ZBA Hearing - November 10, 2020

And good morning, everyone.

Tanya, we'll give you a few minutes.

Yes, thanks.

You'll let us know when you're ready.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

okay chair we should be good to go thank you very much good morning everyone my name is frank

di chico i'm the chair of the zoning board of adjustment i'll be participating in today's

hearing along with our board secretary mr confessor plaza and board members mr thomas

holloman and mr james snell board administrator ms tanya sunkett and board attorney ms sharon

Soleta are also in attendance. For those of you who haven't yet participated in one of our virtual

hearings, I'll go through some of the basics of what you can expect. First, we will be administering

oaths to individual participants prior to their testimony. Second, for the benefit of anyone

participating by phone, we ask that attorneys and witnesses identify themselves prior to speaking

or testifying. Third, we'd like to advise everyone that this proceeding is being recorded and that by

participating you acknowledge your agreement to be recorded. Fourth, for anyone participating by phone

if you wish to testify you must raise your hand by hitting star nine and then star six to unmute

yourself. I'll repeat. For anyone participating by phone if you wish to testify you must raise your

hand by hitting star nine and then star six to unmute yourself. Finally, to enter an appearance

statement, call Google 267-270-5548 and leave your email address and the address of the property

at issue. I'll repeat. To enter an appearance statement, call Google 267-270-5548 and leave

your email address and the address of the property at issue with that said we can begin but before

we call the first case we'd like to ask if anyone is requesting a continuance or withdrawal of an

appeal listed for this morning's hearing excuse me chairman could we announce those that we know

are continued first before asking for additional thank you in the meantime though if you are

requesting a continuance or withdrawal, and it's not one that I'm about to call off,

please raise your hand. Number five on our list, MI 2020-000656 is withdrawn.

MI 2020-000085-1800 West Ontario Street is continued MI 2020-000148-2301 Bly Avenue

is continued at the request of the attorney who represents the applicant

MI 2020-000657-4154 North 7th Street, request to be continued, MI 2020-000826-6301 North Broad

Street. This case is being resumed. It's a resumption hearing that will take place on December the 2nd.

It's a resumption hearing that will take place on December 2nd at 3.30 p.m. at the request of Councilwoman Parker.

Again, that's 6301 North Broad Street.

The case will be resumed on December 2nd at 3.30 p.m. at the request of Councilwoman Parker.

If there are any other cases that are requesting a continuance or withdrawal, please raise your hand.

And if anyone has any objection to the cases I just read in as to either being withdrawn or continued, please raise your hand also.

Also, before we proceed, Mr. Chairman, if anyone here presenting a case today hasn't met with the RCO or hasn't emailed their exhibit packet five days prior to this hearing, please raise your hand.

Come forward now and explain to the board.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Chair, we're calling forward attorney Joseph Vaccaro.

Mr. Vaccaro you can unmute yourself and wait to be sworn in. Good morning sir please identify

yourself with the record first and spell your last name. Good morning may please the board

Joseph Vaccaro V-A-C-C-A-R-O attorney ID 83366 address 5918 Torresdale Avenue Philadelphia

Philadelphia PA 19135, attorney for the applicant.

Do you swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?

Yes, I do.

Okay, please proceed, sir.

Yes, we had placed a request for a continuance on this matter.

It's number 13 on your list.

And the reason for the request for the continuance is that we had not received the orange posters in time to put up on the property.

well that case is continued oh okay excuse me could we please could we um miss sunkett could

you explain to the applicant are we sending out orange posters um no for clarification

an email was sent out to the applicant of record with the posters and instructions

it might be that they didn't see it but I gave verification that Jason sent the poster out

timely it's going to come in your email okay okay thank you very much thank you anyone else

requesting a continuance or withdrawal or does anyone have any objection to the cases that have

already been called to be continued sure we have Augusta O'Neill you can unmute yourself and speak

to a continuance good morning good morning ma'am please identify yourself for the record first and

last name spell your name for the stenographer sure my first name is augusta a-u-g-u-s-t-a

my last name is o'neill o apostrophe n-b-i-l-l my address is 1835 market street suite 1400

philadelphia pa um i am the you swear and affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing

about the truth. I do. Thank you. Please proceed. Thank you. I just wanted to let the board know

