we're live
all right we're gonna wait two minutes for everyone to come into our virtual room
Thank you.
okay madam chair we have 45 um and our attendance for today starting off you can proceed when you
like okay good morning everyone my name is carol tenere and i'll be chairing the zoning board
today um i would like the board members to say their names as present so we know who's here
and who isn't here. Professor Plaza present. James Snell present. Thomas Holloman present.
Thank you. I'll be participating in today's hearing along with Board Secretary
Confessor Plaza and Board Members Thomas Holloman and James Snell. Board Administrator
Jason Hand is also president. Well, he's not president yet, but he is present. I'm here.
Not yet. And board attorney Sharon Saleta and Rebecca Cole 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. Two, we'd like to advise everyone that this proceeding
is being recorded and that by participating, you acknowledge your agreement to be recorded.
This is available to the public. And why am I lost here? By contacting Tanya Sunkit
at tanya .sunkit at philadelphia .gov. Third, for anyone participating by phone,
if you wish to testify, you must raise your hand by hitting star nine, then star six to unmute
yourself. To enter an appearance statement, call 267 -270 -5548 and leave your email address
and address of the property at issue. Again, you must raise your hand by hitting star nine,
then star six to unmute yourself. To enter an appearance statement, call 267 -270 -5548
and leave your email address and address of the property at issue.
Four, if you are an LLC, an LLP, or a religious organization, you must be represented by an
attorney. If you do not have an attorney, we will not be hearing your case. Number five,
the question and answer box is not for testimony. Any comments are to be directed to Ms. Tanya
sunk it. Continuances. Calendar number MI2021 -002193, 1804 Pratt Street. That case is continued.
Calendar number MI -2021 -002462 -2367 North Leithgow Street.
That case is also continued, as well as calendar number MI -2021 -002201 -2365 NLFG Street.
That case is continued.
Does anybody have an objection to any of those continuances?
If you do, please raise your hand.
Excuse me, Madam Chair, for number three.
Excuse me, Madam Chair, for number three.
Pratt Street, can you do a must be heard?
Calendar number MI -2021 -002193, 1804 Pratt Street.
This case is continued and it is a must be heard.
Thank you, Mr. Plaza.
Hi, this is Tanya, the administrator.
Could we just check to make sure no one is here for that case as well?
Sure. Is there anyone here for that case?
And if you are, please raise your hand in the virtual audience.
The owners are Richard and Rosalind Smith.
there are no heads at this time madam vice chair
thank you are there any requests for continuances
on our regular list
if you have a request please raise your hand
Madam Chair, I see no hands.
Okay, then we will begin.
Calendar number MI -2021 -002097, 1826 West Thompson Street.
The Attorney is Paul Turner.
we have um a non -opposition letter from councilman squilla planning commission is opposed because
there is no hardship the rco beach community services supports this
miss tenere this is rebecca cole on record i'd just like to note it was councilman clark
and not councilman squilla who is in non -opposition to this project
okay our notes have okay so councilman uh council president daryl clark is in non -opposition
so this is a straightforward vote correct
yes okay calendar number 2097 my vote is no
Professor Plaza, my vote is no.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is no.
Sorry about that, I was trying to mute James, we're on mute.
James Snell, my vote is no.
Thank you.
Calendar number MI -2021 -001569 -7605, South 18th Street.
My vote is no to reconsideration and rehearing.
Professor Plaza, no to reconsideration and rehearing.
James Snell, my vote is no to reconsideration and rehearing.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is no to reconsideration and rehearing.
Calendar number MI -2020 -002205, 1413 West Pacific Street.
The letter that I'd like to read in. At this time, the community's directly affected residents,
13th wards rco committee and adjacent rco nicetown rco cdc are requesting our elected
officials and zoning board members support this zoning variance at this time my vote is yes on
this case confessor plaza my vote is yes james snell my vote is yes thomas holliman my vote is yes
i'm moving on to the regular list calendar number 2533 116 west rockland street
the owner is oswaldo cantero if you're here please raise your hand
madam chair mr carlos dick dickwell has his hand raised i will promote him at this time if that is
all right uh yeah i guess we'll find out who he is i'm sorry you don't have to promote him right
now if you could just allow him audio right away it's been done
it's been done sir can you put your name on the record spell your last name
sir can you put your name on the record
and i'll swear you in
carlos are you there oswaldo oswaldo quintero yes
spell your last name please
Q -U -I -N -T -E -R -O
your address
961 Putnam Boulevard
Wallingford PA 19086
and the property address is
116 West Rockland Street
do you swear
do you swear our firm to tell the whole truth
and nothing but the truth
yes I do
If you email the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance.
Madam Chair, please, I apologize for interrupting.
But is it okay to question this applicant about their exhibit package?
Oh, sure.
Sir, did you submit your exhibit package five days in advance to the attorney of record?
No, I'm sorry.
No, I couldn't do it.
Right.
so that that's I'm sorry sir last time we uh spoke to you you came in front of the board
we had explained to you that you needed to submit uh your documents uh five day prior to the hearing
yes uh not really I do apologize I just have few issues for the last couple of weeks with
being short with three of my employees and my store in South Philly my head was running
like crazy so i do apologize if there is any inconvenience i don't know you tell me what i
can do uh but i do apologize i've been able to the problem is the problem is you're holding up
somebody else case that we could have been you know here you know we could have heard somebody
else case you know this is like the second third time you've been in front of the board
no this is my first time it's your second time sir no first time okay the last the only meeting
I have with Esperanza Housing and Economic Development. That's the only meeting I have
for these properties since I applied last February. Okay well sir I apologize but unfortunately
because your exhibits were submitted at 6 30 p .m yesterday we're going to continue your case.
Must be heard. Thank you. And it is a must be heard.
thank you confessor calendar number 2198 1589 east euston street
the owners are taziana and charlotte bonasisi
And there's a letter of support
from Fishtown Neighbors Association.
Madam Chair, Ms. Bell,
Tatiana Buonassisi has been promoted to panelists.
Thank you.
Tatiana, can you hear me?
okay can you put your name and address on the record spell your last name and i'll swear you in
sure uh my last name is buonassisi b -u -o -n -a -s -s -i -s -i
and your address 1589 east houston street philadelphia
Thank you. Do you swear if I'm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, refusal, referral, photos, and or plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing?
And have you met with the RCO? And do you have a letter?
Yes. Yes to all of those things.
Okay, you may proceed. And I did say in the beginning, the Fishtown neighbors do support your project. So you may proceed.
Okay, should I start my video or it doesn't matter.
No, it does. Can you start it.
Yeah, sure.
Yeah, I'm just here to present my project to the board.
um i purchased this property a few years ago um and was working on it myself i'm a contractor
by trade and i discovered some structural problems with part of the house so um basically
my request is to demolish the addition on the back of my house and rebuild it to be structurally
and rebuild it to be structurally sound i'm actually you can you share plans and drawings with
sound i'm actually can you share
us yeah let's see um so this is the general plan which i can zoom in a bit more to show you but i
think actually what illustrates my project best is this second page um blown up oh sorry
so you can see here um my existing property line i'm actually expanding the rear yard from
the old line was uh three feet six inches and now the new line would be five feet four inches
so i'll be aligning with my neighboring properties um so i am requesting a variance to be able to
fix my home and actually bring the house back a bit
tom do you have any questions no madam chair does the board have any questions
No. Is there anyone in the virtual audience who would like to testify about this?
No hands, Chair. Thank you. Planning Commission?
Good morning, Chair Tenari. Ian Hegarty for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission.
that's h -e -g -a -r -t -y do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes i do madam chair you may proceed the uh the proposed dimensional variance in this case is
commensurate with the size of the lot and with the adjacent non -conforming structures and so
the city planning commission recommends that the board grant this variance thank you calendar number
2198 1589 east euston street my vote is yes confessor plaza my vote is yes
james snell my vote is yes thomas halliman my vote is yes good luck all right thank you so
much everyone appreciate it sure calendar number 2197 2056 ellsworth street
is there anyone here on this case
there are no exhibits and it's the first listing and there's again a letter of support
can the owner or the attorney just please raise their hand
only put your hand up if you're representing this case and it's 2056 ellsworth street
hi i have jennifer
yes um jennifer are you here on 2056 ellsworth i am yes are you an attorney i i'm not i thought
my attorney was going to be here i'm wondering are you the owner of 2056 i'm the executive
of director of the neighborhood gardens trust um which owns the property yes
so we need an attorney yes i i i know that i i expected that he was on it
with dwayne morris um it was uh going to be um daniel mita
yes i saw his name daniel mita yeah daniel mita if you're here for this case please raise your hand
and he's getting promoted to panelists now
mr mita
yes good morning good morning can you put your name and address on the record spell your last
name and i'll swear you in certainly my name is daniel mita last name is spelled m -i -t -a
i apologize for my background seems we're having a moment here
I apologize for my background.
It seems we're having a moment here.
And my address is 30 South 17th Street, 5th floor, Dwayne Morris Plaza, 19103.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Do you agree to waive the rating of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, refusal, referral, photos, and plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing, and have you met with the RCO, and do you have a letter?
We have no exhibits. Is that correct, Ms. Sunkett?
That's what the attorney's letter stated.
So, if I could ask Mr. Mita, where were the exhibits emailed?
Let me just check. I have to confirm. My colleague, Greg Duffy, I understand, transmitted the ZBA package, which included the applicable exhibits.
And who sent the email, exactly?
It would have come from my colleague, Gregory Duffy, and or Carol Jacoby.
Okay, if I could ask the ZBA staff to research the email box for that exhibit package, and Madam Chair, would it be okay to move on to the next case?
Sure, we'll move on to number seven.
Thank you.
calendar number two one nine six calendar number two one nine six twenty five eighty
frankfort avenue the attorney is leo mulvihill and we have a letter of support from fishtown
kensington area bid councilman squilla has also submitted a letter of non -opposition
mr mulvihill if you're here please raise your hand
and he's coming in now as a panelist okay great yes good morning chair members
leo moldahill for the applicant 315 green street first floor philadelphia on that one two three
can you spell your last name please certainly m -u -l v -s victor i -h -i -l -l
do you do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing about the truth
i do do you agree to wave the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy i do
Have you emailed an exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, refusal referral, photos, and or plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing, and have you met with the RCO, and do you have a letter?
You may proceed.
Thank you.
Good morning, members of the board.
Again, Leo Mulvihill on behalf of Mike Chambers.
That's M -Y -K -E -C -H -A -M as in Mary, B as in Bravo, E -R -S.
the owner of Seven Swords Tattoo up in the East Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia.
What we're here for today is a renewal of a temporary permit for a tattoo studio in the
first floor of an existing structure. I have my exhibit packet up on the board. At page one,
we have the refusal appeal project information form. Page seven, we have the area zoning maps.
Page eight, we have a letter of authorization from the land board. That's the prior letter. I also
received this morning a brand new letter of authorization. We have the lease at page 9,
commercial activity license for my client at 11, tax clearance at 12, our zoning notification
letter at 13. We have a letter from Fishtown BID, BID, at 16. I also have separately a letter of
support from Peace Kensington Neighbors Association, which had been submitted, I believe, earlier this
week by the organization. Voters of the property are at 17, floor plans are at 28. So members of
board we were back here just moving to uh page three of my zoning packet i mean
moving to page three of my zoning packet uh back in 2015 this applicant appeared before this board
and received a temporary permit for its use uh we're just here to renew that today uh the subject
tattoo studio has been in existence since 2015. we've received unanimous support from all neighbors
there are several chairs in the tattoo studio it does take appointments or walk -ins
moving now to page seven of my packet we can see we're located at the corner of
huntington and frankfurt avenue in the east kansas neighbor the property is zoned cmx2
what are the hours of operate days and hours of operation
uh mr chambers would you please unmute yourself raise your hand
just because i want to make sure i get this right okay
hello there we go mike are you there yes i am hello can you spell your last name please
uh my last name is chamber c -h -a -m -b -e -r -s your first name is mike um m -y -k -e uh
uh it is actually uh michael m -i -c -h -a -e -o but um
sorry that's okay your address please
uh 2580 frankfurt avenue uh philadelphia 19125 okay do you swear if i'm to tell the whole truth
and nothing about the truth? I do. Okay. He's all yours, Leo. Sure thing. So, Mike, I just want to
make sure we get the dates and hours of your operation correct for the chair. What are those,
please? The days and hours of operation, we've been on somewhat of a, I apologize about that
picture on my thing, but our days and hours of operation are increment right now during the
COVID pandemic. So we've mostly gone to appointment only. Our hours are typically
10 a .m. to 5 p .m. Sometimes we could go to 9. Our hours before were 12 to 8 on weekdays and 12 to 9
Friday and Saturday. Thank you. What was his last temporary? I believe it was a three -year. We're
seeking a permanent at this point members of the board simply because we have this letter of support
at page 16 from Fishtown bid. The business improvement districts are signed by Mark
collazo in addition we also have i just don't know if it made it to the file because it was
submitted late by east kensington neighbors uh this letter which you should be seeing dated
october 18th indicating that we have uh support from east kensington neighbors association
specifically noting that seven swords is a thriving business that complements east kensington
increasingly vibrant stretch of the frankfurt avenue arts corridor the business brings
critical foot traffic at this important node, and has been a positive presence at this location
for several years. There were no significant community concern raised about the operation
of seven swords in this location. And significant support was expressed by other local business
owners. That's why we're seeking the permanent variance in this instance, Chair.
Thank you. Does the Board have any questions?
Is there anybody in the audience who would like to testify? Please raise your hand.
Madam Chair, I see a Ms. Rachel Beam with her hand raised. I can allow her to speak if that is all right.
That's fine.
Rachel?
Hello, can you hear me?
