good afternoon council do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its
accuracy yes sir yes sir have you emailed in all the required documents that are needed to proceed
with this case five days in advance of this hearing uh sir i uh sir i submitted them yes
but okay you've received everything so far uh so please proceed and share your screen
all right is did i do that correctly i i think i might my screen should be shared now it is
So, as I said, I'm Christopher Brown. In 2015, this applicant was approved with a proviso for a temporary use permit to allow for group living at 4030 Spruce Street, specifically a fraternity with a maximum of 12 residents.
The proviso was three years. So in 2018, at the expiration, we were again approved, this time with a proviso of five years, which would have expired August 1st, 2023.
In approximately April, Dan O'Sullivan began attempting to further extend the permit, and we were first in touch with Spruce Hill Community Association, the RCO in this case, the main one, who by a letter agreement of May 1st, 2023, agreed to continue to support this use.
Then on May 31st, 2023, we were issued a notice of referral, and we filed this appeal on June 6th, 2023.
The Spruce Hill Community Association, and that's referencing the screen you're looking at right now,
after meeting with us and inspecting the house further, issued a letter.
After meeting with with us and inspecting the house further issued a letter on September dated September 27th, 2023, continuing their support of this this use.
So we're we're here today hoping for an extension for another five years.
and now i'm sharing my screen um this is part of the uh application that was submitted and it's
part of the exhibits um several pages in this is the letter agreement um from may 1st between
the spruce hill community association and pkb 17 llc's members um agreeing to allow them
to continue with the use as a group living
fraternity house.
And these are photos of the premises.
And we also sent notice to all the neighbors
participated in the community meeting that led to
the letter of the 27th. We posted photos of the zoning board poster. And with that, I have Dan
O'Sullivan here. If he could raise his virtual hand, hopefully he can do that. I would like to
have him sworn in to testify to what I just said.
dan o'sullivan is allowed to speak
sullivan could you state your name and spell please for the court stenographer
yeah my name is dan o'sullivan d-a-n first name last name is o'sullivan o apostrophe
s-u-l-l-i-v-a-n do you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
Proceed, counsel.
Mr. O'Sullivan, did you hear everything I just said on the record here?
I did.
Okay, Chris.
Is everything true to the best of your knowledge, information, and belief that I said?
It is.
And would you adopt my testimony as your own?
I would.
With that, I have no further questions.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
no chair no chair questions from our attorney hillary emerson um yes mr chair um mr brown
do you know why the refusal says group living as opposed to a single room residence which it sounds
like this is um my best guess is that it has to do with how things were worded in the 2018 and 2015
decisions. I asked because it I mean correct me if I'm wrong but given the fraternity use that
sounds like a single room residence which actually requires a variance as opposed to a special
exception in the RTA1 zoning district. So I think the refusal may be incorrect and it may have been
incorrect for a while um the the the notice we received most recently that i submitted was
actually a notice of referral i don't know if that's right that's a special exception but
special exception so the general category has a special exception um in the rt1 zoning district
as well as a personal care home but if this is a single room residence it would need a variance
which you still need to come before the zoning board but it just means that the the information
listed on the refusal may be incorrect oh i i i see um well i accept your explanation um counselor
so so what we may need to do have an amended refusal yeah we may need to just send the
refusal back to l and i and have it corrected so that it accurately reflects the the use and
the relief um that's being sought in this case um we can get that done pretty quickly because i
understand there is a pending agreement of sale um well yeah yes yeah and we we have until november
30th to get this relief so we can yeah we can we can easily have that resolved well before then
so but i think we need to have it yeah we'll have it we'll have it corrected um i will i will reach
out to to lmi um and then the board once we get it the board will vote on it and everything else
will be closed um but we'll continue with we continue uh mr chair with public testimony and
planning um is there anyone in the uh virtual audience or comments
yes chair i have a person with just an issues ob
Yes, Chair, I have a person with just initials OB.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Hello?
Please unmute yourself.
Can you hear me?
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Yes, sir, I can.
Thank you.
My name is Olivia Bullock, O-L-I-V-I-A, Bullock, B-U-L-L-O-C-K.
Right. Do you swear for them to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed.
So I am not in support of the extension of the zoning for a fraternity house.
I live adjacent to the property, and I have had in the past, since school opened up in September, there have been three instances where public safety has had to be called on the house because of underage drinking and disturbing of the peace at that house.
