Okay, thank you.
Good afternoon. My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this afternoon's EBA hearing.
With me is our Vice Chair, Ismail Shahid.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
I believe Thomas Holliman, our board member, should be getting on very soon.
And we also have LeBaron Leonard Palmer, who is an alternate board member from Development Services.
Also present is Hillary Emerson, our attorney.
Here's our virtual format.
Be advised, the proceedings are being recorded.
The video will be available by contacting TanyaSunkett at phil.gov.
For the benefit of our court stenographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying.
If you are participating by phone, you wish to testify, press star 9 to raise your hand and star 6 to unmute.
To enter an appearance statement, call 267-270-5548. Leave your email and the address of the property in question.
And finally, the question and answer box on the screen is not for comments or testimony.
Any comments should be directed to our Executive Director, Tanya Sunken.
Let's look at this afternoon's list. Here's our continuances. Number three, MI 2022-001-797-2600
West Montgomery Avenue. That case has been continued. Number four, MI 2023-001-120-520
South Street. That case has been continued. And number six, MI 2023-003-765-1625 North 18th
Street. That case is continued due to the unavailability of a witness, which was unexpected.
Is there anyone has comments relative to these three cases?
I see someone just put their hand up here. We have a Larry Griffin.
He's been unmuted and allowed to speak.
Hi, Mr. Griffin. Could you state your name, please, and spell for the course stenographer?
Mr. Griffin, please unmute yourself.
Can you hear me now?
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
My name is Larry Griffin, L-A-R-R-Y-G-R-I-F-F-I-N.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth?
The whole truth is nothing but the truth.
What case are you calling about, sir?
but eight, I'm sorry, 1621 North 18th Street.
So Mr. Griffin, that case has been continued.
The lead witness, one of the lead witnesses
had an unexpected occurrence
and is not available to testify.
Okay, and we will be notified, I guess.
Yes, sir, you will absolutely be notified.
Okay, I just wanted to confirm.
Thank you for getting on the call
and bringing that up to us.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you. Is there anyone else who is requesting a continuance?
Chair, we have Sean Ward.
They have been unmuted and allowed to speak, Chair.
Mr. Ward. Yeah, Mr. Chair.
I just received a text from Hillary that Redline Road is not listed,
so I may have raised my hand prematurely.
okay i i have one with you today too on james street right yeah james street is ready to go
uh 2600 west montgomery is a continuance and i thought i had i took care of the continuance
i'll be with you in one minute give me okay five minutes i'll be with you all right thank you
Number two, MI-2022, 005-336-2000 North 20th Street, the case has been withdrawn.
We're going to start with number five, MI-2023, 001-259-5352 James Street,
Sean Ward is the attorney.
There's a letter of support from the Bridesburg Community Action Alliance.
Also, the applicant has a petition of support signed by approximately...
Also, the applicant has a petition of support signed by approximately 63 neighbors.
Mr. Ward.
Mr. Chair, this is Hillary. I don't believe you swore him in previously.
I know. I didn't. I'm waiting for him to get in.
Okay. All right. Thank you.
Mr. Ward.
sorry mr chair that took a little longer than normal to uh okay okay good hi could you state
your name please and spell for the court scenario thank you mr chair my name is sean s-h-a-w-n
last name ward w-a-r-d attorney for applicant and property owner at 5352 james street present with
me today on the call is Lisa Mezzico, N-E-Z-Z-I-C-O. Right. Do you swear for him to tell the
truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth? I certainly do. Our vice chair has just a few
questions for you, sir. Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal
and stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, I do.
Have you emailed in all the required documents
and exhibits that are needed
and required to proceed on this case
five days in advance of this hearing?
With one correction,
pursuant to agreement with counsel
and my somewhat troubling ongoing medical issues,
I was unable to get it in by Friday,
but I did get it in over the weekend.
So Hillary has accepted my packet
and we're ready to proceed.
Thanks, Mr. Ward.
Please proceed and share your screen.
Thank you very much, Mr. Vice-Chair.
Mr. Chair, I've submitted my typical exhibit packet,
which includes A1 as the notice of refusal.
This is simply an application for the permit for the erection
of an accessory detached structure, which is a shed,
you know as part and parcel of an RSA 5 single family dwelling located in Bridesburg and as
it is not permitted in the RSA 5 district we need a variance. A2 is the application of appeal.
A3 is the project information form. A4 is our deed and A5 is our proof of tax clearance.
At A6, you will see a site and elevation plan, which I will walk you through,
in addition to a site location map. A8 are photographs. Separate from the packet,
let me just show you real quick, are the photographs of the posting. We did not have
orange paper, but my client did have fluorescent green paper, which I would submit that it draws
significant attention to the posting, and therefore would comply with the requirements
of the code. A-9 is a petition of support consisting of three pages. A-10 is the RCO
letter of support. Actually, attached to the packet is the RCO summary of the meeting.
Separate from the packet, which was not submitted to me prior to the making of the packet,
is BCAA's letter in support of the application, which has been provided to Hillary.
And in fact, she provided me a copy of that letter, while my summary of the meeting provided
by Bridesburg shows that clearly, if not nine, 11 people supported the application with nobody
opposed. If the district council person, Mike Driscoll, I believe that's his district, has
submitted a letter, I would ask that be marked A11. A12 is the relevant zoning history. A13 is
the zoning map. And A14 is a narrow photograph. Very quickly, existing conditions. This is a
residential dwelling. It's located off, it's not Fridge Street, that's Bridge Street. I apologize
for the typo. If anybody ever gets off at the Bridge Street exit, you will see the Cannonball
Tavern. This property is located directly next door to the Cannonball Tavern. I've spoken to
the owners of the Cannonball Tavern, and they have no objection to this application as well,
in addition to all those in the surrounding area.
