rates are now, I believe, 9% on single-family homes. Having a triplex with multiple bedrooms
is going to be allowing, I think we're looking at about $1,200 for rent for the units. In a time
And in a time where, you know, rents are just going up, we want to offer affordable housing in an area that supports it. And my client is actually working with the Ukrainian Church of Philadelphia to house refugees.
where rents are just going up, we want to be real.
So he's already met with them numerous times, and that if this is approved and when this is built, that they will – that will be the first call to see if there is a housing need for any Ukrainian refugees.
And with that, that concludes the presentation.
Counsel, let me ask you a question.
Are there any other multiple units on the block?
There are.
There is a – there is.
So it's a lot of – the area is RSA-5, and then there's CMX-1.
So 23, 23rd in Cambria, there was a conversion from a CMX one to a to a triplex.
Thank you. You want to bring your client on? Sure. Josh, could you?
Josh has been allowed to speak.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Hi, my name is Josh Kravitz. That's J-O-S-H-K-R-A-V-E-T-S.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, counsel.
Mr. Kravitz, you heard the testimony I just elicited?
Do you agree to adopt that testimony?
Is there anything else you want to add to the testimony for the board's consideration today?
Just the fact that I've spent numerous days walking through the neighborhood.
I've talked to countless neighbors.
I've tried to knock on every door.
The amount of people that are in support of what we're trying to do here is great.
I tried to get everybody's signature.
They provided phone numbers for contact.
It was overwhelming, the type of feedback I got.
That's basically it.
And can you also just, because I had mentioned your relationship with the Ukrainian Church of Philadelphia, you could just touch on that.
So I have a pretty close relationship with the head pastor of a Ukrainian church based in northeast Philadelphia.
they have um he has a lot of ukrainian families coming in that are uh have nowhere to go right
now um we've we've been able to house them in previous projects that includes uh projects
at 16th and style street 7th and diamond street um uh gerard and 18th these were all multi-family
projects that allowed these families who do not have the means to, you know, obviously
buy a huge new construction house or move into a new construction house, these were
a lot, it basically gave them the opportunity to move into something practical for what
they need.
You done, counsel?
Yes, Mr. Chair.
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
no mr chairman um questions or comments from our council hillary emerson
not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
yes chair i have jennifer bazit low with her hand up i will allow her to speak
hi uh this is jennifer bazidlo b-a-z-y-d-l-o um i just i'm an attorney um and i just hold on do
you swear or firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do proceed uh just
as a point of clarification the permit uh the variance that was granted for 2301 cambria
Street. I represented a neighbor, a near neighbor, in appealing that decision, and the Common Pleas
Court has overturned the granting of that variance. Thank you for your input. Thank you.
Thanks for the information. Mr. Sherrod, this is Hillary. I want to add to that. I was just
advised that that case has subsequently been appealed to Commonwealth Court, so it is still
litigation. Correct. All right. Thank both of you. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
Yes, I have a person by the name of Dominic. I will allow him to speak. Okay. Good morning. Could
Good morning. Could you state your name, please, as spelled for the court stenographer?
you state your name, please, and spell for the court sonographer? My name is
My name is Dominic Chacon, C-H-A-C-O-N.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
Please proceed.
I am a neighbor of this property. I was actually approached by Josh on Monday, so I will say he did go in the neighborhood. Kudos to him.
um we fought very hard to make everything rsa5 in this neighborhood we're still fighting for that
uh we have 900 units or more coming up like four blocks away uh this isn't needed and we really
need affordable single family homes that's really what i have to say uh i know he said that there
was interest in this um i'd be interested to know how many people were against it uh the zoning board
the SPO, or sorry, SOPA, SOPO, was very late notice. I got it on the 2nd. The meeting was
on the 11th. It just wasn't enough time. Thanks for listening. Thank you for your input. Anyone
else in the virtual audience? There are no more hands, Chair. Planning Commission. Thank you,
Chair Bergman and members of the board. Good morning, David Fecto with the City Planning
Commission. The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential single-family zoning at
this location. The zoning on this block dates to 1973. During a 2017 zoning map change,
the single-family zoning on this block was left unchanged. There is no unique physical condition
or circumstance of this lot that would prevent it from being used in conformance with the zoning
code. The City Planning Commission recommends the board deny the proposed use variance for three
dwelling units. Thank you. MI 2023-001-806-2915 Tulip Street, I vote no. Thomas Holliman,
my vote is no. James Snell, my vote is no. Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is no. Thank you,
counsel. Thank you, Everson. We're going to go back to the beginning of the list here. Number
1. MI 2023-001-870-5617 Market Street. Henry Clinton is the attorney. Letter of support from
Achievability. Mr. Clinton has been promoted. Good morning, Mr. Clinton. Could you just state
your name please and spell for the court stenographer sir good morning mr chairman yes
henry clinton h-e-n-r-y clinton c-l-i-n-t-o-n right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth nothing but the truth i do our vice chair has just a few questions for you sir
good afternoon counsel do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his
accuracy i don't have you know then all the required documents that is needed to require
yes except for the letter of support from the community that came in uh prior to the five days
so everything else is is in thank you mr planton please proceed thank you mr chief
can you see my screen mr chairman the
no henry we have a bunch of the emails we're saying here it is now it's up now all right
thank you uh good morning mr chairman members of the board henry clinton on behalf of uh the two
owners of the property i'll spell their names for you marzina m-a-r-z-e-n-a urbaniak u-r-b-a-n-i-a-k
and Wojtek, V-O-Y-T-E-C, Splato, S-P-A-L-D-O.
