we are not thank you okay tanya let you let us know when you're ready yes thank you
Thank you.
Thank you.
Okay Chair, we're ready.
thank you um just give me a second continuance all right again uh thank you good morning everyone
my name is frank t chico i'm the chair of the zoning board of adjustment i'll be participating
in today's hearing along with our vice chair miss carol denari board secretary confessor plaza and
board member Thomas Holloman. Board Administrator Tanya Suckett will also be in attendance. Miss
Sharon Saleta is actually in another proceeding. She may jump in at some point during this morning's
hearing. For those of you who haven't yet participated in one of our virtual hearings,
I will go through some of the basics of what you can expect. First, we will be administering oaths
to individual participants prior to their testimony.
Second, for the benefit of anyone participating by phone,
we ask that attorneys and witnesses identify themselves prior to speaking or testify.
Third, we'd like to advise everyone that this proceeding is being recorded
and that by participating, you acknowledge your agreement to be recorded.
Fourth, anyone participating by phone, if you wish to testify,
you must raise your hand by hitting star nine and then star six to unmute yourself. I'll repeat
for anyone participating by phone if you wish to testify you must raise your hand by hitting star
nine and then star six to unmute yourself. Finally to enter an appearance statement call google
267-270-5548 and leave your email address and the address of the property at issue.
I'll repeat that as well. For anyone participating, excuse me, to enter an appearance statement,
call Google 267-270-5548 and leave your email address and the address of the property at issue.
With that being said, we can begin, but before Ms. Tenere calls our first case, we'd like
to ask if anyone is requesting a continuance or withdrawal of an appeal listed to be heard
this morning.
If so, please raise your hand if you have a request for continuance or withdrawal.
Please give us the calendar number at the time that you are requesting a continuance
and or withdrawal.
so chair i have quite a few a couple of continuances if i can put on record
yeah i got the same list but you go over yours because i'm working from my phone
what what do you what cases do you have number one 1439 south 20th a request for continuance
from the rco pbc dc and attorney steve masters okay i have that one that case will be
Okay, we'll have that one.
That case will be continued.
continued
And then I also have number three,
continuance requested by the attorney of record.
From the notes I've seen,
if they're listening,
apparently no exhibits were offered.
We've received no exhibits, correct?
Well, they've requested a...
Continuance.
continuous a while ago so they wouldn't say it all right very good
number four i have um continued requested by attorney nicolas coochie jr
my understanding from notes uh received from sharon that they've already received a continuance
just a second request
i wouldn't know that all right well okay let's we'll grant it and if there's any issues we can
raise it later today but according to what sharon put out uh second continuance no exhibits okay
all right and i think that's it well i have additionals that were given to me by uh
shaman does anybody anyone have their hand up
yes okay
we have slone folks slone folks you can unmute yourself and speak to a continuant
thank you good morning mr folks good morning chairman chico and zba board sloan folks sloana
fs on fire o l k s office of councilwoman maria quinones sanchez 508 city hall where's the firm
to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes sir i do thank you sir please
proceed we'd like to request a calendar number three nine one four nine two three four zero
orthodox street we'd like to request continuance the applicant has not met with the uh convening
coordinating rcl okay um calendar number three correct me if i'm wrong mr folks calendar number
39149 yes sir 2340 orthodox street continue and we have a second which one what where is that
what on the list what number was orthodox i'm sorry yeah number seven seven okay because i'm
going to check that off as we go okay number seven thank you next one and the final one is calendar
number three eight one six zero one three six six anchor street again the applicant has not
of the RCL requesting a consent is we're on the list 13 13 okay because I'm again I'm checking off
on my list with what is that christian street 5405 christian no no no 1366 anchor street
i apologize i'm working off my phone and it's not uh yeah i don't have that i don't have that
on my list it's not we don't have it listed for this you know what uh councilman chico i apologize
I scribbled over. That's 3.30, so I only had one this morning.
I apologize. I'll be back at 3.30. I'm sorry.
No worries. No worries. No worries.
All right. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.
Thank you.
You're welcome, son.
All right. So anyone else, Tanya?
Yes, we have Brett Feldman.
Brett Feldman, you can unmute yourself and speak to a continuance.
Mr. Feldman, please spell your name and give us your address for the record.
Sure. Members of the board, good morning. Brett Feldman, 1835 Market Street, B-R-E-T-T, F-E-L-D, M-A-N.
Where are you from to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do. I do. I have, I guess, two matters before the board. The first one is, I believe, number six
on your list, 2100 Benson Street, calendar number MI-2020-000735.
That was continued?
excuse me I think that was continued okay yeah and this is we've heard no
Excuse me?
I think that was continued, right?
Okay, yeah.
response from the RCO now this is our second continuance request not sure what
to do at this point but we will do our best to get them to meet with us for the
next meeting date and otherwise I'd ask the board at that point to hear the case
but this is the second continuous request
where we've heard nothing after four or five emails
with Ron Hurst Civic Association.
And for what period of time?
It's been, I don't know, four months, five months.
I'm not prepared to go ahead today
and we will do our best,
but I try to put this on the record
that if we can't communicate with them by the next hearing,
um we would we would ask to be able to proceed and i don't know hold the vote or something like
that but uh heard no response we've tried to call we've tried to email um we reached it we
lost we'll also reach out i guess to the council person's office but uh okay one of those right
now all right thank you and then i have i have one other i i wanted to make sure it's on the
agenda to vote today i was told by miss selena this was a case that was heard by the board um
This is 12131 Knights Road, heard by the board back on August 25th.
And I was told that this was going to be on the agenda for today to vote.
I don't know if it is.
She told you today and not tomorrow?
I believe it was today.
If it's on for tomorrow, that'd be great.
I just, this is August 25th, heard by the board.
The RCO did not meet with us.
We've tried repeatedly.
Most likely it'll be tomorrow.
Yeah, typically they vote on Wednesdays.
Is there a way to find out whether it's on the list for tomorrow?
Just so I can.
It wouldn't be on the list.
Okay, so we'll confer with Sharon.
And typically they vote on Wednesdays after the executive sessions.
thank you very much uh-huh take care you uh chair we also have strawberry mansion
hey good morning chairman administrator i was just um wanting i couldn't hear excuse me excuse
me you gotta give us your full name please for the stenographer bonita cummings strawberry mansion
community concern director and you swear in the firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing
but the truth yes thank you please proceed i just i couldn't hear the addresses for i think she said
number one and four so is there a list we should be seeing or how do we hear of the addresses when
it's not from the um applicant do you have a particular case of interest um well i have two
for this morning one was uh 2450 north 29th street and the other was um 3019 dawson
are you asking for continuances on those cases no i wanted to know whether those addresses that i
didn't hear may have been what i'm listening for so i just was trying to figure out what
is the process for hearing the addresses mr chairman west dolphin is withdrawn
that's number 11 it's number 11.
what's that address again carol it's 3019 west dolphin street case is withdrawn
the other 29th street is going to be heard
what number is that number eight okay yeah i can that uh corresponds with my notes as well
i just want to go back on the record of benson street i'm not sure if we
voted that or not not voted if i if i put it on the record so mi 2020-000735-2100 benson street
is being continued any other any more um cases tanya excuse me
because i have two more i don't have anything else and there are no other hands up
i have two more on my list that was given to me by sharon so bear with me folks for a minute
number 13 on the list
number 13 on the list
5405 christian street yeah mi 2020-000029 5405 christian street is a request from councilwoman
for that case to be continued and count on number 14 on the list
um mi-2020-000087-5506 baltimore avenue that case is being requested continuance by
councilwoman gotta uh and if there are any issues with what we've uh just uh all those
cases we just continued if anyone has an issue with that please raise your hand
here we have george gossett
mr gossett please spell your first and last name for the stenographer give us your address please
yeah it's uh 4840 old york road philadelphia pa 19141
What about your last name, please?
G-O-S-S-E-T-T.
We're infirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Oh, thank you.
Okay, what's your concern?
I just wanted to gain clarity, because I know the last request was on our part.
We did complete the...
what is for what case sir i'm sorry this is christian street
please state the address thank you 5405 christian street
that's the one uh five four
number five
number 13 number 13 according to my notes the councilwoman got the a requested it
based on and this is on my note is that there was no meeting with the rco okay we have completed the
actual meeting with the rco and i'm not i'm not contesting the um continues i just wanted the
uh the board to know that we have in fact completed the uh meeting with the rco okay i
suggest that you uh if you haven't already done so you reach out to the councilwoman's office and
advise them her legislative assistant is a gentleman by the name of Andy Goodman okay
we'll do right I'm sorry sir what's your relationship to the case I'm the attorney
for the applicant okay thank you you're welcome
any other requests or concerns about the list that just been read off
we also have Kyle Sampson Kyle Sampson you can unmute yourself and speak to a continuance
My name is Mr. Sampson. Please spell first and last name and give us your address.
K-Y-L-E Sampson, S-A-M-P-S-O-N, regarding 5405 Christian Street. I am with the West
Philadelphia Economic Development Council. The RCO held a meeting. The RCO notified the
councilwoman's office we sent a report both to the uh zoning board the findings of our
rco meeting and we sent it to the council person's office sorry did we get an address for this one
5405 christian the same one that the attorney just spoke on right before this gentleman
the the the meeting the report from the rco was sent to the zoning board and the council person's
office when was that sent do you happen would you happen to know when it was sent yesterday morning
well apparently i'm assuming the councilwoman's office had not received it yet and that's why
yeah i had spoke to andrew goodman and he said okay i'm going to withdraw that request i'll make
a suggestion yes sir we won't continue this case uh i would suggest you call mr goodman and ask
him to contact us or miss sunken uh does that work uh tanya if they contact you and they give us
the okay to hear the case um yes um however if everything is in place
um i'm not sure how he's going to reach out to me but um i'll say yes all right let's give that
all right mr sampson you want me to do that now is that what you're saying yeah yeah if you can
Councilwoman is okay with the case going forward.
uh okay with the case going forward we'll hear that case this morning now i know the attorney
We'll hear that case this morning.
Now, I know the attorney...
was on mr sampson and not mr sampson gossett mr gossett if he's still on uh i'm not sure if he's
still on or not we'd have he would you would need to speak to him also i had a mr chairman
initially last week prior to the RCO meeting, I had sent a request to Ms. Suckett asking that we
have a continuance. She said that was not possible in an email to me, so we rushed and had the RCO
meeting, just for the record. All right, understood, but again, there's a mix-up here. It's no one's
fault, you know, these days doing things virtually. No doubt. So, you know, our information was the
councilwoman and i said i'm looking at my notes councilwoman requested a continuance based on the
fact there was no rco meeting obviously wanted to make sure you guys had an opportunity to meet
as you heard me say to mr gossett he agreed to the continuance i'd be willing to see if we can
hold off on any final decision before this morning session ends but you you got to get some you got
to do some homework right now you got to get in touch with goodman and gossip understood all right
just for clarification chair um i believe a request was submitted to me for one week
and i denied that we don't correct continuuses at all unless there's extraordinary circumstances
so that's why it was a no if it was a request to continue then i would have um took that
but not for just one week understood understood well look this this may turn out to be one of
those uh situations where it is something unusual if we can't get that this morning and all sides
agree maybe if it's okay tanya could we schedule it for next week maybe avoid some of this confusion
no we can't do one week because we have too much to get in order for posters and notices and
it's just too much involved okay understood all right all right mr sanson try to see if you can
reach most mr gossett and the councilwoman's office before and how would i get back in touch
with you before this session is over i would assume tanya correct me if i'm wrong the same
way you just got on now all right perfect is that correct tanya uh yes okay thank you thank you
uh chair we also had katherine blunt katherine you can unmute yourself and speak to a continuance
Ms. Blunt, please identify yourselves by your name for the stenographer.
Catherine Blunt, B-L-U-N-T.
Do you swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
And could you please give us your address?
4918 Walton Avenue, 19143.
You're here on what case?
The 5405 Christian Street.
okay i represent 46 ward rco okay okay guys we said oh were you listening to the conversation
i just had with mr and we participated in the meeting okay there was a we understand that now
i think what happened the mix-up was the notice was sent to the councilwoman's office last night
most offices in city hall are closed so a lot of times that information doesn't reach
the councilwoman or his or his or her legislative assistant in time for the hearing so there's a
you know a slight mix up we'll work that out hopefully we can work it out this morning
well proceed I just want to know procedurally so the meeting was held because this case has
been continued about three times now the meeting was held and there was no support for that
activity plus we did send in something uh to the zba board i was sent sunday uh emailed i think
appropriately the way we're supposed to uh uh listing the concerns of the neighborhood and why
again we don't yeah miss blunt with all due respect you you're giving us information as
though we were hearing the case oh i'm sorry no that's okay no need to apologize so let's see
what works out if we can get that case heard this morning then you'll have the opportunity to be
heard okay and then there's a second case 5506 baltimore avenue that case has not had an rco
assigned that i know of and it has not had a community meeting 14 on the list that case is
also being uh there's a request to continue that case as well okay thank you all right
thank you you can move forward chair okay uh we're starting with number two uh yeah yes
uh yeah yes okay this print is very small calendar number three seven nine six seven
the address is 1501 north 33rd street the attorney is rachel pritzker
ms pritzker you've been promoted to panelists you can share your screen
as you wish name and address for the record rachel good morning good morning rachel r-a-c-h-a-e-l
pritzker p-r-i-t-z-k-e-r 1635 market suite 1600 philadelphia pa 19103 do you swear or affirm to
tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes do you also agree to waive the reading of
refusal and stipulate to its accuracy? Yes. And have you exhibited an email packet with all the
required documents, proof of ownership, tax clearance, a copy of the refusal or referral,
photos and plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing? Have you also met with
the RCO? And if you have, do you have a letter? So we did meet with them. We don't have a letter.
I have emails from me and from the owner reaching out many times asking for the letter.
And so we don't have a letter, but we did meet with them.
Okay, you may proceed.
All right.
Let me share my screen.
Okay, so this is 1501 North 33rd Street.
Just to give you some context, this is the site here on 33rd Street across from the park.
As you can see, it's sort of a dilapidated structure at the moment.
It is kind of oddly shaped.
It's triangular in nature with the train tracks to the rear.
And as we'll get into it, there's also an easement running through the property from an active sewer line that feeds some of these homes on Natrona Street.
We were refused for this site just for parking, so the site is on RM1, we're proposing 17 units with 13 parking spaces, although RM1 does not require parking, given the issues with parking in general in the city, but also on this block in particular, given the additional density that we are proposing by right,
we would like to provide parking and as I'll go into there are some limitations
to the site not only but the size and shape of the site but the current
location of the curb cut and the easement that make it so that parking
can only be located at a certain place I'm just showing this photo so you can
see that there's obviously traffic issues and parking issues on the street
there's no ability to park on this side of 33rd Street it's prohibited by the
city and the only parking permitted is on our side of the street on 33rd street although it's
limited by a fire hydrant and a bus stop so again we're utilizing an existing curb cut to the order
to provide parking the two refusals we got were the proposed off-street parking access by a front
street is prohibited and surface parking in the required rear yard is also prohibited if i can
move forward. Here's the tax clearance. There was a balance. It was paid. We've
submitted this to the board. Here is the deed showing the ownership, 1501 North 33rd.
And again, this is our site right here, triangular in nature. This is the abutting
train tracks and as you can see it's sort of a triangular shaped lot at the
corner or I guess a quasi-corner zoned RM1. Again here's an aerial view of the
site. Here is the zoning posters and sort of the existing conditions on this
site. As the board probably knows the sidewalks and all that will get cleaned
up as a result of the development but just so you can kind of get a feel for
the existing conditions of this site as it's been kind of underutilized and
underdeveloped for quite some time. Moving on to the parking situation,
obviously you know RM1 you cannot do parking access by a front street.
However on this site there's really no other place to approach the site. There's
no ability to come from the rear as the train tracks. This is the nearest rear
street that you can't drive into the train tracks and so we're proposing a
and so we're proposing a front-loaded parking and as i'll go into in a minute there is also
front-loaded parking and also go into in a minute there is also an easement
an easement that runs through the property so we're not able to build on around 30 feet near
that easement as a result of discussions with the water department which i have included in
our packet we've tried to discuss relocating it and removing it because some of the concern with
the community was around parking just where to put the parking but again we're really limited
on this site. And again, it's not buildable 30 feet from this easement. And we cannot relocate
it because it is an active sewer line. So we are limited to putting parking in another location on
our site. These are my emails going back and forth. This is as early as the 22nd, trying to
get the RCO to respond to our emails to see if they would provide the letter. And even I reached
out beginning May, March, March, October, trying to meet with them again, given some of the concerns
that they had. Mostly their issue was density. I think they didn't love that amount of density
and were complaining about maybe parking, but the only way to put the parking is there. Some of
concern was also the traffic study. They wanted a traffic study done, so we actually went and
met with Chris Renfro at the streets department. As you can see, this is the Amtrak train. This is
the water line that goes through it, so the building has to be set over and can't be built
on 30 feet right here, so kind of again limits where we can put parking and even where we can
put the by-right structure. It was determined by the streets department that given there's only
going to be 17 parking spaces and 17 return trips in the morning, 17 trips in the morning,
17 trips at the evening. That is a total of 34 trips. Does not require a traffic impact study.
Typically, the Philadelphia Streets Department requires a site that generates 3,000 trips a day
or 1,500 vehicles per day and 100 trips per peak hour. That requires a traffic study. However,
in order to appease the concerns of the community, we went and got a traffic study done,
which is included in your packet and basically what it says is that this is the safest place
to put the curb cut that there won't be any adverse impacts that there won't increase any
issues with traffic and that actually will help eliminate a lot of the congestion that we're
seeing as you can see from the previous photo I put up there is traffic congestion so adding 17
units by right with zero parking is not going to benefit us or the community in any way additionally
as you can see from atlas there are people that are parking on the sidewalk
so trying to again not provide any off-street parking for 17 units by right we didn't think was
was beneficial we do have letters of support from near neighbors so i have that included in the
packet as well because we wanted to make sure that those who actually live on the
block and behind the property were supportive of the parking variances that
we're requesting again the only thing we are requesting is for parking so here
we have 1401 North Coralise Street, we have 1444 North Myrtlewood, we have 1463 North
Coralise, we have 1510 North Hollywood, again another owner of 1444, 1519 North 33rd. I also
received one today um that was 1533 um north 33rd street as well i didn't get a chance to include
that in the packet as i got it this morning i want to just bring up the plans for the project
um so that the board can see the parking
So, we're asking to utilize an existing curb cut to be able to provide again 13 off-street
parking spaces. Again, the only way to access the site is really from this existing curb
cut. There's no ability to do it in the rear or on the other side. And again, we're limited
by the water department's easement um and sort of the the odd shape of the lot again 13 parking
spaces 17 units by right six bicycle spaces um and i have our architect here as well um ian smith
And I have our architect here as well, Ian Smith, if the board is interested in sort of the floor plans or layout, but all that is included in your packet.
And again, we're just here to discuss sort of the two variances for off-street parking, surface parking and parking access by a front street.
so i'm happy to take any questions that the board has or dive more into something in particular
um if the board has any questions i also have our um our the owner keith aliats here as well
and ian smith um our architect thank you um questions from the board no no no no
anyone else wish to testify in this case please raise your hand
here we have mary jones from the council president's office mary you can unmute yourself
thank you good morning ms jones please identify yourself with a record
good morning my name is mary jones i work for council president clark's office city hall room 496.
You're swearing a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed.
Based on information that I just received from people who work closely with the Strawberry
Mansion CDC, we don't have any indication that the RCO has approved this project or is in support
of this project. And we just either oppose or hope that you can hold your vote until we get
word from the rco on what the feedback is at this point we don't have a letter from them and um we
just don't have any notification on what their opinion is about this uh project thank you um
can i address that comment yes please yeah um so we reached out as you can see by the emails a
of times there was a meeting in which there was opposition I don't believe it
related to it was a try the concerns about a traffic study we went out of our
way to go get a traffic study and we provided that to miss tenetogram I also
reached out to our number of times asking if she had any questions or
wanted to go over it or if we could schedule another meeting and we didn't
get any feedback even the owner has reached out so at this point again
we're just asking for and the ability to provide accessory off-street parking
for a site that's going to have 17 units by right there's no other place to put it there's a clear
hardship and i don't know that having another meeting where we discuss issues outside of the
parking concerns um are going to be productive for this site and again if the board or the community
doesn't support this then there'll be a project with 17 units with no parking on a street that
obviously has you know congestion issues um already oh okay well we i still want to have the
opportunity to reach out to the um to tonetta um it's unclear if she was aware of the the project
being rescheduled for today i'm sorry can i interrupt please miss jones yes we do have
tanetta on the line okay in the zoom meeting if you wish her to speak about this i do i mean i
didn't know she was here so that's perfect here we have tanetta graham for you to swear in miss
graham good can you guys hear me yes and miss graham please spell your first and last name
and give us your address sure my first name is tanetta t-o-n-n-e-t-t-a last name is graham g-r-a-h-a-m
The address is 2829 West Diamond Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19121.
Do you swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Thank you.
Please proceed.
I apologize, you guys.
I'm just jumping in on the phone call because I did not know that the zoning was going to be heard today for 1501 North 33rd Street.
I will say that there has not been a community meeting held for this project,
So I don't know who or what has sent notices to, but I have not scheduled a community meeting for this project.
Now, we did have a small development coalition discussion with the developer who at that time was going to go back to the drawing board,
do some more drawings because we didn't like the idea of the concept of the building and was going to do a traffic study.
I have, and we have, but other than that, we have not had a community meeting with the community at large, had an opportunity to hear about this project.
Ms. Pritcher?
Ms. Pritchard?
Yeah, that's not my understanding of this matter.
Yeah, that's not my understanding of this matter.
When I got involved, there was another attorney handling this,
and I was told that, and the owner who was actually at the meeting is here as well,
so he could, and so was the architect, so they could speak to it.
I did also reach out to Tanetta multiple times via email that I've provided to the board.
I've called Tanetta.
I have her phone number.
I actually provided her with the traffic impact study as well and asked, you know,
are there any questions?
When can we get something together?
Multiple times.
so there was a meeting I wasn't personally at it because I wasn't the
attorney representing at the time Michael Phillips was so and he can tell
you there was a community meeting there's posters on the property and
again you know both the client and the architect were both at that meeting and
again a traffic impact study was and we did go back and forth and I said to
Tanetta we would try and reconfigure the site but given the discussion with the
water department that she was aware of because she knows this neighborhood
extremely well, we weren't able to move that sewer line. So any redesign is not feasible
because of the water department needs a 30-foot easement. And again, we've provided that. We've
provided the correspondence from the water department. There's no real ability to redesign
the site at all given that. So we're really just here to discuss, can we provide accessory
off-street parking to help limit additional congestion caused by a by-right site? So
that's kind of where we are. And I think it might be helpful to have Keith, the owner,
and our architect who were actually at the meeting because again like i said i wasn't there at the
meeting but i do know that one was thank you understood let's get your client on please
keith you've been allowed to speak please unmute yourself and wait to be sworn in
and uh keith would you please spell your first and last name
Keith, you're unmuted, you can speak.
there's must be some technical difficulties Rachel's trying to okay all right if why don't
we go to the architect while we're at it because the architect according to your testimony Ms.
pritz attended the meeting yes ian smith should be on the line
i'm going to try and have um keith call in tanya so that because i guess it's not sure
i gotta find the number ian you've been allowed to speak you can unmute yourself and wait to be
sworn in good morning mr smith please identify yourself with the record good morning my name is
ian smith uh my um my address is 322 east thompson well 340 west duval street um 19144
and i'm the architect for uh this project do you swear and firm to tell the truth the whole truth
and nothing but the truth i do thank you please proceed okay um the the meeting that uh i was
present at back in 2019 did occur. I don't remember the exact title, but I would presume that
based on how RCO meetings go, this would be, you know, our first RCO meeting sort of reviewing the
project and its scope, identifying the refusals, which was the parking in the rear of the lot and
the access from the main street, all other items being compliant with the zoning code.
I think this project has been seen in front of the Strawberry Mansion CDC multiple times
with different owners, me being the architect for it, and there's been some, you know, history
of having concerns outside of what the refusals are presented.
