Thank you.
there we have 44 attendees and we can start as you wish why don't we start
Are we ready?
Yes, Chair, we've been recording.
Okay, thank you.
Good morning, everyone.
My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this morning's meetings.
Before we begin, I have two announcements.
Number one, we are pleased to announce that Ian Haggerty is a new executive director for the
zoning board. Mr. Haggerty is a longtime employee of the Planning Commission. And for those people
who have practiced here before, Mr. Haggerty has participated and represented planning in numerous
zoning board cases. So we are very, very pleased to welcome Mr. Haggerty as our new executive
director. Second, beginning with the December 4th hearings, any documents or other information
that parties wish to submit to the zoning board for hearings must be submitted through the zoning
board's new online upload tool, ZBA case document submission. Information about how to access this
will be included with hearing notes and zoning posters. Please note that the applicant documents
are due five calendar days prior to the hearing. Documents submitted by any other parties should
be submitted at least 48 hours prior to the hearing to allow sufficient time for processing.
In addition, the following information should be continued to be submitted through email only
and not through the upload tool. Requests for continuances, withdrawals, reconsideration,
and amended refusals, as well as requests by attorneys to enter withdrawal appearances.
If you have any questions about the ZBA case document tool, please contact RCOZBA at phil.gov.
And thank you.
With me today is our Vice Chair, Ismail Shahid.
President, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you.
Our Board Member, Cheryl L. Gaston.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our board member, Michael Johns.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
And our board member, Taya Nguyen.
Is she here yet?
She may not be here, Mr. Chair.
She may be out of state.
Okay, thank you very much.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Also, oh, thank you.
Also present is our attorney, Hillary Emerson,
and also our executive director, Ian Haggerty.
Here's our virtual format. The proceedings are being recorded. With your participation,
you agree to be recorded. A video will be available by contacting
ZBA Executive Director at phil.gov. For a court stenographer, attorneys and witnesses
should identify themselves before testifying. If you're participating by phone, press star nine
to raise your hand and star six to unmute. To enter an appearance statement, call 267-270-5548.
Leave your email address and the address of the profiting question. And finally,
the question and answer box on the screen is not for testimony. Any questions should be directed to
zbaexecutive director at phila.gov. Let's look at our schedule for today.
No, I'll be with you.
Number two, MI 2024, 000237, 1519, 1529-31 North Hancock Street, that case is continued.
Number three, MI 2024-000-792-2333 East Allegheny Avenue. That case has been continued by the board.
Number seven. MI 2024-003-974-1525 West Wyoming Avenue. That case has been continued.
And number eight, MI 2024-003-975-2937A Street, that case has been continued.
Are there any other requests for continuances?
Good morning, Chair.
This is Jasmine, and I will be your co-host for today.
I see no means at this time.
Number 5. MI 2024-003-972-4018 Lancaster Avenue. We have the exhibits. This is the first listing. Could Sharifo Islam please identify himself?
Sharifo Islam, if you're in the virtual audience, can you please raise your virtual hand?
I see no hands at this time, Chair.
Thank you.
I'm going up and down, up and down.
Okay, here you go.
Sir, could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
My first name M for Mary, D for David.
My last name is Islam. I for India, S for Sam, L for Lima, A for Apple, and for May.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Everything is truth. I swear it.
Sir, we received your documents too late to process today.
They have to be in five days in advance.
So what we're going to do is continue this case.
And if you have any questions on what your document should be or the timing, please call our office, okay?
So I need to contact with the office?
Well, you don't have to.
I'm saying if you have any questions, contact the office.
I'm saying that we've received your documents late.
We do have them, and you will be ready for the next time around, okay?
May I know when and after how long this can be?
uh the contact the office and they'll give you an idea when this is going to come back okay
okay okay thank you very much sir
number six mi 2024 003 973 201 north 58th street no exhibits this is the first listing
Latifah Corsi
is the listed applicant
so chair I have a hand up by the name of Joanne Waters
I'm not sure if they are associated with this case
let's see if she's associated or not
okay they have been allowed to speak
could you please state your name and spell for the court sonographer
Joanne Warren Waters
W-J-O-A-N-N
W-A-T-E-R-S
Do you swear
hold on, do you swear
to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing
but the truth?
Are you
involved in this case on 58th Street?
Yes I am
there should be a number of members
on the call from
Mount Carmel Baptist Church
we were not aware of the process
we did an email
a petition
and my pastor also emailed the letter
regarding
just so you know
we do not have the exhibits for the person yet
so I'm calling her
if the exhibits are not here we're going to wind up
continue this so Latifah
Corsi please
I see no one in the virtual audience
by their name chair
So MI 2024-003-973-2013.
So MI 2024-003-973-201-North 58th Street.
First listing, no exhibits, cases continue, but marked must be heard.
Thank you.
Number 12.
MI 2024-004-047-2717 Federal Street.
The listed owner is Michael McCrillo. No exhibits. First listing.
I see no one in a virtual audience with their name, dear.
So MI 2024-004-047-2717 Federal Street.
This is the first listing. No exhibits. Cases continued. Mark must be heard.
And number 13, MI 2024-004-084-8129-31 Stanton Avenue, this case has been withdrawn.
We're going to go to our add-on list.
Next. Number one, MI 2024-003-934-2653 North Daring Street. I vote yes with proviso. Must obtain a building permit.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes with proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Ishmael Shaheen, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Number two, MI 2024-005-342-1901 North American Street.
Appeal denied.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is appealed denied.
Michael Johns, my vote is appealed denied.
Danetta Graham, my vote is appealed denied.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is appealed denied.
Number three, MI 2024, 000127, 5458 West Burke Street.
Ishmael, I was not here for this
vote. You'll have to vote on this. No, I'm sorry. Wait, wait,
wait, wait, wait. Here it is.
I vote yes.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Tsunetta Graham, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Ishmael, in this next one, I was not here, but
The case is MI2024-003-175-6709 Essington Avenue.
Your vote is.
Excuse me.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
it's not a grand my vote is yes
we're going to go to our regular list we'll start with one mi 2022 007 excuse me mr chair
mr chair can we start with um i believe it's number um 14 montrose street oh sure sure sure
i thought you said to do one first i'm sorry uh yeah no 14 then go to number one thank you
14. MI 2024-004-128-2200 Montreux Street. Henry Clinton is the attorney. There's a letter of support from the South of South Neighbors, 11 to 1.
Henry Clinton will be rejoining us as a panelist.
morning mr clinton morning mr chairman you please state your name and spell for the court
stenographer sir sure henry clinton h-e-n-r-y clinton c-l-i-n-t-o-n you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do could you identify your client
and relationship to the property sure my client is the dijon d-e-a-j-o-n family trust
Sure. My client is the Dijon, D-E-A-J-O-N, Family Trust, and the principal is on the call, Dr. Silvana, S-I-L-V-A-N-A, Kumani, C-U-M-A-N-I.
project.
And our vice chair has a few questions, sir.
Good morning, counsel. Do you agree to wait to read another refusal or articulate code's accuracy?
I do, Mr. Shahid.
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that's needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
I have, and this morning I also attached a zoning permit that was inadvertently omitted five days ago.
Understood. Thank you very much, counsel. Please proceed and introduce me.
Good morning, Mr. Chairman, members of the board. Can you see this presentation?
We can, sir.
And I'd like to thank you for your courtesies, both of the ZBA staff, Ms. Emerson, as well as the board.
Thank you.
This concerns 2200 Block of Montrose Street at the corner of 22nd and Montrose.
It's a dental practice that has been in existence since 2008, and we're seeking the expansion of this use in this single-family zoning district.
These are my table of contents, which contains Exhibits A1 to A10, as well as the 2008 zoning permit for this property.
Excuse me, Hank, can you make this a little bit bigger, please?
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
Thank you, Ms. Gaston.
So the refusal, as I said, this is an RSA 5 zoning district.
And the current use is a group practitioner.
It's a dental practice.
As I said, it's been in existence in this corner for 15 years.
The first floor and basement are the existing practice.
In the basement is office, a meeting room, an area to grab lunch or dinner, whatever.
And then the first floor is dental practice.
The second and third floor is an apartment.
So the thought is to remove the apartment and expand to the second and third floor.
We do have an RCO letter of support, and again, there's reference in this letter that this
variance is for a dental practice that was granted 15 years ago.
Just some photos for perspective, Montrose Street, where my cursor is, 22nd Street, which leads
right to Center City, and this is the existing three-story building, newly constructed in 2008.
First floor and basement dental practice, second and third floor existing apartment.
uh we're looking west on montrose street the entrance is on montrose street
this is the entrance to the apartment on the second and third floor and this is the entrance
to the dental practice on the left i have some interior photographs to show you that the dental
practice is nicely appointed the majority of the patients of dr kamani who is on the call
are from the neighborhood. She currently has nine employees and two doctors. With the addition of
chairs, she will bring on two more employees. It was important at the community group to address
the parking issue. There's only two employees who currently drive to work, and they park on the
other side of Washington Avenue because in this neighborhood, there's a two-hour parking limit.
So the remainder of the employees take the bus, and several of them walk and are from the neighborhood.
So this is the proposed floor plan.
The existing floor plan on the lower level, as I said, is an office, an area for kitchen and lounge.
And the first floor has four dental chairs and a reception area.
The second and third floor, the apartment, if this proposal is granted, the apartment will be removed.
removed and then additional chairs and two bathrooms will be used the bathroom on the
first floor is handicap accessible and as i showed you from photographs it's ground level entrance
to the practice so it's accommodating individuals with wheelchairs and strollers because the
practice is takes care of both children as well as adults and it's kind of unique and i'll have
Dr. Khomeini comment on the insurance aspect of the dental practice. She takes both Medicaid
and Medicare, which many offices in Center City and nearby do not take.
This is our tax clearance. This is our zoning map, again, indicating at the corner of 22nd
and Montrose, the deed indicating ownership. Our notice to the neighbors of the meeting,
as well as today's meeting, including all the properties within 250 feet on Montrose Street,
on Montrose Street, Christian Street, and Kimball Street. And this is the permit
Christian Street, and Kimball Street.
that was issued in June of 2008. It was a newly constructed building with a dental office on the
first floor and living quarters, one apartment on the second and third floor. In terms of trash,
my client has a service that comes and picks up any medical waste as well as trash.
the hours of operation are nine to five Monday through Friday there are no weekend or evening
hours and misuse as I said has been in existence for 15 years we're not altering the essential
character of the neighborhood we're actually the use of the building because that has been
consistently a dental practice we are not expanding the footprint we are not detrimental
to the public health, we believe the use is in harmony with the neighborhood and past usage.
And it's, from all accounts, it's a welcome addition to the neighborhood because of the
clientele is expanding. And frankly, I think the doctor is adding the chairs too to spend more time
with the patients, because if you're limited in your number of chairs, you have to move people
through the system. So with that, I would like to close the presentation and ask my client to
unmute herself and adopt my testimony. Dr. Khamenei, can you unmute yourself?
Sylvia Khamenei has been allowed to speak.
Could you please, doctor, could you please state your name and spell for the court's
demographer?
My name is Silvana Kumani, S-I-L-V-A-N-A, last name C-U-M-A-N-I.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you, Mr. Barrett.
Dr. Kamedi, I just want you to explain to the board what I referenced about the insurance that you take at your practice and why it's unique.
Well, we are really proud to say that in that area, we are the one that we serve the underserved Medicare and Medicaid patients.
that's why
we always
have had
the support of our
neighbors
so we're just
asking for a little bit more room
Thank you Dr.
Camani, Dr. Camani
were you on this call when I presented your
project to the board? Yes
And if you had the opportunity to testify
would you adopt my testimony as your
own and as true, correct?
Thank you, Dr. Comaini.
Questions from the board?
I have no questions.
It looks like you're going to double the number of chairs here?
And then what's going to happen on the third floor?
I'm sorry.
It's a little small.
So it's hard for me to, the third, the, what is that?
I guess that's the second floor where the apartment is.
Part of it is going to be used for the practice.
What's going to happen on the upper level there?
The same thing.
We'll have more chairs on the third floor.
So the second floor and third floor basically has the same floor plan.
All right.
I'm sorry.
Oh, okay.
I'm sorry.
It's hard for me to read it.
I'm sorry.
No, here I can.
So on the right, we have the basement space, right?
That's the office and the, I guess, like employee sort of snack space or whatever it is.
Correct.
The kitchen.
All right.
All right.
All right.
And then next to that is the first floor, then the second floor, then the third floor.
I'm all right. Thank you. Thank you. Any other questions from the board?
Why should there are comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair. Why should there are comments from the virtual audience?
Yes, Chair. I have a hand up by the name of Breonna Wakefield. They have been allowed to speak.
Could you please state your name? It's spelled for the court stenographer.
Yes, Brianna Wakefield, B-R-I-O-N-N-A, last name Wakefield, W-A-K-E-F-I-E-L-D.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I swear.
I swear.
Are you a neighbor?
No, I actually work for Council President Johnson.
Please proceed.
Yes, I just wanted to state that the Council President does not oppose this project at this time.
Thank you very much for taking the time to call us. We appreciate it. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
Yes, Chair. I have a hand up by the name of Irena Lala. They have been allowed to speak.
Could you please state your name. It's spelled for the court stenographer.
Good morning. This is Irena Lala. Name is spelled I-R-E-N-A. Last name L-A-L-A.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
I swear.
Are you a neighbor?
Okay, please proceed.
We are a family of four, all patients of Dr. Kumani's clinic at 2200 Montrose.
And we are, you know, with Dr. Kumani and support her request because it is so convenient for our family to have the clinic so nearby.
We use public transportation whenever we have appointments.
My teenage children are able to be seen in the after school hours, which works great for us so they don't have to skip school.
And if Dr. Kumani will have the opportunity to have more chairs, they don't even have to wait longer to be seen by their, you know, by their dentist.
So we are in favor of of this project simply for the benefit of our family and families like ours.
Thank you.
Thank you very much for taking the time to call us. We appreciate it. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
Yes, Chair. I have two more hands up at this time. Kalea Dima has been allowed to speak.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Clea Dima, K-L-E-A, last name D-H-I-M-A.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Are you a neighbor?
Do you support this project?
Could you give us reasons other than what we've already heard?
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
So, yes, I live in the graduate hospital area just a few blocks away from the office.
And I really believe that allowing the dentist's office to expand their business within the building will allow them to help more people, as stated.
Some of the members, some of the patients are from the neighborhood, which is great.
And then the office offers an important community service as they take all types of insurance, as the doctor mentioned.
The hope and expectation is that maybe wait times will be shortened for patients, some of which are seniors and children.
I believe that this change will allow everyone in the office to work more effectively and efficiently as they serve members of the Philadelphia community in the health care sphere.
Thank you very much for your call. We appreciate it. Next hand, please.
Natalie Kalou has been allowed to speak.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Natalie, will you please unmute yourself?
Natalie?
Natalie Kalou, will you please unmute yourself?
is there anyone else in the virtual audience no more he's at this time chair
thank you very much planning commission
good morning amy wood with the planning commission aoy poyd you swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do please proceed
The comprehensive plan recommends no change in zoning at this location from the existing single-family residential, RSA-5.
The property was granted a variance in 2008 for sole practitioner.
The proposed use as group practitioner is consistent with documented prior use.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the board grant the requested variance for a group health practitioner's office.
MI 2024-004-128-2200 Montrose Street, I vote yes.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes.
Gerald Gaston, my vote is yes.
Tannetta Graham, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Thank you. You have your votes, Councilman.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for taking me out of turn.
Sure. Thank you.
MI 2022-007-252-3730 North 18th Street.
37 30 North 18th Street. This is a resumptive hearing. Vern Anastasio is the attorney.
This is a resumptive hearing.
Vern Anastasio will be joining us as a panelist.
good morning mr anastasio good morning mr chair would you please state your name and spell for
the court stenographer or it's verne anastasio a-n-a-s-t-a-s-i-o on behalf of my client aj
single you swear or firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
Yes, sir. I do. Mr. Anastasio, this is a resumptive hearing. Could you give us an update
relative to your contact with the 13th Ward RCO? 13th Ward RCO did send a letter with six members
opposing. As such, it's an opposition letter. Again, we did submit signatures of 26 immediate
residents in support of the project. The feedback was that the neighbors were not necessarily
concerned about the use as much as the property's condition over the long term.
Tried to explain to them at the meeting that my client simply did not have the funds, could not
afford to maintain the property at the time. He purchased it in disrepair. It remained in
disrepair, does have the funds now to rehabilitate it, but that's where we are.
Anastasia, my understanding, you went from three units to two?
Have we had public comment on this?
Yes, we have, Mr. Chair.
We can see if the RCO or the council office has any further comments.
I don't know if there was any further conversations that occurred after the last hearing.
But the only other thing that we need is planning commission.
Why don't we open up to the board to see if they have any comments with the changes?
Questions or comments from the board?
I have a question.
Did the RCO letter that was received, did it talk about the two units or the three units?
was it referencing it was based on the three unit application okay so the rco didn't uh request any
kind of uh decrease in units or it just wasn't presented to them it wasn't presented to them at
the time it was not presented to them at the time it was you know uh obviously we were there to get
feedback they seem to be concerned about the property's condition over the the course of the
ownership it has been vacant for a very long time it was in disrepair when purchased and it remained
in disrepair thank you comments on the board questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see no hands at this time chair
planning commission i'm sorry sure sure yeah no no i'm saying so there was were there any plans
for the two units or just it was just plan submitted for the three units we are we have
plans for two units we can we can send over i think we did send it over miss emerson could
correct me if i'm wrong but i believe this was a a change of use only so there wouldn't have been
plans required um so i mean the applicant may have had some plans drawn up but there would
not have been plans uh required by lni in this case but we are it's a three-story building
we can make it to bi-level units.
Thank you.
Questions?
Planning Commission.
Amy Boyd with the Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential single-family RSA 5 zoning at this location.
The appellant has not shown that the property cannot possibly use in circumference with zoning code,
that the variance is therefore necessary to enable viable economic use of the property in its current self-condition.
While there is prior documented use of the property as two-family, there is evidence that the property has been vacant since 2016.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the Board deny the proposed used variance.
Mr. Chair, it's a 3,000-square-foot building.
To rehab this into a single family home, it would put it at a price point that no one would be able to take on, which is why we've reduced from three to two family.
which is why we've reduced from three to two family.
That's the long history of the property.
That's the long history of the property itself.
I-2022-007-252-3730 North 18th Street.
I vote yes with proviso, maximum two units.
Is there a basement living?
Can we add that as a proviso?
Maximum two units, no basement living.
My vote is yes with proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Tanada Graham, my vote is yes, with proviso.
No, Shahid, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Thank you, counsel. You have your votes.
Thank you.
Number four.
This is Hillary.
We have a case that was inadvertently not put on the notes that you received this morning.
It was a case that we continued from last week because we needed an interpreter.
If we could hear that case next, that would be great.
I'll read it into the record.
That case, it's MI-2024-00056, 1329 Levick Street.
And it's a pro se case.
I believe we have an interpreter present, a Spanish interpreter.
Interpreter present.
this is the interpreter speaking could you please state your name and spell for the
court stenographer yes my name is steven aubain s-t-e-v-e-n-a-u-b-a-i-n my idea is y as in yankee
i'm as in mike 288 hillary do you have the interpreter swearing in in front of you
um yes i can um i can do that um mr robin d um do you swear to faithfully and accurately
translate um english into spanish and spanish into english i do all right thank you
um what's the name of the yes the name of the applicants um marlon escobar and kenya
or Ayena
I believe they're with
Ms. Cadillo
who is
I think she's already been promoted to a panelist
or there's
someone else okay it looks like there's
a couple people coming in
why don't we have the interpreter
call her
it looks like it's
Is it Marlon Cadillo that's present?
It looks like...
Marlon Cadillo is the expediter.
Right, right.
No, I'm just asking for the...
Oh, Marlon Escobar.
Sorry, who's the applicant that is presenting?
Interpreter, could you please ask him what his name is,
if he could state and spell it for the record?
Si usted no puede dar su nombre y deletrarlo para ver registro.
Marlene Jerónimo Escobar.
The interpreter will clarify, y lo puedes deletrar para el registro.
M-A-R-L-E-N-G-E-R-O-N-I-M-O-E-S-C-O-V-A-R.
Permítame, so it's Marlon, M-A-R-L-E-N, Verónimo, G-E-R-O-N-I-M-O, Escobar, E-S-C-O-B-A-R.
Did you ask him his relationship to the property?
¿Cuál es su relación a la propiedad? ¿Usted es el dueño?
Ask them to please start showing their documents.
Mr. Chair, I can read the refusal into the record for this one, because this is a pro se matter.
No, no, no. Let Hillary speak, please.
Por favor, dejara Hillary hablar.
This application is for use as multifamily household living, three dwelling units, and an existing structure.
applications para utilizarlo para una familia múltiple en esto tuvieran tres cuartos o
habitaciones viviendas en un mismo lugar there is one use refusal
There is one use refusal.
