Let me know what people are in, Todd.
Yes, Chair, will do.
Chair, we have about 28 attendees, we can start when you wish.
Thank you very much.
Good morning, my name is Bill Bergman and I will be chairing this morning ZBA hearings.
With me is Carol Tenere, our vice chair.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Ismail Shahid, our board secretary.
Present, Mr. Chair.
Thomas Holloman, our board member.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
And James Snell, our board member.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Also here is our executive director, Tanya Sunkit, and our board attorney, Hillary Emerson.
Here's our virtual format.
Be advised, proceedings are being recorded. By participating, you acknowledge your agreement
to be recorded. A video will be available by contacting Tanya Sunkett at philip .gov.
For the benefit of our court stenographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify
themselves before testifying. If you are participating by phone, if you wish to testify,
press star nine to raise your hand and star six to unmute. To enter an appearance statement,
call 267 -270 -5548. Leave your email and the address of the property in question.
And lastly, please note the question answer box on the screen is not for testimony or comments.
Any comments have to be directed to our executive director, Tanya Sunken. Now let's look at
at continuities for today, this morning's hearing. Number 12, 2022, 001359, 9216 North
Delaware Avenue. That will be continued. 13, MI 2022, 001365, 9212 North Delaware Avenue.
That will be continued. Number 14, MI 2022, 001 -367 -9218 North Delaware Avenue. That is
continued. And number 15, MI 2022, 001 -362 -9214 North Delaware Avenue. That is all continued.
All four of those cases are continued. Is there anyone in the virtual audience that has any
comment relative to those cases i see no hands chair are there other requests for continuance
chair we have oh they just put the hand we have will we have william taylor
okay good morning could you state your name and spell for the court reporter please
uh william taylor t w -i -l -l -i -a -m -t -a -y -l -o -r do you swear for him to tell the truth the whole
truth and nothing but the truth i do what case sir would you like to give me the would you like
the address or the calendar number give me give me the address one two one seven south 50th street
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1 -9 -1 -4 -3.
Are you continuing this?
Are you requesting a continuance?
Yes, Chairman.
This was the second listing.
Next case must be tried.
Understood.
Thank you.
Any other requests for continuance?
4 -9 -1 -1, Frankfurt Avenue, Philadelphia, PA.
Wait, hold on one minute.
That number one case was MI 2021 -003 -844 -1217 South 50th Street.
And you have another case too, sir?
Excuse me, this is, sorry, excuse me, this is Hillary.
Mr. Taylor, are you the attorney for the applicant on that case?
Yes, I am.
Okay, because I have a John Taylor listed.
So are you John Taylor?
Yeah, the full name's William John Henry Taylor.
Yes, I am John Taylor.
Thank you.
Okay. All right. Thank you.
You have 4911 in Frankfurt Avenue?
Yes, Chairman.
Yes, Chairman.
Okay. All right. So are you new for that case?
Okay. All right. So are you...
I am new for this case.
Okay. So that one was marked must be tried today, but what we'll do is the next case must be tried.
All right. Thank you.
So MI 2021 -003 -847 -4911, Frankfurt Avenue, that case is continued.
Thank you.
Okay. So any other requests for continuance?
Yes, Chair. We have Keon Stokes.
Hi. Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
Keon Stokes. K -I -O -N -S -T -O -K -E -S.
You swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
What case are you talking about, sir?
The 1723 South 20th Street.
okay um you're requesting a continuance no okay what what is it why oh no i wasn't requesting
to continue i didn't because last time i was i couldn't see like the unmuted or was we on zoom
or not yet so that's why i raised my hand it wasn't for continuance okay all right thank you
your case will be called later mr chair um can we actually that case we we're gonna have to
continue because we don't have exhibits can we bring him back on mr stokes
all right mr stokes yes all right first of all spell your name for the court reporter again
k -i -o -n last name stokes s -t -o -k -e -s do you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth yes okay mr stokes we have no exhibits for that case you have to get your
exhibits in so the case will be continued so we i believe we submitted everything back when we did
like our first we submitted all the documents that were supposed to be submitted already
we have no documents for you at all yeah mr mr stokes you have to in order to file the appeal
there's documents you have to submit but in order to have a hearing there's an exhibit package that
you have to submit five days before and we did not receive that exhibit package
if you if you have further questions you can contact the office and we will assist you
okay mr stokes
mr stokes yes what office am i contacting number email like
um you could uh email rco i'm sorry i'm sorry it's the same information you received via email
we can move on thank you okay is there any other requests for continuances
i see no hands here okay we're going to go to an add -on case i'm sorry chair yes uh we have mary
jones okay uh good morning uh this is morning mary how are you could you state your name and
spell for the court reporter please of course uh mary jones uh uh from council president daryl
clark's office right uh firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
What case, Mary?
It is 914 West Gerrard Avenue.
I've spoken with the applicant, and I know for a fact that they haven't had a community meeting,
and I thought that he might call in to request a continuous, but at any rate, that will need to be continued.
Let me just see if he, Demetrius Ware, are you in the audience?
We don't have any exhibits for this anyway, Mary.
Mr. Ware?
Chair, there's no one with their hand up or listed as Ware.
Okay, that case is going to be continued.
Thank you.
Thank you, Mary.
Any other requests for continuance?
Yes, Chair.
We have Diane Monroe.
Monroe, excuse me.
Good morning.
Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
Diane Monroe, D -I -A -N -E, Monroe, M -O -N -R -O -E.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
What case do you want to continue?
It's the 914 -18 West Derrida Avenue.
him um the gentleman he did contact me about two weeks ago
He did contact me about two weeks ago.
Who are you, ma 'am?
Ma 'am, ma 'am, who are you?
We just did that with Mary Jones.
Yeah, we just did that case.
Yeah, that's what I'm about to continue to say since Mary interjected, you know, about a continuance for this project.
Right, we continue to do that.
So I understand.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
That's great.
It's great, ma 'am.
Thank you.
any other requests for continuance chair we have mark fineman okay
good morning mr fineman could you state your name and spell for the court reporter
yes i hope you can hear me good morning it's mark fineman f as in frank e -i -n -m -a -n
all right do you swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
Yes, I do. Thank you. Good morning. I'm here in reference to 1737 Bergen Street. I believe it's MI 2021.
Yeah, I have that. Tell me, this is the fourth listing, Mr. Feynman.
Yeah. What I'm trying to determine is whether or not the exhibits ever made it in.
No, we have no exhibits.
And that's why I raised my hand, having heard that a few matters have already been continued because of the exhibits.
For some reason, I did not show them as having been sent. We have everything together now, and I know it's been continued multiple times. Part of that has been the coordination with the community organization. We've had that meeting. They support the matter.
So, Mr. Feynman, this is the fourth listing. We'll go one more time, but it has to be tried.
I understand. And it's only because we just need to get those exhibits in. So we'll have that all ready for everyone.
This case must be tried. Thank you, Mr. Feynman.
Greatly appreciate it.
MI 2021 00128 1737 Bergen Street. This case is continued.
Any other requests for continuance?
I see no handshare.
The add -on case, MI 2020 -002 -336 -2222 North Front Street.
I vote yes with provisos.
Her amended refusal dated 10 -19 -21, maximum seven units, take not to exceed 55 feet.
um mr chair i'm not voting that case okay thomas holliman my vote is no
james snell yes with proviso ishmael shaheed yes with proviso
Thank you.
Now, going to our regular list.
Number two, MI2022, 001291, 1628 Green Street.
Letter of support from Spring Guard Civic Association.
Adam Laver is the attorney.
Good morning, Mr. Chairman and members of the board.
Adam Laver of Blank Room, 1 Logan Square, on behalf of the applicant.
Mr. Laver, just spell your name for the record for the court reporter.
Yes, Chairman Bergen.
Adam Laver, L -A -B -E -S -N -V -E -R.
Right. Do you swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Good. Could you identify your client and relationship to the property?
Most certainly. I represent Albert Wachlin, Jr., W -A -C -H -L -I -N, Albert Wachlin, Jr., who is the owner of the property at 1628 Grand Street.
Right. Our vice chair, Carl Tenere, has a few questions.
Good morning, Mr. Labor. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate with its accuracy?
Good morning, Madam Vice Chair. Yes, I do.
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, refusal or referral,
photos under plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing?
And have you met with the RCO? And do you have a letter?
Yes to all. And we have an enthusiastic letter of support from the Spring Garden Civic Association.
Well, that's great. You may proceed and begin with sharing your screen.
Thank you.
Mr. Chairman, members of the board, up on the screen is an aerial shot to place this
in context.
And I would like to say that Mr. Walkland, the owner of the property, is with us.
And I would like to say that Mr. Walkland, the owner of the property, is with us observing the hearing today.
Where my virtual hand is, right next to the Masterman School parking lot, is the property 1628 Green Street.
To place this in context, to the south of the property, you can see Masterman School and the property fronts on Green Street.
Mr. Laver, is it possible you could like turn your volume up a little bit?
You're kind of low.
I'm going to speak much louder.
Does that help?
I guess that's fine.
That's fine.
Go ahead.
I apologize.
And let me just take a very quick look at the volume here.
Excuse me.
So you can also get closer to your microphone.
I'm going to put on a headset.
That'd be perfect.
can you hear me better at this point we'll give that's fine that's fine okay i i here you go that's
perfect that's perfect excellent i apologize about that uh on with the show uh the the property
here fronts on green street it is a former gilded age mansion a victorian era property
And I knew the prior owner. I've been through the property. It is magnificent on the inside. You would not know it from the outside. It was originally built for a circus family that was a competitor to Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Valley Circus.
And I'll show you some photos in a while that will show you just how magnificent the property is.
Moving forward, here you see the zoning map.
The property is zoned RM1 as outlined in the blue line.
It is a 4 ,000 square foot property.
And moving out right here, you can see on the right of the screen the property. It was refaced many years ago. We believe that there is Victorian brownstone behind the stone facade. But the property with the curved green steps is what we're looking at.
I'd like to take a moment and just show you some of the L &I records.
The immense property was registered for many years as nine apartments after that initial
use as a single family dwelling for the Serkis family.
It was later reduced to six units and it was returned to single family use by Dolores
Van Louvain and her mother. I knew Dolores, and I was inside the property. She passed away
some years ago, and Mr. Walkland was a dear family friend who is now the owner.
During the time that Mrs. Van Louvain lived in the property, in order to age in place,
she returned the building to apartments. And what we are here to do today is to document and confirm
the configuration as it existed at the time of Dolores' life. L &I records reflect five units,
but the application calls for six. Here is the refusal in front of you, and it shows that what
we are seeking is a de minimis variance. 2 ,400 square feet of lot area would be required for the
six -family dwelling. 2 ,275 square feet of lot area exists, which is a differential, a variance in the
true sense of the word, of 125 square feet, one of the most minor variance, dimensional variances
that I have had in recent history. Now I'd like to show you why this is appropriate
for the granting of variance relief, the hardship posed by the property.
The property is located within the Spring Garden Historic District, and as board members know,
the historic district regulates the exterior of the properties, not the interior. This
This interior throughout the building is magnificent.
Wood paneling in virtually every room.
I'm going to take you through several photos.
This is the common area, and one of the main reasons why we are seeking this variance
And one of the main reasons why we are seeking this variance is that the common area has this
It's...
magnificent central stairway. To conform with the code on that 125 square foot differential
would require the partial demolition of historic elements within the interior.
And this is the reason, as you'll see in the Spring Garden Civic Association's letter of
support, why they too are very pleased that Mr. Walkland has committed to preserving the interior.
I've seen this staircase. It is right through the center of the property, and it's a natural
break from the front units along Green Street and the rear units in the back. So for the three -story
building, as I'll show you in a moment, there is one apartment at the front and one apartment at
the rear behind the staircase. That's a little out of focus, but you can see the magnificent
Victorian woodwork. Now, here we have the floor plans, and I'm going to scroll down to the bottom.
there is no living space in the basement. The first floor, what we've done with the green
is to show you the common areas that break up the property. At the front, at each floor,
first floor, second floor, third floor, is a large studio unit ranging from 480 square feet
to 500 square feet. Behind the magnificent central staircase is a large one -bedroom on each floor
averaged 650 square feet. These are not your cookie cutter apartments. They really are gems
within the Spring Garden Historic District. Same configuration essentially on each floor. I've
zoomed in just so you can see it closely. Turning to the Spring Garden Civic Association letter of
support. I took the liberty just for ease of highlighting that they have supported the
variance. They note the very large Victorian historic residential property itself and state,
given the unique interior original configuration of the building, including a magnificent historic
central stairway, an existing layout which includes the sixth unit, best preserves the
important interior historical feature. Otherwise, partial demolition of historic elements would be
required. That, in a nutshell, Mr. Chairman and members of the board, is the reason why the
documentation and confirmation of the existing condition makes sense, seconded by that de
minimus differential. And as you've seen with the layout, very generous special apartments that are
kept in magnificent condition by Mr. Walkland, who is a resident himself with his family
of Spring Garden. The proposal fits into the surrounding neighborhood as evidenced by the
non -opposition, in fact, the support of the coordinating RCO. The variance represents the
minimum variance to afford relief and will represent the least modification possible of
the regulations at issue, as I've stated with the small 125 square foot differential. The variance
relief will not substantially increase congestion in the public streets, increase the danger of fire,
et cetera. And as this is an existing condition that has not caused any issues in the community,
And in fact, the property owner is respected and a part of the community.
That goes to show that there will be no change in the surrounding area.
There are no environmental issues.
Mr. Walklin is here to adopt and affirm.
And I'm pleased to answer any questions or concerns that the board may have.
Why don't you have your testimony adopted?
Mr. Walklin, would you please raise your virtual hand?
i think i did yeah good morning could you state your name and spell for the court reporter please
sir absolutely my name is albert walkland jr uh last name is spelled w -a -c -h -l -i -n you swear or
affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do sir counsel proceed
thank you mr walkland have you been present for the entirety of my presentation before the
zoning board this morning? Yes, I have. And would you adopt and affirm the testimony that I've
Yes, I have.
And would you adopt and affirm the testimony that I've offered as your own?
offered as your own?
Yes, I do.
Thank you, sir.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Chair, we have Justino Navarro.
Hi, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
Justino Navarro, J -U -S -T -I -N -O.
n -a -v -a -r -r -o do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do proceed sir good morning mr chair and and madam vice chair it's great to see you again
members of the board my name is justino navarro representing the spring garden civic association
and the zoning committee and um attorney labor has very um professionally and accurately described
the reasons why the Spring Garden Civic Association
is not only supportive of this proposal,
but is encouraging of this de minimis request
because this serves to preserve a unique historic feature
and build into the Spring Garden Historic District.
So we have absolutely no problems
and in fact fully support the request
and would encourage the board to support this request
and approve as requested the relief
that is being sought by this case.
We want to commend the property owner, Mr. Walkman Jr.,
for his commitment to the historic preservation
of the interior of this property
and the overall preservation
of the Spring Garden Historic District.
So we are fully in support
and thank you for your time this morning.
Thank you, Mr. Navarro,
and thank you for calling in.
Any other comments from the virtual audience?
I see no handshare.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman,
and good morning. David Fecto, F -E -C -T -E -A -U, with the City Planning Commission. Hi, do you swear
or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Yes, sir, I do. Proceed, sir.
Thank you, sir. Mr. Chairman and members of the board, the comprehensive plan recommends no change
to the multifamily residential zoning at this location. The proposed variance represents a
5 % variance from the requested open space, open area for the property. So the proposal will still
be in keeping with the intent of the zoning code and with the recommendations of the comprehensive
plan. The proposed variance will not impair the use of adjacent properties. And so for these
reasons, the city planning commission recommends the board grant the dimensional variance.
Thank you. MI 2022 -001 -291 -1628 Green Street. I vote yes.
Harold Soneri my vote is yes. Thomas Holloman my vote is yes. James Snell my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed my vote is yes. Thank you. Thank you Mr. Chairman members of the board have a good
day. Thank you. Number four MI 2021 003 785 1733 Fillmore Street Parcel A
uh darlene three is the attorney no exhibit second listing
chair there are no hands and mistreat is not listed this case is continued marked must be tried
number six mi 2021 003 849 244 east springer street burn anastasia is the attorney
letter of no position from east mount airy neighbors community voted in opposition
Good morning, Mr. Chairman.
Good morning.
Can you state your name and spell, please, for the court reporter?
Vern Anastasio, A -N -A -S -T -A -S -I -O, 2016 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, 19103.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client in a relationship to the property?
Yes, sir.
I represent the owner of the property, Mr. Elad Bella.
our vice chair has a few questions. Good morning, Mr. Anastasio. Do you agree with the refusal
and stipulate to its accuracy? I do. Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership
tax compliance, a copy of the refusal or referral, photos and or plans of the property five days in
advance of this hearing? And have you met with the RCL? And do you have a letter? Yes to all of that.
