First of all, as far as the comment about lack of consideration,
I reached out to the neighbors, the buddy neighbors in particular,
wrote them a few letters going back to when I first received the refusal and set up the thing.
And I tried to establish a dialogue with them and we only had one meeting and one only Mr. Peterson agreed to meet.
and we only had one meeting and one only mr peterson agreed to meet very reluctantly and
just said no that was his answer no so wouldn't discuss any other matter as far as the uh the
issue with maintenance on the rear wall uh well i mean that that's true everywhere you know i've
a builder for over 40 years as well and uh you know we we hope that we don't have uh maintenance
issues with the law once we put it up uh so i i don't expect that that would be uh an issue
you know going forward and one that would create problems uh as far as the hardship goes this is a
You know, the building was built in the post-Civil War era, the gaslight era.
These buildings were built prior to electricity.
And the expense of upkeeping of these buildings is tremendous.
If you can even find tradesmen that can do some of the work on the exterior these days.
It's a tremendous expense.
Not to mention the city's own efforts in taxation.
the current taxation for this property is over 16% of what my gross income was on the building
last year. So, you know, and you can say, well, you know, maybe you have the wrong tenants in
there. It's like, well, you know, I'm trying to respond to the market. So, as far as hardship
goes if anybody penciled it out that they would be able to see that uh so like i said i i you know
it's it's it's one of it's the only property on the block that conforms to open space and off
street parking and there's no there's only one other property on the on the block that conforms
to the required use so given that my neighbor has 46 units right there uh you know i think it
it it kind of says where the neighborhood is you know but i you know i'll close there but i certainly
respect my neighbor's opinion and uh i only want the best for the neighborhood well i think mr
van skyro that was what we were trying to get at earlier this morning about continuing this case
and have the councilwoman's office involved in those discussions it may not change anyone's
mind going forward i have no way of knowing that i don't have a crystal ball right uh but
you decided you wanted to go forward with and here we are but well there's some discussion
about pulling the wall back pulling the building back i don't know if it would work i i'm you know
Right. Well, Mr. Chairman, I believe that I could recraft the project and be able to get there
and maintain the use. But frankly, I don't think it's as good as a project. I know I'm opposed
by this and by the neighbors, but I don't think it's as nice of a project. And so, you know,
if the board, I'd rather have the board just make a decision now and say, we disagree. We think it
is not a good project so you know we'll go back and we'll recraft things okay all right fair enough
all right um planning commission thank you chair chico ian hegarty for the philadelphia city planning
commission comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing residential two family zoning at
this location existing building as we discussed has illegal three-family use established we would
agree with the RCO that the applicant has no grounds for hardship here. The applicant's
hardship claim is purely economic, whereas his burden, as you know, is to demonstrate that the
development is restricted by some kind of unique physical condition of the property. I also believe
it's plainly evident that the proposed variance is not necessary to enable viable economic use
of the property given its current non-conforming three-family use. And finally, we find that the
the variance is likely to impair the use
of adjacent properties.
And so the city planning commission recommends
that the zoning board deny the variance.
Okay, thank you.
MI 2020-001231, 4614-16 Chester Avenue.
My vote is no.
My vote is no.
My vote is no.
My vote is no.
My vote is no.
Thank you.
Carol, number 13.
Not 12, 13.
That's going to be continued also.
Is that correct, Sharon?
It is, but I'm not sure that that has been announced yet.
No, we haven't.
I just want to make sure.
All right, so I'm going to call that now.
MI 2020-001216, 8104 Caster Avenue. There's been a request by the attorney,
MI2020-00121681.
Mr. John Sabatino, to have this case continued.
Yes, that's correct. Okay. Yes, thank you. I believe that concludes the 930 list.
do you leave anything out yes if we could ask if anyone present
if anyone is here for a case that they believe was scheduled that has not been called
right as uh miss soletta just said is there anyone believes a case
has been scheduled that has not yet been called but was scheduled
excuse me
no hands at this time chair thank you uh okay see everyone back at two o'clock
thank you and we'll give staff a few minutes let us know when you're ready
we're all ready chair well thank you good afternoon everyone my name is frank de chico
i'm the chair of the zoning board of adjustment i'll be participating in today's hearing with
along with our Vice Chair, Ms. Carol Tenere, our Board Secretary, Confessor Plaza, and Board
Members, Mr. Thomas Holloman and Mr. James Snell. Board Administrator Yvette Benton and our Board
Attorney, Sharon Saleta, 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 available to the public on the web or otherwise.
Third, if anyone who is 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, 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 remind everyone that please do not attempt to testify in the chat.
All comments should be directed to our board administrator, Ms. Yvette Benton.
With that, I could, I want to have some unfinished business here.
MI 2020-000349-3009 North Front Street.
This appeal was mistakenly voted on February the 17th.
We are now vacating that vote, reopening the record, and continuing the hearing to a date to be determined.
With that, I will now read off the list of requests for continuances on the 2 o'clock list.
Number three, MI 2020-003416, 1345 East Susquehanna Avenue.
Number four on our list, MI 2020-001714, 1608 North 27th Street.
Number six on our list, MI 2020-001-849-1719 Spring Garden Street, Attorney Moving Party.
MI 2020, that's 000033 204 South 12th Street. MI 2020, that's 001753 2533 Alter Street.
