the concern of the proposed visibility of the addition was alleviated by visiting the site.
In other words, once they were there and saw it, they understood why the Historical Commission
voted to approve this. The two provisos speak for themselves. Here is Society Hill Civic
Association's letter of non-opposition. Also, Council Member Squilla's letter of non-opposition,
A letter of support from a near neighbor at 712 Pine Street, recognizing that he is in support.
The unanimous non-opposition from the coordinating RCO with provisos, the non-opposition from Society Hill Civic Association with the same provisos and Council Member Squilla's confirmation of same definitely speak to the granting of variance being appropriate for this historic property, this non-conforming existing property.
This fits into the surrounding neighborhood. This would represent minimum variance to afford relief.
Mr. Chairman and members of the board, I have submitted a revised proviso plans, which, for those who are tuning in, is exactly the same as it's been shared with the entire community.
It shows a slight decrease in height in line with what the Philadelphia Historical Commission had approved.
In the interest of time, I'll rest at the moment.
We do have Greg Milhauser available to adopt and affirm at the appropriate time, and we have Gabrielle Cano of Cano if there are architectural questions.
Why don't we have your testimony adopted, Adam?
Thank you. Mr. Milhauser, would you please raise your virtual hand? There you are. And unmute so that the chair can speak to you. He's available, Mr. Chairman.
Okay, could you say your name and spell it, please, for the court reporter?
Sure. It's Greg Milhauser, G-R-E-G, last name M-I-L-L-H-A-U-S-E-R.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
Proceed, counsel.
Thank you. Good afternoon, Mr. Milhauser. Have you been present for the entirety of the
virtual hearing this afternoon?
Yes, I have.
And would you adopt and affirm the testimony that I've offered as your own?
yes i will thank you questions from the board no mr chairman mr chair questions or comments
from the virtual audience chair we have paul bon excuse me bonnie okay
hi mr bonnie could you state your name and spell for the court reporter please
My name is Paul Boni, B-O-N-I, and I'm the chair of the Zoning and Historic Preservation Committee of Society of Cedric Assistance.
All right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Proceed, sir.
Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the board.
This was not an easy case for us.
We don't usually warm up to variances of this degree and type, but we worked very hard with the applicant.
I want to thank the applicant, the Millhausers, for working with us and their attorney, Mr. Labor.
And we worked hard with Wash West. And also, we were, you know, had some nice, good discussions with Ms. Emerson, which we really appreciate.
And so it's very important to us that if the board is inclined to grant these variances, that the provisos that we all work so hard on be adopted as part of the decision.
So I want to thank you and again, thank the Millhausers and wish them luck.
Thank you. Thank you for calling in and thank you for your input.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
I see no hands, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Good afternoon, Chair, members of the board.
This is Greg Walden from Planning Commission staff.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing residential multifamily zoning at this location.
The proposed height of the building and its garage are consistent with nearby properties.
The variance for garage depth is minimal and does not conflict with the purpose and spirit of the zoning code.
The variance for garage depth is minimal and does not conflict with the purpose and spirit of the zoning code.
Proposed accessory dwelling unit also does not conflict with the purpose and spirit of the zoning code.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the Zoning Board grant the variances with the negotiated provisos.
Thank you very much.
MI 2022-003-584-704 Pine Street, I vote yes with provisos.
no roof deck above the accessory dwelling unit at the rear of the property along addison street
the accessory dwelling unit at the rear of the property along addison street may not be used
for limited lodging as that phrase is used in the zoney code and and three revised plan one page
stamped by zba on october 26 2022 hillary and mr chief yes those are all fine and then a fourth
refusal I mean fourth proviso per amended refusal dated 8-3-22. Per amended refusal dated 8-23 you
said? 8-3-22. 8-3-20-22. Thank you. Carol Tenere my vote is yes with provisos. Thomas Holloman my vote
is yes, with provisos. James Snell, yes, with provisos. Thank you. Thank you, counsel. Thank
you, Mr. Chair, members of the board. Have a good afternoon. MI 2022-003-662, 817-23 Aramingo
Avenue. Jared Klein is the attorney. Letter of Opposition from the Fishtown Neighbors Association.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair, members of the board. Jared Klein from Blank Rome. It's J-A-R-E-D-K-L-E-I-N, 130 North 18th Street in Philadelphia.
Hi, do you swear or firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Could you identify your client in relationship to the property?
Certainly. I'm representing 817 Aramingo LLC, represented here by Adam Lysoski, and he's the owner of the property.
Okay, our vice chair has a few questions.
Hi, do you agree to wave the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, I do, Madam Vice Chair.
Have you emailed Daisy Bipaka with proof of ownership tax compliance, refusal referral,
voters under plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing?
And have you met with the RCO and do you have a letter?
Yes, to all of the above.
Okay, great. Proceed and start with your screen.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
I know the board has had a long agenda, so I will endeavor to be as brief as I can.
We have a dual zone property.
It's a CMX2 RSA 5 at 817 to 23 Aramingo.
The property is currently permitted by right for 45 dwelling units and a commercial unit on the ground floor.
This application is seeking to remove the commercial unit on the ground floor as required by CMX2
and to replace that with two additional residential dwelling units.
So it will be a total of 47.
This application seeks only two above the 45 that were approved with the initial zoning permit.
The reason for this is, as the board can probably assume,
a challenge in the ability to rent this commercial space in this area.
This section of Aramingo is not part of the commercial corridor,
and there's a high level of vacancy in commercial properties that surround us.
So we think that the most effective use for this property in the surrounding area is by having an active residential use on that ground floor, as opposed to what we fear would be a vacant commercial space.
There's already enough of those in this immediate area.
Just to orient the board, this is the property here.