Okay, you may proceed and begin with sharing your screen.
Thank you.
Thank you. I ask that the administrator also promote Sarah Pogedley from Ian Toner, Toner Architect. It's S -P -O -C -H -E -D -L -Y. She should be showing up as.
I ask that the administrator also promote Sarah.
She's coming back in as a panelist.
Thank you.
And I am going to share my screen.
Good morning. I'm here.
Hi. Could you state your name, please, and spell it for the court reporter?
It's Sarah Pachedli, S -A -R -A -P -O -C -H -E -D -L -Y.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, Vern.
Thank you. And thank you for joining us, Sarah.
I'm just trying to pull up my document.
ask that you be just a little patient here
oh there it is okay
we're talking 244 east springer street today mr chairman our proposal is for a lot line
readjustment creating two parcels from one and then placing a single family household on each
of the lots make sure that you understand the size of this lot is outlined in red here
as you can see it's very large it's over close to 3 ,300 square feet what we are proposing is a
bifurcation of the lot so it'll be two individual lots both exceeding 1600 square feet and then
placing a twin which is this is RSA3 so that would be consistent with the with the underlying code
and that's what we'd like to to show you today and let me pull up we have met with the RCO we met
with them actually on three separate occasions. The original plans did have for front -loading
garages, and we were at 33 feet tall and two inches. The first floor consisted of
storage and a garage for each of the townhomes, and then living, dining, open space kitchen.
And then three bedrooms and two baths on the top floor, rather modest in scale, in scope, and in project.
Now, after meeting with the RCO, they sent us an extensive list of feedback, and we took each and every one of their points and incorporated them into our new design.
we eliminated the parking on both lots per their request we reduced the height
of the structure even further to 30 feet eight inches and living room and dining room and
kitchen was a little bit of a redesign we still had the bedrooms and the bath
we brought a master bedroom to the top floor and still made it shorter because there was no garage
on the first anymore so this was the final rendering of what we came up with again this
is rsa3 we are permitted one off -street parking spot at their request we removed that we also
could go 38 feet tall plus nine. At their request, we went even lower. And these lots are consistent
with other lots that are near it and surrounding it. 246 East Springer is a 1 ,500 square foot lot.
226 East Springer is a 1 ,640 square foot lot. And 224 is 1 ,658 square foot lot.
The adjacent street, which is Crown, is 6646 and 6640 Crown are all 1 ,200, 1 ,500, and 1 ,600 square feet, and directly behind us here on Hoarder 229, 227, 223 are 1 ,300, 1 ,500, and 1 ,600 square feet, respectively.
respectively. So under Hertzberg, because this is a dimensional variance, we do in fact look at
So under Hertzberg, because this is a.
other surrounding lots and how our proposal would be consistent with those similarly situated
spaces. We are right there in the middle at 1 ,620 some odd square feet. Again, this is an anomaly,
it being as wide and as out of scope as it is. When we met with the RCO, as a result of that
meeting that I explained to you, we increased the percentage of open area, by the way,
from just under 57 % to 64%. We increased one, our rear yard from 15 feet deep to 17 feet,
nine inches. We reduced the height, again, from 33 feet two inches to 30 feet eight, and we
completely removed any and all off -street parking per their request. Additionally, we did add trees
to begin the creation of the canopy plan that they have in place. We then returned to the RCO,
and there seemed to be different issues otherwise. The bottom line, however, is that,
And I think this got lost somehow in the conversation, but this is what we could build as a matter of right, which would soar 38 feet in the sky, plus another nine feet, which would absolutely dwarf any and all other homes on the block.
It would throw a curb cut in the middle of Springer Street, which is here, and it's not a very big street to begin with, and it would be double wide, twice the width and far greater in height than anything on Springer Street is right now.
And that's why we do believe our proposal for two modest twins not only makes sense for the community, but it's just proper urban planning.
To be forced to build a single family home on this monster lot is just bad planning, as far as we're concerned.
relocating these lot lines, creating two modest -sized townhomes that are far more
in scale and scope with the rest of the block makes perfect sense. And we respectfully request
the granting of this variance. And now I'd like to have Sarah come on so that she can
discuss the design changes that she made as a result of talking with the RCO.
Good morning. As you know, Vern did walk us through the floor plans. We did reduce the scale of the house. Most obviously is removing the garage from the first floor, and then using that as living space for the new design.
As we look here at the plans, we still have kept our second floor plan is now our first floor plan with living, kitchen, and dining.
So it's still an open format, but much smaller in scale than the previous design.
And yes, we've kept three bedrooms, but they have now been split between the two upper floors, and they're smaller in scale than the previous design had.
And one nice design change that we did add is on the master suite floor, which is now the third floor, a small exterior patio in order to reduce the possibility of a roof deck and still give the new occupancy opportunity to have some outside space on the property.
and and sarah is it correct to say that as a result of the redesign we've increased the size
of the yard increased open space and increased pervious uh pervious uh surfaces yes that is
all correct okay there was an issue of the watershed issue that the rco brought up that
watershed issue that is in fact for lots that are greater than 15 000 square feet is that correct
That is correct.
And our lot is, in fact, only 3 ,600 square feet.
Is that correct?
Yes, that is correct.
And in fact, if we were a lot that was 15 ,000 square feet, we wouldn't even be needing a variance.
Is that right?
That is correct.
Thank you.
How wide is each structure?
um i do not have the exact dimension here but we are a i would say approximately
let me see um 27 minus 10 so 17 feet approximately okay thank you which is um you know in line
OK, thank you. Which is, you know, in line with the standard 16 foot townhome and as an RSA three, the code contemplates a twin.
And that's exactly what we're providing as a product. Certainly does not contemplate a single family monstrosity.
With that, I want to call attorney Harry Cook, who was present at the RCO meetings and dealt with the negotiation throughout the process. Mr. Cook.
Good morning, Mr. Cook. Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
Yes, sir. Harry Cook, H -A -R -R -Y -C -O -O -K, Anastasia Law.
All right. Do you swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Cook, as a member of our firm, Anastasia Law, you did, in fact,
engaged with the RCO and the back and forth to come up with the final product here today. Is that
right? That is correct. Okay. And could you explain to the board the process and how you
thought you had in fact settled on a product that the RCO wanted? Sure. You know, Vern,
Mr. Anastasio and Sir Pandaki really kind of went through the particulars, but as it related to the
actual meetings, the first meeting were very concerned about impervious surface. They were
concerned about some neighbors expressed concern about potential roof decks and privacy issues.
There were concerns about height. There were concerns about yard space. And through the redesign process and the negotiation with the RCO, we believe that we had demonstrated both hardship under the Hertzberg standard, as Vern has indicated.
In fact, at the RCO meeting, we showed the other contiguous twin properties on the block that range from, you know, 770 square feet to 1300 square feet to 1600 square feet.
So, you know, we were essentially under the Hertzberg standard. While this seems like a larger dimensional variance, when put into context of the block itself, it's rather de minimis compared to the other like situated properties on the block.
um there were concerns about parking uh and access to remove the parking uh there were concerns
about um overbuild uh again we dealt with that um and again we also showed i believe that this
was the least modification possible as it's bifurcation of the property um permits the
use of the property is contemplated in this RSA 3 district for a twin. There would be no material
difference between a large single -family home and what we're proposing in terms of increasing
congestion, especially without the parking, increase the danger of fire, new construction,
or otherwise endanger public health, safety, or general welfare.
You know, as to the watershed issue that you brought up, there was concern.
And we tried to, even though the specific code that they referenced in pointing to their letter,
they actually indicate that this property is 8 ,196 square feet.
That is not correct.
It is the smaller that you just referenced before.
that even though it is not applicable to this property, we made great strides to increase the,
to diminish the lot coverage and increase the pervious amount of property. And,
you know, if there had been a very large single family home, you know, only, only
50 % coverage would be required for open area. We're at 64 and change and 64 and change on the
other. So I think in light of the fact that there are no other refusals generated by this as to
open area, front yard, side yard, rear yard, height, you know, this request for the dimensional
variance, we were under the assumption that we had kind of come to a meeting of the minds.
And as it turns out, at each meeting, it seems that the goal line
At each meeting, it seems that the goal line was moved further and further.
Thank you.
So that is really the sum and substance of what was discussed at the sequence of RCO meetings.
Thank you, Mr. Cook.
At this time, Mr. Chair, I'd like to have the administrator bring in Elad Bella, who is my client.
Thank you.
hi could you state your name and spell for the court reporter please yes it's elad bella
e -l -a -d -b -e -l -a right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the
truth yes sir proceed counsel thank you mr chair elad did you hear our presentation today my
presentation today before the board yes i do is it true and accurate to the best of your knowledge
yes and do you adopt it as your own testimony yes thank you mr chair i have nothing else
questions from the board no mr chairman no mr chair mr chairman mr chairman questions
from the virtual audience or comments mr chair this is hillary i just have um two brief comments
um one by removing the parking on the rsa3 on rsa3 zoned lot that is actually creating
since it's two lots two additional um refusals um if the board grants in this case those refusals
would or those variances would automatically be granted as part of the court of the board's
decision um i just secondly wanted to to note and to clarify mr anastasio um that there is
one one page of revised plans in this case that's correct dated june 15th 2021 z1 with
attached proviso form dated 19th July 2022. Okay thank you. Thank you. Chair we have Bernessa
Wigham. Okay. Hi could you state your name and spell for the court reporter please? Yes my name
My name is Vanessa Wiggum, V as in Victoria, E -A -R -N -E -S -S -A, last name Wiggum, W -H -I -G -H -A -M.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Are you a neighbor?
I'm a nearby neighbor.
I live directly across the street.
Proceed.
Okay, thank you.
All of what he said was true.
However, it was brought to my attention as of last night, the last rendering that was shown with the one house.
That was just brought to my attention last night.
At any of the meetings, did we ever or did I ever see that rendering?
Now, with regard to the second rendering where everything was removed, let me back up, I'm sorry.
On the last rendering that was shown last night to me, which was not by the developers, included a roof deck, included a garage.
The second rendering that was shown, which was at our last RCO meeting, showed the two houses with the removed garages, no roof deck, and trees.
Well, I'd like to say that me living right across the street, I have a legal handicap space.
So for them to be able to put in a garage, that means that that would interfere with my handicapped parking space.
The street is so small, there's no way that a car could turn into a driveway or to a garage driveway, enclosed garage.
garage. Um, I also have, um, a functioning driveway, which is connected to my house,
to my yard. So with those two things alone, and particularly my, um, my handicap, my legal
handicap space, there's no way that they would be able to turn a vehicle into a garage, um,
with the least amount of space that we have parking on one side of the street.
So there would be no way for a car to turn into.
So, ma 'am, my understanding is we're not voting on the garages.
Am I right, Vern?
That's right.
We're not proposing the single -family home with the roof deck and garage,
with smaller open space and less yard,
although we could just do that as a matter of right.
What we're proposing is exactly what the RCO and the neighbors asked us for, which is two twins.
and the neighbors asked us for, which is two twins.
Two twins, okay, ma 'am.
Two twins, okay, ma 'am.
I understand what was being proposed.
What I didn't like was the fact of the last rendering that was showed
was not shown at the RCO as an option.
So that's why.
Okay, but I mean, I just want you to be clear.
What we're looking at today does not have a parking garage, and it's two twins.
And by the way, thank you for calling it.
All right.
Thank you very much.
Is there any other comments or questions from the virtual audience?
Chair, we have Charles Richardson.
Morning, Mr. Chair.
Good morning, Mr. Richardson.
Good morning.
Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
Yes, sir.
Charles Richardson, R -I -C -H -A -R -D -S -O -N, Office of Councilwoman Cindy Bass, room 312 City Hall.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
proceed councilwoman is opposed to granting the variance for this property the 200 block of east
springer street is a narrow dead -end street with one travel lane and one parking lane and existing
parking issues as it stands the density is too high uh for this property and uh in addition
another developer across the street uh is proposing a very similar project that the community has
opposed as well. As the community is opposed to these types of properties on this small street,
the Councilwoman is opposed to granting the variance. Thank you, Mr. Richardson. Any other
comments? Chair, we have Nina Carlett. Mr. Chair, can I question Mr. Richardson?
just for the record. Sure, you can. Mr. Richardson?
Mr. Richardson?
Mr. Richardson?
He may have logged off.
All right. I'm back. I'm here.
Oh, good. He's here. Thank you. Mr. Richardson, I just want to make sure
we understand that you understand that we are not proposing any garage
on Springer Street. Is that correct? I do understand that.
Okay. And you understand that our proposal versus what we could do as a matter of right increases.
Which we don't like as a nuclear option. You know, you didn't have any intention on doing that.
I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
I just need to ask the question.
I'm sorry. Go ahead.
Okay, good. Continue, Vern.
You do understand, as a matter of right, this option versus as a matter of right, this option actually has more pervious surfaces, larger rear yard, more open space, and no front -loading garage.
That has no standing with regard to this.
This is a street with one travel lane and one parking lane.
It's very narrow.
Understood.
And they already have parking issues on that block as it stands.
And there's another project which has nothing to do with yours, but it is another project that has been been rejected already with regard to trying to build a twin across the street from there.
So it's just not it's just not a good, good project that the councilwoman feels would be good for this where this street specific street.
Understand. All right. Thank you. Any any other comments from the virtual audience?
Here we have another call, another caller.
Please unmute yourself.
Hi, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
Hi, my name is Natalia Cerrico.
It's N -A -T -A -L -I -A.
Last name is S -E -R -E -J -K -O.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed.
I'm the executive director of East Mount Airy Neighbors, and I just wanted to read the letter that we sent
to the zba and i just wanted to clarify a couple of things first e -man as an rco we represent the
neighbors so when we send in the letters it is with all the information that the neighbors provide
e -man does not have a stance other than supporting the near neighbors and the neighbors um so on march
15 2022 we had a meeting with the community and the property owners um after the presentation
and discussion of it was taken the community voted in opposition to granting the variance
the community did not find that the applicant met all of the following criteria
the applicant did not demonstrate unnecessary hardship as by right the applicant could build
a single family home the applicant does not identify any specific size shape contours or
physical dimensions of the property that causes an unnecessary hardship the applicant
could build a single family home by right, which would not require any dimensional
variance. And under code section 14303AE .2, for the board,
I stipulate to the letter, Mr. Chairman, by the way, thank you so we stipulate to that or anything else, man, I stipulate to the whole letter.
Do you have any other testimony?
Just that it did not demonstrate the least modification possible.
It's going to increase congestion in an already congested area.
All right. Thank you. We see all that in the letter.
Mr. Chair, do you have any questions?
Just a statement in closing here.
That letter and the last test, you know, part of the testimony presupposes that we're here for a use variance.
There's no use variance here. This is a dimensional variance.
We've already shown under Hertzberg that it is the least requested.
The unique physical condition is that it's a monster lot of 3 ,200 square feet.
And if we were forced to build a single family home, it would be the only single family home on any such size lot.
anywhere near Springer Street.
It just would be an anomaly.
It doesn't make any sense.
If we're not allowed to build two singles
and forced to build up one giant single family home,
then maybe it needs to be rezoned
because the way the code now requires us to build,
it's just bad planning.
This is what we're proposing.
Is there any other comments from the virtual audience?
Chair, we have Nina Curlett.
Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
Sure. My name is Nina Curlett, N -I -N -A, C -U -R -L -E -T -T.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Proceed.
So I am a near neighbor to this project.
I actually live adjacent.
I want to make clear that the garages that were originally part of this project were not removed due to any compromise.
The garages that were originally part of this project, as I believe you have read in the review sent by Eman, were essentially misrepresented and impossible.
In order for the turning radius to have been accurate, which it was not, it was not represented accurately on the plans, it would necessitate removing several parking spaces, not only on the other side of the street in the only parking lane, but also necessitate having to use part of the sidewalk in order to even be able to make the turn into and out of those garages.
the egress was an impossible proposition it was completely misrepresented they were removed not
because of compromise i object it was approved by the streets department hold up i object mr
chair was approved by the streets department i i i understand wait um let me ask a simple
question to you do you support the project or not i do not support this project i believe
with garages with no garages involved that particular project do you support it i i do
not support this project with no garages with the re the with the um the design that is on the screen
right now thank you thank you very much thank you very much and thank you for calling in mr
chair by any other comments chair we have edward jones mr chair by the way that last uh um i
understand the last witness lives on a lot that's uh 1600 square feet just like these okay thank
you um mr jones please unmute jones could you state your name and spell for the court reporter
please yes can you hear me and speak just a little louder can you hear me yes do you swear
nothing but the truth yes could you all right proceed one second
I'm sorry.
In regards to the developer,
I mean, I don't think
he realizes that
what originally existed on a lot
was a single family property.
So that's
I'm pretty sure that's why by right
there wouldn't be a problem.
But I just want to, I am a near
neighbor and
And I just want to say, I do not support the project because it's going to add to an already congested block as it is.
