how far away do you live i'm actually looking at the garage doors right now i live behind that
house okay thank you um so they say that them and the their neighbors put one in um and then that
they have an existing one next to them but their house their garage doors are about four feet
higher than every other garage door fence on the street uh so it's just kind of an unsightly
when you say their garage you're talking about the garage door to the left of
2015 pop 2015 yeah so they had the same contractor put in their garage roll-up door
that matches the door next the height of the door next next to it correct yeah so 2013 and
2015 both have the same roll-up door you're are you opposed to that i am very much it's very
unattractive
was there did i hear in the testimony by uh mr chapman were you looking to reduce the height
of that? I don't remember. Is yours going to, is your plan matches what is at 2013?
It does. The plan matches what's at 2013, yes.
Yeah, both of them are already built.
Okay, I know it's built, I just was curious. Okay, except for the gate, the framing's there.
oh no sorry oh it is up it's rolled in there it is it it is okay chairman yes okay all right
very good thank you all right anyone else i would like to testify in this case if so please raise
your hand all right thank you thank you
we have laura chapman okay unmute yourself and wait to be sworn in
okay uh is this mrs chapman yes i'm also a resident at 2015 poplar poplar street okay
you swear and affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do
okay are you are you in support of this oh yeah yes i just i want to i want to i want to further
explain why it is that high, how we installed the electric gate and why we chose that route.
We did get estimates for, just to explain our neighbor to that, we did get estimates for lower
gates. We did not know about this variance at the time of installing this. This was actually,
we went with this option because I do park my car back there. I do have a son, a toddler.
we had to go with, we felt we had to go with automatic so that I don't leave him in the car,
so that I don't leave him in the car come out our neighbors that have lower gates
come out. Our neighbors that have lower gates.
they all park their car in the in the alley get out open up their gate so it is a much
longer process and I felt an unsafe process for the fact that I do have my child in the car
we also chose we also went with the gate because my our cars were have been broken into multiple
times um so it really this is a safety for our family and we um i just wanted to kind of explain
that why it wouldn't go any lower all right thank you and again i apologize i didn't know i didn't
realize that the the the door had already been folded up i thought this was under construction
uh anyway anyone else care to testify in this case if so please raise your hand
no other hands chair thank you planning commission
good afternoon chairman members of the board this is ian litwin planning commission staff
the proposed parking space and garage door on george street are in character with the
adjacent properties therefore we have no opposition to granting the variance
uh did anybody hear me all right okay i got it yes here you're fine okay okay because i lost
visual for a moment uh mi2020-0003262015 poplar street my vote is yes my vote is yes
my vote is yes my vote is yes i'm going to go back to the stenographer we still have
One, two, three, three and a half cases to go.
Are you, I can't see you.
Do you need a break?
No, I'm fine.
Okay, then we'll go to break after the, this session's complete.
Fitzwater Street, next.
MI 2020-001-285-2118-20, Fitzwater Street.
Chair, I am promoting Sean Whelan. You can unmute yourself and wait to be sworn in.
Hi, good afternoon, Mr. Whelan. Please identify yourself for the record, spell your first
and last name.
Yes, good afternoon, board members and Chairman Chico.
Sean Whalen, S-E-A-N-W-H-A-L-E-N, from Vintage Law, here on behalf of the owner and applicant of the property.
Thank you.
You swearing a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
And do you agree to waive the reading of his refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Also, have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents, proof of ownership,
proof of tax compliance, copy of the refusal or referral, folders and plans five days prior to
this hearing? We have. Also, have you met with the RCO and have a letter? Yes, we do. And yes,
we do. Thank you. Please proceed. All right. Well, I know this has been a long afternoon already,
so I will make this one short. I am presenting 2118 to 2120 Fitzwater Street. Some number of
years ago, this was combined into a single property. It's in a standard row of row homes
on Fitzwater Street, and we are simply seeking a variance to subdivide the property. The property
was originally and historically two separate parcels. It is a mid-block parcel, and so we
We have one refusal, which is that in this RM1 district, 1,440 square feet are required.
We will actually have two lots of approximately 1,125 square feet each.
That is, hopefully you can now see the refusal, and that is our only refusal.
Those lots, those undersized lots at $1,125 each would actually be two of the largest
lots on the entire block.
I'm sorry, Mr. Whaler, we don't have your exhibits up.
We're looking at your…
Sorry about that.
Let's try…
Do you have it up now?
thank you my apologies um just quickly the you can see the refusal here um one refusal as i
Just quickly, you can see the refusal here, one refusal, as I said, we're required to have 1440 square feet per lot.
We are evenly dividing our two lots and it will be into two 1125 square foot lots.
You can see 21st Street, Fitzwater here, and 22nd Street, Clymer Street is behind us and has a lot of very small lots.
every single lot on this block is undersized so actually none of them meet and most of them
are smaller than our block so to give you an idea
this is a close-up of our property again two standard rectangular lots they were conjoined
at one point used for front-loading parking with a sun patio and a one-story addition.
We've demolished the one-story addition and are now seeking to just subdivide this lot.
There's no construction associated with this application.
This whole project is in the RM1 zoning district and there's no issues there.
We have a letter from SOSNA of a vote 12-0 in favor. And just to give you guys some
feeling for this, again, here's the site plan. This is the existing home.
