this is our subdivision plan.
This is our zoning site plan.
and in blue here you can see this is academy road where my cursor is indicating ryan drive
into the site this is the existing four-story building where my cursor is indicating with the
third with the three-story building addition where my cursor is indicating and you can see in blue
the proposed parcel drawing prepared to show the west east and south building elevations
our turning plan, and our landscape plan. Exhibit A-6 is our application to this board
Exhibit A6 is our application to this board together with the notice of refusal and the project information form.
together with the notice of
Exhibit A7 here is proof of posting. This is our posting along Academy Road.
You can see where my cursor is indicating the friary building.
This is Ryan Drive here with the high school where my cursor is indicating to the left.
The property also has frontage along Chalfont Drive, and this is the posting along that frontage as well.
Exhibit A8 is an atlas printout to show the board the configuration of the site.
Here is the frontage along Chalfont Drive that I was just referencing.
Academy Road here, which is the main frontage for the building.
And below it is just a printout from Google where you can get a better sense of the layout of the site.
Where my cursor is indicating is the existing friary building.
And then the high school on the larger ground here. And again, as I mentioned, no change is proposed to the high school.
Exhibit A9 for the board's reference are street perspective photographs. This is looking northbound on Academy Road, the top photograph.
The existing Friary building here, where my cursor is indicating to the right, this is a perspective from Ryan Drive into the site.
And then looking southbound on Academy Road with the high school here to the left of the picture, looking downward on Academy Road.
exhibit a 10 these are photographs of the existing friday rebuilding the board's perspective
and a view from the rear where the addition would go
exhibit a 11 are drawings prepared by cbp architects here you can see the existing
building with the new addition our parking landscaping and again archbishop bryan here
to the right where no changes are proposed this is a perspective view of the building addition
and i should note that the uh the building addition would would house 21
one-bedroom apartments the four-story building will house 27 one-bedroom apartments and as i
indicated uh the addition and the 21 units therein are necessary in order for the litec financing
and thus for the project to succeed this is an aerial view so you can see the scale and
perspective, especially against the school here, the existing friary building here, our proposed
building addition here, where my cursor is indicating our landscaping and the parking.
CIPA Day 12 is our proof of mailing, a meeting notice. We met to the neighbor's. We notified
236 near neighbors. And as I'm scrolling on the side here, you can see the proofs of mailing
to the 236 properties that were required to receive a notice. Exhibit A13 is a letter from
Millbrook Civic Association. We met with Millbrook on March 26th, and the majority of those in
attendance were in favor of the application, 17 in favor, 13 against. Exhibit A14 is a letter from
Councilman Brian O'Neill stating his non-opposition to the project. Exhibits A15 and A16 are the
respective CVs of our design professionals. Mr. Chairman, before I ask my witnesses to be
promoted to adopt my factual testimony to the board today, I would like to offer some legal
arguments to the board for the record. As I mentioned a number of times, the building,
the Friary building sits vacant today. The building is unsuited for any reasonable reuse,
no longer needed for housing for the Franciscan priest who, as I mentioned earlier, were reassigned
approximately 16 years ago. Case law supports the grant of the variance for the multifamily use.
Under cases such as the Commonwealth Court's decision in Wagner versus the City of Erie's
hearing board, a building can be the premise for a grant of a variance, and that is entitled
to be used in a manner that does not involve demolition or extensive reconstruction. So,
while this board is most commonly familiar with hardship cases being presented as physical
characteristics of the land, in instances such as the matter before the board today, our matter,
the Commonwealth Court has held that hardship can relate to the building itself.
Here, the RSA-4 allows single-family household by right. Group living for personal care is a
special exception. Single-room residences are not permitted, and even if they were,
that type of a living for priests or nuns is no longer necessary.
So the hardship justifying the grant of the variance for the multifamily use is founded in the fact that the most reasonable use, which is practical today, is multifamily apartments.
And to that end, because the building is not large enough to permit financing under the LIHTC program, the building addition is necessary.
As it relates to the dimensional variance for the extra three feet in height, the location of the existing floor.
I can see if I have a
Let's see if I have a better image here for the board.
The location of the existing floor elevations are set, and we are trying to marry the second
and third floors of the new additions to the upper levels of the existing buildings, again,
without having stairs for the seniors who will inhabit the building. The roof structure
of the addition is deeper than the existing roof structure for the existing building,
which is comprised of concrete and metal joists, thus making the roof higher, hence the need for
the additional three feet. And as I mentioned, the 38 feet would otherwise be compliant with
the underlying zoning if it wasn't for the restriction of the overlay district.
And as this board is aware, it is permitted by the zoning code to consider the detriments of
the applicant in refusing a dimensional variance. Here, the additional three feet is necessary to
achieve the building addition to provide the requisite number of apartments to achieve the
LIHTC financing as the existing building is not large enough. And without the LIHTC financing,
the project would not be successful. Accordingly, this is the minimum variance necessary to afford
the reasonable reuse of the building. In terms of conflicts and traffic congestions,
there will not be a substantial increase in traffic congestion. I note that Ryan's enrollment
is down from its historical figures. At its height, the enrollment of the high school was
approximately 4,600 students in 1975. The projected enrollment for next year is 880 students.
The building's capacity is far greater than its current population, and therefore,
granting the relief here would not cause a substantial increase in traffic congestion.
There will also be no detriment to the public health, safety, and welfare from the granted
relief here. We're bringing a low-impact but vibrant use to a vacant building. So, Mr. Chairman,
And with that said, could I please ask Suzanne O'Grady-Larito of Catholic Housing to raise her hand and be promoted as a panelist to adopt my testimony?
Suzanne has been allowed to speak.
Could you state your name and then spell for the stenographer, please?
