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