So, they're just opposed to anything here. And I think really 4829 Haverford, it does make sense given the size of the lot and the location of the property and the vicinity of multifamily structures for this to be a triplex.
So they're just opposed to anything here.
And I think really for...
So during our presentation, I'm going to review the notice of refusal, the brief correspondence from the Mill Creek Advisory Council, where they again, there are only issues that they referenced in their letter or the dimensions of the property, which they believe were in dispute and asked us to do a survey.
Again, I don't believe there's any dispute in terms of our dimensions, but that was the only reason that they gave to oppose our project.
And as I referenced, nearby recently granted multifamily variances with RSA 5 zoning designation, we have just on Haverford Avenue, 4913, 5110, 5108 Haverford, and then nearby 4801 Fairmont and 5024 Ray Street, all located nearby, similarly multifamily in nature.
Then we'll review the zoning maps and the maps of the area, photographs of the property and the surrounding area.
Examples of interior photographs of other projects that my client through and construction analysis have done.
So you'll see that they're well versed in taking vacant land and converting it into multifamily structures.
Our plantain drawings, and you'll see that our lot, which is almost 2,500 square feet.
comfortably fits three units in there where even having three units on a 2,500 square foot lot,
we're going to have an open area of almost 41%. We'll show you the RCO meeting notice or
application for appeal. Our deeds of property showing that Pebble Development LLC is the owner
of the property and our certificate of tax clearance showing they're in good standing.
At the conclusion of my presentation, I would ask that Mr. Ozcon virtually raise his hand
and then I'll get sworn in and I'll have a few questions for him to answer.
So the notice of refusal.
Yes, this is an RSA 5 property.
This lot is exactly 2,480 square feet.
This is a humongous lot.
And if you notice, the only refusal we have is for the use, the proposed use of three-family dwelling.
there are no dimensional variances at all for this property and there should not be because
of the largeness of the lot and if you look at the the mill creek advisory council uh you know
they said uh let's see uh the only note that they have is no during the meeting residents
questioned dimensions of project lot the developers and their team reported that they
would look at the survey and deed of the property for accurate dimensions. We did. There's nothing
wrong with the dimensions of our lot. Again, there were a few individuals in the audience
and there weren't many. And the only issue they had was that they didn't want any development on
their lot. They live next door and they wanted this as open space and they didn't understand
why there would be any development. And I explained to them that, yes, we're seeking
variance, but we are allowed to build something here. We just can't afford to build something
here given the economics of the situation with interest rates, close to double figures for
investment properties like this, as well as construction costs. It's just not economically
feasible for us to build a single family structure here. And we're asking for three units, which we
believe it's the least modification necessary to fulfill the goals of my client as well as the
spirit of the Philadelphia zoning code. And then it's not out of character to have multifamily
structures that have been approved by this zoning board. 4913 Haverford Avenue, which is a much
smaller lot, was approved for two-family household living. Our lot is, I believe, twice the size of
best scene. And then you also can see that 4801 Fairmont Avenue, again, a much smaller lot was
approved for multifamily use. As well as 5024 Ray Street, again, much smaller lot was approved for
three-family dwelling use. And then 5110 Haverford Avenue, which is again, a much smaller lot than
ours was three uh three family use and then 5108 haverford a much smaller lot was approved for two
families and then maps of the area you can see we're not in a like a just a sole single family
district here yes our block you know there it's rsa5 but there's a ton of rm1 rm2 we're across
the street from chop but even within the yellow a lot of those projects we're talking about
But even within the yellow, a lot of those projects we were talking about were the ones that this zoning board under similar circumstances approved for multifamily use with lots much smaller than ours.
for the ones that
So having a 2400, almost 2500 square foot lot, it's virtually impossible to be able to afford to build a single family house here.
And then we are close by with public transportation, as you can see with, you know, all of the little signs that show buses.
so we have a humongous you know about we have an ability to have you know public transportation here
and then photographs of the property so this is our property uh we're between um uh again uh you
know structures that have been there for a while but our lot's been vacant for some time as you can
see from this you know picture that as you know google earth goes as far back as july of 2007 or
or just 2007. And this has been a vacant lot for almost now 17 years. And this is our property.
So we go street to street from Haverford to Wallace. So this is from the rear of the property
on Wallace. And again, just again from 2007, you can see that this has been a vacant lot on both
sides, both on Haverford Avenue as well as Wallace Street. And then again, proof of posting for
today's hearing from Haverford as well as from Wallace. And then this is Haverford to the right
of the property. And this is Haverford to the left of the property. This is Waller Street to
the right of the property. And this is Waller Street to the left of the property. And then
again, my client takes great pride in the construction and the quality of materials
they use so i always try to provide examples of kitchens and living rooms and and bathrooms and
bedrooms and then our plans and drawings as you can just see here first of all this is a regular
shaped lot i mean it's it's almost like an elbow here um so it makes it very difficult you know
generally to build anything but you can see how much open area we have it's just a very very very
very large lot and again it goes from Haverford all the ways to Wallace and then what we try to
do was emulate basically what the properties next to us have like a porch so we we really
try to mimic that look and feel we try to have like a flat brick building facade
lintels windows that you would expect uh from uh from homes in this area and then and a distinct
cornice line as well and then again because of you know the largeness of the lot you know we have
really large uh units here unit number one is the first floor and lower level is almost 2,000 square
feet. Unit number two is a two-bedroom, two-bath over 1,000 square feet. Unit number three, which
is on the third floor, is also a two-bedroom, two-bath over 1,000 square feet. So we're not
trying to cram in a ton of units into a small lot or in a small building structure. Each of these
units are on its own floor. And there's enough room out there for people to enjoy the rest of
the property and have a sense of community per property that has not been developed in over 17
years and in our RCO meeting notice we met with community earlier this year 62 addresses were
notified in the meeting these are listed the addresses proof of mailing to those addresses
our application for appeal that we filed on behalf of Pebble Development LLC notice of refusal that
went along with that application for appeal our project information form our deed to the property
showing a pebble development llc is the owner of the property and then finally a certificate of
tax claimants showing that they're in good standing with the city of philadelphia so
with that being said i'm going to unshare my screen and i would ask that mr oscon virtually
raise his hand and be sworn in
Do we see him?
