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Good morning, everyone.
We will start shortly.
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good morning everyone my name is bill bergman and i will be chairing this morning zba hearing
With me is our Vice Chair, Tanetta Graham.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our Board Secretary, Cheryl L. Gaston.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our Board Member, Michael Johns.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
And our Board Member, Ryan McAdams.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Also here is our Attorney, Hillary Emerson.
And also with our legal team today is Marina Campo, who is a third-year student at Villanova University's Law School.
and also is Ian Haggerty
and then our board administrator
Lakeisha Dandy
recording of this hearing will be posted
on the ZBA website
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this is an in-person meeting
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whether remote or in person
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any person may enter their appearance
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is love park directly across arch street please remain there so we can account for you
so let's look at our uh our schedule for today
number seven mi 2025 003 91 34 49 8th street that case is continued till 5 6 26 at 9 30 a.m
And number 15, MI 2025-003-974-3319 West Allegheny Avenue.
That case is continued to 5626 at 9.30 a.m.
Are there any other requests for continuances?
Good morning, Chair.
I don't see any hands.
Thank you.
Number five, MI-2025-000305-2304-North Smedley Street.
This is the second listing.
We have no exhibits.
Aphasia Haynes is the listed owner applicant.
do we see anyone in the audience
so this is the second listing there are no hands at this raised at this time chair thank you this
is the second listing we still do not have any exhibits no one appeared the first time
So MI-2025-00305-2304 North Smedley Street, I vote to dismiss.
Michael Johns, my vote is to dismiss.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is to dismiss.
Donetta Graham, my vote is to dismiss.
Donetta Graham, my vote is to dismiss.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is to dismiss.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is to dismiss.
Number 11, MI2025-002784, 18 West Oxford Street.
We have indication that this case may be withdrawn, but we do not at this point have any signed letter.
Megan Landert is the listed owner.
I don't see any hands or any names by the names here.
So MI 2025 002784 18 West Oxford Street.
This case is continued to 5626 must be heard.
And then number 14, MI-2025-003-216-5610-14 Germantown Avenue.
This case has been withdrawn.
We're going to go to our add-on list.
number number one mi 2025 004 120 1825 west butler street i vote yes michael johns my vote
is yes cheryl gaston my vote is yes tanetta graham my vote is yes ryan mcadams my vote is yes
Number two, MI-2025-004-506-5969 Oguns Avenue.
This matter, the vote in this matter has been rescheduled to Wednesday, November 19th at 9.30 a.m.
number number three mi2025 002 667 5045 jackson street
i vote yes good johns my vote is yes cheryl gaston my vote is yes
tennetta graham my vote is yes ryan mcadams my vote is yes number four mi2025
5-0-0-4-0-3-5-7-0-6-2-0-8-South Street.
I vote yes with proviso per amended
per amended refusal dated 10-6-25
and uses limited to first floor and basement.
Johns, my vote is yes with proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with proviso.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes with Provisos.
Number five, MI 2024-001-848-2055, Cheltenham Avenue.
The vote in this matter has been rescheduled to Wednesday, November 19th at 9.30 a.m.
Number six, MI 2024-004-415-5338, Walnut Street, I vote no.
Michael Jones, my vote is yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is no.
Brian McAdams, my vote is no.
Thank you.
So number seven, 6930 King Sessing Avenue.
Steve Masters is the attorney.
Request to proceed, don't pro-tunc.
Mr. Masters.
They're being promoted to panelists.
Thank you.
Good morning, Mr. Chair, members of the board.
Good morning, counsel.
Could you please state your name as Bell for the Sonographer?
Steve Masters, S-T-E-V-E-M-A-S-T-E-R-S.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Mr. Masters, would you give us a short presentation on your request for 6930 King Sessing Avenue?
Yes, absolutely.
