Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Palmer, were you on the call, the Zoom call, when I presented your project?
I was.
And if you had the opportunity to testify, would you adopt my testimony as your own and as true and correct?
Thank you very much, Mr. Palmer.
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Ms. Perchette should be there.
Yes, they have been allowed to speak.
Hi, could you please state your name and spell for the court's denocacy?
My name is Ruth I. Perchette, B-I-R-C-H-E-T-T.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, told truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, Mr. Clinton.
um Miss Burchette uh were you at the community meeting with St. Elizabeth RCO
yes I attended uh three meetings actually the initial um meeting that was in the letter I
received um the notice of the meeting um because I am a homeowner in the 1900 block of North 23rd
Street. And I have served as block captain of the block also. And so I attended the initial
meeting where we were giving copies of the architectural plans and we asked quite a few
questions about it. And then once the development team left the meeting, we kind of conversed
ourselves and we agreed to have an additional meeting and so we did have an additional meeting
where it was just community residents and some people who did not were not able to come to the
meeting with the development team the initial RCO meeting attended as well and it made the
discussion even more interesting a lot of people have lived in a neighborhood
you know a long time 40 50 years I myself have been on the block almost 20 years and there was
a lot of really healthy discussion and we concluded that we wanted to have
the commercial and the residential and there are people that were at the meeting that have
lived up on the second floor of the building as well, and also people at the meeting who had
considered purchasing it themselves. Unfortunately, a longtime community resident that owned the
building previously fell very, very ill to the extent that he had to move out of town with family,
And that's why the building was was was sold. But I remember when it was a shop there, I remember when there was an ice cream parlor there and things like that.
And everyone at the meeting were very impressed that the owner, when the discussion came up, well, will you demolish it and put a three story building there because it's allowed by by zoning?
And the owner said, oh, absolutely not. He said, no, we love the building just as it is.
It has character. And we felt that that was a very good response.
When the second meeting with the development team happened,
we came into that meeting thinking that we were going to say to the
We came into that meeting thinking that we were going to say to the owner that, well, we really want to just have the, you know, two businesses and the two apartments.
But the development team came back with documentation that answered some of the unanswered questions from the initial meeting.
And that was really looked upon very, very well.
And it also we also engaged with them in more discussion about the third apartment.
There were some people that had a concern about the basement, the third apartment having a bedroom in the basement.
And then we ended up with the discussion that, well, in Philadelphia, that's really not uncommon anymore.
And the preference was stated that we would rather see two businesses and three apartments rather than three apartments and two and rather two businesses and three apartments rather than three businesses and two apartments.
And so we voted to to accept the plans as they were stated.
I today have talked with the vice president of St. Elizabeth RCO and also a member of the St. Elizabeth RCO board even just yesterday.
And he was kind of confused.
He's actually also a ward leader of the 32nd Ward, Darnell Deans, and he's confused because it's his understanding that Priscilla Bennett, the president of the St. Elizabeth RCO, sent the letter this morning.
And I know they probably should have sent it before now, but they are really confused as to why the RCO letter of support did not come through.
So that's my report of it. I am very impressed that when I noticed the building, I've reported numerous times over the years, using the 311 system as a neighborhood liaison, taking pictures of graffiti on the building and clip has come out and removed the graffiti.
And the windows, the original windows from when it was built, has repeatedly over time been broken and vandalized.
When I noticed the glass was broken again, I looked on a real estate sign that's still hanging.
And I called the realtor and a realtor said they would contact the owner.
the the boards was up on the the window immediately that like that same day uh within within hours and
and we were impressed about that um also a car came down the street um a couple months ago about
a month or so ago and literally ran over one of the trees that the original owner had had planted
that's still young and we have a tree tender group and um we got an arborist out there
um two Sundays ago and because the owner gave us permission to try and save the tree
and so we did that and we staked it and the tree is is doing well and um and I'm just very grateful
to have, you know, a investor who's acquired a property in a neighborhood where many of us have
lived all of our lives and is showing a degree of regard and respect and responsibility. And
I have no reason to believe that they're not going to continue to act in that behalf.
Thank you, Ms. Breschette, for your report, and we appreciate taking the time to call us. Is there anyone else in the first audience?
I see no hands.
Planning Commission.
This is Ron Bednar, City Planning.
yeah the uh property is indicated for commercial mixed use on the city plan
given the physical circumstances of the site and its documented use history we recommend
requests for variance be granted thank you mi2023 007050 1901 north 23rd street i vote yes
Thomas Holloman, my vote yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Thank you, Mr. Clinton.
Thanks, Chairman.
Number seven, MI 2023-007-001, 632 Devereaux Street.
On 632 Devereux Street, Vern Anastasio is the attorney.
Vernon Anastasio is the attorney.
We do not have a letter yet for the Long Crest Community Association.
Vern, you've testified a few times today. Just for the record, state your name.
