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.