All right, thank you.
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
No, Chair.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
No hands, Mr. Chair.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman. David Vecto with the City Planning Commission. Mr. Chairman and board members, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential single-family zoning at this location. For use variances, the appellant is required to demonstrate that the property cannot be used in strict conformity with the provisions of the code and that a variance is needed to enable viable economic use of the property.
There is no unique physical condition or circumstance of this property that would prevent it from being used in conformance with the zoning code, and so the City Planning Commission recommends that the Board deny this use variance for visitor accommodation.
Thank you. MI 2023, 004-666-2523 Survivor Street. I vote yes, would proviso. Temporary variance expires 525-26.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Ishmael Shahid, my vote is yes, with provisor.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you.
Thank you.
We're going to hear number three and number nine together.
Ishmael Shahid has recused himself.
Emily Presicchio will be our alternate board member.
So MI 2023, 001-258-1350, 1300 to 50 North 10th Street.
And also number nine is MI 2022, 006-924-1300 to 50 North 10th Street.
Eileen Quigley is the attorney.
There was an RCO meeting.
We do not have a letter as of yet.
I apologize, Chair Barber.
No, that's fine.
You've already been sworn.
Just for the record, state your name.
Yes, my name is Eileen Quigley,
Ballard Spar LLP 1735 Market Street Philadelphia PA 19103. And for the record could you identify
your client and the relationship to the property? In this case it is Philadelphia Housing Authority
and Philadelphia Housing Authority owns the property at 1300 to 15 North 10th Street.
Okay do you stipulate to the reading of to the not reading of the
the refusal? I do. And all your paperwork is within within five days? Correct. Share your
screen and proceed. Thank you. So good afternoon, Chair Bergman, members of the board. As I said,
I lean quickly. I'm here on behalf of Philadelphia Housing Authority with regard to the request for
these variances for these accessory signs. With me are Sammy Toshi, who is here for Perryman
Shoemaker, the developer, and project manager, Kyle Kernizek, and Amalia Gonzalez from the design
team from BLTA, and from PHA, Ken Granderson, and Leonard Ciccatella. We submitted our exhibits,
which include the deed certificate of tax clearance. Before I go any further, the notice
letters and other documents, but before I go any further, I would just like to put on the record
that notice letters were sent to the neighbors on 2-8-20-23 and 3-2-20-23, along with certificates
of mailing, and also sent to the RCOs with regard to an in-person RCO meeting that was
scheduled by the coordinating RCO, which is Yorktown Community Development Corporation.
uh the meeting was march 7th at 6 p.m we attended that meeting along with ken granderson from pha
william carter from perryman shoemaker as well as kyle kernizak from blta
we also posted the property and photos of the posting are at exhibit three
we have a notarized affidavit of posting if the board would like us to submit that after this
hearing. We have not received an RCO letter from the Coordinate ARCO memorializing the meeting that
took place in person on March 7th. We did reach out a number of times. On May 22nd, we also reached
out to Zoning Board Council, the council members representative, as well as Zoning Administration,
and asked them to confirm if they received an RCO letter.
And as of May 22nd, Zoning Board Council informed us
that they had not received an RCO letter.
So despite our outreach.
So with that, I would just like to move into the presentation
if that is satisfactory.
It is.
Thank you.
so we're here today with regard to two accessory signs uh by way of some background the philadelphia
housing authority had major renovations done to the harrison senior tower a few years ago
and those renovations included exterior and interior improvements and upgrades and they
modernized this building so along with that they had to remove the existing canopy
and replace that signage, and they remove the existing pylon sign.
pylon sign. And here we have renderings of what those new signs look like.
And here we have renderings of what those new signs look like.
So these signs were refused because there is no signage, no residential use signage permitted in
the RM2 zoning district. While multifamily housing is permitted, signs for that multifamily housing
residential use are not permitted. So these signs were refused for that as well as for
sign area and height setback and total sign area. So the proposed sign is a new monument sign and
it's about 14 feet, two inches high. It's about three feet wide with a total sign area of about
49.75 square feet. This is a non-illuminated, non-internally illuminated sign, but there is a
small light fixture here that is focused directly on this sign and does not spill over either onto
the property, into the residences, or into the surrounding area. The canopy sign here, it's
about 66 and a half inches long and about 15 inches high. The original sign was six inches high,
So each of these separate signs is six inches high, but a total height of 15 inches.
And this is at the new canopy.
Give me one second.
I can show you what the existing signs look like.
So as you can see here, this is where the new pylon sign is.
This is where the canopy sign is.
This is the existing pylon sign here, and this was the existing entrance with the existing canopy sign or wall sign right there.
So as you can see, that was about six inches high.
So what the applicant is seeking are variances to allow this new signage.
We believe that if the variances are not granted, it would present a hardship to Philadelphia
Housing Authority as well as the residences.
Any visitors or transport that may take residences to and from the property, this variance will
not harm or cause any detriment to the public health, safety, or general welfare.