I think it has been a challenge with regard to coming to terms with the Strawberry Mansion
CDC, and, you know, we've done everything within our power, I think, as far as a designer
architect outside of actually just reducing the density but the density is
approved you know based on what I mean what we've done prior and I believe
there's some zoning approvals with regard to that and the the only conflict
is the idea of providing parking which in this particular case seems unusual
and but at the same time this has been the the main sticking point with regard
to the strawberry mansion cdc
thank you any board members have any questions for the architect
no no anyone else going to testify in this
i think keith is calling in if the board thinks it's relevant to hear his
testimony i'd like yeah i think so because there's been some
comments or statements made that there was no meeting and i i'm a little
there was no meeting and i i'm a little bit confused on that yeah he said he's on tanya
confused on that yeah he said
he called in so um the last four of his or last three of his phone number are uh 8698
good morning sir please spell your first and last name for the record
sure k-e-i-t-h last name aliats a-l-l-i-o-t-t-s and you swear to firm to tell the truth the
whole truth and nothing but the truth? Yes, I do. Please proceed. You know, just to add on to what
Rachel and Ian, my architect, has said, we had a meeting with the community back in 2019. I don't
have the date in front of me. I believe it was sometime in August, September area, roughly a year
ago. At that time, the community seemed to be focused heavily on the density. I bought the
project fully approved by Wright for the 17 units. As Rachel said a few times, I'm just going in for
the parking. I'm familiar with the location, familiar with, you know, neighbors and people
who live in the area. There seems to be a parking issue there, as there is throughout a lot of the
City. And we had reached out to Tanetta. I had a different attorney, Michael Phillips, who
represented me at that meeting at that time. I've since changed attorneys. We've reached out to
Tanetta, or I've asked Rachel to reach out several times regarding the letter. We've not been able
to receive it. I sent Tanetta three emails within the last 10 days following up on the letter,
knowing we have this um you know meeting this morning or hearing um i didn't get a response
um and again based on the meeting we had and the communities had a few meetings i believe i
shouldn't say that i i'm told the communities had a few meetings prior to my meeting with the
previous owner i purchased it from um so that the community is very familiar uh with the project
i had said to rachel i'm not certain anything productive will come out of another community
meeting um i went in there with good faith you know um tried to you know appease them and i want
to do some some low-income units for the community so people in the community can live in the in the
building um but they seem to not even really want to talk about parking it was all about density
and that's when rachel explained this morning i did go back spent thousands of dollars with it
with architects and everyone else to try to figure out if we can do a redesign there based on the
easement that's there the sewer easement it's pretty much impossible to change the layout of
that building and how it how it was designed um i'd spoken to rachel again multiple times regarding
this um and based on the community's um feeling of of the density was more than what they were
happy with um we didn't really spend much time at the meeting on parking because i tried to explain
to them that i bought it approved it's a buy right job and i think at the time you know i again to
show good faith i'd said to the community you know what kind of density would you guys be looking for
here and if my memory is correct i was told about five units which obviously is not based on what
i purchased for the property it wouldn't be economically viable the project um so that's
kind of where we're at at that point i made the suggestion when rachel got on board let's let's
go to the zba because um as i said i didn't think meeting with the community uh but he would be
productive but keith didn't i say to you that we needed to try and reach out again to the community
after we went did some research with the water department and with Ian and with another architect
and we did reach out multiple times we submitted a traffic study and we still were not able to
you know get anywhere yeah and I guess and again from my perspective and this has now been a year
as Rachel had just said we've reached out to community countless times we don't even get
responses from them so at this point you know not to sound selfish but I feel we've acted in good
faith, I can't wait around for another six, nine, 12 months for someone to respond to an email or
schedule an appointment or a meeting of any kind. So that's kind of where we're at and why we're
on the call today. I just want to, again, for clarification on my end, to be clear,
the project as a buy rate was allowed for how many units? 17. I bought it with, I purchased it
in July of 2019 sorry to interrupt you with those approvals in place okay and
with those approvals in place okay and the only real issue is parking is parking okay
the only real issue
to provide 13 parking spaces on this lot um and can i can i tell you guys you guys talking about
meetings there was never an official rco community meeting for this project you guys
miss graham what is it you keep saying and there was not an official meeting
was there a meeting there was a meeting with me and my development committee there was not in the
meeting where you have to notify the residents of the area right so why wasn't why wasn't that done
because my understanding was that initial meeting the architect we would we did not appreciate we
did not agree with the design of the building and the architect said okay i will go back to
the drawing board and we asked for a traffic study because that's one of our primary concerns is that
the uh the building is at the end of a bridge so coming over the bridge would make parking kind of
dangerous for that intersection so that's why the community asked for a traffic study that was it
that i mean not the community that that development committee it was then supposed to be brought back
to us with the new design um and the schedule uh uh the zoning here so that we can go follow the
RCO process. This does not have the full RCO process. Were you made aware of the traffic
study? I can't say that I have been because, you know, it's COVID. We've got a lot of things
going on. Ms. Graham, Ms. Graham, Ms. Graham, Ms. Graham, Ms. Graham, Ms. Graham, with all
due respect, I asked a question. All right. And just give it an answer. Yes or no. That's
i'm going to ask please do not unmute yourself to speak unless directed by the chair thank you
you can speak now okay are you aware of the traffic study were you made aware of the traffic
study i did not read a traffic study i'm gonna pull up the email i'm not saying you didn't send
i said i didn't read a traffic study oh but it was sent to you you have a choice to read it or not
read it okay that's fine but then they were supposed to send also a new design a design of
the building all the information all right here okay here's here we go here's the deal okay uh
we're going to hold this until next wednesday's executive session
okay one week from tomorrow we're having an executive session correspondence between the
applicant applicant's attorney and the strawberry mansion folks whatever you guys need to do
between now and then get it done we will vote on this next wednesday morning mr chair i have a
question uh miss prisker when did you send the traffic study i'm going to share my screen so
that you can see um when i sent the traffic study which was march 11th and then i followed up on it
with her I called Tanetta I've worked with Tanetta on a number of projects so I you know have
luckily been able to reach her many times and we've worked together on a number of things so
just like all those other projects I specifically understood the concerns here spent an hour on the
phone or 30 minutes on the phone with her and made sure that she got the traffic study and even made
sure that the traffic study was done because it's a little atypical on a site this small
So it was sent to her on March 11th, and I followed up, and she said that she would look at it.
I don't know that she got a chance or didn't get a chance, but it was sent back in March.
You've had months and months and months, and I've sent emails in May and June and July, and Keith sent several in the last 10 days.
So, again, it's not for lack of wanting to cooperate.
It's you can only do so much, and we're all dealing with COVID and things of that nature.
We're just trying to do our best to move this forward.
And we do think it would be more detrimental to have a site with 17 by right units with not one stitch of parking on this very important block.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Carol, I've lost my list of the hearings this morning.
So would you please call, you know, read the case.
Chair, I'm sorry, but there is other people who have their hands up, if you wish.
or it's your call something new and different if it's not new and different we're going to move on
i'm going to have francis you can be sworn in hi i'm here good morning sir please spell your
first and last name for this record my name is francis f-r-a-n-c-i-s magobot m-a-n-g-u-b-a-t
Your address?
It's 1444 North Myrtlewood Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19121.
uh is that in close proximity to this uh where this uh to this application yes it's about three
Is that in close proximity to this application?
blocks okay please proceed so uh on my block there's about 17 new construction homes all
without parking and i'd say it's a mess there's uh you know people that are parking on the sidewalk
people that are parking in vacant lots people bumping each other's cars and what i would say
on 33rd street is immediately north of 1501 north 33rd there's 40 units approved by right i don't
know if there's parking or not so what i would say i mean this neighborhood absolutely needs
more parking as it's just becoming a mess having all these homes without parking and i would think
that it logically makes sense to take one street spot away to provide parking for 17 other people
okay thank you for your testimony anyone else here we have strawberry mansion you can unmute yourself
hello morning please identify yourself with a record bonita cumming strawberry mansion
community concern i just wanted to add that um we're in a firm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth i do please proceed it may be safer to do it by right like the type of
traffic jam and blind spots that is a part of this present design and already right now we're
experiencing bottlenecks and that particularly come across that bridge right in that location
so the and then the changing back and forth of people we were dealing with ian smith was no
longer the architect and i'm not sure when rachel became the attorney so some of the confusion may
be and that this building has changed hands a couple of times and different people may have
been communicating back and forth so you don't really know who you're dealing with. But I do
think that one week is really not enough time and that that site is very dangerous for the
community. It's not like, you know, parking is going to be made easy. That's going to make a
major congestion in that space. That's going to cause people coming home from Center City
um to be really held up uh depending on the times of day people pulling in and out and even with
parking uh depending on how many people are visiting people you're still going to get on
street you know on street parking so so i would say that it's it's a better buy right project
than it would be to put a parking lot where people would be coming off of that property
into the street causing accidents and maybe even so it's your testimony that the buy right
which would provide no parking is better than providing well it's safer I would say it's safer
well they did a traffic study so I don't I mean that that's debatable okay I got we heard you
thank you I have um none of the affected RVCOs were uh I muted you for a reason thank you
Sir, Chair, we have Max. Max, you're going to mute yourself and speak.
Thank you. My name is Max Karasik.
First name, spell your last name, please.
K-A-R-A-S-I-C-K.
You swear to firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
And your address, sir?
1510 North Hollywood Street, Philadelphia, 19121.
Good proceed.
Thank you.
so i live a few blocks away from this development um parking in the neighborhood is obviously a
concern of everyone um and i think this plan adequately addresses um the needs of the
community i mean to provide parking versus no parking it seems like a no-brainer and the traffic
study shows that it is safe um so that addresses that concern so i would just like to voice my
support of this thank you thank you we have one share we have one more andrew you can unmute
yourself and wait mr herman mr herman please spell your first and last name and give us your address
Andrew you can unmute yourself
can you hear me yes uh a-n-d-r-e-w-h-e-r-m-a-n and I live at 1533 north 33rd
which is on this block where and from to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes thank you please proceed um so i live probably like maybe 10 10 houses down from this lot
um i've experienced many issues with parking on this block already
Um, I've experienced many issues with parking on this block already.
Uh, currently most residents of my building and the neighboring buildings park double
wide on the sidewalk.
So in many cases or many instances, there's not a five foot pedestrian walkway down the
sidewalk because people are parked double wide.
Um, there's also been multiple accidents on the block.
My car has been hit by a stolen car.
my roommate's car has been hit by a stolen car um you know there's issues about once a week in
terms of an accident at that location and you know and many many other instances there's large
tractor trailers parked in front of this lot or you know there's also a construction firm nearby
that leaves a large truck just on on the block as well so parking is an issue and that's that's
in its current state with most of those addresses next next to this lot being uninhabited so I'm
thinking when 18 residents or however many residents move in that without parking the
entire block would probably probably have double wide parking on sidewalk and you know much more
issues with with accidents and uh you know pedestrian walkways so i i am in supportive
parking thank you anyone else that's all chair you can proceed okay uh we'll vote this next
week in the meantime planning commission good morning mr chairman and members of the board
David Fecteau, F-E-C-T-E-A-U, with the City Planning Commission.
We're in a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir, I do. Thank you.
Please proceed.
Mr. Chairman and members of the board, this property is indicated for multifamily residential use on the City's comprehensive plan.
There have been several proposals for this property over the last few years.
This is less dense than some of those other proposals.
although we are concerned about the curb cut on north 33rd street we do not believe that the
addition of 17 units and 13 off street parking spaces will have an adverse impact on the block
accordingly we have no objection to granting this variance thank you uh carol again i i'm
what is the number of this uh calendar what's the calendar number on this this is calendar number
37967 the address again 1501 north 33rd street
thank you calendar number 37967 1501 north 33rd uh decision will be made on um next
wednesday which is what's the date of next wednesday october the seventh chair thank you
thank you tanya october 7th at the executive session uh zoning board executive session on
october the 7th so chair if i yeah if i could request that this um this here is um considered
closed yes yeah the record is closed thank you and just for clarification that's at 9 30. yeah
yeah thank you because we meet or we we meet before 9 30 executive session we make our votes
then and then we'll public make the public vote at the 9 30 session okay thank you thank you
uh miss jones i'm sorry before i i mean to cut you off do you have anything else you want to add
miss jones
miss jones you're going to mute yourself
i apologize i should have asked you before i asked the planning commission
that's okay um based on uh everything that's happened i think uh i don't have anything else
to add. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Carol, please call them. Ready? Okay. Calendar number ZP2020-003-088-1901
Christian Street. The attorney is Daniel Reisman or Reisman.
Mr. Reisman, you've been promoted to panelists.
You can unmute yourself to speak and share your screen for your exhibits as you wish.
Okay, thank you.
Can everyone hear me?
Can you put your name and address on the record, please, and spell your last name?
Sure. It's Daniel Reisman, R-E-I-S-M-A-N, Eckert Siemens, 2 Liberty Place, 22nd floor.
Eckert Siemens, 2 Liberty Place, 22nd floor, 50 South 16th Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19102.
Thank you. Do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Do you also agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
So the refusal was amended by L&I on Friday.
there was a corrected refusal that was issued I sent that to Sharon Saleta so
we stipulate to the corrected refusal that was issued on Friday along with us
a new site plan that it's the same site plan except it it changes calculations
based on the new refusal okay so have you mailed an exhibit packet with the
required documents proof of ownership proof of tax compliance a copy of the
refusal or referral photos plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing and have you
also met with the rco and have a letter yes thank you you may proceed okay um i'm sharing the screen
can you can you see that no okay let's try again it eventually works yeah how about that uh mr
right yes does that work yeah yes okay good okay um so i've handed in exhibits or sent in exhibits
there are 10 exhibits in total they include photos google maps renderings and floor plans
exhibit four is a letter in support from sasna south of south street neighbors association
As I mentioned, they're not part of the exhibits, but I also sent to Ms. Saleta the revised
corrected refusal and a revised site plan.
Also joining this call is the principal of my client, Dr. Amy James, who is an orthodontist,
as well as Lance Hill, who is our architect.
Dr. James has had a practice in Haddonfield, New Jersey, an orthodontist practice for 21 years.
She's been leasing space for a few years in Philadelphia on 22nd and Arch, and under this
project at 1901 Christian, she would be opening up her permanent practice at 1901 Christian Street.
now what I've done just so the board knows I pulled out of the exhibits that
I sent just the the ones that I think I'm going to use so I'm looking at sort
of an abbreviated package of the exhibits I can certainly move to the full
packet I have those available too if anybody wants to look at those at
anything I'm not talking about I have a zoning map and here is the property
right at 19th Street, and then this is Christian Street, you'll see that the property is CMX1.
Here's the property. This is 19th Street. Here's Christian Street, and this is the property right
here. My client's proposal, currently there is an existing residential unit on the third floor,
and there's an existing residential unit on the second floor. Those would remain the same,
So this application does not involve these two floors.
The first floor, which you see right here, my client would put in an orthodontist practice.
And it's going to be a community-based practice that she intends to serve the immediate neighborhood
Now we'll look at a few more photos.
and the practice by the way the orthodontist practice is permitted as of
right now we're going to look at some photos moving north on 19th Street and
this is what I'll talk about now is right over here and here you'll see
there's a about a nine-foot backyard and now it's looking at it from the side my
My client's proposal, and the reason we have a variance, is that basically you'll see there's
this brick wall that surrounds the backyard.
The proposal is effectively to close this in, put in a one-story addition, and that will
be used in connection with the orthodontist practice.
Here's another photo.
now you'll see there's a three-foot alleyway that runs behind the rear yards
This alleyway will be preserved, so there will still be the access in and out,
this alleyway will be preserved so there will still be the access in and out
and the addition will be right here.
How do we handle a trash situation now that you'll be removing the yard?
Commercial pickup?
yes my client's going to have commercial pickup that's correct
here's the um a rendering so you'll see when the work is complete it's going to be a very
nice building a lot of investment there's going to be windows put on the first floors
that's going to activate the building with the streets. Here's another view
from 19th Street, and you'll see here is the addition.
and then just briefly we'll take a quick look at the floor plan
okay so here's the floor plan
it's pretty straightforward i mean we're talking a small space the
The existing space in the building is about 1,000 square feet.
The addition is 9 feet 7 inches in length.
It's about a total of 160 square feet, the addition.
And you'll see in the back portion the addition here.
This is where the addition will be.
And it's really, it's basically for my client staff.
You know, there's not going to be any room in the rest of the portion of the first floor.
So it's going to be used for staff, for client work, billing.
They need a separate room for HIPAA compliance.
So that's the first floor there.
So I don't know whether anyone else is here to speak from the community.
I can have my client.
If there's not, I'll just summarize.
I guess if there is, I can have my client speak a little more.
You can summarize, and then we'll ask you if you want to get your client on to adopt your testimony.
That's fine.
So really the long and the short of it is the practice is permitted as of right.
It's an orthodontist practice.
Although it's permitted as of right, the space really just isn't big enough as it's currently
configured to feasibly operate in orthodontist practice.
So we're talking a very small addition in the rear that would make it feasible.
It's a low intent.
So I think we satisfy the hardship standards.
It's a low intensity use.
My client expects maybe three to four patients an hour.
so it's going to be a much less intensive use than other potential commercial uses at the property
that are permitted in CX-1. And with that, yes, I would like to just have my client adopt my
testimony. Tanya, her name is Amy James. Miss James, you can unmute yourself and wait to be
sworn in. Thank you. My name is Amy James, A-M-Y-J-A-M-E-S. Are you confirmed to tell the truth,
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? I do. Thank you. Please proceed. Ms. James, did you hear
my testimony, my statements? I did. And are they true and correct, to the best of your knowledge?
Yes, they are. And do you adopt those statements and that testimony as your own? I do. Thank you.
thank you any questions from the board no is there anyone else who wishes to testify in this case if
so please raise your hand here i have mr kumba mr kumba yeah you're gonna meet yourself and wait
to be sworn in i can't can you hear me yes please spell your first and last name for the stenographer
Madeline, M-A-D-E-L-I-N-E, Shikomba, S-H-I-K-O-M-B-A.
And your address?
Novak's address is 2234 Montrose Street.
We're in a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Thank you.
Please proceed.
I have a gentleman that they were going to have some trash.
when i attended uh when i was attending at the meeting i mean i
When I attended, when I was attending at the meeting, I asked about trash.
She said there wasn't going to be any.
Now she said there's going to be trash.
And I'd like to know where is the trash going to be since the end of the building is being taken up by an addition.
So where did it happen?
Where are they going to place the trash?
There will be a daily commercial trash pickup.
Oh, she said daily.
but yeah okay well that's my question first of all the question is that and she said there's
going to be a doctor's office just taking up the rear but you still have to have a place to put
the trash even if it's going to be a daily pickup don't you well it gets put out at a certain time
every night or every morning for the commercial pickup i mean i'm looking out my front window and
i just saw a trash truck pick up the trash from the restaurant across the street
they do it every day okay my problem is that this is and we have there's no
parking for her or staff and does she I see a problem because she's gonna have
staff there and with the parking and um we have already had a parking problem as it is
so how does he spend it to uh account for this here lack of parking i don't know i don't know
if there's permit parking in that neighborhood that's going to be an issue for staff to figure
out where they're going to be parking any commercial any commercial use of that building
on the first floor will generate vehicular traffic not nothing we can do there's no way
getting around that even if it was residential they'd have the same issue anything else anyone
else wish to testify no chair that's all okay planning commission good morning david fecto
city planning commission mr chairman and members of the board this property is indicated for
commercial and mixed residential use on the city's comprehensive plan although we do not object to
the proposed use we believe that extinguishing all of the open space on the lot will have a
negative impact on the block accordingly we ask the request variances not be granted
thank you calendar number zp 2020 that's zero zero three zero eight eight 1901 christian street my
vote is yes with proviso daily trash pickup yes commercial commercial pickup yes with proviso
yes with proviso mr chair can i still be heard yes yeah just a reminder i submitted the um
i submitted the proviso letter to sharon saletta with the um the revised plan and so um okay i'm
sorry is this number five on our list carol yes it is okay i'm sorry all right back on the record
uh the revised plan is dated september 25th okay i got it zp-2020-003088 1901 christian street
my vote is yes with the revisor daily commercial trash pickup revised plan one page adopted today
approved today yes with proviso yes with proviso yes with proviso
thank you calendar number 39130
2450 north 29th street the attorney is sean ward
Mr. Ward you've been promoted to panelists you can unmute yourself and wait to be sworn in
Mr. Ward can you put your name and address on the record please
Good morning, Board.
Sean Ward, S-H-A-W-N-W-A-R-D, Counsel for the Applicant.
My address is 331 East Street Road, Trevos, T-R-E-V-O-S-E, P-A-19053.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
I certainly do, and I would waive and stipulate to the refusal.
Thank you.
And also, have you mailed an exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, refusal referral,
photos and or plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing?
And also, have you met with the RCO and do you have a letter?
if you've met with the RCO, have you met with the RCO, and do you have a letter?
Interesting. We have, my exhibits were submitted yesterday. It's one PDF consisting of, I think,
24 pages. Due to time constraints with zoning hearings in the county, as well as a common
police court hearing on Friday, I was unable to get them in sooner, and my apologies to the board
and staff. With regard to the RCO, there is a letter of opposition from Strawberry Mansion
citizens concerned. However, there was no meeting held, so I can address that as I move on.
In addition, I have Dan Valentino with me. Dan, if you could raise your hand so Ms. Sunkett could
find you on the Zoom screen. Dan is the Principal of the Ownership LLC and he is here to participate
in the hearing. Dan Valentino here. Mr. Valentino, can you put your name and address on the record?
Daniel Valentino, 2930 Jasper Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
yeah okay and do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do you may proceed can i inquire does can everybody see my screen no no
share screen oh there we go hold on
second
there you go okay no i can't say it
there we go okay all right uh i submitted my typical exhibit packet which includes a1 is the
notice of refusal this is an application i'm sorry mr ward we're looking at american legal
publishing. Could you go to your actual exhibit package? Okay. Or is it maybe on your taskbar?
Is it down? There we go. Thank you. Okay. Okay. I've submitted my typical exhibit packet,
which includes A1 is the Notice of Refusal.
This was an application for a two-family dwelling in an existing structure.
Quite frankly, it's a legalization.
The refusal is a two-family is not permitted in the district.
Accordingly, we seek a use variance today.
A2 is the ZPA application.
A3, the Project Information Form.
A4 is the Proof of Ownership, copy of the deed.
A5 is Proof of Tax Clearance.
A6 are floor plans.
A7 are photographs.
A8 is the RCO letter of opposition, again, which I will address.
A9 is the relevant zoning history.
1973, there was an office and a one family, and coincidentally, it was the 28th Ward Democrat
headquarters.
A10 is the zoning map, and A11 is the aerial photographs.
So here we have the notice of refusal, copy of the application.
the project information form copy of the deed
proof of tax clearance through 2020
here we have the floor plans you will see that on the first floor
it's basically a one-bedroom apartment straight through from the front you got the living room
a central kitchen behind that is the full bath and then the bedroom to the rear
you'll notice that there is a common vestibule entry i would point out that at the time of
purchase of this property it was vacant and abandoned and under an unsafe violation
mr valentino went ahead and corrected those violations however it was configured where
these partition walls are with uh you know two separate units he did not create the units he
simply did fit and finish improvements to the property no structural changes were made the
only electrical mechanical or plumbing work that was done were repairs no new services were run to
the property again with the second floor um you'll see again it's a living room at the front after
you come up from the stairs you come to a central hallway kitchens in the central area of the
apartment behind that is the laundry the full bath and again single bedroom at the rear of the
property
This is a picture of the posting of the property.
You can see the posters are clearly attached to the railing out front.
Plus it shows the improvements that he made to the front of the building with paint and windows.
Again, a copy of the poster.
this is a google earth picture of the property prior to construction you can see it's boarded up
and in quite disarray and needs need some attention again a different angle of the
google photo showing the property is boarded up and vacant with regard to the zoning history again
In 1973, there was an application filed for the legalization of the office and a vacant one family.
Again, you'll see it's the 28th Ward Democrat Committee, which was actually the coordinating RCO in this case.
This is the zoning map.
It's zoned RSA 5.
And, of course, the aerial photograph.
With regard to the RCO notice, the board probably has Strawberry Mansion's letter.
They've opposed the application due to the fact that the property was fully, allegedly, fully reconstructed with no permits for mechanical, electrical, or plumbing.
Again, the only mechanical, electrical, or plumbing work done was fit and finish, therefore, and repairs.
There was no permits required for that work done.
They also indicated that it was not posted.
The property was posted.
I can only imagine they went out the day before it was posted because my assistant went out, posted the property, and sent me photos immediately.
With regard to the RCO notification, you'll see this application was from last year.
The RCO notification went out November 13, 2019.
Again, you'll see the coordinating RCO is the 28th Ward Democrat Committee.
We sent out the request for a meeting November 13th, 2019, originally.
