that is commercial, which has significant commercial on the first floor, residential
on the second floor. The proposed use is consistent with the neighborhood, and
as has come up in prior hearings, affordable housing within the city is an important issue.
And in this case, these units have, you know, our client has not raised the rates since he took over the property, despite the fact that, you know, he could get higher rents, but he doesn't have any intention of doing that.
and the rents are currently between $5.25 and $6.25
and adding an additional unit will continue to have the same economics
as the remaining units in the building
and is consistent with the neighborhood.
They also intend they'd like to do some work to upgrade some aspects.
They also intend they'd like to do some work to upgrade some aspects of the property that the prior owner had not.
So they are intending to invest in the building and they are invested.
They invested ownership in the neighborhood because they are.
Mr. Oslick is a resident of the neighborhood.
As I mentioned, this property was previously approved for six units.
just two and a half or so years ago.
So we would, and the prior owner was using it
for six units legally, we would like to be able
to return the building to six units
consistent with the proposed plans.
Excuse me, Councillor, do you have pictures?
Let me, this is the front posters.
Can you reduce, can you reduce the size?
Once I get down to the better pictures.
Okay, so the property is on the corner.
As you can see, the property next door is a multifamily property.
The school is across the vocational school, is across the street.
This is pictures of the block down the street. Many of these properties, 3112, 3110, 3111, I believe, are all apartments, commercial and first floor, just taking the very closest ones.
and apartments on the second floor.
There's an auto body repair down the street.
This is the interior of some of the apartments.
Obviously, they are occupied.
The five units are occupied currently.
We had intended to have one of the residents as a witness.
Unfortunately, he had to take a side job, so he could not be available.
But as I mentioned, the use, we don't believe this is an overuse of property, as it is consistent with prior approved uses in a multi-family district.
Counselor?
What is the trash removal plan?
i believe uh mr oslick you could um correct me if i'm wrong but there is uh trash in uh there's
a trash container in the backyard property that uh is fenced is that correct um there is a backyard
of the property where we could put a trash collecting uh a trash bin we're open to it and
there's a side where where's trash being stored now currently um i'm sorry you know what i need
to get your full name on the record please spell it it's avram oslik um and i want just want to
preface this last when we met spell your name your last name it's l-s-l-i-c-k you swear to
for him to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do thank you please proceed okay
um when we bought this building the tenants take the trash out and there's two trash days on this
corner because of uh clementine street and frankfurt avenue um the when we went to the rco
the rco specifically said in the council person that was mr sakura's representative at the time
said that they don't want trash being stored outside in this neighborhood they want it stored
inside so in the plan modifications for this building we'll be adding a trash room on the
first floor right by the to hold it inside as the neighborhood wanted that was one of the changes
that we we made to the plans that appear on the plan yes it does okay can you show us the plan
again i'm going to scroll up to the plan let me
Make it a little bit bigger.
Can you highlight the first floor?
Can you highlight the first floor?
I'm looking at the first floor is in the middle.
Which one is the first floor?
It's the second one in from the left.
And if she scrolls up a bit, she's actually hiding the trash room right now.
I don't see the trash container. It's got to be scrawled up.
Right when you first come in, there's a trash room.
that accessible for all units yes it's right when you come in the front door
it'll be to the right of the building
that room that is on the left and the hallway it says trash room if you look
at the very top of the picture there's a doorway on the right hand side of the first floor plan
And then the door is open, and then it says trash room.
Is that a bedroom next to it?
Yes, but it's not connected.
It's part of the next unit over.
You know how wide that bedroom is?
One second.
I thought it was 12 by 10.
Thank you.
it's nine it's nine feet by 12 feet this property is it is larger than the
average row home in Philadelphia I believe it's 20 feet wide total thank
you you I'm sorry miss how have you concluded with your testimony I have I'll
just ask Mr. Oslick have you heard my testimony? Yes I have. Do you agree? Yes just one clarification
when we bought this building it was set up illegally as a seven unit building and we have
not um the units that were vacant we have not reoccupied them until we've come to a conclusion
we've respected everything we've let the tenants that were in there stay there and we hope to let
them stay there continually moving forward. Well how many units how many units is it now?