Hubo un rechazo de uso.
The proposed use multifamily household living is prohibited in the RSA 5 zoning district.
Y el uso para familias múltiples fue rechazado para uso en el distrito en la zona RSA 5.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair, showing the documents, please.
And we we agree with what you're doing, what you're showing.
We have that document.
You got those documents.
Keep going.
As this deed.
Mailing is okay.
Keep going.
Could you show us photos of what you have right now first?
Oh my God. One second, please.
Yes, I need to go in a second.
Okay, now.
But he will.
do we have photos yes one second i'm trying to get them up
could you ask them is this already an existing structure like is this already a triplex
oh currently it's a duplex that's why we're here to make it a triplex
show us more photos first please
so that is the bottom part that i'm requesting um your permission so that i
can make it into an apartment since it's such a big place um it has a lot of space
is this the is this the basement that we're looking at yes so he wants
and he wants the basement to be an apartment
If you can see there is a living room and then there's also two garages.
So there's the same amount of space as the other two apartments in the basement.
And that's why I would want the permission to be able to make the basement into an apartment.
Could you please show us the drawings?
If you can show us the drawings.
So, as seen in the plan, you can see that.
as seen in the in the plan um you can see that we don't see the plans we don't see the plans is
We don't see the plans.
We don't see the plans.
what i'm saying you gotta show us the plans
and are you better see it now we see plans so
yes that is that is what I need to be able to give me that permission
if you see the third plant I have two quarters, the bathroom, the kitchen and the
bathroom, the second is identical, it is the same, so I bought the property like this
so as you can see um with the second and third floor what i'm trying to do in the basement is
the exact same space and i'm trying to make it identical to the other apartments so this is a
two-story building y esto es un edificio de dos pisos no de tres three the three-story building
so what i mean my i guess my question before i i thought he said he was trying to build in the
basement oh i see oh i got it okay so he's he's what he wants to do that garage in the back
as an apartment así que lo que quiera hacer es el garaje en la parte de atrás como un apartamento
si yo tengo los dos garajes la sala que le mostré entonces los dos garajes serían dos cuartos y
so um yes as you can see there is a two um two garages and those i want to make into bedrooms
and it has the living room um i i'm also trying to put so i'm also trying to put a door in the
back and then a door on the side it would be a good of a good price range as well
hillary what's its own rail
the zoning is rsa5
they're not duplexes there
that is not how it that is not how it's zoned
but that doesn't mean they're not duplexes it's just not how the zoning is
are there other houses on the block that have converted garages into apartments
So as you can see, um, that's the one that's, um, the Interpreter Quarters
Clarification, is it that directamente al frente o atras?
so um this is the one that is in directly behind us and as you can see they have um closed it off
i don't know if they did it legally but that's why i'm here to do it um legally
what am i looking at there
so these are also houses that have um transformed um their homes as well um and i don't know if
he showed us photos of the front and rear of his property
nos puede enseñar fotos de la parte de al frente y la parte de atrás de su
propiedad esa esa es ahí está la parte de enfrente
como usted ve y se ve la esquina de la otra casa que le digo yo que está
arreglado el beymond mire ve ahí se ve justo la foto
so that is the front of the property
let me see the rear y déjeme ver la parte de atrás
okay all right thank you questions or comments from the board
yeah the question uh the uh site plan shows uh the property uh line on the
uh the property uh line on the right hand side if you go back to the site plan or the
basement floor plan or whatever it is um and that's a common driveway
así que este tengo una pregunta acerca del plano este y la línea de propiedad en la mano derecha
Right. I can't tell whether that's to the center line of the driveway or what, or is that the entire width of the driveway.
And I don't know if that's the whole area of the parking lot or the entrance, or if it's part of that entrance.
No, those are entrances, these cars that you see in that photo are from the other building, from the other side.
pero la propiedad aquí está la que yo estoy mostrando en la parte de aquí de atrás y aquí
atrás donde usted ve ya atrás esta es una entrada que hay para todas las casas para allá atrás aquí
donde usted ve que le estoy mostrando aquí con el dedo y más allá en la parte de ahí ahí atrás
donde usted ve en la casa tiene un parqueo ahí para el apartamento que voy a hacer si me dan el
permiso ustedes si me dan la oportunidad tiene un parqueo en la parte de atrás so what you're
seeing on the side is parking for the building that's next door but in the apartment itself
there will be space for um parking um directly in front of that uh new apartment yeah that kind
of wasn't my question there was a there's a dotted line that's on the you know a property line that's
shown on the drawing and i wasn't sure whether that was the whether that was the width of the
um was that the width of the you know of the the whole you know uh driveway or was it to the
center lineable driveway kind of doesn't matter at this point because my concern is that the door
to the proposed um unit opens directly into um a driveway um as opposed to the units that are
directly across from there that have the apartments that although it exits directly into the parking
spaces that are behind the stores that are on the front so the people that live on the top of the
stores enter from that side but they have parking so they're not walking right out into the driveway
is my concern um so that's okay that's that's kind of my issue with the plan the fact that it's close
to the corner is a good thing i don't have a problem necessarily with that the issue is opening
up and you're right there and there's no walkway
that separates somebody from opening the door
and getting hit by a car
Así que lo que
yo estaba hablando era acerca de
la distancia o la medida
de la entrada de la parte
de atrás del apartamento
si era de acuerdo a
o la medida de la propiedad
la línea de propiedad como tal
pero eso en sí no importa porque lo que
a mí más me preocupa es que
cuando ellos salgan del apartamento
en el sótano
No, que ellos entren directamente a la entrada como tal y que estén expuestos a los otros vehículos.
No es como los demás edificios que ellos tienen un lugar para estacionamiento,
pero que cuando salen de la habitación como tal o de la vivienda como tal van directamente a la entrada y pueden ser expuestos a vehículos.
No, pero la parte de atrás, la parte de atrás que tiene va a ser privada porque solo va a tener su carro parqueado allí.
So that wouldn't be a problem because in the back, that would be a private driveway for their vehicle only.
And then on the side, there is an emergency exit. And that would be it.
I think that's
Mr. John's point
Is there other questions from the board?
I have a question
Where is the trash stored now
and where is
I guess in terms of
access to
the utilities
the mechanicals
how is that achieved
in your drawing?
Así que ahora tengo otra pregunta.
¿Cómo es que tienen acceso a basura y para también las utilidades en este esquema de planos?
Esa basura está puesta enfrente porque el basurero siempre pasa enfrente allí de la casa.
So the trash is in the front of the house because the garbage truck comes from the front of the house.
other questions
and who has access to the basement like how much access is given to the basement in terms of like
and who has access to the basement like how much
the second and the third units on the uh of the building would they have access to the basement
y la unidad es of the basement y la este el segunda y tercera planta de la unidad van a
tener acceso a el sótano no no no eso es aparte los apartamentos están aparte arriba eso yo este
so um they don't have accents to um the basement the only two entrances and exits
are the emergency exit on the side and then the back entrance
so the back entrance is considered this his main entrance to that uh lower unit
You can't do that. You cannot enter through a bedroom. You can't enter a unit through a bedroom and a room that's subject to locking. You can't do that. That can't be your main entrance.
So that can be your main entrance, because they can't enter for a fourth unit.
Yes, that can change. That can be different.
I'm trying to do what you ask me.
I'm trying to do it with permission, because many people have induced me to do it without permission,
but I don't want to do something illegal.
So that could be changed and that's why I came here so that I can get your permission so that I could do it the correct way because there's been many people that told me, oh, that you don't need to get any sort of permits and don't don't do it that way.
but I wanted it to do it the legal way.
So I'm here to listen to what you have to say
so that I can make those changes
like you're telling me.
Other questions from the board?
Questions or comments from our attorney,
Hillary Emerson.
Just briefly, Mr. Chair,
um the we do not have an RCO letter um in this case the coordinating RCO was take back your
neighborhood but we we received it can you please show it because we we did not receive a copy
Give me one second, please.
They just sent an email.
I have to save it.
While you're doing that,
can you just verify that this is the meeting
that occurred
on July 25th?
Y mientras hace eso,
esta reunión,
si me puede verificar,
fue la que ocurrió
en Julio 25.
¿A dónde?
Where?
Are we just,
I'm just basing it off
of the letter
that was in the exhibit packet
that said a meeting
was occurring
on July 25th.
Yes, and they were there and they checked the basement and everything.
Okay, so it was a site visit?
Yes, so it was a site visit or maybe?
Could you make that a little larger?
I'm not having a...
We can't...
We can't...
It's better than make the letter larger.
Puede hacer la carta más grande
o ponerlo más grande
en la pantalla.
I'm trying, but it doesn't allow me.
It appears that the letter
is in opposition.
La carta está en opuesto.
All right. Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
All right, questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Preguntó comentarios de la audiencia virtual.
And, Mr. Chair, I just ask if the applicant could submit this letter to us for our records along with a copy of the floor plans.
And I think there were some additional photos that were not previously submitted as well.
Whatever you have, please send now to our office, OK?
Así que todos esos documentos, la carta, los planeos y otras fotos que uno había incluido previamente, si no los puede enviar.
Thank you.
Planning Commission.
No hands, Mr. Chair, please excuse the interruption.
Thank you very much. Planning Commission.
Amy, what the Planning Commission?
This property is indicated for residential use on the city plan.
Así que esta es la Comisión de Planeo. Esta propiedad está para uso de residencial en los planos.
El distrito recomienda que no haya cambio en la zona como estaba previamente en esta ubicación.
the applicant has not demonstrated that the property cannot be used in conformance with
the zoning code due to unique physical circumstances or conditions
y el aplicante no ha podido demostrar que esta residencia puede ser utilizada como está
adecuadamente en la zona y en las condiciones necesarias therefore we recommend that the
requested variance not be granted.
Por eso es que nosotros recomendamos que las variencias pedidas no sean dadas.
Hillary, could you please read the number and the address in the record?
Yes, Mr. Chair.
This is MI-2024-000056-1329 Levick Street.
I vote no.
Oh, Mr. Chair, let the interpreter put that on the record.
Oh, I'm sure.
Este es el caso MI, línea 2024, línea 000056, 1329 Levick Street.
I vote no.
Voto no.
Michael Johns, my vote is no.
Michael John, voto no.
Oh, Gaston, my vote is no.
Cheryl Gaston, mi voto es no.
Tanada Graham, my vote is no.
Tanada Graham, my vote is no.
Ishmael Shahid, my vote is no.
Ishmael Shahid, my vote is no.
Thank you.
And count interpreter, thank you very much for your help.
We appreciate it.
Thank you.
Thank you, everyone.
Thank you.
We're going to move on to number four.
MI 2024
000819
Oakmont Street. Robert and Amanda
Klein are the owners.
Good morning, Mr. Chair.
This is Jason Hand. I'm serving as temporary
co-host. The person
has been promoted to
panelist.
Okay. Could you please state your name and spell it for the court sonographer?
My name is Robert Klein, R-O-B-E-R-T-K-L-E-I-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Okay. Our vice chair has a few questions.
good morning sir have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that's needed
to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing yes sir thank you please proceed
and share the screen
So it's not allow me because someone else is sharing still.
Yeah, could we, could we, could we have that take it off the screen that what's up there now?
Thank you.
Now try.
Attendee.
Thank you very much.
Welcome.
Hey, so my name is Robert Klein.
We've owned 444 Oakmont Street since 2003.
44-44 Oakmont Street since 2003.
It was the very first apartment me and my girlfriend at the time moved into, now my wife.
It was, you know, very
We started our family in this home, quickly outgrew it when our daughter was born.
The home means a lot to us, and we're hoping we can get this visitor accommodation license so that we can continue to own it.
The city introduced new licensing requirements, or I'm sorry, sorry.
After losing both of our tenants around Christmas in 2022, we decided to make improvements to the apartment and try it out as an STR.
We spent roughly six months improving the home so that it would be a good STR rental.
We'd work on nights and weekends when we didn't have any other commitments.
It was the perfect storm for us.
Right after we finished everything and went live, the city introduced new licenses, requirements, and we're fine getting whatever license we have to get.
But right now, we cannot get the license because of the zoning.
So that's what we're here for today, to seek a variance to the zoning that will allow us to get the visitor accommodation license.
We have a landscaper that we've had probably for 15 years.
Trash is put out weekly.
We have two dedicated parts.
Why don't you start showing your documents besides just the one, okay?
So this is just showing that we post at the meeting.
This is the bedroom.
This is the back driveway.
This is the, it is a corner property.
This is the front corner.
Trash is inside the yard and right outside, you know, right along the side of the house.
This is the kitchen, living room, kitchen, picture, living room again.
so that's pretty much all of our our pictures let me let me ask you this let me ask this is it
two apartments it is two apartments yes so shows again should you show the second
floor apartment shows the kitchen on the second floor
that's the kitchen on the second floor yes all right then what's the first floor
so i don't have any pictures of the first floor right now um i thought it was just because so we
we're not doing anything in the first floor. We, we had a tenant get out and then we did.
But my question is, are you going to put a tenant in the first floor? You're saying you want to
make that an Airbnb too? We want to make that an Airbnb as well, but we haven't,
we're, we haven't done that because that's when the, when we did, we were doing the second floor
first, we went live and then that's kind of when the license thing took place. So before we put,
do anything else. We wanted to make sure we had the license before we proceeded.
Okay. Do you, do you have plans for the, what, what you want to do on the first floor?
Um, the first floor is already ready. Um, it's, it's just a matter of, um, the second floor was
a lot more outdated. The first floor was updated, you know, within the last five years.
so so you're showing the second floor now correct
hillary i i don't i don't i'm not sure we can vote on this one we don't want to see what we're
voting on on the first floor mr chair we can conduct a um resumption hearing if you would
like to see photos from the first floor yeah i mean i think we at least want to see what it looks
like okay um so is this is is this currently a duplex or is this just a single family and what's
the it's currently duplex um we've owned it you know for 21 years it's always been a duplex
it was built as a duplex it's an end unit zoned as a duplex it is it was built as a duplex
what he's saying is he he was going to do the work on the first floor to fix it up
but he wants the approval first i mean i i think we've at least to see what it looks like and then
what what plans he tends to do on the first floor i i guess i'm just confused why is it duplex he
wants to do uh a airbnb i mean you know he wants to do airbnb on both floors oh okay gotcha
so hillary why why don't can we just is there anything else to do with this i mean
i think we'd like to have if we could schedule a resumption hearing if you to to show pictures
and take public testimony and the um planning recommendation of the planning commission at
that time we're going to do a resumptive hearing for this because we we need to at least see the
first floor. Okay. All right. I'm sorry. You don't have to be sorry. So we'll be in touch with you
So we'll be in touch with you and tell you when that's going to be, okay?
and tell you when that's going to be. Okay. Okay. Thank you.
Okay, thank you.
Thank you.
All right, take care.
All right, let's go back here.
So one is done.
One is done.
Two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.
Number nine and number 10.
MI 2024-004-038, 1105-09 Frankfurt Avenue, and number 10, MI 2024-004-041, 1111-13 Frankfurt
Avenue. Adam Laver is the attorney. There's letter of support from Fishtown Neighbors,
letter of unanimous support from Kensington Area Business, and a letter of non-oppositions from
Council Member Squilla. Mr. Laver, could you please state your name and spell for the court
stenographer? Good morning, Mr. Chairman and members of the board. Adam Laver, L-A-V as in
Victor, E-R, on behalf of 1115-27 Frankfurt Driss, D-R-I-S-L-P, the owner of the subject properties.
We are referring to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Yes, Mr. Chairman, I do.
Vice Chair has a few questions, Mr. Labor.
Thank you.
Good morning, Counselor. Do you agree to wait and read another refusal or stipulate to his accuracy?
Good morning, Mr. Vice Chairman. Yes, I do.
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits as needed and required to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, Mr. Shahid, we have.
Thank you, counsel. Please proceed and share your screen.
Thank you.
The subject appeals concern the properties at 1105-09 Frankfurt Avenue, which would be towards the right of the screen, and 1111-13 Frankfurt Avenue, towards the left of the screen.
You're seeing a street view at the top, and you're also seeing some interior photographs of these historic structures.
The ownership team represents a partnership between local developers Roland Cassis and Jason Nussbaum.
And I've appeared before this board on behalf of Roland and Jason not so long ago and many times.
They are an active presence in this community.
They care about it very much. Tom Hallinan is also present on behalf of the ownership.
And I'd like to note that Janice Woodcock of Woodcock Design Architects joins us in the virtual hearing room this morning.
The proposal before the board is for a car collector enthusiast social club.
And I couldn't help but noticing during one of the recent hearings just a couple ago, an image of a 1950 Cadillac Series 62 Coupe, which looked rather dusty.
But I must say there was a lot of chatter over text about that amazing car and how that would be the subject of a lot of interest for what we're proposing today.
Okay. So the proposal is for a car enthusiast collector's club known as Cannonball. There is
one locally, which we'll get to in a moment. And this is also a growing trend throughout the
country, a space for car lovers to gather to share their passion and knowledge of cars,
in this case, in a unique historic setting. And as I said, there are several similar iterations
throughout the country. But this is a local group. Cannonball was founded by Chris Allen,
who's with us today, and they currently operate in Huntington Valley and can be found
on the internet or for those who wish to go and take a look. On the screen before you,
you can see some images and information regarding the unique historical nature
of these properties. And unfortunately, they've sat vacant and not in use for over five years,
despite attempts to repurpose them. Previously, the buildings comprised portions
of what was the historic Morse Elevator Works, and you can see that name up here
on the upper image. The adaptive reuse proposal of the historic properties would clearly add to
the vitality of Frankfurt Avenue's commercial corridor. Here you can see aerial images of
Here you can see aerial images of current conditions.
current conditions.
And in the lower right, we have a close-up just to frame it for you on the commercial corridor.
Just here to the left, if you're looking at the properties of the site, is the future home of the West Contemporary Art Collection.
and the subject properties are close to several thriving Fishtown local businesses.
So it really fits in well with what the Fishtown neighborhood is trying to achieve.
The zoning map is now on the screen and you can see outlined in blue the CMX 2.5 properties.
However, I'd like to note that the properties are subject to the historic structures use exception
of section 146027 of the zoning code. And you can see one of the letters from the Philadelphia
Historical Commission certifying the historic nature, of course, of these properties with the
Morse Elevator Company that I had shown you recently. What does that mean? It means that
with the certification, absent the NCA overlay, which I'll address shortly,
absent the overlay the proposed use would be deemed as solely requiring special exception
relief and the code certainly speaks to the public policy behind encouraging adaptive
reuse of historic treasures such as this there is historical value to these properties
the ownership intends to preserve, both outside and inside, and again, I brought up photographs
of the inside for you to take a look at. Although there is not regulation, as this board knows,
of the interior, this team is looking to preserve as much as possible. And the uniqueness of the
concept, as you'll see in the floor plans and conceptual renderings shortly, allow that to
happen in a way that some other uses would not. This respects the surrounding area. It meets the
spirit and intent of the zoning code in the plans presented. Janice Woodcock, who's the lead
architect, has designed a plan that would preserve the historic elevator company structures
while allowing for a vibrant commercial use. The survey that's on the screen right now just shows
you that the two properties are adjacent to one another the exteriors would not change however
interior breaches would allow for the use through both of them and here you can see proposed floor
plans let's start at the far left if you don't mind the cellar strictly limited to back of house
storage and a small staff room that says staff locker if you can't see it due to the small type
The ground floor experience. So where the cursor is, is Frankfurt Avenue at the bottom of the screen. And vehicles would enter right here through an existing curb cut. And I'll go through that with you in a moment.
Pedestrians would enter through an entry lobby, and I'll go through the uses for what is a social club, an enthusiast club, momentarily.
Let's just go to the experience if you're taking in that 1950s Cadillac coupe to show to other enthusiasts.
You would come in off of Frankfurt Avenue and you would be met right here at the door by valets. There would be no driving of vehicles by anyone other than trained professional employees to put them into this special type of storage for others to view and see and share a combined love of cars together.
Same thing in and out.
You're going to have really what is a valet experience, and that will happen within the property line.
Going back to the floor plans.
So on the first floor, you get a sense of how the vehicles would be stored, and there is room for approximately 75 collector vehicles.
You also see areas for social gathering spaces to show off perhaps a evening that looks at vintage Cadillacs or Jaguars or Chevrolets and have wine and cheese and camaraderie together.
and have wine and cheese and camaraderie together. You'll also see that in the second existing
curb cut, I had mentioned that there are two existing curb cuts, there is an area for
specialized detailing only. Not service, not anything else, and our application says it, but
specialized detailing only within the property line. And then up above on the second floor,
food and beverage. And you'll get a better sense shortly with some of the conceptual renderings
about how the team has really thoughtfully used the existing elevator company to
retain as much as possible. What do I mean? You see areas that I've highlighted that say open to
below. We're not trying to cram as much as possible, but really to have a graceful space.