Suzanne O'Grady-Larito, S-U-Z-A-N-N-E, O'Grady, O-G-R-A-D-Y, Larito, L-A-U-R-I-T-O.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Suzanne, could you just tell the board your position with Catholic Housing and Community Services?
I'm the Director of Catholic Housing and Community Services.
and Suzanne did you hear my testimony to the board today I did and would you adopt and
affirm that testimony as if your own I do thank you no further questions for Ms. Suzanne if I
could ask Nora Bergsten to raise her hand and be promoted she's part of the group too
Ms. Bergsten's our architect on the project okay
no i'm allowed to speak i could you please state your name and spell for this stenographer
sure it's nora n-o-r-a last name bergston b-e-r-g-s-t-e-n do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do please proceed counsel nor you are the project
architect for the development yes and did you hear my testimony to the board today i did and
would you adopt and affirm that testimony? Is it your own? I do. Thank you. Could I have one more
witness, Mr. Bergman? Sure. Sure. We see a hand. Hi, could you please state your name and spell
for the stenographer? Hi, my name is Leslie Cunningham, L-E-S-L-I-E-C-U-N-N-I-N-G-H-A-M.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you.
Leslie, you are the civil engineer for the development?
Correct.
And the drawings that I showed today were prepared by you or under your supervision?
Did you hear my testimony to the board today?
And would you adopt and affirm that testimony as if it were your own?
No further questions, Mr. Chairman?
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Yes, Chair, we have Alex Udovich with their hand raised first.
They have been allowed to speak.
Good morning, Alex.
Good afternoon, Chairman.
You were already sworn to state your name for the record.
Certainly, Alice Udovich, U-D-O-V-I-C-H, on behalf of Councilman Brian O'Neill.
the councilman supports the granting of the variance at this location.
Thank you for calling. We appreciate it.
Thank you.
Anyone else in the virtual audience?
yes chair we have two hands and nicole has been allowed to speak first
Yes, Chair, we have two hands.
hi could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer my name is nicole krepel
n-i-c-o-l-e-k-r-i-p-p as in peter e-l right do you swear do you swear or firm to tell the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes i do i have a question well okay are you for first
one more thing. Are you a neighbor? Yes, I am. Okay, please proceed. I live on the 3500 block
of Brookview Road, if that's helpful. Okay. Yes, thank you. Great. I'd like to know whether or not
you have made application for the LIHTC tax credits, and if you've made them on a 4% or 9%
basis, if you're able to answer that at this time. Is Ms. Grady Lurito still a panelist with me today?
I know the application has been made. The second part of our question, I don't know if we have any information to be able to answer that today, but I'll let my client confirm that.
Yes, the application was made and it was for 9% tax credits.
Okay, thank you very much. That's all.
Thank you.
Anyone else in the virtual audience?
Lorraine has been allowed to speak.
i could just state your name for the record please yes my name is lorraine mueller
okay uh if i understand i swore you in earlier this morning didn't i
yes yes okay please proceed are you a neighbor yes i am a neighbor who lives around the corner
from this. Okay, please proceed. Okay, well, are they, first of all, is this hearing about the
entire lot? Because when I read the zoning notice, it said lot A, lot B, like, are they going to chop
up more of it? It's a beautiful addition to the neighborhood, but I grant it, it's an empty
building and can be put to better use. But is this, are we talking about the entire lot from
where the semi-divided homes end, where the fence is, over to the driveway of Archbishop
Bryan High School.
Counsel, you want to answer that or no?
Ms. Mueller, we are only proposing to subdivide, to adjust the lot line, to create two lots
And I can, if you can see my screen.
I can.
And you're also proposing to have the driveway shared with the high school.
Correct.
yes okay well a lot of the students use the back of the high school that driveway is in
use quite often and i also have a problem with not only students and housing residents sharing a
driveway but the number of parking spaces allowed like so is the flow over going to go to archbishop
bryan high school i mean yeah neighborhood is crowded enough i mean the people on the 30
um yeah on the 1100 block of academy road are parking across the street and they have driveways
and some have garages or are we expecting these seniors such as myself not to have cars by the
way i do i'm sorry um chair this is tanya um miss muller you're only here to give your opinion
uh whether you agree or disagree in the project not to ask questions thank you very kindly ma'am
well well miss muller it looks like i'm outnumbered no you're not outnumbered the
questions are you know i mean before i agree or disagree i would like to i listen to the whole
thing but the i'm very familiar with this neighborhood after 38 years but the drawings
the blueprints went by rather quickly i couldn't but but there was a meeting earlier too at the
millbrook civic association okay well i was not aware of that and i live in modena park not millbrook
all right well thank you for your if you don't want to take a position then thank you
Anyone else?
I see no hands.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman, Sarah Bond with the Philadelphia City Planning Commission.
In 2021, the zoning map was amended to RSA 4 at this location in accord with recommendations from the comprehensive plan.
The proposed use will not cause detrimental impacts to the neighborhood beyond what might normally be expected.
Additionally, the City Planning Commission recently provided a letter of support for the associated grant.
Additionally, the City Planning Commission recently provided a letter of support for the associated grant to provide affordable senior housing at this location.
We therefore recommend that the Zoning Board grants the variance.
Thank you. MI 2024-000422-11101 Academy Road, I vote yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Thank you. You have your votes.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
Number 11, MI 2024-000-426-2200 Weefsheet Lane.
David Tustody is the attorney.
There's a letter of support from the Harrogate Civic Association,
a letter of support from Councilmember Driscoll,
and a letter of non-opposition from Councilmember Squall's office.
Counsel, could you please state your name and spell for the course tonight?
Sure. It's David Schutte, silent T, and that's spelled T-S-H-U-D-Y.
I'm with Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP, and our address is 2 Logan Square, Suite 3000, Philadelphia.