Thank you.
Ms. Tenere, if Tanya agrees, I think we might be okay to go.
yes you can start thanks tanya good morning everyone first i'd like to apologize
for our tardiness we are having tremendous technical problems the reason i'm announcing
that now is in the event it occurs a little bit later I would ask for your patience so again I
apologize for the board. Good morning my name is Carol Tenere and today I'm the acting chair of
the Zoning Board of Adjustment. I'll be participating in today's hearing along with
Board Secretary Confessor Plaza and Board Members Tom Holloman and James Snell. Board Administrator
Fatina L. and Board Attorney Sharon Saleta are also in attendance with Ms. Tanya Sunkit.
For those of you who haven't yet participated in one of our virtual hearings,
I'll go through some of the basics of which you can expect. First, we will be administering
oaths to individual participants prior to their testimony. Second, we'd like to advise everyone
that this proceeding is being recorded and that by participating, you acknowledge your agreement
to be recorded. This is available to the public on the web and otherwise. Third, for anyone
participating by phone, if you wish to testify, you must raise your hand by hitting star nine,
then star six to unmute yourself. Again, that is star nine, then star six to unmute yourself.
To enter an appearance statement, call 267-270-5548.
The number again is 267-270-5548 and leave your email address and address of the property at issue.
Fourth, the question and answer box is not for testimony.
Any comments are to be directed to Ms. Tanya Sunket and Ms. Fatina L.
Okay, here's where. Am I going right to the hearing summary?
We're calling and asking if there are any continuances.
The first read, excuse me, this is Sharon. Read out the continuances that are highlighted on the list and ask if anyone objects.
Got it. Calendar number MI2020-000841-1041 South 53rd Street. This case is continued. Attorney moving party. Is there anyone here who objects to that?
please let us know um madam chair if you could read out the entire list and then
thank you calendar number mi-2021-002671 1451 north broad street that case is continued
i'm sorry madam chair if i could just interject with this particular case um there was a lot of
people who were was planning to attend. I just want to announce on the record the date is October
13th at 9 30 a.m. Okay for 1451 North Broad Street that date is October 13th? Correct. At what time
Ms. Sunkit? 9 30 a.m. At 9 30 a.m. Thank you so much. Excuse me Ms. Sunkit I was actually taking
a call from Frank DiCicco. Could you repeat what was just said so that I can include it in my notes?
Frank DiCicco, could you repeat what was just said so that I can include it in my notes?
October 13th at 9.30 a.m. would be the 1451 North Broad Street attorney Carl Pimavera case.
Thank you very much.
You're welcome.
Calendar number MI2020-001579201 West Johnson Street.
This case is continued.
Calendar number MI-2021-001113, 2000 South 12th Street, continuance requested by Attorney for Applicant.
And lastly, calendar number MI-2020-002759-6324, Newtown Avenue.
This continuance is requested by the attorney for applicant. Does anyone object
to any of these continuance requests? If so, please raise your hand.
I see no hands, Madam Chair.
calendar number excuse me madam chair can we ask if there are any additional
yeah yeah i was just going to do that are there any additional requests for continuances
if so please raise your hand
madam chair we have william kerr
mr kerr please unmute yourself and please wait for madam chair okay thank you
mr care can you hear me yes i can madam chair okay you are here
i'm here on the case you just continued mi 2020 um zero zero one five seven nine two
West Johnson. We originally filed this appeal with the board back in September of last year
and we've had a number of delays. The current delay is because in June, L&I notified us that
they had missed that CDR review was required. We're hopeful to have that completed by October
the 5th of this year at the latest. I just wanted to make the request that if at all possible,
if we could have a uh a new hearing date sometime between the middle of october and the end of the
year if that's at all possible just to given the the length of time we've been waiting for this
to move forward thank you miss miss sunkett i think you can speak to miss sunkett on that
okay um and madam chair can i respectfully request that we just um get him sworn in on the record
please sure name and address please uh yeah william kerr k-e-r-r uh 40 east airy street in
norristown uh one nine four oh one do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but
the truth i do thank you everything i just stated previously um was was the truth thank you okay
if and madam chair this is tanya if i could just mention to mr kerr as soon as you get
correspondence from CDR, you're completed. Please email me and I will schedule according to what we
have available before the end of the year. Okay, thank you, Ms. Sunkett. I appreciate that.
