Ian Toner, I-A-N-T-O-N-E-R from Toner Architects.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Proceed, please.
Okay. Well, so Darwin, you did a great job on the first floor. Second floor, we have a one-bedroom, one-bathroom unit in the front. That's the green unit there. And then in the rear, we have the lower half of a two-bedroom, one-bath unit where you see the bathroom in the kitchen there and the living space.
And then when we get up to the third floor, you'll see in the rear there, the yellow, that's the bedroom portion of that unit that began on the lower level.
And then you'll see in the front, we have a two bedroom, one bathroom apartment as well.
So it's a total of three units.
Yeah. Thank you, Mr. Tony.
Thank you.
So, and again, you know, our zoning is CMX2, and we want to give the board a good sense of where we are.
Here are our photographs.
The lot is vacant, as you can see.
This is looking across from the lot.
It's our posting, our posting from a different angle, and again, a corner, a corner lot.
All in all, what we believe we have is an affordable housing product that will require an influx of activity, but we are taking the position that it can't sustain commercial activity at a level that will encourage or entice businesses to come in.
So therefore, Mount Vernon CDC has taken it upon, not upon itself, but has taken it upon itself to interact with the community, see what exactly could work in partnership with the community, and creating this community space makes sense.
Again, this is supported by the PHDC, RDA, the land bank, the like, and we did receive funding from the, from PHFA.
At this time, I would like to note that the board should feel comfortable in granting our referral because if you look at what we've presented, our structure does not congest the sidewalks, does not congest the rest of the neighborhood because it's an empty lot.
Because we're building a residential that has this non-residential, I don't want to say commercial, but this non-residential use, we are not taxing.
but this non-residential use, we submit that we're not taxing any utilities. Therefore,
we're not burdening any light and air as well. And I think we satisfy all the qualifications
for a referral to be accepted, for a special exception in particular to be granted in this
case. Now, with that said, I would like to call up Mr. Thorpe.
Michael Thorpe, you've been unmuted.
I am here.
Sir, could you state your name and spell, please, for the court stenographer?
Yes, my name is Michael, M-I-C-H-A-E-L, Thorpe, T-H-O-R-P-E. I am the executive director of the
Mount Vernon Manor CDC. Okay. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and
nothing but the truth? Yes, I do. Proceed, Darwin. All right. First and foremost, Mr. Thorpe,
I apologize for misspeaking the name of the organization. It's the Mount Vernon Manor
CDC. Is that correct? Yeah, that is correct. Okay. And you heard everything that myself and
mr toner stated uh and would you adopt that as your own testimony yes i would all right well
just for a point of information your next two cases the same people you'll use
yes okay thank you so uh questions from the board no mr chairman no chair
questions or comments from the virtual audience
here we have andrew goodman good morning mr goodman could you state your name please and
spell for the court stenographer good morning andrew goodman a-n-d-r-e-w-g-o-o-d-m-a-n
here representing the office of third district council member jamie gaudier spelled g-a-u-t-h-i-e-r
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Proceed, sir.
Thank you.
Mr. Chair, members of the board, just here to affirm Councilmember Gaudier's strong support and ask that the board grant the special exception.
We do believe that the community room use is kind of a minimal application of the use and would certainly not have any kind of undue burdens on the surrounding context and community.
Therefore, we think it meets the thresholds for the granting of the special exception.
Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Goodman.
Anyone else in the virtual audience?
I see no hands, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Morning, Chair Bergman.
Ian Eggerty for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission.
Board members, this is an application for a special exception for assembly and entertainment used in a CMX2 district.
In April 2023, the zoning map was actually amended in this area.
However, the application was filed while the zoning was still CMX2.
The proposed use will not cause detrimental impacts to the neighborhood beyond what normally might be expected for the use.
And therefore, the City Planning Commission recommends that the board grant the special exception.
Thank you. MI 2022-006-090-818-North 40th Street, I vote yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Darwin, we're going to move to number seven, MI-2023-006-089-847-North 40th Street.
Letter of support from the Mantua Civic Association.
