Thank you.
Good morning, everyone.
My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing today's meeting of the Philadelphia Zoning Board of Adjustment.
With me is our Vice Chair, Tenetta Graham.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our Secretary, Shara Elgaston.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our Board Member, Michael Johns.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Board Member, Taya Nguyen.
She should be here any minute.
And our Board Member, Ryan McAdams.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Also present is our Board Attorney, Hillary Emerson.
our zba director ian haggerty and our board administrator lakeisha dandy this hearing is
being recorded and will be posted on the zba website by participating you consent to be
recorded this is an in-person meeting with remote capable capabilities whether in person or on zoom
if you're called to speak please state and spell your name and wait to be sworn in after that
state your name each time before testifying to enter your appearance, indicate the property
address with your register on Zoom, speak with a staff member, call the ZBA office by
the close of business tomorrow at 215-689-2429 and provide your name email address and the case
address remote participants raise your virtual hand when directed so when we can call on you to
speak when you call when we call on you please you must click the join the as a panelist button
the q a is only for um procedural questions not comments if you are joining by phone press star
nine to raise your hand and source six to unmute and participate in person participants
and testifying get close to the mic so that all attendees and the court reporter can hear you
no eating no eating drinking or talking during the hearings aggressive behavior will be not
tolerated in an emergency file staff instructions the main exit is through the rear doors the
nearest stairwell is to the left if we evacuate go to love park across from our street and remain
there so that we can account for you let's look at our schedule for today
Get through our add-ons here.
number one MI 283-006-613-503-35
Duffin street um is the person present
joseph vaccaro is the attorney good morning chair this is jason handle will be your call
sorry good morning chair uh he's being promoted to panelists joseph thank you
good morning morning council could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
joseph j-o-s-e-p-h the caro va c-c-a-r-o attorney for the applicant stephanie and francisco llc
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth told truth nothing but the truth yes i do so mr
for caro this is the fourth listing could you give us a quick update yes we've had a meeting
Yes. We've had a meeting with the RCO, which had issued a denial or refusal letter. So we'd like to re-engage with the RCO to hopefully try to change some minds.
with the rco which had issued a denial
So this is the fourth listing, and we still have no paperwork or anything of that nature from you. We're going to vote to dismiss this.
If the board is going to dismiss, could we at least avoid the two-year rule so that we could reapply?
We're not going to do that, Mr. Vaccaro. We're going to dismiss this case. So MI 2023-006-613-5030-5033-35, Duffield Street, I vote to dismiss.
Michael Johns, my vote is to dismiss.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is to dismiss.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is to dismiss.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is to dismiss.
number seven mi 2025 004 587 45 13 to 15 tacawana street um
aletta astrander is the listed owner this is the second listing no exhibits
Joseph Vicarra. I'm sorry. Again, Joseph Vicarra on behalf of the applicant, Carlos Soto. He's the
tenant on the property. You're on this one too, Joe? Yes, sir. Oh, I don't want to have that. So
this is the second listing. We have no exhibits, Joe. Yes. We also have a letter of opposition
from the RCO. We'd like to re-engage with them. Okay. So what we'll do is we're going to continue
this one this one's only two listings so mi 20 25 004 587 45 13 to 15 tacawana street this case
is continued to 8 21 20 26 at 9 30 a.m i appreciate it thank you thank you that concludes my business
And number 11, MI 2025-006-997-9201 Potter Street. This case is continued until 825-2026 at 930 a.m.
oh okay so sorry Mr. Chair going back to to number seven it's continued to eight uh that's
45 13 to 15 Takawana Street that's continued to 8 25 26 and 9 30. okay yeah thank you
okay we're we're at now um number 13 mi 2025 007 011 34 45 melville street
no exhibits first listing port richmond warehouse incorporated as listed owner
No hands at this time, Chair.
So this is the first listing.
So MI 2025-007-011-3445 Melville Street.
This case is continued to 825-2026 at 930 a.m.
Chair, this is the entire executive director.
Can we please mark that must be heard since we haven't heard from the applicant in that matter?
Thank you.
That case is marked must be heard.
And number 14, MI 2025-007-014-133 Maritas Street, Oakley Stanbury, Oakley Stanbury is the listed owner. No exhibits, first listing.
No hands at this time, Chair.
okay so mi2025007014133 maria street this case is continued mark must be heard till 8 25 20 26
at 9 30 a.m are there any other requests for continuances
no hands at this time okay
we're going to go to our add-on list number one mi 2025 006
MI-2025-006-633-1246-57 North South 17th Street, I vote yes with proviso per amended refusal dated 5-5-26.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes with proviso.
Excuse me. Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Tannetta Graham, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Number two, MI 2021-004-387-6809 Woodland Avenue.
and mr charl reed uh the planning recommendation yes into this one we had we had held it for video
review by a board member so this is the recommendation of the philadelphia city
planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change in zoning from the existing
rsa3 residential single-family zoning at this location the appellant has demonstrated that the
proposed use will not cause detrimental impacts beyond what would reasonably be expected the
planning commission recommends the board grant the requested special exception for personal care home
i vote yes with proviso per amended refusal dated september 10th 2025
temporary variance expires 5 7 31 and trash stored in rear outside
uh michael johns i confirm that i have reviewed the video of the hearing from 4
8-428 of the resumption hearing for 6809 Woodland Avenue and my vote is yes with proviso.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes with proviso.
