He owns part of the building, you're saying?
He owns part of the property, yes.
So Jack...
What's his name?
Mr. Lin, can you tell us the full name of the individual to be identified?
Jack...
Jack Xiao.
Jack Xiao.
Yes. Okay. It's Jack, J-A-C-K, Shao, X-I-A-O.
He's been allowed to speak. He just has to unmute himself.
Hi, Shao. Could you state your name and spell, please, for the corticinographer?
Yeah, please unmute so you can speak.
uh this is jack sound my last name you state could state your name and then spell please
for the court sonographer jack sound last name is spelled xs x-ray i-a-o do you swear a firm
to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes proceed counsel thank you
Mr. Shao, it's my understanding that you wanted to give the board a statement regarding your
desire to build this particular structure at this location. I'm actually translating for Mr.
Lin is what they were telling me to do. He can't do that. You cannot, unfortunately,
you cannot do that. We would have to order a translator. That would be a different,
that would be a different hearing altogether
if we had to go do that.
Can you summarize any statement
that Mr. Lin wanted to make on his behalf?
I'm not sure we can do that even.
I don't believe we can do that.
Okay. All right. Thank you.
All right.
Mr. Jin, do you want to close your case out?
Is that it?
I don't know if anybody else was present
relating to my clients.
relating to uh my clients um i i do understand i'm going to open it up to the virtual audience
I do understand that.
I'm going to open it up
to the virtual audience.
yeah thank you after that okay all right questions from the board no chair
no chair no mr no mr chairman questions or comments from the virtual audience yes here we
have ryan lee hi mr lee could you state your name please and spell it for the court stenographer
Hi, my name is Ryan Lee.
It is R-Y-A-N-L-E-E.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Are you a neighbor?
Mr. Chair, Mr. Ryan Lee is my client, just to let you know.
So I had planned to examine him.
Well, why don't we do this?
Why don't we let him make a statement?
Then you can question him, okay?
Thank you.
yes uh it again may overlap into what uh gary is saying in terms of testimony but uh mr jen can you
also uh pull up the plans um earlier in your testimony you stated that you know there were
growing concerns of of uh adjacent properties being um possibly damaged during the construction
I just want to, I do realize the setback that you have up at the front where 1025A Spring Street is.
However, that cut in of the east side of the building where that bump out is, that is directly up against the basement of 1025A Spring Street.
The building that you proposed earlier, which is the seven-story building, did not have a basement.
And it seems that the building that you're proposing now does have a basement, which causes a deeper foundation.
And I think this is a very big concern in terms of building this next to, I can tell you, my building has a basement of a depth of four feet.
And when you're going down deeper than that, I think that's a major concern.
Also, I feel that this building's height is very much a big difference between 1025A and this proposed building in that it would overshadow a lot of natural sunlight that it's given towards the rear of the buildings of 1025A Spring Street and B.
um that's those are pretty much my concerns from the testimony that you have given earlier
mr lee do you want to follow up with questions yes your honor thank you very much go ahead
mr lee um you own do you own 10 15 a spring street 10 25 i'm sorry a spring correct i do and
my sister does. And she agrees with opposing this application? She does, yep. And you are
right next door to 1027-1029, is that correct? Correct. And next to 10, so behind you is 1025B
Spring Street, is that right? That's correct. They enter in through Spring Street onto a little alley
that is beneath, it's sort of like a shared property for them to enter the rear towards
that area. And between 1025A, which is your building, and the one behind it, 1025B,
is there any property, any land? There is a, I guess they would say a yard that is separated
by a CMU wall. Also, what's not shown in this image that's up on the screen is there is a little
a two-story building footprint that is not shown properly on this plan that is a part of 1025A
Spring Street. And do you own, is part of 1025A Spring Street not only the building but the yard
that is in the back of that building correct and next to 1025 a spring street there are two other
properties that front on spring street is that correct uh could you ask that question again yes
to the on to on spring street 1025 a 1025 a spring is your unit and to going towards 10th street
there are two other buildings. Is that correct? Two other addresses. Correct. Yes. And one of
them is 1023. And that also has an A and a B. And the other one is 1021. And that also has an A and
And the other one is 1021. And that also has an A and a B. Is that correct?
to be. Is that correct?
That's correct. To my knowledge.
And separating both the A and B units of 1023 and 1020 and 1021 are yards. Is that correct?
and the size of those properties 1021 1023 10 1015 a and b all those properties those are
around three stories correct yes now your property does your property have any windows
on the back part of your building it does it has uh approximately five windows facing the north
and then i have two windows facing the west that's pointing towards the new proposed building
so the the windows that are facing the west if someone looked out them they would directly see
the east side of the proposed building. Is that right? Correct. Now,
would a building of the size that is proposed, 61 feet, would that have an effect on the light
and air available to your property, both your building and your yard? It would. I would think
it's a pretty big concern. Would it be a significant effect on that? I would say it's
significant. And also the open space that is proposed, which is 12.2% rather than the 25%
required by the code, depending upon where that was, would that also result in more light and air
if there were more open space? Yes, I would say it essentially closes up the yards that are
occurring in that area. And then also there's the apartments that are being proposed
would, if there's 17 units and there are two bedroom and one bedroom units, which is at least
30 units, would that result in any, how would that affect the traffic that uses Spring Street?