The emails will show that there was many correspondences went out requesting that meeting.
um we did have one scheduled and then we were going to reschedule that in march or april
obviously covid hit at that time you can see the dates at the top of the uh the available dates i
had um then on august 21st after being notified that this virtual hearing was scheduled for
september 29th i again requested a meeting date and again on august 27th and then finally on
September 15th however no meeting was held and despite our best efforts given that I would submit
that under the code the RCO has 45 days within which to meet upon notification 321 days that's
lapsed since the original notification and we would object to the letter from strawberry mansion
given that it does not address the merits of the application it merely addresses ancillary
allegations of non-compliance i submit that there's no open violations for no building
permit work on this property um dan if you're uh you're on can you raise your hand
and tanya could you unmute him so i can have him yes he's already available okay uh dan you've
heard my representations to the board are they true and correct to the best of your knowledge
information and belief they are sean yes and would you adopt them as your own testimony i would
and would you confirm the can you know the condition of the property at the time you
took title to it uh at the time i took title it was a rundown property it was vacant and uh just
as mr ward had said it was uh it was a fit and finish we did largely all cosmetic work with very
minor repairs to any kind of MEP systems and we had we actually were under the assumption that
this was zoned as a multifamily when we went to obtain our rental license prior to leasing it out
that is when we noticed that in fact was not one of the reasons why we were under the impression
that it was a multifamily is because we were billed by the city as a multifamily for refuse
Very good.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
So, Mr. Chairman, based upon the evidence presented, we believe that the hardship was
not created by the applicant here. It was configured as a two-unit structure. Evidence
has been displayed that it was used as an office on the first floor in the past with
a dwelling above. Unfortunately, that's the only zoning permits on file. And we would submit that
the applicant has met his burden and we would ask that the board grant the requested relief.
Am I still on?
Frank, we can't hear you.
No, nothing at all.
no only on the phone okay now it seems like it's a little bit coming through do
you have your volume turned up on your device yes it's very faint barely coming
through could I suggest you log off and log back in and see if it resets
can you hear me now yes perfect chair i can hear you now yeah i was i'm sorry mr ward i was trying
to get through to you i wanted to swear your witnessing but we'll take care of that no problem
he was sworn in chair okay thank you the issue raised by strawberry mansion
about work that was being done do you have a co we can't get a co until we get our zoning permit
and okay so we'll make that a condition yeah i mean you know just as a general uh comment
in any zoning case anytime you get a zoning uh change of use you are required to get a co
afterwards and that's a mistake a lot of people make well we do there's some of the council
members require that when we approve so we'll just make that it can we'll make that a proviso all
right all right uh any board members have any questions for mr ward no no no anyone else wish
to testify in this case please raise your hand chair we have strawberry mansion
hello hi how are you uh who's speaking bonita coming strawberry mansion community concern
okay you were already sworn in earlier still under oath please proceed yes um as a member of the uh
28th ward that property um was not configured we use it as a space for meeting so there was major
reconstruction done to accommodate uh two floors being used as multifamily uh putting in you know
bathrooms and other areas uh we don't know if any underpinning went into the basement we have no way
without the permits electrical if it was that deteriorated and dilapidated there was new
construction as it relates to a new electrical so we want to know that the the property is a safe
property and the permits for the work that was done for such a dilapidated property should have
been pulled prior to reconstructing that building into a multifamily. I sent my notice on September
the 4th as an email regarding non-posting. So I did not run out and say from the day before that
the building had not been posted. So I'm not sure when they notified. There was no notification to
the community in that block maybe before the day before that that meeting that this meeting is
taking place today. Ward 28th may be on the call I'm not sure but that property was a reconstruction
that was not some fix up and you can see if it was that deteriorated it required more
uh some fix up and you can see if it was that deteriorated it required more than just some
patching and fix up work again if i can respond to that mr chairman uh since we do have to file
for a co you know the proper inspections that would be conducted by l and i and if there's
any any non-compliance obviously that would have to be corrected prior to the co being issued
agreed thank you anyone else
no chair you can proceed planning commission
good morning david fecto city planning commission this property is indicated for residential single
family use in the city's comprehensive plan the east side of this block has mostly two-story
single-family homes the west side has mostly three-story single-family homes however we do
not believe that a pre-existing two-unit home will have an adverse impact on the block accordingly we
have no objection to granting this variance thank you uh what is the address again of carol 2450
north 29th street north 29th street and it's calendar number 39130
nine one three oh number eight on the list i believe yeah my list everything went on my phone
i don't have a list so all right calendar number three nine one three zero two four five oh north
29th street my vote is yes but proviso a co must be obtained within six months
my vote is yes proviso yes with proviso yes with proviso thank you mr chairman that concludes my
business until two o'clock may i be excused yes you may have a good day thank you very much thank
you calendar number zp2020-000467 the address is 2453 grand avenue carrie nace paust is the attorney
carrie you've been promoted to panelists you can unmute yourself to wait to be sworn in
and you can share your screen for your exhibit. Hi Carrie, can you put your name and address on
the record? Yes, good morning. Carrie Nace Past, attorney with the law firm of Fox Rothschild,
address 2700 Kelly Road, Suite 300, Warrington, PA, 18976. Do you swear or affirm to tell the
whole truth and nothing but the truth? I do. Do you also agree to waive the reading of the refusal
and stipulate to its accuracy i do have you sent in your exhibit of packets including proof of
ownership proof of tax compliance refusal referral photos plans of this property five days in advance
of the hearing and have you met with your rco and do you have a letter i did submit an exhibit
packet. We did attempt to reach out to the Northeast Community Civic Alliance marked as
exhibit 11 in the packet of information as documentation. We had reached out to the RCO,
which is Northeast Community Civic Alliance, back early in June before we even filed the appeal
to try to meet with them and discuss the project. After the appeal was filed, we were in touch with
the president of the RCO. We worked with them. We were able to schedule a community meeting for
August 20th at 6 30 p.m. Notices did go out as required to the community group, notifying them
of the meeting. The meeting was actually held, or I should say it was started. We logged on to Zoom
that evening and the meeting was abruptly canceled at the very last minute on, and that was August
20th august 21st i did receive an email from the president indicating that he assured me that it
would be rescheduled in a timely manner i did follow up with him on august 28th september 3rd
september 9th and again on september 14th asking to have the meeting rescheduled with no response
to any of those communications i did work with alice yudovich in councilman o'neill's office
and did discuss this with her, and still we were unable to get any type of response from the RCO.
So we did make a good faith effort to try to meet with them.
As I said, the meeting was scheduled and at the last minute canceled.
So I am respectfully requesting that the zoning board allow the hearing to continue today.
Please proceed.
Thank you.
I'm going to share my screen
i'm going to share my screen this works you see my screen it's coming up yes great great thank you
so this works.
so i represent the applicant which is central square center inc who is the owner of this
property located at 2453 grant avenue on the line with me today is excuse me could i interrupt a
minute sure that calendar number is different than the one you read off to isn't it uh carol
did you read off zp 2020-000467 yes and that was for the same address chair if i could interject
um yeah i'm looking at the there are different numbers zoning permit is zp right what she's
actually in now is the meeting item number so either would be appropriate okay i didn't know
if we had to go back and correct it so we're okay to continue with the zp number correct
but when we voted when i voted should it be the am i either would be okay
either one okay just want to clarify thank you i'm sorry uh cara please proceed
Sure, sure. Also on the line with me is Carl Schwemlein, who is the owner of the property, as well as David Clapper and Alex Chadwick from Ethos Cannabis, and Brooke Wister from Thomas Jefferson University.
As I indicated, I did submit an exhibit packet.
In front of you here is the index.
The zoning packet included a copy of the Zoning Use Registration Permit Application,
the Notice of Refusal, the Application of Appeal to the Zoning Board of Adjustment and
the Completed Project Information Form, Deed to the Property, Letter of Authorization,
the certificate of tax compliance photographs of the zoning notice aerial photograph of the
property photographs of the exterior interior a documentation of our meeting requests with
the rco some information regarding ethos cannabis letter support from thomas jefferson university
and our witness list we also did receive a letter yesterday afternoon from councilman brian o'neill's
office that I did forward to Ms. Sunkit as well as Ms. Oletta and ask that that be part of the
record as well. I'm going to scroll down quickly here. The property as I indicated is 2453 Grant
Avenue. It is located between Bluegrass Road. Let me pull up the aerial for you quickly.
see if I can kind of rotate this view so here is Grant Avenue here along the
bottom is Roosevelt Boulevard you have Bluegrass Road to the top and right here
you'll see is 2453 Grant Avenue this property is zoned CA1 it is within a
commercial corridor. The premises that is in question here is actually two
interior storefronts within the shopping center. It's highlighted here in
yellow. The proposal is that both of these spaces will be consolidated into
one, which will be approximately 3,200 square feet of space. The owner is
proposing to use this space as a medical marijuana dispensary, which would then be leased to Ethos
Cannabis, who would be the operator of the dispensary. The dispensary is not permitted
under the CA1 zoning district, which is the result of the notice of refusal due to use.
So we are asking for a variance to allow this space to be permitted to be used for the dispensary.
The shopping center is a small family-owned center, leased primarily to mom-and-pop stores.
One of the spaces has been vacant since 2016, and over the past few years, we certainly
have seen a decline in retail.
Certainly, due to the effects of COVID, we have recently even seen a greater decline
in retail, leaving spaces such as this vacant, creating a hardship there on the
owners in trying to lease this space and coming up with an adaptive reuse for vacant space.
So last year, let me just go back and rotate the view.
Under exhibit 10, there are photographs, as I said, of the existing premises.
existing premises so this photograph is taken standing on the property looking
So this photograph is taken standing on the property looking down.
down to Grant Avenue towards Roosevelt Boulevard the next is a view across the
street of Grant Avenue again looking towards Roosevelt the next few are kind
of looking across the street this photograph here is on the property
looking down Grant Avenue towards Bluegrass Road. This here this photograph
here shows the actual shopping center itself that we're talking about and the
premises in this area. So a few last year my client started considering its
options to rent the vacant space started its conversation with ethos cannabis at that time
the property was actually zoned cmx3 which does in fact allow a dispensary by right
as they continued their discussions and ethos started doing their due diligence on the property
unbeknownst to the owner we learned that the property had been rezoned to ca1 which no longer
allows the dispensary by right. Ethos was granted a clinical research license under the Pennsylvania
Medical Marijuana Act and is currently partnering with Thomas Jefferson University
and is very interested in this particular location due to the close proximity of Thomas
Jefferson University. As you can see on this aerial, they are located immediately adjacent
dispensaries in this area are considered a retail use and actually are
very similar to other pharmacy uses that would be permitted under the CA1
district. I'm just going to scroll through some of these photographs.
square. I'm just going to get down to our, I apologize, let me get through these exhibits here.
There we go. Great. So the, as I mentioned, the dispensaries are similar to a pharmacy use that
would otherwise be permitted under the CA1 district and is consistent with the commercial
area of this property and we believe would be a good use for this property, allowing otherwise
vacant space to be utilized and would not have an adverse impact on the surrounding community.
What I'd like to do, Ms. Sunkit, if you could, David Clapper from Ethos is on the line as well,
And I'd like just to have him give a brief overview of Ethos' business, their current operations in Philadelphia, and their relationship with Thomas Jefferson University and why it's important to have a location that's in close proximity.
David Krepper, you've been unmuted.
I don't know if we necessarily need that. I think we understand. I'll ask the board if they have any need for that information.
I mean that respectfully, ma'am.
all right yeah i think it would be easier just if you want to get your client to adopt your
testimony and then we can move on sure i will run through this so um uh as i indicated ethos
does have i will just say that they do currently have operations in philadelphia and center city
and they work with thomerson jefferson university uh what i'd like to do is ask mr uh schwemlein
if you could also unmute him, Ms. Packett.
Is he unmuted?
No, can they raise their hand?
Thank you.
There we go.
Good morning, everyone.
Carl Schwemlein, S-C-H-W-E, M as in Michael, L-E-I, N as in Nancy.
And your title?
I am speaking on behalf of the ownership of Century Flour Shopping Center.
Okay, and you swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Thank you. Please proceed.
Great. Mr. Schwemlein, you were here this morning during the testimony and statements that I had given?
And do you believe that the statements that were made are true and correct to the best of your knowledge?
And would you agree to accept the testimony as your own?
Great. I would also like Mr. Clapper, if I could, if he could be sworn in to accept the
testimony given with respect to Ethos. Yes. Mr. Clapper, are you on?
Mr. Clapper, you can unmute. Yes, I am on. Thank you. Please spell your full name, Mr. Clapper.
Yes, I am on.
Thank you.
Please spell your full name, Mr. Clapper.
D-A-V-I-D-C-L-A-P-P-E-R.
And you swear in the firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
And your position?
I'm the president of Pennsylvania and the chief financial officer for Ethos.
Thank you.
Please proceed.
Thank you.
And Mr. Clapper, were you present during the testimony and statements that I had given
earlier this morning?
yes i was and do you agree that the statements that i made with respect to ethos and the licensing
are true and correct yes would you agree to accept the testimony as your own yes thank you
thank you questions from the board no no anyone else wish to testify in this matter if so please
raise your hand no hands at this time thank you tanya uh planning commission good morning david
fecto city planning commission mr chairman and members of the board this property is indicated
for commercial use on the comprehensive plan we believe the proposed use matches the pattern
of existing development on this block and we do not believe that the addition of a facility
that is similar to a pharmacy or in an existing shopping center will have an adverse impact on
the area. Accordingly, we have no objection to granting this variance. Thank you. ZP-2020-000467
2453 Grant Avenue. My vote is yes. My vote is yes. My vote is yes. My vote is yes. My vote is yes.
Thank you. Thank you very much for your time. Thank you. Have a good day. You too.
Calendar number 104-3956-277, Nandina Place.
The attorney is Alan Nockamson.
Good morning.
Good morning.
Name and address for the record.
Yes, Alan Nockamson of Nockamson, PC, 123 South Broad Street, Suite 1600, Philadelphia, PA,
19109.
Do you agree to
swear to a firm
to tell the truth, the whole truth
and nothing but the truth? I do.
Do you agree to wait for reading the refusal
and stipulate to its accuracy?
I do. Have you emailed
the packet with the required documents
which would include proof of ownership, tax
compliance, refusal,
referral, photos and or
plans of the property five days in advance
of this hearing? Have you
also met with the RCO and if so do you have a letter? I have and yes I do. You may proceed.
May I share my screen? Sure.
In front of you is a packet of exhibits which include eight of them. The first exhibit is the
a deed to the property showing that Yana and Natalia Mataviska own the property at 277
Adina Place. 277 Adina Place is an RTA 1 property and by the way here's a certificate of tax
clearance. It's an RTA 1 property pre-existing structure that's zoned to allow for two units
and there's a zoning permit as of right for two units. There's a garage in the unit
for this two unit structure and there's a driveway in the front. We're being refused because we're
asking to close off the garage where we're trying to expand unit number one of two units to increase
the living space and it's stating that accessory off-street parking spaces is prohibited in a
required front yard the only objection i would have is that it's not really a front yard
it's a driveway and you'll see that from the pictures here's our application for appeal
that we filed with the zoning board of adjustment along with the required project information form
here's our zoning map showing where we are we're in a cul-de-sac again in somerton section of
philadelphia and then you'll see photographs of the property so you'll see that this is what
they consider a front yard. This already has a pre-existing curb cut. The only thing that
we're trying to do is eliminate this garage. As you'll see, there's a sufficient amount
of off-street parking, even if we had no parking in our driveway, which we do, which is the
driveway, but they call it a front yard. And you'll see that anyone who's anyone uses their
uses their garages, anything but garages, you'll see everyone's parked in front of, in their driveways,
garages, anything but garages, you'll see everyone's parking.
which would be no different than what we're proposing.
You'll see from our plans that we're requesting two parking spots, one for each of the units.
As you probably noted or saw in the notice of refusal,
we're not seeking any dimensional variances in terms of the parking spaces.
and the use of the property is really not changing other than giving us additional square footage in unit number one.
Now, we kind of met with the Somerton Civic Association in that they did not want to meet with us in person
and they did not want to have a Zoom session.
So over the course of weeks, we answered questions like in writing and provided those answers
and they submitted that onto their website.
They also asked us pictures for the interior of unit number one because none of the concerns
or questions had to do with the parking out front.
I don't think anyone would dispute that our request is a reasonable request for a variance.
The issue was that they thought that we were asking for this additional square footage
by utilizing the garage to create three units.
And we stated time and time again, that's not our intention.
It's not part of our application.
This is an RTA1 property, which allows for a duplex.
We have a permanent record as a duplex.
If we wanted to increase the amount of units from two to three, we would have to seek governmental approval and a variance.
And, you know, again, they seem very unconvinced for some reason, stating that for some reason they believe we're going to put three units.
I stated, you know, I asked my client many times, you know, are you putting three units?
The answer was no.
I indicated to my client that if we did use three units, you know, very likely L&I was going to be called out where there would be a violation and then we would have to go through this variance process.
And I told my client, too, that very unlikely we would get community support because they're against three units.
Although I will say that there are other three-unit structures in the vicinity of our property, so it's not uncommon, but that's not part of our application.
All we're trying to do is allow for us to park our cars in our driveway, which the city, you know, in an antiquated way, state is a front yard, but, you know, it is a driveway.
So that's basically it in a nutshell.
Do you have floor plans you can share with us?
Do you have floor plans again?
Yeah, we do not have floor plans. It wasn't something that they even asked us for. If you look at their picture, their letter, there is a link to our pictures that we sent them. So again, all we're trying to do is increase the square footage of the unit.
there's not what's the what's the first floor consist of uh where the garage area is that's
is that first floor is that yeah that is that that is the first this is the first floor and
i have a hard time reading it it's a little bit blurry here okay just describe if you could what's
in that um uh you have i think they're going up to three bedrooms from two bedrooms uh there is no
you know there's no underground units in the bedroom in the basement so all we're trying to
do is take this little portion of the garage area and add a square footage to make it you know more
desirable units and again we're not trying to make it into a third unit and I and if you look
at the letter that they said it was over and like if you know every question was like why are you
converting this into a third unit? And I'm like, we're not. So how many bedrooms are in this upper
floor unit, the second floor unit? I can have my client answer that question. Okay. So, so actually,
Linad Chernak, can you virtually raise your hand?
while she's getting on the additional square footage that you're one of your client uh is
seeking here is that just a bedroom or is there a bathroom in there as well in here i think we'll
be trying to make it in that area right where your cursor is now you're going to create another
bedroom my question is will it be strictly a bedroom or is there going to be a bathroom
in that area as well i i'm not 100 sure i don't know because we haven't completed the construction
no because we haven't completed the construction like we're trying to just again square it off and
like we're trying to just again square it off
then look into how we're going to like lay this out a little better but again the reason i say
that because if you put a bathroom in there it could be creating a studio unit oh no i don't
know the square footage it's may not be big enough no it's it's it's a look at the garage i mean if
you look at it i'm trying to get yeah again the diagram no disrespect to you is a little bit
difficult for me anyway to follow so how many square feet are we adding on by taking the garage
out and adding it to that first floor i mean the garage itself looks like maybe it's 10 feet and
you're talking about maybe 15 feet back you're talking about like 150 feet like there's no
yeah all right yeah and and we're not creating another opening if you look at like that's what
i'm saying no other entrance everything comes in the same way right yeah everything comes in the
same way exactly they're like we're not trying to create a front entrance to here okay it's just
like a window um mr knockamson yes i have a person with the name of ellie n is that the individual
i don't know let me text uh because i know he was on for a while hold on a second um
lynn are you a party to this property
you can unmute yourself yes i am yes okay all right one more question alan before we get
looking at this diagram the dark lines at the bottom
uh looks like it's a door is that a doorway entrance is that a doorway there yeah right
there yes i i would ask i would ask mr chernak to answer the questions okay let's get him on
i'm on sir sir please spell your full name uh my full name is leonard chernak l-o-l-e-o-n-i-d
last name c-h-e-r-n-y-a-k and you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing
about the truth i do i don't know if you heard my question uh looking at this uh floor plan
uh where the two cars would be parked moving up into the where you want to eliminate the garage
the garage door goes away i assume you're putting a window in there correct and next to the window
going from left to right is that a doorway correct leading into the area that you're
looking to expand that 10 by 15 or so yes what happens what what else does what else connects
to that front you that unit you're looking to add so so it was a basement basically garage and
storage areas right it's probably more like 20 by 20 if i if i had to guess um what it was
there was a garage there was one garage door that was closed off and there was another dummy door
and inside was like some illegal unit from 20 years ago when when the owner bought it all we
did but the owner was using the space for himself all that got gutted out and broken up and it was
basically made into one big room where the garages are so the first floor could use it and you could
get more rent basically there was an existing bathroom that's still there that's just getting
upgraded in the next room over i guess it was a studio i don't know what use it was for but you
could see we completely gutted everything it's not it's not it's no longer a a studio but will
Will there be a partition separating the area, what looks like the side entrance?
Is that a doorway entrance on the side?
There always was.
Yeah, there's steps going down.
I want to make sure that it is not an extra unit, a studio unit.
in no way, shape, or form.
In fact, it used to be a unit years ago
that the owner of the unit never used.
And he said to break it and extend the first unit.
Mr. Chairman, again, this unit,
this building's allowed for two units.
Our application is not changing.
That used to increase it.
We understand.
Again, they're basically saying
we're putting three units in here.
I understand what you're saying,
and they understand the concern of the community so what i'm getting at is how do we make i want
to make we'll put some proviso in there if we have to but i'm just curious when you make use
use of that garage area storage area for a living uh for living quarters a bedroom
of that garage area storage area for a living
that it is not being uh not going to be built with a bathroom in it in that portion and that
it is still accessible to the other floor the other part of that floor area if i'm making my
i don't know if i'm making myself clear because all you're showing is this open space you're not
showing any partition where that family room or whatever it's called again i can't read it it's
not print isn't big enough it's blurred uh if you can go with your cursor again to the where the
garage door right from all that area that whole big area all the way from there up right
you want to create another bedroom correct and if your cursor would go across
20 feet or whatever deep it will be no right so you're now creating another room right
that's correct which is which is which mr chanak said stated was like originally was not broken
up that will be broken up and inclusive within this unit that's why i want to make is there
access to this of this unit will there be access to this unit or is it a straight across wall
Mr. Chernak
I'm not understanding
I don't see anything you guys are talking about
As far as the cursor
My screen is black, I see your faces
So I'm a little confused
Mr. Chernak, the chairman's asking this
Will the bedroom that's going to be created
By utilizing the garage
Will that have direct access
Within unit number one
The ground floor unit
yes absolutely yes you're walking from the first unit you come down the stairs and you're inside
this room yeah so mr chairman we're not creating partitions where we're closing off this in any
ways it's just an extension of unit number one okay that one that's what i wanted to make clear
because we don't see all we see is the open space we don't see a diagram that shows where the bedroom
will be you know where the new bedroom will will be placed we know approximately where but we don't
mr chairman yes if if you look in the pictures i don't know if you because i can't see them
but if you took a look on the pictures of the open space that we sent to the community you see a
doorway if you walk through that doorway and walk up the steps you're in unit one yeah and actually
mr chairman it's actually in their letter the length of it if you if that we gave them pictures
we showed them interior photos of like you know because we have done some minimal minimal demolition
interior demolition work showing that it is going to be accessed through unit number one directly
on the side uh it's just a secondary exit in or entrance in the front of the property but we're
not like we're not creating a third unit i understand but when you look we don't have any
pictures we don't have anything to see other than that diagram you're providing us let's see
one could assume that that entrance that is to the right of where the existing garage door is
could be the entrance into a studio unit yeah i'm not saying it will be but that it could be again
because the diagram doesn't really specify uh any of the issues that i raised i mean i'm just
kind of flying you know mr chairman yes i just want to add another point there's a back door
to this so so there's there's already a separate space from the back existing back door into the
basement so if we were to do a unit we wouldn't need to add a front door you could just leave
the door in the back all right again the owner just yeah the owner just wanted the door yeah
I'm sorry for talking over you.
I apologize.
Again, we don't have enough.
We don't see it.
And maybe I'm wrong, but I just see this one big space.
And we're being told that there's going to be a portion of that space that will create a third bedroom.