Zoning map shows sort of the split nature of the sites, the CMX2 and RSA5 portion.
and these are some photos that were taken before the the current permit was issued that is now
under construction. Photos of the zoning notices that are posted at at the property
and these slides give the board a sense of the current vacant commercial that exists in this
area. As you can see these are all in the packet that was that was sent in but we've linked by
number on this map, the various vacant commercial spaces that currently exist in the immediate
surrounding area. This is Aramingo Avenue here. And you can see a lot of the uses are vacant
commercial spaces and then residential auto garages and a lot of vacant commercial residential
uses in the immediate area. This again continues with this slide here, again, showing the board a
number of vacant commercial properties that exist along Girard Avenue also. So it's not just the
that exist along gerard avenue also so it's not just the aramingo avenue that's experiencing
Aramingo Avenue.
vacancy there's there's significant vacancy along the gerard avenue piece as well
these are the zoning plans the building is not changing there's no change to the envelope of
the structure that was originally improved we're just seeking to convert that ground floor
residential space into our ground floor commercial space into the residential a rendering of what
the building as currently approved looks like. And here are some very basic floor plans showing
you the layout of the building generally. As I referred to earlier, there is a zoning permit
that is currently out there. This is the zoning permit that is being built. As you can see, this
approves the 45 dwelling units in the single vacant commercial space as previously referred to.
As the chair noted, we did meet with the Fishtown Neighbors Association, and their letter is here.
I thought that their letter of opposition was actually interesting for one key point.
And that is, if you look here, members of the board, the letter notes that the community members were receptive to or supportive of the fact that the applicant's not been able to fill the commercial space and that nearby Girard Avenue commercial spaces are vacant.
their opposition really focused on their desire to have retail there and a comment about unit
accessibility. While we certainly respect the vote, I think the most important information
for the board is actually this sentence here, where they're essentially acknowledging the
hardship that we have, and that's we are not been able to fill the commercial space and that the
nearby Girard Avenue commercial spaces are vacant. That is essentially the hardship that we're
talking about the inability to rent the space as commercial as required by the code. With that,
I'm going to ask Adam Lysuski to raise his virtual hand so that he might adopt my testimony
and answer any questions the board may have. Could you state your name and spell for the
court reporter? Yes, Adam Lysuski, L-I-S-A-U-S-K-Y. Do you swear for him to tell the truth,
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? I do. Proceed, counsel. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Adam,
can you very, very briefly give the board context on your efforts to rent the space for commercial
purposes? Sure. I think you summed it up quite nicely in the fact that, you know, this location
isn't on necessarily the Aramingo Commercial Corridor or the Girard Commercial Corridor.
And even if it was, there were, you know, is an abundance of vacant storefront space
in a similar situation in terms of square footage that I have, but in a slightly better
location and even those are not being rented up.
So we've, you know, we've gone out to market with the brokers and have gotten very little
feedback or interest in any uh operations taking over the space in a lease situation
thank you uh and did you have the opportunity to listen to the remainder of the presentation that
i gave i did and would you adopt uh my statements as true correct and your own had you had the
ability to more fully testify i do thank you very much uh mr chair adam is here to answer any
further questions the board might have but at this point we would rest questions from the board
no mr chairman
um council are the same um uh previously by right permit issues still intact
yes yeah the green roof bonus low income height and density bonuses correct mr chair none of that
has has changed there's been no alteration other than the request for the ground floor change right
thank you any questions from the board besides that no mr chairman no mr chairman questions
or comments from the virtual audience i see no hands chair planning
good afternoon um members of the board this is greg walton from planning commission staff
In 2015, the zoning map was amended from medium industrial to commercial mixed use at this location.
The request of the council member, district plan, which was published subsequent to that zoning bill, recommended no change from the commercial mixed use designation.
This property previously received a zoning permit for a 45-unit building with ground floor commercial in 2021.
The appellant now seeks to replace the approved commercial space with a residential unit.
While this segment of Aramingo Avenue is part of the Planning Commission's defined lower
While this segment of Aramingo Avenue is part of the Planning Commission's defined Lower Aramingo Avenue commercial area,
the stretch where this property is is not walkable.
It abuts the I-95 on-ramp and a storefront,
and we believe that the storefront is not likely to succeed at this location.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the zoning board grant the variance.
Thank you.
MI 2022-003-662-817-23, Iron Mango Avenue, I vote yes.
Carol Tenere, my vote is yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Thanks, counsel.
Thank you all very much. Enjoy the rest of your afternoon.
Right. Planning court reporter, Mr. Kelly?
Yes, chair.
Why don't we take a five minute break? We have a couple more here and then a couple at the end and we're going to go right through it. OK, so everybody take a five minute break and we'll be right back.
Much appreciated, Chair. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
how are we looking
mr kelly are you back yes i am thank you very much okay and uh we're good to go chair okay thank
you um number 12. number 12 mi 2022 003 641 433 fairmount avenue roger purry is the attorney um
And we have a letter of support from Northern Liberty's Neighbors Association with Provisos.
Mr. Perry.
Hey, good morning or good afternoon. I'm sorry. It's been a long day.
It is a little afternoon. Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Roger Perry, P-E-R-R-Y, first name R-O-G-E-R. I represent, I am the applicant and represent the parties interested in this matter.
Okay. Do you swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify the parties and who, the relationship to this property?
Thank you. The party of interest is called Future Days Beer Company, LLC. They are a lessee of the property at 433 Fairmont, and they're pursuant to that lease. They're seeking the variance in use applied for today.
Okay. Our vice chair has a few questions.
Mr. Perry, do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, we do.
Yes, we do.
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership tax compliance?
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, refusal, referral,
photos under plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing?
And have you met with the RCO?
And do you have a letter?
Yes, we do.
Can you proceed then and share your screen?