The refusal is generated due to the fact that the shed should not exceed 130 square feet.
Um, you know, I am sure that the board and, uh, the members of the board are familiar with
I am sure that the board and the members...
Bridesburg. Um, you know, these are smaller homes and, uh, storage can be a, uh, you know,
a problem, uh, for those that reside in that area. And, um, they, you know, they do have a
larger backyard on this property as compared to the others. So they, uh, uh, were of the mind to
create a larger shed than what would normally be related to that area.
But we do have the deed.
Lisa's been an owner of this property since May of 1999.
As you can see, she's currently current on all of her property taxes.
We have a copy of the actual poster.
with regard to the actual structure itself, the front of her property fronts on facing I-95 and
the Bridge Street exit. At the rear of the property is where the shed is located. I would
point out to the board, there are no curb cuts. This is not for commercial use. It's strictly for
uh you know personal residential use uh and while there is a you know a garage type door
uh facing the side street uh there is no curb cut and it is fully enclosed by a you know a fence
so it is certainly not for any kind of commercial use uh again this would be the uh google map
showing the cannonball tavern which is you know if you're getting off i-95 here you would actually
go around a block to get to the Cannonball Tavern. This is a Google Earth photo of the
subject shed. Again, it's not for commercial purposes. It's strictly for personal use.
Here is another photo from Google Earth showing the Cannonball Tavern. My client's property is
located directly across the street from the Cannonball Tavern. And you can see towards the
back is the subject shed. She did personally circulate a petition of support consisting of
three pages signed by numerous neighbors in or about April. We did mail out the notice of the
meeting with the BCAA, which is Bridesburg Community Action
Alliance, it went to 98 individual addresses as provided
by the Planning Commission, advertising our meeting for
August 16th at 3.30pm, which was held via zoom. The, you know,
the only available zoning history, you know, signifies a
single family home with a storage shed. Back at that time, there was a smaller shed located on
the back of the property. Given that, yeah, this is not a commercial use. We're not expanding any
kind of a non-permitted use other than personal storage. And we would ask that the board grant
the requested relief. Lisa Mezzico is on the call, Mr. Chair, I believe via cell phone.
I don't know if she'll be successful in doing the star or whatever, but as an officer of the court, I submit that yesterday, in detail, I went through this exhibit packet with Lisa.
She has agreed that it is true and correct to the best of her knowledge, information, and belief.
And if she was called to testify today, she would acknowledge that she would adopt it as her own testimony.
mr ward how long has the shed been there uh she she built the shed uh actually during covid
uh you know you know during that time period yeah it was impossible to get uh you know permits
filed okay yeah yeah i got it okay thank you thank you questions from the board
and by the way we do take your testimony as an officer of the court
no mr chairman no mr chairman all right questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see no hands at this time chair planning commission uh this is ron bednar city planning
first name ron r-o-n last name bednar b-e-d-n-a-r do you swear or firm to tell the truth the whole
truth nothing but the truth i do please proceed uh this property is indicated for residentially
Please proceed.
This property is indicated for residential use on the city plan.
use on the city plan
We recommend that the height variance be granted, provided that the surface area variance be reduced closer to conformance with the code requirement.
Thank you.
MI 2023-001-259-5352 James Street, I vote yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed. My vote is yes. Thank you, counsel. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Have a great
evening. Okay. Number one is the case number one we have MI 2023-003-767-1023-27 West
Susquehanna Avenue. Brandon Saverin is the attorney. I have recused myself in this case.
Ishmael Shaheed will handle the case.
All right. The testimony and evidence from this April 19, 2023 hearing and this matter is incorporated into the record for the hearing.
Mr. Savering.
Hello, Mr. Vice Chairman.
You state your name and state it for the record.
Yes, my name is Brandon Saverin of Pritzker Law Group.
You just want to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Can you please state your client and your relations to your client?
Yes, my client is the property owner. It's called Temple 2 LLC.
see. Philip Michael is the principal of that entity, and he is actually here to testify a bit
today. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy? Yes, I do.
Have you emailed them all the required documents and exhibits that are needed and required to
proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing? Yes. Thank you. Please proceed and
share your screen. Okay. Thank you very much. I'll keep my comments brief today, given that
we do already have a record open and established, and I'll ask you to bring on my client after I
conclude. So just to take a couple minutes here, this again is our notice of refusal.
Let me say before I even jump into this, that we're very grateful to have a chance to speak
to you again today, Mr. Vice Chairman and members of the board. Philip was not able to attend
the last hearing. His development director in-house came in his place, but I think it's
going to be very important for him and for you to sort of, you know, for him to speak and you to
have a chance to ask questions of him. He's a young Black developer who has a really unique
platform, in my opinion, that allows others to invest at a very sort of low entry point in his
projects. And that's not just sort of theory. It's something he's practiced in developments
in Philadelphia and elsewhere already. So he's going to talk about that. I will also mention,
we have a letter of support from the coordinating RCO from the 37th Ward Executive Committee.
That hasn't changed since last time.
We also have a letter of support from Senator Sharif Street, and we had his support before
the last hearing.
I did not have a letter, which I was able to obtain, and I'll show you that in a minute
for the purpose of this hearing.
So here's the refusal.
The project is to develop a 20-unit building with some ground floor commercial space on
Susquehanna Avenue on what is a long-standing vacant former industrial parcel that is still