Just like it. Go ahead.
F-R-A-M-C-I-S-C-O.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, refusal or referral,
photos and 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 have a letter of opposition from the RCO.
Yes. You may proceed. Yes. Okay, you can go. Okay.
Okay, I'm on the house in the corner of the 659, and I like to push another unit in the
ground floor. When I buy the property, the property was the way that it is now. The only thing we do
was refinish with Chirac and all the stuff. And I like to put somebody in the...
Excuse me, Mr. Francesco. Do you have any photographs or plans that you can share with us?
yes yes we do i'm sorry um hi this is tanya again um i would um state if it's okay with
the counselor saletta that it's okay for your son to assist with the slide presentation if that
would help i was just about to say the same thing thank you we always on the same page
thank you
Thank you.
Sir, if you hover along the bottom of your screen, do you see the share screen button that's green?
Yes, I did. Okay. So after your document is open,
you can hit the share screen button and then click on the document and it will share. Okay.
I believe Ms. Paulos is also on this call and she has a plans that she can share with the board.
She's an architect that we used.
I'm sorry. What's her name? Ms. Paulus? Cheryl? Sherry?
Hello? Please promote her to panelists so she can share her screen.
Yes, she's coming back in now as a panelist. Thank you.
hello i'm going to share my screen can you put your name and address on the record please yes
it's cheryl pulos uh last name is p-o-u-l-o-s
your address my address sorry is 1014 county line road philadelphia pa 19116
Do you swear for him to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
You may proceed.
Sorry. Here's the plans. Chris, you can talk about it if you'd like.
so this is um the first i'm sorry i'm sorry chris i apologize for interrupting again this is tanya
but because miss polos is the architect you can discuss the plans and the presentation again must
be done by the dad sorry for the inconvenience okay no problem okay the first that's the ground
floor and the number two is our second floor and the first floor and the third is that second floor.
We have a ground floor, first floor and second floor.
Do you understand? So far. Okay. Thank you. Thank you for the
Amy okay oh you're doing your best you're doing great yeah I try yeah
and Miss Polos you can always jump in if you need you are sworn in and you are the architect
if that is correct sure um so this is the way the property was already set up this is how the owner
purchased it um and i believe he's just trying to legalize it he's not doing any new work to it
correct yes go right there so it's already set up it has a unit i think he was saying in the
basement he just added drywall but it was already set up to have a basement unit a first floor unit
and a second floor unit.
So he's just trying.
Excuse me.
Is that a corner property?
Is that a corner property?
Yes, a corner property, yeah.
So the ground level has a door to the outside?
Thank you.
They have two doors.
One in the side and one in the back.
if i could madam chair i believe you requested pictures do you all have pictures i'm sorry to
push this along but we have a couple more cases to go press do you have pictures i do have pictures
of the exterior yes yes um i mean this is this is the back and the side of the property right here
this is the back where you can see there's a door here
uh this is a the door for the first unit and there's also a back door as well
That's good.
that's good
does the board have any questions
you've met with the RCO
and the RCO has submitted
a letter of opposition
can I hear from planning commission
madam chair
I hate to interrupt. I apologize, Mr. Litwin, but we do have witnesses. Yes, we have Ms. Emerson from the council person's office, if she can be allowed to speak. Okay, sure. Hillary. Thanks. Thanks. Thank you, Tanya.
Name more address, please.
Good morning, Madam Vice Chair.
Hillary Emerson, E-M-E-R-S-O-N, room 577, City Hall.
Do you swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
And I apologize.
I believe I forgot to note that I'm from Councilwoman Sherelle Parker's office.
I did attend the RCO meeting from which the letter originated.
Just a little bit of history with this property. Based on what's available from L&I, this property had been a single family dwelling with a commercial use in the basement, which is why the basement is separate.
There doesn't appear to be any stairs connecting it to the rest of the property.
There's no history indicating that the upper two floors were legally converted to a duplex at some point.
So that is, we're not sure exactly when that happened.
um given that it is a corner property with an above grade um ground floor and that it had a
separate commercial use the councilwoman is not opposed to a maximum of two units
um at this property the community um even when presented with this information felt that a
single family dwelling was appropriate given that this is a small block um one-way street
so it's you don't necessarily see duplexes on the corners here as much on these small streets as you
would in other locations. I just a couple notes for the board if the board decided to grant the
request for a triplex obviously we would ask for a certificate of occupancy to be obtained
If the board felt that a duplex was appropriate, we feel that a variance would still need to be
granted because this, as far as we can tell, is still recognized as a single family home
based on the city's records. So even for a duplex, it would require a variance.
So with that, I'm happy to answer any questions from the board.
What would occur with the first floor? Would that be retail?
the the first the ground floor was like uh i believe it was an arcade um with pinball
machines in the past for it seemed like it was for multiple decades it was um yeah like an arcade
amusement parlor
just the board of any questions i'm concerned because he purchased it like that
i'm comfortable i'm comfortable with it because there's two means
of uh egress from the level
it's the upper the upper two there's no history indicating the upper two units being um two units
that's that was um the i think so i there's no this is a single family this was a single
family dwelling with commercial before so even recognizing it as a duplex would require a
variance because there's no multi-family history at this property so that's what i'm saying
okay thank you hillary planning commission
good afternoon uh ian litwin planning commission staff um this property is indicated for single
family residential use on the city plan however given the building's history planning commission
recommends the board approve the variance with proviso for a maximum of two units
thank you calendar number 05815966 elsinore street my vote is yes the max
5966 Elsinore Street. My vote is yes, with a maximum of two units.
Yes, with proviso. Thomas Holloman, proviso.
