ever existed there uh and it's suited for three units by right and we're hoping the board does
not uh see a need for us to implant a commercial space into the first floor of this building uh
With that, Hillary, hold on. Hillary, do you have the plan show in three?
It was a little bit confusing from the plans. It looked like there was commercial space plus the residential dwelling unit.
My client did, like I said, when he was originally designing it, he did design it to include those three units.
But I could call him to to testify and we could resubmit the plans without the third unit if that's the ones that we had digitally when we submitted this.
We've since he since updated them.
Let's bring your client on. He can adopt your testimony. He can explain what what what he's going to do.
Mr. Consul, what is your client's name?
His last name is Brand, James Brand.
James Brand has been unmuted and allowed to speak.
Mr. Brand, could you state your name and spell, please, for the court stenographer?
Yes, my name is James Brand, B-R-A-N-D.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Proceed, counsel.
All right. Initially, Mr. Brand, did you hear my testimony regarding your property on Second Street?
Yes, I did.
Do you adopt it as your own?
Could you explain to the board the evolution of your plans from having the commercial space with the units to where it's at now?
Sure. So by right, we were allowed to have one commercial space and three residential units.
I tried with my architect and my engineer to conform to that with some drawings.
There were some restrictions regarding access given the elevation of the first floor, at which point we decided to pursue a variance to remove that between speaking with you and certainly after discussing with the Neighborhood Association.
You know, it seems like just for the, you know, it's not a very large property that three units was a better solution than trying to squeeze four residential units in.
So originally we had a tiny commercial space that encompassed the first 30 feet with a
efficiency in the back, accessing the basement.
But again, it was just very jammed together and there was no way to provide appropriate
access to the commercial space.
So we basically redesigned it and we just have a first floor apartment, a second floor
apartment and a third floor apartment.
a very common layout that you'll see in a typical three-story triplex and and that's that's pretty
much it thank you hillary hillary do you need anything uh this is fine mr chair since this is
a change of youth application plans plans weren't required it was just that the ones that were
submitted with the packet were a little confusing all right thank you questions from the board
no mr chair uh hillary anything additional no mr chair questions or comments from the virtual
audience i say no hands share high planning commission thank you sir and good afternoon
david fecto with the city planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the
commercial mixed use of zoning at this location the lack of ground floor commercial space is an
existing condition so the city planning commission recommends the board grant the proposed relief
from the ground floor commercial requirement in the zoning code
from the ground floor commercial requirement in the zoning code
MI 2023 Mr. Chair this is Hillary I just want to note that the applicant is only requesting
three units we should note that as a proviso thank you so MI 2023-003-603-1921 North
Second Street I vote yes proviso no more than three dwelling units Thomas Holloman my vote
is yes with proviso james now my vote is yes with proviso thank you counsel thank you number five
mi 2023 003 678 605 glennview street um letter of opposition from long crest community association
applicant did provide a petition of support signed by approximately 10 neighbors along with six form
letters, including one signed by the adjacent neighbor at 603. Mr. Nockamson.
He's coming back in as a panelist now, Chair.
Good afternoon again, Mr. Chair, members of the board, Alan Nockamson.
Mr. Knock, I'm saying you've already been sworn.
Could you identify your client in relationship to this property?
Yes, my client is Lord Alcantara.
She is the owner of the property.
Okay, and Mr. Holloman has just a few questions for you, sir.
Good afternoon, counsel.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his accuracy?
did you email all of the exhibits and documents as required five days in advance to this hearing
yes we have thank you please proceed and share your screen all right thank you
so i'm here to present 605 blendview street um just from the outset my client is not a developer
She's owned this property since 2015, and it's currently being used as a duplex.
There is one extra space that has been vacant for all those years that she's trying to make into a third unit for herself.
And that unit, the entry is above grade.
So she's really looking at this for her own use.
She's not looking to monetize this third unit.
And like the chairman stated, you know, she has support of nearby neighbors, including her next door neighbor.
So first, we'll review the notice of refusal. Then we'll have the correspondence from the 35th Democratic Board.
Then we'll review the petition that we circulated to nearby neighbors, and it has a map showing that the individuals who signed the petition or the letters of support, the form letters of support, are all within a block, a block and a half radius.
So we really did try to find the people who would be most directly impacted about this project with regards to this project, and they are supportive of this project.
We also have the rental license.
So it's not like we're taking a property that has a single family use and making three units.
It's two to three units.
We have legalization for two units.
We have a rental license for that use.
And we're asking to add that third unit.
And again, it's for my client.
As she ages out, she needs a place in that building where there's no steps.
So that's why she's looking for this ground, essentially a ground floor unit, which has a parking space in the back for her use.
And again, it's not uncommon to have multifamily use on this block.
So we will show you a few properties on that block, which are multifamily in nature, which are also RSA3 properties currently.
Then maps of the area, photographs of the property, or plans and drawings.
The RSA meeting notice, along with the proof of mailing of that notice, our application for appeal that we filed on Lord's behalf, our deed to her property, showing that she has owned the property for a better part of a decade, and the certificate of tax clearance.
At the conclusion of my presentation, I would ask that she virtually raise her hand, and then I have a few questions for her to answer.
So, yes, this is an RSA 3 property, but it has a significant history for multifamily use.
Currently has legal use for two units.
We're asking for a third unit.
Again, this is for her own use.
You'll see from the pictures that the entryway for that third unit has its own entryway.
There's two ways to get in and two ways to get out of this property.
And again, the entryway is above grade.
And in front of that entryway is an off-street parking space, which she would use for herself.
And in front of that entryway is an off-street parking space, which she would use for herself as well, especially as she ages out.
So we did meet with the 35th Democratic Award.
