The request also takes into consideration the current ZBA schedule, which would prevent the owner from pursuing one specific use at a time.
This newly constructed multifamily building is in an area surrounded by mixed residential, religious, and commercial uses, including the active dog park across the street.
including the active dog park across the street. The types of commercial uses that were requested
The types of commercial
were carefully constructed to ensure that the eventual user will be consistent with a small,
quiet, low-impact community-serving use. Given the limited list of commercial uses,
we submit the proposal will not increase congestion, harm neighboring properties,
or impair light and air. A full analysis is provided in the Memo of Law at Exhibit 14.
Now, with respect to the community, we would like to just briefly address CRCA's letter of
opposition, which was sent to the board yesterday. First, we will note that we were overall quite
surprised by the letter. During the April meeting, we had a vibrant discussion that involved many
people suggesting different commercial tenants that the owner might reach out to following a
board approval, including like a local state rep who is apparently looking for a new office.
Mark did in fact reach out to that state rep. We followed up with CRCA after the meeting
to highlight the agreed upon limited list of uses that is before the board today.
Second, I would point out to the board that while the letter notes 35 people attended the meeting, there's no statement of the actual vote.
It simply says a narrow majority opposed the request, despite the generally positive reception we felt we received at the April 6 meeting.
Furthermore, the letter frames this space as being a tiny space of 550 square feet.
However, as the board saw in the photographs that we presented earlier, this is not a tiny space, nor is it 550 square feet.
As Mark expressed earlier, there have, in fact, been several different types of tenants interested in the space.
So there's no evidence to suggest that the space is not viable for commercial use.
Interestingly, had we requested to eliminate the commercial space altogether, that also would have generated a variance.
Additionally, while we acknowledge and support CRCA's commercial goals for Ridge Avenue, those particular goals are not relevant to today's request.
As Mark pointed out to CRCA during the April meeting and today, a commercial space on Ridge Avenue would be significantly more expensive than the space in this building.
It is inaccurate to suggest that the commercial space in this building would somehow cannibalize the Ridge Avenue commercial corridor.
There is ample room for both types of commercial uses.
we also appreciate crca displeasure over the now defunct fresh food zoning bonus
realistically i would anticipate the board seeing more of these types of requests over the next
couple of years because while many property owners utilized the bonus while it was still
available it's unclear how many of those spaces will be occupied by the original contemplated
fresh food use, but that's certainly a discussion for a different day. Finally, we understand
completely the community's preference in identifying a specific commercial use. However, as we hope we
clearly explained, that is not viable at this time, given the current half-year delay in seeking
variance relief. It is extremely unlikely, based on the owner's experience to date, that any tenant
will sign a lease here with that prospect of a half-year delay just to obtain the zoning permit
to open, let alone the time involved in fitting out the space. CRCA's concluding statement
illustrates that the community is not actually opposed to a commercial use in this building,
and we do submit that the limited list of uses we submitted to the board will mitigate any possible
unexpected impact from a currently unidentified tenant.
I will ask Mark to adopt my testimony, but before I do, we would submit this as a clear
and unambiguous hardship pursuant to Section 303.83.2 of the zoning code, and we respectfully
request that the board grant the requested relief today with the provisos for the limited uses I
provided to board counsel and which I can bring up on the screen again for easy reference. Mark,
are you still there? Yes, I am. Mark, have you heard all of the testimony and evidence that I
offered before the board today? Yes, I have. Would you agree that that testimony was true
Yes, I have.
Would you agree that that testimony was true and accurate and would you adopt it as if it were your own?
and accurate and would you adopt it?
Yes, I do.
Thank you. We're happy to answer any questions you have.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Chair.
No, Chair.
