you swear affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do chair please proceed the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing rsa 5
single-family zoning at this location. We feel that the applicant has shown that this facility
will have no more significant impact on the surrounding neighborhood than a large family.
We do have concerns about the age restriction may not be permanent and may allow a personal
care home serving other populations. Accordingly, the Planning Commission recommends the Board
grant the special exemption. MI 2023-001-861-1123 Jefferson Street, I vote no.
Thomas Solomon, my vote is no. Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is no.
Thank you, Mr. Counsel. Thank you.
We're moving to number nine.
MI 2023-001-975-612-South Banbury Street.
David and Jacqueline Nemikic are the owner of applicants.
It's a pro se.
Letter of support from South of South Neighborhood Association.
Chair, I see no hands at this time.
Just a moment, Chair, our hand just went up.
Thank you.
They are coming back in as a panelist now, Chair.
Thank you.
Hi, sir. How are you? Could you please unmute yourself?
Yeah. Hi. Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Hi, good afternoon, Chair. My name is David Nemec, D-A-V-I-D-N-I-E-M-I-E-C.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Okay. Let me just read here for a minute.
This application is for the erection of a rear addition and the erection of an addition, including roof deck with roof access.
structure above an existing attached structure size and location as shown in plans for single
household living. If abutting lots on both sides of attached building contain only two stories of
enclosed area the stories above the second story of the attached house shall be set back an
additional eight feet from the minimum distance between the front facades and the front lot line
whereas no additional setback is provided at the proposed third story level property is zoned rsa
five our vice chair has just a few questions for you sir sure yes good afternoon sir have you
emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that are needed and required to proceed with this
case bobby is in advance of this hearing yes we have thank you please proceed and share your screen
again this is a we're fine sir we see it yep okay great we are um here again
We are here again speaking about a project for 612 South Banbury Street, which again is RSA 5.
speaking about a project for 612 south banbury
We are pursuing a third floor addition and attempting to forego the eight foot setback for that third floor, which is a by right zoning requirement.
I can run through the exhibit binder here, but we've met with the SOSNA Architectural Committee and picked up some of their notes and comments, and we met with the RCO, and as Chairman suggested, we received a letter of support for the project.
I'll roll through the exhibit binder here.
We have our notice of refusal.
application for appeal, our PIF form,
copy of our deed,
a notarized letter of authorization.
My wife is also on the deed.
We have the zoning drawings that were submitted to L&I
prompting the variance process.
We have some floor plans here
that show the proposed renovations.
Again, the largest intent is to get a new full depth
third floor.
We have exterior elevations that were presented
to SASNA at our RCO meeting.
Have our posted zoning flyer images.
Our RCO mailing information, the letter sent to nearby neighbors, in this case it was 317
nearby neighbors.
And our letter of support from SOSNA along with a tax cert to round out the exhibit package.
could you go back what what was the vote tally
uh 12 to 0 okay thank you very much
okay have anything else to present sir that's all i have chairman good questions from the board
no chair
thomas
lebaron
no questions mr chair okay questions or comments from the virtual audience
Chair, we have a Bill Hartman.
They have been unmuted and allowed to speak.
Sir, could you state your name, please, and spell it for the court stenographer?
Yes, sir.
My name is William Hartman, or Bill Hartman, and the last name is Hartman, H-A-R-T-M-A-N,
first name Bill.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I swear to tell the truth.
Proceed, sir.
Are you a neighbor?
I'm not sure if we're on the same case.
I'm here about Haggard Street.
No, no, no.
We're at 612 South Bambry Street.
I'm sorry, sir.
Right.
Okay, thank you.
Is there anyone in the virtual audience for 612 South Bambry Street?
I see no hands at this time, Chair.
Planning Commission.
good afternoon chair peter bernard for the planning commission
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing rsa 5 single family zoning at this
location we have no objection to the proposal of the addition at this location accordingly
the planning commission has no objection to the board granting the variance
mi 2023 001 975 612 south bambury street i vote yes
Ishmael Shahid, my vote is yes.
LeBaron?
LeBaron Leonard Palmer, my vote is yes.
Thank you very much.
Thank you, sir.
You have your votes.
Thank you, Chairman.
Number four, MI 2023, 001-771-1813 East Hagrid Street.
1813 East Haggard Street. Jared Kline is the attorney.
Jared Klein is the attorney.
Letter of support from East Kensington Neighborhood Association, letter of support from New Kensington
CDC, and a letter of support from Council Member Squad. Good afternoon, Mr. Kline. Could you state
your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer? Certainly. Good afternoon, Mr.
chair members of the board. It's Jared, J-A-R-E-D. Last name is Klein, K-L-E-I-N, from Blank Rome,
130 North 18th Street in Philadelphia. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Yes, I do. Could you identify your client,
the relationship to the property? Certainly. We're representing the owners of this address,
Johanna Berrigan and Mary Beth Apple. Okay. And our vice chair has just a few questions, sir.
certainly good afternoon counsel do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate
to its accuracy yes i do have you emailed all the required documents and exhibits that are
needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing yes i have thank you
please proceed to share your screen thank you can can the board see my screen we can sir yes excellent
So we are here, as we said, for 1813 East Haggard Street.
And I'll give the board some context and some history so that we understand what this application is about.
