Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Good morning all, I am the zoning board administrator, and I am here to state that the board had together today two cases or two sessions scheduled one for 930am one for 10am.
The case scheduled for 9.30 a.m. is being rescheduled 3948 to 50 West Gerrard Avenue.
A reconsideration case is being rescheduled to July 20th at 2 p.m.
Therefore, there will be no 9.30 a.m. session this morning.
We will begin 10 a.m. for the next scheduled hearing.
If you have any questions or concerns, you're always welcome to contact us at rcozba.phila.gov and ask any questions.
But the 9.30 a.m. case is being rescheduled and will be held on July 20th at 2 p.m.
Thank you all very kindly.
Okay, Pauline, thank you.
Frank DiCicco. I'm the chair of the Zoning Board of Adjustment. I'll be participating in today's hearing along with our board secretary, Confessor Plaza, and board members, Mr. Thomas Holloman and Mr. James Snell.
our board administrator today will be who is it today I should have asked is it Leticia
it can be me chair just time okay okay thank you our board administrator Ms. Tanya Sunkett
and Ms. Sharon Saletta our board attorney are also in attendance for those of you who haven't
yet participated in one of our virtual hearings I'll go through some of the basics of what you
can expect. First, we will be administering oaths to individual participants prior to their
testimony. Second, we'd like to advise everyone that this proceeding is being recorded and that
by participating, you acknowledge your agreement to be recorded and that the recording will be
made available to the public on the web or otherwise. Third, for anyone participating
by phone, if you wish to testify, you must raise your hand by hitting star nine and then star six
to unmute yourself. I'll repeat. For anyone participating by phone, if you wish to testify,
you must raise your hand by hitting star nine and then star six to unmute yourself.
Finally, to enter an appearance statement, please call Google 267-270-5548 and leave your email
address and the address of the property at issue. I'll repeat that. To enter an appearance statement,
call google 267-270-5548 and leave your email address and the address of the property at issue
i would also like to advise everyone please do not attempt to testify in the chat
all questions and concerns should be raised with our board administrator miss sunken with that
With that, we can begin.
we can begin
In, um...
It's my understanding that since we last held the first hearing, there's an additional two attorneys that will be representing interested parties.
One is Mr. Daniel McElhatton, and the other is Mr. Philip Ramplosky, Y-A-M-P-L-O-S-K-Y.
But before we do that, there was a request for a motion to dismiss.
My vote is to deny that motion.
I'm sorry, Chair. May I please request of you to announce the address of the case going forward this morning?
You know, it's this case involves 230 Vine Street.
An appeal on the application for 230 Vine Street.
So I just entered my decision to deny the motion.
The motion to dismiss is denied.
Motion to dismiss, deny.
Motion to dismiss, deny.
Well, that's a quorum. Three's a quorum. All right. So having a little issue.
Yeah. Yeah. No worries. Well, as long as there's three of us, Mr.
Mr. Mattione, but before you begin, Mr. McElhantin and Mr. Philip Jamplowski are available.
If you are, please unmute yourself. I swear you in.
I have burned with his hand up. Is he a part of this case also?
Yeah, he's one. I wanted to get the other two newly appointed attorneys.
Chair, I see Mr. Yablonski in the attendees list. Could he raise his hand, please, Mr. Yablonski?
Mr. Jamblowski, you can unmute yourself.
Good morning, sir.
Please identify yourself, spell your first and last name, and I'll swear you in.
Philip Jamblowski, Y-A-M-P-O-L-S-K-Y.
I represent Franklin Bridge, which is the owner of the adjacent property
in the eastern party wall of the subject premises.
Sir, do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Thank you.
Mr. McElhatton, please identify yourselves by your full name.
Daniel, D-A-N-I-E-L-P, McElhatton, M-C, capital E-L-H-A-T-T-O-N, 2000 Market Street, Suite 1400, Philadelphia, 19103.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do, sir.
Thank you.
Mr. Anastasio, I just want to make sure we get all the attorneys sworn in and then we'll proceed.
You have to unmute yourself, Vern.
Sorry about that, Mr. Chairman.
Yep, Vern Anastasio, 1315 Walnut, Suite 1006, Philadelphia, 19107.
My co-counsel attorney, Harry Cook, is also looking to be promoted to the panel as well.
You swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
Yes, sir.
Thank you.
Thank you. Mr. Cook and or Mr. Mattione.
Mr. Cook is available. Good morning, Mr. Cook. Please identify yourself for the record.
Harry Cook, Anastasio Law, 1315 Walnut Street. We're protesting.
Let me tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
Yes, I do, sir. Cook is spelled C-O-O-K, correct?
That's correct.
Mr. Mattione.
Mr. Mattione, you can unmute yourself.
Good morning.
Good morning, Mr. Chairman.
Good morning.
Please identify yourself, spell your name, and I'll square you in.
Michael Mattione, M-A-T-T-I-O-N-I.
Federal Reserve Bank Building, 100 North Independence Mall, Suite 5A Northwest, Philadelphia, 19106.
Federal Reserve Bank Building, 100 North Independence Mall, Suite 5A, Northwest.
You swear to the firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Thank you.
I just want to give everyone a heads up.
I expect this will be a monthly hearing.
We're bound by a certain time.
