ZBA Hearing - January 24, 2024

Okay.

All right.

Thank you. We understand you, Mr. Winder. Thank you. Is there anyone else in the virtual

audience?

I see no other hands, Chair.

Planning Commission.

Thank you, Chair Bergman. Sarah Bond with the Philadelphia City Planning Commission.

The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing residential single-family

zoning however the proposed use will not cause detrimental impacts to the neighborhood beyond

what might normally be expected the city planning commission recommends that the zoning board grant

the variance thank you mi2023-005-967-3337 west clearfield street i vote yes

thomas holliman my vote is yes

James Snell my vote is yes

Ishmael Shaheed my vote is yes

Thank you counsel we appreciate it

Thank you sir

Is there anyone in the virtual audience

From the 2pm list whose case has not been called

I see no hands chair

So we're going to take a 5 minute break

And we're going to come back and we'll go through the 3.30 group

Thank you everyone

Thank you chair

oh please good afternoon my name is bill bergman and i will be chairing the zba 330

hearings with me as our vice chair ismail shaheed president mr chairman our board member thomas

hallman president mr chairman and our board member james snell

President, Mr. Chairman

Okay, and also here is Hillary Emerson, our attorney

and our executive director, Tanya Sunkett

Be advised, the proceedings are being recorded

Video will be available by contacting

TanyaSunkett at phil.gov

For the benefit of our court stenographer

we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying

If you're participating by phone

and you wish to testify, press star 9

to raise your hand and star 6 to unmute. To enter an appearance statement, call 267-270-5548. Leave

your email and the address of the property in question. And finally, the question and answer

box on the screen is not for comments or testimony. All comments should be directed to our Executive

Director, Tanya Sunken. Let's look at our schedule for this afternoon. Number four.

Tanya Sunken. Let's look at our schedule for this afternoon. Number four, MI 2023-004-400-409

South Eiseminger Street. That case is continued. Number nine.

MI 2023-004-397-1006 Fairmount Avenue. That case is continued. Are there any other requests for

continuances? Good afternoon. Again, Chair, this is for Tina. I'll be your co-host.

thank you you're welcome i see no hands okay mr chair this is hillary we can continue number eight

as well okay we received a request for continuing all right number eight mi-2023-004-398-1113

Mount Vernon Street that case has been continued and I also have number two MI 2023 004 322 38 South

57th Street we have no exhibits for this this is the first listing Baldeva Ashanta is the owner

applicant. I see no handshare. So MI 2023 004 322 38 South 57th Street. That case is continued.

Mark must be heard. I also have a few cases here for withdrawal. Number one, MI 2023 004 139 1514

Watson Street. That case has been withdrawn. And number three, just to clarify that last case was

1514 Wadsworth Avenue. Wadsworth Avenue. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. And then number three,

MI 2023-004-200-509-Springer Street.

Elisa, Malik, and Daniel Augustin, are they in the audience?

I see no room.

I see no room.

Okay, so this case.

MI 2023-004-200-509-West Springer Street. The case is continued.

Let's go to our first case.

MI 2023-004-362-1218-Wallace Street.

winter wooden has their hand up should i bring them in as a panelist chair please

is this attorney uh hillary this is pro se mr chair would you like me to read the refusal

into the record sure that would be great okay this application is for youth as a child care

center in an existing structure there is one use refusal the proposed youth child care center is

prohibited in the rsa 5 zoning district um we do not have an rco letter um we need verification

that a meeting was conducted thank you thank you the owner's name

um the owner name is uh john zow um but my name is winter wooden i actually

could you do me a favor could you state your name and spell for the court stenographer

um winter wooden and my uh spelling of the name is w-i-n-t-e-r last name is w-o-o-d-e-n

right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth

yes okay um first question is did you have a uh an rco meeting last night no we did not we did

not conduct a meeting last night okay so we had no meetings at all right so um i was a little

confused on how to do this situation how to go about to be honest with you um i did not know i