I just want to say I do not
support the project. Thank you.
Mr. Jones, thank you very much for calling in.
Mr. Chair, a six bedroom, six bedroom, single family home.
I know. Let me let me get through and see if there's anyone else has something different.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience has something different to offer?
Chair, we have Susan O.
hi could you state your name for the for the court reporter please and spell is spelled oh
i just want to comment that wait wait one minute do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the
whole truth nothing but the truth yes could could you please offer something that we haven't heard
already what i'm offering is that these conversations keep happening where we're
basically being threatened um this is a threat where we're where it appears that we're given
two choices but this other option of buy right um you know we keep calling it that you have to
have this monstrosity of a single home which it doesn't um so these choices that we're given
um it's it's kind of it's just a dead end street so so miss oh let me let me just ask you this
The only choice that I see right now is what's up.
The twins with no garages in the front.
Do you support that or not?
And I'm speaking this more to the developers
because this is just an ongoing theme.
I know, but what I want to try to do
is concentrate on what we have today.
So do you support this project or not?
All right.
And by the way, thank you for calling in.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
i see no handshare planning commission
thank you mr chairman david fecto city planning commission mr chairman and members of the board
in 2019 the zoning map was amended in this area in accord with recommendations from the
comprehensive plan the property is unusually shallow compared with other lots in this zoning
district the proposed dimensions are also similar to those of existing lots and structures on east
springer street the granting of the variance will not impair the use of adjacent properties
so the city planning commission recommends the board grant the variance from the required
minimum lot area requirements of the zoning code thank you mi 2021 003849 244 east springer street
I vote yes.
Carol Tenere, my vote is yes.
Give me the date of the proviso again.
Mr. Chair, sorry, one page of revised plans stamped today, July 20th, 2022.
Thanks, Hillary.
One page revised plans dated July 20th, 2022.
Carol Tenere, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thomas Holloway, my vote is yes.
Yes, we provide so James Snell. Yes, we provide so.
Ishmael Shahid. Yes, we provide so.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay. MI
2021 -003 -903 -5323
Chester Avenue.
Glenn, Glenn Moore Morris
is the owner no exhibit second listing
i see no chair excuse me i see no hands at this time chair
okay mi 2021 003 903 5323 chester avenue i vote to dismiss i vote to dismiss i vote to dismiss
James Snell
Dismissed
Ishmael Shahid
Dismissed
Thank you
MI 2021
003854
616 North 11th Street
Talbeth Cherry
Is the enlisted applicant
They're coming back in as a panelist
Hi, Ms. Cherry.
You need to unmute yourself, please.
Hello.
Hi, Ms. Cherry, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
Hi, Ms. Cherry, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
Taliba Cherry, T -A -L -I -B -A -H, last name Cherry, C -H -E -R -R -Y.
Taliba Cherry.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
My understanding that you need an attorney to put this case on.
You said I need an attorney?
You need an attorney to put this case on.
And why is that?
the property is leased by an LLC.
And you were told this in an email?
Yes, yesterday I was.
Okay, all right.
So you need to have an attorney.
This case was marked, must be heard.
It's going to be continued,
but must be tried the next time with an attorney.
Thank you very much.
10. Okay. MI 2021. MI 2021 003 -786 -6134 Oxford Street. Phyllis Wise, owner.
Ms. Wise is coming back in as a panelist
Ms. Wise
Yes, I'm here
could you state your name and spell for the court reporter please my name is phyllis wise
p -h -y -l -l -i -s -w -i -s -e right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the
truth yes i do okay so miss wise we still need some documents for your case oh i i emailed all
of them even the last time we don't we we we still don't have the tax clearance the interior
photos or the floor plans and the refusal oh wow all right so what we're going to do is this is
the second listing but we're going to continue we're going to continue this case and you have
to have all your documents in and if you have any questions call the office and they'll give you
some direction okay okay but i would like to say the last time i sent all my documents and also
So this time, about two weeks ago, the pictures and everything, I have it on the file.
So I'll do it.
But is there any way I can send it other than by way of email?
Because that's the way I sent it.
Please reach out to the office to ask questions.
Thank you.
The office will gladly help you.
Thank you, Ms. Weiss.
MI 2021 -003 -821 -6811 Oxford Avenue.
James Abreu.
James Abreu.
Mr. Abreu is coming back in as a panelist.
Hello, yes.
Hi. So, are you translating for him?
Yes, I am. He doesn't.
Okay, so listen to me.
We still don't have all the exhibits.
you're going to have to get the exhibits in and you're also going to have to call the office
because we're going to need a translator that that that we can use okay so what we don't have is
all the exhibits right so first thing call the office to get all the exhibits in and then also
talk to the office about having a translator like we can't use a person that he knows is the
translator okay all right um what do you know what the exhibits are or i'm sorry ma 'am if you
would reach out to the office we could always answer your question yep thank you so just call
the office call the office number what's the number okay all that information is on your
email please right we sent an email to you and the number's in the email okay
okay and then just call the office look at your email thank you
Thank you.
16 was continued.
Oh, gosh.
Is there anyone in the virtual office whose case has not been called yet this morning?
I see no hands, Chair.
We will come back at 2 o 'clock.
Thanks, everyone.
Thank you.
good afternoon everyone my name is bill bergman and i will be chairing this afternoon's meetings
with me is carol tenary our vice chair president mr chair ismael shaheed our board secretary
he should be on very shortly thomas holliman our board member present mr chairman and james
snell our board member present mr chairman also here is our executive director tanya sunkett
and our board attorney hillary emerson here's our virtual format be advised the proceedings
are being recorded. By participating, you acknowledge your agreement to be recorded.
The video will be available by contacting tonyasunkett at phila .gov. For the benefit
of our court stenographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying.
If you are participating by phone, if you wish to testify, press star 9 to raise your hand
and star six to unmute. To enter an appearance statement, call 267 -270 -5548.
Leave your email and the address of the property in question. And last, please note the question
answer box on the screen is not for testimony or comments. Any comments have to be directed
to our Executive Director, Tanya Sunken. So let's look at the continuances that we have this
afternoon. Number 11, MI 2022 -000 -295 -601 West Cliveland Street. This is a continuance,
attorney moving party. We'll have to get back to the zoning board within 90 days.
And number two, MI 2022 -002 -114 -6040 King Sesson Avenue.
This case is continued.
Both those cases, is there anyone in the virtual audience who has a comment relative to those cases?
I see no hands, Chair.
Thank you.
Are there any other continuing which is requested for this afternoon?
I see no hands, Chair.
Mr. Chair, this is Hillary.
I think we can also note on the record about number 13 being listed in error.
Please call that.
I was going to do that at the end, but that's fine.
I'll do it right now.
Number 13 has been listed in error.
That case is being held.
We'll be voted on in a later date.
Can you please give the MI number and the address?
M -I -2020 -002 -812 -830 -East Thayer Street.
Any withdrawals?
I see no handshare.
Okay, thank you.
I'm going to an add -on first.
M -I -2021 -003 -395.
i vote yes with proviso no more than nine units harold tenary yes with proviso
i'm not the james snell james snell yes with proviso thank you on to our our list
MI 2022 -001 -977, 1007 -13 New Market Street.
Stephen Pollack is the attorney.
We have a letter of applicant provided an email from Northern Liberty's Neighbors Association
indicating their support, and a letter of non -opposition from Councilman Mark Squilla.
Mr. Pollack.
Mr. Pollack is coming back in as a panelist.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
Stephen Pollack on behalf.
Good afternoon. Stephen Pollack on behalf of Proud American LLC, the applicant and appellant in this matter.
Good afternoon.
Stephen Pollack on behalf of Proud American LLC, the applicant.
Mr. Pollack, just for the record, could you spell your name for the court reporter?
Sure. Stephen with the P -H -S -T -E -P -H -E -N, Pollack, P -O -L -L -O -C -K.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
I do, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
Our vice chair, Carol Tenere, has just a few questions.
Yes, sir.
Hi, Mr. Pollack. Do you agree to weigh the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
I do. Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, refusal, referral, photos under plans of the property, five days in advance of this hearing, and have you met with the RCO, and do you have a letter?
Yes to all of the above, Madam Chair.
Okay, great. You may proceed and begin to share your screen.
Okay. If I may, I have Nico Rialbuto, who is my associate, who will, if he can be able to share the screen, that would be great.
Great.
And I also, for the record, we have Sarah Proud, who is a member of the, one of the operators of Jerry's Bar, which operates under Proud American at this location at 1007 to 13 New Market Street.
So I will be calling on Sarah at the appropriate moment to adopt my testimony.
Members of the board, Mr. Chairman, we are back again.
Last year, you granted us a temporary variance to use a lot across the street from Jerry's Bar as an outdoor restaurant under certain limited conditions and have the temporary variance only run through the end of 2021.
We're back again to do the same thing, to have it run through December 31st of 2022.
We were heavily involved with discussions with Larry Friedman and the Norton Liberties Association and worked out the provisos that are contained in the Norton Liberties letter, as well as adopted by Councilman Squilla in his letter of no opposition.
so we are hopeful of operating under those same conditions for this year
can I call on Sarah to be sworn in Mr. Chairman just to
Sarah are you there
there she is I see her
Could you state your name and spell it, please, for the court reporter?
Have to unmute yourself, Sarah.
I'm sorry.
Can we pause for a second?
Can you hear me now?
Can we pause for a second?
We can.
Can you promote her to a panelist so she can share the screen?
By the way.
Thank you kindly.
can you hear me now we can could you state your name and spell for the court reporter please
sarah proud s -a -r -a -p -r -o -u -d do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and
nothing but the truth yes proceed mr pollack okay um i just just this is the marvel of zoom
Mr. Chairman, members of the board, Sarah was just diagnosed with active COVID, but because we're on Zoom, she's safely away from everybody.
I know you've pulled away from the screen, Mr. Chair, but you're okay.
I'm laughing for other reasons.
I hear you.
Sarah, you've heard what I've stated on the record.
Is it true and accurate that you've been able to operate all last year under the same conditions and want to operate under those conditions through the end of the year of 2020?
to yes okay and do you adopt what i've stated on the record as your testimony
is true and correct yes okay and mr chair and we've had no incident last year and we're waiting
for the approval again to get started again is that correct yes okay that mr chairman members
of the board we have i have lauren thompson our architect on but i don't think there's
any need to call her uh we've had pre -marked exhibits a1 through a13 and uh including we
didn't have the councilman squill is letter of non -opposition at that time and we would rest and
just ask the board to be willing to grant us the temporary variance based on those conditions
worked out with northern liberties through the end of december 3122 questions from the board
no mr chairman mr chairman no mr chairman questions or comments from from mr chair this
is this is hillary was there something that was supposed to be shown on the screen
Hey, if you want to, Mr. Paul, if you could show us just pictures of places, fine.
hey if you want to mr paul if you could show us just pictures of
Yeah, Nico, if you want to show the pictures of the property again.
I'm able to speak, but I don't have screen sharing access.
Oh, could he, could Nico be?
He can be.
If you want to put me down to where you just can put me as a voice or we don't need, I mean, Sarah.
okay if we get nico we just show the pictures
did you ask them to raise their hand please i think we have a miss nicholas here it is that's
good that's fine show the pictures mr powell thanks miss l okay there you go that's that was
the that's lauren thompson's plan our architect's plan that's a view of the property that you know
We put up the fencing from last year, the railing, and if you see a little bit more down below, you see all these various pictures of what the property looks like.
The bar up number 26 is the bar area across the street, so we'll be shuttling back and forth from the kitchen at Jerry's Bar over to here when it's used, and we have limited hours that will be open.
And picture 32, where the little hand is right now, shows you pretty much a good view along New Market Street.
So does 33, 32, 33, and 34, and even 35, Mr. Chair.
There you go.
That's basically, it arose out of having this lot and with COVID last year, and unfortunately, it seems like there's a strain or two of COVID arising again.
And it just provides us with an alternative for dining that's actually off the city sidewalk, off the street.
It's a it's this private lot that we're in the future will probably need to be developed for something else.
But that's why we're asking for the temporary variance. And Sarah, I'll just bring you back to say you've heard what I stated again.
Do you adopt that as your testimony and is true and correct? Yes, I do.
Thank you, Mr. Powell. Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no hands, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Good afternoon, Chair, members of the Board.
This is Craig Waldman, Planning Commission staff.
My name is spelled G -R -E -G -O -R -Y, last name Waldman, W -A -L -D -M -A -N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, sir.
In 2014, the zoning map was amended in this area in accord with recommendations from the comprehensive plan.
This parcel was intentionally not changed.
The applicant is seeking to continue a use whose temporary zoning permit expired in January.
During that time that the temporary use variance was in effect, the lot did not present detrimental impacts to the surrounding community.
Accordingly, the Planning Commission supports the granting of a temporary variance.
Thank you.
MI 2022, 001 -977, 1007 -13 New Market Street.
I vote yes with proviso.
Temporary variance to expire, 12 -31 -22.
Hours of operation, closed Mondays, Tuesdays through Thursdays, 3P to 10P, Friday 3P to 11P, Saturday 9A to 11P, and Sunday 9A to 10P.
Maximum of 35 seats
No live or amplified music
Use existing trash facilities
And no glassware
Okay, my Carol Tannery
My vote is yes with provisos
Thomas Holloman
My vote is yes with provisos
James Snell
My vote is yes with provisos
Thank you, Mr. Pollack
Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the board. Have a great day. Take care.
Number two, MI 2022 002131 1738 Pine Street. Melanie Lacey is the attorney. Letter of non -opposition from Center City Residents Association.
Melanie Lacey one moment can you see and hear me oh yeah we can now we can great uh good afternoon
members of the board Mr. Chairman Melanie Lacey I'm with Claire Harrison that's M -E -L -A -N -I -E
last name L -A -C -E -Y the adjusts 1835 Market Street Suite 1400 Philadelphia Pierre right
The address is 1835 Market Street, Suite 1400, Philadelphia, PA.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Thank you.
Could you identify your client and relationship to the property?
Yes. I'm accompanied by Glenn Goodman, who is an owner of the property.
Our vice chair, Carol Tenere, has a few questions.
Hi, Ms. Lacey. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership tax compliance a copy of the refusal or
referral photos and or plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing and have you met
with the rco and do you have a letter yes to all of the above okay great you may proceed and begin
sharing your screen miss lacy before we begin did you did you we needed interior photos and
floor plans. Do you have that? I provided that earlier this morning. Okay, thank you. Yes. Okay,
are you seeing my screen at this time? We can. Okay, wonderful. So as mentioned, this application
of appeal concerns 1738 Pine Street, and we are seeking to legalize seven existing residential
dwelling units in a four -story building. So I just want to clarify that no new construction is
proposed and the applicant hasn't changed the layout at any point since acquiring the building
in 2001. In fact, at all times since at least 1973, the building has had seven rental units
and the first floor has two units with a street facing unit that switched between an office and
residential space. So let me walk you through the application briefly. As mentioned, we did meet
with the RCO, the coordinating RCO for this district is Center City Residents Association.
We met with them on May 24th, and they provided a letter of non -opposition. And
we also have a letter from the immediate neighbor located at 1736 Pine Street,
which is also a multifamily building attached to the right. And as you can see, she states that
Mr. Goodman's property has been consistently upkept with long -term tenants and no complaints.
So here's a zoning history and here we have two permits to present. Here we have
one reflecting a permit for seven apartments and this is dated May 2nd of 73 as I mentioned before
And this one was for six units and that office space that I mentioned, but it has in fact been used exclusively as residential for all seven units since that time.
So we're here because the property is zoned RM1, and let me go back to the zoning map, which changed during the course of the ownership, of course.
And we have to seek approval of the number of units in question.
So by right, four units are permitted, but we are proposing seven, which all have been in place, as mentioned earlier.
This is a zoning map showing that the block and surrounding area are zoned RM1 with a few overlays.
and here are some uh properties of the surrounding area this is an exterior photograph showing the
front corner and um block and we do have proof of posting here as well as interior photographs that
you requested earlier we have a picture of the vestibule there are two units on the first floor
second floor, third floor, fourth. And the remaining documents include the deed,
tax compliance, application of appeal, and proof of mailing. So
that pretty much sums up the application. I just want to reiterate that it is a predominantly
residential area, no change to the character of the block as it stands, and no proposed
construction involved. So I'm accompanied by Mr. Goodman. If you would promote him to the panel to
be sworn in, Glenn, if you could raise your hand. Ms. Lacey, before we do that, do you have the
floor plans? I don't, but it was indicated that floor plans or interior photos were required.
okay hillary is that okay yes that that's fine mr chair with a with a change in use like this ellen i
Yes, that's fine, Mr. Chair. With a change in use like this, L &I is not going to require floor plans, so the applicant does not always have them, but we needed at least interior photos.
Thank you.
Mr. Goodman, right?
Mr. Goodman, please unmute yourself.