The garage hours of operation would be approximately 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., with social
member operations expected to about 10 p.m. In terms of impact on the commercial corridor,
this is not an in-and-out garage. This is not going to park your car and go to a restaurant.
That's not permissible. This is for members of the social club, and it's a different concept.
It's a creative concept. And in fact, in making this application to LNI, we met with senior members of LNI because there was nothing that quite captured what we were doing and wanted to make sure we were doing it with the guidance of the department, which we did.
So approximately 10 vehicles would enter and leave the facility each day, and a membership of 250 to 350 people is expected.
Similar to the way some other social clubs in the city operate, some events would be open to the public because this is part of the community, meaning we don't want this to be hidden from the community and people would be welcomed in, which members of F&A, for example, like to see the cars from time to time, etc.
etc. The notices of refusal, there are two for each property, are the same. Event assembly
facility is prohibited within the NCA overlay. Some members of the zoning board may remember
that the prior zoning code would refer to a use like this as a private club. It's now classified
under the code as an event assembly facility, which requires use variance review under the
overlay. This is the car enthusiast version of the Pen and Pencil Club in Center City, the Clay
Studio, a Masonic Temple, similar in some respects to the Simeone Foundation Auto Museum, but it's
distinct quite clearly from nightclubs and public entertainment venues, which is a different use,
which is not being sought and does not apply here.
Getting to the conceptual renderings, you saw this one at the start.
Here is where my cursor is, Frankfurt Avenue beyond that door.
You would come in and the cars would be shown off by the valet or perhaps even on the floor for an event.
And on the upper level, you would look down.
Here we are on the upper level looking down, members gathering together, enjoying a drink, a bite to eat.
Here you get a sense of what this space would look like.
Here we are on one of the upper levels.
There are also co-working spaces and meeting rooms, not unlike a smaller version of the Fittler Club, for example.
So, you have a sense of preserving a legacy structure, repurposing it for continued commercial
use which meets the scope and spirit of the code as a whole as well as the commercial district
specifically, and other provisions that encourage adaptive reuse of historic structures. Regarding
support, Fishtown Neighbors Association, the coordinating RCO, offered its support for the
project, noting the benefits of adaptive reuse of a historic structure, filling a long vacant
commercial space, and I should note that all nearby neighbors that attended were in support.
The Fishtown-Kensington area bid offered its unanimous support in a letter that spoke to the attributes of the proposal, and Council Member Squilla also noted the support of the coordinating RCO.
The Fishtown-Kensington area bid offered its unanimous
We would be pleased to answer any questions or go back to any of the exhibits that I have shared.
In closing, the authorization of variance relief would not alter the character of the neighborhood or district or be detrimental to the public welfare.
The proposal fits into the surrounding neighborhood as evidenced by the coordinating RCO support, in addition to other expressions of support, speaks to the granting of relief being of benefit to the public and within the spirit of the code.
The proposed variance would represent the minimum variance that would afford relief
and will represent the least modification possible of the regulations at issue.
The grant of variance relief will not substantially increase congestion in the public streets,
increase the danger of fire or otherwise endanger the public health, safety, or general welfare.
Once again, the anticipated usage in terms of vehicles in and out
conservatively is expected at about 10 per day.
The plans represent the highest and best use for this historic site.
Proposed development respects the legacy of the historic site while furthering neighborhood stakeholder visions for a vibrant commercial corridor.
There are no environmental issues.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the board.
You want to bring your owner on to adopt your testimony?
Yes, please.
Mr. Hallinan, I know that you are present in the virtual hearing room.
Would you kindly raise your hand so that you can be acknowledged by Chairman Bergman?
Good morning, Adam.
I'm here.
Thank you, Tom.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Tom Hallinan, T-O-M, last name Hallinan, H-A-L-L-I-N-A-N.
We're affirmed to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you.
Good morning, Mr. Hallinan.
Have you been present during the entirety of the hearings in these combined matters before the Zoning Board of Adjustment this morning?
I have.
And would you adopt and affirm the testimony that I've offered as your own?
Thank you.
Well, Avery, how long has both properties been vacant?
Since 2019, Mr. Chairman.
Questions from the board.
I have a question about the detailing, you said it was special detailing. So am I to understand that, say, if I wanted to bring my car there for the showing that day, I can get a detail prior to the showing? Is that just for the club members?
It's for those who are members of the club. It's an amenity, if you will, Ms. Graham, for the club members.
okay question shown the word yes uh okay so uh how many slots are we talking about for these cars
inside this property yes uh miss gaston approximately 75 there's 75 slots there
yes okay and then it's you said something about 10 cars per day going in and out yes let me let
me go ahead let me let me let me tell you what i'm i think i'm hearing from the presentation
okay so the idea is that uh these um car enthusiasts which okay i'll freely admit i love
cars um will uh uh be able to i guess bring their i'm assuming these are vintage type cars
and they're going to be able if they're members of this club they can bring them there
for purposes of i guess storage uh instead of having to keep them in their houses or wherever
else they may be? And also that they will be able to, I guess, do whatever upkeep, maintenance,
what have you, on them while they're in this facility? Is that?
Generally, yes, with one clarificatory comment that I would like to make. No maintenance,
no repair. To Ms. Graham's point, yes to detailing upon request, but this is, as you said, Ms. Gaston.
And this is, as you said, Ms. Gaston, longer-term storage, sharing of something that you want to show off, share with others, as perhaps an art collector who has beautiful paintings, likes to have them at home, but sometimes will put them on loan to a museum or an art gallery for a period of time for others to see.
okay and um so we or so you drive them in somebody takes over and then parks them in one of these
slots or they're going to be um basically like a kind of rental thing where you would
be able to rent a slot for your car here and so they would the valet would do this
is that how does that valet only and there there are two types of membership anticipated
one is storage membership if you will where one is storing a car but there could also be
a social membership where you you like to have your car at home and you're you don't want to
pay for it to to be in this facility but you want to come and be with other people who who like cars
okay so that gets us into the whole um idea of what you're calling now or what the code is now
calling in event what is it assembly facility which used to be what we would call like a private
membership club these are a bunch of people who like cars and they want to get together and they
want to talk about it and maybe look at the you know ones that people have and that kind of thing
okay all right yes and then what are we doing about uh and are these cards all going to be on
one level or no uh maybe i should pull up again one of the uh one of the images bear with me for
a moment. I think it will be helpful to have it back up on the screen. Okay. So here, there's an
example, if you can see it in the conceptual rendering, where the valet will have the cars on
three levels, actually. Okay, so there'll be elevators to take these cars up to these different
levels is that why we have la here that in addition for other reasons also but it's it's
it's the most professional way to most safe way to handle uh cars and also people in the same space
okay and so this will not be cars that are disabled in some way because they have to be
driven there correct correct yes and what about the exhaust fumes and what have you what are we
doing about ventilation here? I know you said that they wouldn't have an environmental impact, but
thank you. Right, the building will have a carbon scrubber system that runs continuously
from the facility and an exhaust fan system with sensors to measure CO levels in the air,
turn on when certain thresholds are met. This typically only activates when cars are
started up within the building, but Cannonball has such, they're not going into this for the
first time. So these types of important measures are in place. And we're talking about through
the roof, not impacting surrounding area. Okay. So there will be this system where there will
be venting of these exhaust fumes through the roof, you say? Yes. Okay. All right. Okay. Thank
you thank you any other questions from the board just quickly can you just flip through the
renderings one more time i just want to yes yes mr johns let me bring that back sorry
okay um you can just flip through okay
that's the entirety of course thank you um i have one other question were there any provisals from
the uh rcos no ms graham okay thank you thank you so labor just out of curiosity
Does much work have to be done to the historical facades?
The facades are all in all in good shape.
There will be some investment expenditure of funds in order to bring them up to the standards, to Roland and Jason's standards.
We've we've come before this board on some other projects like this, and they've won Preservation Alliance Awards for the way they do things.
We've come before this board on some other projects like this, and they've won.
So the answer is it's it's not a terrible situation, but but the property is salvageable and it's going to really be a gem on Frankfort Avenue.
one question chair um council is there going to be a commercial kitchen in this building
uh yes mr shaheed as part of the uh the club similar to on a smaller scale say than
a fitler club or some of the other types of clubs that i've mentioned yes there will be that uh
opportunity for, on the inside. Okay. Correct. Questions or comments from our attorney,
Hilary Emerson? Not at this time, Mr. Chair. Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no hands at this time, Chair. Planning Commission.
Amy Wood with the Planning Commission. These statements will be for 1105 through 09,
Frankfort Ave and 1111 through 1113 Frankfort Ave. Thank you. The Comprehensive Plan recommends
no change in zoning at this location from the existing commercial mixed use CMX 2.5.
Proposed use event assembly facility is compatible with the commercial corridor of Frankfort Avenue
and will not ensure the use of returning properties. The City Planning Commission
recommends that the Board grant the requested variance for event assembly facility. Thank you.
MI 2024-004-038-1105-209-Frankfurt Avenue, and number 10, MI 2024-004-041-1111-13-Frankfurt Avenue, I vote yes to both.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes to both.
Gerald Gaston, my vote is yes to both.
Tannetta Graham, my vote is yes to both.
Ishmael Shaheed, my board is just the board.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the board.
Have a good day.
Number 11, MI 2024-004-045-109 West Lowden Street.
Justin Crick is the attorney.
Letter of support from the 42nd Ward with the following enforceable provisos.
No household living in basement must obtain a certificate of occupancy.
Mr. Crick will be joining us as a panelist.
Thank you.
Mr. Crick, could you, good morning, could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Good morning, Justin Crick, last name K-R-I-K, and I am here on behalf of the owner and applicant.
And the owner is Ismael Castillo, and I have his wife, Vanessa Castillo, to adopt testimony at the conclusion of my presentation.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Our vice chair has a few questions, sir.
Good morning, counsel. Do you agree to weigh the read and other refuse or stipulate to its accuracy?
have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that's needed to proceed with this
case five days in advance of this hearing yes thank you council please proceed and share your screen
thank you
okay members of the board um the application for the property at 109 west loudon street
seeks to legalize the two-family dwelling at this structure, which is currently zoned as RSA 5
for single-family dwellings. The reason we are here before the board and for legalization
is that this property has essentially been constructed and characterized as a two-family
dwelling for the greater foreseeable history. And historically, L&I has issued two unit rental
license for this property to previous owners, one back in 2000 and as early as 2001, I believe,
through 2012, and then another from 2014 through 2015, which I will show you shortly. But in
In general, the property is situated on West Loudoun Street near the intersection of Rising Sun Avenue, and it is attached as a semi-detached structure at the left side of this structure and in between Hope and North Howard Street.
and in between Hope and North Howard Street.
And this is right.
And this is right along, as you can see,
there's a rear yard with a side alley that is strictly for,
it's not an alley, but it's an alley for this property
to gain access to the rear yard.
And as you can see, there's a front porch
and an open area in the front.
There is no parking associated with this property.
The area in general is RSA 5,
but again, it borders this commercial district
which has a lot of CMX2 and a sizable property next door that's RSA5 that is currently just
pretty much an open lot. And we are talking about this left side of this semi-attached structure.
The property on to the right of it that is attached is also at one point was licensed as a duplex with
a two-family rental license, but the current licensing is not available to witness. But
our property does have, and I will actually jump to it for a moment, historically,
there was a two-unit rental license that was issued in 2001 to a previous owner that became
inactive in 2012, and then later from a previous owner in 2014 that became inactive in 2015.
2015. The current owner purchased the property in 2022 from one of those prior owners. They did
not use a real estate agent and had believed from the historic documents that I've just shown you
that the property was approved for this in the past. As we go back, I can show you that from a
standpoint of layout, the property is situated with a first floor unit that has a single bedroom,
full bath and a living room, and a second floor unit that has three bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen
and living space. The basement is not accessible by either unit, but rather by an exterior door
in the rear of the property that is only used by the landlord and is not rented as habitable space
to either party, but is also used for access to utilities and through the landlord's approval to
gain access. As you can see, the property has electrical meters that, you know, appear to have
been there for a substantial amount of time in a separate configuration for two stories and two
floors. I will go back to the layout for a second and show you that there is one main entrance off
the porch into a small vestibule area that allows for separate entry into the first floor
unit and the second floor unit.
The property itself is about 1440 square feet, and so the improvements thereon are roughly
just shy of that with the rear yard space accessible by the first floor unit, and the
rear yard is accessible by the second floor unit along this side alley of the property,
and trash is to be stored in the back in containers before for trash pickup.
Some photographs, you'll see that this is the rear of the property.
This is that rear entrance to the first floor unit that I was referring to.
And here is the entrance to the basement.
Again, no entrance through the interior and there's no habitable space down there,
no intention to do that.
front of the property. You'll note here that the second floor has access to this rooftop and I make
that as well as this second floor has access. These are both bedroom areas that have access
to roofs because one of the items mentioned by the RCO was a concern that the central bedroom
on the second floor did not have adequate egress or they were concerned about a little bit more
adequate egress since we have an alley that is part of our own property we have conformed with
their request and the occupant has purchased and installed or left to the to the tenant
that picture is right here a portable fire escape and we'll have these available to the occupants
of the unit. To go a little bit in further detail regarding what's in the property, here's the main
entrance. When you come in that door, you have the staircase going up and then a staircase to the left
to get into the first floor unit. Some photographs of both units. This is the staircase up to the
second floor unit hall, second floor unit bedroom, bathroom, additional living space,
kitchen areas. And so we had, we had sent a notice to the new 42nd.
We had we had sent a notice to the new 42nd ward and had met with them on September 19th.
Here's proof of the notice to those near neighbors and all of the neighbors that were notified with receipt.
We received a support, a unanimous support from everyone who attended this meeting from the new 42nd ward.
they have asked in their letter of support that we provide the fire escape ladder that the basement
not to be used as rental space which it is not intended for at all and again no access from
inside of either unit it would have to be only accessed through the exterior and then at the
time that we are able to obtain the rental license should this board approve the request
we will provide them with copies of the rental license and certificate of occupancy to ensure
that it's legalized. The property is tax compliant. There are no real estate taxes owed on the
property and the applicant has posted the property with the zoning notice. And once again, I'll just
point out that the deed that Mr. Castillo, who is the owner of the property, purchased the property
in 2002. We believe that the use of this property as a two-family dwelling is in line with the
current code in that, given the long history of a use in this manner, it would not be a substantial
increase in congestion or injure the public or any nature of an adjacent property,
um nor would it unduly burden public facilities since it has a characteristic of over decades
of use in this fashion um the the hardship that the applicant feels is that um
that it had been allowed for many many years and other than it expiring under a prior owner's
ownership uh and the owners admitted um lack of of getting the full details before making the
purchase wanted to get on this once they realized that there was no rental license available or
that they could not get that rental license for this. So with that said, I'm open to questions
and I have my client, Vanessa Castillo, the wife of Ishmael Castillo, ready to speak and adopt
testimony if that is okay with the- Why don't you have your testimony adopted first and then
we'll open it up to the board. Yes. Ms. Castillo, if you are there, please raise your hand.
Vanessa Castillo has been allowed to speak. Could you please state your name and spell
for the stenographer? Sure. Vanessa Castillo. V-A-N-E-S-S-A-C-A-S-T-I-L-L-O.
where are firm to tell the truth the whole truth is nothing but the truth yes please proceed
counsel thank you miss castillo have you had an opportunity to hear my testimony to the board
today yes i did and do you believe that my testimony is true and correct to the best of
your knowledge yes would you adopt my testimony as if it was your own yes um my only other question
is are you uh authorized to speak on behalf of your husband uh with relationship to this property
yes he he is with me too so he is here too if needed um if he is with you if you would have
him state his name sure and the board can swear him in as well sure my name is ismael castillo
did you spell please for the stenographer sure my last name t-a-s-p-i-l-l-o
you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth sir
yes i do please proceed counsel uh mr castillo i will ask you the same questions that you have
an opportunity to hear my statements and testimony to the board today yes uh was my
testimony true and correct to the best of your knowledge? Yes. And would you adopt my testimony
as if it was your own? Yes. One other question is, are you agreeable that the basement will not
be used for residential habitation at all? Yes. Thank you. Questions from the board?
yes uh when uh did uh your clients um purchase this property
yes my client purchased the property as indicated by the deed in June of 2022
okay so then it hadn't been used from 2015 to 2022 well my client actually the property had
Well, my client actually, the property had been in use. They just didn't check to see that the prior owner had not appropriately renewed any of the rental license that she had obtained.
been in use, they just did.
So, I'm sorry, let me make sure I heard you correctly, that it was licensed for rental for two units from 2001 to 2012. Is that what?
Yes, there is a rental license that is on file with L&I that was issued in 2001 and then went inactive in 2012 from a prior owner.
And there was another one from 2014 to 2015.
Correct.
Correct.
And then this prior owner, Ms. Hill, who sold it to my client in 2022, apparently also did not renew or reactivate, reissue that license through the term of her ownership.
Okay. So someone else owned the property during a time that there was the rental license. Is that what you're saying?
That's correct. There were other owners with the rental licenses.
Okay. And then whoever had the property from whenever this license expired from 2016 here till 2022, this property was, there was no, either there was no rental or they just didn't bother to get licenses. I'm not sure which, and I'm not accusing anybody of anything.
No problem. That is the understanding that they either didn't have a license or weren't renting it from 2015 through 2022.
Okay. But then your client purchases the property and say as a private sale and assumed that the property could be used as a duplex, even though there was no licenses or anything to say that that was so. Is that what we're saying here?
That's correct. And I should have indicated that the first floor unit had only become rented in
March of this year. So it did sit vacant for some time when they purchased it in 2022. At least there
was no tenant when they purchased it. And the second floor unit, they had rented in July of
23. So about a year after they had originally purchased it. So there were no tenants originally
with them. And then they have new tenants that they had brought in and recognizing that they
need to legalize what was there, given that the structure, the way it's configured, the meters,
they were just under the impression that it was allowable to use as a two-family.
The only thing I would say about the refusal, and I don't waive its accuracy, but this is a
legalization. Had I applied or filled out the application, I would have written legalization
for that reason. Okay. And, uh, do you have pictures of the, uh, uh, meters? Yes. There
were pictures of that. Yeah. All right. And, uh, so there, okay. So they did have a license
for rental of one unit is that what we're saying no well the the this owner did not uh is legalizing
any rental this owner should have and admittedly did not have the rental uh license um we're only
saying that there were previously historically issued licenses for two units at this property
okay but your client never had a rental correct correct all right thank you thank you other
other questions from the board
questions or comments from our attorney hillary emberson
not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see no hands at this time planning planning commission
May be avoided with the City Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change in zoning to the existing single-family residential, RSA 5.
The proposed two-family use is consistent with documented car use.
The Planning Commission recommends that the Board grant the requested variance for two-family residential.
MI 2024-004-045-109 West Lowland Street.
I vote yes with proviso.
No household living in the basement must obtain a certificate of occupancy.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes with proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is no.
Senator Graham, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ishmael Shahid, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you very much.
Number 15, 2024-004-193, 3024-28, North 6th Street.
Number 15, 2024-004-193.
Joseph Accaro is the attorney.
There's a recommendation of unanimous support from the 37th Ward.
Vote was 16 to 0.
And a letter of non-opposition from Council Member Young.
Joseph Vaccaro will be joining us as a panelist.
Good morning. How are you today?
I'm good. Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer, sir?
Certainly. My name is Joseph Vaccaro. V as in Victory, A as in Apple, C as in Cat, C as in Cat, A as in Apple, R as in Robot, O as in Octopus.
attorney for the applicant alpha and omega fiberglass swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes i do our vice chair has a few questions for you sir
thank you good morning counselor do you agree to wait to read another refusal or stipulate to its
accuracy yes i do have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that's needed
and required to perceive this case five days in advance of this hearing yes i did and it was
supplemented with the proof of the tax payment for the real estate taxes Monday or Tuesday,
I believe.
Fair enough.
Thank you.
Please proceed and share your screen.
Thank you very much.
Just let the record also reflect that I have Orlando Natarino on the call.
He's the president of Alfa Romeo, the owner of the property.
If I could share my screen.
can you see my exhibits yeah but you're gonna have to make them a little much larger
okay thank you okay now let me try to make them bigger though please i hope so i i hope so too
um let me see there's got there's got to be oh
I'm trying to make
Yeah, they're only at 9%.
Yeah, I know.
Let me stop sharing and then I'll start sharing it again.
but i would still make that a little bit bigger it's a little hard to see the type
okay let me let me try that again
can you see this yes yes okay better thank you can you see me scrolling down yes we can okay
very good thank you thank you for the board's indulgence so my client alpha and omega they're
in the roofing business they do fiberglass roofing uh they have acquired the building in 2023
3. The building is zone CMX2. This is the location where they store their materials, where they store
their trucks, where they operate out of. This is an application, and I'm showing the board the deed
to the property. That shows when they acquired it. The refusal, which is to permit and to legalize
the erection of the vertical addition. So they're basically trying to add a second story
for the purposes of an office as the business expands. And then the roof deck with the pilot
house. Squirreling further down, we filed the application on time with the project information
form. And now I'm going to have to zoom out so I could show the plans. Are you able to
see the plans? So, Mr. Vaccaro, it might be helpful. Could you show us the photos first?