Project strongly supported by Councilmember Gauthier received waiver letter from planning and development, as well as an authorization letter from the Department of Public Property.
um darwin just state your name for the record you've already been sworn yes again good morning
mr chairman members of the board my name is darwin beauvais um just just to orient the board this is
847 north 40th street this is a refusal again we i represent the mount vernon manor cdc which is
the principal in the legal ownership of North 40th LP. Our intention here is to provide
affordable housing. And again, this project is supported by PHFA in the form of low-income tax
credits, as well as PhDC, as you'll see with the authorization letter. Again, let me just
Orient the board with, this is a vacant property, and it sits on along other lots that are also vacant, which are also part of future requests by the applicant.
orient the board with, this is a vacant.
in um what let's just start here we are looking to build three a multi-family unit for four dwellings
here and our refusal is ranges is regarding the setback now i would like to turn at this time to
the to our architect again here's our rendering this is where we are located and maybe we'll
start hearing in you can maybe explain uh what we're looking at in relation to the setback
refusal and just state your name you've already been sworn yes ian toner toner architects
proceed counsel yes mr mr tona do you see the screen i do okay can you explain where it's marked
847 um where that drawing in relation to the the 20 or the six six uh the the in order i i'm sorry
I have my variances mixed up here because I thought we were going in order.
I'm looking at 830.
We are looking at 847.
Yes, we are proposing a 6.3-foot setback and where there's a 22-foot setback required.
But here, what we're looking at, I would like for you to explain.
Sure. So our our surveyor went out and took a look at the neighboring existing neighboring buildings, of which there are not a lot, but there there are some.
Our setback matches a building at 863, which is not too far away.
Okay. And so we're proposing to match that. And we are also, I mean, we have a building that we're, as you can see in the rendering, that we're proposing next door that will match that setback as well.
Okay. So it's all other dimensions have been satisfied. So let's just walk us through
the floor plans. Okay. Can everybody see the entire plan?
It's slightly cut off to the right on my screen.
we're talking four units right yes okay mr tona just just walk us through real quick let's
do this in three minutes yeah so the blue unit on the right is um two bedrooms one bathroom and
And that actually extends up all three stories of the building in the rear of this floor.
We have a one bedroom, sorry, two bedroom, one bathroom unit.
That's the green.
And in here on the second floor and the blue, you see the upper, you know, the middle part of that first unit with the bedroom and the bathroom.
And then in the rear again, two bedroom, one bathroom unit.
in yellow great in here on third floor the dark blue is the second bedroom of that front unit
and then the light blue is the same same layout as below the two bedroom one bathroom unit great
all right thank you again mr chairman members of the board here are the photographs of what we're
looking at this is across the street if any of these photos look familiar it's because we are
in the same neighborhood or the posting and and again we're taking the position that that we are
providing affordable housing, our setback wasn't done because
our setback wasn't done because of some unnecessary desire.
We were trying to match the adjacent buildings.
And because of that, again,
it's the position of Mount Vernon Manor CDC
to always be in partnership with the fabric of the community.
At this time, I would like to call Mr. Thorpe to the-
Hi, sir. Just state your name. You've already been sworn.
Michael Thorpe.
Mr. Thorpe, did you hear everything that was stated by myself and Mr. Toner?
I did.
Would you adopt that as your own testimony?
Absolutely.
All right.
Thank you. Questions from the board?
No, chair.
No, chair.
All right. Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Chair, we have Andrew Goodman.
Hi, Mr. Goodman. You've already been sworn to just state your name for the record.
Yes, Andrew Goodman, representing Third District Councilmember Jamie Gaudier.
Proceed, sir. Thank you. Just here again to affirm Councilmember Gaudier's strong support
and ask that the Board grant the variance this morning. Thank you. Thank you. Is there anyone
else thank you is there anyone else in the virtual audience i see no chair excuse me commission
thank you chair bergman ian hegarty for the philadelphia city planning commission
board members in 2017 the zoning map was was amended in this area this parcel was intentionally
left as rm1 multifamily the proposed dimensional variance is necessary we agree because strict
interpretation of the setback rules would render residential development of this parcel unviable.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the board grant the variance.
Thank you. MI 2022-006089-847 North 40th Street, I vote yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes. James Snell, my vote is yes.