It will actually maintain the status quo because the signage is generally in the same
location as the existing signage. And also providing this signage is really a safety measure
for vehicular and pedestrian traffic. So with that, I would like to ask if Kyle Kurnozak can
be elevated so he can attest to the accuracy of my narrative and adopt my narrative as his own
testimony. Okay, sure. Sir, could you state your name, please, and spell it for the court
stenographer? Can you hear me? Yes, state your name, please, and spell it. My name is Kyle
Kurnacek, K-Y-L-E-K-E-R-N-O-Z-E-K. Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole
truth, and nothing but the truth? I do. Proceed, counsel. Thank you.
Mr. Knozak, you heard my narrative regarding the existing signage and our request for variances for the proposed signage.
And would you state for the board that that narrative was accurate?
And if you were permitted to testify, would that be what your testimony would be?
So would you adopt my narrative as your testimony?
I would.
Thank you, Mr. Knozak.
Counsel, questions from the board.
no mr chairman no mr chairman thank you um questions or comments from the virtual audience
asking no hands with the chair cleaning commission
good afternoon and thank you mr chairman david fecto with the city planning commission
mr chairman and board members the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential
multifamily zoning at this location. The appellant has not shown that an economic detriment would
accrue to the property if code-compliant signs are installed, so the City Planning Commission
recommends that the board grant the use variants to allow the appellant to continue to maintain
identification signs at this location, but deny the dimensional variants for those signs.
Thank you. MI 2023-001-258. Now, this is number three, by the way. MI 2023-001-258.
Now, this is number three, by the way. MI 2023-001-258-1300 to 15 North 10th Street. I vote yes.
two five.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
Emily Briscoe, my vote is yes.
And number nine, MI 2022-006-924-1300 to 15 North 10th Street. I vote yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
Emily Bresico, my vote is yes.
Thank you.
Chair Barbie, may I please move my exhibits into evidence?
You most certainly can.
Thank you.
Thank you.
That concludes my business.
May I please be excused?
You can.
Thank you.
Have a wonderful day.
Okay, you too.
Thank you.
Let's see here.
Let's see here.
Okay, MI 2023-000-467-1439 South 6th Street.
Alan Notchamson is the attorney.
Recommendational support from the Dickinson Square Civic Association
and a letter of non-opposition from Council Member Squilla.
Ishmael Shahid will be back
for this case.
Nockamson? I'm back here.
Okay. Thank you. Mr. Nockamson,
just state your name for the record, please.
Alan Nockamson.
Could you identify who
your client is for this case and
their relationship to the property?
I'm sorry. Sixth Street Group, LLC,
and in the virtual audience is Brad Ennort, its member.
Okay, our vice chair has just a few questions.
Good afternoon, counsel.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal
and stipulate to a vacancy?
I actually object to the refusal.
It should state that all we're seeking to do
is add one additional unit to this five-unit building.
Okay, that's understood.
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that are needed to proceed with this case in advance of this hearing?
Yes, we have.
Thank you. Please proceed to share your screen.
Thank you.
Okay, so here we are at 1439 South 6th Street.
As you can see, this is a quintessential corner property in the city of Philadelphia, where you have the the angled first floor where you would expect to have a commercial unit here.
The reason why I objected to notice refusal is that you'll see a record.
There is a zoning permit as well as a housing inspection license for five residential units.
And then there's the one commercial unit where we're trying to just merely swap out the commercial use for residential use.
So this is a CMX1 property.
We're not trying to create six units.
We're only trying to legalize one residential unit.
And we'll review the notice of refusal.
We did get a letter of support from the Dickinson Square West Civic Association, as well as a letter of non-opposition from Councilmember Mark Squilla.
When we met with the group, you'll see that we received unanimous support, and I'll explain why that happened.
You'll also see the user registration permit, which shows the existing multi-family use of five units plus a commercial, as well as the housing inspection license, which is of record, which was just good through 2020, which shows five units, residential units.
maps of the area, photographs of the property, interior photographs. So again, you know, my
client tried to rent this property for some time as a commercial unit. Ultimately, he couldn't do
that. And, you know, we're trying to legalize this six unit, which is residential in nature now.
Our plans and drawings, and you'll see from there, this configuration of that commercial unit and
as the building as a whole too or you know commercial unit which we hope will be residential
our rco meeting notice our application for appeal or deeds of property showing us sixth street
group llc is the owner of the property and our certificate of tax clearance again in the virtual
audience is brad and art uh the owner's representative notice of refusal so again
this the applications for multi-family use of six dwelling units again it should have said which was
Again, it should have said, which was previously approved as five dwelling units and a commercial
previously approved as five dwelling units.
unit as well.
A letter of support, as you can see, it was unanimous.
It was a well-attended meeting of 12 individuals, and they all voted in support of this project.
Again, my client tried his hardest to rent this property out as a commercial unit.
This part of the neighborhood is really tough to rent out at least this property for commercial
purposes, and that's what we're asking.
to allow us to convert the commercial unit to a residential unit.
And again, the council member, council member Marzuela is also in non-opposition due to the community support.
And then the use registration permit, as you can see, it talks about like there was a commercial use looks like a party store in here at one point and five apartments.
And then it got turned into some type of game room, which two video machines in a pool hall, but still five units above.
And then this is the housing inspection license, which shows that there were five residential rental units from 2011 to 2020.
And then maps of the area, again, were a corner property on Dickinson and 6th Street.