Is my screen still up here?
Yeah, it is.
All right.
This is circling with the cursor.
Mr. Orphanity's client's property, 40 South 2nd Street.
My client's property is a bit up the block.
Gotcha.
Thank you.
Any other questions from the board?
Questions or comments from our attorney?
Just briefly, sorry, one second.
um mr kirk would you mind sending because there are revised plans a higher resolution version of
the revised plan it was just difficult to read and i'm just afraid it's going to be difficult
if the board approves to stamp and be reviewed by lni okay we will do that you could do that
that would be great thank you so much comments from the virtual audience
at this time chair no one and it mr chair it's it's april 2030 said at 9 30 did i get there
i'm going to say whether i get to the end right because i okay okay thank you all right
all the testimony planning commission it's uh ron bednar city planning comprehensive plan
recommends no change to the cmx3 commercial mixed juice zoning at this location the applicant has
shown that the proposed eating drinking establishment sit-down restaurant will have
no detrimental impact on the historic old city neighborhood beyond what would be reasonably
expected therefore we recommend uh hold on a second therefore we recommend that the uh requested
special exception de-granted. Thank you. We have three board members who are going to look at the
video from the first meeting. We will vote 4-23-25 at 9.30 a.m. Thanks, both of you. Okay, thank you,
Mr. Chair. Mr. Bednar, good luck and enjoy your retirement. Thank you very much. Thank you.
Number 11, MI 2024-007-091, 2501 Amber Street. Adam Laver is the attorney.
Mr. Chair, we need, let me just see if board member Shahid is back on because board member
Johns needs to recuse. And I believe board member Shahid stepped away. So I'm just seeing
if he's back on yet. We need to, we have one other case that we can hear. And I can get
Let's get him back on.
him back on.
Chair, they're allowed to speak.
I'll answer the phone.
Thank you.
why don't we do this why don't we go to the next case right number 12 and then we'll come back to
it so number 12 mi 2024 007 249 56 16 chew avenue david turtsey is the attorney
unanimous support from the 12th board democratic committee
they've been allowed to speak
good morning council
Mr. Tshutti, you're allowed to speak.
Good morning, counsel.
Good morning.
Good morning, counsel.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
David Shutti, last name spelled T-S-H-U-D-Y.
Do you swear or affirm that tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client in relationship to the property?
My client is Why Not Prosper, Inc. and is the fee simple owner of 5616 Chew Avenue.
Do you waive the reading of the refusal? Do you agree with the second?
Very true.
Okay. Thank you, Ish. We're going to hinder this case, then we're going to go back to the other case.
um counsel do you um i'll leave the reading of the refusal and agree with its accuracy
yes we do share your screen and start your presentation please absolutely
one second here guys
uh good afternoon i mean good good morning my name is david surety we represent uh why not
Prosper, Inc., owner of 5616 Chew Avenue.
The applicant has owned the property since 2016,
and in 2016 was granted a use permit to use the property for the housing of up to 10 occupants in five rooms.
Why Not Prosper is a non-profit, 501c3, that supports women that were recently incarcerated and provides transitional support for them.
In 2016, there was a proviso that was a five-year temporary permit.
Those five years have elapsed, but the properties continue to be used for this mission.
uh last week we presented uh similar cases uh for two other properties and which why not
prospers the owner of and operates in a similar fashion as a result we uh as all the termination
As a result of the termination, we applied for transition recovery housing within this structure, which was refused because it's in the CMX1 zoning district, which does not permit that type of use, and that applied to the board.
in our week.
We did have a meeting with the RCO last month at the same time as we had the meeting with the RCO on the property, which is in the same block, and received a positive result from that meeting.
Again, the property is currently used as transitional housing for recently incarcerated women.
Let me get to the exterior of the property, something like this, and it is at the corner
of Chu and Gray Street.
And then the interior interior is a common room, looks something like this.
We do not have rooms of the, we don't have pictures of the actual residential rooms,
But they are two beds per room, and there are five interior bedrooms that are shared among the 10 women that are there.
As I said, Reverend Michelle Simmons founded Why Not Prosper almost 20 years ago and has been a pillar of the community since then.
As I mentioned, we met with the RCO last month and received a positive result from the RCO.
And I'd like to bring on Reverend Michelle Simmons to adopt my testimony.
Good morning, Reverend.
Good morning.
Good morning.
Good morning, Reverend.
Could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
My name is.
okay so my name is reverend michelle simmons m-i-c-h-e-l-l-e last name simmons s-i-m-m-o-n-s
you swear or affirm that tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes that is correct proceed counsel reverend simmons uh uh did you hear the testimony i
provided this morning? I did. Okay. And is it true and correct? Yes, sir. And do you adopt it
as your own testimony? I will. Do you have anything else to add to the board to support
the variances being requested? No, I just would like to echo what you said. Yeah. Why not Prosper
been here at you in Shelton for 23 years? And we had our other zone in here is the reason why we
here is because when we went back in 16 they gave us the five years and I wasn't knowledgeable that
I needed to do something to keep it going. They gave us a proviso because like it was you know
at-risk people and we haven't had no problems since we started. We actually just have adopted
our community. We give out food in the facilities at 5616 down at the bottom. It's a little space
for women in the community coming home to do job resumes and things like that.
We actually also have support from our city councilwoman, Cindy Bass.
She knows of our organization really well.