thought i had to schedule the meeting and then contact the rco representatives to see if they

were on board um that's they told me no that's not how it's supposed to be done and that i was

supposed to actually um reach out to them so they can schedule the meeting and then they will get

back to me so so i so i do apologize for that no you have to apologize so hillary do you do you

have all your documents with you um so mr chair it was my understanding based on the letter that

she provided that she said to the neighbors that there was a meeting last night um since

last night um since there has been no meeting unfortunately we cannot hear this case today

there has been no meeting unfortunately we cannot hear this case today

because a meeting is required um before before the board can hear the case all right so when

and what you're going to have to do is you're going to have to go back make sure you get that

meeting done okay you have any questions we'll contact the office and we'll tell you how to

handle this okay okay so wait do i have to do the process all over again no you don't do the

probably you just have to have the meeting okay i just have to have the meeting and then i what i

do is all your documents are already sent in am i right yeah all my documents is already sent there

so have the meeting and then we'll schedule another meeting right okay all right thank you

all right so um mi 2023 004 362 1218 wall street that case has been continued

Number six, MI 2023-004-402-4833-37 North Howard Street.

Justin Crick is the attorney.

Mr. Crick is coming back in as a panelist.

Thank you.

good evening mr crick

good evening good evening could you state your name please and spell for the court stenographer

yes justin j-u-s-t-i-n crick k-r-i-k right um do you swear a firm to tell the truth the whole

truth and nothing but the truth i do could you identify your client in relationship to this

property? Yes, my client is Ishmael Castillo, and he is the record owner of the subject property.

Okay, our vice chair has just a few questions for you, sir.

Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refuse or stipulate to its

accuracy? 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? Yes, and the tax receipt was

recently submitted showing the zero balance as well thank you sir thank you council please we'll

see you then and share your screen thank you all right members of the board I'm here today to

present the application for variance at 4833-37 North Howard Street this is a renewal of a

variance that has been granted twice before each time with a two-year proviso

just to double check that everything was going as planned. So the property is

located in an RSA 5 zone and the current business that's there requires

non-accessory parking which is prohibited. It performs personal vehicle

repair and maintenance which is also prohibited and also contains a vehicle

paint finishing shop booth which is also prohibited. The three refusals we got

were based on those use refusals in this district the the application was for again the extension

of previously approved 12 non-accessory non-accessory surface parking spaces the personal

vehicle repair and maintenance and vehicle paint shop the background here is that while this one's

not relevant in 2007 the parking lot area basically was was created and allowed and

And the structure now looks as though it could handle 52 cars or a lot of cars or whatnot.

And then this applicant, this same applicant applied in April of 2019, received a two-year

variance for this with the temporary use to ensure that this within that R5 neighborhood,

RSA5 neighborhood would be sustainable for them and not create any disruptions.

We revisited and renewed in August of 21 that lasted and recently expired why

this application has currently been filed. The property is a through and

through property between Howard and Hope Street and again as you can see it's

surrounded by a lot of residential properties. From an aerial standpoint the

property is these three long bays as well as this larger structure here it's

through and through, as you can see outlined in red.

You can also see that the center of this is open as the pictures will demonstrate better.

This is open air area and the parking lot areas and garages are along these sides and

the vehicle maintenance repair is done on the inside mostly of this structure.

This one would be from Howard Street and this from, I apologize, North Hope.

Here's the general schematic of the building. Again, Howard and Hope.

Here's the general schematic of the building. Again, Howard and Hope.

And a few pictures to help demonstrate what's going on inside. Oops, sorry, that was a little too far out.

and this is a uh schematic of essentially the paint booth that is in there and is is used uh

at this property so i have attached again uh for reference the prior applications

and decisions where this was uh the recent one granted with proviso for two years uh painting

the painting use for two years was set to expire. So technically, I don't know whether the

use as repair and maintenance or the parking spaces did expire, but we are asking for all

of them to be approved. And as you will see, we met with the Neighborhood Association. Again,

these are the past permits with expiration dates. We met with the Neighborhood Association in

October. They were supportive unanimously, six votes at that time. And again, they had been with

us or we had been with them for the last four years plus. Their letter of recommendation

did indicate that in the past, they previously asked for the two-year variance and indicated

that they have not received any inquiries or communications about concerns or issues.

