original carriage house for the homes.
And then on the right-hand side where he stated that he was going to add parking to the main home, that actually cuts into my yard.
and so I don't if you come to the property you'll fully see it is not capable of having a full
parking space on that side um I'm not sure where where they're planning on putting that but that
is actually indeed my land um all right so you're against the project 100 okay thank you very much
is there anyone else in the virtual audience yes chair alissa young will will be allowed to speak
good morning could you please state your name it's spelled for the court stenographer
hello alissa young a-l-y-s-s-a-y-o-u-n-g right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole
truth nothing but the truth yes i do are you are you a neighbor i am are you for or against the
project i am against the project for the same reasons that we just served am i correct um many
of the same reasons um they i just want to the only element that i'd like to add is just that
they do uh mr whelan misrepresented both portions of that garage property are theirs um you can see
so in city maps my garage backs up against it um and is an addition it's the carriage house that
that uh miss winters just described okay it's a nuisance property uh i've cleaned their gutters
i have dealt with standing water uh due to the carriage house so i i understand about the
carriage house but the point is you're against building these two new houses am i correct
yes sir thank you very much for taking the time to close is there anyone else in the virtual
audience yes oscar bizer will be allowed to speak good morning could you please state your name
it's spelled for the court sonographer hi oscar bizer um o-s-c-a-r last name bizer b as in boy
e-i-s-e-r-t do you swear or affirm to do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth yes are you a neighbor i am a neighbor are you for the project or against
the project. I am against the project, and I'd like to offer some additional information.
Well, I would only want to hear additional, not what we've heard already, okay? So please proceed.
I'm an architectural historian qualified by the U.S. Department of the Interior,
and this site was designed to have four houses with the carriage house and ample
lots on each side this was not designed to have additional houses um it was it was as uh the
earlier as uh miss winter said this was uh laid out by john t roberts but i understand what this
listen to me i understand what miss winter said could you please tell me anything additional that
you have and they all the houses were designed by the same architect this was literally designed
as like a place the where they want to build the house the houses is completely inappropriate it's
like the side yard of the house um these were all designed with large yards and these are
essentially suburban residences that um are as was said they're in the 2035 plan as a potential
historic district and you know i don't think there's anything else in any other city plan
saying that this is supposed to be, you know, a house for or subdivided into multiple residences.
I mean, it would seem reasonable to me to make the carriage house like a separate house, but.
I mean, it would seem reasonable to me to make the carriage house like a separate house, but to ruin this amazing cul-de-sac of these four purpose-built houses would be a complete abomination.
Thank you.
Thank you very much for taking time.
Who else do we have?
Chair, there's Rachel Street will be allowed to speak.
hi could you please state your name hi my name is rachel street that's
did i swear you did i swear you earlier today uh yeah i was i was on the call for this but i
was yeah that's okay you called about the baby okay yeah all right i'm on the call for this
property i live directly so you live are you a neighbor i live directly in front of it okay
Could you could you tell us, are you for or against the project?
I am against the project.
OK, and we've heard a lot of testimony.
Is there anything additional you could offer?
Yes, I'll just be brief.
As as this is a private street on the street, we do believe that we should have a right to dispute it in a court of law if this is to move forward.
Also, I want to state for the record on behalf of everybody on the street that the letter from the RCO that was submitted as a result of our meeting is woefully insufficient to describe the concerns that we raised during that meeting.
I also specialize in historic restoration, and this is an extremely unique street and community that is unlike anything else in Philadelphia, and this would absolutely destroy it.
thank you so much for taking the time is there anyone else in the virtual audience
yes chair excuse me there are four more hands and next is charles richardson
hi mr richardson good morning mr chair could you please just state your name and spell for
the stenographer charles richardson r-i-c-h-a-r-d-s-o-n office of councilwoman cindy
bathroom 508 city hall you swear or firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
I certainly do. Please proceed. Mr. Chair and Board, it would have been nice if Mr. Arbiv had met with the neighbors prior to his subdividing the property to see what might be acceptable to them.
As you can see, Wingo Hocking Heights is a very small, private, dead-end street.
As proposed, the development constitutes an overdevelopment of the lots created an undeveloped burden on neighbors.
And, you know, we've received over the past week a lot of calls and a lot of emails from the neighbors in opposition.
In fact, also someone came in, you know, in person here to the office to visit me.
uh as such the councilman is joining with the neighbors in the rco in opposition
to uh this project thank you very much for taking the time it's next next hand next is alan
chestnut jr will be allowed to speak i'm mr chestnut could you please state your name and
spell for the court stenographer hi my name is alan chestnut jr alan a-l-a-n-c-h-e-s-t-n-u-t
Do you swear for him, tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Are you a neighbor?
I live directly across in 53.
Mr. Chestnut, are you for or against the project?
Against.
All right.
Mr. Chestnut, we've heard a great deal of testimony.
Is there anything additional you could offer?
I would just like to stress very much that my parents that are the homeowners of 53, 56, where I live, they are elderly.
They're well into their 70s with a lot of health problems.
And if the street were to be blocked off for construction, that would be totally unacceptable.
There's no way in any world where they would be walking up and down the hill.
They're both disabled.
My dad's a veteran.
And if anything had happened where the street is blocked off, there have been many ambulance rides and everything like that.
It's no way that that would work.
Thank you very much for taking the time to call us.
We appreciate it.
Next hand, please.
Next is Allison Weiss.
Ms. Weiss, could you state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Yes, Allison, A-double-L-I-S-O-N, Weiss, W-E-I-S-S, Solo Germantown Civic Association, a neighboring RCO.
I know. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, tell the truth, nothing but the truth?
Ms. Weiss, are you in favor or against the project?
We are opposed.
thank you very much being very familiar with the area and thank you very much thank you very much
for calling us who's next there are no more hands chair thank you um planning commission
thank you um planning commission
good afternoon amy void for the planning commission
chair the planning commission will make their recommendation in the form of a letter
thank you um we're gonna hillary are we straight with the tax on this
yes the the taxes are fine um mr sheriff you would like to give mr whalen a chance to respond to the
comments yeah yeah yes and if planning is going to submit a letter then i guess we'll leave
the record open for their letter as well as a response for mr whalen mr whalen thank you very
much board uh very quickly i mean obviously i addressed much of this uh beforehand it i
understand the historical nature of how this was developed however it is still subject to the
zoning laws and zoning code of the City of Philadelphia, we are proposing two single-family
homes that are otherwise fully code compliant on land that allows for those homes to be built
in an RSA 3 zoning district. The property is not historically designated. That was never moved
forward with. There is no question with regard to the historical commission. The fact that there is
no legal card, legal street card that is for the Philadelphia Streets Department, is simply an
indication that it is a private street that was never opened on the city plan, as I fully stated
and as I completely agree with the neighbors. I understand the nature of what you can see in the
photos. Although every deed for Wingo Hawking Heights identifies the Wingo Hawking Heights as
30 feet wide. It may not be that in all locations as it has existed now, but that is what is shown
on our plans and that is what is in all of the deeds and surveys with the survey district for
this property. So we will be required to follow and meet all code requirements going forward.
And specifically with regard to violations, a search on Atlas will show that there are no current violations for the property. There certainly were prior violations, again, as Eli King was managing the project and trying to move it forward.
those violations have all been complied there was there is one listed violation that is marked as
null for from march for construction debris that has been taken care of and again i think there
was a misstatement this property has not been subdivided we are not trying to subdivide it
in fact if we could have subdivided it we would have done so years ago and these houses would
have been by right and we never would have had to come before this commission at all or this board
at all. The planned unit development is in place. There are the four projects. And just to be clear,
because I did address this with everyone directly, we are required at all times to maintain the
street as open. We cannot block the entire street for exactly all the life and safety reasons that
I believe Mr. Chestnut Jr. referenced. So I understand that that's a serious concern.
It certainly would be for me if my elderly parents lived on the street, but I'll take care of that.
And finally, as Mr. Richardson raised, this proposal simply cannot, as a matter of law,
constitute an overdevelopment of the property where it meets all code requirements and has
a clear hardship here simply for the private street never having been opened. And virtually
every street in the city of Philadelphia was private at one point and then brought forward
and on the city plan now when there are carriage houses and everything, when you moved from
carriage houses to garages and cars and the like. So with that, I will respond. I would just like to
know um when the planning commission will submit its letter and i will appear at that hearing to
respond to whatever the planning commission has so um we will make sure you understand when the
planning commission will have that for us hillary we're going to close the record except for the
planning commission and council's response that is correct okay thank you all right thank you very
much board. Mr. Chair, before we move to the next case, I just wanted to note that Vice Chair
Shahid had to leave for the remainder of the morning hearings. He will be back this afternoon.
All right. Thank you. So number 11, MI 2023-007-100-1615 North 10th Street.
Philip Smoker is the attorney. There's a letter, recommendation of support from North Central East RCO.
Philip Smoker is the attorney
There's a letter
Recommendation of support from
Philip Smoker is coming in as a panelist.
Good morning, Mr. Smoker. Could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Okay. Do you hear me?
I do. Please state your name and spell for the court stenographer.
Sure. Phillip Smoker, P-H-I-L-I-P-S-M-O-K-E-R.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client in relationship to the property?
Yes. So my client is Charles Cohen. He's the owner of 1615 North 10th Street.
Can you give me one second? He's waiting in my waiting area, and I'm going to bring him right in. It'll take one second.
Tom, when he comes back, can you do the follow-up, please?
Mr. Holloman.
No problem, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you.
All right, we're ready. Thank you. Sorry about that.
Mr. Holloman.
Good morning, Counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his accuracy?
Did you email all other exhibits and documents as required five days in advance to this hearing?
Yes. All the ones requested, I emailed them and yes.
Thank you. Please share your screen.
All right. I'm trying to figure out how to do that.
Here we go.
All right.
okay you see this no we do not see it sir no i'm sorry okay
you see the green button at the bottom yeah it's coming up all right
you see that uh do you see well you got to bring up the whatever okay right
it says i am screen sharing do you see i have but i'm saying you got you now got to bring up
The message, right? There's a series of messages.
What's that? Okay.
You got your email open. You have to double click on what you want to share.
If it's the exhibits that's up at the top, you have to open that up.
Okay. All right.
Well, Mr. Schmoker, while you're doing that, I'm going to move on to the next one.
i'll bring you back at the end and well okay then maybe you can figure how to open it okay okay well
i am i mean uh i i just can't figure out why it's not sharing okay i it says i am screen sharing um
yeah but you have each individual exhibit you got to tap on the exhibits and open it up yeah which
is here it is you see it now okay i'm seeing the exact same thing i was seeing a few minutes ago
sorry about that sure okay yeah i'm ready well go ahead go ahead okay so um
so this is an application for um a shed built in the backyard of 1615 north 10th street
um i'll just go down the exhibit list so well i think we have why don't you do this why don't
you go to the photos and show what you what you have okay because we have all the documents
okay so i'm gonna i'm gonna apologize the photos are a little bit grainy i thought they would come
out better than this but they're they're not great photos but i'll show you what i have so these are
the photos of the orange um posters and then this is a photo of the shed that was in existence since
In 1997. So my client, this house has been in the family. His mother purchased it back in 1978. He lived there and then his mother died in early 2000s and it was deeded to him by her estate in 2010.
1997. So my client, this house has been
So back in 1997, when he was living there, he built an old shed, which was this one.
It's in the back of his house. And this is another photo of the shed.
And then he rebuilt it in 2022, 2022, about two years ago.
He did that without permission and he's subsequently violated by L&I.
So that's why he's now trying to rectify all the violations.
Um, so essentially this is a shed that extends off the back of his property. It is with a garage door. It is, and I'm going to give you the dimensions.
Bear with me for a second.
the dimensions are they it is eight it's about 10 feet nine inches high um it's 11
and a half feet wide and it's about 16 feet long so 16 feet from front to back
10 feet or so from bottom to top and from side to side about 11 feet he stores in there his
motorcycles. He's a motorcyclist. So that's what he stores in there. And the old structure
was not holding up. The wood was rotting. So he built this new structure. And like I said,
he's subsequently been violated. And that's why he's here. Here's another picture of it.
So you see this backyard, it's kind of like a just a parking area for cars in the neighborhood. So
So the back lots of the houses on this street right here will face it.
And then the backs of the houses right here are facing this parking lot.
And there are other sheds and backyards of these houses, but this is the only one pictured.
So, Mr. Smoker, tell us what happened when you went to the RCO.
So we sent out all notifications as required.
We sent out well over 100 mailers notifying people of the RCO hearing.
Nobody showed up to oppose.
And the only people there, which was a few of the board members, supported.
And that's under exhibit I of what I said.
Why don't you bring your client on to adopt your testimony?
OK, right there he is.
Sir, could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Charles B. Cohen, C-H-A-R-L-E-S-D-C-O-H-E-N.
Right. Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Please proceed, counsel.
Sure, Mr. Cohen. Did you hear what I just said?
Okay. Do you verify that everything I said is correct?
Okay. And do you adopt that as your own testimony?
Yes. Okay. Thank you. Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from our attorney Hillary Emberson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Yes, Chair. Craig Melodosian will be allowed to speak.
Craig's out in West Philadelphia. Craig?
no that that's uh i don't have my hand raised that i can see
it was raised down now though okay craig you're not involved
i'm saying this sir i'm sorry thank you craig
anyone else in the roast audience no angie chair planning commission
sorry one second
Okay. Amy Boyd with the City Planning Commission. The comprehensive plan recommends no change to
the existing single-family residential zoning at this location. The appellants claimed hardship
is self-created as they built the shed without permits. The City Planning Commission recommends
that the board deny the requested variance for multiple principal uses. Thank you. MI 2023-007-100
1615 North 10th Street, I vote yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Thank you. Thank you, counsel. You have your votes.
Thank you. Thank you, counsel. You have your votes.
Thank you. Are we excused?
Thank you. Are we excused?
You are. Thank you.
You are.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman Bergman. I appreciate your courage.
Sure. Thank you.
Thank you.
Number 12, MI 2023-007-205, 2200 to 38 Washington Avenue.
Justin Crick is the attorney.
There's a letter of support from the Point Breeze Community Development Coalition.
15 to 5 was the vote in favor.
justin crick has been promoted chair good morning good morning council good morning
members of the board could you state your name and spell for the court stenographer
yes justin j-u-s-t-i-n crick k-r-i-k do you have an uh do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth nothing but the truth i do would you identify your client in relationship to this
property? Yes, my client is OCF Rility and Mr.
Fybush, Ori Fybush is on the Zoom with us. They are the
applicant and proposed tenant in this space. Mr. Hallman has
just a few questions for you. Good morning,
counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate
to his accuracy? I do. Did you email
all exhibits and documents as required five days in advance
to this hearing yes with the exception of timely photos of the posting timestamps were sent uh
monday morning thank you please proceed and share your screen thank you
all right members of the board uh thank you uh for hosting this today we are here today for a
refusal regarding one of the units in the property located at 2200-38 Washington Avenue in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania. This first exhibit is a list of exhibits, an outline of exhibits that I intend
to introduce today and that I would move into evidence at the conclusion. The application is
for an eating and drinking establishment, a prepared food shop in an existing structure
to leave all other existing uses in the structure as previously approved.
