Name and address for the record, please.
German Yacobo, Y-A-K-B-O-V, 614 South 4th Street, number 510, Philadelphia, PA 19147.
And do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
I do so swear.
Can we get this off the screen?
What do I do?
Ms. Haskin, click your share screen button and it should stop.
These are the documents I will be using when I present my case.
so they're off the screen now.
No, they're not off the screen.
I'm not sure what I, it says new share.
Is that what I click on?
You should see at the top to stop sharing.
Do you see that?
Thank you.
Okay, thank you.
I don't see, is Mr.
There he is.
There he is.
Mr. Yakubov, I'm sorry. Did we swear him in yet? Yes. We did. Thank you, Cher.
Mr. Yakubov, do you recall that I sent your attorney an email asking that we set up a time
to talk on the phone? Yes. Isn't it true that during that conversation,
when you opened the negotiations
that you made a reference to what you had
that you would not negotiate against
what you have as a matter of right.
Isn't that true?
That's correct.
Isn't it also true that when I asked
what did you have as a matter of right,
you indicated that you had 45 feet and 10 units?
Isn't that true?
Correct.
In fact, isn't it true that you only have,
as a matter of right, 38 feet and four units?
No, there's bonuses that we can apply for,
like the mixed income housing bonus
that would allow us to get an additional seven feet,
That would allow us to get an additional seven feet, an additional 50% units.
an additional 50% units.
And there's also a green root bonus that we can elect if we disturb 5,000 square feet of ground, according to the Water Department.
And 5,000 square feet is not on this property, is that correct?
It doesn't have to be on the property. It has to be 5,000 square feet of earth disturbance.
The area around the property, the perimeter, the sidewalk, which is 20 feet wide and wraps around over 100 and some feet, 150 feet or so, will get us that 5,000.
Mr. Yacobov, the sidewalk is actually 10 feet.
It's actually not.
I can show you the screen.
Please do.
If you'd like.
Please do.
Now, here we go on the wrong.
There's a screenshot that I will show you in a moment, but let's keep moving on.
How do you disturb 5,000 square feet?
Square feet.
Please explain how you disturb 5,000 square feet.
Absolutely.
Absolutely. So the lot itself has, I believe, 2,200 or 2,300 square feet. We did a survey, I forget what the actual exact figure is, but that, in addition to the sidewalk that wraps around the property, comes out to about 5,000 square feet.
I'm sorry, I am really lost in trying to share this screen.
It's important for me to have the board understand that the new ordinance that was passed, the
amended ordinance passed in 2018, did call for 5,000 square feet.
It will not give him sufficient, even if he's right in the way he's calculating, it will
not give him sufficient units to climb to the number that he's applied for.
That's correct.
We're getting a variance.
The second issue that I'd like to ask you about is how you arrived at having a right
to 45 feet other than the mixed income.
According to the city planning commission, you should know the only bump up you can get
with mixed income is one or two units. How do you calculate it to bring you to 15 units?
I didn't. That's why we're here asking for a variance. I never said that.
I'm sorry, for 10 units. How did you write 10 units? It doesn't matter, right?
And on that phone call, I did the calculation with you, and we ended up at seven units by
right correct you ended up as it probably seven units or six units six or seven units depending
on whether you actually qualify for the green roof and we had that in that same conversation
that you're talking about it wasn't after the point is you misrepresented when we opened the
conversation isn't that true um you had a right to four to ten units with 45 feet isn't that true
It wasn't a misrepresentation. It was my understanding, which we then worked through that conversation that took about an hour to get to where we were.
Okay. Let's move on to another misrepresentation.
I would...
Objection.
That's not a misrepresentation.
Objection.
You have a letter from the Business Association of West Parkside.
That's correct.
Is that correct?
That is.
In that letter, in the third paragraph, which I assume your counsel can show, because I'm not able to do it right now, but in your third paragraph, the writer of the letter indicates that you will add only one story to the building.
That is also correct.
That is, just a second, please. You will add one story to the building over and above what you have as a right.
That's correct.
And we determined in our conversation, in our meeting, that you only have 38 feet as a right.
We did not determine that.
We determined that we had 45 feet by right, which we still do.
That is not determined by the City Planning Commission, and it's not determined by calculating with the City Planning Commission analysis.
It's 38 feet plus 7 feet of the bonus that you get, so you get 45 feet.
45 feet is equivalent to five stories.
It's eight feet for each height of each floor, plus one foot in between the floors for supporting joists.
That's nine feet per floor. Nine times five is 45.
Isn't it true that you also promised the business association that you would have high ceilings, 11 to 12 feet?
the business association that you would have high ceilings, 11 to 12 feet on the first floor?
