i can't see that far yeah so uh at present there's no legal parking on division street
um the times that i've been out there i've observed cars parking on the sidewalk which
may or may not be legal um and then in terms of on our side of the street um a lot of those rear
yards for the sunny dale avenue homes are actually parking so the people that live on sunny dale
park off of Division Street.
They come up Division Street and they turn into
a kind of a backlog.
Okay. Thanks, Sarah.
Yeah, the issue
of people parking on the sidewalk
that was brought up by the gentleman across
the street, concerned about
people coming in and out of these proposed
garages, that problem
obviously already exists.
I mean, the only way to cure that
is to prohibit parking on that street and I'm not suggesting that but that's a situation it's
probably been going on for a hundred years and it's not going to go away is this this
this proposal is not going to change that uh anyway anyone else would like to testify in
this case please raise your hand here we have uh Linda Norris you can unmute yourself and speak
New and different would be helpful.
Good afternoon, ma'am.
Please identify yourself with a record name and address, and I'll swear you in.
Linda Norris.
Tell your last name, please.
Linda, L-I-N-D-A, Norris, N-O-R-R-I-S.
And your address?
3422 Division Street.
Thank you.
You swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
i do sir thank you please proceed yes uh just i just want to say i'm the block captain of division
street and true cars do park on the right hand side of division so to allow the people on sunny
side to park in the rear like you know the whole city the parking issue my biggest concern of being
a block captain i'm hearing i feel bad for mark for the tenants in those three apartments when
she builds this unit or unit whatever the house one or two
it's going to be directly like I said in their backyard
there will be no privacy for those tenants
them three houses there on Sunnyside
I don't know how they say it's Division Street when it's right in the rear
of Mark's backyard first of all and then
across the street Division to take their sunlight away so
I'm just saying, to be fair, if I had my way, I definitely
would oppose this whole plan. I don't think it's fair. It just
offsets the whole street. And I feel bad for those tenants and Mark
that live there because they're literally building right in the backyard
of that property. And for the neighbors
across the street to take their sunlight away, it's wrong.
But more Mark and those tenants that live there,
the three there's six apartments there will be no privacy there's sunlight the air they're going
to be practically on top of them this is so wrong my opinion only thank you anyone else to testify
yeah we have far hands so how we mr so how we you can unmute and you can speak now yes hello
hi identify yourselves by your first and last name and provide us with your address
Hi, identify yourselves by your first and last name and provide us with your address.
Sure. My name is Farhan Sahawneh. That's F as in Frank, A-R-H-A-N. Last name is Sahawneh, S as in Sam, A-H-A-W-N-E-H. And I am the homeowner at 3466 Division Street. I am Mike's neighbor.
You swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
thank you please proceed um while it may not it may not be relevant i do just want to say very
briefly that mike is a wonderful neighbor who has put his life on the line for me uh when i
shortly after i moved in uh to my house so uh great neighbor but um i i just want to echo um
what everybody has said so far um i know it's it's not really a legal reason but i do i do
enjoy the light that comes into my house I do enjoy the view of the sky from from my windows
but but really the major issue here is that the street is distinctly narrow I know that's been
said another thing Mr. Chairman I know you had mentioned something you had said something like
the problem with parking has probably been there there are actually not any front-facing garages
of that proximity anywhere else in that street so this would be a new sort of sort of issue
what i excuse for the interruption what i was referring to that people are parking on the
sidewalk and they're damaging sidewalks so you can't blame it on this you can blame it on this
these two garages or three garages but it's not because of them there's other cars that are causing
creating that same problem that problem for the sidewalks on the other side opposite side of the
street the side that you live on i i see i see i see your point um that's all i was trying to make
okay okay thank you sir um you know uh i think when when one when one walks around the neighborhood
of east falls one sees um that you know while there are buildings of this size in the neighborhood
None are built quite in the same proximity directly across of other homes.
I know maybe that's the case in other parts of the city.
It's not here, and this is probably why it's not enjoying the support of the community.
I'm here.
I'm much younger than those who have lived here for decades.
I'm rather new to the neighborhood.
I'm here to speak not just for myself, but for them.
These are smart people who know why they feel the way they do about this.
And I just want to voice my support for the community and speak up against this as it's being proposed.
And that's basically it.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Anyone else to testify?
This is Mike Weider again.
And I just want to make.
There's no hands at this time, Chair.
Thank you.
Planning Commission.
Good afternoon, Chairman and members of the Board.
This is Paula Brumbelow-Burns from the Planning Commission.
I have not been sworn in.
I know. Paula, please identify yourself.
You did identify yourself.
Do you swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
please proceed okay let me get to my page the comprehensive plan recommends this property for
single-family use and there is no evidence of a unique physical circumstance that would support
a claim collection additionally the proposed three lots are undersized and out of character
with the surrounding properties and so small that they cannot meet the open space and rear
yard requirements of the zone code we recommend that the board deny the requested variance
thank you mr chairman yes sir can i ask the counselor a question a couple two questions
sure yeah uh counselor is that street a legal street yes it is legally open and on the city
plan another question is have you reviewed the egress windows with the street department
the egress wells on the the proposed egress wells i'm sorry is that what you're asking
yeah you need streets you need streets review to use a sidewalk for egress opening
uh the streets department has not reviewed the new proposed egress well okay thank you
and if i could just very quickly respond to uh planning's commission's comment
And if I could just very briefly respond to Planning Commission's comment, I just believe that there's some confusion here.