This right here is the existing parking pad that the prior owner used,
the gate and the one-story addition in the back that has been demolished now.
and again all we are doing is seeking to subdivide this previously consolidated lot back into two
lots. With that I would simply call the owner and my architect to adopt my testimony unless
the board has any questions for me. Let's get your owner and we'll take it from there. Thank you.
All right. Ms. Sunket you should see Stephen Rodriguez on the line.
uh he would have to raise his hand all right
okay he can unmute and be sworn in rodriguez please identify yourself with the record spell
your first and last name steven rodriguez s-t-e-p-h-e-n-r-o-d-r-i-g-u-e-z and the owner of uh
5th Bar Street.
We're going to affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Thank you. Please proceed, Mr. Whalen.
Mr. Rodriguez,
as you already stated, you are the owner of the
project. Did you hear
all the testimony and representations that
I made to the board today? Yes.
Are they true and correct to the best of your
knowledge and belief? Yes.
Would you adopt
them as your own?
I would.
Thank you. Thank you. I offer Chairman Mr. Rodriguez up for any questions that the board
may have. Thank you. Questions from the board? No. No. Would anyone else like to testify in this
case? If so, please raise your hand. Yes, if I could just have Ms. Agatha Reister raise her
hand, she's our expert architect, just to adopt my testimony again. Okay, please ma'am identify
yourself spell your first and last name for the record? Agatha Reister, A-G-A-T-A-R-E-I-S-T-E-R,
with Landmark Architectural Design, 1325 Snyder Avenue, Philadelphia, PA, 19148.
We're affirmed to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth. I do. Thank you,
Mr. Whalen. Thank you, Ms. Reister. Did you hear all the representations I made to the board today?
Yes. And are they true and correct to the best of your knowledge? Yes.
and would you adopt them as your own yes do you have anything further to add i do not thank you
and uh chairman and board members i offer both mr rodriguez and mr eister for any questioning
chairman i believe any questions from the board no anyone else like to testify in this case if so
please raise your hand no hand thank you planning commission good afternoon chairman members of the
board ian litwin with planning commission staff the existing lot is twice the width of the other
lots on the block the lots created by the subdivision are in scale with the rest of the
block therefore we do not have any opposition to granting the variance for minimum lot size
thank you 2020-001285 2118-20 fitzwater street my vote is yes
2118-20
Fitzwater Street. My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
Thank you.
Thank you very much, everyone.
Thank you.
The next one up is MI2020-000944
1759 North Marshall Street.
Thank you.
I have I have no hands up. Okay, MI 2020-000944. I'm sorry, Chair. Okay. They have now raised
their hand okay good evening everyone sorry for that my internet was a little
still acting up uh no i promoted him to a panelist oh sorry about that
he's available for swearing in chair
i'm losing everybody i'll try uh sir spell your uh please give us your full name and address
spell your first and last name
i think i lost everybody no chair you're here mr broski okay are you available
i don't know if he's unmuted i know don't know what the problem is
cole are you available
let's skip over and go to the next what case in case he's having technical problems we can come
back okay next one it's uh mi 2020 dag 000 773 1739 wiley street
I'm going to leave and come back on.
I'm having some problems here.
And I don't have anyone with their hand up for this.
Alan, are you for this case?
Alan's for the next case, I believe.
The one we continued from earlier today, this afternoon, Cleveland Street.
I also have 1739 Wiley Street.
Number 17.
Yeah, Mr. Notkinson, do we have you listed as the attorney on this case?
Yes. Oh, did you call me?
Yes, we did.
1739 Wiley Street.
He's still on the oath.
Do you agree to waive the reading of its refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Also, have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents,
approval of ownership, approval of tax compliance, copy of the refusal or referral folders and plans
five days prior to this hearing? I have. Have you met with the RCO and have a letter?
I have. Thank you. Please identify yourself for the record. Good afternoon, Mr. Chair,
members of the board, Alan Nockamson of Nockamson, PC, 123 South Broad Street, Suite 1600,
I'm trying to turn on my video, but it's not letting me.
Thank you.
All right, so I'm going to share my screen.
So in front of you is a packet of materials which include eight exhibits.
The first exhibit is the property to 1739 Wiley Street.
This is owned by 1739 Wiley Development LLC.
This property is located in the Francisville section of Philadelphia.
The exhibit number two is a tax clearance certificate for the property,
showing that the property owner is in good standing with the city of Philadelphia.
Exhibit three is a notice of refusal.
So this is an RSA-5 property, and what we're looking to do is put a three-unit condominium here,
and we're not seeking any dimensional variances.
The only variance that we're seeking is a use variance.
And as you can see from here, it's not out of character for Wiley Street to have multifamily living.
for Wiley Street to have multifamily living. On these five separate occasions other than this one
on these five separate
applicants have requested from this zoning board variances to allow for multifamily use
and on those five separate occasions this board has granted it. I was here last year regarding
1724 Wiley Street which the board granted in favor of a two unit condominium. The reason is
And here's the application for appeal that we filed with the ZBA along with the project information form.
The reason why I believe it's not uncommon that in this part of Francisville that you would see multifamily use.
You'll see multifamily use here.
But you'll also see the fact that we're a block away from a commercial corridor.
This is Ridge Avenue.