And then I see a doorway leading into that bedroom from where the driveway is or the car point.
yeah well and and mr chairman maybe this is my fault again i i think that this is a very
straightforward you know request and and the refusal has nothing to do with the interior space
like the refusal has to do with the with the parking you know that's why you know i understand
that i understand and maybe that's my understanding the community's concern that it could potentially
could be and i'm not saying your client's going to do but it could potentially have been created
could be and i'm not saying your client's going to do but it could potentially have been created
because you could be creating a third unit a studio unit and my client understands that and
we indicated that if my client or some subsequent owner tried to do that i i can almost guarantee
that the neighboring property owners would call lni and then we would have a violation because
we're out we're outside the bounds of allowing for two units understood i just okay i'm sorry
to take up so much time i have any questions from the board no no all right um anyone else
wish to testify in this case if so please raise your hand no hands at this time planning commission
Good morning, David Fecto, City Planning Commission. Mr. Chairman and members of the
board, this property is indicated for residential two-family use on the city's comprehensive plan.
The applicant already has access to off-street garage parking. We do not believe that there
is any hardship to justify this variance. Accordingly, we recommend that this variance
not be granted. Repeat that again, David. It's zoned for two-family dwelling. Sorry.
As indicated for two-family dwelling, the applicant already has access to off-street
garage parking.
We do not believe there is any hardship to justify this variance.
Accordingly, we recommend this variance not be granted.
All right.
I'm getting old for this job.
Calendar number MI, and correct me if I'm wrong, Carol.
calendar number mi2020-0000500 that's correct 277 nadian n-a-n-d-i-a-n place
my vote is yes with the proviso maximum two units no separate dwelling unit
my vote is yes with proviso
yes with proviso yes with proviso thank you
calendar number 38980 the address is 4544 green street
i don't have an attorney listed with this we don't have any hands up for this one if there's
someone for this case raise your hand you can move on no one responded no one so i i'm trying
remember do we still dismiss or did we change no we're going to do a continuance if i could request
right okay and after the next listing of dismissal okay calendar number 38980
4544 green street is continued thank you tanya calendar number i'm going to go back to the middle
numbers calendar number mi202000029 the address is 5405 christian street
i don't have an attorney listed here
we have kyle samson uh who would like to continue to speak to this case
yes hello mr chairman yes you're still under oath mr sampson please proceed yes i contacted
the councilman gautier's office andrew goodman and he issued the uh request for a
request for continuance however the lawyer told me that he would be available at 11 30 he was in
a court zoom and it appears that he is not available at this point he's ready he just
sent me a text message and he's ready okay if he can get on okay I need him to raise his hand
you said he's ready to proceed now Mr. Simpson yes he is ready to proceed now he just sent me
a message so do you want to call the next case then come back to him to this one is that the
last case carol we have two more well let's do the other ones and we'll come we'll do this one last
okay great okay calendar number mi 2020-00
2 0 2 0 dash oh oh oh oh six six sixty four one five harbison avenue
tanya i don't know if james murray is an attorney
car what's that calendar number again zero zero zero
2-0-2-0-0-0-0-0-6-6.
These numbers are so small.
They're four zeros.
Is someone here for 6415 Harbison?
If so, raise your hand.
No hands.
Is that 6401?
6415 Harbison Avenue.
I'm sorry.
All right. No one's here. Calendar number MI-2020-000066. 6415 Harbison Avenues continue.
We also have no exhibits for that. The next case is
calendar number mi2020-001055 911 north 26th street the attorney is alan knockinson
where are you at carol what number is that that is it appears to be number 16
it's the one right after harbison avenue on my paper
that's at two o'clock
okay strike that we're done oh no we're not we have to go back to
5405 christian street christian or green no it's christian i don't see the attorney as of yet
now let's give them a couple more minutes
Mr. Sampson
Kyle Sampson
oh yes the attorney says he's on george gossett is on he said
mr gossett go ahead frank yeah yeah i'm sorry i'm waiting it makes i don't see him up there yet
i don't see his name yet
Yeah, I'm not sure what Zoom meeting he's at, but we don't see him on this one.
Tanya, would it be okay if we put this on the two o'clock list?
If we can't get Mr. Gossett in the next couple of minutes?
sure that would be fine chair let's just give them a couple more minutes
might be having technical issues
and we can put it even here as the first case at two o'clock
all right let's do that we'll put them on the first case two o'clock
okay so mr sampson if you could reach out to mr gossett and you can have him contact us
or if you can let him know we can hear his case at 2 p.m this afternoon very well thank you very
thank you kindly okay cheered us all the business any no unfinished business tanya no sir good okay
everyone we'll see everyone back at two o'clock thank you i'm sorry i'm sorry um we just had a
pop-up mary jones has raised her hand okay you would allow yep miss jones you're still under earth
um hi um just a question what happened with 1740 north marshall was that one of the ones
that was continued there were a few at the beginning that i didn't get the address for
Carol, you have the list. I think it is, but I don't have the list in front of me.
I do have the list. Some help Marshall.
Marshall, it was continued, but for future reference, you can ask that question in the Q&A, and we can respond to staff.
It was continued, but for future reference.
It was continued.
Thanks, Tanya.
You're welcome.
Everyone, see you back at 2 o'clock. Thank you.
yeah my wife got my printer working so took a little longer than I expected
ah see that nice person yeah she gets paid well
I assume we're I assume we're all ready
if there's anyone who's not ready say something now I'll forever hold your tongue
ready or not here I come oh god um excuse me this is Sharon can I just confirm that you've
the email with the first the three things that you're going to start with yes yes yep okay this
is the one about the two o'clock hearings correct the three three items three items and there is
one additional um christian street this morning that you said um you gave the applicant a chance
to come back because his attorney wasn't um on signed on yet yes um but before starting that
one if you could confirm that they have submitted exhibits because I don't have any record of it
that's one I believe with the attorney was Gossett yes that's it all right uh let's
let me do the opening statement then we'll get right to that one and then we'll go from there
all right everybody Tanya ready yes chair all right thank you all good afternoon everyone my
name is Frank DiCicco I'm the chair of the zoning board of adjustment I'll be participating in
today's hearing along with Ms. Carol Tenere, Board Secretary, Confessor Plaza, and Board
Member Thomas Holloman. Jim is still not with us, right? Yeah. For those of you who haven't
yet participated in one of our virtual hearings, I'll go through some of the basics of what
you can expect. First, we will be administering oaths to individual participants prior to
their testimony. Second, for the benefit of anyone participating by phone, we ask that attorneys and
witnesses identify themselves prior to speaking or testifying. Third, we'd like to advise everyone
that this proceeding is being recorded, and by participating, you acknowledge your agreement to
be recorded. Fourth, for anyone participating by phone, if you wish to testify, you must raise
your hand by hitting star nine and then star six to unmute your mute yourself i will repeat
for anyone participating by phone we ask that attorneys and witnesses identify
no i already read that sorry third for any if you'd like
i've had this day's over too long for me i apologize i'll repeat the fourth item again
for anyone participating by phone, if you wish to testify, you must raise your hand by hitting star
nine and then star six to unmute yourself. Finally, to enter an appearance statement, call Google
267-270-5548 and leave your email address and the address of the property at issue. And I'll
repeat that. To enter an appearance statement, call Google 267-270-5548 and leave your email
address and the address of the property at issue. With that said, we can begin, but before Vice
Chair Tenere calls our first case, we'd like to ask if anyone is requesting a continuance or
withdrawal of an appeal listed for this afternoon's
hearing. Please raise your hand if you wish to request a continuance or
withdrawal for the two o'clock session today.
Here we have Mary Jones. Mary you can unmute yourself and speak to a
continue. And Mary, you're still under earth from this morning. Thank you. Good morning. Oh, excuse me. Good afternoon. Mary Jones from the Council President Daryl Clark's office, room 496 City Hall. I am calling to request what we're hoping will be just a fairly brief continue.
requests what we're hoping will be just a fairly brief continuance for 909 North 26th Street,
calendar number 40044. Just due to the scale of the project, we've been in discussions with the
uh rco we're hoping to get more input from the near neighbors it um will be just to get have a
little bit more understanding of the concerns of the near neighbors and um and hope and i spoke
with the attorney as well so i'm not sure what and what is that address again it's 909 north 26th
street i don't have it chair we didn't have it it's 9 11 then is it different is it is it for
the two o'clock list so that would be number one if it's 9 11 north 26 9 11 but okay so it was a
wrong address all right incorrect okay multiple addresses associated with okay all right so mi
2020-001055
911 North 26th Street is continued.
If the applicant's attorney is here, could we also hear from them?
Yes, Mr. Chairman, this is Alan Knopferson.
Go ahead.
No worries. Yes, I talked to Mrs. Jones.
That request was made at like 1.50 p.m.
today. I'm always willing to work with the community, especially since I actually live
in Fairmont myself. So I'm always willing to work with my community. But what we're requesting
is a short continuance. This matter, I believe the appeal was filed in March. We worked with
the Fairmont Civic Association to even have a continuance of, I believe there was a hearing
date in July. They did not want to meet with us until September 24th. So that's why we
had the hearing scheduled for today so if we are if we would agree to a continuance but we're asking
for the uh a real realistment uh for two weeks from today uh i don't know if that's doable we
have to speak to tanya yeah yeah because we i mean we filed this in march like you know we yeah
yes this was filed march 4th uh sharon would it be possible for them to hear and then have
community input because i can't do this for two weeks we already packed um this is that would have
to be the boards and yeah so i'll ask that question of miss jones there's a suggestion
that we hear and hold for a couple of weeks because it'll take much longer for a continuance
and that would be a hear and hold where there would be part two of the hearing and the community
would have an opportunity to present its side of this and to have input.
That, I believe, should be fine.
This isn't a situation where they're against it.
We just wanted to try to have more time to gather input from the near neighbors.
I'm just curious if the community, if Larry, anyone from the Fairmont Civic Association
is on the line.
because i good question is there anyone from fairmount civic on the line if so please raise
your hand and by the way this is not an error a exercise into rushing for a decision on this
it's trying to get it kind of make a compromise here because the continuance date will be many
weeks out no chair no hands come up all right so yeah okay miss jones we'll do that we'll hear it
and then we'll hold any decision for at least two weeks, right?
Yes, if we could give a specific date and time, that would be helpful.
Ms. Sunkett, if...
About October 14th, that Wednesday we can discuss and you can vote in executive session
and then vote on record, October 14th.
October 14th works 9 30 a.m. yes thank you I'm sorry go ahead oh mr. chair just I
just want to understand so October 14th there would be a supplemental hearing
at 9 30 p.m. a.m. to for any community input if need be okay all right there
may not be any issues and we can just vote it okay all right excuse me if
we're done with that we have one more continuance request that was sent in by
Richard I just want to make sure I'm sorry no no no problem okay Miss Jones
Hold on. I'm sorry. No, no, no problem. Okay. Ms. Jones.
Yes, that, that does sound fine. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks, Alan. Okay. Next.
There was a continuance request submitted by Rich DeMarco for calendar number 39273,
1615 South Broad Street. They need additional time to meet with the RCO.
That's a number 15 on our list.
okay uh mi-2020-000070 1615 south broad is continued
any other requests out there for continuances or withdrawals
chair yes ma'am if i may i have a continuance request that came in
from henry clinton attorney for number 14
16 north salford okay mi-2020-000153
16 North South 4
S-A-L-F-O-R-D Street
is continued
okay I have
another hand up
France Pierre you can unmute yourself
and speak to a continuing
please
France good afternoon
please identify yourself for the record
and I'll swear you in
yes that's France Pierre
Councilmember Johnson's office
That's F-R-A-N-T-Z, last name Pierre, P-I-E-R-R-E.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, and good afternoon, fellow board members.
Do you swear in the firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
I sure do.
Okay, what case are we talking about, Frantz?
Yes, we are referring to case number 1014851.
that's 1816 South 18th Street. Point Breeze CBC did not get a chance to meet with the applicant
so they are requesting the continuance. Okay that's it isn't that we have an MI number for that.
MI-2020-0000241816 South 18th Street will be continued. Again is there anyone here for the
applicant who wishes to speak to the continuance thank you for reminding me
calendar number ending i'm sorry phone number ended in a55 are you here regarding this continuance
1816 south 18th street
okay i don't see anybody who would be okay any other requests
continuances or withdrawals um calendar number i'm sorry phone number ending in 855 are you here
for a continuance
moving on we have henry clinton henry clinton you can go forward um and unmute yourself and
wait to be sworn in tanya you already covered my request for a continuance on 16 north south
okay perfect thank you moving forward we have andrew goodman andrew goodman you can unmute
yourself and speak to a continuance hi good afternoon andrew goodman g-o-o-d-m-a-n office
of third district council member jamie gaudier we're in front to tell the truth the whole truth
and nothing but the truth yes thank you andrew please proceed i'm just here to follow up on the
contents of a letter we submitted to zba staff earlier this week regarding a continuance request
for appeal number 38450-5506 baltimore avenue and i believe this is the first case on the
um email that i sent you yes mr goodman is that correct it's the one that was listed this morning
yes that's right thank you and the applicant should be here as well and the applicant
ring we're in agreement on a continuance no they're not they were here this morning they
had this one from this this one with mr mr sampson correct and gossip no that is not that
No, that is not that one. It's the first on the email that I sent you. You announced the continuance this morning. The applicant was present. He submitted his exhibits. He wants to request that it go forward and also to put on the record the efforts that he's made to schedule an RCO meeting.
It's the first on the email that I sent.
Would this be Sadiq?
Yes, I think that's right.
Okay, Sadiq, you can unmute yourself and wait to be sworn in.
please spell your first and last name
Sadiq you can unmute yourself yes my name is Sadiq s-a-d-i-k last name Karakulak
k-a-r-a-k-u-l-a-k your address my address is 5504 baltimore avenue six
Do you swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
There's a request from the councilwoman's office, as per I believe the RCO, and correct me from wrong,
to have this case continued.
You tried to contact them.
Yeah, I tried to contact with them. I talked with them and I sent some information and plans.
I talk and then I meet with them and after that they didn't respond.
I talked with Mr. Blount and Mr. Floyd.
Yeah, but they didn't answer so I don't know.
Mr. Goodman, were you contacted by the RCO?
Your office was contacted by the RCO requesting the continuance?
is that question for us no it's for mr goodman from councilwoman
sorry i know i must have had some technical difficulties my zoom restarted so i need
no problem we're all having issues today um yeah we had not we had not received any correspondence
until until today now my understanding is that the case you know pre predated us so we were not
involved in the actual selection of the coordinating rco um so if we had known that there was a you
know if if we had known that the applicant was having an issue we could have helped to support
them or even reassigned an rco if need be but you know community engagement and notification and
involvement is a really central part of this process so we will we will gladly assist the
applicant in the next phase um you know assuming there is a continuance today okay well if we grant
the continuance uh we'll grant the continuance and i would ask that um mr carl clue yes i know
i'm misunderstood mr goodman and uh you should have a conversation with mr goodman and he'll
advise you what the next steps are thank you mi-2020-000087 5506 baltimore avenue is being
continued thank you
anyone else we have chose richardson mr richardson you can unmute yourself and
speak to a continuum good morning mr chair well good
afternoon rather mr chair and uh board members uh
charles richards charles richardson from councilwoman cindy bass's office
You swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
Please proceed.
Calendar number 39180, 3517 North 15th Street.
They have not been able to meet with the RCO as yet.
I spoke with Veronica Holman of Tioga United this afternoon,
and they are in the midst of catching up on their scheduling with regard to these RCO meetings.
So we're asking for a continuance for this for this variance and they'll be scheduled in short term and they should be able to get another date.
Thank you. Is there anyone out there who has an issue with the request for continuance?
No hands up, Chair.
Thank you. MI-2020-000345-3517 North 15th Street is continued.
Any other requests for continuances or withdrawals?
No more hands up.
no more hands up okay thank you so before we go uh any further uh carol let's go to item number
Thank you. So before we go any further...
two on the list that sharon uh four one excuse me four five one three baker street
mi-2020-000947 uh according to sharon we voted this on 915 everyone voted to approve but there
were revised plans that weren't added as a proviso so we're going to do a revoting that
will revote the case to correct the decision and add a revised plans per plan proviso sharon is that
one page yes it is one page thank you thank you okay mi-2020-0009474513 baker street my vote is
yes with the proviso revised plan one page approved today my vote is yes with proviso
yes with proviso yes with proviso
all right the next the next item the on on our schedule from sharon is calendar number
i i have four zero zero four seven there's that's correct that's it four zero zero four seven
12131 Knights Road we heard this on 825 and held it open for Mr Feldman to report back to us
on his continuing efforts to schedule an RCO meeting it's a pediatric dental clinic
but the RCO refuses to meet so is if Mr Feldman's on the phone could you
get on and bring us up to date please
mr feldman you can unmute yourself yes uh good afternoon members of the board
uh brett feldman uh the board heard this back in august right right right right i just want
to swear you in you swear and affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do
thank you please proceed i do just uh briefly uh yes the board heard this back on august 25th
and held it open I think for two weeks pending continued efforts to connect with the community
group I have repeatedly reached out to the civic group as well as the council person
at CC and the council person we heard no response I've tried I think four times now at this point
this is the this is the same group I think there was a one or two cases that the board heard last
week where it's the same civic group um the northeast uh near uh franklin mills mall area
um that uh scheduled a meeting for my case and several other cases and they just stopped it in
the middle and have never followed up on a series of these so at this point this is a pediatric
dental group uh office uh for kids uh in the franklin mill shopping center uh it's now been a
month and i'd ask that the board vote this case okay thank you is anyone out there who has any
issues with this case being heard to being voted on today no hands at this time thank you uh ron
i saw you turn your screen on and then off the is there something you uh wish to comment on
regarding this case i was just checking my camera thank you it's working thank you any uh calendar
number four zero zero four seven one two one three one nights road uh my vote is yes my vote is yes
my vote is yes my vote is yes
okay any other requests out there for continuance or withdrawals
no hands at this time thank you any uh anything else sharon and or tanya before we begin
not for me um there was the one case from this morning that you were going to
we're going to do that one first right yes thank you carol do you have that info on it the calendar
number and is that the fit is that 5405 christian street i believe so mr gossett and mr sampson
Calendar number 38151, 5405 Christian Street.
Gossett, if you're on.
Can you hear me?
Good morning.
Good afternoon, Mr. Gossett.
You're still under oath from this morning.
One second.
one second he had to go back out okay is mr gossip the attorney i am can you hear me
He had to go back out.
yes i don't think he was under oath because he wasn't here this morning that was why yes
no he was here yeah and we had some yeah we did he was here and then when we were holding the case
to the end and when we got to the end he wasn't there for that but he was sworn in earlier oh
okay i didn't realize that and if no problem after swearing him in um confirm that we received
exhibits because i don't have them okay sir do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal
and stipulate to its accuracy i do okay can you hear me yes i can hear you have you emailed
have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents consisting of proof of ownership
proof of tax compliance a copy of the refusal or referral photos and plans of the property
five days in advance of this hearing also have you met with the rco and if so do you have a letter
okay uh the only thing that has been done is we have met with the rco i was under the belief
that this matter had been bifurcated um so those other things have not been done
up well we can't hear the case correct i'm sorry we're not able to hear the case
mr gossip when you say bifurcated was this hearing started and i was under the belief
that it was because they were they were uh representing themselves pro se but uh
I do not see where those things have been submitted previously.
So the only thing that has been done is the actual meeting with the RCO.
And I was under the belief that the only thing that had to be done before the actual hearing was the meeting with the RCO.
Well, we can't hear it, right?
No, that's correct.
unless is there some way that you can get those to me by the end of the session
and then i can check to see if if there was an earlier session maybe they were previously submitted
um i don't i i know i would not be able to get them to you by the end of the session
okay i'm sorry we'll probably have to be continued we'll have to continue this case okay
calendar number was that carol was that 38151 yes it is 5405 christian street is continued
okay thank you okay are we are we going now to 911 north 26th street uh here and hold yes
okay calendar number 40044 911 north 26th street mr knockamson is the attorney
good afternoon good afternoon name and address for the record please
uh alan knockamson of knockamson pc one two three south broad street suite 1600 philadelphia pa
one nine one zero nine and do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing about the
truth uh yes i do do you also agree to wave the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its
accuracy yes i do and also have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents
including proof of ownership, proof of tax compliance, a refusal or referral,
photos and or plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing, and
have you met with the RCO and also have a letter? Yes I do and yes I have. Okay you
may proceed. Okay the only thing is I'm trying to get my video on. I'm somehow
unable to oh there we go there you are hi I'm going to share my screen hi in
front of you is a packet exhibits which include eight of them the first is the
deed to the property, showing that Mike Gravely owns the property at 909-19 North 26th Street.
After that is the certificate of compliance should have been there, but I will get that
to you. But after that is the notice of refusal, which shows why we're here today. This is a mix
between a CMX2 and an RSA5 property for 909-19 North 26th Street.
We're proposing to put a 49-unit building on a lot of significant size of over 12,000 square feet.
on a lot of a significant size of over 12,000 square feet or almost 12,000 square feet and
including underground parking of 20 parking spots as well as a significant amount of bicycle spaces
and we have four refusals here the first of which you should pay attention to is
is the fact that we're given that we're in a CMX2 district we're required to have frontage on
we're required to have frontage
of commercial units
on North 26th Street.
And as you can see from the letter
that we received from the community
as well as surrounding photos,
North 26th Street
is a property that's residential
in nature.
And the community, when we met with them,
was appreciative of the fact that
they would rather have
to actually
nurture their commercial corridors
on Poplar Street, on Gerard Avenue, and on Fairmine Avenue.
So under the circumstances and given the surrounding community,
having commercial on North 26th Street would be out of character.
The second refusal that I would want the board to pay attention to
is the fact that we're offering off-street parking.
We're offering 20 units with one curb cut,
and the off-street parking will be below ground.
Again, something that's not required of CMX2 and RSA 5, but given the amount of units we're requesting from, you know, the community as well as the zoning board, we thought that was a responsible use to have as much parking as we could under the code, which is 20 units plus in the significant amount of bicycle spaces as well.
And the third refusal kind of goes hand in hand with our refusal for the parking.
Because we're providing so much parking, and given what is surrounding this property, we think that having 49 units is appropriate under the circumstances.
We're not that far away from two commercial corridors or three commercial corridors, Girard Avenue, Poplar, and Fairmont.
And in order to support those commercial corridors, and given the parking that we are supplying, we are asking for a variance in terms of the amount of units that were allowed.
So we believe that 49 units is reasonable on those circumstances.
And then the fourth refusal is the height.
Now, while we're required to do 38 feet, you know, we believe that this, you know, under the circumstances, and you'll see the surrounding neighborhood, is appropriate for it.
There's a church nearby next door to us.
we actually match the roof lines of that church.
So in terms of scale, it actually makes sense
and looks quite normal to have a property of that height.
So after that, it's our application for appeal.
And here's the zoning map.
And as you can see, we go street to street on, you know,
North 26th Street to Banbury.
You know, this is actually a parking lot.
There's a Sunoco right here, and you'll see pictures of that as well.
But, you know, we're not taking anyone's light in there on Bainbury Street.
And during the community meeting, it was actually appreciated by the community how we have, like, you know, eyes on the street, both on North 26th Street, and we'll have the architect talk about, like, going through the floor plans.
But we have units on the first floor of North 26th Street and units on the first floor of Bainbury Street.
and it was appreciated especially by a lot of the residents on Bainbury Street because that
has been a dead block for some time as well as illegal parking on the actual sidewalk
of North Bainbury Street and as you can see we're on Poplar Street which is a commercial corridor
and there are commercial properties on Poplar Street and then up here would be Girard and
below here would be Fairmont and then you can see like you know some of the commercial uses
that are on Poplar Street.
And then photographs of the property.
So right now, the property is being used by Gravely Roofing,
which is owned by Mike Gravely.
Mr. Gravely has been and his family have been a fixture
in the Fairmont community for generations.
You know, Gravely Roofing is a well-known commodity
in the Fairmont community.
They do a lot of roofing work for residents
within the Fairmont community.
And Mike and his family have lived in Fairmont for several generations.
And they still, like his brother, still lives in Fairmont.
Here you'll see the back of the property.
Again, this is a one-story structure.
You'll see street views from the right of the property to the left of the property on North 26th Street.
And the same thing in the right of the property and to the left of the property as well.
And as you can see, there's a lot of illegal parking.
Now, this is a rendering of what we're hoping the board will approve, and one of the things I would just focus on, again, just looking at the scale of it and the design of it, and the architect will go through this, we really did try to match the roof lines of the neighboring church, which is like one property to the left of us, but you can see we try to match the roof lines, we try to match, you know, the feel of this part of the neighborhood.
