street at all. So we met with the community. They were unanimously in support of this. They have a
parking situation like many communities in Philadelphia. So when you develop properties,
you need to find parking spaces for those properties. So they appreciated the fact
that there is no parking allowed on that side of the street. So creating curb cuts in front of
those properties is causing no impact to the community in any way and actually is a positive
impact because you're taking these cars off the street where otherwise there would be a fight for
parking on the street with other neighbors. They did ask us to make some changes to, you know,
whenever you have, you know, front-loading garages, there's always concerns about eyes on
the street, so we made modifications to our plans to provide as much windows and just
encouragement to have people in front of these properties, and you'll see that through our
presentation. We also met with many members of the community nearby, and we circulated a petition.
You'll see that, and that's pretty extensive. It's not uncommon also to have off-street parking
nearby, especially on Lithgow, where there's no parking allowed on the street, and we have
examples of that in our presentation. And then maps of the area, photographs of the property
and the surrounding area. Our plans and drawings, very simply, these are five single-family homes
with front-loading garages. Our RCO meeting notice, we met with the community. I think it
was a well-attended meeting, and they were very supportive of this project. Our application for
appeal that we filed on behalf of Glamour Accessories, Inc., our deeds to the property
showing that our client is the owner of these properties, which are going to be conjoined
and then redistributed as five single-family homes, and our certificates of tax clearance.
Again, at the conclusion of my presentation, I would ask that Mr. Figueroa virtually raise
his hand, and he can be sworn in, and I have a few questions for him about my presentation.
Before you go on, what's the relationship between Glamour Accessories and Mr. Figueroa?
Oh, he's one of the principal members.
Okay, fine. Thank you.
Yeah, he's one of the owners of that company.
And so here's our refusal.
As you can see, there are seven properties here.
We're downsizing them or conjoining them to five properties.
And we're just making them all single-family structures with front-loading garages, you know, under the code.
You're not allowed to have a front-loading structure under the front-loading garage under the circumstances.
Again, it makes sense here because there's no parking allowed on this street, specifically in front of our property.
So we're not taking any parking spots off of the street.
We're actually helping the situation in this community that's in desperate need of parking.
So we met with the community. As you can see, we got unanimous support for this project.
Because of that support, the district council member, Lazada, is in non-opposition to this project.
And then we also, again, made a concerted effort to meet with members of the community nearby.
So we have 15 signatures of individuals who are in support of this project.
And then these are these actual signatures.
And then not uncommon to have front-loading garages here, as you can see, 1501 North Lawrence Street, 418 Jefferson Street.
That's not a front-loading garage, but it is a garage nonetheless.
406 Jefferson Street, a non-rear-loading garage.
1549 North Orkney Street, 1521 North Orkney Street, 1513 North Orkney Street.
1521 North Orkney Street, 1513 North Orkney Street, 1509 North Orkney Street, and then you can just see on our block as well, 1512 through 16 North Ford Street, which has parking access on Lithgow on our block, as well as 1532 North Ford Street.
And then here's a variant, excuse me, 1532 North 4th Street.
It's also a zoning permit for this as well.
As you can see, this board granted such relief that we're asking for in 2017.
Again, not that it matters here because, you know, we're just creating single-family use,
but you can see from the zoning map, this is a single-family part of the neighborhood.
and then you can see this from a google maps perspective as well and then photographs of the
property uh this is 1530 uh through 42 north of lithgow street from the front of the property
um our notice poster that we posted on these properties of today's hearing um this has uh been
a non-usable lot for some time. And then our Google Maps photographs or Google Earth photographs
only go back as far as 2007, but you can see this has been undeveloped for well over 15 years.
And this is North Lithgow Street to the right of the property. As you can see, there's no parking
allowed on Lithgow, North Lithgow Street to the left of the property. And then these are the
changes we made and i think they best are summed up in this picture so a couple things they wanted
more eyes on the street so we agreed to have doors with it's glass so people can you know have more
eyes on the streets both in the door inside the door and above the door also in the garage we
would have glass so people can see we also agreed to create like this landscaping where there'd be
a bench for each of the single-family homes where people can sit, almost like stoop living there.
So that was very important to the community. Equally important was obviously the fact that
we're providing off-street parking, which is going to be helpful for the community in the
development of these properties. And again, this is just a landscaping plan. We have no
dimensional refusals, even though these are really small lots. And then just from
just going through the floor plans really quickly. First floor, you have, you know,
you walk into a common area, which goes into a vestibule area, and you go up a flight in the
garages on the first floor. You go up a flight of steps, you get into a living room and kitchen,
and you have a bathroom on the second floor. Third floor, two bedrooms and a bath, and then
And the third floor is two bedrooms and a bath.
And then the fourth floor is a master suite.
And here's just the elevations.
We are having our building structures at 37 feet, 4 inches at the roof line.
And again, we met on September 12th at 6.30 p.m.
Old Kensington Neighborhood Association was a coordinating RCO for this matter.
This is the email that we sent out two weeks before the meeting to not only the coordinating RCO, but all RCOs, as well as the district council members zoning aides, alerting them of the meeting.
We also on that day mailed this notice to 124 addresses.
These are the addresses we mailed them to.
Proof of mailing to those addresses, our application for appeal that we filed on behalf of Glamour Accessories, Inc.,
Along with the notice of refusal, the project information form for this matter, the deeds of the property showing that Glamour Accessories, Inc. is the owner of these properties.
And then the certificates of tax clearance for each property.
