little bit upset.
But we're here today to show the board everything that we have.
Alan, before you go on, could you comment on the clientele?
There's a couple of sentences there about what the clientele they thought it was, but it could change.
Would you comment on that? Yeah. I mean, I'll ask my client.
So I asked her like what the clientele is going to be.
It's it's mainly autistic individuals who are, again, high functioning adults who can live on their own.
So I think that's what that's what she told me as the individuals.
It's not going to do with veterans because there's a thing here about they said veterans, too.
We can ask her.
She did not mention any bedrooms.
They did say that there are a number of these type of facilities nearby in East Oak Lane,
but that has nothing to do with the fact of whether this facility is a proper facility.
I can't speak to the others.
I just know that there's a few that I identified in my notes in researching this matter.
In my notes and researching this matter, they're in close proximity, but they're talking about facilities that deal with medical, drug and alcohol, short and long term facilities.
They're in close proximity, but they're talking about
We're not doing that. We're not like, again, this is not a rehab facility.
This is a facility for individuals who have mental disabilities, which, again, there's a lot of families who have individuals who, again, are functioning.
But, you know, they need a little bit of help and a little bit of supervision here.
We're not looking at anyone who has any drug or alcohol issues who needs to be in like a short-term or long-term care facility.
That's not our purpose here.
Let's see.
And then it says that, look, the location, you know, this type of facility would be better served in another area of the neighborhood.
Again, we're focused on this area of the neighborhood.
And nearby, there's three other instances of similar type of facilities here.
So it's not out of character. Now, if you look at the Upper North District Plan in 2016, not that this is apples to apples here, but that district plan did say that there's a growing senior population.
It has nothing to do with this, but that they're looking for assisted living facilities nearby.
So the Planning Commission is even pushing for some of this residential use to be more in terms of assisted living facilities, which is kind of comparable to what we're asking for here.
So, again, even the Planning Commission is proposing some of this adaptive use for some of these properties.
And then the certifications. Again, it's extensive. So last week or the week before, I did a review for a child daycare. We have the Philadelphia zoning code, but we also have state overview of a lot of these projects that we're handling, and this is one of them.
The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services had to review my client's application to see if it even met the criteria for this particular property to be used as a personal care home.
Again, if it didn't fit that criteria, she wouldn't have been able to overcome that burden from the state, and then she would obviously not have sought this special exception from the city.
But, you know, again, through a thorough overview of the Department of Human Resources, they stated that it has met their criteria.
And then my client, Ms. Torres, has been in the business for almost 15 years.
She actually has a home care agency at 5150 Ridge Avenue.
So what they do with that business is that she has workers go to people's homes to help them out, which is different than here.
She wants actually a home for individuals who can have their own space without their family members there, but they just need assistance.
But she's been in the business 15 years, and she has to take a ton of certifications and get a ton of certifications from the States.
So she has done over 200 hours of certification training for personal care home.
She's done 400 hours of education as well as part of her training.
And then I just wanted to give you a copy of all the certifications.
It's like 20 pages of certifications.
Again, that goes to, you know, the criteria for a special exception.
Is she worse than what you would expect of this type of use?
I don't think so.
So I actually think that she's like well-trained and experienced to handle this type of use.
This is training in 20 parts that she had to do.
And then maps of the area.
Again, corner property, 66th and 7th.
And it's a large, large, large property.
Again, the building structure is 3,500 square feet above grade.
There's a driveway along the right side of it on 7th Street.
It's almost a 9,336 square foot lot.
And you can see here,
it's like hard to see because I'm going to have to expand out
but here's the driveway which has the ability to have at least two
cars there and those are for the employees and again
there'll be 24 hour care here just trying to get out
And then photographs of the property. Again, my clients purchased this property in April of 2024.
and then photographs of the property
They're going to be doing some significant rehab work to this property, all as a right.
And hopefully this board grants the zoning relief they're seeking.