Hi. Yes, Rachel, can you put your name on the record and spell your last name and I'll swear you in.
yes my name is rachel r -a -c -h -e -l my last name is beam b -e -h -m as in mary
okay and do you live near this project i do i actually worked here for a brief few months
um i just wanted to say that absolutely wait one second do you swear from to tell the whole truth
and nothing but the truth yes okay where and put your address on the record my address is
2620 Tulip Street, Philadelphia, PA 19125. Okay, are you opposed to this or supportive?
I'm not. I'm absolutely supportive. I've been going to this business for the past like five
years now to get tattooed and recently Mike took me on as an artist for a few months while my
studio was being built, which we actually just went through the zoning for. So I just wanted
to share my support and admiration for this company and the people who work here okay thank
you yes planning planning commission thank you madam chair ian hegarty for the philadelphia city
planning commission um board members uh should understand that the the refused use was subject
to separation requirements at the time of its initial establishment and since that time the
code's been amended actually to cease regulating body art services in this way with this separation
requirement from residences which was the source of the original refusal so we would absolutely
recommend that the board grant the variance because it meets the requirements of the current
zoning code it would not be a refused use at this location. Thank you. Calendar number 2196
Thank you. Calendar number two one nine six two five eight zero Frankfurt Avenue. My vote is yes.
Professor Plaza my vote is yes. Jane Smell my vote is yes. Thomas Hallamann my vote is yes.
Good luck. Great thank you members of the board have a good day. You too. Miss Sunkit do we go
back to number four now or should i continue with eight um yes as you wish um madam chair we can
check to see if the appropriate uh information was sent um zba staff was checking do we have any
answer they said they don't see any at this time all righty thank you if you want to continue to
discuss it with the attorney, Mr. Mita, you can unmute yourself and wait for questions from the
chair. Mr. Mita, we have no exhibits. We have no exhibits. Okay. I just, I reached out to my
colleagues so that they could forward me the correspondence. I understood it was forwarded.
so it's incumbent upon us to demonstrate that to you so I'm working on that in the interim
I did just a moment ago forward the exhibit package in my possession so that the staff
should have that I understand that's you having them today is different than having them
in advance so acknowledging that I did want to at least have that to you
okay i think we're going to have to continue this is that correct tanya yes chair as you wish
okay uh sorry mr meter calendar number two one nine seven this case is continued and it must be
heard thank you and apologies uh for the inconvenience and thank you calendar number
2194 -2621 West Allegheny Avenue. Madam Chair, Mr. Jordan Anderson has his hand raised. I will
allow him to speak at this time. Okay, Mr. Anderson? Yes, I'm the applicant. I was unaware,
I guess, until recently that I needed legal representation, if that's correct.
That is correct. And yeah, that is absolutely correct. And your case is going to have to be
continued. You must have an attorney. Calendar number 2194 -2621 West Allegheny Avenue.
This case is continued. Ms. Sunkett, is this must be heard?
Um, yes, that would be great. Thank you. Okay, and this is a must be heard. Calendar number 2202 -317 North Preston Street. The attorney is Eric Carroll. We have no RCO letter that I'm no of.
Mr. Carroll has been promoted to panelists.
Thank you.
Mr. Carroll.
Yes, good morning, Ms. Tanari.
Hi, can you put your name and address on the records
by your last name and I'll swear you in.
Yes, Eric Carroll, C -A -R -R -O -L -L,
150 North Radnor Chester Road,
Radnor PA 19087 representing the applicant
in CFM Land Holdings, Inc.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth
and not think about the truth?
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal
and stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed the exhibit packet
with proof of ownership, tax compliance,
refusal, referral, photos,
and or plans of the property
five days in advance of this hearing?
And have you met with the RCO?
And do you have a letter?
Yes, we do.
All that information with the exception of the RCO
was mailed last week. The RCO chair, Ms. Pamela Andrews, just emailed the letter to me and to
Ms. Saleta and to a couple other people yesterday. I did see that everyone from the ZBA was copied.
Okay, is that a letter of support? No, it is actually a letter of opposition.
Okay, you may proceed. Thank you.
um as i said i represent ncfm land holdings um they are the owner of 317 north preston street
that is in the palton west palton neighborhood it's just above palton avenue between 40th and
and 41st let me just bring up my share screen
and 41st. Let me just bring up my share screen.
Does everyone see the, can you see the photo of the property? Yes. Okay. Thank you. So as you can
see, currently this property is a three -story vacant and blighted property. Building as you're
looking at it currently is about 2 ,900 square feet, and it sits on a 1 ,700 square foot lot.
What we would like to do is to build, obviously demolish this building and put up a 5 ,000 square
foot property that would be slightly taller, you know, it would be taller than the existing
structure, but that would be within the zoning guidelines. We're trying to have four units and
that is one of the two reasons for the variance today. This is an RCA5 neighborhood, so it only
permits one family housing. So on top of that, we're also seeking a variance for the rear area.
The regulations require 25 % open.
Our plans have it as 20 % open.
So as you can see, it would be a new building with front access and a basement.
The front of the building is to the right here.
This would be in line with the adjoining buildings.
As you can see to the left, there's 319 and 321.
They are both three stories.
um they both have four residential units in each of them and then also across the street
directly across the street 318 there's a three -story building this has
three units granted but it is it is roughly the same size
um property uh you can see all the way to the right of this one
uh is the basement and then to the left of that is the first floor excuse me kelly
Excuse me, council. Can you blow up the basement plan, please?
Absolutely.
Looking at it all the way to the right from the front, you can see the egress well. That would be the front.
Do you have the street approval for the egress well in the front?
Yes, we do. And that was actually submitted with the packets, with the exhibits I submitted.
What percentage of the building is out of the ground?
In terms of the four floors with the basement?
In terms of the basement plan?
Roughly a quarter of it. I can show you, actually a little less than a quarter, I would say about 20%.
you can see here the proposed building section right in the middle um you know if you look at
unit one and unit three in the basement where the street level is to the right um this is
what is it i would say it's about 75 percent for low ground that the basement that is this
is new construction correct correct according to the international building code you should
to be 50 % out of the ground.
Well, I mean, I don't have the exact numbers.
If you're looking towards the back.
If I could please bring in the owner
of MCF9 Holdings to address this.
I believe Karen and Nicole Smith are on the line.
Karen and Nicole, can you raise your hand, please?
And she's been allowed to speak.
And Nicole, can you hear me?
Can you put your name and address and spell your last name on the record and I'll swear you in?
It's Bryden, D -R -Y -D -E -N hyphen Smith, S -M -I -T -H.
Address 211 Bridgeboro Road, Morristown, New Jersey, 08057.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
I do, yes.
Next to me is my husband.
You might want to swear in.
He's the contractor.
He might be able to answer that question better than I could.
Okay, sir, can you put your name on the record?
Yes, Kieran Smith, S -M -I -T -H.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
yes i do okay sir could you please spell your first name k -i -e -r -a -n sorry
Okay, you may proceed.
Sir, could you please spell your first name?
i'm sorry one more time i i might be better at that for the accent k -i -e -r -a -n
thank you sure thank you
thank you so the question posed by the board members um what percentage of the basement is
out of the ground and the percentage of the basement out of the ground is approximately
50 it'll be eight foot high basement walls and we'll go on just about four foot below the level
of the sidewalk so it's just about 50 okay thank you mr schmerz can you can you can you blow up
that that building section so i can see the
over move it to the right
the other way oh yeah it's right there i don't see a i don't see a dimension
yes it's right underneath where it says basement to the right side
no it's right it's right on the section
right where it says basement four foot's listed right under that right under that dash
okay thank you sure thank you
does anyone else on the board have any questions
planning commission
thank you madam chair uh ian hegarty for the philadelphia city planning commission
members of the board in 2015 the zoning map was amended from rm1 to rsa5 in this area and this
was done in accord with a community -led remapping process. The intent of the remapping was to
encourage multifamily development to concentrate on the major streets while preventing multifamily
conversions and redevelopment on the side streets. So we would see this variance as being in direct
conflict with the goals of the 2015 remapping. The applicant has not really shown anything that
demonstrates that the lot is encumbered by any kind of unique physical conditions that would
give rise to a hardship claim. They've depended solely on adjacent non -conformities. I should
note that the building directly adjacent to this property was given its zoning permit
in the same year that the zoning map was amended to RSA 5. The City Planning Commission recommends
that the board deny this variance. Thank you. Is there anybody in the audience who would
like to testify is there anyone here from west calpton saunders park madam chair mr andrew
goodman has his hand raised okay great i'll speak at this time thank you mr goodman can you put your
name on the record spell your last name and i'll swear you in morning andrew goodman g -o -o -d -m -a -n
you're representing the office of third district council member jamie gaudier room 586 city hall
do you swear for him to tell the whole truth and nothing about the truth
yes i do okay you may proceed thank you members of the board uh council member gaudier stands with
the coordinating rco in opposition to the requested variance um instead of replicating
or duplicating rather, just affirm all of the testimony that was just given by Mr.
Hegarty from the Planning Commission about the reasons why. And we have the RCO letter too,
if we need to pull that up on the screen, you know, to give the coordinating RCO's perspective.
Thank you so much. There are no other questions from the board?
Just one, Madam Chair. There's two refusals, one for use and one for zoning.
right thank you thank you calendar matter I'm sorry we still have someone who wishes to testify
regarding this case okay great can that person raise their hand and I'll swear you in yeah I'm
sorry Madam Chair Mr. Eileen uh Ananya Griff has their hand raised I've allowed them to speak at
this time can you put your name Eileen on the record and spell your last name and first name
Sure. I -L -E -N -E -G -R -I -F -F -F -F like in Griff. And I'm at 4033 Powleton Avenue, Philadelphia,
powellton avenue philadelphia 19104 thank you do you swear from the tell the whole truth and
19104. Thank you.
nothing about the truth i do okay you may proceed i am the property that's two doors down on the
corner and the density on this block is just out of control i also don't see any any indication on
those plans where trash would go and that is another issue on this block um so i just wanted
to state on the record that I am also opposed to this. Thank you.
That is all, Madam Chair. Okay. Calendar number 2202 -317 North Preston Street. My vote is no.
Professor Plaza. My vote is no. James Snell. My vote is no. Thomas Holliman. My vote is no.
Calendar number 2256, 4447 Kottman Avenue. The attorney is Fern Anastasio.
There is no RCO letter, but Mr. Anastasio says that the RCO supports this with a maximum of two units.
Three are proposed.
Mr. Anastasio?
Please raise your virtual hand again, sir, if you're out there.
Ms. Sanka, do we have that letter saying that they support it with two units?
I don't have anything currently.
I think Ms. Anastasio might.
Let's see.
I'm sorry.
I missed the question.
Okay, Mr. Anastasio, put your name and address on the record and spell your last name.
Thank you, Vern Anastasio, A -N -A -S -T -A -S -I -O, 1315 Walnut Street, Suite 1006, Philadelphia, 19107.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
You agreed away with the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, a copy of the refusal or referral, photos under plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing, and have you met with the RCO, and do you have a letter?
I don't have a letter, but I have met with the RCO.
We did a walkthrough with the head of the RCO, and then we had a meeting.
We did not get an official position.
I had a feeling that they were willing to support no more than two units, but that's not official, so I don't necessarily know if you can use my testimony to put on the record of their position.
I don't necessarily know if that works.
Once we look at the screen.
I have it shared.
Is that okay?
I represent owner Z -Bin Tang, by the way, who purchased this property right in the midst
of the pandemic last summer.
When he purchased it, it was a three -family dwelling is exactly what it was, one on each
floor.
it's a there's a walkout basement from the rear which i will
i thought i was going to be able to show you
yeah it appears as though i'm having some data problems madam chair uh chairperson
i'd like to be able to reboot my computer and see what's going on with my data i've
had data issues all morning. Would it please the board if you put me towards the end of
the list? I'm assuming I'm not the end of the list right now. The next one is the end
of the list. I see. I'm just having some data issues and I want to be able to present at
least the plan. But as you can see, I can't get anything to show up. Right. Well, we'll move on
to number 11. Okay. And then I'm going to close up very quickly back to you. Understood. Thank
you. And I'll get on with my IT people. Thank you. Thank you. My apologies for that. Oh, sure.
Calendar number 2203 -4931 -59, Spruce Tree.
The attorney is David Shafkowitz.
There are no exhibits, and this is the first listing.
I have promoted Mr. Shafkowitz, ma 'am.
I promoted Mr. Shafkowitz, ma 'am.
Mr. Shafkowitz, can you put your name and address on the record, spell your last name, and I will swear you in.
Good morning, Madam Chair. My name is David Shafkowitz. Last name is S -H -A -F as in Frank, K -O -W -I -T -Z.
address address is 16 sunset avenue shall find pennsylvania 18914 and maybe i'm sorry
do you to you you just knocked me do you swear from the tell the whole truth and nothing but
the truth i do madam chair thank you thank you wave the reading of the refusal and stipulate
to its accuracy absolutely have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership tax
compliance refusal referral photos under plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing
and have you met with the rco and do you have a letter we have that you have no exhibits correct
madam chair and i was going to request the board's indulgence for a continuance of this matter so we
could submit the proper material um and we did meet with the rco last week and just recently
received the letter so we want to include everything in the packet together okay uh
Does the board have any questions?
No, ma 'am.
Ms. Sunkett, this is a must be heard,
and I assume this will go into January?
Yes, Madam Chair, either further than that.
Actually, February.
Calendar number 2203, 4931 -59 Spruce Street.
This case is continued, must be heard.
Thank you, Madam Chair, I appreciate it.
Thank you.
Okay, we'll go back to Mr. Anastasio.
I hope he has a response from his IT people.
Calendar number 2256 -4447, Cotman Avenue.
Mr. Anastasio, if you're out there, please raise your hand.
Yes, I just re -promoted him to panelists, Madam Chair.
