it's separate from the house
and then I'll
use the basement as my
office. The first floor
of the house is the living room
that would be shared
with whoever might be accommodated
You want to rent one to a college student
and then when they're not there
you'll use the other room as
rental, short term rental
which is this room i'm sorry this is the court reporter i am missing parts of the testimony
okay so try to speak up because you're outside and it's hard to get your voice so speak a little
louder all right so why don't we go back to this one more time so you're renting to a college
student when he goes on break or holiday you want to rent the other room as a visitor accommodation
correct okay questions from the board
are there any other visitor accommodations in your on your block or in your vicinity
from what i can tell on the block there are not uh they're on the corner of the block of burt
and leithgow there is a building that has three apartments pretty much the same size as my house
but that's the only one that might be deemed as multifamily
or accommodating more than one family
so for the most part they're all single family homes on that
block. And is there a reason that you're choosing to do
one as a sort of one room rental versus
both of them as a one room rental?
Human behavior. I'm not trying to manage two college students behaviors
years got it uh that's and then have you ever had any experience doing short-term rentals
yes i own a home in johannesburg and that is airbnb when i'm not in johannesburg
and yeah so i've done that one as an airbnb i've also spaced out in a home that i owned
in baltimore about 10 years ago with a tenant living in the space that i was in that home as
with a tenant living in a space that I was in at home as well.
And then what, so what's your sort of management plan for the whole structure, I guess?
I mean, how to receive payments for it?
No, I mean, that would obviously have to go through one of the short-term rental websites.
I'm thinking more so you've now got two different types of tenants.
How are you thinking that you're going to handle cleaning, turning over the units, et cetera?
So I'm there. When I'm not there, I would hire someone
to do the planning. But that's only for when
the college student is not in town.
So the short-term rental would only happen when the college student was not in the
unit. Correct. To keep a continuum of some
type of flow of income. Aren't there two separate
rooms? Two separate rooms?
Second. One room would always sort of be empty.
Correct.
Other questions from the board?
Yes. Do we have pictures of how this is all going to work here?
These are just rooms you're renting here.
What about bathroom facilities?
What about use of the common areas?
What are we doing about that?
And so the second floor has its own bathroom.
I'm sorry.
The second floor has one bathroom.
I'm sorry.
So the two single room residences, in effect, would be sharing a bathroom?
I can start over if it helps.
so there's one room which is here right now on the screen okay that would be rented out to a
college student preferably temple university say some of them so let it walk away when they go on
their winter breaks which is typically december to about february this second room here which is
on the screen now
would serve as an Airbnb
unit. So there's no overlap
of anyone staying in
either of those two rooms.
Okay. And then
where are you staying? You said
you were on the third floor?
Third floor.
Sort of cut off as a
suite. It has its own
bathroom.
Bedroom, of course.
A wet bar nobel.
And that's basically
It's probably the largest bathroom in the house.
And in terms of the common area, you asked about that, too.
The kitchen would be shared as well as the living room.
So that whole first floor is available to the whole house.
And do we have pictures of that?
I can submit those.
The house was built in 2020.
If that means anything, all of these things are within rank.
So no pictures of the kitchen.
Other questions.
Thank you.
Other questions from the board.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson.
Just a couple of things.
One, the refusal, because this is an RSA 5 property, it's missing a refusal for proposing multiple principal uses on a lot.
But I'm a little bit confused as to why, if you live at the property, if this is your residence, why you're seeking a visitor accommodations use and not limited lodging.
because limited lodging is allowing someone to live in your home on a short-term, you know,
rental basis when you are at your primary residence, when you're at the property. So
that's visitor accommodations is if you're not at the property. So I'm just a little bit confused
why you're seeking visitor accommodations. There may be times when I'm not there because I do own
two homes, one in Johannesburg. So if I am
renting out the Airbnb and I'm not on the site
for that particular rental, that's a possibility.
Trying to get close to the mic again, Mr. Smart.
How much of the year are you living
in this property generally?
more than seven months but sometimes if i do
More than seven months, but sometimes if I do go over to Hannesburg, it could go up to two months. It just depends. That's not something that's fixed. So it depends. It just depends.