The building is set up as seven units currently.
How many tenants do you have?
Five tenants.
Thank you.
I understand that, correct me if I'm wrong, Ms. Hamilton, we're still waiting for some feedback from the RCO?
The RCO sent a letter when we were originally supposed to have this hearing and said that they oppose multifamily.
so they were uh objecting to the proposal of the seven units we provided them with plans
revised plans reducing the the units from seven to six and asked them to uh asked them if they
wanted to have reschedule another hearing to review the plans uh i emailed them a couple times
and i didn't hear back from them okay this this is sharon saletta we did have an email from
councilman squilla's office um indicating that they were expecting this to be continued for
further interactions with the community uh given that you might want to follow
that may have been the reason for the confusion this morning but if we could perhaps schedule a
follow-up hearing yeah all right uh any uh anyone any questions from the board no no anyone else
anyone else would like to testify in this case if so please raise your hand
no hands chair thank you planning commission
good afternoon board peter bernard for the planning commission this
Good afternoon board, Peter Bernard for the planning commission.
This property is indicated for residential mixed use in the comprehensive plan.
The property has a long history of being used for multifamily.
Accordingly, we have no objection to the granting of the variance.
Thank you. But because the councilman's office, there was some confusion.
Am I, hold on please.
mi-2020-0000373114 frankfort avenue this hearing will be resumed on wednesday december the 9th at
9 30 a.m at which time we will consider any feedback related to the rco and the councilman's
position that concludes the two o'clock list i believe i apologize yes december 9th at two
o'clock 9 30 9 30 okay thank you thank you okay um that concludes the two o'clock list correct
yes all right um i guess the stenographer one let's yeah sharon um that's correct there is
only one case on the three three thirty list that is not being continued i know i don't know i was
going to say let's go forward but i don't know if the stenographer needs a break hello hi this is
a court reporter i'm good thank you yes i appreciate that thank you okay so give me a second
we'll get in we'll go into yeah that'd be great all right hold on
all right good afternoon again everyone my name is frank d chico i'm the chair of the zoning board
of adjustment i'll be participating in today's hearing along with our board secretary mr
confessor plaza and board members mr thomas holloman and mr james snow for those of you
who haven't yet participated in one of our virtual hearings, I'll go through some of the basics of
what you can expect. First, we will be administering oaths to individual participants prior to their
testimony. Second, for the benefit of anyone participating by phone, we ask that attorneys
and witnesses identify themselves prior to speaking or testifying. Third, we'd like to advise everyone
that this proceeding is being recorded and that by participating, you acknowledge your agreement
to be recorded. Fourth, for anyone participating by phone, if you wish to testify, you must raise
your hand by hitting star nine and then star six to unmute yourself. I'll repeat. For anyone
participating by phone, if you wish to testify, you must raise your hand by hitting star nine
and then star six to unmute yourself. Finally, to enter an appearance statement, call Google
267-270-5548 and leave your email address and the address of the property at issue.
I'll repeat that as well. To enter an appearance statement, call Google 267-270-5548 and leave
your email address and the address of the property at issue. With that said, we can begin, but before
we call our first case we like to ask if anyone is requesting a continuance or an appeal listed
for this afternoon's hearing i will read through a list of cases that have been requested to be
continued and if anyone objects when i complete reading that list please raise your hand and
state your objection uh mi-2020-000869 2037 south 56th street mi-00 excuse me mi-2020
020-000777, 2035 South 57th Street, MI-2020-000314, 317 Spruce Street,
mi-2020-00148648-62 east penn street
mi-2020-0008715536 pascal avenue
MI-2020-0008725534 East Paschal.
