Oddly, Overbrook Farm Club even notes that there have been other recent similar applications that it supported, and I quote, depending on the presentation made by the applicant.
Despite this language, OFC does not indicate what it was about this particular application
that did not garner support, despite its own acknowledgement of the very use that this
application looks to legalize.
Finally, the applicant further urges the board to find the RCO letter not credible due to
an ongoing public dispute a member of this RCO is having with other members of this particular
counsel's law firm, which is entirely unrelated to this application, the parties, or this counsel
before the board today. I would prefer not to elaborate on details due to a pending proceeding
in the matter, but I have included reference in our exhibit packet for the record to the relevant
dockets of the reference dispute. Based on the significant evidence before the board today,
the applicant submits it has met each element entitling it to a variance,
provided it's Section 143038E of the code.
As always, a more thorough and complete analysis is provided in the memo of law
submitted to the board at Exhibit 11.
And at this time, I would like my client to adopt my testimony
if the administrator could look for Jibben Samuel.
jibin has been allowed to speak good morning could you please state your name and spell for
the court stenographer yes uh jibin samuel j-i-b-i-n samuel s-a-m-u-e-l right you swear
or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do please proceed
counsel thank you uh jibin you are an authorized uh representative to speak on behalf of yadva
realty, correct? Yes. And have you heard all of the testimony and evidence that was offered before
the board today? Yes, I did. Would you agree that testimony was true and accurate and would you
adopt it as if you had given it yourself? Yes, I agree and I adopt it. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Happy to answer any questions. Questions from the board? No, Mr. Chairman. Questions or comments
from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Yes, Chair.
We have a Connor with their hand raised.
They haven't allowed to speak.
Good morning.
Could you please state your name
and spell for the court stenographer?
Good morning.
Connor Corcoran, C-O-N-O-R,
last name C-O-R-C-O-R-A-N,
on behalf of the Overbrook Farms Club.
Okay. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Please proceed, sir.
For the most part, I would stand on the representations that were made in our opposition letter submitted to the board.
But I would just like to note for the board that this precise, decades-long rejection of this kind of use is precisely why the board should refuse this zoning variance request today.
It's these types of variances that have denigrated the quality of our neighborhood.
In particular, multifamily dwellings have been installed unlawfully in these old mansions
for decades, and it has caused significant problems for the historic character of the
neighborhood.
It often leads to what the board is familiar with as demolition by neglect, and it has
demolition by neglect. And it has been the main reason why the Overbrook Farms Club exists and
been the main reason why.
operates today is to ensure that the zoning protections exist for the purposes of maintaining
the single family residential character of this neighborhood. That Ivy Hall that's directly to
the right of the applicant's property was also owned by the former owner of this property. I
I don't know whether or not the Haas family ever got that up to speed with city code,
but that was also a single-family home.
It's a mansion.
As far as the apartment building on the left-hand side of the applicant's property is concerned,
I don't have any information as to when that was constructed.
But you can see in this photograph and in Exhibit 10 that Ms. Ferligar put up for the
Board's consideration, the entire neighborhood, with the exception of one or two commercial
apartment buildings is all single-family homes. And the fact that this current owner estimates
that renovations are going to cost in excess of half a million to a million dollars
indicates how long this neglect has gone on with this kind of unlawful operation,
and the board should not allow it to continue. Thank you.
Thank you. Other questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Yes, we have Elizabeth Hudd with their hand raised. They have been allowed to speak.
Good morning. Could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Elizabeth, please unmute yourself.
Good morning. Could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
My name is Elizabeth Hudd, E-L-I-Z-A-B-E-T-H, last name H-U-D.
hold on hold on one minute do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the
truth i do please proceed i'm a neighbor in the overbrook farms area and i was at the last meeting
um and um the this was brought up for discussion it was brought up for discussion in the february
meeting also. That was the first time I had been made aware that this was turned into apartments.
My house looks exactly like that particular property, but it is a single family home and
it's used as a single family home. It's really horrific what they have done to the inside of
that property and also to some of the existing windows that they have there. It is not what
this neighborhood is supposed to look like. People buy into this neighborhood because it's
stoned RSD-1 for single-family use. That's why they purchase these homes. They don't purchase
them to turn them into apartment buildings for the most part. This particular current owner
knew that this building was zoned RSD-3,
which means that it has a smaller footprint than, say, my house.
But they knew this going in.
They knew that it was not zoned to be a multifamily property,
and they should not have purchased the property unless it was zoned properly.
that's when you know it's it really goes against what this neighborhood is zoned like the pictures
that um meredith provided actually don't actually uh accurately present what the parking is like
when people are at home that is it's taken in the middle of the day when people are not at home
or when most of the students that are living in in some of the apartment buildings from st joe's
are not there parking is a real problem in that area if you go on Lancaster Avenue at
you know seven in the morning it is there's no parking there's you know there is no parking
you go on Sherwood which is the the the cross street people are parking in front of people's
driveways, they're causing a real horrendous problem. The property that was right in the back
that's used as a multi-use, it looks horrible. It doesn't look like what these buildings are
supposed to look like. I think if you allow this to continue, it's going to continue and you're
going to get the way houses look down on 63rd Street as you get closer and closer to Market
street where you have multi-use houses and they get run down and they're not kept up people that
People that live in these houses as a family, they do keep up their homes.
live in these houses as a family they do keep up their homes
Thank you.
