um really um I mean we do have a we do have a commercial component of this but clearly it's
not your typical CA2 uh commercial shopping uh center so that's why I think you know there's
a hardship here um it's already been recognized by the zoning board but uh you know for CA2 here
It doesn't really fully make sense in that respect.
And then let me just take you through some of the rendering.
This is, you know, in a lot of ways, it's the same building.
It's, you know, we're going to add trees, obviously, new windows, new exterior finish.
But it's, you know, it's a heck of a building the way it is.
And we would just be cleaning it up.
And then, you know, tremendous reinvestment on the inside and with all new windows.
part of the discussions with the community was about creating a crosswalk across a caster which
is a busy street to link us to the park that's across the street and we've got commitments
already from the state senator and the council person to work with us to make sure that you
know these neighbors can then access the park and really kind of create a new a new little
neighborhood right there with the park this is a refusal letter again it's you
know there's no other refusal of them CA to underlying zoning you'll see at the
bottom here again is that prior approval for the exact same project and then I'll
just walk you through real quick you know the zoning plan right here you know
there's again there's no changes to the building other than other than you know
keeping it the way it is in that case you can summarize it would be helpful yeah yeah there's
no substantive to changes correct everything's basic no there's no substantive changes it's it's
it's a it's a straight rehab project um again but we've got the the parking across the street
for 40 spaces plus the five on site so we have 45 spaces for 90 uh it's just it's you know really a
win-win, I think in all respects. Community was supportive back in 14-15. They were very
supportive still. We tried to get this back in front of the board on an administrative approval
and actually the councilman supported on this. And then Ellen and I wouldn't let this get back
on administrative approval because they said we were out of time. So I wish we could have avoided
this whole delay that we've had, but in any event, here we are. And with that, I can ask
the property owner, Mr. Alon, who I believe is on the call to adopt my testimony, unless
the board has any other questions for myself, the owner, or our project architect, Ray Rolla,
who has done many projects that have been in front of this board as well.
Get your witness, the owner of the property.
Yes, Mr. Alon, are you on the line?
Can you unmute Mr. Alon
A-L-O-N
Hi Mr. Alon
Please spell your name
First and last name
Okay my first name is E-L-I-A-H-U
Last name is A-L-O-N
And you swear and affirm
To tell the truth
The whole truth
Nothing but the truth
Thank you Mr. Feldman
Sure. Mr. Lahn, you are the member of Castor Lofts LLC, the owner of the property, correct?
Yes. And you've heard my testimony concerning this project?
And you've heard me explain why the 90 apartments with the 10 commercial space, in your opinion, makes the most sense for the redevelopment of this property?
And this is the project that the board previously approved and that you were the applicant for back in 2014-15?
And do you adopt my, do you, was my testimony true and accurate to the best of your knowledge?
And do you adopt it as your own?
Thank you.
Thank you.
Any questions from the board?
Anyone else wish to testify in this case? If so, please raise your hand.
No hands, Chair.
Thank you. Planning Commission?
Good afternoon.
M-I-A-N, please spell your full name for the record.
M-I-A-N, Litwin, L-I-T-W-I-N.
Planning Commission, do you swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth yes i do thank you please proceed uh this parcel uh is sorry hold on
This parcel is owned CA2 under the assumption that this property would be demolished and converted to auto-oriented retail.
However, the Planning Commission supports the adaptive reuse of this building over demolition and redevelopment.
Therefore, we are not opposed to granting the variance.
Thank you.
MI-2020-0012063701 Sapiva Street. My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
my vote is yes my vote is yes thank you as always for your time and
consideration have a good day meeting item MI 2020-001199-1007 South
third street no one has come forward for this case all right
confessor for some reason i don't have that page would you read that um i'm sorry chair um i do
have uh it was here hank clinton i think was here oh here we go yes hank is the lawyer for this one
okay okay
good afternoon emory you swear and affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
Do you agree to waive the reading of its refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
And have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents, proof of ownership,
proof of tax compliance, copy of the refusal or referral, photos and plans,
five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, I have, Mr. Plaza.
And have you met with the RCO and have a letter?
Yes, I do.
Thank you.
Please identify yourself for the record.
Sure. Good afternoon, members of the Board and Planning Commission. My name is Henry Clinton.
I'm here for the applicant, Noven Pan Real Estate, concerning 1007 South 3rd Street.
Ms. Sunkit, can I share my screen?
Yes, you may, Mr. Clinton.
Thank you. Can you see my screen?
Not yet.
now we got you you're good yes okay thank you uh so this is my presentation binder
with the calendar number in today's date table of contents including all the
exhibits that I have for this presentation. Exhibits A1 through A11, my appearance statement,
the deed, and I'll run through this.
There's a zoning notice that I gave to the community for the community meeting,
which is Queen Village, as well as for the ZBA hearing date today.