Thank you.
that was quicker than i thought it was going to be but it's very quick uh thank you i thank you
for the indulgence i'm going to try and try to do this again okay okay thank you
do we see that there it is all right i'm not even going to scroll much you know because i
don't want to lose it. This is really the most important part, I think. Again, my client purchased
this property as a three -family dwelling in August of 2020. It has three separate electric
meters, three separate electric accounts. A view of those bills that I have already submitted to
the board and that are in this exhibit packet indicate that none of the three are being
used as a common area account or have been these are you know full units as you can see I'll zoom
in a little bit here for some reason it's one of those days with technology
Sorry about that. It's got me in some sort of weird. Can't even scroll now. I'm sorry. But nevertheless, there is a rear entrance. This is a walkout basement to a living space, living quarters, and then two bedrooms.
At the front of the house, there's a front porch with separate entrances.
One goes to the first floor unit, and one goes to the second floor unit. And
with that, I'm going to ask my client, Zeebin Tang, to raise his hand so that we can get him on
the record as well. What is your client's name?
Again, Z -Bin Tang, T -A -N -G.
Now we're working.
Okay, great.
Sir, can you put your name on the record and spell your last name?
My name is Mei Tan, M -E -I, last name T -A -N -G. I'm representing my dad.
My name is Mei Tang, M -E -I, last name T -A -N -G.
Okay, and your address?
1013 West Ritner Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 191 -48.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Okay, you may continue, Mr. Anastasio.
Thank you. Ma 'am, did you hear my presentation to the board this morning?
Yes. And was it true and accurate to the best of your knowledge? Yes. And would you adopt it as your own testimony if need be? Yes. And so would your dad. Is that correct? Yes. Okay. And I'm showing a photo right now on the screen that has three separate mailboxes on the property. Yes. Do you see that? Okay. These were here in August of 2020 went upon purchase. Is that correct? Yes. Okay. And we're going to scroll through.
and this is the proper storage for all three units is that right of trash yes okay and this
is the rear entrance to the first of the walkout basement for the first unit is that right yes okay
and they're the three electric meters yes and here's the the date of the deed again is august
2020. All right. Thank you very much. I also have the three separate PICO accounts.
And I, of course, we met with Holmesburg. We mailed out 129 pieces of mail and we have the
tax certification. I did email Holmesburg recently asking for some input, but I did not hear from
them. But it was well attended. And again, we also did a walkthrough. Everyone certainly believed
my client that he came upon this. It was well known that this has been a three -family dwelling
on that block. There's other multi -families on that block as well, including some single -family
homes. And with that, because my client came to this position, unbeknownst to him, it was not a
legal three -family, but there is a variance on file for two -family dwelling that I was
able to find from years ago.
As such, we respectfully request the granting of this variance.
Does the board have any questions?
No, Madam Chair.
Is there anyone in the virtual audience who would like to testify?
I see no further hands, Madam Chair.
And by the way, to the board, thank you very much for sticking with me while I tried to deal with this computer stuff today.
So, thank you.
Sure. Thanks for sticking with us.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Ian Hegarty for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission.
While the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing single -family zoning at this location,
we believe that the applicant has demonstrated long -standing three -family use on this property
and so we don't object to the granting of the variance
calendar number 2256 -4447 cotman avenue my vote is yes
there are there are other three units on the block
there are there are several um multi -families on the block two and three units it's a it's a
it's a pretty good mix and single family homes okay to three units
confessor plaza yes james snell yes thomas holliman yes thank you well have a good uh rest
of your day. Thank you. That concludes, I think, the 930 hearings. If we could just ask the virtual
audience to ensure that we've covered everything. Okay. Is there anyone in the virtual audience who
would like to be heard about any of the cases that were just heard?
i see no hands madam chair thank you jason okay thanks everybody see you guys at
two o 'clock thank you vice chair wow you guys are too okay you as well bye
we're recording
we're recording then you'll let us know when you're ready we're ready chair we're already
live we just ready to go okay thank you good afternoon everyone my name is frank de chico
i'm the chair of the zoning board of adjustment i'll be participating in today's hearing along
with our vice chair ms carol tenere
present present our board secretary mr confessor plaza
present and board member mr thomas halliman
present i understand our other board member mr james snow will be joining us
a little bit later we also have our board administrator
Mr. Jason Hand, and our board attorney, Ms. Rebecca Cole, is in attendance, as is our
zoning board administrator, Ms. Tanya Sumpkin. 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, we'd like to advise everyone that this proceeding is being recorded and that the recording will be made available to the public by contacting or emailing our zoning board administrator, Ms. Tanya Sunkit at Tanya .Sunkit at phila .gov.
at phila .gov. 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 that. 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 will repeat that.
For anyone who would like to enter an appearance statement, call Google 267 -270 -5548 and leave
your email address and the address of the property at issue. I'd also like to remind everyone please
do not attempt to testify in the chat and comments questions or concerns should be directed to our
board administrator today Mr. Jason Hand. With that I will read off a list of requests for
continuances on the two o 'clock list. Case number three, MI 2021 -002 -644 -1701 South 25th Street.
Number four on our list, MI 2021 -002 -825 -2348 West Montgomery Avenue.
Number nine on the two o 'clock list, MI 2021 -002 -826, 2713 West Montgomery Avenue.
Also, as a request by the RCO for continuance on case number 11, MI 2021 -002 -634 -326,
6, Roxborough Avenue, number 12, MI 2021 -002 -824, 400 West Cambria Street, and number 15 on the
list mi 2021 -003 -5121 -824 ron street if anyone disagrees with the request for the continuance
is i have just run into the record please raise your hand at this time if you disagree
with the continuance request that i've just run into the record please raise your hand
Mr. Chair, I see Ms. Rachel Pritzker's hand. I'm raised. I will allow her to speak at this time.
Thank you. Good afternoon, Ms. Pritzker. Please identify yourself with a record.
Rachel R -A -C -H -A -E -L, Pritzker, P -R -I -T -Z -K -E -R, 1635 Market Street, Suite 1600, Philadelphia PA 19103.
And I'm not sure if were you sworn in earlier? If so, you're still under oath.
And I'm not sure if were you sworn in earlier?
If so, you're still under oath.
No, I was not sworn in.
No, I was not.
Okay, so do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Thank you. Please proceed.
So I represent the owner of 326 Roxborough Avenue. I believe the letter was sent in for
continuance by the RCO. However, we've met all the conditions in order to proceed with the case,
specifically meeting with the near neighbors to discuss some issues that they had so we're
well prepared to go forward with this case today and don't believe there's a need for a continuance
okay so that'll get removed we'll hear that case MI 2021 that's 002 -634 -326 Roxborough Avenue
is removed from the continuance list any other concerns or disagreements with the request for
continuances please raise your name mr chair i have a miss marshall woods with her hand raised
that will allow to speak at this time thank you good afternoon miss woods please spell your full
name and i'll swear you in
Ms. Woods, unmute yourself, please.
Yes, this is Martia Woods, M -A -R -T -I -A -Woods, W -O -O -D -S.
you swear or affirm you tell the truth all truth nothing but the truth
yes we're calling regarding 4938 b street yes um nature of your call what would you like us to do
i'm calling to request a variancy i have met with my ward leader and community
are you asking for a continuance
are you asking do you want to go forward with your case yes okay then you'll have to wait
till we get to it all right oh okay yeah we'll get to you at moment not momentarily i don't know
how long it'll take but you're number 12 on our list we'll get to you okay anyone else at this
time I'll ask you if anyone would like to request a continuance or withdrawal on the two o 'clock
list, please raise your hand. If you're requesting a continuance or withdrawal, two o 'clock list,
please raise your hand. Chair, Ms. Celeste Hardister has her hand raised. I won't allow her to speak at
this time. Thank you. Ma 'am, please spell your full name and I'll swear you in. I'm Celeste
c -e -l -e -s -t -e hardester h -a -r -d -e -s -t -e -r and do you swear if I'm to tell the truth the whole
truth nothing but the truth yes I do I believe you appeared before this board yesterday memory
serves me right how can we help you good memory I did indeed I just wanted to say that
for 326 Roxborough Avenue if if it is heard today I will be asking for a continuance today
um okay but that will be in my testimony and miss pritzker asked that we'll go forward
let's wait till we get to that case we may be able to accommodate you in one way okay thank
you we might continue it but we'll get when we get to work we'll talk through it okay thank you
thank you anyone requesting a continuous or withdrawal please raise your hand for the two
o 'clock list? Chair, I have a Pat Warren with their hand raised. I will allow them to speak
at this time. Thank you. Good afternoon. Please spell your full name for the record.
Patrick, P -A -T -R -I -C -K, Warren, W -A -R -R -E -N. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth, nothing but the truth? Yes, I do. In what case are you calling regarding, sir?
i have the number here it's uh 1642 south hollywood street
it's number two mr chair 1542 south hollywood okay and you're calling regarding
this has this has been turned over to the seniors law firm and they told me that i could mention
mention them that they will be looking into this and uh as of monday on the 26th i'm sorry
are you calling for a asking for a continuance yes yes and you you are you a member of the
And you, are you a member of the Grace Ferry Community Council?
Graysbury Community Council.
Yes, I am.
Have you discussed, let's wait till we get to that case.
We'll call Mr. Clinton up, who's the attorney of record, and we'll have that discussion, okay?
Okay, thank you.
Stand by, we'll get back to you.
Anyone else requesting a continuance or withdrawal?
Mr. Chair, one thing I'd like to add.
This is something new. And this is for everyone. If you are an LLC, an LLP, or a religious organization, you must be represented by an attorney. If not, we will not hear your case.
Thank you. One more time. Any requests for continuances or withdrawals?
Chair, there was a hand up, but it has since gone down, and I do not see any further hands.
Thank you, Jason. Okay, with that, we can proceed to case number one, MI 2021 -002 -649 -1547 South 19th Street.
Rachel Pritzker is the attorney of record. Point Breeze Community Development Coalition sent a letter of support.
Good afternoon, Ms. Pritzker. Again, please identify yourself with the record, and I remind you you're still on the earth.
It appears as though it's Brandon Safran.
Oh, okay. I have Pritzker on mine. Brandon?
Yep, I'm subbing it for this one.
Okay, just spell your full name, and I'll swear you, have you been sworn in already today?
No, no, I wasn't on this morning.
Okay, so spell your full name, and I'll swear you.
um b -r -a -n -d -o -n uh last name is s as in sam a v as in victor r -a -n do you swear or firmly
tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do okay uh vice chair madam uh tenere
has some questions for you do you agree to wait the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its
accuracy yes i do have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership tax compliance
a copy of the refusal referral photos and or plans of the property five days in advance of
this hearing and have you met with the RCO and do you have a letter yes I do and as mentioned
we have a letter of support okay great you may proceed okay thank you I'm going to share my
screen here so the property in question is 1547 South 19th this is just north of the corner of
19th and Tasker. It is one in from the corner. And what we're here to ask for is a variance that
will allow two unit use, duplex use, as we are aiming to convert the downstairs vacant commercial
unit into a residential unit. The upstairs floor is already a residential unit. So that is what
is reflected on the refusal. The refusal is for duplex use in the RSA 5 district.
And just to show you the zoning map, it's generally RSA 5 in this area, the corner properties
or CMX 1. So very brief history. This was registered, this downstairs space is a hair
salon for a very long time. It was purchased by my client, Caitlin Jones, about a year and a half
ago, the building. She is under the impression from the seller that the hair studio closed in
2018. She actively attempted to lease out that space to some sort of commercial or office
enterprise after her purchase and was unsuccessful. Really, the hardship at this point is that
given that that space has been vacant, perhaps over three years or approaching three years,
That's the lapse period for its use permit. So if she was now to secure a commercial tenant,
she would have to identify what that tenant's use would be and then take them through the
variance process, which makes leasing the space very unattractive. So we went to Point Breeze CDC
with our appeal here, obtained a letter of support from that organization after our meeting.
Caitlin also walked the block. All credit to her here, I think secured maybe a half dozen
letters of support from folks on the block. So the reaction to this was generally pretty positive.
And I think really beyond that, I do have floor plans here. And the architect who made them,
And the architect who made them will leave it to the board if you'd like me to bring her on to talk through them.
We'll leave it to the board if you'd like me.
If not, I can quickly show you them myself, whatever would be best.
Yeah, let's let's you go through them. And if we have any questions, myself and the board members will stop it.
OK, sure. So I'm just going to do my really amateur job here.
But basically, there are no changes to the upstairs unit proposed.
this is a uh that's actually the basement so here is what's proposed for the uh the ground floor
that's changing so they actually do the two units have separate doorways already and that will be
maintained um they're going to be installing uh caitlin that is a kitchen um in towards the front
of the space there will be um a bathroom here two bedrooms um there is sort of like a i call it a
reverse breezeway that will allow the bathroom sort of at the midpoint of the building to have
direct emergency egress into the rear yard there is more formal egress from the rear bedroom into
the rear yard um you know that's that's really the extent of the project again the upstairs is not
changing okay thank you any questions from the board no mr chairman and mr chair no okay
Okay, Brandon, if you could, do you have your client available to adopt your testimony?
Yes, she should be on.
Caitlin Jones is her name.
Ms. Jones, whenever you get on, please spell your full name, and I will swear you in.
Hi, this is Caitlin, K -A -I -T -L -Y -N, last name Jones, J -O -N -E -S.
And do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Thank you.
Mr. Sovereign?
Hi, Caitlin. Were you able to hear the entirety of my testimony just now?
I was.
Okay. And would you agree that it was true and accurate?
And would you agree to adopt it as your own testimony?
Okay. Thanks very much.
Would anyone, is there anyone who would like to testify in this case? If so, please raise your hand.
I'll answer, Chair.
Thank you. Planning Commission.
Good afternoon. David Fecto, F -E -C -T -E -A -U, with the City Planning Commission.
Were you sworn in earlier?
No, sir, I was not, but thank you for checking.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir, I do.
Thank you. Please proceed.
All right. Thank you, sir.
Mr. Chairman, members of the board, the comprehensive plan recommends no change in the residential single -family zoning at this location.
the applicant has demonstrated a hardship exists that would prevent further commercial use of the property.