MI 2020-003415, 3020-34 Euclid Avenue.
dash three four Euclid Avenue excuse me the continuance was requested by the attorney
the applicant's attorney MI 2020 dash 003 414 430 Mifflin Street continuance requested by
applicant's attorney. MI 2020-003417. 5002 North 12th Street. The continuance is requested by the
applicant's attorney. If anyone disagrees with any of the continuances that have just been read into
the record, please raise your hand at this time. Chair, we have Alan Nockamson. Alan, you've been
unmuted and you can speak now good afternoon mr knockamson please identify yourself for the
records by your name and i'll swear you in uh yes uh good afternoon mr chair members of the board
my name is alan knockamson a-l-a-n last name knockamson n-o-c-h-u-m-s-o-n-1-2-3 south broad
street suite 1600 philadelphia pa 19109 do you swear in a friend to tell the truth the whole
truth and nothing but the truth i do please proceed thank you uh yes it's with regards to
2533 altar street uh this is at least a second continuance at the request of the community when
we did uh agree to the continuance um i spoke to uh france pierre uh councilman uh kenyana johnson's
zoning aid and the understanding was that we were going to try to get a date uh a little earlier
than the typical continuance,
because we feel like we can present this matter,
but at the request and out of respect for the community,
we would agree to the continuance.
So we were hoping to see if we can see March 31st.
I mean, this has been multiple continuances
at the request of the community.
I will have to speak to Ms. Sunkit about that,
I believe, offline.
Okay, I will.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you.
anyone else have any issues with the continuance that have just been read into the record please
raise your hand chair we have david guest mr guest you can unmute yourself and speak now
mr guest please identify yourselves by your last name thanks very much david guest last name g-e-s-t
with Ballard's Bar, 1735 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19103.
Do you swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing?
Thank you. Please proceed.
Yes, thank you. Just a minor clarification.
This is for MI 2021-00033204 South 12th Street.
We had requested that to be attorney moving party.
Just was hoping to update the record for that.
what street was that uh 204 yep 204 south 12th street okay because it had paul bonnie's name
next to it all right miss yeah mr bonnie is also online and i've been corresponding okay so it'll
be attorney moving party correct am i am i 2021-000033 204 south 12th street attorney moving
party correct okay thank you thank you any other corrections or discrepancies please raise your hand
there's no hands at this time chair thank you is there anyone else who would like to request
a continuance or withdrawal on the two o'clock list please raise your hand
Chair, we have Rachel Pritzker. Ms. Pritzker, you can unmute yourself and speak now.
Good afternoon, Ms. Pritzker. Please identify yourself and I'll swear you in.
Rachel, R-A-C-H-A-E-L, Pritzker, P-R-I-T-Z-K-E-R, 1635 Market Street, Suite 1600, Philadelphia, PA, 19103.
You swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Thank you. Please proceed.
So we are, this is for 4914 North Penn Street. We're ready to move forward with this. However,
we were asked by the council office and the community to allow for more time for them to
try to assist with obtaining parking for this site, even though there's no availability on
this existing site for parking. The only concern I have is that we have a 30-day finance and zoning
contingency that's going to wear off and then we have no project to discuss, which I know
that the community and the council office appreciated. I didn't know if we could ask
for a date with, you know, on the record so that we can address the community's current
on the record so that we we can address the community concerns and align with the council
office uh without messing up the project in general there's a financial component that has
to be met right correct otherwise the project could literally go away correct correct all right
tanya i don't want to put you on the spot but would you like to do you have a date or would
you like to speak with rachel off for offline
um i'm sorry this i was on the phone um
this rachel's case i don't know if you heard that 4914 north penn they were ready to go forward but
the councilman's office uh asked them for a continuance uh which uh rachel and their her
client are willing to do, but it's date sensitive for financing. If they don't get a date, I think
you said before March 31st, is that accurate? Yes, Chairman. The project is doomed or will go
away. Yes. Unfortunately, no, we don't have any early dates. When would be the next, if it helps,
it would be a non-controversial matter for it to be continued. So it wouldn't be something that
would take a significant amount of time if that helps at all unless we do a resumption but i don't
know if that gets that does that help um it would still be at april date what's the earliest date in
april tanya i would have to look and see okay i'm nervous about saying okay and then there is no
project to discuss with anybody what was the count who's the council person again councilman sanchez
i'm just thinking maybe we go forward with the case
i don't want to discount the councilwoman's interest in this but that would be my suggestion
chair yeah we'll go because unfortunately we are swamped with cases and we have full dockets
thank you tanya for your input all right rachel we're going to go ahead with the case all right
okay thanks chairman any other requests for continuance or withdrawals
here we have slow folks mr folks you can unmute yourself and speak now
Identify yourself. You're still under oath from this morning.
Yes, sir. Good afternoon.
It's all folks, Office of Councilwoman Maria Quiñones, Sanchez, room 508 City Hall.
Regarding the case that Ms. Pritzker had mentioned, we don't have a clearing.
I'm sorry. Repeat that. You broke up.
No, I'm sorry. Can you hear me? Are we clear?
Clearly, the applicant has met with the community.
the community requested the continuance um we understand and we the community as well as
Ms. Pritzker had discussed um uh the issue um um over the past couple of days um if you if the if
the ZBA does uh determine as you have said that you're going to move forward with the case we'd
ask for a uh resumption hearing on the back end so the community can file their um put on record
their um opinion and that we can put our opinion on record also. Sloan the problem with the
resumption hearing. Resumption hearing will be passed uh the March 31st. And then we don't have
a project to discuss. I I understand I understand and appreciate well can we is there a way that we
can uh come back in uh a few weeks after uh the applicant uh returns to the uh the at least has
the one more discussion with the uh the the community regarding the issues that they were
uh roves so and we can report that out to the zba yeah but again we're not going to be able to put
you back on the list until after march 31st which is the due date on the financing for the project
um this is sharon seleta can i make a suggestion would it would you be willing to agree
that the board is going to hear the case today
and close the record
except for a letter from the community
that will be read into the record
in, say, one week.