Chair we may have to move on
I agree
okay george yes all right we're going to have to move on we can't get mr hansen on
can can we move to later in the meeting can i be shifted to the end of the meeting and we'll get
this straight and then i will have the stuff to share on my screen i will get the packet
but i would say that the the end of the meeting could be in the next 10 minutes
i understand i can have that information in the next 10 minutes okay had i known my my okay
Tanya, I'll go along with the other cases that we have, and then we'll come back.
Thank you, Chair.
Thank you, Chair.
All right.
Okay, let me see here.
21, 22.
Be right with you.
We're going to go to the add-ons that we have.
MI 2021 004512 1713 South 18th Street.
1713 South
18th Street.
We have testimony
from the RCO
letter of support.
Planning Commission?
Yes, sir. Thank you.
This is one for you to vote.
Yeah, thank you, sir. Ian Haggerty
for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission.
members of the board the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the rsa5 single family
zoning at this location um this was as you recall a property that was damaged by fire
while the fire damage is regrettable we don't believe it establishes a use hardship which has
to be tied to a peculiar condition of the property and not an economic need um the city planning
commission uh recommends that the board deny the variance if the board's inclined to grant we would
recommend that the board consider a proviso condition limiting the use to two dwelling
units in order to better conform to the surrounding context. MI 2021 004512 1713 South 18th Street
I vote yes proviso only two units. Carl Tenere my vote is yes with proviso. Thomas Holloman
my vote is yes with proviso
ishmael shaheed my yes my vote is yes with proviso
mr chair mr snell has been knocked off okay we're we have to go that's good he's been knocked
off the screen mi 2021 004518 1913 hoffman street
community development coalition rco representative testified at the rco support
planning commission thank you chair bergman ian hegarty for the city planning commission
members of the board the comprehensive plan uh recommends no change to the rm1 zoning at this
location. We believe the proposed variances here are minimal and do not conflict with the purpose
and spirit of the zoning code. We recommend that the board grant the variances. Thank you. MI 2021
004518 1930 Hoffman Street. I vote yes with provisos. One, revised plan, one page, and two,
includes variance for open area open area carol tennari my vote is yes proviso thomas holloman
my vote is yes with proviso ishno shaheed my vote is yes with proviso
thank you um tanya why don't we take a five minute break and we'll come back if we can get
this working we will and if not we'll have to continue it is that okay that was good cheer
all right thank you five minute break everyone okay mr chair
yep yep he said he's ready to go to you're in the chat okay
let me break with you can can you hear me yeah we can and can you see our exhibit uh cover sheet
let me let me did i already swear you sir yes you did okay will you need to swear my wife as well
she's also the owner of the building in here at this meeting is she going to testify
uh she doesn't want to but well it's fine you're fine okay okay thank you our vice chair has a few
questions for you good morning have you emailed the exhibit packet with all of the required
documents consisting of proof of ownership tax compliance a copy of the refusal photos and
plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing and have you met with your rco and
do you have a letter yes to all and okay great sorry for interrupting you what were you going
to say as i stated before the tax clearance unit is very busy so we emailed in the tax
clearance on monday i actually had to go downtown to get that okay great i had to pick that document
it up. If I may ask a question, have you included it in this packet? Yes, it should be included
at the end of the packet right there. Perfect. You can continue. Okay, sir, you may proceed
and begin sharing your screen. Thank you. Thank you for giving me a little bit of grace
to the board. I appreciate it. We purchased 3549 Sunnyside in 2009, and it was a blighted
structure. We achieved all the zoning approvals and whatnot.
We achieved all the zoning approvals and whatnot and ended up turning it into a three dwelling unit apartment building, along with a first floor commercial space.
In the past 12 years of ownership, we really haven't had much viable commercial interest in that space on the first floor.
um and we would like to get the approval to go ahead and turn that into another dwelling unit
um so that we can rent the thing out uh our costs on this building have gone up considerably over
the years and and it is an investment property um so we are requesting that the board uh hear our
plea and um you know if we can we'd like to turn that 700 square feet into an apartment
The RCO here has approved it unanimously.
