What's your client's name?
Oh, sorry.
I couldn't hear you.
Mr. Eric Reisner should be on.
Yes, I'm here.
Mr. Reisner, could you state your name spelled, please, for the court reporter?
Eric Reisner, E-R-I-K-R-E-I-S-N-E-R.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, counsel.
Thank you. Mr. Reisner, you're here on behalf of the owner, Mount Fair Associates, today, correct?
And have you heard all of the testimony that I've already presented today?
And do you believe it true and correct to the best of your knowledge, information, and belief?
and would you would would you adopt that as your own testimony yes thank you very much
questions from the board no mr chair yes mr chairman uh council council will the additional
two units uh
I'm sorry, Mr. Hallman, I heard two units something.
Will the two units be deed restricted?
Yes, we are happy to work with the city and have them be deed restricted.
So it is our intention that the additional two units would fall under the same code requirements as the moderate income housing bonus requirements would.
and we would enter into a deed restriction, which I believe is at 25 years. It may be 30 years now.
And we would enter into that and the two affordable housing units would be part of a
proviso so that we would be required to do it per the zoning code approval and also with that deed
restriction. Yes. Thank you. Welcome. Time for the question. Questions or comments from the
virtual audience. Mr. Chair, this is Hillary. I have a question and a comment. One, I just wanted
to clarify for the record that we cannot provide so affordable units. That's not something the
zoning board can do. And second, I just wanted to ask Mr. Waylink, I was very confused how the
refusal was written. So there's now a proposed total of 18 units between the existing building
the one that's being constructed plus the addition. Is that correct?
Yes. So what happens is the original building was built and approved and utilized the moderate
income housing bonus and height bonus at that location. We are not seeking to do that at all
here. But since we are combining all four of the properties together in order to make this
addition, then the reviewer, the examiner properly had to calculate how many units would be allowed
as of today for the total site. Even though the 10 units is already approved, already built,
as you can see, it's just about to be finished and rented. So what happens is we are looking for,
we can build six units by right on the 725 to 27. And instead, we are seeking to build eight
there with the two being affordable. Thank you. Thank you.
Hillary, on that same note, Hillary, if we can't do affordable, can we just say
two additional units? Well, we don't need to say additional units. That's in the refusal.
Okay. So the refusal is written kind of confusing. The addition is for eight additional units for a total of 18 units between all of the lots combined.
I'm fine. Okay. Thank you.
Thanks.
Board chair, if it would make you more comfortable, I was not aware we couldn't make it a formal proviso. I will represent as an officer of the court and in front of this board that we will proceed with the deed restriction, as I've already stated to Mr. Holloman's questions.
all right thank you very much um questions or comments from the virtual audience
All right, thank you very much.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
you know for the uh plans i'm sorry planning commission good afternoon chair bergman david
facto with the city planning commission mr chairman and members of the board the comprehensive
plan recommends no change to the residential multi-family zoning at this location there is
no unique physical condition or circumstance of this property that would prevent it from being
used in conformance with the zoning code the city planning commission recommends the board deny the
variance from the lot area requirements of the code we also note that the mixed income housing
bonus is no longer available in the fifth council district the mixed income neighborhoods overlay is
also not available in the count fifth council district and affordable units in a community
agreement cannot be enforced by any city agency. Okay, so thank you. MI 2023, 000-403-725
North 16th Street. I vote yes, proviso. Revised plans, one page, stamped by CBA, May 24th, 2023.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Ishmael Shaheen, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Thank you, Mr. Whalen.
Thank you very much.
May I be excused?
You can.
Have a great day.
We're going to go to number, thank you very much.
We're going to go to number five, MI 2022-007-371-406 West Somerville Avenue.
Medridalia Cordero Corporano is the owner pro se.
This application is for a two-family household living in an existing structure. The proposed
two-family household living is prohibited in the RS3 zoning district, whereas two parking
spaces are required in the RSA3 zoning district and none are proposed. Letter of support from the
42nd ward executive committee and letter of support from council member Phillips.
Do we see a hand?
Do not see anyone answering to that name in the virtual audience.
Maria Dalia Cordero Corporan.
no one no sir okay all right mr chair this is this is hillary um in in this case i the contractor
had submitted the materials um and i wasn't aware that it was that that the applicant had been the
contractor until today he was advised that he would need the owner present to proceed so it
maybe that the owner was not available. Okay, good. All right. Thank you. So MI 2022-007-371-406
West Somerville Avenue. This case is continued, must be heard.
We're going to go to number one, MI2023-000-466-2523, Survivor Street, Alan Nockamson is the attorney,
letter of opposition from Old Richmond Civic, and letter of opposition from Council Member Squill.
All right, sure. Thank you.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and members of the board.
Just for the record, can you spell your name?
Alan, A-L-A-N, last name Nochumson, N-O-C-H-U-M-S-O-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client and their relationship to this property?
Yeah, my client is the owner of the property, Fishtown Properties, LLC, and in a virtual audience is Emily Barker, its member.
Our vice chair has just a few questions.
Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate towards accuracy?
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that are needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, we have.
Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.
Thank you.
So we're here to present 2523 Sebiva Street.
In our presentation materials, you'll first see the notice of refusal.
In our presentation materials, you'll first see the notice of repeasal.
then the
Then the correspondence from the old Richmond Civic Association.
To be honest, we were a little surprised that we got a letter of opposition.
I personally attended this community meeting where 11 people in the audience voted in favor of this matter and five people voted in opposition.
And then there was one person within the affected area, my client's sister, Audrey Barker, who may be in the virtual audience, and she lives next, you know, she lives in the next block over.