We recommend that the board support the requested use variance.
Thank you. MI 2021 -0026491547 South 19th Street, my vote is yes.
Carrollton, my vote is yes.
Confessor Plaza, my vote is yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Okay, thank you, James.
Let the record reflect that Mr. Snell, a board member, is present.
Case number two, MI 2021 -002, 626 -1542 South Hollywood Street.
Henry Clinton is the attorney of record.
Grace Ferry Community Council sent a letter of support,
but we did have a gentleman who has Mr. Clinton there before I go any further.
He's been promoted to panelist, sir. Mr. Clinton, please identify yourself. I'll swear you in.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman and members of the board. Henry Clinton, Queen Memorial Building,
1313 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia PA, 19146. And do you swear if I'm to tell the truth,
the whole truth, nothing but the truth? I do. There was a gentleman on earlier whose name
my escape to me at the moment i don't know if you heard his uh request uh asking for a continuance
did you hear that yes i did yes i did mr charner i was mr pat warren i believe he did participate
in the community meeting uh and we have a letter of support from the grace very community council
so we're ready to proceed okay so we'll move forward with the case and mr warren will have
Mr. Warren will have an opportunity to express his concerns about this application.
So our Vice Chair, Ms. Denary, has questions for you.
Hi, Mr. Clinton.
Do you agree to wait the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership tax compliance, refusal referral, photos under plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing, and have you met with the RCO, and do you have a letter?
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership tax compliance, refusal...
Yes, to all of you, Bob.
Okay, great. You may proceed.
Is that visible enough?
uh yeah you got a lot of other stuff going on behind the uh there you go that's good thank you
okay uh thank you mr chairman good afternoon mr chairman members of the board henry clinton for
the applicant uh hillock acquisitions mr george hillock is on the call as well as the architect
derrick spencer should we need his input this is my exhibit package containing table of contents
AA through A10 appearance statement. This is the refusal. So this is a commercial property,
generally commercial property on the corner of Hollywood and Teaster Street, right across from
Lanier Park, which is now a dog park and an exercise park. CMX2 requires, as the board knows,
commercial on the first and the permitted to have two units above. My client feels that the
commercial establishment in this area right now will not be a viable situation and I can show you
right at the corner of 29th and Tasker there's a long vacant commercial establishment at least
seven to eight years and that because a dog park is right across the street the area is becoming
more in tune with residential rather than commercial and also the board may recall down
the street, St. Gabriel's Convent, about two years ago, I was before the board, and that was converted
to residential. And then about a year ago, on the 1600 block of 29th Street, I was before the board
with regard to a garage and a CA1 zoning district. And that area was approved for 10 single family
homes. So in keeping with the trend that commercial and industrial is really not working, and this
property is surrounded by a dog park, residential seems the ideal way to go. And we're not asking
for a switch out of the commercial in the first floor with two units above. We're asking for each
parcel, just two residential units. So we don't feel that it is an overuse of the property in any
way. We met with the Graysbury Community Council, and here is their letter of support, supporting
the project. These are just aerial photographs to give the board some perspective. This was a long
time ago a printing establishment called BARNA, B -A -R -N -A, printing establishment. Recently it's
been used as a site to ship out packages like tasty cakes and pretzels to people throughout
the country, but the business really hasn't been that successful. And the owners, the Hillock
family actually grew up on this block and they still own property on the 1500 block of South
Hollywood Street. So they are trying to improve the neighborhood by demolishing this one -story
commercial establishment and then using the open area here to put some nice residential units on
the block. Again, another perspective, this is the convent I was talking to you about,
which is now all residential. And if I can go back to the prior photograph, this is at the corner of
29th and Tasker, used to be Tasker Cavern. It's been vacant for at least eight to 10 years,
has been purchased by new owners, but right now they're trying to determine what they're going
to do, either make it residential or commercial. But it's just an indication that commercial is
really difficult in the area. And right down here in the lower right -hand corner, this was the
former garage that I talked to you about, which has been approved for 10 residential units.
These are proof of the postings of the notices.
These are the plans.
So a little bit more perspective for the board.
Barner printing takes up the whole block, maybe a quarter of the block.
And this last parcel down here happens to be RSA five.
Everything else is CMX two.
And so what we're doing, we're asked that all these individuals,
lot parcels be consolidated into one
and that the proposed project be built upon it.
Again, just some more perspectives for you.
This is looking east.
This is the vacant commercial building here.
And this is looking north on Hollywood Street.
And this is what I was saying to the board is 1544 encompasses from this dotted line down to Tasker Street.
And 1542 is an RSA -5.
But everything is going to be combined for this project into one parcel.
into one parcel these are just some other perspective photographs so this is a site
These are just some other perspectives.
plan of the property again indicating there's going to be six structures each structure will have
two units in it the height is 35 feet and change just wanted to show if this was a
like a buy right project we could do a single family home on the one 1544 to the 1542 and then
we could have four mixed use commercial buildings two units in a commercial which would bring our
total unit count to 13 and what we're asking the board for is actually a 12 unit count
I can go through the floor plans but I wanted to show you the renderings
uh it's a pretty rich uh facade you can see there's a lot of use of brick there's corbelling
at the top at the bottom there's also a corbel brick here there's brick columns separating each
of the units with limestone at the bottom this is the perspective if you happen to be in the
dog park looking across the street this would be the corner unit that's the largest of the
of the 6th. And these are all duplexes, which continue down north on Hollywood Street.
Again, some just some more perspectives. I can go back to the floor plan in a minute,
but the rest of the documents are the pro forma documents that you would see in any presentation
are tax certification, proof of mailing, and notification to all the neighbors.
In terms of the floor plan, again, we're asking for two units.
First and second floor will be one unit.
Second and third floor will be another unit.
And then there will be a rooftop deck on six of the units.
So that floor plan basically plays out over the six duplexes.
And they're all a little bit the same except for the one on the corner.
So I don't know if the board has any questions of me or of my client.
that my client is on the call i also have the architect who's here to answer any questions from
the board or any members of the community henry let's get your client to adopt your testimony
and then i'll ask the board if they have any questions or mr hillock can you raise your hand
for the administrator
Hello. Hi, sir. Can you spell your full name?
My name is George Hillock, G -E -O -R -G -E -H -I -L -L -O -C -K.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Thank you, Mr. Clinton.
Good afternoon, Mr. Hillock. How are you today?
Good. How are you doing?
Good. And you were on the call when I presented the project?
Yes, I was.
And if you had the opportunity to testify, would you adopt my testimony as your own and as true and correct?
yes i would all right thank you mr lock i appreciate it thank you any questions from the
board no no mr chair no anyone else would like to testify in this case please raise your hand
here we have a carmine zulli with the hand raised i will allow them to speak this time sir thank you
carmine unmute yourself please
hi this is carmine zulli spelled c -a -r -m -i -n -e -z -u -l -l -i
are firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes thank you i will uh i would humbly make a request to have mr warren speak prior to i
if that's possible yes okay i'll raise my hand again thank you mr warren please raise your hand
i'm allowed to speak
uh thank you for allowing me to speak which i haven't been able to do before
first of all with carmine i called you twice to let you know that i had over 20 properties
20 houses so we could make some kind of vote with this zoom thing and i was never
never returned my calls and i went around the gregs ferry community council several times
no one was there. Mr. Warren, if you can speak to the issues of why you're either supported or
not supporting this project. I'm not in support of it for one main reason. The properties are
two stories and they're over 100 years old. They could not handle the stress of a large building
of a large building that is uh that they're rendering and i know because i work for the
that they're rendering.
border vision of taxes for 30 years and i live at 1540 south hollywood street mr clinton what
is the height of the proposed project uh 35 feet and change so mr warren so you understand if you
don't already know uh by right you can build in the city of philadelphia 38 feet so they're
actually three feet below what they have a buy right to build well i'm not aware of that i'm
just aware that how many of my neighbors on the block are against it parking is bad enough as it
is okay anything else and yes and uh the law firm uh the seniors law firm uh will be getting
involved with this because i had spoken to them and they asked me uh whatever has to be done they
will be appealing it okay so pardon i said okay we understand that but i just want to remind you
that you can build in the city of Philadelphia
to 38 feet as a by right.
I'm sure you may have other issues,
but as it relates to the height,
there is no issue because you're actually -
Oh no, I have no problem with that.
I have a problem.
I have a problem with changing,
what is it, 1542 to other than a residential dwelling.
That should not be changed.
Well, it's going to be multifamily.
What was that?
It's going to remain residential.
Oh, okay.
All right.
Anyone else who would like to testify in this case, please raise your hand.
We have a Mr. Brian Yoak with his hand raised.
I will allow him to speak at this time, sir.
I'm sorry.
We were anticipating Mr. Carmine to go next.
Thank you, Tonya.
Hi, this is Carmine Zouly.
Thank you, Carmine.
You're sworn in.
Please proceed.
I would just like to add for the record that we did host a community meeting via Zoom.
All required notices were sent by the applicant.
In addition, there were public notices posted to social media, and all participating applicants
were given the right to vote.
there was a question that came to me before this meeting that that might be in question
i just want to stay for the record that we hosted the meeting and the vote was taken
thank you appreciate it you're welcome anyone else to testify in this case
mr yoak has his hands has his hand raised good afternoon sir please spell your full name and
I'll swear you in.
Mr. O 'Brien, if you have two devices on, could you turn one off, please, or the volume all the way down?
we're getting feedback
and then you can attempt to
come forward and testify
we good? yes
all right
spell your full name and I'll swear you in
E -R -I -A -N
Y -O -A -K
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
Please proceed, sir.
I mean, I got two concerns about this project.
I believe that it is too dense for the residential street.
And also, I got a real concern about the foundation of my property when they start digging next to me.
um and also and also drilling through a cement pad who knows how thick that is and all the
vibrations that it's going to do to my property i just think it's too dense of a project but
regardless of whether this application gets approved or not if someone were to put a single
family home there is going to require excavation and there's ways of well assuring that your
property should it get damaged uh the the developer would have to have some responsibility
so you would take photographs of your property inside and out prior to any
construction well how can you how can you take photographs of inside my property when my property
construction well how can you how can you take photographs of inside my property when my property
is is drywall you can't see the the brick wall
you can see well there are ways that which it can be done
so is anyone else to testify in this case
no further answer mr chair thank you uh planning commission
Good afternoon. David Fecto, City Planning Commission. Mr. Chairman, members of the board,
the comprehensive plan recommends no change in the residential and the commercial mixed -use
zoning for these lots. The proposed 801 -square -foot lots are in keeping with the lots on the rest of
South Hollywood Street, which range from 600 to 700 square feet. We recommend the board approve
the subdivision. The applicant has demonstrated that commercial use is not viable at the corner
of Hollywood and Tasker, we recommend that the board approve the requested use variance.
Well, thank you. MI 2021 -002, 626, 1542 South Hollywood Street, my vote is yes.
Harold Tennerin, my vote is yes.
Professor Plaza, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Thomas Harleman, my vote is yes.
Thank you. Case number five.
We've got some feedback out there.
New message is received.
Case number five, MI 2021 -002, 653 -250 South 11th Street.
I don't know if it's Rachel Pritzker or is it Brandon Sovran or the attorneys of record.
uh rebecca have we received a letter from the rco wash square west
my notes indicate there was no letter received yet i have that same notation we do have a letter
and it's in support okay and i'll go further to say that councilman schooler sent a letter of
non -opposition and he refers to the rco letter which is in non -opposition attorney harry cook
represents a group of near neighbors who entered into an agreement with the applicant
and based on the agreement support the proposal. Having said that, Rachel, you've already been
sworn in. Please identify yourself and the vice chair will have questions for you.
Sure. Rachel, R -A -C -H -A -E -L, Pritzker, P -R -I -T -Z -K -E -R, 1635 Market Street, Suite 1600,
Philadelphia PA 19103. Ms. Denary. Hi, Rachel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal
and stipulate to its accuracy? Yes. Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership,
tax compliance, refusal or referral, photos and or plans of the property five days in advance of
this hearing and have you met with the RCO and do you have a letter? Yes. You may proceed.
Okay, so this is 250 South 11th Street. As you can see from the refusal, this project
proposes the erection of a roof deck and roof deck access structure above an existing third
floor as part of an existing attached structure, uses for prepared food shop and takeout restaurant
and sit -down restaurant at first floor and multifamily household living for four dwelling
units from a second floor through the third floors. Basically, this property zone, CMX
One, it is the only mid -block street -to -street property, and most of the refusals were generated
because CMX 1 requires that the property take on the most restrictive residential classification
in this case, which is RSA 5.
At this property bin, one or two properties over, we probably wouldn't have generated
most refusals. And I think that CMX -1 sometimes does not contemplate size or shape of buildings.
Again, this is a large street -to -street property proposing four dwelling units and use as
take -out restaurant, sit -down restaurant, and prepared food shop. Most of the properties
directly adjacent are also CMX -1 and have similar uses and have obtained variances for similar uses.
So our proposal is not out of character with their surrounding block or the adjacent properties of similar size or not similar size, smaller, but similar use.
So as you can see on the screen, this is our property. It's this large street to street parcel in the middle of 11th Street.
And as you can see, it's just directly adjacent by one property to RSA 5, although our property is, again, the largest and the only mid block street to street.
although our property is, again, the largest and the only mid -block street -to -street property.
As you can see, it's an existing structure, takes up almost 100 % lot coverage,
and if we were required to utilize the CMX1 standards, we'd be limited significantly on a
viable ground floor commercial use, so not only that, we'd only be permitted one dwelling unit
above in a 2 ,000 -square -foot building, or over 2 ,000 -square -foot, the land's 2 ,000 -square -feet.
