Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, refusal, referral, photos, and or plans five days in advance of this hearing, and have you met with the RCO, and do you have a letter?
Yes, in all respects.
Okay, great. You may proceed.
May I share my screen?
You sure may.
Thank you.
hi so i'm here to present 214 south 49th street um in your packet of materials let me just make
it a little bit bigger you will see our table of contents uh we're at the quarter and 49th
and chancellor uh a few of a block off of walnut street uh in the west philly uh section of
Philadelphia. So in my pack of materials, you'll see the indenture, the deed to the property,
certificate of tax clearance showing that my client's a good standing with the state of
Philadelphia, the notice of refusal, permits of previous uses for this property. Just as a matter
of background, this property has been multifamily since the 1930s. It was two families back in the
1930s, I believe in the 1950s, and we'll go over the zoning permit. It became a triplex. For the
past 30 years or so, or at least a generation, it's been a vacant lot, and that is its current
condition. You'll see that we're surrounded by RM1 properties, and there are properties with
a multifamily history surrounding that regardless. After that, you'll see our application for appeal,
maps of the area to show you kind of where we are, photographs of the property, as well as
the surrounding area, architectural plans and drawings, and most importantly, a letter of
non-opposition from walnut hill community association excuse me if i can interrupt for
one minute we did this afternoon get an email from um from andrew goodman from the councilwoman's
office councilwoman gauthier and if i can have a moment i agree that i would read one paragraph
into the record andrew wrote our office is not taking a stance on this application we are grateful
Andrew wrote our office is not taking a stance on this application we are grateful for the applicant's willingness to participate in the second RCO meeting on this matter earlier in the calendar year.
all f***ing.
We only a couple hours ago received copies of the petition that says that 32 near neighbors oppose the variance. Given the newness of this information our office is not taking a stance on this application at this time.
Thank you.
yes we actually only received that notice of the petition when Mr. Goodman forwarded it to us
so I gather it was forwarded directly to the ZBA we had no notice of it we did review it and as
Mr. Goodman stated we postponed the hearing originally to meet with the community to make
modifications to our project which we did and based on those modifications to our project
and they were more stylistic than anything else it wasn't zoning related but they want to make
sure you know that our confirm that our facade and and look and feel if our property match
the surrounding area that's why we did our rendering they want to make sure that we had
trees you know because we're a nice corner property that we have trees surrounding that
and we agreed to do that and they just wanted us to answer some other questions regarding the
project. But based on our re-presentation and delaying the zoning hearing, the Walnut Hill
Community Association did issue a letter of non-opposition. And my understanding is that
many of the people who did sign that letter or that petition were present at that meeting and
did have a voice in that meeting. And in spite of that, the coordinating RCO issued that letter.
So here's the deed to the property showing that 3027 Darien Street LLC is the owner of the property.
Certificate of tax clearance showing that they're in good standing with the city of Philadelphia showing no money owed.
Notice refusal. So this is an RSA 3 property.
And what we're looking to do is put a two unit condominium building at the corner of 49th and Chancellor Streets.
So we have three refusals, the first of which is the use, because we're an RSA 3 property and we're requesting to have two units in there, two condominium units, we're being refused.
And as you'll see after this notice of refusal, the history of this property has been multifamily in nature for almost 100 years.
So for almost 100 years, it's not been single family in nature at all.