Thank you. Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
i see no handshare planning commission ron bednar city planning the property was changed
the residential use on the city plan as noted the fresh food market height bonus was removed
from the code the applicant's hardship is not supported with evidence of unique physical
circumstances of the property that would prevent it from being used and conforming with the current
code requirements therefore we recommend that perseverance don't be granted um counsel i'm
going to take this through executive session next wednesday okay and so that so that the board can
make that'll be the uh 9 30 meeting we'll vote at so that the board can make a conscious decision
and what i would make sure that they had is the list of the 13 things that you have in front of
them. And then what we'll do is we'll make, we'll make, we'll vote next Wednesday at 9 30. Okay.
Thank you very much. I'll make sure. Thank you. I'll make sure council has that. All right. Thank
you. Bye-bye. Number four, MI 2022-007-005-577 Jamestown Avenue. Roger Perry is the attorney.
um we have a letter of support from central roxford civic association with provisos
mr perry is promoted to panelists please unmute yourself and wait for the chair good morning mr
Perry. Good morning. I'm starting with it. Here I am. Good. We see you. Could you state your name,
please, and spell for the court reporter? Yes, thank you. My name is Roger Perry, R-O-G-E-R,
last name P-E-R-R-Y, representing the owner. Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth, nothing but the truth? I do. Could you identify your client and relationship
ship to the property? Yes, my client is 577 East Jamestown LLC, a limited liability company that
is the owner of the property by the deed in the exhibit package. And I am here today, I believe,
by the owner, John Dunphy. Okay, our vice chair has a few questions. Good morning, counsel. Do
you agree to wait the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy? Yes, we do.
Have you emailed all the required documents that are needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, we have.
All right, please proceed and share your screen.
Okay, I'm looking to see.
It's up, sir.
Okay, thank you very much.
Okay, I'll try to increase that a little bit.
Okay, this is the exhibit package for 577 Jamestown Avenue. In summary, the refusal is based on a request by a longstanding tavern there, Henry James Tavern, been there for 30 some years and then prior and other formats.
and what they've asked to do is to eliminate and have eliminated any residential use in the
property originally it was split into an apartment that's the neighbor let me see if I can find ours
here okay and here's the tavern here and this is a side porch the expansion has requested
a variance to use the third floor as an office space, which the RCO has provided a letter of
support, noting that they have no objection to that, and is asked to use the second floor
as essentially a gathering room. You can see it's being used for darts and so forth. It's rather
small. There's no separate bar up here and so forth. If there was a party here, a birthday
party or get together as a small group, it would be served from the first floor tavern, which we
have separate bathroom facilities, fire exits both on the second floor and the first floor.
The expansion area also includes a request to use in good weather. The outside, which we've
called the rear yard, a patio area and yard. It's accessed directly by an alleyway from the street
front. They have requested to be able to set up tables and chairs.
They have requested to be able to set up tables and chairs.
There's an adjacent open yard space for dogs if people bring them from the neighborhood.
This is a current project immediately next door for multiple family apartments, tax clearance.
Plans for the property are included with the package.
Indicates the first floor tavern area, second floor gathering room,
third floor existing and there's a office up here for the operation of the tavern I'm just trying
to see if I have pictures of the tavern itself which has been pre-existing for that's the kitchen
area yes okay there's the existing tavern which has been there long term so essentially the
application today is to eliminate what was an old apartment upstairs, utilize part of that space
as an office in support of the tavern, and to utilize the second floor as a small gathering
room, and to utilize the rear yard of the Henry James Saloon as a small gathering. In the package
is the notices that were formally sent, the appeal, refusal, the notice, in addition to the
letter of support from the RCO community, which we had several meetings with. There's a small
petition here of eight or 10 people, immediate neighbors who are in support of the requested
variants in this matter. The letter you have from CRCA is also in support, noting
their response. I don't think there's any other, the only two issues is that the RCO letter does
request a proviso. We have no objection to that. Proviso is that the third floor will only be used
as the office in support of the tavern, and the second proviso in the letter requests that the
outside area only be used to 10 p.m., which we have no objection to. With that, I'll ask if
uh john dunphy is here and can raise his hand
mr dunphy please unmute yourself and wait for the chair
morning mr dunphy could you state your name please and spell for the court reporter
yes uh john john dunphy d-u-n-p-h-y do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and
nothing but the truth. I do. Proceed, counsel. Thank you. Mr. Dunphy, you're owner of the LLC
here. And have you reviewed the evidence that I supplied in terms of the packet and heard my
testimony to the board today? I have, sir. And can you adopt that evidence as true and correct
to the best of your knowledge and information? Yes, I can. Okay. Thank you very much. We're
open for questions. Questions from the board? No. No, Chair. No, Chair. Questions or comments
from the virtual audience? Yes, Chair. I have Celeste Hardister with a hand up. Okay. Good
morning. Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter? Good morning. Yes,
I'm Celeste Hardister, C-E-L-E-S-T-E-H-A-R-D-E-S-T-E-R.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do, indeed.
