ZBA Hearing - September 29, 2020

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.

Yes.

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