Thank you. We're moving to number nine, MI 2022-005-626-830 North 40th Street.
Mr. Beauvais, again, just state your name, sir, for the record.
Yes. Again, good morning, Mr. Chairman, members of the board. My name is Darwin Beauvais,
and I am pleased to represent Mount Vernon Manor CDC in their application.
for 830 North 40th Street. Just to a technical note, the CDC is the principal of the legal owner,
which is North 40th Street LP. We do have a set of exhibits marked from 1 through 16,
and I'll just start with the refusal, so it could be helpful to orient the board.
This refusal, if I can get it all into the screen, this refusal, excuse me, this refusal
situates around having active use because of the location of the building. It sits in a split
zoning districts, CMX2, RSA3. Neither one of those designation will qualify our application
because we're seeking three units multifamily dwelling. If I can give you a photo just to
orient the board. Again, this is a vacant lot. It's a corner lot. And
Here is our rendering, what we're proposing on doing.
Now, if we can identify Ian Toner, and he can walk us through the floor plans.
Mr. Toner, just state your name, please, for the record.
Ian Toner, can you hear me?
Yes, we can. Proceed.
Okay, great. Ian Toner from Toner Architects.
Yes, Mr. Tona, can you walk us through the first floor?
Sure. First floor is a three bedroom, one and a half bath unit. And again, we're right at the corner, so we get nice windows all down that long side there you can see in the bedrooms.
Second floor.
On the second floor, we have in the rear the lower part of a two-bedroom, one-bathroom unit, and in the front, we have the lower portion of a two-bedroom unit as well.
And then on the upper floor, we have the bedrooms and the bathrooms for those two units below.
Okay. All right. Thank you. Again, for the interest of time, I would like the board to know that this is supported by PHFA in the form of low-income tax credits.
It's also supported by PHTC in terms of helping us promote affordable housing in this area.
This area has been in need for affordable housing, for any kind of housing, let alone affordable housing.
And what we're asking that the board is that even though we don't have any commercial activity, that the need for housing can be more of a priority for the board to understand in order to grant us this application.
Why don't you call your client back?
Yes. Mr. Thorpe, do you have a moment?
Mr. Thorpe, just state your name for the record, please.
Michael Thorpe.
Thank you. Proceed, counsel.
Mr. Thorpe, did you hear everything that myself and Mr.
Toner said? Yes, I did. I heard everything.
Would you adopt that as your own testimony?
Absolutely. Thank you. Questions from the board?
No, Chair. No, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you. Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Yes, Chair. We have Andrew Goodman.
Mr. Goodman, just state your name for the record, please. And thank you for staying on the phone this long.
Absolutely. Andrew Goodman from Councilmember Jamie Gaudier's office.
Proceed, Council.
Again, affirming Councilmember Gaudier's strong support for this variance.
We do believe the proposed use is more in line with the RM1 remapping that we facilitated for this block as part of a neighborhood remapping process earlier this year, but was after this application had been initiated.
So we ask that the board grant the variance.
Thank you. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
I see no hands, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman. Ian Hegarty for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission.
board members in april 2023 the zoning map was amended in this area from cmx2 to rm1
the proposed use is permitted as a matter of right under the new zoning district and so the
city planning commission recommends that the board grant the variance thank you mi2022-005-626-830
north 40 street i vote yes thomas halliman my vote is yes james snell my vote is yes
thank you thank you counsel thank you i'll see you later this afternoon
number case number one mi 2022 002 945 1400 inglewood street jennifer bazillo is the attorney
um letter of opposition from community on the rise letter of opposition from take back your
neighbors, which is the affected RCO, applicant did provide a petition of support signed by 34
neighbors. Jennifer Bazidlo is coming back in as a panelist. Good morning, counsel. Good morning.
Give me a second to start my video here. I will. Thank you. Could you state your name,
please and spell for the court stenographer sure jennifer bazidlo b-a-z-y-d-l-o right do you swear
or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do could you identify
your client the relationship to this property sure my client is nan wind and he is the property
owner okay our vice chair has just a few questions sure good morning counsel do you agree to weigh
the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy? I do. Have you emailed in all the