understand the constraints that are created by the structural wall? Sure. So as best we can tell,
this was originally two separate buildings, and you can see a masonry wall that runs through the
center of the building. So at some point in the past, these two buildings were joined.
On the right side of the first floor, you'll see there's a one-car garage. On the left side is a
living space that living space is pretty small it has high windows so it's fairly and they face
north so it's fairly dark and it's separated from well it's the only living space there is so
uh from well it's the only living space there is so when you go up the stairs you'll see that on
when you go up the stairs
the other two existing floors the second and third floor where we're not proposing any additional work
because of that wall being there we're left with sort of 25 percent of the plan being sort of useless
it's it's basically a big hallway there's a stair there there's a door into the bathroom there's a
door into the one bedroom there's a door into the other bedroom and there's another stair so it's
just, there's nothing you can do in there, but put a nice table with a statue on it in the center of
the space and try not to knock it over. Similarly on the third floor, it's a similar setup. You get
to the top and there isn't really much you can do in that remaining space because you have to pass
through it to get to the bedroom and you have to, you know, get to the stair. So it's not very useful
space. So, the goal of the project was to provide a decent-sized living space to take advantage of
the fact that the footprint of the building isn't super tiny by Philadelphia standards.
So, we're just proposing a living room, a sink and counter space, a powder room, a little bit
of storage, and then a door out onto the front roof deck, which is mostly there just to get us
up to the main roof deck above and that follows the footprint of the addition up there um minus
our you know we're going to be now setting what's not shown in these plans is that we're going to
be setting the railing back five feet on the street face so that we the deck's going to be
a little smaller than than what's shown there right and this is this is the uh revised plans
at tab seven and and this and this is this shows that what the current condition of the property
right this is the current condition of the property um and this is the uh proposed um
renovations um without without the without the deck uh pulled back
correct yes yeah and we're proposing glass railings up there to minimize the visibility
of them anyway but once they're pulled back five more feet i think you're going to see
just maybe a little bit at the top of them and not much more and this and what is this view again
so this view is from a neighbor's roof deck and you can see where we're pointing to our building
And you can see that frame, the metal steel frame poking up above the top of the roof.
And that's where that awning will be mounted.
So you can still see right through it from this other deck and from presumably other decks nearby.
And then, Ian, we're going to turn to tab nine in the exhibit.
Can you talk a little bit about the height of this building proposed in relation to other buildings in the neighborhood?
So we're the blue square in the center, and so what I did was try to find zoning permits nearby.
So any number, so for example, to the northwest of us that just has a straight dimension, this 42 feet 6 inches, that's the approved height of that development there.
Most of the other numbers on here I had to estimate by counting bricks.
It was a long afternoon. So these numbers are all estimates. I'm doing my best, but suffice it to say that there are plenty of buildings nearby that exceed the existing height limit of 38 feet, including two very tall buildings just to the west of us, one very tall building on this same block, and then some taller buildings to the south on South Street.
i also uh took a look and tried to count up how many roof decks there are within the bounds of
this map um and i counted uh between roof decks and and rear decks on some of these smaller streets
a lot of the houses have rear decks as well there's 181 decks within the boundaries of this
map that's in front of you so again a roof deck is not out of place here either thank you and
again in relation and we're focusing on the height you know the request that we're making
the modified request is a 43 foot height as opposed to 38 and again it seems commensurate
with many of the heights of the buildings in the vicinity do you agree yes i agree
and then at exhibit exhibit 10 this is an exhibit again correct me if i'm wrong of
all of the locations of the properties of neighbors who signed the signature sheet in
support of or not opposing the application, correct? Yes, that's correct. And I think you
Yes, that's correct. And I think you have that list somewhere in here as well.
have that list somewhere in here as well.
It's a supplemental exhibit. But yeah, so again, this is the cursors on our property and these are all the neighbors.