The applicant here is seeking to establish a coffee shop in a portion of this large building
and has received the refusal strictly for the refusal of this use.
Any basic commercial use is prohibited.
We are in an I-2 district, and so any commercial use,
including Eden establishments and food preparation shops are requiring a variance.
You'll note that there have been other uses that have been approved in the past,
one of which is for a retail store of sales of beverages, and I will demonstrate that there are
similarly situated uses that have been approved along this corridor recently.
The property is situated along Washington Avenue in an area that is highly zoned for industrial uses.
You'll see by this photo alone that there are certain restaurants located nearby and within this corridor and I can demonstrate additional.
But the current plan shows a large swath of industrial I-2 uses, medium industrial uses along the Washington Avenue corridor.
And it is our position that there is virtually no legal use available or viable within that limitation, which is also further limited by the West Washington Avenue overlay, which further restricts the industrial uses that would be allowed.
This is a photograph of the property from the corner of 23rd and Washington.
The building does start down, if you see my cursor, down at 22nd Avenue.
And the space being explored here for this purpose is the corner first and second floor of this building.
The intent is to develop this as a coffee shop, OCF coffee house.
And the applicant has already established three other locations within the city of Philadelphia
and has an excellent track record within those communities of being a vibrant coffee shop to
allow for increased pedestrian usage and which we believe this corridor certainly could use
and also just general development of commercial uses in this area. There is one of the coffee
houses that is nearby that in the long run if this project is approved and is permitted to open
in approximately six months that may be abandoned or switched over.
But generally speaking, this applicant has a good history
and shows that it is able to maintain the safety and the cleanliness of...
and shows that it is able to maintain the safety and the cleanliness of a neighborhood when it establishes a business in an area.
As you'll see from this, there would be entrance through Washington Avenue with a large area for obtaining service
and then a lot of seating area, hopefully to generate activity in ways of maybe people doing business or working or having meetings in these areas,
as small business meetings, or even as almost like you would see an Internet cafe.
The intended, let me step back and say the intended hours of operation are approximately
6 a.m. to 7 p.m., but it could also depend on neighborhood demand.
There would be approximately 10 to 15 employees staffing the establishment during operations.
the facility would maintain trash indoor until such time it is as it is picked up through
commercial pickup the space is pretty large overall and we are only talking about a portion
of this overall space but you can see that it is currently in a pretty raw state
and ready for some form of development
These photos indicate proof of concept of what the interior would look like similarly situated
based upon the applicant's Fairmount location that currently exists.
Historically, this has been an industrial setup, but that was at a time when railways and industrial
uses were very prevalent in this area and it was just more conducive to the transport of the
materials and industrial uses. The applicant is currently intends has a lease for the property
for the larger structure of the property and is only seeking this application for a portion of
the property at the moment for this use. This is a larger portion floor plan of the overall building
from 2200 through 2238, and the portion of the property we are seeking to develop is in this
corner along 23rd and Washington, both floors of this area. On the first and second floor, both?
Yes. Okay. Yes. Before I do proceed with the Point Breeze Association, I do want to point out
that this commercial corridor and this industrial corridor has already seen a lot of uses that are
set for commercial purpose. And in order to be potentially consistent with those uses
and recent approvals, the board has approved uses beyond industrial. So for instance,
along this corner at 22nd and Washington is the Dock Street Brewery, which allows for
sit down and food as a restaurant establishment. This entire block has been converted to a
residential multifamily and commercial mixed use a four-story structure and i do have some photos
of that along with commercial uses along the floor first floor ground level that do include
eating establishments this building itself also does have some restaurant and eating
establishments in it and i'm going to just jump to the end of the presentation and show you that
this is the opposite corner if you look up here our space is is in this section and the opposing
corner shows a deli in the first floor as well as the new development of residential units above
which leads to the need for additional facilities eating and drinking facilities along this area
again this photo is the larger structure that we're working with and our location is set on
the one side however if you look closer to 20th street um 22nd street i apologize you'll see that
in this building already is a a porcos which is another eating establishment and you can see here
the dock street brewery that has already been approved and given the fact that there have been
several developments in the area and overall larger development of this area to include
things greater than industrial uses and kind of change the nature of some of this area
to accommodate residential uses, there is a greater demand for additional eating and
drinking establishments.
The Point Breeze Community Development Coalition did meet and after voting on the matter,
there was a vote in support with 15 yeses and five noes.
Without reviewing each and every opposition or support,
in summary, many of the opponents have issues with either an...
Many of the opponents have issues with either an overcrowding in density of eating and drinking establishments or coffee house uses specifically were mentioned.
However, we have noted that not only are there not a ton of coffee shops in the area,
but bringing a local establishment that has many other establishments in the city allows people some variety in the area.
And also, this is different than your typical coffee shop that you would see with, say, a Dunkin' Donuts or even a Starbucks because this offers a significant amount more space for community gathering and community development.
Additionally, some of the opposition that we have, to be very fair, is more pointed
or directed at the applicant themselves and for other activities that they've constructed
or developed in the area versus a direct opposition to this proposed use.
In support, there were several individuals who were excited to see another coffee shop,
excited to see development on this corner and excited to see the ability for pedestrian
traffic in the area and a place to go that offers the amenities that this location would offer
why don't you bring Mr. Feinbush on yes I do want to just state that this development will not
impact congestion in public streets we don't believe it'll harm the neighbors use or increase
traffic congestion as this is a place that's very walkable from nearby locations and homes and will
not have any environmental impact. At this time, I would be glad to call Ori Feibush to adopt my
testimony. Ori Feibush is allowed to speak. Good morning, Mr. Feibush. Could you please state your
name and spell for the sonographer? Yes, of course. Good morning. Ori Feibush, O-R-I, F as in Frank,
E-I-B-U-S-H. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do. Please proceed, counsel. Yes, Mr. Feibush, have you had an opportunity to hear my testimony
to the board today? I have. And is it true and correct to the best of your knowledge? Yes.
And would you adopt my testimony as if it was your own? I would, thank you. And if you don't
have anything to add at this time i would like to uh offer myself and mr fey bush to answer
questions from the board and the community questions from the board no mr chairman
jim snell
Do we see Jim on the line?
Yes, Chair, just like he's having trouble unmuting.
Sorry, Chair.
No, no. Thank you, Jim. Any questions or comments?
No questions.
Okay. Questions or comments from our Attorney
Hilary Emerson? Just briefly, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Crick, is the proposed use for a specific
unit in the building? I was a little unclear on that from the lease. Yes, I believe it is for
what we are designated as 2230, but the building is not necessarily partitioned just yet. So it is
for a certain structure, a certain subset of the structure, as is visible by the interior floor
plans here, as well as the site plan or general overview in this section of the property.
um so it's the sorry say that again it's the 2230 2230 i believe yes but that is not an
official address but that is the effective location that that the applicant um is kind
of designating it as and i can let mr feibush uh address anything if there is some difference
to my testimony yeah let's just verify let i just want to verify with him and make make sure that
if the board does grant this that it's not for the wrong
location. Mr. Feinblech, what would you want us to use?
I think that address is appropriate. We have the entire building. So 2230
i think that address is appropriate so we have the entire building so 2230 washington feels
appropriate and that's the rectangle on the far right thank you very much thank you so much
questions or comments from the virtual audience yes there's a calling user will be allowed to speak
hi could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer oh hi uh tiffany green
concerning citizens of Point Breed.
Hi. Tiffany, could you
spell your name for the stenographer, please?
Yes. T-I-F-F-A-N-Y
G-R-E-E-N
Right. Do you swear
or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth,
nothing but the truth? Yes, I do,
sir. Please proceed.
We attended the meeting, okay,
and it was well attended, and
we just had
some concerns regarding the zoning
corrections
that we felt, because one of our concerns was that the L&I application was submitted
on behalf of the owner, yet the owner did not attend the meeting, nor did the lawyer.
This gentleman who, I know, is he the lawyer that's been speaking?
Mr. Bergman, can you give me his name, the lawyer that's been speaking on behalf of this
project?
Justin Crick.
Justin Crick.
Well, he did not attend the meeting either.
So Mr. Feinbush presented his own project.
So we have a concern because we are voting on changes to a property that we were not able to verify with the owner.
I did send in a letter, a summary that I hope Ms. Hillary got it.
I was having some Internet problems.
But basically, let me just sum up the letter for you.
So, therefore, since the owner did not come, we, due to these recent events of legal ramifications surrounding RCOs,
the owner not being at the meeting was a problem for us.
We did ask him about the owner, but he stated, Mr. Feinberg stated that he was going to present.
And so, therefore, we have not had a chance to verify with the owner that he supports these proposals to changes to his building.
And we would just like to hear from him, not saying that he doesn't, but we would like to hear from him specifically.
That's a concern.
Also, the vote sheet concern, we presented that most 15 of the people who voted in favor of the project, I would say at least 13, did beyond two blocks.
But unfortunately, we weren't able to get an unedited vote sheet.
As you see, it's been edited.
And so to really see the attendees, to verify the attendees as nearby neighbors, which is beyond the two-block radius.
Okay, so in the fact that there are other businesses in there, we just ask that from a legal standpoint and that to make sure that the zoning is correct going forward for years to come, we think that provisos should be added, and so we're asking that the ZBA would consider our provisos just as a matter of the record, you know, to accept the proviso, which is the unit number.
The advocate needs to disclose the unit number with the address of the coffeehouse.
The variance will be restricted to the unit number and not the whole parcel.
L&I states a variance can specify a space using a unit number.
The unit number will differentiate from other businesses in the property and give the variance a specific space.
The unit number will be revised on the plans and show in the building design at the L&I records.
The unit number will be revised plans will be sent to all effective RCOs before the notice of decision is issued
and that the number unit will be documented on the notice of decision should you approve the project.
Two, no hot food or sit-down restaurant.
According to L&I, the application has to reapply for an amended refusal if they propose a sit-down restaurant.
The refusal, as written, is for prepared food only.
Three, inside trash will be kept.
Washington Avenue is an industrial-style avenue.
with no food shops on this end recently to keep the character of the industry
and the industrial avenue, trash will be kept inside the property.
And there were concerns from, I think, two of the neighbors that lived behind,
directly behind, that they didn't want trash on their block.
And lastly, hours of operation.
I'm okay with the hours of operation.
but what I did put in there was 7, but if he wants to do 6 a.m.,
we're willing to adjust that and to 8 p.m.
because that area is still very desolate at night.
We think it's a safety issue for particularly people and women walking home
around the area because it's just starting to have commercial.
So commercial in this building, we do want to keep Washington Avenue commercial.
However, there is also a parking issue.
I do think there is a congestion area issue that might take place
because the tenant is moving his real estate office there
and he stated he's bringing close to 100 agents
and parking in the area would be an issue.
And parking in the area would be an issue, so I want to add to the proviso that maybe two-hour parking would be added to this block.
So I want to add to the proviso that...
I'm not sure if that could be a proviso, but I just want to make note of that.
You're moving 100 agents into the building, along with the coffeehouse.
That's a lot of traffic for Washington Avenue that is industrial and have other businesses, like you have a storage unit there.
Then you have Habitat for Humanity that's right across the street, where you have a lot of people that come there, too.
So that's a lot more parking in that particular area, 23rd and Washington Avenue.
All right. Thank you for taking the time to close. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
I see no hands. Planning Commission.
Good afternoon, Amy Boyd with the City Planning Commission. The comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning from medium industrial to industrial residential mixed use at this location.
The proposed use would be allowed under the recommended zoning and is consistent with documented priors of this property.
Therefore, the City Planning Commission represents that the Board grant the variance for eating and drinking establishment.
Thank you. MI 2023-007-205-2200-38 Washington Avenue. I vote yes with proviso. Use limited to Unit 2230.
Thomas Holloman my vote is yes with proviso James Snell my vote is yes with proviso
thank you counsel you have your votes thank you very much
number 15 MI 2023 0007 158 3533 North 16th Street Henry Clinton is the attorney
There is a letter of support from Nicetown Tioga Improvement Team.
Henry Clinton has been promoted.
I'll wait for Mr. Clinton to come on.
He and I just had a conversation.
It had come to my attention that while this appeared to be a change of use application, this is actually new construction.
so the refusal is incorrect um and the the application either needs to be refiled or we
need an amended refusal to reflect that this is new construction so um i've advised mr clinton that
unfortunately we cannot hear the case today until we have a refusal that correctly states what the
project is is that okay mr clinton it is what it is i i can't so we can't hear mrs everson we can't
have the case heard today and then hold it? No, we cannot. The refusal is written as a change of
use, and this is new construction. The plans may have not been reviewed by L&I. I have to go back
to L&I and ask them whether this can be corrected or whether a whole new application can be filed.
All right. I'll wait to hear from you then. Thank you very much.
Thank you. So I'll take care of it. MI 2023-007-158-3533 North 16th Street. This case is continued.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Okay. 16, 17. And number 18, MI 2023-007-094-6969 Van Dyke Street. Pascual Calavita is the attorney. There's the letter of unanimous non-opposition from the Tacconi Civic Association.
question. Pasquale Colavita is coming in as a panelist.
Good morning, counsel. Could you state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Good morning. Pasquale Colavita, P-A-S-Q-U-A-L-E-C-O-L-A-V-I-T-A.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client and the relationship to the property?
Iglesia de Dios Penegostal M.I. Peniel.
Mr. Holloman has just a few questions for you, sir.
Of course.
Good morning, counsel.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his accuracy?
With the exception of the indication that the parcel owner is Prima Chiesa.
It had the old owner.
I have a copy of the deed.
I probably sent six plus emails trying to correct the refusal.
I've spoken with board counsel Hillary Emerson.
board counsel hillary emerson she indicated that this was not going to should not be an issue with
She indicated that this was not going to.
it uh the uh real estate department uh that the recorder of deeds actually has the updated
information uh so uh why do you proceed proceed thank you okay i'm going to start by sharing
just a moment please next question yes did you email all the exhibits and documents as required
five days in advance to this hearing i did thank you please proceed and share your screen
okay let me find the correct screen
attached uh is a copy of our table of contents indeed notice a refusal application for appeal
architectural plans photographs of the property photographs of zoning poster
notice to the neighbors with proof of bulk mailing letter of support as you had stated earlier from
the coney civic association in the philadelphia tax center so this is a refusal it's a dimensional
variance that's requested. My clients
want to add an accessory
we'll call it office to
the present church because there's lack of space
there. And as far as
the tax clearance, it shows a zero balance
and posters
posters as stated have been previously forwarded and here they go and photographs of the property
that's what the church looks like right now the proposal is to be on to the left side of
the church between the properties this is the rear of the property again another shot of the
side of the property and i can uh show us a copy of the drawings i am here we go and as you can see
this is the um plans within the proposed one-story structure on the side on the left side of the
property on the the uh larger street on tycone street and this is a copy of the rendering of
what it would look like. We had a successful meeting with the neighbors at Tycone. A lot of
questions were asked and replied to, and everybody seemed to have liked the project and had no
opposition to it. And again, attached, as you can see, is their letter of non-opposition
to this project
why don't you bring your client on
Mr. Calavita
Pastor Pedro Cruz
if we can
get him on
Pedro Cruz is allowed to speak
good morning pastor
could you please state your name
and spell for the court stenographer
my name is Pedro Diaz
I'm sorry
No, that's fine. I think that that's correct. Josias Diaz is his son, and he's probably just using his computer, but I'm not recognizing his voice, so.