They had strong opposition to this proposal.
I will say this.
If you look at their tally, not one person was within the affected area.
So I think that they have a great following as a community, but no one within the affected area was in opposition to this property or even voted.
And that's why, again, we were very diligent in getting circulating a petition in support and letters to support.
We thought that this was a pretty straightforward project and not even a project.
This is for our client who's just an individual.
And we were a little bit surprised of the the lack of support within the general confines of the 35th Democratic Ward.
And a couple of things to note in their comments, they said they had questions focused on the layout, the basement.
Like I said, I think it's more of a lower level. And then they had questions about the upstairs units, which we have no problem.
We only showed them the floor plans. Well, we focused our floor plans on the lower level unit because that's why we're here today. I don't know if there was a misunderstanding or lack of understanding that those two units above on the second and third floor or the second floor are allowed as a right.
So maybe there was a misunderstanding with regards to that, and that we were trying to go from one unit to three units.
And then there was a discussion about congestion in the area regarding parking.
Again, the two units that are currently in existence, neither of them use that parking spot that's in the rear.
And again, we're adding a third unit, and that third unit would have exclusive use to that parking spot.
And it's only a one-bedroom. It's not large by any means.
and we would think that it's it's a zero-sum game there like we're not causing any issues
with parking by adding that third unit because there's an off-street parking spot that already
exists so i just want to respond to their concerns of the community uh and then the petition as you
can see we're right here and like we mapped out like again it's basically a block and a half radius
on Glenview. In addition to our next door neighbor, the neighbor behind us is also
support. So people who are really directly impacted are supportive of this increase in
use of units. And then here's our petition. We did it in both in English and in Spanish
because there is a Spanish speaking population in this area. So we wanted to make sure that
people fully understood what they were signing. So we put it in English and in Spanish.
and then her letters of support and then the rental license again um two units are currently
allowed uh even though this is an rsa3 property and we're only trying to increase it by one
additional unit to three units but lords does everything um proper and that's why she's part
this process as well and then it's not uncommon to have a multi-family even in these rsa3
properties on this block 600 glenn view street is multi-family 611 glenn view street is multi-family
and 613 and 615 glenn view are also multi-family and then the maps of the area we're between
Oxford and Bingham and Longshore and then there's Glenview and then North Street as well
and we're in the Longcrest section of Philadelphia so there's a sprinkling of some commercial
units nearby so this increased density would hopefully help support you know those commercial
units as well and then photographs of the property this is the front of the property as you can see
it's a two-story structure in the front. And the way it slopes down, this is the back of the
property, and this is the door that's exclusive to that potential third unit. And there's a
parking spot right here as well, which would be for the exclusive use of that third unit.
We also have proof that we posted the orange notice posters for today's hearing. Here's the
one that's in the front of the property and the one in the rear. And this is a better photo showing
the parking that's allowed in the rear as well and then this is glenn of u street to the right
of the property to the left of the property and then our plans and drawings pretty straightforward
what i do want to highlight is the fact and you saw this with the pictures but we're basically
above grade almost exclusively it gets a little higher when we go towards the end of the unit
but we're this is not where we're putting a unit in the basement and there
but we're this is not where we're putting a unit in the basement and there's multiple
ways to get in and out of the property which you'll see as well just get into it
so this is our unit so a couple things this is the this is the first floor on the glenn view
how it slopes down but you can you know there's a flight of steps that go down there this is the
secondary access. But you go down this flight of steps, there's a common laundry facility. And then
this is the rear of our unit number one. But someone in case of emergency, you saw that front
door, which is over here, where the three stories is. But in case of emergency, they have two ways
to get in and two ways to get out. There's a separate flight of steps and all that. And again,
it's not a large unit by any means, but my client needs this. This is going to help her
like you know hopefully retire one day and and to again she can't take the steps and this is why
it was really important to convert this this into a third unit but there's a living room a bedroom
and a bathroom nothing extravagant but like something that's needed for her oops
and then we met with the community on october 19th at 6 30 p.m this is proof of emailing that notice
to the coordinating RCOs
and then the other affiliated RCOs.
51 addresses are within the affected area.
Proof of mailing to those addresses.
Our application for appeal
that I filed on my client's behalf,
along with the notice of refusal
and the project information form,
the deed to the property,
and the certificate of tax clearance
shows she owes no money.
at least real estate taxes with respect to that property.
With that being said, I would ask that she virtually raise her hand.
Let me ask the question first, maybe, and not that you would know what happened,
but could you at least address the 1991 ZBA when they approved this, the comment,
could you at least mention that to her for us?
Yeah. So, yes. In the refusal, it does say that two units were approved, but that there would be no third unit in the in the basement level.
I can't speak to that. I think I wasn't even in college at that point in my life.
So but no, I mean, it isn't, you know, it's something that was dealt with at in 1991.
We are asking, I'm not saying a second bite of the apple, but it's not uncommon to have multifamily around here.
I think three units are reasonable under the circumstances.
This lot is over 3,000 square feet, right?
The building is a decent size as well.
And given the configuration, and I'm sure the configuration hasn't changed in 20, 30, 30, three years, 32 years, but it's how it slopes down.
We're just asking for this accommodation.
So the other multifamily, are there any of them three dwelling units?
I don't know if that's the case.
I will say that there's an apartment building across the street, which is 25 units, which is on Bingham.
okay why don't we bring your client
Mr. Nackamson
what is your client's name
Lourdes
Alcantara
Lourdes Alcantara
has been unmuted and allowed to speak
could you state your name
please and spell for the court stenography
my name is Lourdes Alcantara
L-O-U-R-D-E-S
Alcantara
A-L-C-A-N-T-A-R-A
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth, nothing but the truth?