that it would be three units um the two units will remain and one unit is going to be one unit
is going to be renovated from commercial to residential.
So we had to get a confirmation from the RCO
that we actually did present on it being three units.
This is the 37th Ward emailing that this email is affirming
that when the property was presented before RCO
that presented the property as having three units, not two,
we voted to support the application
for three units at this site.
If you have any questions, feel free to reach out.
So just adding back, adding to the testimony
that we do have unanimous support from the RCO
for three units.
Thank you.
Anything else you want to add before we move on?
Public testimony.
Do we have anyone out in the virtual audience
that would like to testify
on this case?
Mr. Chair,
I do not see any hands raised for this matter.
Thank you, Mr. Hand
Planning Commission.
Did you want to add anything,
counsel?
Is your client here to adopt it?
Mr. Ohtow?
It should be in the audience.
Let me also just call him.
What's the name?
Eric Knight.
Eric is not there, but I guess we can accept you as an officer of the court.
Accept your testimony as an officer of the court.
Planning commission?
Ron Bednar, City Planning.
comprehensive plan recommends a change to the zoning at this location from commercial mixed
use cmx2 to residential single-family rsa5 historically the property was used as a two
family with a commercial unit at the bottom the proposal to change the commercial use
into residential is more consistent with the proposed uh residential zoning the city planning
commission therefore recommends that the board grant the requested variance for three unit
household living thank you uh mi-2024-001673 920 and a half west somerset street my vote is yes
with proviso per amended refusal
dated September 10,
My vote is
yes with proviso.
Charles Gaston, my vote is yes
with proviso.
My vote is yes with proviso.
Have a good evening.
Number five, MI-2024-006213.
3135 South
Jupiter Street.
Vincent
the female attorney for applicant
they'll be coming back in as the panelists
We'll be coming back in as the panelists shortly, sir.
shortly sir thank you so much
Thank you so much, Mr. Haynes.
Good evening, Counselor.
Hello.
How are you?
All right, and yourself?
I'm wonderful.
Can't complain.
Beautiful.
I'm not wonderful.
Just watching all these great zoning hearings.
My name is Vincent DeFino, so it's V-I-N-C-E-N-T-D-E-F, as in Frank, capital F-I-N-O.
Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Thank you.
Can you please identify your client and your relationship to him?
My clients are Philip and Roma Crenitti.
They reside at 3135 Juniper Street in Philadelphia, PA.
And this is an application for the erection of an open accessory rear deck with steers leading from the ground floor.
Thank you.
And basically, Phillip is here with me.
He'll adopt my testimony at the end, I gather.
Um, but, uh, this was refused because of a setback, uh, required three feet, proposed one, and the stairs leading from the ground floor to the deck is prohibited.
Yes. So we did receive a letter of support from Veteran Stadium's Neighborhood Civic Association, and our board member, Ms. Grant, has a few additional questions.
Good evening. Have you emailed all the required documents and exhibits needed to proceed with this case five days prior to the hearing?
Okay. And do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and do you stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, I do.
Okay. Thank you. You may proceed.
Okay. I'm sharing my screen now. Do you guys see it?
okay here's the refusal as i stated before this is the front of the house this is 31 35 juniper
street uh there you see the uh posted zoning that was required 20 days in advance and it's stamped
2-1-2025 you can see that in the corner there this this is the rear where the deck is going to go
and as you see there's a deck next to it that's white to the right i'll show you here um there's
a deck next to it to the right which is white and there's a brown deck to the left the house in the
middle is where the deck's going to go and the proposed size of the deck is a 16 by 18.75 it's a
300 square foot deck and I do have a plan that is blown up a little bigger I
can get you that right here and here's the site plan and you can see the stairs
going from the bottom up to the deck and the dimensions of the deck the deck is
16 wide it's the length of the house i mean the width of the house and it's 18.75
out to the back and it has a one foot setback rather than a three foot setback
so he met with the uh neighbors next door they're fine with it because they have decks of their own
and uh we met with the neighbors a couple called and said they had no issues with it
um and um the neighbors aren't are okay with everything so uh
they gave us a letter and i think you have that letter there
yes and i have it here and and uh here's the letter from veteran stadium neighbors association
and that's rich demarco's group and they're they're right below uh they're just north of
veteran state well we're the old veteran stadiums at the stadium district there
and we had a virtual meeting he was good with it uh this is the tax clearance request um
this was the notice we sent to the neighbors and there's the bulk mailing and um we just asked that
We were just asked that. Here's the deed to my client, April 26, 2024.