As you can see, this is the building. It's quite large and quite wide, and it's nicely set up to
have a commercial use on the ground floor, which is what we're proposing. Additionally, as you can
see, there's other directly adjacent food -related restaurants next door, despite RSA 5 or CMX 1
zoning classifications. I'm going to go down to we met with the Washington Square West Civic
Association on August 24th and also had subsequent meetings with them and the near neighbors and we
have a letter of non -opposition with provisos that we are happy to enter into and also have
a letter of non -opposition from the directly adjacent neighbors. The provisos we agreed to
is that the ground floor shall be limited to no smoke producing cooking. We are planning to have
a bubble tea shop, so that was fine. The roof deck and pilot house should be located as per
the revised plans to be submitted today. I believe after I'm through our architect, Jonathan Brough,
we'll go through the plans and provided revised plans to the board. No venting on the Jessup
Street side of the property nor onto any neighbor's property. Accepted emergency is no ingress,
egress or access of any kind for tenants through any door located on jessup street all ingress
egress or access of any kind to the apartments and the property is from 11th street side and
none of the four apartments shall be used or sublet by any tenant as an airbnb or similar
service or a short -term rental and then a proviso about trash that all commercial and residential
trash is stored in covered receptacles with all containers stored in the interior of the building
and taken out through the building onto the 11th street side to be emptied there's no trash or
recycling to be placed on Jessup Street and the owner should keep it out of public view and no
time shall trash be placed on Jessup Street side of the proposed building sidewalk. We have our
certificate of mailing and I have the memo of law which is included in the packet but I won't go
into. I'm happy to take questions or if I can bring on Jonathan Brough to go through the plans
for the project um that would be great let's bring on jonathan okay let's bring him on
jonathan if you can raise your hand rose been allowed to speak
good afternoon sir please spell your full name for the record so i'll swear you in uh can you
me yes okay my name is jonathan bro the jkp architects address is 1043 lombard street
you spell your name please oh that's b -r -o -h excuse me you swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth nothing but the truth i do thank you miss pritzker uh jonathan are you able to
share your screen and just go through the plans yes and just one thing for the record um i'm an
architect at JKRP Architects. I am also the chair of the Zoning Committee of the Washington Square
West Civic Association. I recused myself from the Washington Square Civic Association and had no
part of that discussion from that point of view, so I just wanted that entered into record.
Jonathan, could you hold one moment? Yes. Could we promote him to panelists, please,
so he can share his screen? Thank you kindly. At once. And Jonathan, if you can just slow down
a little bit that would be helpful here you might want to repeat that he was in between coming in
and coming going out and coming back in here okay okay can you hear me now is this better
mr bro yeah we can hear you just if you can slow it slow down
a little bit helpful i will do that sorry about that no no it's for the court reporter's benefit
Okay. If everyone can see my screen, these are the floor plans for the building.
To the left is 11th Street. On the ground floor, you can see the proposed retail space, which has trash storage along the rear.
On the right side is Jessup Street. There will be stairs off the lobby off of 11th Street, which gets you to the second floor.
Along the second floor, there will be two one -bedroom units.
From there, it continues up to the third floor,
where there will be an additional two one -bedroom units.
where there'll be an additional two one bedroom units there's small trash storage
There is small trash storage.
for the residences on each floor plan you then continue up to the roof level at the roof level
i'm going to enter from a pilot house entering on the east side of the pilot house there is a
roof deck 10 feet off of 11th street um per discussions with the neighbors this roof deck
will have a six foot high fence with sound attenuation or acoustic padding on the south
and west sides to help attenuate sound for the near neighbors and uh this plan as shown right
here is identical in dimensions to the zoning plan i can zoom in right here which was resubmitted
yesterday thank you and is it uh two pages uh revised plans jonathan are there two pages of
architectural plans the zoning plan is only a single sheet one page yeah one page okay okay
any questions from the board no mr chair no no uh rachel do you want to have your
client about your testimony uh yes please if there is a uh tommy chan or christina chan um they're
the owners. Yes. Yes, sir. Please spell your full name. Thomas Chan, T -H -O -M -A -S -C -H -A -N.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth? Yes. Thank you.
Ms. Pritzker? Tom, have you heard my statements today in front of the board? Do you believe them
to be true and accurate and do you adopt them as your own yes thank you thank you anyone else
to testify in this case if so please raise your hand harry cook has his hand raised i
will allow him to speak at this time sir thank you mr cook good afternoon mr chair i swear you in
Harry Cook, H -A -R -R -Y -C -O -O -K, Anastasio Law, on behalf of the Near Neighbors Coalition.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Thank you. Please proceed.
I just want to confirm with Mr. Burrow that the plans presented today are substantively identical to the plans that are annexed in the Near Neighbors Agreement.
they appear to be, I just want to get confirmation on the record.
Yeah, that is absolutely correct.
The zoning plan has no difference.
And the roof plan was only modified so the dimensions of the architectural features on this roof plan match the architectural features on the zoning plan.
So they are substitutively the same.
Thank you.
No further questions.
Thank you.
Anyone else to testify in this case?
no further hands sir thank you planning commission good afternoon mr chairman board members david
effecto city planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change in the single family
and commercial oh wait i'm sorry let me revise that the comprehensive plan recommends no change
in the commercial mixed use zoning at this block there are multiple prepared food restaurants on
this block the unit count is limited for this parcel because it abuts a single family zoning
district however multi -family use is consistent with development on the block we recommend that
the board approve the requested variances thank you mi 2021 -002 653 250 south 11th street
my vote is yes with the proviso revised plan one page approved today
Harold Tenere, my word is yes, provisor.
Professor Plaza, yes, with provisor.
James Snell, yes, with provisor.
Thomas Holloman, yes, with provisor.
Thank you.
I believe there's a combined case 6 and 7, MI 2021 -002 -645, 2600 Reed Street, R -E -E -D Street,
and MI 2021 -002 -822 -2602 -3D Street.
Mr. Nockamson is the attorney of record.
Grace Ferry Community Council sent a letter of support.
So is it Mr. Nockamson or is Ms. Amazon?
Ms. Amazon, sir.
She will be the analyst.
So Ms. Amazon, I'm not sure if you were on earlier today.
So, Ms. Amazon, I'm not sure if you were on earlier today.
Please identify yourself.
Please identify yourself, and I'll swear you in.
Good afternoon, Chairman of Comente Amazon, C -L -E -M -E -M -T -A.
Last name is A -M -A -Z -A -N, 123, 123 South Far Street, Suite 1600, 19109.
I got ahead of myself.
I'm sorry.
You swear if I'm going to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
And I assume you want to combine these cases, correct?
I would like to do them both at once.
Thank you.
Ms. Tenere has questions for you.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy on both?
Yes, I do.
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, a copy of the refusal or referral, photos and plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing?
And have you met with the RCO and do you have letters for both?
Yes, and we have a lot of support for both properties.
Thank you. That's reflected here, too.
You may create.
Thank you.
Can everyone see my screen?
Perfect.
So I will be presenting 2600 and 2602 Reed Street.
They are two separate lots.
One property is zoned as CMX1, specifically 2600 Reed Street,
and 2602 Street is zoned as RSA 5. We have the same request for both properties. We are simply
looking to have a duplex in each lot. We met with the community on September 30th. They indicated
that they were in support of this project. They do think that it's inappropriate to have commercial
use on this block. It is a fully residential block. They want to maintain that fully residential feel,
so we're really creating a design that's in line with the community's needs. I will go through the
notices of refusal.
Again, we do have a letter of support
from Grace Ferry Community Council, maps of the area,
photographs of the property, our proposed plans and drawings.
Again, it's identical for each lot.
The notice that we sent out for that September 30th meeting,
the application for appeal, the deeds for each property,
and our certificate of tax clearance.
So as I mentioned before, 2600 B Street is zoned to CMX 1.
We are making that identical request here.
We are just looking to have a duplex.
And 2602 Reed Street is zoned as RSA 5. We're looking to have a duplex here as well. What we're asking for is an out -of -source for this block. Previously, a duplex was granted for 2645 Reed Street as well as 2651 Reed Street. They are both on the same block of comparable size, so this isn't a request that is out -of -source in any way. Again, it's a fully residential block.
we would like to maintain it as residential so we did garner the community support for this project
or for both projects so here again similar maps which you saw previously for both lots
here we have a view of the front of the properties
reese street view from the right reese street from the left and then a view from south 26th street
our elevations as well as the site plan again we are looking for a duplex for each property
They will be bi -level units. Unit one would be a one bedroom, one bath. Unit two, which would be taking the second and third floor, would be three bedrooms and two baths.
Identical design for 2602 Reed Street.
We did send out notice for the community meeting that was held on September 30th.
Again, we did receive support and we sent out a separate notice for each lot.
So here we have the notice that was sent out for 2602 Reed Street and the properties that were identified as being affected by the city.
And we sent out that certificate of mailing two weeks prior to the community meeting date.
And here we have our application for appeal for 2600 Reed Street.
again this property cmx1 we're looking for a duplex the community wants fully residential use
our project information form application for appeal and 2602 reed street this property is
owned a single family what we're asking for isn't out of sorts here because there are other lots of
similar size that are also multi -family project information form as well as the deeds for the
property so with that if i could have my client joe out of seven excuse me gazi out of seven
um raise his hand i will have him accept my testimony
been allowed to speak please tell me your full name and i'll swear you in yes good afternoon
everyone my name is gazi g -a -z -i last name is a -t -a -s -e -v -e -n r -a -7 24 24 east york
Philadelphia.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do, sir.
Okay, Ms. Hamidon.
So, did you hear my presentation today?
Yes, I heard that.
And was it true and correct?
yes and would you adopt it as your own testimony absolutely thank you thank you any questions from
And would you adopt it as your own testimony?
Absolutely.
Thank you.
the board no mr chair no no anyone else would like to testify in this case please raise your hand
i'll hand it this time mr chair thank you planning commission good afternoon david
vecto city planning commission mr chairman board members the comprehensive plan recommends no
change to the single -family residential zoning and the commercial mixed -use zoning at these two
properties. 2600 Reed is a 1 ,007 square foot lot, and 2602 Reed is an 862 square foot lot.
There is nothing unique about these lots that would prevent them from being used in conformance
with the zoning code. We are aware of three legal multifamily units at the western end of the block,
but the remaining homes on the block are single -family. Two building permits for new single -family
homes were issued in August and September of 2021. We recommend that the board deny the requested use
variances for each property. So these already were approved for singles right you said?
It looks like Mr. Chairman there were two on the block very nearby that were approved for singles
this year. Chairman if I may I would just point out that there's also three multi -family on this
black as well. Yeah, I'm somewhat familiar. I believe they already began excavation in this
property. We drive by there occasionally. All right. MI 2021, that's 002645, 2600 Reed, and MI 2021,
That's 002822, 2602 Reed Street.
My vote is yes to vote.
Earl Tenere, my vote is yes to vote.
Professor Plaza, yes to vote.
James Nell, yes to vote.
Thomas Hallamann, yes to vote.
Thank you.
We'll go to case number 8, MI 2021 -002823, 2615 Tulip Street.
I believe it may be Ms. Amazon again.
According to my record, my notes,
Old Richmond Civic Association did not reach an agreement.
However, Councilman Mark Squillis submitted a letter saying,
quote, I respectfully leave the decision to the board.
Ms. Amazon, will you be presenting this case?
I believe it's Mr. Nothamson, sir.
Oh, Mr. Nothamson.
uh good afternoon mr chair members of the board alan were you on earlier today i was not
okay uh please play your full name uh alan a -l -a -n last name knockamson n -o -c -h -u -m -s -o -r
do you swear if i'm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
i do vice chair mr nary has questions for you hi alan do you agree to waive reading the
refusal and stipulate to its accuracy? I do. Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of
ownership, tax compliance, refusal, referral, photos, and or plans of the property? And have
you done this five days in advance of this hearing? Have you met with the RCO? And do you have a
letter? Yeah, yes, we do in all respects. Okay, you may proceed. All right, may I share my screen?
Yes, you may.
All right.
So I'm here to present 2615 Tulip Street.
And this is a corner property at the corner of Tulip and East Herald in the Old Richmond section of Philadelphia.
So in our presentation materials, you will see the notice of refusal, correspondence from Old Richmond Civic Association,
correspondence from council member Mark F. Squilla, as well as a petition that we circulated to
members of the community on the 2 ,600 block of Tulip, as well as the 2 ,500 block of Tulip Street,
as well as letters of support from those same neighbors. So our notice of refusal, this is a
pretty straightforward project. This is an RSA 5 property, but it's a corner property of significant
in size. And because of that, we're looking to put a two -unit condominium building. You'll see
in our presentation materials that there will be a separate entrance for each unit, one on Harold
Street and one on Tolick Street. It's not uncommon to have these corner properties as multi -unit.
I've been in front of this board on many occasions in that respect. The opportunity that one has with
a corner property like this, where you have a two -unit, you can have one of the entrances
on one side and one on the other, as well as the fact that each of the units will have access to
the rear yards for garbage storage as well. But as you'll note,
for garbage storage as well but as you'll note there are no dimensional refusals here we're not
trying to overuse the property we're trying to have responsible use of the property as a two
unit condominium building you'll see then next a letter from old richmond civic association
it was not a well -attended meeting only eight individuals attended it was a split vote i will
say this that there was connectivity issues because we really did do a lot of community
outreach here especially our nearby neighbor you'll see 2613 Tulip Street and across the street
on Tulip Street we really reached out to them to get you know an understanding of what their
position would be and it was support and my understanding is a lot of individuals had issues
to connect in but even with then it was still a split vote and I think that's why the community
group didn't take a position because of the split vote uh and the counts but you'll see from the
petition itself uh we have a significant amount of people on the 2600 block again specifically
next door to us across the street from us and a number of members in the 2600 block of tulo street
who are in support of this project as you can see by the petition as well as the letters of support
for each one you'll see maps of the area you'll see that we're in the corner of tulip and east
harrell street again in the old richmond section of philadelphia you'll see this from a google map
perspective as well and then photographs of the property again we're just a corner property
we wanted to match the scope of the area as well so we kept the height of the buildings
rather low or of our building our building is only going to be 33 feet
nine inches to kind of match the height of what's around there
but you can see that it's not uncommon to have multi -family in as an rsa5 property in close
proximity. There's 2315 East Huntington as well as 2201 East Huntington. And then there are plans
and drawings. We really try to keep it like in character with the neighborhood. We had a brick
facade. We tried to refrain from having bay windows. We do have some nice stonework on the
bottom to kind of give it a nice rich feel, window boxes. But the most importantly, you'll see there
separate entrances for each of the units with a brick facade obviously and then you'll see that
you know these are bi -level units unit number one is a one bedroom one bath first floor and
lower level and unit number two is on the second and third floor three bedroom two bath and then
just get taking pictures of like what this developer does I have the owner's representative
of this development group, Keith Aliotts.