All right. Thank you.
Questions or comments from the audience or the virtual audience?
I see no hands.
Planning commission.
thank you chairman and good morning david effecto f-e-c-t-e-a-u with the city planning commission
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes sir i do uh thank you sir uh chairman and board members the comprehensive plan recommends
no change to the rsa5 residential single family zoning at this location the city rezoned norris
square in 2017 in a community requested process the current home was built as a single family
dwelling in 2020 there is no unique physical condition or circumstance of this property that
would prevent it from being used in strict conformity with the zoning code the city planning
commission recommends that the board deny the proposed use variances for visitor accommodation
a single room residence and multiple principal uses thank you uh mr smart i'm going to hold the
vote on this until next Wednesday morning. We're going to vote at 9.30 a.m. on Wednesday, and you
can listen in and see what the results are, but that'll be next Wednesday at 9.30 a.m., and thank
you for your testimony, sir. Number seven, MI 2024-004-415-5338 Walnut Street. George Gossett,
jr. is the attorney there's a letter of support from the west philadelphia economic development
council
do we have proof of posting
I don't know if we
received that
yes before we proceed
we do need proof of posting
yes can you hear me
could you please state your name
George Gossett Jr
G-O-S-S-E-T-T
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the truth
Mr. Gossett, do you have proof of posting?
I don't know that we didn't have it as of yesterday.
Because I think the one that we received was an old proof of posting.
We don't have one for today's hearing.
Let me check that.
Can I have a moment to step back and check and reconvene?
Hillary, is it okay if they check and then we'll bring them back?
What we'll do is we'll bring you back shortly.
Okay, very good.
Thank you.
number 10 mi 2024 006 179 5821 haverford avenue joseph consul is the attorney
this is a recommendation of support from hmc squared the rco
good morning good morning mr counsel could you please state your name and spell for the
stenographer yeah it's joseph console j-o-s-e-p-h last name console c-o-n-s-o-l-e
do you swear referring to tell the truth told truth and nothing but the truth
i do mr counsel could you identify your client their relationship to the property
Yeah, my client is Mr. Leon Oakley, and he is the owner of Oakley's L&K Auto Sales and Leon's Auto Tags, the tenant at the property.
Okay, thank you. Our vice chair has a few other questions.
Good morning, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to his accuracy?
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that's needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Thank you, counsel. Please proceed.
All right, so I've got the refusal up for 582 on Haverford Avenue. Mr. Leon Oakley runs Leon Oakley's AutoTags, and he's seeking approval to use this corner property as office business and professional, so an AutoTags location, not any kind of auto work, auto body, nothing like that. It's a professional office.
any kind of auto work auto body nothing like that it's a professional office uh on the corner
here this property at 5821 if you search through the zoning code has had many different um
i guess you call it cmx2 uses so living space on the second floor with various types of
businesses on the first floor there was a plumbing and heating place a water ice place and if you go
further back through the record, you'll see several other instances of different commercial
and office type uses on this first floor. So as you can see, that's what it looks like on the
outside. He started the lease in November and is now finally getting in front of you guys to
get this legalized. Some photos of the interior. As you can see, it's a place to
go in, get your autotags.
There it is from the outside.
We submitted the lease between the parties. The $0 tax balance will update
that with the tax clearance certificate when it's available.
It's the old lease, never mind. He had submitted a letter to the
neighbors prior to the RCO meeting.
But the RCO meeting went really well. Everyone was in support,
minus one committee member who abstained. And finally, we have
our photos of the posters that were taken time stamped by
my client.
it. So long and short of it is, we believe this is appropriate with the consistent uses in the
space. It doesn't pose any additional risk, despite it being zoned RSA 5. There's no evidence
that it was ever a single family home. And therefore, we ask for the board's approval
to use it as an office business and professional space. Mr. Counsel, your client is here sitting
or our table here,
could you, I'll
bring him on, and could you have
your testimony adopted? Yes.
Right.
Turn on the microphone.
Push that button, please.
And try to get a little closer to the mic,
if you would. The mic will come down to you.
Sir, could you please state your name and spell