ZBA Hearing - August 23, 2023

Could you spell your name, please, for the stenographer?

Yeah, first name is Ye-Y-E, last name is Zhao, Z-H-A-O.

Proceed, counsel.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Ms. Zhao, can you verify that you saw my presentation and heard my testimony before

the board?

Yes, I did.

Thank you.

And can you verify that they're true and correct and adopted as your own testimony?

Yeah, all true.

Thank you.

Hi.

Questions from the board?

No, Chairman.

No, Mr. Chairman.

questions or comments from the virtual audience i see no handshare planning commission thank you

Questions or comments from the virtual audience?

You

chair ian hegarty for the philadelphia city planning commission board members the comprehensive plan

recommends no change to the existing rsa 5 single family zoning however the property has a recorded

prior legal use as one commercial unit and one residential unit the proposed use as we've seen

is also consistent with the physical configuration of the building. The City Planning Commission

recommends that the Board grant the variance. MI 2022-005-715-1801-Vritner Street, I vote yes.

Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes. James Snell, my vote is yes.

Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes. Thank you, counsel. Thank you. All right, number eight,

MI-2022-004-352-3743 North 18th Street.

Joseph Consul is the attorney.

Letter of support from the 13th Ward RCO Committee with an enforceable proviso.

Joseph Consul is coming back in as a panelist.

Good morning, Mr. Consul.

Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?

Good morning, Ward.

Joe Consul.

that's j-o-s-e-p-h-c-o-n-s-o-l-e do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and

nothing but the truth i do proceed sir all right that share my packet yes okay um so we're here

today on three seven four three north 18th street um oh do i need to testify to sending the my things

Yeah, why don't you just say what you did? That's all.

We submitted everything five days in advance.

The property owner is Gaint Properties, LLC.

My client is Mr. Gangan Cahill, and he's on this call to adopt my testimony later.

Thank you, Mr. Counsel. Proceed.

37-43 North 18th.

This property was originally zoned as a multifamily or approved as a multifamily in 1950.

It is set up right now as a three-unit property.

This block was rezoned at some point as a single family property. And so my client purchasing it as a three unit requires him to get a variance to use it as three units.

So here's the refusal. We went in front of the RCO twice. The first time we presented our plans, they asked for some follow up, which is all included in their letter.

we got full support both from the four members of the board and the um seven members of the

community that were at um the final meeting they sent a letter that just laid out a few items that

my client would do regarding upkeep and um safety ladders i know that they they're big on uh having

ladders installed in these units um and things that my client agreed to not nothing i believe

relevant for provisos or anything like that but i just wanted to point that out so we got their

support it's proof of mailing photos and plans of the property

and we included the uh layout of the three two-bedroom units one two and three on each

of the three floors. It's a 1500 square foot property. So my assumption, and I'll run through

that in a second, is that this whole block was multifamily at one point, and now it's single

family. And then all of our other documents are following that. I won't belabor the point. So I'm

just going to show you our side of the block. But basically, every house that appears to be

standing appears to be multifamily. So here's a three unit at 3, 7, 6, 5. Here's a three unit at

3, 7, 6, 1. Here is a three unit at 3, 7, 5, 7. Here's an old zoning approval for a three family

at 3755. And again, 3753, 3751, 3749. Here's an old six-unit approval for 3739, 3733, 3729,

nine, uh, three, seven, two, seven. And finally three.

3-7-2-7, and finally 3-7-1-9-North-18.

So that's just our side of the block.

In the interest of time, I didn't submit the other side of the block,

which is also zoned single-family,

but has a similar number of active multifamily uses, three and above.

And so I just wanted to give everyone a taste of the block

and just to show that it is primarily a multifamily block

and therefore approving this use we believe is in line with the rest of the block and

the hardship being that the property you know at one point was approved as a multi-family

and so that they're seeking to get that re-approved as as such that's it

could you bring your client on please is your client here Mr. Consul yeah Mr. Cahill can you

raise your hand mr kale you're free to speak hi sir could you state your name please and spell

for the court stenographer my name is gaganvir kahel uh first name is g a g a n v i r last name

kahel k e h a l right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the

truth. Yes. Proceed, counsel. Mr. Cahill, did you hear my testimony just now regarding your property

on North 18th? Yes. Did you adopt it as your own? Yes. Is there anything you'd like to add to the

board? No. Okay. Nothing further. Questions from the board? No, chair. Mr. George. Questions or comments

from the virtual audience? Yes, chair. We have Charles Richardson. Good morning, Mr. Richardson.

could you please state your name and spell it for the court stenographer?

Morning, Mr. Chair. Charles Richardson, R-I-C-H-A-R-D-S-O-N, Office of Councilwoman Cindy

Bass, room 508 City Hall. Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth,

and nothing but the truth? I do. Proceed, sir. Councilwoman has no opposition to granting

the variance. Thank you. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?

I see no hands, Chair. Planning Commission. Thank you, Chair.

Ian Hegarty for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission. Board members, in 2021, the zoning map was amended from RM1 to RSA5 on this block. The proposed use, however, is consistent with the physical configuration of the building and with the block, which is predominantly multifamily. The City Planning Commission recommends that the board grant the variance.

Thank you. MI 2022-004-352-3743 North 18th Street. I vote yes with proviso. Interior trash storage.

Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with proviso.

James Snell, my vote is yes with proviso.

Mr. Mel Shaheed, my vote is yes with proviso.

Thank you, counsel.

Thank you, board. Have a good day.

Is there anyone in the virtual audience whose 9.30 a.m. case has not been called?

I see no hands, Chair.

Thanks, everyone. See everyone at 2 o'clock.

Bird drive, everyone.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you.

no I can't hear you Tom that's nothing coming out no no

sorry Tom

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We're ready to go, Fatina?

Yes, Chair.

We have 40 attendees at this time.

Thank you.

Good afternoon.

My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this afternoon's ZBA hearing.

With me is our vice chair, Ishmael Shahid.

Present, Mr. Chairman.

Present, Mr. Chairman.

Our board member, Thomas Holloman.

Our board member, Thomas Holliman.

Present, Mr. Chairman.

And our board member, James Snell.

Present, Mr. Chairman.

Also here is our attorney for the day, Ryan McSherry, and also our executive director, Tanya Sunkett.

Here's our virtual format.

Be advised if proceedings are being recorded.

Video will be available by contacting TanyaSunkett at phila.gov.

For the benefit of our court stenographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying.

If you are participating by phone, you wish to testify, press star 9 to raise your hand and star 6 to unmute.

To enter an appearance statement, call 267-270-5548.

Leave your email and the address of the property in question.

And finally, the question answer box on the screen is not for comments or testimony.

All comments should be directed to our executive director.

Let's look at this afternoon's schedule.

Number three, MI 2023, 002787, 90 Red Lion Road.

This case has been continued.

And number seven, MI-2022-004-684-9800 Busselton Avenue. This case has been continued. Are there any comments about these two cases or additional cases to be continued?

Good afternoon, Chair. This is Bettina L. I'll be your co-host for this afternoon.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

We have Ms. Isabel Ortiz.

Okay.