Sure. I'll just scroll down. And then go back to the plans. It might be helpful we see the
photos first. Sure. I could just scroll down a little bit, and I'll get to the photos.
Can you see that? Yeah, that's it. Okay. Yes. Never mind the auto repair sign.
Yeah, that's it.
Okay, yes.
Never mind the auto repair sign.
They don't do auto repair.
The client just never got rid of that sign.
But this is the front of the building.
This is the door that they use where the trucks come in and out of.
This is the door into the property.
And they're currently using the building next door as the office,
which they'd like to get out of the structure next door
and use the second floor as the office for more space.
Copy of the zoning poster.
Another view of the front door.
Another view of the building.
Again, never mind the auto repair sign
because they just never got around to taking it down.
This is the inside of the building, first floor.
A view towards the back, again, of the first floor.
another view now this is this is the second floor addition that's the subject of this application
this would be approximately 1178 square feet of open office space
another view
Another view. Through the sliding glass doors, where my cursor is, that's the roof. And beyond the roof, that would be 6th Street.
these are the stairs leading up to the pilot house
for the roof deck that's a part of this application we'll get to those photos in a
few here we are this is the the pilot house along with the roof deck
another view looking towards center city
opening up the sliding doors back to the office and this is the roof
over the building again facing towards 6th street and that's the school
at the intersection of 6th and indiana
this is a view of the structure from the roof as you could tell it's set back from 6th street
I'm going to show you the notice and the to the near neighbors with the proof of mailing
and the letter of support is the last page from our meeting with the RCO if I could scroll back
up to the plans. We're almost there. So the plans would show this page of the plans, page
22 of the of the um exhibit packet the staircase with the pilot house this is where my cursor is
with the roof with the rooftop deck this is the first floor plan that i've showed you the
the photos that's already what they're using what is in existence the second floor this shows the
The rooftop deck, which is where my cursor is, along with the very large office space, consisting of approximately 1,178 square feet.
Side view of the building. No, I'm sorry, this is not the side view here. This is the elevations. I could zoom in.
The building, the first floor of the building is approximately 11 foot 4 inches.
So then the second floor level would be the plans call for seven feet, seven inches.
And then the third floor pilot house, that would be another nine foot, one inch.
The company's already been in existence for many years.
They provide, like I said, roofing services consisting of the installation of fiberglass roofing to the neighbors.
and throughout the city of philadelphia um i could bring in mr natarino to adopt my presentation and
to answer any other questions that the board may have okay please bring him on orlando can you raise
your virtual hand Orlando hello yeah hi sir could you please state your name and
spell it for the court stenographer my English is very good I can try
um my english was very good i can try okay so saying just say just just your name okay my name
is orlando my last name is not reno it's a n-a-t-a-r-e-n-o my last name you swear or affirm
to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth in spanish or in english could you
answer that in English? Yes. Thank you. Mr. Vaccaro. Thank you. Orlando, did you hear my
presentation to the board? Yes. Did you agree with it? Yes, I agree. Would you adopt it as your
own testimony if you were to testify? Yes. Okay. Do you have anything else to add or take away or
change from my presentation no okay all right mr mr vicara just for a point of information
you have two refusals am i right one is let me go back one is the one is the deck is too large
and the second one there's no rear yard is that right that's what they that's what they say yes
well that's what they say or that's what it is all right thank you questions from the board
Questions from the board.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson.
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience.
I see no hands at this time, Chair.
Planting Commission.
Amy Boyd with the Planning Commission.
The Comprehensive Plan recommends no change in zoning at this location from the existing
commercial mixed use CMX2.
The proposed conditions were constructed without the benefit of permits.
The Appellant has not demonstrated their unique physical conditions or circumstances that
would prevent the property from being used in conformance with the zoning code.
The Planning Commission recommends that the Board grant deny, sorry, recommends that the
board deny the requested variances for roof deck size and rear yard setback
mr vicario you have any comments my comment is is that there was no opposition from the
near neighbors we have we actually have the support of the rco um considering uh considering
what my client does for a living considering the benefit that they provide to the to the
neighborhood, considering the work that they do. Admittedly, the work was started without the
benefit of permits, and they're here to make right what they should have started from the beginning.
We do have, as you had indicated before this presentation, we have no opposition from
the city council person, and we ask that the board grant this variance.
MI 2024-004-193
3024-28
North 6th Street, I vote yes
Teneda Graham, my vote is yes
Cheryl Gaston
Cheryl Gaston
my vote is
okay my vote is uh i'm gonna abstain from voting on this one okay okay
ishmael shaheed my vote is yes
michael
hillary we had three votes out of four
um yes that is that is fine mr chair mr vicario you have your votes i appreciate your time i'll
see you this afternoon thank you is there anyone in the virtual audience whose 9 30 case has not
been called i see no means at this time too thanks everyone see everyone at 2 p.m
good afternoon everyone my name is bill bergman i will be chairing this afternoon's meetings
before we start i have a few announcements number one
ian haggerty is the new executive director of the zoning board of adjustment um mr haggerty has
been a long-term member of the Planning Commission staff.
a member of the Planning Commission staff. He also served numerous times as the Planning
Commission representative to the zoning board. So we welcome Mr. Haggerty, and we are very fortunate
to have him in this position. So thank you, Mr. Haggerty. Thank you. Number two, beginning with
the December 4th hearings, any documents or other information that parties wish to submit to the ZBA
for hearings must be submitted through the ZBA's new online upload tool, ZBA Case Document
Submission. Information about how to access and use the submission tool will be included with
hearings, notices, zoning posters. Please note that the applicant's documents are due five calendar
days prior to the hearing. Documents submitted by any other parties should be submitted at least
48 hours in advance to the hearing. To allow sufficient time for processing, in addition,
the following information should continue to be submitted via email only and not through the
upload. Request for continuances, withdrawals, reconsiderations, amended refusals, as well as
requests by attorneys to enter a withdrawal appearance. If you have any questions about
the ZBA Case Document Submission Tool, please contact RCOZBA at phil.com. Thank you.
With me is our Vice Chair, Ismail Shaheed. Present, Mr. Chairman. Our Board Member,
Cheryl L. Gaston. Present, Mr. Chairman. Our Board Member, Tanetta Graham.
Chairman. And our Board Member, Michael Johns. Also present is our Attorney, Hilary Emerson.
and also our new executive director, Ian Haggerty.
Here's our virtual format.
The proceedings are being recorded.
With your consent, with your participation, you agree to be recorded.
A video will be available by contacting zbaexecutivedirector at phil.gov.
For a court stenographer, we asked attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying.
If you're participating by phone, press star 9 to raise your hand and star 6 to unmute.
To enter an appearance statement, call 267-270-5548.
Leave your email address and the address of the property in question.
And finally, the question to answer box on the screen is not for testimony.
All comments should be directed to zbaexecutivedirectoratphil.com.
here's our schedule for this afternoon
number four mi 2024 005 134 5816 catherine street that case has continued number five
MI 2024, 005-266-1201 Unruh Avenue. That case is continued.
Number six, MI 2024, 005-361-3512-32 Island Avenue. That case is continued.
And number 13. Oh, I'm sorry. Number 8. MI 2024-005-492-1520-26 Daring Street. That case has been continued.
And number 13, MI 2024, 005-504-2300 North 18th Street, that case is continued.
Are there any other requests for continuances?
Yes, Chair. I have a hand up by the name of Allen Nockamson. They have been allowed to speak.
Good afternoon, Mr. Nockamson.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair.
Please state your name for the record and spell it for the sonographer.
Allen Nockamson, A-L-A-N, last name Nockamson, N-O-C-H-U-M-S-O-N.
We're a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
What case, sir?
So I have on my calendar, 4461 Silverwood Street.
We asked for a continuance.
We asked for a continuance. I just want to make sure that that is going to take place.
I just want to make sure that that is.
I have that. So that is.
Sorry, that is number 12 on the afternoon list. We have that listed as a withdrawal.
Okay, so maybe that's the case.
I just didn't get a chance to get to it yet.
Is it not a withdrawal?
That's, that's, that's my fault. We did withdraw it. So I apologize for that.
Sure, not a problem.
That'll be called. Yep.
Is there any other requests for continuance?
I see no hands at this time, Chair.
So number, number one,
MI 2023-000629-1447 West Cuyahoga Street.
This is the fourth listing, no exhibits.
The attorney is David Uptah.
I see no one in the audience with their names here.
So MI 2023, 000629, 1447 West Cayuga Street.
This is the fourth listing.
Cases, I vote that these cases should be dismissed.
Michael Johns, I vote the case should be dismissed.
Cheryl Gaston, I vote to dismiss.
Tanata Graham, I vote to dismiss.
Ishmael Shaheed, I vote to dismiss.
Thank you.
I think I will see here.
Okay, and also number two.
MI 2024-003-018-510 Midville Avenue.
that case has been withdrawn.
Number three, MI 2024-004-942-2400 Bryn Mawr.
Carolina Penna is the applicant.
Is anyone from that case in the audience?
This is the first listing we have information
that may be withdrawn.
I see no one in the audience with that name, too.
Okay, all right, so thank you.
I just wanted to note that Gina, G-E-E-N-A-L-L-C, is the listed owner.
Caroline Pena is the architect for the case.
Is anyone for either one of those names in the audience?
I see no hands at this time, too.
So MI 2024, 004-942-2400, Bryn Mawr Avenue. Cases continued. Mark must be heard. And number 12.
MI 2024, 005-502-4461, Silverwood Street. That case has been withdrawn.
We're going to go to our add-on list.
Hi, 2024-004-300, 2401-03 North 10th Street.
The vote in this matter has been continued until the board has received the amended refusal that has been requested by the applicant.
1204 of the officer number two, MI 2024-001-323-1204, Wilder Street, I vote no.
Michael Johnson.
Go ahead.
my vote is michael johns my vote is no cheryl gaston my vote is no
canada gray my vote is no ishmael shaheed my vote is no number three and mr jared
just want to clarify that that last matter um was a revote um because there was clarification
once we added provisos it essentially became a no vote so we revoted it as a no
Thank you.
Number three, MI 2024-004-303, 1924-36, Washington.
I vote yes with proviso.
with proviso use limited to second floor Michael Johns my vote is yes with proviso
Use limited to second floor.
I vote John.
Cheryl Gaston my vote is yes with proviso
Tanetta Grant my vote is yes with proviso
Ishmael Shaheed my vote is yes with proviso
number four MI 2024-004-954-710 North 42nd Street I vote yes
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
Number five.
MI 2024
004-290-21
Wall Street.
The vote in this matter has been rescheduled
to Wednesday, November 13th,
2024 at 2pm.
And number six, MI 2024-004-767-70-80 East Worcester Street.
I vote yes with proviso.
Her amended refusal dated 10-31-24, interior trash storage.
Crystal Johns, my vote is yes with proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with proviso.
tenetta graham my vote is yes with proviso ishmael shaheed my vote is yes with proviso
we're going to start our regular list we're going to go to number nine
mi2024-005-494-1526 north 18th street augusta o'neill is is the attorney
michael michael johns has reaccused himself from this case thank you
augusta o'neill will be rejoining us as a panelist good afternoon good afternoon counsel could you
please state your name and smell for the courts spell it for the court stenographer sure my name
is augusta o'neill a-u-g-u-s-t-i my last name is o apostrophe n-e-i-l-l you swear a firm to tell
the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do could you identify your client in relationship
to the property my client is frankel enterprises they own the llc that is the owner of the property
our vice chair has just a few questions good afternoon counsel do you agree to wait to read
another refusal or stipulate to his accuracy uh for 1526 north 8th street i did just notice before
the hearing started that there is
mistake. Actually, it's
for the other matter.
So I do stipulate to the accuracy
of this refusal. Yes.
Understood.
Council, were you going to talk about number eight?
North Darien. That just had
one small error. I just wanted to clarify.
I think we continued that, didn't we?
We continued 1520 to 26.
I was supposed to have three hearings today.
All right. Good. All right. Thank you. Thank you.
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits as needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
I did. Thank you, counsel. Please proceed to share your screen.
Thank you so much.
Can everyone see my screen?
Thank you so much. Good afternoon, again, members of the board. My name is Augusta O'Neill. I'm here this afternoon representing Frankl Enterprises and FE Darien LLC, the LLC that is the owner of the property at 1526 North 8th Street.
This is an application that is a partnership with the Philadelphia Land Bank and Turn the Key to take vacant lots, which can be a frequent sign of a site of crime, and create single family affordable homes on what was previously a vacant lot.
I did provide the board with some information about the Turn the Key program and my client, Frankel Enterprises.
you will find that information at tabs four and five of the exhibit package that I provided to
the board. Just for a bit of background and to explain why this is such a wonderful program,
the average rent in Philadelphia for a two-bedroom apartment is almost $2,000, whereas the average
mortgage payment for uh someone who's who has a home through this program um they're paying about
thirteen hundred dollars so it's a significant um savings in the monthly housing costs um and
And in September of this year, my clients actually had a ribbon cutting for another Turn the Cube project at Bucknell Square in Girard Commons.
in september of this year my clients actually had a ribbon cutting for another
You can find some information about that ribbon cutting at tab five of my exhibit package.
And that project did add 73 affordable homes to the Sharswood neighborhood.
So this afternoon, as I said before, I'm discussing the property that's at 1526 North 8th Street, just to provide the board with an overview and to orient you to the site.
My apologies, because I got to scroll through everything.
If I can hide this, if I can do it more easily.
Okay, so this is the site that's currently a vacant lot. It extends all the way back behind
where you see this kind of gap in the smile as it were of these properties. So my client is going
to relocate lot lines. They are going to create six lots from what are currently two zoning
lots and on each of those six lots they're going to put a single family affordable home.
The refusal that we received for this application, I provided it at page three of my exhibit
package. But as you can see on my screen, we received two refusals, both fairly de minimis
dimensional refusals. The first refusal that we received was for the minimum lot size. We're
required to have 800 square feet. We're proposing 694.2 square feet on the six lots. We're also
required to provide a lot width of 16 feet and we're slightly under we're at 15.778
square feet i did provide in my exhibit package packages as well of rendering just kind of
showing um just to give the board an idea of what these properties will look like and i do actually
have because my clients have constructed other single family affordable homes i do have an in
real life kind of showing a model of what Frankel Enterprises is creating. So this is a picture of
the exterior of one of their projects. You can see it's got a beautiful brick exterior. Some of the
interior pictures I've also got up on my screen just to show these are really quality projects.
They've got beautiful backyards as well. The homes that the Frankels are building are not only
affordable but as you can see um they've got beautiful private outdoor spaces um
they're typically a three-bedroom layout um they have brick facades as you can see
energy-saving windows they've got high quality hardwood tile flooring open living space
contemporary fixtures and kitchen appliances um and we presented this application to the affected
RCO, the North Central East RCO. They did provide us a letter of support. That letter of support you
can find at page six of your exhibit package. And in the letter of support, I just wanted to note
part of the reason that the RCO was supportive is because of the fact that these are single
family homes as opposed to apartments. In addition, we have a letter of non-opposition from
Councilman Young's office. And just to briefly go over the criteria for a variance and why I feel
that this application certainly meets it, the variance relief that we're requesting really
represents the minimum variance that is going to afford relief and presents the least modification
of the dimensional regulations at issue. The grant of this variance will not cause any congestion
in the public streets or increase the danger of fire or endanger the public health, safety,
year welfare. There's only a handful of single-family homes that are being proposed here.
It's not going to substantially or permanently injure the appropriate use of the adjacent
conforming property because, as you can see, this is certainly going to be an improvement to the
adjacent conforming property because we're removing what is a weed-strewn, you know,
kind of overgrown lot and going to be adding families to the neighborhood. And due to, again,
to the small number of additional homes that we're adding, the grant of the variance is not
going to adversely affect transportation or burden the water, sewer, school, park, or other public
facilities. And I think that's reflected in the fact that the councilman and the affected RCO were
in support of this application. With me this afternoon is Zach Frank.
in support of this application um with me this afternoon is zach frankel he is one of the
principals of frankel enterprises um i'm going to ask that the board swear him in and we're
available for any questions that the board may have about this application
it's not my share frankel hi good afternoon hi could you please state your name and spell for
the stenographer. My name is Zachary Frankel. You can spell that Z-A-C-H-A-R-Y-F-R-A-N-A-E-L.
We're affirmed to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
I do. Please proceed, counsel. Good afternoon, Mr. Frankel. Have you
had an opportunity to hear my testimony this afternoon? I have. Is everything that I said
true and accurate to the best of your knowledge? It is. Is there anything that you would like to
add for the board there's not okay uh would you like to dot my testimony as your own i would
thank you uh sure questions for the board
um yes go ahead no you go quick questions these units are on slabs or they have basements
thank you okay uh was there a floor plan or did i just zoning plan um i didn't include a floor plan
in my exhibit uh and the zoning plan is i believe page 99 of the exhibit package that i provided
let me see i'm happy to talk through the floor plan we presented these houses we built many of
mb4 okay so um as my attorney miss o'neill alluded to um these homes are slab on grades there's no
basement you walk into the home to an open floor plan of a kitchen and living room plan um we've
got a lot of positive feedback from our affordable buyers on these homes um it allows a lot of
versatility and the layout. The floor plate is about 500 square feet. So that includes brand
new stainless steel appliances and electric efficient appliances as well. And that on the
second floor, you have two large bedrooms and a full bathroom. Again, you know, granite countertops
throughout the home so it's well appointed as any market rate home would be and then on the top
floor you have really what's a master suite so you would have a large master bedroom with large
walk-in closet as well as a full bathroom there as well and that leads out to a rear roof deck
So we have provided roof decks as well as rear yards on all of our properties because we know how important open space is to all of our buyers.
Can I see the pictures again that you showed?
Absolutely.
Other things that will help you too.
Yeah, absolutely.
Sorry, when I – there we go.
Sorry.
Okay, here we go.
so this is a typical kind of exterior as you can see the brick facade
this is the kitchen so as you walk into one of the homes the kitchen
is on the first floor zach and mr frankel had alluded to um dining area is provided
there's three bedrooms but this is what a typical bedroom looks like
and then this is they all have private outdoor space like this for the yard
okay all right thank you thank you the other questions from the board
questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson
very briefly mr chair i just excuse me want to note the the pictures of the of the prior
houses that have been done i don't think those were with the original exhibit packet so
if you could send those
over by tomorrow for our records, that would be
great. Thank you. Absolutely. I apologize.
What's your comments from the
virtual audience?
I see no hands at this time,
Chair. Any commission?
Yes, this is Ron
Bednar, first name Ron, R-O-N,
last name Bednar, B-E-D-N-A-O.
Do you
swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth
and nothing but the truth? I do.
please proceed sir uh the property syndicated for residential use on the city plan in 2017
it was remapped from our um from rm1 given the site's documented history
and physical conditions we recommend the request of variance be granted chairman
and physical conditions we recommend the request of variance be granted chairman am i yes can we
confirm that it's not associated with pha please i've seen some pha information inside the
documentation does this have anything to do with pha at all this is an application in partnership
with the land bank okay i've seen some pha stuff inside of your presentation oh i'm sorry that was
just um i just wanted to provide the board with some information about the ribbon cutting that my
uh clients have been involved with on a prior application just so that the board could see
the good work that the frankles are doing in the city no problem thank you thank you
mi 2024 005 494 1526 north a street i vote yes
sir i guess then my vote is yes
tennetta graham my vote is yes ishmael shaheed my vote is yes
the council could you and mr frankel stay on the line please yes absolutely we're going to go to
number 15. So MI 2024, 006-473-1530 North Darien Street. Council, why don't you start off by,
before we move any further, tell us about what the mistake you think is there.
Yeah, so on the refusal, I just noted this a few minutes before, and I confirmed with my
project engineer, he thinks it's a mistake also. There are two lots being created, and
And the second refusal notes that the minimum rear yard setback is nine feet, 7.25 feet as proposed parcel B.
That refusal should actually apply to both parcels because each has a 7.25 foot setback and requires nine.
No, not just Hillary.
Yeah, no, that's fine, Mr. Chair.
I think, I think probably what happened, I'd have to look at it again, is it just wasn't counted twice.
Is that what you're saying, Ms. O'Neill, that it should have been like an extra refusal for that, not just for the one parcel?
Yeah, just because I only know the one parcel, just to be absolutely clear.
Oh, sure. Yeah.
Yeah, that's fine. We're putting, we're putting that on the record now that both, both parcels need a rear yard depth refusal.
We don't need to make any further changes for, for something like that, as long as we have it on the record here.
Thank you.