And also Brian Murphy may be on the call
because I understand that Wojtek and his wife
are at the doctor's for some unknown reason
I found out this morning,
but Brian Murphy is also on the call.
So this is my table of contents
containing exhibits A1 through A11,
which I ask to be admitted into evidence.
It contains a typical document you would see
in a presentation such as this. The refusal has to do with the use, Mr. Chairman. This property
is in the shadow of the L at 5600 block of Market Street. I was before the board in 2018
on the exact same project with the exact same refusal, but as a result of the pandemic and
rising material costs and labor costs, my client did not get a chance to start the project.
Therefore, his zoning permit after three years lapsed.
So we're back in front of the board basically asking for the same thing that the board
So we're back in front of the board, basically asking for the same thing that the board approved four years ago, except we have a better, in my opinion, a better rendering for the front and side of the building.
And I think you'll see from the letter of the community group, they agree with that.
So basically, this is a use issue.
It's an RM1 zoning district.
And we're asking for commercial on the first floor.
The reason being, as the chairman may recall, in 2010, the L was finally finished after a 10-year project.
During that 10-year period, businesses were decimated on Market Street below and underneath the L, and the community wants to see if they can reinvigorate that commercial use.
And so my client is stepping in and suggesting commercial use on the first floor with three dwelling units above.
That's the background.
This is the Achievability's letter, and as you can see, that we did make extra efforts to design a structure closely aligned with the culture and design of other properties in the area.
Achievability is attempting to revitalize the commercial district in West Philly, and that's one of the main reasons they were supporting this project.
And the letter speaks for itself.
This is what the area used to look like about three years ago, four years ago, at the first time around, a dilapidated house next door.
This is my client's lot to the left.
People were dumping trash and debris in the front of both properties.
Since that time, the property next door has been completely renovated.
It's now a duplex.
The lot's cleaned up.
And in the background, there's a building.
This is 5619 Market Street.
This building is a four-family dwelling.
So we're going to be situated in between a four-family and a duplex.
Again, just some more photographs of the board for perspective.
And here's the L, obviously running east-west on Market Street.
My client's vacant lot is right here where my cursor is.
Again, some more photographs showing the posting of the notices.
Our plans are rather straightforward.
In the basement and first floor, that would be commercial.
We have a handicapped bathroom.
There's access to the rear yard for trash.
On the second floor will be a one-bedroom.
On the third and fourth floors, this is a bi-level.
Third and fourth floor rear will be one unit.
Third and fourth floor front will be another unit.
Each unit will have two bedrooms.
And then each unit, the reason this was done by the architect,
I think, rather smartly, was so that each occupant on the second, excuse me, on the third and fourth floor would have access to a rooftop deck.
So they would have some open space, as would the second floor unit getting out to the rear yard.
This is the elevation.
Again, really a lot of nice detail by the architect.
Limestone at the bottom, all brick facade.
protruding bays with pilasters, some nice cornice work at the top, the same thing on the front of
the building. It really does have a nice stately look. So in that sense, the project is new and
improved, to use an iconic phrase, because when we presented the project back in 2018,
this is what the project looked like. It wasn't as much detail as there is now,
and the project wasn't as rich as it is now.
This is the zoning use permit that the board granted back in November of 2018
for the same thing that we're asking the board to, again, grant a variance.
Today, three dwellings with personal services or business offices
on the first floor, basically, of commercial use.
And this was a notice of decision.
I was the attorney back then, and I had the same client, the same architect.
that. This is the refusal from 2018, basically the same verbiage as today. And then I just
wanted to show the board that the remaining documents are the pro forma documents, the
application for the appeal are indicating that there are no real estate taxes owed with
regard to the property. This is the deed concerning ownership, a notice letter to everyone,
and the RCO meeting. They also pamphleted the area. And then the zoning records. I mentioned
that across the street at 5619 was a four-family dwelling. This is proof that in fact there is a
four-family dwelling there. Mr. Chairman, this request is basically what it was three years ago.
Nothing has changed. The neighborhood is slowly increasing in viability, as you can see from the house next door that was completely renovated.
that was completely renovated we're not going to impact any uh developments later air uh we're in
We're not going to impact any developments later here.
harmony with the plans for the neighborhood or market street and we're in harmony generally
with the code so with that mr chairman i'd like to rest and uh i can have my client adopt my
testimony please have your client come on okay uh voytech are you there were you able to get
back from the hospital and if not brian murphy are you on the call can you raise your hand
your virtual hand
Mr. Murphy
I don't see any hands raised
how about
I'm sorry I do see Brian Murphy
his hand is not raised
Mr. Murphy can you raise your hand
could you state your name
and spell please for the court stenographer
Brian Murphy, B-R-I-A-N-M-U-R-P-H-Y.
Do you swear if we're going to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Proceed, counsel.
Thank you, Mr. Murphy.
Mr. Murphy, you were on the call when I presented the Voightech's project.
And you're here on behalf of Voightech because he and his wife were both at the doctor's, correct?
And if you had the opportunity to testify on Voightech's behalf, would you adopt my testimony as your own and as true and correct?
Thank you, Mr. Murphy.
Questions from the board?