I have heard them at 2 o'clock in the morning on weekdays screaming obscenities outside my window, screaming disgusting, vulgar, sexually explicit things.
And I can't say that I am in support of it continuing to be a fraternity because I don't think that these issues would be resolved if that were the case.
I have contacted UPenn about it, and obviously, having had to call the Penn Public Safety three times, that doesn't seem to be doing anything.
So just for the record, I don't think that this should continue to be a fraternity.
Thank you for taking your time. Mr. Brown, do you have any questions?
Are you aware of the prior zoning approvals before the temporary permit was granted back in 2015?
Insofar as you've just stated in your testimony, yes.
So are you familiar with the 1950 zoning approval?
I don't believe so, no.
Okay. In 1950, the prior zoning granted two housekeeping units and three non-housekeeping units. When this relief was sought originally in 2015, it was done in contemplation of the fact that if they couldn't do it for a fraternity that has to abide by certain organizational rules,
It would be used for multiple apartment rentals. And the overwhelming opinion of the expressed to us from the community association was that, you know, they prefer an organized group that could be gone after and be on a lease, as opposed to three to five separate groups that would more than likely be college age students anyway.
that was the logic that went into that um and that was the reason for my question um thank you
ma'am i don't have any further questions thank you for calling in we appreciate your input
planning is there anyone else in the virtual audience no more hands chair planning commission
planning commission is going to wait on the updated refusal okay that's fine okay we'll look
for the updated so then mr chair we'll need to have a resumption hearing yeah okay on that so
So we will get the refusal done quickly
and have that scheduled next month
so that we can meet the deadline
with the pending agreement of sale.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Number eight, MI 2023-003-470-1214 South 31st Street.
Henry Clinton is the attorney.
There was a meeting held
by the Grace Ferry Community Residence Association
but i don't believe we have the letter
mr chair this is hillary in that case um just today um mr clinton forwarded a letter of support
from the tasker morris neighborhood association um okay maybe he can he can explain why they
they sent a letter because i didn't have them indicated as one of the rcos um but yes he did
forward a letter of support. Mr. Clinton. Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman. Henry, you've already
been sworn. Could you just state your name for the record? Sure. Henry Clinton, H-E-N-R-Y,
Clinton, C-L-I-N-T-O-N. Right. And could you identify your client and relationship to the
property? Sure. My client is 1722 Master Street, LLC. And the sole member of that is Brian McKiernan,
V-R-I-A-N, McKernan, capital M-C, capital K-E-R-N-A-N, and Mr. McKernan is on the call.
Could you address Hillary's point?
Yes. In the Grace Ferry neighborhood, there's actually four RCOs and Tashka Morris, as far as I was under the impression, were the designated RCO.
In the Grace Ferry neighborhood, there's actually four RCOs.
And we met with them. The president of Grace Ferry Community Council, Carmine Zouli, was at that meeting, as I think was Mika Outlaw, the president of RUDE.
so and and also representatives of thrive so i went to who i thought was a designated representative
uh and we had our full meeting and everybody there was a unanimous support our vice chair
has a few questions for you yeah i just want just briefly chime in on that so i i was just confused
because i had looked at um the letter that you sent to the neighbors and i believe it listed
Grays Ferry and Rode as the coordinating RCOs. So that's why I was confused when I saw the letter
from Tasker Morris. No, I agree, Hillary, because what ends up happening is whatever particular
part of Grays Ferry the property is in, sometimes the other groups defer to that individual. So
Mr. Reeves is the president of Tasker Morris, and 31st Street is in his bailiwick. So that's
the way it ended up happening. Got it. Thank you.
So, okay, I think we're good. So council, do you agree to read another refusal and stipulate to
its accuracy? I do. Have you emailed in all the required documents that is needed to proceed with
this case five days in advance of this hearing? Yes, except for the letter we just discussed,
which just came in today. Yep. Please proceed and share your screen. Thanks, Mr. Sheed.
Is that visible, Mr. Chairman?
It is.
Mr. Chairman, is that visible?
It is. It is.
All right, great.
So good afternoon again, Mr. Chairman and members of the board.
Henry Clinton on behalf of 1722 Master LLC and Brian McKernon, who is on the call.