Thanks so much.
Just for the record, our vice chair has a few questions.
Counsel, do you agree to read another refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
Pursuit to the conversation we just had.
Understood.
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that's needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
I did.
Thank you, counsel.
Please proceed and share your screen.
Thank you so much.
So apologies if any of this is repetitive.
but again this is another application where I'm representing Frenkel Enterprises. This is for a
property that's very close to the other property that we just discussed. This property is at 1530
North Darien Street and again just to orient the the board to the site.
An overview showing the the property but here's a closer picture of this vacant lot that again my
clients are going to be taking this lot and they're going to be creating two new lots with
two single-family homes on them. Again, the application is a partnership between
Philadelphia Land Bank and Turn the Key and my clients. They're taking these vacant lots to
create those single-family affordable homes. Again, the information about the Turn the Key
program and frontal enterprises was also provided at tab four and five of this exhibit package for
this application um just to reiterate this turn the key does provide those workforce affordable
homes uh that provides a path to home ownership for qualifying applicants many of whom are city
employees um the average run as i stated before for a two-bedroom apartment is close to two thousand
dollars in philadelphia whereas the average mortgage payment for a three-bedroom home
provided through this program is only $1,300.
Also, why don't you show us the lot?
Why don't you show us the lot?
Just to be...
I was actually just going to briefly go over the refusal again.
So the application received two refusals.
We're required to have 1,440 square feet.
We're proposing 832 square feet for one of the lots,
924 for the other.
the rear yard setback as we just discussed um we just need a de minimis variance we're only
We're only proposing 7.25 square feet.
proposing 7.25 square feet um we're required by code
We're required by code to have nine just to bring up the plan.
PDF changed on me and now it's
we actually can't see anything on your screen.
Oh, I said. Yeah.
Oh, I'm sorry.
I thought I was showing it the whole time.
Here we go.
They're coming up now.
Great. And now it's not responding. This is just unbelievable. Sorry. I apologize. So while I'm waiting for that to load, I would be happy to just point out pages in my exhibit package where the various exhibits can be found in case you're able to access them on your computer.
but uh page 99 the zoning plan is provided and it again just shows the uh the applications being
proposed in the the dimensions um these are fairly generously sized sorry this is
uh these homes are over 600 1600s per feet so despite despite the lot size um refusal these are
fairly large size um houses um and similar to what i had shown earlier um this is again a typical
kind of uh what the homes are going to look like after being constructed again they do have that
nice attractive interior um with a generously sized layout and three floors a large private
backyard oh no council one of you shows the lot that you have a photo of where this lot is like
you did the last one oh i'm sorry i thought again i didn't realize it wasn't screen sharing oh that's
okay just here we go okay yeah this is what the lot looks like so you can see vacant weed strewn
really overgrown so instead of it looking like this you're going to have these nice single family
homes in the neighborhood instead um and so just to again briefly go over the variance criteria
the uh variance relief that we're requesting i would represent the board does represent the
minimum variance that's going to afford relief these are fairly de minimis dimensional um
variances that we're asking for this afternoon it's not going to increase congestion in the
public streets or increase the danger of fire or otherwise in danger of public health safety or
welfare there's again only these two single family homes that are being proposed at the site
it's not going to uh injure the appropriate use of the adjacent conforming properties uh as i said
before this will be a significant improvement because it's you know not going to be the the
weed stream lot that that you currently saw um again due to the number the small number of the
homes are being added here the grant of variance is not going to adversely affect transportation
or water school sewer school park or other public facilities this was another application that was
reviewed by the north central rco um we do have a letter of support in part because it's not going
to be um adding apartments uh we do also have a letter of non-opposition from councilman young
in his office um and with that being said i would ask that mr frank will again be called forward so
that he can stop my testimony and uh so that we can make ourselves available to for any questions
the board may have mr mr frankel you've already been sworn just state your name for the record
zachary frankel please proceed council thanks so much uh mr frankel did you have an opportunity
to hear my presentation about 1530 north darien street i did was everything that i said true and
accurate it was was there anything that you wish to add no questions from the board
Yeah, I have a question. I wish to add some floor plans. I think we heard several of these turn to key, you know, cases. And, you know, while, you know, the descriptive measures about, you know, the progress and, you know, the benefit to affordable home ownership is great.
It would be nice to have floor plans, especially, you know, if you're continually coming to the board, you know, with the same design, quote, unquote, zoning plans.
So I think, you know, a floor plan would be great, even if it's the same floor plan for different sites.
You know, floor plans would be nice.
That's what we ask for most folks.
So I don't think it should be any different here.
Absolutely.
Mr. Frankel, you heard that?
Thank you.
um questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson
um just to note that there is a um corrected refusal in this case mr
Just to note that there is a corrected refusal in this case, Mr. Chair.
Yep, I see it.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no hands at this time, Chair.
Planning Commission.
This is Ron Bednar, City Planning.
Properties indicated for residential and the city plan in 2017.
it was remapped from RM1. Given the site's documented history and physical condition,
we recommend the perseverance be granted. Thank you. MI 2024-006-473-1530 North
Daring Street, I vote yes with proviso. Per refusal, dated 11-6-24.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with proviso.
Senator Graham, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Dishnamal Shaheed, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you so much.
Number seven, MI 2024-005-487, 34 to 40 South 11th Street.
Leonard Altieri is the attorney.
There is unanimous non-opposition from Washington Square West and a letter of non-opposition from Council Member Squilla.
Leonard Altieri will be rejoining us as a panelist.
Mr. Altieri, could you please state your name and spell it for the court stenographer?
Leonard Altieri, L-E-O-N-A-R-D, Altieri, A-L-T-I-E-R-I.
Where are a firm that tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client, the relationship to this property?
My client is National Real Estate Development.
They are the owner of the property located at 3040 South 11th Street.
Our vice chair has a few questions.
Good afternoon, counsel.
do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to his accuracy i do have you emailed
in all the required documents and exhibits that's needed to proceed with this case five days in
advance of this hearing we have thank you council please proceed to share your screen thank you
council do we have a signed lease council i i do not uh i do not know if we provided that lease
or not mr chairman hillary yeah we only um we only have the the cover page in the index we don't have
information about the the terms and also the signature page to show that it's been executed
so the board could hear the case today but we have to hold it for that information because
that is proof of standing that's fine yeah i can i can have that information sent over i apologize
if it wasn't provided by my office already.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Please proceed.
I'm sharing my screen now.
Can you see the screen, Mr. Chairman?
We can.
All right, perfect.
So again, my name is Leonard Altieri,
representing the applicant,
the property owner for the property
at 3040 South 11th Street.
We're here this evening
or this afternoon, I should say, because of the frontage of our address being on Chestnut Street.
So the property is part of a mixed-use commercial office restaurant development area with a public
courtyard. To orient the board, I do have right now the refusal, which is up here. We are located
in the CMX 5 zoning district, the Center City Core Commercial Mixed-Use Zoning District.
We also have nine overlay districts on this property.
The one that's applicable for this afternoon is the Center City Overlay District, specifically the Chestnut and Walnut Street area west, which requires a special exception for any restaurant that has frontage on Chestnut or Walnut Street.
Now, while the building itself, which is located right here, has an address on Chestnut Street, our property or our space is going to be right here off of a private Clover Street, which is located right here.
Again, here's just a key site so that the board can orient itself.
This building right here is the Jefferson Plaza, again, with our entrance being right here on the 11th Street building.
The applicant seeking a special exception this afternoon for a full-service Mexican restaurant at the subject property known as Mi Vita.
This is another floor plan.
Again, orienting the board again.
Here is the Jefferson Plaza.
This is our building where we will have access.
This is our building where we will have access down Ludlow Street, which is right down here.
There's other shops and restaurants located in the surrounding area, as you can see from
these photos.
Another pedestrian courtyard.
And then our entrance, which is located right here.
This is, again, to orient the board, Clover Street, which is a private street, pedestrian
walk through. So again, you kind of see that mixed use feel. There's offices on top. And again,
this is the space right here for the property that we're speaking about. Again, the restaurant
itself is called Mi Vita. It's a Mexican restaurant. Right now there are, and I'm sorry,
I'm having, it seems like everybody in my office is having issues with PDFs today.
There are currently three locations of Mi Vita. They're all operating in Washington, D.C. One
One of the witnesses that I'll be calling after this testimony will give a little bit more of an overview of the restaurant itself.
Again, the location itself will not technically have frontage on Chestnut or Walnut, but internal pedestrian access from Chestnut Walk and Ludlow Street.
Trash accumulation and collection will be completely stored internally.
and it'll be collected and transported internally and deposited through our internal
loading dock. It'll be collected minimally at least twice a week. The exhaust louvers are all
located along Clover Street, which again is also a private street. The hours of operations will be
seven days a week with the estimated hours in the beginning being 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through
Thursday, 11 a.m. to 12 a.m. Friday through Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Sunday.
As I mentioned before, we are here because the refusal requiring us to get a special exception
for a restaurant because of that frontage on Chestnut or Walnut Street. As shown from the
photos, this use will be similar to other uses on the ground floor of this area. The proposed use
will not be detrimental to the surrounding area,
and the proposed use wouldn't create any greater harm
than what is expected from a similar permitted use.
We did have a meeting before the RCO,
the Washington Square Civic Association,
which, as the chairman noted, did give us a letter of support,
which is on the screen right now.
If I can, Mr. Chairman, the first witness that I would like to just call
is the owner of or representative of the ownership of the building,
which is mr charles norman and after that it'll be council council when you call him could you
show us the plans for what the restaurant's going to look like inside yeah and i was going to have
the operator of the restaurant or the principal that's right that's right yep yep yep that's
fine okay what's his name his name is charles norman okay charles norman i'm not allowed to
speak there could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman.
My name is Charles Norman, C-H-A-R-L-E-S-N-O-R-M-A-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you very much.
Mr. Norman, can you state your title and your affiliation with the landowner?
I'm a senior development manager, and I was responsible for the development of the 1100
Ludlow building that this restaurant is proposed to be in.
All right.
And were you on the call when I went through the testimony?
I was.
And did you hear everything that I provided to the board?
I did.
Is everything that you heard true and accurate to the best of your knowledge,
information, and belief?
It is, Leonard.
And would you adopt that as your own?
I would.
The only question I have for you, Mr. Norman, is you guys obviously vetted this tenant
before you signed any sort of agreements
to have them come in here.
Do you agree with that statement
that they would be essentially a good use
and a fit for this area?
I think it'd be a fantastic use
and a fantastic tenant
and a great amenity for the neighborhood.
All right, perfect.
I have no further questions for Mr. Norman,
Mr. Chairman.
Okay, you have another witness?
I have one other witness.
It's Mr. Jason Berry,
and he's the principal of the uh me vita sure jason berry if you're in the virtual audience
please raise your hand
jason berry has been allowed to speak
hello can you hear me right could you yes could you please state your name and spell for the
photographer jason berry j-a-s-o-n berry b-e-r-r-y where a firm to tell the truth
Do I affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do
Please proceed, counsel.
Mr. Berry, can you please state your name and title and affiliation with MiVita?
My name is Jason Berry. I am the co-founder and principal for Need Hospitality and Design, which is the owner-operator of MiVita.
And have you heard, were you on the call when I went through the testimony to the board?
I was, and everything was true and accurate.
All right, that was the second question.
And you would adopt it as your own, sir?
I would.
All right, perfect.
Now, I do have on the screen, as I'm sure you can see, some photos that were from the Washington, D.C. location.
Is that correct?
Yes, sir.
Can you just explain to the board and just kind of talk to the board a little bit about MiVita and sort of the photos that we see here, what the architecture is going to be internally, and then we'll get into the floor plans as well.
Sure. Where would you like to start?
Let's start talking about the photos I'm showing right now.
Just talk a little bit about Mi Vita and sort of what you guys are going to be doing here in Philadelphia.
Mi Vita is an upscale, casual Mexican restaurant.
It's pan-Mexican, meaning that we serve food and beverage from all over Mexico.
Obviously, we specialize in tequila and mezcal, which are the two most well-known spirits.
We serve beer. We serve wine. We serve brunch. We serve lunch and dinner. We offer a happy hour. And the photos that you're showing of our original location in Washington, D.C.'s District Wharf, that restaurant is a three-level restaurant.
uh and uh this is the ground floor uh this restaurant picture that you're on right now
is our 14th street location which is the second of the maybe it is to open here in dc and uh you
know this is uh high design high style high ceilings uh you know one of our mantras in our
company is that you eat with your eyes so we spend a lot of time and energy designing our restaurants
and operating them to the highest level and highest quality.
Hopefully you agree with what you're seeing.
The top picture there and the screen is our newest location
in Penn Quarter, neighborhood of Washington, D.C.,
across the street from the Capital One Arena.
So this is, of the three restaurants,
probably the most close design to what we're going to be doing in Philadelphia.
I don't know if that answers your questions.
No, it's funny.
Why don't you show us the floor plans?
can you see that mr chairman yes i can okay jason do you and it's either if you're not
comfortable walking through this we can have charles so but do you want to walk the board
through the floor plan just kind of give a quick overview of what we're showing on the screen here
yeah i can do that unless charles prefers to do it why don't why don't you do it why don't we just
If you look at the top left of your screen, the entrance, I guess the great the great area on the left side of the of the screen is our covered patio.
Call it a loja. There's some seating for there's banquette seating.
This is actually looks like a reflected ceiling plan or something else.
So this is not an actual floor plan showing the seating. I don't know if you'd rather show that.
yeah that that one um uh top left is uh the entrance to the restaurant walking through
the loja into the uh restaurant uh those double doors towards the top into the welcome area
as you scroll down uh you'll see the bar we have 88 seating at the top of the bar
and then about uh 17 seats uh inside on the exterior where the sorry my screen's really
jumping around so i apologize but on the left side of the the uh left side of the screen you'll
see our covered patio with various banquette seating options uh with heaters and fans outside
back to the interior opposite the bar you'll see some booths uh and banquettes we have a lot of
different kinds of seating. The restrooms for our guests are towards the bottom of the screen.
We offer individualized all-gender restrooms, so it provides a lot of privacy for our guests,
which we are big fans of. On the top of the screen, top of the floor plan, you'll see
a nice long table for larger groups moving into a room that has varied banquette seating,
and then moving into our private room, which will be used for private events as well as
uh general dining room a la carte reservations when applicable the rest of the space is back
general dining room a la carte reservations when applicable.
The rest of the...
of the house including kitchen uh hotline prep area storage etc
perfect mr chairman i have no further questions for uh mr barry okay did you have has your
testimony been adopted i believe mr barry did you i know that you said uh everything was true and
accurate uh that i stated would you adopt that that testimony that i provided as your own i would
questions from the board yes what's the hours of operations
so the hours of opera sorry oh you got that that's fine i do the hours of operation monday
through thursday sir are 11 a.m to 11 p.m friday to saturday 11 a.m to 12 a.m
and sunday uh 11 a.m to 10 p.m did you have a uh did we have did i didn't see a letter of support
from the rcl or there is yeah there is washington square west you're not unanimous and a non-opposition
from council members okay great thank you um any other questions from the board uh yes uh can we
uh i'm trying to figure out where this is i think this is uh where the it's like 11th and
like there was a wawa there with and there's iron hill brewery yes a little opening there
where you can go into this courtyardy kind of area is that what we're talking about that is
correct so the iron hill is located so this is love low street right here uh-huh okay and the
iron hill will be i'll give you a better picture of it but it's going to be down this it'll be
down the right here so and is that is that mom is that on 11th or the iron hill is i just want
to get my map that's the the building in the back there i think is the was that the reading that the
what is it it's not the reading terminal but the love low the love low apartments i know
no i'm talking about in the very back there that's on the other side of market street
so this courtyard here is looking right out onto market correct
Yeah. So there's a, I guess it's like an opening, but I don't think too many people go back there too much. But okay. But I think this view, the, where the Wawa used to be on market would be to the left, and the Iron Hill would be to the right.
So I don't know where the Wawa used to be.
it was right on the corner of like the market where the iron hill is which is right here where
my cursor is me vita is to my back directly behind me from where this picture was taken
ah okay so putting it this way looking at let me get you a better shot of this
right here this is the entrance to me vita iron hill is now to my back
ah okay all right okay just just because i know there's a whole like courtyard area
just trying to figure out where this was actually going to be okay all right the questions from the
board thank you thank you questions or comments from our attorney hillary emberson
not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
yes chair i have a hand up by the name of charles norman they have been allowed to speak
wasn't he before he was one of the witnesses yeah i was trying to answer the question about the uh
where that was located but you guys got through it okay thank you i appreciate it uh any other
questions or comments from the virtual audience i see no hands at this time chair planning commission
of Ron Bednar City Planning. The property is indicated for commercial mixed use on a city plan.
Proposed restaurant use will have no more of an impact that would be expected given its intended
location. Therefore, we recommend that the granting the requested eating and drinking
establishment special exception. Thank you, Ron. Council, as soon as we receive the signed lease,
we'll put it up for a vote okay i'll get that over to you right away probably be next next
wednesday okay you'll have it first thing uh tomorrow 2 2 p.m next wednesday thank you very
much mr chairman thank you okay here we go
Thank you.
Okay, here we go.
Number 10, MI 2024-005-498-2337-41 South Alder Street.
Brandon Saverin is the attorney.
Non-opposition from Lower Moy Mencing Civic Association
and a letter of non-opposition from Council Member Squilla.
Brandon Saverin has been promoted to penalist.
Good afternoon, counsel. Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Yes, my name is Brandon Saverin. That's spelled B-R-A-N-D-O-N. And then S is in Sam, A, V is in Victor, R-A-N is in Nancy.
Where are you from to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
before our vice chair um starts uh hillary do you want to bring up the issue of a missing refusal
um well so on on the refusal i think there's a um because it's zoned rsa5 there may have been
a refusal missing for multiple principal uses on a lot but i just wanted to make sure the one
so the refusal the non-residential refusal says um warehouse equipment and material storage which
isn't a use in the zoning code i think it's supposed to be equipment and materials storage
yards and buildings is that correct that is correct yes okay okay that's what it looked
like in the pictures and that's what i i think they were trying to say so mr chair we may just
want to add a proviso clarifying the use because they can because the refusal kind of amalgamates
two different use categories into one um all right so our vice our vice chair has
several questions for you, Mr. Saverin. Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to
waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy? Good afternoon, Mr. Vice Chairman.
I agree to waive the reading of the refusal and I stipulate to its accuracy aside from the issues
that were just pointed out by the solicitor. Thank you, counsel. I've emailed in all the
required documents and exhibits that's needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of
this hearing. Yes, I did. Thank you, counsel. Please proceed and share your screen.
Okay, thank you very much. And let me just say congratulations to Ian, and I hope that the job isn't as hard as I imagine it to be.
So, oh, excuse me, let me try that one more time so I can zoom in a little bit more.
There we go. Okay, can everyone see the refusal?
We can.
Okay, thank you. So, good afternoon. My client is Alder Group LLC.
That's the property owner. And today, the LLC will be represented by Daniel Gorin.
Just for context, the LLC has two members, ex-husband and ex-wife, who purchased the
property in 2017. And I'll get into that history a little bit more in a moment. So
the application before you is to legalize the existing uses in an existing structure.
no changes to the structure are proposed as described in the refusal the property has a
commercial warehouse on the ground floor and three residential apartments above it my clients learned
years after buying the property that it did not have a certificate of occupancy and along the way
of getting one a zoning refusal resulted because the property is in the rsa5 district
So I'll begin going through the exhibits.
As you can begin to see in the city zoning map, the subject property is on a mixed block that has some wider mixed use properties like the subject property, as well as row homes.
The next image here shows that the property is three times as wide as this zoning district's
minimum lot width. It is 48 feet wide and has 2,400 square feet of lot area. Looking at the
distinct roofs on the property, and you can see here our property actually spans the width of
this section that the pin is on with the lighter roof as well as this section of the right with
the darker roof what you can see there is that it appears that decades ago the property consisted
of two distinct structures which were joined on the ground floor but remained separated by
a structural wall upstairs i'd like to take a minute to explain why this application is occurring
i'd like to take a minute to explain why this application is occurring just now if my clients
just now.
purchased the property seven years ago that's because after buying the property in 2017
my clients applied for a multi-family rental license and were granted one for five dwelling
units which is shown here you can see that the license states five units and you can see my
client's name towards the bottom. Before that, the prior owner also had a rental license for
five units. To go back to my client's license, because my clients were granted the same rental
license that their seller had, my clients simply had no reason to suspect that anything was out
of the order and out of the ordinary with this property's permitting until 2022, five years
after they purchased the property, when the city raised an issue for the first time.
That's when L&I did not allow them to renew their rental license.
L&I's eventual explanation was that the property did not have a certificate of occupancy,
but left it to my clients to discover that a new CO could not be obtained without a new zoning
permit. When applying for a new zoning permit, it was discovered that the prior zoning approval
did not include a third apartment.