Mr. Chair, members of the board, we're requesting non-protunk relief to permit our client, Ayuba Fumba Kamara, to file an untimely appeal from a September 23, 2025 notice of referral, which denied his application for a zoning permit for the use of a personal vehicle sales and rental in an existing detention.
for the use of a personal vehicle sales and rental in an existing detached structure with
all other uses that are previously approved this is an icmx zoning district so there's no
variance required it's just a special exception an appeal from the notice of referral was due
on or before october 23rd 2025 earlier on october 28th we discovered that the appeal had not been
filed and immediately reached out to the board council and board executive director to seek the
non-protunk relief. As we understand what happened, there was a breakdown in operations at our firm.
A paralegal who was undergoing training to submit zoning applications via Eclipse
didn't realize that LNI uploads all the notices of refusals and referrals via Eclipse. She was
monitoring the her email and thinking that the uh notice of referral would be sent to her email
um that of course is not how it works um and when we discovered it five days after the deadline had
passed uh we were in a case management meeting when when we discovered that uh that uh very
significant news um we then uh immediately reached out to as i said the the board staff to to see what
we could do to address it. This case is similar to a Pennsylvania Supreme Court case called
Bass v. Commonwealth from 1979, in which a secretary's failure to timely deliver
appeal documents to an attorney was found to be grounds for granting non-protec relief.
And here, our trainee, her failure to timely discover the issuance of the notice of referral, just like in the case of Bass v. Commonwealth, was corrected within a very short time.
And so any prejudice that any other side would have was minimal.
The courts have said that when we look at determining non-protunk, we look at a couple factors that are significant here.
One, just laws acted within a day after discovering the missed deadline, and that was five days after the deadline had passed.
And two, that it's important to recognize that if we don't get non-protunk relief, that will greatly prejudice our client because he would have to wait a whole year before he could reapply.
So we respectfully request that the Zoning Board allow us to submit our appeal seeking a special exception within this short period of time after the deadline.
Thank you, Mr. Masters. Is there anyone on the board who has a question for Mr. Masters?
Counsel, are you okay with Mr. Masters?
Yes, no questions for me. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Pardon me?
No questions for me. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, so the request to proceed non-protonk is granted. Application for appeal is accepted as timely. It must be – then we must be submitted – your appeal must be submitted by November 14th. Is that okay, Mr. Masters?
Yes, absolutely. We're going to be filing it today.
All right. Thank you very much, sir. Thank you.
Okay, sure. Thank you so much.
And the other members, can you vote as well?
Yes. Yeah. All right. I'm sorry. I vote yes. Yes. Request for non-proton granted. Yes. Yes.
I vote is yes. Non-proton is granted. Michael Johns. My vote is yes.
Cheryl Gaston. My vote is yes. Tanetta Graham. My vote is yes.
Ryan McAdams. My vote is yes. Thank you. Thank you.
Go to our regular list. Excuse me, chair. This is the court reporter.
This prior case, I didn't hear an MI number.
Was there one for it?
There's no.
Sorry, Mr. Kelly.
There's no MI number because this was a vote to accept the appeal.
So it has not been assigned yet.
Thank you.
Pardon the interruption.
No problem.
Thank you.
We're going to move on to number two.
MI 2024-003-935, 4422 Carverthin Road.
Geraldine and Nathaniel Lockwood
are the owner applicants.
There's a recommendation of support
from Council District 6,
which convened the RCO meeting.
The vote was 17 or 22 in support to oppose.
There's also a letter of support
from neighbor on the block
who verified issues that led
to the erection of offense.
Oh, yeah, sure.
which who's going to testify okay all right um could you um state your name
Could you state your name and spell it for the sonographer?
and spell it for the song
Could you please state your name and spell it for the sonographer?
My name is Geraldine Lockwood.
It's Geraldine, G-E-R-A-L-D-I-N-E.
Last name Lockwood, L-O-C-K-W-O-O-D.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
The application of the erection of a six foot high front fence on Carthorne Road, whereas the allowable capacity of a fence located in the front setback is no more than 50 percent, whereas zero percent is proposed, whereas the allowable height for the fence in the front setback is less than four feet, is less than four feet in height and six foot is proposed.
Our vice chair has a few questions for you.
Good morning.