Please state your name and spell for the course stenographer.
Pedro Diaz, P-A-D, oh, I'm sorry, P-E-D-R-O-D-I-A-Z.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Pastor Diaz, did you have an opportunity to hear my testimony this morning?
Do you agree to its accuracy?
If you were to testify, would you incorporate that testimony as your own?
Is board satisfied?
Sure, yes.
Questions on the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No questions, sir.
There he is.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
There are no hands, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Hello, Amy Boyd with the City Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing single-family residential zoning at the site.
The appellant has not shown that the dimensional compliance would cause significant financial hardship.
Lack of parking under the current use is an existing condition.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the board deny the dimensional variances for side yard and occupied area and grant the variance for no off-street parking.
MI 2023-007-094-6969 Van Dyke Street, I vote yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you.
You can, sir. Is there anyone in the audience from the 930 list whose case has not been called?
There are no hands, Chair.
Thanks, everyone. See everybody at 2 p.m.
All right. Thank you.
Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this afternoon's hearings.
Our Vice Chair, Ismael Shaheed, should be on shortly.
Our board member, Thomas Holliman.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our board member, James Snell.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
And also here is our Attorney, Hillary Emerson, and our Executive Director, Tanya Sunket.
Here's our virtual format.
The proceedings are being recorded.
With your participation, you agree to be recorded.
The video will be available by contacting tanyasunket at phil.gov.
For our court snarker, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying.
If you're participating in my phone, press star 9 to raise your hand and star 6 to unmute.
To enter a period statement, call 267-270-5548.
Leave your email address and the address of the property in question.
And finally, the question box on the screen is not for comments or testimony.
All comments should be directed to our executive director, Tanya Sunkett.
Let's look at our schedule for this afternoon.
With you.
Okay, one minute.
Number one, MI 2024-001-169-10914, named Nandina Court.
Vern Anastasio is the attorney.
Mr. Anastasio.
Morning, Mr. Chair.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair.
Good afternoon.
Could you just state your name for the record, please, and spell it for the hand?
It's Vern Anastasio, A-N-A-S-T-A-S-I-O.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I understand you may have a request for this number one case.
Spoke to the RCO.
They'd like to see a slight reduction in the number of units that we are amenable to, so they've asked us to return.
Thank you.
So MI 2024, 001-169-10914, Nandina Court, case is continued.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you.
Number three, MI 2024, 001-411-1104 North 42nd Street, case is continued.
Number five, MI 2024, 001-569-1840 South Camac Street.
Number H, this case is continued, attorney moving party.
Number six, MI 2024, 001-510-7929 Roanoke Street.
Case is continued.
Number seven, MI 2024-000-901-2337 South 13th Street.
That case is continued.
And number nine, MI 2024-001-570-1839 South Eismaner Street.
That case is continued.
Attorney moving party.
Mr. Shaheed, are you online yet?
Mr. Shaheed, are you online yet?
I'm going to go to our regular list.
I have a few out-of-ones we'll do at the end.
Thank you.
Number two, MI 2024, 001-621-5416 Vine Street.
Henry Clinton is the attorney.
There is a letter of support from HMC Squared Community Association.
Good afternoon, Chair. This is Doreen Blakey, and I will co-host this afternoon.
Okay. Mr. Clinton, please.
Yes, I'm looking for Mr. Clinton. There he is. I'll promote him now.
Mr. Clinton?
There he is.
Mr. Clinton, you've already been sworn. Could you just state your name for the record?
Sure. Henry Clinton, C-L-I-N-T-O-N.
And can you identify your client, their relationship to this property?
Sure. Two clients, Josh Friedman and Solomon Friedman, F-R-I-D-M-A-N. They're members of
the entity that owns the property, which is C as in Charles, Y as in U, P as in people,
the number two LLC. Okay. Mr. Holman has just a few questions for you, sir.
Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his
accuracy? I do. Did you email all of the exhibits and documents as required five days in advance to
this hearing? I did, and I added some photographs two days ago. Thank you. Please proceed and share
your screen. Thank you, Mr. Holloman.
Invisible, Mr. Chairman? It is, sir. All right, good afternoon again. I'm here on behalf of CYP2
LLC, and this is a property of 5416 Vine Street. We are requesting a three-family dwelling in an
existing building, which at one point in time was actually used for four families on a block
that has multifamily and we have parking also. Cable of contents, AA through A10, and I have
numerous zoning records indicating other properties on this block, this 100 block, 5,400 block of vine
are also multifamily. The refusal, it's an RSA3 zoning district. Two refusals,
proposed multifamily household living prohibited. And the second is accessory parking. Three spaces
are required. We do have three spaces. And when you get to the letter from the community group,
you'll see that they really didn't vote on that because they figured we had three spaces.
This is the RCO letter of support, indicating that we met, they had comments, and they voted to support the project, basically four to one.
And their summary letter really says it all.
This application, this proposal, will not alter the essential character of the neighborhood,
doesn't substantially or permanently impair the appropriate use or development of adjacent
property and is not detrimental to the public welfare. There's three gas meters, there's three
electric meters. It's been used as a multifamily since the 1950s, and I have records of that,
and the property has been vacant for five years. And there's also several multifamily dwellings
in the neighborhood, and it's buildings too large for a single-family property. Those will be all
the comments I would make at the end of this presentation, Mr. Chairman, so I'm not going to
be redundant. I will just incorporate them as part of my closing. Thank you, sir. Photographs
of the building. It's a twin. There's a large driveway to the right, and you can see it is
the largest property on the block, probably by about five to seven feet. This is a view from
the rear, just to give you a perspective. This is looking eastbound on Vine. Again, you can see the
car one car and other photographs that i have indicate several cars along the side
driveway area and there is a curb cut right there in front of the property this is looking westbound
and you can see there's two cars there now and on occasion there's three this is the front of
the property it's a very long property we're not touching the footprint or the height or any of the
We're not touching the footprint or the height or any of the open space in the rear yard,
open space.
and we have no refusals because of those issues.
This is the basement, three electric meters.
One's pulled, but there were three panel boxes.
There's one gas meter, but you can see their stubs where the other two gas meters were.
They've been pulled for whatever reason.
The exterior, and this is the interior.
The property is in really bad shape.
We're going to remove a lot of the partition walls.
And when I show you the floor plan, we're just going to reorient the building a little bit.
But it's in pretty poor shape.
Rear yard.
And here's the plans.
First floor plan.
You would enter from the front door.
come in to the front first floor apartment,
which is two bedrooms and one bath.
And then the second apartment
is in the rear of the property.
That's one bedroom, one bath.
On the second floor, we have one large apartment,
which is three bedrooms and two baths.
That's the basement.
Basically, that's going to be for the mechanicals.
Three hot water heaters we'll have.
We'll have, again, three meters,
probably four meters one for the common space areas and then we'll have three gas meters
there's application for appeal our tax certification our zoning map indicating
the rsa3 zoning district the deed indicating ownership of january of this year and the client
and CYP2, LLC.
Mailing, 91 letters went out to the adjacent neighbors.
And this is the historical records.
Again, our property at one time was used for four-family, adjacent, two-family.
And these are all on the even side of the street, 30, 32, 34, all multifamily.
And I'll show you this zoning record, 54-36.
2024 was just granted a variance for eight families down toward the end of the block.
Across the street is a three-family.
There used to be a two-family, a 5423, and a dry cleaners.
And then at the very end of the block, PHA has a few hundred units for residents in the area.
So I'll go through these.
I don't want to spend a lot of my time and waste your time, Mr. Chairman, but just again,
And historical records indicate 5416 Vine Street was a four-family at one point and then moved to a three-family, which is what we're asking for now.
So we're basically just reinstituting the use that went dormant for many years.
This is a layout of the property from back in the day.
This is 5414, the adjacent property, two apartments.
this is 54 30 sideways but that says two two family 54 32 again multi-family three family
now look some of these records are dated Mr. Chairman and I'm not saying that there's three
families there now and I'm not obviously not going to knock on the door but this is the latest zoning
records that we were able to locate. 5434, the same thing, three family. And this is the most
recent zoning record I was able to find on the block on the even side, which is the same side
of the street as our property, my client's property. 5436, new construction permit,
hold for a four-story, eight-family dwelling as per approved plans. And you can see it's been
issue. So that's right down at the end of the block. And then we go to the odd side of the
street, 5421, two-family, 5423. This is the one I pointed out. It was a dry cleaner at one time,
which is not now, and a two-family. And then this is the PHA. It's actually an interior street,
Sickles Way, and they have 348 rental units down at the end of the block.
So in conclusion, again, to mimic and echo what the community group said, we have an existing home used for three-family, in disarray, vacant for five years, no extensions of the rear or going up.
We are not impacting anyone's light or air, any adjacent property, and we're basically in harmony with what is on the street, and we're also in harmony with the zoning code because it is residential.
With that, I would ask my client to unmute himself.
It may be Josh or Solomon on the line.
It may be Josh or Solomon on the line.
Joshua Friedman?
Thank you.
He has been allowed to speak.
Mr. Friedman, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Joshua Friedman.
J-O-S-H-U-A.
Friedman, F-R-I-E-D-M-A-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Mr. Freeman, were you on the Zoom call when I made the presentation concerning your project?
And if you had the opportunity to testify, would you adopt my testimony as your own and as true and correct?
Thank you, Mr. Freeman.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary.
No, Chair.
Thank you, Ish.
questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson uh just a quick clarification um mr
clinton did you say there was there was um off-street accessory parking at the property
yes there's a curb cut on the front of the house and there's stacked parking of two to three cars
some of which were in the photographs okay um so because that wasn't included on the application
and you actually got a refusal for it, I would just recommend that that is documented maybe if
you're submitting any future zoning applications related to this property, because it doesn't
look like that parking is currently recognized by L&I. So I just recommend documenting that in
the future. Understood. And I agree. I don't know that it's documented by L&I. There is a curb cut
And the community group, if you really look at their letter closely, the president wouldn't even weigh in on the parking.
She said, you have parking. We're not going to we're not going to put that in the letter.
I saw that. I saw that. Your statement is well taken, Ms. Emerson. I appreciate it.
No problem. Thank you for the clarification.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
No hands, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Hello, John Lovacar from the Planning Commission. My name is spelled J-O-H-N-L-A-V-A-C-C-A-R-E.
You swear or firm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, sir.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the RSA 3 zoning on this site.
Due to the length of vacancy, any grandfathered prior use or variance would have lapsed.
There is no hardship for three dwelling units on the single-family twin block.
Therefore, PCPC staff recommends denial of this variance request.
Thank you.
Mr. Clinton, you want to respond?
I don't know if – I thought John said in the beginning it was a documented use of three families,
so I don't know why the positional planning commission is against the project.
So maybe you can give me clarification on that. But there's three gas meters, three electric meters. It's the largest house on the street. It was three family. It's been vacant for five years. And the community group would like that property occupied and restored to what it was.
Thank you. So MI 2024, 001-621-5416 Vine Street, I vote yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Ismail Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
So, number four, MI 2024-001-387-7516 Haverford Avenue.
Alan Nockamson is the attorney.
There is a letter of opposition from the Overbrook Park Civic Association.
25 opposed, 7 in support.
The applicant also has a petition of support signed by 43 neighbors, along with five letters of support.
Alan Nockamson has been promoted.
Good afternoon, Mr. Nockamson.
Could you just state your name for the record and spell for the stenographer?
Alan Nockamson, A-L-A-N, last name Nockamson, N-O-C-H-U-M-S-O-N.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Could you identify your client, a relationship to this property?
Yeah, my client is Dream Property Realty, LLC, and in the virtual audience is its member, Yoha Grissom.
Yeah, my client is Dream Property Realty LLC, and then the virtual audience.
Our vice chair has a few questions.
Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reason of the refusal or sticking it to its accuracy?
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, we have.
Thank you, counsel. Please proceed and share your screen.
Thank you.
Hi, so we're here to present 2516 Aberford Avenue.
First, we're going to review the notice of referral. So again, first point is this is not a variance request.
This is a CMX 2 property, and thus we're seeking a special exception here.
The question that the board needs to answer is, is this use proposed by the applicant any worse off than what you would expect of an event planning facility?
That's our proposed use.
So as the board knows, there's conditional approval for this type of use in CMX2.
And, you know, it's a much lower burden than what you would expect from a variance where we would have to prove what's the hardship here.
So point one.
And that will be reviewed through our notice of referral.
Second, exhibits are correspondence from the Overbrook Park Civic Association, and we'll go through that.
My client did an extensive petition.
You know, she's from Overbrook.
She has multiple businesses in the Philadelphia region.
She's a well-known quantity.
and she has much support in this neighborhood,
including the property owner next door to us
who will be most directly impacted
by this use of an event planning facility.
Next, we'll review the maps of the area,
including the zoning map,
which confirms that this is CMX2 zoning,
which would require a special exception,
not a variance.
We're on a commercial corridor.
Then we'll review interior photos.
This is just raw space. My client just purchased this property, but just showing the interior of the property.
And then photographs of the surrounding area, our plans and drawings, simple floor plan.
This is an 1,800 square foot, one story structure.
Our RCO meeting notice, along with proof of mailing of that notice, our applications for a special exception,
our deed to the property, showing that my client's dream property realty LLC is the owner of the property,
and a Certificate of Tax Clearance.
At the conclusion of my presentation,
I would ask that Yoha virtually raise her hand,
be sworn in, and I have a few questions for her.
So again, this is a CMX-2 property.
This is a notice of referral, not a notice of refusal.
And then the question the board has to ask is,
the proposed use as an event assembly facility
in an existing structure,
is that proposed use worse
than what you would typically expect
from such type of proposals, if that makes sense.
You know, an event assembly facility, by definition,
is less than 50 individuals within essentially an event planning space.
We received this referral based on, you know, our zoning classification.
Now, we did try to present in front of the community
the Overbrook Park Civic Association.
My colleague, Alex Goldberg, made the presentation, and we tried to summarize the difference in the law between a variance and when you would expect to get a special exception.
We were told that there's no difference where there really is.
And then, you know, worse off, my client was verbally attacked by the members of the executive board, where they said, you don't know anything about business.
And we try to explain that. First of all, my client's from the neighborhood, knows a ton of people in the neighborhood, which shouldn't matter.