But they're not increasing the size of the building structure.
the keeping in its current configuration and the rooms in their current configuration.
This is the hearing notice posters my client posted well in advance of today's hearing on both
public streets. This is North 7th Street to the right of the property, North 7th Street to the
left of the property, 66th Avenue to the right of the property, 66th Avenue to the left of the
property. Interior photos of the property. And then just our plans and drawings.
Again, we made these plans based on what our client told us about the property. But the first
floor you open up, it's an open floor plan of a livery room, dining room, and kitchen. And then
the second and third floors have different bedrooms. So you go up a flight of steps.
There are three bedrooms on the second floor with a shared bathroom and a laundry facility.
And then upstairs, excuse me, there's, yeah, there's, yes, there's how many bedrooms?
All right, three.
And then there's, I think there's three here, but I would assume one of the bedrooms is for the healthcare worker who may, you know, when there's a change in shift.
But there's three bedrooms up here and another bathroom.
41 addresses were notified of the meeting.
The community meeting.
This is the proof of mailing of the community meeting notice that my client handled.
list of the addresses that the notice was mailed to and then our application for a special exception
the deed to the property showing that my client owns the property and she purchased it in april 2024
And then the Certificate of Tax Clearance showing my clients in good standing with the City of Philadelphia regarding real estate taxes for this property.
I would ask that Ms. Torres virtually raise her hand.
They've been about to speak.
Ms. Torres, could you please state your name and spell for the sonographer?
Yes, Maricela, M-A-R-I-S-S-M-E-L-A.
Torres, T-O-R-R-E-S.
Where or from, tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Counsel, please proceed.
Ms. Torres, you heard everything I had to state today about your zoning matter.
And is it true and correct?
And do you adopt as your own testimony?
Thank you.
I have a few questions for you on top of this.
So first of all, I think you told me of this, you're limited to, or you're the maximum occupancy for residents in this property is five, right?
Is that correct?
Yes, it is.
So, and you would be okay with agreeing to provide a maximum of five occupants living in the residence?
And then, you know, not that we would need this, but if necessary, you would agree to a temporary variance of five years.
And, you know, again, can you just explain your experience in personal care?
Well, we currently operate a home care agency in Philadelphia where we provide service, personal care service, which includes housekeeping, cooking, cleaning, medicine reminders, and running errands, things of that nature.
And we just became licensed with the ODP, which is the Office of Developmental Programs, to provide services to the adults with autism intellectual disability, which is what we have applied for today.
which is what we have applied for today.
When I initially applied for the acceptance,
I only applied for a personal care home
and we were going to provide services
for the elderly and or veterans,
which is who we provide services for now.
But we recently received the non-contagious approval
in September.
So that is why we are now doing
the um the uh rehabilitation home for adult autism and intellectual disability
yeah and and again during my presentation i stated that you got certifications you know as a personal
care uh provider and that was 200 hours of certifications is that right yes okay and you
have also 400 hours of education as required for those certifications? Yes, and that's with the
with the ODP, which is the Office of Developmental Program. It's an extensive training there and
we complete it all. Yeah, and you have a degree in business administration? Yes. Right, and then
And as part of the running of this operation, hopefully at 6602 North 7th Street, you need two employees, you know, who are going to alternate for supervision over a 24 hour period. Is that right?
And then you're.
Oh, go ahead. Sorry.
No, go ahead. I'm sorry.
No, you're going to testify, please.
So we do get an authorization that's specialized for each individual. So there can be someone who requires six hours and another person that requires four, which we will use one aid and have them split the time so that we're not having two aids in the home at once if we can split it. But at most, we want to have two aids in the home at all times.
I get my question was which I was going to which I think you led to was like these aids also have
to be trained and certified as well correct yes okay and and you know given the amount of years
you've been in the business almost 15 years you have an inventory of potential employees
who can handle providing these services right yes okay um and then again one of the things I
I mentioned was the fact that you have a driveway for this home, right?
