Proceed, counsel.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Weisbord, what is your position with WB Investments, LLC?
I am the sole member.
Thank you.
And did you hear the statements that I made to the board today?
And are they true and correct to the best of your knowledge?
And would you adopt them as your own?
Thank you.
With that, I ask that my exhibits be moved into evidence and rest.
Questions from the board?
No, Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no hands at this time, Chair.
Planning Commission?
Thank you, Chair Bergman. David Fechter with the City Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential multifamily zoning at this location.
The appellant built the latest iteration of the deck without the benefit of permits.
This newly enlarged deck will not impair the use of adjacent properties.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the Board grant the use variants for construction of a deck in the required front yard.
Thank you.
MI 2023-000-366-5929 Keystone Street, I vote yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
May I be excused?
You can, sir. Thanks. Have a great day. Thank you. Number nine. MI 2023-000. Excuse me, Mr. Chair. Yeah. Can we go back to just number three for one second? Mr. Canuso? Yes, please.
proceed um yes so um for 25 24 north 15th street um we have not been able to find a complete or
timely exhibit packet for this matter so we'll need to be continued let's bring mr canuso on
mr canuso
Mr. Canuso
Mr. Canuso, please unmute yourself
Mr. Canuso
Are you on?
Present
Okay, so you've already been sworn, we cannot find the packages of your exhibits.
So we're going to have to continue the case.
No problem, Mr. Chairman.
Okay, thank you.
Thank you for, and we'll see when we can get you back in, okay?
MI 20, proceed, Mr. Canusa, what were you saying?
MI 2022, 007, 292, 2524 North 15th Street, this case is continued.
Thank you, Hillary.
MI number nine, MI 2023-000652, 1909 North 24th Street.
Alan Nockamson is the attorney.
Letter of support from 32nd Ward RCO.
Applicant also provided a petition of support signed by approximately 43 neighbors.
Chair, Mr. Knockelson is coming back in as a panelist now.
Mr. Knockelson, you've already been sworn.
Just for the record, could you state your name?
Yes, Alan Knockelson.
And could you identify your client in relationship to this property?
Yes, my client is the Sanctuary Farmer, Philadelphia.
Okay, and our Vice Chair has just a few questions.
Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate
to his accuracy? I do. Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that
are needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing? Yes, we have.
Thank you. Please proceed and share the screen.
All right, I'm here to present 1909 North 24th Street.
During my presentation,
we'll first review the notice of refusal,
then the correspondence from the 32nd Democratic Ward,
which is in non-opposition to our project,
as well as a petition in support of our project as well.
A little information about Sanctuary Farm,
basically they're a community garden
in this part of North Philadelphia,
and they use a horror cultural to combat food insecurities then a little information about
their community engagement maps of the area photographs of their property or plans and
drawings for the building structure that's next door to one of their community gardens in which
we're proposing to have their offices our rcl meeting notice which shows proof of mail in that
noticed and we had a well-attended meeting where multiple individuals obviously
we had a well-attended meeting where multiple individuals obviously supported our project.
Our deed to the property showing the owner of the property is Sanctuary Farm of Philadelphia
and our certificate of tax clearance. At the conclusion of the presentation, I'll ask Ms.
Van Tori to virtually raise her hand, be sworn in, and to then adopt my testimony as her own.
uh so first things first this is a notice this is our notice of refusal uh this you know the
zoning classification at least according to this refusal is rsa5 and rm1 uh what we're really
trying to do is put our offices uh which uh in this in this building structure um again we have
our community garden next door and this will give you the ability to seamlessly uh conduct and
and perform our business operations with this community garden.
And this is our proof from the coordinating RCO,
the 32nd Democratic Board, that not only we met with them,
but it's actually community support.
So again, it was a well-attended meeting.
And during that meeting, many of the individuals
who are part of this community who signed this petition
are in support of this project.
And then just a little bit about the sanctuary farm. Again, they use horticulture to combat food insecurities and essentially fill in vacancies or within residential neighborhoods like this.
So rather than having vacant lots, you have an ability to use those lots productively with community gardens.
And then this is just an article in the Philly Mag about, you know, the good work that this organization does.
And then just a little some pictures you would see of the community garden that's next door to us.
And then just our community engagement.
You know, not only do they have the ability for residents nearby to plant fruits and vegetables, but they have engagement with veterans, they have a summer camp, they have gardening classes, and they have employment opportunities as well for people within the community.
And then obviously there's volunteer opportunities as well.
And then maps of the area.
We're on 24th Street right here, just off the corner.
This is where our community garden is.
And then photographs of this particular building structure, as you can see, is a three-story building structure.
The client has kept it in good stead.
To the right of it is the community garden that we're talking about.
Proof of posting for today's hearing, the orange notice poster at the front of the property.
And then just a context, you know, here's North 24th Street to the right of the property.
As you can see, there are many vacant lots on this block.