I mean, for the standard for a special exception, ultimately, is she a qualified business owner?
And the answer is yes. She has three other businesses in the region.
She owns a home care agency. She owns a gym and she owns a laundromat.
The reason why she's opening up this event planning facility is because she does a lot of events with her home care agency, where she was renting space at a local country club, where it was costing her all this money. So she does a ton of seminars and events, you know, for, you know, people within the facility and their families. And she thought, okay, well, instead of me paying someone to rent a space, let me get my own space.
That's the type of entrepreneur she is.
And, you know, what she's looking into is like a bingo night, birthday parties, showers, like light lifting for the event planning.
birthday parties showers like light lifting for the event planning space um but we weren't given
the opportunity during the community meaning frankly to explain the difference from a legal
standpoint between a special exception and a variance and you know again i think they were
very dismissive of yoha's relationships in neighborhoods but more importantly to her
qualifications as a small business owner which goes to the heart of this special exception
So, yes, the people in the crowd primarily voted against it, I think, because more so that they were swayed by the questions or the lack of what they thought were qualified answers based on what we were trying to say.
But with that being said, the board itself, it seems like there were some vocal members of that local board.
It still was only a three to two vote against the project.
So three people on the executive committee of this RCO voted against it while two people were not in opposition.
So that was a close vote. But again, you know, and it's all stated in here, generalities like, again, ultimately, if we meet our burden for conditional relief here or approval, then the burden then shifts to the community to show how we are worse off than what you would expect from an event planning space.
In their letter in opposition, they just have general statements about, we don't like parties in our neighborhood because they tend to get out of control, and also about Airbnbs, which is not anything related to the use that we're applying for.
And they do admit that this is on a commercial quarter.
Again, we're not trying to create a variant situation here.
This is not a residential neighborhood.
This is a commercial strip.
There's a restaurant like a couple doors down that has seedy capacity, very similar to what the capacity that we're limited to.
We're no worse off.
And then in actuality, like our use actually complements some of the use on the commercial corridor, where in terms of traffic congestion, we're working with the next door neighbor who owns the property next door to us that has a daycare facility.
We're talking and talks with them to potentially rent out parking there.
But again, a lot of the uses that are in that commercial corridor, when we're going to be using our event planning space, most of those uses are closing down.
So they complement each other instead of contradicting each other.
And then my client, you know, took it upon herself to make sure that she met as many neighbors to this property.
And as you can see, this is where we are.
You can see the people who are in support on the commercial corridor.
But then, you know, there are people who are in support of it, who are close by, who are residential occupants or occupants of the residential properties.
And as the chairman stated, I didn't count, but apparently there were 43 people who signed that petition.
And that's the petition itself.
And then my client also had other individuals who were in the community, a realtor, Stephanie Washington, who's known in the community, who spoke about knowing my client on a personal level, on a business level.
The church that she's a member of and that she's an active member of, Holy Cross Baptist Church, also stated their support.
And these are personal letters.
These are not form letters.
These are personal letters that they submitted to the ZBA.
Naya Campbell as well, attesting to knowing her as an individual over the years, as well
as the happy insurance group that my client has done business with over the years.
And in addition, Tony Allen, who has worked with my client for almost 20 years.
So again, these are not just form letters that you would typically see.
There are people who really care deeply about Yoha and feel strongly that she's a responsible business owner.
And then maps of the area. Again, we're a CMX2 property.
We're not trying to create any type of nuisance to the neighborhood or traffic congestion that you would see that's atypical to an event planning space.
And in actuality, my client is in discussions with the person next door who has a 10 space parking lot right next door about potentially leasing some spaces as part of her events.
And then this is the parking lot that's here.
This is my client's property here.
But you can see this is solidly in this area commercial.
And then you can see that there are people who are in support of it or in the outskirts of this commercial quarter.
And then interior photos, again, just wanted to show, but this property, we're not using it right now for any purpose.
We're hoping that the board will grant this special exception.
uh this uh special exception
and then photographs of the property previously this property i guess was a karate dojo
and then you can see here the orange notice uh poster uh showing proof of posting for today's
hearing um here's the rear of the property which we intend to use for as a patio i have referred
abbey to the right of the property and to the left of the property you can see this commercial
corridor here and then our plans and drawings are simple we come through a lobby we have an open
area kitchenette area no cooking on the premises we're simply like allowing people to bring their
food in there's two bathrooms in the patio area our rco meeting notice we had a meeting on april
25th at 7 p.m we emailed that notice a few weeks before the community meeting to the rco as well
as other relevant parties we did mail that notice two weeks beforehand to 96 addresses
and these are the addresses and this is the proof mailing to those addresses our application for a
special exception our deed to the property showing that my client owns the property
and then a certificate of tax clearance with that being said i'm going to unshare my screen
I'm going to ask that Johan virtually raise her hand, and then I may have a few more comments about the legal standards here.
Johan, can you please raise her?
I see.
Oh, I see her.
I'll allow her to speak.
Good afternoon.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
my name is yoha grisham y-o-h-a-g-r-i-s-s-o-m right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth nothing but the truth yes please proceed counsel oh yes uh yoha you heard everything
i had to state today about your zoning matter yeah is it true and correct yes and do you adopt
as your own testimony yeah all right i actually have a few other questions for you because i i
did not introduce this into the record uh you're putting up uh additional lighting in the in the
front of the property is that correct yeah and you're putting security cameras in the front
in the and in the back of the property you're putting lighting extra lighting is that correct
yeah and then you're putting security cameras in the front and in the back of the property right
Correct. And then for night events, you are going to require anyone who serves alcohol to provide security. Is that correct?
Yes. And you would only allow individuals to serve alcohol if they do by way of a liquor license. Is that correct?
Correct. And your hours of operation are Monday through Thursday, 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. Is that correct?
yes and then friday through sunday from 10 a.m to 10 p.m is that correct yeah
and you're handling your own trash for these events is that correct yeah
i have no further questions questions from the board no mr chairman
no chair questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson
Just a quick clarification, Mr. Nockamson, the patio that was shown in the floor plan, is that going to be utilized for events potentially?
I believe so. Yoha, is that correct? And will that be used for events?
Just maybe some chairs outside, some tables. Not partying outside, but just for the space.
Okay, thank you.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
yes chair i have two hands up and the first one is lynette hill will be allowed to speak
good afternoon could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
good afternoon mr chair my name is lynette hill the spelling is l-e-a-n-n-e-t-t hill h-i-l-l
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
I do. Do you live in the area? I am a nearby neighbor. I'm an Overbrook Park resident.
Please proceed. I am testifying to support this project. Yoho is a community member.
She grew up in the community. She has successful businesses and she's going to be a great asset to
that area. So I'm just calling in for my support. That's it. Thank you. Thank you very much for
that's it thank you thank you very much for taking the time thank you have another person in the
taking the time. Thank you. We have another
person in there.
audience yes to chair excuse me brianna phillips will be allowed to speak
hi could you please state your name for the stenographer and spell it
brianna phillips b-r-i-a-n-a-p-h-i-l-l-i-p-s do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the
whole truth and nothing but the truth yes please proceed i am a resident of overbrook hills
and i am definitely in favor of this event space it'll be a wonderful addition um knowing yohan
her as a businesswoman um and she grew up in the neighborhood she makes everything look beautiful
It's going to really add value to that strip.
And she's very professional and, you know, always make sure things are done very, very professionally and safe.
So I am definitely excited about this new event space.
Thank you very much for taking time to call us.
Is there anyone else?
the next person will
the next person will be Christopher Abbott
how many more hands do you have
they're going up as we speak
it's nine hands up
okay Mr. Abbott
please proceed
state your name
and spell for the stenographer
Mr. Abbott
i don't see him at the time anymore move on to the next hand okay the next one is telena's
ipad allowed to speak i could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
my name is tylenna t-y-l-i-n-a harris h-a-r-r-i-s do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the
whole truth, nothing but the truth? Yes. Do you live in the area? Yes. Are you in favor of the
project or against? No, I was at the meeting. I dialed in. I was at the meeting that the attorney
referred to. Yeah, sure. And I wanted to say, first of all, we were not hostile.
We were expressing our concerns. And one of the concerns that some had was parking, how, you know, Cabinford Avenue is a busy intersection, but parking is always an issue.
And they were expressing concerns about when the event's going on, people coming into streets, parking, and different things like that.
It wasn't a resolve for that.
Security was a concern.
The alcohol was a concern.
So people did have certain concerns at the meeting.
So that's why I'm – so I wasn't in favor of it because we have an event space on City Avenue.
right in that
it's a little strip there
that has an event space
and we were saying
we didn't need another event space
in the neighborhood
so that was another concern
thank you very much
for taking the time to call us
we appreciate it
next hand please
yes Tiffany Thomas
hi could you please state your name
and spell for the stenographer
hi yes
tiffany thomas t-i-f-f-a-n-y last name thomas t-h-o-m-a-s right do you swear or affirm to
tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes are you a neighbor i am not okay um
are you in favor of this project or against i'm in favor um i actually wrote a letter um in support
of Yoha. I'm the owner of Happy Insurance Group. We insure all of her businesses and all of her
properties. So I really just want to speak to the concerns around her safety and how she operates
her business. We have a standard by which she has to meet for all of her properties and all of her
businesses as well. She's been very consistent with the safety standards, which she will be for
this property should it move forward. So I just wanted to speak to those concerns. We have standards
is what she has to meet.
Thank you very much for taking the time to call us.
Is there anyone else in the audience?
Yes, Chanel Robinson.
Hi, could you state your name
and spell for the stenographer?
Chanel?
She's there.
She needs to unmute.
Chanel Robinson, can you please unmute?
Chanel Robinson, can you please unmute?
Still muted, Chair.
Okay, thank you.
Move on to the next.
Do you have any more hands?
Yes, five hands.
The next one is initials J-M, allowed to speak.
Hi, could you state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Hi, can you guys hear me?
I can.
Please state your name and spell for the stenographer.
Okay, my name is Jasmine Murray.
It's spelled J-A-Z-M-I-N-E.
Last name is Murray, M-U-R-R-A-Y.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Are you in favor or against the project?
I am in favor.
Thank you very much for your time calling us.
Next hand, please.
Naya Campbell.
Hi, Ms. Campbell.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Yes, my name is Naya Campbell, spelled N-A-Y-A-C-A-M-P-B-E-L-L.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Are you a neighbor?
No, I'm not a neighbor.
Are you for or against the project?
I'm for the project.
Thank you very much for taking the time to cause.
Next hand, please.
Samia Morris.
Ms. Morris, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Samia Morris.
C-A-M-I-A-M-O-R-R-I-S.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Are you a neighbor?
No, I'm currently not a resident of Overbrook.
However, Yo-Hai owns a business in my neighborhood, and it runs great.
Are you in favor of the project or against it?
Obviously, you're in favor.
Yes, I'm in favor.
Thank you very much for taking the time to call us.
Next hand, please.
Hashina Jenkins.
your name is spelled for the stenographer yes hi can you all hear me we can state your name
please and spell for the stenographer my name is hashina jenkins and that's spelled h as in harry
a as an apple s as in sam h as in harry i like igloo and as a nancy a as an apple jenkins i'm
calling in support um as well hold on hold on hold on one minute you swear or affirm to tell
the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth? I do. Are you for the project? I am for the project
as a consumer of Ms. Joha's home health aid services. She has helped supply those services
to my father and her level of professionalism, safety concerns, etc. There will be no better
businesswoman to allow to have an event space in this area. Thank you for your time. Thank you for
taking the time do we have any more hands left yes chair currently there are 11 hands up the
next one is chanel robinson please state your name and spell for the stenographer
please state your name and spell for the stenographer
she has to unmute
Chanel Robinson can you please unmute
under the next hand please
yes Lynn Ridley
is allowed to speak
could you state your name or spell for the
stenographer
yes good afternoon
my name is Lynn Ridley
L-Y-N-N
last name R-I-D-L-E-Y
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Are you a neighbor?
No, I'm not.
But I am very familiar with the community.
Hold on, hold on, hold on.
Are you in favor of the project or against the project?
I'm in favor.
Thank you very much.
Move on to the next hand, please.
Yes, Kathy Shepard.
Kathy Shepard, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
he's muted chair move on to the next hand please yes silvio paz is allowed to speak
hi could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
hi my name is silvio paz s-i-l-v-i-o-p-a-z do you swear or firm to tell the truth the
whole truth and nothing but the truth? Yes, I do. Do you live in the area? I don't. Are you in
favor of the product or against? I'm in favor. Thank you very much for calling. Next hand, please.
Eve Warren is allowed to speak. Could you state your name and spell for the stenographer, please?
My name is Yvette Warren, E-V-E-T-T-E, last name, W-A-R-R-E-N.
E-V-E-T-T-E, last name, W-A-R-R-E-N.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
You live in the area?
Are you in favor or against the project?
I'm in favor.
Thank you.
Next hand, please.
Jamira Bigby?
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
jameera bigby j-a-m-e-r-a last name bigby b as in boy i-g-b-y right you swear or firm to tell
the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes all right do you live in the area
no sir are you in favor of the project or against the project
in favor sir thank you next hand please christopher abbott
how could you state your name and spell for the stenographer all right christopher abbott a b b o t
t right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes do you live in do you live in the area yes i do are you in favor of the project or against
I'm in favor of the project.
I'm a business owner here in this area,
and I think they will bring more economic growth to this area as we grow together.
Thank you very much for taking the time to call us.
Next hand, please.
Christopher Jones.
Could you state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Christopher Jones, C-H-R-I-S-T-O-P-H-E-R Jones.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do. Do you live in the area? No. Are you for or against the project? I'm for the project.
Thank you very much for calling. Next hand, please. Brittany Jones.
Hi, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Hi, Brittany Jones, B-R-I-T-T-A-N-Y, last name Jones, J-O-N-E-S. Do you swear a firm to tell
the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Yes. Are you a neighbor? No. Are you for
or against the project? Four. Thank you very much for calling.
Next hand, please. Katima McGruder.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Hi. Can you hear me? Yeah. Could you
please state your name and spell for the stenographer? Yes.
Katima McGruder. K-H-A-T-I-M-A
McGruder. M-C-G-R-U-D-E-R. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Are you a neighbor?
No, I'm not.
Are you for or against the project?
I am for the project.
Thank you very much.
Next hand.
How many more hands do we have?
Two hands up now.
Kiana Person.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Kiana Person.
K-E-Y-A-N-A-P-E-R-S-O-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Are you a neighbor?
Are you for or against the project?
I am for the project.
Thank you very much for taking the time.
Next hand, please.
Stephanie Washington.
Could you state your name and spell for the stenographer?
And she has since disappeared.
Okay, thank you.
Is that it?
There she is again, Chair.
I'll allow her to speak.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the stenographer?
Yes, Stephanie Washington, S-T-E-P-H-A-N-I-E, Washington, S-W-A-S-H-I-N-G.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do swear to tell the truth.
Are you a neighbor?