Now, this is a rendering of what we're hoping the board will approve.
and then you'll see floor plans
and then the architect will go through those as well
so I want to skip over that
and then we did
meet with the Fairmont Civic Association last week
and as you can see
it was a very good discussion with the neighbors
and they overwhelmingly supported our project
As you can see, 16 people voted for it, 9 voted against it, and 4 abstained.
But with the majority of the people who were there, or supermajority of the people there,
actually voted for the project.
And then here's proof of our mailer to the community in reference to the community meeting.
And that's basically it.
I want to introduce our architect.
Kevin, can you virtually raise your hand so we can go through the drawings?
Kevin, you can unmute yourself.
Yes, I'm unmuted.
Kevin, can you...
please identify yourself for the record spell your first and last name
yep my name is kevin kareko spelled k-e-v-i-n last name kareko k-o-r-e-j-k-o
we're in the firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
i do thank you please proceed all right kevin why don't you uh go through the project and first
let's go through the uh the rendering what was the purpose of like the way you designed the
exterior of the property and the height of the property yeah so it was really important to us
that this fit within the context of the neighborhood um so we did a couple things
here we were matching the adjacent height of the church as you can see and then we even took some
of the aesthetic uh design directly from that church you'll see in the brick detailing you'll
see on the arch windows so the whole goal of this was to make it feel like it's always been here
but still have a little bit of modern and classic feel all at the same time.
Why don't we go through the parking for the property?
So we are using an existing curb cut,
and we will be having a two-way ramp down into the basement
where we have 20 parking spots
and have the ability for up to 17 bicycle spots as well.
And in the basement, we have two elevators
to accommodate the residents
and two egress stair towers as well.
Okay, and I know it's not reflected on this drawing.
Let's just go through this secondary drawing
of the floor plans.
In terms of garbage pickup as well as storage,
What did we do initially, and then how did we alter the plans based on community input?
Yeah, so we're going to have commercial pickup here, obviously.
And what we had initially was trash storage per each floor, which we still have for the second through fifth.
But on the first floor, we didn't have an allocation.
So what we did in the basement, we're using what could have been potentially a parking spot and using that for kind of a trash staging area.
that way the commercial pickup can pick it up directly from there okay but but if you look at
the floor plans every single floor has their own trash room that is correct okay and then mr chairman
members of the board i also have jared gruber uh who's the who would be the property manager for
this building and he can explain also how we intend to store the trash as well as remove the
trash on a weekly basis so but you know in terms of the you know the parking spot that this was a
change that we made after we met initially met with with the zoning committee of fermont civic
association right that's correct yes okay and so it was important to them that there would be a
place where the trash would be stored for the garbage truck who would have access to this
parking garage on a temporary basis uh so we created this this staging area for the for the
garbage to be picked up, right? Correct. Once again, to have the minimal impact to the surrounding
picked up right correct once again to have the minimal impact to the surrounding neighbors
neighbors.
okay all right when we go through the floor plan so this is the floor plan for the first floor
yep so on the first floor we front both the 26th street and bambury side and what we wanted to do
was invoke both of those streetscapes with residents that directly go out to each one
of those streets so every unit here other than the plan north one that's blue all have direct
access from the street um so these units will feel as if they're truly part of that that community
and that street because they're walking directly from it okay so it's it's like they're almost like
individual like townhomes in a way because they'll each have uh their exterior um opening
in either facing north uh 26th street or mainbury exactly okay and then what about this the the
middle part what's the purpose of this middle part of the building yes it was critical to us
that these units had plenty of light and air and so what we did is we it was also critical that we
were fronting both uh streets here so we pulled the building apart and to allow plenty of light
and air for all these units that are on the ground floor and they actually have their own
backyards at this point um so it acts as almost an internal community garden gotcha and then i'm
showing you plans for the second through fifth floors why don't you walk us through those yep
so same thing here because we pulled the buildings apart to allow the air and light and you'll see
it has almost a barbell concept where tenants will kind of walk past that cord or to get to
the other side from the elevators and we have a pretty decent mix of one and two bed units here
gotcha gotcha and we did keep the uh if there's there is almost as many one bedroom as two
bedrooms correct that is correct yes okay so um mr chair members of the board uh there is
how many let's see actually let me do the 20 27 27 two beds and 22
one beds yeah so there's a total of 76 bedrooms in this in this property right
uh beds correct yeah 22 yeah i i've never been good at math mr chair
it's not a question of matter i never even heard it explained that way
well i think that's important because like you know you can sometimes the board focuses on the
amount of units when really you should be focusing on the amount of potential occupants right when
you think about 76 beds i mean we can have 49 uh units but all them three bedrooms it's a different
equation to think about it's a different feel so this is meant more for you know people who are
single or maybe a young couple who are in the two bedrooms so like that's what you're focusing on
more about like how many bodies are you actually going to have in in there and what effect it would
have in in the community as a whole which by the way i don't live i live pretty close to here too
so it's in my best and interest to make sure this is a good property and a responsible property as
well all right um so well and we're showing the elevations kevin can you uh i think we have some
pictures of the elevations from Bainbury as well as North 26? Yeah so that the elevation on the top
of the page is the 26th street and the elevation on the bottom of the page is the Bainbury side
so you can see that same aesthetics carried through to both sides of the street. Gotcha and
what type of materials are being used for the facade of on both North 26 as well as Bainbury?
yep it's primarily brick and cast stone okay and that's to kind of match uh the church that's
that's right next to us exactly okay and then have a neoclassical feel with with the cornice
as well right correct and even some of that that exact uh detailing with the brick we actually took
that aesthetic directly from the church gotcha if you could summarize unless there's something
that you think is important to get on the record
that may have impacted the community?
Other than that, if you can summarize,
I think it would be helpful.
Yeah, again, since we're going to have a supplemental hearing,
I'll save it for the supplemental hearing.
But, you know, we really did try to work with the community.
This has been a project that's been around
for almost half a year with COVID-19.
Like I said, I actually live in this community,
so I'm very familiar with this part of town.
And I think we try to put together a responsible project with the right amount of units.
And in order to, you know, you know, parking is a premium in every part of the city, Mr. Chair, right?
You live in the city, you know, you're always dealing with parking and you're trying to create density here.
It has to be done responsibly.
So that's why we created underground parking, which was not cheap, which, you know.
So that's why we created underground parking, which was not cheap, which, you know, again, we're trying to counterbalance the amount of units by way of variance with providing responsible parking and also providing a very handsome building.
I just had Jared Gruber of JG Real Estate.
I would like him to just mention the efforts we've made because one of the biggest issues, and I know the board also knows that this is an issue, in terms of garbage storage and removal, we want to, given that this is a 49-unit building,
we want to make sure that we heard the needs of the community as well so jared if you can virtually
raise your hand yeah hey i'm on okay so jared um can you state your name and address for the record
Jared Gruber, 1140
Frankfort Avenue, Philadelphia
PA, 19125.
Mr. Charity, would you like to
swear Mr. Gruber in?
Jared, do you agree to tell
the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Jared,
what is
your role with JG Real Estate?
uh broker owner okay and what does jg real estate do uh full service brokerage but we specialize in
property management and we manage about 1700 units okay throughout the city of philadelphia and
uh in terms of of this unit of this building is this something that you believe your company
can handle in terms of managing it for mr gravely yes absolutely okay uh in terms of the uh garbage
storage and removal uh why don't you uh indicate to the board uh what the uh intent is during if
this building is operating if at full capacity sure yeah i think from your pre-community meeting
you know it was uh understood by all parties that trash was of concern um to the rco so we kind of
went back to the drawing board and we made sure we really tightened up the operations and the
logistics behind trash removal so a building like this it's typical um that you'd have a porter on
staff it might not be a full-time porter um but at minimum like a maybe 25 hour a week 30 you know
30 hour a week type guy who's doing cleaning who's doing trash removal that sort of thing
so what we determined is that we would have this porter on trash pickup days which is probably two
to three times a week bring the trash down to our staging area that we created in the parking garage
and then the commercial hauler will be able to pull into the garage,
you know, temporarily blocking spots for five, ten minutes
while the trash guys and the porter throw all the stuff in the trash truck.
They get out of there and then they're not blocking any street spots
and we have a good trash plan in place.
Gotcha. I think that's it.
I think the only thing I would say is if Mr. Gravely, the owner of the property,
can virtually raise his hand and to uh affirm my testimony
mr bravely you can unmute yourself and wait to be sworn in uh can you hear me
i i did unmute myself yes okay you're swearing up sir would you please give us your full name
Michael J. Gravely
Swear and affirm to tell the truth
I'm sorry
I'm sorry everybody
No you can finish
Spell your name please
G-R-A-V-E-L-E-Y
Swear and affirm to tell the truth
The whole truth and nothing but the truth
Thank you please proceed
Mr. Gravely you heard everything I stated today
Yes I have
And is it true and correct
Yes, it is.
And do you adopt it as your own testimony?
All right.
This concludes our presentation, other than, you know, reaching out to the community and
seeking additional community input.
And at that moment, we'll go over the letter as well.
I figured that would be more appropriate as well.
Excuse me.
This is Sharon Saleta.
I did check with the revenue department during your presentation, Mr.
Nockelson, and the property is tax compliant.
No, it is.
And that was my mistake.
and miss saletta i'll definitely give you uh the tax clearance certificate we put it in there so
no that's fine i i printed it out you're fine okay all right great thank you thank you any any
questions from the board no no anyone else wish to testify in this matter if so please raise your hand
Chair we have someone who wishes to speak TMH you can unmute yourself and wait to be sworn
You can unmute yourself and wait to be sworn in.
Can people hear me?
Please spell your first and last name, ma'am.
It's Teresa, T-E-R-E-S-A, Hobart, H-O-B as in boy, E-R-G as in girl.
Your address?
2416 Perot Street.
We're in a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
thank you please proceed I am a member of the Fairmount Civic Association a
board member and I did assist in writing the letter to the board members I just
one item that was brought up again during mr. Notcomson's testimony that I
really was not touched on the letter is their reference to the design facade and
And that was used in the meeting to, I assume, to get approval for this project, but correct
me if I'm wrong, but it's my understanding that this process has no impact on the design
of the facade.
That if this project is approved, there is no reason why they can't change the design
of the facade, including the materials, the layout of the windows, etc.
not not necessarily true I mean design features change significant from what the
plan that is a the plan that we approve they'd have to come they have to go back
what design features would they be would that impact the building material would that impact
the cornice design I mean I'm not I read the zoning code and it says specifically building
materials were excluded, so I'm not sure what those design features are.
This is Sharon Sledek. Can I comment on this? If the design were
changed in a way, the materials would not be within the board's jurisdiction to
roll on. If a feature were to change the bulk height, something
about the building that might generate an additional variance, they would have to
come back for that. What would it impact, say for instance, the fenestration itself?
If they decided they wanted to go with smaller windows or different style of
window, would that require a revisitation? It would not. It would simply have to
meet the building code requirements. Okay, all right. So there are some
significant design changes that could be made that would not require a revisit to
you or any input from the community yeah it's an interpretation of what significant would mean
yeah well could mean different different means different things to different people i'm not
being sarcastic just saying you know the arch windows would be squared off that to some people
that's significant i'm not saying it isn't but some people might consider that to be significant
where others may not think it's significant.
Alan, you were going to say something?
I was just going to say that, you know, you got to put it in context.
The property is owned by Mr. Gravely,
whose family has been in the Fairmont section of Philadelphia
for several generations.
And some of the Gravely still live there.
So I think this is more of a legacy type of project
where it's important to them to, you know,
he's winding down his roofing company and he sees this as an opportunity to you know have more of a
legacy in terms of a beautiful apartment building and and you know and also in terms of retirement
as well income all right well those are issues that could be discussed further between now and
i think it was october the 6th we came up with if i'm not mistaken i believe it was the 14th
mr chair 14th of october yes in 9 30. yeah i was just going to ask for clarification i had it down
for the six for some reason all right anyone else no hands at this time okay i think i did
ask the board right does the board have any questions no planning commission
the planning commission wants to go on record with a recommendation
ron you gotta you know give us your full name and swear you i'll swear you in brian
it's uh ron bednar b-e-d-n-a-r i'm with the city planning commission
where's the firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do thank you ron these properties are indicated for commercial mixed use in a comprehensive plan
we feel the absence of commercial in the proposal is appropriate given North 26th Street is a
given North 26th Street is a predominantly residential street. However, we feel that the
predominantly residential street.
number of units and the applicant has proposed is excessive and recommend that the overall
number of units be reduced. Accordingly, we have no objection to the granting of the variants for
the multifamily residential use or parking, but do not and do not object to the granting of the
variance for height. Okay, thank you. All right, calendar number MI-2020-001055-909-919
North 26th Street is being held until October the 14th at night, executive session that will take
place from october the 14th at 9 30 a.m i leave anything out tanya or sharon i'm sorry this will
only be uh it's like a resumption hearing for testimony right that's right the community will
have an opportunity to the record will remain open the community will have an opportunity to
um testify should they wish to do so thank you thank you okay are we going to number two
and did we handle 5506 baltimore avenue
does anyone remember that that was yes that's going to be continued yeah that we did that earlier
yep that was number one on the sheet that's okay gotcha yes mr goodman is going to work
with the applicant to contact the RCO. Thank you. Calendar number 40048920 French
Street. The attorney is Allen Nockamson. Good afternoon. Can you put your name and
address on the record please? Yes, Allen Nockamson, Nockamson, PC, 123 South
Broad Street, Suite 1600, Philadelphia, PA, 19109. Do you swear or affirm to tell
the whole truth and nothing but the truth? I still do. Okay, and do you agree to wait the reading of
the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy? Yes, I do. And have you mailed the exhibit packet with
proof of ownership, proof of tax clearance, copy of the 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 in all respects thank you all right i'm going to share my screen
i think this is a little bit less complicated of a project uh i'm regarding 920 french street
same packet of or type of exhibits eight of them the first is the d to the property showing that
V2 Properties LLC owns the property. I present on many occasions to this board properties that
V2 Properties has requested variances for. As I stated on each occasion, V2 Properties is one of
the larger home builders in the city of Philadelphia. They build approximately 100 or so
units a year. They are well regarded not just in their volume, but also their quality of their
work product the last two years the philadelphia inquirer has recognized them as developer of the
year so you know they really focus not on just volume but also quality and their work product
after the deed i have the certificate of tax clearance showing that they're in good standing
with respect to this property and then i have a notice of refusal and this is probably one of
a few occasions where I'm trying to reduce the density in a way and seeking by way of variance.
This is a CMX2 property. So we're allowed to build a commercial unit on the first floor and
two residential above. It's completely inappropriate to have a commercial component
with respect to this property. The lot size is only 595 square feet. The width of the property
is only 14 feet. There's no way we can have a multifamily aspect to this property.
and commercial would not survive here given the surrounding neighborhood so we're asking to build
simply a single family house and there are two refusals first of which is that we're eliminating
the commercial component uh because this is a cmx2 property and the second of which is the open area
and as you'll see from the you know our drawings it's just the lot is just way too
narrow and not long enough, where if we tried to build something as of right, we would have
a property where it's not wide enough to put stairs in the middle, right, you know, and it's
not long enough to put the stairs going straight back. So we really do, this is really an undue
So we really do, this is really an undue hardship situation.
hardship situation.
After this is the application for appeal that we filed to the zoning board adjustment,
along with the project information form for this property.
And then here's, you know, the zoning map.
Now, this is a very multifamily part of town.
Unfortunately, given this lot size, you know, we cannot build something where it has any multi-unit function.
and then there's photographs of the property as you can see it's a very very narrow lot
you can see our posters and then you'll just see our plans and it's the typical
v2 property uh single family uh house uh you you walk in you have uh what's it called you're
walking on the side here because we have a corner property it's an open floor plan living room dining
room and kitchen we have a family room in the basement and then we have three bedrooms and
two baths with a master suite on the third floor, two bedrooms, one facing each, the
front and the rear, with a bathroom in the middle.
And then we have a roof deck as well.
And we met with the coordinating RCO APM, and they are not in opposition to this project.
So I have Bill Archer, one of the directors of V2 property.
So Bill, can you virtually raise your hand?
Mr. Archer, you can unmute yourself and wait to be sworn in.
Can you hear me, Al?
Bill, can you state your name and address for the record?
Yes, sure.
Bill Archer, 130, Clover Lane, Berkey-Omanville, Pennsylvania, 18074.
Sorry, we didn't get that.
Just give us your name again.
Bill Archer, address is 130, Clover Lane, Berkey-Omanville, Pennsylvania, 18074.
Swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
you have to give that some thought
I think
we had technical difficulties
I know I'm being facetious thank you
thank you
Bill you heard everything I stated
is it true and correct
and do you adopt it as your own testimony
all right thank you thank you any questions from the board
no no anyone else wish to testify in this case if so please raise your hand
no hands raised for this one thank you planning commission
so this property is indicated for commercial mixed use in the city plan the um so the zoning
dates back to a structure that no longer is there and the block is otherwise single family
residential accordingly we uh have no objection to the ground universe and that was ron bednar
from planning uh calendar number i'm going to read off the way you read it four zero zero four
eight nine two zero french street my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes
thank you
calendar number three nine one two nine five four two five hunter street sean board is the attorney
mr ward good afternoon hi put your name and address on the record please
yes mr chair members of the board sean ward on behalf of the applicant
dan valentino my address is 331 east street road trevos pennsylvania
1-9-0-5-3. And do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
I most certainly do. Do you also agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its
accuracy? Yes, we do. Just another question. Have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required
documents, proof of ownership, proof of tax compliance, a copy of the refusal or referral,
photos, and or plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing?
photos and or plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing, and
And also, have you met with the RCO, and do you have a letter?
And then...
Several answers to those questions.
The one PDF file containing all my exhibits was emailed to the board yesterday,
as I stated this morning, due to time constraints with other hearings.
There is a letter of opposition from the RCO, although no meeting was held.
I will explain that as I go through the exhibit packet, if that's okay.
At this time, I'll share my screen.
Present with me today on the virtual hearing is Dan Valentino,
and I will have him adopt and affirm my representations to the board.
Okay, can everybody see my screen?
okay very good uh i've i've submitted my typical exhibit packet which includes
a1 is the notice of refusal again as this morning this is a permit for a two-family
dwelling in an existing structure um let me move it over to the other side
um two families not permitted in the district therefore we seek a use variance today
a2 is the zba application of appeal a3 is the project we lost you
don't always we hear your voice we only see uh google whatever that is yeah we don't have any
see any plans now we have stuff okay this is your uh exhibit summary yeah i'm sorry i have dual
screens and when i move it over to the one that's in front of the camera it it gets lost i'll leave
i'll leave it where it is all right okay uh a2 is the uh zba application of appeal a3 is the
project information form a4 deed a5 proof of tax clearance a6 are floor plans a7 are photographs
a8 is the rco uh summary and the meeting request emails a9 is the rovin zoning history if there
was any, but none was found. A10 is the permit history for the subject. A11 is the history for
the adjoining properties at 5427 and 542-900. A12 is the zoning map. A13 is the aerial photograph.
So we have the notice of refusal, the application, appeal transmittal, copy of the application of
Appeal project information form. Copy of the deed you'll notice it was purchased
on December 21st 2018 that'll come into play when we get to the violations and
the history of the property. Here we have tax compliance it's actually overpaid
for the year 2034 these are the floor plans as existing again this property was configured as
a two-family dwelling when it was purchased you'll see on the first floor plan there is an existing
vestibule common entry you would come in the front door and immediately turn left for the first floor
apartment you would enter the living room there's a center kitchen and dining area and a bedroom in
the back with a full three-piece bath. The second floor, you would enter the steps and come into the
hallway. The living room is in the front. There's a bedroom in the middle, an eating kitchen, and
then a bedroom in the rear with a common three-piece bath serving both bedrooms. This is a picture of
posting on the front railing of the property. This is the subject with the poster on the railing.
These are google photos showing the property in or about July of 2019. You can see it's boarded up
and it's got the candy stripe poster on the front window. This is looking down the block.
You have two occupied structures to the right. I believe them to be single family residences
and you have various garages fronting on hunter street the next photo shows two vacant properties
to the left of the subject and a auto service business located beyond that
the rco submitted a letter back in march of a vote of eight opposed and you'll see that they
were all the board members of the committee nobody from the public attended the meeting
we were unaware of the meeting so that's why we did not attend
going down through the emails. The original notification came out in
going down through the emails the original notification came out in
November of 2019, at which time we requested a meeting. The meeting was scheduled for February
27th again, but we did not receive notice of that. That's when they submitted their letter.
I requested by email on March 6th that another meeting be scheduled to discuss the property.
uh sheila buchanan from hestonville indicated that they would try and work in another meeting
but despite well obviously covid hit and then despite repeated requests uh beginning
on august 21st when i received notification from uh the planning commission that it was
from the zoning board that it was rescheduled for september 29th i requested that a meeting be held
Again, on August 27th, I requested that the meeting be scheduled, and then finally on September 15th, requested that the meeting be scheduled.
So while the RCO committee held a meeting without the applicant and no public attending, I would submit that the letter be given the weight and authority that it deserves under the circumstances.
In addition, the letter was submitted well after the initial 45-day period in which the RCO could hold a meeting.
With regard to this property, it was registered as a vacant structure following a violation prior to my client owning the property.
He is the principal of Steamboat SCM Fund B LLC, which is the current owner of the property.
so that that code violation was resolved december 14th of 2017 i presume the then owner obtained a
vacant property license with regard to the adjoining properties you'll see 5427 hunter
street is a vacant structure as well as 5429 is a vacant structure i did not see any violations
on the two single family residences to the right of the subject here is the zoning map
obviously it's a zoned rsa5 and the aerial photograph so while this property was vacant
my client purchased it again performed the routine interior fit and finish improvements
to the property no structural changes were made and now upon attempting to obtain rental licenses
it was discovered that it's not zoned as a duplex despite being configured as such therefore we seek
relief from the board to proceed with the licensing of the property and getting it occupied and
on the tax rolls mr valentino if you could raise your hand
he's available to
Dan can you unmute your
connection
Dan Valentino, can you hear me?
If none of the board members have questions for Mr. Valentino.
Dan Valentino here, sorry.
Technical difficulties, I was unable to unmute at the moment.
Okay, Mr. Valentino, please spell your full name for the record.
Daniel, D-A-N-I-E-L, Valentino, V-A-L-E-N-T-I-N-O, address 2930 Jasper Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19134.
We're in a frame to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
Yes, I do.
Thank you.
Dan, very quickly, you've heard my representations to the board today?
Yes, I have.
Are they true and correct, at the best of your knowledge, information, and belief?
Yes, they are.
And you adopt them as your own testimony?
Thank you.
Valentino, how did you purchase this?
Did you throw a realtor?
It was an off-market transaction.
There was no realtor.
It was, I'm trying to think, Hunter.
It was just a fellow investor, I believe, let us know about it.
This was a pretty heavily distressed house.
Well, portfolio, rather.
Not necessarily the house itself, but it was a distressed portfolio.
But it was a distress portfolio. This house, when we purchased it, we didn't notice any violations from L&I on the project. And when we walked in, it was, in fact, configured as a two-family. So we proceeded as such in our fit and finish of the unit, assuming that it was indeed a two-family house.
This house, when we purchased it,
And when we went to obtain our rental license, that's when we got noticed that it was not, in fact, zoned as a two-family.
I have a question, Mr. Chairman.
Is there any pictures, interior pictures?
I do not have any interior pictures, Tom.
And I do not have any interior photos at the moment.
I do not.
I can get them, however.
How many square feet is each unit?
Oh, I would say each unit is about 800 square feet, maybe not even, maybe 700.
And it's two bedrooms?
Yes, that is correct.
Thank you.
And just for clarification, Mr. Hallman, that's the second floor has two bedrooms and the first floor has one bedroom.
thank you any questions other questions from the board if i could just add one other thing
mr chair uh if it was a single family home you could have three occupants uh residing in the
property unrelated by blood or marriage so um given the fact that we now have uh two small
apartments with three bedrooms um it's more likely that it'll still be occupied by three persons
uh any anyone else wish to testify in this case please raise your hand
no hands at this time thank you sean i forget did did you ask uh your client if he adopted
your testimony i forget yes i did okay thank you planning commission on bednar city planning
this property is indicated for single-family residential use in a comprehensive plan,
however, it's clear from the materials as presented that the property has been used as
two-family. Accordingly, we recommend the request of variance not to be granted.
Accordingly, we request that we have no objection to the granting of variance.
okay thank you okay uh mi-2020-0003525425 hunter street my vote is yes
my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is no
mr chairman and the board thank you very much that concludes my business until the 3 30 list
may I be excused. You may. Thank you. Thank you.
