And my understanding is the council member took a position against it, too.
That I was only informed of that chair upon you stating so, but I imagine opposition from council members.
Yeah. Given I had not received that letter.
Right. Why don't you bring your client?
Right. Why don't you bring your client?
Thank you. Ms. Dicci, could you raise your hand, please?
Thank you. Mr. Ditchie, could you raise your hand, please?
Gabrielle Dicci has been unmuted and allowed to speak.
Good morning. Could you state your name, please, and spell for the course stenographer?
Gabrielle?
Ms. Dietschy, please unmute yourself.
Ms. Benton, just to confirm, it's star nine to unmute from a phone.
Is that correct?
She appears to be unmuted.
Good morning.
Gabrielle?
okay um
counsel you're an officer of the court we will accept your testimony um
questions or comments from the board no mr chairman
no mr chairman questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson
not at this time mr chair um questions or comments from the virtual audience
chair we have david rosenblatt they have been unmuted and allowed to speak
good morning sir could you state your name please and spell for the court sonographer
david rosenblatt d-a-v-i-d r-o-s-c-n-d-l-a-t-t do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the
whole truth and nothing but the truth. Yes, I do. Are you a neighbor? Yes, I am. I live at 115
Ellsworth Street. Okay, please proceed, sir. Okay, first of all, I'd like to say that I'm already
burdened by the properties across the street because there's something with them that's
never been corrected, which is that the setback was never observed. So they already loom higher
than they should be and i'm pretty much uh in darkness six months out of the year because of
the properties so they're already in a private nuisance but that's just the side but moving
yeah concentrating on concentrating on that yes sir listen one minute what i want you to do is
to concentrate on the request for visitor accommodation i'm saying yes i'm saying yes
I just want to throw that in. So there are measures that they say they're going to take to preclude any nuisance.
It's very hard to stop a party. You know, if that's going to happen, we're already overburdened with parking around here because a lot of the places, even though they have garages, they own multiple cars.
So it's it's you know, it's going to be a private nuisance to me and to my neighbors.
And I walked around and I gave out notices because the zoning notice, it was shown on the door.
It was moved and it was put sideways in the alcove.
So it was very hard to see. So it wasn't conspicuous.
So not a lot of neighbors even knew about it besides the meeting.
That's an issue.
And his list that the lawyer showed where you pointed out that it was the same person signing these letters of recommendation.
I assure you that given time, I could provide significantly more signatures of people that do not want this thing.
And people that I've talked to going door to door do not want this thing.
And you already know that City Council and the Neighborhood Association are against it.
Thank you.
Thank you for taking the time to call us in.
We appreciate your input.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience who would like to talk?
Chair, we have a caller with the phone number ending at 3540.
Caller, please unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Good morning.
Could you state your name and spell, please, for the court stenographer?
hello follow with the phone number ending in three five four zero please unmute yourself
okay is there anyone else in the virtual audience are you able to hear me this is
Gabrielle Dicci.
Oh, we hear you now.
Oh, we hear you now.
Okay, thank you.
Okay, thank you.
Do me a favor.
Do me a favor.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Could you state your name, please?
Gabrielle, G-A-B-R-I-E-L-L-E.
Last name is Ditchie, D-I-T-C-H-E-Y.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Counsel, do you want to have your testimony adopted?
If I may just, prior to that, add one thing in response to the original neighbor's statements.
Chair, this issue of parties, while it's been in the news and has created issues at some Airbnbs, I would just like to point out that it is in no way as a result of Airbnbs.
Any tenant or any owner of a property could host parties.
And in fact, if it's the same long term resident, they can do so over and over again with, you know, without any repercussions.
And in the case of an Airbnb, if you do have somebody having a party, that person will never do that party again because they won't be renting it again.
So I would just like to kind of address this issue.
And I understand it's been in the news and some very unfortunate situations have come out of this.
but we've also had some very unfortunate situations occur at parties that were not at
Airbnb. So I think it's just getting a little bit lost in the news, basically. So thank you.
But at this time, Ms. Neach, have you heard my testimony here today?
Yes, I have.
And would you adopt it as your own?
And is there anything you'd like to add for the board to consider?
no i certainly appreciate the time and you know i think the the biggest thing is you know ensuring
that i am a respectful you know neighbor um and i would take you know all protocols you know very
seriously to me it's a responsibility whether you're renting or you know using short-term rental
um you know and to me you know that property is an investment of my hard work and i do not want
parties or nuisances happening in that property and impacting my neighbors. So again, I appreciate
the time and certainly respect any decision made. And Ms. Dicci, would you accept a possible
proviso of this being just a temporary granted variance? I would, yes. Okay. Thank you very
much, Ms. Dicci. Thank you. Other questions or comments from the virtual audience?
chair we have a jim moylan mr moylan please unmute yourself and wait for the chair
good morning mr moylan could you state your name please and spell for the court stenographer
yes it's jim moylan m-o-y-l-a-n right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth? I don't. Are you a neighbor? Yes. Okay, please proceed, sir. So two levels. I'm
a near neighbor. I live on the 100 block of Federal, so directly opposite of where this is
being proposed. I'm also a member of the Pennsport Civic Association. I disagree somewhat with Mr.