Can I comment something? Can I say something?
Um, actually, Mr. Francisco, you are done.
But you did a good job.
okay next case is calendar number 1091915 south 18th street the attorney is michael phillips
excuse me this is sharon madam chair before we get to that could you call to see go back to um
Mr. Young's case and see if he has, if he is now signed on or if it should be continued.
Sure. Mr. Phillips, give me a minute. Calendar number 1010, 2608 West Dauphin Street. The
attorney is Jeffrey Young. And it's indicated that exhibits have been submitted since January
and there is no RCO letter
from Strawberry Mansion CDC.
So Mr. Young, are you there?
No, Madam Chair.
Okay, this case is continued.
Mr. Phillips, I'll call your case again.
Calendar number 1091-915 South 18th Street.
All right. Good afternoon, Madam Vice Chair, members of the board, Michael Phillips, Claire Harrison, 1835 Market Street, Suite 1400, Philadelphia PA 19103.
Do you swear on the tale of the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
I agree to waive the reading. I do not stipulate as to its accuracy. We believe that the refusal should not have been issued.
Okay. Have you emailed your exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, refusal, referral, photos, and or plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing, and do you have an RCO letter? Also, have you met with the RCO?
Yes to all, and there is the RCO's letter of deferral.
We see that from South to South Neighbors Association. You may proceed.
Thank you. I'm going to share my screen, but again, Michael Phillips here on behalf of 1422
Front GP LLC, which is the owner of 915 South 18th Street. I have with me here Alon Bentolila,
who is a representative of the owner. I'll be brief because I know we've had a long day
so far today. This property was purchased as a triplex in 2016 with an existing parking space
at the rear. Here's a present day photo. It is a triplex at the southwest corner of
19th and Montrose. Here is an aerial. So here's 18th Street, here's Montrose, and here's the
parking space. This parking space was here when my client purchased the property in 2016.
moreover the parking space has been in existence we can date it as far back as
2004 so over 17 years this parking space has existed here's an area from 1996 we
cannot tell due to the black and white nature whether there's a car park there
but the property was actually a six-family dwelling back then I was
converted in 1999 to a triplex once again you see the parking spaces this is
photo from 2018 and I'm just going to make it so that I'm trying to make it so it only comes up as
one but that won't happen so regardless here's a photo from 2008 I'll zoom in once again you see
a parking a car park there 2010 there's a car park there and 2012 there's a car park there so
So there has been parking at this location continuously since at least 2004, photographs
of the posting.
Here is the plan.
This should be a better view.
Again, this is just the plan showing the parking space.
And if I can zoom in, you'd see there is a six foot, three inch setback between the property.
There is a six-foot, three-inch setback between the property and the parking space.
And that's significant because it is our position that this is a pre-existing nonconformity
that has existed since at least 2004 and that should be permitted under Section 14305 of
the zoning code, which provides that where the location of off-street parking does not
meet the requirements of the zoning code, the nonconformity may remain and be used not
Notwithstanding, once again, looking back at the zoning file, we know that as of at least 1999, when this property was decreased from a six family dwelling to a three family dwelling, it was in the R10 zoning district.
We can further glean that it was the R10B zoning district, which is the equivalent to today's RM1, which is what this property was, is currently zoned.
I'm pulling up the prior zoning code that was in effect as of 2004, and you can see
that I've highlighted the area about multifamily dwellings, and when open-air parking is provided
to the rear of the building, it shall be located behind the minimum depth and area required
for the rear yard, and here we have the minimum rear yard depth was five feet, which again,
we comply with.
So, again, that's all there really is to this case is we're looking to legalize the pre-existing nonconformity.
We believe that this is something that is permitted by right under the code.
And we have photographs showing this condition has existed since at least 2004.
My client purchased the property with the condition intact in 2016.
and it was not until they received a letter from LNI of a violation that necessitated
this appeal and request for a variance. Again, we do not believe a variance is necessary as this is
a pre-existing non-conforming condition that has been in effect for over 17 years. With that,
I'd like to ask my client, Ilan Bentolila, if he can press the raised hand function.
Ilan, are you there?
what's your client's name alon a-l-o-n last name is bentolila b-e-n-t-o-l-i-l-a
okay he's been he's been able to speak please unmute yourselves
okay alon if you can unmute yourself
and then once you've done so please state and spell your last name for the uh for the court
Hi, my name is Alon Bentolila. It's A-L-O-N. And Bentolila, it's B-E-N-T-O-L-I-L-A.
Okay. Alon, you are...
This address, Mr. Phillips, this address as well.
And Alon, if you could state your address for the record.
The Tioga.
If you could just give your address.
Sure, sure. 2701 East Tioga Street.
philadelphia pennsylvania 19134 thank you sir do you agree to wait no strike that
sir do you swear to affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes i do okay you may proceed thank you alan uh you heard uh my testimony uh and everything that
i stated a moment ago did you not i approve it yeah okay do you agree that uh everything that
i stated is true and accurate to the best of your knowledge information and belief yes okay and do
you agree to adopt my testimony as your own yes i do i have no further questions does the board
have any questions no no no is there anyone in the virtual audience who needs to testify
madam chair we have richard please unmute yourself and please wait for madam chair
Richard Gliniak, G-L-I-N-I-A-K, address is 1918 Carpenter Street, Philadelphia, PA-19146.