Mr. O'Neill, you can unmute yourself and speak now.
Good afternoon, board.
Good afternoon, Mr. O'Neill. Please identify yourself. Spell your last name.
John O'Neill, last name O-N-E-I-L-L. I am the Chief of Staff and In-House Counsel for IBEW Local 98.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Thank you, Mr. Clinton.
Good afternoon, Mr. O'Neill. You heard my testimony as well as that of Mr. Dunbar and Mr. D'Astazio.
I did.
and if you had the opportunity to testify would you adopt their testimony as well as mine
as your own and that you find it true and correct i would thank you mr emil nothing further uh with
that mr chairman i rest and entertain any questions anyone may have and also justin
navarro is on the phone from spring garden city we'll get to him thank you any questions from the
board for these witnesses no no anyone else would like to testify in this case please raise your
hand chair we have justino navarro good afternoon mr navarro please identify yourself spell your
first and last name i'll swear you in good afternoon mr chairman and members of the board
Justino Navarro, J-U-S-T-I-N-O, N-A-V-A-R-R-O.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Thank you, Mr. Clinton.
I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
I'm sorry, proceed with your testimony.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I just want to reiterate and support all of the testimony that Attorney Clinton and colleagues, in fact, have stated today.
we met the spring garden civic association met on numerous occasions with the applicant
the attorney clinton and the sign designers and they were very accommodating
with the needs of the spring garden historic district and the request of neighbors and the
zoning committee so we want to commend them for that and we are definitely not opposed to the sign
I would encourage the board to approve the application as it is being presented today by Attorney Clinton and colleagues.
Thank you.
Any questions?
Anyone else would like to testify in this case?
There are no heads at this time, Chair.
Mr. Clinton, there's three pages of revision?
Yes, Mr. Chairman.
Okay, thank you. Planning Commission. Ron Bednar, City Planning. Comprehensive plan recommends no changes to the existing commercial mixed-use zoning at this location. The applicant has not demonstrated a necessary hardship regarding the requirements of the code.
there's no unique physical conditions to this site that was not created by the applicants
themselves the variance being sought greatly exceeds that which is legally permitted and
an animated illuminated sign at this location would negatively impact the adjacent residential
uses. Furthermore, it's located within, along a urban arterial street within 100 feet of a
signalized intersection, which would create unsafe conditions to drivers and pedestrians.
Accordingly, we recommend that the request of variance does not be granted.
Thank you. MI 2020-001-849-1719 Spring Garden Street. My vote is yes with the proviso revised plan. Three pages approved today.
My vote is yes with proviso.
Yes with proviso.
Is Tom here?
we have the three three votes okay calendar number one five two eight
1806 west ontario street thank you the attorney is oleg sokolov
chair mr sokolov is being promoted to a panelist now
Chair, Mr. Sokoloff is being promoted to a panelist now.
Mr. Sokoloff, can you put your name and address on the record and spell your last name, please?
Yes, Madam Vice Chair.
Oleg Sokoloff, O-L-E-G-S-O-K-O-L-O-V, 1700 Market Street, Suite 1005, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19103.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Do you also agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
I would just like to mention that this is a proviso plan change as well.
Have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents, including proof of ownership,
tax compliance, refusal, referral, photos, and or plans of the property five days in
advance of this hearing?
And have you met with the RCO?
And do you have a letter?
yes so i'm out of western okay you may proceed thank you very much uh mr chairman members of
the board thank you for your time on this if i may i'd like to take you through my exhibit packet
if i could ask to share screen please sounds good
can everybody say that yes okay thank you
members of the board here's our original refusal that was issued on the property
um at this time we are no longer seeking use of the property as a six unit dwelling however
requesting use of the property as a three-unit dwelling. We've also at this time eliminated the
request for a minimum rear yard depth which originally we're seeking five feet however at
this time our proviso plans have changed that to the required code compliant nine feet. The only
other variance we're seeking at this time is the minimum open area which on our original plans was
requested at 13% however at this time it's requested at 20% not including the
rear alley and 23% with the inclusion of the square footage of the rear alley.
Here is my client's deed evidencing ownership as well as the transfer tax
certificate. Here is the
on the screen.
We lose you.
Hello? Can you hear me?
yes we can okay sorry i think there was an issue when i went to screen share no no problem
okay everyone can see the the exhibits yes okay here's our our tax clearance certificate
here is a current picture of the property the property is currently a vacant lot as you can
see with my cursor here it is between these two buildings um we're at the plans now this
this is a proposed image of of the property here i imagine you can see the rendering that is between
the the more realistic photo here's our plan here we're requesting a three-story
three-unit building as you can see we've eliminated as i discussed the rear yard setback
open area request
the property does intend to have a pilot house for access to
for maintenance onto the roof deck. The roof deck will only be accessible for maintenance and no
other purpose. Here's the zoning data on the property. The property is currently zoned RSA 5.
Further details of the plans. Each unit will be one floor of the property. Each unit will
be a two bedroom unit, two bedroom, one bathroom unit. I'd also like to direct the board's attention
to the trash room, which will be housed in one of the corners of the common stairwell
that's located in the center of the property.
And once again, a view of the access point to the maintenance roof deck.
Here's some elevations of the property.
The property will be built to mirror the types of properties in the neighborhood, having
the front porch much like the rest of the neighborhood. Here's our project information form.
Here's our project information form, our appeal application, our certificates of mailing
to 186 nearby residents, I believe.