So, what is unique about this case is that two of the apartments
and the downstairs warehouse space were previously granted zoning approval
by court order in 2015, shown here, overturning a denial by this board.
But strangely, we have evidence that there have been three apartments,
which are shown here on your screen, since at least 2007. So again, we have evidence that there
have been three apartments on the upper floor since at least 2007. This is a floor plan showing
the three apartments today. Even stranger, if you'll remember, is that L&I granted the prior
owner a rental license for five units. So the prior owner had a three-unit apartment building
with a zoning permit for only two units, but a rental license for five units. So suffice it to
say the permitting history for this property is a mess. My clients wish to keep the warehouse
plus all three apartments above it. And if this board grants our application today,
unlike the last owner, my clients will apply for and obtain a certificate of occupancy,
making all necessary improvements to the building's interior as may be required during that process.
I'd now like to walk you through some images of the block and property.
This is one more aerial image in which you can see that another triple-wide mixed-use property is located two doors down at 2327-31 Alder Street,
which is where my cursor is now, if you can see that, and the red pin is the subject property.
Similarly, it appears that this 2327-31 Alder property also is a combination of two structures.
You can also notice in this image that garage doors are very common on our side of the block, serving both commercial and residential uses.
To turn to some street-level images, you'll see that on-street parking is not permitted on the subject property side of the street.
That's the subject property and its garage door in the foreground on the right.
Here's the block facing the other direction with a neighbor's garage, the immediately adjacent neighbor in the foreground, and the subject property's garage door in the distance.
Note the walled stoop here, which is a part of the subject property, which is where the apartment's trash is kept per city collection.
So the residents are able to walk their trash out of their units to cans, which live on this stoop.
This is a 13-year-old photo from 2011.
You'll see that the property has three entrances in addition to the garage door, which remains the case to this day.
One of the entrances serves the ground floor warehouse, while the other two serve the upstairs apartments, with two of the three apartments sharing the entrance on the left that has the stoop.
You can see in this image that the property had four mailboxes back in 2011, the gold one for the downstairs business and one for each of the three apartments.
Four mailboxes are shown in this even older image from 2007 as well.
More recent images from the period of my client's ownership also show four mailboxes.
So again, four mailboxes is evidence since 2007 that there's been four units in total, three being residential, one being the warehouse.
four units in total, three being residential, one being the warehouse.
Google's images also do a good job highlighting the use of some adjacent properties. So this
image from last year clearly shows two mailboxes on our next door neighbor at 2333-35 Alder Street.
One property further down, so now this is two doors down from us, at 2327 Alder Street,
appears to show a business plus five residential apartments of a property of about the same size
as ours. The ground floor appears to be occupied by a roofing company, per my client's personal
observations. And you can see some of the roofing company's equipment photographed here leaning
against the building. You'll also see six distinct electrical meters mounted on the outside of this
building. Three are on the left side of their warehouse here, and three are on the right side
of the warehouse, shown here. This evidence is offered to establish for you that the property's
two closest neighbors to the north are also engaged in mixed multifamily and commercial uses.
I'll quickly walk through the interior of the building. The ground floor is an
interconnected, pardon me, series of rooms that span the entire property. So this entire floor
is what we call the warehouse. The ground floor is occupied by a tenant, a business that produces
signs for real estate agents. And I'll walk you through photos of these spaces now. So this is
the first room. It's essentially a loading room where they load the finished signs.
One more photo of that room, which was, I think, being cleaned while this was taken.
This is the next room is a room where the tenant business stores its signs and sign posts.
So you can kind of get the gist.
Some of these signs are suburban style that are put on a post that's hammered into the
ground and some are tacked onto buildings.
So the tenant has an elaborate rack system that stores these signs across a couple rooms.
Here's the same room, just a better image of that rack system.
And here's the next room that has yet more racks.
The fourth room is where the signs are assembled. The tenant does not actually make the signs from
raw materials here. What they do is they take blank signs produced elsewhere and they print
images onto them using this printer. And finally, there's a small bathroom in this tenant space.
Here again is the upstairs floor plan. So one apartment shown in orange is separated by a
structural wall from the remainder of the floor. All of the apartments are one bedrooms.
The orange apartment has its own entrance from the street. The other two apartments shown in
blue and green, share an entrance from Alder Street and have a common staircase and hallway,
which is seen here. So here's the entrance from Alder for the green and blue apartments on that
floor plan. You come upstairs off the street, and this is the common hallway.
Give me one moment. I'll load some interior pictures. So this is the unit that is called
37 front. And what you're looking at here is its kitchen. Then if you turn around in this same
space, you'd face the living area. This is its bathroom. This is its bedroom.
The next set of photos are of 37 rear. This is the other unit that shares the common hallway.
This unit was photographed between tenants, but it is currently occupied.
So this is the kitchen into which the front door to the unit leads.
This is the living room looking at it from the kitchen.
This is again the living room just turning the camera around so you can see the kitchen
and the front door there. To the left is a door that leads to the bathroom.
here is the bathroom and now we're back in the living room looking at the door to the bedroom
and then finally here's the orange unit the one that is structurally separated from the other two
which is called the 41 unit
this is more of an open concept layout so this is a door that leads to a private
an indoor staircase that goes down to Alder Street. You have a kitchen and sort of a dining
area here. Looking at the same area, just turning the camera around. This is a seating area
This is a seating area towards the front of the apartment.
towards the front of the apartment.
And then in a separate room, this is the bedroom.
Didn't want anyone to think there's no window.
The window is behind the camera in this photo.
And this is that unit's bathroom.
So as I mentioned, in a 2015 case about this property called McNally that went to the court
of common pleas the zoning board was ordered to grant variances for the downstairs warehouse plus
two apartments so you're looking at the refusal that wound its way to court in that case and on
this next page is the court's final order for reasons unknown the court simply didn't consider
a third unit despite as i showed you some evidence that there was a third unit present by this time
third apartment unit, that is. The court's opinion in the case is nonetheless very helpful.
It notes that Sanborn maps indicated that various commercial uses have been located in the ground
floor for over 100 years, and that the property was previously zoned in a different way that
allowed non-residential uses. Although not explicitly stated, the implication of the court's
decision is that prior zoning also allowed the apartments above, as the court included variances
for the two apartments in its decision. Given that a third apartment was not before the court
in 2015, it is not the case that the McNally decision is binding on the board today. If it
were, we wouldn't be here. But it's persuasive evidence that the property faced a hardship
preventing it from being used in conformity, sorry, preventing it from being used in conformity
with its RSA-5 zoning. The property continues to face this hardship to this day. And I promise
I'm almost wrapped up here. The McNally Court in 2015 relied on and cited a much older case
called O'Neill v. ZVA from 1956, which is a seminal PA Supreme Court case discussing hardship.
The present application has much in common with the facts of O'Neill. In the interest of time, I won't run through that comparison during this hearing. I'll simply note that I provided a memo at Exhibit 16 that discusses the similarities between our situation and O'Neill.
The famous line from the O'Neill case is that, quote, the board's discretion is not so circumscribed as to require a property owner to reconstruct a building to a conforming use, regardless of the financial burden that would be incident thereto, end quote.
So here, as in O'Neill, the minimum necessary relief is to legalize the property in its current
form. My clients are requesting that the board do so to obtain a zoning variance, because in order
to obtain a variance, it's sufficient for an applicant to show that a property can be conformed
for a permitted use only at a prohibitive expense. That is a line from Hertzberg,
which is another PA Supreme Court case. In my memo, I detail why combining even
two of the three apartments, would involve removing tenants and major expenses.
For context, my clients are an ex-husband and ex-wife who bought the property while married
and are not full-time real estate investors. They currently charge each apartment tenant
$1,200 per month. That's the market in this location. So the cost to gut and rebuild to
merge units would be very hard to sustain and very disruptive for the folks that live there.
putting aside the history of the property and its unique physical constraints which again are
further detailed in my memo the applicant submits that the board may grant variances on the basis
that the property is located in an area in which multi-family use with three apartments is
appropriate specifically this is a triple wide lot and two of our nearest neighbors are also
used as multi-family properties with an equal or greater unit density per lot area for context
Next, if the property were zoned RM1, the city's most common and lowest density multifamily designation, six units would be permitted by right given the property's lot area.
Of course, the property is not zoned RM1, but again, it is directly adjacent to other multifamily properties, so it's useful to determine that the city would not consider our second floor to be overly dense if we were in a multifamily zoning district.
Based on the significant evidence before the board, the applicant submits that it has met each element entitling it to use variances provided in the zoning code.
With three apartments in the warehouse present since at least 2007, the property has not caused congestion or endangered the public.
The RCO has not claimed any such ill effects and no complaints about the property.
The RCO has not claimed any such ill effects, and no complaints about the property were voiced at the RCO meeting, which my client and I attended.
Granting new variances to this property will allow my clients to apply for a certificate of occupancy, which will ensure the continued safety of the property's neighbors and its own tenants.
Thank you very much.
You want to bring your client on?
Yes. Thanks, Mr. Chairman.
Daniel Gorin, could you raise your virtual hand?
When did Mr. Gorin buy it?
Daniel Gorin has been allowed to speak.
Mr. Gorin, could you please state your name and spell for the Stockford?
Mr. Gorin?
daniel
he's unmuted chair might be having technical issues
so mr sabrin you're an officer of the court and we accept your testimony um just a quick question
so in 15 when it went to the zoning board yeah did they ask for two plus plus downstairs and
then they appealed it um so the case actually came before the zoning board in 2012 um given
that litigation moves like molasses it took until well okay yep but but but the zoning board what
what were they requesting there yeah so um there's the request to the zoning board was two apartments
um plus the warehouse the zoning board um denied i don't have a copy of the file that's okay sure
And then went to court.
In court, they appealed for two and one.
So, right.
The court reversed the zoning board.
That's correct.
All right.
Questions from the board.
So when did we get the third residential unit?
Hi, board member Gaston.
So based on the best investigation we could do, speaking with community members and looking at old photos with those mailboxes I showed you,
It appeared that the third apartment was present no later than 2007, so that would be 17 years ago.
It's really not clear why, and we even spoke to an attorney for a prior owner.
It's not clear why the case that went to court only highlighted two of the units.
That could have been a clerical error.
It also could have been somebody not being forthright in their paperwork, but we just don't know.
we just don't know. And did I hear you correctly that the board, that I'm sorry, that you were
able to obtain or your clients were able to obtain licenses for these three, for the three units?
Yes. Yes. Until when?
Yeah. So they purchased the property in 2017. They immediately were granted a rental license
that covered all of the units and they held it for five years until the city raised an issue
for the first time so they relied on the fact that nothing appeared to be wrong for five years
okay so okay
okay and i'm sorry so no how did it happen that you that they went to apply they went to renew
their license yes there was some uh objection then to that that that's correct so the the the prior
owner also had a rental license um as you know rental license do not run with the land unlike
zoning permits. Right. Yeah. They have to be renewed every year. Okay. That's right. So my
client, you could say my client either applied for a new one or in a sense, renewed the prior
owner's license, had no trouble. Then my client renewed its own license four times, had no
trouble. And then when it went for, you know, the sixth year on the license, Ellen, I said, no,
So didn't, you know, if you've ever kind of dealt with this, the business licensing examiners that do this, they don't readily offer explanations.
But the one that we were able to get ultimately was that the building did not have a certificate of occupancy.
That was it. That was short and sweet. That was the explanation.
It wasn't that zoning was cited as the reason, but once we had to go get a new CO, the zoning came up.
but once we had to go get a new ceo the zoning came up okay thank you of course all the questions
Thank you.
questions or comments from our attorney
not at this point mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
yes chair i am the hand up by a phone number
hi this is uh daniel goren uh sorry i was having trouble with uh uh attending the video on my
computer i'm on my cell phone now mr goren could you please state your name and spell for the
stenographer. Yes, Mr. Chairman. Daniel Gorin, D-A-N-I-E-L-G-O-R-E-N. You swear or affirm to
tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth? Yes, I do. Please proceed, Mr. Saverin.
Thanks, Mr. Chairman. Dan, did you hear the full extent of my testimony in your zoning case today?
Yes, I did. Was it true and accurate to the best of your knowledge, information, and belief?
Can you confirm that you have the legal authority to speak on behalf of the Alder Group, LLC?
Yes, I confirm.
And would you therefore adopt my testimony as if it were your own?
Yes, it would.
And specifically, all the issues that we just addressed through the board's questions about
the timing of these issues and the duration of your ownership, was that all correct?
Yes, it was all factually correct, yes.
Thank you.
any other questions from the virtual audience
I see no more hands at this time
any commission
the property is indicated
for residential on the city
plan given the site's established
use history and its current
physical conditions we have
no objection to the granting of
requested variance
Hillary what was your
comments you wanted to oh yes mr chair i just um i think if we just include a proviso um that
would clarify um approved use is multi-family household living three dwelling units and
equipment and materials storage yards and buildings um and if you if you'd like me to
read that proviso into the record i can i i think when we get to that point you you can do that
Thank you. Okay. So, MI 2024-005-498-2337-41 South Alder Street, I vote yes. With proviso?
Yes. Approved use is multifamily household living, three dwelling units, and equipment and materials, storage, yards, and buildings.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes with proviso.
And we say that this equipment and material storage yard is just going to be on the first floor.
I'm sorry.
We can add that if you would like.
I mean, it may not mean anything.
I mean, there's no saying about changing the configuration, but this is supposed to be on just the first floor.
from it. So I'll start it over again. MI 2024-005-501. Oh, I'm sorry. I've already moved
on to the next one. Wait a minute. MI 2024-005-498-2337-41 South Alder Street. I vote yes
with proviso. It'll be approved use is equipment and materials, storage yards and buildings on
the first floor with multi-family household living three dwelling units above thank you
my vote is yes with proviso general gaston my vote is yes with proviso
tanata graham my vote is yes with provisos ishmael shaheed my vote is yes with proviso
thank you brandon thank you all very much thank you so number 11 mi 2024
424-005-501-1108-Webster Street.
Alan Nockamson is the attorney.
Unanimous support from Hawthorne Empowerment Coalition, 8 to 0.
Alan Nockamson will be rejoining us as a panelist.
Mr. Nockamson, you've already been sworn once today. Could you just state your name?
Alan Nockamson.
could you identify your client in relationship to the property yes my client is eric stern the
Could you identify your client in relationship to the property?
Yes, my client is Eric.
owner of the property and our vice chair has a few questions sir good afternoon counsel do you
agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy i do have you emailed
in all the required documents and exhibits as needed to proceed with this case five days in
advance of this hearing yes we have thank you counsel please proceed and share your screen
Hi, so I'm here to present 1108 Webster Street, just trying to get to full screen mode.
Here we go.
We're looking, my client is not a developer.
He's owned this property since 2003, so over 20 years.
This board granted a similar request for a planned community of what we're asking for in terms of refusals a few years ago.
And what he's looking to do with his property is kind of mimic what the board previously granted next door to him.
And he plans to live in this property.
So and this can be a single family house.
So first, we're going to review the notice of refusal.
This is an RSA 5 property.
There are four refusals and we'll review them.
Really, there's one, and we'll explain the other ones, but we did meet with the community, the Horthon Empowerment Coalition, and again, as the chair stated, that, you know, there was unanimous support, a well-attended meeting.
My client's a known quantity there. So, and the refusals are really not that egregious under the circumstances. And so we'll review an aerial view of the property. So two of our refusals have to do with open area and rear yard setback.
um basically we already run afoul of those requirements under philadelphia zoning code
and that aerial view show that and there's an explanation as to why we don't have any open
area or any rear yard setback so we'll look at that as well then we'll review maps of the area
again we're not um trying to increase density here we're just trying to create a single family
structure here where one exists um and you know one of the refusals really the only one that's
really pertaining to this matter is height. And the board will, you know, see that we're
across the street from the Palumbo High School, which is 80 feet high, literally. So, and, you
know, so no issues in terms of light and air to any of the other neighbors in regards to what
we're proposing. Also, this board granted a similar height refusal to the property to the
left of us as well. So what we're proposing is really not going to have an impact at all
on the community. Photographs of the property, you'll see where we are in the neighborhood.
Our plans and drawings, you know, these plans were designed by Nome Architecture and
in the audience is Justin Bright who can answer any technical questions we have or the board has.
We have our RCO meeting notice, again, the well-attended meeting and, you know, proof of
mailing of that notice. Our applications for appeal that we filed on Eric's behalf,
or deed to the property, showing that Eric's owned this property for over 20 years, and the
Certificate of Tax Clearance showing that he owes no real estate taxes to the city of Philadelphia.
At the conclusion of my presentation, I would ask that Eric virtually raise his hand,
be sworn in, and I'll have a few questions for him. And again, we have Justin Bright,
one of the architects at Nome Architecture. And if there's any technical questions,
he can answer those as well so notice refusal so this is an rsa5 property and we're trying
the proposal is to demolish the existing single-family structure which already has
off-street parking and to erect this new structure here we have four refusals first refusal is a
technical one it's saying that the front of our building facade is not matching the building
facade to the left of us. Right now, LNI recognizes that the property to the left of us
doesn't have a building facade, but that's not correct. As indicated, the board in 2023
granted a variance request for a 10-unit planned community, 10 single-family homes,
all going to be 45 feet high in nature. The foundations have been placed on that property
to the left of us. And the facade is to, you know, to the complete left of us. And we're matching
that facade, just like we're matching the facade to the right of us. But because I guess there's
not a CO yet for the property to left of us, we're getting this technical refusal. The second refusal
we're getting this technical refusal. The second refusal has to do with open area.
has to do with open
We're asking for zero open area for this project. You know, typically you would say, well,
zero open area, that doesn't really make sense. Two things. First, there's zero open area for
the current building structure there. That's a single family home. And this property used to be
essentially two parcels. And the parcel behind us on Christian Street, we share an actual deck
that is on the Christian Street single-family structure. And our building facade currently
attaches to the end of our property for that shared deck. So all we're trying to do is reattach
that shared deck for the new building structure. So it's a little atypical situation. But that's
why we have zero open area because there's zero open area now and we're attaching to a deck that
is shared that's on the christian street property by way of an easement so a typical in nature
same thing has to do with the rear yard setback we have no rear yard setback with the current
building structure why because we're attached to a deck currently with the building structure
on the Christian Street property, and we have an easement to use that deck. So when we
hope to demolish the current building structure and erect a new one, we just want to reattach
to that deck as well. Really, the only refusal that is different than what is currently there
in terms of the current building structure versus the proposed building structure is the height of
the property. This is an RSA 5 property where 38 feet is allowed as of right for the height of the
property. We're asking for 45 feet. Again, the building, the proposed 10 units or 10 single
families to the left of us are all going to be 45 feet in nature. The ZBA already approved that
project in 2023 um and so not out of character to have that type of height to the on that block from
for single families on our side of the streets and across the street is the palumbo high school
which has which is 80 feet high in nature so um not atypical to have properties rather high on
that block and we're not taking anyone's light in there essentially because of the structures that's
45 feet to the left of us, as well as the structure across the street from us, which is 80 feet high.
Again, we met with the community, and as you can see, we had unanimous support from them.
Twelve members of the community, four board members of the coordinating RCO, as well as eight members of the community support this project.
And then there was a description as well about the project.
and indicating how it's similar in nature in terms of the variance requests
as to what this board previously approved at 814 South 11th Street.
And then aerial view of the property.
So this is our property, probably not the best aerial view,
but it's full lot coverage.
We're attaching to this property on Christian Street as indicated
in that we share their roofed, what's called, I guess, rear yard deck.
But you can see it's not out of character.
Here's the Palumbo High School, which is 80 feet high across the street from us.
Here is an older photo.
We got this off Atlas.
But this is the property that's going to have 10 single-family homes as a planned community,
45 feet high in nature.
And, you know, again, all we're trying to do is build a building facade that equals the property to left and right of us.
So that technical refusal about us matching the front building facade is technical in nature.
Maps of the area. Again, we're not trying to, this is a zoning map.
We're not trying to increase density here. This is an RSA 5 property.
We'll note that there's definitely mixed zoning in this area, multifamily and mixed-use zoning.
And then here we are in the neighborhood, too, on Webster Street.
So we're between Christian and Catherine and 11th and 12th Streets.
And then photographs of the property.
As you can see right here, there's off-street parking.
This garage, that's with the current building structure, only allows for one car in it.
The proposal that we're seeking in terms of the garage is allowing two cars off of the street and we're not and there's no parking on the streets.
So it's really a net positive of two cars coming off of the street.
And then you can just see from an aerial view point of view, like, you know, this is the Plumbo School.
And then you can just see from an aerial viewpoint of point of view.
It really does tower over the properties on Webster Street.
It's 80 feet high in nature.
And then this is our property as well.
Currently, as you can see, there's full coverage here.
And this is the Plumbo School again.
And you can see there's no on-street parking here.
Not that there's a variance request for it, but just, again, the net positive is we're repurposing the driveway curb cut for two parking spots.
