And do you adopt it as your own testimony if need be?
Thank you.
I have nothing further, Mr. Chair.
What was the acquisition cost when she purchased this property?
Is it on that deed?
No, you're frozen again, Vernon.
well let me go take a look at the at the deed
just over yeah just over nine thousand okay yep
is there any sharon do we have to have a letter from the councilman's office in the file
i hadn't received one as of the time this hearing started
uh any questions from the board uh yes uh counselor do you know if there's other
multi-family houses on the block yes of course there are uh i mean it you know it's a typical
block on the 1500 block of South 15th Street. Now, are primarily properties of single family
nature? Absolutely. That's the primary use. But I think, again, there's a problem that needs to
be solved, generally speaking, in areas of growth. And that is, here we are, the code would require
my client to build just under 600,000 square foot home and have to put it on the market for
an incredible amount of money, further pushing folks out of the community. You hear it more than
I do, I'm sure, all the time. Here's a solution to that problem. From the outside, the property
looks identical to every other single family home on that block, every other property. So the only
difference is each floor would be a home for someone who could not otherwise live on that
block for a new in a new constructed home. Thank you. Any other questions from the board?
No. Anyone else like to testify in this case? If so, please raise your hand.
This is Sharon. I did confirm that we have no letter from the council person.
here we have a mr zutter mr zutter you can unmute yourself and speak
okay can you can you hear me yes peter good morning please identify yourself for the record
good morning chairman to chico my name is peter zutter z-u-t-t-e-r i live at 1440 south broad
street 19146 and i'm president of the south broad street neighborhood association
you swear and affirm peter to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
I do? So, I guess, do I need to read into the record the reasons for our opposition? I mean, you've heard most of these before, that what they're proposing is an overuse of the property.
this is a block with mostly single family dwellings and there's really no reason to
deviate from that. Additional units like this with what could be six additional bedrooms and
three offices which could be considered potential bedrooms could add many new cars to add
considered potential bedrooms, could add many new cars to add parking congestion.
The applicant agreed that there's no hardship for this since it is a vacant lot.
And well, this is all in our notes. It also does not represent the least modification possible to
provide relief for the applicant and i was at many of the uh there were several meetings um i think
that i missed one of the earlier meetings uh when east point breeze was handling this variance
request and the neighbors who were in attendance at those meetings mostly the large majority of them
did not support this variance and so this was negotiation with i have to object to that first
of all it's hearsay yeah well it's kind of mixed bag he does represent the community rco
that this was not this was not his meeting mr chairman and for him to testify to someone else's
position is hearsay sustained okay so peter just just talk to us uh as it relates to you and the
south broad street so okay um so there has been there has really not been support from from
neighbors for this project um which was noted by the the the vote at our meeting um we we had a
good number of neighbors in attendance and the support was just not there for a project like
this even with the reduction to the the three units and um you know we sort of stand by this
there's just no it's it's a vacant lot it could easily be built to accommodate a single home
there there's nothing that dictates that it has to be uh whatever the number was that Mr. Anastasio
is saying five six thousand square feet um it could be a smaller home with a large yard um folks
in South Philly like the large yards. It's a neighborhood where, you know, you look at the
selling prices of some of these homes, the new construction on Dickinson Street with very small
yards that are right next to this property, you know, perpendicular to it. There's really just
no hardship for this to be converted into yet another multifamily building. You know, the talk
of condos is is fine but it's still you know no assurance that it isn't going to be just three
more very high density very large apartments um so that's really basically it thank you uh
for your attention mr chairman just a just point of clarity uh we're offering a 25 foot yard
which is large by South Philadelphia standards and it's completely compliant. There is nothing
to say that a single family home can't be filled with people as well with plenty of cars. We all
know especially if we're from South Philadelphia one household could have several cars so there's
nothing to say that that is going to be an issue and quite frankly someone who lives in a 1500
hundred square foot condo is less likely to have a car uh and they're by the way a block off of
broad street than someone who's going to have a sixth bedroom uh home uh they'll most certainly
probably have a car because they'll have lots of kids so again uh there's a problem and uh that is
a lack of affordable and approachable new construction my client is offering a solution
to that problem. And the same folks who would fight three condominiums are the same people
who will complain if a single family home is sold for $800,000 and somehow raises their property
taxes. So I think on a public policy argument basis level, this is smart development. This is
not going to be the first multifamily on the block. And these are going to be, you know, high
end, new construction. And that's that. And by the way, for clarity, my client never admitted that
there was no hardship period. Anyone else would like to testify in this case, please raise your
hand here we have a jonathan mccarthy mr mccarthy you can unmute yourself and speak
good morning mr mccarthy mr mccarthy please identify yourself spell your last name
and give us your address sure my name is jonathan mccarthy j-o-n-a-t-h-a-n last name
Sure. My name is Jonathan McCarthy, J-O-N-A-T-H-A-N, last name M, little c, capital C, A-R-T-H-Y, and I live at 1523 South 15th Street.
You swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
Yes, I do.
Thank you, sir. Please proceed.
Thank you. I have been present for all of these meetings, even to the ones over on the east side abroad.
and found it to be frustrating to just have it written off as hearsay.
I think our neighbors were more concerned about being part of those meetings
because we weren't certain that they would be representing our street as carefully
considering it was going to be not directly in their neighborhood.
And all of the complaints that we have as neighbors were also
taken as note in the East Point Breeze area. Mr. Vernon brings up the idea that originally it was
to be a six-family project and we very easily dismissed that and kind of laughed at how big
that would have to be. And it's kind of like what my sister would do with my dad where she asks for
fifty dollars and then when he says absolutely no she says oh i only need 20 then people are
willing to give that when the reality is this is a single family area this is a single family
building they knew that when they bought it the prices yes are up there but that doesn't mean
that anyone on our block or anyone that i know of has asked uh miss wong to solve the housing
problem in Philadelphia. This is clearly not a desire for her to build a house and move there
herself, but a desire to build a project that got left by someone else who couldn't get what
they wanted out of the project. She still would like to push forward the three condominium idea
and there's no one on our street who wants that to happen. We've invited her to come live there.
I don't think that's her plan. Just because three different condos or an entire house might have
the same number of cars does not change the validity of our complaint that that will make
more congestion there. And this isn't what our neighbors or myself are hoping for in this area.
And if she wants to build a single family house, I think that's great. If she doesn't,
I think she should try to unload this property to somebody who does want to do that.
thank you anyone else that would like to testify in this case
here we have france pierre mr pierre you've been unmuted you can speak
good morning mr pierre you know the drill please identify yourself and i'll swear you in
good morning mr chairman and fellow board members this is france pierre jr from councilmember
johnson's office that's f-r-a-n-t-z last name pierre that's p-i-e-r-r-e you swear and affirm
to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i certainly do thank you sir please
proceed yes uh at this time council member johnson joins the community in their opposition to the
appeal. Thank you very much. Anyone else? No hands at this time, Chair. Thank you. Planning
Commission? Thank you, Chair DeCicco. Ian Hegarty for the Philadelphia State Planning Commission.
Hold on. Someone has an open mic.
there we go okay thank you um thank you uh chair chico the comprehensive plan recommends no change
to the single family zoning at this location um you know we're we understand the economic
arguments here but we have to look at the hardship in this case i think the applicant has not
demonstrated that development is restricted by any kind of unique physical circumstances
or conditions. And the proposed variance is clearly not necessary to enable viable economic
use of the property. And so the Planning Commission would recommend that the Zoning Board deny this
variance. Thank you. MI 2020-002756. 1511 South 15th Street. My vote is no. My vote is no. My vote
much. Calendar number 2745-2132 North 21st Street.
A letter of support from the 32nd Ward RCO.
A letter of support from the 32nd Ward RCO.
Right.
Chair, we have Michael McKinney.
McElhaney.
McElhaney?
McElhaney.
McElhaney.
He's been promoted to panelists.
Mr. McElhaney, you can speak now.
good morning sir can you put your name and address oh go ahead go ahead on the record and i'll swear
you in good morning members of the board michael mcelhenney law office of orphanetes and toner 1500
jfk boulevard philadelphia pa 19102 here on behalf of the property owner ad holdings llc
that's a-y-e-d-e-e holdings llc and the address is 21st street okay thank you do you swear or
affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes i do you also agree to waive the
reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy we do yes have you emailed the exhibit
packet with proof of ownership tax compliance refusal or referral plans and photos of the
property five days in advance of this hearing, and have you met with the RCO, and do you have a
letter? Yes, to all those questions. Thank you. You may proceed. And I will say I'm here today
with the member of the LLC, DeShay Brown, and we'll bring him on later on in the process.
and I'd like to share my screen.