Are you a neighbor?
No, I'm a board member of the C-E-S-E-A.
Proceed, proceed.
I just wanted to point out that the use of the backyard was something that was not identified
on the refusal and uh to clarify that that would be something that the zba would be approving as
a permitted use assuming that you choose to do that um it's just something that the crca felt
was absent from the refusal um and that the refusal uh only only identified the the uses on
the second and third floor and and not this additional backyard use so i just wanted to
have that clarified for the record so that it is
Hillary
yes Mr. Chair
I don't know if that needed to be
included on the refusal or not
but to the extent that it did
the board by approving
this use for the other parts of the property
would be approving it for the backyard as well
thank you and thank you
for calling in
is there anyone else in the virtual audience
i see no hands chair planning commission this is uh ron bednar city planning uh while this property
This is Ron Bednar, city planning. While this property is currently indicated for residential use on this city plan, given the physical circumstance of the site and its documented use history, we have no objection to the granting of the errands.
is currently in
Thank you. MI 2022-007-005, 577 Jamestown Avenue. I vote yes, with proviso. Use of third floor for accessory office only and outdoor dining and rear yard to end by 10 p.m.
Thomas Holland, my vote is yes, with proviso.
James Snell, yes, with proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed, yes, with proviso.
Thank you, and thank you, counsel.
Okay, thank you very much for the board.
Right.
Number five, MI 2022-007-044-917 Shelmar Avenue.
Michael Mattione is the attorney.
Letter of support from the Fox Chase Homeowners Association.
Mr. Mattione is coming in as a panelist, Chair.
Good morning, Mr. Mattione. Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
Sure. Michael Mattione, M-A-T-T-I-N-I.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
i do uh could you identify your client in relationship to the property
sure it is santiago and nicole velez and they are
michael you seem to be breaking up a lot
yeah i've been having a hard time this morning hearing all the cases
i don't know what the problem is mr chairman okay all right let's let's see if we get through this
our vice chair has a few questions good morning council do you agree to waive the
reading of the refusal and stipulate to his actor
have you emailed in all the required documents that are needed to proceed with this case
five days in advance of this hearing
we're losing you completely michael how about see if what if you take your uh video down if it gets
any better check now um you're breaking up really bad
uh okay let's hold on a minute here
so would you want to how about if we come back to you could you
i should be i could try and log on another you have another case or two correct yeah i do i do
I'll call you back. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Thank you.
Number 13.
Number 13, MI 2022-007-149-2724 Ash Street.
Vern Anastasio is the attorney.
We have a recommendation of opposition from Bridesburg Community Association
and also a petition from the neighbors signed by 66 people.
Mr. Anastasio has been promoted to panelist.
Good morning, counsel.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
Yep, it's Vern Anastasio, A-N-A-S-T-A-S-I-O,
and I represent the owner of the property, Tatiana Pajorchic.
I'll have her spell her last name.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Our vice chair has just a few questions for you, sir.
Thank you.
Good morning, counsel.