Again, the Penn Medicine and all these other grade out properties who support the application.
um and then um again going back to the constraints of the property in terms of livable space
can you discuss the you know the um whether there is uh any functional basement space or
and the cost of if there's not the cost of trying to create one to create living space by going down
we know we can't reorient the entire interior of the space can we go down or is the only
alternative to go up uh so there's a partial low basement under the the original corner building
the building uh next to that the southern half of this property is a slab on grave garage so there's
not basement space underneath it um technically it is possible to carve out a deeper basement
to do the underpinning work to gain basement space.
But because the first floor is so close to the ground,
the basement will be more or less completely below grade.
So we're talking about excavating on the crawl space side,
probably another five or six feet.
And on the garage side, maybe 10 feet of underpinning,
which would, in a confined space, be extremely expensive
and potentially hazardous to the neighboring buildings to be underpinning at that depth.
Also disruptive to traffic with all the equipment that would be needed to haul the dirt away.
So yes, we could make a livable space in the basement, but it would be just barely livable,
and it would be probably at least as expensive as building an addition, if not more expensive,
and pose some risk to the neighboring buildings,
which would not be posed by building above the existing building.
Thank you.
Is your client here?
He is.
Why don't we adopt your testimony?
Sure. Harry, can you raise your hand, please?
Hi, could you state your name?
sorry i apparently was muted yes hi could you state your name and spell for the court reporter
please harry madonna h-a-r-r-y last name m-a-d-o-n-n-a do you swear or affirm to tell the
truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes i do harry harry were you were you present for
uh all of the testimony that uh both ian and myself are presented today in this virtual hearing
yes and uh would you agree that it was true and accurate yes i would and would you adopt that as
your own testimony yes and and here just just for the um for the board's edification i know
were there any other um uh neighbors who uh wanted to speak today but were unable to you know hang on
the line because of the length of today's hearing um and and and would you would you want to uh you
know to have the board hold the vote on this matter to allow that person to testify or are
you okay with uh the testimony as it's been presented today uh yes uh my neighbor uh located
a few few doors down his name is leonard hill uh he was he stayed for about a few hours but he had
a prior engagement he had to leave he didn't want to speak on my behalf but unfortunately he could
not would you would you want to have the board hold the vote to allow for mr hill to testify at
a later date or are you comfortable with uh the testimony as it's been provided today uh if they
could withhold the decision until he has a chance to say something i would i would appreciate that
Okay, thank you. Questions from the board?
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Chair, we have Wade Albert.
Good afternoon.
Hi, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
Yes, my name is Wade, W-A-D-E.
My last name is Albert, A-L-B-E-R-T.
Right, you swear a firm to tell the truth.
The whole truth is nothing but the truth.
Proceed, sir.
So thank you.
So I am with the law firm of Stevens and Lee,
and I am counsel to the coordinating RCO,
the Center City Residence Association.
So we saw this project on two occasions, and I believe the last one was June 28th of this year.
So we saw this project on two occasions,
and I believe the last one was...
With regard to both presentations that were made, CCRI had a number of concerns regarding this.
Number one is, you know, we are talking about the principal request by this for the variants today is essentially for a two-story roof deck, which is out of context with character of the neighborhood.
There was some discussion about height, but this is, to my knowledge, the only two-story roof deck that would be proposed for anything in this area.
Number two is that we are talking about both times that the plans were presented to CCRA, the applicant showed plans to install a large screen TV on the second part of the roof deck.
And given the unique nature of this property, we thought that it was going to be a particular nuisance.
This property is right across the street from a large parking lot for Penn Medicine Rittenhouse, which makes it open to the neighborhood.
The large screen TV would create a situation where it would become almost like a drive-in movie theater for the community, which we thought that was completely unfair and, again, completely out of context with the character of the neighborhood.
On top of that, we believe that there's absolutely no hardship that the applicant has demonstrated.
To the extent there is any hardship, it is completely self-created.
There's, again, no need to build a two-story roof deck on this property.