Geographer, are you okay? Sharice, do you need a break?
Oh yes, I'm okay. Okay, let us know. Thank you. Okay.
So we're not on camera. Calendar number 39199, 2433 Harlan Street.
Excuse me, this is Sharon Saleta. We have a continuance request from Jared Klein
for this case and the next numbers five and six and I apologize for the dogs in the background
well I hear Jared in the background no no no there's a request for continuance on this case
yes for 2433 Harlan and for 2408 Stewart Street thank you calendar numbers 39199
2433 Harlan
that's H-A-R-L-A-N
Street and calendar number
2408 Stewart
Street are both continued.
Calendar number
001390
Leverington Avenue. The attorney
is Rachel Pritzker.
good afternoon good afternoon can you put your name and address on the record please
yep rachel r-a-c-h-a-e-l pritzker p-r-i-t-z-k-e-r 1635 market street suite 1600 philadelphia pa
19103 do you swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes and do you also agree
to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy yes have you emailed your exhibit
Have you emailed your exhibit packet with the proof of ownership, proof of tax compliance, a copy of the refusal or 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?
packet with the proof of ownership proof of tax compliance
I'm going to memorize that yet.
Good job.
You may begin.
This is for 106 Leverington.
I'm going to just speak to the refusals and then have Scott Woodruff, who's our architect, go through the plans.
This project is a pretty odd-shaped lot, which Scott will show you, that is at the corner of Leverington and Umbria streets.
We actually met with the RCO quite a while ago originally.
We had originally proposed two single-family homes, a subdivision and two single-family homes,
because the lot is zoned RSA 5.
However, the community and the Maniunk Neighbors Civic Association
worked with us to provide a different plan.
So it was withdrawn, and we then reapplied with five units, two parking spaces.
And our refusal is for the multifamily five dwelling units and the height.
So as Scott will explain, there's quite a slope on this property.
and so we're proposing 42 feet at one and a half inches at one point, but the most of the building
is 35. I'm happy to go into the community piece once Scott is able to present. So Tanya, do you
see Scott Woodruff on the call? Yes. Okay. What did you need for him to? Yeah, I want him to share,
uh you want to share his screen um so he can show okay all righty thank you
rachel he's been promoted to panelists so he can get sworn in and share a screen as he needs to
thank you mr woodrow would you please spell your name for the record and give us your address
uh yes scott woodruff uh last name spelled w-o-o-d-r-u-f-f uh 4001 main street philadelphia
pa 19127 we're gonna firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do
please proceed scott can you just um share your screen and go through the plans um specifically
addressing the height um and going kind of going through the unique size and shape um and sort of
how we designed it this way with the community, given the many meetings we had and a lot of help
with this project. Yeah, absolutely. Can you zoom in a little bit? Sorry, it's a little hard to say.
Thanks. So the proposed property is at the corner of Umbria Street and Leverington Avenue.
It looks pretty much like an arrow in plan. It's quite unique, let's say, with the shape.
the actual property lines extend into where the current sidewalk is which you can kind of see by
that that line that's sloping so we are setting fairly far back within the site the existing lot
area is 3 360 square feet again so it's a fairly large size lot and we're covering 43 percent of
that roughly. There is a existing street that these houses from which we're
accessing for two-car parking that abuts this existing rail line overpass which
you'll see in the renderings in a second. Our main building entry is off of Umbria
Street and there's a there's a pretty large slope as this kind of slopes down
to the river in Manny Young. Looking at the floor plans, we work with the community to provide an
access for storage for the tenants down here as well as bike storage that's off of Leverington
Avenue as amenity and kind of to also promote, you know, less cars necessarily. Going up you'll
see the main building entry is at the northern end of the site, and we kind of are doing that
to provide an accessible entryway to the ground floor as it is on a fairly slopey site. There's
a one-bedroom unit that's located on the first floor, a bi-level one-bedroom unit in this green
that goes to the second floor, and then there's parking access that's accessed by this second
stair tower for all units as well as this door for unit B. Going up in the floor plans you'll
see the second floor by level one bedroom here in the green and then the rest of the units are
two bedroom two bathroom units that kind of front Umbria and Leverington Street, Leverington Avenue,
that kind of front, Umbria and Leverington Street, Leverington Avenue, which we kind of worked with the community to tweak and take some of their suggestions along the way.
And then lastly, we can look at the height and the renderings.
So this is the proposed building kind of looking up through that archway and kind of eyeduct that's going up Leverington Avenue.
You can kind of see where that door is that'll provide the ground level storage bike entry.
And then you can see the rendering at the corner of Umbria and Leverington.
As you can see there's a pretty dramatic slope that kind of comes down here.
So again our intention is to kind of hit at the center grade which Umbria Street is
is the more pedestrian uh kind of route if you will the height uh is measured by the average
grade plane of the four principal points of the building um so given uh you know our principal
points of the building hit you know at a point down here here here and then into the back um
you'll kind of see where our average grade plane falls uh and this is looking at umbria street
um so given taking the the distance from this point to the top of the roof uh we are at that
41 and i think one and a half inches uh height but at the top of the hill um as you're coming
down umbria street we are at that 38 feet um height limitation so again at this point you
know we did try and minimize the height as much as possible um and i think from the the community's
perspective coming down the hill you know this doesn't really tower over any of the existing
buildings and along leverington avenue uh there is a lot of precedent for um older mill buildings
uh most of which are of this four story uh in nature
rachel anything else you want me to kind of walk through on the plans
Nope. I just wanted to show the board the height was due to sort of the slope and just the layout of the building and the parking. We also, I'm going to share my screen. We also have to help combat some of the community's concerns with parking.
We also got a letter signed from a near neighbor who owns a parking lot across the street and
they have allowed us to lease three parking spaces, so we'll have one-to-one parking on
this site.
Again, we're providing two accessory off-street parking spaces, but the lot can't release
support given the width, any additional spaces, so that was kind of a compromise that was
suggested to us from the community.
I'm just trying to find that letter.
Lastly, here's the letter. So we're going to be leasing three spaces from 4620 Umbria,
and we have approval from the owner of the property. We also had some concerns during
the community meeting about the trees on the site. Although the site doesn't meet the 5,000
or more square foot requirements to preserve heritage trees, we did have a certified arborist
do a report and view the trees to show that they're one that would qualify as a heritage tree
is actually in decay and would cause significant damage given the overhanging. So that's included
in your packet as well. We do plan to provide, I think, what is it, Scott? Four new trees on the
plant? Correct. We are providing four new trees along Umbria Street. As we know that the trees
are important to include. We did just get the letter of support from Maniunk neighbors but I
did include their email with the vote in the packet but have also provided this letter to
Sharon and Tanya. I literally just received it but their vote was to support this project
and I'd just like to bring my client Lionel on just to affirm my testimony and then happy to
take any questions that the board has. Can you raise his hand? Lionel, can you, if you can hear,
can you raise my, your hand so that we can swear you in and have you affirm the testimony?
He can now unmute. Yes, I'm sorry. Can everybody hear me? Yep. Yes, please give us your spell,
Give us your full name and spell it, please.
Sure, of course.
Lionel Guerra, L-I-O-N-E-L, last name Guerra, G-U-E-R-R-A, address is 224 West Topohokin Street.
Address is 224 West Topohokken Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19144, Unit 5.
We're in time to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Thank you.
Please proceed.
Lionel, have you heard my testimony given today?
Yes, I have.
Do you adopt it as your own?
Yes, I do.
Happy to take any questions that the board may have.
Thank you.
Any questions from the board?
no no uh anyone else wish to testify in this case if so please raise your hand
no hands at this time planning commission it's uh ron bednar city planning this property is
indicated for single family residential use in the comprehensive plan however the site
has particular challenges and is close to both a commercial corridor and a major transit station.
Accordingly, we have no objection to the granular variance.
Thank you. Carol, did you read off the HA or the MI?
I'll do the MI. Does it matter?
I don't remember.
Yes, you're going to either do MI or ZP or calendar. No HA.
okay thank you mi-2020-001186 106 leverington avenue my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote
is yes my vote is yes thank you thank you calendar number mi 2020-001153 1242 west elegany avenue
the attorney is verne anastasio thanks sherry
how did i lose everybody
mr anastasio you've been promoted to panelists you can unmute yourself and wait to be sworn in
and share your screen as necessary.
Vern, tap your mic.
Trying.
There we go.
We got you.
Got me?
Got you.
Mr. Anastasio, put your name and address on the record.
Thank you.
It's Vern Anastasio, 1315 Walnut Street, Suite 1006, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19107.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
I most certainly do.
Do you also agree to the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents, including proof of ownership,
proof of tax compliance, a copy of the refusal or referral, photos and or plans of the property
five days in advance, and have you also met with the RCO, and do you have a letter?
Yes, to all of that, I don't think I have a letter. I think they sent an email, but yes,
other than that, everything. Thank you. You may proceed. Thank you. The application is for a
personal service hair salon at the first floor in the same building with all other uses previously
approved on this property. It is zoned, as you can see, CMX2. We don't see your plans.
You don't? Okay, let's try again.
I'm going to open them up and I'm gonna try and share there you go how's that
the application is for a hair salon on the first floor
an existing building. You'll see that it's CMX2 as the zoning map shows. I'm going to show you the
interior. You walk into the side property here at the side of the property.
Sorry, Mr. Anastasio, might I ask you to maximize? Thank you.
How's that? Better?
how's that better no we lost it from our screen
you lost it again yes yes we don't see it at all
that's weird okay let's try again how's that perfect now go up to the box and just maximize
over to between the x and the minus
on the top right all the way up at the top right i hear you i hear you i'm doing what i can
here we go nope you're doing the x you need to do the box that's all right isn't this fun
all right let's try again
what you need is the
thank you for bearing with me not quite sure why it's not working today
and today's been very special i know i know it has it's it's been insane so um so go back to
your documents and click on them i have my i have my docs yep okay and are you sharing the screen
currently i hope i am does it say at the bottom you might need to click it again hold on that's
fine. I could do that. It should tell you that you're sharing. Okay, let's see what's going on
here. Try clicking on share screen again. Yep, I'm going to do it again. And then go to your back.
yes it's coming up is it good now now all you can do is just select the square
right over between the x and the minus slowly go over to the square you see where your x is at
i see where uh yeah nope nope nope not that the square
it says stop share and it says you were sharing your screen no you're just going to maximize see
the square next to the x yep how's that okay better yes all right awesome as i was saying
thank you very much miss sunkit application for a hair salon cmx2 here's the interior layout
there's two entrances to the stations for the last 25 years this has been a hair salon before that
it was a grocery store it's always been commercial space so share with you some photos
right from the street as you can see
two entrances one here one here
we're not asking for any extraordinary relief here's our flyer our proof of mailing our
certificate of compliance and our deed. This has never been ever been a single
family residential home and for the last 25 years it's been a commercial use. We
have met with the community organization. They had no problem with our based on
the meeting that i had with them they had no problem with our appeal i'm not sure they sent
a letter however uh but uh we've respectfully request the relief uh it's an rm1 property it's
not an rsa5 uh so it already uh sort of assumes that there'll be multi uh uh units for sure and
it's on a on a corner as well and with that i'm going to rest my case until there's somebody else
who has anything to add that client with you yeah i should have my client uh eli can you raise your
hand i should have one of my clients with me at least eli eli you can unmute yourself and wait
to be sworn in. Eli, you can unmute your mic and wait to be sworn in.
You can unmute your mic and wait to be sworn in.
I want to apologize for my Citizens Bank Park background.
I was Zooming yesterday with some friends, so my apologies.
Oh, I'm here.
I'm here.
Eli, did you hear my presentation to the board today?
I'm sorry.
One second.
Eli, would you spell your first and last name for us, please, and give us your address?
Eli, E-L-I, Fruchter, F as in Frank, R-U-C-H-T-E-R.
Home address is 310 Grant Avenue, Woodmere, New York, 11598.
Thank you.
You swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I affirm, yes.
Thank you.
Please proceed.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Eli, did you hear my presentation to the board today?
I did.
and was it true and accurate to the best of your knowledge yes sir and would you adopt it as your
own testimony if need be yes i would thank you very much and with that i close questions from
the board sure no no one else wish to testify in this case if so please raise your hand
no hands at this thank you planning commission sir ron bednar city planning this property is
indicated for residential uh mixed use on the city under comprehensive plan however the property has
received prior approval for commercial space accordingly we have no objection to the granting
the merits thank you that sharon and or tanya get have a receive a letter or email from the rco
i don't have a record of having received one yeah we we met with mr wutman and his uh community
group and they were in fact they they were all in favor of it so i'm not questioning i just want to
know if we had it i understand i respect that we we do we need to hold or we can vote without it
can't we yes you can sir you can yes i'm asking a hard side okay oh i thought you were asking me
oh that's okay uh you knew my answer right i didn't have to ask okay all right uh mi-2020-001153
1424 West
Allegheny Avenue. My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
Thank you all.
Thank you, everyone.
Calendar number
MI2020
001140.
The address is
1901 South 9th Street.
The attorney is Hercules Griegos.
kate missomer you've been promoted to panelist you can share your screen and unmute yourself
to be sworn in good afternoon katherine missomer m-i-s-s-i-m-e-r 1835 market street suite 1400
19103 do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
I do. I'll just make one clarification. In this case, it's a refusal and a referral.
Okay. And have you emailed the exhibit packet with the proof of ownership, proof of tax compliance,
a copy of the refusal or referral, photos, 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, to all of the above.
Thank you. You may proceed.
I'll share my screen now.
Thank you.
Can everyone see?
Yeah, you sure can.
Great. Thank you.
I'm here on behalf of Building Bach LP, owner of 1901 South 9th Street, which is the Bach building.
i have with me today lindsey
anna pico and kristin bessio owners representatives
we are sure you're all familiar with the bach building
a six-string south philly um this is the former bach technical high school
the building itself relates back to the 1930s frank did you need something i'm
sorry you hear me yes yes okay I just wanted you faded out a little bit in the beginning Catherine
with the next kind of pico I think we only caught the last name uh I don't know if we
I don't know if we lost anything. Maybe it's just me, but you've faded out. So could you just repeat that?
lost anything maybe it's just me but I you've faded out
Sure. Here on behalf of Building Bach LP, owner of 1901 South 9th, with me are Lindsay Scannapico and Kristen Bessio.
I'm sure you're all familiar with the Bach building, the fixture in South Philly, former Bach Technical High School.
building dates back to the 1930s. Lindsay and her team have been
painstakingly rehabbing this building and repurposing it since it was sold by
the School District of Philadelphia. Bach today has over 180 small businesses.
75% of the employees in those businesses are residents of South Philly.
400 new jobs are the direct relation to the restoring of building BAC.
Through this community-centric rehab project, BAC has become a center for the community for many
reasons. It's got gathering space of a coffee shop, it's got the office space, a preschool,
and several other uses that have really become home to South Philly. BAC's transformation has
also received national accreditation. They've been awarded the 2016 Young
Friends of the Preservation Alliance Award, as well as the 2020 Charter Award
for the Congress of New Urbanism. The East Pass Yonk community has really
stood behind this project and really gotten involved and been active. As you
can see by their vote on this particular request, we're looking at a 28 in favor
to 1 opposed, 29 in favor to 1 opposed, as well as the full executive committee of EPX supports
the project. The building is currently zoned IRMX. We're here today with a request for refusal and
a referral. We're talking about three particular spaces in the building. We're looking at the
auditorium, the former cafeteria, as well as an associated roof deck. One clarification we'll just
make on the refusal we were issued for the roof deck obviously we're proposing no new construction
the roof deck has always been a part of the building it's always been used and occupied
i believe previously it was a space for phys ed and several other congregating uses in the past
um so we would argue that it does predate zoning as again it's always been part of the building
to the 1930s. The IRMX designation does require a special exception for assembly and entertainment
uses. As you can see, these are the layouts that exist today. The auditorium is actually
home to 1,400 seats that were originally built by the students at Bach. Today's proposal
would rehab this space to make it a little more modular and allow for some smaller congregating
events. You can see the upper level could be used by one entity while the stage may be used by
another and some smaller seating arrangements. These are some photos. You'll note the art deco
decor that has been awarded as well and here's the layout of the former cafeteria as well as the
roof deck, some photos of those as well. You'll note that there are other roof
decks existing on the building that have been occupied in other uses since the
school shut down, so the proposal to use this roof deck along with those existing
roof decks wouldn't be out of character for the building or the neighborhood.
So in conclusion, we would just state that the auditorium space will be monitored by a 501c3
nonprofit organization, Friends of the Bach. This organization would put on community events and be
charged with running those events. We feel like that connection to the community is very important
and anticipate that being a long-lasting relationship in the neighborhood.
The proposed special exception for assembly and entertainment would not be detrimental to
the public as evidenced by our overwhelming support from East Pass Yonk. In the event the
board does determine that the roof deck would require a variance despite its existence prior
to the zoning code, we would also argue that it is appropriate in this case for a variance,
being that it will be used in association with the underlying assembly and entertainment use.
There are existing roof decks on the building that are already used for this purpose.
It has always existed and obviously would not be detrimental to the public well-being
when you were being proposed.
I would just ask at this time, Lindsay Scanapico be promoted so that she can adopt my testimony.
so that she can adopt my testimony.
Hi, my name is Lindsay Scanapico, Lindsay L-I-N-D-S-E-Y,
last name Scanapico, S-C-A-N-N-A-P-I-E-C-O,
and I agree and support the testimony that Catherine has stated.
Lindsay, can you just put your address on the record as well, please?
sure address is 1901 south 9th street room 103 philadelphia pa 19147 or 48 i'm sorry
miss scannapico just for the uh the formality do you swear and affirm to tell the truth the
whole truth and nothing but the truth i do thank you please proceed lindsey have you heard my
testimony today would you agree it's true and correct and adopt it as your own yes i do thank
you we have nothing further uh any questions from the board no anyone else here wish to testify
uh on in this matter please raise your hand
no hey thank you planning commission uh this property this is ron bednar city planning
This property is indicated for industrial residential mixed use on the city plan.
Site represents an exemplary model of adaptive regeneration.
We support the grounding of the variance. Thank you.
MI-2020-001140 1901 South Main Street. I have a very enthusiastic yes.
thank you miss canapico for an amazing job at the box school
is that because you were there frank my vote is yes
my vote is yes part of my neighborhood my vote is yes
thank you all good luck lindsay calendar number mi 2020 000 149 1720 master street
and i think that can be heard with 1722 master street yeah carol before we go any further
stenographer what do you have we have these two cases and one more you need a break
no you can finish up okay thank you and actually before you go on to that could i ask have we
announced just continued 816 south 18th street it's number 12 okay thank you earlier yes thank
you second case that we'll hear as the companion 1722 master street calendar number mi 2020 000
147 mr anastasio are you there do you agree to um strike that name and address for the record
hi madam chair uh vice chairwoman uh verne anastasio 1315 walnut suite 1006 philadelphia
19107 represented the owners of 1720 and 1722 master street i waived it and agree that i sent
out a packet okay do you swear maybe that's an easier way to do it do you swear or affirm to
tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth. I certainly do. Thank you. You may proceed. Thank
you. Uh, the subject properties, if you look at this, uh, uh, street on Master Street, you could
see this. This is, uh, we don't see anything yet. I don't see it. Nothing yet. Okay. Well, let's fix
that, okay?
I think now you should see it.
Thank you.
Yep, we got it now.
Awesome.
Just took it down.
You got it?
No, you took it down.
I didn't mean to do that sorry about that how's that that's fine but we're
gonna need you to maximize again for purposes of everyone in the webinar so
that they can see what you're showing okay just as perfect okay our properties
are if you look at my my little thing over here my prop the two prop the two
lots are right here I'm hoping you can see that with my
I'm hoping you can see that with my my prompter and as you can see most of the block is empty
there are some illegal cars parked here we have across the street another empty lot another empty
lot over here and empty lots on Ingersoll Street as well and more empty lots on 17th Street this is
a this is a census tract that is you know in need of development for sure and there's lots of empty
properties, empty lots, you know, on the block. And what we're asking to do is two, we have two
lots, 1720 and 1722. And what we're asking to do are two structures on the property that are zoned
RSA 5, but they would be multi-family condominium dwellings, and they would be immediately put for
sale. We've got here on the lower level and the first level, we have one bi-level apartment that's
about 1,500 square feet in the front. One bi-level apartment that's 1,500 square feet in the rear.
We do the same thing on the second and third level with bi-level apartments, but that again
would be marketed for sale. And then the very top floor will be one large condominium with
them having the roof deck. This is identical to the property that is just adjacent to what we're
proposing as you can see it's brand new construction uh five family unit i'm not quite
sure if it's uh first they're for sale or or the rentals but we have decided that we would do uh
you know uh put these up for sale my clients have no interest in being landlords
um and i just want to show you the property as it exists
and the context that this half the more than half the block is absolutely just empty the only two
new uh constructions again we have a five unit building here and next door we have a three
building unit here in between we have another five unit building here and behind us you'll see one
two, three, they're blue in the back. They're all five unit buildings. This is a very undense
part of the community. We have proof of mailing
that I'd like to show you.
147 pieces we also have a certificate of task clearance for both parcels and of course deeds
for both parcels I also want to make sure that you understand if you give me a minute
and I'll bring them up
Just give me one second, if you don't mind.
So we have, here are our two properties that we're asking for two buildings that will be five condominiums sold to owners.
each, one here and one right here. Right next door we have another five unit building and beyond that
we have another four unit building. Now across the street, I think it's really important to
understand, these buildings for the most part are over 100 years old. 1715, we have an 11 family
we have an 11 family dwelling. 1717, we have a five family dwelling. 1719, we have a six family
dwelling. 1717.
dwelling. 1721, we have a four family dwelling. At some point, 1723 was a five family dwelling.
At some point, 1725 was a six-family dwelling that ultimately got reduced to a two-family dwelling.
1727, as recently as 2014, was a four-family dwelling.
1729 was a three-family dwelling.
1731 was a three-family dwelling.
All of these uses were approved by the zoning board.
none of them were as of right. All of them were approved via variance by the zoning board of
adjustment. So I just want to make sure you understand that this is not a row of single
family homes by any stretch of the imagination. It's a street that needs vibrancy. It's a street
that needs, you know, eyes on the street, and if you look at the plans that we've
provided, because they have concerns that are legitimate for sure, their
concerns were about trash for the most part. Each and every unit has a
ventilated trash closet and I want to make sure you understand right here
ventilated trash room every unit has a ventilated trash room of course noise
and congestion will be dictated by the condo association but I want to make
sure that you see these are big ample units that make good sense on a block
that is not at all occupied to its extent. To suggest that there
might be congestion and parking issues, I don't think that makes much sense given
the fact that uh most of the block is empty as you can see and everything on this side on the left
hand side almost every property has already been converted to multi-family by uh long-term residents
We also, again, have empty lots here on 17th and several empty lots here on Ingersoll.
So I think homeownership will, you know, do them well.
And with the plans that have dedicated ventilated trash closets, I think these are good.
it's a good, these are good units, they're quality,
and I respectfully request relief for this variance.
Thank you, any questions?
We'll also have, by the way, Mr. Chairman,
we'll also have commercial trash pickup,
outdoor lighting and security video surveillance.
So we're doing everything that they've asked,
all the concerns that they've raised uh we you know we we have addressed them
thank you thank you questions from the board no no no
anyone else wish to testify in this case if so please raise your hand
no hands up at this okay one just popped up
Caller ended in 508.
You can unmute yourself.
Chair, we have a caller that needs to be sworn in.
Thank you.
Please, whoever you are, please identify yourself, spell your name for the record, and give us your address.
Caller ended in 508.
Are you there?
Okay, Chair, you can proceed.
Thank you, Planning Commission.
Since Ron Bednar, City Planning,
says uh ron vednar city planning both these properties um at 1722 and 1729 master street
both these properties.
are indicated for residential use in the city plan given the recent development context of the
surrounding neighborhood we have no objection to the granting of the variance is that 1720 you
meant to say ron i think he meant to say my apologies mr chairman i think he meant to say
1720 and 1722 is that correct that's why i was asking that's correct okay thank you all right
calendar numbers mi-2020-000149 and mi-2020-000147 my vote is yes on both my vote is yes on
yes to both yes to both thank you all mr chairman that concludes my business for the week
yes may i be excused please sir yes you may have a good one thank you you too yeah you too
calendar number mi 2020-001235 the address is 1600 ridge avenue the attorney is david orphanetes
okay everybody see and hear me yes can you put your name and address on the record please
Certainly. David Orphanides and Toner, 2 Penn Center, 1500 John F. Kennedy Boulevard, Suite 800, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19102.
