But you'll see that 2601, dental office with two apartments, 2605, doctor's office, two apartments.
The most concentrated one is 2617, which is a laundromat and eight dwelling units.
And then on the next block up, it's still a 2600 block, but there's a small street separating these properties.
You can see most of these are one apartments with the commercial use, but these are all two-story buildings.
And these are all three-story buildings, 2601 through 17.
A12 is a zoning map.
A13 is the aerial photograph.
my client purchased this property in march of 2020 it was occupied as a first floor commercial
and and two apartments above when he applied for his rental license it was denied for lack
for lack of a zoning permit so when we look to find the permit on file there was none so that's
of a zoning permit so when we look to find the permit on file there was none
why we are here today so briefly we have the application of appeal notice of refusal project
information form is deed proof of tax clearance the floor plans you'll see they both have living
rooms towards the front bedrooms towards the back and rear on the side so
again here's the property right and right pretty much center of the block
there's a whiteout shot you'll see they're all mostly commercial uses on the first floor
two stories above most of which have apartments and then i have attached to the packet all the
zoning permits i don't really think you want me to go through all those but they are attached to
packet. Again it's CMX1 attached to RSA5 so therefore the RSA5 regulations apply to the
residential use. And again here's an aerial photo just showing that the property to the west is
Campbell Square and Nativity BVM. These are the two blocks in question and then to the right is
at St. Adalbert's Church. And across the street are similar uses. So I'm sorry, here is a copy
of the Propact letter, which was sent to the board, and Councilman Squill's letter, which was also
sent to the board. Mr. Shira and his wife are currently in Albania. So as an officer of the
court, I would represent that if they were present, they would verify my representations
is true and correct and adopt them as their own testament and that's all i have okay thank you
is there anyone in the virtual audience who would like to speak
i see no hands madam chair okay planning commission thank you chair tanari ian hegarty
for the philadelphia city planning commission members of the board the comprehensive plan
recommends a zoning map change to cmx2 at this location therefore the variance use conforms to
the proposed zoning district in the comprehensive plan and the city planning commission recommends
that the board grant the variance thank you calendar does the board have any questions no
no no calendar number 0781 2609 east allegheny avenue my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is
yes my vote is yes thank you very much madam chair i'll see you guys uh at two o'clock today
Thank you. Thank you. Calendar number 0743-3220-Rett-Rood. The attorney is John Sabatina.
Attorney McDermott has come back in as a panelist.
okay is he in place of mr sabatina yes okay mr mcdermott unmute yourself please to be sworn in
yeah this is mr mcdermott mr sabatina is present we're just using mike writer
okay i see him um can you put your name and address on the record and spell your last name please
john sabatina s-a-b-a-t-i-n-a
Your address, please.
Address.
My address, 1742 Emerson Street.
Do you swear a firm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Thank you.
Do you also agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you submitted the exhibit packet with proof of ownership tax compliance,
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 yes yes yes i would also like to
i don't have the letter yet do we have it well i would also like to mention that uh there are
two rcos that oppose this um and we also have heard from councilman o'neill
He submitted a letter saying that he strongly opposes this.
So you may proceed.
Yes, as I stated before, my name is John Sabatina, and I'm representing Alex Dahashi and Helena.
Alex Dahashi and Helena Novakova,
who are the owners of this property.
They simply wish to establish
a two-family living unit in this property,
one unit on the ground floor,
consisting of one-bedroom apartment,
and on the second floor is two-bedroom apartment.
As you can see before you is a list of our exhibits.
Notice of refusal, project information for the 3220 Rett Road, the deed,
certificate of tax compliance
and exterior photographs of the property showing the posting
interior photographs
Zoning map showing the zoning in the area.
Aerial view.
Showing the location of the property.
Also, there is a map showing the other two family dwellings in the area.
And the notification letter to the RCO.
And the notification letter to the Office of Councilman Brian O'Neill.
Community meeting letter and last certificate of mailings I realize that there is a great
deal of opposition here but i also wish to point out that there are quite a number of properties
in the area that have done exactly this they have closed up the garage and are utilizing
the garage area as a living space illegally and we simply my client simply tried to make
his property legal
and that's what
the situation is
Is there a parking pad in front of that
Yes there is
I have a question
Counselor
Is the work done yet
front of the
garage is closed up
And the interior work been completed
it? I believe so. Thank you. Okay, does anybody on the board have questions? No. Is there
anybody in the virtual audience who would like to testify? One other fact I'd like to
point out is directly across from this whole development, it's zone multifamily. So it's not
a problem with the area. There's quite a number of multifamily right across Comley Road.
this work was done without a permit i'm not aware if they got permits or not
madam chair we have the applicant helena please unmute yourself you're free to speak
uh hi uh my name is helena and i'm the owner um i'm not sure if you can see me but um i just
wanted to say i'm sorry can you spell your first wait one second thanks confessor go ahead
okay my name is halina novikova it's h-a-l-y
Okay, my name is Halina Novikova. It's H-A-L-Y-N-A, and the last name is N-O-V-Y-K-O-V-A.
And your address, please?
The address is 4440 Master Avenue, Feasterville, 3-Voice, PA-19053.
So you don't live on Red Road?
No, currently not.
Happy New Swing.
Okay, do you swear for him to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Okay, you may proceed.
So I just wanted to tell that we wanted to make it for the future just in case we're going to need it to expand.