This is a table of contents. This is a request for a two-family dwelling on a vacant lot that
has been vacant at least 20 years, according to my review of the Atlas records and also aerial
views, and possibly been vacant for 30 years. My table of contents contains exhibits A1 through
A11, which I ask to be admitted into evidence, and I'll walk through the presentation
step by step. So this is an RSA 85 zoning district. As I will show the board,
there are other multifamily on the block. There's commercial on the block and directly across the
street is a former supermarket, which is now a GoPuff delivery site. And if the board is familiar
with GoPuff. They basically will deliver food, non-alcoholic beverages, treats, chips, potato
chips, typically on weekend evenings, late at night from 11 a.m. all through the evening. So
it's a very busy site late at night. We do have an RCO letter from Tasker Marsh Neighborhood
Association. Mr. Charles Reeves is the president. He was in the hospital last week, and I think that
was the delay Ms. Emerson and the board on getting the letter in, and it was a unanimous
support at the meeting, and I can explain why they supported it as I moved through the
presentation.
This is the current vacant lot.
Behind it is a large new storage facility that's being built on Grace Ferry Avenue.
This property is on the block between Grace Ferry and Wharton Street.
another photograph of the lot there's also a vacant lot next to our to my client's lot
which during the presentation ironically some of the neighbors on the block asked Mr. McKiernan
could he buy the lot next door and build on that also he has tried but we cannot locate the neighbor
excuse me the owner but this is an aerial view looking west okay so the the storage facility
is being built behind the properties on 31st Street to the east. This is the GoPuff facility,
a former supermarket purchased by Aldi. Aldi closed it down. It was vacant for a number of
years, and now it's a GoPuff site. Again, that's a delivery site. There's a two-family existing
dwelling right here, three-story property, and there's a three-family dwelling in this three-story
property down closer to Wharton Street. At the far right
is a commercial establishment, food, candy,
food, candy, sandwiches, and there's parking in front of that building. And my cursor is now
sandwiches, and there's parking in the
showing you Grace Ferry Avenue. If you continue it west on Grace Ferry Avenue, you get to that
large intersection at 34th and Grace Ferry, where the Pennovation Center is. Also on Grace Ferry
Avenue, it's a heavily traveled road, and it's also a major, major thoroughfare for mass transit.
And that was one of the comments that we got at the community meeting, that a two-family dwelling here would be good for, you know, a couple, maybe an individual who maybe works in Center City or needs a transit that's readily accessible here on Grace Ferry Avenue.
Better shot of Grace Ferry Avenue here leading west and east.
And here's the lot where the arrow is.
Again, just some more perspective shots.
you can see directly across the street. There are no homes. That's the landscaping for the GoPuff
facility. The plans are pretty straightforward. Again, Grace Ferry desires and wants all brick
facades, typically. Mr. McKiernan's office is in the neighborhood at 26th Street,
and he has basically mirrored what he's done with his building, which is all brick,
cobbled brick at the cornish line of the house next door. So it's kind of a carryover.
So there's a little bit of a transition between the two-story house and the three-story house
that Mr. McCarron intends to build. This is a cutaway view. You can see in the rear of the
property, there's a small, excuse me, a small deck for some outdoor space for the resident
on the second floor. Floor plan is pretty basic. Basement of first floor will be apartment one.
Second floor and third floor will be apartment two.
Apartment one has access to the rear ER for open space.
Second and third floor have access, which is one unit, have access to the rooftop deck for open space.
This is the appeal forms that you would typically see.
Again, Mr. Chairman, in a presentation such as this, tax certification, zoning map.
You can see that we're surrounded by ICMX, CMX2 across the way.
And this is really just a sliver of residential along with some residential on Titan Street.
The deed indicating ownership.
Our notice letter to everyone in the community, we sent out 40 pieces of mail because there's really not that many residential in the area.
Mr. Reeves asked us after our pre-meeting, because Tasker Morris and the other RCOs in Grace Ferry typically have two meetings, an initial meeting, then a community meeting.
At the initial meeting, he asked us to send mailers to the residents on the 30-hundred block of Titan Street, which is just down the block, which we did.
These are zoning records, as I said at the outset, 1224 South 31st Street, just a few doors away.
It's an existing two-family. It's been in existence since 2015.
It was actually a three-family dwelling, and they downsize it to two-family.
And then this is further down the block at 1246.
That was the three-family dwelling I showed the board from that aerial photograph.