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?
Have you emailed the entire packet?
okay including i thought maybe it would work with you including proof of ownership proof of tax
compliance a copy of the refusal or 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 uh yes thank you
may proceed um again good afternoon uh mr chairman and members of the board david orphanetes on
behalf of nestino mark llc the owner of the subject property 1600 ridge avenue the property
is located on the southwest corner of ridge and um and uh north 16th street i want to just share
my screen for you hopefully you can see this now can you see my screen yes yes okay great fantastic
so the subject property is a vacant lot sorry it's just to move the pdf
uh it's been vacant for quite some time um it is it abuts uh two properties on north 16th street
just to the south um that i brought before this board back in 2014 along with 1600 ridge
those two properties to the south have been built and developed they were cmx time
um the corner property 1600 ridge has been remapped to 2.5 in the intervening years
essentially this application is for the building with the same footprint which was 100
lot coverage or refused previously were for not having the required open area or rear yard depth
when it was zoned cmx2 and here you can see the permit that was issued back in october 2015
that references the ZVA calendar of 23572 and the hearing date of October 14, 2014.
That was a three-family dwelling, I mean, two family above a commercial space on the ground floor.
again this was on cmx2 uh you
the decision with provisos per revised plans and the refusals at that time here are the plans
that were approved at that time oops excuse me one second scroll through
Just give me one second, scroll through, and you can see here, one minute, get to the easel
that was a little bit of problems here.
Someone has a radio on, would you please turn it off?
Are you getting feedback?
thank you David continue for okay and the refusals were the same at that time again now the property
zone CMX 2.5 and essentially what my clients are looking to do is they're looking to build a
building with the same footprint as before that goes to the permitted height and CMX 2.5 which
is 55 feet. Our refusals, again, are the same as were back in 2014, which is not having the
required open area, not having the required rear yard depth for CMX 2.5. The lot is 1,452 square
feet in area. Given that the building is taller than 45 feet, the required lot area per residential
dwelling unit is 270 square feet with a lot area 452 we'd have five units by right we were only
proposing four each one is a two-bedroom unit so we're not being greedy here we're looking for
four units instead of five that's permitted we have eight bedrooms instead of a possible 15.
um the looking back at the photos that i started at at the beginning here you can see again here's
a subject property to the left and this is tab exhibit tab 12 of our exhibit book this is uh
818 north 16th street that back once again was taken to the board at the same end to the community
group back in 2014 um that building has been built you can see we will be butting up on our
south side with a solid wall and we'll be butting up on the to the west on ridge avenue this is 1602
ridge avenue you can see there are some windows to the rear of us they would be essentially blocked
whether it's a by right building or not i mean the previously approved building or this building
this is a building that deplorable condition it's as you can see it's in it's in poor shape
and essentially the impact on air and light between what was previously permitted and what
is being requested today is no different than between the two there are I've been to this board
for variances for properties located across the street.
Here's the north side of Ridge Avenue.
Here on page eight of tab two, variances were granted
for similar open area and rear yard depth variances
were granted for this structure
on the northeast corner of North 16th and Ridge Avenue.
Here's that building again.
You can see budding right up to the building
to the north of it on paris street and then if i scroll through you can see on the
on the opposite corner of 16th and ridge on the south east corner this is a building that i zoned
and took to the zoning board a couple of years ago also um 55 feet tall lacking an open area
and rear yard depth properties i think as you've seen through various presentations as ridge avenue
has been developed from broad street west has traditionally historically these properties
the butt ridge avenue on the north side and south side have traditionally not had much if any rear
yard depth or open area we did go to the we advertised and we had an in-person meeting
for the Francisville Neighborhood Development Corporation,
who was signed as a coordinating RCO by the Planning Commission.
And you can see their letter of support,
which was issued on 7, well, they say 7-23-2019,
but we just received it on Friday.
And it was a support I presented at that meeting.
It was 11 in favor, 0 opposed, 0 non-opposition, and 0 abstaining.
We do have the property was properly posted.
You can see in Exhibit 1, we had both the notice, hearing notice, and the notice of
We had both the notice, hearing notice, and the notice of refusal on both the North 16th Street side, as you can see here on page 1 of Exhibit 1, page 2, page 3, and then also on Ridge Avenue.
You can see here on page 4, 5, and 6.
so the two is our tax clearance just have to zoom out here for you
the owner of the property who does still own the property to the south the issue
date was the 10th of September since that is still valid current deed at tab
two or I'm sorry tab three showing Nestina mark LLC which was reflected in
tax clearance document as a present owner of the subject property um you can see the in the aerial
images we have a tab four yeah i have a surgery on friday confessor confessor you gotta mute buddy
i'm muted thank you you can see with uh both of those aerial images and our zoning map this is an
really extremely irregularly shaped lot and here you can see it outlined in
green we do have four sides but it is essentially a diamond and lopsided
diamond so to speak here on the left where I'm pointing now to the west on
Ridge Avenue is 1602 again largely a solid wall with a setback wall extending
towards the rear with some windows on the side we're not even sure if those
windows are illegal um given their proximity to the property line and then the abutting property
to the south again we that building actually extends further beyond our property or that
property extends further to the southwest in our property but again our building will be along the
solid northwest wall of that property back to the aerial here you can see um google seems to have
some older outdated aerial images for for the neighborhood um again this on the i'm pointing
now to the southeast corner that's been developed um the north the northeast corner has been
developed all of as you can see in the zoning map you can see how ridge avenue has been remapped
to the north i mean to the west northwest southeast on both sides of ridge avenue as cmx 2.5
And what you've seen come before you are a number of buildings between 45 and 55 feet in height.
I've probably myself brought five, six, or seven of them to this board.
The zoning archives for those other properties, the ones that I mentioned on the corners,
are included at tab 14 that show the variances and the refusals that were granted in each of those cases,
confirming and documenting what I've said regarding those properties.
Again, we did send out the 14303 for the Francisville Neighborhood Development Corporation
meeting, which was held on August, I'm sorry, not on August 31st, which was held, I believe,
last Monday, and that we have the certificate of mailing included at Exhibit 15 of that.
i can scroll to that right now you can summarize and do you have a witness i don't i have uh the
architect who can adopt my statements and i have the owner uh from the cinemark llc who can also
adopt my statement so yeah whichever one you want to bring on uh xing um i'm not sure what he's uh
H-S-I-N-G, it might be under Skye.
Could you raise your hand?
So Ms. Sunkit can see you.
You can unmute yourself.
Hi, this is Shane from Skye Design.
Sarah, would you call your name?
First and last name.
First name H-S-I-N-G, last name Chen, C-H-E-N.
Your address?
1823 Spring Garden Street, Philadelphia, PA-19130.
You're swearing a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Thank you. Please proceed, David.
shane you you're your office prepared the drawings that were submitted to lni with this application
Shane, your office prepared the drawings that were submitted to L&I with this.
and that were presented to the francisville neighborhood development corporation on the
21st of september correct yes and you were at the meeting before the francisville neighborhood
development corporation on the 21st of september correct yes okay and did you hear the statements
that i made to the board uh just now regarding this matter yes okay and true and correct to the
best of your knowledge? Yes, that's all correct. And would you adopt them as your own? Yes. Thank
you. Then Mark Jones, who's the owner, Mark can just quickly jump on. Mark, if you could raise
your hand. You can unmute yourself. Yes, Mark Jones. Is that Jones? Yes, Jones, J-O-N-E-S. Thank
Thank you. Your address? 1491 Sumneytown Pike, Lansdale, PA. Thank you. Swear and affirm to tell
the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth? Yes, sir. Thank you. David, please. And
Mark, what is your involvement with Nastina Mark LLC, the owner of the subject property, 1600 Ridge
Avenue? I'm 50% owner of the company with my wife, previously owned 50% with my deceased, now deceased
spot um i purchased those props well we formed the corporate as a legacy really for my family
and we purchased 816 818 and 1600. okay and um you were at the community group meeting with the
francisville neighborhood development corporation on the 21st of september correct yes i was okay
and did you hear the statements that i made to the board this afternoon regarding this matter
yes sir okay were they true and correct to the best of your knowledge yes sir would you adopt
them as your own yes sir thank you thank you any questions from the board
no uh anyone else wish to testify in this case if so please raise your hand
no hand thank you planning commission so this property is indicated for
mixed use commercial mixed use in the comprehensive plan we feel that this
application is in context with the surrounding location development is is in scale and with
adjacent buildings and close to a major transit station accordingly we have no we have no objection
to the grounding of variance thank you ron mi-2020-001235
1600 ridge avenue my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes okay thank you um thank you
then it concludes the 3 30 i mean the two o'clock session excuse me
we're going to take a 20 minute we'll come back at five after five
and we'll then begin the 3 30 session okay thank you five o'clock all right let's see tom's here
carol's here i'm here karen's here tanya everybody's on charise is on and i believe
we're still uh we're still live
i'm sorry we just returned we just went back to recording again
okay we're live now yes we are so thank you
so we're always live chair we just back to the recording
just wanted to make sure that's all okay thank you
all right good afternoon everyone my name is frank de chico i'm the chair of
the zoning board of adjustment i'll be participating at today's
hearing along with Vice Chair Ms. Carol Tenere, Board Secretary, I'm not sure, I think
confessor had to leave, Board Member James Snell, no he's not here either, and Board
Member Thomas Holloman. Let me do that again. I'll be participating in today's hearing along
with our Vice Chair Ms. Carol Tenere and our Board Member Mr. Thomas Holloman. Board
Administrator Tanya Sunkit and Board Attorney Sharon Saleta are also in attendance. For
those of you who have not yet participated in our virtual hearings, I'll go through some of the
basics of what you can expect. First, we will be administering oaths to individual participants
prior to their testimony. Second, for the benefit of anyone participating by phone,
we ask that attorneys and witnesses identify themselves prior to speaking or testifying.
Third, we'd like to advise everyone that this proceeding is being recorded and that by
we'd like to advise everyone that this proceeding is being recorded and that by participating
participating.
you acknowledge your agreement to be recorded fourth for anyone participating by phone
if you wish to testify you must raise your hand by hitting star nine and then star six to unmute
yourself i will repeat that for anyone participating by phone if you wish to testify you must raise
your hand by hitting star nine and then star six to unmute yourself. Finally, to
enter an appearance statement, call Google 267-270-5548 and leave your
email address and the address of the property at issue. Again, I will repeat,
to enter an appearance statement, call Google 267-270-5548 and leave your email address
and the address of the property at issue. With that, we can begin. But before Vice Chair
Carol Tenere calls the first case, we'd like to ask if anyone is requesting a continuance
or withdrawal of an appeal listed to be heard in this afternoon's hearing. If so, please raise your
hand and identify yourself and the case in which you are asking for a continuance or withdrawal
here we have charles richardson from the council person's office good afternoon mr richardson
charles richardson from the office of councilwoman cindy bass
and do you swear to firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
i do please proceed uh i'm going to be asking for a continuous for appeal number 39093
uh 2964 north 23rd street um they have not met with the rco as yet i know that they had
reached out to the rco on the 16th to see if they could get a uh meeting before uh this date
but there there have been no communication since that point uh i think that they need to
the two sides need to need to come together and make this meeting happen and uh you know hopefully
if i don't know if you want to want to do anything differently with regard to you know
and hold or whatever but we you know they need they do need to need to meet with the rco as far
as i'm concerned i'm just here yes let's see if you have anybody interested yes the attorney of
record sean ward sean ward you can speak to this continuance uh thank you tanya good afternoon
mr chairman uh mr you're still on the earth from earlier thank you thank you uh sean ward on behalf
for the applicant felix al monte a-l-m-o-n-t-e for the property 2964 north 23rd uh mr chairman
this matter is a november 19 application and appeal um it's been 334 days since the appeal
was filed and rco notification was made uh we did in fact have a meeting scheduled for march 18th
But obviously, COVID had canceled that, and the RCO informed me that all their meetings were canceled for the foreseeable future.
When I was notified by the zoning board that the matter was relisted for September 29th, I reached out to the RCO by email requesting that a meeting be scheduled prior to this hearing, and I've received no contact back from them.
I would also point out that this is a code enforcement matter.
The L&I has issued a notice of intent to cease.
What you have here is a grocery store.
The applicant was able to get a food prep serve license for prep and serve of hot and cold takeout foods.
Upon an inspection by L&I, it was determined that he didn't have a zoning permit.
for that use and despite that fact the the food prep and serve license was
issued to him so mr. Ward I'm gonna interrupt and make life easier we're
going to hear and hold but we won't hold forever and we'll go through that at the
end of your presentation okay thank you thank you all right mr. Richardson
there's been obviously many efforts made but we'll hear and hold we'll wait we'll
put a time on the time in which the RCO needs to respond. Yes sir, that's work that works.
Thank you. Anyone else
requested continuance or withdrawal please raise your hand
requested continuance or withdrawal, please raise your hand.
no hands are up at this time however i have a continuance requested
for the attorney of record mr sean ward for number seven on your list today
hegerman hegerman street yes okay uh mi-2020-000059-5627-41 hegerman street is continued
thank you you can proceed chair thank you calendar number three nine nine one seven
1917 north 4th street
the attorney is isaac slepner i think there's a companion case this number two
calendar number 39916 mi 2020 000046 uh good afternoon 1909 north fourth
yes 1909 north fourth mr slepner can you put your name and address on the record please
Absolutely.
Isaac Slepner, S-L-E-P-N-E-R, with Mattione Limited, 100 North Independence Mall, West,
Suite 5A Northwest, Philadelphia, PA, 19106.
Thank you.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
And do you also agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, I do.
Have you emailed an exhibit packet with proof of ownership, proof of tax clearance, refusal,
referral, photos, and plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing, and
have you met with the RCO and had a letter?
Yes, we have.
Yes, we did, and yes, we do.
Okay, you may proceed.
Thank you.
I guess just to clarify, did you call 1917 North Forth first and then 1909?
Yes, I did.
In any event, as I mentioned, I'm Isaac Slepner with Mattione here on 1917 North Forth, also
in 1909 North Forth.
With me somewhere in the virtual crowd is Simon Shane, who is the principal, a principal
member of Real Builders, LLC, and also a principal member of 515 to 519 Hoffman Street, Inc.,
that being the owner of 1909 North Forth, and Real Builders LLC being the owner of 1917 North Forth.
I guess I'll take you through the materials regarding 1917 North Forth first.
The two properties are essentially identical.
They have different owners.
Mr. Shane is a principal of both of the owning entities.
But I'll walk you through my materials.
uh i oh i have to hit screen share don't i bear with me here let's try this oh there we go
okay there we go can everybody see um this pdf in front of them
okay um so with regards to 1917 north 4th uh our exhibit one is our notice of refusal which was
issued on January 30th of 2020, and there is one refusal, and that's for use.
Exhibit 2 is our time-stamped application for appeal, which we filed on February 13th of 2020.
Exhibit 3 is our floor plan, site plan, and elevations, and I'll turn that so that everyone
can see that a little bit better. So, and I'll even enlarge it so that everybody has a good view.
The proposed project in 1917 North 4th is a duplex, a two-family.
Apartment one would be ground level and basement, with a one bedroom, the bedroom being on the
ground level. That unit would have access to the rear yard space, and the second unit would be,
I believe it's a two-bedroom, and Simon, if you're out there, I'll ask my client to testify regarding the physical dimensions.
I may have enlarged that a little too big.
The second apartment in that would be the second and third floor with access to the roof deck,
And that actually is a two-bedroom unit proposed.
and that actually is a two-bedroom unit proposed.
This is our floor plan with elevations and the site plan.
There's 1917.
1917 is ours.
That's the shaded one.
On one side is an existing brick house, on the other side is an empty lot.
And you'll see photos of the site itself.
Exhibit 4, in fact, are our photos.
Exhibit 4 begins with Exhibit 4A, which are photographs of the site itself.
And I will, again, turn everything so that they can be viewed properly.
All right.
So 1917 North 4th, if you can see this black pickup truck sitting there and that fence,
that fenced yard area is actually 1917 North 4th.
1919 North Forth is the Red Brick House, 1915 North Forth is the next lot over with the green growth and the wooden part of that wooden fence.
Here's a little bit more of a close-up of 1917 North Forth.
It's that metal chain link fence area. That's 1917 North Forth.
It's currently being used by the occupants of 1919 with permission of the owner, but that is the actual site.
Exhibit 4B are other photographs, I guess, to give a feel for the immediate neighborhood.
This is what's directly across the street from 1917 North Forth.
That's, I believe, 1913.
I'm sorry.
That's either 1918 or 1916 North Forth.
And then right there, that new construction is also a multifamily.
I believe that's a duplex.
directly across the street from 1917, North Forth.
This is, you can see 1917, 1915,
1913, 1911, and 1909, North Forth.
It's a half block of mostly vacant lots there.
There's some new construction you can see on the block behind.
This is 1912.
That's directly across the street from 1911, 13, 15, and 17.
That's 1912, and 1910 is another multifamily.
Exhibit 4C are our photos of the orange zoning posters that were taken no sooner than 21 days ago.
There's the first photo, and that's up on the chain link fence that is, in fact, 1917 North 4th.
Here's one that's on its side here.
That's another shot of the orange poster, and those are our orange poster views.
Exhibit 5 is our project information form, which was filled out and submitted, I believe, in February.
Yes, on February 6th of 2020.
Exhibit 6 is an affidavit of service that all mailings went out to all of the addresses
that the Planning Commission sent to us on August 20th informing all of the neighbors of the RCO
meeting. And this is a copy of our letter. This is a copy of our notice of refusal. And Exhibit B
to that was the several addresses, I would say probably about 100 addresses that were mailed
with this notice. It goes on for quite a few pages. Exhibit 7 is the letter from
NARA Square Community Alliance to the board. The letters dated August 28th of 2020,
meaning summary, and we had three in support, zero against, and the RCO, as you may note,
took a position of supporting this project. Exhibit 8 is the deed to the property recorded
on April 24th of 2018, transferring the property to Real Builders, LLC, and D, realty transfer
tax, realty transfer tax.
Exhibit 9 is the tax clearance for Real Builders, LLC that was pulled on September 17th of 2020.
And does the board have any questions?
So early in your earlier part of your presentation, you showed the lower unit of apartment had access to the rear yard.
Was that a staircase leading out there?
My client can answer that.
I'm going to scroll back up to it.
I believe it's like a two or three step from a rear door at the kitchen space of the ground level.
um from a rear door at the kitchen space of of the ground level apartment look that way i just
want to clarify that okay i can go back to the plans and and look at it a little bit
yeah just go back to it was a part of the original your original presentation okay early on
i'm scrolling back to the plans i'll and my client can also speak to that um when he uh
is unmuted he'll be able to um address that as well there it is all right looks like staircase
okay okay all right
i'm sorry go ahead is that tom no i said it's very good tom you're breaking up
i said is very good okay thank you all right thank you
i would just want to call my client simon shane at this time um to have him adopt uh the testimony
please do simon you there yes all right please identify yourself spell your name for the
stenographer first and last name and give us your address please
Simon Shane, S-H-I-M-O-N, S-H-A-I-N, 307 Avon Streets, Philadelphia, PA, 19116.
And Simon, do you swear in front to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Thank you. Please proceed.
Simon, you are a member of Real Builders, LLC, correct?
And did you hear all the testimony that I offered to the board today?
And would you adopt that testimony as though you had given it yourself?
And is all of that testimony true and correct to the best of your knowledge?
Thank you.
And could you clarify that rear door on the first level?
Is it two or three steps out to the backyard?
You got it right.
It's a stairwell.
Thank you.
I have nothing further for my client.
Questions from the board?
anyone else wish to testify in this case if so please raise your hand
no hands you planning commission
good afternoon uh chair members of the board ian hegarty from the philadelphia city planning
commission staff that's i-a-n-h-e-g-a-r-t-y and would you swear and affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth nothing but the truth i do mr chair thank you please proceed uh this property
is indicated for residential single family use in the city's comprehensive plan we feel that the
applicant has not demonstrated unique physical circumstances or conditions peculiar to the
property that would support a claim of hardship accordingly we object to the granting of this
variance. Thank you. Well, did we get testimony in 1909 yet, correct? Only 1917? Correct. 1909
is essentially a proposal for the same type of duplex. All right, let's let me let's vote this
one and then we'll go to the next one uh calendar number three nine nine one seven one nine one
seven north fourth street my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes thank you all right let's
go to carol to 1909 south fourth and north fourth i'm sorry north fourth so you're still you're still
on your oath uh thank you and i think he did say that he uh sent in all the required
packet things in the packet i i did um i did in fact send all of those missionary is correct
um i can walk the board through um this packet of materials uh it should not take up too much
more time is there any mr slepler is there anything significantly different in this plan
compared to the other there is not really um it's a different owner uh but my client mr
is the principal of the owner of this property as well okay and just give us a brief description
of the floor plan if it the um 1909 north 4th is uh planned as another duplex uh two family
the apartment one. Here's the plan. I'll bring that up. The first apartment is a one-bedroom
at ground level and basement level with access by some steps to the rear yard space.
The second apartment is on the second and third floors, a two-bedroom, and that has access to the roof deck space.
The second apartment is on the second and third floors.
This is our elevation.
This is 1909 is the shaded, if you can see in the site plan there, is that shaded area.
There's an alleyway that would be to the side of 1909, and it's at the rear of the properties that are there on,
I'm pretty sure that's Berks Street, but other than that, it's not – doesn't encroach on anybody's backyard or anything of that nature.
Those were already properties that were constructed with their rear yards on that block of Berks.
So that's the basic situation with our plan.
There's the elevation, and I'll scroll down to the floor plans so that everybody can take a look.
uh we um we have a letter also a letter of support from norris square community alliance
um it was actually a vote was held at the same time as 1917.
um i'll scroll down to the letter but as i recall it was the same vote total as well
But I'll scroll down to the letter just to offer that up into the record.
Here are some photos of the site.
Those are wooden fences that are the next street behind our property.
Let's turn to the side.
I can turn them if anybody wants to go over the photos.
Here's what the rest of 4th Street looks like heading south.
That's the corner of 4th and Berks right there.
um that's i think that's just that's where the alley is going to end up being between the
backyards and the side of ours 4c is our orange posters that were posted that's on a wooden plank
right in front of 1909 north 4th so on a wooden plank uh that's a horizontal shot of our orange
poster. And I'll scroll down, like I said, to the letter from the RCO. This is our certificate
of mailing. We mail it to the same 100 or so addresses. Exhibit 7 is the letter from Norris
Square sent on August 28th of 2020. Position of support, it was a vote of 3 to 0 to 1.
three in support, zero
oppose, one non-opposition.
And that vote
was held on
slightly before August
28th, but the letter was written on August 28th.
Summarize,
and do you need to get your witness on
again to adopt your testimony?
Yes, I would prefer
to do that. Thank you.
Simon?
Simon you're still under oath
and he can
unmute yes sorry
hi Simon as
the chair mentioned you're still under oath
are you a principal
of 514 to 519
Hoffman Street Inc yes
and did you hear all the testimony I
offered to the board today just now
yeah and is it all true
and correct to the best of your knowledge yes
and would you adopt the testimony
as though you had given it yourself yes I have nothing further for my client at
this time thank you questions from the board no anyone else to testify in this
case if so please raise your hand no hands at this time thank you Planning
Commission you have to state your name again Ian Hegarty Philadelphia City
Planning Commission. IANHEGARTY. Well, you're already still under oath. Thank you, Chair.
Again, this property is indicated for single family use in the comprehensive plan. And again,
we don't believe that the applicant has presented evidence of unique physical circumstances or
conditions on this property that would support a claim to hardship. And accordingly, we object to
the granting of this variance. I appreciate that. And I think if the other properties on the street
we're all single family and not as many multi as i agree in that case application number the calendar
number three nine nine one six one nine oh nine north fourth my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote
is yes my vote is yes all right very much thank you members of the board thank you calendar number
calendar number 38160 1366 anchor street um this is sharon saletta we do have a request from
three eight one six zero thirteen sixty six anchor street
councilwoman sanchez for a continuance saying there's been no rco meeting yeah i think that
was mentioned this morning if i'm not mistaken right is that is that slung folks yeah okay
so let's say let's do this car i'll just ask if there's anyone out there who disagrees with the
continuance on this case please raise your hand no hand okay no one objects to the continuance
therefore calendar number three eight one six zero one three six six anchor street is continued
thank you council council councilman did you go um if i could yeah um number four on your list
if haven't if i haven't stated already has been withdrawn by attorney robert ransom
okay so calendar number thank you calendar number three nine six nine seven three eight nine five
Richmond Street is withdrawn. Calendar number MI 2020-000952-4434 Lancaster
Avenue. Excuse me I'm sorry Ms. Sunkit that was 3895 Richmond was withdrawn by
mr kellett i was through i received something about a withdrawal
can we call him please you can speak to this
can anybody hear me yes tim kellett on behalf of the city of philadelphia 3895 richmond street
We have not sent in a request to withdraw this application.