But they really do try to give a nice product
at affordable rates.
So this is just an example of another project
that this group has done in Philadelphia.
Mr. Aliotts is part of a family -owned business
that's been in the real estate industry
for well over a generation.
So you just see like their work product.
And this is obviously just this marketing materials
for other projects similar type of projects they've done they really focus on doing like
these condominium buildings of two to three units more boutique giving people the ability to afford
something in the neighborhood in a way that makes sense and then just our hearing notice
on a community meeting notice.
Again, we had our community meeting
September 9th at 7 p .m.
We sent the notice to 223 addresses.
Even given the amount of addresses we sent it to,
there were only eight individuals
that were able to connect.
Because of those connectivity issues,
we made sure that we showed you the outreach,
the community outreach and support we have.
next door neighbor across the street many many neighbors on the 2600 block and 2500 block of
tulip street the people who would be most impacted are in support of this project
our application for appeal with the zoning board
deed to the property showing 2615 tulip street llc owns the property
and our certificate of tax clearance showing that my client's a good standing with respect to that
property. With that being said, I would ask that Mr. Aliats virtually raises his hand to adopt
virtually raises his hand to adopt my testimony and i also have logan dry the architect
my testimony. And I also have Logan Dry, the architect.
if the board needs any questions answered regarding technical aspects of this project so mr aliax
i'm out to speak good afternoon sir please spell your full name
uh keith uh keith can you uh speak
uh mr chair in interest of the courts uh will stipulate your client would have adopted your
testimony that's right questions from the board no mr chairman no no no
Would anyone else like to testify in this case? If so, please raise your hand.
Mr. Michael Byrne has his hand raised. I will allow him to speak at this time, sir. Thank you.
Hi, how are you? My name is Michael Byrne, 2520 A Street. I saw the plans for the project.
Mr. Byrne, please spell your last name.
B -Y -R -N -E.
and you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
i do thank you please proceed um yeah i'm an owner at 25 20 a street in the one nine one two
five uh i saw the plans for the project uh and i am in support um i think it'll be good for
the neighborhood thank you very much anyone else to testify
no further hand sir thank you planning commission
Good afternoon, Dave Defecto, City Planning Commission, Mr. Chairman, members of the Board.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the single -family residential zoning at this location.
This is an 1111 -square -foot lot.
There is nothing unique about this lot that would prevent it from being used in conformance with the zoning code.
This is a single -family block with two new single -family homes having received building permits in August of 2021.
We recommend that the Board deny the requested -use variance.
Alan, this is a corner property, correct?
That is correct. That is correct. And it has two separate entrances as such.
All right. I just, I'm going to, I thought I saw that. I want to double check. All right.
MI 2021 -002 -823 -26152. My vote is yes.
Carol Tenere, my vote is yes.
Confessor Plaza, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Thomas Holliman, my vote is no.
Thank you.
thank you uh regarding case number 10 mi 2021 that's 002 623 3025 jfk boulevard
meredith ferlinger is the attorney of record calenton village civic sent a letter of support
Good afternoon. Could you also add Darwin Beauvais as a panelist?
Okay, Mr. Beauvais, I'm sorry.
Sorry.
Meredith, have you been sworn in yet today?
Meredith Berliger, F -E -R -L -E -G -E -R, 1500 Market Street, Suite 3500E, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
You swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
And Darwin, if you want to do the same as well.
I swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
And would you please spell your full name, sir?
First name Darwin, D -A -R -W -I -N.
Last name Beauvais, that's B as in boy, E -A -U -V as in victory, A -I -S as in sand.
And I heard every word you and the secretary said prior to me.
Won't you hurt us? That's all that matters.
Vice Chair, Ms. Tenere has some questions.
hi uh do you also do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its
accuracy yes um am i asking darwin the same no no just me okay have you emailed the exhibit packet
with proof of ownership tax compliance refusal referral photos and or plans of the property
refusal referral photos and or plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing
five days in advance of this hearing
and have you met with the rco and do you have a letter yes to all of the above you may proceed
thank you uh good afternoon mr chairman members of the board again my name is meredith furliger
i'm here with my partner darwin beauvais and we are here today representing brandywine realty trust
and we also have chris franklin who's vice president of development for brandywine on the
line should the board have any questions we do also have adam hayes with hdr architecture if
there's any technical questions so before the board today is a proposal for a very slight modification
to the underground parking garage that will serve the under construction project at 3025 jfk boulevard
this project is the first tower to be built as a part of the transformational schuylkill yards
project in west philadelphia in exhibits 10 and 11 which i have up on the screen right now
you can see that this property before you today sits just west of 30th street station i'll bring
up the full aerial so you see 30th street station is here this is the bulletin building with the
newly constructed public park in front of it, and then 3025 JFK is just west of the CSX lines here.
The property itself is zoned CMX -5. Now, as you can see from the permits at Exhibit 14,
this project was approved by Wright back in 2019 and was subsequently amended in 2020.
The multi -use tower will include 326 residential units, office space, and ground floor retailing commercial space.
Construction has just gotten underway several months past.
Now, at issue before you today is a very slight layout and functionality change to the underground parking that the design team has determined will ensure the most efficient and safe operation of the garage.
the change is very minor. If you take a look at exhibit eight which I have up on the screen now
you can see how the garage was originally laid out in the application that was approved several
years ago. It contained two stories of parking with 98 spaces. Those spaces included self -park
spaces around the perimeter and then on the lower level included several mechanical stacker spaces.
Now if we flip to exhibit nine you'll see the very minor change that has been made.
The two -story garage now has 120 spaces so roughly 22 additional spaces and these now
include self park and valet spaces those mechanical stacker spaces have now been removed
now before i turn to the refusal just so you have an understanding of how the garage itself will
operate if you take a look here i'll bring up the zoning plan at exhibit seven you'll see that you'll
see the general site layout entrance to this garage will be off of jfk boulevard through a
shared easement with the adjacent 3051 JFK Boulevard. Now the garage itself
has the self -park spaces still around the perimeter and then as you can see here there's
the valet spaces marked with the hatch line. So the theory with this garage is that it's a self -park
garage up to the point that it's filled and then from that point it becomes there's additional
valet spaces. So you would bring your car, you'd leave your key, and the valet would then be in
control of those additional spaces. So as far as the refusal, if you take a look here at exhibit
one, you'll see that the refusal was issued for two reasons, both related to the width of the
dry vial in certain portions of the garage. You can see this concerns the 90 -degree stack spaces
and the parallel parking spaces. This condition exists on both levels of the garage. So you can
see where the examiner identified this issue along both edges here where you see their stack spaces
as well as valet spaces. If you'll take note, all of the drive aisles surrounding the spaces
actually do comply with the code and they vary from 24 feet wide at the narrowest to 28 feet
to 28 feet wide at the widest however the way the code is written to comply
wide at the widest however the way the code is
a separate dry vial would be required between the valet spaces and the self -parked spaces
logically that doesn't make much sense as it applies to valley spaces and we submit that
the drafters of the code did not intend this provision to apply to a situation like the one
before the board today. The minimum required drive aisles are actually provided, and it would
be quite inefficient and functionally impossible to have a separate 24 -foot wide drive aisle
separating the valet spaces from the self -parked spaces. We submit that the dimensional variance
does fulfill the spirit of the code, which encourages parking designs that limit impact
on neighboring uses, increase safety, shields parking areas, and allows flexibility to the board
in addressing vehicle parking. The proposed design meets all of these elements.
The proposal further will not increase congestion, harm neighboring properties, or impair light and
air. Full analysis, as always, is provided in my memorandum of law submitted to the board at
Exhibit 12. With respect to the community, we met with Palton Village Civic Association,
which has been deeply involved with not only this project but the full Schuylkill Yards project
overall and they did submit a letter of support which you should have at Exhibit 16.
At this time I will bring up Chris Franklin if
the administrator can bring him on so he can adopt my testimony.
mr franklin mr franklin you can unmute yourself and speak now yes i'm here afternoon sir please
spell your full name and i'll swear you in christopher franklin c -h -r -i -s -t -o -p -h -e -r
f -r -a -n -k -l -i -n you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing about the truth
I do. Thank you, Meredith. Chris, you've heard all of the testimony that I gave here before the
board today? Yes. And would you agree that that testimony was true and accurate and would you
adopt it as if it were your own? Yes. Thank you. And like I said, we do have the architecture
on the line just in case you have any additional questions. Thank you. Any questions from the
board no mr chair no would anyone else like to testify in this case if so please raise your hand
no further hands at this time sir thank you planning commission good afternoon sorry this
is rebecca cole i just wanted to state on record that uh we received a confirmation from councilwoman
Gauthier's office that she has no object opposition to the requested variance as well thank you thank
you thank you all right good afternoon David Vecto city planning commission Mr. Chairman members of
the board the comprehensive plan recommends no change in the commercial mixed use zoning at this
location commercial mixed use five is the densest zoning district that we have the requested dimensional
variances appear to be minor compared to the scope of the overall proposal the impact of the changes
will only accrue to areas inside the proposed building we recommend that the board approve
the requested variances thank you mi 2021 that's zero zero two six two three three zero two five
jfk boulevard my vote is yes carol tenere my vote is yes confessor plaza yes james bell my vote is
yes. Thomas Holliman, my vote is yes. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We know the case number
MI 2021 -002634, 326 Roxborough Avenue. Ms. Pritzker, we spoke a little bit earlier. You're
still under oath. Then I'll repeat that the RCO letter from the Central Roxborough Civic
association indicates that despite a 44 to 17 vote in favor of this application that the rco is
still request is is requesting a continuance so we'll get to the facts of why that request
is coming up ms pritzker if you're out there just please identify yourself with a record
please raise a virtual hand if you're still in the audience
no hand yet Jason no sir all right why don't we do this let's go to case number 14
and then we'll come back to case number 12 and I know there was a lady waiting for this so we'll
get back to you shortly um aren't we going to 13 first 13 was continued
aren't we going to 13 first 13 was continued
okay am i right or wrong
i i had it as continued
you are correct chair okay thanks tanya thank you we're going to go to case number 14
MI 2021 -002, 643 -5138 Gaynor Road, Alan Notkinson or Calmenta Amazon are representing.
My notes indicate we have not yet received a letter from the Winfield Residents Association.
So is it Ms. Amazon or Mr. Notkinson?
It's Ms. Amazon.
Okay, you're back.
Just identify yourself and remember, I'll remind you you're still on the road.
Of course, come on to Amazon.
I'll just spell your name and that way.
Oh, sure.
C -L -E -M -E -N -T -A, last name A -M -A -Z -A -N.
Thank you.
The Vice Chair, Ms. Carroll, can already ask questions for you.
Hi, good afternoon.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, I do.
have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership tax compliance a copy of the refusal or
referral photos and or plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing and have you met
with the rco and do you have a letter yes and we do have a letter okay great you may proceed
Thank you.
I'll just go ahead and trim the screen.
So again, today I'll be presenting 5138 Gainer Road.
I appreciate that.
I'll be presenting 5138 Gainer Road.
What we're looking to do here is we currently have two legal units.
We are looking to add one more unit to this property.
Previously, my client did attempt to abide by the commercial zoning
in that they attempted to have a daycare here however the community voiced opposition to that
proposal and they stated that they would prefer to have residential so we went back to the drawing
board and now we are providing the residential that the community requested so i won't go
Ms. Amazon you froze yes uh -oh Ms. Amazon you repeat that you froze after you said
we went back to the drawing board we went back can you hear me now yes yes perfect
i apologize so we did go back to drawing board and we are now proposing a fully residential unit
on the ground floor so i will go through the notice of refusal of the letter of non -opposition
that we received from winfield residents association we really made a sincere effort
to meet with them and address the concerns that they had regarding the commercial use
permits for the property maps of the area photographs of the property currently
our proposed plans and drawings or excuse me it's an existing structure so the design that
we have for that ground unit, the notice we sent out for that community, as well as the deed and
certificate of tax clearance. So first things first, we have the notice of refusal. So we are
just looking to add one more unit. Currently, there are two units within the property that are
legal. Again, we were looking to have a daycare on the ground floor. The community did not want
commercial use here. They wanted to have fully residential. So we are now making that change to
a fully residential structure so we do have a lot of non -opposition from the community as you see
here and they did express excitement regarding the creation of another housing opportunity
and given the ground for location that would be accommodating for various members of the community
so here we have the permit showing that there has a multi -family history for this particular
property a map of the area we are a corner lot there are several means of egress for the property
as you will see later from the photographs here. So there's actually one entrance right here along
the side of the property on the front of Gaynor, excuse me. And then there are one entrance on
either side or the side of the property along North 42nd Street. And here we have a view of
the rear of the property, Gaynor Street to the right of the property, Gaynor Street to the left
of the property, North 52nd Street to the right of the property, North 52nd Street to the left of
the property and here we just have some photos of one of the units so we really wanted to provide
affordability here and that this is a very large building if we were to do single family it would
be non -cost efficient here and again the community stated they did not want commercial either so
we're just maintaining that residential use so one of the units will be three bedroom one bath
excuse me and then the other two units will be two bed one bath and we did meet with the community
here on September 21st at 6 .30 PM.
And here's the notice that we sent out for that meeting.
