would allow a business and professional office without seeking a variance however at some point
an owner appears to have converted the ground floor into a business space without the benefit
permits city planning commission recommends that the board grant their proposed use variants for
a business and professional office mi 2024 004 386 170 east sterner street i vote yes any proviso
today um yes sorry there let me pull up the amended refusal my apologies i'd have to see
that the date is on that.
Okay, their amended refusal
is dated 9-29-25.
So, MI
2024-004-386-170
East Turner Street, I vote yes.
Reproviso, amended refusal dated
9-29-25.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Iowyn, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Number 10, MI2025-001893, 3408-50B Street, I vote yes to reconsideration and rehearing.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes to reconsideration and rehearing.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes to reconsideration and rehearing.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes to reconsideration and rehearing.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes to reconsideration and rehearing.
Tywin, my vote is yes to reconsideration and rehearing.
Number 11, MI 2024-000820-1212 South 51st Street, I vote yes to reconsideration and rehearing.
Oh, Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes to reconsideration and rehearing.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes to reconsideration and rehearing.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes to reconsideration and rehearing.
Tywin, my vote is yes to reconsideration and rehearing.
We're going to go to our regular list.
We're going to start with number four, MI2025-000-439-6027, Hazelhurst Street.
LaHisha Green is the owner.
This is a pro se.
LaHisha Green.
We see her here.
Is your mic on?
I'm right here. Hello? My name is Lachey Green.
All right, good. In the mic, could you state your name, then spell for the stenographer?
It's going to be L-E-S-H-E-A, last name Green, G-R-E-E-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
This application is for use as a personal care home in an existing structure,
Whereas the proposed use, personal care home requires a special exception approval in the RSA 5 zoning district.
Tenetta Graham has a few questions for you, our board member.
Hi. Good morning.
Did you mail all of your documents five days in advance of this hearing?
To the zoning board?
Okay. All right. Thank you. You can proceed.
Yes, share my screen, okay, this is my first time going through anything like this, so
just to, if you could walk me through it, if you'd like me, I would greatly appreciate.
Thank you.
so good morning everyone like i said my name is lasha green um i am coming to present to you all
a personal care home that i would like to do at the residence of 6027 hazelhurst street
called the NWELL. We're a compassionate community living that prioritizes holistic care.
A little bit about myself. I am a licensed clinical social worker with over 13 years of
experience in the mental health field. I currently hold a bachelor's degree of science,
majoring in psychology, and a master's in social work from Howard University. I've been a social
worker throughout this time. I work in various settings, such as youth residential treatment
facilities. I work with homeless adults that have had co-occurring mental health and substance
abuse disorders, and also work with children and families involved with Child Protective Services.
I've been licensed with the state of Pennsylvania for the past six years, and I'm currently a
behavioral health consultant that works in a primary care doctor's office with Jefferson
Hospital, and also a part-time psychotherapist with growth therapy. I'm originally from North
Philly, but I've been in the Overbrook area for the past five years, and I'm interested in turning
and providing quality mental health care to the Black community.
During my career as a social worker, I've had the opportunity to work with thousands of people
at various points in their lives, and one thing that has always been constant
is the importance of having their basic needs met
and how to make a difference in their quality of life and well-being, okay?
So basically what the NWEL is is a proposed personal care home,
a residential facility under the Department of Human Services
that will provide housing, meals, and assistance with daily living like bathing, dressing,
medication management to adults who do not require skilled medical care. Our mission is to provide a
safe, respectful, and supportive home environment for adults in need of daily living support that
empowers them to live to their full potential. We're committed to enhancing the quality of life
through personalized care, structured programming, and meaningful community integration. Our vision
is just to be a model of compassionate community living where every resident is empowered to live
with dignity, purpose, and connection. Founded on the principles that care presents the opportunity
to live well. This is the proposed site, 6027 Hazlehurst Street. The number one challenge
is that the house is currently zoned for a single family resident use, which does not permit group
living of four or more persons that are that are not related. I am requesting a special exception
is needed to just to legally operate a small supported residential program for four or more
adults who require daily assistance. Overall, the change in will allow the property to meet
the critical community need while not impacting the neighborhood. It's just important to note
that the special exception request will not result in the property being zoned for any type of
commercial use. We intend to serve approximately four adult women ages 65 and up who need a daily
support with personal care, but not nursing level care. Ideally, these residents are individuals
with low income Medicaid recipients, and they are eligible for state funded assistance programs.
These are women that are facing aging, chronic health conditions, and housing instability,
and in need of a safe, supportive house, home, sorry.
This is an example of a resident that we would have
is Ms. Angela Johnson.
Ms. Johnson is a 75-year-old African-American widow
residing home alone in Philadelphia.
She currently lives on a fixed income
of approximately $27,000 annually through SSI
and is a Medicaid eligible.
With limited financial resources
and no immediate family support,
she represents the type of low-income senior
who would benefit most from our supportive personal care environment.
She has some mild cognitive impairment and a history of mild depression conditions
that make living independently increasingly challenging.
Ms. Johnson requires assistance with activities such as daily living,
including bathing, dressing, medication management, cooking, and laundry.
