philadelphia pennsylvania you swear a firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but
the truth i do could you identify your client the relationship to this property yes it's new
our our vice chair has just a few questions absolutely good afternoon council do you agree
to waive the written of the refusal or stipulate to his accuracy i do mr shane thank you have you
emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed to proceed with this case five days
in advance of this hearing i did thank you council please proceed and share your screen thank you so
much, members of the board. I'm not going to go through all of our exhibits, but I would like to
highlight number three. So the subject property, which has been the subject of many zoning board
hearings over the years, is zoned RSA-5. We've heard a lot of RSA-5s today. This is the site of
the former Eastern Psychiatric Hospital Complex, which was acquired by New Cortland a number of years ago.
which was acquired by New Cortland a number of years ago and has been the subject of a very creative and effective adaptive reuse,
which I'll describe in a little more detail in a second.
If we go to Exhibit 3, which is before you, you can see that it's a very large site, about 600,000 square feet of lot area.
It's bounded by Henry Avenue.
It's bounded by railroad tracks, and it's also then bounded by the Roosevelt Extension Expressway.
Access to the property is through Henry Avenue.
It is improved by two structures, basically, for a total of 342,000 square feet of building area.
It's a tower portion that consists of about 232,000 square feet.
And the pavilion portion in white, as you can see, about 110,000 square feet.
There is significant parking on site, as you can see from the aerial, supportive of the uses and operations.
78 vehicles, 20 accessible. There are 176 dwelling units in total, broken down as follows. 40 senior assisted units. These are tax credit supported senior affordable. And then 136 market rate housing units.
There is a life center within the property currently operating supportive of the community, not only the residents, but the catchment.
And the property also consists of a number of commercial units that will be accessory and supportive to the residents,
as well as the professional operations that are going to go on here, that are going on here,
I should say. The Zoning Board approved the adaptive reuse back in 2017. We've been to the
board on a number of occasions for modifications of the original approval leading up to today.
We come back to the board because it's zoned RSA 5, and virtually any change in terms of use will require zoning board relief.
Today is a good example of that.
So what are we doing today?
Let's go to the existing photographs, Marty, please.
This gives you street-level views quickly of the complex.
These are interior photographs of the space that we're going to be speaking of in a moment.
This was requested earlier today, and it shows the shell space where the administrative offices will be located.
So the application today requests use of this area located on the first floor of the building
as administrative offices for InnoVage.
InnoVage is an operator of supportive health care services in the building
as well as throughout Philadelphia.
They're national in scope, and they provide health and social services programming for seniors.
this operation will be administrative only there will not be patient care that's in another section
previously approved on the building it will be staffed by 10 permanent employees 10 roving
employees hours of operation will be Monday through Friday 7 30 a.m. to 5 30 p.m. I would
submit to the board that the proposed use, which will contain approximately 3,000 square feet
roughly, will be compatible with the overall lot as well as the operation of the property
as I've described it. The use is clearly accessory. It's supportive of the
Life Center. But more importantly, it will allow for Innovage to have a central location
to do their administrative functions. Hardship? We can't conform to RSA 5. We never could.
The building as configured is institutional. It's now mixed use. And any ability to conform
And any ability to conform to RSA 5 single family is impossible.
to RSA 5 single families.
The configuration of the property is such that it lends itself to this use.
This use is internal, completely internal.
It is not visible.
It's not a public use.
And therefore, it will have an innocuous impact on the public.
It is the least modification to allow for the overall approved uses to function, to alleviate the hardship.
It's a diminutive amount of space compared to the 3,000 versus 342,000 square feet.
It is certainly compatible with surrounding uses.
you can see from the overall aerials and sight shots, most of the properties on this side
of Henry Avenue, as well as on the expressway side, are institutional. So with that, I would
suggest to the board that this is a use that should be readily supported through variants.
We've met with the community. They were, as the chair indicated, wholly supportive
of this application, and we hope you will be as well. Happy to answer any questions you may have.
I can have my client, Mr. Chair, value it. Why don't you have your client come on to adopt
your testimony? I'm going to call up John Unger, please. John Unger has been allowed to speak.
Sir, could you please state your name as spelled for the course sonographer?
John Unger, J-O-H-N-U-N-G-A-R.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you.
So, Mr. Unger, you've heard my testimony and description of this application today.
Is that correct?
Yes, I have.
You heard the whole presentation?
Yes, I did.
You stayed through the entire hearing, didn't you?
I did.
It was fascinating.
From 2 o'clock on.
The information that I provided to the board, is it true and accurate to the best of your knowledge?
Yes, it is.
And would you adopt that testimony as your own if you were to make it yourself?
Yes, I would.
I have nothing further from Mr.
Questions from the board?
No, Chair.
No, Chair.
No questions.
Does someone have a question?
all right questions from our attorney
no chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
there are no hands here any commission thank you chair bergman good afternoon david vecto with the
city planning commission chairman and board members the comprehensive plan recommends a
change in zoning at this location from rsa5 residential single family to rmx3 residential
mixed use. The property is a large multi-story senior complex. RMX-3 would allow offices by
right. The City Planning Commission recommends that the board grant their proposed use variants
for a business and professional office. Thank you. Mr. Kelson, STE period one, what is that?
It's suite number one. Okay, good, good. Thank you. So MI 2024-002-262-3232 Henry Avenue,
suite number one i vote yes my vote is yes michael johns my vote is yes
it's not a gram my vote is yes i am when my vote is yes james snell my vote is yes
thank you very very much mr kelson thank you stay cool all right number 17 mi 2024
MI 2024-002-531-1600 to 16 North 9th Street.