and it's been as high as three units most recent used in the 50s until the demolition of the
property almost a generation ago in terms of the minimum number of parking spaces because this is
an rc3 property and we're asking for multiple units we're required to have multiple spaces
you know there that would be atypical of you know what you would see generally in this neighborhood
plus you know we would like a nice backyard for our you know for the community the condominium
community. And that's where we would be storing the garbage as well. And it's also Chancellor's
and narrow street. So for all those reasons, we're requesting not to have to put two parking
spaces in the rear of the property. Pardon the interruption. Are you going to be showing the
exhibits? Yeah. Yeah, I'm just wanting to go through. Yeah. And you'll see. And then the
minimum open area required is 50%. Proposed is 34%, which is not atypical. And you'll see that
from from the drawings again this is you know from the zoning file that you would find an atlas
in 1939 this was a two unit and then if you see in i think it says 56 it's hard to read
this went all the way up to a three unit building and then that's the last indication in the zoning
file you can also see that there is not atypical to have multi-unit at least according to atlas
on 49th street as well in chancellor and then here's application for appeal
and then zoning map showing that we are surrounded by rm1 we're a corner property so it's not atypical
to have given its history especially to have multi-unit um on such a property it's by the
way it's a 1600 unit a 1600 square foot property again we're we're on a bus line like a half a block
away on Walnut Street, which is a commercial corridor. So increasing density does help that
commercial corridor. Plus, the reason why we're asking for multi-unit here is because there's
many, the university, the hospitals, those are where we think the people who want to purchase
our units would be. So it would be more of a pedestrian traffic as well as maybe public
transportation traffic photographs of the property as you can see it's a vacant lot it's corner property
The photographs of the property, as you can see, it's a vacant lot. It's a corner property. The lot from Chancellor Street, the property from Chancellor Street to the left of the property, to the right of the property, from 49th Street to the left of the property, to the right of the property, and then architectural plans and drawings.
And let me just just make it slightly smaller so you can see it. But again, the goal was to really mix well, have a modern look, you know, with but at the same time to mix like the, you know, the porch porches to match the scale to match.
I mean, it's it's really a handsome property. A little bit about the owner, Sean Thomas, the owner of the entity that owns the property.
He lives two blocks away. He's lived two blocks away from this, you know, from this property for some time.
He develops a lot in West Philly. And this is just indicative of the quality of work that he does within the West Philly area.
And he's very excited about presenting this project as well. Again, this is just a site plan.
let me just make this a little smaller so we can see the whole site plan but again uh other than
the open area there are no other refusals we're not seeking a height refusal we're at 37 feet
um there's separate there's separate entrances on you know chancellor street side as well as
the 49th street side so for each unit has its own entrance and then here are the floor plans
Again, the entrance for the lower level unit is on Chancellor.
The entrance for the upper level unit is on 49th Street.
And you would just walk up a flight of steps.
Both of them have open floor plans.
And then, you know, most importantly, we have a letter of support.
We really did work hard with the community as well as in the coordinate and the RCO.
and the zoning committee actually unanimously supported this project.
So with that being said, and then just a notice that went out. With that being said, I would like
to have Sean Thomas, the principal of the corporate entity, to adopt my testimony, and then I'm sure
we'll take questions. I don't know if anyone else is there. So Mr. Thomas, can you virtually raise
your hand. Thomas, please identify yourself with the record and I'll swear you in.
Spell your last name. First and last name.
Chair, I don't have anyone with that name. The only person I have with their hand up is a David Lee.
mr lee uh one of your clients uh alan no i do believe he is one of the protestants because i
believe um but i'll text my client so we'll get to him we'll stipulate you being an officer of
court that your client would have adopted your testimony yes i know he's online though too so
i'll just text him make sure i know where he is all right uh any questions from the board no
anyone else would like to testify if so please raise your hand here we have a david lee
mr lee you can unmute yourself and speak now but after mr lee please identify yourself with the
record good afternoon board my name is david lee resident of 4900 walnut street
spell your last name l-e-e you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the
truth? Yes, I do. Thank you, sir. Please proceed. Good afternoon, board. I'm here to express my
neighborhood's opposition against granting. Sorry, pardon the interruption. You have to speak for
yourself. Sure. Thank you. I would like to dispute Mr. Knocking's statement that the RCO supported
this. The letter says non-opposition, and as we saw in the letter, while the RCO fully supported
there are a number of neighbors who made this phone call or who are in that meeting, including
myself, who are opposed to this. The reason why I am opposed to this, and of course I can't speak
for neighbors, but those are their reasons as well, is that we are surrounded by residential
multifamily properties. We're also surrounded by large apartment buildings. And South 49th Street
is a two-way street that is relatively narrow. Chancellor is even more narrow. And because of
all the multifamily dwellings around us as well as the large apartment buildings, we have a lot
of traffic issues including double parking for deliveries, people are dropping off groceries
and it's become a danger. We do not want any more, I don't want any more multifamily properties in
this neighborhood. We have more than our burden of share of multifamily properties and this is
This is one of the few parcels, as we saw in Mr. Knackinson's map, that's still RSA 5, a single family parcel.
one of the few parcels, as we saw Mr. Knockinson's map, that's still RSA 5.
