and there was a split vote within the community and we will address the community comments in
kind. The Brewery Townshardswood Community Civic Association has a two-step process,
one of which we present, not present, but we provide them the documentation for the presentation
that we intend to give to the community. So they're a very sophisticated organization
that reviews these documents very carefully and the fact that their executive board or zoning
Committee supports this project, speaks volumes about the quality of this project. The third
exhibit is our revised proviso plan form. As I indicated, one of the provisos would be a reduction
of the unit count to two units, which is not out of character to other properties on this block.
In our presentation, I'll review those, but 1612 is two units, 1638 is three units, and 1644
is also three units so what we're proposing is not out of character uh for this block and this
zoning board has approved such variance use in the past then after the meeting we were actually a
little bit surprised in terms of the uh somewhat some slim opposition to this matter we actually
reached out to the community and individually solicited members of the community within close
proximity to the property and we have a two-page petition of signatures which include many members
on the 1600 block who would be most directly impacted by this project afterwards exhibit five
is the um the 1600 block of north 26th street as i indicated 1612 38 and 44 um all have variants or
have multi-family use then we'll review maps of the area photographs of the property we have the
original drawings and we have now the revised drawings um our rco meeting notice our application
for appeal that we filed with the zba deed to the property showing that elite electric aa inc is the
owner of the property and our certificate of tax clearance showing that we're a good standing with
the city of philadelphia again to the left of me is gazi out of seven the owner's representative
at the conclusion of my presentation i would ask that mr out of seven which he's already done
hit the button it's on green you'll be sworn in and then i have a few questions for you
and then also in the virtual audience is chris johnson the architect's representative from 24
7 design he can answer any technical questions we may have
design. He can answer any technical questions we may have.
Yeah, we're going to text Chris. You can text Chris now. We just want to make sure that he's
available if there's technical questions. All right, so the notice refusal is this. This is
an RSA 5 property, but it's rather large in size, 1,370 square feet. We're not seeking any
dimensional variances. We're only seeking a used variance. Here, we were originally seeking three
units now we've reduced it to two units while we believe three units is still appropriate under
the circumstances because 1638 and 1644 north 26th street which are both on that block how long did
it was it reduced before the vote no it was reduced in in response to their vote so after
the meeting there was some indication from the community that they would be like i don't know
if the word is less opposed to two units as opposed to three units. So I talked to my client
about it and, you know, that's hopefully the compromise that we can come to. Okay. And then
again, the community here is really important to look at this, the zoning committee, which again,
I've presented in this community for, oh my God, at least a decade. You know, they're very
sophisticated. They know what they're doing. They have a process in place where you have to provide
the documents a few weeks before the community meeting and they review them they and and if you
don't provide those documents a few weeks before the community meeting you don't have a community
meeting that's how serious they are they unanimously supported this project we had 10
members of the community i think maybe it was nine because maybe it's me abstaining from voting
who voted and it was a close vote but most it mostly had to do with this mr out of seven
provides affordable housing. Is that, you know, something that can be enforced by this zoning
board? No, but that's his business model. And for some reason, there was a pushback by one of the
RCOs that we don't like affordable housing anymore. We don't want that, which is just blew my mind.
You know, because, you know, diversity of housing is a really good thing in neighborhoods. You want
market rate and affordable housing. And there's a shortage of affordable housing in many of these
neighborhoods, including Brewery Town Shardswood, where there's been a lot of development where
people have been pushed out of Brewery Town Shardswood. So providing affordable housing is
a good thing, I thought. But to one of the RCOs, that was not the case. So during the meeting,
again, there were certain things discussed, one of which was the height, which made no sense to
me because we're providing, as of right, 37 feet. Another thing is we're altering the character of
the neighborhood again there's a mix of multi-family and single family on that block so
we're not out of character in in actuality two of the three multi-family structures there are
three units one is two units three units would be in character but we propose now to go down to two
units we didn't provide a roof deck because that's one of the overlays that was proposed in brewery
town shardswood as it's the case in many parts of strawberry mansion so out of respect to the
community. We didn't even propose that. It's in character because we'll look at the plans,
but we have a flat building facade with a well-defined cornice line as well. So we thought
that that was in character. And in terms of parking issues, we are near public transportation.
We're also near two commercial corridors, one on Cecil B. Moore and one on Ridge Avenue to help
support that multifamily use. So again, in response to the community meeting, we are proposing now to
reduce the unit count from three units to two units. And to put it more in character, we didn't
have a dimensional variance for occupied area or rear yard setback. But in order to accommodate the
fact that we were a little bit deeper to the property to the right of us, we reduced the
building depth from 68 feet to 50 feet. Now you'll see on the site plan, we match the depth of the
building to the right of us, making us even more in character to the neighborhood as a whole.
And you can see that right here. And we're actually less than the property to the left of
us, which looks like it has full lot coverage. And then the petition, again, we're near Cecil B.
