Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
I've emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing.
I have. I have not received the letter from the community.
I'm curious if it was sent to the zoning board directly.
At this point, we do not have it.
So we can proceed with the case, but we may hold the case for a vote until we receive the RCO letter.
Understood. Whatever you'd prefer. We're ready to proceed.
All right. Please proceed to share your screen.
All right. Please let me know if you would like me to increase the size at any point because it's hard on my end to see it.
All right. So this is 1515 Morris Street, ZP22-011994. The property, it's a corner property. It's on the corner of 15th and Morris and the 1600 block of Hicks Street.
It is zoned CMX1. Historically, the historical use of the property is three units with a residential, I'm sorry, excuse me, the historical use of the property is three units with a commercial space in the front.
Um, here's the, the, here's the, um, property certificate for, for the, uh, for the, for
the property.
Um, so we met, we met with the, we met with the RCO in, in May.
Um, so that, that just to, just to go over the refusal and we've, we've since, we've
since, um, modified the proposal, but the, the initial, the initial, uh, plan was to
build a, a, um, four, four residential units with one commercial in the front as a, as
a, as a, um, hair and nail salon for, for self-grooming.
Um, the, so the, the initial refusal was for, um, we were proposing a hundred percent
lot coverage um no rear yard and um the increase from uh three units the increase from three units
to four units we met with the um rco in may um we were able to and there was some concerns about the
The development as proposed, one of the concerns was trash, where we would store the trash
and the size of the development.
We also, there were some concerns too as to the petition that we had circulated because
much of the support that we initially got was on the was on the 1700 blocks of hicks and um and
and there were some concerns from neighbors on the 1600 block of hicks as to sort of the size
of the development and you know what what what we had what our plans were at the at the property so
one of the concerns that the neighbors wanted us to address was the the the improvement of the
building facade, new windows, putting a new front door in the front, and improvement in
general of the building.
So the plan that we now are presenting to the board is consistent with the current historical
use of the property to have three apartments with the commercial space in the front.
Um, the, the, the, the provides plans basically maintains the current lot coverage.
Um, it maintains the, the, the nine foot historical rear yard and the current proposal does not
expand the building's footprint.
Um, it does not expand, um, the existing lot coverage.
So this is the, this is the, this is the proposed change here.
As you can see, no change to the lot.
The reason why a variance is needed is because the building as it currently is situated has 87% lot coverage and the zoning code has a requirement of 80% lot coverage with a corner CMX1.
one. So this picture shows you basically what the addition would look like. It's a vertical
So this picture shows you basically what...
addition going up, and then it's consistent with the height requirements in the neighborhood.
It's basically the vertical addition would be consistent with the other neighboring properties
on Morris street. Um, and then similarly, um, as when, when Mr. Lamb discussed the property with
the neighbors on the, this is the 1600 block of Hicks here. Um, you know, the neighbors were
concerned about the frontage. They wanted, um, new windows, removal of the grates, a new front door,
um, and improvement of the property, new windows along the side as well. And, um, that's the goal.
The goal is to improve this property to make it look better. And as I stated, the variance is needed because of the existing lot coverage at the building.
Mr. Lamb has also developed a property across the street. This is directly across the street.
This is directly across the street. And this is what Mr. Lamb has done across the street.
It was a similar improvement. He improved the windows. He improved the facade.
And now it's a it's a it's an asset to the neighborhood with all new front doors and all new windows.
And basically, Mr. Lamb seeks to do the same at 1515 Morris.
Just to go through the plans a little bit.
so this this would be the the hair and nail salon on the on the front floor with a with an ada
accessible restroom in the back there is a ground floor there would be a ground floor door as well
for access for for handicap accessibility into the the commercial space and then the proposal
is on the second floor you have two brand new one unit bedrooms and then on the third floor
is a is a is a is a brand new three bedroom unit with two bathrooms and a full-sized kitchen and
and dining area and living space.
We have submitted the taxes are paid.
Here's our tax certificate and then here's the here's an updated printout showing that
the balance is zero. As I stated previously, we were able to get the support from various
neighbors on the 1600 block of Hicks. And the new proposal is consistent with what the immediate
neighbors, with addressing the immediate neighbors' concerns and the improvement of the property and
the improvement of the facade. And I'm happy to answer any questions the board might have
at this time. So why don't we have your testimony adopted, okay? Sure. Mr. Lamb,
do you agree that my testimony... Hold on, hold on, hold on. Mr. Lamb, could you state your name
and spell it, please, for the court stenographer? Yes. My name's Keith, K-E-I-T-H. My last name,
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the truth
Proceed counsel
Thank you your honor
Mr. Lamb did you hear my testimony
and understand it today
Yes I did
Do you agree that it was accurate
Do you adopt my testimony as your own testimony
Counsel so I understand
you initially wanted four dwelling units
and the nail salon on the first floor.
Am I right?
That's correct.
And then you've dropped it to three dwelling units
and the nail salon.
That's correct.
And the three units is consistent
with the historical use of the property.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
LeBaron?
LeBaron?
No questions, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the board?
I'm sorry, from the virtual audience?
I see no hands at this time, Chair.