Sokoloff's contention that it was poorly attended. The people that were in attendance were near
neighbors who would be directly affected by this variance request. And they had significant
concerns and direct interest into the effectiveness of what would occur here in relation to their
own homes. Also, as stated in our letter, and as the board is very familiar, when a variance is
requested, there generally needs to be some notable hardship designated here. And we don't
perceive that one has been justified in this case as an investment property that possibly has gone
not the route that the owner had intended and is now trying to find a way to alter the use of the
property, but not necessarily in alignment with the existing neighborhood. Mr. Sokoloff, do you
you have any questions? I don't at this time. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Moylan. Is there
anyone else in the virtual audience? Chair, we have Joan Duckenfield. They have been unmuted
and allowed to speak. Good morning. Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court
stenographer? Yes. My name is Joan Duckenfield. That's D-U-C-K-E-N-F-I-E-L-D. Right. Do you
where firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do are you a neighbor
yes i am and matter of fact the back of my house you know face is i am on federal street one two
three federal and the back of my house you know butts up against that row of houses on ellsworth
which went well so i mean these are um these are
which went well so i mean these are um these are high they're like four-story town homes
I don't know.
and it's kind of it forms like a canyon between the back of the ellsworth and the back of the
federal street homes and when somebody does have a party which you know we we expect uh residents
to do that we all do but it's not a consistent thing but when that does happen it's like a sound
canyon it's pretty loud in the back of our homes so that that's you know a really concern for me
um and this house um i understand with state it was not conducive to being a party house because
of all the technology and all which requires you know somebody to stay on top of it um but it has
a patio it has a um a balcony and it does have a roof deck so you know there's a lot of opportunity
for outside parties, which, you know, again, we're not, you know, it's a very quiet neighborhood.
We enjoy this neighborhood. It's a resident. I know it was mentioned that it's a commercial
mixed use, but it really is a residential neighborhood, even zoned that way, as I understand
it. Anyway, that is, and I do want to also say that I was at that meeting at Pennsport,
And there are quite a few of us there, at least nine or 10 people, at least, that I can count, that were concerned about this. So, yeah, I agree with David that if we wanted to get signatures, there'd be quite a few in addition to the Pennsport Civic letter. Thank you very much.
Mr. Sokoloff, do you have any questions?
Yeah, Ms. Duchenfeld, I appreciate you calling in and thank you for your comments. I just have one question for you. The parties that have occurred in the neighborhood, have those been at Airbnbs or at long-term renters' houses? Do you know by any chance?
um long-term renters okay and my point was mr sokoloff is that you know um you you know we
just don't want to add to that now a long-term renter or a resident i don't believe would have
a party every week or every two weeks or even every month that's not been our experience but
it could happen in a term in terms of a short-term rental is is my concern thank you thank you
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
Yes, Chair.
We have Alicia McDonald.
I will allow her to speak.
Good morning.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Good morning.
Hello, can you hear me?
Hello.
Yes, I can.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Alicia, A-L-I-C-I-A, McDonnell, M-C, capital D-O-N-A-L-D.
All right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Are you a neighbor?
I am a neighbor.
I'm on Federal Street directly behind the applicant, and I'm a concerned neighbor.
Oh, hold up.
Hold up a minute.
Are you for or against the project?
I am against the project.
And could you, could you tell us if there's anything that you would want to say that hasn't been said already?
Basically just being a concerned neighbor who's directly behind.
I'm sorry.
No, no, no.
Excuse me, Chair.
I'm sorry to interrupt, but she wasn't sworn in.
I'm sorry.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, told the truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed.
Tell us, tell why you're against it.
Okay, yes. Yes. Oh, I also attend the Civic Association meeting that we had. So I thought
it was well attended, especially for the people who are being directly affected by this. I do
oppose this changing of the zoning, being that, you know, for me, I also bought this townhome
recently. And to me, this is my home, as well as my investment, but more of my home. I'm here
all the time, full time. And I am concerned that if it's changed and become an Airbnb,
that it will disrupt the fabric of the neighborhood and particularly a person who is
directly who lives behind it and having different people who can pretty much stare into my kitchen,
stare into my living room for me is more also of a safety concern. So having
different individuals coming in at, you know, whatever time is a security or a safety concern
for me. Thank you very much for taking the time. Mr. Sockloff, do you have a question?
No questions, Chair.
No questions, Chair. Thank you. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience? Yes, Chair.
Thank you.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
Yes, Chair.
Patrick Fitzmaurice will be allowed to speak.
Hi, could you state your name and spell, please, for the court stenographer?
Good morning.
My name is Pat Fitzmaurice, P-A-T-R-I-C-K-F-I-T-Z-M-A-U-R-I-C-E.
All right.
Do you swear, affirm, tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
You're the head of the Penn Sports Civic Association.
Am I right? You are correct, sir. Do you tell us your position on this case?
Sure. I'm just the president of the RCO. I am not a nearby neighbor.