Augusta O'Neill is the attorney.
Augusta O'Neill has been promoted chair.
unclear recommendation of north central east rco vote with six in support one opposed six
undecided letter of non-opposition from the council member young
hi good afternoon could you say your name good could you state your name and spell for the
court stenographer sure augusta o'neill a-u-g-u-s-t-a my last name is spelled o-n-e-i-l-l
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client in relationship to this property?
for my client is fe oxford llc they're the owner of the property our vice chair has just
Sure. My client is F.E. Oxford LLC. They're the owner of the property.
Our vice chair.
questions for you good afternoon council do you agree to read another refusal or stipulate to
its accuracy i do have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed
to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing i did thank you council please
proceed and share your screen thank you so much um chairman i just wanted to know i believe at
At the beginning, when I was still trying to join in as a panelist, you said that there was a letter.
It wasn't clear if there was a letter.
So it says here, it says here, unclear recommendation, North Central East RCO.
Well, it was six in support, one in opposed and one undecided.
But there's a letter of non-opposition from Council Member Young.
Got it.
I just, I believe that the RCO intended to support this application.
So I just wanted to make sure that the votes were accurate.
Thank you so much.
So again, this afternoon, I'm representing the owners of the property at 1600 to 16 North 9th Street and 1618 to 40 North 9th Street.
There was a corrected refusal that was just sent around this morning, but your board solicitor is in possession of that corrected refusal.
This property currently is a vacant lot. I provided some pictures of my exhibit package.
This is just a view of the property looking north, view looking south. As you can see,
it's just a vacant lot, a little bit trash strewn as a result of being vacant.
We're proposing to take this lot. They're actually, it's one deeded lot, but two tax
lots. It looks like there might have been an OPA error. But we're proposing to subdivide the lot
into 19 lots with the intent to construct 19 single family homes as you can see from the
refusal it's up on my screen we received three refusals two of which were related to the roof
decks one was related to the lot sizes the minimum lot area is 1440 square foot square feet we're
proposing lot sizes that range between 912 square feet and 1 358 square feet but each of the houses
is going to range between 1,400 to 1,600 square feet of living space. This property is zoned RM1
based on the lot size. If we were to construct a multifamily building, by my math, we would be
permitted to have 55 units. So clearly the 19 single-family homes is a much less intense use
than what the property could be used for, what it's zoned for across the street from this lot.
there is a multifamily building with over 100 units. Again, the lots average in size between
912 square feet to 1,358 square feet. We're asking for the variance related to the lot size,
but given that the required lot size is 1,440, I would submit to the board that the
dimensional variance that we're seeking is fairly de minimis. There are two overlays in this
that this property is subject to. Both of those overlays do prohibit roof decks. And I would
submit to the board that, sorry, this PDF, here we go. Okay. I have an overview of my exhibit
package, but it did get a little bit pixelated. So I just want to show you a better copy of this
overlay i'm sorry of this picture as you can see um we are right next to a septal line we're across
from a um you know just a lot and so i would submit to you that typically the prohibitions
against roof decks is for purposes of privacy or noise um given the location of the property and
where it's located across from an apartment building right next to the to the rail line i
submit that the concerns about noise are not typical here as you would for any other roof
deck application that was before you. Elevations of what the proposed buildings are going to look
like appear at page 33 of your exhibit package. Computer gets a little slow with these plans,
i know we're behind um calendar wise so i'll do my best to to be brief um my client is partnering
on this project with turn the key um it's a program run by the city the intent of the program
is to take vacant lots which can frequently be the site of crimes and partner with local developers
to create housing program information about turn the key can be found at tab four of your exhibit
package. The program is adding to the city's stock of affordable housing and assisting
Philadelphia residents to become homeowners. The average monthly mortgage is less than the
typical average rent for a two-bedroom apartment. The average rent in Philadelphia for a two-bedroom
typical average rent for a two-bedroom apartment. The average rent in Philadelphia
is approximately $1,800, probably going to go up late of economic climate. So the program does
provide participants with the ability to become homeowners, build generational wealth. My client
did meet with the affected rco for the project the north central east rco um we did receive
a vote of support because there were six votes of support only one person opposed
um that letter is provided tab two of your exhibit package chairman as you recited earlier
there is a letter of non-opposition as well from councilman young um with respect to the
variance criteria i would submit to the board that the application before you is not going to alter
the essential character of the neighborhood or impair the use of development or development
of adjacent property or be detrimental to the public welfare. Again, this is adding to the
city's stock of affordable housing. It's a less intense use than the multifamily. It's zone four
would be and is overall providing a positive impact to this area. So with me this afternoon
is Zach Frankel, as well as Max Frankel. I would ask that they be called forward to adopt my
testimony. And also on the line is Max Bustos. He's our project engineer. So should the board
have any questions we're available to answer? Mr. Frankel?
Mr. Frankel
Zachary Max
Mr. Frankel is allowed to speak
Hi, could you please state your name
and spell for the court stenographer
Do we see Mr. Frankel's hand?
i don't see him anymore uh he's back okay max frankel you are allowed to speak please unmute
thank you so much uh here like max could you thank you thank you spell your name
sure m-a-x last name frankel f-r-a-n-k-e-l do you swear or firm to tell the truth the whole truth
and nothing but the truth i do please proceed counsel good afternoon mr frankel did you have
to uh hear my testimony this afternoon i did was everything that i said true and accurate
it is and would you like to adopt my testimony as your own i would thank you
Can I add one thing?
Absolutely.
So a big part of this project, as our attorney mentioned, is affordable housing.
It is to be noted that this is deed restricted and income restricted affordable housing.
Thank you.
Questions from the board.