I'm the attorney for the applicant for Appeal MI-2020-000148. The address is 2301 Blay Avenue,

B-L-E-I-G-H. And I just wanted to get on the record and let the board know that we have tried

quite a few times to get through to the RCO for this property, which would be the Ronhurst

Civic Association. And so the reason that we had requested today's continuance is just to give us

some more time to meet with the RCO. But if we are unsuccessful in meeting with them before the

next time that we get a hearing date, we do intend to move forward. But like I said, we will be

making more efforts to meet with the RCO but that was the reason for my continuance request today

oh okay can anyone hear me yes chair yeah okay I've I lost the video that's why I'm asking all

right uh thank you thanks very much

Chair, we'll bring it forward. Attorney Allen Nockamson.

Good morning, Allen. Please identify yourself for the record.

Good morning, Mr. Chair, members of the board.

Allen Nockamson of Nockamson, PC, 123 South Broad Street, Suite 1600, Philadelphia, PA, 19109.

and do you swear and affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth

i do please proceed i am entering my appearance for 1327 north fourth street mi-2020-000117

and i'm asking for a continuance it's number four on our sheet uh on

and i'm asking for a continuance it's number four on our sheet uh on our list mi 2020-000117

1327 north fourth street is continued thank you

anyone else yes we still have a few um slone folks from the council person's office you're

unmute yourself speak to a container good morning chairman to chico and the zba board good morning

mr folks please identify yourself and then i'll swear you in my name is sloan folks s-l-o-a-n-e

folks f-s and fire o-l-k-s office of maria can you understand

hello hello sorry mr folks can you unmute yourself

Okay, I'll try that one more time.

I thought, okay, now I see.

We got your name.

All right.

Sloan, folks, again, Office of Councilwoman Sanchez,

room 508, City Hall, 19107.

We're in a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth,

nothing but the truth.

Yes, sir, I do.

I don't have a page number,

but I'm going to give you the meeting number,

which is MI-2020-000740-2949 North Hancock Street.

We do not have a record of this applicant meeting with a coordinating RCO

or submitting a letter to a coordinating RCO.

If they have done so, we are willing to let the hearing go on,

but we don't have a record, and in that case, we're requesting a continuance.

okay that's uh number 11 on our list do we have any information on that could we call to see if

anyone from the applicant is here but we also have no exhibits on this one anyone here for 29 49 north

Hancock. I don't see a hand up for the applicant or owner. If I could, Chair, request that this be

labeled as must be heard as this appeal came in December of 2019. Okay, very good. Thank you.

And this is the second time we've continued this one, if I'm not mistaken.

Okay, MI 2020-000740-2949 North Hancock Street is continued to a date whenever we have a date yet?

No.

If not, must be heard. At the time of the continuance, must be heard.

Okay, Chair, I'm bringing forth Hillary Emerson from the Councilperson's Office.

good morning miss emerson please identify yourself with a record and i'll swear you in

good morning mr chair members of the board hillary emerson on behalf of councilwoman sherelle parker

we're confirmed to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth

i do um i'm yes i'm here um regarding 6301 um north broad street um our office requested a

continuance in that matter, because we heard that there were some neighbors who were withdrawing

their opposition from the project. So we're planning to have a meeting in the next couple

of days with the near neighbors to find out if that sentiment is widely shared or it's just a

couple of neighbors that have changed their minds so that we can give an informed position to the

board. We had hoped to have the resumption hearing next week, but I heard December 2nd. Am I correct?

does that mean there's nothing available next week i believe so and then the following week is uh

thanksgiving right right it's december 2nd at 3 30 correct that's correct okay all right that's

everything thank you thank you anyone else we have a frida williams frida you can unmute yourself and

speak to a continuance. Good morning. Please identify yourselves by your first and last name

and then I'll swear you in. Good morning to you. My name is Freda F-R-E-I-D-A Williams and I am the

chair of the housing and zoning committee for OCA which is the RCO for the matter 6301 North Broad

street. We're in a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth. I do.