I just did.
Hi, Mr. Goodman, could you state your name and spell it for the court reporter, please?
Yes, Glenn Goodman, G -L -E -N -N, G -O -O -D -M -A -N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, counsel.
Great, Glenn, did you hear the testimony that I provided to the board this morning?
Or afternoon?
Do you affirm that my presentation was accurate?
Completely accurate.
And do you adopt the testimony as your own?
Thank you.
All right, questions from the board?
no mr chairman
questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see no handshare planning commission
good afternoon chair members of the board uh greg walden planning commission staff
the copper has a plan recommends no change to the existing residential multi -family zoning at
this location. While the existing zoning permits four units by right, there are six existing units
that have been legalized. The seventh residential unit appears to be a legalization, a request for
legalization of an existing condition in a commercial unit. Eliminating the commercial
component is consistent with the RM1 requirement. The City Planning Commission recommends that the
zoning board grant the variance. Thank you, Glenn. MI 2022 -002 -131 -1738 Pine Street, I vote yes.
Carol Tennery, my vote is yes. Thomas Holliman, my vote is yes. James Snell, my vote is yes.
Thank you, Counsel. Thank you.
Number three, MI -2022, 002 -163 -1809 Master Street.
Rachel Pritzker is the attorney.
Councilman Clark's office acted as the coordinating RCO.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair.
Good afternoon.
Could you state your name and spell it for the court reporter, please?
Yes, my name is Brandon Saverin, B -R -A -N -D -O -N, S as in Sam, A, B as in Victor, R -A -N, and I'll be filling in for Rachel as I attended the community meeting on behalf of our firm.
Thank you. 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 in relationship to the property?
Yes, my client is GSD3 LLC, who is the owner of the property.
Thank you. And our Vice Chair, Carol Tenere, has a few questions.
Hi, Mr. Saverin. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, I do, Madam Vice Chair.
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, refusal or referral, photos and or plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing?
And have you met with the RCO and do you have a letter?
Yes, and the one thing I'll add to that is the council president's office effectively served as the RCO, and I provided a meeting summary of the meeting they convened today, so it just came in.
Okay, great. You may proceed and share your screen.
Thank you very much.
Good afternoon, members of the board. Thank you for your time today.
We are here on a variance appeal concerning 1809 Master Street, which is a vacant lot in North Philadelphia.
This is the refusal that we received when we applied to L &I for the new construction of an attached building for use as three dwelling units.
And that is because the property is zoned RSA 5.
Here is the property .phila .gov map of the property, which really pulled this up to highlight the lot area, which is just shy of 1 ,200 square feet.
This is the zoning map on Atlas.
What you'll see is that in this part of North Philadelphia, west of Broad Street, it's a wide variety of zoning designations.
We are on a block, zoom in a little here, that's zoned RSA -3, that's the yellow, in sort of what I'll call a splotch of that RSA -5 in what is otherwise, maybe you could say,
of that RSA -5 in what is otherwise maybe you could say generally an RM -1 area. That's the
orange surrounding our block in various directions. As I mentioned, the council president's office
convened a community meeting to discuss this project. It was well received with his honors
office reporting uh 16 uh meeting attendees in support of the project and two in opposition
the council president's office uh requested uh two provisos which uh my client would be agreeable
to enter into the first uh down at the bottom here that first floor the first floor unit of
the three units, that that unit's trash is stored in the rear, and then a second proviso that
prohibits a roof deck. And I'll address each of those issues. I actually provided the board
attorney this proviso change form, which I signed at the bottom, which attests that we have removed
the roof deck from the original zoning plan. So I will ask you to approve the project today if you
are so inclined, if I would be so lucky, with one page stamped revised plans. This is the revised
plan. The clouds here, here, here, and here show the removal of the roof deck access structure and
the roof deck itself. The zoning sheet is simple. It is just a site plan on the right -hand side
and front and rear elevations on the bottom and a side elevation on the top. It gives you a sense of
what the building would look like, but we did make floor plans as supplemental materials,
which I'll show you in a moment. I offered a memo of law to the board in our exhibit packet.
I want to highlight one page of my memo of law on the topic of the hardship, that conformity to the RSA 5 designation, what that hardship is here.
Conforming to the RSA 5 designation's prohibition on multifamily use is difficult because on our side of this block, there are no single family homes, according to the Zoning Archive.
I believe there are a handful on the other side of the block, but this right here is a complete inventory of the current zoning permitting of our side of this 1800 block of Master Street.
And what you'll see is that every building is zoned, is permitted rather, for at least two unit use with about half of the buildings permitted for three unit use or higher.
We are proposing three -unit use because we believe it fits appropriately in the building, as we'll show you in a moment.
And further, in consultation with the community, we really are committing to offering a workforce housing product.
And because of that, in the first few years of this project's completion, all units in the building are going to be offered an affordable rent for those making 80 % of area median income.
So because of that, it's really imperative for us to be able to construct three dwelling units to make the economics work, to make essentially those restricted rents able to cover the cost of construction in a reasonable amount of time.
But more to the point, a single family home in terms of the zoning hardship really just doesn't fit with the character of this block.
It would certainly be the one and only single -family home that's at all new on the block, and a single dwelling unit would be, by far and away, the most expensive housing product on the block.
So we don't really think it's feasible to construct a single -family home here, and I believe that that's borne out in the community vote on the project.
Interestingly, this is Google Maps or Google Earth.
Our lot is sort of the one that is blurred out here for some tech reason, but this gives you a sense of the fabric of the block.
We'll be at this similar height as the surrounding buildings.
And now let me show you some renderings of floor plans going in reverse order in this presentation packet.
um here is sort of a contextual um fabric uh of our our proposed property and its adjacent neighbors
um elevations you already saw on the zoning sheet but here they are again
this is the top uh dwelling unit which takes the entirety of the third
This is the top dwelling unit, which takes the entirety of the proposed third floor.
It would have two bedrooms.
It would have a closet specifically for trash.
It was going to have a roof deck access, but we have removed that in favor of a skylight,
which we think would be a nice feature there.
This is the second floor unit.
and this is sort of a similar layout to what you just saw on the third floor minus the skylight
this is the lowest unit which occupies both the basement and the ground floor
there will be egress wells with windows for both the front and back in the basement
that's on the zoning sheet, and this we would imagine as probably a two -bedroom unit
with a little more living space than the upper units.
Here is another type of rendering showing the placement of our finished project in the context
of the block. I think that's really all I've got for you today. I am happy to take
questions i do have the project architect here but won't have him speak unless uh there's something
you'd specifically like to know from him and uh i do have our clients here to adopt my testimony
their names would be um mayor that's m -e -i -r and or roy that's r -o -i
Mr. Shemesh, you can unmute yourself.
Hi, could you state your name and spell it, please, for the court reporter?
Yes, my name is Roy Shemesh, A -O -I, last name Shemesh, S -H -E -M -E -S -H.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Proceed, counsel.
hey roy uh were you able to hear the full extent of my testimony today yes i did and was it true
and accurate to the best of your knowledge yes and would you adopt that testimony as if it were your
own yes okay thank you very much questions from the board no mr chairman no mr chairman
questions or comments from the virtual audience
here we have raheem stewart okay
yes hey how are you guys could you state your name could you state your name and spell for the
court reporter please yes brahim stewart he is a boy ours and roger y h he is an elephant m as a
mother steward s -t -e -w -a -r -t right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing
but the truth yes i affirm the term please proceed yeah i just want to say that i fully support this
project here i've been a resident in that area for over 30 years now and i just love the things
that you know these guys are presenting to you know uh restructure the community so i just want
to support this uh project here and i want to say thank you guys thank you very much for your call
any other comments from the virtual audience i see no hands chair planning commission
good afternoon chair members of the board this is greg waldman from planning commission staff
in 2017 the zoning map was amended from commercial mixed use to residential single
family at this location in accord with recommendations from the comprehensive plan
the applicant's hardship claim is not supported with evidence of unique physical circumstances
or conditions of the property which is currently a 1213 square foot vacant lot
worth furthermore the applicant's claim of affordable units is not enforceable without
being noted in the deed which the applicant has not presented as evidence the city planning
commission recommends recommends that the zoning board deny the variance thank you mr chair could
i i'm so sorry i just you know i just wanted to sort of state that um there there is a community
benefits agreement um that uh the councilman's office could speak to which addresses the
affordability um and i would simply ask that the community's desire for the number of affordable
units be taken into concern thank you mr chair mr chairman do we have the do we have the councilman
Do we have the councilman's letter?
letter
Hillary, what did we receive for the council office?
We received the meeting summary form indicating the community support with the provisos and it referenced the community benefits agreement.
But we did not receive a letter, a position letter from Council President Clark.
I see Mary Jones does have her hand raised.
uh yes good afternoon mary you've already been sworn um proceed okay uh yes this is mary jones
from council president daryl clark's office um yes i just wanted to um more or less confirm
what was said here our office um had uh convened the meeting just uh in league with the community
before an official RCO had been established and so everything you see the meeting summary is
based on feedback from the community at the meeting which I was in attendance and yes there
is a community benefits agreement which we are in the middle of final finalizing that the community
is agreed to which um it does it does include language um that this should be uh that requesting
that i guess that this uh that the agreement be recorded uh with the deed to serve as notice for
any subsequent owners should the land change hand just stating what uh these owners had agreed to
which has included the affordable unit.
So that's just.
Thank you very much, Mary.
You're welcome.
Any other comments from the virtual audience?
I see no handshare.
MI 2022 -002 -163 -1809 Master Street.
I vote yes with proviso.
Revised plan, one page,
stamped by ZBA on July 20th, 2022.
and first floor unit trash stored in rear.
Harold Tenere, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thomas Holland, my vote is yes with provisos.
James Snell, yes with provisos.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you.
Number four, MI -2022 -002 -117 -1829 West George Street. Henry Clinton is the attorney.
Recognition of support from United Francisville Association. No explanation.
Henry. Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
Could you state your name, please, Henry, and spell for the court reporter?
You are Henry Clinton, C -L -I -N -T -O -N.
Could you, do you swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
I do. Could you identify your client and the relationship to the property?
Sure. The client is Valpap, V -I -P -A -L -P Properties, LLC, and the principal of that LLC, Kana Patel, K -A -N -A -Y Patel, P -A -T -E -L, is on the call.
Okay. Our vice chair has a few questions.
Hi, Mr. Clinton. Do you agree to wait the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, a copy of the refusal or referral, photos and or plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing, and have you met with the RCO, and do you have a letter?
Yes, to all of the above.
Great. You may proceed.
Thank you.
And begin to share your screen.
Is that large enough, Mr. Chairman?
It is fine.
All right, thank you.
So good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
I'm here on behalf of Vipal Properties, LLC.
This is my presentation package, which contains exhibits AA through A11, which I ask to be admitted into evidence, my appearance statement, and a refusal.
This is a request for a single -family home on a very small lot that's 16 by under 35 feet on George Street, which is the first small street north of Poplar.
this is not the first time i've been before the board with a request like this
some five or six years ago i had a similar property at 1917 excuse me 1919 george street
17, excuse me, 1919 George Street, where we asked for the same request, which is a single -family home
where we asked for this
with a front -loaded garage and a rear yard of five feet. We have two refusals. One is for parking
because if you want to have a garage, it has to be accessed from the driveway out of your rear
street. You'll see from the aerial photographs, there's no orange street parking for this property,
and you'll see there's other properties of a similar ilk on this block.
we do have an rco letter of support from united francisville civic association which is in the
packet these are photographs right now the property is a vacant lot the other proper average
referring to is right here down the street about five addresses to the east which is very similar
to the property we're presenting today four stories with a roof deck and a front loaded garage
And there are other front loaded garages on the block, as you can see from photographs,
as well as parking in open air spaces for the homes that are on Cambridge Street.
This is another view just looking west to give you another perspective
to see that there is no on -street parking. The homes on Poplar Street
use George Street for parking in the rear, up and down the block, and you can see on the other
side of the street there's also parking spaces both open air and garages again just a perspective
looking west this is the project that i presented in 2017 and we actually have the same architect
today different owners but the same architect who designed this property at 1917 has designed
the project at 1929 George Street. These are the plans. Four -story building, no basement.
Again, a perspective indicating where the property will be. More photographs for the board to
consider. This is the site plan. The refusal we have for dimensional use is a five -foot rear yard,
which is consistent with other yards on the block. And again, refusal for the front loaded garage.
Floor plan in the basement, we have flex space, the bathroom, the garage space. Excuse me,
I said there was no basement. I was incorrect. There is a basement, but we have flex space there
with an egress well in the back, garage on the first floor, stairs leading to the second floor
with living dining area, and then two bedrooms on the third floor and another bedroom on the
final floor with a rooftop deck. The remaining documents are the pro forma documents that the
board typically sees in presentations such as this, tax compliance, our application,
project information form, the zoning map, which is an RSA 5 zoning district,
the deed indicating ownership,
and then our mailing, our notification.
I just wanted to show the board
the zoning permit that was issued
for the other property I referenced
at 1917 West George.
This is the zoning permit
that was issued for that property
back in 2017,
single family household living
with one car parking on the front.
And this is the actual refusal
from 2017 and there the request was for a five -foot yard and we had issues then with open
space which we do not have with this application so in conclusion i'd just like to ask the board
to look kindly upon this application because for a number of reasons there's no orange street parking
we have unique physical circumstances this is a very very small lot it's 16 by 35 it really
doesn't alter the essential character of the neighborhood or the block it's actually consistent
with other uses on the block, and it's in harmony generally with the code. And with that, I would
rest and ask that my client adopt my testimony and entertain any questions from the board or
from the virtual audience. Have your client raise his hand, please, Mr. Clinton. Mr. Patel, can you
raise your hand. Yes. Hello, guys. Hi. Could you state your name and spell it, please, for the
court reporter? Yeah, my name is Kanae Patel, spelled K -A -N -A -Y, last name Patel, P -A -T -E -L.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
I do. Counsel? Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Patel, were you on the call when I just presented
the project 1929 west george yes and if you had the opportunity to testify would you adopt my
testimony as your own and as true and correct yes thank you mr patel thank you questions from the
Yes. Thank you, Mr. Patel. Thank you. Questions from the board? No, Mr. Chairman. No, Mr. Chairman. No, Mr. Chair. Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
board no
Chair, we have Vanessa Barbetti. Sure. Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
Hi, good afternoon, Vanessa Barbetti. Could you spell your name, too, please?
Vanessa, V -A -N -E -S -S -A, Barbetti, B -A -R -B -E -T -T -I.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, please.
So I am the owner of 1927 Poplar Street, Unit A.
It's directly across from the subject property.
I just have a couple of questions.
I am looking at the prior project that Mr. Clinton did, and I have to say it is much
better than the other properties that have been done on George Street.
If you look at other properties, 1939, 1937, West George Street, they have encroached onto
the sidewalk with stairs.
So it looks like his prior project does not encroach onto the sidewalk.
So I just wanted to confirm that that's going to be the same case with this proposed project.
Yes, ma 'am, it will be.
Perfect.
Now, I also have a parking spot in my property, and I just see on the last project you did, there's some sort of utility line, and then there's also like a guard in front of it.
And I just want to make sure that that's not going to encroach onto the sidewalk, because I do have to turn from the sidewalk to get into my parking space at 1927 Poplar.
And I just want to make sure that utility line there that you see there, you see the red car.
Yeah, exactly. And I want to make sure that's not going to get in the way of my turning radius.
you know without seeing where you are and what the distances are i don't i don't pretend to be
you know a traffic engineer um but you know my client will approach you and do everything they
can to make sure you're not impeded getting in and out of your property okay if you could if you
if you could uh give me your you know give your email in the chat i will reach out to you and
you my contact information so we can make that connection sure absolutely that that would be
great and then during i'm sorry i just wanted to say mr clinton they don't have access to a chat
but if you guys could connect offline we can always provide her with the direct information
okay i think i might have your information from a prior matter actually so i can contact you
sure please feel free to reach out and then um during construction will i have access to my
parking space yes i mean there's going to be sometimes when the the street uh when you connect
to the utilities has to be dug up uh but in general i think my clients are going to use the
adjacent lot uh for loading purposes and try to have deliveries made and then use the lumber when
the delivery is made that same day. So again, I don't want to stand as a guarantor that you
won't be inconvenienced, but similar to the other property in 1917, the contractor will do
what is necessary to try to keep peace on the street. Okay, great. Thank you. I appreciate it.
Thank you for calling in. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
Chair, we have Anita Andrews.
Hi, Ms. Andrews, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
Yes, Anita, A -N -I -T -A, Andrews, A -N -D -R -E -W -S.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Proceed, please.
Yes, I'm the owner of the property that's the equivalent of 1925 West George Street.
It's where in this picture you've got two black cars, but basically between the white car and the black car.
I'm very excited for this lot to, you know, I think I have the, anyway, go look at the picture.