That was, okay. Did you make that promise? No, I said that we need the variance in order to have
call ceilings for the proposed museum and coffee shop that we intend to put in there as a benefit
to the community that will memorialize the rich cultural history of that block. The museum.
just a second we're not getting into the cultural history we're getting into what you promised to
the business association about adding one story which i am trying to show this board
is constant misrepresentation these are not misrepresentation just because you say they're
not true doesn't make it so if you add up please add up as of right even if you assume you're going
to have 40 what 45 square 45 feet in height yes you're going to have that if you add that
that bonus and you add up all of the floors that you're going to have
it comes higher it would be higher than 45 feet it does not i just did the map each floor is eight
feet in height plus you have a first floor at 12 feet in height well that's why we're seeking a
variance in order to have a usable commercial space but by right we can still have a commercial
space that's eight feet tall it just wouldn't be really that inviting or useful so by right we
could still build five floors it's eight feet per floor plus one floor in between each floor
that's pretty much nine feet per floor times five is 45 feet so the promise that you made to the
business association you would not do uh you would not be able to do under this as a right calculation
the promise that i made is that true the promise that i made to the business association that
we need a variance in order to get that height and that's why they wrote a letter of support
that's one of the reasons for a letter of support they wrote they wrote the letter of support is
because we offered to pay to move that mural across the street, as well as build a wall
that will hold that mural that would be much larger. It would be a hundred plus foot long
wall that would be in height made out of concrete as a canvas for the mural arts program, which we
also are very proud to have. You've gone way beyond the scope of my question. You asked me
what if i applied on the letter i asked you if you would be in compliance with your promise
of a of a high ceiling on the first floor that's all i ask you if you build as a right
no no that's the whole reason of getting the letter of support
if i may break i have to object right he's answered the question three times okay right
And she's basically just saying, oh, well, she's not accepting the answer.
We'll move on.
One final question.
In the last hearing, isn't it true that you testified you had a ton of support from the community?
I do have a ton of support.
Right.
Mr. Yakovov, if you have a ton of support, what have you produced to show the residential support from the community?
at the last hearing that you were at we had a uh very prominent businessman that has a business
half a block away i asked you if you have residential support from the people who've
been there for 40 years support if you let me answer the question i would love to do that
we have that we have the letter of support that you yourself have asked me about we have a letter
of support from the mural arts program i've been to hundreds of cba meetings i've yet to see a
letter from the Mural Arts program supporting something. Thank you very much.
Objection. You won't even let him answer the question. He did answer the question.
No, he didn't. He has not answered my question. You told him to be quiet. You told him to be
quiet. My objection is noticed. I just know that you're cutting me off.
please be respectful of each other and do not speak over each other thank you so kindly
madam chair i do want to mention that councilwoman goffier is here and i want
to be respectful of her time but of course it's your call
Carol, you're muted.
am i unmuted now i would like very much for councilwoman
Am I unmuted now?
I would like to-
okay however miss haskins hold on the chair i am calling councilwoman gautier okay to be promoted
and i'll swear her in hello
okay i don't see you but i hear you can you hear me
yes i can i can hear you okay hi councilwoman um can you please put your name on the record
and then i'll swear you in jamie gaudier do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth
and nothing but the truth yes okay for matters of the record um cheer may we please ask her to
spell her last name sure can you please spell your last name g-a-u-t-h-i-e-r and your address
is in city hall can you state that room 586 city hall okay thank you you may proceed hold on real
quick before we start can counsel can you remove that uh from the uh stop sharing please when we
get that off the screen? Oh, I'm so sorry. Here we go again. Stop sharing. Thank you. Okay, great.
Jane, Councilwoman. Okay, are you ready for me? Yes, yes, we are. Okay, sorry. Madam Chair and
members of the board, I'm here today to ask that you deny the granting of this variance for this
property that is located at an important gateway into the city and into West Philadelphia.
There is no physical hardship for the height and density variances, and this represents an
overbuild of a small property at an already congested intersection. I imagine this is a lot
that many people here today have passed by dozens of times without even realizing it was private
property because of its small size and the mural behind it. The parcel is not much larger than a
standard Parkside Avenue row house parcel, yet this applicant is proposing a building that's
almost double in height compared to what's around it. The claim that they can get something
relatively similar by right is untrue and irrelevant even if it were true because that's
not what they are proposing to build. They could also build a 38 foot tall building with ground
floor commercial by right. That's what the base zoning allows without needing a ZBA hearing,
which the coordinating RCO has said is something they would support.
We also believe there to be issues with flooding on the property. So assuming a five-story building
would require an elevator, that also requires digging significantly under the ground. And I
would want to hear from L&I or the water department to see if a building of this scale is even
feasible in the first place based on the environmental condition of the site on the subject
of community input the vote at the east park side residential associations rco meeting was 41 to 12
in opposition and our office has also received dozens of letters and phone calls in opposition
as well about 30 in total not including the hundreds that have signed the rco's petition
This is the community feedback that has resulted from the review process as outlined in the zoning code.
I know the ZBA is receiving conflicting information about community opinion and community process, so I feel the need to clarify the record here.
The applicant is presenting support letters from the Business Association of West Parkside and Mural Arts Philadelphia as if they are proxies for the community.
They are not. I don't question the intentions of these organizations because I know that they're
concerned, just like I am, about the prospect of the mural on this site going away without
relocation. However, neither of these groups are RCOs, and they don't cover the geographic area
where this property lies, so they are not a counter in any way to the voices of East Park
site neighbors. I am also very deeply concerned about what appears to be an ultimatum to the
people of East Parkside. My building for your mural. That's not what genuine collaboration
looks like. We are grateful for efforts to come up with a vision to ensure that this landmark
mural lives on should this property be developed. Whatever the outcome this morning,
our office will work with both East and West Parkside to make sure the community's preferred
vision for the artwork is implemented. But that's not what this hearing is about this morning.
The question here this morning is whether this development proposal is worthy of zoning relief
or not. Making a piece of community artwork contingent upon a zoning variance distracts from
Making a piece of community artwork contingent upon a zoning variance distracts from the core question of whether this variance application has merit or not.
In our opinion, it doesn't.