We have to be out of here by 1230 today.
hopefully we can finish this case but if for some reason we can't we will have to continue it again
i know that some people are not don't like to hear that but those are the rules and we have
to abide by them we're good up until 12 30 so it asks the attorneys and any of your witnesses
when they get up to speak to try not to repeat what has already been put on the record
in the interest of time we appreciate everyone's cooperation um i think we left off and correct me
gentlemen uh mr medione i think you were we were in the middle excuse me chair
i'm sorry i'm sorry yeah miss we're going to have go a little out of order on witnesses
Mrs. Golden from the Mural Arts has another appointment if everyone's agreeable we'd like
to get her testimony and then we'll move on with the attorneys and your clients so
Mrs. Golden if you're there please raise your hand and we'll swear you in
okay I'm here hi Jane please identify yourself spell your full name and I'll swear you in
Yes, my name is Jane, J-N-A-N-E, Golden, G-O-L-D-E-N.
Order for them to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Thank you.
Please proceed.
Oh, so hello, everybody.
So I'm the Executive Director of the Mural Arts Program.
I'm very pleased to be here today.
So I'll be short.
So there are a couple points here that I want to make.
And I say this with, I believe in this with all my heart and soul,
and I've done this work for 30 years and I love my job and I love our city. And so I think that
this is a very unusual circumstance because we have an iconic institution, the Painted Bride,
an iconic person, we have Isaiah Zagar. And we have a proposal with the Atrium Design Group that
brings people together. And there seems to be a solution here that would allow, really, it seems
like a very interesting development to occur, and it would allow this iconic work of art to be
preserved. And so I just want us to think for a minute about what Philadelphia would be without
public art. There are, I know Mural Arts has created over 4,300 works of art since 1984.
Isaiah Zagar has contributed mightily to this city. I think they're just, there's public art
everywhere. And it's truly the autobiography of our city. And we have to protect that because it
can go away. It's precarious. I got my start in the city of LA. And when I moved back here and
started doing murals, I remember getting calls from the LA Times. And people were saying that
the collection was disappearing. Murals were getting defaced. No one was taking care of it.
Murals were deteriorating. People didn't seem to care. And generations of beautiful works of public
art. We're just gone. So what does that mean to a city? Well, you have to question, what does art
mean to the life of the city, to our humanity, to who we are, to our identity? The fact that we're
known internationally as the city of murals, the fact that countless tourists come here to see our
works of art, the fact that incredible artists come here to work on murals. I mean, this is a
lot about the very fabric of our city. So when a mural goes away, it's not insignificant. This is
worth fighting for. And the fact that we have a solution is really, I think, quite remarkable
that we're all parties feel okay about this, of the Painted Bride and the artist. And I understand
there's sentient from the neighborhood. I'm very sensitive to neighborhood issues, having been to
a million community meetings in my life. But I just felt like, oh my goodness, after all this
struggle, there seems to be something present here that's a win. And I want to quote Inga Safran.
She said, if the city misses this chance to do this with this development, it will have lost a piece of its soul.
And I always feel that when murals go away, that we as a city lose a piece of our soul.
And I know I'm biased, but I have been a witness to seeing the power of art firsthand for 30 years.
And it's the honor and privilege of doing this work.
And so I'm here today to urge everyone to think about the atrium group's design and the fact that there is something before us that could bring parties together and allow this work of art to continue living, breathing, inspiring people.
thank you mr chairman if i might i have to object to the entire testimony of the witness
Thank you.
Mr. Chairman, if I might, I have to object to the...
on what grounds well first of all none of it was relevant uh it's completely off point unrelated to
this legal matter and this legal analysis it is word for word the exact same testimony that the
witness provided at the historic commission and it was rejected at the historic commission
And as a result, this board is collaterally stopped from overturning the Historic Commission's decision.
We're a separate agent.
We're not overturning the Historic Commission's decision by no means.
I don't know.
I think Ms. Golden, like any other person who represents Philadelphia, has an opportunity to be heard.
So I'll overrule your objection.
Okay, thank you.
And anyone have any questions for Ms. Golden?
I do not.
Thank you.
And thank you, Ms. Golden, for your dedication and hard work on behalf of the citizens of Philadelphia.
All right.
With that, I think we can begin.
Is Ms. Golden still on the line?
Is Ms. Golden still on?
All right.
Maybe an opportunity, Ms.
Yes, but thank you.
All right. We began, I think, the last hearing, Mr. Cook began argument.
We already handled the motion on dismissal. We asked that. Mr. Mariani then presented the argument in support of the appeal.
Mr. Mattione, your testimony, I believe, is cut off midway through, and Mr. Anastasia has to be given an opportunity to cross the exam and Mr. Zakin.
Right.
We had not finished Mr. Zakin's direct testimony.
If there is a direct testimony is done, then Mr. Anastasia would have an opportunity.
Just want to make sure we're all on the same page.
Thank you.
Mr. Chairman.
Chairman, I just want to put into the record that we'd requested a briefing.
Excuse me, one second.
Sorry.
When you speak, just identify who you are so the court reporter knows who's speaking.
Yes, sir.
Mr. Chairman, Harry Cook here, Anastasia Law.
I just want to put in the record as it relates to the motion to dismiss, we had requested a briefing schedule from this board.
We never received a briefing schedule from this board.
Mr. Mattione had submitted a supplemental briefing that we would have appreciated time to respond to.
So I'm just assuming that your determination was made on the brief since argument was denied in front of the board.
Excuse me, Mr. Cook, you did begin your argument.
I apologize for not sending out a briefing schedule, but you submitted briefs on it, I believe, the day of the last hearing.
Mr. Mattione submitted a response in his supplemental exhibits.
Very little time to respond.
I think everyone has had an opportunity.
Mr. Mattione had a month and a half to respond to our brief.
We had very little time to respond.
I just want to put that on the record.