I would say it would increase congestion from residents that would need to park in the area,
deliveries, whether it be, I don't know, food or mail, I think it would increase congestion in
that area. And would having that many residents, would that also have an effect on the trash,
the amount of trash? Yes, I would be concerned about how often it's being removed, being that
across the street, there already is a lot of congested, overflowing trash that occurs
during pickup days. And then also, were you present when the applicant presented before the
PCDC, which is the Registered Community Organization in this matter?
Yes, I was present for that meeting for the proposal of the previous seven-story building.
And did you raise any concerns about how the construction was going to be done?
I did. Mr. Lee, can you briefly state your educational background?
I have a bachelor's of science in civil engineering. I practice structural engineering
for, I would say, four or five-story office buildings for about 16 years, and I recently
changed into fields with uh of data center planning and when you've read what you did
you read the plans in this case i did i reviewed them earlier this week when they were when they
were sent to me and and are you qualified by your education experience to read plans
i would say so yes and the way the plans are are drawn there is a there is an intention to
have a full basement in 1027-1029 spring street is that correct correct yeah and then again i am
concerned about that depth of uh how deep they are digging adjacent to structures that are not as deep
and what what is can you describe your basement yeah i think he already did didn't he say four
foot when he testified correct four foot uh you you probably you basically uh walk up to the
first floor for a few steps and yeah it's it's visible during the uh the street view of the
during the uh the street view of the building and as a structural engineer what is your opinion of
building and as a structure
Thank you.
how the a full basement making uh the excavation for a full basement would have enough have on
1025 the building on 1025 a spring street i think that there are very large risks and and
and very big impacts that could occur during the construction of this building
Being that 1025A and I'm guessing surrounding buildings are just as old that the existing, you know, my existing basement is I found to be a rubble foundation wall.
So I have very big concerns in terms of what is being placed over in this area as part of construction, where these vehicles are being located.
I have great concerns.
And did you have any experience with the building of 1031 Spring Street?
I do not, no.
I did not take ownership of 1025A when that was being built.
That's all I have at this time, Your Honor. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Jin, do you have any follow-up
questions? Yes, just a few brief questions. Mr. Lee, your windows facing the west,
are those on your property line? They are a bit setback. I don't have the exact distance,
but it might be around, if I'm guessing, eight, seven, eight feet. Okay. So from that property
line. Yep. So would you agree that if a by right building was put there, that those windows would
be facing the same walls as we would be talking about with a larger structure? There will be a
wall basically at the same distance that you're looking at now with this proposal
i'm not sure i understand that question so if a building is put up that's three story tall
yes and built to the property line as it would be permitted your windows would still be blocked
the same way on the uh i'm not so sure but when you when you're talking about sunlight right uh
You have your source light coming from above, not so much. Yes. When you're, if you're talking about your visual, your visual setting of what a person is looking outside the window, then yes, I'm concerned about sunlight.
Okay. With regard to the basement, you're a civil engineer yourself. Have you done any projects involving digging of foundations and other similar structures?
I have, yes.
And would you agree that if a professional is involved, that safety measures can be taken to prevent damage?
Yes, I would need to know what they are, because taking precautions and what those construction sequences are, they have every little bit to do with how the adjacent building reacts.
Correct. But you would agree that if a professional was involved and did their job, that a construction can be done safely in this situation.
If you were involved with the basement next door and you required the proper precautions, would that basement be able to be put in safely? I guess that would be my question.
I would if it were, yeah, I would if it were set back appropriately enough, yes.
And potentially brace properly with necessary bracings to prevent any damage to the neighboring properties.
And I guess that would be all I need to, that's all of my questions.
Thank you, board.
Thank you.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
Yes, Chair. We have Carolyn, last name beginning in A.
Hi, could you state your name, please, as spell for the court stenographer?
Good morning. My name is Caroline Ong, C-A-R-O-L-I-N-E-A-U-N-G, from the Philadelphia.
Do you swear for them to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Are you in favor of the project or against?
um so i'm representing the rco uh philadelphia okay fine thank you corporation and um i'd like
to testify on behalf of the rco yes please go ahead um yes so as you know the rco voted to
Yes, so as you know, the RCO voted to oppose the proposed project at 1027 to 29 Spring Street.
oppose the proposed project
To reiterate, the RCO believes the applicant has not sufficiently demonstrated hardship for seeking the zoning variance
and that even taking into consideration the revised plans, the proposed project is too high
and would create undesirable density on a street that consists primarily of three-story row homes.
And while the applicant did point out that there are some buildings near the western end of the street with similar height and density, the developer proposes an infill development adjacent to a line of three-story row homes.
And the RCO has expressed the need to maintain the small scale residential nature of the eastern side of the street, which is close to 10th Street and near Chinatown's neighborhood core.
Thank you very much for your comments and calling in.
Mr. Jin, do you have any questions?
Mr. Lee, do you have any questions?
Mr. Lee, you're muted.
You're muted.
No, Your Honor.
Thank you.
Thank you very much for calling in. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
I'm sorry, Chair. This is Tanya. May I ask again for the RCO's name to be put on the record? It wasn't very clear to me.
It's Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation.
Thank you very kindly.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
Yes, Chair. We have Grace Kong.
Hi, could you state your name and spell, please, for the court stenographer?
Grace Kong, K-O-N-G.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Are you a neighbor?
All right.
Are you in favor of the project or against?
Against.
Could you give us a short reason why?
My family and I are the owner of 1025B Spring Street.