And that's a minority in this area, and we want to retain it this way.
On the application, there was indication that this property, the reason why they wanted two unit properties, because of a hardship.
According to the records on the Philadelphia website, this property was purchased for $29,000 a few years ago.
So according to Zillow, my observations, properties around here have been selling for between $200,000 to almost $400,000 for single-family residences.
So I do believe that the owner is still able to produce a single-family unit and still make money on it, and it is not a hardship.
So unfortunately, I can't speak on behalf of my neighbors, as you have indicated, but I'll have to state that we all feel this way.
And a petition has been submitted, which is now a total of approximately 30, I'm sorry, 45 signatures of the immediate neighbors around us who, and I have been in possession of these three pages of petitions that state this.
And I hope the board is able to receive that and see that.
If not, I will be gladly screen share and show you petitions.
Yeah. So, Mr. Chair, a couple of matters, especially since the petition was not presented to me directly, I would object to the introduction of the petition as hearsay.
Secondly, Mr. Lee, as he acknowledged, did attend the meeting.
And after hearing the comments of Mr. Lee and I would think others, the coordinating RSO, and I apologize if I said support.
I thought I said non-opposition, but it was non-opposition.
And the board unanimously stated their non-opposition and voted in non-opposition of this project after hearing Mr. Lee's comments as well as other comments.
I would indicate that this is not an apartment building.
This is going to be a two-unit condominium.
One of the thoughts by the neighbors, and this is not zoning related, they were worried about the cost of a single-family structure.
we indicated by putting you know two separate families in there by way of a condominium would
make it more affordable so that was a concern in the community and that was a concern that we
directly addressed by making this into a condominium just for clarification the term
some years ago about letter of non-opposition basically took the place of support there's a
way i always interpret that no one uses the word support it is rare if we ever see it it generally
non-opposition and the board takes that as non-opposition uh thank you uh anyone else
to testify in this case if so please raise your hand there are no hands at this time chair
thank you planning commission around bednar city planning property is indicated for residential
use on the city plan given the documented site history we recommend that the requested variance
Thank you, Brian. MI 2020-001381, 214 South 49th Street. My vote is yes, with the proviso. Maximum two residential units.
My vote is yes, with proviso.
Yes, with proviso.
Okay, I think that ends the...
we have number not number nine is no exhibits first listing
is that continued thank you for your time thank you sure i don't know i'm sorry i've
got ahead of myself is there anyone here for 7105 grays avenue
anyone here for 7105 grays avenue
Chair Craig Melodosian has his hand up.
Good afternoon, Craig. Maybe I could save you some time. We have no exhibits and this was the first listing and unless you object, we will continue this case.
Mr. Melodosian, you can unmute yourself and speak.
Please identify yourself. Craig C-R-A-I-G. Last name Melodosian. M-E-L-I-D-O-S-I-A-N.
Do you swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Thank you.
I don't know if you heard what I said.
We have no exhibits.
I would respectfully ask that this case be dismissed.
The RCO notification was sent out on 12-21-2020.
We've heard nothing from this applicant.
The appeal was put in by a third party.
appeal was put in by a third party this has been a nuisance automotive related property
This has been a nuisance automotive related.
and the we believe that the application for storage of cars is really a red herring
let's not interrupt you let's not get into the case Sharon we could dismiss this correct
well you could or you could I mean you've generally been giving one continuance you
could do it as a must be heard yes if i could request a continuance it could be circumstances
behind this yeah so craig will we understand where you're coming from uh again our practice
has been uh to continue these cases if it was already continued once we would certainly have
no problem dismissing it but we'll continue this case must be heard all right i maybe it'll be
struck but i would like to put on the record it was hit with the cease and desist and continues
to operate after having torn down so i understand what you need to do and we we certainly accept
that thank you okay so mi 2020 does zero zero three two four eight seven one oh five grays
avenue is continued must be heard thank you i think that concludes the list sure does
does what a wonderful day with you all you guys are so awesome oh you're so awesome
thank you everyone early night tonight yeah thank you for the folks behind the scenes who
make all this possible have a good night you too everyone
Thank you.