And here's the notice that we sent out for that meeting. Again, we did receive a letter stating that they're excited about the residential use on that ground floor.
Again, we did receive a letter stating
that they're excited about
Our certificates of mailing, the application for appeal, the refusal. Again, we're just looking to add one more residential unit at the request of the community.
And here we have the deed showing that my client does in fact own the property and our certificate of tax clearance.
So with that, if I can have Adam Rocco raise his hand virtually so he can adopt my testimony.
I'm about to speak.
Rocco, please spell your full name and I'll swear you in.
it seems to be having some technical you hear me now oh yes we can i think i was on mute sorry
about that no worries my name is adam rocco it's a d a m r o c c o you swear or affirm to tell the
truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do thank you miss amazon adam did you hear my
presentation today i did i mean is it true and correct it is would you adopt it as your own
testimony i would thank you thank you any questions from the board no mr chairman you know anyone
else anyone else to testify in this case please raise your hand
no further hands at this time sir thank you planning commission
Good afternoon, David Fecto, City Planning Commission, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the single -family residential zoning at this location.
There is evidence in the zoning file of a legal two -family with a business at this address.
The applicant has shown that converting the building into a single -family home would cause a hardship.
He recommended the board approve the requested use variance.
Thank you.
MI 2021 -002643.
5138 gainer road my vote is yes carol tenere my vote is yes confessor plaza my vote is yes
james snell my vote is yes thomas my vote is yes thank you we'll now go back to case number 11
mi 2021 that's zero zero two six three four three two six roxborough avenue is miss pritzker
available. Presker, if you're still in the virtual audience, please raise your hand.
So nothing, Mr. Chair. Okay. I know there was a lady who spoke earlier about this case who
was requesting a continuance, seeing that the attorney of record is not available.
MI 2021 -002634, 326 Roxborough Avenue, my vote is to continue, must be heard.
Mr. Chair, I'm sorry to disturb you again, but a call here,
has their hand raised, do I allow them to speak?
Yes, please.
yeah hi i'm the applicant um and rachel excuse me one excuse me would you please spell your phone
yeah i'm sorry uh first name's khalil k -a -h -l -i -l last name mir m -i -r do you swear for him to tell
the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do thank you please proceed i just hoping we
might be able to get pushed till the end because rachel was on uh we don't this is the end okay
I don't mean that to be abrupt, but that's the last thing.
Yeah, that's fine. I understand. I understand.
And Rachel will contact Ms. Sunkit to figure out a way to get the hearing sooner rather than later, if possible.
Understood. All right. Thank you for your time.
All right.
Okay. So that concludes the two o 'clock list.
I believe case number 13, did you continue that officially on record?
or is the applicant the pro se applicant still here i believe it was continued but i'll ask again
mi 2021 .002714 4938 b street i'm martha woods we i thought we had that on earlier
yeah she was up there um sir her hand is raised again if you push it i will allow her to speak
If you push it, I will allow her to speak at this time.
at this time? Please do.
Please do.
Right.
Please unmute yourself, Ms. Woods.
Do you hear me?
Ms. Woods, I apologize if I'm confusing things.
You were on earlier.
Are you ready to proceed with your case?
Yes, I am.
Do you have exhibits?
I do not have them online, but I did send them in.
and i believe we need to see those exhibits as you present your case
okay um mr chair this is tanya the administrator yes um might i ask a question of miss woods
Ms. Woods, who sent the exhibits specifically?
Ms. Woods, who sent the exhibits specifically?
Ms. Woods, I'm sorry, my board leader, the board leader for 42 Ward,
um shante lindsey the executive the executive board um zoning representative
and she sent your exhibits to whom yes uh she my email states that she sent them
to the zoning board this zoning board
wayne rebecca cole again i can state on record that the rco did send an amended letter of support
however it does not contain the exhibits that would be necessary to be reviewed for a full
discussion of the case before the board thank you rebecca
tanya be okay if i ask miss woods to go up line and have a conversation with you
We don't have the document.
That wouldn't be possible, Chair.
I'm not in the office.
Oh, okay.
But I do see that we have some exhibits that were submitted.
However, they were not submitted to Ms. Saleta to review prior to the hearing, although they were submitted early.
And the responsibility of the submission of exhibits lies with the applicant.
Yeah, I hear you. Obviously, Ms. Woods is not being given the good advice.
We're left with no option, but they're continuing. Is that correct?
That's what it appears, Chair.
Okay. Ms. Woods, we're going to have to continue your case.
all right so mi 2021 -002714 4938 letter b as in boys street is continued must be heard
that completes the two o 'clock list it is now 3 35 take about a 15 minute break
sounds good okay see everybody back in 15 minutes thank you
Right on. Thank you.
I'm sorry.
We're going live, correct? We are live, rather.
All right. We're recording again. Yeah, we've been live. You got it.
Thank you.
All right, Madam Vice Chair.
Good afternoon. My name is Carol Tenere,
and I'm the Vice Chair of the Zoning Board of Adjustment.
I'll be participating in today's hearing along with our Chairman, Frank DiCicco.
Present.
Board Secretary, Professor Plaza.
Present.
Thomas and Board Members, Thomas Holloman and James Snow.
Present.
Board Administrator, Tanya Sunkit and...
Jason Hand and Board Attorney Rebecca Cole are 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, we'd like to advise everyone that this proceeding is being recorded and that
by participating, you acknowledge your agreement to be recorded. This is available to the public
by contacting Tanya Sunkit at tanya .sunkit at phila .gov. Third, for anyone participating by
phone, if you wish to testify, you must raise your hand by hitting star nine, then star six
by hitting star nine, then star six to unmute yourself. That's star nine, then star six to
to unmute yourself.
unmute yourself. To enter an appearance statement, call 267 -270 -5548 and leave your email address
and address of the property at issue. Again, the number is 267 -270 -5548. Fourth,
if you are an LLC, an LLP, or a religious organization, you must be represented by an
attorney. Fifth, the question and answer box is not for testimony. Any comments are to be directed
to miss tanya sunk it i'm gonna now turn that over to you chair yeah and the reason i was
confused i was looking at what your comments were when you said number four i was looking at the
case number four didn't realize you meant that as part of the opening statement because i don't
have that some i don't have that language on my sheet but thank you thank you sure so um
I don't see any
there are none that I see
there are no requests for continuances
I will ask now
is anyone requesting a continuance or
withdrawal for the 3 .30 list
please raise your hand
anyone requesting
a continuance or withdrawal
for the 3 .30 list
Ms. Kerr has her hand
she put her hand down
Mr. Patrick Jones has his hand raised
I won't allow him to speak at this time
Thank you, Mr. Jones. Please identify yourself, spell your name, and I will swear you in.
Good morning, Chair, members of the board. My name is Patrick Jones, P -A -T -R -S -E -K, Jones, J -O -N -E -S.
I am in reference to 6226 Callow Hill Street.
You swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do, sir.
Thank you. Please proceed.
In reference to 6226 Callowhill Street, my client is not available, and we're also waiting
on the tax clearance, so we'd like to continue this case.
Thank you.
That's number eight on our list, MI 2021, that's 002 -288 -6226 Callowhill Street.
It's continued and must be heard.
Any other requests for continuances or withdrawals?
Ms. Pritzker has her hand raised. I will allow her to speak at this time.
Thank you. Ms. Pritzker, please identify yourself. You're still under earth.
This is Rachel, R -A -C -H -A -E -L, Pritzker, P -R -I -T -Z -K -E -R, 1635 Market Street,
Sweet 1600, Philadelphia, PA 19103.
um yeah so I had had my hand raised when you called 326 Roxborough and so did Brandon
Saverin and we weren't able to be recognized I think I was having technical difficulties when
I restarted my computer was able to then be acknowledged but um we both were trying to
raise our hand and we're not able to be acknowledged for 326 Roxborough yeah howdy
this is tanya i'm sorry chair we went to another case you get figuring there was technical problems
and when we got done we went back and there was still no no hands were up yes tanya um i was just
going to state that i actually looked for brandon he was not available because i was going to call
him since we couldn't get to you yeah he told me he had raised his hand but that um he wasn't able
to be acknowledged either so i don't know what was going on i restarted my computer and at that
point we are where we are now yeah and again like uh tanya said we actually looked for everybody and
we jumped to another case figuring if there was technical problems by the time we came back to
roxborough uh someone would have been there but i i mean we can't undo it now the other witnesses
who wanted to testify i'm sure they're they're gone by now i guess i would ask then if possible
could we instead of have it now waiting two months or whatever it is is there a way to be
on next wednesday uh calendar because we got that but ms sunkett's the only one who can answer that
question because we had a lot of witnesses as well um on our end so we can discuss offline
yeah why don't you guys do that all right rachel but we can't do next week but we can discuss a
date offline. Okay. Okay. Sorry. All right. Anyone else requesting a continuance or withdrawal
on the 330 list? Please raise your hand.
I see no hands, Mr. Chair.
No hands, Mr. Chair. Okay. Thank you.
Okay, thank you.
First case on the 330 list, MI 2021 -002205, 2265 North Park Avenue.
Shamira McCant McNeil.
samira mccant mcneil is there anyone here for 2265 north park avenue
yeah miss mcneil has uh raised her hand do i promote her please do
she's been promoted sir ma 'am please spell your full name and then i'll swear you in
We just need to allow her one or two seconds to be sent out and back in as a panelist.
Thank you.
Hello.
hi ma 'am please spell your full name uh samira mcneil s -a -m -e -e -r -a -h last name is uh mcneil
m -c -n -e -i -l -l do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes and you're here regarding two six excuse me two two six five north park avenue yes i'm actually
the owner of the property and i have legal representation so i'm not sure um you do have
legal representation? I do. And who is that? Steve Bertil, attorney at law. Is Mr. Bertil
out there? If so, please raise your hand. My notes indicate we have not yet received
any new exhibits. Okay. Chair, if I can interject. Sure. It appears as though someone here has
their name up named Stanley. Does that sound familiar to you? Because Steve Bertil is not
in attendance. Um, no, I don't recognize that name.
Cher, if you would allow the individual to speak just to make sure it's not a different
name written. Thank you kindly. Stanley, you can unmute yourself and state your business
as it relates to this case, please.
can you hear me uh barely spell your full name sir stanley s -t -a -n -l -e -y perry p -e -r -r -y
i have no uh uh business as it relates to this case okay then you'll need to wait
till we call your case sir are you asking for a continuance are you requesting a continuance
i am yes no no not you ma 'am i'm sorry mr curry i thought i think i saw your name on an earlier
list no it was on the 330 list for crystal street oh okay i see it now uh i state the
nature of your call what are you asking for a continuance yes sir okay now we got something
all right so case number four i'll get back to you shortly uh miss mcneil uh mi 2020 -001841
3469 crystal street this case is continued and must be heard mr chairman i believe this case was
fourth listing already?
Is there any reason why?
You're right.
Mr. Perry, why are you not prepared to go forward?
Mr. Chairman, I just
got appointed and
the main, the person,
the member of the
IV Realty Services,
LLC, was called back
in an emergency to
the Dominican Republic.
Not only
that, but we're in violation
of the five -day rule.
And so I need that person who is currently in the Dominican Republic to give testimony in this matter.
When did that person go back to the Dominican Republic?
Approximately a week ago.
And the last scheduled hearing was 7 -21 -2021.
Yeah, that was when I first ended my appearance, I believe.
Yeah, that was when I first entered my appearance, I believe.
Sir, with all due respect, this is the fourth listing.
Yeah, I agree.
We rarely allow for more than two listings.
Well, it's my understanding that the IB Realty Services didn't know that they needed an attorney.
And so I can't speak to the first two, but I believe that's why the case was continued initially.
Understood. But we're going to move to dismiss this case.
MI 2020 -001841 -3469 -Crystal Street.
Stop interrupting.
This case, I might recommend we dismiss this case.
Carol Tenere, my vote is to dismiss.
Confessor Plaza, Dismissed.
James Snell, Dismissed.
Thomas Holliman, Dismissed.
Thank you.
Go back to the first case, Ms. McNeil.
Mr. Bertel was representing you?
When's the last time you had a conversation with him?
Do you know?
the last correspondence we had was about a week ago when I sent him the proof of my zoning notice
poster yeah yeah and he sent all the information to me so that's why I was aware of the the board
hearing well my guess is that we won't be seeing Mr. Battelle he's running for judge and it's a
second case in two days I believe he's not yet it hasn't made an appearance do you have exhibits
that you can share with us we don't want to penalize you for uh for the failure of your
attorney not appearing i'm sorry chair is it um yeah tommy he would have all of the all of that
information and i was wondering if it was necessary for her to be represented i was going to check
miss mcnail are you you're not are you a non -profit or an llc
uh salon excel is an llc um i'm actually the owner of the building i'm trying to just get
the variance to put a commercial property in the basement of the property
so you own the building yes so the fact that you have an llc for the business i don't rebecca you
can help me with this i don't think that would have any bearing on it right what is the question
miss mcneil owns the building correct she has a business that is an llc in the same building
and she's looking to expand correct me if i'm wrong well actually it's a mobile business right
now i am looking to do the renovations and put the salon in the basement of the property that
own at 2265 North Park Avenue. It's currently not zoned for commercial space so that's the reason why
I had to come before the zoning board for the variance. Yeah we understand that again unfortunately
your attorney is not present. Correct. I don't know how we can go forward without the exhibits.
We had a similar case this morning and I'm sorry the city get penalized for lack of representation.
So a question for you. Would I be able to get a continuance for this?
Yeah, we can do that. It's going to take a little while. So I'm not sure what your schedule is.
You have any any suggestions?
Yes, Chair, I would respectfully suggest that we continue this matter because it's not McNeil's fault.
I could work with her to try to get a kind of soon date.
not very soon but kind of soon date should you be able to get other representation or in touch
with your attorney reach out to me so that i can go ahead and try to reschedule you okay
okay so you won't have to wait the normal length of time for a continued hearing
we understand it's not your fault that you're not prepared today thank you okay thank you
Ms. McNeil. So MI 2021 -002 -205 -2265 North Park Avenue is continued.