Have you heard that this case is being continued to December the 2nd?

I did hear it and I wanted to state for the record that as far as the RCO is concerned,

that as far as the RCO is concerned, we have had and we have sent to the zoning board three

we have had and we have

I don't know.

separate letters based on three separate meetings that we have had with the community.

And we are actually auto zone weary. The most recent meeting that we had was at the direction

of the zoning board. We met person to person, face to face at the site. We went through every

element of the um community benefit that had been offered and so we are i'm sorry yeah because

the attorney of record is not here right and then and so in other words they that was communicated

to them but it was not communicated to the rco that there was going to be a request for continuance

which we request was actually at the request requested by the councilwoman i understand that

I understand that. I'm simply saying that it was unfair. Since the attorney is not here,

it clearly was conveyed by the council office or whomever that there was going to be a request,

but the RCO was not given that courtesy. Sorry, this is Hillary from the councilman's office. I

emailed the RCO last night after I received confirmation from the applicant's attorney

that they would agree to a continuance, that there was going to be a continuance, and received

a response from the RCO this morning so I believe that they were aware that a continuance was being

requested. I checked my email I didn't have it. All right Ms. Williams I understand your frustration

uh you know we don't particularly like to continue to have hearings over and over again as well

uh but you know with all due respect in this day and age with the issues we're having with

Zoom meetings and all the electronic stuff uh you know we apologize if you didn't get that

uh uh that if that notification last evening but as it stands now the the cases continue to

december the 2nd at 3 30. any of the other issues i suggest you have a conversation with

uh miss emerson or the councilwoman's office all done chair ready to go forward

is that any or any more tanya no we're ready to go forward here thank you uh before we

begin hold on please um we have one add-on case uh mi 2020 dash 000325 944 belmont avenue my vote

is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes you and we'll go with the first case confessor

MI 2020-000666-1216

West Lycoming Street.

This is Sharon Sleda.

I have no record of having received appeals for this case.

I'm sorry, I haven't received exhibits.

Thank you.

Anyone here for 1216 West Lycoming?

No hands are up at this time

and my request again would be as

must be heard. The application was made November 2019. Thank you. MI 2020-000666-1216 West Lycoming

street is continued and must be heard uh mi 2020 that's zero zero zero three one seven

one three west wilde street

here i have promoted attorney clementa amazon

good morning good afternoon chairman and members of the board it's still morning good morning

okay please i'm a little ahead of myself uh spell your first and last name for the record and then

i'll swear you in of course clementa amazon c l e m e n t a last name is amazon a m a z a n

Thank you.

So we're in a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?

I do.

Thank you.

Mr. Plaza?

Do you agree to waive the reading of his refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?

Actually, the refusal states that we are seeking a duplex, but that is not the case.

It is still going to be a single family.

Okay.

Also, have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents, proof of ownership,

proof of tax compliance, copy of the refusal or referral

quotas and plans five days prior to this year?

Yes, I have.

Have you met with the RCO and have a letter?

have you met with the rco and have a letter yes and they are in support of the project

Yes, and they are in support of the project.

thank you please proceed um thank you before we proceed connect this is sharon saleta we did

Thank you.

receive a letter of support from fna and a letter of non-opposition from councilman squilla thank

you you're welcome thank you please proceed all right i'll just share my screen

can everybody see that yes perfect so here i have a packet of exhibits

first is the deed as you can see here

tax clearance

and as i mentioned prior we are seeking to do a single family home still we are doing a two-story

rear addition but it is not going to be a duplex

and this is our property right here still rsa5 maintaining that single

family a map of the area and this is a

photograph of our property right here in the middle

the view of the property to the right to the left

and here are our plans so this is the addition that we will be adding to the

rear. And it's just going to provide for a study. Everybody's working from home at this

point, so we're trying to facilitate that, make it a little bit easier. And as I mentioned

prior, we do have a letter of support from Fishtown Neighbors Association, as well as

the neighbors to the left of us. As you can see here, 15 West Widely and 17 West Wildey.

