of the salon. It's personal care services. There will be some hair salon sort of information.
Excuse me. It'll be a hair salon with hairstyling services, waxing, and other sorts of personal care
services as well. The business is going to be run by Ms. Shakira Abdullah, my client, and her
daughter as well who's a licensed professional here are additional photographs of the interior
of the property and what i've added on and i oh no that's not the correct document at all one moment
what i received this morning and i'm forwarded to my to ms emerson to the rco was the floor plan
for the property which i'm now going to pull up
okay that should be visible for everybody at this time
There we go. And here we have photographs of the property from Robin Street.
This is a residential unit that I discussed.
This is the photograph from Castor Avenue. And there's a number of businesses along Castor Avenue that have similar setups with residential units above and via a separate entrance on Castor Avenue, different businesses underneath.
Here's the area. Site map from Google.
and then what we have here to the bottom of the page pardon me
is the actual site plan and interior square footage is a shared driveway to the rear of
the property trash will be taken from the rear of the property that's where the trash trucks come
my client's commercial area is located here so we have mechanicals and bath which is a front
along robin street the entrance is long caster avenue and it's about 450 square feet in total
there's a rear exit which trash will be brought out of this is the residential unit above
on the first and second stories but my client does not have any access to the residential
unit it's a separate lease separate tenant altogether uh miss abdulla if you're present
on the line would you please unmute yourself and i just have a couple questions to ask you
Ms. Abdullah, you can unmute yourself and please wait for the chair.
Hi, am I unmuted?
Yes. Could you please state your name and spell it for the court reporter?
Sure. My name is Shakira Abdullah. Shakira is spelled S-H-A-K-I-R-A-H.
last name is spelled a b as in boy d as in david u l l a h you swear affirm to tell the truth the
whole truth nothing but the truth yes okay miss abdullah you've heard my testimony today
yes would you please tell the members of the board specifically what services you will be
offering at this location um i will be offering um well my daughter is um a licensed hairstylist
So she will be doing hair services. And I work in the spa area. I do waxes and yoni seams and stuff like that.
OK, now for purposes of this business, how many employees will you have at this location?
Right at the moment, it's just me and my daughter because we're just starting out. We're new business owners.
um but eventually there are two other um salon chairs for other stylists if someone you know
for other stylists, if someone, you know, if we happen to be able to hire someone to work in there.
if we happen to be able to hire someone
Okay. At this point, what's the maximum number of customers you'd have in the salon at any time?
Well, it would be, so hypothetically speaking right now, if we were to open back up,
it would be two people, two people at a time. We don't allow people who are not getting service
to come in so if my daughter is doing someone's hair in the chair it would be that person if
someone is getting waxed in the back it would be that person so two people at a time if we hire
the other girls then it would be five people at a time okay and then what are your days and hours
of operation please once you get um we will be operating uh monday through sunday whenever there
are, um, appointments available. And is it appointment only? Um, no, one, it won't be
appointment only. We will open it up to the community. Um, before, uh, we had to shut it
down. There were many people from the community who came in and they loved our services and they
said it was so convenient to have it in their community. They don't have to travel far and the
service is good. When they come in, they leave out happy. That's good to hear. So you've heard
my other testimony in this case with respect to your application, correct? I'm sorry. You've heard
my testimony then in my presentation with respect to this application, correct? Yes. And it's true
and accurate to the best of your knowledge? Yes. And you would otherwise adopt my testimony,
what I said, as your own testimony, correct? Yes. All right. Yes. We have nothing further
this time members of the board we're happy to take any questions you may have board questions
no mr chairman yes sir no other comments from the virtual audience
i see no hands chair charlie should i go to the planning commission before we do this
um yes planning commission thank you mr chair uh good morning ian hegarty for the philadelphia
city planning commission last name spelled h-e-g-a-r-t-y you swear a firm to tell the
truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes sir i do thank you uh members of the board the
Comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing RSA 5 zoning on this corner lot.
The property does have a documented use history of professional services on this basement level.