It's the equivalent of 19, it's two parcels over from the subject.
I'm very excited for this lot to be developed.
It sat as an eyesore on this block without fencing or anything for quite some time, so very excited.
My concerns are the following.
But other than your other lot that you developed this way, it's actually the only other, there's only one property on this entire block that has a totally enclosed garage.
property on this entire block that has a totally enclosed garage right this this one in 1917 the
other ones are open air space and i think there is a garage i don't i think this might be a garage
okay can you hear me yes okay great so the the concern that i have is that every all the other
parking are totally open air or may have a like a just a facade fence that you know is rolling
and gate and all that. This block, and especially exactly right there, there are about nine to 10
children who play in that block all the time. The concern I have with a totally enclosed garage is
how will the driver know, and they're small children, they're not adult, you know, teenage
children. How is the driver going to know there are, you know, how will the sort of children have
enough time to respond? How will the driver know there are children there? So I am looking for,
I'm very excited for this to be developed, but it is the only one other than your other one that has an enclosed garage.
I am looking for features and functionality that will provide greater warning and visibility to the owner.
Well, I don't think a beeping sound, I mean, in other neighborhoods, when a beeping sound is used in a residential setting, it becomes an annoyance to other people on the block.
And as I look on Poplar Street, it looks like, you know, we had the same situation with people backing out.
So. But they're open air. They're open air.
So when they come out of their back doors, they can see this is the way this block works.
They come out their back doors to go to their cars. They can see the woman, Vanessa, who's just done.
She comes at her back. She can see the kids are playing. The kids can see she's coming to the car.
Whereas when you have a totally enclosed garage, typically what happens is a person goes from their interior into their car.
They sit down, they open the driveway, et cetera.
So there's not those points of contact and warning to be aware of what's happening on
the street.
I agree with beeping noise.
I'm not the solutioner.
I'm making the point that there are at least seven kids who consistently play right there.
On some of our other situations, what we've done is mounted a mirror exterior of the garage
that can actually, you know, you can look down the block.
And I think that might be one solution that might work for everybody.
And so we're willing to explore that.
We don't want any children at risk, obviously.
We want to be good neighbors and we want to make this work.
So like I said to the prior caller, you know, I can give you my contact information, put
you in direct contact with the owner so we can work out a solution.
Okay, that's definitely going to be necessary there.
So I can reach out.
Thank you for calling in.
We appreciate it.
Anyone else in the virtual audience?
I see no more hands, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Good afternoon, Chair and members of the board.
This is Greg Waldman, Planning Commission staff.
In 2018, the zoning map was amended from residential multifamily to residential single family at this location in accord with recommendations from the comprehensive plan.
The existing driveway is consistent with nearby properties, as is their very yard depth.
the city planning commission recommends that the zoning board grant the variance
thank you MI 2022 002 117 1929 West George Street I vote yes
Carol Tenere my vote is yes Thomas Howell my vote is yes
James Snell my vote is yes
thank you mr chairman thank you mr chairman members of the board have a great day everybody
right it's number five mi 2022 002 130 2203 north a street mr knockamson is the attorney
recommendation of support from the 37th ward rco
mr knockamson good afternoon mr chair members of the board
all right could you state your name and spell please for the court reporter
yes alan a -l -a -n last name knockamson n -o -c -h -u -m -s -o -n do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth and nothing about the truth i do could you identify your client in
relationship to the property uh yes my client uh is the property owner 2538 realty llc and i have
a member of that organization isaac cats in the virtual audience thank you our vice chair has a
few questions hi mr mackinson do you agree to wait the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its
accuracy. Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership tax compliance? Refuse
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, refusal, referral, photos, and or plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing?
And have you met with the RCO? And do you have a letter?
Yes, in all respects.
Okay, you may proceed and please begin by sharing your screen.
good afternoon again alan knoxson pc i'm here to present 2203 north aid street
so in our presentation packet first we have the notice refusal then the letter of support from the
37th board executive democratic committee you'll see that we had a well -attended meeting of 23
individuals and each individual voted in support of this project. We have a nearby triplex that
this zoning board has granted under similar circumstances on this block of North 8th Street
and we have that permit as part of our presentation packet. Then we have maps of the area and what
you'll see from there is that we're not on a commercial corridor even though we are a CMX2
property. We're in the residential portion of town and we're helping we're trying to help build that
commercial corridor on Germantown and Diamond Street by increasing the density of nearly
swapping out the commercial unit with the residential.
You'll see photographs of the property, our planted drawings, our RCO meeting notice or
application for appeal, our deed to the property showing that 2538 Realty LLC is the owner
of the property, and our certificate of tax clearance.
Again, Mr. Katz is in the virtual audience, and he'll be able to adopt my testimony.
I also believe that Mr. Masso, the architect on the project, is also in a virtual audience, if any questions need to be answered from a technical standpoint.
So first things first, this is a CMX2 property, right?
So we are allowed a maximum of two dwelling units, given the size of the property, and the size of the property is almost a 1 ,100 square foot lot.
All we're trying to do is swap out the commercial unit with the residential to make three units.
So we're allowed three units as a right. We're asking to have that commercial unit, which would probably not be appropriate for this block.
We're not a corner property. And we are bordering two commercial corridors, both Germantown Avenue and Diamond Street, which are walking distance.
And the community did not want to see commercial on this block.
And this board has heard similar arguments for another property on this block and granted a similar zoning request.
So we have one refusal regarding for this triplex the amount of units, residential units.
The second one is that we're looking to eliminate the commercial unit as well, and those are essentially our refusals.
And then, again, you'll see from here 23 individuals attending our meeting, all in support of this project.
uh i can say it's really hard a lot of times to get unanimous support or any support so
having 23 individuals support a project is pretty impactful uh and then our zoning permit of a
similarly situated property close proximity to our property so at 2225 north gate street
this board granted under calendar number mi -2020 -001833 on december 9th of 2020
20 uh a similar type of variance request of three units merely swapping out the commercial unit
with a residential of course which you have residential commercial
uh then uh this is the zoning map of the area again as you can see it's it's a decent amount
of multi -family even though we have cmx2 zoning um you'll see from pictures that this is not a
commercial park of the neighborhood. But you will see from the map, the Google map that we're
provided, that Germantown Avenue is, and so is Diamond Street. And then for the rest of the
property, this is the property is a vacant lot. And this has been a vacant lot for some time in
2007. You can see this is as far back as Google Earth goes. This was a vacant lot. So we hope that
time has come to develop this. Unfortunately, the, you know, it would not support a commercial
unit in there or asking for a residential unit instead to help support the commercial corridor
and to make this a viable project. And then this is North A Street to the right of the property,
North A Street to the left of the property. And then Mr. Katz and his family have been in the
business for well over a generation. It's just examples of some of their work products,
people even high -end finishes and big rooms, lots of light in there, hardwood floors,
you know tiles in both the kitchens and the bathrooms decent amount
uh in both the kitchens and the bathrooms these are now closet space and then this is just the
you know again our site plan um we're not asking for any dimensional refusals all of our refusals
deal with the use of the property um and you know we're staying well within the parameters of
dimensional requirements of cmx2 we're doing a brick facade each you know we have three units
unit number one you come in to the first floor you have an open floor plan where you have a bedroom
each of the of the units have a garbage disposal and a ventilated trash closet
open floor plan in the basement level so unit number one to five level unit number two is a
two -bedroom one bath on the second floor and then unit number three is also a two -bedroom
one bath on the third floor and there is a roof deck we met with the community on may 16th
at 5 p .m 141 addresses were notified of this community meeting the list of the addresses
proof of mailing to those addresses our application of appeal showing a 2538 realty llc
filed the appeal along with the notice of refusal the project information form
or deed to the property showing that 2538 ltlc is the owner of the property
our certificate of tax clearance there was a slight balance that my client took care of
last week uh to make sure that we're in compliance with that being said i would ask that mr katz
virtually raise his hand so i can count my testimony and then we'd be more than happy
to take any questions. Mr. Katz, could you state your name and spell it, please, for the court
reporter? Isaac Katz, I -S -A -A -C -K -A -T -Z. All right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Yes. Proceed. Yes, Mr. Katz, you heard everything I
stated today yes and is it true correct yes and do you adopt it as your own testimony
yes all right thank you very much questions from the virtual uh questions from the board i'm sorry
no mr chairman no mr chairman questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see no hands chair planning commission good afternoon chair and members of the board this is
greg baldman planning commission staff the comprehensive plan recommends a zoning map
change from commercial mixed use to multi -family residential at this location there is no unique
physical condition or circumstance of this lot that would prevent it from being used for two
dwelling units as allowed in the existing or proposed zoning districts the zoning uh the city
planning commission recommends that the zoning board grant the variance with the following
condition a maximum of two dwelling units as allowed in the zoning code
and am i 2022 002 130 2203 north a street i vote yes carol tanari my vote is yes
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Mr. Nockamson, you have the next case, too.
Thank you.
MI 2022 -002 -123, 2633 Reed Street.
Letter of support from the Grays Ferry Community Council.
Also submitted a petition and support signed by 13 neighbors.
and eight form letters from the 2600 block of Reed Street.
Could you just state your name for the record, Mr. Nockmson, please?
Yes, Alan Nockmson, A -L -A -N, last name Nockmson, N -O -C -H -U -N -S -O.
Could you identify your client and the relationship to the property?
Yes, the property owner is Woodland Investments, LLC, and I have in a virtual audience one of its members, John Gilsey Min.
Our vice chair has a few questions.
Mr. Nockam, since you agreed to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy.
have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership tax compliance refusal referral
photos and or plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing and have you met with the
rco and do you have a letter yes in all respects okay you may proceed and share your screen thank
Thank you very much.
hi so this is not the first time i've been in front of this board on for a project on the 2600
block of reed street you'll see in the presentation materials that
myself and and other applicants have been here on the 2600 block of reed street to essentially
convert uh this these are some of these rsa5 properties to multi -family dwellings and the
board time and time again has agreed to do that because that's what the community wants they want
the diversity of housing in this neighborhood the mix between single -family homes as well as
multi -family homes so we'll go through the presentation materials uh first the notice of
refusal then letters to support the uh or a letter of support from the graveberry uh community
Council as well as the Tasker Morris Neighbors Association. Then we'll go through the recently
granted variances on the 2600 block under similar circumstances. Then we'll review the petition
and letters of support where we canvassed the neighborhood. Specifically, I had my clients
focus on the individuals that were most impacted by this proposal or this proposed project.
And specifically, you'll see a letter of support as well as a signed petition from the individual that lives next door to us at 2631 Reed Street.
Then we'll review the maps of the area, photographs of the property and the surrounding area, our plans and drawings showing proof of our meeting that took place by way of a meeting notice and proof of mailing, our deed to the property showing our woodland investments.
Ms. LSA is the owner of the property, our application for appeal that we filed to the CBA and our
certificate of tax clearance showing that we're in good standing with regards to real estate taxes
as this property. In the virtual audience, we have Mr. Gil Sinan, as well as his partner,
Sean Farrelly, as well as the architect for this project, Joe Seratore, if need be,
to answer any further questions
that we may have from a technical standpoint.
So the notice refusal, very basic project here.
We're not asking for any dimensional variances.
We're merely asking to use this property as a duplex.
And that's our only refusal.
And we met with the community on July 7th
and they were unanimously in support of this project.
um not and they they indicated in their letter it wasn't just now but the other rcos as well
were in support of this project and for good reason i mean again if you look at this project
they're being consistent we have 2600 2601 2602 2645 2647 2651 all have been approved under
similar circumstances by this fort at the request of the community. And then we just have the backup
data for all of these, you know, projects. And then our petition, as you can see, we really just
focused on Reed Street and Earp Street, which is the street that's behind us. And you can see
there's a multitude of signatures on the 2600 block of both including 2631 read the the property
that would be most impacted by any use different than what would be allowed as a right and then we
did have the individuals who are closest to our property also sign in addition to the petition
letters of support you can see the person across the street from us again who would be impacted
potentially with our use 2632 reed street also signed by the 2631 reed street
and then maps of the area yes this part of the park this in the district or the
city is rsa5 i would say in name only um there is an affordability aspect you know which has nothing
to do with zoning but they're looking to have a diversity of housing at different housing levels
and affordability and that's why you'll see time and time again when the situation's right
they wouldn't approve uh multi -family use especially in the 2600 block and reach
the progress of the property we're just a vacant lot next to a vacant lot this property has been a
vacant lot for well over 15 years if memory serves me right at least someone in the virtual audience
uh for uh for our community meetings said there was a lot longer than that
uh so they're looking for this property to be developed and to keep it viable we would need
to have this as a multi -family structure uh three streets the right of the property three
uh three street to the right of the property three street to the left of the property example
streets left of the property
interiors my clients have are not only general developers they're also general contractors
they do their own work part and they're very proud of the work that they do too
and there are plans and drawings similar to the other property you know we're trying to
keep traditional brick facades uh floor plans are pretty basic uh we have you know a buy level in
both uh for both units first floor and lower level for unit one second floor and third floor
for unit two with the roof deck there's a ventilated trash room for each of the units
as well as garbage disposals as well that responsible garbage storage and removal plan
and then proof of mailing uh you know we had the meeting on july 7th 219 individuals were notified
or properties were notified and then proof of mailing for those properties and a detail property
showing that woodland investments lc is the owner of the property our application for appeal that
we filed on behalf of woodland along with our project information form and our certificate of
tax payments. I will note that even in the past year or two, there have been some single family
homes that have been built there, newly constructed, but the individuals in this
community also appreciated the fact that they're about this diversity in housing and they do not
want this block to just be solely single family in nature. Those projects were more recent or
For further in time, the single family ones, now we need, you know, the viability of this project, again, I don't think with the current market conditions we can build a single family. And that's another reason why we're asking for the variance. Thank you.
Now, I would ask that John virtually raise his hand so that would make sense.
moment. Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
No one has their hand up as of yet. What was his last name?
It's G -I -L -S -E -N -A -N.
guilty now okay he's free to speak all right could you state your name and spell for the
court reporter please hello everyone my name is john j -o -h -n gilsonan g -i -l -s -e -n -a -n
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes i do sir proceed counsel oh yes john you heard everything i stated today
yes i did and is it true correct yes it is and do you adopt it as your own testimony
absolutely thank you very much thank you questions from the board no mr chairman
no mr chairman questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see no handshare planning commission
good afternoon chair members of the board this is greg waldman for planning commission staff
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing residential single -family zoning
at this location the appellant's hardship claim that it is not supported with evidence of unique
physical circumstances or conditions of this property which is a 984 square foot vacant lot
The proposed variance is not necessary to enable a viable economic use of the property, which could be accomplished by building a single -family home as permitted by code.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the Zoning Board deny the variance.
Thank you. MI 2022 -002 -123 -2633 Reed Street, I vote yes.
Carol Tenere, my vote is yes.
Thomas Holloway, my vote is yes.
james snell my vote is yes thank you mr notchamson
number seven mi 2022 002 162 3145 jefferson street
um melanie lacy is the attorney letter of support from brewery town
charged with community civic association
Ms. Lacey is coming back in as a panelist.
Good afternoon again, members of the board. Mr. Chairman, Melanie Lacey, M -E -L -E -N -I -E,
Good afternoon again, members of the board, Mr. Chairman.
last name L -A -C -E -Y, and I'm with Claire Harrison, Harvey and Bransburg, 1835 Market Street,
Suite 1400, Philadelphia, PA. Ms. Lacey, you've already been sworn. Could you identify your
client and the relationship to the property? Yes, I am accompanied by Tim McAdams, who is
representative for the tenant best in show grooming salon okay our vice chair has a few questions
hi do you agree to weigh the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy
i do have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership tax compliance refusal referral
photos and or plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing and have you met with the
RCO, and do you have a letter? Yes, all of the above. Okay, great. You may proceed and share
your screen. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, are you seeing my screen? It's coming up, yeah, it's all.
Yeah. Great. Okay, so as mentioned, this application pertains to 3145 Jefferson Street,
And it's an application of appeal for a dog grooming salon. And I'll walk you through the application briefly. It's a pretty straightforward application, and it relates to a small retail area.
So we met with the Brewery Town, Sharsdale, Sharswood, excuse me, Civic Association on May 19th.
And as you can see from the meeting summary, the meeting was well attended and received overwhelming support.
They also provided a letter of support, which I have here.
And in addition to the letter of support, we have a petition of support from 56 neighbors, which was signed in advance of the RCO meeting.
So, as mentioned, it's a pet grooming salon specializing in dogs and cats, I'll mention, specify.
And it's actually been in the Burutown area for several decades.
They are actually relocating from 2708 West Gerard Avenue to this new location, which is only four minutes away by car and less than a mile away in distance.
And we're here because the current zoning or actually before I get to that, I'll specify that the building,
It's a unit within this fairly large building that occupies an entire block, this triangular block that I'm hovering over right now.