Okay, so members of the board on the screen
should be an index of the exhibits
that were submitted prior to the hearing.
And we're here today, my client's seeking
approval to add a third unit
to an existing structure
that's been previously approved
for two dwelling units plus a doctor's office on the ground floor.
As mentioned by the chairman, we did meet with the 32nd Democratic Ward as part of this zoning
process. The letter on the screen is Exhibit 2. It's difficult to read. We do have a full
letter of support. The main comments from the RCO were noted at the bottom to request that my
client do a good quality rehabilitation. And my client's plan is actually to do more of a higher
and renovation that would then would typically be seen in this neighborhood and to make sure
that we have sanitation um a trash pickup plan which we will have commercial trash pickup as
part of the the property by way of background my client did purchase this property back in
december of 2019 and as i just previously stated the properties currently approved
uses are doctor's office on the ground floor with two dwelling units above
The property at issue, just to orient the board, is located on the 2100 block of North 21st Street,
Diamond Street to the south, and Susquehanna Ave to the north.
And this is a block that has suffered from disinvestment over the years.
Turning to Exhibit 4 are photographs from 2009 showing the the abandoned and blighted nature
of the block there was there were only a few habitable structures on the block most of the block
are you see are clean and sealed buildings by the department of licenses and inspections
and that's pretty much been the condition of that block for an extended period of time so what
upon in the more recent time the looking at an aerial view on exhibit five
Most of those clean and sealed buildings, or many of them, have since been torn down.
As you can see, page one of Exhibit 5, many of those buildings are now
exist as vacant lots throughout the 2100 block and North 21st Street.
The property itself is zoned to RSA 5, so adding the third residential unit is the reason for the
use refusal here. But as you can see from the zoning map, this property is right off of Diamond
street and it is surrounded by or bordered by a lot of rm1 and commercial mixed-use properties
and the subject property itself is they're quite sizable on the 2100 block
it's a 16 foot wide by a 100 foot deep lot which is quite frankly pretty enormous for
what we're used to seeing in the south philadelphia neighborhoods and
other smaller neighborhoods around the city
turning to a sixth i'd like to direct the board just to the current conditions on the block
Many of the properties are still abandoned in nature, missing doors and windows.
Abandoned in nature, missing doors and windows. There are multi-family buildings. Photograph two on Exhibit 6. There are multi-family buildings immediately to the north of the subject property. There's a duplex and a triplex.
There are multi-family buildings.
To the south, there's an abandoned building. There is one new construction or two new construction properties going up on the block as we speak.
But other than that, there's not much activity on this block other than we're still dealing with the abandoned nature of many of the properties.
Page three are the properties directly across the street from the subject property, which again, it's more blighted abandoned properties that aren't currently inhabited.
And having conducted a survey of the block, it turns out that there's about 14 abandoned houses, 25 vacant lots, eight occupied homes, several of which are multifamily, and there's those two homes that are under construction.
So the condition of this block is in need of rehabilitation and it's a depressed area.
As far as one of the concerns that come up often is parking. As you can see from the photograph
at page four of Exhibit 6, there's not a parking concern at this area in this part of the city
because there's not much habitability on this block of North 21st Street.
turning to exhibit seven this is a photograph of the actual property at issue
as you see it's a an existing three-story structure it's approximately 2,500 square feet
of space and has a massive backyard due to the 100 foot depth of the property
it does require substantial rehabilitation with the walls being repointed and doors and windows and
And as I stated, my client's going to go through with anticipates a full renovation, hopefully with three residential dwelling units.
And I'll pull up the floor plans, which can be difficult to see.
The basement of the existing structure is planned to be used just for the utilities, not necessarily living space.
And the only unit that would have access to the basement will be the first floor unit.
So the first floor unit is a two-bedroom. There will be two bedrooms, one bath on each of the
three floors. The bedrooms are sizable on all the floors, eight feet by 12, almost 13 feet, 11 by nine.
And the second and third floors are pretty much mirror images of each other.
And the bedrooms there are actually more substantial than the first floor
in terms of bedroom at 14 feet by 12 and a half feet
and eight feet by 13 feet.