Our refusal and proof that we mailed out.

the refusal was regarding the rear yard yes okay you can summarize if you don't mind

oh of course so our refusal was for the rear yard for seven feet and we are proposing five feet for

that um so we're just going to have that two-story rear addition and we would like to also enter

proviso that it remain a single family home um and just as a heads up we would be demolishing

that back wall so we want to ensure that we would still be able to get the building permits for

that. And we're hoping that we can defer to the CBA on that matter as well.

Do you have your client with you?

I believe I do. Joe, if you could raise your hand.

Or virtually raise your hand.

If you're going to be able to get them on, we'll accept your testimony.

Hi, I'm here.

Hi, good morning.

Please identify yourself, spell your last name for the record, first and last name, please.

Hi, this is Joseph Zarnik, first name Joseph, J-O-S-E-P-H, last name Zarnik, Z as in cat, Z as in zebra, A-R-N-I-K.

And do you swear to the firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?

I do.

Thank you.

Please proceed, ma'am.

Thank you.

And Joe, did you hear everything that I stated today?

I did, yes.

And was it all accurate and correct?

Yes.

If given the opportunity, would you adopt it as your own testimony?

Yes.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Any questions from the board?

No.

No.

No.

Excuse me.

Excuse me.

This is Sharon Saleta.

Can I just say that though the reference to it being a two-family dwelling and the refusal

appears to be a misunderstanding on Ellen I's part, just to clarify, if you should vote

to approve this, if you could add a proviso of saying single-family dwelling.

Yes.

will do okay thank you uh anyone out there who would like to testify in this case if so please

raise your hand no hands thank you planning commission

good morning david effecto f-e-c-t-e-a-u with the city planning commission

we're in a firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth

yes sir i do please proceed thank you mr chairman and members of the board this property is indicated

for single family residential use in the city's comprehensive plan we have no objection to

granting this variance thank you mi 2020 that's 00031713 west willie street my vote is yes with

proviso remain single family yes for proviso yes with proviso yes with proviso thank you

thank you have a great day you too miss amazon thank you next one up is mi 2020-001316 1305

north 19th street

okay chair i brought forward it appears to be the applicant or owner um excuse me this

is sharon saleta the owner for this property is um julian dominguez yes i'm here thank you

good morning sir please identify yourself with the record spell your first and last name and

i'll swear you in good morning mr chairman my name is julian dominguez

sh-u-l-i-a-n-d-o-m-i-n-g-u-e-z we're in the firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the

truth yes i do and your address sir uh is 1305 north 19th street mr dominguez have you emailed

an exhibit packet with the required documents proof of ownership proof of tax compliance

copy of the refusal photos and plans five days prior to this hearing yes i have also have you

met with the rco and have a letter yes i have please proceed um okay so i'm applying for

an appeal for my property in 1305 North 19th Street. This is currently a single family

property. I'm trying to get a variance for a two family, for a duplex.

Can I share my, sorry this is my first time, can I share my screen so you can see me?

Yeah, please do.

Share screen.

Can you see my screen?

yes okay um so this is my appeal apply application

this is a refusal and i mentioned here that this is a single family and but all the almost all the

the families on the block are multi-family or across the street is just a amount

part M1, so it's also multifamily, and this is my properties in D, and so here I'm showing

that all the properties on the block, almost all the properties are multifamily. This is

the layout of the property. Here you can see it's three floors plus a basement. I'm converting

the first floor and the basement in one unit and the second and third floor in another

unit. The first floor is going to be two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and the second and third floor

is going to be four bedrooms and three bathrooms. These are the views, so you have an idea of

the three floors and the basement.

So you know this used to be... It looks like it used to be multifamily in the past too.

it was converted back to single family um used to have two decks on the back uh the when they

saw me the the property they didn't fix this so that's my intention to fix this too during my

my renovations um

okay i i think you have all this augmentation uh do you have any questions sorry i don't know

if you need it. Okay, hold on please. Yeah. Any questions from the board? No, no, no. Anyone

else would like to testify in this case? If so, please raise your hand.