You're more than welcome. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you. Is there anyone else
in the virtual audience who would like to speak to a continuance that was read out?
I see no hands, Madam Chair. Okay, thank you.
So we'll move to number three, calendar number 0132, 1630 Fitzwater Street.
This is a pro se matter. We have a letter of support from Sazna on this case. We're waiting
for Justin Eltz. Hello. Good morning. Hi, good morning. Hi. Can you put your name and address
on the record, please, and spell your last name? Yes. First name Justin, last name Eltz,
E-L-T-Z. Address is 1630 Fitzwater Street, Philadelphia PA 19146. Do you swear or affirm
to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
Okay, you may proceed.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry, I hate to interrupt.
This is Tanya.
Could we please promote him to a panelist, please?
I was just about to text you, Ms. Sunkit. I was trying, and it looks like it just succeeded.
I was just about to note a text you Ms. Sunkit.
Okay? He's coming back in his panel. I just pressed the button. Perfect. Thank you. Yep.
Share screen. So, I'm going to share a document with everyone. Can you let me know if you see
this PowerPoint? Not yet. Did you hit the green share button at the bottom? Are you on a computer?
There we go. It's coming up now. How's that? Looks great. Okay, great. So I'm the homeowner
of 1630 Fitzwater Street, and I'm here to talk about a variance. I want to build a roof deck
on my property, but several years ago, the, I guess, original house here was basically demolished,
and the developer at that time wanted to put in a five-story structure with a roof deck
and a garage and things like that, but that was not approved from the board, and so what happened
was i guess they eventually settled on the current structure which is a three-story house
which is where i currently live i bought this house in 2017 and as part of that decision there
was no part of the remarks for no roof deck associated with i guess the plan they ultimately
decided to to agree on and so when i went to file for a roof deck which all of the i'm not asking
for a modification of the code it has this legacy issue attached to the property and you'll see the
decision by LNI there referencing this old zoning decision and so that's how I got into this process
to try to basically remove this this zoning provision associated with the the property
and so you can see my house here it's with the green arrows pointing to it it's a three story
structure the proposed plan for the roof deck is 31 feet 8 inches height from grade pilot house is
nine feet above the roof deck pilot house is set back 25 plus feet and the roof deck is set back
nine feet plus from the front face of the home i will note there's several roof decks that are
existing on this block including one that was built across the street last year
And my next-door neighbor, both these homes next to me were just recently constructed.
My next-door neighbor to the left of the first picture has a roof deck as well.
And so this was the plan submitted to L&I.
And I'll note my neighborhood association prefers that my roof deck be sloped,
but my next-door neighbor has a rectangular pothouse,
so I'd prefer not to slope it unless it's a requirement for approval.
and you've met with the rco yes we do have um a letter of approval from them just the board have
any questions no no planning is there anyone in the virtual audience who would like to speak
on this case i see no hands madam chair thank you planning commission
Good afternoon, Ian Litwin, Planning Commission staff.
I need to be sworn in.
I know you do. Can you spell your last name, please?
Yes, Litwin, L-I-T-W-I-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Okay, you may proceed.
The comprehensive plan recommends no changes to the residential multifamily zoning for this property.
Given the site's history, we recommend the Board remove the proviso to allow for the construction
of a code-compliant roof deck and pilot house.
Thank you. Calendar number 0132, 1630 Fitzwater Street, my vote is yes.
Confessor Plaza, my vote is yes. Thomas Holliman, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
thank you and good luck calendar number 1421 1717 north 42nd street
the attorney is alan knockamson carol i believe number five they both together if i'm not mistaken
four and five okay and calendar number 1420 1715 north 42nd street the attorney also is alan
knockamson thank you um secretary plaza you're welcome
mr knockamson can you please put your name and address on the records
Mr. Nockamson, can you please put your name and address on the records by your last name?
He's coming back in as a panelist.
And I'm muted.
One of those days.
Good morning, Madam Vice Chair, members of the board.
My name is Alan Nockamson, A-L-A-N.