This is a legalization application for an existing free health care clinic that is designed to provide medical care for the underserved,
the underinsured, the uninsured in the Kensington area. Area of the city, I'm sure, as the board
well knows, where free medical care is desperately needed. And they have been providing medical care
from this address for decades. Unaware that they needed specific zoning for this use,
they received a violation from L&I and immediately commenced this process to
legalize this use. And that's why we're here with you today. We're not inserting anything new into
the community. We're trying to continue the good works of this organization that has been there for
decades. The two owners of the building are a physician assistant and a nurse practitioner.
And they operate this Catholic worker free clinic as part of the House of Grace Catholic
worker in Philadelphia, and part of the larger international Catholic worker movement.
Their clinic that is inside this row house has been there for over 30 years. They service anybody
who comes to their door. There's no appointment needed. It's a complete walk-in clinic.
And they offer a variety of services that this neighborhood desperately needs, including basic
health care, wound care, showers, and basic hygiene. They have a small lending library.
They assist people who need to navigate the complicated health care system.
And they serve people who don't have insurance. Many don't have an ID.
Many have mental health or substance abuse issues. And they treat everybody who comes to their door
and have been an integral part of this community for decades. The refusal that we have, it's calling
it a group practitioner, but that's not really what's happening here. I think the most specific
explanation is here, it's the legalization of a community-based free medical clinic.
And that's what is there now, and that's what we're seeking to legalize. Just to orient the
board, this is the area here. We're located down the street from the St. Francis Inn in the
Kensington area. Zoning map show this is our lot here. It is zoned RM1. There are, as the board can
see, other commercial uses immediately around us, including IRMX and CMX 2.5 on the same block
where we're located. So the residential portion of this block is certainly not the entire block.
This is the existing building here. These are your zoning notices that are posted in the window.
and the exterior looks like a traditional row home, except inside they offer these free
medical services. This is the backyard, and then these are examples of what the interior of the
building looks like. As you can see, it's just basically set up. They have a couple of small
medical offices and sort of a common area where people can sit and wait. These are photos of the
block just to orient the board. This is obviously the L here, and our property is located down there.
The basic layout of the building, you can see here, there is a basement that just has utility
and storage. On the first floor, there is that waiting room, which is immediately off the street
On the first floor, there is that waiting room, which is immediately off the street with a supply closet, a shower area and a dental facility in the rear.
with a supply.
And on the second floor, three exam rooms and an office that is used by by the facilities.
All of this is also being submitted to the city because there is the violation that we got was a lack of a zoning permit and lack of a CO.
So that CO obviously comes after if the board is willing to grant this variance, we'll be getting a CO based on this existing layout and these plans.
Within the packet of material that was submitted to the board, I heard the chair reference letters of non-opposition from the councilman and the community association.
Pages 18 to 93 of our exhibit packet, which I will not go through each one of them in
consideration of the board's time, but 18 to 93 are letters of support from various individuals
and entities around Philadelphia, attesting to the good work that Mary Beth and Joanna do,
and really emphasizing, and I'll point this out here, that they provide urgent and essential
services. This is from pathways to housing. So all of these letters that I will just flip through
so the board can see are letters of support for both what the clinic is already doing and that
they should be permitted to continue doing these good works. This is from North Square neighborhood.
There's individuals who wrote in. And again, I won't take the board's time to go through all
of these, but there are both immediate near neighbors who have written letters and civic
and medical and housing assistance organizations that have all written to support the work that
they're doing here. There was also a petition that was circulated within the community.
There are over 300 signatures on that. That is also included in the packet that we sent to the
board. This is the petition. And again, I won't take the board's time to go through all these
names. But as you can see, there are people from all over who have received medical care,
support the work this free clinic is doing, and have signed the petition with some commentary
that's also included in the packet. This is page 105. Each person who signed the petition had an
opportunity to write some thoughts, and that's what needs are here. We did have a meeting
with the RCO. I'm going to bring that letter up on the screen for the board. It was the East
Kensington Neighbors Association. There was a vote. There were 51 in favor and only two in
opposition, so the community was very strongly in support of what the clinic has been doing,
and their belief that they should be able to keep doing it.
The only real concern we heard was that there was some concern
about neighborhood sort of vandalism or property damage
that was attributed to our clientele.
You know, the St. Francis Inn is right on this block
and Kensington is Kensington.
We do the best job we can
and really are providing medical care to the really underserved.
And so we don't think that there is a real concern there.
But the letter of support came from East Kensington Neighbors and also the New Kensington Development Corporation also submitted a letter of their support for this project.
With that, I would like to ask either Mary Beth or Joanna or if you're both together to raise your virtual hands.
Chair, we have Joanna Berrigan. She's been unmuted and allowed to speak.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Good afternoon, Chair. My name is Johanna Berrigan, J-O-H-A-N-N-A-B-E-R-R-I-G-A-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, Counsel.
Thank you, Chair. Ms. Berrigan, did you have a chance to listen to my presentation this
afternoon? Yes, I did. And do you adopt my statements as true and correct in your own
testimony if you had the chance to speak for a little bit longer? Yes, I do. And you want me
to provide a testimony? If you have less than a minute to share with the board about this
this business and what you're doing, that would be valuable.
Joanna, are you there?
Honestly, I think you portrayed the information perfectly.