So when we received the letter yesterday after weeks of asking for it, we were surprised that the letter indicated that no one from the affected area voted and there was no vote taken because it was a vote of 11 in support and five not in support with one of those 11 voted in support that was within the affected area.
What we're seeking to do is basically legalize Airbnb short-term accommodation use.
We're not increasing the density in this property.
This is an RSA 5 property.
We're asking for single-family use.
My client purchased this property because she has family in the area and she visits Philadelphia quite often.
So they're looking, instead of having to rent a hotel for them and their family, like my client would stay there, and she expects to use the facilities for approximately two months out of the year, and in order to offset the cost of a mortgage, insurance, or real estate taxes, she's just asking to be able to use it for short-term accommodations 10 months out of the year.
She understands the position of this board that she won't be able to get a permanent variance because this use runs with the land, but she's asking for a temporary variance of three to five years under the circumstances.
If she's unable to get this variance, she's unfortunately going to have to sell this property.
But as I stated, her sister lives around the corner.
They have large family gatherings.
There's a lack of visitor accommodation use in the area.
There are some, not a lot, and we'll go over that, which is our next exhibit.
Then we'll review maps of the area and photographs of the property.
We're in the Old Richmond section of Philadelphia.
Then our plans and drawings, you know, just a basic floor plan, two bedrooms, one bath, nothing extravagant, but nice.
Our plans, in addition to our plans and drawings, our RCO meeting notice.
Again, we had 16 people vote at that meeting, one of which was within the infected area.
our application for appeal or a deed to the property, showing that my client's LLC,
Fishtown Properties LLC owns the property, and a certificate of tax clearance showing that she's
in good standing. At the conclusion of my presentation, I'll ask Ms. Barker to virtually
raise her hand, be sworn in, and she'll adopt my testimony as her own. Again, this is an RSA-5
property. All we're trying to do is visit accommodation use. So we're not changing
really the use of this property, you know, conceptually.
It's single-family use, and that's how we're looking to use it.
Instead of a long-term basis of 30 days or more renting at a time,
it's on a short-term basis.
And it has more so than, it's not really an investment property.
A client and her family visit, you know, Philadelphia often.
Her sister lives around the corner.
They just need a place to stay.
And there is a dearth of visitor accommodations within the Old Richmond area.
Again, in order to offset the cost of real estate taxes, mortgages, and insurance, she just needs this use, and she hopes that the board would agree to provide her a temporary variance.
and then the correspondence from the um old uh richmond civic association um again i i dispute
the fact that no people attended a meeting and you know were voted or that there wasn't someone
within the affected area her sister lives around the corner um whether or not they count did not
count her vote because um you know she's related to the applicant i don't know but there were 10
other people who who supported this project uh so i'm a little surprised that we got a letter of
opposition and then nearby airbnbs there are some so it's not out of character to have um visitor
accommodation use close by and i'll say this that when i attended the meeting one of the people in
the audience because this is a in-person meeting one of the people in the audience actually stated
his support because he stated the same thing, that there's not a lot of hotel use of a traditional
sense nearby, and that he always has difficulty when family and friends are visiting to find
to find accommodations for them in the old Richmond section of Philadelphia. Instead,
accommodations for them in the old Richmond section of Philadelphia.
they have to then get a hotel in center city, which makes it difficult for them. So again,
there is use similar to what we're asking for, but I think there's even more needs for this type
of use in this section of Philadelphia. And then maps of the area again, you know,
We're on Sephiva Street, just off of Firth, and there is Sargent.
We're between Sargent and Firth, and also Tula.
And then just a Google map, cross-section of the city.
As you can see, there's ample public transportation.
From our experience, representing many applicants for Airbnbs,
what we see is there's actually the biggest issue with any use of a property is parking.
and here we're not increasing in density so single family on single family but what we found is even
better from our experience is that the people who are renting these airbnbs are usually again
from out of town where they don't want to deal with the hassle of a car so when they're flying
in they typically take uber or lyft so this type of use is going to actually have a benefit to the
community where it's going to open up some parking where parking may be used if it's for
long-term accommodations, like a traditional lease or if someone else owned this property
to live in. Photographs of the property, two-story structure. We're not changing the structure in any
way. Proof of posting for today's hearing. And then here's Sephiva to the right of the property,
Sephiva to the left of the property. Our plans and drawings, and we just had an architect draw it out,
but there's no changes in the exterior or interior facilities of this building structure.
So basic floor plan, you have a living room, a dining room, a kitchen. You go up a flight of
steps, you have bedroom number one, bedroom number two, and a bathroom. Again, it's not a heavy use
of the property. Just the difference is whether you rent it for less than 30 days or more than
30 days. And then our meeting was April 25th, 2023. It was a well-attended meeting. 16 people
voted, although it's not accounted for in the letter. 184 addresses were notified of this
meeting. Here are the list of the addresses. Proof of mailing to those addresses. Our
application for appeal, our deed to the property, showing that Fishtown property's LLC is the owner.
And then showing our tax clearance, showing that my client owes no money to the city of Philadelphia
as it pertains to real estate taxes. With that being said, I would ask that Ms. Barker virtually
raise her hand and be sworn in.
Mr. Nockmson, how long has your client had the property?
She owned it in October of 2022.
She hasn't used it yet for visitor accommodations.
All right.
Thank you.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
Emily Barker, B as in boy, A-R-K-E-R.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, counsel.
Yes, Emily, you heard everything I had to state today about your zoning matter.
I did.
And is the term correct?
It is.
And do you adopt it as your own testimony?