Tywin, my vote is yes with proviso.
Is that it? We're good. Okay, thank you. Number three.
MI-2025-002-377-6517 Ray Street, I vote no.
Michael Johns, my vote is no.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is no.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is no.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is no.
Ryan Wynn, my vote is no.
Number four, MI-2025-002-476-157-61 Bybury Road, I vote no.
Michael Johns, my vote is no.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is no.
Tannetta Graham, my vote is no.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is no.
Tayaway, my vote is no.
number five mi 2022 001 391 5221 averford avenue i vote yes um
hold on do we have a proviso with this no i vote yes
JOHNS, MY VOTE IS YES.
MR. JOHNS, YOU'RE RECUSED FROM THIS MATTER.
OH, I'M SORRY, I'M RECUSED MYSELF, SORRY ABOUT THAT, SORRY ABOUT THAT.
I, CHERYL GASTON, CERTIFIED THAT I WATCHED THE APRIL 17, 2024 VIDEO RECORDING OF HEARING
IN THIS MATTER, AND MY VOTE IS YES.
I, Tanetta Graham, certify that I watched the April 17th, 2024 video recording of the hearing in this matter, and my vote is yes.
I, Ryan McAdams, certify that I watched the video of April 17th, 2024, I'm sorry, the video recording on the hearing on this matter, and my vote is yes.
I, Taya Nguyen, certify that I watched the April 17th, 2024 video recording of this matter, and my vote is yes.
Number six, MI 2025, 006-75-750-6151 Market Street.
The vote in this matter has been rescheduled to Wednesday, May 13th, 2026 at 9.30 a.m.
Start with our first case, number 12.
We're going to start with our first case, number 12, MI-2025-006-998-6354 Ray Street.
we're going to start with our
Craig Sobobley is the attorney.
Revere Street, yes.
Revere Street?
we also need a spanish interpreter
they're being promoted to panelists i'm already here
they're promoted to panelists share okay good morning board uh but could you wait till i'm
to have an interpreter come on i am right here your honor interpreter yes do we share oh i see
it okay could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer consuelo villa gomez spanish
interpreter c-o-n-s-u-e-l-o villa gomez via sin victor i-l-l-a-g-o-m-e-z right do you swear or
firm that you will interpret accurately completely and impartially from english to spanish and from
spanish to english to the best of your ability i do you please um turn on your video if you have it
please thank you very much you're welcome counsel could you please state your name and spell for the
stenographer uh craig sobel c-r-a-i-g-s-o-b-e-l attorney for the applicant uh miss diana
francois suero and she is to my right right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the
truth nothing but the truth you counsel you oh i do okay i didn't know if yours yes wearing her in
we're gonna this is the one we're gonna just part-time or yeah so mr sobel just to clarify um
your the term i'm gonna you're gonna present i'm gonna present okay and does your presentation
need to be interpreted for your client
or have you already discussed it with her?
I've already discussed it.
Okay. All right.
So the interpreter will have you
in case we have questions for the client
and you can interpret the board's vote and such for her.
But we'll have the client in, right?
If she needs to testify, yes.
Okay. Is she going to testify, counsel?
I don't see any reason that she would,
But I may ask at the end, does she want to, you know, add anything or, you know, after she adopts and affirms what I present to the board?
So, counsel, just for a point of information, you have unanimous support from the RCO and a letter of non-opposition from Council Member Lozada.
Our vice chair has a few questions.
Good morning.
Have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing?
yes i have okay and do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy
yes i do i think you can share your screen and proceed with your case
uh right i'm gonna
look for my
Exhibits.
Bear with me, please.
This is our P1 exhibit, and it's our application for
and it's her application for the uh use of the but sir uh you you got to open up some of these
documents am i correct uh sorry to your documents sir we we see uh you've seen the whole document
no that's it just says pdfs okay hold on
that is not what
do me a favor stop sharing and then come back in again am i correct
stop sharing and then come back in reshare okay now come back in and reshare
you're just seeing these pdfs here we see we don't see anything right now
can you see this no we see you
If you have to share the screen all over again, they're saying.
Here you go.
This should work.
Did you see that?
Yeah, we see it now.
And so this is her application, along with she's a licensed nail tech with with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
And she wishes to put on the first floor of her corner residence, which used to be a doctor's office, a small nail salon,
um which roughly would have three um chairs which she would service alone and it would be up by
appointment only um so so counsel we have all your paperwork why don't you start showing us
photos and copies of uh okay your plans
this is the refusal yeah we have all your paperwork
okay yeah so why don't you go to photos and plans
photos okay
so this is this is the architect plan
currently the property was a was a three-room sort of doctor's office that she wants to convert
to a kind of a general three-bay nail salon area it has an independent entrance
from the street which i'll show you in a minute
so this is the corner her corner property uh it's i think p11 here's the entrance it's an old
not used anymore kind of doctor's office it's it's got a side entrance that's what where she
would put the nail salon it's got a rear back entrance um as well this is a picture of her
property from the front she's the corner unit at revere and uh levick
and here's a google map view of
of this is her property with the pin on levick on the corner post this is the outside