It's our opinion that the impacts associated with the requested personal services use would roughly match those of the previous use and would be appropriate given the physical arrangement of the existing structure.
the city planning commission recommends that the board grant the variance thank you mr
movahill will bring this back for a vote when we receive information from the rco
if i could ask mr movahill to do you agree that the record will be closed
aside from a letter from the additional rco and the councilman's office which will be read into
the record oh yes okay and can we um do we have an idea of a date for that miss do you know how
long it is going to be before you can get that letter or should it just be rescheduled
um i can i uh this is hillary emerson um i would i would say two weeks which i believe is the 22nd
so i i don't see like why we couldn't have that done by then okay miss sunkett would that be okay
to schedule this for the 22nd
only for the reading of the letters?
Yes, that's fine.
Thank you.
And what time?
I'm going to reach out to Ms. Emerson
and ensure we can get that scheduled.
9.30 a.m.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Mulvihull.
Thank you, members of the board.
Have a good day.
Case number five.
MI 2021-002891.
um can you hear me
yes carol we can i think the chair fell out yeah do you want me to go on with five if you could
continue. Thank you kindly. Calendar number MI-2021-002891, 1823 North Van Pelt Street.
1823 north van pelt street there are no exhibits with this and it's a first listing
is there um somebody representing shahar properties llc yes can we promote mr bertill
and miss saletta yes we can confirm the staff did find the exhibit package yes that was an
ur mr bertill did submit the exhibits on time and this can go forward thank you
Mr. Bertil is coming back in as a panelist.
Good morning, Madam Chair.
I'm doing well.
Can you put your name and address on the record?
Spell your last name and I'll swear you in.
Steve Bertil, B-E-R-T-I-L, 1835 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19138.
do you swear if I'm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes I do do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy
yes and it has been noted that the entire exhibit packet was submitted so you may proceed
thank you very much I'll just share my screen
um mr chairman you can continue
we're at the very beginning he's put his name on the record and has been sworn in okay
good morning mr chair how are you good i'm just sharing my screen here before i
Okay. As stated, my name is Steve Bertil. I represent the owner of the property, 1823
North Van Pelt Street that you can see here on the screen in this aerial view.
The property, we're here today seeking a variance approval to allow for the change of use of this
property into a two-family, multifamily structure. The property itself has historically and most
recently been used as a three-family structure. It has been in rough shape and has been boarded
up and we're trying to bring the property back to life, but reducing the use from a triplex to
a duplex. As you can see here, the property in question is on 1800 block of Van Pelt Street
between Berks and Montgomery Avenue. As I stated, it's been historically a triplex.
The block, excuse me, here's a street view of the property in question. As you can see,
it's currently boarded up due to I believe there was a fire at some point but it is not currently
occupied we are trying to rehabilitate the property but instead of bringing it back to
the triplex we would like to utilize as a duplex so we can have larger more livable units
as you can see the property is adjacent to vacant parcels this area of the street as you can see
from this view is littered essentially with vacant parcels and some vacant building as well.
We have a refusal.
Actually, let me show you some more views. Here's an adjacent view. As you can see across the street
is a little bit more structures, a mix of multifamily and single family, but mostly
multifamily. And here's just another view kind of step far back. As you can see, the rear of
the property needs a lot of work of rehabilitation, which is the intention of the owner and
applicant. The applicant specializes in small multifamily structures and identifying
distressed properties and bringing them back into the fold and back into productive use
as a small multifamily. So we receive refusal because the overlying zoning on this property
is RSA 5. Let me just get a look at the refusal. As I stated, although that the property is
currently zoned as far as 5. The property has historically been a multifamily structure
seen since the 40s. Of the historic records, we were able to identify use registration,
rememoralizing the use in 1959. But as I stated, this is just the earliest record we could find.
As I stated, this is just the earliest record we could find.
as you can see from the
As you can see from the use registration at the time, it was already a three-family.
We did meet with the RCO.
Actually, before I get into the meeting with the RCO, let me just go over the plans.