No, I am not a neighbor.
Are you for or against the project?
I am for the project, yes.
Thank you very much for taking the time to cause.
Are we done?
Yes, there are no more hands.
Planning Commission.
Hello, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the CMX2 zoning at this site.
The property is commercially configured on an appropriate corridor and has a history of similar uses.
The appellant has shown that the proposal will have no detrimental impacts to the neighborhood beyond what might be expected.
Therefore, PCPC staff recommends granting this special exception.
MI 2024-001-387-7516, Havreford Avenue.
I vote yes for a temporary special exception that will expire 5-15-27.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with proviso.
My vote is yes, with proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Jim there?
Thank you, Counselor.
You have your votes.
Thank you.
Number eight, MI 2024, 001-626, 4619 to 27 Woodland Avenue.
Dawn Tang Grady is the attorney.
There's a letter of unanimous support from the Southwest Philadelphia District Services.
Lemento Amazon will be promoted, Chair.
Oh, okay.
Hi, Counsel. How are you? Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Good afternoon, Chairman and Members of the Board. Clementa Amazon. It's C-L-E-M-E-N-T-A.
Last name is A-M-A-Z-A-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Could you identify your client in a relationship to the property?
my client is the owner of the property 4619 woodland partners lp and isaac singleton should
be on the call okay our vice chair has just a few questions of course
good afternoon have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed
and required to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing yes i have
Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.
Thank you.
I'm assuming everyone can see my screen.
We can.
Great.
So again, I'm presenting 4619-27 Woodland Avenue.
During my presentation, I will go through the refusal, as the Chairman mentioned.
We do have a unanimous letter of support from the RCO.
We'll also go through maps with the area, there is an active rental license for this
particular property that we would like to maintain, interior as well as exterior photos,
posting of the property, surrounding area photos, the notice that we sent out for the
community meeting, our certificate of mailing, the application for appeal, project information
form deed as well as our certificate of tax clearance. So this property has mixed zoning.
It's zoned RTA1, CMS2, as well as RSA5. This is a byproduct of it being a consolidation.
What we're looking to do here is to maintain the existing use, which is 16 dwelling units.
We would also like to tack on the ability to have visitor accommodations within this structure.
so it's an existing structure it's situated on the st joseph's campus on 46th and woodland avenue
my client's looking to have the option to use it for visitor accommodations in the event that
st joe's closes hopefully they don't close but in the event they do close they would like to have
a use for the property that is still available to them at this moment they do have students that are
in the property renting it and they do have an active rental license again they want to maintain
the existing use and also as the option of having visitor accommodation as well so we did meet with
the community we have a unanimous letter of support they were very excited about the supposed use for
the property we had unanimous support from the board as well as all attendees
and here we have a summary there were eight attendees in total again unanimous support from
the rco board of three individuals as well as all meeting attendees which was about five individuals
Here we have an aerial view, a map of the area. This is our property along here. There is parking that's also on this property. We are on the corner of 46th and Woodland Avenue, which is a commercial corridor.
and taking a look at the zoning map here again we are corner lot this is woodland avenue right here
and north south marco street excuse me on the other side of the property so we have mixed
zoning as i mentioned previously of cmx2 rsa5 as well as rta1 this particular part is rta1
again there is an active rental license you want to maintain existing use for
um 16 residential units and just add the visitor accommodation use as well
and here we have photos of the interior of the property one of the units as a sample here is a
one of the units as a sample. Here is a sample kitchen, a dining area, a bedroom, as well as
a sample kitchen, the dining area,
bathroom. Here we have a view of the exterior of the property, and you can see the posting here.
You'll see another shot where it's a bit more zoomed in. As I mentioned, we are located on
St. Joe's campus. Currently, students are renting the property. However, there are concerns regarding
if St. Joe's will be moving their campus, and so that's why we're seeking to have the visitor
accommodation use here a more zoomed in photo of the property and the posting and here's a view
along south marco street this is the existing curcut that allows access to the parking
a photo of the parking lot a view along south marco street
view to the left of the property along woodland avenue as well as the view to the right of the
property along woodland avenue and we did send out notice of the community meeting on april 22nd
the meeting was held on may 1st at 6 p.m again a copy of our refusal we're looking to do here
is to maintain the existing use of multi-family 16 dwelling units and add on the visitor accommodation
use within this existing structure a list of the properties that were notified of the community
meeting our certificate of mailing our application for appeal just filed on march 18th our project
information form and our deed showing that 4619 woodland partners lp does in fact own this property
the property is currently up for sale however my client currently owns the property
and here we have our certificate of tax clearance so with that i believe
isaac is on the call if i could have him about my testimony
isaac could you raise your hand he he's allowed to speak here hi could you please state your
name and spell for the stenographer? Isaac Singleton. I-S-A-A-C-S-I-N-T-F-E-T-O-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes. Please proceed, counsel. Thank you. Isaac, did you hear my presentation this afternoon?
Yes. Was it shown correct? Yes. And would you adopt it as your own testimony?
yep yes sorry thank you questions from the board no mr chairman no chair
questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson
just a clarification um miss amazon is there
accessory parking at the property now that the there have been lots consolidated
so there is currently parking that's existing on the property it's been there we haven't done
anything prior to the consolidation so we are maintaining the use of the yeah okay all right
you just may want to have get a clarification on that because it from what i could tell before
the consolidation there was no parking on the property but once there was the consolidation
there's now accessory parking so you may want to have that documented and updated
for for consistency thanks thank you i appreciate it questions or comments from the virtual audience
there are no hands chair planning commission
hello uh there is a history of multi-family uses on this site however there is not a similar
history of visitor accommodations and there is not a hardship for such a use in this location
accordingly pcpc staff recommends denying this variance thank you um hillary i obviously i want
to keep the 16 dwelling units, the living on the multiple units here, but I want to make it a
temporary for the visitor accommodation. So it's just temporary visitor accommodation. Is that
what the wording would be? Yes, a temporary variance for visitor accommodations use.
Thank you. So for MI 2024-001-626-4619-27 Woodland Avenue, I vote yes, but a temporary variance for visitor accommodation that will expire 5-15-28.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with proviso.
James Snell, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed. My vote is yes with proviso.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Number 10, MI 2022-006-979-2151 East Sargent Street.
Number 10.
Adam Laver is the attorney.
There's a letter of non-opposition from the East Kensington Neighborhood Association and a letter of non-opposition from Council Member Squilla.
mr laver good afternoon chairman bergman hi could you state your name please and spell for the
stenographer adam laver la v as in victor er blank rome one logan square you swear or affirm
to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes mr chairman i do could you
identify your client and relationship to this property. Blancrome represents 2151-2153 East
Sargent Street, LLC, and its principal, Jalil Bami, J-A-L-I-L, Bami, B-A-M-I, the owner of the
subject property. And our vice chair has just a few questions. Good afternoon, counsel. Do you
agree to waive the reason of the refusal or stipulate to his office? Good afternoon, Mr.
vice chairman yes i do have you emailed in all the required vacuums and exhibits that is needed to
proceed with this case five things in advance of this hearing yes mr shaheed we have thank you
council please proceed and share your screen thank you mr chairman and members of the board uh
chaleel bami uh the principal of the ownership is with us today as is jerry gutierrez principal
with Group G architects who's on the line. On the screen before you are some aerial photographs.
The subject property is this area that I'm indicating with the cursor. It's currently
comprised of six non-accessory, legally non-conforming garages running on Trenton
Street, which is this wide street here, wrapping around to Sargent Street.
Here's another image showing that same property on the left.
You can see Sargent Street, which is the blank stucco face in the foreground, and Trenton Street is the wide street running vertically.
And again, on the left, you can see those six existing garages here fronting on Trenton Street.
The coordinating RCO East Kensington Neighbors Association noted in its letter of non-opposition that the existing conditions that you see prevent public parking on Trenton Street because of these curb cuts.
And this is just one of the reasons that the proposed development itself would greatly improve current conditions.
The zoning map here, and again I'm indicating with the cursor, the subject property, shows
the RSA-5 single-family zoning, but immediately across the street you have IRMX, there's nearby
CMX2 as well as RM1, so a multitude of zoning districts in close proximity.
I'd like to run through some photographs.
And as I'm doing so, we're looking, of course, at existing conditions.
We've revised the proposal for this property along the way in consultation and in collaboration with the community.
At the request of the community, we would eliminate the nonconforming use and return on-street parking spaces here along Trenton Street.
back to the community, a true plus. Additionally, the plans that I'll share with you momentarily
call for a reduction in density and larger residences for the multifamily development.
Incidentally, across the street, you can see the ribbon factory, which was an adaptive reuse
project that's multi-family. Subject properties on the left here, ribbon factory across the street.
Here we have Sargent Street, that blank wall which would be dramatically transformed,
and the subject property here to the left. On the screen before you is the zoning site plan,
And in the upper right-hand corner, you can see that the proposal falls for four stories and 42 feet to the roof line with a modification of the two stair towers that you can see here at the rear.
If we move down to the lower right-hand corner, the two stair towers are...
If we move down to the lower right-hand corner, the two stair towers are as far away from Trenton as possible so that they really would not be perceived by pedestrians, creating very significant setbacks, certainly from Trenton, and five feet from Sargent Street to make them as discreet as possible to minimize the nature of the relief being sought.
In the floor plans themselves, an overall density decreased from the original application of 16
to now 11 residences, larger residences, nine two-bedroom homes and two one-bedroom homes.
Additionally, at the first floor level, ample handicapped accessibility is important
to this design. Each of the residents have individual washers and dryers. There is ample
trash storage inside the property outside of the public view, and Class 1A bicycle parking also
at grade. The development includes an outdoor open deck overlooking Trenton Avenue.
I'd like to move to the revised refusals, which I'll go through one by one.
Multifamily living is not permitted in the district.
We have worked with the community to create diverse housing options to bridge the lower density along Sargent Street with the higher density at the Ribbon Factory, which I pointed out, as well as the nearby Huntington Mills, for example.
we would through this proposal be returning a non-conforming use the non-accessory garages
to residential use coming uh meeting uh closer the residential spirit of the community across
the street multi-family along sergeant uh a mix regarding the second refusal on height
The proposed height to the roof would be a de minimis variance at 42 feet, and I explained, Mr. Chair and members of the board, the setback pilot houses, which would not be perceived at the pedestrian level, raise eight feet beyond that.
This keeps to the scope and scale of Trenton Avenue.
The final refusal, there is no change in existing non-conforming rear yard depth.
The subject property has been significantly underutilized. It's a bane for the community. So what's practicable at the location, what's possible? We believe that the multifamily strikes the right note and the RCO joins. In terms of the vote, it was unanimous support.
Mr. Laver, just out of curiosity, was the 16 to 11 made in conjunction with the neighbors?
Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Although it was not it was not the critical issue.
It was something discussed. Critical was getting rid of the non-accessory parking.
Yes, sir. Council Member Squilla offers his non-opposition.
And in some, given the practical realities of repurposing the site, the treatment to design, we believe that the proposed development meets the ideals of the community and respects surrounding land uses.
I believe that the photos that we showed demonstrate that better than anything else.
The authorization of variance relief would not alter the character of the neighborhood or district or be detrimental to the public welfare.
The proposal fits into the surrounding neighborhood and will be of benefit to the public within
the scope and spirit of the code.
The proposed variances, as I outlined one by one, would represent the minimum variance
to afford relief.
And this will not substantially increase congestion in the public streets, increase
the danger of fire or otherwise in danger of public health, safety, or welfare.
Returning the public parking to the community is a welcome addition.
There are no environmental issues.
With that, Mr. Chair and members of the board, I would rest at the moment, and my client is available at the appropriate time to adopt and affirm, I believe.
Why don't we bring your client on?
Thank you.
Mr. Jaleel Bami, would you kindly raise your virtual hand?
Mr. Jaleel Bami or David Rowley of management.
I'm not sure why the hand is not being raised.
Do we see anybody?
Do we see anybody?
I don't see anyone with the hand raised.
I don't see anyone with the hand raised.
Obviously, Mr. Laver, you're an officer of the court, and we would gladly take your testimony.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Chair.
No, Chair.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Yes, Mr. Chair.
I just wanted to make a note for the record. As Mr. Laver said, this case involves 2151 as well as 2153 East Sargent Street.
Unfortunately, 2153 wasn't mentioned on the refusal. It should have been.
I did check with L&I and verify that these properties are treated as one for zoning purposes.
However, they are separate properties, separate parcels in the city records, as well as separate tax parcels.
So I just wanted to clarify that for the record as to the status of those two properties.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
There are no hands, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Hello, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing RSA 5 zoning at this location. There is a hardship for dimensional variance, but under the current zoning, there is not a hardship for the proposed multifamily use. Accordingly, PCPC staff recommends that the requested variance be denied, and we feel the extent of the variances would be better handled through the rezoning process.
Thank you. MI 2022-006-979-2151 East Sargent Street, I vote yes, proviso. Per amended refusal, dated 2-15-24.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes, with proviso. James Snell, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Ishmael Shahid, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, members of the board. Have a good afternoon.
Okay. MI 2024, 001451, 1001 East Ontario Street. Rachel Pritzker or Zanetta Ford are the attorneys. There's a letter of unanimous support from Kensington Independent Civic Association and a letter of non-opposition from council member Squill.
Rachel Pritzker is coming in as a panelist.
Zanetta is going to be handling this one.
Thank you.
Zanetta, could you state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
oh my god i'm sorry good afternoon hi could you state your name good afternoon could you state
your name and spell for the court stenographer yes my name is zanetta ford z as in zebra a n e
t t a ford f o r d right you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the
truth? I do. Could you identify your client, the relationship to this property? Yes. The client is
3401 Makeshift LLC, and appearing on their behalf is Ashton Simmons. He's in the virtual audience.
Thank you. And our vice chair has just a few questions for you. Thank you. Good afternoon,
do you agree to waive the read another refusal or stipulate to its accuracy? I do. Have you
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed to proceed with this case five minutes in advance of this hearing?
All right.
Please proceed and share your screen.
Thank you.
Good afternoon, Chairman and members of the Board.
the property address that we are here today is 1001 east ontario street units 201 to 203
the application proposes a use as commissaries and catering services in unit 201 to 203
and an existing building zoned i2 the existing structure which houses unit 201 to 203 is a
which houses unit 201 to 203 is a medium industrial building
medium industrial building.
comprised of multiple businesses that are not solely industrial in nature.
And I'll just scroll down so you can see those, see what it looks like, the property looks like.
The applicant is proposing, oh, wait.
So here's the zoning map of the property.
Here's an aerial view of the property.
where you can see that there's a private parking lot.
Again, the aerial view.
Here's the street view of the property,
which is a warehouse with the posters from the posting.
It's the front entrance.
The applicant is proposing the use of an existing commercial kitchen space
for use as commissaries and catering.
in order to prepare food on the premises to be sold at separate locations in the city.