If he had come to us with plans to build a one-story roof deck, I would imagine that
we probably would not have had those concerns, but that is not what's going on here.
And a number of neighbors came to CCRA both times to express their opposition, and so
for all of those reasons, we voted to oppose it, and I would respectfully ask that the
ZBA also deny this request.
Thank you.
If I could, Mr. Chair, address those concerns.
Do you want to talk to him or do you want to just address it?
I'll address them, one through each of my...
Thank you, sir, for your input.
Proceed.
Mr. Toner, with respect to the assertion about a two-story roof deck, could you address that?
I mean, is the, how is the roof, how is the roof deck accessed and what is the purpose of, or is there a second, is there a second roof deck?
Ian, are you still on?
Well, I don't know that he's still on council.
Ian, could you raise your hand and be re-recognized?
Hi, I'm back.
Sorry, I didn't realize I got removed.
So to the letter of the zoning code, there are two roof decks here.
The lower deck is intended to simply serve as a way to, we're going to have some large glass doors that can open to allow a lot of fresh air and, you know, the weather into the addition.
and then to be able to step out and get to that spiral stair to get to the upper roof.
So I'm not, I mean, I don't know if there's really a way to define a two-story roof deck,
but it is, there are roof decks on two of the stories.
That's not totally uncommon in this neighborhood.
Part of the reason we wanted to do the spiral rather than another method
was to avoid having to build a pilot house on top of this addition which would be another 10 feet
high and block views for you know for another 10 feet above so that's something you know that's
it was a point well taken when we came with the solid wall on the upper floor that okay you know
the neighbors are right there's an easier way to do this that won't block anyone's view which is
why we modified that wall so putting up a pilot house to get to the upper roof deck i think would
be would would kind of negate having done that. And I do know there's there's a TV on the roof
now and it's been there. Mr. Madonna said he's had it up there for several years and hasn't had
any complaints about the TV. So I'm not sure if people are aware that there's a TV and that it
hasn't been an issue so far. So I'm not sure that it would become one. I don't think the intent is
to broadcast the TV to the neighbors,
but it is there now.
Ms. Harry, could you unmute yourself
and address that point as well,
whether you've received any complaints from any neighbors?
I think his testimony is enough, counsel.
I think, right.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
Yes, Chair, we have Elizabeth Lundy.
Hi, could you state your name
and spell for the court reporter?
My name is Elizabeth Lundy, E-L-I-Z-A-B-E-T-H.
My name is Elizabeth Lundy, E-L-I-Z-A-B-E-T-H, last name L-U-N-D-Y.
Right.
You swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Do you live in the area?
Proceed.
I live at 1742 Lombard Street.
Could you just speak up a little bit?
We're having a hard time hearing you.
I live at 1742 Lombard Street, which is just two doors away from 1746.
and I am asking you to reject the granting of this variance because of the negative impact
it will have on my block and specifically my property. I believe that the zoning laws need
to mean something and people shouldn't be allowed to get around these laws simply because they have
the money and power to argue. Well, let me just say this much. You're against the prop. You're
against the project, right? Okay. So I can further tell you why I'm very much against it and I'm not
alone in the neighborhood. I was never contacted by Mr. Madonna to see whether or not I wanted to
sign anything. Something was put through the door a long time ago that asked you to agree, but that
was it. I'm worried about the precedent that it sets. We buy houses because we believe that the
zoning protects both our neighborhood and our investment in them. And 1746 already has a roof
deck with skyline views which are published in their like zillow account and construction of
another level would block the views from anyone else in the immediate neighborhood you know if
you're right next door from ever putting their own roof decks up there it would completely block
my western view as only two properties down um and it would forever alter the value of my property
as a result and not to mention that if i are the next owner wanted to install a roof deck
solar panels it would be casting them in shade and diminish the effectiveness of those panels
the suggestion that there's a hardship he bought the house as is there should not be an expectation