These are my mailings, certificate of mailing, indicating that we've mailed out 102 pieces of mail concerning the RCO meeting, as well as today's meeting, tax certification, notice of refusal.
The refusal concerns really two issues.
One is the proposal is for a three-family dwelling in an RSA 5 zone, and we're proposing
two parking spots in the rear of the building off of Bodine Street.
All right, so this is the zoning map showing the property.
property is right in here it's right adjacent to an rm1 zoning district and when i get further
along showing you the plans you'll see that all the homes to the north of the property as well
as behind the not all but behind the property there's there are several multi-family dwellings
so this is really a multi-family block uh we did meet with queen village here is our letter of
support. They asked us to make a couple changes. One was to
provide them with a plan showing the sight lines of what the
property would look like when you're standing across the
look like when you're standing across the street in terms of whether you would see the pilot house or not.
street in terms of whether you would see the pilot house
They also asked us to make some changes and upgrade the facade material,
which Rustin Ower and Harmon DeWitch Ower did, and you'll see that in their plans. So based on the changes to the plans
that we provided to Ms. Saleta prior,
we obtained the letter of support from Queen Village. And with me on the line is
is Noam Pan, the principal of the applicant, as well as Rustin Orr, who may testify if the board
is so inclined. So here, just again, right now, this is a vacant lot. To the right is a quadplex,
and to the left is a triplex. Here's a larger version of the site plan, excuse me, the zoning
map, indicating that the RM1 zone is to the south, and the RSA5 zone is to the north.
To the right, you can see an outline of the project.
It's a rather large lot, as all the lots are on the street.
And this is a significant exhibit here.
The proposed project is right here on 3rd Street, 10-under block.
Carpenter Street here is Bodine Street is here.
It's a street that you can drive down.
We're proposing two parking spots in the rear, similar to the homes on the south end.
And these homes are, as I said, quadplexes, four-family dwellings.
We're proposing three-family.
There's a three-family adjacent, another three-family, and then a single-family on the corner,
but directly almost behind and a little bit to the north is another multifamily property.
These are the sight lines that we provided to Queen Village,
indicating when you're standing across the street, you cannot see the pilot house.
these are the floor plans basement of first floor would be one unit the second unit would be the
second third and fourth floor with access to rooftop deck and the other unit would be again
duplication on the second third and fourth floor with a rooftop deck these are the elevations
both front and rear and what we added on the front was bigger windows and also
some balcony Juliet balcony on the front just to set off the front and give it
some more detail these are the proviso plans as we did make changes on the
plans we provided them to miss a letter before the hearing this is an aerial view i guess i can make
this bigger for you i guess it's it's just made that bigger for a full screen so this is an aerial
view again this is third tree it's north and south this is a current vacant lot these are
photographs taken within 30 days that I took. Again, the vacant lot. These are three new
quadplexes to the south, and these are the adjacent two properties to the north,
which is a triplex and a triplex. And just want to see, is my client, Mr. Penn, are you on the line?
Or Ms. Sunkit, can you unmute him?
um i don't have that name i have a gnome yes
gnome can you hear me yes i can hear you i do japan would you please spell your first and last
name yes it's noam n-o-a-m and last name is aviv a-v-i-v we're in the firm to tell the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes i do uh mr v this is henry clinton again and you
are the principal uh in the applicant the llc yes and you had the opportunity to listen to my
testimony as i made this presentation to the zoning board yes if you had the opportunity to
testify would you adopt my testimony as your own and as true and correct yes i will thank you very
much. With that, I ask that my exhibits be introduced into evidence and that the board
look kindly upon this application. These are de minimis, dimensional variances that we're asking
for in terms of the parking in the rear. We have some unique circumstances that this property is
situated among and between several multifamily residences. We're not really altering the essential
character of the neighborhood and it's in harmony with the code as well as with
what the neighborhood group Queen Village has requested and with that at rest. Thank you.
Queen Village has requested and we're not at rest. Thank you. Questions from the board? No.
Anyone else wish to testify in this case? If so, please raise your hand.
Chair, we have a Robert Pendergrass. You can unmute yourself and wait to be sworn in.
please spell your name
first name is Robert
sure first name is Robert
R-O-B-E-R-T
last name Pendergrass
P-E-N-D-E-R-G-R-A-S-S
I live at and own
218 Carpenter Street
Philadelphia
BA19147
we're in a firm to tell the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the truth
please proceed
yes so as I said
I live and own with my wife 218 Carpenter Street, which is a single-family home. It
also borders Bodine Street, which borders the property in question and will be their access
to the parking. So as such, I'm going to be directly affected, or our property at least,
will be directly affected by the decision made today. I'm not in support of this variance because
I feel like that this neighborhood has too much multi-family housing already going in.
I don't feel that it is needed.
Just going, you know, just talking about Third Street on its own from Washington up two blocks
to Christian, we have multiple empty homes.
We have several currently occupied homes that are currently for sale.