We didn't have any opposition to this.
So they support it.
um we have all of our notice that was put in as well
uh all of our mailings and whatnot to notify the community
does the board have any questions no keep going
so that's the front entrance there for the that is the front entrance yes and that goes into
the the commercial shop space which is about 700 square feet on the inside and the residential
entry right now is right there on the left side it's on Crescent Street so there's uh an entryway
the back portion to the left of the cursor that's one apartment unit and that on the second floor too
um and then the other two apartment units are in the main portion of the building right there
that's the second floor unit and then there's a third floor unit there
so when we got this property there was a hole in the roof all the windows were falling out of it
it had caution tape around it uh the back end was all burned out um the garage was collapsed
that's on the back corner there that's all the way on the back of the lot right there yeah so
we went ahead and did a lot of work do you have drawings do you have drawings what you're going
to do on the first floor uh no we we haven't finished our planning on we just have a site
plan right now i mean we're just planning on doing you know like a one bedroom down there
that's it's it's small i mean it can't really be much else
you know by the time you fit a bathroom and a kitchen in there
you know you need some living space and whatnot oh there we go right
have you ever had a commercial or a retail tenant in the first floor
no i haven't i mean i just use it for storage space for my own business
that's all and my own fun stuff keep my bikes in there and whatnot so
okay questions from the board no mr chairman no mr chair
questions or comments from the virtual audience then so i
i see no hands at this time chair planning commission
Thank you, Chair Bergman. Ian Hegarty for the City Planning Commission. Members of the Board, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing RSA 5 single-family zoning at this location. However, given the existing legal three-family with commercial space in this structure, we believe the conversion of the ground floor use as a residential unit is appropriate and will have a similar or less impact than the existing commercial use.
City Planning Commission recommends that the Board grant the variance.
Thank you, Ian.
MI 2021-002-538-3549 Sunnyside Avenue, I vote yes.
MI 2021-002-538-35...
Carol Tenere, my vote is yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you.
Good luck with your project.
i i is there anyone in the audience whose case has not been heard
i see no hands at this time chair donna i think that's it for the until two o'clock
sounds good to meet you all right thank you everybody that's a record breaker
there also was 13 cases were one but we'll we'll take it carol thank you take it i know
hey carl give me know my greetings i will i definitely will is all right okay
we're ready to go tanya yes sure we're all ready for you i'm here bill i was having a lot of
technical issues here. I'm on. Thanks, Tanya. Sure. Thank you. Good afternoon. My name is Bill
Bergman. I will be chairing the ZBA hearings this afternoon. With me is Carol Tenere, our vice chair.
Present. Ismail Shahid, our board secretary. Here, Mr. Chair. Thomas Holliman, our board member.
Present, Mr. Chairman. James Snell, our board member. Present, Mr. Chairman. Also here is our
executive director, Tanya Sunkett, and our attorney, Rebecca Cole. Before we begin, here's
the virtual format we use. Be advised these proceedings are being recorded. By participating,
you acknowledge your agreement to be recorded. A video will be available by contacting our
executive director, Tanya Sunkett, at phila.gov. For the benefit of our court sonographer,
we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying. Three, if you are
participating in my phone, if you wish to testify, press star nine to raise your hand and star six
to unmute. To enter an appearance statement, call 267-270-5548. Leave your email and the address
of the property in question. And lastly, the question answer box is not for testimony or
comments. Any comments should be directed to our Executive Director, Tanya Sunkish. We're to look
at this afternoon's continuances. Number two, MI 2021-005316-1613 Church Lane. Is there anyone
in the virtual audience have comments about that being continued?
i see no hands at this time chair thank you we also number six mi 2021 003788 5951
kimball avenue joseph console and also mr richardson from the council person's office
please come on this to zoom
mr consul good afternoon chair bergman joe consul could you spell your name for the court
reporter please yes it's joseph j-o-s-e-p-h consul that's c-o-n-s-o-l-e you swear or firm
to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do mr richardson are you out there
You've already been sworn to state your name for the court reporter.