And it's specifically one unit within this building on the ground level commercial space.
And this is an aerial and this is the unit identified, the lavender here from the leasing plan.
Here's a zoning map. The property is zoned RMX2.
here, which is residential mixed use too. And here is the notice of refusal.
We're here because the zoning district requires a variance for animal services and part of the
unit, a small portion, maybe less than 10%, will be used for the sale of pet supplies.
So these uses really fit in with the character of the area, which is mixed use residential,
And there are a number of pet owners residing in the immediate vicinity, which is precisely why we received as much support as we did.
So here are some photos of the building in its current state, pre -rehab.
And here are some renderings of what it will look like upon completion.
This is proof of posting.
and the other requirements of the exhibit package. But to summarize,
I just want to reiterate that this is just a matter of a small business owner relocating from
its current space to this new location in this vibrant area to accommodate its growing
clientele, and I'm accompanied by Tim McAdams, so if you would promote him to the panel, I will
have him adopt my testimony. Ms. Lacey, did I see the tax certificate? Oh, so we did correspond at
length with Ms. Emerson prior to this hearing this morning, and I believe that she's going
to be proposing a conditional approval. Okay, all right, thank you.
Mr. McAdams, you're free to speak.
Mr. McAdams, you're free to speak.
I'm Mr. McAdams.
Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
Tim McAdams, T -I -M -M -C -A -D -A -M -S.
All right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, counsel.
Good afternoon, Tim.
Did you hear the testimony that I provided to the board this afternoon?
and do you affirm that my presentation was accurate yes do you adopt my testimony as your
own yes great thank you questions from the board no mr true no mr no questions or comments from
the virtual audience i see no handshare planning commission good afternoon chair and members of
the board this is greg waldman planning commission staff the comprehensive plan recommends no change
to the existing rmx2 zoning at this location rmx2 is a master plan district which prohibits the
proposed animal services and retail use the rmx2 zoning was translated from in 2012 from itd
industrial transformation district in the old code a base district that was specifically created for
this area but should not have applied to this particular property so ownership is different
from the adjacent properties that initiated the master plan district. Proposed use would not
cause detrimental impacts to the neighborhood at this location. The City Planning Commission
recommends that the zoning board grant the variance. Thank you very much. MI 2022 -002 -162 -3145
jefferson street i vote yes with the following proviso the variance grant the variances granted
in this appeal will be finally approved when l and i is provided with a copy of the zba's decision
and documentation verifying that the real estate taxes due on the subject property are paid in full
my vote is yes with proviso thomas holloman thomas holloman my vote is yes with proviso
james snell my vote is yes with proviso thank you council thank you
MI 2021 -003 -957 -3440 North 18th Street.
Mr. Nockamson, letter of support from North Center, Philadelphia, Susquehanna Community Development Corporation with provisos.
Good afternoon, Alan Ockamson, A -L -A -N, last name Ockamson, N -O -C -H -U -M -S -O -R.
Here to present 3440 North 18th Street.
Hi, Mr. Ockamson, you've already been sworn.
Can you identify your client in relationship to this property?
Yes, the owner of the property is Wise Holdings Group, LLC, and in the virtual audience is
Brian Wise, its member.
All right, our vice chair has a few questions.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, a copy of the refusal or referral,
photos under plans of the property five days in advance of this meeting, and have you met with the RCO, and do you have a letter?
Yes, in all respects.
Okay, great. You may proceed and share your screen.
Hi, so I'm here to present 3440 North 18th Street. In our presentation packet, we'll review the notice of refusal, the correspondence we've received from North Central Philadelphia Susquehanna Community Development Corporation.
uh this board has received several uh several correspondence from the that community group
uh and we'll go over that um we also have a zba revised proviso plans form uh to address their
concerns and i believe that's why we received their support uh in addition uh if this board
is so inclined we would ask that you know the board be granted with that revised plan
And on top of the fact, maximum four units, because we're proposing five units by way of the notice of refusal, we receive the community support by limiting the amount of units from five to four.
So we ask for two provisos, one, maximum four units, the second of which is to deal with some dimensional matters or aesthetics more so with regards to the project, which would change the elevation.
uh or aesthetics more so uh with the course of project which would change the elevations of the
site plan uh we would then we're then going to review uh nearby rsa5 properties with multifamily
history maps of the area photographs of the property or plants and drawings our meeting notice
for the last meeting we had we have met with this community on several occasions you will actually
also see the notice of refusal which is dated march of 2021 so we've worked really hard to
generate a dialogue with this community and listen to them well and you know meet you know
their reasonable needs uh deed to the property showing that wise holdings group llc is next
our application for appeal that we filed with the cba and our certificate of tax clearance and again
in the virtual audience is brian wise the owner's representative i also have chris johnson of 24 7
design uh the architect on this project who can also answer any technical questions uh this board
may have i notice of refusal uh so this is an rsa5 property but it's a very significantly sized
lot it's just not going to say could you raise your volume a little bit we're really having a
hard time here oh sorry maybe i'll just go forward sorry i think the last couple days or weeks of
coming from this board i think i've lost my voice uh so uh can you hear me better mr chair oh it's
fine that's fine okay uh it's uh we have a lot that's almost you know that's 2315 square feet
uh it's a really large size lot um and you'll see from other similarly situated lots uh this is a
multifamily section of Philadelphia. Under the original proposal, we were proposing to erect
an attached building structure with roof deck at second floor and roof deck access structure above
third floor for mechanical access only for the use as five units. And what we're doing here now
is we're removing the roof deck access structure because they didn't feel it was appropriate. And
And so we're only asking for a roof hatch and we're reducing the amount of units.
We're removing, well, we'll have the provisal, we'll go with the provisal form.
But we did do significant wholesale changes to this, you know, the building structure without creating any additional refusals.
So we have two refusals, the first of which is technicality.
The building height they're stating is 40 feet, five inches where 38 feet is allowed.
It was because of the roof deck access structure and where it was situated and how large it was in comparison to the building size.
By removing that roof deck access structure, we only have a building height really from the roof line of 31 feet and 31 and a half feet.
So we rid ourselves of that refusal.
And then we had the other refusal for the use refusal, but we are going further in conformance with the code from five to four by reducing that additional units.
And then we had two correspondence that the coordinating RCO submitted to this ZBA, one dated April 26, 2022.
22 it's long it's 17 bullet points but ultimately we met you know most of their requests height is
in performance with the codes density we moved down moved down to four units we do have an ada
compliant units that's not zoning matter but we did create one because we have a porch area
that it that has uh that's you know uh on on grades uh so that we have accessibility for that
first floor unit there's no roof deck access there's only a roof hatch we remove the pilot
house um we we do prefer to have a bathroom in the basement um there's i believe miss russell
who is representative of the coordinator of the RCO may be online.
We have had some passionate discussions.
We believe that the first floor unit, which is a bi -level to the basement level,
would be appropriate to have the half bath down there living in the basement.
But we think it's appropriate to, and I don't believe she has any issue,
to have some sort of living in the basement because she did agree to allow us
have a laundry facility for that unit in the basement um so we're asking to not have that
restriction of no bathroom in the basement or no work in the basement we do have our all garbage
disposals in all apartments we remove the balcony our windows will reasonably align with existing
dwellings our front door will reasonably align with existing dwellings uh we will have a brick
uh we will have a brick facade we will have you know not break in the back uh we our porch roof
in the back.
will extend to the full width length of the building uh talks about the porch height we're
going to you know obviously do our best to conform to our neighboring properties uh and there's some
other matters which are not so related but i just wanted to state that because there's 17 bullet
points in april right so we really met we're trying to meet every single one even the non -zoning
related ones. And then there was correspondence today, which doubled the amount of bullet points
in totality to 34. I think the letter from April 26, I think is more than sufficient. We did meet
many of the zoning requests as well. Then that's where, you know, our, you know, revised plans are
for removal of roof deck and roof deck access structure, installation of roof hatch for
mechanical access only, removal of the second floor balcony, and then installation of that
fourth structure in the manner in which they asked us. And then here's our revised plans. Again,
second proviso would be maximum four units. Nearby multifamily history, nearby properties
with multifamily history, you'll see that on Ontario, which we're nearby, there's multifamily,
and I have five other instances on this block of North 18th Street,
even though these are RSA 5 properties or multifamily in nature.
And then there's just the backup data that we receive in Rapples.
And then maps of the area.
If we were on the other side of the street of the 3 ,400 block,
we wouldn't be here today.
And we would be able to have, I think, definitely five units.
I have to do the calculation, maybe even six, because it's 23.
three, four. No, we would probably have five. So, but, you know, again, if we were on the other side
of the street, but we're not. And here's Google map of the area as well. We're between Tioga
and Ontario on 18th Street. And again, we're in the nice town, Tioga part of town. Here's our
property. We're between two, three -story structures with porches. Again, we're trying to emulate that
as to our design, North 18th Street to the right of the property,
North 18th Street to the left of the property.
Mr. Wise has been in the industry for over 20 years.
Again, like many of my clients, not just a property owner and developer,
but he also GCs.
He's also a realtor, so he manages his properties.
And he's also from the nice town, Tioga area.
So this is his neighborhood.
And he holds it dear to his heart, and he wants to do a good job.
But these are some other projects where he's done work that he's going to put into this property as well.
And then, again, as you can see, what we try to do is emulate this by having a porch, having like a cornice line as more traditional nature, break the side.
You know, we had a lot going on here that changed over the course of almost a year and a half.
But as you can see, it really does fit within the fabric of this neighborhood and this block.
and then this is our site plan again and a couple things to note we have a trash room here
we hid our meters inside the utility there's a utility room here where we're also hiding our
meters uh and uh there's no rooftop there's just you know a hatch for mechanicals
and then our rco meeting notice uh this is a you know again we meant that within multiple times
the last time on june 9th at 6 30 p .m miss russell has always asked us to deviate to make sure that
the individuals who receive this notice um don't think it's junk mail so on the outside of our
envelope we put important community meeting please zoom in we put it in red so hopefully people
and throw it away 96 people were 96 addresses were notified this meeting list of the addresses
proof of mailing to those addresses or deed to the property
our application for appeal along their notice of refusal in our project information form
and our certificate of tax guidance with that being said i would ask that
Mr. Wise virtually raise his hand so he can dot my testimony.
Yes, good afternoon.
Mr. Wise, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
First name Brian, B -R -I -A -N, last name Wise, W -I -S -E.
do you swear a firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes i do proceed mr knockamson yes mr wise
Yes, I do.
Proceed, Mr. Nockmson.
Mr. Wise, you heard everything I stated today.
And is it true and correct?
Yes, it is.
And do you adopt it as your own testimony?
Yes, I do.
All right.
Thank you.
Questions or comments from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no hands, Chair.
Questions or comments from the Planning Commission, please.
Good afternoon.
This is Greg Waldman of Planning Commission staff.
The comprehensive plan recommends this property for residential two -family use.
The proposed multifamily use, as the appellant presented in revised plans, is consistent with nearby properties, which appear to have three and four dwelling units.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the Board grant the requested variances.
Thank you.
um hillary the last the last communications we have from tina marie russell is no basement living
no bathroom in the basement yes so there were so um yes in the communications that came in today
there were in addition to the the things that were already addressed by um the applicant um
there were five provisos that i would still consider enforceable that would be no basement
living no bathroom in the basement no bay windows trash stored in basement and garbage disposals in
all units um but the revised plans address the other the other enforceable provisos that they
suggested and then as mr knockinson noted um they are requesting a proviso for a maximum of four
units. Right. Yeah. Mr. Chair. Mr. Nockleson said he was, there was a conversation about the
bathroom in the basement. We did. And I think there's a, I would ask Mr. Wise to speak to that.
I mean, we've had so many conversations since March of 2021. But our understanding was that
we were allowed to have a bathroom and a half bath in the basement and to have living in the
basement because she, as you'll see from her correspondence, she'll allow us to have a laundry
facility for that unit in the basement. So if you have a washer dryer down there, you have to be
able to actually access and live down there. As far as trash storage in the basement, the basement's
only for that one unit. That's the only unit that has it. So we can't have trash storage.
How I interpreted that was, and I talked to Ms. Russell, I was hoping she would come on today.
she usually does. I indicated to her that it was unclear what she was asking for because how I read
that was trash storage for the entire building, which makes no sense because we actually have a
trash room on the first floor dedicated on our floor plans. So I don't know why you would have
to store trash in the basement when you have a trash room common to everyone.
hillary why don't we hold the vote and close it except for a letter from
from tina maria russell where she stands yeah the only thing i would say
um is that you know we did relent on the amount of units um you know i would hope that the board
would you know this is you know tough financial times for developers um you know we we
We'll take the whole thing into consideration when we vote.
But, Hillary, is that okay?
Well, we already got the letter from the RCO today.
So, I mean, if the board wants to have discussion in an executive session and vote later, that's fine.
But I don't think we need to keep the record open anymore because we already received the letter.
Well, then we'll vote.
I mean, if we're going to close the record, we'll vote and use what's there.
Okay, sounds good.
MI 2021 -003 -957 -3440 North 18th Street.
I vote yes with proviso.
Revised plans, one -page, stamped by ZBA on July 20th, 2022.
Also, no basement living, no bathroom in basement, no bay windows, trash stored in basement, garbage disposal in all units.
Carol Tenere, my vote is yes with provisos.
did you say if the maximum four units or no i'm sorry maximum four units i'm sorry okay
thomas toloman my vote is yes with provisos
james snell yes with provisos
mr knockinson you're so long yeah i mean the only thing i would say mr chair the only
unit that has access to the basement is the first floor so um that provides i know but what i'm
saying that's the last thing she sent us and she spelled it out pretty clear in the letter i i don't
she spelled it out pretty clear in the letter i i don't know what more to say
know what more to say okay
okay uh number nine mi 2022 002 129 44 30 chestnut street mr knockamson
letter from spruce hill community association indicated an agreement with applicant proviso
maximum three units. Could you identify your client, please? Yes, my client is Bae Ling and
Song Chang Chang. Okay, and our vice chair has a few questions. Hi, Mr. Nockmson. Do you agree
to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy? I do. Have you emailed the exhibit
packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, a copy of the refusal or referral, photos under
plans to the property five days in advance of this hearing have you met with the rco and do
you have a letter uh yes we do and as the i believe the chairman indicated uh we would request a
proviso maximum three units yes that's that's correct you may proceed and begin with sharing
your screen all right thank you sure
Alright, so we're here to present 4430 Chestnut Street, a pretty straightforward project. This is on the 4400 block of Chestnut Street, which is a somewhat commercial corridor, you know, and that's the issue. We've been in front of this CBA before, really need to help support this commercial corridor by increasing density for this portion of the neighborhood.
A few years ago, this property was actually an RM1 property, and my client purchased it as an RM1 property, anticipating to have multifamily living here.
And this variance request is to legalize that use.
So we'll go over the notice of refusal, the correspondence from the Spring Hill Community Association.
As an accommodation, instead of having the four units, by the way, one of our units is vacant.
So having four units that we currently have with one of them being vacant, we agreed to change our plans and have only three units and to combine one of the units as a larger unit for someone else with a family in the community.
We have letters to support from nearby neighbors, including the property owner right next door to us.
I have the listing, which indicates that this is an RM1 property, along with unrelated zoning permits for nearby properties, just showing that this was RM1.
There's no permits of record for our property on Atlas in any respect, showing that this was an RM1 property at one point.
But I have nearby properties just to confirm that this was an RM1 portion of the neighborhood.
um then we would we're going to go over photographs of the 4400 block of chestnut
street showing that nearby rsa 5 multifamily properties maps of the area photographs of the
property in the surrounding area our plans and drawings our rco meeting notice our application
for appeal that we filed with the cba our d to the property and our certificate of tax clearance
along with miss lee one of the owners of the property who's in a virtual audience who's going
to evaluate testimony.
Notice refusal, this is now an RSA -5 property.
When they purchased it, it was an RM -1 property.
Unfortunately, they went through that transition
and they're here today to legalize it.
It's a significant size lot of 2 ,200 square feet.
Again, if this remained an RM -1 property,
they would be allowed five units as a white.