Chair, right now, go ahead.
I'm sorry, go ahead, Jason.
Nicole Kershaw, with her hand raised,
we'll allow them to speak at this time.
Hi, could you state your name, please,
and spell for the court stenographer?
My name is Nicole Kershaw.
Hello?
Hello?
Hello?
Hello?
Yeah, hi.
Yeah, hi.
Is this the owner of the property?
Is this the owner of the property?
Yes, I'm the owner of $48.31 forever.
You live next door?
Yes, directly next door.
Okay, so let me try to get the owner first,
and I'm going to get right back to you, okay?
Is the owner in the audience?
Excuse me, Mr. Chair, I have another hand.
and race, but they put it down.
I don't believe that was the individual in question.
Mr. Nockamson, do you think he's not here?
He was supposed to be here.
I don't see why not.
I'll have Mr. Goldberg text him while we're waiting,
and maybe you can take some questions from the community.
I want to try to do this in order first,
like let the board get in and then go to the audience when it's time.
Look, you're an officer of the court.
We'll gladly take your testimony.
I appreciate it.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Chair.
No, Chair.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Let them know that it's on right now.
Mr. Chair, I have a Kiara Mathis with their hand raised.
I've allowed them to speak at this time.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Hi, my name is Kiara Mathias.
My name is spelled K-Y-A-I-R-R-A.
Last name is M-A-T-H-I-E-S.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Are you a neighbor?
Yes, I am the owner of 4827 Haverford Avenue.
Okay, please proceed, ma'am.
Yes, so I have made a letter of refusal for the building of the property for 4829.
I was not able to attend the last meeting, but I did submit a letter of my contestant against the property.
um we've asked that they provide the actual dimensions that they actually came out to
re-evaluate the property in order for them to build it would have to be 16 um 15 to 16 feet
or more and according to our dimensions that's not what it is so we've asked them to provide
that proof in order to be able to build and um when we had our assessors come out it's less than
15 feet um so we are just totally against that because when the city first demolished the
property um they tore all that uh stuff down on my property never stuckled it never put it back
i had to spend 16 000 to put the wall back up and to have someone come out and rebuild against the
wall that they tore down i'm utterly against it number two is that there is a fire hydrant right
on the property. When the construction company comes out to build, where are they going to come
in with the supplies at? Are they going to put it on my property? Are they going to put it on next
door? Because there is nowhere for them to put that construction items. Number three, they're
trying to, I believe, build also on the corner some type of apartment complex. So the neighborhood
is single-family neighborhood with the maybe one or two apartments on the block. There is no way
to have all these multi-families come in and be able to live accurately on the block. So that,
I'm just incontestant of it. I don't want to hold the court too much, but I just wanted to make that
clear. We appreciate you taking the time. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
um yes mr chair there is a nicole kershaw i have allowed them to speak at this time
okay hi could you state your name please it's spelled for the court stenographer
my name is nicole kerson nicole n-i-c-o-l-e k-e-r-s-h-a-w right do you swear or affirm
to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the
truth. I do.
Please proceed. Are you a neighbor?
Yes, I am. I am
the adjoining property
at 4831
Kevin Smith. Okay. All right. Please
proceed. So,
like whoever you're saying,
there definitely is a problem
because, number one,
the dimensions are not
as they are
as they are
recording, okay? I understand
according. Okay? I understand these houses
these houses were built a long time ago
were built along
and, you know, whatever they were doing,
whatever they were doing, but the recordings are
not accurate because actually
my property is bigger
than what it has been recorded. I just
need to try to scrape up some money
so I can get somebody to come out and do a
survey because I don't want to be
in coastal. Second of all,
if they decide to build,
they're going to build an apartment.
It's a single family
excuse me mr chair excuse me and excuse me ma'am uh i don't know if the court your your um
your speech is a bit muffled i'm thinking maybe an issue with your audio and i'm not sure that
the court reporter is able to follow everything that you're saying i want to speak a little bit
slower okay i'm sorry sorry as i say
ma'am ma'am ma'am we're having a hard time we understand do you have your mouth i'm sorry chair
is your mouth too close to the speaker or the microphone because you're muffling and we're
recording this and have a court reporter we can't understand you clearly so if you can do that that
would be very helpful. I'm sorry, Terry.