This case is continued to 3-18-26 at 2 p.m.
And number six, MI-2025-004-033-1608-14 Walnut Street,
This case is continued to 3-18-26 at 2 p.m.
Are there any other requests for continuances?
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair.
This is Jason Handel, who will be your co-host for the session.
I have a hand up from Mr. Sherman Toppin.
Mr. Toppin.
Good afternoon, members of the board.
I wanted to discuss or seek a continuance for 4860 Lancaster Avenue.
I believe it's scheduled for 330, so I'm not sure if you're handling all of the continuance.
No, we're going to come back to that, Charlie.
Okay, thank you.
Thank you, sir.
Any other requests for continuance?
Yes, Chair, I have a hand up from a Ms. Michelle Payne.
I will allow them to speak.
Thank you.
hello can you can you see me hi hi could you please state your name and spell for the
sonographer uh my name is michelle pain m-i-c-h-e-l-l-e-p-a-y-n-e you swear or firm to tell
the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do what case are you interested in and
It's 5-1-1-2 Willows Avenue.
Number two.
Ms. Payne, let me ask you this.
Do you have an attorney?
I do not.
So our understanding is you're going to need an attorney to move forward.
OK, you because you can't you can't represent yourself.
It's an LLC.
So I'm not the LLC.
I'm a I'm a neighbor.
OK, well, but you're not.
So what are you what are you trying to say?
I have just, I'm a neighbor objector, and I was just asking for a continuance.
Okay, so I'm going to call that case very shortly, okay?
Just give us a chance.
We'll let you have some of your say, okay?
All right, any other requests for continuance?
No further hats, Mr. Chair.
okay so we're going to go to the add-ons mi 2025 001 886 627 north 64 street i vote yes
i vote yes michael johnson's vote is yes excuse me uh this is our board council ryan mcsherey
michael johnson's vote is yes excuse me
i believe we just need a certification that the video has been the video recording has
been watched before we take a vote right okay um i i have i certify that i've watched
the video and and have read all notes relative to the case i believe uh mr mcadams also needs to
certify
Michael John
go ahead Michael
Michael John my vote is yes
Cheryl Gaston my vote is yes
Tanetta Graham
my vote is no
Ryan McAdams certify that I
watched the video
the October I'm sorry October
8th video recording of the hearing
in this matter and my vote is yes
okay and number two
Tanetta Graham will handle this
Thank you, Chair. MI-2025-003642, 5334 West Gerrard Avenue. My vote is yes.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes.
in the basement here yeah yeah that's right you got it yep you were good okay okay good all good
all right and number three mi2024-007-233-2719 east allegheny avenue the vote in this matter
has been rescheduled to wednesday november 19th at 2 p.m we're going to go to case number two
MI-2025-003-967-5112 Willows Avenue.
The owner is Philadelphia Renovation Group, LLC.
Chair, Joseph Consul has their hand raised.
Do I promote them?
Chair?
Hi, Mr. Consul.
Yes, please promote them, Jay.
Yeah, they'll be coming back in shortly.
Good afternoon, board.
Joe Consul.
Are you handling this case?
Yes, sir.
All right.
State your name and spell it for the sonographer.
Joseph Consul.
That's J-O-S-E-P-H.
Last name is Consul.
That's C-O-N-S-O-L-E.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Mr. Consul, there was a neighbor just on requesting a continuum to bring that person back on?
Ms. Payne?
Do we see her hand?
They'll be rejoining as a panelist now, Mr. Chair.
Ms. Payne, are you available?
Chair, I think we can move on.
Okay, we'll move on.
Mr. Counsel, you already was sworn.
and could you identify your client
in relationship to the property?
Yes, my client is Philadelphia Renovation Group, LLC.
Both principals, which are Mark Pagano
and Jamal Hassben are on the call,
as well as Shang Chen, the architect for the project.
There's a letter of support from Cedar Park Neighbors
based on revised plans.
And there was opposition from neighbors
and they talk about it here, okay?
Our vice chair has a few questions for you, sir.
Good afternoon.
Have you submitted your documents
five days in advance of this hearing?
And do you waive the reading of the refusal
and stipulate to its accuracy?
Okay, thank you.
You can share your screen and proceed with your case.
All right, my screen should be up.
The lot we are looking at
is the empty lot on the screen,
between the two properties directly in the middle. It's 5-1-1-2 Willows Avenue. Mark Pagano and Jamal
Hasbin are the owners of Philadelphia Renovation Group LLC, the group that purchased the property
in 2024. We are here for one-dimensional variance.