We've had multiple meetings with the RCO, Tioga United, as well as the other RCOs of
the area. As I said, we worked diligently with the RCO to come up with a project that suits everyone,
and hence the reduction from a six unit to a proposed three unit. We have received the support
of the RCO and here's the letter evidencing that photos of the most recent zoning posters posted
on the property our proviso plans at this time I would like to ask the representative for the owner
and applicant let's talk trash LP Solomon Silber to just come on the line in order to adopt my
testimony as his own. Before you begin, any questions from the board for Mr. Sokolov?
No. Please proceed, Mr. Sokolov. Mr. Silver, can you please raise your hand?
Mr. Seiber, you can unmute yourself and speak now. Can you hear me? Yes, please identify yourself,
first and last name my name is abraham silber your last name please uh silber s-i-l-b as in
boy e-r you swear or if i'm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do thank you
mr sokoloff please proceed thank you chairman uh mr soper you've been on the call and have heard
the statements that i've made during my testimony on this matter i have and do you stipulate to the
accuracy of those statements i do and do you adopt them as your own i do is there anything you would
like to add about this project mr silver that the more should hear uh not at this time okay members
of the board i would rest and ask if you have any further questions that we may answer for you and
i and i thank you for your time and consideration on this matter thank you any questions from the
board no no excuse me may i ask one question uh mr sakalov i have the plans that you sent me
yesterday thank you for sending them um it looks to me as though four pages should be stamped
not the first page which is photos or the two pages that are floor plans generally the board
doesn't stamp floor plans would you agree to that that those four pages the elevations the site plan
and the plan with the diagram showing which um which zoning requirements are met
would that be sufficient that would be absolutely sufficient thank you miss letter
thank you that was four pages yes thank you okay um anyone else to testify in this case
please raise your hand there are no hands at this time chair you planning commission
uh ron bednar city planning this property is indicated for single family residential use
on the city plan based on the revised plans we recommend the requested variance be granted
mi 2020 does zero zero one five two eight one eight oh six west ontario street my vote is yes
with the proviso for a revised plan four pages approved today my vote is yes with proviso
excuse me i'm sorry to interrupt the vote but i would recommend that you also add a proviso
limiting it to three units i was going to do that but i thought it was in the plan okay
Okay, so the vote again is MI 2020-001-528-1806 West Ontario Street.
My vote is yes with the proviso revised plan, four pages approved today, maximum three units.
My vote is yes with proviso.
Yes with proviso.
Yes with proviso.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
I'm sorry, Chair, Madam Vice Chair, could I request us to pause for a brief moment?
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Hi, Chair, Madam Vice Chair, if I could request that we do maybe a 10 minute break, because
I just noticed that we have no court reporter present.
Oh, okay.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Let me work on trying to get somebody back.
Thank you.
it's lucky luckily we're videotaping these so if necessary a court reporter could
work from the video but it would certainly be preferable to have someone here
and carol that we're up to number five on the two o'clock list yes that's correct
calendar number 0559 2026 dickinson street
the attorney is alan knockamson
madam vice chair i'm about to promote clementa amazon it's a panelist thank you miss benton
Miss Amazon can you put your name and address on the record please and spell your last name
of course good afternoon hi hi c-l-e-m-e-n-t-a last name a-m-a-z-a-n do you swear or affirm to
tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth I do do you also agree to wave the reading of
refusal and stipulate to its accuracy? Yes. Have you emailed the exhibit packet with the required
documents of proof of ownership, tax compliance, refusal, referral, photos, and plans five days in
advance of this hearing? And have you met with the RCO? And do you have a letter? Yes, everything.
Thank you. You may proceed. Thank you. I'll just share my screen. Thank you.
can everyone see my screen yes perfect so again my name is comenta amazon i'll be presenting 2026
dickinson street this is a very straightforward project all of our refusals relate to our
request to create a parking spot for one car it is a single family home um during my presentation
I'll be going through the deed, the tax clearance information, our notice of refusal, nearby
properties with off-street parking in the area, all within at least half a mile, or at
most half a mile, excuse me, the application for appeal, the maps of the area, photographs,
plans, and drawings, as well as a letter of support from Point Free CDC.
Sorry about that.
So first, I have the deed of the property.
tax information, proof of payment, the notice of refusal. As I mentioned prior, we are looking
to create one accessory parking space. It is a single-family home, so all of our refusals relate
to that request. However, it is not uncommon to have parking in single-family homes or parking
within this area. For example, we have 1427 North 20th Street, 1241 South 18th Street, 1244 South 17th,
1428 south 19th street 1727 tasker street i also have the application for appeal
our project information form map of the area as you can see we are a corner property
and we're along dickinson and south capital street here's a view of the front of the
property from dickinson street view from south capital these are the right of the property
a view to the left of the property from Dickinson Street and we have a view to the right of the
property on South Capitol Street and a view to the left of the property. So we actually would
not be taking away any parking for this particular project because parking is not allowed on this
side of the street. Our property is right here and I'll just zoom in a bit. Our property is right
our property is right here so the curb cut would not interfere in any way with
here so the curb cut would not interfere in any way with creating or moving.
creating or removing parking from the area
sorry about that and here i have a site plan indicating the parking space
as well as the fencing that the rco did request that we include for this particular project to
ensure that cars do not park on the sidewalk the plans for the single family home which
has already been approved and is allowed, and our letter of support from Point Breeze CDC,
as well as the providers which we will happily agree to, including mirrors, security cameras,
as well as the fence that I mentioned earlier, the notice that we sent out to the community
regarding our March 22nd community meeting, and a list of all the properties that were notified
of that community meeting, as well as our certificate of mailing, showing that we did