In hearing the testimony of the Planning Commission, they seem to be responding to the three-unit plan, which was the original proposal, and not to the revised two-unit plan.
Is that accurate, Paula?
um i was looking at the original refusal but we still uh don't find a hardship for two lots or two
lots because they wouldn't even be allowed two lots by the zoning code the property is not big
enough so we are still at one lot thank you okay anyone else on the board no okay no all right
MI 2020-002-459-3445 Division Street. My vote is no.
My vote is no.
My vote is no.
My vote is no.
My vote is no.
I think we go now, Carol, to number one, Lycoming Street.
yes calendar number 0666 1216 West Lycoming Street
anyone here for 1216 West Lycoming
there are no hands at this time chair thank you MI 2020 that's 000666 1216 West Lycoming my vote
is to dismiss. My vote is to dismiss. Dismiss. Dismiss. Dismiss. Thank you. Calendar number
2760-1640, Edgley Street. The attorney is Steve Masters. No, excuse me. Carol? Yeah, are we?
You skipped. You had a good number two, Levick Street? Yeah, I thought that was continued. Oh,
right. My apologies. You're right. Okay. Sorry about that. Next time I'll put my hand.
We talk like that because we're Italian. Mr. Masters. Mr. Masters has been promoted to
panelists. Hi. Can you put your name and address on the record, please? Yes. Good afternoon,
Mr. Chairman and members of the board. Steve Masters, the attorney for the applicant from the law firm of JustLaws, 621 West Mount Airy Avenue in Philadelphia.
Thank you. Do you swear or firm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Do you also agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, I do.
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, photos, and or plans of the property, refusal or referral, five days in advance of this hearing, and have you met with the RCO, and do you have a letter?
Yes to all of your questions.
Thank you, and you may proceed.
um good afternoon we're here on four properties today it's a scattered site development and these
are numbers three four five and six on your agenda uh the first one that was just called
is 1640 edgley street uh the the second one is 1910 page street the third is 1938 page street
and the fourth is 2035 North 19th Street.
Could you hold one second, please?
Let me interrupt, Carol.
Should I read them all in?
No, just before you do that, Sharon,
on our notation, the Page Street properties,
we don't have any exhibits.
Did we get them?
Well, Mr. Chairman, we are withdrawing the appeals
on the two Page Street properties,
which is why we didn't submit any exhibits.
Okay, all right.
And then we can proceed.
So we're going to do 2035 North 19th and 1640 Edgley, correct?
And we're hearing them together.
Calendar number 3315, 2035 North 19th Street.
And there are letters of non-opposition on both cases.
actually for 2035 north 19th street there's a letter of support from the rco and for 1640
edgley street there's a letter of non-opposition both of the letters are also incorporating
three provisos that are located in exhibit five of both of our exhibit binders for these cases
um so let me share my screen
And let's go to, okay, starting with Edgley Street, so the project at Edgley Street is
and let's go to
an undersized 825 square foot vacant lot zoned RSA 5.
We are proposing to build a duplex with one two-bedroom and one three-bedroom apartment, which constitutes the least modification possible from the single-family use.
The proposed use also contributes positively to affordability. There's only one use refusal for two-family use and one dimensional refusal for 14% open space where 25% open space is required.
As you noted, the RCO has issued a letter of non-opposition based on our meeting and a couple meetings, actually, with the RCO and with the creation of provisos.
Let me just go to the provisos quickly.
so these provisos um involve first the withdrawal of the zoning appeals for 1910
and 1938 page street second we eliminated roof decks on the plans for both 19th street and
edgley street and we have revised plans that we are we've already submitted to your council with
the proviso form before this hearing. And the third proviso was that we will develop a trash
removal plan with the residents of each duplex, and we will also strongly support the community's
efforts to bring back twice a week city trash pickup in the neighborhood, which was something
that was strongly supported at those RCO meetings. So let me review for you the plans here.
uh this is the site plan uh make this all pure so we have the front elevation uh the rear elevation
and uh the the rear yard with the slightly smaller setback uh in terms of floor plans
we have the first apartment will be um in the cellar and the first floor
kitchen on the first floor
and then the second apartment is the second and the third floor
we have living space and bedrooms the kitchen is on the second floor for the second department
and we have some photos for you this is this is the lot in this area here
and photos of our zoning posting
And then our pro forma, our tax clearance, our deed, our application for appeal, our project information form, and the letter to the RCO and proof of mailing.
That is for Edgley Street and for North 19th.
These are very similar.
on north 19th we only have one use refusal for the two family we meet all the dimensional
requirements of the code in this case the RCO gave us a letter of support
This project was originally permitted as a single family home with eight bedrooms and
we are now converting it into a duplex which has said had three bedrooms in one unit and
which I said had three bedrooms in one unit and four bedrooms in another.
four veterans in another.
Here is the drawing with the neighboring property next door.
Our elevations.
And floor plans.
Apartment A is both the cellar and the first floor.
And then Apartment B is the second and the third floor.