Chair, I have unmuted Mary Jones from the council president's office. Good morning,

ms jones please identify yourself for the record then i'll swear you in good morning members of

the board my name is mary jones i'm here on behalf of council president daryl clark

We're in a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.

we're affirmed to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do

I do.

Thank you.

Please proceed.

Yes.

The RCO meeting did take place for this project.

I've been in contact with them.

However, they told me there was opposition.

However, I have not received a letter just enumerating all their information.

their position, but they have communicated that to me.

Aaron, do we have anything on file?

It will take me a minute to look. Sure, take your time.

Thank you. Did Mr. Dominguez have the letter?

Which letter, sorry? Did you have a letter from the RCO you said?

i didn't receive anything from them okay mr domingo as you said the other properties on

the block adjacent to you are multi-families yes they are yes two units three units what

what's made mostly consist of uh mostly there are three or four units all in the block

you want to hold this aside until later on

sharon um if he has not received a letter then neither have we

because it would have been submitted by him if neither he nor the council person had

all right any questions from the board no no no anyone else would like to testify in this case

please raise your hand no hands chair thank you planning commission good morning david

effecto city planning commission mr chairman and members of the board this property is indicated

for single-family residential use in the city's comprehensive plan. We do not believe that two

units within a house that is over 2,400 square feet is an unreasonable request. We do not believe

an additional unit will have an adverse impact on the block. Accordingly, we have no objection

to granting this variance. Thank you. MI 2020, that's 001316 1305 North 19th Street. My vote is yes.

my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes thank you uh number four and number four is

continued number five is withdrawn number six is continued we go to number seven

mi 2020-001127 1614 latina street this is sharon saletta i have no record of having received

exhibits going here for 1614 latona street chair i have a muted michael moss i'm here can you hear

me yes sir please my name is michael moss um i didn't we didn't know that we had this hearing

until just by excuse me sir you are are the the owner i'm not i'm representing i have the owner

with me i can swear in the firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth

i do so i didn't know i didn't know that we had this meeting until just the other day but i

happened to just be on phil.gov but the last time that we were in front of the board you guys

approved this but i had a supply documentation and i brought it back that day and had it time

stamped and delivered on february 5th so i'm not sure what this meeting is even for right now

are you the attorney i'm not oh i'm sorry i thought you were the attorney i'm i apologize

the owner there yes uh please identify yourself with the record spell your name please

is william moss w-i-l-l-i-a-m-m-o-s-s we're confirmed to tell the truth the whole truth

nothing but the truth yes sir all right would you please uh just give us a brief description

you're you're you were not aware of this hearing we didn't know about this here we we had the

hearing in front of you on february 5th of 2020 you everything was approved we just had to supply

you with a couple documents which we brought back up the same day having time stamped and all

but then right after the city closed down because of covid that you should

But then right after the city closed down because of COVID, that you should, the papers all should be in the file that you requested.

the

So Chair, it sounds like this might be a delay list case that came over to us.

Okay. All right. Well, we could vote it then, correct?

I would prefer if we do the research to see what we have on it prior to the vote.

it was only i think it was something like just the deed or something like that but whatever we

brought them back up within like an hour or two we brought all the documents back up we and they're

all time stamped okay so tanya how do you want to proceed um i would suggest chair if we can hold

this to next week maybe wednesday morning and do a vote as long as we verify what was requested

it by the board and that it was um received so we don't we wouldn't be closing the record would

we you would be closing the record since those documents have been submitted okay all right

mi 2020 that's zero zero one one two seven one six one four latona street the record is closed

the board will render a decision at next week's uh hearing i i have a question when we were at

the last meeting though you guys approved it i i understand but there was documentation okay

so what what do we need to do do we need to log in for another zoom meeting next week you can

listen in if you want we're not going to have a hearing we're just going to okay go over the

documentation to make sure it's everything that we needed is and if there's anything that needed

to be updated since then till now that will someone contact us via mail or something because

like i said we haven't received anything it was just a sheer glitch we were checking licenses

and came across this hearing.

Okay, understood.

You'll be notified if there's anything

that the board, that the ZBA needs.

Thank you so much for your time, everyone.