It was not until the applicant and property owner were approached by the health department that it was determined they needed use of the space as commissaries and catering to align with the health department license for the same.
Although the property is an industrial zoning district, the property's history and physical characteristics and current use of the property by various tenants and businesses indicate that it is clearly unfit solely for industrial uses.
In fact, there are several caterer licenses issued to other businesses in the building, and commissaries and catering is a similar use to a commercial kitchen and other food uses that would be permitted by Wright.
the application generated one refusal because commissaries and catering is prohibited
in the industrial district i2 so i'll show you the refusal again
second here's the refusal and before i turn to the hardship i'd just like to show you
pictures of the interior of the property inside the interior is a commercial
kitchen space here we are you can see that it's commercial kitchen it's been
outfitted for this purpose and it has been used this way for a number of years
the prior
was a commercial.
Zanetta, you're breaking up.
Breaking up?
Stop sharing my...
right now, Chairman?
Yes, I hear you now.
Thank you.
i want to turn to the hardship compliance with the requirements of the zoning code
compliance with the compliance with the requirements of the zoning code causes an
unnecessary hardship i'm sorry can you still see me you can still hear me compliant well we can
hear you we see the prinsker law group uh emblem thank you i just wanted to help with maybe with
the internet connection okay sure okay so turning to the hardship compliance with the requirements
of the zoning code causes a due to the physical history of the subject property the existing
structure which houses units 201 to 203 has been specifically outfitted for a food business
the prior tenants also use the space for a food kitchen the health code and the zoning code do
not contemplate that this location, the type of food preparation and catering service that
is being provided, does not present a habit.
Accessories and catering services use is common in this structure.
According to atlas.phila.gov, in addition to the applicant, there are five other businesses
operating under food licenses.
For example, in December of 2023, SRS Business LLC received a license to be a food manufacturer or warehouse at the same location.
And in November of 2023, at the same location, Keith Robinson, Legit Snacks LLC, the Caramel Corn Lady, and Love Cinnamon all received food caterer licenses.
Although the property is owned, I too.
so permitting permitting the variance in this case would further the purpose of the city's
comprehensive land use plan for this area in the city's comprehensive comprehensive land use plan
philadelphia 2035 river wards district plan it sets forth the goal to promote strong and well
2035 river wards district plan it sets forth the goal to promote strong and well-balanced
neighborhood centers um given the need for the use as a commissary and catering given
during as a function of being able to correct the health department license for the applicant
we submit that this is the least modification of the code the zoning of this prior
line with multiple other uses in the building and the surrounding residential area the use
will not increase any traffic congestion as there is a private parking area and trash is picked up
by a private service literal enforcement of the zoning code would impose an unnecessary hardship
can adversely affect the public health, safety, or welfare of traffic in the area.
I'd like to show the...
You're breaking up pretty bad.
Sorry.
Why don't you bring your client on?
At this time, I'd like to bring on my client.
to Ashton Simmons, on behalf of 304-3401 Makeshift LC.
Good afternoon, sir.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Ashton Simmons, good afternoon.
A-S-H-T-O-N-S-I-M-M-O-N-S.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
one. Mr. Simmons, have you heard my testimony today? Yes. Do you believe it to be true and
accurate? Yes. And do you adopt it as your own? Yes. Questions from the board? No, Chair. No,
Mr. Chairman. Is there comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson? Not at this time,
Mr. Chair. Questions or comments from the virtual audience? There are no answers. Planning Commissioner.
Good afternoon. The comprehensive plan recommends zoning of ICMX on this site.
However, the site is currently zoned I-2. The commissaries and catering services use proposed
here would be allowed under the comprehensive plan's proposed zoning. Therefore, PCPC staff
recommends granting this variance. Thank you. So MI 2024-001-451-1001 East
Ontario Avenue, I vote yes with proviso. Use limited to number 201 to 203.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with proviso. James Snell, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with proviso.
Okay, we're going to thank you very much. We're going to go to our add-on list from earlier today. Hold on.
Here we go. Number one, MI 2022-006-919-424-428 Belgrade Street.
all all will be voting on this i vote yes with proviso pair amended refusal dated 5-3-24
maximum four lots thomas holloman my vote is yes with proviso james snell my vote is yes with
proviso ishmael shaheed my vote is yes with proviso number two all will be voting on this
Yes, MI 2023, 007, 001, 632, Devereaux Street.
I vote yes with proviso.
Maximum two dwelling units.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with proviso.
James Snell, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ishmael Shahid, my vote is yes with proviso.
Three, MI 2022-007-225-6644 Linford Street, I vote yes. Everyone's voting.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes. James Snell, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shahid, my vote is yes.
Number four, MI 2024, 000907, 4913 North Lawrence Street. I will be voting,
I will be voting, Ishmael will be voting, and James Snell will be voting.
A.J. Mel will be voting, and James Snell will be voting.
I vote yes with proviso.
Per refusal dated 5-9-24, temporary variance to expire 5-31-27, commercial trash pickup, hours of operation, business open Monday through Friday only, closed on Saturday and Sundays.
James Snell, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Ishmael Shahid, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Thank you.
And number five, I will be voting, Ishmael will be voting, and James Snell will be voting.
MI 2024-001-065-141 West Susquehanna Avenue.
I vote yes with Proviso.
Her refusal dated 5-8-24.
James Snell, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Ishmael Shahid, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Thank you.
Is there anyone in the virtual audience whose 2 p.m. case has not been called?
There are no hands, Chair.
Take a 10-minute break and come back and do the 3.30 list.
Thank you, everyone.
Thanks, Chair.
Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing a 330 CBA hearing.
With me is our Vice Chair, Ismael Shaheed.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our Board Member, Thomas Holliman.
He's here.
I see him.
All right. And our Board Member, James Snell.
Present, Chair.
Also present is Hillary Emerson, our attorney, and our executive director, Tanya Sunkett.
Here's the virtual format.
Be biased.
The proceedings are being recorded.
With your participation, you agree to be recorded.
The video will be available by contacting TanyaSunkett at phila.gov.
For a court stenographer, we request attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying.
If you're participating by phone, press star 9 to raise your hand and star 6 to unmute.
To enter an appearance statement, call 267-270-5548.
Leave your email address and the address for the property in question.
And finally, the question box on the screen is not for comments or testimony.
All comments should be directed to our Executive Director, Tanya Sunken.
Let's look at our schedule for this afternoon.
Number one, MI 2023-007-208-212 Diamond Street.
This case is continued.
Number seven, MI 2023-003-136-3134 Willits Road.
um christina williams and the listed is the listed applicant salvador berardi is the listed owner
this is the second listing this case was continued on 12 2023 and no one appeared
are either christina williams or salvador berardi here
mr chair i just want to note for the record we did receive a request
for continuance from Home Circle Civic,
but it sounds like they have not been in contact
with the applicant either.
Thank you so much.
Yeah, there's a hand up with the last,
there's a calling user with the last board numbers 8282.
I will allow them to speak.
Okay, thank you.
And could you state your name, please,
and spell for the stenographer?
Call-in user with the last four numbers ending 8282. Can you unmute yourself?
They're still muted.
Call Christina Williams and Salvatore Berardi again, please.
Oh, they're unmuted now. Might be one of them.
Could you please state your name?
It's me, 8282.
It's me, San Batheo.
I live in 2023, South 28th Street.
Hold on one minute.
State your name again and spell for this stenographer.
My name is San Batheo.
S-A-M-B-A-T-A-T-E-A-V.
I live in 2023, South 28th Street.
Okay, so you're not involved. You're not. Are you involved in the case on Willits Road?
Okay, so you're not involved.
Are you involved in the case on Willits Road?
Yeah, I want to vote it.
Willits Road. I'm calling right now Willits Road. Are you involved in this case?
What's your what? How do you participate in this case, sir?
I got for the vote for whatever it is. Yeah, vote for the case.
sir do you own or rent 3134 willits road uh yeah uh yeah the neighbor okay so you're the so you're
the neighbor you're you are not the the applicant in this case okay we are looking for either the
owner or the tenant because we do not have exhibits and we cannot proceed oh okay all right
sorry about that thank you so christina christina williams or salvador berardi
i searched them excuse me i searched them chair they're not in the audience
okay so mi 2023 003 136 3134 willits road we do not have exhibits for this
no one appeared the prior listing i vote to dismiss
thomas holloman my vote is to dismiss james snell my vote is to dismiss
ishmael shaheed my vote is to dismiss and number eight mi 2023 007 209 1625 north
marshall street that case is continued are there any other requests for continuance
there are no hands okay we're going to go to number number two
mi 2024 002 161 2021 wilder street this is a reconsideration hearing sean whalen is the attorney
Sean Whalen is coming back as a panelist.
Good afternoon, board.
Good afternoon.
Just for the record, state your name.
You've already been sworn.
Sean Whalen, W-H-A-L-E-N.
Counsel, this is a resumptive hearing.
The evidence and testimony from the December 20th, 23 hearing in this appeal is incorporated
into the record for today's reconsideration hearing. The scope of this hearing is limited
to a presentation of evidence submitted with the request for reconsideration, as well as the
updated letter from the Coordinating Registered Community Organization. We do have a letter of
support from Point Breeze Community Development Coalition. Previously, this was a letter of
opposition understood and i won't go in thank you uh sean whalen from vintage law
here on behalf of the owner courtney wright
oh sorry i forgot to share my screen
i will refrain from going into anything that happened in the last hearing unless
of course the board has any questions we're fine so what you should be seeing right now is a photo
front on. This is 2021 Wilder Street. The request is to put a third story on, and at the original
hearing, the board required an eight-foot setback of that third floor from the street frontage.
So we requested, just lost it somewhere, we requested a reconsideration,
which set forth the basis for our request, and that was granted by the board, and we received
the following letter. So very simply put, the applicant, Courtney Wright, was representing
herself at the first hearing. She went in front of Point Breeze CDC and received a vote, you can
see down here in the bottom, of 10 to 2 in support, 10 in support and 2 opposed. So she
thought she was okay. And then she went to the hearing and found out that the RCO board
had voted separately and submitted a letter of opposition and determined that it was
essentially not appropriate for a fully built out third floor where you have all two
story houses and that wasn't safe. We believe this to be wholly incorrect and non-contextual
with the neighborhood and so I was involved in getting the reconsideration. First and foremost
Ms. Wright then went through and she received, this is a petition of support,
and she received, this is a petition of support, she went door to door to all of her neighbors
she went door to door to all of her neighbors.
and received, I think it's exactly 30 signatures in favor and support of her fully built out
third floor. What you can see here is very bad threes. Those threes are to show the context of
the neighborhood. Each one of them represents a fully built out third floor, and the V is for
vacant lot. And you can see all of these stars are all of the neighbors who signed the petition
in support, including one of the properties right behind 2021, which has this blue dot on it,
and both properties on either side. So there was overwhelming support,
which Ms. Wright thought she had at the first hearing and unfortunately did not.
In light of Ms. Wright's footwork and going door-to-door, Point Breeze CDC reissued a new
letter, this time in support of the project. I apologize, I said 30. It is 40 signatures of
near-neighbors, and they fully supported the project as it is with regard, with no third
floor setback. Now, this isn't just a desire. The third floor setback essentially made the
proposed roof deck unusable with the pilot house and destroyed her ability to really use the third
floor and have a roof deck at all. So what we've done here, and I'm happy to slow down. I know I'm
going fast. It's the end of the day. You can see on both sides of the street, this is 2021,
fully built out third floors up and down the street. And we walked every block in this area
and you can just see every new building. And there are a lot of them have a third floor.
And there are a lot of buildings with additions going up on third floor for fully built out third
floors. So we believe that there is a hardship here, and that hardship is satisfied with the
fully built out third floor, which is fully supported by her immediate neighbors and now
the RCO, as they've seen the overwhelming support for Ms. Wright, and that this is wholly contextual
with the change in the neighborhood from a two-story homes to three-story homes all up and
down the block. Obviously, we believe there's no evidence of any detriment to public health,
safety, or welfare. There are no roof decks or anything next door, no windows. It's not imposing
on any light and air. And this is just a single family house. And again, this is the least minimum
variance because the third floor and all we're asking for is the reduction of that eight foot
setback so that she could have full access to the third floor and her proposed roof deck.
So with that, I would just call Ms. Wright.
Ms. Wright, what was her first name?
Courtney.
Courtney Wright, can you, she's allowed to speak.
Would you please state your name,
is spelled for the stenographer.
Courtney Wright, C-O-U-R-T-N-E-Y, Wright, W-R-I-G-H-T.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
All right.
Ms. Wright, this is your personal home, correct?
And you're obviously here in support of yourself and your own project.
Did you hear the testimony already presented with regard to the reconsideration for the board?
Yes, I did.
Do you believe it to be true and correct to the best of your knowledge, information, and belief?
And would you adopt that testimony as your own?
Thank you.
Board, no further questions?
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Chair.
No, Chair.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
i see no answer what uh comments from planning commission
uh this is uh ron bednar city planning first name ron r-o-n last name bednar b-e-d-n-a-r
you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do please proceed uh the property is indicated for residential use on the city plan or adopted
The district plan recommends no change to existing single-family zoning at this location.
The applicant's hardship is not supported with evidence of conditions of the property
conditions of the property that were prevented from being used in conformity with the code
that were prevented from being used in conformity with the code.
therefore we recommend request of variance not be granted. Thank you. MI 2024-002-161-2021
Walder Street. I vote yes. Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes. James Snell, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my brother
chef. Thank you, counsel.
Thank you very much, chairman and board.
Have a great day.
All right. Number three,
2023-002-457-
Orthodox Street.
Sean Ward is
the attorney.
There's a letter of unanimous
support from the Bridesburg Community
Action Alliance.
Sean Ward has been promoted.
Mr. Ward?
I did promote. He should be coming in.
He's declining it for some reason.
Mr. Ward.
Mr. Ward?
He must be having technical difficulties.
All right.
So here's what we'll do.
Let's move on.
We'll come back to him.
Maybe by then he has it straight.
Number four, MI-2023-003-142-3111 West Montgomery Avenue.
Tameka McCoy is the attorney.
Letter of opposition from Strawberry Mansion CDC.
However, would support if it was a duplex.
Tameka McCoy has been promoted.
All right.
Sean, I'm going to come back to you.
I had a problem getting in.
That's okay.
We'll be back.
Counsel, could you state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Tamika McCoy, M-C, capital K, O-Y.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client, the relationship to this property?
i represent janae miller and arlene mills both are owners of the property they are mother and
daughter and our vice chair has just a few questions good afternoon council do you agree
to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to a democracy yes 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 thank you council please proceed and share your screen thank you i have
on my screen the materials that have been submitted in support of this application for
a variance. The variance sought essentially is one that had been previously granted first
back in 1945. I am moving to the page that delineates that initial variance, and it was
approved then for three apartments within the premises. This variance had also been one that
was supported by another request essentially in 1948. So the history of this property is that it
had previously been set up as a three apartment structure. It's two one bedrooms on the first and
second floor and an efficiency unit on the third floor. It's my understanding that the next door
to this facility is also set up in a similar way, three apartments, and it appeared that
three apartments and it appeared that at that time this was recognized to have been the history
at that time this was recognized.
and character of the neighborhood where this dwelling particularly lies. The request for
the variance does not increase any congestion to the area neighbors, does not pose any harm or
danger to any of the neighbors, and does not impair light or air to any of the neighbors.
