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