Moore, Oxford, Bally Street, 16th Street. Those are all the intersecting streets or nearby streets,
but I will point particular attention to all these addresses that were on the 1600 block of
North 26th Street. And then again, just to give you information, 1612 North 26th Street was granted
by way of variance. I believe that's two units in 2022. And then, trying to read this, 1638 North
26th Street has three units, and then 1644 North 26th Street.
as three units. And then 1644 North 26th Street was granted by way of variance in 2021,
and that's also three units. And then there's other properties nearby, 2601 Oxford Street
also is multifamily in nature. And then maps of the area, I just want to give you a sense of
there's a diversity of zoning in this neighborhood yes are we in a solidly yellow part of the map
yes are we close to rm1 the cmx2 rmx and then rm1 all around the answer is yes too
and but it's not out of character what we're what we're proposing and then you can see here
we have two commercial corridors one on ridge avenue one of cecil b more with ample public
parking uh public transportation and then photographs of the property uh so this has been
a this is a vacant lot right now it's been a vacant lot for as far back as you can see on
google street view so that's over 15 years old and then just proof of posting of for today's hearing
this is north 26 to the right of the property to the left of the property our original plans i
believe yes um didn't really change much we'll just go to the um you know you know other than
the depth of the building but you can see here like is this building in character from an
architectural standpoint yes it is does it have a pronounced cornice line yes does it have uh
pronounced lentils yes is it a flock building for sides yes does it have numbers on the front
of the property yes with lighting as well it mimics the architecture of the neighborhood
so it's not out of character and we shorten the building as well to be more in character
to the property to the right of us as well as you can see here and we're shorter to the
building to the left of us and we're well within the height limitation of 37 feet and
then in terms of the living, these are two bi-level units. Unit number one is a two-bedroom.
Actually, let me just make, you know, let me just, it's a one-bedroom, one-bath.
So as you can see here, you know, you come into this common vestibule area, which is very common
in Philadelphia, you make a right, you get into unit number one, the bedrooms in the
front, oops, getting a little ahead of myself here, let's try to go back, let me get out
of this for a second, can't get out of it, all right, let's go back,
so unit number one you come into the common uh vestibule area you make a right there's a living
room a kitchen and then the front part of the of the property is a bedroom and one bath you'll see
there's windows in the front and in the back for the living area as well as the bedroom and then
you go down to a lower level which is an open floor plan instead of going to the right you go
to, you go up a flight of steps and the same thing mimics it. You come out, you have a living room
and the kitchen, again, ample window space. And, um, you have one bedroom here and then you have
two bedrooms above with another bath, no roof deck, um, and storage of trash would be for the
first floor and lower level unit in the rear. And for unit number two, it would be a ventilated
trash closet we met with the community on october 17th at 6 30 p.m this is the email that we sent
to the community showing proof of mailing that we sent to 164 addresses these are the addresses that
we were given by the planning commission proof of mailing to those addresses our application for
appeal that we filed on behalf of our client along with the notice of refusal and the project
information form our deed to the property showing that elite electric aa inc is the owner of the
property and then our certificate of tax clearance i'm going to unshare my screen right now we can
always go back to it if you have any questions and like i said i have the architect's representative
chris johnson of 24 7 design but before he gets on if if necessary i have gaziata seven to my left
Sir, could you please, is your mic on?
I think so, yes.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
My name is Ghazi, G-A-Z-I.
The last name is Ataseven, A-T-A-S-E-V-E-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, Cal.
Please proceed, counsel.
Dazi, you heard everything I had to state today about your zoning matter.
Yes, I heard that.
Is it true and correct?
Yes, absolutely.
And do you adopt this in your own testimony?
Thank you.
Questions from the board.
What's happening in the basement?
What's happening in the basement?
It's just an open floor plan down there.
Is it living space?
Is it habitable space?
It is living space.
there's a window well in the rear um it was at i believe has been asked of us previously in the
brewery town strawberry mansion area not to have the window well in the front so from an aesthetics
point of view we we i always recommend to my clients not to have that in the front so but
we do have one in the rear not on the plan um let me see i don't plan that you showed
it shows like a double window
but it doesn't show
it doesn't show a well
are you that far above
we go six feet into the ground
the basement below
the basement is six feet
into the ground
and then it goes above
another three feet
out of the ground
so you need a you need a well you don't yeah let me see what the revised plans have
maybe we maybe we did not update also just a note the revised plans did not show open
floor plan in the basement it showed it having rooms um well those are the original so there
were two sets of documents um so i can just tell you that the revised plans that are in front of
me all we have is the site plan and the revised plans so this is the site plan um i would defer
to chris johnson of 24 7 design if if he's online do we see him they've been promoted to
panelists mr chair and they will be in shortly thank you you're welcome
good afternoon everyone how are you why could you please state your name and spell for
a stenographer? Christopher Johnson, C-H-R-I-S-T-O-P-H-E-R, Johnson.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, told truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes. Could you put your video on, please?
Sorry, I'm literally just coming in from a site visit.
Okay, good. Did you hear the questions?
Can you repeat it, please?
Michael?
The question that I had was, what's happening in the basement and what's the depth below?
I think I got the answer for the depth below gray for the basement, but what's happening in the basement?
The basement was just being used for storage and utility storage and also wash and dryer.
So is there an egress well?
Because there's no egress well showed on the plan that I see.
well we were going to originally just it was going to be non-habitable meaning just
being used for washer and dryer um we were just going to be below grade with a ceiling height of
six foot eight um but if if it wants to be habitable we can definitely put an egress
well in the rear of the building it's an issue in terms of the that depth below grade and whether or
not it it makes sense to be habitable but okay you answered the question thank you yeah so chris um
Is there any other alternatives other than a window well that you would recommend if we want to make the space habitable?
Yes, we can put a walkout, a walkout, egress way.
So is the intention for the basement, so I'm hearing two things.
So is the intention for the basement to be habitable or is the intention not for the basement to be habitable?
so again i my understanding from the client is that it was an extra space for the you know the
occupant of unit number one you know just in terms of an office or just storage
so if if if the board wants like i guess what when what chris is saying what was this potential
solution? An egress walkout. An egress
walkout. That's something that, Chris, you can update
the site plan for. Is that correct? Correct.
Where's the HVAC unit for the
second floor unit? I'm assuming that
you've got the HVAC and hot water in the basement for the first floor unit.
Alan, can you go back to the floor plan, Alan?
And I say the third floor has a.
And I see the third floor has a, I don't see anything on the second.