And I guess my only request of it at this hearing is that we don't have to keep coming back every five years
because we've been a great example of community.
I'm the block captain on 5,600 and 700 block of Shelton.
And so I would just ask the board just to, you know, grant our zoning.
We've been there.
We even used one of our spots to, when the community came to me and said they didn't have nowhere to vote,
We use one of our downstairs part and we'll then the voting machine so that our board could be able to vote.
So just a couple of examples of who we are and what we stand for in this community.
Questions from the board?
I have no questions.
Questions or comments from our attorney?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Chair, we have a hand up from Mr. Charles Richardson.
He's allowed to speak.
Good morning, Mr. Richardson.
Good morning, Mr. Chair.
Why could you please state your name as spelled for the court stenographer?
Certainly.
Charles Richardson, R-I-C-H-A-R-D-S-O-N.
Office of Councilwoman Cindy Bass Room, 508 City Hall.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
i do please proceed sir uh the councilman has no opposition to granting the variance
thank you very much anyone else in the virtual audience
no hand at this time chair planning commission sir ron bednar city planning while the property
is currently indicated for commercial mixed use on the city plan there are insufficient social
service housing facilities to meet residents needs in this area therefore the city planning
Commission has no objection to the granting of the request of
variance. Thank you. MI 2024 007 249 5616 2 Avenue. I vote yes.
Michael John's my vote is yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
I win. My vote is yes.
Okay, you have your votes for that. All right, see where it is.
when i hear mr richardson i think we're at the end of the day but
that usually comes at seven o'clock michael not this time thank you
i'm here chair my button wasn't working
Good, good. Okay. Number 11, MI 2024-007-091-2501 Amber Street. Adam Laver is the attorney. Michael Johns has recused himself.
There's support from East Kensington Neighborhood Association, a letter of non-opposition from Council Member Squilla.
Good morning, Mr. Chairman, members of the board. Adam Laver of Blank Rome, 1 Logan Square.
Although everybody knows it, could you just for the record spell your name for the sonographer?
Of course, Chairman Bergman.
Adam Laver, L-A, V as in Victor, E-R.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, Mr. Chairman, I do.
Could you identify your client and the relationship to the property?
Of course.
Blank Rome represents BMK Properties, LLC, an affiliated entity of the River Wards Group,
owner of the subject property.
Do you waive the reading?
I refuse and agree with its accuracy.
Yes, Mr. Chairman, I do.
Can you start your presentation, sir?
Thank you.
As I mentioned, Blank Room represents BMK Properties, LLC,
a Riverwards Group-related entity.
With me today is Mo Rushdie,
a managing partner of the Riverwards Group.
along with architect Jason Zor, S-Z-O-R, of Marshall Sabatini Architecture.
The proposal before the board calls for the erection of a new three-story single-family dwelling to be built on a vacant parcel.
You can see the parcel on Amber Street, which is outlined in red on the screen before you.
Here is the subject property across from Kensington High and another view of the vacant parcel.
Here we're looking from Amber Street at the vacant parcel.
It's to your left and to the right in this image.
The zoning for the underlying property is RM1, adjacent to CMX2.
And moving to the refusal, this is one of the most de minimis cases I've ever had.
The zoning code calls for a minimum rear yard depth of 7 feet.
6 feet, 4 inches rear yard depth is proposed.
As I stated at the outset and as shown on the notice of refusal, the proposal calls for the new construction of an attached structure with roof deck for single family household use.
for single family household use we're very proud that this is part of the turn the key
We're very proud that this is part of the turn the.
affordability housing initiative for the river wards group they're approaching
200 turn the key residences in the city of philadelphia
moving to the plans you can see the uh three-story proposal that i mentioned
with elevations on the left, zoning site plan on the right. One of the really nice
features of this single-family residence is the generous living spaces. Three bedrooms are proposed.
From the right to the left, the basement plan has flexible living space with a bedroom
with egress out to that rear yard.
The first floor in the middle shows your main living spaces,
living room, dining room, kitchen.
And the second floor shows the additional bedrooms,
as does the primary bedroom on the third floor
and the roof deck that I mentioned.
We had the opportunity to appear before the coordinating RCO, the East Kensington
Neighborhood Association. There was unanimous positivity for the project. You can see that the
vote was for support, six in support, one in non-opposition, no opposition at all.
and District Council Member Squilla recognized the letter of support from the coordinating RCO
and offered his position of non-opposition. Mr. Chairman and members of the board,
the authorization of very de minimis variance relief will not alter the character of the
neighborhood or the district or be detrimental to the public welfare. The photos reflect that
the proposal would fit into the neighborhood. The support of those most impacted who live in close
proximity speaks to the granting of variance relief being of benefit to the public and within
the spirit of the zoning code. The proposed variance, a matter of inches on that rear yard,
represents the minimum variance that would afford relief and will represent the least
modification possible of the regulation at issue, while once again allowing for, as Mayor Parker
likes to say, affordable luxury, generous spaces that everyone deserves. The grant of variance
relief will not substantially increase congestion in the public streets, increase the danger of
fire or otherwise endanger the public health, safety, or general welfare. There are no light
or air issues. This will not adversely impact transportation or unduly burdened water, sewer,
school park or other facilities there are no environmental issues as i mentioned the architect
is present should the board have questions and at the appropriate time mr rushti is prepared to