Thank you. Is there anyone in the virtual audience who would like to testify?
Madam Chair, we have Eve Miller. Please unmute yourself and wait for Madam Chair.
Yes, I'm here. My name is Miller. Can you put your name and address on the record and spell
your last name, please? Eve Miller, M-I-L-L-E-R, 2237 South Clarion. I'm concerned that the...
Excuse me one second. Do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
I do. Thank you. You may proceed. Yes, I'm concerned that the expansion in the rear yard
will impinge on neighbors on West Clarion Street, limiting their air and adding to the noise factor
and eliminating their privacy. So I'm very concerned about that expansion.
So I would just ask, Madam Chair, if this resident, her address does not line up with
subject property and appears to be speaking for other neighbors, my client circulated
subject property and appears to be speaking for other neighbors, my client circulated a petition
of all of the neighbors on the 2200 block of South Juniper that, as you see on your screen,
they all signed in favor of the application. She listed her address as 2230-something.
This property is 2217. Right. This property is 2217 Juniper, so I don't believe she has standing,
but I understand our concern.
We meet all of the other dimensional requirements.
Only the open space is violated.
We actually met the rear yard,
but we don't have any setback variances.
So this would be, we would be permitted
to go this deep anyway.
It's just an open area issue and we meet the rear yard.
So I don't, that's my comment.
I don't need to cross examine, but I would say that.
Thank you.
and thank you miss miller i'd like to say one more thing um i don't believe that any uh residents
on clarion street uh signed the petition in favor of the expansion of the rear yard
isn't clarion street two blocks away no it's a it's one block one block from juniper
okay right now i would have the same objection madam chair i don't believe this individual has
legal standing it's not impacted she's speaking for other neighbors she's pretty far away from
this problem you can see my client got a lot of signatures from his immediate neighbors who are
the ones who are yeah there's no uh signatures from clarion which adjoins this particular property
at 2217 which uh 20 the rear of 2217 faces the rear of clarion street right and that would be
the 22 in the teens your your property well i'm not going to cross as a man chair but her property
is not clearly not impacted she's speaking for other neighbors which i don't think
yeah i'm i'm speaking on behalf of other neighbors on you're not permitted
to you're not permitted to you can only speak on behalf of yourself
okay thank you thank you does the board have any questions madam chair we have no no
yes someone else um no they're not raised anymore you can go ahead
okay calendar number zero eight seven three twenty two seventeen south juniper street my
vote is yes you got a planning commission carol yes i did yeah my vote is yes my vote is yes
my vote is yes calendar number thank you six seven twenty five fourteen east allegheny avenue
the attorney is henry clinton
she's coming in now as a panelist okay mr clinton hello can you put your name and address on the
record and spell your last name yes hello madam chair henry clinton queen memorial building 1313
south 33rd street foot off epa 19146 you're over at andrews correct do you agree do you agree to
reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy? 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 of the above. Thank you so much. You may proceed. Thank you, Madam Chair. With
me is the client, Todd Comer, and after my presentation, I'll ask if he could adopt my
testimony. Can you see my exhibit package and do any to enlarge it? We can't see it at all.
How about now? No, today's one of those days. No, not yet. All right. Can I share my screen?
No. You can share it, but we can't see it yet. Let me try this again.
It's coming up.
How about that?
We don't see it yet, but it's trying very hard.
Ms. Sunkit, do you have a suggestion?
I'm not sure.
Mr. Clinton, how about if we try turning off your video and see if that allows it to move a little quicker?
Thank you.
it seems like it's frozen for some reason i don't know why
you can try mr clinton would you like for me to um the demodem and then pre-modem oh here we go
how about that oh yeah it's coming up yes yes enlarge it
better
is that better this is good yes okay thank you madam chair thanks for your patience
so this is concerns 25 14 used allegheny today's hearing date this is my exhibit
package containing AA through A10, and I'll walk through each of the documents. My appearance
statement, the refusal. Refusal concerns a long-time chiropractic practice which occupied
the first and second floor. When the doctor who was there retired, my clients acquired the practice
from Dr. Kent, Raymond Kent, and they opened a chiropractic practice also in the neighborhood
because it's been a longstanding establishment there. But they found that they only really need
to use the first floor. Dr. Kent used the first and second floor. And from what I'm told in the
neighborhood, on occasion, he would stay and stay overnight on the second floor. So right now,
the use of the property is first and second floor a chiropractic office even though it's an RSA 5
zone it's a long time non-conforming use so what we're asking is that the first floor and basement
remain chiropractic but the second floor be a an apartment so instead of having all commercial
in this RSA 5 zoning district we're asking for basically commercial on the first floor
and then residential on the second floor.
So we're kind of returning it to what it once was,
at least 50% of that.
We have an RCO letter of support,
overwhelming support, 10 to zero.
Photographs, just to give you some perspective,
this is the property right here.
It's almost 100% lot coverage.
This is a better view of it.
It's right here.
Back in the day, it used to be, oh my God, probably 40 years ago, it used to be a funeral home,
but then was adopted into a chiropractic practice.
And across the street is the Port Richmond Savings and Loan.
Again, some more perspectives.