Planning Commission. Thank you, Chair Bergman and board members. Good morning, David Fecta with the
City Planning Commission. The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the commercial mixed use
zoning at this location. The appellant requests a revised proposal for three dwelling units in a
single family zone with ground floor commercial space and dimensional relief to document existing
site conditions. The property has documented history as three apartments and a ground floor
business dating to at least 1949 the city planning commission recommends the board grant the proposed
use and dimensional variances thank you uh hillary i want to hold this for like maybe a week to see
if we can get a letter from the rco whether we get a letter or not we'll vote on this next wednesday
at 9 30. sounds good mr chair okay mr george should i um is it helpful for me to attend
to attend or it's the the vote is basically procedural the vote the vote's going to be
closed except from what we hear from the uh from the from the rco thank you what what we hear or
don't hear i should say okay okay thank you mr thank you
Number 18. MI 2023-002-192-112 Ellsworth Street. Alec Sokoloff is the attorney. There's a letter of opposition from Penn Sports Civic Association, and there's a letter of opposition from Council Member Squill.
The applicant has put in a letter signed by nine neighbors.
Oleg Sokolov is coming back in as a panelist now, Chair.
Good morning, Chair Bergman, members of the board.
Good morning, Counsel.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Absolutely. Oleg Sokolov, O-L-E-G, S-O-K-O-L-O-V, Rabinovich Sokolov Law Group, 1700 Market Street, Suite 1005, Philadelphia PA, 19103.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client, the relationship to this property?
Yes, I'm here on behalf of the applicant and owner of the property, Ms. Gabrielle Dicci.
Okay. Our vice chair has just a few questions.
good morning council do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its
accuracy uh good morning mr shahid i do have you emailed then all the required documents
and exhibits that is needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing
i have thank you please proceed and share your screen thank you very much
all right is that visible to everyone it is sir wonderful um thank you members of the board for
your time as i said oleg sokolov on behalf of the applicant we are here as a result of a refusal
issued on april 3rd 2023 we are requesting a variance to be able to use this property for
the purposes of visitor accommodation, which is restricted in the RSA 5 zoning.
I'll quickly go through the exhibits. Actually, I'll give a little background. Ms. Dietschy
purchased this property in June of 2022. Ms. Dietschy works in facilities management for
commercial properties and at the time intended to live at this property full-time. However,
However, her work duties have caused her to travel, unfortunately, more than she is at home.
Therein lies the reason for this request.
So I'll quickly take you through the exhibit packet.
Here's the deed to the property.
You see purchased in June of 2022 prior to the new Airbnb regulation going into effect.
Tax clearance.
Here's a picture of the property.
you can see that it's one of about four or five similar or you know properties that were
constructed together. You can see that the property is meticulously maintained. Ms. DiGi does
You can see that the property is meticulously maintained.
Ms. Ditchie does use the property.
She did use the property prior to some new work duties that occurred in about March or April of 2023, when she did go ahead right away and put in this application.
But she does still currently use this property when she's in Philadelphia.
Unfortunately, you can see on the zoning map here,
the blue area is not the property.
I wrote it in here in 112.
If you can see that just to identify that it's a mid block property
with some commercial uses and some industrial mixed use,
commercial mixed use uses on the same street.
Our project information form.
Our appeal application.
Proof of mailing.
Photos of the zoning posters posted at the property, RCO notice mailer, as Mr. Chairman
stated, we did meet with the RCO on October 2nd.
It was an in-person meeting.
I think it was not very well attended by members of the community, and it's difficult to say
that an entire community has an opposition given the minimal attendance at this letter. However,
Ms. Dietschy does have a number of letters of support from people on her block or the adjacent
block, those neighbors that would most be impacted by this request. At this time, may I-
Counsel, we noticed that four of them were signed by the same person. Is that he owns four
properties on the block uh it appears so okay
at this time i'd bring uh my client ms dc on to to adopt my testimony
and do you have the letter there from the rco you know i do uh the letter was
sense if i may just pull it up this letter was only provided um i believe on monday so it it was
not part of the exhibit packet i did forward it on it was forwarded on by the rco as well if you
would like me to bring it up i'd be happy to try to bring it up just for the i just need to go into
my email if you'll allow me.
Sure. Take your time.
Courtesy. Thank you.
Okay. And here it is.
A little flower.
Oh, my apologies.
That's okay.
Yeah, one of the issues discussed was parties and potential for this property to be a nuisance.
Obviously, some of the press regarding a couple Airbnbs in the Philadelphia area that have had some issues impacted the neighbor's position as to this.
However, I would say that this property is in no way analogous to the properties that have had parties.
This property is not conducive to parties.
This property is offered at a number of nights minimum stay to preclude that.
Ms. Dietschy also has a number of technological devices in the property to ensure that nothing of that type would occur, for instance, sound monitoring, the ability to monitor how many people connect to the network, so as to monitor how many people just go in and out of the house.
the same thing for the keypad lock, which is electronic. So every measure has been taken to
try to mitigate any possible concerns that the RCO would have. We also discussed with the RCO
putting Ms. Dietschy's contact information directly in the window so that if there are
any issues, they could directly reach out to the owner of the property to deal with them.