Next one up is MI2020-000201-1822 Benson Avenue.

Chair, I have Andrew Feltzen.

Andrew, are you the attorney or applicant or owner for this?

I'm the associate attorney at Glen Ross PC, which is the attorney of record.

Okay, could you hold while I promote you to panelists?

Thank you. Hello.

Okay, Andrew, you're going to mute yourself and wait to be sworn in.

Good morning, sir. Please identify yourself with a record, spell your name, and I'll spell your name.

Andrew. Andrew Feltson, A-N-D-R-E-W-F-E-L-T-Z-I-N.

We're in the firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?

I do.

You'll give away the reading of its refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?

Yes.

Also, have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents, proof of ownership,

proof of tax compliance, copy of the refusal, photos and plans five days prior to this hearing?

I emailed them on Thursday, so yes.

Okay, also, have you met with the RCO and have a letter?

The RCO declined to meet with us, saying that they unanimously supported our position

and stated so in an email which was included in our packet.

Okay, so you said you emailed them this Thursday they just passed?

I emailed the packet this Thursday. The email from the RCO came in in, I believe, April, if I could check the date.

This is Sharon. I did review that email. The RCO said that their board had unanimously approved it.

They saw no need for a meeting and that the applicant could go ahead with the hearing.

Yes, and they sent that email. Yes, April 28th.

Okay, then please proceed.

Yes, sir. I apologize. This is also my first time at one of these meetings, so let me share screen.

No problem. We'll get through it.

Okay, thank you. I appreciate it.

um let's open this start with the deed for the property can you see the deed

no we don't know not yet did you click the share screen button first before opening up the document

i did click share screen hold on um and then click there we go okay you're screen sharing

I apologize. This is new for me.

No worries. No worries.

Okay. I have here the deed

for Bentoncourt Holdings, which is the record owner.

for Benton Court Holdings,

which is the record owner.

I have here the project information form, which describes the project.

I have all these were submitted in the packet. I have here the email from the Ronhurst Civic Association, which was our point of discussion.

I have here the submitted site plan and zoning board list.

I have a blown up of that, which I'll show you in a second.

I have the refusal form, which was posted.

I have pictures of the posting of the property.

Here is the property, by the way, was posted October 20th, so 21 days ago.

I posted it personally so I can attest to that and testify to that.

And I have here the plans.

Basically all we're trying to do, all we're trying to do is take a doctor's office in

what is currently a 55 unit building and basically demolish it to build two new units, which

are planned for here.

there'll be no net change in space to the building. We're only looking to do an interior

modification only. As the RCO notes, we're currently zoned for 56 parking spaces and need

to be zoned for 57. They've noted in their email that there's plenty of parking space

available. You can see the parking lot here. Would you like me to move on or do you need this in

more detail? If you would summarize, that would be helpful. Basically, in summary, we're just

looking to demolish what's currently a doctor's unit on an apartment complex and rezone it as

two residential units located here and get approval for one more parking space in a place

that has ample parking. Excuse me, sir. Mr. Chairman? Yes. The doctor's office, is it going

to be one unit or two units? The doctor's office currently takes up the space that would become

two units. Well, you're only adding one on your appeal. Well, it's a little bit confusing because

the doctor's office is counted as a unit right now. So we're subtracting one and adding two.

So, it's a net change of one.

But you have 56 and you add one for 57.

We're technically subtracting one and adding two.

So, yes, you could look at it like that.

What we're doing is we're taking a big unit, the doctor's office,

subtracting that and then adding two regular residential units.

So, it's 56 minus one plus two.

It would therefore be 58 units.

It would be 57.

the take the one unit gets split into two uh but you're removing that one

yeah it gets you to 57 yes correct okay um here is the certificate of tax

questions tom no um do you have your do you have your client with you yes i do

his name is alan to adopt your testimony we'll swear him in please

Haim, if you could raise your hand on Zoom.

What's the name?

Haim Muskel.

Okay.

He can unmute himself.

Hello?

Hi, good morning, sir.

Sir, please identify yourself with the record, spell your first and last name, and I'll square you in.