Thank you.
Okay, Chair, we have 43 attendees and we can start when you wish.
Good morning. My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this morning's ZBA hearings.
With me is Ismail Shaheed, who will be functioned as our vice chair.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Thomas Holliman, our board member.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
And James Snell, our board member.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Also here is Hillary Emerson, our attorney, and our ZBA hearing supervisor, Lakeisha Dandy.
Before we begin, here's our virtual format. These proceedings are being recorded. By participating,
you acknowledge your agreement to be recorded. The video will be available by contacting
tanyasunkett at phila.gov. For the benefit of our court stenographer, we ask attorneys and
witnesses to identify themselves before testifying. If you're participating by phone,
if you wish to testify, press star 9 to raise your hand and star 6 to unmute.
to want an appearance statement call 267-270-5548 leave your email and the address of the property
in question and finally the question answer box on the screen is not for comments
any comments should be directed to our executive director tanya sunken
so let's look at our continuances that we have for this morning's meeting
Okay, number six, MI 2022, 004-553-9855-89 Busselton Avenue.
That case has been continued.
And number 10, MI 2021, 003-880-610-40 High Street, that case is continued, attorney moving party.
Are there any other requests for continuance on this morning's hearings?
Good morning, Chair. This is Fatina L.
Well, today we have Belinda Doty, excuse me, Belinda, last name ending with a D.
Ma'am, please unmute yourself.
Hi, good morning.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
Yes, Belinda, B-E-L-I-N-D-A, Doty, D-O-U-G-H-T-Y.
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes i do could you tell me what case um uh wait one second i had to get it up on my system
um as in regards to 1143 west somerset street philadelphia pennsylvania 191
Is that your case?
Okay, so you want to continue your case?
Okay, so case number two, MI 2022, 004-558-1143 West Somerset Street, that case is continued.
Thank you for calling in.
Thank you.
Any other requests for continuances?
yes chair we have daryl black okay
good morning chair good morning could you state your name please and spell for the court reporter
yes daryl miller d-a-r-r-y-l-m-i-l-l-e-r right do you swear our phone to tell the truth the whole
truth and nothing but the truth yes i do what case sir 3832 north 18 street let's see here
832. I'll be with you in one minute.
Hillary, what case is that?
I'm trying to find it, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Miller, what is the address again?
3832 North 18th Street.
Was this a case that was heard previously and held for a vote?
Okay, so that is not on our add-on list today.
We're still waiting for letters from the council office and the RCO.
So we will not, so that case will be voted on at another time.
Thank you, Mr. Miller, for pulling in.
We appreciate it.
Are there any other requests for continuance?
Well, Chair, we have Charles Richardson.
good morning mr chair good morning mr richardson just state your name please and spell for the
court reporter charles richardson r-i-c-h-a-r-d-s-o-n you swear our firm to tell the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do office of councilwoman cindy bast okay just
checking with 714 east shelton avenue uh understood that the applicant had written to the board a
couple of weeks ago and requested a continuance. I just wanted to make sure that that was the case.
Mr. Chair, this is Hillary. I did not see the written request, but I do see the applicant's
hand raised, so I think she's doing that now.
She's been allowed to speak. Carla Pagan, please.
Good morning, board. Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
Carla Pagan, C-A-R-L-A, last name Pagan, P-A-G-A-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Do you want to request a continuance?
Correct.
Yes, I sent the email request for continuance on January 6th.
Okay, fine.
Okay, okay.
So, number 15, MI 2022, 004-560-714 East Shelton Avenue.
That case is continued.
Thank you for calling in, both of you.
Is there any other requests for continuances?
I see no hands, Chair.
Okay, so we have a few cases that we do not have exhibits.
case number one mi-2022 004-559-634 park avenue
perry bowers is the owner we do not have exhibits for this it's the first listing
i see no handshare so case number one mi 2022 004 559 634 park lane this case is continue it was
the first listing. Number nine. MI 2022 001 110 6619 Musgrave Avenue. Ahi Magarod is the owner.
No exhibits. Second listing. I see no handshare. So MI 2022 001 110 6619
2619 Musgrave Street.
This case is continued.
Mark must be tried.
Number 17.
Wait a minute.
Number 17.
MI 2022
004-563
2005-07
East Sargent Street.
John Santiago is the owner.
