Potential.
Nothing else in the building.
That's still the first four.
That is the second apartment.
You come up the steps to a second apartment.
Well, that second door on your right hand side.
All right.
You're coming.
and that's the third floor
how many apartments do you have here two two just two one second and second and third floor
yes and what's on the first second and third floor is one apartment okay all right it has
upstairs to it right okay and downstairs is just one one level okay and you bought the property
like this they were starting to work on it yes and he told me he put a new roof on he didn't
and leaked all the way through the house okay all right and what else oh and the back floor
was all rotten i fixed that okay okay that's the entrance right there to the second apartment
so all right so let me ask you this question when you're on the 5200 block of columbia are
there other multiple units yes many um i don't know but there are a few over there there's one
right next to me and when when did you purchase this property last august right okay and you you
bought it as a duplex yes that's what they sold it to me told me it was a duplex all right thank
you all right um and have you put will you posted this right for the you have a picture of the posting
um yes
then sent out letters and everything we had okay for the last meeting okay
okay all right okay and you went to your rco and they voted in your favor
yes sir okay thank you questions from the board
no yes mr chairman yes mr chair um for ma'am for the the rear exit is there a um rear exit
Ma'am, for the rear exit, is there a rear exit for the second and third floor?
For the third floor?
For the second apartment.
Not that I saw.
There will be.
I asked for plans, and they approved the plans, for me to put a patio up on the third floor to walk out for fire escape.
OK. OK, so you can install on the fire escape on the property.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
And we cleared out the back.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry. I did not see any answers.
OK, thank you. Planning Commission.
This is Ron Bednar, City Planning. First name Ron, R-O-N. Last name Bednar, B-E-D-E-N-A-L.
Do you swear or affirm, tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Thank you, sir.
As property is indicated, for residential use on the City Plan, given the physical circumstances of the site and evidence of its existing condition, we recommend the request for variance be granted.
Thank you. MI 2022-007-297-5222, West Columbia Avenue, I vote yes.
Thomas Holliman, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Thank you. You have your votes, ma'am.
Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Now, what do I do now?
You'll hear from us. You'll get a letter.
Oh, okay.
Okay, thank you.
You're welcome.
Number three, MI 2022-003-722-3500 Ainsley Street.
Justin Crick is the attorney.
There's a letter of opposition from the RCO and three letters of opposition from the community.
Mr. Chair, this is Hillary.
I just want to update that we have four letters of opposition from community members, including three from the 3,500 block of Ainsley Street.
Thank you very much.
good afternoon could you state your name and spell for the court reporter please
yes justin crick j-u-s-t-i-n-k-r-i-k right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole
truth and nothing but the truth i do but you identify your client a relationship to this
property yes my client is the gentleman on the line is Anthony Massiri he is a member of Ainsley
LLC the owner of the property thank you and our vice chair has just a few questions
good afternoon counsel do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its
accuracy I do 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 thank you please proceed to share your screen
thank you
one moment
here we go
Thank you. Members of the board, we're here today on an application by the owner of 3500
Ainsley Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are looking for the legalization of this
property into a five-unit residential dwelling, currently has five units. And at this point,
the refusals that were received related to parking in order to meet this
requirement because of the location of the property next to an RSA 3 district
the required parking space number was five and we do not have any proposed
additionally the five-unit household dwelling is prohibited in the CMX 1
district again because we are adjacent to an RSA 5 zoning district for
geographical purposes and just to give an idea, this is the property we're talking about.
There is a lot of character to this property, albeit its current condition which is being
worked on.
But some of the notable things about the property is, number one, it's overall size.
It has a significant amount of square footage that my client can testify to that is, in
this case, best used for residential purposes.
um long ago the the first floor was converted from commercial use i don't believe my clients
Long ago, the first floor was converted from commercial use.
I don't believe my
aware of what was there before but um it is again we believe best situated for that residential use
and another unique characteristic of the property is this back section here which
again is it is its own unit in and of itself and and as the floor plans will show kind of lends
itself to the density of the property to allow for a little bit more density of the property
We are situated at the corner of Ainsley and Conrad Street.
As you can see, there's quite a bit from these maps, quite a bit of coverage of the structure,
but there is rear yard space that we use and we'll be putting a trash enclosure in.
The CMX1 designation next to RSA3 and some additional photos from the side angle of the
property.