Vern Anastasio, A-N-A-S-T-A-S-I-O, on behalf of Matthew Thomas.
okay our vice chair has just a few questions sir thank you good afternoon council do you
agree to either read another refusal or stipulate to attack this i do have you emailed in all the
required documents and exhibits that is needed to proceed with this case five days in advance
of this hearing i have thank you uh council please proceed thank you
mr chair members of the board my client is uh the owner mr thomas matthew thomas
when he visited the property it presented itself as a three-family dwelling
and the multiple listing service uh also listed it for sale as a multi-family home located at 632
Devereaux Street in Philadelphia. So based on the MLS listing, advertising, and of course,
visiting the property, walking the property, and it presenting itself as a three-family dwelling,
my client believed he was purchasing a legal three-family dwelling. As it turns out, it was
it's not zoned for three-family. It had gotten a two-family variance several decades ago.
At some point during that time, the owner at the time took the above-grade lower level and turned
that into a unit. So as a result, my client thought he paid for and purchased a three-family
dwelling when in fact uh he did not so i have the three pages of interior layout
this was an in-person rco meeting and i left uh several dozen of the uh packets for uh
the members there were only two out of the 25 folks in attendance that actually uh were within
the immediate area and as you can see here it's zoned rsa5 even though it had been legally
converted with this board's approval for a two-family dwelling and then at some point
subsequent to that approval the owner prior to to my client converted it to a three-family
let's take a look
it's a corner property on a large lot
if in fact this were zoned RM1
the three family dwelling would be as a matter of right
there are also other large lots on the corners
two of which have multi-family dwellings as well
all gotten and secured
by variants
i'm moving into evidence pages 44 through 53 of the 60 page exhibit binder that does show the
history the documented history uh even a use permit for the two family dwelling
i've also submitted uh interior photos as well as proof of three separate electric meters each
of the meters is already hooked up to each of the units my client was sort of taken
back by having to go through this process he has however made sure that one of the units
is vacant while we go through the process
and here are additional photos
and we have some exterior shots as well
so to now ask my client after purchasing the property paying for a three-family dwelling
price because that's how it was marketed and sold to him to ask him to now convert
this back to a two-family dwelling would be impracticable. And of course, financially,
he'll be underwater after that. We did, in fact, have an RCO meeting. As I said, this is the two-page
We did, in fact, have an RCO meeting.
As I said, this is the two-page document that was mailed,
and we mailed it to 108 individual households.
So with that, because of the property is located on a corner on a large lot,
because of the previous approval for two-family dwelling,
because the three-family condition
happened prior to my client's purchase
and he reasonably relied on the MLS listing
as a multifamily dwelling
and the property presenting itself as such.
I respectfully request that the board grant this variance.
And with that, I'd like to have Mr. Matthew Thomas.
Warren, before it comes on,
is the area around there a lot of multifamily?
It's mixed.
the corners are multi many of the corners are multi-family uh but of course inside the interior
homes are smaller homes on smaller lots more narrow lots they're the single family homes
okay thank you yep mr thomas
matthew thomas if you're in the audience please raise your virtual hand
Matthew Thomas has been allowed to speak
Mr. Thomas could you state your name and spell it for the stenographer
Mr. Thomas
Matthew please unmute yourself
Mr. Thomas
Mr. Anastasio, you're an officer of the court. We will
take your testimony. Can you hear me? I can hear you now, sir. Thank you. Could you state your
name and spell for the court's stenographer? Matthew Thomas. M-A-T-H-E-W-T-H-O-M-A-S.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Thomas, did you hear my presentation to the board this evening?
Yes, sir.
And is it true and accurate to the best of your knowledge?
Yes, sir.
And do you adopt it as your own testimony?
I thank you.
I have nothing further, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you.
Questions from the board?
No, Chair.
No, Chair.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
just wanted to verify you you haven't received um anything from the rco following the meeting in
march uh i had asked them to send it i know my office asked to send it i did not see it in my
exhibit packet but we did ask them to send a report do you know what the vote was i wasn't
present for the vote. I was asked to leave. It was a much larger meeting. Okay.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no hands. Planning Commissioner.
Ron Bednar, City Planning. While this property is currently indicated for a single-family
residential on the city plan, given the site's use history, we recommend the
equestrian variance be granted for two units only as previously approved.
Mr. Anastasia, we're going to hold this for a week and we're going to vote on this next
Wednesday at two o'clock. Our experience with this Longcrest, they usually get letters out
right away. So we're going to give them a shot to get a letter to us just to see where they stand.
and then we'll make the appropriate consideration of what Ron just said and what your presentation
was. Okay. I appreciate that. And I'll even, I'll, I'll have my office contact them, uh, just to
and if you would just make sure we get a copy of the letter. Of course. All right. Thank you very
much. Thank you. I just want to note that the record for the case is closed, um, aside from
the RTO letter and any response from the applicant if desired. Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you.
Is there anyone in the verse one who's 330 case has not been called?
I see no hands.
Nadia, this could be record-breaking time here today.
I've got to tell you that right now.
Thanks, everyone.
Because of you, Chair, you were amazing.
No, it was.
That's not.
No, it's not.
it was it was it was a good day i'll send you a gift for that tanya thank you
It was a good day.
We can take care of Monday later.
goodbye team goodbye