No exhibits first listing.
i see no handshare so mi 2022 004 563 2005 07 east sergeant street that case is continued
in case number 18 mi 2022 004 588 6336 algard street collins shawcraft is the owner
no exhibits first listing chair we have the owner okay sir please unmute yourself
justin thank you good morning everyone good morning could you state your name is spelled
please for the court reporter hello yes thank you my name is colin shawcross that's c-o-l-i-n
s-h-a-w-c-r-o-s-s all right do you swear or affirm
S-H-A-W-C-R-O-S-S.
All right.
Do you swear or affirm, tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Absolutely.
All right.
So this is the first listing.
We do not have the exhibit, sir.
Oh, that must have got lost on the emails with me.
I did forward over.
I had my local township send over emails, and I also just sent them to in supporting my variants.
It was really just to put a small fence up so my dog and my neighbor's dogs wouldn't fight,
and it would just be peace for the neighbors and neighborhood.
So I think what you're going to have to do is you're going to have to call the office, and we're going to continue the case because we don't have the exhibits we need, right?
Call the office.
They will help you figure out what you need for the next listing, okay?
You'll be notified of the next listing, all right?
I'll get an email, or I'll get actual mail.
There will be an email, but, sir, please reach out to our office.
You'll receive an e-bill, but they prefer if you could call the office and they'll make arrangements for you, okay?
So MI 2022-004-588-6336 Algard Street, this case is continued.
We're going to go to our add-on list.
M.I. 2022-003-793-1003 West Dolphin Street, I vote yes to reconsideration and rehearing.
Thomas Holloman, I vote yes to reconsideration and rehearing.
James.
ishmael shaheed my vote is yes to reconsideration
all right thank thank you uh we're going to start with number seven on our regular list
uh hillary emerson is recusing herself ryan mcsherry will be filling in as it filling in
as our attorney. MI-2022-001-087-103 Widener Street. Douglas Stern is the attorney.
We do not have an RCO letter as of yet.
Mr. Stern
I'm sorry, can the board hear me?
Yes, we can hear you now.
Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
Yes, Douglas Stern
D-O-U-G-L-A-S
S-T-E-R-N
for the applicant
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 the property?
Caitlin Doe.
She's the owner.
Our vice chair has a few questions for you.
Good morning, counsel.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed all the exhibits that were required to proceed with this case five days in advance to this hearing?
Thank you. You can proceed and share your screen.
Okay. All right. Let me get to...
Okay. Can you see these exhibits?
We can. You're in.
Yeah. All right. So this is an application for...
It's a single family dwelling house. We want to make it a duplex.
It's 103 Widener Street. That's the corner of Widener and Front Street. It has two entrances.
So I just want to go over some of the documents here. So it's the refusal, the deed,
proof that the taxes were paid. Let me see if I can get the pictures.
Wait a second. I'm having an issue getting my other file open. It was open.
Okay. So here are the pictures. Can you see them?
Yes, we do.
that's not sure all right so here's a view you can see the side
This is the side entrance. This is on Front Street. This is where if it was a duplex,
this is the side entrance this is on front street this is where if it was a
you would enter through the side. Another view with the side, with the rear alley,
because it comes in by the rear alley. Another view, just looking up Front Street to the corner
where it intersects with Widener. Same picture. All right, now this is the main entrance to
Widener. See it's a twin. That would be the other entrance for the first floor. The other entrance
I showed before in front would be for the second. Just another picture of Widener Street showing it
intersecting with Front Street and it's the corner property. Just another picture of the front.
Okay so those are the pictures. There's a couple inside pictures that it's still
vacant right now and subject to further renovations if this was approved.
and it's just a typical row home um let's see
inside pictures um that's really um it unless you need to have any other questions you need
to see any other things it's just basically a two-story dwelling and the owner has it it's
always been rented out and she just wants to convert it to a duplex at this point
is it a current duplex no it's it's a single family dwelling it's just the way it's set up
you can have two entrances so it's just been rented out as a single
are there other multi-family units in the area i'm not really too sure about that um
most of them are just twins around here there are some but it's a corner property that's sort of
But like I said, Unique has the two entrances, one on the side, one on the front.
All right.
Do you want to have your testimony adopted by your client?
I'm asking that.
Well, she should be here, but I'm asking that, yeah, you adopted.
And every question and answer I gave today would be the same that she would say.