Here's the deed to my client, April 26.
And if you have any questions, we'll be glad to entertain them.
My client's here. Phil Crenetti, you can step up to the camera, Phil.
And I you heard my testimony today.
Can you please state your name for the court sonographer?
Sure. My name is Philip Crenity. It's spelled P-H-I-L-L-I-P. Last name Crenity, C-R-I-N-I-T-I.
And you heard. Yes, I do. Please proceed, Counselor.
OK, so you heard my. Yes, you heard my testimony. I did. And it's true and accurate.
Yes. To the best of your knowledge. Yes, it is.
and you adopt it as your own?
Okay, thank you.
We'll move all of this into evidence.
All right, so
I'd like to just submit this package
and the evidence and rest with that.
Thank you, counsel.
Questions from the board?
Yes, so the other decks
that are adjacent to the property,
do they have the stairwells
to the ground level as well?
No, I don't. They do not.
Any other questions?
Not a question, but a comment. One of the
things that decks are not supposed to have
are permanently affixed to roof or stairs.
Comment.
questions i'm sorry what was it excuse me
hi i'm just just saying that you know decks are not supposed to have the stairs
none of them okay so i mean i know what you're asking for i'm just saying
questions from our
the neighbors everybody was okay with it
i can understand that too okay i don't have any questions mr chair thank you questions from the
virtual audience i do not see any hands mr chair planning commission sir ron bednar city planning
the property is indicated for a single family residential use on the adopted district plan
no change has been recommended to the existing zoning dislocation the applicant's hardship is
not supported with evidence of unique physical circumstances or the condition of the property
that would prevent it from being used in conformance with the code requirements
we therefore recommend that the request of variance not be granted
MI-2024-006-213-3135
South Jupiter Street. My vote is no.
My vote is Michael Johnson. My vote is yes.
Cheryl Gaston. My vote is no.
Tanata Graham. My vote is no.
Oh, my God.
Number 7, MI-2024-006-217, 1907 East Seltzer Street.
Christopher Dean.
I'll be coming back in as a panel.
Thank you.
good evening good evening council how are you i'm good like you know i got a lot of work done
in the last five hours so that's that was good that's always good got a lot of work done also
today uh um are we the last name you will you're you're the only one that's holding us between now
I will be as efficient as possible.
State your name and spell it.
Christopher Dean, C-H-R-I-S-T-O-P-H-E-R
D-E-A-N.
Do you swear to tell the truth and hold the truth and nothing but the truth?
I do. And I agree to waive the reading of the refusal.
All right. And please identify your client.
My client is Edward Nelling.
He's a property owner, and Ben Estefani, the architect, also may be in attendance.
Counselor, Mrs. Grant.
thank you um have you emailed all the required documents and exhibits needed to proceed with
Thank you.
this case five days prior to this hearing yes okay and you already agreed to waive uh the
refusal but do you stipulate to its accuracy though yes you i forgot something all right
you can proceed okay share my screen
uh we have unanimous support from some somerset neighbors for a better living
all right i will um i'm just going to move through the exhibits and then i'll get to the
the nuts and bolts um we're here for 1907 east seltzer street my client owns both 1907 and 1909
Both very narrow, low-density lots.
This is my client's deed.
Here is a refusal.
We're here for three reasons.
Two of them are on density.
Both the density arguments are going to be because these lots are so extremely small.
In fact, this area is surrounded by an industrial mixed use, and historically, these houses, this area is called the village, and these properties were used just to house some of the factory workers going back into the 50s and 60s, which makes these streets pretty particularly narrow compared to most single-family residences in Philadelphia.
And the last one would be my client built this small garage on his lot, and we have
a proposed parking proposal, which is expressly prohibited in the RSA 5 district.
This is the PIF.
This was our application for appeal filed.
These are a copy of the plans.
I will have Ben just go over them very briefly.
and I will scroll back up to them.
On the plans, though, there is a highlighted parking hardship.
You have no, we're at Seltzer, you have no parking everywhere on all of the sides,
on all these small, uniquely small, I should say, lots and properties.