North 24th Street to the left of the property. As you can see, this is a community garden. There's more vacant lots across the street.
And then these are just our plans and drawings. Again, it's just our offices where we would have meetings and maybe some of our activities like classes and such.
But, you know, you just walk in on the first floor. There's an open space for offices and different activities we would have with the community garden that's indoors.
There is a breakout room here. There's an ADA bathroom. You go up to the second floor again and kind of open floor plan with another bathroom and an office. And then the third floor is, again, another office and another bathroom and another office in there.
And then the proposed elevation. We're not doing any work to the building structure itself. We just, this is merely a use variance.
and then we had a well attended meeting on June 5th at 6 p.m. so earlier this week
169 addresses were notified of today's of that meeting uh two days ago
list of the addresses proof of mailing to those addresses
and then our application for appeal that we filed on on behalf of the sanctuary farm of Philadelphia
along with the notice of refusal and the project information form,
our deeds of property showing the sanctuary form Philadelphia is the owner of the property,
and our certificate of tax clearance showing that they're in good standing with the city
as it relates to real estate taxes.
With that being said, I would ask that Andrea virtually raise her hand.
Ms. Vittori, please unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Jimmy. Good afternoon. Could you please state your name and spell it for the court stenographer?
Good afternoon. Could you please state your name and spell it for the courts tonight.
Sure. Andrea, A-N-D-R-E-A, Vittori, V as in Victor, E-T-T-O-R-I.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes. Proceed, counsel.
Yes. Ms. Vittori, you heard everything I had to state today about your zoning matter.
Correct.
Is everything I stated true and correct?
Correct, yes.
And do you adopt it as your own testimony?
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
No, Chair.
No, Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Chair, I see no hands at this time.
Planning Commission?
Thank you, Chair Bergman and members of the board.
David Fecto with the City Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential single-family zoning at this location.
This building has a documented history of use as a triplex since at least the 1950s.
There is no evidence of use as a business and professional office.
There is no unique physical condition or circumstance of this property that would prevent it from being used in conformance with the zoning code.
The City Planning Commission recommends the Board deny the use variance for a business and professional office.
Mr. Chair, can I just respond?
you can sure oh yeah so as you can see from the pictures uh this neighborhood there's many vacant
lots and abandoned buildings here my client has done good for this neighborhood by providing a
community garden they need offices nearby to this community garden they happen to own next door
and they hope to use you know this building for those purposes
And so, did you see the 32nd Ward recommends one enforceable proviso, no residential use?
Oh, yeah, we have no objection to that.
Are you comfortable with that?
Yeah, our intention is to have no residential use in there.
MI 2023-000652-1909-24th Street.
I vote yes, proviso, no residential use.
James Stem, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Thank you.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you.
Number 11, MI 2022-007-221-617-29 South 15th Street.
Daniel McElhatton is the attorney.
um letter of support from sasna for a five-year temporary variance with unenforceable provisos
joint letter from your neighbors requesting a new fence
chair mr mckelhenny is coming back in as a panelist now thank you
good afternoon council could you please state your name and spell for the court reporter
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair. My name is Daniel P. McElhatton, M-C, capital E-L-H-A-T-T-O-N.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client and the relationship to this property?
My clients are Peter Sarravo and his sons, adult sons, Peter Sarravo Jr. and Dominic Sarravo. And the property is 617-629 South 15th Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Thank you. Our vice chair has just a few questions, sir.
Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
I do, sir.
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that are needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
We did with one exception, and that is that yesterday, the most recent deed, which incorporates the ownership interest of Mr. Saravo's two adult sons, was forwarded to counsel for the board.
Okay, thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.
Give me just a moment.
This application will be shorter, I think, than some of the others, sir, that we're not really asking for anything new.
What we're asking for is an extension of the existing variants on this parking lot, which is between Bainbridge and Cater Streets along 15th.
What we're asking for is an extension of the existing variants.
And the current variants will expire in November of 2023. And we are requesting an additional five years for the variants to continue the use of this area as a private parking lot for 25 vehicles that would exit onto Bainbridge Street.
This is a use that was granted a number of years ago. It is well needed by the community. And as you see from the SOSNA letter of support, usually SOSNA will give non-opposition, but their letter was actually in support, and they made two observations.
One is that there was a large supportive community at the variance request before SOSNA, and that they then stated that the near neighbors and parking lot users all commended the owners on the cleanliness and maintenance of the lot and are in favor of the continued use of the parking lot.
And I think that you can see that it's as a result of the use of this lot has been, you know, impeccable in terms of how it's been maintained.
You can see that, you know, and the two provisos that SOSNA has requested is that there be an automatic gate on Bainbridge Street, which the owners have agreed to, and some shade trees on 15th Street.
Now, when the case was called, there was a new question that was raised about a new fence.
That was not something that was raised by SOSNA as a condition.
This fence has been there and it's been well maintained.