But to be honest, I just recently drove past the street and on the same street, there is at least four other houses like that.
so uh you know um i i don't really see the problem it's a big house that could be divided i guess but
um i guess that's it okay thank you thank you planning commission
i'm sorry mr haggerty before you proceed we do have another hand up it is councilman onel
oh okay i didn't realize he was here yes i'm sorry he's been unmuted sir please unmute yourself
you're free to speak thank you i councilman can you put your name uh on the record please
and spell your last name brian o'neill representing the 10th district which includes this property
on that road okay do you swear for him to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth
Yes, I do.
Okay, you may proceed.
I'm very familiar with this street.
It's a sort of crescent-shaped half-moon street coming off of a busy street,
calmly, backs up to a wooded area where there's a creek
and it's owned by the water department.
So I've had a lot of issues over the years with trees that are in people's yards
and all that.
So I know both Rhett as it comes in one side and Abby as it comes in the other.
To give you some perspective, these are very small units, generally called row ranchers.
There's several hundred of them spotted throughout this vicinity that were built back in the 70s
when there was options besides the full three-story row homes.
And mostly they're older couples, sometimes younger families or younger couples who live there until they're ready to raise a family.
They're very small.
And the garage issue, while it's illegal, wouldn't have us here today.
A lot of houses have done that.
Some legally, many not legally.
this is all about an illegal duplex. It was rented to two families. The neighbors contacted
my office because it's a very small street and people know each other. Ellen and I went out and
shut it down earlier this year or late last year, which is why we're here today legalizing something
that was not only done on the exterior, but it was turned into an apartment. It's since been
brought back since Ellen and I went out there in this application. It's just one tenant is in there.
And I want to clarify, there probably are about 300 of these scattered in the area between
Knightson Academy and Woodhaven and Morell Avenue. There's never been one that has been converted.
This would be the first duplex that was ever converted and legalized. There are duplexes
on Conley Road, right behind this little section of Rhett Road and Abbey that both, you know,
come in and come out of Conley. But they are end-of-the-row duplexes that were built that way,
where there are row homes in a long row, and then the end has a two-story duplex.
A lot of neighborhoods were built that way with the way it was planned out.
with with the um uh the way it was planned out but they those those are original construction
duplexes that were sold as duplexes originally there may be two of them on comley road and then
the rm2 across comley road is a quiet condominium single family development that has been there
maybe even since the 60s but certainly since the since the 70s and you don't even know it's there
I used to live right down the street I still live in the area but not on the on the same street
very familiar with it and that is kind of an irrelevant multi-family development one is it's
it's a it's a condominium development uh and and two uh it was built that way that's a that's an
as-built uh uh project so this is really egregious and uh having already been uh uh you know
operating illegally uh not only the the front of the house with the garage uh enclosure but
but an actual duplex by a non-resident who bought this just in the last few years and, you know,
set it up as a rental property. That is very, very okay, legal, done a lot. There are landlords
all over the city that do that. But to turn it into a two-family on a single-family street
is, I just couldn't object more to this, to this application. And I thank you for your
consideration. And I thank you for your testimony. Does anyone else have questions?
I see no hands, Madam Chair. Thank you. Ian, Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Tanari. Ian Hegarty for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission.
Members of the board, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing RSA-4
single-family zoning at this location. The applicant just hasn't made an effort to establish
a hardship with evidence of unique physical circumstances or conditions of the property.
Just note that neither adjacent non-conforming uses nor nearby zoning districts constitute
to hardship city planning commission recommends that the board deny the variance thank you
calendar number zero seven four three thirty two twenty red road my vote is no my voters no my voters
no my voters no calendar number zero seven eight zero three sixty four or dash sixty eight church
Lane. The attorney is Alan Nockamson.
Mr. Nockamson has been promoted to panelists. He's coming back in.
Good morning.
Mr. Nockamson, good morning. Can you put your name and address on the record, please, and spell your last name?
Sure. Allen Nockamson, N-N-C-O-C-H-U-M-S-O-N, address 123 South Broad Street, Suite 1600, Philadelphia, PA, 19109.
do you swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do do you agree to waive the
reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy i do and 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 in all respects okay you may proceed we do have two rcos opposing this penn area neighborhood
Association and Faith Community Development Corporation. Okay. I only received a letter
from the coordinating the RCO Penn area, so I don't have knowledge of the second letter.
Okay. May I share my screen? Sure you may. All right. So I'm here today to present 364R-68
Church Lane. As you can see from the front page of my materials, this is a property,
you know, with the arc, you would expect, is located in the rear of, you know, of different properties along Church Lane.
different properties along Church Lane. So even though it's Church Lane, if you look at Church
Lane here, you actually have to go down Nash, and that property, which is almost a 10,000 square
foot property, is tucked in the rear way away from any of the residential properties
that are surrounding it. So what you'll see in my table of contents is a deed to the property,
certificate of tax clearance, notice of refusal, the application for appeal, maps of the area,
photographs of the property, a simple drawing showing the current building structure,
and the only correspondence that I have is from the Penn Area Neighborhood Association.
So a little bit of background, this property, we haven't changed it in any way physically.
You'll see from the pictures, there are garage bays there.
The previous use of this property, and we actually got a lot of background and history about this property from the neighbor who attended the community meeting.
And in the 70s, this was owned by a lawn mowing company where they repaired, stored, and maintained lawn mowing equipment.
similar to what we're trying to do in terms of personal vehicle repair and maintenance.
Here, we're just using automobiles.