five five three four east pascal i'm sorry pascal avenue pascal avenue east
mr chairman i read off my letter read off a list of of cases to be continued if there's any
objection to that mr chairman or two just for a clarification uh i think he said 2035 south
57th street if i'm not mistaken it's 56th street right uh yes if i misspoke i apologize so i'll
that into the record mi-2020-0007772035 south 56th street thanks buddy okay anybody object
to any of those continuance requests no hands at this time chair okay so we'll go with number four
on our list mi-2020-001266419 lighty or leidy street leidy avenue leidy avenue
uh good good afternoon mr chair allen occamson of knockamson pc
good afternoon um i see a notation this is reconsideration
You're still under oath, Mr. Atkinson. I only on my sheet, all I see is appeal grounds based on appeal of calendar number three, eight, one, seven, one.
uh yeah so what we're trying to do uh again alan knockum sim knockups npc 123 south broad street
suite 1600 philadelphia pa 19109 uh what we're seeking to do is legalize a triplex
well someone has a phone ringing in the background could you either answer it or
That's me, Mr. Trey. I apologize.
I waived the reading and the refusal.
Thanks, buddy. I thought it was a consideration.
You can waive the reading of his refusal and stipulate his accuracy.
Also, thank you. Also, have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required document,
proof of ownership, proof of tax compliance, copies of refusal, or referral of folders and
plans five days prior to this hearing? I have. Thank you. Also, have you met with the RCO and
have a letter? My client has, and we do have a letter of support. Thank you. Please proceed.
Hi. I'm here to present 4119 Leidy Avenue. Again, all we're trying to do is legalize this
three-unit structure. I'm going to try to keep it rather simple. It's been a long day,
i'm sure for the board um i'm just going to go to exhibit uh four um here's a refusal this is an
rsa5 property uh what it doesn't show in its history though of this notice of refusal
is a permit and i don't know why this is the case but there's a permit dated in 2008 to show that
this is a three-unit structure um the only thing i can say as to why there you know there was some
type of issue is that i looked at atlas.philo.gov and there seems to be a gap in the housing
license for this property although i did talk to my clients uh briefly today um and uh he did state
that they've always had a housing inspection license but i do know that lni has been uh
definitely stronger in the sense of when there's a gap of three years with your housing inspection
license, the zoning reverts back to the current designation, and I can only imagine that's why
we're here today. My clients did meet with the coordinating RCO, and I have that here,
a letter of support from Centennial Parkside Community Development Corporation. Pretty
straightforward, simple letter of support. I have with me today Gavin Rogers, the owner's
Representative, Mr. Rogers, can you virtually raise your hand?
I mean, as an officer of the court, I can attest to the fact that my testimony is true and accurate.
uh we'll stipulate to that thank you uh any questions from the board no no no anyone else
We'll stipulate to that. Thank you. Any questions from the board?
would like to testify in this case if so please raise your hand
i'm sorry chair we do have a uh mr rogers okay mr rogers please identify yourself with a record
first and last name spell your last name good afternoon my name is gavin rogers r-o-g-e-r-s
i represent um my father in this matter are you on the deed i am not well we'll we'll take mr out
mr knockinson's testimony uh because you have to be uh an owner okay my dad's 86 and no problem
okay we'll just move on all right anyone else would like to testify
no more hands at this time thank you planning commission
hi good afternoon this is ariel de liberto with the planning commission
ariel would you please identify yourself spell your first and last name yes a-r-i-e-l
last name is d as in dog i-l-i-d as in boy e-r-t as in tony oh thank you swear and affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do thank you please proceed this property is
indicated for residential single family in the city's comprehensive plan uh it is clear from
materials presented that this property has a history being used for multi-family therefore
we have no objection to the granting of the variance thank you mi-2020-001266
4-1-1-9
Leidy Street
Leidy Avenue
I'm sorry Leidy Avenue