The entrance to the apartment would be on the side and have a separate staircase to go up to the second floor.
again just trying to give the board some perspective on the length of the property
and I also have some photographs of the interior nicely decorated chiropractic office
with examining rooms on the side entrance on the front this is in the basement you can see it is
actually already set up for two units with a common meter. And then I'll just roll through
some of the other photographs. That's on the second floor, first floor. Here are our plans.
Shrink these so you can actually see them.
basically we're going to have a bedroom in the rear two other bedrooms there and a bedroom in the
front the rest of the documents are my tax certifications the application the zoning map
I guess I could show the board this just to show you that it is all RSA 5 there, but again, this is an historical nonconforming use.
So pretty straightforward.
We're swapping out the second floor, which is commercial, chiropractic, to residential.
The deed and all the other perfunctory documents that one would submit with our zoning application.
so i'm going to end my presentation there and ask if there's any questions from the board or
from the public
does the board have any questions no no is there anyone in the virtual audience with questions
no hands at this time madam chair
No hands at this time, Madam Chair.
Madam Chair, can I have my client adopt a testimony, if you may?
Yes, you may.
Comer, C-O-M-E-R.
She's been unmuted.
Mr. Comer, can you hear me?
Sir, can you put your name and address on the record?
Yes, Todd Comer, C-O-M-E-R, 1923, Corey Lane, C-O-R-I, Lane, Bluebell, PA, 19422.
You swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Thank you.
Mr. Comer, have you heard my testimony during this meeting?
If you had the opportunity to testify, would you adopt my testimony as your own and as true and correct?
yes thank you mr comer thank you thank you planning commission this is uh ron bednar city
planning while the property is currently indicated for residential use on the city plan
given the documented use history we recommend aggressive parents begin thank you are there
any other questions calendar number zero eight six seven 25 14 east allegheny avenue my vote is yes
my vote is yes my vote is yes
calendar number zero eight six five thank you 20 26 you're welcome 26 29 poplar street
that's you again Henry Clinton
does he not know that he's the next case
no it was me Madam Chair Tanya being too fast
okay hi Mr. Clinton can you put your name and address on the record and spell your last name
again. We can hear you. Yes. Thank you, Madam Chair. C-L-I-N-T-O-N, 1313 South 33rd Street,
Queen Memorial Building, Philadelphia PA, 19146. 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
of 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, to all of the above,
but the letter from the RCO is one of opposition, and I will explain that. Okay, you may proceed.
Can I share my screen? Sure.
Is that visible, and do I need to make it bigger? Could you make it bigger?
Oh, now it's great.
Again, this is my exhibit package for today's project, 2629 Poplar Street, my table of contents containing AA through A10, which I asked to be admitted, appearance statement, refusal.
And this is pretty significant here.
This is a CMX2 property in the midst of other residential properties, which are also zoned CMX2.
And I'll show you that on the zoning map.
My client doesn't want to put commercial on the first floor, but he does want to have two residential units above.
The neighborhood and the neighbors on either side also agree that it should not be commercial on the first floor.
There's actually a half a block away, 108-unit apartment building with commercial on the first floor.
And commercial really doesn't fit well when I show you the aerial photographs of this property.
But my client is in the dilemma here, as am I.
I don't usually come before the board without community support.
But he has the opportunity to have three uses, a commercial and two above.
And what he's asking is to switch out the commercial to residential.
But the neighbors who attended the meeting by a vote of eight to three really don't want him to have three units.
They're okay with two, but not with three.
and i know some of them are probably on the call i may explain their rationale but
we're basically just we're switching out a residential for a commercial because my client
doesn't want to build commercial but if he's forced to i don't i don't know that he has any
other any other option okay uh so this is the rco letter but it's not a letter of support
it's a letter of opposition and i believe that with the center board and i have it here that i
And I have it here that I can certainly read their reasons to you if you want.
that I can certainly read their reasons to you if you want.
But let me just go ahead.
And it's for Paramount Civic Association.
Yes, Madam Chair.
So this is an aerial view of the property.
Over here is the larger apartment complex I just mentioned.
And these five houses here are all residential.
But the whole area over here is CMX2.
And this is RM1 across the street.
again another perspective from the rear and what's noteworthy is right now the building occupies
100 lock coverage and in our proposal we're providing a rear yard there's no rooftop deck
so we're giving giving open space we have no refusals for height rear yard or open space so
we're actually going to open up the back of the property with our with our project if if people
and look kindly upon it.
You just get this perspective for you.
So this is the zoning map here.
If I can just get it in place so you can see.
this is the zoning map right here so the lot is about say 68 feet and but right now there's 100
percent lot coverage so this area which is now rear yard is fully occupied again we're going
to have a rear yard that's an ample size and we meet all the requirements for open space and rear
you are. This would be the front of the building, all brick, some two bays with paneling, metal,
excuse me, standing seam metal, and on the back would be stucco. So here's a better shot of the
property. It's currently two-story, and the property to the east is set back,
and the property to the west is equal in terms of the frontage.
So the floor plan, pretty straightforward.
In the basement would be a family room and storage for the three residential units.
On the first floor, there would be one bedroom.
On the second floor, there would be two bedrooms.
and on the third floor, there would be three bedrooms.
The rest of the documents are the typical documents
what one would see in a presentation.
So basically, the question is,
can we or we permit it to switch out a commercial
for a residential in this neighborhood and in this area?
I just wanted to show you this, the zoning map.