Ms. Sunkett will contact me or give me information to contact her directly.
Yes. Yes. Okay. Thank you. I appreciate it. Okay. Thank you.
Thank you.
I think we're ready for case number two, MI 2021.
I think we're ready for case number two, MI 2021 -002204, 2615 East Haggard Street, Leo
Moblehill is the attorney of record.
Old Richmond Civic sent a letter of non -opposition, as did Councilman Mark Swiller.
And before you go forward, Mr. Moblehill, I got a little off track here.
I want to make sure, is there anyone else asking for a continuance or withdrawal?
i see no further hands mr chair thank you mr mobile you can proceed identify yourself and i'll
swear you in yeah good afternoon members of the board leo wolvihill amazon michael ul via victor
i h i l l do you run five green street first floor philadelphia one that one two three he was
I'm going to tell the truth, the whole truth. I was? Yes. I was and I continue to. Thank you. Ms. Tenere has questions for you.
Do you agree to wave the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy? I do. Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, refusal, referral, photos and or plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing? And have you met with the RCO and do you have a letter? I have and I do.
okay you may proceed all right good absolutely members of the board what i have showing on the
screen right now is the table of contents for my presentation packet in sum what we're seeking to
do is take one lot subdivide it into three lots and build two new single family homes facing
letterly street as this lot goes through from haggard street to letterly street i have the
refusal appeal project information form of page one area zoning maps eight agreement of sale at
10. My client's commercial activity license at 23. Tax clearance at 24. My zoning notification
letter at 25. Our RCO letter of support at 29. Photos of the property at 30. And then the site
and floor plans beginning at page 53. So I'll get to the refusal first. So members of the board,
more or less what we have here, pardon me, is that our lots are essentially undersized.
That was our first refusal. Second refusal is that we were requesting off street parking for these new homes on Letterly Street. However, Letterly Street is so narrow that one cannot legally park on the street.
So what we're actually doing is creating two new parking spaces where before nobody was allowed to park.
members of the board looking to page eight of my packet we can see the parcel outlined in blue
uh the it's kind of flag shaped the larger portion of the flag facing letterly street up here
is the parcel that we're discussing essentially will be divided first in half uh so that this
narrow lot remains a separate parcel and that these this larger portion is divided in half
and essentially will match the other parcels that you see on the block, which only go halfway through.
Here's another overhead shot from Philadelphia Atlas showing the orientation.
As you can see, again, letterly streets so narrow, there's no legal on -street parking.
People do park on the sidewalk, but they're not supposed to.
This is my client's agreement of sale at page 10, which proceeds through my packet until page 23.
Page 24, this is my client's commercial activity license.
This is the tax clearance.
We have a page 24.
I was having an issue with the tax clearance certificate system for some reason.
This is our letter that was sent out, as well as our proof of mailing showing that I sent out 82 pieces of mail on June 16th.
At page 29, we have a letter dated 20 July 2021, noting that Old Richmond Civic Association takes a vote of non -opposition with respect to this parcel.
This is a shot of the parcel facing Haggard Street.
On Haggard Street itself, as you can see, it's very narrow.
One would not really be able to build a home on this parcel and it's going to be remaining with 2613 as a side yard.
This is looking westbound along Haggard Street.
This is a subject parcel from Haggard.
This is looking eastbound towards Aramingo Avenue, and then southbound.
This is the reverse side of the parcel from Letterly Street itself.
This is the portion that's going to be subdivided in which new homes are going to be constructed upon.
This is facing Letterly. It's facing, pardon me, the south side of Letterly.
this is looking westbound you see new construction on the north side of the block
And then eastbound, you see some new construction as well, as well as existing two -story single -family homes on the south side of the block.
and then eastbound you see some new construction as well as well as existing two
This is what we're proposing to build.
This is a rendering of page 53 for purposes of the record.
As you can see, we do propose two Wall Street parking spaces as well as curb cuts on the street where there's no legal on -street parking.
This is the subdivision plans showing exactly what we're talking about.
These two parcels are going to be subdivided into each one parcel, which will allow the construction of a single -family home.
This very narrow parcel, it's only 12 feet wide, is remaining with the house that's facing down the street.
Here's our site plan.
And the floor plan very quickly.
In the basement, we have flex space, mechanicals, and a powder room.
we do have the garage which basically takes up the entirety of the first floor of living stairs
the second floor we have living room to the front kitchen to the rear stairs going up
off to the side and up on the third floor we have two bedrooms that are moderately sized
and a nice size bathroom
fourth floor we have the owner's suite with a larger bedroom larger bathroom walking closets
and then to the top of the parcel we have a roof deck which is set back five feet from the street
which is required by code the homes are not going to be any taller than 38 feet
here's a cross -section of the building
and this is the zoning plan that was submitted to the city itself
now my client david jackson may be on the line mr jackson if you're here would you
please raise your hand or wait to be promoted or unmuted
Mr. Jackson, are you here?
Mr. Moverhul, we'll stipulate you being officer of court, your client would have adopted your
testimony. Any questions from the board? Yes, Mr. Chair.
hold on mr holliman yes do you have street approval for the curb cuts um you know i think
we are awaiting approval let me double check that also is there parking on that side of the street
no there's no legal on -street parking along um letterly street it's too narrow it's it's more or
less a uh it's very narrow i can tell you that there's no parking at all on that street yeah
people park illegally on the sidewalk but there's no people parking thank you okay uh any other
questions no no anyone else to testify in this case please raise your hand um mr chair excuse
me uh mr david jackson doesn't have his hand raised i will allow him to speak at this time
okay thank you mr jackson please spell your full name and i'll swear you in
It seems that we're still having technical difficulties, so we'll go to Planning Commission.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, members of the board, David Vecto, City Planning Commission.
Mr. Chairman, members of the board, the property is indicated for residential use on our city
We have no objection to the proposed variances.
Thank you. MI -2021 -002 -204 -2615 East Tigard Street. My vote is yes.
Harold Tenere, my vote is yes.
Professor Plaza, yes.
Thomas Holliman, my vote is yes.
Thank you. I believe we can now go to number five.
MI 2021 -002 -284 -4500D, as in David Street.
Imad is the, I assume, I'm not sure of the attorney or the owner of the property.
Councilwoman Sanchez sent a letter of non -opposition.
She refers to the RCO letter, which is non -opposition.
my records indicate we have no exhibit
is there anyone here for 4500 D Street
Mr. Chair, I lead
Mr. Chair, Ali Abdelaziz, raise his hand. I will allow him to speak at this time.
Thank you. Good afternoon, sir. Please spell your first and last name.
Hi, Chair. My name is Ali Abdelaziz, spelled A -L -I. Last name A -B -D -E -L -A -Z -I -Z.
You swear or firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Thank you, sir. Before we begin, have you sent any exhibits in?
The exhibits, yes, they were sent in, yes. And I have the support from this community.
Vice Chair is going to ask you some questions.
I'm sorry, Chair. This is Tanya. I hate to interrupt again.
No worries.
But may we iron out exactly when the exhibits were sent and by whom?
because they haven't been reviewed by solicitors. This is Rebecca Cole. I will state one document
was received, the RCO letter of support from September 17, 2021, but no exhibits.
I have the exhibit here if I can share it. Is there any reason why you did not submit it?
there's no reason at all
but I don't know for some reason I thought it was
submitted by the
Shandy was her name I believe
Sharon
Shandy
Shandy Shandy
I believe we had another
situation like this chair
if you don't mind I can just explain
to the applicant
that the requirement is for the
applicant
or attorney
to submit the exhibits, not the community, the RCO, or anyone else, to ensure that all
required documents are received. The attorney has to review them and determine if you can go forward
and if everything that should be in line is, such as tax information and the like. So unfortunately,
without the exhibits being submitted five days in advance, we cannot go forward with this case.
and and sir you keep referring to it as an exhibit there are several things that have to be
sent in okay thank you so sir we're going to have to continue your case
mi mi 2021 -002 -284 -4500 d street is continued must be heard go to case number six
MI 2021 -002 -286 -5345 -Angora Terrace, Joanne Hemingway, Joanne Bourne, and thank you for
the explanation, Connie.
Anyone here for 5345 -Angora Terrace?
I see no hands, sir.
Thank you. This is the first listing.
I see my notes indicate there are no exhibits.
MI 2021 -002 -286 -5345 -Angora Towers.
If continued, must be heard.
Now go to case number 7.
MI 2021 -002 -206, 601 South Street.
This is the City of Philadelphia Fire Station 11.
Anyone here for 601 South Street?
601 South Street.
Still my hands for this one, sir.
Down to number MI -2021 -002 -206, 601 South Street is continued, must be heard.
You go to case number nine, MI -2021 -002 -207, 985 North Randolph Street.
it's a pro se case
Narayani
and Komal
Kehlani
I'm sure I'm mispronouncing that
Mr. Chair I have
Komal Kalyani on the
line with his hand raised I will
promote him to panelists if that
is all right yes please and while he
are doing that Northern Liberty sent a letter
of support with the requested proviso
that the
slope of the apron is kept as a minimal as possible, as cars cannot extend onto the sidewalk
when parked. I don't know if we can enforce that. I believe that's a streets department issue.
i don't know if we can enforce that i believe that's a streets department issue
but sir please present yourself spell your full name and i'll swear you in
hi yep hi first and last name yes this is hitish naryani and i am komal kalyani
okay who's testifying you own the property yes yes it's not an llc no non -profit okay
so let's start with you and sir spell your full name it is mariani spelled as h -i -e -e -s -h
last name mariani n -a -r -i -a -n -i you swear from to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but
the truth yes i do thank you ma 'am please spell your full name my name spelling is k -o -m -a -l
my last name is k -a -l -y -a -n -i and do you swear if i'm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing
but the truth yes i do thank you uh so please proceed sir or madam whoever wants to give the
testimony um yeah can we share our screen yeah you share the screen please and walk us through
what it is you're asking the board to approve okay all right
okay so we are requesting for a parking permit um for 985 north randolph street for two car park
and this is highlighted in blue is the property and this is a one -way street coming south from
Girard. All current parking is on the left side of the street. There is no parking on this side.
We are requesting for two car park on this side. Here is the copy of the refusal
and we have Bart Bada who's the architect with us. Exhibit C is the appeal application
and here is additional information. Here's the copy of the deed for us
and here's the tax certificate for both of us
and this is the diagram our architect made for us
so like I said parking is on the other side of the street
we will come here from south and then take left here is two car parks place um the area is slightly
less so we are seeking the variance we do have um all the measurements and everything first we went
to lni then to uh northern liberties the neighborhood association nlna so here's the
here's some photographs to show this parking spot uh this is the neighbor's parking spot
983 and a half they received cruel six months back
so you're asking for permission to park on the parking pad not a garage correct yes sir just
the pad okay yes yeah this this too right over here one over here and just show you our cars
and how it will look like these are the two cars uh you can see plenty of space and none of them
jut out to the sidewalk there is plenty of space in the side yeah this is the side view for the
sidewalk you can see plenty of space are you looking to do any uh we're not removing the
curb what do we see is what you're gonna you're gonna keep in place correct that is right okay
all right why don't we do this um any questions from the board no no i don't think they got
i don't think they have street approval for a curb cut well that's why i asked they said
they're not touching the curb they're weaving it as is is that correct sir no so actually we will
be we will be keeping some slope for the curb i think oh so we haven't gone for the state for
the curb cut approval. But my question again is are you looking to remove the curb and put a new
curb in or keep the existing curb?
or keep the existing curve?
The curve is small, but we haven't...
Actually, if you don't mind, can our architect answer this question?
No, I'm just going to ask you. Let's ask the architect.
Yes, please.
Bart, if you're here, can you please answer?
And the architect's name?
Bart Bada.
That's spelled as B -A -J -D -A.
he can speak he just has to unmute himself and be sworn in by the chair hi this is uh
please spell your full name sir uh bart bada b -a -r -t b -a -j -d -a you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do and maybe i should have gone back to the
original uh diagram but maybe you can answer are you looking to remove the curve uh yes so we are
proposing a new curb cut uh and this already has been approved by the streets department oh okay
all right tom does that answer your question yes thank you okay okay i think we can move on from
there any other questions from the board no no planning commission i'm sorry anyone else to
testify in this case, please raise your hand.
Do you have no further hands at this time, sir?
Thank you. Planning Commission?
Ron Bednar, City Planning, that's R -O -N, first name, last name Bednar, B -E -D -N -A -R.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Thank you, Ron. Please proceed.
property is indicated for residential use on the city plan our adopted district plan recommends no
change to that existing residential zoning at this location the application applicants hardship
is not supported with evidence of unique physical conditions of the property therefore we recommend
requests for variance not be read thank you but i notice uh correct there are other how places have
similar parking on that block right yeah further down okay uh mi 2021 -002207
985 north randall street my vote is yes carol tennari my vote is yes professor plaza my vote is
yes james now my vote is yes thomas holliman my vote is yes okay thank you um thank you is there
any unfinished business? Does anyone
feel as though
they've not been recognized for the
3 .30 list? Please raise your hand.
Mr. Chair,
Ms. Shoshana -Britland
had her hand raised a moment ago, but
I think she put it down.
Any other hands up?
No, sir.
Thank you.
Wait, I'm sorry.
what's going on the hand keeps going up and then it keeps going down so i don't know what's going
on that's shoshana yeah mr shoshana britland please raise your hand
if there's questions they have the opportunity to put them in the q a or reach out to me via email
but chair i believe that's all we have for today thank you thank you again everyone appreciate
everyone's help and assistance thank you have a good one everyone everyone have a great weekend
i'll see you back here next week take care thank you all good night good night good night uh mr
chair have a great night bill thank you for all you've done today i appreciate everything
thank you everybody and tanya thank you no problem have a good always bye -bye