Last name is Nochumson, N-O-C-H-U-M-S-O-N. Address 123 South Broad Street, Suite 1600, Philadelphia, PA-19109.
Thank you. Do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with required documents consisting of proof of ownership, tax compliance, refusal or referral, photos and or 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 actually have two letters of support, one from the coordinating RCO and one from another affiliated RCO, both unanimously in support of our project, for both projects.
We see a support letter from Centennial Parkside Community Development Corporation by All Street Residents Association, East Parkside Residents Association, and another one from Centennial Parkside on both of these cases.
So you may proceed.
Thank you. May I share my screen?
Yes, you may.
so this project or projects at 1715 and 1717 north 42nd street is a great example
of being able to like work through a project with the community over multiple community meetings
we are we originally had a project and the unit count hasn't changed but it's really about the
look and feel of the project this is a neighborhood where porches are prevalent
And we really worked through a lot of the design issues with the community to make sure that our project and the design of our project fit within the fabric of this community.
So you'll see in my table of contents, you'll see the deeds to the property showing my client.
Raj Sohn is the, well, his corporate entity owns these properties.
Certificates of tax clearance showing that these entities are in good standing with the city of Philadelphia.
You'll see correspondence from Tanya Sunkit. Again, because we had to change the design and set these buildings back a bit to create porches, we needed ZBA's approval to amend our zoning appeal and go back down to L&I and seek additional or different refusals.
You'll see in the packet of materials the original notices of refusal for each property, as well as the new notices of refusal dated June 19, 2021.
one exhibit four you'll see our applications for appeal to the zoning board of adjustment exhibit
five you'll see maps of the area exhibit exhibit six you'll see photographs of the property and
surround the area in particular even though multifamily use is technically not allowed
given the zoning classifications of these properties you'll see photographs of a multitude
of properties within close proximity with similar type of multifamily use that's basically the
reason why the community had no issue with it they just want to make sure that it was designed in a
way that respected you know what this community is about. Exhibit 7 is the original drawings uh that
you uh that we presented uh to the community and exhibit 8 is the new drawings with the setbacks
for the porches. In exhibit 9 I don't have all of the support letters I only have the ones that
were given to me but it sounds like there were even more. We have a letter of support from
Centennial Parkside Community Development Corporation and a letter of support from East
Parkside Residence Association. Again, 1715 N 42nd Street LLC is the owner of 1715 North 42nd
Street and 1717 N 42nd Street LLC is the owner of the other property. Both properties are owned by
Raj Son or the entity is. He will adopt my testimony after my presentation. You'll see our
a certificate of tax clearance. We paid all taxes in full.
Letter from Ms. Sunkit allowing us to amend the zoning appeal, go back down to the ZBA.
These are the current refusals. Six units were an RSA 5 property. But again, if you look at the
surrounding area with photographs, this is not an RSA 5 neighborhood with only single-family use.
there's a mix between multifamily and single-family. Second refusal has to do with the
occupied area. Because we push these properties back, we actually increase the refusal in that
respect, but at the behest of the community. And the same thing, the third refusal has to do with
the setback requirement of four feet, where setbacks are expressly prohibited. But again,
that refusal in some ways is self-inflicted, but it's self-inflicted because at the request of the
In some ways, it's self-inflicted, but it's self-inflicted because at the request of the community.
community.
Our application for appeal for both properties, according to the Project Information Form and the Notice of Refusal.
Maps of the area, as you can see, we're not far from the park.
you can see photographs this is a rather large uh vacant lot or vacant lots
um but you can see like even the inkling going to the right on north 42nd street this is a porch
neighborhood uh to the left of the property on 42nd street and then just you know multi-family
properties that are RSA 5 in this neighborhood, 1723, 25, and 27. On Memorial Avenue, not far
from our property, it's 1727 and 1731 Memorial Avenue, 1722 Memorial Avenue. As you can see,
this is, again, the porch neighborhood that they wanted to keep intact. 4144 North Leidy Avenue,
and then our plans and drawings.
Does anyone have any questions?
I know you probably have a rather long list,
so I'll keep, you know, you saw the,
I mean, you had the letters to support.
They were all unanimously in support.