Ms. Hood, one quick question.
So you said you just, so there was no indication to you before that this was being used as a multiple family property?
Usually when I, no, for me it was not.
It was new to me.
I usually, when I take the train to work, I will go up Lancaster Avenue.
And but it's, you know, I'm going for the eight o'clock time and practice, you know, that it's hard to cross the street.
Yeah. You have to go up to Overbrook to cross the street at a traffic light.
I'm on Drexel Road. I guess the point I'm saying there was no indication there was any problems with this property prior.
It looked a little run down. It didn't look great, but it didn't look run. It looked a little run down.
Okay. Well, thank you very much for calling in. We appreciate it. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
I see no hands.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Berkman, and good morning. David Fecto with the City Planning Commission.
Chairman and board members, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential single-family detached zoning at this location.
This property has a lengthy history of being converted without permits to multifamily units and operating as such, dating back to at least 1951.
Based on council's exhibits regarding the use of adjacent properties and the testimony of the architect regarding the cost involved in removing the current apartments,
Planning Commission staff believes that the appellant has shown that a hardship exists, which would prevent this property from being used as it is zoned.
So the Planning Commission recommends that the board grant the proposed use variants for five dwelling units
and the companion variants from the off-street parking requirements in the zoning code.
Thank you.
And my 2024-000-255-6345 Lancaster Avenue, I vote yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shahid, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Thank you.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you.
Is there anyone in the virtual audience whose 9.30 a.m. case has not been called?
I see no hands.
Thank you, everyone.
See everyone at 2 p.m.
All right, Chair.
Bill Bergman. Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this
afternoon's EBA hearings. With me is our Vice Chair, Ismail Shahid.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our Board Member, Thomas Holliman.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
And our Board Member, James Snell.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you. Also present is our Attorney, Hillary Emerson.
and our Executive Director, Tanya Sunkett.
Here's our format.
The proceedings are being recorded.
With your participation, you agree to be recorded.
Video will be available by contacting tanyasunkett at phila.gov.
For our court stenographer, we asked attorneys and witnesses
to identify themselves before testifying.
If you're participating by phone, press star 9 to raise your hand
and star 6 to unmute.
to an appearance statement call 267-270-5548.
Leave your email and the address of the property question.
And finally, the question box on the screen is not for comments or testimony.
All comments should be directed to our Executive Director, Tanya Summ.
Let's look at our schedule.
Number one, MI 2023-002-778-2848 North 26th Street.
The owner of the property is Mohamed Diallo.
I believe he would like a continuance.
Mr. Diallo.
Mr. Diallo, if you're in an audience.
Good afternoon, Chair.
This is Nadia, and I'll be your co-host.
Mr. Diallo, if you're in the audience, please raise your virtual hand.
Chair, we just have Vicki Mallory with your hand raised.
let's see if she's if he if he's on her phone they have been allowed to speak hi mr diallo
who's on the phone please
hello are you involved in 2848 north 26th street no sir i'm not okay thank you we'll we'll whatever
case you have, we'll be back to you shortly. Okay. Thank you. Mr. Diallo. I see no hands.
Okay, so MI 2023-002-778-2848 North 26th Street.
Okay. So MI 2023 002 778
That case is continued.
There's a new owner of that property, Muhammad Diallo.
The next time will be marked, must be heard.
Thank you.
And number five.
I-2023-006-962-3214, West Montgomery.
Henry Clinton, Strawberry Manson has asked for a continuance on this case.
Henry Clinton has been allowed to speak.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Clinton, could you just state your name and spell for the courts?
Sure. Henry Clinton, C-L-I-N-T-O-N.
Right. Do you swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
We've received a request from Strawberry Mansion for this to be continued so that they could see the drawings and better understand the project.
Understood, Mr. Chairman. Just by way of background, real quick, this is our second meeting with Strawberry Mansion. They've been very understanding.
Last meeting was May 23rd. They asked for drawings.
So my client did his own drawings and submitted the dimensions of the rooms.
uh but and then apparently they took a vote it was four to four i see now they want architectural
drawings so i'm wondering can we submit the case and just wait till we meet with them again and
then they can they can weigh in on how they feel henry why don't we do this why don't we continue
this and see if you can't do the drawings with them first is it okay all right understood all
right mr mr chair did you want to hear from strawberry mansion cdc on their request sure
Sure, if they want to.
Strawberry Mansion, CDC?
We have Conlon Crossley with their hand raised.
Would that be known?
We'll see.
Mr. Crossley is from Councilmember Young's office.
Good afternoon.