She also needs reliable transportation to medical appointments with consistent daily support.
She's at risk to further decline if both her physical health and emotional well-being needs aren't met.
Ms. Johnson is an ideal candidate for our personal care home because she would thrive in a
supportive, supportive setting that provides daily supervision, social engagement, and
well-being.
I'm sorry.
Overall, we are with compassionate care, routine tailored to promote independence while
reducing isolation.
Ms. Johnson would not only have her health and safety needs met, but also enjoy a better
quality of life.
kind of give an idea of like what the pipeline would be for um for our referral process to
kind of give an idea of like what the pipeline would be for
receive residents a lot of times residents would be the point of need would be identified
through some through their medical provider um or a hospital discharge plan or any type of senior
care senior center um care staff um you have referral gatekeepers such as fill up your
corporation of aging um the medic medicaid and mco companies such as for um keystone first and
AmeriHealth and other health and wellness agencies. The funding source would be determined
by either the waiver program, SSDI, or any type of community block rent. A lot of times those
agencies would put in a placement search and then my agency would come up as a place that can house
their residents and then we would do a referral and admission process. All residents would be
properly screened. The screening would include a medical evaluation and a functional assessment
done by a licensed health care provider within 60 days prior to admission,
including any type of diagnosis, physical limitations,
cognitive and behavioral health status, contagious diseases, and TB testing.
There will be an additional functional assessment conducted
just to assess their ability of activities of daily living,
communication needs, mobility, medication management,
cognitive decision-making, and any mental health diagnosis.
So I think you probably need to start, like, what's the inside of the property look like, how many bedrooms, how many people you want to put there, etc. So I think that would be helpful.
That would be helpful. Okay. Am I able to take the screen off for a second, stop sharing for a moment?
Thank you.
It's coming up.
So, I mean, I think one of the first things you like, how many patients do you see?
So ideally for the household, it would be four residents within the home.
The house is a three-bedroom, two-bathroom house with the master bedroom meeting the capability to house two residents in that one space.
There is a community living space in the basement area, and then there's also a living room and dining room area as well on the property.
The property does have an outside deck, and there is a designated parking spot underneath of the deck for the house as well.
Okay, so it hasn't come up yet.
There you go.
There we go.
So, here's the images of the property.
This is the front of the house.
um this is the inside living area is just the basement no so this right here what you're looking
at would be the dining area and then um and the upstairs steps this is towards like the dining
area in the front of the house right here with the entryway door and the living room area on
the other side another picture a clear picture of that this right here i know the neighbors had
in terms of community impact
would be like in terms of parking.
So right here is the designated parking spot
for staff members.
This is the master bedroom area right here.
One of the bathrooms.
A clear picture of the kitchen area.
That room showing closet space.
The basement level has a bathroom as well.
This is the restroom area that's down there.
Community living space.
So there's a bathroom in the basement.
so there's a bathroom in the basement there's one on the second floor there's two bathrooms
There's one on the second floor.
on the second floor okay and then there's one bathroom in the basement all the bathrooms are
full-size bathrooms okay um bedroom area that's for the pictures that i have of the property okay
so so one of the questions i think you need to address is what happened at the rco because i
I saw that 40 people voted against this, and they identify 19 as near neighbors.
Why is there so much opposition?
So the opposition from the neighbors came from, in terms of their concerns regarding that the community living place would decrease the value of their home.
That was their main concern, and then the other concern was regarding staffing and parking as well.
um that was the primary concern that i i got from them they had some additional concerns may have
been the residents um how many people would be housed um that's why i took into consideration
their concerns with their initially when i did the proposal with them i said five to six residents
but understood that the house would be more suitable if it only had four residents i think
they saw that um in terms of like staffing there would be a lot of traffic on the block but kind
explaining to them that that wouldn't be the case with the ratio of only four and even a ratio of
six there only needs to be one staff member on staff at all times all right questions from the
board yeah um go ahead mike go ahead so i know you said that there's a bathroom in the basement
and you sort of alluded to it being a full bathroom that bathroom has a shower yes is it
to stand in a shower yes okay and then your clientele you're looking at seniors i'm understanding
that they are seniors that don't need medical assistance but as they age right aging in place
becomes something that's really difficult to do in a multi-level home what are your plans to sort
of address aging in place needs um throughout the house so it would be like a some i would set up
some accessibility standards that's needed um for instance this house does have steps it is two
levels. So I would be, if they come to that need, then it would be adjusting and adding any type of
additional equipment that they may need to help in terms of being able to, you know, make it up
and downstairs as well. Including also making sure that staff is prepared to work with patients that
are aging that may need additional assistance. I think you've, you know, you've alluded to things
like chairlifts or ramps, but I'm also wondering about accessibility in the kitchen and the
bathrooms as well as well as like doorknobs light fixtures this is a new house it's developer grade
which isn't bad but these are not typically fixtures that are elder friendly and i'm just
curious if you have plans to address the rest of those yes modifications in the house the master
bathroom so when we think about like the shop there are two showers within the household that
there is not a tub so they're just straight walk-in showers so that would be something that