All right.
And I think it's a minimum of two cars that can fit one behind the other.
Is that right?
All right.
Thank you.
So, Mr. Chair, I think we've met the requirements for specific conditions of use in the Philadelphia Zoning Code.
I also believe respectfully that we've met the requirements regarding the fact that we do not provide any specific detrimental impacts on the neighborhood, such as congestion to public streets or transportation systems, overcrowding the land, negatively impairing light and air to adjacent properties because we're not increasing the size of the building structure, that building structure exists.
we're not burning water sewer school park or other public facilities and we have five individuals
who are going to be living at most in this property on the full-time basis and we have
people who are going to be overseeing them and supervising them um you know roundabout
we're not going to impair or permanently injure the use of adjacent conforming properties we're
not going to endanger the public health or safety by fire or other means and and this proposed use
is not inconsistent with the comprehensive plan of the city especially if you look at the 2035
plan you know they're proposing adaptive reuse of some of these properties to help the elderly
population through assisted living facilities thank you questions from the board
Ms. Nachamson, could you just, I don't know, you probably showed it real quickly on the diagram, but how much rear yard space is there? I know there was a lot of the front yard space, but can you tell me how much rear yard space is it?
Yeah, I don't think we showed that. I just made up a floor plan, but I do have an aerial view, so we can maybe see from the aerial view. And if not, I can always just jump on Atlas and then share my screen. So let's see what I got here.
Thank you.
all right I had that photo
oh here it is
so and and is if Ms. Torres is still on the line I I would like you know she's been at the property
So this is the building structure here. This is the driveway.
Ms. Torres, can you direct me and help the board understand like the outdoor space for this property?
So the yard is pretty large. I actually have a picture of it, but the yard is pretty large and it goes back and it also comes around the side.
OK, are you saying is it this way right here?
Yes, that's it right there. Yes.
Okay, so this is the yard. It's facing 66th Avenue. This is this base between here and the back. So from 66th Avenue here is a huge side yard.
And I'm assuming it's fenced already.
Ms. Torres, is it fenced?
It isn't fenced. We have the small trees going around, but it isn't fenced. However, that is one other thing that we would like to get done is put up a white picket fence.
thank you the questions from the board yeah question a couple questions you said there were
some other uh homes similar to this in the uh nearby
yes uh or when we investigated this matter we saw a group home for disabled girls at
1006 66th Avenue, and another facility called Tender Nest Home Care, which is at 1115 West
Shelton Avenue. Both, my understanding, are both in single-family home zoning classifications.
Mr. Nockmson, are they all the same regulations? I mean, it sounds like
you're talking about two different regs. One is 2,600, the other one is 6,400.
I will defer to my client, Ms. Torres, to explain.
Do you understand if there's a difference, Ms. Torres, between?
Yes, and it is two different regulations.
So you're visiting, and then 6,400 is when someone is inside of the house,
and you have to provide 24-7 customer care over them, correct?
Yes, we're at 64.
So the other ones in close proximity, are they 64s or 2,600s?
I can't tell you about the, I'm going to assume the one for the young ladies is probably 24-hour care, but I can't tell you about the home care.
Just because we have home care and we provide services outside the home, so I'm not sure what type of services they provide.
but i think the point was that the zoning classification would be of a personal care home
for those facilities which is similar to what we're seeking um you know again we're just trying
to show that what we're requesting is not have character from a zoning perspective
in the neighborhood alan could you have your client could you have your client comment on
what happened at the meeting i mean you got 46 votes against you could yeah so yeah so miss
torres i mean you were at the meeting i wasn't like can you explain like why you know you had
significant opposition at the community meeting um so as uh counsel um explained i wasn't prepared
i i think i just thought um you know it's it's a home a residential home to help others i didn't
think we were going to get a lot of kickbacks. I wasn't prepared. I'll be honest. I did have a lot
of information regarding the care that we will be providing. I did explain that I want to keep