Cars by minutes from the Spruce Hill Community Association
i would say that they gave a rather fair form um obviously you know there's a you know a friction
between you know what it was and what they want it to be but i feel like they came to a fair
accommodation understanding that we detrimentally relied on the zoning when we purchased the
property but on the flip side of how they see their you know neighborhoods going forward so
three units i believe was a fair compromise under the circumstances and that's why they
issue that letter of support and that's why we ask that if this board is so inclined to grant
our variance request they would do with a proviso maximum three units and then letters of support
from nearby property owners as you can see 4428 chestnut street next door supports our project
4414 chestnut street as well and then just a you know a listing i try to find something online to
kind of verify you know what we're talking about as you can see i just put it in red i took this
off the internet, but I highlighted in red, this property was advertised zoned RM1.
i highlighted red this property was advertised zoned rm1 and then just again just zoning
permits not ours but neighboring properties 4432 you can see in 2017 this was an rm1 property
nearby same block and same thing with 4428 RM1 in 2012 and then in 2016 4420 also known as RM1
and then nearby properties that do have multi -family use 4412 Chestnut Street
and then also the backup data 4418 chestnut street again the backup data and 4428 chestnut street
again the use permit and then our zoning map here yes we are yellow um and there's yellow on the
other block as well but you can see we're in the commercial corridor in west village and here we
are and you can see we're on uh chestnut street and there is much activity there the photographs
of the property um one of the things to highlight is that because of how the property slope not
there's no uh underground uh living everything's above grade chestnut street to the right of the
property chestnut street to the left of the property we do have one parking spot in the rear
but you can see the the entrance uh one of the units is in the rear and it's above great
and then our plans and drawings uh you have uh the one unit where there's there's an entrance
actually was two ways you could go to the rear but there's also steps in the front which i didn't
point out the first time when we went to the photos they come down uh and that is a one bedroom
one bath on the first floor then you go up to the front of the property up the porch and that's
i mean i guess that's the lower level but this is uh the first floor level one and that is a two
bedroom uh three bath and that's where we're combining the two units from the level one and
level two and then there's the third floor or level three which is a one bedroom one bath
and then our meeting notice our last meeting was june 15th we met with this community on
multiple occasions and we they also had a site visit as well to confirm the site conditions of
the property and i don't know barry grossback or brett feldman are in the virtual audience
those are the representatives we dealt with with this community organization that can verify the
site conditions 106 addresses were notified of this community meeting with the addresses
proof of mailing our application for appeal
our notice of refusal our project information form and our deed to the property
and our certificate of tax companies with that being said i'm going to unshare my screen
I'm going to ask that Ms. Lee virtually raise her hand to adopt my testimony.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
Good afternoon. This is Bailing Lee, B -A -I -L -I -N -G, and last name L -I.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, counsel.
Yes. Ms. Lee, you heard everything I stated today.
And is it true and correct?
And do you adopt as your own testimony?
And do you agree to the community's request to limit the amount of units to three?
Thank you.
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you, Jim.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no handshare.
planning commission good afternoon chair members of the board this is greg waldman planning
commission staff in 2017 the zoning map was amended from residential multi -family single -family
residential at this location and the council led remapping the planning commission supported
however the proposed multi -family is consistent with adjacent and nearby properties on the block
including 4428 Chestnut Street, which has three units, same unit count that has been proposed
to this property in the revised plans. The City Planning Commission recommends that the Zoning
Board grant the variance. Thank you. MI 2022 -002 -129 -4430 Chestnut Street. I vote yes.
Maximum proviso of three units. Carol Tenere, my vote is yes with proviso.
Harold Tenere, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Thomas Hollowman.
James Snell, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Thank you.
Thank you.
We're going to do one more case and then we'll take a quick five -minute break, okay?
And then we'll start the 3 .30 list.
MI 2021 -003 -712 -4628, Wayne Avenue.
Rachel Pritzker is the attorney.
Letter from 13th Ward in support with revised plan for three units.
Good afternoon.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
Yep, it's Rachel, R -A -C -H -A -E -L, Pritzker, P -R -I -T -Z -K -E -R, 1521 Locust Street, Street 605, Philadelphia, PA, 19102.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client in relationship to the property?
Yeah, my client is Ram, Phila Community 3 LLC. I was the owner of the property.
All right, our vice chair has a few questions.
Hey, Rachel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes. Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance,
refusal, referral, photos under plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing,
and have you met with the RCO, and do you have a letter? Yes. Thank you. You may proceed
and begin sharing your screen.
Thank you.
Can you see my screen?
Just about. Here it is.
This is 4628 Wayne Avenue.
We have the refusal in front of you.
And as I mentioned, I represent Ramfilla Community 3 LLC,
which is the owner of the property.
The project was proposed for the erection of an attached structure for use as multifamily household living for six dwelling units with two accessory off street surface parking spaces, one of which was van accessible.
We received five refusals for the project. The plans have been revised and submitted to the board that will eliminate a few of these.
And I'll just kind of go through what we are proposing and what has been changed.
Basically, this is a 2 ,694 square foot property located on Wayne Avenue and the corner of Abbotsford.
It was given refusals for multifamily use for an attached building, dimensional refusal for surface parking,
dimensional refusal for proposing no yard along the side street and for not providing enough
parking spaces, even though surface parking is not permitted. We have a history on this property
where basically for the last 75 years, the property has been at least five units. It has
never had single family use on this lot since at least 1945, where it obtained a variance for four
units and then after that five units over a commercial space um and adjacent to this structure
at 46 26 wayne avenue also has four multi -family for four units and most of uh the 4600 block
and across the street are all multi -family i think directly across the street is also rm1
which would make this project by right again this is almost a 3 000 square foot lot 2 694
for the longstanding history of multifamily, in addition to, again, this being on Wayne Avenue.
I do believe at the last hearing we had, as this was a continuance, the Planning Commission,
oh no, actually, I think I reached out to the Planning Commission who mentioned that they had
targeted this block for RM1, given its location on Wayne Avenue, and that had we been remapped to
RM1 at the six units we originally proposed would have been by right. Again, Wayne Avenue is a
commercial corridor and so we do believe that multi -family is appropriate to help support
the goals of the plan increase housing and things like that in addition to providing for rm1 which
is something that the city had indicated i would like to see on this block as a result of the
meetings that we had with the community which i'm about to bring up those notice again as the board
can see it's also a corner most of the block is on rta1 which is a two -family use and across the
as you can see in the orange at multiple pieces
of Wayne Avenue are zoned RM1,
which would permit this type of use by right.
This is just aerial photos of the lot. This is the front photo with the zoning posters.
This is just air.
This is the corner of Wayne Avenue and Abbotsford here.
Different shot of it from the side. As the board can see, it's a very pretty large lot
compared to Abbotsford. But again, we'd be able to support multifamily given the size
and location. Although we did receive a refusal for multifamily, we were able to work with the
community group, which was the 13th Democratic Board, in order to get support from them. We had
met with them January 6th and a few other subsequent meetings in which they had changed
their position from opposition to support with proviso reduction of three units and the removal
of the parking spaces which we had changed as well. I believe we have Jimmy Hare from Design
Blends Architecture who can go through the architectural plans or maybe Scott Murphy
in the audience who can go through our plans and again we did submit a proviso plan form
reducing it with support for three units with no parking on the site.
who do you want to come on our architect uh is jimmy hair in the audience
mr here is coming back in as a panelist okay thank you
i could you state your name and spell please for the court reporter
jimmy are you there yeah sorry about that i'm here could you state your name and spell for
the court reporter yeah my name is james harrah h -a -r -r -e right do you swear or firm to tell
truth the whole truth is nothing but the truth i do thank you counsel yeah jimmy can you please
go through the revised plans and also if you could also explain to the board just dimensionally based
on the code considerations um why we uh why we had to uh keep those refusals for some of the
dimensional considerations i just think you'll do a better job speaking to that than i will yeah
All right. So Rachel, please do me a favor and run through the remaining refusals.
Yeah, so the refusals that we still have is for multifamily use, which I already touched
on. The refusal for proposing an attached building, refusal for surface parking, which
has been removed conventional refusal for no yard along the side street abbotsford i believe that we
had mentioned in our appeal the examiner's refusal erroneously called this missing setback a front
yard setback but that's incorrect because wayne avenue not abbotsford was designated the front
street by the planning commission so i think it's just missing that the setback is a side yard setback
and i already went over the parking so just the um attached building and for the side yard
yeah so i can actually touch on that we're actually complying with that now at this point
um so i understand it's a little bit confusing to call it a front setback but the zoning code
does determine that uh abbotsford ave here is considered a frontage so that was where that
front setback stemmed from as part of the continued back and forth with the neighborhood
between Rachel, myself and the client. We ended up complying with that and having or we complied
with it up to a five foot setback. So I believe we may still be short three feet. We need eight
feet. So it's currently five feet to a planter box, but the building face itself is eight feet.
so we should be complying with that at this point and then just um the other revisions we've made
is just based on the use and then just can you quickly touch on the attached structure
yeah so we're no longer considered an attached structure at this point because we are providing
the frontage along Abbotsford Ave. We are a semi -detached structure, which is allowed
by Wright in this zoning district. Great. Does the board want to hear anything specifically?
Would you like him to go through the floor plans or anything? I think we're fine. I think
floor plans or anything i i think we're fine i think you we're fine okay great so the only
Thank you.
refusal we would have that was just for the use which again we've reduced from six units to three
at this point um if i could call um adam pritzker to um as the as an owner of this project to just
adopt my testimony. Hello? Hi, could you state your name and spell it for the court reporter,
please? Yep, Adam Pritzker, A -D -A -M -P -R -I -T -Z -K -E -R. Do you swear or firm to tell the truth,
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Yes, I do. Proceed, counsel. Thank you. Adam,
have you heard my testimony today? Do you believe it to be true and accurate, and do you adopt it
as your own? Yes, I do. Thank you. Thank you. Questions from the board? No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman. Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no hands, Chair. Planning Commissioner. Chairman, sorry to interrupt. Would it be okay
for charles richardson to speak is he there yes okay sure thank you all right mr richardson
mr richardson here we go now i can unmute thank thank you you've already been sworn
uh yes mr chair the councilwoman has no opposition to granting this variance
thank you very much for calling in planning commission
good afternoon chair and members of the board this is greg walden from planning commission staff
the comprehensive plan recommends a zoning map change from rsa 3 to rm1 at this location
as noted by uh the appellant the proposed dwelling unit density and full conform to
the recommended zoning district the city planning commission recommends that the
board grant the variances thank you uh hillary is there in the revised plans is the three units in
there yes that is in the revised plan thank you you can add a separate proviso but it's already
in the revised plan. All right. MI 2021 -003 -712 -4628 Wayne Avenue. Proviso. Revised plan,
one page, stamp by ZBA on July 30th, 2022. No more than three units.
Harold Tenere, my vote is yes with Proviso. Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with Proviso.
James Snell. My vote is yes for proviso. Thank you, Council. Hey, everybody, let's take a five
minute break. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Chairman. This is Tanya. Did I hear a date of July 30th?
July 20, 2022. Thank you, Chair. Let's take a five minute break and we'll come back and
finish the afternoon list. Thank you, everyone. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
We're almost done.
I know.
this cord to my computer is so short and i can't remember where the extension cord is
your office busy car are we we're good we're good i'm back we're ready to go here i am
i just wanted to make sure our court reporter is back in the right i am thank you all right john
I just wanted to make sure our court reporter is back in the right.
as you wish chair okay um before i start the 330 list is there anybody in the audience whose case
was not called on the 2 p .m list i see no hands here we're going to the 330 list
My name is Bill Bergman and I will be chairing this 3 .30
hearings. With me is Carol Tenere, our Vice Chair.
Present, Mr. Chairman. Thomas Holliman, our
Board Member. Present, Mr. Chairman. And James Snell, our Board
Member. Present, Mr. Chairman.
Also, our Executive Director, Tanya Sunkit, and our
Board Attorney, Hillary Emerson. Here's our
virtual format. Be advised that proceedings are being recorded. By participating, you acknowledge
your agreement to be recorded. A video will be available by contacting tonyasunkett at phil .gov.
For the benefit of our court stenographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves
before testifying. If you are participating in my phone, if you wish to testify, press star 9
to raise your hand and star six to unmute. To enter an appearance statement, call 267 -270 -5548,
leave your email, and the address of the property in question. And last, please note the question
and answer box is not for testimony or comments. Any comments should be directed to our executive
of Director, Tanya Sunken. Let's look at the continuities for this afternoon. Number four,
MI 2021 -003 -955 -407 West Cayuga Street. And number seven, MI 2022 -001 -314 -90Fest
West Boston Street. That's a continuance. Attorney moving parties. Attorney will have to get back to
us within 90 days. So case four and seven are both continued. Is there anyone in the virtual
audience has a comment relative to these cases? I see no handshare. Are there any other requests
for continuances for the 3 -30 list. Chair, we have Eric Taskin.
Okay. Hi, could you state your name and spell please for the court reporter?
Can you hear me? We can. Hi, I'm Eric Taskin. I represent the owners of 2622 East Allegheny.
My name is spelled E -R -I -K -T -A -S -K -I -N.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Your request of continuing, sir?
Yes, there is an issue with the proviso plan.
We need to, we are seeking leave to amend the refusal because we changed the scope of the project.
And there was a little bit of a mishap and we found out about that this morning.
All right. Thank you very much, Mr. Taskin. MI 2021 -003 -767 -2622, East Allegheny Avenue. This case is continued.
Okay. Any other requests for continuances?
Yes, Chair. We have Ms. Carter.
Okay. Hi, Ms. Carter. Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
i don't see an audio button miss carter can you try speaking
yeah it might be something with um pauline do you see audio for her or speaking microphone
I see the microphone, Ms. Sunkit.
Oh, you do?
Yes, but she's doing the thing.
Yeah, now you just need to unmute.
Ms. Carter, can you unmute?
Just hover towards the bottom left of your screen and click the mute button.
Ms. Carter?
You might need to go out and come back in, Ms. Carter.
Like leave the Zoom and then join back in.
did she go back out um not yet it looks like it's technical difficulties with her chair
and it should why don't we we'll go why don't we we'll go back to her so why don't i go to
number two okay yes mi 2021 004664 2030 north carlisle street attorney is verne anastasia
no rco letter from the 30 sec democratic award
good afternoon mr chair hi you've already been sworn yep um could you identify your client the
relationship to the property yeah carlisle street is at least carroll who is with us uh this
afternoon okay our vice chair has a few questions yes sir do you agree to wave the reading of the
refusal and stipulations accuracy i do have you emailed the exhibit packet consisting of proof
of ownership tax compliance refusal referral photos under plans of the property five days
in advance of this hearing and have you met with the rco and do you have a letter i have everything
but a letter. Okay, you still may proceed and begin to share. You have your screen. Thank you,
Ms. Vice Chair. 2030 North Carlisle Street is for the construction of a rear two -story addition
and a third floor addition on an existing two -story structure for use as a three -family
dwelling. We did in fact meet with the RCO. They had some very good constructive feedback. They
asked for no, based on the original plans, they asked that we eliminate the roof deck, which we
have. They also asked that we eliminate the bedrooms in any basement, and we did that as well.
here is the the existing structure and on the first level when you come into the foyer
you would open into a large living room dining room eating kitchen you'd have a bedroom at each
end downstairs in the in the basement level with a with a well you'd have a large media living room
and some storage area for trash and other items on the second floor up the stairs you have a nice
size 582 square foot two -bedroom apartment with open living space with a nice size l -shaped
kitchen and a living room and then on the third floor another apartment with a dedicated trash
closet so that trash could be stored prior to trash day. Now, this property is in fact zoned
SPINS, so it spins, which is, as you all know, it's kind of unusual. This whole block on both
sides was in fact, I guess, classified to be part of the university and student housing,
but that never came to pass instead what we have are residential homes we we have a refusal
based on the fact that there's residential uh period uh in in a spins district uh what is
prohibited is any any house so what's happening how can i get to the zoom let me get to this
anyway uh uh what is uh what's prohibited is any household living be it single family duplex
triplex no household living is is uh is permitted in spins uh we believe that the hardship here is
the fact that it was inadvertently included in the spins district and therefore uh household
living should be permitted. And we did, in fact, listen to the RCO in eliminating those particular
elements of our proposal that would be detrimental to the community. We've removed all basement
bedrooms, we've removed all roof decks, and we have dedicated trash space for each of the three
units. And with that, we also met with them twice. Here's December 22, 123 individual households
mailed. And then again, in June of 2022, 122 individual households mailed. With that, I'd
like to ask my client, Elise Carroll, to raise her virtual hand. Here's the flyer that went out as
Here's the flyer that went out as well, so that she can be promoted to the panel.
well so that she can be promoted.
Ms. Carroll, you're free to speak.
Hi, could you state your name and spell it for the court reporter, please?
Yes, it's Elise Carroll, E -L -Y -S -E -K -A -R -O -L.
You swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
proceed. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Ms. Carroll, did you hear my presentation to the board this
afternoon? Yes, I did. Is it true and accurate to the best of your knowledge? Yes. And do you
adopt it as your own testimony? I do, yes. Thank you. Mr. Chair, the block is resplendent with
multifamily dwellings up and down the block. Again, this spins district. I think it's just
was just a I think a mistake or whatever planning that there was when it was designated just
there was no follow -through and this is why we're here today thank you questions from the board
no Mr. Chair no Mr. Chair
questions from the virtual audience Mr. Chair this is Hillary um Mr. Anastasio are there um revised
plans for this project you mentioned some changes that have been made in response to
um the rco although we haven't received their letter yet they're uh they're
any revisions were interior only nothing exterior okay
so we may want to put those in if the board grants as as provide those not as revised plans
You know what, because there's no roof deck in the revised plans, I think it's probably a good idea to note, because in the initial plans, there were in fact, there wasn't in fact a roof deck.
