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