Charles Richardson from the Office of Councilwoman Cindy Bass, room 312.
Thank you.
I understand you would like a continuance.
Could you please talk about that a minute?
Sure, Mr. Chair.
The applicant has had two opportunities to meet with the community, and it has not occurred as yet.
But the unfortunate thing is that they had two different meetings.
One was in December and one was in most recently on the 21st.
And the last one was the one where they were the provider of the Zoom link and could not get the it was supposed to start at six o'clock and it did not begin until 630.
and the people that were waiting uh to come in uh could not get they could not get in and
to come in uh could not get they could not get in and they left and did not return um
and they left and did not return.
they haven't met with the community as yet so it it really they do need to meet with
the community before and the rcos the two rcos are willing to meet with them uh once they receive
a new date mr council yes uh chair and board um we originally had a december 22nd zba date
We met with the community on the 7th of December. They weren't happy with the quality of the floor plans that we were showing them. They refused to hold a vote. There was several neighbors there at that time. There didn't seem to be much animosity towards the project, just they wanted to see better floor plans.
So we agreed. We continued the ZBA until today. And then two days ago, we met. Mr. Richardson says 630. It was not even 615 when everyone got into the meeting. There was four folks on their side, myself and my client on our side.
And there was some claim that folks dropped off, but I don't know that to be true. But either way, we were ready to present. We were there. We had everything they had asked for. We updated the plans to their specifications, and they said, we're not going to vote. We need you to continue it again.
And my client got the refusal back in July of last year.
And financially, she can't have this held until September.
We want to meet with the community.
We think it's a worthy project.
And so we were hoping that we could do something along the lines of holding this, you know,
holding the vote for a couple of weeks to allow us to get back in front of the RCO so
we can show them the project, but being able to present today.
So my client's not not prejudiced because we would assume we'd be pushed back to the summer, if not even past that.
So that's just so. So I'm going to continue it, Tanya.
I want to continue it as quick as possible and then must be tried on both sides.
Tanya, as you wish here. OK, so, Mr.
Consul, Mr. Richardson, we're going to continue this.
I'm going to try to get it back as quick as possible.
but then we have to with next time we have to try it okay yes sir thank you all right thank you thank
you any other continuances requested
chair i see no hands at this time case one mi 2021 005249 1529 south street
Center City Residents Association, letter of non-opposition.
Mr. DeMarco is the attorney.
Mr. DeMarco?
He's coming back in as a panelist now, Chair.
Thank you. Perfect.
hi hi mr chairman i was waiting to be promoted good afternoon sure you were already sworn
just state your name for the court reporter yes good afternoon richard demarco uh d-e-m-a-r-c-o
mr demarco could you identify your client and the relationship with the property
yes client is george bobe he is uh the tenant for the property for the first floor use thank you
you've already been sworn. Our vice chair has a few questions. Sure.
I have, I have a barking dog, so I apologize.
Do you agree with the reading of refusal and stipulate to it's accuracy?
Yes. It's a referral and I agree to stipulate.
okay national puppy day no it is i assume that you've sent in the required documents
yes okay you may proceed and you may share your screen yes i can be brief we have non-opposition
as stated from the um center city residents civic association you should see it on your screen at
this point um as i said my clients george bobe proposing a a new a tattoo parlor um met with
ccra no opposition there's a petition of support in our materials as well i can go quickly through
mr bobe's testimony if um we can um unmute him now uh why don't you raise your hand virtually
George, and I would just say that there's nothing unusual about this
There's nothing unusual about this proposed use that would render it more impactful than other uses of the same type.
proposed use that would render it more impactful.
According to the standard for special exception, uses requires no variances.
It's a special exception case. And as you all know, South Street's a known commercial corridor with an eclectic mix of restaurants, stores, uses, et cetera.
um i'll have george just state his hours of operation he's going to have trash storage
commercial and there's some very minor medical waste that occurs with these parlors that he will