So we may want to refer to these plans dated 4 -27 -22.
and i'll get you uh miss emerson uh a proviso um new plans document that you can then stamp
okay that would be great and note the bedrooms in the basement as well as the removal of the
roof that's correct that's correct no bedrooms no basement bedrooms at all all right thank you
questions from the virtual audience i see no handshare planning commission
this is uh ron bednar city planning first name ron r -o -n last name bednar b -e -d -n -a -r
do you swear a firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
i do proceed ron uh this property is currently indicated for a special purpose and thus
institutional neighborhood zoning on city plan in 2014 we remapped the neighborhood but our
proposed changes to rm1 were not approved as an amendment to the existing campus master plan
we therefore recommend that the requested variance be granted provided maximum two -bedroom units only
say that again ron we're actually uh we what we're recommending is that the requested variance
be granted provided maximum two units only okay all right thank you thank you mi 2021
one zero zero four six six four i vote yes proviso no roof deck no bedrooms and basement
do you want to refer to the the past date that he has it's yes uh yes per the plans uh dated
april 27 2022 we'll snit hold on facility look there'll be the plans that will be stamped today
so um that just say revised plans how many pages would that be verne one page hillary
one page so revised plans one page stamped by zba july 20th 2022. revised plans stamped by zba
7 2022.
thank you
I'm sorry Tom my vote is yes with provisos Carol Toneri Thomas Hallman my vote is yes
with provisos James Snell yes with provisos okay thank you Vern I think we're uh let's see here
got another one for me yeah i have another one for you okay
Another one for me? Yeah, I have another one for you. Okay.
MI 2021 -003 -963 -425 -31 East Wildy Street.
Letter of opposition from the Fishtown Neighbors Association.
Let me know when I can start, Mr. Chair.
So, Vern, you've already been sworn.
Could you identify your client and their relationship to the property?
My client is Mr. Tim Lippick, and he is the owner of the property in question.
Our vice chair has a few questions.
Yes, sir.
Mr. Anastasio, do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, a copy of the refusal or referral?
photos under plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing, and have you met with
the RCO, and do you have a letter? I do. Okay, great. You may proceed and share your screen,
which is up. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks. So we have five lots here that we're proposing to
relocate the lot lines. Let's take a look if I can, I don't know if it's below us or
next to us, but I'll find it. My apologies. And what we are requesting is two lots.
Lot number, this one, large lot here, which is already an existing structure that straddles
most of the lots. And then parcel B, which is right here. And it would be, it's an empty space
right now and it would cap off a row of row homes it is only 11 feet wide and 21 inches
but my client would and would like to use that lot and erect a single family home which would
be consistent with the use on the block although it is more narrow than most of the the the homes
on the block. Right now, it's just collecting dust and debris and weeds and just all the wrong
things. So here we are with the plan. And our architect was able to build, to design a basement
plan with a laundry and a basement with utilities, a living room that's, you know, all open sort of
format with a kitchen that's more like a galley off to the rear yard for trash storage.
We've got two bedrooms on the second floor, another bedroom on the third, and a roof deck up top.
So even though it is more narrow than the traditional row home, we do in fact
provide a plan for a livable space. Let me give you a bird's eye view.
So these are five lots altogether. This very large property building sits on four of them.
Right here where my cursor sits is where the lot in question sits. Again, it's on the end of a row
of relatively short townhomes.
As you can see, the original townhomes
were no more than 20 feet deep,
and then additions were added later on.
This is an older part of the city.
Again, here's another view
where we would just have one other townhome
that connects to this townhome right here
where my cursor is,
where there's a red brick facade.
It would just be one more row home right here.
Here's a better view of it.
It would literally connect to this townhouse right here, a row home townhouse.
There's no real difference except for price, right?
You pay more for a townhouse than you do a row home.
Here's proof of posting.
You know, we did meet with the community twice, 136 individual neighbors were in fact mailed.
Here's a copy of the mailing.
You know, the I understand the RCO's opposition is that they just like to keep it the way it is.
But unfortunately, it's a real nasty alley that collects a lot of trash and with the wind and debris.
And it's been an approved lot by the Planning Commission.
And as a result, we would like to build on it.
It's a buildable lot, and we can, in fact, continue the use for residential single -family
development.
Otherwise, it would just be laid barren, and we just don't understand why that would be a benefit to anyone.
Otherwise, it'd just be laid barren, and we just don't understand.
And with that, I'm going to rest. I'm going to ask Mr. Tim Lippick to raise his virtual hand.
Why, could you state your name, please, and spell it for the court reporter?
No one has their hand up at this time.
i have timothy what is it is timothy l -i -p yep that's it okay thank you you're welcome
hi could you state your name please sir and spell it lipchinsky lipic l -i -p -p -i -c -k
right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes
Yes. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Lippick, did you hear my presentation to the board today?
Yes. Is it true and accurate to the best of your knowledge? Yes. Do you adopt it as your own
testimony? Yes. Are you ready, willing, and able to enter into any sort of construction agreement
with any adjacent property owner to ensure the integrity of their properties while you build
this home yes thank you very much i have nothing else mr chair questions from the board no mr
chairman no mr chairman no mr chairman questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see no handshare planning commission so ron bednar city planning this property is currently
indicated for residential use on a city plan. The district plan recommends no change to the zoning
at this location. Proposed reconfiguration would create one lot for the existing building, take some
of the parcel that extends to the rear and combine it into one lot to be developed as a single family
home. The resulting lot would be undersized in both width and open area. The hardship is self
created by creating a new non -conforming undersized lot. Therefore we recommend the
request for variance not be granted. Ryan, you say that I didn't hear your last part votes.
Therefore we recommend that the request for variance not be granted. Okay. MI 2021 -003 -963 -425 -31
East Wildey Street. My vote is no.
Carl Tenere, my vote is no.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is no.
James Snell, my vote is no.
Thank you, Counsel.
Thank you. Have a good evening.
All right.
MI 2021 -003 -842 -6576 Beaumont Street.
Camila Daryl is listed owner. No exists. Exhibits. Second listing.
You're coming back in as a panelist.
Why could you state your name, please?
i'm sorry chair i've tried to promote them several times but i'm unable to
miss sunkett
i can try too fatina what is the person's name a d e o l a okay
all right
thank you fatina
thank you pauline
ma 'am you're free to speak hi could you state your name and spell it for the court reporter
please hello
she should be coming in now or they should be coming in now we're good we're okay i'm gonna
ask them to unmute please unmute yourself name starting with the a all righty hi excuse me
excuse me mr chair this is hillary this is the applicant for number eight spencer avenue
not for beaumont street yeah i i'm looking for beaumont street i'm sorry one moment here
Camelia Daryl, D -E -R -R -E -L -L.
Doesn't appear to be anyone, right, Latina?
latina no chair no masonka there's no one listed by the name okay so this was the
No, Chair.
No, Ms. Sunkit.
There's no one listed by the name.
it's the second listing there's no exhibits mi 2021 003 842 6576 beaumont street i vote to
dismiss i vote to dismiss thomas halliman i vote to dismiss james snell dismissed thank you number
eight mi 2022 001 357 901 west spencer avenue no rc meeting was held applicant reached out
to the coordinating art rco multiple times um adelia ilyemi applicant pro se
ma 'am you can unmute yourself please
good afternoon hi hi could you state your name and spell for the court reporter please
my name is adiola a as in alaska d as in david e as in edward o as in ohio l as in larry a as
Alaska, Areola.
That's my false name.
Okay, all right.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth,
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Okay, our vice chair has
a few questions for you.
Hi, Areola.
Have you emailed the exhibit packet
with proof of ownership,
tax compliance,
a copy of refusal or referral,
photos and or
plans of the property, five days
in advance of this hearing and have you met with the RCO and do you have a letter? Yes, I do have
a letter and I have all my documents. I spoke to the RCO. Let me read this. If this is an
application for use as a child care center in an existing structure with other previously approved
uses, there are no signs on this permit. There's one use refusal, whereas the proposed use a
child care center is expressly prohibited in the rm1 zoning district then it goes on to say no rco
meeting was held mr charity want me to read all of that we're fine with that just the caps
okay done okay you may proceed excuse me this is hillary um miss um elemi could you uh turn on
your camera, please. Okay. Thank you. Okay. And could you start presenting? Show your
documents? Yes, sir. So the first document I'm going to show you, it's going to be the
the plan the plan of the building uh when you this is the front part so uh the which is the
first floor the whole building is 3 ,400 square foot building square foot so when you come into
the building this little uh top lot is a small one that uh the kids can play then you go through
the door it's a metal door the fire alarm door when you go in the office is right there the
utility uh room is on the side and then when you go you go straight it's the big class it's a very
big class it's about 8 .6 um 36 square foot and the building do have two toilets two huge uh big
toilet for the kids to use and then on this i'm trying to move forward a little bit
okay so there's another big room on this side and the total classroom in that place is three
classrooms two are very very huge and then the other one might be used as a baby room
um there's a lot of parking lot for the parents uh to park their car when they drop the children
and also uh there's enough uh space for the children to play uh this is the picture of the
room one of the room so when you come in you come in through this door right here right then you
see the whole big room on this side is going to be the kitchen but which i intend that i'm not
which I intend that I'm not going to be cooking.
going to be cooking our
I'll be getting food from the state.
So the only thing we just have to get,
it's going to be commercial microwave
to warm the children's food.
And so this is still the room, the first room.
On this side is the toilet.
It's a toilet and a bathroom.
And on this side as well is a toilet.
And this is the exit.
this door right here leads you know leads to the outside goes outside so it does have like
three three exits that leads outside so and then this is the second room it's another big room
then this door right there goes out to the compound this little door goes in the uh in the building
that when you come in on this side it's going to be the office so it's a little door that the kids
can naturally come through this door as well and this room has another door that leads outside
this is the door it goes out so that's like four and goes above so this room might be the baby room
and then the number of babies that can be in that room it's they can give me four babies in that
room here the day which is this is the room and that's the door that leaves outside
and this is the office this is the office when you come in this is where we're going to keep
all the documents for the staff and for the children this is the bathroom that i told you
the first bathroom that has the toilet that has a bathroom so that's the first one
and this is the second bathroom so it does have two toilets for the keys to use
and this is you know when you come in the building this is the door the door that goes in
in the big room and this is the this is the compound so when the parent comes in that's
gate the actual gate has a lock this at the neighborhood when they come in the parent can
park on this side and they can also park on the side it's a very big lot and the children can play
on this on this little secure place is that concrete yes yes ma 'am it's concrete it's concrete
so we can just put like a little uh toy like bicycle if you look at it like a little bicycle
and then like a kitchen pretend play kitchen in there so it's not going to be like a major
like a major play if i if i decide to put like a bounce house or swing then i'm going to put a
carpet a secure carpet the grass carpet for children so that will protect them when they
you know when they want to play then they won't get hurt so i can always get that from home depot
and as you can see it's really secure for the kids so i can put a little gate right there
so for them to play and that's a pretend the pretend play kitchen right on that side so it's
it's actually being protected from you know from the law that you can play where the cars gonna
to be packed. So that's the building. I'm going to show you
other documents. And this is the certificate of tax clearance
for the building. The building is owned by Moria Hayton Baptist
Church. So ended up. And this is the date. This is the
Confirmation number and I see,
and this is the commercial lease,
the lease that I signed, it was signed October 27, 2020.
This is still part of the lease.
how many children
oh so it's 48 when the architect drew it it's 48 kids that can actually fit in that class
in the whole classroom in the building
and that's the least
so this is the refunza letter that i got
and this is the this is the letter that we sent out to the community so i
that we sent out to the community so i uh to the rcu
the refusal letter and then
okay this is the letter to the community so i i sent out at the post office stuff
and this is the one i oh the proof of
So did you see all the
yeah you posted the property right sir you posted the property right yes yes sir
yes um the gate
mr chairman can i just ask one more question you most certainly can okay um miss aliemi where are
you going to be storing the trash so the in that law there's a big you know when you when you come
into the gate the land is so big and they have like you know the what's it called the big
you know the big trash you have a dumpster there don't start don't start yeah don't start
that's what i want to see yes but it's not near where the kids play no it's so far away
Okay. Okay. Thank you.
So questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman. I think I asked them.
Okay. No, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you. Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
yes chair we have dylan mahoney okay
mr mahoney could you mr mahoney could you state your name and spell for the court reporter please
good afternoon my name is dylan mahoney spelled d -i -l -l -o -n -m -a -h -o -n -e -y from the office
councilwoman parker thank you do you swear or firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but
the truth i do proceed dylan um so as the applicant mentioned there seems to have been
some miscommunications with the rco um i've been attempting to reach out um i think that the summer
scheduling might have gotten the best of them um i we don't feel that it's necessary to sort of
further delay the applicant with a complete continuance, but if we could hold the vote for
however long the board would feel would be appropriate to allow for the possibility of
an RCO meeting, the office would appreciate that. Thank you.
Planning Commission.
This is Ron Bednar, City Planning. The property is indicated for commercial use or for residential
use on the city plan given the physical conditions and the circumstances of the site
recommend the request of variance be granted thank you um
we're going to hold the vote for two weeks is that okay hillary
um you may want to if so if there is a meeting that is going to be held
by the time it gets scheduled and the applicant sends out meeting notices i don't think two
weeks would be sufficient um mr mahoney do you know how soon a meeting could possibly be scheduled
um uh worst case i'm happy to work with the applicant to host a meeting as soon as as soon
as she would be available sort of through zoom um with our office coordinating um so i don't see
why we couldn't get that done um at the first the first week in august um assuming that there's a
day that week that would work for the applicant maybe maybe we should hold for 30 days 30 days
is fine okay thank you case is closed just for that right correct the record the record is closed
except for um from a letter from the rco and uh would the council office like to be able to submit
a letter as well oh yes thank you okay so
Oh, yes. Thank you.
So, how are we doing with our case, Tanya, that we bypassed?
Case number one.
Case number one.
I see her in the audience. Could we call her forward again, Chair?
Sure, please.
please. Ms. Carter, are you available? Could you raise your hand? And staff, can we open
her mic? Her mic is open. She would just have to unmute herself. Ms. Carter, can you unmute
yourself, please.
Ms. Carter, you just have to have her near the bottom left.
Hi, Ms. Carter.
Hello.
Ms. Carter, I'm good.
I'm good.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for a court reporter?
M -A -R -C -H -E -S -A.
C -A -R -T -E -R
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
So, Ms. Carter
we don't have any exhibits from you.
The paperwork
has not come to us.
I believe it is.
Both of the websites
told me to send them to you.
Pardon me?
Did you understand me?
No, could you say it again one more time, please?
I sent them to both websites.
I sent pictures, and I also sent my project and the application, the original application.
So, Ms. Carter, we did not get the paperwork.
This is the second listing, but is your company in a corporation name?
Who owns your company?
I own my company.
I'm the sole part.
I have a very small daycare for children after the pandemic, it really went slow, whereas it was hard for me to get children.
I'm sorry. I'm sorry, ma 'am.
Listen to me. So, Hillary, do we need an attorney for her?
Yes. So, Ms. Carter, the property in question, 1534 North 17th Street, do you own that property or are you leasing that property?
Ms. Carter, you have to unmute.
I apologize about that.
Yes, I own that property.
I've been in it for 19 years.
So you're seeking to expand the daycare in that property.
and is the property um in your name or is it in the name of your daycare it's in my name okay
all right okay all right then she will then she will not um need an attorney
mrs carter we're going to continue this case one more time and please get a hold of the office
call our staff you'll see the phone number and the email they sent you and we will make sure that
the next time at least you know what you need to send us we just don't have any paperwork from you
right now well that's really disappointing because i promised you i did what i was supposed to do
but that's fine i appreciate you continuing sure sure but do me a favor when you're getting ready
to do it make sure you touch base for our office the people there are very helpful and we'll see
what we can do to help you. Okay. I tried to contact them this morning also, but I wasn't
able to get through my contact yesterday. I think maybe this morning, everybody was
working on the line here. So, but you know, just try again next week or whatever. And we'll let
you know when your cases continue to. Okay. Will that be months away? I'm not sure, but if you
check with the office, they'll give you an idea of what we're going to do. Is it possible I can
I think what you need to do, any other questions you have, call the office to answer your questions, okay?
Thank you.
Is there anyone else on the 330 list that case has not been heard or called?
I see no hands, Chair.
Thank you, everybody.
Good day.
a lot of good work thank you everybody good evening everyone good night everyone
A lot of good work.
Thank you, everybody.
Have a good evening, everyone.
Have a good evening.
thank you pauline oh thank you tanya thanks pauline bye hillary bye