As you can see here, our intention is to rehabilitate the rear of the property.
well, rehabilitate the entire property, but it's essentially shore up the structural issues with
the rear of the property. We intend to put a rear deck on top of the second floor that you can exit
from the third floor. In terms of the units, we're proposing, as I stated, two units instead of the
three one one bed one bathroom and another larger three bed two bathroom units um that's uh split
level actually both um units will be split level but one is a two bedroom two bathroom and one is
a three unit two bathroom see here now we did meet with the rco which is the 32nd democratic ward
um as you can see here
we send out um the required well the prop first off the property was properly posted
as you can see here um and then we also sent out a notification letter uh to to all the near
neighbors. As you can see, I believe we send out about 139 letters. We did have a community meeting
on November 16th with the coordinating RCO where they voted to not oppose this project
and expressed that they were happy that there was some attention being paid to this part of
the street, which as you saw earlier, need some love and care. There's, as I stated,
there's vacant parcels, vacant properties, and this is basically in line with what this applicant
does, find local properties in Philadelphia that are distressed and bring them back to life as
small multifamily units that are what we deem as naturally occurring affordable housing.
Now, as I stated, the RCO did vote to not oppose this project.
At the time, I didn't have a letter resulting that, but my understanding is that they actually sent in a letter this morning that I forwarded to, excuse me, to Ms. Saleta, memorializing the vote and showing that they're not opposed to this project.
I didn't get a chance to confirm if Ms. Saletta received my email, but I can resend.
Excuse me, Mr. Chair, and I can confirm that I received it. Thank you.
Okay, thank you. And as such, we believe this is a de minimis variance because the existing property, as I stated, has historically been utilized as a three-family.
we would like to reduce the density to what was historically there. And we have the support of
the community. And in the long run, I guess, in the greater picture, bringing this property to
a productive use is, I think, something that's overly beneficial to the neighborhood and
community at large. Unless the board has any questions, I have a representative from the
ownership uh Dwight Anderson on the line um who can identify and adopt my testimony is true
if the board would allow or could you have him state his name and spell for the court reporter
yes good morning everyone hello good morning and thank you um
for this opportunity my name is dwight anderson spelled d-w-i-g-h-t-a-n-d-r-d-e-r-s-o-n
you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do thank you
thank you uh mr sheriff uh mr anderson uh did you hear uh the testimony that i provided to
the board this morning i did thank you and and i appreciate it and would also like to add please
uh steve which you're aware of a business the business model which we've developed
Ultimately, as you stated, we'll provide affordable housing, and it's been demonstrated by our
first project, which was supported by the Zoning Board at 2113 North 21st.
um by the zoning board at 2113 north 21st street uh which they uh approved the variance for a duplex
and and i'm very excited and happy uh to to tell you steve and the board that we're under contract
with an owner occupied scenario so we were able to provide a housing scenario for a young man
and his family who will offset his expenses with the income from the additional unit.
Counsel, excuse me, we appreciate that, but could you have the testimony adopted, please?
Sure. Mr. Anderson, I think you adopted the testimony, but could you,
would you, oh, excuse me, I think you affirmed the truth for the testimony,
but could you adopt it as your own, for the record, the board?
uh yes i do adopt the uh testimony by steve bertel uh claire hash and as my own thank you
thank you sir thank you questions from the board no mr chairman no no questions from the virtual
audience i see no handshare
planning commission thank you mr chair ian hegarty for the philadelphia city planning commission
members of the board in 2014 the zoning map was amended from rm1 to rsa5 at this location
that was done in accord with recommendations from the comprehensive plan however as council
has demonstrated this structure has a documented prior use as a three-family dwelling and so the
City Planning Commission recommends that the board grant the variance. MI 2021-002891-823
North Van Pelt Street, I vote yes. Harold Teneri, I vote yes. Professor Plaza, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes. Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes. Thank you.
MI 2021-002890, 2326-28 North 9th Street. RCO 37th Ward has a letter of support.
Zen Jin is attorney.
Mr. Jin is coming back in as a panel.
Good morning.
Good morning. State your name and spell for the court reporter, sir.
Zen Jin, Z-H-E-N-J-I-N, 1617 John F. Kennedy Boulevard, Suite 1838, Philadelphia, PA, 19103, here on behalf of the applicant.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?