And then, inspirationally, from our design, this is where we got, like, you know, what our building facade is going to look like.
So, you can see different, you can see the curved bay windows in different properties in the neighborhood.
And that's where the architect got his inspiration to build this new building structure.
And there are plans and drawings.
So as you can see from the left, the cornice line matches to those single family homes that the board approved by way of variance in 2023.
You can also see the curved bay windows.
And you can see just, again, we have a pronounced cornice line, and we have a lot of windows that lead to lots of light in there for the property, our property.
And then as you can see here, this is a better angle, but you can see our cornice line matches the property still left of us.
And again, the Palumbo school already overpowers us from a height perspective.
And then this is just our site plan. And you can see from here, this is the curb cut we're repurposing. And then you can see from a side elevation point of view, our height for the building is 45 feet high.
You can also see the two cars that would be parked in the garage on the first floor.
There's also no basement use.
We're building on grade.
First floor, you would see like the two cars parked, you know, through the garage.
There's storage in the back where presumably the garbage would be stored, you know, until trash day.
Not that it's a big issue, but it's a single family home.
You walk up the front steps, you know, the steps in the front.
You go up a flight of steps. It's an open floor plan of a living room, dining room, kitchen.
There's a half bath. You go up a flight of steps. There's two bedrooms and two baths.
And then there's a master suite on the fourth floor. And then there's a roof deck as well.
RCO meeting notice we met on October 22nd at 7 p.m. It was a very well attended meeting.
We emailed that notice to the coordinating RCO and relevant parties showing proof of mailing of that notice.
That notice was mailed to 93 addresses.
These are the addresses we mailed it to.
Proof of mailing to those addresses or application for appeal we filed on Eric's behalf.
Again, not a developer, someone who's lived in this community for over 20 years and wants to remain in this community.
He figured based on what the board approved in 2023, he wanted to upgrade his house, not move.
And he's hoping the board will equally grant this zoning request or variance request.
His deed to the property showing that he's owned this for some time in 2023, 2003, sorry, over 20 years.
in the certificate of tax clearance showing that he owes no real estate taxes
with respect to the property. I would ask that Eric virtually raise his hand
and be sworn in. Eric?
Eric Stern has been allowed to speak. Eric, could you please state your name and spell for the
stenographer. My name is Eric Stern, E-R-I-C-S-T-E-R-N. You swear or affirm to tell the
truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Yes. Yes, Eric, you heard everything I had to state
today about Jorzoni matter. Yes. And is it true and correct? Yes. And do you adopt it as your own
testimony yes um and and members of the board the other thing i did overlook is that he's making a
significant investment in this property i believe he's even putting an elevator in there so this is
the place that he wants to live you know through retirement years and he's trying to make this huge
investment in here and they he hopes the board uh grants this zoning variance request thank you
did you say something about a shared deck before yeah it's strange um yeah i mean i you didn't
Yeah, it's strange. Yeah, I mean, you didn't mention it in your presentation, but what's the shared decade?
mention it in your presentation.
Yeah, let me show you this here. It's very strange. I've not seen anything like this before. Let's see. It's not on our client's property. It's on the site plan.
it's right here so this is our property right here right oops and this is the property on
christian street on christian street there's a deck right here leading on to the second floor
it connects to our current building structure that we have shared access to and we're hoping
to actually continue that access you know by way of this building structure that's why we're asking
for zero that's the rear that's the rear yard issue no so the rear yard issue is this this is
christian street right think about it this is christian street this is webster in order for
us to connect to this deck we have to our current building structure goes all the ways to the rear
of our property and connects to this deck right now all we're trying to do is recreate the situation
with zero rear yard setback and zero open area.
So that's part of our hardship too.
All right, questions from the board.
Yes, I have a question.
Out of the RCO folks that supported it,
how does the neighbor at 1110 weigh in?
How did they weigh in as being as though
you're talking about demolishing the home right next to it?
Yeah, so I'll let Eric speak,
but my understanding is that there were members of that block. I'm not 100% sure if the neighbor
next door was there. I'll let Eric answer that. But he lives there. So, Eric, you want to answer
that? Yeah. The next door neighbor was not in attendance in that meeting. It's a rental
property. And neither the owner nor the tenant was present. Other people from the block were
present and voiced, they're okay.
And not that this goes from a zoning perspective, but he's building
it on slabs, so there's no underpinning either. So from a
construction point of view, it's going to be a lighter issue
in terms of construction. I mean, I say that because it's a small
block. The block is very, very small. And you said
you didn't know of any other neighbors that were at the zoning hearing?
or there were some?
Not the 1110 neighborhood.
Not 1110, but other members
of that block attended the community
meeting and voiced their support for
the project.
Any other 45 feet
residences besides
the ones to the left?
Any other ones to the right?
On that same block, that's
that height and on other blocks
of Webster Street as well.
Thank you.
Questions from the board.
Okay, the refusal of what are we granting you variances from there's height.
Let me share my screen again. I'll go through the refusals again.
Okay, thank you.
so three out of the four um
so the first one has to do with the front facade has to match the front facades to left and right
of us so our front so we're not changing the depth of our front facade from the current building
structure to the proposed new building structure and the front facade to the our proposed front
facade matches and mimics the front facade to the right of us to the left of us and i think it'll
be better to look at the foot the aerial view um this is an older photo of of the of the uh
neighborhood but there is no facade here it's actually i guess there's a building structure
that was set back that building structure has been demolished and what the board approved and
I think it's more from an illustration would be helpful is they approve this.
This is just an illustration of a 10 unit plan community.
These are 10 single family homes.
Five of the single family homes will face West Webster at 45 feet high and five of the
single family homes.
I would presume face Christian street at 45.
The foundations have been poured for the homes, but they haven't been completed.
So I would presume, given that there's no CO yet, LNI doesn't recognize this building facade yet.
So that's the technical refusal as the first one.
The second refusal has to do with the open space, where we're providing no...
It has to do with the open space where we're providing no open space for our property.
Again, the current building structure has no open space because what we're doing is attaching the rear of our building structure to that deck on the second floor that's on the Christian Street side.
And then the third refusal has to do with the rear air setback.
We have no rear air setback currently, and we're proposing no rear air setback.
So we can connect to the second floor deck that attaches, you know, to our building and hopefully the new building.
And then the fourth refusal has to do with the height.
We're proposing 45 feet in height, but the buildings that those five buildings to the left of us and behind us are 45 feet high.
And there's the Palumbo High School, which is across the street, which is 80 feet high.
All right.
Thank you.
any other questions from the board
questions or comments from our attorney
Hillary Emerson
just one comment
I think there may be a refusal
missing for the front loaded
parking unless that was previously
approved so I just wanted to note
that because I was a little confused at
first but I think Webster Street it's considered
the front street for this case
and not a rear street
or shared driveway so i just wanted to make that that note well i will say this is that the current
use of the property has a front loading garage so i would have thought that we would have received
a refusal because we're demolishing that current building right we're proposing to demolish the
current building right new one so but you know there is a front loading garage right now with
a curb existing curb cut yep all right thank you i should have your comments from the virtual audience
I see Mohin's at this time, Teer.
Planning Commission.
This is Ron Bednar, City Planning.
The property is indicated for residential use on the city plan.
Given the current site circumstances, we recommend that the requested garage variance be granted,
provided that the final height be fully code compliant.
um so can i just comment so what what i heard maybe is that the the planning commission is in
agreement to the variance requests other than the height but maybe i misheard that and if that's the
case all i would say is that the height to the left of us is 45 feet high the board previously
granted height variances for that, plus across the street, you know, it's an 80-foot structure.
Well, my 2020, Ron, go ahead, Ron. Yeah, again, the, we believe that the height, you know,
should actually be consistent with the code. There's no need for the 45 foot.
thank you ron mi 2024-005-501-1108 webster street i vote yes
michael johns my vote is yes
cheryl gaston my vote is yes
tennetta graham my vote is yes
ishmael shaheed my vote is yes
thank you counsel thank you have a great day
Number 14, MI 2024-005-505, 700 East Hunting Park Avenue.
Joseph Vaccaro is the attorney.
There's a letter of support from the 7th Ward RCO.
Mr. Vaccaro.
Joseph Vaccaro will be joining us as a panelist.
good afternoon how are you today good mr vaccaro you've already been sworn just for the record
state your name my name is joseph vaccaro v-a-c-c-a-r-o on behalf of d-t-l-r inc the
applicant our vice chair has a few questions for you sir good afternoon council do you agree to
way the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy? Yes. Have you emailed in all the
required documents and exhibits that's needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of
this hearing? Yes. Thank you counsel. Please proceed and share your screen. Thank you very
much. If I may start by sharing the screen.
Can you see what seems to be a storefront with a TD bank, right?
We can.
So this is an application for DTLR Inc. to use this site to operate a store for selling
shoes and clothing and other items.
The proposed site of the store would be between the TD Bank that you see on the photo and the area to the left, which I believe is going to be opened as a chicken restaurant.
So DTLR plans to occupy space number nine, which is in between the bank and the future chicken restaurant.
DTLR is a very large chain of stores that sells shoes and clothing.
They have two stores on Chestnut Street.
They have another store at 3600 Germantown.
They have another store at 1231 North Broad, as well as 5747 North Broad, 2881 Mount Efrm Avenue in Camden, among many other locations in the tri-state area.
uh so they would hope to open up uh this store at this site the reason for the refusal is that
this location is zoned as i2 industrial but there is no industry anywhere on this block
rather this is an entire plaza consisting of uh retail stores such as ross dressed for less
D.D.'s Discount, Dollar Tree, Rainbow, Renna Center, Little Caesars, Wingstop, T-Mobile,
Dunkin' Donuts. There's a wash and fold laundromat as well as Wendy's. The block is bound by East
Hunting Park Avenue to the north, East Luzerne to the south, Whitaker to the west, and G Street
to the east. On East Hunting Park Avenue, this location in question is on the south side of
East Hunting Park. On the north side of East Hunting Park, there are storage units as well
as fuel storage tanks for gasoline, diesel, those sorts of items. On Luzerne, on the far south side
of the block, that's Pico. Pico was occupying that spot for its trucks as well as other material
and equipment. On the Whitaker Street side, there's a Shell gas station as well as a McDonald's,
as well as other retail and auto repair spots. And on G Street are some of the other stores that I
had mentioned. So again, this is all commercial retail as opposed to the I-2 zoning. I'm going
to show you some additional photographs of the property, the poster. In the back, there's
another structure in the back where the trash would be stored, and that's what I'm showing
you here. This is the back of the building, and the property in question would have one door where
my cursor is. There's another door behind the dumpster, and a third door, and a fourth door.
So there would be four doors on the back for bringing in the merchandise and bringing out
the trash. Some of the fire alarm equipment on the inside of the store.
A view of the outside from the inside of the store. It's still being fitted out.
I mentioned the storage units on the north side of Hunting Park Avenue. You see them through the glass.
Some views of the inside of the store, the ceiling.
and I'm going to show you a similar store that's already fitted out
showing their products, women's shoes, men's shoes, hats, shirts, etc.
etc. And there's the tax clearance certificate. I've also attached a copy of the letter of support
from the 7th Ward RCO, as well as the lease. At this point, I'm going to mention the hours of
operation would be from Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sundays from 11 a.m.
to 5 p.m. I've also attached a copy of the lease as well as the photos and the
I've also attached a copy of the lease, as well as the photos and the plans, site plans, drawings.
At this point, I do have Mr. Chris Cuck on behalf of DTLR, Inc., who's in on the call.
If we could promote him to panelists.
Chris Cuck has been promoted to panelists.
Mr. Cook, can you hear me?
Sir, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Name is Chris Cook, C-H-R-I-S, Cook, K-O-C-H.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, Counselor.
Thank you.
Mr. Cook, have you heard my presentation?
I have.
And do you agree with it?
Do you have anything to add or modify to my presentation?
I do not.
Would you adopt it as your own as if you were testifying?
Yes, I would.
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Just noting for the record that this is for store number nine specifically.
Correct.
As no gin in the lease.
Thank you.
Correct.
questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see no hints at this time chair planning commission
this is ron bednar city planning while this property is currently indicated for industrial
use on the city plan given the physical site circumstances we recommend the request of variance
be granted. Thank you. MI 2024-005-505-700 East Honey Park Avenue, I vote yes with proviso. Use
limited to store number nine. Michael Johns, my vote is yes with proviso. Cheryl Gaston, my vote
is yes with proviso. Senator Graham, my vote is yes with proviso. Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes
we're providing. Thank you, counsel. Thank you. Have a good day. Thank you. Is there anyone in
the 2 p.m. audience whose case has not been called? I see no hands at this time too. Okay,
so we're going to take a five-minute break, come back, and then we'll do the 3.30 list. Thank you.
Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing the 3.30
list of hearings for ZBA. Before I start, I have a couple of announcements to make.
Number one, Ian Haggerty is the ZBA's new executive director. Mr. Haggerty has been a
valuable resource for the Planning Commission for a number of years, and he also was one of the
people assigned to the zoning board. He's literally heard hundreds of zoning cases.
We are very fortunate and we wish we want to welcome Mr. Haggerty to our ZBA board hearings.
Thank you, Chair.
I appreciate it.
And number two, beginning with the December 4th hearings, any documents or other information that parties want to submit to the ZBA for hearings must be submitted through the ZBA's new online upload tool, ZBA Case Submission.
Information on how to access and use the submission tool will be included with hearing notices and zoning posters.
Please note that the applicant's documents are due five calendar days prior to the hearing.
Documents submitted by any other parties should be submitted at least 48 hours prior to the hearing.
To allow sufficient time for processing, in addition, the following information continue to be submitted through email
and not through the upload.
Requests for continuance, withdrawals, reconsiderations,
and amended refusal, as well as requests by attorneys
who enter or withdraw appearances.
If you have any questions about the ZBA case document
submission tool, please contact RCOZBA at phil.gov.
Thank you.
Get started here in a minute.
Okay. With me is Ismail Sha'eed, our Vice Chair.
Present, Chair.
Our Board Member, Cheryl L. Gaston.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our Board Member, Tanetta Graham.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our Board Member, Michael Johns.
Also present is our attorney, Hilary Emerson, and our new executive director, Ian Haggerty.
Also present is our attorney, Hillary Emerson, and our new executive director.
Here's our virtual format.
Meetings are being recorded. With your participation, you agree to be recorded.
Video will be available by contacting ZBAexecutiveDirector at phil.gov.
For a court stenographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying.
If you're participating by phone, press star 9 to raise your hand and star 6 to unmute.
To enter an appearance statement, call 267-270-5548.
Leave your email address and the address of the property in question.
And finally, the question answer box on the screen is not for testimony.
All questions should be directed to zbaexecutivedirector at philip.gov.
Let's look at our schedule for this afternoon.
Thank you.
Sorry, one minute.
1. MI 2023-006-622-1654-58 North 57th Street. That case is continued attorney-moving party.
Number two, 824-001-985-3327 to 3327 to 35 B Street.
The case was listed in error.
It is a duplication of another matter that the board will be hearing later today.
Number three, this year, wait a minute.
Number three, MI 2024-004-050-2155 Castor Avenue.
This case is continued attorney moving party.
Are there any other requests for continuances?
I see no hints at this time, Tara.
Thank you.
So number five, MI 2024-004-086, 2230 South 15th Street.
No exhibits, first listing.
Lawrence Rayo is the listed owner applicant.
This is a pro se.
Lawrence Rayo, if you're in the audience, please raise your virtual hand.
So I have a hand up by the name of Alcatel, Jewytep 2.
I'm going to allow them to speak.
See who that is.
Please unmute yourself.
Hi, could you state your name, please?
Excuse me, my name is Lawrence Rayo.
L-A-W-R-E-N-C-E.
Last name is R-A-O.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
Mr. Rayo, we do not have any exhibits.
This is the first listing of your case on 15th Street.
I'm working with an expediter, Mayor Mitchell.
She is connected.
She has sent in all the paperwork, and she will be working the slides.
she is aware that she's not able to speak on the matter we we have sir mr rail we did not receive
your documents and as a result of that they haven't been reviewed or anything of that nature
and we're going to have to continue the case and if you have any questions you could you could have
you could just contact our office and we will um explain to you what you need when it should be in
by etc okay yes now you just so you know you have a second case here mi 2024 004 087 2223
south 18th street again we do not have any documents for these for that case so i i think
what you have to do is get with your expediter and you should call and figure out what you need
and make sure they're all in and then the next time you'll be ready to go okay so yeah she's
Thank you. Thank you. So number five, MI 2024-004-086-2230 South 15th Street at Cases Continued. Mark must be heard.
2230 South 15th Street, that case is continued. Mark must be heard. And number six, MI2024-004-087-2223
South 18th Street, that case is continued. Mark must be heard. We're going to go to, let's see
or a number. All right, we're going to start with number four, MI 2024, 004-085, 1600 South
Taney Street. Marcella and Robert Zammer are the owner applicants. This is a pro se.
There's a letter of support from Tasker Morris Neighbors Association. The letter states that
the Philly Thrive, ROAD, and Grace Ferry Community Counselor were also present for the meeting
when the letter of support came from then.
Marcel Zimmer will be rejoining us as a panelist.
Hi, this is Marcel Zimmer.
Hi, could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Marcel, M-A-R-C-E-L, Zammer, Z-A-M-M-E-R.
Do you swear or affirm that tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Our vice chair has a few questions for you.
Ma'am, have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed and required to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, I have.
Thank you. May you please share your screen? You can proceed.
So there should be a green button on the bottom that says share screen?
Yep. So do you see 1600 South Taney? No, nothing's up yet. So I think what you have
to do is open your documents and then push share screen. Okay.
green button share screen right i thought i had that hold on let me just go back
right share screen
okay can you see 1600 south taney no no nothing's up yet so i think you you here it's coming now
it's coming out 16 south taney's up thank you so much i apologize i'm kind of new at this
no that's okay thank you i i am the property owner along with my husband um just the um first page
that i would bring up is the front of the property it's a two-story building and then i show a you
know rear of the property it has a one-car garage and um second the story has a small balcony
i've provided uh photos of the second floor apartment which has been in use for
uh, over 10 years with my renter's license. Oh, and then I have photos of, sorry,
the first floor, which was used for storage. My husband owned a roofing company and most of
all of the years that we've owned this property, we only use the first floor
for storage for materials and equipment it already had an existing bathroom and kitchen in place
but he just used it as storage when he retired he just did these renovations on his own
we repurposed the cabinets and put new appliances and flooring and sheetrock
and um you know fixed the bathroom with all new appliances and made a one-bedroom apartment
This is a photo of both South Tesker Street and South Taney, where I posted the required orange 11 by 17 posters with all of the required information for the hearings with the RCO and this hearing as well.
I applied for the zoning permit.
This is just a copy of the permit, page one and page two.
and then the zoning permit and Eclipse
and the notice of denial.
The notice of denial from my understanding
is that it was or is zoned as a CMX1, I believe.
But I thought I had changed that.
I thought I had changed that. My primary request here is just to get permitted for this to be a
My primary...
two-family dwelling so that I can sell the building. My husband and I are now retired,
and we moved out of state and would just like to sell this property as the two-family dwelling.
I had someone that was interested in buying it, a young couple who wanted to live on the first
floor while maintaining the current tenant on the second floor. I believe my request is simply
being asked if I can have this changed to a two-family dwelling. I just, I provided the
application here. These are where the required documents seeking like a variance or a zoning
change. I'm not quite sure what I'm asking for, but I wanted to also just provide the project
information sheet. All of these documents have been submitted as required. The confirmation of
the project information sheet. This is the letter that I mailed out to 206 neighborhood neighbors.
It was the letter advising the entire neighborhood. And again, it was 206 neighbors
about the my husband and I the existing property the description of the property
and what we would like to do you know make it a two family dwelling and that is also was on the
poster the next slide is the receipt from the mailing out of the 206 letters to the neighbors
I received confirmation from the board council email on November 4th that the UPS mail receipt was sufficient for proof of mailing.
I have also attached the deed that was one of the requirements.
So this page is the deed and the next two pages are all part of the deed.
Also part of the deed.
The next slide is a notarized letter signed by myself and my husband stating that I was representing my husband and I for this hearing.
That was a requirement.
And this is a copy of the zoning poster, 11 by 17.
It was laminated and posted.
It's still posted.
the next slide is the support letter from the community organization I did have the RCO meeting
on Monday and that was with the Grace Ferry Community Council the Tasker Morris Neighborhood
Association Philly Thrive and Grace Ferry Coalition of Neighbors I received the approval
from Charles Reeves he emailed the letter and I did submit that as well as required
And then the last item I just would like to mention is my realtor, Michael Rosania, advised me that the address adjacent to my property at 1601 South 27th Street is now zoned as an RSA 5, which is the same as this request with a permit for a two unit dwelling.
So right next to me is already a two-unit dwelling.
I'm not changing anything on the property.
It's staying the same.