I don't know if I have a mistake with the numbering from the request.
I'm sorry.
It's not Richmond.
I'm sorry.
No problem.
So we'll go ahead with this case?
All the participants available on this case?
So we'll go back to this.
Calendar number 396973895 Richmond Street.
Okay, thank you.
Is there an attorney with this case?
Good afternoon.
Have we returned to 3895 Richmond?
Yes, you can proceed.
Can everybody see me?
Yes, Mr. Keller.
Thanks very much.
Sir, are you an attorney?
I am an attorney.
can you put your name and address on the record please absolutely my name is jim kellett k-e-l-l-e-t-t
i'm a deputy city solicitor with the city law department at one 15 15 16th floor
we'll get there we will you swear from the tell the whole truth and i'll think about the truth
you agree to waive the reading the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy
i do and have you submitted everything required in the exhibit packet like proof of ownership
tax clearance referral refusal photos plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing
and have you met with the rcl and do you have a letter we have i have okay thank you you may
proceed thank you i'm uh going to share my screen right now if that's okay great
good afternoon members of the board again my name is jim kellett uh we are talking today about 3895
richmond street in the city of philadelphia this is a property in the northeast it was formerly
an incinerator facility for this philadelphia streets department it has been under the ownership
of the city of philadelphia for decades the uh ownership information i submitted is from the
offices of property assessment because philodox does not go back that far in the office of uh
The Department of Public Property hasn't even been able to find the actual deed, but we will be able to provide as much ownership information as possible.
The tax clearance also shows that the City of Philadelphia is the owner.
The issue you have before you today is that this building is I-3.
As I mentioned earlier, this used to be a department incinerator facility, and the streets department wishes to add office space on the fourth and fifth floors.
So there's no change to the shape of the building, just internal work.
Change to the shape of the building, just internal work, which requires a special exemption.
The application was submitted late last year.
The referral was issued on December 20th of 2019, and the appeal was filed that day.
As I mentioned previously, we did meet with the RCA.
prior to the originally scheduled date in March. The RCO did approve of our
presentation, voted unanimously 25 to 0 in support of the variance. To show you
outdoor photos of the property right now, this is what it looks like currently.
The property is 600 feet off of the street, off of Richmond Street, so there
wouldn't be any effect to congestion overcrowding of land or really any type
of impairment to any adjacent property I can show you what we're proposing and I
do have Matt Corsello who's the consulting engineer on this project and
Scott McGrath the representative of the streets department here to confirm this
testimony the first through third floors are currently shop space bathrooms
locker rooms and a mezzanine level we're not changing that use we're simply looking to add
office space so that the office workers for the sanitation department currently residing at the
municipal services building in center city can decamp to a location more central to their
operations and so on the fourth floor we have existing stairwells existing elevators with a
future lobby and future closets installation of new walls with appropriate fire protection systems
and meeting rooms bathrooms and offices and then on the fifth floor it will be
unoccupied at first again existing stairwells walls to enclose those
stairwells and other measures to make the floor safe with the proposed use to
be future offices as needed so we're decongesting Center City and also
hopefully creating some jobs and up there in the future and just my point
earlier about congestion parking spaces exist at the premises already they've
really they're going to repaint some lines again at 600 feet off of the
street municipal trash collection
and honestly that's about all we have we're respectfully requesting that this special
special exemption given the um lack of effect around it the safety of the plans in place and
the uh benefit to the city thank you uh do you need to have anyone adopt your testimony
If I could have Mr. Corsello adopted as the consulting engineer, I'd appreciate that.
That would be good. Thank you. Mr. Corsello.
Please spell your full name for the record, please.
It's Matt Corsello, C-O-R-S-E-L-L-O. Address is 1138 Thrush Lane, Audubon, PA, 19403.
And your position again with this?
I'm working with Bowler Engineering.
We are the engineers of record for the project.
We swear to the firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
Thank you.
Mr. Kellett?
Mr. Cortella, have you heard my testimony today?
And is it true and correct to the best of your knowledge?
And would you adopt that testimony as your own testimony today?
Thank you, sir.
I have nothing further.
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
no anyone else wish to testify in this matter if so please raise your hand
i have a francis francis you can unmute yourself and speak to this case
Francis, whoever you are, please give us your name, spell your name for the record and address.
Francis, you can unmute yourself.
Can you folks hear me now?
Yeah, I can hear you now.
Please spell your name, first and last name.
Give us your address.
Well, I'm afraid there's been some misunderstanding.
I am actually the architect of record for 4434 Lancaster Avenue which I believe might be next
which i believe might be next on the list that's the next that's the next case so you have to put
on the list that's the next that's the next case so you have to put your hand down
your hand down okay sorry we'll call you at the next case thank you thank you all right anyone
else no hands chair thank you uh planning commission yes good afternoon uh ian hegarty
for the philadelphia city planning commission this property is indicated for industrial use
uh in the comprehensive plan the philadelphia streets department has demonstrated a need for
this office to support the department's activities at this location which are essential to the city
so accordingly we support the granting of this variance thank you calendar number three nine six
let me start again calendar number three nine six nine seven three eight nine five
Richmond Street. My vote is yes. My vote is yes. My vote is yes. My vote is yes. Thank you, Mr.
Kellett. Thank you for the conclusion. Sorry, Carol. Thank you. Calendar number MI-2020-000952-4434
for Lancaster Avenue I'm here by the way Frank Cuthbertson are you the attorney no mr. Lambert
you've been promoted to a panelist you can unmute yourself and share your screen as you wish
oh right here start video thank you can you hear me mr lambert can you your name and address on
the record please yes good afternoon um my name is michael lambert id number 88422
i am here on behalf of uh 4434 lancaster avenue okay do you swear or affirm to tell the whole
truth and nothing but the truth yes my client is also online he swears also okay uh do you i think
you'll have to say that he swears but i'm going to ask you do you agree to wave the reading of
the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy yes i do and my client is right here he's he didn't
swear right now again but he's standing right here name and address please we'll take care
Mr. Lambert, Mr. Lambert, just listen to Ms. Tenere, and then we'll get your client at the appropriate time to swear him in. Thank you.
My apologies, sir.
Thank you.
Apologies, ma'am.
sir have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents including proof of ownership
tax compliance a copy of the refusal and referral photos plans of the property five
days in advance of this hearing have you also met with the rco and do you have a letter
yes on all of the above you may proceed thank you very much
Mr. Chairperson and members of the panel, I am here. My name is Michael Lambert. I'm here with my client, Guy Hopperin, and we're here with the class of 4434 Lancaster Avenue.
We're simply asking the board to allow a variance because this lot size is smaller, 1,418 square feet, compared to what is required for our four-unit dwelling.
The reason why we're asking the members is because it's zoned as a CMX2 right now.
And my client purchased the properties in March of 2018.
However, when he purchased the property, it was zoned essentially as a four-unit complex, two one-bedrooms on the second floor, two one-bedrooms on the third floor, and a barbershop on the first floor.
currently we're asking the board just to do essentially the same thing that has already
occurred um and um allowing or continue the allowance of the two one bedrooms on each floor
second and third mr lambert i need to interrupt you again do you have any exhibits to share with
us uh we have forward that um to the board five days in advance however we can when we sent it
again today, however, we could
share the screen right now.
That would be helpful. Thank you.
Share screen.
So while my
paralegal is here sharing the screen,
sir, if I may...
We don't have anything yet.
We'll let you know when we see the screen.
Okay, well, if I may continue, Mr. Chair, first, while she's doing that, is that okay?
Okay, well, if I may continue, Mr. Chairperson, while she's doing that, is that okay?
All right, basically, this is a...
Did you see it?
Did you see it?
He said he'll share with us what we have, and I need to...
No, you need to hit the green share button, and then hit the document you want to share.
there we go and we apologize folks i know it's late but we're all a little nervous here trying
to get uh accustomed to this i think we have it now yes we have it thank you god
all right so if i may move on while she's sharing the screen um so as you'll see the first page is
the, or at the top, is the
letter from the
RCO, which
is a 15
in favor
of our request.
Pardon me? We don't see that.
What we see is the zoning notice. The zoning
poster is the only thing that's up.
I don't know.
Are you
fighting kids?
and then multiple documents yes yes that is correct uh this is about six pages it has our
uh letter our refusal our application for the appeal uh our uh tax clearance as well as our
um okay now you're now we've now we've lost you so you've got to sign back on
Chair what was your request
My request was that he shared the documents
And all we saw was the zoning notice
And he asked if he can proceed
With his oral
Testimony while they were getting the screen up
I said okay but that's not working out
Let me continue with my oral testimony
and I would ask my staff and the client to just not say anything while I continue.
Thank you.
So the bottom line for the members of the panel is this particular property was when my client purchased it,
it was structured as a four unit, as I said, two on each second, two on the third floor,
and it was zoned as a barbershop on the first floor.
This was in 1997.
We're asking the members of this panel to grant us the variance to essentially to,
um uh follow through with what was already previously uh uh allowed by this panel or
the zoning boards in 1997. um this particular if you when you get the opportunity to look at the
um the rco letter uh this is the lancaster corridor and we are trying to make the first
floor or request that the first floor to stay commercial we do not have an exact plan as to
what that will be because the RCO is assisting us with finding a proper tenant to match their needs
and we may have to come back before the board for that specific commercial property on the first
floor however with regards to the other two units the other four units on the second and third floor
that's specifically what we're asking
with regards to the variance for
this is a heavily populated
very dense area
this is a common
problem for
properties in this area
but based on our multiple conversations
and our RCO meeting
it is our understanding
that the
community is definitely in support
and would like for us
to proceed
with this because that area still has a lot of uh drug influence in that area and there are some
still some abandoned properties and would like to essentially take this property out of that
particular uh status it's been vacant for about 10 years my client did purchase the property and
spent some money um trying to not even trying accomplishing the make safe uh process and uh
Since that's done, we're now asking the panel to grant us this particular variance.
So there was a first floor commercial and two family dwellings on the third floor,
two family dwellings on the second floor?
Yes, Your Honor.
So you're asking to legalize this?
Yeah, it was already in my, it's my understanding from the previous, from my research, that it was like that in 1997, or was zoned for either three, four, or five units in 1997.
Yeah, it was already in my, it's my understanding from the previous
I just didn't quite understand.
But it was already zoned for commercial on the first floor as a barbershop, and at least three to five units on the second and third floor.
it's my understanding that it's four but i don't want to misspeak and we're just asking the panel
or the board rather to just uh uh grant us the variance that has already been granted pretty
much in 1997 i also have a um a architect that would like to chime in if possible and he may be
able to assist us with sharing the documents he was a gentleman that called earlier um a little
early before the time frank i don't want to mispronounce his last name so if it's okay
at some point i'd like to ask the board to allow him to speak whenever the board feels fit before
we get mr cuthbert on uh are there questions from the board because i'm not sure if we even
i don't know if we need to know i'm a little confused about this to be honest with you i am
too we're we're being asked to say yes to something that was already said yes to
was the prior use abandoned yes it was vacant that's correct it was vacant the entire building
yes it was actually in disrepair and my client that's when my client purchased it
and that's when he started to
make it
do the make safe procedures
so you're doing a rehab
you're rehabbing it
you want to rehab it
let me finish Mr. Lambert please
your client wants to rehab this
back to the use
that it once
occupied two
family dwelling on the second and two family
dwelling on the third with commercial
on the first floor
Yes, sir.
All right.
Is your client there?
He's right here, sir.
Well, why don't we get him?
We'll swear him in.
You can ask if he adopts your testimony.
My name is Guy Halperin.
Guy, D-U-Y.
Halperin is H-A-L-P-E-R-I-N, 1525 Stoney Lane, Philadelphia, 19115.
this is my address and you swear and affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but
the truth well and i would i would like to say some some stuff if possible well before you say
some stuff let mr lambert ask the question if you've you heard his testimony mr lambert thank
you i'm not going to do your job so please help us thank you sir sir mr guy alfred you've heard
my testimony today have you heard it in its entirety yes uh do you adopt everything that i've
said yes okay uh questions from the board no no anyone else wish to testify in this matter if so
please raise your hand I'm gonna ask for complete silence so that we can
proceed the way the board does I'm sure we have Francis Cuthbertson Francis you
can now I mean all right good afternoon thank you very much
I'm Francis Cuthbertson, CKG Architect.
And please spell your name, Francis.
Last name is spelled C-U-T-H-B as in boy, E-R-T-S-O-N.
And you are?
First name is Francis.
I am the architect for this project, 4434 Lancaster Avenue.
Is there something you need to add, you would like to add?
More of a clarification.
It was already said, but basically, this was when we first got into it, as Mr. Halperin said,
and Mr. Lambert said, it was commercial on the first floor, I believe an old barbershop.
On the second floor, two apartments, and on the third floor, two apartments.
So all we did, because of the unique shape of the building, and it does have a very unique shape,
similar to what Mr. Orfaniti said earlier in previous, we have a very strange shape here.
It's formed by the intersection of Lancaster and the side street of Westminster and then 45th Street.
And all we did was take the existing design, which was, as Mr. Lambert said,
And all we did was take the existing design, which was, as Mr. Lambert said, approved, I think, sometime in the 90s, and just approved upon it.
And the reason we have to go through the variance was once anything's vacant, as you know, for more than three years, you go back to the base zoning.
And then, of course, under the base zoning, because of this very strange lot, we have 1418 square feet.
1440 is three units by right.
So we took the four units that were already there and just simply improved upon them.
We moved the stair.
We made the kitchens and bathrooms a little bit bigger.
And we just laid out, I think, a much better unit on the second and third floor.
That's really all we did.
And I think if it's confusing to the board, you know, why are we doing something that was there before?
It's because of that reason it was vacant within three years.
And that's pretty much it.
Thank you.
Thank you for clearing that up.
Excuse me.
This is Sharon Saleta.
i don't know whether this will make things clearer but i did just
text all the board members a copy of the notice of refusal
i see it
i i'm having a hard time enlarging and i can't read it but i
there's nothing in there sharon that's um we should be concerned about or is no let me um
let me just read the application is for commercial space first floor use registration required prior
to occupancy for four dwelling units on the second through third floors in an existing structure
one use refusal for lot area required for four dwelling units thank you okay anyone else wish
to testify in this case no hands thank you tanya uh planning commission
good afternoon um sorry good evening chair uh the uh property is indicated for commercial
sorry can i interrupt and ask you to state your name please absolutely my apologies for forgetting
ian hegarty representing the philadelphia city planning commission
property is indicated for commercial residential mixed use in the city's comprehensive plan
we believe the most recent legal use dating to 2010 was for three dwelling units in a beauty shop
not four as stated by the applicant the application we feel does not represent the
minimum variance necessary to afford relief and so accordingly we're recommending approval with
condition uh to limit the dwelling unit count to three in addition to the vacant commercial
on the ground floor thank you calendar number mi 2020-000952434 lancaster avenue my vote is yes
with the proviso maximum i think i got this right planning commission maximum three residential units
my vote is yes with proviso yes with proviso yes with proviso
we're going on to um calendar number mi 2020 000320 2964 north 23rd street
and we're going to hold this case
yes okay the attorney is sean ward
um mr tenere we ready me yes name and address oh thank you uh good afternoon good afternoon
good afternoon members of the board sean ward on behalf of the applicant felix
el monte property at 2964 north of 23rd street my office address is 331 east street road
trevos pa19053 thank you do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes i do yes we waive and stipulate and we submitted you did submit the exhibit packet
with all the things required yes i did thank you except for or except for the
Yes, I did, except for the RCO letter.
And this is Sharon Saleta.
If I can interrupt for one minute, I'm not sure if this was put on the record
that we did receive a continuous request from Adrian Fernandez of Swampoodle RCO.
Thank you.
Thank you, Sharon.
Please proceed.
as we said earlier we're going to hear and hold this for we'll hold it for a short time waiting
for a letter from the rco okay can we confirm that you can see my shared screen yes you can
yes we can okay uh i've submitted my typical exhibit packet which includes a1 is the notice
of refusal the application is for the retail sale of groceries to include accessory prep and syrup
of hot and cold foods for takeout on the first floor with an existing single-family dwelling
above. It's been refused because the sale of food, beverage, and groceries is not permitted in the
district, and therefore we are required to seek a use variance. I would point out that this property
has been used as a grocery store in one family since 1939, so I don't know why it was refused
for the sale of food, beverages, and groceries.
In any event, we're here today.
A2 is the ZBA application of appeal.
A3, the project information form.
A4 is the applicant's deed.
A5 is proof of tax clearance.
A6 are photographs.
A8 are my emails evidencing the numerous requests made to the RCO to conduct a meeting.
A9 is the relevant zoning history, as mentioned, 1939, a grocery store in one family.
That was the only zoning history I saw in the file.
I also conducted a license history search dating back to 2007.
We have numerous food prep and serve licenses at this site.
A11 is the zoning map.
A12 is the aerial photograph.
Again, I just summarized by saying the property was continuously used as a grocery store in one family since 1939.
We're simply looking to add the prep and serve of hot and cold foods, all previously approved uses to remain.
So we have the notice of refusal, my appeal transmittal, which includes the application of appeal, the refusal, the PIF.
Here's a copy of his deed.
You'll see he purchased the property August 27th of 2019.
Shortly before that, he took over the store and then purchased the property from the former owner.
Tax compliance, you can see he's paid up through 2020.
As far as the zoning archive goes, here's a copy of the permit from 1969.
Whoop, just went right by it.
And you'll see that it's a one-family dwelling in a grocery store.
moving on we have the pictures of the posting of the premises
the actual poster it's a corner property located at 129th street
as you can see it's obvious that it's been there for quite some time he does advertise that he
sell hot they sell hot foods here's the other corner view the three opposing corners are all
commercial uses. You got a newsstand, you've got a Chinese food restaurant,
and then a lounge, Monique's Lounge. I slipped in another copy of that zoning
permit accidentally. Here is the search for licenses at the location and you
can see dating back to 2007, there was food prep and serve there. I'm not sure how far Eclipse goes
back, but at least we know 2007 there was food prep and serve. Scales and scanners are consistent
with the grocery store and market use. Again, food prep and serve in 2008, food prep and serve in
2011. And then my client obtained his food prep and serve license. It was issued December 4th,
2019, following an inspection by O&I, the food prep and serve license, which was issued
as a matter of right.
Later, the inspection by Inspector Raudenbush indicated that he had a zoning permit for
a grocery store only and not for the hot and cold food prep and takeout.
So even O&I acknowledges that he had a zoning for the grocery store.
the grocery store, but when we filed the application, it ended up in a refusal.
But when we file the application,
And again, I'm sorry, here's the zoning map.
Ironically, you'll see here the other three corners are zoned CMX1,
but somehow during the remapping, despite the fact that this grocery store has been here since 1939,
it was not zoned consistently with the other three corners, and it's mapped as RSA5.
Very quickly, with regard to the RCO notification, you'll see the RCO notification originally
came out November 1st of 2019.
November 1st, I notified the RCO that I was the applicant's attorney and requested a meeting.
Moving up.
um august 6th was the last i heard from them you'll see in this email here uh they were
attempting to schedule a meeting for august 13th but that never occurred and then on november 16th
following notification that this matter was scheduled for a hearing i emailed regina at the
rco to determine whether or not we can get a meeting in between now and the 29th and to date
I have had no reply from that email. I would note that for the record, 334 days has passed
since the original RCO notification. Pursuing to the code, they have 45 days within which
to hold the meeting. Even given credit for time for COVID shutdown, which I would submit
is approximately 100 days from uh right around march 15th or 16th until the first hearings by
the board were june 14th so i would submit the uh the rco is barred from actually submitting any
position papers or or letters on this matter at this point and i would ask that the chair
note my objection uh to sing but i understand you want to hold it for two weeks
i'm not sure if my client's on but
is anybody on for felix if you can please raise your hand
he's unable to because he has an older model of zoom okay well i've reviewed all this matter
with my client but for the hearing hold aspect of it and based upon information gleaned from him
and public documents and records i submit that the testimony is true and accurate and i would
ask the board to accept it noted thank you is there anyone else who wishes to testify in this
case if so please raise your hand i have a call-in user too you can unmute yourself
and wait to be sworn in.
Hello.
Please identify yourself.
Yes, we can hear you.
Name and address.
Flam Fodal, Neighborhood Process Association, RCO,
for 2964 North 23rd Street.
We asked for a continuous
because we weren't sure what happened
And there are several RCOs that are affected on this address, not just the RCO coordinator,
and we're asking the ZBA to recognize that.
Also, this property has a history, going back to about 2016, of number one, selling food illegally,
hot food illegally, and advertising those hot food sales.
And we've turned in that evidence previously.
They've had about two or three other refusals for variance, and also they have a history
of not – there were other RCOs involved in rescheduled meetings, and they have a history
of trying to get this variance without attending meetings, even when they were scheduled.
And the prior refusals, Sean Ward was not the lawyer for the address.
So we're asking that the hold be longer so that Sean Ward can arrange with the RCO coordinator,
Allegheny West Foundation, to have a community meeting.
There's some serious issues with the property.
of course the selling of food illegally since 2016 or longer also there have been
drug sales at their property we don't why don't we do this
uh we we don't why don't we do this sean what was the rco that you reached out to
again it was allegheny west foundation
regina smith
yeah allegheny west civic association was the coordinating rco as part of the planning that
that that is a result of the planning commission yes yes and mr chairman as i stated i think it
was just stated that it was not the right art or it wasn't the appropriate rco but it was it was the
rco that was designated by the planning commission that is that is correct and i would also i would
also uh go back to my prior discussion with the board during the continuance request that this is
a matter of code enforcement action by l and i and uh pursuant to my discussion with inspector
raudenbush i informed him that the hearing was going to be held on the 29th so uh he is anxiously
awaiting a decision from the board and to push this beyond two weeks uh i don't think they will
find acceptable okay understood and anyone else wish to testify in this case please raise your hand
uh chair i have no other hands up and if i could just mention the designations are done by the
city council not by the planning commission oh you're right i'm sorry you're right i apologize
um okay um earlier i mentioned i i'm not i don't recall what we said earlier i know we said we
have a hearing hold did we come up with a specific date was it was it the 7th or the 14th
mr chair you simply indicated two weeks two weeks would bring us uh to wednesday
we'll do it on a wednesday i think at 9 30 wednesday would be the 14th is that correct
that's what i have all right we can do that tanya yes chair and to clarify the record will remain
open mr ward will return to report on um any further progress with the community organization
that was going to be my next question okay sorry no no no no i'm glad you did it okay
All right, so calendar number 39093-2964-NORTH-23rd is being held pending a letter from the,
being held until October the 14th at 9.30 a.m.
The hearing, this hearing will be resumed on that date,
at which time we will consider any feedback related to the RCO's position.
Is that accurate, Sharon?
it is yes thank you and then i'm sorry could we just mention on the record that there is no posting
requirement for the resumption sharon don't know that there's no posting requirement for that
that's correct thank you and the the board will vote this case even absent a submission by the rco
correct well i let's let's wait and see i think so yes the answer would be yes okay all right
thank you mr chairman that concludes my business may i be excused yes you may mr ward don't you
have the last case heggerman that's a continuous it was continued it's been continued you're right
we're scheduled to meet with um uh frankfurt neighborhood advisory committee okay i just
looked at my notes it's in october it'll be continued thank you thank you very much
okay uh any on any unfinished business sharon tanya not for me
anybody what happened what happened to 6220 king sessing avenue
where's that i have it
for tomorrow for september 30th okay 30 but maybe we could make an announcement
been asking if anyone is still um here believing that they have something to be heard
anyone believe that a case uh should be it should have been heard and we don't see anybody
no hands
no hands okay tanya we all good yes chair yes i will see everyone tomorrow
see you tomorrow thank you
have a good night everyone
stay safe
Good night. Stay safe.
yes charise oh i'm sorry tanya
Yes, Charisse.
Oh, I'm sorry, Tanya. Should I use the same
They're anxious.
link for tomorrow? Because they have a schedule
for tomorrow. Yep, this is
the same link they use all the time.
Oh, okay.
Have a good night.
Good night.
See you tomorrow. Bye-bye.
Thank you, DPZZ.
Thanks. Have a good night.
You too.