One-dimensional variance to permit the erection of a new attached single-family home.
Before I talk about what we're building, I will mention briefly the procedural history of this case, which is a little bit unique.
So, on my screen on October 17th, 2024, Ellen and I reviewed my team's application for an attached home and issued a buy-write zoning permit.
My clients, in good faith, relied on that permit and moved forward with their development plans.
Eight months later, they got this letter, which was June of 2025.
L&I realized its mistake and issued this intent to revoke. The revocation did not create the need
for the variance. The fact that the lots 20 foot wide in an RSA 3 zone always required it because
they were unable to comply with the side yard requirements. However, this created sort of a
confusing, delayed process that brings us to today's hearing. As mentioned, we were always
going to need a variance today, as Atlas confirms, and as you saw on the screen a second ago,
it's a vacant 20-foot wide lot. Total square footage is 2,028 square feet. This lot has sat
undeveloped for decades. It at one point was owned by the city's redevelopment authority.
RSA 3 code requires an 8-foot side yard to be semi-detached on a 20-foot wide lot.
This setback would consume 40% of the property's worth, approximately leaving my clients with a 12-foot wide buildable footprint,
which if I just zip back to these, you can see is not in conformance with the other lots on the block.
nor is it economically viable nor is it reasonable or functional to design a single family dwelling
with um that's 12 feet wide because of these unique physical conditions the property cannot
be developed in strict conformity with the code to allow for a reasonable single family use or
to promote the development of a home on a long standing dilapidated lot this is not a self-inflicted
hardship. It's inherent to the narrow dimensions of the lot. Furthermore, as you can see,
5110 and 5114 willows, as mentioned, both in the RCO letter and in the screen you can see now,
those properties have solid windowless party walls facing the vacant lot. The block itself,
we can say anticipates an attached infill home in this location.
Just zipping over to the plans.
Let's see, we ran a little bit here.
Proposal is to build a high-quality single-family home that makes reasonable use of this lot.
We have experienced developers that are proposing a full basement with a family room,
one bedroom, and a full bathroom.
First floor feature the main living room, including a dining room, a kitchen, and a powder room.
Second floor has got two bedrooms with their own bathrooms and a laundry room.
Third floor will serve as the primary suite, contains a master bedroom, master bathroom, and a walk-in closet and a study.
The architect can speak about any questions regarding the plans as well as they're on the call.
And finally, we'll have an eight-foot setback on that third floor.
Originally, we did not have that, but the plans have since been redesigned.
Regarding the basement level, this is not – let's see if I can find the right photos for that.
This is not a dark, unsafe sort of space.
that it will contain two separate dedicated emergency egress routes from this level.
From the rear bedroom, you have what amounts to a full-height door that provides a direct walkout exit into the rear egress wall.
And from the front family room, there's a separate dedicated egress wall for the front window.
Regarding the RCO process, we believe this is an example of the RCO process working as intended.
The evolution of the project's exterior directly addresses variance criteria.
We first presented, or my clients did, presented to Cedar Park.
Originally, they were in opposition, as there was concern about the original three-story facade not being in compliance.
as there was concern about the original three-story facade not being in compliance with the rest of
the block my clients returned with uh updated plans which redesigned the project's exterior
in response to every concern that they had the revised plans uh let's see if i can find the
revised plans form. There it is. Set back the third story by eight feet, added a full-width
front porch across the entire front of the house, aligned the new home's front facade with the
direct neighbors at 5114 Willows, and matched the porch roof floor lines and window lines to
the neighboring homes. As a direct result of presenting all those changes, we have the support
of the RCOs. There is neighbor opposition that does not appear to be related at all to the side
yard variance request, though I'm sure someone on the call will speak about that. We believe it
just has to do with issues outside of our control regarding the ownership of the property.
So in conclusion, we have a clear and necessary hardship based on the width of the property.
It's not self-created, nor will it alter the essential character of the neighborhood.
In fact, it will improve it by filling in a longstanding vacant lot.
With that, I'll call my client unless the board would like to speak to the architect about their plans at all.
We will talk.
Why don't you call your client first?
And if we need your architect, we'll get back.
You got it.
All right.
Mark or Jamal.
Pagano will be coming back in as a panel shortly.
Hey, this is Mark Pagano.
I'm here.
Mark, please state your name and spell for the sonographer.
Mark Pagano, M-A-R-K-P-A-G-A-N-O.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?