I just would like to be able to list it as a two-property dwelling, have a certificate
of occupancy for a potential buyer who will want to live on the first floor potentially
and put that property up for sale.
as like i stated we are both retired now and would just like to um you know get right so so
let's let's let's let's go over this a minute so how long have you owned the property i think we
bought it in 2005 so we've owned it for over second floor the second floor was always an apartment
well my husband fixed it up so yes after he was finished renovating it it became an apartment
i got the renter renter's license and then he ran he ran his business out of the first floor
well he didn't really yes he not really ran the business that's just where his guys would meet
every day yeah yeah right his materials and equipment so then he retired yes and then he
fit the first floor out as an apartment yes he did then he found out you needed zoning to do that
right when we were um i'm sorry go ahead right you found out you needed zoning to do that you're
here today to try to get a multiple family is that right a two-family dwelling yes yeah right okay
Is that right? A two family dwelling. Yes. Yeah. Right. OK. All right.
all right question
Questions from the board. So the original renovation was just done.
There was no zoning or anything done for it. I'm assuming. Right.
When we purchased the property, my husband did some work, you know, to make the second floor nicer.
So, you know, it was very, very old. Was it already laid out as an apartment?
No, I don't believe so. I believe back in the day, I don't know, maybe in the 80s or the 90s, I think there may have been a store on the first floor. I don't know. I was never really around there. I just know when we purchased it, it was sort of a shell. It was really decrepit.
And, you know, since then, we did all of the exterior finish work to it, all new siding and stucco and pavements.
And, you know, we did a lot of renovations to make it look nice and keep the neighborhood nice.
We've always had a good, you know, all the people in the neighborhood were always very friendly and respectful.
So he fitted up.
Did you have a rental license for the second floor?
Yes, sir.
Still have a rental license for the second floor.
Correct.
All right.
But but when your husband retired. Yes. I think Michael was trying to say you just redid the place on the first floor without getting permits or anything. Right. Yes. Yes. He didn't add anything. It was already there. There was a bathroom. There was a saying, you know, an operating kitchen. Like I said, I think it may have been a store back in the day. So, you know, he's retired now, has all this time on his hands. He just started tiling and sheet rocking and, you know, he started to do that.
And then after we did that, we thought, okay, so now we're both retired, let's sell this property.
And that's when I found out through my realtor, because there was a young couple interested in it, I needed to have it.
I think we understand.
We got it.
Thank you.
Any other questions from the board?
Questions or comments from our attorney?
um just briefly mr yes just briefly mr chair i just wanted to to clarify for miss zammer um so
what you are requesting here is a variance um if if this is granted this will not change your
zoning your property will still be zoned cmx1 but you will be given permission to use it as a
two-family dwelling um zoning changes can only be done through legislation through city council so
I just wanted to clarify that for you. Thank you. Thank you very much. I really wasn't sure
of the proper wording if I was requesting a variance or a rezoning. I wasn't quite sure
what I'm asking for. I just... Okay. All right. Okay. All right. So questions or comments from
the virtual audience? Yes, Chair. I have a hand up by the name of Chris Lynn. They have been
allowed to speak and could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer thank you mr
chairman my name is chris lynn first name c-h-r-i-s last name lynn l-i-n you swear or firm to tell the
truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do are you a neighbor i know i am an attorney
with council president johnson's office sure and sure please proceed sir thank you mr we're just
to offer a standard support of this project.
Okay, so you're in favor of the project,
the council president.
Thank you very much.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
Chair, may I ask what's going on with the basement?
You most certainly can.
There's nothing going on in the basement.
I still have some tools down there.
Really, that's just about it.
um you know upon if we sell the property my husband would probably have a yard sale or garage
sale to offload some of the tools would there be first floor access uh for the to the basement from
the for the first floor unit or no no the only access to the basement is the belco doors in the
ground on the ground okay thank you thank you thank you um planning commission so ron bednar
Our city planning property is indicated for commercial mixed use on the city plan.
Given the site's physical condition, we recommend the request of advance be granted.
MI 2024-004-085-1600 South Taney Street, I vote yes.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes.
Gerald Gaston, my vote is yes.
Tanada Graham, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
I have your votes.
Have your votes.
Okay, we're going to go to number.
Thank you all very much.
Thank you so much.
Sure, thank you.
So number seven, MI 2024-004-130-3700 to 40 Kensington Avenue.
Sean Ward is the attorney.
Letter of support from Juniata Park Civic Association.
Sean Ward will be rejoining
us as a panelist.
Mr. Ward. Mr. Chair.
Okay. Could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Yeah, Sean, S-H-A-W-N, Ward, W-A-R-D, Esquire, attorney for owner applicant.
You'd swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
I certainly do.
Our vice chair has just a few questions, sir.
Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to wait the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
I do. Thank you.
Have you emailed in all the required documents that's needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
They weren't five days in advance, but they've been reviewed by council and they've since been accepted.
And we have again with again with with some supplements.
Not not everything was available at the time of submission, but they have since been submitted.
And I confirm our council that we're good to go.
Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.
OK, Chair, can you see my screen?
We can. We can. We're fine.
Excellent. Excellent. I am here on behalf of Ludlum Properties, LLC, the owner of 3700-40 Kensington Avenue, listed for today at 330.
I submit my typical exhibit packet. A1 is the notice of refusal.
The application was for the adaptive reuse of a former warehouse on Kensington Avenue for a use permit for multifamily household living consisting of 64 units
at the second and third floor levels in the existing structure.
It resulted in two refusals.
One, the use is not permitted in the I-2 Industrial District.
Again, representing that this is an adaptive reuse of a former industrial site.
And whereas there's no industry on Kensington Avenue anymore.
The second refusal is for parking.
It requires 32 spaces, whereas none are proposed.
I would point out that when you see the site plans and aerial photographs, this building is the subject of a larger parcel where there are actually two parking lots on site, but the parking lots aren't dedicated to this specific use and they would be shared.
But it resulted in a refusal because we are not providing the 32 required spaces.
Accordingly, we seek a use and dimensional variance today.
A2 is the ZBA Application of Appeal, A3 Project Information Form.
A4 is the Proof of Ownership, which is the deed.
At the time of submission, we were pending the agreement with the Revenue Department.
That has since been approved and submitted to Board Council, which has been reviewed.
I do have a copy if the Board wants to see it on my PDF here today.
Okay. A6 are the zoning floor plans and renderings of the proposed dwelling units.
A7 are photographs of the posting, subject property, street views, aerial views.
At the time of submission, I was waiting for the letter from Juniata Park Civic.
That has since been submitted and reviewed by board council.
And I would point out that that letter also references that Harrogate Civic was in attendance at the meeting
and joined in the support.
A-9, if submitted by district council,
I would ask that that be marked as A-9.
I don't know if, I haven't received a copy,
so I don't know if they submitted or not.
A-10 is the relevant zoning history.
2003, a use permit for wholesale distribution and storage.
You know, it was a warehouse.
But, you know, we now seek to convert
the second and third floor into residential dwelling units.
So we have our let me let me go out of this for a second.
OK, so we have our notice of refusal.
I would point out that the refusal says you have two zoning refusals,
but I only see one listed.
So, uh, you know, I'm, I'm not quite sure where that, where that lies, but, um, we have
So, you know, I'm not quite sure where that where that lies, but.
our application for appeal project information form.
My transmittal letter, the deed.
Uh, there was a $26,000 balance due on the property, um, uh, that has since been rectified
with a payment agreement, which was, uh, approved today, uh, again, submitted to council.
The building itself is an L-shaped building consisting of, right now, vacant warehouse space, and we are looking to subdivide into various residential dwellings.
Again, so this would be an aerial view of one of the studio units or the kitchen, living, dining area, a rendering of what that unit would look like.
additional renderings
again this is the property
on M Street
and Kensington Avenue to the left
this is a view
I believe from Kensington Avenue
no I'm sorry this is probably M Street
this was a zoning
permit issued in 2023
a change of use
to wholesale distribution and storage for a warehouse.
Then we have the full zoning history from Zoning Archive.
If anybody wants to see any specific documents
with regard to the zoning history,
that's, you know, I'd be more than happy to share.
Here is the property in purple.
Again, Kensington Avenue running from bottom left
to upper right.
Erie Avenue running across the top
and then M Street coming down from the top to bottom.
Here is the aerial photo again. I'm going to blow this up for you.
This is the building here. Again, it's L-shaped as depicted in the floor plans.
This was my supplemental submission with photos of the posting.
Street views as you can see the the elevated train the L is to the right. This is the Kensington
Avenue side. Another view from Kensington Avenue. This is what is existing in the building right
now. Again it's just a vacant warehouse space to be converted into dwelling units.
this is the letter from juniata park dated november 4
uh they held the meeting it was uh voted 14 yes with none opposed and again they referenced that
that harrogate civic was present uh included in the meeting
um very quickly
just so the board can see it
this is our approval of the uh payment agreement with the city dated uh well
dated november 8th but i don't know where that came from uh uh but this this is the payment
agreement uh as approved by the uh revenue department so uh that's basically the uh sum
substance of the application i do have do you have do you have drawings on what it's going to look
like i didn't see that how are you going to lay it out oh yeah hang on a second let me go back
um all right i gotta move this let's put that at the bottom um
second there we go
Yeah. So basically, again, it's the L-shaped building as referenced in the overhead aerial photo.
And we're going to subdivide, you know, the floor space into individual dwelling units.
And there's a total of 64.
They would include studio, one bedroom, two bedroom, and then obviously utility space with washers, dryers, and things of that nature for the tenant spaces.
The typical, as noted here, you'll see this would be your typical studio layout.
and then we have the photos
Adam, curiosity, what's the square footage of that studio?
out of curiosity what's the square footage
of that studio layout
studio what's out of curiosity
uh 521.7
square feet okay
you know and that's that i mean
you know when it comes to a studio that's you know
that's a pretty good size and then
we also have
this would be the
one bedroom
and that is 728
And then we have the renderings showing how they would look once fitted out, you know, a breakfast bar, you know, a kitchen and then the bedroom.
And I imagine, you know, based upon the photographs, you know, I'm presuming this window would face Kensington Avenue, but but it's a rendering, not an actual photo.
So that would be the elevated there, right? Yeah. Yeah, exactly. The L, the L would be, you know, outside that window, not the beautiful skyline.
Uh, but, uh, you know, again, we presented it to, uh, uh, both Harrogate and, uh, Juniata Civic at a joint meeting and, uh, they voted 14 to nothing, uh, in support of the adaptive reuse of this otherwise vacant warehouse that has no, uh, intended industrial purpose, uh, in Harrogate or Juniata anymore.
Do you want to bring your client on?
Uh, yeah, I believe that George Groves is in the audience.
If George can raise his hand and be permitted to speak.
George Groves has been allowed to speak.
Sir, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
George Groves.
George, G-E-O-R-G-R-O-P-E-S.
We're a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Yes, sir.
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you, Chair.
George, you're here on behalf of Ludlum Properties, LLC today, correct?
Yes, sir.
You've heard my representations to the board?
Are they true and correct, to the best of your knowledge, information, and belief?
Yes, sir.
And would you adopt them as your own testimony?
Unless the board has any questions, that's all I have to present today,
and I would ask that the requested relief be granted.
Questions from the board.
I have a question.
What's planned for the first floor?
I defer to George on that, George.
So one section of the building is going to be running out to a home health care.
The second part of it is designed for a, I think it's part of the home health care stuff, but it's like a day program.
thank george that would be the step that that might be the subject of an additional application
because it's not included in this one correct it's all it's all the stuff that they want to do
is under it's under the use uh john higgins looked it all up before we even talked to the
client so so yes anything they're doing is first floor so so is there like a lobby area for the
for the residents on the second and third floor?
Yes, there has to be a lobby residence
because there has to be an elevator
to go to the second and third floor.
And how large is that
as opposed to the other space
that you're going to rent out
for other commercial use?
Do you know?
How large is what?
I don't follow.
The lobby area for the residents
to come with the elevator.
That would be a minimum space.
That's not really a large space
that's required to do that you want to go back to the can you go back to the floor plans then you
can you know yeah michael hold hold on one second let me uh let me reshare
all right we back up yeah okay i see stairs he just has a second and third
floor plan i didn't see a first floor plan i think because the first floor plan is not in
right right yep that's why that's why i just asked i didn't see the plan so i'm just curious
as to how they would access their their units yeah i didn't know they said we're putting an elevator
that's the cost yeah yeah uh on this plan that i'm showing right now there's an elevator would
be right here you know yeah you have a lobby entrance here with stairs but if you wanted to
take the elevator it will be I guess I guess to to a board member Graham's point there's no first
point there's no first floor so we can't really tell how you get into the building what the first
floor so we can't really tell how you get into the building with the first floor
floor looks like to get to that elevator to get to the upper floors that's right right now right
now i would submit the first floor looks like that vacant warehouse space uh at the second
and third floor there's there's nothing there right now uh so council is that another is that
another elevator towards the back um well you're going to have an entry here with a stairwell or
Actually, you have two elevator shafts, but there's only one elevator on the actual diagram.
Right.
There's an old freight elevator in the back.
That's this one right here.
All right.
So that's not going to be a part of the actual new structure of use?
No, sir.
Fair enough.
One elevator is expensive enough.
yeah yeah and my other question is what type of remediation are you are you planning on doing to
the exterior of the building the facade well george most of the stuff we do is uh restore back to what
it originally looked like from from the beginning and then we added the all the new windows and
whatever decor that we kind of think it's going to fit in you know we own a lot of stuff up there
and we retrofit a lot of stuff and it all becomes well lit like a baseball stadium
and usually most of the people up there kind of like what we got but you but you for the most
part maintain the original facade uh just with uh refreshing it and bringing it up to date correct
update yes yeah okay thank you
and george that would include the facade facade up lighting and things of that nature to
to brighten it up and yes all the way around yeah and these units are rented individually
they're not rented by a group that comes in and takes like 10 12 units no mr chairman individually
for me oh all individual okay um other questions from the board yes um what's behind there is that
the highway is that 95 is that a the l over here that's kent that's kensington avenue and the l
ah okay sorry all right thank you
questions or comments from our attorney
yes mr chair i i just wanted to to be clear um for mr groves this application is only for the
second and third floor and it's only for the multi-family household living um if there is
something that was emitted from the refusal um by accident or you would like to add then
the refusal needs to be corrected or amended but at what's before the board right now is only the
proposed 64 dwelling units that's it yes yeah that yeah that's correct hillary thank you okay
thank you as i indicated if the first floor use requires any kind of relief that would be the
subject of another application but uh george has indicated that uh john higgins um our uh expediter
and codes consultant uh has reviewed uh whatever proposed uses are suggested for the first floor
and at this time he doesn't believe any relief is required so how are residents uh disposed
of their trash i guess are there trash rooms on each floor or is there
there's gonna be a dumpster in the yard
in the rear yard yes can you show that on that uh diagram there with the rear yard
Well, I'm showing the Google angle photo, which has Kensington Avenue on the left.
It would be to the west, Sean.
It would be to the west.
The west of that yard.
So it's an enclosed yard, I'm assuming, right?
So the tenants have to take their trash to the dumpster?
there's no
trash room on each floor
or trash room
you leave trash on each floor you got rats
I'd prefer to have it outside
that's a lot of traveling
with your trash
with an elevator
I would say
that I don't want to trash in the building
and I think the fire department
would completely agree with me since they're right next door
yeah so you know there's there's there's plenty of outdoor space for
you know uh well this year this year you've got you've got tenants that's got to drag their trash
Well, the issue is you've got tenants that have got to drag their trash down three stories, either down the steps or on the elevator with people, to go to a dumpster in the back of the place.
down three
Well, Michael, as opposed to having with a facility this large, there's usually a trash room and a trash compactor and such.
So I think that was what we're trying to say.
Well, I fully understand that
but I think that's beyond
the zoning code
Just raise the issue
Just raise the issue
Yeah, but like I was going to say
if it were me
every day or every other day
when I'm leaving, I grab that trash bag
out of the kitchen trash can
and take it downstairs with me on the way out
and throw it in a can
off to work I go
or school or whatever
whatever they're doing, but
But there's plenty of plenty of outside area, you know, for, you know, trash containers.
It'll it'll obviously be commercial trash pickup.
No, no municipal trash service for this building.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
No hands at this time, too.
Chair, I have one more question.
Sure, you can.
Do we have ADA access ability in there, Sean?
Yeah, yeah.
We have an elevator.
Can I answer that?
Go ahead.
So every building that we redo, we zone off two units for that,
and we offer those units to intellectual disability services, okay,
which means fully 100% A, handicap accessible,
and two of you are well aware of the handicap accessibility problems
in philadelphia then you know that the intellectual disabilities group is lacking wheelchair
accessibility units that's what two of those units are designed for i understand that so my only
question um was leading up to that was so if you're gonna if there's a possibility you have
a resident there that's in a wheelchair they have to roll all the way out to that trash dumpster
just to put trash out?
Well, it depends on where...
To the board members John's comments?
Well, it depends on where we depend
to put the trash dumpster out.
As we move forward and figure out
how the layout's going to go
and how it's going to work,
that's where the dumpster company
will get, you know,
they'll come out and say,
hey, can we get this in here
because we don't want to go in too far.
And that's usually how we work it out
based upon what the dumpster company.
But we don't have any other problems
anywhere else where we got...
in that area okay anyone in the virtual audience
i see no hands at this time too planning commission it's uh ryan bednar city planning
the property is uh currently indicated for medium industrial use on the city plan in 2017 it was
formerly down zone from a heavier industrial use. The proposed multifamily residential adaptive
reuse is consistent with current development patterns in the neighborhood. Therefore,
we recommend the request of variance be ready. Sean, I'm going to hold this till next Wednesday
at 2 p.m. I'm going to spend some time talking in the executive session. There was a lot of
questions. I just want to make sure everyone's comfortable where we are. Okay. So we'll vote
on this next week at 2 p.m.
Yeah, and if there's any suggested
provisos that we should consider
in advance, we'd be happy to hear.
I would do a better trash plan.
Thanks, Tanetta.
Thank you.
Number eight.
MI 2024
3327 to 35
B Street, Richard Pressman.
This is a resumptive hearing.
Richard Pressman will be doing an essay of the panelists.
There's a letter of non-opposition from Councilmember Lozada and also a letter of
unanimous support for what provides those from impact on 7th Ward RCO.
Mr. Pressman, could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman and members of the board.
Richard Pressman, R-I-C-H-A-R-D, Pressman, P as in Peter, R-E-S-S-M-A-N.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do, Mr. Chairman.
So this was a resumptive hearing.
Do you want to give us an update since the last hearing?
We met back on August 21st. We presented our full package at that time with all exhibits. At the end, we requested that the auto detailing business in the rear of the property on Rose Hill Street be added to the variance request.
We met back on August 21st.
We presented our full...
Thank you.
And at that time, it was noted by counsel for the board, Ms. Emerson, that we needed to get a revised refusal from L&I.
So we followed the process laid out.
We sent forward a letter to the zoning board asking for permission.
Then we went to L&I and got the revised refusal.
And that's all been submitted.
The property's been reposted.
And then this morning, I forwarded an updated tax cert because the other one had run out based on the timing. So I think we've gotten all our ducks in a row, so to speak. And I think the record is ready to proceed for a vote, unless there's additional questions.
Hillary, are you agreeing with this? We're ready for a vote?
um all we need is the recommendation of the planning commission i believe that um they held
their recommendation because we were getting the refusal amended planning commission sure
uh while this property is currently my name is ryan bednar city planning commission uh while
this property is currently indicated for residential and on our city plan proposed
and is proposed to be ICMX, given the site's established use history
and physical conditions, we recommend the request for variance to be granted.
MI 2024-006-081-3327-35B Street, I vote yes.
Michael Johnson, my vote is yes.
Mr. Chair, I'm sorry.
We need to include a proviso with the amended refusal.
Data on an amended refusal?
We have an amended refusal, but there's a proviso we had with the RCOs.
They requested that a separate application be filed for future use of the second floor.
And we had no objection to that. So that would carry over to the current vote.
So thank you, Ms. Emerson, for bringing that up.
Tell me again, Hillary, what are we saying here?
sorry sorry so so basically both of these uses are limited to the first floor
is that is that what you're saying mr pressman okay so that would be one that would be one
proviso and then the the date of the other yes sorry i think it was september 9th i believe is
the amended refusal yes september 9th 9 9 24 is the date of the amended refusal
Okay. MI 2024-006-081-3327-35B Street. I vote yes with proviso, limited to first floor, and amended refusal 9924.
My vote is yes with proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with proviso.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed. My vote is yes, but proviso.
Thank you, counsel. Thank you. Is there anyone in the 330
list whose case has not been called? I see no hands at this time, Chair.
Thank you very much, and Anne, thanks for joining. My pleasure. Thank you.
Good night, Anne, and congratulations. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Take care.
good night everyone great job everyone good night thank you good night