A notice was sent to all of the effective residences, 139 in total, and that was done back in November of 2023.
There was a RCO hearing. In that RCO hearing, there was some confusion, it appears, on their understanding as to the use for the premises.
They submitted a letter, which was subsequently submitted. They essentially wants to approve two apartments rather than three, despite the history and character of the building and the fact that there are a number of other properties on the block.
that are situated for three apartment units.
What I can tell you is the owner, Arlene Mills,
occupied the first floor.
It was an owner-occupied premises for many, many years.
Actually, she lived there from 2009 for about 15 years
with her daughter, Janae Miller,
who also had previously occupied the property as well.
Ms. Arlene had experienced back surgery,
has some difficulties and so she occupies the first floor of the premises. Her daughter,
who is currently a PhD candidate, was recently diagnosed with lupus and fibromyalgia. And it's
my understanding that if they were not permitted the variance to continue having the property
situated with three apartments, they would not be able to afford to make any modifications.
I'm showing pictures of the interior of the apartment.
It was a very well-kept place that was done.
This is the first floor unit that Ms. Mills had lived in for many years.
She even put in a jacuzzi for her treatment for her back surgery.
The second floor has its own entrance.
And again, it's a one-story, one-bedroom part with a kitchen, living room, bathroom, separate from the first floor.
And the third floor is similarly situated.
All three of the units have access to a garage, which is accessible in the back.
And the trash plan encompasses them all essentially storing whatever trash inside of the garage
so that it could be taken out on the day that trash is due to be removed out.
There's also a separate side entrance for the same garage structure.
I'm showing you a photograph of the front of the building with the notice prominently affixed.
so that neighbors are able to see.
And as you can see, the mailbox on the notice
delineates the three apartments
that had already been in that facility since 1948.
Included with the plans that have been submitted
are the actual plan for each of the apartments
as it's currently set up,
as it has been set up since the 40s.
I believe it's been in the possession of this family
for approximately 80 years.
Again, this would be the trash plan
where on a day of trash,
the garage is accessible to Morris Street
and that is the block where trash is collected.
We have a picture of across the street
if you were standing on a porch,
that would be the depiction of the other houses
that are also on a block. And if you were looking to the right, you would see what's
shown on the image here. And if you were looking to the left, this essentially is what you
would see. It would basically be the street that proceeds onto 31st Street. Again, it
It is an existing dwelling. It had been configured in a three unit apartment for more than 80 years.
This is the next door to this property, which is also situated with.
The next door to this property, which is also situated with three units, and next door has also been situated that way since 1959 when a variance was approved for the next door's use.
Again, there are multiple properties that are configured in this matter on this very block, and it would not frustrate the purpose that it was originally intended.
And I believe there was a notation that was made that essentially indicated that the intention of the premise conforms to the neighborhood the way that the neighborhood is configured.
And I think that is important to note, though we are seeking a variance.
And so with that, I would ask for Ms. Arlene Mills to be admitted so that she could adopt the testimony that it is today.
Ms. Mills?
Ms. Mills?
Yes, hello.
Hi, could you state your name?
please and spell for the court stenographer. Yes my name is Arlene Mills and it's A-R-L-E-N-E
last name is M-I-L-L-S. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the
truth? Yes sir. Please proceed counsel. Good afternoon Ms. Mills did you hear the information
that had been presented to the board here today yes and would you adopt that testimony as
truthful and accurate yes and would you fully adopt it as if it was set forth by you yes
i have no more uh questions and i would submit questions or comments from the board
no mr chairman no mr chairman
no questions thank you questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson
um just briefly um miss mccoy and i'm sorry if you stated this and i missed it um the garage
that's on the property is that used for accessory parking or is that just for storage no it's
actually used for storage and the trash plan takes into consideration that any occupants could
use or deposit trash there in um in advance of the actual trash day and it will be then
removed from the garage and placed out on morse street for pickup on the trash day
so it's used for storage primarily there is off-street parking on both sides of the block
Okay, thank you for the clarification.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Yes, Chair, we have somebody by the name of Tyrone Williams with their hand raised.
They've been allowed to speak.
Mr. Williams, could you state your name, please, and spell for the stenographer?
Yes, good evening, Mr. Berkman and the board.
My name is Reverend Tyrone Williams, first name T-Y-R-O-N-E, last name W-I-L-L-I-A-M-S.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Yes, I do.
Please proceed, sir.
First off, hello, Ms. McCoy, first time I'm meeting you, because I've been dealing with
Mr. Dennis Lee on his property since November the 30th, when they first came before the
CDC. At that time, there was some questions and concerns
about trash playing, and I'm going to jump on
that in a minute. And there was concerns about
the studio apartment. Why couldn't it be converted,
combined to make it two families? There was no hardship
presented. Today is the first time seeing the trash
playing. The first time seeing that garage, which was
never presented with us. Ms. Arlene Mills told us there was a wall that led towards Morris Street
that all the residents put their trash behind that wall. And there's a business on the corner
that also used that same area for trash. And so there was no garage presented in either presentation
the first time or second time. Secondly, there was concern, and I noticed Ms. McCoy stayed away
from that there was concern that there's a bathroom and sink and everything in the basement
for a full bathroom with a tub and a sink and a toilet
A full bathroom with a tub and a sink and a toilet.
When we inquired about the basement, Ms. Arlene Mills let us know that that was for her storage.
Now today I'm hearing that she uses the garage for storage, which we've never seen.
I've never seen that garage.
That was never in their plans.
Nor that I get informed, I guess no one has to do that,
that Mr. Lee was no longer representing Ms. Mills, that's not my business. What is my business is
this. We've asked specific questions. I can appreciate Ms. McCoy's history lesson
that goes all the way back to 1945. Lord knows I wasn't born then. Neither was I born in 1948.
But I will tell you, even without being in those times, it was a different time. As you heard her
in our home testimony, the family utilized their home.
It wasn't being utilized to rent out to others.
This is what they're asking for now, and we at the CDC
is still in non-support of this project.
The residents is in non-support. They have been under assault
in their area with people
just putting up these buildings, single family
and putting three families in them.
They've been trying to fight back.
We're trying to support those residents.
We support this community.
The vote was seven no, I mean, seven yeses, one no, and two abstains.
It was about 13 people in the meeting,
and I wish I could have had a conversation,
as me and Mr. Lee has been doing through this whole process.
I wish I could have had a conversation with Ms. McCoy,
Prior to her being present here today, but that's for y'all to deal with, that's not my business.
But our position is still no, but we will support if it was two families.
We would not support three families.
Thank you.
Thank you, Reverend.
Anyone else in the virtual audience?
There are no hands, Chair.
Planning Commissioner.
Sorry, Ron Bednar, City Planning. Property is indicated for residential use on the city plan.
Given the documented use history, physical conditions of the site, we recommend the request of advance to be granted.
Thank you.
Ms. McCoy, how about if I hold the vote on this?
We're going to close the record and maybe give you a chance to talk to Reverend Williams.
uh that's no problem um okay yeah that's fine um is there a date by which we so hillary what
hillary why don't we do this why don't we uh um close the record other than additional information
from um the rco and then uh response from council but everything else will be closed
that's fine mr sure do you want to um vote on this in two weeks i i think two weeks will be
perfect okay we'll vote on this at two weeks in two weeks at 2 p.m okay okay miss mccoy yes thank
you very much thank you all right okay number number five oh no let's go back to uh number
three. Sean Ward, please. MI 2023-002-457-2364
Orthodox Street. Sean Ward.
Sean Ward is coming back in as a panelist.
mr ward there you go okay i am here hey there you go um could you state your name please and
spell for the stenographer yes sean s-h-a-w-n ward w-a-r-d esquire counsel for
Joe Ramos, who is the owner of the LLC and a property owner.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
So I see some notes here.
I understand we're going to hear this and then hold.
Have you talked to Hillary about this?
Yeah, I was able to provide her, Hillary, some additional information.
Yeah, I was able to provide her, Hillary, some additional information. So, you know, we can walk the board through that. And, you know, if in fact, we still want to hold it for the revised or corrected refusal, that's fine.
Okay. All right. Mr. Ward, this is Hillary. Yeah, no, I still think we need to because I'm not, there's inconsistent information floating out there and the refusal doesn't match what's being requested. So I think we really need to correct it.
so okay or amend really amend it yeah that's that's fine and i can i can walk the board through
those uh those uh items our vice chair has a few questions for you thank you start
good afternoon counsel do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy
i agree to waive a reading of the refusal but obviously we can't stipulate to its accuracy at
this point that's understood uh 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.
All documents have been submitted and accepted by board counsel.
Thank you.
Thank you, counsel.
Please proceed with your screen.
All right.
Again, Mr. Chairman, I've submitted my typical exhibit packet, which on behalf of Joe Ramos,
Mr. Ramos, I don't believe is here today.
He's actually moving.
So the movers were coming today.
But as an officer of the court, I can verify that he's reviewed the documents that were
submitted and is well aware of my representations to the board today. With regard to the packet,
A1 is the notice of refusal. In the notice of refusal, you know what, I'm just going to go
right to the refusal and show you that. Basically, in the refusal, we are proposing new construction
of an attached building at the rear of the property. However, the existing structure at
the front of the property is not a multifamily four-unit household dwelling. It is, in fact,
an existing two-family dwelling. There was a variance granted a few years back, which I
represented Mr. Ramos. We did obtain a variance to add an addition to that existing building,
but obviously, you know, COVID and some other issues, financing, interest rates, you know,
and all that jazz. That project was never implemented, so that structure was never
changed, and it continued as a two-family structure. So I just noted that on the refusal
in red, the addition and the four-families was never implemented. So one of the refusals
indicated that we were proposing a total of five units. You know, the four that were deemed
existing plus the one additional in a CMX2, so I highlighted that on a refusal.
That is not what we're seeking.
We are, in fact, seeking one additional unit in addition to the existing two, not five.
The other refusals with the roof deck and the access structure, the setbacks at the
roof, we did accept a refusal for those.
On the plans, you'll see that the roof deck is on a rear structure, which fronts on a common alley.
It is not at the front of the building at the sidewalk where I submit that the intent and purpose of the setback for a roof deck is so that nothing inadvertently gets thrown over the front of the building and lands on the sidewalk where it can hurt a pedestrian.
So we did we did, in fact, accept those two refusals.
uh the uh refusal uh for the occupied area we accepted that refusal and um as we did for
uh the rear yard depth uh this is an existing garage structure at the rear we proposed the
demolition of scene and the erection of a new garage structure with an apartment above at the
rear. So the, you know, the setback we consider de minimis since the setback is not existing
today. So, but going back to the exhibit list, A2 is the application of appeal, A3 project
information form. A4 is proof of ownership. A5 is proof of tax clearance. A6 was the zoning and
site elevation plan originally submitted. I do have with me today, which was emailed to
Hillary, our replies to the RFI or request for information by the examiner addressing some of
those issues on the site plan. I'll walk the board through those momentarily. A7 are photographs of
the posting, subject property, street views, aerial views. A8 is our RCO meeting notification
and certificate of mailing.
The Bridesburg letter was submitted separately from the packet.
The Bridesburg letter was submitted separately from the packet, as indicated by the board, and it was a unanimous support.
If a letter was submitted by the council person, I'm not sure if we did get that or not, but I would ask that that be marked as 810.
And with regard to the relevant zoning history, back in 1939, this was a hatched sewer in a one-family dwelling.
1955 through 78, it was converted to a two-family dwelling.
And then again, as I mentioned, in 2015, we did obtain a permit for the erection of a two-story addition to convert it to a four-family dwelling.
However, that never took place.
So that obviously that variance has expired.
A12 is the zoning map.
A13 is the aerial photo.
So, we have the application of appeal, the project information form, copy of his deed.
We also have the tax clearance.
Wait a minute.
There it is.
All taxes are paid and up to date.
I point out this is the plan that I believe was submitted with the application.
I crossed out in red the existing four family and the notice on there that it was an existing building containing four departments.
But as you see, the bubble surrounding this language that was inserted by the examiner when asking for additional information.
We did submit a response with an amended plan.
As you can see here, this was the amended plan.
That language was removed from the plan, and we showed that the rest of the information as contained therein was correct.
With regard to his request for information, we again accepted the refusal for the 9-foot setback or 10% of the depth of the lot.
We also accepted the refusal for the roof deck setback at the rear of the building.
We also accepted the refusal for the associated roof access structure, the occupied area, and we also indicated that since we would prefer to have two off-street parking spaces,
but under the code, one would be required for handicap accessible, adaptable space under the
code. And then finally, they did in fact ask us specifically whether or not it was for five
families and whether or not the existing, you know, well, it says that the maximum four would
be allowed for the property. We corrected them by indicating that the front structure consists
of two family dwelling, and we're looking to add just one dwelling unit at the rear.
So Hillary had a question for me we discussed earlier. Under CMX2, you're permitted one
dwelling unit per 480 square feet of lot area. This lot consists of 2,000 square feet. So the
three units would be permitted as a matter of right. And as the front structure is already a
two-family dwelling, there is no requirement for commercial use on the, you know, first floor
frontage. So, but needless to say, you know, Hillary has indicated that we should get a
corrected refusal with regard to the, you know, the discrepancies in the existing refusal. So
So between Hillary and I, we will work on that to obtain that corrected refusal.
So this is just an aerial photograph.
This property is located off the corner of Milner and Orthodox.
If you're coming southbound on Aramingo Avenue near the former Bridge Street exit, we're on the right hand side of Aramingo Avenue right back in the development there.
um it's i would also point out that uh mr ramos owns 2130 or 2366 uh orthodox street that was
new construction on a vacant lot that that that does consist of four dwelling units
uh we're in the process of trying to acquire the vacant lot which is known as 2368 it is
It's probably owned by a decedent's estate, and there's substantial taxes and L&I liens on the property, so we're trying to work with the district council to obtain ownership of that.
Here's a copy of the posting.
One second.
Front of the subject.
Front of the subject, properties to the right, property to the left, street views.
Properties to the right.
Property to the left.
Again, this is the vacant lot that's two units down we're trying to acquire.
This is directly across the street.
This is one of the notices of the meeting to, or this is the meeting notice for Bridesburg Community Action.
attached was a copy of that refusal the mailing addresses the uh notification map
certificate of mailing and then the aforementioned zoning history uh with regard to the property
uh we did meet with bridesbark last week and uh quite frankly nobody attended
other than the board and one member of the community.
And they issued their letter in support of the application,
and they provided a letter of explanation.
And at that time, we did discuss the specific discrepancies in the refusal.