This, as different from other letters of support, does not request the imposition of an additional

two-year variance. We believe that that need is no longer necessary at this time. I have attached

a exemplar page of the deed showing that Mr. Castillo is the owner of the property.

copies of the postings on the facade and then as of last week there was the 2024 taxes due

but I will jump and show you that as of earlier today that amount was paid

and the Philadelphia website shows the tax balances as zero and the receipt was provided

to board council this afternoon as I received it. I did attach all of the mailings I'm not

to go through all the certificates of mailings and the notice but we did send our notice to the RCO

and to the regular people requested by the city planning commission with that said I'd like to

bring my client on to adopt my testimony if Castillo is available please raise your hand

it may be by phone or it may also be under Vanessa Castillo

We see them in the audience.

No hands at this time chair, Mr. correct you on the office of the court and we, we accept your testimony.

Thank you and I appreciate that in light of this being the 3rd round of the identical use requests.

None of the facts have changed.

Questions from the board?

No, Chair.

No, Chair.

Questions or comment from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?

Not at this time, Mr. Chair.

Questions or comments from the virtual audience?

I see no hands, Chair.

Planning Commission, Ron Bednar, City Planning, first name Ron, R-O-N.

name bednar b-e-d-n-a-o you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but

the truth i do please proceed while this property is currently indicated for residential on the city

plan we recommend question variants be granted provided all vehicles are stored within the

property lines. MI 2023-004-402-4833-37 North Howard Street, I vote yes with Proviso.

All vehicles stored within the property line. Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with Proviso.

James Snell, my vote is yes with Proviso.

thank you counsel thank you right number seven mi2023 002 942 1546 to 48 south 20 street

jennifer brazilo is the attorney this is a resumptive hearing

miss brazilo is coming back in as a panelist

I

could you state your name you've already been sworn once today

sure uh jennifer bazitlo b-a-z-y-d-l-o right okay um so this is a resumptive hearing

um what where we left and i believe this is open it up to the uh the audience the virtual audience

OK. Yeah, we had a second meeting and then I would just like an opportunity to respond to what I what happened at that second meeting and what the neighbors say, if that's possible.

OK, do you want to do that before we open it up? I would I would love to if that's possible.

Sure. Because I know we just kind of wanted to have community input at this one.

So let me just share my screen. All right. So we had if you may or may not remember.

We had had a previous community meeting in October, and there were some issues.

I thought they didn't want me to come back. They did want me to come back.

We agreed to the resumption hearing in a second meeting. So we had a second meeting on Monday,

and there were a total of 12 people. The vote, well, there was actually 11 people,

uh because there's a vote in here that didn't attend the meeting um but so there was two yeses

and uh 10 no's nine of those no's were from people that attended meeting one was from someone who

didn't attend the meeting but was allowed to vote um so i just also wanted to say here

i did speak with the immediate next door neighbor uh in the intervening time as well at 1544 unit b

which is the top unit uh he was at the prior meeting he wasn't at the um the last community

meeting so he wasn't included in that vote total but he is very enthusiastic about the project and

looks forward to it being developed so that's the letter of support that I got from the next door

neighbor that's the adjacent parcel but let's go back and talk about what happened at the meeting

I went back I presented again um there were I just wanted to first address one issue in the

letter that came through um that it said down here that uh the owner needs to comply with building

code and correct violations there's no outstanding violations on this property uh the prior last time

there was violations was in 2009 which is before my client owned the property and those have been

resolved so i'm not sure what that's about but i just wanted to make sure that the board knows