With that being said, I would ask that Mr. Figueroa virtually raise his hand.
Mr. Nackamson, there's no parking on that block at all.
oh none no not at all okay just one car just one car coming down the street that's that's right
exactly and then across the street is is the rear for north ford street where they got their own
cars in okay thank you mr fiagora yes hi could you state your name please and spell for the court
stenographer my name is julio figueroa j-u-l-i-o-f-i-g-u-e-r-o-a right do you swear
J-U-L-I-O-F-I-G-U-E-R-O-A
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Proceed, counsel.
Yes. Julio, you heard everything I had to state today about your zoning matter.
And is it true and correct what I stated?
Yes, it is.
And do you adopt it as your own testimony?
Yes, I do.
Thank you.
Okay. Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Chair.
No, Chair.
Okay, thank you.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Mr. Chair, I do not see any further hands.
Okay, Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman, Sarah Bond, Philadelphia City Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing residential single-family zoning.
The appellant has not supported their hardship claim with evidence of unique physical circumstances or conditions of the property.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the zoning board deny the variance.
MI 2023-003-177, 1530 North Lithgow Street, I vote yes.
Thomas Holliman, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Mr. Nakamson, please stay one, please.
Thank you.
MI 2023-003069-612 South 10th Street,
letter of non-opposition from Bella Vista Neighbors Association.
just for the record, state your name.
Alan Alckamson.
And could you identify your clients
and the relationship to the property?
Yes, my clients are Rich and Tony Artieri
and they own in their individual capacity, this property.
And I believe in the virtual audience is Rich Artieri.
Our vice chair, Ismail Sheehy, has the key questions.
Good afternoon, counsel.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal
and stipulate to his accuracy?
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, I have.
Yes, I have.
Thank you.
Please proceed and share your screen.
All right.
Before I begin, I would say that if the board is inclined to grant this variance,
I would ask for a proviso, a two-unit visitor accommodation use.
I believe that the zoning permit application that was originally filed by my client only had visitor accommodation use and did not differentiate that this is a multi-unit dwelling.
So if this board does grant the variance, it should be as a two-unit visitor accommodation dwelling.
So I'm here to present 612 South 10th Street.
First, we'll review the notice of refusal.
Again, this property is an RM1 property, so multifamily use is allowed.
Given the size of the lot, we're actually allowed to have four units here as of right,
whether it's even long-term accommodations.
And this property, I believe, has a history of even more units.
So we're only asking for a two-unit visitor accommodation, which is a very light use of the property.
So when we met with the Bella Vista Neighbors Association, the community was dramatically in support of this project.
And you'll see that by the letter.
Then in our presentation, we wanted to give you a flavor of who Rich and Tony are.
So we gave the materials that they have online with Airbnb.
So about us, the Airbnb listing, nearby listings.
Just so you understand, you'll see in the presentation materials that they are highly regarded in the Airbnb world.
Their rankings are not five, but pretty darn close to that.
So, you know, they're responsible individuals for tenants, but they're also responsible landlords of short term accommodations as well.
They live nearby so that they're a known quantity.
People know who they are, and they've done a really good job at that, of being responsive to anyone's needs if there's an issue.
Then we'll review maps of the area, photographs of the property, inside and out.
Then simple plans and drawings or RCO meeting notice.
Then simple plans and drawings or RCO meeting notice, again, very well attended meeting, overwhelming support for this project or application for appeal or deed to property showing that Rich and Tony own this in their individual capacities.
And then our certificate of tax clearance showing that they're in good standing with the city of Philadelphia with regards to real estate taxes.
And then at the conclusion of my presentation, I would ask that Rich virtually raise his hand, be sworn in, and I have a few questions for him about my presentation.
So our notice of refusal, again, this is an RM1 property.
It's a pretty large lot.
It's almost 2,000 square feet.
So I think we're just shy of having five units as of right.
We would have four if he wanted to convert this into a quadplex.
And he's just looking to legalize this visitor accommodation use.
You know, the city has cracked down on this.
He's been using this property since 2016 as for visitor accommodation.
So he's a known quantity.
And, you know, we're just trying to get through this process.
And hopefully this board will be supportive of this continued endeavor.
And then, you know, we met with the community, again, showing that there was overwhelming support.
It even said that three nearby neighbors in attendance residing within that 250 square foot radius were all in support of this project.
So people who are most directly impacted are in support of this project.
And then just the community as a whole was greatly in support of this project.
And then you can see here of the support.
The entire RCO board was in non-opposition.
No one voted in opposition to this project.
at all. And then just a little bit about themselves, like, you know, they, you know,
they live in Bella Vista and they pride themselves in, you know, in, in their, they, they, they're
very thoughtful about their neighborhood and, and, and proud of their neighborhood. So when
they get visitors there, they want to make sure they're responsible tenants. So, you know, they
screen their tenants. And if they feel like their tenant is going to be a nuisance, they'll reject
them. So just like landlords are ranked or rated by Airbnb and these short-term accommodation
websites, so are tenants. And if someone doesn't have a good enough rating as a tenant,
they won't even consider them. They also tend not to consider people who live within the zip code
and, you know, the Bella Vista Zip code
unless there's special circumstances.
Like we don't want a party house.
So if someone's living in the Philadelphia area
and they're renting in Philadelphia,
it's one of two reasons.
It's a party house or they have family that lives close by
and, you know, they just need that extra space,
you know, for a family gathering.
So they'll ask those other questions.