I clarified to them what exactly it was that we were seeking to build,
uh replaced the existing garage in the back with a new garage with an apartment above
and so they were well aware of that and they mentioned that in their letter so
i believe even with a corrected refusal or revised refusal their letter would
certainly continue to be applicable so uh based upon that that that's all i have for that
particular case
you know given the
discussion with the board counsel
we would ask that him
obviously the board hold the decision
based upon
pending revised
refusal. All right questions
from the board?
No chair.
No chair.
Additional comments from our attorney?
Hilary Emerson? Not at this time, Mr. Chair. Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
No hands, Chair. Elena, do you want to wait for the revised or do you want to take a position?
Yeah, we can wait for the revised. Okay, thank you. So we'll vote when we have the revised and
we get that back and we'll, working with Hilary, we'll have this done as quick as we can. Thank you.
So just to clarify, Mr. Chair, because planning has deferred, well, well, since planning has deferred, we will have a presumption hearing in this matter that we'll schedule as soon as we receive the amended refusal.
All right. Thank you.
Thank you. Very good.
All right. Going on to number five. MI 2023-007-211-2812 Snyder Avenue. Henry Clinton is the attorney. There's a recommendation of opposition from Tasker Morris Neighborhood Association. Three opposed, two in support.
Mr. Chair, for this matter, I just want to note that we also received a letter in opposition from Council President Johnson this afternoon. Thank you.
Thank you.
how many clinton is coming in chair
mr clinton just state your name you've testified a couple times you've been sworn in before so
just state your name and could you identify your client relationship to the property
sure my client is the owner he's to my right your left hong tim t-h-i-e-m all right and our
Our vice chair has just a few questions for you.
Good afternoon, counsel.
Do you agree to waive the reading of refusal or stipulate to his accuracy?
I do, Mr. Shahid.
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed and required to proceed with this case five days in advance of his hearing?
Yes, I have.
Thank you, counsel.
Please proceed and share your screen.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman.
With me is my client, Tom Kim, to my right, your left.
So this is a request for the visitor accommodation in a very, very small house on a very, very wide street, Snyder Avenue, where the owners have lived within a half a block of this property since 2009.
And they bought the subject property, 2812 Snyder Avenue in 2015.
So I don't often come before the board without community support.
this is a little bit of a unique situation.
There was only one neighbor there
and everyone else was on the board
and none of whom lived near this property.
These are the table of contents, AA through 810, which ASP admitted into evidence.
These are the table of contents, AA through 810,
which ASB admitted into evidence.
The refusal, again, is a proposed visitor accommodation, and it's prohibited in a residential district.
But this is RM1, right?
This is zoned multifamily.
I think there should be a little bit more leniency in this type of zoning district rather than an RSA 5 or an RSA 3.
So there is a letter of opposition. Again, it was three to two. Mr. Tim has a petition that he
went around and got a lot of neighbors assigned. Not a lot could make that meeting. I understand
there's a number of neighbors on this call who could not make that meeting. We're going to voice
their support, so we'll see if that works out. These are the signatures of support in full
candor to the board, this signature right here, that's actually my client. He didn't realize that
he could sign a petition in supporting his own project. So you should not include that as a
signature of support. But the other signatures are legitimate. There's 2812, 2822, 2800, 2824,
right next door, 2818. He actually tracked down the owner of 28, on the other side of him, 2810,
who lives over in Graduate Hospital. But the gentleman said he could not sign without his
wife signing along with him. So we don't have their signatures, but otherwise I believe we would.
Here's photographs. What's unique is this is literally the smallest house on Snyder Avenue. As I said, Snyder Avenue, as everyone on the board knows, is a pretty wide thoroughfare. This is two bedrooms, one bath. Some of the other properties are larger. Wide sidewalks, properties in good shape, good condition inside.
So some of the comments at the meeting were that they believe, the one neighbor believed that there's other people on the block that are using their homes as Airbnbs.
And we said, well, look, my client is Cambodian. He wants to have people from his homeland come or family or friends, and he doesn't want to do something illegal.
So he's trying to do something that's right and proper.
And because there may be others who aren't doing things right and proper, that basically has impacted his ability to do what he wants with this property.
He's literally right around the corner on the twenty hundred block of South twenty ninth street.
He takes care. He would take care of any trash himself.
He would use some type of a national company to make sure that the people that come are properly vetted.
And you can't get a lot of people in this property because that's typically what I hear in the neighborhood, in the various neighborhoods, especially Grace Ferry, where my office is located, is that people will just hoard people into a home.
And then you have parking issues and you have noise and you have other things going on.
It's almost a physical impossibility to do it in this home because it's so small.
And again, I'll just show you that aerial photograph.
So that's really the presentation. I understand that the councilman has issued his letter, which typically would support the community group.
But I'm just hopeful that there are people on the call and had they today on this meeting and had they been at the community meeting, the vote would have been the other way around.
So with that, I just like to conclude that this use is not going to adversely impact any of the surrounding neighbors.
It's a very small property, two bedrooms.
It's not impacting anyone's light or air.
We're not altering the essential character of the neighborhood.
It's an RM1 zoning district.
Frankly, if it was a little bit deeper, he could put a duplex in here.
But that's not the route he's going.
He'd like to keep it small and tight.
And it's basically in harmony with the code.
It's residential, and it's in harmony with the rest of the block in the sense that they're all residential.
So with that, I'd ask my client to adopt my testimony, Mr. Chairman, if we want to go that route.
Sure. Why don't we do that?
Mr. Tim?
Do you want to swear?
Yes. Sir, could you state your name and spell it for the stenographer?
Yeah, my name is Harold Tim.
Just do the way I can.
It will be a property and legal need for the city.
It would be a property and legal need for the city.
Okay. It's spelled...
It's spelled H-O-N-G-T-H-I-E-M.
Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I would tell the truth.
I would tell the truth.
Mr. Todd, you were here when I just presented your project, correct?
And if you had the opportunity to talk to the board, would you say the same things I did?
And do you adopt what I said as your own and as true and correct?
Response was yes if you didn't hear it.
I heard it.
Questions from the board?
No, Chair.
No, Chair.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
There are no hands, Chair.
Is there anybody?
Planning Commissioner?
Sorry, Ron Bednar, City Planning. The property is indicated for residential use on the City Plan or adopted district plan recommends no changes in zoning at this location. There's no unique physical circumstances or condition of the property being used in conforming with the zoning code.
City Planning Commission recommends the Board deny proposed use variance for visitor accommodations.
Thank you. I'll go back to the audience one more time, Henry, to make sure there's nobody there.
Yeah, my client indicates that there are several people who are texting him saying they can hear, but they can't get on.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
There are no hands up.
They have to raise their hands.
No, your friends.
There's one.
Daily Hugh will be allowed to speak.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the stenographer?
could you state your name and spell for the stenographer
person with the first name daily can you please unmute yourself
they're muted okay is there any other hands up no that was the only hand and mr chairman one
other thing at the very beginning of the uh the hearing the the 330 hearing there was a gentleman
from 20 i i heard that yeah 38 south 28th street he was supposed to be on this call okay thank you
so be it okay um so planning has taken their position henry i'm gonna i'm gonna take this
back to next wednesday at 2 p.m we'll vote then i just want to sit and talk to the other board
members about, you know, because this, you know, we have a lot of people asking for this type of
thing. And I just want to make sure we're all on the same page. Okay. I understand. I really
appreciate that consideration, Mr. Chairman. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. And by the way,
the case is closed. Other than that, everything's done and we'll just vote. Okay. Thank you. All
SMI 2023-007-188, 17 West Gerrard Avenue.
Sean Ward is the attorney.
Letter of support from Fishtown Neighbors
and a letter of support from Fishtown
Kensington Area Business Association.
Sean Ward is rejoining as a panelist.
I got back quick that time.
I did.
Mr. Ward, we've already sworn you in just for the record.
State your name.
Yeah, my name is Sean, S-H-A-W-N, Ward, W-A-R-D, Esquire,
counsel for the property owner,
as well as the proposed tenant applicant at 17 West Girard Avenue.
Could you identify those clients, please?
Let me pull my exhibit packet up.
Yeah, I represent KMSP LLC, which is the property owner for purposes of this hearing.
And I represent Insomnia Cookies Company, which is the tenant and applicant in this application.
Thank you. Our vice chair has a few questions.
Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to either read another refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
both 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 all exhibits have been
submitted and accepted by board council thank you council please proceed and you've already
shared your screen thank you very much uh mr chairman again i've submitted my typical exhibit
Thank you very much. Mr. Chairman, again, I've submitted my typical exhibit packet. A1 is the notice of refusal. I mean, a referral. I'm sorry, it's not a refusal, it's a referral. It's a permit for a takeout restaurant.
Insomnia Cookies is a chain that has multiple locations in Philadelphia and the surrounding counties, as well as other states.
The referral requires a special exception approval by the board.
Accordingly, we seek that here today.
A2 is the application of appeal.
A3, the project information form.
A4 is proof of ownership.
A5 is proof of tax clearance.
A6 are the zoning site and floor plans.
A7 are photographs of the posting, subject property, street views, aerial view.
A8 is the RCO meeting notices.
A9 is the letter of support from Fishtown Neighbors Association.
A10 is the letter of support from the participating RCO, the Fishtown Bid District.
A-11, I was informed by Sloan folks that a letter would be coming from the council person's office in support of the application.
With regard to the relevant zoning history at A-12, in February of 22, a zoning permit was issued for the complete demolition of an existing structure.
July of 2022, a zoning permit for the erection of a new structure consisting of four dwelling units and a vacant commercial space.
um ironically at december of 23 permits were granted for the signs for the accessory uh
accessory to the takeout restaurant however at that point in time we didn't have uh approval
for the takeout restaurant but in any in any shape uh way or form we're uh we're now trying
to get the horse back in front of the cart and uh that's why we're here today so a13 is the zoning
map. A14 is the aerial photograph. Very quickly, again, we have the notice of referral. Proposed
takeout restaurant requires a special exception in CMX 2.5. We have the petition of appeal
project information form, my transmittal letter, copy of the deed, proof of tax clearance for the
property. These are the plans. Let me get right to the, we'll use this one. As you can see, the
property is, it's the first floor of the structure. Patrons would be relegated pretty much to the
very front of the store where you would have a display case, ordering area, cashier's booth.
The back of the space would be used for the ovens, walk-in freezers. There is a unisex
accessible bathroom for the employees. There is a spiral stair to a second or a mezzanine level,
which would be used solely by the tenant for office space and there is a rear yard area which
could be used for the storage of trash uh there would be no patron service in the rear it's it's
fully enclosed and therefore would not be amenable to such a service or access okay
um here is an aerial photograph this is on gerrard avenue right near the bend
between Frankfort Avenue and Leopard Street.
The red dot indicates the subject location.
This is the new structure that was erected on site.
A modern-looking classic there.
A copy of the zoning notice in the front window at the door,
in front of the subject.
We have street views up and down Girard Avenue.
Diagonally across the street into McDonald's.
You've got Sherwin-Williams Paint, Wells Fargo Bank, et cetera.
And then the garage, that is a bar restaurant located at the opposing corner.
This is the rendering of the interior of the first floor, absent the fit-out by the tenant, which has not occurred yet.
Copy of the meeting notice to the neighbors from the Fishtown District.
That meeting was held first.
back in January of this year.
This is the meeting notice for First Town Neighbors.
That meeting was held May 7th via Zoom.
These are the addresses that both notices went out to.
these are the addresses that both notices went out to here is the zoning notification map
Here is the zoning.
a copy of fishtown neighbor's letter of support the vote was
41 41 to 1 with two abstentions
fishtown bid submitted a very nice letter indicating how the proposed use would fit
nicely in with the you know the the area we have copies of all the permits for the demolition
the erection of the new structure these are the signed plans you'll see there is a a blade sign
coming off the front of the building right there there is a a window sign on the right and
And here's the rendering of the blade sign.
There would be a open sign hanging in the window.
And that is basically the sum and subject of the application.
Given the fact that we have near unanimous support from everybody, we would ask that the board grant the subject relief for the special exception.
uh i believe i have one member from uh insomnia cookies in the audience if she could raise her
i think it's nicole if she could raise her virtual hand she can verify it adopt otherwise as an
officer of the court i would make that representation do we see your hand yes
nicole tana will be allowed to speak hi could you please state your name and spell for the
stenographer? Sure. Nicole, Tana, N-I-C-O-L-E, T as in Tom, A as in Alpha, N-A. Right. Do you
swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? I do. Please proceed,
counsel. Thank you. Nicole, you've heard my representations to the board today? Correct.
Are they true and correct, to the best of your knowledge, information, and belief?
they are and would you adopt them as your own testimony i would thank you um questions from the
board no questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson um just uh just to clarify um
mr ward so this is going in the the proposed use is for the first floor and basement with the
existing um for apartments above to remain is that correct that is correct okay thank you you're
welcome wasn't wasn't an office too am i wrong i thought we had an office on the mezzanine or
something there's a yeah a small office space that would be used by the tenant on the mezzanine
it's it's it's not it's not open to the public it's just office space for the operation of the
the cookie shop okay all right good i believe there when i looked at the plans there were
two mezzanines there was like a small commercial mezzanine and then there's a mezzanine in the
residential area as well no i thought there was a mezzanine above the second floor
above the second floor no there i mean there's a roof deck roof deck for the uh residential uses
but that that's you know not part of this application this is just for the first floor
right right no i just that's why i didn't reference the met the mezzanine in in regards
to the commercial space yeah uh look i mean if you want me to reshare the pictures i can show
you the picture of the mezzanine we're fine we're fine questions or comments with virtual audience
yes chair robert everett will be allowed to speak i could you please state your name and
spell it for the court stenographer. Yes, good afternoon, everybody. Long day. First name is
Robert. Last name is Everett, E-V-E-R-E-T-T. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Yes, I do. And the fact of the matter,
it's not a long day. We're going to get done a little bit earlier today.
please proceed first time all week uh yeah i just want to support uh mr warden insomnia cookies as
you could see from the community vote it's rare that the community is so well overwhelmingly in
support of a new business coming in thank you thank you very much mr ebert for taking the time
to close we appreciate it is there anyone else in the virtual audience is there anyone else in the
virtual audience? No, no more hands, Chair. Planning Commission. So, Ron Bednar, city planning
properties indicated for commercial mixed use on a city plan, given the physical circumstances of
Physical circumstances of the area, documented use, we recommend that the requested variance be granted.
the area, documented use.
Thank you.
MI 2023-007-188-17 West Gerrard Avenue, I vote yes with proviso.
Use limited to first floor and cellar with previously approved multifamily household living for dwelling units above to remain.
Thomas Holloman my vote is yes with proviso James Snell my vote is yes with proviso
Ishmael Shaheed my vote is yes with proviso thank you Mr. Ward thank you very much right
is there anyone in the uh in 330 list in the virtual audience whose case has not been called
i see no hands chair thanks everyone good day have a good one nice day all right all right
thanks chair nice job chair see you guys good night