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