The applicant has submitted to the neighborhood organization a restoration plan that is already
underway. It is not complete by any means, but underway. That includes new windows and some
painting of the facade and correction of bricks in certain spots. The replacement of these smaller
windows with nicer windows in these recently, you know, previously filled in or bricked in
window wells and again so to deal with the trash issue the intent is to put an
enclosure either along the sidewalk where the steps come out onto the
sidewalk or in the backyard which I will show pictures of momentarily so this is
the backyard accessible by one of the rear units and we believe that if
necessary the trash enclosure can go in the rear part of this section it is a
little elevated from the street level let me zoom out a little bit and now I
have some photographs of the interior space so there are occupants in many of
the properties many of the units currently and as you can see there's
ample space in a lot of these units that again lends itself to a layout that would provide
for four unit I'm sorry five unit density without overcrowding the premises.
So existing first floor shows two units, a fairly sized two bedroom unit in the first
in the front and two bedroom unit in the rear.
second floor has one bedroom units one in the front one in the rear and then the third floor
is a single unit on its own because the fifth unit I'm sorry the the additional unit comes
into play in the in the rear I'm sorry in the rear here so yes two on the first floor two in
the second floor sorry about that and one on the third floor again you can see that there's ample
space in these units that they're not too small. They're not all single unit or studio apartments.
This is the restoration plan that the property owner has engaged its self-contained management
company to initiate. And again, a lot of information has been conducted on the interior
of the property. Dependent upon the nature of the zoning that is granted, the level of interior
work may be changing or may not be as robust, but the exterior and the look and the feel in the
neighborhood, including lighting and safety, are going to be addressed and a part of that plan.
The applicant also is just trying to explain that it is not an absentee landlord. This owner
has several projects in the neighborhood and has demonstrated that and provided a couple of
different similar buildings in their portfolio that we believe were evident
of the work that that is performed we did share this with the RCO and hope
that you know that they would see some of the work that is done the this is a
copy of the deed showing ownership the first page we have a tax clearance
certificate that is still valid and pictures of the posting on the property
property, and one of the concerns from the neighborhood was that the neighbors know how
to get in touch with or people know how to get in touch with who manages the property
and so that a placard was placed on the property wall so that they can communicate freely and
let us know if there's anything that needs to be addressed.
Notice was sent to the neighborhood of the meeting and proof of mailing is attached.
notice was sent to the neighborhood of the meeting and proof of mailing is attached.
So essentially the owner seeks to legalize the unit, the property for five units under the basis that given its size and the nature of what is happening in the community,
we don't believe that it is the highest and best use to add a commercial use and that the space is best situated for residential and that the compliance with the literal compliance with the zoning code would create a hard job.
How long has your client owned the property?
Well, so Damon Massiri, who sold the property to Ainsley, is involved with that company.
So it has been for over 10 or so years.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I did see the notice from the neighborhood.
I understand their concerns.
But again, we do believe that we have been working with them in good faith and demonstrated that we are committed to addressing their concerns.
All right. Do you want to have your testimony adopted by your client?
Yes, please. Mr. Messiri, if you are on, please raise your hand.
He's been allowed to speak.
Sir, could you state your name and spell, please, for the court reporter?
Anthony Massiri, A-N-T-H-O-N-Y-M-A-S-C-I-E-R-I.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, counsel.
Thank you.
Mr. Massiri, have you had an opportunity to hear my statements to the board today?
Yes, I have.
And were those statements true and correct to the best of your knowledge?
And would you adopt those statements as if they were your own testimony today?
Thank you. No further questions.
Before we go any further, what was the vote at the RCO?
The RCO did oppose this.
It was a pretty much overwhelming opposition.
However, there was a proviso that to the extent that – I wouldn't call it a proviso – but to the extent that the committee itself was agreeable to a four-unit with a commercial unit,
the remaining population of the neighborhood was not opposed to the legalization or additional
units. So it was opposed. Questions from the board? No, Chair. No, Mr.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
sir i have a hand raised by mr by mr hillary langer i have not okay
sure sir could you state your name please and spell for the court reporter
hi my name is hillary langer h-i-l-a-r-y l-a-n-g-e-r i am chair of the east falls community
Council Zoning Committee. Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth,
nothing but the truth? I do. Proceed, Mr. Langer. Yes, we've met twice with this group, the owner
and Justin. The overwhelming census over two meetings was to oppose this. The primary reasons
are really the continued congestion,
the possibility of congestion
of five units in one building.
In the last meeting,
they did explain
there are five to seven cars
at any one time
that may be parked on the street
from the residents of these units.
Unfortunately,
over the term of the ownership here,
I believe it's 15 years or more,
um there's a kind of a historical lack of maintenance on the property so the neighborhood
is wary about even after a renovation is the property going to remain in a maintained
condition so there are concerns there if you look at the back of my letter of opposition
you'll see a lot of pictures there that relate to the existing conditions of the property
This has been ongoing for more than a decade.
So you've got to understand that there's
a lack of trust right now between the neighborhood